he clock was ticking. After getting up at 6am and trudging to his bus stop on the cold Monday morning, Ethan just didn't want to put up with school anymore. United States History wasn't his strong suit, but he still passed it somehow, even if it was the first class of the day. Barely staying awake, he stared at the teacher in a daze. The textbook on his desk was open to a random page, and the paper he was given was filled with random doodles, but from a distance, Ethan looked like he was doing something, and that's all that mattered.

   "Ethan, can you tell me what the name of that slave was?"

   Ethan shot up from his head-leaning-on-hand position. He hadn't heard what the teacher was talking about, and the teacher knew that.

   "Uh...uh..." Ethan thumbed through his textbook frantically. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his back.

   "Hey, it's Dred Scott, dumbass." The voice behind him whispered.

   "D-Dred Scott?" Ethan said out loud to the teacher.

   "Right." The teacher replied, defeated. "Now, in 1857..."

   As the teacher continued his lecture, Ethan decided to turn around and thank the classmate that helped him through that sticky situation. Behind him, was what made him realize he was dreaming.

   "Ethan," Twilight Sparkle asked the human staring at her, "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?"

*******

   "AH!" Ethan awoke with a start. He was startled not at the fact Twilight was his classmate, but that he was still human in his dream. It was weird being a human again. Ethan felt like he had already gotten used to the new equine body he was given. Looking outside and noticing the morning sun shining through his window, Ethan trotted downstairs.

   The second Ethan climbed down the ladder from his room, a book came careening towards him. Ducking out of fear, the book crashed into a nearby chair, which fell. The book had come from Barry, who was practicing magic with Twilight in the main room.

   "Good morning, sleepyhead! What kept you in there so late?" Twilight said, indicating the clock, which read 11:49am.

   "Oh, nothing. Just had a weird dream, is all." Ethan replied, with the images from the dream flashing through his head when he looked at the familiar purple unicorn.

   "Alright. You can tell me about it later. I'm busy teaching your friend here some magic that can help us through the Everfree Forest."

   "...so you're flinging books?" Ethan asked, still a little thrown off from the book earlier.

   "Well, these are just for practice. With the right training, Barry could use any nearby object as a weapon. It won't be enough to inflict too much pain, but just enough to hold off any creatures we run into there."

   Hearing Twilight's voice made Ethan think about what she had said in the dream. She said 'dumbass'. To Ethan's recollection, he hadn't heard a single pony swear once in his life. Sure, he's heard his human friends spout out more curse words than a drunk sailor, but ponies never seemed to stoop that low. Ethan was never one to talk like that often, but recently he hasn't even felt the urge. The word 'ass' sounds foreign to him; like he had never heard the word before in his life.

   "Oh! Ethan, I need you to do something for me." Twilight said, turning away from her student, and snapping Ethan back into reality.

   "Sure, okay. What do you want me to do?"

   "I need you to go to Rarity's boutique and check in on the order I placed for raincoats. I heard the weather in the Everfree Forest gets pretty feisty this time of year, and we can never be too prepared for a storm."

   "Yeah, okay. Err, where is the boutique?" Ethan asked. He hadn't realized until now he didn't really walk around town too much in his stay in Ponyville.

   "It's just outside the marketplace, next to the cafe. You can't miss it."

   "Yeah, it's the fru-fruiest building in town!" Barry chimed in.

   "Hush, you. Here's 20 bits, in case she wants to be paid up front." Then Twilight shoved a hoof-ful of gold coins into a little bag, and Ethan placed it under his wing.

   "Alrighty. I'll get going, then." Ethan announced, and headed for the door.

   The streets of Ponyville were as packed as ever. Even though he was used to going to New York City with his family on occasion, Ethan still couldn't help but look around at the hustle and bustle of the afternoon rush. Ponies were mingling with their friends, shopping at the grocery stands, and playing on the streets, each and every one of them with a warm and welcoming smile on their face. Ethan had to smile himself, despite him just getting out of bed not a half hour ago, and all of this concentrated happiness seemed to have been passed on to him.

   Passing by the cafe, Ethan heard a small gasp from a table nearby. Turning around with a start, he noticed Fluttershy sitting at the outdoor restaurant alone, eating a plate of hay fries. Upon Ethan glancing at her, Fluttershy squeaked louder, and attempted to hide her face for a second. Surrendering to the attention, she finally calmed down.

   "Oh, um...hi, Ethan." She mumbled, just audible for Ethan to hear it.

   "Hi there, Fluttershy. What's going on?"

   "Nothing, I guess...how has your day been?"

   "Pretty good so far." Ethan said, surprising himself with his optimism, "I'm just getting Twilight's order of raincoats from Rarity's place."

   "Oh, that sounds like fun...well, I'm sure you're busy, so I won't bother you any longer..." She seemed to be a little sad that Ethan didn't have much time to talk to him.

   "Okay then. I'll talk to you later, Fluttershy!" Ethan said as he trotted away. Perking up at the sound of Ethan saying her name, Fluttershy waved 'goodbye' back, and went back to her eating.

   After looking back to where he was walking, Ethan concentrated on the task at hand. Barry was certainly right when he said that the Carousel Boutique was 'fru-fru'. The lavish pink and lavender colored building towered over the other assorted shops that dotted the village streets, and, 20 bits still in tow, Ethan walked hesitantly up the pathway to the door.

   Suddenly, a sharp pain. Nothing that he had felt yet as a pony. The back of his head was throbbing like it had just been kicked, and Ethan fell like a scared goat. With only enough energy to feel where he had been hit, Ethan looked around for what had hit him.

   Ponyville was in panic mode, with the ponies that were just having fun and enjoying themselves screaming in terror and hiding in the nearest buildings. Everything went black, and the last thing Ethan heard before passing out was a shrill scream from nearby...

*******

   He was on a swing. Swinging higher and higher, kicking his legs in the air, and soon he jumped off. Instead of hitting the ground, though, he sprouted wings, and soon he was a pegasus. Flying high into the clouds, he felt total bliss...

   "Ethan? Ethan, are you okay?"

   Ethan woke up. Opening his eyes, Fluttershy was looking back at him, her concerned face almost completely obscuring his view of where he was. Ethan was laying in a very comfortable bed, and the sound of chirping birds and other assorted animal noises was heard outside the window nearby.

   "Oh, thank goodness! You're okay. Um, do you want anything?"

   "Some water would be nice, I guess." Ethan said. He tried to move his head, but the back of his head stung as he moved it, and he cringed in pain.

   "No no, don't move. I'll get it for you. Just wait here and get some rest..." Fluttershy said, motherly. Then she trotted quietly downstairs, leaving Ethan alone with his thoughts for a few moments.

   It had happened again. Ethan had another dream where he was human. Why was this happening to him? Is his subconscious regretting becoming a pony? Is his human nature somehow still making it's way out, and trying to communicate to him through his dreams? Or was he just slipped some bad muffins? Before Ethan could dwell on these questions any longer, Twilight rushed into the room, looking very concerned.

   "Ohmygosh! Ethan, is everything okay? Fluttershy told me what happened, and--"

   "It's fine. Really. I just got hit in the head pretty hard. By what, I don't know, but I'm alive, and I think that's all that matters."

   Twilight calmed down, "Well, I appreciate the optimism, Ethan, but somepony told me you were attacked by a creature in the Everfree Forest!"

   "What? I wasn't even in there! Ouch!" Ethan had rose from the bed too quickly, and his head injury acted up again. He laid back down, resting his head on the soft pillow.

   "It must have been a creature from the forest, then. Nothing outside of that place ever comes close to causing that kind of damage to somepony. But what could a creature that dangerous be doing outside of the forest like this? In broad daylight, even!"

   "Well, we'll investigate that later. I have a question, actually." Seeing Twilight turn to him in interest, Ethan continued, "It's...kinda related to this, but at the same time, it's not."

   Twilight seemed a little confused, but still interested, "Okay...what is it?"

   "Well, every night since I got here, I've been having these weird dreams. In the dreams, I'm a human again. But ponies somehow get into the dream. I-it's hard to describe..." Ethan gave up explaining, and assumed Twilight gave up trying to understand him.

   Twilight, however, knew what he was talking about. At first, she looked worried and curious, but soon switched to reassuring and calm. "Just don't worry about it for right now. Your body is probably just getting used to being a pony, and having trouble adapting."

   "I...guess that makes sense." Ethan said, as Fluttershy came in with a cup of tea for Twilight, and water for Ethan.

   "I'm sorry...was I interrupting anything?"

   "No, Fluttershy." Twilight said to the pegasus, "Now let's give Ethan some time alone to rest his head. He should be fine for tomorrow."

   But Ethan couldn't sleep. He had too many things to think about right now. Next Chapter: The Morning Shift Estimated time remaining: 20 Minutes