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That Orange Colored Sky

by SnarkySandwich


Chapters


Chapter 0 - Ain't That a Kick in the Head

I was walking along, minding my business

When out of an orange-colored sky

Flash! bam! alakazam!

"Okay, left, right, back left, back right," I said to myself, "I can get this, if I can figure out vector calculus I can walk like a damn pony!"

Maybe I should back up a bit.

The path to school was a short and easy one. There weren't any real obstacles and there wasn't much traffic. Walking back home from school, I absentmindedly decided to cross the road while attempting to find out what the rhythm that was stuck in my head was from, while little did I know when I felt 2 tons of metal going around 40 miles an hour in my side, that I should have probably spent less time trying to figure out what song someone decided to get stuck in my head, and more time paying attention to what a red light meant.

To back up even farther, I'm a 16 year old kid that has nothing really to do except go to school, home, computer, school, home computer and so on. One day, and I feel the immense need to say this, one of the girls I usually hang out with at the library decided to make me watch an episode of My Little Pony, as apparently she was a brony (I refuse to recognize the word 'pegasister' as a term), after the one episode, I got hooked. [You do know most people would prefer an exposition as such to be told in the PRESENT.]

Over time we really kind of drifted apart as we never really got to see each other since after school, I'm basically locked down. Huh, 16-25 years old, tragic accident, some background including My Little Pony, kind of makes you think I'm talking about a terrible self insert fan fic. I could explain more about my self but there's no use going on about that.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand, after I got hit by that truck, something very peculiar happened, instead of watching my vision go flying into the street, I instead saw, right as I got hit, a flash, and then nothing, it would happen that I slipped into an area of complete emptiness, a void if you would. Now, it wasn't pitch black, simply empty. In darkness you feel that there is something there, but you simply can't see it. Here, it gives you the physical feeling of, well, nothing. I couldn't move, I couldn't actually breath, there was no sense of time, I could only observe, which was dreadfully boring as observing NOTHING isn't really the best way to spend the afternoon, or was it night? I couldn't tell anymore, whether I had been there for an hour or for a year. When suddenly there was finally a 'hostile takeover' of black coating the whole void of the area like a bucket of paint thrown against a wall... of nothing [way to mess up that metaphor].

Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that there is a little part of me that constantly will not shut up about how stupid I can be sometimes. It's that part of myself which does a little too much self-depreciation to the point that I start arguing with myself.

I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested...

Getting back to the subject, after an unmeasurable amount of time, it felt as if the whole universe had started flowing once again.

Chapter 0 - Ain't that a kick in the Head

*CONK*

My eyes shuttered weakly. My whole body felt as if my whole being got compressed into an enclosed space. That or I had a massive headache. Also, for some reason my head was essentially planted to the ground. I lifted my head up which took a lot more effort than I thought it should have and took a look at where I was.

"Why does it seem like everything around me just got a whole lot more... pastel looking." I wondered, "Well let's take a look at what might be the cause of this. Strangely unwelcoming forest to my back with glowing red eyes which albeit intimidating, are a nice aesthetic touch, a mountain with a castle with golden spires and waterfalls flowing through it an- oh god I'm in Equestria aren't I." I said to myself. I used my knowledge of the ever so familiar mountain castle and town that I was staring at to deduce that I was somehow taken from being hit by a truck to getting to Eqeustria. I decided to simply mark this off as magic, as I never really learned M-theory well enough to even bother explaining it to myself.

The area where I was standing was a road that lied between the edge of the Everfree forest and Ponyville around according to the sun, midday. The path was weathered and the path leading to Ponyville was long and bumpy, also, I had somehow became incredibly starved. "Well, no use tarrying on here! If anything has told me anything, it's that humans in Equestria usually means some huge shit's going to happen or it's absolute god send!" I said once again to no-on- er, pony. I thought to myself, what was the first thing that everyone always did in situations like this. Visit the mane cast of course! So, my first objective would be to get to Ponyville, hang out a bit with a few ponies, learn values of friendship and so on and get on home.

Twilight would be able to find out some way to get me back home, at least that's what every story so far has told me. I decided I should probably stop by her's first since she's probably the most rational and would understand under adequate reasoning. Let's go! "Allons-y!" I shouted "Hey that's my line!" said a voice from somewhere. I ended up not really going anywhere since as soon as I attempted to take a step, I ended up falling face first to the ground.

"Let's see, enormously high traces of EM residue, slightly broken screwdriver, pony that is failing at basic motor skills, looks like everything is fine! No need to worry." "I don't know, I just felt something odd was happening here, and I'm getting that strange feeling now." "It's probably just an effect from the traveling. You'll get used to it after a while. Now, I still have to finish taping the instructions for the chameleon arc in case I ever need to use it."

I tried to call for help but it seemed like the person that just spoke didn't hear me. I pulled my head out of the ground [really? Isn't that twice already] and looked around. I didn't see anyone around, nor did I see any type of obstruction I might have tripped over. "Why is it every time something good happens I always screw up in some fashion!" I yelled while trying to walk without completely falling over.

I decided to inspect my self in case there were any abnormalities which resulted with my failure to walk. "Let's see, no scratches, no bruises, no broken bones, slight headache, four legs, and HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" I shouted to myself.

In lieu of my hands, I had gray hooves where my marvelous grabbers should have been. "Why couldn't this be the type of story where I got to KEEP my body!" [because you got ran over by a TRUCK] "Okay, now I'm a pony for some unknown reason." There must be some sort of explanation that I can think of for this. As I thought on the subject, I decided to just write it off as 'magic', as it is the one answer I can find to anything now that I'm in Equestria, I thought to myself while checking for any other appendages.

I felt around my head and noticed I had a short, horn like extension, which was, guess what, a horn. "Yes! I got the unicorn card! Now we're talking!"[here's a little suggestion, before you try to learn magic, how about you learn how to walk] (... Shut up) I also looked at my back and saw I had no mark. Well, cutie marks are gained after finding out what you wanted to be so I guess I haven't really found the one thing that I really wanted to do.

I also checked for my possessions and found my phone, earphones [of all the things you would have needed, the universe decided you needed these...], glasses, and my watch, which for some reason I wasn't wearing. First I slipped on my watch, and then I looked outward and saw perfectly fine, and when I put on the glasses it made my vision worse. "Strange." I said to myself. I put my glasses away, which I'm not sure exactly how I did since I wasn't wearing anything [Looks like you're not wearing any underwear today] and assumed that it was hammerspace.

Tracking back to how I was going to move at all, I tried to find a comfortable way to stand, and started moving my front left hoof. My hoof came down with a loud *THUMP* "Okay, I'm over thinking this. All I have to do is 1, 2, 3, 4." I said to myself while attempting my method of walking. I put down my front right hoof, nudging it oh so carefully as if I was stepping over a field of flowers, then my back right hoof, and then my back left hoof. I repeated this process about 4 times "Ha!" I exclaimed "I got it! Now, task 2, find out some way to walk without looking like a complete jackass."

*About 4 hours later*

"YES! Finally made it!" I managed to walk 6 miles in this new body and en route I found out how to walk! My first achievement here! I don't think that it would really be worth that much since about everypony above the age of 2 months has probably figured out how to walk.

The trot to my current location, which key landmarks where the bridge and water fountain [you do how many places have both of those in Ponyville don't you] (Do I need to hit my head multiple times to get you to shut up?) [you already have a pretty good start] was mostly uneventful, except for that one rock which netted me my 3rd faceplant today.

"First things first, I NEED FOOD. Well, it's 11:45 PM, about all of the places I could get some food are probably closed, also I don't have any money, which leaves me to trying to find something on my own. I could try to take just a single apple from Sweet Apple Acres, and if I get caught I could explain and offer to work it off, which I don't think would be that much of an issue as it's really only in fan fictions she's really going around bucking people for any small reason. Also, even if I don't, I'll still pay it off later once I can get a source of income [I'll believe that once I see it]. And a very important thing, I'm not ready to accept fan fictions as a reliable source of information on people/ponies.

-30 minutes later-

[You should have listened to the fan fictions]


Chapter 1 - Nowhere Fast

I slowly opened my eyes to find that I was in a red barn and a taste in my mouth that I couldn't get out [IT WAS PAIN], I tried to standup when I felt a huge thumping pain in my head, and when I lifted one of my hoofs to feel the area, I found a gauze pad taped to my head in the area where I was hoofed.

When I finally had the courage to try and standup, I lifted myself and started to walk towards the doors of the barn. I attempted to pry the doors open when I found that the doors were locked. "Damn, well, it's not like I was going to really go anywhere till I got to talk with Applejack about this." I decided to rest back against the wall of the barn and wait. I really wish there was a fast forward or time lapse if you're doing absolutely nothing sometimes, where is the wait button when I need it?

After about an hour or two I heard the door make a clink and creeking, which by those two incredibly cliched sounds, it meant that someone was finally coming in. "I really don't think you should have hit him that hard Applejack."

"He was trying to steal mah apples, and stealing is one of the most dishonest things I can think of." From the voices, even through what I think is a concussion, I could clearly tell it was Fluttershy and Applejack.

I really shouldn't reveal the fact that I'm actaully not from here and should just go for the 'new in town' approach. The two mares were making their way over when Applejack extended her hoof to stop Fluttershy from coming any closer. "So, what were you doing in mah field at 11 at night?" she questioned.

"I just came in from town and I don't have any bits on me and I really didn't have anywhere to go. I was going to try and ask if I could pay off the apple later, but I came from a very long way from here." I explained, it wasn't a complete lie, I was going to ask if I could pay off the apple and I did come from quite a long way.

"Really? Where did you come from?" Oh boy here comes the questions.

"I traveled here from Fillydelphia." I tried to pick a place where they probably haven't visited.

"Why did you leave if you didn't have any money on you?"

"After an infestation of parasprites all there weren't really any jobs in town and the farm I worked for had to close down." I nervously thought up of.

"What did you farm?"

"My job was to separate cherries." I thought of the easiest job pertaining to any kind of farming,

"Who did you work fo-"

"Applejack please!" Said Fluttershy, "He probably has suffered from quite a bit from the blow to the head you gave him, I don't think you should be interrogating him in this state, I mean if it's okay with you." She backed up again and tried to blend back with the background, not trying to make herself a noticeable present.

"Okay, but I got my eyes on you... what did you say your name was?" Doing her best impression of Pinkie when she's suspicious

"It's Mark. And if it's not too much to ask, could I work here, or at least work enough to pay off the apple I took? I haven't bucked apples before but I can try to learn."

"That's an odd name for a pony, but I've never really met any folks from Fillydelphia before. You know what, I'm going to give you a job here, but I'll watch over you until I'm sure that you won't try an' pull a fast one on me. Since you're new in town, I guess you can stay in the barn for now, since right now we're not using it for anything."

"Thanks. I never got your names by the way." I said to avoid suspicion.

"My names Applejack and the one behind me is Fluttershy." I noticed that Fluttershy was trying to stay as much out of sight as possible, to not draw attention to herself.

"So, nice to meet both of you, I hope that we can be good friends one day." I said with a toothy grin. I extended my hoof and shook hands with Applejack. She still had the suspicious look on her face the whole time. But still, at that moment I felt relieved. I found both a temporary home and source of income, at least for now. Next is to find out how or why I'm here. Of course doing so would eventually lead me to having to tell Applejack the truth and of course that really awkward time in which she probably wouldn't speak to me unless I could convince her that I had a good reason to lie or if her friends can. Now, if I co-

"Okay, since I hit you head pretty hard yesterday, I'll give you today off." Said Applejack while walking out of the barn.

"Bye" squeaked Fluttershy while bolting out faster than I could keep track of out the door. [Heh, stereotypical depiction of Fluttershy. ]

I took of the gauze pad that was tied to my head and decided to start investigating a bit about my appearance here in Equestria. I would have to trek back to whence I first came, which I have to say, is probably not going to take as long this time since this time around, I have learned a few basic motor skills, which I now for some reason want to flaunt in the face of the onlooker who refused to help me. I decided to trot down the path that lead to the worn road and reached the area near where I came into this world. The trip to the edge of the Everfree was just as uneventful as the trip from it. When I reached the rock I first tripped over, I threw it aside and gloated to sky that I had defeated my worthy adversary this week. [If a rock was the monster of the week this time, I absolutely can not WAIT until the next one] (Sarcasm?) [Noooo] (Oh... Okay)

When I saw a black chariot near the area I had arrived in Equestria, I stopped and backed up a little, and decided to observe from the inside of a tree's leaves. I used my amazing free running skills [which consisted of you constantly trying to jump up and down trying to grip the side of the tree like a cat] to eventually climb on to the top branch and protected myself from view by only letting my eyes from out the leaves.

There was an old unicorn, a mare with her hair tied back and wearing a white shirt and black jacket, and a colt with a faint beard wandering back and forth.

"Lyra said that in this area that there were mass traces of a gravitational singularity, yet I don't detect any signs of a tear." said the mare. Somehow, I heard what they were saying perfectly, as if the whole entire world was focusing on what they were doing at the time being.

"But there was a change in the law of physics here that is still affecting the surroundings! L-look at the composure of the soil." said the old unicorn while scooping up some dirt, after he did so, he patted it down slightly, and after he did so, he threw it at the tree.

I watched this display with one eyebrow constantly furrowed, I watched a little longer when I saw that disc of soil he patted down stayed together and bounced off the tree and made a CLUNCK when it hit the ground, leaving a mark in the bark where it hit.

"The soil is still being affected from the residue of the event that occurred here, it must have made it so that the soil has seemed to with a minor amount of energy, polymerize tightly to itself." said the old unicorn.

"Wait, if there was a tear here, what happened to it to get it to close?" asked the colt.

"I'm not sure, I'll need some samples for the lab, tell Lyre that I'm going to need her to set up the burners and 50 ml cups and hook up the flash freezer immediately."

"Her name is Lyra, Galt. Also, why do you need a to heat up and flash freeze?" asked the colt.

"I need to pasteurize Gene's milk back at the lab for my tea." explained Galt. The only response the colt had was a smug smile and a small laugh.

"Here, I'll just pack up some of this soil for us to test." said the mare while she was scooping up some of the dirt with a shovel and moving into a bag.

"Be careful not to sift it too much. It would be preferable if we could get it there without it being harder then that terrible candy they had at that store back in Trottingham." replied Galt with a small look of disgust when he mentioned the candy.

I decided to bolt from the area to avoid having to be shipped off to some lab and experimented on. I wasn't even sure who they were, but they mentioned the name Lyra, which is the fan given name to the pony which is known as Heartstrings. Apparently in this universe she uses the name Lyra just cause. I could tell that what they were referring to was my arrival here, and even though it would probably be my best chance of getting home, I wasn't ready to go back yet.

I was heading back to town when I was figuring out what I need to do. I decided to start heading on down to the public library, as meeting Twilight and looking at some of the books might give me some insight on why I might be here or if somehow humans are mentioned historically, if it's that kind of universe, also I could find some stuff that would give me further background on Equestria, as I doubt anyone would pass up that chance if they got it.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone to see if it had any battery left so I could listen to something before the battery went out completely, as I doubt any ponies here have a 30 pin dock connector. "Wait, it's at full battery? It must be glitch in the system." I decided to myself. I said, and I decided to plug in my headphones and travel onward to the library. Whether it's a glitch in the system or my phone will magically never run out of battery here, I decided I might as well get out as much enjoyment from it as possible before something happens, as stories that have humans in Equestria always end up with some sort of catastrophic event.

Catastrophic event number 1:me getting a HOOF TO THE FACE. Maybe I should make a story about my life one day [I would vote against that, I mean first off it has the most unlikeable main character I've ever read about, and second off it has some of the poorest dialogue in all my years have seen.] (I really have got to spend less time reading webcomics...).


Chapter 2 - I'm Tickled Pink

During my stroll to Twilight's house, I noticed that around me, I could hear the birds chirping thier songs, the trees whistling their thoughts, and the leaves rustle through the park. I never really got to take in the beautiful scenery around me. It probably stemmed from a habit I picked up back on Earth where whenever I used to pay my full attention to the scenery, I usually made contact face first with it. The road I was trotting along was new, and the feel of the grass against my hooves was somewhat pleasing, in contrast to the path I took before, which although was functional, left more to be desired, as the uncomfortable and unstable feeling one got while walking along that road gave no way to letting one become comfortable. But there was one thing I had to remember, the reason I failed English was because I never could put into words what something really felt or seemed like.

Anyways, so as I made my way through the dim lit park, I noticed that the sun had come down to the point where the sky was lined with red along the horizon and orange covering the rest of the sky [oh how subtle]. I trusted my instinct and decided to follow where my thoughts would take me. Walking now had become second nature to me and I could walk efficiently and without expending my pride. I managed to, in the end, walk back from the path of the edge of the Everfree to the one house in Equestria guaranteed to raise my blood sugar till the point where my blood is basically syrup. I wanted to meet Pinkie last so that I could be more prepared for what I would have to go through, and to this moment I don't think it's honestly a good idea, but being the grand idiot that I am, I decided to just go with it. So, I walked in through the door of the castle of sugary death and saw a certain pink pony bouncing up and down on the hard wood floor, which apparently did not make a sound when a hyperactive pony was repeatedly jumping on it.

I started to open my mouth when I decided against asking Pinkie any questions of HOW or even WHY she does anything, and instead decided to try and match her energy... As best I could without breaking a hip.

I rushed up to her and grabbed her hoof, "Hi! Who are you? Or rather who am I? Hi I'm Mark! What's your name?" I said while rapidly shaking her hoof.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie! I've never seen you here before and I've seen everyone in this town! *GASP!* You want to know what we should do?" Oh boy... Here we go. "I should throw you a party!" Why is it whenever she meets someone new this is the response? I'm not really the one who ever really liked being the center of attention for anything. I see that the minimum amount of people I can do anything with and be noticed as a significant present and not get absolutely scared of saying anything is lower than number of people it would take to trample me. Just to note, it isn't that many people. But, this one time I'll make an exception and go with it, since Pinkie could never do any wrong on purpose, right? And it would be wrong to let her get all excited and then just say no. [Obviously never read cupc-] (You dare mention that story and I will add another faceplant somewhere just to spite you!)

"That sounds like a great idea!" I said with an eager smile on my face, "Just one thing, can we delay it for a little bit? I want to meet some other ponies on my own before I meet them all in a group." It's really hard trying to convince people- er, ponies, of things or try and really get to meet them when they're surrounded by 6 other ponies.

"Okey dokey lokey!" exclaimed Pinkie, I heard my stomach grumble slightly, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday night, Pinkie took notice and rushed back to the kitchen and back with a cupcake that was decorated with a spire of pink frosting reaching to twice the size of the rest of the cupcake with small, rainbow colored dragée in hand. [that's how it always starts] (Do I need to put you on silent?) "Here you go!" Smiled Pinkie while placing the cupcake in my hand, I placed the cupcake on the ground for now and I felt around in my back pocket [please do not tell me where that back pocket is] for the bits that Applejack left for me this morning, which I thought was incredibly generous seeing as I stole an apple from her the day before. "What are you doing? It's free you silly willy! It's is a gift from me to you!" Said the smiling pink pony.

"Really? Thanks!" I said while taking small bites out of the cupcake like it was, as Yahtzee would put it, a gourmet sampling this years bree.

"I'll just get everything ready so we'll be able to launch anytime you're ready! Ooh, I could use some launch right now! I could get some sandwiches, some cupcakes, and some punch!"

"Pinkie, it's about 6 o clock at night."

"I know silly, that's why I'll be having LAUNCH! You see, it's like lunch, but it's not like lunch, but it's still kind of like lunch but it's later!" said the Pink pony, my only response was a single furrowed eyebrow. "Ohhhh, but then I'll be less hungry during dinner. I know! I could have my whole entire schedule changed! I could eat breakfast an hour earlier! But then I would have to wake up earlier so I could eat while I was still awake! Have you ever tried to eat while asleep? I can't remember ever doing it. Then again, how would I? I would be asleep!"

"Thanks Pinkie, it seems like you have some scheduling to do, so I wouldn't want to bother you while you were working." I said while slowly nudging myself towards the door.

"Bye Mark! See you soon!" shouted the physical manifestation of party in Pink.

So, after walking out of Sugar Cube Corner, I took not two steps before running into a mint green unicorn with a white stripe going down her mane. I recognized this unicorn as Lyra, the resident background pony of Ponyville and various other social events. Lyra gave me a look filled with contempt on her face, as if I had done something wrong. The look subsided as she shook her head and offered her hoof out.

"Hello, I'm Lyra, I haven't seen you around here before." said the unicorn.

I replied carefully, "I'm Mark, I came here from Fillydelphia and I moved here just yesterday."

Lyra had been to Fillydelphia before during a case when parasprites genetically engineered by Farming Enterprises were swarming and attacking competitors and only their crops along with high ranking officials that were investigating corruption of the company. She assumed that he had come from one of the farms as almost all the other businesses were doing fine since the city could import goods from the neighboring town for a small fee, in the end only causing minor inflation. Still, she found something odd about this 'Mark'. He seemed to be emitting some sort of energy according to her horn. She decided against questioning farther into the subject since he could have been running too hard and emitting an excess amount of heat.

"Well, good to meet you Mark,  I guess I'll see you around town some time." the mare said.

"Nice meeting you too Lyra." I replied back to her. We parted ways from there as I was walking towards what I could now clearly see as the large hallow tree that Twilight called home [Seriously, who lives in a public library?] (She does apparently). Well, 3 down, 3 to go. Ugh, the last one I'm going to have to visit is probably is going to be the most painful to meet out of all of them [which one? Having to deal with Rarity or the attitude of Rainbow dash? Or perhaps even getting to her house. Also, do you really think none of them find anything odd in the slightest of a colt going around asking who they are?].


Chapter 3 - Happy Times

The path leading to Twilight's house shouldn't be too far from here now, I thought to myself. The encounter with Lyra was a cautious one. Even though I've only heard her name mentioned by those strange ponies investigating the area I came to Equestria by (Which I still have no idea how I did), but I felt that I had to be careful about what I said around her.

The day was now almost completely gone, with the sun falling back and the moon being pushed up from the other side of the horizon (Pony physics, don't ask), leaving small traces of light escaping from the top of the houses that lie on the street. Ponies were closing their stalls and packing their things for the day, with a quiet, vigil like silence.

I continued to wonder about my time here so far. I already made pretty bad impression with Applejack, probably made most apparent by the hoof mark she left. As I thought about the injury I sustained, I noticed that I felt almost no pain from the blow anymore. To be kicked unconscious, I would have to be kicked pretty damn hard, and for me to not feel ANY pain what so ever, I would have to have a constant drip of morphine. Once again, I decided to write down all of the inconsistencies with Earth as either A. Magic, or B. Some jackass who likes to mess with gullible people.

I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings, as the only indicator that I received that I was at the library was the quick release of all my thoughts after making contact with the side of the tree which I think was Twilight's house. I wasn't exactly sure if it was since my vision was still a bit blurry after getting my eyes gouged by the rough bark of the library. I really think that they should have a sign that said: 'Be careful not to walk into the side of our libraries.' [Actually, you wouldn't have noticed that anyways, since the people who run into the sides of libraries probably have a chance of being illiterate.]

Anyways, I blinked my eyes a few times and shook my head, and by the magic of whatever the hell does magical things, I could see perfectly again. I looked around and noticed it was now around 8:00 pm [around? Can't you just check your watch?] (I don't think it runs on Equestrian time) [but earlier when you looked at your watch, and then Applejack said.... Oh screw it, I don't care anymore.] and I was now miraculously at the public library.

I walked up to the front of the tree and knocked on the door. Knock knock knock, it was at that moment I decided I wanted to, the next time I came here, to do the knock Sheldon always did whenever he went to Penny's door.

"SPIKE! Can you get it?" said a voice from inside.

"Alright, coming." The door creaked slightly with the number one assistant of Twilight looking up at me. "Who are you?" said the purple dragon.

"Hi, my name's Mark, I just got into town the other day. I wanted to come and say hello to the librarian here since I'll probably be coming here a lot, oh, and by the way, what's your name?" I said to make the dragon feel noticed.

"Oh, me? My names Spike. But everyone always comes here for Twilight." said Spike with a look of slight loneliness on his face.

"If you want to, we could hang out one day and get to really know each other better." I said to cheer him up. In the show, I never really got to see Spike on a show to show basis to really get a strong enough grip on his character. He had a rounded personality, just like most of the cast, but never really got brought out as much as the others.

"Really? That would be great! I'll see what days I have off from work here though. Oh right, TWILIGHT! There's someone here to see you!" Shouted Spike.

"Spike! You don't have to shout, I'm right here." said Twilight. I looked a little over to the side and saw that the lavender unicorn was standing to the left of her assistant. I'm not sure how I didn't notice her the whole time I was talking though.[The same reason why you probably can't chew and walk at the same time.]

"Well, I see that you've already met my assistant Spike. I'm Twilight Sparkle and I'm the librarian and the resident of this library." Said the purple maned pony.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you Twilight, my name's Mark and I'll be staying in Ponyville for a little bit at Applejack's barn for now." I said. "I wanted to meet the the pony in charge at the library so I could borrow a few books, since I'll be here for a while."

"Well Mark, it's a pleasure to meet you. If you want to borrow a few books now you can." She her hoof as a sign for me to come in. I walked inside the library and looked around. The library was neat with the books on the shelves organized by author alphabetically. [You read through about 4 last names on the shelves and you're already assuming that?] "Did you want anything to drink?" asked Twilight.

"No thanks, I'm fine." I said while walking to the center of the tree [why are you doing that?] (Isn't the center always where the girls talked about anything whenever there was a break or transition?). Twilight followed with an unsure look on her face [now you know why I asked?] (I already bashed my head into something today, want me to do it again?) and sat cross legged on the floor with me following suit.

"So, what brings you here to Ponyville?" She asked.

"I came here to look for some work and a new place to live since all my savings and work in Fillydelphia was destroyed by parasprites." [You're really sticking with a story which you've only heard about in an episode where Celestia had to go down there to try and quell an infestation still? Also, you're not even sure if the parasprites destroyed that many things.] (Well I have to be consistent, all of the girls are in constant contact, also, if you had a better story I certainly didn't hear you say anything. Also, if there's one thing that I'm good at, it's luck rolls, I happened to put half of my points in that skill.) [That would explain your low intelligence]

"Well, it only seems fitting that you would go to Applejack's since I heard from Celestia that almost all the farms except for one in Fillydelphia were gone." Success! I mean... Oh, er... how sad for the ponies that were on those farms. "Well, I guess I should talk about my self a little. I'm the student of Princess Celestia and I'm here in Ponyville after spending most of my life in Canterlot to learn and send reports about friendship to show what I've picked up from the ponies living here."

"What did you do back in Canterlot?" I asked.

"Well, after I auditioned to get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and she saw my power first hand and decided to make me her personal protégée," the lavender unicorn said proudly. "I studied under her wing on how to further focus and control my power, and about the knowledge of the known universe." I decided against asking how physics here actaully worked to avoid drawing any suspicion or have anyone think that I'm a complete moron [well you already managed to do both of those so why stop now?] (Really? Going with the 'everyone already thinks you're a moron' card? I thought you were better than that.) [Well you did hit into a tree earlier]. I looked at my watch and it displayed 10:00pm.

"So, I'll see you later Twilight, I've got to get ready for my first day of work tomorrow at Applejack's. It was nice to meet you." [Wait! NOW you're trusting your watch? Also, when did you ever start going to sleep around 10?] (Well it's going to be a bit later and I don't want to walk the streets when it's 12 o clock midnight.) [Ooo, someone afraid of the dark hour now aren't we?]

"Goodbye Mark, I'll see you some other time." Said Twilight. She stood up reached her hoof out and we shook before I walked out the door.

Well, I'm nowhere closer to getting home or why I was even here, but at least I met Twilight! This whole time it was hard to suppress my utter glee at getting to meet the ponies which made my Saturdays a little better. [If you went outside even once that probably would have made your whole LIFE better.] (Being outside is what got me run over by a truck) [My point exactly. Also, why are you so sure it was a truck?] (I don't know, what else do you think about during that split second you get hit by a vehicle that barely even slows down when it hits you?) [What I'm going to wear at the funeral.]

My method of meeting the ponies so far has worked, but I really doubt that Pinkie Pie can keep a party under wraps. I'm going to have to be careful if I enter any building in case of a surprise party hindering me from going about my plan to meet each pony first before meeting everyone at once at some sort of social gathering.

I looked around outside the library and decided it was safe enough to walk back. I trotted down the road, past the park, and down the road to the farm. I still have no idea how I have perfect direction but as always, decided against question lest it stop working for me. I trot down the road leading to the barn when I thought I saw a shadow move a little unnaturally [the vashta nerada are here to eat you!] but I just marked it to my head playing games with me, or of a danger that's yet to come in the future. I knew I was probably in no immediate danger as even the most least affable villain has a sense of story. Of course usually being a bad thing for them if the hero in particular has no interest in hearing the monologue of the certain villain and decides to just shoot them during it.

So, after pondering about this subject for a little while, I decided to move on and I walked down the road until I reached the barn. I opened the door as softly as I could as the Apple family by now was probably sleeping. Despite my best efforts, the door still made a loud creeking sound. I went inside and I dropped tired onto the stack of hay (which is REALLY hard if you happen to drop on it.) and closed my eyes and fell asleep. [actually, more accurately, you fidgeted left and right for about 2 hours until you got tired and fell off the side of the hay, finally falling asleep] (I just found the ground a little easier to rest on than the hay. Anyways, I've got to get ready for some applebucking tomorrow. I have about zero experience with almost any type of manual labor) [I don't know, I think it's rather laborious to be able to sit on a chair for 15 hours at a time for 3 years.]


Chapter 4 - Syncronizing Sequence 1

Note: This chapter may seem like a deviation from the main 'story' but it's somewhat important for the eventual story 'arc' [or rather story drop] I'm aiming for.

Odd. I've don't remember walking here. I thought.

Where I was looked like a dimly lit chapel of metal, with the only source light coming from a single hanging lantern on the wall behind me. Before me was an alter of spikes with a painted red eye, drawing attention to the numerous letters (at least that's what I thought they were) that were written around the pupil of the eye. [Real subtle.] The walls were made of what looked to be blue tinted steel, with cords hanging out from the numerous punctures in them. Where I was reminded me somewhat of Geth structure, if it was a little bit more rustic.

I wasn't exactly sure why I was here, or if I was somehow in a meaningful vision of the future. As I tracked back in my mind, I remembered that I had fell asleep in the barn and I was in fact, either in a dream [I won't even begin to tell you how terribly cliched dream lands are.] or for some reason, kidnapped, brainwiped for the last few hours, and then for some odd reason placed in a freezing cold metal church. [Those are the best possible explanations you can come up with? Personally I would have just killed you instead of going through the effort of having to drag you somewhere] (You do know if I die, the part of my brain which handles cynicism would die too.)

I took a few steps back from the spike... alter... thing, picked up the lantern, noticing that my vision was unusually high, and that I was walking on two legs. I shrugged and decided, 'what's the point anymore', and went back to the matter at hand.

From where I was standing, there were dual stair cases in semi spiral form going down to main floor of the church. I didn't know what else to do so rather than waiting around any longer, I took the exploration route instead. I ran down the stairs [odd that after becoming used to walking like a pony that you can walk just fine after getting your two legs back.] (I've played enough games at the same time to become used to 'damn it muscle memory' issue.) [What? I don't think that's it's actually physically possible to do tha-] (You do see me running right?) [...] and came across a large black circular plate that was engraved into the floor of the church. It was engraved with a large symbol of a what looked to be a triskelion. When I walked up to inspect the plate, I noticed that it also had the same sort of lettering that the eye had. My eye also saw a a small divot in the plate where a tiny lever could be pulled.  I looked around and saw no clear doors or path ways out.

I thought to myself, is there any possible way this could be a trap, or rather a puzzle? If it's a trap, then I really rather not deal with it any longer and just spring it since it's not the trap that kills me, [tell that to me after you get a spike impaled through your chest] but the waiting, and if it's a puzzle, then why the hell aren't I solving it already? Whenever something like this happens there's always some sort of significance whenever you're trapped in a room with an obvious 'switch' and weird ominous symbols. If experience has taught me anything [it obviously hasn't] it's that if life gives you switches, you pull them.

I set down the lantern and I reached my arm and flicked the tiny lever inside of the plate (Which was not easy, I chipped my nail three times trying to get it!) [Of all the things that you could be worried about right now, you decide to worry about your nail?] and almost instantly, the plate started making rapid tiny clicking sounds, with the church around me coming seemingly alive. The dead cold walls were now being invaded with flowing stripes of orange light, bringing light once more to the worn down place.

I stepped back as the plate began to slowly spin. It gradually got faster and faster until it started to secrete a light which looked similar to the ones flowing on the walls. The plate then flashed the orange light incredibly brightly in a single burst, leaving my eyes blinded for a few seconds. As my vision start to crawl back, I noticed that the plate now had a hooded pony made up completely of faint lines of the orange light. Before I could think any farther [you weren't even thinking to being with], the figure began to speak.

"I am the curator of the Divide's archive." said the figure, "I have been given instructions to let you access a small fragment of our knowledge to aid you in your future endeavors." Sweet, that means some shit IS going to happen! Which probably spells bad news for me because I'm a sniveling coward. "We will only allot this amount of information to you now since if we were to give you any more at this moment, your small brain would probably give up and exploded into tiny little bits." said the pony without even flinching a small step.

I thought on what the spectral figure had said so far, and the existence of said figure. I could be going crazy [I believe it's 'even crazier', as apparently you fell into a world of ponies and magic] or just in a dream, but the figure did say something about being the Divide. From that, the name 'the Divide' [who named it that? It's about the fourth least subtle name I could think of for an unknown place that is suppose to be somewhat dreamlike, coming right after 'The Fringe', 'The Fade', 'The Land of Vision', and of course 'Wonderland'] (I found that last one to be a little out of place.) [That was the point...] told me that I was probably not in the realm where normal people would or even could traverse [like say your room for instance?].

"Now, there's no point in you simply being idle." said the outlined pony, "Here, step onto the plate." I was a little reluctant to step on the black circle since I was going over the last statement that the pony said, but I decided to go with it anyways, since I wanted to see what they had to offer me for whatever danger might be coming [they never said danger specifically, who knows, you could just need whatever they teach you to learn how to grip a pen with a hoof.]. I stepped up onto the plate and once I had both feet on it, the light in which the orange spectral pony arrived by flashed in a burst, with a large, ear splitting *BOOM* which accompanied it about half a second after the flash.

During the flash, I felt an enormous impact hit my whole body. When I came to my senses, I found myself in a blank area with a background of light gray with the same letters that I saw on the plate and eye floating around, appearing and disappearing randomly. A robotic feminine voice which I could not locate said "Welcome to the Divide's testing chamber. Here you can hone in your skill which was implanted directly to your brain and already coordinated with your muscles. For this exercise your avatar has been altered to a form which is compatible with this ability." I looked down at my feet and noticed that i once again had hooves. I was honestly disappointed that as soon as I got used to my human form again, I was switched back to my pony form.

"First, we'll begin this exercise by setting up a few targets for you to hit." said the voice. After the mechanical voice had spoke, the area around me flashed (why does everything keep flashing! My eyes can only take oh so much!) and there appeared 3 target dummies made of bags of straw. "To begin, focus your magic inward, and run at the target. When you think you are at an adequate distance, release your energy to accelerate yourself into the target." said the voice.

I thought to myself for a moment. I have absolutely no idea what to do and how to do what the voice is asking me. I decided to take a shot at it anyways and lined myself up straight in front of one of the targets, with about 90 feet of distance between me and it. I started to run at it and tried to use my horn to do anything, really, since I've never used my horn before.

After I had ran about 50 feet blindly, I was placed back 90 feet again followed with two short sounds, *BEEP BEEP*.

"Focus your magic on yourself and then run at the target. Release your magic in a single burst to accelerate yourself into the target." The voice repeated.

Oh boy, this is a tutorial isn't it, and until I get this mastered this god damn annoying voice is going to keep repeating itself. The last reason gave me all the incentive to put all my effort into trying to use the move that was somehow 'taught' to me already.

I closed my eyes and breathed in hard. I can do this. Just gotta find some way to focus my magic.

I backed up a little and starting to charge at the dummy again.

Focusing... Focusing... Focusing... More focusing.... I thought while running at the target.

*BEEP BEEP*

"Focus your magic on yourself and then run at the target. Release your magic in a single burst to accelerate yourself into the target." Said the robotic overseer

I was once again, teleported all the way back from the dummy. Alright, I can do this, I learned how to walk in this body in less than a day, why not learn how to charge.

I bent my legs and I took my front right hoof and swiped the bottom of the transparent floor repeatedly, getting ready to try again.

I just need the right mindset. That's all it'll take.

I took off towards the target once again, picturing a person checking someone else to the ground. I kept running, I know I'm getting close, I can get this!

*BEEP BEEP*

DAMN IT! [Oh I have a feeling this is going to be quite amusing]

"Focus your magic on yourself and then run at the target. Release your magic in a single burst to accelerate yourself into the target." Said the tortuous voice.

I was plopped back to the start by the maleficent tutorial overseer and forced to start once again. I thought to myself, what is someway that I would try and control a power like this? If I was already technically 'taught this', how would I imagine doing this? I sat down for a minute thinking of ways of how I would have taught myself.

20 minutes later

*BEEP BEEP*

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? DAMN YOU TERRIBLE CONTROLS!

I have tried almost every method of doing this that I can imagine.

I decided to not think about what to do, and instead just do what feels right, or at least that's what someone kept telling me to do back at home who got that advice from a number of movies and games he'd played [If I remember correctly, wasn't he the one who ended up being permanently disabled from a parkour incident?] (Yeah, thanks for bringing that up). I stood back up and looked at the target with a look of malice. I took a few short breaths, and started to run.

In my head, I pictured a star burning brightly [That's the best thing you can try to imagine?]. As I came closer and closer to the target, I pictured the star starting to collapse.

I was approaching the fated 40 feet mark of the target.

In my mind, I continued to imagine the collapse of a star. Then, a voice inside me said, release.

I imagined the star going supernova and as I did, I turned my attention to the target once more, and when I did, my vision became suddenly blurry with blurs of blue flying past my face. The blurs started to slow down slightly and a moment after they did,

*BOOM*

I had made contact with the target, and for a split second, everything seemed to be slowed down with blurs of red flying forward right after I hit into the dummy.

Time started to flow evenly now, and after transferring even more of my force, the dummy flew back about 30 feet (success!) and I came to a dead stop. I wondered about why I didn't feel any pain from preforming the move.

"Congratulations, you have preformed the Vanguard Charge. By preforming this move, not only do you charge at a speed of around 120 mph, you also form a barrier of magic to protect you from almost all of the damage of the impact. Though, this barrier is not meant for extended use and only stays up for about .5 seconds even with constant focus, so you cannot charge over too long an area." said the robotic voice.

Yes! Am I finally finished with this tutorial?

"Now we will put your skill to work."

Damn it.

A flash of light covered the testing area once more.

There was a bridge about 200 feet with 4 dummies littered in a zig zagged position.

"Blow back all the dummies in less than 3 seconds." said the mechanical voice.

"Three. Two."

I readied myself. I did not want to go through another minute of this torture!

"One, go!"

I put the process of imagining the star in fast forward, and quickly charged into the first dummy, and then the second, the third, and finally the fourth.

After I hit the fourth dummy, the bridge started to disappear into white lines and wiped it self away completely. I felt mentally and physically exhausted after using the power four times in succession.

"Congratulations. You have completed this training exercise."

SWEET FREEDOM!

The blank testing area suddenly started becoming lighter and lighter, until a bright flash of light (what is with these guys and blinding people?!) wiped away the whole area.

I blinked my eyes a few times and saw that I was back in the chapel on top of the black plate. I saw the orange spectral pony appear next to me out of nowhere.

"You took your sweet time." It said, "But never mind that. You belong back into the realm of the living."

The chapel started to become transparent and before I knew it, it had become an outline of what it was, and just like the testing area, it turned into tiny white lines and disappeared, with a final god damn flash.

I opened my eyes in a jump and saw light flowing in from the crack of the barn door. I checked my watch which said 7:00 [Do I even need to point out the various inconsistencies that make up your life?], today would be the first day of my new job.


Chapter 5 - All Things Must Pass

Authors Note: Yes, the plot drop is suppose to be abrupt, if not absolutely confusing. I'm testing around really what it is would be best to venture into.

I stood up and started walking toward the barn door. I had wondered to myself what had transpired the night before in my dreams. If there was one thing I knew, it was that sooner or later the answer would show itself if I stayed the course [In other words, you're too lazy to actually investigate properly]. I cleared my eyes and stepped outside the barn. Applejack and Big Mac were both out on the fields already [those two red and orange blobs could be anything, you know]. I lightly jogged to out to the apple fields. I stopped once I found both of them.

"Mornin' there sunshine," said Applejack "how you feeling for some applebucking? Now I know that applebucking is nothin' like cherry sorting, but I think you'll get the hang of it pretty quick." she assured.

"So, what should I do to get started?" I asked.

"Ya can start from here and we'll work till we finished this patch of apples." She said. I looked and estimated about 40 trees were in the patch we were designated to buck. The most time consuming part of this would be bringing the baskets back after they were filled. Applejack walked up to a tree and signaled for me to follow.

"So, just bring back your legs and strike the tree as hard as ya can. Since this is your first day, we'll get you focused on bucking, Mac and I'll get the baskets. One thing though, don't wear yourself too much, kay'?" briefed the orange pony.

Okay, I've done harder things in life than kick a tree. I spent a few hours just yesterday with the demonic voice that is on par with omochao on levels of annoying. At least omochao let me throw him if I wanted to at enemies. With a omniscient voice, you can't really do anything to it. [You're just trying to stall having to buck the tree aren't you.]

I took a shallow breath and brought back both my legs. I slammed my leg back against the tree, making a loud, audible slam. To my surprise, only one single, lonely apple fell. Applejack had been watching and shook her head.

"Too much of the energy got turned to sound. Ya have to control your buck!" She said.

I took her suggestion to note as I warmed up to try and strike the same tree again. I brought my legs back once again and struck the tree, trying to keep my hooves as stiff as possible. Although 2 more apples than last time fell, my legs felt most of the impact from hitting the tree.

"I think I'll leave you to your work right now. Mac and I'll get some baskets for all of the... erm, apples you've knocked down." the orange pony said.

Applejack came back and started to lay baskets under all the trees. While she was doing that, I started think of ways that I could try to knock down the apples. I first attempted to run head on into the tree. Needless to say that I might need a trip to Fluttershy's soon. I next tried to 'punch' the tree with one of my hooves. This method ended with me repeatedly shaking my hoof in an attempt to even out the pain.

I just decided to just run at the tree once more to try and strike it with my hooves. I started to run when I remembered what happened last night. Even though it was a dream, it was still worth a shot since things in dreams sometimes can be significant somehow [You really have to learn how to be subtle, you know that?]. As I was 20 feet in front of the tree, I imagined the supernova once more, and as I somewhat expected, I ended up going blue and charged the tree at a blistering fast speed [Really? That's just a little convenient don't you think? Some member of a omniscient species taught you some sort of special move to what, knock down apples?]. Once I made impact with the tree, I could see the tree slowly react to the impact of the hit, followed by the apples slowly losing their grips on the tree. After about 3 (at least what it seemed like to me) seconds, the apples started to fall at normal speed and the tree stopped shaking slowly. I assumed that after I charged something, time around me becomes dilated somewhat, or just magic, I decided.

I went over to another tree with baskets already and tried my last method again. Once more, every apple had fell into the basket with the tree firmly stemmed to the ground. I repeated this process until every tree that had a basket was striped. By the time I've reached the last one, I felt an exhaustion that I have never felt in my life before [mainly because you never get out.].

"So, let's see how far ya go- and woah nelly!" She exclaimed, "You got all those trees already? That was faster than me and Big Mac can handle together!"

She ran back to her house while I just waited at the last tree I charged. She came back with a coin purse in her mouth. She put it in her hoof and she extended it to me.

"Here's 20 bits for today. I think you've earned this, and it's only morning so you can go off and do what you like. Also, looks like you've got another mark on ya forehead. Go see Fluttershy about that, I don't need you hurt from the job the first day." She said.

I think my first day of work was a success. Now, I only have to figure out what the hell happened last night and still the question of why I'm here. Oh, and visit Fluttershy. All I needed was some excuse of why to go there. Looks like I have one now.

I walked over to Fluttershy's cottage and knocked on the door. I noticed that as I did, the door opened outwards a bit. I peeked inside to see a rainbow maned cyan pony laying on Fluttershy's couch. I ran through all possible explanations and scenarios through my head and prepared to step side ways.

"Hey! Who are you!" shouted the pegasis. She flew straight towards me, and as she did, I did a small sidestep to the left and she went flying into a tree about 50 feet from where I was. That's a bit of a gross overshot if you asked me.

I walked over to the pegasis rubbing her head over by the tree and helped her up. She shook her head and remembered what she was doing.

"Wait a second! What were you doing going in Fluttershy's house?" She shouted.

"What were you doing trying to run over random people for the smallest reason possible?" I retorted back. She did have a nasty habit of doing that in many fan fictions. "Also, I was here to get my head checked because I hit my head while trying to buck some apples." I added.

"Alright, fine. But I'm keeping my eye on you. Anyways, Fluttershy isn't here right now. She's down at the spa with Rarity. You'll have to wait for her to get back." Rainbow Dash said.

I had to ask it sooner or later, "So, who are you and why are you in Fluttershy's cottage right now?" I asked.

"Me? You don't know who I am? I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria!" Watch out, we got a badass over here. "I'm at Fluttershy's house since she asked me to look over the animals while she was out."

That alone raised some more questions. First off, why she would ask Rainbow Dash, out of everypony, to watch over animals. Also, what ever happened to her pet turtl- I mean tortoise [That's a completely unrelated question!].

"Anyways, I'm Mark, and do you mind if I stay in the cottage until Fluttershy gets back?" I asked. Once I did, Rainbow Dash developed a smug smile on her face.

"Sure, let's walk back first." She said.

After we got to the house, the cyan pegasis began to speak.

"Well, now that you're here, I guess I won't have to look over the animals anymore, see ya!" She said while bolting off.

Well, that's just atypical Dash.

I looked inside the house and found essentially a zoo of animals.

How hard can looking over a bunch of furry creatures for a few hours be? [I have to look over you, and I have to tell you it's exhausting.] I looked into a nearby mirror and saw that besides my gray body, I had a bright grayish white mane. Well that's real imaginative, I thought.

I sat down on the couch and began my shift.

3 hours later.

"Okay! No, stop! Don't eat that! And you! Stop biting my leg! AHHGG!" I shouted.

The door of the cottage opened and in came the light yellow pegasis.

"Oh my." she said.

Once she entered the room, all the animals went back to their beds and started to act as if they didn't do anything. Guess they're too afraid of her one hit KO stare.

"What happened here?" Fluttershy asked.

The couch was overturned, there were feathers everywhere, my mane was frizzled up, and my one of my eyes was twitching slightly. I turned over to Fluttershy stalling my eye twitch and acting as if nothing happened.

"Oh hi there Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash asked me to look over the animals since I was waiting for you to come back." I said with cheer.

"Oh, well I hope they behaved themselves." Said Fluttershy.

"They... Were.... Just... Great...." I said while holding back the urge to scream.

"So, what do you need me for?" She asked.

"Oh, I have a little bump on my head, nothing big, and also, I have quite a few scratches on my back." I said while laying down tired on the couch.

She got out her toolkit out of seemingly nowhere, "I'll patch you right up!" she said cheerfully.

After the somewhat painful process of waiting for Fluttershy, I decided to stop by Rarity's since by coincidence, I had another excuse to visit her. My mane would probably end up with her being stressed until she fixed it. Of course, I feared of just what she would fix it into.

Right now, it was about midday. I could make it to her house in about an hour. [Have you ever thought of using the charge for travel?] (That would be recklessly dangerous to anyone else on the roads) [You could try to not go as fast by not focusing as much magic at once, but instead a gradual flow.] (Really? Wait... Did you just tell me something useful for once?) [Don't get used to it.]

I took my own advice and attempted to charge down the road but with less speed. The road in front of me was empty, and as I started to run, I instead imagined a star forming (in fast forward obviously, if I were to imagine it in real time I would be long dead before the first stage would be completed) and the constant reactions to keep it burning. As I did, I noticed that I started to accelerate faster and faster. I reached around 40 mph at least when I whipped into town square. The ponies I passed wondered what the crazy pony running around was doing, and why he was doing it. I managed to avoid anyone in my way, mostly because and pony who saw me ran like crazy out of the way.

I eventually made it to the Carousel Boutique when I decided to stop the magic flow. As i did, I forgot the fact that I was still going at a pretty fast speed when I decided to stop, and when I tried to put my hooves down to stop, I instead ended up rolling forward and hitting into the door, propping my head against it rather uncomfortably.

"Coming!" Said a voice inside.

The door to the Boutique opened and my chin hit the floor of the store hard.

"What in Equestria's name happened to you!" She exclaimed.

"That? Oh, my mane is a little messed up. That and I have a slight headache right now." I said with a slight mumble.

"We need to get you fixed up right this instant!" She said while magic-ing me into a chair. "There's so much to do! I guess I'll start with a-"

Oh what have I done.

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

About 2 hours later, Rarity finally let me go. I ran/charged back to the barn as fast as I could and looked into the mirror Rarity gave to me. My mane was now shining beyond the limit of how shiny manes could/should get. It was also inexplicably in curls, which I straightened out immediately after laughing a slight bit.

Since I've met everypony so far, I decided to go to Sugar Cube Corners to tell Pinkie that the party could commence any time she was ready. As I opened the door, a huge shock wave pushed me back, with the sound of 'Welcome to Ponyville Mark'.

What happened was so predictable, it was completely unpredictable. Somehow Pinkie knew that I had met everyone I wanted to and decided to get the party ready because she knew I would come down to the place. That or it was her Pinkie sense.

I stepped inside Sugar Cube Corners and noticed that a large chunk of Ponyville was there, and also Princess Celestia.

WAIT WHAT! Pinkie invited HER to come to a welcome party?! Doesn't she have princessy things to do... Like be a princess?

I walked up to Pinkie in midst of all the chaos and decided to ask her.

"You invited Princess Celestia? And she agreed to come?!" I whispered.

"Yep! She said she would be happy to come! She said she never ever ever met you before and would really like to!" Said the bouncing pink terror.

The tall alicorn walked up to me and started to inspect me.

"Mark? I've never met you before in all these lands. Where are you from?" said the princess.

"He's from Fillydelphia, at least that's what he tells us." Said Applejack walking up to us.

I had a feeling that Celestia already knew that I wasn't from around here, and I decided to not go through the really odd process of finding out that one is not like the other. [Might i start mentioning how inconsistent you are with your choices and mood? First you decide to make up who you are, and after all that 'work', you're just going to blow it? Man, it's only been 2 days and already you've failed at everything which should be covered by people coming to Equestria. First you think people will think you're crazy but nooo-] (No matter what you say I'm still going to do this)

"Actually, I'm from a planet called Earth where I used to go to school until I got ran over by a half ton machine of moving metal. Then somehow I ended up here." I explained while trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Everypony in the room was listening and had looked at each other to try and put together what they heard from this new pony in town.

"That would in fact explain one thing, but leaves many other questions." Said the princess, much to my confusion. "Sorry to cut this party short, but Mark and I must get going." She nudged me to go outside of the building where she then teleported both of us to what I know is the throne room in Canterlot.

"So, have you seen anything out of the ordinary since you got here." She questioned coldly.

"Well, there was this one dream of somewhere called the 'divide' where this pony taught me how to use a magic move. But that's about it." I said. [That's it? Really. That's it. You've been here two days and have not seen anything else odd?]

"Odd. I never heard of this happening before. Especially with the information nexus disabled." She wondered.

I had no idea, once again, what she was talking about. I decided to ask her.

"What information nexus?" I questioned.

"Well, even though I have no reason to. I feel that I can trust you." She smiled. Soon after, I felt my body start to coat in magic.

I suddenly then found myself in the chapel much like the one in my dream but with a monolith where the black plate once stood, once again cold and dark. Celestia, next to me, started to speak.

"The information nexus is a means of sending information to a user. Where we are is a center of one of the connections which leads back to the main archive."

"Why have I never heard of these before?" I asked.

"No one outside a few have." She answered back.

I felt the urge to ask, "Why?"

She sighed, "I am afraid that if our technology grows too far, then the 'Swarm' might come once more."

My mind was going in 15 directions. What the hell was the swarm? Why is it because if technology grows too far the swarm might come back? Why? And why is it that the situation that they want to avoid remind me somewhat of Mass Effect?

"Before you ask, the 'Swarm' is a race of what we believe to be aliens that come and wipe out most of civilization if they reach a certain level of technology."

"And how do you know this?" I asked.

"The information Nexus contains the discoveries made by the last ones who were almost completely wiped out. Most of their technology stemmed from the technology of the last race, and it's because of that they were able to reach the level at which the 'Swarm' felt it necessary to wipe them out." She explained. [So that's what you meant by a plot drop...]

"To what end?" I asked.

"Even we are not sure of that. But nothing that they had was sufficient in destroying them, so even with what we are given, how could we hope to destroy them?" She sighed.

"Is that the same Princess Celestia that believed that the 6 could stop Discord? Is that the one who believed in the power of friendship could stop Nightmare Moon?" I tried my best without laughing at my terrible 'pump' speech. "Also, what if they just come one day for no good reason and decide to wreck havoc?"

"We hope that the pattern would stay. And for that reason, we have purposely made it so that technology has not budged a significant amount ever since the discovery of the nexus. I just don't think that we can defeat the 'Swarm'" Said the alicorn.

"At what stage of technology did the swarm come?" I questioned.

"It seemed about after the time where the last race had discovered how to travel beyond the stars we can see without the use of magic." Said Celestia. "When they struck, they struck fast. The last race was unable barely able to get out a message to warn others around the planet before the connection broke. All we know is that they are numerous, and that one must always watch their shadow.

"It might just be me, but I find that all of this is rushing a bit too fast for me. I mean today I was just bucking a few apples and already I'm thrust into something that dates back possibly hundreds of thousands of years." I thought aloud.

"Well, be that as it may, it isn't your fight. We have to see what got you here and what exactly happened to you." Said the princess.

I felt my body being surrounded in magic once more and in a flash, I found myself in the middle of a lab with four ponies I've seen not a day before.

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