//------------------------------// // Meeting more ponies. // Story: Across the Dimensional Divide // by StrawberryGamer //------------------------------// The mall is pretty big, so I had to stick close to Snowstorm while we browsed the stores. This gave me a small amount of time to think about the situation I’ve been thrown into. I’ve read many fanfics regarding the complications of gender and/or species changes. The characters usually freak out due to the changes of gender, but can adapt to transformations. I realized I was taking the whole thing quite well, even though I’m probably one of the younger victims. While this would open up a frantic spark of craziness, I can’t seem to find the time. Oh well. I guess it’s a good thing. While I can’t retain my masculinity, I can retain my composure. If something comes along that I can’t handle though, I’m screwed. On that note, my secret dignity and my fake sanity will hang on a thread if I have to deal with clothes again. Why the fudge did Sunshine have so many clothes? Clothes were optional for ponies, so why did she have so many? I’m never gonna understand that. The first store we enter is GameStop. Snowstorm entered it first. “You can wait here Sunny. I know you’re not much of a gamer.” He said. Oh HELL no he did not just say that! Has he seen my room recently? For example, this morning? I was noticeably peeved at that little comment and shoved my way past him into the store. “What’s with you? Getting into gaming all of a sudden?” He asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, and you will not stop me from loving it.” I said and started browsing. Let’s see… Halo 3, have it. Pony Party Palooza, considering. Pony Hawk, wait what? Moving on… Racing games, pony games, fighting games, more pony games, shooters, MORE pony games… Why did this universe have so many pony games? Oh, right. The ponies. I decided there wasn’t anything really that interesting and I left. I sat on the bench in front of the store for a good ten minutes after that. Seriously, what was taking that guy so long? They’re video games, not clothes. Then again, video games are for guys like clothes are for girls. I’m still a dude mentally, so why did I just leave? Meh, I’ll worry about it later. That brought up another thought. I’m a mare physically. Did stallions find me attractive? What were the beauty standards for mares? Did it have something to do with the eyes, the mane, the body… what was it that made female ponies attractive? Did I have any of it? I glanced around and noticed a few mares. They seemed to have very feminine appearances, unlike me who just let my mane and tail do whatever the fudge it wants as long as it’s flat. After taking note of the posterior ends of a few mares, I checked back to my own. Maybe it was because I was sitting, but mine looked bigger. I honestly don’t want a big ass. It makes stallions stare, I know it… I could feel one staring at me right now. “Sunshine, are you gonna stop staring at your flank or do I have to leave you here?” Snowstorm asked. Oh, it was just him. For a second, I thought I was gonna have to get violent. I felt a blush coming on at that flank statement. Fudge, I guess I’m still not immune to the female shit. “How long have you been standing there?” I asked, turning my head back to him. He held a sack of games in his saddlebag. “Oh, just about two minutes.” He said with a smirk. My blush grew. Fuck. He laughed. How dare he laugh at my expense! I sent a glare his way and he shut up. My blush left. “Anyway, you just went into there and came back out. Why didn’t you get anything?” He asked. I looked away. “Nothing really caught my eye.” I lied. Of course anything Halo would catch my eye. Snowstorm didn’t believe that lie and raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t believe you.” He said, and pulled out one of the games from his bag. Pony Party Palooza. Yippee… “I saw you look at this one.” He put it back in the bag. I glanced back at my flank. “Hey, Snowy, what do you think of my looks?” I asked innocently. When I turned back to see him, I saw his face. Oh, that FACE! What did I tell you? I am a Troll! Trolololololol. He quickly turned away to avoid eye contact, shifting his eyes and shuffling his hooves nervously. His left wing appeared to be twitching slightly and I caught him scanning me with his eyes, stopping at my rump. Ah, so that is attractive. That makes me relieved and worried. I smirked at his misfortune of being asked such a personal question. “Uh, you’re uh… very… cute?” He answered nervously. My smirk grew. He lies like an overturned bowl of spaghetti. I was downright hot and he knew it! The wild ones are always the sexy ones. Wait, why the fuck am I thinking this shit? Kyle, you’ve tainted my thoughts! Shame on you! I burst out laughing. This was too funny! “I just wanted an opinion. Thanks.” I said after another minute on nonstop laughter. Oh, his face! That glare I got after laughing was SO worth it! I calmed down and looked at him before trotting off down the hall. I turned around and noticed he was still standing there, looking at my flanky flanks. “Like what you see? Because it’s leaving without you.” I teased. That brought a blush to his cheeks, and maybe a little nervous sweat, and he quickly caught up to me. I laughed again. He was just TOO easy… I hummed the trololol song all the way to our next stop, which was a store that smelled of soap. I assume you know of those kinds of stores? They are just filled with the scents. A more sensitive pony nose would recoil at it, and I did just that. “That scent is strong!” I exclaimed, stepping back. Snowstorm sent another confused look my way. “Yeah, but I thought you liked this place.” He said. Damn, that means I have to go in there, don’t I? I shook my head to clear the scents and stepped inside. The moment I entered, the scents grew… inviting. Pleasurable, even. …………… How long was I in there? How did I end up back outside? Where did these bags from? I must have blanked out once I entered. Damn you Sunshine and your natural love for smelly shit! As we kept going down the hall, I either took the ramp or flew instead of taking the stairs. I didn’t want a repeat of this morning’s tumble. I like those fanfics that feature stair based hilarity, but I didn’t want to be the subject of abject humiliation. I noticed a small corner store, that wasn’t really a store. It was one of those hang out places that has a few vending machines and the restrooms. I also noticed the free Wi-Fi sign. I made an immediate left turn and went straight for it. Snowstorm followed behind me. Thank Hershey I remembered my laptop. I sat down at a table, “Lyra” style, and set my laptop on it. I flipped it open and connected to the internet. I went to check my email, and saw nothing. Fudge. I saw the date. April 17, 2013. I’m sorry, did I miss a few weeks here? It’s supposed to be the middle of March, not April! I sighed in defeat. I give up! This is just more freaky interdimensional travel shit! Seeing as there wasn’t much else to do, I shut off the laptop and turned to Snowstorm, who had a bunch of snacks from the vending machines in his bag. “Okay, we can keep going now.” I said, which made him smile. I bagged my lappy and we left for the bookstore, which was right next door. This was where I sent that Fiction pony. Upon entering, I noticed him talking to a strawberry colored mare with a purple mane. That must be Pop Tart. Holy shit, that means I was right! I considered going over and talking to them, but I just thought against it and went to the non-fiction books. Okay, there were several sections of books of all subjects. I opted for the weather stuff. I love studying meteorology. It’s my favorite subject. Better than anything else. I turned around and bumped into a large unicorn. I fell back on my butt and pinched my tail. It hurt. Scrambling up to get a better look at him, I found he was a red color with a brown mane. “Hey there, Sunshine. It’s weird, bumping into you here.” He said. That voice, it sounded familiar… Oh, of course! It’s one of my friends! What is his pony name though? “Uh, yeah. Of course, it’s weirder when you’re the one being bumped into.” I said, which got a laugh from him. He helped me up with his magic, then proceeded to ruffle my mane up with a hoof. Frowning, I flattened it back out. Seriously, why does he like messing with his friends like that? Celestia could teach him a thing or two… “Excuse me? Are you bothering her again Rusty?” Snowstorm asked, coming up behind me. So that was his name. It fits him well. “No, just saying hi.” He said before turning around and walking away. Rusty stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder at us. “And dude, you have no chance.” He added before leaving. I turned back to Snowstorm, who looked peeved. “Did I miss something?” I asked, confused. I didn’t know what was going on here between those two. He looked away. “It’s nothing. Let’s just go.” He said, and I nodded. We made our exit and looked at a clock on the wall. 9:27 am. We’ve been here for about two hours. “Well, this has been fun and all, but I should get home soon. See ya later Sunshine.” Snowstorm said, and left. I was now alone in the mall. Fudge. Oh well, now at least I could think in peace. Now then, my situation. Okay, here I was, stuck as a mare in a world I hardly knew, but apparently knew me quite well. While the voice is no big deal, a few other things could prove troublesome. For example, the new emotions I may have. While I didn’t believe female emotions were that different from males, I knew that there were some differences. Then, would I have to deal with feelings for stallions? I hope not. That would suck. I know I’ll have to deal with the occasional stallion that decides he can have Sunny all to himself. A little bucking to the face would set them right though. I noticed one stallion had a lustful look in his eyes, pointed right at me. He was a bulky earth pony, with a dusty tan fur and a short red and yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark was a muscular muffin. By the duct tape gods, I could already predict his name. Oh no, he’s coming this way. I gotta move now. Damn, too late! “Hi, I’m Stud Muffin. What’s your name?” He asked. He smelled of sweat. He must have come from the YMCA nearby, considering the mall doesn’t have a gym. This guy oozed the smelly shit. I considered throwing my soaps and stuff at him, but then I wouldn’t have anything for myself. I backed away from him. “It’s none of your business. Go away.” I said. I didn’t want anything to do with this joker. He wanted something to do with me though. He came up closer and I turned away from him. He rubbed my flank with his hoof, and that sent me signals. Those signals are gonna end in a dead zone if he doesn’t stop though. Touch. Kick! “Buck!” “Take that asswipe!” After giving that overzealous lustful dumbass a swift kick to the face, I left the mall immediately, the blush still on my face. That pervert got what was coming to him. Wait… It just came to me… He tried to seduce me… I shook my head. No, it wasn’t true. Please, someone tell me it wasn’t true… I didn’t want to admit it at first, but it seems there is no getting away from it anymore. I knew I had become a mare, and now lived in a world where this mare I had become is apparently a popular one. She had good friends, a good home, and a great world to live in. But I am not this mare. I need to get home. How though? I had no idea how interdimensional travel worked. I guess I just have to keep winging it until a way can be found. Speaking of wings… I took to the air once more, enjoying the feeling of the blowing wind on my face. I don’t care what anyone else says, flying is the ONLY way to travel. This was, I realized, a great way to get my mind off the disturbing thoughts that ravaged my head a few seconds ago. I didn’t care anymore because it didn’t matter anymore. I would never see that scumbag again. In the air, I started to play around with the clouds. Again, they felt like cotton to my hooves, even though I knew they were just collections of trillions of rain droplets suspended in the atmosphere. Each of the little droplets were just a few micrometers in diameter, and a million of them would form a drop of rain. These droplets condense and form around a nucleus, which is usually a small particle, like dust. Don't ask how I know this. I read it in a book. This information, while interesting, made little difference to the fact that I could just move it around and play with it like it was cotton, and could make it rain or electrocute if I wished. It was just too cool for words. Who needed words, when all one had were Pegasus wings, a cloud, and a knack for mischief? I took what I assumed to be a small cumulus cloud and moved it into a clear patch of sky. Yes, this would do nicely. I got above it and was ready to jump down upon it when a flash of black struck the cloud. I noticed it was another Pegasus. This one was female. Thank goodness for that. There were too many males in my life right now. Her mane was red with orange stripes, and the same could be said for the tail. I saw her cutie mark was a blueprint sheet. She picked herself up off the cloud and looked at me. “I’m sorry, were you gonna do something with this cloud?” She asked. I frowned and nodded. “I was gonna have some fun with it. Who are you?” I asked back. She adjusted her glasses. I don’t notice those at first. Oh well. “My name is Charcoal Embers. What is yours?” She asked. We were doing a lot of asking. Then again, we just wanted to know who we were in relation to each other. “I’m Sunshine. It’s good to meet you.” I said, smiling. It’s good to show kindness. It makes friends. I noticed she was smiling too. She flapped her wings and began to leave. “Maybe we’ll see each other around sometime.” She said, and took off. I watched her go. I was feeling considerably better after that brief encounter with Charcoal. I decided to forget about the cloud pranks and go to Sunshine’s house for a while. I guess since I was, at least for the moment, Sunshine, it would be my house, but this dimension is not my home. I cannot forget that. On my way, I started thinking again. What if I am a female forever? Will it change who I am? No, who I am is something that can never change. I’m just too crazy for that. It will be an adventure! A quest to explore the most mysterious thing the world has ever known – the opposite gender! I wasn’t going to let this little complication ruin my time here. I was going to enjoy it if it killed me! Now that my little rant is out of the way, where is my house? Oh thank Tim Allen, I finally found my house! It took what felt like hours, though it probably wasn’t more than two, to find this place. I went inside and saw my sister lying on the couch, asleep. Copycat was watching SpongeBob on the TV. I checked the time. 11:48 am. Good enough time as any for some lunch. I made my way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I took out some pasta in a baggie and put in on a plate. I stuck it in the microwave for about a minute, and when it was done, I took some shredded cheese and sprinkled it all over the pasta. I grabbed a fork out of the silverware drawer and went upstairs. After lunch, I think I’ll play some video games…