//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: "Little Pony" // by ButterscotchFTW //------------------------------// Today was proving to be quite the interesting one for the most part, interesting in the fact that I'm currently walking by myself along the streets of Canterlot if I'm saying it right. To say it was and still is an interesting learning experience is a fact, also slightly funny in a sense where instead of there being a variety of ponies. I find myself being quite the odd one out, there were many upon many unicorns wandering up and down, around and right past me. Though that did bring a slight questioning thought into my head, yet I chose not to feed the flames of my worry and continued. What I was currently doing was what brought a veil of excitement over me. Before leaving for work, as usual, my mother and I both agreed that we were lacking a lot in the sustenance area. So she wrote down a small list of what we would need to buy and what specific type of brand we would need to buy so that sums up what my plan for today is. Of course, it may have seemed like some sort of crazy and rather idiotic idea letting a colt like myself go out by themselves and complete this task, you would be right if I were a normal foal. But I am a perfectly functioning human adult trapped in the body of a smaller than average pegasus copy with a very overprotective, snuggly, and overall perfect mother. So I think I'm pretty well off when it comes to the independence department-  "Oof!" I found myself letting out noise as I completely collided with something and bounced right off of it, finding myself with an unfocused gaze to the sky and on my back no less. Though from what the object felt like and how much it hurt, I surmised that I had walked into a wall while I was paying attention to my thoughts.  "Oh Celestia, are you ok?"  Except, that didn't sound like an inanimate object such as a brick wall. I blinked a few more times before registering what happened. "Uh.. yeah, yeah I'm good.." I quickly picked myself back up and triple-checked that the note I had been given wasn't damaged or missing, smiling lightly as I found it still tucked into my wings. Then I decided to address the pony that I bumped into, tilting my head upwards to meet the gaze of a female pony, the mare I think? The terminology in this world still confuses me. "Are you sure little one? That was quite the tumble you took" I simply responded with a wave of my hoof, in all honesty, the impact of me against her still left my nose throbbing in pain but I wasn't going to admit it. Simply waving off her concerns and quickly apologizing for not paying attention. "It's alright, was my fault I wasn't paying attention plus, like walking into you would stop me.. see?" I hopped in place for a few seconds to prove to her, eliciting a small smile from the oddly clothed pony. I felt completely idiotic for not noticing earlier, but this pony was wearing clothes.. or what seemed like clothes. Though now that I realize it, most of the ponies here actually wear some sort of clothing. Excluding myself and my mother of course. "Very well if you insist..though make that you have my curiosity do you mind answering me a question?" She switched from concerning herself over whether or not I was hurt, to questioning my intentions pretty fast, well she hasn't questioned my intentions yet but I could feel that she was going to. Though I might as well be right in my judgment, I hadn't seen any other child walking around the place by themselves. So I decided to humor her, activating child mode and tilting my head slightly to the side I questioned, slightly shifting on my feet for added effect. "What's that miss?" Her expression shifted about three times as I continued to stare up at her in a waiting manner, the demeanor she approached me with seemed to have completely shifted from the way she is looking at me now.  "What is a small colt like you doing wandering around the streets of  Canterlot?" I found myself forming an answer rather quickly to get myself to my destination quicker, shifting the placement of my hooves than fixing my gaze back up at her I answered. "I'm just running an errand for my mom, she has to work so I'm taking responsibili- responsibility for her" I answered with half of a truthful answer, half in the fact that I made it seem as if I knew what I was doing yet still retaining that small childlike naivety so as to not draw more questions from her. Analyzing her disposition up and down as I once again waited for her to answer, slightly tilting my head as she shifted from a smile to a frown and then to a smile once more. "I see.. well how nice of you to do that for your mother, I won't keep you from your little task any longer..farewell!" With that small and convoluted interaction done and over with, I glanced back to where the mare started walking to with a slight air of suspicion. Don't assume I am quick to judge her, I just felt a weird vibe emanating from her throughout the whole conversation.  "..bye!" I half-heartedly responded before turning back towards my original placement and continued forwards, shaking off the thought of her until I got back home. This very important task needed my whole focus if I were attempting to accomplish it without fail,  though I do find it slightly funny that I'm trying to make a simple trip to the grocery store sound so detailed and rather important. I passed by varying groups of ponies on my way to the store, most of them of course wore some type of clothing. Be it the top half of a tuxedo or a dress and... is that guy wearing a monocle? I know this place isn't as advanced as humans are, but I hardly doubt rich people wear monocles anymore. Though I decided not to continue my rather piercing glance at that specific pony, as I now caught some rather intense looking stares pointed at myself. Though saying that these ponies scared me was laughable, I'd rate them two out of ten in the fearsome puppy look. Funny to think that a place like this still had those people that simply despised the other for being that of a different blend, in this case, my pegasus heritage seemed to have ticked off the major unicorn population. But I digress, not even pony land could be peaceful all the time not with that very dumb tale of the two royal sisters I found in mother's room. That did remind me that I still had to finish reading the book, even if it is a bit ridiculous. The more I can learn about pony land the better, no matter how weird and- who am I kidding, I can't justify the topic of the book seeing as humans have rather far-fetched stories that even surpass these ponies! "To each its own I guess"  This was all I had to say before my train of thought was cut off by the appearance of a rather decently sized building sporting a large symbol of a shopping cart, filled with an assortment of vegetables. I guess it was plausible to say that I had found my way to the grocery store, and just in time too, it seems that my mind wanted to forgo reality and dove deep down into the recesses of my mind to continue the topic beforehand.  Though there was time to do all of that later and for now I would focus on the list, taking a few slow steps forwards while analyzing the items written. Muttering the items back to myself and nodding, I looked back up at the door and pressed forwards. Immediately walking into the wrong side of the automatic door. That's when I found myself walking rather precariously back to my home, the bags filled with the items were mainly all stuffed into two separate bags much to my displeasure. Yet saying walking precariously was quite a bit of a stretch, I was more or less struggling to keep the plastic bags from scraping across the ground and ripping. Knowing from past experiences how infuriating and sucky it was to have to pick up every single item that you spent your hard-earned cash on, that's also another reason I like pony land. The only semblance of a monetary system they have is a bit, a single piece of gold is what these ponies use as their money.  While I thank you for tuning into my TEDtalk, I cannot express how heavy and inconvenient these bags are for my small child body. It was akin to batman training to pick up tires and completely fling them across his training area, or something like that.  So I continued for as long as I could before my stubby limbs decided to give up on me and unceremoniously face-planted onto cobblestone, which did make it hurt more. Though the pain was something I'd inevitably get over and not spare a thought about. It was rather disappointing my new pony parent and losing the trust she placed upon me. I'd already made those mistakes back in my past life and wasn't willing to go through them again. Me laying here being unable to find the energy to even stand up wasn't helping with my already souring mood, no less attempting to haul these bags back to the house. So I resigned to letting the bags rest on the ground next to me as I pushed myself onto my haunches, pursing my lips and turning my gaze to the sky. Immediately regretting it and flinching away at the very bright rays of the sun, I sighed before debating how I would go about this. I think I sat there for a while because when I finally snapped back into reality, I found that there was an overcast shrouding the area I was set upon. Raising an eyebrow in confusion and turning my gaze upwards only to find nothing, weird seeing as when I turn my gaze upward-  "Oh, shhhhiiii- sugar honey ice tea!!" As you can tell from my very abrupt reaction something had spooked me, and that something was the same mare I bumped into an hour or two ago. She was looking at me in slight concern, as my reaction found me laying once more on the ground.  "Oh my, are you alright little one? I'm sorry for frightening you"  Frightening? More like almost giving a young child a heart attack, it was slightly frustrating to see how eerily happy she was despite the display of concern she had on. Nonetheless, I decided to shrug it off, not lowering my guard for a second but still shrugging off the second introduction. "I'm... fine miss, just a little spooked" While pushing myself up into a sitting position before finally standing up on all four very sore, hooves. I stretched myself out a bit, getting myself limber I returned the focus onto her.  "Thank Celestia for child pain receptors.. though I do have a question for you if you don't mind me asking?" "Sure, feel free..miss? I didn't quite catch your name?"  Just filing a little report in my head If anything happens, don't mind me. "Oh my, how rude of me! My name is Aurora crescendo Borealis the second, but you may call me Aurora if you wish... though preferably so" Is.. is she kidding? I mean what kind of name is Aurora crescendo Borealis the second!? I unintentionally let my eyes widen in disbelief before mentally sighing, there was that one girl back on earth with the thousand letter name. Though I guess you could say that's a bit more outlandish than Aurora crescendo Borealis the second, I believe it was Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenkescianneshaimondrischlyndasaccarnaerenquellenendrasamecashaunettethalemeicoleshiwhalhinive'onchellecaundenesheaalausondrilynnejeanetrimyranaekuesaundrilynnezekeriakenvaunetradevonneyavondalatarneskcaevontaepreonkeinesceellaviavelzadawnefriendsettajessicannelesciajoyvaelloydietteyvettesparklenesceundrieaquenttaekatilyaevea'shauwneoraliaevaekizzieshiyjuanewandalecciannereneitheliapreciousnesceverroneccaloveliatyronevekacarrionnehenriettaescecleonpatrarutheliacharsalynnmeokcamonaeloiesalynnecsiannemerciadellesciaustillaparissalondonveshadenequamonecaalexetiozetiaquaniaenglaundneshiafrancethosharomeshaunnehawaineakowethauandavernellchishankcarlinaaddoneillesciachristondrafawndrealaotelleoctavionnemiariasarahtashabnequckagailenaxeteshiataharadaponsadeloriakoentescacraigneckadellanierstellavonnemyiatangoneshiadianacorvettinagodtawndrashirlenescekilokoneyasharrontannamyantoniaaquinettesequioadaurilessiaquatandamerceddiamaebellecescajamesauwnneltomecapolotyoajohnyaetheodoradilcyana Koyaanisqatsiuthawyhaiashieakhauwnne Williams. Don't ask why or how I know every single letter from the top of my head, just thinking it out made my head hurt. But back to the main focus at hand, I proceeded to nod in understanding responding with my own much shorter, simpler name. "Oh, nice to meet you miss Aurora.. my name is Speckles!"  Had to add that small childish tone at the end, just to make sure I wouldn't forget myself and act as my human adult self. It affected, her face flushed and she let out a small coo.  "How adorable, and adorable colt like you named after the specks on your nose!"  That was an interesting reaction, to say the least, I found myself giving a half-smile before turning to look at our surroundings and back down the road I still had to travel down. I did hope I wouldn't be delayed any further, I still had to drag these heavy bags of groceries back to the house and also put them away. Wouldnt want my mother to have to come home and keep working.  "Um miss Aurora, the question you had?" "Oh-ph yes! I completely disregarded that fact, I'm sorry I was originally here to ask if you need help with those bags, it seemed like you were struggling just a few moments ago? Would you mind if I carried them for you?" In all honesty, the offer was something I found myself hesitating to outright deny. For one, she was a unicorn and I was a pegasus the advantage lies where she could magically carry those bags. Secondly, I could get some practice flying beside her and keep myself off my already tired hooves. But there was still a risk that she had bad intentions or some downright predator intentions, so I found myself thinking.  'But mom would be disappointed' With that floating around my gaze wandered from her still ever so happy and inquisitive face to the grocery bags, then back to my hooves. After a bit of a few seconds of thinking, I found myself agreeing to her offer of assistance.  "Um... if you would be so kind? I would greatly appreciate it misses uh-Borealis?" "Oh, it would be no trouble at all, if anything it makes me happy helping you! Now let me just.."  Her horn started to glow and I turned to look at both of the heavy grocery bags started to defy gravity, floating up into the air before being pulled past me and just above the mares head. Grin still ear to ear as she looked back down to me, motioning with a hoof to lead the way.  "Oh wow.."  I couldn't help but stare at the magic that the unicorn was producing, all of this still left me in awe at how cool it was and slightly jealous that I couldn't do it. Though snapping myself out of it and quickly turning to face the direction I was originally headed in, ignoring her light giggling I spread my wings and flapped. Bending my knees and pushing up to help the gust of air my wings were picking up float me just a few inches above the ground, hovering for just a few minutes before finding myself pressing forwards.  Turning my head slightly and flicked my head in the correct direction "a-anyways, I live down over there!" Watching her nod before moving to follow me. The quiet and slightly elongated trip to where I lived was going on a bit normally, for the most part, just the sounds of my wings, her footsteps, and the ambiance emitting from her horn to fill out ears. It gave me a bit of time to think about things and gave me a chance to fully get a good look at her, her coat color was that of a shade of pink that I couldn't name for the life of me. It was much too dark in some places yet at the same time fell into a lighter hue in the other, and evenly colored purple main tied into a ponytail sat atop her head.  Fitted with that same piece of clothing from earlier, I now made it out to be some sort of formal dress. Though I shrugged that little detail off and continued, the last noticeable feature was the cutie mark. Or the bit of the lack of a cutie mark, that's slightly interesting to see.  When I turned my head, I caught Aurora staring at me from the corner of my eye, not with a grin but with a bit of a glare. Though it quickly changed into a smile once more when I fully turned my head back, casually making it seem like I didn't notice anything amiss with her. What she said next did catch me off guard, for the most part, it almost made my wings halt in their movements in totality. Yet I was able to catch myself as I turned my gaze over to the mare's direction, there was nothing I was able to formulate as a response to that. "See something you like little one?" "Um.. yeah, that magic is super cool! I wish I was a unicorn instead of a pegasus! Or both, that would be cool.."  I was partly telling the truth in that sentence, the prospect of being a unicorn did sound pretty good. Though I was fine with being a pegasus, flying is instantaneously giving me an advantage over the other ponies. "Now that would be cool if you were an alicorn, being a mix between every pony type and end up as royalty seems like a bonus" That did spark a question regarding the whole alicorn thing, say if you weren't related to the two sisters and were just randomly born an alicorn. Would you be considered immediate royalty by the pony populace, or is there this whole organization of alicorns ruling the ponies and switching out the alicorn rulers every few years? Yet it seemed unlikely that was it, but the topic was something I would look more into later.  --- After a bit of time of walking, well in my case flying. The two of us made it to the moderately-sized house I resided in, landing just atop the first step. I went to turn around and thank her, though paused shortly thereafter I noticed something. Or rather an absence of the mare named Aurora. "Were here, I'd like to say thank... you?" All that was there were my grocery bags, neatly placed at the beginning of the steps. My head tilted up from them and I craned around the vicinity, a bit of confusion building up along with slight suspicion.  "Or just mysteriously disappear once we get to my doorstep..that's nice too" Nonetheless, I went to go and open the front door. Standing up on two legs and fumbling the doorknob with both hooves, before it clicked and pushed inwards.   After getting everything sorted, and remembering to tell mom that we shouldn't keep the door unlocked no matter how safe the neighborhood is. I found myself laying on my mother's bed and staring at the ceiling, I was mulling over the proceedings of today and debating whether or not I should worry about smiling unicorns with long names.  But another thought popped into my mind, rolling myself over towards the edge of the bed I peeked over. The book I tossed down there hadn't been picked up or noticed by mom so, I guess I had some more reading to do.  To be continued.