I guess I'll start with a few things about myself. I'm a high schooler, a junior to be exact. I've always passed all my classes but I don't have any motivation in my life and I have no real plans for my future. As high school went on, I quickly realized how boring life could be and turned to video games and anime as a form of escapism. After some research I found I pretty much fit the exact bill for Bipolar Disorder, I'm in a bad mood pretty much half the time, generally being depressed for a week or two, while the next day I might be flying around the house singing at the top of my lungs. I haven't told my parents because I really don't want to deal with that. I mostly hung out with a group of seniors who had the same interests as me, we would get together, play video games, talk about new anime, and generally have a good time but since school has ended I have lost contact with them. One of my friends would never stop complaining about bronies and their love of MLP FIM. This, of course, quickly led to my watching of the first episode, just to see what it was like. As I sat in front of the computer watching the show, I couldn't help but say, "I guess its not that bad". Soon after I found myself watching the second episode to see if Twilight and friends could stop Nightmare Moon. The next thing I knew, I was watching My Little Pony every chance I got, as soon as I got home I would open up the laptop and jump to the next episode. I quickly realized my favorite character was Applejack. I'm not exactly sure why but I think it has something to do with how her drive and honesty were everything I didn't have, I procrastinated, lied to my parents, didn't look ahead in my future, and was just lazy in general. As I realized this, my life slowly changed as I tried to model myself after her, and it was making my life a little better. My parents stopped complaining a much, I had a tentative future set ahead of me after sending out applications for colleges, I was more stable emotionally than I had been in years.

It was late at night on a Saturday, and raining softly, almost everyone in the school was going to be at a big party tonight. I of course, hadn't been invited, not that I wanted to go anyways. I was really depressed that night, contemplating my lack of religion and the lack of meaning in my life if there was nothing after death. As I sat there, thinking, my parents asked if I wanted to come along on a quick trip to the store. It took me awhile to answer, but I said yes just to appease them and was soon riding in the back of the car listening to my ipod. It was starting to really turn into a downpour as we drove through town; I quickly spotted the house where the party was taking place. It was packed; cars lined the street all the way from one end to the other, some even extended onto the next street. Loud dubstep could be heard blasting away as we drove past. My parents just raised an eyebrow as we passed. We pulled up to an intersection that was starting to flood. My parents quietly talked about the weather as I tried to cheer myself up with "Smile, Smile, Smile" on my ipod. As my parents pulled forward after the stop, I looked up and saw something that made my heart stop. A big truck was barreling down the road, and it wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon. Everything slowed down as a I watched the driver, clearly drunk from the party, belatedly slam on the brakes, as his tires stopped, his car began to hydroplane, skidding across the surface of the road right towards our car. As the car flew towards us I had time for the thought, "Well, I had a decent run", before the car connected with the passenger side. The truck had slowed down a little bit and we were sent flying to the other side of the road, I realized my leg felt weird and looked down to see it pinned between the seat and a chunk of metal with bone sticking out of it. As I went into shock, I glanced up in time to see the semi in oncoming frantically trying to avoid us. As it careened towards us, my vision slowly gave way to blackness as I passed out.

As I lay with my back on what was apparently grass, I tried to remember what had happened. As the memories of the car crash flooded back I groaned and slowly sat up. With my eyes still closed I starting running the scenario through my head. What had happened? Why am I on grass? Are my parents ok? I suddenly realized that I could hear small noises around me, and then someone coughed quietly. As I slowly opened my eyes I found myself staring into a pair of absolutely massive blue eyes, as I took in more of my surroundings I noticed that these eyes belonged to something I'd seen on many other occasions, Fluttershy. She was surrounded by five other ponies, Twilight Sparkle stood behind Fluttershy, a curious but apprehensive look on her face; to her side stood Rainbow Dash, looking like she was about to tackle me; on the far left sat Rarity, clearly trying to stay away from me but still curious; on the right Pinkie Pie stood, or more precisely, bounced up and down with a picnic basket in her mouth; and on the far right stood Applejack, her lasso ready to capture me if needed. My eyes jerked to a stop as I saw my favorite cartoon character, I stared at her for a few moments as my brain overloaded from all the information. I squeaked out, "Oh my god", and immediately passed out.

Twilight's house, a short time earlier.

"SPIIIIIIIIKE, what are you doing? I need to find that book on cryptids!", Twilight yelled. What could possibly be taking that little dragon so long?

"S-s-sorry Twilight, here you go", Spike stuttered, out of breath as he quickly ran over to give her the book. "If you hadn't rearranged the library again yesterday, I would have found it much quicker" he muttered.
"What was that?", Twilight asked sternly.
"Nothing, Nothing", Spike sighed.
Twilight decided to ignore the small dragon for now and quickly sat down to read the book. As she moved to the corner, she read the intro. The study of cryptids, or cryptozoology is involved in the analysis and discovery of species that most believe are myths. Big Hoof and Humans are two examples of creatures that would be classified as cryptids. As she got comfortable, preparing to read the book, someone knocked on the door quietly. Twilight sighed and stood up, setting down her book and moving over to the door. As she opened the door she was met by Fluttershy.
"I'm really sorry if I disturbed you. I-i-if you want I'll come back later" Fluttershy mumbled quietly.
"Fluttershy you know you can come around any time you want, you're my friend. Now what did you want?" Twilight asked softly.
"Well, we were going to have a picnic and were wondering if you wanted to come along", she asked shyly, looking at the floor.
"Of course I'll come!" Twilight said, "I'd never miss a chance to be with my friends!".
"Well we better get going, we don't want to be late", Fluttershy stated.
Fluttershy headed out the door, Twilight glanced behind her at the book she had set down. "I'll have to read it later", she muttered to herself.
The six friends soon met up in the town square and headed off towards one of their favorite picnic spots on a small hill a little ways outside of town. They talked quietly as they walked, Pinkie Pie holding the enormous picnic basket as she bounced along. Suddenly, their conversations ground to a halt as the hill they were going to briefly glowed with brilliant white light.
"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack said as she started to run up the hill.

The others quickly followed, as they rounded the top they all came to a jerking halt. Before them sat the strangest creature they had ever seen.
"I think its unconscious", said Twilight.
"What is it?", Rarity asked shrilly.
"I'm not sure," responded Twilight, "I've never seen anything like it before".
They gathered around it, inspecting it closely.
"Is it somepony's pet?" Fluttershy asked quietly, "It's wearing clothes..."
"It looks bipedal, it might be intelligent." Twilight stated
"It's waking up!" Rainbow Dash whispered frantically, "Fluttershy, go talk to it".
"B-b-but" Fluttershy stuttered.
"You're good with animals!" Rainbow Dash said, "Just see what it is, we've got your back".
They all took a step back, preparing for the worst, as the thing groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing its head. After it sat there for a few seconds, Fluttershy coughed quietly. It opened its eyes slowly, then jumped back a little in shock. Its gaze darted from pony to pony until it rested on Applejack.
"Oh my god" the thing said, then slumped to the ground.

"Oookaaay" Rainbow Dash slowly drawled, "that was interesting".

Twilight's eyes shone as she quickly pulled out a notebook from a saddlebag. "Did you hear that!" She practically shouted, "That thing just spoke Equestrian!". She started scribbling down notes as fast as she could while inspecting the creature's body.
Pinkie Pie had set down the picnic basket. "What does god mean?" she asked while bouncing around the creature in a circle, "Will it be my friend?", she suddenly gasped, "I need to get a party ready!", she dashed away.
"Wait Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, "We don't even know if it's... Gosh darn it" she muttered as Pinkie disappeared from sight.
The ponies started investigating the thing again.
"It kind of looks like a monkey" Rainbow Dash stated.
"Doesn't look very sturdy" said Applejack
"The material these clothes are made of is fascinating!" Rarity said while examining its shirt, "This gives me an idea for my next clothing line!"
"Is it ok?" asked Fluttershy softly, "It isn't hurt is it?"
"I'm not sure, it doesn't look hurt though" said Twilight, "It fell unconscious again though, it may have brain dama... It's waking up again!"

My POV

As I drifted back into consciousness, my memories flooded back, along with the worst headache I've ever had. "It had to be a dream, it had to be a dream, it had to be a dream" I muttered to myself over and over again.

"What had to be a dream?" a voice said with a southern drawl.
"Oh god", I thought, I know that voice. I slowly let my eyes open again to be met with the faces of 5 ponies curiously looking at me. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and, Applejack stood in front of me. My chant quickly shifted: "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming".
"Why would you say that?" Twilight, (who was most likely a figment of my imagination), asked.
I decided to go with being honest. "I was about to die, I passed out, woke up with my injuries gone, and find talking ponies standing in front of me. I'm either dreaming the whole thing up, or mentally insane."
"Ain't you ever seen a pony before?" Applejack asked.
The other ponies looked confused as well.
I laughed for a little bit as my headache got worse. "I don't feel so good" I blurted out as I puked all over the ground.
Rarity leapt backwards in disgust but Fluttershy quickly came up to me, "Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"This is the weirdest dream I've ever had" I said softly.
"Why do you keep calling this a dream?" Twilight asked.
"Why are you talking?" I asked in response
"Hey that's rude!" yelled Rainbow Dash
"You don't understand, where I come from ponies CAN'T talk, and they definitely aren't this colorful, that's why I must be dreaming" I stated. The entire time the conversation had been taking place; I'd been having an internal war. "This can't be real, MLP is just a cartoon! But, this doesn't feel like a dream... What if I'm dead… or in a coma? Should I tell them they are T.V. characters? No that feels wrong, they might freak out if they know how much I know about them.
"Ponies can't talk! That's ridiculous, where are you from, another planet?" Rarity questioned.
I raised an eyebrow, looking at Rarity. "I'm going to go out on a limb and act like this isn't just some sort of messed up dream. In which case, yes I come from another world".
"What are you then?" Twilight asked curiously.
I sighed, "I'm a human, ever heard of us?"
Twilight looked thoughtful, "I'm sure I've heard that name somewhere recently..."
I decided to go with things for now, "Well I might as well give you a quick rundown on humans, the dream should end soon anyway... Well lets see, Humans, scientific name Homo Sapiens, is a bipedal race most closely related to monkeys. Unlike most species we have little to no defensive or attacking mechanisms on our body and rely on our intelligence to survive. We are extremely advanced technologically and are the only truly intelligent species on the planet Earth. There are about 6.6 billion of us, and we are omnivores. Good enough?"
"Did you say, o-o-omnivores?" asked Applejack worriedly.
I facepalmed, "don't worry we don't eat ponies, not even the ones that don't talk, I promise I would never purposefully harm a hair on anypony's head without a good reason"
"B-b-but, you eat animals?" asked Twilight, horrified.
I sighed and laid back down saying, "Our bodies were designed to need a lot of protein, we get it from meat. It is possible to live healthily without meat but you have to eat a lot of the few things that have protein in them like eggs and beans," I opened my mouth and pointed to my canines, "see, these teeth are for eating meat," I then showed them my molars, "and these are for plants, I'll tell you what, as long as this dream goes on, I promise I will not eat any meat, whatsoever, ok?"
The ponies calmed down a little bit, but were still somewhat suspicious.
"I need to send a letter to Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, "And I'm sure I read about humans somewhere, I'll have to do some research."
As Twilight ran off quickly, I stood up and brushed my pants off. Awkward silence ensued as I stood there with the four remaining ponies. I looked up and saw that it was getting pretty late in the day. "Well I suppose you four all have things you need to do, I'm sorry for holding up your day. I can probably find somewhere comfortable enough in the woods around here to sleep".
"That's nonsense" said Applejack quickly, "These woods are filled with all sorts of creatures, you can stay at my place".
"Aren't you worried about what I'll do? You barely even know me! And anyway, I'll probably just wake up back in my old bed at home" I exclaimed
"You need to get that silly notion that your dreaming out of your head, and you seem honest enough, trust me I can tell" Applejack stated.
"T-t-thanks a lot" I said as I yawned loudly.
The ponies quickly said their goodbyes, Rainbow Dash was still eyeing me with suspicion as she flew away. I sighed to myself, knowing that my brief time in Equestria would probably be over as soon as I went to sleep. At least I got to stay at Applejack's farm though, even if it is a dream... Probably.

Applejack and I were quiet for most of the walk, as I looked around, I realized how much more detailed this dream was then MLP was in the show. This sparked another internal argument. "What if this isn't a dream? It has to be! But since when did dreams last this long? And I've never had a dream where I've known I'm dreaming either... But if this isn't a dream what about my parents?" I sighed, "I'll see in the morning I guess".

"What's eating you sugar cube? Applejack asked.
"Sorry Applejack, it's just, if this isn't a dream..." I sighed again.
"How do you know my name!" Applejack surprised asked.
I mentally berated myself for my mistake. Sighing I said to myself, "It would be much easier to lie about this..." I looked up, "Applejack I have something I need to tell you when we get to the barn ok? I need to collect my thoughts.".
Still looking suspicious, she said, "Ok, but you better tell me the truth".
As we walked, I debated how much to tell her, I glanced over at her, I've always had a bit of a crush on the pony, not that I told anyone because it seemed so weird. As we climbed over a hill a beautiful landscape was revealed. As far as the eye could see stood apple trees planted on rolling hills, a small house and barn sat off to the west.
"Wow, I never knew Sweet Apple Acres was so huge!" I exclaimed.
"Its the Apple family pride and joy," Applejack said happily, "wait, how did you know... you better tell me how you know so much about me and my family".
"All in due time" I replied cryptically.

Twilight's house

"Spike did you send that letter yet?" Twilight said as she hurried around the library.

"You've asked me that like 4 times Twilight, of course I have" Spike retorted.
"Sorry Spike, its just, I know I read something about humans just a little bit ago, but I can't remember where!" Twilight was frantically pulling books out of shelves, "Aggghhh, none of these have anything relevant!"
"Ummm Twilight?" Spike said questioningly
"Not now Spike! Can't you see I'm busy?" Twilight was practically shouting.
"Twilight, the princess responded" Spike said.
"Oh, sorry Spike." Twilight ran over and began to read the letter.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, if you have indeed found a human, he could be extremely dangerous. Please keep a very close eye on him at all times. If you are looking for any information on humans, might I recommend looking in a book on mythological creatures or cryptids. To my ever faithful student, Celestia." Twilight finished reading.
"OF COURSE!" Twilight exclaimed, "That book I was reading just this morning!" she ran over to the table where she had set it down. "Let's see, humans, humans, humans, aha! Humans are bipedal creatures of great intelligence, legend has it that they live on another world, but may be sent to Equestria through freak magical accidents. Humans should be considered highly dangerous if provoked, due to their generally power hungry and violent natures. However there are also reports of friendly humans having been found. Human spottings only occur once every few hundred years, and many suspect these are not real cases. Wow, I hope he is one of the nice humans, he didn't seem very hostile. We'll have to check up on AJ tomorrow morning".

Sweet Apple Acres

I sighed as I sat down in the barn. Applejack walked over and stood in front of me: "Ok, now you are gonna tell me why you know my name and where I live".

"Well, where to start. Ummm, so you know I come from a different world than this right?" Applejack nodded, "On Earth, that's where I come from, we have something called television which allows us to watch things on a screen for entertainment kind of like plays but you don't have to actually go to the play, its just in front of you. And, ummm, you guys are kind of a T.V. show on Earth." I nervously laughed.
"So let me get this straight, you people on Earth have a show that people watch centered around me and my friends?" Applejack asked incredulously, "That's kind of hard to believe."
"Well, um, it's kind of considered a little kids show since you are ponies and all, but there is also a big group of older people who love the show." I said.
"And are you part of this group?" she asked.
"Eeyup" I said, (imitating Big Mac of course).
"Did you just do an imitation of my brother?" She said, surprised.
"Eeyup" I repeated.
"I almost forgot to ask! What's your name?" Applejack asked
"The name's Zach, nice to meet you Applejack" I responded
Applejack laughed, "You can call me AJ, all my friends do." she yawned, "Well you seem trustworthy enough, so I'm going to leave you here to get comfortable. I'll introduce you to the Apple family tomorrow, you're just in time for the annual reunion!"
"That sounds like fun. Thanks a lot for giving me a place to sleep AJ" I said as I yawned and lay back on the hay.
"No problem sugar cube, have a nice rest" she walked out the barn door, leaving me to sleep.
"Well this is probably the end of the dream, oh well, it was nice while it lasted" I muttered to myself as I drifted to sleep.

Next morning

I awoke early in the morning, stretching my back and scratching. "Ugg, this hay is scratchy to sleep on" I complained to myself. Wait... Hay, I'm still in Equestria. But that means... What about my family! What the heck is going on? I rocketed out of bed and looked around, the barn was tidy, hay bales stacked neatly in a corner, a set of stairs leading up to a loft. I sat back down on the hay bales to think. Ok, so there were a few possibilities. 1, I'm still dreaming, not very likely, but I can hope. 2, I'm in some sort of coma from the car crash

and this is the result. 3, some sort of magic accident resulted in me being sent to Equestria right before the car crash occurred and healed my leg. Or 4, I was dead, and this was brony heaven. Since I'd mostly given up on the first option, I focused on the other 3. It didn't matter which one, both cases left me with one question. What had happened to my parents? There is no way they could have escaped some sort of injury, were they dead? If not, would they be ok? As these thoughts entered my mind, my composure broke down and I began to cry softly. A few minutes later I heard Applejack come in.
"Rise and shine everyp... You alright Zach?" I looked up and saw her distressed face.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, just give me a little bit" I said softly.
AJ came over and sat next to me, "What's wrong sugar cube?"
A sad smile crept onto my face as I realized that I'd traded my life and maybe my parents for a trip to the one place I'd always wanted to go. "I'll tell you after the reunion, give me a bit to clean up, I don't want to look horrible for all your relatives."
AJ gave me a funny look, but I got up and walked outside.

I looked around at all the trees and took a long deep breath, savoring the clean crisp air. I sighed, determined not to think about my parents again, and looked around for a place to wash. Noticing a stream I went over and took my clothes off, jumping in, I gasped at the cold water. After I had finished washing up I started to climb out,

"Hey there Zach! You ready yet?"
I yelped and leapt back into the stream, "A-Applejack! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Just checking on you, whats wrong?" She asked.
"Well... I'm naked" I said.
"Aaaand?" She said questioningly
"Well, unlike you ponies, we humans don't exactly go around naked, its kind of... embarrassing" I blushed, still covering my privates.
"Oops, sorry Zach" She quickly turned around, "I'll be back at the house if you need me."
Once she was gone I quickly climbed out and got my clothes, damn was she cute when she blushed. I headed back to the farm. When I got to the house, Applejack was nowhere to be seen. I wandered around the farm for a short while, looking at the scenery. I caught a glimpse of red, and turning, met the biggest pony I had ever seen. I walked up to him, "Hello, you must be Big Macintosh".
"Eeyup" He responded, looking me up and down.
"Pleasure to meet you, the name is Zach" I said.
"Eeyup" he repeated.
Just as things were getting awkward, I was saved by Applejack's call of "Hey Zach!".
I turned around quickly, "Hey AJ, just... talking to your brother".
"Howdy Big Mac, sorry for taking so long Zach, just talking with Twilight. The families here, why don't we go meet them".
"Sounds like a plan, you did tell them about my being a human and all, right?" as we started to walk towards the main house.
"Yep, don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll get along great".
We rounded the side of the house and I was greeted by the sight of the largest group of ponies I had seen yet.
Applejack started the introductions, "Howdy ya'll, this here is the human I was telling you about, Zach. Zach this is"
I interrupted her, "Wait let me handle this," I took a deep breath, "Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apple, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom," I picked up a green apple off the table, "aaaand, Granny Smith," taking a bite out of the apple, "and I do believe I see cousin Braeburn hiding in the back there." I smiled and bowed, "Thank you very much."

The Apple family stood there agape, then started clapping. I smiled and turned away as the family members went back to their discussions. Applejack pulled me off to the side.
"How did you do that?" she asked in a whisper
"You are my favorite character, of course I'm going to know your family's names." I said in response, "Oh wait that sounded weird didn't it" I proceeded to facepalm.
Applejack was slightly flustered and confused, "You think I'm the best pony?" she asked.
I sighed, "Well this is awkward, but in response to your question, eeyup."
Applejack crossed her leg over the other, an action so unbearably cute that I nearly said my mental daawwwww out loud.
"Well shucks, that's mighty nice of you," Applejack blushed a bit.
I blushed and said, "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Outhouse is in the back" she said, still blushing.
I quickly moved through the guests, getting the occasional hello. As I entered the outhouse I ran into a serious problem. I wasn't a pony. An odd contraption sat in the middle of the small room. I contemplated how to properly accomplish my task with the least amount of damage, resorting to an odd squat over the "toilet" that got the job done in the end, albeit in an uncomfortable way. After sighing at the lack of toilet paper, I got up and moved back to the party. I talked casually with the guests for a while, I found myself travelling to the snack table repeatedly to sample the astounding assortment of apple based foods, some of which were clearly made for a pony's taste and had to be sneakily thrown away after the first bite. I randomly grabbed a piece of pie from the table and took a bite. "This is positively the best apple pie I have ever tasted, and apple pie is my favorite food, ever." I gasped out as I nearly fainted from the assault of flavors coming into my mouth.
"Well that's quite the compliment sonny, thank you!" Granny Smith said, trotting up to the snack table. "It's an Apple family recipe, made right here at Sweet Apple Acres!"
"Well my compliments to the chef," I replied, "this has to be the best food I have ever had in my life!"
"I'll be sure to tell her." said Granny Smith as she tottered away.
After a few more hours, the gathering finally came to an end. Applejack cantered up to me as the guests slowly drifted off. She yawned and said, "Well, better hit the hay, we had a long day and I wanted to head into Ponyville tomorrow morning".
"Alright AJ, see you in the morning", I slowly made my way over to the barn and lay back down on the hay again. As I lay down to sleep, I thought back on my day. AJ had to be the nicest person I have ever ment. She was everything I wish I was, hard working, dependable, honest, brave. I could tell she cared for everyone she knew too. It is so different here than Earth. Earth... my thoughts drifted back to my parents as my eyes closed.

Twilight Sparkle's house, the early morning of the reunion.

"Spiiiiike, wake up already!" Twilight was practically bouncing as the baby dragon slowly yawned and stretched himself awake.

"What are you in such a hurry about?" he complained.
"I wanted to get over to Applejack's before their reunion started, make sure the human didn't start any trouble." She frowned slightly, "Now hurry up and get on my back.
Spike groaned and climbed up. They quickly galloped through town and made their way to the farm house. Applejack saw them coming.
"Well howdy Twilight, what can I do you for?" she asked.
"Just came to check up on the human," Twilight said, "he isn't causing problems is he? I read this book that said humans could be violent..."
"Well he has been interesting, but definitely not violent. His name is Zach by the way" Applejack said, frowning slightly as she thought of the events earlier in the morning.
"What do you mean, interesting?" Twilight asked quickly.
Applejack proceeded to explain the events of last night, going over how they were some kind of show on Earth that Zach had watched.
"But that's ridiculous," Twilight said, "How is there a show about us on another world?"
"Beats me," said Applejack, "something's wrong though, when I came to wake Zach up this morning he was sitting in his bed crying. I don't know why either and it's bugging me."
"Maybe he misses his home?" Twilight guessed, "He seemed to think this was a dream before, he might be in shock from the travelling. I'll see if Celestia has any ideas on getting him back to Earth. By the way, Pinkie wants to throw him a party tomorrow at Sugar Cube Corner, if you wouldn't mind bringing him."
"Well I best be getting back, gotta get ready for the reunion." Applejack trotted back to the house. Twilight looked back at Spike.
"Spike, take a letter for the princess. She quickly laid out all the information she had gotten from Applejack.
"It's on its way Twi" said Spike, yawning.
Twilight galloped back to Ponyville.

I shot awake out of the hay, sweating profusely. I looked around trying to catch my bearings. Where was I, what was going on? As I calmed down I remembered I was in Applejack's barn. I must have had a nightmare, what had it been about? I thought back but couldn't remember anything. As I lay in bed my thoughts slowly crept back to the car crash and my nightmare flooded back to me. I had been in an emergency room, I could hear doctors talking in the background. "He isn't doing very well, if he doesn't stabilize soon..." one muttered.

"Yeah, his parents are in even worse shape, we aren't sure if they're going to make it". Slowly the voices had faded out until I woke up. Was that a dream? Or was it what was actually happening on Earth? Were my parents dying? I began to sob, trying to be as quiet as I could. After a couple of minutes I heard a knock on the door.
"I'm coming in Zach", it was Applejack. She walked right up next to me and plopped down. She put one of her legs around my shoulder and didn't say anything. Just sat next to me and let my sobs slow down and eventually stop.
"Thanks AJ" I muttered, still crying softly.
"No problem", we sat there for a while in the quiet and I felt myself calm down.
"I might as well tell you what's up I guess" I started.
"You don't have to!" Applejack quickly replied.
I stopped her, "Yes I do, you are my friend and deserve to know." I sighed and gathered my thoughts. I quickly explained the events that took place before my coming to Equestria. "I'm not sure if the dream was real, but I can't help thinking..."
Applejack hugged me and I stopped. We just sat there in silence for a while, I realized just how much I cared for this pony. Finally I looked down. Applejack hesitantly looked up at me and I could see that she had been crying. I was amazed. Back on Earth if you had told someone that a person they didn't know had been tortured to death for no reason a lot of people wouldn't care. Here was this pony, which I had known for two days, crying her eyes out because I had the sneaking suspicion that my parents were dying. I reached down and wiped off a few of her tears, "We better get going, don't want to be late for our visit to visit to Ponyville." She nodded slightly and stood up. As we both walked towards the door she gave me one more worried glance before exiting the barn. I quickly followed. Applejack was standing outside with Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom.
"Hello Apple Bloom, nice to meet you." I said as I walked up, "we didn't get a chance to talk yesterday."
"Hi Zach!" Apple Bloom said cheerfully, "I was wondering, do you have a cutie mark?"
I laughed, "Nope sorry, we humans don't get cutie marks."
"Awww, I thought you could join the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Apple Bloom pouted slightly.
"Well if you ever need help with one of your adventures, just tell me okay?" I ruffled her mane and smiled slightly. Applejack and Big Mac raised their eyebrows at this, but stayed quiet.
"Okay!" said Apple Bloom, perking up again. We all began to walk towards town.

As we came to the edge of town, I couldn't help but be amazed by how big Ponyville really was. From what I had seen of the cartoon I had assumed that it was going to be a small town, but instead it was more like a city. Applejack quickly led the way through town. We split off from Big Mac and Apple Bloom to get done quicker. "First stop, I need to pick up my work duds from Rarity." Applejack said.

"I wonder, do you think she could possibly make some clothes for me, I'm sure these are starting to smell of sweat and I'd like to have at least a couple things I could change into." I walked up to the door next to Applejack.
"Well you might as well ask, I'm guessing she can", Applejack knocked on the door.
"Come in!" came a cheery voice from inside the carousel.
Applejack opened the door and we went inside. Rarity glanced up from her work. "Hello Applejack, it's a pleasure to see you, I just finished up your order," Rarity said with a smile, then spotting me, "And hello to you too…"
"My name is Zach, it's a pleasure to meet you Rarity" I quickly provided.
"Well my-my, aren't we just a gentlecolt. So, what can I help you with darling?" Rarity asked.
"Well, I was wondering if you could possibly make some clothes for me. Unlike ponies we humans wear clothes all the time." I looked down blushing slightly as I remembered the scene at the stream yesterday.
"This is going to be wonderful darling! When I met you I couldn't help but come up with some ideas," she shuffled around at a table for a moment, "Aha here they are, would you like to see them?"
"I'd rather it be a surprise" I said, "though I'd like at least one pair to be sturdier working clothes."
"Well we need measurements!" Rarity said as she floated a tape measure over. I couldn't help but stare, it was the first actual magic I had seen since coming to Equestria.
"What's up Zach?" asked Applejack, noticing my discomfort.
"Oh," I said looking back to the ponies, "it's just, I've never seen magic before."
"What?" responded Rarity, aghast, "Don't they have magic on your world?"
"Nope, not a single bit. We use technology for everything" I stated.
"I can't even imagine," Rarity started softly, "well we better get those measurements."
I walked up and she soon had the tape measure flying all around me, measuring my legs, arms, and shoulders with speedy precision. After a couple minutes she was done.
"Well Zach I should be able to get these done in a couple of days." Rarity said.
"What about payment?" I asked, "I plan to find someplace I can help out, but as of right now…"
"Oh don't worry about it dear, consider it my welcome to Equestria gift." Rarity smiled.
"Thank you so much, it has been a pleasure." I said as we walked out. "What's our next stop AJ?" I asked.
"Well, Big Mac and Apple Bloom should have the rest of the shopping done by now. So we are going to be heading over to Sugar Cube Corner.
"Cool, I've always wanted to try one of Pinkie's cupcakes. Not that it could possibly match up to the apple pie from yesterday." I said.
"You really think so?" Applejack asked.
"Eeyup" I responded
We walked inside, for some reason the lights were off and I couldn't see anything. "Why is it… wait…"
"Surprise!" The lights flew on and I was greeted by the sight of a crowd of ponies in party hats. A pink ball of energy flew across the room and started bouncing up and down in front of me.
"Doyoulikeyourparty?Doyou?SinceyouwerenewIwasalllike" Pinkie Pie was blaring out words faster than an auctioneer, so I took the only logical maneuver and put my hand over her mouth. Muffled noises could be heard for a few more seconds until she realized we couldn't understand her.
"Pinkie Pie, the party is wonderful, thank you very much. Now I'm going to remove my hand, can you talk a bit slower please" I asked. Pinkie nodded and I slid my hand away. Pinkie took a deep breath. I beat her to the punch.
"So AJ, you were in on the surprise party?" I asked
"Twilight asked me to bring you around today." She responded
I sighed and moved off into the party, introducing myself to new ponies. Fluttershy and Twilight were nowhere to be seen, not a big surprise. Rarity was most likely working on my clothes, and Rainbow Dash was off making something 20% cooler. I went over to the snacks after a while, the few times I had eaten since I arrived in Equestria had been at Sweet Apple Acres and had, of course, been apple related foods. There was no way it was a healthy diet. I tried a cupcake, and it blew my mind. "This is the best cupcake I've ever had." I said out loud, not caring who heard.
Applejack trotted up, "Still think that apple pie was better?
"Well of course! I said it was the best cupcake I've ever had, but definitely not as good as the pie." I responded quickly.
Applejack walked off looking happy. As I wandered the party I soon ran into a very human-enthusiastic pony.
"Hey Lyra." I said as I walked up.
"Oh hello, Zach right?" Lyra looked up, "You have to tell me all about Earth and humans they seem so cool!"
I laughed, "They aren't as cool as you think." I gave her a shortened up summary of Earth and humans. "If you're still interested I can tell you more in detail some other time, I better get going, I thought I heard Applejack call me".
"See you later!" Lyra called after me as I walked away.
As I walked up to Applejack she glanced up. "Good to see you and the other ponies get along so well. Pinkie gave me some stuff to deliver to Fluttershy. I was wondering if you'd want to come with, I mean, I understand if you want to stay at the party and all".
"Of course I want to come with, here let me take the bag." I said as I reached over and pulled the bag out of her mouth.
"Thanks" she said as we walked out the door.

We slowly made our way over to Fluttershy's house. I was a nervous about how Fluttershy would react so I made sure I was behind Applejack. Applejack knocked on the door.

"Coming" Fluttershy's usual whisper came from inside. The door opened, "Oh, hi Applejack, how are you?" she spotted me, "Oh, ummm..."
I intervened, "Hello Fluttershy, my name is Zach Hurd and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
She nervously responded, "U-um it's nice to meet you too"
I handed her the bag, "It's from Pinkie Pie." I explained
Fluttershy perked up, "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" She took the bag and rushed over to the table pulling out an assortment of goods. "Angel is such a picky eater. I was almost out of his favorites."
"Well no problem" I said. Applejack and I turned and headed back towards Ponyville.
"Hey Applejack?" I said as we walked.
She glanced up, "What is it sugar cube?".
"Thank you so much for everything," I said pausing, "you are an amazing pony. Me, a creature no one has seen before who shows up and informs everyone he is an omnivore and you give him a place to stay, then comfort him when he's crying even though you haven't even known him for a day." I looked back at her.
She crossed her legs bashfully, "Anypony would have done the same thing."
"No they wouldn't have, on my planet that kind of thing would never happen, even here it takes a special pony to do that kind of thing." I blushed a bit and started walking again in silence.

We met up with Big Mac and Apple Bloom back in the center of town.
"Everypony ready to go?" Applejack asked. We all nodded and began to walk back to the farm. I was in a bad mood, and frowning a bit, I should have known that unlike on Earth, I wouldn't be left alone when I was like that.
"What's the matter Big Z?" asked Apple Bloom.
Now I had been called a lot of things before, but Big Z was definitely not one of them. "Big Z?" I asked, "Where did that come from?".
"Well," said Apple Bloom, "you're even bigger than my brother, and he is the biggest pony I know. What's wrong?"
Smiling I said, "I was just trying to figure out the best way to gobble you up!". I bent down and scooped her up, blowing raspberries on her stomach and tickling her belly. Soon she was helplessly giggling in my arms. I looked up and saw Applejack and Big Mac smiling at me and I blushed a little, embarrassed. Setting Apple Bloom down I said, "Race you the rest of the way!" and took off running.
"No fair!" she shouted and started running after me. I had planned to slow myself down so it would be close the whole way, but I didn't need to. Unlike me, these ponies were built for speed. I sprinted side by side with Apple Bloom, pulling ahead as we neared the house just to stumble on a rock that was sitting in the road. Apple Bloom passed me and was closing in on the house. "I'm going to lose!" I thought, "No, I can't lose to a filly!". I sprinted again, pushing myself harder and slowly gaining on her, as we reached the last 50 feet I realized I wasn't going to make it. I heard Applejack give a shout from behind us, then I saw something that made my heart stop. Coming out of the woods was a manticore, and it was hungry. Unlike the version I had seen in the television show, it was a towering monstrosity that radiated pure menace. The sight of this huge predator caused me to falter. It began to run straight at Apple Bloom, who hadn't noticed it yet. I pushed myself harder, my heart was beating faster than it ever has before, "I need to go faster!" I pushed myself mentally, "Faster," the thing was only feet away, "Faster!", time seemed to slow down to a crawl as it swung a paw at her, I suddenly found myself right next to her and picked her up, time sped back up as the manticore's paw slammed into my back, sending me flying, still holding the little filly. I crashed into the house, I could hear my bones breaking from the impact. Big Mac and Applejack had caught up to us and were fighting the manticore. I saw it send Big Mac flying to the side then turn to Applejack. It picked her up and lifted her into the air. A roaring sound filled my ears, "OH NO YOU DON'T YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I screamed, coughing up blood. I winced in pain and looked up, Applejack was lying on the ground, Big Mac was getting up, limping, and the manticore was nowhere to be seen. I looked down at the little filly I was holding, her eyes glistening as I coughed up yet more blood. "Guess I won the race." I whispered, and then my vision faded to black.

I heard beeping, realizing this was one of my dreams of the hospitals again I lay quietly. I heard doctors discussing in agitated voices. "His condition just took a major dive, it's like he's losing blood, but there aren't any wounds, we aren't sure what to do, just stick it out and hope I guess." one said. I heard another, "The parents are both improving, at about the same time the kid's condition got worse, theirs began to stabilize. I felt myself fading away again.

Twilight Sparkle's house a short while later.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike shouted.

Twilight looked up from the book she was reading, sighing. "Why can't a pony get a little peace and quiet around here" she muttered. She got up and walked into the next room, "What is it Spike?".

"Come quick! It's Zach!" He said running out the door.

"Oh no, did he do something horrible?" she thought as she ran out the door. As she ran into town she found an injured Big Mac and Applejack carrying someone in a stretcher. "What happened she yelled as she ran up."

"We need to get him to the hospital, now." Applejack gasped, out of breath.

Twilight looked in the stretcher and nearly threw up. Zach's body was mangled beyond belief, he had four huge gashes running down his back and she could see rib bones sticking out of the front of his chest. He was coughing up blood and losing more of it out of his back and chest. "I'll take it from here Twilight said, encasing herself and the stretcher in magic and teleporting to the hospital. The doctors looked up in shock as she arrived then saw what she was holding. They quickly sent him into an emergency room and got to work closing the wounds and setting bones. "Will he be ok?" Twilight asked quietly.

"His survival is unlikely if he can't get new blood" said one of the nurses.

"Then give him a transfusion!" Twilight was nearly shouting.

"We can't, we only have pony blood." The doctor sighed.

Applejack rushed in and looked at Twilight with pleading eyes. Twilight just shook her head. Applejack sprinted past them and into the emergency room. The doctor sighed and trotted back in after her. Applejack was leaning on the bed crying over Zach's body. "Come back" she whispered quietly to him, nuzzling his cheek. "Come back!" she started crying harder. The doctor looked away painfully.

It's pitch black, I can't move and my chest is killing me. I feel myself drifting towards sleep until suddenly I hear something. "Come back", the words echo around in the emptiness, I feel something wet on my cheek. "Come back!" the words are more defined this time. Is that... Applejack? I suddenly can see a hospital room, Applejack is crouched over the body of someone, wait is that me? I hear a heart monitor flat lining, am I, dead? Suddenly I'm in another hospital, I can see my parents on two beds next to another bed with me in it. My parents are stirring, but yet again, my heart monitor is flat lining. Suddenly a booming voice enters my head. "CHOOSE" it says. What does it mean choose? My vision flicks back to Applejack now sobbing uncontrollably as the doctors remove the monitors from my body. It flicks back to Earth my parents looking at my bed, horror in their eyes. "CHOOSE". I realized what it wanted. My head was in turmoil. I am so much happier in Equestria, but what about my parents? The presence I can feel seems to consider my thoughts.

"Could I have some time with my parents before I choose?" I ask quietly. I feel myself rising out of the darkness and suddenly there is light.

I open my eyes and look over; I see the doctors dumbfounded faces as I sit up in bed. One manages to stutter out, "How?". I turn to my parents. They look at me at first in disbelief, then joy. I sat there for a moment and came to a decision. I feel so horrible about what I'm about to do. "Mom, dad, I only have a little time here." I said softly. They looked at me confused. "Today I had to make a choice, my parents, or a world which I love with all my heart. I chose that world, I hope you understand. The place I'm going is a much happier place than Earth and I hope you won't worry about me." I felt my vision starting to fade. "I made a deal, looks like my times up. Love you." I fell into darkness.

I felt something splash against my face, opening my eyes slightly I saw Applejack crying over my body. A large group of ponies were gathered around me all looking depressed, even Pinkie Pie's hair had flattened. I decided it was time to get this over with. "Wow, you guys seem pretty down in the dumps, who died?" I asked in a hoarse voice, a feeble attempt at a joke, I know. Applejack looked up, shocked, tears still running down her face, the other ponies were staring at me with wide eyes, out of the corner of my eye I could see Pinkie's hair beginning to puff back up.

"But, how?" asked Applejack quietly, her crying now stopped.
I decided to leave it a little vague for now, "Well I was floating around and I saw how sad you were, and I couldn't stand it, so I came back." I said smiling a little, "Umm, sorry but could you please stop leaning on my chest? It's not exactly in the best shape right now."
Applejack jumped up, an apologetic look on her face. She leaned in, "Later you are going to tell me exactly what happened."
Ponies started crowding in all around me asking me questions. I dodged most of their questions by complaining about my injuries. I quickly gave the excuse that I needed some sleep and would speak to them all again tomorrow, the doctors insisted that I stay in the hospital due to my injuries, even if they were no longer life-threatening. As I lay in the too-small bed I stared at the ceiling, wondering if I had made the right choice.

Applejack's POV

"He's alive, he's alive, he's alive!" the thought kept resonating through her head as they took him back to the hospital. She was still crying, but now they were tears of joy. Twilight trotted over.

"What happened today" she said in a serious voice.
"We were on our way home," Applejack said quietly, "he was racing Apple Bloom. She had gotten ahead of him and a manticore came out of the woods".
"A manticore! What was it doing? They never come out of the woods!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I don't know, but it was almost to Apple Bloom and Zach just kind of, disappeared. The next thing I knew he had her in his arms and the manticore hit him." Applejack winced as she remembered the force of the blow.
Twilight was confused, "Wait, he disappeared, you mean he teleported? That shouldn't be possible, Rarity said that humans didn't have magic and..."
Applejack interrupted her, "Let me finish. Big Macintosh and I caught up to the manticore and tried to get it back in the woods. It knocked my brother down, then picked me up. I heard Zach shout something, I looked over and he was glowing blue, and he looked furious. The next thing I knew I was falling to the ground and the manticore was gone."
Twilight was freaking out, "So you're telling me that he can use magic! That's amazing! I'll have to tell Celestia at once!"
Applejack just sighed, "I hope he is ok."
Twilight ran off, looking for Spike. Applejack gave one last look to the hospital before heading home.

My POV

I woke up to the sight of a hospital ceiling. After remembering where I was, I looked around. My chest was still hurting, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad. A doctor walked into the room and looked up. "Good to see you're awake," he said, "well, I have no idea how or why, but your condition seems to have improved drastically, and I can let you out now. Make sure you are careful with your ribs for the next few weeks, you don't want to damage them again". As I was walking out the door, the doctor handed me a package. "Rarity was here earlier, she said to give these to you". I thanked him and walked out the door. I looked up just in time to see a large gray object flying straight towards me. It crashed into me and I fell to the floor. I looked up and found myself looking an enormous pair of very crossed eyes.

"Sorry about that I don't know what happened." A slurred voice came from above me.
"That's okay, nice to meet you, my name is Zach". I responded, rubbing my aching chest.
"My names Ditsy Doo. Did you say Zach? I have a letter around here somewhere..." she reached into her bag, "Aha! Here you go". She handed the letter to me.
"Well thanks a lot Ditsy, I'll see you around." I smiled as she flew away, "Now I wonder what this letter is?". I looked down and quickly opened it.
Dear Zach,
I have heard quite a bit about you and would be very pleased if we could meet each other some time in the immediate future. Please contact my student Twilight Sparkle in regards to the meeting.
Princess Celestia
I gaped at the letter in my hands, an invitation to meet the ruler of all Equestria? I wasn't that important was I? I made up my mind to go back to Applejack's, wash up and get my new clothes on, then talk to Twilight. As I began to walk I must have still looked dumbfounded because a rainbow streak whipped around me and came to a halt.
"Whatsup?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in front of me.
"Just had a run in with Ditsy Doo. By the way, I never got the chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Zach, and you, of course, are the famous Rainbow Dash, whose presence makes my day at least 20% cooler." I layered the flattering on a bit thick in hopes to start off on a good foot... hoof.
"Well, I am pretty awesome," said Rainbow Dash, thrusting her chest out, "I've gotta go practice for the upcoming best young flier contest, which of course, I'm sure to win. See yah" she flew away.
As I walked to the outskirts of town I saw Pinkie Pie unicycling past while balancing a box on her nose, nearly running into a few people as she rode along the street. I slowly trudged my way over the hills and approached the farm. I decided to stop at the stream on my way and wash up. After a quick scrub I climbed out and walked over to grab my new clothes from Rarity.
"Zach!" I heard a shout from behind as I reached to grab my clothes. The next thing I knew I was being enveloped in a warm hug.
"Umm, AJ?" I whispered, I could feel heat emanating from my cheeks, "I'm naked...". I felt her let go and jump back. I quickly pulled on my new clothes, thankful they fit well. I turned around to see Applejack facing the other way. "Ok, I'm dressed now" I said.
"I'm so sorry, its just.." she turned around, blushing furiously, "I was so happy to see you were ok and I didn't think."
"It's ok," I chuckled softly, "it's good to see you too. How's Apple Bloom?"
"Big Macintosh took her home before you woke up, I told them the news last night" she turned towards the house, "Apple Bloom! Somepony here wants to see you!" after a few seconds I saw a yellow and red streak fly out of the house.
"Big Z!" Apple Bloom yelled as she leapt into my arms, she nuzzled my chest as I pet her for a few seconds. She looked up with teary eyes, "I'm so happy you're ok, I thought that you died." She broke down into tears.
"It's ok Apple Bloom," I whispered, stroking her mane, "how could I possibly die when somepony so cute is waiting for me. Besides, I didn't want your big sister to beat me up for making you sad." Her sobs slowly died and I hugged her for a while. I looked up and saw Applejack giving me a knowing smile. I blushed and set Apple Bloom down. "What happened to the manticore anyway? I saw it grab you and then when I looked again it was just... gone."
"You mean you don't know?" asked Applejack incredulously.
"All I really remember is seeing you get picked up, getting really angry, and then it disappeared!" I said, "How should I know what happened?"
"You did that!" Applejack explained, "You were doing magic! How do you think you reached Apple Bloom in time?"
"I don't know, adrenaline I guess." I said.
"You teleported! Then when the manticore grabbed me you teleported it away!" she gave me an odd look, "Are you sure you don't remember?
"Definitely not ringing a bell," I said, "I'm a human, how could I do magic? Speaking of magic, I'm supposed to meet Princess Celestia later."
"The princess!" Applejack exclaimed, "Well I suppose it only makes sense. When are you leaving?"
"As soon as I get back to town." I responded.
"Well Apple Bloom and I will accompany you" she said and we began to walk back towards Ponyville.

We walked along the dirt road, Apple Bloom playing a little way in front of us.

We trod along the path in silence for a while; a quiet sniffle from Applejack caught my attention. "What's eating you sugar cube?" I asked, mimicking her question to me from days ago.
"Thank you so much," she said softly, "If anything had happened to Apple Bloom..."
I shuffled my feet, "Anypony would have done the same in my position" I said, embarrassed.
Applejack interrupted me, "No, they wouldn't have. Most ponies would have frozen in fear at the sight of a manticore, or even run away".
"Well I certainly was scared, but I would never let anything hurt Apple Bloom or any other pony I cared for" I said.
"Which is exactly why you are special," Applejack said as she looked up, "you are willing to put aside your fears to protect others". The rest of the way to Ponyville was spent in silence.

A/N

I wrote these first four chapters before I built up the nerve to post this :), hopefully if you have read this far it means I'm not doing a horrible job. My thanks to you for taking your time to read my fanfic. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated, be they negative or positive I just want to become a better writer. I did not write in Applejack's accent because I personally find it annoying when people do, I'm sorry if this made her feel out of character. Thanks again for reading, I will probably post Ch. 5 within the next couple of days. Summer is here everypony!

End A/N

A/N

My thanks to Pheonix, Pinkamena, and Eric for the reviews, I didn't expect any on the first day! I found myself with some spare time and managed to write another chapter. And so the adventure continues!

End A/N

We walked along the dirt road, Apple Bloom playing a little way in front of us. As we trod along the path in silence, a quiet sniffle from Applejack caught my attention. "What's eating you sugar cube?" I asked, mimicking her question to me from days ago.
"Thank you so much," she said softly, "If anything had happened to Apple Bloom.."
I shuffled my feet, "Anypony would have done the same in my position" I said, embarrassed.
Applejack interrupted me, "No, they wouldn't have. Most ponies would have frozen in fear at the sight of a manticore, or even run away".
"Well I certainly was scared, but I would never let anything hurt Apple Bloom or any other pony I cared for" I said.
"Which is exactly why you are special," Applejack said as she looked up, "you are willing to put aside your fears to protect others". The rest of the way to Ponyville was spent in silence.
We arrived at Twilight's treebrary and knocked on the door. "Coming!" came Twilight's excited voice. She opened the door, "Oh thank goodness you are here, I have so many questions, please come inside". I nervously walked in, nearly hitting my head on the short door. Twilight led us to an open area, "Please make yourselves comfortable," Twilight said, "Before we discuss the visit to Celestia I wanted to talk to you myself."
"Alright," I said, sitting down, "what's up?"
Twilight produced a notebook and a pencil, "We'll start off with some basic questions about humans" she scribbled a few things in her notebook then looked up, "Okay, first things first, you are a male, correct?"
I quickly nodded, slightly embarrassed, "You can't tell?"
"I assumed, but you can't be too sure" she responded quickly, "Okay second, how old are you?"
"17 years old" I said, sighing as the discussion brought my thoughts back to life on Earth.
Twilight and Applejack both raised an eyebrow at my answer. "What?" I asked, "I'm not that young!"
Twilight hurriedly moved on, "So then, what's your species' average life span?"
"I think it's something like 67 years or so, I don't really remember." I responded with uncertainty. At this, Twilight and Applejack looked at me with horrified eyes. "Seriously what is it?" I asked, a little angry this time.
"You only live 67 years?" Twilight asked incredulously.
"Well the average isn't a very good number to look at," I said, "the number is a bit off because there are a lot of people who live to be about 100 years old and a lot of people who die around my age, or younger. Why? How long do you live?"
"We live for hundreds of years, babies are pretty rare occurrences, the class at school is the largest it has ever been before. As for me, Applejack, and the other Elements of Harmony, our lives seem to be extended by our constant connection to the magic, I'm still trying to figure out the extent of the effect." Twilight realized she was getting off track, "Wait did you say people your age and younger die? Why? They're just babies, don't you take care of them?" Twilight seemed distressed and slightly angry.
I sighed and looked down, my recently lost depression coming back full force. "I'm going to tell you this bluntly, I'm not sugar coating it. Earth can be a horrible place, humans are constantly killing each other, thousands die each day from drug abuse, huge portions of the population are starving, while another huge portion is obese. There are good people on Earth, but it is also has rapists, murderers, thieves, con artists, drug dealers, and people who will stop at nothing to gain power. You're world is so... innocent, when Discord took over Equestria, you ponies lost hope looking at the chaos. Many people on our planet would gladly trade everything they have to be in that world. Even as it rained chocolate milk, the gravity worked differently, the animals transformed, and the sun and moon rose and fell seemingly at random, you didn't have to worry about being mugged or killed while walking down a street, you didn't have to lock your doors at night, or worry about where your next meal was going to come from." I was crying gently, "You didn't have to worry about being hit by a drunk driver while driving along the road... I admit I have not had the worst life on Earth, not by a long shot, there are people who would see my life as a paradise, but happiness can be a hard thing to come by on Earth and I still have my issues. Coming to Equestria made me start to forget those problems. But I'm worried about my parents, how are they taking it?" I broke down and told them what had happened when I had been dying.
The two ponies were looking at me in horror; they couldn't imagine the kind of place I was talking about. As the silence stretched on, my fears began to rise. Had I alienated the ponies? After all my talk of Earth, would they be able to trust me? I stood up and mumbled, "I need some time" before walking out of the door.

Applejack's POV

Zach stood up and mumbled out, "I need some time" before quickly heading out the door into Ponyville. The two ponies just sat there for a while in shock. "Earth sounds so horrible" Twilight muttered sadly, "how could anypony stand living in such a dreadful place?"
"I don't know," responded Applejack, "but somehow humans do, they deal with their horrible world and still find the strength to be kind, and caring. Somepony, or somebody, who has seen the pain of the world and are still able to give and care for others is truly wonderful creatures." Applejack stood up, "I'm going to go and find him". She walked out of the treebrary.
I wandered aimlessly through Ponyville for a while. The streets were deserted, I wasn't entirely sure why but I appreciated it I didn't want to talk right now. I found a small park and lay down, looking up at the sky. I had been given a new start in this wonderful world, a place I had only dreamed about, and I may have just ruined my chances at befriending the ponies. I let tears stream down my face, I'd been doing that a lot lately, back on Earth I tried to keep everything bottled up so no one would notice, but it felt good to let it all out. After lying there for an indefinite amount of time, I heard hooves approaching. I didn't bother to look up and just continued to lie there. Suddenly I heard a thump as someone dropped down beside me. After a few minutes of silence I spoke up, "I understand if you don't want a human around Ponyville, we do all sorts of horrible things and..."
I was quickly cut off, "That's nonsense sugar cube, of course we want you around, you can't take all the blame for the bad things humans have done. You willingly gave up your life to save my sister, and that is the most courageous, selfless thing I have ever seen anypony do. Look at Spike! He's a dragon, but he is also a great friend, your species can't limit who you are. You say humans are terrible, but from what I've seen you have only done things that have helped others. Twilight and I were just a little shocked at your speech," Applejack hugged me, "come back to the treebrary, you still need to visit Celestia remember?".
We held the hug for a while. I let go and stood up, "Thanks AJ, I guess I just needed to vent." I reached down and helped her up, "Shall we go then?" Applejack nodded and we walked back to Twilight's.
When we got back to the treebrary we were greeted by Twilight and quickly moved back inside. Twilight seemed slightly anxious after the earlier events but soon spoke up, "Well I have decided to delay further questions until the meeting with Celestia, are you ready to go?"
"Is AJ coming with?" I asked.
"If she wants to she can" Twilight looked over at Applejack.
"Sure, Big Macintosh is doing the apple bucking today so I'm free" Applejack walked over.
"Spiiiike!" shouted Twilight, Applejack and I winced at the volume of the shout. Soon the baby dragon could be seen coming down the stairs rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Take a message for the princess please," said Twilight, pausing as Spike brought out parchment and a quill, "Dear Celestia, I will arrive shortly with Zach and Applejack, we will meet you in the throne room. Your faithful student, Twilight". The small dragon quickly sent the message, still waking up.
"Nice to meet you Spike, my name is Zach" I walked up and held my hand out for the dragon to shake, wondering how many times I had introduced myself in these past few days.
Spike finally noticed my presence, "Oh, h-h-hi" he yawned slowly.
Suddenly a purple glow enveloped the four of us and I found myself blinded by a flash of light. The next thing I knew I was standing in a huge room made of glistening marble. "Can you please give a warning when you are going to do that Twilight?" complained Applejack, "I have spots in my eyes."
"Sorry, I just was so excited to get to see Princess Celestia again, we have so much to talk about!" Twilight's mood wasn't changed by Applejack's complaint. In fact, she was so enthusiastic I thought I was looking at a purple Pinkie Pie. I looked up from the two ponies and right into the eyes of Princess Celestia. She radiated a comforting motherly love; her face had a slight smile at the sight of her students antics. By now Twilight had noticed her presence, "Princess!" she squealed, "I brought Zach like you said, I have so many things to tell you, all sorts of crazy things happened!" she said the words so fast they were nearly illegible.
Celestia smiled softly then said in a soothing voice, "Calm down Twilight" she then turned to me, "It is my pleasure to welcome you to Equestria Zach, I hope you find your time here enjoyable."
Unsure how to respond to the leader of all Equestria, I bowed low saying, "The pleasure is all mine your majesty".
Celestia gave a light laugh, "There is no need to be so formal Zach, you may call me Celestia".
I quickly righted myself, "Then thank you Celestia, it is an honor". I still didn't feel quite comfortable talking to the ruler of a country as if she were just another person, or rather, pony.
Celestia sighed slightly at my continued tone of formality but decided to move on. "So Zach, I hear you had quite the interesting experience the other day in Ponyville".
I sighed, "Interesting is one way of putting it, your ma... Celestia".
Celestia laughed again, "Twilight informed me of what had happened but I was wondering if I could hear it from you, just in case any details were missed". Twilight pouted at Celestia's implication that her work may not have been perfect.
"Of course Princess Celestia" I said, "It's kind of a long story, do you have anywhere we could possibly sit?" The next thing I knew cushions had appeared underneath us. I settled myself into the cushion, getting comfortable before looking up. "Ok where to begin" I muttered. We spent the next 30 minutes or so discussing my story, Applejack and Twilight jumped in when we reached the time I spent unconscious, however when it came to my sudden return to the world of the living, they looked back to me. I sighed and gave Celestia the same explanation I had given them back at the treebrary.

I had been paying close attention to Celestia as the story had progressed and had noticed her slight frown when we had reached my using of magic when the trouble with the manticore had occurred. As I told her of my revival, the tale of which she had not heard until now, her frown deepened, making me extremely nervous. I finished my tale and waited for Celestia to speak.
"I need to check something Zach, it will require me to use magic on you, do you mind?" she spoke quickly as she looked up.
"N-n-not at all" I said, revealing my inner nervousness in a stutter.
I felt her magic envelope me, after a few seconds her frown deepened even further, a quick glance at Applejack and Twilight showed me that they were nervous too. I felt adrenaline start to kick in as my mind ran through every possible horrible situation that could possibly happen here, many of the scenarios involved the moon. Celestia released me and stepped back. "You do not have the capacity to use magic" she stated as she sat back down on the cushions.
I was shocked, "But I thought Applejack said I did?" I blurted out.
Applejack interjected quickly, "I watched him, He saved our lives!".
Celestia cut in quickly, "I can not say for sure what happened, but he does not have the capacity to hold or use magic. As for the voice he heard... I will have to investigate further." She quickly galloped out of the room, leaving Twilight, Applejack, and I stunned. I looked down and saw that Spike had fallen asleep on his cushion, just how much did that little dragon sleep?
"Well that's just dandy" Applejack muttered, "Now what do we do?"
"I guess we go back" Twilight said sadly, "And I was looking forward to talking to her too."
Twilight quickly gathered up her magic around us, I remembered just in time to close my eyes before the flash of light came and we arrived back at the treebrary.
I looked outside and realized that most of the day still remained. I turned to Twilight, "Soooo, what should I do now?"
"I imagine Celestia will be researching for some time, you should probably try and settle down, get to know the other ponies." she sighed as she picked Spike up off the floor, still sleeping. "I'll contact you as soon as I get a letter from Celestia".
I turned to look at Applejack, "You said earlier that you didn't have any plans for today, mind giving me an extended tour of Ponyville?"
"Not at all sugar cube" Applejack responded, her mind still clearly on the meeting with Celestia. We walked out of the treebrary, leaving Twilight to do... well whatever it is Twilight does during the day, reading probably.

A/N

I wrote most of the first part in a pretty bad mood but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I've got a pretty clear idea where I want to take the story now which should help me write quickly. Thanks again to my 3 reviewers, and thanks to all the people out there who make this a world worth living in. I've got to take my SAT tomorrow, (wish me luck), and will have a pretty busy Sunday but I'll try and find some time to write. Until my next update, love and tolerate!

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A/N

Flamesinger, I totally agree that sentence was horribly worded and I changed it immediately. Which brings me to my next issue. I have limited access to this computer, I have to share it which means that when I do have it I'm usually writing pretty quickly to try and maximize that time. Would you as readers prefer me to take the extra time to thoroughly go over my work and make changes to it or would you prefer me to keep up a quicker pace on chapter releases?

Freedom, I also agree, meat is awesome. I was actually thinking about how I should implement it when I first read your review. I understand that one does not simply give up on our more... carnivorous behaviors easily and had/have plans for meat to be a part of the story.

Finally I would like some other feedback from readers, should I add more OC or try and limit it? Also what are your takes on the ponyfication of humans in HiE fics, I've been debating both these things for some time and was wondering what your thoughts were. I've been talking for long enough now, so here is the next chapter.

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We left the treebrary and immediately found ourselves in the hustle of lunchtime traffic. I was amazed at the amount of ponies I saw, the center of town was a kaleidoscope of colors as they rushed to and fro. "Where did all these ponies come from?" I asked, "Before we left the streets were empty!" We began to walk towards the town square and I soon found myself receiving odd looks from the few ponies that I hadn't met at Pinkie Pie's party.
Applejack looked up as we waded into the crowd, "Well ponies have jobs you know. How else are we supposed to make a living?"
I realized the logic of what she said, until now I'd never really thought about what a normal ponies day to day life would be like. "So where should we head to first?" I asked as we drifted through town.
I heard Applejack's stomach growl and she began to speak, "Well I haven't eaten yet so how does lunch sound?"
I made a noncommittal noise, the thoughts of more pony food making my stomach churn slightly. It wasn't bad, not by a long shot, but as I looked at the menu for the cafe we entered I couldn't help but crave some kind of meat. The thoughts of steak and roasts filled my mind as we sat and I found myself salivating. I had been bothered by the cravings for meat over the past few days but had always pushed the thoughts aside. I looked down at the menu again, quickly skipping over all of the flower based items. Only a few things appeared to be edible and I sighed.
The waiter came up to our table, "What may I get you two today?" he said. I thought I recognized him from the party.
Applejack gave me a look and I motioned for her to go, "Well I'll have a daisy sandwich", she looked up at me.
"I guess I'll have oatmeal with blueberries," I groaned as I leaned back in my chair. The waiter quickly scribbled down our orders and walked back into the cafe. "What I wouldn't give for a cheeseburger" I mumbled to myself.
"What's a cheeseburger?" asked Applejack.
I winced as I realized she had heard me, "Umm, just a type of food we had back on Earth".
Applejack frowned slightly but was soon distracted as the waiter returned with our orders. She dug into her sandwich as I half heartedly poked at my oatmeal.
"You going to eat that?" Applejack asked, already done with her own meal.
"No, you can have it" I said and pushed the bowl over to her; she began to eat again.
I stared at the sky for a few minutes, watching the few clouds that the pegasi had missed drift around gently.
"That really hit the spot" Applejack said, patting her stomach, "Are you going to be fine without lunch?"
"Yeah I'm not hungry" I said, my stomach chose this time to growl loudly. I glanced up nervously but Applejack hadn't heard. "So what's our first stop on the tour?" I asked as she paid the waiter and stood up. I grimaced as I realized how much I had been depending on charity lately.
"Well I was thinking we could start out at the schoolhouse and work our way around town from there." Applejack responded as we walked out from the restaurant. We quickly approached the small building where school was held.
As we approached the small building I asked Applejack a question that had been bothering me, "What kind of classes do they have here?".
"Math, a little bit of science, reading, history, and there's a special class for the unicorns about magic too" Applejack replied as we entered the classroom.
I looked around, the room was bigger than I had expected after seeing the outside. As I looked around the room I realized Cheerilee was sitting at her desk writing something. She looked up, "Oh hello Applejack, and Zach right?" she said, dropping the pencil.
Applejack and I walked up to her desk. "Yep, just taking a tour of the town" I said. An awkward silence began to stretch out and I quickly asked, "So how are the kids doing?".
"Everyone is doing great! Snails and Snips have been doing a lot better lately," she said happily and turned to Applejack, "Apple Bloom really is a very bright filly, she has A's in all of her classes". "Though I doubt Diamond Tiara would be passing without Silver Spoon's help" she mumbled.
I realized I probably hadn't been supposed to hear the last comment and chose to ignore it. "That's good, I hope you have a wonderful day" I said, as we were walking out I turned around, "By the way, I'd be interested to talk to you about science and math some time, just to see how they compare to what humans learn in school". Cheerilee looked excited at the prospect and waved goodbye as we stepped outside.

"Where to next?" I asked.
"I figure we can just wander through town and I'll explain what everything is as we walk". Applejack said. The streets were starting to clear out again as the lunch rush ended. We wandered around town for a while, occasionally stopping at a store. As we walked up to the town hall Applejack turned to me, "Have you talked to the mayor yet?" she asked, "If you are going to be staying here it would probably be a good idea".
"No I haven't" I said, "Might as well get it over with". I walked up to the door and knocked. A small dark brown earth pony, probably a secretary, answered me.
She stepped back in shock after noticing me but still asked, "How may I help you?"
"I was wondering if I could talk with the mayor. I recently have... moved into Ponyville." I replied.
"Oh you must be Zach" said the small pony, "The mayor had plans to look for you later, this makes things easier. Come inside". I turned and gave a questioning look to Applejack but she just motioned for me to go in. I ducked through the door and found myself in a generic secretary's office. "One moment" the pony said, poking her head into another room. I heard the sounds of muffled conversation and the pony turned back to me. "Go right in" she said as she sat down at her desk, "The mayor is waiting".
I walked through the door and was greeted by another oddly familiar sight. Paintings of previous mayors lined the walls and ornate woodwork filled the room. The mayor sat at a dark wooden desk towards the back of the room. She looked up, "Just the pon... human I was hoping to meet".
I walked up to the desk and crouched down on the floor. It was a bit awkward but I had grown used to it since none of the ponies had any chairs. "What did you want to see me about?" I asked.
"Well since you appear to have become a citizen of Ponyville, it is my job to make sure you are settling in" she said, "You are staying at Applejack's home right now, correct? What are your plans for the future?"
It struck me that I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do now that I was here. "Well, I guess I'll try to find a job, maybe helping out at Sweet Apple Acres. Once I have enough bits I'll probably build my own place somewhere. Don't get me wrong, your houses and buildings are well built, just a bit... small" I realized as I said it that the amount of lumber that goes into a human house would probably be extremely expensive here in Equestria.
"Well it sounds like you have a plan laid out. Remember if you ever need any help, just ask" the mayor said, looking back down at the papers on her desk. She didn't say anything more and I took that as a sign that I could go. I walked back outside and looked around. Applejack was nowhere to be seen. I started to walk in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres when I heard a call of "Look out!" I looked up and saw a flash of bright color inches from my face.

I groaned and opened my eyes. "What happened?" I mumbled, rolling over and pushing myself off the ground.
"Sorry about that! I was working on a new trick and I lost control. Luckily you broke my fall or I might have gotten hurt." I recognized the voice immediately. I opened my eyes and was greeted by Rainbow Dash's face hovering a few inches from mine. "You okay?"
I reached up and felt the side of my head, wincing at the large bump forming there. "Yeah just swell" I said, taking a step back, "Do you know where I can get an ice pack?"
"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused.
I realized that without electricity the ponies must not have freezers. "Never mind," I poked my head again; the bump was getting pretty large. I sighed, "I'll deal with it. By the way do you know where Applejack went?"
"She said she had something she needed to do back at Sweet Apple Acres" Rainbow Dash snorted, "That pony works too much, this past week is the most I've ever seen her in town".
I realized I had probably been keeping Applejack from her apple bucking, "I'll help her with it tomorrow, how hard could it be?" I thought. I looked up at Rainbow Dash who was beginning to fly away, "What should I do about this bump?" I asked.
"Go talk to Fluttershy! She helps me out whenever I get hurt in a crash. I gotta go practice some more, see yah!" The pegasus shouted out, Dash had already flown away before I could respond. As my head slowly began to throb I decided to take her advice and made my way out of town. I walked up to the door of Fluttershy's cottage and knocked.
"One moment" came a soft call from inside. The door opened and Fluttershy stood there, "Umm, hello Zach, what are you here for?" she saw the large lump on the side of my head, "Oh my, you're injured! Quick come in, I'll make something to help with the swelling, lay down on the cushions in the corner. Or umm, that is, if you want to" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"That's why I'm here, thanks a lot Fluttershy," I said, walking in and sitting down. Fluttershy quickly gathered up herbs from around her house, grinding them into some kind of paste.
"What happened?" she asked as she ground the herbs.
"Rainbow Dash messed up in a trick and flew into me," I said, resting my head against the wall.
Fluttershy sighed, "I've had ponies in here every day of the week. I don't know who is worse, Dash or that Ditsy Doo".
"What about the normal doctors? Don't people go to them?" I asked as Fluttershy dabbed some of the paste on my bruise.
"The hospital only really does emergencies like when Rainbow Dash broke her wing. They don't work with bruises and cuts. There, all done! The swelling should go down within the next hour or so." Fluttershy said as she stepped back. I was surprised at how much she had talked. Suddenly a small white bunny bounced in through the back door. "Oh, what is it Angel?" Fluttershy asked, the bunny hopped up and down and pointed at its stomach, "Oh! I'm really sorry Zach but I need to feed some of the animals, it's dinner time". She hurried off and I was left alone. I got up and walked back outside. As the day had gone on I had felt more and more like baggage to the ponies so I decided I should follow through on what I had told the mayor and try and get a job at Sweet Apple Acres. I began to walk. The sun was starting to set on Ponyville; I could see a few ponies in the distance making their way to their homes. Ditsy Doo was swerving through the sky, nearly hitting a few buildings as she flew back to Cloudsdale. I thought about my day and was surprised when I realized how many similarities there were between a day back in my home town and a day here. The ponies all did the same things we did on Earth, the only real difference was that they were nicer to each other. The result was a peaceful world filled with happier people. My mood darkened a bit at thoughts of Earth but as I walked I wondered if humans could achieve this kind of harmony if we simply made more of an effort to accept each other. Before I knew it I had arrived back at the orchard. I knocked on the door to the house and opened it. Big Mac, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Applejack were all seated at the dinner table getting ready to eat.
"There you are Zach! What in tarnation took you so long?" Applejack said as I walked in.
"I had a bit of a run in with Rainbow Dash, ended up going to Fluttershy's". I said as I sat down at the plate they had placed at the end of the table.
Applejack rolled her eyes and sighed. We all began to eat; thankfully there were chunks of hard-boiled egg in the salad. It wasn't meat, but it was better than nothing.
"Sorry about leaving earlier" Applejack said, "I wasn't sure how long you would be talking to the mayor and Big Mac has been doing most of the apple bucking lately so I came home to help out".
"That reminds me, is there any way I could possibly help out around here?" I asked, "I've been living on charity since I got here so I want to find some way to repay you".
"My sisters life is worth more than some room in our barn and some food," Applejack said, looking over at Apple Bloom who was still busy eating her food. I opened my mouth to protest but Applejack cut me off, "But if you insist I'm sure we could find a way for you to help out" she and Big Mac looked at me appraisingly, "Ever bucked and apple tree before? With your... body it might be a little challenging".
"No but I'm willing to try" I said as I got up and put my plate away.
"Bucking starts at dawn, make sure you are up in time" Applejack said as she got up.
"Shouldn't be a problem," I replied, "I've always been an early riser. I think I'm going to hit the hay early, my head is still sore from its introduction to Rainbow Dash". The Apples all said good night and I made my way out to the barn. I found a mattress in the corner with a note on it.
Apple Bloom managed to find a spare mattress somewhere, she said something about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and an adventure, I didn't ask for details.
I lay down and was surprised at how comfortable it was. I reminded myself to thank Apple Bloom in the morning and drifted off to sleep.

A/N

This chapter was a bit slower, I've got some things planned out for the next couple of chapters and I hope you continue to read. My thanks to anyone who has or will review, good reviews make my day and any constructive criticism on my writing would be greatly appreciated.

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