Black and Mechanical

by Ashley Hale

Chapter 3

Twilight emerges from the portal head first. She crashes on solid concrete with such force that her face becomes slightly scraped. Recovering, she finds drops of a red liquid on her hand. She looks at the red liquid, but she can't identify it yet. She has seen and researched this liquid in pony anatomy. Blood? Unicorn blood is not red like a human or an earth pony. It has more of a dark magenta tint. She can't believe that her blood changed color. She then examines her hand with the blood smear.

"Wait a minute! What is this?! What happened to my hooves?" Twilight was astonished at her new appearance, but she couldn't truly look at herself. What she needed was a mirror or a glass pan that can reflect enough light for Twilight to see her new body. She noticed her voice remained the same from Equestria. She sees a welcome sign; she approaches the sign that reads: 'Welcome to Stoneville.'

"Stoneville?" asked a perplexed Twilight. "I must be in the other world!" she finally squealed with excitement. She ran with excitement, but as soon as she began that, she fell with a thump on sidewalk concrete. She examined her legs and realized they were more slender than before. She got on all fours and felt comfortable with that. She began to move towards the town ahead. Her motion mimicked that of an ape on all fours rather than a pony. As she entered town, there were people who watched her simian-like movement with mixed expressions. Some laughed in secret while others questioned why she was moving like that. Twilight examines the buildings and the streets that encompass the town with wonder. She observed the cars while still walking like an ape. She finally reaches a low-lying glass being carried by two men. The men look at Twilight, confused as of why she's posed as a monkey rather than a human.

"Hey little girl," said the first man. "Why do you walk like that in public?"

"I feel comfortable doing so although my front hooves, back hooves, and pretty much everything's sore," she responded with glee.

"If you continue walking like that, not only will your clothes get dirty, but you're whole body will be in pain," the second man said.

"Clothes?" she asked. "Ponies don't wear clothes... well most of the time."

"You're not a pony, you're a human. What is your name little girl?" the first guard asked.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am a unicorn," she responded.

"Right, and I am a pegasus," said the first man in sarcasm.

"Actually, you don't even look remotely close to a pegasus," she said in a cocky tone.

"And you don't look anything like a unicorn," responded the second man. "Take a look."

The two men lower the piece of glass. Twilight, still on all fours, inches ever closer to the glass almost touching it. Finally, she takes a very close at herself, astonished at what she had become: a human... fully clothed. Her skin was a caucasian white just like the two men. She looked at her hair and eyes. They were the exact same colors from before. Her eyes looked human, but it still has her eye color. Her hair is simply her mane with the same colors. Twilight then looked at her body. She was surprised to see herself clothed from neck to feet. She observes the light violet collar accompanied by a purple tie that has her cutie mark. Covering her light violet buttoned shirt is a pale white colored sleeveless vest fully buttoned as well. Protruding from the vest is the violet long sleeves from her shirt.

"What is this?" she asked in surprise. "Why am I this... this thing?"

"You mean human?" answered the second man.

She looked down her legs. They are covered with a very dark violet capri pants extending just beyond her knees. Next, she examined her feet. Each foot was in a ballet flat shoe with the same color as her pants. A long white sock came with each shoe that extended up past her ankles. Each sock had three, thin, magenta stripes. She returned to her face. Then, she noticed something hanging from her ear. Dangling from her ears are small, almost unnoticeable earrings that strongly resemble her cutie mark.

"I'm human?" She asked once more.

"You mean you've never seen one in your life even though you are one?" answered the first.

"I... I need some time alone," she said in a panic stricken voice. She ran from the two men, still trying to mimic a pony.

"Oh yeah! You have scars on your face!" reminded the first man.

"Duh! I saw myself on the mirror just fine!" she responded.

She ran and ran until she lost sight of the two men. Now on residential streets, she catches her breath. She tries to comprehend the situation that she is no longer a pony. She picks herself up until she stands like a human. Wobbling a bit, she lunges one of her hands forward. The hand emits a light purple magical aura, and all of a sudden, she levitates herself. Using the sudden surge of magic, the human Twilight balances herself on her two feet. Still unstable, she begins to walk like a human at last.

"Sweet! I still have my magic!" exclaimed an excited Twilight. She finally examines her head. "Hey, where's my horn." She scrambles her hair to find her familiar horn, but to no avail. Realized, that her horn is gone, she calmly resumes her balancing position.

She takes very small steps at first with her arms extended to balance herself. For mobility, Twilight always used her four legs to move. Never has she used only two to get around. Walking like this is a whole new experience for her. She takes slightly bigger and bigger steps, each step becoming more balanced. She begins to pick up the pace, walking a little faster until she was jogging. Her arms moved naturally to the jogging. Twilight noticed this, and started to smile. She was caught up in the moment of moving like a human. Just then, focus came back to Twilight.

"Wait! I'm here to follow that mystery man!" she reminded herself.

As she refocused on her mission, she stumbled into a child. The two thumped onto the pavement with the child first then Twilight. She got herself back up quickly and looked at the child who was getting back up. His skin is the same color as Twilight's: caucasian white, but something was different about this kid's skin. In Twilight's view, his skin looked more artificial than what she observed from other humans. She gazed on his hair. It was pointy and dark blue. Each point drooped down a bit. The right side was thicker and longer than the left, completely covering the right ear. She was fixed on his eyes. His left eye was completely covered by an eye patch, so she focused on the right. The iris was a crimson red. She didn't see any eye color like that from any human or pony. Twilight towered over the kid in terms of height. The kid began to speak.

"You, who bumped into me. Identify yourself," spoke the kid in an emotionless voice.

"Me? I don't have time to identify myself. I have to follow something," she replied.

Twilight looked at the kid's clothing. Unlike the other residents, this one dressed heavily. Each hand was covered with a dark gray glove. Hovering over the gloves was a light gray oversized coat with an oversized hood that drooped behind the kid. Beneath that was a light brown suit all buttoned up. She looked at his shoes. It was black, just like everyone else. Finally, she glanced at his pants: gray cargo with the coat going down to his ankles. She examined his height. He was shorter than her. If one compared their heights side by side, the kid would measure up to Twilight's neck.

"No. I don't have to identify you. You are the stranger from the anomaly. The second one at that," he said.

"Wait, you know?" she asked.

"The first figure ran past. I know every resident in my memory. The two of you are foreign. Now identify yourself, or I'll do it first," he went on.

"Okay..." she said in an awkward tone. "What is your name little one?"

"You may call me Vender Kiddman. I await your name," he said in an autonomous tone.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'm Twilight Sparkle-"

"Hold it," Vender interrupted. "You are Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn from the animated show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'?'" his tone raised a bit.

"How did you know?! We've barely met, and you know me by name?" Twilight asked in absolute astonishment.

"Inconceivable. A fictional character created by human imagination cannot walk among the realistic world. It is simply inconceivable," he assured himself.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here!" she replied.

"Still inconceivable. Twilight Sparkle is simply an idea thought up by humans. Every character in every episode in every series performs the exact same functions over and over because the human developers write it down on script," he argued.

"My actions on script?!" Twilight said in an alarming tone.

"I know every episode by far. In each episode, Twilight Sparkle does the exact same things over and over," he continued.

A purple aura eminated from her hands. Vender takes note of that and lifts his eyepatch. An orange glow emits from his left eye before turning into holographic rays. The rays zipped and swirled through Twilight's hands, scanning every last ounce of magic. He scanned her hair, her earings, and finally her eyes. Twilight held her hand back, and the magic aura dissipated. She stepped back with caution. The orange rays vanished, but the glow remained. He returned the eyepatch over his left eye.
The boy gave a grim look.

"But how? This magic is the same she used from the show. This defies everything. This person is really Twilight Sparkle," he spoke with an ominous voice.

"Yeah... you're right for once," she scolded.

"How can this happen? I am speaking to a figment of human imagination. How can this Twilight Sparkle defy her functions and manifest herself in the world of reality?" Vender placed his right hand on his forhead, slowly driving himself mad. Finally, fed up with the boy, Twilight zoomed past him.

"Listen kid, there are simply things that just cannot be explained, and you just have to accept it as it is! Take my word for it!" She shouted as she distanced herself ever farther from the boy. As she dissappeared onto another street, the boy stares on with a worried but blank face.

"Something big is about to unfold. A Twilight Sparkle is evident enough. Besides strange things like this seem to happen at a frequent pace in Stoneville," he said as we slowly walked in Twilight's path. "I have her in my memories. I can now know where she is as long as she remains in Stoneville perimeters."

__________

There was a knock on the door. Down came a boy with brown bedside hair in a light green polo with light brown khakis. Like Vender, his shoes are black. He runs down the stairs with anticipation, stumbling along the way.

"Woah!" he shouted as he almost fell. "Goddamn stairs, I almost tripped there!"

He reached the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door. There, a girl stood with an impatient face, her arms crossed.

"You better make this quick Dave," she said in a stern voice.

"Filly Cecilia... It will take an hour," David responded.

"Meh. I have time then," she said as she went upstairs.

Cecilia headed upstairs with David following close behind. She sports a red t-shirt with blue shorts. Like everyone, she has black shoes. Her hair is a long messy black. On each hand is a fingerless glove that goes to the base of each finger. David hastened her up the stairs.

"Don't wanna rush the initiation into bronyhood now would ya," he said in an impatient voice.

"I thought those were for 10 year old girls," she replied in reluctance.

"What?!" shouted David in shock. "You... YOU do not diss My Little Pony! Do you hear me?!" he raged on. "Men of all ages love this show from uh... 10 to 50-ish!"

"Stop say '50-ish'! You sound like a pre-schooler saying that," said Cecilia.

"You're overeacting again David," spoke a boy in a muffled yet audible voice.

This boy emerged from a room upstairs to the approaching pair. This boy wore a red coat with dark gray pants and gloves to match. His face was unidentifiable from the red hankerchief covering his mouth and the beige bandana concealing his head. Only his eyes are revealed. Orange hair protrudes from the bandana, almost seared.

"There are girl bronies; we call them Pegasisters, Dave," he continued.

"Mark, is the initiation thingy ready?" Asked David.

"It's been like that since 2 minutes from now. I just need to finalize 'The Last Roundup.' Both versions," answered Mark. "I will need 2 minutes," he said in an inaudible murmur that David and Cecilia can clearly understand as he returned to David's bedroom. Mark shuts the door as David and Cecilia lean at both sides of the door. As the two minutes lapse, David becomes increasingly impatient, each second with three taps of his right toe.

"Why are you impatient?" asked Cecilia.

"We need more to join the fandom... Ugh... and we need all the help we can get!" he shouted. "She can't die!" He went on.

"Who's dying? I thought it was a cartoon for girls and 30 year old men; no character can die," she answered.

The door flew open. Mark bursts out with excitement. David was ready to run to his room.

"It's ready. Let the initiation begin," said Mark said in excitement.

"Finally!" exclaimed David. He ran first, shoving Mark aside. Mark simply shrugged and followed. Cecilia was the last to enter. Now inside the room, Mark slowly closed the door. David dimmed the lights. Both put on a white hood covering their eyes. David took out his i-pod touch and began scrolling down his list of songs until he came across the one desired. He attached the i-pod to a set a speakers; out came the sound of ritualistic chanting.

"You have that kind of music?" Cecilia inquired in suspicion.

"Brony David," said Mark in a deep murmur. "Will you present the Filly Cecilia with 'The Last Roundup?' The time has come," he continued with a muffle.

David, with the white hood covering his eyes, lifts his head in an attempt to view the screen.

"It's so goddamn hard to see with the hood covering my eyes!" shouted an irritated David trying to find the right places to click. He finally manages to position his head just right so that the hood stays on and he can fully see the screen. He clicks on the two minimized windows which showed YouTube videos of 'The Last Roundup.' Only one scene showed, the one where Derpy Hooves spoke. David played the original scene fisrt before playing the second. Mark observed Cecilia's reactions to each scene. As the last scene finished, Mark returned the room to its usual brightness. David muted his i-pod.

"So now what?" asked Cecilia.

"Who is the gray pegasus?" demanded David.

"Derpy," she responded.

"What scene do you prefer?" inquired Mark.

"The first one... I guess," she answered in uncertainty. "Wait a minute. Is this the pony you mentioned earlier?" she continued in realization as she eyed David.

"Hell yes! Hasbro plans to remove her indefinitely!" shouted David in frustration.

"They altered the scene because they found her eyes and her voice to be offensive as they think those relate to all mentally retarded people everywhere," Mark explained in a muffle.

"It sucks balls! Cecilia, do you like Derpy the way she is?" asked David anticipating on a yes.

"That change will not only affect that one scene, but the rest of the Friendship is Magic Lifespan. A true brony or pegasister would want to keep Derpy alive. The choice is yours," continued Mark also hoping for a yes. Cecilia pondered for a good minute. As that minute became used up, she raised her head with a determined answer.

"Yes," she answered in a monotone.

David and Mark looked at each other, now secretly coordinating on a decision. They both got the answer they wanted. Cecilia waited with their decision. The two stood up and faced Cecilia, and with a unified voice, they spoke.

"Welcome to the herd," they concluded.

"Wait, that's it? That's the initiation?" she asked.

"Yep," David responded.

"Derpy is just as important as the Mane 6 ponies. Liking Derpy is what true Bronies and Pegasisters do," Mark added on. Mark opened the door and led Cecilia out. David followed and shut the door. The boys took the white hoods, unveiling their faces.

"Finally, I can see!" shouted an energetic David as he hurled his hood down the stairs. Cecilia began walking downstairs.

"Well, that was some initiation into bronyhood," Cecilia said as she walked out the door. Mark tapped her shoulder to stop her.

"Now that you are Pegasister Cecilia, you must do your part and support the fandom," Mark informed in an inaudible voice. "Do not be those superficial bronies that are just there for the heck of being there," he warned.

"Yeah, yeah. I will," she answered.

"Promise?" David added.

"Yeah already!" she said impatiently.

"Pinkie Promise? Every brony and pegasister knows it!" commanded David.

"Um... how did this go again," she said while trying to recollect that phrase. Already suspicious that she does not know the pinkie promise, David started to groan. Frustrated, he let out a mild shout while clinching his teeth. He was just about ready to revoke her membership into bronyhood. Cecilia had to think fast. Luckily in the background, Mark simply made gestures of the promise, hinting each movement to Cecilia. She took notice of this and started to mimic Mark. Slowly but surely, she began to remember the phrase.

"Cross my heart..." she stumbled a bit. David eased up a bit and darted towards her, still suspicious that she wouldn't remember the remainder of the promise.

"And hope to fly..." she still had to struggle as she was halfway done. David inched ever closer to her, but Mark pulled him back. Secretly, he proceeded with the rest, making sure that Cecilia gets every bit of movement.

"And stick this cupcake in my eye!" she finished. David simply crossed his arms and nodded with approval with his eyes closed. Mark sighs, thankful that she remembers the phrase they gave her two days ago on a piece of tissue paper.

"Can I leave now. It's been like 20 minutes," she said as she walked backwards, distancing herself from the two boys. She gave them a hasty wave before running to another place. David and Mark eye each other.

"Was she really oh I dunno... 'in it?' Because it sounded to me that she wasn't," David speculated.

"She's just starting to expose herself to the world of the brony," Mark replied. He too walked away from David. "Well, I gotta go. It's getting late, and my dad doesn't want me gone for too long," he said in a parting voice.

"We should try this again with someone else!" David shouted at the distant Mark. Mark only responded with a wave of farewell. David closed the door. He looked down on the floor, doubtful that Cecilia won't keep her promise to immerse herself into bronyhood and save Derpy. He goes back upstais to his room, a little suspicious of her.