Prologue/Welcome to Ponyville
It was a tough life, being a human. Waking up at the unnatural hour of five o'clock; driving an old, beat up car to work and often experiencing engine trouble; spending around eight hours daily with insipid employees, all of whom wore the exact same white shirt and black tie... Half of the workers were fed up, and ready to jump out of the fifth floor window.
Ben Hidden was one of them. He hated his job, and would like nothing more than to take his tie off, strangle his boss with it, and quit. Instead of the violent outburst, he resorted to wasting time away online during work. When he was supposed to be crunching numbers, he was watching shows about the exploits of colorful ponies. When he was meant to be accounting, he was making Flash games of his favorite characters from the aforementioned show... The boss never found out Ben's dirty little secrets.
One night, after a particularly boring workday, Ben was driving home when his engine began to give out. AGAIN. He panicked: there weren't any auto stores around the highway. To his relief, Ben noticed an old shack to the side, painted with the words "Equestrian Oddities".
It'll have to do... He told himself, After all, where else would I go?
The angered driver pulled over, and rushed into the shop. A tinny bell rang as the door opened, and the shopkeeper looked up. He was an old man, about 60, with a long gray beard and an worn straw hat. He smiled a toothless grin as the sight of Ben registered.
"Good to see a new face around here..." the old man croaked, "Nobody has come to my shop in a while... Now, what do you need?"
Ben looked around. It wasn't likely that this stupid trinket shop would have any car parts, let alone a mechanic to help install them. He sighed, and walked over to the counter.
"I don't suppose you would have any auto parts, would you?"
"No, kid, I don't believe we do... But that doesn't mean I can't help you. Quality guaranteed! Service'll be free with any purchase."
Ben laughed. He couldn't believe the old man! Free auto service, but no engine pieces? Whatever. He'd take what he could get. Ben looked over and grabbed the first thing he saw. He brought it back to the man.
"I'll take this," he stated, holding up the artifact. It was an iron amulet, with a big red gemstone in the center. Probably fake, he noted. The metal around the edges looked burnt, as if someone had tried to destroy it, yet failed. The decrepit shopkeeper grinned his gapped smile again.
"Oh, you'll enjoy that one," he said coyly, "Now... Show me to your car."
They walked back to the side of the highway together; Ben held tightly to his recent purchase. When the pair arrived at the old car, Ben frowned as he took in the full effect of the engine damage. The shopkeeper seemed not to care, just rubbing his hands together and biting his lip.
"Ooh, yeah, this is bad. Real bad. How long have you been driving this thing?" He questioned. Ben flinched. He could hardly remember.
"A very, very long time... Hold on, I think I have a socket wrench, or something in the trunk. I'll get that for you."
"No need. I've got this." The old man pulled his hat down further on his head and mumbled something underneath his breath. Ben noticed a faint yellow-ish glow around the man's covered forehead, and notice that the hat was bulging out a bit at that point. Weird.
"Alright. It's done."
The man began walking back to his shop.
"Wait, what? How? Nothing changed! Come back here, you crazy shopkeeper!"
The man turned back over his shoulder and winked at Ben.
"Trust me. It's done. Go start your car... And enjoy that pendant you bought."
Ben got in the driver's seat and turned the key. The engine roared to life, louder and more vivacious than ever before. The roar from his engine caused the shopkeeper's hat to fly off, and Ben could have sworn he saw a horn underneath the man's graying hair.
His drive home was uneventful, but Ben couldn't be more excited. His car had a new life, stronger and faster than when he'd bought it. And he had some inexplicable amulet riding in the passenger seat, which he was supposedly going to "enjoy". He didn't like how that made it sound like a dirty old sex toy...
When Ben finally got back to his house, it was already 11:45. He sighed, quickly disrobed, and flopped down on his old spring mattress. How in the world would he be able to get back up in three and a half hours to go back to work? Enraged, Ben screamed into his pillow.
A female voice rang through his ears, loud, yet soft at the same time. "Hello...?" It said questioningly, "Anyone there?"
Ben grunted incoherently and rolled over. Great, he thought, Not only will I have to get up soon, but I'm also hearing voices. I must be going insane.
The voice came back, "I know someone new's got the amulet... I just don't know who. And if you won't talk to me... I'll have to come over to you..."
A loud POOF sounded, and the air was filled with the smell of fresh air, grass, and pony.
Ben was even more confused than ever. He lay back down and resolved to think of it no longer.
I'm probably just hallucinating. I am pretty tired, He thought.
“Hey, HEY! Are you asleep? Answer the great Trixie!”
Ben sat up abruptly. He definitely heard a female voice that time.
“That's better. Trixie shall begin explaining the rules.”
He squinted, and through the darkness, he saw a light blue mare, about the same size and shape as a fully-matured pony. Weird.
“The spell that turns you into a pony lasts three days. After that, you'll turn back to human. Have a good time.”
Suddenly, Ben felt a warm sensation rushing throughout his entire body. Frightened, he looked around, seeing nothing but the blackness of night. His head began to feel like it was spinning.
“Getting a... little... woozy...”
He caught one last sight of “The Great Trixie” before completely passing out.
