I was slowly roused from my sleep as the light of a new day permeated the darkness of the bedroom and went right into my eyes. Consciousness slowly came back to me as the dreamscape was left behind while reality started to once again take hold.
“That was the weirdest dream ever…” I said as I groggily sat up in my bed and started to rub the dirt out of my eyes, well, I tried to. What I got instead was a pretty hard knock on the head. “Ow…” It muttered, opening my eyes to see what I just hit myself with. But instead of seeing my hand where it should be, the sight of a white arm ending with a distinct lack of fingers instantly unlocked the flood gates to all the memories of the previous night. Waking up in the alley, having a new body, getting taken in by someone. All that really happened last night and none of it was a dream. And worst of all… I’m now the opposite gender. With a dejected sigh, I took a quick glance around the room which did nothing but solidify that this was real life as this was definitely not my room.
My mood was at an all-time low. All that confusion, sadness, and anger I had pushed off till tomorrow, well today is yesterday's tomorrow. I sat on the non-made guest bed, contemplating everything that has happened and what was going to happen. ‘What am I doing to do next?’ being the most prominent thought that went through my mind over and over again. Other things like my family and my friends weighed heavily on me as well. I continued to stare blankly at the floor, a stray tear here and there falling onto a now damp part of the bedsheet.
With a sniffle, I looked towards the door as my attention was grasped once again and pulled back to reality by the sound of sizzling food as well as the heavenly smell of fresh coffee reaching my new, much more sensitive nose. And with a sigh, I resigned from my feelings as to not draw too much attention to myself from Breeze.
“Good morning Winter, how did you sleep last night?” Came the voice of Breeze from the kitchen not too long after I had walked out of the guest bedroom.
Still a little shook from my small morning breakdown, I responded with a simple phrase as to not lead her on about my current situation. “I slept alright.” I said, trying to hide my current feelings with a tired look as I sat down on one of the cushions by the dining room table.
“That’s good,” she said as she flipped a pancake up into the air before catching it and depositing it on top of a tall stack of finished pancakes...
‘Actually… how is she holding that pan?’ I thought to myself, my eyes glued to the spectacle before my eyes. This display just threw every single thing I knew about how basic physics works right out the window. Somehow, a flat surface was gripping a handle just like someone with a hand would. This was made evident once again as she promptly proceeded to pick up the plate with one arm and balance it on her back before she started walking over to the table.
“Hope you like pancakes, I make a mean flapjack!” She said with a little giggle as she set the plate with at least a good 10-15 pancakes right in the middle of the table before walking back into the kitchen.
My mind was still elsewhere having been shocked by something for the thousandth time in the past day before I was once again snapped out of it by the sound of a glass bottle of syrup hitting the table.
I looked up and saw Breeze taking a seat on the pillow across from me before taking five pancakes off the top of the stack and putting them on her own plate before somehow picking up the bottle of syrup and smothering all the pancakes.
“So, do you like pancakes?” She asked as she finished covering her whole plate with syrup before closing the cap and sliding it back into the middle of the table.
“Oh yea, I like pancakes.” I said with a nod before reaching out and wrapping my arm around the plate of pancakes to pull them closer to me. Looking down, I noticed that there was already a plate sitting there for me. I then proceeded to completely neglect the silverware sitting right next to the plate and use my arm to slide a few pancakes off the stack and all over my plate.
After pushing the plate back to the middle of the table, I looked up and saw Breeze giving me a questioning look which I just returned with a meek smile and shrug in response. And after staring at me for a second longer, she then shrugged as well before she went back to cutting her pancakes.
With her attention elsewhere, I now contemplated how I was supposed to eat this. I couldn’t pick up the fork or the knife, nor did I think it would be a very good idea to just stuff my face into the food by the look Breeze gave me when I used my arm instead of a fork to take the pancakes off the pile. With no idea what to do, I just decided to try and somehow do what Breeze was doing and attempt to pick up a fork.
I stared down at the fork sitting to the right of my plate before placing my… hoof? ‘I guess they kind of look like horses… like if they were designed by a child.’ I thought as I placed my hoof on top of the fork. And with absolutely no surprise, the fork did not stick when I lifted my arm up. I looked up to make sure Breeze wasn’t watching, which she wasn’t although she somehow already ate four pancakes, before setting my hoof back on top of the fork. This time though, I knew that there must be something else to it. So, I channeled my inner Star Wars and pretended to use the force. And all I ended up doing was pretend as the fork once again didn’t budge.
I cursed under my breath, this drew the attention of Breeze as she looked up at me after finishing her last pancake. “Are you alright?” She asked with concern and skepticism evident in her voice.
“Y-Yea, I’m good.” I said, trying my best to play the situation off.
“Ooookay then, well you said you were visiting right?”
“Yea” I responded, no longer trying to pick up the fork by slamming my hoof into it.
“Are you thinking about doing anything special today?” She asked before taking another three pancakes off the quickly diminishing pile of pancakes before covering them in a slightly more respectable amount of syrup.
“Umm,” I started but didn’t finish. ‘Do I lie? I don’t know anything about this place!’ I thought, trying to come up with the best course of action. “No.” I said with a shrug, having no idea what else I would say.
“Oh well, you must have an apartment or something in the city right?”
“Well you see, I don’t have a place either. Nor do I have any money.” I responded before quickly regretting it. ‘She’s probably just going to think I’m some homeless person and kick me back out onto those weird streets!’ I thought with dread of what she was going to say next building up in my mind.
“Oh no!” She gasped, “I bet those mean ponies who left you in that alley took all your stuff!” She stood up, her tone suddenly taking on a very hostile nature before she took a deep breath and sat back down. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here. I’m always open to helping ponies in need.” She finished with a smile.
A couple of my thoughts were brought to my attention. ‘So they're called ponies? Wow, they look like ponies out of a children’s cartoon show.’ As well as, ‘why would she just let some random pers- pony into her house?’ I pondered these thoughts for a couple of seconds before thanking her, which she happily accepted.
“Well, I have to go to work in about an hour. Oh, if it’s alright, may I ask what your job is?” As she asked that, for some reason, she seemed to try and look at my butt for some reason. And when I looked, I still had no clue. But she sure seemed to know something as she gasped even louder than earlier before holding a hoof up to her open mouth.
“Y-you don’t have a cutie mark!?” She asked in a state of disbelief “How old are you? Oh my, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that!” She quickly apologized for apparently asking my age which I didn’t pay any attention to. Instead, I was wondering, ‘What the heck is a cutie mark?’
I looked back up to see that Breeze was nearly crying for some reason. So I decided to ask why she was suddenly on the verge of tears.
“Hey, umm, why are you crying?”
“I shouldn’t have asked you that! Now you probably think I’m mean and won’t want to stay with me anymore!” She cried, barely able to make a coherent sentence. This left me very puzzled as to why she would think any of that, all she did was ask me my age and now she was bawling her eyes out after being in a good mood, not more than a minute ago.
“Hey, uh, I’m not mad at you. All you did was ask me my age, and I am twenty-one by the way. There’s really no need to be upset.” I said in my most comforting voice I could manage without sounding creepy.
“R-Really? You’re n-not mad at m-m-me? But that was such an unfriendly question!” She asked seemingly in disbelief.
“Yea, I don’t see what there’s to be upset about.” I said with a shrug, “Oh, and by the way, what’s a cutie mark?” I asked before regretting it the moment after Breeze gasped the loudest out of all the other gasps this morning.
“You don’t know what a cutie mark is?!” she nearly shouted while running up beside me. “This is my cutie mark,” she said while pointing to a picture of a setting sun with leaves falling in front it plastered on her flank. “It tells us what we’re good at! I work at the weather factory here in the fall season department.”
“What, do you get like a tattoo or something?” I asked, still kinda lost on the whole point of cutie marks.
“No silly, they show up once we discover our special talent. I can tell you my story if you want to hear it.”
“Sure, why not, I got all day.” I responded with a shrug, being completely honest about having nothing to do today.
“Well, it started when I was a filly around age- IT’S 8:30! I’M LATE!” She screamed before running off into her bedroom before reemerging, still trying to tighten the strap on her bag. “Sorry, I got a little carried away. Work starts at 8:30 for me, there is a spare key in the jar next to the stove. See you later!” She hastily said before walking over to the window in the kitchen, opening it, and jumping out.
I nearly had a heart attack as I quickly ran up to the window as I looked down, expecting to see her guts splattered all over the white sidewalk. But instead, I saw her flying away above all the buildings toward what appeared to be the center of the city. ‘Oh, she has wings…’ I remembered about five seconds too late. Though this sparked my mind into thinking about my own new additions.
“How am I going to fly? How is it even possible to fly with these, they’re so small!” I said to the fluffy things resting on my back.
I decided to think about flying later, considering I just learned how to walk literally last night. So with that out of my mind, I sat back down in front of my untouched pancakes. I stared at them for only a second before saying, “Oh to heck with it.” Before just stuffing my face into them and eating doggy style. About ten minutes later and half a dozen pancakes heavier, I walked into the kitchen with the plate in my mouth before depositing it into the kitchen sink.
“Well, I should probably get to know this place better considering I am now stuck here.” I muttered to myself in thought as I walked over towards where Breeze said the spare key was located.
‘What’s the point of locks if you just let some random person into your home?’ I thought, this world making less and less sense the more I thought about it.
But when I looked up from the ground and saw the jar had more than just a key in it, I realized I was going to have to solve this dexterity problem now.
And so without further ado, I proceeded to get on my hind legs, look at the lid to the jar, and accidentally crack it from smashing my hoof into it. ‘Nice one’ I thought before more carefully pulling the lid off with my teeth and gently setting it down on the counter.
After successfully infiltrating the jar, I spotted the key conveniently resting on top of the pile of other junk in the jar. I then stuck my hoof in, which barely fit, before thinking of how Breeze could possibly pick things up.
And after 20 minutes of lifting my arm up and down, I nearly just smashed the jar before giving it one last go. This time, I pretended that I still had my hand and pretended to pick the key up as I would have with my hands. Not expecting this to work like everything else, I was more than surprised when the key just stuck to my hoof. Although, as soon as I thought about how I was holding it, the key fell right back down into the jar. So, I tried again, and it worked again. I shook my head at the absurdity of what I was currently doing before deciding to contemplate reality after I explored the city.
I noticed that the key had a little string tied around it, and it just happened to perfectly fit around my massive head and rest on my chest. With the key now safely around my neck, I headed to the door. But then out of nowhere, I got blindsided by the reality that I was about to go out into public naked. I wanted to call off my expedition there but then decided that since Breeze wasn’t wearing any clothes either, which sounds very wrong, it must be normal. While this didn’t help to ease my discomfort at the situation, I also knew that it wasn’t like I had any pony shaped clothes lying around.
Not wanting to stall myself anymore, I headed towards the door, set on exploring this new world that I am stuck in for the foreseeable future… with no career… and no friends... jeez, my mood went downhill fast. Though I guess Breeze considered me a friend. I’m staying in her place crying out loud. Meh, push all the negative stuff to later tonight I thought, trying to stay somewhat positive.
I reached up with a hoof and placed it on the lock. I then tried the same trick I did with picking up the key, and it worked. A click signaled that the lock was open. I then proceeded out the door and checked the room number to make sure I don’t knock on some random person's door. And after getting her room number as well as the building name engraved in my brain, I was on the street of this city known as Cloudsdale.
After walking out of the apartment lobby, the first thing I noticed was how many ponies there were. Unlike last night, there were more than just a few, there were dozens on both sides of the… road? Not sure what it was called. There were mainly those with wings like me, though there were two other kinds I noticed. Ones with horns, ‘unicorns, I remember those from all my little sister’s toys’ I thought upon seeing the multi-colored horns adorning their heads. And, the ponies with neither wings nor horns. ‘I wonder if they can do anything special?’ I wondered, thinking that they got the short end of the stick.
I idly wandered down the sidewalk, merely a few feet from the edge of what would be a very long fall, taking in all the things around me. Ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors were here. A fair amount of them looked like tourists with cameras around their necks and small children pulling at their hair.
I finally got to an intersection, and when I crossed it with everyone else, I finally got to see a glimpse of how high up we were, and I instantly regretted it. I nearly wet myself before getting as far as to the middle of the crosswalk as I could. ‘My new fear of heights is going to make flying very difficult.’ That was all I could think as I finally crossed the intersection and was back on the much wider sidewalk. “OSHA would be having a fit if they saw this…” I said with an uneasy chuckle before continuing on my way.
Looking around, it became evident that I was heading towards the more urban part of the city. There were more and more ponies the further I went as well as the buildings getting bigger as well as the shops going from small cafes and shops to more upscale looking establishments.
Finally, I reached what appeared to be this world's version of time square. A massive area with huge buildings all around with very expensive looking clothing stores, though no one was wearing anything, and restaurants as well as a tourist trap here and there. I decided to get out of there as I never really like massive crowds, especially in a place like that. And after having to almost push my way through the massive crowd filling the whole sidewalk, I finally made it out of what must have been the most crowded part of the city.
I walked a little further before encountering what looked like that coliseum you see from Rome, except the whole thing was white and appeared to also be made out of whatever all this white stuff is, just like all the buildings here. And looking at the various signs, I soon learned that this place was home to the Wonderbolts, whoever they are. ‘I’ll have to ask Breeze about that later.’ I thought before walking further down the sidewalk, although, as I kept walking, the banners of all the ponies who were most likely the Wonderbolts reminded me that I could have been on one of those back on Earth as a hockey player. It wasn’t uncommon to see huge pictures of the athletes on the side of the arenas, so having my picture up there was a dream, but we all know what happened to those dreams. Letting out a slightly depressed sigh, I ignored the arena and looked around at the other various stores along the block.
After about another three blocks or so, the establishments started going back to the smaller scale cafes and restaurants rather than those posh, ultra-expensive stores. And not too long after, my stomach alerted me that it wanted sustenance after walking for at least a few miles. I looked around at some of the restaurants before realizing that I didn’t have any money. I was about to give up and just go hungry for a while before I spotted a sign sitting just outside a small cafe that read, ‘Come perform on stage and earn a free meal!’
I could play the piano and guitar as well as sing pretty well, though I wasn’t sure if I would be able to play the guitar or a piano with hooves. So, I decided that maybe I could just sing one of my favorite songs and see if that counted.
After heading back about a block to the last intersection, I crossed the street and headed back to the café before spotting it and walking inside.
A little bell that hung above the door signaled my entrance to the waiter standing off to the side with a few menus resting on… I thought it was a girl, as I noticed that ponies either had a more round face or a more angular face which I was assuming must be boys.
“Hello, welcome to the Sunny Side Café! Is it just you?” She asked with a pleasant smile.
“It’s just me, I don’t have any money, but saw your sign outside and was wondering if singing a song counts?”
“Sure! Just head up to the stage, the manager likes to hear all the performances, so she’ll tell you when to start.” She responded, pointing at a small stage with a microphone and a piano sitting atop it.
Walking up onto the stage, a few of the patrons took notice and started to watch. While I had sung in front of a larger crowd, I didn’t do it much so it always made me a little nervous every time I got ready to perform. The microphone looked normal, although it wasn’t plugged into anything, when I tapped it, it amplified the sound as a normal microphone would. But the piano is what got my attention. It looked like a piano, except someone had stretched every key to about twice its normal length. While the keys were large, there were not as many so the range wouldn’t be as good as a normal piano.
A brown pony with dark brown hair and wings in a green apron walked up to the stage and said, “You can start whenever you’re ready! Good luck!” Before she took a seat at the table closest to the stage.
I then proceeded to take my own seat in front of the piano. I looked at all the keys and experimentally played a few notes. I decided that while I couldn’t quite play all the chords, it would be possible, but a little more difficult. And after setting my hooves in the right place, I started to play. And not too long after, I started singing.
After I played the last note, I looked at the piano a little surprised. While I had been far from perfect, that went much better than I thought. As I looked up, I was surprised to see that there were quite a few more ponies in here than when I started. Most were wearing an impressed expression, while some just continued drinking their coffee and reading the paper.
“How was that?” I asked the manager as I walked off the stage and over to her table. By now, the applause I was not expecting had ended and most of the ponies had left the place while a few had stayed behind to order some food.
“That was… amazing! I’ve never heard that song before, it sounded so… dreamy!” She enthusiastically exclaimed. “Oh, and by the way, my name is Sunny.” She said, extending a hoof.
“Winter, nice to meet you.” I said, bumping her hoof with mine, assuming that was what she wanted which appeared to be right as she put her arm back down a second later.
“That was good!”
“I mean, it wasn’t that good, I messed up a couple of times.” I said still not really believing my performance of fireflies had gotten me that much attention.
“Well, that sounded completely different than all the other stuff ponies normally come in here and play. Usually, it’s just the normal classical that all the ponies in Canterlot enjoy. But that was so different! What was that called?”
“Umm, the song was called fireflies and the genre is pop I think.” I answered back.
“You got any more songs like that?”
“Yea, I know a bunch more.” I said with a shrug, not really sure where this conversation was going.
“Well, it’s not even rush hour and you brought in more ponies than I’ve ever seen in this place at once. How would you like to be a performer here? You get free dinner, pay, as well as any tips you make.”
This surprised me, all I did was walk into a restaurant and play a song that they seemed to enjoy and now I’m being offered a job as a performer. This did come at a pretty good time, I'll have to admit. I need a job if I’m going to be stuck here until I can find out what happened to me. “Sure, I’ll do it.” I said having decided that I needed to find a way to make some money, and this was it. Whatever their money is.
“Oh goody! Well, would you be able to start tomorrow at, oh let’s say five until around six-thirty?”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Yay! We haven’t had a somewhat decent performance in forever! If you keep playing songs like that, you’ll make a name for yourself.” She exclaimed, giving me a little jab in the shoulder, “Oh and you’ll make twenty bits an hour so, about thirty a night. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Nope, I think I got it all.”
“Alright, well I can get your free meal for you now if you’d like?” She asked, pulling a menu out of nowhere and holding it in her teeth.
“Sure.” I responded before my stomach gave another groan in complaint.
After Sunny sat me down at one of the vacant tables, I skimmed over the menu and decided on a lettuce, tomato, cheese, and tofu sandwich as well as a glass of iced tea. ‘I don’t think I’m going to be getting any more meat anytime soon.’ I thought as I looked over the entire menu more thoroughly and not seeing a single piece of meat anywhere. They’re called ponies so them being herbivores did make sense.
“Here you are, miss, enjoy your meal!” A waiter said, setting my drink and plate of food down on my table.
“Thank you very much.” I responded before my stomach alerted me to its dire needs. And after I finished about half of my meal, a teal blue girl with white hair walked up to my table.
“Hey, that was a pretty nice performance earlier.” She said as she stood on the opposite side of the table.
“Thanks, though it wasn’t that good.” I responded, I never really had liked all the positive attention after I performed. Though, she seemed to be a little surprised about something. “My name is Winter, Winter Ice.” I greeted, holding out a hoof.
“You don’t know my name?” She said, leaving me hanging.
“Umm, no, I don’t think I’ve ever met you before.” I responded, honestly having no idea who she was.
“Well, my name is Fleetfoot.” she said, bumping my hoof. “Does that ring any bells?” She continued to hint that I somehow knew her.
“Sorry, I don’t recognize that name.” I said with a shrug.
“It’s alright, it’s just that everyone here seems to know me and my friend’s names.” She said, looking around the restaurant.
I looked around too and noticed that a lot of eyes were on us for some reason. Especially all the kids. “Well, I’m new here so I don’t know any people.”
“People?” She raised an eyebrow, which made me realize my mistake.
“Ponies, yea, I’m from really far away.” Far being an understatement.
“Hmm, alright, well, you’re going to be performing here again tomorrow night right?”
“Yea, I’ll be here tomorrow.” I answered.
“Good, I’ll bring some of my friends here tomorrow after our show. See ya!” And with a little wave, she walked away and towards the exit.
‘Hmm, I have no clue who that was. Why was she expecting me to know her?’ I thought as I shoveled the last of the sandwich into my mouth with my magical hooves.
After thanking the manager, I was out of the restaurant and on my way, but not before memorizing the surrounding area so I could find it again tomorrow.
I decided to walk around a little more as it was still only around noon to explore more of the city.
After walking about another four to five blocks, I came across what was seemingly an empty lot. But when I got closer, I saw a building floating in the middle of nearly the entire block with rainbows falling off the side like they were liquid, and nearly a constant stream of clouds coming out of the bottom. The entrance was a very grand looking set of double doors with a stairway leading to it from the sidewalk.
I decided to investigate further, so I continued up the stairs with all the other people. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to go in, but a sign that said free tours today about halfway up the stairs eased my mind.
After I reached the top of the stairs and passed through the double doors, I was greeted by a grand looking foyer with a decent amount of ponies in it all lined up in front of what appeared to be the main desk. I joined the line and took in more of the incredible looking architecture.
Directly in the middle hanging from the ceiling was a very large chandelier covered in what looked like gold filled with lit candles. And all around the room were sofas and chairs along with paintings covering the walls. These paintings had everything from clouds to ponies with text under them I couldn’t read. And in the far left and right side of the room were two closed double doors that must have led deeper into the factory. Whatever it was a weather factory made.
My attention was brought to the desk that was now right in front of me.
“Hello miss, are you here to take the free tour?” She asked, to which I responded with a yes.
“Alright, let me put your wristband on.” She said as she picked up an orange wristband which I promptly responded to by placing my left arm on the desk. And she then proceeded to put it around my wrist with the help of her hooves as well as her wings. “There we are,” she said after she finished putting it on.” have a nice day. Next!” And with that as my cue, I made my way out of the line and towards the outside of the room and took a seat while I waited for the tour to begin.