I stood over the furnace, almost enjoying the heat on my face. I pulled the button out of the fire, somewhat mesmerized by it's temporary white hue. It landed on the anvil and I gripped the cast iron hammer as it swung down, smashing the button into a flat cake of metal. I turned it, not bothering with the strange gloves, and smashed it further into an elongated strip. Three repeats later, it was easily thin enough to work as a wire. I picked it up and tossed it into a bucket of water nearby, taking a breath from my work. Only now did I realize that Rainbow Dash and Twilight were staring at me with almost scared looks on their faces. "Sorry. Didn't mean to go completely nuts there, just wanted to get that done."
"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much I just learned about human anatomy?" Twilight rushed me, examining my abs. "Could you do that one thing again where the midsection bulges?" I clenched my abs, assuming that was what she was talking about. She jumped back, a grin on her face. "Incredible! I've got to find something to write this on." She ran out of the room, presumingly looking for a piece of paper. Dashie, on the other hand, gave me a strange new look. If I hadn't known better I'd have said she was checking me out.
"Something interesting?" She jumped out of her trance, a blush spreading across her face.
"Oh! Uh, not really. It's just that stallions never seem to have that much muscle. It's really...cool." I could tell that 'cool' wasn't the first word to come to mind, but I let it slide.
"Alright. Either way, I need to get back to the library and reconnect this thing. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back." She looked sad, but she tried her best to hide it from me. I couldn't help but grin. In less than a day I'd already made friends with four of these ponies. It was amazing how simple things were here. In fact, I wouldn't mind living here.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" My entire body went on high alert. We had almost made it back to the library. Almost. I turned to find the origin of the voice and was greeted with the sight of a very angry blue mare. Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, reluctantly replying to the newcomer.
"What do you want, Trixie?" The blue pony's face was unbelievably angry. I hadn't even noticed until now, but she looked terrifying.
"You have embarrassed Trixie. You have defeated Trixie time and time again, but not now. The Great and Powerful Trixie will have that human! Trixie knows the feats they are capable of, and she will have one for her own!" Oh, now I understood. This was about me being a human in Equestria. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but I gave her a signal to remain silent. Instead, I stepped forward.
"If you want me, then you can try to come and take me." I stuck my chest out, bulking my shoulders. She grinned darkly and her horn began to glow. I felt a huge blast strike my shoulder, but I didn't look to see what it had been. I later learned that it had been a lightning bolt summoned by this little pony.
Her eyes bulged. Obviously lightning wasn't as powerful here as what I was used to, but I'm sure most ponies would have gone down from a hit like that. I just kept walking forward. Her horn lit up again and a rope leapt from the side of the road and tied itself around me. This presented a bit more of a problem. The rope was sturdy, and I wouldn't be able to break it manually. Luckily, I'd learned a bit of escape artistry in my crash course. I reached as far down as I could with my right arm, worming it beneath a few layers of rope. Then I jutted my shoulder forward, separating them. The tension on the top section lowered immediately and I grabbed it with my teeth, tearing the top of the rope off me. The rest fell to the ground shortly.
"Still think you're going to have this human for yourself?" She stumbled back. "I tell you what. Leave now, and I'll forget this ever happened." She snarled and a cloud of dust burst from in front of her. I kept an eye on her running off as the smoke cleared. Twilight was at my side now.
"I don't think even I could have beaten her that easily. How many humans did you say there are?"
Back in the library, I popped the back cover off the transporter and slipped my newfound wire into the only open space. "Okay, you guys should probably step back. I'm not quite sure what'll happen on this end." They all obliged. I turned around and gave them one last grin. "And don't worry. I'll be back soon enough." They all nodded, and I punched the Return button. Suddenly my entire life was nothing but swirls and dots. I blacked out after a few seconds, and pastel colors flooded my dreams.
"Hey, he's coming out of it!" There was a blinding light above me, and a repetitive beeping noise from my left. I'd been here before. I was home.
