• Published 1st Jul 2020
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Beyond Me - Boopy Doopy



This isn't me. I am not this pony.

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My Moving-In Party

“Is- is that a dinosaur?” the filly asked her teacher as she stood staring at the purple and green creature, more surprised than afraid, almost completely unaware that the purple pony she passed was staring directly at her.

“It looked like a dragon to me,” Cheerilee said, stopping a few paces ahead of her. “It looks like a baby one to me, though,” she added.

“There are dragons here, too?” Asher asked in disbelief. “What else is there?”

“There aren't any dragons here specifically,” the mare explained. “That’s actually the first one I’ve seen up close. Most of them live in the Dragon Lands as far as I know.”

“I- nevermind. I don’t wanna know about it,” she decided. “It sounds like something out of Dragon Tales. But like I was saying, none of you ponies have any sense of personal space.”

“Well, who picked you up and flew you around?”

“I don’t know. Someone blue with rainbow-colored hair...” She trailed off, then added, “I don’t like heights.”

“Oh, that’s just Rainbow Dash,” Cheerilee told her. “I assume Scootaloo said you guys should see her?”

“Yes, she did.”

“I’ll have a little talk with her about that when I can, I promise,” she assured her as they came into view of Scootaloo’s parents' house. “Well, here we are.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Asher said quietly with a sigh, then took a breath and told her teacher, “Thank you for trying to take me out to eat and trying to get me something to wear. I know I was… being difficult… but I- I appreciate it anyway…” By the time she finished, she was blushing and looking at her hooves.

“You don’t have to thank me,” she responded. “It’s no trouble. I know you’ve been stressed out since you got here, and part of it is my fault. I’m sorry.”

“It’s- it’s okay,” she answered back shyly. "It's not your fault." There was a second of silence before she added, “Can we go inside now?”

“Of course! Head right on in.”

Her hooves fumbled with the knob for a few moments before she was able to push the door open, then immediately jumped back in shock, startled by the sight before her.


“Surprise!” I heard a bunch of people scream at the same time as I looked into the house. There were probably thirty or forty ponies in there, mostly kids from what I could see, along with several adults. I suddenly remembered that one pink pony, Pinkie Pie, saying she would throw me a party to welcome me here, but with everything else that happened, I’d honestly forgotten about it. It seemed like ages ago she said that even though in reality it was less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Are you surprised?” she asked as she suddenly put herself directly in front of me, almost on top of me. “Are you? Are you? Are you?”

“I- um- yes, I- I am,” I stuttered out, shaking my head to regain my composure. “I just-”

“I knew I would surprise you!” she interrupted me. “I was thinking about throwing you a party yesterday, but Miss Lofty said no, and then I heard that you were with Miss Cheerilee this morning, so I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to throw one for you! So I went around town and got all of your new classmates so you could make more friends so you won’t be lonely! Do you like it, Asher? Do you?”

“Ummm… I- yes, but-”

“I knew you would, even if you seem like an adult to me. But never mind that! Let’s party!”

With that, she hopped away like a rabbit, leaving me standing there as music started playing from somewhere and people began to talk to each other.

“That was… I don’t know,” I said aloud as I watched as Scootaloo came up to me. “I’m really not sure about her.”

“That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie,” she responded. “I told you she throws everypony a party. She can be annoying sometimes, but at least she makes up for it by throwing the best parties. Nopony is better at parties than her.”

“Yeah…” I trailed off, looking around. The scene looked like something straight out of a TV show, with cupcakes and candy and a punch bowl as refreshments, and kiddie party games like ring toss and pin the tail on the pony that even the adults were taking part in. It looked nice enough, and I guessed that it would be fun to someone Scootaloo’s age, but to me, it looked… boring. It didn’t really help that I wasn’t that big of a fan of parties to begin with. Not that I hated them, they just weren't really my thing.

“So… what are we supposed to do?” I asked.

“Well, it’s a welcome to Ponyville party,” Scootaloo explained. “Maybe you should try and meet some new ponies. Hey! Sweetie Belle and I can walk around and introduce you to some!”

I frowned at that idea and said, “Maybe we could just wait for them to come to us. I mean, if this is a welcome party, then I think-”

“Oh no!” she suddenly interrupted. “Sweetie Belle's not here! I need to go get her!”

I turned around in time to watch her run out the door and leave me alone. I had no idea what I should be doing, and so just stood there in the middle of the room for several minutes while everyone else talked and laughed around me until a voice behind me started speaking.

“So you’re the new girl, huh?” it said as I turned around to see the pink and grey ponies I recognized from class yesterday. “I can’t believe you actually have to live with Scootaloo.”

“She’s like, the worst filly in Ponyville. We can’t stand her.”

“Uhh… can I ask why?” I asked cautiously. I wasn't entirely sure if I should've been talking to them, but without anything else to do, decided to engage them. Besides, I figured it would be good to know what other people thought about the person I was staying with.

“She stole our friend from us!” the pink one said. “Sweetie Belle used to be our friend, and she stole her from us!”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. They were children and had childish sorts of problems, and I couldn’t help but think that it was amusing

“You think this is funny?” she asked me accusingly.

“No,” I answered, dropping my smile. “It’s just… why don’t you just all be friends with each other?”

“Be friends with that loser?” she asked as though it was the most horrifying thing in the world. “She doesn’t even like any of the same things we like! She only cares about that dumb scooter and being a Wonderbolt and obsessing over Rainbow Dash. I don’t get why Sweetie Belle even hangs out with her.”

“Well, um… maybe you could have Sweetie Belle hang out with you some days? And she could be with Scootaloo the others?” I offered.

“Sweetie Belle’s a lost cause by now,” the grey one said. “We’re looking for a new friend now, and Diamond and I think you should be it.”

“Uh, what?” I got out, confused.

“I know we made fun of you before,” the grey one started, “but that’s only because you were hanging out with that chicken. You don’t sound funny like a lot of the other fillies in our class, plus, you look pretty like us. If you were our friend, we could do your mane and dress up and have sleepovers-”

“Plus, my daddy’s the richest pony in town, and I could get him to buy you whatever you want.”

“And my family goes all over Equestria, and would let me take you with us if you were our friend.”

It sounded suspicious, like they were trying to sell me a used car, and from what I’d seen of them up to that point, they weren’t really the type of people I wanted to be around. Not only that, but I honestly didn’t want to do any of what they suggested we could do, and couldn’t help it as my cheeks went back to what seemed to be a semi-permanent state of pink. However, I didn’t want to outright tell them that I didn't really want to be with them for fear of them getting angry with me.

“That uh- that sounds very nice,” I got out, “but um-”

“Hold that thought,” the pink girl suddenly interrupted. “The chicken is back.”

I turned and watched Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle make their way up to us, smiling and talking to each other until they saw us. At our sight, their expressions hardened and they quickened their pace.

“Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara!” Sweetie Belle called out loudly, making me cringe as I looked around, expecting eyes to be drawn to us at her voice. “What are you two doing here?” she squeaked.

“We’re here for the party we were invited to,” Diamond Tiara answered with a smirk on her face. “Obviously.”

“Well, get away from her!” Scootaloo responded, taking a threatening step towards the two of them. “Go bother somepony else!”

"What makes you think we're bothering her?" she asked. "Does she look like she's bothered by us?"

“What, are you the only one that can talk to the new girl?” Silver Spoon got out. “Just because you met her first?”

“We were just asking her if she wanted to have a sleepover with us next weekend, right Asher?”

“Uh, I mean, to that effect somewhat, yes,” I answered as I looked at the ground, trying to both avoid lying and conflict.

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t want to stay with jerks like you,” the orange pegasus told them.

“Says who?” Diamond asked. “Just because she lives with you doesn’t mean you control her, Scootaloo.”

“Yeah,” the other one chipped in. “What are you, her mom?”

“Well, um… she, uh… she-'' Scootaloo stammered, tripping over her words.

“We’ll just get out of here and let her make her own decision on who she wants to hang out with, unlike someponies. We’ll see you in class tomorrow, right Asher?”

“Um, yes, I… guess…”

With that, the two of them left, leaving Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo standing next to me.

“You wouldn’t really have a sleepover with those two would you?” the latter asked. “They’re the biggest jerks in Ponyville!”

“I- I never said yes or no, and uh… can we- can we do something else? I really don’t want to talk about this, and I don’t like it when you fight because of me…”

“We were just trying to make sure they weren’t making fun of you.”

“I know, it just… I don't want anyone to fight because of me… can we please do something else? Like, play a game or something?”


It didn’t take Asher all that long to realize that her lack of hoof use and coordination would make it difficult to play most games, and so for the most part she sat watching the other foals while she tried to think.

Settling with the fact that she was here and was a pony now was at the top of her to-do list, and she felt like she was slowly but surely doing that. That was step one. Step two was figuring out what she was supposed to be doing here, and what it had to do with being a pony, a child, and a girl. After that, once she figured those things out, she could start to make more sense of her circumstances and work from there.

She began to wonder if she should even try convincing these ponies that she was telling the truth about her not being from there or that she was an adult male. Not that she would deny those things, but it was starting to seem like a waste of effort doing so. Her situation wasn’t going to change, so there wasn’t any real reason to try and convince these ponies about herself.

That didn’t mean that she would just automatically go along with whatever these ponies said. She wasn’t just going to suddenly start wearing dresses or using magic or-

“Wait,” she suddenly thought, realizing what she was previously thinking about and reexamining step two. “Am I… what? Hold on. Am I really… am I really… a girl right now?”

She quickly looked herself over, taking herself in. She knew she looked like a pony and therefore was a pony. Telling herself that she was still a human right then would’ve been weird. By that same logic, telling herself that she was a boy right then should’ve been weird, but the idea of saying that she wasn’t one felt awful to her.

“Am I really a girl right now?” she asked herself. “I mean, I know I’m a boy, but… if I’m stuck as… oh no…”

She quickly shook her head to get that horrible thought out of her head and decided to stop thinking. That wasn’t the kind of thought she wanted to have in her head, and decided to focus on… the lack of ponies around her. It looked like everypony besides Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, and the ponies who lived in the home had already left, leaving Pinkie to do the cleaning.

“Is it over already?” Asher asked curiously, surprised that she could’ve been sitting thinking for so long when it only felt like a few minutes.

“Of course it is, silly!” the mare said, still sounding excited. “Everypony else was playing games and having fun while you were sitting there all quiet and gloomy watching them.” Then she gasped and said, “Oh no! Don’t tell me you didn’t make any new friends! That would be just horrible, and I’d have to throw you a ‘help-Asher-make-new-friends’ party!”

“That’s fine,” the filly responded quickly. “You don't need to do that. Uh, what day is it today though? Actually, what time is it, too?”

“It’s Wednesday, silly filly! And it’s about to be three, which means you have at least three more hours to have fun!”

“Yeah…” she trailed off, seeming like this day was taking even longer than yesterday was. “What do you ponies do all day, if I can ask?”

“Oh, fillies your age do lots of things, like talk and dance and play pretend and dress up and try to find their special talent and-”

As she talked, Asher was starting to put together that the word filly was the equivalent of saying girl in this world. When Pinkie talked about what fillies her age did, she was saying what girls Asher’s age did, and Asher found herself frowning because of it.

“And that’s not 'just us ponies' cause you’re a pony, too, silly! Oh! Maybe you’re pretending to be an alien from another world who’s trying to infiltrate Equestria and turned into a filly to disguise yourself! Can I play with you? Can I? Please?”

Asher suppressed a groan as she sighed, “I’m not playing a game. I’m really… never mind.” Then she yawned and said, “I think I’m just going to go to sleep for tonight. I’ve been up since… I don’t know when.”

“Not until you’ve taken a bath, missy,” she suddenly heard Lofty say behind her. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t have one yesterday, and I know you didn’t take one after you woke up this morning. You need to get in before dinner time.”

This time, Asher couldn’t suppress her groan as she rolled her eyes and said, “Of course, I need a bath.”


“How in the world do I use these things?” I silently asked myself as I sat in the warm water looking at my hooves. I once again tried to use them to pick up the soap and the washing towel, but only watched as they pushed the objects they tried to grab. It was frustrating to see because I knew I could do it, seeing as I picked up the fork last night, but for some reason wasn’t. I really didn’t want to have to rely on people to do basic tasks and growled at my lack of ability.

“Lord, just please let me figure out how to use these hooves…” I prayed. “Please just let me figure out how to do this…”

Almost the very next instant I heard a knock on the door and Lofty calling out, “Are you okay in there? Do you need any help? You’ve been in there for a while.”

“No, I’m fine,” I automatically answered, before suddenly getting an idea and changing my mind. “Actually, can you get Miss Holiday, please?”

“Sure thing,” she answered, and then about a minute later I watched the beige pony walk in. I felt my ears flatten against my head as I took a breath, trying to hide my embarrassment. I didn’t see why I was though. I was just as exposed now as I was before, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but be ashamed of myself.

“I need help using these hooves,” I said quickly before she could ask, intentionally not looking in her direction. “I can’t pick things up and I need to use the restroom, and I don’t want to have to get help with that.”

“Ah, well… hmmm…” she trailed off. “Let me think… I know you’ve already tried to pick things up before… Is your grip weak, or…?”

“I don’t have any grip at all with these stupid things,” I told her, frustration creeping into my voice. “I was able to pick up the fork last night, but when I realized what I was doing, I dropped it, and haven’t been able to pick up anything else since.”

“Okay, well… how did you eat and write and use the restroom before?”

“I wasn’t a pony before!” I said exasperatedly, knowing that I was sounding pouty.

“I see…” she trailed off again. “I’m no doctor but… well... why don’t you try gripping my hooves?” she asked, extending them out to me. “Let me feel how strong it is. I want you to grip as hard as you can.”

I leaned partway out of the tub and touched mine to her’s as I tried to do something. Even pressed up flat against mine, I could feel her hooves gripping around mine like a hand. It was a very weird sensation, but after a few seconds, I was able to feel myself gripping around her’s as though I had fingers again.

“Hey- hey!” I shouted excitedly, unable to contain my excitement. “I’m doing it! I’m actually doing it! I'm grabbing your hoof!”

“It looks like you are,” she said with a smile, seeming happy to see me happy.

“Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you, God! Thank you! Oh my gosh, I’m so happy!”


Holiday was genuinely happy to see Asher happy, although it once again reaffirmed the doubt in her mind that she was looking for attention. While she didn't know why her gripping Asher's hooves somehow made her able to grip back, she was fairly certain that if she were seeking attention, she wouldn’t be this excited about being able to do something so simple. However, she put that thought in the back of her mind for now as something to bring up to Cheerilee later when she had the chance.

“I’m glad you’re able to use your hooves, sweetie,” she said gently. “Now why don’t we get you dried off and brushed up so you can go back to playing with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?”

“Okay, okay,” she responded, calming down from her excitement, not even feeling bothered when she was called ‘sweetie’. “But first,” she added, “I really do need to go to the restroom.”

“Okay.”

Asher watched her stand there for a few moments, then stuttered out, “Um, that means, um…”

“Oh,” the mare chuckled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I’ll step out for now. Just call me back when you’re finished.”

The filly sighed and stepped out of the tub once she left, silently thinking, “Oh, thank you, God. Thank you for letting me be able to do this. Thank you for always answering my prayers and being with me and guiding over me. Thank you.”

Holiday waited by the door for Asher for a few minutes before she finally heard her call out that she was done.

“Oh dear,” she said as she reentered, taking in the wet filly. “You didn’t even shake yourself off after getting out. You’re dripping wet and there’s water all over the floor.”

“I’m sorry,” she told her. “I didn’t know I was supposed to shake off…”

“You’re fine. It’s just something to remember for next time. Now let me get you dried off,” she told her, quickly placing towels on her and rubbing her down and drying her off. Asher closed her eyes while she did, hating the feeling of being treated like a child. However, she didn’t protest mostly because she figured this would be the only time Holiday would do this for her since she could use her hooves properly now.

“Now I look like a wet puppy,” the filly commented once the mare was done drying her off.

“Well let me get your coat and mane brushed out,” she said as she grabbed a brush and sat down in the middle of the floor. Asher shook her head at that, but watched as the mare waited patiently for her to come and reluctantly sighed and sat down in front of her.

“I don’t want anything done to me,” she told her as she began. “I just want it brushed- oh my gosh!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Holiday apologized as she lifted the brush out of her coat. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Keep going,” she asked, then shivered as her coat started to be brushed again. “Oh, that feels really nice,” she said as she lay down completely.

“Have you never had your coat brushed before?” the mare asked curiously, watching the filly shake her head and close her eyes.

“Don’t stop though,” she said as she let out a sigh of contentment.

“Are you sure?” Holiday laughed as she continued. “You might fall asleep if I don’t, and then I can style your mane however I want to.”

“I'll stay awake,” she responded as she suddenly found herself drifting off. "I won't fall asleep."

Author's Note:

A third of the stuff I write into the story I only write in cause I think it's cute

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