Dusk Star

by Axelsims

First published

When a man finds his way into Equestria, will he find his way back, or will he find a reason to stay

The main Character (no name to help bring the reader in depth) finds his way to Equestria after getting lost in a nearby forest, finds his way into Ponyville with no idea how to get home. After some meeting some people and getting a black star placed upon his hand, Will he stay in Ponyville? or continue to look for a way home.

Chapter 1

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Today I hit a stroke of bad luck.

Well actually bad luck is kind of an understatement. Usually when someone says something like bad luck they are referring to getting a bad grade on a test in school, or stubbing their toe on a rock. Something minor and definitely not something like getting lost in a forest for the last few hours and having to sleep under a tree.

It’s not like I particularly wanted to sleep in the middle of a forest, especially one that is right next to your house and yet for some reason you can’t find your way back.

I usually like taking walks outdoors, it’s… peaceful serene. It helps me think when I’m suffering from writers block like I was earlier today. I usually take my “journal” with me when I go. That’s also the reason why I’m writing this little passage right now. I can’t help but think that I might perish here in this forest. It’s a silly thought, I’ve only been out here for a few hours, I even ate before I left, and I’ll most likely find my way home in the morning.

That’s something else I can’t explain right now. I left around noon and it’s only been around 6 hours if I can guess the time correctly. So In other words it shouldn’t be so dark out. It’s in the middle of the spring, and the sun usually doesn’t set till around 9, but for some reason I can barely see 6 feet out in front of me, it’s rather intimidating to say the least.

The worst part is that among all things I ran out of cigarettes. I have been cutting down lately before I decide to quit outright, but right now I could really use one. It doesn’t help either that I’m using my lighter to see as I write this. It’s almost taunting me.
Regardless I don’t want to waste too much fluid so I’m going to call it for the night and sleep, or at least try to sleep. I doubt I’ll get much luck as the darkness is downright bugging me. Regardless I’m off to bed.

Chapter 2

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Day 1

Today, well I’m not sure how to explain it.

I don’t have to worry about starving to death in the middle of a forest at least, but I’d best start off from the beginning.

When I woke up I was rather hungry, as I expected, also was pretty cranky, which is explainable since I absolutely dread
mornings and being hungry doesn’t help. So I went looking around, for my home or at the very least something to munch on.

I know sometimes people start to see mirages when they’re on the brink of death. Which is absolutely ridiculous for me seeing as how I’ve been out here for a day at most.

However I was definitely trying to claim hallucinations when I saw a zebra wearing a cloak come out from nowhere and start talking to me. It was terrifying to say the least, walking around in the middle of a dark forest and out of nowhere talking animals start walking up to you and asking you questions.

She was wearing a cloak which did nothing short of terrifying me of what horrors laid beneath, however after removing the hood i could look clearly at her form. Her hair was in similar design to a Mohawk, something that was usually worn by people wanting to intimidate others, punks and thugs to say the least. Like a zebra would naturally her hair was stripped in shades of black and white. She was also wearing massive golden earrings that screamed out foreign when combined with her hair.

. After calming down a bit I found out that the zebra’s name was Zecora, I also found out that she liked to talk in rhyme and it was, to say the least annoying. However I’m grateful that I found her. She took me to her house which was, funny enough inside a tree. The inside however was very foreign and filled with strange decorations, some of which were frightening.

By this point however I wasn’t bothering to question it.

She took me inside and fed me a meal of some vegetables and fruit.

I never was a vegetarian and didn’t plan on becoming one any time soon, so the meal was, to say the least, unfulfilling. However I thanked Zecora for the meal and asked her exactly where I was. She looked at me with a confused look on her face giving me a better view of her worried sapphire eyes.

I took this as a negative sign.

I had watched many movies and read many novels in my few years that I knew that this would most likely mean that I was somewhere miles away from where I hoped I was, possibly on a different continent or worse a different universe entirely.

Sadly I was correct; or at least I think I was.

The talking zebra informed me that I was in a place called the Everfree forest. I tried the think exactly if I had heard anything about this place in my classes back when I was in high school, however I couldn’t think of anything. I’m almost positive this place doesn’t exist, at least on earth. If there was such a place with talking zebras, and who knows what else, we would have found it already. Plus it’s definitely not near my home as I would definitely have known about it.

But what really bothers me is the fact that I didn’t see anything unusual in my journey so far. Well, other than the talking zebra.

No portals or specific landmarks, no ancient ruins or puddles leading to different dimensions. If I walked into this place without any sort of hint as to how it happened, how was I ever going to get back out?

I asked Zecora about the subject, sadly she wasn’t entirely sure what I meant when I asked about portals, so after explaining that, which took some time by the way, she looked at me with an even more concerned look on her face and told me that she had no idea.

I’m not entirely sure why she talked in rhymes, but it was getting rather annoying. I didn’t say anything about it however as it seems to be her accent and while it’s annoying it’s by no means harmful. Regardless I had a lot more on my mind than just weird accents. I asked her if there were any nearby towns where I could find some assistance, or at the very least something to smoke. Surprisingly enough she offered me a pipe, and said that she had some herbs that could be used to clear the mind.

I took her up on the offer, though I was afraid of exactly what zebras smoked and if it was dangerous to other creatures. She told me the side effects, the chemical composition, and all sorts of meaningless facts about the herbs. After a bit I honestly didn’t care anymore, and after being courteous and allowing her to go first, took the pipe and pulling out my lighter began to inhale.

After that everything was a bit hazed, I remember talking about my hometown, my family and basically everything about me,
we both freaked out over the magical invention that was my lighter, and made fun of each other’s accents. Zecora offered to take me to this place called Ponyville, where I could possibly find some assistance on my journey. I told her I would take her up on her offer.

Chapter 3

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Day 2

Today was by all means… a different experience

To be honest the last 2 days were extremely bizarre but this day was even more different than the other. I woke up, in my usual mood of grumpiness and the sorts. However I quickly brightened up at the thought of getting some help back home. However I can definitely say that by all means, I got nothing accomplished on that goal.

That isn’t saying that today was all bad. When we first came to Ponyville, I was kind of shocked to see the entire populace, which was entirely made of ponies, shocked in my appearance as they all ran to their homes and barricaded the windows and doors.

Zecora simply shook her head and assured me that, I shouldn’t be entirely surprised as they used to treat her the same way.

I found this bizarre because aside from her hair and the stripes, she looked pretty similar to the few ponies I got a good glimpse of. She tried getting some of them to come out of their homes and be sociable. Failing that she took me to surprising another tree house, where I met this lavender unicorn named Twilight Sparkle… which is a really weird name by the way.

Of course if there’s one thing I learned from this entire experience, it’s that these ponies have absolutely bizarre names. Apparently they must think the same thing about me as they found my name to be just as odd. Twilight, a lavender pony with dark purple hair with a streak of pink rebelliously sticking out (from now on I’ll put her down as Twi to be short because it’s a pain to right the whole thing out.) was going on about how this must be the spell of some kind of powerful magician, which I couldn’t help but scoff at until she levitated a book off one of her numerous shelves.

It was quite astonishing honestly. After that I didn’t even pay attention as she went on about famous magicians and spells
that would bring people from foreign lands to Equestria. She also went on about experiments and such; I really wasn’t paying attention as I was awestruck by her… abilities? Looking back I shudder at the thought of what kind of experiments she was talking about.

I didn’t get to find out because suddenly I felt a huge force hit me in the stomach as I was lifted on the ground and was suddenly being taken away. I couldn’t think for a bit until I was suddenly thrown to the ground. I winced as I opened my eyes and saw 2 ponies standing above me. One was a pink pony with a pink poofy mane to match, who I assumed was my kidnapper as the other one was a blue pony with rainbow hair and wings. The pink one looked at the blue Pegasus with beaming blue eyes of excitement.

“Dashie! Look what I found, I thought he was pretty weird at first when I saw her with Zecora but then I saw him with Twilight and I thought Well he couldn’t have been all bad, so I brought him over to see you and I was going to show him to everyone! (She looked at me at this point) you are a Stallion right? ANYWAY. What do you think?
This was when the blue Pegasus started to talk.

“So what the heck is he?”

“I don’t know! But he can’t be all bad right?”

“I guess not but he looks like he’s just seen a ghost. (The Pegasus looked down at me now with her azure eyes) You all right err?”

I stumbled up at this point and coughed a little before I introduced myself. They both looked at me with confused faces when

I stated my name and looked surprised at how tall I was, or perhaps it was the fact that I was standing on two feet. Suddenly
after that the pink one jumped onto my back in excitement, bringing me to the rough cold ground.

“So what are you waiting for Dashie let’s show him off to everyone!”

Then I was once again dragged despite my protesting.

This conversation went very similar to the others I met. I found out that my kidnappers name was Pinkie Pie. The rainbow haired Pegasus was, Rainbow Dash… which I found ironic and thought she was joking. Which she took offense to and at one point started challenging me to all sorts of things. Which I refused as well as I could.

I also met a (if I can say it with a straight face.) Cowpony named Applejack, and I can definitely say if there is a stereotypical southern girl in this town, she even had freckles on her orange face. She seemed intelligent although brash and very honest, a trait I found refreshing from the cloak of lies that surrounded my life back at home. I also met a yellow Pegasus with pink hair named Fluttershy, who when I first met, slammed the door in my face as woodland creatures started to assault me like I was a predator.

Calling her shy would be an understatement but after finally getting her to open up, seemed to be a very kind hearted person… or pony if you want. I also found out that as well as ponies and zebras, there were plenty of normal animals. The ones I did see didn’t actually talk but it was obvious they had more intelligence then the ones back home. I also found the environment, refreshing and alive, young even.

Next was basically the whole town, instead of just knocking like I attempted, Pinkie just burst down the door and shoved me in everyone’s faces like I was a puppy or something. Along the way I met a tiny dragon, who seemed to be Twilight’s assistant. His name was Spike. He almost seemed… irritated that another, unique individual was in town now. As far as I could tell he was the only dragon in the area, perhaps because of this he is treated with a certain privilege? It looked like Zecora was accepted but not much else. In fact I’m pretty sure she was ditched as I was thrown around town.

The last person we met lived in a fancier house then the others. It was circular unlike most of the others as well. And HEAVILY DECORATED. I’ve in the past seen people who decorated their house this drastically and I never found a point to it. In fact I found it annoying.

The owner of the house, a white unicorn named Rarity, seemed to be extremely busy making, of all things clothes. I found this weird by the way because of all the ponies and other creature’s I’ve seen, they were all well… naked. She didn’t even look at us until she knocked over one of her display model statues (I could never remember the name for those) which I caught promptly. She then gasped, at first at the almost terrible tragedy in her words, then at me. Then she looked at her friends beside me, then after gulping, lifted the model with her magic, looked down at me and said.
” Hello Dear, I’m Rarity and you are?”

I answered with after a brief pause at the awkward situation. Pinkie Pie broke the silence immediately and proceeded to recap the entire day in a huge mess of words. Rarity took the whole dose while calmly answering with short replies. Finally after she stopped blabbering, Rarity suggested we go meet up with Twilight.

The regrouping was even more awkward in my case as the entire group as well as the starting to gather crowd suddenly stopped in shock as a chariot being drawn by two Pegasus in armor flew down from the sky.
Everyone in company bowed as I just stood there as awkward as could be. Apparently this was royalty, which was obvious by this point with the crown on the approaching figure. I found out later that she was an Alicorn, which I had never heard of at this point but was apparently a mix between a Pegasus and Unicorn. She had the horn as well as the wings; her hair also had a magical nature to it, as it flowed gracefully even though I swore there was no wind. Her hair also had a rainbowish nature to it, if that is a word. She introduced herself as Princess Celestia, the only sort of normal name of the bunch. Surprisingly enough I wanted to name my daughter Celes, if I had one at that. After this incident however I will immediately consider looking for alternatives.

She tried to question me probably about what the hell I was or if I was a threat. However she didn’t get that far as Pinkie decided that a celebration was in order, as she pulled a cannon from seemingly nowhere and started firing it everywhere, instead of cannonballs like I thought at first as I hit the floor as fast as I could, it shot out balloons and party hats, decorations and of all things, cake. Of course it didn’t start shooting out cake until she brought it inside Twi’s house, much to the displeasure of said unicorn. Regardless we all started to go inside after her, and it’s really hard to describe what happened after that. It was fun regardless and as much as I hate to admit it, I honestly forgot about going back home for a few hours. Pinkie Pie sure knows how to throw a welcoming party.

Surprisingly I talked to Twilight and Rarity the most, probably because they were the most intrigued about my origins. Twilight was excited to find out about where I was from; Rarity was more interested about the fashion styles and celebrities. That was the one point we didn’t see eye to eye about. She was absolutely enthralled in fashion and looking glamorous. I don’t have the same view, in fact most of the time I hate celebrities, then again most of the time they were just worshipped for looking good. It didn’t seem right that it didn’t matter what kind of a person you really were as long as you looked good in front of the camera you were worshipped like a god. I was surprised that Rarity saw my view on this and even agreed. Apparently the high and mighty in this area is not just fancy looking but generally decent people or at least some of them.

One thing that bothered me the entire night was the strange designs on everyone’s… backside. I was informed that they were called Cutie marks (I laughed a little at that which was quickly stopped when I noticed I was the only one laughing) and that it was a symbol for what their special talent was in life. Or what made them unique.

Honestly I thought it was amazing,

I took it upon myself to look for similarities, (and only that… perverts) other than the apple family having something to do with apples everyone’s was different. It’s amazing knowing that no one is the same, at least in this area.

It must be nice knowing that you’re different no matter how many people are around you. I always wanted something like that, but there’s so many people in the world that it’s hard to believe that you’re different. Then I realized that I was probably the only human here. At least for the next few miles. It was a nice feeling, being unique. It was why I lived out of town, at least there I felt different from others.

Perhaps the weirdest thing of the whole night was when Rarity offered to let me stay with her. It was sudden and completely unexpected. When she saw everyone look at her in surprise she blushed slightly and stated that someone had to make him a new outfit, and since she was the only clothier in the area, why not? It was true, I hadn’t changed in the last 2 days and I was getting pretty tired of the same clothes not to mention I was sure I smelled rather badly.

Of course I took her up on the offer, as I didn't want to impose on anyone else and she was more than delighted to have me as company as her sister was with her friends for the night. Unfortunately I won’t get much sleep tonight as after the party when we went back to her “boutique” (I dislike that word) she insisted that she got measurements and used me as a guide for new clothes.

And if the night wasn’t awkward enough she made me take off my clothes for a guide to making new ones, I absolutely refused to take off my briefs however. It felt absolutely terrible standing there without clothes on in front of Rarity. She didn’t seem to mind, probably since everyone in the area didn’t wear clothes often. However I couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

Also while stitching and sowing and trying out designs she pricked me a few times with her needles, she apologized immediately afterwards, but I knew on the inside she thought it was funny. We continued talking while she worked about famous people and my past. It was… fun.

Finally after a while she packed everything up and directed me to my temporary room for the night. Its great sleeping on an actual bed, Zecora tried to make a temporary one for me but it didn’t really do a good job. Rarity’s definitely was better, in fact I’d almost say it’s better than the one I have at my place.

I think I’ve been writing for long enough. So I’ll go ahead and sleep for the night. I’m exhausted anyway, and I doubt tomorrow will be much better.

Chapter 4

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Day 3

I woke up this morning thinking I was at my aunt’s house

The main reason for this is once I spent the night there, the following morning I awoke to being endlessly prodded and poked. This morning was like that, however much to my disappointment I was not back in my own world. I was still in the pony world… or Equestria as everyone is constantly harassing me into saying, and instead of a young nephew or cousin poking me, it was another unicorn.

This one had pinkish hair, of two shades. I assumed it was Rarity’s sister as they both had the same skin color, pale as the snow during winter, thankfully not as cold. I was surprised honestly, one would think that their horns would be cold, assuming that It was made of bone and all. Perhaps it was the magic that made it warm. Regardless it was a rude awakening, and I felt like scolding the child for the wakeup call.

I decided against it when I saw Rarity standing in the doorway. The expression on her face was, kind of adorable to say the least.

She was, or at least I assumed she was finding it cute seeing her sister annoying the crap out of someone else for once. For that, I took the service without complaints, besides she told me after I woke up that breakfast was getting ready. I was definitely looking forward to it, until I realized exactly what breakfast could consist of.

I was thinking about how I should probably get used to it, then it hit me that I might be here for quite some time.

I took this fact with a dose of salt, and it darkened my view immediately. Rarity noticed it suddenly as we were eating breakfast, her sister (I do believe Sweetie Belle was her name) was talking with her mouth full of whatever it exactly was we were feasting upon.

It was a great meal by any means, but I wasn’t particularly paying attention to it, also it was something extremely fancy, something you would probably order at one of those fancy restaurants, spend loads of money on it and wouldn’t even be close to full afterwards. It didn’t taste bad by any means it was just I was rather deadened to the world at that moment.

Suddenly the dining room was barged into by 2 other kids ( I refuse to call them fillies ) one of them was a Pegasus and the other an actual pony with a large red ribbon. They seemed to be Sweetie Belle’s friends since they beckoned her to hurry up so they could leave. Needless to say they were gone in seconds and the room was empty but for me, and a white unicorn with a purple mane that probably got brushed 100 times in a day.

We sat there in silence for a few moments before Rarity coughed and asked me.

“Darling, are you even going to try and enjoy the meal I worked so hard for?”

It was a taunt of course, to make me come out of my shell and show my emotions, whether it was anger or depression. I saw it for what it was and therefore didn’t get angry, or even more depressed, in fact I smiled a little. I recognized it as a sign of her trying to see what was wrong, even if it meant I blew up at her. Of course I would refrain from doing that if at all possible, seeing as how she took me in and all that. But still it was a nice gesture, and after examining myself for a second in one of the nearby mirrors, decided to open up a little.

“It’s my home, the more I think about it the more apparent it seems that I might not even be able to return home for a while. I still don’t know how I even got here. And the only person of authority I met didn’t give me any answers as I was dragged away from by a pink pony that smells like cotton candy. (I laughed slightly here) It’s not that I don’t like it here or anything, it’s just I had a life back where I was, Family, friends and I can’t help but feel that I won’t see them for a long period of time, maybe not ever again.”

Rarity honestly seemed a bit startled, she took in everything I said without problems; in fact she seemed to be a good listener. A trait that I found, surprising? Perhaps it’s because I first pictured her as a fashion junkie and nothing else, someone who cared little about anyone else except hereself. Perhaps there is a little more to her then I though.

“Do you, or if you want to be Technical, Did you live with anyone?”

A simple question, I wasn’t entirely sure where she was going with this.

“Not particularly”

She continued “did you live near anyone in your family or friends?”
I remember telling her and Twi the other day about my home and how I lived by myself. I got the impression that she wasn’t listening to that part, then I thought that maybe she was asking me so I could remember that particular part of my life beforehand.

“No”

“And you were on a break from your career correct?” She asked once more. I answered honestly

“Yes for the time being, I was going to be on vacation for at least another month.”
She took over from that point.

“Well then tell them you got lost in your work, you got an idea, and worked on it for a while, I do it all the time darling, sometimes I’m not even being truthful, we all need to get away sometimes…. people, especially relatives can be quite the hassle, as you can obviously see.” She looked over at the door where her sister departed from a while ago. I could see her point; she had a lot to deal with it seemed.

“Come on then.” She said to me suddenly after letting her words sink in. She walked over to the door leading outside and
beckoned me to come with.

“Where are we going?” I replied getting up from my chair.

“I have a meeting with Fluttershy at the spa and I decided that you’re coming along.” She replied “It just wouldn’t do to have you sitting all alone while I went out and enjoyed myself.” She went ahead outside, obviously expecting me to follow. I looked at her leaving for a few seconds before muttering to myself exactly what they hell I was doing, and following her outside.

I’ve been to a spa before in my life, it was… uncomfortable. Doing it again with ponies who, much to my dismay were not quite so lenient as rarity about my clothing staying on, was much worse. Thankfully I was put in a different room then Rarity and Fluttershy (she was actually quite happy to see me again) and also I had the privilege of being able to lay face down so I didn’t have to look at my torturers. Eventually after it was all over, I was lead to a surprising room filled with lit candles and of all things a hot tub. It was very reminiscent of home and I was very eager to get into it. Thankfully my captives didn’t stop me and after dropping off a towel, left the room.

The hot tub was almost exactly like one would expect at home. The floor was made out of tiles sporting several designs, generally sticking with a blue or greenish tint. An elaborate dressing wall was not too far off; there was also a small cabinet near one of the corners. There were also plants and other decorations filling the room.

I was actually just about to get comfortable when I heard the door behind me open. I quickly went under the water until only my half of my head was visible, the water was steaming but I was more worried about being seen. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so nervous about being seen in my state, but for some reason I was dreading it like the end of the universe. I heard two
people walk in, they were talking about daily life and other odds and ends. I recognized one of the voices as rarity and, while
I didn’t hear her talk much, figured the other was Fluttershy. They were wearing towels covering most of their body which they quickly removed before going into the hot tub themselves. Their conversation was interrupted of course when they noticed me. We stared at each other in silence before Rarity finally asked.

“Darling whatever is you doing?”

I lifted myself out of the water slightly so I could talk without drowning in water. I thought that there must have been a mistake, that somehow they had accidently put me in the female’s room or something of that sort.

Fluttershy spoke before I had the chance to explain myself

“I didn’t know that boys went to the spa as well.”

This is when I cut in

“I’m sorry they told me to go in here I didn’t know they put me in the woman’s room.

I was almost positive that they had pulled a prank or something.

Rarity only looked at me with concern.

“Women’s room? Don’t be silly there’s only one room with a hot tub in it. I don’t think any of the places here are for women only.”

I relaxed a little after that; it was still incredibly awkward, sitting there in front of the pair without a single thread of cloth on me. Thankfully the water was clouded so I had some concealment.

“Oh, well back where I’m from it would be incredibly awkward to be put in the same room as women, especially without some sort of clothing.”

They laughed at this; obviously they didn’t share the same concern.

“Whatever for?” Rarity asked me “we all have our differences, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She turned to Fluttershy and asked her

“Could you imagine the pain of having to separate all those creatures you take care of by gender?”
Fluttershy answered her immediately with her soft and incredibly delicate voice. “Oh no that would be much more difficult; in fact I think the animals would be annoyed with it. And I wouldn’t want to upset them especially Angel.”
Rarity shook her head and muttered about how weird the customs were in my world before turning back to me and stating that I had absolutely nothing to worry about and that I should enjoy my time here regardless of how awkward it must be for me. I tried to relax after that as we started talked about a wide selection of topics. To be more precise Rarity did most of the talking, Fluttershy wasn’t much for conversation, and I was too embarrassed to treat the event as anything but awkward.
Finally after what felt like days we picked up our things and left the spa.

As we were leaving I saw Rarity looking off at a castle in the distance. I had noticed it before but figured it was just another city. She seemed to be longing for something however, so I decided to ask her.

“What are you looking at?” It wasn’t a good way to start off the conversation as it was obvious exactly what she was staring at. However she didn’t seem to mind.

“Canterlot, the castle of the Princess, where all the famous ponies stay and go to balls and other famous gatherings. She replied without averting her gaze.

“Sounds like it’s a boring place.” I answered trying to get more out of her.

“Hardly, in fact it’s one of the most interesting places to go in all of Equestria. To imagine being famous enough to be there. Having all the ponies know who you were and all of your accomplishments. I would love to be there, even if it was only for a little bit.”

“So why don’t you go?” I asked in return trying for once to throw out a compliment.

“Are you kidding?” She replied in an unexpected higher pitched voice. “Only the most famous of the famous go there.”
The conversation ended after that, we returned back to the boutique soon afterwards and I decided to retire to my room to write. All in all I think it was a good day even if it was awkward. I am curious about what’s so great about a city on a mountain, even if there is a princess living there.

Chapter 5

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Day 4

Nothing spectacular until later into the day. Morning was pretty dull

Rarity was busy working on clothes and since I was around I got to watch Sweetie Belle. Her friends or “fellow Crusaders” as she calls them were busy with their own thing today so I got to play board games with the little unicorn. It got old rather quickly.

I was excited when Rarity walked into the room and announced that I was to help her and AJ clean up the meadow or something like that. I asked Rarity as we were leaving if she could tell me more details and she shrugged and said that she honestly had no idea herself.

The meadow was actually what seemed to be the local park. According to Applejack there was an upcoming storm scheduled (noticing I looked confused she informed me that the weather was controlled by Pegasi, honestly this only made my confusion worse) Apparently we needed to trim the trees to ensure that any loose branches didn’t find their way into someone’s house. It would have been simple as I had done similar tasks but I lacked the right equipment. Rarity had her magic and AJ somehow had the ability to kick trees hard enough to make them cooperate. I didn’t have either of these abilities and had to climb and pick off each loose branch individually which while it was precise took way too long.

To make matters worse Rarity had the wrong idea of cleaning up the trees as she was using her magic to carve out the leaves on the trees into figures. Kind of like what rich people did with shrubbery back at home. It was pretty but hardly practical and Applejack was scolding her for it. Rarity I found didn’t much care for scolding and lashed back. This continued the entire time and not much work was actually done. Applejack could do in 5 seconds in what would take me at least 4 minutes however I ended up doing most of the work before it started to storm. This heated up the argument which I had effectively tuned out by this point.

I had experience with that… tuning out people, in fact it was getting to the point where I was trying to listen to people more then I was trying to tune people out. I didn’t want to tune either of the ladies out but in order to avoid getting dragged in I ended up having to resort to it. I was hesitant because I have trouble not tuning people out once I had already done so for that particular individual.
It was kind of like an immunity system if you could understand that. Once you declared something bad your body starts building resistance to it. Even if it is a positive effect if it has been deemed badly before, even if it was something similar but different it’s hard to if not impossible to let anything through. That’s why I was hesitant but I figured I would eventually be able to break down the barrier. After all it’s not completely like an actual immunity system; I had some control over it.


The pair noticed the storm first; I was in a tree during that moment and didn’t even notice until I felt the rain on my hands.
Then I took notice of my surroundings and found Rarity and AJ arguing even more below me. Rarity was talking about how they should retire while AJ said the job had to be done.

I realized that I was at that moment on higher ground and therefore could be potentially shocked if a lightning bolt decided to hit me. However the chances of that were low as there were plenty of trees around that varied in size. Even If I did get hit I figured that since they had mastered telekinesis and who knows what else they could certainly save lives.
After assuring myself of this I went on with clearing up the branches on the tree I was on and actually managed to clear another tree before I heard another voice. It was Twilight’s voice calling AJ and Rarity over so they could get out of the storm. They ran off towards her as I lowered myself from the tree. Before rarity got to the door however she noticed I wasn’t beside them. She turned around and went looking for me, which was good as I had gotten my jeans caught in the branches and somehow ended up hanging upside down from the tree. Had she not came back I would have probably been stuck there for hours so I promptly thanked her for remembering. I noticed her mane was absolutely soaked as she used her magic to levitate me to the ground. It looked more natural then it’s usual curved and heavily tempered with style. In all honesty it looked much better, A sort of natural beauty to it.

After landing me on my feet and lightly mocking me for making a fool of myself we returned back to Twilight’s house. She was happy to see that I was alive and well as she asked us exactly why we were outside in the storm. This caused AJ to start about how they were clearing branches and how Rarity was goofing off the entire time (she failed to mention the fact that I did most of the work as she took most of her time scolding.) Rarity reacted in protest as expected. Twilight however didn’t seem to even notice as she was too excited to pay attention to the quarrel. Rarity and AJ noticed this and asked her exactly why she was so hyped up. Twilight told them that this was a perfect situation since her assistant Spike was gone so they could have a sleepover. Which would be a first ever for the purple mare. In her excitement she also failed to notice the extreme disapproval that radiated from her friends.

Deciding to avoid troubling the group I slipped away silently and started looking at the books scattered around the room and shelves. Keeping away from the middle and more commonly used parts of the room I was able to avoid interacting with the group. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get involved it just seemed best to not interrupt and let the Twilight have her fun. Hopefully Rarity and AJ would settle their quarrel. To my relief none of them actually seemed to even acknowledge my existence throughout most of the night.
The room was full of books, covering a large selection of possible topics. Some of them were on familiar topics but others felt like they belonged to another world, which they did. After choosing a selection of topics that caught my eye I found a comfortable place to read and would also be able to sneak a quick peak at the trio in case something horrible happened.. I’m not entirely sure how ponies would fight especially ones with magic.

When I heard smashing and yelling I looked at the bunch to see them launching pillows at each other. I also noticed Twilight looking at the scene herself with sorrow in her eyes. She mentioned earlier about how it was her first ever sleepover ever and it was obvious that her expectations for the night were high and also going unfulfilled. However she put on a fake smile and tried to continue the events. If Rarity or AJ were not so focused on ending the life of the other they would have easily been able to notice the disappointment in her face, she wasn’t doing a good job at hiding it.

Unfortunately they didn’t notice until much later into the night. I had fallen asleep actually and awoke in an awkward position and a major cramp from lying in that position. I was awakened by Twilight of all people yelling at the others for not being able to set aside their differences for 5 seconds so they could have a good time. This was followed by a lightning bolt which sounded like it landed close to the house.

My assumptions were correct as the trio dashed to one of the nearby windows to check what happened. This was followed by gasps and then arguments about whose fault it was that a nearby tree was about to fall over and most likely damage someone’s house. AJ decided to fix the problem by pulling a rope out of seemingly nowhere and lassoing the tree pulling it towards Twilight’s house. This of course ended badly and the tree ended up going inside the house. I was awake and moving by this point and decided that the best method to help would be to go outside and try and help remove the object.
It was still pouring heavily outside. The rain fell like a chorus of angels crying in union over a tragedy of some sorts. I was drenched the moment I stepped outside but took no notice of it. Looking up while trying to keep the rain out of my eyes I saw the tree and how half of it was lodged in the house. I walked under it to get the rain to at least partially out of my eyes so I could see clearly. While examining and debating on going inside to get a rope the tree started glowing and disappeared soon after. Figuring they just warped the tree somewhere else. I was about to head back inside when I was knocked across the head and fell to the ground unconscious.

I found out later that Applejack and Rarity had been able to turn the tree into tiny shrubbery decorations leaving only a heavy branch behind. Applejack after refraining from kicking it out the window picked it up and softly dropped it out the window. This of course didn’t soften the blow and she also failed to notice as I laid there trapped under my wooden prison.
I awoke after what was probably an hour. Thankfully the rain had stopped by this point, but I was pretty sure I was bleeding from the accident and also found myself too weak to lift the branch off myself. I was in immense pain from the object and was not very happy to say the least as I started cursing at Rarity, Applejack, the tree, the world in general, even myself for just going for a walk that fateful day.

After what felt like hours laying there soaked in rain that wouldn’t dry off, I felt the branch suddenly give way as it was slowly lifted away from my fragile corpse. I tried to lift myself from the ground, failing even that simple task I rolled over in pain to see a dark blue Alicorn, she wore a black crown and it seemed her horn bore a similar color. Her hair blended into the night and was covered in stars.

“ARE YOU WELL SUBJECT?”

She announced as if she was addressing a crowd instead of just me. I felt like my ears were about to be ripped off and I to this moment still do not know how nobody else heard her. I tried to reply but ended up breaking into a coughing fit from choking on fluids. I examined my hand afterwards and found it spotted with blood; obviously I was in much worse shape than
I originally thought at the time. I heard the Alicorn break from her earlier “Royal” mindset when she noticed exactly how bad off I apparently was. Wasting no time she lifted me onto her back and flew off into the night. I think she tried to talk to me during the trip, perhaps to keep me awake. I wasn’t sure why that was necessary, it wasn’t like I was in control or anything, I was lying there helpless like an infant.

It turned out that Ponyville had a hospital as I was taken there immediately. While the doctors there had never treated a human before it didn’t take much examination to figure out what was exactly wrong with me. I had a oozing wound on my forehead, my right leg was broken, and I was pretty sure I broke a few ribs. Of course I had no actual idea on the condition of my ribs as they weren’t sticking out or anything. It sure as hell felt like they were broken however. I grasp onto fragments of memory that I assume were the procedures done on me when I first arrived. It was obvious that they had removed my clothes in order to fully examine me. Thankfully while they were short on me the hospital gowns there were similar and wearable. I remember being asked questions and they were replied with slurred answers. I remember looking around with blurred vision asking where I was and seeing the collection of doctors and other individuals looking at me in horror as they wondered my fate, turned to see my “savior of the night” who for some reason had everyone else standing on the other side of the room.
I remember in my haze reaching out for her, perhaps because she was the most familiar face in the room even though I hadn’t even truly known her for longer than what I had hoped a few minutes. She smiled at my actions lowering her head to meet my hand. Her hair was soft like silk and tingled with energy. Whether it was intended or not the sudden comfort brought me back to my unconscious state as I passed out for the night.

Chapter 6

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Day 5

For anyone who is reading this I wrote the last passage the same time I wrote this one as I didn’t really have access to my “new journal” when I was laying half dead in a hospital.

I awoke to find myself in what I assumed was the same room as last night. It was a typical hospital room complete with curtains beds and lots of medical equipment that I didn’t even know existed in this plane of existence. I was sharing the room with some others; a doctor was going over paperwork. Twilight was lost in a book about medical history in the corner. Fluttershy was sitting next to her being as out of place as possible. Rainbow Dash was occupying one of the nearby beds while Rarity sat closest to me constantly shifting her attention between me and a dress that she was working on. What stuck out the most however was AJ who was farthest from me staring out the window. Even from just looking at her from the back anyone could tell she was in horrible shape. Perhaps because she had realized that it was because of her that I was in this situation.

I don’t blame her mind you

I had awakened thankfully without alerting everyone, so I quietly whispered to Rarity when she averted her attention back to me. Noticing that I was awake she smiled lightly, it was obvious that she was stressed with the fact that she had to continue her work even during more “inappropriate times”. Thankfully she noticed that I was trying to hide my revival at that moment and refrained from shouting out that I was awake which gave me enough time to ask her a few things.

“Morning I assume?” I groaned lightly at her

“Yes good morning, how are you feeling?” She replied

“Sore, like I’ve been ran over by a train.” I continued despite the growing pains in my chest. “Also where are we?”

“Well it wasn’t a train darling it was more like a huge branch.” She teased slightly. “Oh and you’re in a hospital by the way.”
She was joking to lighten the mood, but I could tell she was really worried about me.

I sat up at this point; Rarity assisted me as Applejack rushed over to my side in a panic.

“Are you all right? I’m so sorry I didn’t even notice you were out there or that you were gone until this morning and when one of the royal messenger arrived on Twi’s doorstep announcing that you were in the hospital we were all so very worried about you. “

I felt like I was listening to Pinkie Pie and laughed slightly at that realization. The laughter caused the pain in my chest to come back and I coughed, much to the dismay of my present company.

“I’m all right thank you for asking. I’m not particularly sure what happened to be honest I was heading back inside after that branched disappeared when I was knocked out I believe.”
AJ’s face went white as her face twisted into a deeply pained look. I realized that it was her fault and that she was beating herself up about it pretty badly.

“That would be my fault, I didn’t think that anypony would be outside during the storm, I should have looked out before dropping that branch. It must have hit you right on the noggin.”
I was extremely touched by the girl. Just by recalling the event she looked as if she was going to burst into tears, which before that point I didn’t deem possible. I felt so bad that I did the only thing I could think of. I reached out of bed wrapping my arms around the mare and told her.

“ It’s all right you didn’t mean to after all, and I’m not dead so it’s not so bad.”

I never was real good at making people feel better, but it seemed to work. As I hugged AJ I looked around the room and noticed that the others were gathering around. They all seemed touched by the scene and approached to join in the comfort zone. Noticing this I quickly pulled back to avoid getting smothered to death.
However Pinkie Pie didn’t take no for an answer and yelled “Pile on!” suddenly all of the others jumped on top of me, crushing me as we all started to laugh. I stopped soon after, partially because it hurt to laugh, and because I noticed that Rarity wasn’t joining in. She was looking at the scene but was still holding her recent project. It was a dress of some sort, it was of a deep blue fabric.

She seemed upset, because she was too busy to join in the obvious joy of using me as a mattress. I winced as I noticed that slowly building pressure that was on me. However after seeing AJ almost cry I was unrestrained with my emotions and reached out for the white unicorn. She met me halfway thankfully and we held hands (or hand and hoof…. Or whatever) for a few seconds before the doctor came in wondering about the ruckus and then immediately shoeing the others off my damaged body.

The doctor announced that after some medical procedures I would be able to return home within the next day. He then however looked down as he continued that while I would be okay, my leg had been damaged and I would have to use a cane for at least the next few weeks. Also because of my other injuries I was to avoid physical activity.
I don’t mind to bad honestly, I would be lying if I said I liked running around. Walking is one thing but physical workouts are not my thing. After a few minutes of talking I fell back asleep and woke up in the middle of the night. I noticed that my journal had been brought in and opened it to prepare to catch up in my writing. As I opened my journal I found a small slip of paper stuck inside. I picked it up and read it.

“Hello

Last night we didn’t get the chance to fully introduce ourselves, We found ourselves intrigued by your behavior and there is also the matter regarding your hand when you brushed it past our hair. We would like to discuss this with you tonight outside if you are willing to make the walk.”

Below the passage was a signature from a “Princess Luna” I wasn’t aware of multiple princesses but what bothered me the most was the fact that I had gotten a written letter from a pony. How In the hell did they write? I remembered what the letter contained and looked at my hands. On the right hand were several specks of light. They were of different variety some were dimmer or brighter than others, but were constantly shifting. I found myself calmed from staring at the bizarre occurrence, except for one, dark spot surrounded by the other white lights, I tried wiping the specks off and failing that decided to get up.

Thankfully the doctor was kind and had already secured a cane and left it beside the bed in case I wanted to stretch my legs and the gesture was appreciated. I found myself extremely sore and could barely stand, leaning on the cane however I found my way over to the door. Testing it I found it unlocked and walked through.

I was in a dark hallway, unsure of which way I was supposed to go, so I decided to just head left. Thankfully I found out soon afterwards that was the wrong way and turned around heading into the main foyer. I wasn’t sure if the hospital had elevators and wasn’t sure if I could handle stairs so I was glad to know I was on the ground floor.
To my surprise all of the night staff had fallen asleep. Whether this was coincidence or an outside force I was unsure of, but I had my suspicions that perhaps they had been put to sleep to ensure my leave of the building. As I hobbled outside, feeling like an old man I was soon met by the same dark blue alicorn as the night before. I nodded my head in respect as this was the same one who saved my life earlier. It was the least I could do since I didn’t wish to risk falling from bowing.
Luna nodded in response and beckoned for me to sit at a nearby bench before continuing on. I took the opportunity and after sitting started to start the conversation.

“So you are?” I asked

“Luna, Sister of the Great Princess Celestia” She finished, I wasn’t sure what she meant when she stated her name, I sensed traces of respect but at the same time jealousy?

“Do you have to state that every time you introduce yourself? I asked in return

“It’s the only way people won’t run away if they are still standing when we appear.” She answered with a pained look on her
face.

“Sounds like there is a story behind that.” I remarked

“Yes, we forget you are new here.” She continued “we were banished to the moon for challenging our sister for 1000 years.
When I came back and tried again to take over I was defeated again, this time by the six you have already come to know.”

“Really?” I commented, it seemed weird since I couldn’t imagine the alicorn as a kind of tyrant, but then I put her in the role of
a rebel, she fit the role quite well surprisingly. Needless to say the view did not do well for my opinion on Celestia.

“Yes but we did not call you out here so we could all remark about our sister or the past.” She finished covering her emotions as she got to the matter at hand.

“So why did you call me out here?” I asked

“Your hand, when it passed through our hair brought a few of the stars with it, this has obviously never happened before.”
She demonstrated by brushing her hair with her hoof. As expected none of the sparkles in her hair fell out.

“What does it mean?” I continued

“We are unsure but it is definitely a matter worth looking into” Luna stated “Have you been able to remove the stars yourself?”

“No I’ve tried brushing them off but no luck” I shrugged

“We would like to continue to examine you, perhaps this is some foreshadowing towards the future, perhaps it is some minor trivial occurrence. Regardless if you would be willing to continue meeting with us and perhaps sharing on your experiences, It would help us greatly.”

Instinctively I reached for my journal, It was more than half way filled with passages, filled with experiences, daily routines and other trivial things, but it was the best thing I could think of. Grabbing the book I handed it out to her.

“What is this?” Luna asked as she lightly levitated the book from my grasp.

“A journal, I’ve been filling it out for quite some time now and it has the recent events recorded inside it, perhaps it will help you with your Erm… research?” I questioned.

“Indeed!” She exclaimed “It would be most beneficial to us.”

She studied the book heavily before opening and turning a few pages, I decided to interrupt.

“Luna or Princess if you prefer” I commented

Still reading she stated “Luna I’d prefer if that’s all right subject, and yes?”

“Would it be all right if I made a request?” I tried to be polite as possible

“Of course” She returned

“If you could, would it be possible to look for a way to return me to my home world?”
She seemed taken off guard by the request

“Does thou not like it here in Ponyville?” She returned with questions filling her dark blue eyes.

“N… no that’s not it.” I stuttered, “I had a life back where I was from, you will probably see from my journal, and I would at least have the ability to, I haven’t decided if I really wanted to or not.”

Was that true though? Not really, while it’s nice here I don’t think I would like to stay here, even if so far this world has been more interesting, was it really worth staying for?

Of course not! A voice stated in my head. The people here are annoying, not to mention typical. First there’s AJ, a book definition of a cowgirl. Speaking of books there’s Twi, who is a bookworm and that’s it. And Pinkie oh man talk about a party animal, could you imagine living in the same country as her? She’s bound to get even worse over time. And there’s Rarity who’s just a…

But Rarity wasn’t what I thought of at first, first impression was a selfish fashion obsessed highlife person who cared only about looking good. But that wasn’t all there was to it was there? She cared about her friends, she was a big sister, and at the same time held down a busy job. She was even so selfless to take in…

“me..” I muttered to myself without even noticing I had finished my thoughts with my mouth. Luna noticed and as I turned to her I noticed her hair looked a tiny bit lighter in shade. It wasn’t as dark as the starless night, but looked a bit illuminated by the stars nestled in her hair.

“Is something wrong?” Luna asked as she looked at me.

“No no everything’s fine. Erm goodnight.” I turned to return to my room at the hospital, I instinctively looked to my hand and noticed that dark star embedded in the center of my palm. It seemed a tad bit darker, in fact if it wasn’t for the drugs I’m sure I was put on I would swear it would be glowing.

Chapter 7

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Day 36

Haven’t written for a while, life has been very busy the last few weeks

Being unable to be as mobile as before has changed my new “life” slightly but not by much. After coming home from the hospital I started assisting Rarity in her career, sowing and making new designs amidst other things. It’s would usually be an irritating job, but the company I have while working makes it rather easy and enjoyable. While the first three days I was more of deadweight then an assistant, lately I’ve become more and more productive.

Since I started assisting her, Rarity has been able to get out of the house more often, and has never missed another spa appointment with Fluttershy. She came by one day and thanked me personally.
In Rarity’s words I’ve more than earned my room and have become a lifesaver in more than one occasion. One would be boggled at the amount of business she gets, being one of the only clothiers in the area did give her a certain monopoly and yet she never overcharges, (or at least I think so, not sure how the economy is here or how much a “bit” is worth) without assistants to help her however, she isn’t able to take all available orders and she often lost potential clients because she was already burdened with other work.

Since I still need help on certain areas still and she wouldn’t want to put too much work on me Rarity hasn’t started taking on more jobs yet. She is concerned for my health whether she cares to admit it or not. Constantly pestering me about if I need a break or if I needed help when I was lifting or fetching materials. If I ask her why she’s so worried she’ll scoff and say something about like how some dresses need to be finished, or she won’t make the deadline without me, or who would watch Sweetie Belle? Course she can’t just come out and say it though, that she worries about me, that’s too simple, and the great Rarity can’t have things simple can she? Everything’s complicated with her; I swear she over-exaggerates about everything. I mean yeah having attention to detail is good but sometimes she’s overzealous about it.

I sometimes feel like making a few smart comments about how I’m not entirely crippled and that I didn’t have to be watched all the time, but I refrain from doing such. While AJ took most of the blame for the accident upon her, Rarity can’t help but feel partially at fault for not noticing my disappearance. We worked out that I was outside in the storm for about 3 hours. I assure her it’s nothing and that there’s no point in worrying about the past but I’m not that convincing when I’m walking around still with a cane.

I’ve found my perception to have increased a little surprisingly. Perhaps it’s from having to work on detail for designs, but I’ve began noticing more and more lately. I can tell whenever someone’s looking at me, which happens a lot. From Rarity to random civilians, I’m still a rather odd sight to see in town. I still am not used to the customs here either. It seems every single person in this town knows each other by heart. In fact I’m often approached and dragged into conversations without even realizing it. I on the other hand could be considered at least right now to be socially awkward, I wouldn’t even dream of walking up to people and making idle chatter. I’m terrible with names so it would just be a train wreck from the start.

One person whom I've noticed a lot was Twi’s helper, Spike. For some reason or another Spike, if he sees me will just start staring at me. It’s rather unnerving and I haven’t confronted him about it yet. I have my suspicions for the reason however.
Some of it has to do with me becoming kind of a go to guy for miscellaneous tasks which I think was his task before I came around. Having thumbs does give me certain advantages and I’m taller than spike so I can reach objects better. Sometimes people will come by the boutique asking if I can help with some task. From tinkering with clocks to something as pointless as picking up a jar on a rather high shelf.

Makes me wonder how things like that got there in the first place.

I remember when I first got back that Twi had picked up a stray owl. Twi had given him an absurd nickname; it was some sort of pun with owl, can’t remember for the life of me what it is. Spike had taken negatively to this new guest and had at one point run away, feeling that he was unwanted and not needed anymore. They brought him home eventually and he seemed okay, but I can’t help but feel that he’s seeing me as some sort of threat as well.

This probably isn’t helped by the fact that I’ve been spending a lot of time with Rarity, which everyone knows he has a crush on.

Granted that’s bound to happen seeing as how I’ve been living with her, but sometimes if Rarity goes out she’ll take me with her. She values my opinion and finds me good company. This is nice because otherwise it would be very awkward living with her.

She’s even taken me out to some of the fancier restaurants, or at least I think they were fancier.

Kind of hard to tell in this society, everything’s healthy, no meat, sure there’s candy but in the end that just leaves you with stomach pains. Not saying that most of the food tastes the same, in fact almost every meal was different since I came here. If there’s one thing I can say about the white unicorn, she’s a sucker for variety and has extremely unique tastes. We can never just have something common to eat, even if it’s late at night or we just got a hard project finished. It has to be fancy or special or delectable

Don’t know how she does it some days

Something else that’s changed since I got here, I started stargazing.

I used to do that back when I was younger, I was always a nocturnal person, I didn’t like mornings and I didn’t like being hot and sweaty so I usually went out at night. I remember that I started stargazing back then because I was dating this girl who was really into astrology. She was an amazing person, we got along so well until she had to move. Can’t even remember her name now, wonder if she remembers mine? Does it really matter now?

I picked up the hobby again because sometimes usually about once per week, Luna will come down to check up on me. The first time she did this was about four days after I had returned from the hospital. It was unexpected of course but thankfully she refrained from waking up Rarity, not sure how though from all the shouting.

Usually the conversations revolve around my progress in settling in with the others and how I’ve been developing. I’ve tried to turn the conversation around, talk about something other than me, but it never turns fruitful. I’ve even started come clean about more personal things, like my growing displeasure about people who even glance at me. How I’ve become more emotional for some reason. One night I was beside myself grieving in front of the navy blue Alicorn without even realizing it.

We weren’t even talking about anything upsetting.

Tonight for example I can’t explain it but I feel Jealous, angry even and I can’t even decide who caused it, I went over a list in my head of people I know but none of them have aggravated or done anything to upset me. Looking in the mirror I’ve noticed that I look a little paler as well.

I hope it’s just something I ate; I’m going to retire for the night and see how I feel in the morning.