My anger didn't feel right. In my old body, when I was angry, I felt powerful. I would have been able to feel the coiled strength of my muscles, and the heady sense of invulnerability that went along with a sudden adrenaline hit. I would have felt like I was holding myself back from doing damage to something. Now it felt like all I was holding back was a temper tantrum.
Weakness and vulnerability were things I'd never been willing to accept in myself, and I'd been fortunate that I'd never had to. Growing up, I was always taller and stronger than average, something I had my dad to thank for, both with his genetics and his efforts to keep me involved in some kind of sport even when I'd have preferred to be reading or playing video games. From age thirteen I chose martial arts.
On the rare occasions I was forced into a fight at school I ended it swiftly and decisively, without injuring anyone. I was miserable at school, and looking back I can admit I was lonely, but I never feared for my physical safety, and that was something I took great comfort in.
This new body was weak. The years of training I had put into training my balance, reflexes and movement counted for nothing. All I had left was my mind, and now my mental toughness had failed me too.
I was weak, lost, and scared but, rather than wish someone was here to comfort me, I was relieved that no-one else was around to see my moment of weakness.
As I lay there on the river bank, watching the sky turn orange, I sighed. My adrenaline had ebbed, my fatigue and the dull ache of my muscles returning.
You're such an idiot, I said in my head. I didn't want to hear my new voice.
I tried to tell myself that I didn't care what anyone else thought of me, but here I was, in a life and death situation, terrified of anyone seeing me look weak. I realised in that moment that, while I didn't care about people underestimating me, the thought of people seeing me when I was actually helpless was terrifying.
I glared at the pile of sticks as if trying to set them alight with sheer force of will. Which given I was a magical unicorn should have been entirely possible. I went cross-eyed looking at my horn, but there wasn't so much as a glow.
I'd done my best without any hands or tools. Under the pile of sticks was a pyramid of small twigs for kindling painstakingly arranged by mouth, and inside that was some dried out moss which I hoped would work as tinder.
I understood the theory of starting a fire by rubbing sticks together, but I'd only ever done it once, almost two decades ago, and at that time I had made a bow drill using my bootlaces.
The concept of a bow drill is pretty straightforward if you've ever seen one; you wrap your string around a stick and then you pull the string side to side to make it rotate rapidly, rubbing the end against a piece of wood until the friction created an ember which you could use to light your tinder.
I didn't have any string, and even if I'd wanted to make some string by braiding together plant fibers, I didn't know how to do that without hands. I also knew you could start a fire by spinning a stick between your palms, though it was much more difficult, especially for a child or someone with small hands.
So I sat in the dark, trying not to shiver while I twirled a stick I had pressed between my two front hooves. A few times I got a good rhythm going for a couple minutes, but inevitably the stick would slip from between my hooves which led to cursing as I frantically tried to get the stick back into position before the tip cooled off too much.
I was so tired. With my old body I knew I could go a night without sleep, and then even most of the next day before I truly crashed. Right now I felt like I'd been up two straight days. I was biting my tongue to try to stay awake, but my mouth still felt a bit numb. I smashed my hoof down on a rock, and it hurt, I couldn't stop the hot tears running down my face, but it didn't reduce my fatigue any.
When my eyes closed for a couple moments, I saw flashes of a dream, people's voices, the sounds of them moving around, and it took a second to reorient myself as I wrestled my consciousness back from the brink. I thought I saw smoke coming from the stick at one point, but it might have been a dream, or my eyes playing tricks in the dark; In any case, it wasn't the ember I needed to light the fire.
I don't know how much of my attempt to start the fire I dreamed, and how much was real, but at some point I fell asleep.
Contrary to the common trope, someone who's severely sleep deprived doesn't fall into a dreamless sleep. Quite the opposite; the more sleep deprived you are, the faster you will progress into REM sleep.
I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn't wake up. Having lucid dreams wasn't uncommon for me, but rarely did I have omnipotence in them. I could change the dream a bit, like making myself invulnerable, or erasing parts of the dream I didn't like, but I couldn't fully choose what I wanted to dream about.
I was dreaming about myself, in my present situation, and I was being attacked by timberwolves. It terrified me.
I knew they couldn't actually harm me in my dream, but at the same moment I was sleeping out in the open, too exhausted to even put up a fight. I'd made a terrible mistake and there was nothing I could do but hope and pray that nothing bad would happen to my body while I was unconscious.
In Equestria, it turned out, the local deities responded to prayers in a much more immediate and unambiguous way than they did back home.
In a flash of magic, a midnight blue alicorn appeared, standing over top of me protectively. Her size was on a scale such that I could have hidden myself behind one of her legs as an anxious foal might behind the foreleg of its mother. The timber wolves froze in place.
"Fear not, my little pony!" she exclaimed, heroically, "I have heard your call. Nothing shall harm you in my domain!"
I knew why she chose this protective posture, yet my human mind immediately jumped to the lewder implication of being underneath her. Blushing, I scrambled out from the compromising position, moving into a bow.
"P-princess Luna! You're, uh." don't say bigger, don't say bigger, don't say bigger, "Taller than I expected."
Smooth.
Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Rise, my little pony." She instructed, "You are dreaming. What you see before you cannot harm you."
"I know."
"You know this is a dream?" She questioned, "Then why does it frighten you so? I felt your waves of terror all the way from Canterlot."
"Afraid of these?" I asked, reducing the timberwolves to ash and cinders with a wave of my tiny hoof. "No. I haven't feared my dreams since I was twelve."
Luna gave me an appraising look.
"While I'm here, my body is in danger, in the real world." I explained, "I'm not sure exactly how much danger but, based on how badly I screwed everything else up today, I'll probably die of hypothermia or something."
Luna's serene expression morphed into one of shocked outrage.
"You're out in the cold? Who has done this?" She demanded, "No pony should be forced out into the cold simply for making mistakes!"
This was the critical point, I could either pretend to be a lost pony and be assured of her aid, or I could tell the truth and risk whatever came along with that. She might have thought that I was crazy, or dangerous, or perhaps that it was some kind of joke.
I could tell an easy lie, or I could trust another person. So obviously I chose the lie.
"What?" I exclaimed, "No, nopony did this to me, I'm just lost, and I can't remember how I got here, or much of anything really."
The trick to telling a convincing lie is to believe it while you're saying it.
I was lost, I didn’t know how I got here, and while someone might think I meant no-one had transported me here what I really meant in my head was that it was my own fault for getting myself into the present situation. There was no way for me to know if I was missing any memories, or even if my human memories were real. I didn't really have any doubt, but I could entertain that idea easily enough. After all, there was no evidence they were real, apart from their internal consistency. If someone could change my location and body on a whim, why would it be unbelievable for them to fabricate a lifetime of human memories and inserting them into my pony brain?
I was lying by telling the truth. Just to smooth over any misunderstandings. That wasn't taking advantage of anyone, it was just being pragmatic. I'm not a bad person.
"I know it's asking a lot, but could you send somepony to come save me?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment, "I'm not really as much of a survivalist as I thought I was. I don't have any food, and I couldn't get a fire started."
And I'm so terrified of screwing up and dying that gave myself a full-blown panic attack. I didn't feel comfortable saying that last part out loud; it was bad enough she could sense my fear, I couldn't stand the thought of actually admitting it.
Even now I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t need her help, that when I woke up, I could keep working the problem; just because I’d failed the first day didn’t mean I was helpless now. I could figure out how to start a fire, I could try other foods. I could follow the river to the sea if I had to, and then I’d work my way along the coast.
Luna’s expression changed to one of worry and my hope for the rescue I was pretending not to need was abruptly yanked away.
“I’m afraid my magic won’t be able to find you that precisely,” she explained, “I can feel you are far away, but directions in the dream realm cannot be translated into real coordinates. You truly have no idea of your location?”
“Ah well, it was worth a shot,” I sighed, “thanks for trying anyway.”
“Fear not, young one,” Luna encouraged, “we have the power of crown and country behind us, you shall not be abandoned!”
“No!” I said hurriedly, “You don’t have to do that, I’ll be fine, really! I can find my own way, I don’t want the whole country searching for me like I’m some helpless foal!”
What are you saying, you lunatic?! You’re willing to risk death out in the wilderness just so people won’t be inconvenienced by searching for you?
The rational part of my mind was screaming at me, but my emotional side was much less encouraging.
You’re lying to them, they shouldn’t have to waste their effort on someone who’s just taking advantage of their trust and goodwill.
Luna looked at me sadly.
Idiot! You’re making her feel sorry for you! Now she’s going to worry about your mental wellbeing too and she’s definitely going to start a search. They’re all going to be worried sick trying to find their lost pony and when the truth comes out, they’ll hate you forever!
In a sudden shift in the dreamscape Luna was behind me, a wing wrapped around me protectively.
“Oh little one, I know you're no foal,” She tried to comfort me, “You're a brave little filly, but there is no shame in needing help. Everypony needs help sometimes, even princesses.”
Oh.
I was a child.
That put things a few things in a different context.
I was lost, hungry, scared, and I was a child. Of course she would be so intent on finding me. The pony equivalent of an AMBER alert was probably spreading across all of Equestria by now.
Well now I had to get myself rescued as quickly as possible, to stop ponies from worrying about me, if nothing else. I could still be proactive.
First things first, I allowed Luna to comfort me. She was trying to calm a frightened child so if I wasn't soothed it would only add to her worries.
I relaxed and slowed my breathing, feeling her warmth and her kind intentions as they radiated in the dreamscape. I managed to make myself believe at least for a while that I was actually just a lost filly.
"We know there is something you are not telling us." I felt Luna's voice rumble in her chest which I had pressed to my cheek in her hug. She felt me tense up in an involuntary response I couldn't suppress. "We shall not force thee to share, but heed our words for we know well the folly of hiding our burdens from those who would help us bear them."
She knows.
Dammit, I have to fix this. Okay, she knows I'm lying which means she thinks she knows when I'm lying. Which means whatever I say next she'll think is a lie because she's actively looking for signs I'm lying. So if I say something I want her to think I'm trying to lie about - damn, what does she know?
All right, I'm a lost child she found who is pretending not to remember anything - oh. Damn, that's dark. She thinks I'm a runaway; a potential abuse victim who doesn't trust anyone, doesn't want to talk about their family, doesn't want to make a fuss because they're afraid their abuser will find them again.
Looking at it from her perspective, if I'd been treating a child who raised half the red flags I had displayed in front of Luna I would have already summoned security and be halfway through dialing child services.
I couldn't tell her the truth even if I wanted to now, she just straight up wouldn't believe me. A child who was already lying to her, that she assumed was trying to hide their abuse, coming out with such an outlandish story? Even if I somehow convinced her I was being honest, she would just think I was delusional.
I couldn’t think of anything to say. Any specific denial would be taken as confirmation and I had already ruled out telling the truth. All right fine, dodge the question. It’s not really lying, even if it will give her the wrong impression.
“Princess, I don’t know how long I have here before I wake up,” I explained, channeling fear and urgency into my voice, hoping to give plausible deniability to why I was changing the subject, “I really need some advice on some more immediate problems - can you show me how to light a fire without matches? Or show me what food I can safely eat?”
Luna gave me a steady look. Clearly she knew exactly what I was doing but, after a moment of piercing eye contact, she took pity and decided not to call me out on it.
“Woodcraft is not one of our fields of expertize.” Luna explained, “If you wish we may invite another into this dream that can better assist you.”
I spotted the imprecise language she had used. The implication I was supposed to take was that she was inviting someone to assist me with woodcraft, but the two statements felt deliberately separated. If I was reading between the lines correctly, she wanted to invite some kind of child expert who would be better at talking to a child in my situation. I wasn’t sure, but if I just went along with it, I would find out if Luna was being dishonest. If she thought I was a dumb kid that wouldn’t pick up on that sort of thing, it was to my advantage not to dissuade her of the notion.
“Of course!” I said, focusing on the excitement of finding out whether I was right, rather than the disappointment that I wasn’t going to get what I was asking for, since it lined up with the expected response if I’d been ignorant.
“Excuse us for one moment.” Luna instructed, relieved I had accepted the offer of assistance, which gave more weight to the theory she was manipulating me into accepting help. “We shall return with another who can aid you.”
Luna was gone in a flash, and I was alone in the dreamscape again. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t lying about needing the advice. In practical terms, I’d checked off the first and most important item; I’d managed to get a call for help out and people were searching for me. The second and third items on the list were finding a way to signal my location to my rescuers and surviving until they found me.
Nice! Can't wait for more!
I vote Fluttershy. Not only is she good friends with Zecora - who is intimately familiar with the woods, but she can also use animals to assist. Not only that, but her kind nature is probably what Princess Luna thinks she needs at this moment in time.
Fluttershy seems most reasonable. Both her personality being most likely to be helpful to the situation, and her almost certainly being the best with such woodcraft. I can't see any of the alternatives being a reasonable choice.
I would certainly vote for either Applejack or Twilight, if simply for the fact that Twilight would probably have the knowledge, while AJ would most likely have the experience.
Fluttershy's specialty is with animals afaik, not survivalism.
And is it only me that thinks it's weird that he (I presume that the author is a he, or at least the protagonist was beforehand) is using pony terms rather quickly?
Applejack would be a better call... since she have some experience with camping and give better tips for being an earth pony in that situation
While I think that Twilight Sparkle and Applejack would be the best practical choices, and Fluttershy a possible choice from Luna’s standpoint, I voted for Pinkie Pie even though she has the next-to-least votes. Being that she’s the unconventional type, not only do I imagine that she would be more likely to succeed in getting a lesson across to someone who is ignorant of Equestrian things in general and unfamiliar with their body, but she’d raise their spirits rather than merely comfort them, since that is more likely to last in the waking world when they’re alone again. Plus, she is also likely to keep someone off balance, potentially leading to being more honest than they’d normally want to be.
And I’d be tickled Pinkie if our protagonist woke up with a cupcake beside them.
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I have to agree. Twilight might know all the theory, but I doubt any of the others would actually know how to start a fire. Though I could see Rarity using a gem, and Dash just using speed.
applejack.
HA! She said it!
Thinking in terms of her survival Applejack or Twilight is the obvious choice Twilight because our protagonist is a unicorn but because she has just become a unicorn chances are she wont be able to figure out magic quick enough to do her any good at the time,
Which means Applejack is the best choice for her as A.J has practical experience and should be able to teach her how to survive with only her hooves. (Though trying to keep her secret will only get more challenging with the element of honesty there )
Really enjoying this, very engaging.
I'd definitely say Applejack, as she'd seem to be the most familiar with survival. She's also an Earth Pony; she has no access to Unicorn magic nor the wings of a Pegasus. Since our protagonist doesn't have wings and lacks the knowledge to use their magic, it'd be a good choice.
Assuming the protagonist is right about Luna's thought processes, it's pretty much got to be Fluttershy. She not only has likely knowledge of forest foods, but is also most likely to be able to get a little foal to open up about themselves purely by being so kind and nice.
Rarity and Dash don't have skillsets in those directions. Applejack is reliable and trustworthy, but might not know survivalist skills or be able to get a foal to open up anywhere near as quickly as Fluttershy. (Apple Bloom may actually be better at both.) Pinkie is far too overwhelming. Twilight could probably recite lists of edible forest items or how to make a fire directly out of survival, camping, or Filly Guide manuals, but her interpersonal skills (which Luna is presumably after) aren't up to the task.
Unrelatedly, it's interesting that the protagonist's dream-form is her filly-shape, not a human one. The transformation process, or the ROB-equivalent involved in it, has presumably taken care of that, and may possibly also be responsible for things like language-matching and sufficient kinesthesia and muscle memory to allow walking and physical manipulation of objects, if not a 100% complete revamp of the somatosensory map if everything's feeling a bit off. Magic-use is also apparently not getting a behind-the-scenes boost to accessibility.
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Fluttershy was who I considered the most logical choice for Luna assuming the protag was correct about her intentions, (and she seems to be winning the poll quite handily), Applejack would be the more logical choice if the protag was wrong (as she often is), but I did have a rationale for each of the mane 6.
Applejack: Probably the best at camping skills based on what we've seen in the show. She also bears the Element of Honesty and would be able to get to the truth of the matter. (meta: it would be an interesting character conflict between her and protag since the protag is an unrepentant liar)
Fluttershy: Likely has some outdoors skills and forest knowledge, could provide comfort and help the filly to open up. (meta: the protag is terrified of causing anyone to be anxious or scared so this may be difficult for her to deal with)
Twilight: Previously she was the princesses go-to problem solver. Now she is a fellow princess who the filly will recognize, but younger and more approachable. Good at planning and teaching so she would be able to teach the filly how to start a fire with magic or perhaps how to create a magic signal flare to make finding her easier.
Rainbow Dash: On the face of it she seems like an odd choice, but you have to remember that she's a wonderbolt now, and the wonderbolts are a military unit which is sometimes deployed in disaster situations. Not only does she likely have at least some training in Search and Rescue she is also hyper vigilant while in the air, so seeing the protag's memory of where she is may enable her to spot it from the air.
Rarity: Rarity has a little sister who is a unicorn the protag's approximate age who once (sort of) ran away from home, she might be a good choice to talk to the protag. She may also have some experience with teaching magic to a young child.
Pinkie: Probably not the best choice, but Luna might pick her because she's good with foals. Pinkie also has the most extensive social network so Luna may be hoping that she would be able to identify the protag by having heard about any lost foals through her social connections. (meta: this option comes with a free inexplicable cupcake when the protag wakes up)
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Yep, all good reasons - although many of them are good for reasons the protag would consider good, whereas Luna's been set up to apparently believe that it would be for the greater good of the protag to have some mental/emotional/psychological assistance, not just "OK here's how to survive in the wilderness like you asked, see you later". And it's Luna who will be making the choice (modulo things like which ponies are currently awake and available, which is authorial fiat). Effectively, the situation has been set up so that Luna's choice will most likely not be the one the protag would personally prefer or pick, and in fact might turn out to be the source of further problematic complications if they decide that, as a foal with no parents or guardians, the protag must be cared for and protected even if they don't want to be.
And that's a potential problem no matter which of the Six is chosen. Applejack has very firm ideas about Family and the correct raising of foals, particularly those with no parents. Pinkie would steamroller right over the top of any attempt of the protag to assert themselves or escape. Fluttershy has strong views on caring for those who (in her mind) can't care for themselves, and if backed into a corner might use the Stare. Dash is the least likely to place restrictions on the protag immediately, but also likely to cave to her friends' insistence on keeping an eye on the foal. Rarity might have the hardest time actually keeping the protag under personal control, given the other demands on her time, but is possibly the most likely to irritate the filly, and may be the sneakiest at ensnaring her via a sense of honor and fairness. Twilight would probably end up placing multiple tracking spells on her, and trying to use advice out of "How to Raise A Foal" books. And there's always the chance that any of the Six would simply turn her over to whatever system Ponyville or Equestria has for orphans in general (assuming it has one). Fostering, one would imagine.
If the protag actually is anywhere near Ponyville, which hasn't been established as a given yet, and has a choice of who to stay with from the Six, she might be better off choosing Rarity. She can conduct herself in a controlled and adult enough manner to assuage any concerns about being anywhere near as destructive as Sweetie, Rarity may be able to provide some insight into the use of unicorn magic, and the Boutique has a range of items and materials to practise telekinesis on. Rarity is also time-strapped enough that she may be happy to simply provide board and lodging, as it were, and have either Twilight or the local school system handle things like general education. The protag could probably put up with occasionally being used as a model or size reference.
The largest fly in the ointment there might be Sweetie Belle - she's generally presented as very gregarious and outgoing, and would want to soak up all the protag's free time (including Crusading). I can't see a situation where the protag could gently turn down Sweetie's attempts at friendship or avoid having the CMC constantly plowing through their life.
That could happen if they wind up on Sweet Apple Acres, too. Assuming they had any time or energy left after farm chores. Would actually be any chance to network with more useful foals in Ponyville, if they wound up with anypony from the Six? What would it take to be able to wiggle into the graces of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, for instance? They have money, they have connections; it's potentially quite possible to convince their assorted parents that the protag would be good for them in some way. Play the "foreign noblefilly in disguise, sent to Ponyville to be raised in secret in a quiet, nurturing environment and ingratiate herself with the Bearers" card?
Even thought Fluttershy is winning in the poll I think you should consider that Applejack might make the most sense under the circumstances. She'll know about as much about practical survival while also specializing in finding the truth. That would seem to kill two of Luna's birds with one stone.
I demand another ~slames mug onto floor shattering it~
but seriously this is great can't wait for the next chapter. I voted for Twilight, on the grounds that magic is probably the biggest bit to help the protag right now, like she could use it to signal for help, get food, or any number of other things, that said it might be a thing where Luna and even Twilight might think that learning to magic in one night isn't going to happen but learning to do fire by mouth or hoof could, so might be someone else. That said if Luna is going for the 'this child has been abused and needs comforting to come out with what's up' then fluttershy is hands down the best choice, and may be able to help her enough to survive till help arrives.
Read the first two chapters and I can say I'm quite interested. While very uncomfortable, him (assuming he was a male originally from how he describes himself) making mental note of how in their situation they can't quite be sure of what is real or if they've been mentally altered as well in a nice touch.
The only thing I don't like it how he seems to want to not actually do anything. I don't mean just up and bullrush a solution to everything, but how he acts makes it seem like hes trying to stay in his current situation despite it being miserable. First he tries to get Luna to not have him rescued, he then says for her to help him but thinks to himself that he can't and won't do anything about being brought to equestria and shapeshifted. While whoever brought him there seems to have done it to trick him into letting whoever it was do it so they could hurt him by setting all this up, him doing this seems to have no purpose other than for him to harm himself by keeping him in equestria as a female foal. It seems like his current course is one that will hurt him, and he seems against making progress to solve his problem, which doesn't make sense and says that the future will just be him commiting forms of self-harm, which discourages further reading.
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One of the themes I'm trying to explore is that relying on others is not a bad thing. The protagonist has an extreme aversion to putting himself at the mercy of others. His imagined ideal situation would be one where he could pull himself up by his non-existent pony bootstraps, manage to survive through his own guts and ingenuity, and then interact with others on his own terms. The idea being, even if he's miserable, at least he doesn't have to rely on any kindness of others (think of Walter White choosing to cook meth instead of accepting charity). While he feels like that's what he needs to do to avoid looking like a helpless child, it's actually a very childish way to approach the situation. If he was seen as an adult there would be a certain amount of leeway given for him to make decisions that harm his wellbeing, as it is, he will be forced to accept help.
In his life as a human there weren't really any challenges that he couldn't overcome just by being a stubborn bastard and toughing it out on his own. Here, he's been put in a situation so extreme that he needs help and will be forced to accept it; and once he's out of the current high stress situation perhaps he can actually get it into his thick skull that while helping others is admirable, being able to accept help from others is also a virtue.
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Its not really him taking charity or putting himself at the mercy of others, I think, but just not taking the obvious route in front of him. Hes obviously aware of equestria and the setting, so him not telling her doesn't make sense. Hes lost in the woods with no real special skill or magic, no knowledge or leads on how to fix all of it. So by actively refusing to tell her the way he did hes discarding the only actual lead he has in favor of flailing ineffectually. While a focus on the protagonist's internal conflict makes sense, it feels like hes going to keep making suboptimal decisions only to cry avout how terrible things are. I just don't want to see him go about actively denying himself progress out of stubbornness when his available avenues aren't harmful, and he doesn't have any others available.
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I'm not going to lie, for me, and my experiences, this is very real characterizing. It is quite refreshing to me to see a protagonist make dumb decisions, not as a consequence of misinterpreted surroundings or being tricked, but an honest to goodness character flaw that they built out of experience. I'm fascinated by this direction and certainly do hope it continues, but I would prefer him to learn, eventually. When the time is right.
I'm enjoying this enough that you're getting as-I-read stream-of-thought comments. If you don't like it, tell me to shut up and I shall.
Aww. Yeah, now we walk down slightly different paths. Especially since you haven't realized yet that your being filly-sized means you're definitely not mare-sized. Establishing mental adultness immediately to avoid being treated as a foal would be more imperative than not-trusting, to me.
After all, if they think you're a child, they'll think they're justified in running roughshod over anything you say, do, or choose that they disagree with for your own good. And for a child, that's not just fine, that's expected.
For an adult-in-child-body, you'd still have to deal with the instinctive response, and the necessary lessons in new-body usage and maintenance. And the crash course in alien social expectations and interactions, history, etc. But that's a far cry from being wrapped in bubble wrap and sent to school like a good little filly.
But then, Luna's a pone I'd have no issue trusting to begin with. For... reasons.
No, you said no pony had done this to you. Since you assumed it was someone being silly and not a real offer, I'm probably not that far out on a limb in guessing they weren't a pony at the time. If ever. Because Discord's not really a pony. Most of the time? Completely. Most of the time, completely. We'll go with that.
Yes, I'm assuming it was Discord. Because if it wasn't, it could be anyone or anything.
A completely fair and rational question! Hay, you could be an overworked and overstressed school filly suffering from a complete mental break, with a set of entirely self-constructed fake memories! We could all be!
Wow, we have really good imaginations to have just made up the whole of FimFiction!
The First Oath of the Aes Sedai: "To speak no word that is not true."
Naturally, they could make the truth dance on its head and convince you the sun rose in the north somehow...
It still hasn't sunk in. Luna must be so confused right now. Why wouldn't she send help to a lost filly in distress?!
Dying. I'm dying. Send... air... !
Good, good! No fool is our Night Princess!
Good idea asking Princess Luna for tips on immediate survival. Though if I were her, I'd say forget about the fire and just bury yourself in a ton of grass to stay warm, even if you can't figure out how to weave it with your uh, mouth. Or twigs and pine needles if it's snowy. Dig a trench and lay out the twigs over it until dense enough the pine needles don't fall through when you dump 'em on top. Then crawl in the trench and uh... shiver. Yeah, I'm kind of late to the game here to be dropping survival suggestions.
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The biggest issue I can see with that is, they are trying to get rescued, and covering themself with grass would decrease their viability, which would make it harder for rescuers, with a large area to search, to find them.
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Plus her coat is green and her mane is black. Kind of a good camo for night time in the fields or grassy areas.
Nice! Luna to the rescue!
Hurrayyyy!
Jeez...
Definitely like this so far.
I've never seen a self-insert that actually does it. Inserts the author into the story without any (detectable) idealized parts. You aren't inserting the person you want to be, you're inserting the person you are (or were, I don't know).
I applaud your courage, and also your skill. (I don't think I am good enough at self-reflection to be able to do this myself.)
This entire chapter is a demonstration of why extended and complicated lies cause problems, not moral but practical ones.
This tangled web you weave, it is so easy to end up getting yourself stuck in it.
Technically, what he is doing here is not lying, it is deception, of which lying is a subset.
Personally, I have a very strong aversion to lying and I despise and loathe being lied to. Other forms of deception, on the other hand, doesn't bother me nearly as much for some reason. I have been in situations where I have every reason to lie and yet it is very difficult to bring myself to do it. Ironically, I am very good at lying when I'm in a situation severe enough that I do it.
If I were in this situation I would probably have evaded or outright refused answering her questions rather than tried to deceive her. It just isn't me.
10069233
Heh, I couldn't do that because some of the things I can do in real life would seem unrealistic.
4:40
0:32
Im definitely interested by this, and have enjoyed it so far
9899859
No way. You had me until you mentioned the cupcake. If i was lost in the middle of nowhere but woke up to find a cupcake next to me, id be scared shitless.
9901175
Pinkie Pie is basicly the most fun option with random benefits. I just would be heartbroken if Pinkie Pie get sad for Greens sake.
9903136
For the Storys freedome it seems Rarity is indeed the mare to go. But for a real foal i think Fluttershy with shot emotional controls is best.
Or Pinkie Pie if we want the most random fun out of it.
To be fair its my personal nightmare... Always expected to be watched
9903372
Kill two Luna bird... This sentance should be a criminal offense
But yeah sound logic
9903818
Twilight is a walking libary and the most versatile in emerganys. Still not the best for 'aftermaths'.
9906671
A very good lesson to learn overall. Especially in a foals body. Time and chances to grow and developing in body and mindsetting
9953159
Green is a foal. Plenty of time the ropes of Equestria and finaly let Friends into her life ♡
9958901
First class logic based humor. A rare treat in the comment section of late. I like it
Already found a loophole Though I doubt it's enough evidence to warrant an investigation into it.
I'm already loving this story.
Oh my God this main character sounds like such a try hard putz.
I’m 90% certain that this is an error.
‘but it didn’t reduce my fatigue at all’.
The references are strong with this one.
All it’s missing is one more line from Luna.
Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
She walked around me, presumably giving me a once over, before standing in front of me and leaning into the right side of my face.
“Forgive my intrusiveness little pony, I was expecting somepony with your stress levels to be a little... younger.”
Please hold...
LMAOOOOOO
'I need a Hero' is a song that seem to fit. Perhaps
'I will survive' or maybe Aliens Saga rescue soundtrack for some drama? Life and death situation sure warrant it.
Good story and nice pictures!
The pictures are a nice addition. A very rare thing on this site.
you seriously had to put a title drop, didn't you?
Thank god he couldn’t use any fire because with that setup he’s gonna make a great forest fire. (the first image )
The Quality of those pictures are insane.