Never before have I had something like this happen to me. The feeling of fear, excitement, confusion, and bliss hit me all at once felt like an interstate pileup. Pinkie’s face pretty much summed up that she was going through the same thing. For a moment, she hung around my neck, holding a loose grip with her forelegs. Neither of us knew what was going on.

“Pinkie,” I whispered, “can you fe—”

“Yeah,” she interjected, tightening her grip. I raised my arms and slowly wrapped them around the mare, trembling immensely. Pinkie jumped as my hand made contact against her back instead of going through. Her soft fur felt like velvet against my palms as I pulled her closer, tightening my grasp around her. For what felt like an eternity, I sat there, holding her in my arms, before finally letting go.

“Thank you, Pinkie. I really needed that.”

I looked at one of my hands in bewilderment, tracing my fingers over them with the other. It was strange; Pinkie looked soft, but I never would have guessed that she felt this nice. She looked over my hands and placed her hoof in my palm. I could only assume she was seeing if what had just happened was real.

“You’re welcome, Vinny. A hug will bring even the saddest of ponies up from a bad day.” A meek smile crept onto her face as her eyes began to water. “If you ever need another hug, you just let me know.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I nodded.

“Vinny, are you alright?” I turned around to meet with Mr. Offa, his face showing clear signs of concern. His glance at my eyes was a dead giveaway that he could tell I was crying. He lifted one of his huge mitts and placed it on my shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

Letting out a lingering sigh, I shrugged before looking down at the ground. If I broke the news to him, Marios would get involved and he might give me away. Instead, I said the one thing he never expected to hear.

“Mr. Offa, I need some time off work.”

Mr. Offa seemed reluctant to let me go, but after he walked into the kitchen and saw the layers of cake and frosting around the walls of the trash can, he gave in and agreed some time off would be a good idea.

The walk home was a nice change. Normally when I walked home, it was turning night out, so I didn’t get to see the usual hustle and bustle of the streets. I knew what it was like when the humans were out: lots of yelling, loud car horn, the occasional gunshot. But what interested me were the ponies. They were so carefree unlike their human counterparts. I watched one mare as she negotiated the price of her apples for three minutes and then talk about her family for twenty.

As the sun began to come down, I made my way home, cutting through the usual alleys and parking lots. Without a second thought, I left my computer on to boot as I started a cup of tea.

My night was unsettling. No matter what position I assumed, I found myself uncomfortable and unable to sleep. Grabbing my phone, I looked through my contacts and debated on texting Eddie for another night of stress relieving alcohol consumption. My palms grew sweaty as my finger hovered over his name. In the end, I decided against it. Instead, I found myself at the computer, googling my symptoms.

A few disorders popped up: psychotic disorder and schizoaffective disorder were the two that stuck out the most. Before long, I ended up searching direct symptoms.

“seeing talking ponies”

There were some rather… strange results. One man claimed that he could see a “tulpa” of a pony that was constantly trying to rape him. It wasn’t long before I closed that tab after seeing the responses telling him to manifest Jackie Chan to kill off the pony.

I don’t remember how I fell asleep, but I remember where I woke up: in my bathtub covered from neck to toe in toilet paper. This problem had been going on for years now. I’d blank out and wake up in some obscure place every once in a while.

Throwing the toilet paper off myself, I rose from the bathtub and grabbed my head. I didn’t even drink and I had a throbbing headache beating me down. As I dragged my feet across the apartment, I checked the clock sitting on my nightstand. A cold sweat developed as I grabbed the clock, making sure it wasn’t wrong. It was already five o’clock in the afternoon. Swinging the curtains aside, I checked outside to see if the sun was setting. Sure enough, it was.

Digging through my drawers, I grabbed a pair of socks and pants before venturing into my closet for a dress shirt. It was very rare for me to dress nicely, so the only thing I could find was an old blue polo with pink stripes down the middle.

Why in God’s name do I own this shirt? I thought to myself as I slipped it on. The thing was a size too big for me and smelled like a cheap cologne aisle. No matter. It’s better than showing up naked.

As I left my apartment, I felt something heavy climb up my back. Had it not been for the set of familiar giggles behind me, I probably would have flung Pinkie across the street or beaten her senseless. She poked her head over my shoulder, her usual crooked grin displaying proudly. A smirk worked its way onto my face before I could stop it. I swear to this day that Pinkie’s smiles were contagious, no matter how bad of a mood you were in.

“Were you waiting long?” I asked as I started towards Kibble’s apartment. Pinkie shook her head, her bushy mane swatting my face.

“Nope! I just finished my shift at Sugarcube Corner. Princess Celestia passed by earlier and asked me for directions to Kibble’s house, so she’s probably there already.”

My stomach started to flip as I came closer to the building. Pinkie must have some extra sense, because before I knew it, she was patting my back with one of her hooves.

“Don’t worry, Vinny! The princess is really nice. She’ll be more than happy to meet you.” It made me feel a little better knowing that she cared. I opened the door to the apartment building and entered, feeling a huge difference in the air. It grew heavier as I got closer to Kibble’s apartment.

“It’s open,” came Kibble’s voice as I lifted my hand up to knock on the door. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside, noticing the stallion garbed in armor. He turned to me, a spear in his forelegs and eyes watching me as I walked in. It took a moment to realize it, but he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at Pinkie.

Closing the door behind me, I looked around the room and two things caught my attention. One was Kibble: he was smiling an authentic smile, something I’ve never seen in my time knowing the old man. The second was the rather large mare sitting across from him. She had a very vibrant white coat and a mane like no other. It was like looking into the aurora lights, waving in the non-existent wind. Another thing that I noticed about her was the fact that she had both a horn and pair of wings.

“You must be Vincent,” she said with a calm demeanor in her voice. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hoof out for a shake as Pinkie jumped from my shoulder, bowing to the mare. With a shaky hand, I reached out for her hoof, only to grasp the air. The atmosphere grew awkward as stood there, not knowing what to do. I ended up bowing like Pinkie before taking a seat on the couch behind me.

It was rather strange: Celestia was lounging on the loveseat ahead of me, lifting a cup of tea with her magic. Before I could ask how she was able to see the object, let alone touch them, something jabbed my shoulder. Kibble sat to the left of me, stabbing my arm with the end of his cane.

“Stop staring. It’s impolite.” Celestia giggled as the old man’s eyes locked onto mine.

“You haven’t changed at all, Kibble. Now, Vincent, I can only assume that you have many questions to ask. I’m telling you now that I don’t know everything, but I will answer everything I can.”

I didn’t even know where to start. Pinkie sat on the floor to my side, looking up at me with a face that said, “Go ahead”.” Placing my hand on the pink mare’s head, I ruffled her mane a bit and then turned to Celestia.

“I wasn’t able to touch Pinkie up until yesterday. How is that even possible?” Celestia lifted her cup again, taking a long draw of tea.

“Let me answer your question with a question. Would you consider Pinkie your friend?” I gave Pinkie a confused look, wondering where this question was taking me.

“Well… yeah. She’s there for me and vice versa.” A smile stretched across the princess’s lips as she dipped her muzzle into tea cup again. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“There’s a visible bond between you two. Many people and ponies before us believed that friendship was the link between our two worlds. Though we’re different, whether it be by species or language, that doesn’t stop us from establishing this bond.” My mind was boggled by this corny answer. What was this? Some sort of cheesy children cartoon?

“Alright, so you’re saying because I’m good friends with Pinkie, I’m able to ‘connect’ with her?” Celestia nodded. “Okay, then explain this: Why am I able to see ponies at all? Why can’t other humans see them? And why can’t all ponies see us?”

Celestia gave me discomforting look before turning to Kibble. He gave her a nod, almost as if allowing permission to answer the questions.

“Nopony knows,” she said with a shrug. “Only a few are able to do so and still they don’t know why they are able to. There are theories that our worlds are linked and the ones who are able to see the others have the ability to traverse them. We believe you might be one of them.”

I could feel my heart drop like a cinderblock. Was Celestia in on this Invisible Pink Unicorn bullshit?

“Why me? Why not Kibble? He’s able to see the ponies and talk to them.” Kibble jabbed me with his cane again, pressing substantially harder this time. The scowl across his face could melt ice.

“Because even if I could, I’m too old! I can barely walk. You want to send a crippled old man into a new world where there are no elevators or anything?” I would assume any old man would like to spend the rest of his years in a clean, friendly environment, but then again, Kibble wasn’t exactly “any old man”.

“Listen, I know it’s crazy enough that I see talking ponies—no offense—but having me cross into another world? Some guy from a crackpot religion called the Invisible Pink Unicorn just told me the same thing yesterday and, to be honest, I don’t believe a word from either party.” Kibble’s scowl grew fiercer at the mention of the I.P.U.

“That damn kid,” he growled. “I told him to stay out of this.” I sat there for a moment, thinking it were just a mere coincidence, but I had to ask to be sure.

“Are you talking about Marios?” Kibble rolled his eyes.

“Yes. He’s my grandson.”

Small world…

Kibble continued to ramble on about how his grandson was a failure and his every flaw; the usual loving grandfather spout of nonsense. Celestia poured herself another cup of tea before jumping back on track.

“He seems to think that I’m sort of deity,” Celestia comments, shortly followed by a chuckle. “It’s cute.”

Cute in a sick, twisted way if you ask me.

“This is going to sound strange,” I started, “but what does everything look like around you? I can’t see anything from your world except for ponies, so I can only assume you’re experiencing the same thing.” Celestia put a hoof to her chin and looked around the room.

“Well, I am able to see parts of the of this room. I can obviously see this loveseat I’m on, the chairs, the wall, and that beautiful rose that Kibble has kept after all these years.” I withheld my laughter as I watched Kibble turn a beet red. “However, I can still see the other humans around in this area. There’s one above us right now, sitting down in the air. I can only assume he’s in a chair of some sorts.”

Stupidly, I looked up, thinking I would see the guy, only to quickly realize that I can’t see through walls. Kibble looked around the room as well, and pointed at the far corner of the room.

“I’m able to see parts of their world as well. That damn tree has been in my room for years now and every day it’s still an eyesore,” Kibble replied.

“So you’re saying the closer Pinkie and I get, the more we’ll be able to see each other’s world?” I asked, looking down at the pink mare.

“Exactly.” Celestia placed the cup on the coffee table as she stood up from her seat. Her height made Pinkie look like a midget in comparison. “I apologize for the sudden departure, but I must get going. If you have any other questions, I will have to ask you give them to Pinkie. Pinkie,” she said, turning to the small equine, “if he has any questions, write them in a letter and send them to me.”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie squeaked, giving her a cheerful nod. Celestia moved over to Kibble, nuzzling him on the neck.

“You take care, Kibble. We should see each other more often, like old times.” Kibble smiled before patting Celestia on the back of the neck. It looked like a half-assed hug to me, but I’ll give the old man the benefit of the doubt. The princess pulled away from him and spread her magnificent wings before flying off with the guard not too far behind. Pinkie and I watched as she disappeared into the orange sky from the window in Kibble’s apartment.

“Alright, Vinny. I need my sleep,” grumbled the geezer. “Come by any time before eight o'clock.” I looked down at my watch and, sure enough, it was already eight-fifteen. I got up from my chair, thanked Kibble, and set course for my home. Pinkie followed alongside me, the usual bounce in her step.

“So?” she asked, giving me a sly grin. I looked at her in confusion, as I crossed the street, making sure to watch out for any cars.

“So what?”

“What did you think about the princess?”

“She was alright, I guess,” I replied with a shrug. Pinkie jumped on my back and gave me a pout. I rolled my eyes and let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, she was really nice.”

Pinkie grinned as I walked up to my apartment building, proudly proclaiming, “I told you so!” I stopped in front of the building and looked up at my front windows.

“I’d ask you to come in Pinkie, but I live on the third floor.” My heart ached as a frown formed on her face. She nodded in understanding before climbing over my shoulder and wrapping her hooves around my neck.

“Bye Vinny. I’ll miss you.”

“Pinkie, it’s only until tomorrow,” I said with a chuckle as I returned the hug.

“I know, but that’s reeeeally far away.” Shaking my head, I put her down, gave her a pat on the head, and made my way inside. As I entered my apartment, I could hear my phone going off. I jogged to my bedroom and caught it on the last ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey Vincent. It’s Mr. Offa.” I could feel a jolt in my stomach from the desperate need in his voice.

“What’s up? Is something wrong?” I asked, expecting only the worst.

“Nothing too major. Listen, I know I gave you time off, but can you do me a favor and pass by the bakery tomorrow to give Marios a few tips on making the bread? He’s been making… bricks.” I stopped for a moment and debated on whether I should go in or not. It was supposed to be my time off.

“Yeah, I’ll be there at opening.” I hung up the phone and threw it onto the nightstand before lying down on my bed and passing out.

Author's Notes:

I just bought FFXIV... I'm sorry about my updates in advance.