"Alright... Everything set, Rarity?" I asked as we set up the stage at the center of Ponyville.

"Indeed, dear," the fancy fashion mare answered as she levitated the podium onto the stage. "I must say, it certainly helped that everypony had been expecting this meeting."

"Got that right. It slipped my mind that Princess Celestia already scheduled one for today. How's everypony else doing?" I asked as I turned toward the rest of the group. Each of them gave their signs of progress being made as we finished setting up for the public address. And MAN, was this address gonna be one to remember. It looked like the entire town showed up! Ponies lined up as far as the eye could see, ready, waiting, and eager to hear how we would explain the entire set of wacky scenarios that played out over the weekend. I could hardly wait myself. Admittedly, I was sort of nervous, but this was nothing compared to a flight competition I participated in a couple years back (I won, by the way. Just throwin' that out there). I was more excited to see how things would go than anything. Nonetheless, once the girls and I got the stage ready, we formed a huddle in order to make an important decision... and THAT decision was...

"Okay, who's going first?" Lyra asked, opening up the discussion.

"Well...? Who here knows the most about... whatever it is Ty is?" A.J. asked. As soon as she brought the question up, everyone looked directly at me.

"Who? ME? I hardly know a thing...!" I argued. "Fluttershy, you spent the most time around him. Surely, YOU can take the mic first, right?"

"M-me?? Oh, gracious, no..." the timid mare unsurprisingly denied. "I only know as much as anypony else here does. Besides... I-I'm no good at public speaking. I think that's more your thing, Dashie..."

"Yeah, but I know diddly squat right now...! I don't wanna choke and look like a jerk up there...! Um..." I pondered for a few seconds. I couldn't pick Lyra or Zecora because they didn't know anything other than what they got sucked into just yesterday. Rarity, as elegant a talker as she is, I didn't think would've been able to say much herself. Applejack was more-or-less on the same boat. Pinkie Pie was... well, she's Pinkie Pie. Despite that, she definitely showed her enthusiasm in bouncing up and down with a huge smile on her face, practically begging to be the one to kick things off.

From the looks of it, without Twilight, Celestia, or Ty here to help, we were pretty much strapped for options. "*sigh* I... I guess I'll do it," I reluctantly accepted the job of getting the meeting started. "But don't any of you just stand there. If I freeze up, help me out, okay?" To that, everypony nodded in agreement. With that issue finally being settled, I took the stand.

"HELLOOOOOO, PONYVILLE!!" ...or, I was about to. Before I got the chance, a certain obnoxious pink Earth mare stole the spotlight and screamed into the microphone. "So the reason we all brought you here on this splendifferous occasion is because you may or may not have seen a six-foot-tall, mostly-hairless, mostly-not-but-kinda-sorta dangerous, clothes-wearing gorilla-monster thingy running amok all over town in the last three days or so, but we're here to tell you all not to panic and to hold onto your hooves while we...!" Pinkie Pie paused to suck in a ton of air. "...tell you that he's actually not a monster and that he was helping us to try and stop these meanie-pants escaped criminals that came from someplace far, far away from here from cooking and serving up a nasty scheme involving Princess Celestia like it was a Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!"

"...What?" somepony in the audience asked, predictably not understanding a word of Pinkie's hyperactive rambling.

"*AHEM!* What she means is that there is no cause for alarm," Rarity replied as she took the stand. "We were previously dealing with a threat to Ponyville's safety, but that threat has since been taken care of. This meeting was preemptively organized to inform you, our fellow citizens, of our fair town's most recent debacle."

"Ohh..." the crowd collectively droned in understanding.

"That being said," I continued, taking the podium myself. "I guess our first and most urgent issue to tackle would be the 'mysterious' creature roaming around here. First off, he isn't as dangerous as he looks. Despite what some of you may have seen within the last couple of hours, he's actually very friendly to us ponies. As mentioned before, he was helping us stop an international criminal from pony-napping our good friend Twilight Sparkle for the purpose of getting to Princess Celestia." At that, the crowd collectively gasped in surprise. "Shocker, right? Thanks to help from said 'monster', we were able to keep the Princess safe and warn her of the impending threat to her safety." I assured.

"Quite," Rarity agreed as she took over. "As some of you have seen earlier today, it took an extensive effort to bring the criminal down. Many were alarmed and a few were injured in the chaos that ensued."

"Yeah! And I lost my vegetable stand!" shouted somepony from the crowd. "That monster bowled right through it!" That little complaint seemed to throw her off for a moment.

"...Okay... and a vegetable stand seems to be the only casualty in the events past. Nevertheless, citizens of Ponyville, you have nothing to fear. The problem has been remedied and the town has once again been made safe. Both Twilight and the Princess are safe, and the er... the... 'alien' has allied itself with us, for lack of better words."

"Hey, where IS Twilight, anyway?" asked Berry Punch from within the crowd. "Shouldn't she be up there with you?"

"And for that matter, shouldn't SHE be the one giving the speech about how Ponyville's safety being retained?" added Honeydew.

"And where's that alien at?" Flitter followed after her. "How do we know if we're truly safe or not if we don't know what became of the alien?"

"They... are... uh..." she faltered, unsure of what to tell the crowd. I couldn't blame her. We couldn't tell them that Twilight and Ty were taking a nap at the library. I was almost certain nopony would've been happy with that response. But then, as Rarity froze up trying to think of what to tell the townsponies regarding their whereabouts, the crowd instantly got antsy to the point of clamoring amongst themselves.

"They're a mite tied up at the moment," Applejack reasoned on her behalf, capturing the audience's attention. "Ty-- er, I mean... The 'alien' an' Twi took a mean beatin' from them varmints. As such, they're bein' taken care of as we--!"

"Ty!" Fluttershy shouted as she instantly took flight to point out what she was looking at. Sure enough, there was the guest of honor, walking his way toward the stage (without many signs of injury aside from a slight limp), carrying Spike on the back of his neck. Ponyville's residents were quick to turn and gasp in collective shock at the human who so THANKFULLY decided to join us. As he approached, Fluttershy took it upon herself to fly over to his side. "Are you okay? What are you doing here? Where's Twilight?" she asked in rapid, seemingly-worried succession.

"I'm feelin' a lot better, I'm here t' help y'all, an' Twilight's still restin' up from what happened earlier," he answered as he climbed up onto the stage and casually took a seat near the front edge beside the podium, allowing Spike to climb down from his neck. "I appreciate y'all's efforts t' help clarify me as a friend, by the way."

"No sweat, big guy!" I answered. "What are friends for?" To that, he gave me an agreeing smile and nod before turning to greet the others, who seemed just as excited to see him as Fluttershy and I were. As this little interruption went on, the entire crowd had their eyes locked onto Ty as if they were gazing into the starry night sky. Suffice it to say, they looked completely entranced by his appearance here. Even I was a little shocked that he'd just stroll on in without regard to how everypony could've reacted to him. "What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked. "I thought you were resting...?"

"I was," he explained. "...but I woke up early an' had Spike tell me that y'all was doin' this. As much as I appreciate the effort, this is my responsibility. More specifically, the Princess assigned me with this task. So I'm here t' fulfill it while Twi gets as much rest as she needs. So anyway, where'd you leave off?"

"Uh... we were just getting onto the topic of why you aren't a threat to anypony. Did you want to take care of that yourself?"

"Yea. Pass the mic, please?" he requested. I obliged by taking the microphone out of its holder and giving it to him. Rather than stand up, he stayed in a seated position on the edge of the stage. With a stretch and a deep breath, the human took over as head of the discussion panel...

"Okay, uh... Hey, everybody. I'm the alien everybody was so freaked out about recently," I so eloquently began. "I come in peace. I'm sorry to have caused all o' y'all so much of a scare that y'all had t' take time outta ya daily schedules t' be here today. I know there's a lotta questions most o' y'all might have, but, with all due respect, I request that they wait til' I'm done. *AHEM!* So yea... First an' foremost, I don't mean no harm t' anybody here. I don't know how much I can emphasize that, but I'm a friendly. In fact, I know a lot o' y'all pretty well already. How, you might ask? Because that one black Earth pony with the puffy hair an' the cloud for the Cutie Mark? That was me." At that, the whole crowd took on a collective breath of surprise that could've given a vacuum cleaner a run for its money.

"But how?? Y-you're not a Changeling, are you??" asked one of the audience members.

"No, I'm not a Changelin'. I'm not even sure what that is. I am of a species nobody knows about here. But I'll get t' that in a minute. So yea, if y'all know who Ponder Memoir is, then y'all already know me. Y'all also know I've been here the last nine months or so."

"Wait a sec..." a pegasus mare from the crowd stopped me. "If... you're that Memoir pony like you're claiming to be, then... that... that...!"

"Yea, that means I uh... am... how you say, datin' a certain unicorn who couldn't be here at the moment." At that, I got predictably mixed reactions that I could tell ranged from disgust to intrigue to confusion. "What can I say? Ponies got it goin' on," I joked to try and lighten the mood at my own expense. Some laughed, some retched, others just stared blankly at me as I tried to clear the air.

"So... not to sound mean or anything, but... why? Why do you find ponies so interesting?" asked different mare of the unicorn variety. "Isn't there anyone of your own species to date, Mr. Alien?"

"Good question. Truth is, I didn't even think myself that I'd be involved with a pony of all things. In fact, I didn't even know you all existed until Twilight came t' me one day a long while ago. I'ss a long, complicated love story I'd be here all day tellin' y'all, but generally, Twi an' I just hit it off. An' believe me, for a while, we had a LOT of trouble overcomin' the species thing. We didn't just go into it and say 'We are TOTALLY okay with bein' romantically involved despite one of us bein' a pony an' the other bein' a human'. It was a very long, very difficult process that obviously, we still didn't fully cover, as evidenced by this meetin'. That good enough?"

"Yes, I can sort of understand."

"Good t' hear. So anyway, the pony known as 'Ponder Memoir' was an alias I used so I could fit in. It originally was supposed t' be a one-time thing, but then Twilight an' I began seein' each other. From there, it became necessity for the sake of you all. Which brings me to--!"

"Excuse me for a second, Ty..." an Earth mare I came to know as the Ponyville Elementary schoolteacher interrupted me. "Is it okay to call you 'Ty'?"

"Why, yes it is, Ms. Cheerilee," I courteously replied. "That is in fact, my actual name. Wha'ss on ya mind?"

"I have to know... If you're not a pony, then what exactly ARE you? I can see that you're able to think and feel like the rest of us, as evidenced by your apparent courtship with Twilight and the friends you've made since your arrival here, as well as your remarkable fluency in the Equestrian language, but... what are you? Also, how do we know that you're not a Changeling or some sort of voracious animal that seeks to prey upon us or cause danger to us in some form?"

"Ah, I like the way you think. I am what you may aptly dub as a 'human being.' From what I understand, human beings don't exist here in Equestria. I appear t' be the very first of my kind to enter int' this place."

"At least, the first t' show up AS a human, but I'mma PROBABLY leave that li'l fact about Gillian bein' the REAL first human out. First impressions are everything..."

"So no, I'm not some common animal you might find in the Everfree Forest or on the respective properties of my good friends, Applejack an' Fluttershy here..." I reasoned as I temporarily turned and gestured a hand toward the two mares I'd mentioned. Applejack gave a respectful tilt of the hat while Fluttershy sheepishly cringed behind her forehooves as she sat, managing only a cutesy little smile and wave. "I'm from a distant land on a distant planet in a galaxy far, far away. But I'll explain later. Anyway, as I said before, I don't know much about Changelings other than the fact that they're, from what I heard, a race of lovelorn parasitic vampires or some shit like that, that got banished from here a while ago." At that remark, I got a few more laughs, which told me the crowd was beginning to warm up to me; definitely a good sign.

"Galaxy? Far, far away?" a light brown, blue-eyed Earth stallion questioned. "Might you elaborate on that?"

"Oh hey, i'ss that guy I physically assaulted when I mistook him for Gillian!"

"Exactly what I said, sir. I'm from an entirely different plane of existence. An' before you hit me with a bunch o' science-y questions about rippin' through the fabric of time an' space an' astronomical wormholes that would quite possibly rupture the flow o' reality an' defy, shatter, an' make an outhouse o' the laws of physics as we know it, as well as outrageous 'black-hole grandfather paradox' theories, I'd have to refer you t' Twilight, because she's the one who managed to conjure up the spell t' bring me here. I don't know that much about it myself."

"Wait... You're SERIOUSLY from a whole 'nother world???" asked Lyra from behind me. I'd almost forgotten she didn't know anything about my origins.

"Yea. Somewhere amongst the cosmos, there exists a world entirely inhabited by my kind. In some ways, its civilizations an' natural landscapes are just as affluent in diversity as the ones here this world are. In MANY other ways, it's far different." The crowd let out a slew of 'Ooh's' and 'Ahh's' as they stared at me, pondering exactly what kind of alien I was.

"Ooh! I got a question for ya, Ty!" asked a cute little filly from within the crowd. I'd recognize that red hair and pink bow anywhere in this world. It reminded me ALL too much of the troublemaker hiding behind the adorably innocent facade that was a grade school-age foal.

"Wha'ss up, Apple Bloom?"

"So if yer an alien, an' Twilight brought-cha here with her magic, then how'd ya get turned into a pony from there?"

"Wow, she's got quite a brain in her..."

"Another good question. The answer: More magic. Twilight got the idea t' turn me into a pony right after she brought me here for the first time. It wasn't somethin' I agreed with at first, actually. I opted t' go around pretendin' t' be her pet monkey, believe it or not. From the sound of it, tha'ss what most o' y'all mistook me for, anyway. I prolly coulda passed for one," I explained with a short laugh, joined by a large portion of the audience, including all of my fellow speakers.

"What made ya go with the pony disguise?" the sweet little filly asked again.

"Twilight's curiosity regardin' the limits of her magic, as well as a small amount o' my curiosity on what it would be like t' be an equine. Long story short, it physically HURT with a capital PAIN t' be transformed. It didn't help that it took me forever to get used t' bein' a pony while tryin' not t' forget how t' be a human. *AHEM!* But we're gettin' off-topic here... where was I...?" I pondered for a minute, trying to remember where I'd left off.

"I think you were at the part where you were explaining the disguise," Rainbow reminded me. "But you just did that, so I guess you can move on from there."

"So maybe I DIDN'T go off-topic..."

"Huh. Alright, then... So I suppose I should explain t' y'all what happened an' why I was forced out o' hidin'... So what had happened was... there was this evil unicorn stallion an' his special someone, who came here for the purpose o' kidnappin' Twilight. That evil stallion happened t' be the one I uh... kinda-sorta, accidentally almost obliterated... His name was Gillian. He an' his girlfriend found me this past Saturday lookin' for her. They knocked me out, kidnapped me, took me int' the woods, an' proceeded t' torture me an' suck all the magic outta me until I was forced back int' bein' human again. After that, they left me in there, where I was saved by Zecora here," I explained, gesturing toward the zebra mare, who simply smiled and nodded at her mention. "A short time later, while Zecora was helpin' me recover, Gillian showed back up an' we got into a fight that ended with him teleportin' me out here, where HE caused that explosion sound t' happen..."

"Oooh..." the entire crowd droned as they listened to my plight.

"Skippin' ahead a little, they wound up capturin' me again, which prompted everyone up here t' think up a plan t' rescue me this mornin'. Tha'ss why a lot o' y'all saw Rainbow Dash here carryin' me in the air."

"Yeah, about that... Let's not make a habit out of getting captured, huh?" Rainbow joked as she patted me on the back. "Saving you the way I did is probably gonna cost me on my next dental bill..." she joked some more with a slight jab to my side, which elicited a fair amount of laughter from the crowd.

"Hardy har har. I'd-a been better off ridin' on your back, Supermare," I shot back in humored contempt. "So anyway, we made it, but it wasn't long before Gillian an' his mare found us again."

"Excuse me!" called out a goldenrod pegasus mare as she raised her hoof like a grade-school student.

"Yes, er... uh..."

"Raindrops," Rainbow Dash whispered to me.

"Raincoat?"

"It's RainDROPS, Mr. Alien," she corrected. "But I have to ask... Exactly how close ARE you and Twilight?"

"Pretty close... Very close... REALLY close... Why d'you ask?"

"I... couldn't help but notice what went on between you two when Rainbow rescued you. How long have you been seeing her?" At that somewhat-intrusive inquiry, I felt a sudden, yet slight tinge of annoyance.

"Hmph. Nunya goddamn business, but whatever... Gotta be nice right now..."

"About... nine months, which translates to... about a week after we first met," was what I answered with, which garnered more confused reactions from the crowd as they mumbled amongst themselves. That unnerved me a bit, which urged me to get something off my chest right quick. "Okay, jus' t' make things clear here, Twilight is the same pony you've all known since before I came along, so there is NO reason t' treat her any different for havin' a human for a significant other. I'm also the same pony y'all met an' talked to since I arrived here. I ain't tryna cause any more trouble than I already did for hidin' this for so long an' havin' it blow up in my face. Please understand that it was hard enough for both of us t' get over the great brick wall that was the species difference between us. I'd rather not argue semantics an' ethics over this with everyone I interact with from here on out."

"But it's just so... so... WEIRD," Raindrops had the audacity to blurt out.

"Yeah," a royal blue Earth stallion agreed. "I'd hate to break it to you, but ponies are normally only supposed to be with other ponies, and since you're well... not..."

"It brings up the question as to why exactly it is that the two of you are involved the way you are," added a cream-colored Earth mare with swirly navy blue and pink hair. "I mean sure, if you two were just friends, then that'd be fine, but you're way more than that. That's unheard of here... Not to say you can't do it, but still..."

"Well I can't say I didn't see this comin'," I replied. "But the fact is that we've been a couple for a while now, an' before this, we were tryin' our hardest t' come up with a way t' break this to everyone. We were takin' into account the judgments that would come along with it."

"You hid it for nine whole months, though," commented a spring-green unicorn stallion with hair of a rich sepia. "If you were planning on telling us, then why'd you hide it for so long? Nine months is plenty of time, if you ask me."

"Yeah," Raindrops spoke up once again. "Other than that, there's just so much wrong with a pony entering any kind of romantic relationship with something the vast majority of us have little to no reason not to see as... more than... well... an animal, for lack of a better term." Hearing that made me want to drop the mic and find a chair to throw in order to start a riot as the crowd went deathly quiet. But since no chairs were present, I was only given the alternative to swallow the egregious statement with a grain of salt big enough to choke the proverbial 'elephant in the room' as my mind drew a blank on how to rebut the prejudiced observation.

"WOW... an animal, huh?" I repeated to try and register the mare's words as I felt a growing sense of frustration.

"So much for that 'pet monkey' joke... Didn't take into account how seriously they might've taken it..."

"That was a bit harsh, yes, but you can't deny that there isn't that much information we know about you to know whether we can differentiate you from the tons of other non-pony creatures that live in the wild," reasoned a dark gray pegasus stallion with hair of an icy bluish-white.

"And from what it seems, you knew you'd get reactions like this from the start," continued a bright yellow Earth mare with hair of goldenrod. "Why bother taking that risk if you were too afraid to come out with it? I mean, I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say we don't have a problem with you as a pony-- or human, or whatever it is you are. Our issue lies in the fact that you're dating a pony when you're not one yourself. That's a bit hard of a pill for a lot of us to swallow. Understand?"

"...Mm-hmm..." I simply responded with a nod, my anger only being tempered by the fact that they'd made some valid points. Biased, no less, but valid. I just needed a second to clear my head and think up a proper rebuttal to all of them. I wasn't going to let them OR my short temper win this battle of wits, but it was going to be an uphill fight without Twilight here... With a deep, tumultuous breath, I readied myself to defend my position on this most controversial matter. "I understand where you're comin' from, but I--!"

"That's enough!" someone from behind announced as they came and took the microphone from me. I suppose that moment of silence following the last audience member's inquiry brought my friends to assume I'd been stumped. "How could you say such hurtful things!?" the mare spoke, her tone irate and emotionally stirred. I turned to see that Fluttershy of all ponies was taking her turn speaking. "So what if he isn't physically a pony!? Neither is Zecora! Neither is Spike! Yet, we love and accept them as if they WERE ponies!"

"Fluttershy..."

"If THAT'S the logic you ponies are thinking by, then that would mean that THEY aren't allowed to love ponies, either! Don't you realize how simply awful that sounds that you would criticize and denigrate our friend here for wanting to love someone who so happens to be a pony?"

"With Fluttershy, I must agree. Do you not willingly accept me?" Zecora asked as she stepped up.

"Well, yeah, but you haven't actually fallen in love with any ponies," replied a brown unicorn stallion with jet-black hair.

"Who I choose as a mate, it hardly matters. It likely would not be a hot topic for chatter. If MY lover was pony in race, what social challenges would we face?"

"Well... I suppose you'd... be okay...? Kind of... I mean, we know who you are, Zecora. We've known you for a while now. I don't think most of us would have a problem if you had a special somepony that was... a pony..."

"If that's the reasoning you abide by, then explain to us why it's not okay for Ty." At that, the stallion went silent, as did a notable portion of the audience as they grumbled among themselves.

"You wouldn't need a disguise, though!" argued an pale pink pegasus mare with blond hair that loosely resembled Twilight's in terms of style. "The fact is that he did! I mean, I guess we could take into account that he's been a well-behaved pony when he was masquerading as one, but if he isn't really a pony, then why should we just accept the fact that he's having relations with one of us!?"

"Plus, how are we supposed to react to something as bizarre and sudden as the revelation of the instance a pony hooking up with someone or something not only not of our species, but apparently not even from this world? For close to a YEAR, at that?" questioned yet another miscellaneous attendant.

"I understand," Fluttershy spoke again. "I don't blame anyone for being at least a little surprised by Ty's sudden appearance in his true form such a long time after we got to know him as Ponder Memoir. Even I was. Despite that, he's demonstrated that he is substantially more aware of his surroundings than some feral creature in the wild or any of the animals I take care of at home. Not to mention he's just as able to show pony-like emotion as any of us are. On top of that, he freely chooses to befriend and love us rather than fear or hate us. Even still, we shouldn't make specifically discriminatory exceptions and conditions like the one that seems to be made for Zecora when it comes to who ponies are allowed to love. Twilight chose him as a special somepony for a reason."

"I'm sure she did," agreed another audience member. "But clearly, either one of or both of them were worried enough about our collective opinion on this that they felt they needed to hide it."

"Well, what if YOU had a special somepony that wasn't a pony? Would YOU just out and tell everyone you knew without fear of the consequences? They were just being cautious. Like Bon Bon said, the concept of a relationship like theirs is unheard of here, which shouldn't be held against them for caring about what you thought of them."

"So you're basically saying that you APPROVE of this?" asked the same attendant in a tone of shock.

"To be blunt, yes. I mean, there was once a time where unicorns, pegasi, and Earth ponies alike kept themselves segregated from one another until they each realized they weren't all that different on the inside. This case is no different. I know that sounds like a bit of a stretch to say about my friend Ty, but when you think about it, he's already proven to be kind, gentle, and an all-around good pony-- No, an OUTSTANDING pony; with or without having to be disguised as one. He's the same on the inside, no matter what form he takes!" At that, the crowd began to quietly discuss the issue among themselves again.

"Okay, as nice as this is of 'em, I'm a grown-ass man. I can fight my own battles." I liked the points Fluttershy brought up, but if it wasn't ME bringing them up about MY relationship with a pony, then what use would HER words be? I considered myself a lot of things, but I didn't count 'defenseless weakling' as one of them. Sitting there listening to her combat the ethics of MY love life in my favor was sweet, but emasculating, which, in a personal sense, hurt more than it helped.

"Thanks, Fluttershy, I appreciate it. I really do," I thanked the lovely yellow pegasus mare from the bottom of my heart as I held a hand out to her as a way to gesture for the microphone, prompting her to smile warmly at me as she floated toward me. "I owe you big time for stickin' up for me. But this is somethin' I should be doin' myself. If I don't, then your gracious words would be fallin' on deaf ears..." I said as we hugged.

"I understand. I just don't want to see you hurt over this..." she assured as we separated with her handing the device to me. She and I shared a longer-than-usual, yet emotional staring moment as she made her way back beside her friends, which prompted me to think...

"Hm... What am I gonna do with you, Fluttershy...? You've been way too good t' me..." With that thought, I turned back to the crowd to finish this topic of discussion.

"I'm not sure if y'all are lettin' my friends' words ring through your heads or not, but they're right. Despite that, your issue is with me, not them. That said, I'mma take up the task o' makin' y'all see things my way. Alright... where did I leave off...? Oh! Right, why bother takin' the risk if we were too afraid o' lettin' you know outright... Well, my answer: Because the risk wasn't just how long we could keep this relationship goin' despite our dissimilar body types or how long we could keep it secret before you eventually found out. In fact, despite y'all findin' out just now, we were actually gonna let y'all know as soon as we felt necessary. Hidin' it the way we were doin' was a burden in itself, an' for y'all t' find out like this was nowhere even close to ideal for us. Yes, we were afraid of lettin' y'all know. Yes, we may have taken a bit longer than we should've to drop the news on y'all because we got complacent with the way things were goin'. That said, I sincerely apologize on the behalf of both of us for the fact that we kept this hidden for so long; especially when we, like y'all said, had ample time t' do so. But I digress. The thing is, the overall risk factor mostly wasn't even about y'all. It was about her an' me. I met Twilight Sparkle just under a year ago not knowin' what a 'pony' even was, just as she met me without knowledge of humans. Despite that, we bonded... we became friends... we shared stories an' experiences... an' even when Princess Celestia herself forbade us from seein' each other again, we shared our feelings..."

"So... Celestia knew about this?" asked another attendant.

"And she said you weren't allowed to be here??" someone else inquired.

"In a way, yes, she did know. She knew I was from a different world, but we let her know that from the get-go when I first came here. She didn't know anything about me OR my world of origin though, which was why she was quick t' pass similar judgments upon me to the ones you're passin' upon me now when she found out. Except, her judgment came in the form of orderin' Twilight t' permanently see me out o' this world with barely a goodbye; on my FIRST visit, no less," The crowd gasped at that confession.

"But you know what Twilight did instead?" I continued, feeling my motivation to persuade the crowd amplify as they lent me their ears. "She went t' Celestia an' argued her disagreement with the Princess's decision tooth-and-nail. Why? Because she knew first-hoof who I was an' what I was capable of by that point an' wasn't afraid t' approach me when she met me, thus givin' me a chance. She saw how discrepant with Celestia's ideals it would've been if I was forced out o' here without at least a proper explanation or a chance t' prove myself worthy t' stay. Not to mention, she placed our friendship as a top priority when she went to her. Evidently, she won Celestia over. Twilight risked everything... her reputation, her status, her respect for Equestria's leader... and she managed t' get Celestia to see that in the end, love is blind... And each an' every day we've been together, we've constantly been riskin' it... the day we'd allow our little affair t' become public knowledge, whether or not we can get completely over the fact that she's a pony an' that I'm a human bein', an' a whole lot more... Today jus' happens t' be the day where we gambled on our chances at lettin' slip this now-unnecessary secret an' lost... But you know what? It's worth it..."

"Worth it?" the crowd murmured after me.

"Yea, you heard me. It's worth it. She's shown me an entire world o' possibilities I would've otherwise never seen in my entire life... an' in return, I've made sure t' do the same for her. We've given each other WAY too much an' have gone through way too much for either of us t' disregard our feelings in the face of external opposition. Still, I can't stress this enough how often the species thing was made apparent in our relationship, considerin' tha'ss the only thing a lot o' y'all are stuck on. Hell, if any one o' y'all woulda went back in time to maybe a year ago an' told me I was gonna get a magic-wieldin' unicorn from an entirely different galaxy for a significant other, I'd have prolly just laughed until my stomach exploded, then checked myself into a mental institution. I know where you're all comin' from, believe me. But the more time Twi an' I spent together, the more we dug into one another; not as human an' pony, but as two reasonable, sapient livin' creatures with emotions... The more she an' I share our experiences with each other, an' the less this species thing matters between us."

"But there are so many issues to look at when you consider doing this sort of thing," reasoned a unicorn stallion with a bright, pale yellow coat and a hair color of a night sky blue. "Whether you tell us or not, there are certain aspects about your relationship with Ms. Sparkle that you simply CANNOT ignore from a biological standpoint. Other than that, don't you think there will be repercussions to what you're doing? Even AFTER telling this to us and explaining your ideology on this sort of deviation from traditional values in regards to romantic companionship?"

"Probably... *sigh* Look, I don't expect t' be the trendsetter or the milestone for interspecies relationships here. I'm nowhere NEAR ignorant about all the biological an' social issues that come up with it; whether or not we can have offspring, how long will it take us t' stop quote-unquote 'pretendin' it ain't an existential barrier in the face of our affection,' the different processes our bodies go through that may or may not need t' be remedied by somebody of the same species..."

"Like the 'heat' problem..."

"...or even to what degree we're gonna be judged for our, as you said, 'deviation from traditional values in regards t' romantic companionship.' I know. She knows. We've gone over it numerous times in the past, an' we're still only in the beginnin' of dealin' with everything that could possibly happen between us. But by dammit, we're keepin' this thing goin' for as long as it lasts, whether y'all approve of it or not. Biology an' social pressures aside, I have loved that mare unconditionally for close to a year, an' after everything we've been through, I ain't gonna pick today t' stop, nor am I gonna let it crumble over somethin' as insignificant as how weird you think we are for it. Some o' y'all can agree, some o' y'all can ignore what I said an' hold your opinions against me and/or Twilight, an' a select few o' y'all can pretend this never even happened. Nobody can truly change your minds but yourselves... The fact o' the matter from my standpoint is that I love Twilight Sparkle."

"Phew, what a mouthful..."

"Oh, an' as for those of you who still wanna view me as an animal despite previously knowin' me as a pony... Why is that the case if I proved t' y'all time an' time again that I'm just as intelligent an' capable of emotion as you are? I understand if y'all don't view me as an equal because you're unfamiliar with me in this form an' therefore have no way or idea on where t' rank me on your life-form hierarchy, but does a simple change in my appearance change your opinion on me that fast? Think about that..."

With that, I wrapped up my heartfelt speech about unconditional love and not judging a book by its cover by taking a deep, horrendously-nervous breath and setting the mic down to gaze into the masses to see them all pondering intently... not with hatred or contempt, or even a shred of displeasure... but with varying degrees of thoughtful astonishment. Some (although a VERY diminutive amount) of ponies shed tears and others began to chat with their neighbors, but the vast majority of the attendees seemed to lower their heads in thought. I'd turned around to see how my comrades were doing. I was debating whether or not I should've been surprised to see that Fluttershy and most of the girls were crying tears of emotional swaying as they looked at me. Applejack wasn't, though. She was staring down, boring holes into the stage with her eyes as she seemed just as lost in thought as most of the crowd was. Simply put, that struck me...

"Hm... Seems A.J. agreed with them... I hope it don't make things awkward between me an' her in the future..." What struck me just a teensy bit more was Rainbow Dash... She'd actually had tears streaming down her face as if she were sobbing like a child.

"Wh-what are YOU lookin' at, you dumb jerk...?" the polychromatic-haired mare asked, trying to regain her composure as she sniffled and wiped her eyes. I gained a small, much-needed sense of amusement out of Rainbow showing me her emotional side for once.

"Nothin', Dash... Nothin'..." I assured her with a friendly smile before picking up the microphone and turning back toward the crowd. "So... Now that THA'SS out o' the way... Everybody good?" I asked in an attempt to shed some light on the tense atmosphere. It certainly helped that I got various signs of the townsponies being okay with what just went down... I assumed. "So shall I continue the story...? Or was that all o' what ya wanted t' hear outta me...?"

"I... I think that's all we needed to hear, Mr. Alien," spoke an ocean blue unicorn mare.

"Yeah, we sort of already know the rest of it," added a pegasus stallion of a dark orange.

"Oh thank God! I was NOT tryna sit up here longer than I needed to..."

"Okey doke... and please, jus' call me Ty. Anyway, is there any questions y'all wanna ask me or anybody up here? The floor's open. Also, why not speak ya name before you ask? I know some o' y'all, but not that many." At that, the crowd once more went into discussion.

"Oh, I've got one!" shouted a colt of a bright gray with a hair color of black.

"Yea?"

"Hi, my name is Rumble. Can you use magic like a unicorn? I saw what you did to that one pony earlier. Can you do that again?"

"Well Rumble, I'm afraid I can't. The magic I used to attack him wasn't my own. It was given t' me after I got seriously hurt before that point. What you saw was a fluke. A really, really dangerous fluke." The crowd mumbled in surprise and wonder at my explanation.

"Was it the Princess's magic?" asked a tan Earth mare I recognized as the Mayor of Ponyville. "I caught a glimpse at what happened this morning between you and that stallion where he attacked you just before Celestia arrived here. I also noticed that she healed you before Twilight took you away."

"You are correct, Ma'am. An' no, I had NO idea I could use it that way. From what I understand, I was in a REALLY bad way after what he did t' me. So, she did what she had t' do t' save me, which came in the form of usin' an untested variant of a healin' spell. What I did t' Gillian in retaliation was not at all her fault; it was mine. The side effects o' the spell made themselves more an' more apparent with the angrier I got at him until eventually, I just exploded an' used up that magic t' attack him in front o' y'all despite wantin' t' look like the good guy in the situation. I'm... sorry you had t' see that..."

"It's okay. We understand," Mayor Mare answered back. "As you may or may not know, stranger things have happened around this normally-peaceful town for many less conventional reasons. We also know our country's leader wouldn't have given you such power if she'd known the side effects herself. Nopony's perfect."

"Thank you..." I nodded and smiled at the political mare. "Any others?"

"Over here!" a different mare shouted.

"Yes, you."

"Berry Dreams here. So... um... I'm not sure if you know this, but it's the springtime..."

"Why, yes. Yes it is."

"And I'm not sure if you know exactly what happens to mares during the springtime..."

"I got a bad feelin' about this..."

"I'm aware of it, yes. Your point?"

"...*gulp* I'm just gonna be blunt with it: Have you and Twilight done any--!"

"Fuck that!"

"AH! AH! I'mma hafta stop you there, Berry Dreams. T.M.I."

"Wha?"

"Too much info. Especially when there's kids in the audience. Next question, please!" I hurriedly skipped.

"Over here!" shouted a dark orange filly with grape jelly-colored hair.

"Scootaloo! Wha'ss up?" I happily called out to her.

"Hey! Um, I was just wondering... I know Rainbow Dash liked to beat up on you when you were a pony..." she began, much to my embarrassment as some of the audience members laughed at me. I turned around to see Rainbow snickering at me as well. I stuck my tongue out at her before turning back to hear Scootaloo's question.

"Yea, unfortunately... Wha'ss the question?"

"Are you any stronger as you are now? I saw you beating up that unicorn without that much of a problem. Who would win in a fight between you and Rainbow Dash?" At that question, I scoffed triumphantly.

"I know Rainbow's like ya big sis an' all an' you love her an' all that, but with all due respect, Scoots, Rainbow would lose miserably. I'd probably hafta take it easy on her because o' how fragile she is so I don't wind up tyin' her into a candy-colored pretzel an' ruinin' her precious reputation or somethin'," I joked, purposefully antagonizing the mare.

"Oh yeah, tough guy!?" Dash predictably shouted from behind as she trotted toward me to get up in my face, actually causing me to cringe as I laughed.

"Troll successful. Trolololol..."

"Try me, you over-sized ape! I bet I could rearrange you INTO a pony! The hard way!"

"Relax, Rainbow! I'm jokin'!" I laughingly assured, which garnered some amusement out of the audience as well. I lowered the mic as I leaned into her ear so no one could hear me whisper, "Challenge accepted. Anytime, anyplace..." which she gave me a daring smirk for. She backed away, nodding and presumably contemplating which bones of mine she'd need to snap and fix to permanently pony-fy me. "*AHEM*! Any more?" The crowd went into a small, controlled fit of overlapping hooves as many more seemed to have questions than I expected. "You there!"

"Good afternoon, sir. Caramel's the name," spoke the stallion I chose. "Seeing as you're not the same species as any of us, then I presume that means you probably don't have the same diet?"

"More or less true..."

"So... are you an herbivore like us? Or do you eat jewels like a dragon? Or do you eat other animals?"

"I'm an omnivore by nature," I curtly replied, which garnered a surprisingly small amount of shock. "But since comin' here, I've not eaten any kind o' meat, considerin' you're all vegetarians."

"At least, not in Equestria. Back home, I tear up a pack o' bacon strips. Of course, not when Twilight's there..."

"I also tried jewelry once at the suggestion of Spike here..." I turned, only to notice that he was absent. "...Uh... Where's Spike?"

"He said he was bored, so he decided to head home early," Rarity answered.

"Ohohoh, that sneaky little mothaf--!"

"Okay, so he left early... Cool..." I coolly accepted as I faced the crowd, although I was fuming on the inside. "So um... yea, I tried some jewelry once an' almost cracked a tooth. I thought it woulda tasted like candy, but it didn't. It jus' tasted like dirt an' dragon sweat," I said, amusing Ponyville's citizens a little more.

"Hey, Ty?" requested a pony not from the crowd, but from behind me. Within seconds, Lyra approached me, smiling with childlike glee.

"Yea?"

"I HAVE to ask at this point... The excitement is killing me here...!"

"Ask away."

"These things... What are they?" she asked as she took hold of my arm and lifted it up to examine it. "Your body might be shaped like a primate, but there's no way you're a simple monkey... What did you call yourself again?"

"Human."

"Yeah. I also notice that you walk in a way most primates in this world don't."

"Yea, most humans walk the way I do. I wish I could go into the specifics of my biology, but I don't feel like doin' that right now. Oh, an' that 'thing' you're so invested in? It's my arm."

"And this?" the minty mare asked as she took my hand into her focus.

"My hand."

"Wow... I've GOT to research this!"

"Research?? Funny, she doesn't strike me as the 'research' type..."

"Rii-hi-hi-hiiight..." I said, starting to feel a bit creeped out by Lyra's overwhelming interest in my body. "So um... anything else?"

"I do believe I have one, dear," Rarity said as she approached my other side while Lyra kept ogling my hand like she wanted to take it home.

"Yea, Mademoiselle?"

"My, that eloquence of yours..." she coyly remarked with a sweet little smile. "*AHEM!* But I must know... your clothing... does your species wear it often?"

"Yea. Almost all the time, actually. An' because I know you're big on clothes, Rarity, I'll letcha know this: The fashion industry is HUGE in my world. Designer brands of ALL KINDS o' clothes... Distributed, sold, bought, worn, and modeled all over the world." At that, the dainty little mare practically squee'd in excitement as her eyes glimmered with interest. "But generally, yea, we humans wear clothes almost all the time. We only ever take 'em off when we bathe or on 'special occasions,' if ya catch my drift..."

"Oh my...! That's very intriguing... You know, I've been having aspirations to expand my designer market toward non-ponies... Do you think it would be okay if you were able to maybe... allow me to... to scale you sometime?" she innocently requested.

"I uh... I guess so," I agreed, thrown off by the request. "But why? I'm the only human here..."

"I know, but if there's something I adore when it comes to fashion design, it's a challenge. Quite frankly, if most humans dress like you do, then there's much work to be done..."

"Hey, wha'ss that supposed t' mean?" I asked, taking the statement as a jab at my admittedly-shabby fashion sense.

"Nothing personal, Ty, it's just... your ensemble could use a little sprucing up if your kind wears clothes all the time. Besides..." she trailed off as she stood on her back legs to get into my ear. "You definitely want to look good for Twilight... don't you?" she whispered with that perturbing, yet cute little giggle of hers.

"...Fine. Jus' let me know a good time..."

"I knew you'd see it my way. I shan't disappoint you," she excitedly let me know as she went back to the group.

"Hm. Anybody els-- Are you done, Lyra?" I asked, because she was STILL molesting my hand.

"O-Oh! Sorry..." she sheepishly apologized as she let go.

"Ahh, you good," I let her know as I reached over and scratched around her horn, inadvertently causing the mare to gasp, then shiver and let out a mesmerized moan of satisfaction.

"Oops... Damn, these things are dangerous."

"Which 'things?' Our hands or a unicorn's horn?"

"I don't even know... Both, I guess..."

"How... how did you just do that?" the mint-green unicorn asked in a sudden wave of amazement.

"Beats me..." I lied, not wanting to extend the therapeutic magic that was apparently the human hand to anyone other than Twilight... and Fluttershy. "Anyone else?"

"Hey!" a seemingly-outraged mare called.

"Yes?"

"I'm not sure if you know by now, but you DESTROYED my vegetable stand!" the mare shouted. "The name's Golden Harvest, by the way!"

"Ohh yeah... Fuck...!"

"Oh... Yea, I remember... I am SOOOOO sorry, Golden Harvest. I was chasin' after the guy who was tryna get away from me an' he shot so many wayward blasts o' magic at me that he knocked me off balance an' made me crash into it... I don't know what I could do t' repay you, though..."

"I've gotcha covered, sugar cube," Applejack honorably took on my debt. "Come see me later on fer the compensation fer the damages, Harvest."

"Applejack?" I questioned in disbelief. "But... why?"

"Cuz... I'm just that good-natured a pony..." she said, but then leaned into my ear. "'Sides, I know y'all ain't got a single bit on ya. I was gonna pay ya fer helpin' me out the other day, but I think this'll cover it an' then some..."

"*gulp* Oh... Uh... H-how much do I owe ya for this?"

"Nothin' much... Just a whole weekend's worth of apple buckin', plus one o' those oh-so-wonderful massages y'all are so famous for... I got a crick in my neck meaner than a flea-bitten bull seein' red at a clown rodeo an' I ain't been able t' get it out fer a while now."

"Goddamn it! Indentured servitude!"

"Huh... Fine..." I acquiesced, knowing exactly the kind of hell I'd just signed up for. "Thanks for the favor, A.J..."

"Don't mention it. Plus, I wanna hear more insight on why ya like Twi so much even though y'all ain't a pony..." she added as she turned to walk away.

"You could jus' ask her, y'know. You'll be able t' get much more outta her than me..." I reasoned, to which she nodded in agreement. With that name to add to the list of ponies I owed favors to, I turned toward the crowd. "So... any more questions or are we all good here?"

"Hello!" an Earth mare introduced herself.

"Yes, ma'am! What's up?"

"Good afternoon. My name is Roseluck and I have to ask... Is it possible that more of your kind is able to come here? And how do we know you're not part of some massive invasion on the horizon and that you're not just here to lower our defenses so that you can use whatever information you've gathered on us in the time you've been here to report back to your human overlords so they can map out a plan to destroy us all??" At that, I stared blankly at the mare, who instantly came across as 'paranoid schizophrenic,' because only someone with that sort of mental illness could come up with something so... so... arbitrary.

"...What the fuck...?"

"Um... Hm, how to go about that... Ah! Well first of all, humans can't use magic under any normal circumsances. As I said, a unicorn's magic brought me here. So that rules out both your suspicion that I'm plottin' some crazy human invasion and your suspicion that I'm some sort o' scout sent here to probe you before I... *snort* let my 'human overlords' know about you..." I answered, failing to resist the urge to laugh.

"Oh yeah? Well then... How do we know you haven't somehow possessed or enslaved Twilight or taken her away and replaced her with some sort of Pod-pony?" asked another schizophrenic mare, causing me to scrunch up an eye in incredulity. "Oh! And the name's Daisy."

"...Really?"

"Okay, is this some kinda joke? Because if it is, I'm missin' it harder than the point of a crack-pot conspiracy theory... which, if you're not jokin', is what these ludicrous questions sound like. And to answer it, why not ask Twilight herself, because she's the only one who can prove she's her. Now then... any other questions that AREN'T somethin' ridiculous?"

"I've got one!" asked yet another Earth mare.

"I swear to the closest thing to a god here..." I thought as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Yes?" I asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Lily here... So... um... Is it possible that your race can enslave unicorns and use their magic to use against us in a convoluted attempt to take over Equestria and replace us with copies of ourselves loyal to y--!"

"No!! Enough with that! Any NON-CRACKHEAD questions, please??" I enunciated, already sick of the abhorrent, ill-advised 'joke' that I was some sort of messenger of pony doom.

"Excuse me!" called a filly from the crowd.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle! Wha'ss goin' on!" I greeted, thankful that SOMEBODY I knew was at least somewhat sane finally took the spotlight.

"Hi, Mr. Memoi-- I mean uh... Ty... um... Do you have a Cutie Mark right now like you did when you were a pony?"

"As a pony, I did. As a human, I don't. Humans don't have Cutie Marks." At that, a good portion of the crowd gasped in shock. "I know, i'ss weird t' hear from me. But yea, if a human has a special talent, then he or she will jus' know it an' find a way to become successful usin' said talents." The audience droned in bewildered interest at my confession. "So with that, is there anything else?" I asked, hoping that there were no more questions to be asked. Alas, I was wrong, as many ponies' hooves waved in the air, eager to have their questions answered. My butt was getting sore just sitting on that hard wooden stage all day. I'd be surprised if I didn't have splinters coming out of me like needles in a pincushion by the time I got the chance to stand...

One hour later...

"Hmmm... *yawn* I really needed that nap... I feel so much better..." I murmured as I stirred from my wondrous slumber to peculiarly find myself lying in my bed, coated in pituitary fluid. "Huh, that's odd... How'd I wind up here? And why am I so sweaty...?"

"Hey, Twilight," Spike greeted as he walked in through the doorway. "Good to see YOU'RE finally awake," he added, seeming a bit disappointed.

"Good afternoon, Spike... Yeah, I must've been out for a while..." I concurred as I stretched. "Where is everyone else?"

"At the meeting."

"Oh, okay..." Then it hit me like an anvil. "The... the what??" I asked, now shocked into a state of high-alert.

"The meeting. You know, the one you and Ty were supposed to be hosting to explain what he is and why he's here and all that."

"Speaking of, where is he?"

"He's there now, actually. I went with him, but then I decided to come back to eavesdr-- I mean uh... check up on you..."

"What?? What is he doing THERE!? He was in NO condition to even WALK, much less host a meeting!"

"Relax, Twi. Princess Cel--!"

"Oh my gosh... I must've overslept...! What time is it, Spike?"

"About a quarter til' Five."

"And how long ago did that meeting commence?"

"About two or three hours ago."

"GAH! I overslept AND I missed the meeting!! Oh my gosh! This is awful! They must be eating him alive out there!!"

"Twilight, relax! The others are helping him!"

"They are?"

"Yeah. Rainbow and the others set up for it and were already talking to the townsponies while you were asleep."

"Oh, that's good... How are they doing?" I asked, some sense of relief showering over me.

"I'm not sure... I left at the point where they were asking Ty about why you're with him when he isn't a pony or something," my #1 assistant answered, which sent a horrid torrent of anxiety flowing through me as my eyes widened in shock. "I'm pretty sure some of the others had to step in to help him, though... I heard Fluttershy screaming at them as I left..."

"Oh, no!! I need to get out there! Now! But now that I'm tardy, they'll all think I was too lazy to attend my own public address!" I rambled as I looked into the mirror. "Ohh, and I look like a complete mess! I can't go out there looking like this! But I can't let my friends down, either!"

"Twilight! Everything is oka--!"

"I'll be back in a jiffy, Spike! Watch the library for me!" I ordered, not wanting to waste time freshening up, as it would only compound my tardiness in the wake of the time I wasted procrastinating with that nap.

"Twilight, WAI--!" *POOF* I was gone in a flash to save my reputation and more importantly, my friends...

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Leo Archon and Kamunari for the help with the questions!