Trapped Behind the Screen

by Electronic Pony

Chapter 1

“AAAAHHH!!”

*THUD*

“Oooohhhwhaa..?”

Jeffrey lie in a dazed heap upon the ground. What was this he felt around him? Snow? No, it couldn’t be. He’d just fallen off of his chair right? That light had blinded him and he’d fallen over right?

Wrong. Jeffrey opened his eyes and saw a beautiful landscape blanketed in snow all around him. How did he end up here? Did he fall asleep?

A muffled groan came from somewhere underneath him. Shocked to feel something moving there, he quickly stood up, with a bit of a challenge. The source of the groan took shape, and it was angry when it stood up.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing? Was that you in that tree? You should’ve known what was going to happen! Now you’ve gone and ruined everything!”

Jeffrey tried to focus his eyes on the figure that was telling him off. Delirious, all he could see was how shockingly purple it was. Eventually, the blur faded, and he could not believe what stood before him.

It was a unicorn. And not just any unicorn, but the one and only Twilight Sparkle!

“Wha…?” Was all he could manage to say.

“Hel-lo? You can speak Equestrian right? Answer me!” the unicorn continued.

“Wha…?” Jeffrey repeated.

“Is that all you can say? ‘Wha’?” Twilight asked in rage.

“Wha...but..you…” Jeffrey managed.

“Oh good! It talks!” Twilight clapped her hooves in sarcasm. “Now will you please get out of the way? We’ve only got enough time to take that again…” Twilight trailed off and started moving the snow on the ground back into the tree where it had fallen from.

Jeffrey walked out of the way. Or, hobbled, at least. Why was he finding it so difficult to walk? He looked down at his legs.

“Green…?” He thought, and he was right. Complete dark green had replaced his legs and feet. He looked at his arms, and got the same result, green in color, and they ended in strange stubs, his legs as well. “What did I put these on for?” He thought, and tried to take them off, but when he tried to, he found that it was impossible, because those green stubs weren’t gloves, they were his hands. He felt around his face, and found his mouth and nose on something protruding off of it. “A muzzle…?” he thought. Then it hit him.

“I’m a horse!?” he cried out in questioning. He looked behind him. Sure enough, a black tail was now protruding from his rear, and the short tussle of a black mane was sat on top of his head.

He heard Twilight chuckle. “No duh you’re a horse. Most of us here are. What, did you hit your head and think you were a dragon or something?”

At this, Jeffrey panicked on the spot. His mind filled with too many unanswerable questions. Where was he? Why was he here? What had happened? Was there any way he could get back?

Twilight trotted up to him again "Will you please go away? We have to film this live now."

Jeffrey stood shocked by all that was going on. Twilight just rolled her eyes, and slowly pushed him out of the way.
Twilight then started to walk towards her place. “Get ready everypony!” she shouted. “We’re going through this again! It’s got to be perfect, we’re live in 5! 4! 3! 2!” Right on cue, a large rectangle opened up in front of the scene, revealing the face of a man not unlike Jeffrey. This man seemed slightly older, with a longer face, short light brown hair, and deep brown eyes to accentuate his whole face. The face said nothing when it appeared, it only watched as Twilight carried out her role, and in a matter of seconds, the scene was over, and the rectangle disappeared. Once again, Jeffrey was dumbfounded.

“I seriously don’t understand,” was all he said.

Twilight heard this comment. “Well, you see, in the beginning, there was nothing, and then suddenly, all matter was created, leading to--”

“Yeah yeah I know that story,” Jeffrey said, glaring at Twilight. “What I don’t understand is how I got here.”

“Your parents never gave you ‘the talk’ did they?” Twilight chuckled.

“Can you be serious for a second?” Jeffrey looked Twilight straight in the eye. “I’m human. I’m a human being. From the human world. Earth,” he laughed hysterically and motioned to the landscape around him, “is not this! This is not Earth! I am not home! I am not a horse! I’m a human!”

Twilight approached Jeffrey cautiously. “Obviously you’re not well,” she started, not breaking her gaze. “I’m gonna take you to the nearest hospital, and you’ll be all fine in no time, you hear?”

“No!” Jeffrey shouted, and pushed her away. “I am not a horse! I am human!”

Then he ran. He ran as fast as he could on his two hind legs. Twilight was taken aback by the outburst and was motionless for a few seconds before giving chase. By this time, Jeffrey had reached a clearing where a white coated unicorn and a yellow coated pegasus were helping animals wake up after hibernation. There was also another rectangle.

Jeffrey took the opportunity, running up to the rectangle, he grabbed both sides and yelled, “Help me! Can anybody hear me?! My name is Jeffrey Noman! Somebody, get me out of here! I just want to go home!”

The unicorn and pegasus stood gaping at the scene, but Twilight had caught up, and launched herself at Jeffrey, shoving him out of the way of the rectangle, which closed almost immediately after.

Jeffrey struggled to get up, and Twilight struggled to keep him down. “Fluttershy, Rarity, help me! He’s...not well!” she shouted toward the other two ponies.

The unicorn and pegasus held Jeffrey down as best they could, with the help of some other nearby ponies.

“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy said worriedly. “Is he alright? Maybe we should let him go...”

“No!” Twilight yelled, pushing down on Fluttershy’s loosening grip. “He might ruin something else!” She then directed her attention toward Jeffrey, who was still struggling on the ground. “Listen up,” she started, addressing him. “I don’t know who you are, or what your deal is, but there is no way you’re from the human world, as you so claim.”

“No way?” Jeffrey yelled, exasperated. “How can you say there’s no way? Obviously there’s some way! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here!”

“There is no way to get to the human world! If you claim to be from there, then prove it!”

Jeffrey had to think about this for several moments. Then he found something. “Fine. If what you say is true, then you’ve never been to the human world, which, in fact, is a lie, because you have been to the human world!”

Twilight perked up at that. She rushed up to Jeffrey and whispered, “How do you know about that? We’ve never told anyone about that.”

Jeffrey smirked. “Equestria Girls. That’s right, I’ve seen it. Know how? Because I’m a human.”

Twilight backed up, wide-eyed. She slowly turned around to address the crowd. “*ahem* Uh...the situation is being...taken care of. You can all return to your posts for the episode.”

Mumbling, the crowd slowly dispersed.

Twilight quickly spun around to face Jeffrey. "All right. Go through everything! How you got here, what it was like...no wait! Let me get some equipment rea-."

"TWILIGHT! Dear!" Rarity cut her off. "Please, won't you offer our guest a little room? He seems...troubled."

Twilight grinned sheepishly, and backed up a few steps. "Oh, yes, of course. Sorry," she apologized.

Jeffrey took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I'm calm," he thought to himself. "I'm, I'm calm a-and cool and just don't freak out okay? Don't scream or run or, or spaz or anything just breathe for a second." And so he did.

He tried to focus on something else. Who were these things around him? Ponies, that he knew. His favorite ones, in fact, were gathered around him now, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. They really dealt with everything in this town.

He took a deep breath in and out. “Okay,” he nodded, “I’m...I’m okay.”

“Good,” Twilight started with a sigh. “Now let’s go inside shall we? Let’s try not to make a scene.”

“I think it’s a little bit late for that, dear,” Rarity commented. They all proceeded into Twilight’s treehouse, nearby.

Inside, the six made a circle around Jeffrey, just incase he tried to do anything crazy.

“Now,” Twilight started again, “we need to find out exactly how and why you’ve come to the human world. But I understand that could be a bit of a…,” she paused, and glanced at Jeffrey, who was staring blankly at a wall, and continued, “...difficult subject for you right now, so let’s start with introductions. My name is Twil-”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Jeffrey cut her off, not breaking his gaze from the wall. Then he turned to stare at her. “Your name is Twilight Sparkle. You’re a studious unicorn from Canterlot who was sent from her home to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship.” He then went on to name the rest. “And there’s Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie,” he finished surprisingly calmly.

There was an awkward silence of shock and suspicion from them all before Fluttershy spoke up.

“H-how do you know who we all are?” she asked timidly.

“Because I’m human! Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you?” Jeffrey looked around at the blank stares he was receiving, and sighed. “I suppose I’d better start from the beginning. But please, don’t strap me down this time, will you?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter leaned back in his chair, dumbfounded.

What had he just seen?

That must have been part of the episode right? Just a gimmick, right? It'll be explained later right?

It certainly didn't seem so, and there was no way he could find out, his computer had lost connection.

"Maybe this is a sign I need to go to sleep," he thought to himself. "I must be delirious or something."

So he did. Walter, shut down his computer, turned off his desk lamp, and headed to bed, hoping things would make more sense in the morning.