Equestria's date: One day after Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom.
She awoke slowly; she felt really comfortable and didn't want to leave the feeling of warmness. As her eyes opened and closed while she tried to stay in bed a moment longer, she noticed it seemed to be the sunset already, wait... the sunset? How long had she been asleep?
Panic fully awoke her, but when she tried to stand up, she tripped and fell down. "Ouch!" She looked around and noticed that she was in a forest clearing, and that she had been covered by... pelts? What the heck?
Wait a minute! The ground looked much closer that it should be.
"Calm, down Sunset Shimmer, this is probably just a dream." Yeah right, only that one could not feel pain in dreams. With a bit of fear, the girl looked herself over, and almost had a panic attack when she noticed that she seemed to be covered in yellow fur and that her hands were gone. Even worse, she now had a horse tail and when she tried to stand up again she ended falling down on four hooves.
"Calm down, Sunset, it's not the time for a panic attack, sure, you appear to have become some kind of small, colorful equine, but at least your hair color, or should it be mane color, appears to be the same."
"Oh, you are finally awake," said a voice behind her, the small equine turned around and saw...
'Whoa, that is a big dog!' Only it seemed like it had hands and was standing upright, and looked like a husky, one of those dog breeds that looked like wolves.
She finally noticed that the air was cold, despite being covered in a yellow coat of fur. That explained why she had been so lazy about leaving the warm covers.
"You are a talking dog," Sunset blurted out.
"I am a diamond dog, what's your name pony?" he asked, while it didn't seem to be armed, those animal pelts had to have come from somewhere, and he was a big canine with probably sharp teeth while she was a small equine. Better be polite, that was the way life worked, the big eat the small, the strong boss around the weak, she had once tried to become strong herself, but had only ended up in a beat down.
"Sunset Shimmer," she said, not noticing that her equine ears went down. "Thanks for... sheltering me?"
"You owe me one now, Gruff saved pretty pony, now pony will carry Gruff things, yes?" the so-called Diamond dog point to a cart with a harness.
This... this was what her life had been reduced to? From being bullied in the orphanage, to being beaten up, to waking up as some kind of pony only to be a talking dog beast of burden?
'Calm down Sunset, I need information, and he has not hurt me yet', the new pony thought
"Okay." To think that just a few months ago, she would have tried to run away in panic in a situation like this, and probably get herself eaten. But now she knew better, after all, if she was some kind of slave, she would have been chained, right?
Gruff packed the pelts and other stuff in the cart, then put the harness on her body. And then he picked up a spear he had hidden behind a big rock, maybe because he thought that having a weapon on him would have made him scarier?
"Now you follow Gruff, yes?" The dog started to walk away, expecting her to follow, and Sunset Shimmer did just that. She was surprised that the dog was not riding in the cart himself, but then, she was small, and maybe with the dog in it would be too much weight for her. With the weight of the cart balancing her, the new pony had little trouble walking on four hooves.
They walked for several minutes, until he signaled her to stop. They were in front of a river, and they turned and walked along the riverside, probably looking for a bridge or a shallow part where they could cross.
"Pony must be wondering, why is Gruff a hunter and not a digger, yes?"
Sunset Shimmer was actually wondering how and why she ended up as a talking pony in a strange land, but she silently nodded, it was better not to antagonize the only one out of the two of them that was armed and dangerous.
"Gruff is not good at digging, he finds it too boring, Gruff loves the hunt and hates it underground. And griffons respect hunters, they like Gruff pelts! Not like pack."
Oh, so she was actually right about the big dog easily being able to kill her, good thing that she had not decided to be rude, protest, or try to run away.
"So... what do you mean about you having saved me, what happened?" the mare asked.
"Pretty pony fell from the sky, she was not hurt, but would not wake up, Gruff protected Sunset, and now Sunset owns Gruff a favor, yes?"
"Okay."
'I fell from the sky?' She would have thought that the dog was crazy, but she woke up being smaller, covered in fur and lacking hands, so why not fall from the sky? It made as much sense as everything else so far.
They soon found a part were the river was low enough for them to cross over and did so.
'Just great, now I will smell like a wet horse.'
~~*Sunset's Journal in Equestria, Entry Nº 1*~~
For some reason I woke a week ago as a talking unicorn pony. Had I been five instead of ten years old, I would have been jumping from joy. Or maybe not, I could have cried for my mommy... if I had one. Anyway the point is, I woke up as a strange creature in a strange land, full of monsters, talking animals and a lot of stuff that would make up a decent movie or a book or cartoon on Earth.
I was somewhat adopted by a talking dog that looks like a husky who is called Gruff. It was that or the orphanage, and since I seem the one of one the few ponies is a land that’s the territory of Griffons, and if I remember that mythology book right, Griffons eat equines, it was a no-brainer why I decided to stay with the dog. The weather around here is cold, and is only the fall reason; I guess I will need to get a few winter clothes because my new coat only protects so much from the cold.
I am thankful the speaking language is English and the books I could get or borrow also seem to be in English, it gives me something to do besides pulling the dog cart and helping him around. Supposedly unicorns can do magic but the few ponies I have seen are earth ponies (who have no horn or wings) or pegasi, so that will have to wait.
Is my new fate worse or better than the orphanage? Well, on one hoof (pony expression) I am in a land of meat-eating creatures while myself I am a vegetarian (I found out I could eat eggs and cheese without getting sick), while on the other Gruff protects me from harm and I don't have to deal with bullies or insults. Honestly... I don't know, sometimes I fear I will wake up back in the orphanage, while others I see the reflection of my new look in the mirror and I cry for hours.
It's also nice to have someone who cares about you, not like the caretakers in the orphanage, or the supposed friends I had who backstabbed me when it was convenient for them. Oh god, how messed up my life as a human was, if I am starting to think that a land full of monsters that could kill or cripple me is better than the orphanage?
Heck, if I had been found and adopted by unicorn ponies instead of a dog I might actually prefer it. After all, what human girl doesn't like unicorns and magic?
No, I won't run away and to cry to some strange pony for help, Gruff is nice for his species (they are called Diamond Dogs and they love gems) and I am not stupid enough to land myself in a stranger's hooves and end being sold as a slave of worse. After all, I am alive, I eat everyday, no pony bullies or hurts me, and I can even get books to read, why risk all that and end worse than before?