After a bit more walking, we are at Fluttershy’s door. I figure I should be a bit more gentle with the whole ‘I’m a pony for today’ thing. She’s so jumpy... at least she means well.

Pinkie knocks on the door, and I hear Fluttershy call out ‘just a minute!’ from somewhere inside. Strange, she normally asks who it is. After a moment, the door opens. However, instead of Fluttershy at the door, it’s Anne, her first four feathers on each wing splayed like fingers and moving like them, too. As they move and shift, I can hear vague ‘bwamp’ noises, like a flexed cookie sheet, along with the susurrus of metal-on-metal.

“O-oh, hi, Pinkie. And who’re you?” Anne asks, cocking her head at me. I realize that, with the sun coming through the window behind her and making her bronze bits practically glow, she looks like a classical angel. Very pretty. Yes, see this is a lot more likely than a mare being my significant other.

“Heya Anne. I’ll let you have three guesses.”

“Oh, Anthony! Uhm... you’re a pony?”

I feign shock. “Really!?” Then I roll my eyes. “I never noticed. Yes, I’m a pony. It’s gonna wear off fairly soon I think, though.”

“Oh... uhm, you want to come in?” She motioned inside, her wings moving like oversized hands.

Pinkie and I bounce and walk inside respectively, and after we’ve all made ourselves comfortable, we just sort of talk a bit. I really haven’t seen her in a month or so.

The harpy girl settles in next to me, and begins to talk about her daily life living with Fluttershy. Apparently, some of the animals are easier to deal with when Anne can be a relative ‘stick’ to Fluttershy’s treatments. Also, Anne found out that her claws are poisonous, something which shocked me a little.

“And uh... how’d you find that out?”

“Well, Fluttershy’s bear friend, Harry, hadn’t met me yet and got scared, and he lashed out. I sort of struck back, and cut his arm up pretty bad, and Fluttershy got us to stop. but then, his cut started getting infected, really badly infected, in fact. At first, Fluttershy thought it was just an infection, but it wasn’t going away from normal disease-treatments, and she realized it had actually just gone necrotic; like a brown recluse bite. The infection was a side-effect, not the problem. Anyways, we figured out how to make the antidote, and got Harry fixed up, but he mostly bald now for the next couple of months.” Anne snickered. “I know it’s mean of me to laugh, but the ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear’ rhyme won’t get out of my head now.”

“Bet he’s not very fuzzy then. Is he?”

“Nope.” Anne said, smiling. Sitting here was actually really comfy, and comforting.

“So if his name is Harry but he isn’t hairy... do we call him Ed Asner?”

Anne covered her mouth with a wing as she bites back laughter. Pinkie’s giggling too, but I don’t see how she could get the joke. Then, I realize that Anne has just stopped petting me, and retroactively realize that she’s been petting me since she sat down. It was... really nice.

Of course, asking for more pettings would pretty much be the most embarrassing thing I could do, so I just ignore it. And silently will her to keep petting me. But she doesn’t, thus proving I have still not yet developed my psychic powers.

This distraction leads to me being utterly surprised when Fluttershy, barely audible, says ‘hello’ to me from a few feet away. My yelp of surprise was a manly one.

“Jeez ‘Shy, for someone who doesn’t like surprises, you sure have a knack for it.”

The shy mare ducked her head. “S- sorry...”

“Ah don’t worry about it, we’re all good. Anyway, I guess you heard what happened with me?”

“Uhm, yes... I’ve been over here for the last half hour, since you got here.” Fluttershy says, and I blink. I... never even noticed her. I then briefly imagined just how quiet she could be, and that gave me a very interesting mental image.

“Well, then I guess that’s that. Yeah, this should be wearing off in a few minutes. I guess being a pony isn’t as bad as I thought... but I’m not staying like this!”

Fluttershy blinks once. “Okay.”

Pinkie suddenly envelops me in a hug, and I give her a hug back, because she’s rather soft. And firm, at the same time. And she smells like strawberries and sugar cookies. She’s also much easier to hug when we’re relatively the same size.

“Heh, yeah, the whole ‘walking around butt-nekkid’ thing is a little weird to me.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie muttered or said various things to the effect of ‘eh, it’s not that big of a deal’, but I see that Anne is turning that oxidized bronze color around the cheeks, as she realizes that my head has been laying on her thigh this whole time.

Then, I realize my head has been laying on her thigh this whole time.

I quickly get to my hooves, putting a bit of distance between us. “Heh, sorry. Guess that was a bit out of left field...”

Anne, still blushing, nods, and I see that Fluttershy is trading a wink with Pinkie. that bodes ill... Not that I have much time to think on the wink, as the door slams open, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst into the room. “Quick, where’s Anthony? We need some help with preventing a minor trebuchet-related catastrophe!” Sweetie shouts, looking around the room.

Crap. Oh well, it sounds important, so secret identity be damned. I stand up and walk over to the little fillies who are arguably not as little as I had imagined. They’re at least up to the bottom of my... pony-chest? Whatever.

“Heya girls. Whatcha need help with?”

“We need help findin’ Anthony, Mister! He’s a human, but not like from the weird stories from Nightmare Night, he’s really cool!” Scootaloo says. “He’s tall, and awesome, and he can shoot lightning, and he’s awesome, and he even almost beat Rainbow Dash in a race one time!” She’s gone all poofy again.

Actually Dash beat me pretty handily with that Sonic Rainboom. Guess Scoots really does over-idolize me... gotta fix that. However, I still appreciate all the stuff she said about me.

“Heh, darn right I’m awesome. Seriously though, it’s me. I’m just a pony now because Twilight did some weird magic-thing.” And she was gonna pay for it.

The three fillies look up at me, with something like confusion. Then, Scootaloo’s eyes flicker somewhere else for a moment, and I get a strange, uncomfortable feeling, like someone pried the lid off my soul and peeked inside. It’s probably just the lack of breakfast, really.

“You don’t have a cutie-mark.” Scootaloo whispers.

I roll my eyes. “Gee, it’s almost like humans don’t get them. Just saying.”

The three little ponies turned towards each other, shark-grins growing. As one, they shout, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER RECRUITERS, YAAAY!!!” The force of the exultant shout nearly knocks me off my fee- hooves.

Recruiters? “Uh... girls, I appreciate the thought, but I’m fine without one. Wasn’t there some emergency you had?”

“She’ll be fine. We need to figure out yer cutie-mark!” Applebloom says, shrugging it off. Wait, wasn’t it a trebuchet catastrophe? Woah, where’s the fourth... crap.

“If Noi got launched somewhere or something, we should probably make sure she’s fine.”

“Nah, it only collapsed a little. Ooh, maybe you’re good at base-jumping!”

“Collapsed!? What are we waiting f-” I suddenly feel very very strange.

“How about concert piano? Are you any good at that?”

“No, now let’s go get Noi, didn’t you say you needed help?” That strange feeling is intensifying.

“Maybe it’s apple-buckin’!” Bloom suggested, to the groans of the other two. “What? It’s a valid question!”

The weird feeling beings to pass, and I look down at the Crusaders around my knees. “We don’t have time for this!”

“Oh, you’re human again. Drat, you should’ve waited ‘till we found your cutie-mark!”

An errant breeze stirred places not meant for such interaction, and I can feel my face growing hot as my mind patiently informs me I am standing in the middle of a room with seven females in it, all with a good view of me. And that I am not presently clothed in the slightest.

“Shit! Anne, you help them.” With that, I run out the door doing my best to cover myself, pausing to hit my head on the doorframe, forgetting how much taller I am. “Sonofabitch you ponies!”

I manage to get back to the library, by moving as quickly as I could, wishing I had my super speed.

I slam the library door open and rush upstairs to get some clothes. I frantically search for something to put on, but I realize that my clothes have mysteriously disappeared. There’s nothing on the floor or in my drawers! Oh I’d kill for some drawers right now...

The only thing that came to mind was Rarity. She said she made more than one suit for me, but I bolted while only wearing the one. I had to go see her. I had to leave the library. With a sigh, I grab a sheet from the bed and run off towards the Boutique.

After I’ve made my way to the boutique, I knock on the door and I hear the typical “Just a minute!” from Rarity. Soon enough, she opens the door.

“Hello again Anthony. Oh, you’re back to a human again. Shame, you made such a dashing stallion.”

“If you start hitting on me, I am going to tape you to a ceiling fan.”

“Of course I won’t!” Rarity replied defensively. “But I can still appreciate a fine colt when I see one, can’t I?”

“Sure, whatever. Anyhow, I need some clothes. The ones I had earlier seem to have vanished.”

“Ah. I was going to ask about your... wardrobe choice.” Rarity motioned for me to come in. “It really is too bad you couldn’t have stayed like you were for a bit longer, I was just finishing your ensemble when you knocked.”

“Honestly Rarity, I’m not sure if I want to do that again. It certainly helps with day-to-day activities around here, but it’s just so... weird.”

“I find it rather pleasant, actually.”

“You’re also supposed to be a pony.”

“True, but I still think you should consider it.”

“I... have actually.”

Rarity did a little jump and grinned with that starry-eyed look. “Really!? Oh that would be just divine! I-”

“It’d still only be temporary, and it’d be mainly for a way to walk around in places like Canterlot and stay anonymous.”

“Darling, why in Equestria would you not want everypony’s attention in a place like Canterlot?”

I roll my eyes. “Surely a gossip like you is aware of the constant tabloids about me and just about any pony with even a shred of notoriety. It’s beyond ridiculous!”

“Hmm... I see your point... Say, you wouldn’t be able to put in a good word for me with a few certain ponies there, would you?”

“No, now get me some clothes, it’s kinda drafty in here.”

Rarity gives a heavy sigh and levitates a bundle of clothes to me. “Here you are dear, I really would like to see you in this though. If you ever become a stallion again, you simply must come see me!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Bye Rarity.”

Once I’m back at the library, I take a look at what I’m actually wearing. It’s not a suit like before, but actually more like a dress shirt. The fabric is thin, but comfortable. It’s a nice baby-blue and the sleeves are just long enough to cover my arms but not interfere with my wrists. Rarity did a good job with the measurements. The buttons, which I originally thought were brass, were actually made from topaz. Geez, how does she get gems like these that she can just use them on clothes?

I guess there’s not really much other use if they aren’t big enough or whatever it is that makes them work with magic. They certainly are nice though.

Letting my mind wander a bit, I realize Myrna didn’t see me as a pony. Eh, guess it’s not that big a deal, it’s not changing anything. I recall I still had to get back at Twilight for casting spells on me in my sleep. I’ll think on what to do later. For now, I think I’m gonna sleep. It’s been a long day.

I take my new clothes off and crawl into bed.

Next Chapter: Chapter 112 Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 20 Minutes