A small bell jingled as a pony with a stetson came in with a smile on his bearded face. "Doctor? Ya here?" He spied a round bell with a plunger on the counter and trotted up to it before pressing it with a hoof. It dinged plaintively.

"Pardon, one moment," came the accent that marked the bearer as not a resident of the town.

The stallion sat on his haunches and looked around, taking in the curious gizmos and gadgets that littered the place in no easily discerned order or pattern. He reached for a thing that looked like an immense spring and it rolled off his hoof almost immediately, slinking to the floor where it began to propel itself in awkward strides across the room.

"Good afternoon." Time Tuner stepped into view with a somewhat nervous smile. "Sorry for making you wait. Are you here for your watch?"

The pony nodded as he tipped his hat slightly as if to ward away the sun that couldn't have been in his eyes. "Sure thing, partner. Is she ready?"

Time Turner drew out the time piece from a pocket and set it down on the counter between them. "It just needed a tuning and some love, mostly. Should be as good as new!"

The cowboy of a pony smiled with building joy as he cantered up and sat closer to the counter. He took the watch in one hoof and slipped his other hoof through the band, pulling the elastic cord up along his foreleg until the watch was comfortably where he could see it. "Yer good at this. I plum reckoned ya were being optimistic when ya said t' come back s'fast."

The doctor dipped his head. "It's the least I can do for our local law enforcer."

"Now don't give me none of that." The pony rose to his hooves. "I'll pay for what I get, and I ain't taking no refusals. How much do I owe?"

They exchanged bits and the sheriff nodded. "A pleasure, now, if you don't mind my askin', why's a smart pony like you hangin' round here? Not that we don't appreciate it, but with yer... talents--" he waved around the shop randomly. "--I'm sure you could be in Manehatten or some other place."

Time Turner put a hoof behind his head. "You're being far too kind. I was just wanting a nice, quiet, place to do my thing, and Appaloosa seems to be just the thing.

"Just what the doctor ordered?" asked the sheriff with a jovial glint in his eyes. "Will you be at the hoedown later?"

Turner took a faint step back. "O-oh, I'm not sure I'm up to that just yet. Maybe... next one?"

"Suit yerself." He turned and trotted out the door, a satisfied customer.

Turner settled to his haunches a moment before sighing and turning back to head into the rear of his store. It was larger than it seemed outside, with a generous room to hold his larger creations and allow him to tinker in peace. He took a slow breath, as he reached out a hoof. He imagined grasping his favorite screwdriver and felt the ripple of change flow through his body.

It was a giddy little sensation. Little prickles teased at him, stronger where he normally had no feelings at all. His hooves gave way to sensitive fingers and he grabbed his screwdriver as he stood up on hips that were meant to hold him that way. A soft breeze reminded him that he no longer had his warm coat of fur, so he grabbed a lab coat off a nearby rack to help combat that.

With confident bipedal steps, the then human Time Turner turned his smaller eyes to a clipboard he had left hanging on a hook. "Now let's see, where did I leave off?" He grabbed a scarf as he read. "Ah, yes. How could I forget." He turned towards his current experiment with a smile. "I'm so close to making this work."

"Muffins!" came a loud authoritative voice.

Derpy jumped at her nickname being called so firmly. "Y-yes?" She looked to the source to see the head post-master glaring at her. "Something wrong, um, ma'am?"

The postmaster, or was that mistress? She tapped one hoof on the other. "You've been distracted, even more than usual, lately. What's wrong?"

Derpy colored a deep red, thinking of what was bothering her. "Nothing," she lied poorly, squirming in her seat.

"Derpy, you know you're with friends around here, right?" Derpy's boss patted her on the shoulder. "When you want to talk, let us know. We need to be focused to do our jobs, and I can't have one of my veterans staring out into space."

Derpy smiled at the kind words. "I'll focus, promise. Sorry for the trouble, ma'am."

"And stop calling me that." She swatted at Derpy. "Like we haven't known each other for years." She gestured at a customer entering the store. "Here's a chance to shine."

Derpy gave a big grin at the customer, her eyes shining as they gazed in uneven directions. That was alright, she had her favorite eye that she mostly focused on. "Welcome to Ponyville Mail! How can I help you today?"

It was Bon Bon with some large shades on her snout. "Derpy, we need to talk."

Derpy's grin widened forcefully. "There are so many things we could talk about! What sort of package would you like to send today, or perhaps you're picking up?"

Bon Bon put a hoof to her face, knocking her glasses off-balance. "That thing you saw." She leaned in. "Two legs, naked, not scaled?"

Derpy rubbed her forehooves together softly. "That doesn't match any package we have right now, miss--"

Bon Bon popped a hoof into Derpy's mouth. "I'm not here to mail anything!"

Derpy leaned back enough to free her mouth. "Then I can't assist you, miss. This is a post office." She brought up a hoof in a slow arc. "We'll make all your mailing dreams come true!"

Bon Bon huffed a heavy sigh. "We'll talk after your shift, alright?" She turned away and stormed off with a purposeful trot.

The post-mistress leaned back into view from behind the wall she was hidden behind. "Huh, can't be a winner every time, but you did your part. Keep it up." She patted Derpy on the shoulder. "Seriously, ponies don't know to leave working ponies alone sometimes. Don't mind her."

Turner ran a sleeve over his sweaty brow. "There we are..." He patted the metal chassis of the deactivated device, its strange innards seeming dead to the untrained eyes, but he knew better. "I can't wait to try you out." He pulled off his scarf and set it on a desk, then off came his coat.

He was naked, naked in a way no pony could ever be. That was alright. He fell to all fours as joints popped and fur sprouted in thicker. Becoming a pony was a thrill, just as becoming a human was, but it was different. His vision distorted as he gained a wider field of view and new scents reached him. He felt more stable as he went to four hooves instead of two legs. He was a pony.

He grabbed his scarf in his mouth and flipped it up and back, letting it coil back around his neck. He didn't need the scarf, not as a pony, but he rather liked it. As he turned for the exit, his eyes swept over a picture he had hanging beside a mirror. In it, a wall eyed mare smiled brightly at him. He paused and raised a hoof to it, resting it on the picture. "My little Muffin..." He sighed as he walked past it, shaking his head. It couldn't work out. There was too much in the way. It was too complicated.

"To say nothing of the danger." He cringed at his inner-monologue turned outward for a moment. With a full-body shake, he approached the door of his shop. The sun was dipping dangerously low, but the town was not dark. The dance that was promised before was occupying the center of town. He could hear them.

The rhythmic clopping of their hooves as they moved together. The cheers and calls of excited ponies.

They were all distracting enough that he almost ran into a stallion. Turner mumbled an apology, trying to divert out of the way.

"'Ey there, pardner!" spoke Braeburn in a cheerful tone. "Where ya headed with such a long face? The hoedown's that way." He pointed towards the activity. "C'mon. If we don't get in there, we'll both miss out on gettin' a dance with a right-pretty mare."

Despite Turner's attempts to demure, Braeburn threw a leg over him and had him turned around towards the activity. "Ah ain't taking no for an answer. That ain't how we welcome newcomers to Appleloosa!"

Turner smiled nervously at the aggressively friendly pony that was escorting him towards the dancing. He didn't want any dance with a 'right-pretty' mare. There was only one that had a scrap of his attention, and he had already left that one behind. Still... "I'll at least see what it's about."

"That's the spirit." Braeburn slapped Turner on the side. His eyes caught that of a mare's. "I gotta go. Have fun." And he trotted over to his new dancing partner.

Turner glanced around and spotted a refreshment table. So as to not look rude immediately scurrying away, he made his way over to it and got himself a glass of juice. It was apple juice. Turner smiled at himself for being even slightly surprised. It was an Apple town, much like Ponyville had started as. He wondered a moment just how much of Equestria was filled with Apples. How close were they to Celestia?

He began chuckling softly to himself as visions of apple farmers somehow launching a sudden coup, taking over the nation and making apples the national fruit.

"Yer lookin' awful amused," came a mare's voice as she sat down beside Time Turner. "What's the joke?"

Turner jumped in surprise, looking over the mare in her little cowboy hat. More ponies had them than didn't in that town. "Oh, hello miss! You caught me by surprise."

She giggled softly. "They say ah'm right good at that." She waved a hoof over the crowd of dancing ponies. "Are ya shy? Why aren't you dancin'?"

Turner hiked a brow at her. "I could ask the same question, miss?"

"Guilty." She put a hoof on her chest. "It's a guilty pleasure ah' mine to find the wallflowers and tease them out. Yer my victim for the evening." She offered a hoof. "Ah'll show ya how to move if you just follow my lead. No laughing, promise."

She offered the same hoof towards Time Turner. "Come on! It ain't a hoedown 'less you move that rump yer mother gave ya."

Turner timidly offered a hoof back before the earth-mare grabbed it and pulled him without mercy into the bright lights of the field. He was bumped and jostled between ponies as he tried to apologize to each pony he made contact with.

She began to move in pace to the music. "It's not so hard, just move when the music says to, and try not to crash into yer pardner none." She raised a hoof to his shoulder, trying to guide him along. "It's right fun once ya get the hang of it."

Turner nervously smiled in reply as he moved about one beat for every three of the song, stiffly following her. He couldn't help thinking on the mare he would rather had been with, but...

A flush sweat ran through him along with a terrible tremble. He was getting too worked up, emotional. He tried to swallow it down. It was just a dance. He just had to move with the music, like the nice mare had said.

He was a pony.

Author's Notes:

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