The rest of the day was spent getting used to my new body. Walking was on the top of my list especially since I was not adept at ice skating. I never had the best coordination, which made my attempts of riding a skateboard end with eating dust. I asked my family to leave me alone; there were things I needed to research by myself. With socks on my hooves, walking went quite fine and even trotting worked. Well, at least for the few meters through my hallway. It was kind of like riding my bike after a long time - I just had to get used to it. I even tried walking on just two hooves, but that only resulted in me landing on my back several times.

I later attempted to use magic in front of a large mirror, focusing all my power into making my shoe levitate, but all I got was a view of some funny faces in the mirror. I thought about it some more, but the series had never given any indication as to how magic actually worked; it was just there. After hours of walking, trying to use magic, and some smaller accidents, I fell on the couch, totally drained. If I needed anything right now, it was music.

My cell phone was lying on the table, and I tried to pick it up with a hoof. In the series, they were able to pick up just about anything, so there had to be way, but if the trick was magic, I would be doomed. I don't know when it was said, but every pony type had its own magic. I took the cell phone between two hooves and tried to take one away, but that resulted in the phone falling onto the couch. I freed one hoof from a sock with my teeth and tried again. I pressed the hoof on the back of the phone. The idea of a plunger came to mind, but it didn't work. I licked my hoof to wet it a little. However, that just resulted in getting fur in my mouth. I got a little pissed and smashed my hoof on the couch. That caused the device to fly towards the laminate. I tried to catch it, and it luckily landed safely between my hooves.

Figuratively, I swiped of the sweat of my forehead, only to realize that the phone had to fall down now, but there it was, secured in my hoof, not even moving a little. Slowly and carefully, I pulled it back on the couch and inspected my success. I could feel the phone in my hoof as though I still had fingers. I turned my hoof at an angle where it would normally have fallen down, but my grip held it in place. I tried to move my hoof as if opening a hand and the phone fell down. I attempted to grab the remote and that also succeeded. Like a sword, I whirled it around, happy about my achievement.

I freed my other hoof of the sock, so that only my hind legs were enveloped as I tried to turn on the TV. I thought about the movement of a pointer reaching out. The TV jumped to channel 533 and showed some documentary about ants. Several attempts later didn't lead to another result, and I came to the conclusion that hooves weren't good for much more than grabbing. Still, it was great progress, and so I went into the bedroom to get my laptop. I closed it and considered whether to hold it in my snout but then changed my mind and grabbed it with my hoof. It stuck to my hoof just like the TV remote. Back in the living room, I carefully placed it on the table and started my first attempt to use it. Using the touch pad was like operating with a fist instead of a finger. It wasn't very precise, but it did the job. I put a hoof on the keyboard, and my limb instantly covered a quarter of it. Typing wasn't an option. The window showed me that the night had stealthily snuck up on me, and I decided to leave it for today. I laid down as comfortably as I could and closed my eyes.

Since I hadn’t programmed my alarm, I woke up relatively late. My glasses were crooked on my face, and the TV was turned off. I sat up and saw some carrots on the table. If I had to guess, I'd say it was my mom. Due to the only alternative being toast, I took one and started to nibble on the top.

“What's up, doc?” I mumbled to myself and went into the bathroom. After the usual routine consisting of using the toilet and brushing teeth which was now possible thanks to my new grabbing ability, I tried to take a shower. That went surprisingly well; only the drying took its time. I shook myself like a dog a few times and let the air take care of the rest. I put my undershorts back on and headed down to let my dogs out of their room. It was very quiet in the house since everybody was either at work or at school.

After another carrot, I took my keys around my neck. I always had a strap on my keys, and that was especially useful today. The dogs made themselves comfortable on my couch again, and I told them both I'd be back again soon and went into our garden through our basement. I already wanted to go outside yesterday, but I knew no one would have let me. Right behind our house was a forest, and I loved to take walks in it, especially in the spring. And since I grew up here, I knew it like the back of my hand. At first, I walked on the hiking path, but after a few meters, it drew me off the road. The trees didn't have any leaves yet, but a fresh wind announced that it wouldn't take any more. The foliage felt very good under my hooves, and I was glad that I had finally gotten rid of those socks. I walked my usual tour, passed my old tree house I had built some time ago. There wasn't much left. Just a few boards in the branches and on the trunk indicated that there once might have been something.

While I was staring at the tree, I heard a noise. Not that this was news in the woods, but it made me happy every time when I saw a deer or a rabbit. This might sound cheesy, but those who grew up with Disney will understand. The bushes rustled a little and a magpie flew out of them. I didn't think about it further and continued my way. Normally this tour would take about an hour, but I was a lot faster today due to the trotting, or at least it seemed that way. Shortly after, I came to the playground where all hiking paths crossed. I wasn't afraid of being seen. It was Monday morning on a workday, so the only beings that could see me were animals. I walked up the ramp leading to the slide and slumped down for a bit. While I was laying there, my mother's words came to my mind. What would happen to me or my future? Should I go in public with my story or should I stay at home? I thought about the pros and cons, but neither seemed very pleasant. I needed a hint, needed to know if there was a reason I was a pony now. Was there something more to it?

Again, I heard a noise and looked down the ramp. Two large, purple eyes were looking at me, shock evident in them. I jumped backwards, slid down the slide, and landed rather uncomfortably on the ground. I looked up again but couldn't see anything.

“Are you okay?” I heard a voice saying. I searched for the source, which was standing next to the framework. There she was, the pony I knew as Twilight Sparkle. Just like me, she looked like she was drawn into reality and looked down on me with widened eyes.

“You didn't hurt yourself, did you?” She slowly approached and reached out a hoof. I was almost paralyzed and couldn't stop looking at her.

“Is there anything on my face?” she asked and reached out her hoof again. I took a closer look. Everything was right, every detail. She was just like in the series except for one thing I only noticed now: her horn was missing.

“Öh...” I stammered. “Nein, mir geht’s gut,” I said and stood up.

“Oh, you speak Germane. It's been a long time since I last heard that language.” She smiled from ear to ear. “But I'm glad to finally see a friendly face.” She dashed towards me and enveloped me in her hooves. She was pressing so hard that I couldn't breathe. After a short moment, she got off me.

“I have been here for I don't know how long. What kind of place is this? And what are those strange beings who keep passing all the time?” I just noticed by now that her fur was full of leaves and small branches. Before I could answer, I heard a loud barking, and I knew that someone was approaching with their dog.

“Quick, follow me!” I said, and we quickly disappeared in the direction I came from. We ran a few minutes until I was certain we couldn't be seen from the hiking paths. I slowed down until she could reach next to me. She immediately started asking questions again.

“So, where am I?”

“On Earth.”

“What are those beings, and why did we run away?”

“Those are humans, and we ran away because we shouldn't exist in this world.” With that last sentence, she stopped and looked at me, confused.

“What do you mean we 'shouldn't' exist?” Now I screwed up. While running, I worked up all kinds of scenarios in my head, and I thought it would be best not to tell her about ‘My little Pony’. I guess anyone would freak out if they learned that their life was just entertainment for others, and you couldn't even win a million with it.

“Look at us and then around.” I pointed at us and then at a tree. How do you explain cartoons to a cartoon-figure? She seemed to understand and changed the topic.

“And what are you doing here? Who are you by the way? Anyway, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you.” If I really didn't want to tell anything about the series, I quickly had to think of a good story.

“Well, my name is Timo, though friends call me Tio. I’ve lived here as long as I can remember. I grew up here.” I didn't want to start my adventure with a lie, and leaving out details wasn't lying, right?

“Wow.” She giggled. “That's an unusual name for a pony.” I rolled my eyes but said nothing. “So you live in the woods?” Her curiosity just couldn't be satisfied, but I wanted to know just as many things as she did.

“No, I live in a house not far away from here. I guess it would be best to go to my place; we can talk there without any disturbance.” I took another look at her. “And you could eat something and take a shower.”

She agreed in silence. We came back to the hiking path leading to my house, which was soon in sight.

“I live there,” I said, pointing at the house. The old, grey house stuck out between the branches, allowing for a decent view of the roof.

“That's a big house,” Twilight said and dashed all the way downwards. I looked at her, and I knew I wouldn't behave any different if I was in Equestria. Immediately, I looked away since, unlike me, she didn't wear any clothing, and I saw more than I actually wanted. I caught up with her at the garden door and opened it.

“This is a little big for you alone, isn't it?” she asked with her eyes still on the house.

“Well, my family lives there as well, I mean my mother and my brothers.” Again, I wasn't thinking.

“There are more ponies here?” Twilight was obviously excited.

“Err... no. I'm the only one here as far as I know.” How could I get myself out of this? “I grew up with humans.”

“You mean the beings walking around in the woods on just two hooves? But I thought they didn't know about us ponies?”

“My family are the only ones who know I'm here.” Again, not a lie. We entered the house through the basement and made our way to my apartment. Twilight examined several things, and I had to explain, for example, what shoes were. When I opened the door to my apartment, Fiete and Fanny instantly came to greet us.

“May I introduce Fiete...“ I said while pointing at the little Beagle, “and this is Fanny.” My hoof was on the big Landseer. This particular dog jumped at Twilight, which was quite impressive, since she was just ten centimeters taller than the dog. She sat on her thighs to avoid being thrown over and let greeting happen. After she was sniffed, the dogs made their way down, and I closed the door behind them. I offered Twilight a carrot which she accepted in thanks. After that, I showed her the bath. She wondered about the design at first, but after I explained that it was designed for humans, she was satisfied, and I went back into the living room. I had so many questions and oh my god, Twilight Sparkle was in my freaking apartment. I realized that in order to keep my camouflage, I had to change some things. I closed the laptop to hide the large wallpaper of Ponyville and pulled the Mane Six figurines, together with my cell phone, from my TV into a drawer. I was looking around to check if I had forgotten anything when Twilight came into the room with a towel around her neck.

“Thanks, I really needed that,” she said happily and laid down on the little carpet in my living room. This would be the ideal moment for questions if I only knew which one to start with.

“How old do ponies get?” was the first question I could think of. Twilight turned around to me and looked confused.

“That depends. How healthy does it live, what does it eat? Does it move enough...“ I shook my head.

‘That's not what I meant. I meant more in general.” Her eyes widened.

“You don't know?” I shook my head again. Twilight’s jaw dropped, and I could almost see her brain working overtime.

“You’re saying that… you're the only pony?”

“Probably...” I said as quietly as possible. Her face showed something I never wanted in my live: pity. Due to my asthma, I always seemed short and was kind of an outsider. I hated it, to be forced into the focus because of that.

“I'm sorry about that.” Twilight obviously didn't know what to say.

“Don't mention it. I'm doing okay,” I said, smiling. Fact was that I still didn't know what to do with her.

“But what are you doing here? How did you get here?” Twilight cleared her throat and began to talk. For quite some time now, she had been working on a spell to teleport over longer distances. She had finally found a spell in a book from the Canterlot archives she could modify. "I didn't land in Ponyville as I planned, but in the woods behind your house. On top of that, I lost my horn, so I can't contact Trent. But now you're here, so we can return to Equestria together, and you can learn more about your species. The last words echoed through my head. I could go to Equestria! The place every brony dreams to visit, at any costs.

“And how do we contact this Trent?” The excitement almost poured out of me. I had never heard of a Trent, but I didn't mind at the moment.

“Just little spell; that's all you need.” Twilight seemed to be just as excited to return home. But that last sentence stopped my excitement.

“There’s just one small problem, Twilight. I don't know how to use magic.”

Author's Notes:

Again a big thanks to Beks who translated this as well.
Also a thanks to Darth Keks, who edited this mess a bit.

Edited by JBL.