My fight to stay in Equestria

Life was always a bit...off for me. Society had made it clear that I was unwanted, so I hardly spoke up, and when I did, hardly anyone listened. I wasn't miserable, I rather enjoyed the quiet solitude of being an outsider. Nobody to bother me, I could be left alone with my thoughts, and that's just how I liked it.
In my newfound free time, I've taken to educating myself, beyond what school has taught me. I took a particular interest in history. The times of old seemed to me, romantic. Though something bothered me. The more and more I read, the more it became apparent. Humanity is hopeless. Since the dawn of mankind, we've been subjecting ourselves to bias, to racism, to xenophobia. We refuse to see an argument from another's point of view. We have become a race of self-centered creatures, who ruin each other's lives for our own benefit. Inequality, unfairness, all creations of man. There is no unfairness in the way a tree grows, when a timber wolf takes down an elk, it was not because his herd betrayed him, it was merely because he was the weakest, or the nearest. I couldn't come to terms with how, say, for example, a government founded for the people, of the people, and by the people, could somehow refuse to provide the necessities of life, deprived of them by the very race that he is part of.
I'd like to say that these ideas didn't drive me to consider suicide. I'd like to say that. I would never act on it though, I saw no benefit in it. So I resolved to live my life, in my isolation, to ponder the destruction mankind wreaks upon itself. I would sit, hoping someone out there, someone more significant, would see the errors that I saw. I would sit in what was effectively a depression, though not so much an actual mental disorder, more of a realization. That is, until that fateful day.
I had fallen asleep at my usual time, 10:30. Not because I had a curfew, but because I could never sleep late, and 10:30 allowed for a reasonable amount of sleep while still waking up at 8 in the morning. The bed felt nice, which it always does. When I awoke, my back hurt. Again nothing new, no matter how soft my bed feels initially, inevitably, I wake up with a sore back. Something wasn't right though, when I rolled to get out of bed, I found a tree. I awoke from my daze to find, I was in an apple orchard. Then, I heard a voice.
"gosh darn it, I can't stand working so early"
I figured it was a good way to get answers
"hello? Can you help me?", I cried out. A response arrived a few rows over from where I sat,
"is somebody there?", I heard footfalls, but something was off, unless there was a group of them, the falls were hitting far too fast. "What in tarnation!?"
I shrunk back, I was looking eye to eye with a talking horse. I bright orange talking horse. We both stared at each other, both of us, equally as foreign to the other. Suddenly, the horse shouts,
"Big Macintosh, come over here!"
the sound of lazy, hoof falls I imagine, come over to where I'm sitting, now terrified.
"woah!", a larger red horse bellows with a smooth baritone voice.
"what in the world do ya figure it is?" the orange one asks, more rhetorically than literally.
"I...I am a human", I'm stuttering, I'm afraid, though I don't fear the horses. I suppose my natural fear of the unknown is working its magic.
"it, it can talk!?", the orange one asks, again, rhetorically.
"yes, I can. I'm not an it"
"what's your name, partner?"
" J-Jacob"
"well, that's a mighty strange name"
"what's yours?"
"Applejack"
I hold back a snicker. I can't help but imagine a box of breakfast cereal.
"and the big one is Big Mac?"
"Eeyup", he eyes me cautiously, though he seems to understand that we're all confused, and doesn't perceive me as a threat.
I get up, and dust myself off, they seem startled by the fact that I'm bipedal.
"how 'bout you come back to the house with us?", Applejack offers.
"sure", I reply quickly, it's not like I have anywhere else to go. Applejack and Bic Macintosh lead me to the house, where a horse, well past her prime, is sitting in the corner sewing. In a typical elderly voice, she jumps "whoa! What is that?"
"He's uh...uh...what did y'all say you were?"
"I'm a human"
The geezer responds, "a wha?"
Applejack clarifies, "we don't know either. I was figurin' we could take him to twilight, she ought to know what's going on here"
"So, I'm to take it that twilight is another horse?"
"We ain't horses, we're ponies, and she's a unicorn", she replies, somewhat fed up with me already. I would argue the impossibilities of unicorns, if it weren't for the fact that she is a talking pony, with a southern drawl no less. We headed into what appeared to be a town, luckily for us, it was still early enough that nobody was outside. We walking into a tree house, literally a tree made into a house. Inside were massive shelves, filled end to end with books. In the middle of the room sat a purple unicorn, who was mumbling something unintelligible.
"um, Twilight?"
"what is it Applejack, I'm a bit busy right now", she responded hastily, without even looking up from her books.
"well, I found this here creature out in the orchard, I figured you'd might want to take a look"
and indeed she did, once she saw me, her jaw dropped.
"what...what is it?"
"I'm a human, thank you very much", I'm starting to get tired of answering that.
"a....a human?", Twilight ponders, before a book comes flying off of a shelf, and lands on her desk. "No, I haven't got anything on humans". She studies me once more, "how did you get here?"
"I haven't a clue, I fell asleep in my home, and woke up in an orchard"
"are you native to Equestria?"
"What in the world is Equestria?" Both Applejack's and Twilight's mouths dropped.
"He's...he's an alien?"
"Woah, woah woah, so I'm on a different planet, called Equestria?"
"it would appear so"
"Thanks for bringing him over Applejack, I'll write the Princess, and keep him here for now"
"Alright, Twilight, y'all just call me if you need anything", Applejack turns a sideways glance before she leaves.
"Spiiike, come down here for a second"
"You've got a dog?"
"No, a dragon"
I  can't help but disbelieve what is happening, first talking horses, then unicorns, and now dragons. As I try to wrap my head around this, Twilight is furiously scribbling something on a piece of parchment, and light footfalls lead to a small reptile coming down the stairs, only to fall back when he sees me.
"woah, Twilight, what is that thing?"
"He says he's a human"
"what's a human?"
"I don't know, but we need to tell the Princess immediately". That is the second time she's mentioned a princess. Now the ponies have a government?
The rest of the morning goes much smoother than earlier. I answer some questions.
"Where do you come from?"
"Earth"
"What is your name?"
"Jacob"
It was the standard battery of questions one would expect when you're completely new to somebody. I didn't mind answering, I was hoping it would bring me closer to some answers.
"Do you have any idea how I got here?", I asked, with a little hope
"I might"
"Really!?", I exclaimed, ecstatic to have made some progress
"I was working on a transplanar transportation spell"
"Spell, as in magic?"
"Do you have magic where you're from?"
"Only in myth and trickery", I remark sarcastically.
"That...that sounds pretty awful"
"Getting back on topic, so a transplanar transportation spell"
"Yes, I wanted to see if it was possible to move through solid objects by shifting between  planes"
"Makes sense, but how did that get me here?"
"Well, when I cast the spell, it seemed to fizzle, so I cast it stronger, and it exploded"
"And the explosion opened up a rift that dropped me off here?"
"That's the idea"
"Makes about as much sense as anything in this place"
Suddenly, Spike appears ill, and burps out fire. With the fire, comes a scroll. Twilight opens it, and looks at me.
"You've been summoned by the Princess"
"Oh good", My knowledge of history has shown that Monarchs are hardly agreeable people, so convincing her that I'm not on some plot to overthrow her is bound to be difficult. Nevertheless, we departed, by train, to the capital city. It stood in the mountains, by all means, a very impressively build city, with an even more impressive palace. Twilight pushes me onward. We pass by many ponies along the way, each giving me a glare of confusion. We pass by two guards at the gate unharassed. Immediately, the building opens up with a throne room. On the throne sat a horse. Pure white coat, and a rainbow mane that flowed, despite the lack of wind. She remained calm in my presence, compared to the other ponies.
"Good afternoon, Twilight"
"Good afternoon, Celestia"
"Is this the....human?"
"Yes"
Celestia now begins to speak in loud, authoritative tone
"Human! State your business!"
"Your majesty, I haven't any business. I was deposited here, by what I believe to be a spell of Twilight's".
"Is this true Twilight?", she looks over at the purple unicorn
"Yes", Twilight shrinks down a little
" Have you a way to send him back?"
"No", Twilight shrinks down even more
"Very well. We shall see to it that he finds quarters until he can be returned home"
"Your majesty, you are most benevolent"
"Well, at least he is well mannered"
The meeting ends there. Celestia orders that Twilight house me until I can either find another place of residence, or until a time comes that I can be sent home. I frankly feel that the former is more likely than the latter. We take another train ride back, all the while, Twilight explains what life in Equestria will entail. She explains Pegasii, magic, the foods that are available, she explains how society is. This I marvel at. While on earth, I would consider the flaws in society, and here seems to be a utopia of sorts. Almost nobody harms each other, there is no unfair economic practices, no greed. Essentially, everybody works for each other, not for themselves. It's something beautiful, and I can't help but shed a tear at the implication of it.
"Why are you crying"
"Your world, it's...it's so beautiful"
"What? Don't you have fields in your world?"
"No, your society. Where I'm from, greed is the driving factor in life. People starve, because others demand luxury. Many are killed, for the sake of continuing a lifestyle. Others are killed, just for the sake of killing. Many millions, indeed billions, have died at the hands of politicians who seek to expand their power, or to gain control of a resource"
"That's awful", she responds, shocked at what mankind has done to itself.
"I know". We ride the rest of the train ride in silence, content to know that mankind is flawed. We return to the town, which was describe to me as Ponyville, later in the afternoon, approaching evening. The purple light of the sun on the horizon. We head back toward the tree, in hopes of hiding me away, however along the way, we meet a friend of Twilight's. She's a yellow pegasus. I'm beginning to accept things the way they are, so I don't question the reality of these creatures anymore. The pegasus speaks in a soft, feminine voice.
"Oh, hello Twilight"
"Hey Fluttershy"
"What's that you've got there?"
"He says he's a human"
"Oh, I've never heard of a human before"
"Hello, Fluttershy". She lets out a small yip before she tries to run off. Twilight, sensing that I'm not feeling to highly with everyone being afraid of me, stops her using magic.
"Fluttershy, he won't hurt you"
"She's right you know", I confirm
"I'm s-s-s-sorry Mr. Human, y-y-you caught me by s-s-surprise"
" It's alright Fluttershy, I understand". I feel hurt by her fear, but I do understand, it is only natural to fear what we don't understand.
"My name's Jacob, by the way"
" Oh, ok Mr. Jacob, I'm Fluttershy", she's less nervous now that I've introduced myself, though I can tell she still is concerned.
"It's nice to meet you Fluttershy, you seem like a pleasant girl", at this she blushes slightly
"Well, thank you", she responds
Twilight buts in, "It's nice to see you're making friends already"
"Well Twilight, I do have a way with animals"
I'm tempted to interject, and clarify that I'm not just some wild animal, but I decide to leave it be, lest I scare away one of only three acquaintances I have made in this new world.
"Alright, well we have to get going Fluttershy".
"Bye, Twilight"
We continue our walk, and reach our destination unbothered. Twilight tries to find bedding materials for me, while I peruse her books. If I'm going to understand the world I'm in, I'd better get reading.  I select a book regarding Pony history. Always a good place to start when trying to understand a culture or group. The book mentions how Celestia, the princess, and her sister, Luna, created the world, and control the day and night respectively. I maintain my skepticism, knowing of the cults of personality of people such as Kim Jon Il of North Korea, though continue reading. Really, it feels more like a book of mythology. Twilight sees me reading.
"Is there anything you want to know in particular?"
"no, I think I just need to get to understand the history a little, once I've read that, I should be able to handle myself a lot better"
She seems to nod her approval, judging by the fact that this is her house, I imagine she too is the more studious type. It's nice to have someone I can relate to, someone who understand the world around them. Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion crashes over me. I look to see what Twilight has done in the way of bedding. A makeshift bed of hay, with a blanket and a pillow. Not bad, who knows, it may even be comfortable. I crawl in, and hope that I will wake up tomorrow, and it'll all just be a strange dream. I drift away, the sandman carrying his sands even to another planet.
I awake with a start, nothing had scared me, I can't explain why.  I crawl out of bed, intent to make the best out of what appears to be a permanent stay in Equestria. Twilight offers me a breakfast. Thank god ponies know about eggs. I gladly except, having not eaten yesterday.
"You're going to need to do some things"
"I know, but I have no idea where to start"
a list comes floating by my face now. It's a checklist of basic errands one might have when moving into a new place. I browse through it, it includes information of where I might go to accomplish the tasks on the list.
"That was nice of you"
"It's kinda what I do", she responds with a somewhat ashamed tone
I head out the door, checklist at hand. First up is to acquire new clothes. The list recommends a dress shop. I don't want to, but I have no choice. I seek out the store. I find it somewhere on the western part of town. I enter.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Just one moment darling!", a very bourgeois accent calls back to me
and exactly a moment later, a white unicorn with a curly, well maintained mane comes out of a back room
"yes, what can I help you wi-"
She stops mid sentence
"My goodness! What in Equestria are you!"
I try not to let my anger flare
" I am a human, a creature from another world, who by some unfortunate twist of fate was summoned to your Equestria without a way to return. As such, I need some clothing"
"Oh, um, yes, of course", she responds, clearly flustered by me, "what kind of clothes are you looking for?"
" Casual, everyday clothes. I will need about a week and a half's worth"
"Alright, please, step onto the platform so I can get your measurements", she grabs a tape measure, and pauses for a moment, thinking of where to start. She takes my waist measurement first. She's surprised by how narrow I am compared to a pony. Then she measures my arm length, my inseam, and my torso. Each measurement she lets out a sight, signifying how she does not look forward to making these clothes. "Alright, you're done"
"When can I expect to see the clothes?"
"They'll be ready in two weeks"
"May I ask your name?"
"Rarity"
"My what a lovely name, befitting a pony such as yourself", I did think she looked much prettier than the others, her purple mane was a wonderfully deep purple. Besides, why not increase your standing among acquaintances? Wouldn't hurt to have a few friends in this place.
"Are all humans such charmers?"
I take my order ticket, and walk out the door. Next up is to find some work. The list recommends a farm, Sweet Apple Acres. The place I woke up in. I knock on the door, and a smaller pony answers, she couldn't be but a child.
"what in tarnation are you?"
"hello there little one, I'm a human, do you know where Applejack is?"
"SIS! There's a homon at the door for ya!"
Applejack approaches, "alright, alright, I hear ya, and it's human"
"Whatever, he's weird", with this, the little one scurries off
"Hello again Applejack"
"What can I do for ya?"
" Well it seems my stay here is a bit, permanent, and as such, I'm going to need some work. I don't have much skills for building or anything of that sort, so I thought I could maybe work on the orchard?"
"Well...I don't see why not"
"Great! when do I start?"
"I'll give you a week, to get settled in, before you start working"
"Sounds good. Bye Applejack, take care"
Clothes, check. Work, check. Next is to meet the mayor. I start my way into town, by now, many ponies are out and about, and all of them watch me as I make my way to the mayor's. Conversations stop dead as I approach. I ignore the blatant behavior of the ponies. Along the way to the mayor's, I run across a pink pony. When I say run across, I mean she tackled me.
"Well, aren't you a strange one!", she says with a giggle
"Yea, like I haven't been getting that all day", I say, rolling my eyes
"Oh cheer up Mr. Strange"
"It's kind of hard to when I'm a freak to you ponies"
" What's your name, freaky weaky?", She isn't even trying to be subtle about it
"Jacob"
"Well, Jacob. I say you need to be officially welcomed to Ponyville!"
" I don't know if that completely necessary"
"Well sure it is! Come on!", she flips me onto her back, and rushes off, thankfully, in the direction of the Mayor's office. She stops at what appears to be the Central Plaza.
"Attention all ponies! We have a newcomer! And a strange one at that!", she bellows for all to hear. A small crowd begins forming now. "He's feeling down because he thinks we don't like him because he's different! Let's show him how wrong he is!". The notion is kind at heart, though I believe she handled it the wrong way. Nonetheless, now there's a crowd, all of them asking the same questions:
"What is it?"
"Where is it from?"
The commotion has attracted the attention of the mayor, who parts the crowd and comes face to face with me. She looks me in the eyes, without flinching, or showing signs of disgust.
"So you're the one Celestia told me about"
"Yes, I am"
The crowd of ponies now address the mayor, barraging her with the questions. The mayor does her best to answer them. She answers them fairly accurately. As about as accurately as I would've been able to detail my predicament. Slowly the pony crowd became me receptive of me. They started talking to me, more as an equal. They would ask reasonably personal questions:
"Jacob, what is earth like?"
"It's mostly covered by water, but there are large amounts of land called continents, on these continents range natural formations from glaciers to mountains, to plains, to forests."
"Do you miss your family?"
"Of course I do, though in all this excitement, I don't have much time to sit down and worry about them"
"Where are you going now?"
"Well, I was supposed to meet the mayor" I said, and continued with a chuckle "but it looks like she found me"
I was happy that they weren't just thinking I'm some sort of grotesque monstrosity.  Some of them, such as a blonde and red pony named Roseluck, introduced themselves, which brought me a feeling of joy that I had been searching for since I got here. A tinge of acceptance. I would end up socializing for most of the afternoon, eventually the Pink pony who brought me here, who would introduce herself as Pinkie Pie, promised me a party. I accepted it, though I was never one for parties. I would depart sometime around 4, my checklist being nearly complete.  I had no clue how to complete this last check, which required me to befriend the pegasii. I hadn't seen hide nor tail of a pegasus, aside from Fluttershy, since moving here. Suddenly, a rainbow streak came by overhead. I figured that must have been one of them. The streak made a sharp turn, and was headed right for me. The streak came to a stop right in front of me, and in front of me was a blue pegasus, looking dumbfounded.
"Who are you? What are you!?"
I'm going to get sick of answering that question
"I'm Jacob, a human"
"Human huh? Can you fly?"
"only with machines"
"grounded, harsh"
"you get used to it"
This pegasus was certainly a girl, though she seemed tomboyish, and quite easy to get along with.
"what're you doing here, human?"
"well, Twilight cast a spell, which brought me here, and I've got no way home"
" That's a shame, I'm Rainbowdash, the fastest pegasus in Equestria!"
She certainly had an ego, though you do wonder just how fast she was going, and if a human aircraft could outrace her
"Alright Rainbowdash, say? Do you know where the rest of the Pegasii are?"
" Up in Cloudsdale"
"Would that be a city, of clouds?
"Yup"
this world just keeps reaching more and more into the bizarre and the impossible
" Alright, what do they do up there?"
" Chill out, race each other, plan the weather"
"Plan, don't you mean forecast?"
"No, we make the weather ourselves"
Is there no limit to the strangeness of this world?
"Alright, well it was nice meeting you, I have to be heading home"
"Where do you live?"
"For right now, in Twilight's tree"
"Alright, I'll see ya around!"
Rainbowdash flew off into the darkening sky. So far everyone has been reasonably pleasant to me, maybe my stay here won't be so bad after all. I made it to twilights tree, all the things on my checklist marked off. We ate dinner, which for me consisted of a salad. I spent the rest of the night reading, and pondering what exactly caused Equestria to be the utopia that it is. Why are the ponies so nice to each other, what would cause them to not be corrupted by greed, and power? It was then that a flash caught my attention, the flash wasn't bright, no, rather, it was dark. Where the flash occurred stood another horse, smaller than Celestia.
"Greetings Human"
"umm.....hello, who are you?"
"I am princess Luna"
"sister of Celestia?"
" Yes"
"It's a pleasure"
" I have come, to welcome you to Equestria, and report to my sister your condition"
"Thank you Luna. As for my condition, I seem to be making friends. After Pinkie Pie made me meet everyone, the town now seems less hostile"
"This is good"
Luna steps closer to me now, to observe me better. I take the opportunity to do the same. She had a coat of dark blue, several crescent moon insignias make themselves apparent, on her tiara, on her chest, and on her flank. Her mane is mesmerizing. It appears as the night sky, and flows from her head. She notices me looking at her.
"What is it, human?"
"Your mane is gorgeous"
She's taken aback by this comment, but recomposes herself
"Thank you. Not many people enjoy my presence"
" Why not?"
"Oh yes, you do not know"
"Know what?"
" Nevermind, it is better you not know. I must depart now. Goodbye human"
"Goodbye Luna"
She disappears in the same dark flash that brought her here. At least I know that Celestia is keeping tabs on me, making sure life here is tolerable. The curiosity of that statement left me wondering though. What does she not want me to know? Oh well,  I'll leave that one until morning. I quickly fall asleep, walking all across town wore me down.
I would spend the next week working out how exactly to take my newfound acquaintances and become friends. I went to Fluttershy, and saw that she indeed does have a way with animals. Her entire cottage is filled with wild animals, seemingly tamed. I marveled at this, and she asked me if Humans have pets. I confirmed her question, and she seemed very happy. She offered to help me find a pet, which I politely declined. I explained to her that I'm going to need to find out just exactly how much I'll be making working on the farm, and how much I can expect to spend. I would only keep a pet if I had enough extra money to ensure I could properly take care of a pet. She smiled and nodded with agreement, making a mental note that I care enough about animals to not take one up if I can't take care of it. When I left, she seemed much more at ease with me than she had before. I asked her the question.
"are we...friends?"
"well, sure...I don't see why not"
Overjoyed, I had made my first friend. I then wandered about, trying to get an idea of where things are in the town of Ponyville. I found a bakery, Sugar Cube Corner, that I've heard several ponies recommend. I decided to check it out, knowing full well I had no pony money to actually buy anything with. There was Pinkie Pie. Once she saw me, her incessant babble poured forth like a verbal Niagara Falls. At some points I couldn't follow the relevance of what she was saying, switching topics seemingly at random. Eventually she stated a question:
"How is life treating you in Ponyville?", she asked, with only the largest smile I could ever imagine possible.
"Not bad, I'm starting to know everyone, and I actually got my first friend"
"That's great! Who's the lucky pony?"
"Fluttershy"
"Really? She never seemed like the kind of pony who would make friends quickly. Oh well, I think this calls for a party!"
"But, you've already got a welcoming party for me tonight"
"Oh, that's right! Silly me, I guess we'll make tonight's party a double party"
with nothing left to say, and no money to buy the torturously tempting foods the bakery offered, I departed for home. Once inside the tree, I sought out Twilight, with the intent to ask her a question. I found her upstairs, attempting to conduct a spell. She would strain and struggle, then she would double check her notes, making sure she was doing it right. I interrupted her, "Twilight, can you tell me about princess Luna?"
"Well sure anon, what do you want to know"
"Last night, she said that people don't like her"
"That would, unfortunately, be true"
Twilight then proceeded to describe the tale of Luna. Her jealousy for the love her sister got for bringing up the sun every day. How she turned evil, trying to make night the only time of day, and how she was  banished to the moon for 1000 years. I had to scoff at the idea of a horse living on the moon for 1000 years. Twilight continued, explaining how she returned as Nightmare Night, a pony of pure evil, and nearly overthrew her sister in a coup, until Twilight and her friends stepped in with the elements of harmony. With those she banished Nightmare Moon and brought back the kind Luna. This story changed my perspective of Equestria. It was less of an Utopia, now that I knew that there had been a few cases of greed and envy. After this story, I went to sleep early, wanting to start work earlier than Applejack had planned. I had nothing to do anyway. I had established myself, made myself known, and found a more or less sustainable lifestyle here in Equestria.
The next morning, I slipped out of bed before the rest were awake, and headed out to Sweet Apple Acres. I managed to catch Applejack just before she got to harvesting. She told me that, "Me an' Big Mac got to figurin", I was to sort the apples after harvesting. The thought that my hands would be better suited to handle a task that requires more dexterity than harvesting. I was a slight bit relieved by this, I doubted I had the physical stamina for hauling buckets of harvested apples. I went to where I was directed, the cellar. Inside I found the little one, busy sorting the flow of apples. Three baskets, three types: Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and Golden Delicious. Of course, those are brand names, so to the ponies it was just red, green, and yellow. I took a seat across from the little one, who seemed more focused on watching my hands work than on sorting her own apples. There was a silence between us, that neither of us were particularly willing to break. Finally she spoke up, "I'm sorry I called you weird". I felt honestly touched for a moment. Of all the time I spent in Equestria, she's the first to apologize for calling me weird.
"It's quite alright, little one"
"The name's Applebloom"
"I'm Jacob"
"Those ain't hooves you got there"
"No, they're not, they're called hands, and the little dangly things are fingers"
"Hands huh? What're they good for?"
"Mostly for grabbing, watch"
I skillfully picked up an apple, making my finger movements extra apparent
"Wow! I wish I could do that!"
"You may not be able to grab things, but you can outrun me easily"
"Yea, I guess your right", she concluded with a smile. We set back to work, sorting the various types of apples, with me having to stop every once and a while to ask her opinion on what type of apple it was. After what only felt like an hour, the stream of apples came to a stop. We plugged the barrels, with Applebloom watching me with awe as I handled a hammer, and went upstairs to collect my pay. It was a reasonable amount, about 50 bits for what turned out to be a six hour shift. Applejack told me that I need to return in tomorrow and help again. Standard job routine, so I had no complaints. The next few days ran the same, wake up, go to work, return home, read, maybe chat with some of my new friends, and then sleep. The day of rest came, and I did everything but rest. Rarity had decided that I was to pick up my clothes in batches, and the first five day's were done. Rainbowdash, having learned that I used to go to air shows when I was back home, set up an impromptu airshow for the town. She had gotten the mayor to pull a few strings and apparently landed the Equestrian acrobatics team, the wonder bolts. It was nice to have something reminiscent of home, and it was quite fun to watch. Later in the evening came my "Welcome to Equestria/Friend Making" party. It was a fairly standard social function. Refreshments, games, and lots of socializing. The socializing focused primarily on me, from the bits I picked up from various conversations I picked up on. They all had their theories on what earth was like, what female humans looked like, what hands felt like. On several occasions a few females would come up to me,
"May, may we feel your hands?"
I was unsure how to respond, but I figured why not. I introduced them to the human tradition of the hand shake.
"Alright, so put your hoof out"
I would grab onto their hoof, with my standard firm, yet pleasant grip, and shake her hoof. She would squeal and giggle as I did it. It was a new sensation to them. I served as a source of entertainment for most of the party. They would ask for handshakes, or just ask me questions.
"Do you have any special talents?", one of them posed. I thought about that for a moment, I consider myself pretty good with foreign languages.
"yes, I speak other languages"
"Humans' have more than one language?", she seemed surprised
"Don't ponies?"
"No", I was in turn, a little surprised by this, but I was drawn back when asked to speak in a foreign language, I chose the one that I was most familiar with, German.
"Ja, was denkst du denn? Interessierst du dich für mich?", once again, there were giggles and squeals. I took to the squeals kindly. I returned the question to them
"Do any of y'all have special talents?"
They turned their flanks to me, and showed the symbols on them, I spied a harp, wrapped candies, a rose, and various other symbols.
"what is that marking?", I asked, baffled as to why they'd have their talents tattooed on their flanks.
"It's a cutie mark, it appears when we discover our special talents" the one with the rose chimed in. "Mine, for example, is a rose, because I love to grow roses"
It was a curious genetic feature, though I took it as fact nonetheless.
"do you have a cutie mark?", one of them asked me. I described to the crowd what coat of arms were, and how they told what a family of humans believed in. I also told how many humans never find their special talents, or they find a talent they think is theirs, but it really isn't. I also told how some humans knowingly pick a talent that isn't theirs, just so that they can have some money to live on. The ponies didn't take to this idea well, so I didn't go into much more detail.
The party lasted for several more hours, some ponies dancing, others chatting, everyone having a generally good time. I sat to the side and watched. It was the standard for me at a party. I noticed fluttershy come over to me and sat next to me. Shy being in her name, I took it she wasn't the socialite either. We talked a little, of ponies we knew, we spoke of animals, and how they were on earth compared to on Equestria. She seemed particularly interested on that topic. She asked me of the more strange creatures on my world. I detailed see-through fish at the bottom of the oceans, I told her of the long snouted, and even longer tongued ant-eaters. with each new creature the lit up, happy to know that such oddities exist somewhere. I was just happy to have someone to talk to. The party ended at around 9 at night. Everybody saying their goodbyes to each other. I bid fluttershy farewell, and took my leave. When I returned home, I found Luna and Twilight speaking to eachother.
"He has to leave", Luna roared
"I can't get the spell to work again", retorted Twilight, "besides, he's starting to make friends here"
"That's exactly the problem", responded Luna, "He doesn't belong here, and if he makes friends, he won't want to go home"
Then they noticed me.
"Oh, Jacob, how long have you been standing there?", Twilight asked, acting innocent
"Long enough"
"It's the truth, Human. You are not meant for this world", Luna responded callously.
"I used to think that, but these past few days, I can't help but wonder. Back where I'm from, I used to think about just how awful humanity was. I saw the ways they ruined others lives, I knew of their self-important lifestyles that put themselves in front of anybody else. It was disgusting. Here, I've found comfort in knowing that everybody has a talent, that almost nobody ruins another's life just so that they can have a little more. I think that I belong here, more so than I do Earth"
"I shall report this to Celestia", and with that Luna vanished.
"Thanks for defending me Twilight."
"No problem Jacob"
I left to go to my room, and read a little before bed. As I was reading, Spike coughed up another scroll. Twilight read it, and her face betrayed the words on the paper.
"oh no"
"What twilight? What's wrong?", Spike asked, anxious to know
"Nothing Spike. Jacob, can you come here a minute?"
I walked over, concerned as Twilight's facial expression was not a pleasant one. The scroll was written in rather beautiful calligraphy, it read:
"Dear Twilight,
We understand your concerns for Jacob, however, he is not a being of this world, and we at the Royal Court and concerned with what prolonged exposure to him would do to our subjects. We have now committed a research team to find a spell to send him home, we will contact you again, when we have acquired the means to do so.
Eternally yours,
Celestia"
I was stunned. She couldn't possibly do this, not after what I had said to Luna.
Twilight looked visibly upset, "I...I'm sorry anon", she gave me a brief embrace before I left to my room again. Sickened by what I had just read, I put away my book, and just stared at the ceiling. I sat there, unthinking, unmoving. I don't know how quickly I fell asleep, but I know I didn't sleep well.
I awoke from my restless sleep, and immediately went to the farm. I started work as usual, pretending to be happy to spare the bad news from Applebloom, who had grown to like me. I managed to maintain myself until she started asking me about home, on earth. Then I lost it, and let a tear drop.
"What's wrong, Jacob? Feeling homesick?"
"N-no Applebloom, it's not that. I got a letter last night from Princess Celestia"
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Not this time. She says that I have to go home, even though I want to stay here in Ponyville. She says I don't belong here"
"Well, I suppose you don't"
"But I don't want to go home, you ponies have been so much nicer to me than any human has. You've  taken me in, even though I'm completely different from y'all, and made a friend out of me. That's the kind of compassion that makes me want to stay. The kind I don't have at home"
"That's awful sweet of you to say, Jacob"
I recollect myself, and we don't speak of it again. I collect my pay, and head over to Rarity's shop, to pick up the last of the clothing, and make my payment. Rarity's intuition is astounding
"What's wrong, Jacob?"
"Oh, nothing"
"You can't hide it from me, darling. Now tell me, what's bothering you"
"Celestia's forcing me to go home, even though I want to stay in Ponyville"
"Well it can't be all bad, I mean you do get to go home"
"I don't want to go home. Home was a miserable place filled with miserable people, here in Ponyville, everyone is so kind, so friendly."
"Well, I'm sorry"
I take my clothes, pay the 150 bits, and leave. I don't speak to anyone else for the rest of the day, and end the night quickly, hoping that another letter would appear, correcting the last one and saying that I am welcome to stay. Another letter did come, but not with what I had hoped would be written on it.
"Dear, Twilight
Our research team has made a breakthrough, and we are ready to return Jacob to his home world. Please inform him that he has 48 hours to make his preparations for departure.
Eternally yours,
Celestia"
After reading this, I broke down. I truly didn't want to leave. I sat on the floor, and wept. Twilight stood by my side, trying to comfort me. She knew I didn't want to go. I went to bed quickly, more to avoid the feeling of sadness than to ease fatigue.
Dawn of the first day,
Word travels quickly through Ponyville, as I leave to go to work, I'm stopped by a mob of ponies. Each and every one looks equally distraught. They send me condolences, give me hugs, cry on my shoulder.  These were the friends that I had made, that I would leave in two days. Roseluck, the one with the rose from the party. Bonbon and Lyra, the two were inseparable, and both had become friends of mine.  Raindrops, one of the few pegasii I've had the fortune to meet. She was a sweet girl, always a little shy, and quick to blush. I meet Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the owners of Sugar Cube Corner. They were always busy whenever I stopped by, but they made time to get to know me. All of the ponies in the crowd knew me, and all of them I was proud to call my friends. I stifled the tears as best I could.
Eventually, I made it to work, Applebloom looked pretty emotionally hurt, but she worked. We both worked. Work took our minds away from the inevitability of my leaving. We had little snippets of conversation, but they weren't anything significant, and they didn't last much longer than a few exchanges. For the most part, we worked in silence, save for a sniffle every now and then. Once the sorting was finished, Apple bloom came over to me. Without saying a word, she wrapped her hooves around my leg, and sobbed into my shin. I bent down and pet her, my tears escaping. Applejack soon joined us down below. She looked deep into my eyes, and I into hers. We saw the pain in our eyes. She gave me my money, and turned away. She shuddered, before slowly making her way back up the stairs, head lowered. Soon after, Applebloom had finished sobbing. I said goodbye to her. I made my way up the stairs, and said goodbye to Applejack, who sat staring out the window. She turned, and put on a smile. Through her tears, she told me,
"We'll miss ya"
"I'll miss you too Applejack"
I walked out the door, and started to head home. I was stopped by a familiar blue pegasus.
"Hey, Jacob, I heard you were leaving"
"Yea, I am"
"What's the matter? Aren't we cool enough for you?", she spoke ironically, we both knew why I was leaving.
"Rainbowdash, I just wanted to say, thanks for the air show, it was awesome", I cracked a little smile at that.
"Hey....no problem", Rainbowdash responded, now showing her true emotions. She raced in and hugged me. It took me by surprise, but I managed to keep my balance. "Don't you ever forget who's the most awesome pony in Equestria"
"I won't Dash, I won't"
She sniffled a little, and released me. Watching me continue my death march back to Twilight's house with tears in her eyes. It seemed as though the entire town was out looking for me, next I ran into Pinkie Pie. He usually poofy mane laying flat. She looked at me with the most tremendous puppy dog eyes.
"Jacob, do you really gotta go?"
"It seems like it"
She broke down and spewed a fountain of tears. It's never easy to see a friend leave, especially when your whole life revolves around friends, and being social. I came over and sat next to her. I sat there, next to her while she cried, with a hand on her back. Slowly she stopped crying. Transitioning from wailing wildly to choking back tears and making slight hiccups. She spoke little, compared to before.  She took me in an embrace, still choking on her tears.
"I hope you'll be happy back home", she finally managed to say.
"I hope so too Pinkie"
She gave me a little nudge, "Hey, make sure to have a great party in memory of you old pal, Pinkie"
"It'll be the best, most amazing party ever, just like the ones you throw"
She smiled a little, and bid me goodbye. I continued to walk down the road, which seemed to stretch to infinity, eventually making it to Twilight's house.  I packed what belongings I had managed to muster while in Equestria. My book, which Twilight had given me out of generosity. The clothes Rarity had sewn me, magnificent pieces of clothing, well fitting, and very comfortable. The honorary pegasus badge that Rainbowdash had given me at the air show. Each object I packed brought back a memory, and each memory was a friend. A friend I would leave behind by tomorrow night. I slept poorly that night. I had nightmares. Nightmares of war, of terrorism, of starvation and disease. Nightmares that would become reality once I returned home.
Dawn of the Final Day
I awoke later than usual, I didn't need to go to work. I decided to take another walk around Ponyville, see it one last time before I leave. I wandered about, caught the eyes of many a sad pony. It was then that I ran across a pink-purple pony, who had a question to ask.
"If it's your last day here, I don't suppose you would mind talking to my class, would you?", she asked
"Sure, I guess, Miss-"
"Cheerilee"
she led me to a classroom filled with young ponies, one of which was Applebloom. The young ones didn't seem as perturbed about my leaving as the adults, though I never really met most of them, so I can't hold it against them. Miss Cheerilee spoke up.
"Alright class, today we have a special, once in a lifetime guest, Jacob, the human". The class waited with anticipation of what I was going to say. I honestly had no idea what I was going to say, but I was going to say something. I swallowed my sadness and spoke.
"Good morning class"
"Good morning Mr. Jacob", the entire class chanted in unison, though unenthusiastically.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all, before I leave for my home world again. I've met so many wonderful ponies, and you've been so nice to me. I arrived here unannounced, and immediately, you ponies took me in, made sure I was taken care of. You adopted me into your society, even though I'm not one of you. Where I'm from, that is hardly ever seen. It's so rare to find people that would take care of a stranger as if he's part of the family. "
"Mr. Jacob, please, tell us more about your home", Miss Cheerilee chimed in
"My home is about 75% water, the rest is solid land, massed together in large chunks called continents. These continents have very different environments on them. Some have jungle, others mountains, others are almost always frozen with ice and snow. Humans have managed to live in all of these environments, and so, humans are everywhere on earth. "
A student asks, "What are humans like?"
"Humans are hard working people. They work most of the day, so that their lifestyle can stay the same. That means they only work for themselves. So when certain jobs involve controlling other people, they often don't care about the others, like a politician for example. He has to rule a whole country of people, but will often forget about the people he's working for, and will only work for what he thinks is right."
"that doesn't sound very nice", a white unicorn with a light purple mane exclaims
"No, it's not very nice, but it's the way earth is. It's why I love it here so much in Ponyville. Ponies are nice people, they work hard for whoever needs it, not just themselves."
"Any other questions for Mr.Jacob?", Miss Cheerilee asks. There's a silence about the room. "Alright then, class dismissed". I stay a while, to talk to Miss Cheerilee. It probably isn't best to be making more friends right before I leave, but it helps ease the pain a little.
"Earth doesn't sound like a nice place, I can see why you want to stay"
"Yes, it'll be difficult to say goodbye"
"I hope you can find peace back home"
"Me too"
I leave the classroom, and start to head to Twilight's house. On the way, I run into Fluttershy. She looks betrayed. It is understandable, since I spent more time with her than anybody else, she's one of the closest friends I had here in Equestria.
"Jacob...I'll...I'll", she sputters out, before breaking down into tears. I take her into my arms, the weight of sorrow heavy in my heart. Such a kind, caring girl brought to tears by my leaving. She sobbed and sniffled. I held on, she wanted it. She needed to feel that I was her friend, much the same way I need to feel her. "I'll miss you", she finally manages to get out.
"I know, I'll miss you too", I choke out. We embrace once more, desperately in need of each other's emotional support.
I leave Fluttershy, and return to Twilight's house. Only a few hours before I'm set to go home. I go into Twilight's study, where she's reading intently, though I sense she's not paying attention to the book.
"Hello, Jacob"
"I'm going to leave soon"
"I know"
"I just wanted to say, thanks for taking care of me while I was here"
"It's the least I could do", she says, looking away from the book. She's as upset as everyone else. Living with her, I've been able to spend quite a large chunk of my time with her, getting to know her. We shared a lot in common. Our logical mindset, our quiet observation of the world around us. We shared these traits, and it allowed us to quickly become friends. She walked over, and looked me in the eyes.
"Be careful back home, ok?"
"I'll always remember you Twilight."
With that, I sat on my bed, and awaited anxiously the hour of my departure. I felt like a prisoner on death row, knowing my impending fate, with no means to stop it. I might as well have been, for I was sure that I could never know happiness again, after I got home. Two flashes brought me back to reality, before me stood Celestia, and Luna.
"Are you ready to go, Jacob"
"I suppose", I said, grabbing my bag of belongings. My mouth ran dry, my voice trembled. "I don't suppose you could let me stay?"
"No, I'm sorry, but you do not belong in this world", Celestia responded, sounding sympathetic.
Luna, who had moved to another room, to hide her sorrow, spoke up now, "sis, I think you should come outside".
With my trunk still in my hand, we walk outside. A massive crowd of ponies have clustered around Twilight's tree, waiting to watch me leave, hoping to get in a few final goodbyes. Celestia looks at the crowd of ponies, and expresses a face of disappointment.
"Come, Jacob, let's go to the palace", Celestia says, with a firm tone. The entire crowd gasps, this is the moment we've all been dreading. Celestia looks out to the crowd with a scowl, and finishes her statement, "So we can tell the unicorns that they don't need to cast the spell". Silence. The entire crowd of ponies, trying to understand what just happened. Then, a massive outburst of cheers. I turn and look at Celestia, she has a huge smile on her face. "You have befriended so many ponies, and each truly cares about you. You do belong here".  I am beyond ecstatic. I cling to Celestia and heave a sigh of relief. She accepts the hug gracefully. I then turn to Luna. I walk over to her, and embrace her as well.
"Thank you", I manage to whisper in her ear. In my excitement I place a quick kiss on her cheek. She blushes.
"You're welcome", she responds
The crowd swarms me, each wanting a hug, each welcoming me to Equestria. Celestia takes me to the palace. We're sitting in the throne room, and she calls forth half a dozen cloaked unicorns.
"The planar transportation spell will no longer be necessary"
"Yes your highness" they respond, and quickly leave.
"Now, Jacob, let's see about getting you a house", she says, and calls forth some sort of bureaucrat. The bureaucrat takes out a map of Ponyville, and marks a spot near Fluttershy's cottage.
"Construction will begin immediately your highness", the bureaucrat informs as he puts away the map.
"Thank you so much, Celestia", I turn to her
" You're very welcome, Jacob" , she replies, with a smile on her face. "Now, let's get you home"
I blink and find myself back in Twilight's cottage. Spike burps out another letter shortly after. It reads:
"Dear Twilight,
Jacob will be staying in Equestria indefinitely. As such, he is having a house built. Until the house is complete, and deemed livable, he will be staying with you for a few more days.
Eternally yours,
Celestia"