Mark Jones was not always the happiest of persons, though he had a good life. He lived in an old cabin in the woods his parents had left him. It wasn’t run down, just very old. He had gotten much work done on it, and it had become home to him. He had a nice job  too, well, “job” didn’t perfectly define it. He was a freelance writer, which meant money usually came when he decided it did. Money wasn’t the issue, and neither were the living conditions.

Life was good. He had food to eat, a car to drive, and nearly endless funds. But there was something, something was eating him away.

he was lonely. He was a bachelor with no children, or love interests. While he mostly enjoyed the bachelor life, it did become boring at times. He didn’t have any friends either. He had the acquaintance, or “contact” here and there, but that was it.

One evening, when Mark was walking the halls of his cabin, he noticed a faint cry for help originating in the woods. The woods were dark and gloomy that day, with a heavy downpour of rain. He looked out the window and thought about it for a moment.

“The voice was young, could be a child. Definitely female. I don’t think a young girl would last long in this weather.”

He sprang into action. Instinctively, he went for his emergency survival backpack, which was hidden in a hallway closet. The backpack contained a survival axe and knife, a med kit, flint and steel, a flashlight, a heat pad, and a gas mask. On his way back into the front of the cabin, he reached in the closet by the door, and retrieved a Taurus Judge. He then grabbed his rain jacket and opened the door.

He stood there. Not moving a muscle, not even breathing. He had been in the military once, the seals. He could practically stop his own existence to hear or see something vital. After about fifteen seconds, he heard the cry. More like a scream, it came from his left. He instantly bolted in that direction, ran for fifteen seconds, then stopped.

He could hear what the scream was saying now, only a half of a mile away now. “Help! Somepony help! I’m lost!”

He continued in the direction of the voice. Another fifteen seconds, and he heard it again. This time, in a panicked, rushed screech.

“They’re after me!”

He pulled out his Judge and began to run in the direction of the scream. He came close enough that he could hear it past his own noises. When he got within fifty feet of the person of interest, he noticed three large figures pawing at a bush. He crept up to the figures, and in the dark, he could make out the silhouettes of three wolves. He ran up to the closest one, and punched its face. To his surprise, it was made of wood, or at least what felt like wood.

“HOLY CRAP!”, Mark grabbed his bleeding hand.

The wooden wolf turned to bite him, but he raised his Judge and pulled the trigger. The wolf’s head blew apart. Mark got to his feet and raised his gun at the other two wolves. They looked at their dead partner, and began to growl. He aimed at one’s leg and shot. The wolf’s leg blew apart. The two predators felt they had become prey, and ran into the darkness, the one limping on three legs.

“PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!”, a fragile voice called from the bush to his left.

“Hello? You can come out. Those things are gone. You don’t have t-”

“THE LOUD NOISE! IT HURT MY EARS!”

“Gosh darnit,” Mark muttered.

“H-hello? Is somepony there?”

Somepony?

“Um, those things are gone. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

“Safe? I don’t know you! And you made a s-scary noise!”

“Yeah, I know, but that was to scare away the…”

“Timberwolves!”

“Timberwolves? As in the team?”

“W-what?”

“Nothing, just come on out. You need to get out of this rain. You might catch a cold, and there’s no telling when the timberwolves might come back.”

The speaker became silent.

“Okay,” she finally said.

The bush began to rustle, and a white unicorn filly came out.

“GYAH!”

“AH!”

“What are you?!”

“What’re you?!”

“Me? I’m a pony! What’re you supposed to be?”

“Um...a human, duh.”

“A what?”

I’m talking to a white horsey thing and I’m the mystery?

“Nevermind. I need to get you out of the rain. You might catch a cold!”

“I don’t wanna be sick!”

“Yeah, so come here! Are you hurt? I have a medical pack, though I don’t exactly know how your anatomy works.”

“I-I’m fine, thanks.”

The white filly walked over to him. He took out a cloth poncho and draped it over her head and withers.

“I’m Sweetie Belle by the way.”

“I’m Mark, Mark Jones.”

“Huh, funny name. Where do you live? I’ve never seen you in the Everfree before.”

“I live in a cabin just this way,” he pointed behind himself. “I know these woods like the back of my hand.”

“Your what?”

He held up his bleeding hand.

“Oh! Cool! I just learned something about hutams!”

“Humans,” he corrected.

“Whatever! OH! Your...hand’s bleeding!”

“Yeah, I punched one of those timberwolves. Didn’t know they were made out of wood.”

“Didn’t know a timberwolf was made out of wood? You’re funny. OOH! Do you do comedy?!”, her voice made an adorable scratch on the last word.

“No, no I don’t. Just follow me and we’ll be o-what?”

“What is it?”

“What?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“WHAT?!”

“WHAT?!”, now she was scared.

“Am I lost?!”

“LOST?! How can you be lost?! I thought you knew these woods like the back of your hand!”

“I do, but...I don’t know this part. Did I leave my property? No. That can’t be it. My property stretches for miles. Where are we?”

“The Everfree Forest.”

“The what?”

“You live in the Everfree Forest, but don’t know what it’s called?”

“Evidently. Wait! Where exactly are you from?”

“Ponyville.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Equestria…?”

“Nope, doesn’t ring a bell. Well, that’s it then. I must not be on Earth anymore.” Or on dope or something.

“Wow. How are we going to get home then? I got lost after they started chasing me!”

“Timberwolves wouldn’t run towards Ponyville, would they?”

“No, they live deep in the forest.”

“Well they ran that way, so we should go this way. How long have you been running from them?”

“Well, I think I got...kinda lost before they found me.”

“And by kinda lost…”

“I mean really lost.”

“Dangit! Okay, we need to go this way,” Mark pointed in the opposite direction the timberwolves ran.

The two walked in the rain for what felt like hours. The intense cold and heavy rain made a usually short walk feel like a full day of hiking. Sweetie Belle had fallen in the mud a few times and Mark had to pull her out.

After about an hour of hiking, Sweetie Belle began to shiver. It started off small, then grew to a violent shiver.

“Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?”

“So...cold,” she looked extremely tired and pitiful.

Mark pulled her into a hug, and wrapped his jacket around her. He turned his back to a tree, and sat on the ground, leaning against it. Sweetie curled herself up against his chest and shivered. Her eyes closed, she laid her head against his neck.

“What if we never get home? What if Rarity can’t find us?”, Sweetie asked through chattering teeth.

“We’re going to get home. And I hope...Rarity isn’t out in this weather. It’s best if she went home to wait for the storm to pass,” Mark rubbed the back of her head.

“Thank you for finding me Mark. I don’t know how much longer I would have been safe under that bush.”

Lightning struck, followed by earsplitting thunder.

“EEK!”, Sweetie tensed up and pulled her head under his jacket.

“It’s okay Sweetie, it’s just thunder.”

“I don’t like the thunder here. It scares me!”

Mark pulled her closer and began to rock side to side until she calmed down.

“So, can you tell me about Ponyville, and Equestria?”

“Well, Equestria is the land of us ponies. The leaders,  Princess Celestia and Princess Luna control the sun and moon. There’s my sister, Rarity and her friends, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle,” she took a deep breath and sneezed. “T-twilight became a Princess like the two rulers, but she’s not as powerful as she wasn’t one from birth. Then there’s Spike, he’s a dragon. He has a crush on my sister.”

“Interesting.  So the dragon has a crush on a pony. Is that allowed?”

“It isn’t common, but it’s not wrong.”

“Hmm, well it seems you are catching a cold. You need to sleep, so your body can use its energy on fighting the cold rather than keeping you awake,” Mark covered her head with his jacket, and then took a travel blanket from his backpack.

“This will keep us warm,” he then laid it over the both of them.

We’d better wait out the night. I might be able to get out in this weather, but Sweetie doesn’t stand a chance.

The both of them finally fell asleep. Mark had rolled onto his side, and let the other half of his body block the rain. With the blanket, his jacket, and his own shoulder, nearly no rain was hitting Sweetie Belle. Sweetie slept for two hours, and Mark slept for one. Mark’s backpack was waterproof, so he left it out in the rain. When he woke up, something immediately drew his attention. It was Sweetie’s body heat against his chest. Not the heat, but the lack thereof. Mark took his hand and felt her forehead. It was much colder than it felt against his neck earlier. He felt her neck, and down her back. Her body temperature had dropped drastically, and if he didn’t do something she could easily die. He then felt his own temperature, it was as cold as hers, but he was much larger, and had been trained to survive in colder climates.

Mark reached out from under the blanket retrieved the backpack. Inside, he found  the heat pad. It was electric, but also waterproof. He pulled it under the blanket, and turned it to eighty degrees Fahrenheit. It kicked on and began to warm her body to a comfortable temperature.

Sweetie’s small, shallow breaths were the rhythm that lulled him back to sleep.

<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>

When Mark opened his eyes, sunlight met them, and he grunted. He looked down, and saw the warm filly sound asleep in his arms.

He sighed.

The rain had stopped, and the clouds were nowhere to be seen.

Mark looked down at his watch. It was eleven A.M. He gently nudged Sweetie.

“Sweetie. Sweetie. It’s time to finish our journey home.”

The filly stretched, and yawned.

“Is the rain gone?”

“Take a look.”

She leaned out from under the blanket, and squinted. She took a few seconds to process the light, then she shot out of the blanket.

“YAY! Now we can go HOME!”, her voice cracked in the most adorable way.

Mark smiled. “Sure thing kiddo. Just let me pack up my gear,” he wrapped up the blanket and heat pad, and put them into the backpack.

“Okay Sweetie, we can go no-Sweetie? Sweetie?!”, Mark looked around frantically. “Sweetie, where are you?!”

He looked down and noticed her hoof prints in the mud.

“Well she walked away, meaning she shouldn’t be in danger.”

He began to follow the hoof prints. As he did so, he continued to call her name.

“Sweetie! Sweetie?!”

“Over here Mark!”, her voice calm, if not excited.

Thank God! I don’t sense fear!

“Where are you Sweetie?!”, he called, still following the hoof prints.

“Right here.”

He looked up, and just off the path, where the hoof prints led, Sweetie Belle was looking at a flower.

“Do you smell that? I could smell it from where we woke up, but it smelled so good I just had to find out what it came from!”, she she happily exclaimed.

“Sweetie you scared me! Thank God you’re okay! You shouldn’t walk away like that!”

“I-I’m sorry Mark! I-I didn’t mean to make you angry!”

“I’m not angry. I’m just still a little startled. What if a…”

“T-timberwolf…”

“Yeah, a timberwolf. What if one of those found you before I did?”

“N-no. A timberwolf...behind you!”

Mark turned around to see a timberwolf crouching twenty feet away from them. He slowly reached into the backpack and brought out the hatchet and knife. He raised them both in front of him, and prepared for an attack.

The timberwolf noticed that he didn’t have the scary thunder noise gun, so it began to edge forward. When it was within ten feet away, it began to charge at them.

“Sweetie get back!”

Sweetie jumped back a few times.

The timberwolf jumped at Mark, mouth agape. He caught its mouth with the hatchet And it rolled in the air and hit a tree. It then got up and charged him again. This time, Mark stabbed its jaw with the knife, drove it to the ground. He took the hatched, and grabbed the opposite side of the jaw, and pulled its face apart. The thing fell limp.

“MARK!”

Mark turned around to see two timberwolves charging him. They both jumped, one a second before the other. Mark caught the first under the jaw with the hatchet, and the next  with the knife in its eye. He drove both of them to the ground to his left. He then took the hatchet and cut the vines that connected the first’s head, and its head fell off. The second slowly got up, but Mark turned and caught its other eye with the hatchet. As soon as he pulled the weapons out of it, it took off blindly into the woods.

“Mark, are you okay?”, Sweetie Belle ran and jumped into his arms. he immediately dropped the sharp weapons and caught her.

“Woah! Yeah, of course I’m fine! Are you?”

“Yeah, they didn’t come for me.”

“Well, we need to get to Ponyville before their whole pack comes for us!”

The two of them walked for an hour, until Sweetie’s legs gave out. Mark picked her up and put her on his shoulders. They went like this for another hour until they emerged from the forest.

“We-we’re out! We’re out Mark!”, Sweetie yelled happily.

“Yeah we’re out!”

“Do you see that cabin? That’s Fluttershy’s.”

“Okay. Let’s head there and tell her you’re safe.”

Mark jogged military style to the cabin. When he got to the door, he knocked three times.

“Who is it?”, came a melodious voice.

“The name’s Mark, Mark Jones, but that doesn’t matter now. I have Sweetie Belle, and she’s safe.”

The voice didn’t respond. The sound of hooves quickly rapidly hitting the floor came, and then the door swung open.

“GYAH! What are you?!”

“I’m Mark. Please don’t be afraid! I have Sweetie Belle. And she’s safe!”

“Wha-”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, he’s nice. He saved me!”, Sweetie Belle confirmed.

“He...did?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, I suppose he has to be nice then. My name’s Fluttershy. We should go tell Rarity! She’s been worried sick!”

“Sure thing. But first can you get her something to eat? She hasn’t eaten in a long time.”

“Oh of course!”, Fluttershy dashed into the kitchen. “What do you want Sweetie?”, she called.

“Can you make haystacks? I love those!”

“Of course Sweetie.”

Mark walked over to the window and looked out. “So. This is Equestria? It looks so...peaceful.”

“That’s because it is! Most ponies are real nice, and you can almost never find a bad pony that steals and stuff!”

“Wow. Seems...perfect.”

“Not quite, but close enough!”, at that moment, Fluttershy walked in with the haystacks. “OOH!”

“Well, I have to go get the girls. Mark, can you stay here with Sweetie while I’m gone?”

“Of course I can. I didn’t rely on luck to get out of the Everfree.”

“Of course you didn’t. Bye Sweetie! Enjoy the haystacks!”

“Thanks! Bye Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy trotted out the door, and flew away.

“I just noticed that she has wings.”

“Well yeah. She is a Pegasus. Duh!”

Of course.

<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

An hour later, Fluttershy returned with the other five girls, and Princess Luna.

“Mark, I’m back. How did it go?”, Fluttershy asked as she edged the door open.

“Wait! Did you warn them about me?”, Mark stopped the door from opening.

“Yes.”

“Oh, okay,” he let the door open.

“Sweetie Belle!”, Rarity shrieked as she zipped into the room.

“RARITY!”, Sweetie Belle was wrapped in a big hug by her sister.

“When I couldn’t find you yesterday, I feared the worst!”

“So did I!”

“Why oh WHY did you go in there?!”

“I wanted to talk to Zecora about teaching me how to do all that cool stuff with the potions. But…please don’t be mad.”

“Mad? I’m not mad. I was just scared for you Sweetie.

The two exchanged words, hugs, and tears. Finally, Rarity just sat there hugging her sister, sobbing.

“It’s okay Rarity. I’m okay now. Mark saved me.”

Rarity looked over to Mark, who was now exchanging words with Twilight and Princess Luna.

She walked up to him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you...so much!”

Mark couldn’t think of anything in depth, so he just went with the obvious. “You’re welcome.”

Rarity continued to hug him until Applejack tapped her on the shoulder. “Ya might want ta let the boy breath.”

Rarity let go of him and backed up. “Oh, right. Of course.”

“So tell me Mr. Mark. How did you find young Sweetie Belle here?”

“It might sound crazy, but I was in my house. And then I heard this scream…”

Mark continued to tell the whole story. At the end, Fluttershy made them all lunch. After lunch, the other girls left, leaving Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Princess Luna, Fluttershy, and Mark.

“Thank you again for saving my sister. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her.”

“You’ve thanked me enough. No need.”

She hugged him again.

“But I was just so scared.”

“Yeah, I know. At least it’s all over now.”

“You have truly shown courage, and kindness today. But perhaps something still vexes you,” Luna spoke up.

“Yeah. I ran all the way from my home in the woods, and ended up here. How is that? I mean, the land where I live is kinda large, but just passed it are many other houses and properties. I just don’t understand how I ended up in a world no one knew existed.”

“Perhaps...no pony will ever know.”

“Yeah, but how will I get back home? Do I just walk back into the forest, and I appear home?”

“Should we try that?”

“I’d rather not. I saw how those timberwolves bring more friends. I don’t want to go back in there and have them hunt me down.”

“I do indeed know a way to send you back. Though, it does involve going into the forest, just not into its danger,” Luna put her tea mug down on the coffee table.

“Wait...you do?”

“Of course I do. My sister and I knew when you appeared in our world. We could feel it the very moment you stepped foot here. And I know the way out.”

“Great! Send me back!”

“Come with me then,” Luna stood from her chair and began walking to the door.

“NO MARK!”, Sweetie flew from her seat and wrapped her hooves around his legs. “You can’t go!”

“But I have to. I have my own life out there. My whole world is waiting for me in those woods.”

“But I can’t let you! You saved me! You can’t just leave now!”

Mark knelt down on one knee. “But, I have my own life, I have to get back to it. I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know you though.”

“Bu-”

He leaned and gave her a long, tight hug.

“I know. If I could do this again, I would. But to be frank, I don’t think I can.”

“Then stay!”

Mark’s eyes began to water. The scene was killing him.

“I can’t! I told you, people are waiting for me there. I can’t just abandon my life back home to stay here. And besides, I don’t know the first thing about life here.”

“I’ll help you! I could teach you!”

“I’m sorry…”

She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. This pushed everypony in the room over the edge, including Mark.

“Just promise me…”

“Yes?”

“Promise me you won’t forget me,” Sweetie looked him in the eye.

Mark wiped the tears from his eyes. “I won’t.”

“Then I guess you can go now,” she let go of him and laid down to her stomach.

Mark got up, and him and Luna started for the door. Then he stopped. He walked back over to Sweetie Belle, picked her up, and gave her a big hug. She returned the hug.

“Just go home already. They’re waiting for you,” she smiled at him.

“See you next time Sweetie,” he put her down and followed Luna out the door. Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, and Rarity followed the two to the forest.

Just outside the forest, Luna stopped Mark.

“Tell me something. Is it not folly to repeat a foolish act?”

“Yes, of course it is. Bu-”

“And is it not honorable to repeat a wise act?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then I have my answer. Now go to that tree,” she pointed to a large oak. “Walk around it, and you will be home.”

“Really?”

“Would I, an honorable Princess, ruler of Equestria, lie to you?”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Then you know how to get home.”

Mark turned to the three ponies gather behind him. “I guess this is final goodbye.”

Not final young Mark. Not everything is final.

Mark waved. The four ponies waved as he walked around the tree. The massive trunk of the oak took up his entire vision. As he rounded the tree, he found that he was back on the path he had found Sweetie Belle on.

“I know this path. This path connect my house to the lake!”, he followed the path all of the way back to his house. Where he still lives today.

The End(?)

No. Not the end. Not everything is final.

<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

One Year Later

Mark had decided to take the day off from writing to go fishing. He used to fish all the time, but he had been too busy the last year and wasn’t able to convince himself to take a break. Finally he had decided to take a few days off, and unwind. He chose to start with a day of fishing.

As he walked down the path to the lake, he noticed a certain tree. He immediately recognised the tree.

“Sweetie Belle,” he muttered to himself.

He sighed aloud. He hadn’t walked this path since the day he came back from Equestria. Just then, her heard a voice say something in his head.

Not everything is final.

“Wait, what?”, he looked over to the tree.

The tree had the same words imprinted on it.

“Not everything is final”

“What?!”

He dropped his gear and walked closer to the tree.

“It’s not possible. Is it?”

He stepped around the tree. As the trunk took up his vision, his heart beat intensified. The tree left his vision, and he found himself looking into the eyes of Princess Luna, a large smile across her face.

“Welcome back.”