Kindred

by Ajulex

Welcome to Equestria

The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ Treehouse. The War Room. Three fillies leaned over the table covered by various papers. They wore grim expressions as they exchanged glances. They had a mission to plan, and the tension could be cut with a knife.

"I think the most tactical approach would be to infiltrate Sugar Cube Corner first." The orange pegasus said, picking up a marker in her teeth and circling a spot on the map. “There’s a big variety of things to do there, from baking to delivery, to party planning….”

"Who's to say Pinkie Pie'll even be there?" The earth mare countered, tapping the town square on the map. "Ah think we should up'n split, rotate quadrants so we c'n cover more ground. What's the chances of more than one if us getting the same cutie mark?" she said, marking off several sections of Ponyville into labeled quadrants.

"I think we should compromise those plans. We find one pony who'll help us, then have them assign us three tasks, one for each of us. That way we won't be too far from each other." The unicorn said, rubbing her chin and highlighting some spots on the map where potential ponies who could help them would be.

The other two smiled and agreed, drawing out various plans on their map. Tactics, deployments, rest breaks, snack breaks, the whole nine yards were covered in the plans. Scootaloo stepped away, walking over to the window and looked out to the darkening sky. Ever since her dream-encounter with Princess Luna, she’d grown pretty fond of the stars and the moon. Something caught her eye and she gasped, her little wings fluttering.

"Come over here quick, girls! It's a shooting star, a shooting star!" She squeaked in excitement. She heard the overturning of chairs as her friends dashed over to the window. Sure enough, there was a tear of light making its way across the dark sky. It was truly a sight to behold. “Make a wish!”

"Wait! We should all combine our wish, compromise like Sweetie Belle said. If we all wish for the same thing, it's sure to come true, right?" Apple Bloom suggested. "Ah don't want to wish for a cutie mark, though. Ah want to earn it. Ah learned my lesson from the whole cutie-pox thing..." She shuddered.

The girls remained silent for a moment as they though. The star was like a fuse, quickly burning out and giving them a time limit before it vanished forever. Scootaloo looked up, opening her mouth as she thought.

"I...I wish we had another friend. Someone who understands us, who feels like they don't know where they belong." Scootaloo finally said. "Someone who’s….as lost as we are, you know?” She added. “Not in a bad way, but someone who can….relate.”

Sweetie pursed her lips, tapping her hoof against the windowsill of the treehouse. "I guess I can't really disagree with you. It'd be nice to have another Cutie Mark Crusader-" She was interrupted by Scootaloo.

"No, see, that's why I said somebody, and not somepony. They don't need to be a blank flank, or even a pony. A gryphon, or, or, a dragon." She said, looking back up to the vanishing star.

Applebloom smiled. "Ah like it. Then that's our wish?" She looked at the two nodding mares as they all closed their eyes. As they held them closed, the shooting star flashed once, then vanished from sight.

"Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell!" The voice of Applejack came calling through the trees. "Time to come on home! Dinner's ready!"

The Crusaders looked out the door, before gathering their things. "Thanks for inviting us to stay the night, Applebloom. We're going to get so much Crusading done this weekend!" Scootaloo cheered, fluttering up into the air.

"Of course! It's always fun to have y'all over, but we gotta be quieter this time. Applejack was angrier'n a cat in a bathtub last time for keepin' her up." She giggled as the trio made their way back to the house.

--The next day--

I was a light sleeper. And I hated it. Because my closet was also the storage pantry of the house, my parents always came in at God-awful hours of the morning to get paper towels or batteries or something really stupid like that.

This time, however, it was frantic whispers that were waking me up. I groaned, and the whispered hushed into a stunned silence, before beginning again. I had gotten home at, like, 1:30 or 2 in the freakin' morning after working a midnight release at GameStop. I just wanted to sleep in, but noooo, there was a crowd forming around me and I was outside in the snow, and wait a second...

My eyes slowly blinked open as I look into the cloudy grey sky. I rubbed my eyes, the act of which brought the sound of shuffling steps around me. My brain was still operating on bare minimum at the moment. Breathe. Maybe blink. Go to the bathroom. The whole morning routine. Except that last part wasn’t plausible at the moment. I sat up, shivering suddenly as the cold suddenly snapped me awake.

I was on the frozen concrete square of what looked like a village, nearly entirely blanketed in snow. How the hell did I fall asleep here? No, I didn't....I remember getting home from work and just collapsing on the bed, not bothering to get into pajamas, take the things out of my pockets, or even take my zip-up hoodie off. I grabbed the later, tightening the red plaid’s grip around me to keep warm.

As my other senses finally booted up, I was able to make out some of the words being whispered around me by talking pastel horses. Talking. Pastel. Horses.

....What?

"...saw it just fall out if the sky..."

"-been there all night, sleeping!"

"-is it? I've never seen anything like it..."

-even she doesn't know what it is, and she knows EVERY kind of exotic or rare species. So we thought you might have some insight, Zecora." A voice stood up among the rest, and the other horses stopped talking-I'd like to take a moment to repeat, what!?-to listen. I pinpointed the voice to see a purple, lavender, violet, whatever you wanted to call it, horse with a horn and wings talking to what appeared to be a zebra. Just behind them, looking a bit bashful, was a yellow horse with wings-a pegasus, if my mythology know-how proved effective-and a pink mane who was giving a look that was something along the lines of ‘are...are you the antichrist?’

The zebra approached me warily, showing signs of tenseness as she circled me, examining me like I was some animal they’d never seen before. Oh wait, I guess I kind of was, huh? I raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" I vocalized. I guess I said something wrong, or maybe they were as shocked at the fact that I was talking as I was to them talking, as there was a collective gasp and increased murmurings all around. God, it was like the buzzing of a million flies. I hated crowds. Ironic, coming from the ‘customer service expert’ and magician.

The zebra, apparently Zecora, looked at the purple horse then back to me. "Our languages seem to be one and the same...do the members of your species carry a name?" She asked. I chuckled, resisting the urge to point out the unintentional rhyme. She was a po-nope, not going to do it. It’s such a bad joke. But those are the BEST kind of jokes.

"You mean MY name, or the name of my, er, species?" I replied. It sounded so weird referring to humans as a species like that. "I'm Justice. I'm a human. I'm also dreaming." I said, getting to my feet. Several more gasps (Really, I’m sure someone was going to pass out from dizziness at this point) echoed one another as I stood a few feet above them. They must have assumed I stood on all fours like them. I shoved my hands in my pockets, at this point more or less numb to what was going on around me. Or in denial. I mean, I'm normally not so sleepy in dreams, or cold, or uncomfortable in general...still, this HAD to be a dream. Right?

Zecora tapped her chin. "Human is a word that lies in stories of old...the legend says Earth is the only planet they hold." She said to the purple horse, turning around. Huh. Maybe the rhyming WAS intentional? Weird. Weird zebra is weird.

"Well....the legend must have been based on some sort of factual evidence, as we're looking at a legend right now. Is it dangerous?" Purple asked Zecora. The zebra opened her mouth but I interrupted.

"HE isn't dangerous, no." I cleared my throat. "I wouldn't hurt a fly. Okay, no, I would but the bastards are so damn slippery." I clenched my fist dramatically. "One day, my old rival, one day..."

The crowd was silent. I guess they weren't expecting a smartass. Or probably intelligence at all.

"I think he's cool!" I winced as a voice that was like nails on a chalkboard to my tired brain called out. Several sounds of displeasure were heard as a beacon of vibrant pink pushed through. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's Premier Party Pony! I've never seen a human before, but now I have and that's great because you know how the saying goes, there's a first time for everything and now I've gotten to see my first human because I've never seen a human before!" She said in one breath, gasped deeply, then fell over panting.

I just blinked, completely stunned. "Uh. Yeah." I said. "Look, this is all kinda freakin' nuts. So if someone would be so kind as to pinch me and I can wake up? I gotta get off the midnight launch shifts; lack of sleep is really messing with my head." I groaned, taking one hand out of my pocket and running it over my face warily.

They all just stared at me blankly.Oh. Probably could have thought that one through a little better. I mean, how are they going to pinch without fingers? Common sense, Justice. Common sense. Your stepmom always did tell you how little of it you had.

"Pinkie, go get the other three." Purple said, and the pink horse shot up immediately. "Have them all meet me at the library. Fluttershy, you come with me.” She said to the pegasus I noticed early, who nodded silently, never taking her eyes off of me. “Hum-er, Justice? If you really are peaceful, would you mind coming with me?" She asked, almost sheepishly. I shrugged.

"'We're all mad here.'" I quoted. At her blank look, I clarified. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll go. Whatever's clever." I ran my hand over my head, adjusting my blinged-out beanie. Working at GameStop, I collected various pins for all kinds of games. Last of Us, Medal of Honor, Just Dance, Little Big Planet, Titanfall, League of Legends, and I even had a 'Have I ever told you the definition of insanity?' Pin. It was my personal favorite.

I followed the horse, looking around at my surroundings. The crowd fell behind us, Zecora waving to Purple as she left. I bet she writes poems. "So, uh, where am I? And why, not to be disrespectful or anything, are you all talking horses?" I said, looking at the two walking beside me. The yellow one, or Fluttershy apparently, was keeping Purple between me and her like a human-er, horse shield.

I thought it was a fair question.

"Well...while we ARE equines, we're technically called ponies." She said matter-of-factly. "And that's just how this world is, much like your world is, I assume, filled with hemins-"

"Humans."

"-humans." She blushed at her mistake. "Oh, I never introduced myself! I'm Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and the one of the four Princesses if Equestria." She said formally, bowing her head to me.

"A princess, huh? Know any Zeldas or Peaches?" I snorted at my joke. I’m such a nerd. She smiled uncertainly at that, unsure of how to respond.

"Um, there's a Peach Blossom who lives in town, I could-"

"It-I-...nevermind." I sighed. "So, what, am I gonna be your prisoner? Science experiment? Sacrifice? Museum display? Can I be an astronaut?" I began counting on my fingers. “I really always wanted to be an astronaut. Okay, you called my bluff, I’m afraid of space.” I rambled off in the stupid way I tend to do.

"What? No! Astro-what? No,not at all! I don't know how your world is, but ours is...well, Equestria is focused on peace and harmony." Twilight explained, her horn giving off a faint purple aura as the door ahead of us opened. Of course there was magic. Why not? And she lived in a hollow tree. That was kinda cool, I guess.

"And while I do, er, while I would like to perform some simple tests and studies about you and your kind, it would be completely up to you and nothing I do would bring any harm whatsoever, and I Pinkie Promise." She said, almost excitedly. I was already starting to get a read on her; everything I could see was neat and orderly, there wasn't a single sign of disarray anywhere. Various sticky notes were perfectly aligned on the spines of various books lining the massive walls. She even placed her hooves on the corners of a book on the table as if she were straightening it, but didn't actually move it.

She was an OCD-laden, neat-freak egghead.

"What do you mean Pinkie Promise? Isn't that the name of the....overly excitable pink hor-pony?" I asked, staring at the chair she motioned to.The tiny thing that had no chance of supporting my weight, so I just sat Indian style on the ground.

The mare giggled, as if a kid had just said something they thought was serious but was just cute and amusing to the adults. Rude. "No, that's Pinkie Pie. She did invent the Pinkie Promise, though, and you never, ever, EVER....break a Pinkie Promise." She shuddered as if the consequence was some unspeakable horror.

"Uh. Yeaaaah....I guess you can, uh, do tests or whatever. I don't want needles though. Needles are the devil." I said. She pursed her lips like I had just ruined her entire weekend and I jumped as a quill and notepad floated over to her, wrapped in the purple glow. The quill scribbled something down. Probably about needles.

"Well, that being said, I can perform some pseudo-tests now through some simple questions. Do humans drink?" She asked, tilting her head. "Hydration is a fundamental part of the genetic makeup of living creatures, but there are exceptions to every rule...for example, you might not be a carbon-based life form, or possess an internal form of creating nutrients similar to photosynthesis…." She rambled off thoughtfully. Oh, the LIES I could tell this pony...nah, no need to be like that.

Though it WOULD be really fun….

I cleared my throat. "Err, yeah, we drink stuff. Need it to survive and all that jazz” I explained to her. “Water is the base of our needs, but we’ve invented flavored beverages as well, mostly to sate our race’s often insatiable sweet tooth.” I added.

"I like the use of your vocabulary. Insatiable isn’t a word you hear too often. Oh! Spike, come meet our guest!" Twilight suddenly called out, the quill scribbling some more, dipping into a nearby inkwell.

"Jesus, warning next time..." I grumbled under my breath, having been started by the sudden raise in volume. Fluttershy, sitting off to the side, seemed to have had a similar reaction. What was up with her? Was she mute? “Hey, how’s it going?” I asked her, and she looked around as if hoping I was talking to someone else. When she realized I was addressing her, her mane fell in front of her face like a curtain.

“Um..I’m good…” She mumbled, almost inaudible. Ah, so she was the church-mouse type. Interesting. It kinda made me want to jump up and yell to see if she would faint. Am I cruel? I like to call it curious.

"I can have Spike get you some apple juice. I hope that suits your tastes." Twilight said, the quill scribbling more into the paper. Curious, I reached out and poked the floating objects. My finger tingled as it entered the aura but I felt no other change. I grabbed the notepad and pulled, feeling a resistance as if there were something physical fighting it.

"Huh. Is it like a muscle? Your magic?" I asked, intrigued now. I crumpled up a blank piece of paper from the desk at the notepad, but it just bounced off lamely like you would expect it to.. So it wasn't a telekinetic field, it was more of an invisible hand...interesting.

"Well, sort of. It can get stronger with practice, but it is limited by the individual talent of the unicorn in question." She answered, seeming to be amused by my shenanigans. "Only unicorns and alicorns can perform spells. Pegasi and earth ponies have talents in other fields." She explained.

I heard a faint clicking and I looked behind me to see a tiny figure walking down the stairs, who froze when they saw me. I had a similar reaction. Was that a dragon?

Like....a dragon dragon?

Whaaaaaat that was so cool.

"Twilight, what is that?"

Okay, slightly less cool. But it was alright. I'm like an alien to them. Well, not like. I AM an alien to them, in every sense of the word. I could forgive him for that little slip up. But I’m watching you, bub.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Spike, this is Justice. He's a 'human' from what we can only assume is a parallel world who was somehow transported to ours." She said. I gave him a little wave.

"Sup? Oh, hey, you have digits. Can you pinch me before this rabbit hole gets any deeper?" I requested, finally noticing his talons. Spike looked down at his hand and blinked. This was my dream, he had to comply.

"Uh...sure, I guess." He said. He walked over and reached as far as he could to avoid approaching me. I kinda wanted to jump up and yell 'Ooga booga booga' to see what would happen. Then again Princess over there could probably turn me into a frog.

"Yow!" I hissed as the solid nails of his claws brought pain to my arm. I rubbed the little red spot vigorously to ease the throbbing. Spike jumped back.

"Sorry! You told me to!" He defended himself right away, holding his claws up innocently. But I wasn't listening. I was frozen in shock, my mind reeling.

"I didn't wake up." I stammered. "I-I should have woken up...." I was hypervebtilating, standing up and tearing the beanie from my head to run a hand through my thick brown hair. The ponies and dragon were looking at me with worry.

"Justice...?" Twilight asked. "Are you okay? You need to calm your breathing. In through your nose, out through your mouth." She instructed me as I began to pace frantically.

"The poor guy's in shock. He was expecting this to be a dream, I think..." Fluttershy said, less bashful at this point. I was muttering to myself, looking at my hand.

"You...you have extra fingers in dreams. You have extra fingers in dreams." I repeated, counting. "One..." I held up my index finger, my hands shaking. "Two.....th-three...." I took a shuddering breath as my heart beat in my throat. "Four...five. Five. No, no, no...." A tingling sensation swept through my body as it started to sink in. I continued pacing.

"You...you can't read in dreams!" I said, spinning to face the grim-looking trio behind me. "Your brain can't multitask like that!" I said, scrambling over to the massive wall of books, pulling one out and flipping through it.

"No, no...."

I tossed it aside and pulled free another one down, repeating the process. This couldn't be happening. No, literally, this COULDN'T be happening!

"Hey, I just reshelved-!" I heard Spike begin, only to be shushed by Twilight.

"He....he needs this. Need to accept that it's real." She murmured.

After going through a dozen or so books, I had fallen to my knees, shaking heavily. I couldn't comprehend it. This wasn't a dream. This was real.

I heard footsteps...well, hoofsteps behind me. After a moment of hesitation, I felt a gentle weight on my shoulder. Twilight Sparkle's hoof, I realized. She was trying to comfort me. A unicorn was trying to comfort me. A talking unicorn was trying to comfort me. I didn't ever think I'd think a sentence like that in my life.

"I'm sorry you were brought here, really I am. But you're here, and that isn't going to change until we can figure out how to return you." She said softly. My breathing began to calm slightly. She was right. I might be freaking out but that wouldn't help anything.

"Until then...welcome to Equestria."

Author's Note:

I'm gonna take this with a grain of salt, since I know HiE is like, the most shunned genre on here but I just felt like writing and you're not my real dad.

Comments

[Pyriel]

I personally love HiE. The only reason it's shunned is cause it is overdone and they usually have too generic of a plot.

[The Infinity Doctor]

You, sir/madam, are a genius. I look forward to more!

[Ajulex]

Wow, I did not expect such fast response to this. It's been up for like, a couple hours and it almost has as many views as my other stuff. XD Thanks for the positive comments, but feel free to give me criticism as well! ^_^

[Kenshinryuu]

Well, I can't wait to see more of Justice in Equestria. I can totally see him wishing for a meat based food and realizing that he's in a world of herbivores just after he starts explaining what a hamburger is. Poor guy. But keep up the gamer jokes, those are good.

[Ajulex]

4146392

Don't worry, both of those are sure to come in the future. The person Justice is based on hates almost all veggies, so that'll be fun. ^_^

[Nameless cow]

Little Big Planet

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