For Sanity's Sake

Twilight and her friends were gathered around the map in their meeting room discussing the event that had happened a few weeks ago. Each of them had different suggestions on how to make the castle safer while others had other ideas. Twilight didn’t know what to do in this situation. She felt glad that nothing was stolen and that no real harm was done to her or her friends, but on the other hand she had a nagging feeling that this won’t be the last time somepony will try and steal something from them. She felt especially on edge seeing how nothing has happened for the past few weeks, as if the next attack will happen when she least expects it. She just sat on her throne and pondered in thought.

“I say we should get some Canterlot guards down here,” suggested Rarity.

“Why? We can handle anything on our own. We pretty much took care of that one stallion who broke in a few weeks back, no problem,” argued Rainbow Dash.

“To be fair, that was mostly Pinkie,” brought up Applejack.

“Best use of the party canon yet!” chirped Pinkie.

“Why don’t we see what Twilight thinks,” suggested Fluttershy. They all turned towards Twilight as she sat there with her hooves over her mouth, thinking.

“I honestly have no idea what to make of this,” admitted Twilight. “The only other time somepony tried to steal my crown was when Sunset Shimmer tried to take it.”

“But we all know how that ended,” added Spike.

“Right. But I highly doubt this guy had the same story as her.”

“So what do you want to do Twi?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t know. We’ll just have to keep our eyes out for any suspicious characters as of now. It’ll give me more time to come up with a plan,” suggested Twilight. “I just hope that, whatever it is, it won’t threaten all of Equestria.”

The others nodded in agreement. After more discussion on the matter, the others decided to take their leave and continue on with their days. They all left and stopped outside of the castle. Twilight could tell their faces were filled with concern.

“Ya sure you don’t need us around to keep watch?” asked AJ.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens I’ll let you girls know,” assured Twilight. “Besides, you’ve got all your jobs to do and I’d hate to keep you from them.”

“Oh you could never be a bother, Twilight,” replied Rarity.

“Yeah, if any other creeps show up we’ll show them a thing or two,” exclaimed Rainbow pounding her fists together.

“Thanks,” said Twilight.

With that, the mares said their goodbyes and went their separate ways to do their jobs. As they all left, the same golden Pegasus mare had observed everything on a nearby balcony. She witnessed Twilight’s friends leaving her castle one by one, and scanned the whole area. She especially eyed Rainbow Dash, since the brash young mare caught her attention. Her sight was locked on her as she casually flew away into the clouds. It felt like only two days ago that she first laid eyes on that mare.

I wonder the mare thought to herself.

She spread her wings and took off before the owner of the house could find out that there was a strange Pegasus standing outside on their balcony. She took to the skies and started to circle around Ponyville, looking for anything that would catch her eye. As she was soaring, she couldn’t help but hear a faint shimmering noise.

An hour and a half later, Everfree forest

Will was just waking up from his long slumber. However, he felt like his bed was a lot harder than it should be. He groaned and grunted and started to scratch his eyes. He gathered up some strength and pulled himself off of his bed, or at least what he thinks is his bed. He sat up, stretched his arms and gave a big, loud yawn. He stretched until he heard a faint crack in his back. Once his mouth was closed and his arms down, his eyes opened up and his vision was still a blur.

As his sight was starting to clear up, he couldn’t help but notice something was wrong. For a minute, it looked like he was in the middle of the forest. His eyes fully opened up and his vision was now crystal clear. He blinked a few times and he saw where he was. He shifted his head left to right and only saw two things: trees and bushes. Left, right, up and down there were trees and bushes everywhere. He could feel his heart bumping rapidly, both in confusion and fear.

“What the hell? Why am I in a forest?” he wondered. “I’m just going to assume this is just some weird dream.”

He rubbed his eyes some more to get all the sleep out. He stopped once he saw what he was rubbing his eyes with. He looked down to see his hand was now a grey hoof. His eyes jumped at the sight of it. He looked at his other hand and saw that it was also a hoof. He swerved around to find a nearby puddle. He quickly crawled over to the puddle in hopes that the water was clear enough to give him a reflection.

Luckily, it was. He scooted over the puddle and looked down. He found himself in a very strange position. He was no longer in his human self, instead he noticed that he had the appearance of a small horse. His hair was still orange but he was covered with light grey fur. He scanned his body to see that he still sported his blue grey jacket. Not only that, but he noticed that he had a pair of wings on the sides of his body. His eyes shrank to the size of pin points.

“A REALLY weird dream,” he repeated to himself.

He stood up on his new hooves and managed to find some balance…the fourth time he tried at least. His face planted in the ground every other time, spitting out pieces of dirt every time. He started to get really worried.

“Ok, what do I do now?” he asked himself.

He turned around to find a small piece of paper attached to a nearby tree. His brow raised and head tilted in curiosity. He slowly approached the tree with the note attached to it. As he got closer, he noticed a small blue saddle bag resting behind the tree, this raised his curiosity even more. He turned back to the note on the tree and noticed some words were written on it, obviously. The words written were, “Read Me.” Will’s curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

“What is this?” he questioned and squinted. “The 8 pages?”

He reached out his hoof to pull the paper off of the tree. Unfortunately, the paper just flipped over his hoof since he had nothing to grab it with. Will tried again but got the same result. The paper slipped out of his non-existing grasp every time. He could feel the irritation steaming off his head.

“No hands,” he grunted.

In a desperate attempt, he grabbed this note with his bare teeth and tore it off the bark. He then used his hooves to violently open up the piece of paper. Finally, he managed to unfold it, the paper got a little crumpled in the process, but it was worth it.

“Ha! Got you, bitch!” proclaimed Will.

He flattened the paper on the ground and began to read it. However, as he did, he noticed that something wasn’t right. Something was very wrong. The note said:

You’re probably wondering why you’re here? Why you’re in the middle of the forest and why you’re suddenly a pony? That’s simple. I want to play a game. And if you say I’m ripping that quote off from Saw, I’ll cut you!

“I…wasn’t thinking that, but ok,” Will responded.

Anyway, you have been chosen to partake in a fascinating event. I have a task for you to do. The list you see below are a various items that can be found in different parts of this world. Your task, is to collect all the items on this list and bring them to me at the center of the forest, where I will use said items to open the gateway back to your home. You humans have a peculiar magic unlike any other, which makes you the perfect collectors to gather these treasures.

You’ve been transformed into that of a small equine to erase any form of panic from this worlds residents. You’ll soon see why. If you plan on revealing your true self to the natives, there’s no telling what will happen. All I will say is, there will be consequences. How far will you go to get back home? Will you lie through your teeth to return to the petty world you once knew? Or will you find your salvation here in this mystical land and abandon your original home? The choice is yours.

Will’s eyes shrank as he kept on reading. He had to be dreaming. He HAD to be. There’s no way this could be happening to him. This was some kind of morbid prank, right? He decided to keep on reading.

One other thing, there is no time limit. Once you have found ALL of the items on this list, then we’ll talk. This may be hard to take in, but just remember, you’re not alone. I wish the best of luck to you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Notes.

“Whoa,” was all Will could say. He may have been filled with fear and concern and his face may be motionless, but deep down he had other thoughts in his head.

Who the hell is this Mr. Notes? Well, whoever he is Will thought. He should really consider a name change.

Will shook that thought off for now and examined the list below to see what he had to find. His eyes shrank when he saw the amount of things he had to find on that list. Most of them we’re unfamiliar to him while others just seemed random.

Items:

• A cupcake from Sugar Cube corner

• A bag of sapphires from the Carousal Boutique

• A bag of Rubies from the Canterlot Boutique

• Applejack’s lasso

• A Wonderbolt’s uniform

• Pinkie Pie’s party canon

• Fresh Appleloosa apples

• A body part from Discord

• King Sombra’s horn

• Phoenix egg/egg shell

• Dragon’s skin

• Timberwolf core

• A Diamond dog’s collar

• Shining Armor’s helmet

• Manehattan Bits

• A crystal shard from the Crystal Empire

• Griffon scones

The list seemed to go on forever, Will didn’t even see where the page ended. He started to think that it was endless. Some sweat even started to form on the side of his head.

“I don’t even know what these things are? How the hell am I supposed to find them?” he asked himself.

As he scrolled down the list, he spotted two particular items at the very end that seemed to peak his interest. He was just amazed that this list had an end to it, good thing he didn’t have to flip the page over. It wasn’t actually two separate, individual items. It was more like a list of items on two bullet points.

• The crowns of the four princesses: sun, moon, love and friendship

• The elements of harmony: honesty, laughter, kindness, generosity, loyalty and magic

So a list within a list? Will thought. It’s list-cepetion! No but seriously, where the hell am I going to find these things? And who the hell named them?!

He looked back at the tree and noticed the small saddle bag that was resting behind it once more. He approached it and pick it up with his hoof. It wasn’t like a normal backpack or anything, it just looked like two bags attached by a single strap. He assumed that must’ve been the normal design, given how his new equine body is shaped.

“I guess I’m supposed to carry the items in this thing,” he assumed.

He turned back to the list and stared at the tremendous amount of things he had to search for. Will was not looking forward to this at all, he wanted no part of this strange game. However, it looked like he doesn’t have a say in it.

Before he could say or think anything else, he heard a loud growling coming from the bushes behind him. He slowly turned his head and noticed the bushes vibrating a little. The leaves were rustling and the suspicious sound getting louder with each second. Will stood there motionless. Then after 15 seconds he rolled his eyes at the shrub.

“Oh great let me guess. Rustling bushes making it look like there’s some kind of horrible beast hiding in it, when really it’s just a cute bunny rabbit or something? Only to reveal that the real predator was behind it the whole time?” he said with a groan. “I’ve seen that cliché a million times, just come out already you stupid rabbit!”

As if on cue, a large beast leapt out of the bush and landed right in front of Will. It was giant wolf made of branches and sticks. It crouched down and glared at Will while baring its sharp teeth. Soon after, two more Timberwolves leapt out of the shrub and joined the pack leader. Their growls made the ground vibrate and Will could feel their warm and smelly breaths evaporating him. His eyes shrank at the sight of the wolves.

“Ok, looks like we’re getting straight to the point then,” he said nervously.

The lead wolf raised it’s paw and swiped at Will. Luckily he dodged it just in time. As he jumped back, he felt the surface of his front hoof being scratched. He fell back with a thud and gripped his hoof. He yelled in pain and noticed that scratch left behind by the wolf. It wasn’t bad enough to show bone, but he could still see his blood. His eyes shrank as the pain on his hoof began to sting. This was no dream.

“Oh shit. It’s for real!”

The timberwolf growled in response and began to creep in on Will. Naturally, Will got up and grabbed the list and saddlebag and made a run for it. The timberwolves saw the cue and immediately started to chase him. Will ran through the forest trying to escape the wolves, but he knew that couldn’t happen. His heart was racing and the wind hit his face like a frying pan. He looked back and noticed the pack starting to catch up to him.

“Dammit! What am I doing? A person can’t outrun a wolf!” he yelled to himself. But then his eyes shrank once he realized an important detail.

“Wait a minute! I’m not a person anymore!”

He then looked down on his new wings and opened them up. He stopped midway once he realized that he had no idea how to fly. He couldn’t even figure out how to drive his mom’s car, let alone fly with his own set of wings. He wings were spread and straight and ready to fly.

“Now how do I-“ before he could finish, his wings started to flap uncontrollably which took him a few feet off the ground.

“OK, we’re flying!” he panicked as he took off.

He was only a few feet off the ground, but not high enough to reach above the trees. He started to swerve around the forest like a dragonfly. He flew around every tree and bounced off of every boulder like a pinball. Every time he made contact with a new object it would leave a dent in his new body. He could feel the rock and bark hit his body every time, like being hit by a football every second. He bounced off of another boulder.

“Dammit!” he yelled in pain. He could only utter one word with every hit he took.

“Are-You-Kidding-Me!”

He swerved to his right and his eyes shrank with what he saw. He was aiming right for one of the timberwolves. It was completely unaware of Will’s presence, until it was too late. The wolf turned his head and gasped at Will flying right for him. The wolf and Will collided, sticks exploding everywhere. Will emerged from the pile of sticks and looked down. He scanned his surroundings and saw what he had done.

“Alright, I got him,” he cheered to himself.

His victory was short-lived when he heard the sound of angry growling. He looked up at the remaining wolves baring their teeth at him. The pack leader was especially glaring at Will, ready to turn him into hamburger meat. Will gulped as he had no idea what to do now. The only thing he could was spread his wings and leapt out of the pile. The wolves lunged forward but Will dodged them both and ran straight for the bushes. He then ran as if there was no tomorrow, like his life was at stake. Which, in this case, it was.

Will ran for half an hour and finally stopped to catch his breath. His chest was pumping rapidly and barely any air went into his lungs. He turned around and noticed that the timberwolves were gone.

“Finally! I lost them,” he panted.

His eyes shrank when he found out what he had just missed. There was an item on his list that he could’ve taken and he just ran from it.

Timberwolf Core

“Dammit!” he yelled. “There was an item right THERE and I missed it! Maybe I can go back for it?”

He turned around and noticed the dark abyss that was the forest, the pathway that was leading towards his attackers that tried to use him as chew toy.

“I’ll just come back to that one,” he said.

He then sat down and looked at the scratch that was given to him. He then searched his saddle bag to see if there was anything he could use to patch up his wound. His hoof touched something sharp and pointy which made him yank out his hoof.

“Ow, what the hell?” He said as he waved his hoof.

He reached it and pulled out what poked him. He pulled out a big, sharp, survival dagger. He wrapped his hoof around the handle and examined it. A sudden irritation soon coursed through his body and a sharp pain entered his head.

“I had this with me the whole time?!” he exclaimed. “Shit!”

He tossed it back in the bag in frustration. He had a weapon with him the whole time and didn’t use it to defend himself against those wolves. He felt really stupid. Nevertheless, he continued to search his bag. He pulled out something that brought some comfort to him. His heart sank when he pulled out his IPod out of his saddlebag.

“What? How did this get in here?” he wondered as he examined it.

He flipped it over to see that it even had his name on it. The sticker he put on himself when he bought it. He was suddenly starting to get scared.

“How is it not even damaged?” he asked himself.

He tossed it away for now and went through his bag on more time. He managed to finally find something useful when he pulled out a first-aid kit. He let out a loud sigh of relief. He opened up the box and brought out some wraps. He attempted to wrap his wound in it, but found it difficult since he had no hands to grab at it. He tried using his teeth, but that didn’t make it any better. He eventually managed to wrap around his hoof at least 5 times. It wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding altogether, but it was good enough. He finished wrapping his injury, or partially wrapped it, and put away his kit.

He then got up and began to walk some more, limping every now and then. Pretty soon, he found a clearing. He charge forward once he saw that opening. He burst through out of the forest and into the sunlight.

“Oh thank god!” he exclaimed.

He looked forward and saw the village of Ponyville. Cottages, stores, and ponies could be seen for miles. Will tiled his head at first, but then realized that he shouldn’t be too surprised by this seeing how he’s a small horse now. There were unicorns, pegasai, and earth ponies everywhere. Will kept on looking at the ponies walking by and back at himself in comparison.

“Well, that explains why I was transformed into a pony,” he said to himself. “Now, where am I going to find those items?”

He shifted his head left from right back to left again. All he could see were ponies with smiling faces and carrying on with their day, nothing out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that there’s a village that completely consists of small equines. Will had no idea where to start. He didn’t like the look of the village at all. Not one bit. It was like his eyes were burning from all the bright colors.

“Why am I suddenly in a little girls coloring book?” he wondered. “Where should I even start looking?”

He then heard a faint and mysterious noise coming from the forest behind him. It sounded like a soft growl, just like the wolves he encountered before. A small breeze blew by and caused a chill to run up his spine and he even heard small whispers entering his ears. Now he really didn’t like his situation.

“I better start running.”

With that, Will took off and ran into the village and away from the forest. He sprinted through the village wearing his saddlebags and his list hidden in his jacket, he wasn’t going to waste any time. As he ran through the village, he passed various ponies. Such as a farm pony who was selling apples on a cart, a yellow and pink-maned Pegasus mare who was helping a family of ducks crossing the street, and even a small orange Pegasus who stormed by on a small and blue scooter.

He ran past other characters such as two mares, a green unicorn and a blue and pink-maned earth pony, resting on a bench. He even ran past two very peculiar mares, one of them being a white unicorn with a wild blue mane and cool shades and a grey earth pony mare with a black mane and pink tie.

Will couldn't care less about the ponies he passed by or the village he ran through, he just wanted to find all the items on the list as soon as possible. As well as get away from the creepy forest. He still needed to get started on the list, the sooner he finds all the items, the sooner he can go home. His thoughts were distracted once he realized he had no idea where he was going. They were even more distracted when he slammed right into another pony.

They both fell to the ground with a thud. Will shook his head and rubbed his temples. He soon got up and turned around to the pony he bumped into. He looked down and noticed that she was a unicorn. She was a unicorn with white fur and a swirly mane and tail with sapphire blue eyes. Will also noticed that she had a trio of diamonds tattooed on her flank. He had no idea whether that was a fashion statement or what. He approached the fallen mare who was still rubbing her head.

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t paying attention,” spoke Will as he offered her a hoof.

“It’s quite alright, darling,” replied the mare as accepted his hoof. “No real damage done…”

She stopped and stared at Will, tilting her head a little. Will became confused by this. Rarity then placed a hoof over her mouth as she looked down, Will became even more concerned.

“Apparently, I did do some damage,” she informed.

“Huh?”

“You’re hoof,” she pointed out.

Will looked down and noticed the bandages were falling off and his wound was starting to show again. Will looked back at the mare and could tell she was starting to get queasy, her head was even starting to spin. Will covered his wound before any blood could leak out and backed away.

“Oh, I already had that. It’s not your fault,” he assured.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “That doesn’t look too good.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I just need to walk it off.”

“Are you sure, darling? That looks pretty bad.”

“Yeah, I’ll live,” he nervously chuckled. “Sorry for bumping into you. I’ll be off.”

Before Rarity could retort, Will ran in the other direction. Rarity tried to reach out to him but he was already far away.

“Oh Ok. Sorry again for bumping into you!” she called out.

Will didn’t hear it, he was already busy trying to figure out where he was going to go next. He stopped in his tracks once he realized that he actually had no clear idea where he was going. He’s never been to this village before, he had no idea how this place worked or where to go. He turned around to see that Rarity was still in sight. An idea just popped in his head. It was a longshot, be he felt like he needed to try it. It’s not like he had any other choice, he just hoped that he didn’t screw this up. He shook his head and ran back to Rarity before she could get away.

“Hey! Wait! Miss!” he called out. Rarity turned around and noticed him running towards her.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I’m actually new to this…uh…town. I was actually wondering if you could show me around?” he asked.

“Oh? Why me?”

Will began to freeze. He didn’t think this through. He didn’t know what to respond with. After all, he just met this girl. It’s bad enough that he messed up “asking out” the last girl he talked to, but this girl wasn’t even human. Will’s uncomfortableness level rose every time he reminded himself that he was talking to a unicorn mare. He could spot so many things wrong with this.

“Well, it’s just,” he stuttered. “You’re the first per-horse I’ve seen and I was wondering-“ Rarity held up a hoof.

“What did you call me?” she asked deadpanned.

Shit! Did I just use a racist term or something? Will thought. But I’m not wrong, she is a horse! C’mon, think dammit! You can’t screw this up! How else will I find myself around this town? You gotta wing this!

“I mean, you’re the first unicorn pony I’ve seen and I was wondering if you could show me around?” he asked nervously.

Rarity just raised an eyebrow.

C’mon, just say yes already!

“That’s what I thought you said,” she huffed. “Very well, I’ll show you around this town since you are new.”

Saved it!

“But, if you make that mistake again, there will be consequences,” she warned.

“Yeah, Ok, sure” he replied.

Why do I feel like I’m being threatened?

“But first I should probably patch up that wound of yours. It looks like your bandages are falling off,” she pointed out.

“That’s not really necessary. I feel like a burden already, asking you to guide me through this town-“

“Nonsense, it’s not a burden at all,” she assured. “By the way, I am Rarity, or Miss Rarity if you will.”

Oh boy, she’s one of those girls.

“And your name is?”

“I’m Will.”

“Very well. Follow me, William, we have much to do!” she instructed as she began to walk.

“Just Will is fine,” he replied as he followed her.

Will huh? That sure is a strange name. Rarity thought.

His quest has now begun, and this won’t be the last time he has an encounter with a talking pony. All he hoped was that this mission will get done with soon. He was not going to spend the rest of his life in this new world.