As the two began wandering through town on the way to their first stop, Sugar Cube Corner, Earl glanced over to Twilight and realized he was substantially taller than her. He looked down at his body once more and noticed how big he actually was.

"Great, even here I'm bigger than everyone else." He chuckled quickly to himself.

"Huh?" Twilight asked, still trotting next to him.

"Oh, nothing." Earl quickly replied, laying his eyes back on the road in front of him.

The purple unicorn simply shrugged and continued as well. After a while, Earl had grown accustom to the warm and inviting colors and no longer stared in awe at every small detail.

"Hey." Earl asked as the two turned the corner and neared the final road to Sugar Cube Corner.

Twilight stopped and glanced towards him.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Did anything else make it through?" He asked in a slightly hushed tone.

The unicorn glanced around for a second before pulling him aside.

"Yeah, some other things got pulled through."

"What exactly?"

Twilight rolled her eyes around as she searched for her thoughts and was mouthing words slightly.

"The bat, the.. gun thing and-"

"Which gun?"

"The small one."

Earl sighed in quick relief that the massive shot gun hadn't made it's way into this world, hiding it might have been a problem, seeing as now he probably couldn't even carry it.

"Alright, you said 'and'?"

"Yes, and the music player."

"Awesome, I thought I was just hearing things." He said with a chuckle. "Alright, where's the bat and stuff?"

Twilight glanced to the floor and quickly back up, with a slightly worried expression.

"The music player was right in front of me, but everything else was kind of scattered.... I just really wanted to get us out of there..."

Earl smiled.

"It's perfectly fine. I've got my music so right now I don't really give a fuu-"

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"....Freakin' anything." Earl smiled sheepishly. "We should uhh... get moving."

The purple mare chuckled and continued down the road.

Pinkie Pie, who was carrying a large tray of cupcakes, instantly dropped it and gasped loudly as Earl and Twilight walked through the door.

"Twilights back guys!" She screamed, before sprinting over to Twilight and nearly suffocating her in a hug.

Twilight smiled slightly and returned the hug. As both mares held each other, Earl had to resist screaming and jumping for joy as he noticed more of the elements sitting at a nearby table. He settled for a glazed look in his eyes and a dumb looking grin on his face. Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were sitting at the table Earl had noticed and quickly spun around to see Twilight.

"Twi, is that you?" Apple Jack asked, surprised, as she stood up from her seat. "Well I'll be, it is you!"

The orange earthpony sprinted over and joined in on the hug.

"C'mon Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said, levitating herself up from her seat to join the now group hug.

The normally shy yellow pegasus wasted no time in running over to join in as well, followed by Rarity.

Now, Earl was standing awkwardly next to the group of friends as they had their joyous reunion, the dumb smile still plastered across his face.

"Gosh, you were gone for so long!" Fluttershy said as the group hug was broken.

"Sorry about the scare," Twilight said.

She quickly glanced to Earl nervously.

"I was doing some really serious studying."

"Eggggggggg-head." Rainbow Dash said as she hovered above her friends, just loud enough for Twilight to hear.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shared a laugh with the rainbow-maned pegasus for a moment.

"Well we sure are glad ta have yah' back," Apple Jack said with a smile. "Even if yah' didn't go anywhere."

The five friends shared a laugh before glancing in Earl's direction. Pinkie instantly gasped again.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Who is that?! I don't know him! Ohmygosh, I could know him!" She said in her usual hyper-active tone.

She dashed over to Earl and began wildly shaking his hoof.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!" She said happily as she closed her eyes and smiled.

Earl could only stare, his eyes as wide as they could go as the pink mare shook his hoof.

After a few seconds of no response, things got a little awwwwwkwarrrrrddd......

"Uhhh, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash said, raising an eyebrow.

The pink earthpony opened her eyes and slowly stopped shaking his hoof.

"Twilight?" She asked, spinning around.

The purple unicorn chuckled slightly.

"That's Earl, he's new in town." She replied with a smile.

Pinkie returned the smile and spun back around.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you Earl! That's a weird name, I've never heard a name like Earl before, I guess it rhymes with things that are cool. Like pearl, or-"

As she went on, Earl quickly fainted and fell to the floor with a harsh thud. Pinkie Pie continued talking but Apple Jack raised an eyebrow at Earl's sudden loss of consciousness.

"He's uhh.... a bit, socially awkward..." Twilight said with a worried grin.

"Uh-huh..." Apple Jack replied.

"Earl? Eaaaaaaarrrrrrllll?" A voice called out to the former human.

His eyes quickly shot open and he glanced around wildly. There, right above him, the Elements of Harmony were staring at him worriedly.

"Oh, uhh... hey." He said, the dumb smile returning to his face. "What happened?"

"You fainted." Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh... well then..." Earl said, returning to his hooves as the six ponies backed away.

"Should I introduce myself again?" Pinkie asked cheerfully.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak but the pink earthpony proceeded to introduce herself a second time anyway.

"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie!" She said happily as she shook his hoof again.

To Twilight's surprise he returned the hoof-shake and smiled widely.

"Hello Pinkie Pie, pleasure to meet you! I'm Earl." He said.

Pinkie's smile only brightened further as the former human spoke.

After breaking the hoof-shake, Earl glanced around at the other ponies in the room.

"So you're the Elements?" He asked, his dumb smile returning.

All of the mares in the room nodded happily, besides Twilight, who shot him a look that said;

What are you doing?!

To which he replied with a look that said;

Just go with it.

The purple unicorn simply nodded and smiled along with her friends.

"I've heard a lot about you guys, Twilight's told me some stories to. It's amazing to meet all of you!" Earl said, his awkwardness fading.

Each of the elements humbly smiled, except for Rainbow Dash.

"Always happy to meet a fan." She said in a slightly smug tone as she floated over to Earl. "Did she tell you the one about my simply amazing Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Fliers Competition?"

"Of course, that was one of my favorite epi-"

Twilight's coat almost turned white in fear as Earl stopped himself.

"-Stories... One of the best."

Rainbow Dash instantly smiled and threw her hoof into his shoulder.

"You're alright."

Earl winced slightly but forced a smile.

"Thanks."

BOOM!

A massive explosion quickly ensued and the room was suddenly filled with streamers, banners, and various party foods. Everypony in the room instantly knew about Pinkie and her famous party cannon, but Earl huddled up in a ball on the floor and screamed.

"GOD NO.

PLEASE GOD NO.

NO.

GOD PLEASE NO GOD NO PLEASE.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He shouted.

After a few moments of silence, Earl opened his eyes and found the Elements staring at him yet again. He quickly noticed Pinkie was the only one smiling, and that she was right next to a smoking party cannon.

"Oh...." He said returning to his hooves. "I remembered a bad dream..."

Another awkward silence.

"Sorry if I scared you good buddy, I just wanted to throw you a party really quick, you being new and all!" Pinkie said happily, breaking the silence.

Earl glanced towards Twilight who simply shrugged.

"Alright," Earl said with a smile. "Let's party!"

A faint clopping rang through the main throne room of Canterlot Castle as a stone-white pegasus wearing bright golden armor quickly stormed in. Two guards instantly stopped him at the door before entering.

"Woah, woah... State your business soldier." One of the guards said sternly.

"I... have urgent news.... for the princess." The pegasus said weakly as he gasped for air.

The guards glanced at each other quickly and nodded, letting the young pegasus guard by.

As the pegasus neared the princess he instantly fell to the floor and bowed.

"Princess." He said, in a respecting tone.

The princess nodded and the guard returned to his hooves.

"What is the matter my subject?" She asked in her usual motherly tone as she noticed the guard's frantic breathing and worried expression.

"I bring some discerning news from the Everfree Forest, just outside of Ponyville."

Princess Celestia quickly raised an eyebrow.

"Continue." She said, curiously.

"A group of our scouters spotted a massive manifestation of light in the forest last night. We sent a detachment to watch over it."

"Well, what seems to be the problem?"

"Unknown creatures flooded through the light for several hours before it finally went out."

"Unknown?"

"These creatures are unlike anything we've ever seen before, we think the white light might have been a portal of some kind."

"Mhmm... Are the creatures any sort of threat?"

"We have confirmed reports of the creatures killing and.... eating the animals in the forest."

Celestia raised her eyebrow yet again.

"I'm sorry, did you just say eating the animals?"

"That is correct ma'am."

"So they are a threat?"

"As of right now, we are assuming that the creatures are hostile, yes."

The princess stopped and thought for a moment.

"Send a detachment of guards to put up a barrier around the forest." She said.

"Yes, your majesty." The guard said.

He quickly saluted and ran out of the throne room, in the direction of the barracks.

"I need a moment, hold all meetings for the rest of the afternoon." The princess said to her nearby assistant, stepping down from the throne.

"Are you going to try Ms. Sparkle again, your majesty?" The assistant replied.

"Yes, Spike wrote me today saying that she had returned. I need to see if she knows anything about the situation." Celestia replied.

With that, the princess left her throne room and continued up the winding staircase to her personal quarters.