Chapter 1
My Little Pony...
"Well this is larger than I anticipated." I commented dryly as I stared at the hundreds of people walking around the large building decorated with My Little Pony franchise. Some of them were the type that everyone assumed every Brony was like- Dudes who have been living in their parents basement for the last couple of years, aren't really in the fittest of shape, etc. But only some. The majority were pretty much regular people, just roaming around and appreciating the fact that My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic is a good show. I wasn't really uncomfortable because of the convention itself, just the massive crowd populating it's walls. I don't do well with crowds, but strangely enough I don't have claustrophobia.
I began strolling through the crowd, holding my backpack close as I weaved through the dense mass of people. Luckily, my parents trusted me to go by myself (since I was of-age and all) , so I didn't have to worry about them hovering over my shoulder as I examined the merchandise at various booths, attempted a few games, etc. It really didn't bother me that the others were watching, since we're all in the same boat here- unlike highschool, where if you even utter a single word about FIM, you became the brunt of the majority of jokes. So, all-in-all, I was relatively comfortable in this environment.
While I was studying a hand-painted figure of Twilight Sparkle, something sparkling caught my eye. I placed down the beautifully crafted model, and looked over my shoulder to see a booth with some mysterious curtains, and several glittering stones. I went closer, and to my surprise they were selling almost exact replicas of the Elements of Harmony, each carved from a gem. Like, Honesty was amber, Loyalty was ruby, etc. But what really caught my eye was a clear stone in the shape of a quill, with a bit of a blue tint. Curious, I picked it up, the cool crystal slowly warming up in my hand.
"Ah, so someone has noticed my favorite creation." A smooth voice entered my thoughts, and with a startled jump I looked up at them. He was dressed similarly to how Discord looked, with a yellow clove on one hand, and nothing on the other. "Beautiful, isn't it? It isn't an Element of Harmony, so people don't pay it much attention." He plucked it out of my hands, looking through it and right at me. "Now, Rachel, this little trinket is only five dollars. Would you like it?" Wait, how'd he know my name? "Your name tag." Oh, got it- Wait, when did I get a name tag? Feeling thoroughly confused, I forked over the money and took the necklace. It was cold to the touch again, as if the man hadn't been holding it. I looked back up to thank him, but the booth and the salesman were gone.
"Huh." I arched an eyebrow, before placing the necklace around my neck, and I went back to browsing like nothing ever happened.
I left the convention at about eight 'o clock, feeling worn out and ready to fall into my fluffy hotel sheets and not wake up for days. My legs and feet were sore from walking all over the place, and I was loaded down with junk. I scrambled to grab my key-card, and opened the door to my room. I dropped my bag, and face-planted on the bed. My arms hurt, my head hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt. I really needed to exercise more. Flopping on my back, I stared up at the beige ceiling with tired eyes, almost ready to fall asleep right then and there. I began fingering my unique necklace thoughtfully, still watching the ceiling. It was still very cold to the touch, and it made me shiver as soon as my fingers came in contact with the clear blue gem. The quick little burst of cold woke me up enough to sit up, and actually get ready for the night instead of falling asleep in my messy, sweaty clothes.
That night, I had very vivid dreams. In each one, my necklace was present- sometimes as a gift offering, other times it was simply on my neck. Still, when I woke up I couldn't help but feel like those dreams meant something... But for what, I have no idea. I blinked several times, looking up at the clear blue sky above me. Celestia's Sun, that light was bright! Wait a second, shouldn't my room have a beige ceiling instead of a blue one? My back was beginning to hurt from lying on the hard bed- which I swear was soft when I went to sleep- so I sat up. Blindly, I reached over to grab my glasses so I could take in my surroundings, but came across nothing. Absolutely nothing. I blinked a few more times, and everything came back into focus. I was sitting out in a wild field, on top of a hill overlooking a quaint little town. To my right was a dark and intimidating forest, and to my left there was a beautiful view of a mountain rising high into the sky, with a glittering city perched on the side.
Hold on, I recognize that view.
Attempting to stand up, I promptly fell right over and onto my face. With a scowl, I pushed myself back up to a sitting position, and found myself staring at my hands. They were no longer hands- the arms simply widened at a point, and it was smooth and covered with a fine layer of white fur. I looked closer to see that there were two little marks on the hooves- probably what let the pegasi and earth ponies hold things. With this in mind, I stood up again on all fours. I was pretty unsteady as I began to walk, and eventually I hit a more comfortable stride. After figuring this out, I allowed my mind to wander freely, thinking about various things. Like, why am I here? Why am I a pony? Is this really Equestria? What's going on?! You know, simple and important things like that.
I made my way through the twisting streets of Ponyville, recognizing a huge crystal castle at one end. I managed to make it to the square undetected, before a certain pink party pony appeared right in front of me. Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie, probably already knew what was going on, what with her fourth-wall breaking and all. I looked into her friendly light blue eyes, with varying degrees of shock and wonder. So I really was in Equestria, huh? I knew I was acting way to calm about this, but with the shock of being in a land of colorful magic ponies- and actually being one yourself- would probably render you silent too.
"H-hello." I managed to choke out.
"Hi!" Pinkie chirped back, bouncing a little bit. "You're not from here, are you? I mean, obviously not since I know everypony in Ponyville, and I've never seen you before, so you must be from somewhere else, unless you're a shapeshifting change-a-ling, in which case I might know you and you could be one of these other ponies in real life, and you're just in a disguise because the pony you're pretending to be actually came to Ponyville, so now you'd have to start your life all over again as a new pony, which means you would need a new Welcome to Ponyville party! But that's just silly, isn't it? I mean, after that thing at the wedding, I don't think any changlings would still be in Equestria, and those who are probably don't even know that they're changlings. Why are we talking about changlings? I don't know, why are you asking me? Anyways, so welcome to PONYVILLE!" Confetti blasted all over me.
"Uh... Hi." I answered back, arching an eyebrow. "You're so random, Pinkie, you know that?"
Pinkie drew in a long gasp. "GAAAAASP! How do you know my name! Are you psychic or something? Are you reading my mind with that fancy unicorn horn of yours? But your horn isn't glowing, so you must be psychic! Are you an alien-" She was stopped as I stuffed my hoof into her mouth. Struggling to come up with a reason why I knew her name, I finally stumbled across one that seemed a bit plausible.
"Well, you're pink?" I offered weakly. I was met with a wide-eyed stare from Pinkie Pie, as she slowly pushed my hoof away and narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, that sounds right!" She suddenly chirped, and I breathed I sigh of relief. "So, what's your name?"
"Uh..." My eyes darted around, before my eyes landed on my necklace, and then my flank. A blue quill, huh? "Sapphire Quill." I answered, a little uncertain about my choice.
"Oooh, sparkly! So, Sapphy, you seem like you don't want a big party, so why don't I just show you around town? You can meet all of my bestie-bestest of friends!" Pinkie bounced in place, her intelligent, lively blue eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at me. "And then we can all become bestie-best friends, and we'll have a new pony to have fun with! Wait a second, are you a unicorn? Oh my Celestia, that is so cool! Twilight might like you a lot- not just because you're a unicorn, she isn't racist like that- but she'll like you because you look like you'd be able to read and write very well, so then maybe Starlight and Twilight will let you stay at the castle since you don't have a place to stay at yet and- Ooh, that's Twilight right there!" Pinkie pointed over my shoulder, and I glanced over to see a beautiful lavender alicorn approach. She looked different than in the shows, but only slightly- her wings were more developed, and her stature was taller- she was barely shorter than Luna. Her mane seemed to sparkle in the light, but it wasn't completely incorporeal like Luna and Celestia's.
"Oh, who's this, Pinkie?" Twilight asked, looking at me with curiosity before looking over at Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, hey Twily!" Pinkie chirped. "This is Sapphire Quill, she's new, I call her Sapphy, she looks like she'd be good at writing and organizing, and maybe you could let her stay at the castle?"
Twilight looked over at me, and smiled regretfully. "I'd love to, Pinkie. But with the ambassadors from Griffinstone coming to discuss relations between the two countries, I'm not going to have enough time to help Sapphire settle in. Neither will Starlight or Spike- we'll have our hooves full."
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie chirped. "Then Sapphy can stay with me!"
Twilight shook her head in amusement, glancing over at me. "Well, have fun with that."
My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. Staying with Pinkie Pie, the most random pony on this planet whom just a day ago I thought was purely fictional? I looked in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner, biting my lip in thought. I did like to bake, so maybe I could work with Pinkie Pie, get some bits for myself. I shifted my weight, looking at Pinkie Pie. "Okay."
"Yay!"