Several pegasi already roamed the skies as Tyler reached the first houses of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash started to explain the whereabouts of the town. “You see, there are many ponies living here. Everypony has a specific profession. You might say some ponies cultivate flowers, others run shops, yet others run offices. I for one am part of weather patrol with the other pegasi. We decide when, where and how many clouds are above Ponyville. It can be tough at times, but we are tougher!” Tyler listened closely as he gazed upon the brightly colored ponies. He waved nervously to some of them. Some stared at him, several small fillies waved back, only to be held back by what appeared to be their parents. Tyler winced a bit. He felt like an alien, he WAS an alien to them, a completely strange being.

“They seem to be afraid of me.” He muttered beneath his breath.

Rainbow watched around and nodded. “It appears so…”

Suddenly the tranquility of Ponyville was disturbed,
“H-HUMAN!!!” Tyler looked to where the uproar was coming from as a pony of aquamarine coat tackled him with the shoulder and knocked him over before nailing him down to the ground with the front hooves. “I got you now! EVERYPONY!!! I CAUGHT A HUMAN!!!” With a crazy grin she gazed down to Tyler. He noticed a horn on her forehead. First pegasi, now unicorns... This wasn’t a bad trip, especially since he didn’t even use drugs, but right now, he would rather believe that he was. “All these years they called me crazy, but now I have proof! PROOF I TELL YOU!!!”

Tyler fought against her grip, looking up to Rainbow,
“HEY!! Get her off from me before I have to punch her off in self-defense!!!”

Rainbow wrestled the maddened unicorn off him,
“That’s enough, Lyra Heartstrings! You’re freaking ponies out! Are you trying to kill your precious proof?”

Lyra then shook her head rapidly, coming to her senses,
“Oh! No, sorry… it’s just…I was so excited…”

Tyler got back on his feet and stared grumpily at Lyra while patting off the dust of his clothes,
“You do that again and I won’t guarantee for anything. Girl or not! Don’t jump at folks like a maniac! But how do you know about humans anyway? Rainbow said there are no humans in all of Equestria.”

The aquamarine unicorn shrugged with a smile,
“Beats me! I just want to be like one.”

Tempted to perform a facepalm, Tyler laughed nervously,
“Really… How nice… Ok, maybe I’ll tell you something about my place, but no more jumping at me, you hear?”

It was then when more and more ponies became aware of Tyler. Gathering around they began to whisper to each other,
“My… Look at that creature…”

“Those legs…”

“That stance…”

“Is that a friend of Rainbow Dash?” It wasn’t before long that a large crowd of ponies came together, maybe the whole town of Ponyville. In some sort of interview the crowd shot a question and Rainbow, speaking on behalf of Tyler, was answering. Standing in front of all, the mayor was the first to ask. “Rainbow Dash, who… or what is that friend of yours?”

“That’s Tyler Jones. He’s a human.”

Bon Bon was looking to her close friend Lyra who nodded proudly, confirmation of her ‘crazy’ theories standing in front of her,
“But where does he come from?” the earth pony with the dual colored mane asked.

Rainbow chuckled uncertainly,
“He mentioned some places called Earth and Nevada, Bon Bon. But don’t ask me where that is, because frankly I have no idea! I can only assume that Earth is a land like Equestria and Nevada is a town or city.” This answer prompted Tyler to giggle slightly. Now a trio of mares raised their hooves.

Rainbow saw that it was Daisy, Lily and Rose, some of Ponyville’s botanists known for their prized flowers,
“Is he dangerous? Or is he friendly?”

With the the Pegasus mare shook her head,
“Nah… He’s not dangerous. At least I don’t think so. He only seems to want to defend himself.”

"Why don't you tell them about his knife?" One of the ponies asked. Upon recognizing the voice, Rainbow made out Wheat Whacker to being the one who shot it. Heads turned over to him. "Yeah, you heard me right, folks. That thing came armed. I saw the knife sticking into the ground. And from what it looks like, that knife wasn't just something you make out of sticks and stones. There are more of him! Heck! He could be a scout or a spy of a foreign force for all we know!"

Suddenly the ponies began to glance at Tyler with a more cautious glance, what truly ticked off Rainbow Dash.
"What?!? That's ridiculous! That knife exists, yes. But he already surrendered it to Fluttershy in order to show good will. He's not here to harm us!"

"Or making you believe that he's not here to harm us. Meanwhile others like him could prepare their assault on us! Let's not forget that we were attacked by outsiders very recently." Wheat Wacker countered.

That did it. Tyler stepped forward and pointed his index finger at Wheat Wacker.
"You're full of it, shithead! Me being a spy? I don't even know where this nation is and I don't know how I got here! You folks can search my stuff and will find no means of communication! If you have a problem with me, fine! I don't need this shit. You got the entire planet for yourself, leave me alone! I simply want to go home!"

This certainly divided the ponies to some degree. Some left the place, appalled by Tyler's tone, others stayed and shot Wheat Wacker angered glances for giving a lost newcomer such a hard time. The unicorn stallion, however, shot Tyler a smirk, before he left.
"We shall see what the Royal Guard thinks about all this..."

Once he was gone, Rainbow continued to ask for more questions. As the remaining ponies bombarded them with questions, Tyler noticed one in particular, with a note and a quill levitating in front of her. The lavender coated pony seemed to be writing in time with the whole conversation as if taking notes for an important academic paper. On her head was something he could make out as a horn, making her a unicorn like Lyra. So unicorns were obviously able to perform some sort of magic as well, this was getting better by the minute. He had seen pictures of unicorns in art and cartoons, but none were as cute as she was, lost in her own little world. While the ponies still asked questions, he slowly walked through them as curious eyes were locked on him. As he crouched next to the unicorn, he took a look at her notes. As he thought, she had written down the whole questions and answers in the order they were stated,
“Are you writing this down for the newspaper?” he asked.

She was too concentrated writing down what questions she heard for looking up,
“No, I’d like to know more about this being. Gathering facts might be a good start for studying his kind.”

Tyler giggled,
“Well… He seems sentient. Maybe you should introduce yourself first.”

“I will!” she replied right on the spot. “AFTER I finish writing this…” As she continued to write, she noticed the sudden silence. “What the hay? Why is everypony so… silent… right… now?”

As she looked up, the crowd was looking at her jaws dropping. And most importantly, the human was gone. Rainbow pointed a hoof towards her,
“Twilight… Beside you…” As she slowly turned her eyes and head to the right, she saw him right next to her smiling broadly.

His hand opened while held in midair between them,
“Hi! I’m Tyler!”

Jumping one step away, Twilight yelped for a bit in surprise,
“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to be…”

Tyler chuckled at her surprise,
“Curious? Aw, don’t be silly! Strange things DO attract intelligent life forms.”

Twilight now smiled at his errant humor,
“True! But right now…” She harrumphed briefly. “Let me introduce myself: My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m a student from the royal city of Canterlot researching friendship in Ponyville.” With this she laid her hoof into his hand for a shake.

Tyler chuckled,
“An intellectual… My pleasure, Miss Sparkle! But please don’t treat me like a guinea pig.” With this they both shared a laugh.

The ponies now lightened up as they saw Tyler’s casual behavior. He truly meant no harm and the crowd scattered slowly. Rainbow Dash hovered over to Twilight and Tyler, who now stood up. Landing between them, she presented Tyler,
“Look what I caught right in the sky falling down like a stone when that Sonic Rainboom went off! Seems to me that Rainboom must have gone off when he fell into our land. Like some weird magic catapulting him through the air at high speed. Have you ever seen something like him, Twilight?”

The unicorn shook her head and gulped slightly at Tyler’s towering stance,
“A great bipedal being…”

* * * * *

An hour later, Twilight sat in her library and opened the magic tome again, browsing in it thoroughly,
“Tilerions, Tilerions! The hay! Why isn’t this being described in more detail?” Then it shot into her mind. “Wait! Didn’t the narrator say something about that?” Browsing back to the prophecy, she pointed her hoof on it. “Ah-HAH! ‘And they will name him Tilerions, child of man!’ Child of man! Human!” She concluded. But her proud smile deteriorated into an expression of fright. “Does this mean… The void beings are returning?”

While she browsed the tome again in haste, Spike approached her chewing on an emerald,
“Yo, Twilight… What’f a void being again?” Twilight wrinkled her nose at him for talking with a full mouth until she opened her eyes wide. She actually had no idea what void beings were either.

“That’s a good question, Spike! Please fetch me…” She thought in a moment, tipping her chin, before pointing her hoof to her assistant. “Oh yes! ‘Bestiaries of old – extinct species of Equis’! As far as I recall, it was written by Princess Celestia herself. I have to research this further!”

Spike on the other hand shrugged,
“But Twilight… Didn’t you say you want explain several things about Ponyville and Equestria to that human, so he can fit in better as long as he has to stay? I mean you were all crazy about that meeting.”

Giving herself a facehoof, Twilight uttered a simple “Oh no! No! No! No! No! I completely forgot about the time while researching that prophecy! Spike, you check the checklist and double checklist for today and prepare a triple checklist before I’m back! I’ll spend some hours now educating Tyler. Once I’m back, I’ll see that you get a nice snack from Sugarcube Corner. I promise!”

As she galloped out of the library, the little dragon arched a brow,
“Tyler? That’s an odd name…”

* * * * *

Two hours later…

Tyler and Twilight sat on a bench at the edge of Ponyville. From their vantage point, they could see the entire village and had a wonderful view of Canterlot,
“So let me get this clear…” Tyler started. “Outside the world I know, there exists the magical realm of Equestria. Equestria is home to the ponies and is a land of the world known to you as Equis. All in Equestria bow down to the two female rulers, Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna. Princess Celestia is responsible for the rising and setting of the sun. And they both keep the realm of Equestria safe. But once the sun sets, the older princess must rest. While she slumbers, her younger sister watches the night keeping the moon and equestrian nighttime in check… That about right?” Twilight nodded ferociously with a big smile on her face. Tyler then continued,
“And you, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are part of some sort of protection squad that wields the ‘Elements of Harmony’, the most powerful magic known to the land…’”

Twilight beamed happily,
“I’ve never heard a better summary of the situation! Humans are quite intelligent!”

Tyler chuckled,
“Not all of us are equally intelligent, I’m afraid…I guess I took this very well, but to be honest. I was tempted to scream my living guts out when I first saw a talking pony! Where I’m from there is no such thing. And to be surrounded by all of this suddenly, truth be told, felt weird…”

Twilight gave it another nod,
“I guess we were lucky it turned out well. Rainbow told me how spooked you both were at your first contact.”

He rubbed his neck in embarrassment,
“Uh… Yeah… I wasn’t sure if she would jump at me. I mean, you don’t fall into a whole different world every day.”

With a girly giggle, Twilight levitated a book down,
“You passed the cultural shock quite well, big guy! Humans surely are as interesting as they are intelligent. Are all humans like this?”

With this he sighed and frowned deeply concerned,
“Don’t be too quick to praise the human race… That intelligence is both a blessing and curse at the same time. We’re capable of so many wonders and dreams… And at the same time…terrible atrocities and nightmares… Mankind has done things you ponies would probably condemn eternally. Maybe it’s quite alright that I’m the only human here and not knowing what exactly brought me here. If mankind knew about this place and knew how to reach it…” He looked into Twilight’s big violet eyes. He could see she couldn’t understand completely now and searched for answers in his eyes. “My dear friend Twilight, I’m afraid this would mean the end of Equestria as you ponies know it. My kind fights over everything. We fight for space to live in, religion, resources, opinions and riches.”

Twilight looked down and several moments passed until Tyler continued,
“Why do we fight, you might ask? Well, why do leaves fall? It is in our nature…” He gazed into the distance. “Don’t get me wrong, though. We know there are different types of reasons to fight, good and evil alike, but we all too often lack the light to show us the way.” As he looked down to Ponyville with all its inhabitants, their harmony and their presence without the anger and conflict his own world was plagued with, he felt he was very close to the answer. “Maybe I’ll find my light here…”

The young unicorn looked up again, putting a hoof onto Tyler’s leg,
“I believe it’s good that you found a way to reach us. You are kind and wise and although I can’t imagine what humans are capable of at the place you call Earth, I’m glad you are here now.”

Those words brought back the smile on Tyler’s face,
“Thank you, Twilight… Thank you for trusting me so much…” What she didn’t tell him was the fact that he maybe was foretold by the ancestors of Equestria as a hero. But for now Twilight was certain that holding back some facts would be helpful to let things develop in a normal way.

It was later in the evening when Tyler went into the park meeting with Rainbow Dash. As he placed his big backpack on the ground, he started to train a bit with her. That is, she flew several circles around at high speed while he ran one. She outclassed him in terms of sheer speed. Yet Tyler felt something. He couldn’t put his finger on it; it was one of his gut feelings he used to have back on Earth when he felt like slacking off. Despite him being alright, he felt weak, not being at full potential.

Fluttershy arrived at the park a bit later and watched him exercising. After running for an hour, Tyler slowly stopped and examined himself. He was sweaty, but not out of breath. This amazed him; he never was an athlete and surely not a runner. He felt tired, but not spend. A cold breeze reminded him of his sweaty upper body, so he knelt down to his backpack and fetched out a towel and a spare tank top. His other clothing was still in Nevada waiting in his camp. He grumbled at this, cursing in his thoughts that the gem didn’t bring all of his camp with him to Equestria. He would have plenty of food and plenty of clothes. But his luck was tough on this one. He stood up and took off his shirt. Tyler wasn’t exactly a bodybuilder, he deemed himself well fed and well trained.

As he toweled himself up, Fluttershy approached him from behind with widened eyes and a big smile,
“Gosh, Tyler… What a big cutie mark…” He turned his head to her. Twilight told him about cutie marks and that each pony eventually earns one at the time he or she identifies his or her special talent.

“A big what? Cutie mark? I’m a human, I don’t have one like you ponies do!”

“Sure you have, Tyler!” Rainbow grinned while pointing at his back. “That giant cutie mark on your back. What is this? It’s black and it looks kind of cool!”

Tyler now realized what they meant and laughed. On his back was a tribal tattoo he got himself a couple of years ago on Earth when he was on a summer vacation back in America. It was completely black, symmetric and went from one shoulder to the other.
“No, silly! That’s a tattoo!”

Rainbow cocked her head as she searched her inner dictionary for the term tattoo yet couldn’t find it,
“A what?”

"A tattoo! We humans put ink into needles and sting them right under the skin to place the ink there.”

Both pegasi dropped their jaws in silent shock.
“Needles!” Rainbow yelped. “Now why the hay would one want to stick needles into his body?”

Fluttershy cowered a bit,
“The thought alone is painful!”

Tyler patted both of their manes as Twilight and Rarity came closer behind him,
“Well I won’t lie to you: It stung terribly to get this done, but it sure looks great, huh?”

“No! It doesn’t look just great, dear! It looks right-out smashing! For not having a coat, you sure know how to beautify your body!” This was the first time Rarity laid eyes on the human, but she was told he was a harmless being and might be interested in new clothing. His explanation of a tattoo and the concept of accepting pain to beautify himself up came to her liking. “I am Rarity! It’s my pleasure to meet you, Darling!”

She walked around him for closer inspection,
”My! My, my! What fabrics are these? They are so strong and durable!” She dragged a bit on Tyler’s jeans here and there and looked up to him, both front hooves on his chest. “Oh, you have to tell me! The ponies will go crazy for such durable fashion! Especially if I show them this handsome HUNK of a human wearing them! Oh you have to tell me! Otherwise you sir are no gentlecolt!”

Tyler smirked for a brief second,
“And you, Miss, are rather unladylike right now!”

Rarity gasped in shock as he reminded her of her behavior,
“You are of course right, Darling! I have forgotten my manners…”As she maintained some distance between him and her, she whirled her mane from one side to the other. “But without some knowledge of the fabric, I can’t redo the clothing, can I? I’d like to invite you to my shop, the Carousel Boutique.”

Tyler got down to one knee to meet the elegant unicorn, then took one of her fore hooves and gave it a kiss. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do for me, Ms. Rarity…” With a maiden-like shy giggle and a deep blush Rarity walked backwards and went off again.

Twilight arched her brows in surprise,
“Gosh, Tyler… You really can talk, can you? Few strangers seem to impress her like that. She completely forgot to say goodbye!”

“Quite a playcolt with the ladies back home, eh Tyler?” Rainbow added with a grin.

He simply shrugged explaining that back on Earth humans have all sorts of customs and etiquette. A lot of stuff was to be learned for all the different cultures, classes and parts of society. One thing men always needed to know is how to impress ‘her’ with words of comfort,
“And once you know what a girl is interested in, show some respect for her interests, show her you know what she’s talking about and you can have a nice talk.” He ended his explanation.

“Ah say talkin’, shmalkin’! Ya don’t impress me with yer fancy words!” A strong looking Earth Pony approached the group from the sunset. Its bright orange coat, southern dialect and blonde uncombed mane gave Tyler the idea of meeting a pony not afraid to get her hooves dirty. The Pony also wore a Stetson which she pulled back to inspect him closer. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked up to him. “Tarnation! And Ah thought Pinkie Pie had finally lost it when talkin’ about a big feller walkin’ on two hooves. Ah came to check but Ah take it y’all are already alright with him. Twilight, is he a decent feller? Can he behave around ponies?”

Before Twilight could answer, Tyler crouched to bring his head on equal level with Applejack's,
“Let’s find out! I’m Tyler by the way.”

She laid a hoof into his palm and shook it,
“Applejack! And y’all watch it! If ya want to impress me, ya better start takin’ action! Ya don’t talk the apples down the trees, ya buckle them down with some hard work, Mister!”

Tyler stood up and nodded,
“Alright then, ma’am! Show me the work and I’ll show you a working human!”

This brought a smile on the earth pony's face,
“That’s music to mah ears, big feller! Ah’ll see yer tomorrow on Sweet Apple Acres. Me and mah folks sure can use hard workers.”

As the earth pony was heading on, the others waved her goodbye, when Tyler suddenly sat down holding his forehead. “Meh… Those headaches again… Ummm, Twilight… You mentioned you and the girls were exactly half a dozen, but up until now I only count five… So… Who’s the last one?”

Twilight chuckled nervously,
“Pinkie Pie… Uhm… Tyler do you think you are ready for this?”

With a frown he turned to the girls,
“Why? Something special to worry about this Pinkie Pie?”

Rainbow shuddered,
“I fear no stunt no matter how daring it is… But that mare… sometimes her never ending energy scares me…”

Fluttershy shook her head, prompting her mane to wave slightly in the air,
“There are times one shudders to imagine what inequine thoughts dwell beneath that curly mane… What sugar-driven dreams of chronic and sustained glee…”

This caused Tyler to gulp warily. This Pinkie Pie must be a crazy maniac with an unhealthy obsession of sugar and candy… Maybe some sort of addict? A schizophrenic psychopath perhaps…? He thought in wonder as he imagined a pink pony strolling down the road as all other ponies evaded her every way as she would stuff candy and sugar into every mouth willingly or unwillingly with a broad grin for coming too close. Kicking open a doors and slowly approaching innocent little fillies with an insane chuckle as her growing shadow casts fear over the fillies. The thought made him shudder,
“Sounds scary…”

Twilight chuckled,
“Now come on, girls… It’s not that bad… Pinkie is a good girl, Tyler, but she can be quite…”

Searching for the right words, the unicorn hesitated a bit. “Random!” Rainbow ended the sentence.

“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed to correct her not to talk about her friend like this.

“Hyperactive… That is… If you don’t mind me saying so, is quite a well-chosen term…” added Fluttershy, only to get frowned upon from Twilight as well.

“Not you too…”

Fluttershy raised her head, shaking it a bit while raising her voice again,
“Oh no, Twilight… I don’t mean it in a bad way… Pinkie is a nice pony trying her best to make everyone smile. But you know, there are times I think she’s a bit…” Now the yellow Pegasus searched for a proper word.

“Random!” Rainbow ended the sentence for the second time.

“Lively.” Fluttershy corrected her friend.

Twilight looked to Tyler again,
“Aaanyway, she’ll probably give a welcome party for you. Don’t worry.”

Tyler closed his eyes,
“Whatever… That will have to wait until later on. I’m tired now. I just want to sleep… But… I don’t have a place to go to.”

Fluttershy giggled silently,
“O-of course not, you are new in town. I think there are several places you can go to. I have a room left for guests. That is… um… if you don’t mind the little critters all around…”

Twilight smiled up to him as well,
“The library might not be your first choice, but if Spike and I close ranks, we might squeeze you in…”

Those offers made the human arch his brows once or twice,
“There is a library? Oh, good! I want to familiarize myself with the surrounding and books are the beacon of knowledge in my world.”

He then knelt down to Twilight,
“But won’t your boyfriend have something against a complete stranger in the house?”

Twilight eyes widened,
“Boyfriend? Oh, you mean coltfriend? Spike and being my coltfriend?” The girls began to laugh in unison. “No! Celestia, no! Spike is my assistant, a baby dragon.”

Tyler then nodded and looked to the others,
“Well, not to offend you, Fluttershy… I’m sure your place is as lovely as or even lovelier, but I’m going for the library for now. Maybe I’ll have a house of my own later or will return to Earth. I mean it still could be possible…”

Clopping her hooves in excitement, Twilight squee’d happily,
“Wonderful! A new friend and so much to learn for both of us!” Waving Fluttershy goodbye, Tyler, Twilight and Rainbow Dash went on.

Rainbow hovered right beside him, shrugging with her shoulders.
“Sorry, big guy! I would offer you to come and see my place, but you can’t fly and would fall through the clouds. Such places are limited to pegasi and magicians like Twilight. But hey! Maybe you two come and visit me sometime.”

Tyler grinned and held his fist in the air,
“Will do, RD!”

Giving him a brohoof, Rainbow grinned broadly,
“Awesome, TJ! See ya later!” With that she flew off.

With a happy giggle, Twilight led on,
“You two get along quite good, don’t you?”

“Yeah… she’s a tough and loyal friend.” Chuckling she went on. If only he knew how loyal… she thought.

Walking down the road to the library, Twilight looked up to Tyler,
“So, Tyler! How many books does your Earth archive have?”

“Oh, plenty!” He answered, “More than you could ever read! Novels, guides, textbooks, manuals, encyclopedias, research data, fictional stuff… You know I have some in my backpack. Once we are in your library, you can have a look at them. That is, if you can read them. I’m not sure, since I don’t know about your letter-figure combination. In fact, I must say it’s exciting to think about the coincidence that we speak the same language and can communicate together, right? Maybe we should check that first, don’t you think? That way we can make sure we can read each other’s books without an advisor all the time."

Twilight was visibly fascinated by the human being. The way he talked and thought; his capability for logical structuring and troubleshooting. To think that he would be her new housemate made her bounce all the way like a little overjoyed filly,
“Oh, yesyesyesyesyesyes!”

As Tyler followed Twilight down the street in the late evening sun, he looked around. Many kinds of ponies lived their lives without worry. There were mares, stallions, colts and fillies of all ages. A real demographic scene like it would be in a human village. But he somehow felt like the only guy with clothes on in a nudist colony. While some ponies wore several pieces of clothing, he had to concentrate not to focus on rumps. He expected this to be rude among them. After all, humans don’t find it very appropriate to stare into the cleavage of a woman.

Or, and this would lead to even more embarrassment, if it would be considered as some sort of interest shown by the male. But all these thoughts wouldn’t help right now, so he tried to look into the shops or the scenery. It was then when he heard something behind him. As he looked back for a moment, there was only the street with something looking like confetti falling slowly to the ground. As he turned again to Twilight, the face of a pink Pony was only inches from his with her big eyes looking at him. “Surprise!!!” With that he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground as a pink earth pony with curly pink mane literally bounced around him.

As Tyler recollected himself, he realized who was standing there before him,
“You… You must be Pinkie Pie!”

After gasping loud, she nodded vigorously,
“Uh-huh! But I don’t even know you! Oooohhh, you’re good! Lemme guess your name now! Timsy-wimsy? No…Slenderwalker? Nooo…Oh! OH! Giant hairless! Giant hairlmpf!”

At that point Twilight held Pinkies mouth and giggled nervously,
“I see you’ve met Pinkie Pie, Tyler…” Turning her head to the pink earth pony, Twilight took her hoof out of Pinkie’s mouth. “Pinkie? May I introduce you to Tyler Jones? He’s a-”

Pinkie cut her off in midsentence,
“A human, I know… I saw him on in the middle of the crowd on the marketplace and I was like-” She took a deep breath, widening her eyes. “-but then I saw everybody was curious about him and when everyone’s curious about him it means he’s new! And that’s when I thought it would be best to give a party for him. But then I thought about if everybody knows him and everybody wants to know more about him, this means he will get lots and lots of friends anyway, meaning I don’t have to invite so many ponies anymore! And without inviting…”

As she continued to babble without taking a breath, Tyler understood why she was kind of scary. She wasn’t a psychopath, she was just hyperactive. The way she talked alone at an almost incomprehensible pace made it difficult to follow, which was actually quite funny. As he returned to listen to her, Twilight already gave up on listening to her, standing idly by her side with narrowed eyes. “…and then Mrs Cake said no! But I mean really! “How-” Tyler now cut her off as he raised his hand to her mouth, only to realize that she was mumbling through his hand and her closed mouth. He shook his head and laughed amused. This randomness sure was too much.

Twilight arched a brow as she came back from ignoring Pinkie and saw him holding his belly while laughing,
“Pinkie… What have you done with him?”

Pinkie Pie, now beaming widely, looked to Twilight and shrugged,
“I just talked about Mrs Cake and how she said-”

Again he cut her off,
“Enough, Pinkie! Enough! I can’t stand it anymore… You’re so unstoppable…”

With that the pink earth pony giggled right away,
“You bet! Nothing can hold me back when I want to see my friends smile!”

Tyler nodded in approval, wiping off a tear as he chuckled,
“And that you achieved, Pinkie Pie… But please… Wait until I slept a bit before you throw a big party on my behalf, OK? I have to sleep right now…”

Pinkie tipped her chin giving a loud hum, until she turned to him,
"Oki-doki-loki! See you guys tomorrow then!”

As they waved her goodbye, the pink pony bounced happily away. Tyler chuckled,
“Chronic and sustained glee… He, he, indeed!”

Twilight giggled,
“I told you she’s a good girl. Even if she can muster amounts of energy that tire everypony else.”

As they arrived in the library, Spike tipped his claws in impatience, sitting next to a long checklist and another big book. Twilight trotted happily to him and looked to Tyler,
“Spike? May I introduce you to Tyler? He will be our new housemate as of today! That is, until he can find a way home.”

Spike arched a brow as he looked up to the tall human,
“Uh-huh… Twilight, you think that’s a good decision? You’ve just met him!”

Tyler crouched next to him,
“So you’re Spike… Come to think of it, I could imagine a dragon, yet I had no idea what to expect from a baby dragon. Don’t worry, pal. I’m not your rival or anything. But another male around might be interesting, especially with all these girls, hm?”

Spike raised a claw as if to say something, then thought for a second and finally nodded,
“Yeah… I guess that’s right somehow! Speaking of girls… Twilight? Where is the snack you promised me?”

Twilight chuckled nervously,
“Sorry Spike… I wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner…”

With that, his expression turned to one of great disappointment,
“What? Aw, come on! You promised!”

Twilight trotted next to him and levitated a big sapphire stone out of her saddlebag,
“But I got this from Rarity…”

As he fetched the sapphire stone, his eyes became all dreamy,
“A snack from…. Rarity…” With this he went upstairs, giggling all the while.

Tyler saw this in amusement,
“So he has a…”

Twilight chuckled,
“Yes, he has… So! Why don’t you unpack your… Is that a human saddlebag?”

“No, Twilight!” he replied with a chuckle. “This is called a backpack. Well you know… I wear it on my back and I pack stuff in it.” She giggled at this silly explanation. He unzipped the first part of the backpack and got out the stuff he had in it, a compass, a small first aid kit, a small hatchet, one bottle of mineral water and ten meters of rope.

As he unzipped the second part, lots of little packets fell out of the backpack. Shiny little items in cubic forms. Twilight was puzzled, couldn’t help but frown at these strange things,
“What are THESE?”

Tyler got one of them,
“This, Twilight is what we humans call ‘rations’. Military food sold to private citizens. Some of them are cookies, some of them are meals.”

Twilight shook her head.
“But they all look the same!” Tyler picked one peculiar up and held it up to her as he ripped the silver package open. To her surprise, the inner content was several cookies that seemed tightly pressed together,
“Why do all this? What’s the point?”

“The point is, Twilight that this food can keep fresh up to 10 years without rotting away.”

With this sentence her eyes got big as plates,
“You have to be kidding me… Humans can do that? That’s like… Building up storage for decades! Even for half a life! With that knowledge, there must literally no hunger in your world!”

This made Tyler frown,
“No, there is hunger, Twilight… And you know what? Normal food decays and rots away… This silver package on the other hand… it will take millions of years to decay. Meaning mountains of garbage brought to a dump!” Twilight looked down to the cookies in the silver package. It sprang into her mind that the technology to create such wonders must be vast, but the downside would be other problems. Problems Tyler’s species didn't have a solution for.

After he ate the cookies, he took the books out of the third part of the backpack. This caught Twilight’s immediate attention,
“Oh! OH! What are these?”

He raised the books,
“This is ‘The Godfather’, a novel about a family living in organized crime. We call that mafia sometimes. So this is about the head of a mafia family and his sons. Next we have the ‘Zombie survival guide’.”

This prompted Twilight’s nose to wrinkle,
“There are no such things as zombies… Or is it different in your place?”

Tyler shook his head. “Nah, there are no zombies, it’s a fictional work. BUT the author wrote it in a manner as if zombies are a real thing, complete with fictional historic facts. It’s a book to humor the reader.”

Twilight nodded with an arched brow,
“Sure… Nothing better than to make a ghost story more realistic than with some facts…”

She then looked at the third book,
“’The… art of war’? What’s that?”

Tyler nodded,
“This, Twilight is a historic book. In it, there are lessons from a man who lived thousands of years ago.”

This made Twilight’s eyes sparkle in excitement. An ancient book with something to learn always sounded exciting to her,
“Oh! What’s it about?”

Tyler arched a brow,
“Well, like the title implies, this book is about the perfection of warfare. Sun Tzu, a philosopher and general wrote it in the ancient Chinese kingdom. It is so important that if you follow his principles and teachings, you always will be victorious. If you ignore him, you do so in your own peril, because you will definitely lose. Lots of Earth’s recent wars had been analyzed and one could predict the outcome with this book. The knowledge in it empowers you to have victory within reach. But not just in warfare, also in sports, business and other aspects of life.”

Twilight nodded with wide eyes, she definitely had to give this book a peek. Then another thought shot through her mind. Wait! I can read his books? With widened eyes, she raised a hoof and browsed a little in the book he mentioned. As she read along the lines, her teeth dug deep into her bottom lip and her hooves began to clop uncontrollably on the floor. Squealing loudly in delight, she turned her head to Tyler,
“I can read it!! How wonderful!!! The letters are a bit tiny, but I can read them just fine!” Looking around for the nearest book, she levitated one out of the bookshelves. “Here! Try to read!”

As Tyler saw the amazement in her eyes, he chuckled a bit,
“Sure, why not?” As he opened the book right in the middle, he read the lines. It didn’t take long until his brows arched widely and he looked to Twilight. “Are you sure you gave me the right book, Twilight? I don’t think I-”

She bounced around him,
“Come on, Tyler! I’m sure you can do it as well!”

His eyes followed her movements,
“Twilight… Really… I shouldn’t!”

Her bouncing stopped and she gave him a stern look,
“Just do it, big guy!”

With a deep sigh, he surrendered and gave her a nod,
“As you wish… Read out loud?” Twilight nodded and Tyler rolled his eyes. “Ok, if you wish so… Here goes: ‘Dear diary, today I learned a very valuable lesson about my body as I touched my-” He was cut off in midsentence as a lavender flash ripped the book from his hands and Twilight stood in the opposite corner of the room with her head tomato red. With deep breaths she stared at Tyler and her eyes began searching for some way to escape this embarrassing moment. Tyler closed his eyes and went upstairs. “Don’t sweat it, Twilight… You’re not the only one who does that. And as the adults we are, I won’t laugh and point at the mare who entrusts her diary with her intimate findings about her own body. Come on, I’m above this, you should be too. Hey, lighten up! I can read your books as well!”

Twilight could feel her cheeks burning. This time it wasn’t embarrassment, it was wild marvel. There he went up, taking one of her most embarrassing moments and waved it all away as if it was something natural. He didn’t laugh at her or turn his back on her in disgust. He was… mature. Yes, that was the word that fitted him the most. He seemed to know about this stuff and showed sympathy for a mare taking her first bumpy steps towards sexuality.
As she got on her hooves again, she cleared her throat and shook her head to recollect herself. Levitating the book in front of her while going upstairs and putting it into the bedside cabinet, she saw Tyler was on the balcony, gazing at the night sky. Leaving some space for me to compose myself… That’s sweet of him… she thought. As she stepped outside and stood beside him he just stood there at the hoofrail.

However, the silence was broken as he looked down to her and caressed her mane,
“Feeling better?”

With a nod, she looked into the neighborhood,
“I’m sorry… I was so excited, I gave you the first book I saw.”

Tyler watched the night sky again,
“Don’t sweat it, Twilight… Like I said, I won’t make a fuss about it. Where I’m from, every young female sooner or later explores her own body. I take it mares do that as well. Besides, who except yourself can explore what truly makes your body go wild?” He then went inside. “So, there are two beds and a basket with a baby dragon in it. I take it, your bed is the blue one with the many stars?”

Twilight wasn’t listening. The cold breeze made her realize her cheeks were burning again. That maturity… Her heart raced and she slowly came back inside and closed the balcony door,
“Uh... Bed? Well yes, that’s right! The other bed is for you. See? I told you we could squeeze you in.” He then sat down and undressed except for his shorts before he went to bed. As he stared at the ceiling, his mind wondered about his adventurous expedition.

So this was his first day in Equestria. Well, half a day to be correct. Then he gave a chuckle as he thought of something. Twilight looked up from her bed,
“Tyler?”

He just raised his arm and moved it in one semicircle above the bed,
“To boldly go where no man has gone before…” He gave another chuckle before he closed his eyes. “Good night, Twilight…”

Twilight thought a bit, but it seemed to be a human inside joke. She smiled a bit as she closed her eyes as well,
“Good night, Tyler…"

proofread by Fourfire