Prologue: Shoehorned involvment
Author's Note
I started writing this a long time ago, so I couldn’t make it longer without forgetting what I wrote. The other chapters will probably be longer though, so don’t worry.
For now though, enjoy the first half of the prologue.
P.S. I’ll probably replace the image with a better one eventually.
Prologue: Shoehorned involvment
Pain, that was the first thing that entered your mind, the dull throbbing pain that one might expect after an operation. It wasn't just the lack of feeling in the fingers that tipped you off, or even the odd way your pelvis felt, but it was the biggest source of the throbbing, located, not in your head, but rather, above it, directly at your forehead.
So when you opened your eyes, it wasn't to see that your hands had become hooves, or to find out why you could no longer stand, but it was to look directly up at a forest green horn sticking out just in sight, above the muzzle seen at the bottom of your view.
But you didn't freak out, you didn't even flinch, blinked a bit maybe, but you came to the quick conclusion that you were dreaming, and, like a sensible person, squealed with joy at the aspect of having a — hopefully long — dream about performing magic. Eyeing the forest around you, you gave your subconscious kudos for placing you in the common place where OC's were dumped, the Everfree Forest.
You follow the basic steps for becoming fully lucid, you take in the swaying trees and dark night sky, you feel the dirt in your hooves as you shuffle them a bit, you smell the forest air, and you listen to the sounds of far-away timberwolves, probably having heard your arrival. You take the time to try and put your legs under yourself, until you realize that even if you actually turned into a pony your new pony body brain would already have the basic coordination for quadruped movement.
You witness the arrival of the pack of timberwolves. You jump to your hooves and prepare to fire deadly laser majjyck's at the pack, because wiping them out is obviously more fun than running 'accidentally' into Ponyville. You have a wide grin on your face as you face off the growling beasts.
Then, your mind starts to wander, then you start to worry. Then you make the realization that makes you terrified.
You can't feel pain in dreams.
Make a long story short
You ran.
WOW, that has got to be just about the most EPIC thing you will ever do in your entire life!
You galloped the fastest you were able to, and you somehow managed to bounce off of the trees and onto ledges, doing some sick-nasty pirouettes with your pony body, and loosing your pursuers in the process.
If someone were able to view your life, but for some reason missed that stunning slice of life that will likely never happen again - even if just in very detailed writing - well, you'd feel sorry for them, they really missed out, just thinking about it makes you want to just keel over and die.
Instead you just keel over from exhaustion.
Pain, that was the first thing that entered your mind, the dull throbbing pain that one might expect after an operation. It wasn't just the lack of feeling in the fingers that... hold on.
Lack of feeling in fingers? Still throbbing horn? Aching in body? You remember now, you're in Equestria, and apparently, it's not a dream. Um... okay?
How are you supposed to react to this? Your feeble human mind is simply incapable of handling this, especially after running from timber-wolves. God, timber-wolves are a thing now. Wasn't that something that was never a thing? How can existing be something that can just... start happening? The nonexistent can’t do anything, nevermind begin existing like that.
This is so messed up, and to think that you were living a relatively normal human life before this.
And what are you even supposed to do here anyways? Follow the story-line? Be a poorly written seventh Element of Harmony? Engage in the plot? Just like every other drop-in character? As if! You're going to do whatever you want to do! Maybe be a world famous magician, or an author, ironically writing about your human life as if it were fiction... or maybe just hang. And you’ll never have to interact with the Mane 6, and their end-of-the-world plots; such unnecessary exhaustion for such a relatively peaceful world. The last thing you’re ever going to do, is risk your life, just so you can talk with someone (or somepony) that you already kinda know. You’re not smart, you’re not strong, you’re not brave, and you’re certainly not going to...
“Howdy!”
Dammit, must have jinxed it.
You slowly open your eyes a crack, the light in the room blinding you for a moment, and the beeping of a nearby cardiogram and the smell of a sterile room only just becoming evident. You are in a hospital. As your eyes slowly adjust, you begin to see a faint, but distinct, silhouette of a pony with a stetson. She waits patiently while you get your bearings, which you do, if a bit slowly.
When the image becomes clear, there is no doubt about it, the familiar Earth Pony farmer is standing before you, just staring, and most likely has some reason for you to become involved in some kind of plot, and of course, you will have to play along with them, aren't you?
You blink, the idea of being in the situations on the show, but in a realistic setting – life – is one that frightens you to your very core. Imagine the damage Nightmare Moon alone would do if she had any real malice of intent. What kind of damage could someone like Sombra do? Or Tirek? And what of Discord, the Chaos God himself?
Ugh! What am I saying? I'm in a world of magic and ponies, why would everything start suddenly making sense?
“Uhh... are ya'll alright?”
“Oh, uhh... yeah, I'm alright, just... thinking.”
“Thinkin'? 'bout what?”
“Just silly stuff.” you say as you drop to the floor. A bolt of pain shoots up your leg as it hits the floor. After a definitely manly wail, and collapsing legs spread, you crane your head around to see a giant infected bite on your leg. You only vaguely remember being bitten by a Timberwolf. Applejack is already at your side, helping you up and letting you lean on her.
“The doc wanted me to take a look at it, seeing as how they don't know squat 'bout Everfree creatures and their venom...”
Venom?
“Good thing too, ah Timberwolf's bite can be right scary, I'll have to take you back to the farm for a home remedy cure.”
Of course! If you're dropped in Equestria, it's like a law to have to be part of the main story-line, you wouldn’t dare deviate from being the most important entity in all space-time, or reality will fucking collapse!
You walk dejectedly down the main road across town, moving awkwardly with a leg brace, the townsponies, despite trying to be nice, can't help but stare. Not that you can notice them all that much, you’re too busy spitting obscenities around in your head.
But it's mostly a relief that they’re staring, because it means nobody — nopony even — can notice your lack of a cutiemark, which you're sure is going to be a problem at some point, but you're trying not to think about that right now. Was a Timberwolf bite always this dangerous? You guess it never really came up in the show, none of the Timberwolves actually managed to do it in the show before, right? The universe is probably making up for the magic and fantasy the show brings, by making things realistically dangerous, you could die right now, and it's probably going to be par for the course in this world, unlike the show, where nopony dies.
You now realize that you are walking what seems to be the most deliberate path straight down the center of town, and town square. Various stalls are set up around the place, with tons of ponies everywhere, shopping, including a white unicorn with a bag, and a yellow pegasus helping ducks along further down. Up ahead, you notice a pink blob jumping about in front of a sweets shop, cheering on a rainbow-mane pegasus doing tricks in the air. It is the most obvious show off of all of the important characters that you've ever seen, and the sun seems to be rising in just the right spot when coming over the hill to view the farm.
Is the universe openly mocking you? You can hear the soundtrack now, probably one of discovery with a little bit of fairy steps, whatever that might sound like, following the mood of the outside observer, not of the grumpy injured stallion. Oh my god I’m a stallion. The path breaks down at this point, turning from a stone/dirt plaza/street, into a coarse dirt path that rises over a hill. The smell of, well... farm, wafts over, giving the location it's country charm, something that you think you rather admire. You pass over the hill to see the barn/house, surrounded by a small wheat field, (strange that they've never mentioned that in the show), and the massive apple tree fields, stretching over vast plains and hills.
Maybe the world is innocent, like, children's show innocent, maybe you have plot-immunity. Why wouldn't it? The only reason this world is dangerous is because it's dangerous in the show. There is a lot of villains that have real power, one literally enslaved an entire empire of crystal ponies. If something goes wrong, it'll all go back to normal without any permanent damage.
...
Still doesn't mean you want to get mixed up in it though.
Permanent damage, that’s what the doctor said, and he couldn’t have been more right.
You try fruitlessly to cover the ugly scar with your fur, but it still pulses as black as it has been for many years. You stop trying, looking over at your side for so long is making your neck hurt. There has never been a good way to cover it, but everypony has always been kind enough to ignore it. But today, it’s gotten bigger.
“Your carriage is ready for tonight Princess.”
“Yes, thank you.” You see him catch sight of your unsightly wound, he seems to notice. You’re glad Twilight didn’t decide to come to you in person, you don’t want her to think she was right... yet.
The sun is almost down, and soon, you will have to lower it, and raise the moon... for the last time.
You will bring a coat, the night gets a bit chilly, so noone will think to question it.
You’d imagine many would feel bored at this point, but something has been on your mind for a while now, an anticipation you’ve never felt before. A world like this, it would be easier to make friends here, to have an interesting life based around your talents and your companions. The idea of a brand new life awaiting you is a thrilling one to say the least.
Though having thoughts hasn’t had you bedridden all afternoon, anytime you try to get up, or even try putting the cast on again, your bite hounds you to lay back down and rest your leg. Even without moving, it still aches as the home-made cream takes effect. You understand now why the hospital wouldn’t dare administer this, it’s made out of a number of strange and poisonous-looking flowers and moss. But whatever works, as long as you’re alive.
Though at this point, you’re not sure whether or not that’s a good thing. You’ve spent way too long being the center of attention, the one that everyone either blames things on, or counts on. It was like a horrible curse that followed you. Every day there was another crisis that needed your attention. They all said that that was just life, but you refuse to believe that. You are going to avoid getting the same fate if it kills you. You don’t care if your life becomes boring and bland, anything to take the pressure off. Being in the forest was just a staple of displacement, and the venom, an excuse to explain away unrealistic factors of a children’s TV show. That doesn’t mean you have to be the protagonist.
Speaking of, the bite does look like it’s getting better, but it still seems like it might take a while. You look around the spare bedroom you’ve been offered. The walls dampen the sounds of the many Apple family members in and around the house, becoming a calming white-noise. Aside from a bed, and the many sheets and pillows Applejack brought in, there’s only some boxes with various unpacked items, a few spare supplies like rope and buckets, and a small bookshelf with a random assortment of books, some new, some old. A particular old one catches your eye, “Philosophy: Making the best of it”, if only because it seems fitting. If you’re gonna start your life over, why not listen to some thinkers talk about how to “make the best of it”. You open the book to a random page and read the first one on the page.
”The strongest bonds are forged through circumstance, make friends with the people closest to you.”
You close the book, either this world actually follows the rules of a children’s TV show, or the universe is just taking this opportunity to openly mock you once again. You flop down on the bed, dropping the book on the floor beside you. It’s just going to keep pushing you isn’t it? The hardest part’s going to be the inevitable talk about why you don’t want to be friends with them. We’ve been through a lot already. We’re practically already friends. And in that moment, you’re not gonna want to walk away.
For now though, maybe you should just rest, your leg isn’t going to be better for a number of hours. You let your head hit the pillow, and almost instantly fall asleep.
Stars, billions and billions of stars, each one flashing a shade of red at random intervals. It’s not light that they’re emitting, but emotion, pure, raw, emotion. Happy, sad, content, determined. But that’s not all that’s here, there’s something else too, a force that you can’t understand, a force you feel you can never understand. It’s giving all of these lights fear.
Fear of the dark, fear of the unknown... fear for their life.
They’re flashing even faster now, almost in unison, getting closer and closer together... yours is flashing too...
You jolt awake, you have no idea what that was, but it was enough to make you sweat in your sleep... above the covers. It was probably just stress though, so you go back to sleep.
