We swear before Celestia’s guiding light to stand forever loyal to those who we protect and forever vigilant against those that would desire to rob us of our prosperity.

―Excerpt of loyalty oath all nobles take when first recruited into the Royal Guard or when receiving the rank of a commissioned officer in the Equestrian Army.

I was awoken from my fitful slumber by a continuous knocking at the door of my suite. Pushing myself up from the bed with a groan, I begrudgingly made my way over to the vanity mirror that was directly opposite my bed. My reflection within could only possibly be described as ghastly. There were clear dark rings under my eyes: a side effect of the number of nights I had recently spent tossing and turning.

Moving on, I took note of my recently formed beard, my scraggly facial hair seeming unreal to me even as I ran my fingers through it, after having gone clean-shaven for my entire life. To complete the image, my brown hair stuck up at a multitude of different angles, whilst at some places the whiteness of my cranium could be seen, patches where my hair loss was particularly severe.

To compound my bedraggled appearance, my clothes, consisting of a simple t-shirt and a comfortable pair of jeans, were rumpled and unwashed. I could also detect the pungent smell of body odor, no doubt because of my neglect towards personal hygiene the last few days. The lack of replacement clothes was due to myself insisting there was no point in creating new ones, when I would be returning home soon enough.

To add to this, I was growing more and more worried about my sickness, as the days wore on. At my last meeting with Celestia about three day ago, I had mentioned it, prompting her to run a series of magical scans on me at her insistence. The result of this left me feeling so sick I had to spend the next hour crouched over the toilet in a valiant but fruitless attempt to hold down my previous meal.

Her reaction to this was not encouraging. A look of intense worry engulfed her features, and she hurriedly excused herself on some flimsy pretence about having to meet up with some noble named Prince Blueblood.

At these thoughts, the tide of sorrow and worry within me threatened to spill over, and I began to feel my eyes growing hot.

In an attempt to stave off another bout of pain and self-pity, I quickly exited the bedroom, strode over to the door and wrenched it open with more force than was entirely necessary.

Staring back at me, his hoof raised ready to begin another round of knocking, was one of the two guards that were assigned to me. I still had no idea which one he was, as every guard I had seen so far—all two of them—had somehow been given a standardized appearance. Everything about them looked exactly the same, from their snow white coats, dark blue manes and tails, to their wings that emerged through specially designed openings in their armour. Even their heights—from what I could tell—were the same, though I still towered over them in comparison. The only pony I had met that was the same height as me was Celestia herself, something that I think she saw as a bit of a novelty.

“Joshua,” he spoke in a low rumble, “your presence has been requested before Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia.”

His voice set him apart. Now I could tell that this was Shieldwing, which meant that it was Blade Storm who was standing to his left, scanning the corridor for any signs of unwanted attention.

Certainly, this summons was unusual. I had never been directly called by Celestia before. Even when she failed in finding me a way home, she’d come to my chambers, rather than making me come to her.

“Sure,” I replied, attempting to mask the uncertainty in my voice, “Can you give me a moment to get cleaned up, and make myself look respectable?”

“Unfortunately not. The request is urgent, and cannot be delayed for any reason,” he replied, his tone providing no chance for argument.

Now this was certainly odd, but I shrugged it off. Perhaps she had discovered a way to send me home after all, or at least had some news on my mysterious ailment.

As soon as the thought had entered my mind, I quickly quashed it. I didn’t want to go and get my hopes up, only to have them dashed a few moments later. I had only just begun to feel better emotionally, if not physically.

Luckily, my stomach felt as settled as it could possibly be nowadays, leaving me feeling slightly better than usual. I still felt lethargic, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been in the past, probably owing to the fact that I had only just awoken. However, things were not helped by the restless nights that had plagued me recently. In my dreams, I was constantly haunted by half-formed ghosts that cried out for their lost son.

Forcing the memory away, I gave a nod in consent gingerly stepping out of the doorway in the process. Shutting the door behind me, all my previous frustration, anger, and uncertainty left, forgotten in the face of my curiosity over what was going on. I was fairly nervous to be outside again; I hadn’t left my room since my arrival, the reason being my complete incapacitation by grief and sickness. Granted, I still wouldn’t have left due to Celestia’s desire—and my promise—to not reveal myself to the general public, until she deemed it safe for me to do so.

The trip to Celestia was even stranger, as neither of the two guards said a word. This wasn’t unusual for Blade Storm, who I didn’t think had said anything to me beyond what was necessary for my entire time in Equestria. However, this was strange for Shieldwing, who always seemed to be willing to talk about whatever came into his head at every available opportunity, even providing words of sympathy and comfort over my loss or illness whenever I needed them. His presence had been one of the few beacons of light among the rather dark times I had been going through lately.

After walking at a rather brisk pace for a couple of minutes, we eventually arrived at a rather impressive set of arched doors. They appeared to be solid gold, or at least gold plated. A crest  in their direct center showed a large blazing sun; no doubt representing who dwelled within.

Swiftly, Shieldwing and Blade Storm pulled both of the doors open with their mouths, and stood at attention on each side, waiting for me to pass through.

At this point, my curiosity was beginning to give way to nervousness over just what was going on. Thousands of possibilities were running through my mind over what exactly Celestia wanted with me. They ranged from making preparations to introduce me into the public, to even exploring other means to send me home. 

A dark part of me even whispered that perhaps she was going to get rid of me; after all, it would be easier to eliminate me entirely rather than having to waste time and money to fully integrate me into Equestrian society.

I quickly dismissed the idea, after all from what I had read—and indeed witnessed—I knew that Celestia was nothing but a kind and benevolent leader, who only wanted the best for those under her sovereignty, which now included me for better or worse. Besides, if you ruled for a thousand years, everyone must be pretty happy with your rule; and the literature on you would have a pretty clear grasp on your character.

As soon as I entered the room, I gaped in awe. Everything within,from the stained glass windows to the marble columns spoke of opulence, wealth, and grandeur.

The windows caught my attention, particularly those to my right, at least two of which depicted a group of six ponies defeating various villains. Were these the so-called Element Bearers, whom I had read about? Certainly, they caught my attention, as they only ever seemed to be mentioned if the book in question was published very recently.

It wasn’t necessarily the contents of the images that interested me, rather it was the fact that there seemed to be plain windows directly following these ones, as if Celestia was expecting for them to enact more heroics that would warrant immortality in stained glass form.

I was startled out of my detailed inspection of the hall by the sound of the doors shutting behind me. Though it was done as softly as the heavy doors could possibly allow, the noise was still thunderous in the cavernous hall, and made me practically jump out of my skin.

I caught sight of Celestia standing on a raised dais at the other end of the hall. As I made my way over to her, I was still astounded by just how godlike she actually looked. Though I hadn’t consciously known it when I first met her, it was very apparent from the books I had read that the princess was considered the Goddess of the Sun in Equestria. I could agree with this sentiment.

Whilst back on Earth I was never a religious man, I could clearly recognise the aura of divinity and power that radiated from her. Everything about her seemed to contribute to this: from the ethereal quality of her mane and tail, to the jewellery that was undoubtedly symbolized her station. Even the way that she held herself played a role in this. Moreover, there was just some indistinguishable factor about her that somehow projected her godlike character onto me, without seemly providing any distinguishable form of sensory information.

What, or rather who, caught my attention after I had spent a few moments staring captivated at Celestia—as I was prone to do, whenever I found myself in her company—was the slightly smaller alicorn standing at her side. She was Princess Luna, the prodigal sister, whom I had read about, though had never met personally, in some of the recently published material—or republished material, from volumes that were over a thousand years old—and was often mentioned in the same sentence as the Elements of Harmony.

The most recent thing I had read about her was a rather amusing interview she had given for the Equestria Daily, the premier paper in Equestria. It was titled “An Evening with the Princess” in which the interviewer seemed to ask only the most fickle of questions. The author, Hot Scoop, made quite plain her resounding support for the princess, flying in the face of public opinion. Within, she attempted to play up the readership’s sympathies for the princess, even though she had attempted a coup against her sister no more than a few years previously. 

She had her own set of royal regalia very similar in style to Celestia’s, but instead having on the gorget a crescent moon mirroring her Cutie Mark, in place of Celestia’s gem. She also seemed to project a similar air of divinity as her sister. Though hers spoke more of distance and serenity, in contrast to Celestia’s inclusive and warm aura.

Everything about her seemed to reflect her status as goddess of the night, from her midnight blue coat to her mane, which seemed to contain thousands of pinpricks of light, a perfect mirror to the night sky of which she claimed sovereignty.

Whilst Celestia appeared to wear the calming smile she always had when I was near, it appeared that Luna held a much more neutral opinion on me as her mouth was set in a hard line, and her expression betrayed little of what she was thinking.

As soon as I had reached an appropriate distance from both of them, I immediately came to a stop and bowed, not so deep as to seem feeble, but not too shallow to be rude. To perform this took an admirable feat of mental effort on my part, as the more feral part of my brain was screaming at me to run away from them as fast as I could manage. The only thing stopping me was a mixture of my own personal pride and my own opinions on the validity of monarchy as a governmental system, which I had made certain, so far, to refrain from voicing.

Celestia and I had been in much more informal situations together, but even then there was a small part of me that was uncomfortable being in such close proximity to a being so ancient, and who could undoubtedly kill me with little effort. This nagging voice in my head was quickly silenced, in every occasion, by the constant kind smile she seemed to wear.

“Joshua Ford,” Celestia spoke, her voice much more formal than I was used to, “My sister and I, in light of the events that have recently occurred, have decided to bestow on you a gift.”

At the mention of a gift, my beating heart, previously spurned on by the princesses’ tone of voice, began to relax to a more normal rate. Perhaps Celestia was trying to appease her own conscience.

“‘Tis true,” Luna spoke, her voice carrying a tone that spoke of etiquette and language from days long past, “This gift shall allow for thyself to avoid death that stalks thou even now; and will have the added benefit of allowing thyself to walk amongst our subjects unhindered by thy appearance, but instead be welcomed as a fellow.”

By this point, I was totally confused and worried. After all, Luna had just plainly stated that I was currently in danger of dying, perhaps on account of my sickness. Or, maybe they were instead planning on granting me immortality? I had read they had done that for some relative of theirs, someone the papers named Mi Amore Cadenza.  

Compounding my confusion was her statement that their gift would also allow me to walk amongst the ponies without provoking a major response. Simply put, my logical thought processes were completely unsuccessful in suggesting any possible action the sisters could take that could cause both these effects at the same time.

“We have decided that we will employ our magic’s to alter you into a pony,” Celestia spoke.

“WHAT?!” I shouted, as panic began to rise in my chest, “I don’t want to be a pony! I’m happy as I am!”

“I know this, Joshua; but you must understand. The nausea and fatigue that you have been experiencing over the past week are the symptoms of acute magical poisoning, caused by your sudden exposure to the magic that permeates all of Equestria. Normally, your level of acute poisoning is found in magical researchers who are exposed to intense magical energies during their studies, if a spell backfires. However, with your world’s apparent lack of magic, it appears that your body is incapable of withstanding the background magic of our world. If we do not change you into a form that is accustomed to that magic, then you will only be able to survive for another year, at most. Even then, you will spend the majority of that year bedridden, and in severe discomfort.”

“Isn’t there something less extreme you could do?” I questioned, attempting to keep my voice as level as possible even as fear threatened to engulf me.

Celestia grimaced at my poorly hidden discomfort, and softly replied, “I’m sorry Joshua. For you, there is not a cure. Whilst I could remove the magical energy for a short time, that would not alter your weakness to it. Any improvement caused by the procedure would only last for an instant before you would be, once again, magically overexposed simply by being in this world. For your problem there is no other countermeasure.”

“I’m sorry too, Celestia.” I shook my head, a strange sense of calm overtaking me as I accepted my fate, “I won’t be anything else besides human, if that means I need to die to ensure that, then so be it.”

Celestia’s revelation that I would be dead in a year scared me. Despite this, the thought that I would be twisted and changed into something that I was not, in the process losing my very humanity, sounded like something out of my worst nightmare, and I was willing to avoid that no matter what the cost to myself. All thoughts on the consequences of my choice had left me as I could only focus on avoiding what Celestia was proposing.

When I made this announcement, a look of resolve seemed to overtake Celestia as she remained quiet for a short time before she opted to make a reply to my wishes. 

With a voice heavy with guilt, she spoke, “Then I am sorry, Joshua, for your view on this, but I cannot allow for you to throw your life away, simply because of your aversion to the solution. I’m afraid that you have no choice in the matter.”

By the time Celestia had finished speaking, all logical thought had left my head as my fight or flight responses had kicked in. I already knew that with the princesses’ power there would be no way to fight them—and even then I would be going towards those that wanted to change me. Rather, my instincts told me that I needed to get as far away as possible and hide.

In a burst of speed that surprised even me, I spun around and began sprinting to the doorway from which I had entered. Not even bothering to slow down, I instead faced the doorway with my right shoulder in the hope that it would have been left unlocked.

Unfortunately, my attempts were in vain as whilst I hit the door with considerable force it did not change that it was both heavy, made of metal and most importantly, locked. Bouncing backwards, I fell down onto the ground, the back of my head impacting rather forcibly in the process. Thankfully the impact was cushioned by the soft carpet, saving me from what would have undoubtedly been a nasty head injury. For a moment, I lay there dazed as my right shoulder throbbed in time with the blood thundering in my ears.

Ignoring the pain, I quickly pulled myself up and renewed my efforts to open the door. This time I relied on jerking the handles in a futile attempt to get them to open, though this soon devolved into me desperately pounding my fist into its unwavering mass.

Forced to consider another option, I glanced back towards the dais where it appeared that the two sisters had yet to move at all, though their eyes seemed to bore into me. However, I could have sworn I detected a hint of sadness in both of the princesses’ eyes. Luckily I once again noticed the stained glass windows that lined the room. I was unsure just how high up I was but I was willing to take a gamble that I would survive rather than simply give up and accept ponification. Taking a few steps back, I quickly began to accelerate towards a stained glass window that appeared to depict a bearded purple unicorn wearing a ludicrously decorated cape and hat.

When I was only a couple of meters from the window, I launched myself into the air, tightly shutting my eyes in anticipation of the impact. After a few seconds had past I had yet to feel anything, not the impact with the glass or wind whipping past my face. Tentatively reopening my eyes I was greeted by Celestia’s golden magical aura that now engulfed me. 

As I drifted back towards the dais where two sisters still resided, I realised that I had been at their mercy as soon as I had entered the room. Even now, though I knew that I was trapped, I still struggled against Celestia’s magic as I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

When I was once again in the spot where I had stood just before I began my escape attempts, Celestia addressed me again. Although, this time it appeared that the sisters were not allowing any further attempts at escape, as Celestia kept me levitated about a meter above the ground.

“Joshua,” Celestia spoke, “you must understand, I do this because I know that this is the best for you. Even if you do not recognise it now, you will thank me sometime in the future”.

Even now, the look on Luna’s face remained neutral, an expression shared by her sister. For that, I hated them both, that they could remain so calm as they prepared to change me against my will. My entire being coursed with hatred as words came unbidden to me.

“Let me go, now!” I yelled out in rage, “You have no right to do this! I swear, Celestia, I will make you sorry for this! Let me out of your goddamned magic. I will ki—. ”

Abruptly, my ranting was cut short when the golden glow that surrounded me clamped over my mouth with considerable force, preventing me from opening it and reducing all that I had left to say to incoherent mumbles, though I still attempted to make as much noise as I possibly could.

“Luna,” Celestia suddenly spoke, her tone betraying the amount of concentration that she needed to exert to keep me captive, “I need you to help me remove his clothes, to prevent them from interfering with the spell.”

Luna’s own telekinetic glow—cobalt blue in colour—shortly joined Celestia’s and began tugging at my clothes. Her attempts betrayed her inexperience at dealing with clothing, particularly pants, as she opted to simply force them off of my legs without first undoing the fly or button. At every possible chance, I attempted to prevent the removal of my clothes; I kept my arms down by my sides, my knees bent, and my fingers through the belt loops of my jeans. Yet again, my attempts at resistance were thwarted, when Celestia’s magic drew me even closer to her, preventing me from moving at all and allowing her to manipulate my limbs to assist Luna.

Eventually, I was left completely naked without even the means to protect my decency as I was still immobile from Celestia’s magic. All I could feel at this moment was rage, completely drowning out all of my fear and embarrassment, that only grew worse every passing second as my immobile and mute state prevented me from even being able to express it.

Suddenly, both of their horns began to glow brighter and brighter, until they were so luminous that it was like I was staring directly into the sun. Despite the discomfort and the watering of my eyes, I forced myself to glare at Celestia, projecting at her all of my rage and terror. I simply refused to wait quietly for the fate that had been chosen for me without putting in some form of resistance—no matter how minimal—to the very end.

Through my anger, I slowly became aware of a strange sensation all over my body, as if innumerable needles were pricking at my skin. This sensation sent a spear of panic through me which served to extinguish a modicum of my fury. Fueled by a mixture of terror and horror, I began to struggle with all the strength I could marshal against Celestia’s telekinetic field in a vain attempt to ward off the magic that was altering me.

As the process continued, I began to notice that my body was beginning to ache all over. As time went on, this ache steadily grew worse and worse, slightly increasing at an almost indistinguishable rate. The only true suggestion of the pain rising was my slowly shrinking capacity for intellectual thought.

Eventually, I was in such agony that my entire reality was constricted to my mind bracing for each new wave of pain washing over me. Throughout this, I could feel my body beginning to alter as my bones, muscles, and organs reconstituted themselves to fit an equine build.

As the time between waves slowly began to meld together, the small enclave in my mind that held on became aware of someone screaming. When the next wave of agony came, I began to feel the bones in my face push forward and remould into a muzzle. The sound of my creaking bones was accompanied by the screams steadily increasing in volume as the process continued. It was then that I realised, with a start, that the screaming was emanating from me, the magical gag doing little to reduce its volume. As soon as the realisation dawned, my own screams became the only thing that I could focus on, becoming all that left to my conscious mind to provide any form of relief from the pain, each scream a pitiful attempt to expel it from my body.

By this point, my torment had become so great that I had completely abandoned my feeble escape endeavour, though I still thrashed within Celestia’s telekinetic field with the strength of a desperate man as my instincts attempted any means to escape from what was causing me such pain. Eventually, it became so great that when yet another wave crashed over me, it was accompanied by the black void of unconsciousness. As the blessed darkness overtook me, I still screamed and thrashed to the very last moment, the pain of my existence intermingling with my uncontrollable rage for all the wrong that had been done to me.