Journal entry #1, A new day

Hello, my name is Roger Sheridan and I am a human. I don't know who might be reading this journal I have started to keep since a year went by since the day I first found myself in Equestria. I remember how it all started that day when I found myself here in a strange, new world of magical talking ponies that belong in fairy tales back on Earth. It all started a year ago to this day, I can still remember the smell of the early summer breeze of that day as I was feeding the cows and getting ready to cultivate the fields and begin the planting season in earnest. That was the last normal day of my life before it all changed because of that damned meteor.

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End of Journal entry

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Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and the rest of the leaders of Equestria are trying to deal with the looming issue of the food shortage. This issue is getting more and more dire by the month the farmers fall further behind in production, due to the menace of the parasprite cloud that had left the farms devastated and are struggling to produce enough food to feed it's citizens. Twilight looks to Celestia and says, "Princess Celestia, do you have any ideas of how we might be able to turn this situation around?"

Celestia stops and thinks for a moment and then says, "Perhaps maybe we can get the farmers to grow foods that ripen quickly for a little while until the menace has been dealt with? Also, maybe we could build large facilities that can store the item types that we require to be grown."

She smiles and says, "We could do that. Thank you for sharing your idea with us, Princess Celestia. I shall add to the idea and propose that we place a spell on the structure to keep the parasprites out of the structures, and begin researching better methods to store our food."

Luna then speaks up saying, "Furthermore, we need to look into more efficient ways to keep our food fresh for a longer period of time that is more convenient than digging deep holes in the ground to use the cold to keep food fresh. A few poor ponies have struck some thick substance because they tried to go so deep to keep their food fresh. They thought that if they went deeper, it would get colder. They were right though until the moment they went a little bit further and their hole started to fill up with a thick black substance they found from going too deep."

Twilight then smiles wide at the added idea and says, "Thank you for adding your thoughts too, Princess Luna. We shall have to gather our brightest minds to begin researching different ways to improve storage and our preserving methods. That is all we have for today I think, unless you all can think of anything to add to this meeting?" She then looks to the other ponies there and waits to hear any more ideas.

Fluttershy watches on as Twilight brings the meeting to a close and dismisses them, quickly taking her leave and then makes her way back home to help an ailing Discord, who suffers from the flu that seems to be going around. When she gets home, she says to Discord, "Hey Discord, I'm home! I'm sorry but I needed to attend the council meeting, our food shortage is slowly getting worse." She sighs and then says, "I sure hope that we can get some help getting it under control."

Discord coughs and sputters, being completely covered head to toe in a red, black, and yellow plaid pattern and says, "Oh my poor, dear Fluttershy. If it was getting so bad, why haven't you guys asked for my help? I'm always willing to lend a helping hoof, paw, or claw." For emphasis on that, he detaches each limb and chuckles, and reattaches them.

She smiles and takes the towel off of his head and changes it with a fresh one and says, "Oh I have suggested that we should ask you for your help, but with you being sick and your magic being unpredictable, they have decided against asking for your help until you are feeling better."

He smiles at having a true friend in Fluttershy and says, "I suppose they are right, it is all over the place when I am sick." He then gets an idea and then says, "One thing that I can do to help you all out is...I can send out a call for help."

Fluttershy smiles and pats Discord on the head saying, "Oh Discord, you just need to rest and get better ok?"

Discord frowns and then protests saying, "I can really do it for you guys, I will prove it to you. All I have to do is... ah...ah....AH...AHCHOO!" Discord's sneeze lifts Fluttershy's home off the ground and then lays on the couch sweating buckets literally and says, "S-See all I had to do was just sneeze, and the call for help was made. I w-wonder who will get it? I sure hope that it isn't received by E.T or Tartarus save us, even Predator doesn't get my call for help."

She shakes her head and thinks he is being silly and says, "Now now Discord, you just lie back and relax and I will help you get all healthy and back to your normal self once more."

I answer my cell phone saying, "Yeah who's this, talk fast 'cause ah'm workin' one of mah fields. Whatcha need done?"

The land owner then holds the phone to his ear and says,"One moment, honey. I have to take care of the field, before we head over to the baseball game. Hey Roger, could you cultivate and plant corn in field nine for me today? I would do it myself, but I promised to take my wife to see the game today."

I continue and say, "Ya need me to git field nine cultivated and planted taday? Alright, ah can do that. It's gonna cost ya ten thousand, as ah'm already behind in plantin' mah own fields."

He then talks it over with his wife for a moment and then says, "That sounds good to us, go ahead and start on the field please."

I then scratch an itch on my head and answer, "Go ahead and do it? Alright, ah'll git right on it after ah finish this pass, bah." I then grumble and put my phone back into the cup holder and complain out loud saying, "Fuckin' people, they're too lazy and claim they can't find any time to do it their own fuckin' selves, but they have time to attend a god-damn ball game with their wife..." As I continue my rant, I drive to the end of the field and fold the cultivator up to drive down the road. I then proceed to head to field nine to cultivate it and then plant it, looking forward to the nice payday that the field's owner has agreed to pay me. Making my way down the road to do the next contract I say out loud, "At least this ten thousand'll go a long ways in payin' what little remains on that loan ah owe to the bank. Ah just need a hundred thousand more and ah'll own everythin' on this farm. It's been a long ten years since ah first moved to this town after mah bitch wife divorced me and took everythin' of value ah had and married a god damned politician, may she burn in hell fer leavin' me with nothin' but the clothes on mah back and mah beat up truck!"

I finish off the last beer I had in the cooler and drive to the end of the field, happy to be half done with the job and fold the cultivator up and head for home to drop the cultivator off to pick up the planter and fill it up to go complete the contract. I smile and laugh saying, "Taday's gonna be a good day at least despite the hydraulic hose ah had to dick around with to git it off. Git it to the shop in town to git a new hose made, and then git it back on and git goin' again, but it will be a good day when ah finish this damn field. Yeehaw!" As I make my way down the road, not feeling the beer effect me at all, I grumble and say, "Ah hate how this damn beer just don't do a damned thing to me anymore. Maybe when ah git home ah'll have me a shot of bourbon or even a couple shots of Jack, that never fails to git me a bit tipsy."

I see the sky change colors and stop the tractor as I notice that traffic has stopped on the road as well and step out of my tractor to see what is going on and yell, "What in the sam fuckin' hell, are ya idjits stoppin' fer! I got fields to tend to, so git outta mah damn way!"

A driver looks at the man who just yelled at them and answers, "Look at the sky, is it a bird, is it a plane?" and points up at it, showing where it is.

I look up and see what the man is pointing at and my eyes widen as I notice that it is neither of them and say to them, "It's a god damned meteor, now head for shelter or kiss yer asses goodbah!" I watch as they scramble back to their cars and race back towards their homes, leaving the road ahead clear for me to continue on with my business. I then sigh and say to myself, "If ah die ah die. If ah don't, there are still gonna be fields to tend to and animals to feed. Fuck me, ah gotta feed the two horses, the chickens, pigs and of course the fuckin' cows when ah git home. Therefore, plantin' that field is gonna hafta wait until ah git them fed." The last thing I hear is a thwump noise in the distance and feel myself being pushed out the shattered window of the tractor and crash through a wooden fence saying, "That's odd, ah don't remember any fences bein' around the town or any fields in this area." I then try to stand up and wince, feeling extreme pain coming from somewhere in my body. My vision slowly fades out as I see a set of legs stop in front of my darkening vision saying something I can't quite understand and all I can manage to say is, "Need help here kid, ah'm hurtin' bad." My head falls onto the ground as I pass out from the pain and see only blackness before me.

Applebloom and the other crusaders are enjoying their time with Twilight when they notice the sky suddenly getting darker and darker, turning the day into night as Applebloom says, "Ah wonder why the sky's gotten all dark an gloomy, it was sposed to be a clear, sunny day wasn't it Twilight?"

Twilight looks out her balcony and up at the sky and says, "This is a magical storm girls, you best run on to your homes and take shelter. There is something highly unusual about this storm, I think something may be coming to Ponyville but I don't know what. Spike, can you please accompany them to make sure they make it home alright?"

The purple dragon comes down the stairs and smiles saying, "Of course I can do that sis, after all, I am a brave dragon you know!" He then grabs a rain coat and puts it on saying, "Well girls, are you ready for me to guide you to your homes in this strange storm?"

The girls all nod and grab their things, then follow Spike out of the door and begin heading for their respective homes saying in unison, "Lead the way Spikey Wikey."

Spike blushes at hearing the girls tease him playfully by saying that and responds, "Hey, how do you three know what Rarity calls me?"

The girls just giggle as Sweetie Belle says, "Well My sister told us that and just so you know Spike, the entire town already knows about that nickname from your many travels and adventures across Equestria."

Five minutes pass by as Spike drops Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle off and is escorting Applebloom home when he looks to the numerous lighting strikes touching the ground to the northwest of Ponyville and says, "Oh gosh Applebloom, that area over there is just getting roasted by lightning. I feel sorry for any animals that live over there, Fluttershy may have to find homes for some of the poor critters."

Applebloom looks over at Spike and says, "Ah don't know, but ah wonder what's causin' this storm to go haywire like this."

A few more minutes pass by in silence when a sizzling sound fills the air, causing Applebloom's mane and tail to frizz out and they see the front gate before them and they both start to run for it.

She looks at Spike that is running next to her, heading for the gate when she notices a streak make it's way towards the ground before them as he yells, "Applebloom lookout!"

Spike pushes her to the side, and out of the way when a large bolt of lighting strikes the ground twenty feet before them.

They shield their eyes from the blinding light that is followed by the sound of glass shattering and the sound of a fence breaking.

Applebloom watches as the brightness fades away, leaving something truly massive standing before them in their path. Not really sure how to describe it instead of being tall, long, and wide. She gazes at it in wonder and says, "Ah wonder what this thing is Spike,"

He stares at it, feeling fear from seeing something so massive appear out of nowhere before their eyes and says, "I-I don't know what it is, but I don't like the way it looks. I-It scares the scales right off of my body Applebloom, let's hurry and get around it so I can get you home and run to tell big sis Twilight about this thing!" He then starts pushing her along, trying to get her to move.

She begins to start making her way around the thing and says, "Alright Spike ah'm goin' ah'm goin', geez. Can't ah be a little bit curious as to what that thing is for a couple of sec..." her words are cut off when she looks ahead of her and sees a creature that has crashed through their fence and races towards it with worry on her face and says, "Spike! There is somepony here that is hurt, we need to find out how bad it is!"

Spike comes forth and sees that there is blood on the ground and puts a claw over his mouth and fights the urge to throw up at the sight of so much blood on the ground and does not hear the creature speak when he hears Applebloom shout at him, "Hurry and go get Twilight! they said they're hurtin' bad!" He nods and then takes off flying towards Twilight's castle as fast as he can to go get help from her to treat the poor wounded creature.

Applebloom's eyes start to tear up as she takes off towards the house to get Applejack to come out and treat the poor creature that can speak their language. She rushes through the front door, startling Granny as she races upstairs without answering her question. She races into Applejack's room and shakes her, speaking frantically saying, "Applejack Applejack wake up wake up wake up!"

Applejack wakes up with a start and says, "What in tarnation have ah taught ya about bargin' into other pony's rooms without knockin' first!" She then scowls at her sister who is in a panic over something and is speaking faster than what she can understand and says, "Settle down there sugarcube, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Calm down now and speak clearly, yer talkin' faster than a jackrabbit runnin' a race."

She takes a few deep breaths and prances impatiently and says, "Ah'm sorry, but it's an emergency! There's this creature outside that appeared after lightnin' struck the ground before us as we were headin' home to take shelter from the strange magical storm that suddenly appeared out of nowhere when the crusaders an ah were at Twilight's. Anyway, ah was tryin' to tell ya that the creature crashed through the fence an there is blood all over the ground, they even said they were hurtin' bad! We need to help them!"

She shakes her head and says, "Alright sugarcube, lead the way. Ah gotta git mah first aid kit before we head out punkin', so one second." She follows her sister down the stairs and says, "Somepony's crashed through the outer fence and is hurt bad, ah'll be back everypony." She grabs the first aid kit from under the bathroom sink and follows her sister, grabbing her Stetson off a hat hook and placing it on her head while on her way out.

Applejack follows her sister at a gallop, holding the first aid kit in her teeth. Hoping that she gets there in time to be able to help them. She spots the massive thing sitting just outside of their fence and talks around the handle saying, "What in tarnation do ya mean lil' filly, there's nothin' ah can do for that monstrosity if that's hurt! Ah know nothin' about it to begin with!"

Applebloom continues galloping ahead of her and calls back saying, "No sis! That is something else that appeared from the lightnin' right outside the fence, the creature's on the left side of it. Ya will easily recognize it 'cause of the broken fence post and rails it crashed through, an the blood on the ground will tell ya for sure."

She looks to her sister and says, "Ah wonder what kinda contraption that is, sittin' out there like that. What's it for, ah wonder." She then notices the break in the fence and sees the injured creature there. Her nose picks up a metallic scent in the air telling her that sure enough, there is blood on the ground. She comes to a stop near the creature and looks at the creature, approaching carefully so she can check to see how bad the wound is. She notices that the dark clouds are beginning to dissipate, allowing light to shine through them and illuminate the land around them again. She looks at a two legged creature with tanned, light colored skin, a red mane just on his head and no tail, horn or wings. She looks closer at him and sees that he has a bit of wood sticking through his middle, curious if it goes all the way through. Needing to find out, she tries to gently roll him a little so she can see the other side of the creature's back. She looks to her sister and asks, "Ah'm gonna roll him just enough so ah can git a look at the other side, can ya help me to hold him there long enough so ah can see if there is a wound on the other side too?"

Applebloom's eyes widen with worry as she says, "Ah'll try to hold them big sis, not sure if ah'm quite strong enough with how big they are, but ah sure will try." She moves to stand beside the creature and waits for for her sister to say when.

Applejack stands next to her sister and says, "Remember, we don't wanna roll them all the way over, just enough to where ah can look for a wound on the other side. We both roll on three." She then slowly counts to three and they push him part way onto his side as she says, "Alright, ah'll help ya hold him here while ah duck my head down to look underneath of them." She then drops her head down to look for a wound when she spots something sticking through the other side and says, "Ok, now we can slowly let him back down. The wound is not a good one Applebloom, unfortunately there is nothing that ah can really do with a wound that is this bad. They will need another pony's help if they're gonna have any hope to survive this."

She starts to tear up and then cheers up suddenly and says, "Oh, Spike was escorting us home an ah sent him to go get Twilight an bring her here to help them as well. So ah think that they'll be comin' right about...NOW!"

Twilight pops up near them and has a small bag with her, her mane is all frizzed out and her eyes are pinpricks as she says, "Which one of you two is hurt bad!"

Applejack sighs and says to her, "Calm down a little bit sugar, Applebloom and ah are just fine. It is the creature next to us that needs urgent attention, that there wood spike goes all the way through them. Can ya help them out Twi or do they need more help than what ya can handle?"

She sighs and then says, "If it was a cut I could be able to heal it, but for something like this... They need proper medical attention, we need to rush them to Ponyville General. I will cast a levitation spell so we can hurry there without having to worry about causing them further injury. Can you meet us there girls, that way I can hear more about what that creature is?"

The two sisters nod and say they will be there and head back to inform the rest of the family what is going on right now. Applejack looks back and says, "Ah wonder who and what that creature is."

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Sowing a good first impression (Edited 6/17/21) Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 6 Minutes