Day 3:

Fifth Hour

--

I left a note for Fluttershy on the table. It was a bit difficult to sneak outside without waking her up. She had taken the liberty to sleep next to me again. I didn't mind. Having her close to me was comforting, but sometimes woke me up with a sore arm from her resting her hooves on it.

Dear Fluttershy,

I apologize, for I will be out this morning. I have a discussion of importance to speak about with Twilight.

If possible, we can meet again tonight? I heard you all have plans.

Again, sorry for the unwarned absence.

Best wishes,

Alan

The forest was as pleasant as ever. It was nothing like the dark, everfree forest. Come to think of it, why, of all places, did I fall there? On the day I fell, there was a lot of fog as well.. Could it be possible that the same fog bridged my world and Equestria together? It still didn't explain the gaping hole in the courtyard that I walked through, but that would wait.

After a few more minutes, I arrived at Twilight's Library. The sun was now steadily rising over the lump hills that made Ponyville's exterior. I crossed my arms and gazed at the front door quizzically. Would she be awake, I wondered? I knocked on the door. Faintly, I heard the "who" of an owl. Suddenly, the door edged open, and a curiously small, brown owl was perched on the door handle, his head cocked as if trying to discern me for anything dangerous. Then I remembered, this was the night assistant, Owliscous. I inclined my head.

"How do you do? I'm here to see Twilight. Is she home?"

--

After some settling down, Twilight and I sat across from each other on couches in front of the library. She offered tea, which I graciously took her offer up upon.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" spoke the purple unicorn.

I set down my teacup and sighed, crossing my arms and shutting my eyes.

"Listen, I know this'll sound bad but.. I can't stay here forever. I used to live somewhere, and although my time in Ponyville has taught me that Equestria is a far better place than Earth, that's where my home resides - where all my memories reside."

I opened my eyes and took a glance at Twilight. She looked crestfallen. It hurt me to see her so, but, I continued.

"Because of this, I need to find a way out. I need to find a way to talk to Princess Celestia."

She looked deep in thought. "I could send her a letter but.. this week is celebration for Hearth Warming, and she'll be awfully busy.."

Spike came back with a plate of warm muffins. They were a lot like cornbread, but a little sweeter than what I was used to having.

"Spike, I need you to get a quill and paper." Twilight began.

"What for?"

"I need to send a letter to Princess Celestia."

"Twilight? Last I checked, the next time you're supposed to send a friendship report is a couple days from now."

"It's not going to be a friendship report; I'm going to see if Alan can visit her for a while."

Spike, under the direction of Twilight, wrote a couple sentences to the princess, keeping it short and to the point.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Recently, we have welcomed an unexpected guest from a different world. He seeks audience with you in hopes that you will provide guidance for his journey back. Feedback would be appreciated.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

In a cloud of green flames Spike launched the letter into the air. It evaporated into smoke and flew out the window.

"We'll see what she says." Twilight said.

I gazed at her inquisitively. "How long will it take?"

She checked her calendar and read a few notes. "You'll have around till the end of the week, probably sooner. We have no definite scheduling for celebrations and parties at this time of year."

--

Day 3:

Twelfth hour

The letter was sent. My deadline was the end of the week - probably sooner. Right at the end of christmas vacation - or rather, Hearts Warming break. Whatever they called it. My feet crunched against a thin layer of snow as I walked along the streets of Ponyville. I almost went unnoticed in the crowd of ponies walking about. It felt depressing to feel so disconnected for such a large bunch. I wanted to be a resident here. I wanted to permanently stay in this world and never have to think of Earth again. But that wasn't possible. I was a human - a wretched human, born from the emotions of others before me. If I stayed here, I would only bring suffering and darkness from my previous world. Equestria didn't deserve that.

I realized I was feeling very cold. I was wearing the same dress shirt, jeans, and coat from yesterday. I had to get into something warmer. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and snow started falling more heavily. The nearest building was Rarity's boutique, so I took cover there. Rarity saw me at the door.

"Oh my, please come in!" she said with the air of a mother welcoming her child back.

I looked pretty miserable - my grey hair was matted and fazed by the wind, and I was covered in snow, which I quickly cleared.

"Alan, please be a dear and wait here."

I was confused. Was she expecting me? A little later, she came back, with a stack of clothing that actually fit me. I was shocked.

"How did you..?"

She giggled awkwardly. "Well, you see, I had some extra material leftover, and I wanted to try out a new style. Apparently it works well."

I put on a black sweatshirt. It was soft and it was very loose. "It's perfect! How did you make these?"

"Er.. well, you'll understand I needed reference and that, well, uh.."

I looked Rarity over. "What's the problem?"

Suddenly feeling very meek, she handed over what looked like pictures. They were all of me.

I was suddenly feeling very hot. "Wha-?!"

"Well, like I said, I was trying to do something new and I couldn't really do it from scratch.."

I pushed the pictures back to her and leaned back, sighing. She didn't look reassured, so I shot her a smile and said, "Don't get the wrong idea. You're the greatest designer I've met."

Rarity hesitated for a moment, then smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Alan."

--

Later, me and Rarity walked to the spa, where the rest of the gang were due that evening. They were all surprised to see me in new, better looking clothing.

"Man, you look awesome! We should hang out more often!" spoke Rainbow Dash enthusiastically.

Applejack beamed in approval. "I knew Rarity could do it."

Twilight caught a fainting Fluttershy.

Then came the actual spa. I felt extremely weird because, well, I was the only male among the group. I promptly declined any offers to get in with them. Finally, Twilight reasoned with me.

"You've spent a lot of time here busy, and you still have a way to go. I think it would be good for you."

I couldn't really argue with that, but I wore a towel as I got in. I eventually settled down in an adjacent pool. I had to draw the line at the cucumbers and the warm towels on my head; that just wasn't happening. A few other ponies shared my pool, but I tried to keep up a conversation with the Mane 6. A lot of inhabitants looked at me strangely, but a few actually came over and spoke to me.

The first to talk was a grey pony with jet black hair. "I don't believe we've met before."

She held out a hoof. "My name is Octavia. I'm a cellist for a quite notable quartet and co-host on the radio station K-Colt."

It took a moment for me to process, then suddenly I rushed and shook hands - hoofs. "Nice to meet you. I'm Alan Walker."

"Alan? Walker? Not something like Diamond Crown or Morning Rise or.. Coca Cola?" spoke another voice. I didn't recognize it to be Octavia's, as she wasn't actually moving her lips - snout. Were ponies names really that much a variety here? Come to think of it, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle kind of sounded like flavors of ice cream.

"Vinyl, don't be rude!" she scolded the speaker. It was a pony with one of the most out of place manestyles I'd ever seen before, besides Pinkie Pie's. "You know he's not a.. well.. regular colt."

I ironed my forehead with a wet palm. "You could say that," I spoke with a reasonable tone.

"Anyways, I'm Vinyl Scratch!" spoke the erratic looking - or erratic in general now that I was taking a better look at her. "I'm in the same group thing as Octy here, but I'm a DJ."

This confused me. Ponies had discos? Well, then again, they obviously could if there were such things as parties. IT took me a moment to think up of something to say when I saw Octavia pick up a bar of soap.

"Uh.. how does that work?"

She looked at me blankly. "How does what work?"

"You know.. holding things with your hooves. Aren't they rounded and practically flat?"

"It's really not a problem."

That didn't answer my question..

The night passed slowly. Eventually, the ponies and I got out of the pool. As we dried, I told Octavia about music in my world. Her and Vinyl interested, I let them borrow my mp3. Lucky for me, the first thing it shuffled to was dubstep. Vinyl liked it, but Octavia switched to the classical playlist later.

At the front entrance, we crossed paths, her and Vinyl heading off to their respective homes.

Twilight beamed at me. "I'm amazed, Alan. You managed to make more friends!"

I laughed and scratched my head. "I guess."

Before heading home, we assembled at Twilight's Library to offer us some drinks before going to bed. Feeling particularly cheery, I tried a sip of what seemed like berry punch. Everyone else took either hot chocolate or water. We all talked for a bit, and the subject my visit to Princess Celestia came up. Everyone grew a bit sober at that news. I only said we sent her a letter, but I'm pretty sure nopony thought it was a friendship report.

"..Will we ever be seein' you again?" spoke Applejack, much softer than her usual tone of vigor.

I set down the punch on the table. "I don't know. I got here by accident so.. maybe."

Later, we departed. Fluttershy hung back a bit, so I decided to wait for her. As she left, I heard Twilight saying, "Don't forget the plan!" and a complacent, "I won't."

I pushed off against the wall I was leaning on. "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing."

--

I settled into bed. In the warmth of the fireplace and the softness of my bedsheets, I was quick to drift off to sleep.

= = =

Alan's body now lay on the couch in the library. It was late at night - even Spike was tucked away. However, the six ponies had congregated around him.

Rainbow Dash yawned. "This had better be important," she spoke with obvious fatigue.

Twilight clapped her hoofs together and adressed her audience. "I bring you all here today so we can study our subject, the human."

Applejack looked at her oddly. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, we all know he's a gentlecolt, and is human, and that he's from this place called Earth, but not much else. That's why today, I'm going to cast a spell that will allow us to see his memories."

Fluttershy looked a bit scared at the prospect of such a thing. "Is it alright? Really?"

Pinkie Pie jumped at it. "I bet he's had tons of fun on earth!"

"Here goes nothing," Twilight said, her horn starting to glow. A bright light flashed, and they were all suddenly plunged into black.

= = =

--Sidenotes

Just wanted to get the clothes business out of the way =w=

Anyways, I always wanted to write side characters in context, and here they are. This might be a tad bit too small of a dose for many of you all, but worry not! Your main course is coming up after the next very special chapter, where we take a dip in Alan's mind.