It was hours after the orientation ended when Michael found himself sitting on a bench inside the ponification camp's arboretum. He stared down at the grass beneath him, his mind buzzing with a haze of muddled thoughts and emotions. And, although he didn't let it on, even to Jack, he was scared. It was one thing to have doubts and suspicions; it was something completely different to have every last one of them vindicated in only a few sentences. Twilight's words hung heavy on his mind like barbells.

Michael would have killed for a hard cider; anything to help calm his mind. Instead, all he had was the three bottles of regular sparkling cider he had packed in his suitcase. His focus shifted from the grass to the lip of the bottle as he dangled it between his index and middle fingers. He watched as the light amber liquid sloshed slowly around the inside of the bottle, softly fizzing as the individual tiny bubbles popped. Michael imagined the whole of human history taking place in one of those bubbles and then popping - removed from all of existence in a blink.

He thought back to the words of Carl Sagan,

"Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

Michael leaned back and stared up at the stars through the massive glass ceiling of the garden.

He laughed sardonically, "Betcha didn't see this coming, huh Carl?" Michael raised his bottle towards the sky; an offering to the ghost of a man who didn't believe in ghosts. He closed his eyes and took a drink.

"Um, pardon me. I don't mean to intrude, but who are you talking to?" said a soft female voice from somewhere in front of him. Michael didn't bother to open his eyes, enjoying a light breeze that played across his face.

"Oh, no one really. Just someone who I might have been friends with had we been alive at the same time."

"Why are you out here so late? It's rather dark..."

"I've...  I've got a lot on my mind right now. I just needed to decompress."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone now." she said uncomfortably.

"No, no, It's alright. I could use the company," He blindly scooched over to one side of the bench and patted the open side, "Here, have a seat."

"All-alright..."

Michael felt weight added to the other side of the bench.

        "Wow, you must be very graceful, I didn't even hear your footsteps."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that..."

Michael smelled something, "I smell... lotus blossoms? Is that your perfume?"

"Oh, no... I was planting some lotus plants into the pond earlier. Some of the pollen must have gotten on me."

"So you take care of the garden here?"

A hint of excitement took over her voice, "Yes, and I also take care of all the little animals. They're so cute..."

Michael smiled, "That's nice. I'm glad I'm not the only one here who isn't getting ponified. Would you like some apple cider?"

"Oh, no! I couldn't. You keep it."

"No no, You've actually made me feel a bit better, so I insist." Michael turned towards the side of the bench, opened his eyes, and grabbed the second bottle of apple cider.

"Alright, here you..." he turned back towards the other side of the bench, holding out the bottle, "go."

It was a pony. A pegasus pony. A yellow pegasus pony with pink hair and blue eyes and she was sitting right next to him.

The pony reached out and somewhat awkwardly grabbed the bottle with two hooves, "Thank you."

"Uh, yeah, No problem." It never occurred to Michael that he could be talking to a pony.

She struggled a bit with the bottlecap, so he reached over and popped it open with his keychain bottle opener. She took a drink, "Mmm, thank you again, this is very good."

Michael took a drink from his own, "So you like apples?"

"I love apples. Actually, one of my friends runs an apple orchard in Ponyville, but she's here helping with the center, so her family is running it right now."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them. Michael looked away, having no idea what to say.

"So," the pony began, "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Michael. Michael Frost."

"I'm Fluttershy. You said you weren't getting ponified, so why are you here? I mean, if you don't mind..."

"For a friend. He's getting ponified so I'm here for support."

"Oh! That's nice of you."

There was more silence, but this time Michael broke it.

        He sat up and turned to face Fluttershy, "Can I ask you a question?"

"O-okay."

"What's it like? Flying, that is."

She looked surprised, "Oh, I don't know. I've never put any real thought into it."

Michael felt stupid, "I suppose not. I guess flying for you is like walking for me."

She looked away, "I'm sorry."

Michael shook his head, "Don't be. Humans can't fly without planes, so sometimes we romanticize it. The love of the unattainable, I suppose."

"Well, if you got ponified, you might become a pegasus pony."

"Well, maybe someday." A lie. Michael got up, grabbed his own head, and twisted it, cracking his neck. The cracks were loud and audible.

Fluttershy winced, "Doesn't that hurt?"

Michael smiled, "Some reactions are universal, I guess."

"No, actually it feels good. Though someday I'm probably going to turn too far and end up paralyzed or dead." He laughed, but the mortified look on her face made it clear that she did not get the joke. "Whoa, relax, I'm just kidding. A little dark humor is all."

Immediately, she looked noticeably relieved. Michael took that as his cue and picked up the last bottle of cider off the floor.

"Alright, well, thanks for the company."

He spied her empty bottle of cider.

"Hey, uh, You want another bottle?"

"Oh no! I couldn't."

"It's alright, I've got cases of the stuff back home. You’re more than welcome to it."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it," He set the bottle on the bench and began walking away, "See you around."

"Oh, alright. Goodbye."

As Michael walked through the deserted hallways to his and Jack's room, he hit upon a revelation.

        "Individually, ponies probably aren't bad people. But still, as a whole, they might be as selfish as we are." He chuckled to himself, "They're more like humans than they think." Next Chapter: Chapter 5 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 39 Minutes