Man in a Pony’s World

by Nugget27

Captured

In the middle of a forest, it was a nice peaceful day. There were birds chirping, bees, insects and other arthropods scattered across the forest floor. A bear was eating some berries off of a bush with a small smile on its face. There was not a not the slightest chance that anything could ruin the circle of nature. All of a sudden, the birds stopped chirping, the bear paused while eating his meal, and insects began to run and hide. Something was happening, something terrible.

The bear got up on his hindlegs, having a whiff of the air… Ponies. Ponies were the dominant race on the planet of Equus, but they weren’t much of a threat to a bear. Often it’s because ponies don’t hunt bears, and bears have learnt, a long time ago, to not try and anger or hunt ponies due to how well they work in groups together, especially with magic and wings, ponies were best left alone. The bear figured it would be best to hide in his den, there were a lot of ponies, but something was wrong.

The bear’s ears picked up on the sounds of hooves, and his nose smelled something in the same direction of those hooves. Something… unfamiliar, something that wasn’t a pony.

Without hesitation, the bear started running to the east, away and out of the way of the upcoming herd that was chasing an unknown creature. It turned its head back to see… a hairless ape, dressed in a tattered, white T-shirt, a pair of black pants that weren’t too much better. Under the tattered articles of clothing, it was clear as day that the ape had seen better days, being riddled with burns, scars, and cuts. The panic on the apes face was as plain as a bush devoid of those tasty blueberries. The ape tore past the bush the bear was just eating from, soon followed by two look-alike ponies, lacking wings or a horn like some ponies had, who wore golden armor. The bear looked up at the sound of wings, as two pegasi tore through the forest as well.

Tears began to fall down the human’s face, running for his life, he hopped over roots, ducked under branches, praying that he could get away. First it was a loaf of bread, then it was several loaves of bread a month, and then a couple of apples. Then it was a fishing pole. Then it became a pile of loaves of bread and various other food items. Now, because of his latest escapade in securing food in this bizarre world of talking horses, he was about to face repercussions for his crimes. He took a glance back, those four, armored horses were still hot on his trail. While the two that were running looked about ready to collapse, the ones with wings looked just like they did before they gave chase to him.

“Get back here, you filthy animal!” One of the ponies shouted. With that, the human found a newfound resolve to keep running like his life depended on it.

The Crown of Equestria had been notified of the strange, bipedal animal that stole food from supply trains when they stopped at various train stations across the country. At first, it wasn’t too bad, just an animal getting food without hurting anypony involved, then it happened more frequently and then the reports grew. The creature reassembled a hairless sasquatch, but was much shorter than Equestria’s southern neighbors. It lacked hair as well, and chose to wear… clothes. An animal that wore clothes. That was enough to catch the slight interest of Princess Celestia, the Solar Diarch of Equestria, but she thought she had no need to actually get involved in the search.

After all, she had highly trained stallions and mares that were able to capture the animal.

But the animal remained elusive, and appeared to be hostile. In recent months, of the whole year that this creature has been in Equestria, whenever the animal stole something, somepony got hurt somehow. Many claimed that when they tried to stop the animal, it would punch and kick its way through many ponies. And it hit pretty hard according to several earth ponies, who were known for their hardiness. So as the months went by with more and more ponies getting injured while trying to stop the creature, its capture began to take priority. Not only was it getting away with enough food to feed an entire family of ponies each month, but it was hurting those that were trying to stop it.

So guards were stationed across various stops for supply trains, and this time they had struck lucky. A guard, usually a unicorn, would stay behind to send a message to Canterlot, to whichever of the reigning diarch were available at the time, then a squad of guards would go and hunt the creature down. This was the first time that they actually caught the creature trying to steal something. So far, it didn’t get to steal anything, instead, it got close to the loading station, and was immediately spotted.

And such, the guards gave chase and Princess Celestia was notified.

The human ducked behind a tree, and into the cave it had been staying in over the last week. Hopefully… “It's in the cave!” A voice shouted. The human sighed, before getting to the back of the cave, and sat down. It’s the end of the line. He leaned his head on the cave wall, awaiting the upcoming storm that these horses were about to bring down on him. “Your highness,” the same voice said. “We cornered the creature as you asked.” It informed the supposed ‘highness.

“Shit…” The human tucked his legs in, and laid his head on his knees. He just needed some damn food, but these ponies would chase him out of town before he could ask for food nicely! Or even a job so he can pay for food! And now, he apparently grabbed the attention of somebody with some power; now he’s going to die for sure. The ripe age of… Sixteen. He was fifteen when he first got to… Horse Land, that was a year ago, at least he thinks it was. Without a calendar, or a working cell phone with the date on it, it was a bit hard to tell how long it’s been. Accepting that he was basically dead, he took a deep breath. He got ready to give himself up and plead guilty if a trial was held for him.

Or die.

Only to be grabbed up in a yellow, almost golden glow. It was like staring at the sun, but without the light that made staring at the sun so bad for your eyes. Soon, the human found himself suspended in the air, and was slowly dragged out of the cave. He was kept in the air, but found himself face to face with a horse, this one was far taller than the others he had come across. While he was not very tall, he was sure this horse would either be able to look him in the eyes, or tower over him. While the other horses’ heads were held around at chest level. Her mane was a flowing rainbow, they were in a forest, so the mane was just floating in a near nonexistent wind. The horse was clearly a unicorn, with a horn protruding from her forehead, that could very easily be used to stab him in the heart for possibly hurting her subjects. Her subjects, because that crown on her head, just behind that sharp horn, had to mean something.

“Now, what kind of creature are you?” She asked. The Princess didn’t look angry, just curious. That was a good sign, right?

“A human,” the human responded. “Look, I’m glad you’re giving me a good look over before you kill me,” the human ignored the shocked looks on the tall horse and her guards. “But I assume you know what I was doing, and I know what I was doing was wrong. I’m kinda desperate for food, but that still doesn’t make what I did any better; just kill me already, alright? That’s the only fate I get for hurting people just so I can get an apple that I couldn’t work for.” sighed. “I would’ve paid for all the food I stole…”

“That thing can talk?” The guards whispered not so quietly, making the human shut his mouth. Perhaps talking was not a good idea.

“Human… Do you have a name?” The Princess asked. “If you can speak, that means you’re at the very least, as intelligent as a pony, and you must have a name, correct?”

“My name…” the human paused. Now, on one hand, he could be honest and give an honest name. On the other, it didn’t matter since he was probably about to die. “Bob,” yeah, that’s his actual name. It didn’t matter, he was about to get stabbed in the chest by an overly long unicorn horn attached to a probably pissed off monarch. “So, is this my trial? Or am I just gonna get stabbed, blasted with a horn beam, or kicked in the chest so hard that it breaks my ribs and all that fun stuff?” Bob asked.

“Since you are clearly a creature capable of reasoning, I shall hold your trial,” the… Unicorn asked. She had wings which flared. “You are charged with thievery and assault against several of my little ponies. How do you plead?”

‘Oh boy, being tried here and now, what a pleasure’ Bob thought. “Guilty.” Bob shrugged, now being set down, but unable to move his legs, no matter how they tried. It was like something was stopping them from moving. “There really isn’t a point in defending myself, your highness,” Bob frowned. While he held a strong, what he thought was steady, voice, he was scared. Scared out of his damned mind. “I’m sure you’ve received news of what I’ve been doing across your country, and I can admit that fu-” Bob cleared his throat. “-screwed up. I’ll take whatever punishment you demand; it’s what my parents would’ve wanted from me.” It probably wasn’t a wise idea to curse in front of a ruler.

“I see… If you could go back in time and choose a different path, would you?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I would. I just wanted to get through highschool, but I ended up here, instead, your highness. I wanted to get a job in a town when I first came here, but was chased out for being scary or something,” Bob scratched the back of his head. “Well, I got chased out of every town and city I tried to establish myself in. I’m not a good person, but I’d like to think I’m not a completely horrible, poor excuse of a person. If I could, I would’ve happily earned my pay so I could feed myself without being a criminal…” Bob lowered his head. “I’m a scumbag,” he admitted.

“I would not say that,” the alicorn hummed. “How old are you? I cannot imagine you are that old, judging by your voice, and that you mentioned school.”

Bob looked up at the diarch and tilted his head. “I’m sixteen… I think. I could still be fifteen, but I haven’t exactly thought about how old I am recently. I was more focused on not starving to death.”

“...I see. Well, I have forgiven villains for doing far worse than stealing some food, and you are quite young… I am willing to waive your crimes, if you agree to some terms.” Bob nodded, looking up at the Princess with big eyes. The princess giggled. “I’m surprised you agreed so fast; I didn’t even get to state what I was going to ask of you.”

“...Your highness, I said I would take whatever punishment you throw at me. If you ask me to make it up by working for you, or spend a few years in a prison cell, I’m all for it.”

“Well, I was simply going to have you sent to a little town, to work for my student. I believe she would be ecstatic to be able to study a new creature. You will have to do whatever she, or her friends ask over the course of the next year. Then you can either go home, stay in the town I am sending you to, whichever you would prefer,” the Princess answered with a smile. “By the course of the first three months, you should’ve paid your debt for the food you’ve stolen, and the rest of the time you’re working will be repaying Equestrian society for hurting ponies in the process of stealing that food.”

“As I said, I’ll do what you ask of me, your highness.” Bob finally got to his feet, his legs shaked, but he still bowed to the alicorn. “Thank you,” he sighed. “You’re terrifying,” Bob fell on his butt and let out a sigh in relief.

“Oh?” the Solar Princess tilted her head. “Not many would tell me that to my face.”

“Uh…” Bob raised a finger. “That was rude, sorry,” Bob’s shoulders drooped. “You just seem scary, but I also did a lot of stuff that should piss you off…” Bob got to his feet again. “Well, I supposed there isn’t much of a point in us sitting here. Let’s go get me shipped off to your private student,” he got up to walk behind the Princess.

“While you aren’t one to demand we speed things up, you do bring up a good point. Perhaps you would like some tea to calm your nerves?”

“No thanks, I’ll calm down eventually. So, how are we going to get to your student? By train?” Bob asked. The guards tailed behind him and the Princess.

“I was hoping to simply teleport you and myself to my student’s home in Ponyville. We’re just going to walk back to the train station so you can apologize to the ponies you were just about to steal from.” With that, the group kept on walking. At one point, Princess Celestia had summoned a scroll and a quill, wrote something down and it whisked away in the usual golden aura that accompanied her use of magic. “Now Twilight has some time to prepare while we walk… So, Bob, tell me more about yourself. Your name cannot possibly be Bob, can it?” She asked, a small smile formed on her face as her voice went from ‘monarch mode’ to ‘motherly mode’. The Princess was hoping she could at least help calm down the teen a little with some small talk. The human’s legs were still somewhat shaky, and even though Celestia has no experience with human body language, even she could tell that Bob was still a bit jumpy. His eyes would dart to and fro, and he would jump when a guard accidentally stepped on a branch.

“It’s actually Bob, your highness. Well, it’s what I prefer to go by, since my actual name is Richard. I would rather you call me Bob than the other nickname people give to people named Richard.”

“You humans share names?” Celestia asked. “Would that not get confusing?”

“It does, sometimes, but most people tend to have two or three parts to their name. The first part’s used more commonly, or a first name. Mine’s Richard, or Bob, and then I just have a last name. That way it at least separates me from the millions of other people named Bob or Richard. It’s not a full proof system when there’s a population on your planet of a few billion people, but it works,” Bob shrugged.

“So, what is the other name for humans named Richard?” The Princess asked.

Bob shrugged. “Dick. I dunno how, dunno why it’s like that, but whoever invented the English language is also an idiot.” Celestia actually giggled. She took a look at Bob, despite her efforts, and how Bob was making a few jokes, he was still a bit jumpy. It wasn’t too entirely unexpected, Bob was living in the wilderness for a year, and was being hunted down by ponies for the last few months, and had finally been captured a few moments ago. “So, why are you so… nice? If I were doing what I was doing back home, I’d be facing at least a few years in jail just for stealing all the food. For assaulting several people along with that, and I’d be facing life or even a death penalty.”

“I am a firm believer in second chances. I know you’re remorseful and you are quite young,” Celestia hummed, looking the human up and down. “I also am not fond of sending a child to a life of confinement, or death for simply trying to live in a country where my subjects wouldn’t even give them the chance to live.” The train station loomed near. “Now, we are about to approach the stallions you were just about to steal from and possibly hurt while defending yourself. I would like it if you apologized to them.” Bob nodded, and was promptly escorted by a couple of guards up to the workers. While the workers clearly were not excited to be speaking with the human, Bob extended a hand out, likely after telling the boss that he was sorry judging from how he couldn’t look the stallion in the eyes initially. Both man and pony shook hands, before Bob was escorted back over to Celestia.

“Okay… I’m ready to be… teleported. You ponies can do that?” Instead of giving Bob a vocal answer, Celestia’s horn lit up, and the two of them were zapped up in a golden flash of magic. For Bob, it was like all reality disappeared in a blip. In another blip, reality was back in view. Celestia and Bob were standing side by side, in front of a tree with a door in it. There was a balcony. A few windows were scattered here and there. Bob’s eyes widened; it was a literal tree house… Library judging by the sign that read ‘Golden Oaks Library’. “Huh…” Bob pointed at Celestia. “You know, some humans would kill for the ability to teleport. We mostly rely on technology and none of it can teleport even a piece of dirt somewhere.”

“Really now? Do you not have magic where you are from?”

“...Magic? Oh, so that’s what some unicorns shot at me around my first month of being in… Equestria?” Celestia nodded. “Well, let’s meet my warden, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t say that, by the end of this month, I guarantee you will be seeing Twilight Sparkle, my student, as a friend rather than a warden. And she will be more than happy to become friends with you.” Celestia then walked right up to the library, with Bob at her heels, and knocked on the door. It sounded like a zoo was going on inside, before everything went silent. Slowly the door opened up and a purple pony stuck her head out. She has a violet mane with a pink line going down it. A horn protruded from the unicorn’s forehead and poked through her mane. Bob couldn’t make out the rest of the pony’s details, as most of her body was concealed by the library. Her face was one that could only be described as manic induced panic that was present after a short bow. “Ah, Princess Celestia! You came earlier than I expected! Can I get you anything?” The unicorn hadn’t even noticed Bob yet.

“Some tea would be nice. I’m sure you’ve read the letter I sent you?” The three of them walked inside. Only when Bob sat down at the table, did Twilight Sparkle even notice him. A cup of tea was poured for every creature present at the table.

“Of course Princess! I’m looking after Bob for the next… year, right?” She asked. “And me and my friends will be giving him various tasks and jobs, right?” Celestia nodded as she took a sip of her tea. Twilight finally turned her attention to Bob. “So you’re that thing that everypony said was stealing food from trains… You are way smaller than I thought you’d be. You don’t even look like a sasquatch!” Twilight blushed, remembering that her mentor and Princess was still in the room. She nervously laughed. “I sent Spike out to gather my friends, so they all should be coming soon, Princess.”

“Good, then I shall allow you to take care of the situation from here. I must head back to Canterlot, to make an announcement about Bob’s capture, and to confirm that he does exist.” With that Celestia finished off her tea before getting up to leave the library. Soon, it was just Bob and Twilight, sitting and silently staring at each other.

“So…” Twilight broke the silence. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?”

“Bob,” the human said, before draining his cup of tea. Twilight then spent the next three minutes trying to start a conversation or some form of small talk, but Bob seemed to only give short, though polite answers in a monotone voice that lacked any emotion put behind it. It was clear that he wasn’t comfortable being in the library, until Twilight asked about where Bob came from. Bob went silent, staring down into his empty cup. “Planet Earth. At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m not on Earth anymore. I don’t know how I’m getting back there, Twilight, and I don’t know if I can even be sent back after I serve my due.” Bob leaned back slightly. “Let’s not talk about my home, alright? I’m still missing the people I’ve been forced to leave behind for no reason.”

“I-I… I didn't mean to upset you-”

“Just drop it Twilight. It’s best that we just move on; I’ll tell you about my home once I’ve grown comfortable in probably never seeing it again.” Bob leaned forward. “Since I’ve been silent the whole time, what’s up with you ponies? I never got much of a… good look. I always end up running from them or trying to not get killed by one while stealing food. I’ve seen ponies with wings, horns, neither, or both with Princess Celestia.” Twilight perked up at Bob’s sudden interests in at least learning about Equestria and its residence… right for the door to open up. Soon, a purple little lizard, in Bob’s eyes, walked in while trailed by five other ponies.

Bob sat silently, holding the empty cup like it was still full, he faked a sip as each of the five ponies stared at him and whispered to each other. “So Twilight,” he lowered his cup. “Is it too late to just get thrown in a dungeon, or be beheaded?” he said behind a poker face. What he wanted to do was jump out of a nearby window and simply run; the looks he was getting from the orange, wingless, hornless pony that was wearing a cowboy hat. Nor was he enjoying the whispers. Or the other looks he was getting.

“So, that’s the thing that’s been ‘terrorizing’ Equestria?” A cyan, rainbow maned pegasus asked. “It doesn’t look too tough. How’d it take four months to capture this thing?” She was now up in Bob’s face, sizing him up. Bob remained aloof, sipping on an empty cup, just staring dead in her eyes. Occasionally his eyes would dart to the door, waiting for an opening to either flee, or to the other ponies in the room, or even the lizard. Overall… Things weren’t looking pretty.

“Yet it stole at least four hundred of my family’s apples over the last year,” the orange one said, glaring at Bob. The human’s poker face faltered for a moment. “Nopony transporting those apples, nor none of my family were hurt by it, but the point still stands. It’s simply a pest.” Her glare at the human didn’t falter for a second.

“I would’ve paid for those apples,” Bob said. “But the moment any one of you ponies saw me in town, y’all would panic and chase me out or fling beams of whatever the shit, out of your horns if you had a horn,” he lifted up his tattered shirt, revealing every single scar he had gained throughout the year. “I’ve been zapped with lightning-like ‘magic’, other types of magic, tackled, kicked, and all that fun stuff. I’ve had arrows shot my way before, too. All I wanted was to either get some food, peacefully, or somehow integrate into pony society and possibly go home,” Bob let the shirt drop, even though it did little to hide his injuries. “Since that didn’t happen, here I am, the horrible, worthless piece of scum!” Bob’s voice never broke from its monotonality once. Bob put his hand on Rainbow’s nose and pushed her back slightly. “Get out of my face, please… I’m going to call you Skittles unless you got a name,” Bob stood up, taking Twilight’s empty cup, his own, and the tea pot that was also empty. “I’m gonna go ahead and wash these, while you six chat or whatever.”

Bob walked into the kitchen before anyone could stop him, there was not so silent muttering about how to work the sink, before a small ‘a-hah!’ Everypony and the dragon in the room turned to Twilight. “So, we have to basically watch that thing?” Rarity asked. “Its choice in clothing is atrocious!”

“Of course, that’s the first thing that comes to your mind,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. She couldn’t get how anypony would ever be scared of that hairless ape. “I’m just surprised at how… emotionless it seems. It’s almost like it isn’t alive. His voice was the same, never changing, whatever you call that.”

“Monotone,” Twilight said. “Bob doesn’t seem like one for showing a lot of emotion.”

“Ah, son of a bitch,” Bob’s voice was audible from the kitchen. It made Twilight flinch, for one, Bob didn’t seem like one to watch his language, and secondly… There was emotion in the voice, frustration. Immediately, all six ponies and dragon dropped the conversation and rushed into the kitchen. Bob was staring at the inside of the tea pot, the two mugs were pristinely clean and put in a drying rack. Bob slowly looked up at Twilight. “Sorry about that, I just noticed that you don’t have a bottle brush lying around.” Bob shrugged before trying to stick his hand in the kettle. “And uh, my hand’s a bit too big.” His voice, as per usual, was back to its monotone state. Bob looked around the kitchen before finding a pair of small tongs. He then squeezed them and wrapped a towel around them. After putting a bit of soap on, he stuck the tongs in and let go.

After a few moments of wiggling the tongs around in the pot, Bob pulled them out to reveal a dirty towel and a thoroughly cleaned kettle. Soon, the tongs were cleaned and placed in the drying rack with the rest of the tea set. “Want me to clean anything else? Should I do something else?” Bob asked.

“How about we all sit down and chat over lunch? I’m sure you’re hungry,” Twilight offered with a smile. Hopefully being nice will bring the strange creature out of his shell. For now, questions pertaining to who Bob was, and studying what he was could wait. Bob shook his head.

“I lost my appetite after the Princess scared my skeleton out of my body.” Bob’s stomach growled.

“That’s the telltale sign of somepony being hungry, or something,” Apple Jack plainly said. “Whaddya eat anyways? Ponies, bread and apples?”

“Horses don't sound like they would taste good, especially ones that are as intelligent as I am, and are sentient. I’m a piece of filth, but even I have morals, Tangerine,” Bob said nonchalantly. “Something other than bread, or an apple, would be nice…” Bob shook his head. “I’m not gonna eat lunch though, given that I used to steal food, I don’t think I deserve a meal; I should have to earn it.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Would… you eat if I said you earned lunch for cleaning those dishes?” Bob shook his head. “Bob, just eat lunch with me and my friends. I’d rather you not starve to death in my home when you have access to plenty of food.” Bob stared blankly at Twilight, reading her face, before sighing. Twilight just had that ‘don’t argue against this and do it’ look on her face.

“Alright,” Bob immediately tried to help Spike, who said he’d get some sandwiches made, but was dragged out of the kitchen by Twilight. They all sat around a table, one far larger than the one that Bob and Twilight were having some tea at, that looked like it was designed to accommodate a group of this size. Bob folded his legs and was luckily planted between the two pegasi of the group, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy on his right and left respectively. Bob noted how while one was outgoing and a bit airheaded, that one being the Skittles, and the other was not very outgoing and pretty much trying to scoot as far away from him as she without disturbing the orange earth pony to her left.

“Um… can I switch spots with somepony?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hey now, I’m not that scary. I mean, if you deem humans a threat, you’d be right, and also wrong. Y’all have vending machines, right?” Twilight nodded.

“We do, why do you ask?”

An actual smile formed on Bob’s face as if he enjoyed telling the fun little blunders of his race. “Humans have those too, and over the years since we’ve invented vending machines, at least thirty eight of us have gotten killed by vending machines. A hundred more hurt themselves with them. We can be mean and dangerous like any other species on the planet, but we find some stupid ways to get ourselves killed. For instance, I decided to be dumb and be the poor, unlucky bastard that ended up in a land full of magic horses, and another dude decided to listen to every single song that Justin Bieber has made, without that asshat using autotune.” Bob chuckled despite knowing nobody at the table knew who that was, a rare instance of emotion anyone at the table has seen on the human. “Look, if you think I’m scary… what’s your name?” His voice softened, like he was trying to coax a stray cat out of its hiding place.

“Fluttershy,” the cream colored pegasus said quietly, she slowly looked up, as if she was coming out from behind her pink, fluffy mane that did cover her face up slightly.

“I can go sit outside or something if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

Fluttershy actually scooted a bit closer this time. “Well, you’re not as scary as the stories make you out to be. I think you’re kinda nice,” she said. Bob raised a hand, before planting it on the pegasus’s head. She ‘eeped’ only for her to stop and lean into the hand as ruffled her mane and scratched her forehead. “Oh, this is nice,” she let out a relaxed sigh. A small smile formed on Bob’s face, before he took his hand off. Fluttershy grabbed his hand with her mouth, much like a dog would, and managed to work the hand back onto her head. It made Bob’s smile grow a little.

“Lunch is ready!” Spike announced, setting a big ol’ plate of sandwiches in the center of the round table, before taking his own seat with a bowl full of gems. Bob stopped petting Fluttershy so he could grab a sandwich after everyone else got theirs. He was about to take a bite before noticing something somewhat important. He stopped and pulled the two pieces of bread apart, before slumping slightly. There were dandelions in the sandwich! There was tomato, lettuce, and then dandelions! And they were white, so all the seeds got stuck in the other bits of the sandwich. Bob stared at it before silently putting it back together and putting it in front of Rainbow Dash without her noticing. The pegasus quickly scarfed that one down, and Bob sat quietly while everyone else chatted and enjoyed their food.

This was going to be a long year in Equestria.

Soon, Fluttershy had her fill, and had decided to use Bob’s lap as a cushion. She happily sat in it, while Bob was more than happy to scratch her back. “Fluttershy, you’re sittin’ in the lap of a predator,” Apple Jack’s gaze locked onto the pegasus.

“I don’t think Bob would hurt me, Apple Jack, he seems nice enough. He just got put in a bad situation.”

“I just don’t like that he's treating you like an animal, Fluttershy.” Apple Jack said.

“Hey, she’s the one who keeps side-eying me when I stop petting her.”Bob argued. “I don’t mind, she’s soft and fluffy, and if she likes it, who am I to argue? I’m not a sentient creature with my own will,” Bob said sarcastically. His stomach was still rumbling a bit at the sight of food I couldn’t eat.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice you not eating anything, mister,” Fluttershy spun around, while glaring at Bob, but not a mean one. It’s more like the one your mother would give you for not eating your green beans. “I’m taking you home and I am going to make you a meal that you can actually eat.” Before Bob could respond, the pegasus got up, headbutted his gut, and he found himself laying across Fluttershy’s back. He was promptly carried out of the library and towards Fluttershy’s home where she cooked him some fish.

Bob made a mental note to not accidentally anger Fluttershy, despite how quiet and shy she normally is, you wouldn’t think she has a strong left hook. She does have a damn strong headbutt, though.

Comments

[FoxyLove]

Fluttershy just wants more Scritches...

[Ralanost]

Well, Bob is thoroughly unlikable. He shouldn't have to apologize for being forced to live in the wild. Ponies never gave him a chance. Princess Celestia should be apologizing to him. And you don't get life in prison or death row for theft and assault. Especially since he's a child. I have no idea why Bob hates himself so much. He was trying to survive.

[AgentKorpsman]

11750790
Agreed

[Skyblazer9]

11750790
I also agree, he shouldn't have to be apologizing for what he needed to do to survive in an alien world that misjudged him and treated him like total garbage!!

I do hope in the later chapters, the ponies will apologize for treating him like garbage.

[PrincePegacornV]

If this is somewhat akin to the original version, then "Bob" is going to have a rough time, what with all of the pony racism he'd endured in the previous version. No wonder that he gravitated to the bug ponies.
And, if I recall correctly, "Skittles", aka Dashie, did try to harm Bob at least once...
Twiggles really wasn't that nice to him either. Perhaps she might be more inclined to be the Princess of Friendship in this version. One can only hope.

[Seyking]

11757975
Do you have a link? For the first one

[Nugget27]

11773804
i would recommend not reading that one. it’s… probably one of my weakest works. it’s why this version exists.

[Rikkity]

Oh boy, being tried here and now, what a pleasure’ Bob thought. “Guilty.” Bob shrugged, now being set down, but unable to move his legs, no matter how they tried. It was like something was stopping them from moving. “There really isn’t a point in defending myself, your highness,” Bob frowned. While he held a strong, what he thought was steady, voice, he was scared. Scared out of his damned mind. “I’m sure you’ve received news of what I’ve been doing across your country, and I can admit that fu-” Bob cleared his throat. “-screwed up. I’ll take whatever punishment you demand; it’s what my parents would’ve wanted from me.” It probably wasn’t a wise idea to curse in front of a ruler.

Tell me why I see my own fic in this?

Goodness. Guess if this is being received well I should have a bit more confidence. I shall... continue this fun read... Yeah.

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[Moonlight_Mist]

This story has zero focus so far. Nothing that happens gets any attention. The apology Celestia forced Bob to make? I think it got 2 sentences, between going back there, the actual apology, and getting ready to leave. With everything that happened in this chapter, it should have a 5 digit word count. I've seen 12000+ word chapters cover a shorter string of events.

Speaking of that forced apology, that whole thing bothers me. Why didn't Bob ever speak of his first moments in this world? Why didn't Celestia ask 'why'? Why did she call Bob a villain? I know it's another word for criminal, but it's a strong word.