Chapters I'm not quite sure where to begin. This is all still so strange and unfamiliar. One minute I'm asleep in my bed in the barracks, and the next thing I know, I found myself waking up on a cloud in the sky.
It all felt so surreal. I mean, I know the feeling of what it's like to be in a dream and think that it's real, but even the most realistic dream has more ~~inconsistan~~ faults than this. I think the first thing that I noticed, was how ~~redicul~~ very high up I was. I wasn't even thinking about where I was, only that I seemed to be on a very small cloud, and then I saw my hands...or rather hooves. Trying to back away from them almost made me fall off the cloud, but luckily I stopped short before that happened.
Pink. Of all the colors to be brought into this world as, it had to be pink. Never mind that I'm sure there are pink ~~palat~~ colored versions of male ponies in this world, it's just the fact that I was pink that startled me.
I looked around a little more, and it didn't take long for me to realize where I was. The landscape beneath me, the ponies flying around in the distance. I was actually in Equestria. I started to talk to myself quietly, to try and figure out what was going on. Although, I still kind of wish I hadn't.
My normal deep voice was replaced by a more feminine, higher voice. It almost sounded like, and still does now, of somewhere between Fluttershy and Pinkie's voices. I don't know what I would've done if I had sounded like Tara Strong. I love her voice roles, but I'd prefer not to hear them that much anymore.
So there I was, sitting on a cloud in the sky in the world of My Little Pony, and I was...a mare.
I'm not sure how long I sat there, until a Pegasus pony came flying by. I waved to get her attention, and she flew down to greet me. I don't remember her name, but I'm sure she might have been one of the random background ponies from the show. She had asked me if anything was wrong, and I about froze. I wasn't sure where to start, but I didn't recognize her, so I decided to play coy. I made up some story about having amnesia, and that I'd forgotten how to fly, so I asked her if she could help me get to a bigger cloud.
Needless to say, she was confused at how a Pegasus could forget how to fly, but she agreed to help me. She flew off and returned shortly with another Pegasus. The two of them picked me up, and flew me away from the cloud. Now, despite me being terribly confused as to what was going on, and that I wasn't sure what to do next, the feeling of flying through the air like that felt amazing. It was kind of like the feeling of flying in a dream, with the wind hitting you, and feeling the pressure of moving around, but actually real! I'll never forget that feeling, and now, at least for the time being, I'll be able to experience it whenever I want.
We flew through the air for a bit, until the sight of Cloudsdale came into view. Cloudsdale! When I had made my very first OC back in the real world, I had based him around Cloudsdale, and now I was actually going to be there! It looked just like it does in the show, with pillars made of clouds, and streets and buildings, well, also made of clouds! Cloud everything! I just couldn't believe it.
Well, they set me down, before waving goodbye, and flying off. I waved back, and called out thank you as they left. Although, the thank you came out a little crackled, probably because I hadn't tried yelling in my new voice yet, and I guess I was still trying to ~~compen~~deal with not having a male voice. I hadn't even given either of them my name, but then again, I wasn't really sure what to call myself. I figured before I gave myself a name, I should probably get a better idea of what I look like. When we were flying, and I was looking around, I had noticed that my hair was green, but I wasn't sure what style I had. Also, when I had been sitting on the smaller cloud, I saw that I was still wearing my watch as well, although, it was now a regular pony version I guess.
That was another thing, when I had fallen asleep back in the real world, I woke up here without everything I had on, save for my watch, which I hardly ever take off. And thinking back, I wore glasses in the real world to fix my vision, but when I woke up here, my vision was perfect. How about that huh? Perfect vision without the surgery. I can only hope that my eyes stay that way when I get back.
Getting back on track, I walked around Cloudsdale, taking in all the sites I could see, and tried to find myself a mirror, or some other reflective surface. Eventually, I think I happened upon the same clothing shop that ~~my sweet~~ Rarity had admired, when she and the others first came up here. I don't know what kind of impression I must have left on the ponies inside the store, because I must have used almost every expression possible when I finally saw what I looked like in my reflection.
Again, I still found it hard to believe that I was pink, and it was obviously the first thing I saw in my reflection. My eyes were still blue, but I had the three little eyelashes on the side of my eyes, giving the girly appearance. Next was my hair, again, green. The hairstyle didn't look like any pony’s that I recognized from the show, but then again, the color swap might have had something to do with that as well. I also had a white band in my hair on the top of my head, kind of separating the front from the back. Out of curiosity, even though that about summed up everything I was doing, I lifted up the front of my hair, to see if anything was on my forehead
Now, when I imagined back in the real world, if I could ever come here, would I look like my OC that I had made, or would I look like something else, I was surprised at the familiarity that I had gotten. Granted, my OC was a bald gray male Pegasus, I had awoken here as a pink "female" Pegasus, with green hair, but I still had the white mark on my forehead, just like the one I had given my OC. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but I dropped my...hoof, from my face, and turned to look at the rest of myself.
One would think that I would have immediately been able to tell that I was female, after having lived my entire life as a male thus far, but something about being a pony just flipped that upside down. I didn't feel anything that felt out of place, although, I did notice that my wings were already out and flapped down. I tried to move them, but kept having mixed results, so I left them alone as best I could. At least I didn't have the wing "pomf" like the Bronies back home had named.
My eyes then moved to my tail. My tail. That is one statement that I thought I would never say in my entire life. I tried to move my...tail, but didn't get much reaction from it. It's hard to classify whether or not my tail is what would be considered a "normal" tail, since the tails in this show range from puff balls, to long and flowing...to rainbows. Nevertheless, my tail looked kind of like Rainbow Dash's, except it wasn't rainbow colored, but instead had streaks of green and white in it.
And now we come to the all-important question. The one I found asking myself, and the one I'm sure every Brony back in the real world is wondering, now that I've somehow made my way into the world of this show. My cutie mark. Well, I'll be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I looked at my flank for the first time. Would I see something symbolizing that I was a soldier back in the real world? Would I see something that was predetermined for me when I arrived here, based on some kind of magic "Welcome to Equestria!" system? Or would I see what I kind of expected to see, and sure enough did happen...a blank flank.
Nothing. Nada. Zip. I apparently had no special talent yet in this world. Although, I can't really blame myself or whatever, because this was my first time ever coming to this world, and I'm pretty sure the first time in, well, "my" history, that something like this has happened. I guess like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I was going to have to find my special talent on my own.
On that note, after staring at my reflection for a while, and I'm sure to the relief of the confused ponies inside the shop, I decided to try and start figuring out what to do next. I walked away from the store, and began pondering who I could turn to for help here. Needless to say, only one pony came to mind. The only pony who's curiosity for solving things was matched by her dedication to her friends. Twilight Sparkle. The only problem was...she lived down in Ponyville, and I was up I don't know how many hundreds of feet...hooves?...in Cloudsdale.
If I was going to get down from the clouds, I needed to at least learn how to glide. So I asked passerby ponies, if one of them could help "re-teach" me how to glide. Plenty of them did the whole "you just do this" routine, where they lifted themselves in the air, and glided back down to the clouds, or jumped and glided forward a little ways, but I couldn't get a filly style explanation. I thought that this must be how Scootaloo felt. Well, eventually, a couple more random ponies were actually able to help me, and after getting a literal "feel" for my wings, they taught me how to glide from a jump. I practiced it for a little while, moving from flatter clouds, to what slopes I could find. I'm glad they also showed me how to slow down in a glide, otherwise I'm sure I would have easily crashed into something from going too fast.
When I felt comfortable with gliding, I asked the closet pony I could find, if they could direct me to Ponyville. After giving me the general direction, and after peering over a couple cloud edges, I was able to spot the outskirts of Ponyville in the distance below.
Now, I wanted more than ever to hurry up and get down there, so that I could find Twilight, and try to get this whole situation figured out, but even I knew that I still had absolutely no clue how the wind currents would affect me on the way down. I asked a couple more ponies if they would mind escorting me down to Ponyville, after giving my whole amnesia speech again, and they agreed to fly with me down.
The tallest thing I've ever jumped off of in my life, was a repel tower about 100 feet off the ground...this jump was easily a hundred of those stacked on top of each other. If it weren't for the fact that I don't really have a fear of heights, I'd probably have not even gotten off of that smaller cloud that I started on. The two Pegasi told me that the wind currents today weren't that bad, and that I wouldn't have much probably making the glide down. So I took a deep breath, got a little bit of a running start, and then jumped off of the cloud. I opened up my wings, and began to fall.
Slowly gliding around Cloudsdale was alright, and being carried while flying through the air was another thing, but the feeling of gliding and falling from up in the clouds, was amazing! I could feel the wind pick up on my wings, and felt the breeze across my face as I glided. I was just like a hang glider, or one of those people in the flying squirrel suits. I went in a corkscrew fashion the entire way down, and even dared to pick up the speed a couple times, at least until the wind shook me a bit and I evened out again. Still, it was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and with any luck, I'd get to experience it again if I found out I was stuck here.
After gliding for about ten minutes, we finally arrived at Ponyville. I waved to the ponies that had accompanied me down, thanking them, and told them that I should be fine the rest of the way down. They took off, and I closed in for my landing, at least if you could call it that. While the clouds up above had provided a little cushion for each landing, the solid earth was a little harsher to land on. I skidded in a bit, before tripping over my...hooves, and sliding on my stomach a short ways.
A few ponies came over to see if I was alright, and I told them I was fine, as I began standing up. I looked around to see where in Ponyville I had landed, and quickly found out that I was just outside the marketplace. I checked my watch, and saw that it was just passed noon. I needed to find someone that could tell me where Twilight's library was, and with any luck, given the time, perhaps Applejack would still be in the market selling her apples. However, with the thought of Applejack coming to mind, another thought came to mind that made me shutter a little bit. The welcoming party.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the parties that Pinkie Pie throws for new ponies, but as amazing as it would be to live in this world for a while, I wanted to avoid being dragged in too much, in case I got involved with some event that might be canon. That said, I had no clue when in this show's world I had been placed. I didn't know if I arrived before the starting events, if the mane six had already had some of their adventures, or if I was in a completely separate timeline altogether. I needed to blend in, without getting roped in.
I wandered through the marketplace, and by a stroke of luck, found Applejack as she was putting away her cart. I approached her and tried to get her attention. While still packing her cart, she apologized, and told me that she'd already sold all of her apples for today. I almost felt like Fluttershy talking to her, but I told her that I was just trying to find Twilight's library instead. She then pointed the way and gave me directions, before reigning up her cart and starting to walk away.
Almost out of a paranoid reflex, just as she was beginning to walk away, I asked Applejack if there was any way to avoid running into Pinkie Pie. She told me that if I tried to avoid her, then she'd probably find me sooner. She started to ask why, and was about to state that I seemed new to Ponyville, but I quickly covered her mouth, and told her that I'm just passing through and didn't want to cause a scene. She seemed a little skeptical, but shrugged it off, and told me to have a nice day, before leaving the marketplace.
I followed her directions, and in no time found my way to the library. I knocked on the door, but didn't get an answer. I tried a couple more times, but still nothing. I was about to turn and start looking somewhere else, when I heard the distinct hopping sound of Pinkie Pie, and froze. I told myself to be one with the tree, and didn't move as Pinkie hopped away behind me. I waited until she was out of earshot, before letting out a sigh. Why I didn't see the next part coming, I don't know why.
Seemingly out of a cartoon nowhere, Pinkie appeared next to me, and I almost jumped up into the branches of the tree the library was built into. She then went off into her usual fast paced talking, about me standing outside Twilight's door, seeming lonely, and an assortment of other things, luckily not mentioning that I seemed new. However, as TV show fate would have it, she then realized that I was new, and started going on about welcoming me to Ponyville. She almost began to burst into song...song right? Yes, even if you by some chance of fate find yourself into the world of My Little Pony, they still sing songs...without regard to anything.
And then, my savior. Just as Pinkie was about to sing the first note, Twilight appeared and closed her friends mouth. I must have had a freaked out look on my face at the time, because Twilight told Pinkie that she seemed to be scaring me, and to tone it down. Pinkie apologized, before deciding to go and start preparing a welcome party instead. She zipped away, before Twilight then brought her attention back to me. She asked if there was anything that she could help me with, and I thanked her repeatedly, shacking her hoof, and telling her how glad I was to have finally found her. I asked if we could speak inside, and she agreed before opening the door with her magic.
I don't know what some people's perceptions of the inside of Twilight's library are, but I found it to be slightly bigger than what I had imagined it would be in person. She put down the saddle bag that she had with her, and then asked what I'd like to talk about. Once again I froze, just like before telling my first amnesia story, trying to figure out where to start from. I decided that I should probably learn a little more about where/when I was, before telling her that I was never supposed to exist in this world. She didn't have her wings yet, so I figured that I had to at least be between the first and third season if anything. I opened with being new to Ponyville, and wanting to know what the most recent events were.
Twilight seemed puzzled, asking me if there was something in particular that I meant. I asked her if the Mare in the Moon was still in the moon, and she gave me a chuckle, before telling me that Princess Luna had returned, and that Nightmare Moon was no more. She made it sound as if it had happened recently, so I followed up with if anything chaotic had happened aside from the Nightmare Moon incident recently. Twilight seemed confused once more, and told me that the only other chaotic event to have taken place, was from the initial chaos of her first Winter Wrap Up. I figured canon wise, I had to be somewhere in the first season of the show, until Twilight spoke up again.
She questioned whether it had been the Winter Wrap Up that was the most chaotic, or if perhaps it was the wedding she had attended for her brother and Princess Cadence instead, or possibly if it was Trixie's latest attempt to try and show her up. I suddenly found myself somewhere in the third season, until I noticed that Twilight had left a few things out. I asked if the name Discord rang a bell, and she asked if I meant the statue in the Canterlot sculpture garden. I then inquired a little more about the wedding she had attended, and she commented on the disorganization that her brother had caused. I decided to throw caution to the wind, and asked if she'd read any interesting comic books lately. She gave me an annoyed stare, stating that she hadn't read any recently, but that somepony had gotten her dragged into one.
I sat on the floor, a slight twitch running through my eye, as Twilight asked me if I was okay. Aside from Nightmare Moon, there was no turmoil in this world, and somehow, Twilight and friends had gotten mixed up in at least some of the events after when she was supposed to have become an Alicorn, but without any of it happening. As far as I was concerned I was in a non-canon world.
Twilight continued to look on in confusion, so I decided that it was about time for me to explain myself. I told her about how I had woken up on that cloud in the sky, that I'm not supposed to be here, and that I need to find a way home. She tried asking me about the world that I came from, but regardless of how non-canon this world seemed, I didn't want to mix relations as much as I could. I asked if she knew anypony else who might be able to help, and she suggested Princess Celestia out of habit. I gave a sigh, before starting to make my way out of the library. Twilight stopped me, saying that she was still so confused, and that she wanted to help if she could.
No more hiding I guess, may as well get things real. Not going to lie, I felt like Doctor Whooves explaining himself to Twilight about his origins, only there was no TARDIS, and I wasn't hundreds of years old. I told her about humans, my profession as a soldier, and how to me, her world was a cartoon I watched. I didn't know how she was going to react when I told her all this. Whether she would flip into a state of denial, swoon like some kind of fan girl, or just think I'm crazy. And as if out of a standard fan fiction, she choose the road half-way between the second choice. If I'd been talking to Lyra, I'm sure I would've gotten tackled by this point, and had her asking me about hands-this, and humans-that.
Her curious nature wanted to know more about where I'd come from, but her roots in friendship also wanted to help me get back to it. By this point, Twilight realized that she hadn't even gotten my name yet, seeing as how I already knew hers and almost everypony else's.
I was right back where I started in Cloudsdale. What do I call myself now? I felt obligated to stay within the show's style of names, but I didn't know if the name I had originally chose for my OC would work for me now, being a mare and all. I explained my name confusion to her, and when she asked me what it would've been, had I come here a stallion, I told her it would've been Cloudy Airy, at least if I'd stayed a Pegasus. She explained that the name sounded fine for either a mare, or a stallion, but I wasn't so sure, since I told her that I'd rather use it as a stallion name.
I thought then flashed in my mind, and my optimism jumped. Sure a spell to "actually" change genders hasn't been shown yet, but just the fact that it was brought up must mean something. I asked Twilight if she really did know if a spell to change genders existed, but she embarrassingly admitted that she had been bluffing at the time she had mentioned that spell, and that she didn't think it was real. Needless to say, my smile returned to a frown. That was it, unless somepony like Princess Celestia could help me, I was going to be stuck in this world as a mare. Perhaps it was because I had become a mare, or maybe it was just from the nature of the show, but I began to cry. Twilight tried to comfort me, but it didn't seem to help. I told her through my tears that I'd probably never get home, since I didn't even know how I got here, and even while I was here, I didn't even have a home to go back to either.
It was by this point, and thanks to my crying, that ~~the amazing and wonderful~~ Spike had finally woken up from his nap, and came downstairs. He asked Twilight what was going on, and who I was, and she explained my situation as simply as possible to him. Saying that I was a lost pony trying to find my way home.
It was much later in the day when I had finally settled down. Twilight offered for me to stay at her home for the time being, and told me that she had told Pinkie to hold off on my welcoming party until I was feeling better. I thanked her, and accepted her offer, and laughed a bit at her keeping Pinkie away. She also told me that she had already sent a letter to the Princess, briefly describing my situation, and that it would be best if I could talk with her in person, or rather pony I guess. I thanked her again for her kindness, but still found myself unsure of what to do now. Twilight wasn't sure what she could do to help me in the meantime, but an idea came to her head to help me deal with my troubles here. A journal.
I was a little skeptical to the idea at first, partly because I hadn't kept a written journal in years, and...well...I don't know how to write, or do anything with my hooves yet. She told me that she would help me learn to write with my hooves, so that I could make my own journal entries myself eventually, and that Spike could write my first one for me. If I'm going to be stuck in this world for a while, then perhaps a journal could help me to pass the time, and who knows, maybe my entries will reach someone someday.
Spike went and got a quill, ink, and a long rolled up parchment. Standing at the ready, Spike waited for me to start speaking, so that he could take my story down. I guess the beginning is as good a place as any, so I started with; "I'm not quite sure where to begin."
Author's Note
This entire story is meant to be seen as a journal entry made by myself, upon my first day in Ponyville. With that, since I'm still getting used to my new pony body, the entire entry was meant to be written by Spike as stated above. This is the cause of the ~~crossed out words~~ from time to time, due to his spelling limits, and for fixing Spike's boasting about himself.
I suppose this makes Day Two. I had almost hoped that perhaps when I fell asleep last night, that I would wake up back in the real world...but no. Still a pony. Still a mare...and still pink.
I don't know how this writing will look to anyone, or anypony else reading it, but as Doctor Whooves had put it in "Doctor Whooves and Assistant", it seems physically impossible to hold anything with these hooves. I tried writing with my mouth, but trying to hold something in your mouth, and then write with it, is as awkward as it sounds. I'm hoping at some point, that I might be able to write using my wing, kind of like how Pegasus ponies are able to use their end feathers almost like fingers occasionally in the show. In the meantime, be grateful if you're reading this in a legible fashion. Even I can barely read my handwriting now, and that's saying something, compared to how it looks in the real world.
When I awoke, Twilight and Spike had already made breakfast, so I made my way into the room they were eating in. Now normally my breakfast consists of: eggs, sausage, a biscuit, a banana, some kind of fruit in a bowl, and orange juice and coffee. This breakfast had about half of that, and obviously no sausage. There were cooked eggs, toast, and some orange juice.
I don't know why, but almost the entire time I was eating, I kept catching Twilight looking at me. I'm sure part of it was because I was eating like a toddler, burying their face in their food, but I got the feeling that there was something more. Sure enough, after I had finished eating, Twilight jumped at the opportunity to start asking me more questions about my life in the real world.
Things started off simple enough. She asked what the culture was like where I'm from, and who the dominant species was. And then things got more complicated, where after trying to answer one question for her, she returned, rapid fire, with several other questions. I tried my best to keep up, until frustrated, I stopped her. I told her I had an idea on how to make the conversation go more smoothly, so that we could both get something out of it. One pony would ask the other a question, that pony would answer, and then the roles would switch, for however long. Granted I've seen almost the entire show, but there were still questions I had that would be interesting to hear from a more local source, as opposed to a writer's remark.
I started by asking how time worked here, since my watch that I had looked like a regular face watch back home. Twilight told me that there were 24 hours in a day. Good to know there's no change there.
Twilight then asked me who the King or Princess was that ruled over me back in my world. I told her that while there were Kings and Queens that ruled in certain parts of the world, that I lived under a President. She asked if I meant something like a committee, but I told her that in the "land" called America, where I'm from, the ruler of the entire country was called the President. She almost asked me another question, no doubt about America, but I stopped her short, and reminded her about taking turns with the questions. She apologized, and funny enough, let out the little squee sound that you hear in the show. I gave a little chuckle before asking my next question.
I asked about how the calendar worked in Equestria, hoping I wouldn't get that big of a change from what I'm used to. She told me that there were 12 months, 365 days a year, and 7 days a week. I was a little surprised to say the least. While the four seasons seemed to be the same, and the names of the days apparently were still the same, I kind of expected the number of months and days to be a little shorter. I sneaked in another quick question, and asked what the months were called. I was expecting anything from horse pun named months, to completely different names, but what I got left me speechless. The exact same names. I'm like you, or whoever is reading this, I expected pun names at least, like: Hayuary, or Neighvember.
Twilight asked her next question, obviously wanting to know more about America. I told her that Equestria and America really weren't all that different. Explaining that places like Filly Delphia, and Las Pegasus, existed in my world too, only they were "Philadelphia" and "Las Vegas", but they still worked and had cultures of the same fashion. She got giddy again, but stopped herself for me to take my turn.
I felt a little daring, and quite honestly I was still very confused about it myself, so I asked how going to the bathroom worked here. I explained that aside from myself being a mare now, that I wasn't sure how ponies...you know...went in this world. Twilight seemed a little embarrassed by the question, probably because Spike was still at the table, so she asked him if he wouldn't mind going to grab a book that she was going to need for the day, while she answered me. I also wasn't sure if the fact that I was a male in a mare's body, was making her embarrassed as well.
For the sake of whoever's reading this, I'm not going to go into detail about how this all works: 1. Because, again, I don't know who age wise is reading. and 2. I didn't even get all that much info.
Twilight explained that, at least for mares, they go into the bathroom, sit down, and that's that. While she had studied stallion anatomy in her studies, she didn't feel comfortable speaking for them. So we now take that box, set it aside, and move on.
Her next question pertained to what kinds of races we had in my world. Here, there was everything from ponies, to griffons, to dragons, all with their own racial systems. I explained that while griffons and dragons didn't exist in my world, ponies and certain other creatures did, but they weren't the dominant race. I told her once again, that the dominant race were called humans, and were essentially the pony version of life here, or different creature version, whichever makes sense. I then explained that the human race was broken down into different ethnicities, much like how there were different ponies from places like Saddle Arabia, and others around the world, humans worked in the same way.
I was about to ask my next question, when Spike came back into the room, carrying the book that Twilight had asked for, and what looked like one of Princess Celestia's letters. She thanked him for the book, and asked what the letter said. He told her that Princess Celestia had thanked Twilight for her letter regarding me, and that she would be more than happy to try and help if she could. However, due to her schedule being overfilled, she had little to no time to leave, and I would have to make my way to Canterlot instead to see her. I guess I should have expected something like this to happen. Granted I was probably the first case of this to happen, unless Doctor Whooves did exist in this world, but I should have known that the Princess wouldn't just rush from her kingdom to come save me, that was more Twilight and friends style.
I made up my mind, I was going to Canterlot...the only problem was how. I still didn't know how to fly, and while I had a rough idea in my head, from the map that had been made of Equestria back in the real world of where everything was, distance wise, I was clueless. I asked Twilight exactly how far away Canterlot was, and she told me that even for a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash, it would still take a long time to get there by flying. Train it is I guess, and with that, my next problem. Money. Even in the happy-go-lucky world of Equestria, you still have to pay for tickets for trains and such. I guess when they were passing out the welcome gift basket for sleeping world swapping ponies, they forgot to include a few bits with my watch.
Twilight had already given me a place to stay for the night, and breakfast in the morning, so I didn't want to take advantage of her any more than I already had. Also, I figured that I probably wouldn't be getting to Canterlot today anyway, so I decided to try and spend the majority of my day trying to be a pony.
Twilight started to offer to help me get to Canterlot, but agreed that it would probably be better for me to try getting used to being a pony in the meantime. With that, I told her and Spike that I'd be back later to work on using my hooves to write and such, and I made my way out the door. I took a few steps out the door, before taking a deep breath of fresh air, and closing my eyes. Today was going to be my first day of actual living here, so I wanted to try and make the most of it...and then the sack came.
Seemingly out of nowhere, I quickly found myself having a sack tossed over my head, and then being lifted away somewhere. I was being...colt...fillynapped I guess. Was this the Equestrian mafia or something!? In this world was Twilight the daughter of a mob family that I angered or something!? I tried screaming for help, but by the time I started yelling, the sack had been taken off my head, and I found myself surrounded by ponies in Sugarcube Corner. They all let out a "Surprise!" and Pinkie followed with a "Welcome to Ponyville!” before singing her usual welcoming song. I had party hats placed on me, got handed/hoofed glasses of punch, which I quickly dropped from not knowing how to hold them, and it all came to a climax with Pinkie shooting off her party cannon, and covering me in confetti.
The joy and laughter continued, until a few ponies and Pinkie asked me for my name. I sat there in silence once again, and the mood of the party seemed to follow. While I had trusted Twilight a little more with what I had planned to call myself, had I been a stallion, I still wasn't sure what to tell everypony else, since they just knew me as a mare. I muttered out a couple "uhhs" and "umms".
My mind flickered back to my OC again, and I thought about using one of the names of mares that had been paired with him when I was writing my first story with him. Pinkie asked if I did have a name, when another pony in the room pointed out that I didn't have a cutie mark. Pinkie then let out her exaggerated gasp, and came to the conclusion that since I didn't have a cutie mark, that I didn't have a name either. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she told me to say no more, as she brought her hoof to her chin and began to think. When the light bulb above her head appeared...yes, I said light bulb.
Literally, a light bulb appeared above her head. I can accept cartoon shenanigans like appearing out of nowhere and from impossible angles, but for a light bulb to actually appear? Anyway, after the light bulb appeared, she spoke and decided on my name.
Cloudy Airy. That was the name that Twilight spoke when she entered the room, and cut Pinkie short. The rest of the ponies gave a slight confused gasp at the name, as Pinkie looked at Twilight in disappointment, stating that she was going to call me Pink Mint. I could have been Fluttershy's twin, sitting there afraid and confused, but Twilight spoke something that made me feel more at ease. She said that I was from a land far away from Equestria, and that I was hesitant to say my name, since I thought it was more of a stallion's name. She also told everypony that a recent turn of events made me lose some of my memory, and as such, it's like I'm learning to be a pony all over again. I knew that Twilight was always the head voice of reason, and would do anything to help her friends, but I never knew that she would go this far to help someone like me out. She still barely knew me, or where I came from, but she treated me as if we'd been friends forever. Cue lesson learned, letter to the Princess, final message, and cut to credits.
The spirit of the party began to pick up again, as the ponies started greeting me as Cloudy one after another. Pinkie asked if she could still call me Pink Mint, and I told her she could, since she went through all the trouble of coming up with a name for me, and a name from Pinkie Pie would obviously mean something to Bronies back in the real world. Whether they'd believe me or not when I get back was up in the air though. I enjoyed the party as much as I was able to, and Twilight approached me to tell me that she'd seen Pinkie grab me outside her house, and figured that she'd throw a surprise party for me like this. She was glad that she made it in time before I was officially named Pink Mint, and that she figured that it probably would be best for me to use the name that I had originally planned to use, in case I ever did manage to become a stallion. I thanked her, and then went back to the festivities.
Throughout the short span of the party, a few ponies tried helping learn how to pick things up with my hooves, and I eventually managed to pick up a party balloon, before it slipped from my grasp. With learning how to grab things with my hooves, and after being welcomed into Ponyville, I figured that I was already half-way into being a full-fledged pony in this world. However, I still needed to learn how to fly. After the party ended, all the ponies began going their separate ways, and Pinkie waved goodbye to me from the store's entrance. Twilight walked out with me, and told me that she was going to run a few errands before returning home, and that she'd leave the door unlocked for me whenever I decided to come back.
Now alone in the street, I decided that I should try giving flying a shot. I wandered through the streets, until I finally found my way to the park. It seemed to have an open enough area for me to practice flying, and the few small slopes from hills would give me the chance to have enough distance between myself and the ground, for me not to hurt myself too much if I fell down. I opened up my wings like the Pegasus ponies in Cloudsdale had shown me how to do, and tried flapping them to give me some lift. No good. I imagined a Scootaloo cutie mark appearing on my flank, but figured I'd probably have a better chance at success, and was sure she would too eventually. I tried gliding from the top of the hills, and flapping my wings a bit from the air, but I only ended up causing myself to lose control and fall down. I tried a few more times, changing the angle of my wings slightly, and flapping different ways at times, until I managed to lift myself up a little bit while gliding. I landed from that attempt with such excitement!
A few different ponies in the park saw me trying to fly, and asked what I was doing. I explained the story that Twilight had told for me back at the party, and the ponies seemed caring in hoping I was able to fly again. A female Pegasus offered to try and help me, and I accepted gratefully. I don't remember her name, but she might have been one of the random unnamed background ponies from the show, or a new one altogether, there was really no way to tell. She taught me about when and how to flap my wings, in order to give me lift, and how to keep myself in place up in the air.
Ponies in this world must not have a lot to do in their day, because she and I kept at my flying for what felt like hours. Eventually, I just about got the hang of it, and was briskly flying around the park, receiving cheers from her, and the remaining ponies who had heard my story earlier in the day.
The feeling of using wings to fly, it's like you're moving two extra arms on your back. The part connected to your back, and up through the center of the wing is like your arm, and the bones leading up and out, surrounded by your feathers, are sort of like fingers. Imagine the story of Icarus, who strapped wax wings to his arms, and flew up to the sun. It's like that motion of flapping that he would have done to get up that high, but on a completely separate part of your body. I was thrilled to finally live my dream of being able to fly! Although, the focus to fly at first is about the same amount of focus you need to make yourself fly in dreams, and maintain it the entire time. I was sweating just staying in the air!
Realizing that it was starting to get late, I landed, and thanked the pony for helping me. She told me that she was glad to help, before taking off and flying away herself. I followed suit, and gently took off, back towards Twilight's house.
Along the way, I looked down at the other ponies still going about their lives. I watched them walk in and out of stores, talking to each other in the streets, and even a few working here and there. I even saw a few couples walking the streets as well, and a thought occurred to me. If I end up being stuck here; what am I going to do about a relationship!? I'm, for the sake of the show, a colt in a mare's body! I'm Robin Williams from Mrs. Doubtfire! Martin Lawrence from Big Momma's House! I'm a man in a predominately mare's world!
That was another thing that always had me wondering. Granted the show is marketed to little girls, but the majority of the citizens in My Little Pony are female. Was I placed into the cultural majority by chance?, misfortune?, some higher power? That would be something; Princess Celestia working together with God with a wicked sense of humor. But I digress.
The thought stayed with me all the way until I reached Twilight's house. I opened the door, and walked in to find Twilight and Spike putting away her books onto the shelves. Twilight greeted me, and asked me how my first day as a pony went, aside from Pinkie's antics that morning. I told her that things had gone fine, and that I'd learned how to fly. She was ecstatic at the news, but sensed that I was feeling a little down. She asked if everything was alright, and I responded by asking if she wanted to do the question turns again. She accepted, and offered me the first question, in the hopes that I might reveal what was bothering me.
I asked if she knew of any other couples, aside from her brother and Princess Cadence, and the Cake family. She seemed a little confused, and told me of a few random couples she'd seen since she'd been to Ponyville. However, instead of following with a different question of her own, she asked if there was any reason I brought the subject up. I responded by asking her how relations went in this world. She was still completely confused, so I tried explaining to her.
I told her that back in my world, there were couple combinations of every gender; male-male, male-female, female-female. I asked if those same three existed here. She thought about it for a minute, but couldn't really think of any couple she had seen that wasn't a mare and stallion. I'm going to call blind luck for Twilight's lack of knowledge on relationships, otherwise I'm sure this conversation would have been a lot more awkward than it already was.
I decided to test the waters by asking about same gender couples that had been made/shipped by Bronies back in the real world. I asked Twilight if she knew both Lyra and Bon Bon. She replied that she had seen them both before, but couldn't see any kind of connection between the two. I explained that back in my world, the two had been paired together, and were as such a same gender couple. I also told her that Octavia and Vinyl Scratch were a similar way. Twilight was still having a hard time understanding the concept, both from my world’s point of view, and from what she knew from living, and growing up in her own. I decided to flat out tell her what was wrong. I asked; "Since I'm a colt in a mare's body, what am I supposed to do about being with another pony?"
Twilight froze, stuck in a confused "uhh" face. I told her that I should be trying to be with a mare, but would that kind of thing even exist in this world. I hadn't gotten hit on by a male pony yet, and I shuddered to think that I ever would as long as I'm here. Twilight tried turning to Spike for support, but the little dragon just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in confusion. I took a deep breath, and told her that perhaps I shouldn't be thinking about things like that right now. I still needed to make my way to Canterlot at some point, and if it turned out that I couldn't get home, then I would worry about it then. Twilight nervously nodded her head in agreement, and decided to change the subject. She asked if I wanted to try writing with my hooves, now that I was back, and I replied yes.
She went upstairs, and soon returned with a few blank pieces of paper and a pencil. She told me to try holding the pencil like I had done with the glasses of punch, and balloons at the party. It took a few tries, but I managed to pick up the pencil and keep it relatively still. However, as soon as I tried writing on the paper, it slipped from my hoof. I tried again, and again, and again, until I was able to at least draw scribbles on the paper. Twilight congratulated me, and told me to keep practicing, while she and Spike finished putting away the books.
The first thing I tried to actually write was: Hello. That was the intention. The result however, came out as a giant wavy form of the word. I decided, for the fun of it, to try writing with my mouth. I placed the pencil between my teeth, and leaned forward to write. Let's just say I quickly went back to using my hoof.
I practiced for a couple hours, until I just about got the hang of it. In the real world, I'm right handed, but my writing most of the time looks as if I'd written it with my left hand. I'll leave you to imagine how that might look, but take that image, make it slightly worse, but still somewhat legible, and that's what my writing looked like when I could finally write with my hoof. My cutie mark obviously won't be a fancy quill anytime soon.
I took a break to have dinner with Twilight and Spike, where I managed to eat like a regular pony, and tried having conversation at the same time. I asked them both how their day had gone. Twilight told me about how she had gone out to retrieve and replace a couple books from a pony in town, and about having lunch with Rarity. Spike, then with small hearts in his eyes, told me that he'd seen Rarity today too. I'm sure he meant while he was taking his nap. Twilight and I laughed a bit at Spike’s reaction, and continued eating our meal. After we were done, I made my way back into the library, and asked Twilight if she could light a candle for me, so that I could start writing my next journal entry on my own. She gladly retrieved a candle from her cupboard, and lit it with her magic, before placing it on her reading stand. She told me goodnight, as she and Spike left upstairs.
I knew better than to try writing with a quill and ink, like Spike had done yesterday. So I picked the pencil back up off the floor, and started to write my next entry.
I find myself thinking, as I write this, that maybe being stuck here wouldn't be so bad after all. I mean, being human is alright, after living as one for a while, but being a pony is just, amazing. Tomorrow I'll have to start looking into making some money, if I ever want to get to Canterlot. I don't think I'll try doing either of Derpy's jobs, but I'm sure I'll find something that I can do.
From a fellow Brony in Ponyville;
Cloudy Airy.
I just want to start off by saying; "Why can't finding jobs in the real world be as easy as finding them in Equestria?"
On a side note; it's now been over a week since I came into this world, so this wasn't just a few day excursion. I have no clue what's been happening back in the real world, if anything, since I don't know how time differs between here and home. If this is anything like "My Little Dashie", I think it's safe to say that I am well past being out of a job. Guess it's good that I've finally found one here then.
With that said, this marks my first journal entry from my newest abode. Although, I haven't really been keeping up with my entries lately, since I've been so busy trying to find a job here, and then doing the job(s). I suppose a recap is in order. Cue lights, curtain rise, and narrator ~~Spike~~ me.
After my first few days living as a pony here, I had decided that I needed to find myself a job, if I was ever going to get enough money to buy a train ticket to Canterlot. While I could have just flown there by now, and camped along the way, I still didn't know exactly where to go, and I had nothing in the means of camping materials. I had asked Twilight if she knew of any job openings in the area, or if there was anything specific for a Pegasus to do. I was surprised when she told me about all the different jobs going on in Ponyville, and how just about every pony was looking for a little help here and there. I felt kind of glad that the stigma that you needed to have such-and-such experience/degree just to get a decent job, was about gone in this world. While I'm sure having a background in certain things would help you achieve, like Rarity and the fashion ponies in Manehattan, it didn't seem to be a requirement around Ponyville. That, and the only local school I know is the one for little colts and fillies.
Twilight also told me that I could try finding a job at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, but that I'd probably need to study up on how to work with clouds first. While I knew that I was capable of interacting with clouds, the only interaction I had so far was standing on them. So after having breakfast with Twilight and Spike one morning, I set out to try and find a temp job.
Now, I wasn't expecting to find some high paying job right away, so I decided to look around Ponyville, and see what kind of small jobs I could find.
I tried working as a waitress at the local Café, but quickly found myself dropping dishes and forgetting orders. I'd even been warned by the owner, that my Pegasus body might not be able to carry some of the dishes, and I had forgotten that I was still getting used to hooves. It was easy enough to place the light plant appetizers on the tables, but everything else went downhill. When I felt a dish began to teeter, I went to widen my grip with my fingers, but that obviously never happened, and I ended up dropping it. As for the orders issue, since a lot of the customers were whom I would consider the "other background ponies", I had a hard time keeping the order with the face.
I then stopped by several different small shops, seeing if there was any menial task that I could do. There were a couple where I almost had a chance at sticking with, but whenever somepony would try to get my attention, I'd either ignore them at first, since I was still not used to hearing Cloudy Airy yet, or in a sudden reaction, my wings would open, and I'd almost knock something over. A couple of times, I even ending up slapping a pony in the face with my wings by accident. Needless to say, while I was thanked for what little work I did, I didn't end up getting any of those jobs.
I decided to find my way to the town hall, and see if Mayor Mare knew of any jobs that I might be able to accomplish. She offered to let me try organizing some of the scrolls that she had laying around in the archives room, so I gladly accepted. Of all the jobs I had attempted so far, I rather enjoyed this one the most. I have always been one for organization, and working in a setting like this seemed right up my alley. I even had the opportunity to use my wings to lift me up to the higher cubby holes to put scrolls away, which proved both good and bad. It had been good, because I was able to try flying some more, and didn't need to try and work with the ladders. It had been bad however, because the breeze that I had created with my wings, by putting too much force to keep myself up, had caused scrolls in other cubbies to blow out of their holes.
I hadn't been thinking about it at the time, but the way I had put too much effort into keeping myself in the air, was the same way I had always had a hard time scuba diving in the real world at first. I needed to find a good middle ground (so to speak) for flying, without putting out too much, or too little energy from flapping my wings. It had been fine when I was first learning to fly out in the park, since it was a relatively open area, but within the confines of the archive aisles, I needed to be more careful.
Going back to the scroll job at town hall, while Mayor Mare was happy that I had been able to organize the scrolls on one given side of any aisle, she was a bit concerned about the mess I had made of the other scrolls behind me in the same aisle. She thanked me for trying, and gave me a bit for my effort. My first bit! Woohoo! I was excited, and thanked her for her generosity. I made my way out of the town hall, and was about to jump for joy...when my stomach started to rumble. It was a little passed mid-day, and I hadn't eaten any lunch yet. I considered going back to Twilight's to get something to eat, but felt bad about bumming off of her more than I should have. I then looked down at the bit, still in my hoof, and sadly knew what I had to do.
I made my way to the marketplace, and tried to find something that I could get for one bit. Everypony seemed to be selling their produce for two to three bits or more, which was unfortunately out of my range. I thought about Applejack's stand again, and tried to find her. It didn't take long to find her stand, as she had a small line in front of it. Just as I was about to make my way into the line, another pony jumped in. Now, this wasn't like the instance, where Fluttershy had been taken advantage of for her timidness. I was still a few feet away from the back of the line when the pony got in line. I wasn't sure of Applejack's prices for her apples, and I didn't want to hold up the line by trying to bargain for a single bit, so I waited to make sure no other ponies jumped in line, before I got in line myself. Besides, there were plenty of apples for her to sell, so I didn't need to worry about them running out.
Eventually, and luckily, I got to my turn in line, and there weren't any ponies behind me. I don't think Applejack recognized me at first, since I was still relatively new to the town, but after trying to ask if I could get an apple for a single bit, she soon remembered that she had talked to me my first day here, and that she also vaguely knew that I had been staying at Twilight's. She didn't seem to have a problem selling one of her apples for one bit, and I was able to finally get something to eat.
I took the opportunity, while I was standing there eating my apple, to talk to Applejack. It's not every day you find yourself in the world of Equestria, and have the opportunity to talk with one of the mane six, so I decided to try and make small conversation. I asked her how her business was doing, to which she replied that it was doing pretty good. She asked me if I was enjoying Ponyville, and I told her I was, and that I was also currently looking for a job here. She began to say something, but was quickly drowned out by Pinkie Pie screaming "PINK MINT!" in the distance. Out of reaction, and a little paranoid fear, I quickly spread my wings and took off up into the sky, dropping my apple in the process. I thought I heard Applejack saying something along the lines of; "That's not gonna do ya much good." on my way up, but I was moving too fast to tell.
Once up in the air, I looked around down at the marketplace, but didn't see Pinkie anywhere. I gave a sigh, and wiped away the imaginary sweat from my brow for effect, before turning around to head back down, and coming face to face with Pinkie Pie...literally. I backed away a bit, and realized that she was in a hot air balloon smiling at me.
I should be used to this by now, I really should. I've seen this kind of thing happen plenty of times in the show, and in cartoons in general, but when it happens in person, it just throws you through a loop. I mean, where did she and that thing come from?
That aside, she said hello to me, and told me that she was having a party for somepony I didn't recognize, and that I was invited. I thanked her for the invitation, and asked her to wish the pony a happy whatever kind of party it was for them, but that I couldn't make it today. Her face then turned puppy dog sad, and asked why not. I told her that I was busy all day trying to find a job, and wouldn't have the time to make it. That, and I wouldn't even know where to go. Pinkie smiled and told me that it was alright, before giving me a hoof drawn map of how to get there, and saying that I could stop by if I had the time. She and her balloon then ascended into the clouds, and I took a look at the map she had given me. Surprisingly, it showed my starting out exactly where I was up in the air, and had a dotted line leading down into the town, and then to a house circled in red crayon that said "PARTY!" next to it. One of these days while I'm here, I'll have to figure out how Pinkie does all this crazy, breaking the walls of reality stuff.
I flew back down to retrieve my apple, but found that it was gone. Applejack then offered me a new one, and told me that it was on the house. I thanked her, before accepting the apple, and flying off to start my job search again.
The search went about as well the rest of the day, as it had so far that day. I found plenty of almost chances, but couldn't find anything that stuck.
Remind you, I'm not trying to be picky at all here. I'm still new to this world, and this town, and I don't have a cutie mark yet to tell me what my talent is, so I'm trying to find whatever I can.
The sun had started to go down, and I figured I wasn't going to have any further luck that day, so I decided that I might as well stop by that party Pinkie had mentioned. I didn't have a bag, or anything to put the map in, so I had continued to hold onto it the rest of the day. I flew back up to where Pinkie had given it to me, and followed it all the way to the house. There hadn't been a timeline on the map at all, so I hoped I hadn't missed it. I arrived at what I thought was the house, based on the map, and knocked on the door. A blue earth pony answered the door, and asked if he could help me. I asked him if this was the house where Pinkie was throwing a party. He told me that it was, but that the party had already ended, stating that it was his wife's birthday party. I apologized for being late, and asked him to wish her a happy birthday for me, even though I didn't know who she was. He told me that he would, before saying to have a goodnight, and closing the door.
I returned to Twilight's, and we exchanged how each other's day went, before eating, and then turning in for the night.
The next couple days were roughly repeats of the same day. I went out looking for jobs during the day, made a couple bits out of kindness from attempted jobs, only to spend them on lunch, and then returned to Twilight's at night. It wasn't until I reached my first week mark being here, that I finally caught a break. During my job search in the couple days prior, I had even flown up to Cloudsdale, to see if I could find any jobs up there. While I had just about as much luck up there, as down in Ponyville, I had found another archive job that had caught my eye. While at the time, the Pegasus ponies there didn't need much help, they told me to come by again, since you never know when something might come up.
I returned to the Cloudsdale archives on my week anniversary, and inquired if they needed any help. I was approached by the curator of the archives, and given the same task as the one that Mayor Mare had given me. This time however, things went much smoother. Due to the architectural layout of the archives, everything was situated around the walls of the giant dome shaped building. Thanks to this, whether I flapped my wings hard or not, I wouldn't have to worry about blowing any scrolls away while I was organizing them. The curator was delighted with my performance, and how quickly I was able to organize all the scrolls that had been laying around, and offered me a job working at the archives. I gladly accepted, and was given a starting pay of one bit an hour. I jumped and cheered for joy, and was met by several "Shh's!" from the ponies reading. Slightly embarrassed, but still happy, I began working on whatever tasks needed to be done in the archives. I did everything from cleaning, to organizing, to even being a greeter for a little bit. At the end of the day, I was congratulated, and paid for the hours that I worked by the curator. I gave my thanks, and asked if I could take a bag from the gift shop to hold the bits in. Confused, but accepting, the curator let me take a bag, and I was on my way.
Upon arriving back at Twilight's, I burst through the door, still feeling giddy. I saw Twilight reading a book, or at least attempting to before I barged in, and apologized, trying to regain my composure. I must be letting my new mare pony side get to me, since I'm not normally this excited and giddy about things. Twilight asked me what I was so happy about, and I told her all about my success at finally getting a job, and how it had gone. She was very happy for me, and congratulated me on my success. Spike came into the room and congratulated me too, but told me that Twilight's library was his turf, so I'd have to stick with the one in Cloudsdale. I gave a snicker, and soon the three of us began laughing, although Spike not as much.
That night I slept the better than any night thus far, happy that I was assimilating more and more into the My Little Pony lifestyle. I still wanted to get home, but I was enjoying myself while I was here, since I figure it may still be a long while until/if I leave.
One strange thing I haven't mentioned so far is what dreams are like here. Since I've lived in the real world for so long, I still dream where I'm a human being, but sometimes I find myself in pony form, and not always as my pink mare self. I think one night, I even dreamt that I was a pony back in the real world, and then switched to a human in the pony world, receiving weird looks in both instances. No Lyra though. Not sure if I should be glad or disappointed for that version. Either way, it's an interesting experience.
I also haven't seen Princess Luna in my dreams yet either. Not sure if she just hasn't shown up yet, or if maybe something about me once being human prevents her from entering. I'll have to look closer next time I fall asleep. I may be able to pass/receive information between Princess Celestia on my situation faster that way.
The next morning I awoke early, ate, and then hurried off to work at the Cloudsdale archives. Although, before I left, Twilight gave me an old saddle bag of hers, so that I wouldn't have to worry about borrowing bags again from the archives. I continued performing my different tasks until I broke for lunch, and returned back down to Ponyville. I went and bought another apple from Applejack, and was able to avoid any Pinkie sightings so I could finish eating this time.
A single apple is actually decently filling here. Probably due to my stomach being much smaller than it was as a human, but I've found that I don't really need to eat a whole lot during each meal as a pony. It's convenient and cost effective, but it still leaves my mind thinking that I'm supposed to eat more. Hopefully I'm not completely malnourished when I get back to the real world, if my body's just been sitting there.
I returned to work, and continued working throughout the day. At the end of the day, I was once again paid, and then I returned back to Ponyville. I suppose it goes without saying that due to my working all day, I was pretty tired by the end, and as such didn't have much time or energy to make a journal entry.
The next day, being yesterday for me now, went about the same as the previous day, only during my lunch break, I decided to look around for an apartment or something up in Cloudsdale. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy staying at Twilight's and receiving her hospitality, but I couldn't burden her by sheltering me forever here. Like a little filly who's all grown up, I needed to move out on my own at some point or another. Besides, I had already told Twilight about this idea, and she seemed supportive, if not a little disappointed that I'd be leaving.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford a house like Rainbow Dash has...although I'm not sure how she would have paid for it, since I'm not sure how much/if any a weather patrol pony pays, and that she sleeps on random clouds most of the time. She might have built it herself, but I kind of doubt it.
Anyway, while looking around, I found a nice looking apartment in Cloudsdale, and would be able to afford the first month's rent by my next paycheck (so to speak) after that day. I'm not quite sure what to compare it to back in the real world, but it had everything a just starting out pony like me would need, and a lot of the stuff inside was made of clouds, so I could easily rearrange things if I wanted to. After checking the apartment out, I quickly ate lunch, and then headed back to work.
The rest of the day went about the same, and just as smoothly, but I did get a shocker that I wanted to avoid for a while here...my first hit on. Girls, a guy hits on you, and it can be everything from nice, to whatever. Guys, a guy hits on you, and you don't sit on that same side of the fence, you're pretty creeped out. I don't remember who the pony was, and I will continue to try and block that memory from my brain, but he gave me a compliment, and tried to flirt a little. Keeping my best surprised "mare" look, I told him thank you, but that I was already with somepony else. It worked in discerning him, and he left. I don't remember which pony must have gone through my mind when I said "somepony else", but I feel like it might have been either Rarity, or Twilight. Regardless, I was relieved that he was gone, and quickly returned to my work.
If I can't get back to the real world, I'll have to think upon this topic again, but I'll just keep it in the back of my head for now.
I finished another day's work, and returned back to Twilight's, for what would be my last night staying there. I'll admit that the atmosphere and dinner were a little quieter this time, but I reassured Twilight and Spike that I would visit, and that I'd just be up in Cloudsdale, so they could ask Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy to check on me if they really wanted to. I tried writing a journal entry that night, but I was still tired, and I didn't want to feel like it would be my last entry there. Instead, I found another piece of paper, and wrote a letter, thanking Twilight and Spike for helping me, and letting me stay there. I thought about leaving it in one of Twilight's books, but I couldn't tell if she read them in order, or if she'd lend out the book I'd put it in, so I kept it in my giant journal scroll.
This now brings me to today. I awoke this morning, had breakfast with Twilight and Spike, and then left off to work. The morning went the same as it has been thus far, maybe a few more ponies than normal showed up, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, just before lunch, I magically received a letter, just as I was coming down from organizing some scrolls. Judging by the way it had appeared, it looked as if Spike had sent it. I opened it up and it read; "Come by the Café today for lunch." It didn't have a "From" section, but I assumed that Twilight had sent it. I'm not sure if she's aware or not that I know how the way Spike sends letters works. Either way, I put the letter in my saddle bag, and headed down to Ponyville.
I arrived at the café, and found it about the same way I had when I tried working there. There were a few ponies eating at other tables, and the waiter was walking around. I looked around, but didn't see Twilight or any other of the mane six, so I decided to sit down at a table and wait. The waiter came by and asked if I was here to try and wait tables again, but I told him that I was just waiting on some friends to show up. He seemed slightly relieved, and asked if he could get me anything in the meantime. I asked for a glass of water, and he left.
For those of you reading this who get the reference, yes, I was hearing Jaws music in my head the entire time I was sitting there too. This felt way too easy and quiet. I get the feeling that if I was being watched from a TV perspective, that there would probably have been a Pinkie Pie haircut slowly pacing back and forth from beneath a ledge or something behind me. This feeling prompted me to quickly turn around in my seat, when the music reached the climax in my head, but there was nothing there. You can guess what happened next.
I slowly turned around, and was met by Pinkie's party cannon going off, shooting out confetti, and then she and the rest of the main six (plus Spike) yelling "Surprise!" I almost jumped out of my seat, but managed to hang on, as the confetti began falling down. Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all standing around the table. Pinkie began to take a deep breath, like she was about to sing, but Rarity closed her mouth, and instead, Pinkie's hair flapped and extended out like a blowout party favor, complete with the same sound.
Twilight was the first to actually speak, by saying that even though I already knew of them, that she wanted me to actually meet her friends, and that she wanted them to meet me too. I was met one after another with; "Nice tah see ya again, and glad tah meeth'cha Cloudy." "Always nice to meet an awesome friend of Twilight's!" "Charmed to meet you my dear. Have you been in Ponyville long? You simply must let me style your hair." "Umm, hello. Nice to meet you Cloudy." "Hi Pink Mint! Are you excited about meeting us, because I sure am excited! I've never been so excited about meeting the friend of another friend! Well except for that time I met." Pinkie's mouth was closed this time by Applejack.
I greeted them all, and we all sat down to eat. The conversations with each of them were simple enough, but I could tell by the way her friends were speaking to me, that Twilight had told them the same story that she had told at the party Pinkie had thrown for me last week. I had the feeling that I would probably have to tell the rest of them the truth eventually, but I kept with the charade for the time being. We continued to talk and eat, until I looked at my watch, and saw that I had to get back to work soon. I told them that I had to get going back to work, and began to call for the waiter, so that I could get the check, but Twilight stopped me and told me that she and her friends would get it. I know that the entire surprise had been Twilight's idea, but I felt kind of bad leaving the whole check on them, even if they did decide to go Dutch in the end. I thanked them for all for the good time, saying again that I was glad to meet the rest of Twilight's friends, and then flew off back to Cloudsdale.
The rest of the day seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, I was leaving work and headed to my new apartment in Cloudsdale. I spoke with the owner of the building, paid my first month's rent, and received my key. I opened up the door to my room and walked in, shutting the door behind me. I turned on the light, and was surprised to see a small present on my bed. I walked over, opened it up, and looked inside. Inside was my giant journal scroll, a pencil, a quill and bottle of ink, and a letter. For a second, I thought that the letter was the same one that I had written, but I noticed that there was a little seal on the back. I opened up the letter and it read;
"Dear Cloudy,
Spike found your letter when he was putting your journal scroll away as part of the present that you undoubtedly found. We were touched by your words, and were more than happy to have you with us. Even though we're sad to see you leave our home, we know that you'll do just fine, and will enjoy living in Cloudsdale. Spike and I will always be here whenever you want to visit, and I'll continue to look for anyway I can to help you get back to your world.
We wish you the best of luck, and can't wait to hear from you again.
Sincerely,
Your friends Twilight Sparkle and Spike."
A tear ran from my eye, and I wiped it away before putting the letter down. If reading this letter brought a tear to my eye, I didn't want to imagine what would/will happen if/when I read the final goodbye letter from them before I leave. I know it could be a sad reality, but I'll face that day if/when it comes. I sat the letter down on the small desk that was in my room, grabbed my pencil and journal scroll, and began to write my first entry in a while.
I wonder, if I stay here long enough, will I even be able to leave?
From a fellow Brony in Ponyville;
Cloudy Airy.
Sorry, your Princess is in...
Hello anyone...anypony reading this. Not sure how much difference it makes now. I just got back from Canterlot this afternoon, and I think that might speak for itself.
It's been over a month now, since I awoke in Equestria, and I get the feeling that there will be many more to come. But, perhaps I should recap again, seeing as how I didn't do any entries on my way to, and from, Canterlot.
Well, after working in Cloudsdale for the rest of my first month here, I had finally gotten enough money to buy a train ticket to Canterlot, to meet the Princess. Also, I had been able to get a couple days of work off at the Cloudsdale Archives, after telling the curator that I needed some time to sort out some personal things. Before I had actually bought the ticket, I flew back down to Ponyville, to ask Twilight if she and/or any of her friends wanted to come along with me to see Princess Celestia. Twilight was more than happy to go, but the rest of the mane six already had prior engagements to attend to, and couldn't leave.
The next day, Twilight and I went down to the train station, and bought our tickets. I had offered to buy Twilight's as well, but she politely turned down my offer, telling me that she didn't want me to waste my hard earned bits, especially since I had an apartment to keep up with too. We bought our tickets and waited for the train.
Needless to say, I was very excited. I was finally on my way to meeting Princess Celestia, and figuring out whether or not I could go home, or at the very least, try and change my situation here some. *Cough* Pink mare *cough*. I knew that the train ride was going to be a fairly long one, but I decided to run through what I was going to say in my head again, while I sat there waiting. I'd never spoken with royalty before, especially not fictional royalty, so I wanted to make sure I made a good impression at least. Although, I guess you could call this "real" royalty. I asked Twilight for any pointers she could give me, and she replied by saying that I should just be myself. Hopefully I wouldn't lock up when I spoke with her, like I kind of do when I speak with high ranking officers in the real world.
Eventually, the train finally arrived, and Twilight, myself, and the rest of the ponies waiting at the station boarded. The train wasn't that crowded, so Twilight and I were able to get seats across from each other next to one of the windows. I always enjoy watching the scenery fly by, and getting to see this scenery was no exception.
Now, whenever we'd watch the trains traveling in the show, we'd always see either the same prepared backgrounds, over and over again, or a quick bit of originality while the scene progresses. I wondered what I would get to see, now that I was actually on the inside of the train. Would I still see the same scenes like the animators had drawn, or would I get to see something completely unique and original? The train took off, and I soon got my answer.
I suppose I should also point out that there's a bit of a loop around in the tracks, so that the train can head back in the other direction, or come in from a different way. Hopefully this sheds a little light on how the Ponyville train survived when the Crystal train came barreling down in that recent Discord episode.
That also reminds me, I haven't been able to keep up with the episodes since I've been here! Now I'll have no clue if they ever get that box open! If anyone in the real world gets this entry, and they finally manage to open the box in the show, please find a way to tell me what happens!!!
Getting back on track, so to speak (ha ha). The scenery was amazing! I've never ridden a non-subway train in the real world, so that made what I was seeing all the more spectacular. There were sights and spectacles that the writers and animators could never dream of creating. Fluid moving waterfalls, gentle windblown fields, effortless clouds in the sky, and just plain countryside that had just about gone away back where I'm originally from. I should ride trains more often!
While I had my eyes glued to the window, I eventually noticed that Twilight had been looking at me, and was trying to say something. I finally pulled my head away from the window, and asked her if she could repeat herself. She commented on how happy I looked, looking out the window, and that I should try looking out the other side too. While that would've been the typical tourist thing to do, since I was still relatively a tourist here myself, I told her that I would admire the other side's view on the way back. That way, I wouldn't miss anything on each trip. Although, I did decide to stop my sightseeing for a bit, since I figured that Twilight would point something out if anything good was coming up.
It had been a long while since Twilight and I had done the turn question game, so I started asking more questions about the world here. In my month’s time here, I had been able to find out the answers to a lot of questions that I had originally had, both canon and non-canon related, but there were a few things that I wanted to know that I still hadn't gotten the chance to figure out yet. I asked Twilight if she knew anything about a magic mirror in the Crystal Empire, and I was met with a no. Personally, while I was still a little confused on how she'd still done things during the time when she would've been an Alicorn in the real world, I was glad that the whole EG thing hadn't happened. Rest easy Bronies, your OC-ships are still safe.
Now her turn, Twilight asked me what my first plans were when/if I got back to my world. I told her that I would most likely try to figure out "when" I was first, before deciding what to do from there. Since I don't know the time correlation difference between these worlds, I would want to see exactly how long I've been gone.
For my next question, I decided to dive into more fandom made related questions. I asked her if she'd ever seen a blue box appear and/or disappear in Ponyville, or anywhere for that matter. She didn't seem to quite understand what kind of box I might be talking about, but said that had seen blue boxes of all different sizes around Ponyville. I quickly snuck in another question by asking if she'd seen Derpy near any of the blue boxes, and she told me that she had, but only walking by one. My guess is if the Doctor does exist in this world, then he's doing a good job of keeping a low profile.
For her next question, Twilight asked what was different about her world now, compared to what I already knew about it, before being here. During short conversations in the past, I had mentioned to her that her world was a little off from what I knew, but I didn't want to get into great specifics, since I still wasn't sure what kind of turn the world was going to/could take. Getting a bit complacent, since I had strong hope that I could possibly be leaving this world soon, I decided to tell her about a few of the bigger differences that I had noticed in this world. I told her about the conflicts that she would/should have faced by now in the show (i.e. Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra). I also told her about her becoming an Alicorn, and about the mysterious box that she and her friends were still trying to open back in the show in the real world.
Again, I hope I haven't missed it yet. TELL ME!
Twilight was amazed at all the different kinds of events that had supposedly happened in her life, and wondered if they would ever happen to her here. I told her that at this rate they most likely wouldn't, since from what she had told me so far, she had already done things that were supposed to, and did happen, before and after each of the events. Although, I told her not to give up on the Alicorn thing, since there was always the possibility that she could achieve that some other way in this new-ish world.
I followed with my next question by asking what her plans would be once/if I was gone. I figured it would only be fair to ask what she planned to do once/if this was over, since she had asked me. Twilight told me that she wasn't exactly sure. She guessed that she would continue with her life like she had already been doing, but that she wanted to make some way to remember me by. She said that she thought about writing a book about me, including all of "my" adventures here, and about this whole situation, and suggested that perhaps I could do the same for my time here. I don't know if I could write a giant book on everything that I've seen and done here, since back in my world this was all just a TV show, but I'm sure I could make a really good fan fiction about all of this.
I didn't really blame her though, if she just continued on with her life as if none of this ever happened, or if this was all just like another episode played out back in my world, and things moved on afterwards. Since I have no clue how I got here, or even how I would get back if I left here, moving on just seems like the most likely thing to happen. However, I was still up in the air on whether I would even leave if I could, once I got to Canterlot, so I didn't let it get to me too much.
I would guess that we were around half-way to Canterlot, when Twilight asked her last question, before I went back to sightseeing out the window. She asked me if there might be somepony waiting for me when I got back. I don't know if she was thinking about the whole possible time difference as well, but I understood what she was asking. If I was still asleep in my bed in the barracks, then probably not. If I woke up from a coma after some time, then maybe. If it turned out that the time gap between our worlds was extreme, then I think I'd be more concerned with how I was still alive, rather than who was there. I could tell that my answer made her a little sad, since I kind of made it sound like no one seemed to care about me back in my world, which wasn't true, but came off that way I suppose. I have plenty of friends that I had made over the course of my life and work, but due to the hours and location(s) of my job, I didn't really have time to find the somepony that Twilight was most likely talking about. I told her that one way or another, everything would be fine, and that I was sure I'd find that somepony eventually. I made a little joke by saying; "Who knows? Maybe Princess Celestia will send you back with me, and you could be that somepony?" We laughed it off, and I could tell it made her feel a little better.
The train continued on for about another hour, until Canterlot finally came into view. Seeing it in the show is one thing, but when you're actually there, it's a lot bigger and much grander. The train pulled into the station, and all of the ponies, including Twilight and myself, got off. I thought about looking around first, but I wanted to make sure that I could actually visit the Princess, so I told Twilight that I was going to head to the castle first. She agreed with my decision, and the two of us headed towards the castle.
As we walked, we passed by several different regal Unicorns, all caught up in their lavish lifestyles, and seemingly too busy to give us much mind. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that this aspect of Equestria didn't change. We even passed by a couple book stores, and I caught Twilight turning her head to look inside each time. Eventually, we passed by a particular book store, where Twilight stopped in her tracks and gawked at the display inside. There was apparently a new Star Swirl the Bearded book for sale, and Twilight had her face glued to the glass window, just like I had mine to the window of the train. I told her that she could go ahead and get the book now if she wanted to, and that I would meet her at the castle. She said thanks, before zipping inside the store. Pinkie probably could have done it faster, but when it came to books, Twilight was still pretty quick.
I continued to make my way through the streets, using the top of the castle in the distance as a reference. Granted I could have just flown over there, but I wanted to take in some of the sites on the ground while I was there. I finally arrived at the front gate of the castle, and was stopped by the guards posted outside. They asked me to state my business, and I told them that I was here to see Princess Celestia. They asked for my name, and I told them Cloudy Airy. The guards looked at each other, but didn't seem to react to the name at all. I told them that a letter had been sent by Twilight Sparkle for me to the Princess, and that I had been told to show up here in person. The guards still didn't seem to respond. I felt like I was talking to one of the British guards that never spoke, nor moved, but was at least granted a little of both here. They told me that the Princess could not be bothered at this time, due to visiting dignitaries, and that I'd have to wait. So wait I did.
I sat on the ground a little ways away, looking around the whole time. The guards just stood there, staring out in the same direction the entire time. I considered just using my wings to fly over them and into the castle, but when I stretched one of my wings out, one of the guards advised me not try it. I told them that I was just stretching my wings, but I don't think they bought it. I wasn't sure what was taking Twilight so long. I would have figured that she'd be in and out of the store in a flash, but she must have found some more books to get.
I must have sat there for at least ten minutes, until I finally noticed some movement from within the castle. I looked up, and saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flying away in their Pegasus drawn chariot. I tried yelling to get the Princesses' attention, and started to fly away, but was quickly stopped by one of the guards using their magic to hold me in place. I yelled at them to let me go, but the guard kept a firm grip with his magic, as the Princesses got further and further away. I lost my temper a bit, and demanded that the guard let me go, saying things like; he shouldn't dare hold a mare against her will, and that I had traveled all this way on official business, and that he had no right to stop me. The guard used his magic to lower me back to the ground, while the other guard used his own magic to tie a rope around me, preventing me from using my wings.
I was about to drop some harsh human lingo on the guards, when Twilight finally showed up, and asked what was going on. She used her magic to undo the rope around me, and asked the guards why they had done that to me. I tried to use the distraction to escape, but the guards used their magic to hold me down once again. Twilight almost said; "Let 'him' go." to the guards, but quickly caught herself and said "her" instead. The guards told Twilight that they couldn't let me go, since I was trying to chase after the Princesses, who had already disappeared from view. She told them that I was here to see the Princess thanks to a letter that she had sent a month ago, and the guards looked at each other again, this time seeming to believe the story. They let me go, but told me not to try flying off again.
Not that the timing would have made much difference, but I probably should have come to the castle with Twilight first, instead of by myself. I could have avoided the whole tying up mess at least. The guards told us that either way, now that neither of the Princesses were in the castle we couldn't enter, even though I had Twilight with me. I let out a distraught sigh, before sitting back on the ground. I had finally traveled all this way to talk to Princess Celestia, and now she had flown away to who knows where. Twilight reassured me that it was going to be okay, and the two of us began to walk back into the town. As we were walking away, Twilight turned back to the guards, and asked if she could receive a letter once the Princess had returned. The guards responded that they would, and we continued walking.
That night felt like the longest night I have had so far. I don't remember if I've said that already, but this felt like the new longest if so. After wandering around Canterlot for the rest of the day, Twilight and I put up for the night at a hotel. I didn't sleep very well, as I was still concerned about the disappointment of coming here, that, and about the nightmare I had.
I've already explained about the kinds of dreams that I've had since I've been here. The whole human and pony combination dreams and the like, but this one was different. This time, I was looking through the eyes of presumably another pony, as they were walking around in the darkness. Eventually, the scenery changed to that of the hedge maze in the castle garden, and after taking several different turns, ended up in the opening in the center, where we/I was greeted to the statue of Discord. He was still the boastful stone version of himself, when the Princesses had first sealed him, but soon, things began to change...for the worse.
The statue slowly started to move, and the stone was replaced with Discord's regular skin and appendages, only they were becoming much more demonic. A crooked smile appeared on his face, and his eyes glowed a blood red, before everything turned a dark black, and in a horror game style distorted voice, he said; "You're going to be trapped here FOREVER! HA HA HA!"
I woke up in a cold sweat. I stared out the open window on the wall, as I sat up in my bed. It was already morning, and Twilight was starting to wake up in her own bed. After she was up, we both went downstairs, and checked out of the hotel. We stopped by a café for breakfast, before making out way back to the castle. Twilight had received her letter saying that the Princesses had returned last night, but I had already fallen asleep by that point. When we arrived at the front gate, the two previous guards had changed out with new ones, and they let us in.
As we walked inside the castle, and up the stairs, I looked out one of the windows overlooking the garden below. I could see the statue of Discord down below, and thought back to my nightmare. I shook it off, as we were about to enter the Princesses' throne room.
I had already seen the room from different angles and perspectives, thanks to the show and fan works, so I wasn't as taken aback, as most ponies probably were, seeing it for the first time. Princess Celestia greeted us as we approached. Twilight bowed, and I followed suit. Princess Luna was by her sister's side, but she remained quiet. Princess Celestia asked her student what brought her here today, and asked who I was. Twilight introduced me to the Princesses, then re-stated what she had originally written in her letter a month ago. A surprised shock took both of the Princesses' faces, before Princess Celestia spoke.
She said that she thought that I might have changed my mind on coming, since it had been so long since she had received the letter regarding my situation. I told her that I would have tried to get here sooner, but that I had been trying to save up for a ticket to come here first. She told me that given the circumstances, I could have asked for an escort train to get here, as soon as I had received the reply to Twilight's letter. A slight twitch came to my eye, but I shook my head, before speaking again.
I explained my situation again, in as much detail as I could, and asked if there was anything that she or anypony could do to help me. She told me that after the initial letter, she and her sister had tried searching through the old Canterlot archives, but that they could not find anything to help any of my predicaments.
Princess Luna then spoke, saying that aside from returning me home, the only one who would have the kind of power to fix my other issues, was the Draconequus; Discord. However, he was still trapped in stone, down in the Canterlot gardens, and they had no plans to free him at any time. Thinking back to his magic/antics in the show, and how I just had a nightmare involving him, I should have figured that he would be the only one to help me. However, even I knew that I couldn't very well have him released, just so he could try and help me. Besides, unless he was reformed, and Fluttershy had him under her stare, I'm pretty sure he would only half-step help me anyway.
Princess Celestia apologized to me, saying that she wished she could do more, but that a situation like mine has never once happened before in Equestria. She tried to give me some hope, by saying that she had heard tales of ponies in other parts of the world, whom were able to change the color of their bodies. I thanked her for the attempt, but declined, stating that just coloring myself to look more like my OC, wouldn't make me feel any better. Needless to say, both the Princesses, and every other pony in the room, aside from Twilight, were confused at the term: OC. I told her that it was a term from my world, but that I'd rather not talk about it right now.
With my hope to ever return home just about gone, I asked the Princesses if Twilight and I could be dismissed, since I had a lot to think about now. The Princesses agreed to my request, telling me that if I ever wanted to speak with them again, that she would tell her guards to allow me to roam the castle and grounds, just as she allowed Twilight. I thanked them, but asked them to remind their guards to be a bit more courteous to ponies. Just because I was a stallion in a mare's body (so to speak), that didn't mean that I was alright with getting tied up and held against my will, just for trying to get somepony's attention. Princess Celestia said that she would have a talk with her guards, and then Twilight and I left.
On our way out of the castle, I asked Twilight if we could visit Discord's statue before we left. I half expected her to say that it was probably not a good idea right now, but she seemed to trust me, and agreed. We made our way through the garden, until we came to the statue. We both looked on at the statue, Discord still seeming quite proud of himself, even behind a sheet of stone. I took a few steps toward it, until I could have put my hoof on him. I heard a slight ringing in my ear, closed my eyes, and brought a hoof to my head, trying to get rid of the ringing. As if by telepathy, I heard Discord speak to me in my head. Talking in his normal voice, he said; "I told you that you'd be trapped here forever." I opened my eyes and backed away from the statue. Twilight asked what was wrong, but I just said aloud; "You don't need to tell me twice." I turned around to leave the garden, and Twilight followed with me.
The train ride back was a quite one. I stared out the window almost the entire time, not saying a word. Twilight had a concerned look almost the entire time as well, but didn't bother to pry into anything. When we got back to Ponyville, Twilight tried speaking to me. She told me that it was going to be alright, and that she and her friends would be there for me. I thanked her, told her that I knew, and said that I just needed some time to think everything over. She nodded with a smile, and I gave a saddened smile back, before opening up my wings, and taking off back for Cloudsdale.
When I got back to my apartment, I let myself in, and closed the door behind me. I slowly made my way over to my bed, before collapsing on top of it, crying. All the emotions, feelings, and thoughts that had run through me since I arrived here, all came in at once. I'm going to be stuck here. I'll never see my home again. My family, friends, co-workers, gone, maybe forever. I'll either have to wait for whatever force that brought me here to send me back, or remain here for the rest of my life.
I cried for a good solid five minutes, until whatever thought process that exists in my brain, managed to convince me to stop crying, and move on. It wasn't a feeling or process that I enjoyed, but I knew it had to be done. I sat up on my bed in silence, wiping away any tears that were left on my face. I looked over at my journal scroll, but continued to sit on my bed for a little longer. Eventually, I got up, and made my way over to write this entry. I'm still not sure how I managed to write all of this, without getting any leftover tear drops on it, but perhaps for anyone else out there reading this, it won't matter.
If these entries of mine really are making it back to the real world somehow, I only wish that I could follow that process.
From a fellow Brony in Ponyville;
Cloudy Airy.
Author's Note
Just leaving a clarification, the joke about Twilight being my somepony in the real world was indeed a joke. To all die-hard Twilight fans out there, I am not trying to take your Pony/OC's waifu. I would've labeled this story with Romance as well, if it had been my intention to ship myself with Twilight/anypony.
