As a scientist, one would assume that I would think before doing anything. Sometimes, I wish I had, for what happened next showed me how cruel I was. As the heavy metal doors slid open I realised what I had done. The only memories they will have are the episodes and small memories of what happened between them. The last thing they will remember is being in Ponyville... as ponies. They weren’t the real things. They were scientific creations designed from greed and selfishness. This was the one time it was necessary I thought twice... And I didn’t.
The computer was now obsolete. I couldn’t do anything until after they regained consciousness. I wanted to cancel in order to save them from what was going to happen. It would probably make them miserable, to wake up in another world. In a different body. Up until now the only thing I thought about was myself. I had forgotten that they thought and felt as well.
There was one thing I was sure of though: I couldn’t let them know how they were created or what they were based on. I had to let them believe they were real. I needed to make them feel comfortable.
I climbed up to the catwalk that went around the room to watch what would happen next. After about four minutes Pinkie Pie opened her eyes. They zoomed around the place scanning it. The pink-haired “pony” started to wiggle in her pod. Her eyes moved slowly down her new body, examining every inch carefully. She wiggled her toes for a couple of seconds which made her giggle.
She giggled. This was Pinkie so it slightly made sense. The others would flip out for sure. The overly-cheerful woman looked at her fingers for a couple of seconds moving around. She touched her face, wiggling her cheeks around with her hands trying to get a basic idea of what she looked like. After a while of “discovering”, her eyes sparkled. Her pink hair was still straight as she crawled out of her compartment. She was giggling like crazy now and rolling on the floor. Her hair poofed up as she rolled around, until it looked the way it was supposed to look. Slowly, the giggly “pony” pushed herself up onto two legs. At first, she wobbled and even fell over once or twice. She probably thought that this new body looked more like the bipeds in her world. Finally, she stood on her two back legs, that is until she fell on the floor in another fit of laughter.
Just then, another girl woke up. The blond human blinked once. Confusion was written all over her freckled face. She rubbed her eyes as if though waking up from a dream. No, it wasn’t a dream. Her eyes shot wide open as she scanned the room she was in. It was clear she didn’t feel the same way Pinkie did. While she was looking, she remembered rubbing her eyes. Those weren’t hooves. The freckled “pony” observed her hands much like her previous friend had done... except she didn’t giggle. Her eyes went up and down the rest of her body, her “hooves” touching places she couldn’t see. She saw her pink friend laughing a short distance away.
“What’re you laughin’ at?” asked Applejack in a southern accent. She was trying to remain courageous but was still shaking with fear.
The other “pony’s” cyan eyes turned to face her friend’s. She stopped laughing for a moment to observe her friend. That only made her laugh more.
“You too!” laughed the pink-haired human. “Isn’t it great! Now we can eat and... uh... hold more stuff to eat AT THE SAME TIME!”
“But we don’t even know where we are! We’re probably a million miles from home,” replied the more sensible one, “and we don’t even know what we are!”
The look of fear in her green eyes broke my heart. What had I done? They’ve only been alive for a couple of minutes but they believe they’ve lived their whole lives. I felt like a heartless monster. I could’ve just met people instead of doing this. There was no way I would let them know where they came from.
Pinkie stopped laughing after hearing her friend’s words. Her hair stopped flying and the balloons on her “flanks” stood still.
“You’re right. At least these bodies are hilarious,” joked the cheerful pony trying to make Applejack feel better. It was still clear that her friend’s words had affected her though.
“Let’s go look for everypony else,” suggested Applejack.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” answered Pinkie, regaining her joy.
The pods weren’t very far apart, only a yard between one pod and another, so it didn’t take them long to find another sleeping friend.
“I think she’s sleepin’,” said Applejack.
“Duh! Of course she’s sleeping. Now all we have to do is wake her up!”
“Uh... Twilight? Are you asleep?” asked Applejack.
“Wake up, you little sleepy head! Hurray! Hurray! Wake up you little sleepy head! It’s a brand new day!” sang Pinkie Pie in as loud a voice as possible. This caused the sleeping “pony” to wake up from her unconsciousness.
“Pinkie,” said the previously-sleeping pony in an irritated fashion, “what are you doing in my hou...”
The now fully-awake woman stopped talking after she saw what was in front of her. Two strange creatures who sounded, acted and slightly resembled her earth pony friends.
“Who are you?” Twilight demanded to know.
“We’re your friends, Twi,” answered the girl with three apples on each “flank.”
“Applejack? Pinkie Pie?” The purple haired female was confused. “You look so... strange.”
“You do too, Sugarcube,” replied the farm pony with a chuckle.
The look on Twilight’s face told me that she was afraid. Were these her real friends? Did she really look like them? Where was she?
Her first leg hesitantly left the protection of her pod. Her purple eyes flew open as the light outside revealed her new “hoof.” Her lavender coat was gone, a pale skin in its place. She let out a startled scream. Her other foot followed, her body emerging into the warm sunlight. Usually, seeing light after being in the dark was like a fantastic dream, but right now, to her it was a nightmare. The now trembling girl dropped to her knees.
“It’s imperative we tell the princess right away!” she said in between tears. “This could be a new epidemic. A cure must be found!”
“It isn’t that bad!” exclaimed Pinkie. “We can now hold cupcakes and talk about them AT THE SAME TIME!”
“You thought Discord wasn’t bad,” replied the smart “pony.” The thought of Discord sparked an idea in her mind. “This is a lot like Discord’s work! Where’s Spike? We might be on the precipice of disaster!”
“We only found you, sugarcube,” explained Applejack.
“Hey! I only thought his chocolate rain wasn’t bad!” complained Pinkie.
Meanwhile, another “creation” was coming to life. This one was a beautiful lady with indigo hair. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that her skin was slightly whiter than is usually possible in nature. Instead of walking or crawling out like the others, she fell out.
“Whaaaaahhh!” she screamed as her body crashed forward. A picture of three blue diamonds could be seen on her “flank.” Twilight and the two friends with her ran towards the source of the scream. What they found was a young woman lying on the floor in an overly dramatic fashion. A river of tears was next to her.
“You too!” giggled Pinkie Pie.
Upon hearing her friend she stopped crying. She noticed they were standing on their back legs only so she picked herself up as gracefully as possible. When she finally got up the elegant lady dusted herself off.
“Have you seen Spike?” Twilight asked. “A letter must be sent to the princess at once to inform her of this disaster!”
“Spike? No. But have you seen me... erm... us?” whined Rarity. “What am... are we, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” answered Twilight. She was even more nervous now. She was miles away from home, in a strange body, and there was no way she could contact the only person who could help. Of course, the princess didn’t exist, neither did Spike. And the only place she ever existed was in this room. She didn’t come from Canterlot. She came from a scientific experiment. But she must never know.
“Maybe if I use my magic I can find out where we are.”
Twilight concentrated. She tried to focus her energy on finding out where they were. Unfortunately, magic doesn’t exist in this world.
“I can’t get this spell to work! It’s as if though magic doesn’t exist in this place... or world.”
“But we have these!” exclaimed Pinkie wiggling her fingers in front of the depressed “pony’s” face. “Who needs a horn when they have... wiggly hooves!”
“I don’t have a horn?” asked a startled Twilight. She patted the part of her head where her horn would usually be. “I don’t have a horn!”
“Neither do I!” shrieked an already saddened Rarity. “Oh, the horror! How am I going to sew and cut the fabric to make my dresses? How am I going to fix my... MY HAIR!” She touched her hair with one hand, then, the other. She moved them to feel different parts of it. When she finally discovered the truth she let out a shriek. “My hair! I cannot be seen like this! This is a crime against elegance and beauty!”
“Is that the only thing you care about?” asked Applejack. “My family needs me at the farm. I just can’t imagine what little Apple Bloom is goin’ through right now. And Big Macintosh can’t harvest all the apples and take care of both Granny Smith and Apple Bloom by himself.” Tears started to appear under her eyes.
“We’ll get out of here...” said Twilight, “I hope.”
“Hey, Look!” called Pinkie, “Rainbow Dash is waking up. Let’s go surprise her!”
“Pinkie...” Twilight began to say, but she was too late, for Pinkie Pie had already reached Rainbow Dash’s pod and made a silly face.
The Rainbow haired “pegasus” had barely opened her eyes when she saw Pinkie. Too bad she didn’t know it was her pink-haired friend in front of her. The poor girl fell backwards as Rainbow Dash’s fist hit her in the face.
“Hey! What did you do that for?” Pinkie Pie demanded to know as she started crying on the floor.
Rainbow Dash stopped observing the new “hoof” she just used to punch the “strange creature” when she heard its voice.
“Pinkie?” Rainbow’s voice cracked.
“Duh?” replied the crying “pony.” “Isn’t it obvious?”
“What happened to us?” asked the rainbow-haired woman who had just returned to observing her new body.
“We don’t know,” answered Twilight who had just reached her two friends, “yet.”
Rainbow began to exit her pod. She noticed that all her friends were on their two back legs so she tried stretching her left leg awkwardly in front of her and slowly set it on the ground. Her right leg came after that but it hit the edge of the pod causing her to tumble forward. Before her colorful hair could touch the ground she opened her wings and lifted herself back onto her feet.
She opened her wings.
I had given her wings.
During the design process Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had taken half an hour longer to create. I was too tired to recheck the designs. Now I knew why they took so long.
“So you got to keep your wings and I lost my horn!” complained Rarity.
“Yeah,” replied Rainbow Dash opening her wings to show them off. They were larger than her wings in the show. The were also closer to an eagle's except they were blue. They had to be large to be able to lift a human.
“I think that’s because magic doesn’t exist in this world,” explained Twilight, “Flight does, however.”
“That isn’t very fair,” complained Rarity.
“We still got these!” Pinkie reminded them as she wiggled her fingers in front of the envious “pony’s” face.
“Shouldn’t we be lookin’ for a way back to Ponyville?” the blond southern-accented woman reminded her friends.
I watched from the catwalk as they discussed their predicament. Just then, I noticed they had no clothes on. That was natural because the device only created the creature. The clothes had to be provided later. What was unnatural though was that I hadn’t noticed that they were naked. I was too entertained watching as they discovered their new bodies and tried to find a way back to their home in Ponyville, which, of course, didn’t exist. However, after noticing their lack of clothes I couldn’t watch anymore. I moved slowly across the catwalk to leave the room. Only a couple of yards separated me from the door leading to the rest of the house when it happened.
Creeeaak!
The loose piece of metal flooring under my foot bent under my weight. The noise alerted the group below that someone else was in the room.
“There’s somepony up there!” Applejack called, notifying her friends of my presence.
I began to run but the loose piece of metal fell through causing me to trip forward.
“I’ll stop it from getting away!” Rainbow dash opened her wings. The light made her blue feathers shine as she tried to ascend. She wasn’t used to this body. First try: she reached a few feet in the air then lost her balance. I was pushing myself up as she started her second attempt. My body burned with pain from the cuts and bruises the metal had given me. I struggled to move forward, but the “pegasus” behind me had gotten used to her new body. When it came to flying she sure could learn quickly. I crawled towards the door, every inch of my body in pain. My pursuer had gained speed and was a short distance away. Just as I stretch to reach the doorknob she tackled me causing me to fall back down. My face hit the cold metal painfully as she pinned me down. She was powerful for a “mare” and resistance was useless.
“WHO ARE YOU?!” the blue-winged flyer demanded to know, “AND WHAT ARE YOU?! AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?!”
“I didn’t do anything, I swear,” I muttered. My face was still pressed against the cold metal. The only thing I could see was the door. Inches away from me it stood, mocking me.
“Yeah right,” mocked the woman pinning me down.
“What’s going on up there?” a voice called from below. I immediately recognised it as Twilight’s.
“Oh, nothing,” replied Dash, still pressing my face towards the ground, “Just teaching this punk some manners.”
“Stop! He might be the only one who knows how to get back to Ponyville!”
“Are you sure we can trust him?” asked Rainbow. She was unsure she should listen to her friend’s advice.
“Yes!” shouted the smarter pony from below.
The “mare” pinning me down lowered her face in front of mine. Her upside down face grinned as she said, “Sorry about that,” she chuckled as she let me get up. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I dashed towards the door the moment I could move. I locked the door behind me before anyone could follow.
I could hear her telling Twilight that she knew I couldn’t be trusted.
Bang.
The door shook. She was ramming the door.
Bang!
This one was louder.
BANG!
Luckily, it was her last attempt at knocking the door down. Either her friends had told her to stop or she hurt herself. It was probably the first though. She wouldn’t let a scratch stop her from getting what she wanted.
I rushed to my room to see what clothes I could find. I was living alone and everything I wore was black. Rarity will have to settle for a black hoodie and a pair of black jeans. Both of which were mine, in other words men’s clothes.
I grabbed six hoodies from the closet and tried to take the jeans too. Nope, I couldn’t take them all. My hoodies were slightly large so they could wear them as dresses.
It didn’t take long for me to reach the door. I unlocked it. Right after I open it a blur of color knocked me onto my back. It’s Rainbow Dash again. The other girls followed her out of the lab and circled around me.
“Tell us what you did to us!” ordered the strong “mare” on top of me.
“Why are our hooves so funny?” asked Pinkie Pie. She startled giggling as she moved her hands around in front of my face.
“My family needs me!” said Applejack.
“I can’t go on in this horrid body!” complained Rarity.
“Settle down, girls,” said Twilight, “I’m sure someone can explain what’s going on. This time, however, we won’t let him get away so easily.”
Five pairs of eyes stared at me. Even Pinkie Pie looked serious. What was I supposed to tell them? That their whole life was fake and they’ve existed for less than an hour? That they were scientific experiments created to help me pass time? No, I couldn’t tell them that. It was too dangerous. Too cruel...
Five pairs of eyes stared at me. Only five “ponies” were here. Who was missing?
Twilight? No.
Rainbow Dash? She’s the one pinning me down.
Applejack? No.
Pinkie? Rarity?... Fluttershy!
“Um... where’s Fluttershy?” I asked.
“How do you know her name?” asked the winged woman pinning me down.
“I... I just do.”
“We’ll go look for her!” Twilight announced.
“Come with us,” said Rainbow Dash as she finally let me move again, “And if you try to do anything tricky, I’ll make you see stars indoors!”
The tough “mare” made me walk in front of her. She kept her wings open so that there was no direction I could escape in. She also made me leave the clothes I brought scattered on the floor where she knocked me down. We eventually found Fluttershy still hiding in her pod. She was hugging her legs towards her body. Her head was settled on her knees as she cried. She was trembling... partly from fear and partly from the cold.
“Fluttershy, sugarcube. It’s us,” Applejack told her.
The trembling “mare” looked up to see who was talking to her. She expected to see the familiar face of her friend. What she saw was a whole other creature.
She let out a small inaudible eek as she tried to move farther away from the strange creature staring at her. The terrified girl was unsuccessful for the pod she was in was too small to move in.
“Please, Fluttershy, get out of that dirty place,” said Rarity.
“It’s us,” explained Twilight, “We just look different now.”
“T...Twilight? Is it really you?”
“Yes.”
“Now can you come out already?” asked a bored Rainbow Dash.
“Um... okay,” replied the scared girl. She put her right hand on the cold floor. Then her left hand. She kept her head lowered as she moved her right knee out of the pod. Her yellow wings shone as they emerged into the light. Her “cutie mark” of three butterflies could also be seen. She lifted her head to see her friend’s faces. Her cyan eyes moved from one face to another until... she saw me. I turned my head away as quickly as possible to avoid eye contact. Too late. The terrified young “mare” pulled the rest of her body back in where her left knee still was.
“Who... who is... he?” she stuttered.
“We don’t really know,” answered Twilight, “But we’re hoping he’s a friend. Don’t worry, we can trust him.” Twilight didn’t truly believe that herself, but she needed to get her friend to come out.
She crawled back out. This time she got her whole body out. She stood in the center of the circle we had formed around her on all fours.
“You’re supposed to stand on the back two only, silly billy,” giggled Pinkie Pie.
The yellow-winged “pony’s” cheeks turned rosy as she used her hands to push herself up. She stood on her back legs for two seconds before wobbling and crashing back down. Her face was even rosier as she tried for the second time. She lost her balance for a second, but caught herself before she could fall again.
“Fluttershy, you know a lot about different creatures,” said Twilight. “Can you tell us what we are?”
“Um... I don’t really know. I’ve never seen anything like this in Equestria.”
“Hey! You still haven’t answered our questions!” said Rainbow Dash.
The group bombarded me with questions from every direction.
“What are we?”
“Are we still in Equestria?”
“Does magic exist here?”
“Where are the cupcakes? I’m starving!”
I needed to make something up. Something believable that would convince them for a while.
“Celestia sent you here to study,” I blurted out.
“Why would she send us here?” asked Twilight, unconvinced.
“Um... I... I don’t know,” I replied.
“Can you contact Princess Celestia?” she asked.
I decided to lie, “Not anymore.”
The way they looked at me could only mean that they didn’t believe me.
“I guess we’re going to have to trust him. Once we find a way to contact the princess, we’ll know what’s really going on.”
“For the mean time, you’ll all have to live with me,” I told the group.
“Why would we want to live here?” asked Rarity, clearly unhappy.
“You can’t leave here!” I shouted at the six “mares.” “It’s too dangerous for you to leave!”
“Hold your horses!” exclaimed Applejack. “What’s so dangerous out there?”
“I can’t tell you,” I replied. “Not yet. Just follow me for now. Please?”
I led Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy out of the basement and into the house. The black clothes I had brought (and dropped) were still scattered all over the floor.
“Oh, and you have to wear those,” I said, pointing to one of the hoodies.
“But, uh... we don't normally wear clothes,” explained Applejack.
I still had a lot to teach them...