Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 2: Dream

Deep violet eyes were now staring into a pair of intensely dark brown ones. Her first reaction was to back away, or shriek in terror and surprise. All she could do, however, was stand there, frozen with fear, gazing into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen. The creature didn't move either, never taking it's stare off of her own.

He hadn't expected this. He was woken up by the sound of something dropping and now something was looming over him, staring at him. It had odd, purple fur, with eyes of the same hue. Its mouth was hanging open, seemingly from surprise, and its eyes were locked on his. Their apparent staring contest was cut short when a small shriek was heard from across the room. The creature looming over him turned its head toward that direction. Then he heard a voice.

"T-t-twilight, what is that thing?"

The creature turned its attention back to him.

"U-um... Are you alright?"

This thing looming over him was concerned about his safety. He glanced around the room he was in; quickly discovering that it wasn't his own. Where was he, how did he get there? In any case, he didn't feel any pain or discomfort.

"Yes... I believe so."

She let out a sigh of relief. The creature spoke her language and didn't seem to be hostile. Judging by its voice, she guessed it was male.

"Oh, uh... Good."

He sat up and began to look around the library. His dark, fast eyes seemed to examine everything in the room before settling back on her.

"So many books... Probably a library. Everything's a bit too colorful, though." he thought. "Ah, and this strange little creature... A horse? More pony-sized, though... With a horn? A... Unicorn? Wait, no, it also has wings. What's the technical term for that? Winged-Unicorn? Horned-Pegasus? And it spoke to me. A talking Winged-Unicorn. In a library. That fact in mind, I'm probably dreaming. Lucidly." he turned his attention back to the aforementioned Unicorn. "I think I'll let this one run its course. My interest is piqued."

"If you don't mind me asking, where exactly am I?" he said.

She seemed a bit calmer now, giving him a kind smile.

"Equestria. Ponyville to be exact."

He gave a small smirk. The thought of him dreaming up such horse-themed nonsense amused him. It was then that he noticed a small, quivering purple mass behind one of the Unicorn's hind legs. It appeared scaly and was fearfully clutching at her leg. Perhaps a pet? He ignored it and continued his conversation.

"Alright. Would you mind telling me how I got here?"

"Oh, um... I'm not exactly sure." she replied. "I was just trying a new spell and..."

The small quivering purple creature was now peering around her leg with a mixture of fear and curiosity in its green eyes. It just stared at him, bewilderment plain on its face. He once again tried to ignore it.

"Interesting." he replied. For some reason or another, he gave a dream horse magic power. He decided on evaluating his mental state whenever he awoke.

"I just don't know what could've gone wrong..." she said, levitating a book up to her face somehow and flipping through its pages."Maybe I overcharged it? No, I'm sure I had complete control..."

Matt brought himself to his feet while she rambled on about her 'magic'. He easily doubled her stature, which he assumed was something around three feet. She dug her face out of the book she was reading, seemingly remembering his existence.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle." she gestured to the small purple reptile cowering behind her. "And this is Spike."

He choked back a laugh and extended his hand to her.

"Matthew Nabal. It's a pleasure."

Twilight extended a hoof and he grabbed it for a handshake.

She was surprised. The creature, that she now knew as Matthew Nabal, the confirmed owner of the journal she found on him earlier, was polite and well-mannered. His arms didn't end in a hoof or claws, but soft, warm appendages, similar to those on a monkey or ape. Although he wasn't covered in fur, save for a patch on the top of his head that was near shoulder length. His skin was a pale cream-ish hue and his hair was a dark golden-brown.

As soon as they retracted their friendly gesture, a voice was heard from outside a window.

"Hey, Twilight, you alright in there? There was a loud crash near the edge of town and I saw your house flash..."

She recognized the voice immediately; her friend, Rainbow Dash.

He heard the voice from outside and gave a sigh. Now what? Another horse with a blue coat and wings flew in through the window.

"... I figured you probably had something to do wi-"

She stopped dead in her mid-air tracks with a face of obvious surprise. This didn't last for long, however, as she quickly pinned him to the ground, holding him down with her hooves.

"Go get help! I'll hold it here!" she yelled.

Matt just laid there; the sudden shock and pain making him go blank for a moment.

"Rainbow Dash! Get off of him, he's friendly!"

She looked down at him for a few seconds, and turned back to her friend.

"You sure?"

He regained his senses and instantly began wondering how deep he was dreaming considering how bad his back was aching.

"Do you just tackle people you've never met before on a regular basis?" he said.

She gave out a sharp squeal of surprise.

"It talks?"

"Yes, now would you mind getting off of me?"

"Oh... sorry." she said, fluttering off of him and onto the floor.

She stared at him for a few seconds and then turned to Twilight.

"What is it?" she asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, when another voice came from outside the door.

"Twilight? Are you okay? I heard a big loud BOOM! And your house was all, PHWOOSH!"

Another pony, this one pink, came literally bouncing in as Matt recovered from his earlier assault. The moment her large blue eyes noticed him, she let out a gasp and rushed over to him. She began bombarding him with all sorts of questions and was speaking too fast for him to follow.

"Pinkie! Give him some room to breathe!" shouted Twilight.

She did as she was told and backed away from him, targeting Twilight with questions instead.

"Who is he? What is he? Where's he from?" she asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't said yet."

Pinkie turned back to him and asked the same questions. He was beginning to get irritated at this point, but decided to continue to play along.

"My name is Matthew Nabal, my species is referred to as 'human', and I'm from a place called New York. Satisfied?"

The pink one, ironically named Pinkie, nodded her head enthusiastically. The one called Rainbow Dash seemed unimpressed.

"Okay, but, how'd you get here?" she said.

"Excellent question. I woke up here about fifteen minutes ago. So I can't answer you." he said

Twilight had her book open again, and seemingly found the explanation.

"Well..." Twilight began, "I was attempting a spell that creates a dimensional rip that allows you to peer in on other dimensions, like a window..." she paused to continue reading, "I guess instead of a window... I made a door?" she said, smiling sheepishly.

Matt began to toss the idea around that maybe he wasn't dreaming. He quickly dismissed this thought, however, when he glanced back at the Technicolor ponies before him.

"I would work on finding a solution, but that spell really drained Me." she yawns, "Until I can find a way fix this, you're welcome to stay here."

Spike, who had been silent until now, let out a surprised "What!?" in unison with Rainbow Dash.

"Twilight! You're letting him stay here!? Aren't you worried about what he might do?" said Dash.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, was ecstatic.

"Oh oh OH! If you're gonna be staying, that means I get to throw you a welcome party!"

"Pinkie!"

Despite Dash's protests, Pinkie kept rambling on and on about a party to welcome Matt to Ponyville she'd be throwing tomorrow, at a place called 'Sugarcube Corner'. She then took off as quickly as she came.

"A-anyways," Dash began, "You're really going to let him stay here? What if he tries hurt you or something while you're asleep?"

"Dash, if he hasn't tried anything yet, I'm sure it'll be just fine."

"Fine." she said, "But I'm staying here to keep an eye on him."

Twilight gave a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, but don't make too much noise for no good reason. We'll see you in the morning." she said as she and Spike began to walk toward their shared room.

On her way to her room, she noticed the grey book she was reading earlier was near her door. She must've been so shocked she flung it across the room. She wanted to give it to its rightful owner, but curiosity overcame her and she took it with her.

As soon as Twilight and Spike were gone, Rainbow Dash returned her attention to Matt.

"If you try anything, I'll be on you faster than you can blink."

Matt was sick of it at this point and just wanted to go back to reality.

"Yes ma'm." was all he said as he lay himself down on one of the library's couches, the pony called Rainbow Dash taking the one opposite him. As he closed his eyes he noticed that she was staring a hole through him with her intensely hostile glare. He just tried to ignore it and return to sleep.