“Hmm, I wonder if I combine wolfsbane with garlic it will produce the right reaction.” This thought was pondered by a young, unicorn mare. She poured over her research material with intellectual haste, turning to and fro between her books and her test tubes. This was the prodigal Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia herself. “Oh shoot! Looks like I’ve used up all my wolfsbane. I’m going to need to visit Zecora if I wanna get this potion just right. Maybe I can get her expert opinion on a few others that I have been working on, too! Now where did I put that journal?”
Twilight moved around, searching for her missing journal only for it to come flying over to her. She looked and smiled at the winged creature holding the book. “Why thank you Owlowiscious. You are so thoughtful.” With a bit of magic, Twilight placed the book inside her saddlebags and got ready to leave. “You keep an eye on the library while I’m gone Owly. If you do good, then I will be sure to get you extra special treat!”
“Who!”
“You, silly,” Twilight giggled at her own joke. “See ya later!” With that, the young mare was off.
Oh boy, it must be nice being a pony, but then again not many get a job like me. Oh, hello there! I didn’t see you come in. Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library, where every book will have you ‘bark’ing for more! Ohohoh… yeah that was a terrible joke; I’m still working on our proper motto. Now, who am I, you ask? Well, allow me to introduce myself: I am the number two assistant here at this wonderful establishment, Owlowiscious.
Although, that wasn’t my original name, no, nor was this my birth form. Oh, but you don’t want to hear the tales of a old bird like me, now do you? What? You want to hear my story? Well, um, I don’t know, I’ve never been good with talking about myself, but then again not many know my tale. Very well then. Friends, bronies, countrymen lend me your ears and I shall tell you my tale of life after we are gone.
My tale begins many years ago, several months before I met my caretaker, Twilight Sparkle. It seems like so long ago these days that its almost as if it were dream, yet I know that it was no dream. I was a different fellow back then, a human by the name of Michelangelo if you can believe it. One would think I was named after the famous sculptor, but alas no I was named after that blasted mutant turtle. Oh why did I have to be born such a family? Oh, do you think I’m going to go off into the old ‘woe is me I had a terrible family and now I can live in the utopia that is Equestria’ spiel? Most certainly not.
No, in fact I adored my family, just not my beginnings. My mother was at a very young age at the time of my conception, you see, and my father was one of those few rare ones that ‘stuck around’ as it were. It was a hard time all those years ago. We were not a poor family, but we only had enough to scrape by. I did what I could to help my mother and father as I got older, always appreciating the little things that we got to do. Why, I remember my first vacation when father got that wonderful Christmas bonus. Of course it wasn’t very large, what with him working for a small printing shop at the time, but it was enough for us to go visit a nearby city for a few days. Oh it was so wonderful getting to see New York City for the first time. We lived in upstate New York for most of my life, but we never got out of our small town very much. Oh the sights and the sounds were so glorious to my younger self. Ah, those were the days, no?
Ah, but we are getting off track now aren’t we? Where was I? Oh yes, my beginnings towards Equestria. Yes, let’s see, oh it was so long ago now that I hope I don’t forget anything. Let’s see, ah now I remember! It was a warm summer’s day in Washington D.C. and I was busy toiling away my day at my job. Oh how I so loved my job! You see, I was the head librarian at the Library of Congress! Oh it was a dream come true for a young Michelangelo! Yes, I prefered to use my full name instead of something as ridiculous as ‘Mikey’. I shudder whenever anyone dared to use that name for me.
Whoops, I guess I’m scatterbrained quite well these days. Ah, but I was not so young all those years ago. I had worked in that cornucopia of knowledge for nearly thirty years by then. What a glorious thirty years those were. I was able to do all the things I had wanted to with my life, I even was able to study abroad in England for a few semesters, just like I dreamed. I majored in library science if you could believe it, even received my PhD. A secondary major in literature was also quite beneficial to me.
Why my fascination with books? Well, growing up, books were all I could ever afford because the library let me take them home for free. I, of course, always returned them, on time I might add, but they were always cherished in my hands. It was a secluded childhood, yes. I knew many of you would ask, and yes I was quite similar to Twilight in that respect. Unlike her, however, I never grew attached to others, always relying on my books for company. So many stories, with so little time in life. It was being around all those books that allowed me to see my destiny would lie with them, in sharing their greatness with others. So, after years of study and dedication, I started in a small town library in Pennsylvania, but I soon began working my way up the ladder, as they say. Until finally one day, I was recommended to the Library of Congress, where I spent the best years of my life.
I had many wonderful things during those years. Money, which I knew that I should never waste and was always careful with what I did with it, stable employment, and most importantly of all a loving wife. Ah yes, Cortana. She was so beautiful, as if she were crafted by God himself. Oh how I miss her, but I have had many years to move on. Sadly, she was taken from me far too soon. She had taken ill from a terrible flu, only for it develop even worse into pneumonia. Those days were the worst of my life, being unable to ease my wife’s pain as she slowly left this world. I cried so much on the day that she was finally relieved of her pain, knowing that I would never be able to hold her again, at least not until I had passed on as well.
But, that was my past life. You probably don’t want to hear an old man talk about his life for on and on, so let’s get to what you came here for. Well, as I said it was ordinary summer day, not that I paid it any mind. I had just finished reshelving the historical fiction section and was now on my way for lunch. Eating in the library was allowed by the staff, but I could never bring myself to violate such a sanctuary like that. So with my messenger bag slung around me, I made my way out into the heat for a quick bite to eat. Ah, I rhymed, how droll. Well, as I was walking down the street, I noticed a young girl, no older than seven chase after a ball into traffic. A trailer truck was barreling right toward her, and I knew I could get to her just in time to save her. So, mustering what little courage this bookworm had, I threw myself at the child, pushing her out of danger. The only problem is, that I took her place.
For a moment, there was a burning pain all over my body, but it was gone in an instant. I was surrounded by white, just white. Nothing more, nothing less. Just an endless land of white. I felt… nothing. Nothing at all, strange enough. That soon changed, though, as my eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier. Soon, I had passed into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke who knows how long later, sitting in a tree of all things. Twas a strange day that was. I was frightened, I was confused, but I was also disappointed. I had always hoped that when I moved on, I would be able to meet up with my lost wife after so long apart. But no, I was to die heroically, to a point, only to be brought to a strange forest in the middle of nowhere. And also transformed into an owl. Most certainly the strangest of days indeed.
Author's Note
This was an idea that I came up with late at night. Questions and comments are appreciated.
An owl. I was turned into an owl. Well, I reacted just as any sane person would have: I freaked out! I started flailing my feathery new appendages with fervor, trying to get them off of me, to no avail. I tried screaming for help, only for it to come out as panicked hooting. My flailing eventually caused me to slam my head into the trunk of the very tree I was perched in. That was very painful and it did knock me out cold.
I awoke to see a setting sun, meaning that several hours must have passed. I looked down at myself, letting out a sad hoot at still being an owl. But why did this happen? I saved a little girl from being killed and my reward was to spend my afterlife as an owl? How does that work?! I’ve always considered myself to be of the intellectual sort, but this goes far beyond the science of man. Almost as if were magic, but such things don’t exist, right? Oh, how foolish I was back then.
As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the moon rose up into the sky. It was a peculiar sight to behold, seeing as there was a dark imprint of a unicorn etched into the planet’s satellite. The moon also seemed to have risen at the exact moment that the sun had set. Most peculiar, yet also very fascinating. It was at this point where I realized that I most definitely wasn’t on my birth world. That was certainly an eye-opening realization. I paced back and forth on my branch, trying to understand my new circumstances, but such a thing is impossible for a human who knew nothing of magic and occult. I almost wish I had read the Library’s copy of the Necronomicon while I had the chance, maybe it would have had a section on death and reincarnation.
Wait, reincarnation, that’s it! I must have been reincarnated! But why an owl on a world that most certainly wasn’t mother Earth? Then again, reincarnation was always just a theory for life after death, meaning there were no set rules. Hmm, most peculiar. Well, it was some form of sanity that I could hold on to. A grumbling came from my stomach now that I had decided to calm down. I was hungry, hungry for something yummy. I spied around, being an owl certainly helped me track down a midnight dinner. I spied it running across the field, maybe twenty yards away: a small little mouse. I couldn’t help myself as I dived from my branch towards the wayward rodent. I picked him up in my talons, squeaking in terror. I landed on another branch and brought the tasty rodent up to my beak. I am so sorry for this little friend, but tis the circle of life, it is. There was the sickening crunch of bones in my beak, but the taste more than made up for it.
Then I realized what I just did. I just ate a mouse of the ground! What was wrong with me?! Doing something so cruel to another living creature! I was vegetarian by choice, so you must understand how disgusting and unnerving this was for me. Then another realization came to me: I just flew! I actually flew! I was so giddy that I forgot all about my carnivorism and started to do a little happy dance on my branch. But, that flight was out of instinct, not talent. So, I steeled myself and started to stretch my wings. Now, if I remember correctly, flight for the feathered involves spreading the wings, letting the wind flow through the edges of my primary feathers, searching for just the right draft, and then, liftoff!
I jumped into the rising air current and was propelled high into the air, soaring above the treetops below me. Oh it was wonderous! A dream come true and sight that was beyond amazing! The light of the full moon illuminated the forest below, displaying a tranquil beauty that also held terrible frights. Oh how wonderful it is to fly under your own power! It was so glorious that I couldn’t help but sing my feelings to the night sky!
Of course, my singing only came out as happy, musical hooting, but it was beautiful to my ears. I landed with a smile on my beak, if I could smile, not like I had a real chance to observe my new form just yet, but I still felt happy. I hadn’t felt this happy since my wedding day all those years ago. Ah, memories. That got me starting to think back to Cortana. What if she had been reincarnated too? Could she be on this strange world? Well, I decided not to get my hopes up on that. Even if she was, that was nearly twenty years ago, plus she could have been turned into any number of creatures. Sigh, a dream, I suppose, a happy dream, but a dream nonetheless.
With nothing else to do that night, I found a little notch in the trunk of a nearby tree and settled in for the night. The next morning, I began to fly through the forest, trying to get a bearing on my new home. I fly to and fro through the trees, feeling the wind in my face. It was magnificent. Throughout my flight, I mapped out the entire area, being sure to mark certain berry bushes and fruit trees, needing a better food source than devouring the local rodent population. Yuck! Oh, I bet you’re wondering how I could do something so advanced like this, aren’t you? Well you see, I was blessed with a particular ability known as eidetic memory. I can perfectly recall things I have seen, heard, or read. If you wish for an example as to how good I am, well, I am Sheldon Cooper good!
Well, now I had a map of a places to eat and places to sleep. The only thing to do then was to live the life of an owl. How bad could it be?
Apparently, very bad! The first couple months were quite nice, being that it was late summer. Though it was strange that the night seemed strangely long one time. Then even stranger was that unicorn mark on the moon vanished without a trace. How peculiar. Not that it bothered me none, being a nocturnal animal. Oh yes, I had come to grips with my situation quite well by this point, even embracing it if I could be so bold. It wasn’t so bad living in the forest, that is until the nights began to get colder.
The summer was beginning to fade away into fall, and I was going to need some shelter or fly south for the winter.I spent most of my time flying through the forest, looking for some form of shelter, but alas, any I found were already claimed by the other local wildlife. And what life it was! I saw creatures that had only ever been spoken of in myth and legends. Ferocious manticores, terrifying cockatrice,and some strange bats with seemingly vampiric teeth. It was getting far past what would be suitable weather for a bird like me, so I needed to find someplace this night.
And then I found it! A town! An actual town! It was glorious to finally find civilization! But what was this? On the outskirts of the town, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Ponies, many multicolored ponies! It was too hard to believe, but then I heard them talking and laughing and eating enjoying… is that a meteor shower?! How could I have not noticed something as wonderful as a meteor shower happening on this night? Oh you darned fool of an owl, these are some of the most beautiful shows of nature and you nearly missed it. Well, might as well enjoy the show! A once in lifetime opportunity like this, shelter can wait!
