Finding a Voice

Chapters

1. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
2. Getting to Know You
3. Strange Magic
4. Fabulous

1. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me

Finding a Voice

Poor, Poor Pitiful Me?

I don’t know how it happened, neither did they. The multicolored faces pressed in on me and stared nervously at me. Looking up at their shocked and fearful faces all I could think was, ‘Why me?’

Life is unpredictable. This is a given fact that we learn throughout our life. Sometimes we forget that fact and then something jarring happens. This something could even change your life for the better or for the worse is also up to this crazy thing we call life. It's unpredictability hit me in a way that I never expected and I don't think anyone else would've expected it either. It definitely changed my life in fact my whole perspective on it changed. It didn't happen overnight, obviously, but over time I came to realize a few things about myself and about how I had looked at things before. I'm getting too far ahead though. Let me start with the basics. I was normal. The first thing you need to know about me is that I was pretty normal. I grew up in a small town with two parents who are still married relatively happily to this day, at least to my knowledge. I was an only child. I went to public school like most kids. Hated the entirety of my high school career. Things were better in college. Then I got to my adult life and everything went back to being suckish. I had a steady job, but it wasn't one I enjoyed at all. I think it would be best to start there.

It had been the worst day of a terrible week. The last few days I had woken up and known ‘today is going to be a bad day’. Monday was always my bad day though that was to be expected, but having no sugar in the break room, what was up with that?! Tuesday the pop machine ate my only dollar. Wednesday I had to deal with the laziest guy on my team, the one who also had to have a stalker-ish crush on me. The staff was split up into teams to cover more ground, I just happened to be saddled with the laziest and slowest guy on my team, he did nothing except watch me and listen to his iPod, the moron! I'm not gonna lie, but sometimes I fell asleep to him being savagely murdered and having his mutilated corpse scattered about in a dark, plain, concrete room with a bare bulb as the only source of light. I can assure you that I have nor will I ever act upon such fantasies ever. Thursday was when I was somehow scheduled to do everything myself. Today I could tell, today was going to be the topper. Too bad I’m never wrong when it comes to these things.

Waking up like that should always be warning number one, if ever anyone feels that way when they wake up, call in sick and roll back into bed! However I disregarded the feeling, I swung myself out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. Normally I wouldn't have bothered with things like my hair or my face, but today I felt like lingering. So I brushed my teeth as slowly and as thoroughly as possible. I brushed out every knot in my thick, blond hair. I washed my face and used my prescription acne medication. By the time I got out of the bathroom I had ten minutes to get dressed, have a semi-decent breakfast, make my tea, and drive out. I quickly tore on my uniform which was just a green polo and jeans. I grabbed a protein bar from the pantry before inhaling it almost whole and then nuking my Earl Grey tea. I didn't have cream either so I had to deal with really hot, and really flat tasting tea.

When I finally got on the road my mp3 died and I had to rely on my radio which was stuck on a news channel, I hate the news. I got caught speeding and the cop was apparently the worst hard-ass ever, slapped me with a ticket. Just for kicks he also gave me another one for the air-freshener I had hung on my rearview mirror. I ended up being ten minutes late for work. I pulled up to the building and parked my car in a way that I knew I was going to get a fender-bender and the dick-wad wouldn't be courteous enough to leave his insurance info. I honestly didn't care at that moment. I zipped through the empty hallways and did my best to avoid the boss, but seeing as how all my coworkers were colossal dick-wads I didn’t get very far. “Miss Lucine!” a booming voice called.

I sighed and turned toward my boss. She only ever used my last name when she wasn’t happy. My boss was a short and stout woman with long graying hair that she always tied back and thick round glasses. If I looked at her closely enough she reminded me of a roly-poly. As a person she was alright, not someone that I would have drinks with after work, but we got along relatively well as long as I didn't fuck up. This wasn't one of those times. “Please, come see me in my office,” she said.

I really didn’t want to get chewed out at the moment. When I looked behind me I could see that a few of the guys were standing in the hallway snickering and pointing at me. Of course they would give me grief that’s all they ever gave me. I was the butt of every joke here, mostly because I was such an easy target. I reacted to everything, but why shouldn't I? Every time I ignored them they would just get more pushy and more annoying until I snapped and they would find some issue with that as well. I was never the popular person in any social sense, so this kind of behavior wasn't new to me. I sighed and followed slowly behind her. I sat down across from her desk and looked at her with a frown. “Miss Lucine, your behavior these past few weeks has been deplorable,” she said.

Maybe I have been a little cranky during the weeks, but anyone else would be too if they were working in a job where they had to clean up everyone else’s mess. I’m a janitor after all, doesn’t get more dead-end than that. I only shrugged. “Miss Lucine,” she continued. “Considering the comments from your coworkers and your behavior in front of me now, I don’t think I have any other choice, but to let you go.”

I looked at her as if waiting for the punchline of a joke. I wanted to fight for it, really I did, but what was there to fight for? I’m pretty sure she was waiting for me to put up a fight as well, but I only asked. “Can I work today and be fired tomorrow?”

Taking it easy on me for the most part, my ‘former’ boss said yes. I left her office and headed to the back room to drop off my stuff and clock in. “Hey Ella,” a voice cooed behind me as I hung up my bag.

I shivered in disgust and turned around slowly to see Ferdi breathing down my neck. ‘Ferdi’ was the name we gave him, his real name being Ferdinand. I thought the nickname suited him better. Ferdi wasn’t quite overweight, but he wasn’t in shape either. A beer gut could be seen growing at the edges of his work shirt and he could always be seen snacking on Doritos. He had oily brown hair and a pizza face that could scare children. His breath was also thick with alcohol and Doritos. For some reason he found me attractive despite me trying not to have any contact with him and outright refusing his advances. He was persistent I’ll give him that. But it wasn't just his looks that I took issue with. His personality and the way he carried himself just didn't feel right to me. In all respects he was just some loser who could've been hot stuff in high school, but was now at a dead end job with no other prospects other than to buy lottery tickets or scratch cards to get rich. However, he seemed to carry that same teenage cockiness up to the present day, despite not earning a bit of it. Also he insisted on using a nickname for me despite me insisting that he use my actual name. “So, I heard you got canned after today anyway,” he said.

I only grimaced before brushing him off and pretending to be engrossed with something inside my locker. “So I think that means you’ll have plenty of time on your hands for a while,” he pursued.

I did my best to ignore him. I closed my locker loudly, trying to show him that I was not in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment never mind talk to him and I clocked in. “Come on, sweetheart, just one date that’s all I’m asking,” he pleaded.

“No,” I said and quickly darted passed him and down the hall to the closet where my equipment was.

Ferdi followed right on my heels. The incessant stomp of his shoes behind me was the most hateful sound I ever heard. “Just a no, I expected at least an explanation,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. I gave him an explanation. I gave him the same explanation every time. I was nice about it, of course, but right now I wanted to be anything but nice. I grabbed my cart, but he blocked my path. “Get out of my way,” I growled.

He didn’t move. Ferdi grabbed the other end of my cart and held it in place. “Come on, Elly, I have been nothing but nice to you,” he said. “All those compliments I gave you, you should’ve been grateful for them.”

My heart beat faster and at the same time plummeted downward. I hated him. I was supposed to be ‘grateful’ for a compliment?! Just because he was nice I should go out with him?! And there was the incessant nickname, this time he used the one that made me sound like a little girl! “I’ve been kind to you so far, I’m just asking for one chance,” he continued.

I gave him chances. I was kind with him as well, but apparently that wasn't enough of a hint for him. "I've been patient, I've been firm, and I've been as kind to you as I possibly could be," I growled. "But I can see now that it's not enough."

With a quick and hard shove I pushed the cart into his stomach and didn’t stop until he was up against the opposite wall. I forgot about politeness and my tact, now there was only anger and hatred. I glared at him with my teeth bared and all I wanted to do was to push against him until his spine snapped. "You are an insufferable pig with no sense of tact or when no means no," I snarled. "You're disgusting, filthy, vile. I should rid the world of a man like you!"

There must've been something in my face or my eyes, because Ferdi just stood there looking dazed and confused for a few seconds as I pushed the cart further into his stomach either waiting for his spine to snap or for his innards to spew out of his mouth. Then he started to push back against me. The force between us was too uneven and the cart slipped away from both of us. I stumbled, but managed to catch myself before slamming into Ferdi. He grabbed me angrily and slammed me into the wall instead. My head throbbed painfully so I barely heard what he said to me. “Fine, if you don’t want to give it to me willingly, I’ll just take it,” he hissed.

He gripped at my shirt and tried to tear it away. I screamed and kicked out. Luckily, I managed to dig my foot into his balls. He let go of me and crumbled to the ground. I looked down at him for a few seconds before taking off down the hall. I didn't want to run for fear of provoking Ferdi into action once again. I didn’t bother telling anyone where I was going, I was out of there before anyone could stop me. I grabbed my things and booked it back to my car. “I’m going now!” I called into my boss’s office before careening into the door and running full tilt toward my car. I opened the door, slammed it shut, and didn't bother with a seat belt as I pulled out of the parking lot, leaving skid marks in my wake.

Frankly I was glad to leave. The place had been a misery to work at and now I was almost raped. I should’ve called the police, should’ve told the boss what he had done, but survival had fully kicked in and I wasn’t going to spend another second near that place. For some reason the thought about how I had got there flashed in my mind and I hated why it did. I saw the ad in the newspaper, it paid good money and it seemed like easy work. So I signed on, hoping that I wouldn’t be there forever. I had taken the job while I was in college. Technically I had a Bachelors in Music and Writing, what to do with it, however, was another thing entirely. Ideally I wanted to be a songwriter and singer. I knew how to play piano and guitar, my voice was okay, but a few more voice lessons and it would've been great. I didn't want to go digital with my voice. All that editing and being able to make a song out of a voice that didn't know flat from pitched. However, I couldn't get my work out there and when I couldn’t find any other work I decided to stay on there. I fully regret it now.

When I got back to my two room apartment, I dropped everything and looked at my surroundings. Whitewash walls, pictures of family and friends, a bookshelf lined with only a few books, a TV set, and a plain looking bed in the bedroom. A few posters were taped to the walls, most of them of different television shows and video games (like I was still a teenager). Some knick-knacks and little toys lined a few shelves. It was the only personality I had to the place.

I walked up to a low hanging shelf and picked up a toy. Most of the shelves were lined with "My Little Pony" ponies most of them either from Generation one or Generation four, those shows were really the only ones worth watching in the franchise. The Generation one toys were more a nostalgic keepsake of when I was kid and pretended I was the fastest pegasus in all the land. Then Generation four came around and made everything better. The stories, the characters, and even the color scheme was so much better than any other Generation before it. I slowly made the pony in my hand start to trot from one end of the shelf to the other. It passed in front of all my other toys and knick-knacks. I stared at the pony for a while before realizing that I had picked up Luna. She was one of my favorite ponies in the show. I didn't have just one solid favorite, I had many. It was the same for every show. Luna was one pony that I gravitated to because she was an outcast. She knew what it felt like to be ostracized and left out. I always felt like the odd one out for most of my life.

For most of my childhood I didn't have many friends and everyone thought I was weird, because I preferred books and toys to makeup and texting. Looking at Luna made that kind of loneliness and hatred well up even more inside of me. Slowly my arm came up, reached far behind me, and then violently swung forward. The Luna toy snapped out of my hand and smashed against the wall, breaking into a few segmented pieces. A dam broke inside me and the tears came freely. I didn’t even know why I was crying. Maybe it was over the job, my childish apartment, the toy breaking even if it would've been easily fixed, the fact that I was almost raped, or just my life in general. My knees crumbled beneath me and I curled up on my side.

I had dreams and goals, bigger goals than being in a dead-end job and having a mediocre apartment as my only home. I had wanted so much, what had happened to that? I wanted to go on so many adventures like the ones I read about like the ones I always saw on TV. I wanted to spread my music. I didn't care about fame, I just wanted to let my voice be heard and hopefully have someone else understand that voice too. I had wanted to find love and happiness, at twenty-one I was so far from it that it was no wonder I woke up every day thinking that it was going to be a bad day. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. It’s a stupid thing to think about, but I always thought that when someone thought it was cliché it was because they had never experienced it for themselves.

The tears kept coming, no matter how hard I tried to stop them. Despair, hate, fear, anger, every negative emotion imaginable flashed through me, but also seemed to consume me. Fear for the future and what I could or would do next, anger at my boss for letting me go after years of near perfect servitude, hatred towards Ferdi for making me feel like I wasn’t good enough, like I was a rock that was too hard and needed to be cracked. I closed my eyes and let the feelings come. I let them rage inside me and I cried wholeheartedly. I sobbed and screamed until my cheeks had a layer of water and salt and my nose poured out snot like a fountain. When I finally opened my eyes it was pitch black. I looked up and could see my ceiling, but everything below it was covered in darkness. I tried to sit up, but something had taken hold of me. I struggled against it, but the feelings didn’t cease. In fact it only seemed to fuel them. “Stop it!” I screamed. “Let me go!”

The ‘shadows” started to drag me in, I kicked and screamed and clawed, but they wouldn’t relent. Eventually I could feel that my screams were sufficiently muffled and I knew at this point no one was coming to save me. The ceiling soon disappeared afterward and I felt as though I were actually falling through the darkness. It felt like hours, but it could’ve been minutes or even seconds, and I don’t know if I blacked out or was just suddenly dropped, but then I could feel a floor beneath me. It was hard and cool and felt good against my heated face. I groaned and clenched my hands. So I was at least whole and relatively unharmed, but what had happened and where was I now? I didn’t want to open my eyes for fear of what I might see, but soon enough I didn’t need to. “How is it that she came to be here?” a male voice asked.

“I don’t know, she just was,” a female voice piped in. “I mean, I saw a hole open up and then she came through and I don’t know I sort of freaked and ran to find you before I saw anything else.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you ran into all of us then,” the male voice said.

“Ah reckon, she don’t look too good!” another male voice pointed out.

“Indeed, I mean just look at her attire, simply ghastly!” said another, this one sounded more snobby or posh.

“I hope she wakes up soon, we could have a welcome to Ponyville party!” said another.

Ponyville? It couldn’t possibly be! “I honestly doubt she’ll want a party, Berry,” said the posh voice.

“Aaaawww!”

“She’ll probably want to rest and to be somewhere quiet,” a soft male voice said.

I wanted to interrupt them, but at the same time I wanted to know more. If I thought I was where I thought I was then I wanted to know exactly what they would do to me. “We don’t even know if this thing is intelligent, Butterscotch!” a rough voice said. “How do we know that it won’t attack us on sight or that it’s here for some dark and evil purpose?!”

That stung a bit, but I was determined to keep my sleeping charade up. “Come on, Blitz, she hasn’t even woken up yet!” the southern voice said. “Let’s give ‘er a chance!”

“That’s another thing, how do you know it’s a girl?!” the rough one asked.

There seemed to be a kind of stiff and awkward silence before I heard one of them clear their throat. “Oh,” said the rough one.

I tried to think about what they could’ve been alluding too and I could feel that my clothes were still on, so nothing incriminating was exposed. When I thought about it more than I should have, I tried to hold back my embarrassment when I realized that they could’ve been signaling to my breasts! I thought it was time to stop them before they got too ahead. I groaned again and shifted onto my back. I could feel their footsteps as they backed away from me. I sat up and opened my eyes slowly. Why did it feel like I was getting over a hangover? My vision was a little blurry and I felt dizzy, also my head hurt like nothing else.

Finally my vision was cleared and I realized that I was staring into the faces of technicolored ponies! Not just any ponies, the ponies! The ones I watched on Netflix, the ones I read about in fanfictions, and also watched in many fanmade animations and music videos. The My Little Pony ponies! Except they were different, they were all boys or colts! I stared at them and they stared at me and all I could think as I looked at them was Why me?!

Author's Note

So here's my new story. I know I said I'd wait on this, but honestly I couldn't wait any longer. Hopefully getting this out there will make me focus on my other story though. Until then enjoy!
(Newly edited!)

2. Getting to Know You

Getting to Know You

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I couldn’t believe I was there or that I wasn’t dreaming. I stared at the technicolor ponies and they stared back at me. I honestly wondered who was more afraid, me or them. I also wondered what they would do to me. Sure they were all cotton candy and smiles in the TV show, but this wasn't the show and kid shows always had a habit of making up situations that wouldn't be the same exact thing in real life. So I had a hard time believing that they would just wrap me in a wool blanket, hand me a cup of tea, and start chatting about the weather. I sat up slowly and gripped my wrist while wrapping around my knees. "HELLO!" the 'Twilight' colt shouted at me. "ARE... YOU... ALRIGHT? ARE... YOU... INJURED?!"

He was shouting at me slowly and emphasizing every syllable as if I was an idiot. I narrowed my eyes at him, but didn't get a chance to answer. "CAN... YOU... SPEAK?!" he asked. "COM-MUN-I-CATE?!"

Now I was getting annoyed. "YES I CAN!" I shouted back in his face. "STOP SHOUTING AT ME, YOU MORON!!"

The purple pony shrunk back and laid his ears down in discomfort and I supposed embarrassment. It should've been embarrassing at least to find out that you were talking to someone who was intelligent and you were talking to them like they were stupid. "Oh, um, that's-that's good then," he said and scratched his ear with a forehoof. "Are you alright?"

I sighed and looked down at myself and assessed the damage. As far as I could tell I was in one piece and wasn't in pain. Nothing was missing and nothing was out of place besides myself. I nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I'm in one piece," I said.

'Twilight colt' nodded and then looked at his friends. "Alright, lets get her a place to sit and compose herself, obviously this is not a common occurrence for anyone," he instructed. "I'll have to contact the princes about this event, everyone else, try to make her feel comfortable."

After I had gathered myself and after 'Twilight-colt' gave his directions, the colts scattered in all directions trying to figure out what to do first. Finally, they showed me a place to sit and 'Twilight-colt' grabbed a roll of parchment and started to scribble something furiously. He barked orders to the other ponies that did as bid. "You poor dear," the 'Rarity' one said and pulled out a blanket from a wooden chest. "It must've been a terrible ordeal for you, suddenly being found in this musty place."

He wrapped it around my shoulders with just a wave of his horn which glowed with the same soft, light blue light that the mare Rarity had. Ironically enough it was made out of wool. "I do hate to wrap this tacky thing around you, but it will have to do," he said. "Function, I suppose, outweighs fashion in this case."

He was still obsessed with looks just like his female counterpart. "Sowheredidyoucomefrom? Whereareyougoing? Areyougoinganywhere? What'syourfavoritecolor? Mineispinkbutyouprobablyknewthat! Heyyoulookfunnywhataremmmmmph!" the Pinkie one tried to speak, but was suddenly cut off when the Rainbow-colt shoved a wad of paper in his mouth.

Pinkie-colt looked up at him and started to try and talk again, but all that could be heard was muffled gibberish. "Sorry, about him," Rainbow-colt said. "He gets a little overexcited around new, ummm, things."

Great, so I was a thing. "Uh-huh, I can see that," I said.

"Yeah, we don' get a lot of unexpected visitors," Applejack-colt said.

"I can see that too," I said.

"Aw, applefritters, where aw my manners!" he said and stomped a hoof in frustration. "Ah'll go see if Ah can get you some tea, sit tigh' miss."

He walked away into another room. The Applejack one was certainly polite and kind of cute in a southern-hospitality way. I sat on a bench as the colts mingled around me. The colt version of Fluttershy sat next to me and he shook so violently I thought he would shake himself to powder. I wanted to speak to him, but was afraid he would shoot right to the ceiling if I even uttered a syllable to him. After a few minutes of waiting, Applejack-colt came back with a teacup and saucer carried between his teeth. I took them quickly and he tipped his hat to me in a kind of polite bow. Soon enough Twilight-colt came back without the roll of parchment and addressed us. “Alright, I have written to the princes and they should be here within the hour,” he said. “We should do introductions first before they get here.”

I nodded in agreement. It seemed that this Twilight version had solidified his position as leader, but a glance at his back showed that he definitely hadn’t been promoted to Prince status yet. So that still left at least three seasons to go by. My timeline for My Little Pony was a bit off, due to the fact that I haven’t watched the series in a while and my memory of past episodes was scant at best. So I had little to nothing to go off of, besides what I already gathered. “I am Dusk Shine,” the Twilight colt said. “Top student of Prince Solaris”

I gave a small smile and waved half-heartedly. “Hi,” I said.

Dusk Shine smiled back. “Name’s Applejack,” the Applejack colt said.

Well, at least that name would be easy to remember. “Just a humble worker at Sweet Apple Acres,” he said and then tipped his hat to me.

“I am Elusive,” said the Rarity one. “Up and coming fashion designer and stylist. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

He bowed elegantly before me before taking a step back for someone else. As always, Rarity or Elusive was always going to be the picture of elegance and grace. I smiled after he gave his introduction. The Pinkie pony said something through the paper wad, but it still sounded like gibberish until he finally spat it out. “I’m Bubble Berry,” he said and hopped up and down excitedly. "Best party pony EVER!"

I watched him nervously and looked over at the last two ponies who have yet to introduce themselves. “I’m Rainbow Blitz,” the rough one said.

The Rainbow Dash colt flew down to me and puffed out his chest with pride. “The best candidate for the Wonderbolts in all of Equestria, greatest flyer and weather manipulator ever!”

Lord knows I wanted to roll my eyes, but I managed not to show my contempt towards him. There was always something about Rainbow Dash that I didn’t like and maybe that was because of the overconfidence that was near cockiness and arrogance. She had many redeeming qualities, but for the life of me I couldn’t get passed it. I then looked over at the Fluttershy one and he ducked his head down. I heard him whisper something and leaned forward to hear him better. “I’m Butterscotch,” he whispered. "Just Butterscotch"

I smiled at him and touched his hoof gently. “Nice to meet you, Butterscotch,” I said and tried to get a better look at his face, but his bangs covered his eyes, I could see his embarrassed and soft smile however.

The colts had small differences from their mare counterparts and many similarities. Their color schemes were the same so was the texture of their manes, but most of their manes were shorter. Applejack’s mane was still long and he tied it back, but he was also wearing a yolk around his neck like Big Mac would have. Dusk Shine definitely retained some ‘Twilight-ness’ his mane looking more like dreads instead of just straight hair. Berry was still fluffy and bouncy like Pinkie, but also with a shorter mane. Then Butterscotch, Elusive, and Rainbow Blitz didn’t detract too much from their female counterparts either again they just had shorter manes although Blitz had lightning bolt shaped eyebrows which was a little distracting. I wonder what else has changed? I thought. “Now who and what are you?” Dusk Shine asked and pushed his face in on me.

I leaned away from him and raised my eyebrows at him. I cleared my throat and looked at the rest of them to see if they were listening. “My name is Elara and I am a human or homosapien if you will,” I said.

They all either quirked their heads or their ears in different directions in confusion and looked at me as if I was some kind of alien creature, which I was. “That means I’m kind of like a genetic cousin to apes and monkeys like chimpanzees and gorillas,” I explained.

“Oh, sounds very interesting!” Butterscotch piped up.

Of course the pony specializing in animal care would find my biology 'very interesting'. “So, does that mean you climb trees and screech and stuff?” Rainbow Blitz asked.

I looked at him with little amusement. He looked at me expectantly, but shrugged and floated away when I didn't give an answer right away. “No, I don’t, I live just like you guys except we have some differences,” I said.

“Wait, there are more of you?!” Dusk Shine asked and pushed his face close to mine again.

“Uuuhh, no, no,” I denied. “Well, not here at least.”

Dusk Shine looked very confused. “Not here, what do you mean?” he asked. “Where do you come from?”

Before I could answer however I heard a strange sizzling coming from outside before there was a big burst of light and then a knock on the door. “That would be the princes,” Dusk Shine said and trotted to the door before opening it. “Greetings, your highnesses!”

He bowed to two tall and grand ponies that stepped into the library. "Thank you, Dusk Shine," a deep voice said. "She is still here then I take it."

There was a strange kind of presence that entered the room along with them. It was as if their titles were an actual power or aura around them and you just knew as soon as they walked in that they were royalty if not extremely important. The other ponies around me got down and one knee and bowed to their monarchs. I sat awkwardly and watched their approach. They slowly marched in to the middle of the room and both of them stared me down. I immediately recognized these two as the male version of Celestia and Luna. While they looked the same for the most part there were also small differences. The Celestia one, instead of having blue, teal, and pink colors in his mane he only had orange-y shades, but it was still flowing and ethereal. Not to mention he definitely had a fair bit of scruff on his muzzle. The Luna one had a shorter mane and had much stronger features than his female counterpart which was to be expected. However, there was something about the Luna stallion that got to me. He stared me down in a way that made me feel like he was staring beyond me and into me. Not even into my soul, but something that possibly lied next to it. His eyes narrowed and he looked like he wanted to say something, but his brother got to it first. “Greetings, stranger I am Lord Solaris, Prince of the Sun and co-ruler of Equestria,” he said and walked up to me.

Even if I stood, I’d still have to crane my head slightly to look at him directly, but I was sitting and had to lean back slightly to do so. “This is Prince Artemis, Prince of the Night, co-ruler of Equestria, and my brother,” Solaris continued and waved a wing to ‘Artemis’.

He gave a nod to me and turned back to his brother. He still didn't say anything and I suspected that he felt a little uncomfortable with this new development. So was everyone else, but for some reason he didn't want to speak with me. It was very curious. “Who and what are you?” Solaris asked, although the look on his face made me think that he knew what I was.

I couldn’t explain it, but something about Solaris didn’t feel right to me either like he had something to hide, something to protect, and I wasn’t sure if this kind of thought would benefit me at all. I cleared my throat and stood up to be more polite. “My name is Elara,” I said and bowed to the princes. “And I... am a human.”

Solaris frowned at me and so did Artemis, but their looks were completely different. Artemis’ frown was of pure confusion and Solaris’ was also of confusion, but also of fear and frustration. “And how… human, have you come to be here?” he asked.

Solaris intimidated me more than anyone else in the room. I had imagined that Celestia would be much gentler, but perhaps gentleness wasn’t something that the male counterpart would think about. The added aura and stature didn't help much either. I supposed he had a right to be intimidating in this instance. After all I was a stranger from a completely different world, he didn't know if I was dangerous or not and he, apparently, wasn't going to take that chance. I cleared my throat again. “I honestly… don’t know,” I said.

Solaris huffed and turned to Dusk Shine. “What happened before she ‘arrived’?” he asked him.

Dusk Shine gulped and lowered his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Barb was the one to see her appear.”

Barb shrunk down even smaller when Solaris’ gaze turned to her. “I, well,” she started. “I was here, in the library sorting books like Dusk Shine asked, and then out of nowhere a shadow grew in the center of the floor before I could see anything else I ran to get Dusk Shine and then we came back and she was here.”

Solaris frowned in deep thought this time. He looked worried and so did Artemis. His gaze never faltered from me and I could feel his cool gaze on me the whole time. I wanted to snap at him, but I was very much afraid of the consequences since they seemed to fear me enough already and I didn’t want to give them even more reason to get rid of me. “I see,” Solaris said and turned to his brother.

For a while they just spoke in whispers and quiet mutters. I don't think any of us could hear them, at least I couldn't. After just a few seconds of this I was already starting to get worried. I shifted uneasily and was starting to get really nervous and even afraid. Then I felt something brush against me and turned to Butterscotch who smiled at me from under his bangs. His wing had lightly brushed my back in comfort. I smiled back at him and turned back to the princes. After a few more seconds Solaris turned back to us and looked directly at me with a stern expression. “While we do not know your origins or how it is you came to be here, we are willing to let you stay here in Equestria,” he said.

I sighed with relief, but before I could soak it in Solaris continued. “But I think it would be in everyone’s best interests to find a way to send you back as soon as possible,” he said.

The main six looked collectively doubtful and concerned about this and I was right there with them. While I didn’t think I could stay there for long, I was also in no hurry to return to my old life of mediocrity and disappointment. “Do you agree?” Solaris asked me directly.

I looked up at him and nodded solemnly. “Very good,” he said and then gave a soft smile which was a little surprising. “I can see from your demeanor that you mean no harm to any of us and you do seem very cordial so I have no fear in leaving you in the hooves of these six colts.”

I smiled back and nodded again, at least I had gained some semblance of trust from the ruling monarch. “Dusk Shine,” he said and turned to his student. “You will oversee the research of dimensional portals and find a spell to send her back to where she came.”

Dusk Shine smiled proudly and puffed out his chest. Just like Twilight he was still willing to do whatever it took to prove himself to his teacher. “I will do my own research as well,” he stated and turned back to me. “You will remain in Ponyville until such time as we can send you home.”

I nodded again. “Where you live, however, is completely up to you,” he said.

The colts around me suddenly got very excited and to be quite honest I was beginning to fear for my life again. Now I had to deal with ponies fighting over who would get to ‘keep’ me. “I trust that the rest of you will make our new visitor feel welcome and at home,” Solaris said and turned to the others who all made their own declarations and signals of agreement.

"We won't let you down!" Dusk Shine said and gave a salute.

"It would be our absolute honor!" Elusive stated.

"It'll be a hoot an' a half!" Applejack said.

"No problem at all!" Rainbow Blitz said.

"Fun, fun, fun!" Bubble Berry squeaked, hopping up and down.

"We'll take good care of her," Butterscotch whispered.

“Well, if that is all, I think we’ll take our leave,” Solaris said and turned back towards the door.

He marched back and Artemis followed slowly behind. He hadn’t said a word since he got there and he only took his gaze off me as the door closed behind them. “Well, he was… nice,” I said.

Berry giggled and hopped up to me. “Yeah, of course, he is, silly filly!” he said and bounced up and down. “He is the prince after all!”

I smirked at Berry. “Prince Artemis didn’t really say much though,” I said and looked back at the door with concern.

The other ponies did seem confused by Artemis’ behavior too. They each looked at each other and gave a collective shrug. It seemed like he wasn’t really known for being the quiet observer. Applejack shrugged. “Maybe he just didn’ know what tuh say,” he said and tilted his hat down. “I mean, it look' like Solaris ha' things well in hoof.”

That was true. Solaris seemed to have a good grasp on the situation while Artemis didn’t seem to know what to make of me. At least being questioned by the monarchs hadn’t been so bad. I turned back to Dusk Shine expectantly wondering what would be done with me now. “Well, who gets the human first?” he asked.

Author's Note

Ok, second chapter is up. Sorry this took so long, I blame college, but really I had to finish up my first fanfic or I would never get either of these done. Now I can focus on this beautiful piece. Now for a question for all my readers, I have also thought of having "bonus chapters" for this story, but my question is if I have these chapters should I disperse them throughout the story or save them for the end? Please review as harshly as possible! Lol.

(Newly edited.)

3. Strange Magic

Strange Magic

We stood there for a while just staring at each other, waiting for someone to volunteer. "Well, it seems clear to me what we have to do," Dusk Shine said and strolled to the middle of the circle.

"Of course," Elusive agreed.

"Mm-hm," Butterscotch hummed.

"Eeyup," Applejack said.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Berry bounced.

"Duh!" Rainbow Blitz said.

"She should stay," Dusk Shine started.

"With me!" the group chorused.

They all looked at each other and I looked at each of them before I slowly shrank down in my seat. It wasn’t long before a small argument broke out among the colts on why I should stay at someone’s particular home. "Please, Dusk, in your home?" Blitz interjected. "It's barely a home, it's a musty, boring library!"

"And she'll fair better in a damp, cold cloud?" Dusk asked.

"She should live with me, she is in desperate need of some fashion advice," Elusive said.

I looked down at my clothes dejectedly. What was wrong with the way I looked? "But she hasn't had a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party yet, she should come with me first!" Berry said.

"But she just went through an ordeal, she should have some peace and quiet for a while," Applejack pointed out.

"Yeah and she could get it at my cottage," Butterscotch added.

"Or at my farm house," Applejack protested.

I couldn’t get a word in edgewise with all the voices trying to talk above each other. Turns out boys will argue over just about anything if it's minimally related to the topic at hand, until Dusk shouted above them all. "QUIET!!"

The colts settled down and we all looked at Dusk curiously. "I have a solution," he said. "Instead of fighting over who she'll get to stay with we should let her decide."

"Thank you, Dusk Shine," I said with some exaggeration.

"However, she can't get much of an educated decision without trying everything," he started and I didn't like where his proposal was going. "So, I propose that she stay at each of our homes for one day and one night until she is certain about where to stay."

I knew I wouldn't like it. The rest of the stallions nodded their heads and mumbled their approval before turning back to the next issue at hand. "But who does she stay with first?" Berry asked.

"Well, since she's here now, I think I should take her for tonight," Dusk Shine said.

The other ponies mumbled agreements. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Rainbow Blitz relented.

"It's only fair," Elusive said.

“Alrigh’ then,” Applejack said and tipped his hat again. “Ah think we oughtta go about our business then.”

He walked to the door with Elusive and Butterscotch following behind him. “It was a pleasure meetin’ you, Miss Elara,” Applejack said and nodded a farewell.

“Yes, it was quite a charming experience,” Elusive said and bowed out the door as well.

Apparently not knowing what to say, Butterscotch shifted from hoof to hoof before he looked up and blushed lightly. “Ummmmm… bye,” he whispered and trotted out the door.

Say what you will, but the male Fluttershy is still cute as get out! Berry hopped in front of me and shook my hand furiously. “It was great to meet you, Elara!” he chimed. “Maybe tomorrow we can have your “Welcome to Ponyville Party”!”

With that he hopped out the door with a giant smile on his face. I rubbed my hand in instinct after he left, it felt like he had shaken it to pieces or that he had left some kind of burn. “Well, if you get tired of sleeping around with books,” Rainbow Blitz started. “I have a nice, soft cloud bed for twoooowww! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Unbeknownst to most of us, Butterscotch had snuck back in, bit down on Blitz’s tail, and started to drag him out the door with Blitz protesting in pain the whole way. Apparently Butterscotch was more assertive than Fluttershy. The door closed softly behind them and I was left with Dusk Shine and Barbara. “Well, now that that’s out of the way how about we get you settled in?” Dusk Shine inquired as she started to look for supplies for me. Obviously, an answer was not what she was looking for. “Barbara could you give our new guest the grand tour.”

Barbara watched Dusk Shine for a while before she looked up at me and smiled. “Follow me then,” she said and started leading the way.

I followed behind the small dragon who was at least one-fourth my size. I also wondered if some human biology at all applied to dragons, because Barb seemed a little bit taller than Spike would’ve been, at least by my memory. “I don’t think I was introduced to you with all the excitement,” I said. “I’m Elara.”

“Barbara Spines,” she said and turned to me with an outstretched hand, or rather, claw. “Dusk Shine’s number one assistant and you can call me Barb.”

I smiled and shook hands with her. When watching Spike on MLP I always liked his grounded personality. Barbara seemed much like her male version, but maybe more logical. “I gotta warn you though,” Barb started. “Living with Dusk isn’t exactly a walk in the park, he can be quite the claw-ful.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” I said.

“But he means well, I do apologize in advance for his behavior, sometimes he doesn’t really think things through,” she continued.

“Or thinks too much?” I asked, remembering Twilight’s behavior in the show and how anxious she could get.

“Yeah…” Barb looked around at me with surprise and confusion. “How did you know that?”

Speaking of not thinking things through, I blanked for a second before thinking of an excuse. “I know a few people like him back in my own world, so it’s not really a surprise to me,” I said.

“I see,” Barb said before opening a door. “Well, this is the bathroom with all the necessary appliances, tub, shower, sink, toilet.”

At least they have those modern conveniences, I thought with relief. Barb closed the door and led me to another room. “And this is the kitchen which Dusk Shine rarely uses,” she said.

That fact wouldn’t change. She led me back to the main room and waved her arms above her head. “This is the main library for all your research and reading needs,” she said and went up to a staircase. When we reached the top she waved me into another room. “And this is the bedroom, good thing we already had the guest bed,” she said and smiled happily.

I smiled back at her and sat down on the mattress. It was a small bed, but not so small that I wouldn’t be able to fit in comfortably. Apparently I got lucky, falling into this world. “It’s also a good thing that I still have extra blankets,” Dusk Shine said as he came into the room carrying a good stack of sheets and blankets for the bed.

He smiled at me as he walked over to the bed and started to unload. “I’ll make the bed for you, I’m sure you’ll want some time to freshen up,” he said.

He was right about me wanting to wash up, but I did have a few reservations about doing so. For one thing, I didn’t have any extra clothes, what was I going to do about that? “One question,” I spoke up. “Ummm, what do I do about the clothes situation?”

Dusk and Barb looked at me with blank confusion, obviously they had no idea what I was talking about. Of course they wouldn’t, they didn’t wear clothes all the time. They found it quite natural to walk around in the nude. I wasn’t so accustomed. “What do you mean?” Dusk asked. “Are your clothes not sufficient?”

I looked down at what I was already wearing: jeans, a t-shirt, and my sneakers and while they would be ‘sufficient’ for daytime they weren’t so comfortable to sleep in. “Well, see they are, but I require more,” I tried to explain. “I’m a human and in my world, humans don’t just walk around without clothes like you do, we require them to protect us from the elements and to… uummm, cover up our private parts.”

Dusk cocked his head in confusion, but I could see the cogs slowly working in his head before he blushed a bit and looked away. “Oh, I see,” he said. “Hmmmm, well, we’ll have to fix that then. Wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable here.”

Dusk walked back to the stairs and then slowly went back down. “I’ll try to find something suitable for you to change in and have Barb bring it into you,” he said. “We’ll have to get Elusive to make you a new wardrobe tomorrow as well.”

I watched him go down and looked at Barb who shrugged and followed after her guardian. With that business settled I got up and went back to the bathroom. I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to bathe, but I did need a moment to myself. I needed to get some bearing on the situation. I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I looked around and was a little impressed that Dusk Shine kept such a pristine bathroom, it was actually pretty clean and well kept especially for someone as scattered as Dusk Shine. It was also a miracle for anything to be clean since he was a boy. I sat down on the toilet and sighed into my hands. So I had landed in gender-bent Equestria and was going live with one of the main six until I decided who would be my permanent residence, until such time as I could be sent home… All in all, it could’ve been worse. Compared to what I had left behind it was a major step up. I had landed in a world where all bronies would kill to be in! However, some worry did set in. I had family and some friends back in my own world that would worry considerably if I didn’t contact them or if they didn’t see me within a few weeks. What was I going to do if and when I was faced with the choice of staying here or going back?

I stood back up and turned on the sink. I splashed water on my face and patted it dry. I could still feel the salt crusted on my cheeks and I was pretty sure I would get a cold after crying like that. I looked up and saw the face in the mirror. For some reason my reflection was very fascinating. I couldn’t believe that it was my face looking back at me. The same blue-grey eyes, the same golden blond hair that refused to lie straight or still, the same blotchy white skin that still had lingering effects of teenaged acne, it was all the same just in a different world. I sighed and looked over when I heard the door open and close quietly. Barb had set an oversized garment on the floor where I could easily see it. It looked more like an old Halloween costume or Nightmare Night costume. I took off my old clothes and slipped on the… sheet? It was more like a loose fitting tunic. Had he tried to be a pirate one time or what?

I stepped out of the bathroom and went back up the stairs to find Barb and Dusk Shine waiting for me. They sat next to the bed and gave me very suspicious and creepy smiles. I wondered what they had been talking about before. “Hi,” I said and waved to them.

Dusk Shine stopped smiling and cleared his throat. “The bed is all ready,” he said and waved his hoof to the made up bed.

He looked me up and down before he nodded with approval and walked over to stand behind me. I walked over to the bed and touched it gingerly. It seemed to be very soft, not like a regular box spring bed, but it wasn’t like a memory foam mattress either. I wondered vaguely what they made their mattresses out of and the pillows too for that matter. I turned back the covers and sat down on the bed before looking at my two hosts. “Thank you guys, this is really awesome of you,” I said.

Dusk Shine smiled and so did Barb. “No problem, we’ve been needing some excuse to use that bed,” Barb said.

I smiled back at her and then looked to Dusk who just looked really nervous and awkward. Still the same pony on the inside I guess. “Well, I think we’ve overstayed our welcome long enough,” Dusk said and started to scoot Barb out the of the room. “You probably want to rest up, if you need anything we’ll be right downstairs.”

I waved good-bye to the two as they walked back down the stairs and then I looked out the window. I had to admit my hosts did give me a pretty good view. I could see out into a sunlit meadow, though it looked ablaze as the sun started to fall. It had only been a few hours since I woke up, but night was indeed falling and even though I had just woken up I was very tired. A lot had happened and I did need more sleep. I yawned at the thought and laid down on the supernaturally soft bed and pillow. It amazed me that a society who wouldn’t even think about eating meat or plucking feathers from birds would make such abnormally soft pillows. When I tried to fall asleep my mind tended to wander in every direction it could before finally shutting down. I also thought about how I would fit in here. I wasn’t much for Human in Equestria fanfics, so I didn’t really know how this kind of thing worked. As far as I knew I was the only human to have ever been in Equestria and for what it was worth, it was a pretty good start.

I thought about the other ponies as well and how it would feel to live with each one of them. Berry and Blitz I wasn’t exactly looking forward to. I liked Pinkie Pie as a character, but the thought of living with her male counterpart wasn’t exactly ideal. Having to deal with all that happy and hyperness was going to wear me thin. I vaguely wondered how Dusk Shine hadn’t pelted me with questions as soon as everyone left. I had a feeling that it was Barb’s doing, which surprised me. Barb seemed much more outspoken than her male version. Then again shy girls also tended to have big voices when they put them to use. I smiled at that thought. I don’t remember what else I thought about before I drifted off, but I knew I was still on the subject of Dusk Shine. Dusk Shine and pie…

It didn’t feel like it had been a long time, in fact it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds when a loud BANG and CRASH, literally jolted me out of bed and onto the floor. I groaned and rubbed at my eyes before hearing the aftershock of the supposed explosion. I stood up and slowly crept downstairs. “Something tells me that was the wrong incantation,” I heard Dusk Shine say.

I poked my head around a corner and saw that the library was in near shambles. Books, quills, paper, and an assortment of debris were scattered all over. There was a giant scorch mark in the middle of the floor where I guessed that Dusk had tried to cast his spell. He was currently sitting next to it, but he had his nose stuck in a book. Barb was rubbing her own eyes as well, but it didn’t look like she had gotten any sleep yet. “What in the blue Hell?” I asked as I looked at the destruction around me.

Barb yawned and looked over at a clock on the wall before turning back to Dusk Shine. “Dusky, it's four, twenty-six in the morning,” she groaned.

I looked over at Dusk Shine who looked over his book at me and I shook my head in disbelief. “What the Hell is your problem?” I asked and rubbed my eyes again.

“What is Hell?” Dusk asked.

Here came the questions and of course he had to ask the religious question. “It’s a place where bad people go when they die,” I said.

“Uh-huh,” he said, but it was obvious that he needed more.

“It’s where they endure eternal punishment for the bad things they did in life,” I continued.

“Oh, so it’s Tartarus?” he asked.

“Yeah I guess.”

“Is it usually blue in color.”

“Not exactly it’s just a figure of speech.”

“Ah!”

“But it does mean 'what is going on',” I said waving to the mess.

Dusk Shine gave a lopsided grin of embarrassment. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said. “I was trying a teleportation spell, but I was trying to improve it so that we could jump between dimensions, obviously it didn’t work out.”

“I can see that,” I said. “Maybe you shouldn’t try out spells in your living space though?”

“It’s more contained if I do, I am sorry for waking you,” he said.

“Yeah, sure, I’m going back to bed and if you’re going to try out more spells, please keep the volume down,” I said and started back up the stairs.

“Will do!” Dusk Shine called.

“Told you it was bad idea,” I heard Barb whine before I slumped back into bed and fell back to sleep almost instantly.

The next few hours left of sleep were rather peaceful and were uninterrupted until I woke up again and felt a strange sensation around me. I sighed and opened my eyes to see the room spinning. Literally the ceiling was spinning. I sat up quickly and looked around to find that my bed was floating and spinning around like a top. “What the Hell!” I cried and flipped off the side of the bed.

“So sorry, Elara,” Dusk Shine said as he floated by my head… upside down.

“Ok, I found it!” Barb said and tried to pass off a page to him.

Almost every bit of furniture was up in the air and Barb and Dusk Shine were up in the air as well, turning and spinning endlessly. “Ah, perfect,” Dusk Shine said and his horn glowed a light shade of purple.

Everything floating took on the same aura and dropped back to the ground. Dusk Shine did a belly-flop to the floor while Barb bounced off the bed and landed on both feet. “What were you trying to do now?” I asked.

“Small alteration on a levitation spell,” he said. “I was trying more along the lines of a ‘flying’ spell, but I guess it stretched a little too far.”

“A little?” I asked.

Dusk Shine blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that again," he said. I sighed with relief, but looked at Dusk Shine with irritation. “I think you need a break,” I said.

“Yeah, probably,” he said and shuffled with his hooves.

“Well, you’re awake now, I suppose I should make you some breakfast,” Dusk said and started down the stairs. “Oh, what would you like? Um, oatmeal, pancakes, eggs?”

That was a relief to me. I had completely forgotten that ponies were herbivores, I won’t be finding any meat here… This would be harder than I thought, but at least they still ate eggs. “Poached eggs sound good,” I said.

Dusk Shine nodded and walked into the kitchen, Barb went in after him. I looked around to see if they had anything else for me to wear, but I saw they had folded my old clothes neatly and set them at the foot of my bed. Well, at least that was something. I quickly changed and went into the kitchen as well. Barb was standing on a step ladder and helping Dusk Shine through the steps. “Ok, now slowly slip the eggs into the pot,” she said and watched as Dusk levitated a spoon and slid the eggs into a pot of boiling water.

“Never made poached eggs before,” Dusk said and started to read the cookbook with Barb.

“How’s it going, guys?” I asked and leaned against the counter.

“Very well, I think,” Dusk Shine said.

“Yeah, he hasn’t burned down the library yet,” Barb said and giggled.

Dusk Shine rolled his eyes and laughed sarcastically before he checked the eggs again. “Hmmm, I wonder if I could make this go faster?” he mused.

My eyes widened. "NO!" I cried and so did Barb.

We looked at each other and coughed politely. "No, no, it's fine the way it is," Barb said. "You should try doing something the natural way anyway."

Dusk’s ears turned down in what I supposed were discomfort or maybe irritation. Dusk seemed like one of those types that always wanted to improve something when in fact it didn’t need to be improved. However, he sucked it up and waited like us non-magical creatures. I sat at the table and waited politely. Much to my surprise, most of the things there were human-sized or at least they were my size. I could reach everything and not experience any discomfort. When I sat at the table, my knees didn’t come up to my ears nor did they dangle awkwardly over the side. It was a little comforting to know that I wasn’t completely out of my element here. “There, I think they’re done!” Dusk said and slid the eggs onto a plate and set them in front of me.

“Want anything with them?” he asked. “Ketchup? Salt? Pepper?”

“Salt and pepper will be fine, thank you,” I replied, and Dusk floated the shakers over toward me.

While I ate my eggs Barb and Dusk prepared their own breakfasts. Barb made her own eggs and Dusk helped himself to some oats and milk. “Well now, we have a lot to do today,” Dusk said as he pulled out a piece of paper almost from nowhere. “We have to get groceries in town, check the post office for that new spell book I ordered, get a few ingredients from Zicoro, and visit Elusive for some help with your clothing.”

I nodded with Dusk’s instructions and wondered how errands would go. As far as living with Dusk I was still on the fence about it. After the whole rude awakening, I was a little leery about remaining with the purple pony and he didn’t even get to the questioning bit yet. Hopefully the trip into Ponyville would be a little less exciting and a little more hopeful...

Author's Note

So Elara's life in Equestria begins. Dusk is going to take up more than one chapter, but hopefully not too much. Oh well, enjoy!

(Newly edited.)

4. Fabulous

Fabulous

After we finished our breakfast, Dusk grabbed a saddlebag and a few more supplies before we left the library. As we made our way into Ponyville I automatically felt unwelcome. The stares I received, the glares, not to mention the many bursts in my personal space bubble made me very apprehensive. Many of the ponies walked up to me and stared at almost every aspect of me so close it was like they tried to be living magnifying glasses. A few of them even tried to touch me, but I quickly side-stepped them before they could do anything. Dusk kept walking in front of me, absolutely oblivious to the attention I was getting while Barb kept giving me apologetic glances and looks of concern.

“By any chance, your Lord wouldn’t have told the citizens of my presence, would he?” I asked aloud.

Dusk looked up from the list and then back at me. “He should have, it wouldn’t make sense not to,” he said and went back to checking things off. “Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of all the overwhelming attention that I’m getting.” I said in a very deadpan and serious voice.

Dusk looked back at me again before his eyes flitted back and forth noting all the varied looks I was getting. “Oh, it’s nothing, they’ll get used to you,” Dusk Shine said. “I mean I was new here once too.”

I rolled my eyes at that. If memory serves, Twilight Sparkle didn’t have that much trouble adjusting, neither did the locals have a problem with her either. It wouldn’t be a complete stretch to say that Dusk Shine wouldn’t have had the same experience. “Yeah, but you’re not a different species altogether,” I said.

Dusk seemed to disregard my comment before we found the grocer and he started to fill a basket with produce. I tried to help as best as I could, but I was always getting distracted by the stares. “Alright, I think I’ll go to Zicoro’s while you and Barb go to Elusive’s and get this clothes situation out of the way,” Dusk said and turned to us to confirm.

Barb and I nodded simultaneously and walked off toward Elusive’s Boutique or would it have just been called a Shop now? Either way I could only imagine how wonderful this whole ordeal would go…

Barb led me to what looked like the Carousel Boutique, but with a few differences. For one thing it had blue rooftops instead of pink and was simpler in design. It seemed like a good change to me, much less frilly than Rarity’s version of the Boutique. Barb knocked on the door tentatively and we waited until Elusive opened the door.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!” he said enthusiastically before opening his eyes to look at our expression.

I gave him a sympathetic look while Barb shook her head slowly. “You need to work on that slogan, bud,” I said as we walked in.

Elusive sighed and shut the door behind us. “What’s wrong with my slogan?” he asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” I said and held up my hands in mock surrender.

“So how was your first night at Dusk Shine’s?” he asked as he started to grab some supplies.

I shrugged and sat down on a very familiar looking loveseat. “It was alright, a little hectic for my tastes,” I said and looked over at Barb who looked a little embarrassed. “No offense.”

Barb shrugged. “None taken, he is a little scatterbrained,” she said and scratched the back of her head.

“Poor Barbara tries so hard to help out her bestest friend,” Elusive said and rubbed his hoof on the top of Barb’s head.

She blushed, almost beet red. It looked like she didn’t mind all that much though, she was smiling and looked a little dreamy when Elusive gave her that attention. So Barb had a thing for Elusive in this universe too. However, it seemed pretty obvious that Elusive only saw her as a little sister or something. This kind of love could only be unrequited and eventually Barb would realize that and go after someone who was more like her. Spike and Rarity didn’t seem to have that much in common in the show and anyone could’ve seen that eventually that wouldn’t have worked out anyway in the long run. For the time being it would have to be a schoolgirl crush. I couldn’t help but notice that Elusive had also used Barb’s full name and she didn’t seem to mind which also might mean that Elusive held more value in Barb than met the eye. I shook my head and went back to watching Elusive collect his things.

“Oh well, at least you’ll have five more of us to try out,” Elusive said and set his stuff down. “Now my question is, what is your style, dear?” he asked.

I looked down at myself and then back at Elusive and shrugged. “Much the same as I’m wearing right now,” I said.

At the time I was wearing jeans and the green polo shirt used as my work uniform. I did want to get out of that thing as soon as possible too. Elusive looked me up and down a few times and his eyes widened in what I could only imagine to be abject horror. “Oh no, no, no, darling!” he said and marched over to his desk and started to rummage around in the drawers.

It didn’t matter what gender, apparently this posh fashion designer would stick with the same pet name for everyone. He rifled through his desk flinging fabric samples, pincushions, and all manner of measuring tools all over the place. “I simply can’t have this travesty,” he continued. “This display of fashion criminality!”

When he turned back around he wore a pair of half-moon glasses and a measuring tape draped over his neck as if he were wearing a scarf. A pin cushion floated near his head and so did a strip of black fabric. “Now then, strip down if you will,” he said.

I stared at him for a long time before I realized that he was well and truly serious. “What?” I said. “No!”

I wrapped my arms around my body and stepped back. “It can’t be helped,” Elusive said and started to magically tie the strip of fabric over his eyes. “I need to measure you and I can’t very well do that with your bulky clothes on, can I?”

“Wait, what-how?!” I tried to say, but couldn’t get it out before I bumped into the loveseat and was forced to sit down in it. “How are you going to measure me while you’re blindfolded?”

Elusive lifted up one side of his blindfold to look at me. “Don’t worry I have my beautiful assistant here to assist me,” he said and pointed to Barb.

Barb bounced over saluted. “Number one assistant reporting for duty, sir,” she said.

I raised my eyebrow at the two of them, but they seemed confident in their ability.

“Now then,” Elusive said and put the blindfold back on. “Your clothes, if you please.”

I sighed and stood back up. I wasn’t that much more comfortable taking off my clothes in front of Barb, but what choice did I have now? First I took my shirt off over my head and flung it to the floor. Then I stripped off my jeans without much fuss either, but I was very reluctant to take off my underwear so I kept them in place. Barb nodded with approval. “Ok, Elusive, she’s ready,” she said.

“Very good,” he said and the measuring tape hovered before my eyes. “Let’s start up and work our way down.”

With that it went further up until Barb told him to stop as it hit my forehead. “Barbara, I want you to mark down everything I measure and make sure I am correct, not too tight and not too loose,” he said.

“Yes sir!” Barb said.

“Let us begin then!” Elusive said enthusiastically.

The tape measure went around my forehead and tightened until it was a perfect fit. Barb quickly marked down the number with her quill and parchment at the ready. It moved down to my neck where it tightened again. Barb marked down the number. “How many measurements do we have to take?” I asked as he moved to my shoulder.

“A fair few,” Elusive said. “You must forgive me for I am not exactly familiar with your body type, darling.”

I sighed with resignation as the tape moved to the lay beside the top of my head and dropped down to the floor. “Please, stand as tall as you can, my dear, but not on your tip-hoo-er,” he said.

I smiled at that. “They’re called toes,” I said, referring to the appendages on my feet.

Elusive smiled too.

“Ahem, not on your tip-toes though,” he said.

I stood as straight as a board and Barb marked down my height. This measuring went on for several minutes until Elusive had every measurement he could think of had been taken down. “Alright, I think that’s everything I need,” Elusive said and took away the tape. “You may restore your original clothing.”

I gladly scooped up my clothes and put them back on as quickly as possible. “Are you appropriate now?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Ah good,” he sighed and removed his blindfold. “That was starting to feel uncomfortable.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t comment beyond that. “I must say, I look forward to the challenge of having a completely new form to work with,” he said and marched back to his desk.

Elusive set the measurements in the center and then walked over to the shelves of fabric. “And don’t you worry darling, I will make spectacular clothes for you,” he continued as he started to pick out fabric samples. “And perhaps fix your fashion sense.”

Before I could respond, the boutique’s door opened with Dusk walking in, still marking off things on his list. He looked up for a second and then went back to marking things. “How did the fitting go?” he asked.

“Superb!” Elusive answered for me. “I will turn this female into a work of art!”

My brow scrunched up at that, but Elusive couldn’t see it. It seemed like everyone had an answer for me before I could even speak my own mind. “I think she takes offense to being called a ‘work of art’,” Dusk pointed out when he saw my expression.

Elusive turned around to look at me and I shrugged. “I meant nothing by it, darling,” Elusive said. “I believe that every female is beautiful in her own way, it just takes a certain amount of work and accessories to bring it out.”

I smirked at that. It was every pretty girl’s excuse for being a bit of a snot. Not that Elusive came off as a brat to me, he just seemed very unobservant when it came to others feelings. “It’s alright,” I said. “I know you didn’t mean any harm, I suppose it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to be considered art.”

Elusive smiled and made an ‘I told you so’ look to Dusk Shine. Dusk rolled his eyes and looked to me. “If you’re done here, we have another engagement at Sugarcube Corner,” he said.

I couldn’t help the feeling of dread that came over me when he said that. “What for?” I asked.

I could tell that Dusk wasn’t a very gifted liar. He tried to hide the smile that was creeping over his muzzle, but it was very clear to me and possibly to everyone in the room that he was planning something. “Elusive and Barb should come too,” he said and quickly trotted out the door.

This could only mean one thing, Bubble and Dusk had planned a surprise party for me. I couldn’t imagine that many ponies would show up.

We walked a little ways, Sugarcube Corner only being a few blocks away, and Dusk opened the door. All the lights were off, but as the bell above the door rang they flicked back on. “SURPRISE!”

My eyes widened at the size of the party they had already gathered. It almost looked like all of Ponyville had shown up for the occasion. My vision was engulfed by dazzling smiles and hundreds of Technicolor coats. “Welcome to Ponyville!” Bubble Berry shouted as he bounced in front of me.

I smiled at him and then out at the crowd who repeated Bubble’s sentiment. “Welcome to Ponyville!”

“Wow,” I said.

“Yeah, I couldn’t wait too long, so I made up the invitations last night, and I made the cake, and the cupcakes, and the pies, and the decorations-!” Bubble rambled.

“Ok, Bubble Berry, I think she gets the point,” Dusk said.

Bubble smiled even bigger. “Come on, we got to introduce you to everyone,” he said and started to hop over to the crowd.

“Better follow him or he’ll never stop,” Dusk said and wandered over to his own circle of friends.

I let Bubble lead me through the crowd, and I smiled and waved at whoever happened to catch my eye. A few of the faces I recognized from the show, but obviously didn’t know they’re names. Bubble finally stopped at a big, red mare that I recognized as the female version of Big Mac. She was still tall, but slighter than her male counterpart. She still had his freckles, green eyes, long orange mane, but her tail resembled something that the female Applejack would have. Around her neck was a green bandana that was a perfect contrast to her coat. It looked like a leaf wrapped around a perfect red apple.

“This is Macareina,” Bubble Berry said. “She’s Applejack’s big sister, we call her Big Mac for short.”

They still called her that? I wondered if she actually liked being called “Big” in this world. “Eeyup,” she stated simply.

Still a pony of few words at least. Her voice was more high pitched and girly, but still had that southern drawl. She was cute all in all. “Nice to meet you, Macareina,” I said. “I’m Elara.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she said and nodded to me.

I smiled and then Bubble bounced over to someone else. “And these three are the cutest little foals you will ever meet!” he said and rubbed a male Applebloom’s head.

He groaned and shoved Bubble’s hoof away. “We are not cute!” he protested.

I smirked at the three ponies in front of me. The male Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were all still blank-flanks, still out to prove their worth despite it being very unnecessary. “We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” a male Scootaloo affirmed.

“Scooteroll!”

“Applebuck!”

“And Sweet Toll!”

‘Sounds like Sweet roll,’ I thought. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m-.”

“Elara, a huuuuman,” Sweet Toll interrupted. “Elusive couldn’t stop talking about you.”

I felt my face grow hot. What exactly would Elusive have to talk about me, we had only met several hours ago. Plus I was actually flattered that he found me interesting enough to talk about. “I’m Elusive’s brother,” he said.

“And I’m Applejack’s brother,” Applebuck said.

“I’m kind of like Rainbow Blitz’s brother, so don’t mess with me,” Scooteroll said and flapped his wings as if he was trying to look bigger.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said and put up my hands in mock surrender.

Bubble Berry smiled and again hopped away to another pony. I was led through the crowd for about an hour before I was released to mingle with whoever I wanted. Besides the siblings of the main six, I was also introduced to the male versions of Derpy, Cheerilee, and Granny Smith (Dopey, Cheerilou, and Pappy Smith respectively). Among the rest of the crowd were the Cakes, Vinyl, or Record, or Rec as some ponies called him, and also his classical counterpart Octavia or Concerto. It actually went better than I expected it to go. A few ponies had questions, but the others made sure that I wasn’t overwhelmed by them.

The party started to wind down after a few hours even Berry started to yawn as the last few guests started to file out. “Well, I’d say that your introduction to Ponyville was a success, Elara,” Dusk said and checked something off of his list.

I peeked over his shoulder to actually see what he’d written down and was a little surprised at how far his plans went. The first few were the things that he’d told me about before; grocery shopping, going to Zecoro, and having Elusive make my outfits. However, the other things were a little bit more surprising; “Introduce Elara to Ponyville”, “Party at Sugarcube”, “Conduct experiments”. I stopped there when Dusk looked over at me. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, who will you be staying with next?” he asked.

The mane six were now all lined up in front of me and I smiled at them nervously. “Come on, comfy cloud bed,” Blitz baited.

I rolled my eyes and looked at them all, weighing my options. Elusive was a bit finicky, but out of all of them I seemed to get along with him the most, but then again I haven’t had extensive contact with any of the others. I was already near Berry’s place so for convenience sake I could choose him. Blitz was probably going to be saved for last, considering my slight dislike of him. The others looked more reasonable than anyone else. Convenience won out in the end. “I think I’ll stay with Bubble Berry for now,” I said.

“Yay!” he said and started to hop up and down again.

There was no end to Berry’s hyper-ness. “Sheesh, even the pink marshmallow gets the girl first,” Blitz said and smirked at Berry.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Blitz-y,” Berry said and hopped up to his level. “I’m sure she’ll pick you next.”

The chances were slim. “Uh-huh, well now that the party’s over, I think I’ll turn in,” Blitz said. “Got a big cloud cover to kick out tomorrow.”

“Same here, at least with the turn in part,” Applejack said and followed Rainbow Blitz.

“Um, good-bye,” Butterscotch said and followed close behind Applejack.

“Goodnight, Elara, it was nice having you over,” Dusk Shine said.

“And your outfits should be done in a few days,” Elusive said before he exited as well.

Soon me and Berry were all alone. He turned to me and smiled brightly. “Okay, follow me to my house and we’ll get the s’mores going!” he said and left the Sugarcube Corner with me tagging along right behind him.

I wondered if I had made the right choice this time. Berry was fun and all, but one could only take so much of the pink, hyper cloud that was the male version of Pinkie Pie. Oh well, I was tired and ready to fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed, and I could only hope that he was joking about the s’mores.

Author's Note

Finally up! Forgive me for the lateness of this chapter, a lot has happened and ideas for this chapter were few and far between. But it's here, so please enjoy while you can. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner.