//------------------------------// // Gazing through a Rainbow // Story: The new arrival in Equestria // by Blazer787 //------------------------------// I awoke with a heavy weight on my eyes as I struggled to open them. Drowsiness swept over my body like a blanket as the gentle light of the sun woke me. Slowly I sat up and stretched my back, like trying to squeeze all the tiredness out of me. Trying to focus my hazy eyes I rubbed them with my knuckles. By my knuckles weren't there, and neither were my fingers. I looked down and that's when the impossible truth hit me. Staring down at them I could only think that it was a dream, but looking around everything was normal. So why had this happened, because the truth was I didn't have hands, I had hooves! Bright blue hooves, I can't even describe what the shock felt like, I wanted to scream my lungs out but I couldn't, I wanted to wake up but I didn't. What was even worse was what snapped me out of it. I slowly peered over to the other side of the bed and there it was…my body. My body just lying there sleeping like nothing is wrong. I swung the covers off myself and the truth hit me with all its might. I was a pony! Noticing I was blue reminded me of Dash, but she wasn't anywhere in the room…Oh no… I reached around the back of my head and pulled my hair into view, it was not my hair though, it was much too long to be mine. Looking at the long hair to the side of my eye, it was…Rainbow hair, but it can't be true. I wanted to scream now more than ever in my entire life. But it's impossible, I need a mirror. I flung my-well Rainbows legs out of bed and stood up, only to quickly tumble down to all fours, then all the way to the floor. "Ow…" I was surprised that out of all the words in the world, the first word that came out of my mouth that morning was ow. I tried standing up again, but my face met with the floor every time I tried. "Why isn't this working?" I thought. But if it really was true, if I really was Dash, then I couldn't walk like a human anymore. Ponies can't walk of two feet; I knew from that moment on, I knew it was going to be a long morning. And you think it's hard for you to get out of bed? Then another awkward situation came to mind, should I wake Rainbow? Well, I mean should I wake myself up but- oh you know. So all I could do was lay there on that hard wooden floor, for a while I wondered how she'd react when she woke up. Then an extremely awkward thought came to mind, that we weren't even the same gender. I quickly pushed that thought aside and tried to stand up again. "Okay, let's try this again," I said for the tenth time this morning. Yeah, over ten attempts at just standing, believe me it's harder than it looks, especially when you weren't born a pony. So I'm just going to skip what seemed like an eternity of standing and falling. But walking, that's a whole different story. It felt like I was walking on…Well hooves, no other way to describe it. No fingers at all, how did ponies do this all day? One time I tried flying, but that was no easier. You'd think that flying in Rainbow's body would come as naturally as breathing. But it was like trying to poor a drink into a shot glass that's on a record player, on a running cheaters back, while you're riding a unicycle and being shot at. Yeah, it was that hard to fly as Rainbow Dash… So after what felt like an hour of just tripping and falling I finally got the hang of walking and made my way to the mirror. Leaning against it was the only way I could stand on two feet, or stand at all really. And that's when I saw her. Rainbows face just staring back at me, I couldn't believe it, I was really a pony! A living, breathing, flying rainbow pony! "I know I said I wanted to see the world through her eyes. But not like this." I heard a mumble from the bed, fear struck into my heart like a knife, and my heart leapt up into my throat. Well Rainbows heart actually, but you get it. "Rainbow?" I almost instantly regretted saying that as I heard another mumble from my body. "Uh…I think you need to see this Rainbow." "Sleeping, go away." She mumbled waving a hand at me; I'm surprised that she hasn't noticed yet though. "Rainbow, wake up and look at this. You really need to." "Just five more minutes mom…" "Okay then…I guess you don't want these Wonderbolt tickets then. Maybe Twilight can have them." I couldn't help but let a smirk smear over my face. "Wonderbolt tickets! How did you-"She shot up in bed in excitement, but her excitement quickly turned into a blank stare. "Morning Rainbow, how do you like being human?" "Wha-"She stared down at my body. Well it was her body now, with hands and skin and no wings. "AAAAHHHHH!" She screamed. It felt like that scream shook the whole building. "What, but, how, who?" "Yeah, that's what I thought as well. So how's the new body fitting ya?" I don't know why, but I just couldn't let an opportunity to freak Rainbow out pass by, not one this good, no way! "Michael…What did you do!" "Hey don't look at me; I woke up just as surprised as you. But one question…" She stared at me blankly with a horrified look on her-well my face. "How do you ponies walk like this?" "How about you tell me what's going on first!" She shouted at me. "Well, we've basically swapped bodies. That's as much as I know, but I've gotta say Rainbow, your body is pretty comfy." Before Rainbow could object the door flung open and Fluttershy burst in. "Rainbow, is there something wrong? Why did you scream?" I stood there blankly as the yellow pony was finally my height; I wondered what to say because she was obviously talking to me. "Uh…Nothing, Michael just had a bad dream." "Oh, do you want to talk about it Michael?" "Nah it's fine, just get back…Whatever you were doing just now." "But are you sure that-" "Yep sure, by now!" I slammed the door in her face; it felt pretty bad that I just kicked Fluttershy out of her own guest room, but she couldn't find out. "Wait…hello, hello; testing…I sound just like you!" I said in a revelation, I'm surprised I didn't pick that one up before. "Yeah but, wow do I really sound like that…Well anyway, why didn't you tell her?" "Because she can't find out!" "Why not?" "I thought you'd know Fluttershy by now, if she finds out then she'll scream and tell everypony everywhere, then probably faint." "Yeah, but shouldn't we tell somepony?" "Look, this is going to be hard enough as it is, we don't need another problem on our back. Woah!" I fell over onto the floor again, "yeah, it might take us a while to learn how to walk." So we both got to learning how to walk, I'd already learned the basics by myself, so I could walk like a drunk at least, but it's better than falling over. "Wait…" Rainbow hesitated "If I'm you….then…" Rainbow looked over what was now her shoulder, and screamed AHH-"I shoved my hoof into her mouth, boy this is going to be confusing to tell. "Quit screaming, or it's going to get real hard to keep coming up with excuses. "Bfffph mph wfnphs." I pulled my hoof away and she repeated "but-but my wings…I don't have my wings anymore!" The look of disaster fell across her face, sad quickly turned to sadness as she hung her head. "Hey cheer up; I don't want to have to get you drunk again." "Wait…You wanted to get me drunk!" "Hey I just wanted to get a drink; you took us to a bar and got yourself drunk. Besides you look pretty happy when you're drunk." "Well, don't you think we should get this fixed? You can't use those wings…can you?" "Nah, it was hard enough walking. Speaking of that, how do you do anything with these hooves?" "Us? How do you do anything with these…things?" "What? Fingers?" "Yeah, it's like having ten mini hooves." "You get used to 'em. We should probably get out of here, at least into the living room or else Fluttershy will get suspicious." So we walked out into the living room like two drunks, stumbling all the way there. Luckily Fluttershy wasn't anywhere to be seen, huge relief. "Okay, so how are we going to get this fixed?" Rainbow asked, it's funny how she can't figure out how to sit down in my body. "What? Not comfy in there?" "Real funny wise guy but this is serious!" "Come on Rainbow, haven't you ever wanted to swap bodies with someone?" "Yeah, with another pony! Not someone like you." "Think about it though, you're a werewolf now! You can scare people off with a single glance, you have ten times the strength you used to have, and you can tell what people are thinking just by reading their faces." "That does sound pretty awesome…" She said, looking to one side, considering it. "And I can finally fly! Humans have always wanted to fly, plus I'm finally eye level with everyone else." I kept encouraging her to try and keep each other's body, just for one day. Plus her body is really comfy. Don't ask me how to describe it though. Neither of us can really cook so he decided to head to a café, luckily it was Saturday so we didn't have to work, gigantic relief because she can't cook and I can't fly. As we were walking in no real direction I said "okay, let's lay down some ground rules. We don't want each other to screw up our bodies, or our reputation." "You've got a reputation? Besides what's so great about your body anyway?" "Uhh, hello you're a werewolf now! And I don't really trust you with that much power. So don't get too angry, don't go punching through walls, and for the love of god don't look anypony in the eye too long!" "Well you don't try to fly then. I don't want my wings ruined by some amateur." "Actually, you're probably going to need to know how to use your, well my fingers…" Just so you know Rainbow Dash is useless in a human body. She can't even make a fist, but I don't blame her because I can't even move her wings. Once we got to the edge of town we got out basic muscle movements down. We could walk, gesture, and talk. The only flaw is that Rainbow can't move her new fingers, and I can't fly. Hopefully no pony will notice…right? I didn't really feel comfortable around my own body anymore, it just reminded I'm not who I used to be, so in town we went our separate ways. As I walked through fields in no real direction when I realised something…I'm not human anymore. I can finally leave it all behind! All the hate and misery of earth, because for one day I can be a pony like everyone else, living in a perfect world. "Haha! Finally, I can finally leave it all behind! But what to do now that I'm a pony? What to do, what to do…Oh duh I'm a Pegasus." Okay I know I promised Rainbow that I wouldn't fly. But if you had a chance to fly, be free, wouldn't you? And I've got a whole day, she won't notice. I closed my eyes and focused on where her wings were, and with no effort at all her wings gracefully swung open. It felt so natural, like I'd been flying all my life, "I can finally be free". And with a single swoop I kicked off the ground and shot up into the air. As my eyes shot open in amazement, I was flying faster than…Well anything! With the speed of a race car soaring through the air, it all felt so natural, I was barely doing anything. Why was it so easy now? I have no idea, and I don't care. It was the most amazing feeling in my entire life; when you fly you just feel so alive! Like you can do anything you want and nothing can get in your way. How can other ponies stand not being able to fly? I could dance on air, I was light as a feather, and I can't express how free I felt. More free than any human ever could. So I flew. Over vast forest and over mountains, through clouds and snow through rain and thunder, and into the wild blue yonder. Where was I going? I didn't know, and I didn't care. But now I know why Rainbow Dash acts like…Well Rainbow Dash, who wouldn't when you could get this amazing feeling, all day, every day. I looked behind me and saw one of life's most beautiful sights. I saw the brightest, clearest, most vibrant rainbow in existence, spreading over all the land like a beacon of joy. It had just been one morning of flying, and when I finally landed after an age of flying, of soaring and dashing. I touched down. It was then that I made up my mind. I want to keep this body. I know it sounds crazy, but none of the flaws came to mind while I was in Rainbow's body. Like a little world of my own where I could just be free. I know it sounds selfish as well but I just couldn't stand to lose that freedom. I flew for almost the entire day. Now and again I would see if I could fool Twilight and the others, and I easily did. Twilight was the only one that showed suspicion, and if the others did I couldn't tell because I wasn't a werewolf anymore. But then again that might just be Twilight's curiosity…Maybe… Sort of seemed like an unfair trade really, I get to be a utopian pony with a heavenly ability for flying, and she gets a medieval curse. "Oh well, I'm sure she's having fun having…slightly physic senses… By the days end I laid back on a white cloud watching the sunset, cheesy I know but I'd be lying if I said that Equestrian sunsets weren't beautiful. And it turns out that clouds are a bit like pillows, when you beat them they can turn as comfortable as bean bags. There was only one thing that seemed to ruin that day, and that was the sunset. I know I just said it was beautiful but it was a constant reminder, every second I looked into it I was reminded that the day was over. And I had to go back. Back to being just a normal human, how couldn't fly or use magic at all. Sure I was a werewolf but that would only last for so long. But that wasn't the only end it reminded me of… I ran out of nerve to star into it any longer, so I flew off. Not lightning fast as Rainbow usually would, but just at walking pace. Well…Flying pace I guess, but I had an idea in mind. It took me only…around five minutes and it was done. I managed to build a hammock out of clouds on the ground in the middle of a clearing. You'd think it would take me a while but it didn't. Because unlike clay or cloth, clouds can be thought controlled, and that just made it so much easier. So I laid there, singing a little tune to myself while I relaxed. Once again, somehow pony bodies just felt comfortable. "Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride! Ain't nothin' gonna slooow me dooown!" "What about me then?" That voice was all too familiar. I opened my eyes and my own body was there. I wasn't sure of it but it felt like Rainbow was using my bodies' werewolf abilities to stare right into my soul. It didn't feel like she was staring at her body, but at me. Me inside, hiding behind her own eyes "days over, time to get outta there." "Actually…There's a problem there…" I said with a nervous chuckle. "What?" Normally I would have feared the end of that day, but I had an ace up my sleeve. "Rainbow, did you actually think about how we were going to change back, or were you just having too much fun with my body? I have no idea how this happened, and I have no idea how to change it back." "WHAT!" She yelled. It was so awkward getting yelled at by yourself, mostly because we took each other's voices when we swapped. I saw my body grab Rainbow's shoulder and pull me in. "I thought you knew how to fix this." I heard my body say, with a low growl afterwards. "Rainbow, you mean that you hated being human so much, that you couldn't stand it for a single day? Not even when you have all this power?" The paused for a moment, as if considering if she really had liked it. "We're going to Twilight to get this fixed. Now." She locked her stare back on me before pulling me off the cloud hammock. "Wait Rainbow…Your using hands, almost as well as I could. How are you doing that?" "I-I don't know. It felt as natural when I practiced a bit more. Now come on, or I'll drag you there myself." Being threatened by your own body…That's something you don't see every day. "Hey," I said along the way. "You think we should try and trick Twilight, and see if she'll notice?" "No, we're getting back in our own bodies." "Why do you want back in your body so bad?" She remained silent for a while then said; "Isn't it obvious? You've done a lot of it today." Wow…She can harness the werewolf powers almost as well as I could…Maybe even better! That's a bit disturbing… But after I saw how badly she wanted her body back, I knew this was wrong and selfish of me. When we came to Twilight library, I went in first, calling out; "Twilight, we have a bit of a problem." She was studying at a nearby desk, then with an annoyed half sigh half groan, she said without bothering to turn around: "What?" "More of a big problem actually." I walked up next to Twilight, without a glance she responded: "Cant it wait? I'm busy." "Nope, Rainbow want's her body back." She turned with a surprised look in her eyes. "Uh…what? Who want's their what back?" "Rainbow Dash wants her body back. And you're the only person with any real magical anchor for this story, so we came to you." "Rainbow…A-are you okay Rainbow?" Just then, Rainbow walked through the door; (I'd flown ahead to try and explain.) "She figured it out yet?" Rainbow said impatiently. "Figure what out?" Twilight asked, drowned in confusion and questions. "Long story short," I began. "Rainbow and I swapped bodies, we agreed to stay in them for a day then change back. The thing is…We forgot that we don't know how to…" "But…But that's impossible Rainbow." "He's not Rainbow, I'm Rainbow." I heard my own voice call out. "But…But you're Rainbow and you're Michael. How could you two have swapped bodies?" Is this another prank Rainbow?" She said and looked at me. "Rainbow already told you Twilight" I said. "I'm Michael, and Rainbow is in my body." "Then…Then why do you're voices sound the same?" "Well." I heard Rainbow say, in my voice. "If we swapped consciousness then that wouldn't have any effect on us physically, that includes our vocal cords. So while we may have swapped bodies somehow, our voices are still that of the body we swapped into." Rainbow stood there dumbstruck by what she just said, like she didn't understand a word of it. "How did I do that?" "Okay now I know this is a prank, Rainbow could never give an answer like that!" "Twilight please" I asked her, it sounded a bit more like begging at the time. "This, this right here, this isn't Rainbow, this is Michael. A human trapped inside a pony's body. I can tell you every single fact about me and if that doesn't get you to believe us I don't know what will." "Hmm…" She looked up, wondering if this was all part of a prank, or if it really was true, no matter how impossible. "Okay if you really are Michael in there, then show me." A smug smile went across Twilight's face, like I was going to freeze up and admit this was a joke. Oh how wrong she was. "I'm Michael, human, 13 years old and a werewolf. I'm from Earth in the constellation of the Milky Way." "…What was the first word you said to us?" She pressed on, still suspicious. Oh the first word I said to you? AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! That was the first word I said, happy now?" "Well…Michael could of just told you all that. And I'm not falling for another one of your pranks Rainbow." So then I just gave up in a 'meh ya can't blame a guy for trying' kind of way. "…Okay." I said quickly. "What?" Twilight and Rainbow both said, equally confused. "I'm done, don't believe us then." I said, backing away, in a casual way. "You're not fooling me you two." "No that's fine, pull up a chair Michael, any chance for a cup of tea?" I asked, sitting down on the spot. Yes I practiced sitting down as a pony as well, not as comfortable as the human way though. Twilight turned around and tried to go back to her work, but she didn't start writing at all. And every so often she would glance back at us; she just couldn't focus with us staring at her, well not with me at least. Because she knew I was telling the truth, even while hiding behind Rainbow's eyes she could still the human inside of my new body. She became tenser, the intervals between her turning again became shorter, until she turned and just stared at me. And I'd put on a serious look, a grave look to try and show her that we weren't lying, but she already knew it. Until… "When did this all start?" Rule one: always have more than one ace up your sleeve. I told her about yesterday, including Rainbow getting drunk which attracted a swift punch to the side. The only thing I didn't tell her is when Rainbow tried to hit on me, and what she tried to do after…I don't think she even remembers herself though. "So, how did you not get drunk then? The book didn't say anything about being immune to alcohol." "My guess is that humans just have stronger livers than ponies do." "And can you stop being so paranoid about that pony you keep telling me about? Maybe it's just a coincidence." "Yeah…sure…coincidence…" Coincidence? Yeah right. "Wait…" Said Rainbow as Twilight inspected every book on the shelves. "Why do you want to get out of my body so soon now? Just before you were begging to stay in it." "Because Rainbow" I began. "It's not my place to play God in this world; if you want your body back I'm not going to stop you." "Well, I've read every book in this library at least once, and I don't think I've ever come across anything like this." Twilight finally stated. "So that means…" "We might have to take this to the princess. You'll be amazed at how huge their library is there." "Good, we can finally get this fixed." I heard Rainbow say. "But, the train doesn't come until tomorrow." Twilight added. "Sweet, another day of being Rainbow!" I guess you know who said that line. "Wait, what if the princess doesn't believe us?" "I'm sure she will." Twilight encouraged, "she knows that she can always trust us. And she would never do anything horrible to anypony, even if you are stuck in Michael's body." "All right! Cross body road trip!" I shouted out, wrapping a hoof around my Twilight and my hijacked body. "First line of the chapter!" Pinkie called out, somehow coming out of thin air behind us.