//------------------------------// // Magic & Mishaps // Story: My Life as a Pony // by _Sugarplum_ //------------------------------// “Wake up!” was heard very loudly in my ear- well, as loud as my fluttermother can muster. I groaned and grumbled. My brain felt like melted butter. “Wha?” I mumbled. I blinked a few times and then squeaked as I regained my senses. “P-please stop” Fluttershy pleaded quietly as she looked around her room with concern and panic. “Stop wh-“ I inquired before looking around. Several times in the bedroom were floating around the room in a loose tornado of magical energy, including my pillow and a very upset-looking bunny rabbit. My eyes crossed as I looked at my horn which was glowing with a cyan aura. I had no idea how to stop it. Hell, I didn’t even know how I’d started! I was confused and… beginning to feel a little woozy, honestly. Plus there was a heat that I felt going through the protrusion in my forehead that was rather uncomfortable. The dizziness and heat continued until the glowing in my horn suddenly ceased. All of the objects that had just been suspended fell to the floor with a simultaneous thud. “Oof… ughhh” I whined, holding my hooves against the sides of my head. “At least that’s over with?” I mumbled as I eyed the mess I’d made. “Y-you had me worried” Fluttershy said as she held me tightly in her grasp. She was busy hugging me as if I were a teddy bear. She petted my head, somewhat roughly. “E-everything’s fine now… right?” She sighed softly. She released me from the hug, fussing quietly she checked me for injuries, eyeing my horn for a few moments she quickly looked into my eyes, her expression shifting to an uneasy one.* “What’s wrong?” I asked in confusion. “Y…your eyes…” she mumbled. “What’s wrong with my eyes?” I asked, now beginning to feel nervous myself. I trembled briefly. “N-nothing!” Fluttershy quickly assured. “There’s nothing wrong with them. It’s just that…. they’ve changed. The color- and they’re… sharper? Like a cat o-or a dragon,” she explained in an unsure tone. She then walked off and grabbed something off of her wardrobe and tucked in into her wing. She sat down in front of me and then moved her wings in a way that was weird to watch. She somehow held the object between her largest feathers as she placed it into her front hooves. The object was a small mirror. I looked at myself and was surprised to see that I had indeed gone through some changes overnight. What the hell? My eyes were no longer baby blue, as I’d seen before. They were a vibrant shade of cyan and possessed slitted pupils. I know I’ve seen eyes like this before… I recall them giving me a fright when I first saw them on the television screen in my original childhood. These were the same eyes as Nightmare Moon. I stared at my reflection for a few seconds but it felt like forever. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. I don’t like this! Why do I have her eyes? I don’t wanna look like a villain! As if my thoughts held power, when I looked at myself again, my eyes began to alter. The eerie 'nightmare' eyes returned to their normal state, as if nothing had happened. I still felt uneasy looking into my own eyes though, as if it was someone else looking back. “God, today’s off to a bad start,” I grumbled as I shook my head. Fluttershy nodded in agreement but then corrected herself. “It isn’t.. all bad,” she stated. “It’s good that it turns out that you can cast magic. Y-you can do things on your own a bit easier now- as long as you don’t have any more…outbursts,” she said as she looked around her semi-destroyed bedroom. She cleared her throat. “I don’t know much about unicorns, but I-I’m fairly sure that foals shouldn’t be having Surges at this age. Hopefully we won’t have further issues though.” She got up and stored her mirror away before she then began to clean up all of the things I’d strewn about in her room. I watched her trying to gather everything up with her hooves. She used her mouth and hooves to straighten her bed linen out. Working without magic seemed so inconvenient. I felt a bit bad for the mare. Pegasi and Earth Ponies sure got the shit end of the stick, huh? I didn’t want to leave all of the work to my caretaker. I glanced at the tossed pillows and I felt a warmth in my head again, although far less intense than during my ‘surge.’ The pillows were cloaked in a cyan aura that, as I now knew, matched my newly tinted irises. The pillows floated onto the bed and were positioned properly. My focus then moved to the assorted knickknacks that I’d knocked around and those were magically put back into their places as well. The feeling in my head subsided once more as the magic ceased to flow. I couldn’t help but crack a smile. I tapped my front legs against the floor and I giggled with childish glee. “I can do magic!” I said with a grin. Today was shaping out to be quite eventful. Starting off with a nightmare and a magic tornado had me more wide awake than any coffee would. I frowned as I paced in the bedroom, perplexed by what it all meant. That bizarre and vivid dream was definitely meaningful. Luna controls dreams right? But… that wasn’t her, in the dream. No, I’d been visited by her evil counterpart, who apparently needed me for something. The longer I thought about it, the more questions that swirled in my brain. How was I supposed to… free her? Why would I even set a corrupt alicorn free, if I even can? Why did she keep referring to me as star child? What was that Matron thing that apparently gave me its breath? Ugh… I need to stop thinking about it. It’s giving me such a headache. Implications of visions regarding imprisoned darkness-bringers aside, I was glad that I was capable of using magic now. Using my magic was great. I didn’t feel as helpless as I did before and I was simply living life. Life was starting to feel good. Hopefully, things could stay ‘good.’ When I had finished metaphorically burrowing a hole through the floor with my pacing, I went downstairs. I sighed as I shivered my body briefly before stretching. I then walked into the kitchen. Fluttershy was whistling a tune while she was mixing a bowl of pancake batter. Some little birds chirped on the windowsill as sunlight danced off of her fur. She’s like a Disney princess. It’s so cute. Her eyes left the bowl and cut towards me. Her whistling stopped and she smiled softly. “Oh, hi,” she said. “I thought you wanted some more time alone. I was going to call for you after I’d finished making breakfast but this is fine too.” I eyed the bowl and then looked back at her. “Can I help?” I asked excitedly. She tensed briefly and hesitated. “Hmm… I don’t know,” she said. My face must’ve betrayed my attempt to not seem disappointed because she quickly explained herself. “I-I just meant that I don’t want you to, um, overdo things. It’s great that you can use your magic now, but you should go easy on it or you might get Mana Fatigue,” she gently fussed. “Whuzat?” I blurted out with a curious raise of an eyebrow. “Oh you… probably don’t know, if you’ve never used your abilities before,” Fluttershy mumbled, as if reprimanding herself for assuming I’d know of this apparent affliction. “W-when colts are young….you have to remember to take lots of breaks or else you’ll end up hurting yourself.” I looked up at my caretaker with mild skepticism. I glanced at my horn for a second, grumpy at being told not to use it. I hadn’t done anything extraordinary- aside from that surge but that was totally involuntary. I just discovered how to be more useful and now I have to pace myself? I huffed and grumbled as I found myself pouting at the pegasus. “I-It’s not just-… because you’re a unicorn,” Fluttershy said. She cleared her throat. “Earth pony colts get tired easily too,” she assured, “even… pegasus colts can risk their wings giving out… I-it’s just how it is-“ she explained. She mumbled something under her breath, probably thinking I couldn’t hear it. “I hated it when I was little too.” She then cleared her throat and put the bowl down on the counter and then walked over to me. She hugged me and nuzzled my head. “I just want you to be careful and comfortable,” she said before letting me go. She giggled softly. “How about I put some extra flowers in your hay cakes? Doesn’t that sound yummy?” I frowned and nearly swore but caught myself, “Fu-… Ahem. Um, no, I… don’t like flowers actually,” I said. “…Hay either but, ugh, it seems I can’t avoid that-“ I grumbled. I paused briefly and then looked a bit hopeful. “Do you have any fruit though? Like blueberries or strawberries?” I asked. What kind of pony doesn’t eat hay? Fluttershy hesitated for a second but then nodded her head. “I’ll put in plenty of blueberries then,” she said. She then motioned with her hoof for me to leave. “Go wait in the living room, please? I’ll let you know when everything’s done.” After being banished to the living room, I found myself feeling bored. I missed the wonders of technology, which I used to take for granted. Woe is me, trapped in a world without my beloved electronic time-killers. I missed my phone…television, video games- everything. I whined quietly, fussing at the lack of things to do. How do ponies spend their down time? While I was in the middle of a silent tantrum, my ears twitched as I heard the flapping of feathers outside. I climbed off of the couch and craned my head, twitching an ear at the noise. It was something large flying outside and was approaching somewhat fast. My thoughts were interrupted by the ‘something’ crashing aside the outside of the front door with a sudden thud. “Ow…” the voice outside mumbled, confirming that the source of all that noise had apparently been a pegasus pony. “I just don’t know what went wrong,” she said and my eyes lit up. That phrase was certainly familiar. Then there was a knocking upon the door. I quickly trotted to the door and flung it open with my magic. Apparently I had been too enthusiastic because as soon as I’d done this, into the living room tumbled a gray-coated pegasus with blonde hair. Discarded feathers and a few letters scattered around her. Fluttershy poked her head into the room. “What was all that- Oh goodness! Ditzy!” She squeaked. She flew over and helped the other pegasus up and onto her feet. “Heh, good morning, Fluttershy!” said the gray mare. She nuzzled my caretaker’s face, causing a little flush in her cheeks. I giggled quietly and then saw that googly eyed mare directly her gaze at me. “Oh hello!” she said happily. She grabbed my hoof and shook it. I got a good look at her. Her gray fur was dappled with lighter patches and she wore saddlebags filled to the brim with envelopes. “I’m Ditzy Doo, and who’re you?” She inquired before snickering. “Heh, that rhymed.” She looked over at Fluttershy. “Hey I thought you couldn’t have kids?” the mail-mare said curiously and rather bluntly. Fluttershy’s brow twitched and she puffed her chest for a moment. “Ditzy.” she huffed. She groaned and sighed. “Stardust isn’t… biologically mine. I’m fostering him,” she corrected. “Ohhhh” replied Derpy- I mean, Ditzy Doo. “Okay. I was just confused cuz I know y’don’t have a herd or anything. But hey, congrats” she said as she suddenly hugged me like a teddy bear. She kept looking at Fluttershy. “Either way, you’re still a mommy. Just like me!” She squished me and giggled. “He’s even a unicorn, just like my little Dinky,” she cooed while flapping her wings enthusiastically. “Y-yes, yes, he is,” Fluttershy said as she gently took me out of Ditzy’s grasp. She sat me down on the floor gently and then turned back to the other mare. “Now, um, can you tell me why you came here? Do I have mail?” She asked, gesturing at the saddlebags on the gray gal’s back. “Oh right! Yes!” She said, reaching into the bag with her mouth and pulling out a bright blue envelope. “Hrr y’ go” she mumbled as she held the letter in her teeth. Fluttershy took the envelope with her own mouth and sat down on her haunches. She held the letter in place with her hooves as she ripped it open. Inside was a card, which she then removed. A small explosion of glitter erupted from the card once opened. The card read: ~~~ You’re invited! Come to Sugarcube Corner, this afternoon to welcome the newest little face to Ponyville! ~~~ The card was signed with a pastel pink hoof print. I looked at the card and then at my horse mom. “G-guess we’re going to a party then?” Fluttershy nodded her head. “It seems so. I’m sure it’ll be nice,” she said. “Oh, thank you by the way, Ditzy.” “No problem, Fluttershy! I’ll be going back to the post office now. Heh, I’ve been flying around all morning giving out invites. I’m gonna clock out and take a nap,” Ditzy said. She looked at me and waved a hoof. “Buh-bye. My little muffin, Dinky, will probably be at the party later. You two can be friends!” The derpy pegasus then flew out of the house and into the sky. Her flight pattern was kinda cork-screwy but otherwise she seemed perfectly fine. While I watched Ditzy Doo zig-zag through the sky, a bad smell filled my nose. “Ew, what’s burning?” I mumbled as I fanned the air in front of me. Fluttershy sniffed the air and then looked towards the kitchen. A cartoonish amount of smoke billowed out of the doorway. She squeaked and flew back into the kitchen. “The haycakes!”