A headache.
It began with an awful headache. It felt like my brain had decided that today was the day it escaped the confines of my skull and had started clawing its way out. When I brought my hands up to my temples to soothe the pain I found myself falling forward onto my face.
Ironically enough, the pain from hitting the floor was able to distract me from my headache long enough to take in my surroundings. I was in a fairly large room made almost entirely out of stone save for the various bits of furniture around the room. There were a few wooden tables with strange tools and stranger contraptions strewn about onto them. One table was placed in the direct middle of the room, creating a circular path you had to follow if you wanted to make your way around the room. The other table was a long L shaped table tucked into the back left corner of the room with enough gemstones on it to feed a typical American family for the rest of their life. In one of the corners was some sort of supply cache, with large opened barrels and jars full of who knows what.
I think the most unsettling part of the room was that whenever I turned my head to the right, a large purple mass would sway out of my line of sight and linger in my peripheral vision. Lifting my hand to try and touch it... My hand... That's... Oh.
Hoof.
Hooves.
I admit, I may be a little freaked out. I also admit that I may be understating things a bit. Anyway, as I casually and calmly flailed my limbs around while totally not having a panic attack I started to realize the implications of what I was and more importantly, where I was. I was in somebody else's house, a house that did not belong to me, in a body that also did not belong to me. I think the first thought that shot through my completely calm and rational mind when I saw the color of my coat was: FUCK, AM I TWILIGHT!?
I don't think I've ever been more relieved at not being Twilight Sparkle. The relief was short lived however as I remembered the situation at hand... hoof? What was I going to do? I have no idea where I am, well actually I know I'm in Equestria but where in Equestria am I? Does it even matter? Either way I still have no connections and have no people to turn to for help. Would the Elements of Harmony believe me if I told them I'm some alien that took over a ponies body by accident? Actually that wouldn't be too hard to accomplish. I might be able to give some knowledge from Earth to prove it, I know Twilight would latch onto any sort of extra-dimensional technology. Wait, would the characters from the show be different than what I've seen? It would be naive to assume that real living people would fall into such easy to understand stereotypes. What if the show over-exaggerated details and they are just normal people? Hell, what if the show has nothing to do with it and I'm just in some universe that just has ponies as its population? Alright, all I can gain from this is that nothing matters right now and that nothing is concrete except that I'm a pony. Wait... I'm... familiar?
Wow what a strange thought. Being confused that you can recognize yourself. Imagine if one day you- No, that doesn't matter right now, I can get lost in my thoughts some other time. More importantly, I recognize this pony. Of course I would, I'm the one who made it. Well, that is probably being a bit... actually is there a word for this? Does the English have a word for mistakenly comparing yourself to a god? If it did I wonder how many times it's been used? Would it have- NO! I can't keep losing myself to my thoughts! This body, this pony, it's the exact same as the OC I made. The lavender coat, the messy, draping mane. Hell the mane even has the same gradient, darker purple on the outer ends slowly turning into a bright fuchsia the closer it gets to my neck. Turning around I see that my tail follows the same design. I also see my cutie mark, a long amethyst gem set into a brooch of some unknown gray metal. Well that solves one problem, I now at least have a good idea of what my name is and what it is I'm good at, seeing as my cutie mark isn't any different than when I last saw it or, well, first made it.
Now calm enough that I am able to form actual coherent thoughts, I decided to explore the rest of the house. Opening the door to what I'm dubbing "The Lab", I'm greeted with a fairly short hallway that looks like it leads into a main living area. In the hallway are two doors, green and purple. Do I not live alone? Actually am I even allowed to lay claim to this body? If I'm going to be stuck here am I allowed to say that this is my body? I mean I'm the one currently inhabiting it. Shit, wait, didn't I basically kill someone? I wonder if my old body is being possessed by the old owner of this body. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna go with. I don't need to have a crisis for something I had no control over. Alright, now that that is over with I can continue exploring.
Walking up to the purple door and opening it, reveals a small, strangely messy room. I say strangely because all the mess is pushed up against the walls of the room, consisting mostly of empty boxes and parts to who knows what. Prying my eyes away from the piles of junk, I notice a bookshelf with glowing crystals on just about every level. There also seems to be a few actual books on the bookshelf. Making a note to come back and check a few to see if I can even read their language, I turn and continue down the hall to the green door. Just as I'm about to open it, I remember my previous tangent. Am I an idiot? The possibility of not living alone literally entered my mind not seconds ago. Yet here I am about to open a door, which obviously leads to someone's room going off of where the purple door leads, and I think nothing of it. What's next? I just stand around in plain view of other ponies?
"Ahem."
Turning at speeds only a quadruped could reach, I spot a unicorn, a female unicorn, at the end of the hallway. A unicorn with an almond pink coat, and a curly, light purple mane. Their mane was partially held back in a ponytail, with everything that wasn't held back cascading down the side of their head. Their tail was equally as curly as their mane but was relatively short compared to my own tail. I think the most prominent feature on the unicorn was their expression, they had this look of bitter resignation on their face. I wonder why?
"Lilac, do you have your rent ready? Or are you going to come up with another unearthly excuse for why you can't pay?"
Shit! I owe this pony money?! Are you kidding!? I haven't even been here for an hour! Ok, calm down, you have plenty of stuff in this house. Some of it has to be worth something right? I could totally sell those gems for a quick buck, right? Crap, there's no way I'll be able to sell enough stuff in time! Maybe I can get a time extension...
"Uhh, is there any chance I could pay you tomorrow?"
The unicorn, with a small look of confusion on their face, spoke with relief in their voice. "Yes, that's fine Lilac, just make sure you have the bits this time." After speaking, the unicorn turned around and headed out of view towards what must be the front door. While they trotted over to the door I was able to take a look at their Cutiemark. A simple ponyvillian cottage. Fitting for a land-pony I guess. Now I need to get enough bits to make sure I'm not kicked out of my house. Wait, how much do I even owe her? Hold on. How much do I even owe her?! Sprinting, or galloping, to the end of the hallway and into the living area I call out to the pony.
"Wait! Uh, how much do I owe you, I... sorta forgot..."
"200 bits." She says with a sigh before turning back around and exiting through the front door.
Well that's just wonderful, not even an hour in to my new life as a pony and I owe someb- some*pony* 200 bits. Well it's not too much... I think? How much even is a bit? Ugh, well I have the entirety of today and at least half the day of tomorrow. Guess I should get started on collecting enough money to pay my rent. First however, I want to explore the rest of this house. Taking a look around to see if there are any hallways or doors to new areas turns up nothing. What I do see though is a small kitchen tucked into the corner, separated from the rest of the room only by a small counter that wraps around it. Looking across the room from the kitchen I see a living room decorated with a huge stone fireplace and a weathered coffee table with 2 worn out pillows that substitute as chairs, I guess. This house is kinda small. I mean like if I stand in the "No Man's Land" in-between the kitchen and living room I can see at least 70% of the whole house. Crap, I was kinda hoping it would take longer to explore the house so I had an okay reason to put off collecting money. Well the easiest way to make money would be to sell the gems I have right? Or maybe some of those devices... Who would even buy any of my stuff? I mean Rarity might buy some gems and there's a really good chance I get a fair price because, you know, Generosity. Okay, here's the plan, I grab the gems and then I sell them to Rarity. Easy peasy, right?
Okay I think I'm ready. I found some saddlebags in my room and was able to fit maybe 20 or so gems inside. That should be enough, or at least I hope so. Well, can't put it off any longer, time to walk the streets of Ponyville or whatever town/city I've been plopped into. Walking up to the door I hype myself up for... actually this isn't all that exciting is it? Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely nerve wracking. The good old "What if x goes wrong or y goes wrong" kind of feeling. But it's not thrilling. Whatever, I'm pretty sure I'm digging for some new idea to explore so that I can put off going outside for even longer. Steeling myself as much as a person in a colorful horse land can, I head outside.
It's Ponyville. I honestly completely forgot about the whole "I don't know anything for certain" tangent I went on. While I was opening the door I had that moment of "Oh, I have no idea where I am" but it was immediately banished once I saw town hall. It was across a large river that separated my house from the rest of Ponyville. There was 1 other house close by but other than that my house was pretty far removed from the rest of Ponyville. Stepping forward onto the dirt road I take a look down the river to see if there is any way across. In the distance a bridge connects my side of the river to the rest of Ponyville. Is that really the only way into Ponyville? Looking behind me to see if there is a closer bridge that I might have missed confirms it. I really have to walk that far? Ugh.
Arriving at the bridge I was far less tired than I would expect. Now don't get me wrong. It's not like I was expecting to be doubled over wheezing but I was at least expecting to have sore legs after walking that far. I guess that's one of the perks of being a quadruped. Leaning over the side of the bridge to look into the water I see fish darting around doing whatever fish do. I wonder if fish are sentient in this world. I mean, Angel was completely capable of thought and communication. Are only mammals and reptiles sapient? Actually dragons could be an exception, their brains should be large enough that some form of intelligence can be expected. I remember hearing that magic might have something to do with the intelligence of animals. I guess that would explain why creatures in the Everfree are so hosti-
“”“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BOTANISTS, YAY!”””
Ow my ears. Also, what? I turn around only to see 3 foals speeding away on a small red wagon. Well, 2 foals speeding away in a wagon. The last one is pulling the wagon along via rope attached to their scooter. Well that was fast, I didn’t expect to see ponies I knew so early on. Crap, speaking of ponies I know, I gotta get these gems to Rarity.
Carousel Boutique was a lot easier to find than I expected. Well, I guess I should have expected it seeing as how its a massive tent not too far from town hall. Guess it’s time for my first encounter with the Mane 6.
This is probably the most nervous I’ve been in years. The fact that it’s because I’m about to talk to a magical pony doesn’t really help. Ugh, alright, now or never! Never would probably be better though.
Opening the door to the Carousel Boutique I hear a small bell ring above the door frame. Looking into the Carousel Boutique I see Rarity coming over to greet me. Guess I’m past the point of no return.
“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique!” Rarity announced. “And what can I do for a fine stallion like yourself today?”
“I was uh, wondering if I could sell these gems and you were the first pony that came to mind.” I say, pulling one out of my saddlebags with a hoof and almost stumbling. I still haven’t fully mastered the whole 4 legs thing.
“I'm absolutely flattered that the first pony you came to was moi, but whatever do you mean by sell your gems? Do you mean to have them appraised perchance?” Rarity responds with a nearly insulting amount of confusion on their face. I wonder if that’s a result of the larger eyes or that ponies are just more expressive. Or maybe it's just Rarity being Rarity. I’m leaning more towards the former because Rarity immediately picked up on my confusion too.
“Darling, you are aware that gems are used as currency, right?”
Gems are used as currency? What? How does that even work?! Wouldn’t inflation be a massive issue? From what I’ve seen in the show they can be dug out of practically anywhere! How are the prices even decided?! Gems come in all sorts of sizes! No wait, she mentioned getting them appraised. But wouldn’t prices vary depending on who appraises them? What if a pony was in cahoots with an appraiser? Wouldn’t they-
“Sir?” Rarity says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I kind of forgot about that…” I spectacularly recover. “My rent is due tomorrow and I’ve been stressing about getting enough money to pay it off.”
“Oh that’s terrible! Sadly I cannot appraise your gems myself, however I do know a pony who should be able to help you. Their shop is a bit… drab, but they are one of the best appraisers I know. They run a small establishment down near Quills and Sofas. There’s a large sign of a spyglass out front, you can’t miss it.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a map handy- hoo- on hoof?”
“Oh darling, surely you jest!” Rarity laughs, but after seeing my stilted smile she quickly collects herself and apologizes. “It’s just across from Herbal Balm’s Tea Emporium, on Bridleway Boulevard. I can take you there if you’d like.”
“Oh no, thank you for the offer though.”
“Think nothing of it, it’s only natural to help a pony in need. Anyway, it was nice getting to know you….”
“Lilac, sorry, Lilac Brooch.” I introduce myself, almost missing the social que.
Rarity poses in a way that I think is supposed to be regal. “And I am Rarity, but I’m sure you already knew that with me being oh so fabulous.”
“Well, uh, see you later. Rarity.” I say with an absolute abundance of tact.
“Farewell, and do come again!”
Well that was… Surreal. Especially that last part when I actually said her name. Have you ever been about to say something only for it to be so foreign and strange that you actually have to mentally push yourself to say it? Just me? Well it was that. I guess the gravity of the whole situation is starting to catch up with me. Can’t have that happen can we though, or else there’ll be rent to pay… Would have been rent to pay? Rent I was supposed to pay? Or maybe… Actually, you know what, forget it.
After about an hour of just walking around Ponyville, I finally found Bridleway Boulevard. Once I found the street it was easy to find the store Rarity was talking about. It looked like one of those old antique shops that sold cursed stuff. They might actually have cursed stuff, magic does exist after all.
Unlike the Carousel Boutique there was no little bell that rang when the door opened. However it was made up for by the loud creak the door made when it opened.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” I look around the store and take in all the old pots, paintings and weird decorative pieces on display. I think the thing that caught my eye the most was this black necklace with a ruby set in the middle and a depiction of… an alicorn. That’s the Alicorn Amulet isn’t it?
“Welcome to Ancient Relics, how can I help you?” A cream orange pegasus with a cyan, slicked back mane calls out from behind the counter at the back of the store, taking my attention away from the Alicorn Amulet.
“I’m looking for somepony to appraise these gems.” I call back and gesture to my bags, making my way over to the counter. A small amount of pride fills me when I manage to put my hoof back on the floor without stumbling.
“Well you came to the right place! I’m Stellar Sights, what’s your name?” Getting closer I try to peek at his cutie mark but his wing covers up most of it. Looking up to face them, I see a large golden monocle resting on his snout and through it a comically enlarged cyan eye.
“Lilac Brooch. Cool store by the way.” I say taking another look around. All this ancient stuff is way cooler when magic is thrown into the mix, I wonder what else is in this place? Hell, the Alicorn Amulet is just sitting there! Actually isn’t that kind of dangerous? I should probably let him know that it’s cursed, right? Or should I buy it? That would be cool, having a genuine cursed artifact.
“Thank you! Now, if you can place your gems on the counter I will start the appraisal.”
This looks like it will take a while. I guess I finally get some time to think. There’s so much I haven’t had time to stop and think about. Like why I had to come to an antique store to get these gems appraised. Are there no places dedicated to gem appraisal? I wonder if it’s because the cutiemarks for appraising and antiquing overlap? I couldn’t get a good look at Stellar’s cutiemark but I’m willing to bet it matches the sign out front, a wooden spyglass with golden caps. That would make sense I guess. A spyglass itself could be considered an antique, but isn’t it a bit of a stretch to say they could be used for appraising? Hell, he’s not even using a spyglass! He’s using a monocle! What do monocles even do?!
“Sir are you okay? You’re looking pretty intense over there.”
“Oh, I was just thinking.”
“What about? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Your monocle.” I reply, thinking it would be weird to say I was thinking about his cutiemark.
“My monocle?” A look of confusion crosses his face.
“Yeah, I’ve never really known what monocles are for. Are they like 1 eyed glasses or are they a fashion thing? Or are they just to keep an eye propped open?”
“Huh, guess I never put that much thought into it. But this one here is enchanted, it sort of sticks one eye’s vision to an object. It gets pretty tedious having to hold things up to one eye or hover over them just to get a good look at them. It’s pretty clever how it works too, you see there’s no room for the gem in the monocle itself so the enchant is channeled through the chain here.” He follows the chain up the side of his face with a hoof, stopping at his ear where a circle of chain is wrapped around it. A small sapphire gem hangs from a separate chain.
“Woah, thats awesome!” Think of all the cool stuff you could make! Just slap a gem onto anything and it gets magical properties! Who needs science when you’ve got pony magic!
“Heheh thanks, I got it from an enchanter buddy of mine. If you’re interested you could pay them a visit. Anyway, your gems are worth 320 bits, I just need to stamp them real quick.” He says, pulling out a bronze stamping tool.
“Stamp them?” I guess that makes sense. How else would you label how much a gem is? A sticker?
“Yeah, like this.” He presses the stamp down onto one of the gems and a small glow emanates from the gem. He then holds it up and shows it to me.
“Oh yeah, forgot about that.” I lie.
It took only about a minute to have all my gems stamped. Kind of weird to think about gems being stamped. Can you even stamp a gem? Normally this would be the part where I look it up but I can’t really access the internet here. Guess that’s one downside to being sent to Equestria. No more Google.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. How much is that amulet over there?” I point over to the Alicorn Amulet with the tip of my hoof.
“The black and red one? I was planning on selling it to some collector, but it’s an open secret that they just resell antiques with a thrilling story and boosted price. I’ll sell it to you for, lets say, 50 bits?”
50 bits? I’ll have what? 270 bits left? Rent is 200 so that’s another 200 off. I’ll only have 70 bits left after all this. Is it worth it? Buying the Alicorn Amulet could interfere with the plot, but do I really care? It just means Trixie won’t be able to take over Ponyville for a day, right?
“That seems fine.” I grab the Alicorn Amulet and bring it up to the table. I hand him 2 gems, one being worth 20 and the other 30.
“Alright then. Pleasure doing business with you.”
“Thanks. You too.” I say as I walk out of the store.
The walk home was as uneventful as every other time I’ve gone anywhere in Ponyville. It’s kind of eerie actually. I keep expecting something weird to happen, or for something to start attacking the village. I'm honestly surprised at how calm my first day in Ponyville was.
Well actually I can’t really say that it was completely calm. The whole rent scare and actually meeting a main character from the show was pretty insane. Also I did get to buy the Alicorn Amulet so that’s another crazy thing. But all those crazy things are easily topped by this crazy thing.
There’s a pony standing in my living room, staring at me.
Author's Note
School has started back up. Chapters will take longer to complete. Sorry.
