Life as an Equestrian Pony
By Scothanial Karrasch
Chapter 1: Awake
Not a single ripple. The still surface of the calm pool allowed the water to reflect a perfect image of the ceiling, giving the cave an illusion of great depth. Although it looks twice as big as it really is, in reality the pool could not be deeper than a foot. But nothing would disrupt the perfect illusion; no droplets of water falling from the ceiling, no gust of wind billowing from the cave's mouth, not a single insect taking a drink would break the surface.
The only thing to disrupt this cave's grand deception took form of a pony shooting out of the water; breaking the mirror, not in shards of glass but in ripples of imperfect reflections. The disruption gave the cave an uneasy feeling, but what was even more unnerving was the pony lying unconscious on the cave floor. He was a leaf green pegasus with a long brown mane that had streaks of highlights; his tail matched.
The ripples continued to disperse to the edge of the pool as the pony stayed motionless; only until the last crest peaked, and the pool returned to its state of calm, did the pony open his eyes. The crystal blue tint in his eyes was reminiscent of the color the pool took on. If he were to stare into the pool, he'd be lost in an endless sea of blue.
But his first reaction was not to stare at himself in the pool; his impulse was to stand up. He tried, but fell flat on his face. Strangely enough, this pony was not used to being on four legs. On his second trial at standing up, his wings flapped open in an attempt to soften his fall. The fall hurt less the second time but pain took a back seat to the realization that he had wings: actual wings, with feathers. The slight breeze coming from his flapping wings felt refreshingly cool against his warm body; he realized that his body temperature had increased drastically in his heightened state.
Sitting down and taking long deep breaths, he tried to collect his thoughts. 'I have four legs, with hooves instead of feet. I have wings that seem to work fine. I can't lift myself off the ground yet. I can whiney. What do I look like?' He stumbled over to the edge of the pool. As he looked over the edge, another figure had appeared looking straight back at him. Although he couldn't recognize the figure as himself, he could tell the reflection resembled a pony.
'I've turned into a pony?' He tried to remember; nothing in specific, any memory would help him out. But his mind was foggy and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything beyond the few minutes he had been awake. Upon further inspection, sometime did start to form in his mind.
It was dark. He was walking down a street that had a thin layer of mist in the air; the roads glistened from the heavy rain that had passed not too long ago. He couldn't hear anything on the street; his mind was on the music blasting in his ears. He was in the middle of his favorite song when he heard someone shout his name. "Michael!" As he turned to see who had called for him, a pair of headlights almost ran him over. In reaction, he moved back, stumbled on the curb, and fell. The next thing he knew, he was laying in the middle of this damp cave.
In the calmness of his surroundings, a soft buzzing could be heard coming from an electronic device. Michael walked over to it and picked it up. Oddly enough, his iPod came with him. As he turned off the music, he realized that none of his clothes transferred over. He shivered, feeling absolutely bare without his purple hoodie. He blamed his coolness on the cave's brisk air; it gave him an excuse to finally leave this damp place.
In great contrast to the cave's brisk chilled air, he emerged into a fog of damp humid air that accompanied the deep dark forest. He had seen this place before but couldn't quite put his hoof on where. He let his instincts guide him through the thick brambles. Except for some unpleasant mud holes and oddly smelling rotting trees, he made his journey through the forest uninterrupted. Sunlight started to make its way through the thick foliage the nearer he got to the edge.
From the clearing, a few miles of grassland separated him from a nearby town. Michael's worried frown that had naturally formed for the past hour of his time here finally broke into a small satisfied smile. A town meant civilization; people who could help him find answers to his questions. 'Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here? What am I?' Obviously he was a pony. But the question on his mind wasn't so much as 'what species am I' more like, 'why am I a pony and not a human.'
He trotted forward; his legs and hooves had gotten stronger since his first attempt to walk. But still, they were sore by the time he reached the edge of the town. As he suspected, the town was full of life, citizens traveling every which way going about their business. But there was one detail that he was not prepared for. This town was inhabited by ponies; pegasus ponies, unicorn ponies, and earth ponies alike. It wasn't the horde of knowledgeable people he was hoping for, but still, its life that he can communicate with.
Much like the forest, he felt as though he knew this place. As he wondered around the town, he could recall the various stores and restaurants scattered throughout. The pink building marked Sugarcube Corner, Michael knew to be a sweets shopped filled with a whole arrange of confectionary sweets and baked good. Another store advertised itself to only sell quills and sofas; oddly, those were in fact the only two products it sold. The shops weren't the only things selling items. Kiosks and stands set up in the middle of town square sold a variety of farmed goods such as carrots and lettuce, grapes and cherry's, oranges, and apples. The freckled orange pony selling apples wore a wide smile on her face as a customer bought a dozen apples.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am. Have a nice day!" she called out. It indeed was a nice day, weather wise. The sky was clear with barely a cloud in sight. The only puff of cumulus to be spotted was soon kicked away by a rainbow colored pegasus.
As Michael looked at the apples, he realized just how hungry he was. The kind earth pony greeted him as he approached the fruit stand. "Howdy, partner. What can I do ya for?"
Michael was pleasantly surprised to be met with such kindness. Thinking back to a time before this place packed plentiful with ponies, even in his foggy mind, he didn't remember much kindness being given there. Also, her natural yet understandable southern accent was much more pleasing than the voices he used to here on a daily basis.
It wasn't until the orange pony spoke up that Michael realized he was staring. "Oh," he shook his head to get his thoughts straight. "Yes, could I trouble you for an apple?"
"Sure ya can!" She placed one sparkling big red delicious apple on the counter. "That'll be two bits."
His hoof reached out for the apple, but paused in mid air. "Bits?" he asked.
The earth pony cocked her head in confusion. "Yeah, bits. Ya know... money?"
The pegasus's face clearly reddened under his green coat. "Oh, money. Well, I don't have any money." Feeling unprepared for a decent meal, he turned to seek something more suited for his financial state. Suddenly, a fresh wild dandelion didn't seem that bad. "Thank you for your time."
The grief stricken mare stopped Michael in his tracks. "Hold on there a moment." The stallion retraced his steps back to the stand. "Now, I can see that you're new here and need some time to adjust. So, as a welcome to Ponyville, take this apple. It's on me."
This mare wasn't just kind, she was downright generous and the stallion was beyond grateful for it. "Thank you so much." He took a bite out of the apple, chewing it slowly to savor every single drop of juicy flavor. Seeing the pleased face of a satisfied pony was payment enough for the mare.
The apple satisfied his hunger enough to allow his mind to start working. Something mentioned earlier echoed through his head. "Wait," he said, bits of apple flying. He swallowed. "Did you say Ponyville?"
She nodded. "Yup, the one and only."
The named teased at Michael's mind, not giving in until the source of it's recognition was found. He thought out loud. "Ponyville, a town in the land of Equestria ruled by the two sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Suddenly everything came back to him in a flash of information. "I know this place! This is Ponyville!" His excitement startled the mare. "And I know you. Your name is Applejack and you represent the element of honesty!"
Applejack didn't quite know what was going on here, but something didn't seem right about this stallion. "Look fella, I think ya might of hit your head or somethin'. You should see my friend Twilight and get your memory fixed up."
"Yes, you're right. Twilight would know what to do." This wealth of information was just as surprising to Michael as it was to Applejack. 'Why do I know so much?' he asked himself.
"She should be at the library right now," Applejack stated. "Just head on over and introduce yourself. By the way, ya never introduced yourself to me. What's your name?"
"Michael. My name is Michael." His excitement dropped drastically, "Sadly, that's the only thing I know about myself." With that, he left.
Chapter 2: Work
Michael was excited, but also thoroughly confused by this rush of new information. He knew this place, he knew all of the towns, and the histories, and the ponies who live in it; but how, why? And, why can he only remember facts about Ponyville and not anything about himself?
His hooves carried him forward, driven by the desire for more information. The wind ruffled his feathers as it rushed passed him. In anything other situation, Michael would have thoroughly enjoyed the feeling, but the urgency of the situation prevented him from enjoying the moment though.
Curious ponies stopped to ask him why he was in a hurry, but he didn't stop. His main objective was to get to the library. He knew that the smartest pony in Ponyville resided in the hallowed out tree filled to the roots with books. In a desperate time, Twilight Sparkle had learned a memory spell to help all of her friends remember who they truly are. There was no doubt she could perform this spell again.
Finally he had arrived at the library. After a knock on the door, the pegasus waited patiently for the purple alicorn to open the door. A little too much time has passed for his liking; he was just about to give up when a purple clawed hand had opened the door.
"Spike!" Michael exclaimed. "Is Twilight here? I need to talk to her."
The baby dragon looked at him quizzically. He hadn't met the pegasus before, so wondered why he knew his name. But he passed it off and decided to answer his question. "Twilight is busy; Canterlot business."
"Oh," is all Michael could think to say. "Do you know when she'll be back?"
"I don't know," the dragon said. "Sometimes she could be gone for an hour, sometimes a whole day."
"A whole day?" Michael asked in despair.
"Sometimes even a whole week."
"Oh my." The persistent longing for knowledge would drive Michael insane within a week's time. "I can't wait that long!" He began to panic, wings flapping sporadically. "Maybe I can go to Canterlot to find her. Then I'll need a train pass. I can buy one. Oh… I don't have any money. I could find a job! Oh but that could take forever." His mind raced frantically and wouldn't give him a break.
"Hey, pony… dude," Spike tried to interject but Michael couldn’t stop. "Snap out of it!"
Finally, the pegasus stopped and sat down, feeling defeated. "What should I do?"
"If it's really that important that you see Twilight," said Spike, "I can send a letter to Canterlot requesting her return."
"Would you do that? That would be wonderful." Michael breathed a sigh of relaxation.
"Yes. But I can't guarantee her immediate return, so don't hold your breath." Michael nodded in understanding. "You say you're short on bits? Use this time to find some work. Go, explore, be a pony and do whatever it is ponies do."
"Thank you for your help," Michael said before he left.
"Uh-huh," Spike replied, and slammed the door behind him. How dare this pegasus wake him up from his nap.
Michael wandered through Ponyville, keeping an eye out for places to work. But what do ponies do? Looking around, he noticed that everypony had a mark on their flank that represented their line of work. An orange pony with even oranger hair had carrots on her flank; she sold carrots at her stand. Another pony had an envelope on his flank; sure enough, he was a mail carrier. He was traveling with another pony, a grey pegasus with blond hair. She was studying what he did, probably an apprentice for the job, but her mark wasn't mail related; she had bubbles on her flank. Michael concluded that maybe not all marks signified their line of work. But when he turned to look at his own flank, it was bare. If only he knew what his special talent was, he would be able to find some work easily.
He tried to look back through the thick haze that fogged his mind. Although he didn't know what he was special at, he did remember that he was a very hard worker at, whatever he did. Thinking of jobs that would require hard work, he remembered the nice friendly pony he met in town square. Working on an apple farm must require tons of hard work. Certainly it wouldn't be hard to find some work there.
Set with a new destination in mind, Michael trotted off for Sweet Apple Acres. The enormity of the orchard never dawned on him before; but as he stood there at the front gate, gazing over the endless fields of apple trees, he wondered if he might be picking off more than he can chew. Doubt rose up and tempted him to just turn around and leave right now, but a sweet southern voice calling out stopped him in his tracks.
"Howdy, Michael! Fancy meetin' you here." She trotted up to meet him, yellow tied main and tail bobbing as she did so. "Was Twilight able to help you?" As she smiled brightly, a bead of sweat tricked down her cheek. It was definitely hard work but she loved every moment of it.
Michael got lost in his thoughts again, but was able to catch himself this time. "Oh, no. She wasn't home."
"Well, that's too bad."
"Yeah," he replied, almost forgetting why he even came here.
The pause was going on longer than Applejack expected. "Well we're quite busy here at the acres. I should probably…"
Work. "Do-you-need-any-help?" he blurted out.
"Pardon?"
He cleared his throat. "I meant to say, can I work here on the farm… with you guys?"
Applejack pondered the request for a moment before answering. "Well, I don't see why not. We'd be glad to have your help."
Applejack led Michael into the farm. She had a kart full of empty baskets set up near a patch of unpicked trees. She picked a basket up from the kart and set it down by the tree. "Hold this basket on your back and catch all of the apples as they fall. Think you can do it."
Michael nodded and scooped the basket up onto his back and positioned himself under the apples. A loud TONK came from Applejack bucking the tree trunk. The tree shook violently; unable to keep their hold, the apples fell. Michael scurried back and forth and around the tree, the basket getting heavier with each apple it caught. She bucked the tree until all of the apples were off the tree and in the basket.
"Fwew." Applejack wiped her forehead, "There's one tree. Ready for another?"
Michael had set the basket back on the kart and prepared another one. This job wasn't that bad; sure it was hard work but it was unbearable. How bad could this be?
By nightfall, Michael had eaten his words and spat them back up. One tree was nothing, five wasn't too bad, but by the twentieth tree, he was really starting to feel the ache in his back. Applejack asked if he needed a break but he was determined to do as much work as he could. They got through 50 trees and as tired and sore as he was, he was just as satisfied with the work he had done.
Michael had just picked up another basket when Applejack spoke up. "I think we should call it a day." He put the basket back down. "Thanks a lot for your help today, the Apples appreciate it. You're a darn good worker."
"I'm glad I could help," he smiled.
"You best be gettin' home before it gets too dark," she said.
"Home… right." Michael realized that he hadn't even bothered trying to find a place to sleep. Honestly, he didn’t think he'd be staying beyond an afternoon.
"You don't have a place to stay do you?" Michael shook his head. "Well, shoot. You could crash here if ya don't mind a scratchy bed. It's all we got."
An apple, a job, and a place to sleep; was there no end to this pony's generosity? "Oh, I couldn't possibly. I've imposed enough on you already."
"Nonsense. You listen here. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowin' you're out there with no place to sleep. I insist."
"Well… when you put it that way, thank you again."
Applejack's green eyes glowed in the evening darkness. "Anythin' for a friend in need."
A friend; it was an odd feeling, having a friend, but it also brought warmth to his heart. He couldn't remember feeling anything like this in his past life. Not only was Applejack his first friend in Ponyville, but possibly his first friend ever.
