“Aurora? Aurora are you awake down there?”

Hoofing hay fry crumbs out of her cream chest fur, Aurora Burst slouched forward in her chair and looked back at the darkened basement stairwell with annoyance.

“It’s six at night. Of course I’m awake!”

Hoofsteps made their way down the stairs. “Really? I’ve caught you sleeping this late before!”

“Whatever.” She turned back to the workbench in front of her with a huff. As her horn illuminated with a light blue aura, she levitated a small screwdriver from the other side of her workbench to her.

The distinctive crunch of hoof meeting metal erupted from the base of the stairs. “What the?! What the hell is all of this?”

She turned and saw her roommate at the other end of the narrow room, knee deep in a box of wiring and other spare parts. “Watch out for the boxes,” she deadpanned.

He scowled and gingerly stepped out of the box. “I probably could have if it wasn’t lit like a damn dungeon in here!” He gestured angrily towards the sole light source in the room, a magnifying lamp bolted to her workbench. Stepping around the pile of boxes, he made his way across the small basement that pulled double duty as her bedroom and workshop.

He waved a hoof at a trash can choked with Hay Burger wrappers and bags. “Fast food again?”

She rolled her eyes. “Anything else Dad?.” She pulled the lamp closer to her muzzle and squinted down at a small mass of wires and metal between her hooves.

The lanky grey pegasus raised one eyebrow. “Yes, please clean your room.” He looked back at the stairwell. “Lest you be crushed to death by some newfound mountain of crap you’ve drug down here.”

“Free spare parts over safety.” She brought the screwdriver down on her target. “Did you actually need something Double? Or did you just come down here to gripe?”

He sighed in. “Actually no. It’s the first. Rents due.”

She floated the tool back to the bench and leaned back in her chair, rubbing a hoof over each eye. “Really? The first already.”

Double leaned against the wall. “Losing track of days?”

She sighed. “Just a lot of really long nights.” She nodded over to a set of shelves next to her workbench. On the top few were rows of toasters, blenders, lamps, cameras and all other sorts of household appliances, each sitting neatly arranged with a billing invoice on top. On the lower few saw a myriad of broken items, each taped with a repair order.

He whistled. “That’s a lot of orders.”

She shrugged. “There’s a lot of ponies in Manehattan. Bits have been great though.”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “At least I know you can make rent.”

She shot him a sideways glare for his humor. “Have I ever been late?”

“It was a joke Aurora.”

The glare faded as a frown tugged at her muzzle. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok.”

He gazed around at the sparse, brick walled basement. It was nothing more than a simple room, barely wide enough for her small cot and a walkway. At one end was the stairs descending from the house above. Stacked around the end of the stairs was the heaping pile of boxes he had stepped in. At the other end, her workbench and the shelf with her orders. The bench was a chaotic heap of screwdrivers, pliers, bits of wire, circuitry, instruments and other parts and tools he was unfamiliar with. Despite the mess, in the bit of time he had spent watching her work she never seemed to hunt for anything. She always seemed to know exactly where the part or tool she needed was.

As he scanned the room, an object under her cot caught his eye.

“Have you made any progress on your personal project?”

Double jerked back as the screwdriver she had been diligently manipulating plummeted to the table and a giant smile spread across her muzzle. She catapulted out of her chair and towards her cot, tail swishing back and forth excitedly “I have!”

He fought back a grin. Awkward to adorkable in one question.

It had taken a while to get used to the stone faced, green maned, blue eyed unicorn who had answered his newspaper ad about a basement rental. He’d fully expected some sort of early college age Pony to show up to his door, worldly possessions in their saddlebags and ready to negotiate the price. Instead he’d opened the door to a fully grown mare, easily in her late twenties and three months rent in hoof.

After signing the renters agreement; he’d watched wide eyed as she silently started dragging boxes of tools, shelving and all other manner of work implements from her moving cart to the basement. An offer to help had been met with a brief head shake and downcast eyes. He wasn’t even sure she had a bed until he saw the cot floating along behind her during one load.

Despite the gruff exterior, she was a good roommate. She always had her rent on time. The coffee shop he owned demanded very early hours and she was always quiet when he slept. Early on, questions and greetings had produced little more than a grunt or curt answer as she went back and forth from the basement to deliver finished repair orders to clients.

In the months to come, he’d slowly managed to coax more out of her. Random kitchen encounters had revealed how she ran her own home pickup and delivery repair shop. A few quick ciders in the kitchen one night and she had briefly mentioned that she was from Canterlot and that her parents were teachers of some sort. That was as far as he’d been able to delve into her past. Most questions about her family prompted little more than a shrug and a quick retreat to the basement.

Nothing opened the unicorn mare up more than asking her about her work. One question about how a radio worked and her eyes shot open like a filly on Hearths Warming morning. He’d learned more about vacuum tubes and circuit theory than he had ever cared to. Most of it flew far above his head. She’d occasionally run off on tangents about electrical theory and particle behavior without realizing his eyes had long since glazed over. Still, he always listened. It was worth it to see her smile for a change.

She rummaged under her cot and emerged with her project. Floating it over to her workbench, she set it in front of them with a beaming grin. It was little more than a metal disk, about the size of a dinner plate with a rounded metal edge that circled what looked like a rounded, shattered pane of glass. Four small legs propped the disc up. Extending from one end was a single cable, which connected to a small metal cube covered in dials and a black screen.

He looked it over and nodded. “So...does it still not work?”

Her grin evaporated as she blew him a raspberry. “I’m making headway smartass.”

“Oh? The last time you were ‘making headway’ we ended up with a part of a screwdriver embedded in my espresso machine.”

“Could have ended up embedded up your flank…” she mumbled, clearly loud enough for him to hear.

“What was that?”

“Nothing! Nothing”. She shot him a wide fake grin before looking back down at the disk. “Seriously though, I can get items where I want them now within a few square feet.”

“That is progress.” He gazed down at the disk. “So you really think you can get this thing to a point where it could teleport something long distance?”

She looked back at a tattered, half incomplete leather bound book sitting on her cot. “If my ancestor’s designs work how he thought they would, yes.”

“How many greats did you say he was?”

“Four greats. Grandfather on my Mom’s side. I think.”

“You think?”

She shrugged.”We didn’t keep the best records.”

He remembered the first time he’d caught her tinkering on the thing. Back then it was little more than the disk frame and a box of parts. As usual, all she’d said was that it was something she was working on for herself. It wasn’t until the same night they’d shared the ciders that she divulged what its purpose. Apparently it was supposed to allow any unicorn to transport an object to anywhere they wanted, given sufficient magical power. Like most non unicorn ponies, he was largely ignorant of the intricacies of magic. It had taken him by surprise to learn that this wasn’t something they all did. It wasn’t until he really thought about it that he realized he had never seen any of his unicorn friends teleport anything. He’d heard stories of the Princesses doing such things, so he had assumed any of them could do it. As it turned out, only a fraction of a percentage of unicorns had this kind of talent.

“Wanna see it?”

He nodded. “Sure. Do I need a magic shield around my flank?”

She rewarded him with a legitimate smile. “No. Watch this!”

Her horn lit up and she levitated a small bundle of wire from her work bench onto the glass face of the disk. Turning, she began manipulating the dials on the box. The screen lit up as walls of text scrolled by as she changed the settings. She had explained to him how it was some sort of information about the area around them and how it stored some sort of data about the transmission but he’d gone cross eyed before she had finished. Eventually as she got the dials where she wanted, the scrolling stopped and a set of numbers blinked on the screen. With that, she turned and a beam of magic shot from her horn to the disc.

Almost immediately, the bundle of wires fizzled out of existence and a moment later, reappeared above her bed with a small snapping sound. As they tumbled to the cot below, the box emitted a small, high pitched tone.

He turned to look at the box. “That’s new.”

She nodded. “I added a wave sensor to the control box. It helps me analyze the transmission wave and do troubleshooting.”

“That’s handy. How does it work?”

She nodded her head at the box. “It’s like a radio antenna. When the item is teleported, it emits an energy wave. The sensor picks up on that, theoretically even at very long distances.” She brought a hoof up to scratch her ear. “I can’t figure out how to attenuate it though. If I test it with something even a little bit larger, the stupid thing screeches it’s head off.”

He walked over to the cot and examined the bundle of wires. The pile looked distinctly smaller than before and there were far more pieces. “It doesn’t quite look the same.”

She walked over and joined him. “No, it’s still not working perfectly.” She looked up at him with a wide, excited grin. “But I’m getting closer.”

He looked back at the bed and down to her. “And you’re sure this is worth it? I know that thing’s been eating up most of your extra bits.” She had mentioned early on that a lot of the components in it were pretty exotic.

She walked back to the workbench and flopped down in her chair. “I do. I really think this could change how we move things across Equestria. No more need for the train or mail ponies. No need to wait for packages!” She was positively beaming at the possibilities.

“If it’s that big a deal, why don’t you take this to a research lab? Or to the Princesses or...something? You could probably get help. Money.”

Her smile evaporated immediately. “No. I want to figure this out on my own.”

He shook his head. “But why?”

“Double...”

“But…”

Her eyes snapped up to his. “Double. Please. Drop it. I need to do this on my own.”

They locked eyes for a moment before he sighed and scratched his head. “Ok. Ok. I’ll drop it.”

He made his way back to the base of the stairs and stepped over the boxes at the base. He looked back to see her hunched over her workbench, exactly as he’d found her. “Just promise me you’ll clear these boxes? I don’t want you to trip.”

“Yup.”

He sighed internally as he hoofed his way up the stairs. Baby steps.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Several months later)

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Double shot up in his bed, heart pounding as he was ripped out of sleep.

He winced as his wings shot forward to plug his ears against the piercing screech that had woken him up.”What the hell?”

He rolled out of his bed and made his way down the hall and to the kitchen. As he approached the basement door, the noise got noticeably louder.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

He opened the door to the basement and ran down the stairs. He arrived to see Aurora sitting in her bed, staring at the teleporters control box as it floated in front of her in her magic. The grid on the box was visible and text was flying across the screen. He made his way over to the side of her bed. The screech was painful at this distance.

He grimaced and looked down at her. “What the hell is happening?”

She shook her head and yelled, “I don’t know!”

She shook the cube in her magic to no effect. He was considering throwing it against the wall when the wailing suddenly stopped.

He pulled his wings out of his ears. “What in Celestia was that?”

She jumped out of bed and floated the box over to the workbench. “I have no idea. I was sleeping when the damn thing started going off.”

She started fiddling with the dials as paragraphs of information scrolled down the screen. He was internally debating whether to complain about being yanked out of bed in the middle of the night by her pet project or just go back to bed and do it tomorrow when her magic dissipated.

“That’s…”

He snapped back to attention and looked over at her. “Aurora?”

“No way.”

He moved to stand beside her. “Aurora? What’s wrong?”

She looked from the screen to him, open mouthed. “Double..there was a transmission.”

“Ok. Did it go off in the middle of the night?”

She shook her head. “No. Not from here. From somewhere else. The sensor logged a successful transmission.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Double...something else was teleported in Equestria and if these readings are right...whatever it was, it was enormous.”

He winced as something dug deep into the small of his back.

Did I fall asleep on my phone?

He instinctively rolled over, expecting soft relief. Instead there was an unexpected hardness under him and heat on his face.

What the…..?

Opening his eyes to blinding light, he grimaced and brought a hand up.

What the hell?!

As his eyes adjusted, there was nothing but endless grassland peppered with an occasional tree and capped by a blindingly blue, cloudless sky as far as he could see.

“Wha…what?” He shot up and spun his head around in a panic, taking in his surroundings.

As far as he could see, it was the same. He looked up and realized he was sitting under one of the trees. He felt something painful under him and after lifting his thigh, saw one of the roots. He took another deep breath and scanned the area as his heart pounded in his chest.

WHAT THE HELL?!

“Hello? Anyone there?”

His voice faded into the distance.

“Anyone? Hello? This isn’t friggin’ funny!”

He took another breath in a vain effort to calm down.

“Ok, Caden. Stop. Think. What did you do last night?”

Nothing. Nothing stood out to him. The commute home. An empty apartment. Leftover pizza. Netflix on the couch. Facebook on his phone until he fell asleep.

My phone!

He looked around in a panic. Standing up, a scan around him didn’t reveal his phone.. As he looked down at his body, he finally realized what he was wearing.

I’M STILL IN MY PAJAMAS!

He was clad in black gym shorts and a wrinkled white t-shirt. He looked down to see grass between his toes.

Great. Wait, why do I care?

He scrubbed his hands violently over his face, hoping he’d rip himself out of the dream. He opened his eyes to the same scene.

Nope. Still here.

“Ok dude. Think. You went to bed and….woke up here.” He looked around. “WHERE THE HELL AM I?”

He scanned the area again, looking for anything that might give him a clue. Grass. Trees. Azure sky. He could be in almost any temperate part of the country. Of many countries.

His heart continued it’s violent rhythm in his chest as his breathing went shaky. No. Stop. Panicking won’t help. Think! How did I get here?

He took a deep, steadying breath and let his mind race through the last few days. His life had been the very picture of normal. He went to work, came home and sat in an empty apartment, wasted time and then went to bed just to repeat it all day after day.

“Was I kidnapped?” He took a look at himself. He had no bruises and there were no rope marks or torn clothing. He looked perfectly fine. He tried to remember if anything had woken him up last night. Nothing. He had slept like the dead.

Kidnapped? He almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

“Why would anyone kidnap me?” It was insane. He worked as a gym teacher and lived in an apartment furnished with the best Ikea he could assemble. His father was a retired postman and his mother had never worked. His ransom wouldn’t be worth the gas they spent to get him.

He thought of his coworkers and friends. Did they know he was missing by now? Had anyone reported it? What about his parents?

Would they even care?

He shook his head and took another deep breath. That’s not going to help.

“Think. Stop and think.” He forced himself to talk calmly. “You aren’t hurt. You aren’t in pain. You aren’t………” he took a few steps from the tree “….tied down.”

No, you're just standing in the Shire in your underwear.

At least the weather’s nice.

He stared out at the landscape below for a few moments, wondering what he should do next when something caught the corner of his eye.

What?

At the very edge of his vision, something was flying across the horizon away from him.

“What...the hell?”

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He could barely make out what looked like a large pair of wings attached to a round body. A dark grey body, accented with what looked like a pure white stripe on the top of the head.

He shook his head again. “No friggin way….”

He watched as it quickly moved out of sight.

“That looked like a…” He stopped himself before he said it. “You’re seeing shit Caden.”

“Maybe it was a drone or something. Model plane?” He stared off towards where it had flown out of sight. Maybe there are people that way?

Or maybe you’ll run straight into whoever brought you here.

He looked back at the tree. “No food or water. It’s also possible whoever brought me here will come back to look for me.” He bit his lip and looked back in the direction the object flew.

I’ll starve if I stay here.

He looked down at his bare feet. All those years of track might finally pay off. If I stick to the grass I should probably be ok. It seems to stretch on towards where…..whatever that was flew.

He took one more look around. It was as empty and pristine as when he woke up. He sighed.

Hopefully this doesn’t bite me in the ass. Literally.

He took a deep breath and slapped himself on the cheeks.

“All right, Caden. Let’s go.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some time later, he crested a tall, rolling hill and winced at the growing ache in his feet. Sitting down, he grabbed a foot and did his best to rub the soreness out.

At least it’s been grass so far. Walking on rocks would have sucked.

The terrain had been pretty consistent. He had noticed as he went that the hills were increasing, as was the tree cover. He hadn’t seen any signs of civilization yet. Besides the random bird, rabbit or other small creature, he hadn’t run into any kind of life at all. No food or running water either.

He looked out as he started working on the other foot. From here it looked like the hills kept getting steeper and in the far distance, a dark green line painted the edge of the horizon.

A forest?

Along his gaze, the clouds thickened considerably. At the far edge, above the forest they were significantly darker than above him. He looked to be heading straight for a pretty powerful thunderstorm.

Fantastic.

He watched the storm clouds for a moment and sighed as he realized they were heading towards him.

Even better.

He turned and looked behind him. I guess I could turn around or go the other way.

He winced as his hands found a particularly tender spot. He eased his grip, slowly kneading out the pain.

No. I’ll keep going. Even if I turn around, the storm might follow me.

He looked at the horizon again. I really don’t want to be under trees during a lightning storm.

He thought of the plain behind him. Better than being out in the open though. The storm looked wide enough in the distance that he didn’t think he’d be able to outrun it laterally.

He stopped the massage and stood up. Probably better to shelter in the forest.

He also knew there was a chance he’d run into whoever had brought him here. The more he thought about his situation, the more bizarre it became. How did he get here without being awoken? He didn’t feel like he had been drugged. How was that possible?

Why had they just seemingly dumped or forgotten him in the middle of nowhere? Why go to all this trouble just to forget him? Why him at all? How did they get into his apartment? The whole situation made his brain hurt.

And where is here? I live in Colorado. There’s nowhere like this for hundreds...maybe thousands of miles.

Even a thousand miles away, he was having a hard time placing where in the U.S he might be. To say the landscape was pristine was a gross understatement. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen nature this perfect in books or movies. Everything was….almost otherworldly. He didn’t know if he had ever smelled air this clean. There were no roads or paths. It was like the whole place had never been touched by humans.

He shook his head. He had spent a fair amount of the trip thus far trying to get a grasp on his situation. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got.

His eyes snapped up to the rapidly growing grey wall.

Let’s just find shelter, that’s priority one.

He started moving again, this time moving at a full jog. As the edge of the forest got closer, he noticed how dense it was. Large, green trees rose into the sky in a dense, almost uniform line at the end of the hillscape. He made his way over hill after hill, wincing occasionally as the ground became more rocky. His feet were really starting to hurt. Years of track or not, he wasn’t used to running through nature in his bare feet.

After a while, he came to the top of the last hill and through the trees, he could see a small clearing. Past that it looked like the tree cover increased significantly.

Looking up, he saw the edge of the storm was right above him. Between the rapid darkening of the clouds and the sun setting, he was losing light quickly.

Shit.

He stopped and gave the clearing a once over. It would probably provide adequate shelter through the storm.

Better a bunch of trees than out in the open. Less lightning chance that way.

He jogged down the hill and towards the trees. By the time he arrived, the wind had picked up significantly. Leaves and dust whirled around him as he looked up through the treeline. He could see towering, dark clouds surging as flashes of light danced across the oncoming wall. Thunder rumbled from somewhere.

Need to find something fast!

Before long he found a spot that seemed suitable enough to keep him out of the rain. A tree on the edge of the clearing was split down the middle and formed a sort of natural nook that he hoped would keep him dry. Kicking as many rocks, fallen leaves and bits out of the hole as he could, he settled down.

By now the thunder had grown significantly louder and the last of the light had vanished as black clouds overtook him. Within a few moments, the wind kicked up even more and he heard the first drops hitting the ground somewhere in the grove.

He felt himself shivering, more out of stress than cold.

Still, a fire would be nice. He sighed, thinking back to a time when his Dad had talked him out of joining the Cub Scouts and into his first year of sports instead.

At least that was finally useful for something, he thought as his mind drifted to his aching feet..

He pushed the memory away and tried to settle in. Leaning back in his nook, he watched as the storm continued to increase in intensity. Before long he could see the sky churning above him as through the lightning strikes onslaught of lightning.. In a matter of seconds, the rain went from a few drops to a torrent.

He crawled as far back into the nook as he could but it wasn’t much help. Aided by the wind, the rain was pelting him. He shivered again and watched as the storm continued to get worse. The rain was loud now, loud enough that he would have had to yell to hear himself talk. Thunder rumbled every few seconds and the sky strobed above.

He thought back to his apartment and his bed. How in the hell did I get here? What is going on? He swallowed as he felt his throat tighten in emotion. No. Not now. Stay calm.

He looked back out at the lightning bursts above him, wondering what he should do next.

It was between two such bursts that he caught his first glimpse of them. In the darkness across the grove, he saw two huge, glowing emerald green spots floating behind the rain. As he watched, bobbed in the dark and slowly blinked in and out of existence a few times, growing slightly larger between each blink. After a moment, two more sets joined on either side.

Oh shit. OH SHIT!

A rapid series of lightning strikes revealed his stalkers as they slunk into the clearing in front of him.

“What the fuck?” He barely got the words out as his mind tried to comprehend what he was looking at.

They were clearly wolves. The shape, the sounds, the movement. But these weren’t like any wolf he had ever seen.

WHAT IN THE FUCK AM I LOOKING AT?!

The wolf’s entire body was a mass of moving sticks and logs. Even the teeth were small, sharply pointed sticks. He couldn’t see what was holding them together; they just seemed to move as one large mass. Within moments, he saw their mouths pull back to reveal all their teeth as they crouched, clearly preparing to lunge.

He shot out from his shelter and immediately looked around to see if there was anything around him he could use as a weapon. A few branches and small rocks littered the area but he didn’t see anything large enough to use as a weapon.

“Doubt I can outrun them.” He took a panicked glance around and then back at his shelter. “The tree. Maybe I can climb it.”

Between the dark and the rain, it was almost impossible to see any distance. Finally he spied one long, thick horizontal branch from the main trunk that was probably seven or eight feet in the air. He looked back over his shoulder to see that the wolves were now in a full run at him. Sprinting forward, he splashed through the mud and jumped up towards the branch with all the adrenaline-fueled strength he could find.

He was able to get enough purchase to barely wrap both arms around it. The limb itself was soaked and as soon as he’d stepped out from his shelter, he’d been drowned in rain. His hands were soaked and he felt his grip slipping. Gritting his teeth, he tried to reassert his grip.

As he pulled up, he almost immediately felt the strength give in his left shoulder as fire racked the left side of his body. He screamed as a memory of him lying on a track, clutching his shoulder and sobbing shot through his mind.

“Come on. Not now dammit! Pull Caden! PULL!”

He was making headway when he felt himself lurch down as excruciating pain erupted from his left leg. He screamed again and looked down. One of the wolves’ jaws was clamped down on his left calf. He heard it snarl and felt it shake its body, trying to loosen him from the branch. He could see blood running down through the jaws. The other two were jumping and trying to grab his other leg. As it shook, he felt something give way as more fire lanced it’s way through his leg and the wolf fell.

Summoning the last of his strength, he pushed through the fire in his shoulder and got his right leg up and around the branch. All three wolves began jumping at the branch, barking and growling at their escaped meal.

Using his good leg and arm, he pushed himself back on the branch until he was leaning against the trunk. Every push became harder than the last, as the pain in both his shoulder and leg was getting progressively worse.

He pulled the leg up closer to him to inspect the wounds. Blood was pouring out of large gashes along either side of his calf where the wolf’s teeth had ripped the flesh away. It felt like the wound was burning.

With the bloodloss, he figured it wouldn’t be long before he went into shock. Leaning forward, he pulled his shirt off and tried to tie it around his upper calf. Even with the makeshift tourniquet, blood was still oozing from the wounds. He could feel the burning sensation making its way up his thigh.

“Shit...shit shit shit...” he whimpered through clenched teeth. “Calm...calm down Caden.” He tried to slow his breathing, to little success.

Below him, the three were still jumping and nipping at the air through a series of growls and snarls. He knew unless they left, there was no way he was going to be able to get out of the tree. He wasn’t even sure at this point if he’d be able to get down with his leg in the condition it was anyway. The firey sensation had passed his thigh and was now working its way into his lower abdomen.

He took a deep breath and screamed. “HELP! ANYONE, PLEASE HELP!” Rain battered him as his voice faded into the weather. It was taking considerable effort to keep the wind from blowing him our of the tree. Panic rose in his chest and he felt his lip quiver. Was he going to die here? He heard his voice warble at the next call. He doubted at this point that anyone would be able to hear him over the noise from the storm but he knew it was all he could do.

Tears mixed with the rain. “PLEASE! ANYONE? HELP!” He called out over and over.

Over the next several minutes, the burning sensation slowly made its way to his chest and he felt himself starting to go lightheaded. The wolves were still down there, circling patiently for their meal.

Some time went by. He wasn’t sure how much. He could feel himself slowly losing consciousness. He kept calling as long as he could but he knew by now he was barely moaning the words out. He was having a hard time staying up in a sitting position. It took all the strength he had left to stay upright and not fall off the branch and down to the wolves.

Through the haze, he thought he heard something loud rumble from the other side of the grove. He heard the wolves suddenly whimper and the growling stopped.

What…?

He saw two blurs come out of the far edge of the grove and make their way towards his tree. One very large and brown and the other small and yellow.

He could barely process that when the yellow blur suddenly shot up into the air towards him. He thought he heard a soft voice say something. Whatever was said, it was indecipherable. He felt something soft touch his cheek and he tried to focus on the yellow blur.

He got what he thought was one last semi clear look at the blur before he passed out. In that last moment, he got one last semi lucid thought out. Huh, a yellow Pegasus. Neat….

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BOOM!

Twilight looked up from her report as a thunderclap echoed throughout her castle. Rain pounded against her massive bedroom windows as lightning lit up the angry, blackened sky.

“Spike?”

A distracted voice came from the floor by the foot of her bed.“Yes, Twilight?”

“When did it start storming?” She stood up from where she had been curled up on her bed and jumped down to the floor.

“About thirty minutes ago.”

She came around the corner of the bed to find the tiny dragon reclined against a pillow, nose buried in a comic book. A stack of them lay next to him.

“Thirty minutes ago? The Cloudsdale Weather Report said it wasn’t supposed to start until 7:00.” She looked over at the clock on the wall and groaned when she saw the hands read 7:30.

“How long have I been reading?”

He lazily flipped a page with a claw. “About two hours.”

“Two hours?! What about dinner?”

Without looking up, he pointed the same claw across the room to a tray sitting on a table. A daisy and daffodil sandwich sat on a plate, next to a pot of tea that she guessed had probably long since gone cold. An empty plate with a few crumbs sat next to those

“I brought dinner around six. You told me to set it over there and said you’d get to it after your page.”

She slapped a hoof to her face. “Sorry Spike.” She picked the sandwich up with her magic and floated it over to her.

He set his comic down and got up as she took a huge bite of the floating dinner. He walked over to the dinner tray. “No worries Twilight. I was able to finish the first eight volumes of the most recent Power Ponies series.” Picking up the teapot, he inhaled deeply and blew a stream of green fire at the pot. Moments later, steam began pouring from the spout.

Taking another bite of her sandwich, Twilight levitated the pot out of his claws and began pouring herself a cup. “Thmeks Spek. Jid dyu get ur chorz dun?”

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you always tell me to not talk and chew at the same time?”

She swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him. “Smarty scales. Did you get your chores done?”

He nodded. “After I brought dinner.” He shook his head. “Man, you must have really been absorbed in that report. Missing one thing going on around you is normal but you missed dinner, my chores AND the storm. That’s a lot even for you.”

She wolfed down the last of her sandwich and sipped on her tea. Outside, lightning illuminated the village of Ponyville spreading out from the castle. “I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

He walked over and looked out the window with her. “What are you reading anyway?”

“It’s a report on mining operations in Equestria. Princess Celestia sent it to me earlier.”

He raised an eyebrow “Sounds riveting.”

She nodded. “It really is! Did you know almost all of the gold mining in Equestria comes from the quarry near Las…..”

She was cut off as a deep chime reverberated throughout the castle. She and Spike looked at each other.

“The doorbell? Are you expecting anycreature?”

The tiny drake shook his head. “Nope.”

They exited her bedroom and made their way to the foyer. As they came to the massive room, two more unicorns emerged from another part of the castle.

“Are either of you expecting somecreature?”

Starlight and Sunset shook their heads in unison.

Starlight groaned as the four approached the door. “I swear if Trixie forgot her bits again, I’m gonna strangle her.”

Sunset shot her a catty grin. “I think she told me once she likes it when you do that.”

Starlight grinned back. “Actually thats Sunburst.”

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “GROSS!”

As they made it to the immense front door, the doorbell chimed again.

“Yes, yes. Coming!” Twilight yelled as she wrapped the door in her magic. As the massive crystal door swung open, they jumped back as a dripping mess of yellow and pink dove squeaking and shivering into Twilight.

“Fluttershy?!”

A thunderclap ripped across the sky, causing the trembling pegasus to shriek and press herself further into Twilight. Sunset grabbed the door in her magic and quickly closed it.

Twilight reached a hoof up and wrapped it around her drowned friend. “Fluttershy? What in Equestria are you doing here? Why were you out in this weather?” Fluttershy’s fear of thunder and lightning was well known among her friends.

“Come on, let’s get you inside. Spike, go grab some towels.”

“On it!”

Fluttershy shook her head and squeaked something out from Twilights chest fur.

“Flutters? What did you say?”

“...pital”

“Fluttershy I can’t understan…”

The dripping mare pulled back, took a deep breath and yelled “HOSPITAL!!” before screaming again and burying her head under her front hooves as another round of thunder echoed through the castle.

The three looked at each other and back at Fluttershy. Sunset stepped forward and set a hoof on Fluttershys quaking back. “Hospital? Fluttershy are you ok? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Pulling her hooves off her muzzle, she stood back up and took a deep breath. “Iwashidingundermybedwaitingforthestormtostopwhenmyanimalsheardsomethingcallingforhelpinthewoods!”

Another look passed between the three as Spike returned with a stack of towels. Using her magic, Twilight wrapped several of them around her friend.

“Ok. One more time please. What happened at the hospital?”

Taking another deep breath and swallowing, Fluttershy pulled a towel tighter around herself and started over. “I was hiding under my bed, waiting for the storm to stop. I had just settled down with some snacks and a nice pot of tea when a few of my animals told me they heard something weird from the woods.” She winced as another thunderclap rocked the castle but managed to keep her composure. “I was going to ignore it but they said it sounded like some creature was in pain. I couldn’t leave it, so I decided to go find out what was going on.”

Twilight hugged her friend with a wing. “That was very brave of you.”

“When I opened the door, they said it smelled like there were Timberwolves, so I decided to take Harry with me.”

Starlight nodded. “A bear would be a good escort.”

“Harry led me to a small valley not too far from my cottage. When we got there, he scared off some Timberwolves.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at them. “Oh Twilight it was terrible. We found...something there. Up in a tree. It was barely conscious when we got there and it was soaked and shivering too. It had a large wound in it’s leg. I think it had been out in the storm for quite a while.”

Starlight stepped forward. “Fluttershy, what do you mean ‘something’. What was this creature?”

She sniffed. “That’s partly why I’m here. I don’t know what it was.”

Twilight looked up at Sunset and Starlight wide eyed. There weren’t many creatures in Equestria that Fluttershy didn’t have at least a passing knowledge of.

“Can you describe it?”

“That’s just it. I’ve never seen anything like it before. No claws or wings. No hooves. No fur or scales. I think it might be some sort of ape.” She shook her head, taking another deep breath to calm herself. “It’s big. Not as big as Harry or a dragon but much bigger than a Pony. Taller than Celestia. It was wearing clothes. Harry said it kept calling the same thing out over and over.”

Twilight frowned. While Equestria was filled with its share of unique creatures, the idea of some unknown species wandering towards Ponyville in the middle of the night was concerning.

“If it was speaking and wearing clothes, I’m guessing it must be something sentient.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I thought so too. It was running a terrible fever and seemed to be in a lot of pain so we took it to Ponyville Hospital.”

“Timberwolf venom causes a fever. It must have climbed the tree to get away from them. Probably explains the leg.” Sunset said.

“I got it to Ponyville Hospital with Harry’s help about twenty minutes ago. After they took the creature, I sent him home and flew straight here.”

Twilight hugged her friend again. “Thank you Fluttershy. Honestly though, you could have waited at the hospital till the storm was over. If this thing is as injured as you say, it’s likely going to be unconscious for quite some time.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “That’s not the only reason why I flew over so fast.”

“Why then?”

“Well when we got there, one of the unicorn nurses tried to use her magic to lift it onto a gurney.” She looked up at them. “Her magic didn’t seem to work on it.”

The three spoke in unison. “What?”

“Her horn lit up and I saw her magic wrap around the creature like normal. The nurse looked like she was struggling, kind of like you girls do when you're doing a really complicated spell. After a few seconds, it barely twitched and the spell fizzled away. The nurse said she had never seen anything like it before and asked me to fly over here as fast as I could and tell you.”

Twilight shot up and looked down at her assistant. “Spike, please take Fluttershy somewhere and help her get dry.”

He nodded. “Got it Twilight.”

She looked between her students. “We’re teleporting to the hospital.” They nodded, the concern on their faces as clear as it was on hers.

Fluttershy backed up from them. “What do you think it is Twilight?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea Fluttershy.” She grimaced. “I really have no idea.”

With that, the three vanished in a trio of white flashes.

He wasn’t entirely sure when he became aware of them. They’d come into focus as he was pulled out of a painful, fever racked sleep. At first, he just assumed he was hallucinating. At some point the memory of the one in the tree returned to him. After that he remembered the one he’d seen flying across the sky in the field. As he tried to bridge the line between delusion and reality, he settled on the idea that he must be drugged. There was no way they were real.

There was pain everywhere. It was much worse when he first started coming to. When he would wake up, it felt like fire was pulsing through his body. There were especially heavy concentrations of it in his shoulder and leg. He had vague, disconnected memories of coming to and a white blur giving him something bitter to drink. Almost immediately the pain would fade and he’d feel the tug of sleep and pass back out.

He could remember at one point waking up while they were doing something with his leg. He remembered mumbling something when a soft touch on his arm quieted him.

“Shhhhhh. Please. Just rest. You’re not well yet.”

“Where am I?” His voice sounded like sandpaper.

“Ponyville Hospital. Rest. I know you’re confused. I promise you’re safe. We’ll answer all your questions soon ok?”

“Ok.” He managed to croak the words out before a new wave of drowsiness took him back under.

Finally he woke up and managed to look around with no blurry vision. He was in some sort of hospital room. A bed with rails on the side sat next to a rack laden with swabs, rags, tongue depressors and various other instruments. Looking up, he could see there was some kind of instrument panel on the wall above him. An IV hanging from a hook next to him fed medication into his right arm.

Looking down he saw his leg atop the covers at the end of the bed, wrapped in white bandages.

I guess that’s what they were doing with my leg.

His left arm was tightly bound against his chest, secured in a sling that covered his entire upper left side. It was a sight he was long familiar with.

He returned his gaze to his wrapped leg. “I wonder how much meat that thing took out of me.” Between the rain and the blood he hadn’t really gotten a good look at the wound before.

Awesome. I’ll match now. Fucked shoulder. Gimped leg. Maybe I’ll lose an eye next. He sighed and tried to push that idea out of his head.

Yawning, he stretched what he could. It felt like he’d be lying there for some time. Everything was stiff and tight and his joints popped in protest as he moved. Despite the lingering stiffness and pain, he was actually fairly comfortable. The bed was soft and seemed well kept. As he stretched, he realized he was wearing a green hospital gown.

He ran a hand through his disheveled brown hair.

“How long have I been here?” He ran his hand across his cheeks and the layer of stubble told him he’d been there a few days at least.

As he settled, a click at the door caught his attention. His stomach fluttered at the idea of what might come through and he flashed back to the creatures he thought he had seen before.

That had to be the drugs or something. No way I wasn’t hallucinating. As the door opened, he felt his heart slam in his chest as what breath he had left him,

A small white horse with a pink mane tied up tightly in a bun under a nurses cap walked in pushing a cart laden with instruments and a small covered tray. As she walked forward, he noticed a red medical cross on each rear thigh. Small red hearts adorned the corners of each one and an identical symbol was on her cap.

“What...the...fuck?!”

As his mouth gaped open, he felt his brain scramble to process what he was seeing. One part of his brain was screaming that he should try and jump out of bed as quickly as he could and run away. The other side was telling him he shouldn’t panic as the events of the last few days flashed through his mind. Reminding him that he’d woken up mysteriously in some strange new world and had been attacked by wolves made of lumber.

If they wanted to hurt you, they easily could have already.

The panic must have been visible on his face. As the cart settled next to his bed, giant blue eyes went wide as she reached a hoof out. “Please, please don’t be scared. I promise no one here is going to hurt you.”

He instantly thought to the voice he heard as he had drifted in and out of sleep. “You...you’re the one who spoke to me before.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that was me.” She raised a hoof to her chest. “I’m Redheart. I’m a nurse here.

He blinked a few times. “Caden. Caden Park.”

The smile spread. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Caden Park.” She looked at his leg. “Would you mind if I got a bit closer? I need to check on a few things.”

He took a few deep breaths and nodded. If they wanted to hurt you, they already could have.

She took a few slow, careful steps towards him before stopping at the edge of the bed. He looked her over. She was clearly a horse but not quite like any he had ever seen. The first thing that stood out was how small she was. She was just slightly larger than a large dog. Smooth white fur coated a rounded body that was finished at either end by a pink mane and tail that looked much closer to human hair than a normal horse’s. He watched as she looked him over with huge, expressive eyes that again looked closer to a human’s than a horse’s.

Not exactly what I expected aliens to look like.

She looked up at him and smiled. “How do you feel?”

He looked himself up and down. “Not bad. I’ve...been better. I ache all over. Shoulder hurts when I move it.”

She nodded. “You had thrown it out pretty badly.”

He reached his right hand up and rested it on his left shoulder. “Seems like it’s back in place though.”

“We have other creatures here similar to you. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out how to reset it.”

Other creatures? Something about the way she said it stuck out to him.

“What about the ache?”

“That’s normal for Timberwolf venom. It’ll fade in time.”

He felt an eye twitch at the name.

“Are you ok if I get a bit closer? I’d like to take your temperature and look at a few other things.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

She stepped over to the cart and pulled what looked like a penlight off of it with her mouth before walking towards the head of the bed.

What on Earth…oh...no hands.

She stood up on her hind legs, and rested her front hooves against the railing of the bed. As she stood up to him, he caught a wave of something pleasant in the air.

Flowers?

She somehow managed to speak around the instrument. “Can you lean forward and look straight at me please.”

Caden did as he was told. She pointed the light into his eyes a few times, exactly the same way a human nurse would. She returned the pen to the cart and came back with a thermometer.

“Pupil reactions seem fine.” She looked up at a chart on the wall next to his bed. “Last temperature reading was 97.8. I’m guessing that’s somewhere near normal?”

Caden nodded. “Around 98 is normal.”

“Good. Fever is a common side effect of Timberwolf venom. You were over 100 when you were brought in. Would you please stick this under your arm?”

He did as asked and slid the instrument under his right armpit. Over the next several minutes, she ran him through the standard battery of tests he would expect from a nurse back home. Breathing, heart rate, blood pressure. Other than confirming what the normal ranges were, he sat there like he would during any hospital exam. By the end, he was more interested in the results than remembering that he was talking to a horse.

She returned the last instrument to the cart. “Are you hungry? You must be. It’s been awhile since you last ate solid food.”

He realized he hadn’t really thought about it. At the very idea of food, his stomach erupted in a sound that would charitably be described as barbaric.

He felt himself almost blush. “Apparently so.”

She grinned and walked over to the cart and lifted one edge of the tray with her mouth before walking it over to him. Placing it on his lap, she pulled the lid off with her mouth before placing it back on the cart..

On the plate sat some sort of salad, a roll and various steamed vegetables.

She pushed the cart away from the bed. “We figured you were probably an omnivore based on your dentition. We don’t eat meat and we don’t see many creatures here who do. We expected you can’t eat grasses either so this was the best we ha...” She trailed off as she looked back to see him wolfing down the food, cheeks chipmunked out to their fullest. He wasn’t even entirely sure what was in the salad or what the veggies were. It took less than a minute for him to nearly lick the plate clean.

Swallowing the last of it, he looked over to see her smiling at him. He grimaced, realizing how he’d just wolfed the meal down in front of her. “Sorry. I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”

She held a hoof up to her mouth, giggling. “It’s ok. You’ve been here for four days and on fluids that whole time. We figured you’d be starving.”

Four days.

“The doctor should be here in a moment to take a look at you. Is that ok?”

He nodded. “That’s fine.”

“We’ve already sent for Princess Twilight as well.”

Huh? “Did you say Princess?”

She nodded. “Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. It was one of her friends who found you in the woods. She was a great help when you first arrived. Wouldn’t be able to understand you without her.”

“What the hell is a Princess of Friendship?” He blinked a few times as his brain processed the second part of her statement. “Wait? Why wouldn’t I be able to understand you.”

She tilted her head slightly. “We figured you probably didn’t speak Poneish.”

Poneish? What the hell is she talking about? “What is Pone….” His eyes shot open as he actually listened to the words coming out of his mouth for the first time. It was complete and utter gibberish. He was thinking in English and he was hearing her in English. The words he was speaking came back to his mind in English but if he really stopped and listened to what he was saying, it was some language he’d never heard before. When the words reached his mouth, they just came out as a mess of nonsense. It was happening so fluidly that he hadn’t noticed.

“What the hell?” He felt his heart thump as he scrubbed his face and tried to take a few deep breaths. No, it wasn’t even fluid. It was as if something in his mind was pulling his attention away from him speaking. The panic rose again.

She stepped forward and put her hoof on his arm. “It’s magic. While you were out the Princess weaved a translation spell into your mind.” Her ears drooped. “I’m sorry. I’m an Earth Pony so I don’t really understand more than the basics of it.”

“Magic? Really?”

He felt her hoof squeeze his arm. “Are you ok?”

He looked over at her and was struck by the look of pure concern on her face. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like she wanted to cry.

Calm down Caden. Magic would explain..well...all of this.

He took a few more deep breaths. “Yeah. I’m….heh..” He shook his head again, trying to clear it. If he wasn’t seeing all of this with his own eyes, he’d have never believed it. “I’m ok. I’m just really confused. I have no idea where I am. No idea how I even got here. And now you’re talking about magic? We...we don’t have magic where I’m from. Or talking..horses? I’m not even sure what you are.”

“We’re Ponies.”

Obviously. “We don’t have talking Ponies where I’m from. At least not anywhere but in stories. This is all like something out of a fantasy novel.”

She squeezed again. “I’m sorry. This has to be very upsetting but we figured this was easier than waking up and not being able to talk to anypony.”

He nodded. “So it only works if I talk to you?”

She nodded. “I think so. As I said, I’m an Earth Pony so it’s kind of outside my expertise. Try talking to yourself and see what happens.”

He looked down at himself and closed his eyes. He tried to visualize himself as the only one in the room. “I’m talking to myself. I’m talking to myself.”

He opened his eyes and looked back at her. “Well?”

“Just as I thought. Complete nonsense to me.”

That’s...actually really cool.

She grabbed the empty food tray from him and returned it to the cart. “How long had you been wandering around the forest?”

He thought back. “I’m not entirely sure. A few hours. I woke up somewhere else. A grassy field. I had wandered towards the forest when I saw something flying that way and I got caught in the storm. I was looking for shelter from the storm.”

She nodded. “Makes sense. The forest is called Everfree. It’s pretty dangerous. Most creatures don’t go there very often.”

A knock on the door brought their gazes up. An amber coated, brown maned pony in a lab coat stood in the doorway.

“I see our alien visitor is awake!”

Alien? I’m...oh...yeah.

He trotted happily to the front of the bed and pulled a chart off the foot railing. “I’m Doctor Horse. “How are you feeling Mr…”

Caden felt his eye twitch again. “Caden. Caden Park.” Caden stretched out again. “I actually don’t feel horrible. Shoulder and leg still hurt. I feel kind of...achy all over.”

“That’s normal. It will fade in another day or two.”

He reviewed the chart for a moment before looking over at the nurse. “Everything normal in his exam?”

She nodded. “Yes Doctor. He seems to be recovering well.”

He turned back to Caden. “You’re quite lucky Mr. Caden Park. If Fluttershy hadn’t rescued you when she did, you’d likely be in much, much worse shape.”

“Just Caden, please. Fluttershy? Is that the yellow and pink one?” He thought back to his last moments in the tree.

He nodded. “That’s her. Lives in a cottage not far from the edge of the forest. She runs something like an animal...sanctuary out there. Seems some of her animals heard you yelling over the storm.”

I’ll have to thank her.

“Fortunately it turns out our physiologies aren’t really all that different. The antivenom we had in stock for Timberwolves worked perfectly on you.”

He twitched a third time. Timberwolf? Doctor Horse? Fluttershy. WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE NAMES?

The Doctor’s gaze returned to the chart. “We got the venom mostly flushed from your system before it was able to do any long term damage.” He set the chart down and walked up to Caden and gave him an inquisitive stare.

“So what are you exactly?” We’ve never seen one of you before.”

Put that in the top things I never expected to hear in my life.

“I’m a human.”

“Human. Interesting. I’ve never heard of your kind.” He stood on his hind legs at the base of the bed and started gently unwrapping the bandage from around Caden’s leg.

“How the hell is he grabbing that?” From Caden’s perspective, it looked like the bandaged simply stuck to the bottom of the Doctors hoof. “You know what, I’m talking to a horse through a magic spell. Do I really care?”

He braced as the doctor unwound the bandages, expecting his leg to look like something out of a slaughterhouse. As the last of them fell away, he felt his jaw fall open. “How….?”

Doctor Horse grinned over at him as the last of the bandages fell away. “Not too bad, if I do say so myself.”

He had most definitely been attacked. Besides being swollen, red and angry there was a multitude of stitched lacerations running up and down the greater part of his calf. A smattering of other tissue damage peppered it’s way across the leg. To his shock though, they all seemed to be well on their way to healing. None of them appeared as deep as he remembered.

“How….how?” He beamed as a wave of relief washed over him. Might not be done running after all.

“We deal with a lot of Timberwolf attacks here. We know what to do. A little extra magical help from Princess Twilight helped us in your unique case. Honestly it looked way worse than it really was. The wound was fairly shallow. It just bled heavily. You were actually in way more danger from the venom.” He reached a hoof out and gently touched the wounds. “You’re certainly going to have some scarring but I don’t foresee any permanent nerve damage or muscle loss.” His grin widened as he turned to Caden. “A few weeks and you should be back up and moving pretty well. I’d say a few months to complete recovery.”

Caden was doing everything he could to fight back tears. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

The Doctor gave him a warm grin. “You’re welcome Caden. They managed to avoid injuring any bone. That would have made this significantly more complicated.”

The grin faded from his face as he fell back to the floor and walked up to Caden. “Speaking of, I was wondering what happened to your shoulder. We noticed it was out of socket so I ordered a scan before we reset it.”

Caden stared down at it as unpleasant memories flooded him. “I uh...injured it a few years back. Shattered it and my collarbone. Did a bunch of nerve damage too.”

“It looks like you have some kind of metal plate in there?”

He nodded. “Yeah. One on my collar bone and another on the shoulder itself. Bunch of screws too. I messed it up pretty badly.” He looked up at the Doctor. “Anything you can do to help?”

He shook his head. “I wish I could. Using magic on old wounds never ends well and I’ve never seen surgical techniques like this anyway. There’s nothing really like this in Equestria. I’m afraid we might do more harm than good.”

At least I got my leg back. He smiled. “Thanks Doc. How long do you think before I can get out of here?”

“Another few days. I just want to make sure everything shores up correctly.

“Ok.” He watched as Redheart pulled a roll of bandage off the cart and began to work on rewrapping his leg. The Doctor made his way back to the door “I have other patients I need to attend to. You seem to be doing great. We had real concerns we wouldn’t be able to help you. We’ve never worked on an alien before.” The Doctor winked at him and walked out the door.

Redheart finished the wrapping and returned to his side. “Are you doing ok? You seem a bit...flustered.”

He chuckled. “I am. It’s just a lot to take in at once. Tree wolves. Talking ponies. I’m apparently on some other world.” He looked down at his hands. “As far as I know, nothing like this has ever happened to another human. This is stuff straight out of a science fiction novel. I keep wondering if I’m just dreaming or hallucinating.”

“You seem to be handing it well.”

He snorted. “ I’m honestly amazed I’m handling this as well as I am.”

“You’re handling it better than I would, that’s for sure.”

He looked down at her. “You guys don’t seem all that surprised to be treating an alien.”

She shrugged. “We have all kinds of creatures come in and out of Equestria. I’m told some are from another dimension like Discord. I’ve even heard rumors there’s a kingdom of some kind on the moon.”

“Alternate dimensions? You think maybe that’s how I got here?”

“That would be fascinating!” Their gaze shot over to see a purple unicorn with a dark blue and red accented mane and tail standing in the doorway. She bounded into the room, wings unfurling, tail swishing violently and violet eyes absolutely gleaming. “Sorry, I was eavesdropping.”

His amazement at seeing a winged unicorn was immediately overrode as by the speed at which she charged across the room. He leaned back, eyes wide as she nearly crashed into his bedside.

“It’s good to see you up! We were really worried about you!” She stomped happily in a small circle “Oh I’m so happy you’re ok!”

Redheart waved her hoof from him to the pony. “Caden Park, Princess Twilight.”

This is the Princess? He nodded. “Princess Twilight.”

She rolled her eyes. “Call me Twilight, please.” Her face blossomed into an enormous grin as she shoved her muzzle much closer to his face, inspecting him.

“Ooooooooooo….an actual alien!!” She brought her forehooves together and started clapping happily. “And it’s right here! In Ponyville!!”

He fought back an urge to retreat further into the bed. This is not a Princess.

He was still trying to process the whirlwind of fur, feathers and glee in front of him. Like most of humanity, he’d never actually met royalty before. Pony aside, whatever he’d ever imagined it would be like, it was not this. Caden could SMELL the excitement coming off of her.

She settled next to Redheart and looked up at him. “I heard the Doctor from the hallway. I really am glad you’re ok! I feel horrible you found your way to the Everfree Forest.“

Like Redheart, she looked genuinely upset. He shrugged. “It all worked out. I probably would have avoided the Forest of Doom if it wasn’t for the storm.”

She nodded and the smile widened. “Ooooooo I have so many questions!”

Redheart turned and cleared her throat. “Princess, he’s been through a lot. Do you think you could keep it brief until later?

The elated horse nodded furiously. “Of course!” She brought a hoof up to her chin to think for a moment. ”Do you think you could tell me everything that happened to you before we found you in the forest?”

“Sure”

He relayed the entire tale to them. How he’d gone to bed the night before arriving as normal. Waking up here, his decision to head towards what he’d hoped had been some kind of civilization. The storm and the grove and the wolf attack. She listened intently, only stopping him to ask an occasional question about his journey.

She let out a deep breath as he finished, a look of wonderment on her face. “You really are from a whole other world.”

He nodded. “Apparently. Redheart said you have creatures here from other dimensions?”

She nodded. “We do but not like this. They’re either mirrors of our world or magical constructs, like Discords home. This is something completely different.”

“So do you think I was brought here by magic or something?”

She frowned. “I heard from the hallway that you said your world has no magic?”

He shook his head. “Nope. None at all. At least that I know of. Or I think any other human has ever known of.”

She stood up. “That’s concerning. I’d like to show you something. Can you promise me you’ll stay calm?”

He chuckled. “I was attacked by wolves made of lumber yesterday and I’m talking to magical alien Ponies. I think you’ll have to do a lot to scare me.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.” Suddenly a red aura enveloped her horn.

“Woah!”

She looked up at her horn. “You really haven’t ever seen anything like this before?”

That is awesome. “Nope.”

“Ok now watch. I’m going to lift that tray.”

She turned and sure enough, after a moment the same aura appeared around his dinner tray. It gently lifted off the cart and floated for a moment before settling gently back down.

Jesus Christ.

Redheart stepped up to the side of the bed. “Caden? Are you ok?”

He realized he was sitting there with his mouth open. “Yeah. Just...wow.”

Twilight looked at him. “As you can see, that was fairly easy right?

How would I know? “I...guess?”

She seemed to understand his confusion. “I mean I didn’t seem to be struggling. Correct?

“Ah. Not that I could see, no.”

She nodded. “Ok. I’d like to do something similar with your right arm. Is that ok?”

He looked down at his unslung arm and held it out. “Sure.”

She turned to Redheart. “Is that ok?”

Redheart nodded. “As long as it’s only the right.”

He looked at his right arm. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just rest it out in front of you.”

He did as she asked and laid his arm down.

Her horn lit up again and he the same aura began to envelope his arm. After a moment it faded out of existence before vaguely reforming. It looked nothing like the aura around the plate.He looked up to see Twilight grimacing as her horn pulsed brightly.

Redheart stepped forward. “Twilight? Are you ok?”

Her horn pulsed brighter as the aura on it grew. The aura reformed and seemed to hold. “Fine. It’s just….” She gave a heavy breath. “I can’t get the spell to hold.”

At first he couldn’t feel anything, it just sat there. After a moment, he felt a very faint tugging on his arm.. After a second the pulling stopped and the spell began to fizzle out again.

She looked up at him as her horn flared even brighter. Sweat was beading on her forehead. The spell reformed, more brightly this time and he felt his arm lift slightly off the bed. “Will you please try to pull your arm down?”

He nodded. “Sure.” He gave his arm a gentle pull in the opposite direction of her and almost immediately, the spell began to fizzle again. It only took a little effort for him to pull his arm back to his lap.

The aura on her horn pulsed brighter once again. He had to squint looking at it. The spell reformed and he felt a stronger pull.

Through clenched teeth she said. “Please...try…...again.”

He pulled back on his arm. It was slightly harder but nothing that required any real strength. The ring fizzled out of existence and the light on her horn faded.

Twilight stood there for a moment, breathing heavily and staring up at him. “Did you do anything to cause that?

He glanced from his arm to her. “Cause what? I just pulled my arm a little.”

“Fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like what? What did I do?”

“Did Redheart mention the translation spell we cast on you?”

He nodded. “She did.”

“Verba Verum is a fairly advanced spell. For most unicorns, it’s honestly outside of their abilities. That said, I have a fair amount of practice with it. As a Princess, I’ve had to meet with members of many species who don’t speak Poneish. It’s usually a fairly trivial spell for me to cast at this point.”

She seemed a bit proud of herself. “So?”

She pointed a hoof at his chest. “With you, it took me several hours and the help of both of my students. Both of whom are among the most talented unicorns in Equestria..”

He didn’t know whether he should feel special or not.

She frowned. “When I was trying to weave the spell in your subconscious, it was like you kept slipping out of my sight. It was like…” She thought for a moment. “Imagine trying to throw a rock at something in the dark...in a fog...and they kept moving. You’d be there for an instant and then gone the next. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” She frowned. “Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure how long that spell’s gonna last.”

She pointed a hoof at his arm. “When I was trying to move your arm, it felt like I was trying to lift my castle off the ground. How much resistance were you putting in at the end?”

He thought back and pointed at the cart. “Maybe about as much as lifting that plate?”

She gave a shaky laugh. “Lifting the plate….” She sighed.

“What does this have to do with my getting here through magic?”

“Everything. You have no idea how you got here. Does your world have any kind of...dimension traveling technology that might have accidentally brought you here?”

He shook his head. “No. Again, at least not that I know of.”

“That’s a problem then. I strongly suspect it was magic that brought you here. But it seems you’re highly, highly resistant to it. That doesn’t add up for one and for two, I’ve never seen anything like this in any other species on Equus. I’ve seen creatures resistant to certain types of magic but nothing like this. ” She gave him a sweeping glance. “I wonder if your whole species is like this.”

“It’s possible. As I said, there’s no magic in my world. None. Magic is something we have in stories and fiction.”

Redheart stepped forward. “I’m sorry Princess but can you please wrap this up. I need to give him his medication soon and he needs to rest.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course.” She turned to him. “Caden do you have any questions for me?”

He thought for a moment. “I guess the main one is ‘Do you have any idea how to get me home?’”

He watched as her ears flattened against her head. “You’ve been through a lot already so I’m not going to sugarcoat this.” She brought her forehooves up and tapped them together nervously. “I have no idea.”

His stomach sank. “No idea at all?”

She shook her head. “None. I’ve been scouring my library since you got here. I’ve asked every magical creature I could think of. My first suspicion was Discord. He was the first creature I went to after we figured out you aren’t from here. We figured maybe it was some prank of his. He swore on his friendship with a friend of mine that he has no idea what you are or where you came from. As far as he’s aware, none of the other Draconequi do either. Trust me when I say I believe him.”

He sighed and put his head in his hand as his mind flew through the myriad of things that were sitting back home, waiting for him. His apartment and car. His job. His friends. Even his family would know he was gone by now.

He felt a hoof touch his leg. Looking up, he saw that Twilight had reached out. “I am so sorry Caden. I wish I had better news for you. I really do. I’ve checked everything I can think of. There’s zero research in any library or journal on what might have caused this. I’ve asked everyone I know who might have any clue. Princess Celestia and Luna, Starswirl. I’ve torn the Canterlot library apart on dimensional research and there’s nothing. I promise I’m even more confused than you are.” Her hoof squeezed his leg.

She honestly looked like she was about to cry. He took a deep breath.. “It’s ok. Not your fault. So what happens now?”

“I’m going to keep researching this. I promise I’m gonna do everything I can to find you a way home ok?”

He nodded. “I appreciate that.” He looked around the room and then at himself. “What should I be doing in the meantime?”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“I have no house. No job. No money. I don’t know anything about this world.” He waved around the room. “Hell I don’t even know how I’m gonna pay for this hospital visit.”

“Twilight already took care of your hospital stay.” Redheart nodded at him.

He turned to her. “What?”

Twilight beamed up at him. “Yup. I know you’ve been through a lot. I felt like it was the least I could do to try and welcome you to Equestria.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.” He grasped at words for a moment. “I feel bad though. Is there anything I can do to help pay you back?

A grin shot from ear to ear. “Well...there is one thing you could do.”

He nodded. “Anything.”

“Come and stay in my castle while you’re here. I want to learn as much as I can about you and your world and I’ll teach you much as I can about ours in return. Plus having you near will make it easier to figure out how to send you home.”

As upset as he was about being stuck here, he did feel a bit better at the offer. He’d be the first human to explore another world and meet another sentient species. The ponies seemed amazingly friendly. Not everyone got the chance to learn all about another world and live in a castle to boot.

“Sure. That sounds fair to me.”

Almost immediately, she jumped up and started hopping around in circles, wings flared to their max. “Oh thank you! Thank you! I promise I’ll do everything I can to help. Oh this is so exciting! I get to write the first papers on a new world and a new species. I’m gonna have to do a full write up and analysis. Oh Princess Celestia is going to be so prou…”

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” Redheart roared.

The prancing ceased immediately. “Sorry. Sorry.” Twilight blushed.

“We all appreciate your excitement but right now I need to finish tending to the patient and put him back to bed.”

Twilight nodded and grinned up at him. “Sounds good. When they’re ready to discharge you, please have them send for me.” Her tail was swishing as excitedly as ever. “I can’t wait! See you soon!”

With that, she disappeared in a flash.

Caden shook his head, blinking. He felt like he’d just been victim to some kind of academic natural disaster. He turned to Redheart. “She’s certainly excitable isn’t she?”

Redheart rolled her eyes. “That’s nothing. Wait till you meet Pinkie Pie. I expect with you staying at the castle, it won’t be long.”

“Worse?”

Redheart nodded. “Much.”

He shuddered at the idea. “Great.”

She chuckled. “You’ll be fine. Most ponies mean well. Especially Twilight and her friends. You’ll be in good hooves.” She walked over to the cart and grabbed a small vial of blue liquid off it.

“I’m sure you’re tired of lying here but we need you to rest a little more. Here, this will help you sleep.”

She handed him the vial and he drained it. A familiar bitter taste made him brace.

“Is this what you’ve been giving me?”

She nodded. “It is. That’ll be the last one. It should start working shortly.”

He handed the vial back to her and watched as she placed it back on the cart.“Thank you so much Redheart.”

She tilted her head as confusion danced across her face. “For what?”

He shrugged. “Everything really. Thanks for taking care of me. Thanks for saving my leg.” He locked eyes with her. “Thanks for being so friendly. Thanks for just...being here when I woke up.”

His chest tightened as the last few days came rushing back. “I was scared to death in that tree. I didn’t know where I was. Sitting in the rain. I wasn’t sure if I was going to bleed to death or get eaten or....” He felt his voice warble as he raked his good hand through his hair. “I’m still not really sure I believe everything that’s going on. I’m seeing it in front of me. I can touch it, taste it, smell it but something in the back of my head keeps screaming that this all has to be a dream, a hallucination. That there’s no way this is real.”

He looked down to one trembling hand. “I was just home. It was like any normal day. I went to bed like every other day. And then I woke up on a hill on some alien world.” He looked back at her through tears. “And now I’m talking to you. A Pony.” He could hear his voice cracking. “A talking Pony. Through magic. It’s all just….” His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm down.

He felt something land on the bed next to him and opened his eyes as strong limbs wrapped around him.

“It’s ok.” She whispered gently into his ear.

Instinctively, he reached his good arm up and wrapped it around her.

“It will be ok Caden. I promise.”

The tears streamed their way down his cheeks. “I don’t know what’s going on. What the hell happened to me? How did I get here?”

He felt a hoof rub his back. “I don’t know. But I can promise you Princess Twilight will work her flank off to help get you home.”

“Why? Why are you all being so friendly? You don’t even know me.”

“This is just what Ponies do.” She squeezed. “If anypony can find a way to get you home, it’s her. You’re in good hooves Caden.”

As more tears formed, he tightened his grip on her and buried his face into her shoulder. He tried to keep control but everything poured forth in a torrent of tears.

After a while, he pulled back and wiped the tears off his face. Sitting next to him on the bed, she gave him a gentle smile.

“Feel better?”

He nodded, sniffing. “I do. Thank you.”

She reached forward and put a hoof on his arm. “I’m glad.”

He put his hand over her hoof. “You really think Twilight can help?”

She nodded. “I do.”

“I hope so.” He sighed. “Well…..I guess I’ll just have to make the best of this.”

“You might be surprised. There’s a lot to see and do in Equestria. You might like it here.”

“Maybe.” He sniffed and summoned the best grin he could. I must look like misery. “And hey...it’s not everyday you get to live in a castle.”

She smiled. “That’s true. Honestly I’m kind of jealous. I’ve heard the baths in the castle are a luxury all onto themselves.”

He wiped his eyes with his good arm. “Really? Interesting.” He looked her over for a moment. “Speaking of baths, I uh...I think I cried on your coat.”

She giggled. “It’s just fur. I can wash it.”

He chuckled. “True.” He thought back to the hug. He swore he could smell flowers again. “I don’t mean to be nosy but...are you wearing perfume?.”

He thought he saw the faintest tint of red blossom on her cheeks. “It’s a honeysuckle shampoo.”

“It’s really nice.”

Her tail jerked a bit as she stood up and jumped off the bed.

“Is that draught kicking in?”

He nodded. She wasn’t kidding when she said it would help him sleep. He was starting to feel like he’d taken a bottle full of Benadryl.

She pushed the cart towards the door. “Try to rest Caden. I’ll be back to check on you in a few hours.”

He settled down further into the bed and pulled the covers back over himself. “Thank you Redheart. Again.”

She smiled back. “Not a problem. We’ll talk more later ok?”

“Deal.”

With that the lights went out and the door closed.

The events of the past few days swirled around his head again as he faded but he honestly did feel better. The Ponies seemed to genuinely care. For some reason he felt like he could trust Redheart and Twilight. Having someone to trust, he could feel the weight of the situation lifting a bit. He drifted back to the hug. It was the last thing he thought of before he faded into sleep.

Yawning, Caden pushed open his bedroom door and stepped into the dark crystal hallway. The sun wouldn’t be raised for some time and the only light came from small magical crystals that ran the length of the walls. He started down the hallway, stretching and trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

As he made his way down the corridor, a violent grinding sound grew in intensity as he closed on one of the doors. He had just passed it when he heard a click. Turning around, the door opened and a bright orange unicorn draped in a teal, star patterned cloak stepped out, glasses askew and goatee frazzled. From behind him, an insanely loud snore erupted from the darkness of the room. Under that he could hear somepony mumbling about being great and powerful.

“Good morning Sunburst.”

The unicorn stallion pushed his glasses up his snout.. “Mornin’ Caden. Heading for the kitchen?”

“Yup. You’re up early.”

They began walking down the hallway together. “I’m heading back to the Crystal Empire tonight. I’ve got a lot to do.”

“Ah.”

Sunburst looked up at him. “Sleep well?”

Caden nodded. “Not bad. Better than I had been.”

“Injuries still bothering you?”

“That was a bit of it. Some lingering pain.” He subconsciously rotated his shoulder and yawned again. “It was weird though. Right after I moved in, I wasn’t having problems falling asleep. I just kept waking up and…” he trailed off as he searched for the words.

“And?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. It’s like something was watching me. Or maybe talking to me. I’d be dreaming and then suddenly be awake. It always felt like something was in the room.” He shrugged. “It seems to have passed. Probably just stress.”

He looked down at Sunburst. “Speaking of sleep. I apologize if I’m being too personal here but Sunburst, dude how on Earth do you sleep with those two? I can hear Starlight snoring all the way down in my room sometimes.” He gestured back to the hallway behind him. “And Trixie talking on top of that.”

Sunburst chuckled. “Well for one thing…” his horn lit up in yellow and a pair of earplugs appeared in front of him. “Enchanted earplugs. Twilight made them for me awhile back. You can’t hear anything with them in.” Another flash and the plugs disappeared. He blushed slightly and brought a hoof up to rub the back of his head nervously. “And you know, when you’re in a herd you deal with these kinds of things.”

Caden nodded. “Sure. I’ve been with women who snored but nothing like that.”

They arrived at the kitchen and Caden made his way to the pantry while Sunburst headed to the stove. “Caden would you grab me the eggs and sunflower petals?” The unicorn began levitating various cooking implements from across the kitchen over to him.

“Sure.” Caden scanned the seemingly never ending shelving of the pantry. He’d nearly fallen over the first time Twilight had showed it to him. There was enough food stocked here for a hundred ponies to live on for over a year. There were giant bags of flour, sugar, salt and every other dry staple you could imagine. Endless loafs of bread, cakes, pies and other pastries he’d never even heard of. Huge wheels of cheese of every kind. Spices from all across Equus. How it all didn’t spoil was probably some trick of Equestrian magic.

He marveled at the cornucopia, just as he always did. And as he marveled, the same thought returned every time. It had a million things he could eat. And it was missing the one thing he wanted.

He sighed. The food in Equestria was good. Actually it was often fantastic. Most of it was shockingly similar to the fare on Earth. Since being here, he’d had some of the best vegetarian food he imagined was possible. The desserts, especially those from Sugar Cube Corner were tooth achingly good. He certainly wasn’t eating badly.

And yet, for all that, he might give up a foot for a steak. Even a piece of fried chicken. One slice of bacon.

In the endless hours of questioning, study and analysis Twilight had subjected him to about all things human, it hadn’t taken long for them to get to the subject of the average human diet. Twilight herself hadn’t seemed bothered by the revelation but Starlight and Trixie had very nearly gagged when eating meat was mentioned. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that was the usual reaction from most. Out of respect, he’d decided to stick with vegetarian fare and keep his mouth shut. It’s not like he had much of a choice anyway. From what he could tell, the closest city that might even sell meat was Canterlot.

He made his way down the shelves. “Dandelion stems...Saddle Arabian saffron...dehydrated hay flakes…...ah ha...sunflower petals.”

He grabbed them and made his way over to the egg bin. “How many eggs Sunburst?”

“Just two. Unless you’d like some?”

“Nah. Just coffee for me. I’m going jogging after this.”

Caden grabbed two eggs out of the bin and pulled the coffee tin off another shelf. He made his way back into the kitchen where Sunburst was prepping the stove.

“Here.” He held the eggs out, watching as Sunburst levitated them from his grip. He grabbed a teapot off the stove, filled it with water and returned it to boil. “Could you watch that for me?”

“Sure.”

Caden made his way to the middle of the kitchen and sat at the central workstation as Sunburst spoke up. “Speaking of my heading back, you should really come see the Crystal Empire someday.”

He watched as the eggs floated above the pan, cracking in mid air. “I’d love to but…”

“But what?”

Caden shrugged. “I’m really hoping I’m not here that long.”

Spices floated from a nearby shelf to the pan. “Has Twilight made any progress figuring out how you got here?”

“Not really.”

The unicorn turned to him. “No?”

“Apparently she keeps running into dead ends. ” Caden shrugged. “Sunset, Starlight and her have been beating their heads against this since I got here. They have all kinds of research on interdimensional travel. Discords realm. Some place he opened at one of the Galas once. Even something about a mirror world where there were evil versions of everyone.”

Sunburst jerked. “When did that happen?”

“Not sure. She only mentioned it in passing.”

Sunburst frowned and returned to his cooking. “I’m gonna have to ask about that.”

Caden watched steam start to appear from the teapot. “Problem is none of it points to a world like mine at all. It’s even more frustrating for her since our worlds seem to be so similar. She thinks its possible Equus and Earth are maybe mirrors of each other or something. Nothing concrete though. She says right now she’s just going in circles.”

A plate floated across the kitchen and Sunburst served his breakfast up. He made his way over to sit with Caden.

“That’s got to be frustrating for you.” He looked over to the stove. “Your water is boiling.”

Caden stood up and grabbed the coffee press off another shelf. He returned to the island and grabbed the coffee tin. “It is. I’m not mad at Twilight or the others. They’ve been nothing but accommodating since I got here.” He gestured around the room and began spooning coffee into the press. “Visiting another world. Living in a castle. Getting to meet a race of sentient magical alien ponies. In a way it’s been a hell of a vacation.”

He finished spooning coffee and walked over to the stove and took the pot back. Pouring steaming water into the press, he returned the pot to the stove and began working on the press.

Sunburst spoke around a mouthful of egg and petal. “At least it’s been a pleasant visit.”

He poured himself a cup and nodded. “It has and I’m very grateful. But I have an entire life back home. I’ve probably already been fired. Maybe evicted. Car’s probably been towed. I miss my world. I miss our food. I miss my friends.”

“What’s a car?”

“It’s….don’t worry about it. I just have a lot of things I need to get back to and take care of.”

Sunburst attended to his breakfast for a bit before speaking again. “What about family?”

Caden looked up from his mug. “What?”

“Yeah. I’ve been here a week and I haven’t heard you mention your family once.”

He thumbed at the mug. “Not a lot to tell. They all live in another state. I don’t see them much anymore.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Yeah. I guess.” He looked at the stallion. “Why?”

Sunburst stared at him for a moment from over his glasses. After a moment he pushed them back up his muzzle again and returned to his food. “No reason.” Something in his voice was different. “I was just curious. I uh...I haven’t always gotten along the best with my mother. She can be difficult. We’re getting along better now but I didn’t really talk to her for a long while there. I was just wondering if maybe it was something similar for you.”

Caden took a long swig from his cup. “Nah. We just live really far apart.” He stared down the mug. “It’s nothing like that.”

Even I didn’t buy that line.

Sunburst returned to his breakfast. “If you ever need anypony to talk to, I’ll listen.”

He smiled at the stallion. “Thanks.”

The sound of hoofsteps turned their attention towards the door as a yellow and red maned mare walked in.

She sat at the island. “Good morning guys.”

Sunburst spoke around a mouthful of petals. “Morning Sunset.”

Caden waved a hand. “Morning.”

Cyan eyes narrowed at Caden. “Is that coffee?”

He pushed the press across the table. “Yes it is.”

She grabbed it in her magic and brought a mug over. “Bless you, giant alien.”

He chuckled. “You’re welcome, tiny horse.”

She looked over to Sunburst. “You leave today right?”

He nodded. “Yup. Last train out.”

Caden looked at Sunset. “Twilight’s still in Canterlot for a few more days right?”

“Yeah. Two more nights I think.”

Sunburst cleared the last of the eggs from his plate and shot Sunset a mischievous grin. “You sure Caden’s gonna be ok here? Only two villains to keep an eye on him?”

Sunset stuck her tongue out. “REFORMED villains, thank you.” She shuddered and nodded her head at Caden. “I can’t imagine what would have happened to Starlights time travel spell with him around.”

Sunburst grinned. “The magically resistant alien collapses the spell and it just destroys time and space instead?”

She nodded. “Something like that.”

Caden drained the rest of his coffee and walked it over to the sink. “Not sure what you’re talking about but I’m always glad to help out.”

Sunset looked over at him. “Going for your jog?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Supposed to be hot today so I want to get it in as early as I can. ”

She took a sip from the steaming mug clutched between her hooves. “How’s the translation enchantment holding up?”

Caden rubbed his forehead. “Fine. No issues since the other day.”

A favor for Twilight had quickly descended into chaos when she’d sent him to Sugar Cube Corner to pick up an order. While Mr. and Mrs.Cake had been told he would be the one coming, they weren’t prepared for him to walk in and start vomiting a hybrid of English and Poneish at them. Pinkie Pie, for her part, had found the entire ordeal absolutely hilarious.

Sunset set her cup on the table and motioned with a hoof for him to come closer. “Let me check to make sure. With Twilight in Canterlot, I want to make sure it’s as strong as it can be.”

He made his way over to her and stared down. “Do you want me to sit on the floor?”

She glanced around the room, trying to find something for him to sit on before sighing. “If you don’t mind? It’s probably easiest. Unless you want to go to the study?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me. Just my jogging shorts.”

He sat cross legged on the floor as she jumped off her stool and approached him. He leaned forward as she gently touched the tip of her horn to his forehead. He’d felt slightly self-conscious when he had found out that this was how Twilight had cast the spell the first time. It had taken her assurance that this was probably the only was the spell would have a chance of working on him.

“Just relax. Try to clear your mind.” Red energy sheathed her horn as he closed his eyes. Reinforcing the spell had become something of a semi weekly ritual for them. As was usual, he really felt nothing during the process. Sometimes he thought there might be a tingle or other random sensation inside his head but he couldn’t be sure he wasn’t imagining it. He still barely noticed the spell working at all. In his mind, he was speaking and hearing perfect English.

Several minutes went by before he heard Sunset exhale sharply. He opened his eyes to see her pulling back from him, sweat beading on her forehead.

She stood up. “I swear that’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

He rose from the floor. “My magic resistance?”

“Yeah. It gets me everytime. It’s like you’re barely there. Like you’re...a shadow...or something.” She frowned. “I know that doesn’t make any sense.” She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a hoof.

He shrugged. “I’m just glad you guys are able to do this much.” He reached a fist out. “Thanks Sunset.”

She bumped his hand with her hoof. “No problem.”

“I’ll be back later. You going to be here?”

She nodded. “Yeah I have an entire manuscript on the friendship habits of a tribe of pre Celestia-era earth ponies from the San Palomino desert that Twilight wants me to transcribe from Old Poneish to Modern.”

“How long is it?”

She gave him a flat look. “429 pages.”

He saw Sunburst wince out of the corner of his eye. “Ouch, well you enjoy!”

The flat look darkened considerably. “Thanks.”

He looked over to Sunburst. “Be safe on your trip home.”

“I will be. And remember what I said ok?”

Caden threw him a two fingered salute. “Will do.”

He left the kitchen and made for his room, again assailed by an avalanche of snoring from Starlight's bedroom.

Bless you Twilight, for saving that poor stallion.

Arriving back in his room, he knocked out a quick stretching routine and picked his sneakers up off the floor.

As he pulled the overly accented trainer over his foot, he remembered the first time he’d met Rarity. He had arrived in Equestria barefoot and clad in only his sleepwear, all of which was basically destroyed the first day. When he’d told Redheart that he would need clothing before leaving the hospital, he’d been met by a look of sheer confusion. After Twilight had returned the next day, he’d tried to explain human modesty norms to them with little success. He was finally able to get through to them when he pointed out his distinct lack of fur and the real possibilities of sunburn and frostbite.

That had resulted in him getting a visitor the next day from Rarity, Twilight’s fashion designer friend. Wobbling on his injured leg and wearing a towel wrapped around his waist, he’d spent an entire day being measured and explaining the kinds of clothes humans wore, when, why and what they looked like.

She’d promised him an entire wardrobe, from casual and athletic wear, all the way to formal and sleepwear. He’d tried to talk her down, explaining he hoped to only be here a short time and he didn’t have any money. The snow white pony wouldn’t hear a word of it. In fact she seemed almost manic at the chance to design a wardrobe for him.

“Nonsense darling. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. No fashion designer worth her fabric would turn this down. Getting to design a wardrobe for not just an entirely new species but one that comes from a world absolutely laden with clothing? Why it’s a dream come true!”

After bringing him a pair of plain cloth pants and a shirt, he’d limped his way from Ponyville Hospital to Twilight’s castle a few days later. There he found everything she’d promised. An entire closet full of clothes. Probably more clothes than he’d ever owned in his life. Everything from silken sleepwear to a pretty damn good approximation of a full tuxedo with tails.

Unfortunately everything was on the slightly...loud side of normal for him. Bright colors, accent gems and elaborate stitching ruled the day. He decided to keep his mouth shut when Starlight mentioned that a wardrobe of that caliber made by Rarity would cost most ponies a small fortune. He had a strong suspicion Twilight had helped compensate the seamstress for her time.

He made his way to the entrance hall and out the front door into the cool Equestrian morning. The sun still wasn’t quite up and light barely shone on the edge of the horizon. It wouldn’t be too much longer before the thing suddenly jumped up over the horizon and traded positions with the moon. The mechanics of their sun and moon had taken him a fair chunk of an afternoon and no small amount of headache medicine to get his head around.

He stretched his legs again and took a deep breath. Down the road most of Ponyville still slept. He could make out a few ponies moving around the town square, likely the local shopkeepers setting up. He saw a grey coated mailmare fly over.

He set off down the road connecting the village to Twilight's castle before branching down a new side path and settling into a warm up walk. He’d taken several paths around the village so far and tried to pick a new one every few days. Twilight had told him he could pretty much run anywhere around the village, save for the southeast side near the Everfree Forest. He’d ensured her he was more than happy never going back there again.

It wasn’t long before the sun suddenly bounced up from the horizon and settled itself into the morning sky.

“Weirdest god damn thing….”

He sped up to a light jog. His leg injury still prevented a full on run. He’d always enjoyed running, even as a child. It was something that didn’t require thought or worry. He found peace in just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and letting the entire world slip away. He often found that after a run whatever had been bothering him was often lessened. Since the doctor had given him the all clear a week ago, he’d made a habit of trying to get out in both the morning and evening.

It had certainly helped that Equestria was absolutely gorgeous. His initial impressions the first day had been pretty spot on, at least for the area around Ponyville. Everything was a little greener, a little cleaner than he was used to on Earth.

“Maybe it’s the magic.”

As he made his way down the path, a trio of pegasi crossed over the horizon. One waved down to him as they passed across the sky. He waved back and watched as they flew out of sight.

On the whole, the creatures of Equestria had been remarkably friendly towards him. He’d left the castle a few times with Twilight and other than some curious looks, most creatures he came across did little more than smile and wave. Twilight had decided it would be best if they didn’t go into explicit detail about where he came from. So far as he knew, the only ones who knew his real origin were Twilight and her friends, Redheart and Doctor Horse.

He’d been decidedly incredulous if it was possible to keep a secret like that but it had been shockingly easy. Apparently unknown or unique creatures weren’t an uncommon phenomena in this world. The only things that seemed to consistently cause them to stare were his hands. He’d been told that many species on Equus had digits but all of them ended in claws or talons. None of them had seen a finger before. Twilight had spent one entire afternoon doing a detailed analysis of just his hands and feet.

Eventually the road began sloping to the left. From what he could tell, it likely wrapped around the west side of Ponyville. As the road continued on, he noticed the trees on either side started becoming far more uniform than they had prior. Not long after, a well maintained wooden fence started running along the edge of either side of the road.

“Someone lives out here?”

A moment later, he heard a crash and something calling out from behind the tree line on the right side of the road.

“DADGUM LADDER. OWWWW!

He slid to a stop as the screaming continued. Whoever it was had a southern drawl thick enough curl paint.

“OF ALL THE ROTTEN DAMN...OW!!!

He approached the fence and yelled. “Hello? Need help?”

“NO!” There was a moment of silence. “DAG NABBIT, YES! TWISTED MAH HOOF!”

He stepped over the fence and started making his way into the tree line. Before long, he found the source of the screaming.

Sitting against the trunk of a tree was an aged, apple green pony clutching one of her rear hooves to her body. A snowy white mane, pulled back into a tight bun and an ample array of wrinkles made her age clear. An overturned ladder and a fairly large saw decorated the ground around her.

As he approached, she looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “And what in Celestias sunny flank are you supposed to be?”

He kneeled down in front of her. “I’m a human. I’m uh...not from around here. I’m Caden.”

She eyed him up and down for a moment. “Granny Smith. Ah ain’t ever heard of no hooman before.”

He chuckled. “Like I said, I’m from...pretty far away.” He pointed to her hoof. “You ok?”

“Do I look ok?” She tried to push her leg out and grimaced. “Ah horse apples. Don’t think I can make it back to the farmhouse.”

He looked around. “What were you doing?”

She looked above her at the tree. “Prunin’ this here apple tree. Crops due in a few weeks and we gotta get all the dead growth off before then.”

She tried to push her leg out again before wincing and looking up at him.

He looked around. “Anyone around I can go get for you?”

She shook her head. “Grandkids are in town runnin errands. Not sure when they’re gonna be back.”

She looked him up and down again and sighed. “Ah hate to ask this of a stranger but do ya think ya could help me back to farmhouse?”

He nodded. “Sure.” He thought for a moment before realizing she was far too small to shoulder carry.

“Ummm...how exactly would you like me to….?”

She frowned. “Well how do ya think?! You look like yer plenty strong enough. Pick me up for Luna’s sakes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Course I’m sure! Ya don’t get to be my age and not be sure of things!”

He nodded and edged forward, sliding both hands under her before standing up. She was very light, not shocking considering her age.

She squirmed a bit and pointed her good hoof. “House’s that way.” She turned and looked up at him. “And dontcha get any funny ideas about running off with me or something. Ah know ah’m a looker but I promise I’ll buck ya right across Equestria!”

He did his best to suppress a smirk. “Yes ma’am. Wouldn’t think of it.” Despite her threats and general prickly demeanor, she was instantly likeable. It was obvious to anyone that she was fairly embarrassed about the entire situation. She reminded him a fair bit of one of his grandpas. He wasn’t usually pleasant when he needed help either.

“So this is your farm?”

She nodded. “Sure is! Sweet Apple Acres! Been growing the best apples in Equestria since well before you were born!” She looked up at him. “At least ah think so. How old are you anyway? Never know the ages of some of the creatures that come around here.”

Something about the name Sweet Apple Acres sounded familiar but he couldn’t place where. “28 ma’am.”

“28? Rockhoof’s beard yer a baby. Only a few years older than my grandson.”

“How many grandkids do you have?”

“Three.”

As they made their way across the orchards, she regaled him with stories from her past. A funny incident here, some memory there. He had to admit, the place was impressive. Rows and rows of perfectly lined apple trees rose as far as he could see. Everything looked immaculately maintained. The trees were all healthy, the ground verdant and well kept.

As they cleared the trees, she pointed at a cluster of buildings emerging in the distance. “House is attached to the barn. The big red one.”

They made their way past the various trappings of farm life. Chicken coops, a pig pen and an array of other random buildings dotted the land. Making their way into the house, she gestured at a large easy chair.

“Set me down there.”

He deposited her on the chair and took a look around. If someone had asked him to describe “quaint country home”, he’d show them a picture of the room he was standing in. Everything was wooden, apple themed and clearly well used. A stand in the corner had several hats hanging over it. A large stone fireplace sat against one wall while lassos, horseshoes and a myriad of country themed decorations sat on the walls. The house even smelled comfy, like a comforting mix of apple, winter spices and wood. It was a far cry from the lavish crystalline labyrinth of Twilight’s castle. This was a home.

She settled back in the chair and pointed a hoof at another room. “Go’n there and get me some ice from the box. Should be ah towel on the stove.”

He did as he was asked and returned with the makeshift compress. She set it on the injured hoof.

“Blasted leg.” She sighed. “Was already behind as it is. The kids are gonna skin me alive for this.”

“Why?”

She actually looked sheepish for a moment. “They don’t like me up on the ladder.” She huffed. “Ah’m not an invalid. Work needs doin and it’s not gonna wait for them to get back.”

“Do you want me to go get Doctor Horse?”

She waved away his question. “Land’s sakes no. I’ve twisted my hoof enough times in mah life to know it’ll be better soon. No need for that.”

She looked up at him. “You hungry?”

He waved his hands in front of him. “Oh no Mrs. Smith, I’m…”

She cut him off with a wave of her hoof. “Don’t be tryin to pull my mane with that polite bull. I know yer hungry. Yer belly was growling the entire way here.”

At that moment, said belly decided to loudly remind him that all he’d had today was a cup of coffee.

She smirked. “See?” She tilted her head back at the kitchen. “Fresh apple pie in the oven cooling. Finished it this mornin’. Help yourself.”

He dropped his hands in defeat. “All right. You want some?”

She nodded. “Please. There’s milk in the fridge.”

As he made his way into the kitchen, she called out. “And it’s Granny Smith, not Mrs. Smith!”

He chuckled. “Yes ma’am.”
.

He returned to the living room, 2 slices of pie and glasses of milk in tow. He served her and sat down on the couch.

She shot him a cocky smirk. “Now don’t go blamin me if you never have apple pie that good again!”

Something in the back of his mind chewed on the fact that he was sitting in an alien world, talking to a horse and eating an all American staple food.

You can’t make this shit up.

“That might be tough ma’am. Apple pie is kind of a big thing where….well where I’m from. I’ve had some pretty good apple pie.”

The smirk grew. “Not with our apples you aint!”

“We’ll see.” Forking a bite in his mouth, his eyes went wide as the treat settled on his tongue.

The bite was exquisite. A perfect mix between crisp, buttery crust and tangy apple. The filling was somehow both soft and yet still just tough enough to provide some bite. He was able to taste each part in individual perfection and then enjoy them as a combined whole that was so much more.

The look on his face apparently gave away enough. “Told ya!” she quipped.

He shook his head as a grin spread across his face. “Ok ok. You were right.”

She winked at him. “Thanks fer carrying my bones all the way over here.”

“No problem. I’d be kicking myself tonight if I hadn’t stopped.”

“Ya seem like yer a good kid. What brought you all the way to Ponyville?”

He mulled over a bite, trying to choose what to say.

“Kind of an unexpected vacation.” It wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Here all alone?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Just me.”

She frowned. “I don’t know a thing about hoomans but you seem a good one. No mare or stallion back home?”

He nearly choked on the bite of pie he was working on. Coughing, he took a big swig of milk and tried to get some air down his throat. Apparently busybody grandparents transcended time, space and species.

“No.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “No one back home. Not right now anyway.”

“Ya got family back there?”

He nodded. “I do. Parents and two brothers.”

“See them much?”

He shook his head. “I uh...I moved a fair bit away recently. Haven’t seen them since.”

She shifted in the chair, adjusting the ice bag. “That’s a shame. Not sure what I’d do without mah grandkids.”

He forked at the last of the pie on his plate. “I don’t get along very well with my parents. Haven’t for a few years.”

He watched as orange eyes flicked to picture on the wall. He followed her gaze to the portrait. A large stallion wearing a cowboy hat was hugging a petite, curly maned mare. Both were beaming at the camera. He thought he saw something dance across her face but she just turned back to him. “That so? Is that why ya moved?”

He nodded, unsure why he was still talking. “Yeah. Needed some space. When I finally graduated from college, I decided to try and start over elsewhere.”

“Do ya think they miss you?”

He sat for a moment before popping the last piece of pie in his mouth.

I wonder.

He set the plate back down. “I guess. Not sure.”

She seemed to get the hint. They sat for a moment in silence. He was about to get up and excuse himself when he saw her ear twitch out of the corner of his eye.

“Think the kids are back.”

He hadn’t heard anything but that was hardly telling. He’d figure out real quick that the ponies senses of hearing and smell were far, far beyond his. Twilight had mentioned something about them being a prey species for a long time so it made sense.

Sure enough, a moment later he heard muffled conversation through the door and it swung open.

Two ponies walked in. First, a filly with a red mane and an enormous pink bow. Second, one of the largest stallions he had seen since arriving. A red coat, freckles and an orange mane set off a bright green apple cutie mark. Wrapped around his immense neck was an old style horse yoke.

The filly looked up at him. “What’re you?”

He heard a mare speak outside the door. “What’s who Apple Bloom?” The drawl was as deep as her Grandmares. She walked in the door a second later, blonde mane flowing out from under her ever present cowboy hat.

Green eyes went wide as saucers when she saw him. “Caden? What in tarnation are you doin here?”

He felt his brain finally solve a problem it had been chewing on since he’d arrived on the farm. He had heard the name Sweet Apple Acres before. Applejack had mentioned it the first time he’d met her, shortly after moving into Twilight’s castle.

The other three all turned and looked at her. Apple Bloom looked between him and her sister. “Caden? You know this….” She stopped as she scanned Caden up and down. “You know this...whatever he is?”

Applejack stepped forward and bopped her sister on the head. “Don’t be rude. He’s not a ‘whatever’. He’s a human.”

Granny Smith looked him over again. “Wait. This is the alien you told us about? The one staying at Twilight’s?”

Applejack nodded. “This is him.” She stepped forward and gestured at her siblings. “Caden, this is my older brother, Big McIntosh.”

The enormous pony nodded up at him.

“And this is my little sister, Apple Bloom.” She looked down at the filly. “Say hi and apologize to Mr. Caden.”

The tiny pony stepped forward. “Awful sorry about that Mr. Caden. I’ve just never seen a hooman before.”

“No worries. I know I look a little weird.”

A sudden tempest of noise and movement erupted from the armchair. “Weird my wrinkled flank! Ya look just fine.” She leveled a glare at Applejack. “Ah didn’t know ah was gabbing gums with the alien all mornin! Ya said he looked like a giant furless monkey. He don’t look like a monkey at all! He’s got plenty of fur. Look at his face!”

He still wasn’t entirely sure how Ponies blushed. He would have thought that the fine layer of fur that covered them would prevent such a thing. Given how other things worked in Equestria, he was pretty much ready to just chalk it up to magic. However it worked, he watched in real time as Applejacks face went the same color as her brothers coat. She slapped a hoof to her face.

Element of Honesty indeed. Seems to run in the family.

“Damnit Granny….” She trailed off, face still crimson.

Caden chuckled. “It’s ok Applejack.”

She looked up at him. “What are you doin here anyway?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Granny Smith suddenly try to push herself back in her chair.

“I was out for my run. Decided to go a different way and ended up out here.” He looked over at the wizened mare.

No sense in lying. They’d find out.

“I heard your grandmare calling for help and decided to stop”

The three kids looked at their grandmare and seemed to finally notice the ice bag on her leg.

Applejack walked over and stared down at the compress suspiciously. “What happened to yer leg Granny?”

The elder Pony screwed up her face. “Nothin. Little accident.”

Applejacks eyes narrowed as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh stepped forward. The immense stallion finally spoke in a voice deep enough to rattle the walls. “Accident?”

The senior pony avoided their gaze for a moment before sighing and looking at them. “Ah was in the northwest field, tryin to do some prunin. Fell off the ladder. Twisted my hoof.”

Applejack snorted loudly. “OF ALL THE….” She stopped and took a deep breath. “We’ll talk later.” She turned and looked at Caden. “Thanks so much for rescuin her Caden.” The other siblings echoed the thanks.

He smiled. “Not a problem at all.” It was obvious there was going to be a serious discussion after he left. “I think I’ll head out now.” He turned to Granny Smith. “Thanks for the pie.”

She shot him a wink and a smile. “Not ah problem Caden. Thanks for rescuin me.”

As he was heading for the door, she called out again. “Caden…”

He looked back over his shoulder. He saw her gaze dart to the picture again and back to him. “Try to see your parents soon ok? Ah’m sure they’d like it.”

He thought he saw something flicker across her face again but it was gone as soon as it came.

“I’ll…...I’ll try.”

She smiled and turned her attention to her other grandkids.

As he made his way out the front door and off the porch, he heard hoof steps behind him. He turned to a still blushing Applejack.

“Caden….ah’m mighty sorry about that. I just had no idea how to describe you to them and…”

He chuckled. “It’s ok. I promise. I’m not mad. I know I’m not exactly normal around here.”

A small smile grew through the blush. “Thanks so much again. She shot an angry, sideways glare at the house. “Told her enough times to stay off that damned ladder.”

“She’s lucky she only twisted her hoof and not something worse. She was just trying to help though.”

“Ah know. Ah know. Won’t be too hard on her, ah promise.”

He grinned. “Good to hear. I’ll see you later.”

She waved a hoof and turned back to head into the house. “Sure will. Have a good one y’hear?”

As she headed back into the house, he turned. “Oh and Applejack?”

She stopped. “Yeah?”

He couldn’t resist. “Technically I’m an ape. Not a monkey.”

The blush returned full force.

Sky Tide pushed the last set of cumulus clouds in his section into place and exhaled deeply, wiping sweat off his brow.

“Done. Finally.”

He flapped his wings and zipped onto the top of the fluffy white blob. Sitting down, he glanced across the skyscape around him. He could see the other Weather Bureau Pegasi positioning their clouds into their assigned places.

Gonna be nice today.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the cloud. Looking down, he scanned the bustling amusement park city of Las Pegasus. Swarms of Ponies milled about, some living, some working and most playing. He could hear screams from the various roller coasters and other rides that weaved their way in, out and around the buildings, attractions and monuments of the skyline. Ponies stopped to take pictures and stare in awe at the magically enhanced fountain shows and light displays.Others wandered into casinos with sacks absolutely bulging with bits as others passed them on their way out, snouts to the ground and empty sacks in hoof. Below him, a unicorn magically carrying an open cider tumbled to the ground in a heap as he tried to avoid running into a lightpost. Before anypony could help, he brought the cider to his mouth and broke into uproarious laughter.

He rolled his eyes. Someone got an early start.

He launched from the cloud and banked till he was heading towards the eastern edge of town. As he approached the outskirts, a large, nondescript office building came into view. A steady trail of Pegasi were coming and going from the door, roof and various windows. A large sign hung above the front door: Las Pegasus Weather Bureau

Landing on the ground in front of the building, he made his way inside. Greeting various coworkers, he made his way to the second floor and to the Cloud Management Divisions office. Entering the large, open office he made his way over to his team's work area. Pegasi ran here and there across the room, taking reports and orders from a magical printer that relayed weather requests from Cloudsdale. Charts on the walls displayed weather patterns and various other meteorological data. A large calendar hung prominently on the farthest wall, displaying major events and their related weather needs over the coming weeks.

He trotted over to the corner desk his squad shared and grabbed a clipboard with one wing and a quill with the other.

“Hey Sky, just get back?”

He turned to see his supervisor making her way over to him.

“Yes ma’am. My area is good to go.”

“Awesome. When you’re done filling out your report, I’ve got one more thing for you today.”

“Oh?”

“We’ve got a heavy storm scheduled at the far north end part of town next week. There are a couple of small rock farms out there. The last time we scheduled a heavy rain, one of their creeks flooded a bit and washed away their latest crop. We reshaped the banks and added some sandbags to try and divert some of the flow this time. Could you go out there and make sure everything looks ok?”

He nodded. “Sure thing. Where exactly?”

“Just north of Hoofcrag Mound. Familiar with it?”

“He nodded. Yup, I know the place. I’ll take care of it.”

“Awesome.” She gave him a smile and walked away.

He filled out the rest of his report and returned to the front door. Climbing into the sky, he banked north and flew until the city began to fade below him. Soon enough, nothing but desert and craggy hills stretched below him. Eventually, he spied a small cluster of farms north of a prominent hill. Multitudes of rocks, from tiny to gigantic littered the area. A small creek snaked its way through the farms before branching off and feeding a larger river further south.

He passed over the farms, heading to the source of the creek. Below him Earth Ponies looked up from their labors and waved at him. Waving back, he sped past them.

Before long, the small desert spring that served as the source of the creek came into view. Even from here he could see the trenches and cutaways branching off the river from here to the farms. Stacks and stacks of sandbags lined either side of the creek as far down as he could see. From here it looked like all the work would be sufficient to keep any flooding at bay.

Need to take a closer look.

As he shifted to dive, something shimmered out of the corner of his eye. He turned and looked on in confusion at the object in front of him.

“What in Tartarus?”

He flapped to hold height and examined the object.

It was a sphere of some kind. It wasn’t much larger than a cart or buggy. It was transparent, except for how it was bending the light. The sky behind it looked like he was staring at the bottom of a shallow lake or riverbed with the sun beaming down behind him.

“Freaky.”

He flapped and slowly started approaching it. He’d been in the Weather Bureau for all of his adult life and had never seen anything like this.

Magic?

He looked around to see if some wayward Unicorn was anywhere in sight. He’d seen magic many times in his life and knew it could cause all kinds of weird visual phenomena. A look around confirmed the closest Ponies to him were the farmers further up the creek.

He turned back to the sphere. It wasn’t moving or making any sort of noise. It just floated there like a giant mirage in the sky.

He inched slowly forward, as if he was waiting for some sort of reaction from it. When nothing happened, he sped up and flew around it a few times. It was the same on all sides.

“Weeeeird.”

He settled next to it and stared at it.

“Huh.” Should I report this?

Bizarre and one-off phenomena weren’t exactly unknown in Equestria. He’d heard plenty of stories throughout his life. He’d lived through things like Princess Luna’s return, Tirek’s rampage and more recently something about some Pegasus Filly in Ponyville nearly destroying all magic. This didn’t seem nearly as dramatic as those. It was very possible this was just some harmless, wayward spell waiting to fizzle out.

“I’d hate to get the chief and some poor unicorn out here for nothing.”

I wonder what’s inside it?

He reached a hoof out timidly and rested it against the edge of the bubble. He felt nothing. A bit of the shimmering danced against the end of his hoof. Other than that bit of light, there was no indication at all he was touching the thing.

He pushed his hoof in a bit further. As he pushed, his leg disappeared into the bubble. Now it looked like the end of his leg just disappeared into the air. He didn’t see a blurry hoof on the other side.

“Holy shit!”

He pulled his hoof back and examined it. Nothing was wrong. He was in no pain and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with his hoof. Gulping, he pushed his hoof in again. All he could feel on the other side was air.

“Maybe it’s some kind of invisibility bubble?”

He realized immediately how silly that would be, since you could SEE the bubble.

I should really report this.

He stared at his foreleg, still sitting in the bubble. On the other side, he felt nothing. The temperature was the same. He thought he felt a bit of a breeze.

I wonder if it’s like one of those one-way mirrors? Only one way to find out.

With a small voice in the back of his head repeating that this was probably a terrible idea. he gulped and closed his eyes before slowly shoving his head through the bubble.

As his head passed where he guessed the edge of the bubble was, he opened his eyes.

“Huh.”

All he saw was a never ending sunny sky in front of him. It was as if the bubble was gone entirely. Everything in front of him and above him looked the same as it had. Enormous, open blue sky stretching out past the horizon. As he scanned the sky, he realized something was off.

Weren’t there more clouds before?

The Weather Bureau had done a pretty thorough job of covering the entire region around Las Pegasus in clouds in prep for upcoming storm days.

He scanned around some more before finally looking down.

What?!

Below him, all he could see was the end of the forelimb he had stuck through the bubble. Below that, none of his body was visible. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder. There was no shimmering. It just looked like half of him hanging in the middle of the air.

At that moment, he turned back and looked past his leg at the ground below him.

“HOLY CELESTIA!”

Below him, what had once been desert and rock farms was replaced with a massive grid of tan, grey, green and black. Grey lines formed an enormous grid that stretched far and away below him. Some of them bent and twisted around each other, forming a massive, interlinked web that connected thicker and thinner strands alike. On them, he could see what looked like large metal objects moving along at great speed.

What am I looking at?

He stared a moment before his brain finally clicked into place.

It’s a city. It’s…..a city….

It was a city. A city larger and more sprawling than any he had ever seen before. He had never heard of a city this large anywhere in Equestria. He had never seen some of these materials or buildings designed like this.

Even from up here he could make out buildings, thousands of them. Many small, some large and a few enormous. Most looked not dissimilar to the houses and cottages of Equestria. Others looked like nothing he had ever seen before. Some looked to be made of brick or wood and others out of weirdly colored lights or glass.

He craned his neck around and looked around more. It was the same everywhere. The sprawl seemed to go on forever underneath him. Miles and miles away, he could see that it eventually waned and faded into desert. Small, barren mountains dotted the distant horizon.

He turned again and his eyes caught a cluster of buildings in the distance. Huge, brilliantly lit buildings all sat together, climbing into the sky. He’d never seen buildings this large. Brightly colored lights and gaudy designs seemed to rule the day. From here he could see symbols adorning the sides of some of the buildings. They almost looked like letters in some alien language.

He scanned the ground again and it hit him.

Wait? What are those?

His eye caught something and he looked, This high up, it was hard to see the ground with too much detail but after a moment, he could see thousands of creatures scurrying around on the ground below him.

They were unlike any creature he had ever seen before. They were all bipedal, a rare trait in Equestria. Even from here he could see that they were large. At least twice the size of all but the largest ponies. Most of them were walking around on sidewalks along what he now realized were roads of some sort. It was hard to make out from here but it looked like they were all wearing clothes of some sort. He thought he saw some of them walking dogs. Others seemed to be playing with smaller members of whatever they were.

Where is this?

At that moment, he heard something. His ear turned instinctively as a whining noise caught his attention. He turned and caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and his heart jumped into his throat.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

Just above him in the sky, some sort of massive object was tearing it’s way through the atmosphere towards him. An enormous cylindrical body was attached to two stationary, bent angle wings. Hanging off of each was a huge pod of some sort. At the back a huge tail rose into the sky, marked on the back by some sort of symbol.

As it careened toward him, the whining rose into a scream. It was moving towards him impossibly fast.

SHIT!

He flapped backwards as fast as he could, watching as the world quickly went blurry and normal again.

He looked around in panic, heart pounding in his chest. He was back where he had been at the far northern end of Las Pegasus. He looked up to see the orb still floating in front of him, horizon shimmering behind it.

Sky immediately turned and took off for the Weather Bureau as fast as his wings could carry him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He had no idea what he had just seen but he knew that he had to report it to his chief immediately.

Double Shot stared blankly out the window of the Friendship Express as the mountainous, heavily forested landscape of Northern Equestria whipped by them. Night was starting to darken the view.

“You know, this will be the furthest west I’ve ever been.”

He saw Aurora look up from the notes she was scribbling into the massive notebook next to her out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting on the opposite side of their train cabin, the bench around her piled with books and journals.

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I was born in Manehattan. I spent most of my foalhood either in school or helping my folks in the coffee shop. Not a lot of time to travel when you’re trying to build a business and raise a family.”

She set the quill she was using down and closed her notes. “What’s the furthest away you’ve been?”

He thought for a moment. “We went to Fillydelphia a few times when I was a kid and Whinnyapolis once during high school. That’s about it.”

Aurora stared at him, disbelief on her face. “That’s it? You’ve never even been to Cloudsdale?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

She blinked in surprise. “Even when it’s close to Manehattan?”

“Even then.”

“Huh. Wow.”

He could understand her surprise. Almost all Pegasi visited their ancestral home at least once every few years. With cities inherently mobile nature, most would take the opportunity to visit when it was near.

Double continued. “My parents are actually from Clousdale. Born and raised but my Mom can’t fly very well. Made living in the clouds a bit awkward. Visiting too. Once they got married, they moved to Manehattan and opened our coffee shop. Our families would always come see us at holidays to make it easier for Mom.”

Aurora sat there for a moment as he turned back to the window. “That must have been hard.”

He shrugged and looked over his shoulder at his grey wings. “Not that bad actually. Neither Dad or I are big fliers either. I’m just as happy on the ground”

“That’s not really normal is it?”

He looked over. “Not enjoying flying?

“Yeah I mean...most of the Pegasi I’ve ever known seem to be REALLY into it. Even if they weren’t great fliers, they were really into sports or fans of the….what are they called?”

He tilted his head in confusion. “What are who called?”

She waved her hooves in the air in front of her in what was probably the worst pantomiming of flying Equestria had ever seen.

“The ones who do all the stunts? They’re really famous? Blue uniforms?”

He snickered. “The Wonderbolts.”

She scowled. “Excuse me for not being up to speed on aerobatic teams.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You know they’re way more than just an aerobatic team...right? They perform at like...everything big? Every major festival? Every time there is some kind of major event? I mean...one of the ELEMENTS OF HARMONY is a member?”

She shrugged and gave him a stare that made it clear he should be pleased she even knew they existed at all.

He shook his head and sighed. “Anyway, yes most Pegasi are into flying in one way or the other...but not all. Some of us are perfectly happy on the ground. I’ve read one of the Elements isn’t a big flyer.” He gestured at her horn. “Not every unicorn uses magic for every little thing. Some barely use it at all. Other’s aren’t that good at it.”

An odd look drifted across her face as her gaze drifted down to her notebook.

She looked back up with a weak shrug. “No...no I guess they aren’t.”

He looked back out the window as a rocky, white landscape blurred by them. He shivered slightly as the warm breeze of the train heater rushed over his fur, reminding him of exactly how cold it was outside. They were riding right along the border between the icy wasteland of the Crystal Empire and mainland Equestria. In the distance a massive snow covered mountain range rose into the black sky. Snow was starting to fall against the window.

He turned and looked at her and caught her staring out the windows as well. She looked absolutely spaced out.

“Aurora?”

She blinked and looked down in embarrassment.

“Nothing. Sorry. Just spaced out.”

“I could see that. That’s not like you. You ok?”

She nodded and gestured around her. “Yeah. Just been doing a lot of reading. ”

“You’ve had your muzzle in those books since we left Manehattan.”

“I’m trying to figure something out. That’s all.”

“Have to do with our trip?”

She nodded. “Kind of.”

“Ah.”

She stared back at her book.

She’s actually talking a bit. Good chance.

“What about you?”

She looked up. “What...about me?”

“Is this the furthest west you've ever been?”

“Oh.” She blinked a few times. “No. I’ve actually been to Seaddle a few times.”

He scooted across the bench until he was sitting across from her. “Really?

She shifted a bit in her seat. She looked a bit uncomfortable at his sudden interest.

“Yeah. Mostly as a filly.”

“What for?”

“I….um…”

Crap. It’s her past. She’s gonna clam up. He sighed, expecting the conversation to come to an abrupt end.

“My parents traveled a lot. For their work.”

He nearly grinned at the admission. It was the only other thing he’d heard about her past other than that she grew up in Canterlot.

Keep going!

“Like where?” He asked.

“Oh...ummm….” She looked away for a moment in thought. “Seaddle, Canterlot, Baltimare, Cloudsdale, Las Pegasus, Whinnyapolis, Vanhoover, Zebra Country, Prance, Neighpon…”

Double felt his jaw gape as he processed the globes worth of locations.

She looked away, clearly embarrassed. “I know it’s a lot.”

He shook his head. “A lot? A LOT?! Damn girl! You’ve been across most of Equus!” He leaned back on the bench.

She nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

It took everything he had to not pry further.“That is awesome!” He marveled for a moment. “Luna’s flank, you’ve been everywhere! I’m so jealous!”

A light blush rose under her cream coat. “Really?”

“Really? Are you kidding me?! To have been all those places by...I forget how old you are. Not gonna ask…”

“I’m twenty three.”

“Oh. Huh.” He stopped for a second. “You’re younger than I thought.”

The blush fizzled immediately as an eyebrow cocked. “Am I now? And why is that?” Snark was dripping from her voice.

Aaaaand back to normal.

“Sorry. Sorry. Not what I meant.”

She kept the eyebrow raised as he squirmed. “And what did you mean? Do I act like an old mare?”

He stopped and thought for a second about how exactly to phrase his thought.

“I suppose I meant that most twenty three year old mares I know don’t show up with a sack of bits for three months rent. Most twenty three year old mares I know don’t run their own appliance repair business out of a basement. And I know no twenty three year old mares ANYPONY know’s can build that…” he waved his hooves around “thing you made.”

“Oh.” The blush returned. “Thanks.”

He was shocked to see the compliment actually put her on the rear hoof so easily.

More.

“Anyway, how long ago were you in Seaddle the last time you were there? Know anywhere to go? Restaurants? Coffee shops?”

She stuck her tongue out. “You know I don’t like coffee.”

He gave her an obviously exaggerated look of disappointment and held a wing out. One feather rose, counting. “One, yes I do but I still maintain that’s a travesty.” Another feather raised. “Two, despite that sin, you might have gone somewhere with others.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why do you want to go to a coffee shop? You own a coffee shop.”

His wings splayed out in excitement. “To research the competition! I have no idea what the west coast brewing scene is like. They might have new techniques I’m missing out on! Bean differences! What temperatures do they use?! I have to keep my edge”

She slapped a hoof to her face. “One, I’m pretty sure bitter bean water is bitter bean water no matter where it is.”

He shook his head in faux disgust.

“Two, even if I had been to any ‘famous coffee shops’, do you think I’d remember it?”

He sighed dramatically “True.Oh well.” His wings snapped back forward, three feathers prominently on display. “Three, what about restaurants?”

She gave him a confused look. “What about them?”

“Do you remember any good ones?”

“Ummmm…” Her face scrunched in thought. “It’s been about ten years since I’ve last been.”

“Ah.”

She thought a moment more. “Oh! I do remember there being a really good sandwich place down by the pier. I might remember it if I saw it.”

He nodded.“Excellent. I’ve read most of the coffee scene is down that way. That works out then!”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure. Please keep in mind that we’re there for a reason. I don’t want to spend too much time sightseeing.”

“Got it.” He stopped for a second. “So...do you want to explain to me again what exactly it is we’re going to Seaddle for?”

She tilted her head in confusion. “I thought I told you before we left.”

“You said something about needing a transitive wave something or another and went back to packing.”

The day before, she had burst into the house in a panic, proclaiming that she needed to go to Seaddle immediately. Apparently the device had gone off again while he was at work. He wasn’t able to get much more than that out of her as he threw a bag together, raced by his shop to coordinate some replacement shifts and followed her to the train station.

“Oh. Sorry. “ Her horn illuminated and a scroll next to her levitated off the bench and in front of her. It unrolled in the air between them, revealing what he quickly realized was a schematic of her invention.

“So. Do you remember how the pad has that crystalline disc on it?” She pointed her hoof at the round part.

“You mean the shattered glass?”

“It’s not broken glass. It’s an element called Serindium. It’s used to help stabilize trans phasic arcane reactions across various stratas.”

He raised an eyebrow and looked up from the scroll. “ Of course it is.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Sorry. Just...it’s a critical part of the device. It doesn’t work without it and it’s used in both the transmitter and the sensor I made. That’s the thing that’s detected the anomalous transmissions.

He nodded. “Alright. So...again...why are we going to Seaddle?”

The scroll wrapped back up and returned to her side. “The supplier I’ve been using in Canterlot hasn’t received a new shipment in months. He didn’t have much to begin with.”

“Is it rare?”

She nodded. “Kind of. It’s pretty hard to obtain. It’s almost entirely mined from volcanic areas. There isn’t much in the way of those in Equestria. It’s not used much outside of some pretty exotic magical research as well, so there isn’t a huge demand.”

“So someone bought what he had left?”

“No. I had bought all he had to make the prototype.”

He reeled back. “You bought ALL of it? Like...as in all of it in Canterlot?”

She scowled. “I told you it was rare.”

“Apparently.”

“The wholesaler he was getting his stock from cancelled his refill orders. He didn’t have any more information other than it just suddenly dried up. All serindium in Equestria comes in through Seaddle and apparently through only one or two wholesalers.”

“So you’re going to Seaddle to see if you can find out why it suddenly dried up?”

She nodded. “And to see if maybe the wholesalers are holding any back.”

He nodded. “Makes sense...but….”

“But what?”

“Well, two questions really. One, why do you need more?”

She pointed her hood towards the box part of her device.

“I’d like to make the wave sensor larger and I think I can add a locator. If I do that, I can pinpoint where these anomalous transmissions are coming from. The wave it picked up yesterday was the same as the first. Wherever it came from, it was big enough to trip my equipment.”

“So until you upgrade the thing, you can’t figure out where it came from?”

She shook her head. “No. It could be next door or...all the way across Equus. I don’t know.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“So what was the other question?”

Confusion wrinkled his face. “Why the rush? Why not just wait till more comes in? You spent some serious bits for these train tickets.” He held his front legs out and raised one hoof higher than the other. “Also, I’ve ran my own business long enough to know what when supply drys up..” he lowered the higher hoof and swapped it with the lower one, ”prices go up…” He lowered his legs. “Why not wait?”

She looked away for a second. “It’s just….”

He held his gaze on her. “Just…?”

She looked at him briefly before shifting her eyes and tapping her hooves together. “It’s just...this is really important to me! If someone is working on something similar, they might be buying all the Serindium. I’ll never finish at that rate. And maybe I can find out who it is and maybe we can collaborate!”

It was obvious from her voice and demeanor that she wasn’t telling him the whole truth.

He sighed internally but decided against pressing the matter.

Don’t push it. She’ll tell you soon enough.

“Ok. Well, I hope we can find what you’re looking for.” He gave her his warmest smile.

She blushed and looked away. “Me too.” She stared off for a moment before cranking her head back up and giving him a confused look. “Wait...you mean you didn’t know WHY I was going to Seaddle?”

He shrugged. “LIke I said, you flew into the apartment rambling about technological something or another. When you said you were leaving for Seaddle and going alone, I figured I’d ask if I could go with you.”

She shook her head. “Why? Why did you want to go with me?”

He hesitated for a moment before reaching a wing out and rubbing two of his primary feathers on her shoulder. “Please don’t be mad but...I just didn’t want you to have to go alone. You seemed kinda panicked. I was worried.”

“Worried? Why?”

He gave her an incredulous stare. “Well….you’re my friend.”

She almost immediately turned a deep shade of crimson and looked away.

Uh oh.

He pulled his wing back and started scooting back across the bench to the other side of the train car. By now, snow was careening against the train car window through a canvas of pitch black winter's night.

“Thank you Double.”

He stopped and turned. She was still looking down, her face the color of sunset.

He gave her a grin. “You’re welcome Aurora.” He started scooting again.

“Auri.”

He stopped. “What?”

“Auri. Call me Auri. It’s what my friends called….call me.”

His grin widened. “Sure...Auri.”

Caden leaned back against the edge of the steam pool and closed his eyes. He settled into the water and inhaled deeply, letting the vapor fill his lungs. He exhaled slowly, hoping the heat would calm his nerves.

Six weeks.

It had been six weeks since his unceremonious dumping into an alien fantasy world. Six weeks since he’d taken up quarters in a castle full of pastel archmage equines and their dragon assistant. Six weeks since his entire reality had been thrown to the winds. Six weeks and Twilight and her friends still had no clue how he got here.

He looked down at his own reflection in the water. Brown eyes stared back over a healthy growth of beard. He hadn’t bothered to shave since he’d arrived here. There didn’t seem to be much point.

What the hell are you doing here?

His visage stared back in rippling silence.

You’ve been here too long.

At first, he’d lay awake at nights and listen to the strange sounds of the castle as his leg throbbed. He’d lay in a bed he didn’t know and stare at a ceiling that wasn’t his. He’d wake in the morning and immediately think about where he was. All the memories would flood back as he realized how far from home he still was. For weeks he had hoped he’d wake up and be back in his bed and in his home. That it had all been some bizarre dream or that whatever had brought him here had sent him back.

Then before he even realized it, he was falling asleep shortly after he laid down at night. The pain in his leg had gone and the sounds were no longer strange. The bed had become comfortable suddenly. Some time later, he was eating breakfast when he realized he hadn’t thought about his situation that morning. He had simply woken up and started going about his day. Going over the things he knew Twilight wanted to talk about and planning out what he needed to do. Suddenly this had become normal.

You’ve definitely been here too long.

He sighed and pooled some of the water in his hands. Pulling it up, he ran it through his hair, slicking it back. As his arms dropped, a sharp jolt shot up his right arm.

Son of a…

On top of everything, over the last week he’d started getting a weird tingling sensation in his right arm. At first he figured he’d pinched a nerve and that it would fade in a day or two. So far it was persisting.

Carpal tunnel in your mid twenties. Awesome.

He shook his hand and the sensation faded. At that moment, his bangs let go from his scalp and fell back into his face

He sighed again. I need a haircut too.

He settled deeper in the water and looked around. He did always try to remind himself that it wasn’t all bad. Living in Twilight's castle had certainly come with its share of perks. There was the enormous pantry, lack of meat notwithstanding. He had nearly immediate access to Twilight, who had proven a godsend when it came to teaching him about Equestria. He had a luxurious bedroom, a wardrobe fit for a king and many other bonuses that just came part and parcel when you lived in a castle.

But for all of them, none compared in the slightest to the castle baths.

Nestled in the myriad of lower levels that made up the roots of the tree of her castle, he had never seen anything like it. It was a massive crystalline cavern, separated into various areas. Near the door was a set of showers, used for the actual bathing. Just beyond it, the steam pool he was in. After that, a small cooling pool and rest area. After that was the true wonder of the room. A massive, multi leveled swimming area dominated most of the space. Crystalline grottos lined the walls of the cavern and magically poured waterfalls into the main pool below. Jagged crystal columns stretched from floor to ceiling at points and reflected the natural light off the walls and the pool. Above them, a massive crystal version of Twilight’s Cutie Mark dominated the ceiling, casting the entire room in a dazzling kaleidoscope of purple, blue and red.

When Twilight had first shown it to him, he’d nearly fallen over. It was like a small, private billionaires waterpark. But like so many things, the baths had come with a slight quirk. He snorted as a bloom of vanilla entered his nose.

I smell like ice cream.

He looked over at the showers. They were fairly normal, save for an elaborate series of nozzles that seemed to magically disperse all the soap and shampoo he could ever want. In another strange but convenient alignment between Earth and Equus, the products they used to clean their manes and bodies were as close to shampoo and soap as he needed. Each nozzle was labeled something different and combining them changed what was produced. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t read Poneish all that well. The translation spell only worked on speech. Even more unfortunately, everything combination he had tried produced something that was decidedly feminine in aroma.

It worked out well for the other residents of the castle. The girls always smelled great, at least far as he could tell when they had to get close enough to reinforce the translation spell. Twilight seemed to prefer some sort of lavender scent while Starlight and Sunset seemed to like citrus odors. All in all, it was rather pleasant.

This was less than optimal for him however. He had spent most of the last month and a half wandering around smelling of everything from cinnamon pumpkin to sandalwood all the way to cucumber melon and more fruits than he could remember. He felt like some sort of weird interdimensional spokesman for Bath and Body Works. He hadn’t bothered to ask the girls to show him how to work the system. Some small stubborn part of him assumed he’d work it out eventually.

Oh well. Could be far worse. Not like anyone here knows what Irish Spring smells like anyway. I should probably ask if there’s such a thing as “Stallion Shampoo”.

“Caden?”

A female voice cut through the steam from around the corner to the entrance of the baths.

“Caden? You there?”

“Starlight?”

“Yeah. Hey you have a visitor. I think it’s one of the nurse ponies from the hospital. She’s in the foyer.”

One of the nurses?

“Want me to tell her to come back?”

“No. That’s ok. Tell her I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks!”

He waited till he heard the door to the baths close and made his way to the impromptu dressing area Twilight had made for him. It was little more than a screen in a corner with a small basket for his clothes. Still, it was more than he’d asked for. He dressed and quickly got ready before making his way to the foyer. When he rounded the corner into the cavernous entrance, he was greeted to the site of a snowy white earth pony with a long, braided pink mane slung over one shoulder.

“Redheart?”

She turned, a smile erupting on her face as she cantered her way over to him. He smiled in return. He hadn’t seen her since he’d left the hospital.

“Caden! Glad to see you up and about!”

“Better than the alternative. What are you doing here?”

She stopped in front of him, looking up.

“I was out running some errands. I figured I’d come see how my first alien patient was doing.” She scanned him up and down. “Cripes you’re big. I didn’t get to see much of you out of bed. Are all humans this large?”

Her survey of him suddenly made him very grateful for the last six weeks. With little to do, he’d been filling the time with jogging and exercise. Between that and the vegetarian diet he had bled the little bit of paunch he’d developed in his post college years. He hadn’t looked this good in years. “Not all. I’m 5’10. That’s a bit taller than average for a guy. Some are much, much bigger than I am. Some are much smaller. Girls tend to be smaller in general.” He shrugged. “We’re not so different from you. Ponies seem to come in all sizes. Stallions bigger than mares, etc.”

“True.” She looked down at his leg. He’d worn shorts from the shower and the scar from the Timberwolf attack was on full display. “So how’s your leg?”

“Doing really well.” He leaned down and rubbed a hand along the blemish. “Still looks a little rough. Doc said I’ll probably have that scarring for the rest of my life.” He lifted his leg up and down a few times. “But I feel great! Still some occasional pain but I can pretty much run normally now..”

She moved closer and gave his leg a quick once over before looking up at him with a grin. “I’m so glad! I was really worried there might be some permanent damage but the Doc didn’t seem concerned.”

“I can’t thank you and him enough.”

She waved away his thanks. “Don’t worry about it. All part of the job.” She gave him a wink. “Besides I wasn’t about to let my first interdimensional patient leave with a bad review of the Ponyville Hospital.”

He thought back to the hospital. How she’d been the first voice he had heard after the attack. How she had calmed him down when he came to and how she had held him as he wept.

“I had hoped to see you when I got my bandages taken off so I could thank you but they said you were busy with patients.”

She laughed. “I heard you’d come by. Yeah it’s not exactly a job with a lot of downtime. I’ve been meaning to come and see you too but I’ve been working an off shift, so my free time’s been when most ponies are asleep.”

“Ah, got it. “ He gestured around the hall. “Would you like to come in? I think there’s a living room. Possibly several. I can just hijack the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

She shook her head. “Oh no. I have to be at work in an hour. I just wanted to see how you were doing and…” She stopped and scanned the foyer. “I’ve never been in here before. I kinda wanted to see it. It’s every bit as nice as I imagined it would be.”

He looked over the immense crystalline room. “Yeah it’s pretty impressive.”

She hoofed at the rugs running down the middle of the room. “Impressive? It’s almost obscene. This is a real Saddle Arabian rug.” She tilted her muzzle up at one of a series of huge purple crystals on each wall of the foyer.

“Those look like real amethysts. If they are, you could buy a house with each one.” Her eyes tracked down to a series of small tapestries hanging over alcoves in the walls.

“Those tapestries in those alcoves? Straight from Prance.” She whistled. “Hard to believe this all just sprang from some magical box under a tree. This room alone is worth a fortune.”

He scanned the room again. “Huh. I’ve never given much thought to how much any of this costs.” He turned to her. “You seem to know a lot about this for never having been here.”

She shrugged. “I have a...familiarity with these kinds of things.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Nurses must make a whole lot more in Equestria than they do on Earth.”

She laughed. “I wish. My family owns an exotics goods boutique. I was raised around this kind of stuff.”

“Wow. That’s...really cool.”

“Thanks.”

He watched her peruse the room for a moment longer. “I’m really glad you came by. I’ve been meaning to come by the hospital again.”

She turned from her examination to him. “Oh? What for?”

“Well as I said, to thank you but…” He felt a slight heat bloom under his cheeks. “I was wondering if I could buy you dinner?”

She gave him a confused look. “Dinner? What for?”

He scratched his head sheepishly. “I just...you helped me a lot when I first came to. I’m not sure you realize how much. I was not doing well. It meant a lot to me.”

He didn’t fail to notice the subtle bloom of red that graced her white cheeks.

Great. I embarrassed her.

She hoofed at the ground. “You don’t have to do that. It was just the right thing to do.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m very thankful and I want to make it up to you.”

She looked up at him for a moment. He felt his heart jump as she contemplated.

Why am I this nervous? Wait….shit!

He held his hands out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask if you had someon….somepony at home. If so, I didn’t mean to…”

She giggled. “No no. Nothing like that. I’m single.”

“Ah. Ok.” He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt relieved.

“You just caught me by surprise.” She thought a moment more. “You know what, sure! I haven’t been out to dinner in quite awhile.”

The nervousness blossomed into warmth as a giant smile cracked his face.

“Awesome! When works for you?”

“I’m actually only covering a partial shift for someone today. Is tonight ok?”

He nodded. “Sure! When? Where?”

She looked away for a moment in thought. “Have you been to Buck Lake Manor?”

“I haven’t even heard of it.”

“It’s a new restaurant on the far side of town. Opened about a year ago. I’ve heard Ponies from all over talk about it. I’ve been meaning to try them but…” She grimaced. “I forgot they’re supposed to be pricey. That’s not fair…”

He waved the comment away. “Don’t worry about money. Twilight gave me an allowance. She said it should be enough to cover just about anything I needed.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want…”

He held a hand up in protest. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t care how much it costs. I owe it to you.” He gestured at the foyer. “I don’t really have any other expenses.”

She smiled again. “Excellent!” Her smile took a mischievous turn. “I think you’ll like their menu. I’m told they have some...exotic options.”

Given that Redheart knew the extent of his circumstances, the fact that she pointed out how exotic they are concerned him slightly.

“Sounds great!”

Her ears shot straight up, tail swishing madly back and forth behind her. “Meet you in the town square? By the fountain with the statue? Do you know where it is?”

He nodded. “I know exactly where it is”

“Five work for you?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Awesome!” She looked back over her shoulder. “I need to get back so I can get ready for work.”

“Let me walk you out.” She turned and he walked with her towards the door. He opened it for her and she stepped out and onto the castle stairs. Stopping at the top, she turned and looked up at him. “Glad you’re doing so well Caden. See you tonight!”

He nodded. “Looking forward to it!”

She cantered down the stairs and waved back to him. He waved and shut the door. He was halfway to the stairs when something caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see Twilight, Sunset and Starlight, heads stacked on each other, staring at him from just around the door to one of the side rooms of the foyer. Each had a grin big enough to split their faces.

“What?”

All three simultaneously cooed at him. “D’awwwwwwwwwwwwww!!”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not a date. I’m just thanking her.”

Starlight smirked at him. “Uh huh.”

“Don’t you three have...friendship problems to solve or something? Kingdoms to save? Anything?”

Twilight winked at him. “We do. We just happened to overhear you.” The three of them pulled their heads back into the room. He could hoofsteps as they made their way further into the castle. “Have fun on your date!!”

He rolled his eyes again and started making his way up to his room.

It’s not a date!

Sitting on the edge of the pink fountain, he watched as Ponies started closing up shop and retired for the day. Down the road, three mares pulled arrangements of flowers into a stand. Across from him, a silver maned mare locked up the multi storied town hall before giving him a warm nod and heading on.

I need to have Twilight introduce me to the Mayor at some point.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched a pink blur launch from Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie barreled down the road like some sort of happiness fueled force of nature towards Twilight’s Castle. She waved a hoof towards him as she pronked forward.

“Hi Caden!!”

He waved back. “Hi Pinkie!”

“Have fun on your date!”

He responded out of reflex. “Thanks!” It wasn’t until she was already out of sight before he thought to argue. It was even a moment longer before he bothered to wonder how she even knew about his meeting Redheart in the first place.

“I…nevermind”

“Nevermind what?”

He jerked and whirled around to Redheart standing next to him. She looked around him.

“Who were you talking to?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Pinkie Pie.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ah. Enough said. I told you that first day she’s a hooffull.”

“You weren’t kidding and….wow...you look great!”

She was wearing a simple, purple dress clenched around her trunk with a bowed sash. Her mane was pulled into the same over the shoulder, thick braid as earlier but now in a tighter, more elaborate knot. It was capped at the end by a blue ribbon the same color as her eyes. She had clearly put on makeup. He’d met Rarity enough times that he was both familiar with seeing Ponies in makeup and yet still confused how they managed to make it look normal over fur. Gems of blue sat in gold rings at the base of each ear and a small purple choker capped by a ruby of her cutie mark finished the ensemble.

She blushed, tail swishing behind her. “Thanks. You too!”

“I….huh?” He looked down at himself, resplendent in his jeans and black t-shirt. He nearly facepalmed in front of her at how underdressed he was in comparison.

“I’m sorry. I look like I just rolled out of bed compared to you.”

She giggled. “No you don’t! I think you look fine. You even shaved!”

He reached a hand up to his face. He’d reduced the patchy forest growing there into a halfway respectable goatee. “True. Kind of needed to. My beard isn’t the greatest thing anyway.”

She looked up. “I like what you’re doing with your mane too!”

He ran a hand through his mop of hair. It had turned out gel wasn’t a thing in Equestria, so he’d had to fiddle with something Sunset referred to as “Mane Lock'' for a while before he managed to get his hair into something that looked like a poor man's version of Keanu Reeves from the late 90’s.

He sighed. “We just call it hair. I normally keep it shorter than this.”

“Like how it was when you got here?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She thought for a second. “Honestly, I think it looks better like this.”

He ran a hand through it again and gave her a smile. “Thanks!” He looked her over again. “Seriously though, you look great. I feel seriously underdressed now.”

She waved his comment away. “It’s fine. I felt like dressing up. I don’t get to all that often. It feels nice” She pointed a hoof down one of the roads forking off of the main square.

“The restaurant is down there. Ready to go?”

He nodded and they began making their way. As she walked next to him, they made small talk about their day and he felt his gaze keep drifting to her, studying the intricacies of how her dress fit on her frame. A breeze pulled a bloom of honeysuckle off her and towards him. He started inhaling deeply when we realized what he was doing and forced his eyes back to the road.

It’s not a date…..

They shared small talk as they made their way down the road and in a short time they had made it to the outskirts of town and to their destination.

“Here it is. Buck Lake Manor.”

Manor indeed. The restaurant had clearly been some kind of large lakeside house at one point. It sat on the edge of a large, mirror calm lake overlooking the hills and countryside beyond the town. The entire thing had been recently renovated, with stately wooden accents framing the entire house and a large, romantically lit dock jutting out over the waters edge. Ponies and a smattering other species sat in pairs at formally dressed tables as they clinked wine glasses and made small talk.

Caden whistled. “You weren’t kidding about the fancy part.”

She blushed. “Are you sure about this? I really didn’t want to impose…”

He shook his head and pulled a small booklet out his pocket. “I’ve got it. I promise.”

She looked at it, clearly impressed. “Bit vouchers?! Did Twilight give you those?”

He nodded. “Early on she set me up an account at the Ponyville Bank. She figured since it was going to look like I was gonna be here awhile, I might need some spending money. She deposited some for me and taught me how to count in bits and to use these for larger purchases.”

“Has she taught you how to write in Poneish?”

He nodded again. “She has. I can’t do full sentences yet but reading numbers and doing basic math were pretty easy to learn. It’s really not all that different from what we use. Just different symbols.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Color me impressed.”

He shrugged. “When you don’t have anything to do but study it doesn’t take that long.” He looked back at the restaurant and at the Ponies in white shirts and bow ties carrying plates out to the other guests in similar regalia.

He grimaced. “I am….seriously underdressed for this place.”

She looked him up and down for a moment before a cheeky grin spread across her muzzle. “Are you?”

He nodded. “I am.”

“Says who?”

He shook his head in confusion. “Says who?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Says who? Who says what human fashion is here? For all I know that’s your most formal outfit.”

He raised a finger to make a point before her words crushed his logic. She was absolutely right. No one in this world had any idea what human clothing customs were except for him and Rarity and even she was guessing based on his horrible descriptions. For all they knew, humans wore shorts and t-shirts to weddings and funerals.

He grinned down at her. “I see your point.” He gestured towards the building. “Shall we?”

She nodded and they made their way into the building. Inside it was much the same as out. It reminded him pretty much every other fancy restaurant he had ever been to. Dark wood, romantic lighting and the clinking of wine glasses were everywhere. As they entered, two things hit him immediately. The first was the distinct sound of a cello from the back of the restaurant. He looked up to see a grey, dark maned mare at the back of the dining room performing on an instrument larger than she was. Her hooves maneuvered in tandem, gliding their way up and down the neck and pulling the bow across the strings. He watched for a moment before the almost daily question crossed his mind.

How in the hell is she…...nope...I don’t even want to know

The second wave was much more important to him. Much more enticing. Almost immediately upon entering, he was bombarded by something he hadn’t smelled in weeks. He instinctively sniffed at the air, trying to lock down the odor.

Is that? No. No way.

As they approached the host stand a diminutive Pegasus mare beamed up at them. “Welcome to Buck Lake Manor! How can I help you?”

Redheart stepped forward. “Table for two please.”

The hostess looked down at the stand. “Do you have a reservation?”

He looked down as Redheart’s white face somehow went pale. “Oh no.” The corners of her mouth tugged down. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Of course at a place like this…”

The hostess looked up, looking genuinely upset. “I’m sorry. We’re full for the evening. If you’re willing to wait I can see if something opens up…”

He wasn’t sure which one looked more downtrodden, the hostess or Redheart.

His companion looked up at him. “Caden I’m so sorry, I completely forgot.”

He was about to wave her concerns away when a voice sprung forth from somewhere.

“Jasmine dear, I’ll take this. Block off 36 please.”

The three of them jerked as a pony materialized next to the hostess stand. Seemingly from the ether, a heavy set Earth mare scooped up a pair of menus in her tail and gave them what might have been the warmest smile he’d ever seen. “Table for two correct?”

Ruby eyes stared over half moon spectacles at them. The mare was clearly older than her Pegasus counterpart. A grey mane sat in a tight, neat bun that offset the deep burgundy color of her long dress. The tips of her ears and snout held the remainder of what had once clearly been a deep blue coat now overtaken by a glacier of grey fur.

The Pegasus looked between them and stammered, “Manager! Ma’am I apologize I thought we didn’t have a server for 36.”

“Not a problem. I’ll handle the serving dear.” She winked at them and tilted her head back towards the dining area. “This way please.” The charm of her Virginian drawl was like a Mint Julep for the ears. It was a noticeable difference from the almost Texan quality to Applejack’s voice. He stopped his brain before it went too far down the rabbit hold of wondering where the Pony equivalents of Texas and Virginia were.

Caden and Redheart looked at each other and took their cue to follow the mare. In short turn she guided them to a table in a back corner of the dining room. They sat as she passed out their menus.

“Now then, as my hostess said, welcome to Buck Lake Manor. My name is Ruby. I’m the manager and owner here.”

Caden and Redheart shared a look before he looked back up. “I really appreciate you opening a table for us. You really didn’t have to do that. It was our fault for making last minute plans.”

The mare waved the comment away. “Do not give it a second thought! What would it say about my hospitality if I turned away Ponyville’s most exotic visitor and his lovely companion on their first visit?”

Redheart blushed and Caden blinked as he processed what she said. “Exotic visitor? Do you know me?”

Ruby held her hoof up to her mouth and chuckled politely. “Well of course I do dear. Any restaurateur worth her salt keeps tabs on her local community. I was hoping you’d make it in sooner than later. I’ve heard many ponies talking about our newest resident.”

It didn’t shock him that she had heard of him. Twilight had asked him to keep a relatively low profile but given that he was literally a one-off in Equestria it was inevitable word would get around.

She gestured back to the menus. “Now if you don’t mind my presumption, may I make a few recommendations?”

Caden nodded as the mare flipped around the menu. “For the lady, we have many fine Equestrian options. The Green Goddess Salad is my personal favorite and our Gazpacho is superb. In my biased opinion of course”. She gave Redheart a warm smile before turning back to Caden. “For the gentlemen, might I recommend something a little...different?”

Caden nodded and she turned to a small section of the menu near the back. As his eyes settled on the section she pointed at, he had to read it several times before he accepted what he was seeing.

“Meat? You serve meat?”

Ruby chuckled again. “We do indeed my dear.”

He glanced between her and the menu. “But….Ponies are…”

“Ponies are not the only species on Equus. We get plenty of creatures from outside Equestria who are either omnivorous or carnivorous. We pride ourselves on being able to serve anyone. Even some Ponies eat fish.”

Caden remembered his first impression when he had walked into the restaurant. That was meat I smelled. His mouth started watering at the very opportunity.

He looked up at Ruby. “How did you know I’d like meat?”

She winked at him. “Again my dear, it’s my business to know these things.”

He scanned the menu. Hydra Steak, Fried Cockatrice, Manticore Stew…

Something clicked in his brain and he looked across the table at Redheart. “I’m sorry….I don’t want to offen…”

She cut him off with a smile before he could even finish. “I’m a nurse Caden. Meat doesn’t bother me. Order what you want. If it makes you happy, I’m glad.”

“Ok.” They scanned the rest of the menu and ordered. Charcuterie to start with Green Goddess Salad and a Merlot for Redheart, Medium Rare Hydra Steak and a Griffonwhiskey Old Fashioned for him.

Ruby repeated their order back and Caden watched as she retreated to the back of the restaurant.

“See something you like?”

Caden’s head jerked around to Redheart giving him what could best be described as a ‘shit eating grin’.

“What?”

The grin widened. “She is attractive for an older mare. Can’t say I blame you.”

His gaze shot from Redheart to where he’d been staring a few times. “What do you…” Then it hit him that he’d essentially watched Ruby saunter away.

He shook his head. “No..NO..I’m sorry. I wasn’t…”

His companion giggled. “I’m teasing Caden.”

He sighed. “I know.” He glanced back one more time. “She just seemed to know more about me than any other Pony I’ve met.”

Redheart shrugged. “You are unique.”

He nodded. “True but….”

“But what?”

“Most creatures don’t give me a second look. I actually asked Twilight about that after a few weeks here. She said this world is full of bizarre, one off creatures. Especially here in Ponyville. It didn’t surprise her at all that they just glanced over me. And….”

“And?

“Only a few here know what I am, let alone what I eat back home. I’ve only told a few…”

She thought a moment. “Maybe you mentioned it in passing to someone?”

He mulled it over and sighed. “I don’t know. Probably? The last six weeks have been kind of a blur.”

She nodded. “I can only imagine. You seem to be doing well.”

He nodded. “I am….I think.”

“You think?”

“Yeah...I mean...I think. Yes? No? It’s hard to explain.”

She leaned forward in her chair and set her chin on her hooves. “Try me”

He leaned back and thought a moment. “I feel like….like I’m living in a dream I’m aware of.”

“What do you mean?”

His face furrowed in frustration. “It’s like….one part of my brain has completely accepted where I am and what happened to me. It’s coping with the fact that I’m sitting at a table with a talking horse…”

“Pony.”

He shook his head. “Sorry. Pony. It’s accepted that I woke up in some world full of magic and strange creatures and a million other things I thought only existed in fantasy until six weeks ago. That side of my brain has a bank account and is learning Poneish and is sort of interested in seeing the Crystal Kingdom.”

She nodded. “And the other side?”

He shrugged. “The other side wonders if I’m stuck in some sort of...hallucination or I’m in a coma or I’m dead or…..”

“I can see that being tough.” She thought for a second. “Want my thoughts?

He nodded. “Sure.”

She was about to respond when Ruby returned with their drinks. “The Bridlestar 987 Merlot for the lady and an Old Fashioned for the gentlemen.” She set them down. “That's the 22 year in the Old Fashioned. My personal favorite. I do hope you enjoy!”

She retreated again as they grabbed their libations. Caden looked across at the table. “Can I propose a toast? Do you do that?”

She chuckled. “We do and of course. To what?”

“To you?”

“To me? Why me?”

“To you for being there when I woke up. I told you it meant a lot. It was one of the nicest things anyo….anycreature has ever done for me.”

He watched as she flushed a deep crimson before waving away the compliment. “I told you, it was nothing…”

“It was way more than nothing. Thank you.”

She stared down for a moment. “Well….you’re welcome. Let’s toast to something else instead…”

“Oh? What?”

She clinked his glass and smiled. “To new friends.”

He smiled as finished the toast. As he pulled his glass away, they caught each other's eyes and he caught himself lingering.

Jesus her eyes are blue…

He realized he was staring and dropped his gaze as he took the first sip of his drink. He nearly moaned as the cocktail washed over him. Oak, orange, sugar and fire danced across his tongue in perfect balance.

“Mmmmmmmmf.”

Redheart swallowed her sip of wine and giggled at him. “Good?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “It’s better than good. It’s..amazing. The only alcohol I’ve had since I got here is the Cider Twilight keeps at the castle and it’s very, VERY sweet.”

Redheart stuck her tongue out. “Ewwwww. I prefer dry cider.”

“RIGHT?! When I asked Twilight if she had any she looked at me like I had a hole in my head.”

They chuckled and took another sip. “So...what were your thoughts?”

“Have you tried taking your mind off of it?”

He tried his best to suppress the dry look that shot to his face. “I mean….I’ve considered hobbies but this is all a little overwhelming…”

He winced internally when he realized how sarcastic he sounded. It was an immediate relief when she responded with a chuckle. “That sounded dismissive. Not what I meant.”

She leaned forward. “What I meant more specifically was...what are YOU doing here?”

His mind snapped back to the bath. What?

He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m doing h….”

She held a hoof up to quiet him. “Caden...we all know you don’t know WHY you’re here. We don’t know why you’re here either. Right now you’re living with the best group of Ponies I can imagine to help you figure that out.”

He nodded and she continued. “That said, the fact is you’re here. We aren’t hallucinations or angels of death.”

He grimaced. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

She gave him a warm smile. “I know what you meant. And I can’t blame you for thinking that way. I know I’d do the exact same. But….listen….I’m a pretty practical Pony….I often have to give people bad news or ask them to make hard decisions at work…”

He nodded. “And…”

“And what are you going to do if Twilight NEVER finds a way to get you home?”

His head drooped. “I don’t know. I really don’t.” He felt a familiar stinging at the corners of his eyes.

She reached out and grabbed his hand with a hoof. “Caden...I dearly hope you find a way home...truly I do. And I think you will.”

He nodded, fighting back the tears.

“But...I think it might be healthy for you to consider what to do with yourself in the meantime.”

He looked back up at her, barely holding on. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “Have you considered getting a job?”

He stared at her for a few moments as the tears receded.

“A job?”

She nodded. “Yes. A job.”

“Why in the hell would….” As soon as he pictured it, his world turned upside down in his mind.

She’s right. I might never go home. Whereas the thought had seconds before nearly brought him to tears, now it conjured another feeling. Am I just going to sit in Twilight’s castle the rest of my life? Even if I do get home..it could be years...maybe decades…. He realized all he’d done the last six weeks was sit and let the world circle around him. He was just….existing.

What am I doing here?

He squeezed her hoof and gave her a smile. “You’re…..absolutely right. I hadn’t even thought of that.”

She squeezed back. “Caden...if there is a Pony in Equestria who can help you get home, it’s Twilight. I promise you that. But….until she does…”

He sighed. “IF she does…”

Her ears dropped slightly and then perked back up. “UNTIL she does….is there any point in sitting around and worrying about it?”

He knew she was absolutely right. Him sitting in the castle and worrying about it didn’t change when or how he’d get home one bit.

“Thanks Redheart.”

They squeezed once more before separating. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “It’s a good point but…”

She tilted her head. “But what?”

“What would I even do here? I’m a gym teacher. It’s not exactly a species compatible occupation.”

She thought for a moment. “Well…..why don’t you tell me about yourself? Maybe we can come up with something…”

He sighed again before leaning forward. Talking about his past wasn’t his favorite thing.

“Sure….”