It is a sunny day in the state of Washington. Two friends, Garrett and Sam, are in school, eating lunch in a white hall with blue rubber trimming at the bottom, next to a band room, listening to the crappy music as they wait for lunch to end. They are quite bored. Garrett flips his hair out of his eyes, and decides to strike up a conversation.
“Hey, Sam! What’s up?” Garrett asks.
“Oh, not much. How about you?” responds Sam.
“Well, I just got ourselves two tickets to Everfree Northwest!”
“No way! I thought those sold out a long time ago.”
“You’re correct! But I have...connections…” said Garrett, in a sneaky tone.
“Well, we should probably get going!”
Upon the end of the lunch period, Garrett & Sam snuck out of the back door of the high school, thanks to the less-than-satisfactory security personnel on hand, ready to go to the horse convention. However, something was...off about the outside. The colors seemed faded, much more than usual, thanks to the frosty, chilly weather of Washington’s winter months. In addition, they saw something extremely out of place, a television. An old, decrepit CRT, box television, weighing in at several hundred pounds.
“What’s that doing out here? Shouldn’t that be in a classroom?” queried Garrett.
“I don’t know, but we don’t have to be a the con for a little bit, let’s check it out.” responded Sam.
Once they walked over to the television, somehow, it turned on, though it wasn’t connected to anything. Displaying a harsh static visual, a low, grumbling noise was heard, growing from almost inaudible to a deafening noise.
“WHAT IS THAT NOISE?” yelled Garrett.
“PROBABLY FROM THE TELEVISION, GENIUS!” sassed Sam.
The television began to glow brightly, and begun to pull the two inside with an extreme, painful force.
Garrett & Sam then land in a strange, foreign looking castle.
“Ugh, where are we?”, groans Sam, looking up from his fall.
“Seriously, dude? Look around! It’s Celestia’s castle!” responds Garrett.
“Yeah, but MLP is just a TV show we watch. It’s not re---” Sam is cut off once he took a look.
“My goodness, it’s real.”
A soft, but forceful voice was then heard.
“Hello. You two have been brought here for a very, very special reason, I can assure you.” responded the voice.
“Who is that?” said Garrett.
“You know who it is” responded the voice.
“Oh, Celestia.”
“Well, why are we here? Isn’t this entire place, like, a television show?” asked Sam.
“In your world, our universe is nothing more than a show on your televisions. However, this world is as real as either of you two. But, that’s hardly relevant right now. Like I said, I’ve brought you two here for a good reason. Discord wanted to see how humans adapt to living in an alternate dimension for some time, and we lost a bet…” said Celestia.
“But, what about our families back home? Won’t they get really, really worried about us?” worries Sam.
“Fear not. Time has been frozen in your universe. No matter how long you stay here, nobody will know the wiser back on Earth”
“Well, alright.”
Celestia then orders the castle guards to teleport the two into Ponyville, ignoring the questions coming from Sam and Garrett.
Garrett & Sam land on the soft ground of the Ponyville square, disrupting the town.
“Who are those strange ponies?” one villager says.
“Wait, are those two from around here?” another responds.
“Ouch, Celestia really has to figure out a better way to teleport us. That hurt.” says Garrett.
“Yeah, they need to work on th--” Sam says, immediately covering his mouth.
“Well, hello there” Garrett said, his voice deepening.
“Garrett, you know who I am” Sam says, unamused.
“Sorry ma’am, but I don’t think I know anyone who sounds like that, but I'd love to get to know you.” Garrett said, giving a sly smile.
“It’s Sammy...” says Sam, rolling his eyes, due to the nickname Garrett gave him.
“Oh, woah! Sorry, man, you don’t sound yourself!” Garrett says, with a blush.
“Oh my god, what is happening. Am I….a mare?”
“Well, your mane is blue, and you’re brownish. You also seem to be a pegasus” says Garrett, pointing to Sam’s wings.
“Misty Showers, my OC!” Sam yells.
“Uhm, well as for you, you’re a really dark unicorn, your mane is really short, like, you’ve never even brushed it.” Sam says.
“I’m Ombre!” says Garrett.
“Well, why would Celestia make us our OC’s? That seems really weird. And above all…why would she use my mare OC? I know it’s the one I use the most, but this is going to get weird.”
“Maybe she wanted to make us something we could relate to? And, our OCs are a lot like us. I don’t know.”
Garrett and Sam, in the bodies of their OCs, trotted around Ponyville, desperately trying to find where their home was, as Luna was already raising the moon.
“Did Celestia even say where our home was?” asked Sam.
“No, I don’t believe she did. Looks like we’ll just have to find it” responded Garrett.
“Just a hunch, I think it might be that one.” said Sam, pointing at the house that had “MISTY AND OMBRE’S HOUSE” written on a sign in front of it.
“Ponyville’s not much for subtlety, eh?” said Garrett to himself.
They trotted into their new home, Sam taking note of their surroundings. This house was a pretty nice looking house, given the circumstances. A quaint, quiet feeling left the two feeling positive. The house was pretty short, only a single story, but it was quite liveable, with a large living room, a single bedroom, and two bathrooms.
“Wait, why is there only one bedroom?”, asked Sam.
“Because...um...Discord is...weird, I suppose” Garrett questioned all ideas leaving his mind.
“That's not a very good answer, to be frank.” Sam said.
“I have no idea then.” Garrett said, seemingly defeated.
“Well, let’s go get settled. Looks like it’s already night-time, anyways.”
The two found the bedroom. The bed was nice and fluffy, very comfortable. However, Garrett seemed uncomfortable sleeping with his friend, so he instead took to a box he found to the side of the bed. Sam jumped into the bed, ready to worry endlessly about meaningless things.
Alright, let’s think this over. I’m a mare, first of all. Like, what? I’m a mare. I still can’t believe it. I’m a mare. But even weirder, this all feels...natural. I’m the opposite gender, in a world I just found out exists today, with my best friend, and it all feels normal. Something very, very weird is happening here. Sam thought to himself.
I need to get some air.
Sam then hopped out of bed, opened the window, and took to the skies. Meanwhile, back at their home, Garrett was doing some very different things.
“Whuh?” Garrett said as he heard the window open.
“Have a nice flight, I suppose.” He said after the newly turned mare was out of earshot. He got out of his box and went downstairs, realizing he wasn’t going to fall back asleep.
When Sam had gotten back that morning, they didn’t notice that Garrett had gotten out of his box. He walked around looking for him for a small while, only to find him in the kitchen struggling to cook with hooves. The kitchen, being a small, cute little room, left very little for Garrett to aide his cooking struggles.
“Well, good morning, how are you?” Sam said to the struggling stallion at the stove.
“...fuffin fanfasfic...” Garrett said, his voice muffled by the spatula held in his teeth, trying desperately to flip some eggs.
“...have you tried magic?”
“Oh, yeah...” Garrett said, dropping the spatula out of his mouth.
His horn, lit up with a dark greyish aura around it, begun to affect the eggs he was attempting to cook up. With some effort, Garrett was able to cook them...and also tearing them in half, breaking the yolks.
“Oh, come on!” Garrett exclaimed.
"Well, hey, look at it this way. Your eggs are messed up, everything about me is messed up!" Sam complains, pointing their hooves at their unfamiliar body.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, MY EGGS ARE BROKED!"
"You mean broken?"
"No."
"Well, alrighty then?" Sam said looking deeply at Garrett, trying to analyze what's going on in his head.
How can he be so ditzy? I bet he's hiding something. Something he doesn't want to tell me about... Then again, his situation is probably just as confusing as mine... I should just give him some space. Not worrying about it. thought Sam.
Meanwhile, Garrett was thinking as well. I wonder... if I added pumpkin and salt to this...would it come out alright?
After they realized they were staring at each other in silence for several minutes, Sam finally piped up.
"Well, we should probably go grab something to eat!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Garrett said, defeated, tossing his failed eggs into the trash.
Heading out of the door, Sam realized something.
"We have no money."
"Nah, I got us covered." Garrett said, producing a leather bag out of seemingly nowhere.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Get what?"
"...the bag."
"Sammy, I have no idea what you're talking about." Garrett said, avoiding the question.
"Hey, there's a place to eat!" says Sam, pointing towards a shop with a French aesthetic.
"Awesome, I love food!"
Trotting into the shop, they both noticed a permeating, wonderful smell of pastries of all shapes and sizes. After a while, the mare at the counter said something.
"Welcome to Le Petit Déjeuner! What'll you two be havin'?" She said.
"I'll have...uhhh..." Wait, what do they serve at this place? "Two muffins and an egg. Make it over easy."
"All right, and for the miss?" The mare at the counter asked.
"Um, I suppose I'll just take what he's having!" Replies Sam, blushing at the fact she just called them a mare.
"All righty then! Four muffins comin' right up! That'll be four bits."
Garrett reluctantly pays the mare at the counter, groaning as he places the pieces of currency on the table.
Resist the urge to growl, come on, resist Garrett thinks while taking a seat at a table, Sam quickly following suit.
"So, Garrett, I've been thinking a lot about this all lately. Isn't this all surreal? We're in EQUESTRIA! This is all so cool, and yet...so strange. Especially for me." Sam tells.
"To be honest, I don’t find it that crazy. Just another day, even if it's in Equestria, it's still just a day, y'know?"
"That's true."
"What's it like being a chick now?" Garrett says, with a sly look on his face.
"Oh, it's so strange. Mostly strange because it doesn't feel that weird, you know? I don't feel out of place as a mare. It feels just like I felt back on Earth..."
"Ah, so it feels pretty normal. what about the wings?"
"Now THAT'S what feels weird. The feeling of flying is like nothing else...But enough about me. What's it like being Ombre? Being a unicorn?"
"It's kinda weird, like, I have this horn, and I can pick stuff up with it, but it is just so much easier to pick stuff up with my mouth."
"I see..."
"Four muffins and two eggs, ready!" yells the waitress.
"Thanks!" Says Sam.
"'bout damn time" Garrett whispers under his breath. "Thank you" He says, feigning a smile.
The waitress places the plates of muffins and eggs in front of the pair, then trots off merrily back towards the kitchen.
"You know, Garrett, do you think that becoming our characters is changing us a little bit? Like, I'm noticing my demeanor is kinda changing to be less masculine, if only a little bit. How about you?"
"Nope" Garrett responds after scarfing down a muffin in two massive bites.
"Garrett, you might want to slow down, you're going to choke!" Sam said concerned for their friends health.
"You worry too much, Sammy" Garrett said, slowing down his speed of eating a bit.
"Anyways, you really haven't noticed anything different about yourself?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well you seem, I don't know, a bit more forceful than when we were human."
"No idea what you're talking about." Garrett says, trying to keep from eye contact.
"Well, have you noticed anything different about me?" queried Sam.
"Uh, you walk bouncier than before."
"Wow, I do?" Sam says, blushing again. "Have you noticed anything else different?"
"Your voice." Garrett says, pointing out the obvious while chomping the last of the muffin he was eating and starting on eggs.
"...thanks, Captain Obvious."
After some time, they finally finished eating, mostly due to Sam nibbling on their muffin. In fact, Sam took so long to eat their muffin, that the sun was already beginning to softly sink.
"Celestia dammit Sammy, you NEED to learn to eat faster." Garrett said, them wandering around town as it becomes dark.
"Hey, please don't blame me, I'm not very good with new foods. These muffins taste really different than they do on Earth, too!"
"You need to just jump in here and stuff your face!" Garrett proclaims, jumping into the air and thrusting a hoof up, promptly landing on his back with a loud thud, alerting the townsponies. "Ow."
"Hey, do you want to do anything out here tonight?"
"Go for a walk? Maybe find a few landmarks?"
"That sounds nice."
Walking down one of Ponyville's many scenic routes, Garrett and Sam just admired the stars, together.
"Sure is beautiful out tonight" Garrett said, gazing at the night sky.
"Wow, it really is... I didn't realize this universe was so enthralling..." Replied Sam, lost in the sky.
"We should explore it, y'know, be like the first space travelers here. Maybe we will meet aliens..." Garrett fantasized.
The two of them stare into each others eyes.
"Garrett?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I love... I think I love it here, in Equestria." Sam stammers out.
No. It's not the right time., Sam thought.
"Yeah, I think it's gonna be awesome here, no matter how long Celestia keeps us." Garrett responds.
The two trot home in silence, heading to bed.
What was THAT all about? Was I about to say I LOVED Garrett? No, I don't love Garrett. He's my friend! How...what...why? Sam thought, sprawled out on their bed.
I suppose I should just head to bed. Looks like Garrett's already asleep in his little bed, anyways.