> Clouds > by ramdom_player201 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am lying in bed with my eyes closed, waiting for sleep to claim me. And suddenly there’s this large popping sound accompanied by a bright flash of light that seems to blind me through my closed eyelids; then suddenly I feel like I’m falling. Naturally, I scream. I continue to scream as I fall. Until I feel something catch me. It’s soft and squishy, so much so that my momentum pushes me through its surface before I stop. I can feel it wrapped around my body, but my head and legs are free. My screaming stops as nothing appears to be happening, so I open my eyes. That is a mistake, I stare down in horror at the large drop still below me. I can just about make out a small town in the distance, with small colourful dots moving around its streets. I feel a wave of nausea and close my eyes. Instead, I focus on steadying my breathing. As I calm down, I begin to notice that my body feels wrong. I try to shift my arms, but the squishy substance holds firm and I can’t get my hands free. Speaking of my hands, I can’t actually feel them. I try to grasp at the walls around me, but nothing happens. I begin to feel panic welling up in me, but I quickly catch myself and focus again on my breathing. Sufficiently calmed, I continue mentally checking my body for any other unusual feelings. I try moving my legs. They are still free, but I cannot feel my toes. I try angling my legs downwards and push against the squishy ground. But the soft stuff just deforms out of the way, causing my legs to slip free every time. Giving up, my attention is drawn to another feeling against my legs. Unlike the strange substance I am stuck in, this feels more like hair. I shift my legs against it, feeling a response further up; like a strange muscle that never existed before. I give it an experimental flick and feel something attached to it fling into the air, at the same time moving the hairs off my legs. But then the hairs fall back down into place, is it just me or do I now have a tail? What else is different? I try to shuffle my body, I’m still stuck but I notice something against my sides. I attempt to make them do something; they try to respond but are held in place by the walls. I decide to worry about all that later, I need to work out what to do next. I’m definitely stuck and can’t move, but what am I stuck in? It’s soft, squishy and very comfortable, while also being firm and maintaining its shape. But it still deforms such that I can’t get any traction against it. I decide to risk opening my eyes. Although I’m prepared, it’s still a shock to find myself suspended so high above the ground. I peer down at the sprawling town below. The houses all look quite small and many have yellow roofs, are they thatched? The town seems to have no structure to its layout, with random buildings spread haphazardly around; although there is a large circular building in the middle that looks quite important. There is also a large tree nearer to the edge of the town, I wonder if it has a purpose? Tilting my head, I see a large forest stretching endlessly into the distance. It looks dark and foreboding. I twist round and see another forest, although it’s a lot less dense and appears to be part of a farm, I guess it’s some kind of orchard. I can see a red barn near the back of it and a few miscellaneous fields beyond that. Still, I am curious as to what I am stuck in, so I pull my head upwards, causing my long hair to come loose and fall to hang below. What I see when I look upwards is surprising. My eyes widen, am I in a cloud? I am distracted from my thoughts as a large vibration runs through the whole structure. Moments later, I am pulled sharply from that strange muscle group on my behind and slip up and out of the cloud. The hole seems to close itself up behind me as I hold out my four limbs for stabilisation while the structure reforms itself. When the vibrations cease, I carefully adjust my position, the cloud wobbles and compresses under me as I move, but holds firm. I take a moment to look down at my arms, only to find an orange furred stump. “Hey, you alright there?” The voice comes from behind me. “Uhh… yeah, I think so…,” I answer as I carefully turn myself around to face the speaker. My voice trails off as they come into view. They’re some kind of quadruped, cyan in colour, with large magenta eyes and a mutli-coloured mane. I can only stare confused as my brain tries to comprehend what I’m seeing. And it was doing surprisingly well throughout this, I suppose it’s from how tired I am. “You sure you’re okay?” it asks. I quickly snap myself out of my stupor. “Wha- … Who are you?” I ask. “I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all Equestria!” it exclaims, wriggling its previously unnoticed wings. I simply tilt my head. “What, never seen a pegasus before?” I shake my head, one of the things on my side falling open onto the cloud surface. I turn my head to look at it. Wait, so I’m a pegasus now? “I- I don’t know how I got here, or even where here is.” I say. I carefully make my way to the edge of the cloud and peer over the edge, careful not to get too close lest I slip and fall. “We’re in Ponyville, Equestria. I need to be meeting with some friends at Sugar Cube Corner right now, wanna come?” “Umm- sure, but how do we get down?” “We fly of course!” “One problem, I don’t think I know how to fly…” > Chapter Two > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You’re kidding!” Rainbow exclaims. “How did you even get up here if you didn’t know how to fly?” “I just told you… I d-don’t know how I got here.” I respond. The cyan pegasus just stares back in confusion for a moment, before falling on her back and laughing. I stumble backwards slightly. That is a mistake. The edge of the cloud begins to deform under my weight and I feel myself slipping backwards. My back legs slip out from under me and I slide backwards off the edge of the cloud. The wind rushes past me as I find myself falling once again. I watch as the cloud shrinks away from me. I can feel the air tugging uncomfortably on my wings, pulling them in a way I’m not sure they’re meant to go. My hair and tail trail behind me. Overall, the fall feels longer than before, but luckily there was another cloud below. I land on my back, wings splayed out flat either side of me. I lay there breathing for a moment as I try to calm myself. After a few moments, I realise I don’t particularly want to be seen in this position. I try to roll over sideways, but my wings remain stiffly extended at my sides, I can’t get them to retract. Instead, I try rocking myself back and forth. The cloud begins to rock too. But then it rocks too far and I begin to slip off. I tumble forwards and close my eyes as I slip back into the air. Except this time, I find that the wind doesn’t rush past me. I open my eyes and find myself suspended in the air, the town directly below me, and much closer. I look across at my outstretched wings, but this causes me to lose my balance and pitch forwards. I soon find myself in a steep dive, picking up speed. I close my eyes as I try to regain control. I successfully pull out of the dive, but only for a moment before I crash painfully. I just lie there for a moment. My whole body aches. After a few seconds, I open my eyes; it appears that I am in a bush. I hear a soft thud from somewhere behind me. “Hey, you okay there? That looked like a nasty crash.” I recognise the voice from the blue horse creature “Uhh… I think so,” I groan as I carefully pull my legs out from under me and pick myself up. For the most part, my body doesn’t seem badly injured, which is kinda surprising. I step out from the bush, broken sticks tugging painfully against my wings. I look around me, I appear to have crashed into some bushes just outside of a building that looks like… gingerbread? My ears swivel towards a sound on my left, my head follows. I watch as more colourful horse things rush out, I guess they must have heard me crash. The white one seems to notice me first and rushes over. “Oh my, what in Equestria happened to you?” she questions in a posh-sounding voice. Before I can even begin to contemplate an answer, the pink one is up in my face. “Ooo, a new pony, welcome to Ponyville new pony whom I don’t yet know the name of! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Ahh, I need to get planning for your welcome to Ponyville party! Also, good luck with your wings, they look terrible!” And then she was gone just as quickly as she appeared. By this time, the other ponies had reached me. The white one spoke again. “Oh, don’t mind Pinkie. She can get a bit…excitable…when a new pony’s in town. Anyhow, as I was saying before I was interrupted… What in Equestria happened to you?” I glance sideways at my still outstretched wing, the feathers are a mess and there’s even a couple stray twigs in there. “I crashed into a bush,” I state. The orange one steps forwards. “Howdy, ah’m Applejack. D’you need that wing looking at? You really should stop by the Ponyville hospital and get that wing checked out. Ah’m no expert, but that doesn’t look healthy.” I gently prod at my wing, it hurts. “I suppose I’ll go and get it looked at, which way is the Ponyville Hospital though?” Applejack points her hoof down one of the streets. “Jus’ follow that there street to the edge of town, you can’t miss it.” I thank her and carefully turn my body in the direction she indicates. The white one steps ahead of me. “Oh, before you go, my name’s Rarity. You really must come stop by my boutique later so I can get that mane of yours fixed up.” I reach up into my mane, it’s also covered in broken sticks. “Ok, thanks, I’ll make sure to stop by I guess.” Rainbow comes up to me. “Hey. Mind if I walk with you to the hospital? “Sure I guess.” We walk in silence through the town. I take the opportunity to look around at the numerous buildings on either side. They look a bit mediaeval, except that they’re painted with much brighter colours and… Are those decorated with hearts? We pass a few other ponies as we walk. They’re all in different colours, and I notice that they appear to come in slightly different species too. Some of them have horns on their head, which I guess make them unicorns. And the ones with wings, like me and Dash, are pegasi. But there’s also some with neither, I wonder what they call themselves? Normal ponies? But they wouldn’t be considered normal since there’s just as many as the other species. A few of the ponies glance curiously across at us, or I guess me; I must really look a mess. Rainbow eventually speaks up. “Hey, I’m sorry that I laughed at you earlier. I mean, a pegasus who can’t fly, who’s heard of such a thing… Well, now you’ve gone and gotten yourself injured… and I guess I’m feeling a little guilty about that.” I respond quickly so I don’t give her a chance to continue. “It’s fine Rainbow, I’m still alive aren’t I? Don’t get yourself worked up over it.” I notice a large building on our right, I wouldn’t have been able to tell it to be the hospital, if it weren’t for the large sign outside with a big cross on it: the seemingly universal sign of a hospital. Except this cross also has hearts surrounding it. “Looks like we’re here,” Rainbow exclaims as she steers me in that direction. As we step up towards the door, I realise that my wings are still extended. I concentrate and try to make them retract. They begin to fold, but the tangled mess of sticks and feathers prevents them, and just causes me to cry out in pain. “You okay? Right, you’re wings… just keep them open for now.” Rainbow steps behind me to give me room while I sidestep diagonally in through the front entrance. Inside is a small waiting room and reception deck. A white pony with pink mane and a hat decorated with a red cross is stationed there, talking to what looks like a male pony. She then passes a paper bag over the counter. No longer distracted, she notices me and her eyes widen. She quickly rushes out from behind the desk. “Oh my, what happened to your wings sir? That looks quite serious, follow me please!” She turns and hurries to a door on the side of the room. She stops at the door and turns back to me. I stumble forwards to follow, Rainbow following just behind. > Chapter Three > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am standing alone in one of the hospital rooms. The nurse had left pretty much as soon as we had arrived and Rainbow also had to leave explaining that she had to quickly go check on her friends. It is as I am standing there that I notice a mirror tucked behind a curtain. I realise that I don’t really know what my new body actually looks like, other than that it is most likely similar to the other pegasi I have seen. I carefully trot over to get a better look. It appears to be mounted on a wheeled frame, but unfortunately, the curtains obscure the reflective surface too much to get a clear view of myself. I reach up to grab the curtains, but my hoof just brushes uselessly against them. Mildly frustrated, I hook my foreleg around the back of the fabric and attempt to pull it across; it is heavier than it looks and so I nearly lose my balance. After readjusting my position for stability, I slowly pull back on the curtain; but it slips over my hoof before I can get it out of the way of the mirror and it falls back into its original position. Okay, one last try… how does a pony do this? After staring for a moment at the stubborn curtain, I have a new idea. This time, I nose my head into the gap behind the curtain, then sidestep my whole body. The heavy curtain resists, but I am eventually rewarded with the grinding of metal on the curtain rail as I shift the fabric mass out of the way. Stepping back in front of the mirror, I can finally examine my new body in detail. As I already knew, I am covered in short orange fur. But where I once had hazelnut eyes, they are replaced with large blue pony eyes and my head sports a mint green mane; a mane which looks more like a bird’s nest than anything else. I let my eyes drift to my new wings; they are covered in orange feathers of the same shade as my fur. They are also an absolute mess. It seems like every other feather is broken and almost all of them are splayed at seemingly random angles, not a single one lays flat. On top of that, there are even a few stray twigs sticking up painfully through them. I turn slightly to try to get a better look behind me, but my extended wings block my view. I conclude that my new form is completely unrecognisable and shares next to nothing with my old body. The only thing that seems to have carried over is my voice. I am interrupted from my musings by the sound of the door opening. I turn to see the nurse walk back in, she is followed by a brown unicorn male. “Sir, I’m so sorry about the wait. My name is Nurse Redheart and this is Doctor Stiff Hoof.” She looks expectantly at me. “Oh, sorry. My name’s Seth… Seth Greenwood.” “Alright Zeph… Zeph’s short for Zephyr right?” “I guess?” I say, nodding dumbly. Doctor Stiff Hoof speaks up. “Alright then, let’s get those wings of yours cleaned up and you can tell us how it happened.” The stallion starts walking round me, studying my wings. “Well, I was on a… cloud? And… and I fell off it.” “And why did that happen?” prompts Redheart. “I slipped,” I state dumbly. I feel a strange tingling in my sore wings, not that I could tell what normal should feel like in limbs that I didn’t have an hour ago. I wince in pain as something yanks on my wings. I turn to look at them, but don’t see anything… except now, all the sticks are gone, strange. I turn to face the ponies, Doctor Stiff Hoof seems to have finished his examination. His horn is glowing strangely and my wings are still tingling. His brow furrows in concentration and I feel my feathers start to shift… and then more pain. I turn to watch my faintly glowing feathers bending back into place, well the intact ones anyway. About half my feathers are now missing. I watch as another snapped feather is plucked from my wing and floats over to join the rest, a floating ball of broken feathers. It’s at this moment that the door opens and a familiar blue pegasus steps in. She stops in her tracks at the sight of me. Rounding on the two medical ponies she almost shouts. “What did you do to his wings?” She facehoofs and mutters softly to herself as she walks over to me. “Just look at the state of them…” I look once more at the wings; the feathers that had just been reset are already starting to bend back out of place. I can feel them sagging in exhaustion at being left open for so long and concentrate on letting them close, they respond and begin to slowly fold themselves to my sides. A feather falls out as they do so. The doctor speaks up. “Alright Mr Greenwood, no flying for at least a week, and make sure to keep good care of those wings.” “I also recommend doing 15 minutes of gentle wing exercises twice a day, morning and evening to keep them from seizing up. And remember, no flying,” Redheart continues. “Zeph, you’re free to leave now if you want, do you have anywhere to stay while in Ponyville?” Doctor Stiff Hoof finishes. I glance out a nearby window and notice that it’s quite a bit darker than it was when I got here. “Actually no, I don’t have anywhere to stay while I’m here,” I feel something on the top of my head fold down when I say that. “Hey. Zeph was it? I have an extra room if you wanna bunk with me?” “Actually, Miss Dash, remember that Zeph isn’t allowed to fly,” reminds Redheart. “Oh, right…” “Zephyr, feel free to stay here at the hospital tonight as it’s already getting quite late,” Redheart offers. “Thanks, I think I’ll do that.” We are led back out into the corridor and up a set of stairs to the first floor. I am brought to a door and let inside. “Here’s your room sir,” the Doctor states before hurrying off somewhere. “If you need anything, just give us a call,” Redheart says before also leaving. “I best get back home, see you tomorrow Zeph,” Rainbow says cheerfully, before also turning to go. Now left on my own, I turn to my room. I nudge the door closed behind me and wander towards the bed. I realise just how tired I am from the day’s events. I also realise just how much I need to use the bathroom. Luckily, there’s one adjoined to my room and I hurry inside. It did take a while to figure out how to use, but I somehow managed it. I head back to the bed and clamber in. I roll onto my back, but yelp as my injured wing is caught under my body and I am forced back onto my belly. I bend my neck round to look back at my body, and can finally get a clear view of my back. My wings, now free of trapped undergrowth, still look terribly messy and feel slightly itchy. My tail is quite long and hangs over the side of the bed and out of sight. I sigh and reach my neck towards the covers. I contemplate how I should do this, before I simply take them in my mouth and pull them over me. I take one last look around the small hospital room before I rest my neck on my pillow and let my eyes drift close. > Chapter Four > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I blink sleepily at my headboard as I try to get my bearings. Lifting my head from my pillow, I turn towards the light streaming in through the window. I gaze idly out at the serene sky. It’s a beautiful day outside, barely a cloud in the sky. I watch as a large yellow horse-thing flies past just outside the window. Wait just a second… The previous day’s events suddenly come flooding back to me. I slowly look down and am greeted by the sight of an orange furred foreleg. Ahh yes, I’m a winged pony-horse-pegasus-thing now… I do not know how to respond to that thought. So I try thinking of something else, like how hungry I am, and how itchy my wings are… I twist round to glare at my feathery appendages, except they are still hiding under my covers. I sigh. Alright, so course of action for today? I’m definitely hungry so I’ll need to go find some breakfast. And my wings are badly itching, so I’ll probably need to have those checked out. Speaking of my wings, the Nurse said I needed to do some wing exercises with them. I couldn’t think of any wing exercises to do, probably because I’ve never had wings before yesterday. I carefully crawl to the edge of the bed and drop my forelegs to the ground. I then walk forwards, dragging the rest of my body behind me until I am able to bring down my hindlegs, one after the other. I sway unsteadily for a moment, before making my way carefully towards the exit. I pause for a moment to look in a full-height mirror that is sitting in the corner of the room. Despite the lack of twigs in my hair…mane, it seems to look even worse than it did yesterday, if that’s even possible. My wings, while now cleaned of debris, are still just as messy as before. Surprisingly, my tail seems perfectly fine. I turn back to the door and am presented with a new challenge. The door has a door knob. Not that I noticed this yesterday, as doors are much easier to close than they are to open, especially for a pony. Inspecting the door knob closer, I notice that it’s not actually fully round; both the top and bottom surfaces are flattened. I try lifting one of my hooves and turn it to study the bottom. It doesn’t take long for me to determine that something of this shape shouldn’t be able to turn a door knob. I give up and simply use my mouth. Placing my teeth against the flat surfaces, I find I can get quite a secure grip. Not wanting to have it in my mouth for any longer than I have to, I quickly twist my head and pull the door open. I step out of my room and into an empty hallway. I quickly twist my head to take note of the room number: 21. No 3rd digit, I guess it’s a small hospital. I look to my left and quickly spot the stairs. I hastily grab the door knob once more and pull the door almost-closed; I decide to leave it open just to let the hospital staff know that I’d gone. I make my way to the stairs and look down. Coming upstairs the day before wasn’t much of the problem. But now I realise that isn’t true both ways. Tentatively, I take a step down. I quickly find myself facing steeply down and feeling the full weight of my over-sized pony head threatening to pull me over forwards. Pulling my head back seems to somewhat solve this issue and I carefully begin making my way down. It feels like an eternity before I finally reach the bottom. I realise that I don’t know where to go from here. I look across at a set of signs on the wall adjacent from the stairs, but I can’t make sense of any of the weird symbols. The only things recognizable on the signs are the numbers, which don’t really help me much. I look both ways from the stairway, but both corridors look identical. So I take a left and just hope that I find a member of staff. Ok, I take it back. This definitely does not feel as small anymore. I idly take a left turn and find myself back at the stairwell at which I started. My stomach grumbles in annoyance. I glance down at a random orange feather laying on the floor, then to my ruffled wings and then behind me down the corridor; which is now littered with fallen feathers. I am interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs. “Ah, Mr Greenwood. It’s good to see you up and about this morning.” Doctor Stiff Hoof trots down the stairs. “...And that’s quite the mess you’ve made…” he continues, glancing at the feather trail behind me. “What have you been doing down here Zephyr?” “I got lost on my way out.” The doctor looks unimpressed. “You know there are signs right here on this wall, did you not think to follow them?” I don’t particularly want to reveal that I can’t read the signs, even though I know that I probably should. Luckily, my stomach saves me from my little dilemma. “It sounds like you’re hungry. As a patient, you have access to the cafeteria… I suppose I should have mentioned that before. Follow me.” And so I follow him. We take the corridor to the right of the stairwell and then turn left shortly after, straight into the cafeteria. I spent all this time wandering around, and it was right here… Upon delivering me to my destination, Stiff Hoof turns immediately and leaves without a word. Looking around, I notice that the cafe is empty, except for a single pony behind the food counter. She is pale pink in colour, with a bright yellow mane and pale green eyes. She looks up, and upon seeing me, waves me over. “Good morning sir,” she greets cheerfully. “Welcome to the Ponyville General Cafeteria. Can I get you anything?” I glance over at the menu-board on the wall, I can’t read it. “Well, I’m feeling a little hungry and was looking to get a bit of breakfast.” “Of course, what would you like?” After a moment’s hesitation, “What would you recommend?” She tilts her head slightly as she considers my question. “Well, you can never go wrong with a daisy sandwich.” A daisy sandwich? Like… as in the flower? Well, I suppose these ponies would be herbivores, and horses back home ate grass. I guess eating flowers shouldn’t come across as much of a surprise. “Okay, I guess I’ll have a daisy sandwich please.” “Coming right up, feel free to take a seat and I’ll bring it over when it’s ready. Also, not to be rude, but you should really get your mane sorted.” I make my way over to a nearby table and sit down. It isn’t long before the pony comes out through a side door. Carrying the sandwich plate… with her mouth. I also notice that she has wings, which makes her a pegasus. Setting her plate down, she glances over at my own wings. “Oh my, what happened to your wings?” “Uhh, I fell from a cloud and crashed into a bush. The doctor says I won’t be able to fly for a week” “My goodness, I couldn’t imagine not being able to fly.” Her ears fold back and she looks at me with pity. “Although you really should get around to preening your wings, it’ll do them no good sitting like that, and they’ll start to itch.” “Thank you, miss…” “Oh right, I’m Feather Crumb.” “And my name is Seth… Greenwood. Anyway, thanks for the food and have a nice day.” She takes one last look at me, before she heads back into the kitchen. Now alone with my food, I inspect the sandwich. It seems pretty much standard, other than the few daisy petals sticking out the side. I consider how I should go about eating the sandwich. My stomach complains at my stalling. I decide to eat it straight off the plate with my mouth. I’m not sure what to expect as I take my first bite, but am soon disappointed by the food. The bread tastes like normal bread, but the daisies are kind of bland and just a little bit bitter. I don’t quite see the appeal in eating them. After my underwhelming breakfast, I head out and turn left, soon coming out into the reception area. I start making my way to the exit, but am called back by Nurse Redheart who is stood behind the desk. “Zephyr, I’ll just need to sign you out before you go, there’s just a couple details we forgot to fill in.” “Just turn to the side for me.” I am a bit confused by the request, but I comply anyway. The nurse lets out a gasp. “Is something the matter?” I question tentatively. “Uhh… no, not really… it’s just… it’s just that you have no cutie mark.” I tilt my head at that, not knowing what a cutie mark was. “I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen an adult pony without their cutie mark.” “So, does this mean anything or…” “No no, it’s fine… you can go now if you want.” I step out of the hospital, confused as to what all that was about. Regardless, I can’t help but feel a little bit excited for my first day in magical-horse-land, or as they call it, Equestria. > Chapter Five > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I take a deep breath as I trot away from the hospital. The air feels fresh and the sun shines down on me from the clear blue sky. Bringing down my head, I look at my surroundings. The hospital appears to be located on the outskirts of town. I consider making my way down the street I came in from yesterday, but decide against it. Taking a right, I take in the sights. To my left are miscallaneous buildings, most of which appear to be houses; although I do see a couple with signs or display windows. I stop momentarily to peek into one. Inside, I can see lots of strange-looking bags. They’re kind of like small backpacks, but they are all in pairs, connected by a piece of bridging fabric. I suppose ponies need different equipment to fit their bodies. I guess these would fit over their backs, like a saddle … like saddlebags. I glance over at my own back. I wonder how they would fit on pegasi, the wings look like they’d probably get in the way. As if in response to my ponderings, my wings shift slightly, bringing their itchiness back to the forefront of my consciousness. I set off once more in an attempt to draw my attention away from my itching wings. As I walk, I take in my surroundings. The buildings mostly look quite primitive; almost medival, yet the colours seem unrealistically bright. To the right of the path, I see only trees and bushes. Gazing up into the canopy, I watch as colourful birds flit to and thro    between the branches. I stop to watch a red one that is standing on a branch beside a hole in the trunk. Despite the intense colouring, the bird doesn’t seem too different from something I’d have seen back on Earth… Earth… my family… I am distracted from my thoughts as a pair of ponies trot across my view. Shaking my head, I continue my walking. Letting out a sign, I cast my focus into the birdsong coming from the trees and allow the relaxing melodies to watch over me. As I trot along, I continue to take in the sights. Glancing down one of the streets between the buildings, I can make out a large building that looks vaguely familiar. Ahh yes, I remember seeing that building from when I was in that cloud. It looks like that tall circular building I saw, I wonder what it’s purpose is? Soon, I come to a slight change in scenery. Bringing down my pace, I look again to my right. I can see a wooden bench under some kind of shelter. On it are sat two ponies, I think they’re the ones who passed me earlier. One of them is a tan ‘normal’ pony with a curly blue and pink mane. She is wearing saddlebags. The other is a mint green unicorn pony with pale blue and white mane. The two are talking animatedly between each other. I’m about to move on when the tan one looks up and waves at me while the green one just keeps on talking. I give a quick wave back before refocusing my attention onwards. Just next to the bench, the trees receed slightly to make room for bushes of flowers. I detor over to them for a closer look. Bending down, I examine a red flower, which I assume to be a rose. I’m interested by how recognisable it seems, and if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought it to be from Earth… I am once more distracted by a sound. Next to me, there is a pony. She is pink with a green mane, and she is smelling the flowers… loudly. “Don’t you just love the smell of fresh flowers in the morning?” she asks without looking up. Taken a bit by suprise, I’m not sure how to answer. “Um… well I guess they do look pretty?” “Indeed,” she responds “and who might I be addressing?” She finally turns to face me. “Oh right, my name’s Seth… Greenwood.” “It’s a fine morning today isn’t it Zeph, my name is Daisy.” “Greetings Daisy, and yes, it is a nice day today.” “Well, I best be going then, and you really need to get that mess of a mane sorted out.” I watch as she trots away, before pulling away from the flower bed myself and continuing my own journey. I don’t really have a particular idea of where I’m actually going, but I suppose I’ll need to find something to do. Looking up into the near-cloudless sky, I take note of the sun’s position. It’s still mid-morning and I’ve just had breakfast, but I also don’t have any money to buy lunch when the time comes. I suppose I should really be trying to get a job. I idly wave back at a small white unicorn with a pink and purple curly mane. She looks quite young, a child-pony. What are they called? Oh yes, a foal, or I guess filly since she looks to be female. I watch as she runs off into a strange looking building round building. Ah yes, I need to find a job. I glance down another street, once again spotting the large round building. Maybe I’ll have a better chance further in town, I could start with the important looking building. I turn into the street and make my way down towards it. I gaze up in awe at the building. I didn’t realise just how big it was before, but standing up close, it feels absolutely massive. Glancing around, I spy a wooden board setup just outside the entrance, I make my way over to it. It is covered in lots of pieces of paper tacked to it’s cork surface. Unfortunately, I realise that I can’t read any of it. I’m not really sure what I should do next. “Oh there you are darling!” Recognising the voice, I turn my head to see a familiar white unicorn making her way towards me. “I’ve been looking for you, and it seems I’m not a moment too soon, just look at your mane! You simply must come back with me so I can get it fixed up.” I turn from the board and trot over to meet her. Upon approaching her, she turns and begins making her way back up the street from where I just came. “I don’t believe I caught your name before dear,” she says, twisting her neck to face me. “It’s Seth Greenwood, miss Rarity.” “Please, just call me Rarity.” I nod and she turns back to face forwards. We walk in silence for a bit until we come to the strange round building from earlier. “Welcome, Sphz… Zeth, to my home and business; Carousel Boutique. The door handle is enveloped in a blue glow, before twisting itself and pulling the door open and causing a bell inside to tinkle. I freeze momentarily, in surprise from the display before shaking my head and quickly stepping inside after Rarity. The building’s interior is just as lavishly decorated inside as it was out. Dotted around the room are a number of pony mannequins, dressed in an assortment of fancy clothes. Rarity leads me over to podium surrounded by mirrors which, upon prompting, clamber clumsily ontop of. I try not to flinch when the mane hanging in the corner of my vision suddenly begins to glow blue. It’s just like back in the hospital, so ponies can do magic? I glance back at Rarity and notice that her horn is also enveloped in the same blue aura. I guess it must have something to do with the horn, so can only the unicorns use magic like that? The pegasi have wings, and as I experienced before, can stand on clouds. So what can the ponies with neither do? And I’ve not seen any ponies with both, I wonder if those are a thing here. What was it called… a pegacorn? I turn my attention to one of the mirrors and watch in wonder as a brush floats towards it. It is followed by another brush, and then another… Unfortunately, I don’t see the spray bottle floating in from ahead. My unpreparedness leads to a bout of coughing when I accidentally inhale the vapour. This is quickly followed by a sharp tugging in my mane pulling my head back as the brushes into the tangled mess. “Goodness, I’m so sorry about that Zephyr, are you okay?” “No worries, I’m-” I cough “-fine.” “Do try to keep your mouth closed this time… my, I’ve never seen a mane this badly tangled.” We remain in silence as Rarity continues to work on my mane. It’s takes only a few minutes for my mane to become somewhat presentable… and quite a few brushes. Rarity breaks the silence, “and now for the finishing touches! Zeph dear, how would you like your mane styled?” “Really Rarity, I’ve think you’ve done enough as it is.” “Nonsense darling! Oh I know just the thing!” I watch idly as she floats in more hair styling equipment to work on my mane, as well as bringing more attention to my tail. “Zephyr, you’re wings really don’t look too great. I know you’ve suffered a crash, but I can’t think it to be healthy to leave your wings looking like that. Unfortunately, I’m not a pegasus myself and there’s not really anything I can do for them. I think I shall bring you to see Fluttershy after this, I’m certain she’ll be able to help. After examining my now pristine mane in the mirror, I hope down from the podium and follow Rarity to the door. Before we reach the exit however, the filly from earlier rushes out from a door in the back. She stops suddenly half-way across the room as she notices us. After scanning her eyes over me, she gasps, before quickly rushing outside, tinkling the doorbell in the process. “Who was that?” I ask Rarity. “Oh that was just my little sister Sweetie Belle,” she responds, before muttering to herself. “I’ll have to teach her some manners, not saying hello to our guests.” “Come along and I’ll introduce you to my friend Fluttershy, I’m sure she’ll be able to help you.”