It’s like, three in the morning. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m outside in a damn tent in the middle of a forest eight hundred miles from my house. I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep. No matter how hard I try, I can’t sleep. It’s too loud, everyone in my all girl tent, except the kids, are up chatting and giggling. Normally, I would be too. But I’m just so damn TIRED! I haven’t slept in a week. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I’m hungry. It feels like someone is putting a vacuum on full force inside of my stomach. Okay, I’m talking too much about sleep and hunger. I’m going to go insane if I keep thinking about it. So I’ll take a walk.
I manage to sneak out of the tent without anyone noticing. Then I sneak a few fruit bars and a Mountain Dew out of the cooler and head down to the lake. I don’t even know why I’m walking, I could fly. But I’m so tired and out of it that I’ll probably crash anyway. Then I’ll be tired, hungry, in the middle of a forest eight hundred miles from my house, and quite possibly have some broken bones. And that would just make this camping trip suck even more than it does now. Only god knows what compelled Celestia to do this. It pisses me off.
After walking through a large field while trying to open my fruit bar with as little noise as possible, I arrive at the lake. Holding my fruit bar in my mouth, I pop open my soda. It’s clear tonight, not a single cloud in the sky. The moon is full and the stars stretch out in all directions as far as I can see. The quiet trickling of the lake and the rush of the small waterfall several miles away seem to blend in a strange, mystifying harmony. I watch the sky for shooting stars as I eat my food, the black hole in my stomach starts to ease with each bite. I check my watch to find it’s now four in the morning. If anyone, Pinkie has probably already figured out I’m gone and the rest of the group have started to look for me. But I want to be alone right now, so I shove the fruit bar wrappers in my jacket pockets and head over to the waterfall.
It’s not as far away as I think; it only takes me a half an hour to reach it. I discover that I can climb to the top. The water is extremely shallow here, only a few inches deep. I decide to walk upstream, see how far I can go before I’m in danger of plunging into extremely deep water and drowning. Even though we’re humans now, we still started as ponies, and still don’t know how to swim. Its eight thirty when I decide to turn back, the sun has started to rise. From up here I can see the pinkish glow around the horizon and a whitish ball above it. The stars are starting to fade away. I turn and see our campsite. I’m so far away and high up that they can’t see me, but I can see them. They’re running around the campsite like chickens with their heads cut off, I can faintly hear them calling out what sounds like Rainbow Dash, but I can’t really tell since they’re so far away. It’s just as I figured. Someone, probably Pinkie or Twilight, noticed I was gone and now everyone was searching franticly for me. I briefly think of flying home for a few days and then coming back just to scare them, but my element tugs at my conscious, telling me that I should just go back to the campsite.
But then I think, maybe, just this once, I won’t listen. Just this once, I’ll be out of my element. Just this once, I’ll let loose. And not loose like I already am, loose like what I want to be, but can’t. I’ll do what I’ve wanted to do since we got here, see the human world. With one final look at the campsite, I fly off, prepared for anything in my way. But then I remember, everyone will notice me. Dammit, I forgot about that. I’m going to need some magic. But I can’t ask Rarity, so that means I’ll have to ask...dammit. I know Twilight isn’t good at keeping secrets, but she’s the only one who will understand.
I fly back to the waterfall and watch as everyone decides to split up. As I had hoped, Twilight stays at the campsite. Hiding on a cloud, I slowly make my way towards her. She sees me and starts to call out, but I put a hand over her mouth and drag her into the tent like some kind of 70’s horror movie.
“Rainbow Dash!” She shouts. “What are you doing?”
“Shut up.” I say. “Listen, I had an idea up on top of that water fall. You know we’re not in the human world for long, so before we leave I want to see it. All of it. Do you understand?”
She nods with a confused, but understanding look on her face. There was no need to say that I wanted to go alone, we’ve known each other since a few years ago so she knew right off the bat.
“But, why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t want anyone to notice me. So I need you to make me look human. You know normal looking hair and eyes, no wings.”
She nods again.
“I could try, but I’m not sure if it will work. It’s a very advanced spell.”
“Just do your best.”
“Okay, here goes.”
She brings out her wand and points it towards me. She closes her eyes and concentrates hard. I begin to feel a warm, trickley sensation all over my body. My wings begin to shrink into nothing, my hair bubbles into a light brown from my usual namesake colors. I close my eyes to let the rest of the changes happen, my boobs grow at least one size bigger, my feet shrink three sizes, my muscles disappear under my skin. Finally, it’s over.
“Quick!” I say. “Give me a mirror!”
Twilight rummages through Rartiy’s bag and manages to find a picture frame size mirror. I hold it up to my face to see what I look like. My hair is fully light brown, my eyes are hazel, I even have a gap tooth to top it all off.
“Twilight this looks great!” I give her a huge hug. “Thank you!”
Twilight returns the hug.
“You’re welcome. It will last until I change you back, which can be anytime.”
After some thought she begins to make copies of some of the other’s clothes. I shove them all in an empty bag and we both head down to the train station. I buy a ticket to New York City. We wait five hours for the train to come, when it does, we get up to meet it. Before I get on, I give her another hug.
“Promise you’ll keep this a secret.” I say.
She returns the hug.
“I promise.”
We squeeze each other a bit tighter.
“Be careful out there.” She says.
“I will.”
I then get on the train, and officially begin my journey, prepared for anything in my way.
As soon as I get on the train, I go to the bathroom to change clothes. There is a large mirror there and I get a better look at myself. Twilight had really outdone herself. I dig through the bag to find some clothes. I decide on one of Pinkie’s shirts, Twilight’s jacket, and some of Rarity’s jeans. After I get changed, I take off my cutie mark necklace, expecting it to appear on Twi’s jacket or Pinkie’s shirt, but it doesn’t. At first, I figure that it’s some kind of weird conflict, being that I’m Rainbow Dash wearing everyone else’s clothing. But then I remember that earlier this week, we had gone to the lake to wade in the shallow water. We were all wearing swimsuits, and it had gotten cold on the way back to the campsite. Twilight didn’t have a jacket so Applejack let her borrow hers. Even though it was Applejack’s jacket, Twilight’s cutie mark still appeared on it. I suddenly realize that Twilight had managed to make me so human, that my cutie mark has ceased to exist. I now couldn’t bear to put my necklace in my bag, so I put it back on and tucked it safely in my shirt. Then I left the bathroom and went to go find a seat on the train.
“Hey! You!”
I here a voice call as I sit down.
“Hey! That's my seat!”
I turn to see another girl walking down the aisle. She is wearing black skinny jeans that are bunched at the ankles, big black shoes that are untied, a white men's dress shirt that is way too big for her, a navy blue clip-on tie, a lanyard with two flash drives, and sunglasses. She has long, dark brown hair and a band-aid on her chin.
“I'm sorry,” I say. “I didn't know.”
“That's alright,” The girl says. “Just scoot over and I'll sit next to you.”
I scoot over and she sits down.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“New York City,” I say. “You?”
“Same place,” The girl says, smiling. She extends an arm in my direction. “I'm Jacklynn.”
I search in my mind for a good name, every name that I think of isn't a normal sounding one. I finally decide on my middle name.
“I'm Jennifer,” I say, returning the handshake.
“So,” Says Jacklynn. “Got any friends in NYC?”
“Nope,” I say. “I'm new to that place. This is my first time going.”
“Well, I live there. I'm coming back from a trip. So guess what? You just made your first friend!”
She puts an arm around me and gives me a playful punch in the arm.
“I got lots of friends over there. You can meet them all when we get there.”
I smile. “Awesome!”
This was great! I had met my first friend, and she has other friends. I start to think that this was a good idea. But then I start to wonder about my other friends. How was Twilight dealing with the pressure of my secret? How was Pinkie dealing with the fact that I was gone? What about the others?
I couldn't stop thinking about it until lights out. I figured I could just call Twilight when I get off the train and see how things were doing.
________________________________________________________________________
Jacklynn and I step off the train at Grand Central Station. The place is huge with people everywhere. I'm so distracted by all the sights I didn't notice Jacklynn had already walked off. I turn to see that she's gone, and start looking for her.
“Jennifer!” I hear her call. “Over here!”
I see her and start to head over. She's standing with five other girls and two boys.
“Sorry,” I say. “This place is just so big!”
Jacklynn laughed. “Yeah, I know. That's how all new people feel.”
She turns toward the others.
“Guys,” She says. “This is Jennifer, she's our new friend.”
The others say hello and introduce themselves.
“I'm Micah” says a blonde haired girl, she has brown eyes and a pale complexion. She is wearing a pink dress with blue and pink leggings and black tap shoes. Her hair is in very long pigtails.
“Hey! I'm Dante!” says a black haired, blue eyed boy with a short, wispy beard. He's wearing a blue sweatshirt and red pants with green sneakers.
“Yorkie, nice to meet you.” says a grey-eyed, dark skinned girl. She has short, dark red hair with baby blue streaks and is wearing a sleeveless orange shirt with white pants and white sandals.
“I'm Nathan,” says a tan, scraggly red haired boy with green-blue eyes. He is wearing a white t-shirt that says “swag”, a blue jean-jacket, and black jeans.
“Dianna,” says a girl with long, black hair. Her eyes are an extremely dark grey, almost black, and she is wearing a green, turtle neck sweater and dark blue sweatpants.
“I'm Gina,” Says a girl with boy short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She is wearing a dark red t-shirt and black jeans.
“And I'm Harriet!” says a girl, bouncing towards me. She has extremely long blue hair tied in a side ponytail with a pink scrunchie and sparkling green eyes. She is wearing a long-sleeved purple shirt with the left sleeve torn off, yellow sweatpants that have huge holes in the knees, a red sneaker on her left foot, and a brown sneaker on her right foot. She reminds me way too much of Pinkie, and I begin to feel a bit homesick.
Yorkie seems to notice how I'm feeling.
“You okay honey?” she asks me.
“Yeah,” I say. “Just a bit homesick.”
“Aw, it's alright,” says Nathan, giving me a hug. “In a few hours, you'll be having so much fun you'll forget all about it.” He releases me.
“Trust us Jennifer,” says Jacklynn. “We know how get things started.”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Harriet starts to jump up and down. “I know where we can take her first!”
“Lead the way!” says Gina, laughing.
We leave Grand Central Station, with me wondering where we're going. Harriet is just like Pinkie, and knowing Pinkie, she would probably take us to a bakery somewhere. Great, more things to remind me of home and my friends.
“It's just around the corner!” Harriet squealed.
As we turn, I expect to see a huge bakery. But instead, we come to a large arcade. I'm relieved but at the same time confused.
Dianna laughs. “Harriet loves her video games!”
Harriet begins to bounce up and down again. “Come on! Come on! Let's go inside!”
We head inside. The first thing I notice about the arcade is that it's loud, very loud. The next thing I notice is all the neat games everywhere. Shooting games, basketball games, skate boarding games, skiing games, driving games, prize games, dancing games, but the one that catches my attention the most, is skee ball.
“I haven't played this game in forever,” I say.
“Don't you have arcades where you're from?” asks Harriet.
“We used to, but they tore it down to make room for a school.”
“That's too bad.”
I dig through my jacket pocket and manage to find enough quarters to play four games. I put them into the slot and the game begins. I'm just as good as I used to be, every ball I throw goes straight into the thousand point chute. Tickets are flowing out of the dispenser. Jacklynn, her friends, and everyone in the arcade are amazed.
“Damn!” says Dante. “I've never seen someone score so many points!”
“Amazing!” says Dianna. “You're a natural pro!”
“Three cheers for Jennifer!” Harriet shouts.
Everyone joins Harriet for the cheers; someone brings me a ticket cup. All I can do is stand there and grin. I decide to cash in my tickets for a remote controlled helicopter, a stuffed toy boa, and a giant teddy bear for Pinkie when I got home.
It's dark when we come out of the arcade. The city was beautiful the way it lit up. I hear Jacklynn laugh behind me.
“Time Square sure is pretty at night huh Jennifer?” she asks.
“Hey!” shouts Yorkie. “Anyone hungry? Hachi's isn't all that full tonight.”
I realize how hungry I am, I check my watch and find that it's seven, about six hours since Jacklynn and I arrived on the train.
“I could go for some food,” Nathan answers for me.
We start walking.
I guess when Yorkie said that the restaurant wasn't all that full she meant that there were only a couple thousand people. The place was packed!
“I thought you said it wasn't all that full,” I say to her.
“I did,” she says. “You really are new to New York City, aren't you?”
A hostess appears in front of us.
“Welcome to Hachi's Japanese Restaurant!” she says, “How many people are in your group?”
“Nine.” says Yorkie.
“Okay then,” says the hostess. “Right this way please.”
We follow her to a booth by a large window decorated with little dolls holding paper lanterns. We sit down and Jacklynn and her friends open their menus. I open mine as well.
“What gives?” I say. “There's only drinks on here!”
“Have you ever been to a Japanese restaurant like this?” asks Gina.
“I've never been to a Japanese restaurant. We don't have them where I'm from.”
“Well,” Says Dianna. “In a restaurant like this, you order your drink and the food is over there.” She points to a conveyer belt with little plates of food on it. “You get it yourself. You understand now?”
I understood. I start to look through the menu for a drink when my phone starts to ring. I'm surprised that, despite the noise in here, I can still hear it. I check the caller I.D., it's Twilight.
“Excuse me,” I say, getting up. “Someone is calling me.”
“Who?” asks Harriet. Like Pinkie, she wants to know everything.
“My sister,” I fib before walking off to find a quiet place to answer my phone.
I find one and answer it.
“Hello?” I ask.
“Hey Dash,” says Twilight. “How's everything going?”
“Great, I met a few people and we're having dinner at a Japanese restaurant. How's everything over there?”
“Not good. Everyone is wigging out, especially Pinkie. She thinks you're dead or hurt or something. And Celestia is really angry with you.”
“You didn't tell anyone, did you?”
“No, I didn't, I told them I didn't know where you were. But it's just making everyone more scared.”
“Oh my god...this....this is all...”
I can't believe myself. This is all my fault.
“The worst part,” says Twilight. “I think Applejack is catching on to us. You know she can tell when people lie.”
“Yeah I know,” I say. “Oh god Twilight, I'm sorry I'm putting so much pressure on you. I should have never asked you to keep such a big secret. Hell, I should have never done this in the first place.”
I can feel myself tearing up. I knew I would scare them, but I didn't know that it would be this bad. I can hear a little voice in my head, probably from my element, saying “I told you so! I told you so!” over and over. I want to go home so bad. I want to wrap Pinkie in a huge hug and apologize a million times for scaring her. I want...I want...
“Dash?” asks Twilight after a pause. “You okay?”
“Kind of,” I choke out. “Put Pinkie on the phone, I want to talk to her.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight sounds surprised. “Even if it means her finding out our secret?”
“She can keep it. I know she can. She's Pinkie.”
“Okay then, hold on.”
After a little while, I hear someone breathing hard on the phone.
“D...Dashie?” I hear Pinkie say. I can tell that she's been crying.
I almost start crying myself.
“Hey, Pinkie.” I say.
“Oh, Dashie! I'm so glad you're okay!”
“So am I.”
“Where are you?”
I knew that I would have to tell her.
“Can you keep a secret?” I ask.
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” says Pinkie.
I tell her everything. The walk, the waterfall, the idea, the transformation, everything.
“Please don't be mad at me.” I beg. “I just wanted to explore.”
“I understand.” says Pinkie. “I could never be mad at you for something like this.”
“Thank you, so much. I'm really, really, really sorry Pinkie. Honest. I should have told you, maybe taken you with me. Then we wouldn't be in this mess,”
“I'm sure Twilight can fix that.” Pinkie sounds like her usual, happy self again. “I've got an idea,”
“Okay then,” I say. “I have to go now. The people I'm having dinner with will think I ditched them.”
“Okay Dashie, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hung up. Satisfied, I went back to my table as Jennifer once again. No one seems to mind that I was gone for so long.
After dinner, and an extremely difficult chop-stick lesson from Yorkie. We head home. Jacklynn sets up the couch for me to sleep on in her apartment. I thank her and she leaves. I sit for a while, wondering exactly what Pinkie's plan is. But then I realize how exhausted I am and start to get sleepy. For the first time in a week, I fall asleep.
