Dear Journal,
I’m not dead yet. Ten whole days have gone by in this awful body, and I’m not dead yet. I think how easy it would’ve been for fate to leave me with something familiar, but of course that couldn’t happen. It was all or nothing. I wish it took me too.
Sky did what she said and fed the chickens this morning, in addition to making more omelets (this time with cheese and peppers. Everything is better with cheese). Something tasted a little different about the eggs. Maybe it was having them fresh. Not a bad different, just different. Neither of us seems to be pooping blood or anything else so I’ll assume that we can indeed eat these things.
Granted, that’s one aspect of the transformation I’ve thought as little about as possible. The drains still work, and we still have water in the cistern, so the toilets still flush. Thank goodness they’re so much bigger. Oh god, the thought of how I’d have to clean up if I missed…
Sky said she planned on visiting the cows and seeing what the park would need to be safer for them. Probably better fences to keep other animals out. She asked if we could set up some kind of fence in the street, so that they could walk from the “barn” across the street (actually an empty discount store) into the park.
Yeah, we could set up some fences. If I had my damn hands, I could drive a forklift and set up anything she wanted. Or use a post-digger. As it stands, we’re both next to useless. This is why nothing without hands could evolve into a civilization. This right here. How are we supposed to get anything done? She doesn’t think it’s impossible, and neither do I. I just think there are other priorities. I made a list!
1. More comfortable walking transport (ie: better wagon)
2. Horse-shoes before our hooves wear down to the bone from all this walking
3. Restart and dramatically increase the range of the radio beacon.
4. Start a garden.
5. A vehicle converted to horse-driving.
6. ???
7. Human again!
Hopefully whoever’s reading this already knows what we did for six, because this crisis is over and everything's back to normal. None of this is fair. Humanity had some challenges to face in the years ahead (many of which were self-inflicted), but it isn’t fair to just make us all disappear! We didn’t even get a chance! I’m sure we would’ve done just fine if you’d let us keep trying.
Whatever. I’ll probably just be eating grass with Sky somewhere. Maybe those horses we set free will let us join their new herd. Puke, no.
I’ve tried writing with my hooves, and with my mouth. My mouth still seems like the best bet, but if you’ve seen my sketches you know I’ve still got a long way to go before I’m not dictating things. Thank god for computers, but I wish it was easier to add formatting. Pretty annoying. Wonder how long it will take all the printer ink in the world to dry out.
Worked on number one from my list today. Walked with Sky to the park, then into the city to a crafting store. Brought leather and lots of other sturdy fabric in my painful plastic wagon. Tasted funny to pick it up in my mouth, but I didn’t get sick or anything to be near it. I guess not being able to palate meat isn’t the same as being some kind of mind-controlled lifestyle vegan. It’s the small blessings.
Can you cut leather with a bandsaw? Yes! Can you use a sewing machine with hooves? Not easily! Did I get lazy and glue most of it instead? Heck yeah!
Obviously finding real rope was easy enough. I remember hearing once that horse-drawn carriages use only cotton or hemp rope because it’s easier on the coat of the animal, so I got some of that. Didn’t have to be very long, since neither of us is very big. Cloudy is only about half an inch shorter than I am, though I think the harness should still work for her. She’s a little leaner and more aerodynamic, in ways I didn’t notice before we spent time together. I wonder if we’re even really the same species.
Took most of the day to make the harness copying the general design of the toy. No bridle for the end, though, just made it to go around the shoulders and neck. No sense not being able to talk when I walk anywhere.
Sky came back while I was working, with an idea I actually thought was pretty good. She said that there was bound to be plenty of times when we wanted to be able to carry a few things with us but not lug around a wagon like pack animals. She suggested making saddle-bags, like the old cowboys used to use. Helped with that, modeling for me so I could measure using her body. Saddlebags weren’t actually that hard to make. The hardest part was that they usually clip on the saddle (imagine that). Started with some soft leather in the right size, just had to attach a few straps to wrap around the front of the body above the forelegs and around the belly (Sky says the word is barrel).
Once that was done, we just sewed a child’s zipper backpack to each side, no bigger than the protection of the leather. That way only the leather would touch the side of my body or Sky’s, and we wouldn’t chafe. Can horses even do that? Whatever.
Here's about how they look. Pretty simple, as you can see. Just got to keep it from slipping off, really.
It was pretty neat to do something with someone else again. That was my daily routine back in the garage, but before I found Sky it never could’ve happened again. There can’t be togetherness or community without a community to be together with. Having Huan around made it better, but by no means were things fantastic or stable. Being without someone to talk to was the pits. Sky’s a little eccentric, but it’s good not to be alone.
The second set of saddle-bags we made was much better than the first, so naturally she took it for herself and left me with the set that looks like it was cobbled together by some drunk primates.
I guess we’re not primates anymore. I wonder if we can get drunk. Bet I’m a total lightweight now. Okay, I was a total lightweight before. I guess… more so.
While working together with Sky I also learned something else interesting about her; she’s much lighter than I am. Almost knocked her over by accident while we worked, as I bumbled around with my typical clumsiness. When I stumbled into her, I easily knocked her to the ground, like she was made of foam or something. I wonder if those bones of hers are hollow. Is there any chance she could fly after all?
No, of course not. Nothing that awkward-looking could ever get off the ground.
I guess I’m going to be a study in whether attraction is learned or completely ingrained somehow. Being around someone who insists on being naked all the time is embarrassing enough, and that’s while she’s got a tail covering everything. Am I going to start feeling… emotions… for my new species? With everything that’s changed, will… God, I don’t want to think about that. I’m still so disgusted by my own body I can’t imagine feeling anything like attraction towards anybody else. I’m just a stupid horse.
Tried out the new saddle-bags, seem to work okay I guess. Hooves still hurt from all the walking. Looks like I’m wearing them down even more. Probably should focus on shoes I can wear if I’m going to be walking on concrete and asphalt all the time. Project for tomorrow.
Sky goes to bed way early. I can sometimes hear her crying in there when she thinks I’m asleep. I wonder if there’s something I can do to help her. It’s hard when I can’t really relate with the life she had before. I’m fairly sure that’s what she’s upset about. She seems to take her current life more or less in stride. Giving up your old name and refusing to refer to specific details of your past does seem to indicate she’s either adapted or is trying to hide from it.
Wonder which it is.
If I ever cried myself to sleep at night because I was an awful, disgusting, helpless animal, I certainly wouldn’t tell my journal about it, would I?
—A
I got a question: Did you now ALWAYS publish everyday a chapter, or do you not publish the skipped chapters?
I already forgot it. Too lazy to search it, so best not to answer me.
And so my theory has yet to be disproven... Regardless, I look forward to what happens next. I wonder if there'll be any other survivors.
Ah, perfect. This is the entry I was waiting for by now... good timing.
1.5 weeks is about the time I'd give myself before my subconscious caught up to the fact that this is it and withdrew its moral support for a while. Yes, you're indeed a pony now; no it's not going to change, no your hands aren't coming back and neither is anything else from your former life. Deal with it.
Immediate survival secured, company and a shred of normalcy gained, time to cry.
You just made your main character so much more believable (not that A wasn't believable beforehand, just now even more so).
Sky... she's won me over. Pegasus anatomy as seen by A during saddlebag modelling was neat.
Now to wait for tomorrow evening. *SIGH*
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I'm really glad to see at least one person is coming to like Cloudy Skies. She's one of my favorite characters, though mainly for her faults. Also because I personally love those kinds of days. Probably a medical bias, since I'm light sensitive and sunny days require unpleasant sunglasses until dusk. Regardless, I definitely wouldn't have given a pony a special talent to "be a total downer".
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And this is why I don't think Cloudy is some kind of evil pony or a failure. She's trying! Just because A thinks (probably incorrectly) that her choice was sub-optimal, getting some heirloom animals from a family farm is probably a smart long-term choice. Even if animals aren't as versatile to ponies (without the meat motive) as they would be to humans.
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Ooh, new commenter! Yeah, I don't think this story would be anywhere near as fun without the ponies. And our pony still have a great deal to learn before they don't feel like a prisoner in their own body.
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So I don't like spoiling things, but I think I can make an exception in this case. I do not accept "it was all a dream" as an explanation for anything. Granted, I was entertained by the fan-theory that the entire pokemon anime takes place to Ask as he's a vegetable in a coma somewhere (some serious thought went into the detail on this one) but even that I find unacceptable in this case. I can tell you outright that this isn't a dream. I won't say a word on any of the other possibilities. There are many, and I want to leave it to the readers to figure that out.
Also, I was never disagreeing with RealityCheck on the need (or lack of need) for horseshoes. I know about as little about them as A does. I've never kept animals, and my experience riding extends only to riding existing trails on my friend's ranch, where little of the care fell to me before or after. Only, the literature on the subject, at least through a quick search, seemed strongly divided. Some people very strongly oppose horseshoes, while most seem to think that bare hooves are best in some situation and shod (somehow) is required in some others. Given A likely did not have the time for detailed research before the net went down, A probably would've been left confused on the subject and not knowing what to do.
Now it is possible Cloudy Skies would know about something like that...
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Daily uploads are awesome, but they are are no accident. The hard work of my editors makes them a reality, and I'm very greatful.
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December 23? Holy crud what are you quoting!
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Oh, you're right. But A is an auto mechanic, and not likely to correctly use a term like that.
Love how the advertisement is this for me.
"Horse Saddles
High quality Horse Saddles, Trial and exchange policy included"
A nice entry, nice to read a story to touches on the anatomy of Pegasus since they're often represented as just Earthponies with wings.
And all the improvements and working together is always positive in such a situation. Though I wonder if A really would go with the horseshoe Idea since I don't see him nailing them in his hooves or letting Sky do it for him. Plus horseshoes would probably make their hooves even more clunky and even dangerous. (Imagine waking up in the morning and wanting to rub your eyes.) Personally I would cut the sole of a shoe except near the tip, using duct tape to make some sort of removable shoe.
Makes sense, she's a light pegasus, and A's a sturdy earth pony. Makes sense she'd be the one to go flying (huehuehue) if they bump into each other.
Dude, you're in the featured box again.
And how did your story get past moderation when mine didn't for not having enough FIM content?
This is a good thing- to a point. A lot of authors don't understand the "tension and release" cycle as it applies to writing, and will try to keep every last scene going on "high octane", which can lead to readers getting overwhelmed or disinterested. Just like the characters they're reading about, readers need a little "downtime" to digest what's happened and see the aftermath.
Just be careful not to release too much, or the story will go flat.
Clearly the correct next step is to build a pegasus catapult to start testing.
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I will eventually skip days. That isn't going to happen for a little while. In the short term, some days will have much shorter entries (which will mean multiple days as a single chapter). Eventually I'll start skipping to broaden the story's time horizon.
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I'm sure that A and Cloudy Skies both are eager for the day when they find other survivors.
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I think it's pretty admirable for A to have lasted this long. I don't think I could have. Of course, I also couldn't really deal with working a garage in the inner city.
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I think A's horseshoe idea isn't going to involve any actual nails or anything similarly "permanent". The ponies from the show never do it. Granted, most of those on the show don't trek many miles through a concrete city every day. But thats A's problem.
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That seems to be the way Fimfiction has put the breaks on the side-stories. The one other published side-story (that I know of) had this problem the first time it was submitted. The author fixed it by talking more explicitly about being a pony and at greater detail from the get-go.
If my own title and cover weren't enough to make it clear, the very first scene of my story is a character confronting the realities of being a pony. It makes sense the moderators would want to keep Fimfiction about ponies, but if (in their view) the many earthside stories set in The Conversion Bureau are "pony enough" for the site, than there's no reason side stories from this universe couldn't be too if you take steps to show how pony they are from chapter one.
Today was a day of SCIENCE!!! For A
6045053 I've rewritten my first chapter to be "more pony" and it's currently being looked at right now. If it still isn't good enough I'll try to add more detail about being a pony.
I'm also going to have an airplane crash site in mine.
I don't mind super-short entries, since even a single boring line of boringness adds to the immersion of the story. And you can include multiple entries in one update, especially if some of them are really short.
Kinda a fun feature of journal stories. A whole chapter that's nothing but a bunch of short entries isn't uncommon with them.
Once again I get the feeling A is male.
Twas a good chapter, and you have me waiting impatiently for more. Good thing you update daily, huh?
I absolutely agree, we need a bit of downtime to rest relax and maybe build up a false sense of security?
List of potential threats:
Starvation: not likely, due to steady supply of milk and eggs
Attack by feral animals: not likely to end in a dead pony, as chickens are easier targets. A is getting used to the new body, and will be able to defend themself easier.
Attack by untransformed humans: will most definitely end with A and Cloud enslaved, if not killed for meat.
Attack by ponies: more friends? probably after resources and such.
My theory on the Disappearance: Discord. Yes I am aware of the glaring holes in this theory, but he is the only being from the MLP universe who could potentially pull this sort of stunt off, in terms of raw power. Yes, him being so clinical about it is OOC, but what if this was before he went insane? Who knows...
Backup theory: Celestia and Luna's parents. According to the fandom, these ponies are even more powerful than the two sisters, and are said to have created the universe, though no one seems sure of this.
He, Barnyard Bargains.
<3
As a stuff hits the fan intermediate prepper. All i have to say is that for someone as ill prepared as he was he is doing fine.
But he has some....
"Looonnggg nights!
Impossible odds!
Working his hooves to the boonnneee!"
Oh and i still believe.....
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/8f/39/9a/8f399a18a919d56ca41455a22f23a8a1.jpg
*edit*
Oh and he is totally a guy, because cloudy got the better set of saddlebags. Any guy with romantic experience will tell you that the lady will always browbeat the guy into giving the nice things. No this did not come out too coherently, but I don't have a personal editor.
...I got nothing, sorry.
6046144 Whoa, man! Radical.
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Ah, very true.
That I can see. so, that would be interesting if their are no plate movements? I do not know, I really do not.
So I woke up in the morning and saw a new chapter.
sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.XxVhWK%2bmp0MJCeWPDGl4pA&pid=15.1&P=0
You're already more useful than I am as a human.
And there's no way pony bodies are any more disgusting than human bodies.
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I feel like you as an author know a lot more about Cloudy Skies than we do and thus know how awesome she is. But we as an audience never hear her voice. We hear an interpretation about her from A's perspective. One of these entries I hope Sky knocks on his door as he's trying to record a journal entry and she gets to talk in the journal too. I feel like I'd get to know her better that way rather than through a
unreliableprobably reliable narrator.6045020
Yeah, I know a little of how frustrating it can be when the story is on 11 forever. I love the Desden Files, but I feel like Jim Butcher doesn't know how to downshift. My heart rate increases steadily over the course of each book and by the end I feel like my heart is going to explode. The facts of A's life just don't correspond to tention building like that (not yet >.>).
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Somehow I'm not sure the test subject would approve that plan.
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Whose to say? Saying things about orientation would be just as against my policy as expliciting stating sex. Not that there won't be ways to figure things out in the story...
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And manufacturing. I'm sure A would take it as quite a complement to call making saddlebags science. Granted, Rarity probably would've called that creation some sort of fashion crime...
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I wish you the best of luck getting approved! Of course there are many good reasons a plane could crash, but any vehicle with humans piloting them vanished right along with their people. Subways would be empty, even whole cruise ships and submarines. A hasn't discovered this yet, though it's been heavily implied by the story's lack of violent crashes. Any crash would have to be an autonomous vehicle, or was piloted by someone who didn't vanish but couldn't fly when turned into a pony.
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There are actually a few of these coming next week. Of course, to broaden the time horizon, I might skip some entries entirely, in order to go forward whole weeks or months without having a score of long, tedious entries. A so far has been unwilling to skip. I keep expecting the character to give up on journals, but A has a way of finding fun in every day (or suffering), and so they haven't shortened as much as I expected yet. One of those "characters doing things you don't expect" writing situations I guess.
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There are other dangers too. Too far away for nuclear fallout unless there were some really weird winds, but not too far for fire, escaped zoo animals from the LA zoo, or gas explosions. Plenty of things to worry about. As to the theories, well... of course I know, but I wouldn't want to say. The story will do that.
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Good catch! You're the first to notice!
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At least there are two ponies to work their hooves to the bone instead of one, now. Maybe they'll find some more. Though I guess more friends would also be more mouths to feed and more sewage and all that other crap.
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fakeplus.com/pictures/jpg/-where-is-your-god-now_20120421222929.jpg
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Well it's hard to tell for sure, but assuming Equestria was north America, it looks from the map like Canterlot is somewhere in the Central US. Probably wouldn't have as many quakes there in any case.
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Then you woke up after me, cuz' I wake up, grab my phone in a half-stupor, and press "submit" before collapsing again.
[youtube=KIiUqfxFttM]
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I don't think A thinks ponies are disgusting objectively. I, and A too (probably), think ponies are adorable. But when you feel like you've lost control of your body, when the one thing you thought you knew is taken away, I can see why A might feel some self-loathing.
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Of course you're right. I'm also more than a week ahead in writing of what anyone has read so far (a week and five days to be precise), and as a result she's had much more of a chance to shine. Setting up the farm feels like months ago from the stuff I'm learning about her now. I'll just have to be patient and let people like her or hate her as time goes on.
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Never liked rarity that much anyways :3
Ouch. That last bit.
Still, progress definitely being made on a lot of fronts. The real trick will be keeping morale up. Both A and Cloudy are rather private individuals, and I could easily see their depression spiraling out of control if they keep being alone together. These two need to bond.
Wow A is really starting to crack...
Also it looks like your going with the whole earth ponies are stronger thing, and A is can't see it since the show doesn't exist in this universe...right?
6047380 They really should and maybe that could even work already from Sky's side, I just don't think that A is very enthusiastic about that on a subconscious level.
It's the whole "Can I as a pony be attracted to another pony? Is that ingrained or learned? Can I be attracted to this mare in the same way like - nope-nope-NOPE! Not going to think about that. Ever. Puke."
Bonding could lead to more thinking about that which currently is revoltingly unthinkable because of this stupid, awful, little horse body.
Just my little theory.
YES YOU AND SKY WILL HAVE ALL THE BABIES AND THEY WILL BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HORSE BABIES
I wonder when they'll discover their magic? Starscribe is probably strong enough to knock a fairly substantive door off of its hinges as well as botanokinesis. Cloudy should have a full set of pegasus racial powers - flight, cloud-walking and weather manipulation
cheese is best food group
Noticed some grammatical mistakes:
Should be: are very big
Need a comma after the word "obviously."
This sentence needs a comma. It should read:
Took most of the day to make the harness, copying the general design of the toy.
Now there's a little more evidence of our mane character being male... Grr.. it's so confusing! and mysterious, and intriguing! damnit! If I didn't have class, I'd keep reading.
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He's a male human turned female pony.
6728282 Totally certain that would have been mentioned were it the case.
Yay for bonding! A brainiac should be useful in this sort of situation anyway, so hopefully there be no significant secrets between them~
Saved,
that such wondrous light shall grant you peace,
and in another fleeting haven, you will find rest
so that presently you might
find strength to live in solitude
from the kingdom of man now passed.
That a bond crafted might grow strong,
protect one's heart from cold and from blackness,
creating again this world into prosperity—
a world filled with love.
We shall read on.
Oh, you're totally female.
Guys are used to that particular chore when sudden-sneeze-season interferes with aim (or should be, quit giving the rest of us a bad name ya lazy slobs!)
I know, right? I barely used any of a cartridge before it dried up and went useless, so I gave up on inkjet printers. Turns out, laser toner doesn't evaporate! Muhahaha
Oh, now you're just teasing, Star. Either we have a dude (who doesn't clean up after himself) or a dudette who's default mental setting is to look at other dudettes that way. Even when they're not looking at anypony that way. Yet.
Keeping the mystery alive!
What, did animals kill his partner or something? What's with this guy? D: Kinda getting tired of him complaining about everything, though I guess this is his journal, so...
Pretty sure it's a "he" by this point. Have been ever since "he" went looking for clothing options.
Not because of what was said mind, but because of what was not said. If you're trying to cover up that end of you why only stick to things that have slots for your legs?
I'm willing to bet that most of us guys would just, by pure habit go to the mens section. The section that doesn't have any dresses or skirts. Which you would think would be a much easier option, more so if you cut out the front bit to avoid tripping.
Our character is a very practical individual but also seems to want to hold onto anything that can help them keep feeling human. And, if I'm right, it would seem that crossdressing isn't one of those things .
As to anyone wondering why I, as a guy, thought of it? Lets just say there's been a lot of wedings over the last few years and we have scottish relatives in the family .
*Edit* Oh, and to me the pictures of him look more male. More so when compared to the known female images of Sky.
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I guess I’m secretly a dude in disguise. What a shocking revelation.
Love the mystery. Why does she know?
And whatever happened to the other humans?
Let's face it we are driving the world straight into a wall