> Innocence has a price > by General Sparky > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > How to become an innocent mare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taking a deep breath, Goldhearts cast the spell and a portal appeared in front of her. Taking one last look at Earth, she jumped through the portal. She landed in some kind of bush. As she open her eyes, she saw lush greenery around her. There was tall strange looking trees around her too. ‘Where am I?’ Goldhearts asked herself. ‘Am I in Equestria? Only one way to find out.‘ She plucked out her horn and a new horn grew in its place. The horn turned into a map. The map shows Equestria and a red dot marks her current location. ‘So I am in the Everfree forests now. The nearest civilisation from here is a small town called Ponyville.‘ Goldhearts thought to herself. Goldhearts, upon realising where she is, walked in the direction towards Ponyville. She arrived in Ponyville not long after. Goldhearts walked in the streets of Ponyville, taking in the sights and environment of the town. As Goldhearts walked through the streets, she came across a pink pony that gasped and ran the other direction when she saw her. Goldhearts did not think too much about it and went on her way. As she walked around Ponyville, she realised that most of the residents here are ponies. Many of whom were giving her weird looks. That is to be expected from the local population. After all, she is a horse (which is bigger than ponies naturally) and stood almost two stories tall, she was bigger than all of the ponies here so, it was no surprise she stood out among the rest. Goldhearts then went towards the Ponyville market where she saw ponies exchanging gold coins for common goods and services. ‘So this must be their currency’. Goldhearts mentally noted. She went towards a back alley and pulled out her horn. She transform her horn into several gold coins and kept it in her saddle pack. Just In case she need to use it later. She pulled out her map, the library was her next location so that she could learn more about the culture here. She walked towards the giant oak tree in the distance. She stood at the door, about to open it. Out of the blue, her horn vibrated vigorously, warning her that something is amiss. She withdrew from the door immediately. She took her horn and threw it at the door. It went in without making a hole in the door and landed on the ground without any pony noticing. The horn scanned the room throughly and relayed that information back to Goldhearts’ head. There are at least 20 ponies inside there, 4 party canons located at different positions in the building, many food items was available too.’ The organiser is the Pink pony she met earlier called Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie is Ponyville’s local party planner and organiser and help to run a store called Sugarcube Corner. ‘A party planner eh? Let’s have a little fun then.’ Goldhearts thought to herself. If she was to ruin this party, she was going to do it innocently, also known as, by acting as clumsy as possible and knocking everything down. She mentally counted to 3 and opened the door forcefully, flinging the door to fly towards one of the party Canon. The force from the door pushed the party canon off angle and cause it to shoot the confetti toward another party canon. The confetti collided with the confetti shot out by the other party canon causing it to land on the floor instantly. Goldhearts pretended to slip on the confeti on the floor and banged her saddle bag on the floor, causing her gold coins to fly out. The gold coins flew into the barrel of the other 2 party Canons causing them to jam and not fire. As she try to stand up, her saddle bag strap snapped, dropping it on the floor. She tried to pick it up and sling it back but she accidentally send it flying to the table containing the food. It knocked into the table, causing the food items to drop. She stood up on her hind legs and pretended to hit the second floor ceiling, knocking over the wooden poles holding the welcome banner, causing it to drop lifelessly on the floor. She saw the look of horror on every ponies’ faces, especially Pinkie’s. Pinkie’s went immediately to a mixture between horror and hopelessness. Here she would say her most iconic catchphrase: “Oops, I just don’t know what went wrong.” Goldhearts said innocently, while trying her best not to smile and lowered her head, to hide her ‘embarrassment’. As she expected, the ponies reacted with an outrage and came up with many nasty comments that would be used over and over again to humiliate her for her clumsiness. Everypony left quickly after, everypony but Pinkie. Goldhearts looked at Pinkie Pie. She was in complete despair over what had just occurred and was crying to herself at one corner. Goldhearts approached Pinkie cautiously, not wanting to suffer her wrath. Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop. “Are you okay?” Goldhearts asked softly. Pinkie did not respond. She was not in the state to do so anyway. Goldhearts approached her again and stood mere centimetres away from her. Goldhearts bent down and her horn made contact with Pinkie’s forehead. That restored Pinkie back towards the state she was before she ruined the party. “Feeling better now?” Goldhearts asked. Pinkie nodded. “How did you do that?” Pinkie asked, her eyes looking up in awe at Goldhearts. “Magic.” Goldhearts stated. “You single handedly ruined your own welcome party, why would you do that?” Pinkie asked. “Pinkie Pie, I appreciate your goodwill but I cannot accept it. I need to stay low for now. Furthermore, I am not from here. I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to myself.” “But you have established yourself as an extremely accident prone and clumsy mare. How are you going to live with it?” Pinkie asked, concerned about Goldhearts. “If that is what everypony thinks of me, then I can live with it. So long as my foal can have a safe place to grow, I don’t mind being ridiculed by everypony.” “You are willing to sacrifice that for her. But what about her future? She’s going to live with a very clumsy mother.” Pinkie stated, raising her voice a little to show how much she is worried about her future. “Then so be it. I have been ridiculed for half my life and I don’t mind going it through all again for her. Besides, if the bullying really gets that bad, I will do the appropriate measures. It’s better than the alternative anyway.” “Which is?” “It’s better if you don’t know. Anyways, Pinkie, since you know everypony here, could you help me a job here in Ponyville?” “Which kind of job would you like to do?” “Something easy and something that lets me get away with my clumsiness.” “Would a mail mare work for you?” “I’ll be statisfied with that.” “Pinkie, thanks for the talk. Without it, I might have not been able to integrate so well with the environment here. So after all that you have done for me, What would you like in return?” “Thank you for your kindness but I don’t need a gift in return.” Pinkie said. “Haha. So humble. I can read your mind Pinkie.” “Wait what, but how?” Pinkie asked, surprised that she can read the minds of other ponies. “How else do you think I grant wishes or cast spells to others? Don’t worry. I can only do this once I gain a close relationship wiht someone. If you don’t want anything, I will give you something you can use then.” “How’s the interest and basic information of everypony in ponyville sounds?” “Wait, how did you..? Why are you giving me this? Don’t you think that I’ll misuse it?” Pinkie panicked. There’s no way what she is saying is true, right? Right?! “No, you won’t. A Unicorn’s judgement is never wrong. If you ever misuse it, the data will simply be wiped from your memory when you try to misuse it.” “But...” Pinkie said, trying her best to reject the offer. “This is not a negotiation. You WILL accept it and receive it. I, Goldhearts, will hereby grant Pinkie Pie the knowledge and the know how to implement fun activities for every and any pony as she so desire.” “But...” Pinkie complained, but it simply went down the drain. “It is done Pinkie. When you go home, you will discover the basement will contain all that you need to know to plan, implement and review your parties to spread joy in Equestria.” “I don’t know what to say.” “Say thank you. It’s the polite way of showing appreciation for someone.” Derpy stated. “Thank you. I don’t know how I will ever repay you.” Pinkie said, her face still in shock about receiving the present from Goldhearts. “Then don’t. You will spread joy and laughter to any pony you so desire. So long as you do this, it will be enough.” Derpy assured Pinkie. “Pinkie, do you know what a horse ride is?” “No.” Pinkie answered, wondering what in the world in ‘horse riding’. “Hop on my back and you’ll find out.” Goldhearts said, smiling at Pinkie. Pinkie returned home after riding on Goldhearts’ back. “Who knew horse riding was so fun?” As she walked up the stairs and entered her bedroom, she suddenly stopped and stared amazed as there are sparkling lights underneath her bed. She lifted the bed and it revealed a trapdoor leading to a slide. Pinkie slide down the slide and and entered a room. The room was filled with many documents and drawers for her to use. Furthermore, she saw her party canons, all brand new and upgraded. On the side there was a note. Dear Pinkie, hope you enjoy this room and will make full use of it. The party canons have been tweaked so that it can be camouflaged and hidden in anyplace you put it in, or you could stick with the current colour scheme and make it noticeable in public areas. The canons are much more portable and can be installed quickly in any environment. Pinkie, always stay positive and I thank you with all my heart for accepting me and allowing me to integrate to your culture. Signed, Goldhearts. P.S. I am changing my name and appearance to integrate to the local culture here. Next time you see me in the streets, call me Derpy. Goldhearts used her magic to build her house in the middle of nowhere. Goldhearts walked in and went to her bedroom. She looked up at the night sky, and saw its beauty. Most beautiful of all was the shooting star, flying across the night sky. She smiled. Her magic have worked. Come tomorrow morning, every pony would know her as Derpy hooves, a kind and clumsy mail mare in Ponyville. One clumsy enough to ruin her own welcome party. She use her hooves to rub her belly. “I’m doing this for you, little one. So that you won’t have to gone through what I have gone through.” Flashback Singapore Armoured Cavalry, Hell week There was an awkward silence in the air. A sense of uneasiness filled the air. The sound of stun grenades exploding simultaneously in the distance broke the silence. Air raid sirens sounded everywhere. Machine guns firing from every location. The screams of cadets chaotically running down the stairs in full battle order. Hell week has started. The horses in the stables stood still, a sense of uneasiness filling their hearts. The doors to the stables opened abruptly. The cadets rushing in to prepare their horses for battle. The cadets went into the warehouse and quickly prepped their horses. Covering a horse from head to toe in protective armor was an immense task. Their commanders, Lieutenant Keith and Lieutenant Andrea came in and rushed to prep their horses. Once all the horses were armoured, the horses and their riders went out of the stables and assembled in the parade square. “Gentlemen, this is just the beginning of hell week and took 30 minutes for you to come down from there and fall in with your horses. All of you giving me the tired look. I tell you before that this is going to be a tough course. So you all better wake up your idea!” “We will now rush to location Emma in 30 minutes. Do you understand?!” “Yes sir!” The cadets replied in unison. “Then, what are you all waiting for? Go now!” Andrea shouted. The cadets reacted quickly and lead their horses to location Emma. From there, they will go through 7 days of intense tasks that will make both equine and human bond together. At the end of the course, the cadets will receive a metal badge to certify their ability to ride horses into battle. The badge also serve another purpose: to allows the horses to talk with their riders when they feel like it. A few days later..... Derpy and her rider walked alongside the beach. As they reached the end of the beach, Derpy neighed. Seeing that Derpy was tired, Andrea decided it was time for them to take a rest before they continue on their journey. “Hey Andrea, do you like the beach?” Derpy asked. “You can talk?” “Of course I can.” Derpy stated. “The badge on your collar allows me to talk to you whenever I want.” Derpy raise her hoof to gesture towards Andrea’s collar. Andrea took a look at the badge in the collar and turn to look at Derpy. Her eyes, first shows confusion, suddenly turns into one of enlightenment. “You little girl. How could you have not use this sooner? I could have...” “Hey, I am not a little girl anymore. I’m like 23 feet (7 metres, 69 hands) tall from head to hoof.” Derpy stated, raising her head high to prove her point. “I know. But you will always be a little girl to me, Goldhearts.” Andrea replied, smiling at Goldhearts. “Sure, whatever. Moving on, I have found my mate, Andrea. He’s amazing. How about you? Have you found your mate yet, Andrea?” Goldhearts asked. “Well, sort of. I mean he kind and nice, but he deserve better. I don’t think I’m good enough for a boy like him.” Andrea said, looking down at the grass she was walking on. “Andrea, don’t look down on yourself. If you like him, just go for it and tell him.” Derpy said. “He the commander of Singapore Armoured Cavalry. How could I bring myself to ...?” Andrea stuttered, feeling shy to talk about this topic. “If you need courage, I could use a spell to make you feel courageous.” Goldhearts said, using a hoof to point to her own horn. “Thanks but no thanks, Goldhearts. I rather tell him myself when I feel that the time is right.” Andrea stated. “If you say so. I just want to make sure you had company when I leave this place.” “Huh, why are you leaving this place?” Andrea asked, surprised but the news. “It’s for my foal. This palce is nice and all but I think it will be better to raise my foal somewhere away from here.” “Are you going there with your mate?” “Sadly no. He’s got important work to do here. He will visit us from time to time though.” “Nothing I say will make you stay huh? Well then, I am proud to be your partner. I wish you all the best in your journey.” “Hey, I am the one who grant wishes here.” Derpy snickered. “Then you better make sure it comes true then.” Andrea said. “Of course. See you around Andrea.” “See you.” Goldhearts said. Goldhearts cantered towards Andrea. Andrea leaned on her back as they watch the sun set on their tiny island of Singapore. End flashback Derpy smiled and climbed onto the bed and slept. Her dreams tonight was calm and relaxing unlike the chaos of yesterday. “The most professional curse ever snarled or croaked or thundered can have no effect on a pure heart.” ― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn