PROLOGUE “Goodnight!” I yelled as I switched off the main light and turned on my little seashell nightlight.
“Night, Sweetie!” called my mom from the room over. I had just plugged my phone into its charger when I flopped down onto my short, grey futon.
Sigh.
Every day was the same old routine: Wake up at 7, put on uniform, go to school, either ride the bus home and get home at 4 or go to volleyball and get home at 7, do hours of homework, watch TV, read, shower, set out clothes for tomorrow, and repeat. Life just seemed like a chore, always boring and always dark.
Well, not always.
One of the few things that brought me happiness was the ponies. My ponies. I loved them so much. Whenever I had the chance, I would watch a few of the many recorded reruns of the show on my TV, or I would grab my laptop and read a few fan-fictions, or I would even grab my coloring supplies and draw OC ponies. I never did understand how people couldn’t love the show, but that’s not important.
My name is Allyson, but most call me Ally. I’m 16, I am quite short for my age, and I have light brown hair. My eyes are bright blue and I’ve been told on numerous occasions how pretty they are, so I’ve come to believe it must be true. I’m very outgoing, I have many friends, I love volleyball, I’m pretty smart, and I love God. I mean, I do go to a private school and to church every Sunday.
I leaned forward and grabbed my wet hair to pull it to the side as I lay thinking in the dark room. I closed my eyes and thought about my usual dream: becoming a pony and living in Equestria. Obviously I knew it would never happen, but it doesn’t ever hurt to dream or to hope does it?
I’ve always had a very decent life. I grew up going to a public school, my dad was never unemployed like most people in the U.S., and even if I never got the brand new phone or clothes or upgrade as soon as they came out, I had a lot, and I was privileged. I was loved by many- I had a huge family, so many friends, and I always tried to be kind to strangers. The thing was this though- I have anxiety disorder, very low self-esteem, and, in the 6th grade, a growing depression I never told anybody about (well except for my mom, but that came later, in the 8th grade when it got too tiring to handle anymore). I wore a fake smile every day of my life. I would cry myself to sleep at night after I was sure my sister fell asleep (this was when we shared a room). Then I would think about how good my life was, and about how I didn’t have the right to be sad, and these thoughts would make me cry harder. Just some background.
A tear slipped from the corner of my eye as I thought back to my middle school years. I thought back to how much I hated the people- internally, of course. I always smiled on the outside. They were just all bullies, and even though to them it was all in good fun, it still hurt me. That’s why I switched schools when high school came. I couldn’t handle it anymore.
Woah, woah. Calm down now puss-pants, I thought. No need to get worked up. Everything is better now, remember?
I turned so I was now laying on my side facing my purple and neon green wall as I remembered. Then came the ponies. At the end of 8th grade, while babysitting my neighbor's little 2 year old, I saw that they had made My Little Pony into a show, and that I had the channel they aired it on. From that day on, the Saturdays belonged to me, and the laughing belonged to my family. Yeah, they knew, and I didn’t mind. I am very close to my family after all, and they would have found out sooner or later.
Sigh.
I decided that anymore thinking would be bad considering how few hours of sleep I would be getting already. So I fell asleep thinking of my favorite things instead.
“Oh yeah.” I lowered my voice. I crouched down and looked under the stalls to see if there was anybody else in the bathroom. Nobody- again.
“Ally, I know you’re mad but-“
“Stop,” I cut her off as I stood up again. It was lunchtime on a Friday at school, and my friend Jaime and I had made our way into our usual place of gossip after we ate- the bathroom. “I’m not mad at you, you know that I’m not mad. Of course I’m upset, but I’m not mad.” I looked at the ground as the news sunk into my mind and Jaime played with her dark brown tangled hair.
She had done it again… after I begged her to stop… after she told me she’d stop.
See, the thing about Jaime is that she is worse than I was when I was in middle school. Jaime’s parents yelled at her a lot and told her everything was her fault, so she did the only thing she thought she had to.
She cut herself. On many occasions.
Every time she told me she did it, it made me cry when I got home. I felt like I was a horrible friend because I couldn’t stop her.
I put my head in my hands and felt her soft brown eyes lift to my face. All of a sudden I felt her arms around me and heard her mumbling how sorry she was.
“Are you kidding me?” I looked up at her and she let go with a confused look on her face. “I’m supposed to be comforting you, not vice versa.”
She started to smile, but then frowned in a look of concentration.
I sighed. “It means ‘not the other way around.’” Jaime wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and after all she was in basic classes, had ADHD, ADD, and dyslexia.
“Ah,” she said and she smiled again. The bell rang all of a sudden and we both started. “Damn it,” I muttered. “Well I guess I’ll text you after school, because we definitely aren’t done talking about this.” She pouted as we exited the bathroom and turned the corner right to start heading to our 6th period classes.
“I’ll see you later okay?” I called as I started walking down the stairs and she kept walking by. “See ya!” she lifted her hand up to wave, but didn’t turn her head. “Little bitch…” I chuckled to myself.
***
I got home that afternoon around 4, half asleep from the bus ride. I grabbed a can of pop and a nutty bar and texted Jaime real quick.
To: J-Shizzle Hey, you feeling ok? text me back asap whore
I giggled as set my phone down next to me as I grabbed my laptop. Fridays were my favorite because that meant I could read as many pony stories as I wanted. After about 5 minutes though I heard my phone ding.
From: J-Shizzle I’m fine you slut! Lol what, you think im gonna kill myself?
I smiled and replied.
Fuck off lol im just concerned for u ok? and no, I know u wont kill urself. U promised, remember?
Ding-ding!
Haha yes I remember just stop being so… woried.
I groaned and replied immediately.
*worried
Ding-ding!
Fuck you.
I laugh at this, thinking about how much she misspelled words. I set my phone down and spent the next couple of hours reading ponies.
You know, maybe I could tell Jaime about My Little Pony…
It’s not the first time I thought about it. The show and community had helped me out of my problems, maybe it could help her too. But I always stop myself. She’s not that type of person. Jaime is a tom-boy that loves sports and hates dresses. Not much room for a little girl’s show in there.
Well, there are guys that watch the show…
I threw the jumbled thoughts out of my head and keep reading until dinner time and then got back to reading. At around 1, when the rest of my family was fast asleep, I decided to go to bed.
As I lay in the dark, the same dream comes to mind, never really going into too much depth. Just the basics: going to Equestria as a cute brown mare with light blue mane (or whatever, I didn't really care) and the mane 6 loved me and I met the Princesses and I lived happily with no worries and no regrets. Nothing special, just best friends and no stress.
Sigh.
I sigh a lot… I thought. And then I lost consciousness…
***
How strange… I thought as I looked around me. I seemed to have been floating in some bright gold light. It wasn’t bright in the sense that it hurt one’s eyes, but that it surrounded everything and everywhere.
Woah, this is the trippiest dream I've ever had heh.
The light seemed like it shone everywhere- all around me, and even through me. It felt… calm. That’s the only way I can describe it as. Just as if nothing else mattered but that golden light that filled me and made everything peaceful.
I don’t understand… I thought. I started to hear strange voices…
All of a sudden, I noticed a little black circle to my left. It seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, its diameter growing in size. I realized then that I was moving, floating somewhere. And, to my horror, I found that I was floating towards the large black circle. The circle had gotten about 8 feet tall now, and I could see that it had turned into a sort of tunnel. I had floated nearly a foot before I started panicking- although I’m not sure why. For some reason, the closer I got the dark tunnel, the less calm I felt and the more adrenaline ran through me.
Wait! I tried to yell, but no words came out. It was like one of those nightmares where you try to scream, but just a whisper comes out no matter how hard you yell.
Please! What’s going on?! I kept trying to plead, although I’m not sure who with. I was about 3 feet away from the opening of the tunnel now.
I felt like the golden light was starting to leave me. Like somehow it was being torn away from my soul as I tried my hardest to cling to it. The best way I can describe it as is like your whole life and its meaning was somehow leaving your memory, as if you were forgetting it. Imagine you believed in God, then somehow someway somebody all of a sudden proved to you that He never existed.
Yeah, it hurt my heart to say the least.
I had now found myself inside the tunnel. I reached my hand out and tried to grab the golden light one last time, but all I felt was nothing. I was now drifting through the tunnel, and I looked to the other side to see if there was anything half as blissful as the golden light waiting for me. I couldn’t find the end, however, for there was a right turn up ahead and all I could see was the vague shape of the rushing tunnel. What I heard, however, were voices.
They must be the voices I heard earlier, I thought as I started to turn the corner. I took one last look at the gorgeous golden light I had just been engorged in.
The voices sounded as if they were talking, but the volume in the tunnel was turned down and I could barely hear. I heard one voice laughing, then another shouting, then a baby crying, then a man whispering. It was all molded together, but I could hear the distinct voices of different people, talking about different things. All of a sudden I whooshed downward and saw another light beneath me. I seemed to be falling into it. This light wasn’t gold like the first one though. It was more of a bright white. It seemed more cold than comforting…
My speed picked up, and started looking around frantically as I fell quickly towards the light.
Wait!
The next thing I knew, I was engulfed by the bright light. Everything was sore all of a sudden, and I realized I didn’t really feel my body before then. I closed my eyes against the blinding light and everything was bright and calm for one second then the world went black.
***
“Ugggh,” I groaned as I felt the sunlight press against my eyelids.
What a strange dream… I thought as I started to clench my eyes together to get the sleep out of them. I opened my eyes into a squint- and noticed that I wasn’t in my bedroom anymore. My eyes instantly widened as I took in my surroundings. I lifted my hands to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t not seeing things-
“AHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed as loud as I could as I looked down at what should have been my hands but were now blue hooves. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”
Over the sound of my panicking, I heard a couple of faint noises.
“Hehehe well I guess she’s awake.” More giggling.
My breathing was coming in heavy pants at this point, and my thoughts were coming in quick, jumbled waves.
“What the- SHIT!” I was cut off as I tried to roll out of the bed and stand up, but ultimately failed and fell on the hard wooden floor. I groaned as my head lay on the floor and I could hear more muffled talking from downstairs.
“Huh! Oh dear, darling, you should probably go check on her.”
Giggles. “I’m sure she’ll find her way down alright.”
“Uggghh,” I tried to stand up but I found that I now had 4 legs instead of 2. I managed to awkwardly stand on all 4 and found myself standing right in front of the door to the small room. I saw that the door was partially open, so I carefully and slowly lifted a han- a hoof- and pushed the door open all of the way. However, when I tried to put the hoof back on the ground, I put it in the wrong spot and fell forward, realizing that there was steps on either side of me. If I were to turn left immediately, I would be walking upstairs. If I turned right, I would be going downstairs. That was all I could make out as my body twisted to the right- of course- and I flailed helplessly down the stairs.
“AH-AH-AH-AH-UGH-MY-HOLY-SHIT-“I mumbled incoherently until I landed on my back, my tongue hanging of the side of my mouth and my eyes rolling around in my head.
“Ugh…” I moaned. I closed my eyes and reached up to rub my aching head.
“Hello!” I heard. My eyes shot open and I saw an upside-down purple face about 3 inches from mine.
“AHHHHHHHH!” I screamed again. I rolled onto my stomach, using a lot of effort, and awkwardly scooted backward away from the familiar mare. I threw my head back and screamed as I tried rubbing and feeling my face for any indication that this was a dream. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING-“
I stopped talking as one of the purple hooves had made its way to my mouth.
“It’s okay, you can calm down. We’re not going to hurt you.” She said in a soothing voice.
I stopped screaming and stared at her wide-eyed.
“Mm-m-mm-m-m,” I tried saying.
“Oh, sorry,” She said, then she giggled and removed her hoof. “Okay now what were you saying?”
“I said I know you’re not going to hurt me.” I said simply. She gave me a confused look, so I explained a bit more. Sigh. “Twilight, I’m not scared because I think you’re going to hurt me, I’m scared because I have no idea why I’m here and it’s impossible for me to be here and I am not supposed to be here!” I almost screamed at the end because I got so worked up. My breathing was heavy at this point as I tried to calm down.
Oh my gosh, I should be fangirling at this point. You know, this is probably just a dream… I thought to myself. Yeah! This has to be a dream! There’s no way it’s real. So I’ll just go along with everything like I do in every other dream about ponies I’ve had.
I had noticeably calmed down at that point. I even started a hysterical laugh.
“Wait, how did you know my name?” Twilight asked.
Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Oh um… I… Wait let me ask you a question. Do you know who I am? Or why I’m here? Or where I came from?” I could answer 2 of the questions I had just asked, but the other one, I was hoping she knew the answer…
“Well, I’ll just tell you what I know. The Princess had asked me and my friends to take care of a new, strange pony. She said that you were from a very different place, and that you might know about some things, but you would have to learn others. But other than that, I don’t know your name, why you’re here, or where you came from.” She had one hoof on her chin as she thought and told me what had happened. “Oh yeah!” She yelled and I jumped a little in surprise. “She also told me that when you woke up, we were to answer any and all questions you had, and for you to explain some things to us. Also, there’s a chariot coming tomorrow to take us to the castle to talk to the Princess.” She smiled big and closed her eyes as she finished. When she opened her eyes she looked deep into my eyes and stopped for a second.
“What?” I asked her as she just looked into my eyes.
“Oh uh… your… uh your eyes… they’re different than they were earlier,” she stuttered. She sighed, then she went over to a little dresser and opened a drawer. While she was rummaging around in there, I had the chance to look around the room. It was the library from the show, and the rest of the Mane 6 were all sitting down, staring intently at me, sipping tea. I almost grinned in excitement.
This is the most realistic dream I have ever had! I thought with excitement. All of a sudden a mirror had been shoved in my face and I heard Twilight exclaim “Look!”
Woah… I examined my eyes in the mirror, and Twilight was right. They were strange. They looked a light purple color. But there were spots of pink that seemed to float through. Almost like a lava lamp… but with purple and ever-changing pink.
“Woah…” This time I said it out loud. “Those are… pretty awesome!” I said and I grinned.
“Wait wait wait,” I heard from behind Twilight and the mirror. “Let me see.”
A familiar cyan pegasus came flying around Twilight and got in my face, staring intently into my eyes. “Sweet,” she said and she smiled.
My eyes widened as the one and only Rainbow Dash was this close to me.
“What?” she asked, looking confused.
“You’re Rainbow Dash!” I almost yelled. “Oh my gosh it's like you're really here in front of me! Eeeee! Best. Dream. EVER!” Why was I so excited? I thought. I met her in all my other dreams...
Rainbow, at this point, was just happy that somebody had heard of her. “So you’ve heard of me?!” then she stopped gloating. “So wait, how did you hear of me?”
“Yeah!” said Twilight. “You never told me how you knew my name.”
I thought about whether or not it would be a good idea to tell them about the show.
“Okay, so I guess I’m explaining.” I was sitting down on the hardwood floors, so I thought I would try and make my way over to the empty red chair closest to me. I planted my fore hooves in front of me. Then I, with great effort, tried to lift my back legs up. I had succeeded, but I was standing rather awkwardly with my front hooves too far to the left. I tried to move them over, but failed, and fell onto my side.
“Stupid no good…” I mumbled under my breath as I tried again to stand up. Before I could try, however, I saw a purple light had surrounded me.
“Woa- ahh!” I had lifted off the ground and was set gently into the red, comfy chair.
“Heh, thanks,” I said, looking over to Twilight. She smiled and gave me a nod.
“So where to begin…”
I thought about what I should tell them and what I should start with. When I looked up to begin, I saw 12 eyes looking right at me, and I felt nervous all of a sudden.
“I uh…” Fluttershy noticed my hesitation, and flew over to my side.
“It’s okay,” she said quietly. “We won’t rush you.”
I looked into her sweet face. “Thanks, Fluttershy. I think I’m calm now.” She started at hearing her name from a stranger, and I realized what I had mean to tell them. She flew back over to the couch she was sitting on as I began.
“Oh yeah. Alright so my name is Allyson, but my friends call me Ally. I’m form this place called Earth. And I’m a- I mean I was something called a human.” Before I could continue, Twilight had gasped and ran over to a bookshelf and pulled out a red book with gold binding and black lettering.
“I thought humans were an old pony’s tale!” she pronounced humans with a soft u, so it sounded like the beginning of humus almost. “Oh I mean- wait how did you pronounce it?” She asked me.
“Humans, with a long u sound.” I told her and she continued.
“I’ve researched humans before. They are some weird creatures…” her head snapped up and she started to stutter. “I… I mean not that you’re weird… I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay Twilight.” I giggled. When she saw my reaction, she got calmer and chuckled a bit herself.
“Well, um anyway there’s pictures of a male and a female version of humans. Wow, you looked uh... different to say the least.” She showed her friends the picture, and I watched their reactions.
“Oh darling, no wonder it’s hard for you to walk,” Rarity said as she looked at the picture.
While the book was facing away from me, I got a glimpse of the title. The Biology of Non-Pony Creatures and Strange Animals. Awesome. Now I'm a strange animal.
“But that doesn’t explain how you know our names,” Rainbow said.
“Oh right, well I was getting to that. Twilight you might want to listen,” I stated. Twilight had gone to the corner to start reading the part on humans.
“Hm? Oh right,” she said and she came back over to listen.
“So anyway there’s this thing called a T.V. and you can watch whatever show you want on it. One of these shows is called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The show basically follows you all as you learn your lessons about friendship and all of the adventures you have as the Elements of Harmony. The show has been a real hit. It is meant for young girls- er like young mares, but older teens like myself also watch it. And so do some guys- um like colts. We all love the show, and so there’s a whole community of people that watch it. The guys call themselves bronies, and the girls call themselves pegasisters. To others, we’re very stupid and gay and whatnot, but we love the show and honestly if I’m explaining it all, it’s impossible for me to be here and I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming.” I had kind of started zoning out, and I snapped out of it when I realized that they were all looking at me with strange looks on their faces. “I mean uh… What I meant was it’s my dream to be here, so obviously this is a dream. I just can’t believe I’m here, that’s all.” I looked down in embarrassment.
“So we’re famous!?” I heard Rainbow Dash exclaim. I chuckled and looked back up at her.
“Haha yeah I guess,” I told her.
“Well, Allyson, I can tell you that you’re not dreaming. You’re here for a reason, and I’m sure the Princess will explain it all tomorrow.” Twilight told me.
“Well if this isn’t a dream then I need to do everything I’ve always wanted to do here! Heh, but I know it’s a dream…” I mumbled the last part so she wouldn’t argue anymore. “So where’s Spike? Because meeting everybody- everypony- is one of the things I have to do.”
“SPIKE!” Twilight yelled all of a sudden. I heard a noise from upstairs and saw a sleepy-looking dragon make his way down the stairs. He sighed and grumbled and yawned before he said anything coherent.
“Yes, Twilight?” he opened his eyes and saw me. “Oh she’s awake!” Spike smiled a sleepy smile and made his way over to me. He raised his clawed hand to me and I slowly reached out until he grabbed my hoof and shook it. “I’m Spike!” he said. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Ally,” I said, and I smiled. “It’s really nice to meet you, Spike. I wish I could take you home with me.” I lifted the hoof he had let go of and rubbed the top of his head. He looked confused for a second then laughed as I noogied his head.
“Well now that I met everypony-“
“WAIT!” Pinkie pie had bounded up to me and yelled. “You haven’t met me yet!”
I laughed. “Oh Pinkie, I know who you are!” Since Pinkie is my favorite, I jumped off of the chair and managed to land on all 4 hooves. I jumped up and wrapped my hooves around her neck and squeezed her in a big hug. I giggled as she stood there shocked before she returned he embrace. I let go and giggled again. “Sorry Pinkie, I just love you and your smiles so much!”
Pinkie grinned widely then. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty where that came from! OOOOOOO what about your Welcome to Ponyville party!”
“Pinkie Pie, I don’t think-” I heard Twilight start to say.
“That would be amazing!” I told her. “I LOVE to party.”
“Huh?” Twilight looked as confused as ever.
“Yay!” Pinkie cried.
“Okay,” I said, mostly to myself. “Meet the mane 6 and Spike- check. Have Pinkie throw me a party- check. Okay I think the next is- Rainbow Dash?” I turned to look at her. “Will you do me a favor? I’ve always wanted to fly over Equestria. Could you fly me over Ponyville?”
She stared at me, very confused. Then she laughed. I stood there, as everybody else chimed in, laughing their tails off.
“Wait- did I say something wrong? Could somebody please explain the joke to me?!” I was getting very frustrated as I tried to yell through their laughter.
Still laughing, Twilight walked over to me. “Come with me,” she told me, and she made her way into a room next to the stairs. I took a step forward- only to fall on my face again.
“Dammit to hell,” I cursed as I tried to stand up again. The purple light surrounded me and I was floating for the second time that day. I was now in the room that Twilight had walked into, and I found that it was a bathroom. Twilight set me down and I stood on my hooves in front of a long, floor-length mirror.
Oh… I thought as I looked at myself. That’s why they were laughing. Haha I get it now.
What I saw in the mirror was a cornflower blue pegasus with a long, pink flowing mane and tail. There were very faint stripes of purple running through various places in my mane and tail. I was actually… not that bad looking. I smiled and saw I still had my dimple on the right side of my face.
“Oh, so that’s why everybody was laughing,” I said to Twilight as my smile started to fade. I mean I could take a joke, but I realized how much of a fool I had just made of myself.
Twilight looked at me. “Oh Ally, we didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
All of a sudden a felt arms thrown around my neck from behind me. I turned and saw that it was Applejack, and she had come into the bathroom.
“Ah’m sorry, Sugarcube. We thought you were kiddin’. We’re awfully sorry,” She told me. I lifted my hooves and returned the hug.
“It’s fine, Applejack. It’s actually pretty funny,” I replied and I released her and smiled.
“Then ah reckon we’re good,” she said as she returned the smile.
AJ and Twilight had started to make their way out of the bathroom where Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and RD were still sitting and smiling.
“Wait Twilight!” I yelled. I wasn’t going to try to walk and fall again.
“Oh yeah,” I heard her say and she brought me back into the library with her magic. “So I guess the next lesson is walking?”
“I’m gonna try to fly first,” I said. I stood there for a minute as Twilight looked at me, then she nodded. I tried concentrating on my back muscles, and I felt my wings extend after several tries. “Sweet,” I said to myself. Then I focused on the wings themselves, trying to find the right muscles. I tried thinking about moving them up and down. I felt them twitch, then I felt the right one flop down then come back up again. I was sweating by then, my eyes clenched close and my teeth biting down on my lip. I grunted as I felt them both move down then up again at the same time. Then again. Over and over they went until I felt my hooves leave the ground. I opened my eyes in surprise and looked down- I was about 2 inches off the ground. “I did it!” I yelled, only to find that my wings stopped and I dropped to the ground again. “Dammit,” I said. “Well looks like I’m learning to walk first,” I told Twilight.
“Twilight, darling, I need to get back to my shop now. I told you before that I would wait to meet the mare then leave. I’m afraid now is that time,” Rarity said to Twilight.
“Oh okay you’re right,” Twilight agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow then when we leave.”
“Alright, see you then. Goodbye Allyson, it was very nice meeting you,” Rarity called as she opened the door.
“Bye Rarity, see you tomorrow!” I yelled.
“Oh Twilight, I think I have to leave also,” Fluttershy said barely above a whisper. “Angel needs me home soon.”
“Ah need to get goin too,” said AJ. “Ah'm supposed to help Big Mac buck the south field today.”
“Oh oh oh and I need to get back to Sugarcube Corner!”
“Alright girls I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Twilight called. We all said our goodbyes until there was only me, Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash.
All of a sudden, before Twilight could speak, we heard a low rumbling. Twilight looked down at her stomach, giggled, and looked back up again. “I think I forgot to eat breakfast. Maybe we can eat an early lunch.”
Twilight turned and invited Rainbow to stay for lunch, which she accepted, and headed into the kitchen to make some food. Rainbow followed, and I just stood there, smiling.
“Why are you so happy?” I looked to my left and saw Spike looking up at me with confused eyes.
“Because, Spike,” I told him, “I wish this wasn’t just a dream. I need to be pinched to make sure it’s not.”
He reached up to pinch my arm but I swatted it away.
“Not for real,” I told him as he rubbed his arm.
“Well, why not? Then you’ll know it’s real.”
“Because,” I paused, as I smiled a very sad smile. “Because if it is a dream, I don’t want to ever wake up.”
After we ate lunch, - which involved a lot of effort to do- Twilight started teaching me to walk.
“Okay now move your front right leg forward. Good! Now move your back left one- yes! Now move them back and now try to do it at the same time.”
Ugh I thought with frustration.I never had to learn to walk in any of my other dreams.
I did as Twilight told me, carefully and slowly moving my front right hoof at the same time as my back left one. Twilight cheered for me as I did everything she told me to do, only messing up a few times. I noticed that Rainbow had lost interest and was now sitting in the red chair I had been in earlier, reading a Daring Doo novel.
“Okay, I’m gonna try it myself this time,” I stated confidently. “Okay, so left arm forward…” I was mumbling to myself as Twilight looked on, nodding her head instead of giving me directions on how to move. I walked halfway across the library before I got the wrong footing, stopped to balance myself again, and then continued.
Only one mess-up I thought happily to myself as I made it to the other side of the library. I grinned as Twilight smiled wide and clapped her hooves together.
“Yay!” She cheered, and I started jumping up and down in excitement like Pinkie Pie. My jumping started to cease, however, and my grin got smaller and smaller. I felt as if a headache was starting to form.
“Hey, um, Twilight, I-” I was cut off as all of a sudden as pain engulfed my body. It was so unbearable I fell to the ground, writhing in pain. I lay on the ground, my hooves holding my head, and screamed as loud as I could. I could vaguely make out my name being yelled before the pain left my body and all I saw was blackness.
Then I saw a picture forming, as if I was watching a movie. It looked like a dark cave-like hallway, with torches lining the walls every once in a while for light. I heard footsteps in the distance, and I tried moving before realizing I wasn’t actually there.
Strange… I thought. Maybe it’s some sort of dream inside a dream...
I watched quietly as all I saw were burgundy hooves and legs walk by. The picture lifted slowly, and I saw that the pony was wearing a hooded black cape, so I couldn’t see their face or mane or tail. I looked on as the figure walked by me, or at least my point of view, and kept walking until they reached a right turn. My perspective followed the mysterious pony, until we both reached a big, open room that looked to be underground somewhere. The figure stopped, and so did I, in front of what seemed to be a huge statue. I was shocked at what the statue was.
Discord? I thought, a little surprised.
The pony set a little burlap sack down next to many others at the foot of the statue. Then I heard a deep voice say gently, “Soon.”
I blinked. The world was a dark, black void again. I blinked again and closed my eyes tightly. I opened them again and felt out of breath for some reason as I looked up at 3 faces. I raised my hooves to rub my aching head.
“Woah, what happened…?” I started to say, but a thermometer was thrust into my mouth. I looked at the object now in my mouth, then looked up to see Twilight looking worriedly at me.
“Are you okay?!” Twilight asked me loudly. I opened my mouth as she ripped the thermometer from it. She checked the temperature and shook her head. “Your temperature seems fine…”
“Woah, that was, like, crazy weird,” Rainbow sad from next to Twilight.
I wasn’t breathing as heavy as before, and my mind started to run properly again. “What just happened? It looked like I was watching a strange, short movie….”
Twilight stopped and looked at me curiously. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“First I had excruciating pain, you saw. Then all I saw was blackness,” I explained to her. I told her about the mysterious pony and the cape he wore and the statue of Discord and the strange, small sack. “Then I woke up and I felt out of breath… it was really strange.”
Twilight thought for a second, and I wondered if she was going to tell me what she saw happen. Just as I was about to ask, she spoke up. “Well, I was over there cheering for you when I heard you scream. I ran over to you and saw you rolling on the ground, screaming and clutching your head. Rainbow Dash, Spike and I didn’t know what to do, but you stopped screaming after only about 10 seconds. Then you just lay there, relaxed, with your eyes open. And your eyes! They weren’t purple and pink anymore, they were just dark violet, like all the pink left and the purple darkened remarkably. You sat there for about 30 seconds, then you blinked and you know the rest.”
As she explained, I thought about how she said I was only screaming for 10 seconds. If felt like so much longer than that…
“Well, what was I seeing? Do you know what just happened to me?” I asked Twilight. I mean, I knew she was smart and she probably knew all about it…
“I haven’t the slightest idea!” She almost yelled. “But I need to know!”
“Well, why don’t you ask the princess when you see her tomorrow?” Spike inquired.
After Twilight let me stand up again, I did a few more laps around the room to make sure I could still walk. I turned to Rainbow.
“I know it’s silly Rainbow Dash, but will you still fly me around Ponyville? I know I have wings, but I don’t think I can use them quite yet.”
Rainbow grinned, then she flew over behind me, and wrapped her forehooves under what would be my armpits. She lifted me off the ground, and looked down past my dangling legs. I stared in awe as I got butterflies in my stomach.
“Be right back!” She called to Twilight as she flew out the opened door. She flew against the wind, and I smiled. Rainbow turned upwards all of a sudden, and I gasped as my body jerked down against the force. She tightened her grip on me, and I pushed my back against her stomach. I could feel her breathing and the steady beat of her heart. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply through my nose, feeling the wind tear through my hair. My eyes opened, and I looked into the cyan face above me. I couldn’t see her eyes all too well, but I knew that they were a deep magenta color. I watched as her rainbow-colored mane flew behind her. She was wearing a smile, looking up into the clouds.
She looks so… natural, I thought as I looked at her. Then a thought struck me, a weird desire. I wish I was as graceful as Rainbow.
I shook my head and stopped staring at her. I instead turned my head down, and looked past my dangling body. My eyes widened as I saw how high up we were. We soared higher and higher, until all I saw was white fluffiness beneath me.
“Uh, hey Rainbow?” I looked up at her again. She looked down at me and cocked an eyebrow. “Can we fly a little lower? You know, so I can see the city?”
“Oh yeah, sure,” she grinned and swooped lower, and I watched as we burst through the layer of clouds.
“Woah,” I mumbled as I stared at the beautiful city beneath me. I could see almost every house and building. “This is amazing.”
All of a sudden, Rainbow swooped downward, then up again and did a loopdy-loop. I couldn’t help but squeal in excitement. I could feel Rainbow looking down at me, and I saw that she was grinning as I wiggled around in her grasp and giggled.
I laughed some more before I looked back up at her. “Careful Dash! You might drop me!” I giggled, and she flew upwards again. I barely had time to speak before I felt her arms slip out from underneath me. I looked down in horror as the cloud beneath me rushed upwards.
“AHHHH! I’M FALLING!” I looked up and saw Rainbow looking down, smiling at me. “ARE YOU CRA-” I landed with a soft thump. “Huh?” I looked down and saw that I landed softly and safely on the layer of clouds. They felt soft and squishy beneath my hooves. “What in God’s name…” I mumbled before Rainbow landed gently beside me. “Rainbow Dash!” I yelled. I turned and glared at her.
“What?” She asked, obviously amused. She tried to hide her smile and tried to act dumb.
“You nearly KILLED ME!” I screamed. “And even if you knew I would be safe, I didn’t! I nearly peed my pants!” She chuckled, and tried covering it up with her hoof.
“You’re not wearing any pants,” she forced through her smile and on-coming laughter.
After several failed attempts of calming herself down, she removed her hoof and started laughing. Tears had started to roll down her cheeks as she laughed harder and harder. I started chuckling myself, then tackled her playfully. We rolled around on the clouds, laughing and pretending to fight. I was on top of her at one point, and I looked down grinning. My smile started to fade though, and I got off of her. She looked confused at my sudden change in attitude.
“What’s wrong?” I heard her ask me. I was turned away from her, my face buried in my hooves.
This isn’t fair. I thought as I was on the verge of tears. I wish I could stay here forever and never go back to being a human. Please, I never want to wake up. I sat there for a silent minute, as Rainbow waited patiently behind me for my answer. I turned to her, and she frowned when she saw my tear-covered face.
“It’s just that…” I started, then sighed. “It’s just that I’m not sure if this is a dream or not… like I know it is, but I keep trying to convince myself that it’s not. I don’t know, I just never want to go back to my old life, you know? And I’ve already been here for so long, like longer than all my other dreams, and this one is just so real I feel like I’m already so close to you guys, I almost wish I could wake up right now so it won’t hurt me as much later when I wake up. I’m just… confused and sad and happy at the same time.”
She stared at me, confused. “You still think you’re dreaming? Ally, think about this logically. First of all, when you’re dreaming, you can’t yell or scream, and just a few minutes ago you were screaming like a madpony! Secondly, feel these clouds.” She leaned back all of a sudden, laying down on the clouds. “If you were dreaming, you really wouldn’t feel how comfy these clouds were.” I did as she had, and laid down next to her. The clouds were really comfy. “Thirdly,” She continued, “you don’t have to learn how do stuff in dreams! Like, you had to learn to walk and you can’t fly and stuff. And lastly,” She rolled over and punched me in my shoulder.
“Ow!” I yelled, and I started rubbing my shoulder with my hoof. “What was that for!?”
She laughed, then kept talking. “As I was saying, lastly, that wouldn’t have hurt, cuz you would have woken up!” She grinned, and I assumed she was finished.
I thought about this, and I finally realized something. She’s right. I thought. Everything she said was true. Then that means…
“I’m not really dreaming!” I exclaimed. “This has to be really happening! But… That’s impossible! How is this possible?” I turned and watched Rainbow shrug. “Well, I guess I’ll ask the Princess tomorrow…” I was so happy that I started jumping up and down on the soft clouds. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks as I laughed and grinned and said things like “I can’t believe it!” and “It’s really true!”
“Okay, okay, calm down now,” Rainbow said despite the large smile on her face.
I ignored her and kept jumping around on the clouds. I wasn't paying attention, however, and I had jumped too close to the edge- close enough to fall off.
“OH SHIT!” I screamed as I plummeted to the ground. I saw a grey blur to my right, and before I knew it, I was on top of what looked to be a grey pegasus.
The unknown pony had landed on the ground, in what looked to be a large grassy field with nothing but trees in the distance, and I just sat there awkwardly before I heard a male voice say, “Thank you for choosing Hunter airlines, we hope you had a great flight,” he said in a mock pleasant voice. Then he returned to his normal voice. “But you can get off now.” I heard him chuckle, and I realized I was still sitting on his back.
“Heh, uh sorry,” I grumbled as I climbed off and tried to land on all 4 hooves. “Gah!” I exclaimed as I put the wrong hooves down and started to fall. The grey stallion reached his hoof out though, rather quickly, and grabbed my hoof, stopping my fall.
“Woah, what’s with you and falling today,” he said, helping me steady myself.
“Dammit to hell…” I muttered. “I’m so sorry, I’m not normally this clumsy…” I said as I looked up at him. I stopped, though, as soon as my eyes fell upon his head. There, as clear as day, sat a long grey horn.
Wait, he has wings… Oh shit he’s an alicorn! I thought to myself. Then I said it out loud.
“You’re a… you have… you’re an alicorn?” I was clearly very shocked. “I don’t remember this one from the show…” I mumbled. He had opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as he heard my last sentence. I paid no attention to it, realizing I had to bow because alicorns were royalty. I lowered my head, only to feel a hoof on my face, pulling it gently back up.
“I’m not royal. But what was that last thing you said?” he looked at me curiously before removing his hoof from my face.
I realized I had messed up. The ponies here didn’t know about the show. “Uh... I um…” I stammered before I looked at him and saw him smiling.
“It’s okay, I understand now. The reason you don’t recognize me is because I’m not from the show. I’m Hunter,” he said casually, as he lifted his hoof out.
“You mean… you’re… you know…” I stammered again.
“Yes,” he said, grinning again. “I was also once human.”
“Oh,” I said. “How cool! I’m Allyson!” I raised my hoof to his and he shook my hoof. “Call me Ally though.” I set my hoof back down and took a better look at this this Hunter character. He was a grey alicorn with a bright blonde mane and tail with white streaks running through them. His eyes were a bright, emerald green color, and his cutie mark was 3 oak trees.
Rainbow Dash landed beside me just then. “Hey Hunter,” she said casually.
“Hey Rainbow,” he said before he smiled. “How are you?”
Rainbow glanced at me and grinned before turning back to Hunter and said “Peachy.”
I glared at her before looking down, embarrassed. I felt she said that in a sarcastic tone, one that meant I’m doing great! Actually I’m not cuz Doofus over here almost killed herself. I mumbled something incoherent, something insulting I think. Rainbow and Hunter started laughing, and I looked up to see that they were laughing at me. I growled and put my head back down.
“I don’t think it’s that funny…” I grumbled. For the second time that day, a grey hoof guided my head back up. I turned my head so his hoof fell from my face then turned back to him and narrowed my eyes.
“You’re adorable, Miss Allyson,” he told me. My cheeks turned a slight pink to this, as I’ve never even been complimented by a guy before, and my frown turned into a slight smile, but I kept my eyes narrowed. “Anyway,” he continued, “I got to go get Jordan for band practice. It was nice meeting you Ally, and see you later Dash!” he said before he jumped into the air and flew off toward town.
“See ya!” Dash waved before turning away from me and walking. I realized I should probably follow and jogged to catch up to her so we were now walking side-by-side.
“Well that dude was nice,” I said to her, before I glanced over to see her face. I could have sworn I saw her lip twitch upward before she replied.
“Yeah, Hunter is a nice stallion,” she spoke softly.
Oh shit! Rainbow’s got a cruuuuuush! I almost giggled. “So you two are close then?” I asked as innocently as I could. Rainbow’s cheeks reddened slightly before she answered. “I mean, yeah we’re pretty good friends…”
“Ohhhh okay,” I said sarcastically with a very large smile before I turned away again to look where we were heading. We were walking towards the trees, and I saw the beginning of a path start to form that led into the trees.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked me, clearly annoyed.
“Oh nothing,” I said innocently. She glared at me. We were on the path now, walking through a bunch of trees. “Is this the Everfree forest?” I asked Rainbow, kind of worried.
“No way,” she said without hesitation. “The Everfree is on the other side of Ponyville. Like, say Ponyville is right ahead of us through these trees. Well if we kept walking to the other side, we’d reach the Everfree. This is just a little forest.”
We turned a corner, then another, and we kept walking until the trees stopped and the path continued. The worn, grassy path we had been walking on lead to another path, which was more like a road. We could either go left or right. Rainbow turned right, and I looked left before I followed her. I wondered what the left lead to.
“The other direction leads to Sweet Apple Acres,” Rainbow said, almost reading my thoughts. We walked for another minute or so before we came into what looked to be the main part of town. Rainbow went right and I saw the library in the distance. I also saw the sun was getting pretty low in the sky. It wasn’t quite a sunset, but it was evening. We got to the library and before we walked in I turned to Rainbow.
“Thanks again, Rainbow Dash. I really appreciate it,” I said to her and I smiled.
“Like I said, no problem,” she said.
“And one more thing. Could you teach me to fly?” I asked her.
“Of course I’ll teach you. But not tonight,” She said before let out a big yawn. “I’m too tired.”
“Thanks Rainbow!” I cried before I threw my hooves around her neck in a big hug. “Tomorrow morning.” I let go of her and opened the door. We walked in and I saw Twilight sitting on the couch next to the red chair. She looked up from the book she was reading.
“Well look who decided to come back,” she said sarcastically before she smiled. She set her book down and walked over to us. “So, who’s hungry?” Rainbow’s stomach rumbled in response. We all laughed before walked into the kitchen and sat down before Spike set a plate in front of each of us. I saw a sandwich sitting on each plate, and I looked inside to see daffodils. I made a face.
“What’s wrong Ally? You don’t like daffodil sandwiches?” Twilight asked me after taking a bite, seeing my face.
“Well, I don’t know. I’ve never tasted one… it just seems so unappealing,” I told her truthfully. I looked at Rainbow to find that she was already half way done with hers. I thought back to lunch this morning. We had apple and cinnamon pancakes, which are pretty normal back in the human world.
“Well, I guess I should at least try it,” I grumbled. I put my hooves on either side of the sandwich and lifted it to my mouth. I sniffed it, then leaned forward and took a bite. It tasted… pretty good actually. I swallowed and took another, then another. When I finished, I looked up to see that Twilight was sitting there, done with hers, and watching me.
“What?” I asked her.
“Nothing,” she said, smiling. “You’re just a really slow eater.”
I laughed. Everybody always said I was a slow eater. I laughed again, and Twilight and Rainbow and Spike laughed too. I was about to speak before I let out a large yawn. Twilight giggled.
“Looks like somebody is tired,” she said. She stood up and started to walk out of the kitchen. Rainbow followed and walked to the door.
“Well I’m gonna go now,” Rainbow said. Twilight opened the door for her. Then she called to me in the kitchen. “Remember our lesson tomorrow Ally! See ya!” With that, she flew out the door.
I finally made my way out of the chair and into the main room where Twilight was waiting at the bottom of the steps I had fallen down earlier today. She started to climb the stairs and I followed, slowly and carefully. We made it to the room on the left that I had been in earlier. She opened the door and I walked inside.
“I’ll still be downstairs for a few more hours if you need anything,” Twilight told me. “Goodnight,” she said before she closed the door.
I made my way over to the bed. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.