The creature, standing in the doorway, the only doorway in the room, was ugly. It had terribly sharp teeth that glint ominously in the crystal light. Misty could practically see her own, pony reflection in it’s great big, wide emerald green eyes that stared directly into her soul. It’s scales, although not nearly as shiny as the rest of him, were still glinting terribly. The creature, all in all, stood about eye-level with her. Misty, in the moment upon seeing the lizard-like creature, only had a single thought running through her head.
Survive.
“Gaa-aaah!” She screamed, scrambling backwards. Her legs- or, rather, her former legs now hooves, clapped and clopped against the tile (Marble? Crystal?) floor. Her body wasn’t moving in the way she had expected it to, causing her to careen backwards and into the same machine that had just brought her here. Instead of going through the mirror, however, she smashed into it, sending a thousand glass shards raining down on her as the portal fizzled out and exploded. She looked up, breathing heavily as fear struck through her brain, staring at the terrible monster. It waved it’s sharp claws around frantically, brandishing it’s finger weapons.
“Woah! Calm down! I’m not going to hurt you!” The creature responded in perfect english, no doubt some way to lure her into a false sense of security. So, as a response, Misty let out yet another blood-curtling scream, once again trying to get back up. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to get any grip on the slippery ground. And even if she could, something told her that her brain wasn’t exactly wired up for a four-legged pony.
“Spike! Spike, I’m here!” A new, feminine voice shouted from the hall behind the ugly lizard. Misty watched in initial horror as another, taller, and even more purple creature slid around the corner. Her fears, however, were suddenly replaced by absolute confusion as she watched the horned creature spread out her wings to stabilize her sudden appearance. “Oh my gosh- Fluttershy?” The creature sputtered wildly. Misty’s mouth opened as she observed the creature and it’s strangely human face. It looked… almost cute. “Are you- what happened to- did the portal…” It paused, it’s human/cat-like face contorting into one that Misty could easily identify as exaggerated confusion. “Wait… you’re not Fluttershy, are you?” Misty swallowed the spit in her mouth.
“Are you… a pony?” Misty asked in awe, slowly inching her way towards the creature. “A pony with a horn? And wings?” The creature scrunched it’s muzzle up as fear graced her features, an emotion that Misty thought that only she should be experiencing.
“Oh, no-no-no-no! Are you a human?” It asked.
“I don’t know. Are you a pony?” Misty responded snappily, looking down at the lizard creature. “And is that- like, does it bite?”
“Hey! I don’t bite!” The smaller creature yelled. Now that Misty took the time to listen, she could definitely hear the undertones of a masculine voice. And, now that she thought about it, they both sounded… familiar.
“Okay. This is fine. This is fine!” The feminine pony laughed, scratching her mane with her hoof. “This is fine. Okay. I just have to get you home before-” Her eyes looked up and locked with the portal, a million glass shard laying all around on the ground. “Oh. Shoot.” Misty followed her eyes to the portal.
“Ah. Did I do that?”
“Yes! Yes, you did do that!” A strand of hair popped out from her straight mane as she gave another frantic laugh. “This is still fine! There’s just a human in my lab who broke her only way home! Haha!”
“Sorry.” Misty’s breath slowly fell under control as she closed her eyes, taking one big breath. It was now more than apparent that she was in no danger of these strange creatures, and as a matter of fact, they seemed scared, if a little less scared than her, of her. “Alright. I just- I was with Pinkie Pie, and she let me through the portal-”
“That’s scientifically impossible!” The purple mare yelled. “Pinkie would never break a pinkie-promise!”
“Okay, fine!” Misty yelled, throwing both of her hooves up in defense. “I… tricked her into opening the portal, okay? Happy?!”
The mare let out a snort.
“Happy.” She grumbled. “But still… that portal was your only way back, and this is gonna take hours to fix.”
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the distinct sound of a cellphone vibrating. Misty blinked, looking down at her former backpack now saddlebags. They weren’t vibrating, and the sound was further away. Misty watched in complete shock as the purple mare ignited the horn on top of her head with a strange pink glow, and a moment later, a book exploded into existence.
“W-What the-?!” Misty gasped as she watched it float towards the mare, the pages flicking open to a page. The mare’s face scrunched up as her eyes danced from left to right. Eventually, she gave a sigh, writing down a note of some sort with a literal quill.
“Pinkie wanted to make sure you got here okay. She couldn’t follow you because, you know...” She said, gesturing to the portal and closing the book shut with a snap. “Dear Celestia,” Misty cocked her head in curiosity as she heard her principal’s name. “I hope you’re happy. Running away like that? Seriously? I would never do something like that!”
“Twilight, calm down!” The small lizard creature said, laying his claw onto her shoulder. “She’s just a filly. She probably just saw a cool shiny thing and went for it, alright?”
“Hm.” Twilight let out a huff. “Fine. But you’re staying right here until this thing is fixed, you got that?” Twilight pointed a hoof accusatory.Misty gulped, nodding her head vigorously. “Heavens, I hope your parents won’t be worried sick. What if I can’t get you home tonight? What would they think?”
“You are… Twilight?” Misty asked, completely ignoring her question. Twilight’s face went blank for a moment as she paused mentally.
“Uh… yes, I am.” Twilight continued, being completely put off by Misty’s question.
“Like, that Twilight?” She asked, a smile slowly peeking out from behind her lips. “The Twilight that showed up for like, a week, won the crown, and then disappeared? The Twilight that took down Sunset Shimmer? The Twilight who grew wings with magic? That Twilight?” Misty squeed. “And you’re a pony?!”
“You’re a pony, too.” Spike pointed out.
“And you’re a dog!” Misty’s jaw went slack as she let out a gasp. “You’re Spike the dog!”
“I’m a dragon, thank you!” Spike crossed his arms angrily.
“I…” Misty’s face scrunched. “I am a pony!” She yelled in jubilation. Twilight and Spike watched with curiosity, and more importantly awe, as the first-time pony perfectly galloped over to a crystal wall, bare from any books, and stared at her own reflection. “Ohmygosh, I’m a pony!” She looked at her pale yellow fur, and tugged on her light purple mane. “I have wings?!” She turned around, looking at the two protruding appendages. She flexed her back, watching as the two limbs twitched with unfamiliarity. “I have wings!”
Twilight simply rolled her eyes as she approached the shattered mirror. Once again, her horn lit up in a pink aura as the glass shards were collected and formed into a pile, unceremoniously dumped onto the table. She frowned, her eyes glazing over it.
“Great. This is going to take me forever.”
“Why’re you so tall?” Twilight yelped, turning to her side and seeing the filly no less than four inches away from the table she had dumped the glass shards at. Her eyes were somehow larger than normal, looking at Twilight with a foal-like curiosity.
“I don’t-” Twilight cleared her throat. “No more questions, missy. You caused a mess-”
“Or am I just short?” Misty asked, looking around the room. “Maybe I am just short!” She frowned, approaching a chair. “This chair is so tall! Unless it’s a very tall chair made for a very tall pony.” She let out a gasp of realization. “Like you, Twilight!”
“Nope. You’re just short.” Spike elaborated, leaning against the frame of the door leading out. “You’re a filly.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means your young.” Twilight sighed, giving into the filly’s questions. She idly poked and prodded at the pile of glass with her magic, moving the shards around to get a better look at them.
“How young?” Misty asked, pulling up next to Twilight again and planting both of her hooves onto the table. “Because I don’t remember my voice being this high pitched. Do you hear my voice? It’s like aaaa~!” She squealed, making Twilight clamp her hooves to her ears as Misty tried her best to hit the highest note she could. And boy could she.
“I don’t know!” Twilight shouted. “You’re like eight!” She whipped to face the filly. “Now, could you please leave me alone!”
“Eight?! I am not eight!” Misty pouted, looking around the crystal room. “Do you really want me to leave you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Like, really leave you alone?”
“YES!”
“If I leave, are you gonna be mad at me?”
“YES- I mean, no, I won’t!” She groaned loudly, verbally displaying her disatisfaction. “I take it back, I don’t care if you stay here or not! Just go!”
“Okay.” Misty gave a small shrug, and without another word, trotted right out the two crystal doors, only pausing for a moment to give Spike a grateful nod. Spike nodded back, mostly out of instinct, as he watched her dissapear down the hallway.
“You know she’s leaving, right? Like, the castle?” Spike asked.
“Sure.” Twilight sighed out. “It’s Ponyville. The worst thing she can do is meet the Crusaders.”
There was a moment of pause as Twilight let out another sigh, thankful of the sudden absence of an annoying little filly. She looked back down at the pile of glass, her mind finally beginning to come up with a plan to piece the portal back together. Sure, the filly had done a number on it, but with a little magic, nothing is irreparable.
She used her magic to spread the glass shards across the entirety of the table, sorting them from smallest to largest. Then, taking the largest shard of glass, she placed it on the now empty canvas of a mirror’s frame, affixing it with a spell.
This… was going to take a long time.
Misty let out a shocked gasp as she gazed out upon the painting-perfect landscape of Ponyville. The sky was just so… blue! And the grass was almost impossibly green. The clouds looked like perfect cotton candy swirls that looked like she could just go right up to one and eat it. She slowly inched her way out of the castle, looking around as she was immediately bombarded from all angles with every type of stimulation.
This place smelled like Disney World. It looked like a cartoon. It tasted…
Well, now she just had to try it, right? Surely there was some kind of sweets shop down there. And she wasn’t feeling like bending down and taking a chomp of grass, so instead, she happily paraded down the single trotted dirt path and towards the quaint village below her. She turned her head to the side, gaping at the giant crystal labyrinth she had escaped. It was massive, somehow defying all laws of physics as it towered above the landscape. It was also very far away from the main village, taking her more than a few healthy minutes to enter the place fully.
She couldn’t get over just how colorful the place was. The city blocks and parking lots of Canterlot were simply varying colors of gray. This place, however, was crazy. Stalls were made from bright, bright blonde wood of unidentified type, with the brightest dyes imaginable used for their banners, flags, and canopies. Homes were humble abodes with thatch roofs that looked as if they came straight from 16th century Great Britain.
Misty watched a Pegasus fly directly overhead. She was a very light grayish light blue with an eccentric light blue mane. An Earth-pony trotted right by her, and his coat was a bright, bright red with a dusty blonde mane. Everypony looked as if they were pulled right out of a crayola’s box, and the energy she felt in the air was simply electrifying.
And then she stopped.
And took a looong, deeep breath in.
Something smelt gooood.
Somehow, it felt as if Misty could pin-point exactly where the smell was coming much, much easier than her human body ever could. It took her less than two seconds to turn and face a small cafe in the distance. The smell was so strong and vivid that she could practically see the trail leading to the place. With a jolly step, she began marching forwards.
Ponyville didn’t seem to be organized much like a normal town or city. Perhaps this was simply the way all medieval villages were organized. Ponyville was placed in the center of a very large valley- or, at least, that’s what it looked like, as two cardinal directions were taken up by ridiculously high mountains. Ponyville itself was on relatively flat ground, and instead of having streets with homes on each side, Ponyville seemed to take up the philosophy of simply sprinkling homes wherever they needed to go, each home being faintly connected by a trotted path.
Misty used her hoof to push open the door and enter the small cafe. It was empty inside, but the smell still managed to punch her muzzle like a sandbag, forcing her over to the counter. She pushed her muzzle up, smelling the aroma. Then, when she was absolutely sure that this was exactly what she wanted, she banged her hoof against the small bell.
“Coming!” A voice yelled out from the back. Misty sat down with anticipation, feeling her legs pitter patter excitedly on the ground, and strangely enough, also her wings, which were acting on their own accord and twitching. She gave them an angry stare, but no matter how hard she tried to relax, her wings kept vibrating. She stood up, trying to reach a hoof around to grab a wing. Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite get the right angle. So instead, she resorted to trying to bite her wing, but even this proved fruitless as she simply rotated on the spot. She tried to bite them again, and rotated once more. And again. And again. And-
“Are you… okay?” Misty jumped as she heard a familiar voice remark. Misty gave up trying to catch her wing as she whipped her head up towards the counter, an embarrassed blush meeting her muzzle. “You looked like a dog trying to catch it’s own tail. What can I get for you?”
Misty observed the Earth-pony in shock. It was obvious that she was Bon-bon, one of the juniors from her high school back on Earth. Although her coat was a warm yellow, her mane was a complete dead-match to the high-schooler she’s seen before.
“Oh, uh… Hi, Bon-bon.” Misty greeted, making the Bon-bon behind the counter raise her eyebrow suspiciously. “You… are from Canterlot, right?” She asked warily.
“Nope. I was born and raised right here in Ponyville.” She gave a sharp side-eye. “And how do you know my name?”
“I, um…” She shrugged helplessly. “Lucky guess?” Just in their limited interaction, not only here but also on Earth, Misty could already get a sense of how similarily the two Bon-bons talked, and even in this pony form, the way their body language was.
“My name is Bon-bon, though you knew that already, somehow. This is my sweets shop, and I live here-”
“Sweets shop?” Misty blanched, looking around her and at the building they currently resided in. “Are you an adult?” Bon-bon cocked her head to the side, and gave a small, if cautious, nod. “Like, a real adult? Not a junior year teenager, or anything, but like, old?”
“For your information, I’m only twenty-six.” She grumbled, looking around shamefully. “Where are you from, kid? And do you want something to eat, or not?”
“Oh, uh.” Misty suddenly realized that she left her backpack- or, rather now saddlebags, back in the crystal castle. “I don’t have any money. And I’m from Canterlot.”
“Then… why are you even here?” She asked. “Are you lost?”
“Nope! My only way home broke for a little bit, so I’m stuck here, kinda just wandering around.” She clicked her tongue. “Alright. See ya!” She turned around to leave, letting Bon-bon sputter in confusion for a moment.
“W-Wait, hold on!” She shouted out. Misty came to a stop, turning her head back around. “I can give you a free sample. But only one, though!” She quickly darted behind a doorway leading away from the cafe counter and into, presumably, the kitchen. Misty frowned at the sudden silence, simply tapping her hooves in anticipation.
The deadness of silence was too much for her to handle.
“So, where did you go to school?” Misty shouted behind the counter, not caring at her raised voice. There was a murmur and a shuffle from somewhere behind the door, as a muffled voice rang out.
“Ponyville Elementary!” She shouted back.
“So…not Canterlot High?” She asked. There was a sound from somewhere behind the door that sounded like a ‘nah-ah.’ “Huh. Because I met somebody there who looked a lot like you.” She yelled. “Yeah- except she’s taller. And her… fur is like, a pale fleshy color, I guess. And she walks on two legs. And she’s not really a pony. Did I tell you that I’m not a pony? At least, not usually, I guess. I don’t really know if I’m dreaming or not right now. I mean, I don’t think I’m dreaming. But you don’t usually know if you’re dreaming when you are dreaming, right? So I’m kinda hoping this isn’t-”
“You and Pinkie Pie would get along together just fine.” Bon-bon sighed out as she got back, placing a small brownie wrapped in a napkin on the counter. Misty’s eyes flickered to the brownie for a half second before a realization came crashing down onto her.
“You know who Pinkie is?!” She shouted. Bon-bon’s muzzle scrunched up as she took a step away in an attempt to save her ears from the volume.
“Well, yeah? Have you been welcomed by her yet?” Bon-bon asked, to which Misty gave a shake of her head as she tried to balance the brownie on the frog of her hoof. “I’m surprised. You must be really new here. If you want to get it out of the way, then Pinkie is usually around Sugarcube Corner. It’s just to the right, by the townhall-”
“Don’t you mean Sugarcube Cafe?”
A beat.
“No. I definitely mean Sugarcube Corner.”
“Okay… I have to meet Pinkie.” Misty looked down at the brownie in her hoof, and without a second thought, took a large bite out of it. “I’ll see you around, Bon-boooooonnnnnnn~”
Suddenly, it was like every single synapse in her head fired all at once. The flavor of this brownie was out of this world. It was like every nostaligia-ridden memory of her childhood combined into one absolutely fantastic package. In a matter of moments, Misty had tears streaming down either side of her face as she let the brownie dissolve into her tongue, not wanting to swallow it in fear of ruining the flavor explosion she was feeling.
“Are you okay?”
Misty wanted to go limp. Fortunately, some of her brain was still working, keeping her body upright. Unfortunately, her brain wasn’t exactly wired for her wings, causing them to droop all the way to the floor.
“This is the best brownie I’ve ever had.” She said with a sniffle.
“Are they? Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re good, too, but… not that good.”
“I’m gonna cry.” She wiped away her tears, unaware that she was already crying. “Have a good day, Miss Bon-bon! May the heavens- nay, may super heaven bless your soul!”
“I don’t-”
“I’m no christian, but I hope god blesses you. God bless you.”
“Who is god?”
“God bless you.” Misty sniffled one more time, piling the rest of the brownie into her face, and trotting out of the cafe, leaving a thoroughly confused Bon-bon in her wake.
In her limited exposure to Equestria, Misty had already made up her mind: Equestria was the greatest place in the entire universe. The sights, the smells, and even the taste of Equestria blew her mind. Although she still wasn’t entirely fond of being a pony, the fact that this was even happening to her at all made her incredibly excited and happy. Unusually happy.
When was the last time she was happy on Earth?
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she turned towards the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
“Huh. That’s weird.” She said to nopony in particular. “Is that a scooter?”
“Watch out!”
The last thing she saw before blacking out was a scooter and a Red-Ryder wagon.