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Journey to My Imagination

by DeiStar

Chapter 2: Ways of a Pony

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Chapter 1: Ways of a Pony
*****

“I, uh…” Lauren stuttered, still staring at her cutie mark. What does this mean? A quill? A bottle of ink? Does it mean… The answer was quite obvious now.

“Um... Writing. I got my cutie mark at writing. I guess you could call me a storyteller,” she softly answered Twilight, who gave her a big smile. Writing, I see now. She placed a hoof to her chin. After all, she was the creator of the world she was in. It would be only natural for a writer as herself to get a cutie mark like that.

“Oh my Celestia! Writing? That’s amazing!” Twilight suddenly squealed in front of Lauren and bounced up and down lightly on her hooves in excitement. “Have you written any books? I’m sure I’d have them somewhere in here!” She looked around at her bookshelves.

Not really, I'm pretty sure you don't have any books written by humans. She didn't want to say something unnecessary. “Um, I doubt it,” she answered with a soft voice, placing a hoof on her head. “I haven't actually published anything yet.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight sighed. Her excitement dropped back to managable levels. There was a pause before Twilight turned to her assistant, on an attempt to lighten the suddenly awkward mood. She finally opened her mouth to talk. “Spike, could you get us some tea, please?”

“Of course, no problem.” Spike stood up, walking towards to the kitchen, leaving the two ponies alone.

“Thanks, Spike.” Twilight nodded as she stared back to Lauren. She was still looking a bit stunned, but Twilight was unable to see any reason why.

A lightning bolt struck again, reminding everypony about the dreadful storm outside. At least the hail had stopped, the worst of the storm seemed to be over.

There was an awkward silence at the library. Lauren took the chance to examine her suroundings. On the floor, next to her, was Twilight's dripping wet deep blue blanket, the white moon and stars standing out clearly from the background. The shelves and walls were covered with books, and a few personal items Twilight had used to add a bit of color to the room. Spike's small bed, right next to Twilight's own larger one. It was all exactly the way she had drawn it. Sure she had seen it before, but she never expected to actually see it in person.

“So Lauren, where are you from?” Twilight finally broke the silence, staring at Lauren who stared back at her.

Maryland. She was about to say it, but she didn’t. She realized her own cartoon wouldn’t know what a ‘Maryland’ was. After all, many city names at the show were puns of actual cities of the United States.

“From, a very distant place,” Lauren finally answered. Twilight stared at her, unsure if she was saying the truth. She was not expecting such a vague answer..

“Well I sort of guessed you weren't a local. Care to be a bit more specific?” Twilight asked, blinking.

Lauren wasn’t sure what to say, she wasn’t even sure why she was in Equestria in the first place. “I… I don’t remember,” she said. Twilight only gave her a weird stare.

“What do you mean you don’t remember? Did you lose your memory?” Twilight asked, placing a hoof on her chin and staring deeply into Lauren's eyes.

No, I remember everything, I just can’t tell you. She couldn’t say she was from some planet named ‘Earth’, and that she animated cartoons for a living. “I, don’t remember many things from before I woke up here,” she replied, trying to stand up from the bed at last.

“Oh, please, don’t strain yourself!” Twilight approached her as she noticed Lauren could hardly raise her forelegs from the bed. She helped her to sit down on the bed. It was weird for Lauren to sit down like a pony. She had her hind legs bent just like any other animal that sits down, with her forelegs straight to balance herself. But it was somehow… comfortable.

Spike came back with two cups of tea with plates below them. One of them was enveloped in a pink, glowing aura, and Twilight grabbed it with a hoof. “Thank you, Spike,” she said, giving her number one assistant a warm smile.

“No problem, Twilight,” he replied, returning the smile. He turned to Lauren. “Um, don’t you want some tea?” he added, expecting her to take the cup with her magic, but no magical aura appeared around the cup.

“Uh, yeah, I do.” She nodded, stretching her arms to grab the cup and the plate. It was her first time holding something with her hooves. Naturally, after grabbing the cup, she dropped it, breaking both the cup and the plate, spilling the tea all over the floor.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” she apologized, ashamed of breaking Twilight’s cup.

“No no, don’t worry, it’s okay, really,” Twilight chuckled, waving a hoof. She enveloped the broken pieces of the cup and plate. With a flash from her horn, they were fixed again. “See? Don’t worry,” she added, handing the fixed dishes to Spike, who left them over the table.

“Forgive me, I’m not used to hold things with my... hooves,” she apologized, staring at her hooves. She was about to say ‘hands’, but it was better if she said hooves for now.

“Why didn’t you use your magic? You've got a horn after all,” Spike commented, grabbing a towel from his bed. He crouched and started wiping the spilled tea with it.

Use her magic? Sure, she was an alicorn, she had a horn. But magic? How could she use magic? She knew unicorns used magic thanks to their horns, but she wasn’t sure about the ‘activation’ method to use magic. All those thoughts were running inside Lauren’s head, who was only staring at Twilight with a confused look.

“I…” Lauren softly spoke with a faint tone. “I can’t use magic.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s because you woke up from being out there in that terrible storm,” Twilight commented, hovering the cup to her mouth, drinking some of her tea.

“No, I mean, I don’t know how to use magic,” Lauren replied, lowering her head.

Spike, who was done cleaning the tea, turned his head to Lauren. Twilight almost choked on her tea, but she swallowed it. She cleared her throat, placing the cup of tea on a table.

“You don’t know how to use magic?” Twilight asked, confused about the matter. She placed one hoof on her head.

Lauren didn’t know, she woke up as a pony after all. She couldn’t figure out how to use magic. She didn’t even have the slightest idea of how to do it.

“Perhaps you forgot how to use magic as well?” Twilight replied, referring to Lauren’s memory loss after waking up. Maybe she forgot something else than her hometown. She moved the hoof from her head to her chin.

No, I didn’t forget, I just don’t know how to. Lauren found herself answering to Twilight with her mind more than with her own voice. She didn’t like to lie, but she had no choice. “I bet that’s what happened,” she answered, with a confident tone.

“Well, don’t worry. We will help you get your memories back!” Twilight cheerfully replied and stared at Spike, who was only listening to the conversation.

“Yeah, uh, it will be okay,” Spike added, giving Lauren a quick smile.

Lauren couldn’t believe how kind and sweet her characters were. Maybe Twilight was not the Element of Kindness, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be kind at all, in fact, she was looking at a new Twilight Sparkle. Very different from the Twilight she was used to watch at her show. This Twilight cared a lot about her. Lauren couldn’t believe she actually developed a character like her.

“Thank you so very much, Twilight Sparkle,” Lauren said with a big smile on her face. “And you too, Spike!” She turning her head to the small dragon, who began to blush and grabbed his tail. Lauren chuckled a little, placing a hoof on her mouth.

The storm at the exterior was still vicious. Although lightning bolts seemed to have stopped, the wind was still blowing hard. It was around three of the morning already.

“So Lauren, I guess you don’t have a place to stay, right?” Twilight commented, placing her cold cup of tea on her desk, with her magic.

She’s right, I don’t have a place to stay. I only appeared here, I don’t have a place to go. She lowered her head, staring at Twilight’s bed. She had nowhere to go. That didn’t concern her as much as the most important thing: finding a way back home.

“You can stay with me, as long as you need to,” Twilight added with a smile on her face. She didn’t need to hear an answer from Lauren, she knew only with her face that she was lost and had nowhere to go.

“Twilight, I…” Lauren raised her head. She tried to climb out from the bed, carefully placing her hooves on the floor. She was standing still as a pony for the first time.

She moved her forelegs, at the same time as she moved her hind legs. She stood up and began walking towards Twilight, trying not to lose balance. Feels weird walking as a pony, but somehow, it’s not that hard. She approached Twilight, as she raised a hoof and placed it on her shoulder. “Thank you, Twilight!”

“You’re very welcome, Lauren,” Twilight giggled.

She could feel Twilight’s coat, it was not like a simple plush doll, not at all. Her fur was just like a real life pony, soft and very short. She could also feel her body heat. She then, released her hoof from her shoulder, placing it back on the floor.

“Ok then, Spike!” Twilight turned her head to Spike. “I need you to bring the mattress we use for guests.”

“Got it, Twilight.” Spike stood up and ran down to the first floor, heading into one of the rooms.

“Extra mattress? Oh it must be…” Lauren remembered. It had to be the bed Rarity and Applejack used back then at Twilight’s first slumber party.

“Here it is!” Shouted Spike with a loud voice, while pulling out a mattress from the room. “Uh, a little help?”

“Of course, sorry, Spike,” Twilight chuckled. Her horn began to glow as she hovered the mattress close to her own bed, placing it carefully on the floor.

Spike went back upstairs with a pillow and blanket. With her magic, Twilight placed them above the mattress.

“You can sleep here for the time being,” Twilight said, looking at Lauren who only nodded with a smile. “It’s already very late, so let’s go to sleep. This morning, I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

“Sounds lovely,” Lauren replied, with a grin. She knew which friends Twilight was referring to. She walked towards her bed.

Spike yawned. He climbed up to his bed and covered himself with his blanket. Twilight did the same, as she cast a spell to turn the lights off. Lauren lay down on her bed as well, trying to get a comfortable position with her new pony body. Oddly enough, she found herself at a very awkward position. She kept moving from side to side, trying to get a more comfortable position.

“Good night, girls,” Spike said with a great yawn.

“Night, Spike…” added Twilight. “And good night, Lauren.”

“Good night,” Lauren finally added, before closing her eyes.

The storm was now a soft drizzle. It was most likely to stop soon, maybe early in the morning.

I don’t know what’s going on. Her thoughts couldn’t let her sleep. How can I be inside this world? How did it happen? One hour had passed since Twilight, Spike and herself went to bed. Is this a dream? Or an illusion? The soft rain was starting to fade away. How… how am I supposed to go back to my world? So tired, I guess I’ll sleep for now...

*****

The rain had stopped. Early in the morning, some pegasi from the Weather Ponies moved the clouds out from Ponyville. Celestia, as usual, raised the sun above Equestria. The giant puddles of water that had formed on the streets of Ponyville were slowly drying, as well as the muddy land at Sweet Apple Acres. Some ponies finally got out of their homes. They had to run their daily labors after all. Some others were checking their houses for any damage the storm could have caused.

Ugh, my head. Is it, morning already? Lauren muttered, opening her eyes and closing them instantly. Too… early, I’m still tired, she mumbled, moving around her bed.

“Lauren?” Twilight whispered.

What the? Lauren opened her eyes and stood up. She shook her head, looking around until she saw Twilight, sitting next to her.

“Good morning! How did you sleep?” Twilight asked with her usual smile.

“Uh, good, thanks,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. It was a shame. She was convinced it was all a bad dream and she would wake up at her office, or anywhere else, back at her world.

“I’m glad you slept well,” Twilight said to the half-asleep alicorn. “Come downstairs, Spike made us breakfast before he left,” she added, standing up and trotting downstairs. She was happy and full of energy as usual. “Oh, and if you need to brush your mane, feel free to use my brush. It’s right there on my makeup table.” She pointing a hoof towards the makeup table, near her bed. She lowered her hoof and began walking into the kitchen.

Lauren stood up, yawning, and stretching her arms. She finally got up from bed and walked towards Twilight’s makeup table. There was a mirror above it. She realized this was the first time she was going to see herself as a pony. She took a deep breath and walked in front of the mirror.

She stared at her new self for several seconds, examining each part of her body. The color of her eyes was different, instead of her brown color, they were now a light blue. Her red hair turned into a messy, straight mane, it needed a brush. She also checked her horn, it was like Twilight’s. And finally but not least, her faint cream-colored coat. She had enough looking at her face. She tried to grab the brush on the table, with her hooves.

Alright, I can do this. She tried grabbing the brush with her hooves, but she dropped it almost immediately. Darn, this is harder than it looks. She tried to pick up the brush from the floor, but she wasn’t sure how to grab it.

Twilight came back from the kitchen, hovering two plates with daisy sandwiches using her magic. She walked upstairs and noticed Lauren was having trouble with the brush. “Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, placing the plates with the sandwiches on the floor.

“Um, I-I’m not sure how to grab this,” Lauren mumbled, lowering her head.

“Oh, I forgot, you don’t remember how to use your magic. Here let me help you.” Twilight enveloped the brush with her magic, and gently began to brush Lauren’s mane. “Meanwhile, have some daisy sandwiches, please.” One of the plates was enveloped with magic as well, hovering near to Lauren.

“Oh my, I’m not sure if I will like it,” she mumbled, with a very shy voice. She was a guest in Twilight’s house. She couldn’t be picky about the food, but daisies? The sandwiches of her world had cheese, ham and maybe other stuff, but not daisies.

“Just try it. Spike makes really good daisy sandwiches,” Twilight commented as she kept brushing the alicorn’s mane. “If you don’t like them, I could make you something else.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll trust you,” Lauren responded, while raising the sandwich with her hooves, making sure it wouldn’t fall. She stared at the two slices of bread with daisy flowers between them. She opened her mouth and gave it a tiny nibble.

The sandwich wasn't as bad as she thought. The daisies had a slight, honey-like flavor. They were a bit dry and sweet. She could relate the flavor to an egg salad sandwich, somehow.

“Well, what do you think?” Twilight asked her, staring at her face for the slightest reaction.

Oh my, this is… “Delicious!” Lauren exclaimed and took a bigger bite to the sandwich this time.

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. “I’m glad you like them! I told you Spike makes very good sandwiches. Even if he doesn't like them as much as ponies do.” She smiled at her, focusing back on the alicorn's mane.

Maybe, they don’t taste as bad as I thought. Or maybe, it’s because I’m a pony now. Oh well. She gave another bite to the daisy sandwich. She hadn’t eaten anything since she woke up as a pony. She didn’t even get to drink from the tea she spilled last night.

Lauren finished her sandwich as soon as Twilight was finished brushing her mane. The unicorn placed the brush back on the table.

“It was delicious! Thanks, Twilight!” She smiled, as she checked her brushed mane at the mirror. It certainly looked better than before when it was all messy.

“You’re welcome.” Twilight returned the smile. “Oh right, I almost forgot. I told you I wanted to introduce you my friends.”

Lauren remembered what Twilight said last night. She wanted her to meet the other main characters. Why not? I guess it will be fun.

“But…” Twilight stared at her. “If you go out like this, you would cause an uproar.”

Uproar? Oh that’s right. “Because I’m an alicorn, right?” Lauren asked, looking at the wings on her back.

Twilight only nodded. “I mean, it’s not bad, really, in fact, it’s wonderful,” she added, “but if everypony sees an alicorn other than the Princesses, they will surely start to inquire and gossip about it.”

Lauren understood, she remembered what happened with Zecora. The entire town thought she was an evil enchantress because they judged the book by its cover.

“We will have to hide either your horn or your wings, I’m afraid,” Twilight sighed, finally taking one bite on her daisy sandwich. She quickly placed it back on the plate.

“Don’t worry. It would be easier to hide my wings. I’d only have to wear some dress or something. Way more comfortable than wearing a weird hat to hide my horn,” Lauren commented with a small chuckle.

“Alright, I’ll see what can I get you. Wait right here,” Twilight replied as she went downstairs, trotting across the main library floor. Finally, she opened a door and went inside a room.

Lauren was sitting there. She took a chance to gaze upon Twilight’s library once again. She could recognize most of the library thanks to the scenes in the show. Well, she has a kitchen that I’ve never seen in the show, along with some other rooms. I guess this place has some off-camera places as well. She was getting bored of waiting.

Suddenly, her stomach growled, indicating she wasn’t satisfied with just one daisy sandwich. Oh, I really liked that sandwich. I wish I could have another one. She stared at Twilight’s sandwich, right in front of her. It only had one bite at the corner. It looked delicious anyways. No no no! That’s Twilight’s sandwich. It would be impolite to eat it. She thought to herself, but she was hungry. She was craving for some more daisy sandwiches made by Spike.

Ow alright, just a tiny nibble. Lauren stared at the room where Twilight went in and then grabbed the sandwich with her hooves. It wasn’t so hard to hold as before. She was getting how to hold stuff with hooves. I mean, after all I created the daisy sandwiches... sort of. She gave the sandwich the tiniest nibble possible, and she placed it back on the plate. Ah, that was delicious. She wanted more. She grabbed the sandwich again, with only one hoof, and gave it a bigger bite. She hummed with pleasure, placing the sandwich back on the plate.

*****

Too pink, too black, too long, too short. Twilight was checking every dress she had. Their designs were no match for any of Rarity’s dresses, but still, any dress would work. “Aha, here it is!” she exclaimed, pulling out a simple yellow dress with a pink ribbon on it. It was the same, simple dress Twilight used at her birthday party at Canterlot.

Twilight took the dress and left the room. “Hey Lauren, I think I found a good dress for-” She stopped talking as she saw Lauren with the daisy sandwich in her mouth. “Are you… eating my daisy sandwich?” Twilight asked, with a smile on her face.

Lauren rapidly put down the sandwich back on its plate. “Oh, I'm sorry Twilight, I-”

Twilight began to laugh. “Oh, Lauren! If you were still hungry, you should have told me! There are plenty more of daisy sandwiches in the kitchen!”

“Really?” She stood up and noticed the dress Twilight was carrying. “Oh is that your…” She glared at the simple yellow dress. She recognized it right away.

“Do you like it? My friend Rarity made it for me at my birthday.” She dragged the dress with her magic, hovering closer to Lauren so she could have a better look.

“Yes, it’s pretty, and so… simple!” she exclaimed while looking at the dress. And to think that I thought that dress was plain and dull. It looks cuter now. Nevertheless, that dress would surely hide her wings.

“Plus, thanks to an important unicorn named Fancypants, this dress is a hit in Canterlot. You’ll hide those wings while being in style!” Twilight chuckled along with Lauren.

“Well, thanks, Twilight, I really appreciate this. Let me try the dress!” Lauren requested, receiving a nod from Twilight, who handed her the dress. She wasn’t sure how to put it on. She never wore any pony clothes before.

“Wait, wait, you’re doing it wrong,” Twilight said, looking at the alicorn who was sticking a hoof through the neck hole. “Just slide your hooves from the bottom of the dress, stick them into the sleeves and just pull yourself all the way in, until you can stick your head out of the dress through the neck hole,” she instructed the clumsy alicorn.

Lauren did as instructed. She slid her hooves through the dress sleeves and pulled herself in. Meanwhile, Twilight was holding the dress, so Lauren could pull herself in. Finally, she adjusted the dress and Twilight helped her to pull her tail through the hole the dress had. With her magic, she pulled her tail, lock by lock, until the whole tail was perfectly stuck outside.

“It really suits you!” Twilight gazed at Lauren from all the angles she could, bouncing a little.

Wow, these pony clothes sure are comfortable. She wasn’t wrong. The dress was comfortable, at least for a pony. “It looks great! Thanks again, Twilight.” She began trotting in circles, trying to get used to the dress.

“I’m glad you like it, and it hides your wings perfectly.” Twilight pointed a hoof at Lauren's back. She looked like an ordinary unicorn with a dress. It was good enough to go out. “Well, are you ready to come out with me? I can’t wait for you to meet my friends!” she squealed.

“Yes, okay. But before we go…” Lauren turned her head towards the kitchen.

“Take as many as you want,” Twilight laughed while Lauren dashed to the kitchen.

Oh, so this is the kitchen, it looks nice. Twilight sure has a good taste. Oh, there they are! She noticed the plate with daisy sandwiches on a table. There were more than five, but she couldn’t carry that much. She took one sandwich with one hoof, and grabbed another with her mouth.

“Come on, are you ready?” Twilight asked her hungry friend.

The alicorn finished munching the sandwich she had in her mouth. She swallowed it and walked towards Twilight. “Certainly, let’s go.”

“Very well then.” Twilight opened the door with her magic. Both ponies stepped out of the library.

*****

“Um, excuse me, sir. How much does this cherry cost?” A timid, female voice squeaked.

“Ah, for you, my friend, only 1 bit,” somepony answered.

“Okay, I-I’ll take it,” The pegasus replied and opened her left saddlebag with her wing, withdrawing a coin from it. She gave the it to the big, gray Earth Pony who was standing behind a stall.

“Here, it’s all yours! Have a good day, lady.” The pegasus accepted the cherry with her wing and placed it her right saddlebag.

“T-thank you very much,” Fluttershy muttered with a smile, as she trotted slowly towards to Twilight’s library.

*****

Lauren couldn’t believe it. She was really in Ponyville. The houses, trees, streets. Everything was so familiar for her. She even noticed the ponies who were passing by. She couldn’t recognize some of them. She thought they were background ponies randomly animated.

But as she kept looking around, she could notice Lyra and Colgate talking near a tree. Caramel and Doctor Whooves were fixing a hole on a house roof, probably due last night’s storm. Well, at least she named them like that because those were their popular, non-official names.

“Uh, she said she would be here around this time,” Twilight commented, turning her head at all directions, looking for somepony.

“Who?” Lauren asked, biting on the sandwich she had on her hoof.

“Oh, there she is.” Twilight pointed out. A yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane was walking towards them.

Naturally, Lauren immediatly recognized who she was. Whoa, it's Fluttershy.

“Oh, Twilight, I-I’m so sorry for making you wait, you see I had to-” The pegasus stopped talking when she noticed the unicorn who was standing next to Twilight, holding a daisy sandwich with her hoof.

“Don't worry, Fluttershy, it's okay. Listen, this is my friend Lauren.” Twilight pointed her hoof at Lauren. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?” She turned her head, asking the ‘unicorn’.

“Hi, I’m Lauren. It’s so nice to meet you!” She smiled. “What’s your name?”

Fluttershy gently began to stroke her hoof to the ground. She lowered her head a little. “My… my name is, Fluttershy,” she whispered, with a very faint voice.

Next Chapter: Friends Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 47 Minutes
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