Parallel with Eurofurence this year,  nightwolfferris was hosting a pony play picnic in the Tiergarten, the large park in the centre of Berlin. My roommate very much wanted to attend, and I too was curious, so I went along (in fursuit, of course).

I spent about 4 hours running around the park in suit while various ponies pulled a couple of traps/sulkys around. Eventually, however, it was my turn to pull. I had previously warned Nighty that zebras aren't as cooperative as ponies when it comes to pulling carts, and so he decided to sneak up behind me and drop the harness on me while I was unaware! Although the harness went on, I wasn't going down without a fight and pulled away as best I could. Even with two people behind me pulling and one in front pushing, I powered forward and managed to break free, then did a few victory laps of the picnic.

The harness was still attached, however, so they regrouped, and as I dived through the middle of the picnic, someone ruby-tackled me, which slowed me down enough for the others to grab on. I think there were 5 this time (plus a couple more that were trying to shoo me in the right direction), but even so I didn't make it easy! I was put in a double arm-lock twice and escaped both times. Finally someone tried to get me in a headlock, and in my effort to escape from that, the eye became dislodged from my fursuit, putting an end to the struggle x.o I was pretty exhausted by that point anyway.

To prevent any further escape attempts, they carried me to the sulky and strapped me in. I am not sure if the rider knew what she was in for, but I certainly wasn't going to move just because she jiggled the reins and clicked her tongue! I stood fast, only kicking with irritation when she was handed a whip and started prodding. Eventually enough was enough and I took off... at full speed. (The cart was harder to pull than I expected so I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't go faster, but I did my best.)

Willfully ignoring all commands, I dragged her through the low hanging branches of a tree then careened around the field for a bit before deciding the hedge looked pretty appealing, and stopping to do some eating. By this time the poor rider was utterly defeated, and I was rather tired, and so ended the ride.

I suspect that they will think twice before trying to harness a zebra, and it's my hope that the event will pass into legend in the pony community ;)

Thanks again to Nighty for inviting me, and to everyone else for being a good sport about it. I had great fun, and it will certainly be the lasting memory of the trip.


Awesome artwork by linda065cliva on Deviant Art, thank you so much!