I stared down at my shoes as I trudged along the dark, dirty sidewalk. One strap of my dark green backpack was slung over my shoulder. I looked up at the sky; the clouds were slowly turning dark. Rain. I growled as I looked at my surroundings; still half a mile to go.

It was late February, and the ground was muddy and soft from the recently melted snow. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember the last time it had normally rained. It was a bit relieving, since that meant the weather was warming up, but also extremely inconvenient. My dad was an engineer, and I respected one at that. The problem was that it required him to go on a TON of business trips for unpredictable amounts of time. Sometimes he was home in two days, sometimes two months. My mom always tags along with him, and when I was little, I did as well. But school had gotten harder and my schedule wasn't as flexible, so nowadays I would stay home by myself.

It usually wasn't so bad; I could take care of myself just fine, it just got a little lonely at times. Today, though, it sucked. The reason? I can't drive yet. So here I was, walking home from the bus stop four miles from my house.

I neared my neighborhood and shuttered, trying to think through my situation. It was still quite a walk to my house and it was about to rain. There was a shortcut… but…

I sighed and took the shortcut. I needed to get home as soon as possible. I knew it was a terrible idea, but I was sure I could manage. It wasn't the first time.

"Hey! Pretty boy!" I heard a voice yell from a distance. I knew this was a terrible idea.

I took off running. There aren't too many places to hide in my neighborhood other than behind houses, so I would just have to keep running. I looked back to see three boys running after me, and one slowly catching up on a bike. I panicked and ran faster.

"Don't let him go in the woods!" I heard a boy yell, "Cut him off!"

I smiled. The woods were perfect. If I could just outrun them enough to get into the woods, it would be a thousand times harder for them to come after me. I looked back; the kid on his bike was quickly advancing forward. With a spur of adrenaline, I pushed forward faster, sloppily jumping over a log and into the woods.

"You can't hide, pretty boy!" I heard a deeper voice yell. He was the oldest of the boys on the street. I sighed and ran forward into the woods until I was met with relative silence.

I leaned back against a tree. Going through that side of the neighborhood was never a good idea. It wasn't as if those guys targeted me, they honestly would go after any kid who walked by. It was just easier for them to mess with me. I pulled out my cell phone and looked at my reflection. My freckled cheeks were bright pink from exhaustion and my bleached blonde hair was damp.

It was easy to target me because I was known to be a bit feminine. The thought angered me to no end, but I would never admit that. I was short, about 5'3". My eyes were extremely large and hazel colored. When I was younger, those guys used to call me 'bug eyes'. The nickname had faded into history as I got older, but I almost preferred it to what they called me now.

"Excuse me… um… Pretty boy?" I heard a soft, female voice ask from behind me.

I turned in panic to see a girl staring down at me. I ran. I didn't even bother trying to think through what was going on. That nickname meant trouble, no matter who she was. I couldn't take any chances.

"Wait!" she yelled and began to run after me.

I turned to see not only her, but another girl running beside her in attempt to catch up with me. I turned to my side to see another running toward me at my left. I cursed under my breath and took off to my right.

"Please! Wait up!" I heard the voice yell again.

I closed my eyes and continued running forward, trying to speed up my pace. This was defiantly the strangest situation I'd ever been in. I had no idea who this girl was, and now suddenly she was chasing after me along with two others.

Suddenly I ran into something. I looked up to see yet another girl blocking my path. I quickly turned to run in the other direction, but the two girls chasing me were now closing in. I turned the other way to see the third girl closing in as well. In one last desperate attempt, I ran in the last direction I could think of. From there, a girl aggressively grabbed my shoulders. I backed away from her; I was trapped.

"Please," the girl started again, "Please… we just…"

"This is priceless!" I heard a low voice laugh. The guys had found me.

"I've never seen these girls around before," one mumbled, but then began to smirk, "They don't even know you and their already after you, Pretty boy! Man, you must just be disgusting."

"We don't…" one of the girls started. She was quickly cut off by the tallest boy ramming through them and pinning me to the ground.

"Take his bag!" One of the boys shouted. From there, my backpack was ripped off of me and emptied into a nearby puddle. I tried to squirm my way free, but the boy on top of my spit on my face and then shoved my head into the muddy ground.

"Cry, Pretty boy!" he shouted as he slapped me across the face, "Cry, Sissy!"

I looked up to see that all the girls had disappeared out of sight. I scowled, but was then met with another slap to the face. My attention back to the boy on top of me, I felt cold mud shoved in my ears and my lower torso being kicked by the others.

"Don't like getting dirty? Don't wanna mess up your hair?" the boy spat in my face again. He grabbed a handful of mud and spread it in my hair as if it were shampoo. He then spread it down my face and into my mouth.

"You stink, pretty boy," he laughed suddenly, "You could use a bath."

He then proceeded to forcefully pull me off the ground. My legs were weak from all the kicking, and I nearly stumbled forward. He used this to his advantage and pushed me forward into the puddle my bag had been emptied into.

"Smell you later!" the boy finally said as he threw an old slush-ball at the back of my neck. I felt the cold, dirty slush leak into my shirt and shivered, but didn't move otherwise. Once I was met with silence again, I sat up and spat out the leftover mud that lingered on my tongue.

I looked around; my books were all over the place and soaked beyond repair. I sighed and gathered them all up into my bag again, thinking about how much faster and easier it could've been if I hadn't taken the shortcut. I stood up along with my bag and began walking out of the woods.

"…Pretty boy?" I heard a familiar female voice call.

I groaned, "What! What do you want from me?"

I watched as all five stepped out from behind the trees, followed closely by a sixth. We all stared at each other for a while. It was irritating.

"Well?" I asked bitterly, "I'm not resisting. Come at me, I've got time for another round."

"Pretty boy… we don't,"

"YOUR HAIR!" one of them shouted suddenly. I staggered back as one of them came hurdling at me, grabbing me with sheer force. I fell backwards, and I head smacked against a fallen log. Her face became a blur, and slowly faded into blackness. I cursed as I felt myself losing consciousness. Great.

"We don't even know where he lives," I heard a panicked voice mutter. I was coming to.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't live anywhere, the way those others were treating him," I heard another say with worry.

I opened my eyes a bit to see a head looming over me, but looking off in another direction. My head was in the girl's lap. I stared, this was the first time I had really gotten the chance to look at her. The girl's hair was dark purple and had an elegant wave to it. I glanced over to where the others were. They were all wearing bright, silk dresses. Almost like nightgowns.

"Why were you so desperate to talk to him anyway, Twilight?" a blonde haired one asked the girl who I originally ran into, who also had dark purple hair but with a pink and dark blue streak.

Twilight…

"I thought he could tell us about where we are… and rather, what we are…" 'Twilight' stumbled on her words, obviously still surprised about what had happened.

"That… poor little thing," a light pink-haired girl whined.

"It's okay, Fluttershy," the blonde haired one sighed, "He's going to be fine."

Fluttershy…?

My eyes opened a little wider as I took another good look at the six girls. Something about that name sounded… really familiar.

"You don't know that, Applejack!" the rainbow-haired one shouted, "I mean… he hit his head pretty hard."

My eyes widened in shock as I heard that last name. Applejack… Oh… my…

"P-pretty boy?" the girl holding my head asked suddenly. She was looking down at me in shock.

I quickly rolled out of her lap and got on my feet. I stared aggressively at them for a minute, until I started to lose my balance. I clenched my head and desperately reached out for something to hold on to.

"P-please… please be careful, Pretty boy," 'Fluttershy' said softly, "D-don't push yourself too fast."

I growled and backed away from them, "That's…" I sighed, "My name isn't Pretty boy."

"Then why were those guys…" the rainbow- haired one started to ask.

"It's an insult," I solemnly explained, "They call me that because they think I look like a girl."

"Oh… I-I'm sorry," 'Fluttershy' mumbled.

"What is your name, then?" 'Twilight' asked curiously.

I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to tell them just yet. But if I didn't then they would probably keep calling me that stupid name.

"Olly," I sighed, "Just… call me Olly."

"That's it?" the blonde-haired one raised an eyebrow, "Just Olly?"

"Yea…" I replied awkwardly, "Just Olly."

"Oh well… I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight introduced herself, "And this is Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."

Oh… my…

"Those are… interesting names," I muttered.

"Are you alright?" Rarity asked.

I snapped my head toward her and regained my cool, "Yea, yea I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Applejack asked, "You hit your head pretty hard there…"

"Y-yea, I'm fine…"

"…May I see?" Fluttershy asked.

"What?"

"Can… can I see where you hit your head…? If-if that's okay…"

I hesitated, but before I could say anything, Fluttershy cautiously walked up behind me and softly tried to inspect the wound. I gasped and pulled away from her.

"P… Olly," she gasped, "That bump…"

"I'm fine, can't even feel it," I replied quickly and coolly.

"Olly," Twilight started, "We wanted to talk to you because… well we need some help."

I sat back onto the log I had hit my head on and attempted to wipe some of the mud off of my cheeks, "Help, huh? What kind of help?"

"It's… actually a bit complicated," she continued, "Maybe we could go somewhere more comfortable for you? It might be a lot to take in…"

I raised an eyebrow. Obviously I knew exactly what she was going to try to tell me, as I had been a fan of MLP since the second season. But I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to tell them that they were the stars of a children's television show…

"I… guess we could go to my house…" I pondered.

"We don't mean to be a bother," Rarity cut in, "We just need a few questions answered, and we'll be out of your hair."

I thought for a minute. These girls were from a completely different dimension as far as I knew. They would come over and ask about this world and who they were… and then what? I kick them out? I shook my head, I wasn't THAT cruel.

"Nah, don't worry about it," I finally concluded, "There's no rush. Stay for dinner if you want."

"Really? Oh wow you're so super nice!" Pinkie Pie shouted, who strangely had been relatively quiet up to this point.

"Well, we better get going then," I stood up with a new burst of confidence, "On the way here it looked like it was going to rain soon."

"What about those other guys?" Applejack perked up.

I stopped in my tracks, "They… they shouldn't bother us again. They already did once today… they're probably after some other kid right now anyway…"

"Something tells me you're not so sure…" Twilight walked in front of me questionably, "Why did they attack you in the first place?"

I cringed, "A story for another time. Come on, we gotta get home."

A couple of them looked at me skeptically for a second, but then decided to drop the topic and follow after me, much to my relief. Thanks to the shortcut, we were able to make it back to my house in under ten minutes. Some of the girls stood agape; my house was two stories and made of light brown- almost orange brick. It had a two-car garage and a single-car garage attached to the side.

"Nice," Rainbow Dash whistled.

"Thanks, my dad has a pretty high paying job." I replied as I dug my key out of my pocket.

"Will your dad mind us being here for very long?" Twilight cut in.

"Him and my mom are on a business trip," I said casually, "I have no idea when they'll be back, but it probably won't be for a while."

"How long is 'a while'," Applejack asked suspiciously.

"Couple weeks, most likely. Although they have been gone for longer before."

"Oh my… so you take care of yourself through it all?"

I shrugged as I unlocked the door, "Yea, I mean, it's not all that hard. I can cook so I don't have to worry about food or anything."

"What about the store?" Pinkie asked, "It seems like it takes a really really really long time to walk to places around here. How do you buy things?"

"I have a friend who drives me places when he's home."

"Drive?" Rarity raised an eyebrow.

I raised an eyebrow back as Twilight nudged her. They weren't very good at hiding the fact that they weren't from here, but I guess that's to be expected. After all, how were they supposed to know what cars were? Who knows how long they've been here, but assuming that they weren't starving to death as we spoke, it couldn't have been very long.

I sighed, "I think we're all gonna have to do a little explaining…"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked as she walked into the house.

"Just… make yourself at home. I'm gonna go try to wash all this mud off."

I walked upstairs to my bathroom and looked in the mirror, hoping that they'd all be able to make their way around at least the living room. My hair was in spikes due to the mud drying on my scalp, and my face was barely visible. I sighed and I pulled off my shirt. Something was telling me it was going to be a long, long couple of weeks.