The sounds of chatter and laughter resounded throughout the cafe, the murmurs of those going about their day only adding to the cacophony. Ponies of all colors, shapes, and sizes conversed with friends and family alike as they ate, nary a care in the world registering in their minds.

One table in particular, situated outside, was host to a number of ponies many around Equestria knew of.

"He did not!" Rarity gasped, leaning forward on the table.

"He totally did!" Rainbow reassured, slamming a cup of tea down. "As soon as I brought the guy to my room, he was all over me!" She giggled. "He even stuck it in my plothole!"

"Oh my..." Fluttershy uttered, her face a bright, cherry red.

"That's kinky," Starlight mused, taking a sip of her espresso. "I mean, it's hard enough to get a stallion to go to your place, but anal?" She shook her head, smiling. "That's a rarity."

"Tell me about it. Ah can't tell ya how many stallions Ah've tried to get with who broke it off 'cause I wanted something in m' tail hole," Applejack agreed, nodding sagely with crossed hooves.

"Oh yes, there are so few stallions out there who just can't handle a little bit of experimentation, it's quite upsetting," Rarity concurred. She lifted her fork with her magic, stabbing it into her salad and taking a bite of it before she continued. "I'm honestly just surprised you found a stallion like that, Rainbow."

"So am I! Most stallions I know would rather have me lick their lollipops!" Pinkie added, taking a loud slurp of her milkshake.

Rainbow shrugged, grinning as she sat back. "What can I say? Stallions can't get enough of me."

"What happened afterwards?" Twilight queried before she took a bite of her hayburger. After chewing and swallowing, she added, "Did anything, ya know, romantic happen?"

Rainbow snorted, waving it off. "Nah, he left in the morning. 'Sides, you know I don't do mushy romance stuff. I'm too awesome for just one stallion."

The girls all rolled their eyes.

Fluttershy, having recovered, looked to Starlight. "Speaking of romance, have you found a stallion that you, um, like, Starlight?" She asked, hiding behind her mane.

Starlight sighed, putting her cup of espresso down. "No. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, no stallion would be interested in a mare who nearly destroyed time itself." She leaned back. "I mean, seriously, most stallions run off if you don't impress them enough, and a lot of them are pretty skittish, it'd be a miracle for one to even be interested in me." She picked her cup back up, taking a long draft of it as she glared down at it's contents as if it had wronged her. "'Sides, most I've met aren't my type."

The girls all frowned.

Twilight put a hoof on her student's shoulders. "Starlight, you can't-"

"What the buck is that?!" a pony cried, pointing skyward.

The girls and all present shot their views to said sky, and saw an object hurtling towards the town. Their eyes widened, watching in shock as the object burned through the air, streaking across the sky and heading towards town square.

Twilight shot up out of her seat. "Come on, girls!" She shouted, galloping off after the meteor. They did as told, following after the alicorn, Starlight leaving a few bits behind to pay for their meals.

Down the streets they ran, passing screaming and panicking ponies as they did. Pinkie's frown was firmly etched on her face as she followed her friends, different from the smile she always wore. Her friends were not much different, faces set in frowns as they tried to keep up with the meteor. The eyes of the mares shone with determination, though they held a tinge of fear as well.

Twilight looked above to the meteor, taking note of it's trajectory. 'Crud, it really is heading for town square...' She grit her teeth. 'I really hope nopony is there right now...'

The meteor did not let up, did not falter in it's path as it soon landed with a resounding boom, heard for miles all around. Screams followed, and Twilight grit her teeth. She turned her head to her friends. "Hurry!" She urged before running as fast as she could towards town square.

Her friends made no complaints, doubling their speed as well.

Finally, they reached the square, coming to it to find the fountain replaced by a crater that took up most of the area, it's edges smoking and smoldering. Twilight and her friends looked about, noticing with relief that nopony was hurt, that there were no corpses in or around the crater.

Pinkie tapped her shoulder, pointing to the center of the crater. "What is it, Pinkie-?" She began, before her eyes locked onto the one form inside the crater. There, in the dirt and charred earth, was a being Twilight hadn't expected to see on this side of the Mirror.

"It's a human..." She breathed.

"That's a human?" Rainbow asked, pointing to it. Twilight nodded. "Dang," Rainbow said, turning back to it. "Why didn't you tell us human stallions were so hot?"

"How do you know it's a stallion?" Starlight asked, quirking a brow at her.

"It doesn't have teats, and there's a bulge in it's..." She looked to Twilight. "...Pants, right?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah, but... How did the poor guy end up here?"

"Ah dunno, but we should take the fella somewhere safe. Celestia knows he'll probably be scared stiff, what with bein' somewhere entirely new," Applejack pointed out, tipping her hat up.

The others couldn't find any reason to disagree. They all knew stallions were not normally danger-prone, and did not normally like violence, preferring instead their ways of mind games and fashion and drama. Knowing that a stallion had gone through some terrifying event of being shot through the sky like a meteor, well, it simply invoked their protective sides. Thus, they all slid down the crater to the man's unconscious form. As they reached him, they took note of his condition, and appearance.

His hair was a bright and lustrous cyan, short and spiky and unruly. His skin was pale, with two grey stripe tattoos on his cheeks and a pair of black-rimmed glasses resting over his closed eyes. He wore some sort of uniform, similar to those used in schools in Canterlot, only his blazer was a bright white with deep blue and yellow trims. The symbol of a gold star was on the right breast of the blazer. A sky blue undershirt covered what his blazer could not, though his heavily muscled pectorals still showed through. He wore white slacks with a gold belt, and his hands were wrapped in golden cloth, whilst his feet were covered with yellow and cyan boots.

But the thing the girls noticed immediately was how heavily muscled he was. His biceps and arms, legs and thighs, and abdomen and pecs were heavily chiseled and muscled, yet he looked young and youthful.

Starlight took note that, strangely, he seemed unscathed. His clothes weren't torn nor burned, simply dirty from the landing, and he bore no wounds.

"How in the hay is he not hurt at all...?" Starlight wondered, looking him over.

"I dunno, but he smells really nice, don'tcha think?" Pinkie mused, unashamedly taking a large whiff of the man.

Rarity nodded. "He certainly does."

"Girls, focus!" Twilight urged. "We need to get this poor colt somewhere safe, not ogle his unconscious form!"

"She's right," Applejack said, nodding. She trotted over to his legs. "Rainbow, mind grabbing his other end? Ah'll take his legs."

Rainbow gave a mock salute. "On it!" She flew over to his head, wrapping her hooves under his armpits.

"On three," Applejack started. "One, two, three!"

With a grunt, the duo lifted the man up, though both of them staggered momentarily.

"Ugh, jeez, this guy weighs a ton," Rainbow noted.

"You're tellin' me," Applejack agreed.

"Let's just get him out of here," Twilight urged.

Rainbow looked to the mare. "Where to?"

"Let's take him to the castle for now," Twilight said.

They all nodded, and made their way out of the crater, starting towards Twilight's castle.

Larimar groaned as he cracked his eyes open, wincing soon after. "Ugh, my head..." He complained, placing a hand on his aching skull. He slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. "What the hell...?" He muttered as he did.

The first thing thing he noticed was that he was not in Conton City, nor anywhere he recognized. No, he was in some sort of bedroom made entirely of mixed bluish-purple crystals. He also noted that he was in a very soft bed, softer than any bed he'd ever laid in.

"Where am I?" He wondered aloud. He tried to think of what events had happened which led up to this. He put a hand to his chin. "I remember being called by the Supreme Kai of Time for another mission, then using the scroll, and then..." He hummed, closing his eyes in thought. Suddenly, he remembered, opening his eyes. "That's right! Some weird tree interrupted the time travel!" He looked around again. "That must be why I didn't end up right in the middle of that fight like I normally would..." He glanced to the window outside, seeing the clear blue sky beyond. He looked back to the bed and the room around him. "Someone must have brought me here, though, because I don't remember ending up in some weird crystal bedroom..."

The door to the room opened, a pink mare with a purple mane with streaks of mint-green stepping inside, a tray of food on her back. She blinked, then jumped a little as she saw he was awake. "Ah!" she cried, nearly dropping the tray. Swiftly, she balanced herself and then shook her head, giving him a nervous smile as she trotted over. "Eheh, s-sorry, I just didn't expect you to be awake..." Her horn lit up, covering the tray and offering it to him. "Food?"

Larimar stared at the twinkling teal aura of the tray. 'Riiight, magic...' He looked to her, body tensing. 'Why is she not hostile?' He sighed, taking the tray and placing it on his lap. On the tray was a bowl of salad and a fish, complete with utensils like a fork and a knife. 'Did that weird tree send me farther along in the timeline...?' Once more, he sighed. 'I'll have to figure that out later.' He turned his head to her. "Thanks. Starlight, right?"

She blinked. "How do you know my name?"

Larimar froze. "U-uuhhh..." He fumbled. 'Shit, gotta think of something quick!'

"Did you hear it while you were drifting in and out of consciousness or something?" Starlight unknowingly supplied.

'...Roll with it.' "Yeah, I think so," he said, nodding.

Starlight shrugged. "Makes sense, I guess." She smiled broadly at him. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Huh? Oh, well, I feel just fine. Weird, huh?" He said, chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked around. "Where am I, by the by?"

"You're in Equestria, specifically Twilight's Castle," the pink mare answered, before posing her own question. "You came from the Human World, right? On the other side of the Mirror?"

Larimar tilted his head at her, making Starlight's heart ache briefly. 'So cute!' She squeed internally. "Mirror?" Larimar asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"O-Oh, right, ehehe," Starlight rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. She cleared her throat. "So, your world is parallel to ours, and the connecting point is a Mirror; one here in the Castle, and one at Canterlot High."

Larimar frowned at this, brow furrowing. 'Should I correct her? Considering how I'm probably further in the timeline than I should be - judging by how she's friendly - there's a good chance getting back to Conton City will be problematic. Hopefully not impossible, but still. So, the question remains; do I tell her the truth, or take the offered scapegoat?' Larimar grunted.

"Uhh, you there?" Starlight queried, waving a hoof in his face.

Larimar shook his head rapidly. "Oh, uh, sorry, spaced out for a second there." 'Screw it. So long as I don't tell them their future, I should be good.' He managed a small smirk. 'Not like I know this universe' future or past, anyways.' He coughed into his fist. "Back to the subject, I uh..." He smiled nervously. "...I'm not exactly from whatever Mirror World you're talking about. I'm from a planet called Earth, in Universe 7. A different timeline's Earth, at least."

Starlight stared at him blankly. Slowly, she blinked, then immediately shook her head. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" she rubbed her ear. "I could've sworn you said something about 'timelines' and 'universes.'" She rolled her hoof around, then made an overly large smile. "That was just my imagination, right?"

Larimar slowly shook his head. "No, you heard me right."

Starlight nodded once. Twice. Thrice. "Right, right, okay..."

"You alright?" Larimar asked, quirking a brow.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Starlight screamed.

'That's a solid no.'

Author's Notes:

Well, sorry this one took so long guys, and while I know it isn't the update some of you were looking for, this story is one I wanted to get a few more chapters out for before I lost this drive for it.

Either way, hope you all enjoyed it at least.

Thanks for reading!

-Timeless Celestial