**Thirty-Thirty**
There were certainly far worse things to wake up to than the morning breeze in your mane, carrying the faint hints of gritty desert sand and sweetened strawberries. After simply lying dozing on his side for a while, Thirty-Thirty noticed a strange tightness across his right shoulder. Deciding he'd probably better get up anyway, the grey stallion rolled his shoulder gently and felt a dull pain wash down his side. Somebody must have hit him pretty hard if it still hurt the morning after.
Better swing by Doc Clayton's place later and have him check that out.
It wasn't until he cracked a prodigious yawn and opened his eyes that Thirty came fully awake. Recent events popped into his head in an increasingly bizarre parade of images as he focused on the tiny pink cupcake - complete with a powder blue paper case, and apparently the source of the strawberry smell - sat on a flat rock just in front of his nose. There was also a small notebook next to the cake, with half the pages ripped out and a stubby little pencil resting on the exposed page. Someone had drawn a simple cartoon of a smiling face on it.
The face had a stubby muzzle and little triangular ears.
Thirty shut his eyes again, not sure how he should be feeling. He had maybe one idea where he was, and could only make vague guesses as to what might have happened - but that didn't explain why there were a bunch of slightly oddly-proportioned fillies around.
If this is the spirit world Shaman communicates with, what the heck's with all this? Shouldn't things be more, I dunno, ghosty and spiritual?
He was pretty sure he wasn't dead, what with the shoulder injury and all. Whatever awaited him at the end of his life, he really hoped it wasn't a cave full of tiny multicoloured fillies. Not that he was in a cave any more, he'd had a brief glimpse of sunlight in a rocky desert before he shut his eyes again.
Been out for... three hours, six minutes and a couple seconds. So it's what, comin' up to the middle of the day, if the day and night stuff matches up. Why's it so cool out here?
With any luck this wasn't some sort of bizarre dream either. Thirty didn't think dreaming this sort of thing said much positive regarding his mental stability. He'd just have to assume he wasn't bug-nuts crazy and seeing things, and try to roll with it for now.
So... small, cute, big eyes, weird colours. And she had wings. Wings! He tried and failed to calm his racing thoughts. If I'm dead, and they're some sorta messed-up equine version a' cherubs, I'm gonna do my best to die again so's I can go someplace saner.
Thirty-Thirty tried to clamp down on the whole 'am-I-dead' thing again, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the moment just before whatever this was happened.
Stampede certainly seemed to think he'd get rid of BraveStarr by throwing him through the portal, but this place don't look dangerous. The locals are friendly enough.
One of them had bandaged his shoulder, and they hadn't even tied him up, which struck Thirty as awfully trusting. Granted they probably didn't have anything strong enough to hold him, but even so his waking up unbound and unguarded said a lot about them. Either they were supremely confident that he couldn't do them any harm, or they were trusting to the point of being dangerously naive. ~Fluttershy~ must have some sort of magical ability to be able to communicate with him the way she had, but that didn't exactly sound like it would be much good in a fight. It was more like the sort of thing that the Prairie Folk or Shaman might have employed.
Then a third possibility occurred to the him - this was some kind of test. Leave him free to tempt him into misbehaving, draw out any hostile intentions he might be hiding. There'd be guards nearby, ready to jump him as soon as he did anything suspicious. That would probably be the smart approach, and Thirty-Thirty didn't get where he was today - metaphorically speaking at least - by underestimating people.
I guess honesty's the best policy in any case. I don't exactly have anythin' to hide, and a little trust can go long way between strangers.
Then again, who would use a bunch of children as bait for a trap like that? If Thirty was some kind of horrible monster, even the fastest guardians couldn't guarantee he wouldn't hurt or even kill one of the fillies before they stopped him. Unless they weren't children at all, just... small. His ears caught the occasional movement or high-pitched voice in the area around him, but it didn't sound like any of the small equines were close by.
Heck, I might as well just call 'em ponies. They're like horses, only smaller. Ain't like they'd understand it anyhow, even if they would be inclined to take offense.
Thirty-Thirty snorted and gave up. He wasn't going to get anywhere lying here with his brain running in circles, and the answers he was worrying about weren't going to be found in his own head in any case.
Time for a proper look around.
The sudden cessation of the background noise in the camp at his loud snort probably should have served as a warning, but Thirty was still preoccupied with all the strange ideas bouncing around inside his head as he opened his eyes again.
One of the ponies was sat right in front of his muzzle, just on the other side of the flat stone holding the cupcake and notepad. Even that small distance seemed to be too large for the filly, as she was leaning in almost uncomfortably close. Her pink-furred head was turned completely sideways to line up her large blue eyes with his own, leaving her mane - only marginally less eye-searing pink than her coat - hanging down to one side. The unruly mess of curled hair was tough to describe, but the first word that popped into the stallion's head was 'fluffy'. It wasn't quite right, but it would have to do for now. Even as voluminous as it was, the pony's mane only seemed to be growing from a relatively thin line down her backbone - Thirty's own had much more widespread roots, covering most of the back of his neck as well as his head. His was also thicker and longer, if not as puffy and upright. He couldn't help but wonder how long it took the pink filly to get her mane to stand up like that, it always took him ages to get his mane right.
The personal space invasion was a little surprising, but that paled into insignificance next to the enormous grin plastered across the pink pony's face. Thirty-Thirty had just enough time to wonder if her head was about to split in half before the smile disappeared as the filly started spewing out high-pitched speech at a truly prodigious rate.
So yer what, a spirit of bein' a motormouth?
After a few very confusing seconds of non-stop babbling accompanied by some very enthusiastic gesticulating, the hyperactive pony finally seemed to notice the increasingly agitated shouting coming from behind her. She turned to address her fellows with what could only be an innocent 'What?', giving a rather overwhelmed stallion a few moments to think.
Thirty counted five more of the small colourful fillies standing around what looked to be a temporary camp. The terrain didn't look too alien at least - a rocky desert not much different to the land around Fort Kerium. The biggest difference was the suns - or rather, sun. There only seemed to be one small yellow-white sun in the sky, rather than the blue, red and orange trio he was used to. He knew planets with three suns weren't exactly normal, but Thirty-Thirty still found it odd that planets with only the one star didn't freeze.
Alright, alright, keep a hold a' yerself. You've done portals to weird places before.
Three tents had been set up around the probably hastily-constructed shelter in which he lay. It looked as if the ponies had stacked up rocks to turn a thin blanket into some shade for him, and settled in to wait while he recovered. Or maybe they'd already been camped here - it was tough to be certain, but there were no signs suggesting the camp was particularly old.
How'd they manage to move me anyhow? Sure, there's six of 'em, but they're tiny!
The other occupants of the camp were just as brightly coloured as the pink one, but slightly more varied in their hues. The yellow and pink one who had patched him up, ~Fluttershy~, was accompanied by a second winged filly who was perhaps the most colourful of the bunch; Thirty couldn't help but wonder if she'd been caught in an explosion in a hair dye factory. Her mane and tail were each split into coloured strips, a miniature rainbow running down her neck and trailing behind her, on top of a coat the colour of a clear morning sky. Similar to ~Fluttershy~ the rainbow one also had an image imprinted at the top of her thigh, although she had a cloud throwing out what looked like a stylised red, yellow and blue lightning bolt rather than butterflies.
The next pair added fresh mysteries onto the pile. Not only did neither of them have wings - which also called attention to the fact that the pink one hadn't either, Thirty hadn't even processed that during her initial assault - but one of them had a short stubby horn the same colour as her bright white coat sticking out of her forehead.
An honest-to-goodness unicorn, he thought. Now all I need is one with eight legs and I got a full set.
An obviously carefully maintained rich purple mane fell from the unicorn's head and neck in long curls, accompanied by a similarly well-groomed tail. Her orange-furred companion might also have had a horn atop her head, but it didn't seem likely - it probably would have gotten in the way of the large brown hat she was wearing, although there was a chance one lay hidden under the headgear. The hatted pony's long, straight blonde mane and tail were both tied at the ends with red bands, and a pair of green eyes regarded Thirty with caution from beneath the brim of her hat. At least one pattern was emerging from the chaos however. This pair had tattoos as well; a trio of clear cut gems and three red apples respectively, all in the same place as their winged fellows.
The last member of the group threw a little extra confusion into the wings and horn game, as she seemed to have both. Her colouration drew from the violet end of the spectrum, with a straightened and precisely trimmed dark blue mane and tail on top of a coat on the purple side of lavender. A pair of thin streaks ran through the filly's dark mane and tail, one a slightly lighter shade of blue-purple, and the other a vibrant fuchsia. A collection of pointed symbols adorned her side, several small white starbursts surrounding a large red central one. Violet irises which had moments before been alight with intelligent curiosity were now focused on Thirty's pink personal space invader as the ponies conversed.
The pink one shortly turned back to face Thirty-Thirty, ending his brief glimpse of the group's sixth and final identifying mark - a trio of balloons, two blue and one yellow. Her ears splayed out and shoulders slightly hunched, she looked suitably sheepish about the confusing effects of her verbal onslaught. A much more normal-sized smile lit up her face as she reached down to the rock separating her from Thirty-Thirty with a foreleg, nudging the small cupcake towards his muzzle.
"Well I guess I am a mite hungry," the stallion said quietly, more to himself than those around him. Then his belly gave a dissatisfied rumble, drawing the attention of everyone. Thirty-Thirty glanced down at himself before offering an embarrassed grin to his audience.
"Okay, maybe more'n a little," he admitted, stretching his neck out to scoop up the tiny cake. It might not have been big, but it was certainly tasty. Noticing the ponies were watching with curiosity, some hiding it much better than others, Thirty did his best to look happy and appreciative. That seemed to set the pink pony off again, but she managed to calm herself down after a few seconds of energetic bouncing around the rest of the group. In the meantime, however, the purple one stole her place next to the now-empty cake case and the notepad. The star-marked pony looked between Thirty and the notepad, biting her lip absently. She seemed to want to communicate something, but didn't know where to start.
Lying on his uninjured side and constantly bending his head around was starting to take its toll on Thirty-Thirty's neck. Without thinking the stallion pulled his legs in and under himself, rolling up onto his belly. Not only did his abused shoulder make its presence felt again, but the sudden movement also startled the ponies around him - just rolling himself upright was still enough to make him a little taller than they were standing up.
Several of the group let out alarmed cries of one sort or another, and the purple one scrambled backwards a few steps. The stallion wasn't sure whether to be impressed or amused by the rainbow-maned filly - she had her wings spread wide, probably to make herself look bigger, and was pawing at the ground as if she meant to start a fight.
What're you gonna do, tiny? Y'only come up just past my knees.
Regardless of whether or not he felt threatened by them, they were obviously threatened by him.Thirty-Thirty immediately froze in place, and waited for them all to calm down.
If they're this skittish around me, it's prob'ly best to give 'em the full picture sooner rather than later so's they can get used to it.
Very slowly, repeatedly turning his gaze from his own movements to the ponies around him to check for any more negative reactions, Thirty pulled his forelegs out from under himself so he could stand. Turning his front half out of the blanket shelter so he didn't demolish it as he got up, he cautiously sat up on his haunches. The six ponies had bunched together a short distance away, watching him anxiously, but at least they weren't backing off any more. The purple one was staring at his legs like they were the most interesting thing in the entire galaxy, while the others seemed to be more generally worried about how big he was compared to them.
Still moving slowly and deliberately, Thirty-Thirty stepped forward to avoid demolishing the blanket shelter with his backside as he stood to his full four-legged height. Then a few extremely awkward silent seconds followed, during which the six ponies met his curious gaze with their own. Well, five of them did - the purple filly was still staring at his legs, for some reason.
"Well, this sure is awkward," the stallion said to himself. At the same time, the orange filly with the hat said something to the others.
"Gotta start somewhere, and the beginnin's as good a place as any I guess," Thirty said, deciding to at least address his comments to the group of ponies even if they couldn't understand him. Body language seemed to be working so far so, trying to ignore the twinge in his shoulder, he stuck a hoof out towards the group with a smile.
"Howdy. I'm Thirty-Thirty, pleased to meet ya."
**Applejack**
"Well, this sure is awkward," Applejack muttered under her breath as the six friends stood staring up at the intimidating giant. It was almost as if somepony had decided they needed a Princess-sized version of her brother, and then made the result even bigger and built half of it out of metal. Her eye level just barely came up to the bottom of the stallion's chest.
The stallion started speaking at the same time she did, but Applejack couldn't make any sense of what he was saying. His offering a hoof with a smile definitely seemed promising, even if the metal-clad leg it was attached to was closer to the size of her barrel than one of her own legs. When nopony on their side made a move, Applejack nudged Twilight with a shoulder. She seemed to be lost staring at the offered limb.
"He's sayin' hi, Twilight. Should prob'ly be you that goes first fer official stuff."
"Oh, right," Twilight replied, before jerking her head back as if she'd only just realised how big the horse actually was. "Oh wow. He's... quite large. Generously proportioned. Huge, even."
Applejack didn't even have to look round to guess who the muffled giggling was coming from. "Git yer mind outta the darn gutter, RD," she muttered as Twilight started to tentatively move forward.
The young alicorn came to a halt in front of the horse, and reached up towards his outsize metal limb. Applejack realised when they made contact that Twilight's hoof could have fit completely inside the stallion's shoe, if they lined their legs up along the centre rather than touching at the top. Dismissing why he even wore shoes on metal legs as a question for another day, Applejack watched the pair slowly shake hooves.
"Hi. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said, a little nervousness still showing in her voice. "On behalf of the royal court, and the ponies who inhabit these lands... welcome to Equestria."
"Now that's done with," Rarity said to the group around her, "I suppose we had better go introduce ourselves. No sense in being stand-offish."
"I knew I should have brought the Welcome Wagon," Pinkie Pie complained as the five ponies moved to join Twilight.