Ponyville was probably one of the best places to live in Equestria, at least that’s what the residents would most likely tell you. It had everything anypony could hope for. Good food, almost every service one would need, lots of jobs, friendly ponies and one of the lowest crime rates in the whole nation.
However, if and when somepony really wanted to commit a crime without getting caught, there was time and place for everything.
One of such places had recently been investigated by the Royal Guard. There had been a body, but nopony seemed to know the victim and he was stated to be an outsider. The investigation soon came to stop and the pony was buried as unknown.
But not all things could be buried...
---
A faint sound echoed from somewhere. Like it was coming from nowhere, but at close distant at the same time. Quietly, like a whisper, it spoke to me.
“Get up…”
The mysterious voice received no response. I didn’t know who or what it was or where it came from. Everything was pitch black around me. Like I was floating in a void of some kind.
“It’s almost time…” the voice spoke softly to me. Softly, like a mother embracing her foal.
The sound echoed once more and my eyes were suddenly forced open as if I wasn’t in control of my own body. The voice vanished as quickly as it came. I looked around me, utterly confused.
The first thing I saw was a small puddle in front of my muzzle. Then I saw a brick wall. It was dim, but I could make out where I was. Apparently, I was in some town. There were multiple buildings to suggest as much anyway.
Slowly standing up, I realized I didn’t recognize the place. I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing here. The dizzy feeling made me sway on my spot as I felt like I had forgotten something important.
I looked ahead and saw a bunch of ponies walking up and down the main street as I was apparently on some back alley myself. I had no idea how I had got here. Without stressing it any longer, I decided to go and ask where I was.
I trotted to the street and looked around surprised. It certainly looked busy, to say the least. So many ponies going through their daily routines, buying, selling and carrying various things. Everything seemed to be normal.
I noticed a mare coming toward me and I raised my hoof to state my business to her.
“Excuse me, ma’am, could you tell me where…” I tried to ask, but the mare just walked past me, completely ignoring me.
“What’s with the attitude?” I muttered to myself and gave a sour look after the said mare. Soon enough, I saw a stallion closing in and I had barely time to step away from his way.
“Oh, sorry,” I apologized after him, but the stallion didn’t even bother to look back, let alone reply. I swear these ponies were either blind or deaf.
As soon as another pony trotted towards me I decided I had to do more to get some attention around here. I extended my forehoof to block the way of this mint green unicorn. I wanted some answers and she was going to give them to me whether she liked it or not.
As if it wasn’t strange enough that my hoof looked kind of hollow, this mare walked right through it! I watched in horror as my translucent white hoof disappeared into her chest before coming out of her back.
I was horrified. I looked at the mare first, then my hoof and then at the mare once again as she trotted away as if nothing ever happened.
“S-she… She walked right through me…” I mumbled and spun around as a group of ponies walked toward me. “Hey, did you see that? She walked right through me!” I shouted and jumped in front of them, but they didn’t pay any attention to me.
Rather, they just continued their chat and went right through me, just like the mare before them. I was officially scared. What kind of ghost town was this place?
I twisted and turned as I inspected my body in a panic. All I could see was this faint white outline of a pony that was completely see-through. There was no cutie mark or anything, even my tail was transparent with even fewer outlines.
One, and one question only came to my mind--who in the name of somepony-probably-all-high-and-mighty I was? And why couldn't I remember anything!?
---
After three hours--and countless more tries to interact with other ponies later--I decided to give up. I had wandered to the outskirts of the town, now sitting by a small pond, trying to find a reflection that simply wasn’t there. It seemed like I didn’t even exist. The only logical explanation that came to my mind was that somepony must have cast a spell on me that made me invisible--and inaudible. Oh, and also untouchable for that matter.
Had such an event ever took place, I had no memory of that either. I didn’t even know my own name. The only thing that I was at least a little bit of sure was that I probably was a stallion. I didn’t seem to have wings, nor horn, but I couldn’t check that for myself as I couldn’t see my own reflection and my hoof went through my head, just like the ponies I tried to stop.
I reached out my hoof and dipped it into the water. Nothing. The feeling of a disappointment washed over me like a wave that I wasn’t able to create. I tried blowing to the water, but even if I made a sound in my own head, there was no air coming out as the surface of the small pond stayed silky smooth.
Another realization came a moment later. The water didn’t affect me, neither did I feel a cold feeling when trying to create a wave. To be quite exact, I didn’t feel anything. It was not cold nor hot like such things didn’t even exist.
With that realization, I stood up and headed back to the town. I wanted to try at least a few more things. This simply couldn’t be true and I didn’t want to stay like this forever.
---
Back in the town, I tried to find some unicorns. I was hoping that if I were to place myself right, maybe something could happen. Maybe they would notice me one way or another when using magic.
The task was quite easy as the marketplace was full of ponies carrying stuff around. Some of them were unicorns. I saw one buying apples and ran straight in the middle of the said transaction.
The purple unicorn lifted the basket, revealing my head hiding inside. Unfortunately, neither of them saw me, nor did the magic do anything at all. My best bet to be seen ended up being no use.
It was still weird how I was able to go through objects, though I was able to steadily walk on the ground.
“Thank you, Applejack, these apples look delicious!” the purple mare said to the one behind the counter.
“Anytime, Twi,” the orange mare replied, correcting her stetson behind her blond mane.
So that didn’t work either. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get at least some hopes up, but the end result was also more than likely at the same time.
If the water and magic didn’t do anything, what else was there left to try? I could try to roll on mud, I guess. As I was able to walk on the ground, maybe some mud would stick to me.
I looked around and saw a small mud puddle next to a full water barrel. Heading toward the puddle, I ran toward the barrel and jumped into the air to make a major splash.
By now, I should have probably figured that things weren’t going to work the way I wanted. Despite my dramatic efforts, I landed gracefully on top of the puddle like a feather. How much did I even weigh?
I simply groaned from frustration and pressed my head down in defeat.
“Just… Who am I?”