Hola! Well, thanks to my flat out AWESOME story followers, I now have several ideas to help me keep this progressing. You're all pretty epic, and every one of you helps. Just seeing the number of reads this story has rising is motivational, so thank you all. Although, I'll give special thanks where they are due. So, big thanks to SonicMX and Shadow Brony for all the help and support as of recently. Your ideas are amazing and you two are a major help. ANYWAY. Back to story time! :D

As I was reuniting with my old friend, I heard the door open slightly. Knowing that two humans in one day might be too much, I flung Evan into the bush beside the door. The momentum carried me too, and I fell right beside him. I hoped we were hidden well…

"Oh, get up, you two. We're not stupid," said a familiar voice. I carefully stood up, and was met by a face I remembered from not too long ago. "Oh, hi, Citrine…" I said to the brown unicorn. His eyes never seemed to stop studying me, their shimmering gaze pensive and calm. As I looked somewhere else, I noticed that there were more ponies around him. To his left was Sonic Boom, the friend of Fluttershy. What's she doing here?.. As I continued looking around, I counted about five ponies in all. Sonic spoke up.

"You can pull your friend there out of the bush, Aster. You're not hiding anything we don't already know," she said with a smirk. I blinked.

"How… How the hell do you know? Why aren't you freaking out? What in the name of Luna is going on?" My mind was racing at about a million miles an hour as I pulled Evan up from the "hiding" place.

"Hey, thanks bro. Being pushed into a bush is the first thing I wanted to do after meeting you here after a year…" Evan commented sarcastically.

"Sorry… I just thought there might be this huge, dramatic shit storm if the ponies saw two humans pop up within twenty-four hours of each other."

This time a voice with a Northern British accent replied.

"I'm positive any other ponies would have a near heart attack. But I can assure you, we are not "normal" ponies." None other than Doctor Whooves stepped from the shadows in between Citrine and Sonic. Now I was even more baffled.

"You're… You're the Doctor, aren't you?" I asked tentatively.

"Yup! That's me, the Doctor, hullo!" he replied in the way I remembered from the TV show.

"Well, that's a sure fact now… Anyway, what are you doing here? Who are these other ponies?" I asked, the questions swirling in my head, one or two finding a way out. Sonic stepped forward.

"I have an answer, Aster," she said calmly.

"Well, would you mind telling me?"

To my surprise, she tackled me. "Look into my eyes! What do you see?!" she half yelled, pinning me to the ground. I stared her in the eye, and she blinked. That's when I noticed it with a gasp. She smirked and stood up, walking back to Citrine and the Doctor.

Citrine chuckled. "Little overboard, don't you think, Sonic?"

She replied with a cheery grin. "Nope!"

I rolled my eyes and walked up to the group of ponies. The common effect was most prominent in Citrine. I looked him straight in the eyes, ignoring that nagging feeling that he is studying me. Just like his mane and tail, his eyes were a shimmering golden color. But not only shimmering… Metallic. I rubbed my temples, then moved on to the Doctor. Staring at him, I saw that the blue in his eyes was very slightly metallic, as if it had faded over time. Frowning slightly, I looked at the rest of the ponies in the group. Every single one of them shared that same property. Looking back at Evan, with his metallic lavender eyes, and remembering that mine had turned a glittering silver, I tried to piece it together. "What does this all mean?.." I said to nobody in particular. The Doctor spoke up once again, circling me slowly, with a slight grin on his face.

"Don't you see, Aster? We all share this common feature because of one more thing we have in common. We are all not from here." The grin widened.

I was stunned. "W-what?!" I asked dumbly.

"It's simple really. Every one of the ponies before wasn't a pony before he or she got here. You aren't the only one who wanted to be sent to Equestria. You realize how big the Brony fandom really is, right?" I just nodded. "You and a few others were permitted to come. Once you get your pony form from Luna or Celestia, you can choose to have the metallic color dimmed or faded, as I did, but there will always be a trace left. A sort of… Tag. A mark. A link to your previous life? It's actually really hard to explain."

I sat down. "So… You were all human at one point?" The Doctor nodded, still smiling. "Ah, but you were a Time Lord… Eh, you looked human, good enough for me right now." I looked through the small assembly of ponies again, and Sonic's eyes met mine. It clicked, right then. Everything just clicked. Back at the party, after my little breakdown, spewing my feelings of loss about my previous life, all to Fluttershy and Sonic… She had looked me in the eye. And I had seen sympathy. Like she had been there before. And now I know it's true. She, too, had to leave it all behind her, had to restart from scratch in a world she had fantasized about being in. I realized that every single pony in this bunch before me had. Almost without thinking, I walked up to the group and hugged the first pony there. I moved on until I had given a hug to every pony there, even the Doctor. Then I just sat down. "I'm so sorry for all of you… you all had to leave a life behind. I may not know yet, but I'm learning how hard that is, even as I speak to you now…" I looked each in the eye as I said this.

Citrine walked up to me, grabbed my hand with a hoof and pulled me up from the ground. He smiled. "Get up, Aster. It's already said and done for us. We're here to help you, now. So, my next recommendation for you? Find a place to stay for a bit. Then get a job, pay a rent until you can buy a house, etcetera etcetera… And if you ever need anything, find one of us." He stepped back.

Suddenly, Evan, who had been quiet the entire time, spoke up. "How do I get back?"

The Doctor looked at him curiously. "If you came here intentionally and on your own will, why do you want to return?"

"Because I just wanted to see an old friend again. I told my girlfriend I'd be back too. And with the time-space differential present in between these two places, I've probably missed more than a few days by now."

"Ah… I see." He frowned slightly. "Well, your best option is to probably see the Princesses about it. Princess Celestia brought most of us here anyway."

Evan nodded. "Where should I stay in the meantime?"

This time, Sonic spoke up. "I'm sure I could arrange something with Fluttershy!" She said with a grin.

I finally looked back at the door, thinking of people I could ask for a favor. "Well… Thank you all so much. I think I'm going to go find a pony I could ask to room with for a while. Wish me luck!" I said with a grin as I opened the door and walked back into the library. Glancing around, I spotted Octavia and Vinyl over by the DJ's table. Octavia seems nice enough. Maybe I should ask her…

I looked around one more time, trying not to stall myself too much. Confidence issues were a problem with me when it came to asking others questions, so I steeled myself quickly and walked forward without giving anything a second thought. Once I reached her, I tapped her quickly on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned around quickly with the polite smile from before. "Oh, hello Aster."

I smiled back. "Hello, Octavia," I replied. "Uh… I have a question for you." I glanced around quickly, noticing Vinyl had trotted back off to the turn tables.

She tilted her head slightly. "Oh? And what would that be?" she said inquiringly.

"Well, I'm going to be here awhile, and I'm kind of broke. Would you be willing to let me stay at your house for a bit, until I can get my own?"

Her smile widened a bit. "I wouldn't mind at all." But then the smile faded as she pursed her lips. "But Vinyl and I live together. So you'd have to ask her too…"

On the outside? I just smiled and replied, "Okay, will do. Thank you, Octavia."

On the inside, I was freaking the fuck out. Another pony to ask? It's hard enough asking one pony… And to top it off, she's the flirty type. This isn't going to be easy…

Oh, shut up, brain. I don't need your immense help with all this confidence right now.

Was that sarcasm?

I don't know, you tell me.

… Okay. I'll shut up now.

Yea, thanks. After realizing I had been talking to myself for the last couple of moments, I walked up behind the booth and tapped Vinyl on the shoulder. She remained facing forward, nodding her head to the beat. I tapped again, harder this time. She turned around, grinning and still nodding slightly to the beat. "Yes? What do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd mind if I stayed at your house for a bit?"

"Well, is 'Tavi cool with it?" I nodded, and her grin widened. "Well, of course then! We'll meet you outside soon, okay? This party is winding down…"

I smiled. "Well, thank you, Vinyl. I'll see you later. How much more music you got before you have to leave."

"Plenty!" She turned around, and I saw her cringe. She faced me again with a nervous laugh. "Heh, I may have over estimated a teeny weeny little bit…"

I chuckled. "How long then?"

She was blushing a little, embarrassed at the blunder. "Five minutes…"

"Well, see you in five minutes then!" I said with a smile, bounding off the stage and onto the floor. I went around and said my goodbyes, grabbed one more glass of punch, then walked outside and waited by the door, leaning on the tree that was the library. I sipped the punch and looked around, the moon shedding light on the surrounding town and making it visible in the dead of night. As I was relaxing and waiting for Vinyl and Octavia to show me to their home, a mare with a yellow coat passed by. She gave me a glance, then smiled softly and winked. I smiled back, realizing just how much easier this was going to be with the support the former humans offered.

I gave her a quick wave.

Her eyes shimmered.

Oh my God, look, a lengthy chapter! Anyway, this was barely over three pages, and I apologize for the lack of updates. I've been behind schedule and I finally got my shit together, sat down, and cranked this out. Anyway, as you can tell, OCs are going to be very unique in this piece of work. If you would like to have your OC in this story, PM me or leave a review; I don't care how, just drop me a line. :D Anyway, I'm gonna sign out for now. See everypony next new chapter! And thanks for being such an awesome group of readers!