//------------------------------// // Chapter 1. First Contact (edit 10/30/13) // Story: Space Ponies // by Boss_Hoss1 //------------------------------// Space Ponies By Boss Hoss Chapter 1, First Contact ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "...It goes a little something like this; *CLICK* With am irritated sigh, Scott turned off the MP3 track from Sublime, as it started sounding a little too personal now in these bleak times. The heavyset, brown haired human set the laptop aside and tried to relax on a day off from a grueling dead end burgershack job. It wouldn’t be so bad if he had not had a far better job that had paid three times as much. Unfortunately, his beginner-level tech support job had gone to distant shores before he could sign up for the in-house programming classes. At least that company was losing sales disastrously from the now-horrible level of support. "Insert cruel chuckle of irony...” This world might still be bearable for someone of his kind, a Furry Fan, more specifically an Equine Fur and Brony, if he could afford to go to a convention. ANY convention! -To be with distant friends and people generally as weird as he was who understood him. No, not this year, not this economy, and especially this burgershack with new managers worse than any customer he ever dealt with driving sales down. Frowning, Scott twirled his finger in the air, speaking in a sarcastic monotone "If it weren’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all. Wheee..." At least he still had his new Brony friends online... and the ponies. You could name mainly equine themed shows on one hand, and all were worthy of viewing in his eyes, but this one... this was special! Not only did he instantly fall in love with it, the overwhelming public response has been strange but heartwarming to a lonely equine-in-spirit. Happily, it also brought him so many new friends online, doubling the number of online friends. Feeling a little better now, he smiled and turned the TV on with the remote, cuing up one of the MLP-FiM episodes recorded on DVR at random. He didn’t mind which one came up, he liked them all. As he watched, he pulled over a sketch book and worked some more on a MLP version of his Equine fursona to use as an avatar on the pony sites. Well, since he occasionally magically changed his fursona to a unicorn or pegasus in-game in furry Role Play chats... Maybe a dedicated unicorn MLP pony? Yeah! That should help jazz up his RPs this week as everyone awaited the premiere of Season 2 this weekend! Online debate on the nature and role of the mysterious dragon creature in Canterlot stained glass windows, part of a handful recently revealed in preview screencaps, was growing to a fever pitch. The latest word was it was to be voiced by John DeLancy As he watched the random episode, he sketched out a pony stallion until he felt the details from his furry horse avatar were correctly modified to pony form. He then went over the lines with a brush pen. For a moment, he considered adding glasses to make it more like his human self, but shook his head. 'I hate wearing glasses, and my online avatar shouldn’t have to have them.' Satisfied at last, he added color with colored pencil and markers, blending the colors together with a marker filled with acetone. Scott lifted the sketchbook to the light and smiled, examining the handsome, bay colored unicorn stallion on the page. His mental self-image now had a new option to show off to his Furends and Broneys. "Perfect! Ready for scanning!" As he worked to hook up the scanner, he gradually became aware of a strange charge in the air. Something really weird feeling, something that was like static electricity, but... not at the same time. His hair stood up on end and papers around the room rustled as the charge increased. Just then, Scott noticed the 32” TV screen had frozen. Pinkie's head edged in from one side, and peered at him, her head warping like the screen was a fish-eye lens. The toony pink mare put her hooves around her eyes to shade them, as if she were looking through a window from outside. Pinkie's face suddenly lit up wth a smile "AHA! I finally found one of you sneaky sneakertons! Wait RIGHT there!" She reached down below the edge of the screen for something, tugged, then the surface of the screen instantly snapped up out of sight like a spring loaded roll-up window blind, and sounded just like one too with a rapid slap-slap-slap sound. The pull string and ring finally swung around wildly into view from the top of the... "window" as Pinkie climbed through, humming pleasantly. Too stunned and shaky to stand up, Scott stared in awe as she took on a glossy solidity, like the 3-D renderings of her on deviantArt and Equestria Daily. Grinning impossibly, she looked at herself and ooohed. "Wooo! Shiny!" Pinkie then clopped over and looked out the window "Totally awesome! You Space Ponies aren't in space after all, just another world…" Finally, she giggled and turned around to face the dazed human, standing up on her hind legs. "And you aren't ponies either. Are you a dragon like Spike? You got hands like he does... Well, silly-willy? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself? I know you know who I am since you are one of the sillies watching me and my friends." *ahem* Scott cleared his throat sheepishly and blushed as he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, naturally shaggy like a pony mane. It did not help his composure that Pinkie was in fact anatomically correct when not seen through the diligently scrubbed family-friendly filter of HUB television, and had unknowingly flashed him stepping over the edge of the screen. "Ah, yeah.... I…I'm a human, and since I'm one of those that watch you, I'm called a Brony." He shook his head "Sorry I haven’t introduced myself yet, Pinkie. Honestly, I'm just trying to decide if I'm dreaming or..." He suddenly thought of a reference she might get without saying the obvious "...Having a Party of One..." Her eyes went wide in understanding "Ohhhh... No friends and that you might be going...?" Sheepishly, the stallion-in-spirit nodded "No friends or parents within easy travel. I don’t think I'll get to see them at all this year. My other prospects and worries are bleak and that's a lot of reason to go ...y'know." Belatedly, he extended a hand, which she put a hoof in and shook. Her hoof felt both warm and almost hard at the same time. He could not help but sniff at the scents wafting over him from so close. 'Oh... wow! She smells like bubblegum... Cotton candy, yeah, and cake frosting! All at once! No wonder Sugarcube Corner is so popular! She's a walking billboard for the nose!' Before Pinkie could prod him on it after such a long moment of hand/hoof-shaking, he spoke "I'm Scott, and I'm Skybright on the internet." At her puzzled look, he pointed at his laptop. "Over there, that's a computer. -Instant communication everywhere in the world. The bad thing is, it means your friends are too far away to meet you easily, if ever." Pinkie gasped dramatically, hopping up into the air and hovering for a moment before coming back down. "Oh! That's TERRIBLE! You must be frownyface sad a lot! When was your last party?" Scott sighed "Almost a year ago, when I went to meet many of my friends several hundred miles from here at a convention, The Memphis Furmeet." Her pupils dilated in shock, Pinkie gasped and squeaked in horror. Her cotton candy hair was frantically bobbing with her head as she shook it. "No! Really? Not even a Birthday party since then?" Sighing heavily, he quietly replied and looked down to the floor "...No..." Pinkie suddenly got a determined look on her face and patted him on the head "Don’t you worry, "Auntie Pinkie" will help you! There must be something... OH! I have an idea!" Background music suddenly started playing out of thin air as she started dancing and began to sing, props appearing out of thin air to match her words and actions; “You should listen to your friend Pinkie, In Parties I have a degree. Come to my parties, and you will see, Why they are special to me. (Ooh, here comes the chourus…) When meanies make you want to scream, When life makes you want to Shouuut, Come to my parties and let it all ouuuut! (Yes you should…) Come on, and lose that sad, sad, pouuuut! With Pinkie’s help, you will work it ouuuut! Come to my parties, and We’ll chill ouuut! (It’s all good…) Come on to my parties and you will see You can be happy, just like Pinkie, Ponyville is the capitol of all parties, For it is the home of little ol’ me, Suddenly Pinkie was dressed as a torch singer, lounging on a piano and lifting his chin with her hoof. (Here comes the big finish) Your days are so dark and lonely You tell me you feel sad But Pinkie will be there, to show you it really isn't bad. Come and smile for me, lose that Pouuut! My Parties will make you Shouuut! Beam for me and things will work Ouuut! (I guarantee) C’mon and sing with me, shout it Ouuut! You’ll Smile! Sing, Dance and shouuut! Come with me for the biggest Blow out! (Oooh Firework time!) It’s Party Tiiime! It’s Party Tiiime! LETS PARRR-TAY! Pinkie finished on her knees with a florish before him as stage fireworks went off around her. She looked up at him with a silly grin, her narrow chest heaving, and the music suddenly stopped. A stunned look around showed all the props had vanished as mysteriously as they appeared, but he now had a smile a crowbar could not remove. Satisfied with her performance in making him smile, she put on another amazing grin that defied the laws of physics and pulled on his hand with both hooves. "I’m glad you like the song, it’s a work in progress. When I’m done, it should really bring a smile to everypony! Sooo... Wanna' visit Ponyville? There’s LOTS of friends there! I Pinkie Promise you'll get the party of your life!" Her hooves felt like they were gripping him without fingers, like a telekenetic field around them. A supposed "animator shortcut" revealed to be true. At her pull, Scott stood up and grinned happily, finding she was closer to human female size when she was standing upright. "Oh I Want! I WANT! Please! Let me grab some things first..." Working quickly, he wrote a quick note that he would be away for a bit in case anyone came to check on him and left it by the TV. Scott then grabbed his laptop, sketchbooks, and assorted useful small things that would fit in his laptop backpack -all just in case. After a last look around, he finally put his hand in her hoof and smiled at her eagerly. "I'm ready." Pinkie flashed a smile in return and giggled "Allrightie then, let’s go!" After pulling him through the window, she pulled the screen back down and tied a pink ribbon to the pull string. Dazzled, he could not quite grasp what he was seeing. His eyes could not really lock on anything out here without hurting both his eyes and his brain. Was this... this... whatever-this-was typical of what's beyond the borders of reality? But, dazzled and stunned or not, he followed when the pink pony tugged on him. "This way, come on." Instantly, things snapped into focus around him like he just stepped through a door... -Or from off-screen? Seemingly unaffected by the chaos they had just walked through, Pinkie bounced around him in a circle with her usual energy. "Welcome to Ponyville!" Awed, Scott stared around in wonder, his mouth hanging open as he saw the pastel colored old-European style timbered buildings with thatched roofs ahead and to his right. Lush, green pastures and trees whose leaves were starting to change to autumn colors were on his left. Completing the pastoral scene, a small stream wound through it all, with at least one small white wooden bridge crossing it before it curved out of sight around the village. Much to his relief, he noted he was apparently at the edge of town. -Which was good since he didn’t want the three flower ponies fainting in terror at his appearance. As he looked around in sheer wonder, his mind reveled in seeing it looked just as it appeared in the show, but he could touch it, smell it, FEEL it. Scott laughed in joy as the cool breeze ruffled his hair and clothing. The colors were so brilliant compared to Earth, the grass rustled underfoot like the real thing but looked hand drawn. Speaking of which, even he looked like a colorful drawing of himself when he looked at his hands and down his front. As he bent and ran his now flash animated-appearing fingers through the grass, he suddenly felt dizzy and sat down heavily. "Ulp, I don’t feel so good..." Pinkie gasped and stopped in mid-bounce, hanging in mid-air with a completely astonished look as Scott's clothing suddenly got tight. His fingers took on a glossy, nail-like sheen, then fused into a single dark mass as his face pushed outward, knocking his wire-rimmed glasses off. All this a moment before his clothing burst from the pressure of his transforming body. The waist and thighs of his jeans tore almost explosively. Fortunately saving him from more than a brief moment of pain as his thighs and rump compacted together into flanks squeezed into a space they were never meant to fit. Lower down, his shoes had fared better, kicked off in his panicked thrashing. Even so, his socks had shredded, caught on heels turned into MLP-style angular hocks. The hard part was now his Tee-shirt with a bold horse design on it; The sleeves were now in the wrong place for a vaguely equine body, stretching the material across the back and causing a huge tear from the neck hole to most of the way down his back, and ripping the sleeves away from the badly stretched arm holes. With the rapid transformation complete, Scott collapsed, sore and very disoriented. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) he could not have been out of it for very long. Pinkie roused him from his daze with a sudden shake of his head in her hooves like he was a snowglobe, and peered into his face from up close. Scott's dizzy mind oddly wondered why he heard a cowbell when she shook him. Seeing he was awake, she let his head flop back to the soft grass. Pinkie was by now completely fired up by what she had just seen and sat astride his fuzzy chest, babbling at him a mile a minute in shocked excitement. "Wow! I totally did not see that coming! Did you see that coming? Huh? Huh? Huh? I seriously bet you didn’t! When My Pinkie sense told me today was another Doozy... You know what those are right? I mean you watch us all the time. Oh, of course you do! Anyway, I totally thought the Doozy would be something else! *gasp* I mean really..." Scott gasped as he came back to full awareness and felt his longer, narrow-muzzled face with his new forehooves... "Sweet Mother Epona..." (insert My Little Pony Season 2 opening title sequence here... ) '(_)' '(_)' '(_)' '(_)' -Author's Note- Well, season 3 is here and while I still don't have awesome cover art yet. I'd better post this and hope it stays relevant and pray I wont need to add an AU tag... Special thanks to the valiant example of starshine_dash for giving me the courage to post this here. When I started writing this before Season 2 began, all for my own amusement from the viewpoint of the fandom Bronykind itself grew around like a pearl, I had not intended it to become a shipfic. -Not since hiding from the Brony viewers until the show had run it's course and pursuing cast members during the seasons are mutually exclusive activities. Suddenly, The Royal Wedding came, and when I next started writing, suddenly whole chapters came pouring out that I had to scratch my head over "Wait, where did this come from?" -even reaching back through previous chapters. I'll just chalk it up to "Luna and Celestia are pleased with my efforts!" and accept the extra challenge of My little pony Ninja-ing his way through the 2nd season onward. I will try to post once a week once I am satisfied a chapter is tweaked to perfection. ~Semper Pellus!~ -Boss Hoss