A/N: Hello, readers. I just wanted to preface this story by saying that this chapter, as well as many others to follow, are "re-mastered" versions. I only say this because before I re-mastered it, this story kind of sucked.

So if you have already read A New Friend, you know the storyline, and that's the only thing you care about, then you don't need to re read all this (Though you are free to read it again if you would like).

But if you are a new reader, enjoy the better version of this! :D

Rowan didn't know how it happened, but it did, without even a warning or signal. One moment he was at home, enjoying a peaceful silence that only the suburbs he called home could provide. But the next, the scene of his house disappeared in a flash, and he found himself plummeting down through the sky, about 100 feet in the air. As you can guess, for any teenage guy, he probably would've pissed his pants had he not relieved his waters a few minutes prior.

Rowan didn't have time to scream as he fell, due to his increasing speed that drove him towards the ground. And when the distance between him and the ground diminished to nothing, he landed. Hard. The last thing he remembered was the sight of dirt and dust pluming up into the air out of the crater his body formed in the ground, before he then blacked out from the impact.

In a few moments, he woke to find the sky completely dark and the moon shining in the sky. Its pale moonlight illuminated down on him in the crater he laid in. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the dirt rims of the crater, as well as a few blades of grass that had not been tossed aside from the impact of his crash.

After his sight came, the next sensation he felt was pain. A huge throbbing pounded the inside of his skull, right around his forehead.

"Ugh, my head." Rowan groaned, "What happened?" He reached up to rub the aching spot, expecting his fingers to feel his messy hair covering it. He rubbed his forehead beneath his bangs... But, he received a different feeling from his hand.

He couldn't feel his fingers.

Shocked, Rowan quickly raised his arms into sight, hoping that his hands hadn't been somehow decapitated from his crash landing. Half of his mind, the more dramatic part, expected his hands to be nothing but bloody stumps. While the other half, his logical side, expected to find his fingers completely intact, only asleep from the cut off of blood circulation to them. But when his arms came into his line of sight, both sides of his mind were thrown for a loop.

At the ends of his arms, he found that his hands had been replaced by stumps, with the topmost part of them in the hardened shape of a horse shoe. Rowan's eyes widened as he realized that he was staring at a pair of hooves. HIS hooves.

Baffled by the sight, Rowan experimentally tapped the tips of his new hooves together. The feeling was quite odd, with the feeling of bones clopping together under a thin layer of fur.

Light gray, very short fur covered his hooves and, as Rowan looked down at the rest of himself, he found his arms were covered in it too.

"What the-" Rowan quickly sat up, glancing down at the rest of himself.

His arms had been shifted, though only slightly, and his forearms seemed larger than before. His shoulders and torso seemed to have shrunk in comparison with the rest of his body. His back legs curled back somewhat, showing that the joints that had been his knees before had bent backwards to create a pair of haunches. Like his hands, his feet were replaced by hooves. And protruding like an extra part of his spine, a dark crimson tail drooped to the ground.

Reaching his hooves up to his head, Rowan inspected the rest of his transformation. His neck had grown longer, and brushing slightly behind it, a long mane hung down, blood red like his tail. His ears had disappeared from the sides of his head, only to be found as the ears of an animal on top of his head. A snout had grown out of his face into a muzzle, and his eyes had shifted closer to the sides of his head.

"I've become a pony!" Rowan exclaimed as he examined himself with his hooves. However, his hoof revealed something else as it touched his forehead, the former spot where he had been aching a few minutes ago. On his head he felt a horn protruding from said spot.

"Okay, scratch that. I've become a unicorn."

Puzzled, Rowan wondered aloud, "How the heck did this happen?" He continued to feel the rest of his body, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. But the more he felt, the more the situation seemed real. As he continued to think about his predicament, he caught sight of his surroundings out of the corner of his eye.

With some difficulty, Rowan moved his hooves beneath himself to a somewhat stable position and stood up on all fours. From the better view of a standing position, he looked around and took in the area around himself.

He was standing on top of a mountain, rich with green grass that swayed back and forth in a gentle breeze. The mountain he stood on wasn't alone, though. With a glance towards either side of himself, a whole mountain range towered over both sides, like a giant wall. But where the mountains were not, the land dropped down into low valleys, full with forests of trees and open plains. The whole sight looked like vast wilderness, peaceful and undisturbed by anyone.

"Where am I?" Rowan asked no one.

But his question was answered not a second later as he looked down the line of mountains he stood atop. In the distance, glowing with brilliant light, stood a massive city, almost appearing to be embedded in the mountain face itself. The tallest part of the city, a giant, white castle, reached towards the night sky with its tall pillars.

"Canterlot." Rowan felt his breathing thin, "But, if that's Canterlot, then that means... I'm in Equestria."

He only stared at the giant structure that lit up the night around it. Even with the long distance between him and the city, Rowan could still see the full majesty of it. Seeing it here in person was way different than seeing it through a television screen, heck, better even.

Suddenly, a cold draft picked up in the wind, chilling Rowan and breaking his trance on the city. Having been brought back to reality, if his situation could even be called that, he shook his head as he started asking himself a thousand questions at once. The most prominent question being:

"How did I get here?" He thought for a moment, and then instinctively began doing what he always did while thinking: Pacing.

In the human world, one of Rowan's more prominent habits was pacing while he thought. Whether he was at home, at school, or even out on the street, whenever he needed to think deeply about something, he paced. Much to the amusement of anyone present, he would sometimes begin pacing without even realizing it.

As it was a habit, he tended to do it a lot, which meant he thought deeply just as often. As it were, this fact about himself did allow him relate to Twilight Sparkle from the TV show, thus making her his favorite character in the series.

Granted he had never walked with hooves before, Rowan still began pacing as he thought. After a moment or two of stumbling over his unfamiliar limbs, he managed to get the hang of walking, somewhat.

But Rowan wasn't quite concerned about walking. Right now, he needed to figure out what the heck was going on,

"Why am I here?! Heck, how am I here? This place isn't even supposed to exist... This doesn't make any sense. All I know is that I fell out of the sky, got knocked unconscious, and now I wake up as a pony in Equestria. I mean, how does that happen? Why am I even here, and not someone else?"

He sighed somewhat, "I'm not complaining... I mean, it would be cool to check this world out, but why was I brought here and not someone else? I had a lot of stuff going on back home, and now I'll probably miss a few things if I don't return soon enough." He paused, "... Come to think of it, how do I get home?"

Rowan gasped, "What if there is no way home?!"

Before he could say anything else, his uncoordinated walking caused his front hooves to trip over his hind legs. With a yelp of surprise, Rowan face planted into the grassy hillside.

Rowan stomped a hoof on the ground in frustration like a fist, poking his muzzle out of the dirt, "I don't belong here. Anybody can see that. I belong back in the human world."

Glum, he sat back on his haunches and looked towards the night sky, as If he were looking for a magic portal there to take him home.

Rowan sighed in defeat, "Anybody brought to Equestria would want to have fun here... But what's the point if I can't go back home to my old life?"

He looked back down towards Canterlot, with its fluorescent lighting and beautiful structure. It shone like a star in the night, reaching towards the sky with its towers like beacons. The towers stood up from the castle, far from the city streets. It was the place where the sister princesses Celestia and Luna lived and ruled over Equestria, after all. It sort of took a whole different meaning for the phrase, 'people in high places'.

Suddenly, an idea sprung into Rowan's mind.

He immediately felt like giving himself a facehoof. Why hadn't he thought about it when he first saw Canterlot, "The princesses! Of course! They're basically immortal goddesses who control the sun and moon. If anypony can get me home, it's them. They'll have enough magic power to get me back to the human world."

However, his subconscious gave him a tiny wake up slap as he remembered one crucial detail, "Oh, right... That'll be a problem. They don't let just anybody see the princesses. What if I can't see them? What if I get kicked out before I talk to them?"

Still, the castle lights seemed to beckon him, telling him to come to them. The way they shined through the night made it seem like a small flicker of hope, like there might be a way to see the royal diarchs inside.

Rowan shook his head, "I must be crazy, but I'm going."

With that, he galloped as fast as he could towards the palace of Canterlot, with only the light of the moon and the distant city lights to guide him.

But as he neared the city, another thought came into his mind that made him grin, "I'm a brony in Equestria, on my way to see the royal princesses of Canterlot. It's actually kind of ironic."

Shining Armor trotted towards the gates of Canterlot with two of his officers, on his way to inspect the guard outpost. It was a duller part of his job, but it was still his duty as Captain of the Royal Guard. The guards posted at the gate tonight were two stallions named Phalanx and Javelin, two of the royal guard's more mediocre soldiers.

The Captain quietly mumbled to himself, "First, I need to finish this inspection, and then I can return home for the night." He smiled at the thought of returning home to his wife, Princess Cadence. Her warm smile had always brought up his spirits, even when the day had been hard. Being with her as husband and wife had been one of the greatest things in his life. He couldn't wait to return home to her. Not to tell her about how boring his day was, but just to be in her company made a smile come to his face.

The thoughts of his wife left his mind as he approached the two guards. They were both armed with spears and golden armor, the standard issue gear of the guard. Upon seeing their captain approach, they gave a sharp salute with a hoof. Likewise, the captain saluted back.

"At ease soldiers." he commanded, "You are due for inspection, as well as tonight's report." The two guards nodded.

"Yes, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened since we took up our post." Phalanx replied, "We have nothing to report."

Shining Armor nodded, "Good." He glanced towards the guards who accompanied him there, "Now, continue with the inspection."

With that, his soldiers started to look over each of the guards' equipment and post in a meticulous manner.

It took a while for Rowan to get the feel of running on hooves, which was difficult considering he was running down a mountainside. But after a few moments of stumbling and tripping over himself, Rowan was able to gallop with ease. He'd never been able to run nearly as fast as he was now.

He grinned, "I guess there's an advantage to being a pony. I never had this much athletic endurance as a human."

He galloped down the mountains and soon reached the massive walls of Canterlot. He slowed down his gallop to a walk as he neared the outside wall, looking for an entrance.

From what he remembered from the TV show, the only two entrances into the city was the train rails or the front gate. Rowan shrugged at the thought, knowing that he probably couldn't find the railway entrance, so that left the front gate. Now he just he needed to find it.

Rowan began to walk around the outside of the wall, looking for the gate. But as he walked around the massive structure between himself and the city, he played with the idea of climbing over the wall, but he tossed the thought aside. Now that he was a pony, he couldn't have climbed like he had been able to as a human.

After circling the wall with only the dim light of the moon and the residue light of the city guiding him, he heard something... No, he heard someBODY, talking. The sound of speech was coming just around the next corner of the wall.

Careful not to make any noise with his hooves against the grass, Rowan crept closer and peered around the corner. Beyond it, he saw the gateway into Canterlot, guarded by two royal soldiers. But the soldiers seemed busy talking to somebody. Rowan curiously crept as close as he could to get a better look. As he made his way closer, the pony talking to the soldiers came into view.

It was Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, husband to Princess Cadence. And he was with two other soldiers besides the two Rowan had seen before. Suddenly, an idea started to form in his mind.

Rowan thought to himself, If I can talk to Shining Armor, and if he listens to me, then maybe he can allow me to speak with the princesses.

Although there was one small problem with the idea: Shining Armor was leaving!

Rowan was jolted out of his thoughts as he realized that Shining Armor was trotting back into the city.

Rowan gasped, If I don't talk to him, then I'll never be able to talk to the princesses.

Without hesitation, Rowan bolted for the gate, calling after the captain. But he was stopped outside of the gate, when the guards blocked his path with their spears. Rowan gave a yelp as two sharp medal points of spears suddenly appeared in his face.

"Who goes there?" The first guard, Phalanx, questioned.

Come on! I don't have time for this! Rowan thought bitterly. Peering past the spears keeping him out of the city, he watched as Shining Armor turned a corner and disappeared from view.

Rowan turned to Phalanx, "I need to get into the city. Please, let me in!"

"What authorization do you have to enter the city after dark?" Phalanx asked, scowling at the young unicorn.

"I don't have any authorization, but why do I need any to enter?"

Phalanx narrowed his eyes skeptically at him, "All ponies entering into Canterlot after sunset require authorization, otherwise they will not be allowed. Don't you remember the changeling attack during the captain's wedding?"

Realization came to Rowan, "Oh, come on! You don't think that I'm actually a changeling, do you? I need to get into the city now so I can talk to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Immediately, both of the guards pointed the tips of their spears towards him, causing Rowan to reflexively stumble back, Crap, I shouldn't have said that.

"Nobody can speak with the princesses unless summoned by an official. What business do you have with their majesties?"

Rowan groaned under his breath, I can't tell these guys the truth, or else they'll think I'm crazy, and then they'll never let me in. Or if even if they do, they'll take me to an insane asylum.

Phalanx grunted silently and turned to Javelin, "Fetch the Lieutenant. He'll want to see this stranger."

Javelin nodded and galloped into the city while Phalanx positioned himself in the middle of the gate, keeping an attentive eye and a leveled spear on Rowan.

Rowan cringed as yet another idea came to mind, though he didn't like this one.

This might be my only chance. Rowan tensed up his muscles as he prepared to put his spontaneous plan into action. He knew it was dangerous, but it was the only way to get through Phalanx. Looking at the lone guard holding the spear, Rowan thought, Yep, I'm crazy for sure.

"Sorry about this." Rowan quickly turned around on his front hooves, hind legs curled, and nailed Phalanx as hard as he could with a buck kick.

Phalanx 's eyes widened as Rowan's hooves collided against his chest piece with a metallic clang. The force of Rowan's kick wasn't enough to penetrate the armor, but it was enough to knock Phalanx backwards. Surprise written on his face, the guard flew backwards a couple feet, landing onto his rump. With the guard momentarily distracted, Rowan wasted no time and quickly galloped into the streets of Canterlot.

Making his way to the street that Shining Armor disappeared down, Rowan turned down the road and much to his displeasure, Shining Armor was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the sound of alarm bells began ringing throughout the city. They rang loud and clear, sure enough to wake up almost everyone in the city.

Rowan groaned, Oh, man! That guard must have raised an alarm. Now there'll be others pouring into the streets in a few minutes, and all of them will be after me...

Rowan stopped running as he came to a four way intersection, which led down three different streets besides the one he came from..

Looking down the three new streets, Rowan realized he didn't know where to go. "Great," he muttered, "Where's a map when you need one?"

Rowan peered down one street to see a group of three soldiers at the end of it, with a glowing lantern leading their way, galloping towards the intersection where he stood.

Well, can't go down that way. Rowan quickly looked down the opposite street to see somebody else coming towards him from that direction: Shining Armor accompanied by the guard from the gate, Javelin.

Crap, not that way either. I think I've officially blown my chances at talking to Shining Armor. Rowan knew he was on the verge of panicking, though that could be from the fact that he had never been chased by law enforcement before.

With guards running towards him on either side, there was nowhere he could run without being heard or seen. He desperately looked for a place to hide, but then he spied a small vendor stand off on the side of the road. Grateful for any hiding place, Rowan galloped to the stand and ducked down behind it.

As Rowan crouched behind the stand, the two groups of guards met in the middle of the intersection.

"Captain, why was the alarm sounded?" asked the first of the new soldiers.

Shining Armor gave the report, "We've had a breach. The guard at the southern gate was attacked by a unicorn that wanted to enter. The attacker had no authorization to enter the city after dark. After being denied entry, this stranger attacked the guard to force his way into the city. The guard gave a description of the attacker as a light-gray unicorn with a dark red mane and tail. Also, the attacker had no identifiable cutie mark on his flank." Rowan perked up at that, and quickly looked at his flank. Sure enough, it was blank.

Rowan shook his head. He had more important things to worry about. He turned his attention back to the soldiers.

"He was last reported heading north towards the castle." Javelin said to the others.

The captain nodded, "You three head down to the city square and set a guard on every crossroad between the south gate and the castle. Javelin and I will make our way to the castle and set up a perimeter. We cannot let this attacker reach the castle."

"Yes, sir." They all saluted one another and set off for their destinations, leaving Rowan alone behind the stand.

They're trying to keep me from talking to the princesses. Crap! This plan is really backfiring on me. I need to reach the castle without being caught.

Rowan dashed out from behind the stand and galloped as fast as he could down the same street where Shining Armor and Javelin had gone, since they were traveling towards the castle. It wasn't a map like Rowan had asked for before, but at least it would show him the right general direction.

Breathing hard, Rowan raced down the street at breakneck speed. And within a few moments, the towers of the castle came into view. Rowan sighed in relief, "Maybe I will make it. Although it's weird how I haven't seen a guard yet. I thought I would've seen at least one by now."

But he realized that he had spoken too soon, just as a soldier trotted around the street corner.

Rowan shouted in frustration, "Oh, come on!"

The Soldier spun around and his eyes widened as he saw Rowan rush an inch past him. The guard stumbled back slightly, allowing Rowan to run past. Recovering from his slight moment of daze, the soldier cried out to the other guards, "He's here! The intruder is here!"

Rowan continued to run to the castle, just as soldiers started to appear from nearby streets. Rowan didn't care as he simply rushed past them. He was only focused on reaching his destination. A surge of energy and adrenaline raced through him as the doors to the castle came into sight. "Almost there." he panted.

But from either side of the street, a line of soldiers filed out into the middle of the street, all armed with spears. They lined up across the road and leveled their spears towards him, creating a deadly blockade.

Rowan didn't stop nor did he falter from his high speed gallop. He knew that if he stopped in front of this, the guards following behind him would apprehend him. But if he kept going, he would most likely be stabbed by the end of the spears.

I should be stopping right now, he thought, panicking to himself, I must be crazy! Trying to not get caught isn't worth getting impaled, right?

He continued to charge the oncoming line of soldiers, his mind racing. With what little time he had before he reached the blockade, Rowan tried to figure out a way to get past it. But nothing came to mind. For the third time that day, Rowan mentally shouted, CRAP!

But as he neared the blockade, something happened.

Rowan felt a burning sensation coming from his forehead. Without slowing his pace, he glanced up to see his horn, glowing with a black mist.

Am I... using magic? Rowan looked back towards the blockade, If I am, it better get me past this. Rowan cringed as only a few feet remained between him and the line of spears. Suddenly, his horn flared in magical power and the spell activated.

In a flash, a hot tongue of fire shot from the tip of his horn. Time seemed to slow as Rowan watched the fire coming from his horn. The flames seemed to convulse slightly as it warped its shape, and at its center, a silver crescent formed inside it, entirely engulfed in fire. And once this 'flaming crescent' was formed, it leaped from Rowan's horn.

Both Rowan and the Soldiers looked in shock as the flaming crescent flew towards the blockade like a giant bullet. When it hit the line of now-astonished soldiers, it burst in a huge explosion of flames, throwing the soldiers back against the sides of the road. And with the blockade gone, the path to the castle stood wide open for Rowan.

Rowan grinned in amazement at what he just did, How did I do that? That was awesome! Look at me, taking out the royal guards with magic! Haha, the guys back home won't believe this.

Rowan slowed his pace a bit as he reached the steps of the castle, preparing to climb the steps, "Yes! I'm going to make it!"

But as he climbed the stairs, as quickly and carefully as his hooves would let him, the doors to the castle suddenly swung open. Glancing up, Rowan looked at who opened the door, expecting more guards. But there stood only one pony in the doorway, the captain, Shining Armor.

He glared down at Rowan, "You're not getting any further."

Quicker than Rowan could react, the captain's horn glowed as he cast a spell. Rowan literally stopped in his tracks, unable to move as Shining Armor's spell took effect.

Having been frozen in an unstable position, Rowan fell down hard against the stairs, unable to get up. He struggled to move but he couldn't control any part of his body. He was like a statue now, and he felt like it, too.

Rowan cursed to himself, An immobilization spell? Crap, he's good. But soon, a wave of sweat began to wash over his face as he saw some other soldiers in the corner of his eye, approaching him from the streets. They did not look happy.

Shining Armor pointed a hoof towards two of the soldiers, "You two, lock him in the dungeon."

The two soldiers saluted him and proceeded to drag Rowan's stiff body down the stairs and away from the castle.

Rowan tried to cry out, but unfortunately, his mouth had been immobilized as well, preventing him from speaking, No! No! No! I was so close!

The only thing he could do was lay there, frozen and helpless, as the two soldiers dragged him to the dungeon, wherever that was.

Rowan's mind raced as he tried to think of a way out of his predicament, but his mind was becoming drowsy as the effects of adrenaline subsided. He instantly felt the weariness from his breach into Canterlot finally catch up to him and his head started to spin. Not too long afterwards, his vision turned black.

Author's Notes:

So, this was the first of the Re-mastered chapters. I'm working on the next one, so it'll be out for anyone who wants to read it.

And to paraphrase, This is a RE-MASTERED version, not just another editing. If you take a look at the original chapter, the sentence structures are COMPLETELY different. Not to mention the original version was only 2,000+ words, and this one now has over 4,000 words!

And these Re-mastered chapters will not affect my usual work on my current stories.

Anyways, thanks for reading,
-Shadowflame