Chapter IV: Sea of Trees
While the dress Rarity gave me fit nicely and was quite attractive, it felt odd to me because I so rarely wore dresses as a human. Not to mention my becoming of a pony- this did not help whatsoever. It feels strange to write this down, but it actually felt more natural and normal for me not to wear anything at all. After all, most ponies I met were completely derived of clothing. Twilight wore no clothes, Sound Wave did not, Pinkie did not, and even Rarity was this way. Of all the ponies, Rarity seemed like she would be the one to dress well every hour of the day. I soon realized that clothes were more of a special occasion thing, much like how humans would dress casually until formal attire was called for.
In any case, Twilight and I left Pinkie and Sound Wave to their work, and once again ventured into the brisk outside. The rising sun finally warmed the place up, though only slightly. The clouds high in the sky remained, swirling slyly in the air. Not a moment later, I watched as a bright blue Pegasus soared through the sky and dashed those clouds to oblivion. With tremendous speed and lightning fast agility, she stormed through and beat each cloud until it disappeared. She flew so swiftly and quickly that a rainbow-colored trail of light followed her, marking where she had gone. She zigzagged across the sky until all was clear from Ponyville to Canterlot. Not a cloud could be seen for miles in every direction.
I was not counting, but this event only lasted for a few seconds. I seemed to be the only pony staring up at the sky with her mouth wide open, as nopony else even batted an eyelash. Well, maybe Rarity did, but I was not around to see it happen. Twilight took notice of where I was watching, and told me, “That’s Rainbow Dash.” Unlike I, she did not seem surprised or impressed at what just happened.
The blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and moderate cerise eyes flapped her wings violently as she moved, her teeth shining for all to see. Her legs, back, and wings were all built and practiced, firm with experience and ability. Her eyes were intently scanning the ground, a fixed look on her face of determination. She was quite like the Rainbow Dash I had met before, ready for action at a moment’s notice.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted, waving her hoof.
She saw us and swooped in, landing on all fours with her wings spread gracefully at her sides, feathers extended to form a streamlined layer. Her rainbow-colored mane spiked out from the top of her head, with large chunks of her hair being a separate color. I noticed, now that she was up close, that she wore a thin, white collar around her neck with a gold pin attached to it. The pin was hard to see, but I saw two wings on each side of what looked like a thunderbolt. She kept moving around, so I could not get a better look at it. Oh, and when I say that she kept moving, I mean it. She kept stretching her legs, her neck, her back, and even her ears. Heck, she even ran in place, and jumped up and down.
“Hey, Twilight, what’s up?” said Rainbow Dash. When she saw me, which did not take her long since I was standing right there, she asked, “Who’s she?” She aimed one of her hooves in my direction, but kept looking at Twilight. If you have not already noticed, I was being ‘introduced’ to each pony from the picture. Whether or not these were planned events is still unknown to me. It seemed like they were planned, at least by Twilight. I figured it out once we stopped by Rarity’s house and shop. We did not do anything there besides talk. If we had stopped by Pinkie’s shop, it might have taken me longer to catch on because we had a reason to be there. Anyway…
“This is Solar Shimmer,” said Twilight. “She’s…”
“And what in Equestria is she wearing?” the Pegasus interrupted.
I still do not think it looked that bad, but Twilight replied, “Rarity gave it to her.”
“The color’s off a bit,” Rainbow added as she took a closer look.
“In any case, this is Solar Shimmer,” Twilight said again.
“Oh, right! Right. Well, welcome to Ponyville, Solar Shimmer! Wait…,” she stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Where are you from? Canterlot, Manehattan, Baltimare?”
I did not know what to say, but Twilight answered for me, “She’s Sunset Shimmer’s daughter. Remember? Canterlot High?”
With a nod, Rainbow said, “Yeah, I remember. So, she came through the mirror?”
I will say it now. Rainbow sounded hoarse to me. I really did not want to make a horse is hoarse joke, but compared to the others, she sounded rough and scratchy. Certainly not how I envisioned her to sound, anyway. I guess I expected everypony to have a soft, nurturing voice that emitted constant sweetness and love. I was just making a useless gender stereotype in my head. I could not stop thinking about it.
I nodded in reply and closed my eyes so that my smile would seem ‘brighter’ and fuller. I felt my cheekbones puff out, so I think it worked.
“Is she here, too?” Rainbow asked me, directly. “Your mother.”
“No,” I said, “she stayed on the other side.”
“Huh. So, how long you stayin’, kid?” Rainbow asked me with a grin.
“Two weeks,” Twilight and I said at the same time.
“Awesome! What are you here for, anyway? Are you stayin’ at Twilight’s?”
“I wanted to see what Equestria was like, and yes.”
She began to smile, leapt into the air, and flipped around once before landing once more. She made it look so easy. “Ooh, Twilight, you should’ve told me. We could’ve had a party or something! Too bad she isn’t a Pegasus, though….”
Twilight chuckled and said, “I’m sure Pinkie could arrange one at a moment’s notice!”
“True, true,” Rainbow said, mostly to herself. She cleared her throat and said, “Well, I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria!” She made a pose of some sort, several of them, in fact. I thought she was waiting for a swarm of cameras and cheers to appear.
“She’s also a lead flier in the Wonderbolts!” Twilight told me.
“What are they?” I asked.
“They’re a group of elite fliers from all over Equestria,” Twilight said.
“It took a long time, but I’m finally making my dream come true!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, almost dancing while cheering for herself. “How could they not make me a Wonderbolt?”
“Well, Rainbow, we’ve got to get going. I’m taking Sol around Ponyville, today.”
Rainbow stopped herself, saluted us, and said, “Say no more!” She extended her wings from her sides, and with one major flap, she propelled herself high into the sky and soared off. Before she was completely out of sight, I heard her shout, “See ya later, Solar Shimmer!” She disappeared. I looked all over the sky but found no sign of her.
“Whoa…,” I muttered, my mouth hanging open.
From behind me, Twilight tapped her hoof twice on the ground. This alerted me, and I turned my attention back to her. She smiled, still holding the box of goodies with her magic. If the day were warmer, I might have enjoyed our time outside more than I did. Without a thicker coat, boots, or pants, I felt naked wearing but a light dress. However, I believe I have already mentioned that. I apologize, but going from bundles of clothes to no clothes is very strange, regardless of how it feels.
“Come on! We still have a lot to see. Let’s drop these back off at home, first,” said Twilight. I will not go into detail over the next five minutes or so. All we did was return to her tree home to leave the box resting upon her basement kitchen table. We then left. Although, the brief warmth upon going inside was certainly welcome. We backtracked to where we were before, outside of the Sugarcube Corner. I could hear Pinkie Pie laughing and giggling from inside. A group of three young fillies chased each other down the street, passed us, and slammed open the door of the shop. Other children were already inside. I could taste the cookies being baked by nothing but their smell.
With a quickened pace, we walked along the center streets of Ponyville. We passed by the main square after crossing over a small wooden bridge, where I saw a statue of a saddled mare surrounded by a shallow pool of water with gold bits tossed in the basin. The mare’s eyes were wide open, and her mouth curved upwards and formed a pleasant smile. She stood balancing one hind leg on a round ball, with her forelegs lifted high. Beside this statue was the Town Hall, a round-shaped building with a balcony going all around the middle of the structure, supported by wooden beams along the ground floor deck. The pointed roof curved along the base and was about as tall as the rest of the building. Pink-tinted windows surrounded every level of the Hall.
We did not stick around for long, but as we rushed past, I saw an older pony with a tan coat and a gray mane standing on the deck with two unicorns that appeared to be taking notes. I remember seeing a white collar around her neck and glasses resting upon her muzzle.
With all of the trotting, I was beginning to work up a sweat. My increased body heat was making up for the cold outside, but I discovered that I was more out of shape that I had realized. I hardly got a chance to look at what appeared to be colorful tents pitched up along the town center. Instead, we crossed over a few more small bridges until we had left the main hub of the town. A hilly dirt path was placed before us, leading into Ponyville farmland. I did not get a chance to see the orchard and farm in its full glory at the time. The coming winter already killed off the leaves, leaving everything gray and desolate. From through the crackling branches, I peered through and saw a bright red barn atop one of the slopes. The dirt path led us right to the main entrance.
We passed under a white arbor covered with still-green vines and stopped in front of the aforementioned barn, which was decorated more elaborately than any barn I had seen before, with apples being the central theme. Flowerbeds were placed under each window, and the weather vane on top of the highest level rested upon a metal apple sculpture. I saw a stone water well, chicken coops, remnants of a cornfield, hay piles, and an orange building atop another hill a bit further away. I also remember seeing a house somewhere around the barn, but I did not go inside. No, we were almost instantly greeted by another familiar face- Applejack.
An earth pony with a light orange coat and yellow mane spotted us when we were still far away, and without any hesitation, came right up to us and shook my hoof rather violently. I remember not being able to feel that hoof for quite some time afterward. Her freckles on the sides of her face stood out against her glowing green eyes. She wore a brown hat on her head and red bands kept the ends of her tail and mane together. Her forelocks curved outward from her face, but a few loose strands poked out freely from having been jostled from previous labor. We came at a particularly bad time as she had been preparing some of their food stocks for the upcoming winter. We apparently interrupted her.
“Well, who might you be? Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, the best place in all o’ Equestria! An’ just what are you wearin’? You’ll catch a dreadful cold wearin’ that sort a’ getup!” said she, using what I considered to be an exaggerated Southern accent. It began to grow on me, however. Everypony else in her family also spoke like that. Applejack spoke so fast that it took me a few seconds to comprehend all that was said. She also said all of this while shaking my hoof repeatedly.
“I’m-,” I began to say.
“Twi-light, why didn’ ya tell me ya’ll were comin’? I’d ‘a fixed the whole place up!”
“I,” I began again.
“Oh, where are mah manners? Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!”
“You already…,” I could not get a word in with her talking so speedily.
“This is Solar Shimmer, Applejack,” Twilight said for me.
Applejack stopped shaking my hoof, but I honestly could not tell for another ten seconds. My hoof kept shaking all on its own. Her brows lowered, and a slight frown crept upon her face. I caught her gazing at my bare flank. I forced a smile, showing all of my teeth.
“Hi,” I muttered, again. Yet another awkward introduction.
“Ya mean like Sunset Shimmer?”
I thought to myself, here we go again!
“She’s my mom,” I finally said.
“Huh,” was her response. “Is she here, too?”
I shook my head. There was a brief moment of silence. I looked around and saw that there was a lovely view of Ponyville from the top of that hill, though the farm was more distant from the town than I originally thought. Miles and miles of orchards and trees surrounded us. Unfortunately, there were no green leaves or apples. There were only branches covering the vast rolling hills. Far off in the horizon were snow-topped mountains. They seemed to surround the valley on every side. Canterlot, of course, could be seen perched on the tallest of the mountains.
“So, Twi-light, does everypony else know?”
“Not yet. We still have to visit Fluttershy. We’re taking a tour of Ponyville,” Twilight replied with a giggle in her voice.
More like a tour of your friends, I thought to myself.
“What ‘bout the Princess? Is she okay with all this?”
“Mhmm, she knows about everything. It was rather last minute, so I wanted it to be a surprise. She’ll be staying with me for two weeks.”
“It’s a surprise, all right!” Applejack exclaimed. I could not tell if she was happy or upset. I noticed beads of sweat upon her forehead, or brow, and scuffmarks all over her coat. I figured she was tired or focused on other matters.
It was then that another pony, an earth stallion, came into the picture. A sturdy, large stallion with a light brown coat and blackish mane trotted by us, pulling a cart loaded with hay behind him. He was much taller then I, with thick hooves and a wide frame. His mane and tail were both short, cropped, like a racehorse. When he walked past, he did not speak until Applejack called out to him.
“Hey, Sandy, come ‘ere an’ meet some friends a’ mine!”
He stopped and turned toward us. He unhooked himself from the cart and made his way to where we were standing. His heavy hooves left deep imprints in the dirt. With a bellowing voice, he said, “Howdy, ya’ll.” I expected his voice to be deeper. It was deep, do not get me wrong, but I thought he would sound older. His voice kept cracking. It was rather cute, I admit.
“This ‘ere’s Sandy Shores, all the way from Las Pegasus! He’s helpin’ ‘ere on the farm for a while!” said Applejack with more energy than before.
“Nice to meet you, Sandy!” Twilight said, smiling.
“Hi,” I said, yet again. I did not know what else to say.
“This is Twi-light Sparkle, a good friend a’ mine, an’ Solar Shimmer, a newcomer to Ponyville, like yourself!”
He did not see my blank flank, or at least I did not think he did. He kept staring at me in short glances. I could see his greenish eyes darting back and forth from Twilight to myself. He gulped and took in a deep breath. Although he was speaking to both of us at once, he looked directly at me when he said, “Hello!”
I smiled back and said, “Hi, I’m Solar Shimmer.”
“Sandy,” he replied.
We stood around for just a little bit longer. By now, the sun was closing in on the halfway point in the sky. The day seemed to be going by so fast. Applejack looked up at the sky and told us, “Listen, ya’ll, we’d better be getting’ back ta work. Maybe we can get together once all this ‘here food’s stored away?”
“Of course!” said the purple Alicorn. “We’ll go head over to Fluttershy’s!”
“Tell ‘er Ah said ‘hi,’ okay?”
“We will!”
“Cya, Sol, Twi!”
Applejack and Sandy went back to what they were doing. We had not left that second, and before we did, I asked Twilight, “Where does Fluttershy live?”
“On the other side of Ponyville,” was her answer.
As we walked back, my stomach had begun to grumble and ache. What little I ate for breakfast made way for lunch. What was strange was that I no longer craved my usual diet. In my mind, I wanted nothing more than a thick cheeseburger, but I really felt like eating some kind of vegetable sandwich. I gave up on the cheeseburger idea. After all, horses are vegetarians.
Twilight heard my stomach growl and told me, “Don’t worry. We’ll get lunch before going over there. I know a great place to eat in town!”
“Sounds great!” I exclaimed.
As we entered the town, I bumped into a pony I will never, ever forget. She was a mail pony, working with the local post office. Her coat was gray and her mane was a pale yellow. Color-wise, she blended in with the rest of the town, except for one major aspect of her physical appearance- her eyes. Her yellow eyes were crossed quite severely. A saddlebag was strapped around her, with mail placed neatly inside. When we bumped, some pieces of mail slipped out and landed all over the ground.
I helped her back up to a standing position while Twilight collected the mail with her magic and placed them back inside the pony’s bag.
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to bump into you!” she exclaimed. I think she was talking to me, but she kept looking elsewhere. It was hard to tell.
“No, I wasn’t paying attention,” I told her. It was really her who bumped into me, but she was already frowning with water gathering under her eyes.
“Well, anyway, here,” said she, pulling a letter from one of the bags with her mouth. She gave it to Twilight.