Vandal peered back as his bother over his shoulder. There was so much he didn't know. Andrew didn't know how much this phenomenon had an inspiration on his life. Vandal was born kind of a depressed child. Andrew was born a happy one. When their parents died, it made both of their personalities escalate. Andrew, maybe because he was trying to hide his grief, to not influence the ones around him with sadness.

Vandal was a different story. He became a hermit. He almost commited suicide a couple times. Well, a lot of times. Andrew's comforting and brotherhood held him up. A little.

However, on one of Vandal's more melonchally days, he trekked to this place. He originally came for the view over the hill, the sunset making the horizon and sillouette of Sleepy Hollow, NY, look amazing. It wasn't long until he discovered the place they were in right now.

Vandal loved this place. It had saved his life more than once, and had saved his poor wrist from more viscous cuts. He couldn't explain the feeling it gave him. Not peace, not happiness, but a... Comforting.

Then Vandal remembered Andrew. His 21 year old brother, who was behind him currently. He figured if he was already a happy person, one could only imagine how much this will aid his life. It had brought Vandal out of the depts of depression and suicide. How much will Andrew be lifted if he was already a couple milestones away from Vandal in happiness?

They came to a turn, the light blue (which Vandal figured out matches Andrew's eye color perfectly) light coming from the other side was very close. His heart rate quickened as he almost hopped. This was Vandal's favorite part.

Andrew watched as Vandal rounded the corner. Andrew was expecting it to be some sort of neon light Vandal found underground. Andrew could sell it on EBay and get a couple hundred to help with his mortgage-- He instantly shoved that idea to the back of his head. His brother was certainly attached to it, whatever it was. He would never cause someone's life to be harder for his own benifit. That was the Marine way.

Andrew rounded the corner, following his little brother.

His jaw almost hit the ground. Andrew found his brother sitting on the dirt floor, looking up at something, kind of in a daze. But it wasn't that which made him so amazed, but what his brother was staring at.

It was a floating, glowing ball, the size of a large beach ball. Bright, cyan light erupted from it profusely. There were black dark spots all over it, littering the thing like a Dalmatian's black dots. The amount of light was enormous.

"Beautiful, huh," Vandal muttered without emotion as he continued to gaze up at the glowing sphere.

It was very beautiful, but no words came from the slack-jawed New Yorker.

Suddenly, a loud boom erupted from outside the mini cave. Then the sound of people yelling and running. Andrew gave Vandal a look.

"That.. wasn't normal," Vandal started. The moment he finished the 'l', the cave shook. The ball glew more violently.

Vandal glanced around the cave. In his mind, this wasn't normal. At all. But it was okay. He had it. He reached out and stroked the hard surface of the glowing ball he had come so close to.

"Vandal," he heard his brother yell. "Let's get out of here!"

His voice was fuzzy and quiet. He didn't want to leave; not when they just got here. Vandal looked to his brother, a smile on his face. "Come," he said happily.

"No! We're getting out of here! Now! Come on Vandal; this can't be normal!"

The shaking around Vandal increased. But he didn't care. He had it. He had the best thing in his life. Right here. "Touch it," Vandal commanded, still smiling like a child.

The look on Andrew's face told him his brother thought he was crazy. He didn't care. As long a he touched it!

"If I touch it can we leave?!" Andrew was now shouting over the rumble all around him. A couple heavy rocks and dirt fell just a couple feet from Andrew.

Vandal shrugged.

Andrew groaned out loud. "Okay! Fine!" Without thinking, he bolted forward, barely missing a heavy rock. He reached his arm out. And touched it.

And went black.

He didn't feel anything. He didn't know anything. What was his name? What was this language he was thinking in? Wait, what was thinking? Was this thinking? It felt funny.

Andrew jolted awake, his eyes now wide open. This time, though, it wasn't a nightmare. And he wasn't drenched in sweat.

"He certainly knows how to make an entry," said a feminine voice.

Andrew put his hand on his forehead and groaned. There was a stinging sensation all over his body, and his vision was blurred profusely. He shook his head and looked down at the floor. Then he got up on his knees, his hands leaning on what felt like cold tile. He felt like he was going to throw up, the numb feeling in his gums becoming unbearable. As his vision slowly came back into focus, he saw that the floor under him was polished and cleaned. Andrew sat up and put his palm on his forehead. He couldn't remember anything.

Was he having dinner at some friend's fancy house, then passed out? Most likely; Vandal said that memory loss was normal after passing out.

Wait, who's Vandal?

Then it all came rushing back in like a flood. Andrew blinked hardly, and then his vision was perfect again.

"Greetings," said the feminine voice behind him again. "My name is princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, which is where you currently are. I understand you are Andrew?"

How did they know his name? Andrew turned around, thinking the name 'Celestia' was weird. Turns out what sat a couple yards away was even more so. His heart skipped a beat as his blood ran cold.

Andrew had dealt with many things. Terrorists, hostage situations, vehicle crashes, and his training covered it all. A Marine's training had to be precise, exact, and long. It took months before he actually got to a real battlefield. But it was all worth it in the end. He was trained for every possible situation that he might encounter.

Except this.

Except somehow getting teleported in a tall castle room with two talking, technicolor equines standing right before him.

He had to stay cool. He had to remain calm.

But talking horses? No. How could he be calm?

He was going to scream. Right here, right now.

No! At least give them a chance to explain!

What if they were hostile?

Were those wings? Do they have horns? Are they some kind of pegasus-unicorn mix?

Andrew's wide-eyed expression turned towards the taller, white one as it (or she?) cleared her throat.

Celestia was trembling.

What should she say? The last time she had done this was centuries ago.

She got the 'welcome to Equestria' thing out of the way. He knows where he is.

No, he came from another planet. He doesn't know anything about Equestria. How would she explain?

Better yet, how would she explain to him why she did it? He must hate her right now. He has that right.

The poor thing must be scared to death. Wait, she shouldn't talk like that. He was a warrior from where he came from. She had to treat him with respect, but also had to make him understand her position at the same time.

All of a sudden, this whole 'bring a human to Equestria' thing didn't look so good.

With a deep and uneasy breath, Celestia started.

"Now, I know this may seem sudden or weird, but don't worry. We mean you no harm. We know very well who you are, Andrew Davis. We know what planet you've come from, what your job was, and what your species is like. We've been watching you for quite some time."

Celestia saw Andrew's jaw quiver, and winced. She wasn't coming on the right way. "I mean, we have been watching you for study. And protection. Whenever we saw you in danger or about to wander into an ill-fated situation, we used magic to keep you alive." Celestia instantly regretted saying that. He didn't know anything about magic, for Faust's sake! He must think she was crazy.

She really sucked at this.

She was crazy.

Magic. Magic. Magic didn't exist. It couldn't exist. Andrew refused to believe it did.

And they've been watching him? For study and protection? What did they mean by that? Sure, the protection part explained him occasionally getting a feeling to wander away from dangerous places, or get very lucky in his early childhood, but no magic was involved.

While his confusion flourished, the smaller, darker one cleared her throat, shouldering the one beside her.

"What my sister is trying to say, is that you can relax. No harm will come unto you. You're safe here, and if you will just listen, all will be explained."

The dark one looked over to her sister, as if asking for approval. The white equine nodded and smiled, showing her pride towards her sibling.

Andrew had enough.

After a couple seconds of pure silence, Andrew finally let it all out. He screamed as loud as he can, his eyes wide open. He screamed more than he ever screamed before.

The two Princesses both slammed their hooves over their ears. The human was incredibly loud. She understood completely why he would yell so ear-deafeningly loud, but this was just.. Wow.

Somewhere, miles away from Canterlot, Rainbow Dash rested lazily on a cloud. It had been a long, rough day, and she was enjoying a well-earned slumber. Dash thought back to her most recent near-death experience and grinned while snoozing. Now that is going to make an awesome story for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her aching muscles and pain in her wings was a reminder of the day's previous events. And it felt good.

Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted when a sudden masculine yell swept over her ears.

"Agh!" She reacted quickly and slammed her hooves on her ears, protecting her from the deafening sound. The yell lasted a good nine seconds before it came to a halt. Rainbow rubbed her poor ear lobes. "What the heck was that?" Dashie asked herself, half expecting an answer. She sighed, and after a couple of seconds returned her hooves back onto the soft cloud. "Whoever it was," she figured, "he must of really had a shocker." And with that, she dozed right back off to sleep, like nothing ever happened.

Back in Canterlot, Celestia and Luna both squinted their eyes at the human, agitated. Andrew had a look on his face that said he was holding it in for a long time.

"Done?" Luna asked simply.

Andrew, after a couple glances between the pony sisters, replied, "I dunno, am I?"

"Okay," Celestia said carefully. "We'll explain everything. You ask, we answer. Just please, do not, ever, EVER, do that again."

Andrew gave them a look, then replied with: "Depends on what the answers are."

Andrew sat on a luxurious, tall chair, with his hands clasped together and body leaned forwards. He looked like a real business man. The two alicorns had led him to some sort of a guest room, decorated with loads and loads of royal instruments. He felt extremely out of place.

Luna and Celestia sat in the chairs across from him; Luna was holding her polite, yet authoritative stature, while Celestia was trying to mimic Andrew's sitting position. She looked quite goofy, actually.

"Okay, first question," said Andrew. Just for emphasis, he looked between the two; his cyan eyes narrowed. "How did I get here?"

Luna opened her mouth, but Celestia quickly replied: "You were teleported by a Beacon; one of seventeen on your world. They are remnants of our creation, as we once tried to openly explain to humans that we meant no harm. Beacons were once very well-known to all humans, being known for teleporting them to a much happier and uplifting place. However they were outlawed some hundred years ago, after people got suspicious when an accidental death cut through our truce. Your government erased all signs of Beacons, and nobody currently knows of their existence. Until now."

"I asked 'how did I get here,' not for the entire definition of a Beacon." Celestia seemed to blush a little as she mouthed oh. "Okay, second question: How do you know so much about me. The short version, I mean."

Luna answered this time. "Every human who is destined to enter a Beacon at some point of his or her life is given a Vision Ball. They are like cameras, implanted in their brains. We can see everything in the person's life that happens from about a year before they encounter a Beacon, up to when he or she is teleported."

Andrew nodded casually, as if he got it. Truth was, though, he didn't get any of it. "So, is it kind of like telling someone's future?"

"No, not at all," answered the dark mare. "You see, a Vision Ball can only tell the present. It is, however, only the year before the person meets the Beacon that we see. We can't tell the future."

Andrew nodded; that part he did get, miraculously. "Wait, my brother encountered the Beacon before me, and he didn't get sucked in."

"Some people do encounter Beacons, but are not affected. I'm afraid he just wasn't destined for it."

"Wait, but it did affect him. He was referring to it like it was some kind of best friend."

"Eight of the seventeen Beacons do that. Sometimes, they're not just 'portals to other, physical worlds,' but they also radiate feelings coming from the majority of ponies that live there. We'll take that as a compliment, considering how happy our citizens are." Luna smiled at the last part.

Andrew nodded. "Whelp, I have more questions.. But they're too many to think up of one. How about you tell me some stuff? Do I have any super-human super powers?" He said that last part with a boyish grin.

Celestia giggled, and Luna smiled as she replied: "Ironically, yes."

Andrew's grin disappeared. "What?"

"Going through a Beacon gives the person the ability to change into a pony, based entirely off of the person's personality, interests, and wishes."

Andrew was pretty sure all his teeth were showing as his grin expanded across his face. "I can turn into a pony?"

Celestia shrugged. "Well basically, yeah. Every human that comes through can."

"How do I do it?!" The question came out sudden and abruptly, although the tall New Yorker couldn't care less. The excitement was literally visible on his face.

Celestia and Luna both looked at each other, then back at the human. "Well," the lighter one said. "We can't really.. teach you how. There's really no way to explain it. Although most of my human subjects explained it as an 'extra limb,' in their mind. Do you feel anything?"

Andrew did feel some sort of "lever," in the back of his head, but he had thought it was just a side effect of the teleportation. Andrew stood up from his seat, and rubbed his heads together. "Okay, okay, uhh.. Just pull the lever." Andrew closed his eyes, and tried to mentally reach out to the red, slender lever. (At least, that's how he thought of it in his mind.) He thought of pulling it...

He opened his eyes.

No change.

Luna and Celestia were looking at him like he was crazy. Andrew held up a finger to them. "I got this," he said. With that, he closed his eyes, and mentally commanded himself to pull the lever.

Come on! Pull the freakin' lever! It's not that hard! Just think of pulling it.

He bent over as he put his hands to his head, as if showing physical exhaust would help. He opened his eyes again, but with no luck. "Wait," he said, nodded his head a couple times. "Don't worry. I'll get this."

Celestia watched, amused as the human tried more and more to contact his pony features. It was funny, really. He looked quite goofy.

"Hang on, I feel something!" Andrew raised his voice as he grunted.

Luna leaned close to her sister, and whispered in her ear, "shouldn't we stop him before he hurts himself?"

Celestia was about to respond with 'No way, this is too much fun!' when she saw Andrew erupt into a circular light. It was about as big as the magical flash produced by any unicorn's teleportation spell, but it was two times as bright. Within a fraction of a second, the ball of light was gone as quickly as it appeared. And instead of Andrew, a medium sized, dark blue earth pony took his place.

Celestia and Luna's eyes both widened as they took in the features of this new stallion. His coat was a dark navy blue, and he had a mane which was styled just like Spitfire's; the pegasus leader of the famous flight group named the Wonderbolts. Instead of orange and yellow, however, it was cyan and black. His tail was also long and adventurous, with the same color pattern as his mane. He had astoundingly pronounced cyan-blue eyes, and was.. extremely good-looking. His muscular build also helped both Celestia and Luna realize how the female humans must of felt.

For a minute, everyone was silent. Andrew continued to look at Celestia and Luna, as they stared back, astonished.

After what seemed like an hour, Andrew's eyes somehow brightened up even more, as he pulled a cheeky grin. "Did it work?"

Luna and Celestia nodded simultaneously, eyes still wide.

"How do I look?"

A dozen words crossed the two princess's minds. Some like: Astonishing. Incredible. Awesome. Stunning. Handsome. Amazing. Toned. Perfect. None of these words came out, though. Instead, Luna cleared her throat and answered, "Like a dark blue earth pony."

Andrew nodded excitedly at the two sisters' response. He certainly felt different.

He felt.. Great!

He did, however, have one more question. This particular question made his blood run cold for a second or two, and the enthusiasm and happiness vanish. "I have one more question." Andrew looked up at the princesses, completely serious, and said:

"Where's my brother?"

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Blueheart Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes