Life as an Equestrian Pony

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.