Should I Stay or Should I Go?
(A/N: Some of the following is nonfiction, but the entire story becomes fictional at some point; I'll let you figure out where. Anyway, all names used have been changed for protective purposes, except mine. The following nonfictional portion is just a simple glimpse at what goes on in my life. I might as well get this off my chest too; SUNY stands for State University of New York. You'll understand when I say it in the story. All in all, sit back and enjoy the ride!)
RING! RING! RING! RI-
I wake up, open my eyes, and stare blankly at the faded blue paint on the ceiling of my room. It's been years since it was painted; I think it was when I was 9 or 10. I'm 19 now, laying in my bed in my navy blue room, the smallest room in the house, with the exception of the bathroom. I struggle out of my bed, trying not to bump my cast into anything as I make my way to the bathroom and try to get ready for work. I look at the clock before I leave my room and it reads 6:54 A.M.
Great, another start to a long day...
I finally get to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and wash my face. Returning to my room, I get changed, snapping my iPhone to my case. I love my iPhone, mainly because it was a graduation gift from my mother just about a week ago. I grab my house key, pet my dog on the head, letting him into my sister's room. I grab my car keys and my iPod, another gift from my parents given to me about two years ago, head out the door, closing and locking it in the process. I take a deep breath, drawing in some of the crisp cool dawn air of the summer, then get in my 2002 Hyundai, a graduation gift from my sister. Turning the key, I start to head on out to my job. I work as an office assistant at the high school I just graduated from.
Like I said, I am 19 years young. I graduated at 18 years young, with my birthday following a few days later. The only reason I graduated so late was the fact that I started school later than usual, thanks to a little malfunction with the registration process 13 years ago. However 13 years have come and gone, I graduate with honors at my graduation, receiving a plaque for 13 years of perfect attendance in the process, the first one in my school district to do so without being held back.
The drive to my school wasn't long, it usually lasts about five minutes. I park in the designated parking spot for student workers for the summer, turn off the car, then head on to my position.
Time to start another long day of nothing... I tell myself. I didn't hate this job. Frankly, I loved this job compared to my other one at a factory called Frito-Lays. I just didn't like the fact that I had to sit for about five hours at my post because the student worker I work with and myself finished our summer work in a matter of days. Now, there was nothing to do, so we sat at two desks close by each other, watching the staff members work away, occasionally stopping and chatting with us from time to time.
Anyway, I head to my post, located in one of the front offices of the high school. My high school is considered a large one and is divided into two sections, East and West. I went to the West section of the high school, though I work at the East section's front office. I head into the front office and kindly say hello to the secretaries that are currently working on summer school assignments given to them by the assistant principal of the East section, who used to be my history teacher when I was in seventh grade. I had a good relationship with the assistant principal and if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gotten this job during the school year and for the summer. I sign myself in for the day, and immediately put the hours I work today, 7:30 to 1:00, getting paid for five of those hours. After signing in, I head straight to my desk and sit down. The other worker, Rachel, was already here and was doing the same thing I was: playing on our phones. I was looking at my email, which always seems to gain volume through the night. It's usually emails involving FanFiction, saying someone new favorited my recent story, "Flashlights Shine Brighter," or someone new is following or has just favorited me. I didn't mind my phone going off through the night, it means a lot to know that a lot of people like the work I do. Along with writing stories, I also draw a lot. I prefer drawing to writing, but have more stories (39) than I do drawings (31).
Anyway, I took a look at the clock in front of me. It read 8:13 A.M.
Almost one hour in already? Wow!
The day usually goes by slowly when we don't have anything to do. Today, however, seemed to be an exception. I looked away from my iPod in order to check my surroundings. The radio was playing one of the local stations and was playing "Can't Hold Us." My supervisor, who never minded me being on my iPod and/or phone, was looking things up for her upcoming trip to Canada. The other secretary was chatting away with Rachel and I returned to my iPod, playing Solitaire, mainly because all the other games on my iPod required wifi, something the school didn't have.
The assistant principal came in shortly afterwards and he said hello to all of us.
"So, Danny," he started, "where are you gonna go now that you graduated?"
I smile as I answered his question. "Well, I got accepted into Harvard, but I want to stay local. I'll most likely end up attending a SUNY school, preferably SUNY Old Westbury, in August."
"That's good!" He told me. "What do you plan on majoring in?"
"I want to major in Secondary Education in History, hopefully returning here in about six years looking for a job."
"Well, good for you!" He said before heading into his office for a meeting with the principal of the high school.
I originally wanted to become a math teacher, but after seeing my sister struggle with her math classes, I ultimately decided to go for history, my best subject. I loved math, though it wasn't my best subject, and my state test scores backed that up. On my math state test, I got a 93, on my history, though, I got a 99, missing one point for failing to back up one of my essays with sufficient details. When I graduated from my high school, which had a graduating class of just over 1,100 students, I graduated at number 11, missing the top ten by a mere hundredth of a point. My final average just after graduation was a 99.24, unweighted. That was the eleventh best score in the school, tenth place going to another student with an average of 99.25.
Anyway, I made it through the day, knowing that just in one more week was my college orientation, something that I wasn't really looking forward to, since it required that I stay on campus overnight. Though, it wasn't too much since that meant that I officially became a college student.
I went home and to my surprise, no one was home. I let my dog outside for a few minutes and let him run around. Seeing my dog happy always made me happy. Anyway, when he sat at the door, letting me know that he wanted to go inside, I opened the door and let him in, filling up his bowl with water in the process. I went to my room and pulled out my gaming chair. I turned on my Xbox and my TV and started playing Halo 4, heading to the playlist Capture the Flag. After a couple matches of Capture the Flag, I decided to play SWAT, a playlist where I'm ranked number 32 in the world, according to the stats. I wasn't on my A-game today, and my K/D over the last ten games proved it. Over the last ten games, I went, total, 187-163, with 29 assists. Usually, in five games, I go, on average, 287-125, with 15-18 assists sprinkled in there. Today, I wasn't feeling the emotion to play the game, so I just played it, something that usually never happens. After a while, I looked at the clock on top of my bed. It read 6:34 P.M. I got up, fed my dog, and decided to take a shower.
After my shower, I ate dinner and decided to watch a little TV afterwards. Nothing I like usually comes on at this time so I decided to call it an early night when I saw the clock read 9:10 P.M. I left my bedroom door open, so my dog can come in and out as he pleases, turned on my AC and laid down on top of my bed.
I stare mindlessly at my ceiling. Usually, I don't mind being alone; I prefer to be independent actually. Today, however, I was wondering where my parents were. I knew my sister closed today at her job, so she should be home by around 11:30. My parents, though, should've been home by now. My mom usually likes to be in bed by now while my dad gets ready to go to bed. I usually play on my Xbox at this time, rather than at 3:00 like I did today. Anyway, with thoughts tucked away in the back of my head, I fell soundly asleep for the night, with the thoughts of my next story storming in. I allowed the thoughts to storm my mind as I fell asleep, rather than getting up to write them down. Formulating a plot in my head, I came up with a story in no time flat. Elaborating on the details and events within it was my next challenge. But I decided to leave that for the morning while I was at work.
Today, I fell asleep, but woke up at 12:03 A.M. Unable to fall back to sleep, I decided to watch a little My Little Pony on my iPod with the app, . Once the channel loaded, I began watching the rest of season 3. I fell asleep a little while after and the app remained open.
What I would give to be in a world like that one. I thought as I fell back asleep.
I woke up in the morning without my alarm clock needing to assist me. Opening my eyes, I found out that I was outside! Looking around to see how I got there, I noticed that I wasn't anywhere near my home. I started walking in one direction, only to stumble upon my own feet, hurting my broken arm. Getting up was even worse, it was tough since I couldn't feel my hands.
I looked down and realized that I had no hands whatsoever! I had in their place, silver colored hooves! I tried to feel my face and found out that I had a muzzle, longer hair, and my legs felt stronger than how they usually are. Fortunately for me, there was a river nearby and so I attempted to walk over to it. Walking on fours instead of twos was a lot harder than what it seemed. Eventually, I made it to the river and peered my head over it. In my reflection was a silver colored unicorn with a dark gray mane and yellow eyes.
How did I get here? How did I become a unicorn? Where am I? I asked myself these questions before overhearing someone talking nearby.
I ran to the nearest tree, stumbling once, and hid behind it, peering my head around the trunk of the tree to see who was there. I saw a pale yellow pony with wings and a long pink mane holding a basket in their mouth. I looked closer and saw three little pink things where this pony's cutie mark should be. I couldn't tell what they were since I was far away but I assumed they were butterflies, since this pony looked exactly like how Fluttershy looks like.
Is that Fluttershy? I asked myself, coming out of hiding to get a closer look.
"Fluttershy?" I asked.
The pony looked up after hearing the name, so I concluded that this was Fluttershy. She stood firmly as I slowly got closer to her. When I was about ten feet away, I stopped and asked her what their name was.
"Umm...my name is...umm...Fluttershy." She said, slowly drifting off towards the end.
"What was that?"
"It's...it's Fluttershy."
Same thing happened; she drifted off upon saying her name.
"One more time?" I asked.
This time, she hid herself in her mane and stood still. I figured she was shy, and I do remember her doing the same thing when she met Twilight, so I told her that I was sorry for bothering her and started walking away.
I saw a town in the far distance next to a mountaintop. From my knowledge, I figured that that was Canterlot, and if I could see it from here and Fluttershy was here, that meant that Ponyville was close by. I started heading towards the direction Canterlot was in and saw some houses nearby while I was walking. I figured that I was near Ponyville so I headed over to the houses. Sure enough, I saw Pinkie Pie, at least that's who I thought it was, trotting along the roads in between the houses. She turned around and saw me, hustling over next to me.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"
This was my chance to give myself a new name. I was fond of my name but I liked my Xbox gamertag a bit better, so I told Pinkie Pie my gamertag.
"My name is Derpy, Derpy KingBoo, but you may call me Danny."
"Derpy KingBoo?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Yup."
"That's a cool name!" She added. "Now there's two ponies named Derpy in Ponyville! A Pegasus and now a unicorn!"
"Thank you." I said. "My name comes from Derpy Hooves."
"I've never seen you around here, Derpy. Are you new here?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down in the process.
"Yes I am." I answered back.
"Well, let me show you around Ponyville, then!" She replied.
I sighed, knowing quite well that what I was about to say was completely insane. However, I was with Pinkie Pie; she constantly breaks the fourth wall and, though at times silly, understands pretty much anything.
"Listen, Pinkie," I started, "I'm not from here."
"Well, DUH! That's why I'll show you around Ponyville!"
"No," I continued, "I mean, I'm not from this world."
"Let me guess: You're from an alternate world where you aren't a pony and you have appeared here magically after waking up from something spectacular and in fact you're not sure if you want to go back since you like being here and you know all about my friends Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Spike, BonBon, Lyra, Zecora, Cranky, Matilda-"
I cut her off, "Yeah, exactly that."
"Well, do you want to go back?"
I hesitated for a second. I didn't mind being here, but I didn't mind being at home. I hated how no one understood me back home, but here, I feel like I'd be understood, no problem. However, if I stood here, it meant that my family would only exist in my thoughts; I would never see them again.
"I don't know..." I finally answered. "I don't mind being here, but I'd miss my family if I decided to stay."
"Well, in case you don't want to stay, let's go see Twilight!" Pinkie said. "She'll probably know how you can get home! She's super smart, so I'm sure she'll know how!"
"Sounds like a plan." I replied. "Oh, one more thing, Pinkie."
"What's that, Derpy?"
"Can you tell me what my cutie mark is?" I curiously asked.
She took a look, then told me what I had on my flank. "You don't have one, Derpy."
Astonished, I covered up my blank flank with my tail. Thank heaven I had a tail.
"How old are you, Derpy?" Pinkie politely asked.
"I'm 19 years young..." I shyly answered.
"That's older than most of my friends!" Pinkie replied. "And they have their cutie marks."
"Well, where I come from, we don't have those. We humans, as we're called, usually have to ask what our talents are or we work where we are put. I am an author as well as an artist back home, so I guess that would be close to what mine would be."
Pinkie stared at me blankly for a second. Finally, she said, "That's weird!"
I couldn't help but utter a giggle as Pinkie showed me towards Twilight's home. She knocked on the door and Twilight answered it. It was amazing seeing the alicorn face to face and I immediately bowed down in front of the princess.
"Please, don't," Twilight spoke, "I don't feel comfortable with that stuff quite just yet."
"As you wish." I responded.
"Twilight," Pinkie started, "this is Derpy KingBoo. He is new to Ponyville and to Equestria all together."
Twilight looked at me as I stood back up. "What do you mean, 'new to Equestria?'"
Pinkie giggled, "He's not from this world."
"And by that you mean?" "My name, like Pinkie said, is Derpy KingBoo, but you may call me Danny. I am from a place called Earth, more specifically, New York. I am what you call a human. I transported here while I was sleeping and have no idea how to get home. I was hoping you would know how I could get home, but I'm not too sure you'd have any answers and I'm not too sure I want to go home."
"Why not?" Twilight asked.
I gulped before answering the alicorn's question. "No one understands me back home."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm always lonely back home and tend to live my life emotionlessly. There's no excitement and, honestly, if I were to stay here, I think I'd be more happier. Truth be told, I have no true friends back home; just acquaintances, people I know."
"So you're looking for a way back home, but aren't too sure you want to return home, am I right?"
"Correct." I replied.
"I think I might know just how you can return home." Twilight said.
"Really?"
"I have a teleportation spell in this book," Twilight said as she hovered a book over to us using her magic, "and since you're a unicorn, you can cast this spell and return home. That is, if you want to."
"I'm not sure I can do that." I answered back. "Where I come from, nobody has magic. It's all fake and illusions that people do; nothing fancy like how you or even Rarity does it."
"How do you know Rarity?" Twilight suspiciously asked.
Pinkie answered that for me. "Where he comes from, he knows all about us. Apparently, a lot of his kind know about us."
"Really?" Twilight questioned. "So my full name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle," I cut in. "You saved Equestria numerous times with your friends, stopping Nightmare Moon, aka Princess Luna, Discord, King Sombra, and Queen Chrysalis. You recently became an alicorn after you wrote new magic, something even Starswirl the Bearded couldn't do, and you also recently traveled to an alternate version of my world to retrieve your crown, which Sunset Shimmer stole in your sleep. Need I go on?"
Twilight looked at me with the widest of eyes, and jaw wide open. "How'd you know all that?"
"It's something a lot of people know where I come from. Maybe not to the extent I just did, but somewhere along those lines." I replied.
"So if what you said is true," Twilight continued, "you have absolutely no idea how to use the magic inside of you. Am I right?"
"You're two-for-two, Twilight." I answered.
"Well, I can teach you if you want." Twilight offered.
"You'd do that for me? Someone, err, somepony you just met?"
"What are friends for?" Twilight replied.
I felt touched. Back home, I had no true friends, just acquaintances. I've been here for a mere thirty minutes and have already befriended two of the mane six, compared to the two real friends I had back home, Zach and Matt.
"Come on in and I'll teach you how to access the magic within yourself, Danny." Twilight said.
"Thank you, Twilight." I answered as Pinkie and I went inside. Twilight had me stand next to her in the middle of the room.
"Alright," she started, "first thing you have to do is clear your mind and concentrate on nothing but your magic. Then, focus the magic to your horn."
I did as I was told and cleared my mind, focusing the magic on my horn.
"I'll teach you how to levitate things first." Twilight continued.
"Ok."
"To levitate an object, like that quill across the room, or even this book, concentrate on the magic and spell required to get that done. The spell is in this book on this page."
She levitated the book in front of me and opened it up to where the spell was located. At the top of the page, it said "Basic Spells." There were simple things like short distance teleportation, levitation, and opening and closing objects, ranging from doors to books. I read the spell and focused the magic required to my horn.
I really concentrated the magic and eventually, my horn had pale yellow aura surrounding it. I used my magic to grab the book located in front of me and was levitating it in front of my eyes.
"Good," Twilight praised, "now, lets try teleportation."
A couple hours had passed since I've been here, or at least that's what it seems like. I still had my iPhone on me and it's been going crazy ever since I came here, going backwards and forwards constantly. I'm not sure anymore what today is or what time it is for that matter.
Anyway, getting back on track here, Twilight managed to show me some of the magic she knew, such as levitating objects, short distance teleportation, moving objects with my magic, grabbing ahold of more than one object at a time, as well as some other neat things. I can perform these tasks almost as simply as she can now, which isn't too surprising to me, really. Back home, I was a fast learner, always knowing how to do something almost minutes after being taught it. Here, performing magic tricks was becoming as simple as driving a car was.
I practiced a little bit more of my magic before Pinkie Pie interrupted.
"It's getting late, and I think I'll start to head on home now." She said. "Derpy, it was nice meeting you, and I can't wait till we hangout some more! Well, I'll see you tomorrow, you smart-tastic ponies!"
"Goodnight, Pinkie." Both Twilight and I said as Twilight shut the door. She looked over towards me next.
"I'm going to safely assume that you don't have a place to stay at for the night, right?" She asked me.
I shook my head from side to side, showing that the answer was obviously no.
"Well," Twilight continued, "you can stay with me tonight. Spike's in Canterlot performing some royal duties for Princess Celestia and I'm all alone tonight."
"Ah, a feeling I know quite well." I unknowingly said.
"What do you mean?"
Great, I just had to open my big mouth... I scolded myself. "Back home, I was usually always alone, seeing my parents and sister only once every other day. I knew how it felt like to be alone, so I always fended for myself as well as my dog. I never minded being alone, usually because I am a very quiet individual. But, I'm getting a little bit off track here. Thank you for your kind hospitality, Twilight."
"Not at all, Danny." Twilight responded as we headed upstairs into Twilight's bedroom.
We got upstairs and inside Twilight's room were two beds; hers and then a guest bed, the one Rarity and Applejack slept on when Twilight had her slumber party that one time. Both beds were facing each other, but located at different ends of the room. Twilight kindly led me to the spare bed and she helped me make it with her magic.
Thanking her, I got into the bed and pulled the covers over me gently. Trying to pull something when you don't have thumbs anymore was hard work but I eventually got it. Twilight got into her bed and did the same, only on a much more rapid pace. The lights flickered off and we stared at the ceiling, listening to the wind howling outside.
"So what's it like? Being a human?" Twilight asked, breaking the silence.
"It's alright, I guess." I answered back. "But there is no way we can compare ourselves to you. One reason why is because here there never appears to be any war or serious conflict going on between nations, something that happens a little bit too often back home."
"Do you miss being home?"
I sighed just a bit, but not loud enough for Twilight to hear me. "I miss my family but they probably don't realize I'm not there. My dog probably does but what good can he do? He can't tell my parents that I'm not there."
"How old did you say you were again?" Twilight cautiously asked, unsure if she'd hurt my feelings.
"I am 19 years young, why?"
"I asked because I noticed you didn't have a cutie mark, is it because where you come from, nopony has them?" Twilight responded.
"Nope." I answered.
"Where I come from, people usually work in or at something they like to do, though it's not like they're destined to it. Usually, people ask other people what their talents are and what they can do."
"How about you?" Twilight continued. "What are your talents? If you stay here, maybe you'd get a cutie mark in that."
"My talents involve drawing and story writing. I'm a very good cartoonist, realizing that just a few short years ago and my over active imagination is what drives me to write stories."
"How often did you draw and write?" Twilight continued.
"Pretty often." I replied. "Back home, I had written 39 stories and had drawn 31 pieces of art, some of which were showcased at my school's art show."
"That's pretty cool!" Twilight said. "Say I just said 5 words, would you be able to compose a story from that?"
"Yup. I've had been offered that challenge before and have successfully written stories from it. So what are your five words?"
"Magic of friendship in Equestria." She told me.
"Oh, that's easy," I replied, "and fun, too!"
"Can you make a story out of that?" Twilight challenged.
"Give me three or so hours, it'll be done." I said, getting straight to work on it. I lifted a quill using my magic and began writing the story for Twilight.
A few hours have gone by since the challenge started. I am just about to finish writing it, too. The story I have written for Twilight is about her and her friends, and the magic of friendship they have experienced over the years. It is about fourteen pages long and is roughly 2,300 words, give or take. Twilight comes over to me and begins reading the story, which is entitled "The Magic of Friendship." I couldn't really come up with the title, and that's what had come to mind the entire time.
Anyway, Twilight read it in its entirety in about 25 minutes. She looked up at me and was surprised to see such vivid writing done in a matter of hours.
"How long have you been writing stories?" She asked me.
"Only for about 8 months now, why?"
"This was really good!" Twilight praised. "Very detailed and descriptive in a lot of ways. It felt like a movie was happening inside my head the entire time!"
I blushed. No one has ever complimented my work in person, just online. A face-to-face review meant a lot and to know that they enjoyed it made it mean a lot more to me. "Thank you, Twilight."
"No, thank you for this, this wonderful story, Danny." She said.
I blushed a bit more. I was actually beginning to feel how Fluttershy feels sometimes. But when a light shone on my flank, blushes turned into big smiles. When the light faded, there, on my flank, was a cutie mark! It was a stack of paper, with words on the top page, and a quill next to the words. I figured it was a cutie mark in story writing. I was so happy to know that this appeared. In fact, I don't think I've ever felt this happy before.
Twilight giggled, "Your excitement reminds me of the time I got mine when I was just a filly."
I looked back at Twilight. "I've never felt this happy back home!"
"I'd never have guessed that, Danny." Twilight replied. "Now we should get to bed. It's awfully late."
I laid my head down onto the pillow and had shut my eyes, still holding the biggest grin imaginable on my face. I fell asleep happier than I could have ever been before.
I woke up bright and early the next morning. So early, in fact, that I got to witness the sun rise in front of me.
"Thank you, Celestia for the Sun." I quietly said. I quietly traveled down the stairs and went outside to enjoy the crisp, cool summertime air here in Ponyville. I felt so alive being here compared to being at home. I went for a little walk before heading on back inside Twilight's home. On my walk, I saw Lyra, BonBon, Rarity (that surprised me a bit. I figured she was getting her beauty sleep still.), Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. I waved hello to all of them, of which they waved back, something nobody does back home, especially in New York.
I finally went back inside after my nice, refreshing walk around Ponyville. To my surprise, Twilight was still fast asleep. Deciding not to bother the alicorn, I went downstairs and practiced using my magic just a bit more. The pale yellow aura surrounded my horn as I levitated a book in front of me; a book containing spells in it. I read the spells and attempted to cast them, having success with some, but failing with others. This magic stuff was still new to me, but I was determined to learn as much magic as I possibly could.
I must have been down there for what seemed like hours, though I wasn't too sure, since my iPhone's clock was constantly going backwards and forwards. I practiced the spells until I could perform them with ease.
"You've sure improved from yesterday!" A voice said.
Startled, I turned around and saw Twilight coming down the stairs.
"Did I scare you?" She giggled.
"A little bit." I admitted.
She smiled at me then proceeded down the rest of the flight of stairs. "Why don't we go see Rainbow Dash? She's supposed to help teach me how to fly with ease."
"Sure." I answered, excited to meet somepony new.
Twilight smiled at my enthusiasm and both of us proceeded out the door. Using her magic to close the door, we walked to the park to go meet up with the light blue Pegasus.
"Are you enjoying being here?" Twilight asked, breaking the silence.
"I feel better here than I do back home." I admitted.
"And that's obviously a good thing. But have you decided whether or not you want to return home?" She said.
"As of now," I continued, "no. But I'm contemplating on staying here."
"That's good to hear," Twilight replied, "but even if you decide to go home, I'll still feel very happy because I know that you'll be happy."
"Thanks, Twilight." I said. "It's always nice to have a friends' compassion."
Twilight smiled back as we continued walking. Walking on all fours now was becoming seemingly easy now. I was walking better today compared to yesterday. Anyway, we made it to the park and standing there, waiting for Twilight, was the athletic Pegasus herself, Rainbow Dash. We approached her and stopped just about 10 feet from her.
"Hey Twilight." She said.
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash." Twilight responded.
Rainbow Dash turned and faced me. "Who's this?"
"My name is Derpy KingBoo, but you may call me Danny." I answered.
"He's new to Ponyville and I was just showing him around." Twilight added. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited him to watch you teach me how to fly."
"I don't mind at all." Rainbow Dash said. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine."
"That's great to hear!" I said.
Rainbow Dash flew down over to me and held her hoof out, signaling for a hoof-bump. I answered the call by giving her a hoof-bump, something I never got to actually do back home (fist-bump).
"See?" Rainbow Dash said. "It's like we're buddies already! I see he's a unicorn." Rainbow Dash looked back over to Twilight. "Looks like you and Rarity have some new competition for best unicorn." She teased.
Twilight shook her head, giggling in the process. "I guess so."
"So let's get started!" Rainbow Dash said. "By the time we're done, you'll be a great flyer!"
"I sure hope so." Twilight admitted.
I watched in awe as Rainbow Dash was teaching Twilight how to correctly fly through the skies with ease. Watching Rainbow Dash's rainbow markings from where she had just flown was breathtaking. It looked so much different than seeing it through a TV screen; brighter, broader, better.
"And if you really want to be aerodynamic," Rainbow Dash said, "you tuck in your wings like this."
She showed Twilight the proper aerodynamic motion, flying much faster than before.
"That's usually how Pegasus ponies, and by that I mean me and my awesomeness, perform sonic rainbooms!"
"I don't think I'll be able to do that at all, Rainbow Dash." Twilight bashfully said.
"It'll come eventually." Rainbow Dash said. "You just need to practice, that's all."
"That. Was. Awesome!" I shouted. "I've never seen anything fly like that back home!"
"Well, I am the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Rainbow Dash bragged.
"Yeah, you fly faster than the Wonderbolts! I remember when you performed a sonic rainboom while trying to save Rarity when her wings evaporated into thin air that one time."
"Yeah..." Rainbow replied, blushing in the process. It took a minute for her brain to process what I just said. "Wait, how'd you know that?"
Twilight glimpsed over at me, noticing that I was having trouble coming up with an answer. "Well, I-"
"I'll tell her, Twilight." I gulped.
"Tell me what?" Rainbow Dash suspiciously asked.
I gulped a little bit harder this time. Sighing, I came clean to Rainbow Dash. "I'm not from here. I come from a place called Earth, more specifically, New York. There, I'm not a unicorn, there's actually no such creature, I believe. No Pegasus ponies that exist there either, however, you and the rest of the 'mane six,' as you're called in my world, are popular and adored by many people, the majority being teenagers. I somehow came here and have no idea as to how I got here. I don't know if I want to stay here or not but truth be told, I like being here around other peop, err, other ponies who understand me. Back home, I was always lonely and never really had any true friends. Here, I already befriended Pinkie Pie and Twilight here."
Rainbow Dash stared at me with a blank expression. I stared back, even more nervous. I became weak in all four of my knees, knowing quite well that what I just said was completely insane.
"That. Sounds." Rainbow Dash paused for a little 'dramatic' effect. "Awesome!"
I let out a sigh of relief, thanking my lucky stars that Rainbow Dash didn't find me insane or anything.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash answered. "That sounds so cool, traveling between two worlds and meeting new ponies!"
"Well, where I come from," I continued, "we're called 'people' or 'humans.'"
"It's still cool meeting and seeing new things in other worlds!" She exclaimed.
"I guess so, Rainbow Dash." I replied.
"Please, call me Rainbow, uhh..."
"Danny."
"Call me Rainbow, Danny." She insisted.
"With pleasure, Rainbow." I said.
It was nearly lunchtime when Twilight had finished practicing her flying with Rainbow. Twilight's stomach growled and so she decided to go out for lunch, inviting both Rainbow and I with her. Gladly accepting the invitation, Rainbow and I accompanied Twilight and headed on over to Sugar Cube Corner. Once there, she had a corn muffin given to her by Pinkie Pie, who was helping Mr. and Mrs. Cake out today.
"Hi, Derpy!" Pinkie Pie enthusiastically said. "How's it goin'?"
"It's going good, Pinkie Pie." I answered.
"Oh, please, Derpy, call me Pinkie. All my friends do." She fluttered her eyes at me.
I blushed. "Sure, Pinkie." I moved my head towards her, playfully, as I said her name.
Pinkie giggled then turned her attention towards Twilight and Rainbow. "So what did you guys do today? Anything fun?"
"Rainbow here was teaching me how to fly, well, better, I guess." Twilight said.
"Like how to be aerodynamic and stuff like that." Rainbow chipped in.
"Aerody-what?" asked Pinkie.
"Aerodynamic, how to fly faster, in other words." Twilight said.
"Ohhh," Pinkie responded, "how'd that go?"
"It was alright." Rainbow answered. "She's getting a lot better at flying."
"I'm getting better accustomed to them, though I prefer to keep my hooves planted on the ground, thank you very much." Twilight insisted.
"Once you become as awesome as me in the skies," Rainbow continued, "you'll prefer flying to walking!"
"We'll see." Twilight finished.
Upon completing their lunch, Twilight left Sugar Cube Corner along with Rainbow and myself to go see Rarity. Pinkie Pie had to stay back and help Mr. and Mrs. Cake close up the shop today. The Cakes apparently had to be somewhere important, for their business future depended on it, so they were closing up shop today earlier than usual.
Anyway, Pinkie promised to meet us later on at the Carousel Boutique. We made it to the Carousel Boutique shortly afterwards. Knocking on the door, it opened thereafter, with the lovely Rarity standing there in the doorway. Believe me when I say this: Rarity is even more beautiful in, umm, presence, I guess would be the correct term here, than on TV! I can see why Spike is love struck when it comes to her now.
"Hello, girls!" Rarity said in her high-society, English sounding voice. She turned to me. "And hello there to you, umm..."
"Er, Danny, my fair lady."
"Oh, such good manners!" Rarity praised. "I hope you don't mind me asking but, where did you come from?"
"I'm new to town and-"
Pinkie cut in, "And he's from an alternate world where everypony there knows who we are and he's not too sure he wants to go back after being here for a while because he was lonely in his other world and nopony there understood him!"
Rarity gazed over at me, "Is this true, darling?"
I nodded my head in a bit of shame.
"And did she say 'lonely?'" Rarity asked.
"She did, Miss Rarity."
"You may address me simply as Rarity, Danny."
"With pleasure, Rarity."
"But surely back home you were quite popular amongst others, are you not?" Rarity asked.
I shook my head no. "Where I come from, I consider myself to be independent. I wish to have little to no connections with my outside world, seeing how I'm not too fond of it. Where I'm from, I live day and night emotionlessly, something I wish to have in my life. Coming here has been like a dream come true! I've made more friends here in a matter of days compared to my world, one that I've lived in for a long time."
"Beg pardon," Rarity continued, but what is your age? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"I am 19 years young, my lady."
"Oh, but you're so optimistic. How is it that you're sad and lonely when you have such good manners and a well shaped personality?"
"Back home, I was considered shy. Like I said, I wished to have no connection with my outside world. I turn, I would speak with anyone."
"Then this is where you belong, darling!" Rarity said. She looked at my cutie mark. "And might I ask, are you an author?"
I blushed. "Yes, I am. Twilight here challenged me to write a story from five words she told me. I did so, and afterwards, this appeared here."
"What were those words?"
"Magic of friendship in Equestria."
"And you were able to write a story from just those five words?" Rarity asked, eyes growing bigger from excitement.
"Yes."
"Where is this story?" replied Rarity. "May I read it?"
I smiled at her. "You may indeed read it. But I'll have to obtain it first from Twilight's home."
"Oh please, fetch it for me, won't you?"
"Right away, Rarity!"
"Why, darling, that was simply amazing!"
Rarity handed over the story I let her read, loving every single word of it.
"Thank you for your kind words, Rarity." I answered.
"Thank you for that wonderful story, Danny." Rarity replied. "It's no wonder you're an author. That was simply divine!"
I blushed. "It was nothing, really."
She covered my mouth with her hoof. "Oh, but it was too something! It was one of the most spectacular stories I've ever read!"
"What is?" A voice asked. We turned and noticed that it was Pinkie Pie along with Fluttershy. The one who asked was Fluttershy. "What's the most spectacular thing you've ever read?"
Rarity held up my hoof towards Fluttershy. "This is!"
"May I read it?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes you may." I calmly replied.
Fluttershy finished the story about twenty minutes later. She looked at Rarity, thinking she was the one who wrote it.
"Oh, Rarity," she started, "that was the best thing I've ever read!"
"Well, thank you, darling." Rarity replied. "Though, I didn't write it," she pointed towards me, "he did."
Fluttershy looked over at me, shielding her face within her mane, just like before. "You look familiar. Have we met, uhh..."
"Danny." I answered her. "And we did meet, Fluttershy. Yesterday, at the park."
"Oh, are you new here, Danny?"
Pinkie cut in once more, "He's from an alternate world where everypony there knows who we are and he's not too sure he wants to go back after being here for a while because he was lonely in his other world and nopony there understood him!"
"Alternate world?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Yes," I answered. "I come from a place known as New York. There, I am not a unicorn like I am here. I am lonely there and don't know if I should go back just yet since I've made more friends here than I've ever had there."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Danny." Fluttershy said.
"It's alright, Fluttershy." I said.
"But this story of yours," she continued, "it's amazing! You wrote this yourself?"
"Yes, I did." I replied.
"Do you have anymore like this?" Fluttershy asked.
"Back home." I said. "I have 39 other stories that I've written."
"And I'm assuming that your cutie mark has something to do with writing, right?"
"Yeah, just take a look for yourself." I said, revealing the symbol that was on my flank.
"That's amazing!" Fluttershy quietly shouted.
"Thank you!" I said.
Dinner time was nearing and Twilight and myself started making our way home, well, Twilight's home, that is. On the way, we bumped into Applejack.
"Hey, Twilight!" She said in her southern accent. "Who's your little friend, here?"
"His name is Danny." Twilight answered.
"Well howdy do there, Danny." Applejack said, shaking my hoof rigorously. "Mah name's Applejack!"
Her hoof-shaking was strong. It's no wonder the apples she plucks from the trees on Sweet Apple Acres come down all at the same time.
"Very nice to meet you, Applejack." I replied.
"So, y'all are new here to Ponyville?"
"Yeah, I just came here." I answered.
"Hoo, wee! Where'd y'all come from?" She asked me.
I turned to Twilight as I started explaining the entire story again; how I come from New York, I'm lonely back home, and how I don't know if I want to return home.
"That's an awfully interestin' story y'all have." Applejack said after I finished up.
"Thank you, kindly, Applejack." I answered back.
"Well, listen," she continued, "I'd love to stay and chit chat here with ya, but I gotta go on home now and finish up the apple buckin'. It's lots of work but it sure is worth it. Anyways, I'll see y'all tomorrah!"
Applejack then hustled on back to her farm to finish up her apple bucking whilst Twilight and I headed on home.
We arrived in Twilight's home not too long after we went our separate ways from Applejack and we were both exhausted. We trotted on upstairs and fell on our beds, falling asleep almost immediately.
RING! RING! RI-
I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock. Opening my eyes, I saw a faded blue ceiling; I was back home!
How did I get here? I asked myself.
I went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. I looked like I did before I magically transported to Equestria, tall, skinny, broad shoulders.
But I wanted to stay with them in Equestria! I told myself. They were my...friends...
I stepped outside after changing into a red shirt, beige shorts, and black-and-white sneakers. My iPhone read 6:58 A.M. but the moon was still out. Looking at the date on my iPhone, it said today was August 14. I looked up at the moon and began to wish for something.
I wish I could stay in Equestria with all my new friends!
The moon hit its highest point shortly afterwards and a light shone down from it onto me. It surrounded itself around me and eventually, took me far away.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know, darling."
"We gotta find him though!"
Suddenly, a white light appeared in the middle of the mane six. When it dimmed, in front of each of them was a silver unicorn with a dark gray mane and pale yellow eyes appeared in front of them.
"Danny?"
"Is that you?"
I opened my eyes wider to notice that I was surrounded by each and every one of my new friends.
"It is you!" Applejack concluded.
"What happened to you?" Twilight curiously asked.
"I was somehow transported home last night and woke up in my real bed to the sound of my alarm. I immediately knew I wasn't here anymore and went outside and looked up. The moon was still out and so I thought very hard about it."
"About what?" Rainbow asked.
I smiled at her, answering the light blue Pegasus' question. "About coming back here and staying with all of you. My friends."
Pinkie's eyes widened as I said that. "Does that mean?"
"Yes, Pinkie. It does. I'm here to stay!"
Everypony came around and hugged me tightly as I told them the good news. I was here to stay for a long time, and I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon!