• Published 4th Feb 2024
  • 387 Views, 75 Comments

Little Hooves in a Dark World - David Silver



She was in the gig economy. She was also a little pony. Her people needed her, inspired to motion and action. That meant her life was getting a lot busier on the pony side of things. Her human life proved to be... understanding, or so she hoped.

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13 - Curiouser and Curiouser

Raspberry sat up, but she wasn't on Jay's spare bed. She wasn't even in Jay's apartment. "What the?" She looked around slowly, eyes wide at the surreal place she seemed to be in. Everything was blackness, but she could still see a little. Beyond that though, there was a strong sensation of someone else's mind nearby. "Jay?"

No reply came, but a pressure came from the same direction as the mind.

With only the clip-clops of her own hooves to keep her company, Raspberry set off towards that presence. "This is a little strange. A lot, really. Am I still sleeping?" She was thinking a lot of things, and feeling a lot of things. She didn't feel asleep, but everyone said that while asleep.

Raspberry shook herself hard. "Don't think like that. Gotta think positive." She cantered onwards, something in her chest welling up with fear. With a second dose of determination, she braved into the unknown. She walked face first into a wall.

Staggering back, dizzy and in some amount of pain, she rubbed at her face. "I thought dreams didn't have pain." She peered at the wall she had just collided with. It was smooth and slightly shiny. A surface, for sure, but how had she missed it?

As if reading her mind, the darkness seemed to retreat, light filling the area from an unseen source. Raspberry stood on a road. The wall was some manner of building, but for what purpose, she had no clue. It was like some alien had a strange lego set and assembled that building in front of her to bump into. "What's going on?!"

Raspberry spun around, and froze. At the end of the street, standing there like it belonged there, was a unicorn. They stood still, tail and mane as white as snow, before turning away and walking off. "W-wait!" Raspberry hurried after them. "Please tell me where in heck we are!"

The unicorn continued to walk off without saying a word. Raspberry caught up easily enough. "Hey, c'mon! Can you talk? This is pretty weird!"

They glanced at Raspberry before ignoring her. Walking with smooth purpose, they strode away from that building.

Raspberry whined softly. "Could you at least give me a hint? Um, what's your name?" She slowed down slightly as she trailed the unicorn. "Can you say something?"

The unicorn flicked their tail, glowed, and vanished.

Raspberry sunk to her haunches, staring at where the unicorn had been. "Well, that isn't very nice, or fair." She wasn't even sure what was happening. Her last memory was of curling up in bed after a busy day. Was she having some strange dream? "Ugh, it's probably Jay's fault."

"Interesting." The voice came from nowhere, but it seemed familiar. Raspberry launched towards it at a speedy trot. A head emerged from the building before her, then another, then three more. A single eye opened, somehow shining a spotlight on Raspberry. "A pony, in our world?"

Raspberry did not like being scrutinized, much less by that strange presence. "Um, hi? Should I be scared, or is this proof in the other direction that I'm asleep and I ate a bad slice of pizza." She stepped backwards slowly, tail between her legs. "Where am I?"

The presence looked at her. "Pony? Curious. The girl you're wearing that face for is a mage, correct?"

Raspberry came to a stop, ears flicking at the strange series of heads. "My face? I, uh, wear this face because it's mine. Do you need a better reason?" She clacked her teeth idly, mind racing with options. "If this is a dream, I don't need to care about that. Right?"

The eye narrowed slightly. "A dream, in here? You could say that, and you wouldn't be wrong, or right, precisely. Little pony, you are being used. Useful though." The heads around the eye started to pile on top of each other.

Raspberry squeaked as a small mountain of heads formed in front of her, gaining in height until it loomed over her. "This is maybe a crazy idea, but could you look like something less, uh, freaky?" She clenched her jaw shut and steeled herself. "It's not my place to judge how others look. You can look however you want."

The eyes turned upwards towards the mountain of heads. "But it is your place to judge." The heads melted away, the eyes followed suit, bones and flesh dripping into nothing as it all dissolved as if they were made of wax and the ground was far too warm. Springing from nothing was a pony. Or, at least, what a pony would look like if they were a simple cartoon, big happy smile included.

Raspberry shifted from side to side, tail lashing slightly. "I'm not sure that's much better, but I can deal with it." She rubbed at her face gently. "Who are you?"

"That's a poor question." The new pony trotted around her. "Poor mare. Something as confusing to you as we are, you should be asking what we are."

Raspberry clicked her tongue against her teeth. "And what are you?"

The pony looked up at the sky, or lack thereof. "Names are such fleeting things. Pronouns are almost more complicated. I am a companion of yours, freely given, but not freely taken. We are partners now! And I admit, I like what I see, even if you are shaking."

Raspberry looked down at her hooves, realizing that she was trembling. "What is this place? You seem to know who I am, so maybe you can tell me what's going on." She took a deep breath. "Um, what do I call you?"

The pony dipped their head with a grandiose bow. "If names are such fleeting things, perhaps I should show you what I'm called instead?" They nodded with that big grin of theirs. "That's fair. You can call me Jim."

Raspberry blinked at the name. "You are not Jim. C'mon."

"Of course not!" They flashed Raspberry a happy wink. "Jim isn't my name, it's a hint."

Raspberry rocked on her hooves for a moment, thinking. "Alright." She advanced on the pony suddenly and tackled them. They fell to the ground easily and she gave them a big hug. Cartoons weren't nearly as fuzzy as actual ponies, like hugging a smooth surface, and they weren't even warm.

"That tickles!" Jim complained, snorting into Raspberry's shoulder. "But you got me! And that name?" They gave her a nudge back. "It means a thousand, in your tongue."

"Not fooling me." Raspberry curled her arms and began tickling her captured creature. "You're playing with me! And if you just want to play around, well, then I'm tickling you until you tell me the truth. I'll figure out who you are if it's the last thing I do."

Jim twisted around in Raspberry's grip, twisting and thrashing in a game of cat and mouse. "Truth is such a tricky thing, I can't say I know what the truth even is!" But the tickles persisted, making Jim laugh and wriggle against her. "Oh dear! Let me go!"

"Nope!" Raspberry bit into their neck, not biting down too hard but enough to make them feel it. "You don't taste like you're lying either." It was, perhaps, sensible that a cartoon tasted mildly of ink. "C'mon, I'm alone in a scary place with a stranger that could be dangerous. You seem to know all about me, so why don't you tell me something I don't know?"

"Fine fine." Jim pushed Raspberry back and stood up with a little equine huff. "You are very direct at times. Look in that mirror, and you will see my true form." Jim pointed at a tall mirror that certainly hadn't been there a moment before. "No more riddles, just have a look."

Raspberry wandered over to the mirror, confused. It looked like an ordinary mirror. When she approached it though, it rippled as if it were a pond disturbed by a stone. "What's this?" Taking shape in its reflection came another pony, Raspberry, looking back at her. On top of her head was the hat that had just been given to her. The hat had a smirk on it. "You're Jacob's hat?"

Jim huffed gently. "Told you I wasn't Jim. But the name fits. It's a better thing than most." They rested a hoof on the mirror, tapping it with a light click. "But, there it is, my true form. At least, physically. But physicals are so dreadfully mundane at times." They waved over their pony form. "Aren't I cuter like this? I could walk with you instead of riding you, this way."

Raspberry couldn't help but feel that smile was unnatural, just a bit. "Well, you can come along, but if Jacob wants his hat back, I can't do anything about it." She poked at the mirror again, rippling it slightly. "I'm sure Jay would know more than me."

"Pfft." Jim leaned against Raspberry with a laugh. "You shouldn't rely on her so much. You're a proud independent pony! Well, an independent human. A human pony. Like that. The point stands!" They reached up to press against Raspberry's head with a nuzzle. "And my dear hat has been paid for already."

Raspberry recoiled with confusion. "Paid for? I didn't pay Jacob."

"Oh, yes you did." Jim waved over Raspberry. "He wanted to see a pony, and you showed him a pony. A deal was done, fair's fair! And look, it got you a hat." They patted the top of Raspberry's head gently. "I'm jealous, I should've bargained harder."

Raspberry rocked back on her haunches. "A hat that's giving me crazy dreams! Alright, Jim. If you're my 'buddy' now, can you do anything besides confuse me?"

Jim pushed themselves up into a standing position. "Plenty of things! First, let's start with the basics. What am I? Who are you? What's the date?" They nodded firmly. "I'm far better than any timepiece on your wrist, that's for sure."

"No, I meant if you could do something besides talking around the issue and being cryptic. We're already in a weird dream place that doesn't seem to obey any laws of reality, and I've only known you a few minutes." Raspberry took a slow breath. "So, interesting, but not very useful. And am I going to wake up exhausted?"

Jim sat down with a huff. "Dreaming is pretty tiring. My point stands though, let's start at the basics. What do you know about me? What are my powers? It's important to understand these things before making use of them." Jim curled on himself and pulled a small manual out of nowhere. "You've been a real champ, how about I make this one easy." They dumped the tome next to Raspberry. "Read that. No tricks, just words. You'll learn so much."

Raspberry considered it carefully before shifting into human form. She grabbed up the manual and cracked it open. It was an ordinary book, though some of the language in it didn't seem familiar. "What does th—" She didn't get to finish the question, sitting up on the bed, in her pony form. She was in Jay's apartment. Guessing from the light, it was early morning.

Her new hat was still on her head, no longer smirking. Next to her, that tome. Raspberry reached out for it and nearly fell out of bed in the process. Carefully grabbing it, she turned to the front cover. There was a name. Jacob. "That tricky little trickster."

Raspberry pushed herself upright and slipped off the bed. She grabbed up the book in human hands and headed for the kitchen. This felt like something to show Jay. She set the tome on the table, right as the doorbell rang. Sandra hurried over to it, only to hesitate and lean in to peek through the peephole in the center.

"Louis!" She threw the door open. "You're here!" Her face was bright, a huge smile showing off how happy she was.

Louis hugged her immediately. "I'm here, yes! Work was something else. I only just got out." He squeezed her warmly as he shuffled inside and kicked the door closed. "You alright?"

Sandra tilted her head back as she was embraced. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just really happy to see you!" She gave him a little kiss on the chin. "And feeling, um, affectionate."

Louis grabbed her cheeks and pressed a big kiss to her lips. "Oh, I am glad to hear that!" He touched noses with her. "All the fatigue of the day, suddenly gone. Are you magic?"

Sandra giggled softly. "Magic? Mmm, you could say that." She nuzzled into his chest happily. "One thing." She pointed deeper into the apartment. "This hat won't come off, and it gave me a message. A book, really. Think Jay would want to see it?"

Louis considered that before nodding slowly. "A book, you say? Sure, why not." He squeezed her again. "Let's get a peek at it then." He took one of her hands and they both went to the table where Sandra had abandoned it.

Author's Note:

Dang magic hats! Would you be pleased or displeased by this 'gift'?

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