//------------------------------// // 2. Ponies help ponies // Story: Personal Small Horse // by RambleGaze //------------------------------// "...Hello? Buddy?" The unicorn, Ramble Gaze, stared back at Wind Rusher's blank expression. "Y'alright?" Wind was pretty far from alright, the past day considering. But he had to press on. "I- how this did- you're a unicorn." Ramble Gaze tilted her head. "Yes. And you're a pegasus. These are the facts." She trotted over to a nearby desk and clambered up a rusty swivel chair. "Gosh, you are confused, huh? Probably have questions. Well, ask away." The so called pegasus took a deep breath. "Why am I a horse? Why are you a horse? What's going on and how did this happen?!" Ramble Gaze blinked. "Ok first off, we are not horses, we are ponies. Don't ever call me a horse, it's rude. As for how, could be a lot of things. Tell me, did you have a near death experience in the past few days?" "No." "see or touch any mysterious, pony-related objects?" "No." "drink any pink, fluorescent liquids?" "What? No." "Did you turn 25 recently?" "I'm 31." "Mhm, sure, sure. Have you taken any pills that smelt like pasta sauce?" "Wait, did YOU do any of that?" "Well, I did the last one, but that's just cause I dropped my pills in my dinner last night." Wind Rusher lifted an eyebrow. "What?" Ramble leaned forward onto the desk. "Oh, no, that sounded worse than it is. Don't worry, they're medical pills. A doctor gave them to me. Anyway, if it wasn't any of that, it was probably Discord." "Discord?" Wind's faith in this unicorn was steadily dropping. "The concept of people disagreeing did this to me?" Ramble Gaze laughed. "No no, the other discord. Y'know? Deer leg, antlers... I think a dragon tail?" "Everything you're saying is pure nonsense." The pegasus retorted. Ramble Gasped. "Celestia's mane you haven't seen it." "Seen what?" Wind shot back. "The show! How does some- you've gotta- Okay so basically there's a series of children's toys that look like ponies and they made it into a tv show then it was rebooted a bunch of times and it became really popular with a whole bunch of people and that's what we are now." Wind could feel a migraine coming on. He sat back on his haunches and rubbed his forehead with a front hoof. "Sorry, I- You're saying i've turned into a character from a children's show?" "Well, not quite." Ramble Gaze hopped of the chair and approached her fellow pony. "More like an original character designed to live in the universe of a really good children's show." She looked Wind Rusher over. "Maybe a background pony. Either or, let's get galloping! We've got a new friend to make!" The gray pegasus shot her an incredulous look. "Are you going to say anything that doesn't bring up about eight more questions?" he queried. "Probably not for a while, no." Ramble Gaze admitted. "I found you because I can sense other ponies with my magic, and there's another pony in Manhattan! We have to find them so we can all get somewhere, where it's safe for us!" Wind just stared at her, unblinking. "You. Have magic?" Ramble groaned. "Right, I can see you need a crash course. Walk and talk with me." She cleared her throat as the pair trotted to the door. "So, Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..." The tunnel was cacophonous. All Wind could hear was the teeth-grinding, bone-shaking screech of metal on metal as the train rushed past and snaked into the darkness, leaving nothing but the echoing, rhythmic clunking of the tracks, and the ringing in his ears. "...And I didn't watch for a bit after that, cause it felt especially shark-jumpy, even more so compared to the finale that came before it, like I would have given it one more season and ended it after that, but they just kept going. It's not hard, really! Like, these are the characters I watch for, and to push them to the sidelines just to-" Ramble Gaze halted, walked backwards for a few steps, then spun to face Wind Rusher. "We're here. Alright pal, there could be anything up there waiting for us. All likelihood, we'll have to fight our way to that pony. So feel free to try any of the pegasus abilities I told you about." The Stallion frowned sheepishly. "Yes, well, the thing about that... I may have stopped listening after you said the oldest horse raises the sun." Ramble Gaze let loose an angry sigh. "Pony. The oldest of the two pony sisters raises the sun. No horses. Just- come on." It took a little climbing and a lot of falling, but soon the pair made it to the surface. Once they did, they found themselves in a cold, decaying alley. To one side, almost unseeable against the bricks, one wooden door was installed next to a single button intercom. "Our new best friend's in there." Ramble trotted up and, lifting her hoof, pressed the button. "Look, Whatever this place is, I doubt they'll just let two horses walk in." Wind tried to advise. The Unicorn swiveled her head back. "PONY! I don't wanna say it again, so listen! I am not, you are not, them in there is not, NOPONY IS A-" The intercom buzzed. "Subway Pollutant Neutralisation Team, state your business." "-HORSE!" The ponies froze. Ramble cleared her throat and pressed the button again. "Um, yes, this is Doctor Horse. With a C. I've been sent to examine the creature you're holding." She let the button go and looked to her companion. "Ok they won't let us in, let's find a window." A buzzer sounded as the door unlocked. "Yeah, nevermind. Charge!" Before he could think about the instruction, Rusher was Galloping past the reception desk and into a maze of cold concrete hallways. He quickly caught up with Ramble, who glanced at him and snickered. "Hey, I just thought of the funniest thing." "Freeze!" Within seconds, the ponies were swamped with a myriad of soldiers. All pointing guns at the duo. All under the command of one man standing at the front. He was tall, pale, thin and angular as a razor. Dressed in a dark blue, almost black suit and tie, his short brown hair slicked back and shining. He stared at the Equine creatures with sunken, unreadable eyes. "Dr. Horce, I imagine." He spoke, his voice cold and deep. Ramble Gaze suppressed a laugh. "Only partially. You see, I'm not a real doctor. But I am a real horse!" She threw her head back and cackled, ceasing only when she noticed Wind's bemused expression. "C'mon, you set me up for that." The suited man cleared his throat. Two of the soldiers grabbed Wind and Ramble, lifting them until they were at eye level with the commander. "Where did you come from?" Wind cleared his throat, and attempted an air of professionalism. "I... we were humans. I turned into this yesterday." The man's expression did not change. "Um, may I ask who you are?" The man smiled for a second, or maybe it was a facial twitch. "Tyler Colburn. Director of the Super-Natural Preclusion Troop." Ramble spoke up again. "Supernatural? like, dragons and manticores, they're real?" She looked up, eyes pinpricks of fear. "No," Colburn replied. "This organization formed a month ago, when a member of the CIA human resource team became... one of you. We've been experimenting on it ever since." Colburn directed his stare to the two soldiers. "Find a cage for these animals." The two ponies were painfully and unceremoniously tossed into an empty metal room. As they got back onto their hooves the door slid shut with a ringing slam. Wind Rusher exhaled. "This is good, actually." he said to himself. "They can find a cure. I'll bounce right back." "Sorry bestie, but I doubt that." Ramble Gaze countered, shooting a glance to the door. "You heard bony-face back there. We're up for dissection. We're not ponies, we're itses. Good news is, that other pony's close, so we just have to get out, find them, and... get out again." thump. Wind scowled at the mare. "Look," He started, "Thank you for your help, but I think I'll stay. I'm going to let these guys turn me human again, and get back to my life. And I'd advise you to do the same." thump. Ramble turned around, trotting up to confront the stallion. "Do you know what preclusion means, smartypants? They're not just gonna let us trot out of here, human or not. This is the government! either they'll lock us up, or put our brains in jars and sell our manes as designer-" thump. thump. thump. thump. thump. The two ponies ended their argument, instead watching the wall on their left, where the thumps were coming from. A small dent soon formed, bulging into the room before tearing off, giving way to the being that broke the wall. The third pony. She was another mare, about the same height as wind, but skinnier than either him or Ramble. Also unlike the other two, this new pony lacked either wings or a horn. Her coat was almost vine green, reflecting vividly across their steel prison. Her mane was cut into a straight bob, black save for a few thin streaks of cyan-blue. This new pony stared at the other two with a shocked expression, her eyes starting to water. "I thought I was the only one..." She whimpered, falling to the floor and sobbing. "I thought I was the only one!" "Oh gosh. Hey, it's ok, we're here. It's alright." Ramble trotted over and threw her forelegs over the green mare, in some pony approximation of a hug. "You're not alone anymore." As Ramble held the weeping pony, Wind was left watching in a state of monumental awkwardness. He stood there a moment, then reluctantly approached when Ramble waved him over. "We'll be friends with you! I'm Ramble Gaze, and this is..." She broke off the sentence, and looked to the pegasus. "I'm so sorry, I forgot your name." "Oh." He sat down with his fellow ponies. "I'm... I've been calling myself Wind Rusher. Are- are you okay?" The new pony got to her hooves. "I'm Riverdeep. I- These people- You can't stay here." She looked at Wind, her eyes big and desperate. "I heard what you said. They won't turn you back. They won't." Her vision snapped to Ramble. "You said we're ponies? Like from the show?" "HAH! Yes!" The Purple mare jumped and bucked her back legs. "Wind didn't know! I spent like 15 minutes explaining the whole-" She cut herself off, her smile growing alarmingly wide. "I just remembered I'm a unicorn. I can get us out of here!" River smiled in hope, while the stallion looked confused. "How can you do that?" "You'd know if you paid attention," Ramble shot back. "Now get close to me. C'mon, scooch up!" Wind and River cautiously obliged, as Ramble began chanting under her breath. Her horn started to glow as she pulled her acquaintances closer, until the were squished cheek to cheek. "How can she do that?" Wind questioned his impromptu snuggle partner. River chuckled. "Well, She has magic, so she's trying to-" The trio vanished in a flash of turquoise light.