Prologue
“Here we are, sir. 23 Equis Street,” said the taxi driver. “Would you like any help with your bags?”
“Nah, I don’t have that many bags,” said the passenger, “Thanks for the offer, though.” He reached into his pocket and handed the driver a few bits as a tip.
“Thank you, sir,” the pony said graciously. “I hope you enjoy living here in Canterlot.”
“Thanks. I hope so, too,” said the passenger as he stepped out of the taxi carriage with his luggage in tow. He looked around the city as the taxi pulled away, and he immediately noticed the amount of ponies there were. Even though it’s been three years since the ponies made contact with humans, Canterlot maintained a high pony-to-human ratio. The main reason why he noticed this so quickly was that he was a human himself.
“Okay, Eric,” he said to himself. He ran a hand through his black hair and took a deep breath. “You may be in a different city, in a different country, on a different world, but that doesn’t mean that you should be nervous.”
“That’s a good attitude to have,” said someone from behind him.
Eric quickly turned around, but then he smiled at the pony that was standing behind him. “Luna! You’re here!”
“Like I said I would be,” she reminded. “Besides, I was the one who helped you get this house.”
“Well, I just want to thank you again for that, Luna,” said Eric as he recalled the day he met Princess Luna in his hometown in the human world while she was on vacation. “It was really generous of you to arrange this for me.”
“Well, when you told me how interested in Equestria you were, I figured you’d like to live in our capital city,” said the princess. “I’ll leave you to settle into your new home. I’m sure you’ll want to break it out.”
“You mean break it in?” the human corrected.
“Oh I simply must learn these modern figures of speech,” Luna said, “but there’s just so many, that I can’t keep trail of them.”
“Keep track of them,” he corrected again.
“You know what I meant.”
Eric simply chuckled to himself as Luna handed him the key to the house. “You’re applying for the job at the bookstore tomorrow, correct?” the pony asked.
“Yup,” Eric answered with a smile. “Hopefully everything goes well.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Luna reassured. “I’ll come by tomorrow evening to see how it went.”
“Thanks,” the human said again.
“My pleasure,” the mare smiled. “Goodbye and good luck!”
As Luna walked away, Eric unlocked the door to his new home and walked in, carrying his bags behind him. It was a decent sized, two-story house. The ground floor had a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom, while the upper floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom. The house also came with a basement that had a small studio area. Eric looked at his bags, and he didn’t have much to take into the house. Then again, when you’re just a twenty-year-old amateur writer, you don’t normally pack heavily.
“Looks better than I expected,” Eric said to himself as he made his way upstairs.
The next morning, at around 9AM, Eric made his way to the bookstore, which was conveniently located less than a mile from his house. He stared at the door, application in hand, and took a deep breath before entering. The second he entered the building, he was amazed by how large it was. It was a single-story building that had a lounge area in the center, with various sections of books surrounding it.
“Well, good morning to ya!” said a pony sitting at a desk to the right of the door. He was a pegasus stallion with a grey coat and a faded red mane. He didn’t look too old; Eric guessed that he was in his mid forties, but with ponies, he couldn’t tell. “Judging from that paper you got there, you must be here to apply for a job,” he said.
“Um, yeah. My name’s Eric. Eric Quincy,” said the nervous human.
“Well, Eric Quincy, my name is Print Stock. It’s nice to see that somepony finally decided to apply for a job. Ever since my last employee left to go to school two months ago, I’ve had to run this place all by myself.” He then looked at Eric for a second. “Say, you’re new here, aren’t ya?”
“Yes…” said Eric.
“I could tell. I’ve lived in Canterlot my whole life, so it’s easy to tell when somepony’s a newcomer,” Print Stock chuckled. “So, how soon can you start?”
Eric’s eyes widened in surprise. He was being offered the job and his application wasn’t even glanced at. He didn’t complain, though. The less complicated things were, the better. “I can start today, if you want,” he said.
“Perfect!” Print Stock exclaimed, and then he looked at Eric again. He took notice of his skinny frame and said “You’re probably a large.” He reached below his desk and pulled a cardboard box out from under it, then he looked through it and found a large T-shirt. “Here’s your uniform, kiddo,” he said as he tossed the shirt to his new employee.
“Thanks, Mr. Stock!” he said gratefully.
“Please, call me Print,” said the stallion. “There’s an employee bathroom in the back where you can change.”
Eric nodded his head and made his way to the bathroom, happy that he got a new job.
A few hours later, Print Stock let Eric go out for his lunch hour. As he walked through Canterlot, he wondered where he should go to eat. The only place in the city he went to was the market so he could get some food for breakfast and dinner. Aside from that, he hasn’t been out much.
“I have to decide something before my lunch hour is up,” he thought.
“Eric! There you are!” said a familiar voice. Eric turned around, and sure enough, Luna was walking towards him, along with a mare that he’d never seen before.
She was a unicorn with a blue coat that was a few shades lighter than Luna’s, a white mane that went down to just above the small of her back, and a long white tail. She was also wearing a pair of white, oval shaped glasses.
“I passed by your house, but you weren’t there,” said Luna. “I was curious as to how your job interview went.”
“I didn’t even get an interview,” the human replied. “I just said that I wanted the job and was hired on the spot.”
“Well, congratulations!” Luna said joyfully, then she looked at her friend and realized that she forgot to introduce her.
“Oh, I’d like you to meet my friend Azure Gem,” she said as the unicorn waved at Eric. “She works at the coffee shop across from the bookstore.”
“Hello,” said Azure.
“Hi,” Eric answered back.
“So, are you free?” asked Luna. “I was hoping that the three of us could get a quick meal and shoot at the wind.”
“Shoot the breeze, you mean?” asked Azure.
“Is that how you say it?”
“Sure, I’ve got time,” Eric said with a smile.
“Glorious! I know the perfect venue,” said the princess, and she led her friends to a nearby diner. “The service here is excellent, and the employees are so pleasant.”
“Don’t you think that’s because you’re a princess, Lulu?” Azure asked sarcastically.
“I suppose,” she answered.
Once the three of them were seated and their meals were ordered, Eric and Azure Gem got better acquainted while they waited for their food.
“So, Luna tells me you’re a writer,” the unicorn said.
“Well, not professionally,” said the human. “I hope to get published one day. I’m just working on my writing in the meantime.”
“You should send some of your stories my way,” she suggested. “I’d love to read some of them.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I’m not sure if my work is up to snuff.”
“Don’t be modest, Eric,” said Luna. “Your writing is great.”
“If it makes you feel better, I won’t be too harsh on you,” Azure said teasingly.
“Don’t patronize me!” Eric said defensively.
“Someone’s sensitive,” she said with a laugh.
Eric simply huffed at the mare. Even though he was a little annoyed by her taunting, there was something rather cute about it. Was it the way she laughed? Was it the tone she used? Was Eric just a pushover? He was seriously considering that last possibility. Regardless, there was something about Azure Gem that he found, at the very least, interesting.
That evening, Eric was in his basement studio, trying to write a new story, but he kept getting distracted by the recollection of everything that happened over the last few days. He moved to a new place, made friends with a princess, got a job, and met an interesting mare as well. Maybe adjusting to life in Equestria won’t be as hard as he predicted?
Two months go by, and Eric was still living happily in Canterlot. On his way home from work, he received a call from Luna.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hello, Eric. Work was good, I hope,” she said.
“Actually, it was great!” he said excitedly. “Print promoted me to assistant manager, which means I’m gonna be getting a bigger paycheck.”
“Aren’t you his only employee, though?” the princess asked.
“Well, with September rolling around, Print’s expecting some student employees from the high school here, so he’ll need somepony, or rather, somebody to help keep track of them,” the human explained.
“Well, that makes sense…” said Luna.
“Sorry to change the subject, but have you heard from Azure Gem today?” Eric asked. “I went across the street for a cup of coffee, but she wasn’t there.”
“Oh, she told me that came down with a cold,” Luna said sadly. “She’s been in bed all day.”
“Maybe I should pay here a visit…” Eric wondered out loud.
The princess giggled. “Aww, you want to visit Azzy since she’s feeling sick? That’s so sweet of you, Eric!”
“It’s not like that!” he said defensively. “I’m just concerned. It’s not like I have a crush on her.”
“I never insinuated that you did,” she said. “You just assumed that. Judging from your reaction, though, I’d say that you indeed are crushing Azure.”
“Crushing on Azure,” he instinctively corrected, “and I’m not!”
“You mouth says no,” Luna said, “but your heart says-”
“Hell no,” Eric interrupted.
“I smell denial~,” the princess said in a singsong voice.
“Your sister’s starting to rub off on you, Luna,” he said bluntly.
“Oh, that reminds me,” she said. “I overheard my sister talking to a friend of hers. From what I understand, he’s going to be living in the unoccupied house next to yours.”
Coincidentally, Eric was approaching his house, with the house in question in clear sight. “He? Just who was Celestia talking to?” He asked as he unlocked the door to his house.
Before Luna could answer, though, the phone cut off for some mysterious reason. “Luna? Luna!?” Eric said into the phone, only to receive the incessant beeping sound indicating that the line was dead. “Aw, man. It would’ve been nice to know who my new neighbor is.” Shrugging his shoulders, he opened the door and entered his house, but he was shocked to see the condition that it was in. All his furniture was on the ceiling, his walls and floors were random colors, and to top it off, Eric had no sense of gravity; he was floating in midair!
“What the fuck is going on!?” he yelled to no one in particular. He definitely wasn’t expecting a response.
“Oh, this?” an unknown voice asked. “This is just my way of introducing myself to my new neighbor.” Eric turned around to see who was addressing him, and was taken aback by what he saw.
He couldn’t make heads or tails of what this thing was. It had a equine-ish head with a snake-like body with appendages from various animals: the tail of a dragon, the right leg of a lizard, the left leg of a goat, the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, mismatched bat and bird wings, and on the top of his head were a deer’s antler and a goat’s horn. He had two big, yellow eyes with red pupils, a black mane that went down his back, white bushy eyebrows and a matching beard, and to top it all off, a snaggletooth. He was also wearing a T-shirt that constantly changed colors every few seconds.
“Who are you? What are you?” Eric asked.
“What I am, is a draconequus,” he answered. “As for who I am, I’m Discord, and I’m your new neighbor.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
575 users online
884,770 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Cover art? Full of win. Prologue? Can't wait for more.
3237317
Thanks. You can check out my other MLP art on my deviantART page.
I also post speedpaints on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmnf-jWDiwnA_JKFk7pJwQg
How much will the story focus on that crack pairing of Celestia/Discord?
One being it is a running joke that never makes it into the actual story, and five being that there will be entire chapters focused on it.
3237646
I don't plan on making a Discord and Celestia's relationship a main plot point. It'll be more like a running joke, and if I ever decide to dedicate a chapter to it, it'll only be ONE chapter. Maybe even half a chapter.
3237673
Cool. That is a relief to hear. Not a really a fan of that over glorified crack pairing.
Thank you for letting me know.
I will leave a real review when I am done reading the chapter.
Edit.
Well this certainly seems like an interesting story. You should add some world building though. Maybe even a flashback, like when he an Luna first met?
Anyway, I will be keeping an eye on this.
Good luck with all of your endeavors.
3237706
Meh, I don't mind the pairing much. Looking forward to your review.
3237721
Just left it as an edit in the last one. Just look up.
3237706
Thanks. I'll keep those critiques in mind.
Awesome story so far. I'll definitely be following.
not bad, thought when I looked at the title it reminds me so much of Kids Next Door, heck even the character if he had brown hair and some sunglasses would like almost like a sensible Nigel... that's just me. can't wait for more updates for this.
and that ladies and gents is the beginning of a beautiful and very painful friendship. Have fun with that shit Eric.
Eric, more formally known as: Gen-Eric, or Generic Genericson.
3240347 Truedat.
2.bp.blogspot.com/-R5e5jvjqPVo/T9H34THYKTI/AAAAAAAAAKM/hWvGXnKl3bg/s1600/neutral-if-you-know-what-i-mean-l.png
I think it should be
"What I am, is a draconequus,"
I wouldn't mind having a Discord as a neighbor. He seems fun and as long as you show him friendship and play along with him you'll be fine. I'm an expert, I swear I am.
For some reason that sounded like "Top'a' the morning to ya!" as in like an Irish stallion!
I like it and maybe it is just me, but it always sounded like they would love each other within the first three seconds. Well i suppose it coule be that fast, but i think maybe they should meet one or two times to get a full view on heir personality befor they know, that they found them interessting.
Well the story is done and i won´t judge them because of that point and well the other story with Fleetfoot was not bad even if i thought there was something that i missed. Not bad for the first chapter.
I believe the pacing is a bit strange here on top of the fact that Luna is a princess who apparently decides to walk around the city instead of flying practically every day kind of get the feel she's there just to say "hey my oc is friends with Luna" not being too harsh it just feels forced.....like a lot