I'm trying to make a list of stories that fit this theme. . .

• human is somehow (usually not explained) dropped into the Everfree Forest
• human stays in human form
• ponies encounter the human and dub him a "monster", fear and conflict follows
• at some point in the story (middle? end?) the ponies learn their mistake, and he's accepted

I thought this was a pretty common theme, or trope, maybe an over-used one, but now I'm realizing I can't actually name as many stories as I thought where this happens.

There's "Misunderstandings" by The Rogue Wolf, which might be the best story ever removed from Fimfiction (by the author for personal reasons, not because the site had any problem with it). It can still be hunted down and recovered from archives, which IMHO is well worth the trouble. But it's not a perfect fit for the trope because even though common ponies feared the "yeti", Twilight Sparkle and her friends never really saw Peter as a monster and just wanted to capture/rescue him as much for his own safety as well as that of the pony public.

Incidentally. . . Misunderstandings, The Piano Man, and A Voice Among the Strangers are all stories that use the theme of a human kept in a cage, human displayed as a dumb animal for money. Good stuff IMO but not quite what I'm after this time.

There's "Dimension Jumper" by redtau. This fits the theme, but we know exactly how Sarah ended up in Equestria (exploring other dimensions was her job), and she is very, very far from your typical everyman/Anon type of protagonist, since she's already bonded with both a machine intelligence and a demonic(!) entity when she arrives, is able to disguise herself as a pony, and later links up with the "Nightmare" spirit (from Nightmare Moon) as well.

I'm sure I recall one story where Ponyville became divided with Twilight Sparkle leading the effort to capture the wicked monster while Lyra and her friends were equally determined to defend him. If anybody can name that one and point me toward it, I'd be grateful. From what I can remember, it should be right up the line of what I want.

There's got to be others. This seems like a scenario that has played out many times, but it's been years and Fimfiction is vast.

You should check out the Ending-verse then
Its a whole lot of stories that are sequels of this one
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/184701/ending
Heres the group with all the sequel stories
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/203371/the-ending-verse

if you like stories like that you should head over to www.fanfiction.net and look up the author The Equestria Goth. he has some good stories about 100 of them all mlp related

The Pointed Woodmaster

Staying human and surviving in the woods is not easy do or write, I guess. Maybe that’s why it’s not so common?

Paradise is mostly matches it

7916630
I believe you might be thinking of Human Nature by Blank Page; it's been rewritten a few times in the last... 10 years, and is still incomplete, but matches what you describe.

This would be nice

7916704

Thanks, that is definitely the one I was trying to remember.

7916866
There was one called: Rise of a Revolution. Where a human male gets transported to Equestria and gets transformed into an abomination by the princesses because they believe he won't survive without magic. Because of this they gained a new enemy that will start a rebellion. {At least that's what I believe} And this human will have his revenge.

Im thinking of the monster of canterlot it basically starts like you said before flashing back to see how it started https://www.fimfiction.net/story/174253/the-monster-of-canterlot

7916630
...there's one of my own:

TThe Encounter

• MLP: FiM
• Dark
• Adventure
• Sci-Fi

Barefoot, nearsighted and lost, a young man wakes to find his life has drastically changed.

• Violence
• Human
• Alt. Universe
• Celestia
• Luna
• OC
• Main 6

Winter_Solstice · 70k words  ·  290  38 · 7.6k views

'Jewel Of The Everfree' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/314389/jewel-of-the-everfree might fit your bill.
No longer on this site, but still an enjoyable read: 'The Rise Of Dath Vulcan' - https://archiveofourown.org/works/5553836/chapters/12811085
While the 'human' in 'Daily Life In Equestria With Monster Girl' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/432523/daily-equestria-life-with-monster-girl isn't really human, it still might apply to your query.
In the same line as the prior one, 'What I've Become' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/211404/what-ive-become also features a human that isn't quite human anymore.
'On The Hunt' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/290326/on-the-hunt may well fit here
'Protocol D' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/187974/protocol-d
'It Must Be Tuesday' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/12277/it-must-be-tuesday
'MIA' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/16715/mia
'Savage' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/219499/savage
'It Never Really Ends' - https://www.fimfiction.net/story/185453/it-never-really-ends

Those (in some cases loosely) fit your bill I suppose.

7916630

TOver the Edge and Through the Wood

• MLP: FiM
• Adventure
• Comedy

Human gets cut off from his group while traversing a mountain. Finds himself in a strange land.

• Human
• Zecora
• OC
• Main 6
• CMCs

JarOfHearts · 104k words  ·  4,183  86 · 60k views

This one's one of my favorite HiE stories on the site. Unfortunately, it's been on hiatus for a while, but it's extremely well written.

The ponies aren't really ever openly hostile toward the protagonist, but they start out cautious.

It been a second but I think Stranger in the Forest counts for this, though I can’t remember if they thought the human was a monster or just a curiosity.

I also second What I’ve Become even if it deviates a bit from ‘is still human’, he is, just heavily modified from non-pony alien modification.

And again in a stretch of this definition, Your Human and You technically has this arc as a backstory for another character in the past of the story’s universe.