Face the Unexpected

by Hakuno

2. Face the Reality

Winter was Daniel’s favorite season just for one reason; It’s easier to keep warmth when it’s cold outside than to escape from the hell of weather in summer. Though it’s also harder to wake up, since the comfort of your bed in the morning is so strong you have to call every piece of will to leave it.

But this time, Daniel wasn’t going to leave his bed. His head still ached and he just had the most lucid and random dream he has ever had. The warm light of the morning through the window only made him feel more tired, and the repetitive sound of the clock in the wall, while for most people was annoying, for Daniel it had the same effect as a lullaby for a newborn.

He was about to fall asleep again when the sound of hooves came to his ears and was getting closer. “Oh you must be kidding me.” He let a small groan as realization came to his mind. “This is just a dream… Just a mother fucking dream…” But it wasn’t a dream, and deeper in his soul, he knew it as well.

The door opened carefully as Applejack entered the room. “Uh… Yer awake? It’s eight in th’ mornin’ already, yer gonna miss breakfast.” Well, that was a late hour for farmers to have breakfast, then again, that was a talking horse, and nothing stopped Daniel to think that the rest of the family, if there was any, were all small horses.

“Why I can’t wake up?” Daniel asked to himself, but it was loud enough for Applejack to hear it.

“Beg yer pardon?”

Daniel’s mind was a hurricane of thoughts. This dream was lucid, that meant he should be able to do anything he wanted, but he couldn’t make the pain in her head go away, for a start, and more importantly, he couldn’t make the stupid dream go away and wake up for once and for all. He slowly sat up in the bed, realizing that he wasn’t in his own room. That would be too easy, no, he was in a completely strange room with the smallest and weirdest horse standing near the door.

“Isn’t this a dream? Then why I can’t wake up?”

Applejack gave him a concern glare, and slowly walked to the side of the bed. “Listen here, partner.” She tentatively put a hoof on the bed, but didn’t dare to do more. “Ah ain’t sure what ya mean by that, but Ah reckon this ain’t a dream. Ah’m as real as you.” Applejack paused for a moment when Daniel turned to look at her. “Ah know what it feels like to be away from home, but ya don’ worry no more, Twilight’s gonna find the way to return you home.”

Daniel pondered his situation. He was apparently trapped in an endless dream, but that was just so unreal he couldn’t believe that. Was this really happening? Had he really crossed dimensions? But how? One moment he was walking home and the next one he was on this farm, in a world where apparently humans didn’t exist and the sapient creatures were these… ponies.

He sighed, more of tiredness than frustration. “Ok Miss Applejack, dream or not, I can’t go home right now.” He stood up and glanced at the door. “I accept your kindness and have breakfast, but you must let me repay you, though I don’t have any money, maybe with work.”

Applejack smiled at this. “Y’ know, it would be helpful an extra hoof.”

~~~~~~~~

The moment Daniel entered the kitchen, he regretted his decision. In front of him was another small horse, though bigger than Applejack and really sturdy. The red stallion –Daniel supposed it was a stallion... for some reason- only glared at him, not with anger, or happiness, or even curiosity. It had the most unreadable face Daniel has seen since his last poker game a month ago.

“C’mon Big Mac, let him take a sit.” Applejack was already dragging the stallion inside the kitchen so Daniel could pass and sit in one of the awkwardly well designed chairs. ‘They are ponies, why do they need backrest in the chairs?’

But even so, the chairs and the table were nearer to the floor, that had more sense. Daniel would try to make things have sense in this crazy world, for his health sake. “So...” He heard a small voice from the other side of the table, was that an even smaller horse? “Are ya some kind’a alien?”

“Applebloom!” Applejack scolded the young pony. “That’s not how we treat our guests!”

Daniel saw how the little thing tried to make itself even smaller, and for some reason, he thought it was really cute. “Oh, I don’t mind it, it-she’s just a kid, right?” He said to Applebloom, who was starting to smile, and that made him smile too. “Besides, if you think about it, I am indeed an alien, but a good one.”

“Well ain’t he just a sweetheart?” Another mare walked to the kitchen, this one was easy to tell it was old, green and with white mane. “Applejack, dear, why haven’t ya served him some breakfast?”

“Ah was ‘bout to do that, Granny” The orange mare walked to Daniel’s side and put the plate with his food in the table... with its mouth.

Aside from the disgusting sight, the food actually looked pretty good. Three eggs with toasts and strawberry jelly, milk, orange juice and some cookies. And everything was delicious, it didn’t surprise him, the food directly from a farm was always tastier than the food from the city. When everyone finished their food, they started a small conversation, namely, they were interrogating Daniel.

“So, yer name is Daniel Cero?” Applebloom asked with a big smile. “As in th’ number?”

“Yeah, a lot of people say it’s a weird name.” Daniel was finishing his orange juice.

“What is ‘peepall’?”

“It’s how we call to a lot of humans, one human is a person, more than that is people.”

“We say ponies, ‘cuz we’re ponies.”

With each minute it was easier for Daniel to get used to call them as if they were humans and not animals, it was hard, all his life he knew that animals and objects were meant to be called with “it”, and now here he was, talking with tiny horses as if they were people. At least it wouldn't be for a long time, once they discovered how to return him home, this madness would end.

~~~~~~~~

Daniel helped washing the dishes. It surprised him how everything looked normal, as if there really were humans in this world, and how these ponies were able to use everything with their obvious limitations.

Applejack asked him to help Big Mac move the hay from the barn to the corrals, and then feed the pigs. It was extremely illogical for Daniel how the cows were able to speak –though they seemed to be very stupid- but the pigs were, well, just normal pigs. The sheep could speak too, but even if they were as stupid as the cows, they were more pacific. And then, it seemed that any other animal was just as normal as they meant to be in his world.

And then, a quick thought came to Daniel’s mind. These ponies seemed to be herbivorous, he could understand why they needed cows, chickens and sheep –milk, eggs and wool-, but why they needed pigs? Did they use their skin for something? Did they secretly eat meat? He needed answers, so in a break he approached the red stallion.

“Hey Mister Macintosh.”

“Big Mac’s ok”

“Right, hey Big Mac, can I ask you something?” The stallion nodded. “Why do you need pigs? I mean, I don’t want to sound rude but... do you...”

“Eat meat? Nnope” Daniel let out a small sigh. “But griffons n’ minotaurs do”

“Wait, what? Griffons? Minotaurs? Oh dear heaven where am I?”

“Yer in Equestria, the land of ponykind” Applejack said coming from behind her brother and holding a basket with what seemed to be food in it. “But we share our land with non-ponies, as they share their lands with us.” It was amazing how she was able to talk while holding something in her mouth. She dropped the basket in the grass. “Ah didn’ ask, yer herbivorous or carnivorous?”

“I’m omnivorous.” Daniel wondered if they would know what that meant.

“Ah, so you eat meat and plants as griffons and minotaurs do, that’s good, ‘cuz Granny don’t like us to cook meat in th’ kitchen” She sat in the floor and grabbed a sandwich from her basket. “Take one, they’re th’ best daisy sandwiches in Ponyville.”

“Daisy? As in the flower?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I can’t eat flowers.”

“But ya said...”

“I can eat veggies, fruits and meat, but I can’t eat flowers, hay or grass.”

“Oh Ah see” Applejack didn’t look disappointed; she looked in fact curious about Daniel. “Well, lucky Ah brought celery with mayo sandwiches too” Daniel sighed in relief, if he was to stay in that world for any longer, at least he didn’t have to worry about not being able to eat some bacon.

~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day Daniel helped clean up the farmhouse, he discovered that they had a bathroom, the shape of the toilet was really odd, but it served its purpose. It was afternoon when he heard a knock in the door and Applejack went to open it.

“Hey Fluttershy, come in” Daniel heard another set of hooves enter the house and go to the living room where he was. “This is Daniel, he happens t’ be a hooman”

“Pleased to meet you Miss...” Daniel said bowing a little his head in respect, waiting for the name of the yellow pony.

“Oh my goodness! You can talk? Tell me, what are you thinking right now?” The pegasus was literally rubbing her muzzle with Daniel’s nose, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable. “Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners?” She said thankfully sitting in the couch right next to Daniel, but not invading his personal space anymore. “My name is Fluttershy.”

“Hi, Miss Fluttershy,” Daniel said after a few seconds of being stunned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to be so formal, just call me Fluttershy” Her voice was soft, as if she wouldn’t be able to sound angry to save her life.

“Ok, Fluttershy. My name is Daniel Cero, I’m a human,” Daniel said that last word loud enough to make sure Applejack heard it and maybe she would pronounce it correctly. “I don’t belong to this world, but we are waiting for Miss Twilight- “

“That’d be Princess Twilight fer ya, sugarcube” Applejack interrupted with a smirk.

“Princess? There are royalty here?” He was more concerned by the fact that ponies could make a kingdom than the fact that the winged unicorn was part of that royalty.

“Well, yeah, didn’t Ah tell ya?” It was obvious that the orange farmer noticed how Daniel marked the word human, and that she wasn’t ok with that.

“Anyway,” Daniel waved a hand to the now irritated pony. “As I was saying, Fluttershy, we are waiting for Princess Twilight to find a way to get me back home”

Fluttershy looked down, as if she was... disappointed? “I see...” When she realized that the human was staring at her, she tried to hide behind her long mane with little effect.

“Hey Daniel, stop lookin’ at her that way, yer scaring her”

“Sorry” For a moment, when the yellow mare hid behind her mane, Daniel thought that she looked like a duck. “So, Applejack, when is the princess going to come back?” He decided not to push his luck and stop staring at the pegasus.

Applejack shrugged. “Knowin’ her, she might as well come back right this instant or until tomorrow mornin’”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, Applebloom opened it. “Hiya Twilight!” Daniel looked at Applejack, she smiled and he knew that the orange pony saw the winged unicorn coming through the window. When Twilight entered the living room, Daniel stood up, turned to her and with the most unreadable face he could make, he bowed at her.

“Her highness,” He said, not noticing that Twilight had a really funny face filled with surprise. “I apologize for my attempt of harming you last night, I was confused and thought you were making fun on me.” He looked at the princess’ eyes, who still couldn’t react. “But even if that doesn’t excuse my behavior, I beg for your mercy”

The room was silent, even Applejack had her jaw dropped. Several minutes passed as Twilight tried to pronounce a coherent sentence. She finally remembered her breathing exercises and with a motion of her front hoof, she sighed and looked directly at the human’s eyes.

“I forgive your inappropriate behavior” She said, trying not to choke with such a strange way to talk. “Though from this moment forth, you shall live with me in Golden Oak’s library, in your own room, of course, so I’ll be able to study you and collect data of you and your kind. And maybe we’ll be able to find a way to get you back to your home.”

Daniel smiled, satisfied.

Comments

[hs0003]

That was quite fast he went down the ass kissing road.

[PickleSurprise]

Yeah, what 3827928 said. This is one of the biggest turn off's for me when reading HiE's. I get being respectable, to some degree, but for someone that has had no contact with royalty short of reading about it or seeing a movie with such situations he's to confident while at the same time coming across as meek.
I think his response to the situation was acceptable, he literally pops into existence in a new universe. Had he not freaked out to such a degree I would be worried for him.

[hs0003]

3828975 An appropriate response would be either be laughing hard due to royal horse pony, or say "She's not my princess".
He was attacked(Somewhat an accident) and then forced into unconsciousness upon awakening.
I don't know about the average person, but I'd be in a pretty bad mood and most likely lash out verbally.

[Hakuno]

3829019
3828975
Thank you for you comments ^^

What I want to make in this story, is that Daniel still wants to believe that the whole thing is just a bad dream, that's why he's all like "Oh so she's a princess? ok then" instead of reacting as a normal person should do. I want to make him realize and accept slowly that he is indeed in a real new world, and not abruptly accept it as I've seen in most HiE fanfics ^^

[hs0003]

3829048 There are many ways to test if you are indeed dreaming, feeling pain for a long period usually is usually a good indicator that you are indeed awake.
Coming to the conclusion that he is not on his planet (or even universe) should be fairly quick after he is subjugated to magic whilst feeling pain either after, during or prior.
Talking ponies is also an indicator.

These points are all washed away if he goes into complete denial, in which case he would not act calmly.

[Hakuno]

3829074 You made a very good point there. But then again, he just doesn't want to believe it, he thinks that coming along with the dream will make him wake up. Maybe I should've written that somewhere. Anyway, I'm planning the next episode to [spoiler alert] forget his denial =)

[hs0003]

3829094 By "forget his denial" do you mean we'll finally see a proper reaction to his situation?

[Hakuno]

3829113 Hahaha maybe, I still need to gather my ideas before start writing though, but you know, he has to meet the other elements of harmony. Yes, it's on purpose that he still doesn't meet Pinkie Pie.

[High_Wind]

quickmeme.com/img/da/da42a25f2356f63136759db93f1c5c54088866b01616aa4cdffdaecfd2ecb50e.jpg

[Darkheretic]

Wow that is a really good interesting reason to have a readly avaliable source of meat.

[OldCreepyKarpis]

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