Chapter One: The Grass is Always Greener

Anthropomorphism

Chapter One: The Grass is Always Greener

You stared out the window from within the confines of your bed, and felt the nice, cold breeze caress the fur on the exposed portion of your face. Sleep had eluded you; you weren't sure why, but it was probably a combination of jet-lag and caffeine. Scratch that: it was almost certainly the cause of your restlessness.

Huffing and blowing a lock of your mane that had fallen out of place, you turned over from your side onto your back, staring at the stucco ceiling and the ever-changing designs that melted and swirled. This new ceiling was far more interesting than your last one, you decided.

Without your permission, your brain decided to mull over the day's events; the good, the bad, and the strange.

Since your entire family is of the regular variety of ponies, your dad had worked in the Field of Nanotechnology for years. Finally, he made the breakthrough that he'd been raving about for years: he managed to make a new type of self-repairing, microscopic nanobot capable of things that ponies couldn't even comprehend. At least, that's what he had said to you. Your father had sold the rights to the Solar Corporation for a very large sum of money.

With the money earned from selling the patent, your parents thought it appropriate to move to a nicer locale. When you first heard that, you didn't think that they meant across Equestria. You were given only a few days to pack and say goodbye to your friends and classmates. Fortunately for you, you only ever had two friends. You three were virtually inseparable: you had been friends since elementary school. Saying goodbye to them made you feel like you were cutting a small piece out of yourself.

Ever since the announcement that you were moving to a small town named Ponyville and leaving your friends behind, you had felt lethargic. The plane ride hadn't helped. Boarding a plane at five in the morning and sitting still for seven hours hadn't been easy.

You were just glad that you rode first class.

You had gotten off the plane with your mom and dad, following them straight into the waiting limo. You weren't used to the special treatment that you had only recently been on the receiving end of. The two hour limousine ride was taken in silence. Any attempts from your father or mother to start a conversation with you was shut down by your monosyllabic answers.

Upon arriving at the town of Ponyville, you were awestruck by it. It had all the aspects of a modern town: cafes, restaurants, a coffee shop or three, a shopping mall, yet it still felt like a small, rural town. You guessed that there was at most two thousand people living there, if that. It made you homesick just looking at it.

You glanced out the tinted window of the limousine at a group of students walking out of a coffee shop, talking and laughing. You were surprised to see members from all three sub-species hanging out together. Where you were from, everypony stuck to their respective groups. You also noticed that their expressions changed dramatically as soon as they laid their eyes on the limo.

You closed your eyes for a few moments. You knew that having money didn't instantly make you into a shallow, pedantic asshole, but the expressions on the student's faces had made you think otherwise. Sighing, you leaned back into the leather seat only to have the limo stop and shut down.

"Well family, we're here!" your dad said enthusiastically as he opened the door, his short, vibrant gold hair swaying slightly in the breeze. He offered his hand to your mother and she graciously accepted, her own crimson red locks bouncing.

"Oh my," your mom said dramatically once she stepped out of the limo. "This place is simply fantastic!"

"Yeah," you mumbled. "Fantastic. That's the word."

You opened the other door and took in the sights: you knew that you'd be here for a while. The house, or rather, mansion, was three stories tall, made of stone and brick, and looked like something straight out of a Conmane movie. There were guard towers - guard towers! - embedded along the stone wall that surrounded the mansion, giving it a looming, unfriendly look. You saw unicorns wearing black uniforms patrolling along the wall.

Sighing, you caught up with your mom and dad, who were already walking towards the gate.

Fortunately, you had long legs that enabled you to catch up relatively quickly. At your old school, your friends had told you that you looked so imposing when you walked. They had jokingly said that the only reason they kept you around was because you intimidated anyone that didn't know you personally. Which, now that you thought about it, was most people. You never really understood the intimidation factor: you had never physically harmed or abused anyone before. Apparently, you were just 'freakishly tall'.

You followed your parents through underneath the large archway that was a part of the outside wall. You couldn't help but notice the two massive wrought-iron gates that were opened to let you and your family pass.

You wondered whether those gates were for keeping ponies out... or keeping ponies in.

Sighing again, you caught up with your parents once again, trailing slightly behind them. You overheard a bit of their conversation.

"Dear, are you sure that he's going to be alright here? I think that the small town atmosphere is just making him homesick," your mom said.

Your dad sighed and replied, "I know it is, sweetie, but I'm sure he'll adjust. He just needs to spend some time and effort into making some new friends here."

Uncomfortable with listening in to your parent's conversation, you decided to make your footsteps a bit louder, as if you were just catching back up to your parents. You had learned long ago how to walk very quietly, despite your large hooves. It worked: your dad glanced behind him and motioned for you to walk beside him.

"There's my gentle giant," your dad said teasingly as you walked up beside him. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

"Just dandy," you replied. "After waking up at five in the morning, sitting in an airplane for seven hours, and having my head hit the ceiling after every bump during the two hour long car ride, I just can't wait to start unpacking," you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm.

A glint appeared in your father's eyes. "Who said anything about unpacking?"

You were going to ask what he meant by that, but the massive double doors being opened by two well dressed men caused your words to die in your throat. You walked forward with your mother and father, too dumbstruck to do anything but stare.

The main foyer was huge. So large, in fact, that you thought your old house could have probably fit inside of it without touching any of the walls or the ceiling. Heck, now that you thought about it, it might even have fit two. There was a golden chandelier that was attached to the ceiling, almost two stories high. You figured that it was going to be a pain in the flank to change the lights.

Your gaze scanned across the rest of the foyer, taking in dark, royal blue carpet that was laid on the floor, the intricate carvings on the wooden stair rails leading up to the second floor, and the lack of any packing boxes. You looked at your dad who grinned back at you.

"What do you think, son? Nice place, eh?" your father asked you.

"Err, yes. Yes it is," you responded. You bent down and took off your shoes, then stepped onto the carpet.

"My god," you said. "So this is what it feels like to walk on clouds..." You thought that it was funny, considering you weren't a pegasus.

Your mother and father took off their footwear and joined you. "Oh my," your mom said. "I must agree with you, darling. This carpet is simply to die for."

You and your parents spent the next hour going through the various rooms and stories of your new home. There were six bedrooms, all of them equally large in size. You were shocked to learn that each bedroom was practically a suite in itself: they each had a full-sized fridge, an oversized three dimensional television, and a bathroom. You were even more surprised to learn that there was to be a unicorn chef cooking your families meals from now on.

After taking the grand tour of the house, you asked your parents if you could go back to your room, seeing as how everything was already unpacked. Your father, however, had other plans.

"Son, your mother and I think it would be best if you went into Ponyville and at the very least say hello to some of your future classmates," your dad said.

You took a quick look at the watch on your arm. "But it's already eight o'clock!" you countered.

Your father checked his own watch, an eighteen karat gold Rolex. "I do believe you forgot about the Time Zone change, my dear boy. It's only five."

Your shoulders slumped. You had been looking forward to spending some time alone in your new room. You weren't exactly a people pony at the best of times, and right now, you were pretty beat. "Alright, I'll go."

Your father started to wave the chauffeur over, but you stopped him by saying, "Dad, I really don't think that having me dropped off in a limo is the best first impression that I can give.

"I think I'll walk."

"Stay safe, darling!" your mother called to you as you started to walk down the gravel driveway towards Ponyville, adjusting your watch as you went.

"I will, mother," you replied as you continue to walk.

Your walk didn't last all that long. Ten minutes later, you found yourself walking briskly on the sidewalk of Ponyville's main street, Mane St. You found the street name to be ironic as you continued to walk, your hands in your jean pockets to protect them from the brisk October wind. You looked up from your hooves as you noticed how far you've walked. You stopped and looked around, trying to figure out where the students would congregate on a Friday afternoon.

You eventually settled on a coffee shop/cafe hybrid called 'The Blue Pony Cafe'.

You walked in and were immediately entranced by the aroma of freshly ground coffee. You felt a shiver of anticipation run down your spine; the coffee on the plane had been atrocious, but this stuff smelt like heaven.

You took a quick look around and saw only five ponies in the cafe, two of which were using computers. You made an educated guess and figured that this wasn't the high-school haunt.

You strode over to the cashier whose eyes became wider with every step you took. She was a unicorn with shoulder-length turquoise coloured hair that had a white stripe going down the middle, and she appeared to be about a year or two older than you. Her fur colour was a few shades lighter than her hair. She was wearing a blue apron over her clothes. And she was looking at you in what appeared to be terror.

"Umm, hi there?" you asked quietly. "Are you alright?"

She blinked several times before giving her head a shake. "I'm so sorry about that. I thought you were somepony else..." she trailed off.

"I get that quite a bit—" you said as you looked read her nametag. "—Lyra."

You wondered if her name was at all related to the musical instrument, the lyre. You decided to ask.

Lyra visibly brightened when you asked. "Yes, yes I do! In fact, I'm the band leader at my school! I play all sorts of instruments, but I am by far the best at playing the lyre."

You nodded. "Cool. I hope I can see one of your performances in school sometime. I'm-uh, brand new to Ponyville."

The cashier visibly brightened when she heard that you were new to the town. "Oh, that's wonderful! I'm sure you'll find Ponyville to be the most happy and welcoming town!"

"I hope so too," you replied. You squinted at the board listing all the types of coffee behind the cashier. You had no idea what half of the words even meant.

"Can I get... uhh... a large coffee? Like, just the coffee, cream, and sugar?"

"Sure thing!" replied Lyra as she entered the amount in the cash register. "That'll be $2.79. Cash or credit?"

"Cash," you reply as you hand her a five from your wallet. Your dad had always said that cash was king, and you were inclined to agree with him.

With a little magic, the turquoise-headed pony made your coffee and handed it over to you in less than a minute. "Thank you very much," you said as you started to walk towards the exit.

"See you in school!" said the cashier happily.

"Bye, Lyra."

You stepped back out onto the sidewalk, sipping on your coffee as you determine the next place you should visit. Your decision was made for you when you saw two ponies causing a commotion in front of what appeared to be a bakery.

You were seriously considering just hoofing it out of there and leaving the two ponies to their argument, but you figured that it might be beneficial if you managed to break up the commotion.

As you walked closer, you were able to determine that the two arguing were both girls around your age. The one facing away from you had hair that was the brightest shade of pink you had ever seen that went down to the middle of her back. The other one had shoulder length hair that was coloured in the vibrant hues of the rainbow and you could see her wings fluttering in annoyance. You overheard their argument as you walked closer.

"Damnit Pinkie! How many times do I have to say it?! We're not kids anymore!" yelled the one with the rainbow hair, who you also noticed seemed to be an athletic type, given her flight suit and muscular build. Both her and her wings were a light cyan colour.

"But Dashie—" the curly pink-haired one started to respond, but was cut off. You noticed that her fur colour was also a few shades lighter than her hot pink hair. She was wearing a pink, frilled apron that had a picture of several balloons on the front, along with some sort of tacky sweater underneath.

"I told you not to call me that anymore! It's either 'Rainbow', 'Dash', or 'Rainbow Dash'!" interrupted the pegasus.

By this point, you were standing a few feet away. You cleared your throat and asked, "What seems to be the problem here?"

Startled, both of them turned to look at you. The one with the rainbow hair seemed like she was going to yell at you, but decided against it. "Nothing," she said, her tone unfriendly. "I gotta go anyway. Don't call me, Pinkie."

With that, she turned around, unfurled her wings, and flew away, leaving you alone on the sidewalk with the girl with the curly pink hair. "What was that all about?" you asked her. You couldn't help noticing that she was teary-eyed.

She sighed and said, "Dashie was mad at me for inviting her to a sleepover at my house. She said that we were too old to do things like that, since people might get 'the wrong idea'. Whatever that means." She sniffed and added, "I thought that we were friends..."

You couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She seemed so innocent.

"I'm sure that she has, uhh, other things bothering her," you said, hoping to comfort her. "You just happened to ask at the wrong time, that's all."

"I hope so," she said. She looked at you in the eyes. Her expression went from sad, to surprised, to exuberant. She gasped and made a squealing noise as she ran inside the bakery without saying a word to you.

You blinked several times, wondering what had just happened.

Shaking your head, you look around for the next place of interest. Your eye spots the words 'Library' on a nearby building, causing you to double-take.

You started to walk closer towards the building and realized that, yes, it was a library. Grinning, you adjusted your course and headed straight for the library. You needed some new material to read.

As you approached, you realized that it might not even be open this late. You quickly checked your watch. 5:25.

Your worry was for naught, however, as the sign beside the door said it closed an hour and forty-five minutes from then. You pushed the door open and as you walk through the open door, you cracked your head on the ceiling.

"Damnit!" you exclaimed, holding your head in one hand and your coffee in the other. You had to make a conscious effort not to spill your still-hot drink.

Your cursing attracted the attention of an employee of some sort, who came rushing over to see what was wrong.

"Are you alright?!" asked a nervous feminine voice.

"Y-Yeah," you said as you stood back up, slowly this time. Wincing, you continued, "Just cracked my head on your ceiling, that's all."

You took a moment to look over the pony in front of you, a female unicorn who appeared to be perhaps a year or so younger than you. You noticed that she had violet-indigo coloured hair, along with some pink highlights. Upon closer inspection, you also noticed some faint purple streaks as well. Her fur was the colour of lavender. She was wearing a school uniform several shades darker than her fur, complete with mini-skirt.

"You... you're very tall," she said, staring up to look you in the eyes.

"Tell me about it," you muttered, rubbing your head. You could feel a bump starting to rise already. "Anyway, hi there. I'm in need of a library card and a book to read."

Her whole demeanour changed when you said those magical words. "Really?! You actually want to take out some books?" she questioned.

You weren't sure why she was acting so strangely. "Uhh, yes? Why wouldn't I?"

She grabbed your arm and started dragging you over to a large desk, which you assumed was the librarian's. You could have easily broken free, but you decided to go with it. "Some explanation would be nice..." you said as you were dragged by the younger, smaller girl.

The unicorn apparently realized what she was doing and let go of your arm. "I'm sorry, I was just so excited! Nobody but the librarian and I have entered the library in weeks!"

You didn't like that at all. "That's... That's terrible!"

Your ears eventually reported the second portion of their findings back to your brain, which prompted you to ask, "Wait, if you're not the librarian... who are you and why are you helping me?" you asked, becoming slightly suspicious.

She giggled from the swivel chair in which she sat. "I'm the librarian's assistant." She pointed to a tag on her shirt. It read 'Twilight Sparkle: Library Assistant'.

Fair enough.

"Alrighty then," you replied as you looked around the library. It looked completely devoid of life and lustre. A flickering light bulb only enhanced the effect. "Why's this place so dead?"

Twilight didn't even look up from the computer screen in front of her, her fingers floating across the keyboard. "Well, if you had the option of reading anything you wanted on the Internet at any given time or having to walk to the library whenever you wanted a book, what would you pick?"

"The library. Reading on the computer hurts my eyes and gives me a headache," you replied earnestly.

Twilight stopped her typing and looked at your eyes. You noticed that they were the same colour as the purple strands of her hair.

Twilight Sparkle asked for your name, birthday, and phone number. Instead of answering, you pulled out your wallet and gave her your old library card, which already had all the necessary information written on it.

"Alright!" she said after she had given you your new library card. "What type of books do you like to read?"

You shrugged. "Anything that isn't Manespeare." Twilight laughed and motioned for you to follow her further into the library. She ended up bringing you to the new releases section.

She started pulling books out with telekinesis. "'Blood is Thicker Than Friendship'? Hmm, doesn't seem like your sort of story. 'On the Wings of Angels'? No, you don't seem to be that type." You had no idea how she determined what type of book you liked and what you type you didn't. Once again, you decided to just go with it.

"Ah, this one will do," said Twilight as she read the cover of the latest book held by her magic. "'Red Thrush Private School'. They pulled a massive recall for every copy of the book, but I managed to convince the librarian to keep this one!"

You graciously accepted the book, holding it gingerly. "Why was it recalled?" you asked.

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. It's anypony's guess, really."

Book in hand and question semi-answered, you walked back to the sign-out desk with Twilight trailing slightly behind. You gave Twilight your brand new library card and she signed out the book for you.

"Thank you kindly, Twilight Sparkle. I may be back this weekend, depending on how quickly I read it," you said as you headed towards the exit. "And if I'm not, I'm sure I'll see you at school."

"Bye!" said Twilight as she waved.

You opened the door and stepped outside, breathing in the cold and virtually pollution-less air. You took a glance at your watch. 6:12. You frowned at your watch. How had the time flown by that quickly? You glanced up towards the sky and noticed that the Sun had started to set. With a shrug, you took the last swig of your coffee before tossing it into a conveniently placed trash can.

You were torn between two decisions: try to meet some more of your future schoolmates or go home to a nice, warm bed and read. You stared at the book in your hands.

You decided to take the easier path and began the walk back to your new home.

You went back home, eaten the best lasagne dinner you had ever had (courtesy of your family's new personal chef), then stayed locked up in your bedroom suite. The time flew by as you delved into the book that Twilight gave you. You had to admit: the book was pretty damn good.

Before you knew it, it was almost eleven o'clock and your parents were heading to bed. "Don't stay up too late, kiddo. I know it's Friday night, but you still have more socializing to do tomorrow!"

"Sure thing, dad," you replied. "'Night mom, 'night dad."

"Goodnight son."

You had made good on your father's request: you had brushed your teeth and crawled into bed at no later than 11:15. Unfortunately, you couldn't fall asleep. Your brain just wasn't cooperating when you told it to shut up.

Blinking, you struggled to refocus on the ceiling above you. You seemed to have zoned out for a little bit. Sighing, you rolled over and felt your eyes close of their own accord. You felt your mind drift off in the purgatory between consciousness and sleep.

With a yawn that would make a Manticore flinch, you snuggled deeper into your bed and fell asleep wondering what the next day would bring forth.

Naturally, it was going to be interesting, to say the least.