• Published 2nd Nov 2011
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The Mystery of a New World - Fanthrose



A human gets transported to Equestria and has to adjust to the new world

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The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Chapter 7


The sun was once again peaking over the distant hills, which for AJ meant he didn’t need an alarm. He was given Granny Smith’s old room which was on the same side of the house as Big Mac’s room. The sun was his alarm, much to his annoyance. Twisting and turning in bed trying to go back to sleep, he was interrupted by a knocking on his door. A few seconds later it was opened and a crimson stallion stuck his head in. “Time ta wake up.”

Rubbing his eyes, AJ squinted in the direction of the clock on the wall. “It’s only six in the morning, how can you function so well this early in the morning?”

“Ya get used ta it after a while,” chuckled Big Mac before leaving to go wake his sisters.

AJ sat in bed for a few seconds, before reaching for his glasses. Putting them on, he took another look around the room. It was a medium sized room, but the small amount of furniture in it made it seem bigger. A simple bed was directly opposite the door. Just to the right of the bed was a night stand where he kept his glasses while he slept. A little to the left of the bed was a now empty dresser. A small closet was past that on the left wall. In the center of the left wall was a big mirror directly across from a window. Under the window was a writing desk with a lamp on it. The desk was the only thing on the right wall. A clock adorned the wall to the right of the door.

By the time AJ got dressed and left the room, the rest of the house was already up and getting ready for the day. “Mornin’. How’d ya sleep?” Applejack asked as she walked by.

“Well enough I suppose. I guess I’m going to have to get used to waking with the sun now huh?” AJ groaned, still waking up.

“Eeyup. It gets easy after awhile. Though Apple Bloom still likes ta make a fuss,” Applejack said with a smile on her face.

“I can sympathize,” AJ said as he followed Applejack downstairs.

********************

Big Mac had already started breakfast when they got to the kitchen. “Ah hope yer hungry, cause Ah’m makin’ the traditional Apple family breakfast.”

“Oh trust me, I’m so hungry I feel like I could eat a horse,” AJ said without thinking. After realizing what he just said, he clamped his hand over his mouth and looked at both Big Mac and Applejack staring at him with big eyes. It was time to backpedal. “It’s just a saying. I would never eat a pony. Sorry.” AJ had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time he stuck his foot in his mouth while he was in Equestria.

“Don’t worry about it. Everypony makes mistakes,” Applejack said with an understanding look on her face. “Apple Bloom should be done now, Ah’m goin’ ta go get cleaned up first Big McIntosh.” Big Mac just nodded as Applejack trotted upstairs.

“So, anything I can do to help?” AJ said as he came up next to Big Mac.

Big Mac thought for a minute before nodding. “Eeyup, you can help me with th’ pie crust.” Big Mac showed AJ how to get the pie crust just perfect before starting to roll it out. It took a few tries, but he eventually caught on and was able to line the first pie tin. Big Mac was busy making the pie filling as Apple Bloom came running into the kitchen.

“Can Ah lick the spoon this time Big McIntosh, pleeeeeeease?” asked Apple Bloom as she jumped up into her chair.

Big Mac turned to look at Apple Bloom’s smiling face. “Eeyup.” He always had trouble saying no to his baby sister. If she were to ever use The CMC Special on him, he would probably give her anything her heart desires.

About ten minutes later Applejack came down to see Big Mac and AJ preparing the apple fritters. Apple Bloom was sitting in her chair, happily licking and sucking on the apple filling covered spoon. “Looks like everypony’s havin’ fun in here. Yer turn Big McIntosh, Ah’ll take over.” Applejack walks up to the counter and takes Big Mac’s place as he goes upstairs to shower. “So, how’d pie makin’ go?”

“It went…well,” AJ said with a sheepish smile as he moved to block her view of the pile of failed attempts. “I wouldn’t have expected pies and apple fritters for breakfast though. Though I suppose I can’t say anything, I would regularly have pizza for breakfast back home.”

Applejack noticed the sad look on AJ’s face when he mentioned his home. “Don’t worry. Ah’m guessin’ th’ Princess is workin’ on a way ta get ya back home.”

A small smile formed on his lips. “Thanks.”

Wanting to change the subject, Applejack figured they better get going on breakfast unless they want to eat late today. “Now, Big McIntosh may be better than me at makin th’ pies, but he’s no match for me when it comes ta makin the fritters an apple brown betty.”

********************

After about 15 minutes, Big Mac walked into the kitchen. “Alright, its yer turn ta get washed up. Ah got a towel for ya on the sink.”

“Huh, oh thanks,” AJ said as he put down what he was working on and started walking out of the kitchen. He stopped and turned around when he realized he had no idea which room was the bathroom. “Umm, which room is it?”

“Second room on th’ left,” Apple Bloom said, as she played with the spoon.

After finding the Bathroom, AJ took a minute to note how simple it was. A tub, a towel rack, a toilet, and a sink were the only things in the room. As he started getting undressed, he noticed that his clothes were starting to smell. He had washed them in the river before he met Twilight, but they hadn’t been washed since. ‘I’ll have to ask Applejack or Big Mac if they have a laundry room,’ he thought as he finished undressing to take a shower.

********************

After AJ was cleaned up, he walked into the kitchen and was awestruck at the sheer amount of food on the table. He had helped make some of it, but he hadn’t realized just how much there was. Looking it all over, there were four pies, a big bowl packed full of apples, about two dozen apple fritters, and 4 big apple brown betties. “Jeeze, that’s a lot of food!”

“Eeyup should be enough fer the four of us,” Applejack said as she sat down to start eating.

AJ was about to make a comment about how this much food could feed the entire town, but his grumbling stomach made him shut his mouth and go to sit down. He decided to start with his apple pie as he cut a slice out of it. As he took a bite, he dropped the fork. “What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked her snout covered in pie filling.

AJ just sat there as his eyes started glistening with tears. “This…is the best pie…I’ve ever tasted.” Big Mac beamed with pride as he continued to eat his food.

********************

“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything else this week,” AJ said as he patted his over stuffed belly. As he looked around the table, he couldn’t help but feel slightly inadequate. While he ate his fare share of the food, the others ate a lot more than him. Even little Apple Bloom ate him under the table.

AJ’s job was to help Apple Bloom put away the leftovers and clear the table of any dishes. They took them over to the sink where Applejack and Big Mac had already drawn the dish water. It wasn’t long before a question started to present itself to him. “Hey Applejack, I’ve been wondering. What type of things will I be doing around the farm?”

Applejack had to put down her washcloth before she could speak. “Well, today ah was just hopin’ ya could get to know everypony around Ponyville. It’ll make things easier if’in we need you ta help sell apples or go into town ta get us somethin’.”

AJ immediately felt a sense of dread. His job for the day was to make nice with everyone in the town. Just remembering the reaction he got when he was revealed the previous day made him shiver. The awkward stares of scared ponies still burned in his mind. He got a sickening feeling in his gut, further punishing him for eating so much. “Oh god, this can only end in me getting hurt again.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll send Apple Bloom with ya. As long as she’s with ya, you shouldn’t have any problems,” Applejack said without a doubt her plan would work. The feeling in AJ’s gut intensified ten fold.

********************

AJ and Apple Bloom had just entered Ponyville and they were already getting stares. The ponies that didn’t hide in fear, made sure they kept their distance from the pair. While AJ just wanted to go home, Apple Bloom remained undeterred. “So, who do ya wanna meet first?”

As much as AJ wanted to tell her no one and go home, he didn’t want to make Applejack mad again. Last time he did, it led to a lot of pain and bed rest. “I don’t know. I’ll let you lead the way.”

“Alright, maybe Ah’ll even get mah cutie mark for doin’ this,” Apple Bloom said with an ear to ear smile. “Lets to introduce you ta Carrot Top first. She’s our resident carrot farmer and she’s really nice. She should be settin’ up her stand now.

Apple Bloom led AJ through the streets of Ponyville towards the market. All along the way AJ was glancing around at the ponies staring at him as he passed. “There she is!” Apple Bloom shouted, distracting AJ from his pony watching. He looked ahead to see a pale yellow pony with a carrot orange mane setting up a merchants stand full of carrots. She was turned away from them and didn’t see the two of them approach. “Howdy Carrot Top.”

“Oh, hello Apple B…” Carrot Top cut herself off as she turned around and saw AJ standing right behind the little filly. “Umm h-hello A-apple B-bloom.”

“Carrot Top, Ah’d like to introduce you ta AJ. He’ll be livin’ on th’ farm fer awhile and Applejack wants him ta meet some ponies around town,” Apple Bloom said seemingly unaware of Carrot Tops fear.

“Uhh, hi,” was all AJ could say, not wanting to scare her any further. He wanted to extend his hand in friendship, but didn’t think it would be a good idea. Carrot top just continued to cower as she stared at him. “OK, I’m sure you would like to get back to work, let’s go Apple Bloom… lets go meet some other ponies.

“Hmm, who should Ah introduce you ta next,” Apple Bloom said as they walked away from the still quivering carrot vendor. As they walked a little bit, Apple Bloom noticed two mares walking towards them. “Hey, it’s Lyra and Bon Bon, they must be out fer a mornin’ trot.” Apple Bloom quickly sped ahead to make herself known to the talking ponies. “Hi Lyra, hi Bon Bon.”

“Hello Apple Bloom, what are you doing here this early? I thought you were working on the farm during the summer break,” asked the cream colored pony with the two toned mane.

“Ah’m introducin’ ponies to AJ here,” Apple Bloom said as she pointed her hoof in AJ’s direction. AJ just waved with a sheepish smile on his face.

The two ponies looked like they didn’t know what to make of him. They knew that Celestia had introduced him to the town, but it’s not like they had any interactions with him. Lyra decided to break the ice and took a nervous step closer to AJ. “Umm, hi. I’m Lyra, and this is my marefriend Bon Bon.” Bon Bon blushed and gave a small, scared smile in his direction. After the small introduction, Lyra took a nervous step back to Bon Bon.

AJ let out a small sigh of relief as Apple Bloom led him away from the two nervous ponies. “At least it went better than last time. They didn’t look like they were about to piss themselves with fear.”

“Come on, let’s go say hi ta mah teacher Ms. Cheerilee!” Apple Bloom shouted as she ran ahead.

********************

It was around noon when Apple Bloom started getting hungry again. Up to that point, they had met a handful of ponies, all with varying degrees of success. Cheerilee was exited to meet someone new and wanted to learn more about humans. The flower trio all had the same reaction of fear. Rose and Daisy both ran into their shop, while Lily shouted 'The horror, the horror!' and passed out. Then there were ponies like Berry punch who pulled her child inside at the site of him.

“Ah’m hungry, are you hungry?” Apple Bloom asked

“No, I’m still full from breakfast, but if you are, don’t let me stop you,” AJ said not wanting to sound rude.

“Let’s go to Sugar Cube Corner and get some cupcakes then. Pinkie pie makes the best cupcakes,” Apple Bloom said as she pulled out a purse full of bits Applejack had given her for lunch.

“Pinkie Pie, who’s that?” AJ asked as he followed Apple Bloom into a building shaped like a ginger bread house. When inside he saw a pink pony with a dark pink mane. That’s when he remembered back to his day from hell a week ago. He remembered back to when he was being 'chased' by the pink bouncing pony with limitless energy. “Oh god, it’s you!”

“Hiya Apple Bloom, Hiya AJ!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced over to the pair. “Are you here for a party, oh I love parties! Which reminds me I have to throw you a “Glad you’re feeling better” and a “Thanks for forgiving Applejack” party. Or maybe you’re here for some of the fresh baked blue berry muffins I just baked. There so warm and yummy in your tummy. Or maybe you’re here for…”

AJ was afraid. They just entered the building and they were being verbally assaulted by this pink, pony-shaped bundle of pure energy ranting about whatever little thing just happened to be on her mind. Relevance be damned. He didn’t know whether to grab her and tell her to slow down, or run away. Apple Bloom spared what little sanity he had left by cutting Pinkie’s endless rant off. “Where just here for some cupcakes Pinkie.”

“Oh, good choice! Mrs. Cake worked really hard on them all morning!” Pinkie said as she bounced behind the counter, retrieving a box full of cupcakes. “That will be six bits!”

AJ wanted to leave. Not only was Pinkie Pie horrifying to him, but the smell of all the sugary confectionaries were making him sick to his stomach after that breakfast. “I think I’ll head out on my own Apple Bloom. I’m not very hungry.”

“Are ya sure? Ah could come with ya again?” Apple bloom said with the cupcakes in her mouth.

“Nah, I’ll see if I can make some friends on my own. And besides, I wanna go talk with Twilight about some…things that don’t really concern anyone but the two of us.” As AJ walked out of the building, he didn’t notice that Pinkie had started joyously bouncing again with a glimmer in her eyes.

********************

It was about three hours later and as expected, AJ made little to no progress around Ponyville. Most of the ponies either avoided him, or ran scared. “*sigh* Maybe I should have stayed with Apple Bloom, at least she would have started up a conversation, keeping them from running away immediately.” As he reached the library, he knocked on the door. After getting no response, he knocked again, this time calling out for Twilight and Spike. Still no response. He opened the door and immediately noticed how dark the room was. “Twilight, Spike, you there?” When he got about half way into the room the door slammed shut leaving AJ In complete darkness. “Umm, h-hello?”

Then all the lights in the Library were turned on all at the same time, temporarily blinding AJ as his eyes adjusted to the light. “SUPRIIIIIISE!!!!!” shouted a horrifyingly familiar voice.

When AJ could see again, he saw Pinkie Pie bouncing in front of him, and surrounding him, were a bunch of ponies he had met throughout the day. He also noticed Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, and two ponies he had yet to meet. “What the hell is going on here?” he said with a tinge of fear.

“It’s your welcoming party!” shouted Pinkie pie. “While talking about parties before, I remembered that I haven’t thrown you one yet, so before I could throw you those other two parties, I needed to welcome you!”

Mercifully the white unicorn with the purple mane stepped up and stopped Pinkie. “Pinkie darling, can’t you see that you’re scaring the poor dear. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, my name is Rarity. I run Carousel Boutique.”

AJ watched as Pinkie hoped away to go have fun with the other party guests. “What is up with her? Its like she’s on the sugar high from hell.”

“That’s Pinkie for ya,” said the blue pegasus behind Rarity. “You get used to it after awhile. I’m Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer in all of Equestria! ”

“Umm hi,” AJ said, half paying attention. He made sure he kept his eye on Pinkie. After making sure Pinkie wasn’t up to no good, AJ finally turned his attention to Rainbow Dash. “So what do you do?”

“Dashie’s a weather pony!” came an over exited voice shouted from over his shoulder.

“GAH!” AJ screamed as Pinkie’s voice made him jump a bit. “Where did you come from? I only took my eyes off of you for a second!”

“Silly willy, I’ve been here the entire time!” Pinkie said as she smiled and bounced.

Dash just facehoofed. “Pinkie Pie, you are so random.

At this point, Fluttershy and Twilight joined the group to make sure Pinkie wasn’t going to give AJ a heart attack. “You don’t have to be so afraid of Pinkie, she’s really very nice,” said the purple unicorn.

“Oh yes, she’s really nice to everypony,” Fluttershy added. “All you need to do is give her a chance, um…if that’s ok with you.” With the words of encouragement from the two of them, AJ figured he might as well give the pony shaped nuclear reactor a chance.

********************

The party went on for hours, and with many close encounters of the pink kind, AJ was finally starting to get used to Pinkies limitless energy. She still scared him, but he was sure he could be in the same room without fearing for his life. The same could be said for the ponies that were at the party. Many of them were able to at least tolerate AJ’s presence without fleeing in terror now.

It was about 9 at night as Applejack and AJ were heading back from the library. Apple Bloom had fallen asleep and was sleeping on Applejacks back. “Pinkie sure can throw a party can’t she?” Applejack asked

“It was fun I suppose,” AJ said deep in thought. “But with everything that happened, I forgot that I wanted to ask Twilight something.”

“Don’t worry about it. Twi will be there tomorrow. It’s not like yer goin’ ta be workin’ the entire day,” Applejack said, adjusting so Apple Bloom would be more comfortable. “Come on, it’s gettin’ late and we have an early day tomorrow.”

********************

The next morning played out much the same. Though the breakfast was simple oatmeal with apple slices instead of the 4 course apple themed meal. “So, what’s my task for the day?” AJ asked Applejack as they walked out the door to begin working on the farm.

“Well, Ah think today ya could help Apple Bloom clean up the barn,” Applejack said leading him to the barn. “There’s a lot of hay that still needs to be bundled, and all those apples need to be moved into the cellar.” Remembering the large amount of apples that were piled up in the barn, AJ knew this task would take awhile, even with the help. Apple Bloom started cleaning up the hay, while AJ decided to start working on the apples. He wanted to try to at least put a dent in the numbers before lunch.

As he hefted the first bin full of apples out of the barn, he heard something coming from the distance. He couldn’t tell what it was, and just decided it wasn’t important. “Look out belooooOOOOOOOWWW!!!!” This was a mistake as he was hit from the side by a blur, sending the apples he was carrying all over the ground.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on he…oh, hi Ditzy Doo,” Applejack said as she came through the trees to check on what was making all the ruckus. It turns out the mailmare Ditzy Doo had another crash landing. This time right into AJ.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to run into you!” Ditzy was frantically trying to help AJ up to his feet. This was made difficult due to the sheer size difference between the two.

“Don’t worry about it,” AJ said as he rubbed his side. He looked at his “assailant” and realized he hadn’t seen her before. Despite this, she wasn’t afraid or anything. She was worried that she'd hurt him. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“What do you mean?” Ditzy asked as her eyes started to separate.

“Well, most of the ponies in town seemed to flee in terror at the site of the strange creature they've never seen before, but you, you just start up a conversation with me like we’ve known each other for years,” AJ said.

Ditzy’s face turned to one of sadness. “Well, I know what its like to be treated differently because you’re different,” she said pointing at her eyes.

“And it’s a damn shame too,” Applejack added in anger. “Ditzy’s probably the nicest pony you’ll ever meet in Equestria, and someponies make fun of her because of her eyes. Darn foals always callin' er Derpy Hooves.” Applejack let out a frustrated snort at the name some ponies throw her way.

AJ looked into Ditzy’s eyes and watched she blinked them back into their proper place. He could sympathize with her as he was made fun of throughout most of his life because he was fat. “I don’t know, I think it’s kinda cute actually.”

Ditzy blushed. “Really? You don’t think its weird or strange or anything like that?”

AJ shook his head. “Nah, if anything, it makes you special. It’s something that defines you.”

Ditzy smiled at this. “Thanks! Say, would you like to be my friend?”

AJ looked as the bluish grey pegasus stuck her hoof out. He grabbed her hoof and shook it. “Sure, I’d like that. I’m AJ by the way.”

****************************************

My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust

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