On the Subject of Pony Youth
The house was still quiet, despite some ponies waking up sleepily, including one brand new cotton white filly with incongruously bare little wing arms. She would hopefully be unalarmed when she awoke, fully transformed, because of all the other people around to help her, people who’d gone through the same thing that she was going through. That was the primary purpose behind Twilight’s last afternoon speech: to ease the worries of those afflicted, and give them a better idea of what was going on, so that they didn’t make any terrible mistakes.
Twilight Sparkle hadn’t thought that whether one is physically an adult or not really mattered when it came to preventing terrible mistakes, but considering Apple Bloom’s reaction, Twilight figured maybe she should have given it a higher consideration.
Applejack met her halfway, as Twilight was sitting on the bench at the door, removing her boots. The cowgirl walked up to Twilight who was busily brooding over what to say to Apple Bloom, and to all of them, and looked at Twilight pensively. “Apple Bloom went upstairs,” Applejack said in a guarded tone, “Ah think you got a lot to explain to her. We probably shoulda talked this out with her, instead of....”
“I’m sorry Applejack,” Twilight mumbled, “It’s just so hard to... what was I supposed to tell her?”
“I dunno, but you cain’t keep withholdin’ stuff like this,” Applejack replied folding her arms and frowning. “You’re involved whether y’like it or not sugarcube, and it might be real important for us to know something y’all were hiding from us.”
“I know, I just... I won’t do that anymore Applejack. I don’t want to hide anything from you,” Twilight said, feeling a little relief as she did so, kicking her shoes off beside all the others. “I just... I don’t always know what’s important to know, and I don’t know everything. Sometimes, it seems like I only know enough to make things dangerous. What do I tell her, Applejack? That she should be in kindergarten?”
“Just talk to her,” Applejack reassured Twilight, holding her shoulder. “You seem like you got a good head on your shoulders. She needs someone who knows what’s going on, to set her straight.”
“Applejack...” Twilight said, looking up at her friend—at the girl who resembled her friend, with a storm of emotions fighting inside. “You have no idea how much that means to me. I... thank you. I will talk to her.”
Twilight hesitantly parted from the concerned Applejack, and climbed her two legs up those stairs, as quietly as she could. She hadn’t actually... been up here, in this world. Twilight had been around the Apple family household in the world where they actually grew apples, but not this one, not yet. It looked different up here, yet eerily familiar.
It really was remarkable how much this house resembled Applejack’s home, back... home. Just with everything sized for humans, taller and thinner, and with a lot more doorknobs. Even if Twilight hadn’t known where Apple Bloom’s room was from the parallel universe, it was pretty obvious which room Twilight should head towards. The door she approached was emitting the unmistakable sounds of a little filly whimpering through her tears.
And also from Scootaloo, who was walking out the door, and looking up at Twilight, just as the girl approached the little pumpkin colored pony, wincing down at her hopefully.
“You do not want to go in there,” Scootaloo said to Twilight with a sour grimace. “Apple Bloom is totally in one of her moods again.”
“Yeah, it’s... kind of my fault,” Twilight said with a nervous grin. “I just need to talk to her, and... she’ll be fine, I think. So if you could give us some privacy? I’d really appreciate it.”
Scootaloo gave Twilight a long look, then nodded sharply, and vanished back inside the room. Shortly thereafter, she was headbutting the rump of a sleepy Sweetie Belle, getting the two of them out of the room. She whispered quietly with Sweetie Belle, no doubt headed downstairs, where the rest of the ponies were, and also where breakfast was, if the smell of pancakes was any indication. Resisting the temptation to just leave to go eat herself, and pretend that this never happened, Twilight Sparkle pushed open the door, stepping softly into Apple Bloom’s room.
It was a lovely room that Apple Bloom had, with green striped wallpaper, and some framed pictures of flowers hung up on the wall. The large window had blue drapes pulled aside, letting in what of the sunlight hit this part of the house. There was a dresser with various pony shaped outfits laid out on top of it. Next to the poster bed was a small table, with a simple table lamp, and a picture of Apple Bloom’s family. And in that large, poster bed, on its apple themed sheets, a small, yellow and red little pony was face down on the pillow, crying.
“Apple Bloom—” Twilight started, only to have Apple Bloom raise up her head, and spit out angrily,
“What? Here to tell me more about how much a little kid ah am?”
“No, I—” Twilight said hesitantly.
“Ah’m so humiliated!” Apple Bloom declared in exasperation. “All this time ah been telling people an’ telling people that I’m not a little kid, and that ah’m all grown up, and that ponies are just like this. Ah told them I knew that it wasn’t what it looked like, and it was exactly what it looked like! It’s so obvious! Did you see her? Ms. Cheerilee—she was like twice as big as me!”
Apple Bloom just shoved her face back into the pillow and took out her frustrations on that, trying to shut Twilight out. But her pony ears were certainly not covered by that pillow.
“You know what?” Twilight told the pony a bit snippily, “Yes. I am here to tell you about how much of a ‘little kid’ you are. And you’re gonna listen to me.”
Apple Bloom rolled on her side grunting out, “Ah already know I’m some kinda little baby pony, just like everyone—”
“No, you don’t know,” Twilight interrupted her bitter accusations, “You still don’t know. You came up to my trailer, then you asked a very difficult and complex question, and then you ran away! Well, technically I ran away, but you aren’t dealing with this either, and we have to stop running away from each other. So I’m going to tell you exactly what I know, and you won’t like it, but I promise you it is not as bad as you think.”
Apple Bloom didn’t say anything, so Twilight took the opportunity to begin. But where to start? Twilight declared her intentions so confidently, but she didn’t have any plan for what she was going to tell her at all! All she could do is... tell... the truth.
“Apple Bloom, in my world, Miss Cheerilee... is my book buddy,” Twilight said experimentally. Apple Bloom didn’t respond, but from how Apple Bloom’s ears perked, she could tell she had the pony’s attention.
“We would meet once a week, to exchange books, find new, fun things to read,” Twilight explained. “After I found another pony with a love of reading, we became fast friends. Nothing serious, just a shared common interest. Even after the whole thing with Discord, and the Crystal Empire, even after princesshood, she didn’t stop being my book buddy. She treated me like the pony I wanted to be, like a friend no matter what I looked like. I could help her in return, as her occupation as a school teacher made it hard for her to spend a lot of time perusing the shelves. Apple Bloom, Cheerilee is... my Cheerilee is your teacher, and you love studying under her wing.”
Apple Bloom was looking solidly at Twilight now, with a look of warm nostalgia in her eyes. “Yeah, I—” Apple Bloom started to say, then just sat up and stared forward in puzzlement.
“Ap—?” Twilight started to say, but Apple Bloom stated in a puzzled tone,
“Ah know she cain’t be mah teacher in this world; Ms. Cheerilee’s the school librarian. But I thought she was... maybe, she used to be a teacher? Ah think she was mah teacher like that too, or something, back in primary school. But... of course I was gonna love primary school. It don’t even have separate classes, or—or tests! Not crazy ones at any rate.”
“That’s not—wait, really?” Twilight said, blinking in surprise. “You were taught by Cheerilee, in your primary school?”
“Dunno, I’d have to look it up,” Apple Bloom whimpered reluctantly. “You’d have to ask her about it, maybe. But... what’s that got to do with me being a little kid?”
“That’s how I know you, Apple Bloom,” Twilight explained, “Or rather, the other you, from my world. Mostly through stories from Cheerilee. And on occasion, through my friend Applejack. My Apple Bloom is a wonderful, active little filly who can’t get enough of learning how her world works. Or... she was, the last time I happened to see her...
“So when I say you are a foal,” Twilight concluded, sitting down next to the little pony on the bed, “You have to understand that I am not intending that as an insult. I’m saying it out of respect for you, and out of the memory of the imaginitive young filly that I once knew, before I got... stuck here.”
“This’ll be five years, you said,” Apple Bloom offered soberly, and thankfully without a tremble in her voice.
“Yes, it’s... it’s been a while,” Twilight admitted. “I know my friendships won’t outright vanish in the blink of an eye, but... I’ve almost been away from my friends longer than we’ve been...friends.”
“Sounds like you miss ‘em real bad,” Apple Bloom commented, turning around on the bed to look Twilight’s way.
“Yes I...” Twilight blinked back tears. “Yes I do, but that is not what I came here to talk about.”
“What do you think she’s like?” Apple Bloom asked curiously. “The other me, ah mean? When you see her again, is she gonna have a job, or what?”
“She’ll be old enough to help with the apple bucking in a few years,” Twilight said offhandedly. “She probably has her cutie mark by now. But my world really does have a different society than you’re used to.”
“I’ll say,” Apple Bloom responded frankly. “Ah don’t even know what the heck you just said? Bucking apples?”
“The point is, I’m—sorry I... deceived you,” Twilight told Apple Bloom, standing up to face her. “I don’t want to make this any worse,” she said apologetically. “You really need to know what I mean, when I say you’re a little filly, so please just... don’t yell at me or run away, and listen to my reasoning.”
“Uh... s-sure,” Apple Bloom said, eyeing Twilight reluctantly. “Ah ain’t gonna like being a little... filly though. Nothing you can do about it ...but ah ain’t gonna like it.”
“When you were human, you were a high school Freshman,” Twilight recalled. “Like I said last night, every human here has a pony counterpart in my world, and a lot of them live in my home town, in Ponyville. And of all the ponies I know, the human counterparts here are... normalized in age.”
“Normalized in... age? You mean like, older?” Apple Bloom asked in confusion. Twilight wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to talk about this, but... it was important for Apple Bloom, she was the only one here, and she could certainly withstand her world being shaken up a bit, if it relieved her of whatever burden she felt for being foalish again.
“Tell me, do you know of any little er ‘kids’ in your city?” Twilight asked cryptically. “Like, real kids, who are very young, not people changed into pony children?”
“What, not like there ain’t none?” Apple Bloom said in disbelief, braced up on her palms. “Ah go to the high school,” she said, “So I don’t exactly get to hang around littler kids so much.”
“Everything in your world revolves around that high school,” Twilight declared vehemently, “And that’s why Sunset’s theory made sense, that humans just didn’t have young foals, so they could all attend high school. It was a symbiotic relationship, between your species, and that... educational institution. Do you get it?”
“Not even close,” Apple Bloom sighed.
“Your city is a—a high school town,” Twilight declared. “There are students that go to high school, teachers that go to high school, businesses that cater to students and teachers that go to high school, and residences for parents, and high schoolers. So there aren’t many, or in fact any kids right now in your city, who don’t go to high school. Not one youth I know of, who is under the age of 13.”
“Well that’s... peculiar,” Apple Bloom said uncertainly. “That couldn’t be right, could it?”
“That is why your ages are normalized, by whatever in your society brought high school into existence,” Twilight explained. “Your ages have to match what your school grade is. And that means that some of you are going to become younger when you turn into ponies from my world, and some older. You’re younger because you are matching the age of the pony version of yourself in my world!”
“That’s crazy,” Apple Bloom said. “School cain’t set mah age. You ain’t even listening. I just said ah went to primary school! Ah can’t have always been the same age?”
“Well, it might have something to do with the time loop...” Twilight pondered, “Yes, you don’t remember it, but you have been that age for a very, very long time.”
“So why am ah not an old granny pony then?” Apple Bloom asked in frustration. “If’n ah been doing this over and over again, for how long did you say?”
“I... don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “I don’t know, but... the princess told me—er—the ruler of my kingdom told me that your loop was on the verge of breaking down, because our worlds are becoming synchronized; they’re... parallel worlds, so to speak. We have the same history, up to some point where everything diverged.
“Every year you loop around, it ratchets your world back one more year, while a year passes normally in my world,” Twilight said. “But you’re ratcheting forward, not pulling us backward. When we happened upon you in the distant past, you were already many years set back from us. We see you unchanged in the past, but what we see is the future, our future, repeating over and over again on your side. As our natural timeline catches up with your own, our worlds begin to synchronize.
“The reason the princess even risked sending me here was because events in our world were starting to match up with those in your world,” Twilight continued. “When they looked in the mirror in the past, they would have seen the future. But now, when the princess looks into the mirror, she sees the present. Ponies were born—ponies grew up in my world, who are the alternate versions of you, of you humans who have ‘always’ been here.
“But you just... but... what?” Apple Bloom said in confusion.
“I’ve been here for five years, Apple Bloom,” Twilight said. “It should have been over the very same year that I came through, but it wasn’t. Whatever happened in your world that caused this, would have happened in my timeline approximately four or five years ago, when we diverged. And now that this is... ending (I hope), you’re approximately the same age as your alternate reality counterpart. Who is 14 years old, currently.”
Apple Bloom shook her head, at that. “Ah was 14 years old,” she corrected Twilight, “But now ah’m just a little kid!”
“That’s the thing, though!” Twilight said intently. “Ponies age much more slowly than humans. Your Granny Smith is only what, 72?”
“Uh, yeah,” Apple Bloom said uncertainly. “Somewhere thereabouts.”
“In my world, she’s over 500 years old!” Twilight declared vehemently.
There was silence.
“What?!” Apple Bloom yelped, jumping to the edge of the bed. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this? Ponies are what—immortal?! 500 what?”
“Ponies age slower than humans,” Twilight said placatingly, “And I didn’t tell them because... I was trying to figure out how to tell them diplomatically that they were all small children again. And I don’t want to go saying that they age like ponies back home, because I don’t know for sure.
“Ponies age differently where I’m from,” Twilight emphasized, “Not just more slowly. In particular the growing periods are more pronounced, and adulthood is much longer. A pony in my world would be considered of age to foal by her 50th birthday, whereas you humans become adults at 18, over twice as old proportionally. And—it’s hard to explain without a diagram.”
“Horses live like 30-something years,” Apple Bloom offered distantly, “An’ they’re all grown up by age 3. Something like that, maybe?”
That was... “Of course!” Twilight yelped in surprise, “Exactly like that! Horses and... and that lines up just about perfectly. Apple Bloom, you’re a genius!”
Apple Bloom didn’t seem convinced, but she did seem placated. “Are your years like... only 3 months or something?” she asked skeptically. “Or... whatever 500 divided by... 30 is...”
“Our years are three hundred and eighty four days,” Twilight stated after, some mental calculation. “With the same 24 hour days, and I can only speak subjectively, but it seems like an hour feels about as long,”
“Humans are the oldest lived species on the planet!” Apple Bloom protested.
“Dragons are the oldest lived species on my planet,” Twilight countered. “Ponies are only among an armful of distant thirds. Tortoises live so long, for instance, that ponies have been known to bequeath them to their next of kin!”
Apple Bloom just shook her head in disbelief. “So ah’m some kinda super long lived pony,” she stated, “An’ that’s why ah’m just a kid, at age 14 still?”
“A-actually,” Twilight clarified softly, nervous to say this, but Sunset did say the whole truth. “This is the fifth year I’ve been here, Apple Bloom,” she said with a meaningful look.
“So?” the filly asked, with a quizzical eyebrow right back.
“So,” Twilight persisted fussily, “When I said you looked just like my version of Apple Bloom, I meant the last time I saw her, five years ago, back when she would still have been—”
Apple Bloom squealed in anguished aggravation, “Ah’m nine years old?!”
That darned no good rotten lying Twilight Sparkle just smiled at Apple Bloom apologetically, confirming everything for her. Not a little kid, Apple Bloom’s butt! The little filly threw herself backwards from the back board, flopping down onto her back on the mattress. She lay there limply, uttering in distress, “Well, this is jus’ great! Not only am ah a little kid, ah’m a little kid even compared to humans, and ponies are like, little kids for super long!”
“It’s... different,” Twilight disputed, hesitating to sit herself on Apple Bloom’s mattress and explain things to the pony. “You probably would only be a little... er... ‘kid’ for about... 6 more years maybe? Most ponies have their cuteciñera at age one-huh... at age 16, though certain fillies insist on having it earlier. But technically you’re not a little foal then. That’s the age when you can apprentice, and some years afterward, you’ll have a growth spurt and... start becoming adult for all intents and purposes, by journeypony age, or t...twenty-one.”
“Twenty-one,” Apple Bloom stated flatly, as if that’s all she heard.
“Well, 16 or er, 18 is when it begins,” Twilight offered pleadingly, “And it’s mostly for legal reasons, and... yes. 21 is when you’d... qualify as what humans know as a ‘teenager.’”
“How old are you?” Apple Bloom piped up, still staring at the ceiling, laying there like a lifeless pony doll.
“I’m... I was thirty... three when I came here,” Twilight told her, “But I’m considered somewhat perspicacious among ponies. Especially now, that I have had 5 more years added on for free. Ponies like me don’t... seem to age, when they’re caught in this time loop, no more than you humans—er I mean... no more than you do.”
“So you haven’t been through like... years and years of high school,” Apple Bloom asked uncertainly, “Even though you’re already... 33, really?”
“I’ve been normalized myself,” Twilight said uncomfortably. “So I’m currently a lot less physically mature than I... was. I did spend a decade in higher education, but I’m an outlier, like I said. Most ponies go into their trade, rather than dedicating themselves to more studying. I was... pretty extreme, honestly. The princess herself had to boot me out of it, before I had any chance to get my nose out of those books and make some friends.
“I like studying,” Twilight emphasized, holding her hands before her for some reason, “Learning new things, reading about ancient legends, it’s all so amazingly fascinating to me! And nopony ever forced me to study it. I had to fight tooth and hoof to get into Celestia’s School for Gifted... oh.”
“Oh?” Apple Bloom asked worriedly, once again perched on the back of the bed as she peered at the purple girl.
“It’s nothing really. I just realized that Princess Celestia, the one in my world, would technically count as a principal too,” Twilight said, blushing and looking at her hands upheld for... some reason. “She established a school for gifted unicorns... occasionally expanded to include ponies in general who study the arcane arts.”
“This is all making mah head hurt,” Apple Bloom moaned, rubbing at her frizzy curls with her forehooves. “So—so ah’m like... nine, an’ ponies live longer, so that’s like, a super baby pony, and the principal is a principal. Got any more facts you wanna share with me?”
Twilight blinked. “No, you’re—”
“An’ ah’m hungry, too!” Apple Bloom declared in a petulant whine. “Ah’m missing breakfast! Bet a little baby like—”
“You are not. A baby,” Twilight growled out angrily, pushing off of Apple Bloom’s bed, and pacing across the room as she ranted. “You are a filly, and yes you are a foal, but you are fully ambulatory. Your eyes are fully irised. You have all your teeth. You are eating solid foods. Yes, you’re a lot younger than you used to be, but you are not some kind of... helpless infant! You’re a pony, Apple Bloom!”
Apple Bloom didn’t comment on that.
“You don’t even—realize just how not incapable you are,” Twilight said, shaking her head in harsh disbelief at the despondent filly. “I told you everything I know. I suspect—and I haven’t even seen Ms. Cheerilee yet—but I have a very good idea that compared to her, you are physically a young filly, and that should stop you from doing precisely nothing! You don’t have to hold yourself back. There’s no way you’re supposed to act to be a filly, that you aren’t already doing, just by being yourself!
“So, no, you are not a baby. That’s all I came here to say,” Twilight concluded, turning away from the bed. “Just... do whatever works, and don’t ever tell yourself that you’re too young to do so. Ponies will—your family and friends will take care of you, if you need it, and otherwise, you just need to... be yourself. And stop worrying so much about how old you are.”
Twilight was almost out of the room, when Apple Bloom squeaked out a noisy, “Thank you!” The little pony blushed as Twilight turned over her shoulder, adding less anxiously, “...thank you, Twilight.”
Twilight gave a small smile, and just continued on her way, opening the door with confidence, a little more reassured now that everything was going to be fine as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo tumbled in, rolling right up to Twilight’s feet, from where the little ponies had been stacked on top of each other, leaning with their ears against the door just now.
“Oh... hayfeathers,” Twilight declared, staring forward in disgust.
“I can explain!” Sweetie Belle squeaked desperately.
And of course, she couldn’t.
“Why do I always say that?” Sweetie groaned, covering her face in shame.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo found themselves sitting in a heap at Twilight’s feet, from where they’d rolled in after Twilight Sparkle had opened the door to Apple Bloom’s room, revealing them both as two little eavesdroppers. As soon as Sweetie spoke, her eyes shifted with uncertainty, and Twilight just stared down at her, as if waiting for Sweetie to explain why this totally didn’t count as spying on them.
“So that’s three ponies now, who know about... the limitations of longevity in the human world,” Twilight said distastefully, down to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “You two are not going to go telling everyone that you’ve just found the Fountain of Youth, right?”
“The what?” Scootaloo asked cluelessly. Sweetie turned to her.
“The Fountain of Youth,” Sweetie told the orange pony in a practiced tone. “You know, that they were searching for, when they explored the New World?”
Sweetie then looked up at Twilight and said nervously, “Don’t tell me your world has a Fountain of Youth? I promise I won’t tell if it does.”
“It... doesn’t precisely,” Twilight stated uneasily, “But the point is that humans get all crazy about youth and childhood and... stuff, so I’d really appreciate it if you could not tell everyone that you’re going to quote live forever unquote.”
“You don’t actually have to say quote and unquote,” Scootaloo stated abrasively. “Besides, ponies don’t live forever. You said like, Granny Smith was what, 500 years old?”
“She’s still kicking too,” Twilight added. “Might have another century in the old girl, though that would be pushing her luck. I don’t want to give you unrealistic expectations, but ponies in my world do have a very long natural lifespan, compared to humans in your world... and horses, in your world.”
“She’s right Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said unhappily. “People care an awful lot about that stuff, and I think they’d do anything to find out how it works.”
“I don’t uh... fancy mahself ending up in some labratory in Manhattan,” Apple Bloom said nervously, “But if the pony’s spreading, ain’t they got the right to know?”
“The mayor is going to be here on Monday,” Twilight said. “No doubt along with the local news crews. I think we’ll be able to pull together something to satisfy them. What I’m most concerned about is how are people going to react, if this keeps getting worse? This is when people need to keep it together and use their incredible ingenuity to prepare, before they’re completely caught splay hooved by an unfortunate transformation. It’s the absolute worst time to start a panic!”
“When’s a good time to start a panic?” Scootaloo asked skeptically.
“The time to panic is when everything is completely out of control,” Twilight explained easily, “When your lives are falling apart faster than you can put them together, your last resort has failed, and disaster is imminent. Right now, we have a still slow rate of incidence, enough food for everyone to eat, no serious injuries or destruction, and 99.98% of the population still in possession of their hands. I think the next weeks are going to make the difference between weathering this, and total disaster.”
She paused, adding shakily, “You—you know, assuming it does continue to accelerate, and is somehow tied in with the time loop, a-and is all my fault. For all I know, you could be the last people to transform.”
There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. Apple Bloom glanced out the window, and then gave Twilight a severely disappointed look, whining, “You jinxed it, Twilight!”
The three little ponies crowded onto the crate that was left beneath Apple Bloom’s windowsill, while Twilight peered over their heads, where down on the ground you could see a police cruiser pulling up into the driveway. And there was only one reason those fellows would be back.
“I think I should go check it out,” Scootaloo said, leaning forward.
“What?” Twilight said in a surprised tone, “No, why would you think that? They’ll either want me, or Granny perhaps, and it’s not even your responsibility to just... walk up to the police and interrogate them. Why would you do that?”
“Because I can totally just jump right out the window, that’s why,” Scootaloo smirked, indulgent with excitement. With a wiggle of her tushie, she lunged forward, and arced smoothly over the windowsill, her incongruously tiny wings catching her less tiny body in mid air. While Twilight stood with a cautionary expression and a hand outstretched, the orange pony fluttered safely downward to where the police car had just come to a stop.
“Well, I guess I can’t argue with that,” Twilight said, dissatisfied. She looked down at the other two less mobile little ponies still perched up on the window sill, saying, “Could one of you two go warn Granny that another pony is here, and Scootaloo is probably getting in trouble with the police again?”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both saluted smartly, then both of them went gallopping out of the room and giggling down the stairs. Even Apple Bloom. Twilight couldn’t help but feel like she was the butt of some sort of joke here, without a jokester anywhere to be seen. Which was actually a pretty good summation of her experience since coming here. At least the news she was dreading having to give these fillies had gone over better than expected. Apple Bloom was justifiably unamused, but once she forced Twilight’s hoof, it actually didn’t work out so bad after all.
Scary how fast foals can go from upset to giddy at the flip of a tail.
Twilight still hoped those three could keep it relatively low key, but perhaps it wasn’t as much of an issue as Twilight had feared. With Cheerilee as... herself, and not a little filly, it was proven that people were changing into ponies from Twilight’s world, including attendant age, so it wasn’t a free ticket to a second foalhood for everyone.
“City of foals indeed...” Twilight murmured, leaning on the windowsill and just watching bemusedly at the scene unfolding beneath her.
Around that time, downstairs in the laundry room, Cheerilee sat there where she awoke, still in a bit of a daze. Now that she had a moment to think, she was eyeing her brand new rear end in puzzlement. On the side of her furry, magenta thigh was the most peculiar thing. Three... daisies? Sunflowers? Cheerilee wasn’t sure what flower they would be; they were highly stylized, like someone had painted them right on. And each one had a smiley face in the center of it.
Was this thing on her thigh some kind of... in-joke? Do ponies—or, people transforming into ponies fall asleep so deeply, that you can paint on their rears without them awakening? How would anyone do it, when Cheerilee still had her pants on? Because she certainly had her pants on, upon waking! Did they put her pants back on?
Cheerilee tried touching it. It felt surreal to even lift her arm, because it was just so... natural to do so! It was a jointed hoof, that only wanted to curl forward, and that didn’t feel nearly as weird as it should have. Cheerilee prodded at her own rear, feeling the smooth, oddly downy fur that covered her entire body now, feeling it dully against her own fingernail... which was a hoof, now. If the—mark was painted on her rear end, the paint would have broken up when she disturbed the fur, but it just seemed like it was the fur.
Could ponies control their fur color, like an octopus? Was that a thing that happens? Cheerilee stared at it, but try as she might, she couldn’t get the image to change just by sheer mental will. What was she even doing? This was complete lunacy, and the mark on her butt, or—brand even, was the icing on the cake. What was she supposed to be, property of the Flower Smiles ranch?
Cheerilee was pretty sure there wasn’t an actual ranch by that name.
Cheerilee’s exploration of the strange mark was done laid on the floor again, twisted around to palpate herself with a surprising flexibility. She wasn’t standing, but she had at least figured out how to get her... hooves underneath her earlier. Now, she was thinking of taking a shot at standing up again, like those other ponies had done before her, so many times. But Cheerilee wasn’t sure whether she should be standing up, or whether she should go anywhere, or what to do at all, in light of the current situation. She just knew so little about what was going on, and now it affected her so profoundly, that Cheerilee was unsure whether to sit or stand. She certainly didn’t want to repeat that thing with Apple Bloom earlier.
Cheerilee looked at her tail. Cheerilee looked at her own tail. She had a tail, she was a horse, and she squinted at it, experimentally willing the pink striped thing to move. She tried to imagine it... lifting or something, but it stubbornly lay there, quiescent. Apple Bloom had little problem using her own tail, so Cheerilee was sure utilization of hers would come in due time, but... acknowledging that meant admitting that this was real, and that this could last for a very long time, long enough for a human being to learn how to have a tail. So instead, Cheerilee just looked at her tail in bemused curiosity, imagining her experience as if it were a game that she was playing, like in her old roleplaying group back in college.
There was a noise and—Cheerilee’s ear turned to face it. She still wasn’t used to that! She turned the rest of her head, to see a small, pink pony easing her way into the room, staring at Cheerilee with wide open eyes of greenish blue. It was one of the new ponies Cheerilee had just seen as of yesterday evening, when Cheerilee tumbled into the Acres half transformed into a horse, with as many last minute provisions as she could think of. This little pony’s complexion—er, that is to say—her fur was a washed out pink, with two shades of pink in her hair. This little pony snuck her head into the laundry room, where Cheerilee had been sleeping, and upon laying eyes upon her the pony said, “Woah! Hyouure hueg!”
Cheerilee looked on in helpless silence, as the pony boldly moved into the room, and unsteadily toddled all around her, saying, “Hyour ligke twishe az big ash me or anybo’y!”
“Whaf?” Cheerilee said uncomprehendingly, in regards to... whatever that pony said. The littler pony responded, by half climbing up Cheerilee’s side.
Cheerilee stiffened at that. The feel of it was... intriguing. She felt the weight on her own body, the little hooves curling over her own back, even though she was watching it happen to a Cheerilee colored pony. The filly’s hooves didn’t hurt, and in fact it was kind of satisfying to feel her leaning against her.
“Ho may! I coul’ rie you!” the pink pony chirped, with the most adorable beaming smile on her face, leaning there on Cheerie’s sloping, deep magenta side. “Why hyou soh bigh?”
At that moment, a glowering pink, almost purple girl with deep magenta hair in long bouncy curls pushed her way into the laundry room. She wore a purple, berry decorated dress, and a sour look of exasperation on her face. She was saying “Hey, Mom—Mom! What are you doi...”
The girl trailed off at the sight of Cheerilee, for one of a few possible reasons. Blinking at Cheerilee, this tall girl asked her, “Why’re you so... big?”
Yes, that would be the elephant in the room.
“can’ thalk...talk hverry gool...very well ye’,” Cheerilee said to the girl carefully, looking up at her with some trepidation rising in her chest. “Nobo’y tol’ me wha’s going on,” she slurred slowly, her mouth feeling so... stretched and stretchy. “Bu’ happle bloom know...sh. Askh hap—Apple Bloob...Bloom.”
The girl stared blankly at Cheerilee, and Cheerilee just gave up on talking. Not until she figured out why her tongue felt so... oh this was what Scootaloo had been talking about when she was learning to talk. How interesting!
“Thry shanding up!” came a high, excited voice above Cheerilee. The light pink little little pony commanded her eagerly, having managed to situate herself entirely on top of the small of Cheerilee’s back, hooves curled around either side of her.
Cheerilee was still sitting on her belly, as she had been since Apple Bloom ran off in such a tizzy. Cheerilee looked down at her own folded hooves insecurely, thinking about what it would take to stand up again, and trying not to think about the curious feeling of a warm body pressed down on her bare back. Was this appropriate? Cheerilee didn’t know anything about how ponies were supposed to treat each other.
“How d’I... do htat... with hyu on my bagk?” Cheerilee asked the not-much-more-articulate smaller pony hanging on up there.
“Jus’ braesh your fron’ hoobes flat, an’ slide your bagk hoobes bagk until ur shanding!” the cutie coached sloppily up there.
The girl still in the room with them exclaimed aggrivatedly, “She doesn’t need you riding her. What are you even doing?”
“No, no, ishogay... ith ish o-gkay,” Cheerilee cautioned the girl, moving a hoof out from under her to try to wave it accedingly in the girl’s direction. This girl who just barged in here seemed to know the pony on her back, but Cheerilee hadn’t really picked up on what her deal was here. But Cheerilee honestly said, “I wanna thry thish,” to the reluctantly impassive girl. Then the librarian gone pony began seeing if she could get herself standing up again.
Stretching her arms out in front of her, flexing them uncertainly, then planting them curled, almost to either side of her, it was sort of like weird pushups, where your head was already raised up high and far back. Cheerilee felt her fingertips—that is to say, hooves—plant firmly on the blankets and the loose clothing she had emerged from this morning. Cheerilee didn’t want to disturb the excited little... filly on her back, so she had to make sure not to trip on these rumpled layers of fabric. But it felt stable enough? Shaking her head slightly, Cheerilee just went for it, trying to slide her back legs back, which incidentally ended up throwing her whole weight onto her arms... arms which bore her weight nicely, of course.
Pushing up with her arms, Cheerilee found that the poorly pronounced, if well meaning lesson of the filly, whose terribly warm belly rested firm on Cheerilee’s back now, was entirely true. That little pony’s excited squee rose in pitch, as Cheerilee’s rear legs slid backwards almost on their own, while she pushed her front ones straight, until her hips felt... stable. It was a surprisingly easy way to stand up, and less hectic than before.
Cheerilee stood there, somewhat shakily, feeling a lot more steady than she thought she would feel. For fingertips, these hooves sure pressed broadly on the ground. The weight of the filly on her back was noticeable, but manageable. Even comfortable! Cheerilee looked up at the girl standing in front of her, the human girl who was keeping herself uneasily separate from them. That girl was looking weirded out as all heck by this. Understandable, considering she was currently observing a little pony riding upon another slightly less little pony.
“Well!” Cheerilee declared to her in a forced pleasantness, “Loogs hlike it whorked. Hereyam giving hrides hlike a fony... a pony. Htangs! ...Thangk... hyou.” She referred to the pony on her back, who just beamed back at her and said,
“Now htry walhking!”
Cheerilee looked forward at the still human girl pleadingly, and the girl relaxed a bit, at least. The girl just rolled her eyes, looking down at her unsympathetically saying, “Hey you wanted this, didn’t you?” Cheerilee didn’t know what to say, or what she could say.
It was so very strange standing there feeling normal, but looking up at this younger girl, not down at her. Cheerilee might have been closer to the girl’s height, if she could stand up on two feet, but she was definitely a lot smaller than she used to be. It was kind of... intimidating.
And yet... there was a pony on Cheerilee’s back, who was even smaller than she was. There were a lot of ponies here, who had transformed into what appeared to be little children. Cheerilee didn’t know for sure, but as a human, every pony Cheerilee had met had looked like an adorable little filly, not like a full grown mare. Looking at this pink lemonade one on her back, even a fully transformed Cheerilee could only reach the same conclusion.
Cheerilee couldn’t even imagine what it must be like to lose not just your species, but your adulthood. Her thoughts turned to Scootaloo, fiercely independent Scootaloo, who might not even be able to take on grown up roles anymore. Cheerilee firmed her ...face determinedly, and said, “Hokay, how d’I walgk?”
There was a moment’s pause, and Cheerilee turned her head as easily as she had while sitting, to face the confused filly on her back saying, “I meant hyou. You whalked in here. Terll me how.”
“Oh!” the littler pony declared, lifting a forehoof from where she currently straddled Cheerilee, chest right up against the base of Cheerilee’s mane. “E’er wear high heels?” this filly asked, very helpfully. Cheerilee blinked, but nodded.
“Ligk the highst heelsh evar!” the pony instructed, “Sho high hyou fall o’er, an’ shtand like zhat. Zen zhust hobble fhorwar’”
Cheerilee tried, and... it was no surprise, but it worked! She just had to decipher the pony’s pronunciation, then imagine her legs trapped in high heels as if she were at another fancy party that she would end up walking away alone from. The hardest part was how her neck just curved up and back now, instead of being hunched forward like one would expect. But that actually made moving easier, not more difficult. Just less... familiar.
It was so frustrating to learn this from a strange pony, because this kind of metaphor would have helped so much, when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were learning how to walk. Well, perhaps not, since Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hadn’t spent any late nights trapped in high heels. Not if their respective mom or sister had anything to say about it! Which brought Cheerilee to wonder about what this little girl’s been up to, who was riding on her back.
“How hyu know abou’ heelsh?” Cheerilee asked the filly, who immediately rolled her eyes and said,
“Mayn, you dunno me. I no’ such a homeboddy befhore my daugh’er wash born. Bee’ too my hshare uff parhies. Now c’mo’ giyyup!”
“Now hol’ on,” Cheerilee protested, “What hyu mean your daugh—” Cheerilee glanced between this adorably excited little filly, to the girl standing there looking at them with attentive worry. She looked at the pony. She looked at the girl dead on, Cheerilee’s voice escaping her in a surprised bleat as she said,
“Your daugh’er?!”
The girl standing there actually blushed at that, saying, “She—mom—she’s not acting herself!” as if to justify the actions of this young child on Cheerilee’s back.
“Rearry, Berry?” said the filly straddling Cheerilee, rolling her eyes. “Lige I’ pash ohn thish, e’en if I wasza crow-nup!” She leaned down towards Cheerilee’s back, patting Cheerilee’s side encouragingly with a hoof, saying, “Don’ worry. My babysh jus’ being a shilly ol’ shdick inna muhd.”
“Okay fine,” the girl said disgustedly, drawing Cheerilee’s attention again, “She is acting herself,” the girl said, pulling open the door, adding, “And I officially have the weirdest mom in the world ever.”
Cheerilee was a bit stunned by the realization that this little filly was that girl’s mother. But again, she didn’t know what she could say to the girl, to ease her worries. At least the mother seemed totally unfazed by any of this. Really Cheerilee had to admit the mysterious pink riding pony had a very good attitude. Trying to figure things out at this point was just an exercise in futility. And it occured to Cheerilee that this girl who was the daughter of a pony, was helpfully pulling open the door for Cheerilee’s benefit.
So Cheerilee giddyupped. She took a step, then another, and then since it was only her hind legs stepping, Cheerilee found herself too scrunched up, so she used her arms to catch herself from falling forward. Just as she’d worked out with Scootaloo a dozen times, it enabled Cheerilee to slip into an uneasy hobble, and despite the noticeable weight on her back, Cheerilee was moving forward! Just like a woman in heels. Minus the heels, and the woman.
“Ha ha, yeah, giyyup! This’s sho wigged!” the pony on her back cheered squirrelily, her hooves coming to rest atop Cheerilee’s head, so she could see over it. It made Cheerilee acutely aware of just how thick and muscular her neck had become, but didn’t otherwise inconvenience her at the filly’s shifting weight. Cheerilee just silently put one foot/toe/hoof after the other, and made her way to the door out of the laundry room.
Cheerilee smiled accomodatingly at this pony’s daughter as she passed, and the purplish pink girl just rolled her eyes again, saying, “Fine, while you two give each other pony rides, I’m going to find out what the flying flip is up with miss giant small horse here.” She flounced out of the room then, leaving the door ajar with Cheerilee half in and half out of it.
As difficult a time as Cheerilee was having, it was so amusing to be this way! Cheerilee was a cute little pony, and she was giving an even littler pony a pony ride! Cheerilee had always been curious how horses felt with someone riding them, and it was a strange sort of satisfaction she felt, the weight bearing down on her hips and shoulders like she was built to carry it. Cheerilee had known these ponies were far too small to give a ride to anything larger than a cat, but now Cheerilee seemed to be the exception to that. Still extremely small, even for a pony, she could nevertheless easily manage giving a ride to a... littler pony.
Cheerilee and the light pink pony both extended their heads out the door to the laundry room, Cheerilee at least giving a cautious look around. There wasn’t anything especially loud going on outside, but there were ponies... other ponies out there. And apparantly all the others were very small ones, who were... young?
Cheerilee certainly found it surprising, that she would be this large. It was definitely not the case that other ponies who transformed were all Freshmen, if the one on her back had a teenage daughter. But how young had they become? This whole time, Cheerilee had thought that’s as old as ponies got, but... they were actually very young ponies, the lot of them. Cheerilee would have to ask that Sunset girl, if ponies grew quickly or whatnot.
Pushing down an urge to squee excitedly, Cheerilee wobbled, then stepped forward, walking into the main living room on all fours like an animal, and with another pony on her back to complete the illusion. Or, unillusion? For all her years as a librarian, Cheerilee had never run across a word for the opposite of an illusion, but this all felt very, very real to her. She had left her clothing behind, because... well, it was just impractical to consider at this point. She wanted to do something to help Apple Bloom, and she wanted to try moving around, and she really wanted to see the other—
The other ponies.
Cheerilee made her way into the living room finally, and... there they were. Cheerilee balked suddenly, her bold shuffling coming to a halt, when four little ponies all lifted their heads from various places in the living room, and looked her way.
Cheerilee was just floored by the feeling of... of being this, in front of them. The other ponies stood and, with varying degrees of walking ability (all greater than Cheerilee’s), converged on her location. Noi, Cheerilee knew relatively well. She was helping along a cute little purple and blue filly, with a horn just like Sweetie Belle had. To Cheerilee’s other side came a charcoal grey filly, who looked kind of... off, for a filly, and the fourth filly was a beautiful little bluish white pegasus, who looked more unsteady on her feet than any of the rest of them.
“Whyre hyou sho big?” asked the blue unicorn in a sweet, shocked tone.
“Ey, ge’ your own hride, zish onesh mine!” lisped little Piña on Cheerilee’s back, with a bubbly laugh.
“You’re an... adult?” Noi asked, in a bright, clear, and so confused voice.
“I...” Cheerilee felt dizzy. “I neetha shiddown.”
They all came to her, sitting with Cheerilee as she sank to her belly once again. They looked at her with big, curious eyes, while Cheerilee looked down among them, unsure of what to do, unsure of what to say. She felt strangely... protective. She was a mother hen here, with a bunch of children clustering around her. No matter how Cheerilee tried to tell herself that one of these ponies was a girl’s mother, or how Noi here was older than she was, she felt like she was here for them, and they needed her. She didn’t believe it could be this way, but it just... was.
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What's up with Scootaloo in the picture? She looks different then all the other characters.
Are we getting a discussion about cutie marks soon?
MM HM. All built around that one institution. The films themselves, the sequels in particular reveal this to be a myth, and they just didn't need to venture much beyond it in the first. Their universe is revealed to be quite expansive, and everything from EQG 1-3 takes place within the course of a year. Linearly. We just recently got past the year it all started chronologically.
Yes, the humans were never carbon copies or clones of their equine equivalents, most evident in Cherilee having a shorter fuse than her equestrian version. Subtle things in their behaviors and quirks. Physical things have not been shown to vary at all. This isn't the first fic to do this. TD Powell predates this, and was beaten to the punch by several others. As I said before, the key is for Sunset, Spike and Twilight to find a way to go home and do it. Obviously, this is its own hurdle. I'll bet this news will kill Moi and Elijah. They already had enough to deal with without this additional hindrance on their rears. One dissonant with her family and the other's career is put on the line because of this, never you mind the shock of being shrunk down to the likeness of a couple childlike fillies.
7436794
Oh! Um... this basically.
7436920 Cutie whats?
They haven't even figured out that those are a thing yet.
Yes, it's going to er, come up at some point. It's kind of not something Twilight or Sunset are very comfortable with dealing with.
7436936
I haven't watched any of the sequels, so I wouldn't know. This story is only based on the first movie.
Okay?
I haven't read any of those either, but I doubt they involve EQG characters changing into little ponies.
Noi and Elias
Though Elijah is an alternate form for Elias, it wasn't the alternate form I was really considering when giving him that name.
As for the news and how they deal with it, hmm... yes, they might be very upset.
I'm still really enjoying this story.
You claim that the conclusion is soon, but I can't imagine what conclusion could wrap all this up without it being a deus ex machina. Though... everyone transforming is the kind of solution that would work. If it's a good or bad solution is up for debate, isn't it?
The Cheerilee scenes were amazing, and did we just get a reversal here with Ruby Pinch (Berry Pinch) and Berryshine (Berry Punch)? The mother becomes and daughter, and the reverse is true. What a... weird relationship switch that would be.
As for Twilight's talk, ignoring the pony life-span and maturity rate (as well as claiming normalized ages for humans... very interesting), the part that stood out was something that makes me question the nature of reality...
She doesn't remember if Cheerilee was her teacher? What? How can you not remember that? It isn't like it occurred a long time ago either.
I... wonder if these people actually had a childhood before high school. They have memories that they do, but obviously there is something wrong. Seems like fake memories to me.
7437097
Glad to hear you're enjoying it! This story's not that popular around here, but I honestly think most of that is because I can't figure out a way to express the trials of ponyfication without writing a lot of illegibly slurred dialogue. Kipling syndrome, I like to call it. Otherwise I agree with you that this is a pretty decent story, even if it is about...high school drama...
What? No. Don't be ridiculous. It's Piña Colada, not Ruby Pinch.
Oh man, you're gonna love chapter 41 then. And chapter 42. Chapter 43. Yeesh... I just want to add a disclaimer that I've not yet seen Gravity Falls, even if it really seems like things are that crazy.
Just how many people live in this town? I would have thought a town that mysteriously centres around its high school would have, at the very most, tens of thousands of people; more likely in the sub-10k range. This number you've given here suggests a population of 350 000.
7437484
My math might be off. They have a population of about 50K.
7437515
Then you want to go 99.98%.
If I'm keeping track properly, then there are currently 9 ponies around (my previous comment misremembered it as 7 ponies), and 49991/50000 = 99.986%.
I think the error in your maths was that you calculated 1/50000 instead of 9/50000.
7437679
Well thanks, I'm sure Twilight would be eternally grateful her figures were corrected by otherworldly deities, were she aware of the fourth wall.
7437801
I'm sure I was being excessively pedantic and silly. Thanks for putting up with me.
So sweet I just had a molar break off at the gum line. Instant cavities!
7438305
aww thank—
Oh man, the scenes with Cheerilee and Pina were great. I mean, chapters and chapters of teen angst are nice, too; but I really love seeing Cheerilee's mindset, as someone who's half-prepared for this, and is doing her best to not be overwhelmed. Pina being ridiculously adorable and getting the most she can out of the experience is great, too.
I appreciated the scene with Twi and Apple Bloom, too, though – it held your classic ability for characters to have huge unreasonable conversations and deal with them like... real people who have to, instead of ticking drama-bombs. I think it might have gotten a bit too distracted into metaphysics exposition more than Apple Bloom coming to terms with anything, though.
Speaking of the metaphysics, huh. I had kind of assumed that the time loop was more directly tied to Sunset (and Twilight)'s meddling, but it going on for literally eternity makes more of a kind of sense. Except for all things tied to then-future Equestria and what that means to predestiny; but Time Travel, whattyagonnado. Anyway, the obvious conclusion is that EqGverse is some kind of constructed pocket dimension, that originated at the beginning of the year, and only had enough... 『existence』 to last a year, without ponymagic leaking into it. How exactly it ended up based on future-equestrians enough to start pseudo-copying their souls and memories is kind of a mystery, though. And/or if there's an actual reason it's around. I sure hope this doesn't end up going down dumb metafictional alleyways...
How far have Twi and Sunset tried wandering from Canterlot City (or wherever this town is called)? Has that come up at all? I mean, if Twilight's saying everything in the world is based around that high school, then how big is the entire world?
7439152
Kidz rule school drools! Let's go skateboarding with our boyfriends to prom!
I really love writing Cheerilee as a character too. I've always seen her as refreshingly open minded, inquisitive without being judgemental. She doesn't mull over her own personal internal state so much, simply observing what's happening around, and to her.
I was so excited to get to Piña, because she's the first character who's not getting horribly traumatized by the terrible experience of turning into an adorable little pony. A lot of people will be very upset with something like happening to them, but once and a while you'll run across the Piñas, who are so love with life they just run with it, and don't look back.
Or at least... that's the theory. Kind of hard to test that hypothesis without actually turning people into ponies.
I think my absolute favorite subject in literature is taking ordinary people, and putting them in extraordinary situations. Not so much people you can always sympathize with, but people you could imagine meeting on the streets one day (if anyone got out of their cars anymore). I always try to think of what the characters would really do, and use that instead of something more plot convenient.
Equestria sure has a rocky road ahead, now that they don't have a portal to show them the future anymore!
Yes... that was the Equestrians' first conclusion.
Not that I recall, no. This is probably (no, definitely) the biggest story I've ever written though, so even I could be forgetting things.
And then the comment ended, and Exuno woke up in a cold sweat. Rushing to the computer, all searches turned up nothing for Bloom Filter. No results, no stories posted on ferret's page, no user named ferret at all! Had it really all been just... a dream?
I want more. Promptly.
But, I'll take it when you give it.
7439817
Yep, because when I say "Remember when you" obviously I'm referring to you personally, not any other reader, or people in general. And I'm certainly not making a joke, because I am one hundred percent serious, all the time.
7442337
Opinion noted, and thanks!
7445905
I should have added an "In applicability to me" in that first comment. I did not intend to offend. So, my most humble apologies, dear Ferret.
Can you indeed find it within yourself to forgive me of my transgressions?
7447569
It may be the only way to quell my unearthly thirst for retribution.
I dunno... how willing are you to perform a blood sacrifice?
7449652
I'll just get my sister's ex-boyfriend.
7449800
This blood's a bit on the skeezy side, but it'll have to do.
If the police are bringing in a new pony, I've got one free following on Erroria (as a pegasus) who used to be a computer technician.
... all the transforming humans are ponies from ponyville's school... like a rift opened and the two parallel universes are merging the sets together
I blame the cmc
They don't think it be like it is, but it do.