• Published 1st Mar 2013
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Anthropomorphism - Divide



You, an earth pony, just moved to Ponyville and are forced to make some new friends. Whether they want to stay friends or not remains to be seen.

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Prologue: Train of Thought

Anthropomorphism

Prologue: Train of Thought


You yawned wearily as you stared out the window of the carriage; watching the mountains and flatlands speed by underneath the light of Luna's moon had been entertaining for a while, but you were thoroughly sick of them after a few hours. Letting out a sigh, you took your eyes off of the outside world beyond the thin pane of glass and turned your attention towards the only other occupants of the train carriage: your family.

Your mother was dozing quietly in one of the cots, her crimson red mane in disarray. You wished that you were able to fall asleep and dream the time away: sadly, the stress of moving and a melancholy deep inside made resting all but impossible.

Turning your head slightly, you noticed your father still sitting in the same position that he was in when you last checked: sitting on the seat across from you with one leg crossed over the other, a book firmly grasped between his large and calloused fingers. You recognized the piece of literature immediately as being written by the great earth pony scientist, Asimov.

Your dad had been interested with the technical aspects of the advancements illustrated by the Stalliongrad-born pony since he was a colt, and being an earth pony himself, he had grown up with a reverence for change, progression, and discerning the unknown. Which was exactly why you were on a train heading towards a new town.

Unbidden and unwanted tears began to trickle down your cheeks, damping the fine fur that grew there. You thought that you would've ran out by now. You brushed them aside with the sleeve of a shirt.

"Why are you crying, big brother?" asked a quiet voice from off to the side. "Today should be a happy day. We get to go somewhere else. Meet new people."

You sniffed and dried your eyes before turning around to face the speaker. Putting on a smile for her sake, you whispered hoarsely, barely able to form words, "I-I know, Zia. And I'm not c-crying. I just... had something in my eye."

Your little sister looked up at you with her big, ice-blue eyes. You could tell that she knew you were lying.

Instead of responding with words, Zia opened her arms and put them around your mid-section, resting her head on her chest. After a moment's hesitation, you returned the hug, the tears flowing again, silently. Your vision was blurry from the accumulation of moisture. "I know you're sad because you had to leave your friends behind," she said quietly. "I..."

You didn't need Zia to finish her sentence to know what she was going to say.

"I didn't have any friends."

Zia was a zebra. Her family had been killed in a fire when she was just a little filly, not even old enough to talk properly. Your mother had known her mother, and she had felt obligated to give the orphaned zebra filly a good home. Or at least, the best one she could.

You remembered how excited you had been when you found out that you were getting a little sister: you were practically bouncing with joy. Your joy had multiplied when you found out that your little sister was a zebra.

Other people outside of you and your family, though... they had differing opinions on their desert and plains dwelling neighbours. The middle and upper echelons of Canterlotian society were prejudiced towards any species that wasn't a pony. They refused to see the evidence that connected zebras and ponies together as a species and instead focused on what made them different.

Five years of this. Five years of having insults thrown your and Zia's way for her simply having stripes.

"Brother, you're hurting me," your sister said.

You eased off the pressure of the diamond-dog like hug. You hadn't realized that you were squeezing as hard as you were. Sometimes, you regretted your own strength that came from being pure earth pony.

"Sorry, sis," you said. "I was just thinking about some unpleasant things, that's all."

You broke the embrace. Zia's pitch-black mane had been messed up from resting her head on your chest. You smiled and brushed her hair to the side, revealing her eyes once more. Eyes that had seen far too much for somepony as young as her.

As far as you were concerned, moving away from that racist city was a big step in the right direction. You didn't want to live where non-ponies—zebras, gryphons, diamond dogs, and minotaurs—were treated unfairly and unequally.

You just wished that the move would've happened sooner. You wished that your family had packed up and left before you made friends that stood up for you. Friends that were extremely difficult to say goodbye to.

You knew why, of course: money had been tight, and moving had been out of the question for a long time. Now though, since your father had been making leaps and bounds in scientific and magical studies that everypony was easy to dismiss as being impossible and farfetched, it was finally time.

"Do you feel better now?" she asked, ever considerate towards other pony's feelings.

You nodded and smiled again. This time, you didn't need to pretend. "I do. Thank you, little sister," you said softly.

"You're welcome, big brother." Zia yawned, making an adorable sound in the process. "I'm going to go to bed now. I know that dad said we could stay up past our bedtime, but I'm really tired."

"Of course. Sweet dreams, Zia-papaya," you said. You knew that a papaya was a fruit that grew in zebra territory, but you had never seen one. It was also one of the only things that rhymed with Zia's name.

She giggled and hugged you again. "Goodnight, bro-bro," she teased, kissing your cheek. You grimaced good-naturedly upon hearing the first thing that she had called you when she was still a foal.

Several minutes after Zia's breathing became regular and uniform from her position in the bunk above your mother, you looked back out the window. Celestia's Sun wouldn't be up for at least six more hours, yet you were still unable to sleep.

A squeak from the other side of the carriage grabbed your attention, causing one of your ears to turn in that direction. A few hoofsteps followed by a sigh denoted your father's presence in one of the seats beside you.

"I know this move has been hard on all of us, kiddo, but the town we're moving to is a much better place than Canterlot ever was." After pausing for a second, he added more quietly, "Thanks for talking to Zia. I could tell that something was bothering her, but when I asked her about it, she said she was fine."

"Zia didn't come over because something was bothering her, dad," you said.

Your dad cocked his head slightly, evidently asking you to continue.

"She came because something was bothering me."

Your father was silent for a few moments. After the pause, he said, "And that's why we're moving, son. Not just for her, but for all of us."


You awoke with a start as the train ground to a halt, causing your neck to twist uncomfortably. Letting out a quiet curse, you rubbed your neck gingerly and looked out the window.

A small town bustling with life greeted you. You guessed it to be around four o'clock; that was when the train was supposed to arrive.

You yawned and rubbed your eyes, unsure of how long you had been sleeping for. You must've dozed off sometime after your short conversation with your father. Looking around, you spotted your family doing exactly what you had just moments ago: rubbing their eyes tiredly and yawning.

"Are we there yet?" Zia asked before scampering down the bunk-bed ladder.

You smiled. "Why don't you come see for yourself?"

Zia ran over, and you lifted her up onto your knee so she could see out the window. You heard a sharp intake of breath come from your little sister. "Wow!" was all she said.

You agreed with her short statement. Ponyville was an almost polar opposite of Canterlot. Where there was orderly, cobblestone streets and tall buildings in the capital city, Ponyville had winding dirt roads and small houses that seemed to have been built wherever there was room. You spotted a couple of places that stood out—landmarks—including a massive tree that was located in the town square and a tall house that looked to be decorated with candy.

"What's that?" Zia asked, pointing to something in the sky.

You hunched over to see from her perspective, and tried to follow where her finger was pointing. Right before you were going to ask her what she saw, you spotted the thing in question.

You had to blink twice to ensure that you weren't seeing things.

Up in the sky was a floating mansion. Made of clouds. You had heard of Pegasi having cities and houses nestled in the clouds, but you didn't think that it would be actually made of clouds.

"It's... it's a cloud house," you stated, still not quite believing your eyes. A clouse?

"Cool! Will we get to meet the pony who lives there?" your little sister asked, turning her big blue eyes towards you.

"Probably," you said with a gentle chuckle. "Ponyville seems pretty small, so chances are, we'll end up meeting everypony here at one point."

Zia beamed upon hearing that.

You and your little sister would've been happy to continue staring at the town through a pane of glass, but your parents figured that it was time to actually go there.

"Come on, you two," your mom said. She had just finished combing her mane back into place. Her red suitcase was beside her on the carriage floor. "Grab your things and let's go!" Your dad was already prepared, having put away his reading glasses and carrying his own suitcase.

Without needing to be told twice, you fetched both your and Zia's backpack. You slung your backpack, a big, heavy, black one over your shoulders and handed Zia's much smaller, pink one to her.

You would've carried both, but you knew that she would've pestered you into letting her carrying her own.

"Everypony ready?" your father asked. A series of affirmative nods followed.

"Then let's go."

With that, the train door was opened, and you and your family took the first step towards starting anew.