Diaries of a Former-Hater

I took a few deep breaths before I even attempted to open my eyes. I had the weirdest dream; the main six characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came through my TV and tried to take me to their leader, Princess Celestia. Hopefully, I would get my mind off it today. I instantly noticed that I was lying in an awkward position, I’ve never lain like this before. In fact, I wasn’t even on a bed. I heard the sound of metal running across metal and whatever I was lying on bounced every now and then.

I instantly opened my eyes and looked at my surroundings. I wasn’t in my dorm room anymore, but instead, I was inside a train. “Where am I?” I softly asked myself.

Suddenly, Pinkie poked her head from behind my seat. “We’re heading to Canterlot for your trial!” she said happily.

My heart dropped. This was real! I’m really going to be trialed! For what? For an opinion? That doesn’t sound worthy of being the subject of a trial.

“How do you like your new body?” Twilight asked as she stood next to Pinkie.

New body? Come to think of it, I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes. I looked at my body and freaked out. I was wide awake now, seeing that I have just been turned into a pony myself. I had a cyan blue coat with a brown mane and tail. My cutie mark was a scroll with a quill, since I enjoy writing in my free time. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. “What did you do to me?” I asked.

“I turned you into one of us.” Twilight replied. “Now, you’re just like everypony else.”

“I can’t stay like this!” I argued. “I have school in a few days.”

“Calm down, you’ll be back by then.” the purple unicorn responded in an annoyed voice.

How was I even going to adjust to this new body? Horse anatomy, or any kind of anatomy for that matter, is not really my thing. Being forced to walk on four legs is not going to be easy to adapt to. I figured I might as well try anyway, despite it being a little bumpy due to the train ride. I moved myself towards the end of the bench and tried the best way I know to stand. I first planted my hind hooves on the ground and once I got a good center of balance, I dropped down on my front hooves. Not long after, I collapsed. Now I know how a new baby foal feels.

From behind, I could hear Rainbow Dash laughing. She was sitting a few seats behind where I was along with Applejack. Fluttershy and Rarity was sitting on the next bench over. It was only the seven of us on this car. “Have you forgotten how to walk?” Rainbow asked.

“I’d like to see you try walking on two legs!” I said back in rebuke. “You guys are REALLY making me like you even more.” I love when I say something sarcastic.

“Xander, relax.” Twilight said. “It’s Rainbow Dash; she’s like this to everyone.” Twilight smirked.

“What was that?” Rainbow asked angrily.

I tried standing up, which wasn’t as difficult as I thought. Back on my hooves, I tried walking; but boy, who would’ve thought walking on four legs would be so complicated. Every step I took did not feel natural and all I was doing was making myself look even more stupid. I could honestly tell that Rainbow Dash was enjoying this, no thanks to her constant giggling.

“That’s it.” Twilight said. “Applejack, take Rainbow in the other car.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the cowpony replied happily, dragging Rainbow Dash into the car behind them by her tail.

Twilight hopped down from her seat and stood beside me. She smiled at me and I even found myself smiling back. “Looks like I’m even going to have to teach you how to walk.” the unicorn stated.

She went on to tell me on what hoof to move to walk normally. Even with her instructions, it was still a little bit of a challenge to get it down. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity didn’t really seem to mind and didn’t spend their time watching me. I was happy about this, because they didn’t really care about a human trying to walk like a horse and making an absolute mockery of himself. Rainbow Dash, again, seemed to be the only one who would give me a hard time about anything. Watching her be turned into a human and be forced to walk on two legs would definitely be a sight to see!

“Try walking across the train car.” Twilight insisted.

“Okay then.” I replied.

From what I gathered, I first take steps with whatever front hoof I find comfortable. Whichever I start with, I also life the opposite hind hoof at the same time and take a step forward. Then alternate back and forth, but I was told that the front hoof should always be planted first before the hind hoof. Even with someone as simple as walking, being a pony was not easy.

_____

After a while, I started to get the hang of the walking. It now felt very natural to me; and it’s weird for me to say this, but I just had to thank Twilight. She was sitting on the same bench as before while I was on the bench where I woke up. “Excuse me, Twilight.” I said.

“Yeah, Xander?” she asked back, smiling at me

.

“Um…I want to say thanks.” I spat out reluctantly. “For teaching me to walk I mean.”

“Oh, that’s no problem at all. We’ll be arriving in Canterlot soon, hope you have something to say to the princess.”

“What accusation?” I started to get a little frustrated. “Do you mind telling me what this whole trial is about?”

“You’re not being trialed.” Twilight replied. “Remember what I said before? I only said Princess Celestia wanted to see you in royal court, I didn’t say anything that she was accusing you of something.”

Now I felt like an idiot. I didn’t know what else to make of it. Whenever I hear the word ‘court’ to be used, it’s usually for a trial of convicting a crime. My mind started to settle as I knew I wasn’t in as big of trouble as I initially thought. “So, why does your princess want to see me?”

“Oh, you’re just going to have to wait and see.” Pinkie Pie suddenly blurted out. “Princess Celestia usually sees ponies for something really good!” Pinkie put on a huge smile that stretched across her face. “Or something really bad.” now her face makes me want to kill myself. “But don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

“You guys sure sounded like it when you came through my TV!” I barked back.

“That is because we overheard conversations you had with several other bronies.” Rarity jumped in. “We did not like how you reacted to us.”

As soon as Rarity mentioned my previous conversation with bronies, several memories flooded my mind. I remember I bashed on a few people when I saw them watching the show on their iPhone or iPad. “Were you guys watching me?” I asked nervously.

All four ponies in the car nodded their heads. I placed my hoof to my face and sighed. “But we cannot convict you based on an opinion.” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia has something else planned for you.”

“Twilight, we’re almost there!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Look, I can see the station!”

“Rarity, go get Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said. “Tell them that we’re here.”

Rarity headed into the next car as I could feel the train slowing coming to a stop. “We have arrived in Canterlot, thank you all for riding and gave a great day, everypony!” the conductor said over an intercom.

“Well, let’s go, Xander.” Twilight hopped off her seat and started walking towards the front of the train.

I followed close behind as many thoughts continued to flow through my mind. Out of all the brony haters in the world, why did she have to pick me? I figured it’d be best to save my questions for the princess and just enjoy the scenery, if at all possible. I got off the train to see the streets of Canterlot be completely full of ponies. Immediately, I started to feel very uncomfortable, fearing that any moment, one of them would try to score with me.

I felt a pony’s hoof be placed on my back, making me flinch. I turned my head to see it was Rainbow Dash smirking at me. “So, what do you think?” she surprisingly asked kindly.

I didn’t know what to think. All of this just seemed so awkward and new to me, it was difficult to come up with words to explain my thoughts. The last thing I wanted to do was to make me an easier target for Rainbow Dash’s sass. I had to say something. “Uh…it’s very nice.” I just blew it.

“You still hate us?” Rainbow brought her head closer to mine.

I violently shook my head, making Rainbow step back a few feet. I started walking forward, following the other ponies towards the main castle. I was at a loss for words when I walked deeper into the city. It was absolutely beautiful! I’ve traveled to many beautiful cities, but none of them were compared to Canterlot. The structures were just elegant in both workmanship and material. I have an uncle who works as an architect in Las Vegas and I often see some of his blueprints of houses and bridges, so I know my stuff when it comes to architecture.

The main castle of Canterlot rivaled that of the Salt Lake Temple. It stood out in what was already a gorgeous city with purple and gold spires mounted on top of its massive towers. Also, the fact of this city being built on the side of a mountain just adds the whole iridescence of the city. The cobblestone streets were stunning. It’s no wonder why Canterlot is mainly for the wealthy and upper-class. Even as someone who really doesn’t like the show this is from, I was completely in awe.

The citizens were a different story. If there’s any kind of person I can’t stand, besides bronies, it’s snooty, rich people who think they’re always better than everyone else. More than half of them had their heads tilted up, eyes closed, and don’t believe in casual clothing. I have family who live in England and are part of the English high-society. I can’t stand them, even when we do visit them on occasion. But even despite the citizens, I was starting to enjoy Canterlot.

_____

I sat in the courtroom, built similar to a standard court. Two of the royal guards were posted at the main entrance holding spear-like weapons with their hooves. There were several benches, but the audience we had were the main six characters of the show. I stood at the defendant pulpit waiting for the princess. Another guard came in through another entrance near the plaintiff pulpit, which was currently empty.

“Please rise.” the guard announced.

We all stood up as Princess Celestia entered the court room and took her spot at the judge’s pulpit. My heart began to race, worrying what she was going to do to me.

“You may now be seated.” the guard said.

The main six sat back down on the front row of the benches as I looked up at Princess Celestia. Her expression was fairly neutral. She didn’t look angry, but also didn’t look too thrilled to see me. “Xander Scott Archibald.” she started. “First off, I want to formally welcome you to Equestria.”

“Uh…thanks…your highness.” I softly replied. Anything to not piss her off.

“Now, bring him in.” Celestia said.

The guards at the main entrance stood aside and opened the door. A bright-orange coated pony stepped in. His mane and tail were a dark brown with some black in it as well. He was a unicorn and had the cutie mark of a book. I nearly froze when I finally recognized who he was.

Chris.