Apple of My Eye- Ch. 16
The New Girl in Town
AKA- Now For Some Plot Development… Ha!
When Orion woke up, he was surprised to see everypony he knew in the room… wait… whose room was this anyway?
“Oh thank goodness you’re awake! I was afraid I’d broken you…” Luna said, apparently the first one to realize his consciousness.
“I’m okay Luna…” Orion said, yawning and stretching his forelegs in the air. “Geez… how much did I drink last night that everypony came to check up on me? And where am I?”
Everyone in the room suddenly developed an intense interest in their hooves at this point.
“And why does my voice sound funny? Heh… reminds me of this dream I just had… I got turned into a mare, and I ended up spending the whole time freaking out about it. It was pretty trippy too… all of you were there. Well, Spike wasn’t, but the rest of you were… weird, right?”
“Right now we’re in the ‘Nurses Office’ of the Town Hall… nopony uses it, but it has everything just in case.” Twilight explained.
“ And as for you, Orion…” Luna said, levitating a hand mirror to him, “I’m afraid that it wasn’t a dream…”
Orion looked into the mirror, and sure enough, the same feminine features he’d seen in his ‘dream’ were staring right back at him.
“Huh……… well… that’s new…” he mumbled, everypony scrutinizing his reaction carefully, ready to block the doors and windows at a moment’s notice.
“You are taking this much better than we had anticipated.” Luna noted.
“Well… I think I got all the screaming and crying out of my system already… so there’s not much left really…” Orion answered hollowly. “Uhhh, Luna… what does this mean for me exactly?” he asked, poking his cheeks and running a hoof through his disheveled mane.
“Well… luckily, things like this are not unheard of in Equestria.” Luna admitted, “Granted, this is the first time the one who was transformed was changed unwillingly by a Princess… but it is still not unheard of… I must admit, my knowledge on what to do in this situation is rather limited.”
“Well, the first thing we should do is focus on the deadline for the spell.” Twilight chimed in, stepping closer to the bed. “Right now, you’re looking at being stuck like this for the next month… is this going to affect your day to day life?”
“I don’t think so… Hey Pinkie, if I show up to the shop like this, would that cause any issues?” Orion replied, looking at the baker, who was calmly bouncing in place and humming… well, that’s pretty calm by Pinkie Pie standards…
“I don’t have a problem working with you no matter what sex you are silly-billy! But we might need to talk to the Cakes before you show up for work tomorrow.” She answered, grinning. “OOOHHH! Should we have a ‘Wow, You Got Turned Into a Mare!’ party?”
“No!” Everyone answered, effectively shutting her down in record time.
“Well phooey…” Pinkie huffed, sitting on the floor and pouting.
“Okay, so your work won’t be affected… and you haven’t exactly been around town long enough for everypony to freak out that you’re gone…” Twilight mused out loud, interrupted by Rarity and Rainbow Dash simultaneously objecting.
“I beg your pardon?” Rarity said loudly.
“Like HAY ponies won’t notice!” Dash exclaimed.
“What?” Twilight asked, her train of thought derailed almost completely by her friends reactions, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if you noticed this before this whole ‘sex change’ spell happened, but Orion was a rather handsome example of a stallion. And he certainly received more than his fair share of attention.” Rarity explained.
“Yeah Twi, just because you’re one of those asexual types, doesn’t mean the rest of town wasn’t either checking him out, or noticing that there was a new face around.” Rainbow added, “If word gets out that he got changed, there might be more than a few issues with certain ponies in town.”
“Then what do you two suggest?” Twilight asked, “And Rainbow, for the record, I’m not asexual. I just have high standards for anyone I would be in a relationship with, and I’ve yet to find that pony for us to begin dating.”
“You know darling, you really should go to that counselor I recommended for help with that whole ‘teacher/student’ complex of yours…” Rarity suggested, just loud enough for the room to hear. Though to their credit, everypony but Rainbow Dash pretended they were momentarily deaf… Rainbow Dash instead opted to start giggling and pointing at Twilight.
“As for Orion’s current, well… state of affairs… I recommend that he adopt a new identity for the time being. Perhaps playing the role of a distant relative that has come to visit Orion in his new home?”
“And what about when ponies start to notice that Orion and his ‘distant relative’ are never in the same place? Or for that matter, that Orion isn’t anywhere at all!” Dash said, pointing out the rather obvious flaws in Rarity’s plan. “I’m not saying that the whole relative thing isn’t doable, but I seriously think that we need a better strategy if we’re going to pull it off… For starters, Orion, you’re gonna have to pretend to be your cousin or something, sorry dude, but there’s no way out of it. And that’s just the start of my plan.”
“What sort of plan is it then Rainbow?” Twilight asked, leaning in excitedly. If it weren’t for the circumstances, she’d be complimenting her friend on how thorough she was being.
“Well, instead of trying to make up some really weird explanation about where he went to, we fake his death!” Rainbow exclaimed proudly. “Nopony’s gonna ask why they haven’t seen a dead pony for a month. And he can pretend to be his cousin, who is taking his place at the bakery.”
If there had been a camera in the room, it would have captured the funniest sight imaginable… Six mares and one stallion with their jaws on the ground in shock, all looking at the one mare puffing looking absolutely satisfied with herself, and one particularly pink mare rolling on the floor laughing so hard that tears were arcing in the air in defiance of all known laws of physics.
“I…… I don’t even know where to start…” Orion croaked, “What makes you think that faking my own death is going to solve anything?!”
“Well it works in my adventure books all the time.” Rainbow reasoned, “And besides, I don’t hear anypony else coming up with anything else.”
“How about I just explain the situation to anypony who asks?” Orion suggested, trying to avoid any fake funerals. “And if they don’t ask, then they don’t need to know.”
“As simple as that all sounds Orion… Ah do think Dash might have a point about one thing.” Applejack said, finally putting her two bits forward. “Ah do think that yer gonna have ta pretend ta be a relative… It’ll make things easier on ya, and we can just tell everyone that ya went back ta Canterlot fer a bit. Luna’s already here anyway, may as well use what we have.”
“I agree with Applejack.” Twilight said, nodding, “Though I’m a little surprised that the Element of Honesty is the one that came up with the best plan…”
Applejack simply shrugged, while Rainbow proceeded to pout in the corner. If anyone had bothered to listen, they would have undoubtedly heard her talking about nopony appreciating a good plan if it bit them on the flank.
After a general consensus, everyone in the room agreed that Luna would leave town, with an illusory spell to make it look as if Orion was getting in the carriage with her, and Orion would fly back to the farm in secret, only to walk into town the next day for everyone to meet the new mare on the block.
“One thing we may want to cover before everypony leaves to go about their business…” Luna said, getting the attention of the room. “What shall Orion’s name be while he is pretending to be a mare?”
Orion blinked, realizing for the first time that he couldn’t use the name he’d come to be rather attached to. What WOULD he be called? It had been difficult enough to think up Orion in the first place… how the hell was he supposed to know a good female name in Equestria? From what he could tell, most ponies had names at least somewhat descriptive of their trade, talent, or personality… but he didn’t exactly have a trade, he didn’t have a talent that he knew of yet, and he certainly didn’t know where to begin by choosing a name based on his personality.
“Well, what about Twinkle?” Twilight suggested, “I used to have a pet goldfish named Twinkle.”
“Yer goldfish was named Twinkle Sparkle?” Applejack asked.
“Yep! I got it from a book. Pretty good name, right?” Twilight responded, grinning at the orange mare and completely oblivious to the less than enthusiastic looks on everypony’s face.
“I’d prefer not to be named after a goldfish… and I don’t think I exactly fit the name…” Orion pointed out, cringing slightly as he said the name.
“Seriously Twi, he needs a way more awesome name than that!” Rainbow Dash admonished, “Something like… Coolie! That’s a mare’s name, right? And it works… kinda… Coolie Borealis! The second hottest piece of flank in Ponyville!”
“I’m concerned about who you think the first hottest ‘piece of flank’ is Dash…” Orion said snarkily, crossing his forelegs in a look of mock contemplation.
“Me of course!” She responded brazenly.
“Rainbow, dear, with all due respect… please be quiet, and stay quiet until we leave…” Rarity said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof in annoyance at her polychromatic friend. “He makes a rather cute mare, and a name should reflect the beauty one hopes to exude. Perhaps something charming like Gemma. It calls to mind the beauty and shine of a gem, and retains the class of a respectable name.”
Orion looked at Rarity while she seemed to stare off into space before sighing and looking around at everypony else.
“Anyone else have an idea? I’m afraid I’ve got nothing…”
Fluttershy mumbled something that nopony quite caught, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie jumping on the bed and shoving her face in Orion’s, frowning in concentration as she stared him down. Finally, she smiled and hopped down.
“Uhhh…. What was that for?” Orion asked, more than a little scared.
“I was checking what kind of a mare you are so I could figure out a good name for you!” Pinkie responded, “It’s a first for me, getting to help name somepony that can answer. Pets don’t really tell anypony what they think of their names, and I’ve never gotten to name a new foal, so I was trying to figure out a good one!”
Pinkie continued to stand at the foot of the bed grinning ear to ear, every eye on her expectantly.
“………And?” Orion finally asked, breaking the silence.
“I got nothing!” Pinkie said energetically.
Small grunts of pain resounded though the room as everypony simultaneously face-hooved… hard…
“How about Blossom?” Applejack suggested, “Or some kinda flower?”
“I think the less time he spends around Rose and her group, the better…” Twilight suggested, “At least for the time being.”
“Yeah, true… Ah did overhear them talkin’ about Orion this morning anyway. By the way fella, heads up, Ah heard at least one of em talking about her crush on ya.” Applejack conceded.
“Well that’s just great…” Orion huffed, leaning against the wall behind the bed as the group began discussing possible aliases for him in small groups.
“I have an idea…” Fluttershy mumbled, barely audible.
“What was that Fluttershy?” Orion asked, apparently the only one to have heard her.
“I said I have an idea… I was thinking Aurora…” She answered, still too quiet to fully understand…
“Little louder, if you don’t mind…” Orion said, trying to coax the shy mare, who was pressing herself more and more firmly into the side of Big Macintosh for comfort.
“Aurora." She finally squeaked out, hiding her face behind her mane, which would have been annoying if it weren’t so dang cute…
“Aurora…” Orion thought, rolling the name around in his head as the group quieted down after noticing that he seemed to have found a name he liked. “That might work pretty well.”
“Indeed.” Luna agreed, apparently having heard the suggestion. “Aurora would be a fine name for you Orion. The real aurora borealis is a bright, beautiful sight to behold. Always illuminating the night to guide those otherwise lost in the dark…”
“I think she just picked the name because it sounded nice.” Orion noted, taking Fluttershy’s slight nod for confirmation that he’d guessed correctly.
“Well then it’s settled. Until this spell wears off, Orion, you’re going to have to respond to Aurora. Think you can do that?” Twilight said, a note of finality in her voice. He wondered briefly how she had come to assume the leadership role in the same room as a Princess and a Goddess…
“I think I can manage. Now I don’t know about everyone else, but this has been a crazy day. So what’s say we all go do whatever and just unwind a little.” The newly named Aurora said, rolling out of the bed and standing up to face her friends. “And when did you all get taller?”
Luna cracked a wry smile and put her wing around Aurora, “My dear friend, we did not grow at all… you simply shrank… And I have to agree with something that Rainbow Dash and Rarity mentioned earlier… you do make a rather cute mare!”
Aurora’s face heated up in a fierce blush, which only seemed to fuel the laughter and jokes at her expense. Luckily for her, one of Luna’s guards poked his head into the room and told the Princess that the guards and Luna had just been called back to the castle by Princess Celestia. Luna said her goodbyes to her Ponyville friends, instructing them to watch over Aurora, and shooting a warning glare at Rainbow Dash and Rarity in particular.
As Luna left, Aurora leaned in closer to Twilight and whispered, “Do I want to know why Luna just glared at those two?”
Twilight just chuckled softly, looked at Aurora and responded, “If you don’t know, don’t worry… let’s just say that last night was very interesting… and I think that Luna’s a bit protective.”
Aurora just shook her head and gathered her vest, music crystal, and headphones from a small table near the bed. As she put the vest on, she remembered that it wasn’t considered polite to dress in front of other ponies, and looked to Rarity for whatever look of horror was probably smeared across her face. Funnily enough, Rarity and the others didn’t show the slightest sign of discomfort or embarrassment at what Aurora was doing.
“Okay, what gives?” she asked, now more than a bit confused, “I just put on my clothes in front of you all, on accident, and nopony’s acting mortified…”
The mares looked at each other quizzically, before Fluttershy seemed to understand the confusion, and whispered something into Rarity’s ear.
“Oh! Oh I see… Aurora dear, you have to understand, it’s really only stallions that have to worry about their modesty… you see, there’s less of them, and there are several rather foul words associated with those males that seem to, shall we say, ‘give it up’ too easily.” Rarity explained, walking beside Aurora and leading the way for the group to leave the room.
As they walked out into the late afternoon sun to an almost deserted Ponyville, Rarity continued explaining the ins and outs of social mores between stallions and mares.
“So you see darling, while a stallion might be expected to act more modest and reserved, at least in regards to things like clothes and physical displays, mares who wish to find a special somepony or be part of a herd have much more freedom in how they express themselves.”
“Wait… I get that males are the ones that get asked out around here… but you’re telling me that all the trouble I was getting into by stretching my wings out or unbuttoning my vest was because I came off as ‘easy’?”
“Well if you want to simplify things, yes.” Rarity conceded, “It doesn’t sound exactly… fair… but it’s simply how things are. Besides, with so few males, it’s really for their protection that they act less promiscuous… it gives certain mares ideas that it’s okay to do things that the stallion in question doesn’t consent to, and while it’s not an excuse, it certainly clears up any communications about their intentions.”
Aurora blinked… She’d never thought of Equestria as sexist… BUT IT TOTALLY WAS!
“How do the guys around this place put up with that crap?” she asked frankly, “Shouldn’t both sexes have the same freedoms and social liberties as the other?”
“Yeah, I’m totally in favor of guys wearing socks or taking their vests off!” Rainbow chimed in, grinning as she glided overhead, somehow managing to do what looked like an aerial backstroke. “I mean shoot, if anypony gave you trouble while you were a male, I’d have told them to shove it.”
“Well thank you for that Dash.” Aurora said, missing the devious grin on her cerulean friends face. “But what was that other part you said? Something about mares trying to find a special somepony or a herd?”
“Well Aurora,” Twilight interjected, noticing that Rarity was having a bit of trouble explaining the WHY of Equestrian society, “Think of it this way… with about one stallion for every five mares, there’s a LOT of imbalance in terms of partnering. At least, there is if everypony is in an exclusive relationship. In fact, the Griffin Kingdom and the Crystal Empire both have fairly balanced ratios between males and females, so while it’s common to only see couples in those areas, Equestria for the most part allows for either exclusive relationships, or for multiple ponies to be involved at once. In fact, it’s not too uncommon for there to be weddings between a stallion and multiple mares, or even multiple stallions with multiple mares. It’s all a matter of personal preference, and numbers. The less males available, the higher rate of ‘herd’ style relationships…”
“Yep! Welcome to the majority Aurora.” Dash said sarcastically, “If you see a guy you like, well, for starters, that will get awkward in a month. And two, you’ll probably have to share them.”
“I think I’m good on finding a stallion…” Aurora replied uneasily.
“Well, if you want to try your hoof at dating in the time it takes for the spell to dissipate, you can always try that club Spike told you about, The Riding Crop. There’s also The Broken Saddle if you feel adventurous.” Twilight mentioned, blushing slightly, “Of course, I only know about that last one because I read the mailing directory for Ponyville for a research project on the Postal Service in Equestria.”
“You read a LOT, don’t you Twi?” Aurora guessed, quirking an eyebrow at the unicorn prodigy.
“Ya know, as much as Ah love just talkin’ about social norms and all that, Ah think it’s about time Ah got headed back ta the farm. Aurora, ya better come with me so Ah can explain things to Granny. Big Mac, you get home before dark or Ah’m gonna come lookin’ fer ya.” Applejack said, “Near as Ah can tell, Applebloom’s been on her own fer about a full day now, so Celestia knows what kinda damage there is waitin’ at home…”
“Sounds like a plan AJ.” Aurora agreed, shaking her head at all the possible antics the CMC could have gotten up to in the absence of an adult. “See you girls later!”
With that, the orange apple farmer and the newest addition to the population of mares began walking off towards the rolling hills that made up the orchards and farmland. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh wandered off to who knew where, but nopony tried to stop them.
“Still a nice looking flank…” Rainbow hissed at Rarity as soon as their two friends were out of sight, “And did you see that blush?”
“Oh my yes…” Rarity agreed. “A shame about that gorgeous build, but it did transition well into those curves…”
“What are you two whispering about?” Twilight asked, shooting her friends an annoyed glance.
“Nothing Twi!” Dash answered, her eyes darting back and forth nervously.
“Just sharing our opinions on Aurora… While she’s essentially Orion in a new shell, it is nice to note certain differences.” Rarity supplied, her more thorough answer easily accepted by the local librarian.
“Well, just remember, we’re responsible for helping Aurora acclimate. That means teaching her everything about life in Ponyville. And that means no trying anything funny. So Rainbow, watch it on the pranks.” Twilight cautioned, “Now, I need to get back to the library and check up on Spike. I’ll see you girls tomorrow.”
The mares said their goodbyes, leaving Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity standing in the road, all smiling at each other conspiratorially.
“You know, I think we should take Aurora out for a night on the town sometime soon…” Dash suggested, waggling her eyebrows. “Maybe we should show her THAT club?”
“I don’t know what you’re suggesting Rainbow Dash,” Rarity answered, turning her nose up slightly at her friends implications, “But I think that it is the job of a good friend, such as myself, to make sure that Aurora enjoys herself… So please do me a favor darling, and make sure to stay out of my way while I get my hooves on that stunning creature…”
“Just remember girls.” Pinkie said, her hair spontaneously straightening, a commanding gleam in her eye, “I’m after her too… and I like wining almost as much as you do Dashie…”
“Y-yeah, well, nopony beats me! I’m the fastest flier in Equestria! And I’m gonna be the first to get her too…” Dash said, Pinkie’s scary side startling her a little.
“Well then… should I venture to guess that this is now a small competition?” Rarity suggested, her eyes glancing between Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
“Of course! May the best pony win.” Dash agreed, holding her hoof out.
“I’m in too! I love games!” Pinkie said, her hair audibly curling back to normal.
“Then I shall compete as well. But just because I am a lady, does not mean that I will not go to any measure to win…”
Rarity conceded, smirking wryly at her friends. “Now, who’s hungry? I hear that there’s a lovely pasta special tonight at a Neightalian restaurant not too far from here.”
“Oooh! That sounds awesome!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Yeah, that could be good. Let’s go!” Rainbow agreed, flying off before doubling back to where Rarity was still standing. “I suppose I should let you lead the way though… huh?”
And so, he last group went off to gorge themselves on pasta and breadsticks, the challenge set to see just who would succeed in wooing the newest citizen to Ponyville.
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Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack had explained the situation to Granny Smith, and Applebloom had, surprisingly enough, stayed out of trouble. Once everypony was reintroduced, Aurora went to her room to relax and listen to some music, and Applejack had retired to her own room.
Thoughts raced through her head as she thought back on the previous night.
“Girl, what are ya doin’?” she asked herself, laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. “Last night was all cuz of everypony drinkin’… You know better than ta let yerself go down that road… This farm needs ya, and ya can’t afford ta give it any less attention than ya do already…”
Still… that dance last night was really something… So was that kiss… her mind argued, And you can’t deny that it felt nice, that you enjoyed having somepony acting like that towards you…
“He probably ain’t even interested… Ah mean, come on. What are the odds that somepony that knows the Princesses, and looks like THAT no matter what kinda goofy sex changin’ magic they’re under, would be interested in me?”
But what if? What if they ARE interested? Do you want to lose that kind of chance? You see how Rainbow acts towards him, and Luna didn’t seem to have a problem with YOU when she was here. You could have a serious shot!
“Shutup already… Ah’m tired. If things happen, then they’ll happen. Ain’t no use worrying about stuff Ah can’t control anyhow.”
Just remember, you can tell everyone whatever you want, but you can’t lie to yourself…
“Whatever…” Applejack said finally, shutting her eyes and quieting her thoughts until she slipped off to sleep. Her mind filled with images and thoughts of a certain grey pegasus.