One Friday Night
Tonight was just like any other Friday night. It was a little chilly, as it was nearing the end of September, and I was sitting at home, doing the same old stuff I usually do. After a few hours of putting off homework, gaming, and watching NCIS and The Mentalist, I started gearing down for the night. Opening Minesweeper, I randomly selected a square and was greeted with a mine and a dead smiley face. Shocked by my sudden defeat, I got up and pulled out my favorite cereal, Raisin Bran. Unaware of the potential effects, I dumped on a heap of sugar to sweeten it up. Worst choice ever. Since I knew I was doomed to stay awake for another couple of hours, I decided to make use of my time. I put on a kettle for hot chocolate and returned to my laptop. I opened up Facebook, unphased by the lack of activity, and opened a new page. I typed in “My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic,” and clicked on the season 3 opener. I always watched the episode preceding the newest addition to the series, but since I was up on a Friday night I decided to watch the few episodes in the new season.
Because of my lack of interest in the “party life,” these were my less-than-extraordinary Friday nights. Though I may sound unenthused, I’m actually happy – no, more than happy – to spend my weekends with my little ponies. They filled in a hole I’d had in my lackluster life, and their bright and colorful world filled with friendship and adventures of all kinds made me smile like a goon. Five minutes in to the season three opener, I was interrupted by my kettle. I poured the boiling hot water into my homemade mix of hot chocolate, topping it off with whipped cream.
“Who needs to party when you have hot chocolate and ponies?” I chuckled to myself. Content, I sipped on the warm beverage while watching every episode up until the much-anticipated new one scheduled for the following day. After the show was over and the effects of the sugar and warm beverage were slowly wearing off, I felt the need to yawn. I did so, and was overwhelmed with sleepiness. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and climbed into my warm, cozy bed. Little did I know my life was about to change.
As I closed my eyes, I whispered to the air, more an empty thought than a prayer, “Celestia, if only you and your lands were real…what I would give to go and be there with all of you forever. If only,” I yawned, “you were real…”
I woke up with a start. I saw a bright flash and heard a very loud and unfamiliar noise just outside my house. The whole neighborhood must be awake! I looked at my digital clock, and the display read 3:09 – still extremely early, and too early for any kids’ antics. Frightened and intrigued at the same time, I turned on the outdoor lights and peered outside. Seeing nothing, I disappointedly went back to my room, about ready to fall back into sleep’s bliss. Suddenly, my heart stopped and jumped into my throat as I heard a knock on my door. Now I know a simple knock-knock isn’t extremely frightening, but at that time, and in my neighborhood, and with my social life, it was strange to say the least. I wondered who in the world it could be, and I got dressed and went to the door, more knocking coming with each minute.
“Hold your horses,” I thought aloud. “You can’t seriously expect me to be awake this early…”
I opened the door, and gasped. Again, my heart stopped and was in my throat. My stomach dropped, and I felt butterflies at the same time. I was breathless. Standing in my doorway was the princess of the night: Princess Luna.
“Will you let me into your house?” the princess asked impatiently, not used to being waited on like this before.
“Um…s-sure,” I barely managed to stammer out. My heart was beating at a million miles per minute. She seemed to know her way around, as she walked into my living room and turned on a light.
“Make yourself at home,” I offered. “Can I get you anything at all?”
“No, thank you,” she curtly replied. “I have news I was bidden to tell you. My sister, Princess Celestia, has heard your prayer, and chooses to offer you a choice. You may come to Equestria, but if you do, keep in mind that you can never return to Earth again. Do you accept this offer?”
I didn’t even have to think about it. Going to Equestria! Can you imagine? It was any brony’s dream, and I felt as giddy as a schoolchild. I was guffawing like a fool, overcome with joy. I pinched myself without Luna seeing, making sure it wasn’t all a pleasant dream. It wasn’t.
“Yes, yes I accept!” I nearly shouted. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“No,” Luna answered. “Only your enthusiasm.”
With that, I felt a strange, weightless sensation. I looked down at myself, surprised to see space between my feet and the floor. My body was encased in Luna’s navy-blue magic aura, preparing for the teleportation back to her homeland. In the blink of an eye, I felt smothered, encased in black, going through the brief teleportation process. It felt like minutes, and I could feel space and time go by around me. However, a split second was all it took, and when I opened my eyes, I was in the fabled hall of Celestia in Canterlot, the very hall I had seen in all the episodes of My Little Pony. I looked at myself, expecting to see a pony body, but I was surprised to see I had not yet been transformed. I was still a human, standing in front of the Princesses. I knelt before them, thanking them countless times.
“Welcome to Equestria,” Celestia said. “You are the first, and more than likely the last of your kind to ever come here. Consider yourself lucky that you matched all the requirements to even qualify for the chance, let alone the test we put your actions to.”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘requirements?’ And what test are you talking about?” I questioned.
“Your kind on Earth are a very cruel race. Almost no one qualified to come to Equestria, the exact opposite of what most of Earth is like. You have to be kind, loving, gentle, and cherish any friendship that you have. After we saw that you fulfilled all these requirements and more, we decided to watch your actions. We saw that you never participated in anything your friends did that was wrong, you never offered bad advice, and you always were there for your friends when they needed you. We decided you were perfect for the chance, and once we heard you speak last night, we answered in kind,” the white horse replied.
“I am honored. Thank you so much,” I said for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
“You are most welcome. But I’m afraid you can’t go out among my subjects looking like that,” Celestia said. With that, her sister and she began to focus their energy and magic on me, and I could feel my limbs shrinking down, my hair growing out in different places and receding in others, and I felt my face change dramatically. I looked down cross-eyed and saw a snout instead of a nose, colored a deep blue. I was ecstatic. I couldn’t contain my joy and started laughing out loud, almost too much. I spotted a mirror in the room, and tried running to it, falling flat on my face. I could hear the two princesses giggle behind me, which caused me to blush out of embarrassment.
“Baby steps,” I grumbled to myself, frustrated for having to learn how to walk again. I put one foot – forgive me, one hoof – in front of the other, and the same for the back two legs. I just pretended I was walking on all fours as a human, which made it a little easier. Slowly I began to pick up my pace, working into a slow trot before even attempting to run again. I finally worked my way to the mirror, and, I know the phrase is getting old, but my heart stopped for a third time. I saw in the mirror a sturdy looking Pegasus pony, colored deep blue all over with black hooves. My mane was the color of a fire, deep orange on the outside, getting lighter on the way in and eventually working its way to a mellow shade of yellow in the middle. My tail was the same way. Both were spiked, but not quite like Rainbow Dash’s. It seemed to look like a mix between Doctor Whooves’ spiked hair and Rainbow Dash’s, which was a fantastic mix, in my opinion. I looked eagerly at my flank, and my spirits sank just a little, as it was bare of any cutie mark. I heard a voice in the back of my head say “You have to earn that, remember?”
I looked over at Celestia and Luna, and gave them the widest smile possible.
“This is fantastic,” I told them. “It’s just what I would have picked out if I had any choice!”
“Well, that’s how the magic in that transformation works,” Celestia explained. “It transforms you into a pony, yet it takes what you would want from the subliminal part of your mind and shapes it into a reality.”
“Awesome. I’m a little sad I don’t have a cutie mark though,” I told them. “It’s a little embarrassing being a grown man…er, colt…with a blank flank.” I have to get used to referring to myself as a pony from now on, not a human. Those would come with time, though.
“Here’s a little hint. Think of what you pride yourself most on from your former world. Think of what really made you stand out from the crowd,” Princess Luna said.
“Hmm…I was really good at basketball…and hoofball*!” I said. I looked at my flanks, and saw nothing.
“Your cutie mark will come eventually, and much sooner than you may think. For now, though, we must bid you farewell. My student Twilight Sparkle is here to show you around Canterlot and take you back to Ponyville to meet her friends. I’m sure you’ll all get along quite well.” And with that, the two princesses left the room. Not more than thirty seconds later, the doors at the front of the hall opened, and there stood the purple mare everyone that called themselves a Brony knew so well.
“Hi!” I heard her say. “You must be the new colt Celestia told me about. What’s your name? I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
“Uh, my name’s…” I thought for a second. I saw her look a little confused, as most ponies don’t usually forget their own names. I realized the two princesses never gave me a name, and I knew full well I couldn’t use my name from Earth, so I made one up. I thought of Luna, who came to get me, and a common Pegasus last name.
“My name’s Midnight Chaser. Pleasure to meet you,” I said with a smile.
“Great name,” she complimented. “It’s always nice to meet somepony new. Come on Midnight, I’ll show you around Canterlot.”
I followed her, and together we made small talk, which eventually became old. We started asking each other deeper questions, such as what we like to do, what kind of people we like, favorite foods and drinks. It was all going well until the asked the big question: Where are you from? I felt a small burst of panic come on, as I didn’t know of many places other than Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, or Manehattan. My accent was still that of the northern parts of the United States, so it wouldn’t match up with the last two places. Las Pegasus I knew nothing about, so I also ruled that out, in case Twilight had been there and knew more about it than I did. Suddenly I felt a calm mood envelop me, and I heard a voice in my head, this time not my own.
“It’s alright to tell Twilight and her closest friends. They will know not to tell anyone else about your origins.”
“Well, I’m from…not around here. Not from Equestria at all, not even from this world.” I answered. I saw her brow furrow up as she tried to comprehend what she just heard. I went on to explain myself.
“I’m from a place called Earth. Celestia said that only you and your best friends can know. I guess I’ll tell anypony else that I’m from Stalliongrad.”
“You’re from Earth?” she asked, amazed. “I didn’t know anypony from earth was allowed to come here! How did you even manage that?”
“Well, I didn’t manage anything. It was by the grace of Celestia that I was allowed to come here, and thankfully she saw fit to let me stay. You can ask me more questions if you want, but can we find somewhere to eat? I’m starving.”
“Absolutely! Want to go to Donut Joe’s? He has the best donuts in all of Equestria, and strangely enough he won the nation-wide Chili cook-off last year as well.”
“Sure, sounds good to me,” I replied. We walked the two or three city blocks to get to Donut Joe’s restaurant, talking about the best restaurants in both our worlds, and once we were seated we continued to talk. I ordered the chili and she just took a glass of water, telling me how she ate before she came here.
“Well, what’s Earth like? I mean it was beautiful when we went there to fetch Dash, but has anything changed?” The purple mare questioned me.
“Wait…Rainbow Dash was really on Earth before? I thought that the story online was just a tear-jerker some guy wrote in his house! Wow, that’s incredible,” I mused. “Well, if the story’s actually true, not much has changed since you were there. Only a few years have passed since the story was written, and besides the occasional tropical storm or earthquake, it should still be identical to when you left.”
“Interesting. It would be fun to return there, some time. Imagine all the things we could learn from your kind to benefit Equestria!” she exclaimed.
“I don’t think you want to learn anything from my race,” I warned. “Most things on Earth are tainted by cruelty or perverted by some sick person’s idea of humor. Almost anything you bring from Earth to here would never fit in, and would only help to bring down Equestria from where it is right now.”
“Well, I’m glad you aren’t one of the people who are like that then. You’re a great pony, Midnight. You’re so easy to get along with too! I’m not the most social pony in the world, but I was at ease from when I first saw you. That’s a great gift to have,” she finished. As she said that, I felt a strange sensation run through my body, starting at my flanks. Excited from the feeling’s point of origin, I looked down at my flanks. What I saw made my jaw drop and a laugh of pure excitement and happiness erupted from my mouth. A cutie mark was appearing! It was the most perfect thing ever. It was a picture of the two masks you see in a lot of acting theaters or musical auditoriums. The one is happy and the one is sad, and I instantly knew that it was an image of my ability to get along with anypony, no matter what they’re like.
“Wow, your cutie mark came! That was extremely fast, for how long you’ve been here,” Twilight noted.
“That is like a ton of bricks being lifted off my shoulders,” I told her. “I was actually dreading meeting your friends without a cutie mark, since I appear as old as any of you do. This feels fantastic.”
“I’m happy for you,” she said with a smile. “Oh look, your food’s here! You’ll love that chili.”
With that, I ate my food and continued small talk with Twilight. She drank her water and I finished my chili, eager now to go and meet her friends, known as the Mane Six to us bronies on earth.
“Shall we go?” she asked when my food was finished.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” Twilight graciously covered the small bill, as I was without any money, and we trotted together toward the train for Ponyville. We were let on without charge, as Twilight held that kind of position after saving Equestria on more than one occasion. We took our seats and the conductor greeted us, and by “us” I mean Twilight. After the small talk that passed between the two, the train lurched forward, and we were off to her home, soon to be my home as well. I felt like I always belonged in Ponyville, and a content feeling passed over me. Only now did I realize how exhausted I was after a long day of talking and walking around Canterlot, and I almost dozed off before forgetting my manners.
“I hope you don’t mind if I catch some rest on the ride in,” I told Twilight. “I’m so tired. Luna got me in the middle of the night on Earth, and it was morning when we got here…I guess the United States and Equestria aren’t on the same side of the planet,” I joked.
“That’s completely fine,” she answered. “You’ll need some rest before we get home. We’ve got a few more hours until we got to bed, and I want you to meet all my friends!”
‘Before we get home,’ she said. Home. Nothing could ever have made me happier than hearing that. I was finally going home.
“Midnight, wake up…Midnight. Midnight..MIDNIGHT!”
On the last ‘Midnight,’ I felt a shake, and woke up to Twilight staring down at me. I was slouched back in my chair on the train, and looked out the window to see a sun that was almost set, and the town of which I’d dreamed to visit since I joined the fandom – Ponyville.
“Come on! I want to introduce you to my friends. I know you’re tired so we’ll keep it short, but it’s always nice to get introductions out of the way.”
As soon as we got off the train, I saw Spike the dragon standing on the platform.
“Spike,” Twilight said to him. “Go and fetch the girls, please. I want them to meet our newest friend. Tell them to meet us at the library.” Without a word, Spike left to get the others. Twilight led me to her library, and opened the door. It was dark inside, and I couldn’t see, but when the door shut behind me, the lights turned on and I saw a party already set up. I puzzled over this, thinking even Pinkie needed more than thirty seconds’ notice to set up an entire party, complete with cake and streamers. But then I remembered she had her party cannon always ready.
“This thing sure comes in handy for times like this!” said the bright pink pony enthusiastically. “Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie, welcome to Ponyville! How do you like it here? Have you met anypony else yet? Where are you from? Who do you like most so far?” She asked almost a million questions before finishing with “We’re going to be the best of friends! I know it.” I was amazed, as she didn’t take a single breath. I was tuned out as I was thinking this, and by the time I tuned back in to what Pinkie Pie was saying, I only heard her ending words of, “and that’s how Equestria was made!”
“Sorry, sometimes Pinkie can be a bit much to handle. She’s cool though…most of the time. I’m Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you,” said the cyan mare.
“And I am Rarity. That color is absolutely gorgeous with your mane,” she complimented me. This made me blush. I saw spike get a little flustered, because I knew he had a crush on Rarity.
“And a’hm Applejack. My pleasure,” she shortly added, tipping her hat at me.
“I’m Fluttershy…it’s nice to meet you,” said the yellow pony quietly, barely above a whisper. I almost couldn’t hear her, but I guessed since she was slightly audible it’s because of my already-established friendship with one of her friends, as opposed to me being a complete stranger.
“I’m Spike. Nice to finally have another guy in our group,” said the dragon. Everypony glared at him, and he quickly added, “Not that we NEEDED a guy. It’s just, some of the things you all do are so girly that it makes me sick! I need a guy to hang out with once in awhile too, you know.” This excused his possible insult to the girls.
“Well, I’m Midnight Chaser. It’s so nice to meet you all. I’m sure we’ll be great friends too,” I said while looking at Pinkie. “I can’t wait to hang out with you all! But for now I’m exhausted. If hope you all don’t mind if I go and catch up on my rest.”
“Not a problem. We all had a picnic planned tomorrow if you want to join us,” Twilight offered to me.
“Sounds awesome. Someone wanna come get me in the morning? I’ll probably sleep past any alarm so I’ll more than likely need somepony to wake me up.”
“Sure, I can come get you,” Rainbow Dash accepted. “Once you’re all woken up, we can race to the picnic!” she challenged.
“Uhh, whatever you say,” I replied sheepishly. I hadn’t mentioned to anypony that I hadn’t yet learned to fly. “Well, it’s been my pleasure to meet you all. Have a nice night,” I said as I backed out the door. I turned to go to my house when I realized I didn’t have one. I went back in and asked Twilight where I’d be staying.
“There’s a place I reserved just for you when I heard Celestia tell me about you. It’s across from Sugarcube Corner, two story building. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Good night!” And with that, I left. I went to find my apartment or house, whichever it was, and located it without any difficulties. I found the bed to be more than comfortable, and I drifted off to sleep before I could even count to three.
Morning came before I knew it. I wasn’t aware until I was pushed off of my bed.
“Hey, what gives!” I said, irritated at being awoken so rudely. I saw that it was Rainbow Dash, and my mood quickly changed. “Oh, sorry,” I said. “Forgot that you were coming.”
She laughed, and said, “Well, everypony’s been waiting at the picnic for an hour now. We thought we’d let you sleep longer…trust me, I know what it’s like to need a good night’s rest. But let’s not leave them waiting anymore. How about that race?”
“Uh, yeah, about that…I, um…”
“Come on, spit it out! You sound like Fluttershy.”
“I can’t fly,” I admitted, embarrassed.
“You WHAT?! What kind of a grown Pegasus doesn’t know how to fly?!” she almost yelled.
“Well, it ties in to the story of where I’m from I was going to tell you all today,” I explained. “Could we just walk for now? Maybe we can race some other time. Besides, beginners always get lucky. I’d hate to embarrass you,” I taunted, knowing how much she enjoyed bragging.
“Well, look at Mr. Big-Shot over here! I’ll have you know, I’m the best flyer in all of Equestria. The Wonderbolts even turned me down because I’d make them all look bad. Tell ya what, hot rod. I’ll teach you to fly, but as soon as you’re not falling face-first on the ground, we’re gonna race, and I will make you eat my dust,” she taunted right back.
“Sounds like a plan to me. But for now, let’s just walk,” I pleaded.
“Alright, alright, no early lessons I guess. Let’s go,” she said.
We walked through town and up to a hill overlooking the view of Ponyville. It was beautiful, as the sun was high in the sky and all the colors of Ponyville were brought to light. It was a breathtaking view, and I gasped when I looked out over it all. I smiled, thinking that this was the perfect picnic spot as Dash and I trotted over to greet the other six. We sat down and asked each other small questions such as “How did you sleep,” or “Are you enjoying the morning?” Again, the question came up, and I had to explain in detail where I’ve come from and why I was allowed to come.
“Well, I’m from Earth, which I’m aware you’ve been to before,” I answered them all. “I was allowed to come here because Celestia thought I represented the qualities of ponies of Equestria very well on my world. She thought that my actions resembled that of kindness, generosity, and other traits shown throughout your world. So she let me come here,” I finished.
“Well, I’d say Celestia made a fine choice,” Rarity observed. She must have had some slight attraction to me…I’ll admit, I would too if I was a female pony. I’m not one to be overconfident but I was a fine looking Pegasus. I looked apologetically at Spike, who just rolled his eyes and chuckled. I guess he knew I wasn’t after “his girl,” so I managed to stay on his good side.
“So, what did ya’ll do for fun on Earth, Midnight?” questioned Applejack.
“Well, I was pretty athletic, so I was always playing some sort of sport in school. I played basketball, hoofball, and golf. They were all pretty fun sports…in the side time I watched movies and worked at my job as a chef.”
Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore everything but the food part.
“Ooooh, you’re a chef?! You should cook us all food some time! I LOVE food, but not as much as I love cupcakes. Well, I guess cupcakes are food, but I LOVE cupcakes more than other food! Mmmmm, I can’t wait to see what kinds of food you cook,” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Pinkie, he doesn’t owe us anything, he doesn’t have to cook for us if he doesn’t want to,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh no, I can if you want me to! I loved cooking back on Earth, it would be awesome to get back into it here,” I reassured Pinkie and Fluttershy.
“Sounds great,” Rainbow Dash added. “But I’m more interested in those sports…what are they? I’ve never heard of any of those,” she said, flustered. I knew she would be most intrigued out of any of the seven about the sports I played. Her being the best athlete in town, if not Equestria, she would want to know what the sports were, and probably give them a try if she could.
“Well, basketball was really simple, but I don’t think it would work too well in Equestria,” I explained. “You needed hands to do it, which were basically hooves with…uh…things on the end you could grab things with. It made catching the ball really easy, and without hands I don’t think it would be much fun here. Plus we’d need a court for it. As for golf, you kind of need hands for that too…you took a club with a certain loft on it, and hit a small ball towards a hole. Your goal was to get it into the hole. And hoofball…hoofball we can try here,” I began excitedly. “It was called the Beautiful Game on earth because of how graceful it is. You need eleven people…er, ponies…per team, and two goals with nets. Each team just tries to get the ball into the goal, with only the use of your hooves, no wings or magic allowed. The best thing about hoofball is that you can play it without all twenty two people. You can just have one or two people and juggle the ball, work on your kicking and ball placement, or just pass it back and forth. It’s so much fun. Rarity, since you know how to work with fabrics and materials, could you maybe help me make a ball?” I asked after my monologue about the Beautiful Game.
“Absolutely! Just tell me what kind of materials you need and what it looks like and I’ll do my best,” Rarity reassured me with a nod.
All the while I was talking, Rainbow Dash looked more and more amazed at the sound of the sports I played.
“You seem like the perfect pony!” she then exclaimed after hearing all about the sports. “Any athlete is a guaranteed friend of mine. You HAVE to show me how to play hoofball, it would be so much fun,” she then told me.
“Sure, any time! As soon as I get the ball ready I can show you the ropes. I’ll trade you flying lessons for hoofball lessons,” I offered.
“Sounds great to me. Well everypony, I gotta dash. I can hear those clouds calling me, I’ll catch up with you all later,” Rainbow told us. She finished with a last ‘see-ya,’ and took off. I then told the ball design to Rarity, and she reassured me she would get to work on it as soon as possible. “Anything for a new friend like you,” she then told me. She also trotted off with the ball design in her mind, eager to get to work. Pinkie looked at me and started to say something. I guessed it would be about my job as a chef back home.
“So Midnight, you doing anything after this?” she asked excitedly.
“No plans, why?”
“Let’s go make food!” she exclaimed. Before I could answer, she bounced off down the hill, and I looked over at the remaining three ponies and Spike.
“Well, ah’ve got some apple buckin’ to do,” Applejack told the rest of us. “See ya’ll around.” She too trotted off.
“Looks like you’ve got a busy afternoon,” Twilight giggled and looked at me. “Better go follow Pinkie, I think she’s a little excited.”
“A little? That’s the understatement of the century,” I laughed.
I followed Pinkie back to Sugarcube corner and into the kitchen. Instantly an apron was thrown at my face and she asked what ingredients we would need for my “best dish.” I told her we’d need some tortilla shells, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, and chipotle sauce. As soon as I finished listing them off, I turned around and they were all on the counter.
“Wow…how did you do that?” I asked her. Even Pinkie should have her limits, but it seemed like there were none.
“I just got them when you said them, silly! I did have to mix up the chipotle after running to the store to get the peppers, but that only took a little extra time,” she added.
“Okay, well…now we just need a substitute for the last ingredient. I’ll make one for Spike with rubies inside of it…as for the rest of you, I’ll just put in grilled hay.”
“Okie dokie lokie, then!”
I started grilling the shells and melting the cheese on top, putting the hay next to it on the grill. While they cooked I could practically see the drool hanging from Pinkie’s mouth. Finally the shells were done and I removed them from the grill, putting the hay on top and topping it all off with chipotle sauce. I wrapped them up (which was quite difficult with hooves), and put them all on plates. Pinkie ate hers right away, and right afterwards was begging for another one.
“Maybe some other time,” I laughed, “let’s get the rest of these to the others. Maybe they’ll enjoy them as much as you.”
“I doubt that!” exclaimed Pinkie. “That’s my new favorite food! That was SO yummy! Please please please make me another one soon!” She bounced alongside me while we went to Twilight’s library first. Afterwards, we went to Rainbow’s cloud home and she flew down to fetch hers. Satisfied, we went on to Sweet Apple Acres and dropped off Applejack’s, then finally to Rarity’s boutique. I wanted to go to the boutique last so that I’d hopefully give Rarity enough time to finish the ball. My planning was perfect, as just when we walked in Rarity levitated the ball in front of me.
“Is this alright?” she asked me. “I followed everything you said to do, but unfortunately only had my mind to picture it. I hope it’s alright.”
“It’s perfect! You did just about as good as any ball-maker on Earth,” I told her. Satisfied with her work, I then gave her the wrap. I left her, thanking her one last time for the ball. Kicking it along as we walked back to Sugarcube Corner, I bid Pinkie adieu as we parted. I now looked for Rainbow Dash, seeking out flying lessons and hoping I could teach her the wonderful world of hoofball. On my way there, I contemplated calling it hoofball, as no one here knew what a foot was. I decided it wouldn’t be worth the explanation. From now on, I would call it hoofball, never football, but still keep its nickname “the Beautiful Game,” intact. Before I knew it I was below Rainbow’s house, calling up to her.
“Come on up!” I hear her call. “Oh wait, you can’t,” she joked. “What’s up, Midnight?”
“I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on flying,” I said. “Oh, and Rarity finished the hoofball. After the lesson I could give you a pointer or two on the best sport ever.”
“Alright! That’s what I like to hear,” she said after jumping down to meet me on the ground. She guided us to an empty grass field outside of Ponyville where we could practice both our events without any laughing from anypony else, due to our inexperience.
“So, the first thing you want to do is push off the ground with all your legs. Once you’re jumping in the air, start flapping your wings and just try to hover for a few seconds…let’s see how ya do,” Rainbow told me.
I did as she said. Pushing off the ground with my legs, I jumped and flapped the best I could, which actually wasn’t all that bad. I maintained a good hover for quite some time before she told me to try moving around. I leaned forward and kept flapping my wings, intending to go forward. Instead, I ended up on my back on the ground. Trying not to laugh, and failing miserably, Dash landed next to me.
“Were you trying to go forward there?” she asked. I nodded. “Well next time, don’t lean so far forward, and try to angle your wings more so they’re pushing the air behind you. Try again,” she encouraged.
Again, I jumped off the ground and hovered for a few seconds before gathering myself. I did as she instructed, angling my wings so they were pushing the air behind me more than my weight was directing me.
“Okay, good. Now just lean a little forward for going slow, and when you want to speed up, you flatten your wings just a little and lean farther forward,” she said, putting emphasis on both the ‘littles’ in that sentence.
“Cool, I think I’m getting the hang of this!” I said exuberantly.
“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” she warned. Not to sound like I’m bragging or anything, but I think she was just scared there was some new competition in town.
“You know that race you offered? Let’s do that tomorrow. I’ll practice all day until I get the hang of this. You want to learn how to play some hoofball now?”
“Alright. Does this field work for that, or should we find another place?” she asked.
“This’ll do just fine,” I said, fetching the ball from where I’d let it rest. “So all you really have to know is that you can’t use your wings or magic to touch and direct the ball. Only your legs or head can keep it in fair play. But that’s just for regular games…what I like to do with the sport is just kick the ball around and have some fun with friends. I just aim for targets, juggle the ball, or pass it back and forth between my pals. Let’s see what you got,” I challenged.
I kicked the ball in the air and juggled it back and forth on my front knees and hooves for a few seconds, surprised that it was actually easier here than it was on Earth to do so. I headed it up and kicked it over to Dash, who reacted very quickly. She headed the ball, dropped it down to her left hoof, bounced it up, and bicycle kicked it straight into the middle of a tree.
Needless to say, I was impressed. “Wow, I guess all your bragging about being Ponyville’s best athlete isn’t exaggerated,” I complimented.
“You can bet your mane it’s not! What’s the point of bragging if you can’t back it up?”
“True…you almost look better than me, and you’re just learning! But emphasis on almost…I’m still way better than you. For now, at least,” I joked.
“Oh yeah? Well how about we play a little game of horse? Loser owes the other person…oh I don’t know, a favor of some sort. Doesn’t matter where, when, or what, just some sort of favor,” the cyan Pegasus proposed.
“You’re on. Don’t cry too much if you lose,” I jabbed at her. She smiled and said, “I get first kick, since I’m new to it and all.”
“Fair enough.” She took the ball and picked out a target, a tree about twenty yards away. She lined up with the ball, and without even learning how to kick, swung away and struck the ball with extremely surprising force. The ball sailed true to the target, and bounced harmlessly off the center of the tree.
“Beat that!” Dash bragged. I grunted my approval of her steep learning curve, and fetched the ball. I set it down where she had kicked from and lined up for my own kick. It was a difficult shot, as the tree wasn’t too wide, but I was confident in my abilities. I ran at the ball, kicked with all my power and precision, and watched expectantly, waiting to hear a satisfying “thud” as it hit the tree. However, as I watched, it missed the tree by a hair. Defeated, I sat down on my haunches and gaped, amazed that I missed a relatively simple shot.
“Ha! Look who’s losing at their own game,” Dash mocked.
“The wind got to it…” I said, quickly realizing how stupid of a comment it was as the air was completely still. “It’s not over yet.”
“Well at this rate it’ll be over in a few minutes,” she went on.
“In your dreams.”
From that point on we were matching each other kick for kick, for almost an hour straight. When one of us missed, the other would quickly follow suit with a letter of their own. We were aiming at everything, to some ponies’ annoyance, and the ball ricocheted off of every tangible substance above ground. Rocks, bushes, trees, buildings – you name it, and there was an imaginary target painted on it for us to aim at. Another hour passed, and we were both matched at “Hors,” missing the fatal ‘e’ that would earn either one of us the loss. Unfortunately, I was the last one to miss, so it was still Rainbow Dash’s turn to kick until she missed. Doubly unfortunately, she was spot on with every kick, never relenting, and never giving me a chance to get the ball back. She lined the ball up with a tree not too far away, and I was questioning her choice.
“You’re aiming at that? That’s a shot a foal could make,” I jested.
“No, not that one. THAT one,” she said, emphasizing her last bit of the sentence by pointing at a tree about fifty yards past the near one. I wouldn’t have worried about hitting it; it was a very large tree. But the nasty part of the newfound target was that it was directly behind the near tree. You’d have to have a perfect curve around the tree and get it to straighten out directly after the curve in order to hit it at all. It was a shot that even Lionel Messi would have trouble with back on earth, and that was with the advantage of having a foot. I’ve tried a few curve shots already here in Equestria throughout our game of Horse, and not a single one went well. Without the use of the foot to angle the ball, you could only kick it straight. Although juggling the ball wasn’t a problem, the curve shot seemed impossible here.
“You’re crazy!” I interjected. “You won’t make that shot in a million years.”
“Oh yeah? Watch me,” she said confidently. She lined up her sight with the ball and two trees. Then she backed up a couple of yards, making sure to get the perfect spacing between her and the ball. Again, I’ll say that she must have been crazy to attempt this with the whole game at stake. It was near impossible. But then the impossible happened. She ran at the ball full tilt, and kicked it as hard as possible. My jaw dropped at what happened next. The ball sailed to the right of the tree, curved perfectly around the outermost branch, seeming to scrape it on the way by, and straightened out in perfect timing with when it cleared the nearer of the two trees. It then sailed the next fifty yards to the far tree, smashing into the middle of the trunk with a satisfying “thud.”
“Beat that,” she then said, throwing her mane back in victory as she strutted past me.
“I’ll need all the luck in the world to beat that,” I audibly muttered to myself.
She must have heard me, because she gloated over her perfect kick.
“What’s that? Sounds like you may as well give up now, Mr. I’m-so-good-at-hoofball,” she mocked. “That was a million bit kick, you know.”
“I won’t give up,” I said defiantly. I lined myself up for the shot, identically to what Rainbow Dash did. I ran at the ball, kicked it, and was disappointed and even a little embarrassed to hear a “thud,” much too early for it to have hit the second tree. Sure enough, it hit the first one, and the ball bounced back to my hooves.
“Yes! I beat you, and at your own sport! Wait until everypony hears about this,” she said victoriously.
“You just wait until we have a rematch…I am a little rusty, just so you know,” I said, knowing that’s the worst excuse in the book.
“Yeah right, I beat you fair and square. You’re just too upset that you lost to a new player in a sport you’ve done for years,” she shot right back at me.
“Well in my defense, I’ve only been a pony for three days now,” I said. “I’m still not one-hundred percent used to these hooves. It’s hard to play hoofball with them,” I told her.
“That’s such a bad excuse! I’ve had even less time than you have playing hoofball. You can’t seriously expect me or anyone else to believe that one.”
“You just wait for that rematch,” I said. We laughed about the competitiveness between the two of us and flew back into town, Dash giving me endless amounts of pointers on the way in, such as how to position my wings for a gust of wind, how to dive and recover without popping my wings out of joint, and how to turn on a dime. It probably took three times as long as it should have to get to Twilight’s library, but I arrived a much more confident flyer, and Dash arrived with plenty of rehearsed lines to brag about her victory in hoofball earlier in the day.
As we walked in we were greeted by the other five ponies and Spike.
“My my, what took you two so long?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Nothing. We were playing some hoofball and I was teaching him how to fly,” Rainbow Dash said defensively.
“Speaking of which, I heard you guys had a bet going on with that. Who won?” Spike asked.
“Me, of course! I am the best athlete after all, you couldn’t expect me to lose,” Dash boasted. “It’s an easy sport; I could’ve picked it up in my sleep. Midnight here owes me anything I want whenever I want now that I beat him.”
“You’d think with all this bragging her hot head would explode some time,” Twilight whispered to me. I laughed, because it seemed like every other sentence Rainbow was saying something about how awesome she was.
“Let her bask in it. I will give it to her, she can back up the boasting. I don’t know how she got hoofball so quick, but it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” I responded.
“In my defense, that kick in the end was complete luck. You couldn’t make that again in a million years,” I shot at Dash.
“Yeah right!” she quickly responded. “I could make that kick again if I was sleep walking.”
“Sure,” I said sarcastically. “And I’m Princess Celestia.”
“Well if you’re so upset about losing, how about we DO have that race tomorrow, hot-shot? I was gonna let you practice more because it’d be like racing against a foal, but tomorrow sounds good. I won’t let you get out of that favor, but you’ll have a chance at getting some dignity back after losing your favorite sport to a beginner,” she said, making sure to throw a jab about the loss in there.
“Well,” I humbly replied, “I probably won’t win, but you’re on. Any chance at getting that shredded dignity back is worth it.”
“Oh boy! This’ll be a super-duper-luper fun race tomorrow!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “I can’t wait!”
“Well, if we’re racing, I’d better get some shut-eye. It’s been a pretty long day…I’m beat,” I said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow!”
“Nighty-night, Midnight!” Pinkie answered. The rest all said their so-longs and I was on my merry way home. The past two days have been heaven, and I couldn’t get enough of this new place. After the years on Earth watching the show, I was the happiest guy you could ever see. I said hello to everypony I passed on my way home, and they responded suit. I had a skip in my step, and tomorrow would be the best day yet that I’ve had in Equestria. After a few minutes of combined flying and walking home, I arrived on my doorstep. I opened my door and headed upstairs to my room, where I laid on my bed of straw and pillow of hay. I was so happy about all this time in Equestria that I couldn’t fall asleep until two o’clock AM. But eventually my eyes slowly shut and I drifted off into sleep’s sweet bliss.
I woke up to a knock on my door and Pinkie’s faint voice asking “What’s taking him so long?!”
“It’s only been twenty seconds, darling…I’m sure he’s just getting up,” I heard Rarity reply.
“Or he’s just too scared to race against Equestria’s best flyer!” Rainbow Dash scoffed.
“Just wait, y’all. I think I hear hoofsteps,” Applejack interrupted.
I opened the door and yawned.
“You ready to eat dust?” I asked dash through the yawn.
“That sounded so intimidating,” she replied, which drew a laugh from the crowd. We walked off to the Ghastly Gorge a ways outside of Ponyville. It was just about the perfect day for a race, as the sun was shining, the grass was green, and there was only a slight breeze. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. On the way to the gorge, Rainbow briefed me on the course she had set up. There would be surprise wind gusts to adjust to, cloud-filled caverns and extremely sharp turns, ending with a straightaway to the finish line. Dash was shaping out to be my favorite friend here in Ponyville, and I couldn’t wait to race against her and share more laughs at the finish line, win or lose.
After a few stretches and warm-up flights, I was ready to race, as was Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy got in front of us to start the race.
“Ready to lose again?” Dash asked me.
“Speak for yourself, all you’ll see is my tail the entire race,” I replied.
“Psh, maybe if I sleep the first twenty minutes,” she shot back at me.
“See you at the finish line,” I said.
“Um, sorry to interrupt, but are you two ready?” Fluttershy quietly said.
“Start the countdown!” Twilight shouted over to her.
“Um, alright. 3…2…1…go,” she said, barely loud enough to hear.
We both kicked off the ground, and dust sprayed everywhere from the wind our beating wings were creating. We both picked up speed very quickly, but Dash, being the more experienced flyer, was pulling ahead. She expertly flew around every obstacle, adjusted perfectly to every wind gust, and maneuvered spectacularly through the cloud-filled caverns. She was leaving behind her rainbow (as usual when she flies), and I was leaving behind a fire-like trail, which amazed even me. I looked at everypony on the ground and they were just as much in awe of my tail as I was. However, there would be a time to marvel at it later; for now I had to focus. I was a ways behind her when I hit the last wind gust. Attempting to use the wind as leverage to speed myself up and pass Dash in the final stretch, I positioned my wings in a way to propel myself forward. I opened them up to catch as much wind as possible, which turned out to be a big mistake. The gust came up from under me and hit my left wing with more force than I anticipated, sending me crashing into the wall of the canyon. Simultaneously, I felt and heard a loud crack as my wings hit the wall first. Immediately I knew something was broken. I didn’t feel or know what snapped, and as I tried to break the twenty foot fall, I found my wings were both dislocated out of joint, making flight extremely painful and impossible. All I could do was brace for the impact and hope I didn’t land on any rocks.
I landed on the solid floor of the gorge with a thump and groaned quietly in agony as the wind rushed out of my lungs. I gasped for air and fought to stay conscious. In order to do so, I stared at a rock and forced myself not to look at my broken body beneath me. Staring at the rock, I could feel my vision blur, and I tried my hardest to breath in and out, over and over, hoping the lack of activity would keep me awake. Barely hanging on, I heard Dash yell in disbelief and in a second she was by my side.
“I…guess you win this too…huh, Dash?”
“Hang in there, Midnight! I’ve got to get you to the hospital! I’m gonna call in that favor you owe me,” she said to me.
“What’s…that?”
“Stay awake, or else I’ll have a bone to pick with you once you’re out of the hospital.”
“Sure thing…” I groaned.
She picked me up with more strength than I thought she’d have; the adrenaline she must have been feeling helped. I felt her hit either a broken bone or my dislocated wings. I couldn’t tell which.
“AAARGH,” I yelled out in pain.
“Sorry, sorry! You’ll be in the hospital in no time, Midnight!” she reassured me, worry etched on her face.
I felt her lift me up quickly to avoid any more pain, and in a second the wind was rushing past my mane. The whole trip I fought my hardest to stay awake, focusing on my best friend to do so. I feared that I would slip into a coma if I were to lose consciousness, and with how weak I felt right now, I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d wake up.
In what felt like forever, Dash finally delivered me to the hospital. Exhausted, she told the doctors what she knew, desperation in her voice. They put me on a mobile bed and wheeled me into the emergency room.
“Hello, Midnight, I’m Nurse Redheart. It’s great you didn’t give in. Great job on staying awake, most ponies wouldn’t have lasted that long…I need you to focus on my voice and stay awake a little longer, can you do that?” I nodded. “Good...we’ll be able to let you sleep in no time,” she said. She stopped talking to me and said something about anesthetics to a doctor nearby, and I saw him rush off. I felt myself black out, and I woke back up in an instant.
“Okay, Midnight, I’m gonna give you a sedative…I need you to focus on sleeping now, alright? That’s it…we’ll have you fixed up in no time…”
That was the last thing I remember hearing, and I felt myself drift off to sleep.
After the surgery, I woke up in a recovery room, surrounded by my seven best friends. A tear slipped out of my eye as they all looked at me with smiles, exhaust clearly showing on their faces. They must have been here a long time, I thought to myself.
“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh,” Rainbow fretted, coming to my side. “I’m so so sorry, Midnight! I shouldn’t have made you race me like that, I should’ve known something would happen…this is all my fault.”
“Not at all, Dash. It was half my idea too, remember? And relax, I’ve had more fun in the past few days than in my whole life. Thank you, Dash. Thank you all for sharing these moments with me. You’ve all changed my life forever,” I said.
“We’re so glad you’re okay, that was a nasty fall you took,” Twilight said.
“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in. “You were all like ‘VROOOOM,’ THEN, ‘CRASSHHHH,’ then, ‘SPLAT!’ You had us worried sick!”
“Well, aside from the casts, he still looks fabulous,” Rarity offered, which made me blush until my face looked like a rose.
“Thank you all so much for caring,” I said again.
“What’re friends for?” Applejack asked.
We all looked at each other and smiled, sharing the most sentimental moment of my life. Nurse Redheart walked in and ended the moment.
“Well, well,” she said. “Look who’s finally awake. You’ve been in medically-induced sleep for nearly twenty-five hours. You’re lucky to have such great friends. Each one stayed by your bedside until you’d wake up,” she finished with a smile.
“They mean the world to me,” I answered, smiling as wide as my bruised face would allow.
“I’m sure they do. Well, I’m thinking you need some more rest. Injuries like that won’t heal overnight,” the nurse said to everyone in the room.
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks again to all of you for staying with me…you didn’t need to do that, twenty five hours is a long time! Don’t feel obliged to stay any longer, you all look exhausted.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling!” exclaimed Rarity. “We’ll be here when you wake up again,” she assured me.
“Yeah, it’s the least I owe you,” Dash said sheepishly with a smile. “You’ve got guts, Midnight, I’ll give you that. Almost as much as me.”
I laughed. Even in worrisome times like this she was still being the stereotypical Rainbow Dash that I enjoyed so much on the show.
“You all are the best…” I said through a yawn. As I drifted off into sleep, I saw all seven of them by my bed, keeping watch until I returned. I was the happiest colt alive.
As I woke up, it wasn’t in my hospital room. I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever, and I could freely move without restrictions. I looked around the dark room, trying to put a location to it. It was familiar, that much I was sure of. My first guess was that I’d healed and was back at my house in Ponyville. I looked around, and I froze: what I saw was like a knife in my heart – a digital clock read 3:10 AM in the dark. I reached my hooves out to touch it, to make sure I wasn’t seeing things or dreaming. My hoof – no, not my hoof, my hand – my hand made solid contact. I panicked.
“No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO!” I yelled. I sat up in my bed, pinching myself, hoping it was only a bad dream. Icicles of fear set in when I didn’t wake up after the countless pinches had no effect. I broke down crying. Had it all been a dream? It couldn’t have been! I pinched myself countless times throughout the whole Equestrian experience to make sure it wasn’t, and I remembered everything so vividly. I wondered if Celestia mentioned a time slot for my time in Equestria, but I remembered my conversation with her crystal clear: she never put a limit on my time there. Was it something I’d done? It couldn’t have been that, either! I did nothing wrong, and the only thing from Earth I’d shared was football, but I’m 110% sure that had no effect on me sitting in my bed back on Earth. It’s called “The Beautiful Game,” for crying out loud!
Before I could think again, my thoughts were interrupted by a beep, very loud and very clear. I thought it was an alarm, but I had never set any alarms to 3:15 in the morning. Another beep. They were evenly spaced out…it was like I was listening to a heart monitor, but I looked around and couldn’t place where the noise was coming from. I blinked, and I was blinded by white light. Blinking again, I was back in my room, eyes readjusting to the darkness. I heard faint voices, like they were coming from down the street. I looked out my window and no one was anywhere to be seen. The voices became slightly clearer, and I could pick out words, but no phrases or sentences. I blinked, and was again blinded by a white light. I was extremely confused at this point, not sure what was going on. Another blink and my eyes were focusing back on my desk and nightstand in my room. Again, another beep. The voices were becoming clearer, and I could now hear full sentences.
“He’s coming out of it!” one person said sharply.
“I can’t believe it…I thought he’d never wake up,” another voice added.
I blinked, and now I was in a hospital room, covered in white. My heart sped up, and for a split second I thought I was back in Ponyville. However, the sight of a nearby human doctor made my hopes plummet.
Another doctor looked at me as he marked something down on his clipboard, shaking his head and saying “A miracle,” as he walked out of the room.
After I was fully awake and aware, all the doctors left but one.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m doctor Greyson. Son, do you remember anything at all?”
I racked my brain for any memories, but all I had were of my time in my dream-house and Equestria.
“Only my dreams,” I said wistfully.
“Well, let me give you a rundown. You were in a horrible accident. A child ran into the busiest street in Chicago, and you ran out, grabbed him, and threw him onto the curb. You weren’t so lucky, though. You took a hit from a bus, and ricocheted onto a car in opposing traffic. You’re a hero, son, but your body took more damage than any body could possibly bear, and we thought you were gone. However, you hung on. You were braindead for the past five months, but in the last four days you showed incredible brain activity. Now on to the bad news…you obviously have no memory whatsoever. You are paralyzed from the waist down and on the right side of your chest. Your only functioning lung is on a respirator, and you were in a coma for over five months, causing massive trauma to your brain cells. You’re in a critically weak condition, and, I hate to put it bluntly, but you may die soon. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to say goodbye to anyone or if you’d rather just take an…easier way out. I’m so, so sorry you have to hear all this at once,” he finished.
Dr. Greyson left the room. It was just my expensive hospital equipment and me now. I noticed my one working arm had something in its hand. I slowly opened it. All sound save the heart monitor ceased. I was so overcome with emotion I could barely handle it. I could hear my heart monitor’s rate dropping, slowly but surely. Silent tears slipped out of my eyes, tears of both joy and sadness. Still the monitor’s rate was dropping. I looked down at my hand again, where I saw the most beautiful and wonderful thing I had ever seen. I stared down at a cyan Pegasus feather, slightly crumpled up in my hand, but looking as fresh as the minute it had fallen off. Still the heart monitor continued its fatal pace. Knowing that the best part of my life was real, I smiled ear to ear, and for the last time, my heart stopped.
The End.
Author's Note
*hoofball = football. I decided to just put down hoofball for the sake of continuity with being ponified.
It's my first story, any constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading!
