Author's Note
Ballerina's POV
Ghost is Prologue: 1
I had chosen the body for the vacation from the menu available. Once I had chosen to have my time off in Ponyville, the obvious choice is a Pony.
They promised that it was perfectly safe, due to the freedom of connections. Just the alternate body shipped to the village, with my brain inside, waiting to be reactivated upon arrival. The local Ponies would handle all these things. They would come with their very own Personality matrixes and artificial intelligence. Once assembled, they would not be susceptible to any hacking from outside sources.
Aside from Ponies, there are several other choices, even if they had placed limits on each form, depending on how common they were in the original village, before the Vacation Season.
Even if I was among the first to sign up, thus not really affected by the effects of sold out or booked up places. There are only so many cottages available at any given time. Booking was done by week or month. I chose a full month.
As I go over the options, I noticed numerous limitations and descriptions of what was possible for any Pony living in Ponyville. Certain colours are banned, or could be on just one or two Ponies. Some colours are available for either the coat, or the mane and tail. For some reason, the brighter the colour, the more likely it was to be acceptable in the village. Brown, beige and grey were all permitted, but commonly only with certain types of Ponies and personalities. In the end, I go with the Technicolour, or Candy colour, both for the coat and my main and tail.
If I chose a bright cyan body with the matching cerise, it should stand out in just the right, acceptable manner. I want to be original, individual, not a mere copy, found in scores all over the village. What’s the fun in that?
Once I made my choice, another choice came up, something referred to as a Cutie Mark, looking like a Tattoo, or a Pictogram. A graphic representation of my individual personality and talent. Something that should make me instantly recognisable. I found an image of a pair of Balerina slippers in an altered version for these equine Ponies. I chose metallic bloody red, yet an elastic rubbery hue to it.
For some reason, gradients and multicolour options are all but banned. In part, this was in place to protect the few Canon Ponies who does have these. Why did one need these, unless it was part of something larger? It isn’t merely a means to look edgy or Emotional, or any such pointless notions. I guess I could see the point of it. I am perfectly happy with my choice, just the three colours in total, even if the shading effect on the mark is there.
As I arrive at the Travel agency, they had a bed readily awaiting me. No connection, or the likes, just a space where my more Human body was to be stored in a sleeping fashion, while I am on my vacation. The controlled Matabolism sure is convenient now. They merely moved my ghost from the original body, to the Equine Shell, ready for shipping. Oh yeah, sorry for that Pun, as amusing as it came out, when they first told me.
I wake up the following morning. Of course it is a bright morning as I open my eyes after I had arrived. Maybe it is part of the sale’s trick, but I do enjoy it all the same.
The bed feels soft under my body. The thick quilt still does feel fairly light and the pillow is both cool and fluffy in my experience.
As I slip my hooves out from under the quilt, just after I had folded the topmost part of it out of the way, before I set hoof on the newly polished red Oak wood floor. Looking back as I folded the quilt back, I notice the quilt had a pattern of slippers, not too different from the pair I had chosen for my flank, what ever the significance would supposedly be in my case.
Looking up, I noticed the wallpaper on the walls, a light cyan background, multicoloured Ponies, not too different from myself, dancing all over the wall, from ceiling all the way down to the floor. I guess this did impress me at first glance, but how I would feel in a month is any Pony’s guess.
Apparently, there is a double sliding doors to a wardrobe on the hoof side of the bed. At first I thought it was merely a comforting blanket, a tribute to where we came from. On second thought, I soon noticed another reason, the bed linen are also stored in the closet behind my bed. Some Ponies, mainly the upper class like Unicorns wear clothes, although some Earth Ponies in the worker class also wear clothes, but more for the utilitarian reasons in their case.
Looking closer, the shower is on the other side as well, giving me direct access to fresh clothes and towels from inside of the shower, as I get in and out of the shower itself. I guess I still am going to love an honest live hot shower in the morning.
What initially shocked me, even after I had read about it before I booked the vacation trip is the fact that I am on the second floor.
After a long shower I thoroughly had enjoyed, even more so than I had dared to expect, I dried myself off and slipped into a short but stylich skirt and a matching top. Maybe I’m not quite a Unicorn, but it still did feel best to wear the skimpy suit. If it isn’t for the origin of where I came from, I feel like an upper class Pony. Doesn’t my mark make me into upper class? I don’t know. Yet, it made me feel more comfortable.
With the tight hugging sensation of the fabric or material of the suit, both on my chest and jigglies and around my rear end, I feel secure and comfortable, going down stairs to investigate and examine the rest of my home.
At the base of the stairs, I found myself in the hall. From there I could choose to go into the Mare’s room, in or out. I chose to go in, expecting nothing out of the ordinary from my Mare’s room, or if this was mainly due to the fact that I had no pressing urge to go in there right now.
My Mare’s room is a small and straightforward utility for a Mare to relieve herself. Just the common items and details, nothing fancy, right.
For a moment, the living room is a bit awkward, mainly due to my new form as the Equine Pony, as opposed to who I am on vacation from. Yet, there is a sofa to the right and a small table before it. Only no TV. There is a door to the kitchen and dining rooms respectively before me.
Continuing, I have a nice space outside. Not a balcony as the usual standard where I used to live, but an entire garden.
There is a rose on each side of the door on the front. Most of the back is simply green grasses, but there are apple trees with red, delicious looking fruits among the branches, from what I could see.
The path up to my home is laid with light red stone tiles. A convenient space on the back is also laid with matching red tiles.
I like the general theme of my home, the wooden floor and green wallpapers makes me feel comfortable and right at home. Something else that ensures and reinforces this sens is the pile of muffins in the fridge. Some Pony had apparently placed them there before I arrived. I nip one, pull the white paper off from right under the pastry, before I thoughtfully chew on it, considering my next move. I had to do something, right.
Once I had enjoyed the first muffin, I had another, and swallowed the last of it with a sip of juice.
At the Carousel Boutique: 2
Author's Note
Mai's POV
At the Carousel Boutique: 2
I had just had my breakfast. Now I had decided to have some fresh clothes for myself. I want my clothes to be personal and fitting to my new body such as it had been delivered to the location of where I was to spend my vacation.
Apparently, there is but the one place to go; the Carousel Boutique run by a Rarity. Strange names in my mouth, but I am new here and have to get used to what I was to be for the duration of my vacation. If she could make me the clothes I could enjoy wearing in public, who am I to complain about her name? I haven’t even seen her, I have no right to judge her by the name. Not yet.
Trotting over to her Boutique at the center of town is no challenge. The Equine form was proving to be more to the advantage than I had dared to imagine; even after the challenges to get used to, had been deduced from the total sum of things. Maybe part of the advantages are from the cybernetic body, but I already had experience enough with this so I can’t really credit the change to this in the first place. If this is what Equaines are actually like in the flesh, I had no idea, it isn’t a thing one could ever compare. On the other hoof; these are not Horses, but Ponies and not the Ponies that are merely smaller Horses.
Initially, I had been tempted to just see how fast I could go there, but settled on a moderate trot. I find it relaxing in ways I had never really expected or anticipated. How could I? Maybe I am not one of these slow people who settles with a slow walk and doing nothing in wait. This proved to be a vacation from myself in ways I could never have expected. For the joy of it, but it is the truest form of vacation.
Vacation is vacation, because I take time of and relax. Is there a better way of doing it, than to leave my old self behind? Everything that was me is laying behind in cold storage, while everything essential goes to the location of my vacation, where the cybernetic body had been assembled.
Even trotting in a measured gait, I still got to where I intended to go much faster than I had expected. Maybe these Ponies are smaller than I expected, but they are just as massive and powerful as I could ever have been. I even slowed down even further in order not to feel as if I was rushing into the central town and made an effort to actually stop, well before the door before I entered the building in a more dignified manner.
As the door swing open, I hear the shim going off with a lovely musical quality to it. That certainly did come off as a good sign. A very convenient surprise to me. Maybe she would actually have something for me to wear.
“Greetings, and welcome to my Boutique. I am Rarity!” she exclaimed in a fabulously welcoming tone.
“How do you do, Miss Rarity. I had not expected a Boutique with the style, or as large and deliberate as yours in a village like Ponyville!” I expressed in response.
“I am doing quite well, thank you for asking!” she responded, “What are you looking for, this fabulous morning?” she added, almost as if it had been an afterthought.
“Since I am on a vacation, enjoying Ponyville, I could use a few suits. Call me Mai, by the way. I would like something light, yet tight fitting enough to make me feel as if I am actually fitting in here. Of course I had to see you first, in order to make a good impression on the fellow Ponies of Ponyville. A vest and skirt in black or a deep purple should be just about right?” I suggested, knowing black would go well with most colours, including my silver gray coat.
I had opted for the blue mane over one in gold silver or copper. Had it been the wiser choice or a mistake is left to seem with Rarity as my judge. Metallic electric blue, not quite the expected metallic hue you had expected, but it makes me a bit more of a living entity over that of a robotic servant one may have chosen to have as a companion back home where I came from. Now I just hope my coat does look like a real fur and that Rarity could craft a suit to make me blend in with the crowd.
“On vacation? Ponyville is an exquisite place to rest from the daily drone of your hectic life, thanks to the exemplary weather we have here. A tight fitting suit, let me take measurements and I will be right at the job, then you can pick your wardrobe up, once I have completed the work. Black certainly will compliment your shiny coat. I think I can create just the right style for you to fit right in and feel comfortable in Ponyville, or any other place you choose to visit on your vacation. Let me pick up a few samples along the way to see what fabric will go best with your coat!” she responded, pulling out a measuring tape, taking every imaginable measure she could possibly have use for, before she pulled out a group of select fabrics she imagines could go well with what she had envisioned to be my style.
Purple and black fabrics mainly. Picking one while discarding others left and right. After a moment, she ended up with a few samples she decided should go well with me; in the style I had asked for.
“These fabrics looks just about right. I just need to see them making up the suit, before we can know if they will be perfect!” I pointed out.
“From your measurements, Mai, these should be just right!” she pointed out, pointing at patterns she pulled out from a stack of patterns for suits.
“This one seems to be perfect. How long will it take you to craft a suit like this for me?” I responded without a thought to the cost of her work.
“For two or three suits like this; that would leave you with just about enough time to have a good meal. If you choose to go to the Sugar-Cube Corner Café, or if you prefer a more stylish salad? Either establishment is within trotting distance!” she pointed out with pride.