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.