I watched excitedly as Matt opened up the case. It wasn’t big enough to be a robot pony, or if it was it must be a very small one. Then Matt pulled out something that looked like the portal gun from Portal and Portal 2. A blanket of confusion fell over him. Was it a toy? Or was it something else?
“This is what I had to show you” Matt proclaimed in a proud voice “This took over 7 months of development and a lot of money for the parts and tools to make it functional.” I was more confused than ever now and I had a strange feeling of anticipation and other emotions flowing through me.
“So you made a portal gun?” I asked him moving closer to inspect all the different mechanisms and buttons it had.
“In a way, yes.” Matt replied obviously proud of what he was holding “It is a portal gun but probably doesn’t do what you’d expect it to do.”
“And what does it do then?” I said while examining it even more closely. I had no idea what he was holding. It definitely wasn’t a toy. But then again what could it do?
“Watch this” Matt said with a smile on his face that told me I was about to find out exactly what it did. There was a loud crack as he pointed it at a blank wall and fired. An orange circle had appeared on the wall except it didn’t look solid. I walked cautiously up to the strange orange circle and held my hand out towards it. I turned to look at Matt.
“Is this a portal?” I asked him with disbelief I couldn’t hide even from the most unobservant person in the world.
“It is indeed a portal” Matt replied with even more pride in his voice this time. “I have tested it a few times before just to get the whole thing correct and it is perfectly safe.” He smiled at me with a look in his eye that could only be the look of a genius that had accomplished something great. Reluctantly I pressed my hand against the orange portal and watched as my hand disappeared through what had once been a solid wall. It felt odd, like pushing my hand through jelly or something similar.
“Take a step through, I promise you it’s safe.” Matt said confidently from behind me. He had a tone to his voice that I knew I could trust. Reluctant once again but with the curiosity overwhelming any other feelings I had at that point, I took a step through the portal and landed with a slight bump on some soft, lusciously green grass. I blinked a couple of times to allow my eyes to adjust to the bright sun. Another soft thud told me that Matt had arrived too.
“Where are we?” I asked him nervously. Looking around at the lush forest to my left and the fields of apple trees to my right gave me a slight idea but I didn’t want to say in case I was wrong.
“Turn around and look at me and you will know” I heard Matt’s calm voice say from behind me. Slowly I turned and my jaw dropped as I saw a light blue unicorn with a light brown mane and a psychology cutie mark standing in front of me.
“M-Matt? Is that you?” I could feel my eyes almost popping out of my head as I looked at him. He simply smiled.
“I told you that you would love it” The smile spread wider across his face as I tried to take all this in.
“So that would be-“ I trailed off in shock pointing toward the apple trees in the distance.
“That would be Sweet Apple Acres” Matt said calmly as if it was a normal thing for him.
“So how are you a unicorn? I mean how is that possible?” I asked more confused than ever before in my life.
“Well I’m not too sure about why we get transformed but I am trying to figure that one out.” This had to be the only thing he didn’t know about what was happening.
“Wait! We? We get transformed?” I looked at my hand but instead of a hand it had been replaced by a hoof. My eyes popped out of my head once more as I ran towards the nearest pond to admire my reflection. I looked into the pool of crystal clear water and my jaw must’ve nearly hit the floor. Looking back at me from the pool was a light grey Pegasus with bright red hair and hazel brown eyes. I felt my legs buckle underneath me with the shock of all this. Hoofsteps behind me informed me that Matt was coming over and I heard him chuckling to himself.
“I reacted pretty much the same way. It’s a lot to take in so just take a moment to breathe and then we can go for a little explore if you fancy that?” Matt’s voice calmed me a little and I turned to look at him.
“So can you use your magic yet?” I asked him in an attempt to stop my mind from racing at 100 mph. A small rock hitting me in the side of my head answered that question.
“Only a little. It’s easy once you get used to it though. Just feels natural you know?” He smiled reassuringly at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. I slowly rose to my feet… well hooves and concentrated hard on extending my wings. Slowly the rose and spread to their full wingspan and I had to admit I looked rather impressive. I turned and smiled at Matt feeling proud of my accomplishment and then he laughed because I suppose compared to actually flying it was a little lame.
“You be quiet!” I said jokingly “Let’s go explore a little yeah? I’m excited to meet some ponies”
“Okay well the nearest town is Ponyville so let’s start there yeah?” Matt started to lead the way as if he already knew his way around the area. I followed and took in all of the sights, maybe getting a little too excited over seeing the odd Pegasus flying overhead and little things along those lines. Everything seemed so much more colourful than on earth. Trees seemed greener, the grass seemed softer and the sun seemed to shine a lot brighter. It was beautiful, just like a dream.
“Oh, something you need to know” Matt said stopping before they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, “For every week in Equestria time only advances one day on earth. Another thing I cannot explain but maybe we can ask the Doctor if we run into him?”
“So we could stay here for a few days and time would only have advanced by about 12 hours on earth?” I asked rather confused again. “Can we find somewhere to stay? I want to hang around and meet some new ponies!” Matt smiled at my enthusiasm and continued walking towards Ponyville.
“I’m sure we could manage that” He replied with a little smile on his face. “Although I don’t think we need to find somewhere to stay as I rent out a small cottage towards the edge of the Everfree forest”
“So how many times have you been here exactly?” I asked a little more excited now. The thought of meeting all of my favourite ponies was getting to me a little. Learning to fly was also on my agenda for the next few days. If I was going to be here for days I would need to work so I considered joining the weather team.
The rest of the walk was spent with some light hearted chat and discussions of what to do with the day. I was excited to get out and explore and Matt was more than happy to oblige me, obviously remembering how excited he had been when he first arrived in Ponyville. As they walked into town it was obvious Matt had already made a few friends. He was greeted by a few ponies as we walked through a residential street towards his cottage. I caught a glimpse of myself in a window nearby while Matt was chatting to a pony I had never seen before. I took a moment to adjust to seeing myself as the grey Pegasus. I admired my wings, stretching them out to again get a full idea of my wingspan. And then I saw it. My Cutie Mark, a small cluster of musical notes on my flank, suited me perfectly! But then Matt began to move on up the street saying farewell to the pony he had been chatting to and turned into a small but well-kept garden. There were all sorts of flowers and herbs growing around the edges in flowerbeds and a light coloured sandstone path led up to the front door which was blue with a big brass door handle and matching letterbox. The thatched roof added a lot of character to the small cottage and it was built of a slightly red stone. It really was a beautiful house, the kind that only exists in fairytales and stories.
Using magic to turn the key in the door he entered the cottage and I quickly followed pushing the door shut with my back leg. It wasn’t a big cottage but it did have 2 bedrooms upstairs, both with a comfortable double bed, dresser and en-suite bathroom. The bed sheets looked like they were made of very soft cotton and looked extremely warm and soft. The pillows were very fluffy and it seemed like they might swallow you up if you lay your head down for too long. Hardwood floors were all there seemed to be, no carpet just a couple of rugs spread around here and there. In the living room there was a comfortable looking sofa with plush looking cushions sat in front of a large fireplace with a painting of Canterlot Castle at sunset hanging above. An old grandfather clock sat beside the large window where it merrily ticked away. Unlike the grandfather clocks I had experienced back home, which had a tick that creeped you out in the middle of the night, this one ticked almost soothingly. The kitchen was all what looked like pine wood and there was a lovely little wood burning stove which I presumed was for cooking on. A rather large fridge sat just to the left of the door leading out of the kitchen. A reasonably large, round table sat in the middle of the room and was surrounded by four matching wooden chairs. On top of the kitchen counters sat an old looking radio, much like a wireless from back on earth except it looked a bit easier to tune. Matt had a few possessions around like a pair of boots and a raincoat, something I probably needed to pick up. It was a cosy home. I loved it.
Matt returned from storing the portal gun in his room and asked me if I was ready to go and explore a little. I gave him an enthusiastic nod and trotted over to the door. It was around mid-day so we decided to go and get some lunch in a small café in the town square. It was a brief walk to the café and we took our time to enjoy the sunshine, greeting the passing ponies as I was fixated on the occasional Pegasus that would fly overhead or seeing unicorns carrying bags of shopping with their magic. I felt more peaceful here than I ever had back on earth. Nopony seemed to have a care in the world and everyone was cheery and gave you a smile as you walked past. It was a perfect society and I was content. Matt showed me a few places I might want to visit or hang out at. The park caught my attention as particularly amazing. Filled with tall, bright trees, lots of fragrant flowers that you could almost smell from outside the gates and ponies playing blissfully in the hot summers day. He pointed out Sugarcube Corner as we passed by and I was disappointed that Pinkie Pie had not yet noticed that I was a new pony and rolled out the welcome wagon, But I already had a great big smile on my face that seemed to radiate through every pore of my being. I couldn’t believe that all of this was real and that I was lucky enough to befriend the one person able to access this amazing and wondrous place.
We arrived at the café shortly afterwards. It was nicely named “Dandelion Deliciousness” and had tables outside and inside so Matt and I decided it was a better idea to have a seat outside. The waiter came over after a brief period of time and gave us both menus and took our drink order. Matt ordered an apple juice and I decided that would be the perfect drink as well so I set about looking at the menu. It was weird seeing things that back on earth would normally never appeal to me but everything on this menu looked delicious. I decided on the house special, which was a dandelion salad with apple, cucumber and lettuce. Matt took his time and eventually ordered an apple fritter with cherry sauce and a side of orange wedges.
Time went by with idle chat over the table as we waited on our food. We discussed where I would like to see and if I would like to meet anyone in particular. I asked if we could stop off at Sugarcube Corner to pick up some desserts and treats for the night ahead. Matt agreed that would be a great idea and as the waiter arrived with our food we had pretty much the rest of the day planned. I looked at my salad and I have to say nothing on earth ever looked this appealing! I tucked in and didn’t care that I probably looked like a pig. It was just too good to care. Matt sat across the table and looked like he enjoyed his apple fritter just as much as I enjoyed my salad. We finished up our food and drinks, paid the bill and went on our way once more. I had to prevent myself from squealing with delight when I saw background ponies that I knew and loved walking past. First Lyra and Bon Bon, then Octavia but no Ditzy Doo.
Slightly disappointed that I hadn’t seen her I opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and expected to be greeted by the hyperactive, pink pony that always seemed to be behind the counter in the episodes. Instead we were greeted by Mrs Cake as I began to browse the selection of treats and wonders that were in the glass cases around the shop. I had never seen anything like this before! Cupcakes with multi-coloured icing and sprinkles that looked mouth-watering, Caramel chocolates that looked like they would give you an intense sugar rush. But then I spotted what I had come in for. Sitting on the counter beside Mrs Cake was a batch of fresh Blueberry and chocolate muffins. The smell permeated the room and I found myself almost drooling over them as I made my way over.
“How did I know you would be straight over to the muffin section?” Matt jokingly said from behind me.
“Well I guess you know me too well” I said back as I turned to face him “Anyway I have decided what I would like so you getting anything?” Matt took about 5 minutes browsing the shelves and we purchased some muffins, caramel chocolates, cupcakes and a variety of sweets.
“Thank you! Come again soon!” Mrs Cake said to us cheerily as we left the store with our purchases.
“Trust me when I say I will!” I smiled back at her. Walking out into the square we decided to have a walk around the market and see what was on sale there. There was a selection of food stalls where we bought supplies for the next few days. I was disappointed that Apple Fritter was manning the Sweet Apple Acres stall for the day but I was still excited to introduce myself and purchase some apples. After browsing more stalls we decided it was probably time to call it a day when the stalls started packing up and the sun began to lazily set behind the range of mountains in the distance.
Before making our way back to the cottage Matt picked up a copy of the Ponyville Gazette so I could look and see if there were any jobs I could do while staying in town. After the short walk back we arrived back in the cottage where Matt put the shopping away while I tried to light the fire with no success as I wasn’t entirely used to using my hooves to hold things just yet. After struggling for roughly quarter of an hour I gave up and Matt came through and helped me out. I sat down lazily slouched on the couch with a muffin and slowly started to take small bites, savouring every last one. Matt went to bed shortly afterwards and I decided to stay up for a while longer. I sat and watched the fire for what seemed like hours just thinking about what had transpired today. I mean, I was in Equestria! I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that, but then again that was a pretty big thing to take in.
I reached over and managed to pick up the newspaper and turned to the job section. Nothing on the weather team unfortunately. Sweet Apple Acres were looking for somepony to help out a few days a week. All I had to do was speak to Big MacIntosh and hopefully I would be able to help out. It was then when I realised how tired I had become. Slowly I made my way up to my room and climbed under the covers. The feeling of wings beneath me would take some getting used to but the bed was so comfortable I could hardly complain. I breathed a heavy sigh as slowly I drifted off to sleep.