> Lost Opportunities
>  by Mewrilah
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Twilight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay that’s the last shipment,” you breathed a sigh of relief as you placed the semi-heavy box of books in the library. 


“Thank you so much for helping me carry all these books from Princess Celestia,” your lavender hostess smiled. “Even with Spike’s help this would have taken all day.”


“Well, you’ve been gracious enough to let me live here, the least I could do was pitch in,” you returned her smile, wiping some sweat off your brow. “I think I’m gonna go grab a glass of lemonade.”


“No you won’t,” Twilight held a hoof in front of you. “I’ll get it for you.”


With that she trotted towards the kitchen. You found it odd that Twilight hadn’t just summoned a pitcher and some glasses for the both of you, but honestly you were too tired to think about it. 


You took this time to reflect on the past 4 months. You weren’t sure how exactly you arrived in Equestria, only that you were found unconscious near her castle. Seeing as you didn’t pose an immediate threat she took you to the hospital, where you lay in your coma for several weeks. All the while, she rarely left your side, mostly to do as much research as she could without actually communicating with you. When you did finally come to, she bombarded you with more questions than you could think possible. 


Luckily for you, her friend Fluttershy intervened, mentioning that you were most likely taken from your home and probably needed your questions answered first. Although you were still a little shaken up about the magical talking horses around you, you thanked the pegasus, telling her she was right on point. Twilight, now blushing from embarrassment started from scratch, allowing you to start the questioning. 


A few more weeks had passed, and you met the other princesses of this world, to which they deemed you safe enough to be released from the hospital and meet other ponies. Since no one knew how exactly you arrived in Equestria, there wasn’t much any of the princesses could do. If they sent you back using another method, there was the risk of you not making the trip or ripping a hole between the dimensions, if there wasn’t already one to begin with. Seeing as you were stuck here, Twilight couldn’t help but feel like it was her fault, that her magic wasn’t strong enough to send you back home. To make up for it, she offered you a room in her castle, and that you would be cared for greatly. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth you gratefully accepted her offer.


The sound of Twilight’s hooves against the crystal brought you back from your reminiscing. She was humming a tune you never heard and had not only brought lemonade, but some snacks as well. 


“I hope you don’t mind that after our break, we can start organizing all these books,” she pleaded with her large, sparkling magenta eyes.


“Why not,” you couldn’t help but smile at her cuteness. “I don’t have anything else planned for today.”


You weren’t sure why, but there was some ease when Twilight was in the room. Contrary to the knowledge that she was the least likely pony to be calm at any given moment. There were bits and pieces of your past life that you remembered, but somehow it seemed that you already knew this little alicorn princess. You figured someone back on Earth had her determinedness, her eagerness to explore the unknown, but going through your memories you didn’t know who.


You started noticing things you hadn’t previously as the both of you set about placing her books on their proper shelves. Well you had noticed them, just not in more of a romantic way. Her heart melting smile as she went on about how excited she was that the princess had given her some copies of the books found in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Library. Her radiant, magenta eyes full of wonder and focus. Even though you swore you would never look at a pony that way, you had to admit she had some nice, accentuated curves and was overall a beautiful mare. 


She caught you staring and asked what was wrong.


“Just a little tired,” you answered somewhat truthfully. “If it’s ok with you Twilight, I think I’m gonna head to my room and rest a bit. I’ll be back to help you with the books.”


“Ok,” she smiled, resuming her task. You got off your ladder and headed to your room.


Lying down on your bed, you began to question your sanity. Why were you now thinking of Twilight like that? When asked about if you would try and find more than friendship with a pony, you explained that even if they were sentient creatures, loving them like that was taboo. Sure you loved animals, but actually being in a romantic relationship, you weren’t quite ready for that.


You seemed ready now, admiring all of the traits Twilight possessed. But did she even see you that way? Or had you just become another best friend? It became harder to think, as that sweet, soothing thing known as sleep cast its spell on you. You were miraculously back home, in your room. As you refamiliarized yourself with your house, one thing stuck out. It was bigger, emptier than you remembered, despite the fact that you had been living in a crystal castle for the last couple of months. You got dressed, well more like made yourself presentable and headed off to work, the muscle memory never forgotten. Arriving at your job, you realized another thing. You weren’t happy. It always was the same routine, a vicious cycle of grey that clutched onto your hopes and dreams, locking them away until you were nothing but a shell, another pawn on the chessboard. Then why did you want to come back in the first place? 


Your 9-5 shift over with, you drove back to your house, the colors of your dream still a faded blur, that is till until you pulled up into the driveway and turned off the car. The lights in your house flickered on, but instead of the usual white light, they seemed to push back the monotone dullness. You quickly got out of your car to see who had turned on the lights. The door to your house opened slowly, revealing none other than… Twilight?


Sure enough, the lavender princess was now standing in your doorway, her wings stretched out as if to hug you. You slowly walked to her, wondering aloud why she was here. She just smiled that beautiful smile and when you finally reached her, she pulled you into a hug, one you happily reciprocated. She led you inside, closing the door behind you two. You picked her up and carried her to the couch, sitting down before placing her beside you. You couldn’t help but stare into those amazing, deep orbs and felt yourself being pulled closer and closer to them. Closing your eyes and practically feeling her breath on your lips you cupped her cheek and …


KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!


The sudden noise yanked you from your nap, your heart racing, from the startle or the dream you couldn’t tell. It wasn’t until you heard Twilight’s voice from the other side of the door that you came to your senses. Wiping your eyes, you shuffled to the door and opened it, a nervous and fidgety alicorn greeting you. In her magic a white envelope with a red seal floated into your hands, before she dismissed herself, not giving you the chance to invite her in. 


Walking back to your bed, you carefully opened the letter, not wanting to ruin its pristine appearance. In it you found two letters, on the outside of one the words “Read first”.


_____________,


I’m writing this letter to tell you that I can’t hide my feelings for you any longer. At first I dismissed them as just some sort of sympathy, that just being a friend for you wasn’t enough. But as I got to know you, the real you, I found myself falling for you. You are always just so willing to help, not just me, but other ponies too. Whether it was physical labor or simply an ear to lend, you always had time for us. My feelings were further confirmed when Pinkie threw you that surprise not birthday party, and you took turns dancing with each one of us. My heart fluttered, still does flutter, when I remember how you held me in your safe, warm arms. I know that falling in love with a pony is something that you are uncomfortable with, and I’ll understand if you don’t even feel the same way, but please. Give me a chance.


With anticipation,


Twilight Sparkle


You couldn’t help but smile at her words. Why did it take a dream to realize what you have in front of you? You quickly opened the next letter, ready to tell Twilight how you had been such a fool and reciprocated her love.


Hey _____________,


So I had finished reorganizing, don’t worry you had done enough for today, you deserved a nap. Thank you by the way, you always are such a big help. However, I’m not writing this letter just to express my appreciation. As I returned to my room for some rest myself, I saw the letter you hopefully read first sticking out of one of my drawers. Rereading it, I shortly relived the memory of writing that letter. A wave of emotions just flowing over me. However, I was too scared of actually giving it to you. What would you have thought? Would it ruin our friendship with you knowing I had a crush on you? I couldn’t risk that, so I saved it, maybe so that one day I would be brave enough to face you and tell you how I felt.  Now I’m afraid that all it was was just a phase. I still do care a great deal about you, just not that way anymore. Even though we only met just a few months ago, it feels like we’ve known each other for years. I felt you deserved to know how exactly I felt about you and if you have any questions I’d gladly discuss them with you. I truly am blessed to have an amazing friend like you.


Always by your side,


Twilight Sparkle


You gulped as you read the last part of the letter. Why did it take a dream to realize what you had in front of you? Yes you had your morals, but maybe you were being a bit too strict with them. It didn’t matter now, the opportunity had passed. You read the last line again.


I truly am blessed to have an amazing friend like you.


“Me too Twilight,” you whispered to yourself, a tear forming in your eye. You clutched her letters tighter. “Me too.”
> Rarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come in darling!” the stunning white mare sang after opening the door for you. Your heart always flew into your throat when she spoke, and you listened to everything she said. You had chastised yourself for getting so worked up over her but it was no use. At first, like other ponies (and dragon) before you, it was her outside beauty that attracted you. However, as you spent more and more time with the seamstress, you saw more and more of how she had earned the title, “Element of Generosity.” 


“I can’t wait for you to see the suit I made for the Gala,” she beamed, leading you to her room. You couldn’t help but grin along with her, knowing full well that the pieces closest to her heart she kept in her room.  Your suit wasn’t the only thing she had been working on. Apparently, the last couple of years the Grand Galloping Gala was held, she made her friends, the other Elements of Harmony, their dresses as well as her own. You felt bad about adding to her burdens but she would have none of it. She couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to create a more refined garment for the you.


“Ok, now I want you to close your eyes darling and stretch your arms out. That way you can see what it looks like on you when you first look at it.”


Sounded reasonable, so you happily complied. She led you into her room with your magic, stopped you and started placing the jacket on you. The pants, she told you, didn’t really matter, they would fit like the other pairs she made you. As she slipped it on, you were relieved that the tux she made wasn’t like one of those other stuffy ones. Even with your T-shirt, there was plenty of room. When she finished buttoning you up, you felt her turn you around, most likely towards her mirror and told you to open your eyes. 


Your tuxedo did not look like it took only a few weeks to create. It sat proudly on your shoulders, and even if you slouched you still looked formal. The sleeves ended in a gold trim, and allowed your arms a full range of movement, not to the point to where you could do cartwheels in the tux, but just enough so if you ate in it, you didn’t have to twist your arm at odd angles just to pick up your fork. Under the jacket, Rarity had slipped you into a metallic silver vest, that gave a perfect contrast to the jet black material of the tux. The V of the tux also had some gold trim, nicely finishing the entire piece.


“Well, what do you think?” the mare asked nervously, not sure how to treat your silence.


You answered by picking her up and hugging her, at which she chuckled a bit at you enthusiasm. 
“I’m glad you feel that way about it,” she smiled, asking you politely to put her down.


You quickly apologized, but Rarity waved her hoof. 


“You were just expressing your gratitude dear. No need to apologize for that. Now is there anything you would like fixed about the suit? Is it too tight in a certain area? You won’t be hurting my feelings darling. I want to make sure that your first Gala is memorable.”


You tapped your chin in thought. There was something that you had wanted to ask the seamstress, and now seemed to be the best time.


“Well there is something that I wanted to ask you, Rarity,” you started, your rib cage the only thing keeping your heart in place.


“Sure darling. I hope you know by now that you can ask me anything.”


“Well, you see I haven’t been able to get a date to the Gala. And you're a pretty mare Did you really just say that? and I’d understand if you already had a date but…” You chuckled out of all the stress you were placing on yourself.


“Well actually darling, I don’t have a date to the Gala,” Rarity gave you a small smile. 


“Oh you don’t,” your heart started racing again. She simply nodded. “Well in that case,” you cleared your throat, dropping on one knee. Why were you doing that? You aren’t proposing to her you big dum dum. Just asking her to the Gala. “Rarity, would you give me the honor of being my date to the Gala.”


Rarity, raising a hoof to stifle her giggling at your adorable klutziness (at least that’s what you hoped she was giggling at) took a moment to compose herself before delivering the verdict.


“Yes.”


“I knew that this was a dumb… what did you say?” you did a double take, looking at the now smiling mare.


“It would be my pleasure to be your date to the Gala, ________.”


With that, you again hugged the mare, keeping in mind to curb your happiness. She reciprocated the hug back. 


Seeing as you were done here, your mission accomplished, you bade your date farewell. Leaving the boutique, you couldn’t help but skip on your way back home, grabbing random ponies, picking them up and hugging them. The ponies were friendly, but not that friendly, save Pinkie Pie, she was always friendly. 


Even after arriving in Equestria a few months ago, some ponies were still wary of your presence. It probably didn’t help that when you were dropped into this world, it was towards the end of winter, and you had tried to break into multiple houses to escape the cold. Hearing the screams of the townsponies, you were knocked out by a blast from Princess Twilight Sparkle, the same mare who you now lived with. After some tight knots, magic and a few hours of interrogation by her and her friends, you were then released, although you couldn’t leave the castle until all the other princesses of Equestria had inspected you for themselves. This took a few weeks, as while this was a potential emergency, Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance needed a plan if you attacked them. 


Of course, the weather didn’t decide to change at all, so you were left to freeze in one of the castle rooms. This was where you encountered Rarity, as Fluttershy convinced her to make you something warmer, and noticing that you wore clothes added she could create some new styles. The alabaster mare’s eyes widen at the prospect and within a few minutes she had set up a small version of her shop in your “cell” and immediately went to work. 


By the time the princesses had arrived, she had made you not only some winter attire, but some spring and summer attire as well. Since she had spent so much time with you, Rarity was also happy to vouch that you were only trying to get warmth. The other Elements agreed, that somehow this was all just a misunderstanding and that you simply wanted to go home. This was where your hostess decided to reveal to you that you were immune to magic and the only hope for you would be to build some sort of portal that did not require magic. (How convenient.)


Thus, having no other choice, you were currently stuck here until Twilight or the Princesses’ researchers could find a way to send you back home. In the meantime, Twilight offered to let you stay, so that if she found potential ways, she could “sample” them on you. Let’s just say that for the most part, the only injured part of you was your pride.


Anyway, back to again terrorizing the townsponies. You were surrounded by magic before you could continue your hugging spree. Floated upside down, you saw your favorite alicorn bookworm staring at you with a confused look on her face. 


“I asked Rarity to the Gala and she said yes,” you sheepishly explained, which earned you both a congratulations and a lecture on how to control your emotions. (As if she was the one to lecture you.)







The Gala couldn’t come any sooner, but tonight was the night. Adorned in your handmade tux, bouquet of  roses in hand you knocked on the door that you were all so familiar with. You perked up even more when you heard your date call out “Just a minute darling” from the other side.  


Your anticipation continued to build up as you heard her soft hoofalls approaching. You even jumped a little when you heard the door creak open. “Alright, calm down. You haven’t even gotten to the Gala yet. Don’t die of nerves right here.”


You were about to greet your date, but your words received a 204 error, no content found. Rarity had never shown you her dress, but now you were glad she didn’t. She chose a dazzling red deep cut dress. She had let her usually curled mane down, flowing just over the shoulders of her dress. The way her pristine white coat clashed the tempting red was exhilarating, and she did a slow turn, letting you take in every bit of her features. Upon finishing her modeling for you she giggled.


“Like what you see,” she smirked at your glazed expression.


You slowly nodded, still entranced by just her beauty. 


“So are you going to continue staring or are we going to join our friends to the Gala?”


Snapping out of your stupor, you allowed her to take the lead as that was the equivalent of leading a girl back on Earth. The both of you met up with the rest of her friends, Spike giving frustrated huffs every so often. When he learned about your success with Rarity, he was bitter, but eventually he was able to accept that you took the courage to ask her and congratulated you. 


This wasn’t a night about the little dragon though. This was your night. The night to where you would finally confess your love for Rarity and ask her if she would be your special somepony. Your plan was this. You would ask her to dance for one of the slow songs and during the apex of it, you would pop the question. It was sure to work, after all she said yes to being your date. 


The carriage ride was nothing but good cheer and friends enjoying each other’s company. There was some teasing among each pair of dates, but other than that you were in high spirits. At one point the party reminisced about their first Gala, how they had high hopes of it being the best night ever but in the end it was a total disaster. So caught up in your chat you all barely realized that you had arrived.


Each pair exited together, your hand held in Rarity’s magic. At the entrance you were greeted by none other than the Princess of the Sun yourself. 


“Hello, _________. You certainly look dashing in that tux.”
“Thank you Princess. It’s all due to my lovely date here,” you gestured your date, who blushed and nodded. 


“It was really nothing your highness,” she replied. “I was glad to be able to bring out his natural handsomeness.”


Celestia leaned in closer to the both of you. “ You two make a cute couple, if I may say so,” she said softly.


That caused both of you to blush hard. 


“Th- thank you, Princess,” you both stammered, quickly excusing yourselves before the Princess could make more remarks.


You joined the rest of your party at the assigned table and waited for Celestia to start the festivities. Once she did, the rest of your night proceeded normally, no hitches at all. As you finished your dinners, the dance floor was opened, and you asked Rarity if she wanted to dance.


“Why darling, I didn’t know you knew how to dance,” she spoke a little bemused at this new knowledge.


“I don’t,” you smiled. “But that’s not going to stop me from trying.” You stood up, offering your hand.


She giggled at your answer and placed her hoof in your hand. “I would be delighted to be swept off my hooves with you.”


With her acceptance, you were among the first pairs to hit the dance floor. To start things off there was a light peppy tune, and you both were laughing trying to keep up with the beat. You were kinda glad that it didn’t start with a more formal dance, as you and Rarity took this time to adjust to each other, but in no time you found your own groove.


Several songs later, your opportunity came. 





For this, Rarity hopped up, resting her forehooves on your shoulders. You supported her back and made sure she kept her balance. The music picked up and you both waltzed around other couples. During the song, you started building up your own courage. You mentioned how even in the span of a couple months, you felt that the two of you had gotten close. She simply nodded, smiling at your awkwardness. You then went on about all of her traits that you liked: obviously her generosity, but also her ambition, her grace and inner and outer beauty. She lightly reddened at each compliment. The apex then came, and you took your shot.


“Rarity, there’s something I need to ask you,” you spoke, false bravery in your voice.


“Sure darling. You know you can ask me anything,” she cooed.


“Will you be my special somepony?”


The music ended and you had a shocked mare in your hands. 


“S-special somepony?” her eyes widened.


“Yes. I love you Rarity,” you replied, not sure what she was going to say next.


“Well darling,” she started looking for the words. “I’ve grown fond of you too, but I’m not sure in that manner. You are by definition a gentlecolt. You open doors for mares, always are willing to lend a hoof, and are such a flatterer. But I think that it would be best if we remained friends.”


She hugged you tightly. “I’m sorry.”


You hugged her back, letting it all sink in. “it’s ok Rarity,” you lied, trying to hold back the tears. “Having you as a close friend is better than being a stranger.”


She smiled. “And you are a very close friend indeed, __________. I’m glad you understand.”


The rest of the night was awkward for you. Despite being heartbroken, you still walked her to her boutique. A farewell hug later, you slowly walked back to Twilight’s castle, thinking about what made the mare reject you. Was it because you were another species? Had you come off as too friendly? You opened the castle doors to see the purple alicorn was waiting for you, some apple cider next to her. Before she could speak you held up a hand.


“I’ll talk later Twilight, I promise.”


Seeing as pushing would only make things worse, she nodded slowly, reminding you that she would be ready to listen when you were ready. Thanking her, you retired to bed, not even bothering to remove your clothes and cried yourself to sleep.
> Applejack
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Streams of light filtered through gaps in the rafters, gently waking you from your well earned rest. Applejack had worked you hard in the orchard yesterday, only taking a brief break to eat lunch. She apologized when you finished, saying that the farm had just received a huge order for a festival in Trottingham. You shrugged it off, reminding her that she had already been gracious enough to let you live on the farm and feed you in exchange for helping out. 


You owed her and her family a lot. From her finding you passed out in one of the orchards to giving you a job and feeding you as well. Maybe that was the reason you had been smitten with love for your savior. It wasn’t just the fact that she gave you a hoof up that you had become infatuated with the farm pony. There was her personality, fiery and determined, always ready to help others before herself, her discipline of acting as head of the farm and keeping her family on track. She had outward beauty too, although she wouldn’t admit it. Her golden flowing mane, adorned with her symbolic stetson complimented her cute country twang. Then there were those emerald irises you could gaze at all day, had the mare not told you to stop daydreaming and get back to harvesting apples. She was even too busy to notice you checking her out. 


Finally stretching out the last of your soreness, you got dressed and climbed down from the loft in the barn that was your bed. The first thing you noticed was the mouth-watering aroma of breakfast trickling from the house. You entered and found Applejack already making breakfast.


“Don’t cha worry bout sleeping in today sugarcube,” she smiled at you, flipping some pancakes and then checking on her apple strudels in the oven. “I think we all deserved to sleep in after yesterday. Thanks again for helping out.”


“Applejack, you should know by now that I am always happy to help the farm out. After all you and your family have done for me, I don’t think I’m doing enough,” you smiled. “Here lemme help you with breakfast.”


“Aw shucks,” she blushed, moving over to let you help. “Ah’m sure ya woulda been helped by some other pony. Ah’ll admit  ah was a little wary of ya at first, wasn’t sure what ah found in the orchard. Honestly, ah’m glad we grabbed ya before Twilight did. Yah have earned the right to live here. Yer always willing to pitch in on the farm. In town too, from what ah’ve heard various ponies. If ah didn’t know any better, I’d say a part of me has rubbed off on ya.” 


“I’d say more than a part,” you mused, thankful she didn’t hear that. You were soon joined by the rest of the Apple family, all who were more than happy to see you. Breakfast was finished, and you helped Applejack set the food on the table. You all ate and chatted about the events of yesterday, chuckling at the mention of when Big Mac was in such a rush that he nearly ran you over had you not jumped out of the way and onto the back of Applejack. Both of you blushed at the memory, and even though the subject had been changed you couldn’t help but stare at her. 


After breakfast, Applejack announced she was going to do her chores, and that you could take the rest of the day off. Once she was out of earshot though, little Applebloom tugged on your shirt. “There’s something we all want to talk to ya about,” she started, waving a hoof to Big Mac and Granny Smith.


“Um, ok,” you replied as you all moved into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. “Did I do something wrong?”


“Nope,” Big Mac gave his typical one word answer.


“It’s what you haven’t done, sonny,” Granny Smith added, sitting down in her rocker.


“Haven’t done?” you asked, racking your brain for something you forgot to do. You were sure you labeled the boxes correctly for which type of apple they contained. 


“How come ya haven’t asked mah sister to be yer special somepony yet?” Applebloom jumped on the couch and put her forehooves on your lap, practically staring into your soul.


“Wha-?” you started, before Granny Smith interrupted.


“Don’t try to act all clueless now, young human. We’ve all seen the way that you look at her, heck you just did it this morning. I’m picky about which stallions get close to my granddaughter, but you have shown your worth stud. Yesterday, ya were able to not only keep up with us, but took some other initiatives on yer own. Picking the apples based on how much we needed saved us half the day.”


“A-and you’re ok with me having interest in her?” you asked the family, all who nodded yes, Big Mac adding a ‘Yep’.


“Big Mac already has Cherilee. Ah want mah sis and you to be together,” Applebloom pleaded, getting closer to your face.


You smiled at her cuteness and sat her down on your lap. “What about Applejack? What does she think of me?”


“Well she sure talks highly about you,” Granny replied. “How you’re such a hard worker and nice to everypony ya meet. She would always avoid the question if we asked her if she had feelings for you.”


You processed all this information. Applejack’s family was already on board with you being with her, so you didn’t need to worry about that. However, you weren’t sure how the orange mare felt about you. When the topic of relationships came up between you two, sometimes she said that maybe someday she’d like to settle down with a stallion and continue running the farm, while other times she would say she’s just too busy to try and find said stallion. 


Looking around the room, your gaze was met by anticipation on everypony’s eyes. You let out a sigh and nodded. “I’ll ask her about it tonight.”


They all cheered, Applebloom squeezing you, talking about how she couldn’t wait to have another big brother in the family and how happy Applejack would be. That issue finally settled, you dismissed yourself, telling the family that you needed to prepare for tonight.







The rest of the day, you came up with a plan on how to approach and ask Applejack the question. You knew that she was a simple mare, so getting dressed up would only make her nervous or wary. Having dinner alone would also wasn’t something she’d probably do. Then the idea hit you. You’d ask her to take a walk through the orchards after dinner, something you’d done with her before. Well not like how you were planning on doing.


It had been a few weeks since your arrival in Equestria and obviously you were a little homesick. You had thought that you put on a convincing poker face, but Applejack easily saw through it. When you looked back on that day, you figured it was probably because she was the Element of Honesty, she probably could spot a liar a mile away. Anyway, you had decided to take a walk through the orchards, to try and calm yourself. You didn’t know that the farm pony was following, at least until you decided to cry under one of the trees. 


She quickly rushed to your side and placed her forehooves around you, holding you tight. You tried to stop crying but that only made you cry harder. Applejack didn’t judge, saying how she wished that they could find a way for you back home and that they were trying their best to make you feel at home. You stopped her right there, indignation halting your tears. It wasn’t her fault that you were torn from your world, and they had been more than accommodating, taking in a strange creature into their home. If anyone should be sorry it should be you. Seeing as you had reached some understanding that somehow it was just fate that brought you two together, you both just laughed at how you were trying to argue who should apologize. You held her close for a good while, before you both agreed that it was time to head off to bed. You thanked Applejack for following you, telling her that she made you feel at home. She got flustered at that, and socked you in the arm for being cheesy. 


“That would be perfect,” you grinned after recalling the memory. “She changed my life that night, and I’ll change hers tonight.” 


Satisfied that you had a plan in place, all you had to do now was wait. You took another nap, still feeling a little fatigued, and had  a nice dream with you sitting under an apple tree, Applejack with her back against your stomach. You had your arms around her barrel, relishing her surprisingly soft coat. When you woke up, not only did you feel refreshed, but even more determined to make Applejack yours.


The sun was setting, so you decided to head out once again to the farm house. Smoothing out your shirt and jeans, you took some time to admire Luna’s night. A warm night breeze was blowing, and once the sun had set, the moon and stars gave off enough light to see. You opened the door to see the whole Apple family at work, the ones who you talked to earlier winking at you, while Applejack welcomed you in. 


“Had a good nap ah’d reckon,” she smirked. “Checked in on ya when ah had to get some tools from the barn. You were muttering something ah couldn’t pick out, but it seemed to be happy murmuring.”


“Yeah, I guess it just felt good knowing what we accomplished yesterday,” you somewhat lied. “Especially on such short notice. We should all be proud of ourselves.”


“Couldn’t have said it better,” the mare smiled. “Now enough chatting, dinner’s ready!”


You would have thought that if you ate nothing but apples everyday for a few months, that you woulda been sick of the things, but there was some secret the Apples had to make their food not taste so “appley”. After dinner, you asked if Applejack wouldn’t mind accompanying you to the orchard. When asked why, you replied with your own question, why wouldn’t you want to talk with one of your closest friends? She didn’t really have an answer for that, and the rest of her family was too eager to clean up while you two had your little “talk”.


“It sure is a beautiful night, isn’t it,” you remarked to your companion. This caused Applejack to observe the stars herself. 
“Ah don’t know how Princess Luna does it,” she replied. “Every night is different, sure the stars are still there, but the patterns continue to shift, as if it were like waves on the ocean.”


“Ah, so not only are you beautiful, hard working, dedicated, loyal and kind, you also have a way with words,” you smirked as her cheeks reddened.


“Ya think ah’m beautiful?” she asked, her bright green irises staring back.


“Applejack,” you started, taking in a deep breath. “You are the most beautiful mare that I know. Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. Words can’t even begin to describe how I feel about you. You saved me, took me into your home. Your comment at breakfast couldn’t have hit the head on the nail any harder. You have rubbed off on me more than you think. I … I love you Applejack.”


Her eyes widened, her mouth moving but nothing came out. She looked you over, as if waiting for you to break your serious tone and tell her it was a joke. But you had never been more serious in your life than this moment here. She sighed and removed her stetson. 


“Ah, ah don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “It’s flattering to hear ya say that __________. The only stallion that took interest in me was that Trenderhoof fella, but he just wasn’t right for me. You on the other hand, ah’m not sure. We’re different species for Celestia’s sake. Ah want to say yes, but I’m just not sure. The farm has me busy as it is, ah don’t know if ah could be a proper marefriend as well.”


“But you already have been doing just that,” you quickly replied, seeing your opportunity slipping. “Just seeing you walk into the room makes it that much brighter. I can’t help but smile when you smile. Besides, ah know your family wants us to be together. They even told me how you wanted to find a stallion to settle down with that would help out on the farm. I want to be that stallion, Applejack. Your stallion.”


She just stared at you for a while, before drooping her head. “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but ah just don’t think I’m ready for a relationship yet. Yer a good fella, don’t get me wrong. Ah just, don’t see you the same way.”


You let out a defeated sigh. “Alright,” you slumped against a tree. “I can respect that. I shoulda known better that you probably didn’t see me that way. After all I’m probably some freak to all of you.”


“Now hold on a second there, sugarcube,” she interrupted your lament. “Just because ah don’t feel the same for ya does not make you a freak.” She sat down next to you, placing a hoof on your shoulder. “You are a wonderful human, and for some reason ah just can’t see you more than a close friend. Maybe it’s because ah’m scared to mess things up and then lose you altogether. Just know this, there are plenty of mares out there that would be lucky to have you as their stallion. Don’t let me rejecting ya cause you to think you’re not any good. You really are.”


You smiled halfheartedly at her explanation. Maybe she was right. What if she said yes but either one of you made a mistake or had a silly argument? Not only would you have lost a love, but also your friend. Accepting this bitter truth you turned to the mare, who had a worried look in her eyes.


“Applejack?”


“Yes, sugarcube?”


“Would you mind if we just stayed here and cuddled?”


“Not at all.”  
> Pinkie Pie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

How could one describe your crush? She was sweeter than any confection she baked, more bubblier than the freshest drawn bubble bath, and made the Energizer bunny run out of juice. She was by far the friendliest pony you had met, and she was actually the first one you met. Pinkie found you passed out behind Sugarcube corner, and after her little episode of not knowing what to do, you finally came to. You still thought you were dreaming when you saw a pink blur, circling around you, sounds coming from it. Thankfully, her friends were alerted to the ruckus and started to close in on you.


Pinkie, for whatever reason, stood between you and her friends, and now that she had calmed down a lot you could understand her.


“Hang on a moment girls!” she waved her forehooves in front of her. “We’re not in danger. The creature looks more confused than we are? Maybe he just needs a friend?”


“How do you know it’s a he,” the purple pegasus combined with a unicorn spoke. “You were willing to be scared of Zecora, who was at least a familiar species, but now you’re defending this, this thing? Come on Pinkie, you have some sense.”


“Yes, I have Pinkie Sense TM!” the pink horse in front of you replied. “And since it’s not going off right now, that’s how I know we’re all ok.” She turned around to you. “Hi creature! My name is Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”


“Pinkie, we don’t even know-”


You replied to the horse, and shook her outstretched hoof. At least she was being friendly, might as well be friendly back.


The next thing you knew, purple hybrid was up in your face, asking you all sorts of questions. 


And that was just your first day in Equestria.


Everyday after something always was up. Ironically the only constant in your life was Pinkie, you could always count on her overzealous attitude and bright demeanor. There was one time that you saw her sad, and you were honestly afraid for your life. You two instantly became friends, mostly thanks to her. She even convinced the Cakes, her employers, to let you help her out and that she’d let you stay in her room. Pinkie would never let you thank her properly, saying you would probably do the same for her had she been in the same situation. 


So here you were, sitting on your bed, reflecting on the last couple of months. They had been hectic, with different creatures attacking Ponyville and a certain draconequus pulling pranks on you whenever he had the chance. One time he made you hallucinate that you were back home, which was a rude awakening when he took the spell off you. Through it all though, Pinkie always tried her best to cheer you up and make you feel that you were home. 


It was just a few weeks ago that you realized how you felt about the bubbly mare. She had caught you staring as she was baking and asked if she had some batter on her face. You blushed and told her no, just you enjoyed watching her bake, before slapping a hand over your mouth. She giggled, thanking you and returned to her baking, seemingly unfazed by your confession. You looked at her incredulously, before just laughing to yourself and asking her if she needed help. 


The door swung open, and you were greeted by a pink blur, wrapping her forehooves around you. That was one of the great things about Pinkie: free hugs. You returned the hug, rubbing her soft, fuzzy fur and inhaling her sugar cookie scent. You even went as far to comb your fingers through her unruly mane, which elicited a giggle from the mare.


“You sure are affectionate today _________,” she nuzzled you. That made your heart skip a beat. That had to be a sign that she returned your feelings. This was your chance!


“Well you know Pinkie, you’ve taken such good care of me since I arrived here,” you started.


“Of course silly! According to Twilight you were ripped from you home suddenly and because some other magical, technical things you can’t go back. So of course you would be sad that you lost all your friends and family, I know I would. And it’s never fun to see anypony sad, even though at the end of this chapter you’ll be a little sad, but accepting of my decision. So I decided to treat you like how I would treat anypony. Thankfully you were a lot easier than Cranky. That donkey could sure be as stubborn as well… himself! Speaking of which, it’s too bad that we weren’t able to make to the wedding, that meany weany bug bear just had to spoil that day. And-”


You gently placed a hand on her muzzle. “Pinkie I love you,” you spoke once you had her attention and removed your hand to hear her response.


“Well duh! Everypony loves me and I love everypony! Sure I wasn’t sure what to think of you when we met, but once you showed that you were a super fun and nice who man, it was easy to love you!”


Your heart was practically racing now. She loved you too. “So does that mean you’ll be my special somepony?”


“NOPE!”


…. What?


“Weren’t you listening when I was talking earlier? I LOVE everypony! If I had a special somepony, then I couldn’t love everypony or I would hurt my special somepony’s feelings, and that would be a big no-no. So no I can’t be your special somepony, that wouldn’t be fair to everypony else.”


“Oh… “ you sighed, her logic made some sense.


“I told you you would be sad by my answer,” Pinkie apologized, before jumping onto the bed next to you, wrapping a forehoof around your shoulders. “But just because I’m not your special somepony doesn’t mean I don’t love you and you can’t love me. It just means that we aren’t committed to each other. We can fall in love with other ponies and have them fall in love with us. Why should ponies be forced to only love one other pony? Then if a pony finds that they love another pony, they might hurt the pony they loved first because they love the other pony as well. That’s why us ponies have herds, but even then that restricts the love as well as everypony in that group has to agree on adding others. For me, I just love everypony, the only rule is to not hurt other ponies. So far it’s worked fine for me!”


You smiled at her. Her explanation couldn’t have any more truth. You couldn’t have her all for yourself, that wasn’t who Pinkie was.  


“Alright Pinkie,” you hugged her tightly. “As long as you’re happy, then I’m happy.”


“Yay! Let’s celebrate for you being happy after I just rejected you!”


Oh Pinkie. 
> Fluttershy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There’s music in the treetops, and there’s music in the vale…”


Fluttershy seemed to have forgotten that you were helping her feed the animals today. Not that you minded, you got to hear her angelic voice without her being worried about what you thought. 


“And music all around us fills the skies.”


You remembered the whole Ponytones and poison joke incident, and couldn’t help but smile. The shy little pegasus had come a long way from that point. Sure she wasn’t going to be going on tour anytime soon, but she would do small shows for her animals and the other Elements of Harmony and you. It was ironic. This mare, who was afraid of her own shadow, didn’t even blink an eye when she found you hurt around the edge of the Everfree Forest. It took at least a month to nurse you from you critical wounds and another to get you back to normal, if you could say that living in a world full of pastel colored ponies was “normal”. 


“There’s music by the river and there’s music in the grass,”


Even after you fully recovered, she insisted that you live with her. Although you weren’t necessarily an “animal” she still wanted to care for you, after all it was her job to take care of others. Since you were the only human here, it might be best for everypony you stayed away from others till the Princesses could decide how to integrate you into society.


“And the music makes your heart soar in reply.”


You filled Harry’s dinner bowl with some fish, chuckling how friendly the ferociously outward looking bear was. You moved on to the other animals, humming along with Fluttershy.


“You’ve got to look inside and find the music in you,”


“Cause when you look inside you’ll see it,”


“You’re gonna find it gonna find. The music in you!”


You lightly applauded the pegasus, who blushed but thankfully didn’t fly off.


“You’re too kind __________,” she smiled.
“No Fluttershy, you are too kind. You are so selfless, making sure these animals are cared for before you even treat yourself. You even took me in, some alien just because I was hurt. Too bad there aren’t many humans like you back from where I’m from. Earth sure could use it.”


She smiled sweetly at that. “Well you aren’t a bad human. After all you’re here helping me take care of the animals. And you were in so much pain when I found you. Of course I was pretty scared, but it was really sad seeing you like that that I overcame my fear and helped you.”


“And I’m glad that you did,” you knelt down and hugged her, which earned you an aww and the hug was reciprocated.


“Now that we’ve taken care of breakfast for the animals, let’s go get ourselves some,” she suggested leading you into her cottage. “Now make yourself comfortable while I make us some tea and biscuits.”


You plopped on her couch and smiled. You just felt so good today, maybe you should tell Fluttershy how you saw her.


“I don’t think so buddy,” a deep voice answered your thought. 


You turned your head to see Angel, Fluttershy’s favorite pet, although she would never admit it sitting next to you.


“I must be hearing things,” you cleaned your ears.


“No, you heard me right buster.” You looked on in some horror as actual sound came out of the bunny’s mouth and not the usual squeaks.


“Since when could you talk?”


“That doesn’t matter. I’m not going to sit by and let you corrupt sweet Fluttershy,” the bunny crossed his arms. 


“What do you mean corrupt? How is loving her corrupting her?”


“Because it won’t be just loving that you two will do. I’ve seen what you humans can do, and I won’t allow you to taint Fluttershy with your love.”


“And how do you propose on stopping me, bunny?”


“By making your life here as miserable as possible. I could start by yelping and blaming you for kicking me off the couch. Afterall, who do you think she’s gonna believe, me or you?”


You didn’t know the answer to that. 


“Thought so. Go and find another mare to seduce. Leave Fluttershy out of it,” Angel finished, hopping off the couch and upstairs.


You hostess appeared in the doorway. “Who were you talking to?”


“Just myself,” you lied. 


“Oh, I’m sorry. I made you wait so long that you were talking to yourself,” the pegasus’ ears drooped.


“No it wasn’t you Fluttershy. I just sometimes talk to myself when I’m thinking really hard about something.”


“Oh ok then,” she beamed. “Here’s your tea and biscuits. You really are a great friend.”


“Heh, yeah friend.”


In Fluttershy’s bedroom, Discord and Angel were paw bumping, congratulating themselves on a job well done.
> Rainbow Dash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hah, I beat you again!”

“Well … let’s … look … at the situation … we have here,” you panted, your eyes wide, fighting for breath, your lungs set ablaze. 

You managed to catch your breath, but your heart was still racing. 

“Ok, one,” you held up your index finger. “I was never an athlete on Earth. Heck my “exercise” was when I jumped up and down after completing that one horror game. Two, you have practice doing races, I’ve never ran one, which comes back to my first reason. Three, even though you had a vast lead on me, you still made running harder by creating a gust of wind, which at times I almost fell back.”

“You’re just sore that I won,” the cyan pony smirked.

“Sure Dash,” you rolled your eyes. “I was just wasting my breath earlier.”

“Exactly. So you wanna go for best 2/2?”

“I need to find my kidneys first,” you dryly replied. “Along with my left lung.”

“Wimp. Alright I’ll see ya around then!” she bade farewell and was off in a flash.

You chuckled to yourself, and walked home. It was interesting how the hothead’s demeanor changed from total distrust to now being one of your closest friends. How long had it been since you arrived in ponyland? 3 months? 4? You lost track after the revelation that you couldn’t simply just go back home. Twilight had burnt herself out the first month, and you had to reassure her that you would be fine being stuck here. There was truth to that, especially since you became friends with most of the ponies and found work in construction. You may not have been an athlete, but that didn’t mean you weren’t good with your hands.

It was through your job that you got more acquainted with the cyan pegasus. It was a combination of distrust along with curiosity that some monkey was able to build structures. In fact you gave some tips to the construction ponies to make their buildings stronger and more efficient to build. The event that sparked your relationship was when you took a step too many backwards and plummeted 4 feet from the platform you were on. She could have just let you fall on your rump and laughed her head off but instead she caught you. 

After an awkward exchange of gratitude, you asked the pegasus if she would like to hang out after you finished work for that day. Her eyes lit up at the proposal and replied that’d be cool. Things fell into place after that. It seemed you both had a love for pranks, and proceeded to pull a lot of them on her friends and unsuspecting townsponies. You also came to understand why she was boastful all the time. She had worked all her life to get into the Wonderbolts and now that she was a member of the flight squad she wanted everypony to know it. 

You chuckled at the statement. You could have told her most ponies don’t like a boaster, but decided that was what made Dash well, Dash. Besides the other ponies didn’t seem to mind and some encouraged her to continue striving for the best. As you got to know her better, even you found her cockiness had some charm. There was also her well toned body that you had the rare pleasure of being crushed against you after she successfully pulled off one of her trick and immediately proceeded to hug you. It was a pleasant surprise that was short lived as the pegasus quickly broke the embrace, blushing and warning you to keep the encounter a secret. 

However, the contact was enough to spark an interest in her. It sure did feel nice holding her in your arms. It’s not like you didn’t receive hugs from other ponies, but the scarcity of that happening between the two of you was what made it that much more meaningful. As you arrived at your house, built by yours truly, you began to contemplate whether you should confess these feelings to the rainbow maned pegasus. You played out a few scenarios, mostly where she would say “Love is lame” or “You’re not cool enough”. But as someone dear to you once taught you, The answer is always no unless you ask you decided to take the plunge. 

You awoke the next day, refreshed and as nervous as a sinner in church. Did you buy flowers? No that would be romantic, which Dash would probably see as lame. Any other gesture was probably out of the question as well. You spent a few minutes pondering your next step when you had an epiphany. You got dressed into casual clothes, ate a light breakfast and headed out of your house. You found Dash lazing about in her usual spot, a cloud in the middle of the park.

“I’ll call you up on that race you wanted yesterday,” you called up to her, to which you got an immediate response.

“Oh you’re soo on!” she flew down, seeing that passion in her eyes that you were attracted to.

“Ok so this time I get to pick the course,” you added which didn’t seem to dampen her mood.

“Pick whatever you want dude. I’m still gonna crush you.”

“Alright. First we’ll head to the big oak tree, then the lake, across the bridge and then loop back here,” you smiled knowing that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t figure out why you chose those spots.

“That’ll be a breeze,” she bragged. “Tree, lake, bridge and then back. Would figure you would pick a short course, after you complained yesterday.”

Normally you’d make a snarky retort, but you had to focus on the task on hand. It wasn’t like she would notice if you didn’t say anything. On the count of three the both of you were off, but instead of trying to beat the pegasus (you knew you were going to lose) you took some time at each spot.

The tree where the two of you first met, well where Dash found you. Your memory was hazy about the events that happened before you arrived in Equestria. Apparently whatever you did caused you to be passed out and you didn’t come to until you had quite a gathering of the colorful ponies around you. 

Then there was the lake, where you two hung out after she “saved” you. That day had been warmer than usual and she suggested taking a dip. Thankfully Rarity had already made you some swim trunks that would probably cost a fortune back on Earth: they didn’t cling and dried within minutes. You spent the rest of the day racing around and lay on the shore, too exhausted, both physically and mentally, from that day’s events. 

Thirdly there was the bridge, where during a Ponytones’ concert she pulled you aside and asked about your relationship. You weren’t quite sure if she was asking if you liked her or not, at that time you were still debating if falling in love with a pony would still count as bestiality since they were sentient. So you settled on saying you enjoyed hanging out with her, she was awesome and cool, and considered you two to be pretty close. She agreed, raising a hoof to which you bumped and from there you were close friends.

As you approached the finish line, you began to ponder. Was that all she saw you as? Just a close friend? Had you somehow set yourself up for the friendzone? You forced yourself to brush back this revelation. You still had to ask her, just to be sure. The only thing you hoped for though was that this didn’t ruin your friendship.

You sprinted the last few yards to an impatient mare. 

“I thought you wanted to race, not take in the scenery,” she commented in a bored tone. “I took a look behind me when I got to the lake and saw you just standing there under the tree. Just because you know I’m gonna beat you doesn’t mean you should just quit.”

You simply smiled. She still didn’t get it, but then you weren’t planning on her to realize it at the beginning.

“Do you know why I chose this course Dash?” you asked, surprised a bit by your more wiser tone.

“Because you were bored?” she guessed. “Come on man. I’m not Twilight, all detectivy and stuff.”

You smiled. “Of course not Dash. You’re way cooler than her, although don’t tell her I said that. Anyway the reason I chose this course is because each place had a memory between you and I. The tree was where you found me, the lake where we hung out for the first time and the bridge where we became close friends.”

That made the pegasus pause, then her eyes went wide with the epiphany. “Oh yeah! I guess I was too focused on beating you to really notice.”

You kept smiling. “You know Dash, you don’t have to win everything. If you rush too much through life you’re gonna have some regrets on not enjoying the small things. You don’t have to worry about beating me Dash, you’re the one pony I don’t mind losing to.”

She gave you a confused look. “What are you getting at _______________?”

“I love you Dash. Ever since I got to know you, I’ve been building up these feelings and now I know that I would be honored to be your special somepony.”

Her ears pinned to her head, a faint blush on her cheeks. She looked around to see if anypony had heard you but even though there was nopony there her eyes continued to flick around.

“I - I can’t be in a relationship,” she stammered. “Love is all mushy and gross and above all uncool. That’s something Rarity would talk about. Lovey dovey dates, dressing up for them, bleh. Sorry dude, but that’s not for me. I g-gotta go now. Cya!”

“Dash wait-” you were too slow, as usual. She was already out of earshot. 

Sighing and blaming yourself for probably ruining a good friendship you returned home, unbeknownst to you that the cyan pegasus was still watching from a cloud.





There was a knock at the door, which you naturally shooed away. You weren’t gonna brood over this rejection but at least needed a day to come to terms with it. 

“It’s me, Rainbow Dash.”

Oh great, now she wants to tell me that she doesn’t wanna be friends with someone as uncool as me.

“It’s ok Dash, you don’t have to say it. I understand that being friends with someone who has feelings for you is awkward and uncool. You don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine,” you lied.

She opened your door as you remembered you gave her the key. 

“No, you’re not,” she replied protectively, hopping onto the side of your bed. “I saw you walk home all down and mopey. I had time to think about what I said yesterday and I was too harsh. I - I was just surprised. Sure a lot of ponies have told me I was cool, but not one actually said they…” she trailed off.

“Loved you?” you finished, sitting up.

She nodded. “It’s not that I’m opposed to a relationship I guess. I - I actually asked Princess Cadance about it. Besides the whole spiel about who was the lucky stallion and whatever, she told me that a special somepony is just a pony that you enjoy hanging out with, that shares some of your interests and that truly cares about you and you back. That’s when I realized that’s pretty much what we have, but saying that we’re marefriend and coltfriend just doesn’t sound like me. What’s wrong with just being close friends, like we are now?”

“You still want to be my friend?”

“Well yeah, duh. You didn’t hurt me or my friends, just told me how you felt about me. While I can’t say that I love you, I do care about you and I guess tease you to show that. I tease everypony I care about.”

You weren’t quite expecting things to turn out like this, but who were you to complain? You were still best friends with her, and while she didn’t feel the same way, she seemed to come to an understanding and wouldn’t let that get in the way of your friendship. You snatched her up and gave her a bearhug, where she froze up for a moment before chuckling and returning the hug.

“If you tell anypony about this, I’ll kill you.”

You just laughed.
> Queen Chrysalis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You wandered down the dark, always changing corridors. In a way it reminded you of Hogwarts, except in the movie the students could actually see where the staircase led. Now that you thought of it, the whole situation you were in was odd. Technically you were a prisoner but you’re host, queen bug, decided to let you roam through her hive. For what reason, you were unsure. 

It was actually the queen of the changelings that found you. You were first interrogated, asked if you had any affiliation with the talking ponies that ruled this world. If you hadn’t thought this was all a dream then, you were convinced that that night out with the guys got you pretty stoned. Anyway you decided to tell the odd looking creature in front of you the truth. The first thing that came to mind was Alien, with their jagged appendages and gleaming jet black exoskeletons. Dream or not, you probably didn’t want to be on these thing’s bad side. 

“I don’t know any talking ponies. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not even from this world.”

“That much is true,” the queen replied, sneering at you. You could tell she was a female from her voice, unless she was a really high pitched dude. “I don’t think me or any of my changelings have ever encountered whatever species you are.”

“So you’ll let me go right? Not a spy or anything, just some species you never met,” you tried.

“Not a chance,” the queen cackled. “While I do detect love coming from you there are quite a few other emotions not associated with other creatures. You will be kept here until we can successfully take your form.”

You weren’t quite sure about what that meant, but you felt your heart sink as you were now a prisoner. Had you only taken the guy’s offer to crash at their place you wouldn’t be in this mess. 

You weren’t sure how long ago that was, since you never got to go outside. Surprisingly the changelings were able to accommodate you, picking strange fruits and vegetables that were actually delicious. You in turn fed Chrysalis, and since you two spent so much time together, you found yourself finding feelings for her. Yes she was a little coarse with you, often referring to you as Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner and leaving you alone until it was feeding time. 

There was that one feeding that went a little awry and you figured maybe that triggered her to being nicer. You went from thinking about parents to just home in general. During a feeding, at least how she had it set up, your minds were linked, kinda like a feeding tube. Every memory you recalled, she was able to see and thanks to her biology, feed off of. Well the more you thought about home, the more bittersweet the memories began to form. How you missed your warm bed, seeing your friends, even your dead end job. This caused your “host” to gag, look at you and then mutter something about needing to get rid of those melancholy memories.

She did everything within her power, from having a select few changelings take the forms of your friends to giving you your own room, styled to how it was back home. Even though you knew she was doing it just to make her meals taste better, you couldn’t help but feel that some part of her cared about you. That under that cold carapace and the frigid confines of her heart, she was capable of taking some of your love and actually able to feel it. 

This is what you were doing right now. Heading to the throne room and confessing your borderline Stockholm’s syndrome. 

“I didn’t summon you Lunch,” the queen spoke, not really in annoyance but more of curiosity.

“I know, my queen,” you bowed. “It’s just that I might have a solution to make your meals taste better.”

“I’m listening,” the queen replied with some interest. 

“What if I loved you instead?” you took the plunge. 

Chrysalis cocked an eyebrow at that. “Whatever do you mean, human? My changelings already love me and that doesn’t keep us fed.”

“No offense my Queen, but they only love you because you are their queen. What I’m proposing is that I love you for who you are. Chrysalis,” you simply stated

You weren’t sent flying back into the wall. No magic used to chastise you for your idea. No it was far worse. She simply laughed at you. One of fits of evil laughter, like when she would hatch a plan to overthrow Celestia.

“That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard,” she finally spoke, wiping away a tear. “Nopony could ever love a changeling, let alone me. You thought all those attempts to make you comfortable were me showing you kindness? I figured you smarter than that, Lunch. It was just to make you not miss your home or friends as much, so I could feed off more of your love. Can’t you see, I’m only using you, like livestock. Why do you think I refer to you as Lunch, or Dinner or Breakfast? It’s not some cute little pet name, it’s because that’s all that you are to me.”

“That may be true, but even when your attempts weren’t successful you still let me have my freedom. Sure it’s still confined to this hive, but it’s better than just staying in my room all day. There is good to you Chrysalis, even if you don’t see it.”

The queen growled before launching from her throne and pinning you down. She leaned close to your face, turning to the side to whisper in your ear. “Listen here, food. You are simply imagining things, that you love me, that I’m being kind to you. All of that is not true. The only thing I care about is feeding my subjects and I and getting revenge on those stupid, pathetic ponies. Feeding off you will give me enough power to strike again. Once I’m strong enough I’ll simply dispose of you, or just enslave you to continue to feed me after all of Equestria is mine.”

She stood up, still glaring at you. “Guards!”

Two changelings appeared at her side. 

“Since my food here is thinking that I’m going soft, it’s time to take his privileges away. Change his room into a cell, lock him up and only feed him after he’s fed me. Then maybe they will see there is no ‘good’ in me. Only deceit and deception.”

You didn’t resist. You weren’t heart broken either, only disappointed. This may have made things a little more difficult for you but you were determined to show Chrysalis how wrong she was. As the guards led you away you looked back to hold some brief eye contact with the queen. After a few seconds she scoffed in disgust and turned her back to you, resuming her position on her throne.

Once you were out of the room, the queen sighed. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, her exposure to emotions meant that she could interpret them well. There was no way she could make the human just ignore the homesickness or mimic it. They were willing to comply so no need for her to force him like Shining Armor. Another reason for giving them their free will was that emotions themselves were genuine, therefore more tasty when they were good. 

However, they were making her seem like she was good, and she couldn’t have anypony see that. Sure her meals might not be as tasty, but preserving her image was more important.

“Nopony could ever love me,” she muttered.
> Luna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had asked her how many stars filled her brilliant night sky to which she simply replied too many to count. She in turn asked if an Equestrian night differed from one on Earth to which you replied the two weren’t even close. The lunar princess looked a little disappointed from that response, so you quickly added that no night on Earth could come close to rivaling her’s. She seemed to perk up at that and just smiled. 

That meeting played out a few weeks ago, the first time the princess of the night had actually opened up to you. Her sister, Princess Celestia, was the one who found you as she strolled through the Royal Gardens. She proceeded to wake you up after determining you weren’t a threat, and after a few moments of awkward explaining and believing you were allowed to accompany her. The rest of that day you were politely interrogated by the princess in the throne room, where you both exchanged questions.

She decided to end the conversation as it was time for dinner. Looking out the window, you gave her a look of confusion as it still looked bright as day outside. You spoke your thoughts to which she chuckled at your remark, explaining that she and her sister were responsible for day and night. You were about to ask what she meant by that when said sister, you assumed by the size of her along with being an “alicorn”, walked in. 

“So how was … Tia, why are you talking to a monkey?” the sister asked in pure curiosity.

“Lulu I would like you to meet ____________, the human. While being primates, they usually don’t appreciate having that fact stated,” Celestia explained for you.

“I see,” the princess of the night responded, eyeing you now in what seemed distrust. “What is it doing here?”

“I found him in the gardens, asleep. According to him, the last thing he remembered before waking up was that he was taking a nightly stroll in the park when a bright flash of light came from the sky and knocked him out.” 

Luna’s face seemed to change for a second before she spoke to you, “A flash of light you say?”

You nodded your head and would have said more but suddenly being this close to the mare had caused a loss of words for you. 

A few moments of awkward silence lingered over your heads before Celestia reminded her sister of their duties.  With a glow of their horns, you noticed the lighting change and looking outside saw the true extent of their power. The sun dipped faster than it should into the horizon and in that brief moment of darkness, the moon rose to take it’s place. Your expression apparently spoke for you. 

“I think that’s enough surprises for our guest today,” Celestia chuckled, wrapping a wing around you. “Let’s get you something to eat and then show you to your room.” 

“I must be off Tia, I cannot leave the Dream realm unattended,” Luna stated.

“That’s never stopped you from roaming the corridors when you were bored,” Celestia stared at her sister, with a look of an older sister who was annoyed with the younger one’s misbehavior.

“Farewell, ape,” the navy blue mare dismissed, before vanishing in a flash of blue light.

Your hostess frowned and let out a sigh before turning to you. “I’m sorry about my sister’s attitude. She of all ponies should know how to treat guests, with all those silly rules she’s tried to add to common Canterlot etiquette.”

You reassured her that no harm was done. You didn’t expect such a warm welcome or for anyone here to even trust you. Given some time, Princess Luna might warm up to you, although you hoped you didn’t have to be here that long for that to happen. She smiled and promised that she would do everything in her power to try and find you a way back home.  

The next few weeks weren’t as bad as you imagined. You were free to roam the castle, not too many restricted areas and plenty of  staff to keep you company. Even Princess Celestia would check up on you from time to time, giving you status updates on the progress to get you home or just to see how you were doing. But it was who wasn’t keeping you company that mostly intrigued you. When you couldn’t sleep, you would walk through the corridors, the guards paying you no mind once you explained why you were up. On several occasions, you would run into the Princess of the Night, and before you could even exchange a greeting, she would teleport away. 

Then one night you had a nightmare. It didn’t start off as one though. Celestia had found a spell that would teleport you back home. After thanking her for not only working hard to find the spell but also treating you as royalty, you were sent on your way. You arrived in front of your house, at least the building itself looked like your house. The lawn had drastically changed, where a proud oak tree stood was now a circular flower garden. In the driveway a car that you could only dream of owning was parked. The front door opened and a family came out, all who stared back at you. 

“Mommy? Why is there a strange man standing on our sidewalk?”

“I don’t know who you are but you better get moving along before I call the cops,” the father yelled at you. 

“Bu- but, but I live here,” you stammered, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“No, we live here,” the man responded, his eyebrows scrunching into a bigger frown. “Have been since the last owner just disappeared. This is my last warning. Leave the property or I’m calling the police.”

You wanted to argue that you were the missing owner, but decided it’d be a waste of time. All you could think of was just seeing your family and telling them that you were ok. Obeying your thoughts, the dream shifted, but instead of being at your parent’s house, you were in the local cemetery. Before you was their grave, the dates ending almost 40 years from when you disappeared. A few weeks in Equestria was 4 decades back on Earth? You started to cry, your parents never knew what happened to you and worried about you till their dying day. They were the only thing you had left, you were a single child and if 40 years had passed, most everyone you knew would’ve changed as well, some may not even remember after all that time.

The ground underneath you started to shake, a fissure slowly opening beneath your feet. Your parent’s grave was swallowed up and as you ran through the cemetery, it seemed the entire planet was collapsing. At some point you couldn’t keep running and yelled as the ground gave way under you. You shut your eyes, just waiting for the fall to end with your death, but instead of landing on something hard, it felt like you were caught. 

Looking down you were as surprised as grateful that Princess Luna had stopped the fall. Before you could even thank her, she teleported you both out of harm’s way. When you opened your eyes again you were still clutching around her neck, which you quickly released and promptly hopped off her back. You were about to shower her with gratitude when she surprised you yet again.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke in a whisper.

Sorry? Sorry for saving your life? Sorry for not appearing sooner? You didn’t understand and told her as much.

She let out a sigh and continued. “It’s my fault you are here.” 

You wouldn’t say fault, after all being “here” was better than being where you previously were. You looked around and appeared to be in space, looking over a galaxy you didn’t recognize. 

“No, it’s my fault you are in Equestria,” she shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “I was experimenting with a spell and something went wrong. I checked all of Equestria but didn’t find anything out of place. It must have been sometime after that you arrived.”
You nodded your head solemnly. You asked her if that’s why she avoided you all this time. 

“It was one of the reasons,” she admitted. “I did not trust you at first, thinking you had some ulterior motive. Then I saw how kind you were to everypony, and how you had tried several times to befriend me, despite my rejections. Looking at your dreams, your intentions were pure, all you wanted to do was to return home. This nightmare demonstrates that clearly.”

Seeing as everything seemed to be alright between the two of you, you ventured to ask if she wouldn’t mind chatting, since you were still curious to know more about her. She was surprised that you weren’t angry at her for tearing you away from your world, but you explained it was just a freakish accident, not something she did on purpose. That seemed to ease some of her tension and for the first time in Equestria, you saw her beautiful smile. 

Now you sat in your room, once again unable to sleep. From the moment you met Luna, you had developed an interest in her, although it didn’t start as romantic. It was mostly due to her constant avoidance of you that drew you in, the mysterious aura around her too hard to ignore. Once you got her to open up, you fell for her shy yet commanding personality. 

She also was physically appealing, to your surprise. Her large teal eyes, who harbored an array of emotions, from betrayal and sadness to self-hatred and envy to the simple desire to be loved and adored. Then of course there was her radiant smile, rarely seen, but worth all the effort to make it appear. Her entire body was statuesque, even when relaxed she carried a noble form. 

You had considered telling her but there would be no point. She was royalty, you were a commoner, a mortal and above all, another species. Besides, she didn’t seem interested in being in a relationship with anyone. You sighed as you contemplated your dilemma. Eventually you did drift off to sleep. However instead of going directly to your dream you were suspended in space, from the looks of it the same space where Luna had opened up to you. Looking around you indeed found her. 

“Princess Luna? Why are we here?”

“We need to discuss your feelings for me,” she nonchalantly replied. 

That threw you off guard. You didn’t have any dreams about her and restrained any emotion you showed her. Picking up on your anxiety, she continued.

“You aren’t in trouble ____________. I’m actually flattered that you feel that way about me, but we still need to discuss why it won’t work.”

“It’s because I’m a normal human, right?” you guessed, feeling defeated.

“No, that’s not the reason.”
“Then why?” you perked up, curious as to what would stop you from trying to win her heart.

“You are mortal,” she replied softly. “The loss of a friend is hard enough, losing a lover would be too much for myself.”

That made sense. It came to sudden realization why Luna had treated you like she did before. She had been gone for thousands of years, and any friends she had most likely died. She came back to a world that was foreign, She picked up on your concern and smiled.

“It’s alright ___________. I have made peace with my past and will work to redeem myself and start anew. This information was not the only reason I appeared in your dream. We’ve found a way home for you.”    
> Checking In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiya readers!

So, I'm trying to write the next chapter but having issues, mainly just trying to write the specific pony I picked. Thought about making a blog post but not all you are my followers and wanted to include you in the decision. I guess my biggest question is, do you want more? I know this story has kinda been collecting dust since I've been focusing on my main fic, A Glimmer of Hope, which is finished, I just need to do some final edits. Like I said I have the next mare in mind but am just wondering if its worth posting if this fic is dead. I'm leaving this story's fate up to you, dear reader. Lemme know in the comments what you want and I'll go from there.

-Mewrilah
> Spitfire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Announcing, your world renowned Wonderbolts!”


You cheered along with several ponies as streaks of blue rushed past you. However, your focus was on the streak that had shades of yellow and orange in it. Spitfire, captain of the aerial team was your idol. Who needed technology when you were surrounded by magical, talking ponies? It was a little shaky at first, trying to convince them that you had no ill will intended for them, but thanks to a very curious purple pony and her friends, you were cleared of any suspicion.


It was actually thanks to Rainbow Dash, one of your closest friends that you developed a passion for the Wonderbolts. Flying was one of your favorite hobbies, Dash taking you on a couple of flights for helping her with her stunts. You both had your favorite Bolts, she would often tease you about being a chicken and not asking Spitfire to be your marefriend. When she got recruited into their ranks, she always made sure she had tickets for you, after all that’s what best friends did.


This event was different though, your heart racing faster than usual. You both made a bet, whether or not you had the courage to approach the mare and ask her to be your special somepony. Rainbow did most of the heavy work, making sure she was single and that she was interested in finding a special somepony. She asked what she thought of you, being a human and all, and Spitfire just said that as long as you weren’t a creep she didn’t see why not.


Dash was able to get you a backstage pass to today’s event, to where you’d actually get to meet the rest of the Wonderbolts. From what the cyan pegasus told you, they were pretty interested in meeting you as well. All they knew was that you were some alien who was a fan of them.


The show was spectacular but what you were really looking forward to was the meet and greet. You showed your ticket one of the event staff and they pointed you to the changing rooms. Seemed a little odd, but then again most of these ponies never wore clothes so it wasn’t like there was anything they were hiding. In fact, the little white mare seemed to be excited that humans needed clothes just as much as food and air, well at least you did.


Steam was the first thing to hit you once the pony guarding the doors let you in. After getting used to the sticky feeling of your clothes clinging to you, you followed the sound of voices. After a finally finding a sign that read showers and the voices being clearer you found the team.


Turning the corner you found specifically Rainbow Dash, Soarin and Spitfire just lounging around, to what you assumed waiting for you. Rainbow Dash noticed you and saved you from your awkward waiting.


“We were wondering if you got lost dude!” she put a hoof around your neck. “You already know Spitfire and Soarin. Guys this is the human I was telling you about.”


The other Bolts stared, something you were used to by now. However, having your idols just stare was a bit more intimidating. After getting used to “you” they relaxed and smiled.


“You certainly are a big fella aren’t ya?” Soarin noted. You relaxed a bit. They were just 4 foot ponies, nothing to be too anxious about. If anything you were the intimidating one. You soon started chatting with the baby blue stallion, all the while glancing at Spitfire. She didn’t really seemed interested, but acted polite. You asked her about herself, and she kept things short and almost curt.


After about half an hour of “hanging” out, all three decided they needed to get back to their day. You were about to approach Spitfire but Rainbow Dash stopped you.


“Hang on there dude,” she had a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry but there’s been a change in Wonderbolt policy.”


You quirked a brow at that and allowed her to continue. “Well one of our team just had a really bad breakup and is still not over it. So now, just so that there are no distractions, no relationships. I know she seemed like she wasn’t interested in you or appeared to be giving you the cold shoulder, but it wasn’t personal. She was sucked into all that drama when she tried to mediate and still trying to get out of it. Don’t worry, we can still be friends, but our “dare” is officially off. Sorry big guy.”


You took a deep breath and shook your head. It wasn’t her fault and you said as much along with thanking her for stopping you from making a complete fool of yourself. Although she was “too cool” for hugs, she made an exception this time seeing how disappointed you were.


“This is probably something Rarity would say, but there are plenty of mares out there dude,” she tried to cheer you up. “Ones that would be lucky enough to hang out with such a cool guy like yourself.”


You smiled and thanked her. When you got home you looked at all the memorabilia you had in your bedroom. The thought of tearing it all down crossed your mind, but you scolded yourself for acting childish. You still went to their shows, you wouldn’t boycott them just because of an important rule change. You still supported them, they were an amazing group of pegasi. But whenever you watched them pass by, seeing the blur of yellow and orange, you couldn’t help but wonder what could’ve been.
> Fleur de Lis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, the two of you shouldn’t have been in the same room together, let alone a “couple”, as she liked to refer to the both of you. There were no similarities between yourself and the alabaster mare with the cotton candy pink mane. You let out a sigh as you were dragged along to yet another “important” meeting. You should’ve known better when she approached you at that one party you attended and asked to dance.


While it seemed odd that she would take interest in you, it was a welcome change in pace. . Most ponies, after getting over the initial shock of seeing you didn’t really socialize with you much. You figured since you were in the capitol, the nobles wouldn’t really be as friendly and due to the orders of Princess Celestia, you weren’t really allowed to stray far from the castle. Fleur de Lis, was your saving grace, or so it seemed.


The thing was, Fleur wasn’t a bad pony. She wasn’t what you would think of the stereotypical super model. Her “snobbiness” was just a front for all the other nobles to invite her to their parties. When the both of you returned home, it was her insistence that after a few months of “dating” you move in together  and honestly, it wasn’t a bad arrangement. As the both of you sat on her sofa or lay in her bed, you’d listen to how her day went, helping her with her problems, or just simply giving her real affection she couldn’t get from her “fans”.


That was the problem though. The problem was that it was always about her. Not that you could blame her, her job and hence lifestyle had all revolved around her, so that’s all she knew. You were simply a … pet to her.


She paraded you among the nobles, who felt they were obligated to give their opinion about your looks or intellect. There were times you wanted to lash out at the pompous pony, but held your tongue for her sake.


At home she used you to make herself feel better. But it never seemed like she took into account your feelings. You’d tell her how’d you felt about her not stopping all the ridicule and that you didn’t say anything so she wouldn’t get in trouble.  Her response was always the same: she would nod, apologize for how they treated you, promised to fix it, but nothing ever changed.


So here you were again, stuck at a table with a whole bunch of pompous ponies. At least they were decent enough to let you sit with them. You graciously sipped your tea, which was actually tasty, and tuned out their “business affairs”. More like gossip in your opinion. You looked to your… marefriend and saw that she was more enraptured with the ponies at the table than you.


Rolling your eyes and sighing, you slightly slouched in your seat. This however was a mistake.


“Speaking of relationships,” a purple pegasus turned his attention to Fleur while looking at you. “Whatever in Equestria made you decide to court this… hideous, hairless ape, my dear? You could have any colt you wanted to. It is more like a pet. Aren’t you worried what other ponies would think?”


Your blood started to warm. Sure you had been insulted several times in the past, but for some reason you finally decided that this was enough. If Fleur was not going to stand up for you, you would.


“He’s not as bad as you think, Two Bit,” Fleur replied, looking at you as well. “Although you could straighten up a bit. Slouching isn’t really good for your posture.”


“That’s not the only thing he needs to fix,” Bit scanned over you. “Does it even know how to talk? Or bathe? Or do you have to do those for him Fleur? Honestly he shouldn’t even be at this table, more like on the floor where he belongs.”


Blood heavily boiling.


“He does know how to do those things,” Fleur replied. “And I thought everypony was fine with him joining us. He is trained.”


Trained, really?


Most of the ponies had uneasy looks about them, save the pegasus that started all of this. Getting the hint, Fleur leaned over to you.


“Do you mind stepping outside for a bit? I don’t really want everypony here to feel uncomfortable.”


“Yeah that’s where he belongs, outside,” Bit sneered. “So he can run and chase his imaginary tail.” Some of the ponies snickered at that.


“That’s it,” you finally found your voice and stood up. Being the average height for a human, you practically towered over the ponies, which worked to your favor. They all looked pretty intimidated.


“Just because I’m not from here, doesn’t give you lot the right to insult me. Period. Not behind my back, and especially not in front of my face. You know why I kept quiet all this time? So that I wouldn’t make my supposed ‘marefriend’ look bad. But even she doesn’t have the nerve to stand up for me, so I gotta do it myself.”


You narrowed your eyes on the instigator of this entire thing. “Listen up here you winged rat. I may not have wealth, or status like you or your cohorts have, but I am very much a sentient being just like the rest of you. I have thoughts, emotions and can understand every insult you’ve thrown my way. And I don’t appreciate it! So fine, I’ll go outside. Better yet, I’ll just leave! So you don’t have to be with a ‘hideous ape’! Buck off, you pompous, wimpy little coltfooler!”


Pushing in your chair, you weren’t uncivilized, you left the dining hall and headed “home”. Probably not for long with what you just pulled, but this was a long time coming. When you did reach Ms. de Lis’ place, you started to pack up what meager belongings you had. You had heard a lot about a little town called Ponyville right outside this horrid city.


You heard the door open, and were actually curious. Had Fleur actually seen how she went wrong.


“How could you???” you heard her cry out. She appeared in the doorway, definitely upset, but not for the reason you hoped for. “Do you know how much explaining and apologizing I had to do just so they wouldn’t be upset?”


“And that’s more important than my feelings right?” you replied coldly.


“What?” she paused, not used to you talking this way. “How do you think we’re able to live here? It’s because I have to make those ponies happy. Yes Mr. Bit was a bit rude, but you never had issues before.”


“Did you not listen to my speech back there?” you asked, definitely seeing how this was going to end.


“Yes, I did. But you usually tell me those things when we get home, not in front of important clientele!”


You sigh. “So that’s how you want to do it.”


“Do what?”


“Goodbye Fleur,” you picked up your bag and walked past her. As you got to the living room, you could hear her call your name, asking you to come back. You shook your head, and continued out the door, closing it and never looking back.