Chapter 2: A New World

The next morning...

Andrew groaned as he stirred from his deep slumber and rolled onto his back. His head felt like someone had smashed it with a cinder block. It was enough to keep him from wanting to open his eyes for the moment. Suddenly, he felt someone dabbing his forehead with a warm damp cloth. Its soothing affects helped alleviate some of the throbbing sensations of his head. Feeling more awake, his thoughts slowly went back to what happened before he had blacked out, thinking it was just all a bad dream. Whatever happened to Andrew, it still had him feeling a little disoriented as his thoughts were still a jumble.

"Mom...is that you?" Andrew asked in a raspy voice, still not quite awake yet.

"There now. Just relax." A voice gently shushed him, placing the warm, damp cloth back on his forehead. "You've been asleep for almost nine hours now."

"I had a horrible nightmare. I dreamed there was this glowing orb and it sucked me inside of it." He said, letting the cloth rub back and forth on his forehead.

The gentle voice said, "Well, you are safe and sound now, here at my library."

After hearing that last part, that's when Andrew realized that something wasn't right. "Your library?" He asked as his eyes shot open and he quickly sat up in the bed.

Andrew opened his eyes and that realized that he didn't recognize any of his surroundings. It certainly wasn't his room or any other room that he knew of. It didn't help that everything looked fuzzy to him. Looking around, he saw a nightstand to his left with a lamp and what looked like his glasses on it. He reached out with his hand and grabbed them and placed them on his face. 'That's much better'

Looking to the right, Andrew was surprised to see what it was that had been talking to him. His eyes widened in shock. There in front of him was a lavender unicorn with a magenta mane with purple stripes which he guessed was a female from the sound of the voice. Staring back at him were two very large violet eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She said calmly as the human stared back at her in shock, his mouth hanging open but no words were coming out.

A tidal wave of thoughts started crashing through Andrew's brain. "Where am I? What in the hell is going on!" He shouted as he backed up in the bed, trying to get away from her. Surprised by the human's sudden outburst, Twilight took a couple steps back.

The unicorn raised her hoof, "It's alright. Please, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. I'll try to explain everything to you if you give me a chance." Twilight looked at the human and continued. "I found outside in a field behind my home last night. You were unconscious so I brought you here." She said trying her best to sound calming and reassuring.

"Wait a minute, did you just...talk? I must be dreaming!" Andrew exclaimed, not believing what he was hearing.

"I can assure you that you are not dreaming. Just take a deep breath and relax." She said with genuine concern. "My name is Twilight Sparkle but you can call me Twilight if you would like." She said holding a hoof to her chest. " What is your name?"

Andrew placed his hand over his chest and took a few deep breaths before answering, "My name is Andrew."

"Its nice to meet you. I'm sure like me, you have some questions."

"I'm sorry but this is just a lot to take in at the moment." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Let me get this straight, you're a horse that can talk, right? Does that mean that everyone else here can talk as well?"

"Actually, we're called ponies, not horses." Twilight stated matter-of-factly. "More specifically, I'm a unicorn and yes, everypony else here can talk. Can't ponies talk where you're from?" She asked with her head tilted to the side with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, where I'm from they're called actually horses and they certainly can't talk and they don't have cones sticking out of their heads. Creatures like unicorns just don't exist where I'm from except in children's books and fantasy novels. Can you tell me where I am? The last thing I remember is..." He said rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"You are in the Golden Oak Library located in the town of Ponyville." She replied.

"I've never heard of any Ponyville before. Where is that?"

"In the land of Equestria of course."

"I'm sorry...but I have no idea what that is." He responded with a confused look on his face.

Twilight acted surprised by his reply. "That's not possible. Everyone has heard of Equestria. Unless...you're not from around here."

"I think that's pretty obvious." Andrew raised an eyebrow and let out a half-hearted chuckle. "I'm what's called a human from a planet called Earth and..." He looked around. "this is definitely not it."

"Oh dear, that's not good." She said placing her hoof on her chin before she to look at him again. It looked like she was deep in thought. "Well, I promise you that I will look into getting you back to your home. I've already sent a letter to my mentor to see if she has any ideas. In the meantime, would you like something to eat or someone to talk to?" She asked.

Andrew could tell that she was trying to be friendly and he appreciated it but right now wasn't the best time for him. "I appreciate the offer...but all of this is lot for me to take in right now. I...I think it would be best if I was by myself for a while." He replied shaking his head with a dejected look on his face, staring at the bed.

"I suppose you're right. This has been a bit of a shock for you." Twilight nodded and turned away from him.

Twilight walked over to the steps, before stopping to turn her head to look back at the human. "I will be downstairs doing some reading if you need anything. If you are up to it later, hopefully we can talk more. I would like to learn more about where you're from." She said with a concerned look on her face before looking at the ground.

Andrew nodded with a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Twilight."

With one last look at him she nodded. Turning her head, she made her way down the stairs. Moments later, there was nothing but silence except for the thoughts in his head. Andrew don't know how long he sat there, his eyes not really focusing on anything. His brain was going a mile a minute trying to process everything that Twilight had just told him. 'Why did this happen to me? I didn't ask for this. What am I going to do? How am I going to get home?'

Taking off his glasses and placing them on the nightstand, Andrew laid his head back down on to the pillow. He closed his eyes and tried to take slow deep breaths. 'Maybe when I wake up, this will have only been a dream and I'll wake up in my own bed. Yeah, only a dream...' He kept saying to himself until sleep finally overtook him.

Sometime later, Andrew was awoken by the sounds of birds chirping by the window. Turning his head towards the window, he saw that it was still light out. 'How long had I been asleep', he wondered to himself. He looked around the room hoping for it to be his apartment but his heart sank when he saw that it wasn't.

Andrew's train of though was broken by a voice coming from downstairs. Andrew, are you awake? He could hear Twilight calling out to him.

Y..yeah. I m awake. Andrew replied, rubbing his eyes trying to wake himself up. Twilight...right? He asked the unicorn, trying to remember her name.

The sounds of hoof steps got louder as she came upstairs to the loft. "That s right. Are you feeling any better?" She asked with a warm smile.

Andrew sat up and responded, "I am feeling a little bit better than before. Thank you." He reached over to the nightstand and put his glasses back on.

"That is good to hear. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through but I'm going to do what I can to help you get through this. You're not alone in this." She said trotted over and placed a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, smiling at him.

"I appreciate that, Twilight. I really do." Andrew looked at her with a small smile.

"You must be hungry, would you like to join me for some lunch?" She asked, taking her hoof off of his shoulder.

After everything Andrew just seen and heard today, he didn't feel much like eating anything. Well, I.. Before he could respond, his stomach let out a rumble causing him to place his hand over it. His face turned red from embarrassment.

"I'll take that as a yes." Twilight giggled. "Just come downstairs when you're ready." She said as she went down the stairs.

A few moments after she left, Andrew pulled back the covers and swung his legs over the side. He stood up on the wooden floor. His legs were a little stiff from laying in the bed for so long. He did a few stretches and the circulation soon returned. Next to the bed were his shoes as well as his sweatshirt folded up next to them. Andrew put on his shoes and zipped up his sweatshirt.

Finally getting a better look at his surroundings, Andrew noticed the room was quite spacious. To the right of the bed, there was a large window with a view of some buildings outside. Along the other side of the bed, there was a mirrored vanity and a shelf with some books and photos on it. Looking back at the bed he was just laying on, it was the only one here so Andrew figured that this must belong to Twilight. Not wanting to be rude, he made the bed before he left.

Andrew walked down the stairs to the next floor with some more windows that let more natural light into the room. There were shelves along the walls that looked like they were built into the oak walls of the library, filled with books of all shapes, sizes, and colors. One set of shelves was adorned with some plates and other knickknacks. A stone fireplace set along one wall with a sofa nearby it. There was also a writing table with a bottle of ink and quills on it. A door off to the side led outside which looked like to balcony. There was another set of stairs going to a lower floor.

"Oh good, there you are. The kitchen is this way." She said with a smile, motioning with her hoof.

Andrew followed the unicorn down the steps untill they got to a wooden door with no handle on it. Twilight was about to open it with her body but Andrew stepped in and opened it for her.

"Oh, thank you Andrew. You didn't have to do that." She said with a surprised look on her face which turned into a smile.

"I know. It's a force of habit I guess. Sorry." He replied rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He may be a little out of his element but he's still a gentleman.

"Please don't apologize. I've just never had anypony open a door for me before." She said, still smiling

Andrew followed behind her as they walked inside the kitchen. It looked just like any other kitchen with cabinets and drawers along the walls as well as appliances and a refrigerator and a sink. In the middle of the room was a simple square table with two chairs on either side. It had already been set with two placemats, plates and silverware. in the middle of the table was a silver vase with flowers in it.

"Do you like salad? I picked up some ingredients at the market yesterday," Twilight asked, Turing her head to look at the human.

"Sure. That sounds good to me." The human shrugged his shoulders.

Alright. I don't know what humans eat. I guess I should have inquired about that earlier." She remarked while putting lettuce into a bowl.

"That s alright. We eat pretty much anything, except for hay and flowers." Andrew leaned against the table, placing his hands in his pockets. "Is there anything that I can help with, Twilight?"

"Sure, there are some salad dressings in the refrigerator. Can you get them out for me?" She pointed to the refrigerator with her hoof.

Inside the fridge, Andrew found two bottles of dressing; ranch and a blueberry vinaigrette. He grabbed both bottles and closed the fridge door. When he turned around, he stopped in his tracks not believing what he was seeing. Twilight was cutting vegetables but she wasn't using her hooves. The knife was floating in front of her. It was surrounded by a purple field floating in the air. Twilight's horn was glowing the same color as well.

Andrew's eyes widened and his mouth opened. In his state of shock, he accidentally dropped the bottles of dressing on the floor. "W-wait a minute. How..how are you doing that?"

Twilight looked over at Andrew as continued cutting, and giggled. "Do you mean what I'm doing with the knife and these vegetables? Its a simple levitation spell. It's one of the first spells I ever learned." Twilight said as her face beamed with pride.

Andrew nodded profusely. "Yeah, how are you doing that? The knife is glowing and so is your horn." He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. "It's like you're using magic.

"You're correct because it is magic." Twilight chuckled, placing a hoof over her mouth. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm guessing from your reaction that you've never seen any magic before?"

"You could say that. On Earth, there is no magic. We have magicians who appear to make things move and disappear but that's no real magic. It's all illusion and slight-of-hand." Andrew explained.

"No magic at all? Very interesting." She said rubbing her chin with her hoof.

"Well, I think that's really cool. Hopefully you can show me more sometime." Andrew remarked, picking up the bottles from the floor.

"Really? I would love to show you!" Twilight exclaimed before realizing how excited she sounded and turned her head in embarrassment.

Twilight turned back to the counter to finish cutting the rest of the vegetables and mixed them in the bowl with the lettuce. After she was done, they both sat down at the table and enjoyed the salads. They both chose the vinaigrette dressing. Andrew couldn't believe how good it tasted. The two didn't say anything as they finished the last of the salads. Occasionally, Andrew caught Twilight glancing over at him with those violet eyes but then she would immediately turn her head away. He could tell that she wanted to ask him some more questions but something was holding her back. Maybe she didn't think he was comfortable talking about it yet. Andrew decided that he would let it all out there for her.

"It's alright Twilight. You're probably wondering what I am and how I got here. He let out a deep sigh and folded his arms across his chest. I've been thinking about the later part myself."

"I am very curious. Can you tell me anything that you remember from before you woke up this morning?"

Over the next several minutes, Andrew described how yesterday was a regular day for him. That was until he had found that glowing orb in the apartment. He didn't leave out any details about how the orb seemed to draw him to it or the fear that he felt as it enveloped him inside of it. Twilight was listening intently while writing down notes, not wanting to miss anything.

"I don't remember anything after that until I woke up here."

"That is very interesting," Twilight said holding a hoof to her chin. "From what you described, it sounds like some form of magic but I'm not familiar with what you described. Don't worry though, I will do my best to figure it out."

Despite Twilight's friendly nature and hospitality, all Andrew could think about was getting home. His friends and family would start to worry about him soon when they don't hear from him. His parents usually called him on the weekends. He couldn't imagine what it will do to them when he suddenly disappeared without a trace. 'Would they think that I ran away or that he was dead?' No, he can t think like that now. He needed to have faith that Twilight or someone here can get him back home. His half smile turned into a look of melancholy.

"Well, I have to go into town and run some errands. Would you want to come with me?" Twilight said, breaking the silence.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, wouldn't I stand out and draw attention? I don't want to cause any trouble." Andrew asked, sounding a little apprehensive.

"You have nothing to worry about. The ponies in Ponyville are some of the nicest ponies you will ever meet plus I'll let the mayor know you're here. It'll be fine." She said smiling.

"Well, if you're sure...then I will go with you." Andrew said as he stood up and carried his plate over to the sink.

"That's great. Normally, I have Spike go with me but he's with a friend of ours right now. So, your help and company would be appreciated."

"Of course. Wait, who's Spike? Andrew asked.

"He is one of my best friends who lives here with me. I guess I should warn you though...he's a dragon." She responded back.

Her response caught Andrew a little of guard. "A dragon? Wait, you live with a dragon?"

'First, talking ponies and now dragons. What's next, griffons and hydras?'

"Don't worry about it. He's a baby dragon. We've known each other since the day he hatched. He's like a little brother."

"How nice."

Walking out to the main area, there were shelves upon shelves filled with books. Scattered on the floor were tall stacks of books on the floor. In the middle of the room, there was a round table with a wooded bust of a pony's head on it. There was an adjoining room with even more shelves filled with books. 'Does she think she has enough books? Oh wait, she lives in a library. Duh.'

Something out of the corner of Andrew's eye caught his attention. It was a bag that looked familiar but that was impossible.

"How'd it get here?" He said in a whisper, walking closer to it. The events from the night before came back to him. The glowing sphere and getting pulled inside of it. The fear he had felt. Trying to reach out for anything to grab onto. His hands had grabbed onto something. It was his bag. Reaching inside of it, he found the book that he had been reading.

"I found that bag not too far from where I found you last night." Twilight said from behind him, causing him to jump. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I hope you don't mind, I started reading some of your book." She said sheepishly.

"No, it's alright." Andrew chuckled, waving his hand. "What did you think of it so far?"

"It's good. Though I don't know anything about your world's history to completely understand it."

"That's alright. If you would like, I can help you with that later." Andrew said with a smile.

"You will? Thank you! I love history." Twilight exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

"Really? I like to read about history myself. It's one of my hobbies." Andrew scratched the back of his head. "Maybe you will teach me a little about your history as well.

"I would really like that. Maybe later?" Twilight smiled.

"Sounds good. Well, shall we go then?" Andrew said motioning towards the door.

Twilight nodded as she used her magic to lift a pair of saddlebag onto her back. They were gray and embroidered with her six-pointed star, just like her cutie mark, on them. The door glowed violet as it opened. She trotted through first as he followed behind her. The door closed and locked behind them.

Walking outside to Ponyville for the first time, Andrew raised a hand over his eyes to block out the bright sunlight. After blinking a few times, his eyes soon adjusted to the light. From what he could see, the buildings had a very midievel-style to them; timber-framed with thatched roofs overhanging the upper floors. There were ponies of different color and manes as well as strange marks on their flanks. They were going about their daily business on such a beautiful day. Andrew looked over at Twilight and saw one on her as well. Hers was a large star with five smaller ones around it. He made a mental note to ask her about that later.

Putting his hands inside his pockets, Andrew decided to inquire about where they were going. "So, where do you need to go to in town?"

Twilight pulled out a piece of parchment from her saddlebag using her magic and held it in front of her. "Just a few places. Let's see here...I need more parchment, ink and quills, some food and talk to the mayor about you."

"Sounds simple enough." 'Why did she need my help then?' Andrew wondered to himself.

Just then, they heard a voice coming from behind them. "Oh there you are Twilight. Good afternoon to you!" Came a cheerful female voice from an earth pony mare.

She had lightly tan-colored fur as well as a silver mane and tail. Around her neck was a white dress collar with some kind of green decoration coming out the front of it. Her blue eyes were partially covered by a pair of half-moon glasses. Andrew noticed that on her flank, was a mark of a scroll with a blue ribbon around it.

Twilight smiled as she saw the mayor approach them. "Good morning to you as well, Mayor!" She said with a wave of her hoof.

"Thank you dear. I must say, I was sitting in Sugarcube corner having a muffin and some tea when I saw some ponies come in talking about a strange creature walking through town with you. So, I decided to come out and see what all the commotion was about for myself," she regarded the human with a sense of fascination. "Well, I must say, I have never seen anyone quite like you in Ponyville before or Equestria for that matter. My name is Mayor Mare." She said extending a hoof.

"My name is Andrew. It's nice to meet you." He said, taking her hoof in his hand and shaking it lightly.

"If I may ask, where are you from?" She asked as she lowered her hoof to the ground.

"To tell you the truth, I'm from a pretty far away place. You could say...another world." Andrew admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Another world you say? My, that is fascinating. I'm sure you have some interesting stories to tell. Well, as the mayor, I would like to officially welcome you to Ponyville. Do you know how long you will be staying in our town?"

"You see, I'm not too sure about that myself. Right now, I don't have a way to get back home." Andrew said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh dear, I'm really sorry to hear about your predicament. Well, that sounds like you're in good hoofs though. Our Twilight is always so helpful around here. Sometimes we don't know what we'd do without her and her organizing skills, especially when Spring comes."

"Oh please mayor, I don't do anymore than any other pony does." Twilight said blushing slightly.

"Don't be so modest dear. You do so much here to help everypony out." Mayor Mare glanced over at the clock tower. "Oh, look at the time. I'm sorry you two but I must be getting back to town hall for a meeting. If you two will excuse me. I hope you enjoy your stay here, Andrew."

"Thanks you. It was nice meeting you." Andrew nodded

"The pleasure was all mine, my dear." Mayor Mare responded with a warm smile and a bow. "Have a wonderful day you two. Oh, and I promise to put in a good word about you. So, you shouldn't have any further problems with anypony here." the tan mare said before heading off.

"Thank you Mayor. We appreciate it."

They both waved as they watched her go. "She seems nice. Well, that's one thing off your list. What's next?"

"Let's see. The stationary shop is just up ahead. Let's go there first." She said looking at her list after putting a check mark next to one of the items.

Andrew and Twilight headed over to get the stationary that she needed which just so happened to also sell furniture.

'Whoever heard of selling quills and furniture in the same place?'

After that, they stopped at the food stalls for groceries. The human insisted that he carry the bags, which Twilight appreciated.

"Well, I think you bought the entire market here." Andrew chuckled lifting up all of the bags.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Oh very funny."

"Do we need to go anywhere else?"

Twilight marked off the last couple things on her checklist with her quill. "Nope, that it is it. We're all done." She beamed with a satisfied smile, "How about I show you around and we can stop for a snack?"

"That sounds good to me. Did you have any place in mind?" Andrew asked.

"There is the Sugarcube Corner. You'll love it." Twilight said licking her lips.

"Lead the way." Andrew motioned with his arm.

Twilight showed him around town to some of her favorite spots like the stationary store what they were earlier, the Carousel Boutique where her friend Rarity owns a clothing store. There was the park where Twilight said that she loved to sometimes sit on the bench and read her books. Andrew thought that it sounded like something he would do. It was starting to get later in the afternoon. So they decided to head back to the library but not before stopping for that snack first.

Walking down a couple streets, they made it to the Sugarcube Corner. On the outside, it looked like a regular shop except if someone poured chocolate sauce over the roof. Andrew walked up to the front door and held it open for Twilight. She smiled and thanked him. The inside of the store looked any child's dream come true. There were displays filled with different kinds of cakes, cupcakes, and shelves filled with almost any candy you could think of. Behind the counter was a mare with light-blue fur. Her pink main swirled like the topping of a cupcake.

"Oh Twilight, it's nice to see you and hello to your strange looking friend there." She greeted them with a sweet voice.

"Hello Mrs. Cake. This is Andrew." Twilight said motioning a hoof in the human's direction, "He is new here and I am just showing him around Ponyville. We decided to stop here for a little snack after doing some shopping at the market. Is Pinkie here? I wanted her to meet him."

Mrs. Cake regarded Andrew with a warm smile, "She's out making a couple deliveries but I'll let her know that you stopped in. Its very nice to meet you Andrew and welcome to Ponyville. Do you know what you two would like?"

"Thank you Mrs. Cake. Everything looks so good here. I wouldn't know how to decide." Andrew chuckled, still looking at everything the store had to offer.

Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof, trying to decide. "I think we'll have two of my usual cupcake to go, please."

"Ah, excellent choice. Let me go wrap those up for you." Mrs. Cake said before putting them in a bag and putting it on the counter with her mouth. "Here you go. That will be six bits, please."

"Thanks again Mrs. Cake." She said paying for the treats. "Tell Pinkie I said hello."

"I will, Twilight. It was nice to meet you, Andrew. Come back again soon." Mrs. Cake said, waving to us with her hoof.

"Thank you Mrs. Cake. It was nice meeting you as well." Andrew smiled, grabbing the bag on the counter and adding it to the bags already in his hands.

Both of them waved back to her as they left. Re-adjusting the bags in his hands, Andrew opened the door for Twilight as they left and closed it behind him.

They didn't get very far before Andrew noticed something pink popped bouncing towards them. She had a poofy mane and tail, almost like cotton candy. Twilight seemed to recognize her cause she greeted her.

"Hello Pinkie Pie. We were just in Sugarcube Corner but you weren't there. How are you doing?"

The pink pony just stood there saying nothing. Her overly-large blue eyes just stared at the both of them. Andrew looked over at Twilight, then back to the pink pony, and then back to Twilight.

"Is she always like this?"

"Not normally. She's usually very bubbly and excited over something."

"Hello?" Andrew waved his had in front of her face hoping to get a reaction.

Suddenly, the pink pony jumped up into the air, her hind legs reaching higher than her forelegs. Her mouth hung open as she let out a long gasp before she zipped into Sugarcube Corner faster than Andrew's ever seen anything move before.

"So..umm...just what was that?" Andrew asked, looking back at the trail of dust behind them.

"That was my friend, Pinkie Pie. You'll get used to her. In fact, this reminds me of how she greeted me when I first came to Ponyville..." Twilight trailed on.

"Should I be worried?"

"Very."

Soon they were back at the library. The red door glowed as Twilight used her magic to open it. Once inside, Twilight took off her saddle bags and they went upstairs.

"I thought that we could have some tea with our cupcakes and I can ask you some questions. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me. Thanks." Andrew replied sitting on the couch.

Twilight went to the kitchen and came back minutes later with the tea. Andrew grabbed the two cupcakes out of the bag and unwrapped one of them and handing it to her.

"So, what is one of your "usual" cupcakes?" He asked with a raised eyebrow while tearing off the wrapping from his cupcake.

"Strawberry and chocolate. These were always a favorite of mine growing up. My big brother, Shining Armor, would always get me one when i needed cheering up." She gave a smile like she was remembering fond memories.

"I bet it was nice to have a big brother to look after you." Andrew remarked taking a bite of the cupcake, "Oh wow. This is really good! I can see why you like them so much."

"I'm glad you like it." Twilight nodded, hovering the cup of tea over to him and sitting down, "You said before that you were called a human, right? I checked my Guide to Equestrian Creatures book and the only thing that I found remotely close to your appearance was a mammalian or hairless ape."

"That's correct, my species is called human or homo-sapiens sapiens if you want to get scientific about it."

"Do you all humans look like you? Are there different kinds? She inquired, writing down notes in a notebook.

"No, we all look different, unless you count identical twins. But other than that, there aren't different kinds of humans. We're built the same way except for physical appearances like skin and hair color, tall, short, eye color, ect.. Then you get into the different genders, male and female like I'm sure you have here."

For the next couple hours or so, Twilight asked Andrew questions about where he came from. She was like a never-ending trove of questions. Every question that he answered led her to ask even more. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself at her eagerness to learn new things. Andrew couldn't really blame her though. She had the first human ever in Equestria in her house and she was going to learn everything that she could about him.

Twilight took the time to answer some of Andrew's questions as well about Equestria's history, the different types of ponies (pagusi, earth ponies, and unicorns). She also answered his question about what the mark a pony's flank is.

"So you're saying that you get your cutie marks when you discover your special talents?" Andrew asked.

Twilight nodded. "That's right. Normally a filly or colt will discover what they're really good at when they're very young. Once that happens, their cutie mark appears. On the rare occasion, a pony may not discover their special talent until much later than that. It's rare but it's been known to happen. "

"Wow. It's like one new incredible discovery after another around here." A part of Andrew wished that he could stay here and learn more but he needed to get home.

Twilight chuckled. "Believe me, there is a lot more to learn. I've been studying history and magic most of my life and there's still a lot that I don't know. That's why I keep studying every day."

"That's very admirable." Andrew nodded.

"More tea?" Twilight asked, finally taking a break.

"Yes please." Andrew smiled holding out his cup.

Using her magic, Twilight lifted the pot and refilled his cup. "This is really good tea."

"Thanks. I get it from my friend Zecora. Maybe you'll get to meet her."

Andrew put down his cup and noticed that Twilight was glancing over at him. "If there's something you want to ask, go right ahead. I don't mind," he said, trying to reassure her. Andrew took another bit of his cupcake.

"Andrew, I've been wanting to ask you something. What those things are at the end of your hooves?" She asked pointing a hoof towards his hand.

"You mean these?" Andrew held up a hand and moved his fingers around. "This is called a hand and these are fingers. They are very handy when trying to grab hold of things."

"Very interesting. Could I have a closer look, please?" she asked

"Sure." Andrew replied holding out his hand.

Twilight held his hand in her hooves, studying closely. Turning it over and back, she writes down more notes and also drawing a picture of a hand. He'd never seen anyone so interested in a hand before unless they were a fortune teller. Andrew couldn't help but notice how her hooves felt touching his hand. They were warm and very soft.

"You don't know how exciting this is for me." Twilight squealed excitedly. "It'll take me forever to organize my notes for my report. You don't mind if I ask you more questions later, maybe even get some more sketches of you?"

"Well, I suppose that..."

Suddenly, they both heard the sound of the front door open and closing, followed by the sound of feet coming up the stairs.

"Twilight, I'm home!" The voice said, "Rarity wanted me to tell you that..." its train of thought was stopped as it looked right at the human.

What Andrew saw was about three feet tall with emerald green eyes. Its body was mostly purple except for a green strip along its belly. A line of four large spines on its head trailing to shorter ones going down to the tail.

"I don't what the hay you are but you better get away from Twilight!" Spike shouted.

Spike sucked in a huge lungful of air and opened his mouth to let out a stream of glowing green flames. Andrew didn't think this little thing could do much damage but he was wrong as he felt the heat from the flames through his jacket. Shielding his face with his arms, Andrew turned and tried to get out of the way.

"Spike! Please stop it!" Twilight pleaded with him.

"Are you serious? It could be dangerous." The dragon shot back pointing at the human, standing between them.

"Yes I am, Spike! He's not dangerous and he's staying here with us."

"W-What?" Spike responded back in a confused tone.

Andrew took off his jacket and stomped on it to put out the parts that were still smoking. He was relieved that it didn't look too bad with only a few scorch marks on it. Checking the rest of his clothes, he was relieved that they were undamaged. He looked at Spike with anger in his eyes. Spike's brave face quickly turned to embarrassment, and a little fright.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed me." Andrew fought the instinct to grab the dragon by the neck and throttle him. Even if the dragon just tried to kill him, he was friends with Twilight. So, he didn't think that would be a good idea.

"Andrew, are you alright?" Twilight rushed past Spike, to check on the human, "Spike, look what you've done!"

"How was I supposed to know? I thought he was a monster trying to hurt you." Spike responded with a confused look on his face.

"He's not a monster, Spike. His name is Andrew and he's a human from far away. You could have seriously hurt him."

"I wasn't going to hurt him that badly, just until he left." Spike retorted which he soon regretted.

She gave him a look letting him know that she wasn't very happy with him. Spike looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Your jacket is a mess." Twilight looked at Andrew with concern.

"Yeah, I'll be alright. The rest of my clothes are fine, no thanks to him!" Andrew said while brushing myself off, staring at the dragon.

"Look, I know what Spike did was wrong but he didn't really mean to hurt you." Twilight said, trying to de-escalate the situation.

"So, this is the dragon you mentioned this morning?" Andrew asked, pointing at Spike.

Twilight nodded her head. "That's right. Spike, this is Andrew. He's going to be staying with us until I can find a way to send him back to his home."

"I'm really sorry about that." Spike said, tapping the tips of this claws together, his face looking down but his eyes looking up at me. They were filled with remorse but Andrew wasn't ready to forgive just yet.

"Whatever. Just don't do that again." He shot Spike a glare before walking away.

"Andrew, I know you're mad at Spike, but he said that he was sorry for what he did. Can't you forgive him?"

"I don't know Twilight. Not right now. Maybe later." Even though Spike said that he was sorry, some part of Andrew just couldn't forgive him. He didn't believe in forgiving someone that just tried to kill you.

"Fine but I hope you'll change your mind. You'll see that Spike can be a great friend if you just give him a chance."

Looking between Andrew and Twilight for a little bit, Spike finally spoke up. "How about I got to the kitchen and heat up some of that vegetable soup from the other day. Does that sound alright?"

"Sounds good, thanks Spike." Twilight replied back. Spike left for the kitchen, leaving Twilight and Andrew alone.

There was a period of silence in the room until Twilight broke it, "Andrew, I..."

He held up his hand to stop her, "Twilight, I'd rather not talk about it right now if that's alright with you. If you're worried about me doing something to Spike, I can promise you that I'm not going to touch a single scale on him." At this point, Andrew just wanted this night to be over with but he was hungry. "Let's just eat."

Twilight nodded and they made our way to the kitchen. Spike heard door open as they came in. "Oh good, you two are just in time. The soup is ready." He hopped off of the stool and carried the pot of soup over to the table and proceeded to fill the bowls with the delicious smelling liquid.

Andrew sat down on one of the chairs and Twilight sat down next to him while Spike sat across from them. Talking the spoon, Andrew scooped up some soup and blew the steam from it and put it in his mouth. Despite his current sour mood, he couldn't deny how good the food was.

"Mmmm!" Andrew voiced with approval of the soup. "This tastes so good!" He continued, consuming another spoonful of vegetables. He had to admit, this was really good. "Did you make this Spike?"

"I sure did!" He replied putting his claws on his hips and puffing out his chest.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smirk, "Try not to inflate his ego too much."

The rest of the meal passed by without much being said. Spike did ask me if Andrew would tell him about his world sometime. Andrew shrugged his shoulders and told him that they would see. Not wanting to press his luck, Spike left the topic at that.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm heading to bed. Spike said, letting out a yawn and stretching his arms. He put his dishes in the sink before leaving the kitchen. Good night you two.

"Good night, Spike." Twilight said to her dragon friend.

"Hey, don't worry about the dishes, I'll clean this up." Andrew offered, taking the dishes over to the sink.

"Are you sure?" Twilight craned her head to look up at him, "Well, umm, thank you." She seemed slightly surprised at his offer.

"Twilight, its the least that I can do," Andrew said sincerely. "I wouldn't be much of a tree...house guest if I didn't do something to help out around here. Plus, washing dishes usually helped reduces stress and improves my mood."

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. "I would never have considered that since Spike is the one that usually does the dishes. When I do them, its with my magic. Well, I hope it works and you can work things out with Spike." Twilight turned to leave. "Thanks again." She nodded before leaving the kitchen.

"Hmmm, we'll see. I won't make any promises." Andrew watched her leave and turned his attention to cleaning the dishes. Putting some soap on the sponge, he scrubbed away the remnants of tonight's dinner. The warm water was starting to feel good on his hands and was having an affect on him. Either it was making him smile or making him have to pee. Andrew hoped that it wasn't the latter.

After Andrew was done with the dishes, he turned off all the lights in the kitchen before leaving. On the way up to the loft, he went to the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth. Stopping to check inside, he was relieved to find that it looked like a regular bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. On the counter, he saw one purple and one green toothbrush. He didn't have to guess which toothbrush belonged to who. Inside the cupboard, Andrew found a new blue toothbrush and proceeded brushed his teeth. Once he was done, he came upstairs to the loft to find that Spike was already fast asleep in his basket. Twilight was on her bed reading a book. She stopped reading and lifted up her head when she heard Andrew coming up the stairs.

"I asked Spike get the spare bed out of storage and set it up for you. If it's too small, just let me know." Twilight said motioning to the bed with a hoof. The bed was about the same size as hers but with a green blanket. It wasn't his first choice of blanket colors but beggars can't be choosers.

He sat down on the bed. "No, this will be just fine. Thank you, Twilight. Are you sure you wouldn't want me sleeping somewhere else? I don't want to invade your privacy or anything."

"I appreciate the concern but you're fine."

Andrew shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if you're sure, then I won't argue."

"Good." Twilight nodded her head with a smile and went back to her book.

Andrew removed his sweatshirt and long sleeve shirt, placing them on the floor. Then he removed his shoes and socks, placing them next to the bed. Looking over at Twilight to make sure she was still reading her book, Andrew undressed down to his boxers and placed the pants with his other clothes. Pulling back the covers, he slid under the them. Even though she was a pony who didn't wear clothes, it still felt a little awkward undressing in front of her.

"Good night. You don't mind if I do some reading before I fall asleep, do you?" Twilight asked.

"No. Go right ahead." Andrew replied chuckling. "What are you reading by the way?"

"Oh! It s called Modern Spell Casting. I wanted to rule out some spells that may have brought you here." She replied.

"Not a bad idea." Andrew rubbed his chin with his hand. "Hopefully you have some luck."

"Thanks. It shouldn't take me too long. Not many spells could have done it."

"Twilight?"

"Yes?" She replied back looking up at the human from her book.

"I never got a chance to say thank you for everything, the lunch and dinner as well. Not to mention letting me stay here." Andrew said.

"You are very welcome. I wouldn't be much of a pony if I had done otherwise."She replied back with a smile. "Something tells me that if I had come to your world instead, you would have done the same for me or my friends."

"You're right, I probably would have." Andrew replied. "Good night, Twilight."

"Good night, Andrew."

Andrew pulled back the covers and took the book off the nightstand. Holding it in his hand, something inside compelled him to open to the first chapter.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,.."

A tear came down Andrew's cheek as the feelings of his current situation hit him. 'Will Twilight be able to send me home?' 'Would I ever see my parents or my friends again?' 'What if I'm stuck here forever. What am I going to do?'

Through all those negative thoughts going through his head, some new ones start coming through that made the bad ones seem not quite as bad; hope, kindness. Andrew knew that Twilight wouldn't give up on helping him. She did find and take care of him. Somehow he felt safer knowing that she was there for him.

Closing the book the book, Andrew placed it back on the nightstand along with his glasses and turning off the lamp. The soft glow of the moon hit the beds. Andrew looked out the window at the stars and sighed.