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// Chapter 2 
// Story: How This All Came To Be 
// by ThrakurzaudCR 
//------------------------------//

The train ride to Ponyville was a whole ordeal itself. Twilight had to explain to the conductor and to the other passengers that I might not be dangerous. They didn’t like the word ‘might’ in the explanation, and they were steadfast against the idea of me sitting in the same car as them. They were persistent; I'll tell you. Getting tired of them talking about me as a monster, I climbed up the train and onto the train.
“If you don’t want me on the train, I’ll be on top of the train,” I said, looking at a concerned Twilight. She opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her, “I know what you’re thinking; I know that I’m not heavy enough to stay on this thing. Do you know a spell to make me heavier?” She nodded. “Alright, use it on me.” She enveloped me with lavender aura, sunk lower, causing a slight crater in the place I was sitting. I looked over to the rainbow maned pegasus in the group. “Hey Skittles,” I called to her. She gave me a look and pointed to herself, as if to say, “Who me?” I nodded and told her to come to me. Once in front of me, I instructed her to try and lift me to make sure I was heavy enough. She was, of course, hesitant at first, but once I was sure I was secure, everybody got on the train. 
The train started to move, and once it got to speed, I realized that I was astoundingly wrong. Once the train started going over about 100 miles per hour, I rolled back with a lot of thumping sounds. I was incredibility lucky that the caboose had space for ponies to stand outside, or I would have been stranded or dead. The ponies that were seated in the caboose yelled and ran to the other cars. I heard Twilight and the others running to check on me. They never came, though. I looked over the edge of the side of the train car and found out the ponies somehow disconnected the caboose as I saw the train getting farther and farther away. I sighed and cursed to the air. I sat there for a minute until I got a stupid idea. 
I consider myself as moderately strong. My arms may be the equivalent of big noodle arms, but I can use them to carry pretty heavy things, but all the muscle is in my legs. Even so, my idea was dumb, but I didn’t want to waste any more time in the hot sun. I decided to run to Ponyville. My plan worked well, if by well you mean almost dying from lack of oxygen, and muscle exhaustion and hours running and jogging to Ponyville. Anyway, I ran the length equivalent to that of a triathlon. It was way out of my league. It was also the middle of summer, and that had me sweating bullets nonstop. At one point, it seemed that there was just no end. 
When I got to the station hours later, the train was still there and so were all the passengers waiting for something, probably the caboose so they could leave. I guessed they had a ticket for another destination and sent someone to get the train car, but I wasn't concerned about that. Once I got to the end of the train, everything but my brain shut down, and I collapsed, gasping for air.
I heard gasps and murmurs. Pinkie was cheering and saying things like, “I can’t believe he ran all the way here!” and “Whoa, he has so much stamina!” I heard the rainbow one agree with the last statement. I disagreed immensely. I felt like I was about to die. I heard Twilight shouting to get some water, and a minute later, I felt the cold and tasteless liquid. It was like I had died and went to heaven. After that brief but ecstatic feeling, I felt the urge to turn and thank the pony for saving my life, but what happened was a failed attempt to move and a shameful and meek “thank you.” 
Lying there, I felt heavy. I couldn’t move my legs. Once I felt my throat start to return to normal, I coughed and choked out, “I can’t stand on my own. Would it be alright if someone carried me until I gather enough strength to walk?”  Twilight agreed to carry me. She picked me up with her levitation spell, and I was up in the air again. Yay, I get to tumble again , I thought, but I was wrong. Twilight didn't let me turn. I was firmly locked in a fixed position above her. I could move my limbs if I wanted to, but in the state I was in, I was glad to be in that position. Celestia must have been relaxed with her version of the spell. A few minutes past and I could feel the pain calm down. "Thank you, Twilight. I can walk for myself now," I said, my voice considerably less raspy. 
"Are you sure?" Twilight looked at me.  I nodded, and she put me down. I stretched my legs a bit. They were still sore, but I could manage, and by the time I began to walk, we were already in the town. It didn't take two seconds for the ponies of Ponyville to burst into chaos after a stray blue pony decided to point me out, at the top of his lungs. The crowd dispersed into their houses and huts, but a few street vending carts turned over, their contents spilled all over the ground. I sighed. What was I expecting? New town, new reaction. I thought they overreacted a little, though. 
"Sorry about their reaction, darling. They are very..." The white unicorn trailed off, looking for a word, "Excitable. They will be a lot friendlier once we- I mean they, know you aren't dangerous." She chuckled nervously. Her very noticeable slip-up didn't help much. 
"It's okay," I sighed. I started to walk deeper into the town, stopped, and turned to take in the sites. Most of the buildings were well-constructed huts that varied in lengths. Some of the buildings were noticeably different. A gingerbread building, a carnival tent, a tall building, and a castle of sorts. Blue, pink, and flashy. "That castle is really out of place," I mutter to myself. 
"Well, c'mon then... What was your name again?" The cowgirl pony interrupted my thoughts on the castle.
"My name's Caleb."
"Well c'mon then, Caleb," the orange one said. I turn to see the six ponies ahead of me. "We should have some room for ya in the barn." They started walking again, and I quickly caught up. As we walked in silence, I couldn't help but notice the ponies in their houses peeking out to see what was happening. If I tried to make eye contact, they panicked and ducked behind the door, and when I turned away, I could barely see their heads come slowly back up. I sighed again and asked myself, why is this happening to me?