> Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron meets My Little Pony. > by Downunda Thunda > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron meets My Little Pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron meets My Little Pony I open my eyes. I couldn’t remember what happened. One minute, I was running free with my herd, and my beloved Rain, and the next, I’m lying here. I look around. The world around me was… peculiar. There were horses… no… ponies… all of bright colours… colours too bright and obtrusive to be natural. There were the usual browns, reds, yellows and whites… but there were also strange colours like purple, pink and blue. I look a bit further, and I see a whole town, filled with these strange equines. “H-hello?” I heard the voice behind me. It sounded like the words those two-leggeds spoke. I turned and saw one of those ponies. She was purple in colour. “Are you alright?” The voice came again, but no two-leggeds were in sight. Just this purple… unicorn? I looked again. Yes. This pony had a horn sticking up through her mane. I nicker slightly in curiosity. “Oh, can you not understand me?” She asked. Yes, this pony just spoke the language of the two-leggeds. She screws up her face in concentration, and then she nickered and neighed softly. I learned from this that her name was Twilight Sparkle. We had a brief conversation, in which she told me that I was in the land of Equestria, and the name of the town was called Ponyville. The whole country is run and populated by ponies. After we finished speaking, she showed me into town, where I got a lot of curious looks. We eventually reached a tree, which at first glance, seemed normal enough, but then I noticed windows and a door. I stopped and looked at the curious… thing. Was it a plant? Was it a building? I wouldn’t know what to classify it as. Twilight Sparkle then went up to the door and opened it… without touching it. She walked right up to it, and it opened, seemingly of its own accord. She then motioned for me to come inside. I went in, having to duck under the top of the door, not being built for a full-sized horse. Once inside, I was greeted with a sight unlike any other I’d ever seen.. The walls were lined with these things… made of all different colours, and filled with paper. Twilight told me that these were called books, and that she reads them. I had no idea what she was talking about. Once I was done looking around, I looked to Twilight, and nickered. She told me that she had no idea where I came from. She hasn’t seen any other horses in this land, and they were thought to be extinct. She just found me, lying on the grass, unconscious, and apparently… seemingly dead. I wasn’t breathing…then, as she tried to speak to me, I apparently started to breathe, and my eyes opened. No sooner was she done with explaining how she found me, that the door bust open, and another of these ponies, bright pink this time, bounced into the room… was it possible to bounce like that? “Hey, Twilight, there’s a new…” She started, then her gaze fell on me. “OMIGOSH! A THING!” I cringed. Her voice was akin to the sound of those metal things that the two-leggeds used to haul heavy loads across the land. “Pinkie,” Twilight said; a lot softer. For which I was grateful. “This is a horse. His name is Spirit, and he’s lost.” “Oooh! Hello Spirit!” The pink pony that was apparently named Pinkie , stared at me with impossibly large eyes. Twilight chuckles softly. “I don’t think he understands us, Pinkie” Twilight said. “He doesn’t seem to have any language skills other than neighs and nickers. Thankfully I studied ancient Equine languages.” I told her I COULD understand her... I just couldn’t speak that language. And personally, it’s not a language I’d care to learn. The way that they treated animals like us. I still get nightmares about that sled we were pulling up the mountain... the men yelling at us… the whips... It makes me shudder every time I think about it. Those creatures were cruel, and they didn’t care for anything other than themselves… well… most of them, anyway. The dark-skinned one was alright. The two ponies brought me out of my remembrancing, by showing me one of these books. It had a picture of lush green fields and… horses! I could have sworn that the book showed my herd. I could pick out ones that looked like ones I knew… I even thought I saw Rain. I got so excited, I started jumping, and trying to get into the book, before Twilight snapped me out of it, and closed the book on me. I was sad, but grateful at the same time. I shouldn’t have gotten excited like that. I knew that my herd were worlds away from me now. Twilight offered her place for me to stay, until I could meet the pony ruler of the land, Princess Celestia, she said her name was. She has to write to her. Yet, another thing I had no idea what it meant. This world had so many strange and new things to learn. She also said we should be able to see her as early as next week. I figured that Celestia’s role in Equestria was akin to my role in the Cimarron herd. To look out for all its members, and protect them from danger. Maybe she could send me back home. Or at least, tell me how I got here in the first place. These were all thoughts for another time. Now, it was time to sleep. After my ordeal today, I was exhausted, and fell asleep in no time. At some point in the night, I awoke to strange sounds. The room was dark, and I could barely see a thing. I squinted against the blackness, but to no avail. Suddenly, a brown rush of feathers flew right in front of my face, and perched upon a twig near the window, with a soft “Hoot”. I mentally laughed at myself for being afraid of an owl. I chase Mountain Lions away, and an OWL frightens me? I shook my head and lay back down to sleep. When I awoke the next morning, I found myself looking at two purple feet. They ended in claws. I followed the legs up, to see a purple and green… lizard… thing. “Twilight wanted me to tell you that she had to go out, but will be back soon” I was startled this thing spoke… just like the ponies. This world was getting stranger and stranger. What was next, a talking cow? > Chapter 2: Back at the Cimarron > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I look up at the sky. It’s been two days now since Spirit left us, and he still hasn’t returned. I’m beginning to get worried. Being his mate, leading the herd fell to me while he was away. It was a lot of responsibility. A lot more than I ever had being with the humans. Still, I was learning fast. Though, I’m not sure if I could hold off any dangerous animals… I hope he returns soon. I look over the herd; a few of them shared my worried expression. The foals were as carefree as always, just running and playing in the grass. > Journey to Canterlot > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I got the reply for my application to see the Princess about Spirit today, she said that she’ll see us! Oh, he’ll be overjoyed! I didn’t waste a moment, as soon as I was done reading the letter, I raced into the living room, where Spirit was just standing with his eyes closed. I wonder if he is imagining he’s back with his herd. He’s told me a lot about them… I think. Sure, I understand most of what he’s saying, and I usually get the jist of it, but there are times when things he says just goes over my head. I go up to him, and pull him back to Equestria, which I did feel sorry for, but I had news for him that he probably wanted to hear. “Princess Celestia has agreed to see us!” I say excitedly. Hearing this, his face went from mild annoyance to excitement. I knew he would be happy. “We can take the train to Canterlot later today.” In an instant, his look changed to one of confusion. He nickered to me that he didn’t know what a train was, and that he preferred to run, but I told him that it was too far to run, and a Train is much faster. Eventually, he caved and agreed on the train. I went upstairs to gather my things, leaving Spike to watch over Spirit, and make sure that he didn’t break anything. We made our way to the Train Station. I had sent Spike ahead to get the tickets for us, but when we arrived, and he saw the train at the platform, he began to panic. He began to harshly neigh something about a sled, whips and a mountain. I tried to calm him, but to no avail. Something happened to him ages ago, which has forever traumitized him against trains. But if he wouldn’t ride the train, the only other option would be Airship… and tickets for those cost a small fortune. One way or another, I had to get Spirit onto the train, but every time he calmed down enough to approach the train, he instantly reverted back to his panicked state. After a time, the Conductor came up. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but the train needs to leave” He said. “You two have to either get on, or wait for the next one in a few hours.” “Just… give me one more minute,” I pleaded to him “I’ll get him to come around” The conductor just shook his head and waved some sort of signal to the Engineer. I guessed that it was something like ‘You can’t leave yet’, because the train didn’t go anywhere. I turned to Spirit. “What’s got you so upset about Trains?” I asked him. He responded by telling me about how the two-leggeds, or “Humans” as Rain called them, had forced him and a team of many other horses to pull a train up a mountain on a sled. He caused the sled to crash and the train to be destroyed, but the whole ordeal had traumatized him. I now understood. To him, Trains remind him of slavery and oppression. No wonder he was terrified of them. “Look, here, everypony… and horse, is treated equally. You need not fear this train” I reasoned. “There won’t be any judgement or hard labor at the end of this ride.” “Ma’am, it’s now or never.” The conductor told me. “Are you on or off?” I looked at Spirit with pleading eyes, his brown eyes staring back into mine. Finally, he relented, and slowly began to walk with me toward the carriage. Once we were on board, we heard the conductor shout “All aboard!” and the train left the station. Spirit was quiet the entire ride to Canterlot. When he wasn’t absorbed in his own little world, he was glancing around at the ponies nervously, who were returning his looks with ones with similar expressions. When we arrived at Canterlot, we were greeted by a platoon of Royal Guards and two chariots. One which was regular pony sized, and the other one was more Alicorn sized, so I guessed that one was for Spirit. However, seeing him in the chariot, it became very clear that he was actually quite a bit bigger than any pony… Not even Celestia could match his size, and she’s the largest pony I know. Eventually, we were both in our chariots, with Spirit getting quite a bit of help from the Guard, and even having to have a rope tied across the back of the Chariot, just to stop him from falling out. Once we were both in and ready to go, we left the Train Station. Eventually, we arrived at the castle, and glancing over at Spirit, I wondered what was going through his head at that moment. His face was of dumb-struck amazement. His eyes were wide and he was slack-jawed. I couldn’t help but let out a little giggle. We disembarked from our Chariots, once again, Spirit requiring the aid of the Royal Guard, and headed through the doors of the castle. I desperately wanted to show him the parts of the castle I grew up in, the Library where I spent most of my time, the room I used to sleep in… Everything about my history was in this building. But we had a job to do, and I wasn’t about to ignore it. > Meeting Celestia > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wait nervously in the Throne Room of Canterlot Castle. If what Twilight has told me is true, then she has found a pure-blood horse. Not half horse/pony hybrids that exist today like the Saddle Arabians, but an actual fully pure horse. Something which has not existed in Equestria for more than 1,500 years. I was more nervous than I had been in centuries. After a few minutes, one of the guard burst through the doors. “Your Highness” He says “They have arrived!” “What are you waiting for, bring them in.” I say, trying not to let my nerves and excitement show. He disappears for a few minutes, and then returns withTwilight, and next to her, was the horse that she had told me about. I was speechless. He was beautiful. A dark brown mane, and a yellow coat, which faded to dark socks at his hooves. “Princess, Sorry for being late” Twilight says to me. “We had a couple issues with the train.” I didn’t acknowledge her. I just kept looking over Spirit, who was also watching me. “You’re beautiful” I whisper. “I’ve never seen anything like you.” He nickers in response. “He can’t speak Equestrian.” Twilight says “He’s told me that it’s not a language that he particuarlly likes. He can understand us though.” “Oh, is that so?” I say curiously. “Well then, Spirit. Twilight has told me a bit about you through her letter, but I would like to hear it from the horse’s mouth.” I mentally laugh at myself for making this joke, which seemingly flew right over Twilight and Spirit’s heads. He goes into conversation mode, telling me about his past, where he’s from, his herd and just about everything else in his life. I just listen, hanging onto each word he says. I had to act a bit as a translator for Twilight. While she’s studied this language, and knows a bit of it, there are times when she struggles to keep up. But I could speak it fluently. after he finishes his story about what led him here, he asks me if I knew of any way to send him back home. I didn’t. He and Twilight took it in turns to explain how he came to be in Equestria, but I didn’t know of any magic that could bring someone between whole dimentions. Or did I? “Spirit” I say, after a moment of thought. “Thank you for telling me your story. I unfortunately don’t know how you came to be here, and I regretfully say that I don’t know how to send you back. But Twilight is my prized pupil. If anypony can figure out this, she can. I hereby grant you a temporary citizenship to Equestria until such a time that you can be returned home. You can stay anywhere you wish.” He nickers to me that he wished to stay with Twilight, who when she heard this, her eyes it up. “YES!” She almost screams, before clearing her throat. “I mean, yes. I would be honoured to have him stay with me until he can be returned home” I smile at my student’s eagerness to house our guest. “Well then, Spirit.” I say with as much authority I can muster. “Until such a time that Twilight Sparkle can find a way to send you home, I hereby place you in her care.” He nickers thanks to me, and he and Twilight leave. As soon as they walked out the door, my smile fades. I had a certain Draconiquuis to talk to. > Disobedient Discord > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Would you like some more tea?” Fluttershy asked me, her large turquoise eyes staring up at me, holding the teapot, which was, in reality, very empty. But this is a tea party… Despite the obvious lack of tea. Nevertheless, I still smiled at her and replied politely, as she had come to expect. “Why, of course, dear Fluttershy. I would love some more tea!” I flutter my eyes at her to emphisize the sarcasm in my voice. She giggled and “poured” the tea into my cup, which I raised to my lips, and pretended to drink. When Fluttershy suggested these tea parties, I was expecting actual tea. Not…not tea! But it didn’t matter, for it was at that moment, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Will you excuse me, Discord. I must go and see who that is.” Fluttershy said to me. “Of course, Fluttershy. Go see who our new guest is. I’ll be here.” Fluttershy smiled at me, and then went off around the corner. I quietly clicked my talons, and one of my ears doubled in size. I then moved it around, so it was pointed in the direction of the front door, which I heard open. “Oh! Princess Celestia!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “I’m sorry, if I had known you were coming, I would have tidied up a bit.” “That’s quite alright, Fluttershy.” I heard Celestia say. “Please, tell me. Is Discord here? I would like to speak with him about a matter of the highest importance.” “Of course, Celestia. He’s in the dining room. We’re having tea.” At that moment, I snapped my talons again, and my ear returned to it’s normal size. I then picked up a nearby newspaper, and pretended to read, all the while holding a teacup in my tail. There was one more thing that I needed to make this complete, and I snapped my talons once more, and a pair of half-moon spectacles appeared on my nose. “Discord” I heard Celestia say. “I have something I need to talk to you about.” I hold up one of the toes on my lion paw. “Just a moment.” I say jovially “This is a truly entertaining article.” After a few seconds more, I felt the joke was wearing out, so I neatly fold up the paper, and take my spectacles off, which disappear into a cloud of smoke. “Now then,” I say. “What was that you wanted to talk to me about?” “You mean, you don’t know?” Celestia said, slightly lowering her voice. “Celestia,” I say with a slight sigh. “I specialize in chaos magic… Not mind-reading. If you want a mind-reader, go see that Zebra who lives in the Everfree… Or even Pinkie Pie… They could help you out. If you want something chaotic, I’m your Draconequus.” A smile appears on my face. I loved messing with Celestia like this. “So you’re telling me, that you have absolutely no idea about a new creature in Equestria?” “Depends on what type of creature you mean, Celestia. I know of all maner of new things in this land, which you may or may not know about.” Celestia grunts slightly in frustration. Nothing brought me more joy than bringing what amounted to a deity amongst ponies to frustration. “I mean a horse!” She shouted. “There is a full, pure-bred horse currently in Ponyville! Did you, or did you not have anything to do with this?!” Okay, this is the point where I realize I may have gone too far. Time to drop the jokes and talk serious… Well… As serious as I can be, anyway. “A horse? I thought they were extinct.” I say. “They were. Up until a couple days ago. A yellow horse just appeared in the middle of a field just outside of town. Are you telling me that you had absolutely nothing to do with this?” “If I did, do you not think I would tell you?” “No, Discord.” Said Celestia, her voice now full of annoyance. “I do not think you would tell me. I think you would want to try and play dumb as long as possible as a practical joke.” I scratch my chin. She had a point there. “Okay, I admit, that is something I would do.” I say, paw and talons raised in defence. “But believe me, I do not know where this horse came from. I don’t know how he got here. I have had nothing to do with this.” Celestia eyes me cautiously. Like one might eye a venomous snake from across the room. “Okay Discord” She said, slowly. “I trust you.” The way she said that, told me that she doesn’t trust me at all. “For now, I will be working with my student to try and find a way for him to go home. However. If we discover that you are responsible for this… Let’s just say that you won’t have to pretend to drink tea anymore… for a long… Long time.” On that note, Celestia turns and leaves. Fluttershy, who had been in the corner of the room all throughout the exchange between myself and Celestia had a look of minor shock. “I… think that’s enough tea for today” She said weakly. “S-same time next week?”