Equestria, 06, 27, 2012, Canterlot Royal Hospital, 9:27 A.M.

Three whole day's I had to stay in bed and eat some pretty decent food. That was about the only upside to this situation. The worst part was not being able to go outside and interact with any pony? I'd caught bits and pieces of their unique speech from passersby but I still hadn't gotten a good grip on all the local lingo. Right now I was somewhat overjoyed tho so the slang lessons took a backseat.

Today was my last day here. Yes! Nurse Bright Heart gave me a clean bill of health and was in the process of getting me set up with a little something from the Princess's themselves. We had met up the day before to iron out the details. Basically, if I was to go about my new life here in this world I would need some bit's (their form of currency here) for room and board. Princess Celestia declared that I was to be treated as a foreign ambassador which kind of made sense to me but still made me feel uneasy.

Anyway, as I was the one and only representative of my species was to be put under supervision. But the catch was that I was to go to a new place. A quaint little town called Ponyville to lay low for awhile. Apparently, this was supposed to be a sort of trial run to see if I could be excepted and fully integrate into pony society. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I could finally get out into the fresh air and meet new peo- er ponies. Within the hour I was discharged and ready to go. The Princess's had requested that I wait for them to escort me to the train station which I was all too happy to do.so I sat on a bench in the hospital's lobby and read a magazine on the latest culinary dish's.

Streets of Canterlot Same time.

"Sister art thow sure this is the wisest course of action?" Luna asked as she and Celestia made their way to the Hospital. Celestia nodded her head.

"Yes, luna. If what you say is true and this 'John' is indeed connected to Discord like you say then Ponyville is the safest place for him and us." She said as they walked amongst the crowded streets of canterlot. Their way was unimpeded by as every pony scrambled to make way for them as they walked past. As she thought about it this plan of her's made the most sense.

"Yes, dear sister. If he does become a problem the Elements of Harmony will be on hand to stop him. Plus with Twilight and her friends watching over him he should do just fine adjusting to our custom's." Smiling as she thought of one pony in particular that would be thrilled to be friends with Equestria's first alien.

"Yes, Pinkie will throw a party for the history book's when she finds out about this new species." Luna chimed in a smirk on her face.

"May Faust protect him from her wrath," Luna said a tinge of laughter making its way from her mouth. Celestia just chuckled. The two walked in silence for the rest of the trip. When they stepped through the double door's they were greeted with John jumping up from his chair giving them a quick wave. He walked rather briskly up to them and had a happy grin on his face.

"So Lady's shall we depart for part's unknown?" He said flourishing his hand in an exaggerated bow. The Princess's just chuckled at his antic's. Over the past three day's John had become more comfortable with the two and more of his friendly, cheerful personality was coming out as a result.

"Yes." Celestia thought.

"If anything ponyville will do him wander's." She really hoped her sister was wrong about John. It was hard to imagine this peaceful individual being the spawn of pure chaos and madness that Discord embodied. But the protection of her little pony's came first. She wasn't going to jeopardize that for anything in the whole wide world. So her sending John off to Ponyville was definitely the best course of action.

"Sister, shall we get going?" Luna asked snapping Celestia out of her thought's.

"Oh yes. Lets." Celestia said putting on a smile.

With all of his paperwork signed and stored away, John was officially discharged from the hospital and taken into the care of the royal family. The strange trio didn't lack for attention as they made their way to the train station. As soon as they got to the platform the train's door opened up letting its passenger's depart for whatever business they had planned while staying in the grand city. Most of them stopped however when they saw the royal sisters and their strange companion. The sisters were used t it and to his credit, John took it in stride.

If he was bothered by the looks he didn't let it show. Altho his body temperature shot up causing him to sweat profusely. This didn't go unnoticed by the sister's and Celestia made a note to tell Twilight to stalk up on extra deodorant. Finally, the sea of ponies thinned out to a soft trickle and the trio found themselves at the door to the train.

"So this is it huh?" John asked as he turned to the two sisters. They gave him a soft smile. John looked at the train. He had to admit he didn't expect to see anything like this here. He studied the layout of it and jogged it down to memory.

"Yes for now," Celestia said as she to looked at the train. Tho for different reasons. She was a little apprehensive about sending him off on his own. But she had confidence that the protective ward's they placed on his wild spark would hold out until she could get a letter to Twilight explaining more about the situation. As it was she was still tight-lipped about just what had happened. All's her student knew was that she was to expect a royal guest of honor and that she was to house and feed him until he could get on his own two feet. She chuckled at that.

"Hopefully Twilight will have everything ready by the time you arrive," Celestia said trying to break up the tension. John just looked at Celestia.

"Yeah well if she doesn't I could always give her a helping hand." He said flashing a smile. Celestia smiled back. Luna came up to the two waving a piece of paper in her magic hold.

"Here tho are little John." She said handing the paper to him. John took it snickering at the nickname.

"What is so funny?" Luna asked looking confused.

"Oh, nothing Princess just a little something from earth that called." He said unrolling the scroll.

"So what's this?" He asked.

"That is your paper's for safe passage to ponyville. it also will allow you to go about your daily business undisturbed by the general public." Luna said as she sat down on her hanch's. John had noticed several ponies do that and found it amusing. He snickered at the princess but let her continue her explanation.

"Now hear this. That paper will only allow you to go about in a legal manner. If you do anything illegal or otherwise dishonest and unlawful we cannot protect you." She said giving him a stern look. John gulped down his snarkiness and nodded his head.

"Got it, be a model citizen and stay out of trouble. Can do." He said looking back to the train. The whistle suddenly blared out as the conductor came out onto the platform.

"10 o clock train for ponyville is about to depart. All aboard!" He shouted. Very few ponies were heading that way apparently because only a few of those still left on the platform gave him any mind. John fidgeted about for a bit.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." He said looking back to the Princesses. The both had soft smile's plastered on there face's. He was surprised however when he felt something warm and fuzzy on his cheek. He looked on as he felt his face heat up as Luna gave him a soft nuzzle.

"Stay safe little one. We shall not be out of contact for long. Thow forget's we can communicate through your dream's." Luna said as he went back to stand by her sister. Celestia then came up to give him a nuzzle as well.

"Take care little one. May your new life be happy and filled with adventure." Celestia said. When all was said and done John gave them both a soft hug and boarded the train. As the last whistle blew through the air signaling the train departure Celestia looked on.

"I really do hope this is the right course of action. For all our sake's." With her final thought's echoing in her head she and Luna made their way back to their castle.

Ponyville, 11:00 A.M.

Twilight was in full blown panic mode. The library was spotless. The living area was immaculate. The kitchen was pristine. Even the guest's bedroom was in tip top shape. But good old Twilight herself was a nervous wreck.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" She yelled as she went around the whole tree house for the third time with her sixth checklist of the day. Spike meanwhile was sitting at the top of the stairs looking on at the frantic unicorn with mild amusement and annoyance.

"Twilight calm down already. The princess's both said that there was nothing to worry about remember?" He tried to reassure Twilight but she was to caught up in her rambling's and check list's to be coherent at the moment. Sighing Spike looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time.

"Hey, Twilight?' He said trying to get her attention.

"Twilight?" He repeated. She was still down there worrying her little head off. Spike sighed and shook his head.

"Every single time." He muttered as he went the closet and pulled out a scarf. Even tho he was a dragon and didn't get cold all that often, this particular scarf had a special place in his heart. Mostly because Rarity made it for him. He wrapped the maroon knitted piece of clothing around his neck gave one last check up, she was still running around the tree house making sure everything was perfect, he rolled his eyes and headed out the door. He closed the door and headed off to the train station. Even if he wasn't particularly enthused about a new housemate he didn't want Twilight's panicking to make a bad impression.

11:05 A.M.

"Ok," John said as he departed the train onto the ponyville platform. Instantly he was bombarded by a menagerie of odd looks and soft whispers. His face lit up as he tried to look as non-threatening as possible. His rapidly building embarrassment was taken away by a voice coming from the back of the crowd.

"Has anypony seen a furless Diamond Dog around?" John looked around. when he didn't see one around he suddenly smacked himself in the face. "I'm going to get Princess Luna back for that one day." He muttered under his breath.

"Uh, yeah that furless Diamond Dog would be me." He stated as he waded through the crowd of ponies which was made all the easier as they all gave him a wide berth. Soon he was standing at the end of the platform and looking around for one Twilight Sparkle. When he failed to find the purple colored unicorn in question he began to panic. "Oh man, what if she's scared of me and won't let me stay with her? Then what?" His brain screamed as it went off on a tangent. Said tangent was swiftly interrupted as a voice cut through his train of thought.

"Uh hey, buddy are you the one Princess Celestia was talking about?" John pulled his brain back to reality. He looked around for the voice.

"Down here." It said. Reacting on instinct John looked down. And about promptly had a heart attack.

"Oh, sweet baby Jesus!" He said jumping back from the bipedal reptile that was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance that was becoming commonplace on his face. Spike, for the most part, felt indifferent. He sighed as he waved his hoof.

"Yup, you are definitely the one the princess wanted us to look after." He said he turned around and started to walk back to the through ponyville. John just stared at him. Then his brain clicked.

"Hey, wait! Are you spike?" He asked running to catch up with the baby dragon.

11:15 A.M.

As John walked with Spike a silence wafted through the air. It was beginning to make him uncomfortable. Just as he was about to break the ice tho spike piped up.

"Of course that's it." He exclaimed raising a claw to his face. John was confused.

"Uh, what's it?" He asked. Spike looked up to him.

"Oh sorry about that." He said looking forward once more.

"Well I was trying to figure out how to introduce you to Twilight without having her freak out but that doesn't seem like an option." He said looking glum.

"But then I had an idea." He said perking up a minute later. John was curious now.

"So what's the idea?" He asked.

"What? Oh Yeah! Well, the idea was to introduce you to every other pony first. That way Twilight would have some time to cool down and maybe even relax a little bit. And in return, you get to meet my best friend's." He said looking positively adorable. John couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Spike asked looking perplexed. John just waved.

"Oh don't worry. Your enthusiasm is just a much better welcome than what I was expecting." He said as he fell in line behind the young drake.  Spike for the most part just shrugged his shoulders and followed the dirt road to their first destination.

11:30 A.M.

"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acre's," Spike said as he waved a claw to the vast field's of apple tree's that dotted the landscape on both sides of the dirt road.

"Wow, you mean one family own's all of this?" He asked looking at the sea of trees ahead of them. They had been walking for a good fifteen minutes now and for the last ten of those minutes, they were surrounded on all side's by trees. To say he was shocked was an understatement. In fact, he was a little overwhelmed and intimidated by the place. He really hoped the ponies in charge were of a friendly disposition.

"Yup. All of this is owned, harvested and shipped all across Equestria by the Apple Family." He said as his pace sped up a little. John was impressed.

"So how many ponies we talk'in about to take care of all of this?" He asked spying a house up ahead. "Oh thank god, were almost there. My feet could use a rest." He thought as his feet began to protest the walk already.

"Two." He stated in a simple tone. John gawked.

"What!?" He said looking impressed. He looked around at the massive amount of trees.

"You mean to tell me only two ponies take care of all this?" He said not quite believing it. Spike nodded his head.

"Occasionally they get help from their family but they have to come from all over Equestria and that's just not feasible to do every harvest season so they make the most out of who they have." John was astounded. That had to be a nice hard days worth of work.

"Speaking of which." He thought about it. Now that he was recently going to be living here he had to get some kind of job.

"What kind of job could I even do?" He thought about it. His skill set was sparse at best. He had just graduated from High School. He had spent the better part of his four years mostly interested in science and J.R.O.T.C. Now that he was here he doubted either of those would help him out all that much. From what he saw the most advanced piece of equipment they had was a steam powered train. so science was out. J.R.O.T.C. could be somewhat viable if they had a military but he still wasn't even sure if he wanted to go in that direction. John was roused from his musing's by the sound of soft thudding coming from up ahead.

"What is that?" He asked his impromptu tour guide. Spike just snickered.

"Oh, you'll see." He said. As the two continued their jaunt to the farm house on the hill the noise got louder. As the two came to the edge of a brown picketed fence the noise was louder than ever. Now instead of a dull thud, it sounded like a localized thunderstorm was descending upon the orchard. John had to cup his ears so as not to go deaf. He had to shout to be heard over the constant boom of something hitting wood at very high speeds.

"So Spike were;s this friend of your's?" He asked though the deafening sound. Spike just motioned for John to follow him. He obliged following him around to the other side of the barn. As John went around the side he stopped at the sight before him. Standing there in front of him was the most adorable looking animal he had ever seen.

"Oh. My. God." He was too stunned to speak. Instead, he just got down onto his knees and looked at the small pony in front of him. The pony to was looking at him with a sense of wonder. Spike meanwhile was too busy looking for Apple Jack and had gone off on his own.

"Hey, there little fella? Who are you?" He finally found his voice. The pony just looked at him with its head off to the side.

"Are you some kind of diamond dog?" It spoke as well. Johns' face went from a happy smile to a frown.

"Really? Again with the diamond dog thing?" He muttered to himself. His deep thinking had caused john to zone out. While he was stuck for lack of a better word Apple Bloom got up the courage to walk up to the strange creature. As she got closer she saw that he looked more like a shaved diamond dog than anything else. Plus as she got closer she gave him a quick sniff.

"He doesn't smell like one a' them dogs." She thought to herself. When she was just in arms reach of him she stopped and looked at him again. "Wow he's tall." She then began to circle him taking in all of his feature's. His skin was a dark brown tone and his messy hair was a deep shade of black. Other than the cloth's he was wearing and his height there were no other remarkable things about him.

She stopped her circling right in front of him again and sat there looking up at his face. He wore an expression of concentration. Apparently, he was concentrating to the point of not noticing Big Mac approaching behind him. Big Mac for his part stopped and looked at the strange creature with interest. He cocked his head to the side as his eye scanned all of johns feature's and filed them away in his memory. Then he saw Apple Bloom sitting there in front of him and looked between the two.

Apple Bloom gave him a wave and he came over to take a seat next to her. The first thing Big Mac noticed was the creature's height. If he was to stand up he would be at least as tall as Mac himself, seeing as Big Mac was a good 5" tall this creature had a greater height than most ponies around. Suddenly Big Mac saw some sense of recognition in the creature's eye as they lit up and went wide.

"Holy Crap you're huge." It blurted out. Mac just gave it a long look. Then his face softened and he replied with.

"And you're skinny." He said a soft smile drifting across his face. John just stood there for a sec before he gave himself a look over. True, he was as skinny as a twig but he liked to make up for his lack of brawn with an astute brain. Right now, however, he had other things to worry about. He gave the two a soft chuckle as he got up out of the dirt, brushed himself off and stretched out his arm's. Hearing a satisfying 'crack' made him wince for a sec but he quickly regained his composure and waved a hand to Mac and Apple Bloom.

"So I guess you two live here?" Asked. They both just gave him a nod and he starred off into the distance. He noticed the sound had stopped and he was thankful. Now that he had minny rest and got his brain back on track after his little zone out with the tiny pony, he made a note to get the two's name's, he looked around for spike.

"Hey have you two seen spike around?" He asked looking all over for the baby dragon. Big Mac just shrugged his shoulder's.

"Nope." He said in a deep southern voice. It made John pause upon hearing it.

"Huh, so they have different dialects of speech just like back on earth. Interesting." He mused.

As he continued to look around he felt a soft tugging on his pant leg. He looked down to see Apple Bloom pointing to the other end of the barn. He looked over there and saw Spike chatting with another pony. As he thought about it, he began to notice something that his brain had trouble processing. The stallion was big and red. The little kid was small and yellow. The pony Spike was talking to was a soft orange.

"Yup this place is definitely weird." He thought to himself. He looked back down at the kid.

"Thank's?' He said making motion wit his hand. The little filly got the hint and perked up.

"I'm Apple Bloom," she said excited to meet somepony new. She then motioned to the big red stallion.

"And this is Big Macintosh." She said as she trotted up to Big Mac. He bent down onto his stomach and she hopped onto his back. He got up with her staying very well balanced as he began to walk over to the orange mare. John just looked at the two, smiled and followed close behind.

11:45 A.M.

"So let me get this straight." Apple Jack said as she sat near the barn talking to Spike.

"Twi's done worked herself into a tizzy over this new ambassador that's supposed to be stay'in over at her place even tho she hasn't seen him yet?" She asked trying, to sum up, what spike had spent the better part of 10 minutes explaining. He just nodded.

"So ya'll decide it would be best to let him go and see the sight's around town?" She asked. Once again she got a confirmation.

"But first I wanted to introduce him to you and the rest of the girl's. You know sort of break the ice and let him ease into being here." He said looking to the side of the barn when Big Mac emerged from behind it. He was surprised to see john walking alongside them and the two seemed to be chatting like they were old friends.

"Well, would you look at that." He said smiling as Apple Jack looked over to her brother. She was shocked to see just how tall this creature was. He a good 5 inch's taller than her brother and he himself was a good 5 feet tall. Still tho he didn't give off a bad vibe. In fact, if AJ just went off of what she was seeing right now he was a good seed to be sure. It took a certain someone to get Big Mac talking like he was. So she relaxed her poster and went to go greet the newest member of Ponyville.

As she got closer she heard a little bit of their conversation.

"So a cutie mark is what you get when you find out what your good at?" John asked as Apple Bloom shook her head.

"Yup! Me and my friends are going out later today to go and find our's!" She excitedly bounced atop her brother's back. He took it in stride and gave AJ a soft smile. As she got closer john's gaze went from Apple Bloom to her. His eyes caught her off guard a little. They were a soft hazel color almost the color of lightning if she had to describe them. He gave her a pleasant smile and extended his hoof? She looked at his appendage and then over to spike. "So he's some kind of bipedal." She smiled as he took her outstretched hoof and gently shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Apple Jack." AJ just chuckled. "Well at least Rarity will love his manner's." She rolled hr eyes.

"Now now no need to get all formal on me, Mr." She said sweeping her stetson off her head and fanning herself with it. John just chuckled.

"John. My name is john." He said looking to the small house off to the left. AJ saw where he was looking and cleared her throat.

"Boy worked up a real hankering with all that apple bucking." She said as she got through and placed her hat upon her head. She looked over to Spike.

"Say Spike would you and your friend here like to stay for a nice brunch?" she asked looking over to Spike. He looked over to John who gave him a shrug. Spike's eye's widened as he looked up to the sky.

"Uh sorry AJ but it's almost noon. We have to make the round's then get back to Twilight's before nightfall." He said as he waved a claw over to John who just sighed and went over to him.

"Yeah sorry AJ." He said using her nickname. She just smiled. "But spike is right. I'm under strict order's from both Princess's to remain out of ponyville's hair so I just want to get a feel for the town today." He said giving them all happy grin. Then he thought about it.

"But maybe next time when I can get a little more freedom." He said giving her a wink. She just chuckled as he and spike walked back down the dirt path.

"Well don't be a stranger John. Any friend o' Twilights is a friend o' mine." she said giving the two a wave. They both waved back and before long they were off down the road and out of sight.

"Well, he seemed like a nice stallion." Came a voice from behind the three siblings. They all turned around to see Granny Smith sitting on the porch smiling at them all.

"Granny?" AJ asked. "How long have you been sitting there?" Granny gave it some thought.

"Oh about a good half an hour or so." She said looking off into the distance. The three of them all gave each other puzzled look's and just shrugged.

"Welp, come on y'all. we got some brunch to fix up." AJ said as she lead the way back into their little abode. Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Rainbows, Butterflies, and Party Supplies. Estimated time remaining: 22 Minutes