Two humans at a pony convention encounter a little magic.
Daniel, a human with no pony knowledge whatsoever and his human friend Miranda, a pony expert, go to a convention and end up somewhere shocking; In Equestria. Now it's up to Miranda, or Doodlebug, to teach Daniel, or Landscape, pony ways.
Daniel walked around a large, crowded room next to his best friend Miranda. All around there were posters and pictures of pastel unicorns and rainbows and hearts. He had to hold his friend’s shirt to make sure he wasn’t separated from her in the sea of cosplayers, their silly outfits varying from rolled-up paper horns and cardboard wings to full scale, probably incredibly expensive and quality costumes. He let out a muffled groan, barely audible in the noisy crowd. He couldn’t believe he was at a My Little Pony convention.
Daniel met Miranda at an artist’s club, and as a result of being around each other so much, they became best friends really soon. They weren’t very similar; Miranda was very social and cutesy, while Daniel was introverted and a bit more practical. Usually they bonded over their shared love of art, particularly in painting or doodling, but there was one even bigger part of Miranda’s life none of her friends could escape.
Her love of ponies.
Daniel couldn’t count all the times he’d had to hear her ramble on and on about My Little Pony, and he usually had to politely listen. It’s not like he hated ponies. He just wasn’t interested. He didn’t pay much attention when she talked about them, only listening enough to sound polite and respond when she asked a question. Sometimes he had to remind her that he wasn’t so passionate about the cartoon, and she seemed to understand. Still, when Miranda got talking, she just couldn’t stop herself.
Now he was joining her for a My Little Pony convention. He didn’t know which one, but he didn’t care. She certainly knew what was going on everywhere, so she had probably come to this specific convention before. Daniel really didn’t want to, but he had nothing to do. Usually if he was bored and his schedule was free, he would just visit his parents, but they had just recently left for a vacation in another country. Just his luck. But Miranda apparently didn’t have anyone to spend the weekend with either, and she practically begged him to join. “Only for you,” he had told her. This would be one loooooong weekend.
Daniel tightened his grip on Miranda’s shirt as she sped into an even more crowded room. He knew for a fact if he hadn’t been holding on by now he would’ve lost her to the crowd long ago. Miranda didn’t seem to notice- or care- and sped on. She was so excited; racing around the convention like lightning all morning. She would alternate between talking about MLP or pointing out events around them. Daniel struggled to listen to her above the thundering noise while concentrating on not getting lost in the vast room. He struggled to make out what she was talking about now.
“My OC is …. name is Doodle…. really cute ….” It wasn’t working.
“Uhh, Miranda? Maybe we should go somewhere a bit qu-” Daniel had been yelling, but it seemed like Miranda hadn’t noticed him talking, despite his best efforts, because he was interrupted by a tight pull from her as she ran to another room.
Daniel took in a sudden gasp for air as Miranda slowed to a walking speed and he looked around, confused. They had just been in practically an ocean of cosplayers and other pony fans, and now it seemed they were miles away. Hey, with her speed, they may well be. In fact, he couldn’t hear a peep. Somehow she had found a completely empty room. Daniel took in his surroundings. It was a hall in such bad shape, it looked almost abandoned.
“Should we be here...?” Daniel turned back to Miranda, who, although now walking, looked so excited she could burst. She didn’t answer right away. “And… Where is here…?”
“Didn’t you see the signs, silly?” Daniel slowly shook his head as his friend continued. “The signs said there’s an exclusive, brand new event over here! ‘Equestria shimmers’! What could it be about?”
“Don’t you think if it’s exclusive, more people would be here? Not that I’m complaining, I mean…”
“Maybe they didn’t notice yet. Or maybe we’re early!”
Daniel wasn’t convinced. This whole thing seemed fishy. A scam, maybe? A prank? Whatever. It was quiet. Daniel liked quiet.
The hallway came to a stop and they were standing in front of a wall with a dusty sign on it. There was no way this was normal. Miranda seemed to know what she was doing, however, and she blew the dust away.
“I’m gonna guess we’re early…” He wasn’t convinced at all. Miranda could be very naive, but he had no choice but to trust she knew what she was doing to some extent. He had never been to a convention before, after all. And he was only coming to be with her, so what else could he really do but follow her?
Miranda stared at the sign for a long eerie moment. Daniel tried to look at it but couldn’t see it over her shoulder. Miranda turned to him, suddenly breaking the silence- and almost the spooky mood along with it- with a huge grin.
“Isn’t this exciting?!” She turned back to the sign before he could answer. Miranda began murmuring the words it said, which were just as spooky.
“To bring your dreams to life and learn so much… Yadda yadda…” For a moment she skimmed through the words inaudibly before continuing. “ ‘Life in Equestria shimmers, life in Equestria shines’, recite what’s left and you will see a tour one of a kind.”
“Miranda, this place is creepy. I don’t trust it. We should just go and…” He trailed off as he saw her pleading face.
“Aww, please Daniel? I know this one!”
“What? That thing’s beyond riddles, it doesn’t make any sense!”
“Duh, those were song lyrics!” She gave Daniel a look like he should know better. Before he could react, she started singing.
“.....That everything is certainly FIIIIIIIIIINE~!” Miranda finished the song with a moment long squeal, cut short by a mysterious rumbling sound.
Miranda opened her eyes. Maybe Daniel was right… This was getting kinda creepy. She looked around. She seemed to be in a damp forest. Lifting her head for a better view, she saw plants of all kinds. Some looked familiar, but she wasn’t quite sure how… Namely the blue flowers in the distance. Miranda struggled to her feet, but something was wrong. She stumbled over. Looking down, her feet were gone! Panic swept through her for a moment and she held her hands- no, the stumps that used to be her hands- in front of her. They weren’t just stubs, she realized. They were hooves! Miranda gasped silently, short of breath in shock. She heard a panicked yelp from Daniel, but she didn’t pay it attention. He must’ve noticed too. Her biggest dreams had come true:
She was a pony.
Miranda was speechless with excitement. Regaining herself, she slowly got up on her new hooves.
“Miranda, what’s going on?!”
She turned around in circles to see herself better. A blue coat, pink and lavender mane? She was her own OC!
“Where are we?!”
Wait, if she was her oc, that must mean... Leaping to the nearest puddle to see herself better, her thoughts were confirmed and she gasped. She had a horn.
“Are we ponies, Miranda?!”
“Nooooo way!” Miranda squealed. A moment of silence. Then she screamed with delight.
“WE’RE PONIES!!!! WE’RE PONIES, WE’RE PONIES!” Miranda hopped in circles around Daniel.
Daniel looked still terrified, but he turned pale when she screamed. “Miranda, please,” he loudly whispered. “What if some kind of forest animal hears us? I don’t wanna know what’s in this place…”
Miranda stopped prancing and silently gasped in realization. “Oh, sorry! You’re right, there’s some nasty creatures living here.”
“I was hoping I was wrong…” Daniel muttered in fear.
“This must be the Everfree Forest,” she continued. “We might find a manticore, or a sea serpent, or….”
“Please! I don’t wanna know!”
“Well I mean, the sea serpent’s nice…”
“How are we gonna get back, anyway?” Daniel tried desperately to change the subject.
“Get back?” Miranda laughed. “Why would we do that?! It’s clear we won’t be getting back this way, and why should we have to leave so soon?
“This is gonna be trouble!”
“Daniel… This has been my dream for, well forever! I…” Miranda paused, unsure if she was guilt tripping him too much. “I don’t want to lose it so fast. Please don’t take this from me?” She pouted. Puppy dog eyes. Nobody could resist puppy dog eyes from human Miranda, so as a pony she was unstoppable with such power. Daniel sighed.
“If it means that much to you… Maybe… But we should find a way back soon. I just don’t think the answer is in this forest. And I don’t wanna stay to find out…” Daniel shuddered. He tried to get up but fell down again. The second time he wobbled on all fours. Carefully he trotted to the puddle Miranda was at and saw his reflection.
“You’re an earthpony!” Miranda smiled. “Your colors are fitting, too!. Oh, that reminds me! You need a new name!”
“What?!”
“In Equestria, human names sound just weird. We have names like-”
“Cupcake heart or glitter shine? I don’t want a girly cute name like that! Can’t I keep my own?”
“Don’t worry, I can find you a fitting pony name that isn’t too cutesy! Mine is Doodlebug!” She paused and looked at his cutie mark. It looked like someone had painted a simple but pretty painting of grassy hills on his flank. She tapped her hoof on her chin.
“How about Landscape?”
“That’s a normal pony name?”
“Not all ponies are named after shiny stuff. Do you like it?”
“Well, if that’s normal in Equestria.. It isn’t too bad,” He smiled.
“So it’s Doodlebug and Landscape, taking on Equestria!” Doodlebug squealed.
“Speaking of which… Do you by any chance know how to get out of this forest?” Landscape was pale again.
“No…” Doodlebug admitted. “But we can find our way! We just gotta look out for landmarks, and I’m sure we can find our way from those!”
Landscape and Doodlebug trotted through the forest. Doodlebug still looked jittery with excitement; probably still getting over the fact we’re ponies, he figured. So was he. Walking wasn’t so hard once he got used to it, but it was still a lot to think about. This was real. He had pinched himself multiple times during their walk, just to make sure. He was a pony. Landscape never really watched MLP, so he really had to rely on Doodlebug to show him how things work. He glanced at Doodlebug. She was skipping along, without a care in the world. She was a bit naive, and could be hard to talk to sometimes. This might be a challenge.
Suddenly, Doodlebug stopped and put her hoof in front of Landscape to stop him too.
“Don’t take another step!”
“Huh? Mi- Doodlebug, what is it?” They had stopped in front of a large patch of blue flowers.
“We need to go another direction. If you see any more of these flowers, don’t touch them.”
“Why not?”
“They’re poison joke!”
“P-poison?” He didn’t like where this was going.
“Well I mean, they aren’t poisonous. Poison is only in the name for the play on words. But the flowers are still bad!”
“What do they do?”
“If you touch them, they do something weird and random to you, like a practical joke. It doesn’t sound so bad, but trust me, accidentally step in em’ and the next day you’re crashing into walls upside down every other second or you’re smaller than a breezie!”
Landscape blinked in confusion for a moment. He didn’t understand most of that, but the crashing part or the small part didn’t sound pleasant. “Okay, which way should we go?”
Doodlebug scanned the area and pointed with her hoof. “That way doesn’t have any poison joke. Cmon!”
Landscape followed Doodlebug through the trees. Everything was smooth, although eerie, for the next about five minutes. A nasty smell filled his muzzle. Was it from him? He was about to sniff again to test his theory when he bumped into Doodlebug. She was frozen and pale in fear.
“Doodlebug? Are you okay?”
“T-that smell… Oh, sweet Celestia, please no...”
“Doodlebug, what is it?!”
He got his answer. Howling echoed in the trees. It wasn’t close enough to tell what direction, but the howling was still close. Too close.
“What was that?!” Landscape frantically turned to his friend with a desperate questioning look.
“Timberwolves.” She uttered in fear.
Landscape didn’t know what timberwolves were, but he could very clearly tell it was bad.
“What do we do?!” He whispered.
“Run.”
They ran. But it wasn’t enough. The howling sounded again, but much nearer. A sound behind them got closer and closer, like a mix between hoofsteps and.. Wood rattling..? Daring to look behind, Landscape caught a quick but terrifying glance of what had been chasing them. Some monster shaped somewhat like a wolf, made of sticks and branches. It had sharp teeth and eyes with a menacing glow. The smell was also stronger, he noticed. It must’ve been coming from the timberwolves.
Suddenly, an even louder sound was muffled against the trees. A high pitched squealing? Hoofsteps pounded closer and closer; a lot of hoofsteps. Suddenly, thundering through the trees, was a crowd of about ten pink pastel ponies with frizzy magenta manes, all identical. They were bouncing, and chanting something. ‘Fun’...? The bouncing ponies trampled the timberwolves without even noticing, and the monsters were just a big pile of sticks and leaves now. Landscape turned to Doodlebug. She didn’t look nearly as confused as she looked surprised. Did she understand what was going on?
Just as quickly as they came, the herd of ponies left. The two ponies stared at the wood a moment longer.
“Wait a moment..” Doodlebug shook herself out of her trance. “This means we’re near the Mirror pool!”
“The Mirror pool?” Landscape looked worried again.
“Yeah! It’s a landmark. We must be close to Ponyville!”
“Does that mean well get out of this forest?”
“I hope so. Let’s search the area for any big holes in the ground, probably sealed by a huge boulder.”
“Ok, but we’re staying together. I’m not about to get mauled by another... Whatever that was!”
“Timberwolf.” She corrected.
The two started searching the area. But instead of a Mirror pool, they found something better.
“Light! Does that mean we’re close to the exit?” Landmark asked hopefully.
“I bet it does!” Doodlebug galloped towards the light and the trees seemed to slowly lessen. Soon they found themselves at a path that led into a sunny, happy village. They were at Ponyville.
“Woohooooo! The best place in Equestria! Well, one of the best!” Doodle ran right into the town and grew more excited every second she looked around. Landscape was right behind her. Looking into the sky, the gasped at the grand, beautiful castle in the distance.
“Let’s not attract too much attention,” Landscape whispered to her. He was right. She for once knew, if she got too excited, she might just give something away.
“Are you new here?”
Too late. It was Pinkie Pie.
“Hey, isn’t that one of the- mmmph!” Doodlebug covered Landscape’s mouth with her hoof.
“I’m Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!”
Doodle fought to keep her calm. She couldn’t be in Ponyville. Too risky. But what now?
“Hhhhhhhhi Pinkie Pie! I’m Doodlebug and this is my friend Landscape. We’re just uh.. Passing by… We aren’t planning to stay in Ponyville… She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice as she continued. “Can you point us to the train station?”
“Oh, sure! Where ya headed? If you plan to go to Yakyakistan, I can help! I know a thing or two about yaks, ya know!”
Oh shoot. What to say now? “I-I’m pretty sure we’re not going to Yakyakistan,” She giggled, “But thanks for the offer. We’ll probably go wherever the train takes us!” Landscape gave a skeptical look but Doodlebug just nudged him.
“Ooh, adventurous! Anyways, the train station is just that way! Take a right at that house and a left at Sugarcube corner. Speaking of Sugarcube corner…” Pinkie pulled a cupcake out of nowhere. “Cupcake for good luck?”
Landscape stared in astonishment. “How did she…”
“Yes please!” Doodlebug ate the cupcake in nearly one bite and smiled. She grabbed Landscape’s hoof. “We should be going,” She began after she swallowed the cupcake. “Thanks, Pinkie!”
“No problem! Oh, and you’ll need this. Bye!” Pinkie Pie dropped a ticket on the ground and skipped away.
Doodlebug licked the remaining frosting from her lips and picket up the ticket, while Landscape stared after the pink pony in confusion.
“Where did she get that cupcake from?!”
“That’s Pinkie for you!” Doodlebug giggled. Landscape stopped asking questions as they made their way to the train station, but he still looked confused. When they made it to the train station, Doodlebug gave the pony at the door of the train a ticket and trotted inside. Landscape followed more slowly.
“Welcome to the Friendship Express!” Doodlebug announced to her friend as they sat down. “Where our adventure really begins!”
