The Pondolorian

by Prismfire Productions

Deep Impact

"Come on you fucking piece of junk, keep it together! Come on, come on altitude 15 kilometers, almost there almost there. Ok, we just went subsonic, good, now the difficult part is to make sure I don't nosedive and blow us up..." Din was not happy, not only was he in an unknown coordinate, heading towards an unknown planet; the moment the Razorcrest had hit the atmosphere, the turbulence had knocked off his guidance system and autopilot, making him rely on his altimeter, yoke, and his own two hands. "Cleared the water, so hope this landing will be soft… 10 kilometers, 5, 2… NOW!"

Waiting until the last possible moment, Din pulled back on the yoke, making the ship be more in line with the horizon and avoiding the worst-case scenario of a nose-first impact. He knew the Razorcrest was tough, having been a prize that many bounty hunters had sought after, but he knew even it was subject to wear and tear. Multiple repair jobs, battles, and one dismantling had damaged the hull to the point Din counted himself lucky they had not turned into a fireball on entry to break apart during the hyperspace jump.

Impacting a solid surface, however, was another matter altogether…

Like finding a straw of hay in a needlestack, it was only by sheer luck that he managed to land in a relatively flat meadow close to what looked like a town. The impact, although jarring, didn't seem to have punctured through the hull but he knew better than to trust a silent alarm.

"You ok kid?" Din asked, turning to face The Child when the ship finally let out a groan as it settled in place. Other than shaking with his ears down, the toddler appeared to be fine as he looked back up at his caretaker. "Good, hopefully nothing too important broke on impact, otherwise we might be stuck here for a long time."

Heading down to the storage area, Din had to pause as soon as his foot hit the ladder. The normally-sturdy bicarbonate rods flexed under his weight, their pitiful moaning letting him know that more danger lucked in the bowels of the hull. Using the flashlight on his suit, he saw the state that the ship was in, and it made his heart sink.

The floor itself was covered in the musky aroma of dirt, the metallic floor not immediately seen, but the dirt was enough of a hint for Din to realize the hull was breached at best and ripped apart at the worst. Supplies and shelving were tossed around like a child tearing up their room in a temper tantrum, and a carbonite support arm had torn free from it's bolting and rested against the dented refrigerator door.

"Well shit…" Din thought, surveying the damage and the flickering overhead lights that were on their life support currents before sparking their last spark and plunging the cargo hold, besides Din's flashlight, into total darkness. The thing that struck him as odd was The Child's carrier, which had bounced and rolled to the opposite side of the area from where it normally was stored, but there was no sign of even a scratch on it. "Tough shell, it is almost as if it is made out of beskar. I wonder-"

A temperature alarm in his helmet went off, pulling him out of his thoughts as he looked to what had triggered the alarm, and the full realization of the damage soon hit him.

Barium Hydroxide, when left on its own, is highly corrosive with the only thing keeping it from causing structural damage to the ship was the liquid being kept in constant motion to mix with the Ammonium Chloride for the refrigerator. With the pumping system down, and the radiant heat of the still-hot engine nearby, the motionless Barium Hydroxide had started to warm.

Now, normally that would not be an issue since BaOH and NH⁴CL are both solids at room temperature; however, with the radiant heat of the engine exceeding the boiling point of both compounds, Din knew he was in a race against time against the corrosive and deadly reactants.

"I got to cool them off…" Din thought, knowing the gaseous Ammonium Chloride would produce toxic chlorine gas. "If I can somehow get cooler air into the system, that will buy me some time. I know there is an exterior intake valve on the port side, but the exposed wires on the emergency escape make this risky. If only there was something I can use to cover me…"

Looking around, a moment of inspiration struck, and a smile appeared on his face.

---

Pinkie Pie was a mare of many talents, and that came in handy in a variety of situations. Whether it was helping her friends, keeping track of everypony's birthday or special occasion, or even bedroom activities, she made sure to put her best hoof forward and keep everypony happy to the best of her ability and the Element that she represented.

Laughter.

Yet, on this sunny, lazy day, Pinkie woke from her cotton candy cloud-filled dreams with a tired yawn. Having invited Cheese Sandwich over the previous night, it went without saying that her soreness was from activities that satisfied her to the core. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with a pink tangle of fluff that was identical to the one on her own dock.

"Morning Pinkles," Pinkie said, giving the tail a tiny nibble. which resulted in its' owner letting out a muffled grunt. "It is getting close to noon, so we have to get up."

"Don't wanna…" The voice, identical to Pinkie's own, said as she stirred. At first glance, it was as if she had cloned herself, but a keen observer would notice the color pattern of the cutie mark balloons was reversed. "Five more minutes? Please?"

"But we got to-" Pinkie's protest was cut off by her duplicate nuzzling her own tail, making her sigh in content. "Okie Dokie, five more minutes, but then we have to get ourselves in order for our super busy day. When I invited you to give my Cheeseakins a Double Deluxe Stuffed Pie, I didn't think that you would try to take him for your own."

"I-I'm not, honest!" Pinkles squeaked, her mane and tail falling flat and her colors dulling to a deeper shade of pink. "I'm just sore is all. I have never been ridden like an animal before, so my muscles are tensing in protest to shifting from my spot."

"I know, and we are animals so what we got rode with was normal" Pinkie said, giving her duplicate a boop on her shoot, causing it to scrunch up. "I was just teasing you, you silly filly, because I have no issues at all. Me, you, and Cheeseakins all had a good time, and as busy as we all have been recently it was a much-needed break."

"No kidding," Pinkles said, arching her back like a large, fluffy cat."Between making sure Sweetie didn't burn down her house during Rarity's fashion expo, raising the extra funds for the Filly Scout's trip to the Bucky Mountains, and planning the Fall Formal I am totally wiped. That is why as soon as I got your invitation, I made sure my weekend was cleared. You making Cheese a dragon was a nice surprise I had not expected, and I feel like I owe you two a debt of gratitude for that."

"Every Pinkie knows a Pinkie my dear Pinkles," Pinkie said, putting a hoof around her human counterpart and giving her a hug. "It was nothing really, me and Cheeseakins had a long talk about it after you told me your Cheese Sandwich left town to go on tour and told you to stay with your friends. Me and Cheeseakins both have been heartbroken by previous relationships before we got together, so we knew what you were going through. It was just a matter of timing and Zecora mixing the potion, but I must say I love the results."

Pinkie gave a blissful sigh as she looked to her coltfriend, who at the moment was a peacefully dreaming dragon. The way his wings and strong, lean muscle made his form look more intimidating and powerful had sent more than one kind of shiver through her body the previous night, but she had insisted Pinkles had first go with him as a dragon.

"So peaceful," Pinkie said, stroking Cheese's back with a hoof and causing him to purr growl. "Now Pinkles, how do you suggest we wake him? Nothing lewd can be the answer."

"Dwww…" Pinkles said, looking slightly disappointed before scrunching her muzzle up into her thinking face. Pinkie thought it was cute, and couldn't help but wonder if her dear Cheeseakins thought the same when he saw herself do it. "Well, why not throw cold water on him? You said he was an Earth Elemental, right? So it shouldn't hurt him."

"Hmm…" Pinkie thought the idea over, remembering that Zecora had said something about blue liquid and the potion, but at the moment her tired mind could not connect the dots. "Okie Dokie Loki, besides, it will be a good prank getback for him replacing my soda with Fizzy Flier Seltzer."

"You know, before I do, I am curious why we add 'Loki' behind 'Dokie'," Pinkles said, trotting across the hardwood floor as she spoke. "Wouldn't 'Okie Dokie' be satisfactory enough? I mean, some first-time customers at the Corner complain to the Cakes that it annoys them and that I need to take mood stabilizers for my ADHD, ADD, OCD, and my Walking Hyperactive Integral Party Planner Extraordinaire Disorder. Do I even need to say there is no pill for that last one?! Anyway, why do all us Pinkies say it?"

"In honor of our many-times-great grandmother," Pinkie said, sighing as if she had this conversation many times before. "Now, how about you get the water while I move the covers off the bed?"

With a satisfactory nod, Pinkles disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Pinkie alone as she tossed the blankets off the bed. She was not going to say anything to Pinkles' face, but she had a tiny amount of remorse and guilt towards her counterpart about the circumstances involved. She had heard from Sunset what had gone down, with Cheese giving Pinkles their engagement band back to her because he wanted her to continue fighting with her friends instead of being sucked into 'being a fantastic wife who was the target of the paparazzi'. It truly made her feel bad, but also thankful she had her Cheese as a coltfriend who was more than willing to lend a helping hoof to her human counterpart.

"I got the water!" Pinkles said, taking the bucket handle out her mouth and briefly assuming a bipedal stance. "Time for Mr. Sleepyhead to be wakey wakey!"

The moment the water was tossed they both felt their Pinkie Sense hit them like a current.

A full-body tremble.
A clinching sensation in their hooves.
A twitchy muzzle.
And finalized with a powerful pinching sensation from under their tails.

"Oh no…" Both party ponies said, watching in horror as the water made contact with the target, hitting him square in the torso and instantly waking him up.

"Gah!" Cheese said, rolling out of bed as his whole body started to shake. "What the heck was that for?!"

"It was to wake you up…" Pinkles said, taking a few steps back after bucking the bucket out the window. "But if our Pinkie Sense is correct, that is about to be the least of our worries."

"What do you-" Whatever question Cheese had was lost as his stomach lurched, causing him to curl up in a tight ball while his spasming wings started to recede back into his shoulder blades. "It didn't hurt this bad the first time, do something you two!"

With the bed soaked through the box spring, and the pillows along with them, the best the two Earth Ponies could do was roll up the softest towels that were still clean and use them as a makeshift pillow as Cheese's body continued its regression.

His tail became shorter, all his diamond-hard scales softening and fusing back into skin as his normal pony coat started to overtake his shrinking form. A shuddering *CRUNCH* filled the room as his spinal plates and hips readjusted back into being in a quadrupedal stance, and his claws balled and clinched as they once again became hooves. As his head and equipment returned to that of a pony, Cheese thought that his ordeal was over with…

But it just so happened Marephy Law, Esq., was in a pissed off mood from her marefriend dumping her that same morning.

"S-something is wrong," Cheese said, an unbearable heat starting to survey through his body like a fever from a severe case of the Germane Sneasles. "I-I feel-"

A high pitched moan escaped his lips as his body shook, losing a couple of inches in height as his mane and tail both lengthened and increased in volume. His muzzle rounded off as his eyelashes and face shifted, leaving the two identical pink mares starting at the face of an absolutely adorable version of Cheese's. The changes progressed downward, his fur softening and covering his hooves, which he felt change into a daintier version that he had seen on numerous tours across Equestria. It was then the full realization of what was happening hit him, making him silently beg to Celestia to make the changes stop as he felt his systems flip outside-in and his plot jut out into soft pillows.

"What the hay?!" Cheese said, her eyes widening and her hooves covering her muzzle as she heard her new voice. It was soft and joyous much like her marefriend's, but held a slight edge that showed she knew how to have a good time after foals turned in for the night. Turning in front of Pinkie's full-sized mirror, she saw how beautiful her new body was, but that didn't distract her from the fact she was now a mare in the first place. "Why am I a mare?! Zecora didn't say anything about side-effects after changing back, you two sure we followed the directions correctly?"

"I am positive," Pinkie said, pulling the instructions out the waste bin. "I poured the first power into your water, then coated the enclosed quartz with the crystalized potion, just as she wrote!"

"Let me see that Sweetums," Cheese said, using Pinkie's nickname to show she wasn't truly angry at the mare, just confused as to how it happened. As Pinkie was roofing over the paper, she noticed something all three had overlooked. "I'm, dear, did you bother to check the reverse side?"

A collective facehoof ensued as Pinkie read the reverse side out loud, each mare feeling like an idiot.

"With these pieces you'll have fun,
But your venture can't be spun.
For a dragon's power needs great control,
Like carbon being pressed into coal.
Just as each piece fits together,
The reverse will undo the tether.
To return the dragon into a pon,
The potion's effects must be gone!
But beware the power of cool liquid blue,
the taker's life will be birthed anew.
This potion will make him see a mother's reason,
Until the stars return to this exact season…"

"Crabapples," Pinkles said, her mane deflating with guilt. "Now you are going to be stuck like this for a whole year!"

"Um, actually, no," Pinkie said, drawing a confused look from the other two mares. "We both know time flows differently on the sides of the mirror. For example, we are younger there, but older here. That is because while both planets are in relatively the same point in dimensional space, and thus linked, their orbits are slightly different. Solaris is a slightly smaller and cooler star than Sol, so to maintain the same biosphere Equus has to orbit slightly closer. That is also why we can still have eclipses, because our moon is larger and closer than the human Equus.

"In addition, the universal constants here differ because of the fact Solaris' solar wind also contains raw mana that exerts a force and causes Equus to bob up and down in its orbit. Now, the ebb and flow is rhythmic, and occurs in cycles of one year, one month, and one day in relation to human Equus' own orbit time. I remember from school that two ebbs and two flows equal to one seasonal cycle. So for the stars to be in the exact positions…"

"Four years, four months, and four days," Cheese said, slumping onto her natural cushions and wrapping her tail around her barrel. "Four years a mare, boy this is going to be awkward to explain to my tour manager and clients."

"We will cross that bridge later," Pinkie said, wrapping her gender-bent coltfriend in one of her patented cuddle hugs. "Right now, we need to help you adjust. Me and Pinkles owe you that at the very least for having caused this fiasco. Since I am now wide awake, I remember Zecora saying about 'liquid blue', but I thought she meant the stuff DJPON3 uses at her ragers!"

"Don't worry about it Sweetums," Cheese said, giving Pinkie a loving kiss. "I am not mad at you two. Lets just use this as a learning experience, ok? From now on, we are more careful with potions, and you two have a lot to teach me about being a mare. We are all in this together, and we will get through it together, and that includes you Pinkles."

"M-me?" Pinkles squeaked, blushing like she had read through Rarity's 'personal magazine stash'. "I don't want to be a burden or come between you and Pinkie. Look, I appreciate what the two of you did, but if this was just a one time party I would be content with that too."

"You really are like my Sweetums," Cheese said, giving Pinkles a small boop on her adorable snoot. "But I am serious with my offer. You deserve happiness too, and Sweetums told me your Rainbow Dash is trying to help fill the void, but if she is anything like the Rainbow I know she is nothing like me. It will be like replacing sugar with artificial sweetener, they both have the same purpose but they are not the same."

"Hey," Pinkie said, giggling at the simile Cheese had used. "That is something I would normally say, it seems you have picked up a few of my quirks."

"If it means spending the rest of my life with you? It is well worth it." Cheese said, nuzzling Pinkie before looking at Pinkles again. "If you don't want to continue going forward, I understand. I know the Cheese on your world hurt you where it would the most, but I am willing to include you to show I am not him. Hay, I will even write a list of things for your Rainbow that will 'help' her with private party time. Whatcha say?"

"Hmmmm…" Pinkles paused for several long minutes as she weighed her options, during which Pinkie started to get a hooves-on look at the finer details of Cheese's new body. "Well, if it means better playtimes with Dashie, I guess I really can't say no to that… Okies, I'll do it, we have a deal."

"Glad to hear," Cheese said, trying to ignore the fact she was feeling increasingly hot under the mane from Pinkie's gentle caressing. "Now, how about we get those sheets into the wash and then we head to Quill and Sofas for us to pick us out a new bed set?"

"Or we just toss it all and get all new stuff," Pinkie said, drawing an uncertain look from Cheese and Pinkles. "I mean, I got some bits in an emergency party supply find, but I think this is a more important circumstance. We need a bigger bed so all three of us can fit, super duper comfy absorbable box springs and mattresses, and all new pillows and bedding. I also need to make a stop by the store to triple the amount of mare health products I have on hoof so we don't have any complications in a few days."

"In a few days?" Cheese said, confusion filling her tone as she tried to think about what time of the year it was. Realizing what Pinkie meant, she instantly paled. "Oh no…"

Equestria, with it's 4-1 stallion-to-mare ratio, had an unusually high concentration of Earth Pony magic that was ambient in the environment. While Canterlot scholars blamed it on the fact Earth Ponies were the dominant tribe population-wise, Celestia knew that the Tree of Harmony also played a major factor.

Back during the YakYakistianian Wars, running out of farmers was often seen as a major problem. Before the war, the gender ratio of Equestria, and the tribes in general, was about even; however, with the farm helpers off to serve the Solar Empire, the Princess of the Sun knew that food shortages were going to spring up and cause chaos. Eventually, she had an idea, and by infusing her own Earth Pony magic with the Tree of Harmony, Earth Pony mares could have foals more often at the cost of a more frequent estrus. While it proved to be a blessing during wartimes, time had ensured Celestia forgot about her spell so it was deemed the norm.

Now Cheese Sandwich was a mare, with the Summer Heat knocking on the proverbial door.

"BUCK!" Cheese's shriek caused the Cakes downstairs to briefly look at each other in concern, but passed it off as normal Pinkie business. "I can't be with a stallion! I'm a stallion! Me doing it with Big Mac or Time Turner will be wrong on so many messed up levels…"

"Interesting choice in stallions if I must say," Pinkie said, her teasing making Cheese go rigid. "Oh come on! I am just teasing you Cheese Doodle, so turn that frown upside down!"

"Cheese Doodle?" Cheese said, both her and Pinkles looking at Pinkie like she had grown a second head. "That is a new one Sweetums. If you don't mind, why did you just call me that?"

"Well, Cheese Sandwich is your name as a stallion, but you are a mare right now." Pinkie said, pulling a whiteboard out her mane with several names on it that were all cheese or sandwich related. "Much like how my male equivalent is Bubble Berry, you need a name that fits your new look! Besides, I tried them on the other side of the portal and they are super yummy! Although, if you don't like it, Cheese Danish was my second pick…"

"I think Cheese Danish will be better," The newly-minted mare said, giving Pinkie a hug. "No offense, but I think that Cheese Doodle sounds like something Discord would do with string cheese and ventriloquistic marionettes for National Prank War Day."

"Why thank you for the suggestion!" A coat rack none of them had noticed said in an all-too-familiar voice before rattling and revealing the Lord of Chaos himself. "I must say, you certainly take after Pinkie in the thiccness department, for I know quite the clawfull of mares and stallions who would want a piece of your plump plot."

"Let me guess," Pinkie sighed, moving a hoof to her forehead as she shook it side to side. "Cheeseakins being turned into a mare put off enough chaos waves to draw you in like a magnet?"

"Oh, you are getting to know me so well my dear pink chaotic friend," Discord's grin made a rattlesnake's look nice, and the accompanying chuckle made Pinkles shudder whine in fear, but he only put a 'congrats on the new oven' party hat on Cheese Danish before blowing on a streamer that spread confetti. "That is the truth, but I mainly came by to do the congratulations bit since a large source of chaos waves are tugging at me from the sky like Bulk at a muscle powder convention."

"I feel it too," Pinkie said, getting a nod from her counterpart before a familiar Pinkie Sense triggered in her body. "Oooo! We’re going to meet somepony new! Quick, let's go meet them and throw the best 'new visiter, new friend party' yet!"

"Um, I think you are forgetting about something Sweetums," Cheese said, motioning to her body then the two mares in front of her. "We haven't showered, you really want to go out smelling like this?"

“I mean, you could. The hormonal chaos would be a delightful addition to the emissions today,” Discord said, chuckling as he snapped his fingers and turning the three of them into soap bars, before turning them back to normal squeaky clean. “Now have fun making chaos you three, I'll be seeing you around.”

Leaving the three mares with a poof of smoke, Discord vanished.

"That was weird," Cheese said, rubbing her chin in thought. "I mean, I have been in Ponyville long enough to know that he is a chaotic weirdo, but that was weird even for him. A simple joke, prank, then reversal? Maybe Fluttershy really is starting to have him change."

"I have known him long enough to know he goes after the biggest swimmer in the pond," Pinkie said, slightly flinching at the deadpan Cheese gave her. "Right now, he let us go because he spotted a bigger fish. Also, he is right, due to my ancestry I can feel chaos waves, and there is something heading for the meadow on the outskirts of town."

"I say we go check it out to be on the safe side," Pinkles said, earning a horrified look from Cheese. "With our 'new potential friend' radar pinging like a Geiger counter, they should be harmless."

"Is it the same radar that told you Discord is harmless?" Cheese said, making Pinkles instantly flinch at the question. "Ok, in fairness, most of his pranks are harmless, but he betrayed Pinkie and the girls in the name of chaos! If he did it before, what is stopping him from doing it again?"

"Fluttershy," Pinkie's stern tone was not one that Cheese was expecting, the yellow-coated mare backing up at the sight of it. "She is the reason why Discord will never pull that stunt ever again. He has come to deeply care about her, and she has learned how to put up with his pranks as long as they don't get too far out of control. If they do, then oh boy does she make him feel regretful afterwards. Now enough talking, we got a new friend to make!"

Not giving her marefriend a chance to have a comeback, Pinkie scooped up her counterpart and Cheese and made a beeline for the meadow. The marigolds, lilies, lavender, cornflower, and dandelions in bloom painted a lovely color pallet on the hill, but at the crest each of them stopped in their tracks at the big machine that obviously had made a crash landing and the silvery creature beating on it with its appendages.

"No way, " Cheese said, staring at the figure in shock but paused as she searched for her phrasing from her brain. "Not to be rude, but is that a-"

"Human?" Pinkles snorted, an amused smirk crossing her snorted as Cheese looked away embarrassed. "Don't worry Cheesie, I'm not offended that you were about to ask that. Based on the figure's stature, I would have to guess he is an adult male that is somewhere in his thirties because that suit is slim for someone athletic."

"You girls stay here just in case a crowd starts to gather, I'm going to go introduce myself." Pinkie said, starting off pronking through the meadow as she softly sang to herself. "My name is Pinkie Pie… and I just wanna say…"

---

All throughout Din's life as a Mandalorian, he had come to acquire a vast variety of skills. From being able to track a target that left the faintest of hints, to mastering multiple arts of combat, it was part of the reason he had the reputation that he had built up for himself in the Guild. As such, they all required the same tried-and-true technique of keeping a level head and staying calm under pressure or when cornered in a dangerous situation.

Right now, however, both those things applied.

With The Child safely with him outside, bundled up with his travel capsule closed, Din knew he didn't have to worry about the toddler being exposed to potentially lethal amounts of chlorine gas. It also meant that he could fully focus on trying to open the intake valve, which had clamped shut upon impact and even his beskar gloves had not managed to make a dent.

"Well, I got to give the builder credit, he knew what he was doing with these valves…" Din thought, pausing to shake off the dull throbbing in his right hand and to regather his breath. The design was meant to prevent air loss in the vacuum of space, but even with equal atmospheric pressure, the valve was not moving. "Unless some of the gas has already found its way into the pipe, that would prevent it from moving but complicate matters on the safety side of things."

"Hi there!" A shrill, high-pitched voice, one that Din understood as a broken and battered version of his own language, caused him to nearly leap out his suit if he could. Readying his butterfly launcher, Din spun in place, but was confused by a bright pink horse-like creature looking at him with glistening blue eyes and a smile that creeped him out. "My name is Pinkie Pie, do you want to be my friend?!"

"What the?!" Din was a person who had tangled with some of the toughest outlaws in the galaxy, several of home had nearly succeeded in killing him. Seeing a talking horse, that just was a level of unnatural that he did not feel comfortable being around for an extended period of time. "Guess some fumes really did get into my head, because I swore I just heard you talk in my language."

"It wasn't fumes silly," Pinkie said, giggling a bit as she hopped in place. "I can understand you because you speak similar to the human version of this world on the other side of the portal, just a different accent. Though, considering I am a pony right now, it hurts my throat to speak like this since I got a bigger tongue and my vocal cords are different."

"Well… this creature seems harmless enough," Din thought, considering his options as the horse rubbed its throat with a hoof. The horse could communicate, which helped matters when it came to negotiating with the locals to get his ship repaired. On the other, his scanners had picked up no signs of the level of technology needed for the repairs so it was now a matter of Survival 101. "You said you want to be my friend, right?"

The horse nodded so fast it was a blur.

"Don't hurt yourself," Din's statement caused the horse to stop, but that never-ending smile didn't cease. "Friends help friends, correct?"

Another, less abrupt, nod.

"Well how about this," Din was making the plan as he went, but he was pleased that it was going well for now. "If you help me get this valve to open, then I will be your friend."

"Okie Dokie Loki!" The horse's tone was full of glee as she caught Din off guard with a sudden hug that made him thankful he was in his suit from the sheer force it exerted, because to his horror he heard the beskar creak and dent. Letting go of it’s sure-fire death grip, the pink mass picked up a nearby rock and bucked it with a rear hoof. The momentum caused the valve to lurch open and the rock to ricochet to go murder an innocent flower. "There we go, all done!"

"Um, thanks?" Din could not believe what he just saw, but the was thankful there wasn't an accompanying *whoosh* that would have indicated pressure build-up. "Now that is-"

"OHMIGOSH!" The horse's exclamation, and ensuing squee, made a sense of dread crawl up his spine. Slowly turning in place, the dread was cemented when he saw the horse looking at The Child before gently picking him up and holding him. "HeIsSoCute!!"

"Back away from him, slowly," To his credit, Din could tell that The Child was not scared, he had only been initially startled; yet, he was not about to risk the toddler's well being to a creature that should not exist. "No offense, but I just met you and I really don't feel comfortable trusting him in your care just yet."

"Oh, it is perfectly understandable," The horse said, setting The Child back in his carrier. "But, I'll have you know that I am an official foalsitter extraordinaire! So, if you need somepony to look after him while you try to fix your ship, I will gladly do it for free!"

"Generous offer," Din briefly considered the horse to be a bounty hunter, but that was buried from the fact there were no nearby trackers going off in his suit. "I will have to consider it, since I have no clue just how badly damaged my ship is …Miss?"

"Oh! I am sorry, you probably didn't catch my name earlier because I distracted you and startled you." The horse briefly looked down, which Din interpreted as shame, but soon cleared her throat as she extended a hoof towards him. "My name is Pinkie Pie, what is your name?"

"Mando," Din was not ready to give this horse his actual name, so he was silently hoping it would be enough to satisfy the alien as he shook her hoof. "Now that introductions are over, are there more horses like yourself nearby?"

"First of all, I am a pony, not a horse," Pinkie said, pausing briefly to keep her vocal cords from overstraining. "Second, the town I live in is just over the crest of the hill there, where my two marefriends are standing. Word of warning: there is a unicorn who lives in town who is obsessed with humans, so don't be surprised if she bombards you with questions. Now come on, let me take you to the shop I work at to at least get you something to drink."

Din didn't want to leave the ship, but with The Child looking at him in anticipation he knew his choice was already made for him before he and The Child started to follow the bouncing ball of fur. When they reached the top of the hill, Din was surprised to see an entire crowd had gathered, with two larger equines standing at the front.

"Don't worry Mando," Pinkie said, somehow managing to whisper in his ear. "Leave the explanations to me."

With nothing else to do while Pinkie bounced down to talk to the taller ponies, Din started to mentally take notes of how each individual varied. Some had horns, some had wings, most had neither, but the two largest ones had both. He had been in enough remote places in the Outer Rim to know things like that were often associated as a status symbol, so he started to figure out what he could offer to get in the leaders' good graces as Pinkie made her way back over to him.

"Everything is all set," Pinkie said, subtly motioning Pinkles and Cheese to go set up the welcome party. "Just follow me to the castle and we will continue our conversation there. My other friends and current-leader Princess Twilight will be waiting there for us."

"Lead the way," However, even from his current vantage point he could see the tower of crystal that pierced the sky like a spear. Yet, as he walked through the crowd and ignored the murmurings in a language he did not understand, an unbearable, bristled itch formed on his chin. "Damn, I need to shave…"

Author's Note:

I wonder what Fate and Destiny have to say about Mando dropping in?...🤔🤔🤔

Thanks to Classy Fox for editing due to Penalt being unavailable.

Comments

[Ri2]

Wait, he landed just outside of town and not in the forest, where he would get attacked by a manticore? Is that allowed?

Didn't expect Cheese. Or human Pinkie. Or a threesome. Or Cheese switching genders.

So, not sure I understood all the astrobabble. Does time pass differently between the two dimensions or something?

[Prismfire Productions]

10302142
That is actually canon from the EqG movies (mare Twi is her 20s, yet on the other side of the portal she is a high schooler). I just went with something that actually made sense in relation to planetary rotation

[Ri2]

10302251
No, I figured there was a time difference, I just never thought about the sort of astronomical mechanics behind it.

[Prismfire Productions]

10302254
You are welcome!

[RDDash]

What's the wars has to do with the unequal gender ratio? I mean, if they continue to give birth at 1:1 ratio the older generation would just die out in time. It would be more believable to blame incompetent potion practicioners like Zecora.

[Prismfire Productions]

10348914
Nothing is ever 1:1, but basically they used magic to skew the ratio