//------------------------------// // Tattoo You? Light Heart Edition // Story: Equestrian Day Dreams // by PonyMarine //------------------------------// So due to the nature of this kind of short story, I'm going to include a paragraph or two of "set up" to give us a framework to work with instead of building through exposition. I want to keep these one shots pretty locked down. Without the chance of expanding them to separate chapters, they might show some continuity though...seriously, when have your dreams made sense? This is an experimental project, and I've had to infer a portion of it (Especially the framework...trust me I'd like a better frame to work with too, but take it up with my subconscious). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simple background this time: I'm in Equestria somehow, I've gained a ponified form somehow, and after my discovery in the Everfree forest by Fluttershy I'm be shown the town and introduced/fed. My tattoos have remained as patterns on both my coat and skin. If you're curious as to what said ink looks like, there's a link to my deviantart on my profile, and my tattoos are in my "random" folder in my gallery. I know it's a self insert, and those suck. I hate them too, but this is literally based off of a dream and expanded to a story. When's the last time you dreamed about/as someone who wasn't you? Further, with the feedback from my awesome team of prereaders and editors (DJ, Errant, props brohirim) I have split this fic into two versions, one which I’ve dubbed “light heart” is simply a cute quick story with the CMC and a big mess, the other takes a more serious tone and goes in to detail behind my tattoos and the world I come from that resulted in their creation. So which ever you think you’d prefer, go on and read it. You’re currently in the light heart edition. Walking on all fours when you're used to walking on two is not a simple mental process in the slightest. I was stumbling down the streets with the butter yellow pegasus mare, Fluttershy as she gave her name, and garnering more then a few stares. The locals probably thought I was drunk, or they were just staring at me in general. I'd caught a glimpse of myself in Fluttershy's mirror after she finished patching me up and took me into town. There were bandages everywhere. A couple of my old body's more visible scars standing out prominently against my now tan colored fur as well as my tattoo ink, which had adapted itself to my new anatomy instead of vanishing by whatever magic had brought me here. My Marine Corps tattoo and Celtic brand now rode high, one on each of my fore shoulders. Another warrior brand right under...whatever the horse's variant of a clavicle is called...was clear on my chest, and of course my shield and wing remained on my right.... flank, it had also gained a full color duplicate on the left side which Fluttershy informed me was called a "cutie mark"... considering that tattoo didn't have much to do with being cute I wanted to protest but decided to just go with the local terminology. On a positive note everyone... everypony seemed to have their own tattoos on their flanks so maybe here it wasn't quite as odd or taboo as they could be on earth? I was so deep in thought I almost missed what Fluttershy was saying. "I'm sorry, miss. What was that you just said?" Fluttershy kicked the ground with her front hoof and whispered, "If you don't mind, we could go to Sugarcube Corner. I'm sure one or two of my friends will be there for you to meet, and we could maybe get something to eat." "Sure, Fluttershy, lead the way!" The bashful and shy nature of this pony was rather amusing sometimes, and the prospect of food sounded good. try as I might I just couldn't bring myself to think of grass as food, and some place called Sugarcube Corner didn't sound like the place to go to experiment with the vegan life style. A short walk quickly proved me correct. The entire building was a monument to baked goods, candy, and anything to do with sugar at its most refined. Yeah, even in a new pony body, I could work with this. Fluttershy wasn't kidding about her friends either, as soon as we walked in the door we were ambushed by a bouncing pink.... I’m still not quite sure she was a pony, maybe an animated pony-shaped hunk of cotton candy. Whatever Pinkie Pie was, she obviously indulged in a very, very large amount of the products here at Sugarcube Corner. After getting some confections from the still very excited Pinkie Pie, we moved outside to a small table which let me people, err pony watch a little as we ate. The peace and soft noise of the market was quickly spoiled however by a commotion off to my left, a scooter with a wagon attached loaded down with three little ponies, I suppose you'd call them fillies, barreled down the road at breakneck speeds. They screeched to a stop that physics told me should have been relatively impossible, especially considering the apparent lack of brakes on either conveyance. The three quickly ran up to Ms. Fluttershy, talking excitedly. I couldn't follow most of it, something about chickens, omelets, and cutie marks. Fluttershy got them calmed down a little and reminded them of their manners. They spun around to introduce themselves. "Hi, mister! I'm Scootaloo!" "I'm Applebloom!" "And I'm Sweetie Bell!" Then in unison, "And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!" It was at this point the girls noticed my rather unorthodox collection of "cutie marks". Fluttershy had asked me about them and explained the concept of cutie marks being a coming of age process and a kind of method to determine one’s place in the world. They were like those career suggestion tests I took in high school, but the results are indelibly marked on your ass for the world to see. Scootaloo was all over the place, apparently trying to look at my tattoos all at once. "Wow! You have so many cutie marks! And they're all kinda...weird, what kind of special talent does this represent? It's a bird, a globe, some rope, and some weird hook thing. Why is it on your shoulder instead of your flank?" The three were all looking up expectantly, obviously waiting for the story. How to tell them in terms they'd understand? From what I understood from Fluttershy there was no war here and very little crime. So no real form of military existed, especially nothing that would relate to the Marine Corps...but she had mentioned a Royal Guard, maybe that would do for an analogy. "Well it's not a cutie mark, where I'm from certain groups of peo... ponies have special marks called tattoos put on them to commemorate or acknowledge a part of themselves or a life achievement. I got that one for joining our version of the royal guard. We call them the Marine Corps." Close enough, we did guard the President of the United States after all. It didn't prevent another barrage of questions from the excitable little fillies who wanted to know what all of my tattoos meant. I had just finished translating the gaelic slogan under my Celtic tattoo "Bona Na Croin” which meant, “Neither Collar Nor Crown," when the quietest of the bunch, Sweetie Belle, saved me from explaining the old Irish rebel slogan with another question. "So, mister, if your tattoos don't appear on their own like cutie marks do... how do you get them?" "That's a good question, Sweetie Belle. You go to a special artist called a tattoo artist, and he uses a special kind of.... quill to enchant the ink on to the skin. It's something you have be careful with though, because they’re permanent and can’t be removed." The three young fillies seemed to be satisfied with that, and I was able to return to my delicious pastry. Just as I pulled a particularly tasty looking apple tart, the three fillies tore off on their homemade conveyance with their shout of, "Cutie Mark Crusaders tattoo artists! Yay!" Their cry echoing in my ears. Fluttershy and I shared a brief look and immediately raced off after the girls as they sped down the streets of Ponyville. They weren't exactly hard to track. I still don't know how those girls propelled that scooter, but damn it could move and throw up a hell of a dust cloud. We were still hot on their heels despite my new limbs trying to intimately acquaint me with the ground a few times. We reached a large tree-shaped building which turned out to be a library. Its door had been left wide open. Inside was...chaos. Books and writing supplies were everywhere. I have no idea how the fillies made such a mess so fast. Fluttershy and I were directly behind them! A purple unicorn was standing in the middle of the chaos, obviously more than a little annoyed with the rambunctious trio, and using, what I assumed was magic, to levitate the three of them. The fillies were obviously about to catch an ass chewing, and I guess it was partially my fault so I stepped in to defend them. "Excuse me, miss. Don't be too mad at the girls. I'm the one who got them all worked up. I didn't explain to them what tattoos were fully, and I think they might have gotten the wrong impression." I stepped over to the young fillies still floating with the unicorn's purple magic surrounding them. "I forgot to tell the three of you that tattoos aren't a short cut to finding your place or your path. A proper tattoo is received under much the same conditions as a cutie mark, when you find something that defines you. You also have to wait ‘til your a grown-up to get them. I doubt that any of the quills in this library would have quite the affect you three want any way." I chuckled a little as the fillies faces dropped a bit and they apologized to the purple unicorn, "Miss Twilight." She looked like she was about to set them to work, but I interrupted her again. "I know they made the mess, miss, but I'll clean it up. It was mostly my fault." and gave Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle a wink that said 'break for the door while I still have her distracted'. The fillies took my cue and scrammed, shouting apologies over their shoulders. Twilight stared at me like I'd just done something wrong but broke into a smile. Fluttershy came over to make introductions and to start helping put the library back together. "Twilight, this is the pony I told you about, the one I found on the edge of the Everfree forest." "It’s a pleasure to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and the Ponyville Librarian." "Nice to meet you, Twilight. I'm sorry again about the girls, but it really was my fault for not being clear enough." "Well, fillies will be fillies. You can make it up to me by telling me everything about those markings on you and where you come from." An especially long scroll, quill and ink pot levitated in to view, and the unicorn was grinning almost manically now, waiting for me to begin to speak. I stifled a groan. I got the feeling when she meant everything she meant it literally.