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// Chapter 1 
// Story: Around New York in 10 seconds flat 
// by SoMuchRain 
//------------------------------//

It’s like, three in the morning. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m outside in a damn tent in the middle of a forest eight hundred miles from my house. I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep. No matter how hard I try, I can’t sleep. It’s too loud, everyone in my all girl tent, except the kids, are up chatting and giggling. Normally, I would be too. But I’m just so damn TIRED! I haven’t slept in a week. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I’m hungry. It feels like someone is putting a vacuum on full force inside of my stomach. Okay, I’m talking too much about sleep and hunger. I’m going to go insane if I keep thinking about it. So I’ll take a walk.
I manage to sneak out of the tent without anyone noticing. Then I sneak a few fruit bars and a Mountain Dew out of the cooler and head down to the lake. I don’t even know why I’m walking, I could fly. But I’m so tired and out of it that I’ll probably crash anyway. Then I’ll be tired, hungry, in the middle of a forest eight hundred miles from my house, and quite possibly have some broken bones. And that would just make this camping trip suck even more than it does now. Only god knows what compelled Celestia to do this. It pisses me off.
After walking through a large field while trying to open my fruit bar with as little noise as possible, I arrive at the lake. Holding my fruit bar in my mouth, I pop open my soda. It’s clear tonight, not a single cloud in the sky. The moon is full and the stars stretch out in all directions as far as I can see. The quiet trickling of the lake and the rush of the small waterfall several miles away seem to blend in a strange, mystifying harmony. I watch the sky for shooting stars as I eat my food, the black hole in my stomach starts to ease with each bite. I check my watch to find it’s now four in the morning. If anyone, Pinkie has probably already figured out I’m gone and the rest of the group have started to look for me. But I want to be alone right now, so I shove the fruit bar wrappers in my jacket pockets and head over to the waterfall.
It’s not as far away as I think; it only takes me a half an hour to reach it. I discover that I can climb to the top. The water is extremely shallow here, only a few inches deep. I decide to walk upstream, see how far I can go before I’m in danger of plunging into extremely deep water and drowning. Even though we’re humans now, we still started as ponies, and still don’t know how to swim. Its eight thirty when I decide to turn back, the sun has started to rise. From up here I can see the pinkish glow around the horizon and a whitish ball above it. The stars are starting to fade away. I turn and see our campsite. I’m so far away and high up that they can’t see me, but I can see them. They’re running around the campsite like chickens with their heads cut off, I can faintly hear them calling out what sounds like Rainbow Dash, but I can’t really tell since they’re so far away. It’s just as I figured. Someone, probably Pinkie or Twilight, noticed I was gone and now everyone was searching franticly for me. I briefly think of flying home for a few days and then coming back just to scare them, but my element tugs at my conscious, telling me that I should just go back to the campsite.
But then I think, maybe, just this once, I won’t listen. Just this once, I’ll be out of my element. Just this once, I’ll let loose. And not loose like I already am, loose like what I want to be, but can’t. I’ll do what I’ve wanted to do since we got here, see the human world. With one final look at the campsite, I fly off, prepared for anything in my way. But then I remember, everyone will notice me. Dammit, I forgot about that. I’m going to need some magic. But I can’t ask Rarity, so that means I’ll have to ask...dammit. I know Twilight isn’t good at keeping secrets, but she’s the only one who will understand.
I fly back to the waterfall and watch as everyone decides to split up. As I had hoped, Twilight stays at the campsite. Hiding on a cloud, I slowly make my way towards her. She sees me and starts to call out, but I put a hand over her mouth and drag her into the tent like some kind of 70’s horror movie.
“Rainbow Dash!” She shouts. “What are you doing?”
“Shut up.” I say. “Listen, I had an idea up on top of that water fall. You know we’re not in the human world for long, so before we leave I want to see it. All of it. Do you understand?”
She nods with a confused, but understanding look on her face. There was no need to say that I wanted to go alone, we’ve known each other since a few years ago so she knew right off the bat.
“But, why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t want anyone to notice me. So I need you to make me look human. You know normal looking hair and eyes, no wings.”
She nods again.
“I could try, but I’m not sure if it will work. It’s a very advanced spell.”
“Just do your best.”
“Okay, here goes.”
She brings out her wand and points it towards me. She closes her eyes and concentrates hard. I begin to feel a warm, trickley sensation all over my body. My wings begin to shrink into nothing, my hair bubbles into a light brown from my usual namesake colors. I close my eyes to let the rest of the changes happen, my boobs grow at least one size bigger, my feet shrink three sizes, my muscles disappear under my skin. Finally, it’s over.
“Quick!” I say. “Give me a mirror!”
Twilight rummages through Rartiy’s bag and manages to find a picture frame size mirror. I hold it up to my face to see what I look like. My hair is fully light brown, my eyes are hazel, I even have a gap tooth to top it all off.
“Twilight this looks great!” I give her a huge hug. “Thank you!”
Twilight returns the hug.
“You’re welcome. It will last until I change you back, which can be anytime.”
After some thought she begins to make copies of some of the other’s clothes. I shove them all in an empty bag and we both head down to the train station. I buy a ticket to New York City. We wait five hours for the train to come, when it does, we get up to meet it. Before I get on, I give her another hug.
“Promise you’ll keep this a secret.” I say.
She returns the hug.
“I promise.”
We squeeze each other a bit tighter.
“Be careful out there.” She says.
“I will.”
I then get on the train, and officially begin my journey, prepared for anything in my way.