The humble, seemingly tranquil town of Ponyville was quite the sight to behold up close as Twi, Spike, and I walked through. Everywhere, there were candy-colored ponies of all ages and… races, I guess, with tattoo— I mean, “Cutie Marks,” going about the various routines and tasks of their day. The environment was almost something I’d only seen and read about in history books; completely dirt roads devoid of any traffic light or motor vehicle and buildings made of milky-white cobblestone with unbelievably medieval designs to them, and even stands that sold various necessities such as fruits, vegetables and flowers. Shockingly enough, there seemed to be some modern-day inventions here, as I saw a little orange filly with spiky purple hair, wings, and a blue riding helmet zooming by on a scooter.

“Sooo, how do ya like Ponyville so far?” Twilight asked with an inflection of excitement.

“It’s incredible…! But so odd at the same time…” I answered, perplexed by everything around me. “Everything here looks so archaic… but then I’m seein’ stuff that I wouldn’t expect of a place that seems so old-fashioned…”

“Old-fashioned? I’m not sure what you mean. Ponies have lived this way for a very long time. I suppose it seems ‘old-fashioned’ to you because your world is a bit more… advanced than this one is in some aspects, should I say?”

“Yea, I guess... I wonder, though; is walkin' an' flyin' the only ways t' get around here?"

"Oh, no. We also have alternative methods of transportation. One of those methods includes a carriage taxi service for ponies who can't get to where they need to go under their own power for whatever reason."

"Is that right...? Huh..."

"Pony taxis... to carry ponies... Talk about Inception..."

"Also, someponies use more personal transportation devices such as scooters and skates to get around..."

"Funny you should mention that... I think I saw a little pony girl ridin' by on a scooter not too long ago."

"Oh, Scootaloo?"

"I... guess tha'ss her name...?"

"Yeah, she's widely known around these parts for riding her scooter around town. Not sure if you'd noticed it when you saw her, but she's a pegasus who hasn't learned how to fly yet. That scooter of hers serves as a sort of substitute."

"Really?"

"Indeed."

"Huh. You'd figure flyin' would come natural to somethin' or someone who was pretty much BORN t' do it..."

"It's perfectly okay. Some ponies just take longer than others to learn. Also, the term for younger ponies here is 'filly' for females, and 'colt' for males."

"Yea, I knew that. Jus' wasn't sure if terms for horses in my world applied t' ponies here..."

"Well if they're anything like what you're implying, then yes they are. Stallion, Mare, Filly, Colt, so on, so forth?"

"Yep, EXACTLY alike..." I confirmed before my stomach growled yet again getting impatient.

"OKAY, stomach! Damn, I know you're empty, but cut me a break here!"

"Hey, are we close to this Apple Acres place?” I asked, trying not to sound like I was whining.

“That we are! It’s right over there,” Twilight answered as we approached a large field that was covered in apple trees with a big red barn in the distance. The place seemed no different than any farm I saw in my world, which shocked me even more. Something clicked in my brain the second I saw the apples.

“Wait a minute… I take it we’ll be meetin’ this friend o’ yours… Applejacks, I think?” I asked.

“Applejack,” Twilight corrected. “And yes, you finally get to meet the pony who sounds like you!” She said with a smile. "As I said, she's one of my best friends, and quite friendly, too! I'd imagine you to get along with her fairly quickly. And believe me on this one, Ty: Her family recipes are simply UNRIVALED in how delectable they are. The Apple family is the most revered in all of Ponyville for their apple-related recipes... Apple pie, Apple cobbler, Apple cider, Apple turnovers..." as she rambled on about all kinds of delicious apple-related treats, my stomach was practically trying to eat itself into a black hole... it wasn't long before I couldn't take the punishment anymore.

"Yea, keep talkin' like that an' I'mma be forced t' eat my own ha-- er, hoof, you're makin' me so hungry..." I blurted out.

"Oh! Sorry..." she giggled. As we walked into the field through the gate, we were greeted with a “Howdy!” from an orange mare with a cowboy hat and a blonde mane and tail that were… ironically tied up in ponytails. Right before she came over to us, she kicked a large, sturdy tree with both of her hind-hooves, causing every apple in it to fall into two baskets nearby it. My eyes widened in surprise.

“Good afternoon, Applejack!” Twilight responded to the green-eyed mare with a smile.

“An’ who’s this tall dark feller here?” she asked. I opened my mouth to speak, but Twilight interrupted right away.

“This is… Ponder Memoir!” Twilight answered for me, causing me to shoot her a confused look. She winked at me, which I read loud and clear. I suppose ‘Ponder Memoir’ would become my pony nickname here so I could better fit in. I guess telling anyone here my actual name would be a bit unusual, not to mention cause suspicion. I wasn’t sure why, but given that the two ponies I’d known up to this point were named for something having to do with their special talents, I assumed that was the case for everyone here.

“Uhh, yes, I’m Ponder Memoir. But you can call me Ty. How ya doin’, Applejack?” I shakily said, holding out a hoof.

“Howdy, pardner! Any friend o’ Twi’s is a friend o’ mine!” Applejack brightly said, touching her hoof to mine. “I reckon yer new to Ponyville. Would y’all like somethin’ ta eat?”

“Sure!”

“Alrighty! Follow me!” Applejack commanded with a wave of her hoof as we made our way to a nearby picnic table. The meal she’d made for us, I suppose shouldn’t have come as a surprise; given the girl’s name was APPLEjack. There wasn’t a single thing she fed Twi, Spike, and I that didn’t have some kind of apple in it. Apple Pie, Apple Cobbler, Apple Fritter, Apple everything! Unfortunately, this is where problem number two arose. I had NO idea how I was supposed to use the fork and knife in front of me when I had hooves instead of hands.

“Thank you for this meal, Applejack!” I praised.

“No thanks necessary,” she responded graciously. “No newcomer’s ever been t’ Ponyville without tryin’ some famous Apple family cookin’!”

“Yea, I'm sure my taste buds are in for a WILD ride..." I assured. "Quick question, though..."

"Ask away, Ty," the farm pony permitted.

"Uh... I know this is prolly gonna sound kinda dumb, but…"

"Nonsense. There ain't no such thing as a 'dumb' question. Now what's on yer mind?"

"Umm… How do I use these?” I asked, pointing a hoof to the silverware. Applejack shot me a look of confusion. It didn't take long for her to assume I was joking, so she laughed at me, thinking she was laughing with me.

"Now THAT'S just silly... Hoo-wee, ya almost had me there, sugarcube..." she laughed some more, forcing me to awkwardly chuckle along with her.

"Eheh heh heh, yea, I can be a pretty funny guy..." I nervously went along with it. "But.... seriously, how do I use these?" Applejack's laughter stopped more suddenly than a deer that was caught in a car's headlights as she began to eye me up like I was some demented weirdo.

“Yer serious?" she skeptically inquired.

"Y-yea..." I shamefully admitted.

"Well why didn't ya say so?" she lightheartedly remarked. "Sorry fer laughin' atcha. But it's simple. Ya jus’ pick ‘em up, put ‘em in th’ food, an’—!”

“No, I mean how do I pick these things up when we got hooves instead o’ hands or claws?” As I should have expected, another, even more confused look from the earnest country mare aimed at me. I heard Twi and Spike stifling giggles until I glared at both of them, causing them to stop, although they were each wearing goofy grins.

"No such thing as a dumb question... What a load o' shit...! Now ya got me feelin' like I failed outta fourth grade... at age fifteen!"

“Twi… Where’d ya find this stallion...?” Applejack whispered to Twilight. “He seems a few apples short of a bunch...” Twilight giggled some more. I face-hoofed and let out a deep, exasperated breath as I reached for the fork, which miraculously stuck to the bottom of my hoof, and stuck it into an apple turnover on my plate. As soon as I realized my endeavor, I let go of the fork and gazed at it in amazement.

“What the…? How is that even…?” I mumbled to myself in amazement.

“Theeeeere ya go, sport! Way ta use the ol’ noggin!” Applejack teased, causing the unicorn and the dragon to laugh even more. I flashed a fake smile at her, and then turned to my plate. “Ya sure ya don’t need me t’ tell ya how to lift it inta yer mouth?” she quipped again with a laugh. Surely enough, Twilight and Spike joined her in laughter. I clenched my teeth in annoyance and grabbed the fork again, still looking down at the plate.

“Jeez, I hope not everyone here’s a smart-ass…” I grumbled under my breath, my annoyance with such treatment already growing thinner than a sheet of paper with an eating disorder.

“Didn’t quite catch that, sugarcube. What’d ya say?” Applejack asked in a genuinely curious tone. Twilight and Spike went completely silent, which scared the shit out of me. I refused to look up as I feared the worst.

“Oh, crap! What do I tell ‘er now!? I can’t tell her what I said! I’ve seen what she can do t' trees! I don’t wanna have all my teeth kicked outta my face like the apples outta that tree! Ummmm…!”

“I said uh… I hope everyone here’s not… bein’ too crass! Y’know, table etiquette and such. I uh… I want to make the best first impression on you that I can, seein’ as I want to be friends with you an’ all.” I said with a nervous chuckle. Thankfully, the orange mare chuckled with me. "I-I understand if I'm kinda failin' miserably at it, heh..."

“Aww shucks, yer already good in my book! Even if ya do seem t' be a bit out there. You sound like y’all paid a li’l visit t' Rarity before comin’ here.” Applejack chuckled some more.

“Gee thanks… I guess. But no, we ain’t get to see this Rarity pers— pony yet. I just like to be as polite and considerate as I can when I’m a guest.”

“That right?" she looked at me in bewilderment yet again.

"Yea. Why?"

"So yer smarter than yer lettin’ on…?” Applejack stared at me for a bit. “You definitely are an interestin’ one, Ponder Memoir. But I’m sure I’ll get t' know ya better once we’re done eatin’. Let’s dig in!” Applejack said as she grabbed her fork and began to eat her apple pie. The various apple (food) products were like nothing I’d ever tasted before… By the time I was done, I’d developed a new appreciation of apples. I also gained a better understanding of the whole “Cutie Mark-Special Talent” relationship. I saw Applejack’s was a trio of red apples, which I guessed meant her special talent had everything to do with apples.

“So, Ty… How’d ya like them apples?” Applejack mused.

"Haaa, I see what you did there..."

“I ain’t even gon’ trip. That was amazin’!” I happily answered.

“Y'know, I gotta say... One thing I done noticed about you, other than the fact that y’all are about as big as my big brother, and that you’re a bit outta the ordinary, is yer accent… Ya sound almost like I do!”

“Really now? I can’t tell the resemblance…” I joked to the amusement of the entire group.

“Heh heh, you’re a funny one. But hey, where ya from, Ty? You definitely don’t seem like nopony from a place I ever been to…” Applejack asked with wonder.

“Trust me, i'ss a LOOONG story, an' given that I gotta get a better look around this town, I might not get time t' tell ya the whole thing today… Le’ss just say that I’m from a place VERY far away from here.”

“How far we talkin’? New Colt City? Manehattan? Mare-yland? Fillydelphia?”

“He’s from an alternate universe,” Spike suddenly blurted, causing me to shoot him a wide eyed stare that said, 'What the hell, man!?' Twilight gave him such a scolding glare that I got scared even though she wasn’t looking at me.

“Really?” Applejack asked as her eyes widened in interest.

“No! Not at all!” Twilight hastily interjected with a blatant lie, smiling sheepishly. “Spike was just uh… telling a little joke is all!” Applejack turned to look at the unicorn, studying her mannerisms.

“Now Twi, as the wielder o' Element o' Honesty, I can tell when anypony is fibbin’. Y’all ain’t gotta hide nothin’ from me. If it’s true that Ty here’s not even from this world, then I don’t see a reason to hide it. As crazy as it sounds…”

“Element of—?” I tried to ask.

"How'd ya manage somethin' like that, Twi?" Applejack asked over me.

"Cat's out of the bag now... Might as well come clean," Twilight surrendered, choosing not to lie anymore. "To be entirely honest, A.J., I don't have too much of an idea myself," she uneasily answered her friend. "The spell I was demonstrating to you and the others a couple days ago went a little... haywire, to say the least... Ty being here at all is evidence of that."

“Uh-huh..." Applejack nodded in a mix of confusion and a small amount of understanding. After a couple of minutes of her gathering her thoughts and giving me a few pensive glances, she turned to me, seeming to have comprehended the information she'd been given. "So yer really from a whole ‘nother place outside o' this here world, huh?” Applejack inquired as she turned back to me.

“Y-yea,” I stuttered, unsure of what to say next. “But that’s somethin’ I’d rather not let everyone here know. At least, not yet. I don’t need the heat right now, y’know? I don’t wanna cause some kinda mass panic or nothin’…”

“I hear ya. Yer secret’s safe with me. But seein’ as I know now…" she trailed off, getting into my face. "What’s your place like? Are the ponies there nice? How’d y’all wind up here? Are the apples there as good as ours?” Applejack relentlessly drilled me with question after question. As much as I REALLY wanted to sit there and play 20,000 questions with the apple farming mare, I figured Twilight would eventually give her the answers she was looking for when I answered all the questions in that notebook.

“All part o’ that story I owe ya tomorrow. Whoo, look at the time!” I hastily announced as I looked at the invisible watch on my fore-hoof. “Twi, Spike, wouldn’t you say it’s time for me to explore Ponyville some more?”

“Yes, yes!” Twilight hastily answered with gusto as she, Spike, and I regrouped and prepared to leave. "Sorry to leave in such a hurry, A.J., but we've got a busy schedule ahead of us!"

“Well, hold yer horses, y’all!” Applejack yelled, stopping us in our tracks. “Surely, y’all got at least enough time to introduce Ty t' Big Mac, Apple Bloom, an’ Granny Smith!”

“That’d be nice, but uh… Don’t you and Big Macintosh have a lot of chores to do today?” Twilight asked while trying not to sound hopeful about distracting the orange country mare from the barrage of questions she had ready for me.

“Oh ma stars! I completely forgot! Thanks fer remindin’ me, Twi!” Applejack responded with realization of her duties. She hastily got up to grab all of the dishes from the picnic table to carry them into a house nearby. “Y’all are free t’ go now! Today’s s'posed t' be extra busy for us! Nice meetin’ ya, Ponder Memoir!” Applejack announced as she ran off. Twi and I breathed a sigh of relief as we left the farm to return to the town.

“That… could’ve gone more smoothly,” Twilight said.

“Irony hurts, don’t it?” I remarked, snickering at the unicorn.

“Hey now, you made a couple of mistakes yourself back there, ‘Ponder Memoir’."

"So I didn't know how t' pick up a fork with my hoof. Sue me, Twilight. We didn't exactly get t' go over how t' use silverware before we left..."

"Point taken. Although, I'd assumed that was common knowledge; even WITH the species transition. Also, that last little slip-up wasn’t my fault. Right, Spike?” she replied, turning to glare at the dragon riding on her back.

“Umm… An honest mistake, really!” the dragon said with a shrug and a shy, squinting smile.

“So where should we go next?” I asked.

“Hmm… I’d say we should go—!”

“Twilight! Look out!” Spike yelled. Both the unicorn and I turned to see and hear a screaming rainbow-colored blur beaming towards us at a startling speed. Before any of us could move, the blur came crashing into us, sending Spike flying off of Twilight’s back as the object hit the unicorn and me hard, and knocking us to the ground along with it. We quickly recovered from the blow to see a light blue pegasus with an unkempt, spiky rainbow-colored mane and tail lying flat on her back in a daze…