July of 2013 was the during the summer between my Sophomore and my Junior years in high school. Summer activities were in full swing. I had weight lifting for football in the morning, agility training during the day, and more individual position training in the afternoon. It was a normal summer for most football players. It was a wash, rinse, repeat cycle. Wake up, do my sport activities, finish up by 5 o’clock, have a nice dinner with my family, play some Xbox, and go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. It was a normal thing for a 16-year-old. The only thing “ab-normal” about me was that I liked to watch a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Still, not much special about that considering the vast online community called “bronies.”

July 28 was typical. The wash, rinse, and repeat cycle didn’t have any hiccups. Sports were normal. Xbox was normal. My family was as happy as could be. My dad had just sold his house, so I was staying with my mom full-time for a while. Usually I would switch every week. Besides being divorced, my mom and dad had a decent relationship. They didn’t hate each other. Hell, my step-dad was even good friends with my dad. My little brother was doing the same things I remembered when I was nine. The big talk of his time was Pokemon cards, which somehow made another comeback. My sister had finally gone to college last year, so I didn’t have to share a room with my brother anymore. As I said, everything was normal.

Even though it was a completely ordinary day for everyone, I just couldn’t shake this weird feeling I was having. I couldn’t explain what it was, but it just felt weird. It reminded me of when you’re watching a scary movie, and you’re sure something is about to pop out and scare you, but then it doesn’t. Just the whole mood of things felt... off. I did my best to ignore it. I talked with my family at dinner like usual. My brother went on and on about how “Charizard is clearly the best Pokemon.” After dinner, I retired to my room to spend the rest of my night searching every corner of the Internet to find all things My Little Pony. Again, normal night as ever.

As I browsed the achieves of the MLP sites, I felt the weird feeling growing and growing. It felt as if the tension in the air was about to squeeze me to death. In fact, I found that the more I looked at the ponies that filled my screen, the more intense the feeling got. Wondering if I was going insane, I started looking at “normal” stuff. I’ve never been a fan of Facebook, twitter, or Google +, so I pretty much settled with watching random videos on YouTube. After an hour or so, the feeling eventually lessened. It didn’t cease, but it felt.... lighter than before.

As I’m sure some of you know, almost all roads on YouTube eventually lead back to ponies. I found myself going through pony vids again, and to my displeasure, the ominous feeling returned. I couldn’t really explain it, so I did my best to ignore it. After a couple hours of mindless ponies, I couldn’t take it anymore. I logged off my computer and decided that I might as well go to bed. I took out my phone to check the time before I began the tedious task of getting ready for bed. My phone’s screen told me it had literally just changed to 10:30 pm. That’s when everything went black.

Whenever I usually wake up, I’m always tired. No matter how much I’ve slept the previous night, I’m always wanting to go back to bed. But for some reason, as soon as I opened my eyes, I realized I was wide awake. And then I noticed I wasn’t in my room. I was in a smaller room with pure white walls. Pure white walls, and a door. Nothing else decorated the room. Nothing stood out besides the equally white door. In fact, the only reason I knew the door was there if the first place was because it had a door handle.

I forced myself to sit upwards, blood rushing to greet my waking brain. I notice my clothes are the same, but something looked... off about them. Something I couldn’t put my finger on. The brightness, the contrast, hell, even the texture felt different. But it was clearly still my blue jeans and my black shirt that bore my school’s logo.

As I continue to sit there dumbly, I notice that my un-socked feet looked different as well. The brightness and contrast were off just like with my clothes. I check my contact lenses to see if they’re smudged, and to my bewilderment, I can’t find them. As I prod gently around my eye, I can’t find my contacts, yet, everything looked crystal clear. Granted I was near-sighted, and everything in the room was fairly close, but it even felt like I had them in. Without them, I usually couldn’t read five feet in front of me. Now, I felt like I could see... even better than when I did have my contacts.

Being officially weirded out now, I gain the courage to stand up. Even as I stand, everything feels a bit off. I felt lighter, in a sense. My nose was perfectly clear (I’ve been fighting a cold the past few days) and the air seemed... fresher. I look at my hands and find that they share the same traits as my feet. And I notice something even more strange. My calluses that I acquired from years weight lifting were gone. The multiple scratches and cuts on my arms were unaccounted for as well. The few scars, the scarce pimples, all vanished as if they never even existed.

Being beyond weirded out now, I decide that I need answers. So I make my way to the door. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t feel threatened at all. I didn’t feel like I was in trouble. I felt... that I was in harmony. So when I opened the door, I wasn’t bracing for any threat. The room I entered could only be described as magnificent. I was at a loss for words. The room was incredibly tall, easily stretching 50 feet in the air. The front of the room looked like a scene from Game of Thrones. It had large, wide steps leading to a throne. The wall behind me conisited of two small doors on both sides of a set of gargantuan double doors. On the two other sides were beautiful stained glass windows, depicting oddly familiar images. Before I could inspect the images further, a voice from my left startled me.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” a soft female voice said. I turned to get a look at the mysterious voice. I see a girl around 16 or 17 years old, sitting in a simple chair with a book in her lap. She had black hair with a two lavender stripes going down the length of it, one slightly darker than the other, and one slightly lighter than the other. She was wearing simple blue jeans and a t-shirt, which color seemed to be a mix of the two stripes in her hair. But what stunned me most of all was the dark, deep, beautiful purple eyes. I’ve seen enough colored contact lenses to know that these were natural. After a few moments of gawking at the mysterious girl, I realize how awkward I must have looked.

Trying to make up for this, I begin to speak. “Oh um... yeah. She- it- they sure are.” I fumble out. The girl stands up and closes the book, the sound echoing throughout the large room we were in.

“They were hoo- handmade.” she started, not looking at me, but at the windows. “They’re over 500 years old.” she continued, advancing towards me. I was too lost in the sight of her to look at the windows. After a couple of steps, she was a few feet in front of me. All of the features on her seemed... almost too real. Almost too perfect to be real. Her face seemed soft to the touch, her hair seemed even softer. Her slender form would have made many of the girls of my school green with envy. Again, I realize I’m just standing here starring at her.

“Oh... um... they sure are... beautiful.” After the words left my mouth, she gifted me with a small smile.

“You know, I never expected you to react like this.” These words began to snap me out of my trance. “I’ve never seen you act this way before.” Now I was weirded out and confused.

“W-what? You know me?” I manage to get out.

“Of course I do Hunter.” I was stunned to say the least.

“Wh-who are you?”

“I think you know who I am.” she winked at me. Maybe if I hadn’t been so confused, I would have realized what she was hinting at. But no, I stood there dumbly, still no idea what was going on.

“I... I don’t...” She giggled softly.

“You know, for someone as smart as you, I would have thought you could have put two and two together. Straight A’s all of high school. Except I do remember seeing an A dangerously close to a B during your freshmen year. I believe it was in Spanish?” Now it seemed like she was almost showing off.

“How do you know so much about me!?” I said probably too loudly. She began to lightly blush. Blush? Really? I’ve never seen anyone blush before except in cartoons...

“Not to sound creepy but... We’ve kind of been surveying you for the past few years.”

“We...?”

“Well, actually. It’s mostly been my teacher. I only started a few weeks ago.” The weird scale in my mind was broken.

“Okay, okay. What’s going on here, hmm? The last thing I remember is blacking out in my room. Is this some kind of game? Some kind of stupid TV show?” She laughed at that last remark.

“I guess you could almost call it that.”

“What? So I’m on a TV show right now? Is this supposed to freak me the fuck out? Cause that much has been accomplished.”

“Well you’re not on a TV show exactly... And we’re not trying to freak you out.”

“Whose this we you’ve been talking about!?” I was getting a little aggravated.

“I’ve already told you. My teacher.” she gestured towards the throne at the head of the room.

“You’re still not making any sense.” I began to rub my temples in frustration. “Can you at least answer some questions for me?”

“To the best of my knowledge, I will answer all of your questions.”

“Okay... First of all, what’s your name?” I was trying to sound as stern and demanding as possible.

“Twilight.” she said flatly. As I remember this now, I almost want to punch myself for being so stupid and not looking at the big picture. I was talking to a girl with purple eyes, purple stripes in her hair, and her name was Twilight. And I couldn’t make the connection. I still facepalm every time I think about this part. Anyway...

“Twilight? That’s... an interesting name.” Twilight herself seemed surprised I still wasn’t making the connection. “Okay, well here’s my second question. Where am I?” She sighed, and then took a deep breath.

“You’re in the magical world of Equestria where the dominant species remains to be ponies. There are, however, three different kinds of ponies. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. We are ruled by Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna who are both alicorns. Celestia has control over the sun, and Luna has control over the moon. As opposed to your world, here magic exists and is used often and frequently. Unicorns and alicorns are the only two types of ponies who can use magic. Pegasi have control over the weather. And finally, earth ponies are the main food producers.”

As she said those words... I don’t even know how to describe what I felt like. It seemed to be a mixture of rage, bewilderment, and amusement. “So I am on a joke TV show.” I concluded more to myself than to Twilight. “Okay. This was hilarious. You can come out now with your cameras. Oh, and by the way, I’m really fucking sorry for saying ‘fucking’ early. I heard that it costs so much money to bleep something out. So fuck, shit, fucking fuck, motherfucking, asshole, shit, cunt, son of a-”

“You are really vulgar.” Twilight said looking very amused. “I can’t say I’ve never heard those words before, but never in such quantity.”

“Oh,” I began, my temper about to blow. “I’m sorry, and I’m sure you’re supposed to be Twilight Sparkle. From the My Little Pony TV series right?” To my surprise, Twilight let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh good. I’m just glad you’re the right person. That would have been pretty awkward if you weren’t a brony.”

“So what is this? A TV show that makes fun of bronies? Great plot you got there.” I was ready to lash out at something. Only a few of my friends knew I was a brony, and I honestly wanted to keep it that way. But because I thought this was a TV show, I was pissed that I was being humiliated, and that everyone would now know that I watched a show for little girls.

“Actually Hunter, what I told you was all fact. You’re really in Equestria, and I’m really Twilight Sparkle.” Her tone had become much more serious than before. But I still wasn’t buying it.

“Yeah. And I’m the prince of Gofuckyourselfandyourstupidshow.” Completely fed up with what I was being told, I turned back towards the door I entered from. I knew it only led to another small room, but I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Not even after taking three steps, Twilight spoke again from behind.

“If I prove to you that I’m Twilight Sparkle, will you at least stop your swearing?” I paused and turned around slowly.

“Fuck it. Sure, why not. If you prove to me that you’re an animated pony from a television show, then yes. I’ll stop cursing forever.” She didn’t speak in response. She only smiled and walked backwards a few steps.

“Don’t freak out okay? And remember, you said no swearing.” she smirked. I stood there, crossing my arms, wanting this whole ordeal to be over with. Still smirking, Twilight looked down at her own hands. She seemed to be focusing on them intently. After a few moments, they began to glow. Yeah, they freaking glowed. A purple aura surrounded her hands and steadily grew in intensity. The purple glow began to swirl in circles around her arms, and then eventually her torso. The purple continued to swirl around her until it was enveloping her whole body. The aura spun so fast it looked solid, Twilight now completely gone from view. After about ten seconds, the glow began to slowly decrease in height. It shrunk down to about four feet about the floor when I saw something in the center.

As the vortex finally disappeared, and I found myself again not being able to find words to describe what I felt. What was now in front of me was a lavender pony, a unicorn to be exact. She had dark purple hair with two different colored lavender stripes going down the length of it. The exact same color as the stripes before. And she had the exact same eyes as the human that once stood before me. I tried to find my vocal chords, but to no avail. Once again, Twilight was the first to speak.

“So no swearing from now on?” she continued to smirk. She seemed almost sadistic in proving me wrong.

“I... I don’t....”

“Well at least that reaction was predictable.” she giggled. After another moment of awkward silence, she trotted towards me. “Let me inform the princess that you’re now aware of your whereabouts. While I’m gone, I’ll let you absorb what you just found out.” She winked at me, and left through a pair of gigantic double doors.

My whole chest felt heavier and my legs started to buckle underneath me. I stumbled towards the chair Twilight was sitting on earlier, and manage to sit down. Now that I’m finally looking around the room, I realize that it’s an exact replica of Celestia’s throne room in Canterlot from the show. I guess replica isn’t the right word, but I was still very disoriented. The stained glass windows I glanced at earlier came back to my mind, and I took time to actually observe them. After a few minutes of rest, I stand up and begin to examine them.

They were easily twice as big as any stained glass I’ve ever seen before, and they depicted amazing pictures. They were similar to the stained glass from the show in Season 2, Episode 2 after the Mane Six defeated Discord, but they were obviously different. There were six windows on each side of the room, twelve total. It seemed to tell a story almost as the windows moved on. The window farthest away from the door on the left side seemed to be the beginning of the story.

The first picture seemed to be of Discord, whom surprisingly looked very similar from the show. The picture had Discord in the background, and three suffering ponies in the foreground, one of each species. Dark thunderclouds with oddly colored rain was depicted above them. I moved on to the second window, and saw two alicorns, one white and one blue, on both sides of Discord, emitting magic towards Discord, whom was now a dull grey. The next image was very peaceful looking. It had Princess Luna on the top right side, with the moon behind her, and Celestia opposite to her with the sun behind her. Below the two sisters were happy ponies of every species, playing on the left, and sleeping on the right. I was pretty sure I knew where this was going.

The fourth image was of a much larger, and more malicious looking Luna. I assumed this was Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon stood on her hind legs with a giant moon in the background and panicking ponies below. Now the fifth image showed Celestia aiming her horn at Nightmare Moon, shooting magic at her much like the way they did with Discord. The final image on the left side had Celestia in the top middle, with the sun on her right and moon on her left. Inside of the moon was the outline of a unicorn’s head. Below her, the ponies were once again joyful and happy.

Before I know what I’m doing, I’m already on the other side of the vast room, looking at the first image on the right side. This one was of Discord again, and it showed him in his stone state. A small, but visible, crack was on the statue. The next picture towards the right was much like first picture on the left side. It had Discord in the background as well. The thunderclouds and the odd rain were there too. The only thing different, was that there were now six ponies underneath the clouds. They were obviously the Mane Six. The third picture depicted a maze, with Discord hovering over it with puppet strings in his hand. Inside the maze were the Mane Six in separate portions of the maze..

The next picture made my heart droop. It showed Discord in the center of the Mane Six. The six ponies were all going separate ways, and their original colors were now gray and dull. Discord had a very displeasing smile on his face. The next window was a little bit different than the rest. It was cut up into six different scenes, three on each side. The top left depicted Twilight reading a scroll, with her original, purple color covering half of her body. The next five frames were all the same. Twilight touching her horn to the forehead of one of the other Mane Six. In every scene, the pony’s color was covering half the length of their bodies, implying that they were regaining their color.

The sixth and final window was by far the most beautiful. The color in it seemed to shine brightest out of all the other windows in the room. It had each of the Mane Six standing majestically on opposite sides of the window, three on each side. They all had glowing auras around them matching the color of their coat. The colors all went upwards and finally connected into a rainbow of color. The single stream went further upward and eventually hit Discord, who was now once again encased in stone. I took a few steps back to fully appreciate the magnificent works of art the decorated the room. I could have stood for hours, just absorbing the beauty of it. However, a majestic voice made me jump from behind.

“Admiring some Equestrian history?” Much like Twilight’s voice, this voice was not exactly like the voice from the show. However they both sounded incredibly similar to the show. So similar, that I could easily tell the it was Princess Celestia behind me. I slowly turn around, and I’m proven right. Standing before me is a large pony, almost as big as a small horse. Her eye level met mine and I stood at least 6 feet above the ground. Her magical mane and tail flowed around her. Her wings were unfurled, but not at full length.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to bow, kneel, or just stand there dumbly and look like a fool. I’m pretty sure you can guess what I did. I manage to remember that I have vocal chords, and I force some words out. “Princess Celestia...” I let the words hang in the air. “Uh...” I fumble with my words again. “What an honor it is to meet you...” The way I let the words out make it sound like I asked a question. This gets a soft laugh from both the princess, and Twilight who I just noticed was standing next to Celestia.

“The honor is all mine Hunter.” the ruler of all Equestria says, nodding her heads towards me. She turns her head slightly to the side. “You may leave us now.” Two white pegasi in royal guard uniforms left the room and shut the door behind them. I somehow didn’t notice them the first time either.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” Twilight asks, perking up her ears. “We have a lot of food and drinks in the castle.” I again almost found myself lost in Twilight’s eyes, but mange to force myself from staring.

“Uh... I don’t... I don’t really know... Water?” I say, still fumbling my words.

“Hehe. Of course we have water.” Twilight said sweetly. She turned her head towards the alicorn. “Princess?”

“I think we may just talk in the dinning hall Twilight.” Celestia turned to me and gave me a sly, but small, smile. “We have a lot to talk about.”

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