Primal Dawn

"Ah, Twilight! So good to see y-" The white unicorn stared up at me, obviously not sure what to say or how to say it. "Um, well! I don't believe you've introduced me to your friend, Twilight." I stepped forward slowly, trying not to alarm anyone.

"This is John Walker. He needs a little bit of help, since-"

"Oh, well why didn't you just say so? Here, sit down, dear." A chair whisked itself in behind me, nudging me until I sat down. That was going to take some getting used to. "I can have you fixed up in a jiffy. Now, where did I put that measuring tape?" She turned and began shuffling through her shelves.

"Um, Rarity? What I meant to say was that-" She was cut off again when the white pony rushed past, still searching for her tape. My jaw clenched.

"Ma'am, do you have any copper buttons?" Rarity stopped cold at the sound of my voice. She turned, the wood in the floor creaking under her ever so slightly.

"Well, I suppose I have a few laying around here somewhere. May I ask why, John?" I nodded.

"I suppose you've noticed I'm not from around here. I was brought here by a machine, one of the components of which is copper wire. Unfortunately, the only length of copper I brought with me fried on the way here. I need a small piece of it or something with equal conductive properties in order to get home." Rarity looked skeptical for a moment until Twilight nodded, confirming my story.

"Well, anything for a friend in need." She walked over to a crowded shelf and a small metal button floated out from its depths. Perfect. Of course, I'd still need a few tools and a decent furnace to get the thing to its proper shape, but I was sure that a town that seemed to be in the time period this one was in would have a blacksmith around. I wasn't exactly asking for precision work, anyway. I nodded my thanks, not willing to risk the odd look again. "Sir, please excuse my rudeness, but where are you from, exactly?" I took a breath and began my story yet again.

"I'm from a world called Earth. The leaders of my world grouped together all the bravest members of our society, those who had nothing to lose. Then they were all tested on mental and physical toughness as well as survival skills. The highest scorer on this test would be sent off into a new world via the teleporter I'm trying to fix. Turns out I was the best of the group." The story flowed naturally by now, and as I told it this time something new happened. My mind jumped back to the day of testing.

"Fall in." Everyone lined up without hesitation except two of us. Me and Will. We remained where we were, refusing to give in to the terrors we'd been put through. It had already been made clear to us all that the second we started obeying orders, all of the punishment and testing would end. I almost wished I had the common sense to give in, but my double dose of my family's competitive streak fueled me day after day to beat this. Will was different. He wasn't competitive and wasn't even known to be very brave. All he did was hang around me, day after day. It was like I was a little island for him, and I wasn't entirely comfortable with the concept. I'd never had anyone try to get close to me before; on the contrary. Most people couldn't seem to get away from me fast enough. Either way, if I didn't pass this test, I had nowhere to go. It was just me against Will now, and I wasn't going to lose, no matter how pitiful he appeared.

"And so I got sent here to...Eck...Equestria...?" They both nodded. Good. At least I was getting familiar with the terminology of the area. I'd need that and a lot more if I was to convince my superiors not to just blow the place to kingdom come. "I need to get back to Earth as soon as possible now and let them know that the experiment was a success." Rarity nodded.

"Well in that case, I won't keep you any longer. Go ahead, take it." The button pressed itself into my hand and I closed the grip around it.

"Thank you, ma'am." She waved her mane. The shade of purple was unique, quite unlike anything I'd ever seen.

"Oh, it's nothing. Thank you, in fact, for gracing my little shop with your presence." I had no reply here, just a blush. I turned and left without any further hesitation, followed closely by Twilight.

"So, what's next?" I took a quick glance at the list she had forced me to make.

"I'll need somewhere I can work this metal. Any blacksmiths in town?" Twilight thought for a moment, her head shaking.

"I don't think so. But I might know something that will work instead." Her eyes lit up as she spoke the last sentence.

"Seriously? A rainbow factory?" Twilight nodded eagerly.

"You'll never find any better facilities for this kind of work. Cloudsdale is the biggest weather city in Equestria. All I have to do is cast that cloud walking spell real quick, so hold still." I would have protested, but before I could talk energy began to flood my body. I felt it spread throughout my legs and suddenly I was lighter than air. I looked down and tried jumping. Big mistake. I rocketed upward, passing a light gray pegasus and knocking a muffin from between her hooves on accident.

I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever stop when suddenly I slammed into something soft and cushiony. "Hey, what's the big... huh?" I looked up and there was a bright blue pegasus with a shockingly colored mane gripping me under the arms. "Whoa, what are you?" Luckily, I was spared the embarrassment of having to speak again when Twilight popped into existence next to me.

"He's a human, and I obviously didn't do enough research. Magic seems to have additional side effects on him, so I'll have to be careful from now on. Sorry about the interruption, Rainbow." The one name Rainbow raised an eyebrow, an interesting expression on an equine face.

"What spell did you use on him, anyway? Some sort of power booster?" Twilight shook her head.

"All I did was give him the cloud walking spell. We've got to head off to Cloudsdale and see if we can get permission to use the rainbow factory's facilities for a little while." Rainbow's eyes glinted.

"Awesome! I was just on my way there too. Now I can see this guy in action." She looked down at me questioningly. "Can he talk?" I sighed. There was no getting out of it.

"Yes, I can talk. My name is John. John Walker." She seemed completely dumbstruck at the sound of my voice, the third pony to have such a reaction. "Just a question, why is it that you all seem so shocked at my voice? You, Rarity, and Twilight all had the same first reaction." They both looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Well, it's just that..." Rainbow couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

"You sound just like someone that came here about a year ago. His name was Tirek, a centaur, and evil to boot. We managed to defeat him after a huge battle, but after we'd beaten him, his voice sounded just like yours." I turned away now. If I'd known about any national history issues I would have tried even harder to keep my trap shut.

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, can we get going?" Rainbow nodded and set me down on the nearest cloud. The feeling was unique, like standing on grass caught in freezing rain. Even the slightest movement made for a feeling of falling, but I managed to stay upright and on the cloud. I gauged my newfound jumping strength and leapt to the next cloud, wobbling a bit upon landing.

"Wow! That's something else. Hey, I'll race you to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow took off, and a grin spread across my face for the first time in almost ten years.