When I had woken up, later that day, Fluttershy had not done any of the things that my mind had come up with. I had found myself feeling a lot better, and I could walk after just a few hours. Fluttershy told me that the pain was probably caused by falling onto them from a height. That caused more questions to be raised about how I came to Ponyville, to which I quickly said that I couldn't remember what happened before I came to Ponyville, or why I'd left 'Lunadon', which was half true.

This made her worry, and she insisted that she checked for any other injuries to make sure that I was OK. I was, as it turned out, and a silence finally passed over us. This was the point that I was well again, and I no longer needed assistance.

I could go back home, or stay, somehow. The problem was, I couldn't go to Lunadon, and I had no reason to stay in Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy seemed to realise this too, and I saw a look of... Sadness? She saw me looking, and hid her face with her mane. She may have been embarrassed, but I had a whole different conflict in my head.

I had lied, and I needed to tell the truth. I found myself wishing that I had never lied, and I realised that, had I told the truth, these ponies would have helped me all the same. I looked guiltily at Fluttershy, but she was looking at the floor, so she didn't catch it.

Just then, there was a rapid knock on the door, and the pink blur bursted in right afterwards, without giving anybody a chance to answer. She managed to tackle me again, and I ended up back on my back, with Pinkie Pie on my chest. She delved right into speaking like it was a prepared speech.

"Eddie! You're late for your party! I planned this super special surprise party for you at Sugarcube Corner and everypony in town is dying to meet you because you're new in town and I told them you'd be there and you're not here so you need to come right now!"

I could only label her emotion as 'playfully serious', as if she could only be playful with her emotions. I realised that this may very well be the case, and I looked back at Pinkie Pie, trying to figure out what to say. She didn't wait for a response, however, and jumped off me in the opposite direction of the door. Before I could move, I felt Pinkie shove both of her hooves into my side and push me along the floor. I may have yelped a little, and I rolled over onto my own hooves.

"I can walk, Pinkie Pie!" I half shouted, still wary from the surprise. Pinkie only started bouncing on her hooves, somehow manoeuvring herself towards the door.

"That's great! Let's get going, Eddie, we don't wanna be even more late!" She called out, already out the door. I looked at Fluttershy, who gave me a weak smile, and I followed Pinkie out the door, without realising that, in all the excitement, I could walk without thinking about it.

Sugercube Corner, it turned out, was a shop, styled to look like a big gingerbread house. It was dark when I walked in, but the lights quickly turned on and loads of ponies jumped out from behind various objects in front of my blinking eyes, and all shouted "Surprise!" at the same time. I found myself wondering how long Pinkie had had them waiting there.

Music started from nowhere and Pinkie Pie started yelling in my ear about how everyone is happy to meet me and that I should now enjoy myself, while the other ponies started talking among themselves. For the first time in Equestria, I finally felt some familiarity.

Parties, having fun, late into the night stuff, this was where I excelled. I started to really enjoy myself, but I later found out that parties in Equestria were a lot more different than parties on Earth. They felt more like birthday parties than actual parties, but I still had fun.

I managed to meet the rest of Pinkie Pie's main group, aside from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, there were two unicorns, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle.

The former was a fashion designer, who spoke with class. I had met many who acted like her, but, like me, she seemed to like living closely with friends instead of in higher Equestrian societies. Twilight lived in a library, and she apparently was sent there by Princess Celestia. I had no idea who that was, but I wondered if these ponies had a similar system of government to England.

I couldn't find a way to bring it up in conversation, but I realised that I could look it up in the library that Twilight lived in. Fortunately, I managed to keep the conversation away from my past, and I didn't have to make up more lies about myself.

Eventually, the party was over, and all of the ponies were heading back to their homes to sleep. It was 2 o'clock in the morning and I found myself wondering if these ponies had jobs. I wasn't even sure what day it was. I overheard the six girls who seemed the closest talk about going to Twilight's library after everything had been cleared away, and I wanted to go with them to find out more about Equestria, but I didn't want to intrude on a potential 'girls night in' that would take place.

I realised, however, that without a living space, I didn't have much choice, but that still didn't give me a chance to ask them. The white unicorn, Rarity, noticed me anxiously looking at the group.

"Is something the matter, dear?" She asked, looking at me and attracting the rest of the group's attention to me.

"Well," I began, trying to think fast. "I was wondering if I could, ah, look at some books in the library..." I trailed off, trying to find a reason. "...In order to find out more about Ponyville?" I got quizzical looks, and I realised that late at night probably wasn't a good time for a history lesson. Twilight, however, almost looked pleased.

"Of course you can look at history of Ponyville books, Eddie! Those books usually don't get read because everypony who uses the library already lives in Ponyville!" She almost sounded like Pinkie Pie as she spoke, and I was happy that she'd accepted.

Despite my usual attitude, I stayed silent on the walk to the library while the others chatted about various things to each other. Walking at night, with no other ponies around, save for the six in front of me, gave me a chance to take in all of the scenery.

While, on Earth, it was hard to see at night, Equestria was as visible as anything else. I could see all of the buildings that made up Ponyville, along with mountains, that were circular as if imported straight from Super Mario World. A huge forest lined the other side, and it seemed wild and untamed. I realised that the forest was the one that Fluttershy's house was next to, but I didn't realise that it was so huge.

I also realised that Pinkie Pie had pulled me out of two awkward situations, and I found myself wondering if she did it on purpose. I looked at her, and she was bouncing along on her hooves again, talking innocently like the rest of the group. She just looked like a person... A pony who had no troubles, and no secrets.

I remember her telling me twice about my surprise party before it happened, so I supposed that she was just perfectly carefree enough that everything was a big joke to her. As a matter of fact, everybody I saw here was carefree and happy. I hadn't seen one down-turned face since I became a pony, supposing the rabbit didn't count.

I almost bumped into Rarity as the group stopped, but I managed to stop myself in time. We were at the library. At first, I thought it was a huge tree, but I saw windows and a door at closer inspection. At the top, I could see a balcony with a telescope on it. I wondered if the stars had the same constellations here. Before I could check, however, the rest of the group went inside, and I quickly followed.

The inside of the library was not like most libraries. Instead of isles, all of the books were in a ring around the edges. Twilight turned around to face me, and started speaking.

"The Ponyville history books are over here, Eddie. Right next to the general Equestrian history section." She walked over to a few books, and I followed while she picked a few books out with her telekinesis. "These books are the most informative," she continued, "And should have everything you need about Ponyville's history."

She was carrying four books over to me, and placed the pile in front of me. How much history did this town have? Rarity seemed to be thinking the same thing, and interjected.

"Twilight, We don't want to drown the poor colt in information! A more basic history will do, right?" She was addressing me in the last part.

"Oh, no, it's fine," I said, not really wanting history of the town. I wanted the history of Equestria instead, and Twilight had said that the section was right next to the one she had just pulled books out of. "The more the merrier, eh?"

Later that night, the rest of the girls had gone home to get some sleep. It was already very late, but I had gotten a lot of sleep before. Twilight had agreed to let me keep reading in her library, as long as I wasn't too loud. She was apparently familiar with late nights of studying, and I found it odd that she just let a stranger be in her home while she was asleep.

The ponies obviously didn't have the troubles of Earth like robbers or worse. It didn't feel right, even though it was a lot better. I thought of what might happen if these ponies went to Earth, and I shuddered.

My next obstacle, however, was getting to the book that I wanted. Low down, the books were, 'The History of Fashion in Equestria' and '101 Magical Spells that Aided Equestrian History'. Whoa. Magical spells? Momentarily forgetting my initial goal, I let my curiosity get the better of me and I pulled the book out with my teeth. After a few tries, I managed to get the book open using my hooves, and began reading the first page.

"Throughout history," it began, "Unicorns have been performing magic. It is no surprise, then, that magical spells have aided in solving various problems in Equestria's history. Throughout this book, we will discover what these problems were, and how magic was able to solve them."

I stopped reading to think. Unicorns could perform magic? Was the act of telekinesis a spell? I read further into the book, but it didn't go into detail of the spells. It just described what they did and how they solved problems. Eventually, I closed the book again with my teeth, and tried to knock it back onto the shelf with my muzzle. My only reward was a hurt nose.

I cursed myself for my curiosity. I placed both of my front hooves either side of the book, and pressed in to it, resting on my pony elbows. I managed to lift the book and, after a few tries, slotted it back into its place.

I looked further up the bookcase and saw a brown book that looked important. It was odd to see it unmarked, but it seemed to compensate by having a gold line at the top and bottom of the spine.

It was right next to 'Known Pre-pony Era' and 'Changes in Equestrian Societies', so I suspected that it would tell of the beginning of Equestria. The problem was, I couldn't reach it. It was right on the top shelf, and the builder of the library didn't seem to account for ponies like me, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I looked around, and saw a sliding ladder.

I walked over to it, and I started pushing it with my head, while looking down. It moved quite easily, and I was glad that it wasn't loud while it was moving. I managed to get it across to the book, but I was now faced with a new problem: Climbing a ladder as a pony.

I put my front left hoof on the ladder, and remembered my earlier adventures with walking. I realised that I never learned to walk, but I was instead distracted by Pinkie Pie. I looked around, wondering if she could help me climb up a ladder if she distracted me again. She was nowhere to be found, however, so I was alone.

I picked up my right front hoof, and placed it on the same step as my left. Using my back hooves, I edged a bit closer to the ladder. I then placed my front left hoof on the next step, followed by my front right one. Now for the tricky part. I picked up my back left hoof, and managed to keep my balance as I placed it on the first step.

With my back right leg, however, I wasn't as lucky. As I lifted it, I lost balance and fell off the ladder with a thud, once again ending up on my back. I cursed under my breath and heard footsteps from upstairs.

I was about to remind myself that they would be hoofsteps instead, but a creature with feet came down the stairs. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I found myself unable to speak. The creature, however, found its voice faster.

"Who are you?" It exclaimed, and I could still only remain silent. It had a male voice, so I assumed as much was true. He stared at me for a while, and then I saw something in his eyes click. "Oh, you must be the guy Twilight let stay. Sorry, I didn't remember for a second there." He walked the rest of the way and bent down, examining me.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking at me quizzically. I was still transfixed. He appeared to have scales, he was smaller than me, and I could see spines along his back and down his pointy tail. He waited a few awkward seconds for me to respond, which I still found myself unable to do. He huffed, and spoke to me again, this time annoyed.

"What's the matter, never seen a dragon before?" A dragon? I managed to weakly shake my head, and he considered this. "...Well, now you have. The name's Spike." He held out a clawed hand, and I realised that it was supposed to be a hand shake. I found it a little odd, since I had no hands anymore, but I still pressed a hoof against his hand, and he closed it around my hoof. I found my voice.

"I'm Eddie," I said, simply. Spike looked up at the ladder, and back down to me.

"Do you need a little help there?" He asked, aware of my intention.

"Ah, yes," I replied. "I was trying to reach that big, brown book up there." I pointed a hoof into the general direction of where the book was, and Spike looked up and saw which one I meant.

"The story of Nightmare Moon?" Spike asked, sounding surprised. Story?

"Uh, if it's a story," I began, thinking Spike meant a fictional story, "What's it doing in the 'history' section?"

"Oh," Spike replied. "Twilight insisted that it was put in the history section after the incident." I stared at him blankly. He continued after a few moments. "You know, the whole 'the night will last forever' thing?" I realised that this was a big thing that I couldn't have missed.

"Uh... I must have been asleep for that..." I tried. Spike looked at me oddly, but continued.

"Well, as the story goes, a long time ago, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled Equestria together." I slowly rose to my hooves, while he spoke. "Because all of the ponies slept during Luna's night, she got jealous of Celestia's day, when all of the ponies lived and played. Luna became a mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon, and refused to lower the moon, keeping the night and not letting the sun rise.

"Celestia tried to reason with her, but Nightmare Moon wouldn't budge the night, so Celestia had to use the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon into the moon. 1000 years later, she escapes to make night time remain again.

"Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy become the elements and use them to free Luna from Nightmare Moon, where she agrees to return to being co-ruler of Equestria with Celestia.

"The tale was treated as fiction until it turned out to be true. Oddly enough, no books..." I tuned him out because I started silently thinking about the story.

So, Princess Celestia rules Equestria with another Princess, named Luna. The implications were that they were... Married? The more important info, however, was that they were both over 1000 years old. I shivered, wondering how anything could live as long as that.

I also found myself wondering if the two rulers were unicorns, pegasi or... Whatever the others were called. I decided to call them Earth ponies, as they were just like the ones on Earth. I would have to be careful not to call them that to anybody else, and find out what Earth ponies were really called.

In the mean time, Spike had stopped speaking, and he looked like he had just asked a question.

Uh... What?" I tried. Spike sighed, as if asking again was the hardest thing in the world.

"I said, 'How could you have missed everything that happened?'" He repeated. "You said you were asleep, but didn't anyone tell you? It was all over the news. Nobody had ever seen Princess Celestia so happy."

As he finished, he looked at me suspiciously, making me wonder if he was actually going to figure it out. Part of me really wanted to tell him the truth, much more than the ponies. Was I growing attached to him just because he was the most human thing that I had seen since I got here?

Hell, I didn't even know where 'here' was. Another universe? An undiscovered planet or even a location on Earth? I realised that Spike had just asked me another question that I had ignored as I had gone into deep thought again.

"Uh... I... Never-" I was nervous, and I really didn't want to lie to this dragon, so I acted suspicious, prompting Spike to interrupt me.

"Who are you?" He asked, an echo of the first thing he had said to me. "Are you a spy? Are you even from here?" His accusations, especially how justified they were, made me feel even more guilty. Not just for lying to Spike, but lying to everyone else I'd met here too.

I quickly tried to get a hold of the situation.

"No, I'm not spying on you! I..." I trailed off, realising that everything else he asked were the right questions. I tried again, noticing how patient the dragon was being. "I am Eddie Warren, and I'm not a spy."

"You already said that," He reminded me. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from London!" I half-shouted, panicking. Even the liars on TV got more time than this.

"London? Not Lunadon?" He asked, knowing he was catching me out. How much had Twilight told him? I made a decision.

"I am from London, Spike." After a moment of breath, I continued, ordering my words carefully. "London is on Earth. It's a city filled with things called humans. They're like you, Spike. They walk on two legs and talk to each other like the ponies do here.

You may not believe this, but I am a human, it's just that I don't look like one now. I don't know how I'm a pony, I don't even know why I'm a pony or why I'm here, I just woke up like this!" I was beginning to get hysterical as I went on, and Spike's face wasn't making this any easier. It was clear from his expression that he didn't believe me.

After looking at me for a few seconds, Spike suddenly shouted, taking me off guard. "Twilight! Twilight!" he shouted, obviously trying to wake her up and get her downstairs. To do what? I suddenly remembered the book claiming that unicorns could perform spells. I backed up as I heard hoofsteps coming from upstairs. I hit the door with my flanks, and turned around to open it just as I saw purple hooves appear at the top of the stairs. I did the only logical thing at that point.

I ran.