>As soon as you're out of sight from the town, you find cover behind some rocks
>Okay
>Okay
>Breathe
>Relax
>You did good
>Especially considering this is your first time out in the world
>And you know, even if you count that as a failure, you can easily have a second chance
>Upside to being a changeling, found
>Though you may want to give it some time
>Those apples must be very thoroughly inspected by now
>Heh
>Okay, that's good
>Humor helps the stress go away
>After a while of relaxing and breathing steadily, you finally manage to get control over your unruly...makeshift plow
"Okay, so that was embarrassing. Probably should do away with this disguise, far as I know, ponies communicate rapidly with each other"
>You're not sure why you're mumbling this, but here you are, doing it
>Well, who's around to hear you?
>Rattlesnakes?
>Hah
>That being said...
>Okay, yeah, you admit to being intrigued by the ponies
>They weren't just one big, homogenous group
>And...better yet, they didn't have the curse of choice
>Wait, what?
>Huh.
>That sounds bizarre, even to you
>But you thought it
>Your best guess would be...like, ponies have one natural form they stick to, and can't alter more than superficially, with clothes and make-up
>You might be going crazy, but that sounds oddly...liberating
>Or, well, maybe that's not the right wor-comfortable! That's the word.
>They have something unique, yet safe, that's theirs
>They don't have to steal their appearances
>It's not that you hate your real fo- actually, that's a bit of a peeve of yours.
>Yes, technically it is the body you came to this world with
>But that same body could become anything, right?
>Why did it bother you so much, anyway?
>You're a terrible changeling
>Though...
>There's nothing stopping you from just picking one pony form and sticking to it
>In fact...wasn't that kind of what you were gonna do in the first place?
>You may be a changeling, but you feel pretty sheepish
>Well, still, you might keep this one for the rest of your life
>So you better think damn carefully
>Ideally, you'd be able to keep your horn and wings
>And look good at the same time
>But ya can't do that in pony society, apparently
>You'd miss flight if it was gone
>But magic too
>That said, horns and wings looked...out of place on ponies
>In theory
>You'd only ever actually encountered Appleloosans, all earth ponies
>But you'd seen pictures
>Still, if worst comes to worst, you could probably be a unicorn and justify flying with magic or something
>'course, that'd net you a reputation as bit of an eccentric, and you're pretty sure unicorns aren't supposed to walk on clouds
>Right
>You close your eyes and visualize a unicorn mare template
>What coat color do you want?
>Ooh!
>White!
>It's pretty, like snow, and goes with damn near everything
>Okay, so that works
>Mane and tail?
>Hm...
>Two-tone golden?
>That...doesn't sound too bad, actually
>And eyes?
>Well, red is obviously off-limits
>Or, at the very least, not a favored option
>In fact...how about a calming blue instead?
>Yes!
>Yesyesyes!
>Eyes still closed, you will the transformation to happen as usual
>There's no mirror nearby, but you're too happy to care
"Yesyesyesye-wait wh-"
>Oh right
>Fuck, how ditzy can you get?
>Of course you'll sound different, that's the point
>You clear your throat and sing a wordless lullaby to test out the new larynx
>You...really like your new voice
>It's so...
>Gah, you can't describe it
>But it makes you all giddy-like
>Now, this time, don't forget the name - or cutie mark
>Right
>Name and cutie mark
>Shit, what talent do you want to be stuck with for the rest of your life?
>Hm...
>Oh hey
>There's nothing that says a pony can't be good at mimicking things, right?
>With another flash of green fire, your (rather cute, if you may say so yourself) flanks are now marked with the picture of a mirror
>You're not sure it's ideal, but fuck it, that'll do
>You've heard of more retarded cutie marks
>Though now that you think of them, you can't actually remember any distinctly
>Although, looking at it again, the idea of cutie marks is, in and of itself rather silly to you
>The meaning of your life magically tattooed on yer ass
>Oh well
>Okay, so, name?
>You want something pleasant, cutie mark-related and not suspicious
>Hm...ye-nah...hm...
>It probably doesn't help that you've never really had a name before
>You briefly consider "Golden Mirror", but that sounds wrong
>Although...
>Mirror May
>Hey, that actually sounds alright
>Ish
>Better than anything else you've come up with
>And shut up, it's cute
>Okay, so now you're mirror may, unicorn...oh griffon dick, you need a profession
>...Ya know what?
>You're gonna chance being an actor
>Because seriously, if you can't pull that off, then you have done something wrong
>Oh, but you could also be a model
>Or you could be a jester or something like that
>They still have those, right?
>Sigh
>Okay, so you've got some ideas, but it seems you'll do best by just improvising
>Actors should be able to, of course
>Hey, you managed pretty well in Appleloosa, right?
>Sure you did
>You start heading out of the desert