• Published 19th May 2012
  • 2,794 Views, 58 Comments

Equestria's Peril - KJay



Two unlikely heros must work together with their new pony friends to stop an ancient evil.

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Chapter 1: The Land They Should've Known

Alright everyone, here we go...I would like to take this time to say that this story has no real pre-planned route, but don't worry I still want to be senseful and consistent with it. As always, enjoy.



"But sire, how do you plan to overthrow her? Celestia may not appear very threatening, but her power is something to be reckoned with." A brawny, but shadow like creature stated, as he stared at his ruler who sat upon a crumbled old throne chair, chipped with age.

"I know of her potential, captain...her parents displayed it to me many millennia ago." Revered the tyrant, recalling his past defeat. "This time however, will be different." He said in an ominous, scraggly voice. "I will take this world as my own."

"What do you plan to do sire? With the upmost respect, we have too little of an army to launch any kind of attack. These accursed plains have made sure of that." The shadowy captain looked around seeing the near desolate, burnt, sunken landscape that they were forced to call home.

"Our armies are enough to decimate the gaurds of that damned palace at the least!" The giant mass of darkness wrapped in a blood-red cloak turned his black hand to a fist at the mention of the very place.

"And the princess'?"

"I have found a way to possibly distract or maybe even weaken her." He grinned widely under his ragged hood, "After she is preoccupied, I will be reunited with my tablet, and my power will be endless once more."

"What do you have planned?" The captain said with little emotion. The shadow lord chuckled.

"Have you ever heard of a destructive, feral race known as humans?"



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Somewhere deep in the Everfree Forest



All Daniel could do at first was stare straight up at the blue sky, through a mass of trees. His vision was blurred, and his head pounded. After a minute or two, he began to bring himself to his feet, staggering a bit.

" What the fuck?" He looked around only to be welcomed by more trees in every direction. A small clearing with no obvious path was to his right. He stumbled once, but found his way into the clearing. He stopped for a moment to think back, trying to figure how he ended up in the middle of a damn forest. His eyes widened as a thought came to him. He glanced back at the spot where he had woken, but didn't see his friend anywhere.

"KELLY?!" Daniel called out, but no response. Something made a click-like noise, drawing Daniel's attention behind him. A small creature, about half the size of Daniel was gawking at him, but the animal was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. It had the head of a lion, what appeared to be bat wings, petruding from behind, and 'IS THAT A SCORPION'S STINGER?!' Daniel thought, both shocked and amazed.

"Uhh..." Daniel was too awestruck, and somewhat frightened. He couldn't think of his next move. The thing just kept staring at him like a housecat eyeballs a ball of yarn. The small creature barely shifted its eyes, resting it's gaze just past Daniel's shoulder. Losing the creatures stare, Daniel slowly moved back and did a cautious 180. His face bumped into something fuzzy, yet monsterous in size. Again, Daniel moved back and tilted his head upward only to see a spitting image of the baby creature...ten times bigger.

"Mother of God..." His voice caught in his throat. If Daniel was a cartoon character, his pupils would've dialated into pin heads. The beast gave a low growl, and peered at the medium sized snack. Not expecting resistance, he slowly raised a forepaw, ready to swipe at Daniel. Daniel's brain finally kicked in, 'DUCK!' His mind jolted. Daniel widened his stance, and dodged the incoming swipe. Shortly after, he took off in an adrenaline fueled sprint, right past the massive predator. The manticore didn't have time for another assault with his paws, instead he slightly pitched his body and swung his poisonuos tail at the fleeing meal in an attempt to trip him.

Daniel tried jumping over the manticore's second attack, but the beast's tail was too elevated; the tip of Daniel's shoe caught it. He came down hard and scraped his right arm, but he was too distracted by fear to care about the pain and wasted no time in scrambling back to his feet before taking off once more, mere seconds before the manticore could impale him where he lay. He had never ran this fast in his life, the feeling was exhilerating, almost like flying. But Daniel couldn't get caught up in it, he had to bob and weave trees, hop over roots, and find some way out, all the while, he could hear loud thuds of massive paws behind him.

His feet lost connection with the ground as he found himself tumbling down a small slope. When he came to a rolling stop, he was on a dirt path, with an exit just a foot-ball field's length away. He picked himself up for the second time, making the condition on his injured arm worse. Moments after he took off, a groundshaking thud thundered behind him, followed by a deafening roar. Daniel knew it was in vein, but he screamed anyway.

"HEEEEELP!" The unshaded daylight was a welcoming portal to safety, and Daniel was less than fifteen feet to freedom. "Almost..." He said breathless, but it was no good. His upper body bathed in the open sun while pain soared through his left leg, the monster had dug its claws through his pants and caught him near the heel. Satisfied, the manticore slowly dragged Daniel back into the shrouds of shade.

"RRAAAAAHHHHH!" Daniel's fear was replaced with burning frustration. He used his free leg to kick at the manticore's paw, making him let go. He crawled for a good two feet until the beast casually flipped him over, and held him down. Daniel no longer had the strength to struggle. He was winded from sprinting, and the pain from his injuries were starting to take effect. The creature grinned, pleased with his catch, and readied his stinger. Daniel cringed, and closed his eyes in defeat. A single tear ran down his cheek as he waited for death. He blacked out before he could embrace it.




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"Ohh, my head..." Kelly groaned as he came to. His head obviously ached, but it wasn't just from the sudden twist of time and space; he was hanging upside down. He felt his face getting heavier from the blood rushing there, and strained to look up. His left foot was caught between two small branches forking off of a larger branch. He looked down, there were a few more branches below, but none close enough to reach. Judging the ground, he was suspended most likely thirty feet in the air. His eyes began to water from the reverse gravitational pull, and he was becoming anxious trying to pull himself up.

"C'mon dammit, almost." The shift in his body weight began to wear on the thin branch. *SNAP

"Aw, cra-" was all he could mutter before he began his comical decent. "WOAAHH-OOF!" Kelly smacked two wide spread limbs, slowing his fall as he tumbled ten more feet to the unforgiving ground. He hit the grass like a brick, landing on his side and knocking the wind from his lungs. A purple unicorn was exiting from the base of the tree just as the tall alien creature ate the dirt.

"AAH!" The unicorn jumped back and her horn glowed as she began casting a defensive spell. She cancelled the spell after a few seconds, watching the weird being rock back and forth holding it's side with it's...hooves? "Um...hello? Are you...okay?" Kelly didn't hear her. His ears were ringing and his entire body ached.

He managed to mouth the words "Son of a bitch," but couldn't bring any sound to them, due to his lack of air. He soon rolled onto his back, regaining his breath, but coughing rather violently. The unicorn assumed it couldn't speak since it had ignored her. Either that, or it was just being rude.

'Then again,' she thought to herself. 'Whatever it was just took a nice dive out of the top of my house.' She noticed the leaves, and various twigs scattered around the creature. She edged towards it slightly, inch by inch, trying to get a better look. Kelly brought himself up with his arms and sat with one knee up and the other leg straight out. He looked down until he could breath normally, then gave a quick glance at the purple unicorn. He looked down again, only to do a jerky double-take, almost falling over, and startling the horned pony.

Kelly put his weight on his hands, his eyes like saucers, bewildered at...a purple horse...with a dark blue mane accompanied by a pink stripe...and...a horn on it's forehead! The unicorn tried once again to communicate.

"Heelloo, aarree yoouu injuurredd?" She exagerated her lip movement, hoping the creature would comprehend better. Kelly's brain caught up with him as he squinted and realized he was trying to lipread a horse. His ears still rang like church bells. The unicorn gave a confused look as the alien shook it's head, and used one of it's...smaller appendeges to clean out what she assumed were ears.

"Aarr, make it stop." The unicorn tilted her head. 'So it can speak,' she thought. The ringing sensation soon went away, and Kelly found himself awkwardly staring at the purple horse while she returned the gaze. He then remembered trying to lipread it, and out of pure curiosity, he simply said "Hi?" She put on a smile, trying to show that she was friendly.

"Well, hello." Kelly's mouth dropped, he then chuckled a bit and said without thinking,

"It talked." He eyed the creature with a dumbfounded expression. "You talked." Kelly felt no emotion except shock. No joy, no gleeful realization that he was in the wonderful planes of Equestria. Nothing like that. The trip from his world to this one had taken one toll, aside from all of the physical abuse of course. It had taken his memories. Kelly still knew who he was. He knew his address, he remembered his family and his friends, in fact he still retained all of his past experiences. All except for the fact that he was a Brony. Whatever had caused the memory wipe had taken all recollection of anything My Little Pony related. His surroundings, and the fact that he was talking to none other than Twilight Sparkle herself, were entirely new to him.

The thought of where Daniel might be had yet to cross his thoughts. That chain of thinking was occupied by the fact that he was conversing with a freakin' horse! Twilight looked around. It seemed like she was still the only one to stumble upon this thing. Her better judgment would've advised against inviting an alien into her home upfront, but she was too curious for her own good, and her intuitive mind got the better of her.

"Can you stand? Would you like to come in?" Kelly gave her another dumbfounded look, then glanced at the doorway leading into the tree.

'Might as well,' he thought. 'It's the least this oversized toothpick could do after dropping me on my head, so to speak.' Kelly stopped to ponder if that might be the reason why he was seeing a technicolored talking horse, but he quickly dismissed it as he stepped inside, clutching his ribs.




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Kelly seated himself on a couch that would be way too small if he were to lay on it like a bed. He grunted as the side of his torso throbbed

"Can I get you anything, maybe something to drink?" Kelly gave a simple answer.

"Water would be nice...please." He said, trying to be a polite geust. He heard the sound of a sink, and watched awestruck as the horse came back with a glass of water...levitating in front of her! He could make out the faintest purple aura dancing around the beverage, the same glow covered the unicorn's horn. She 'handed' him the drink, and he grasped it out of the air. "How did you do that?" Now it Twilight's turn to wear a confused face.

"Do what?"

"The glass..." He pointed at the drink in his hand. "...It was floating." She smiled, gaining amusement by impressing the creature with such a simple feat.

"It's just magic." She said plainly. Kelly raised a brow.

"Magic." He said with a skeptical tone.

"Yeah, watch." Twilights horn illuminated as she used her teleporting spell several times, before returning to the place she originally stood. She looked at him expecting more coo's of amazement. To her delight, Kelly just stared again, until he half smiled with a chuckle and started rubbing his eyes with one hand as if he had a migrane.

"So..." He began. "You can talk, use telekinesis, and teleport." Kelly said in monotone while still rubbing his eyes. Twilight was going to say something, but was interrupted. "What the hell did I eat?!" Kelly spoke loudly finally opening his eyes. Twilight was taken aback by his statement.

"What? What do you mean?" Kelly stood and started pacing, cupping his hands around his head while he spoke.

"What do I mean?! I am talking to a h-no, a UNICORN! Who can levitate crap, and teleport. What more needs to be said?" He calmed down during the last sentence, the pain in his ribs flaring up again as he sat down and gave a long sigh. He looked at the glass of water he'd put down, and noticed he hadn't even taken a drink yet.

"Okay, look. I suppose I can understand your frustration. I've never seen your kind before, and you've obviously never seen my kind before." Kelly was drinking his water in thirsty audible gulps, then set it down shaking his head.

"Oh no, we have horses where I come from, they just don't talk or use magic." He said in a flat matter-of-fact tone, followed by a weak laugh. Twilight shot him a surprised glare.

"Mute ponies, who don't use magic...interesting. What about pegasi?" Kelly raised both brows.

"What? Did you say pegasi?" Twilight looked away.

"Oh, thats right, you're new here."

"Pegasi?" Kelly repeated. "As in horses with wings?" Twilight gave a slow nod. Kelly began rubbing his eyes in the same fashion as before. "Wow..." Something in Twilight's brain clicked.

"Wait, it seems as though you've never been to a place like this, but if thats true, then how are you aware of unicorns and pegasi?"

"Where I come from, unicorns and pegasi are nothing but mythilogical creatures." 'Wow,' Twilight though. 'I sure made the right choice inviting him in. If what he says is true, then were gonna have quite a bit to talk about. That is, if he cooperates.' Kelly interrupted her thoughts.

"Where am I?" He asked blankly. It took her a moment to process such a simple question.

"Um, Ponyville." Kelly looked away, seeming as if he was lost in thought.

"This...town is Ponyville?" Twilight nodded. "Does it reside within a country?" Twilight nodded again.

"Equestria." Kelly squinted. 'Equestria...why does that sound so familiar?' Twilight returned the favor of interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh my, please forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself." Kelly looked up. "My name is Twilight Sparkle." Kelly stopped himself from giggling. He was never really good with names, but with a name like 'Twilight Sparkle,' he probably wouldn't forget anytime soon.

"Name's Kelly." Kelly instinctively held out his hand. Twilight smiled, assuming it to be similar to a hoofshake. As they shook, each thought silently to themselves.

'Whatever the hay he is, he's got quite the grip.'

'...She almost feels like a marshmallow...' After they were properly aquainted, Twilight felt it was necessary to get to the real reason why she invited him in.

"Listen Kelly, I consider myself somewhat of a scholar, and of course well-read." Kelly observed the home, and realized that almost every inch of it was a library. He was about to throw in a sarcastic 'no shit,' but he held his toungue. Kelly never really took pleasure out of being unpleasant for no reason. Twilight continued. "And I was hoping that with your permission of course, I might ask you a few questions. Y'know, gain a little insight on your species." She put on a cute grin, and her eyes visibly twinkled. Kelly actually thought it was kind of adorable, even if he was in this FUBAR situation. He thought about it for maybe five seconds.

"Sure, what's the harm?" Twilight was overjoyed.

"Yes, this is great! I get to begin an entirely new study from Scratch! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!" Kelly smiled, he liked her enthusiasm. "So, Kelly. Would you be so kind as to stand please." Kelly did as he was asked, but winced at a sharp pinch from his side. "Are you alright?" Kelly nodded after rubbing his ribs.

"I'll be fine, the worst it's gonna do is bruse." Twilight levitated a parchment and quill. She scribbled at the top Physical Traits of the she paused.

"I'm sorry, what species are you?"

"Human." He replied with a small shrug. She deadpanned, and looked at him.

"Did you say human?" He nodded a couple times, and Twilight's thoughts went to a certain mint green unicorn, who in fact had an obsession with this very creature.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"No, but there's somepony I think the whole town's gonna owe an apology to." Kelly had no idea what she meant by that, but decided not to worry about it. Twilight finished the title on the parchment, and began observing her specimen, starting at the head. "Okay, the given subject stands at maybe, six feet or so?" Kelly confirmed with a nod, she was pretty much dead on. Twilight jotted down her first notes and felt almost intimidated by his height. Kelly towered a good three feet above her. She made a comment about his light peach colored 'coat,' and Kelly corrected her, telling her it was just skin.

Kelly had a 'mane' of moderately short dark brown hair, and seemed like the bangs were just barely spiked. He had a dark shade of green eyes, and his jaw was evenly rounded. He was slender, but had noticable muscles.

"Yeah, got into the habit of lifting weights a couple years back." He said expecting admiration. Then he remembered he was talking to a horse...still. Kelly wore a white T-shirt shirt with some patterns on it, along with light blue jeans, and white and black tennis shoes. Twilight asked if she could examine his torso, and legs; Kelly complied. The examination took about ten minutes as Kelly named off muscle groups where she inspected. Finally, they had gotten to Kelly's feet, and Twilight jotted a final note of the five smaller 'toes' that resembled 'fingers,' but were not quite as opposable or handy...except for standing.

Twilight re-read her physical, and gave an approving smile just by how much information she already had. Kelly sat back down and waited patiently, waiting for her to say something. But he felt it was justified that he got to ask at least one question about the colorful town he saw outside of the window.

"Is it just horses that live here?" Twilight brought the parchment down, revealing her face.

"Well, not exclusively. We have some donkeys who reside here, and maybe some cows who live a bit further out, but the majority would definitly be ponies." He nodded, showing that he understood. "Oh, but for the record, we prefer the term ponies over horses." Kelly shrugged, noticing no actual difference. But he cooperated.

"Alright, whatever." After Twilight finished reading her own work. She grabbed a new parchment and dipped her quill.

"If it's okay with you, I have a few questions."

"Shoot." He said with a blank face.

"Alright, but before we begin, could I ask what you were doing on top of my home?" Kelly looked away, trying to think of a reason, but honestly, he had no idea how he'd gotten up there. He looked back at Twilight.

"Twilight, please believe me when I tell you that I have absolutely no clue how I woke up dangling from a tree." But her reaction gave away the suspicion that she thought he was hiding something. He tried harder to convince her. "Trust me, you really think humans make a habit out of napping in trees, when most of us aren't even that acrobatic. I'm fairly sure you saw that little act I put on. Y'know, the one where I nearly busted my kidney." Twilight's eyes softened. Kelly had yet to give her a reason why he would mislead her.

"Okay, I believe you." He breathed in relief. "But you don't have any recollection of what you were doing before you woke up?" Kelly looked down, his mind was still hazy, as he struggled to collect his memories, just before he arrived in Ponyville. Before he could give an answer, the door of the library was hastily swung open as a yellow coated, pegasus with a light-pink mane burst through the door.

"Twilight! You have to come quick! I rescued what seems like a primate, but-*GASP" She froze in place, eyes locked on Kelly who was now standing, startled by the sudden intrusion. Twilight rushed to the pegasus, making sure she didn't fly off screaming in fear. Kelly's presence had to remain a secret to the other resident's of Ponyville. Otherwise, her research might be in jeopardy. Kelly took time to notice that even though this new pony had burst in here obviously distrought, her panicked words were just audible.

"Fluttershy, it's okay. He's not going to hurt you. He's actually really nice." Fluttershy gave Twilight a look as if the unicorn were crazy, then brought her gaze back to the bipedal creature. Kelly stared back, and suddenly...he felt a strange feeling as his thoughts ebbed away. He began to lose himself in the mare's deep expressioned blue eyes. When he had first watched the show, Kelly immediately fell in love with Fluttershy's character. Her kindness, and shy personality tugged at his little Brony heart. Needless to say, she was his favorite, and he hoped one day that he could meet a girl exactly like her.

Now here he was...ready to meet the real Fluttershy. Possibly one of the most unimaginable and breathtaking moments in his entire life. But the moment was wasted, all because he couldn't remember a damn thing. Twilight motioned to Kelly, telling him to come introduce himself. He took notice and walked forward, but never took his eyes off of the pegasus. Twilight closed the door as Kelly took a knee, now eye level with Fluttershy.

"Hello," he said in a hushed voice. Fluttershy tilted her head down, as a tuff of pink hair partially covered her face. Kelly was struck by the same emotions he had when he first saw her on the show, and couldn't help but smile. He cautiously held out his hand. "My name's Kelly. What's yours?" Fluttershy slightly brought her head back up.

"Um...I'm Fl..." She stated her name, but not quite loud enough.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, smiling warmly at the pony's timid behavior.

"Flutter....Fluttershy. My name's Fluttershy." Kelly let his hand back down, but wasn't offended, he thought it rather cute that she wouldn't meet his eyes for no more than a second.

"Fluttershy huh? That's a really sweet name." Even though he was intrigued by her, he thought to himself, 'after meeting this pony, irony has taken on a new meaning.' Fluttershy blushed at the compliment with the faintest of grins, and said just barely over a whisper

"Um...thank you." She looked at him with a sideways glance, and he thought he felt his heart beating faster. He wasn't sure why yet, but this pony had managed to make him feel happy almost instantly. Fluttershy then looked at Twilight who was standing to her left, waiting for the two end their introductions. She shook her head, remembering why she was here.

"Twilight! You need to come with me to my cottage! There's a creature there that I rescued from a manticore...and it looks alot like him!" Fluttershy nodded her head toward Kelly. "Just with a shorter, darker mane." Kelly stood back up, eyes wide.

"Daniel! Aw man, I completely forgot about him!" Both mare's looked at him puzzled.

"Wait, you know who it is?" Asked Fluttershy.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah." He then looked at Twilight. "And that reminds me what happened just before I woke up here. Me and my friend Daniel were hanging out at my house. We got bored of playing Xbox, so we went to watch T.V." Of course the mentioning of these strange devices just gave Twilight more unaswered questions, but she kept silent and let him continue. "Although, I can't remember what we were watching, it wasn't shortly after that, there was this...intense light coming from the middle of the room. I have no way of explaining what happened after that point. It just got brighter, and louder too. It got so bright, that we had to shield our eyes. It wasn't long after that that I just...passed out."

Both of the ponies listened with obvious amazement, and didn't know what to say after he finished. "And I'm just now realizing that my best friend is missing. God, what the hell is wrong with me?" Twilight stepped forward.

"Don't blame yourself Kelly, it sounds like you've been through a lot. The stress if this whole situation just had you distracted, thats all." Kelly appreciated her reassurance, but still felt a pang of guilt.

"Um, excuse me." Fluttershy stepped in. "But...just what exactly are you and Daniel...if you don't mind that is."

"Were humans. I've been informing Twilight on humans since I arrived here."

"That's right," said Twilight. "Their a really interesting race. They have a lot of similarities to monkeys, but can stand upright on their feet, and have a firm grasp on intelligence. They lack fur, and unfortunately can't use magic or fly..." Twilight would've rambled all day, but Fluttershy had to interrupt.

"Um...Twilight, I'm reeaaly sorry, it sounds like you learned alot about them...a-and I'm happy for you...but...the human...at my cottage."

"Oh, of course!" She turned to Kelly. "Kelly, would you mind waiting here while I help Fluttershy? There's lots of books to read, and Spike-" Kelly frowned.

"What? No. I'm coming too." Twilight gave him a stern look.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Who knows how everypony's gonna react if they see you. They've never seen a human before." Kelly looked around.

"C'mon, surely you can think of something." Twilight, pondered for a second, until she headed upstairs and returned with her bedspread and sheets.



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"Remember Kelly, all fours." Twilight reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah I know. This is rediculous." Before Kelly started walking, he thought he had seen something out of the corner of his eye behind the house next to Twilight's. His gaze rested upon a dark figure looking around the corner at him. When their eyes met, the shadowy silhouette scooted away out of his line of sight. Kelly felt unsettled, but brushed it off as just another resident of the town, or something.

"Well I'm sorry, but Fluttershy was getting frantic and you yourself insisted on coming." The two ponies, and the human covered in the bedspread and sheets, walking on all fours, were making their way through town towards the bridge that headed to Fluttershy's cottage. Kelly stayed behind Twilight and Fluttershy watching where their hooves went without revealing his face. Kelly heard a third pony's voice as he stopped behind Twilight.

"Hey guys, whats up?" The voice was slightly rough, but feminine.

"Oh! Uh...hi Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy responded meekly.

"Where you guys goin'...and who the hay is that?" Dash pointed a hoof at the clutter of covers. Twilight smiled at the pegasus.

"This is my cousin. He's visiting me from Canterlot." Dash cocked her head sideways.

"And hes wearing your bedspread because..." Usually Twilight would've fumbled trying to think of an excuse, but this time she had one prepared. She motioned toward Rainbow Dash to lean in closer, so Kelly couldn't hear.

"Well, you see, the thing is..." Kelly strained to listen. He wanted to know what her fib was. "...Hes just really, really ugly." Kelly scowled, and wish he hadn't heard. Fluttershy barely giggled. Dash wasn't entirely convinced, but she was going to be late for cloud duty, so she shrugged and said her goodbye's. Twilight and Fluttershy did the same, and the trio continued over the bridge.

"You really couldn't think of a different lie?" Twilight was slightly embarrased that he'd heard her.

"It worked didn't it?" None of them said anything else until they stepped inside Fluttershy's house.

"Whoa." Kelly took the sheets off to a mass of woodland creatures eyeballing him.

"Yeah." Twilight stood next to him. "Fluttershy loves and cares for virtually every living creature. Her cutie mark is proof of that."

"Wait, you said beauty mark, right?"

"No not beauty, cutie mark." Kelly was going to facepalm, but he was starting to become passive of all of the 'girly' things this world flung every which way.

"And, just what is that?" Twilight turned to reveal her mark.

"It's what defines a pony's special talent or personality...something that makes them unique, and it's usually earned during fillyhood. Mine represents my love for magic and science alike." Kelly related Twilights mark to that of a twinkling star. "Do humans not bear cutie marks?" Kelly laughed.

"Nope, can't say we do." They heard Fluttershy from the other room.

"Um...guys, he's in here." Kelly and Twilight entered to find Daniel asleep on a bed way too short for him, his legs hanging over the foot of the bed. A wrap of gauze bandaged his right arm, and left calf.

"What happened to him?" Kelly asked.

"A manticore got a hold of him. I was just tending to my chickens, when I heard a loud roar that was really close to the entrance of the forest." Fluttershy pointed to the mass of trees outside the window. "I got scared...but didn't think much of it until I heard somepony scream for help. I rushed to see what was happening, and when I got there, Daniel here was pinned down by a manticore." Fluttershy's voice grew slightly louder as she told of her bravery.

"Don't mean to interrupt, but whats a manticore?" Kelly pondered. Twilight answered.

"It's a fearsome predator. It has a lion's upper body, gargantuan bat-like wings, and a scorpion's stinger."

"Jeez..." Kelly screwed up his face trying to imagine the clusterfuck of an animal. Fluttershy continued her story.

"Anyway, the manticore was just about to...kill him...and of course I couldn't just stand by and watch a defenseless creature be killed! I didn't know why the manticore was there in the first place. They don't usually wander so close the the entrance of the Everfree. I tried reasoning with him, but when he got aggressive...I was forced to use...the stare..."

"The stare?" Kelly asked.

"I didn't want to! It was a last resort!" Fluttershy acted as though she'd committed a crime.

"'The stare' is one of Fluttershy's special talents. She can put animals in a trance-like state, and and even sometimes command them."

"Huh...that's actually pretty cool Fluttershy." Kelly admired the timid pegasi's bravery. Even if it was something he'd never expect her to do.

"Oh...really...it was nothing." Fluttershy brought her voice back down to her usual pitch.

"And he's been asleep since then?" Twilight walked over examining the bandages.

"Yes. When the manticore had returned to the forest, I brought him back here. He was really heavy, but I couldn't just leave him there. He was bleeding pretty bad from his foreleg, and hindleg. I stopped the bleeding and patched him up, but he has yet to stir." Twilight started to pace.

"Well we need to help him wake up. maybe he can help me get more insight for humans." Fluttershy objected.

"I don't know Twilight...he's still hurt...I'm not even sure if he can walk properly."

"It's okay, Fluttershy. If we can at least get him to the market in town, I can just teleport us to my house."

"You can teleport others too?" Kelly asked intrigued. Twilight gave him a curt nod. "Heh...'beam me up Scotty.'" Kelly joked to himself. Both ponies looked confused as he chuckled. "It's nothing...human joke." They shrugged.

"I don't know about this Twilight."

"Please Fluttershy." Twilight begged. "This is the findings of a new species in Equestria! I want to learn as much as I can from them." Fluttershy still looked uncertain. "Pretty please?" Fluttershy sighed.

"Okay Twilight, but only because it means so much to you." Twilight bounced around in glee.

"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"But how do we wake him up?" Fluttershy asked. Without saying anything, Kelly walked towards the bed, and stood over Daniel. A smirk spread across his face. He then turned his back to the bed, and plopped himself hard on Daniel's stomach, using his butt. He bounced back to his feet as Daniel started sputtering and wheezing. Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth, and Twilight yelled.

"Kelly?! What the hay?!"

"What?! He does that crap to me all the time!" Kelly retorted, defending his actions. Once Daniel could catch his breath, he mumbled.

"You asshole..." He didn't open his eyes, but knew exactly who he was talking to. He coughed a couple more times before he spoke again. "Dude, Kelly. I had the weirdest dream."

"Oh, yeah? Well don't open your eyes unless you want things to get a lot weirder." Daniel, did in fact open his eyes, and sat up.

"What do you me-" He stopped mid-sentence, and stared at the ponies that stood next to his best friend. He rubbed his eyes furiously, but the unicorn and pegasus were still there when he checked again. He then noticed the gauze on his arm, and a slight stinging sensation in his calf. Kelly was the first to start explaining everything he knew. Soon Twilight and Fluttershy chimed in, and all three of them took turns telling Daniel about Ponyville, how Fluttershy saved him, Equestria, who the ponies before him were, cutie marks, etc.

Once they had brought him completely up to date he shook his head, stood up and rubbed his temple. His knee started to buckle from his calf injury, but he took some weight off of it and stood properly. Upon examination, Twilight noticed Daniel was a few inches taller than Kelly, and had a bit more bulk. His 'mane' was just a bit shorter than Kelly's and was pushed up in the middle from his forehead all the way back His eyes were a medium brown, and his facial features were similar to Kelly's. His skin tone was slightly darker. He was wearing a black T-shirt, with jeans that were similar to Kelly's. On his feet were mostly black sneakers, with small shades of white. Daniel didn't recognize Twilight nor Fluttershy. His mind had been effected the same way as Kelly's.

"I'm dreaming." He said blankly, not addressing anyone in particular. Kelly put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Daniel...as your friend for four years, please, don't do the whole denial thing. I need you to come to terms that you are not dreaming." Kelly wore the most serious looke he could muster. Daniel wasn't sure what to think, he just thought about what his friend told him. "Besides, if you were dreaming, this wouldn't hurt." Kelly then smacked his fist into Daniel's shoulder, bringing his punch all the way through to make sure Daniel felt it.

"Ow!" Daniel wasn't expecting the assault, but quickly returned the favor with a jab to Kelly's midsection.

"AH! MMM...dude...dont hit me there! That's where the bruise is!" Kelly backed up and lifted his shirt to reveal a decently sized yellowish mark on his side.

"Oh my." Gasped Fluttershy. "Here, lemme get you something for that." She returned later with an ice pack. "Here you go." She said with a warm smile. "Just hold this on there for a bit."

"Thanks Fluttershy." He smiled back, and caught her blush.

"Kelly." Daniel started in. "How the hell did we get here?" Kelly turned to him.

"Don't you remember that strange light in the living room?" Daniel recalled trying to escape the blinding aura just to lose conscieneness only moments later. He then told everyone that the next thing he remembered was waking up in a forest, only to be near mince-meat for the manticore that Fluttershy had described.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Twilight asked.

"Go where?" said Daniel.

"Back to my house. I was hoping you and Kelly could help me with my research on humans." Daniel looked skeptical. But Kelly reassured him.

"C'mon man, she's a nice gal. Besides its strangley enjoyable being able to explain your entire species to someone. Makes you feel like a genius." He wasn't being serious with the last sentence, he was just trying to get Daniel to laugh.

"Didn't you say we should try to remain inconspicuous?" Daniel asked Twilight. Twilight gave Fluttershy a nod.

"*Sigh, I'll go undo my bed..."



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"Keep moving you guys, if we run into Rainbow again, I don't think she's going to buy my 'cousin' story a second time." Daniel asked Kelly what she was talking about, be he told him not to worry about it. "I can see the market from here, were home free." Twilight had spoken too soon. Just as they were nearing the first stands, Daniel's leg started acting up.

"Nnng." He stifled a loud grunt, and tried to correct his stumble. But in the process, he bumped into Kelly, causing him to catch his foot on his own disguise and trip, and causing himself to recoil and fall flat on his back. The sheets flattened beneath them like picnic blankets, and they were now fully exposed. Kelly attempted to quickly get up and recover himself, but to no avail. Both humans stood to find dozens upon dozens of eyes locked onto them like heat-seeking missiles. Twilight gave a quiet "Oh no," and bowed her head, knowing her chance at getting to have even one of her 100 questions answered was gone...just like that.

The humans couldn't do anything but stand like museum artifacts, as each and every pony and stallion gawked, never blinking. A blood curdling scream could be heard throughout the entire market...



man...feels like this first chapter took an eternity, but maybe thats because it was mostly just dialogue and stage setting for Kelly and Daniel. I hope you guys don't mind that too much. I promise, once we get further into the story, it will get much more exciting!