My Little Pony: I'll See You on the Other Side

by Glow Stick

III: Around the Corner

Chapter III: Around the Corner

I awoke from my deep slumber after hearing a shrill cock-a-doodle-doo from a rooster somewhere outside. With a yelp, I leapt from the warm bed I spent the night in and landed face-first onto the wooden floor below. My heart pounded heavily deep within my chest. I had nearly forgotten in my fatigue that I traveled into another world alone. Without thinking too much about it, I pushed myself up to a standing position with my forehooves. Even though I was now fully aware that it did indeed occur, I also did not consider how it felt to be a pony. I assumed before I left that the differences would be obvious- that being a pony or human would feel different. Instead, it seemed as though I were born a pony. I felt as though I had always walked on four hooves, had a tail, and a muzzle.

Apart from what I felt internally, I could not quite grasp the other nuances of pony life- opening things, writing, eating, sitting, and the like. I struggled on day-to-day activities at first. I then began to ponder about the three pony races, and how they interacted with the world. For example, earth ponies had neither wings nor horns, yet they could function just as easily by using their mouths and hooves. I am still not quite sure how hooves work. On the other hand, hoof; unicorns could use their magic to accomplish just about any task. It seemed unfair to me that some ponies were born with a natural advantage, but this thought was torn apart by the general apathy everypony I saw had on the matter. Nopony seemed to care.

In any case, my abrupt outburst caught Twilight Sparkle’s attention. She promptly raced up the spiral stairs to the second landing, which was where her bed and other assorted bookcases were located. This was also where my guest bed had been placed. There was another, smaller landing, which contained a telescope aimed high into the sky, along with stairways leading to two outside balconies: one high in the tree’s crown and another lower on the side of the trunk. It was a terrible case of where something appeared small on the outside, yet was intricate and spacious inside. Twilight burst into the room and looked all about for any signs of danger.

“Are you all right?” she asked me with energy in her voice. Her voice reminded me of mom’s, soft and gentle, and even with similar pitches and pronunciations.

Twilight stood in front of me with a slight frown upon her face. One of her brows was lowered while another was raised. She lifted her left hoof from the ground and kept her hind legs firm. I nodded hesitantly and took a few steps closer to her. Her bed, which was across from mine, was already made. The sun outside had already risen. I knew I must have slept in too much.

The golden oak surface of the walls and floors reflected the light from the sun outside. Everything was spotless. I found no traces of dust anywhere insight. There were no scuffs even upon the floor, which was regularly walked upon by a hooved creature! It was either magic, or the wood was actually a disguised diamond.

“Well, come on down for breakfast,” she told me as she lowered her hoof. “I’ll take you around Ponyville, after.”

I nodded and smiled. Breakfast sounded wonderful. I followed her down the stairs to the first landing and main floor of the library. Like upstairs, everything was neat and orderly. I saw nowhere to sit and eat breakfast, however, so I was not expecting her to take me further into the depths of the tree to a basement. Yet, that is where we ended up. Her basement was not quite as lit as the floors higher, of course, though there were a few windows looking up to the streets of Ponyville. Pushed into a corner were what appeared to be large scientific devices, complete with wires, metal boxes, and paper rolls with which to collect data. On the other side of the room was a kitchenette with a small table nearby. Instead of chairs, large pillows served for our seating arrangements.

Two glasses of orange juice were already set at our places on the table, as were a few slices of toast and blueberry muffins. Muffins were not my favorite, but I already knew ponies were herbivores and did not eat meat. I gave up even mentioning my usual diet of eating bacon or eggs. I figured that if ponies were sentient, along with various other mythological creatures roaming about, that other animals were the same way. After all, how could ponies develop their own societies, but pigs or cows could not? I had so many questions about this new world.

I sat down on one of the pillows and after turning something off on her stovetop, Twilight did, too. My stomach was growling fiercely, but I was having a good deal of trouble picking up the pieces of toast with my hooves or mouth. I eventually created a system where I would pinch a side of the toast with my hooves so that I could simply bite into it while the other half was lifted off the plate. My struggles were unnoticed by Twilight, who had her nose buried in the pages of a Manehattan-based newspaper. I later found out by personal experience that Manehattan was a very, very, very large city- even larger than the capitol, Canterlot. That last fact did not surprise me much, however, as Canterlot was built on the side of a mountain. Not a lot of room for expansion. Coolnesswise, Canterlot beat Manehattan easily.

While I managed to finish my meal of toast and a muffin, my next venture was picking up the glass of juice without smashing it into several pieces. I attempted his by placing the cup between both of my hooves. However, I was interrupted by Twilight, who exclaimed, “Ooh, Trixie’s doing well for herself!” I put the glass back on the table after I nearly spilled it, and gave a questioning glance at Twilight. Who was Trixie? She did not see me as she was still looking at the paper. I do not remember much more about the breakfast because we were finished after ten minutes or less. I never did manage to finish my juice.

When we were done, I helped Twilight clean up the dishes and together we went out into the town. It was a dreadfully chilly day, with weak but biting gusts of wind, and frigid temperatures that made me shiver. There were a few dark gray cloud puffs high in the sky, but they were overpowered by the glistening sun shining through from behind a range of tall, snow-capped mountains off in the distance. I only wished the heat from the sun would land on my coat and heat me up. As on earth, it did not. At least, not to what I was hoping.

After I looked around for a while, I was amazed at just how large Ponyville was. For being a small town in central Equestria, it was neatly spread out over several rolling hills, surrounded by trees and steep mountains. As I said previously, the roads further in the town had been paved with small rocks and stones embedded into the earth. Most of the main roads were worn down from years of use, which was no surprise. Horse-drawn carts and stomping hoofmarks certainly gave the roads a hard time. I stepped lightly, not because I was still unbalanced, but because the streets were terribly uneven. Large rocks jutted out or there would be a sudden dip where the ground sank inward.

Everypony else did not seem to mind, and most of the carts stuck to the marked grooves in the ground like some sort of a track. Most of the grooves, I found out, lead into the town’s central market, and possibly the busiest place therein. Like any old-timey town, the market consisted of wooden stands outside where everypony could go and buy fruits and vegetables grown locally. With the weather being so cold, most of the produce coming in would be stored for later use. All other kinds of items, such as furniture, were given their own buildings. One store I saw sold only quill pens and sofas. I found it odd that a store would only sell those two things, but I had to remind myself of where I was.

“I go there all the time!” exclaimed Twilight, commenting on the Sofas and Quills store. It did not surprise me.

I also saw a restaurant where the patrons would sit outside on piles of hay, an obscenely decorated store with bright pink horn-like structures on its roof, a drink shop designed to look exactly like a massive chocolate cake covered with strawberry frosting, and a round dress shop colored light purple with what appeared to be a carousel built onto the second floor. The carousel was simply a decoration, I later found out, which matched the shop’s name- Carousel Boutique. A white pony with a purple and heavily styled mane, named Rarity, owned and ran the shop. We stopped in for a few minutes.

A bell on the door dinged as we entered, and I was then confronted with a room of endless pink. The curtain blocking a miniature runway was pink, the floor was pink, various other curtains hanging from the ceiling were pink, and the darker checkered patterns on the arched ceiling were pink. The only things not pink were the three oval mirrors surrounding a raised platform, and the platform itself, on the floor across from the main door. The main door, by the way, was purple inside and out. I shut the door behind me to eliminate the collected cold air inside. Rarity met us as she pranced ever so gracefully down a set of stairs opposite us. She kept humming as she did so, which I found cute. I then remembered who she was- one of Twilight’s friends in the photograph!

Her purple mane and tail had been curled to perfection, her eyelashes were primped and clump-free, her hooves were so shiny they were reflective, and one would be hard-pressed to find an imperfection on her smooth coat. To top it all, an opaque layer of light blue eye shadow had been applied behind both of her eyes, which was similar in color to the three-diamond cutie mark on her flank. She left no preparation undone.

“Oh, hello Twilight! What can I do for you?” said she in what I would call an English accent, though in Equestria, such accents were common in Canterlot. “And who might you be?”

Twilight replied to her friend, “This is Sol. She’s…” She was unable to finish.

“GAHH!” the unicorn exclaimed brashly. “Your mane!”

She stormed over to me in less than a flash and placed me atop her circular platform I mentioned earlier. That was the first time I saw myself as a pony. Overall, I thought I looked pretty decent. My orange skin had become darker with the addition of a shorthaired coat, my hair had become a flowing mane that draped over the right side of my neck, and my yellowish eyes were even more noticeable. I knew what Rarity was in a panic over, though. I saw it immediately. I forgot to brush my hair that morning, and my mane was in a dreadfully tangled mess.

“Now, Sol, whatever happened to your mane?”

“I forgot to brush it this morning,” I replied as I circled around, trying to keep her in my line of sight. She moved around so quickly to gather supplies, I felt as though I were studying a tennis game. Within seconds, or even less, my once-wavy hair was detangled, curled, and styled in a similar fashion to Rarity’s. I was also thrust into a dress I did not feel being placed on my body, which was rather attractive. It fit like nothing I had ever worn before. Well, of course not. I had never worn a pony dress.

When Rarity stepped back to review her work, she apparently saw my bare flank and asked me, “So, where are you from, Sol?” At first, I was not sure what she meant. What was it about my flank that made her act so strangely? I then remembered that cutie marks were important, all ponies got one, and I would not have one because I was a newcomer. So, that was something to make me stand out in the crowd. Where’s Sol? She’s that blank flank over there!

Twilight stood next to her friend, chuckled softly, and answered, “This is Solar Shimmer, Rarity.”

Rarity’s eyes opened wide. With a stutter, she said, “A-As in Sunset Shimmer?”

“Mhmm,” Twilight hummed with a nod. “This is Sunset Shimmer’s daughter!”

“Hi,” I squeaked with a forced smile. Okay, it was not exactly forced, but it was involuntary. It just happened without my control. I also waved my right hoof.

“I-Well-You must have come through that mirror then, right?”

I nodded.

“What brings you here? Sol, was it?”

I answered, “I wanted to learn about where my mom came from.”

She muttered to herself, “Yes, I can see that.”

“I’m going to show her around Equestria and teach her some magic,” Twilight announced with clarity in her voice.

Rarity pulled Twilight away from where I was standing and asked her in a hushed voice that I could secretly hear, “Will Princess Celestia be all right with you doing this?”

“She already knows. She thought it’d be a great idea.”

“She did?”

Twilight nodded and said, “She’d be a pony if she was born here, anyway.”

I asked, pretending not to know what they said, “Is everything okay?”

Rarity spoke first, “Of course, dear! I was just thinking about how I could improve that dress…,” until her voice trailed off.

“We should probably get going. I promised Pinkie Pie I’d stop by today,” Twilight told both of us.

“Oh, all right. Sol, dear, you can keep that dress. And do tell Pinkie I said, ‘hello.’”

“Thank you, Rarity!” I said.

“You’re most welcome. It looks fabulous on you!”

Alas, I no longer remember what the dress looked like. I wore it very few times. From what I do remember, it was a bit too posh for my personal tastes, but it matched my coat perfectly. My styled mane, which was also not quite my taste, lasted for only a few brief seconds once we walked out of the door. The wind made sure those curls would not last, and it won. Within seconds, my mane blew in complete disorder until it almost looked straight.

We backtracked through the town to the building I saw that looked like a giant cake. The supporting walls were timberframe like every other building in town, yet the chocolaty roof and cupcake-shaped upper floors at the center with candles atop made it the most unique place I had ever seen. With a name like Sugarcube Corner, I knew I was in for a treat inside. The interior was fairly standard, with a glass container showing off their goodies, and candy-themed decorations all around. I saw a few tables and booths for customers to sit. A few of the supporting pillars were red and white spirals, like a candy cane. Most of all, it was nice and warm with a fresh aroma of baked cookies.

Then, from behind the glass counter appeared a fully pink pony with a curly mane. She kept bouncing and smiling, but instead of her hooves clacking and damaging the floor, all I could hear were squeaks. Together, we walked up the counter.

“Twilight! You’re here! And you have a frieeeend!” the pink one exclaimed.

“Hi, I’m…,” I began.

“SOLAR SHIMMER! I know, silly!” she interrupted.

“Did Twilight tell you I was coming?” I asked.

She answered, “Nope. I just knew.”

Twilight leaned over just slightly and whispered into my ear, “Just go with it.” I followed her advice and smiled.

“Do you have the cupcakes I ordered?” Twilight asked Pinkie Pie.

“Oooof course!” A closed box, colored pink, was slammed on top of the counter. Twilight picked up the box with her magic, which caused a purplish glow around both the box and her horn.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight said.

“Feel free to come back anytime,” Pinkie told me, smiling widely.

I smiled and told her, “I will.”

Just as we were about to leave, another pony hurried into the room and made her way behind the counter. She was another unicorn, with a solid blue coat and a snow-white mane that covered most of the top of her head. Her cutie mark was some sort of musical note. She exclaimed, panting frequently, “Sorry I’m late!”

“The muffins should be ready,” Pinkie ordered. The unicorn galloped into another room, presumably the kitchen. “She asked if she could work here for a while, but she’s late every day.”

“What’s her name? I don’t think I’ve seen her around, before,” Twilight remarked, lowering her right brow.

“Sound Wave. She moved here from Canterlot.”

“Is she related to Vinyl Scratch?” Twilight asked. “Her cutie mark is a musical note.”

Pinkie shook her head and said, “No, she’s not. But, I’m sure she wants to be. She’s always talking about music and concerts. Hey, she’s around Solar’s age. You two should hang out!”

I chuckled, “That sounds great!”

When Sound Wave came back into the room, carrying a tray of muffins with her, Pinkie Pie introduced us, “Sound Wave, let me introduce you to Solar Shimmer!”

She waved and quietly said, “Hi, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said I.