A Pony Named Heartstrings
I woke up on a gravel road, my entire body aching. Mostly my head, though, and I couldn't see straight. As my vision came into focus, however, what I saw was slightly terrifying. A light pink equine form was laying on the other side of the road, brown mane drenched, like Mabel's. I could only guess that it was her. After all, I'd been warned many times that things in Gravity Falls were not what they seemed. Same sweater, same curly, messy brown hair, same dazed brown eyes.
"Mabel?" I asked.
"Yeah?" she responded.
"This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn't touched that portal..." my voice drifted off into oblivion. What would Soos and Grunkle Stan think? How long were we out for? I didn't know where we were, or why, but I needed to find out.
"Do you know where we are? It looks like that one stupid kids' show you like." I stated bluntly.
"It looks like Equestria. Did you know you're a unicorn?" she said, getting to her hooves.
"I- What?" I shouted, reaching a hoof up to my forehead. Sure enough, my hoof met a vaguely sharp, swirled unicorn horn. I was relieved to see that I still had my vest, hat, and t-shirt, but that was it. I walked over to a puddle to see what had changed. For one thing, I was blue. I'd kept my brown eyes, like Mabel had, and my rather messy brown hair. I noticed that she had wings, too.
"Why do you have wings? What the heck is going on?" I yelled.
"Keep it down! First off, I have wings?" she looked at the pink feathered wings at her sides. "Yay! I'm a pegasus! Somehow, we've been transported to Equestria! Oh my gosh, this is so cool!" she exclaimed, bouncing around.
"Um, okay, how do we get back? I suppose since you're such a genius about this, you should know." I replied, rolling my eyes.
"Well, Twilight's the smartest pony in town, you'd like her. She's too serious for me, it's just like, 'geez, live a little, dusty old books aren't the solution to life's problems.'" she said. I yawned again.
"Mabel, let's just try to find a place to spend the night." I said through my yawn.
We trotted through the streets of whatever town we were in (Mabel told me it was called Ponyville) in search of a hotel or inn. Finally we came to one, but we'd been travelling so long that by the time we got there, we were about ready to collapse onto the ground.
"Um, excuse me, do you have any rooms open, ma'am?" I asked drowsily.
"Yes, sir. Only 5 bits a night." the innkeeper stated. I looked over at Mabel, who whispered to me,
"Bits are money. We don't have any." I rolled my eyes.
"About that... um... thanks anyway." I said, exiting out the door. "I guess we'll sleep on park benches?" I asked Mabel, half-joking. She gave a somber nod, unusual for her.
My half-smile fell as Mabel and I went on the lookout for a place to stay. We finally decided on sleeping in front of Town Hall, as there would be something over our heads to shield from the rain and elevation from the ground. Plus, somebody was sure to find us and help us. We had no money, no food, and no beds to sleep in, but at least we had eachother.
-=<+>=-
I woke up late the next morning to jumbled voices. Ponies walked through Town Square noisily, chatting amongst themselves as they went off to various places. "Hey Mabel, wake up, it's morning." I nudged her with my hoof.
"I'm too tired, Dipping Sauce." she mumbled, rolling over.
"So am I, but ponies are starting to stare at us. We should get going." That got Mabel up. "So," I continued, "Given what this world looks like, I wouldn't be suprised if these ponies had names like 'Sparkle Wishes'. Our names will stand out, a lot, so we need new names. Any ideas?" Hoofsteps sounded behind me, a soft squish followed by louder clip-clops as the pony making them moved from the muddy road to the balcony. I turned around. A light seafoam-colored pony stood behind me, another unicorn. She was maybe a foot taller than me, possibly only 6 inches at the least. "Um... can I help you?" I asked.
"Well, for one thing, you're sleeping on the Town Hall balcony. Do you have nowhere else to sleep? You're only foals, for Celestia's sake!" she exclaimed, bright amber eyes gleaming in the late-morning sun.
"Um, who's Celestia? Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Lyra. I'm a musician." she cocked her head to the side. "How do you not know who Princess Celestia is? I hope that you don't mind that I heard, but what was with you guys wanting new names? It sounded like you're not even ponies at all..." she drifted off, eyes clouded by an unknown thought. She shook her head. "Nevermind that, let's get you two cleaned up, you look hungry. I know the best place for alfalfa burgers!"
Lyra led us through the streets to a small building on the far side of town. It had large glass windows and small wooden tables with pillows around them; Some were outside, but most were inside. "So, alfalfa burgers, apple cider, and large hay fries for both of you sound good?" the musician asked. We both nodded, although I was a bit unsure about 'hay fries' and 'alfalfa burgers'. I guess since we were technically horses, though, that we would eat those kinds of things. I'll admit I was curious to try them. Lyra seemed like a nice pony. Then again, most ponies here looked kind and trustworthy. It was just that Lyra was the only one that bothered to help.
She returned a few minutes later with a large brown plastic tray in some sort of magic aura. It had to be; Her horn was glowing the same golden color as the tray... and the portal. Her eyes were the same, too. On the tray were wooden mugs of apple cider, one of which had bubbles, meaning it was alcoholic. Miniature cardboard boxes held crispy fries, and on paper plates were a couple of remarkably normal-looking burgers. There was also a slice of pie. Lyra levitated her burger to her muzzle and dug in. Mabel couldn't use magic, though, and I had no idea how. I could assume, however, that pegasi and normal ponies pretty much just shoved their faces into their food and ate what they got. I tried to come up with a new pony name as I ate.The alfalfa burger was great, and the hay fries were nice and crispy. However, there was still much more on my mind.
Author's Note
SO MANY HiE CLICHES, OH MY GOSH. Mabel is far too serious here... Just ignore it. *shifty eyes*
Suggest pony names for Dipper and Mabel by PMing me and the winner(s) OC will get a shoutout in the story in some way, but just, like, in the background. Author reserves the right to not allow alicorn OC cameos or appearances. :)
Have a cipher to decode.
Wkh xqlfruq lv qrw zkdw vkh vhhpv.
Sleepover With A Musician
As I ate my burger and fries, I thought about what our names should be. Honestly, this whole situation would definitely freak anyone else out, but I see weirder things all the time. Mabel seemed to be enjoying herself; Maybe I should just settle down for a while. It's cool, right? We'll find a way to get back home, I'm sure of it. Just like how we beat the gnomes, and how we fought Gideon and destroyed his amulet.
"So, I'm assuming that since you were sleeping in front of Town Hall, you have nowhere to go, right?" Lyra asked, bringing my thoughts back to the present.
"Um, no, we don't." I replied flatly.
"You guys can stay at my place if you want. Sure beats sleeping where you were." She said, smiling warmly.
"Oh my gosh, sleepover! What should we do? Tell ghost stories? Go to the spa?" Mabel said, grinning.
We finished our meals and went on our way. Lyra lived only a few streets away. Her house was fairly normal on the outside, a simple, 2-story abode with a thatched roof.
"I've got a bed in the guest room down the hall for you guys. You guys'll need to share it, sorry." she said. "So, how's about we take a trip to the spa?" Lyra grabbed a pair of tan saddlebags off a hook.
We walked down the gravel road. Lyra and Mabel were chatting away. I held my hat over my face; I couldn't be seen going to a spa! Granted, nobody but Mabel knew me here, but still, it's a bit embarassing. Guys are supposed to be tough, we don't do girly thhings like this, but I guess since I'm in a place in which I'm a technicolor unicorn with huge eyes, it's socially acceptable.
A bell chimed cheerily as Lyra held the door open with a forehoof. We stepped into the oddly-shaped building, where we were instantly greeted by a pair of pink and blue ponies- probably twins like us, but we're fraternal twins and they seem to be identical- who introduced themselves to us as Aloe and Lotus. We were escorted to a smaller room with mirrors and various hairstyling things. We each sat down in a chair.
A blonde mare with her mane and tail in braids took my hat off and set it on a counter behind me. I almost turned around to grab it, but knew not to.
"My name is Helga. How would you like your mane styled today?" she asked in a light German accent. Or maybe it was Norwegian, or Polish.
"I don't care." I said in a deadpan tone.
"I would suggest that you take off ze vest and shirt, you don't want it to get wet, ya?" I took them off, and Helga led me to a large shower stall on the other side of the room. I heard Mabel snicker- probably at the thought of me being in a spa- as I stepped in, struggling to turn the handle to turn the water on. I took note of many shampoos, conditioners, and body washes sitting on ledges in the walls. I finally got the water on, and shampooed my mane and tail. Then I used a body wash for my coat, scrubbing mud out of the pale blue fur. Ugh, everything smelled like roses. I quickly washed the shampoo out of my coat and mane.
I turned off the water, which wasn't an easy task, especially with wet hooves. I stepped out of the shower stall and put on a fluffy white bathrobe I found hanging on a hook next to the curtain. Nobody else was really around, which was weird. Where the heck were Mabel and Lyra? They must just be finishing up in the shower; That would explain why water was running, obviously. I sat down on a bench and waited for them. My mane was soaked and hung into my face annoyingly. I wondered if I still had my birthmark on my forehead. I walked over to a mirror and lifted up my bangs with a hoof. Sure enough, there it was, the reddish outline of the Big Dipper. It wasn't anything important right now, I was just curious.
I sat back down on the bench. Mabel stepped out of the shower across from mine, dripping water everywhere. Not that it made a difference in how wet the floor was.
"Haha, you're at the spa." she said, giggling.
"Shut up."
Lyra stepped into the room, wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe.
"Hey guys, they're waiting for us back in the salon."
We walked back into the salon area, where Helga, Aloe, and Lotus were waiting. Luckily, since I'm a guy and my hair is short, it didn't hurt that much when Helga combed out the tangles; Mabel wasn't lucky at all in this department. Her long hair was messier than mine, and curled a lot at the ends. Her wings were flared out in alarm, their feathers still drenched, as Lotus combed through her mane. Meanwhile, Helga had finished combing out my mane, and was now working on straightening it.
"So, do you guys want to go see a movie later? I have some gift certificates leftover from my birthday." Lyra said.
"Sure."
"Oh my gosh, yes! This is going to be the best day ever!" Mabel shouted, wincing as Lotus tugged out the knots in her tail. Helga was mixing up something in a small bowl with a paintbrush.
"Hey, what's that you're mixing up there?" I asked.
"Oh, it's just some light brown highlights. I don't mean to insult you, but I thought you might like some variation instead of just dull brown." she responded. I raised an eyebrow at this, unsure.
"Just a few shades, right? I don't really want anything too extreme."
"Oh, ya. Stallions aren't really into this sort of thing. You're a brave colt, ya know that? Not many come to the spa very often."
Mabel snickered again, probably planning to use this to blackmail me in the future. Lyra read a magazine from one of the side tables. Helga ripped some aluminum foil off of a roll on the counter.
"Hey, Dipper, should I get my mane dyed pink?" Mabel asked excitedly. I glared at her.
"No. You're already pink, you'd look like a walking piece of cotton candy." I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
"Purple? OOH, how about rainbow?!" she shouted, practically bouncing up and down. Lotus took some bowls and dyes out of the cupboard above the counter, filling each with a different color of the rainbow. Another dish was filled with bleach.
"Wait a minute. Did she say you're name's 'Dipper'? Is that short for something? Come to think of it, I never asked you guys for your names." Lyra said.
"Um... yeah. It's short for 'Big Dipper', like the constellation." I said.
"Oh, and my name's... uh... Shooting Star!" Mabel said. Lyra eyed her suspiciously. Her hesitation must've given her away. We needed to at least blend in long enough to get home somehow, right? Wait, how were we supposed to get help if we didn't tell somebody? At this point, I really wasn't sure.
"Hey, where are your guys' parents? Are you orphans or something?" Lyra asked. "Why have I never seen you before? It's as if you just popped up out of nowhere!"
"We, uh, lived in the woods, in a cottage, and uh, a wolf chased us out and killed our parents." I lied. I just hope she believes it; I'm terrible at lying! Aloe continued to trim Lyra's mane and tail as Lotus and Helga dyed mine and Mabel's. I guess we both looked silly with foil in our hair. Well, at least Mabel did.
After we were done getting spa treatments, including hooficures (which I politely declined) and facials, which I guess I needed. I had bags under my eyes from too many nights up late reading. Mabel kept trying to eat the cucumbers over her eyes. Helga had done subtle highlights and lowlights in my mane, and Mabel's was a vibrant spectrum of various colors. Well, to each his own.
"You guys had better not drag me to a rom-com." I grumbled as we trotted to the theater.
"Well, do you guys like comedies? Or would an action movie be better, to make up for us dragging you to the spa?" Lyra chuckled.
"ACTION MOVIE." I said, a little too quickly.
"Well, we've got Iron Hoof, Fallout: Equestria, and Nightmare in Everfree." Lyra said. "Well, the last two are technically horror, and they're rated R, so Iron Hoof is the only option, really."
We made it to the theater, but had to wait for a half hour before the next showing. Meanwhile, Lyra got all three of us some hay popcorn and sasparilla. The movie was basically Iron Man, but with ponies. Mabel was only really interested in the fight scenes, but I tended to overanalyze things, so I paid attention to it all. I still wasn't too happy about getting my mane dyed, though, so I probably didn't enjoy it as much because I was still grumpy from that.
After the movie, it was pretty late, and we were all a bit tired. We'd spent a long time at the spa, and the film was a couple hours long, so it was around 7:00 by the time we got back.
"So, what do you two want for dinner? Does spaghetti work? 'Don't have any tomato sauce or parmesan, though, but I've got some butter." Lyra asked. We nodded our heads.
Lyra started to boil some water in a pot, stirring in the noodles. The entire house was filled with the scent of boiling noodles (not a very interesting smell, if you've ever cooked pasta) while Mabel and I tried to figure out what was going on.
"How have we never noticed that portal before?" I asked.
"I dunno, you're the nerd. C'mon, let's just have some fun while we're here! It probably won't last long." Mabel added sadly.
I gave a somewhat weak smile, knowing she was right. Still, I wanted answers.
"Hey, Dipper! Star! Spaghetti's done!" Lyra called. We rushed down the hall to the kitchen. On the dark wooden table were two bowls of steaming spaghetti, with a pat of butter on top. We all sat down at the table.
"Do you guys say grace or anything?"
"Not usually, we just go ahead and eat." Mabel responded.
Lyra chuckled, and levitated a fork out of a drawer to the table. We all dug into our spaghetti, mostly headfirst.
After dinner we all went to bed, us going to the guest room and Lyra going to her own room. The walls were plain white, which was calming after a whole day surrounded by bright colors, and a small lamp with a large red button on it was sitting on a table on my side of the bed. Mabel fell asleep almost immediately, but I always had too much time for thinking between closing my eyes and falling asleep. I fell asleep thinking about how odd this whole situation was.
Author's Note
Zrz, Glsshu. Krz pdqob.
Lyra will not be a Wendy substitute. She will also not be Mabel's best friend or Dipper's love interest. 100% Pinecest free. Don't ask what it is...
Mr. Caesarian will be out next time. Mrs. Atbash will substitute. Also, did you notice that Shooting Star is also what Bill Cipher calls Mabel? Just a little easter egg for y'all. Also, I ended up not going with any contest names, but I'll still give a background cameo to the only person who sent in an entry. I'm so sorry that they're so OOC, I try guys, I really do! :( Be sure to tell me if you see continuity errors, plot holes (shut up, mr. filthypants!) or other errors so that I can fix them!
Also. If you think this has too much detail, well, details help you build a better picture of what's happening. That's just how I write. Don't like it? Deal with it.
I stared up at the ceiling above me. My twin sister, Mabel, snored quietly on the other side of the room. I looked at the clock, which read 11:38 in bright neon letters. Finally, I decided to go for a walk in the woods. It was dangerous to go alone, but Mabel slept lightly, like me, and I knew she'd wake up. She always did. I sat up and put on my favorite hat, the white and blue one with the pine tree. Then I put my black tennis shoes on, double knotting each with a neat bow. The wooden floorboards of the attic where we slept creaked as I walked to the door. Mabel sat up, trying to rub the sleepiness from her eyes.
"Dipper, where the heck are you going? It's too late, go back to bed." she said, her voice thick with drowsiness.
"I'm going out for a walk. I can't sleep." I responded. Mabel sat up on her bed and yawned.
"If you're going, I'm going with you." she said with a determined stare. She pulled a black sweater- the one with a yellow lightning bolt- over her head, getting up to go put her shoes on.
We walked into the forest together, carrying bright LED flashlights with us. Mud from that day's rain coated the soles of my shoes, and water dripped from the needles of the pines. Raindrops batted at the branches, threatening to drench us. I'd had the good sense to not bring my '3' journal out into this weather. It was too valuable to lose. Mabel and I walked silently together through the woods, following a lazily curved path paved with pine needles. Of course, I was always a bit on edge, but who wouldn't be? These were the woods, in Gravity Falls, of all places. Dangerous things live here, but hey, the town's still here, so nothing could be too terrible. In the darkness I spotted a soft, orange glow, warm like a fire. In a particularly thick pine tree, a ring of golden light illuminated the night, surrounding a jet-black oval as big as a person. Mabel must've noticed it too, for she ponted to it and asked,
"Hey, what's that?"
"I don't know, I've never seen it before. Maybe it's a portal." I responded, somewhat sarcastically. Mabel, however, didn't get it, and proceeded to walk right up to the portal and poke it with a stick.
In the blink of an eye, the portal started to suck her in like a vaccum. In the panic, we both dropped our flashlights as I raced toward her, grabbing her leg. Yet, pull as I might, I wasn't making much of a difference.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahh!" we screamed as the portal swallowed us.
Author's Note
Little by little, guys, little by little. The ponies shall come soon. I've been working on this story since 2/22/14.
SHORT CHAPTER, I KNOW. NEXT ONE WILL BE LONGER, I PROMISE. A LOT LONGER.
Yeah, I know Mabel and Dipper might be a tad OOC in this fic. Advice always helps. :) Pointing out the obvious won't.
Remember: Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye! -Bill Cipher
Yes, I know the indents may be weird. I do it the manual way, with 5 spaces. Not the tab key. I may go back and fix it.
Every chapter will have a fun cipher to decode, like in Gravity Falls' end credits and in various places throughout the show. Some are spoilers and lampshading, others are just easter eggs. DO NOT POST DE-CODES IN COMMENTS OR I WILL DELETE THEM. Remember, three letters back!
Wkh sruwdo lv lq khu hbhv
