What happens when you wake up to find that you're a pony? Only... Everyone else is Human?
My first story. Critics, gimme all you got! I want to improve as much as possible.
So, you are in Equestria, and you seem to be a pony. Cliche, yes? Except... every one else is human! Now, our brave hero must go on a journey to figure out why the HAY this is happening. Laughter will be laughed, tears will be cried ( although I hope not), and Ponies will not be ponies. Wait...
Ow... my head. That must have been some party last night. I feel as though something ripped me out of my body and put me in again. Well, I suppose that it is time to wake up now. I groggily opened my eyes and took a look at my surroundings. It really must have been crazy at that party, because I was in a park, and I had no idea where to go to get home. As a matter of fact, this doesn't look like any part of town that I have ever seen. And it's not that big of a town. Maybe I'm in some sort of tourist attraction? That would explain all of the technicolor cottages and overly fluffy looking clouds.
As I tried to stand up I was, instead met with a loss of balance and hit the floor with my head.
"Ow. That didn't feel too good." I muttered to myself as I lifted a hoof to my head and- Wait. HOOF?! I sprang up in a panic, only to face-plant on the floor again. I tried sitting back against a wall for support as I examined my new found...eh... transformation. I took a good while to try and find a logical solution as to why this occurred so I could deal with it calmly... and when that didn't work, I promptly flipped out.
During the whole ordeal of my panic I fell over many, many, many.... many... I think you get the idea. I also muttered a great deal of words that I don't feel fit to repeat.
Once I got over the initial shock, I tried standing up again. Only more slowly. Once I had gotten the hang of that, I tried walking. And after several more face-plants, I had gotten the hang of it. After the satisfaction of learning how to walk subsided, I managed to put two and two together and I realized where I must be. Sweet son of a blueberry muffin... I must be in Equestria! Excitedly, I looked around... Only to find that there was no pony around. In fact, it looked to be early in the morning.
Well, that's no problem. I'll just go find some pony I know... Twilight maybe. She seems like the early bird type... or at least she'd probably be up all night studying... something or another. As I continued down the street, I began to take notice that all the doors were rather large compared to me. Great, I must be short. Oh well, I dealt with it as a human, I can deal with it as a pony. But... these doors are absolutely HUGE! The nobs are a good three inches over my head. Maybe the ponies had to stand on their hind legs to open it... That seems rather tedious. But who am I to judge their ways?
The sun was slowly crawling it's way up into the sky, so I figured that every pony would start waking up and heading out into the day. Maybe I can ask one of them where to find the library, because I have no idea where I'm going. I'm just hoping that finding a giant tree in the middle of town would be easy. Apparently that's not the case. Suddenly, I heard some chatter coming from behind a door.
"Ya ya, mom. I'll make sure to let miss Cheerily have the note. See ya." and then a girl, maybe eight or nine opened the door with a backpack in tow and started off down the street. My heart did a flip. That girl was no pony. but a full on human. A person. A homosapien. Granted her hair was a weird color, but still! That makes no sense! If there are humans here, then why in hay's name am I a pony?! Okay... Okay... Let's not panic... maybe she's the only one? maybe I was just hallucinating! ya... that makes sense. I mean, I must be insane, right? Right? RIGHT?! Okay... Calming down... I took in a deep breath and started walking down the street, only a little more stealthily...
CRASH! oops, I seem to have knocked over a trashcan. I quickly looked both ways, looking for a place to hide, when a man with bright red hair that had a streak of orange came out of the house yelling something along the lines of "Stupid dog!" and threw one of his shoes at me. I, having not yet learned to run, was forced to walk quickly away from the man as he cursed and began picking up his garbage. First contact with a civilization outside of my world, check. I spent the greater part of the day dodging from shadow to shadow trying to avoid the gaze of the people in town. Although, I was able to learn that despite their new appearances, they seem to have kept their names from the show. At least now I was sure I was in Equestria.
I looked around a corner and I couldn't believe my eyes. There, maybe a block away was Twilight's library! It was amazing! I couldn't believe it! The single largest tree house that I had ever seen! I would have ran straight to it, if I... you know... knew how to run...So, instead, I had ducked and weaved under carts and things, completely ignoring the confused expressions coming from the people that I had passed. Once I had reached the door, I reached out to the brass knocker that hang from the upper half... But, to my dismay, I was too short, and I didn't want to risk standing on my back legs to reach it. I can do this. I just have to use my head...
Bang! ow. Bang! ow. It had been going on like this for the past ten seconds. With me hitting the door with my head and cursing under my breath. Finally, I heard a voice on the other side of the door, telling me to hold on. The door opened revealing a tired looking kid, maybe eleven or twelve years old, with green eyes, green hair, and a purple hoodie. He looked at me for a full minute as we had one of those awkward stare downs where neither one of us knew quite what to say. I tried giving him a hopeful smile so that he would see that I meant no harm and invite me into the- "No." and he shut the door in my face. Well, that didn't go nearly as well as I had expected. This just simply would not do. So, I knocked on the door again and crouched down and waited to pounce. Well, Spike must not be an idiot because the door didn’t open, and I was still outside. I needed a new plan.
I went around to the side of the tree...library....house...thing... and hid around the corner. It's a library, right? So that means that someone would have to come at one point or another, right? So, with this in mind, I waited. And waited, and waited and waited and waited and.... well, you get the idea. Eventually, several hours later, a young lady with purplish pinkish hair walked up to the door and knocked. The door opened slowly and she exchanged a few words with whoever it was at the door and walked in. And as the door closed I slipped in as stealthily as I could. Luckily, I managed to get in and hide under a table before anyone noticed me. I looked around, quickly entering a panic. I was in, but I had no idea what to do! Could they even understand me? Would they think that I was some sort of deranged wild animal?
Suddenly, I heard a door open and I watched as a certain rainbow-haired someone came rocketing into the room. "Hey Spike, where's Twilight? I need to talk to h-- Uh, what's with the horse?" she said while looking in my direction "Horse?" Spike turned around and looked at me. As did the other person who left with a sudden 'you look busy...' Spike slowly walked to a closet, all the while, not taking his eyes off of me.
"Let's just keep calm," he said as he pulled a broom out of the closet slowly and walked to my location, "It'll all be perfectly FINE!" he put extra emphasis into the last word as he brought the broom down on my head. Ow? Sadly, Spike didn't have the hardest hit in the world, and all I got out of it was some straw in my mane.
"Oh, give me that!" Rainbow said as she snatched the broom from a very sheepish looking Spike. She raised it to take a swing at me, but she didn't get the chance, for when she touched it, I took off like a rocket. I ran for dear life. I was willing to bet that Rainbow could hit a lot harder than Spike could, and I didn't want to test my theory. Fortunately, being human, Rainbow didn't have wings. Unfortunately, I was new to the whole "four legs" thing and I was practically throwing myself around as I tried to escape.
"Get back here, you!" an infuriated Rainbow yelled at me, by which I responded by running with renewed vigor.
"Be careful!" Spike yelled as Rainbow took out a flower pot with an ill aimed swing
"What's going on down here?" A new voice asked, in an irritated fashion. Suddenly, Rainbow, Spike, and I were engulfed in a magical glow and we all floated over to a cross looking bookish lady with purple hair that had a magenta streak in it. "Who let this thing in?" she directed the question at Spike.
"It wasn't me, I swear!" Spike held his hand over his heart and another one up in the air. "He snuck in!"
"I seriously doubt that the small horse is smart enough (HEY!) to sneak into here of all places." She rolled her eyes and floated me closer to her to get a better look at me. Suddenly, her face adopted a surprised expression and I was dropped, and before I knew what was happening she exclaimed in a shocked tone "Th-that thing has wings!" Wings? I looked at my back, and evidently, I did have a pair of feathery appendages sprouting from my back. Cool! Oh, right... back to story.
"It does?!" Spike and Rainbow asked, almost in unison as they were put back down so that Twilight could focus her attention on me.
"This is incredible." Twilight said as she examined my wing. It was killing me that I couldn't talk to them. But then I noticed that there was a pen and paper on the other side of the room. Maybe I could write them a letter and tell them not to dissect me. But, despite my best efforts, all my that my struggling managed to accomplish was to flip me upside down inside the magical aura.
"Maybe it just wants down." Rainbow suggested as she watched my struggling. Thank you, Dashie.
"Ya, so it can trash the place again." Spike added. He's blaming this mess on me? How rude.
"How could this cute guy have done this on his- ow, HEY!" Twilight yelled at me as I used her forehead as a springboard, which broke her concentration long enough for me to get to the desk with the pen on it and grab it desperately in my mouth.
"Is that thing writing?" Spike asked in astonishment.
"I think it is." Twilight said as she walked over while rubbing the spot on her head where she had been kicked.
"What is it saying?" Rainbow inquired, peering over my shoulder. I looked up at them proudly as Twilight read the letter out loud.
"They broke the pot." Twilight read after a bit of struggling with my penmanship (I'd like to see you write neatly with your mouth.) Twilight flashed them an irritated look as they both looked up at the ceiling, which had suddenly become extremely interesting to the both of them.
"That's amazing." Twilight said after returning her attention back to me, "not only is it a winged horse, but it is smart enough to be able to write. I have so many things to ask you!" She exclaimed excitedly. But then, a different look spread upon her face. "I'd bet that you'd be the scientific discovery of the year! I'll get written about in a science textbook!" The idea of being in a book seemed to excite her greatly as she picked me up and started spinning me, all the while laughing her head off in a delighted fashion.
After what had seemed like an eternity, she got dizzy and had to sit down. Oh, what about me you ask? Well, Twi had neglected to put me down and, being unable to protest, I was forced to stay afloat in the air while she rambled on about research.
"Do you think he wants down now?" Spike asked, interrupting Twilight's fantasy.
"Hm? Oh, right!" She blushed as she put me down "sorry about that. I tend to get carried away sometimes."
"Hey," Rainbow interjected, "you wouldn't happen to know a spell so that our friend here can talk, do you?" That's a good point! If anyone can do that, it would be the single smartest person here! Good 'ol reliable Twilight Spark--
"Uh, no." Twilight said sadly "I've never had a use for such a spell. But, our friend here can write to us still, right?" ... You let me down, Twily. "Speaking of which, we still don't have a name for him. What should we call him?" They're trying to name me!? Where's Flutter when I need her?
"Oh! We should call him stormer!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly "that would be an awesome name!"
"Or maybe we should call him orange. Because of his fur color." Spike added not so helpfully
"What about Star swirl?" Twilight suggested
"Nah. That's lame." Rainbow rubuttled
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Why don't we ask him what HE thinks?!"
"Fine by me. So, what do you think?" Rainbow directed her question at me, which came so unexpectedly, it caused me to flinch. "Do you want to be Stormer (she yelled that one) or do you want to be (almost in a crying fashion) Star Swirl?" Twilight Levitated a paper and pen over to me and I stared at the parchment intensely. After a careful amount of consideration, I wrote down my reply...
"Are you sure you want to go with that one?" Twilight asked after reading my reply, "It seems a little weird..."
"Let me see." Rainbow walked over and took the paper from Twilight and read it over. She looked to me "Really?" I nodded my head happily.
"Well okay, 'Strono,' if that's what you want." Twilight said with what I could have sworn was a hint of sarcasm. I felt a bit weird using that name, but it somehow felt natural. Like... Eating a lemon. Ya, that’s it. anyways... Rainbow glanced at her watch and let out a gasp.
"D'oh shoot!" She exclaimed loudly, turning to Twilight "I completely forgot that I was supposed to tell you that Applejack wants everyone to meet at Sweet Apple Acres for a picnic in the orchard."
"And she just assumed that we didn't have any plans beforehand?" Twilight asked, crossing her arms.
"Oh, like what?" Rainbow asked skeptically.
"Like studying our friend, Strono, here."
"Why don't you want to go?"
"It's not that I don't want to go..." Twilight grabbed her forearm, "I just think that Applejack could have given us a little bit of a warning beforehand. I also really want to check out those wings of Strono's" (oh really? Meow.)
"Well, bring him along!" Rainbow said laughingly. "Don't you think Aj, or better yet, Fluttershy, would like to see the writing, flying, orange, horse?"
"Ya! That sounds like a great idea." Spike added enthusiastically.
"I guess, but how will we get him through town?" Twilight said, non to happily.
"Twi," Rainbow said while rolling her eyes "do you seriously not notice some of the things that go on in this town? No one is going to notice a winged horse."
"I guess it'll be okay then. We'll just need to make sure we bring everything he might need." Twilight finally gave in "Spike, make a list..."
------ONE INFINITELY LONG CHECK LIST LATER---------
After a short wait, I trotted out of the front door carefree, while the girls and Spike (who was carrying everything,) followed closely behind. Well, I wasn't entirely carefree... Twilight made me wear this sweater thing so that my wings were hidden. It was really itchy. Well, enough of my whining.... The walk went pretty much without a hit. Except for an incident where I had to give in to the whims of a little girl who wanted to "ride the pony."
We finally arrived at the farm and Twilight let me take off that accursed sweater of eternal itchiness. From there, Rainbow led us through the huge apple orchard. The apples were not yet ripe, so they looked like over-sized grapes growing on the sides of the trees. I like it. Well, by the time we had found our way to the area where the picnic was to be had, it looked like everyone was already there.
“Now Strono,” Twilight addressed me while we were still a ways away, “I’m going to need you to hide as best as you can while I tell the others about you.”
“Why’s that?” Spike asked
“Well, you know how Fluttershy is around animals. Especially ones she has never seen before? I just don’t want her heart to give out from the excitement is all.” Twilight sighed “Just... wait here for a bit, okay?” I nodded my head and stood at what was probably the closest I could get to a salute, what with the whole "no hands" thing and all.
“All right then,” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes, “we’ll only be a second.” And with that, Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike left little old me alone in the apple orchard. I’m alone! Oh, the mischief I can cause! I shall pull the prank to end all pranks! I shall put to shame any prank, practical joke, parlor trick, or some other fourth thing that anyone has ever pulled off before! This will be a joke for the history books! This will cause confusion, hilarity, and tears! I shall pull the ultimate prank! And. It. Is-
“Okay, you can come out now!” Twilight yelled over to me from the picnic. Well, maybe next time. I wonder where that thought even came from? I’m not even that big of a prankster... weird. I shook the weird thought out of my head as I walked over to them. But, before I could get close enough to really get a good look at any of them, I was tackled by an itchy mass of fabric and hugs. Great, I thought, another sweater.
“Oh my gosh!” an excited voice yelled out. I couldn't see who it was because I was currently buried in her hair and was also too busy being suffocated to really even notice, if I even had a chance to see. “He’s just ADORABLE! Where did you find him?!” The voice rambled on in a hard to follow continuum of syllables. I’m willing to bet that this is Pinkie Pie...
“Fluttershy! Let go of him! He’ll suffocate!” I heard Rainbow’s voice emanating from the picnic. Wait, FLUTTERSHY?! Well, look at her, being all out of character and making a scene.
“Oh! Sorry!” She returned to her normal volume as she released me from her grip and allowed me to breath for once. “Are you okay? I hope I didn’t hurt you... You’re just so cute... that I just lost it for a minute...” ARGH! The emotional pain! The turmoil inside of me from not being able to accept her apology, to even making her sad in the first place was unbearable. maybe I can make it up to her... maybe...
I couldn't even think the thought because, once again, I was tackled by another giggly someone.
“Hehe! This is so cool!” The person who I was almost positively sure was Pinkie Pie yelled excitedly (If it’s Rarity, I’m gonna blow a gasket), “A real Pegasus! I bet he can do all sorts of tricks and he can zoom around really fast!” She let go of me and looked at me expectantly. After I didn't do anything, Pinkie made a bird with her hands and told me to “Fly around a bit. Pretty please?”
“Ya!” Rainbow added, “I haven’t seen you fly yet, bud.”
“Well, can’t he at least meet the rest of us first?” A distinctive voice with an equally distinctive southern accent called out.
“Yes,” Another, more sophisticated, voice called “I would like to meet the little fellow as well”
“Er... Fine.” Pinkie pouted and walked back to the picnic blanket and sat down. That was close... I don’t think I could have flown, even if I’d had the knowledge of how to... I dislike heights. With that thought, I walked over to where the girls were sitting and I plopped down between Aj and Twilight.
“Well, would ya look at that,” Applejack said, while leaning in to get a better look at my wings. “A real winged horse. Didn't think they really existed.”
“I agree,” Rarity said from across the blanket, “I thought that they were only a myth from the time of the ancients.” My ears perked up when I heard this. Ancients? Do tell... I turned around and nudged Twilight.
“Hm? What is it?” She asked. I nudged her again and made a motion with my hooves like I was holding paper, “Oh, you want to tell us something.” She magicked the pen and paper over to me.
“what’re you doing Twi?” Aj asked her curiously.
“He writes.” Was the calm answer.
“That’s preposterous, Darling.” Rarity said, stiffening a giggle “Animals aren’t smart enough to write.” You know, I’m beginning to detect that there is a subtle theme of Racism going on here...
“What about Angel bunny?” Fluttershy added, almost inaudibly, “He can read.”
“Hm? Oh,” Rarity put her finger to her chin in thought, “Why, that’s just the exception that proves the rule.”
“That doesn't make a lick of sense.” Applejack said, crossing her arms.
“Besides, he’s already done.” Twilight said as I handed her my note. (She looked at me a bit iffy as she took the paper from my mouth.) She read it over for a few seconds. “He wants to know more about the ancients...”
“Oh, well, sure.” Rainbow crossed her arms, “It’s not true anyways...”
“But, he’s here. Winged horses were talked about in the legends.” Twilight put the paper down.
“But the legends are so ridiculous.” Rarity commented, “A society ran by horses? I’m sorry, but with the exception of our friend here, there is no way horses of all things could have developed a society.”
“Still...” Twilight must've been going into deep thought mode, because she had a far away.
“Oh dear...” Pinkie stood up and brushed her skirt, “I know that look...” She walked up to Twilight and snapped her fingers in her face. “Hey! Earth to Twilight!”
“Huh? What? Oh... sorry... heh...” Twilight laughed uneasily, “I was just thinking.”
“Speaking of thinking,” Applejack interjected, “I think our friend here might need somewhere to stay. I don’t think a Library is the best place for him.”
“I could...” Fluttershy tried to offer, but was cut off.
“Well, where were you thinking?” Twilight asked, completely ignoring Fluttershy.
“I bet he’d like it if...” Fluttershy tried again.
“OH! OH! PICK ME!” Pinkie Pie raised her hand and hopped up and down excitedly.
“What do you think, Ms.Pie?” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Why not let him stay with Fluttershy?” Pinkie stood proudly as she gave her suggestion.
“Not a bad Idea.” Aj said approvingly “Good work.”
“I’m glad I thought of it.” Pinkie smiled widely. The girls continued to discuss arrangements while I was left to sit in the corner, wondering how and why the conversation had shifted so quickly. This place is weird...
"Well, here we are," Fluttershy said as she gestured at her living room, "I just know you'll like it here. If there's anything you need, just let me know. I'll just let you get comfortable while I get you something to eat." And with that, she went to the next room. I took the chance to look around the room. Everything was really clean and had a wooded nature atmosphere to it. The room had various bird houses along the beams of the roof from which one could hear an occasional chirp. I decided to take Fluttershy up on her offer and hopped onto the couch and settled in for a nap.
"Hey!" Someone called out. I lifted my head and looked around the room. Huh, must have been my imagination. I lowered my head back down and closed my eyes again.
"Hey! New guy, that's my spot!" I opened one eye and was met with a bright white rabbit.
"Oh, hello there," I yawned and lifted my head to give him my attention. "How are you this fine evening?"
"Not so good."
"May I ask why?"
"Because a weirdo sees it fit to lay down in my spot." The rabbit crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
"Well, you should just tell him and I'm sure he'll move." I responded sleepily.
"That's what I'm trying right now."
"Oh, why isn't he moving then?"
"That's what I would like to know, ya daft horse!"
"Ooh, I bet you mean me." I responded smartly.
"No, I mean the other winged midget horse." He rolled his eyes at me.
"ANGEL, get off of him!" Fluttershy yelled as she attempted to pull the evil demon monster known as Angel off of me. "I'm sure we can figure something out if you would just stop- DON'T BITE HIM!" She finally managed to get him off of me, and -unfortunately- he still had some of my hair in his evil little mouth.
"Okay, now, what exactly happened here?" Fluttershy asked with an annoyed glare. Man, if looks could kill... Heck, I'd still be fine. She's too dang adorable.
"Well, I guess that I..." I began to say before I received a kick to the leg.
"She can't hear you, dude." Angel informed me.
"Oh..." I sighed when, suddenly,a pen hit me in the head
"Write." Fluttershy said sternly as she handed me some paper. She must be really mad... Oh well. I picked up the pen and began spelling out approximately what happened and then handed her the paper, which she began reading over.
"Is that all? That's hardly a reason to fight, now isn't it?" Fluttershy asked at us, "now, I want you two to hug and make up, or you'll have to go without dinner tonight." I looked from Fluttershy to Angel and back to Fluttershy and sighed.
"Can I get a hug?" I asked Angel.
"Only because I don't want to starve."
"Good enough for me." I leaned down awkwardly and he hugged my muzzle briefly and then we looked back to Fluttershy.
"Aww, you too are adorable." She cooed at us "just don't fight anymore, okay?" We nodded In agreement. "Good. Now come on, it's time to eat."
It was crazy. The animals were jumping around everywhere, and the noise level was out of control. It felt as if a wall of sound and chaos was pounding on my skull... Reminds me of the high school cafeteria. I looked down to my bowl, which contained a pile of hay.
"Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked when she saw how I was looking at my food. Not wanting to offend, I shook my head and leaned down to the food and took a small bite. Holy cow... This is the single most amazing thing I have ever tasted. If magic had a flavor, this is it. I took another, larger bite of the hay. Flutters nodded in approval and walked away to tend to her other animal friends.
“Whoa, man,” Angel said, “You act like you’ve never eaten before!”
“I haven’t... Well, not in this body at least.”
“What?” Angel tilted his head and looked at me in confusion, to which I gave him a dismissive gesture and he shrugged and turned back to his elaborate salad. After everyone had finished eating, they all went to their burrows. Well, everyone but me and Angel.
“Okay you two,” Fluttershy addressed the both of us, “I’m going to go and get ready for bed. You should probably do the same. I have a bed made out for you, Strono, so you and Angel don’t have to fight anymore. See you two in a bit.” And with that, she walked out of the living room, and into her own.
“So...” I began awkwardly.
“So...” Angel mimicked my awkward tone, “What was that you were saying earlier? About ‘never eating in this body before?’”
“Oh... that. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, no. I think I will worry about it.”
“Why do you care?”
“Do you hear that?” Angel crossed his arms as a light singing came from the other room, “That’s my person. And it’s my job to protect her. So, if you’re some sort of alien trying to eat her guts, I need to know. That’s why I care.”
“Whoa, bro... that’s deep.” I sat down and sighed, “You want the truth?” “That would be nice, yes.”
“Well... the deal is,” But before I could finish my thought, I felt this strange sensation in my gut, and Angel’s face grew placid and his eyes took on a faraway look.
“Er, never mind, buddy,” He said after he shook his head, “We all have secrets, yes?”
“I guess... but...”
“Forget about it. I don’t need to know.” He shrugged and hopped to the couch and went straight to sleep. That was weird. I wonder what happened there... It’s as if something keeps changing things. Almost as if- Whoa... That’s a weird feeling. Where was I? You know... I can’t even remember what I was thinking. I feel really tired. I bet it’ll come to me after a good... nights... sleep... good night... Zzz
"Wakey wakey!" A voice called me, "we have to go and meet everyone at Sugarcube Corner!” Five more minutes, mom...
“Come on! We really can’t be late. I mean... if you don’t want to, you don’t have to I guess...” I heard a sigh, and then I heard a thoughtful hum. “Well, if someone wants to miss breakfast...” WAH! I’m up, I’m up! I sprang to my feet. (Hooves, whatever. I’m not perfect you know.)
“You’re just too cute.” Fluttershy giggled, “c'mon, we need to get to town. The others are expecting us.” I call foul! Illegal use of false promises...
“Let’s just get your sweater on,” Fluttershy held up the mentioned atrocity, “Then we can head out.” I shook my head furiously. I was NOT getting back into that... that... that Thing!
“Well, If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.” Fluttershy put her hands on her hips and tsked, “You know you can’t let anyone see your wings. We wouldn't want this blowing out of proportion. So, why not just put the sweater on?” She was slowly advancing on me, as I backed towards the corner. Finally, she cornered me. “Okay, just stay still, and then we can be on our way...” No, not again... In desperation, I jumped up and, without thinking, towards Fluttershy. Oh no! I don’t want to hit her... It will look like I attacked her, and then I would lose everyone’s trust! As I was freaking out, I had one of those slow motion adrenaline moments, and then I felt an itching sensation in my back as my wings unfolded and I got just enough extra lift to glide only inches above Fluttershy’s head. Wow! I’m flying! This feels great! It’s so... so.. Natural. I love it!... If only I knew how to land properly, because I hit the ground with a thud and I went sprawling across the floor for about six feet, leaving me dazed and leaving Fluttershy confused as to what just happened. Neither Fluttershy nor I moved for a good thirty seconds as I was dazed, and Fluttershy was trying to get over the shock, as well as put two and two together about what had just happened.
"You... Flew" she seemed to be having trouble wrapping her mind around the prospect, "I was beginning to think that you were flightless, like a chicken or something." Suddenly, she perked up, "I have an idea! Since you don't like that sweater, maybe you can fly above so no one will see you." That is a good idea... One problem though, I have no idea how I just did that. Maybe I got the gist of it from that little glide. Although, it has to be a better option than wearing that evil mass of itchiness. I nodded my head in agreement.
"That's great," she seemed excited, "okay... Um, how are you going to see me from up there, though?... Oh! I know!" She ran over to the closet and began digging through the contents. "Ah ha!" She pulled out a large sun hat and blew off the dust "I haven't worn this thing since my modeling days," she shivered a little "but that's a story for another time, we need to get going." She opened the door and motioned me to go through. Once outside, she closed the door and turned to face me.
"See you in a bit." And then she started walking. Okay, let's see... How to fly... Can't be that hard, I mean planes do it all the time. And they're made of metal. Okay, enough stalling... I uncurled my wings and bent down, like a cat that's ready to pounce would, and jumped off of the little cliff thing by the door. I'm doing it! I'm flying! Of course, that's what I would have said, had I actually flown, and not gone splat in the mud pit. I was pulling myself out of the mud, when I heard some laughter coming from a nearby tree.
"Eh, you okay there buddy," a red bird chirped as he flew out of the tree and landed on my nose, "you took quite a spill there. You didn't really flap the right way. Haven't you ever flown before?"
"No..." I admitted, and the bird lost his balance out of shock and almost fell before flapping his wings a bit to regain his balance.
"We'll, do you need some help then?" He looked around to see if any other birds were listening then whispered something softly, "unless... You're flightless..." He said it like he could have been thrown in jail for even mentioning the word.
"I am not flightless. I flew just a little bit ago, I just don't know how I did it is all..."
"Oh, in that case, just try and flap your wings more in sync. You did good otherwise."
"Is that all?"
"In a nutshell." He shrugged (if birds can shrug,) and flew to the fence to watch. I climbed back up to the ledge and tried again. I started by flapping my wings before I jumped, evidently that's important, and I gave a little hop. I hovered for a bit and with a little extra effort I gained altitude.
"Good! Bigger flaps!" The bird encouraged as he flew next to me, "never I thought I would be teaching a horse to fly..." He chirruped under his breath. Eventually, I got up to the cloud and started kind of hover by the cloud.
"Now what?" I asked, unsure of myself.
"Just go." He gave me a push and I was sent on my, gracefully tumbling through the air like a broken Frisbee after a rabid dog chewed on it. After regaining my balance, I scanned the ground below for Fluttershy. Finally, I saw the pink sun hat and followed. It's really peaceful up here. Apart from the occasional bird or bug, I was pretty much alone up here... I bet that I could cause a good deal of mischief up here. Dive bomb a cat, scare the tar out of some random person with a fly by... Maybe even do that thing that... No, let’s leave the birds to that... Again with that thought. why do I keep getting these things? I keep wanting to prank people, I’m not even that good of a prankster... Any who, it would appear that I am here now, as my friend in the hat just walked into a building. Let’s go check in.
'Too fast! Too fast!' I thought to myself as I went in for a landing. And, as you probably guessed, I was falling too fast. At least the dirt looks soft, because this is probably going to hurt. Oh no! The door is opening and someone is walking out. I hope whoever it is is forgiving. Oh look, it's Rainbow. Well, it's good to dream.
"Are you out here- what the he-" she couldn't finish her thought because by this time, there was the loud sound of horse on face as we collided at what may very well have been the speed of stupid.
"Rainbow, are ya okay?" Applejack -probably having heard the noise- ran outside, "what the hay happened here?" She asked, barely suppressing a giggle.
"Ugh...I got hit by flying meat head, that's what." Rainbow said irritably, as she stood up and cracked her back, "what was that for?!" She turned to me and glared. I looked up at her and smiled innocently.
"Cute. I guess you are literally a pain now, huh?" Rainbow sighed.
"Well if yer done sayin' hi, we've got people waiting for us." Applejack said, interrupting Rainbow's disapproval of my actions, "That is, unless you plan to crash some more, maybe you can get some tips. Rainbow has a talent for it." And with that, she walked into the building.
"Jerk," Rainbow sighed and turned to me, "don't get me wrong, she's a great friend, but she has an uncanny talent for pushing my buttons." That's nice... But what did AJ mean by Rainbow having a talent for crashing?...
"C'mon, horse, let's head inside. I bet Fluttershy is exploding with worry right now.” She held the door open for me and I trotted into the building happily. I’m getting better at this four legs thing.
“Hey there buddy.” Twilight waved to me then turned to Rainbow, “So, I heard you two had a bit of an ‘Incident’ out there.”
“Ya ya, no need to laugh. It was bad timing is all.” Rainbow flustered as everyone laughed, except Fluttershy.
“I guess he just likes you.” Rarity said before taking a sip of whatever it was that was in her glass.
“Like a love tackle.” Applejack added. I don’t see what the big deal was. Was it that Rainbow usually poked fun, and everyone was just taking advantage of the shift of power or what? I feel so left out. No one ever shares anything with the horse.
"I guess he puts the crash in Rainbow Crash." Spike laughed. Says the dude wearing the pink apron and passing out cupcakes.
"Aw, be quiet." Rainbow huffed and took her seat between Applejack and Rarity. I count seven chairs. I guess that horses don't need chairs. I walked over and sat down next to Rainbow Dash and AJ.
"Aw, he really does like you," AJ laughed and ruffled my mane. Rainbow responded by with a rude gesture. That's right, she stuck her tongue out at AJ.
"How mature." Rarity rolled her eyes, "really Rainbow, you ruin that pretty face of yours by making such faces."
"Yes, mommy." Rainbow said in a sing-songy, kindergartner's voice.
"Now, girls." Twilight had to intervene, "Let's not fight."
"We're not fighting," Rainbow smiled innocently. Trying to play the cute card, eh? This town isn't big enough for the two of us.
"Uh huh... So, what were you doing?" Twilight asked skeptically.
"We were..." Rainbow tried in vain to find the wording.
"We were just having a verbal spar." Rarity interjected, winking and elbowing Rainbow.
"Exactly. Thank you, Rarity." Rainbow laughed.
"Right." Twilight rolled her eyes, "So, Fluttershy, did you have any trouble with Strono?"
"Well, we had a rocky start, but other than that it went very well." Fluttershy, having perked up after the conversation shifted to animals, replied.
"Whaddya mean by 'rocky start?'" Applejack asked curiously.
"Oh, it's nothing..." Fluttershy began unsurely, "he and Angel got into a scuffle."
"Did Angel get hurt?" Rarity asked with obvious concern.
"No, not at all."
"What do you mean?.."
"I... Had to bail Strono out actually." Fluttershy gave me an apologetic look.
"What now?!" Rainbow choked on her drink laughing, "He got his butt handed to him by sweet little Angel?" Everyone at the table started laughing at me. When people laugh at your expense is one thing, but having one of those said people wearing a pink apron... Ouch.
“What, did he beat you with his cotton ball tail?!” Rainbow said through the bursts of laughter, “Or, or did he bite you like an overgrown carrot?” Well, I can kiss my ego goodbye. Until next time, Ego. I guess it’s okay, Ego’s not a good kisser anyways.
“All joking aside,” Twilight, once again, saved the day, “Who’s going to watch him all day?”
“I can still do it,” Fluttershy volunteered, “It’s really no problem.”
“Well, you've already got things to do, and I don’t want him to be a burden.” Twilight explained, “Besides, I don’t think that a house is the best place for a horse.” What? So, a dog gets to be in a house, but when the pony comes in he gets the big red “No” stamp? Typical.
“Well.. I guess you’re right.” Fluttershy gave in, “So, who will take him next then?”
“Ah can take him,” Applejack stated matter-of-factly, “We have a barn and everything.” Sleep in a barn? What do they think I am?! Some sort of...of... Anima- oh, ya... Well, It’s still rude.
“What if I want to take him?” Rainbow asked in her usual tone.
“And keep him where?” Applejack rolled her eyes, “Under your bed?”
“I can let him have a cloud,” Rainbow responded, almost indignantly, “Let us not forget that I don’t live on the ground.” Pfffft!... Oh, I don’t have a drink. Everyone looked at me with a confused expression from my sudden outburst. I should have had a drink for that. WAITER!
“Anyways...” Applejack started awkwardly, “Are you sure he won’t fly off?” Me?! Fly away? Never. How could they think that low of me? Oh ya... Animal. I bet it would scare the tar off of them if I did fly away though. It’d be funn- There I go again! Stop it, brain!
“If he wanted to leave, he would have done it ten minutes ago,” Rainbow pointed out, “Besides, I’m sure he’d like sleeping on a cloud, as opposed to a stall.” Very true. One question though, how does she not live on the ground?! So many questions. So little people with answers.
“Fine... Tell ya what,” Applejack took on a more business like tone of voice, “We can take turns. You get him tonight, and we’ll switch off. Sound good?” I am beginning to feel like an object.
“Deal.” Rainbow nodded with approval then turned to the rest of the humans, “Does anyone else want in on this?”
“Me!” Fluttershy blurted out, but then covered up her mouth in embarrassment, “I.. I mean, if it’s okay...”
“Can I get him, too?” Twilight asked, “I would like another chance to study him.” They seem to have forgotten one key factor in all of this... I have feelings too.
“Ooo! Ooo!” Pinkie raised her hand and started jumping up and down. Whoa, I forgot she was here. She was so quiet... “Can I get him too? He can sleep with Gummy!”
“I’d like to see him sometime too,” Rarity said, “I would like the challenge of making him something to wear that he would actually like.”
“Okay, So, that’s everyone.” Applejack noted, “We’ll all take turns then.”
“Right,” Twilight nodded, “That is, until we get word to Canterlot. The princess’s will probably want to see him too.” Well, It’s good to know that everyone seems intent on planning my life for me without my consent on the subject. It’s childhood all over again. Only this time, I seem to be becoming more of a pet than anything else. I’ll just have to give them a “reminder” that I’m not just a pet. Let’s plan a prank, Strono. Who said that?
Rainbow's Cool Mode of Transportation and a Brief Talk With a Turtle
My master plan is all made out! I smiled happily as Rainbow and I walked down the road to wherever it was that she was taking me. She had said something about "flying up to her home once she could find a runway," whatever that meant. Eventually, we found a long strip of road that seemed to lead out a forest.
"Ah, this will work nicely," Rainbow said, with a gleeful smirk. She reached toward her fanny pack and unzipped it, taking out what looked like two miniature clouds that had a strap made of cloud. she took the clouds and strapped them onto the bottom of her shoes. Rainbow floated up about an inch which forced her to have to try and regain her balance. I sat there, jaw dropped as I tried to comprehend what was happening before my eyes.
"What?" she asked after seeing the look I was giving her, "Oh, I get it. A horse can fly, but when a person straps on her clouds and gets ready for take off, all sense leaves the room. Seems a little racist on your part, Strono." And, after leaving me with that passive aggressive insult, she turned to face the road and began moving forward the same way one might use roller skates. eventually she got enough speed built up and, started gaining altitude. once she got high enough, she straightened out her body and started flying superman style. This place just got about twenty percent cooler (I do not regret this joke.)
"You coming or what?" she called as she hovered in the air above me. I realised that I had been standing here like an idiot during her take off, and shook my head to clear it of the shock and spread my own wings and took to the air. Once I was in the air, Rainbow dashed off at breakneck speed in the direction of where I'm guessing her house was. I flapped my wings as fast as they could go, and I was barely able to keep up with her. she, having noticed my inability to keep up, slowed down to an easier to maintain pace.
"You're not as fast as I thought you'd be," she said with a trace of a pout, "I figured you would be a good racing buddy... oh well." she sighed, "You're still a flying horse, so you're still cool in your own way, I guess." Oh, you. We continued flying until we arrived at a small group of clouds. 'why did we stop?' I wondered to myself. Rainbow Dash answered my question by pulling a thin looking cloud out of the way, revealing what was actually a decent looking living room. How she got a couch up here, and not have it fall through the floor is beyond me, but who am I to complain?
"Home sweet cloud," Rainbow said, tossing off her skates, which flew over and hung themselves on a rack. Neat. "Well, what now?" Rainbow asked almost to herself. She glanced at her watch, which had randomly started blinking. "Tell ya what," Rainbow suddenly turned to me, causing me to jump, "I need to go and clear the skies, just got a call, and you can hang here with my good buddy, Tank."
'Like an Abram?' I wondered, rather stupidly, to myself. Rainbow put her fore and middle fingers into her mouth and gave a whistle, "Tank! I have someone for you to meet!" she called. "He'll be a minute..." Rainbow said, but I didn't hear that part. I was a tad too busy being collapsed on the floor in agony. Is this how dogs feel when you use a dog whistle?! My ears rang because of the pitch of the sound. The sound was amplified by the fact that my ears are larger so I can pick up even more of the sound.
"Are you okay?" Rainbow knelt next to me, "What happened?" I slowly got up off of the ground, ears still ringing, and looked at her accusingly. She was about to say something else, when a turtle flew into the room and interrupted her by bumping into her head. Who else can fly in this place? The fish? Wait...
"Hey there, Tank." Rainbow rubbed her knuckle on his head, as if to mess his hair, had he had any, "This is Strono, he's going to hang here while I go and take care of a few cloud patrol things. I shouldn't be too long." Rainbow strapped on her cloud skate deals again and walked to the door, paused, turned towards us, gave us a two fingered wave and jumped out into the sky. Dump the turtle on me and fly away... I see how it is.
"Hello there." Tank said sluggishly, "It's nice to meet you." he slowly extended a...er... foot to me and i touched my hoof to it. "Rainbow has talked a bit about you," he continued, "wouldn't stop talking about how fun it was going to be to have a race with someone other than the other weather patrol members."
"Explains why she sounded disappointed when she found out I wasn't a fast flier." I sighed. I felt a little bad that she had expected me to be some ultrasonic flier and I turned out to be a slug. A devilishly handsome slug, but a slug nonetheless.
"Well, that's a shame. But at least she gets to-" He got interrupted by Rainbow opening the door loudly as she walked in with an annoyed huff.
"Can't believe those lazy jerks! One cloud! They couldn't just hover out there and kick it themselves. Instead it's 'Hey! look at that one cloud that's like ten feet from the HQ! Better call Rainbow on the emergency channel.'" She sighed as she threw her shoes back to their spot.
“Sorry about that. But at least I wasn't gone too long. So, what were you two doing while I was out?” She inquired. Is it just me, or is asking someone a question that they cannot respond to rude? I feel it is, so your opinion is irrelevant anyways, dear reader. Oh, speaking of irrelevant, I do believe I had a master plan all nice and formulated. I’ll need some stuff to make it happen, and I think I know who will be perfectly willing to help me. With this in mind, I ran towards a desk and grabbed a pen and paper and began writing something out.
“What are you up to?” Rainbow asked in an asking fashion. I held up the paper in my mouth for her to see. (Did you know that paper does not taste as pleasant as dogs make it look?) As she looked over my note, I watched as her expression changed from one of bored curiosity, to one of confusion, to one of speculation, then to one of devilish mischief. I think I found a partner.
Hi! Twilight here. No doubt Strono is up to something immature with Rainbow, so he has asked me to give you my point of view during the time in question. So, get comfortable and and happy reading... At around noon, the girls and I left sugarcube corner to go for a walk. It's always good to get a little exercise after a meal. Anyways, during the walk, Rarity and I struck up a conversation.
"So Twilight," she began, "What do you think about our new horse friend?"
"Oh, I'm really excited about it." I said, "I can't wait until it is my turn to get him so that I can study him!"
"Oh? How do plan to go about studying him?"
"What do you... No! I'm not going to dissect him or anything! I was just... Going to ask him questions and maybe do some blood tests..." I smiled sheepishly as I said this. That definitely was not my intent at all. Besides, it wouldn't be much of a story if I did.
"Okay then. We haven't really gotten to know him though, have we?”
“What do you mean, Rarity?”
“Well, it seems to me that we have been treating him like a pet, when he isn’t just some animal.” Rarity said casually. But the remark, however, triggered a sort of enlightenment in me.
“You’re right!” I said, half to myself, “He isn’t an animal... He’s... He’s an intelligent, sentient being that could possibly be from a completely foreign extra solar planet! And since he can survive here without much problem that would mean that the gravitational pull and general mass of his home is...” I looked up from my rambling. I had been talking rather quiet, and slowly getting louder and faster. I must have looked like a crazy person.
“I completely agree.” Pinkie Pie stated, giggled, and then turned around and started skipping down the road again.
“What in the...” AppleJack began, confusedly expressing what we were all thinking, “Well... That’s Pinkie fer ya."
"Anyways..." Rarity tried to regain her train of thought, "Back to Strono..."
"What 'bout 'im?" Applejack chimed into our conversation.
"Well, it's just that the whole idea of him is weird." Rarity said
"Such as........"
"Well, for one thing, did you ever wonder how he learned our language? It isn't just something one picks up." Rarity pointed out, "And another thing, have you seen his eyes?"
"They're brown. what about them?" AJ said in the slightly annoyed slightly interested way that only she can muster up.
"True, but did you notice how they'll be a happy and cheerful chocolate color one moment, and then the next they will go dull for a while before returning to their original color and he would shake his head softly with a small smile on his face?" Rarity explained, "It's like he was momentarily possessed and he pushed it out of his head."
"That makes no sense," I informed her, "What could have possessed him? A ghost? Don't be silly."
"What?!" Pinkie Pie stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face us abruptly, "Are we going to have to go through this process again?!"
"What proce-"
"The one where we have to explain how the world works to you, like we had to do with Zecora and sorcery!"
"Pinkie, what she did was just chemistry and a little bit of botany and-"
"I don't want to hear it. Ghosts exist, Twilight."
"But science has never proven that a ghost can exist."
"Has science disproved it?"
"Well...no... but that's not the point."
"Well, whatever the point is, I still say that ghosts exist." Pinkie turned back around and continued skipping down the road. There is no reasoning with her when she gets like this, I thought, it’s best if I just leave her be.
“Well... Even if it isn’t a ghost or a spirit,” Rarity continued, “It is still strange. Maybe you can find out why this is happening when you get your turn, Twilight.”
“I’ll look into it.” I said.
“Please do: it’s worrying me.”
“HEY!” A voice called from above. We all looked up and saw Rainbow flying towards us, waving her arms frantically, “Come quick! Something happened to Strono and I’m not sure he’s alright!”
“We’d better hurry.” AppleJack said as she began sprinting after Rainbow Dash, who had begun showing us the way. We all took off as quick as we could, except for Pinkie Pie who maintained her skipping pace with a knowing expression on her face. What’s that about? Nevermind Pinkie, Strono is in trouble!
“This way!” Rainbow called. Up ahead on the road, Strono laid on his side, surrounded by various gag supplies. Applejack ran forward, but tripped on something, and a sound like various pulleys and gears going off filled the air. Suddenly, a small cloud zipped past us and hit a target that had sprung up over where Strono lay. The target fell, releasing a rope, which zipped into a nearby bush where a sound not unlike a dental drill sounded. Suddenly, two large pies shot out of the bush. I covered my face, ready for the hit, when suddenly, the pie tins hit the ground and skidded a ways before stopping. One pie was inches from AppleJack’s head, while the other one was a good five feet away.
“Ya missed!” AJ called as she stood up and began walking forward, “You’d need to get up pretty early to fool Ol’ AppleJac-” She was cut off from her sentence as she tripped over another cord and face planted into the first pie.
“Real mature, you two,” I said as I started walking towards them, “That was actually pretty smart, but I’m not fooled so easily.” I stepped over the last chord as well as the pie and continued walking towards them.
“Aw man, I guess she’s too smart for us.” Rainbow put her hands in the air in surrender, as Strono proceeded to sit on his haunches and do the same. I was about to continue telling them off, when all of the sudden, a third pie shot out from the bush, hit me in the face, and I fell backwards into the pie that I had previously stepped over. Someone -or some horse- is going to pay for this... I think you know who...
