“Game over, man. Game over!” I preached with a heavy tone of desperation on my voice.
This had been how I expressed myself for as long as I could remember. I had spoken the line more times then you like to know of. It is part of me, just as it will always be.
From time to time, I have the little Angle on my right shoulder, in the fashion the Pirate had his Parrot in olden days. The effect is just as stark here. I love to see the look in the eyes of the once who see her, the centaur with the wings of an Angel.
Her skin is an exceptionally light complexion. The coat of her equine looking body a chocolate brown. As an Angle, she had glistering black hair and green eyes, while her hooves are a pinkish cerise. Apparently she had no problem to stay securely on my shoulder. Maybe it is part of being my personal Angle, or is it merely magic involved.
I'm wearing a light T-shirt and regular pants, socks and leather shoes, since it is a warm day. All she wear is a tight green top, not so much because she had to, she just like to wear it. Maybe it is a habit, since she use to be in her girl form at her school, I never asked her. The equine body never require any clothes, thankfully.
What I carry with me, I keep in either a small backpack, or a suit case. All depending on where I am, and what business I happened to be in.
I don't really have an actual home as such, I stay at a room of the most convenient hotel at the city or village I happen to stay at the time. I lost the interest in possession of a physical address for myself, years back. Maybe it is in part a matter of the Agency I have been working for. It is what it is and I don't care to change it.
Once Eponey gave me the gate, I haven't really enjoyed the regular mode of transportation. Cabs, buses, trains, planes, ship, they no longer call out to me. I just use them from time to time, when it is convenient, since I don't need to let on that I have the gate. I can take a cab, or a bus, a train or the like, when it is included in the description of an address.
Something I soon found out, is how the gate is giving me the local currency, wherever I show up, if I use the gate to take me to where I wanted to go. Maybe this is part of the reason why I don't enjoy to go places any other way, or is it the matter of security.
Using the gate is easy. It merely creates a rift through which I can go to where ever I chose to go. Sometimes it creates the illusion of some kind of a door, making you think I used a regular means to leave.
This time I had placed my door on an existing door to the restroom of the hotel I had been staying at, just that I had just checked out, carrying all my belongings in the backpack. With that, none was the wiser as to where I went, which is the way I like it.
I had stepped right into a café known as 'Sugar-Cube Corner', which seems a convenient place to have a meal.
The chimes went off and the pink Pony looked up, soon finding a male Human squarely in her site as I approached the counter where she was standing.
“Greetings, Stranger. Welcome to Sugar-Cube Corner and Ponyville!” she squealed happily as she saw a new face she never had seen before.
“Hi, Pinkie Pie and thanks!” I responded and started to look at the assorted pastries stored behind the glass of the counter to the right and left of the pink mare I had before me.
She may have been the first Equestrian Pony I had seen, but after all the various individuals I had seen, a talking Pony was the least of my worries, pink or otherwise. She did look too nice to scare me, so I simply made my best effort to give her an expression and posture to give her the same impression of me. Why should I scare or bother any Pony? Bothering others felt like bad business to me. Besides, she is tending the counter where I was to buy my breakfast, from what I could see, had I been looking out the windows.
“I'm John Doe, but I guess you could call me Doe!” I then added, as if something told me how their name traditions worked.
Then I continued to go over what Cakes and Cookies were on display.
“Okeley dokeley, Mr. Doe. Just a strange name for a male? I hope you find something to your taste. Our Muffins are renown far and wide. Should be great for breakfast at this time of the day too!” she concluded.
“Yeah, I guess it is kind of an odd name, since it is the expression for an unknown Male where I came from. They are? Sure look delicious, from what I could see. Breakfast you say? Looks like it, going by the light from outside!” I responded.
“That is what I thought too. I doubt you find any better Muffins anywhere else in Ponyville or any other place. Hmm, you sure are the strangest Stranger I have ever seen!” Pinkie Pie confessed.
I read the labels, as I picked out my choice. Then I noticed Eponey had landed by my side, still in her Angelic form, now a full four feet tall.
“Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Apple and Lemon would be great. A Pot of Lemon tea and two cups would be great, too!” I then concluded.
“Woah, where did you come from?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as Eponey landed on the floor.
“Sorry if I startled you, Pinkie Pie. I'm Eponey. I was merely sitting on my friend Doe's shoulder as he entered your café. I guess we're both new here!” Eponey responded.
“No problem, Eponey. A winged Centaur, now I have seen everything? I also need to throw you a party, since I know you are both new to Ponyville. I hope you will stay long enough for me to prepare for the party!” she then expressed.
“Could I have two of the Blackberry Muffins?” Eponey enquired.
“Sure!” Pinkie Pie responded as she pulled out the final two Muffins asked for.
I calculated the expected cost and extracted the bits and placed them on the counter. I noticed Eponey extracted the bits for her Muffins at the same time. Pinkie Pie collected and counted the coins, before she slipped them into the register under the counter.
“I take it you will enjoy your breakfast here today?” Pinkie Pie then added.
“That is what we had planned!” I responded.
I saw the pink Pony place the plates and pot on a small cart with the two cups as we walked into the room inside, where we soon found a table in the corner.
“This certainly looks like one of the better Café's I've seen you at. I'm going to enjoy this breakfast!” Eponey exclaimed.
“I'm sure you will and so will I. I'll take her recommendation and stay here for a good long while, too, by the way!” I then added.
Author's Note
Grammarly Spell Check
“Thanks for taking me to Ponyville. It is nice to see a different place like this!” I pondered.
“You're welcome. Yeah, it sure is a nice place. If I can't get used to it, it is still a vacation from my regular life as it was!” he spoke softly in an amused tone of voice, smiling inwards towards himself.
“Yes, we are. Isn't that part of the joy? I think I will enjoy this, but as a native, or as close to as possible. I'll try to blend in with these Ponies, mainly for the joy of it!” I put forth, taking on the form of what would pass for a regular Pony, short of my wings.
Moving around on four hooves isn't anything new to me, I am after all born to be a Centaur. Even if I had been born by Humans, into a human girl, fate had it very differently for me. Now I will try to make something fun and enjoyable out of it. As a little girl, or filly, why shouldn't I? Funny how easy I slipped into the local vocabulary.
Being a Filly isn't all that strange to me, I have been a Centaur for a good while and I was after all born to it, even if I was a girl at birth. What may be strange, is all the Ponies around me. Just that there are so many Ponies all over the place. Though my friend John is still his usual self, even if he chose to go by his last name here.
Even if John is a Human male, it is I who is the most strange, even when I am moving around like a Pony. My wings are not the wings of a Pegasus, yet I still do possess all my magic undiluted. Even if I may choose to forgo its uses enough not to stick out.
I had enjoyed my Muffins, just as I could see he had enjoyed his. I couldn't blame him, the Mare clearly knew her baking.
“I enjoyed my breakfast, but I will need something more to fill my day. It is still plenty of time before lunch, you better rest from your stressful work. I think I should go out and explore the village for a while!” I exclaimed.
“It was a stroke of genius, going here. I sure did enjoy my breakfast too. I'll have my breakfast at the café every morning, for as long as we stay here!” he merely responded with glee in his voice and a smile on his face.
I had found a small Inn at the edge of the village. Just a dozen rooms altogether, but we only need one. Just one double bed. A shower is included on the room, but the meals would be in a small dining room on the ground floor and half of the space is outdoors in summer.
Maybe we would sample their cosine, but I still like to have my breakfast at the Sugar-Cube Corner and have Pinkie Pie serve us.
As enjoyable as the breakfast had been, I'm still considering to have lunch at some other restaurant instead, just to make the meals more special.
“I guess it is a kind of a dream to have your breakfast in a place like this. Seeing Ponies would be a small price, unless you have a problem with them?” I suggested.
“I could see this as the childhood dream of most every little girl, going here, have her serve breakfast. Aside from the fact that her pastries are delicious too!” he teased back.
“I think I need to see more of the community. Maybe they even have a library somewhere? If so, I need to see what they have available for reading!” I pondered.
“Then you could pick out the lunch for us, while you are out? I hope they have a good library, as small as Ponyville may look to us. I just can't see how their library can be a match of the library you're used to!” he pondered.
“At least I have a few hours to find where they would serve us lunch. I fear you are right on the quality of their library and the librarian. I'll just have to make due. You just rest and relax. Enjoy your vacation. It isn't as if anyone can find you here!” I pointed out.
“Since we had an early breakfast, yeah. A village like this would most likely not even have a library like our branch library, or a librarian to go, but if they have a library with an eager librarian. You'll have fun for hours!” he teased.
“You just enjoy yourself while I go out, I'll most likely be back in about an hour, or at least before lunch time!” I promised, as I left the small room.
“See you in time for lunch, then!” he added as I left.
“See you when I am back from the library, unless you choose to go out and meet me there!” I responded as I left the room.
Expecting an important 'building', like a library to be in or close to the centre of the community proved correct. Only this library isn't a building, but a large tree. Maybe I should be more surprised, or I should have expected it all along. Either way, I eagerly approached the door up front and knocked thrice in a playful succession. The next moment I hear a set of hoof steps closing in and a voice coming from the other side of the wooden door.
“Just a moment!” Twilight emphasised as she moved to the door, opening it as she was merely a few steps away, in the time-tested Unicorn fashion, how else.
“Hi, I'm Eponey. Nice library. I hope I can come in and see the books!” I greeted her in the door as I entered.
“Hi, Eponey. Thanks. Since the library is open, you're free to enter and read the books. You are a Pegasus, right?” she responded as she allowed me entry.
“A Pegasus? Oh yeah, my wings. I guess you could call me that, though it isn't very close to who, or what I am. Maybe foal is exact in some ways, though. With a library like yours, I am certain I will enjoy my stay here!” I pointed out.
“Yes, your wings do stand out, kind of hard to miss. Winged Ponies are commonly referred to as Pegasi. When you put it like that, you are reminding me of a foal named Scootaloo. You look as if you could be her age. She is attending the local school at this time of the day. There is just this one detail that makes the likeness fall flat. For one, she can't fly, which I imagine you are quite good at. Secondly, your magical aura is different from any Pony I ever seen. You are by chance not from anywhere in Equestria, right?” she then responded.
“If my wings stands out, that would merely be the tip of the Ice Berg. I guess I could have hidden them if I wanted, but what's the point. A Pegasus that can not fly? Yes, and that is a thing I guess I could show. Yes, I am from a very different place. Maybe I could show you a few of the places I have been to, some time. I like your library!” I responded as I spread my wings and slowly took off from the floor.
“There is something about you that just sets you apart. If you truly are a Fillie, you are brighter than I was expecting. If you could show me the place where you are from, I guess that would be interesting. I have been out of Equestria once, but something makes me think your home would be stranger and very fascinating. Maybe you could show me?” she pondered.
“From the looks of it, you are bound to love the Library. Not all are Equines where I come from and we are born in a human form. I chose the fully Equine version of me for my stay here, I enjoy being like this just as much as either of my other forms. You are sure to hear from Pinkie Pie about it. She looks like the kind of Pony who is friend of everypony. Just bubbling over with that hyper, energetic joy. Pondering if she is planning to have a Party for me and my friend who came with me. He opened up the gate into her Café, which felt like a good idea, and she certainly did serve a memorable and enjoyable breakfast!” I rambled.
“Sounds as if you have a Royal Library at your school, I certainly enjoyed that, when I was taught magic, back when Princess Celestia was teaching me. Could you by chance show me another form or two of yours? If you had your breakfast at the Sugar-Cube Corner, she is a hoof full and can't stop planning Parties for any newcomer, or what ever excuse she comes up with. I have enjoyed the breakfast there on occasion and did enjoy it each and every time!” she responded.
“I sense a kindred spirit in the love of learning and books. Maybe I should meet her before we leave Equestria, by the sound of what you said. That is the place. If she does throw a party for me and my friend, I will be there, can't miss up on what she is sure to put before us. From my experience, I can see how you had to enjoy it. Since we are alone inside of your Library, I guess it would be safe!” I expressed, as I started to slip into another form.
“You are a Centaur?” she responded as I had made the first change.
“Yes, I am. I hope it doesn't bother you!” I pointed out, rapidly changing into a Human form, the form I had been born into by my parents, though I still did keep my Angel's wings.
“Your Centaur form still bring up a less than joyous memory from before. For now I think I prefer your human form, with as well as without the wings of yours. Maybe in part due to the trip to Canterlot High I made a while back. Every Pony were Humans on that side of the Gate I had to step through. It was hard on me at first, but I slowly adapted and got used to it. Kind of strange at first, knowing them, while they did not quite know me. Just curious, what kind of wings are they?” she responded.
“Then I guess I should make due with the fully Equine and Human forms. I guess you can explain these events if and when we get the time. Angle Wings. I guess you don't really see any like that around here, then. Even if I may look a bit odd and out of place, as a Pony, I still would be blending in better than any other forms I have!” I pondered as I reverted to the Equine form, once more.
“Now you kind of remind me of a Pegasus by the name of Bulk Biceps, just that he still is a Stallion and massively muscular, as opposed to you. His wings are just too small, too. Maybe it is good you look like this. A friend of mine also have different wings, or had. She was a Bat Pony at the time. I guess you could imagine!” she pondered.
“Sorry, never heard of him, but it is my first day of my first time here. Ponies and Equines I've seen are all streamlined, just like you and me. Just like all the Ponies I have seen here today, like Pinkie Pie. She sure feels like a festive enough Pony to be around. I have seen a few other types of Ponies too!” I responded.
“Yeah, I know. She certainly is the festive Pony to have a round. We certainly are lucky to have her around here in Ponyville. Aside from all the Parties, she does help us with certain other issues I guess I could live without. I like my time with the books in my Library, just like every other Pony like the quiet time, just doing their job, living their lives!” she confessed.
“For the love of books and learning, you certainly are in the right place here. I would predict a bright future for Ponyville, with Ponies like you and Pinkie Pie here. Though I guess I do feel a certain presence disturbing the calm every day lives. I think I could get used to a life here, meeting and getting to know all the nice Ponies, your friends!” I continued.
“If it was up to me, you would be welcome to move in. I can't see a single reason why you shouldn't be free to. Though I guess there is a Pony or two who would come up with an excuse. While you are here in Equestria, there are a few other places you may enjoy seeing too. As a Pegasus, you should see Coudsdale. Though you may be interested in seeing Canterlot and Manehattan, aside from a few other places too. Even if Honesty isn't my element, I should still point out a place you may consider avoiding too. The Everfree forest isn't a safe place to be. If we have time and you would like, I guess I could show you a glimpse, just so you know what I mean!” she pointed out.
“I guess I do have to see Cloudsdale, then. I just have to make time and find some Pony who can show me around, hoping you know who would like to help out. Then I may have to see a few more places, if you could help me with that part. Maybe tomorrow, just after breakfast would be the right time to see the forest?” I suggested.
“There could only be one Pony in question, I know her only too well. Rainbow Dash. She just happen to be the element of Loyalty, and the best flyer Equestria has to offer. I think you can get along well with her, though. She does like to be the Prankster from time to time, hope she doesn't get on your Nerves, though!” she put forth.
Since you know her, I guess I have to see her soon enough. Interesting a Name for a Pony, seems to be the rule, rather then the exception around here. Loyalty, that's something I could appreciate. Sounds as if I will have quite the time with her around. If she tries to test me, I will simply have to give her a little of her own Medicine? I do have a trick or two I could pull on her, I guess. Just hope she will enjoy them!” I responded.
“She is one of my closest friends, just like Pinkie Pie and yeah, that is the tradition around here. Now I suspect we may be in the middle of a Prankster War only too soon. Yeah, she may need something like that from time to time, wouldn't be the first time. Since we are in a library, what kind of a book would I tempt you with? You did mention that you love books, just like I do!” she enquired.
“A Magic book or two could prove interesting. Maybe a book about Ponies, or what other 'People' lives in Equestria. History and culture would also be interesting, since I am new here. Any of these would be my first choice!” I replied.
“Magic isn't a game here, I hope you do realise that. Books about Ponies and other 'People', I think we have a few of these to. History, a Fillie like you are interested in History?” she put forth, maybe surprised by the serious topics of my choice.
“What filly is asking for a book of Magics?” came from a side room out of eye shot.
“Eponey, that is just Spike, my assistant, he is a Dragon. I hope it doesn't bother or scare you!” she pointed out.
The next moment the Dragon slipped into the room, looking curiously at the new Pony standing beside the Unicorn before him.
“Spike, this is Eponey. Eponey, this is Spike!” she then presented.
“Hi, Spike. Nice to see you. You are the first Dragon I have seen around here. I hope I'm not bothering you!” I offered.
“Hi, Eponey. Nice to see you too. Naeh, not really. If you don't mind me saying, you do have the strangest wings I have ever seen, on a Pony or otherwise!” he responded.
“No problems at all. If you haven't seen a Pony or Pegasus like me, it would be due to the fact that I am from very far away and even then, there are very few like me even where I am from. I guess you know that feeling, being a Dragon among Ponies in Ponyville? Seeing you makes it a more interesting place, I guess. So, you are the assistant Librarian here. A very important job for a Dragon your age, I take it!” I pondered.
“Hmm, I could go as far as to call you a Pony, not sure if Pegasus is the right word, even if you are a Pony with wings. Not that I can see a horn in your forehead, so Alicorn would be even more wrong in your case. There is the one Bat Pony we had here a while back, a small incident that hit a kind friend of mine by the name of Flutter Shy. Even living in a Library, I just can't quite come up with the correct word. Yeah, I am the only Dragon in Ponyville. To my knowledge, the only one living with Ponies in Equestria too. I guess that makes sense. I followed Twilight Sparkle here when she moved in, into the library. I have lived with her ever since. As strange as it may seem, she raised me from the day she hatched the egg I came from. I guess it is an important job and I can't say I am all that old!” he responded.
“I do know a few Pegasi from other places. I am not really like any of them. I commonly would call myself a Pegasyus or a Fillie, while I am here. Back home, I would be a Girl or a Centaur. I am also a Magician and an Angle, which is where my wings are from. I have seen a few things none my age should have seen and more than enough no living being should even dream of. In retrospect, talking Ponies and Dragons is a Picnic. I have enjoyed my stay here this far. I plan to see more of Equestria in the coming days, before I go home. Maybe I could send some nice gifts to your library and the friends I'm picking up here!” I pondered.
“I have seen a few girls when I was at Canterlot High with Twilight a while back, that was a strange experience. I only saw one Centaur, Tirek, not a nice experience. You mean to say, you can do magic? Angel, I don't think I have even heard of any such things. Then again, I am a very young Dragon, after all. I guess it may explain why your wings does look so strange, at least!” he then pondered in response.
