> Make New Friends > by anonpencil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Show Me What You're Made Of > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swirling leaves scattered under Pinkie Pie’s dashing hooves as she raced out of the Everfree forest into the square of Ponyville. She skidded as she rounded a corner, the darted towards Twilight’s castle with joyous intent. Without hesitation, she bounced into the front chamber, then clattered her way into the library. She skidded to a halt, scanning her surroundings, panting, and grinning. “Twilight, Twilight come quick!” she yowled, “I’ve made a new friend! I wanna have you meet her!!!” Her pink tail swished and bristled as she darted around, looking for some sign of the purple princess. After a moment, the princess of friendship emerged from behind a tall stack of books. “Pinkie Pie, calm down, I’m here,” she said. “But...wait, what do you mean you’ve made a new friend?” Twilight’s wings twitched at Pinkie’s words. The pink pony danced and bounded in excitement as she celebrated being able to pass on the news. After all, making new friends was something she was great at, and was definitely a reason to have a party, even a tiny one just with herself. Pinkie Pie continued to dance in excitement and giggled wildly. “I’ve made a new friend, her name is Noni and I want everyone to meet her!” Twilight studied her face, then smiled. “Spike,” she called to her assistant, wherever he was in the stack, “Go get everyone and meet us...” Twilight Sparkle paused and glanced at Pinkie Pie. “Oh, meet me at the cave in the wood.” “You heard her,” Twilight said and smiled. “Do we have to wait for the others before we head over there?” “NOPE!” Pinkie Pie bellowed,” Let’s go now, the slow pokes can catch up.” And with that she galloped off back the way she came with the princess of friendship in toe. * * * The cave opened onto a small meadow with a little stream winding around one edge. Noni, Pinkie’s new friend, stood on the edge of the stream near the cave mouth, looking around in wonder. She didn’t remember anything before she’d woken up earlier that day, but she knew she was happy here for some reason. Her legs were as wobbly as a new foal’s, but she didn’t care right then. There was exploring to do. She seemed to recall that there had been another here with her, though she didn’t remember her name or what she looked like. As if on cue, Pinkie and Twilight trotted briskly up the path towards her. At the sound of crunching leaves, Noni’s head snapped up and she saw Pinkie Pie and a purple Alicorn enter the clearing. “NONNNNIII, I’m back!” Pinkie Pie cried, and threw herself at the trembling pony. “This is my friend Twilight Sparkle, she’s FANTASTIC and wants to be your friend too! She’s even the princess of friendship, can you believe it?” Noni tried to scamper out of the pink pony’s way, but her legs tangled with each other, and she went sprawling into the stream. Icy cold water drenched her mint green hide, and she shivered, unsure if she was coordinated enough to get out of the water by herself. Twilight Sparkle looked at the pony in front of her and simply started. The pony, Noni was its name according to Pinkie Pie, was a mint green filly with a black mane and tail and was wearing four black stockings. She had a cutie mark that looked like a black ink splotch, sort of in the shape of a question mark, though Twilight didn’t exactly know what that could mean. However, the cutie mark was not the most eye catching thing about the stranger. Around her shoulders was a black harness that went over her back and down to each foreleg, where it attached to her stockings. Only...they weren’t stockings, Twilight realized. Noni’s forelegs ended in little minty stumps, and she seemed to have black prosthetics from the knees down. There were other odd things about the pony too, but Twilight didn’t have quite enough time to drink them in before Pinkie grabbed her in a thrilled hug. “This is Noni, Twilight.” Pinkie Pie said excitedly, “She’s the new friend I made, isn’t she nice?” Twilight Sparkle snorted and looked at the stranger quizzically. “When you said you made a new friend, you mean…” “Yes, exactly, and you’re not being very friendly to her,” Pinkie said with a frown. Twilight watched as Pinkie went over to the awkward, crippled little mare, and gingerly helped her upright. In a chiding, childish tone, she addressed the mare. “She might be a princess, but if she’s going to be a meanie-butt we don’t have to talk to her, Noni.” Twilight sighed as she got the hint, and put on her very friendliest smile as she waited for the newcomer to sort herself out. “It’s ok.” Noni said softly, gathering her legs under herself as Pinkie Pie helped her out of the stream. She tossed her head to get her wet forelock out of her eyes with an awkward bob of her head. Noni noticed then that, even though the smile, Twilight was studying her intently. She blushed and looked away. “I know I look different,” Noni said softly. “But Pinkie Pie said you’d be my friend...:” At that Twilight Sparkle started and shook her head, as if coming out of a trance. “You’re right, I am not being friendly. My name is Twilight Sparkle, what’s yours?” she asked and extended her hoof. Noni felt the warmth from her blush turn inward and pool in her stomach. “I’m Noni, nice to meet you.” she said and bumped the purple hoof with a smile. I’m a pony, with pony friends, this is me. All at once, Noni felt an overwhelming joy at the fact that she was a pony. This was what she was supposed to be doing, this friendship, this life, this form. This was how it was supposed to be, and she couldn’t find it within herself to question it. “I’m so happy!” she cried and jumped across the clearing like a deer before tripping over a stone and sprawling flat. Glancing over her shoulder she saw the other ponies whispering together and wondered what they were talking about. But she didn’t wonder too long. A buzzing sound near her drew her thoughts from the conversing ponies back to her present, grounded state. A large bee flew lazily past her face and landed on her nose. She twitched her muzzle to dislodge the insect yet it didn’t move. Frowning Noni wrinkled her muzzle but the bee acted as if nothing had happened. Trying again she flared her nostrils, her eyes looking down the length of her muzzle to see what the bee held on to but the green flesh didn’t move. In fact...where was her muzzle? Why wasn’t it moving? The very thought alarmed her. “AHHHHHHHH!” she screamed and bolted to her hooves, the stumps of her legs aching from the sudden movement. Both ponies looked to her, equally alarmed. Shambling over to the conversing ponies, Noni pushed between them, her eyes rolling and head tossing. “I can’t move my nose!” she cried, “I move it, I feel it move but nothing happens. I can’t see it twitch, and when I touch it it feels...wrong! Pinkie Pie am I sick?!” Her voice rose in panic until she was shrieking. She couldn’t breathe suddenly, and she knew something was wrong, something was seriously wrong? But what? What was she doing here? Who was she? What was she? This was wrong! This was- The thud of a hoof to her forehead shocked Noni out of her panic and she slumped to a sitting position, white spots dancing in her vision. Pinkie looked down at her, her hoof still raised, shaking her head in disappointment. Noni was silent as she tried to remember why she had just been feeling so panicky. After all, nothing was wrong, what was there to worry about? “You’ve got to breathe, Noni,” Twilight said with a worried tone in her voice “We’ll figure this out.” Then she whirled on Pinkie Pie who was shifting nervously from hoof to hoof. Pinkie pie smiled sheepishly at her. “Pinkie Pie,” Twilight’s tone was even and commanding, “why is Noni freaking out? I thought you said we'd make sure that they were calm and completely clear before they were ready.” “I told you already Twilight…” Pinkie Pie said, but Noni had stopped listening. Instead she was taking inventory of herself. She remembered vaguely that she couldn’t wiggle her nose, and that it had been cause for concern, even if she didn’t feel so bothered now. She couldn’t move her nose, but she could wiggle her ears no problem, right? She could twitch her skin like a normal pony. Her front legs were a little numb by the hooves, but that was to be expected, what with her condition. Everything seemed to be in order, until she reached her tail. The other ponies swished their tails often, conveying meaning and coloring their words, but when she tried nothing happened. She could feel the dark hair brushing her hocks, but when she tried to move it up and down or back and forth, it remained limp...almost dead. “Pinkie Pie...is my tail dead?” she asked in a broken voice. Pinkie turned toward her and smiled. She wasn’t panicking anymore, and that was at least a start, even if she was asking all these weird questions. “Of course it isn’t silly,” she said, “you can’t move it because it’s not really attached to you, haven’t you been listening?” Her tone was slightly exasperated and Noni guessed that Pinkie Pie had just been telling this to Twilight. Swallowing a sob of mild frustration, Noni shook her head no, and Pinkie Pie sighed. “Oh for goodness sake,” the pink pony said and stomped over to Noni. As Twilight watched, Noni felt Pinkie bite the back of her neck. She was too shocked, to confused to do anything, and before she could speak, Noni felt a horrible tearing sensation as Pinkie Pie’s teeth tore open her delicate skin and pulled down her back. Searing pain traced the tear’s path as air hit Noni’s exposed flesh. The new sensation hacked across Noni’s nerves and she lowed in pain. But Pinkie Pie didn’t stop. What was she doing!? Noni desperately wondered to herself. Twilight waited patiently until Pinkie had reached the base of Noni’s tail with the zipper. Then, she nosed the shiny latex off Noni’s shoulder, revealing glistening pink skin underneath. After that it only took a few moments to unbuckle the straps and pull the minty latex suit from the pony, leaving a trembling, naked human in the grass where the pony-form of Noni had once stood. Stepping back, Pinkie Pie smiled. “What do you think Twilight?” she giggled. Twilight nodded and trotted over to nose the human. The human was still, moaning softly, as if it honestly believed it had just been skinned alive. It seemed to have forgotten where it was, what it was, and it just trembled there outside of the buckles and straps that held together its artificial pony form. “She’s perfect,” Twilight admitted. “How did you do it? How did you convince this human that she was a pony?” Instead of answering, Pinkie Pie just grinned and pranced in place. “What do you mean I’m not a pony?” Noni moaned half-consciously. She found herself unable to process what she had heard, what she was seeing, what she was feeling. Her whole body hurt, especially her forelegs, and as she looked down she saw why. There was a small trickle of blood leaking from between thick black stitches that criss-crossed the pink, hairless stumps where her legs and hooves should be. Eyes rolling, she tossed her head and whimpered. Twilight Sparkle sighed and shook her head upon hearing the maimed human trying to speak. “Did you hypnotize her Pinkie?” she asked. "After you amputated the legs and arms?" “Of course,” Pinkie said with a roll of her eyes. “I did it right after, before the bleeding even stopped. How else would I get her to be a pony and not a stupid human?” Pinkie Pie snorted with laughter, and Twilight nodded understanding the logic behind it. “Well, you could have done a little better,” Twilight said. “She notices that her body isn’t like normal ponies. We’ll have to work on that more later.” She and Pinkie Pie had been talking about making a new friend for a while, and even with the shoddy hypnosis, this had surpassed her expectations. The human looked so pitiful, curled up there next to her pony skin and hood. When she was suited up, she could definitely pass as a pony, though a crippled one with special needs and a stunted muzzle. Still, it was better than nothing. Taking something that teetered on two legs and making it properly four-hoofed was not as easy as it sounded. But this meant that other races, other nations could be made into ponies. The takeover could soon begin. There were so many more friends to be made. She would be the princess of friendship, no matter where she went, no matter what species they encountered. With a sigh Pinkie walked over and nosed the ball of flesh still quivering on the ground. “It’s ok Noni, let’s get you put back together,” she said gently. The human whimpered and rolled onto her back, pushing her stumps into the air as Pinkie had trained her to do, her eyes pleading for help. Together, the ponies got Noni back into her gear, slipping the stumps into the latex sleeves and getting her onto her forelegs, then zipping her skin back together. Lastly they attached the prosthetic legs over her shoulders and Noni hauled herself to her feet. She stood shakily and quivered in her mint colored skin. She suddenly couldn’t remember why she felt so unsteady, and why her eyes were wet with tears. All she knew is that, for some reason, she felt so grateful to her pink companion right now. “Thank You,” she whispered and nosed Pinkie Pie’s shoulder. “I must have fallen down, I don’t know what happened there.” “Don’t worry!” Pinkie said. “There will always be friends here to get you back on your feet!” In the distance, hoofbeats were approaching, and Pinkie Pie’s head whipped toward the sound. She grinned expectantly. “They’re almost here, perfect timing!” she crowed and raced into the forest. Twilight leaned against Noni, holding her up just a little longer while she steadied herself. “It’s ok,” she whispered, “You look great and you’re going to make so many new friends with us, I promise.” Then, she also trotted off into the woods to meet the other. Left alone, Noni lowered her head to the ground and pressed her unfeeling nose against the grass. Something wasn’t quite right, but she didn’t care, couldn’t care. She knew she was happy, and that was what mattered. I’m a pony, with pony friends, this is me. After a few moments of deep thought, she raised her head and turned to look at the approaching herd. It was time to make new friends, and she was ready. She stepped from the sunlit meadow into the shadow of the forest, unaware of the small hole in her latex skin that allowed one minute trickle of blood to drip down her foreleg. It marked her passing with glittering red beads against the crisp autumn leaves, as her humanity bled away, just as the ponies had wanted. -END-