My Life as a Bipedal Quadruped

by Snakeskin Ducttape

First published 21st of October, 2014

Our hero finds herself in a strange world, and in a strange new form. Maybe this could be a fresh start, you ask? The thing is that she wasn't aware she needed one.

By some cosmic happenstance, a young woman is transported to Equestria, and finds herself in a precarious situation. She's taking it in stride so far. Maybe because finding herself in an alien world and in an alien body is not the worst thing that's ever happened to her.

Some wounds, especially those of the soul, can take a long time to mend. What healing arts can the ponies of Equestria offer a scarred young woman? What can she offer them in return?

Timeline-wise takes place starts off in the later parts of season 4 but before the season finale. It also mentions events from the EG-movies and the comics, but neither of which are required watching/reading in order to understand this story.

Trigger-warnings:
- Human-turned-into-pony-
- Who's kind of okay with being a pony-
- And becomes friends with the Mane 6.
- Being a pony is pretty awesome.
- Has both slice of life and adventure.
- Equestria Girls happened.
- And Celestia is not a jerk.

Cover art by the extraordinarily skilled viwsrasputr.
The piece in particular has been uploaded here: https://derpibooru.org/1478347
Really cool art by Cyanjames2819. Also found here.
Leave a comment if you so desire. Simple praise also appreciated.

Part One: Magical Resonance Interference

I was sure that the joy of being a medical professional would've died down by now, but no. Instead the bubbly feeling of accomplishment just sort of congealed into a sort of solid state. I had been a specialist in Magnetic Resonance Imaging for a little over two years now, so many years of schooling was finally paying off, monetarily and otherwise. I was sitting in the basement where our little department was located, and by “department” I mean myself and a man named Frank. Yeah, it wasn't a grand hustle-and-bustle hospital like where I had been in my prior position, but it was a nice place to work at.

This department had just recently opened and the small hospital where I worked needed a specialist to get the project up and running. And so, as it's pretty much always done, one of the big hospitals a few counties over was contacted, the veterans there inquired if there were any young professionals who knew their stuff and had the patience, and temperament to run a small, new department by themselves to see if anyone was interested.

I feel that I can't help but brag but I was the first choice. I'm good enough to show doctors and nurses the ropes with several of the latest models of scanners, and I'm a decent enough organizer. Also, getting a position in a hospital like this means I didn't get in the way in emergencies. I mean, sometimes you see youtube videos of people like me but who're athletic adventurers and skaters and stuff, I'm not quite like that but I'm pretty well adjusted. Still, not being at your fullest capacity isn't good when solving emergency issues where people's health are at stake.

Not your fullest capacity you ask? What does that mean? Well like I said, I consider myself well adjusted. But despite what some manufactured “inspirational videos” I've seen says, disabled still means disabled. And missing your right arm, your right leg, and your right eye, makes you disabled.

So anyway, I was swiveling slightly in my chair while double checking the reading from our latest scan, and putting on the finishing touches on my report when the ever cheery Samantha poked her head in through the door.

"You ready for the next patient?" Sam asked in the usual chipper way.

"Just about, gimme a few minutes, I'm just finishing up here," I answered without looking up.

"Alright, it's a hip scan, and it's an elderly man but he doesn't use crutches or anything so you shouldn't have any problem since there are no heavy lifting and-"

"Sam," I interrupted before the verbal trickle became a flood. "Yes you can leave early today."

"Thanks, Gabe. You're the best! Though I was sort of expecting you'd let me since you pretty much run this place by yourself," Sam said with a smile and vanished like hygiene in a public toilet.

And now it was time to go over protocol with the patient. With me it's almost always two protocols, my own personal one followed by the official one. The first one still makes me feel a strange mix of amusement and slight exasperation. I liked imagining the patients' reaction like a data output log.

[Display subject's thought process]:

— I'm glad no one's here to see me in this gown thing.

— Oh, here comes the doctor (/* misnomer; I don't actually have that title*/) that's gonna scan me.

— It's a she!

— (if compatible): She's pretty.

[Anomaly detected]:

—Does she have a limp?

—Scanning... Anomaly confirmed.

[Execute standard pleasantry procedures]:

— Extend right arm.

— Smile appropriately.

— Scan features of newly arrived doctor.

— [Error: Anomaly detected]:

— Target's upper right extremity not found. Incompatible with gesture of greeting.

— Aborting pleasantry procedures...

— Pleasantry procedures aborted.

[Pleasantry procedures required].

[Scan for pleasantry procedures]:

— Processing... processing... processing...

— “Pleasantry procedures” has encountered an unexpected run-time error.

— Emergency restart initiated.

[Revert to basic social protocols.]

— Scanning for reference...

‘Aaand here we go.’

"Uh..." (‘Called it’) the man said as he awkwardly pulled back his right hand.

‘Now, I just extend my left hand before he starts scratching the back of his head with his. Wait. Oh, too late.’

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he realized that he just sabotaged my attempt at salvaging the social situation by busying himself with the hand he could have used to shake mine instead of his right. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I said with a small smile as he finally caught on, and after a little impromptu brain gymnastics we finally got to the point of getting a professional greeting. "I see you're wearing the standard lovely sky blue gown," I said. He looked a bit awkward at this, but I think he understood that I was making light of the situation to get some laid back vibes in the room after what seemed to be for him a social fiasco just seconds earlier. "So, Mr Berg, do you know what this scan entails?"

"Well, I lie down in a tube for a while and you scan me?"

"True, but we scan you with magnetic fields. Really strong ones," I said as I checked out his ring finger where the outlines of marriage were clearly visible. "And I see you've removed your wedding band, that's good. Some people, especially older men, come in here and don't realize that they haven't been able to remove their rings for decades. Which is unfortunate, because if you wear metal, you don't get a scan."

He seemed to be a bit interested in this "Dr. Mercer told me to do that. Is that really that strict?" He asked.

"Yup, I remember the last place I worked, someone wheeled an office chair too close to the machine, and..."

I gave an abridged version of what happened, three fractured fingers, shutting down the whole machine, venting the cooling gas, ordering new gas, and calling for specialists from the manufacturer to come by to inspect it, then start it up again. He paled a bit when I laid down the cost of restarting the machine alone. "In short, no metal near this machine," I concluded.

He seemed to think a bit about this "Uh. You aaah..."

‘Oh, one of those questions.’

"Ask away," I simply said.

It didn't seem to be quite enough and instead he just gestured slightly with his head towards my right leg.

"Mmhm, a prosthesis, but it's all carbon fiber and titanium, it's not magnetic at all," I said.

"Oh," He seemed a bit taken aback by how frank I was when talking about my disabilities. If he was sticking around I would've been worried that he was never gonna relax, but he wasn't sticking around, so it didn't matter.

"So, Mr Berg. Tell me a bit about yourself while I press buttons," I said as I sat down and started calibrating the machine for a hip scan of a sixty-something male with average build.

"Like what?" He asked, a bit confused.

"Like where you've worked, how long your hip has been aching, when you've noticed, what you've been doing at work when you noticed, and so on."

"Well I..."

He had apparently been working in a small metal workshop for most of his adult life, I inwardly rolled my eye, you didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that that meant that he worked on a daily basis with archaic tools with not nearly enough safety features on them, and if a work safety committee set foot in that place they'd probably pull the fire alarm in order to get people out of there as fast as possible, assuming there was a fire alarm.

He kept talking disjointedly about his job while we walked into the chamber with the scanner, at my encouragement because his aching hip was almost certainly related to his job. A few red flags popped up in my head as he went on, though, and just as he was about to step over the threshold into the magnetic field, I grabbed his shoulder with my left hand. He was lucky I could because as far as I understood it, my right one stayed behind at the crash site all those years ago to keep my arm and leg company. "Hold on a second, Mr Berg, you've done a lot of spot welding, right?"

He gave this some thought "Well, not really more or less than the other boys down at work."

"But compared to the average person on the street you likely have, yes?" I asked and he nodded.

Now I was getting really relieved I caught that. "And used those high-speed metal saws, right?"

"Yeeees?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you used proper safety gear, especially safety goggles, every single time you've done so? Be honest now, for your own sake." I knew the answer before I asked.

"Well, no." He seemed to pick up that this was somehow serious.

"Mmm," I said and nodded, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, Mr Berg but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cancel this scan."

"Wh- why?" He asked, sounding alarmed.

After I laid down the possible consequences of him getting close to that machine he seemed to accept not getting a scan today. The risk of having four decades' accumulation of dust sized steel flakes being forcefully ripped out of your eye sockets just didn't seem worth it.

"And you should be careful with your eyes, take it from me," I said, a bit mischievously, and lightly tapped my glass eye with my fingernail. He paled a bit again.

‘I really should stop doing that.’

"Alright, head up and knock on Frank's– uh, Dr Mercer's door and tell him what I told you. He'll probably schedule another examination and determine the next step after that. I'm guessing you're either gonna get a Computer Tomography scan or a scan in a lighter model."

Princess Twilight Sparkle had a lot on her plate, and it made her almost giddy. Studying the experiments of one of Equestria's greatest magical minds did that for her.

"Apparently, this orb is for scrying for information from other worlds, somewhat like that mirror that he and Pri–" Twilight cleared her throat "– Celestia used for going on adventures together a thousand years ago," she said.

"Careful, Twilight. That mirror led to almost destroying two Equestrias," warned Spike. That a juvenile dragon sometimes functioned as the voice of reason for an incredibly powerful unicorn (alicorn, these days, she still forgot that sometimes) was sometimes a bit worrying for those familiar with the de facto leader of the Elements of Harmony.

"They wouldn't have been destroyed, per se, but alright I see your point. Still, some careful studying won't harm anypony, Starswirl the Bearded wouldn't have made it otherwise."

Spike was a bit skeptical about this, but he knew what scrying meant. If Twilight instead found the tugging orb or the prodding orb he would start worrying for real, banish the thought about the bunsen burner orb.

"And it magically logs your discoveries! This is amazing!" Gushed the lavender incarnation of regality.

"Alright I'm gonna give it a spin," Twilight continued. "I don't even know where to start, so I'm just gonna pick one that Starswirl has already studied. Hmm, how about this one? Bipedal population, clearly intelligent but with unstable feudal and/or tribal societies. Harsh lives. Maritime based trade and farming in unfavorable conditions. Seemingly no magical power. Fraught with disease and conflict. Do not visit unprepared, preferably do not visit at all," Twilight mumbled to herself as she read the scrying orb's log about what it had found about the world and its dominant inhabitants. "Oh, what poor creatures! I wonder if they've improved their situation in the time it's been since last the orb scried their world?"

It seemed that they had, but far beyond the point that Twilight was expecting. Compared to the lacking wooden houses, crude stone castles and muddy roads that Twilight had seen in the logs of the previous scrying, this world's civilizations were magnificent. That a world with no magic could build such cities (and keep them clean) was nothing short of amazing. Thousands of the indigenous population thundered down vast stretches of paved roads in self-propelled chariots, and by the coast she could see majestic ships, that were apparently an everyday sight for no one seemed to pay them any mind. “Fraught with disease,” came to Twilight's mind and she tried steering the orb's magic to locate a healer of some sort. What she saw astounded her even further. Like ponies, the inhabitants of this world had developed entire facilities to treat their sick. It made her a little envious, seeing how far these creatures had come in just a single millennia.

"Astonishing!" The royal pony said in reverence.

"Yeah," Her assistant said quietly across the small table, he too seeing and experiencing what Twilight did.

Suddenly, they felt a disruption of a sort, not like a harsh wave, but rather an undercurrent that they had not been aware of before then.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, a bit worried.

"I feel it too. Don't worry, Spike, this device can't harm us, I've septuple checked that." This calmed down the dragon considerably. "Still, that felt a lot like magical power, and according to both mine and Starswirl's observation, this world doesn't have any magic in it."

Spike had trouble wrapping his head around that. Magic just was, a world without magic was like a world without gravity, or warmth.

"I'm gonna take a closer look, you can look away any time you want Spike," Twilight said as she scried closer to the strange disturbance. She saw a images of a large device, a clean white device with some sort of pony-hole on the side, sitting in a bare room, and it was humming.

Suddenly she felt a great tug at her magical power, and a wave of energy shot out from her horn through the invisible walls separating the worlds. Twilight was fairly certain that if it wasn't for the orb's safety measures, she would have involuntarily teleported somewhere, possibly between worlds this time. As she recovered from the slight shock a moment later, she could feel the wave surfing towards the source of the disturbance, the great device, where one of the indigenous was apparently situated at that moment. Many years of magical studying and experimentation made her jump to a conclusion that she prayed to Faust would be wrong.

It wasn't. Twilight's ears drooped.

"Uh oh."

‘Another day, another handful of patients,’ I thought as I was preparing to close down shop at the MRI section, shutting down computers, turn of lights, have a look at the machine that was the heart and soul of my little section to make sure that no one left stains that might stick, the last patient of the day had worried me a bit.

The humming from the machine suddenly intensified, like someone turned all the knobs of an amplifier to the highest settings. I looked up. "Wha–" was the only sound I could make before I heard a sucking sound, and I had the strange sensation of being pulled into the opening of the machine before everything went black, all within the span of about half a second.

There was no flash. No ceremony. I just suddenly felt tired and numb.

Birds chirped in the distance, which was nice but also puzzling. ‘Head resting against something soft and uneven, along with the rest of my body, I'm lying down it seems.’ I couldn't see anything however, most likely cause my eye was closed. I took steps to rectify that and immediately aborted my plan when my eye was blasted with a painfully bright light. I noticed something strange about that last action however; it worked really well. Having the color and complexion that I do means that I have to scrunch up my entire face if I want block out bright light, but this time simply bringing down my eyelids did the trick. And I know that the light hadn't disappeared because I could still feel it on my face.

‘Speaking of which, that felt a lot like sunlight.’ That, coupled with the birdsong made me realize that I was most likely outdoors.

‘Let's see, I was preparing to go home for the day, and then... Uuh, then nothing. I'm up to speed as far as I can tell. Preparing to go home for the day, then lying outdoors with the sun in my face. I am now extremely confused, but let's slow down and check a few important things first.’ I sort of wriggled my entire body and realized that I felt really numb. ‘That's not very reassuring but it's better than lances of pain I guess. Now time for detailed inspections, eye socket first. Feel around the general right eye area to make sure that I've either got my glass eye inserted, or that my eyelid is at least closed.’

My arm didn't feel like lead, because that would be stupid, but it did feel heavy and I realized that I was alarmingly exhausted. That's not very reassuring either, but hopefully that's the only reason for the numbness. The first attempt at lifting my arm had no real result, but I wasn't giving up that easily. ‘The only thing that can defeat me right now is a nap. So, a few deep breaths, and heave!’

There was a thud.

‘OW!

‘Is my hand in a cast? No wonder it felt so heavy. I just clubbed myself in the forehead.’

I did manage to land it sort of right though so time to start feeling around with the back of my wrist. ‘Results: eyelid = closed, arm = strangely shaped and textured. Is it swollen?

‘What conclusions can I reach if I combine all my current knowledge about my situation? Ambient sound, brightness, position, exhaustion, numbness, disorientation and state of hand could all suggest that maybe I am not outdoors but in a hospital room with open windows, maybe partially covered in bandages. Please don't tell me I've been in another accident. Or at the very least let me keep all my limbs this time. I sighed and started opening my eye. Time to face the music, whatever that's supposed to mean.

‘Blinding light, eyes slowly adjusting, vision returning... green meadows? A muzzle? Blue fur!? A hoof!?’ Staying awake just doesn't seem worth it at this point. ‘Hey, something's coming. Huh, look at that. A big ugly dog that's throwing a calico bag over me.’ I let out an internal sigh. I don't even care anymore. Hark! My old friend/arch nemesis is here. Nap-time! You have me at a disadvantage this time, oh worthy adversary, I submit myself to you with my head held high.’

"Ok, girls, I'm having some success with locating our target. It seems to have landed almost directly to the east of Ponyville. Hopefully along the borders of the Everfree and not directly inside it." Princess Twilight was pacing back and forth through the Golden Oaks library with a dozen knick knacks floating around her.

"As I said before, the locator matrices can't pinpoint the target reliably so close to the Everfree woods, not to mention that since the target originates from another world it–"

"WHOA WHOA! Hold on just a minute!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "You said you accidentally teleported somepony to the edge of the Everfree Forest–"

"I said I HOPE I teleported it to the edge of the forest, as opposed to into the forest."

"Whatever, you never said anything about somepony from another world!"

"Also," Pinkie Pie chimed in, "Why are you calling this pony an 'it'?"

"Because I don't think it even is a pony!" Twilight said in agitation. "I'm not even sure if it's a he or a she! And yes, something was teleported here from another world. The world I was talking about me studying, remember? I told you like ten minutes ago!"

The other five ponies looked at each other before the alabaster unicorn took a step forward.

"Twilight, dear, we've barely been able to keep up with what you've been saying. And we haven't even been here for two minutes, I think you might want to calm down a bit before we try and solve this problem."

Twilight stopped mid-step and looked around at what she was doing. She was trying to mount a rescue operation of an unknown target in a largely unknown location, and in her haste she had apparently readied such useful things as a feather duster and a doorstop. Her friends had indeed not been here for ten minutes, she had only managed to squeeze ten minutes worth of explanation into one and a half minute. She let out a deep sigh and hung her head. "I'm sorry, everypony, it's just... I'm really worried. I might have done something terrible."

Rarity put a hoof on her friend's withers. "Then let's try and solve it properly. You were saying something about studying another world when the device you used did something."

Twilight took a moment to collect herself. "Yes, I was using an old scrying device of Starswirl the Bearded to study another world when I came across a strange phenomenon. It seemed to react to the magic that I was pouring into the device and by some freak coincidence it manifested as a teleportation spell. But the device seemed to have been designed with safety for the user in mind, so when the teleporting spell went off it was reversed or something. So instead of me being teleported to the other world, the other world was teleported here, or it would have if the power the scrying orb was letting through had allowed it. Instead it was a small chunk that came here, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the inhabitants."

"So you accidentally dumped some mystery creature from another world into the middle of the wilderness?" Rainbow Dash said. Applejack and Rarity glowered at the blue pegasus, Fluttershy uttered an almost silent "Oh my!" while Twilight hung her head again, and Pinkie Pie looked excited.

"There ain't no need to rub it in, Dash!" Snapped Applejack.

"No, she's right," Twilight said dejectedly. "I just hope we can solve this."

"Alright! What needs doing?" Rainbow Dash, always the creature of action, said.

"Well, we need to conduct a thorough search of this area here," Twilight said while pointing at a spot on a map of Ponyville and its surrounding areas.

"Oh! Oh! Like hide and seek?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.

Her friend's antics were making Twilight feel a bit better, Pinkie had a knack for knowing how to solve strange problems, no matter how airheaded she seemed.

"Yes, only we don't exactly know what we're looking for, and hopefully nopony is actually hiding. Alright, first let's go see Zecora, she might've seen something and we can ask her to keep a lookout for Equestria's new visitor." Twilight said.

"Oh! Good idea!" Pinkie Pie said as the group headed out of the library. "She's super duper good at hide and seek! Once, when I pretended I was mosquito, I couldn't find her even when she was standing right in front of me and trying to get my attention!"

I was lying in a rucksack of some sort. The strangest thing in my mind about that is not the situation in itself, believe it or not, it was how fast I made peace with the thought of it all. Actually no, when I think about it, it was probably just that my brain had figured that the middleman between itself and the senses it used to perceive the world around me had taken sick leave for an extended period of time and no replacement had been found.

So I had a strangely calm demeanor, or perhaps a general lack of demeanor, when I was lifted out of the bag and held aloft by my cheeks by two enormous, filthy paws. Interestingly, this didn't hurt. ‘Maybe the numbness is my friend?’

"Look! We found pony!" I heard a voice immediately behind me say.

‘Should I open my eye? Let's wait.’

"Pony with horn can find gems!" The voice said again and I realized that it sounded like Andy Serkis!

‘Alright eye, take a look around and tell me what you see.’

"That is small and broken pony," A deep and gruff voice said as I opened my eye, and saw that the most recent speaker had the ugliest face I have ever seen. Or it could just be a trick of the absence of light, because it seemed like I was in a dark cave.

"Small and broken pony cannot escape," Andy Serkis said excitedly. "Must help us find precious gems."

‘Precious! Oh, Mr Serkis, you know how to please your fans! What's all this about a pony though?’

The ugly face got closer and I realized that it belonged to a dog. ‘Oh, that's right, I saw a big dog earlier I think, and I'm being held by paws. There seems to be some sort of canine motif going on around here. Whatever, Andy Serkis obviously isn't within my line of sight and I can't move my head right now. Alright, eyeball, you can take a break.’

There was a thud behind me and I had the alarming sensation of falling, predictably followed by the unpleasant sensation of landing. ‘Ouch. A bit, at least.’

"We do not want ponies here!" The gruff voice shouted. "Cause trouble! Big ponies come look!"

I opened my eye again and took another look around me. I was in a large cave, surrounded by dogs of alarming size towering over me, most of them wearing armor and holding spears. There was a few other things decorating the cave as well, some torches, a throne of some sort and what looked like a minecart. I felt my brain catching up with what I was seeing and some part of me predicted that it wouldn't be pretty if it did. ‘Nap-time, my love. Hold me in your warm embrace and take me far, far away.’

The Everfree forest is not to be traveled through carelessly, but the former bearers of the Elements of Harmony was a force to be reckoned with, nigh-omnipotent magical artefacts or not.

So it was after a short and somewhat anticlimactic journey that the champions of Equestria stood in front of the potion master Zecora's hut and knocked.

After a moment they heard her answer, a bit drowsily, "Visitors are free to open after they knock, that's why my door does not have a lock."

The friends looked at each other, slightly confused at the lazy sounding voice. Twilight pushed the door open and the six ponies filed in.

The Zebra was positioned in her usual meditative position, balanced upside-down on top of a quarterstaff. The air was often thick inside Zecora's hut, but this time it was extraordinarily so. The striped potion-master opened an eye and smiled in a relaxed way when she saw who was visiting her.

"Ah, dear friends, at the moment you should take care to breathe easy, right now the air in here might make you feel queasy." The six ponies noticed that Zecora's enormous cauldron that usually sat in the fire pit in the middle of the hut had been replaced with a smaller one, and from it rose fumes that was giving off a sweet but thick smell. They felt a bit light headed.

Rainbow Dash decided to land rather than stir up more fumes from the cauldron with her flapping wings. "Yeah, good advice, what are you doing?" she asked.

"As Apple Bloom found out when she offered me assistance, potion-makers should take care to sharpen their resistance," Zecora answered. When she saw the confused expressions she elaborated. "I mean that I'm adjusting myself to not be knocked out, every time I mix a potion extra stout."

"Oh," Twilight answered. "I see, this is simply for hardening yourself for when you use ingredients with hallucinogenic effects?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Mr and Mrs Cake said I couldn't use those in my pastries!" Said Pinkie Pie. "Which I don't really understand, I thought they could be great for when the foals visit the dentist."

The others looked at Pinkie for a moment before Rarity spoke up. "Yes, well, we are actually here on some important business. Twilight, dear, it's probably best if you take it from here." Rarity paused and looked a bit embarrassed when she realized that she had just spoken in rhyme like their zebra friend.

Twilight started explaining to Zecora about the incident back at the library and how a creature from another world was transported to the edge of the Everfree. "So we decided to come here in case it wandered into the woods and... Zecora, could we take this conversation outside?"

"Oh, my head in my behind," Zecora said as she gracefully jumped down from the top of her staff and invited the others to exit her hut. "I've gotten used to it, so it slipped my mind."

The others drew some welcome breaths of fresh air and hoped that the slight swaying of their vision would fade soon.

"Well," Twilight continued. "You know this forest, we wondered if you've seen anything."'

"Princess, I am sorry to say, I have not spied anything unusual this day. But you still did right in coming to me, I cannot let something innocent wander among the dangers of the Everfree." Zecora said.

"That's great! I would like to try and pinpoint the place where it arrived to see if I can track it, I'm pretty sure it hasn't been staying still. And if that doesn't work, perhaps you might find it? I feel it's a bit much to ask you to search for some unknown creature in the Everfree," Twilight said.

"Worry not, Twilight Sparkle, for my safety as I know this place to and fro," Zecora said. "After all, I live here, as you know."

Sometimes you wake up bit by bit, awareness slowly creeping up on you and easing you into the idea that you should take a look at the alarm clock, then teasing you with the knowledge that you're probably gonna have to catapult yourself out of bed and skip breakfast if you don't want to be late for work.

Other times you wake up instantly and feel ready to go tackle whatever the day has to throw at you.

I woke up with a strange mix of elements of both options. You might think that this is just normal waking up, but it turns out that no, that doesn't need to be the case.

What I'm saying is that I was suddenly awake and aware that I had no idea of where I was.

There was a rustling sound all around me, and I was lying in a strange position in a dark and tight place. And the whole world seemed to be swinging around.

‘Oh right, the bag.

‘Alright, I've been awake for two short spells I think. And I seem to have, ugh, fainted both times. This ends now.

‘Vision... not very helpful at the moment. How about smell? Whoa! I know you only found hints of dirty cloth but impressive work! I didn't know you were that good. Taste, judging by what smell found you probably don't want any part in this. Touch? In a swinging bag you said earlier. An itchy one. Interesting. Hearing, you're up. Rhythmic thumps, like footfalls? Vision, smell and touch all suggest that I'm being carried around somewhere in that infamous bag. Hearing's findings supports available data. And also suggest that there are up to three individuals around me.’

I decided that I should probably try to gather more information before acting. Thankfully, the exhaustion seems to have gone from paralyzing to merely debilitating. ‘I can move things now! Sort of, at least.

‘Okay, hand, listen up. You and sense of touch are going on a fact finding expedition. Your first target: My face.’

I moved my hand up to my head and was immediately greeted with something big and hard rubbing against my cheek. ‘Hand, I notice that you didn't bring touch with you. I know you two don't always like working together, especially when hot soup is involved, but this is important, okay? Wait! Forget touch for now. Move down a bit.’

I slid my hand and whatever it was covered in down across my throat. Compared to what I was used to this seemed like a colossal undertaking. To put it bluntly, my neck was enormous. And unlike my hand I could feel its texture, and it felt alien. ‘Oh, this is bad. Strangely shaped body parts means injuries, and if this is a swelling, I could be in serious trouble.’

The bag I was in suddenly lurched in some direction and cartoonishly dumb sounding voice said, "Uh, me thinks pony wake up."

‘Pony? There were talk about ponies before... Really large neck and hard hand without a sense of touch? Hand, or whatever you are these days... Inspect my face again.’

A voice very similar to the other said from another direction. "What we do now? Boss said to take pony to pony town before it notice it gone."

My mouth and my nose were positioned on an outcropping ahead of the rest of my head. ‘I have a snout! No, wait. That's not it. Oh, what's the word?’ I thought as I mentally snapped my fingers, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to deal with the reason why I couldn't do it physically.

"Stupid! You wake it up!" The voice of Andy Serkis said. "We leave it here. Ponies won't know, boss won't know."

‘They're talking about me aren't they? I wonder if them leaving me is a good thing or a bad thing.’

"But this place full of timber wolves," the one closest to me said. Well, that answers that.

As I felt myself being lowered to the ground, a howl sounded in the distance, and my hoof's journey of discovery was temporarily halted.

"Me going back to mine! Bring pony if you want but me not sticking around!" The third speaker said. ‘They're literally throwing me to the wolves? You're not Andy Serkis!’

I saw an opening in my little habitat as the designated bag carrier let it go from his grip and the sound of three sets of footfalls, or pawfalls, I guess, vanished into the distance.

Between being so fatigued that I could barely move, being captured by enormous dogs, carried around in a bag and discovering that my body was not my own, I feel I've handled the situation fairly well. However, I was now getting worried. The howls had quieted down but I wasn't relaxing yet.

‘So what's the first order of business? Getting out of the bag and getting a look at my new form would be a good start.’ I started dragging myself towards the opening of the bag and out into the world. True enough, my foot seemed to be a hoof as well and– ‘Ow! No way. I just pulled my tail with it.’ I poked my head out of the bag with some difficulty and looked around.

I was in a forest, it seemed, or by the edge of one, I realized after I'd had a closer look. There was a sort of treeline where the forest was really dense on one side, and in the other direction I could see it open up into rolling plains, my sense of smell was reminding me that it was now really sharp, but I filed that away until later. I would really like to move towards the plains at that point, for several reasons. I was pretty sure that the howls I heard came in the direction of the woods, and the landscape of the plains was a lot more inviting. Also, there was a really lovely sunset partially visible through the trees which I would like to get a closer look at.

However, I suspected that reaching the plains wouldn't be that simple. I dragged myself the rest of the way out of the bag and raised my head from the ground to take a look at myself. True enough, I was now in an equine body. With royal blue, fuzzy hair for some reason. That was weird. I couldn't really tell as I had nothing to compare myself with nearby, but I was also pretty sure that I was very small. Like the body of a child. Or a foal.

One thing that I had suspected all along from the sensations of lying in the bag, but which I was still a little disappointed to discover, was my arm and leg, or lack thereof. As always, my right arm was completely gone, this time however, it seemed like the scar was not directly visible beneath the fur. My right leg, or hind leg now, was also missing a few inches down the thigh, and what a thigh is called on a horse, I have no idea. My tail caught my attention too, It was poofy, and a light shade of orange with indigo highlights. I was almost entranced by my bizarre coloration before a thought struck me.

‘Aw geeze! Aren't horses put down when their legs are crippled? Things are looking worse by the second. And then there are the wolves!

‘Alright, let's say I manage to get away from any predators... unlikely, would I be euthanized as soon as I reach civilization?’

I felt something like a jolt of electricity shooting through my head as I realized what I was experiencing. ‘I'm a tiny blue horse! How am I even having lucid thoughts at the moment!? Why am I not a blubbering wreck!? Wait, maybe I am. Maybe my perception of reality had gone completely out the window and this is just me being bored of the pillow room and hug-yourself shirt? No, let's not think like that. Because if this is real that's a dangerous road to walk down. Heh, trot down. Then again, if I wasn't mistaken I had already slept twice since all this started. Maybe that has something to do with it. Subconsciousness and all that. Also, you're a professional, it's not becoming to refer to medical restraints that way.’

I let my head fall down to the ground again. ‘Hmm, speaking of blubbering, can I make sounds? Can I talk?’

I felt a bit sheepish for not having tried that earlier.

"Uh, I– Whoa, I can!" I said excitedly. "Okay, that certainly helps with the euthanasia factor."

‘If I can talk then I can ask for help. And would you really put down a horse when It's actually telling you not to?’

My mouth (still drawing a blank on what a horse's mouth is actually called) wasn't as long as on a real horse but it still wasn't near the shape of a human mouth. I found it funny how I could talk so fluently despite that.

‘Clearly there's more to this situation than bad news. So let's not give up. Now that I'm coming to terms with being a colorful little horsie, for the moment at least, so let's move on and check myself for injuries. This is kind of warranted considering my fatigue.’

I raised myself up again and took another look. ‘No, I seem to be doing all right. Next, my head.’ I felt my mane around my wrist (another horse term I'm unfamiliar with) and like my tail it was also huge and poofy. I shook it to the front of my eyes and was met with bangs that can only be described as magnificent, and I had a distinct feeling that I knew how it looked in a mirror. ‘CaaAAaarie. CaaAAAAAAAaarie! Heh! Oh, that felt good. A nice change from the worry and utter confusion.’

I've already figured by my coloration and sort of magnificent tail and hairdo that I'm not a normal horse, or pony, if those dog things are to be believed, but it was still a pleasant surprise to learn about my foreleg's wide range of motion. I could point it in almost every direction and reach every part of my head, and while fingers would have helped with the inspection, I didn't seem to have any injuries– ‘Wait! What's this?

‘A hard protrusion sticking out of my forehead. Am I? No way. But then again, what else has been normal recently?’

I looked up.

‘I'm a unicorn. This is great! I'm magical and– ...damn! I'm pretty sure I read a story when I was a kid where a bunch of bad guys were poaching unicorns for the healing properties of their horns. This could complicate the whole “finding civilization and asking for help” thing. Then again, aren't unicorns supposed to be impossible, or near-impossible, to capture?’ I looked down and inspected myself again, then let out a sigh. ‘I guess there has to be exceptions, how else would the stories exist?’

These last few minutes had offered so many revelations that I startled myself a bit when I remembered the wolf howls. I took another look around and let out a sigh of relief when I found out that I was still alone. I was also starting to appreciate the perks with my new neck. ‘Maybe those wolves had caught the scent of something else and skulked away in another direction? Hmph! Hopefully towards those dogs.

‘But anyway, there clearly are predators around here, which means that I should not be.’ I started dragging myself across the ground out from the treeline. The good news about this is that it wasn't painful at all, barely even uncomfortable. You'd expect that dragging yourself on your belly across the forest floor would start hurting immediately, but not for me it seems. The bad news was that this was going really, really slow. And while I had enough energy to look around and feel around with my hoof, relocating myself in any meaningful way just wasn't an option, at least for more than a minute, which seemed to be about four body lengths.

‘Time to reassess my situation: I am currently in what is likely a dangerous place. I lack the strength and physical aptitude to even move or fend for myself. I look like a creature of fantasy. I can talk, but likely the only individuals aware of my state and location didn't seem like ally material. I am uninjured, though, and I have a– Of course! I have a magical horn!

‘Alright, this could be the last venue available to me as far as I can tell. If I can do magic, maybe I can help myself.

‘So, how does one do magic with one's horn?’

To my slight dismay I realized that I have no idea where to even start.

‘Okay, let's not give up now, you've read fantasy novels. How do they do it in those?

‘Funny how hard that was to remember all of a sudden. Come on, think! Magic words, perhaps? What's the first thing Harry Potter learned? Those books had this Latin thing going on, right? Let's try that. You know some words in Latin.’

"Ignis!"

Nothing.

‘Well, maybe it requires some visualization or something. Now that I think about it, perhaps I shouldn't try that again, lighting a forest on fire while I'm in it and unable to move is not a good idea.

‘What else? Oh, right! You know how to tell Romans to go home! Much better idea. Let's see, “Romanes eunt domus”. I sniggered a bit as John Cleese chastised me in my head. No, “Romani... something, Domum”. What was that middle word? Argh! Where's YouTube when you need it? Think. Think. “Romani ite domum.” That's it! Now, “ite” is plural for “i”, and “ego” is some form of self like “me” or “I”. hopefully this could send me home!’

"Ego I Domum."

Still nothing.

‘Yeah, that would have been too good to be true, wouldn't it? Whatever, concentrate and try again. Try and tense up your horn.’

"Ego I Domum!"

‘There was a sensation there. This time try to really project yourself into your horn.’ I closed my eye.

"Ego I– what?"

I felt it, all around me. The earth, and the air, and the trees. I'm not sure how to describe it with words, but it was life, and power, and... Magic. The sensation was gone a moment after it began, but somehow I knew what it was I saw. Or rather, felt.

‘It wasn't the “magic words”, was it?’

I projected myself into my horn again and I, sensed, magic as it swirled around me. It's difficult to describe, but it was like seeing, and still not. When you use your sight to see something, that something blocks or obscures whatever is behind it, unless that something is invisible, in which case you do not see it. This wasn't so this time, I could perceive the world beyond my senses, everything, all around me.

Imagine perceiving scents with your eyes. It had the nose's ability to take in sensations from numerous sources that would block each other if they were perceived with sight, and the instant feedback of the eyes.

‘I know I've seen this before, but where? Where and when could I have visualized magic before?

‘There are some shrubs over there. I can see, feel how one small twig was dying as leaves higher up blocked its access to sunlight, the magic slowly leaving it.’ I perceived the swirling shapes and colors in the twig, muted compared to the ones around it, and somehow I knew what they meant, and knew how they could be influenced. ‘So, I definitely have magic. How do I use it and not just observe it?’

I closed my eye and projected myself into my horn, and this time I reached out.

The twig instantly became full of life again and pushed its way above the others and into the open.

"... Interesting."

Scratch and his brother, Scratch, were not having a good day. They were very conflicted, something they did not enjoy. Boss had been very clear when he said that taking ponies is a bad idea. And that the one they found should be returned before it wakes up and before anyone else notices that it's gone. It was simple, boss was above them in the hierarchy, and when he told them to do something, they did it.

The thing is, Lugnut was also above them in the hierarchy, and he told them to abandon the pony, even though boss was above him too! And boss told him, too!

Scratch's brain was hurting.

Even so, he had to admit, being where the timber wolves were not was a pretty good thing. Lugnut was in charge of them right now so he should be the one to blame if anyone finds out what they've done.

Yeah, it was Lugnut's fault. Maybe he should tell boss about what Lugnut had done. Scratch didn't like Lugnut. If Scratch told the boss what Lugnut had done, Lugnut might get Black Bag duty.

"If you tell boss about this, I make sure you get Black Bag duty!" Lugnut shouted to Scratch. So much for that idea.

Lugnut had been yelling angrily at Scratch and his brother on and off for some time as they ran back towards the mine, when he suddenly yelped.

"Ow! What? Whaaat iiis...–" Lugnut sounded strange as Scratch looked at him and saw him holding a dart in his paw.

Lugnut collapsed on the ground and began snoring heavily, this was better than him yelling, but Scratch didn't like the thought of those around him suddenly collapsing. Scratch was conflicted again.

Scratch heard something behind him and turned around to see a pony in a robe standing there. She held a blow gun in her mouth. Scratch prided himself in being able to figure out that the pony shot a dart at Lugnut. And it only took him a few seconds to do so!

"You found a creature earlier, to the west. It seems you took it back to your nest," the pony said calmly. Scratch wasn't the brightest of diamond dogs, he knew enough to know that. But being a diamond dog means having a good sense of when something is more dangerous than you. For once, Scratch was not conflicted. It was best to answer this pony's question. Truthfully, and fast.

"Uh, yeah, Lugnut found small pony," Scratch said and slowly backed away with his brother.

"A small pony from beyond the world's veil?" the cloaked pony seemed to say to herself. "Go on, I would like to hear this tale."

"Uh, Lugnut found small pony with horn, small pony was broken so Lugnut said it could not escape," Scratch said. He was confused. The pony in front of him was clearly more than a match for them. But things that were more than a match for him were usually bigger and spent a lot more time snarling and drooling. That was probably because almost all things he had seen that were more dangerous than him were other diamond dogs. Ponies, it seemed, can be dangerous when just standing still. Scratch was learning a lot today.

"Interesting, so tell me now. This pony was broken how?" The pony said.

Scratch suspected that he didn't know the proper... what was it now? Words! That's it. "Uh, just broken, some bits gone." The pony gestured for him to continue. "Then we took it to boss. Boss get angry at Lugnut. Boss don't want ponies in mine. Boss said to take the pony to pony village before they notice. Then we go, and pony wake up when we over there," Scratch said and pointed behind the pony. "And we hear timber wolves. Then Lugnut tells us to leave pony and we do that." Scratch was getting worried. The pony in front of him was getting tense. Like boss sometimes did. But worse.

Finally, it spoke again. "You should make sure that by something else you are not found, for the Everfree's beasts would surely appreciate prey that is just lying around." The pony gestured towards Lugnut, still snoring on the ground. Then it turned away and galloped in the direction he had pointed. Scratch didn't get the feeling that it was fleeing.

Scratch looked at his brother. They picked up Lugnut by his paws and started hauling him towards the mine as fast as they could. Scratch was not conflicted anymore, boss was gonna hear about this, and Scratch didn't care that Lugnut didn't want that.

Zecora raced through the forest, relieved that she managed to control her emotions. It had been difficult, but she didn't have time to pummel diamond dogs when a foal's life was at risk.

‘The dogs had brought a maimed foal to the edge of the Everfree.’

Zecora was running as fast as the greatest earth pony athlete.

‘And then they left it there when timber wolves were closing in.’

A doctor would've been worried that Zecora would hurt herself at this rate.

There was no time to warn the elements. She only had a vague idea of where they would be.

Zecora sped up.

‘Okay, I can sense magic around me and I can influence some of it to some extent. Hey, what do I look like, magically? I Projected myself into my horn again and copped a feel.

‘Wow, this is really something.’ Beautiful, fascinating shapes made up my new form. And I made some really interesting discoveries: My arm and leg, the physically missing ones that is, were still there magically. And I had digits curled up around my hooves, with a slightly different magical “tone” than the rest of me. They moved when I willed my fingers to move.

I reached out and tried to pluck a strand of grass. ‘No dice. There must be some trick to it. I'll figure it out later.

‘Well then. What to do now? I should try and improve my situation with my new abilities. But how? And in which way?’

Taking a magical look at myself again, I noticed that I can move my phantom limbs (I figured that was an appropriate term). But they didn't seem to be able to interact with the physical world, though.

Suddenly I heard a loud snarl behind me and I whipped my head around to face...

‘Wolves made out of wood?’

I was sort of grateful for that last part because the fear of having a pack of predators sneaking up on me and the puzzlement over the bizarre sight sort of cancelled out each others' paralyzing effects.

"Ooh, 'timber wolves', I get it!" I said.

The one in front, there were six in all, snarled again. ‘Oh, right. This is not the time to appreciate puns.

‘Okay, this is bad, very bad. But I have mysterious powers that and I don't even know what they can do. Everything might not be hopeless, but I should act really soon.’

The one in front started charging towards me. ‘No, Wait! I need to come up with a plan first!’

It was about to pounce me when a branch– no, a staff shot into it from the side and nailed it into a tree, where large chunks of it were smashed off. Whew! But what's going on now?

I looked to the direction where the staff had come from to see a robed zebra jump out through the undergrowth and place herself with a wide stance between myself and the remaining wolves. Wow!

"To hunt and kill this one you are free," the zebra said.

‘Wait? They're free to– then what's with the rescue?’

"but know that you will have to go through me," she concluded.

‘Oh, it was bravado! In verse! I like this one.’

Two of the wolves charged while the other three split up into two different directions. The zebra gracefully jumped over the charging wolves and cartwheeled towards her staff. ‘There's a talking zebra over here doing kung fu! I have never been to Kansas. But if I had, I wouldn't think that I was there anymore.

‘I am now being rescued by a zebra, and while things are getting really exciting, I am starting to get really shaky. Maybe I should try and get away? It would be easier for my rescuer if she didn't have to worry about protecting me at least.’

I must've looked pretty pathetic at that point, pawing at the ground, trying uselessly to get away, when I looked back at the zebra who was flipping through the air, smacking the wolves with her staff and kicking them with her rear hooves. That's when I noticed that the injuries she inflicted were being unmade, the splinters and twigs that left the wolves' bodies seemed to have a life of their own, and they reunited with their bodies constantly.

No wolf was heading for me yet though. ‘The zebra has apparently got the full attention of the pack. Wait– Uh oh.’

I looked toward the spot where the first casualty of the fight lay, the wolf that had charged me was also being reassembled. My heart sank. It was pretty clear that the zebra was trying to rescue me, but since the enemy was apparently infinite, that could only happen by retreating, something that I was just not capable of.

The wolf was now completely reassembled and while I could hear the fight going strong behind me, this one seemed to have eyes only for me. It was slowly advancing and snarling, something I found superfluous as I was plenty scared at that point anyway.

It started charging once more and I let out a startled cry as I desperately tried to scamper away.

My rescuer seems to have noticed, though, as she had disengaged with the other foes and once again came rushing to my aid.

She jumped over me towards my attacker, and judging by the sound she showed it what's what one more time.

However, her luck seemed to have run out, because the other wolves had been following her and this time she did not have time to prepare a defense.

The world slowed down as I took in what was happening. My rescuer had gone to seemingly impossible lengths to keep me safe, but now she was going to die, and then I was going to die, and it would be my fault. I would never even know her name.

‘... This will not do.’

I projected myself into my horn and saw the world in that strange way again. My rescuer was a bright, shining beacon, and the ones heading for her were crisp shapes of swirling colors.

I knew what I was looking for. And I knew where to find it.

‘There!’

I was running out of time. They were inches from her. They would bring her down. Tear mortal wound and break bones. This time, I didn't just reach out with my magic, I poured it all out of my horn. This was not the time for subtleties.

I had really just intended to find the central point for the wolves' magic, their heart, or core, so to speak, and give it a good yanking. But it seems I overdid it a bit.

A nova of energy shot out through my horn and the timber wolves were blasted into pieces, which started raining down across the landscape.

I was suddenly extremely tired. And I want you to consider the word “extremely” for a bit. But first things first.

The zebra was lying on her side a small way away from where she stood when the wolves had pounced.

‘Oh no, no no nononono. Did it get her too?’ She seemed unharmed but I needed to make sure.

Once again I tried to project myself into my horn but it didn't work. ‘Drained of magic, perhaps? That could explain why I felt so cold all of a sudden.

‘Oh, and here's Nap-Time again.

‘No, Nap-Time, this is important!’

I started crawling over to my rescuer with a haste that only desperation can summon. I was utterly exhausted but rest had to wait.

I finally reached her and...

‘She breathes!

‘She lives, she looks unharmed. Okay Nap-Time, where were we?’

Author's Notes:

Hope that you like it.

I have some ideas that should be implemented soon if at all, head over to the blog if you're either curious or want to stop me from taking the story down a disastrous road. Now where's that submit button?

*edited* Previously consisted of two parts. Now fused into one. Cred to Eckaji for the title.

I was not always awake, but when I was...

… I passed out again.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends were growing concerned. They had been looking for traces of their mystery guest for almost an hour.

Twilight herself was frustrated. It was powerful magic that brought the creature here, but the traces were so fleeting it was impossible to get an accurate read.

She was preparing another tracking spell when she felt an enormous wave of magic from the east. And although Twilight Sparkle functioned as the group's source of magic knowledge, the whole group felt the wave.

"What was that?" five of the six ponies asked simultaneously. They glanced at each other and then took off in the direction of the magic disturbance.

They reached the site within minutes and could not be sure of what they saw.

Zecora and a unicorn filly lay on the ground, surrounded by a large quantity what looked like timber wolf remains. The zebra looked unharmed but the filly's state was less certain due to the very large and frazzled mane and tail covering her.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy said and flew over to their striped friend and the unknown party.

"What do you suppose happened, Twilight?" Applejack asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Twilight answered and slowly walked up to the pair lying unconscious on the forest floor. "That felt like unicorn magic, but it wasn't a spell that I recognized."

The six friends were standing over two unconscious ponies (and the branches that would normally form timber wolves). Twilight's impulsive side was telling her to try and see if her zebra friend and the unknown filly were harmed in any way, but since there was no immediate danger, her methodical side won out and she let the resident font of medical knowledge confirm their state instead.

She channeled her magic into her horn and scanned the site. Her suspicions seemed to be true: Zecora, the filly, and the timber wolves had all been drained of their magical reserves.

She let out a sigh of relief. Magical exhaustion almost always led to an almost comatose sleep, but that in itself was not dangerous. Rest, followed by a hearty meal or two, was all that was required for a full recovery.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were the ones that had taken an extra close look at the zebra and the filly, the first out of concern, the second out a mix of concern and curiosity. When Pinkie lifted the considerable mass that made up the filly's mane and tail they both let out small gasps.

"What? What is it, Flutters?" Asked a startled Rainbow Dash.

"It's, it... " A shaken looking Fluttershy tried to answer. "Oh, that poor dear!"

Pinkie Pie took the filly's mane in her mouth and positioned them on the ground rather than on top of her for the rest of the group to see. The rest let out little gasps of their own at what they saw.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had especially horrified expressions on their faces. With their very beings being so intimately tied to physical exercise, they cringed at the sight.

"Oh, my," Rarity slowly said. Twilight was about to second her friend's concise but encompassing statement, until she realized that they came here for a reason.

"Does anypony recognize the filly?" Twilight asked, despite being certain she already knew the answer.

The rest of the group shook their heads.

Zecora had been trying to locate the involuntary visitor and apparently found this filly. Twilight lit up her horn to try and discern the residues of magical energies in the area. A powerful burst of magic had gone off here very recently, but she suspected that already. She was both relieved and horrified, however, when her reading clearly showed that the filly was the one they had been looking for since coming here. Relieved that her victim was not out there still, with Zecora out of commission and two ponies needing to be transported someplace safe. Horrified of the implications.

"Did I do this?" Twilight asked with a shaky voice. Her friends gave her worried and slightly alarmed looks before she continued. "This filly is the one we've been looking for, the readings are obvious," she said as she gestured to the small form on the ground. "And she's..." Twilight tried to continue but couldn't get any further.

Applejack put a hoof on her friend's withers and tried to say in a soothing voice, "Now don't worry, Twilight. I ain't got no head for magic, but you said that that scryin' orb was supposed to be harmless?" Twilight nodded and Applejack pressed her reasoning and hoped that it would hold water. "That, to me, seems to imply that you ain't responsible for this."

"But I..." Twilight started before giving Applejack's words some thought. It's true, the orb was supposed to be harmless. And, sure, teleporting somepony beyond the borders of worlds could be inconvenient to the point of dangerous, but it was a very indirect danger. Her examination certainly didn't indicate that the orb would remove limbs when spying strange phenomenon. "Yeah, you could be right," she continued. "I hope you're right."

"Anyway, I think we should get out of here," said Rainbow Dash. "If we found what we're looking for then there's no point in sticking around."

"You're right," said Twilight. "Let's get them back to Ponyville. As far as I can tell, they're just suffering from magical exhaustion. The Timber Wolves probably are too, now that I think about it."

"That's not gonna mess up the zap apple harvest is it?" Said Pinkie Pie. "Cause I've got some ideas for new frosting with those."

Twilight was feeling slightly better now, relaying information always had a soothing effect on her. "No," she said. "They're just out cold and should wake up tomorrow."

Applejack was the obvious choice for the one who would carry Zecora back to Ponyville while Rainbow Dash took the filly. The earth pony mare was barely hindered by the zebra on her back while the pegasus positioned her wings to secure the filly with the awkward center of gravity.

By now, the sun had almost set. They were all a bit relieved by this since it meant that there would be few to no ponies seeing them carrying two unconscious ponies from the direction of the Everfree Forest through the streets of Ponyville on the way to the hospital. And considering the state of the filly, and Ponyville rumor mill, this might've been for the best.

Nurse Redheart was familiar with the importance of down time, as was common for those who have to be ready to skip lunch and breaks for the sake of her fellow ponies' (and occasionally non-ponies') health.

She was enjoying a weak but highly sugar and milk augmented cup of coffee and having a relaxingly indolent conversation with Ponyville Hospital's receptionist, Ink Sketch, when the front doors shot open and the town's strangeness magnets filed in.

Redheart and Ink Sketch looked at each other. The excitement of being a Ponyville resident had risen exponentially in recent times, ever since the arrival of Twilight Sparkle, the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and the return of Princess Luna, but despite all that had happened, the hospital had not become noticeably more taxed. Nurse Redheart was no mage among the scholarly elite in Canterlot's golden spires, but she felt confident in jumping to the conclusion that it might be the proximity of the Elements of Harmony and their bearers that had kept it that way. Then again, most of the trouble that befell Ponyville also focused around the Bearers themselves, so while her feeling for the six were as benevolent as for the rest of the the ponies (and non-ponies) of Ponyville, she was not entirely without reservations for this motley crew. And she found it a bit daring of them to chastise the dreaded Cutie Mark Crusaders when they got into trouble.

And so she hoped that the sight of the Bearers purposefully moving in through the doors of Ponyville Hospital was not a sign of things to come and set down her coffee and braced herself for the worst.

Ponies with Redheart's experience and dedication often picked up social skills related to their vocation, and reading ponies' body language and discerning situations based on group behavior was one of them. So she was somewhat confused at the downcast look of the recent arrivals, coupled with the purposeful movements and lack of urgency. It was not because anypony was dead, she was sure of that. But she spotted Zecora the zebra lying unconscious on top of Applejack and a foal on top of Rainbow Dash.

When they arrived at the front desk seconds later, Ink Sketch managed to pose the question, "What seems to be the problem?" with a tone that was both guarded and encouraging.

"Magical exhaustion of both Zecora here," Twilight said, nodding her head towards the zebra, "And an unknown filly," she concluded while nodding towards the other unconscious form.

Redheart stepped towards Rainbow Dash and the filly. "A Jane Doe?" She said. "Have you asked her about herself or made anyyyy..." Redheart trailed off when getting a peek beyond the feathers of Rainbow Dash's wings and seeing the state of the filly.

Rainbow Dash looked a little downcast. "Yeeaahh, no, she was unconscious when we got to her."

"We found her like that in the Everfree Forest!" Pinkie Pie said in her usual excited voice, but a perceptive listener might've noticed that she sounded slightly less chipper than usual. "In the middle of a pile of knocked cold timberwolves!"

Nurse Redheart raised an eyebrow at this and said, "Are there any other issues you know of?"

Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, no, I did a quick examination and couldn't find anything." She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "She's a bit cold though."

"Alright," Nurse Redheart said. "I'm gonna call a doctor for a thorough examination, just in case. But first I'm gonna get a gurney."

At this point, Ink Sketch had fished out a small stack of papers and laid them on the table before saying, "And I would like you to fill out these forms."

"Fluttershy," Twilight said as she walked towards the front desk. "Why don't you fill out the one for Zecora? As for the filly, well, there are some unusual circumstances surrounding her."

Twilight had Ink Sketch's full attention, "Oh, really, now?" she asked and glanced at the filly. "What kind of circumstances?"

Nurse Redheart had apparently found both of what she was looking for when Twilight answered, because both she and a stallion in a doctor's outfit walked in from around the corner, each pushing a gurney. "Well, it requires some explanation." Twilight was a bit nervous, but steeled herself and continued, "But this filly was by accident magically brought here from another world."

Both the doctor and nurse Redheart had paused their wheeling of the gurneys. The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Uhm, so what does that mean in this case?" The very mild reluctance to believe what he heard spoke volumes about Equestria's newest addition to the roster of royalties.

"Honestly, I don't know for certain," Twilight answered. She thought back to the notes on the world that the filly came from, and her own impressions of that world. "But I suspect that it might mean that she's going to be even more confused or even scared than one might expect when she wakes up."

There was a pause before the doctor asked, "So... are there any reasons to treat this patient any different from other patients? Medically, I mean."

"Not that I can think of, though I would like to stay and make sure she's alright," Twilight said.

"Well," the doctor said. "You're free to wait while we finish our examination of course. But may I ask why?"

"Because I may be responsible for her state," Twilight answered. "And if I am..." she trailed of.

The young princess was obviously upset about the whole affair and the doctor decided not to push her any further. "Very well. Nurse Redheart, would you please help me bring the patients into examination rooms, and then contact doctor Staff for our dear Zecora?" The doctor said as he pushed the gurney towards Rainbow Dash.

Nurse Redheart helped Rainbow Dash lift the small form with its considerable supplements of mane and tail onto one of the gurneys before moving on to the zebra. "Yes, doctor."

As the nurse and doctor wheeled their patients away, Ink Sketch spoke up. "So, what does this mean in terms of paper work?"

"It means that we should use the anomaly stamp," Twilight said.

As Ink Sketch ducked beneath the desk, she said, "Short and informative, that's how we like it," as she resurfaced with a stamp between her teeth and hammered it down on the blank form, which made Fluttershy, who was filling out the other form next to her , jump in surprise.

Between Discord's rampage, visits and even admittance in the hospital, and things like Parasprites, poison joke and a slew of other bizarre events that the citizens of Ponyville seemed to endure on a monthly basis, the anomaly stamp had been introduced at many of Ponyville's government facilities. A document or paper with that mark could mean many different things, prominent among them are: “We don't know”, “Inquire with Twilight Sparkle about possible solutions”, “We really don't know”, “Don't panic”, “Wing it”, “PANIC!”, and “Hunker down until phenomenons of bright light, rainbows and sparkles are visible outdoors (not to be confused with other phenomenons of less aesthetically appealing and soothing nature).'

As the papers were being filed away by Ink Sketch, Twilight turned to her friends, "It's getting late. I'm going to stay here, but don't feel as if you need to as well."

Rarity, who had been trying to stifle a yawn for some time at that point, gave in and said, "Thank you Twilight, I'm just glad any more serious issues were averted."

"Yeah," Applejack said. "The farm ain't gonna work itself. And to work it properly, a pony needs her sleep. But if you need help with anything, sugarcube, you know where to find us."

"I'm staying, though," Rainbow Dash said. "The weather over the next few days are gonna be just like today anyway, it's pretty much gonna run itself."

"I'm staying too," came Fluttershy's soft voice.

Pinkie Pie had began to bounce toward the exit after with Applejack and Rarity, "Don't worry, Twilight, I'll tell Spike where you are."

As the two small groups separated, Twilight said, "Thank you, Pinkie," before remembering some details about the situation. "WAIT! Don't forget to tell him why I'm here!"

Doctor Proper walked out of the examination room to find three young mares waiting for him. The feeling of wistfulness he got from that confused him so much that he almost missed what the lavender one in the middle said.

"How is she, doctor?"

"Oh! Uh, I don't want to say anything specific yet. But it doesn't look bad." He moved around them toward the examination room which currently housed Zecora and Doctor Staff. "However, I would like to confirm something. Excuse me."

He pushed open the door to the examination room and said, "Curl, would you please help me confirm something with the other patient? I would like a third opinion."

The other doctor exited the room and nodded toward the three mares who had brought the patients in. "Of course, what about?" she said as they walked into the room with the filly in.

"Well, like the princess and her friends said, she's clearly suffering from magical exhaustion, but I believe I'm seeing signs of Wisp-Shimmer syndrome," Doctor Proper said.

Doctor Staff took a look at the different values that nurse Redheart had written down before she gently placed her fetlock on the filly's forehead, just below the horn. "Yes, the signs are there. What do you think, Redheart?"

"Hard to be sure, but it would be negligent to not take any steps," the nurse answered.

Doctor Proper nodded at this and looked lost in thought for a moment. "Yes, I believe I overheard that this was officially an anomaly situation. In which case we maybe ought to conscript the help of the young ponies just outside."

Nurse Redheart was heading towards the door. "I was just thinking the same thing." She opened the door and had the attention of the Bearers waiting outside. "Alright, we might have something we need your help with. Please, come in."

The three mares filed in a bit nervously. "What would you like our help with?" asked Fluttershy, who, for a change, was not as nervous as her two friends, as being asked for medical assistance was something she was far more comfortable with than either Rainbow or Twilight.

Doctor Proper turned to his colleague. "You take it from here, Curl. You actually have experience treating this."

Doctor Staff nodded and adjusted her glasses. "We are seeing clear signs of Wisp-Shimmer syndrome in this filly."

Twilight and Fluttershy were about to let out sighs of relief when Fluttershy realized something and stopped herself. "Not... bad, I hope?"

"Oh, no," Doctor Staff answered calmly. "Early stages, but as I'm sure you know it's best if treated in its early stages to prevent complications,".

Rainbow Dash looked a bit annoyed at being the only one that didn't comprehend the situation. "Hold on! What's Shim-Whisper syndrome?"

Twilight rolled her eyes out of reflex. "Wisp-Shimmer syndrome is a fairly rare affliction that mostly affects unicorns. If ponies' magical reserves are exhausted, they try to jump start themselves by borrowing energy from the pony's physical stamina."

Rainbow Dash considered this for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I've seen you get all tired and drowsy when you do powerful spells," Rainbow nodded. Twilight didn't look very pleased at having the side effects of her doing demanding magic described in that particular manner, but her desire to lecture predictably won out over her desire to snap at her friend. So she continued.

"It also works the other way around. When a pony is physically exhausted, her stamina borrows from her magical reserves. Pegasi do this fairly often, and earth ponies do it so often they hardly notice." Rainbow Dash nodded at this, clearly recognizing what her friend was saying. "If a pony's magical reserves are profoundly exhausted while the pony is suffering from serious physical fatigue, her magical and physical reserves might get stuck in a loop, trying to leech of each other, and not getting a chance for either to recover. That is Wisp-Shimmer syndrome and it can be very serious if left untreated."

Doctor Staff nodded. "I couldn't have given a better description myself. Do you happen to know how to treat it, your highness?"

"Unfortunately no," Twilight said before perking up. "But I wouldn't mind learning!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't," a smiling Curl Staff said. "Since we're probably gonna be able to wake her up soon, we should be able to provide the treatment as foodstuff. And that's what we would like your help with."

The three bearers looked at each other before Rainbow Dash spoke. "Well, both Applejack and Pinkie Pie are pretty good with cooking. But how is food going to help?"

Doctor Staff was a bit amused at the expressions of the three mares in front of her, Twilight was looking confused but mostly curious, Rainbow Dash was looking curious but mostly confused, and Fluttershy somewhere in the middle. "If we introduce magic into the patient's digestive tract, where her physical energy comes from, her magical reserves should receive what they need, breaking the loop and letting her recover normally."

"So, um, you want us to make magic food?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Essentially, yes," Doctor Staff answered.

At this, nurse Redheart spoke up. "And everypony knows that Pinkie Pie can make cupcakes from just about anything, including ground up gems."

Twilight's face lit up with a look of epiphany. "Of course! Rarity has lots of gems that can easily hold stable magic, and Spike can pulverize them, no problem."

Redheart and Curl Staff smilingly nodded their heads before the doctor had a slightly uncomfortable look on her face. "Of course, Miss Rarity shouldn't be forced to provide such a thing for the hospital."

"Oh, I'm sure she's happy to help!" Twilight said.

"No doubt. Even so, it would behoove us not to rely on a private pony for such things. If you do retrieve such gems from Miss Rarity, please assure her that she will be compensated." Doctor Staff said.

"Alright, is there anything else?" Twilight asked.

"Eh, yes. Nurse Redheart is writing down the type of gems recommended and how much we might need. And please, tell Miss Pie to restrain herself with the quantity of baked goods, we are leaving for Canterlot with the patient before long." Doctor Stable said.

The three friends had been ready to leave on their little task before they heard this. "You are?" four voices asked, doctor Proper among them.

Doctor Staff nodded at this. "Yes, there are better means to treat this particular malady in Canterlot, and I don't want to take any chances. Redheart, are you up for a trip to Canterlot?"

Nurse Redheart was the only one that didn't seem surprised at the announcement. "Of course."

"Good, we'll leave tomorrow morning, preferably with the earliest train," Doctor Staff turned back to the three mares. "Thank you so much for all your help, and please, pass on our gratitude to the others as well."

Fluttershy and Twilight smiled in a small way while Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out. "No problem," the energetic pegasus said. As they filed out they glanced back at the filly on the gurney, feeling that despite her state, their contribution still made a difference.

Spike the dragon was sitting on the back of his oldest friend with a disgruntled look on his face and the end of a shimmering bag jutting out of his mouth. Large crunching sounds were becoming noticeably more faint with every movement of his jaw. Around him, in the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were preparing the ingredients for a batch of cupcakes with Twilight going over the list given to them by Nurse Redheart and some instructions in a thick book exclusively about cupcakes. Rainbow Dash was lounging around in the corner, idly chewing on some leftovers from the day's batch.

Spike Pulled the bag out of his mouth and held it in his claws. "Done," he stated in a resigned voice.

Twilight took the bag in her magic grip, opened it and took a look at the contents. "Spike, there are still large chunks in here!"

Pinkie Pie cheerfully skipped over and looked over the contents. "Don't worry, Twilight, I can make cupcakes out of that, no problem!"

"I know you can, Pinkie, but if it's not finely minced enough it might do more harm than good," Twilight turned back to Spike, sitting on her back. "Please, Spike, I know you don't like this, but it's important that the gem dust is not too rough."

Spike once again grabbed the bag. "Alright, fine," he said before sticking the bag in his mouth again and continued chewing.

Twilight gave Spike a warm smile. "Cheer up, Spike, You're doing this to help a cute little filly. And Rarity seemed very pleased with your part in this, she might give you some gems as a reward the next time you see her."

Spike's chewing slowed down for a few seconds as he considered this, then it sped up again with renewed vigor as he suddenly got a big and slightly dumb-looking smile on his face.

Did I ever get to duct-taping chocolate bars to my jacket? There's a chasm between your bedside table and your bed, think of the treasures that could be there! How about some strawberry ice cream? You'd like that wouldn't you? It's like a roller coaster! Where's my slipper? What is? My thoughts. Yeah, they're like "Wooeeooo!". Drop that TV! Applause. Thoughts slowly getting more comprehensible. You know what that means, don't you? Dust bunnies on my lips? Kiss grandma! Yeah, I think I know what that means. Lucy~in~the~sky! But considering that last part it's not looking good. Time to clean the kitchen. Multicultural society! I'm waking up. Morning mist and poetry. Camels outside of Taj Mahal. Aaaoow, JUMP! French, wooden box with purple hat. Extra exclamation marks! Wheels and string. Alright, ENOUGH! Open your eye, already.

When I wake up that scrambled it's usually difficult enough to open my eye and start taking in the world around me, but this time it was a new level of hard. I sighed inwardly, I think, and prepared myself for more incomprehensible mind babble in the twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness. At least it wasn't sleep paralysis, I hate that, everything goes purple.

"Doctor. I think she's waking up."

A voice! I had been drifting aimlessly just beneath the surface of the waking world and I could see the rays of the morning glory shimmering from somewhere above me. But here was something I could orient myself with. ‘Oh, voice! My glaring, orange buoy of floatness! Send down your white polymers-tendrils and save me!’

"Easy, now, little one. Don't worry. Just take it slow, alright?"

‘I take it back! Stop talking, please!’

"Whenever you're ready."

‘Aaah! Please, stop!’

"That's it."

‘It's time to take action! Use your primary method of communication to signal whoever is assaulting your senses to cease all activity.’

"Mmmuh,"

‘... Ugh. Well done.’

"Don't worry, you're doing great."

‘I wish. Shake your head. The universal sign for "no".’

"Doctor, I think we ought to give her some space."

‘You think correctly.’

"Hmm? What do you mean, Redheart?"

"She turns her ears away whenever you speak to her."

‘Oh, thank you!’

"She may just be trying to orient herself."

‘... A pox on your firstborn! Let's go with struggling instead!’

"On the other hoof, You may be right."

‘Triumph! Now to savor this moment.’ I inwardly breathed some satisfied sighs, or at least I thought I did, they might've shown on the outside.

"Oh. Good catch, Nurse Redheart. Make a note of the seeming over sensitiveness, please. Now."

I could hear the clip-clop of hooves approaching. Very astutely.

One of the voices I had heard suddenly spoke very softly right by me. "Can you hear me?"

‘Not as glaringly now that you're whispering, thankfully.’ I nodded my head and tried to give an affirmative murmur. It came out as a whimper though.

"Oh, you poor dear."

‘Indeed.’

"Don't worry, it'll all pass soon."

‘Thank you, that's comforting.’

"You've suffered a magical exhaustion and you're having what we call Wisp-Shimmer syndrome."

‘Magical exhaustion? What're y-’

The dogs, the cave, the wolves, the zebra, my new body, and magic. I would've shot open my eyes in shock at how it all flooded back to me. This time my eyelids (I went for plural) had to make do with a painfully slow and shaky ascent.

I heard a gasp and when my eye finally got with the program and saw a tan-colored equine in a white lab coat, with teal hair done in a bun and with a very human-looking, startled expression, amplified by the huge, expressive eyes and drooped ears. "Nurse Redheart! You never informed me about her eye!" she said, clearly a female, judging by her voice. I flinched and closed my eyes again.

‘Ow.’

"I'm sorry, Doctor Staff. I forgot that me and Doctor Proper performed the examination." Another voice said. I carefully opened my eye again and saw another equine looking slightly down. This one was white with pink hair and a little old-school nurse's cap.

‘Aw, how cute.’

The other one looked back at me, noticed my expression and immediately dropped her voice. "Oh, I'm so sorry, dear!"

‘Well, at least it's helping me wake up.’

"How do you feel?"

‘Yes, how do I feel? I wish the numbness would come back, I miss it.’

"... Delicate," I said, hoping that they'd take the hint.

"Oooh!" she exclaimed (quietly, thankfully) in a voice that contained a worrying amount of sympathy, and lifted her right arm, sorry, foreleg, and gave me a small hug with it.

‘Whoa. What's going on?’

Taking this in gave me a basis to orient myself with. I was sitting up in a clean and somewhat bare room with a distant smell of antiseptic in the air.

‘I know what this is. This is a medical facility.

‘Let's cycle through the possible responses, shall we? “Where am I?” I'm in a hospital, low priority question. “Who are you?” Hopefully a medical expert but it would be good to confirm this. “What happened?” Ah, that's a good one. Let's start with that.’

"What happened?"

‘A whole sentence! Where's my cookie?’

"You used too much magic, dear," the tan equine said as she let go of me and stood back down on all of her legs. "Some very nice mares found you in the Everfree Forest and brought you here."

‘Mares eh? So we're doing it that way. Hold on! The zebra!’

"There... was a... zeb... zebra." I managed to say before a weak yawn escaped me.

At this, the equine with the nurse's cap spoke up. "Oh, yes, Zecora came in with you. Don't worry about her, she's resting." The exhalation part of my sigh had to make do as a breath of relief.

‘Good. Zecora, eh?’ I closed my eye again since I was barely using it anyway.

"As you no doubt want to be doing," the tan equine continued.

‘Gold star.’

"But I'm afraid you're going to have to take some medicine first. If you don't, resting could be very bad for you."

‘Didn't she say earlier that it would all pass? Oh, she meant the over sensitiveness. Okay, let's just sit back and follow the instructions, that's a good thing to do when you're a patient in a hospital.

‘Hold on... I am in a hospital, right? Ah yes, there were more questions I had.’

I opened my eye again.

"Who are you?"

‘It sounds a bit rude, asking it like that. But whatever.’

"My name is Doctor Curl Staff, and this is Nurse Redheart," the tan one said and gestured with a foreleg towards the other equine as they both looked at me and smiled in a caring way. "You're in Ponyville Hospital."

‘There were several keywords there, “nurse”, “doctor” and “hospital” were all clear enough, but “Ponyville” implied things.’

I looked down on myself.

True enough, I once again beheld a small, royal blue equine body. This time mostly covered by a white blanket and positioned in a very human manner in a wheelchair. Now, wheelchairs have their uses, but they're not really my style. One thing that was clear though was that, as with the zebra, Zecora, I was very small compared to the other equines in the room.

"What happened?" I asked again.

I looked up as the one in the lab coat, Curl Staff (‘Curl Staff?’) answered again. "Like I said, dear. You used too much magic."

‘Yeah, I remember the shimmering shapes and all that, but why am I a little horsie? If I remember correctly I was preparing to go home from work not long ago and then waking up like this.’

"N-no, why am I... Why am I like this?" I asked and tried showing them my arm for emphasis. I only managed to lift it out from beneath the blanket and not much else, though. I looked down on my arm and gave it a disapproving look.

The white and pink one took a few steps forward and answered in a somewhat guarded tone. "That... Don't worry about that, we'll find somepony to answer all of your questions after you get some more rest," She turned to a desk beside her and picked up a paper bag in her mouth before continuing. "But first you need your medicine," She finished, speaking through her teeth with no noticeable difference in her voice. Impressive. "Now, you're lucky. Your medicine is like a powder, and our very own master baker, Pinkie Pie, has made these just for you," she said as set the bag down on a table beside me and reached down with her foreleg in the bag to produce a cupcake.

I looked at the baked good that the nurse's cap adorned horsie with gorgeously large, blue eyes and pink mane made up in a bun, held aloft in her hoof and felt a slight daze as a part of my brain informed the rest to try and take in the situation "... What?" I asked. That would have been asked with a greater flourish of eloquence but I'm not ashamed to admit my oratorical skills failed me at that point.

The equine in with the cupcake gave me a warm smile before answering. "You get to eat cupcakes, dear."

‘I'm having trouble telling if their bedside manners are comforting or disturbing. Then again, maybe I really am in the body of a child, or perhaps some small subspecies that looks like children. Horse hobbits? Better that than like in that kinda terrible movie with the reverse aging serial killer.’

The equine with the pink hair (Redheart, was it?) set down the cupcake on the table and started breaking it into smaller pieces. "By the way, dear, what's your name?"

"Gabrielle."

The tan one, Curl Staff, had come into view beside Redheart, and they both kind of stopped for a moment when they heard my name.

"What a pretty name, for such a pretty little filly." Redheart said.

‘So it's true? I'm a talking horsie foal in talking horsie land. How c- You know what? That's it, I'm done. She's right, questions and answers can come later. Treat this like you treat roller coasters, just sit back and go with the flow as the world and everyone around you go crazy, and right now the flow involved eating cupcakes.’

Redheart held a piece of cupcake in her hoof (‘Just roll with it’) and extended it to my mouth. I opened my mouth and with some exertion started chewing what was apparently my medicine. ‘Raspberry? Nice.’

"How are your ears, dear? Are they better?" Redheart asked as I chewed on my second piece of medicine, and I realized that they've been using normal speaking voices for some time. I nodded my head.

"That's good, dear," she continued. "Because we are going on a little trip with the train."

"Mmhm."

"We are going to Canterlot," (ok) "where we're going to make you feel all good as new." She stopped herself and looked a bit flustered before she rallied and continued. "Who knows, maybe you'll even get to meet the princesses."

‘That's nice.’

As I finished off the last piece of the cupcake, Curl Staff spoke up. "Good timing, Redheart. The train leaves soon. Are you ready for a train ride, uhm, Gabrielle?"

"Mmhm." I answered, meekly.

‘Careful there, big girl! Don't scare them off.’

"Good, let's go then," she said in an only slightly strained voice as Redheart walked around to my back.

I was wheeled out through the room and into a large hallway that managed to look both hospital-like and quaint. I could astutely hear the sounds of two sets of hooves, clopping along on the tiles. Thankfully, my hearing wasn't painfully sensitive like before, but I could still hear Curl Staff as she whispered to Redheart, "Redheart, how do you think her name is spelled?"

I let out a yawn as I was wheeled towards what looked like an exit and thought to myself, ‘Am I gonna see this Ponyville they mentioned earlier?’

Seeing Ponyville must've been some nefarious scheme with me as a super villain, because just as it was about to reach fruition, in rode Nap-Time and snatched victory from me in the last second. ‘Darn you, Nap-Time’ was my last thought as I mentally waved my fist towards my old tormentor and fell asleep again.

Nurse Redheart poked her head forward to look at the filly in the wheelchair she was pushing along the streets of Ponyville in the early morning hours on the short trip to the train station. "Out like a light."

"Well, who can blame her? Waking up like that," Doctor Staff said from beside her. "I actually felt she handled the situation really well."

"Oh, agreed. I had braced myself for a much worse reaction," Redheart said. "Still, there's something odd about her." It was just after sunrise, very few ponies could be seen outside just yet, most of them probably enjoying their breakfasts right now, so they had not attracted any attention. Still, nurse Redheart kept her voice low just in case, It wouldn't do to have ponies overhearing her talking with her colleague about how her patients acting strange.

"What do you mean?" asked Curl softly, she too having picked up on the need for discretion.

"She was very weak, but I could also tell that she was a lot more aware of her surroundings than one might've suspected. She took in everything we said, calmly and quietly," Redheart said.

Doctor Curl Staff gave this some thought as they reached the train station. One could hear the train in the distance, slowly coming in. Ponyville town hall had officially sent a request to the Crystal Empire's rail road-services to find some way stop by their station in a more discreet manner, the hospital being located so closely to the tracks, and the hospital's staff had encouraged the town hall to extend the request to the standard line as well. She saw four of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and Spike, waiting for them. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Good morning, everypony, here to check in on Gabrielle?" Curl Staff said.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight looked confused, the later one asking "who?" while Pinkie Pie looked excited and answered "yep!"

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight turned their attention towards Pinkie Pie and gave her a questioning look while she just gave them a cheery grin back.

"That's the name of the filly," Redheart answered, gesturing to the mass of hair in the wheelchair in front of her.

"But Twilight is not just checking in on her. She's going with you to Canterlot!" Said Pinkie Pie. Twilight was the only one with a saddle bag with her, they noticed.

Redheart and Curl Staff looked at each other and the doctor spoke up. "Hmm, may I ask why, your highness?"

Twilight took a step forward, looked at Gabrielle and said, "Because I brought her here, if she needs any help, I should be the one to give it to her."

Curl Staff nodded. "That's good to hear, because we promised Gabrielle that somepony would give her some answers when she wakes up."

Twilight's friends looked a bit concerned at the downcast and resigned look she had before Pinkie Pie put a foreleg around her. "Don't worry, Twilight. This is all gonna work out, I can tell!" Pinkie said.

Twilight perked up a bit and Rainbow Dash decided to push the advantage. "Yeah! Don't worry, if anypony can figure out how to solve this..." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment as she didn't even realize what the problem was, if there was one, she only know that they had found a poor little filly unconscious in the woods and she needed help, but she decided to press on, "thing, it's you," she finished. "And we'll help Spike look after the library while you're gone." The others nodded in consent as the train slowly pulled up to the station.

Twilight gave them a warm smile. "Thank you. I'll send Spike a letter when she's ready for visitors and we can all go for a trip." She looked at the doctor and nurse for confirmation.

"That sounds lovely, I'm sure she'd like that," Curl Staff said as the train came to a halt. She filed into the train with the princess, Redheart and Gabrielle in her wheelchair before turning back to the mares standing outside. "Oh, And thank you so much for your help, everypony!"

They all looked pleased at this, but Pinkie Pie especially so and she jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh, oh! Did she say anything about the cupcakes? Did she like them?"

Nurse Redheart gave Pinkie Pie a smile. "She didn't say much, Pinkie, she was very tired, but I'm sure she loved them."

They all looked at the small form sticking out from beneath a blanket, in deep but tranquil sleep and Rainbow said, "She is gonna be okay, isn't she?"

Curl Staff gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes, I believe so."

They moved to take their seats in an otherwise empty car. Nurse Redheart guiding them to a set of benches facing each other and wheeled Gabrielle in between them, positioning herself close by, Curl Staff taking up the other place closest to her and Twilight placing herself nearer the middle passage and pulled out a book from her bags.

Nurse Redheart looked at the book. Magical Maladies & Curious Cures. "A subject that caught your eye recently?" Redheart asked in a slightly playful tone.

Twilight looked a bit abashed. "Er, yes. I wanted to make sure that the cupcakes were done properly."

"They were," Curl Staff said reassuringly.

"By the way, princess-" Redheart started.

"Just "Twilight", please," the princess interjected apologetically.

Redheart wondered if this modesty in regards to her position was going to be a persisting thing. "Alright, Twilight, do you happen to know any spells that muffles senses, specifically hearing?"

"Yes I do." She did indeed have one, she got the idea after her first night in Ponyville but only remembered in looking one up recently. "How so?"

"Well, Gabrielle's hearing appeared to be very sensitive the last time she woke up. If it is next time, I wonder if you could help her out with that." Redheart said.

"Of course!" Twilight said happily, eager to give any aid she could.

That step! Every time.

I knew what was going to happen as it happened, because it happened about once a month. I didn't know before it happened, though, as that is the nature of dreams.

It was a very short dream but I had experienced it about a hundred times. Suddenly I was in the middle of walking down the stairs of my parents' old place when one step for some reason was positioned further down than the others and I lost my balance and fell, waking up the moment I would face-plant into another step a few inches below my center of gravity.

I never fall out of my bed though, I just headbutt my pillow. It still leaves me in a bit of a mood, because in the dream I'm walking with two legs made out of flesh and blood. I don't lie to myself, I'm not totally fine with having half my extremities removed and spending ages relearning how to aim when reaching for my breakfast, but I'm pretty much over it.

That said, I hate it when my subconsciousness mocks me with experiencing having all my limbs back for about two seconds every month, and in that limited time I use them by tripping and flailing uselessly as I haplessly sail through the air.

However, the usual experience topped this one.

As previously stated I usually wake up giving my pillow the what for with my forehead (the what forehead?). This time, the side of my head struck a floor.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

‘Uugh! Not again!’

I didn't bother opening my eye this time. Painfully loud voices, a throbbing head, exhaustion and an unpleasantly cold tile floor.

‘Nap-Time, I need you. I need you bad.’

"Here, let me help!"

"Uuh." I groaned

"Ma'am, we got this!"

"Uuuh." I insisted.

"I'm so sorry! It's just, I can't control these right now!"

"Uuuuuh!" I groaned again, with emphasis.

"Twilight, now might be the time for that spell we talked about."

"Then please step back, ma'am!"

"What? Oh! Right, let me just..."

I felt a soothing sensation and the volume of everything decreased. "Uuuh?" I groaned hopefully.

"There, that should help!" a normal voice said.

"Uuuh." I gratefully groaned.

"It's just, Oh! I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"Tha... just- just go about your business, ma'am."

I felt a strange embrace, or something like it, and I was hoisted up in the air and placed in a sitting position.

A blanket was wrapped around me. ‘I'm in that wheelchair aren't I?’

"Dear? Gabrielle?" I heard a woman's somewhat familiar voice ask, but I couldn't place it. "Gabrielle, are you alright?" I opened my eye to see the nurse horsie and another, lavender horsie looked at me with concerned expressions.

‘Hey! That purple one's got a horn too!’

"Mmmm," I managed, trying to sound nonchalant but probably failing. I didn't really feel any worse than the last time I was awake. Actually, I might actually even have felt a little better. Still really tired though.

The lavender raised one of her forelegs and said, "how many hooves am I holding up?"

‘Oh, don't give me any openings like that when I'm trying to sleep!’

"You need at least two eyes to see double," I said with a slight smile.

The purple one looked abashed and I tried to chuckle but only succeeded in yawning. "I'm, I'm so sorry!" she said.

‘Aw, jeeze, I didn't want to actually make her feel bad.’

This time I actually did manage something which could be interpreted as a chuckle and tried waving her off but had to settle for shaking my head slowly with a little smile on my face. "Don't worry 'bout it," I said.

My mannerisms didn't seem to reassure the one with the pink mane though. ‘Her name. Think, think. Redheart!’

"Are you sure you're alright? Does anything hurt?" she asked.

‘Well, yes, my forehead. But that's to be expected when you land on it.

‘Don't be difficult with the healers.’ I chastised myself and closed my eye again.

"My head hurts, and I'm cold, and tired," I said.

Redheart answered. "Is it worse than before?"

I assumed that by that she meant the last time I was awake, and it wasn't. I hadn't tried moving but I had a somewhat easier time to speak. It definitely didn't seem worse. "No," I answered.

But the rude awakening confused me. "What happened?" I asked.

Another voice came from somewhere behind me, I recognized it as the doctor's voice. "Just some klutz who had taken something that made her lose control of her wings."

‘Wings? Were they on another horse? Well, we have unicorns, why not pegasi?’

I felt myself being wheeled forward and Redheart spoke up. "Well, hopefully your medicine will start working soon and you'll be feeling better in no time."

"Mmhm," I concurred as we turned and I heard a door open in front of me.

"Speaking of which," Redheart continued as I felt the wheelchair coming to a halt and the sound of hoof clops around me dropping in frequency. "I think it's time for a new round of medicine."

I opened my eye and saw that I had been wheeled into a fairly plain room with a bed with wheels and walls with muted, warm colors. ‘Are we there already?’ Redheart stepped into my vision with another cupcake held in her mouth this time. ‘She's holding it in her mouth? Eh, whatever, she looks housebroken. And I've had worse medicine, that's for sure. Penicillin, yuk!’

I closed my eye again and heard Redheart ask, "Are you tired, dea– Gabrielle?"

'She remembered my name.'

"Yes," I answered.

"Alright, we can do it like last time. Just open your mouth and chew," she said and I complied.

Like before, I opened my mouth and a piece of cupcake was gently inserted. Blueberry this time.

The whole situation stood in such contrast to the situation I'd been in less than an hour of waking time before. In the woods, with the wooden wolves and the martial arts performance by the zebra, Zecora. ‘I really would like to meet her sometime.’

I was finished soon after and Redheart said, "Good, that's really good. Now, we're gonna lift you over to a bed, alright?"

I nodded while swallowing the last of the medicine and felt myself being gently lifted into the air and laid down on a bed.

I heard the doctor, Curl Staff, speak up next. "Gabrielle, you remember we promised you some answers the next time you woke up?"

I nodded again but decided to try and have a little more active part in the conversation. "Yes."

"Well, I recommend that you try and get some sleep and wait for the next time again," Curl Staff said. "You should be feeling a lot better by then."

‘Well, aside from the coldness, right now I wasn't actually feeling bad, per se. Just very, very, tired.’

Curl Staff continued. "But don't worry, we have somepony with us who can answer lots of questions."

I opened my eye and saw the three equines standing beside the bed, the lavender one looking a bit nervous and Redheart pulling a blanket over me. The lavender one took a step forward and said, "Eh, hello."

"Salutations," I said, with a small smile.

She looked a bit lost before rallying and giving me a small smile of her own. "Er, salutations. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Gabrielle. Pleased to meet you," I said.

‘So this purple unicorn can give me answers?’ I thought back to the previous conversations and realized that I've probably been spoken to as if I'm a child. That was one thing on my list of questions. Curl Staff was right though, I should get some sleep before asking them, it was really hard to keep my eye open.

"Are you gonna answer my questions when I wake up?" I asked.

She nodded. "Of course. I'll be waiting close by when you wake up. I just have a little business to attend to while you rest."

I felt someone stalking me. "Oh, good. Brace yourself, they might be a bit odd." It was Nap-Time! That crook was lurking around here somewhere.

Twilight Sparkle fidgeted a bit, which was interesting to see a horse do. "I expect some of them to be. You being from another world and all." Oh?

My eyebrow shot up, or it tried, at least. "How did you know that?" Any second, now.

Twilight Sparkle fidgeted some more. "I, uh, was the one who brought you here."

"Oh." Nap-Time, wearing a white silken suit and hat, struck.

Author's Notes:

Yes, Twilight is an alicorn, but from Gabe's current perspective she's a unicorn.

Q&A-time

Princess Twilight Sparkle walked down yet another hallway in Canterlot Castle.

It was strange, not long ago, meeting up with Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun and supreme ruler of all of Equestria, had been an almost casual thing. Then Twilight had moved to Ponyville, became a champion and savior of Equestria and bearer of one of the most, possibly the most powerful magical artefacts in the world (as well as a librarian). Meeting with her friend and mentor after that often turned into some official affair with varying amounts of rituals, depending on whether or not her visit was announced and which valet, officer or other had her presence brought to their attention.

Now, she was a princess herself, a leader, a role model, a paragon, an embodiment of virtue, strength and wisdom. At least, according to old books and scriptures found in the castle's libraries that concerned alicorns, probably written by ponies with a flair for drama and definitely with varying degrees of pretentiousness. Despite all this, the fuss concerning her visits hadn't increased. In fact, it seemed to have decreased somewhat. It was still there, definitely, but it seemed more consistent now. Twilight suspected that the proper proceedings concerning princesses were a lot more common knowledge among the castle staff than proper proceedings concerning personal friends of the diarchs who also happened to be world saving librarians, and the staff had stopped overdoing it in fear of underdoing it.

Twilight neared the door leading to her former mentor's study when it was wrapped in a golden aura and opened to reveal a somewhat unfocused looking Princess Celestia about to make her way out into the hallway.

Celestia caught sight of Twilight and smiled in that pleasant way that few can match. "Good evening, Twilight. How are you?"

Many, many ponies would want to become princesses or princes for many different reasons. Twilight had to admit that princesshood came with a lot of perks, but one that she appreciated, perhaps a bit disproportionately, was that she finally had a proper reason to spend time with her mentor and role model in a more relaxed way. Celestia and Twilight were no longer restricted by expectations and roles of the mentor-and-student relationship, these days, they had a relationship that Twilight had learned to truly cherish, now, more than anything, they were friends. "I'm fine, better than I might've been, at least. How about yourself?"

And thanks to the nature of their relationship feeling less stringent, Twilight no longer felt as if burdened by secrets when she witnessed Celestia occasionally slip out of her role as a pinnacle of wisdom and composure. Celestia got a strange and somewhat silly look on her face as she craned her neck and loudly popped it, letting out a sigh of relief. "Better, now that I'm done with all the paperwork for the week." Celestia studied Twilight for a moment and then said, "I assume by your remark that the situation concerning our involuntary visitor has proceeded in satisfactory fashion."

Twilight felt small pangs of mixed emotions from that comment. She still held Celestia in very high regards, and hearing Celestia directly addressing her mistake, the gravity of which was still uncertain, stung somewhat. But going by her tone, her friend and fellow princess was not judging her. "Yes, I think so at least. She woke up for a while when we were wheeling her through the hospital and she was accidentally pushed out of her wheelchair."

Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof. "Goodness! Is she unharmed?"

"Yes, she's fine," Twilight said and thought for a second. "You looked as if you were heading somewhere."

"Yes," Celestia said. "Luna's chambers, it's almost time to raise the moon." Celestia gestured towards the high windows and the relaxing, orange light that flowed through them.

They set off in a relaxed pace down towards Princess Luna's chambers, the occasional pair of guards saluting when they passed. Saluting both of us, Twilight reminded herself.

"So, the victim of this unfortunate event is now safe from direct harm?" Celestia asked, taking some effort to not imply much in a location where some gossip-hungering noble might walk out around a corner.

"Yes, she's showing no signs of complications. Just the usual- oh!" Twilight stopped herself as Princess Luna walked out of her chambers, sporting a bathrobe, bed hair and wearing a slightly queasy look on her face.

Luna turned to face them and noticed her sister. "Evenin', Tia-" stopped herself when she noticed another pony beside Celestia. "Uh, we mean, we bid you a good evening, sister, dear." She then seemed to notice that the other pony was Twilight Sparkle, her fellow princess and friend with such quaint, casual disregard to high society's proper decorum and finally settled for "I mean, uh, Oh! Just, hello, you two."

The tallest and shortest of the collection of princesses looked confoundedly at Luna before Celestia spoke up. "Lulu, are you alright? You seem a bit... out of it."

Luna did something between hanging her head and shaking it. "I am fine. I was just doing an everynight inspection of the astral plane when I came across the remains of a dream from yesterday morning. It was... disorienting."

"How so?" Twilight asked, curious.

The trio started walking towards a tower for a good vantage point for the raising and lowering of their respective celestial bodies. "Oh, I'm not sure I can do a dream that strange justice with mere words. It was like a hundred voices singing, whispering, laughing, shouting and riding fairground rides all at once. And what is a Lucy?."

"I don't think you need to worry, Lulu," Celestia said. "We have a fairly good idea of whose dream you encountered."

Luna looked surprised. "You do?"

Celestia nodded. "You remember I told you about my latest correspondence with Twilight here?" Luna looked from her sister to Twilight while nodding. "Well, I'll let Twilight take it from here."

Twilight looked at Luna. "Well, I'm not sure how much you know," Twilight said.

"Only that you've had a magical mishap with one of Starswirl's old relics and brought some being here from another world," Luna said, not unkindly.

"Oh, ok," Twilight continued. "Well, we found her in the Everfree woods, it's a unicorn filly who was suffering Wisp-Shimmer syndrome. We brought her to the hospital in Ponyville and helped with the initial treatment. After that I accompanied her when she was brought here to Canterlot."

Luna considered this for a moment. "A magical fever dream of a mind from another world. Yes, that would explain quite a bit." Luna seemed to come to a realization. "Now, hold for a moment, you said that it was a unicorn filly? Is it from another world of ponies?" Luna asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

"Uh..." Twilight was mystified at this reaction before realizing what Luna meant. "Oh, no. It doesn't seem connected to our world in any way. I highly doubt that there are any risks of magical cataclysms just by her being here," Twilight ensured Luna, who had clearly remembered the last time a device of Starswirl, that brilliant but profoundly loopy magician, had been used to travel between worlds.

This was enough to calm down Luna. "Good. But still, you said it was a filly?"

Celestia spoke up at this. "Yes, Twilight asked me about that in our correspondence. Our visitor's world seemed bereft of magic and so I would hazard that her form is a result of primal magic."

Luna nodded as this. It seemed likely. Primal magic was very difficult to control or even understand to any meaningful extent. And since it was so difficult to control or influence, and mostly observable in distant and wild places of the world, it rarely affected the lives of ponykind. When it did, however, the results tended to be puzzling. And should some being from another world find its way to Equestria, it would make sense that this magical void would be affected by primal magic, perhaps giving it what it felt was an appropriate form.

"By the way," Twilight said. "When she was awake she introduced herself as Gabrielle."

"Sounds more like a gryphon's name," Luna observed.

"Appealing, though," said Celestia.

As the trio ascended the stairs towards the top of one of Canterlot Castle's highest towers, Twilight let out a sigh of relief and said, "I'm relieved by how you've reacted to this situation."

Luna looked at Twilight with a surprised expression. "How we've reacted?"

Twilight looked a bit sheepish. "Well, I was afraid that you'd be more disappointed in me. This is quite a mistake for a princess to make, after all."

Luna almost managed to hold back a snort and Celestia gave her sister an amused look before turning to Twilight. "Luna feels that it's not her place to say too much about Starswirl. But no doubt she feels that this is far from the worst possible result of experimenting with all of his kooky creations," Celestia said, as she turned back to Luna with a small smirk.

"Quite," Luna said stiffly.

"And I must say," Celestia continued as they reached the top of the tower. "While this does seem like an unfortunate situation, I am pleased with how you assumed responsibility for your actions, accidental though they might have been."

"Agreed," said Luna as she looked up into the sky.

"Well," said Twilight. "I'm responsible for her situation, of course I ought to do my best to help her."

The conversation was paused as the sun was lowered beyond the horizon and the moon peeked out from beyond a distant mountain.

"An admirable sentiment, and an appropriate one for royalty such as yourself, we feel." Luna said and paused as she considered something. "Pray tell, where is this filly now?"

I heard birdsong and felt sunlight softly caress my cheek.

‘This is nice but the last time this happened you were abducted by big dogs and put in a sack.’

The smell of antiseptic was in the air, but it was distant in the fresh air. Warm, soothing sunlight and air so fresh that you'd think you have to climb a mountain to find was an interesting combination, and one I certainly didn't mind.

I opened my eye to take in the world around me and was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the task. I was situated in the same room that I fell asleep in, but it seemed to be morning this time. I hadn't taken note of the time of day the last time I had a look at the room, but I seem to recall daylight outside, which probably meant that I had been asleep for a full night and probably a good part of an afternoon. For a change I didn't feel as though it would be a good idea to just lie down and fall asleep again, I was actually feeling pretty spry right now.

I took a look at myself. Same small equine body, this time covered by a bland bed cover. I found myself oddly at peace with the idea, it was a very strange experience of course, but not shocking and panic-inducing as one might suspect it would be to find oneself in another physical form. Then again, I had woken up in a body that was vastly different than the one I was used to once before, and this time I wasn't covered in bandages with intravenous needles piercing me and a heart monitor making sure that I didn't kick it without a bunch of doctors and nurses knowing about it. I would never have guessed that an experience of that nature would help me cope with an experience of this nature, but there you have it, life is strange sometimes.

I closed my eye again and did something that I had needed to do for ages but had been unable to. I stretched. Another strange experience, I extended my arm and leg as far as I could and wiggled what I realized felt like two strangely dextrous lumps, partially covered in something big, hard and solid. I'm supposed to be an expert on organic tissue but the term escaped me, I would've felt sheepish about that but I felt that I had a pretty good excuse as I opened my eye and inspected my hoof. Now I had time to take it in properly as I wasn't trying to hatch a hasty plan to get away from a pack of wolves, or feeling so exhausted that I could collapse at a moment's notice.

I lifted my hoof up to my face and started turning it around, fascinated by the range of motion in my limb, when a clash of colors in the background caught my eye. I looked over towards the attention-grabbing object and realized that it was the unicorn from yesterday, or at least I assumed that it was yesterday that when she introduced herself. She, Twilight Sparkle, I recalled, was sitting/lying down on a bench in that way that horses do when they fold their legs beneath them. I'm no equestrian, but in movies, horses never seemed very pleased with this position, judging by the shaky way they assumed it. However, Twilight over there was sitting in a much more relaxed and pleased manner, in that way more like a cat. In front of her was a book and she had clearly finished reading a page, as she turned it by casually nuzzling it with some impressive precision.

Two things struck me about that, the second was that I now had a form much like hers and I had some reservations about my own ability to manipulate the world around with hooves and a muzzle.

‘Ah! That's the word!’

The second was that it looked absolutely adorable.

I also noticed that she seemed to have wings folded by her sides. I looked around but there was no Ray Harryhausen in sight. ‘Someone, the doctor, I think, said that the one that knocked me to the floor yesterday did so with her wings. Was it her? No, wait, it couldn't have been, there was a fourth voice that was apologizing and it wasn't hers.’

I stretched again and let out a yawn, which made Twilight look up. "Oh! You're awake," she said.

"Yes, very much so, in fact."

She nuzzled the book closed and stepped down on the floor. "I'm gonna go get doctor Staff or Nurse Redheart. They'll probably want to know how you feel," she said and started making her way out of the room.

"Uh, okay," I said, feeling like that was a very lackluster response for some reason.

Twilight walked out the door and left me alone I looked around the room I was in, and I couldn't help but notice the clopping sounds as she did, which was also adorable. It looked like a fairly modern hospital room. Not an intensive care unit, but a normal room, except it was more decorated than I was used to seeing them, like someone had expected a long term stay. There were a few potted plants and paintings of landscapes, which made me curious about where I was, since what little view out the window that wasn't blocked by a thin, white curtain was just blue sky.

I had apparently had a very good rest for even though I realized that I was really hungry I was still in a pretty good mood.

I lifted up my hoof to my face again and inspected it. My whole arm, or foreleg as it's probably called now, was shaped somewhat differently than a normal horse. I had always thought that horses' legs, and the extremities of quite a few animals, looked awfully fragile compared to humans'. Of course I knew that's because humans store nutrition in our legs and that it wasn't animal legs that were thin so much as our legs that were tubby.

'Our legs' I thought and suddenly felt very somber. ‘Can I still think like that? Why did this happen?’

I stopped my train of thought to inspect it. ‘Wow, now I'm feeling really blue,’ I thought, looked down on myself and actually laughed out loud when the pun dawned on me.

‘So, mood swings, eh? Hopefully they're thanks to my treatment, I have to remember to ask about that.’

Suddenly the joy of discovery took over again and I once again started inspecting myself. ‘If a normal horse would have legs this thick they would probably be either freakishly strong or immobile.’

I remembered how I had observed something that looked like magical fingers on my hoof when discovering magic. I put my hoof down on my cover and tried to grab it with seemingly nonexistent fingers, it didn't work. It would probably have felt more strange to someone else, but I had a lot of experience of trying to grab things with limbs that I had forgotten were nonexistent.

Suddenly, the door was opened and in walked Redheart and Twilight Sparkle. ‘Clippedy cloppedy. That's kinda funny for some reason.’

Twilight gave me a nervous smile while Redheart's was warm and calming.

"Good morning, Gabrielle," Nurse Redheart said. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," I said with a smile. "Though I'm hungry and seem to be suffering from mood swings."

"That's to be expected, dear. But don't worry, it'll pass," Redheart said reassuringly. "Speaking of which, it's time for another dose of medicine."

She took the familiar paper bag in her teeth from the nightstand beside the bed and pulled out a cupcake with her hoof and held it in her wrist thingy. ‘There's that thing with holding things with your hoof again. And eating cupcakes is supposed to make me feel better, because I used too much magic, which I could do because I'm a unicorn. Why, why and why? So. Many. Questions.’

I felt some creepy undertones with the whole cupcake thing though and decided to give civility a miss. "Is cupcakes really supposed to be medicine?" I asked.

"Ah, but these aren't normal cupcakes, they have magical charges fine enough for you to absorb when you eat them," Redheart said, still holding the paper bag in her teeth, and held it out for me.

‘Okay, she sounded very convincing. And really, why would she lie?’

"Magical charges, eh?" I said and looked at the cupcake in her hoof and reached out with my own hoof, but I stopped myself from trying to grab it. "How are you even doing that?" I asked with an incredulous look on my face.

"Do what?" she asked, looking surprised.

"That!" I said and gestured towards her hoof with my own. "Shouldn't it just slip out of your grip?"

Redheart looked at me with a confused look on her face before turning to the pegasus/unicorn thing beside her. "Twilight, perhaps you can take it from here," she said and put the cupcake and bag back on the nightstand.

"Uh, okay," Twilight said and walked over to the bench where she had sat before, opened a bag that was lying on it and took out a parchment. "Well, I would like to ask you some questions first."

E.T came to mind and suddenly I was a bit skeptical to the idea of talking about how I was from another world. But, so far, these horsies had been nothing but helpful. Saving me from tree wolves, taking me to a hospital and making sure I was alright. At no point had there been any hints of men in black suits coming to take me away. Additionally, Twilight here had already said- ‘Oh, yeah! She said that she brought me here! Shouldn't I be the one asking questions? Maybe this place's equivalent of the 'Men In Black' is called the 'Pegasi In Saddlebags'?... Take that acronym out of someone!’

I inspected my trail of thought, drew the conclusion that it should be closed for the public, and looked at Redheart and Twilight, who in turn were giving me slightly worried looks. "Actually, I would like to ask you some questions," I said, realizing that I had been alarmingly passive since this whole thing began.

Twilight looked a bit worried and said, "Oh, uh, alright."

I might've been a bit forceful but I needed answers. "First of all, where am I and how did I get here?"

Twilight's expression shifted to uncomfortable and her ears drooped. "Because I brought you here," she said cautiously.

"How and why!?" I asked loudly, sounding a bit snappish but I couldn't help it. These were questions one could only hold back for so long.

‘Why a talking unicorn would want me around, I have no idea.’

Twilight now looked outright distraught. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" she said, on the verge of tears. "I was just observing other worlds through a scrying orb and accidentally summoned you! I didn't mean to, please believe me."

I stopped myself and took in the situation. No one had done anything out of malice and I wasn't actually hurt, I think, just very confused. And now I was making the one who was trying to help me with my confusion feel guilty to the verge of a breakdown. Twilight hung her head and let out a small sob and Redheart looked at her with sad eyes. I couldn't recall making anyone cry before but I decided that I didn't like it. ‘Ugh, of course. Mood swings. I'd better watch what I say right now.’

"Okay, uh, I'm sorry for snapping at you," I said, which made her look up at me with wet eyes. "it's just that, I don't know where I am or what's happened to me. I was just getting a little desperate for answers," I said, trying to sound soothing.

I had never been very good at comforting people like this, which made it doubly surprising when Twilight took a step forward and wrapped her forelegs around me. "Oh, thank you! I was so worried that you'd hate me."

This seemed consistent with the sugar sweet behavior of the horsies around me so far, except maybe the kung fu zebra, but it still seemed a little much for someone she'd spent less than five minutes with. Besides, I found it hard to hate such an adorable creature.

I looked over at Redheart who smiled just as Twilight broke the hug. "Okay, I'm here by accident and you didn't mean to, that answers that, but why am I like... this?" I said and gestured at myself with my hoof.

‘I stopped myself from saying “horse”, since I'm not sure that's what I actually am and I don't want to sound like an idiot.’

Twilight and Redheart, but especially Twilight, had strange mix of curiosity and worry on their faces when Twilight answered. "Well, I could only study your world fleetingly but I couldn't find anything like the magic found here. It's my guess that the magical void that was, well, you, was filled by primal magic, which could very well have given you your current form," Twilight said in a lecturing tone and seemed to brighten up as she did so, she then looked at me with an interested expression. "You had another form where you're from, I assume"

I didn't understand much of that answer but she said it in a mollifying and convincing way. "Yes. I'm a human." They looked puzzled. "Human," I repeated. "Homo Sapiens? Anthropos?" They didn't show any signs of comprehension. "Bipedal omnivores. Doesn't sound familiar at all?" They both shook their heads with the same expression, at least until something dawned on Redheart.

"Omnivores?" she said and took a step forward and put a hoof up to my mouth. "I thought I saw something when you ate that last cupcake. Could you open your mouth, please?"

I played along and heard Twilight take a small breath and lean forward to have a look herself. "Oh, my," she said in a low voice. "Are those fangs?"

By this point, Redheart had inserted her hoof into my mouth and was inspecting my teeth. I told myself that someone who works at a hospital makes sure to keep their hands clean, and horses who works in hospitals probably does the same for their hooves. "Cangingesch," I said. There were some things that made others uneasy but which never bothered me in the slightest, among them were reptiles and going to the dentist. Maybe it was a learned behavior, but someone groping around inside my mouth tended to make me bored.

"Those look pretty sharp, too," Twilight, who was looking on curiously, observed.

"Ingschischosch," I said, looking around and trying to find something interesting to study.

Redheart took her hoof out of my mouth and looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, that was rude. What were you trying to say?"

‘Well, she is probably responsible for my health, let's not hold it against her when she inspects anomalies.’

"That's okay. And, no, not fangs. Those are canines."

Redheart's ears drooped down and she looked apologetic. ‘Do these horsies ever stop looking adorable?’

"I'm sorry. it's just, I've never seen them that large, and sharp in a pony before. Everything else seems normal, though."

‘Is that what I am?’

"Is that what I am?"

‘Don't echo your thoughts verbally, you could end up in jail.’

Twilight took over. "Yes. A unicorn to be specific. You might've noticed your horn that's sticking out of your forehead."

"Noticed it? It caused some sort of explosion back when that zebra, Zecora, rescued me from a pack of wolves made out of wood, If you can believe that." I said, thinking back in awe at the zebra's display.

"That was you?" Twilight said and widened her eyes a bit. "That explains the pieces of timber wolves that were all around you when we found you."

Redheart had been looking at Twilight and then turned to me when she had finished speaking. "Speaking of which. Gabrielle, you must not use any magic while you're recovering. Your magic is very unstable now and it could be dangerous to use it."

That reminded me of how many questions I still had. "Right, and that was what was causing the mood swings, too, right?"

Redheart nodded. "Yes, and what we call stamina fluctuations."

I raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Well," Redheart said. "You're not nearly as tired as the last time you were awake, but you might be again. You could shift between very energetic and exhausted at a moment's notice."

My belly rumbled loudly. "Which brings us back to the term 'omnivore'. What do you, uhm, anthropos eat?" Redheart asked, which grabbed Twilight's attention as well.

"Human is fine. And we eat- ah, I was gonna say just about anything but I'm not sure how a pony would interpret that. What do you guys eat?" I said.

"Well, hay and flowers and bread and fruits and vegetables and dairy products to name a few," Redheart said. She had lifted a hoof and made little motions as if counting the products of with her fingers, but with fingers completely absent, of course.

I was a bit thrown off by the entrancingly mysterious gesture. ‘What is she doing? Does sh- Oh, right! I saw fingers on myself when I inspected myself magically. Maybe the rest of the hors- ponies have them as well and they do work.’

Another rumble from beneath the blanket made Redheart chuckle. "I guess something on that list caught your attention, how about some apples and a glass of milk?"

I shook my head to clear it of the bizarre sight. "Uh, yeah, humans can eat that," I said and stopped to think for a moment. "Where does the milk come from?"

"From cows, of course," Twilight said.

‘Do they talk too? Actually, let's skip that question, I'm having enough trouble remembering the important ones.’

"Okay, good. Apples and milk, no problem."

Nurse Redheart looked cheerful for some reason. "Alright, but first you're gonna have to take your medicine," she said as she lifted out a cupcake from the paper bag with her hoof again and held it out for me, resting on the top of her hoof which she had turned upwards.

I looked skeptically on the cupcake and slowly reached out my arm, or foreleg, towards it. I gently touched the cupcake with my hoof and tried to grasp with invisible fingers. There was no sensation. Despite this I tried to scoop it up from Redheart's hoof, whereupon it unceremoniously fell down on the bed. ‘Can't say I'm surprised.’

All five eyes in the room turned to the pastry lying on its side before Redheart's face recolored to match her hair, or mane. "Oh! Oh, Celestia! Have you hurt your other leg as well? How's your hoof dear? You've already lost so much I didn't even consider that it would be even worse!" Redheart looked at me with an unnerving mix of shock, horror, sorrow, and guilt.

‘Is she mooching on my medicine? That was quite a sudden change in mood. I'd better try and head this off fast.’

"Whoa! Hey, look! What are you talking about? I feel fine, I'm not hurt as far as I can tell." I said, a bit uncertain.

‘After all, I can't be entirely certain what rates as unharmed around here. But I'm not sure what would cause a reaction like this.’

Redheart looked at me with sad eyes while Twilight looked thoughtful. After a moment, Twilight said, "don't worry, Redheart, I don't think she's hurt. I just think that she just need some practice with her hooves, or uh, hoof."

Redheart looked at Twilight. "You think so?"

Twilight nodded in conformation. "Yes, I've read quite a bit about transformations, and have some experience first hoof. Using the hooves' manipulation field might not come naturally if you didn't already have one." Twilight turned to me. "Because if I'm not mistaken, you didn't have any hooves in your previous form."

‘This one seems sharp. At least when it comes to certain subjects.’

"That's right," I said and gave a nod with my head. "Humans have hands and feet. Soft things compared to hooves, but with five digits for gripping and manipulation."

Twilight turned back to Redheart and said, with a reassuring voice, "so don't worry about her hoof. A little practice and she'll be fine."

‘Is it assumed that I'm gonna stay for long? Ugh, I should write all these questions down somewhere.’

Redheart let out a sigh of relief and turned back to me. "Okay, but you still need to take your medicine. Would you like some help?"

"I guess so," I said, glancing back and forth between my hoof and the cupcake.

Redheart had perked up fast between her previous reaction and now. "Alright, go ahead," she said with a smile and held up the cupcake to my mouth.

I opened my mouth and took a bite. They were really good.

"There's a good filly," Redheart said encouragingly.

‘There's the subject of my size again,’ I thought, but before I could ask any questions, Twilight Sparkle spoke up instead.

"Gabrielle, could you tell me what happened to you, from your perspective?"

I swallowed down a piece of cupcake and said, "sure, where do you want me to start?"

"Well, perhaps from when you came here."

I shrugged. "Okay, I was closing up shop for the day down at the MRI section where I work, then there was some strange sensation that I can't quite remember, followed by lying outdoors in the grass like this," I said, gesturing down at my form.

Twilight and Redheart cocked their heads. "MRI?" Twilight asked.

I looked around the clean hospital room. "Yeah, you guys don't have that here?"

They shook their heads. "No, never heard of it," Twilight said.

"It's an anatomy scanner. I would've thought you guys knew about that, considering how modern this hospital looks," I said, taking the last of the cupcake and feeling my brain becoming much more agreeable as it always does when I'm eating. "Of course, you probably use magic or some- Aha!" I exclaimed, spraying some pieces of cupcake across the sheets and startling the horsies, ponies, standing next to me. "Sorry," I said with a sheepish grin on my face. "But I just realized something."

"What?" they both asked at the same time.

"Well, back in the woods I managed to sense magic around me. Or at least I think that's what I did. And it looked so familiar, like I've seen it a thousand times before. I just realized that it looked a lot like MRI imaging."

"You can sense magic energy around you?" Twilight said. "Wow, that's pretty advanced."

Redheart turned to Twilight. "It's not above your level though, is it?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, I learned it while I was just a filly myself. Still, that's magic for mages, which most unicorns never study."

Redheart looked at me and my fascinated expression. "Twilight here is one of the most skilled users of magic in Equestria."

Twilight blushed slightly but looked surprised as I tried to hold back a snort. "Sorry," I said. "But, 'Equestria'?"

Twilight and Redheart looked confused. "Yes, that's where we are," the apparently very powerful unicorn said.

I tried to hold back a smile, but gave up when that made it feel more like a sneer. "Sorry, it's just that, where I come from, an 'equestrian' is someone who takes care of horses."

Twilight and Redheart looked at each other and then at me. "Like an animal? At zoos?" Redheart asked.

I gave this some thought. "I don't think so, I'm not one myself but I think they need more room to run around than zoos would give them." I shook my head. "Anyway! That's not important. I would like some more answers."

Redheart nodded and said, "Well, I'm sure Twilight can answer some questions. I am gonna go get doctor Staff," she said as she started walking towards the door.

‘Clippedy cloppedy.’

"-and get you a meal," she concluded and gave me a nod as she walked out the door, apparently one that only needs a push and no turning of door handles.

I turned back to Twilight. "I have so many questions that I don't even know where to start," I said with a small sigh.

Twilight gave me a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, I told you I would answer your questions and I will. Maybe you can continue telling me what happened to you, that might help us figure out where to start."

‘Well, if she's not going anywhere I suppose that's okay.’

"Well, after I found myself out in some green meadows, some big dog came up and put me in a sack and I passed out. I think I was like this when that happened but I can't say for sure, I was pretty out of it."

Twilight let out a small gasp. "Big dog? Was it a diamond dog?"

That non sequitur threw me a bit. "What?"

"They're big dogs that walk on their hind paws. We had a pack of them out by Ponyville once that tried to foalnap a friend of mine for work in their mines," Twilight said. I looked at her questioningly.

‘Is there anything normal about this place?’

She noticed my confusion. "They're obsessed with gems," she added helpfully.

"Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it I think they talked about that. Anyway, I wasn't all there at the moment, but I think I came to in their mine, some big chieftain type got angry with whoever had brought me there, then I passed out again, and then I came to inside a sack that some more dogs were carrying me around in before leaving me there in those woods when they heard wolf howls."

Twilight looked horrified. "They left you to be killed by timber wolves?"

I shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do but by then I had noticed that I was a unicorn and I figured that learning to do some magic real quick would probably be the best I could do at that moment."

"Normally I would say that that wouldn't really help without a lot of studying and training, but I saw some of the results."

I felt a strange sort of pride at that comment. "Well, anyway, I thought I was making some progress–" the door opened and Redheart and Curl Staff walked in.

‘Clippedy cloppedy’

"–when suddenly a pack of some sort of wolves made out of wood crept up on me."

Redheart now had a tray with food resting on her back and Curl Staff was in a lab coat just like the last time I had seen her. They both stopped and gasped when they heard what I was saying.

"Good morning, doc!" I said In a jovial tone and waved at the arrivals before continuing my story. "Anyway, things looked bad at that point, but get this! Just as the wolves are about to pounce me, a zebra shows up out of nowhere and starts beating them up, just like that!" I said in an excited tone.

Redheart and Curl Staff looked horrified and I hope that it was because the wolves had nearly killed me and not because Zecora knew martial arts, if that was a secret it would be a poor repayment to spill it.

Twilight looked surprised and thoughtful. "Wow, I figured that Zecora knew how to take care of herself, but I didn't realize that she was such a badflank."

‘Interesting choice of words.’

Curl Staff seemed to remember what she came in for. "Yes, uhm, good morning, Gabrielle. It's time for breakfast and a checkup, but I suppose you can finish your story if there's not too much left."

Twilight once again focused on me. "Yes, what happened after that?"

"Just so we're clear, Zecora is alright, right?" I asked.

"Oh yes, don't worry," Curl Staff said. "She was suffering from magical exhaustion, same as you, but unlike you she wasn't suffering from Wisp-Shimmer syndrome. She should have fully recovered by now."

"Wisp-Shimmer?" I started before dismissing it with a shake of my head, figuring that I had enough questions already. "Anyway, Zecora started pummeling those wolf things, but they kept reassembling themselves."

"Yes, they do that," Twilight said.

"So, she managed to keep them off from me for a while, but eventually one of them came after me." The other let out small gasps as I reached this part of the story. "Zecora saved me again but this time she left herself open, with some five or six of those things coming down on her." Another round of gasps.

"How did you ever get out of that alive?" Twilight asked.

"Well," I said, searching for words on how to describe what happened next. "I had tried doing some magic earlier. I could somehow visualize it, for lack of a better word, and I somehow knew how to make some sense of it. So I did that visualization thing, and just," I gave another pause. What had I done? "I don't know, gave the shapes I saw a push. Yes, I think that's it. I saw the shapes in the wolves and sort of gave them a shove."

‘That's when that explosion thing happened.’

"Maybe I gave it a bit much," I said, grinning sheepishly.

Redheart and Curl Staff looked at me with their heads tilted and Twilight seemed to have some sort of epiphany. "Oh! I think I know what happened!" she said.

"You do?" Curl Staff asked. "By the way, good morning, Twilight."

"Hm? Oh! Good morning, doctor. Yes, I think I've figured it out now. I thought I felt a powerful spell in what would be around that time, but maybe it was just raw magical energy," Twilight said and looked at the two other ponies in the room except me. "No wonder you're suffering some Wisp-Shimmer syndrome," she said as she turned back to me. "You used your entire magical reserve to push the magic out of every creature around you." Twilight was quiet for a moment, then continued. "Wow, that was quite a time for a magical surge," She said in a small voice.

"And that's how you found them?" Redheart asked.

"Most likely," Twilight said with a nod.

"Wait," I said. "You were the one who found me?" I was going to give my thanks but a loud rumble from my belly interrupted me.

"Breakfast time!" Curl Staff said and Redheart walked up to me with the tray with food on. "We may be in Canterlot-"

‘Canterlot?’

"-but I'm fine with skipping table manners and having a conversation during a meal," she continued as Redheart set down the tray beside me. "Redheart told me about your hoof situation, would you like some help?"

"With eating, I assume?" She nodded. "Alright, out of necessity, nothing else," I said with emphasis.

Redheart gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we're happy to help. Apple or milk first?" She asked as she grabbed another pillow from beneath the bed and put it beneath the one I was already resting on, propping me up in something approaching a sitting position.

I let out a sigh. ‘Are we really doing this? I didn't even need help feeding myself after the accident.’

"Apple, please."

Redheart picked up an apple in her hoof and held it out to my mouth. "Don't worry, you'll be doing this yourself in no time."

I took a bite. "I hope so," I mumbled as I chewed. "Anyway, where were we?" I asked and turned to Twilight. "You said you found me."

Twilight nodded. "Well, me and my friends. Like I said, I brought you here. With magic by the way. And I couldn't tell exactly where you ended up, so me and my friends went looking for you. No wonder we couldn't find you if you had been abducted my diamond dogs." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, that couldn't have been a very pleasant welcome to Equestria."

I shrugged. "It seems to have worked out. This would be quite a story to tell at home if anyone could believe me"

Twilight gave me a small smile before gasping. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Suddenly she looked very nervous. "Now, please don't hate me, but I reviewed my notes from my scrying on your world and... I'm not sure if I can send you back."

I stopped chewing. "... What?"

Twilight's ears had drooped and she nervously elaborated. "I- it. it's just... I'm afraid that I can't send you back."

I raised both my eyelids at her, and she winced as I gave her a look. "Am I never gonna get home?"

"I, well, uhm. The thing is, I could try and send you back. But considering what happened when I was only inspecting your world, I can't say for sure what would happen if I tried to send you back. It could be very bad."

I felt parts of my brain abandoning ship, but like the vicious taskmaster I am I reeled them back in. "So what are you saying?"

"That... I don't know how to send you back, yet."

I'm not sure how long I considered this, but I noticed that all three ponies in the room were giving me worried looks. I realized that both my eyelids were still open and closed one of them. "Alright," I said and let out a sigh. "Alright."

Twilight looked miserable. "I'm so sorry!"

I gave a small smile. "Well, you didn't mean to and you're helping me. I can't hold it against you."

Redheart looked at me with a concerned face. "Are you sure you're okay? Don't you have any family to get home to?"

I tried to give her a smile as well, but I couldn't really put any effort into it. "Don't worry about that."

A silence came over the room and I couldn't really blame the ponies for not knowing how to break it in a tasteful manner. Luckily, I had some experience with that. "By the way," I said. "That apple was really good."

This seemed to break the trio out of their slump and Redheart once again held out the half eaten apple for me to continue undoing. "So you and your friends got me out of that forest? Please tell them I say thanks."

Twilight looked lost in thought for a moment before getting a determined look on her face and perking up. "Actually, you could thank them yourself. I was thinking about asking them to come here."

"Why?" I asked and felt confused as Curl Staff put her hoof on my forehead.

"To see you, of course!" Twilight said happily. "If your doctor thinks it's okay."

Curl Staff was gazing up in the ceiling and looking concentrated and I realized that she was checking my temperature. "Well, you seem to be recovering just fine, Gabrielle. You certainly don't seem too bad for visitors."

I looked at Twilight. "Well, as long as it's not a bother."

She waved a hoof and said, "Oh, don't worry about that."

By now I had finished with the apple part of the meal and Redheart held out a glass of milk for me. As she helped me slowly empty the glass I realized something.

"Oh, by the way," I said. "Does anyone have a mirror?"

"Oh," Twilight said. " That's right, you probably haven't seen what you look like." She trotted up to a sink with a cabinet at one end of the room. There, her horn lit up and the cabinet's handle was covered in a soft, purple glow. The cabinet door opened and a small mirror was levitated out of and floated beside her as she made her way back to the bed.

When she came up to me she recoiled a bit. ‘What? Am I so hideous that it's a bad idea to show me a mirror?’ I looked around at the other two ponies and noticed that they looked uncomfortable as well. I was confused and a bit worried before I realized that the little magic show had made me open both my eyes wide. "Sorry," I said and brought down me eyelid again. "Was that magic?" I asked Twilight.

"Yes it was. A basic levitation spell that pretty much every unicorn learns. And so can you thanks to your horn," she said and the mirror floated up and showed me my face.

A little unicorn filly with the same royal blue coat as the rest of me looked back with one big, expressive, purple eye attached to an equally expressive face. On top of the head was a blue horn with spiral grooves in it, together with large, pointy ears which kept an enormous, blasted back shock of orange mane with blue highlights from falling down to the side of my face. The hairdo looked like it was from an eighties rock video but with an extra dab of flamboyant. I had always felt that what beauty one had was better served by an interesting personality rather than vanity. That being said, the creature I saw in the mirror was so adorable, it almost hurt a little.

I couldn't help but give a small smile as I inspected the creature some more. I opened my mouth and took a look inside. True enough, my teeth looked more human-like than horse-like, but then again, so did my range of facial expressions, maybe that was why it didn't look very strange to me, human teeth on a creature with human expressions.

The cuteness was strangely coupled with slight horror as I opened my empty socket. It didn't occur to me before now that having huge eyes meant having huge places to store them in. I had gotten used to seeing my own socket a long time ago, but one of this size was still a bit disturbing.

The horn caught my attention again and I slowly lifted up my hoof to poke it. A few inches from my forehead, something of mine touched something else of mine and a small bolt shot through my mind as I realized on some additional level of my consciousness that the thing I was looking at was in fact me. I thought poking at your shoulder where your arm was supposed to be was strange, but the experience of losing body parts was outdone by the experience of gaining them.

"This is interesting," I said slowly.

"Your horn?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah... or rather, feeling a part of your body that you didn't have before. Hooves was strange enough but the horn is even more so." I looked at Twilight's horn, which was still encased in a soft, purple glow. "Am I gonna be able to use the horn for that?"

Twilight looked at me like she was inspecting me. I leaned back into the pillows and asked, "is that a no?"

Twilight shook her head and said, "No, no, you can definitely learn to. It's just that..." She trailed of.

I raised an eyebrow. "It's just what?"

"Well, it's just that-" I blinked and suddenly Twilight and the mirror were gone, so were Curl Staff and Redheart.

‘Oh no! Did it happen again!?’

I inspected myself and noticed that it was the same unicorn body that I had earlier.

I took a look around the room and was very relieved when I noticed that it was the same one and that Redheart was situated by the sink, pouring water into a glass. The light in the room had slightly changed tinge to a somewhat softer shade of yellow.

"What happened!?" I asked her, not quite managing to keep my cool.

Redheart let out a startled gasp and turned around to face me. "Oh! you're awake?"

That non sequitur gave me a dumb look on my face. "Uuh... yeah?"

"Have you been that for long?" she asked, sounding genuine.

My face probably wasn't looking any smarter. "You-" I started but I figured that something strange must be going on here. "Twilight Sparkle went and got you just after I woke up," I said slowly.

She looked at me for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, dear. It's just that you've been asleep for hours."

I felt that I wasn't getting the full picture. "Yeah, I figured, considering how tired I was when you wheeled me in here."

Redheart giggled at that. "No, dearie, you fell asleep again after that. Right in the middle of a conversation." I looked at her incredulously. "Remember how I told you about how your medicine might make shift between energetic and tired very quickly?"

I nodded my head.

"Well, there you go," she said with a smile.

Making sense of what she told me was time-consuming work. "I didn't notice that," I said uncertainly.

She walked up to me (‘Clippedy cloppedy’) with a motherly expression on her face. "Don't worry, dear, it'll pass. In a few days you'll be right as rain."

‘I wish I could have seen your training montage, Nap-Time, that was impressive.’

"So, how long was I out for?"

"Hmm, about six hours," she said and I stared at her in disbelief. "I was actually wondering if you're hungry again."

She was right, I could go for another meal. I nodded my head absentmindedly, my thoughts mostly on the bizarre thing that just occurred.

I must have looked concerned because Redheart said, "Don't worry, dear. It's not dangerous, at this point you're mostly taking your medicine just to be certain. Speaking of which."

I looked to my side where Redheart stood next to the bedside table, with the bag of cupcakes and a platter with more apples on it.

"Time for a another round, and then maybe some more apples? I just brought these in here in case you wanted a snack, but I think they'll make a decent meal," Redheart said as she picked out a cupcake from the bag. "Alright, same as usual, big lips, dearie."

Once again I was getting help feeding myself from a pink-maned pony in a nurse's cap because I couldn't grasp things with my hoof. "You know," I said through a mouthful of cupcakes. "It's kinda pointless to bring me snacks if I can't use this hoof to grab them. Then again, you ponies have really long necks. if you put the platter close enough I can just eat right off of it."

Redheart let out a small giggle. "Or you could just call one of us, dear. We're here to help."

The genuineness of that put me at ease. "It's just a bit awkward to need help feeding myself. To say that waking up in another body is strange would be underselling it."

Redheart gave me a sympathetic look before getting a more business like expression on her. "I actually want to talk to you about that."

"About waking up in another body?" I asked.

"In a way," she said. "Twilight brought something to our attention after you had fallen asleep."

"Brought what to your attention?" I asked, not being able to guess where she was going with this.

Redheart had a look of both seriousness and care. "To put this bluntly, you're showing worrying signs."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

"'You ponies', you said earlier."

"When?" I asked.

"Just now. And earlier you referred to your horn as 'the horn', as if it belonged to somepony else;" she said.

‘I did that, didn't I?’ I thought as I finished off the last of the cupcake.

"So?" I asked with a shrug. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"I'm not a unicorn myself, but no healthy unicorn would ever refer to their horn as 'the horn'," she said. "It's a very important part of a unicorn. A very important part of you."

I considered her words for a moment. She was right. On some level I had almost seen all this as if it was happening to someone else. I looked at her and she looked back at me with a serious look on her face.

"Not 'the horn', or 'you ponies'. Twilight said that you may be here for a long time, and that you’re permanently transformed,” she said and looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “I realize that this is a lot to take in, but you’re not a human anymore, and Equestria’s greatest living scholar doesn’t know how to turn you back.”

I looked down at the sheets, trying to figure out what to make of all this. After a few moments where solid thoughts refused to form in my head, Redheart put her hoof on my chin and gently turned me to face her.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think it would be good to be in denial about all this."

“Yeah,” I said and nodded slowly. “It’s just hard to just let go of everything.”

Redheart pulled me into a soft hug with her foreleg over my neck. “Not everything. You are still Gabrielle. I don’t know how it was, being ‘Gabrielle the human’, but maybe being ‘Gabrielle the unicorn’ won’t be so bad?” she kindly suggested.

I didn’t say anything. simply nodding slowly as I considered her words. ‘Well, she may be right. If I’m stuck here in Equestria, it might be just as well be as a pony. Living in a society where everything is designed for people with two more limbs was exhausting enough. If I was a human here, everything would be too small on top of that. Besides, it’s not like they’re lobster people or something, everyone looks adorable, and magic seems like a pretty great fringe benefit just for joining the club.’

I was getting lost in thought when the sounds of my bowels, hard at work, shook me back to the now.

I looked at Redheart who smiled at me. "Do you need to use the little fillies' room?"

"I don't know what that is but from the context I can make a guess. Yes, I think so."

"Alright," she said. She wheeled the wheelchair over to the side of the bed, walked to the other side of the bed, reached over me with her long pony neck, grabbed the end of the cover with her mouth and pulled it back, exposing me for all the room to see.

I looked down on myself. Back in the woods, I had my stomach to the ground and all times after that I had been covered by some sort of blanket. I realized that I hadn't worn clothes for a while now and parts of my brain was telling me that I was naked, while another was telling me that I didn't feel naked. I looked over at Redheart who gave my body a sad look. "Uh. Humans aren't really covered by a coat of hair like ponies, so I'm just wondering, am I not decent right now?"

Redheart looked up at me and blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've noticed that you guys have been walking around without clothes and I wondered if I should take steps to stay modest," I said.

Redheart shook her head. "No, don't worry. If you should lose your coat, that might be a different matter."

I looked down on myself again. Anything that would give the view an R-rating was thoroughly covered in fur.

"Now, I'm gonna help you into your chair, alright?" She asked.

I nodded. "Okay, what's the plan?"

She stretched out her neck over me. "Just put your leg over my neck and I'll lift you into the chair."

I was a bit confused about how this was supposed to work before I realized that my arm was now also called leg.

Redheart must've taken it as hesitation. "Don't worry," she said. "You'll do fine."

I put my foreleg over her neck and tried weighing it down but it was like a girder. "Just keep in mind that I can't grab anything with this hoof thingy."

Redheart lifted up her neck and plopped me down in the wheelchair like it was nobody's business. "You're doing it again," she said without missing a beat.

‘She's sharp.’

I let out a sigh and said, "I guess so."

As she wheeled me across the room and into a door that I hadn't seen anyone open yet, but had already figured contained a bathroom, she continued. "I want you to repeat after me; 'I am a unicorn, I have hooves, and I am going to learn how to do magic with my horn'."

I decided to give it a try. "I am a unicorn, I have hooves, and I am going to learn how to do magic with my horn."

My thoughts after that could only be summed up with an ellipsis.

This seemed to go on for a while.

I vaguely came to realize that Redheart was standing in front of me, trying to get my attention.

"Gabrielle? How do you feel?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure," I said, truthfully.

"Well, if nothing else, we should take care of the business we came in here for."

‘Yes, let's focus on that.’

"So, how does this work?" I asked, looking at the porcelain construction in front of me.

"Do you have toilets where you came from?" She asked.

"Yes, of course." I said.

"Does this look familiar?"

I inspected the thing. It was like a low toilet throne in the same white porcelain you usually see toilets in, with low level on the water and somewhat wider opening. "Sort of," I said. "They're shaped a bit differently."

Redheart positioned herself as before. "Same as before, but this time I'm going to hang onto you to help you keep your balance while you're sitting."

I hooked my foreleg around her neck again and as I was hoisted onto the low throne I asked "what do you mean?"

It was rather self explanatory what she meant after I landed. My leg, the one that consisted of a few inches of thigh, couldn't support me, and I would have fallen halfway down the porcelain abyss if it hadn't been for Redheart hooking her foreleg around me and holding me up with a hug of sorts at the spot where my arm used to be, conveniently also pinning up my tail.

I took in the situation and its unbelievable levels of awkwardness. "Look, I've never done this with an audience before," I said and looked up at Redheart.

"Don't worry, I can stand her for quite a while before getting tired," she said and smiled.

"That's really great, but I'm also worried about how long I can keep my leg up." I had angled my leg upwards as to not dip it in the watery depths below.

"Look, just relax. I'm a relaxing personality, aren't I? Besides, this isn't even near the most embarrassing thing I've helped a patient with," she said.

It took some work, but after a while I was back in the bed and let me tell you; these ponies are a lot more hygienic than I was afraid they'd be.

As Redheart grabbed the end of the blanket and was covering me with it I looked down on myself and noticed a mark on my rump. "Hey, wait a minute."

Redheart stopped. "What?" she asked, blanket still in her mouth.

My eye was transfixed on the mark. "What's that?" I asked. It was a ultramarine, rhombus-shaped gem with a stylized swirl around the top

"Oh, that's your cutie mark, dearie," Redheart said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's nice."

I looked at her and felt all manners of stupid as I noticed a red cross on her rump. A red cross with little hearts around it, matching the one on her hat. "And what's that?"

Redheart put her hoof to her mouth. "Oh! Twilight said that your world didn't have any magic in it. Sorry, dear, I should've realized." She cleared her throat. "A cutie mark is what young ponies get when they find their special talent, something that really represents them. Mine is a medical sign," she said and gave her rump a little shake, I might've sniggered but the humor and my confusion cancelled each other out to a more normal state. "I love taking care of ponies and I'm really good at it," she concluded with some pride.

I looked down on my own cutie mark and asked "so what does mine mean?"

She looked at it. "I don't know. Looks like it could have something to do with gem cutting, but it could mean many things. I like it though, it's a bit mysterious."

I looked at the sign on my rump again and realized that my head was slowly dropping in the vertical direction and my eyelid was feeling heavy.

Redheart picked up on this. "Tired again, dear?"

I nodded.

"Don't worry, just lie back and take a rest. Twilight's friends are coming to see you. Won't that be nice?" she said pleasantly.

"I don't want to be a bother," I said groggily.

"Don't worry about that. I'm not sure you know, but it's Friday afternoon, you're not dragging anypony away from anything," she reassured me.

I couldn't help but feel happy about that and gave Redheart a smile. "Thanks."

‘Has Nap-Time poisoned my food?. If I pass out every time I learn something, this could take a very long time.’

Redheart gave me a smile. "You're welcome, dear."

Author's Notes:

There we are, the great waking-up-and-getting-exposition part of HiE-stories.I'm not sure I succeeded, considering how much there's left to cover. Anyway, I tried keeping it interesting with some character-interactions but let me know how you think it went.

Also, on Gabe's cutie mark. A lot of you have probably seen it before. Check out the banner called "The Report". Hopefully this will be seen as a homage and not plagiarism.

2015-12-13: Rewrote the part with Redheart and Gabe talking about her designation as a pony. Nothing's set in stone yet, though.

A Much Warmer Welcome

I opened my eye and beheld the same room as before, this time in the middle of the night. I was lying on my side with my hoof sandwiched in between the two pillows under my head and covered by a, well, a cover. Redheart had apparently tucked me in and she must have done a good job because I was really comfortable. I burrowed my head in the pillow and started thinking about what had happened in the last few days.

‘I have been transported to another world and transformed into another being. I'm not sure how one is supposed to react to that but I'm pretty sure that it's not like this. For some reason, I don't feel any sort of actual worry. It could have something to do with the magical ponies that have been taking care of me. Which reminds me, I have to remember to ask about my size next time I talk with Twilight.’

I looked around the room. the window was closed but the thin curtains let in a fascinatingly large amount of moonlight.

Being from a northern temperate zone, pale light tended to make me feel cold. People in warm climates didn't seem to have any problem with colorless lamps in their homes. But people from my neck of the woods could stand in thirty degrees Celsius and practically shiver if someone lit a white fluorescent strip light near them.

This pale moonlight, however, felt warm and welcoming.

I lifted up my hoof and inspected it in the soft light. I was sure that I had seen the magical shapes of fingers on top of it in those woods. Not to mention some sort of aura of my missing limbs, but I couldn't recall if I had seen any fingers on them. I was tempted to try doing that thing again where I could sense magic. But Redheart had warned me not to use any magic while recovering. Something about it being unstable. In which case I should be doubly careful not to use any, because it might be like nitroglycerin. And you know what they say about unstable nitroglycerin: Don't.

I spotted the tray with apples on the bedside table, and suddenly felt the munchies. I had spent a lot of recent time eating, but I had to remind myself that it I hadn't exactly had any opportunity to eat any real hearty dinners and the meals I did had had been separated by long periods of unconsciousness.

I peered around the room again. No pony lying on the couch or standing in the corner this time. If I wanted a snack, I would have to take care of it myself.

I reached out with my hoof towards the apples on the tray, felt nothing but air, and let out a sigh. ‘I miss depth perception.’

I shuffled closer to edge of the bed and finally felt the table with my hoof, but I only managed to push the apple I was aiming for away from me. It was frustrating but I had, out of necessity, become stubborn in situations like these. I put my hoof on the table and inched myself closer to the table, noting how much traction I got.

However, I had forgotten how much of my body's volume consisted of neck, and when I stretched my upper half to try and reach further I tipped over the bed and fell down on the floor. It wasn't a crash where I slammed into the tiles, I just started sliding over the edge of the bed, landing fairly softly on the back of my neck and deciding that it would be pointless to try and stop the rest of me from following and instead tried to do it under controlled circumstances, which had the benefit of bringing down the warm cover over me.

Most other people would probably have seethed in anger and frustration at this point, but a long time ago I had learned to handle these situations calmly and with self-control. Though that didn't stop me from letting out a plaintive sigh.

‘So, what now?’ I thought as I looked up towards the edge of the bed.

‘Well, I haven't tried standing up in this body yet. Who knows? Maybe I can try and scamper up there again since It doesn't look to be as tall as the hospital beds that I'm used to, probably since people are also shorter around here.’

I grabbed the cover in my mouth and managed to throw it over me like an enormous cape, appreciating the residual warmth that was still in it. I then positioned myself on my belly with my limbless side towards the bedside table and tried to push myself up to a standing position. A standing position for a quadruped, that is.

It worked, in a way. I was standing with legs straight and leaning against the bedside table. But the position was very strange, it felt like I was looking for something that had fallen under the coach. Another strange thing was that I was standing on what I guessed was the equivalent of my knuckles, but without any fingers to form into a fist, just a huge lump made for walking and standing.

What worked very well with this position, however, was my neck. Aiming my head forward, which would have been upwards in my old form, felt natural and not at all tiring as I was used to. I could even look upwards like this, which in a way would be like looking down your own back as a human.

I wasn't cold, probably thanks to my coat of fur, but I still missed the softness of the bed. I considered my situation again and decided to try and jump up in the bed. I inched closer to the bed while leaning against the bedside table and then sat down the way that I think dogs sit. I then reached up and placed my hoof at the end of the bed, cover still over me, then stood up with my hind leg.

This placed my head above the bed's level, but I couldn't quite figure out how to best approach the next step. I shot out with my hind leg and tried to land with enough of my weight across the bed for me to lever myself all the way on top of it. It might've worked on a better day, but not this time. I started sliding back towards the ground and bit down on the sheet to try and stop myself. The cover fell off from me and landed on the floor, and then the sheet started sliding off from the mattress, and me landing on the cover with half a bed sheet covering me and the pillows landing beside me.

I let out another sigh. If I ever got up to my bed at this point, both the pillows and the cover would remain on the ground and the sheet would be too wrinkled to be comfortable. All this and I still hadn't gotten anything to eat.

‘Guess I'll have to get help if I want to sleep in a bed for the rest of the night.’

I looked towards the closed door that presumably led out into the hallway of the hospital. It seemed so far away despite it just being half the length of the room. Then I looked around me and thought, ‘Well, if nothing else I guess I have all that I need for a makeshift bed down here on the floor with me.’

I looked around the room again. ‘I can either crawl across the room or I can try and use the wheelchair.’

I scooted towards the wheelchair. It looked a lot more promising than the bed since it was lower than the bed and I also had what I guess around here is called a hoof-rest to work with.

Things looked promising for a while, but after I got to the part where I would try and kick off the ground with my hind leg the wheelchair rolled backwards and I found myself on the cold floor again. I let out another sigh and then another one once I realized how monotonous I sounded.

‘Yeah well, and the unicorn you rode in on!’ I thought and glared at the wheelchair. I had had enough, my composure was close to shattering, I felt that I needed to get something my way real fast before or I would be in a foul mood for the rest of the day.

I started scooting towards the door with determined... something, certainly not steps. It took a while, which was just as well because that gave me time to calm down.

‘I tried doing something that I couldn't and got myself into an embarrassing situation as a result. But the people, or ponies, that work here are professionals, they won't judge me.’ I thought back to some of the people I had worked with. ‘Alright, Redheart won't judge me, at least.’

I reached the door and tried to push it open. It looked like one of those doors where you didn't need to turn any handles, but it opened inwards, and the rod that one was supposed to grip when opening it from this side was out of my reach. My irritation was flaring up again as I started knocking on the door, the only good thing about this being that it was very easy to make noises with a hoof.

After a few seconds of silence I heard the clopping of hooves approaching on the other side. I crawled out of the way from the door right before it opened and a lime green pony with wings entered halfway into the room.

I let out a sigh and said, "I need help, could you please..." I had to bend my neck to see the face of the new arrival since the side that was blessed with an eye was the one I was lying on, but I finally noticed her absolutely horrified expression and decided that I wasn't in the mood for this particular type of person at this moment. "... go get Nurse Redheart for me?"

The pony turned around on the spot and hurried away without any acknowledgement, and I was a bit worried that I had simply scared her off with my pitiful visage before I heard the sound of two approaching sets of hooves.

"Gabrielle! What happened!?" I heard the familiar voice of Redheart say.

With my savior nearby I let out a sigh of relief, a silent one this time, and simply said, "Fell out of the bed."

Redheart entered my field of vision with a different kind of horrified expression, it's difficult to describe but it was one I could work with. "Oh, you poor thing. Don't worry, I've got it."

As she said that I wondered if it was experience, intuition or chance that made her choose those words. It was a small thing but choice of words can mean quite a bit when it comes to patients, and “I've got it” was better than something like “Let me help you”, which got repetitive really fast and which I started reading far too much into the last time I was recovering.

She leaned her head down and held out a hoof for me. "Same as before," she said and I hooked my foreleg around her foreleg, which she used to help me heave myself over her lower neck where I used my own long neck and foreleg to hold myself in place.

I looked over to the lime green pony, her expression this time mostly one of worry. "Thanks," I said to her and tried giving her a smile, but I could only manage a very small one at the moment. She wordlessly backed out of the door and closed it.

I sighed once again, getting a bit worried that this would become my default way of breathing at this rate. "You okay back there?" Redheart asked as she slowly made her way across the room with me across her upper back.

"Fine. Just, frustrated." It was the truth. I had spent a lot of time getting used to a new body once before. I hated it the first time and I didn't like going through it again.

Redheart stopped beside the bed, it took a while before I noticed since my eye was on the side facing away from her face, but when I looked at her she had turned her long pony neck and was looking at me with a sad expression on her.

In one fluid motion she threw the sheet over the bed again, then placed me back on the bed in a sitting position, a humanoid sitting position. She then picked up the pillows and cover from the floor and dumped them on the bed.

The notion that you shouldn't bottle up your emotions and just let it all out every once in a while had some merit in my mind, but only some. Most of the time, I found it far better to accustom yourself to being calm and composed. If I had gotten used to crying every time I was sad and screaming every time my patience wore thin I would probably have been a nervous wreck or worse, even before I got turned into a talking unicorn. But suppressing my emotions did not make them go away. I was angry, and to someone like Redheart, it showed.

That's probably why she sat down on the bed next to me and put her foreleg around me in a hug and said, "It's okay."

I looked down on the floor with a scowl on my face. This was going to calm me down. I knew it, and Redheart knew it. And knowing that, and knowing that Redheart knew that, peeved me quite a bit. Knowing that the process of my foul mood was so predictable that only one short sentence and a hug could make it better left a really bitter taste in my mouth. But the funny thing was that I knew that this particular bitter feeling would also fade away from this procedure. "It's okay," she said again and once more, I felt annoyed, but slightly less so this time.

‘Two words and an empty gesture is supposed to make me feel better!?’

"It's okay." Now my annoyance was shifting towards myself, for refusing, in a very childish manner, to let her help.

"It's okay," Redheart said again.

‘But it does make me feel better, doesn't it?’ I thought with a strange mix of fading annoyance and growing comfort. ‘It's not just an empty gesture. She really does care.’

"It's okay," she said and I finally let go, relaxed, leaned in towards her and softly nuzzled into her chest. I would have liked to do it a bit more thoroughly but I had to consider my new cranial addition.

‘Yes, it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay that I'm basically helpless right now. It's okay that I made myself humiliatingly crawl across the floor to get help. It's okay to hold your emotions in. It's okay to let them out. And yes, it's okay to have someone comfort you. Twilight of the Gods! I had grown into such a loner since even before becoming an adult that I had almost forgotten that,’ I thought as I blinked away a thankfully small amount of moisture from my eye.

"Feeling better?" Redheart asked after a few minutes, with a tastefully subtle amount of jauntiness.

I did. But I simply nodded instead of saying anything, in case I had to swallow back a sob. ‘I'm not completely against showing some emotion but let's do so in moderation.’

Redheart let out a soft coo and tightened the hug. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of unicorn magic in no time, and then you don't have to reach for anything if you don't want."

‘That's true, if I can learn to do that thing that Twilight did yesterday, being a pony might not be so bad.’

I analyzed the events of the last few minutes before looking up at Redheart and giving her a smile. "Thanks. You're really good at this," I said as I softly leaned away from her, signalling that comforting time was over.

Redheart smiled back as she stepped down and started inspecting the bedding. "Good at what?"

"This comforting thing," I said. Compared to just a few moments ago I was practically jovial and not at all reluctant to share what an effect that little turbo therapy session had on me. "I know this dance and I almost missed your steps. Most people would either have done the 'It's okay' thing only once, which would be counterproductive, or jumped straight to the unicorn thing before I was in a mood to listen. So is it talent or experience?"

It seems that I had a positive effect of Redheart in turn, because she looked at me with a very genuine smile on her face and jiggled her hind leg with her cutie mark on. "Both," she said as she started adjusting the bed, which she managed despite me sitting on it.

‘It seems that the cutie marks really do represent special talents. Something to look forward to,’ I thought as I looked down on my own. With one word Redheart had me looking forward to learning what my special talent might be. ‘Whoa. Special talent indeed. I really can't keep up with her.’

"So, would you like another bed?" Redheart asked.

"No, nothing wrong with the bed, I was just-" my sentence was interrupted by a low growling. I had always thought that I had a decent comedic timing, but recently I had been outdone by my own stomach. "Yeah, that," I said and looked towards the apples.

Redheart immediately picked up the tray, in her mouth, and brought it over to the bed. "Oh, Gabrielle! You could've called one of us and we'd help you. Just- Oh!" she exclaimed and got a sheepish expression on her. "I'm sorry, dear. In case you didn't know, this button here calls the nurses," she said as she gestured to a hefty remote that was hanging on the side of the bed.

‘Looks familiar enough.’

I was still fascinated by how these ponies, us ponies, I guess, could talk fluently while carrying things in their mouths. "I know," I said with a sigh. "It's just that, it's in the middle of the night and I didn't want to bother anyone."

Redheart set down the tray on the bed and sat down with me. "You're not a bother, Gabrielle," she said in a caring yet serious tone.

"Thanks. And just 'Gabe' is fine."

"That's your nickname?" she asked.

"Yep. That or 'Gabby', but I always liked 'Gabe' better."

"Well then, 'Gabe' it is. I'd tell you my own but back in school, 'Red' was already taken and the only other anypony could think up was 'Hearty', which I could do without," She said with a playful pout.

I gave a giggle which only consisted of one, single exhalation, turning it into something more like an amused snort.

"Also, it's not really the middle of the night," she said.

I looked around the moonlit room. "It looks like it is."

"It does, but it's more early in the morning. Which would turn any meal you're about to have into breakfast." She looked at me for a moment before speaking up again. "Speaking of which, I was planning on having breakfast while watching Princess Celestia raise the sun, would you like to join me?"

I knew people in school whose brains would have stopped when hearing that sentence. In fact, they wouldn't have lasted a minute in my situation. "Uh, sure. What do you mean, 'raise the sun'?"

"Well," Redheart said as she held out her neck for me to grab onto again, which I did. "Every morning, Princess Celestia uses her magic to raise the sun."

I had enough questions about myself but this could not go unaddressed. "The sun doesn't raise itself?" I asked as I plopped down into the wheelchair, which I still wasn't very happy with.

As Redheart picked up the cover from the bed and threw it over me, then placed the tray with apples in my lap she said, "Well, I'm not sure what the sun does without Princess Celestia, her being the princess of the sun and all. But everypony knows that Princess Celestia raises the sun." She noticed my curious expression and then seemed to come to a realization. "Ah, that's right, your world didn't have any magic. So does your sun raise itself?"

"You could say that. So a princess? Is this a monarchy?" I asked.

"Yes," she said before stopping herself. "Or, no, it's a actually a diarchy now that Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's younger sister, has returned."

"And I suppose that Princess Luna is the princess of the moon?" I asked.

"That's right," she said as she started wheeling me towards the door.

"And it was a diarchy since there were two princesses?" I asked as we reached the door and Redheart pushed a button on the side of the wall that opened it. I felt annoyed that I didn't notice that but I quickly figured that I wouldn't be able to reach it from the floor anyway.

"Oh, I see what you're getting at," she said as she wheeled me out into a very standard looking hospital hallway where I gave a wave towards the lime green nurse sitting at the nurse's station who carefully waved back. "No, there are no kings and queens here, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the highest officials in Equestria, despite sharing that title with non-alicorns and Princess Cadenza to the north."

"So no kings and queens but lots of princes and princesses. Must be confusing at high society gatherings," I observed. "What's an alicorn?"

"Well, there are three, or rather, four types of ponies. Pegasi with wings, unicorns with magic horns, and earth ponies like myself with neither."

I felt like Mr Berg as my brain scrambled for something appropriate to say about that, but Redheart continued before I could think of anything. "Then there are alicorns, who have the qualities of all three types. Only better, most ponies say. They have both wings and horns as you might've seen on Princess Twilight."

My brain was trying to multitask by trying to think up something tasteful to say about earth ponies' apparent handicap and taking in Redheart's little crash course in magical ponies 101 when that last sentence completely derailed everything. "Wha- wai- wh- Twilight is a princess?"

"Yes, she didn't tell you that?" Redheart asked curiously.

I thought back to the events of yesterday. "Uh, no, she, uh, as soon as I woke up she went and got you."

"Aw, she's a sweet one," Redheart said as we reached a small, deserted lounge area down the hall. "But she's still a bit awkward sometimes. I guess one shouldn't talk that way about royalty but she admits it herself." She looked at my curious expression and said, "She's only recently been crowned a princess and she's anything but haughty about it."

"I noticed," I said and thought back with some concern to how I practically made her cry yesterday. "So," I carefully started. "Is there any stigma associated with being an earth pony?"

Redheart studied me for a few moments and I was starting to wonder if I had said something inappropriate. "You use a pretty advanced vocabulary for somepony your age," she said. "And no, at least I haven't noticed anything. Of course, I'm not sure how much you remember of Ponyville, but that's where I'm from and it's mainly populated by earth ponies," she continued before setting out the tray on a nearby table.

I remembered, well I guess I remembered parts of a hospital room and a corridor in Ponyville. "And right now we're in Canterlot, right?"

"That's right," Redheart said as she walked over to a fridge and brought out another tray with two glasses on it and a container of a drink. Seeing what was on the tray and thinking back to what I had just heard, I realized that across the universes and dimensions, or whatever I had been transported to, the laws of reality such as gravity and all the associated physics were less consistent than the design and shape of milk cartons. "The capital of Equestria, the location of the royal palace and the home of Princesses Celestia and Luna. Speaking of which," she said and picked up an apple in her hoof and handed it to me, which I carefully grabbed with my wrist thing, making Redheart look proud. "They're probably about to raise the sun and lower the moon any minute now."

Redheart looked out the window and I followed suit as I carefully brought the apple up to my mouth and took a bite. This would only work for about half the apple before I had eaten everything that I wasn't grabbing. ‘Ah, it seems we are on a mountain. That explains the fresh air. Oh, look, and waterfalls. I always enjoyed the salty coastal air back home. Appropriate, considering my pirate traits. But mountain air will do nicely, too.’

As I looked out I saw Canterlot in the late night/early morning glory. "Ah, that's them," Redheart said and pointed towards the shapes of two distant ponies standing on the balcony of a magnificent spire that was part of an physics-defyingly magnificent palace.

I couldn't make out any details but they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation when their horns lit up and the moon, which was already near the horizon, hastily but gracefully descended the rest of the way, and the sun peeked out from behind a distant mountain. The already breathtakingly magnificent city of silvery moonlight looked as if it was infused with gold as it was hit by the strangely soft light of the morning sun. I was sure that no human had witnessed anything comparable to this since Jurij Gagarin first beheld Earth from orbit. It was hauntingly beautiful.

I sat there, covered by a blanket in a wheelchair in another world, in the body of a unicorn filly with a half eaten apple held in my hoof-wrist, marveling at the sight, when the shorter of the two princesses seemed to notice something. She said something to her sister and they both turned towards my general direction. They stood there for a moment and I got the sense that they knew about me, and that they were looking straight at me.

Then they bowed.

It wasn't submissive kowtowing, it was something between a casual nod of greeting and those bows that you might associate with a duel of honor. At least that's what it looked like from here.

Redheart turned to me, saw my shocked reaction and laughed softly. "If I saw what I just think that I saw, then somepony's got the attention of the majority of all alicorns in Equestria. By the way, you should probably close your eye."

I realized that I had opened my empty eye socket and closed it again as the two princesses turned around and walked back into the tower.

The train arrived at Canterlot Station and the former Bearers of the Element of Harmony stepped out to the platform.

A bunch of other ponies and a few non-ponies stepped out as well, but that's not relevant.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was reading a book while waiting for them, oblivious to the pair of royal guards that had been searching frantically for her since their lieutenant had learned that her Highness had left the palace this morning without an escort, without any form of ceremony, without anything.

Princess Celestia had told Twilight that her talent for ignoring distractions while studying would serve her well as a princess, but had not elaborated when Twilight asked her too, only saying she should take breaks from studying every now and then so as to not give the guardsponies ulcers. Twilight had been very confused.

One of the guards nudged the other and pointed towards the five arrivals from Ponyville. The Bearers had performed legendary feats of heroism and skill before, maybe they could help them.

So it was with some dismay that before the guards could act, the group casually trotted over to a bench and greeted their friend, the princess. A bench they had both searched, twice.

The guards looked at each other and then discretely took up position behind the Bearers and pretended that this was how it was supposed to work.

It was not the place of the royal guards ponies to listen in to the conversations of the targets of their protection, but they learned to start paying attention when they were referred to.

"So, you have royal guards following you these days?" the Element of Loyalty asked the princess.

Princess Twilight Sparkle pretended to seem surprised when she looked at them. "Oh! Looks like I do," she said with a smile. "That's impressive, you two. I didn't even notice you."

Internally, the two guards sighed and shared a look. Princess Celestia's mischievous streak could be the stuff of legend if she so chose, but it seemed she had quite a rival in Princess Twilight.

The Elements of Laughter and Loyalty were giggling like crazy behind their hooves while looking sideways at them.

I was half lying, half sitting in the bed again, reading a book on Equestria that Redheart had given me. It concerned a lot of things, but never got into details, and there were plenty of pictures. I assume that it was intended for fairly young readers.

I was alone at the moment. Redheart had been in here earlier with Curl Staff, who I noticed, with a small twinge of envy, had the staff of Asclepius as a cutie mark and suddenly her name made a lot more sense. ‘Do these ponies have prophets naming their kids?’

I had just finished reading some fun facts about Canterlot, where a lot of unicorns (like myself) lived. And Cloudsdale, the great pegasi city in the sky, with its artistic marble-like pillars and amphitheaters, when I skipped ahead a bit to the stuff about Equestria's neighbors, like the minotaurs, and the gryphons. ‘Huh. Maybe the whole thing with ancient religions stemming from misunderstood encounters with aliens isn't just a cute pop-culture notion after all? There's a fascinating amount of uh, what's it called? Hellenism, or something, going on around here. But in the words of one of the most awesome fictional characters of all time: On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence.’

The door suddenly opened to reveal Curl Staff, who said, "Gabrielle? Are you in the mood for some visitors?"

Twilight- No, Princess Twilight, had said that she was bringing some friends. I was not the type who craved social contact at all times, but I wasn't quite a hermit either.

‘I arrived in a strange, new world literally a double-digit amount of hours ago, making friends sounds like a plan, especially since my instincts might get ornery about it if I don't.’ I also quickly added a few things together and realized that these people, ponies, probably had to travel to see me. I couldn't have said no even if I wanted to.

"Sure, happy to," I said and closed the book.

Curl Staff entered and after her followed Princess Twilight and four other ponies of varying colors and, uh, types, with Redheart forming the rear.

The four new ponies all looked at me and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I was about to attempt a greeting when the most pink thing I've ever seen jacked-in-the-boxed me from under the bed with a huge, toothy grin.

"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie! I was gonna throw you a welcome party when you came to Ponyville but then you took the train to Canterlot instead and now I can throw two welcome parties but now that I think about it maybe you should have one big welcome-to-our-world party and considering how big my welcome-to-Ponyville parties usually are if you make a welcome-to-our-world party on a matching scale then we're gonna need at least-" a very observant listener might have noticed about a tenth of a second pause around here, "-seven thousand, three hundred and fifty acres reserved for it and about a year and a half worth of all of Equestria's agricultural yield-"

A nudging on my left shoulder made me raise my head with a jolt and look around. It was very disorienting since I hadn't realized that I had dipped my head to begin with.

"- but since you might come from another reality altogether we might actually need-" the pink was suppressed, but by no means interrupted, by Princess Twilight shoving a hoof in its mouth.

Twilight looked at me with some concern. "Are you alright?" she asked. I looked around and saw her and the new arrivals, sans pink who was still making muffled noises around the hoof, looking at me with worried faces.

I looked at Redheart, who had been the one who nudged me, with a lost and somewhat confused look. ‘I have no idea what's going on. Please help.’

Redheart was on the ball, another saying that never made any sense to me. "You fell asleep again, dear. Don't worry, it was just a few seconds," she said before giving the pink a displeased look.

I looked around at the gathering of ponies and was a bit grateful to the pink who was helping me by diverting some of the attention I was now getting. "Uh, hi again, Princess Twilight."

Twilight realized that saliva was dripping down her leg and turned to the pink. "Pinkie, please, we can't keep up with you when you get like that," she said and took her hoof out of the still talking pink's mouth, who finished up her attempts at communication.

"I was just saying that I don't actually know how to measure the area we'd need, but the number ends with a nine!" Pinkie said.

‘I've heard that name before.’

"Don't worry, everypony, Gabrielle here just nodded off from stamina fluctuations. No doubt triggered by being overwhelmed," Redheart said and gave Pinkie a meaningful look.

Twilight spoke up at this. "Oh, just like the last time we were talking. I'm sorry, Gabrielle, we'll try and be more considerate," she said as her ears drooped a little.

‘Hey! Surly might be one of my defining characteristics, but I try and hide it most of the time and mostly voice my complaints inside my head. Like this.’

The blue pegasus had lifted off sometime during all this and were currently hovering in place when she got very large smile on her face. "And what were you talking about last time?" she asked us in a raspy voice.

"I was telling her about unicorns and magic," Twilight started before being interrupted by a loud guffaw from the blue pegasus and the pink earth pony who had turned over, in midair in the pegasus' case, and were hugging themselves while laughing

"Fell asleep in the middle of a lecture!" the blue one managed between laughs. "Not even here for two days before getting the full Twilight Sparkle experience."

‘Is this the six million dollar pony who got rebuilt with an old hi-fi needle for vocal chords?’

They eventually calmed down and the blue one landed beside me and held out her hoof. "You're alright, short stuff, give it here."

I held out my own and she punched it, producing a loud “clop!”. I got that strange and slightly disorienting feeling one gets when it feels like a few synapses suffered from friendly fire. ‘I just got a fist pound, bro style, and it went “clop!”. Also, that didn't hurt. but then again I'm supposed to run around on this thing.’

"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in Equestria."

"Gabrielle." I said, relieved that we were now getting on with actual introductions, more familiar waters.

Next up was the earth pony in the hat. "Applejack. Pleased to meet you," she said with a charmingly thick accent.

"Likewise," I said. She settled with grabbing my wrist in hers and shaking it firmly in a way that made me think of old-school business men who claimed to be able to tell a person, by his or her handshake.

A unicorn who interestingly enough seemed to be decorated with make up was next. Like the earlier she extended her hoof and I shook that too, much more delicately. "Rarity, a pleasure to meet you, my dear. And I must say I adore your mane, such boldness!"

"Uh, thanks," I said.

‘It's true, considering that as far as I know, this hairdo is not the result of products, making it pretty impressive. At least by human standards.’

She then turned around to the only one in the room I had not been introduced to yet. "Fluttershy, dear, come and greet our new friend. After all, we never got the chance the first time," Rarity said.

The remaining pegasus clopped forward and in a very quiet voice said, while hiding most of her face behind her mane, "Hello."

‘”Shy” seems about right. But I have nothing against shyness. After all, I would consider myself to be shy myself if that part of me wasn't overshadowed by my ornery, passive-aggressive, and snarky sides.’

"Hi," I said and turned to Rarity. "What do you mean, 'the first time'?"

"Well," Rarity said. "The first time we met you were not awake. We, and dear Zecora of course, went out to look for you when you arrived in Equestria. Fluttershy here noticed how cold you were and draped her wings over you to keep you warm on the way back to Ponyville."

I imagine that was a bit like holding someone close to you in their arms to share body heat. I didn't really like needing help in that way but that wasn't their fault and I was still grateful, well actually it was sort of Twilight's fault but I had already told her that I wouldn't be angry at her. I looked at the yellow pegasus and with a smile that I made as soft as I could.

"And I baked you those cupcakes that made you feel all better!" the pink one said. Loudly.

I shook my head and tried to remember if she ever gave me her name but my mind was clogged with all the sight, smell, taste, sound and feel of pink. "And your name was... Pinkie Pie, right?."

"That's right!" she said.

"Well, they were really good. And as far as I can tell, they helped. Thanks."

Pinkie looked as though she was about to explode from happiness and I got the feeling that if she did we would be covered in party decorations and frosting.

Curl staff, who had been very quiet, looked as if she tried to clear her head by shaking it. "Oh, that's right, I came in here to take your temperature before leaving you with your visitors," she said as she walked up to me and put her wrist over my forehead. "Well, everything seems to be in order. You might be able to start using magic again sooner than I thought. I imagine you're quite excited for that. Now I have to go fill in some paperwork, I'll be right down the hall if anypony needs me," she said as she walked out of the room.

Twilight looked excited at that. "Oh, that's right. If what happened in the forest was any indication of your abilities, you might qualify for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

"A school for unicorns only?" I blurted out in a slightly accusing tone before putting my hoof over my mouth. I could tell that I was acting before thinking because I tried to do so with right my hoof as well, the human counterpart of which had not existed for some time.

Six of the ponies in the room looked confused but Redheart seemed to understand what I was getting at. "It's not actually only for unicorns, anypony can go there." She paused a bit to consider something. "And by anypony I mean non-ponies as well," she said and gave me a sheepish smile. "I guess that's a bit confusing."

Twilight nodded. "That's right, the school started out as training for unicorns but as it grew more prestigious school it became a place for higher learning for all creatures. If you're interested I really recommend that you go there, it's really nice," she said and got a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"So don't worry about that," Redheart said in a reassuring tone before turning to the six newcomers. "Gabe and I were talking earlier about the different kinds of ponies and she asked if there were any discrimination against earth ponies."

Rainbow Dash gave me a confused look and asked, "why would you worry about that? You're a unicorn."

I wasn't sure if her very genuine sounding question came from her level of intelligence or ignorance but I hoped that it was the latter. In any case the question threw me off balance. How many people are ready with a verbal answer to why social injustices are terrible? You very rarely need to explain that to an adult. "Well, wouldn't that be, you know, awful? If some people were allowed education and some weren't," I said with a bewildered look on my face.

Something dawned on Twilight. "Rainbow, she's talking about the kind of injustices like in the Hearth's Warming Eve story."

Rainbow got a look of comprehension. "Oh, you're talking about that sort of discrimination. Yeah, don't worry about that," she said with a wave of her hoof.

"Is there any other kind?" I asked, genuinely curious about what was considered discrimination around here."

Rarity was the one who answered. "Well, there is the business of unicorns always being placed in back rows in theaters so as to not obscure the vision of other attendees with our horns," she said with a harrumph.

Twilight looked at me with concern on her face. "I, you... you have no way of knowing any of this," she said and looked down again, as she often did when talking to me. "I've taken you from your world into a place where you don't even know if you can be treated with basic dignity."

I was about to protest that when I remembered that the first being I met in this world abducted me to work as a slave in a mine. "I," I started. "I, uh..."

‘Man, my brain just doesn't work very well today. Hopefully it's temporary.’

I shook my head and tried again. "Well, so far you ponies have made a very good impression."

"You're not forgetting what we talked about, are you?" Redheart asked me.

"No, I just. It takes some time to get used to," I said.

"What were you talking about?" Rainbow asked.

"That's not very polite, Rainbow," Rarity said sternly.

"It's nothing," I said and waved my hoof dismissively. "I'm just getting used to being in this form."

"Oh, yeah. Twilight said that you became a pony when you came here," Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "What were you like before?"

"Well, I was a human and- hey!" I exclaimed as I realized something. "Twilight said that there are no humans around here but what if you have a different name for us?"

"Ooh! What do humans look like?" Pinkie said.

All eyes turned to me in curiosity and Twilight said, "yes, I never got the chance to ask you about that the last time," as she levitated a scroll and a quill from her bag which she apparently had left on the couch.

"Well," I started, trying to figure out where to start when giving concise information on humans. "We're bipedal, about one hundred and sixty five to one hundred and eighty five centimeters long on average, plantigrade, omnivorous descendants from apes with vestigial fur."

All the ponies were looking at me in fascination except Twilight, who had started scribbling furiously at the parchment, but slowed down during my description until she came to a complete halt. She reminded me of a fish as she opened and shut her mouth a few times with eyes wide before she noticed the politely questioning look I was giving her, and which the others were joining in on. "Uuuh, continue, please," she slowly said.

"Wwwhhh..." I carefully started. She looked as if she was going to shout something. "... hhhat do you want to know?"

"Oh! Do you have any good fliers?" Rainbow asked.

"We, uh, we don't have wings but we've made machines that can fly fast enough. Also, there are only one type of humans," I said.

"No wings?" Rainbow said with a slightly sad look on her face.

Before I could continue, Twilight spoke up. "But you have manes?"

"Yes, but we just call it hair," I said, wondering what brought that up.

"And you wear clothes all the time?" Twilight asked quickly, sounding either agitated or excited.

"Pretty much."

"And have five long digits at the end of each upper limb?"

"Yes."

"And five shorter ones at the end of your lower ones?"

"Yes."

"And no tails?"

"That's right."

"And rounded, immobile ears that's artistically shaped to channel sound?"

"Mine were always pretty pointy, but yes we-"

"And you drive self-propelled metal carriages, make roads out of tar and gravel and you have devices that you use to share books and music and moving pictures with?"

I had to give this some thought. "... Yeah, I guess that's a good way to describe it."

"By Celestia! I know what you are!" Twilight exclaimed.

The rest of the ponies looked at her in surprise and exclaimed "You do!?"

"Yes, I was transformed into Gabrielle's species when me and Spike went into that mirror in the Crystal Empire," Twilight said and then got a sheepish look on her face. "I, uh, it slipped my mind to ask what the species I was was actually called."

My face was scrunched up, trying to figure out what Twilight had said the day before. "But you said that you were looking at other worlds when you brought me here," I said, letting my question be implied as I couldn't think of a way to ask it tactfully.

"Well, the scrying orb doesn't provide you with any visual or auditory information, it actually-" she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash coughing into a hoof, "... well, it more or less gives you information straight into your brain, so it takes a while to get the same impressions from a world that one would get from looking at it. So it was less that I didn't recognize humans when I saw them and more that I couldn't get enough information related to the inhabitant to remember them."

"But you didn't go to Earth?" I asked.

"Earth?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, that's the name of my world," I said before waving a hoof and continuing. "Or Terra, or Tellus, or whatever."

"You seem to have a lot of names for the same things, Gabe." Redheart said.

"Gabe?" Rainbow asked.

"That's my nickname, that or Gabby," I said.

"Gabby?" Rarity asked.

"A misnomer, most of the time," I said. "I like Gabe though, so feel free to use it."

"Use it!?" Pinkie Pie asked. I looked at her with an eyebrow expertly raised but the rest of the ponies just ignored her.

I shook my head. "Anyway! I've lost track of what we were talking about, can we go back a few steps?"

Rarity spoke up at this. "Oh, yes darling. Maybe you can tell us about yourself?"

I shrugged, and realized that I have to remember to do that in a mirror since I've never seen an equine shrug before. "Okay, sure, I'm twenty-six, I'm a professional radiographer and specialist in magnetic resonance imaging, which is an anatomy scanner, I was actually the head of a small department where I worked," I said, with some pride in my voice.

Redheart looked especially interested at that. "You mentioned that before and I was wondering, did you work at a hospital?"

"Sure did. Though I'm not a doctor, so don't refer to me that way."

"But you're a foal," Redheart said in disbelief.

‘Oh, yes! Time to finally solve this mystery, once and for all.’

"Thank you for reminding me, I've been wondering about that. Why am I like this?" I asked and gestured down at myself.

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"Like this! A 'foal', as you call it here. Like I said, I'm twenty-six."

There was a pause as the ponies stared at me before Rainbow slowly said. "Yeeaah? Looks about right to me."

My eyebrows were jumping up and down as if on an elastic string as my expression alternated between frowning and questioning. "What do you mean?"

"That you look your age," Applejack said. "About the same as my sister, and she's twenty-four."

My expression was shifting in such a rapid pace it felt like my face was pulsating. "How old are you as an adult around here?"

"Fifty-six," Applejack said.

"I... So I'm...? Uh... How long do you ponies live for?" I asked.

"Around three hundred years or more. Uhm, when are humans adults?" Twilight said.

"Legally? Eighteen. And we usually live to be about eighty-five, though healthy enough people live to be over a hundred."

‘Like both my great grandfathers. My family could never claim racial superiority even if they've wanted to, seeing as how we're related to them. My parents speculated that thanks to them we were half-human, half-mooring rope.’

"Isn't eighteen a little young to be an adult?" Rainbow asked skeptically.

"Well, we're grown up by then. By the time we're fifty-six we're past our physical prime," I said with a shrug.

"Oh, how dreadful!" Rarity said.

"So you were an adult?" Redheart asked me with a voice full of nouns I couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, with a pretty respectable career," I said, without really managing to keep the pride out of my voice.

"That's pretty impressive there, short stuff," Rainbow Dash said. "So how do you like being a pony?"

I gave this some thought. "I haven't really been awake for it a whole lot but it seems alright so far. Am I really going to live for hundreds of years?"

"I'd like to run some tests about that but seeing as how you're physically your age I'd say yes," Twilight said.

"Physically my age for you ponies I guess," I said.

"Gabe, remember what we talked about," Redheart said kindly.

I nodded as I realized what I said. "Alright, alright. I just- oh! Am I gonna be in puberty until my fifties?" I asked with a voice full of dread.

"Well, that's pushing it," Twilight said. "More likely around forty-five."

That was objectively better, but my mind was running on emotions at the moment. ‘Alright, calm down. You've done it before. It's easier if you know what do expect. And who knows? Maybe this time you can come out at the end of it with the same amount of limbs you started with.’

"It... still doesn't sound great," I said.

"Oh, come on! There must be something that you like about it," Rainbow insisted.

"Look, I really hope so. But so far it hasn't been a great experience. I've been suffering from copious fatigue, I can't grasp anything with this-" I waved my hoof for emphasis "- And I can't walk around with only two limbs. Plus I've lost my glass eye," I said while desperately trying to keep my mood from turning sour.

Rainbow was about to answer but Twilight's voice stopped her. "Did," she started, cautiously. "Did that happen to you before you came to Equestria?" she said gestured towards my right side.

"Uh, yeah," I said while trying to figure out while she sounded so nervous. "When I was sixteen," I said and eyed her worried face. "You alright?"

"I... I was afraid that I had done that," she said with ears drooped.

"That you had... oh!" I said as I realized that she was talking about when she brought me to Equestria. "Ah, no. This happened ages ago."

"... It must have been awful," Fluttershy said a small voice. The mood in the room was turning pretty somber now.

I gave a facial shrug. "Well, I would guess so but I can't remember a thing. Apparently, I hit my head pretty hard, as you might suspect," I said and opened my right eye for emphasis. They all cringed and I suspected that these colorful, magical ponies might not be used to dark humor. "On a bright note, my facial muscles all survived. Anyway, the days before it happened are a bit hazy, but as far as I can tell they were like any other, and then I woke up, sort of, in a hospital where I was told I had been in an accident."

The ponies all looked stunned at that little story and I decided to leave the part about my parents for another time. "So, that's that," I said. "Not a happy chapter in my life, but I learned to manage."

The ponies still weren't saying anything so I decided that I should be the one to move the conversation forward. "So anyway, that's one of the reasons why I'm a little iffy about being a pony," I said to Rainbow Dash. "Learning how to use prostheses once was enough."

"You had artificial legs?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. Or, well, leg, singular. Bipedal and all that," I said.

"So it wasn't so bad?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, it wasn't great. It was just sort of made to use the momentum of my walking motion to create something approaching an acceptable replacement."

"And your foreleg?" Applejack asked.

"Arm, I had one of those lying around too, but that's mostly what it ended up doing, lying around. Since there wasn't much left to control it with -" I gestured to my right shoulder "- it ended up very situational. There was more advanced stuff available, but learning to use the ones I had took enough time and I don't think I would get enough use out of them to make it worth it."

"You said you used your leg to walk. How did you run?" Rainbow asked.

"I didn't," I said a slightly too flat voice.

It seemed like this conversation was set on being of the somber type, with all the ponies looking really down at everything I had to say. That is, all the ponies except Redheart. "Well, at least as a unicorn you can use your magic to help you," she said.

Twilight perked up at this. "That's right. Once you learn how to use that, I'm sure everything will be much easier."

‘That's actually a very good point.’

"Well, if you're sure I didn't hurt my ability to use magic or something in the forest."

"We're sure," Redheart said.

"Speaking of learning to use magic," Twilight said. "I talked with Princess Celestia yesterday, and she and Princess Luna would like to meet you."

Redheart and me raised our eyebrows. Me in slight shock and Redheart in amusement at my reaction. "Why?" I asked.

"Oh, one shouldn't presume to speak for a pony in Princess Celestia's position," Twilight said.

"Darling, you do realize that you are Princess Celestia's peer these days?" Rarity said and Twilight's face became very red as her friends laughed softly at her unintentional haughtiness.

"When?" Redheart asked with an amused expression of her own.

"This afternoon," Twilight said. "Do you accept?"

"I, uh, yeah, sure," I said.

"Are any of you in a hurry to get back to Ponyville?" Redheart asked.

There was a general murmur that could be summed up as a general "No, not really."

"Then I won't feel bad for cutting this meeting short. If Gabrielle is going to have an audience with the princesses, she should be in a fresh state."

I realized that I probably hadn't been washed in days. "Oh, Thank you," I said and rolled my eye as Redheart pulled the cover off from me. "Why stop at telling the whole room? I'm sure there's a public announcement system you can use to make sure the whole neighborhood hears it," I continued as I grabbed Redheart's neck and she carried me over to the wheelchair with a good-hearted smile at my comments. "Got any other flattering things to say? No? Alright, see you later," I said and waved to the other six ponies who stood there with confused looks on their faces as I was wheeled into the bathroom. I wasn't actually annoyed at Redheart, but something about her made me want to respond to her light jab in kind.

As we entered the bathroom, Redheart commented on what she had learned during the whole conversation. "So, you're twenty-six and you're an adult?"

"Yeah," I said. "Or I guess I was. I'm actually a bit nervous about that. What if I have the mind of a child with memories of being an adult?"

"We can ask Twilight, or maybe even better, Princess Luna, to look into that. But I have a thought," she said. "What do you think one would be most uncomfortable with, needing help to wash oneself as an adult or as a foal that's old enough to want some independence?"

I gave this some thought. "You mean that you want me to say how embarrassing I think this is going to be? That might be a moot point since I had to have help relearning how to wash myself for a long time as an adolescent. I'm a contaminated specimen," I said jokingly.

Redheart sighed. "Do you always speak about yourself so contemptuously?" she asked as she turned on the faucet in the modern looking bathtub in the far side of the room.

"What? That was a joke," I said.

"But not a nice one," she retorted.

I let out a snort. "Another sign of worrying behavior?"

"... Yes," she said as she tested the temperature of the water.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that. If you think that I'm showing signs of self-loathing, or whatever the medical term is, let me remind you that I made it through the most hormone-intense period of my life being recently mutilated." At those words she whipped her head around to face me with a look of horror and sorrow. "Sorry, that came out a bit harsh, even for me," I said and hung my head. "But you bring out my social side and it's a little rusty."

"It's part of my special talent," she said soothingly and walked up to me. "It's not always easy to hear what ponies say but I hope it helps you to talk about this."

She leaned her neck over me and I grabbed hold like before. "We have professionals to talk to where I come from, too. But I still think it does help. Thank you," I said and caught a look of myself in the mirror.

‘I think I'm gonna miss this hairdo. But maybe I can learn to redo it. I'm gonna learn magic, after all.’

She slowly lowered me into the tub and I lied down on my stomach. "You don't have to thank me, I'm happy to help."

"Yeah I know. But I'm still grateful and you seem to go out of your way to help. But if you want me to I'll stop of course," I said as she grabbed a shower head in her mouth and started showering me in warm water.

"No, it's just that you don't seem comfortable with giving thanks. It sounds a little... resigned," she said. Still with no noticeable difference despite the shower head.

I sighed, part from muscles relaxing from the warm water, part from laying out personal shortcomings. "Like I said, my social side is a bit rusty. And I grew pretty sick of needing help over the years. It was difficult to feel grateful after a while" Redheart said nothing and I continued. "Still, it just feels proper to do so. Even so, it's pretty easy to thank you, so I hope I haven't made anyone else nervous by thanking them."

"Well, I normally wouldn't be this blunt with a foal. But you do seem a bit rough around the edges," Redheart commented.

I considered this for a few moments. "I can't tell if that's me or if it's you guys. No offense but so far ponies have seemed pretty uh, I dunno, tender? Socially I mean."

"Perhaps, it's just disheartening to see somepony so young being so... bitter."

I raised my eyebrows at this but quickly brought them down again so as to not let anything enter the enormous cavity that was my eye socket. ‘If these ponies are as soft as they seem, well, maybe I should try and adjust myself a bit to their level.’

"Listen, Redheart, I'm not gonna try and say that I'm not bitter, and I might not be the happiest person in history, but I'm also not unstable. Don't wear yourself out trying to change that."

Redheart grabbed a brush and started working on my coat. "It's just... difficult for me to see somepony like this and not helping."

"You're helping, believe me. I might show it with a hug some time, but not now. Interesting feeling, by the way. I've never had a coat to brush before." I was already plenty relaxed by the hot water, but this was like having a massage.

Redheart smiled behind the brush. "Did you say humans have manes?" she asked.

"Well, we just call it hair, but brushing it feels nothing like this."

Redheart chuckled and said, "let's see how you like this then."

"Why, what are- Oh! Oooooh!" I said as she started running the brush through my voluminous mane. I let my head rest over the rim of the tub and closed my eye. One would think that a hairdo like that would have tangles like a... like a clever analogy that one simply does not care about while having one's mane brushed.

"... Gabe? Gabrielle? Are you awake?"

I softly opened my eye and looked around. I was in the bathroom, wrapped inside a pink, fluffy towel and sitting in the wheelchair. I let out a content sigh before answering. "Yeah. Did it happen again?"

"Mmm," Redheart answered. "While I was brushing your mane. I let you sleep as I finished washing you."

‘And managed to place me in the wheelchair by yourself, it seems.’

"How long?"

"Not long. About fifteen minutes," Redheart said and took the towel off me and hung it up on a rack, leaving me with still slightly damp, straight hair so long that it almost counted as a towel in itself.

‘Not nearly as long as in the beginning.’ "That must mean that it's wearing off?" I asked.

"If you mean the Wisp-Shimmer Syndrome, then yes," she said and I felt something like an enormous electrical charge building up in my scalp.

I brought my hoof up to feel around my neck. "What's going on?" I said, trying not to sound nervous.

Redheart looked as she was about to answer when I touched my mane and it, along with my tail, practically exploded into the same shape as it had before the bath. I let out a startled "Ah!" and Redheart actually laughed loudly at the sight. As her laughter died down I softly touched my hair with a wide eye.

"So," she said after a while. "Are you ready to meet the princesses?"

I rallied from the surprise of my mane spectacle. "You tell me," I said with a small smirk. "You're the one who insisted that I stank too much and I haven't had time to judge the results yet."

"You know what I mean," Redheart said and I could hear that she was smiling as she wheeled me out of the bathroom.

"Well, what are they like?" I asked.

We exited the room out into the hallway. "The princesses? I've never met Princess Celestia myself but everypony knows that she is as kind as she is wise," Redheart said before hastily continuing with, "and that she's very wise."

"Okay," I said and gave an even nod. "That's comforting. By the way, do you have prosthetic eyes around here?"

"We've actually got an expert coming in to make you one," she said as we got to the end of the hall where Princess Twilight and her friends were waiting.

"You've got an expert coming in just for one person?" I asked.

"Well, yes," Redheart said like it was a matter of course. "There's nopony on-hoof for serious eye injuries since they're not very common."

"They're not?" I said in a dubious tone.

‘How can they not be? Eyes around here are huge!’ I wondered as I waved to the waiting ponies.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi!" three of the six ponies said while Pinkie and Rainbow instead went with, "heya!" and Applejack with a "howdy."

"So what's not what?" Rainbow asked as she suddenly hovered a few inched from my face.

"What's not what's not what?" I asked

"I dunno, that's why I'm asking."

"You've lost me, Rainbow Dash," I said and she suddenly flinched away. "What now?"

"Sorry," she said and landed. "It's just, your eye is kinda creepy." I realized that I had brought up both my lids and closed my right one again. "I was just wondering what you two we're talking about. Also, just 'Rainbow' or 'Dash' is cool."

"Oh, okay, uh eye injuries, actually. Redheart said that they're not common and I thought that was strange. People around here have enormous eyes compared to back home," I said. "They're like tarsiers."

"What's a tarsier?" Twilght asked.

"Oh, it's a nocturnal monkey," I said. "Or no, they're probably primates. Anyway, they've got huge eyes. I think they probably live tranquil lives with such huge vulnerable spots on their faces."

"What vulnerable spots?" Twilight asked in confused voice.

"Their eyes," I said and looked dubiously at her. "What, eyes work differently around here?"

"Well, I don't know about Tellus, but eyes aren't very vulnerable around here, they're just very sensitive," Twilight said.

"Pff! Speak for yourself," said Rainbow, who had taken off again and was seemingly lounging in midair.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Most creature's eyes are sensitive. Pegasi and other flyers often have a higher tolerance."

Rainbow was suddenly grabbed from the air, with a startled "Hey!", by Pinkie who held Rainbow's face up to me and said, "Yeah, wanna see?" before shoving her hoof into Rainbow's eye and rubbing it lightly.

Rainbow showed no signs of discomfort at having her eyeball massaged by a lump of keratin, her only sign of displeasure being an exasperated "Pinkie..."

Pinkie let her go with a defensive "What? She was curious."

"Yeah, but your hoof was dirty," Rainbow said and started rubbing against her eyeball with the back of her hoof.

"Don't worry, Dash, I've got it." Applejack said as she removed her hat, picked out a handkerchief from it, spat in the handkerchief and used it to scrub Rainbow's eyeball.

"Oh yeah, that's so much better," Rainbow said, her voice thick like a sarcastic milkshake.

Her tone was one-upped by Rarity, however, who said, "Yes, darlings. Please get the brutish mannerisms out of the way before we visit the castle."

I could only watch the scene with my mouth hanging open in disbelief. After a moment I heard Redheart's amused voice behind me. "Does that answer your question, Gabe?"

I didn't answer straight away. Instead I brought my hoof up to me eye and considered. People are always careful with their eyes, people using their spare are even more so. I closed my eye and poked it through the lid. It felt like a hard rubber ball. I opened my eye again, thought for a moment, then lightly poked myself in the eye. I immediately brought down my eye out of reflex but the action didn't hurt nearly as much as it would've as a human. "Yeah," I said slowly in the darkness. "Yeah, that answers my question."

"Anyway," Twilight said loudly. "We should probably get going now unless we want to hurry."

We were walking down the streets of Canterlot on the way to the castle. And by that I mean that six of us were walking while I was sitting in a wheelchair looking slack-jawed at the eighth member of our group.

Rainbow was lying on top of a small cloud which was cruising along about ten feet of the ground. The altitude I could understand, after all, not only was Canterlot impossibly beautiful, as it turns out it was also on a mountain. But the cloud was about the size of a bed and managed to look Fluffy.

"You see?" Rainbow said triumphantly to me. "Nothing to it! You should see me clearing an overcast sometime."

"Did you get to the part about Cloudsdale in the book I gave you, Gabe?" Redheart asked.

"Well, yeah, I skimmed to it," I said slowly.

‘I thought it meant that it was a city among the clouds, not made of clouds.’

"That's, that's really cool," I said, not able to hold back my awe.

"Yeah," Rainbow said nonchalantly. "Being a pegasus, especially one as awesome as me, is pretty cool, I admit."

When learning about the different types of ponies it seemed that I had been handed, or hoofed, the long stick, with alicorns seemingly off the table. But seeing Rainbow just being herself as a pegasus made me think the other options might not have been so bad. Earth ponies were apparently incredibly skilled and adaptive despite having no wings or magic horns. ‘Unicorns suddenly don't seem that superior to pegasi, it might turn out the same way about earth ponies.’

The streets were made of cobblestone but they were almost completely flat and I couldn't tell if it was by design or from wear. We crossed peacefully rippling rivulets on small bridges decorated with flowers and ribbons. The hospital and the castle were unsurprisingly located in central parts of the city, connected by large roads. But occasionally the scenery opened up and I could see picturesque parks and landscapes among the gently gleaming buildings, with lots of stylized shrubberies and those trees you see in movies in ancient Rome or Greece that I'm pretty sure are called cypress trees.

No smog, no incessant din of tires on asphalt in the distance, no groaning old air conditioners. Those sounds you don't realize were there until they go away? There were so many of them gone from this magical equivalence to an urban landscape and I took in the fresh mountain air of Canterlot and thought, ‘Good riddance.’

"Gabrielle? We're here."

I opened my eye and yawned. "I guess you're gonna laugh now, Rainbow. You seem like the type to do that," I said dejectedly.

"I won't say that you don't look absolutely adorable when you sleep, darling," an amused Rarity said as I turned to face her, with Fluttershy nodding in agreement. "Nor will I deny your assumption of our dear Rainbow Dash. But if she would laugh it would make her something of a hypocrite," she continued and gestured to the side where I saw Rainbow Dash snoozing peacefully on the cloud from earlier with Twilight apparently tugging it along with her magic.

"I can laugh if you want me to, though," Pinkie said. "You looked mostly cute and cuddly but it looked pretty fun too!"

"I'm okay with not being laughed at, thanks," I deadpanned.

"Okay, then I'll just cuddle since you looked so cuddly!" Pinkie said as she shot forward and hugged me, seemingly completely covering me in pink hair. I was about to protest but all my attention was drawn to all the knickknacks she had lying around in her mane. Things like a joke nose, a monopoly hat, a spanner, a picture of a gray pony with straight hair and something that looked like a driver's license.

We apparently started moving again and I heard Fluttershy's voice say "Uh, Pinkie, I think you're making her uncomfortable."

The pink was pulled back and I saw that we were standing in front of a large flight of stairs leading to the entrance of a great hall. Someone else might have used the word “vestibule”, but having gone to medical school, I refrained from doing so.

"Alright, we're here," Twilight said, magically lifted Rainbow off from the cloud, placed her in a standing position on the ground and gently shook Rainbow's head.

Rainbow stumbled a bit as she woke up. "Wha!? Hey! What gives!?"

"Oh," Twilight said and grabbed my wheelchair in her aura. "That was just a small payback for all the pranks you come up with all the time."

Rainbow looked thoroughly embarrassed as the other ponies sniggered at her. "You have no idea how much I had to practice that," Twilight said quietly to me. "The cochlea of pegasi makes them incredibly sensitive to the wrong sort of movement while they sleep."

"I believe you," I said absentmindedly as I took in the surroundings we were passing through. It wasn't the type of cramped medieval castle in grey bricks you see in pictures. It was bright, open, and somehow not cold like you might suspect a very open building almost entirely made of stone to be.

At the end of the hall was another flight of stairs and I looked back to see that Redheart was still with us. ‘No ramps on these stairs. As wonderful as this place seems so far, that's one point in Earth's favor.’

My heart jumped so hard it hurt a little when two mannequins in armor standing at the sides of the foot of the stairs brought their forelegs up in a salute. The guards had been standing so still I thought they were part of the decoration.

When we had ascended the stairs, I got another, slightly smaller shock as Twilight nodded to two more guards I had thought were mannequins who opened the large doors in front of us.

"This is the royal gallery," Twilight said as we entered. "It's where- oh!" She stopped herself when she saw who were in front of her.

Two regally tall, winged and horned ponies turned away from the stained glass windows on our right to face us. All the ponies except Twilight and me bowed to them.

I had seen plenty of magical ponies by now, but none that looked as magical as these. One majestic, graceful looking, midnight blue with a swirling mane made out of cloudless night, and the other an even larger, white, with a mane of an ethereal rainbow. Based on Redheart's description, and on Twilight's mannerisms, I assumed that it was okay that I didn't fling myself out of the wheelchair to bow as well. ‘It looks a bit submissive, but going down on your knees as a pony around here seems more akin to casually sitting down, and just bowing your head doesn't seem to cut it. So yeah, I guess folding ones forelegs is all that's left.’

"Please, rise," the white one said.

‘This must be Princess Celestia.’

The ponies did so. Redheart a little more hesitantly than the rest. Twilight just dipped her head respectfully. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. Allow me to present Gabrielle of Tellus."

The book I had read said that Celestia had ruled Equestria for what would probably be called “an age”, or more, seeing how this was a magical world and all. And her smile was one that you probably would have to practice for millennia to achieve. "A pleasure to meet you, Gabrielle of Tellus. I am Princess Celestia. My sister and I bid you welcome to Equestria." She stepped forward and offered her hoof, which I slowly shook.

Princess Luna stepped forward, not to be outdone. "We hope the day finds you well, We are Princess Luna." Another hoofshake.

I could keep a stoic face, I think. I could also whip up a good response in a respectable time. Doing both was harder, though. But after struggling a bit I rallied. "Gabrielle Desrochers," I said and swallowed back my nervousness. "It's an honor to meet you, your majesties."

‘Is it “majesty” if it's a monarch even though they're princesses? Argh, I should've asked.’

My trail of thought was broken by Rarity's voice. "Hmm," she said. "Such fine manners, but I must ask: 'Desrochers'?"

"Uh, my surname," I said, feeling a bit sheepish that it never came up before now.

"Just how many names do you have?" Rainbow asked.

"Well," I said. "If we start counting 'of Tellus' as one it'll be four."

Rainbow was looking of to the side and seemed to be counting quietly to herself. "I'm counting five."

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah, 'Gabrielle', 'Gabe', 'Gabby', 'Desrochers' and 'of Tellus'."

"Does two and three count?"

"No, they're nicknames. Anyway..." Twilight said before trailing off and looking at her fellow princesses.

"Ah, yes," Princess Luna said, sounding a bit pompous. "The royal banquet awaits." The two princesses turned around and walked down the hall.

‘Oh, well this was a short meeting. At least I got to see some interesting sights on our way here.’ The princesses' manes flowed in an nonexistent breeze and as Celestia's substantial, rainbow colored mane swept over her sister's moon adorned flank I had to put in an effort to not snigger at the impromptu Pink Floyd reference. Luckily I was distracted by being wheeled forward fast enough to catch up with the diarchs.

‘What? Am I gonna be on this banquet?’

"Uh," I started carefully and looked around to make sure that the rest of the ponies were still with us. "Royal banquet?" I quietly asked Twilight, who was walking along beside me.

"Yes, of course," she noticed my confused look before continuing. "Don't worry, it'll all make sense soon."

I hadn't learned much about Equestria at this point, but it seemed similar enough to Earth that I could make qualified guesses about many things and it made me worry that this banquet was going to be of the baroque fashion. The thought of doing anything other than playing along at this point sounded like a terrible idea, however. We moved down the carpeted corridors of the castle with guards constantly saluting our group constantly and the occasional other pony moving out of the way and bowing deeply. Despite the apparent size of the castle when seen from the distance, we didn't have to walk long, or climb any stairs, before arriving at a large hall with a long table and several very large, cushioned chairs around it.

‘That was convenient. But come to think of it, this is probably far from the only hall that's suitable for a banquet.’

I was helped by Redheart into my chair I glanced around and saw the others taking several different positions. Rarity was lying like a dignified cat, which the chairs were large enough to accommodate, Twilight much like Rarity except in a more casual manner, Rainbow lying on her back while leaning her elbow against the arm of her chair, and Pinkie was for some reason sitting like a human. ‘I wonder if arm chairs are called foreleg chairs around here.’

"Nurse Redheart," Celestia's soft voice said. "I'm a bit embarrassed to say that we did not think to invite you to this event directly, but you are welcome to join us."

Redheart dipped her head to Celestia. "I'm honored, your majesty," (‘Ah, that should answer that’) she said before taking a place beside me and giving me a smile after taking off her hat.

I was a bit relieved by the casual ways a lot of ponies were sitting in their chair. That, coupled with the apparent tenderness of at least Princess Celestia, gave me the courage to speak up. "Uh, I just wanna say that... I have no idea how to behave at a royal banquet so, I'm sorry if I do something inappropriate."

"Even should you offend intentionally," Princess Luna said. "It would behoove us to show you lenience."

"It would?" I asked with all the subtlety of a tornado.

"What my sister means, in this case" Celestia said. "Is that you are the only visitor from your world. A world which has been connected to ours, however fleetingly, and could be so again."

I was about to ask more questions before Celestia continued. "As such, you are the font of all knowledge of your world of Tellus, or Terra, which, and I'm sorry to put such a responsibility on one so young, places you in a form of an ambassadorial role."

I was silent for a few moments as I considered this. ‘Well, yeah, that makes sense I guess. Even so, an ambassador is a pretty high rank. How much do they expect of me? I'm not much of a people person.’

"Gabrielle, do you understand what I am saying?" Celestia said.

"Uh, yeah. I think I do," I said, a bit more absentmindedly than I would have liked to, seeing as how I was addressing actually ruling royalty.

"Of course; nopony expects you to perform all the duties of an actual ambassador," Celestia said in a calming yet apologetic tone. "Which would not be possible as there is no current correspondence between our worlds. I would never ask a foal to do such a thing."

‘That's a relief. Even so, I should address the age issue right away.’

"Uh, about that," I said, "I'm not sure you know this, but I'm twenty-six and by human standards that means I've been an adult for eight years."

The two princesses were looking at me with wide eyes in silence for a moment, before Luna said, in a very pedestrian tone, "It does?"

"Yeah," I said. "I thought it might be best to get that out in the open quickly. I think I've been worrying a few of your... subjects with my behavior."

"That still amazes me. I didn't see much, but I couldn't help notice how advanced humans of Terra seemed when I was studying them," Twilight said and before anyone could answer, a small train of carts with metal-covered food plates were rolled in from a door on the opposite side of where we entered by ponies with neutral expressions.

Everyone around the table went silent and looked in anticipation as they we had large plates covered in metal bowls placed in front of us by very gracefully moving ponies dressed in fancy clothing. From the waist up at least.

"We have received some information about your diet, Gabrielle," Celestia said. "And after consulting with a dear friend of ours, a diplomat called Arnfried, we asked our chef to prepare an old favorite of visiting gryphons."

I realized that I was in the presence of royal herbivores. Seeing as they were magical I wasn't sure how close they were to horsies back home, but I knew I had eaten horse meat and hoped that no one would be terrified or offended if that ever came out. Fruits and vegetables and nuts are fine but I tend to prefer a lot of it uncooked. I was starting to dread that I was going to have to sit and pretend to enjoy very small amounts of expensive salads. ‘Would that be a banquet in magical pony land?’ I thought. But before I could start fretting for real, the chefs removed the bowls to reveal...

‘Halloumi? Hey, I love halloumi!’

Back home, people wouldn't count this as a center part of a dinner, which I would have disagreed on. Score one for Equestria. I gave a smile and decided I should turn to share it with the ones who had brought the food in but they had already turned away and were heading back the way they came. There were other foods of course. Mostly salads but I was accustomed to salads in fancy locales being mostly decorative.

Everything was silent, I looked around to see that everyone were facing me with expectant looks and then jumped as I felt something brush against the side of my head. I looked around but there was no one within reach of me.

"Gabrielle?" Celestia asked. "What's wrong?"

"Uh," I started, a lot less sure about the situation than I would've liked. "I just felt something."

"Felt what?" Applejack asked.

"Something brushing the side of my head."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Twilight spoke up. "Oh! That's right, Gabrielle, since you were a human you're probably not used to mobile ears." Then looked around at the others and said, "Human ears are in a fixed positions."

I reached up and tried to touch my left ear, but I had to look for it since it was folded down. Rainbow apparently found this royally amusing as she was trying to stifle a laugh with her hooves, Applejack was chuckling, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Redheart were giving me looks that one would give a sleeping puppy while Luna was looking at me with an utterly neutral expression and Celestia was giving me a comforting smile.

"Yeah, well, you were all looking at me," I grumbled a bit indignantly.

"It is proper custom to let the guest start with the meal," Luna said with no amount of impatience or disapproval that I could detect.

‘Oh, that's right! There are still meals in front of us.’ I looked at Redheart and gave her a look.

"Your majesties," Redheart said. "Gabrielle is unable to use her manipulation field at the moment and has no experience with unicorn magic, or magic of any kind, and I feel that this might not be the time for a lesson in basic magical manipulation. I'll take it upon myself to help Equestria's guest with her meal."

Celestia smiled at her. "Your dedication is admirable," she said and her horn lit up.

Redheart's chair and her own food was brought into the air and landed close enough for her to help me. I gave her a grateful look and held out my hoof. She took my fork in her mouth and held it out for me to grab it with my wrist.

As she did, I considered the role of the hooves versus the role of the mouth as the primary ways ponies seemed to interact with the world around them. Humans had the handshakes and the hugs (mostly for people who aren't me), while ponies seemed to have the hoofshake. But at least Earth Ponies and probably pegasi as well seemed to also used their mouths to use tools and carry things around. I found an amusing thought in that if ponies decided to greet each other with their other primary manipulator, there would be a lot of casual kissing going on all the time. That turned the amusing thought a bit somber as it reminded me of my mother. With a name like mine I guess it's not very surprising that I grew up being constantly pecked on the cheeks.

I shook some bittersweet memories away and focused on my food. I managed to stab a piece with my fork and bring it to my mouth. It might've been considered a bit of a mouthful as a human, but it was fine with a muzzle. There was probably a joke in there about having a long face but I didn't bother thinking one up, I was too distracted by the food. It was fit for a king, or in this case a trio of princesses.

"So, Gabrielle Desrochers," Luna said a minute or so after everyone had started eating. "Would you mind telling us about yourself?"

I looked around at the magical, talking ponies that were looking at me. ‘I'm the interesting one around here?’

"Well, in short I'm a twenty-six year old radiographer, specializing in magnetic resonance scanning. It's a technology for scanning people medically," I said.

Luna nodded while looking politely interested before continuing. "Pray tell, in what situation were you in when you moved from Terra to Equestria?"

Twilight's face grew red. "I... can't believe I forgot to ask that," she said in a low voice.

She had assumed the worst before so I decided to give her the unexciting truth. "I was just preparing to go home for the day, closing down shop at the department where I work. An MRI machine requires special rooms to house it and everyone else had already left. I was just putting out the lights when suddenly I was here in Equestria, in the body of a pony." I tried to remember the details about it but it just seemed so mundane of a situation, before I remembered my state after arriving and letting out a small, slightly horrified laugh. Everyone around looked at me wonderingly. "I just remembered, I got here without my clothes, if they stayed behind, the only thing people would've found of me the next day would be a set of clothes and a prosthetic leg and eye lying beside the machine... they must've freaked out," I said with a nervous chuckle.

Luna frowned ever slightly at this. "Not the ideal first interaction between our worlds," she said.

Twilight's ears drooped and she seemed to struggle to find something to say. I decided to help her out. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

‘Not the most reassuring response, but it's the truth.’ I absentmindedly reached for the glass in front of me.

"May I steer the conversation in a more pleasant direction?" Celestia said in a cheerful voice while turned to her sister.

"If our guest does not disapprove, sister dear," Luna said as I took a drink.

Celestia faced me with a cheery but questioning look on her face. ‘Ugh. Please don't say that we have to dance around issues like this in order to be polite,’ I thought as I took a gulp of some very nice soft drink or other. I shrugged noncommittally.

"I just thought I'd point out that Gabrielle seems to adjust very smoothly to being a pony," Celestia said and gestured towards me.

At first I was a bit confused until I realized that I was looking at her through the bottom of a glass. I carefully removed the glass from my mouth and looked at it as it was pressed by some invisible force against my hoof. Worried that I might mess up by thinking about what I was doing I carefully placed the glass down on the table and simply opened my fingers. The glass was released and I looked at my hoof.

"I have to say, Gabe," Redheart said and gave me a smile. "It took the rest of us a lot more time than four days before we learned to use our hooves to grip things with."

‘Don't cheer too loudly yet, I've only managed it once.’ I brought my hoof to the fork and tried grabbing it. ‘Science is repeatable, after all.’

I hovered with my hoof over the utensil in what I assumed was like holding a hand with your palm down, and grabbed simply willed my fingers to close, grabbing the fork in the process. The fork was lifted from the table and looked as if attached to the hoof. My "fingers" for lack of a better word, felt... not exactly numb. It's difficult to describe to someone who has not felt it themselves, but receiving signals from non-existent parts of your body was something I was familiar with, and so was this sensation. Luckily, this time it didn't seem to include periods of pain and spikes of outright agony.

I felt pleased about what I had achieved though. ‘If I can move around with magic and practice some telekinesis, I'll be ahead of myself as a human.’

I looked around and saw the others around the table having surprised and impressed expressions. "What?" I asked.

"That is an impressive display," Luna said. "How far does your reach extend?"

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

‘I'm guessing she's not talking about how long my foreleg is, she can probably tell.’

"How far from your hoof can you hold your utensil?" Luna said.

I simply shifted the fork between what would have been my index and middle fingers.

I noticed that Twilight's horn had lit up and she looked concentrated. She “powered down” and spoke up. "No wonder she couldn't use her field, it's been reshaping to look like human digits."

Princess Luna looked on in interest and her sister looked pleased. "A joyous development," Celestia said. "I certainly hope that this helps you during your time in Equestria."

"No doubt," I said and speared another piece and put it in my mouth.

‘Aaah, that feels satisfying.’

"People seems to have gone out of their ways to help me since arriving here, it's gonna be nice to regain some independence. I felt like I was taking up a little too much of everyone's time."

"Please do not think anything of the sort, dear Gabrielle. I wish for you to feel welcome among my little ponies."

A pang of sadness shot through me and just managed to keep back a small grimace. Or at least I thought I did, but not thoroughly enough to fool a millennia-old divine monarch. "Gabrielle? What's wrong?" Celestia asked.

‘This is one of the many reasons I like alone time. Every now and then something comes up and I get emotional, sometimes I don't even know why.’

"Oh, nothing. Just remembering."

"Was it something I said?" Celestia asked.

I'm not as fast of a learner as I might've sometimes liked, but I had already figured out that fooling Princess Celestia required more than my measly skills of deception. I nodded. "Well, yes. What you said reminded me of my mother," I said and winced inwardly. This might not have been much for someone else but for me this was like pouring my heart out to nine almost strangers.

"I'm sorry," Twilight said and looked down. "I've taken you from your family."

‘Ah... I had gotten the feeling that something was chewing at her. Well, I would've preferred to not have a heart-to-heart with, well, anyone. But if Twilight is beating herself up about something that's no longer an issue then I really should intervene.’

"No, you haven't," I said.

Twilight looked at me and for a second I saw a flash of relief across her features before her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

‘Alright, time for sharing, I guess. Let's see, do not sound bitter, sad, apathetic or angry...'

"They're gone," I said.

‘Well, I guess melancholic will have to do. It's better than that time I tried sounding flippant about it. Never doing that again.’

"That accident I told you about?" I said and looked around at the shocked ponies. "They didn't make it."

I was growing a bit sick of the looks of utter horror I got from ponies whenever I revealed anything about myself so tried to get the conversation over with as quickly as I could. "And to clarify, your majesty," I said and turned to Celestia and tried to give her my best don't-worry-about-it expression. "When you said 'my little ponies', it reminded of my mother who used to call me 'my little Koh-I-Noor' when I was younger."

Celestia's head dropped a little and she gave me a sad look. "I see. I hope I did not tear open old wounds with my remark."

"Mm, Poked a tender spot, perhaps," I said and took another bite. "Anyway, if you're gonna show me lenience, I'm gonna show you some back."

"Even so," Celestia said. "I'm sorry."

"If you feel that it's something that merits an apology then I'll accept it," I said. "but I prefer it when... how do I put this? I don't like it when people react like me losing my parents is the end of the world. Because It felt like it, at the time. And it would be nice to not be reminded of that as often."

"Then I hope you'll accept my apology for doing so," Celestia said.

"I'm not going to hold it against you for showing me empathy," I said.

The sadness in Celestia's smile lessened somewhat. "You are interestingly mature for your age."

"Like I said, I've been an adult for years," I said and looked around. Most still looked very sad at the news about my parents. "So no," I said with emphasis to Twilight. "You have not separated me from my family. No siblings and with parents that didn't have any siblings either. Now, I'm not gonna say that no one will miss me, but I had just moved to a new town to run the department where I worked and I don't make friends fast, so I only had acquaintances."

This did not seem to help. "You didn't have any friends?" She asked.

‘I just can't win, can I?’

I let out a sigh. "I'm trying to cheer you guys up, can you start going with the program already?"

I felt a hoof touch my foreleg and turned to see Redheart looking at me. "I told you earlier, Gabe, this is difficult to listen to. And as you told me, yes, we ponies are emotionally tender."

I rolled my eye. "I've noticed. And that's why I'm trying to tell you not to worry." I turned to the other ponies and said, "look, I don't like telling people off, especially when they're showing that they care, but it was a long time ago and nothing can be done about it."

Everyone around the table looked sad but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were practically looking heartbroken. "We're just trying to make you feel better," Pinkie Pie said.

"Yes, I appreciate that. And if you guys would cheer up then it would work, too. I get that you care, but making everyone feel down is not helping me cheer up," I said.

"We understand," Fluttershy said.

"And I get it that you guys came all the way from Ponyville just to visit me. So, seriously, thank you."

And that's when almost everyone got out of their seats, walked up to me and gave me a big hug. ‘No! Too much. Abort. Abort! Agh! We're all technically naked, too!’

The princesses had moved up behind us and were standing there with satisfied expressions when the hug finally broke. "It seems that the dinner is drawing to a close," Celestia said. I looked down on the plates and saw that they were all empty. "And evening is drawing nearer. Perhaps you would like to view your new living arrangements, Gabrielle?"

"New living arrangements?" I asked.

"Of course," Luna said. "We spoke with Doctor Staff earlier and she approved of releasing you from the hospital. And through no fault of your own you now find yourself without means. We will provide for Equestria's newest diplomatic visitor."

"Provide how?" I asked.

"We're giving you a suite in the castle, Gabrielle," Celestia said. "And possibly arranging for medical visits," she continued and looked a bit uneasily at me. I sheepishly closed my right eyelid.

"Shall we?" Luna said and started moving towards a door.

We moved through the castle and I realized that I had been too stunned to express my gratitude for the princesses offer. But being as perceptive as the princesses seemed to be, I assumed that they got the gist of it.

"By the way, Gabrielle. Why did your mother call you 'Koh-I-Noor'?" Rarity asked.

"The Koh-I-Noor is a famous diamond. And she called me that after my middle name, Eleanor," I said.

"More names?" Rainbow asked.

As before, servants bowed and guards saluted as we moved through the magnificent castle and we ascended two fairly significant flights of stairs before we reached a large door on the side of a decorated hallway. Beside the door stood large vases with flowers and the floor was covered by a red carpet which I assumed was very soft but I never touched it as I was wheeled along in my chair.

Princess Luna opened the door with her blue aura and we filed in. "Would these accommodations be to your liking?" she asked.

I looked around the suite. It was very large but still managed to look cosy. The orange sun illuminated a large bed with bed posts and nightstands which took up one side, surrounded by a large number of cushions in different sizes, some of them looking like comfortable sleeping spots, themselves. A vanity and changing area with wardrobes on another side, which seemed a bit superfluous as I had seen very little in the way of clothes so far. A large, decorated window and glass door took up one wall which led out to a balcony and could be covered by a set of curtains. A door on the far side of the wall obviously led to a private bathroom and in one corner was a study area that could be covered by another set of curtains. Strategically placed to be enjoyed while being located in several of the room's areas was a large fireplace with an armchair in front of it. Add to it all was a lot of carpets and a few potted plants. In short, it was almost unnervingly luxurious. "I'm not sure anyone could ever have a problem with this," I said quietly.

"Oh, what a marvelous room, darling," Rarity said. "You have to let me stop by sometime and let myself get some inspiration."

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "There's not a lot that beats a cloud home, but this is pretty close. Nice pad, short stuff!"

"Please excuse us, everypony," Luna said and she and Celestia opened the door to the balcony and stepped out. The sun had turned a pleasant orange and as the princesses' horns lit up and the sun descended beyond the horizon and the castle was instead covered in moonlight as the stars shone brightly in the night sky.

The princesses walked back in and Celestia spoke up. "Everypony, Gabrielle is still suffering from the later stages of Wisp-Shimmer Syndrome. The more she rests up the sooner she can start learning magic."

I didn't need any more motivation than that. "Thanks for everything today, you guys," I said. Which turned out to be something of a mistake as it resulted in another group hug.

"We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Twilight said as they all walked out, except Redheart.

"I'm just gonna help her into bed, your majesties," she said. and moved me up to the bed.

"Of course," Princess Celestia said. "Gabe, if you ever need any assistance, just say the words “Room service, please.” This will summon somepony to aid you."

I shifted my eye as I tried to figure out how that was supposed to work. "What, really?"

"Of course," Luna said as Redheart positioned herself over me and I grabbed hold. "Our little ponies pride themselves in their diligence. Visiting dignitaries leave Canterlot with high thoughts about the castle staff."

Redheart put me down on the bed. "So it works through magic?"

"Indeed," Luna said. "And similarly, the guards will respond when you say the word “guards” thrice in short succession.

"Uh, cool," I said as Redheart threw the cover over me and I looked dejectedly at the princesses. "And now your latest diplomatic visitor is being tucked in in front of you."

Princess Celestia put her hoof to her mouth and held back a laugh. "This is not the first time that's happened."

It sounded like an interesting story there but it might be another time for that.

"Also, thanks today, Gabe," Redheart said.

"What for?"

"I got to attend to a royal banquet thanks to you," she said and winked at me. "Goodnight."

"Yes, we wish you a pleasant night," Luna said as the three ponies started moving towards the door. "We shall continue to keep your dreams peaceful."

I had been about ready to call it a day when that caught my attention. "Wait. What do you mean?" I asked. Celestia gave us a smile and she and Redheart walked out while Luna stayed behind.

"We are the Princess of The Night and the guardian of the astral realm. We watch over our subjects' dreams and keep their rest calm and joyous," she stated proudly.

"You mean you've watched over me in my dreams before?"

"Well, not exactly," she said. "When you first arrived we noticed that somepony had suffered from a rabidly feverish dream. It turned out to be you, no doubt because your affliction as well as your transformation into your current form."

"I think I remember that..." I said.

"Yes, so we quelled your troubled mind and let you deal with your predicament subconsciously, without interrupting your rest and waking you with disorienting images."

"You helped me come to grips with my situation in my dreams?"

"Yes," she said and failed to stifle a yawn.

‘Well, that explains a bit.’

"Long night?" I asked.

"More like short day," she said. "Please don't tell our sister we slipped out of royal decorum."

It was actually a bit comforting to see the up until now no-nonsense diarch act a bit casual, if only for a moment. "You, uh, work night shifts?"

Luna nodded. "That is one way to put it."

"So you got up early to attend the banquet?" I asked.

"Certainly. It would be poor form to refrain from attending."

"Wow. Thanks. But, uh, does that mean that you see what people dream about?"

Luna looked at me for a second. "Well, we have ways of telling whether our presence would be welcome or not," she said and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Even so, when visiting dreams, one should be careful not to reveal one's presence too soon. More than once we have made a discreet exit when mares and stallions dream of each other."

I thought for a about a second about that before I burst into a furious snigger. Luna no doubt thought it was a girly giggle but it had more to do with me being reminded of last week when I sat down on my remote control and zapped on my TV, whereupon I ended up watching a very humorous documentary about Fabio, where the word “stallion” was extensively used.

My “stamina fluctuations” acted up again and I fell asleep on a bright note, even though I didn't notice.

Author's Notes:

Egad, this was drawn out! But it's finally done. I think there were a lot of funny missing here. I'm gonna see if my humor gland have recharged until writing the next chapter.

So now we have Gabe's full name. A quick google-search didn't turn up any celebrities or anything so it looks like I didn't unintentionally name her after a recognizable character.

So, does Gabe move to Ponyville and learn magic there or does she stay in Canterlot? Please tell me what you think. I haven't decided yet.

Also, references to Metal Gear and Forgotten Realms in there somewhere, tell me if you find them.

And yes, Luna refers to Gabe with the royal you.

Oops, almost forgot: Credit to Emel, whom I got the idea of manipulation fields in ponies' hooves from. (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/115521/a-changed-life)

Glow Blue. (Alternate, homage-title: The Color Of Magic)

Author's Notes:

Be warned: this chapter contains thpoilerth for the comic.

Phat cred to local cosmo-homie, Topaz Moon. Thanks, space-gangsta.

Long, long before recorded history, fire had been revered by humans as something supernatural. It could fend off wild predators, cook food and captivate an audience. It could heal, it could wound, it could destroy, it could renew. And as humans long ago set their gaze on distant lands, they had to rely even more on fire as they moved away from their ancestral continent. For warmth, light, and comfort.

With early humans having witnessed fire do such remarkable things, it was no wonder that fire had been revered as if it was magic. It wouldn't surprise me if there was some part of the human brain that was hardwired to regard that oh so common chemical reaction as something mystical.

However, there is one very old concept that hadn't been granted nearly as many supernatural traits like fire, but which also filled a vital role in the early days of mankind, still used in modern day and would probably remain so in the foreseeable future. Like fire, it was vital to humanity’s survival as they trekked across the vast lands of their home planet. It kept them safe, and warm, and had been part of human's everyday life since before civilization. And I was enjoying it right now.

I put my hoof on it and adjusted it. ‘Sometimes, a nice blanket really helps.’

And it really helped. Having the basics covered did wonders for the human psyche, at least as far as I could remember from school.

I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I really ought to get some sleep, however. After the initial excitement of arriving in Equestria, my old habits were starting to kick in, which included worrying during sleepless nights as that meant tough days at work. Despite being safe and sound I was feeling anxious about my situation. I know Twilight probably felt guilty about putting me in this situation, and it was nice of her and her fellow princesses to help me. But even so, I had been granted a lot for very little.

Despite the classical aesthetics in Canterlot, it was obvious that this was not antiquity, where a privileged few enjoyed life at the expense of a massive slave population. No, like where I came from, this was a land of surplus where means and resources were distributed to avoid poverty and starvation. And so I had expected some aid from established agencies, like foster care or something since apparently I'm young enough to be considered an orphan around here, and things of that nature.

I did not, however, expect a suite at a castle my first night outside of a hospital. And that's where my anxiety came from, as well as my desire for sleep. I was never very comfortable with the idea of just being given things for nothing, and the only way to repay my benefactors were to take any responsibilities I was given seriously, even if, according to Twilight, the issues of establishing contact between Earth and Equestria would remain purely academic for what could be a long time.

‘So yeah, it's probably nothing worth worrying about, since it's not a pressing matter. Just relax. The princesses are probably busy so you have plenty of time to get your sleeping patterns in order. Which, by the way, they're fully aware are not normal at the moment.’

Having stopped myself from getting a stomach ulcer for the moment, I rolled over and tugged at the bed curtains in order to see the starry night sky through the very large window that took up a significant part of a wall. I had never slept in a bed with curtains before. It was cozy.

I was lying there when I heard a clank in the distance. It didn't seem important, just like someone either dropped a metal tray down the corridor, or a very large tray several corridors down, but I felt the sensation of my ear swiveling towards the door and then swiveling back. Only one did, and I assumed that it was because the other one was pinned beneath me.

Figuring that I could have a relaxingly educational moment by trying to familiarize myself with my new form, I tried to swivel my ears independent of sound or mood. It didn't seem to work.

I tried something similar to a trick I learned when I was a kid, when I managed, by focusing my eyes on the tip of my index finger and slowly touching the bridge of my nose, to become cross-eyed at will. I felt confident I could technically still align my muscles the same way, but the trick just wasn't the same when one eye was artificial and didn't follow the other very well at the best of times. I rolled over to my other side again, and with one of the bedposts being behind me, I used the super-equestrian(-by-Earth-standards-but-obviously-mundane-by-Equestrian[the realm, as opposed to the genus]-standards)-flexibility of my foreleg to tap a bed post behind me and sure enough, my ear swiveled to locate the sound.

I took note of the sensation and concentrated. After only a few tries I could move my ear back and forth. ‘Well, that was easy. Twenty more minutes and I could probably do this with both ears independently and in every direction. I guess this is nothing special around here.’

I rolled over again to look at the rich night sky. I had seen pictures of the stars as seen near the equator back home of course. But even that paled in comparison to the soft light and the comforting purple tinge that radiated from this alien heaven.

I was musing about how fitting Twilight's name was and whether the purple tinge actually came from the sky or if it was the result of ponies around here being at least partially nocturnal, which didn't seem unlikely considering how large their eyes were, when suddenly fatigue gripped me. ‘Ah, here we go.’

I awoke to the sound of hooves clopping on tiles. Or rather, a minute awareness of the world around me mingled with a very deep state of sleep, and I perceived something which seemingly several moments later my brain registered to be the sound of hooves, which was also muffled by a carpet.

I think we're all familiar with this situation. In visual media it's often relayed with a close-up shot of eyes of the character the story currently focuses on, then a distant sound is heard, often a disembodied voice that's gradually becoming clearer as the eyes of aforementioned characters starts stirring. As is often the case, my own experience was cut short by a sudden and unpleasant sensation, but luckily not by a bucket of cold water or a punch to the face as often happens in fiction. No, I was simply startled by having the face of a horse very close to mine.

So I was shocked into a fully awake state and involuntarily tried to give a startled cry just before this fully awoken state was reached, which resulted in the startled cry coming out as a vaguely displeased sounding groan. Further bizarre was the fact that a part of my brain that wasn't startled chastised other parts for such a reaction in a world inhabited by talking ponies. As this was happening I instinctively splayed back my ears to avoid having them nibbled on.

‘Interesting contrast between the reactions there, dummy.’

It was unlikely that the majority of my mental scrambling showed on the outside, as the pony simply cleared his throat into a hoof and stood at attention. He was wearing armor identical to the expressionless guards I had seen yesterday with the same sky blue mane, and his coat was white with a slightly dull purple tinge to it.

"I'm sorry for startling you, madam. But I have been ordered to inform you that breakfast is about to be served if you would be interested in sharing it with the royal sisters," the pony said in a confident sounding voice. As I was trying to get my bearings he started looking nervous and suddenly added "I am also to deliver a gift to you from the esteemed Lady Rarity."

"Uhuh," I started and looked around.

‘Breakfast... morning... you have breakfast in the morning. It's morning now, I guess. Guard here, have breakfast. Also, gift.’

I tried picking myself up from my pillow and wobbled a bit. "What gift?" I asked, and woke up more thoroughly as I realized that the duvet had fallen down and revealed my chest.

‘Coat, dummy. And there's nothing to cover, anyway.’

"An... accessory," the guard stated. "To cover your injury which, and I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn here, Madam, I would appreciate if you could conceal."

I looked at him for a few seconds before registering that I still didn't have a prosthetic eye and closed my right eyelid. "Right, thanks for the reminder. What do you mean, 'an accessory'?"

I noticed the guard's wings as he opened up one of them and retrieved something from beneath it with his mouth.

It was an eyepatch. Not one of those black leather patches you see in pirate movies, nor a huge band-aid, but a white, soft looking textile variant with a three-point attachment. "Would this be to your liking?"

Many things are in favor of the idea of covering up a gaping hole in your head and few things are against the idea. I groggily blinked the sleep from my eye and said, "Uh, sure."

The guard placed the patch in his hoof and held it out to me. "Would you like some assistance?" he asked.

I managed to mutter, "yes, please. Just gimme a moment," between a double yawn. I stretched and tried to shake myself awake. "Alright, go ahead," I said and shuffled closer to the edge and sat up straighter.

The guard placed the eyepatch over my eye after I leaned my head back, or up, with my new anatomy. He then maneuvered the elastic strings through my mane and started tying it to the back of my head with his mouth, which I would have liked to see. ‘So, are there going to be introductions? Is it inappropriate for military personnel to pursue familiarity with officials, at least the rank and file? Also, doesn't “rank and file” originally refer to the placement in a combat formation? Do they have muskets around here? That term might be meaningless if they don't. I wonder if I'm watching too many history documentaries.’

The guard was stiff and shaking slightly and my mane was no doubt causing some problems, so it was time consuming but he eventually finished fastening the eyepatch and when I leaned my head forward again I felt it press against my head. I tried opening my eye and gave it an experimental tug with my hoof, but it was placed firmly enough to not fall off just like that, and it didn't feel like it was digging into my skin but resting snugly like an expertly placed bandage. "Feels good, thank you," I said.

He looked at me for a moment before averting his gaze, seeming lost on how to respond. I considered simply asking him if there was anything else, but he was starting to look flustered and instead I decided to help him out by holding out my hoof for him and saying "Gabrielle Desrochers."

This made him recover and tried shaking my hoof with his right before catching himself and using his left hoof instead. He wrapped his considerably larger fetlock (I had just remembered that term and I was pretty certain that it was the right one) around mine and cautiously shook it. "I, uh, name's Armor, private in the Canterlot Royal Guard."

Amazingly enough it seemed like I was the socially smooth one in the room and decided to accept the responsibility of that at the moment. "A pleasure to meet you, Private," I said.

"Uh, the, erm, the pleasure is mine, Madam," He said.

Once more, it seemed like he had run out of things to say before his business here was concluded. I thought back to what he had said recently and pressed the conversation forward. "Did you mention something about a breakfast, Private? Or Armor? What should I call you?"

He jumped and looked a bit sheepish. "Oh, yeah, did you want to have breakfast now, madam? And I think it would be best if you called me 'Private'. And, uh, to that I should add that I have no relation to the Captain."

"Now seems like a good time as any to have breakfast. And do you share a name with your Captain?" I asked.

"Yeah, Captain Shining Armor. Like I said, no relation. So, I'm to escort you to the dining hall, madam."

"Thank you, Private," I said and waited a moment for Armor to act, which he didn't. "Ehm," I said and gestured in his direction before continuing. "Proceed?"

I noticed that Armor looked very nervous before he answered. "Aah, I'm sorry, madam, but would you like to be moved to the dining hall in your wheelchair?" he said. I looked at the wheelchair standing halfway between the bed and the door, briefly wondering if it should be returned to the hospital soon.

I've dealt with his kind before, people who are terrified of offending the handicapped to the point of almost ceasing to function in their proximity. But I realized that I shouldn't blame him too harshly. I'm a high-ranking official, at least on paper. And judging by the guards yesterday his specialty might not include much beyond standing still. "Yes," I said and gave him a small smile, as I've found that those are better in situations like this than bigger ones. "Would you like some pointers?"

"Oh, madam! I couldn't ask you to-" he said before realizing that things were not proceeding expediently as they were. "Yes, please," he concluded and hung his head slightly.

"Well, it's quite simple, Private. You see that thing?" I said and gestured to the wheelchair; Armor looked at it and nodded. "Help me get into it. It's as straightforward as it sounds."

He turned back to me and hesitated. "Do I, uh... Pick you up, Madam?"

I put on a mock thinking-face and slowly nodded. "That would be a very sensible approach, Private."

"Okay," he said and inspected me like I was a canyon he had been charged with building a bridge over. "So, I uh. I just uuh," he mumbled while experimentally shooting out his hooves and pulling them back while considering how to best carry me.

I performed a spectacular roll of my eye and threw of my cover before simply saying in a firm voice "Private, pick me up and put me down in the chair!"

The startled Armor sprung into action. He shot his forelegs under me, picked me up in them while he took off with his wings, and carried me to the wheelchair in flash. Before I knew it, I found myself gently placed in the wheelchair with an eye open wide in surprise.

I blinked my surprise away before turning to Armor. "Very good, Private. I take it you've done this before?"

The guard looked shocked at what he had just done but my words and rageless expression slowly calmed him down. "Ah, yes. All part of basic training, madam."

I nodded, my thoughts about the soldier having been raised. "This next part seems easy," I said helpfully.

"Oh! Of course, madam," he said and started wheeling me towards the door.

"So," I said as we proceeded down the hall and through a pair of open doors where two other guards nodded at us. "Is 'madam' the proper way to refer to someone in my position?" I asked Armor.

"Uh, yes, madam," Armor said. "Unless it displeases you."

I considered this for a while. ‘It makes me sound old. But as a pony, I apparently have to actually grow old before I'm even considered anything other than young so I guess that's maybe not an issue...

‘“Madam”... A title, referring to someone important. Who probably has a high opinion of herself.

"Private," I said.

"Yes, madam?" Armor answered.

"I would prefer it if you did not refer to me that way."

"Are... are you sure, mada- uhm, miss?"

"I'm sure," I said firmly.

"Well. If you insist, miss," Armor said hesitantly.

"If it helps I can reserve the right to change my mind, Private," I said.

"Yes, ma- miss, certainly."

We got to a flight of stairs and Armor stopped in front of them. He was probably right to be apprehensive about this since they were pretty significant and a quadruped might have difficulty smoothly wheeling someone down them. It could probably work, but it would have to take time and if he for some reason had to let go there wouldn't be much I could do to stop myself from tumbling down the steps.

We both looked around but there were no guards in sight right here. In fact, though there was a faint sound of kitchen activity in the distance, this part of the castle was very quiet at the moment. I figured the time of day was to blame.

"Figures," Armor said dejectedly.

"Don't like the idea of going away to ask for help?" I asked.

"Well, no, ma- miss," he said.

"Why isn't there anyone else here?"

"Shift change," Armor said. "Give it a few minutes and you'll never have noticed that it happened."

"Okay," I said. "So we'll just wait a few minutes."

"If you think that's best, miss," Armor said hesitantly.

"... Why don't you want help with this?" I asked. "I definitely need help with this."

"I'd, erm... rather not say, miss," Armor said and looked to his horseshoes.

"Okay?" I said slowly, looked around, and thought for a moment. "So, how about you pick me out of this thing, fly me down there, and then go back up and get the chair?"

He perked up at this before looking apprehensive. "I... would not want you to feel undignified when I leave you down there, miss."

Thinking back to the past few days when I had suffered (still suffering, actually) from what could be described as acute narcolepsy and magical incontinence, needed help to relieve myself in the bathroom, and being lugged around by giant dogs like a ragdoll, I confidently said, "Private, I have no problem with you leaving me for a few seconds a mere flight of stairs away."

"But- Yes, miss," Armor said and picked me out of the chair, spread his wings and glided down the stairs before gently sitting me down, facing the base of the stairs. He then flew up the stairs, grabbed the wheelchair by the handles with his hooves, and flew down with it. Or he would have, but the handles slid off the bars when he was about two steps down and the chair came crashing down the stairs.

It was headed in my direction and I quickly rolled over to my stomach to get some leverage to push myself to my left, hoping that I didn't have to go some other direction to avoid being hit by a renegade wheelchair.

"Miss Gabrielle, watch out!" Armor shouted in panic, dropping the handles and flying down after the wheelchair to try and grab it. I bent my head back and tried to determine where the chair was going to land. It wasn't easy and only having one eye certainly didn't help, but I took my chances and jumped, sort of, to my left.

It turned out to be right choice as the wheelchair slammed into where I had been a moment before, the smaller wheels in the front coming loose and the axle of one of the larger ones bending somewhat. I let out a sigh of relief before Armor landed beside me. "Miss Gabrielle! Are you alright!?" he asked in a panicked voice as he started turning me over with his hooves and inspecting me everywhere, almost, while flapping his wings to stay aloft just off the ground so that he could use both forelegs while one of the handles, (hoofles?) gently bounced down beside us.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said, but it did come a bit disoriented as I was turned over so that Armor could check me for injuries.

He finally seemed happy I wasn't gonna keel over in his forelegs before gently putting me down. He took a step back and slowly let out a deep breath before bowing his head and saying "Miss Gabrielle. My negligence almost caused you serious injury. With your permission I will collect my commanding officer posthaste; he will help you determine any disciplinary action."

I blinked in surprise before looking at the chair lying on its side. I could tell that the thing wasn't heavy. Had I gotten it flat on me I suspected the likely result would be an angry bruise or two, maybe a slight concussion if it landed squarely on my head. I looked back at Armor, who hung his head in shame. "Armor," I said slowly. "It was an accident. I don't want anyone punished for this."

Armor looked up at me. "This... was a most shameful display, Miss Gabrielle. It would be appropriate to let this be a lesson for me."

I raised an eyebrow at this and shook my head at that somewhat bizarre idea. "Are you saying that you wouldn't learn from this without punishment?" I asked in disbelief.

"I, uh," Armor said hesitantly. "It would be... unbecoming for a royal guard to commit such a mistake without any."

He seemed pretty set on this but an idea struck me. "Well, Private Armor. It is my opinion that you acted admirably and I would be offended should someone be punished for that. I reject the notion that you should suffer for appropriate action. Now, I feel that the matter of breakfast is more pressing, take me to the dining hall." I said, with as much conviction as I could muster, channeling my inner archaic era bureaucrat.

Armor looked stunned for a moment before answering. "Of course, miss."

He picked me up like earlier and we slowly flew down the halls of the palace, getting strange looks from any guards we passed by. Even if we were only two feet off the ground, it still felt a bit exciting to actually be flying even though it was not very unlike a wheelchair. It was slightly mitigated by the fact that I was held like I was on the cover of a cheesy romance novel. I very pointedly did not put my foreleg around Armor's neck.

We weren't going very fast, which I assumed was because Armor was terrified that he was going to drop me. "You seem nervous, Private," I said when we were in a long corridor outside the hearing range of any guards, which, by the way, were the only inhabitants around at the moment. The staff must be busy elsewhere and perhaps residents weren't up yet.

"Uhm, I am, miss."

"Because what just happened?" I asked.

"Yes, miss."

"Still not over the idea about punishment, Private Armor?"

He paused for a moment before answering. "No, miss."

I tried imagining myself in his (horse)shoes. ‘If he's supposed to represent the royal guard, it would indeed be unbecoming to almost cause an injury on a newly arrived official. His peers are supposed to be very proud of their work and any mistake would reflect poorly on them as a whole.’

"If it's any consolation, Private, I could have a word with your commanding officer some time."

"I," he hesitated before continuing. "Of course, miss."

"Preferably before you do."

"Yes, miss." He seemed to get lost in thought before speaking up. It would have to be a short conversation as we were nearing the dining hall I had been in before. "Would you allow me a question, miss?"

"Shoot."

"Aren't you upset, miss?" he asked.

"About the wheelchair?" I asked back.

"Yes."

"Not really, nothing happened" I said. "I might be if it's gonna be a regular thing, though," I added.

"I... I will do all in my power to prevent that, miss!" he said with conviction.

"Well, how can I doubt anyone who's that convincing?" I said as we went through the doors into the same dining hall as yesterday.

Around the table was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, together with Applejack and Fluttershy, all sitting in the same spots as yesterday. Celestia and Fluttershy sported bathrobes with their hair done up in simple ties, and interestingly enough, Fluttershy's robe had some trimmings and embellishments, while Celestia's looked outright plain. They looked up and gave us surprised looks when we entered.

"Good morning, Gabrielle," Celestia said as she set a teacup she had been levitating down on the table. Apparently, breakfast had just started. "I see you've found an expedient mode of transport."

I leaned my face away from Armor's, as the amount of heat his had started radiating felt worrisome. "The wheelchair broke its bonds and claimed freedom in a spectacularly short lived manner," I said as Armor gently put me down on a chair he apparently picked at random. I ended up in the one Redheart had occupied yesterday. The rest of the ponies around the table gave me questioning looks. "I mean that it fell apart on the way here and crashed down the stairs. And, good morning, everyone."

The rest of the assembled ponies responded while Armor hesitated beside me. I gave him a casual smile, then he bowed to the princesses and flew back the way we came.

"Well," Luna said, and I noticed that an opossum was sitting on the table beside her and nibbling on a piece of pastry. "That will simply not do. A proper mode of transportation will need to be acquired."

"I'll put Kibitz on it," Celestia noted as she levitated her tea back up to her mouth.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked as a pony who had apparently moved up very quietly beside me started laying out a collection of vegetarian foodstuffs in front of me and pouring me a cup of tea.

"Private Armor was wheeling me through the halls when we came to the stairs in the middle of guard change. I suggested that he fly me down first and then fly the chair down. But the handles came loose mid-flight and the chair tumbled down the stairs," I said as I lifted the lids of various little cups in front of me and inspected the food.

"Good thing you weren't in it," Applejack noted.

"Mmhm," I mumbled and nodded, my mouth full of pear.

"Doesn't explain why he looked so nervous though," she continued.

I swallowed down and continued. "He thought he messed up and seemed afraid I was gonna get hurt when the chair landed next to me. By the way, where are the others?"

"Twilight should be up soon, Pinkie Pie is in the kitchen and Rarity and Rainbow Dash are still sleeping," Luna said. "By the way, Tiberius, introduce yourself to our guest."

The opossum hopped over to me across the table with a piece of pie in its mouth, which it, or he, I guess, judging by his name, took out and offered to me.

"Uuh." I thought quickly before accepting the gift and quickly offered him a raspberry in return, which he in turn took and started chewing on. During this distraction I quickly pushed the piece of pie I had received behind a saucer, out of Tiberius' sight. "A pleasure to meet you, Tiberius," I said, taking care to put some token formality in my speech when addressing an apparently royal animal companion.

He didn't seem to notice my stunt as I stuck my hoof out and gently rubbed it against his ear, which he leaned into for a bit before hopping back towards Luna. I only just noticed Fluttershy giving me a smile from across the table.

"How are you finding Equestrian cuisine, Gabrielle?" Celestia asked as I heard the clopping of hooves approach us from the entrance.

This got Applejack's attention; though I got the feeling she didn't want it to show. I was getting over my habit of the same cereal every morning quickly enough. And fresh fruits, nuts and berries together with some nice, if slightly rough bread was all well and good, so breakfast was not a problem. In fact, it felt a bit like combining open air freshness with the comforts of a house. "Invigorating," I said as I turned to see the new arrival.

It was Twilight, who was sporting bed hair and an unfocused look in her eyes. She yawned and said, "Good morning, everypony."

"Good morning," I responded, together with the rest. Though Celestia added "Twilight" afterwards.

Twilight started saying something, but was interrupted by another yawn before continuing "Sorry if I'm flanking in on the conversation, but speaking of Equestrian cuisine. Gabrielle, I would like you to stick to eating things that you know both ponies and humans can eat."

"Well," I said. "Ponies back home are non-sentient... no wait, non-sapient animals who, as far as I know, walk around and eat grass. Which I'm not keen on trying out."

"They eat it raw?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah. So you guys do eat grass?"

"Yeah we do. But it would be mighty strange to not cook it first. If you're gonna tell Rarity that, do it when you're ready to take care of somepony fainting," Applejack said.

The rest of the ponies sniggered a bit at that before Twilight continued. "So, yes, Gabrielle. It might make the dinners here seem a bit plain but so far I would like you to stick to things that are compatible with both ponies and humans."

"Okay, but why?" I asked.

"Well, yesterday I was looking over some of my own notes of transformations, and I realized that while you might have been transformed into a pony, I'm not entirely sure that your gastric bacteria and digestive enzymes have as well," she said.

"Oh," I said, realizing the implications.

"So," Twilight said. "Until we can get some more information, it would be best if you refrain from sharing food with other ponies and things like, uh... kissing."

Love and romance had been pretty far away from my mind. I thought back to how I was recently carried in the arms, or forelegs, of what I assumed was a young, strapping, able-bodied, and brave stallion. In uniform, no less.

Nothing tingled, though. "Got it," I said while taking a piece of sandwich and started pouring myself some tea.

"I'm sorry," Twilight said.

‘Wow, that must be some sort of record for how long we've had a conversation without her apologizing.’

"If it does turn out to be an issue, I'll fix it."

"Mhm," I said while trying out some tea. I had never had tea before but it was really nice. No wonder Brits are so into tea, they must think we're all stupid to not do this as well. "Not really an issue," I said while setting the cup down.

"You might think so now," Celestia said with a knowing smile.

"I do, and keep my formerly adult status in mind when I say that."

"I'll let my statement stand," Celestia said with a smile. I paused, if this was a battle of wits then it was definitely Celestia: 1, Gabe: 0.

"Well," Applejack said. "Keep what I said about Rarity doubly in mind if you plan on telling her that."

"Uh, sure," I said before changing the subject. "Anyway, what's on the agenda for today?"

"I am having Kibitz arrange a spot in my schedule where you can tell us about your world," Celestia said. "But it won't be today. My schedule is full and I would like Luna to join us."

"I carry out my royal duties without such a crutch," Luna said haughtily as she reluctantly chewed on a piece of rough bread. Twilight shot Luna a slightly frightened look.

"Indeed," Celestia said. "And you might turn out to have a pretty busy day yourself, Gabrielle."

"I do?"

"Yes, if you're interested, an ocularist will be available today."

The eyepatch was nice but having a prosthetic eye might have a comforting effect. "I am," I said gratefully.

"And Twilight has volunteered to instruct you in teaching some magic," Celestia continued.

That got my attention. I turned towards Twilight and she gave me a shy smile. "Well, I uh, I'm looking forward to it," I said. And I really was. Just the thought of being able to move things with your mind had me almost a bit giddy.

"Great!" Twilight said. "I hope you're well rested. It's kind of taxing for young unicorns to first use magic."

My ears drooped. ‘Okay, good to know they do that before I tried playing poker as a pony.’

"Didn't sleep well?" Celestia asked.

"Well... I slept fine, just not very long, I think."

"Breakfast at this time was not mandatory," Celestia said and smiled with a raised eyebrow.

"I know," I said. "It's just that after Armor woke me up I didn't think I'd be able to go back to sleep. Not to complain of anything, but I was a bit surprised to wake up with him standing over me like that."

"Oh, yeah, by the way," Twilight said. "You might not be used to pegasi yet. They have a pretty relaxed way of regarding personal spaces and private abodes. That's good to keep in mind, especially when you meet a Cloudsdale native."

"With exceptions, of course," Applejack said. Fluttershy nodded her head slightly.

"I hope you were patient with him," Celestia said. "He's new."

That explained a few things. Before I could respond, the doors where the kitchen staff had came from yesterday shot open and Pinkie Pie bounced out towards us, somehow balancing a tray on her back as she did so. "Good morning everypony!" she exclaimed loudly.

The tray was covered in pastries, and starting with Princess Celestia and going clockwise, Pinkie Pie started hoofing them out to us, saying "one for you" every time. When she reached Princess Luna, she instead said, "And since you've been warned to watch your cholesterol, Loony, I've made sure to make your's the one super duper bestest cupcake I can."

Luna's scowl could probably freeze a volcano, but Pinkie Pie absentmindedly shoved a piece of the cupcake into Luna's mouth and bounced away. The expression on Luna's face spoke of a fierce internal battle before finally mellowing out into one of exasperation. She chewed her cupcake and said, with a sigh "We hath never been more conflicted about a pony than that one."

I found myself hanging across Fluttershy's back as we made our way through the castle and into the gardens. Apparently, foals riding around on the back of adult ponies was pretty much analogous to how human kids rode around on the shoulders of human adults. But I had to be sprawled over Fluttershy's back as I didn't trust myself to keep my balance with only my left limbs.

I was told that Rainbow was the one that carried me when they found me in the forest, and that she was so strong that one could treat her back and wings like a bouncy castle, but she was fast asleep this morning. I hadn't hung around dedicated athletes a lot but spending a lot of time sleeping is imperative for peak physical health.

‘Well, who has to worry about missing out on life cause of sleeping when you're gonna live for centuries?’

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"The ocularist is here and Rarity wanted to see the process," Twilight said. "Unless you mind."

Getting fitted for a prosthetic eye wasn't all that fun, but it's not exactly embarrassing or anything. "Nah, I don't mind. In my experience it's just not very exciting," I said and shook my head.

"I have half a mind to go get Rainbow Dash as well," Applejack said. "Being invited to the castle and then spending all your time sleeping just don't seem right."

"Again, where are we going?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry, we were just gonna go get Rarity," Twilight said.

We reached a door which Twilight knocked on. After a moment a frazzled looking Rarity with curlers in her hair and a sporting a bathrobe opened the door. She let out a gasp as she saw us. "Have I missed it!?"

"Missed what?" I asked.

"Your appointment, dear," Rarity said.

I turned my head to face her so she could clearly see the eyepatch she made, it otherwise being obscured by my mane. "Nope. Thanks for this thing, by the way. It's really comfy."

"Oh, thank you, darling," Rarity said with a smile. "When is your appointment?"

"We're going there now. I'll get somepony to bring some breakfast there for you," Twilight said.

"Right, just one moment," Rarity said as she closed the door. Mere seconds later she emerged with the bathrobe and curlers gone. "Let's go."

A short walk later we found ourselves in a foyer, and I was starting to wonder how long it would take to learn the layout of this castle, because it wasn't where we came in through yesterday. Redheart was standing there with a brownish yellow earth pony stallion with a light green mane and cutie mark of some sort of metal instrument I couldn't identify, who was looking around himself intently. Redheart, on the other hand, looked part wary and part exasperated.

"Good morning," Redheart said as we approached. "No wheelchair?"

"No wheelchair," I said from Fluttershy's back. "It couldn't handle the pressure."

Redheart tilted her head. "You need a new one?"

"That might be for the best," Twilight said. "But don't worry about that, we'll take care of it."

"Well, if that's the case," Redheart said and turned to the stallion, who hadn't given any indication on having noticed us. "Prism, this is Gabrielle Desrocher," she said and gestured towards me before following up with introductions of the rest of the present ponies.

The stallion finally seemed to come back to reality and quietly walked up to us and started punching everyone's hooves. I held up my own as I figured that this was just another kind of greeting. When he was done he said, "Prism Cut, a pleasure."

We all looked at each other, a bit confused by his slightly uncanny but not offensive behavior and not really sure what to say when Redheart spoke up. "Prism, Gabrielle is the filly who needs a new eye," she said helpfully.

Prism paused and then said, without a hint of irony, "Of course, I will begin measuring. But I will need to see her eye socket."

I reached up and started pawing through my hair, trying to find the knots that held the string together.

"So, maybe we should go find an empty room to do this in?" Twilight asked Prism.

Prism didn't respond at once, instead, he looked like he was winding up for a dramatic pose before simply letting it out and saying, "No."

I gave up on trying to find the knot in my mane and instead just peeled the bottom of the patch up to my forehead.

"No?" Twilight asked.

"No, I need to see her eye in action," Prism said. "I need motions in order to measure."

The rest of us looked confusedly at each other, except Rarity who had an expectant look on her face, until Redheart spoke up. "Prism here won't be using a mold, he's actually a gem sculptor. But he's skilled enough for the job."

"Oh, I know a fellow artisan when I see one!" Rarity exclaimed excitedly while Prism interrupted his inspection of his surroundings to shoot her a small smile before continuing.

"Okay?" a confused Applejack asked Prism. "So what's gonna happen now?"

Prism did that strange winding up thing again as he seemed to consider his answer. "I shall create art, and it shall imitate life," he somehow exclaimed with a normal speaking volume. "And so, I shall observe life. We shall go where I can take in life and its details," he said while slowly rising in a dramatic pose.

Twilight, Applejack and myself looked confused while Redheart rolled her eyes. Rarity, however, took in Prism's words with interest and unexpectedly, from what I could see, Fluttershy seemed to do the same.

"Prism," Redheart said. "Just tell us what you need, in plain language."

Prism wound down to a normal stance and looked a bit sheepish. "I just wanna see your socket in action for a while so that it'll be as nice as possible," he said to me in a much more casual manner.

"... Oh," I said and opened my eye. "Well, go ahead and look."

He put a hoof up to his chin and hummed as he looked intently at me. "Alright, I've got the shape down, but to make it great, I wanna, just, see you go through life for a while."

"Go through life?" I asked. "I was expecting to sit still for a while right now."

"Oh! Hey!" Rainbow Dash's voice suddenly sounded from above. We looked up to see her hovering above us. "We could totally tell Gabe the stories about Nightmare Moon and Discord and stuff."

"Have you been there for long?" Twilight asked.

"Yep!" Rainbow said casually, and before anyone else could say anything, Prism spoke up.

"Tales of adventure from the heroes of Equestria? Yes, excellent suggestion," he said.

"Adventures? Heroes of Equestria?" I looked around at these magical ponies, so like the ones walking down the street yesterday, in confusion.

"Might wanna get Pinkie Pie," Applejack said. "She won't wanna miss out on this. Then again, she probably already knows."

We were sitting on some cushions out in the royal gardens. It was a nice place, and some rustic outdoor furniture and checkered wood fences with honeysuckles clinging to it made up a quiet corner of the garden with a single, old-school street lamp, which wasn't lit now in the middle of the day. All in all, it seemed like a mix between a patio section and stylishly cozy garden in an old Parisian suburb. Or something like that.

"I feel like I'm skipping out on work," Redheart said as she nibbled some of the pastries that Pinkie Pie had brought.

I would've wondered how Pinkie, and anyone who're friends with her, could be anything but obese, but my brain seemed to be leaking intellect from all the bizarre tales I was being told. I was having real difficulty in believing half of these crazy tales. Which is really saying something, coming from someone who've recently been turned into a unicorn filly.

"So," I started, indicating that I wanted some clarification while trying to figure out how to formulate the question. "The Dreamscape is an actual place, on the moon, which you once lassoed with Applejack's rope, brought it closer to Equestria, anchored it to a tree stump, and then you funambulisted across the rope to reach the surface?"

"That's right," Twilight said. "We went to the moon. As for if the Dreamscape is an actual place, you should ask Luna about that. But please try and phrase it tastefully, she's a bit sore about some parts of this story."

"She's not the only one," Rarity said, lying belly-down on her cushion while covering her face with her hooves. "Can we please get this story over with?"

I couldn't really blame her, Rarity's part in this tale was equal parts flattering and embarrassing.

"Well I hope you have another one," Prism Cut suddenly chimed in. His voice surprised me, soon after we got here he had gone quiet and simply studied me closely, which I stopped paying attention to after a while, barely registering how he sat and scribbled on a small notepad with four different painting utensils in his mouth. "You made such wonderfully living expressions, Gabrielle."

"Yeah! I've almost gotten used to your eye by now," Rainbow Dash said to me. "It's barely disgusting at all."

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy chastised while the others looked disapprovingly at her.

"What? I'm saying that she's not creeping me out. That's a good thing, right?" Rainbow Dash said and shrugged, a gesture which I found amusing on equines.

‘Oh, pony wants to play, eh?’

"I think you've got it all backwards, Rainbow Dash," I told her.

"What? How so?"

"It's not my eye that's been creeping you out, it's the lack of one," I said and leaned forward while putting my hoof under my empty socket and stretched it out a little more than facial muscles alone could.

Rainbow Dash recoiled and looked away. "Okay," she said. "Maybe it's still a little creepy."

"At least you're honest about it," I said with a slightly smug smile.

"Hear that, Applejack?" Rainbow said triumphantly. "What do you think about empty eye sockets?"

Applejack managed to both aim a scowl at Rainbow and aim a cringe at no one in general at the same time. "I reckon it's mighty disturbing. I don't like the thought of losing an eye."

"I think you'd be okay, Applejack. I haven't done any farm work in my life but you get used to having one eye fast enough," I said. And I believed what I said, especially here in magical pony land where eyes are tougher than buffalo hide and your spare was almost armored in comparison to back home.

"Can I borrow that thing?" Rainbow said and gestured to my eyepatch. I shrugged, pulled it off and hoofed it over.

"I'm just glad that I haven't had to and probably never will. Now legs, those I don't think I could manage without," Applejack said while Rainbow strapped my eyepatch over her closed eye.

‘Working a farm one-eyed doesn't seem impossible for a pony. But two-legged might be different.’

"Hmm," I said. "Do you have any prostheses around here?"

The ponies around me looked down at this, their ears drooping, except Prism, I noticed, who seemed to be sketching something with one of the four different colored charcoal pencils in his mouth.

"Well, we did, but..." Twilight started after a while. "I read up on this. Medical magic has advanced so far in recent centuries while physical dangers and threats have been on the decline that making prosthetic replacements is something of a lost art."

I thought that actually sounded promising. "So, it's been done before? Were they any good?" I asked.

"Actually, yes," Twilight said and perked up a bit while seven pairs of ears slowly rose.

‘Ears go up.’

"I haven't seen any, myself, or course, but from what I could dig up they were pretty impressive."

"Okay, cool," I said jovially.

"But," Twilight started. "I'm not sure anypony knows how. I don't even know if I know where to start if I tried making a prosthesis."

‘Ears go down.’

I looked up into the blue sky and swiveled my head a bit as I considered this. "So, you're saying that it's possible. And even if no one can pull it off, magic seems like a pretty good replacement."

"That's a very nice attitude you have there, Gabe," Redheart said and gave me a small nuzzle.

‘Aaand up again.’

"I kind of had to learn to appreciate the things I had after the accident," I said.

‘Whoops, ears down.’

To try and swing the conversation back on a happy note I nuzzled Redheart back. "Thanks for all your help, everyone."

Cue lots of smiles. ‘Ears. Once more, into the fray. Wait, I mean sky.’

Some people's hair can detect predators and stand up on end when they sense one sneaking up on them. Mine does the same with awkward silences. "So!" I said, before it could descend like a big, embarrassing halibut. "How's it coming, Prism?"

"Splendidly," Prism said, his attention entirely taken up by his scribbling and sounding a bit disinterested, and finished a few sweeps across his notepad before looking up at us. "More stories," he said and took another bite out of a pastry and fixed his gaze on me again.

"Okay, uh, Crystal Empire next," Twilight said and she and her friends started telling the tale.

"I look way cool in an eyepatch," Rainbow said from up in the air. We looked up towards her as we slowly strolled through the royal gardens, she was hovering in front of the statue of an armored pony and admiring her appearance in a large, polished bronze shield.

"Oh, uhm, just be careful not to fly into anything, Rainbow. You don't have any depth perception," Fluttershy said and then let out a terrified squeak and then turned towards me, lying across Redheart's back. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

I waved my foreleg casually. "It's fine," I said, noticing how Prism, who had been obscured by Fluttershy, peered around her to look at me.

Rainbow swooped down in front of me and Redheart, who's back I was currently on (giving Prism a new obstacle), and said, "Hey! You ever flown before?"

"Not on hor- Uh, pegasusback," I said.

"Want to?"

"I," I started before thinking for a moment. "Yes, but I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'm having a lot of problem hanging on to things as it is right now."

"Oh, well Twilight's gotta have some spell to help with that."

"I do, actually," Twilight said. "But I think Scootaloo would be awfully jealous if she's not the first you do this with. Besides, maybe it can wait for a bit, it looks like Prism wants your attention."

We all turned towards the stallion in question. "Yes, I am ready to create," he said in a confident tone. "How would you like them to look?"

"Them?" I asked.

"Your eyes," he said, not really clarifying anything. "I know how to shape them, but how should I paint them?"

"I only have room for one," I pointed out, uncertain.

"At a time, yes," he said and nodded. "But you have the opportunity to change an appearance that most ponies do not, I simply assumed you would seize that chance."

Rarity looked shocked and said, "Why that's- " before realizing something and instantly mellowed before continuing. "... A good point, actually. Asymmetry is bold, but can be so delightful when done right," she said and turned to me. "Bold like your hair, darling," she said before turning towards Prism. "Oh, we shall of course need one that matches her eye, and one that matches her hair, like sweet sunset rays gracing a calm dusk, and one that matches her coat, soothing, like a stroll down a garden in the night, watched over by Luna's stars. And one that's..."

I tried to keep up with Rarity's poetic descriptions of my appearance, each one apparently a commission for a hoof-made eye, but after a while I turned towards Redheart's head and gave her a questioning look to which she just smiled and shook her head in a "don't worry about it" sort of way.

Prism just looked at Rarity patiently and nodded every time a description was finished. After a while they turned towards me and Rarity asked "do you have any wishes, dear?"

"You covered that pretty early," I said.

"Right," Prism said. "I'll start with the one matching your left eye, then I'll probably send the other ones in bulk. And unless there's anything else, I'm off."

He gave us all hoof pounds again and walked off towards the gates of the castle.

"Strange stallion," Applejack said as we looked in the direction he left.

"He's an artist, and supposedly really good at what he does, being strange seems to come with the territory," Redheart said. "No offense, Rarity."

"None taken, darling."

Rainbow flew up in Twilight's face and asked, with a smile, "So what spells were you talking about?"

"Oh it's just a stick-it-on spell. It attaches things and ponies to each other so that they can't lose contact."

‘Hm, I wonder if Twilight's into the kinky stuff?’

Rainbow Dash looked excited at this. "Cool, so why haven't you told us about this before?"

‘And her.’

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not sure it's ever been relevant. Why are you so interested?"

"Like you said, Scootaloo might want a ride. I could show her some pretty cool moves if I didn't have to hold on to her."

"Aaw, that's so sweet of you, Dash," Pinkie Pie said.

Rainbow Dash looked like she wanted to complain about that, but she didn't have time before I asked "Who's Scootaloo?"

"My number one fan," Rainbow Dash said and held her chest out, looking pleased with herself.

"She's a filly back in Ponyville who's best friends with mine and Rarity's little sisters," Applejack said.

"And they've formed a club to try and get their cutie marks," Redheart said. "And Ponyville's a lot more interesting for it, with everything that implies."

"I've got a picture, if you're interested," Applejack said, pulling off her hat and retrieved a laminated photo from it.

She held it up to me and I saw three fillies, a unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony, frozen in a frolicking-like hug against a farmland background and looking at the camera with intensively genuine smiles covering their entire faces.

I couldn't help but smile, myself. They seemed to be putting their entire essences into being happy together.

"That there's my sister, Apple Bloom, and that there's Sweetie Belle, with Scootaloo in the middle," Applejack said. She didn't point at any of them but it was pretty obvious who was who.

"They're just so adorable, aren't they?" Fluttershy asked, silently having appeared right next to me.

"Mhm," I nodded. "And the saturation just... intensifies everything."

Applejack looked at the picture. "I didn't use no fancy camera for this," she said in a confused tone.

I shook my head. "I don't mean just the picture, it's just that everything about Equestria just seems so happy and colorful that I half expect the clouds to have smiling faces on them."

"Ooh, that would be neat!" Pinkie Pie said. "Can you put smiles on the clouds, Rainbow?"

"Hmm, yeah, but I think it's against regulations to do that on public weather clouds. At least within city limits," she said.

"Are there less colors where you're from," Twilight asked me.

"Seems so," I said and gave this some thought. "Maybe it just seems that way since it's been lousy weather where I live for a while now. And the fact that ponies around here have really vibrant colors."

"Well if you had lousy weather, why didn't you just get up there and start kicking clouds?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No wings and no magic, Rainbow. Remember?" Twilight asked her.

"Oh, right," Rainbow said and stumbled a bit as she touched down.

"But that's a bit strange, humans in the world I went to had pretty much the same colors as here," Twilight said.

"Really?" I asked. "You were a purple human?"

"Yeah," she said with a shrug.

‘Hm, that would've been interesting to see.’

"What colors do humans have where you come from?"

"Uh, from very dark brown, almost black, to nearly white when it came to skin color, and hair color pretty much the same except that it often is black," I said.

"What about ponies where you're from?" Rarity asked.

"Pretty much the same as humans, now that I think about it. Except it ranged from actual black to actual white."

"How... drab," she commented with a touch of disappointment in her tone.

"Compared to here I'm inclined to agree. That and all the expressive eyes makes every single pony I've seen here so far look cuddly and cute," I said.

Rainbow scoffed. "I'll have you know that if anypony thinks I look cuddly or cute is just thinking that because they can't handle the awesome awesomeness of being near Rainbow Dash."

‘This degree of consistency is almost admirable in itself.’

"No. You look just as cute and cuddly as everyone else, Rainbow, believe me," I said.

Everyone around me looked amused, except Rainbow who was starting to look flustered and started hovering above the ground again. "Nu-uh!"

"Yes you do," I said, my voice being just the right amount of dismissive. "Pinkie, agree with me."

"I agree with Gabe!" Pinkie exclaimed while bouncing in place,

"That's not true," Rainbow Dash said and crossed her forelegs in a sulking gesture.

"When I was a kid, our neighbors had a cat that chirped when anyone would pet it. Trust me, I know cute," I said and everyone looked amused at Rainbow's expression.

"You're all against me," Rainbow sulked.

"Aw, you can handle it, tough girl," I said and waved my hoof dismissively.

‘Whoops, she's probably a good bit older than I am.’

"Well, sure I can!" she said and perked up. "I haven't got a fan club for nothing!"

"Speaking of which," I said. "Your sisters and Scootaloo are trying to get their cutie marks?"

"Yeah," the ponies said in confirmation. "And amazingly enough, they haven't increased my workload by very much," Redheart said. "By the way, Gabe," she whispered to me. "You can close your eye now."

‘Oh, right.’

"Those things that shows what you're good at?" I asked.

"Yes," Twilight said. "Which you already have. Oh, and please don't rub it in their muzzles if you meet them."

‘Watch the innuendo, Twilight. It involves little girls.’

"I... Didn't even know that it was a thing you rubbed into people's... muzzles,"

"Well, young ponies are often really proud of their cutie marks when they get them. Some ponies thinks it's embarrassing to be a late bloomer, or the Cutie Mark Crusaders do, at least," Twilight said.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" I asked.

"These gals," Applejack said and waved the picture before putting it into her hat again.

"I didn't even notice when I got this," I said and gestured to my flank with my head.

"Really?" Rainbow said. "Because you had it when we found you."

I looked back at my mark, same rhombus-shaped gem with the same contrails as before. "Huh."

"It must have appeared right before we found you," Twilight said. "That's good, because unicorn magic is often closely tied with their special talent. If you know your special talent it'll be much easier for you to learn magic."

Now it was my ears' turn to droop. "But I don't know about any special talents."

Twilight looked surprised by this. "You... you don't? I've never heard of..." she said before trailing of. "Well we, we might have some clues to go on, since you already have your cutie mark."

"What clues?" I asked.

"Did you notice whether you had it when you first came to Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"No, I first got a good look at myself in the forest," I said. "I didn't have it then."

"And since we presumably found you not long after you lost consciousness, there's a pretty small window of time where you would've gotten it," Twilight reasoned.

"I... guess you're right," I said.

"So what exactly were you doing before you lost consciousness? If you don't mind sharing the story again."

I shrugged. "No, I guess it's fine. So more story time, then?"

"Seems that way, dear," Redheart said. "Maybe we should go somewhere so that it doesn't look like we're loitering."

"Ooh! I'll go get us some lunch," Pinkie Pie said and shot off somewhere while we started sauntering away.

"What kind of lunch is she talking about?" I asked.

"More of the kind we had earlier, I would reckon," Applejack said.

"Does she do this a lot?" I asked.

"Do what?" Rainbow asked.

"Hand out pastries," I said.

"Yeah, pretty much all the time."

"How can anyone not get fat from that?" I asked.

"Pastries make you fat!?" Rainbow and Rarity asked in shocked unison.

After receiving a lesson in which diets do and which diets do not make magical ponies gain weight, which didn't make any sense to me, we found ourselves in a more appropriate story telling area.

I was learning how to sit up like a pony without falling over, too. Which was good, because the pitying cringes I got from my audience whenever I did was making me uncomfortable.

"... and that's pretty much it," I said.

"Okay, that gives me something to work with," Twilight said and stared off into the distance. "Okay," she said a after a while and rose up to leave. "I think I have an idea. Would you excuse me while I go fetch some things?"

‘I never turn statements into questions like that, do I?’

"Alright," I said.

"Oh! Are you gonna go fetch super-weirdo sciency things? I'll come with!" Pinkie said as she started bouncing after Twilight as she left for the castle.

"So do you think I'm ready to give magic a try, yet?" I asked Redheart.

"How have you been feeling?" she asked.

"Okay, actually. That thing when I passed out happened twice last night but I've been feeling fine so far since that."

"Then it should be fine, I'm sure it's not dangerous anymore, at least," Redheart said comfortingly.

I looked down in the ground and smiled.

"Looks like somepony might actually be looking forward to being a unicorn," Rainbow said.

"'Somepony'... Yeah, I guess so," I said, still smiling slightly. "Still feels weird, though, being a pony. A filly. But at least learning to move my ears wasn't very hard to do. Maybe this won't be, either," I said and made a demonstrative flop with my left ear. "Still having problems with my tail, though."

"Must've been strange, not having no tail," Applejack said and Fluttershy whipped hers around her and started petting it reassuringly.

"Not really." I said. "But judging from that book I borrowed yesterday, it seems most people here, not just ponies, have tails."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, darling, but are you saying that you can't move your tail?" Rarity asked.

"Nope, since I never had one before."

"And there was no magic on Terra?" she asked.

"Not as far as I know, and if there was I think we would've noticed." I said. I would've pointed out how we don't really call it “Terra” back at home but I suspected that there would just be a bunch of confusion if I started calling another word for “the ground” my home planet. ‘Although, come to think of it, doesn't “Terra” mean “earth”?’

"I see. Applejack, perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Rarity said.

"A what now?" Applejack said.

"A demonstration, darling. I'm not sure dear Gabrielle has seen what ponies can do with a little practice."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Rainbow!" Applejack said, bending her head back and used her tail to grab her hat off from her head.

Rainbow Dash took off from the ground and caught Applejack's hat in her own tail after Applejack threw it like a frisbee and then tossed it back. "Hah! I'm getting used to this one-eyed thing," she said.

I stared in disbelief at the display and tilted my head a little. "How? Oh, of course, magic," I said.

"That's right," Rainbow Dash said and set down beside me. "It takes some practice, but anypony can do it."

I looked back at my tail, trying to find a way to move it, but no results.

"So how did you learn to move your ears?" Rainbow asked. "Twilight said that humans can't do that."

"That's actually not true, it's just very difficult. Something about, uh, separate nucleus in the brainstem, but I can't remember," I said and almost didn't stop myself from waving my foreleg dismissively, which most likely would have resulted in my muzzle assaulting the ground. "And I learned to move my ears, these ears-" I gave a demonstrative flop "- last night when I heard something and they moved on their own."

"Huh. Okay," Rainbow said pensively and scooted a bit closer to me and then backwards a little.

Not sure what to make of that I instead turned to Rarity. "So, is it hard to learn magic?"

"Well, that's a somewhat... broad question, darling," she said.

I felt something tickling the sensitive hairs inside my ear and flopped it down before turning and seeing Rainbow whistle innocently while looking up in the sky and folding her wing in again.

"But basic magic..." Rarity continued. "- the type most commonly used, is often easy enough to learn."

I felt a bit distracted by Rainbow tickling my ear again but I wanted to hear this.

"Though learning to do more than miniscule magic is often associated with getting your cutie mark, and since you already have yours, I reckon you won't have a very difficult time, darling."

"So what does-" I was interrupted by more tickling and questioningly looked back at Rainbow Dash, puzzled at her childish behavior, before turning back to Rarity, "What does basic magic include?"

I felt another tickle which I instinctively tried to wave away with my ear. "I think this could take a while," I heard Rainbow whisper in Applejack's general direction.

"Arcanokinesis is the most common of unicorn magic," Rarity said. "Using it to practice your special talent is a good way to practice using it in everyday life."

I felt Rainbow tickle my ear again. I looked back at her and again she transparently pretended that nothing was happening. I shot a questioning look at Redheart instead, who just smiled at me and reassuringly pat my back with her hoof.

"Like how?" I asked Rarity.

"Well, my special talent is fashion. And when I got my cutie mark, around your age, it was suddenly just so easy to do anything cloth related: aiming needles, precision threading, using a sewing machine and so on."

"And-" I started before feeling Rainbow tickling my ear again. I turned back to her. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she said and extended her wing again and started tickling my ear with a primary.

"Why a-" I started before seeing my tail give a flick across the ground. "Uh?" I asked, sounding like a real intellectual.

"Finally," Rainbow said. "You're way too patient for a filly."

"What do you... " I trailed off. I focused my eye on my tail and tried doing that thing again, but didn't have much luck.

I didn't notice Rainbow's wing as it extended and started tickling my ear again. This time I felt my tail flick annoyingly and I was alert enough to register the sensation more fully.

"... Did you mean to do that?" I asked Rainbow.

"Yeah, I figured that might've helped." she said. "A friend of mine back at junior speedster told me that us ponies flick our tails when we're annoyed. I never realized that until she showed me like this."

"Oh," I said and managed to give a little horizontal wave with my tail so it lazily swooped across the ground. "Well, uh, thanks for annoying me, I guess."

"Hey, anytime," she said with enthusiasm.

After some more talk about basic magic with Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie came back. They had apparently set up a way to figure out my special talent in a room in the castle. So once more I found myself on Redheart's back as we we're making our way back into the castle.

"Ugh! I wonder if I can pass a royal decree to not move the instruments around, this was taking longer to find than it should have," said Twilight.

"Or you could just order somepony to go get you the stuff," Rainbow noted.

"I don't know," Twilight said hesitantly. "I'm still not very comfortable with ordering ponies around."

"But passing decrees that basically say 'don't touch stuff that I wanna use' is okay?" Rainbow asked, amused.

"That was supposed to be a joke," Twilight said. "Anyway, I've set up some things to test your thaumatic resonance in a few likely scenarios, Gabrielle."

"Gabe. And please note how real a science in one world shares terms and names with a make-believe one in a another world;" I said.

"I- excuse me?" Twilight said.

"I mean that I can make a pretty good guess of what 'thaumatic resonance' mean even though magic is a myth back home."

"I... I will make a note of that," Twilight said. "I have some ideas as to why this is but I'm eager to look through Starswirl the Bearded's notes on different universes. Perhaps that would explain why all the different peoples in all the different world's I've seen all speak Equestrian."

"That's what you call this language right?" I asked.

"Yes. Hmm," Twilight said and looked pensive. "I wonder if there were different languages in the other worlds and there's a magical explanation to why we hear it as the same one."

"If so, then it translates reading as well," I said, remembering that I had a light study session yesterday. "Uh, let's see... Applejack!"

"Yeah?" Applejack said.

"What do you call a fish with no eyes?" I asked.

"What has that got to do with anything?" she wondered.

"I just wanna see if the wordplays I know still work."

"Okay, then," she said and thought for a moment. "Alright, tell me."

"Pinkie?" I said and waved my foreleg invitingly.

"FSH!" Pinkie hissed to Applejack.

"What are-" Applejack said, paused, and groaned. "Yeah, that works."

"Haha! Good one!" Rainbow Dash said and gave me a hoof bump. I could even see that Fluttershy and Rarity found it at least somewhat amusing.

"Alright, we're here," Twilight said and we entered a room with some tables and three cushions.

"You forgot to bring seating for everypony," Rainbow Dash noted.

"Nope!" Pinkie said happily. "Gabe doesn't want an audience, but she doesn't wanna tell us to go away so I figured that we would by ourselves."

"I..." I started, appropriately puzzled.

"Oh!" Rarity said. "That's thoughtful of you, Pinkie. Who's the third cushion for?"

"That's for Redheart. Gabe likes being around her," Pinkie said confidently.

"Then with your leave, darling," Rarity said to me, not a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I," I said again, still confused, before shaking my head. "What?"

"Oh," Pinkie Pie said, looking shocked. "It wasn't right?"

"What wasn't right?" I asked.

"That you would be uncomfortable with having lots of ponies around when trying to use magic."

"I, hadn't really thought about that," I said.

‘Well, I guess that it's a lesson that’s irrelevant for everyone except one and she probably already knows it.’

"Well, It seems a bit rude to, uh, dismiss people who came to visit me."

"Oh don't worry about that, darling," Rarity said. "We're in Canterlot! We shall find plenty to keep us occupied, I'm sure."

"Well, okay then. But now I feel a bit awkward for keeping you from doing that," I said.

"Don't worry," Fluttershy said. "It was our pleasure."

"Yep," Applejack said proudly. "Always enjoying making friends."

"That's right," Rainbow Dash said. "Alright, let's leave them to it."

The five of them started filing out of the room, leaving myself, Twilight and Redheart in the room. "Uh, Rainbow!" I called out.

"What?" Rainbow asked and looked back.

I wordlessly held out my hoof and after a few seconds she caught on. "Oh, sorry," she said and removed my eyepatch and hoofed it over before flying out after the others.

Redheart walked over with me to a cushion and gently put me down on it while Twilight started adjusting parchments and quills on the table. The eyepatch was tied a bit too wide and I carefully started undoing the very standard knot that tied it up.

It was still a bit of a challenge though, with a hoof that I couldn't see the fingers on, or whatever you're supposed to call them. I was about to start using my mouth when Redheart gently took it from me and untied it before starting to attach it to me. "So if Pinkie is to be believed, and she has a knack for these things, you're comfortable around me and not other ponies?" she asked.

"Kind of, I guess. I also don't want to send people away from where I'm a guest and when they're here for me," I said.

She cocked her head and studied me for a bit. "If that's simply the way you are, then there's nothing to be ashamed of."

I gave her a dubious look back. "That sounds a bit like being proud of your flaws."

"There's more to it than that. And not wanting to surround yourself with ponies at all times isn't a flaw."

"... It still doesn't sound nice. And if you ponies are as social as you seem, then there could be a lot of situations like this," I said and looked away.

"You have to make friends eventually," she said, with a slightly pleading quality.

‘Yeah. What would be stopping me, though?

‘Oh, you know what's stopping you. You don't have to watch all that many movies or read all that many books to know what. I could've self-diagnosed myself even if I was a little kid.

‘It had hurt. So much I sometimes thought I wasn't gonna be able to live through it.

‘It still hurt.

‘But I had been told this before. I can't go on like this forever.’

I looked back at Redheart. "Like you?"

Redheart smiled and put a hoof on my back. "Yes. I just hope I'm not the only one. I have to go back to Ponyville soon."

"Yeah, I don't want to keep you, and everyone else, here forever."

Redheart's expression took on a strangely stern quality. "Well, I'm glad you're gonna live here in the castle with the princesses and that you've made friends with the element bearers. Because they might help with something I told you yesterday that obviously didn't take."

I was a bit confused by the seriousness in her voice. "What was that?"

She looked me in the eye and told me again. "You're not a bother, Gabrielle. Remember that."

I felt some conflict about that statement, and the years-long, grueling trials that was regaining control of my life and not relying on an ever-changing stream of professionals with varying degrees of unfamiliarity.

I felt that right now might not be the best time for serious soul searching, but I finally let my head rest on the cushion and accepted that this would be a tough matter. Redheart put her foreleg around me comfortingly and nuzzled my head a bit.

‘I did it. I finally did it. I learned to live by myself again. I had a nice enough place. I had a job, I was good at it. I was even respected by my colleagues. I can do anything. I am independent, free, smart, and tough.’ After a while I let out a sigh. ‘And I could really use a hug.’ I closed my eye and nuzzled Redheart back.

‘Oh, drama.’

"Okay," Twilight said. "We're good to- oh, sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

‘No pushing my new friend away! Being embarrassed at this would be childish.’ "You didn't," I said.

I couldn't tell but I was pretty sure that Redheart gave a smile at that, but she didn't say anything.

After a while, though, it was enough. I opened my eye and looked at Twilight. "Alright, let's see if I can learn to move things with magic before Redheart goes back to Ponyville."

"Oh, yeah. We haven't been keeping you from your job, have we?" Twilight asked Redheart.

"Since this case is anomaly stamped, I have quite some leeway in that area," Redheart said. "But I'm still heading back with the rest tonight."

"Well then!" I said and forced some enthusiasm into my voice. "Let's get to it. If that guardsman, or uh, stallion that helped me with the wheelchair this morning has to help me use the lavatory, I suspect he might have a nervous breakdown."

"Uh," Twilight said and then moved on when I waved the point away. "Alright, I've set up some things here." She gestured to a low table with various knickknacks. Among them were a feather, a book, some small bowls with different colored powders in them, and an arcane looking device that looked a bit like a mix between a juice press and a kerosene lamp, with a crystal of some sort in the middle, some knobs and buttons, and hooked up to an old-school continuous data printer (I was sort of familiar with these, with hospitals rarely willing to upgrade computer equipment unless absolutely necessary).

"Now, do you know what 'arcanokinesis' is?" Twilight asked me.

I had actually never heard that term before today but I made a guess. "The ability to move things with magic?" I suggested.

"Correct," Twilight said happily. "It's a very basic unicorn magic, pretty much every unicorn uses it daily. It's also commonly the first magic a young unicorn like yourself learns."

I shook my head. ‘I don't know what's weirder, that I'm a little kid or that these ponies are like, sixty or older.’

"Okay, sounds like something I wanna learn."

"Good! It's a very good spell for measuring magical energy, since a unicorn's magical prowess determine the weight and size of things you can control, how many things, how fine your precision is, and so on, and there's really no known limit for how powerful it can become."

I looked at the strange device on the table. "And how do you measure magical energy?"

"With that very device," Twilight said. "It can pick up a large number of different magical resonances, both faint and strong. This is currently set to sense unicorn magic."

‘Resonances, eh? Yeah, I know about those.’

"So, you said you did magic in the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. That thing with seeing magic, doing something with a twig, and then the magical nova thingy," I said and gave what I said some thought. "I don't know if those things are called anything, if they're spells or whatnot."

"I don't think they were spells, it sounded more like sorcery," Twilight said with a thinking face.

"And sorcery is not the same as spells?" I asked, confused.

"Mostly no," Twilight said. "They're magic, but they're not spells. Not everypony can do actual sorcery, either."

I raised my eyebrows at this. "Really?"

"Yeah, but even those who do tend not to rely much on it."

"Why not?" I asked, understandably curious about this seemingly exclusive ability.

Twilight was silent for a while as she worked on how to best describe this. "I guess I misspoke earlier. All ponies, not just unicorns, can perform sorcery, but not all can do so in a more than miniscule amount. Sorcery is a form of raw magic. If you're untrained but powerful enough, you can use sorcery instead of spells to influence the world around you."

"And the reason why those who can don't rely on it?" I asked.

"Oh, there are several, the main ones being that it's unreliable, unpredictable, and difficult to control. The results can sometimes even be dangerous and leave you absolutely drained. Like what happened to you," she said.

"Okay," I said. That was indeed a very good reason to not go nuts with sorcery. "And what are spells, then?"

"Spells- ," Twilight started, and I noted how much she seemed to enjoy this " -are carefully constructed forms of magic. They are more difficult to learn, but luckily not as difficult as they are to create. Arcanokinesis is something of a middle ground between sorcery and spells. Think of it as sorcery, but one that is fairly easy to control and with the safeguards of a very simple spell."

"Hmm," I said. "I'll try, but it's all very... abstract, right now."

"Then let's give it a shot," Twilight said. "See that feather?"

I nodded, it was brown and white, so I assumed that it came from a bird and not a pony.

"Imagine that your horn can channel magical energy, and that you can control that energy to influence the physical world. Because simply put, that's exactly what we're gonna be doing."

‘Alright, channel chi into your horn or something?’ I closed my eye and gave my horn a poke to emphasize its existence. ‘Equilibrioception, right? Or would that be proprioception? Anyway, channel, channel, channel.’

"Open your eyes, Gabrielle," I heard Twilight say.

"Gabe," I said and decided to let it slide that I strictly speaking can't do that in plural. As I did I, though, I recoiled a bit.

"Nguh!" I involuntarily said. At the top right of my vision was an ethereal blue swirl that disappeared as soon as I tried to shake it away.

"Oh, Gabrielle," Twilight said in an amused voice. "That's nothing to be afraid of."

Redheart just gave me a warm smile and put her hoof on my back again.

"I figured," I said. "I've just never seen anything like that before."

"Well, I've only seen unicorn fillies look excited at doing magic before, I've never seen one scare herself with it."

I felt like crossing my arms. "Hmph. And I'll bet you didn't embarrass yourself any when you turned into a human."

Twilight's face went red at that. "Let's just move on," she said.

‘Oh?’

"Yes, let's," I said with just a hint of a smile.

"Alright, now try that again, but this time, keep your eyes open and try and will the energy to the feather and use it to bite down on it."

"Bite down on it?"

"Yes, like I said, arcanokinesis is like a mix between sorcery and a spell, just imagine you want to move the feather with your mouth like you'd usually do, but do it with your magic to create a form of mnemonic device to help you form your magic into that form at will."

After a moment, I realized the reason of her wording and was about to point that out, but Twilight beat me to it.

"Oh, right," she said sheepishly. "I remember humans didn't use their mouths to move things very often. Okay, imagine you're using a hand to, uh, what's the word? Grip it!"

That made a lot more sense to me, and gave me a pretty strong hint of how Twilight might've embarrassed herself as a human. I tried again. As I channeled energy into my horn, I again saw the upper corner of my vision come alive with a rich blue swirl. I hadn't seen this back in the forest, I had my eyes closed the whole time and just perceived all those swirling shapes and colors.

I, for a lack of better term, reached out and gripped the feather and it became enveloped in a blue glow.

"Good!" I heard Twilight said, but I kept my eye fixed on the feather. "Now try and move it around."

I did so, and it lifted a few inches off the ground. My feeling of elation was held in check somewhat by my concentration.

I tried moving the feather around and the blue glow carried it back and forth and in different directions. ‘Well, first step wasn't so hard.’

I felt that I had a good amount of control over the feather, but I was concentrating pretty hard. I tried scaling my concentration back. This didn't make the glow disappear, but after a while it started to feel like I was trying to do precision work while drunk. The feather moved, but not exactly the way I was trying to. After a while I set it back on the table and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"That was very good," Twilight said. "I was afraid that since you've only been a pony for a few days, your magic might be underdeveloped, but that's clearly not the case."

"That took a lot of concentration, though," I said.

"But not nearly as much as it would take for a filly even younger than you. Don't worry, I suspect that you'll become proficient in this in no time," Twilight said.

"Nice," I said with a smile.

"In fact, we could get a pretty good estimate on how much raw magic you have with this arcane power measuring device," Twilight said enthusiastically and pointed towards the strange looking device.

"Okay," I said, unconvinced. "How does it work?"

"Oh I'll just adjust it to the general type of magic you'd like to try and then you just use that kind of magic on it," Twilight said.

That sounded simple enough. "Okay, I've only tried moving things and doing that thing with the twig in the forest."

"Okay," Twilight said and lit up her horn. She adjusted the knobs and buttons on the device before continuing. "There, now just try and lift that crystal in the middle. Give it as much as you can without hurting yourself."

I did just that, but instead of lifting off, the crystal started glowing from within in the color of my magic and the printer jumped into life and started chugging out a stream of papers.

"Do I just keep this up or..." I trailed of, uncertain.

"Yes, please, at least for a few more moments," Twilight said, eyeing the printouts.

After a while, Twilight said, "okay, you can stop now."

I did, and started breathing in heavily. It didn't warrant any real panting, but I suspect that it would have if I kept it up.

As Twilight read the printouts, Redheart put her hoof on me again, I didn't notice that she had removed it. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Fine. It... it felt like a short sprint, not long enough to really tire you out," I said before almost grunting at the pang of emotions I felt at that. "Which I haven't felt in ages," I continued in a low voice.

I felt Redheart pat me wordlessly, grateful for her presence.

"Okay, I think I have a pretty accurate read on how much magic you have. And good news, it's looking pretty advanced," Twilight said.

"Uh, how advanced are we talking, here?" I asked.

"A few years ahead of your time, perhaps. You might raise the eyebrows of a few teachers but nothing that special." She seemed to register what she said about a second after she had said it. "Oh! I'm sorry, that was a poor choice of words! I didn't mean-"

I raised by hoof and stopped her and gave her a small but genuine smile. "Don't worry, I'm actually kind of relieved." That was the truth. Neat abilities were one thing. But if I had vast amounts of untapped potential waiting to be unlocked... well, that would have implied things. I had learned to enjoy a tranquil lifestyle with sitting around as a central feature, I don't think I would appreciate being some sort of chosen one. I suspected that saving the world while in a wheelchair would be interesting to see, but mostly grueling to do.

"Okay?" Twilight said, sounding a bit confused. "Well, we have arcanokinesis down, and we still haven't figured out exactly your special talent is."

I looked at my cutie mark. "A gem," I commented dryly. "Not really sure what to do with that."

"Me neither, but I have a few ideas. Sensing magic around you like you said you did in the forest is an extremely helpful skill when it comes to weaving enchantments, and gems are hooves down the best material to hold enchantments. So I went and got a few and ground them down to test a theory," Twilight said.

"Gems? You ground down gems?" I asked, figuring that I should probe a bit before getting shocked.

"Yes," Twilight continued like this was the most natural thing in the world. "A sapphire, an emerald, a- which one is this?" Twilight asked herself as she pointed out the small bowls with colored powder in them.

"Whoa, are you grinding down precious stones for testing a theory?" I asked, shock held back by disbelief.

"Yes?" Twilight said, confused.

I stared at her with my eye wide for a moment. "Isn't that expensive?" I asked.

"Not really, I mean they're not free, but how so? Are they expensive on Terra?" she asked.

"Uh, yes. Very," I said. "We don't call them 'precious stones' for nothing."

"Oh, lucky for Spike he's not living on Terra, then. He eats them," Twilight said happily.

"Oh yeah, your kid dragon friend," I said and Twilight nodded.

‘Gryphons, minotaurs, unicorns, dragons. I wonder when the sirens are gonna show up.’

"So, I would like you to try lifting a pinch from one of these bowls and see if that feels any different," Twilight said and gestured towards the bowls.

"Alright," I said and did the thing again.

I tried picking up a pinch of the slightly red dust and lifting it into the air. I felt my control improve, as if earlier I was trying to do something half-asleep and this time I was wide awake. I formed the small amount into a ball and shot it around in the room, almost casually compared to the last time.

"Very good!" Twilight said and I carefully dumped the dust back in the bowl. "This is going great. Now, can you try and sense magic again like you did in the forest?"

"Okay," I said.

‘Alright, this time, project your consciousness into your horn.’

Once again, I sensed the world in what could only be described as a pleasant explosion of shapes and colors. I looked around and saw the gentle brook of magic that was Redheart, and the bright glow that was Twilight.

Redheart looked pensively at me and gave me a gentle prod with her hoof before I said, "you look worried, Redheart."

Redheart looked taken aback. "You can see me?" she asked.

I was confused before I realized that my head was still resting on the cushion, aimed away from her with my eye closed.

I stopped what I was doing and was yanked back into what I could only describe as “normal unicorn mode”. "Yeah," I said. "I didn't realize that my eye was closed."

"Well, strictly speaking you weren't looking at anything," Twilight said. "It's just that of all the mundane senses, sight is the one most ponies tend to interpret magic as."

"Oh, yeah. I guess it was a bit like a mix between sight and perhaps hearing, like echolocation. It's a bit strange to be able to see through things that... aren't transparent," I said, struggling to describe my experience. I had never used my vocabulary to discuss magic before.

"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to," Twilight said. "Alright. Try it again, and 'watch' me weave a simple enchantment into this gem."

I small topaz hovered in Twilight's purple magic before being set down on the table. "Alright," I said.

Once more I projected myself into my horn and took a quick view of the world around me. Two guards were marching through the halls outside, their hooffalls muffled by the carpet and a small bird was perched on a windowsill in the neighboring room. I turned my attention to Twilight and the topaz. The gem felt different than the other objects around me. It had a gentle glow which wasn't swirling around.

The bright glow of Twilight's horn was intensified with more swirling colors which gently shot out towards the gem. The glow in the topaz now started to swirl like the living things around me, and Twilight was shaping it.

I observed on in fascination. The glow from Twilight's horn was stirring the glow in a few simple patterns and subtly changed the colors, and it didn't seem like it was going to slow down either, it just kept flowing on and on. After a while, the topaz lifted off from the table and started hovering about one foot in the air.

"That's it," Twilight said and I de-projected myself. "That was a simple levitation enchantment." Twilight gestured towards the floating topaz. "It's just like a spell, but an enchantment tends to last for a long time, sometimes indefinitely, and this is much easier to do with gems than most other material."

I looked back at my cutie mark again. "Okay, cool," I said.

"Now I want you to try it," Twilight said.

"Really? Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, and you can try doing that while sensing magic, it's probably easier that way."

"Alright," I said and projected myself again.

The gem was floating in the air, colors still swirling gently in a never-ending loop. I saw Twilight reach out and calm the small current so that the colors muted and settled back into the gentle but still glow it had earlier, the topaz dropping to the table.

I reached out and prodded the gem with my magic, and it felt like a small pool. I imagined my magic as a finger which I dipped into the pool and started moving the colors around with. They settled back almost immediately, though, and I instead tried to stir them quickly before pulling my magic out of it in order to not interrupt the flow. I tried to imitate what Twilight had done earlier but didn't manage to copy it completely.

It was fairly similar, though, and after a while the topaz started to move. It started rocking back and forth and pretty soon it was rolling around the room, making clacking sounds as it did.

I de-projected myself and gave Twilight a shrug.

"Not bad," Twilight said and I felt some pride build up inside me.

Redheart and I looked at the topaz as it rolled across the floor in determined fashion before encountering a wall and stubbornly tried to march on. It looked kind of funny.

Twilight's magic picked it up and floated it over to us, where it kept rolling around in the air. "Your very first enchantment," she said. "Would you like to keep it?"

I eyed the topaz for a bit. "I don't know, I imagine listening to that would get old after a while."

"Alright then," she said and wiped the enchantment. "Like I thought, your special talent is enchanting."

I gave a smile at that, instantly seeing how that could get useful.

"Now I have one more test," Twilight said and brought forwards the different cups of ground up powder. "Try tossing these."

"Tossing them?" I asked.

"Yeah, gems obviously react strongly to your magic. I want you to try and toss these and see if you have any preferences."

"I... try and lift them all at once?" I asked, not really wanting to misinterpret this.

"That's right," Twilight said. "Just give them a good shove."

"Alright," I said. I powered up my horn and looked at all the different little bowls. Their contents practically inviting my magic and it felt so easy to just get a grip on all of them at once.

Then I imagined that they were a Magic: The Gathering collection that I had grown sick of.

And then I flipped the table.

The magic I had been struggling to lift a feather with made the different dusts shoot into the air like a fountain, and one near the middle shot like a ball and impacted the ceiling before starting to descend like an expensive mist.

Twilight conjured a magical shield around us like an umbrella before bringing the bowl that had contained the blue powder to her and read a small plaque on the side. Then she looked at me and my cutie mark, then back at the bowl.

"Lapis Lazuli," she said with a smile. "Should've known. Oh! And I have to let Kibitz know!"

I let out a yawn and Redheart said. "I think that's enough magic training for today."

"I think you're right," Twilight said. "Impressive work today, Gabrielle. You definitely don't have to go to magic kindergarten."

"Gabe. And thanks," I said.

‘Shouldn't that be "magic fohlengarten"?’

"I could give you a few books that you could read up on now that you can use magic on your own, there's lots of practical exercises in them, too," Twilight said.

I gave her a smile, a mild fatigue catching up with me. "Thanks, I'd like that," I said as Twilight started packing up everything.

‘Things are really looking promising. Being a unicorn is actually really cool, I thought to myself, pleased with how the day went. I haven't been this eager to study before in my life.’

A thought struck me. "... Twilight?" I said.

"Yes?"

"You're gonna give me books on magic?" I asked.

"That's what I said."

"Which I have just performed?"

"... Yes?" Twilight asked and stopped to look at me.

"And I have been transported to another world, spoken with aliens, met incredibly powerful and old beings that can control stars, and been transformed into another being, myself?"

"... When you put it like that, you seem to be handling it very well," Twilight said after a while and gave me a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

I gave her a very genuine smile. "I don't remember the last time I felt this good."

‘Hah! Suck it, Lovecraft!’ I thought with an internal smirk.

"As you can see here, Lady Gabrielle, this movement aid features key components made out of lapis lazuli, visible to make magical control easier. Judging from Princess Twilight Sparkle's assessment of your abilities, you could very well regain independent movement with this construction within weeks or even days," the unicorn said.

I looked up at him. Kibitz, as had introduced himself, was an older stallion with a cutie mark of an old pocket watch, small glasses at the edge of his muzzle, with a burgundy waistcoat and a somewhat flat head with a mane that began somewhere on his neck and carefully trimmed sideburns. It had the effect of making it seem like he had very high widow's peaks and he managed to speak with very small movements of his mouth, so that the only visual hint that he was speaking was that his large mustache bristled.

"I... don't know what to say," I said, lying across Redheart's back, as Kibitz and Private Armor stood next to the comfortable looking wheelchair. Its structure covered by a layer of the ultramarine material, very much like my coat. With Princess Celestia and Twilight with friends stood next to me, looking at the chair with interest.

"Well, perhaps you would like to give it a try?" Kibitz suggested.

"A short one, in that case," Redheart said. "We don't want a repeat incident."

"Oh I doubt there's a danger," Twilight said.

"I do as well," Redheart said. "But there's no need to be reckless."

"Very well, a short one it is," Kibitz agreed. "Private Armor has been appointed to help you in such an event that your magic is insufficient, should you agree."

I looked at the nervous guard who had enough self-consciousness to give an affirmative nod. "Hey, Armor," I said and gave him a wave.

"Good afternoon, miss Gabrielle," he said back, sounding almost humorously stiff.

Redheart walked over to the chair and carefully helped me sit down in it. I looked at the gem inlays in the chair, reached out with my magic and pushed forward.

The chair smoothly rolled forward and I tried breaking the movement, which also worked like a charm. Or a spell. "Wow," I said in a small voice. "This is great,"

"We are all most pleased that you think so, Lady Gabrielle," Kibitz said.

"Uh, you can skip 'lady'," I said.

"If it pleases you, miss."

"Excellent, Kibitz," Princess Celestia said. "And on such short notice. Please pass on my gratitude to all relevant parties."

"Oh, yeah, and mine," I chimed in.

"Naturally," he said.

"Well, I'm glad you appreciate this, Gabrielle," Princess Celestia said. "It pains me to see somepony struggle so."

"Your majesty, I'm... not sure how to repay this, and everything else I've gotten."

"You don't have to repay anything, but I plan on learning about your world, and I hope you will help me do so," she said.

"Of course!" I said, eager to show that I wouldn't just take things like this for granted.

"I don't wanna cut anypony off, here. But we should get going if we don't wanna miss the train," Rainbow Dash said.

"Of course," Celestia said. "Until next time, my little ponies."

"Sure thing, Princess," Rainbow Dash said, completely oblivious to Rarity's disapproving gaze.

"See you soon, Twilight," Applejack said and the rest chimed in.

"Yes, see you tomorrow," Twilight said.

"You're not going?" I asked.

"Yes, but I'm waiting until tomorrow," she said. "Spike can watch the library in the meantime."

"Why are you waiting until tomorrow?"

"Because I want to learn about your world too. It's actually kind of my royal duty," she said.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said before turning to me. "Come visit someday, whiz kid."

"Oh, indeed," Rarity agreed with the others. "If your aptitude in enchantments are as Twilight describe, you simply must let me make use of them. Imagine the garments we could make with it!"

"Yeah, that actually sounds pretty great," I admitted. "See you later."

Redheart looked expectantly at me and I extended my foreleg invitingly. She walked up and gave me a warm hug.

It was a bit ruined when six other ponies joined in, but I didn't let that bother me. Today was a too good of a day.

"See you later, Gabe," Redheart said and then left for the door with the rest of the ponies and walked out into the late afternoon sun.

"Well, Twilight, your old room is as you left it, with quills and paper in abundance," Celestia told Twilight.

"Thank you," Twilight said. "I'm looking forward to hearing about Terra tomorrow, Gabrielle."

"I hope It'll live up to your expectations," I said. "I'm feeling a bit spoiled, getting all these things and attention."

Celestia looked at me with a serious expression. "Gabrielle Desrochers, while it warms my heart that you appreciate the things given to you and that you are adjusting to life as a pony, do not imagine for a moment that my desire for you to teach me of your world is a way to alleviate any feelings of debt."

Both Twilight and I looked at Celestia, my surprised expression inviting her to continue. "You already understand this, Gabrielle. Establishing a connection to Terra could be, would be, one of the most pivotal event in living memory. It is something which has to be done right. Do not dismiss your importance in this."

"I," I started, not really sure what to say. "Yes, your majesty."

"And so it pleases me that you're taking this request seriously," Celestia said in a warm voice.

"Thank you, your majesty," I said, finding her words very comforting.

"Now, I plan on having supper soon. I imagine that you're eager to study the books that Twilight has promised you, but would you all like to join me for supper before you do?" Celestia said to me and Twilight.

"Of course we would," Twilight answered for us.

"Well then. Private Armor, if you would be so kind as to help Gabrielle into the dining hall? I would like you to join us. And you, Kibitz, I want to double check my schedule," Celestia said and started making her way to the dining hall.

I looked at a flabbergasted looking Armor as the two princesses and the royal scheduling advisor started moving away. After a moment, Kibitz turned around and shot Armor a disapproving look and cleared his throat, whereupon Armor sprung into action.

All in all, I felt that this was a very productive day.

Keepsakes

I laid in the bathtub, utterly relaxed, and breathed a content sigh. And then I touched myself.

More specifically, I picked my nose. It was interesting, with both a new nose and a new thing to pick with.

It was a continuation of an activity from last night, when I also explored my new magical pony anatomy. I guess I'm like most people in that I've never given much thought on how a horse tail works. There was actually a lot more to them than just a bunch of long hairs above the butt. Things started to feel really strange when I tried the flexibility of my fore hoof.

Imagine being able to scratch the front of your left wrist, with the knuckles of your left hand. That wasn't exactly what it felt like but it's the closest I can describe it. It was a bit like waking up one morning and finding out that you can nibble on your own ears, which, come to think of it, wouldn't be an all that spectacular feat around here, ears on magical ponies were a lot larger than the mundane ones from back home, and ridiculously cute, I had probably spent the better part of an hour waving them around in front of the bathroom mirror yesterday evening.

The water level was pretty low, as I had the forethought to not raise it too much while in a small body like this. This also eliminated the chance of passing out and getting water in my lungs, for the sensation of brushing my coat came with the considerable risk of putting myself to sleep, whether in water or not. Celestia had said that it only feels this way if you let it. Which was a relief, because otherwise, the act of abduction would be worryingly easy here in Equestria. Brushes would probably be considered contraband. Though brush runners made for an amusing mental image. Like that scene in Commando where a closed dry cleaner for some reason has a warehouse full of guns hidden in the back. That, but with an assortment of brushes.

Brush slingers with two brushes in a belt, and hold-out brushes that shoots out on a spring from under your shirt arm... not sure what the equivalent of explosives would be, though.

A trail of thought this ridiculous was strong indication that I should get on with my day. I was done with the brushing anyway. Between my flexible hoof and the strong grip of my magical pony mouth, I could reach anywhere.

I had skipped on my mane, though. Celestia had said that I'll learn to resist the sleep-inducing effects in time. But I wasn't there yet and so I just settled on washing it. I'll get Armor to help me if it looks too bad.

I let out the water and hosed myself off again in warm water just to be sure, not even bothering to stretch myself to turn the knobs with my hoof. I didn't have a lot of control over my magic yet, but I had enough, and it was like having a remote for everything. Or it would be, once I got some practice.

I initiated my sort of roundabout way of getting out of the tub, and now that my magical malaise, or whatever you can call it, had worn off I was starting to appreciate being a child again. Remember when you were a kid? You had all that energy and you didn't weigh anything. As strange as it sounds I sometimes wished that I had been younger when my arm and leg were removed. If I was, like, five years old or something it would have been a lot easier to get used to it. As it was I was just old enough to get tired from running around for an hour and my brain had already established that doing this and that had these effects and was very reluctant to change its mind.

Come to think of it, as interesting as it is to be turned into a unicorn foal, I wonder what it would've been like if it were to happen as a child.

I did something similar to what I had tried in the hospital, I leaned against the side of the tub and sat up, then reached over the edge with my foreleg and started hoisting myself over the edge. Someone, somepony, had the foresight of providing me with a low profile bathtub so that I could scamper in and out of it without hurting myself, and I in turn had the foresight to lay out a bath towel on the floor beside the tub, which I plopped down on and started rolling around on to dry myself off.

Bath towels in Equestria were unsurprisingly large and fluffy specimen. Not just because it fit with the sugar-sweet feel and aesthetics of the place, but naturally also because its inhabitants could fit a lot of liquid onto their forms.

A bit of rolling around later and I scooted over to my new wheelchair. Again, my child-like energy made it a lot easier to climb it than it otherwise would have, and also because this one had a parking break and didn't roll away without permission.

Once in place I concentrated and flowed some magic into my horn, then reached out for the towel on the floor. My magical aura enveloped one of the corners and I gave it a tug. The towel lifted off from the floor and I could probably have lifted it far enough for me to get a grip on it with my hoof if it wasn't soaked. But it was, and so I couldn't.

"Armor, are you still out there?" I asked loudly in the direction of the door.

"Yes, miss Gabrielle," I heard Armor respond from the other side.

"Can you come in here?"

The door opened and my still nervous guardspony companion stepped inside. "Of course, miss," he managed to say in a fairly confident voice.

"Don't worry, I figured out how to manage lavatory visits on my own. I just need your help to hang up the towel," I said and gestured to the fluffy pink thing on the floor, making a mental note to pay attention to the frequency of bathroom visits I require these days, and perhaps asking a few questions about the length and volume of magical pony digestive tracts. And that's one of the things that Equestria doesn't have in common with classical antiquity, to my relief, personal waste disposal is not a social activity.

"Of course, miss," he said and picked the thing up in his mouth and hung it over a rack, which made me very grateful that I wasn't an earth pony working in a laundry. A little filly that sits around most of the day probably won't have a very disgusting towel.

"Thanks, Armor," I said. "Also, how does my hair look?"

He stiffened at this and looked uncomfortable before answering. "Eye-catching," he finally said.

I grabbed the lapis lazuli visible through the metal structure of my chair with my magic and moved forward so that I could get a look of myself in the mirror. My hair, or mane, was indeed eye-catching, in that it looked like a mutated, orange and blue bracken. "Agreed," I said. "Could you do me a favor and brush it out? I keep falling asleep when this happens."

"Yes, miss," he said and grabbed a brush from a dresser and brought it to my mane.

"And wake me up if I do fall asleep, please."

"Yes, miss," he said before setting to work.

A few seconds later for me and a few minutes later for the rest of the world, I felt myself coming to from Armor gently shaking my shoulder. "Miss Gabrielle," he said. "You wished for me to wake you up."

I shook out some kinks after my little nap and looked to Armor in the mirror. "That I did, thanks, Armor."

"My pleas-, uh, I mean, don't mention it, mada- miss."

I gave him a smile that I hoped was understanding. Funny, he's walking on eggshells around me and while I feel it's more urgent to do the same with him. "Could you help me with my eyepatch, next? I'm not very good with fine manipulation yet," I said and floated it over to us from the dresser.

"Of course, miss," he said and went to work, not nearly as shaky as yesterday.

After he was done I craned my head around, noticing that it was placed as comfortably as yesterday. "Thanks, Armor. Should we get going?"

Armor started wheeling me out of my new abode and into the hallway, I looked back at him and he quickly averted his eyes from me and looked straight ahead. "You look like you have something on your mind," I said.

Armor was silent for a moment as he no doubt considered his words carefully. "Permission to speak freely, miss?"

"Encouraged. Though do you really need to ask that? I'm not an officer," I said.

Again, there was a pause before he answered. "No, miss. Which is what I wanted to speak about. You are an ambassador. I am a guard, insubordination against my superiors would be grounds for disciplinary action, mistreating or insulting you, even more so."

"That's, uh," I started, trying to figure out my feeling on that statement. "That's heady, Armor."

"I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, miss Gabrielle," He said, sounding genuine.

"Uh, I just hadn't considered this before. Where are you going with this?"

"Yesterday, Princess Celestia, well, told me about you. Where you're from and such."

"Uh, okay?" I said.

"I was first simply told that you were an ambassador, and treated you as I was expected to treat a pony in your position. You must have noticed that I was a bit nervous around you," Armor said.

"Ah, yeah, I tried to not make things difficult for you," I said with an unsure smile. I looked around and noticed that we were alone in this particular hallway. "Perhaps we should have this conversation face-to-face?" I asked.

We came to a halt and Armor walked around the wheelchair to face me. "Thank you for doing so. And the point I'm getting to, is that... " Armor started before trailing off. He looked at the ground with a look of concentration on his face before continuing. "We get trained with how to treat dignitaries and officials, and how they are expected to treat us and frankly speaking, you were not acting according to script," Armor finished with a hint of a smile.

"I believe you," I said and looked away with a slightly bashful smile.

"Now, I would never presume to ask a pony in your position if you would like to cut back on formalities for a more relaxed working relation. But after speaking with her majesty yesterday, I thought of a way to maybe bring the subject up in a tasteful manner."

My eyebrows raised at those words. "I think I've misjudged you, Armor," I said after a while. "I figured you for a nervous rookie. And yes, I think a more casual working relation would be a fine idea," I said with a smile.

He gave a genuine smile at that and said, "Don't jump to too many conclusions, I'm still a rookie and I had quite some time to think up a way to approach this. And of course, this doesn't change my overall objective, I am still to follow your wishes... Gabrielle Desrochers."

"Very well then, Private Armor," I said with a smile. "Take me to the dining hall."

"As you will, Gabrielle," he said and walked around me and started wheeling me forward again. "It's a beautiful name, by the way."

"Thank you," I said and smiled. A few years earlier I might not have appreciated a compliment as readily. There was a lot of internal conflict when I felt fed up with all the “You're doing great!” comments and all their variations, but still having to admit to myself that they really helped. That's drama right there, the masochistic elements of healing: When you think, “I am so sick of your encouraging words... but please continue.”

"What's your name? Besides Armor, that is."

Armor groaned behind me and hesitated before saying "Studded."

"Studded?" I asked.

"Yeah, Studded Armor, youngest in a family with a long line of guardsponies. My parents, Silver and Chain, are stationed in Cloudsdale," he said.

"Don't get along with your family?" I asked. "And tell me if I'm being too nosy."

"No, it's just that... well, my parents try to stop themselves. But they're proud that I'm a royal guard now, so proud that they're terrified that I'll screw up. They would've been a lot more assured if my sister, Dress, was a royal guard instead of me."

"Wow that's... I'm sorry, uh, Studded, that sounds hard," I said, unsure.

"Ah, don't be. They're not abusive or anything, and I won't be disowned if I do screw up, Uncle Scrap is still invited for Hearth's Warming Eve, despite him being, well, Uncle Scrap."

"And that was part of why you were so nervous yesterday? Because you don't wanna let your family down?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, that's part of the reason."

"Part of it?"

"Well... I'm still a Private, and I'm no glory seeker but I'd like to not be," he said.

"What rank are you aiming for?" I asked.

"Any but Private."

"Why?" I asked.

"Private Stud- the Codpiece," He said darkly. "Six years in training and everypony in my unit still think it's hilarious."

I didn't look at him but I could tell that he rolled his eyes so sharply that they whipped up a gust of wind. Or maybe it was just his feathers bristling. "And how old are these ponies who think this is hilarious?" I asked.

"Either sixty-two, like me, or older. I joined up as soon as I was old enough."

I nodded my head at this information. "Okay," I said slowly, curious and more than a little apprehensive about how people my age act around here.

I was thinking up a question along those lines when Armor beat me to it. "Uh, mi- Gabrielle?"

"Mm?"

"Her majesty didn't go into all details when talking about you, so I hope you don't mind me asking this, but how old would- or, no, what, uh, level of maturity would you say you are?"

"In magical pony years, you mean? I'm not sure myself. We humans are legally adult when we're eighteen, at least where I lived, but that's a relatively recent development. If I remember correctly, in many ancient civilizations, princes and kings and people like that were old enough to lead armies when they were, like, fifteen."

We got to another set of stairs and Armor paused a bit. "Unbelievable," he said. "And sort of impressive, too."

"Well, don't get me wrong, these days, a fifteen year old military officer sounds pretty ridiculous, too. But hold up a second," I said and projected myself into my horn again and double-checked the structure and material of my new wheelchair. "Let's try this," I said and grabbed the hoof rest with my magic and lifted it up, sacrificing fine control for strength. "How about this?"

The wheelchair tilted backwards towards Armor and he quickly caught on and carefully maneuvered us down the stairs, now able to do so without tipping me out of my chair. "Is that why you're so proficient at magic at such a young age?" Armor asked me.

"Unicorn magic, you mean?" I said as we touched down. "I don't know. I haven't been able to compare with anyone except Twilight, and she's naturally better than I am."

"Well, yes, her highness is the element of magic, after all."

I nodded. The element of magic and the princess of friendship. Well, it was easy enough to become friends with her. Hmm, with friendship a seemingly tangible force for good and heroism here in Equestria, I wonder how much dramatic weight the theme of friends becoming enemies have here. Heh, an epic tale of Twilight and her friends bickering: Clash Of The Tight Ones! I shook my head. Focus, Gabe! You're in the middle of a conversation.

"And who might share traits with your former species, I think," the voice of Celestia coming from the side, where she, Luna, and Twilight were walking towards us from another hallway.

Armor turned to them and saluted. "Your majesties, your highness," he said. I was a bit unsure what I should do, myself. Twilight seemed almost oblivious to her royal nature, most of the time, and Celestia was almost carefree in her position while Luna had established her lenient nature towards me. Still, the sisters were awe-inspiring presences, especially to one my size.

"As you were, please," Celestia said. "We were wondering if now felt like a good time for you to teach us about Terra, Gabrielle."

"Uh, I guess," I said. "Do we skip breakfast?"

"I've personally never felt that you can't study during breakfast, I hope you don't disagree," Twilight said jovially before turning to Celestia. "By the way, what did you mean by sharing traits with humans?"

"You were always a very knowledgeable filly, Twilight," Celestia said with a smile to her former student, who blushed a bit. "And from what I've heard so far, I would assume that by the standards of my little ponies, humans, like you, must pursue knowledge and skill with great eagerness and determination, considering what they can do without our luxury of magic or time."

Twilight turned to me. "Cutie mark related or not, you did pick up on magic pretty fast."

Now it was my turn to blush, but I decided that that a slightly bashful smile would be more my style. "Thanks," I said and turned to Armor, which, by the way, wasn't all that hard as a unicorn. "As to your question, if we juxtapose human and pony rate of maturity, rather than expected lifespan, I'd say I might be somewhere in my mid-eighties. Which is a strange experience."

"And oddly reassuring, we feel," Luna said, or possibly announced. "It would be most distressing if this was inflicted upon a foal that, well, had the level of maturity expected from somepony your age. As it stands we feel somewhat conflicted, which is honestly a more joyous feeling, if you'll forgive our bluntness."

"Shall we get going?" Celestia said and gestured invitingly down the hall we were headed with a wing.

Armor started pushing me down the hall as the others started walking beside us. "I wasn't sure how formal this would be," I said to the princesses.

"Unless you object, I would like to conduct this learning session in a relaxed manner," Celestia said. "An entire culture is far too complex an idea to relay through a classroom-style lecture. A discussion would be more appropriate, I feel."

She's probably right. This isn't like math, which is all facts. There's a lot of strange things about a culture that's hard to communicate. How does one explain alien concepts like the internet, folklore and fantasies, or the seventies? ...Wait a minute. "That's probably true. But I have a question."

"Of course," Celestia said.

"You guys have fiction with fantastical elements, right?"

"Of course," Twilight said.

"What are they typically about?" I asked.

"Well, Spike's really into superhero comics if you know about those," Twilight said. "Ask the girls to tell you that story with the enchanted comic sometime," she continued with a smile.

"And in those comics, there often happens a bunch of stuff that's pretty much impossible?"

"Well, being around Discord reinforces the notion that a lot of things are not as impossible as one might think. Still, I think the answer you're looking for is yes."

"That's interesting, in a world with magic," I said.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well..." I said and put my hoof to my chin and thought for a moment. "On Earth, or Terra as we might as well call it, things like unicorns and pegasi and magic are myths, pure fantasy. And when you think about it, it's strange to find yourself in a world where some make-believe things are true and others are not. Not sure how else to put it."

"I can only imagine," Twilight said. "But then again, you're pretty much the same, at least to me, seeing as you're from a science-fiction world. Mapping out a pony's anatomy with magnetic fields sounds pretty amazing to me. Especially since it's almost all accomplished by what would be foals by our standards."

"Children," I said.

"Sorry?"

"Children. We don't call our, well, children, foals."

"You look like you have something to say, Private," Celestia said to Armor.

"Uh, well I, uh," Armor stammered.

"Please speak freely, it sounded like we interrupted a conversation earlier," Celestia said invitingly.

"Well, it was just, uh, a dumb thought, your majesty."

"Well, now you must share," Luna said with a small smile.

"Oh, well, I just figured, I thought it would be kind of neat to redo foalhood with all I know as an adult. There would be a bunch of embarrassing things I wouldn't do again."

That is an interesting idea. Too bad I can't get my limbs back. I thought darkly before a happier idea struck me. Well, I'm not saying anything until I've taken a look at those books about magical prostheses myself. "I'm still twenty-six, you know."

"Well, you certainly act older," Armor said.

"Mm, yes. The subject of what kind of life you'd like to lead shall have to be addressed sometime as well," Luna said. "You would of course be welcome to remain here, but keep in mind that your life shall now be longer than you'd probably be used to."

"Thank you," I said.

"Well, you'd be welcome to visit Ponyville where me and the girls live, Gabrielle," Twilight said. "You know, in case you'd feel better in a small town rather than the capital. It would be fitting, in a way, since it's close to where you arrived when you came to Equestria. I could roll out the spare bed for you."

"Thank you, too. It sounds appealing, but I wouldn't like to leave anything here unfinished."

"You might not need to worry about that," Celestia said. "After all, Twilight is the one deciphering Starswirl's old inventions. She would be one of the ponies that should get to know about Terra during the coming time."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm partially saying this because, and I mean no offense, as we would like to learn about Terra, you should learn about Equestria. The standard school semester is about to start and Ponyville's school teacher, Miss Cheerilee, is a teacher of the highest quality, and very understanding where many professors in prestigious institutions here in Canterlot, I'm sad to say, are not."

"Really?" I asked.

"I consider many of them stuck in archaic thinking, which should tell you enough," Luna said grumpily. "Considering your new role, I see political scandals, even."

"That bad?" I asked. This sounded very inconsistent with how I've been treated so far.

"I myself requested aid in adjusting to modern times after my return, and found them arrogant in their not always impressive knowledge. Their behavior was harsh and dismissive, even against myself," Luna continued. "Some choice words with the Royal Canterlot Voice changed this quickly enough. So while their behavior can be rectified easily, we feel it best to point out the option of Ponyville to you."

"Oh, okay. Is it fine for me to just come and go like that?"

"Of course," Celestia said. "And I understand that learning magic under Twilight is going very well for you. A joyously efficient aid in your physical hindrances."

Does she mean suddenly being another species or the lack of body parts? The first one's hopefully temporary, and now the second one might be too. I thought and felt my spirit rise despite it trying to be discreet about it. "Teaching suits her," I said and saw Twilight blush a bit again. "Alright, I think I'll take you up on this."

"What say you, Private," Luna said to Armor. "Can you handle a more rural scenery?"

"Naturally," Armor said, his voice faltering only slightly.

-

"How many similarities," Celestia observed in a fascinated voice, lifting her teacup in her magic and taking a sip.

"You mean hereditary privileges?" I asked while glancing up at her, trying to do the same but leaning my neck forward so that the cup wasn't so far up that it'd shatter if I lost my grip, so to speak.

"And the difficulty of letting go of that notion," she continued and I raised an eyebrow at her as I sipped my tea. "Ah, please do not assume too many poor things about my little ponies, Gabrielle. This is simply very noticeable to me. I may be the pony who witnesses this behavior most of all."

I looked around at the ancient, monied, lavish castle with three seemingly incarnations of wisdom and benevolence around me. "I can imagine. Anyway, how did we even get in on this?"

"Yes, let's go back to those computers," Twilight said. "I wanted to get a better look at them in the other human world, but I really didn't have the time. How do they actually work?"

Seeing Twilight's adorably eager look, I couldn't help but droop my ears at my answer. still getting used to that. "I can't really tell you," I said. "You can, uh, instruct a computer to do lots of different things without really knowing how they work, which is actually sort of their point to begin with. You use them to help you with things that you otherwise need education or training for."

This only made Twilight look even more eager. Celestia and Luna looked fascinated as well, and even Armor had dropped his stoic facade in front of the princesses and was looking more than a little curious, too.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, you mentioned that everyone at school in the other world got to see videos of you getting used to being a human, which sounds very much like the Internet. Now, the Internet, or at least one of its purposes, is a pretty good example of what a computer is for. Everyone with a computer can hook up to the power grid and get an internet connection, and let's leave out the business side of that for now, and share, well, pretty much everything a computer can do with each other."

"And what exactly does that mean?" Luna asked.

"Well, uh," I started. "I need a moment to think up how to phrase this. This is one of those things that we're so used to it that we don't really have a good way to explain it ready." I paused, took another sip of my tea and scratched the back of my head while thinking. "Alright, in a computer, you can keep tools which we call programs to help you with various tasks, and databases with information. These tools range from everything to, uh, writing programs instead of using pen and paper, to virtual movie screens."

"Oh yeah!" Twilight exclaimed jovially before suddenly realizing something and looking embarrassed. "That's uh, how everypony at the school saw me messing up."

"You won't see me laughing at you," I said and sent signals to from my brain to instruct my arm to lift up and do the wave with my fingers, with the only result being that my hoof gave a small twitch. "Anyway, we use these programs to help us do things, and learn things. Pretty much our entire collective knowledge is easily available with computers and we perform advanced calculations and automated tasks with them, like, uh, one can use them to communicate with others, or navigate ships, or handle economies."

"These thinking engines, they seem to fill some sort of servile role," Luna observed.

"I guess you could say that," I said. "They're very good at menial and repetitive tasks."

"Do they not object?"

"Oh, I see what you're getting at," I said. "I guess it's not very obvious unless you've seen them yourself, but they're not actually intelligent. No sentience or sapience. I can't remember who said this but there's a quote I like that goes 'If the brain was so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't'. Well, if you study enough, you can understand everything about a computer, so you'll know that they don't have the capacity to be intelligent. There's actually some pretty good stories about that changing, when computers start thinking for themselves, often rebelling against humans," I said, with a thoughtful look on my face.

Luna looked pleased at this while Twilight looked concentrated as a quill in her magic grip was scribbling furiously on a parchment. "This is absolutely amazing," she said. "It sounds nothing like the notes that Starswirl left about your world."

"And how old are those notes?" I asked.

"About a thousand years," Twilight said without looking up from her scribbling.

"Ah, well, it was before the industrial revolution, then," I said. As if that would explain everything, oblivious to the fact that it did not.

"Would that be one of those stories?" Luna asked. "About machines rebelling against humans?"

"Uh, no." Wow, teaching someone about an alien culture is trickier than I thought. Marlon Brando made it seem so easy in Superman. "It was when the steam engine was invented... I'm probably gonna need another minute to think up how to describe this, too," I said, as I leaned back into my chair and brought the teacup up to my muzzle and took a sip, looking down in surprise when I realized I'd barely noticed using my magic this readily and brought my hoof up to catch it in case I lost my concentration. Twilight was still scribbling, Luna looked lost in thought, Celestia smiled encouragingly and Armor had raised his hoof and looked poised to catch the cup himself before relaxing as I set it back on the table.

"Alright, I think about three hundred years ago, the steam engine was invented and all kinds of production increased very fast, this meant surplus wares and food that led to greater populations, which led to greater production and more invention, which led to more food and wares and invention and of course a greater population which in turn... well, you get the idea," I said and waved my hoof for emphasis. "Anyway, this has been a work in progress ever since and with few signs of slowing down anytime soon."

Twilight had now stopped writing and was looking at me with raised eyebrows. "Steam engines?" she said in disbelief.

Not being sure what warranted this reaction, I simply said, "Yeah?" carefully before realizing something. "I'm having vague memories of being told I was being moved here, to Canterlot I mean, by train. I assume you know about steam engines." I looked down on one of the wheels of my chair and pressed my hoof against it. ‘Rubber. Well, they seem advanced enough to have a petrol industry.’

"Strange to think that steam engines could have led to that," Twilight said and shook her head slowly. "We've had steam technology for centuries."

"Ah, but perhaps we should not assume too much by our standards, Twilight," Celestia said and turned to me. "Did you say that this increase in food production led to a greater population?"

"Well yeah, of course," I said.

"Hmm," Celestia said and looked to me with a strange amount of sympathy. "That implies that human population was limited by food."

"I thought that would be obvious," I said with a small shrug. "... Isn't it?" I continued, unsure.

"No," Celestia said softly before turning back to Twilight. "There's a lesson here, I think. About how limitations and conditions can provoke other solutions and improvements."

Twilight Oh-ed in understanding. I myself wanted some conformation, but Luna spoke first. "And do you know how life was for humans before this?" she asked.

I shrugged and gave a succinct answer. "Hard, short, and preferably boring, according to what I've learned."

"Mmm," Celestia said while resting her chin on her hoof. "As strange as it is, I feel a certain joy as I learn this. Your people have advanced themselves rapidly out of necessity. My own little ponies might seem stagnant by comparison, but that indicates something joyous, in a way."

"I guess that's true," I said, half to myself. "If you have magic to help you and everyone lives happy and healthy lives for centuries, what's the hurry to improve?"

"And so I assume you must be schooled in a new lore," Luna said. "Advanced healing."

"You could say that. Medical care has come a long way. I wouldn't have survived this if it hadn't," I said and poked my right shoulder. "In fact, I've read that if one injured their eye like me a few hundred years ago, chances are they were living on borrowed time since it was almost impossible to keep the wounds clean," I continued before looking up at the assembled ponies and regretting that last part. They didn't seem to enjoy hearing about that detail.

"You seem to have done a study on the subject," Luna said. "Despite your youth, you keep striking me as a scholar."

"Well," I said bashfully. "I don't know about that. It's just layman's knowledge, really."

"Perhaps. But you've found the time to learn in addition to training for a dedicated profession," Luna insisted.

"Computers make it easy to learn for those who want to," I said. I guess I might've spent more time than your average person studying various topics. But what else would I do on my free time? TV these days is all about adding the illusion of drama where there clearly is none to be had. Yes! All those chefs really want to win those cooking competitions, I get it! Virtual academies are, frankly, more entertaining than that.

"Further fueling your technological advancement, I take it?" Celestia said. "Knowledge easily gained is as much a blessing as a hard lesson learned."

"That sounds right," I said with a shrug.

Twilight looked like she was ready to explode and just stopped herself from shouting something and instead said in an indoor voice. "I had planned to ask you... or, well, you see, I've been looking through my notes on Starswirl's orb, and I think that I might be able to teleport something from your world, if we're careful and I get some help," she said and started fidgeting with her hooves, which looked so adorable, I swear it actually made the air smell sweet. "I was going to ask you if there was anything you'd like me to retrieve from your home. Things that can't be replaced, perhaps. But, well, you said you have a computer and I thought that, maybe, I can take a look at it?"

"Sure," I said with a shrug. "That doesn't mean that you're able to send me back, right?"

"I'm afraid not," Celestia said. "Myself and Luna have looked through the results as well. We suspect that trying would be very risky, and in all likelihood, you'd remain a unicorn if we succeeded."

"Alright, in that case, I'm fine with staying here, thank you." I suspect that if a friendly alien really was found on Earth, it wouldn't really be autopsied by shady government agents, but I still don't want to deal with whatever would happen.

-

My suite was luxurious, I would never deny that, but it paled in comparison to Princess Celestia's personal abodes. In fact, while many royal castles back home are not entirely owned by the royal families, when I asked about it, Princess Celestia said that Canterlot Castle was entirely owned by her, and her alone. So from one point of view, my "personal" suite was part of Celestia's private chambers. It seemed like a good way to skip red tape, when an ambassador arrives, her majesty can just say "she can have one of my rooms". No need for a committee or a board to approve financing anything and things like that. I guess that means that Luna, along with the royal guards and a large number of personnel and aristocrats were lodgers. But I digress...

We were situated in a large chamber. As always, soft red carpets adorned the floor and a multitude of portraits hung on the wall. This was part of Celestia's "apartment" which apparently housed Twilight's old study, and this room, which seemed like Celestia's lounge, or at least one of them. Really, it was pretty much a whole wing of the castle.

"Alright, I don't think it should matter, but just in case. Could you stand outside, Private Armor?" Twilight said. "We want as few disturbances as possible."

"Yes, your highness," Armor said, and I heard the door close behind him.

"We are ready, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said.

"Alright, good... Uh, were you speaking for yourself or for both of you?" Twilight asked Luna.

Luna looked awkward and her sister let out a small giggle. "I am ready as well," Celestia said.

"Okay, just a minute," I said. "I'm not used to writing with quills."

Celestia had the idea to leave a note at my apartment where I could tell anyone who searches my home, most likely the police and/or my landlord, that I was alive and well. "Alright, done," I said.

Luna took the parchment I had written in her magic and scanned through it. Unsurprisingly, she looked very confused near the end. "What does this mean?" she asked and pointed near the bottom of the message. "'It does not need to rub the lotion on its skin', with a smiling circle next to it?"

"It's from a kidnapping story," I said. "I disappeared without a trace, and the authorities might suspect the worst. That's there because I don't think anyone can make that reference under duress."

"Sounds ominous," she said. You have no idea. "Even so, very clever." I hope so. It could have the opposite effect.

"Alright, We'll start some ways away from where you work, Gabrielle, so that we won't have a repeat incident," Twilight said. "Then you'll help guide me to your home while Celestia and Luna suppresses any unwanted magical effects."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. "I'm ready."

I looked into the orb as Twilight's horn lit up and suddenly felt like the images in the orb took up all my visual capacity. It was a bit like using magic to perceive the world, in that sight was overridden with another sense, a bit away from where you're used to sight being situated.

"Alright," I heard Twilight say. "Where do we go?"

"Uh, whoo," I started, a bit disoriented. "Let me just get used to this."

"We should be looking down on the city where you worked."

"Okay," I said a bit hesitantly. "I think I got it. You'll want to go, I guess it's north by northeast."

"Okay, uh, which way is that?"

"You see the ugly, plain, grey building? Keep an... eye, out for a crossroad with metal poles with lamps with different colors, and follow that road."

"I see it," Twilight said. "Just try and relax, Gabrielle. Let me handle the moving part and you'll just tell me where we should go."

"This is quite the city," Luna said. "What was that big, grey building? It looked like an enormous storage."

"Ah... of sorts," I said. "Those vehicles I was talking about? People can keep them there when they're not in use. Alright, take a right down this crossroad." At first, this was very disorienting, and it still was, if a bit less so. It was a bit like looking at someone else using a map on the internet. Some directions later and we found ourselves, for lack of a better term, outside my former home.

"This is where I lived," I said. Twilight eased us into my apartment. It looked almost like how I left it. Someone had apparently been rifling through my drawers and my wardrobe, but it didn't seem like anything had been taken.

"Okay, Gabrielle, tell me what you want me to get for you," Twilight said.

"There's a big book on a shelf in the big room to the left, and some cylinders in the bottom drawer of the desk."

"Alright, here we go," Twilight said. I heard a sound like muted chimes which turned out to be Twilight preparing powerful magic and then what I'll describe as a magical-sounding pop. "It seems to have worked," Twilight said.

I pulled away from the orb and felt a bit groggy as the real world came back to me. I looked at the big table beside us and true enough, there they were. My things.

I smiled and looked back at the orb and let it take over my senses again. "Thanks. Now, there's a guitar case leaning against the wall behind that screen. That, and everything that's in it, please."

"You play the guitar?" Twilight asked.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Not really."

"Oh, sorry. I'll just..." Twilight said before trailing off and repeating the teleport-procedure.

"Thanks," I said. "Now, what you're after is mainly a black, metallic box on the desk. But you'll also want the thing that looks like a thick, framed, black painting that's facing the one sitting at the desk, as well as the speakers, the small... I don't really know how to describe its appearance, two boards with lots of buttons on them and all the wires connected to all the things."

"Uh. I think I might need some help with this," Twilight said, uncertain.

"Don't worry, Twilight," Celestia said. "I'll help."

"You'll wanna be careful with them," I said. "They're pretty delicate. And don't forget the small box on top of the big box," I added.

A few seconds later, my personal computer and every related object was resting, intact, on the table. A pretty stout, stationary rig, laptops just not being the same when you only have half a lap.

"Alright," Twilight said. "Now let's see if can leave the message somewhere it might be found."

"Just put it anywhere. Parchments are pretty eye-catching over there," I said.

"Okay," Twilight said and once again I heard her magic firing up. "It's... not... working," she said in a strained voice.

"Never fear, Twilight Sparkle, I shall assist you," Luna said.

A few seconds later, the parchment flew across the room, the room we were in, with such speed that it left a small dent on the thick oak doors on the far side and caught on fire, with the guards opening the door in alarm and noticing the gently burning paper on the floor and a unicorn among them wordlessly carrying it out and closing the door behind them.

"I've decided that I'm fine with staying here," I slowly said after a pause, not sure if I should look horrified or laugh.

Twilight let out a disappointed sigh. "I guess it's not a big surprise. The orb is one-way, after all."

I jumped a little as Celestia put her hoof on my shoulder. "Gabrielle, could you please look me in the eyes and tell me whether you're really fine with staying in Equestria," she said.

It was one of those strange situations where positive thoughts have to be pushed aside for other positive thoughts. In this case, the humor of what I just saw made way for Celestia's care and sympathy.

I looked her in the eyes, windows to an ancient, powerful and benevolent soul, and thought hard before I answered. About Redheart, about Twilight, about Twilight's friends, about Celestia and Luna, about Zecora. Not even a week here and I've made more friends and seen more amazing things than the entire last decade back home. Earth can be a wonderful place, but compared to my short time in Equestria, maybe it wasn't the place for me anymore.

"Yes."

Celestia smiled at me. "Then let me, again, welcome you to Equestria, my little pony," she said and I realized that I was still wrapping my head around the whole idea about living here, in the magical world of Equestria.

I couldn't help but give a small smile at her words. "Thank you," I said quietly.

"Now then, shall we make sure that your belongings arrived here intact?" She asked and pointed to the table with her wing.

I moved over to the table and looked at the various things. "It all looks fine," I said and pulled the memories closer.

"You only wanted one book?" Twilight asked.

"It's not a book," I answered without looking up, having a small smile as I opened up the photo album.

I didn't see my parents smiling back at me, since none of the pictures on the first page had them looking at the camera. But smile they did. Especially one vacation photo where mom was giggling desperately from being tickled by a dozen small clawed feet belonging to colorful parrots, who were very interested in the cup of nectar that dad held up next to her face.

I had seen these pictures countless times. I knew the bittersweet joy of watching memories frozen in time, the melancholy of reaching the end and realizing that there would never be any more of them, and the comfort of knowing that even so, the ones I had would not go anywhere.

The princesses had gathered around me and was looking at the pictures in silence. I looked at Twilight and saw an expression that I could not interpret, and felt Celestia put a wing around me.

"They will always be with you," she said.

"... I know," I said and closed the album, not being able to shake the feeling that she wasn't just talking to me.

Luna lifted one of the other objects into the air. "Ah," she said. "A technology I recognize. These would be photo negatives, would they not?"

"Yep. And that smaller box on top of my computer serves a similar purpose, so I'd like to keep that one for myself, please," I said and pointed to the external hard drive.

After Luna gently carried it down to the table, I pulled the guitar case towards me, which gave me a sense of how small I was now. I had to use my hoof as it was too heavy to use my magic on. I unlatched the lid and opened it up. Resting inside was one of the most beautiful things the worlds had ever seen, softly mirroring the light with its deep cherry-red gleam. I had never gotten very good at playing it before the accident, but both my parents had. "You have guitars here, too, right?" I asked.

"We do indeed," Celestia said.

I decided then, that I'm gonna learn again, probably by using magic. As even if I had both my... forelegs, it would be many years before I was big enough to reach properly around it. Still, I gently caressed the strings with my hoof. Still perfectly in tune. I'm probably gonna practice on a less precious one, though. I dug around in the soft interior and pulled out what I was looking for, a harmonica and a kerchief.

I took the harmonica in my hoof and brought it to my muzzle, and since magical ponies around here didn't have those rubbery horse lips, I could play it just as well as I could as a human, which was not very well but at least I had the capacity to improve.

Lastly was the kerchief. An instrument this fine needs care, and this was used extensively to keep the guitar polished and its strings dry. I brought it up to my nose and gently breathed in, being well aware that scent was strongly connected to memories.

"Thank you," I said. "This is all I wanted."

The princesses had been very quiet throughout the whole thing, and I realized that this must have seemed like a powerful moment for me. Which, in fairness, it was. "Alright, the rest is yours," I said and gestured towards the computer, with paraphernalia. "Just remember, electrical current which alternate directions sixty times per second."

This finally seemed to shake Twilight out of her stupor. "You'll help us get this running, right?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Just, don't pick apart the components. You need, like, probably three scientific fields or more before learning computer science and they're gonna be hard to recreate. If you're not having any luck, maybe we can see about getting some books on the subject."

Twilight walked up to me and hugged me so eagerly that she lifted me out of my chair. "Oh, thank you!" she said.

"Don't get too excited, your highness," I said as she put me down. "I'm not really sure how to get those books without access to the internet. And tell me if you want me to show you the games I have on it."

"Games?" Luna said in a surprised voice. "Perhaps we should move these to a place suitable for study."

"You're right!" Twilight said excitedly and grabbed the whole collection in her magic and started skipping excitedly towards the door. "We'll be right back! And don't worry, I have some pretty good spells for repairing things!" she called as she and Luna exited the room.

I saw my main source of entertainment being taken away by an eager unicorn and was strangely unaffected. I was a more avid gamer than one might think, considering my limited ability to interact with the input devices, but between the mementos from my parents being back in my possession, and the feeling of anticipation at starting a new life here, I didn't really care much.

Celestia looked at my guitar and asked "May I?"

I nodded and she gently took it out with her magic and started familiarizing herself with the tuning. Hm. I didn't figure her majesty for a musician. I guess I thought she'd have chamber musicians for that. I wonder what type of music they have here. I thought, before realizing something and started digging around in a side pack of the case. Breathing out a happy sigh as I found the thick collection of tablature.

As Celestia was gently plinking away at the guitar, I looked around the room. In the corner was a potted plant, but that wasn't what caught my attention, it was the broken piece of mirrored glass and the piece of paper in a ribbon hanging from a twig that caught my attention.

I slowly wheeled over to the plant and watched. For some reason, I found this little arrangement fascinating. I reached out my hoof to the piece of paper and looked at it. On it, a single word was written in a beautifully flowing penmanship.

"Your majesty? If you don't mind me asking, what is this?" I asked as I let go of the piece of paper and instead turned my attention to the mirror shard.

"Just Celestia is fine. At least in situations like this one. And it is a small part of a wishing garden. Like this-" she said as I looked back at her and saw her gently put my guitar back in its case "- it is a reminder. Of another time and another place."

I slowly reached out with my hoof towards the shard and inspected it. As I turned it around to see my face in it, the reflection suddenly went dark and all I could see in it were a pair of malicious-looking, emerald-green eyes in a purple mist looking at me. The whole thing lasted a fraction of a second and came so suddenly that I couldn't even let out a proper gasp.

"Gabrielle? Are you okay?" Celestia asked behind me.

I took a moment to ensure that I was as she walked up to me. "I... yes," I said. "But I think I saw something."

Celestia put a wing around me and gently led me away from the small tree. "Yes, I know. It is not an entirely happy memory," she said in a heavy voice.

As I was being wheeled away from the small tree, I craned my neck and looked back at the mirror shard, and as strange and possibly cliched as it sounds, I felt it looking back at me.

Author's Notes:

Two months and not even five digits of words? Sorry about that. Maybe summer'll help with my writing pace. I could've added more stuff, but it all felt like it could be in a later chapter and let me end this one on a more fitting conclusion-point.

Anyway: Big hoof-pounds to Topaz Moon and Eckaji for all their help with this chapter.

The brain-quote is from Lyall Watson and yes, I got it from Civ5.

Sharing and Caring (With Some Idiocy And Indolence On The Side)

Author's Notes:

- Putting this AN at the top because I wanna clarify a few things: First of all, this is the chapter where this story starts borrowing heavily from the comic. Secondly, it spoils one of the comic's largest and most epic story-arcs. And thirdly I wanna point out that you don't have to actually read the comic in order to understand this story.

- I didn't have any plans to give Shining Armor any Sue-traits when I started writing, but that conversation just kept evolving in such a humorous way I decided to just run with it.

- Bringing up the World Wars is a staple in HiE-stories, why should this be any different?

- The scene with the train-conductor was utterly unnecessary, but I myself recently had a similar run-in with what could be the world's most insufferable train-conductor, who also ended up looking like an ass by the way. Write what you know.

- As always, thanks, salutes, and other shows of respect and gratitude to Topaz Moon and Eckaji for their help and feedback.

I looked up from my reading to the royal ponies comparing notes to each other. "Maybe we should've brought my TV, as well? We could have used that as a control device," I said.

"Does it operate using the same amount of electricity?" Twilight asked.

"Yes and no. Like I said earlier, when you plug this into a standard electrical socket, the thing in the back takes as much as it needs from the power grid and distributes the required amount to the different components. Pretty much every device has electrical adapters like that, most devices wouldn't be able to handle the full amount from an electrical socket, they'd fry out or catch fire all the time," I said before thoughtfully putting my hoof to my chin, appreciating that Equestria was really into hardcovers that you didn't need to constantly hold open. "In fact, I wonder if you can be charged with arson if you distribute devices that fry themselves."

Twilight was again taking notes from what I said with breathtaking speed, making me appreciate just how adepts she was at magic. Luna, on the other hoof (I was getting into the swing of things with pony expressions) looked thoughtful. "Yes," she said. "That might've been a good idea. Should we accidentally destroy this device, I do not relish the thought of taking another one without permission. And I must confess that I am looking forward to taking part in the fine arts from another world."

I smiled to myself. ‘Video games, you mean? Luna's a gamer, I can tell.’ I looked over to Armor to see him standing dutifully in the background. At first I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he was just standing there all the time when he could be doing something a lot more pleasant, but the fact that he was A: military, and B: equine, meant that he was probably a lot more comfortable with standing around than I was on principle.

"Same here!" Twilight said excitedly. "I've been to other worlds before, but there was always so much to do, I never had the time to study the cultures very closely. This is gonna be so exciting! What do people from other worlds make stories about?"

I didn't manage to hold back an amused snort. "Often other worlds, ironically enough."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Is that a particularly respected genre?"

"Well, no," I said. "But it's still ironic, and I have some movies about just that."

"I suppose it is," Twilight said. "But I'm looking forward to analyzing human stories in depth. Especially to see if humans' eagerness to create technology also applies to art and expanding their culture... ah sorry, your culture."

I gave some thought, too. "Well, making entertainment easily available seems to be a winning strategy when it comes to commerce, at least," I said. "Equestria's been really nice, so far, but I think I'm gonna miss the internet. At least some of the time."

"There was entertainment available there as well?" Luna asked.

"Of course," I said.

"What kind of entertainment?"

"All kinds, actually. Most commercial things either are or are becoming available through the internet. And lot's of people are making their stuff available for free, instantly available to almost everyone. That's a thing to keep in mind, actually," I said. "If you do make contact with Earth, or Terra, doing so publicly will mean the majority of all the people on the planet will know about it within a day, perhaps even just a few hours."

"Hmm," Luna hmm'ed with a thoughtful look on her face. "What would this mean, to humans? We would not relish the thought of our subject suddenly all being aware of visitors from another world. Rumors and falsehoods would no doubt run amok."

"Yeah, it means everyone can potentially gossip with everyone at the same time. I recommend that you prepare a powerful statement with your arrival. Keep in mind that you would also be able to address the entire world by the same means."

"We are not entirely pleased with the idea of more mere machines surpassing our Royal Canterlot Voice as a means of mass communication," Luna said and rested her chin on her forelegs with a somewhat somber expression.

"Alright, I think this might work," Twilight said.

I switched to “horn mode” and inspected the crystal she had been preparing. Compared to the simple swirling in the topaz I had seen the day before yesterday, this looked very complicated. The sapphire on the table did not only have more swirling colors, they were in more complicated patterns, shifting speed in strange intervals, and giving off a soft light which pulsated at irregular beats.

I shook my head lightly as I switched back. "Looks complicated," I said.

"Keep studying and you'll be able to do this yourself," Twilight said jovially. "Okay, so this thick wire here... the current goes into here, and here?" she asked and held the socket part of the cable up to my face, a bit over-eagerly, and pointed at the metal pins.

"That's right," I said and recoiled slightly. "But I think we should try it on the display first."

"Why?"

"Because less data would be lost if this disagrees too much with the enchantment."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense," Twilight said and instead retrieved the end of the display's cable.

She simply placed the metal pins towards the sapphire and waited.

"Is it working?" Luna asked. "What is it supposed to be doing?"

I had noticed that the small lamp next to the power switch had lit up and wheeled over to them and stretched out my hoof. I couldn't quite reach it, me being so small these days, but Luna lifted me closer with her magic when she saw what I was trying to do. I wasn't in a state to take in many sensations the last time I was held by magic, but this felt kinda nice, like a full-body hug. "Thanks," I said as I pressed the button. "That's it, you can put me down now," I continued, feeling a bit silly that I didn't think to do this simple task with magic.

As she did, I gave the display a few more seconds, and true enough, after a while it lit up in white and declared in glaring colors that no signal was found. "That's what it's supposed to be doing."

"So it's working?" Twilight asked and I nodded my head. "What does it mean?"

"It means that it doesn't have a job to do. It's basically saying that it's not, uh, receiving instructions from any device."

"So what do we do?" Twilight asked.

"We've already plugged it into the computer, but that's not switched on. It also needs electrical power. But it seems like your enchantment is working. So if you do that again... twice, actually, if you want any sound, everything should work."

"Do all these devices need electricity?" Luna asked.

"Yes, but we only need enchantments for sound, display and the actual computer. The rest of these smaller devices only need a small amount from the main device."

Twilight let out a small sigh. "Alright, I'll get to it. This isn't really my specialty, though."

Luna turned to me as Twilight went to work. "Gabrielle, We would, or uh, I would like to speak to you about something."

"Okay, sure?" I said, a bit uncertain.

"We informed you-" she started before shaking her head slightly "I informed you that I was to look after you in the realm of dreams, as I would all my little ponies," she said as she slowly led me away from Twilight's muttered recital of her work.

"Ah, yeah, you did."

After hesitating a bit, Luna continued. "I am somewhat ashamed to admit it, but... it would seem that I might not be very successful."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In the days after your arrival in Equestria, I noticed your dreams in the astral plane. They were chaotic and troubled, feverish even, but reason for their state was an outside force, a mostly physical malady. I simply calmed them and moved on."

I wasn't sure where this was leading. "Sounds fine, so far," I commented with a small shrug.

She slowly shook her head. "But yesterday, I decided to visit you in your dream, and I could not. At least not properly."

I just tilted my head in confusion and waited for her to continue, Twilight all the while being completely absorbed in her work.

"It was an unclear and confusing place," she said. "Strange landscapes obscured by a thick fog. I searched for some time and I could not find you."

"And that's not how it's supposed to be?" I asked and Luna shook her head. "Is it because I'm not really, or uh, I've only recently become a pony?"

"It might," Luna said. "But we can enter the dreams of beings besides ponies. I feel that it's impossible to say for certain. But rest assured that I will not give up, Gabrielle. As a pony in Equestria, you are under the protection of myself and my sister, whether in the physical world, or otherwise."

She said those words with such conviction that I felt a little humbled, and felt some sympathy at her supposed failure. "Don't worry, your majesty. I've handled bad dreams for years by myself," I said and gave a comforting smile.

It didn't really have the intended effect. "And so you would be high on our list of priorities," she said forcefully and immediately looked a bit rueful as she realized that she was getting upset over me. "I apologize. But I would want you to inform me of any distressing things you notice in your dreams."

"Like nightmares?" I asked.

"Of course," Luna said.

‘Luna's supposed to be a protector of dreams. Does that mean...'

"Are nightmares dangerous here in Equestria?"

"They can be," she said, a bit ominous.

"Alright, sure" I said. "This is making me worried, though. This is a... bit of a strange concept for me."

"And I shall get to the bottom of this mystery, trust me," Luna said.

"Whew! I think it's finished," Twilight said.

"Well done, Twilight," said Celestia, who had recently joined us. "Now, Gabrielle, I think we're all curious to see what this device can do. Would you please demonstrate?"

"Alright, uh. Don't connect anything to the crystal yet, I'm gonna make sure all the parts are plugged in. Could you lift me up on the table?"

After Celestia's horn lit up I was lifted up beside my old computer and got to work. ‘With the princesses and Armor, I guess everyone in this room has been lugging me around at some point, now,’ I thought as I scooted to the back of the devices and started fiddling with the cables.

"I could never remember which one this goes into," I muttered to myself when I plugged in the speakers. "Alright, connect the crystal to the cables now."

"Okay," Twilight said and levitated all the parts to each other.

I scooted back to the edge of the table and was about to drop down on my chair when Luna instead placed me in it magically. I said a brief thanks and reached out and pressed all the relevant switches.

The royal ponies were absolutely captivated by what was happening on the screen.

"Well, it looks like everything's working," I said.

"What is it doing?" Twilight asked.

"I think it's loading the operating system, which is some form of control program, into the, uh, primary memory, from the... secondary memory, so that it's, sort of, keeping that in its mind, with the help of... the central processing unit... you know what? That's pretty much how far my knowledge of computers go," I said and gave up. "The processor calculates, secondary memory is the long-term memory and the primary memory is the... is how much the computer can concentrate on, I guess. Sorry, but that's all I know."

I looked over at Twilight and again I saw her scribbling away with lightning speed on a parchment. "That's okay," she said, a bit distracted. "This is already fascinating!"

"So what happens now?" Celestia asked as she looked at the screen.

"What you're seeing now is the operating system. With this, we can use the interface devices and access and change the content on the computer. Lemme show you."

I launched the music player and picked a song. Nothing played, though.

I double-checked that the speakers were on and fiddled with the volume knob a bit. "Hey, I might need to adjust some things. Can you lift me up to the back again?"

Luna was the one to do so. As her night-themed magical aura faded, I tried using my own magic to pull out the cord from the back. Precision work wasn't really my strong suit, however, and after a few moments I gave up and used my hoof instead and went through all the compatible holes. Why there were so many of them, I don't know.

When I plugged the cord into the last available hole the speaker came alive with one of those loud thumps and the music started spilling out into the room. All the ponies, except me, of course, jumped in surprise. Even Armor, I noticed.

"It's singing!" Luna said excitedly as I scooted back towards the edge of the table.

"Yup. Or, well, it's playing a recording of a song," I said.

"The singer, why is he singing about doing that? What's being sticky have to do with love?" Twilight asked.

"It's euphemistic," I said simply.

"About what?" she said and listened on for a few moments. "Oh!" she suddenly said and blushed through her fur.

‘That looked interesting. I'm gonna have to do that again sometime.’

"We are not sure we understand, either," Luna said while looking thoughtfully at the speaker the song was coming from.

I looked at Celestia, who just looked at the ceiling with an innocent little smile on her face. "I'd like to see Cadence listen to this," I heard her say to seemingly no one in particular.

"Well, now you've seen one thing that a computer can do," I said. "Let's move on."

I don't know how many hours we spent on this. All the ponies being very content with letting me use the computer, while still being eager to see what it had to offer.

"So this is human entertainment?" Luna asked.

"One type, yes," I said.

"Is this like a play? That you can participate in yourself?" Armor, who had given in and joined us after I asked if he wasn't bored just standing there for the third time, asked. "There doesn't seem to be much consequence to being hit with a sword. Or are humans that resilient? I would think more effective weapons would be used in that case."

"No I guess you can say it's like a play. It's like stylized violence."

"We would assume fulfilling a fantasy like this, one would take on the role as a peacekeeper of sorts, but with the jolly theme, I can see the appeal," Luna observed, utterly captivated.

"So yeah," I said and paused the game. "This is what a personal computer can do. I can't really show you how computers can help when it comes to science or medicine or commerce. But maybe you get the idea."

"Yes, this is absolutely fascinating," Twilight said, yet again scribbling away on more parchment.

"Anyway, maybe we should continue this another time?" I asked.

"Yes, let's," Luna said with a yawn.

"Oh, okay. But I'd like you to tell me about the internet, sometime," Twilight said.

"Sure," I said. "Maybe I can show it to you someday. Careful, though: anonymity makes many people very strange."

"This is true," Celestia said quietly to herself as we made our way out of the chambers. I was starting to suspect that my hearing might be a bit sharper than other Equestrian ponies', being used to much smaller ears.

I looked at Armor with a skeptical expression. "Are you sure that's fine?" I asked as the two of us made our way through the halls of Canterlot Castle.

"Ngo fprofhlem," he said, though there was a small pause before he managed the m-part.

"It's just that, as a human, I'd be very worried about my teeth if I was carrying around a hardcase in my mouth. I know you're magical and all that, but Redheart didn't have any problem speaking with things in her mouth."

"Fhe'fh fprofhlafly hafh a lofh mo' pfactifhe," (She's probably had a lot more practice).

"Why's that?" I asked after deciphering what he said.

"G'wehll, pegahfi a' ofhten fhwee to ufhe au ffhont hoofhes a logth mo' shingsh we'fhe go' aou wingsh," (Well, pegasi are often free to use our front hooves a lot more since we've got our wings).

"Alright, sure. Just don't hurt yourself."

"Gongth wo'y," (Don't worry) he said before his eyes went wide and he gently but swiftly set the hard-case down on the floor and saluted. "Sir!" he said smartly.

I had been focusing on Armor this whole time and hadn't noticed that another guard, an earth pony, had been walking up to us. I'm gonna blame not hearing him on the carpet and the conversation.

"Neglecting your duty in favor of parade-ground compliments, are we, private?" the stallion and apparent officer said in a calm but judging voice. He was clearly older than Armor, but not by much, it seemed.

"No sir!" Armor exclaimed before slightly shaking his head. "I mean, yes sir! Sorry, sir."

"It's not me you should apologize to, private," the officer continued.

"Of course, sir. My deepest apologies, miss," Armor said and turned to me.

I took a moment to gather my wits. ‘Now I see why he was so nervous about the stairs thing,’ I thought before turning my attention to the officer.

"Because my business might be delayed, you mean?" I asked.

The officer nodded.

"Well, zealous adherence to protocol doesn't really help that matter, does it?" I asked calmly, with just a hint of venom.

There was a shadow of a smile on the officers lips. "How true," he said before turning to Armor again. "In addition, private. The ceiling of the castle's eastern wings are only twenty-seven trots in height–" Armor suddenly lowered his foreleg from the salute in lightning speed, "–other than that you were fine," he said with a suddenly much softer voice before turning to me and clarifying. "One of the prerequisites for a salute is being in a location with the proper amount of vertical space. Nice save there by the way, madam. So how's the rookie been treating you? Not stumbling over himself in nervousness, I hope?" he suddenly said in a soft conversational tone, to which Armor just groaned.

Confused by this sudden shift in mood, I just gave him a questioning look.

"Captain Plate Armor," he said and extended his left hoof without hesitation. "Studded's grandfather."

‘Grandfather? I'm never gonna be able to tell ponies' age at this rate.

‘I take it back, now I see why he was so nervous.’

"Gabrielle Desrochers," I said and extended my own left hoof, which he bumped casually, but carefully measured force. "Did you say 'captain'?"

"That's right," he said jovially. "Stationed here in Canterlot for, oh, 'bout seventy years now. Strategically placed to keep an eye on as many of the little beasts as possible. Dress says 'Hi' by the way." That last part was obviously aimed at Armor. The younger one.

"Thanks," Armor said. "Tell her I say 'Hi' back. I might be in Ponyville for a while."

"Ah, I heard that. Check in on Scrap for me, will you? And tell him that if he keeps over-powering the equipment, I'll make him kick his own flank all the way here next holiday. Anyway, enough talk of family in front of the ambassador. How has Studded been treating you, madam?"

"Just fine," I said, now that family talk was apparently over. "But I want to go back to 'captain', Armor, or uh, Studded said he wasn't related to the captain."

"In those words? Very perceptive of you. I am a captain. His majesty, Prince Shining Armor, is the captain. I believe you've met his sister, Princess Twilight?"

"Uh, yeah, I have."

‘Man, I'm hanging out with all the big shots these days, it seems.’

"Been a bit boring around here without her," Plate said and picked up my hardcase in his mouth while Armor, or “Studded” as I might as well call him now, started wheeling me down the hall. Which was just as well, because I was a bit uncertain on how to handle the stairs if he was busy with my stuff. "But I shouldn't complain. It's not an easy thing to sneak extra training to relatives while following regulations, lemme tell you. One less source of excitement might not hurt."

‘Earth pony equals no problem talking with stuffed mouth,’ I observed. ‘Rule thirty-four probably means that someone finds this disappointing... rule thirty-four also probably means that someone's found a way around that.’

"Training was plenty tough as it was," Studded said.

"And I even made sure you went in well prepared," Plate said and managed to smile. "You liked sparring with Dress, don't deny it."

"I never have," Studded said. "I haven't seen her in a while. I'm starting to miss her."

"Most ponies who've met her do," Plate said before jabbing Studded lightly on his shoulder. "But now you're ahead of her, career-wise."

"Please," Studded groaned. "She could've been a captain by now as well if she wanted. Training would've been nothing for her."

"Ah, don't sell yourself short, Stud. You're a fine guard," Plate said.

"Thanks," Studded responded in a small voice.

"Sounds like quite the pony," I said. "That's a lot of talk about captains, though. Is that a significant rank? I'm under the impression that it's not always the same back home."

"Same here, but in many branches of the Equestrian military, captain is by tradition the highest rank possible in peacetime," Plate said.

"Really? why?" I asked.

"Old traditions. Leads to some confusion sometimes. Shining Armor is a good example, if the changeling invasion had lasted long enough for the paperwork to go through, his highness would've been general Shining Armor. And during King Sombra's return, his majesty would've been marshal Shining Armor. Quite impressive for a colt who's barely out of his eighties."

‘If you say so.’

"You don't sound envious, though," I said.

"Heh!" he said in response. "We've gone muzzle to muzzle on the training ground. Colt was so tough, I swear he's part dragon, and he's got the brains to back up his brawn."

"Are there any ponies who aren't impressive?" I asked.

"Oh sure," Plate said. "But they're not as fun to talk about. At least for an old soldier like me. Wait until I get to talking 'bout his wife!"

"Who's his wife?" I asked as we ascended a flight of stairs.

"Princess Cadenza, the alicorn of Love with a capital L," he said.

‘I wonder if that includes love with an umlaut? "The princess of löööve"!’

"Wow," I said. "Sounds like a lucky guy."

"So I've heard before. But remember what I said about him on the training ground? I don't think he's the only lucky one in that relation," Plate said with a mischievous smile.

"Celestia, Gramps!" Studded said and I looked around.

‘What? Where? Oh right, yeah, people around here just say that.’

"Can you have a bigger colt crush? What does grandma say?"

"Pretty much the same thing," Plate said with a chuckle. "She's sparred with him, too. Anyway, now you can tell me that I'm not acting properly around the young lady here."

"Actually, Gabrielle's a- or uh, forget it."

"Forget what?" I asked while Plate looked on in curiosity.

"It's not my place to say, miss," Studded said.

"Oh, is this about my age?"

"Well, yes."

"Alright, I guess it's not a secret," I said and turned to Plate. "Well, Captain. Up until recently I belonged to a species that reached adulthood at age eighteen. So if you're trying to fluster me or something, you're gonna have to do better than that."

"It's true," Studded said. "I heard some of their music."

Plate let out a laugh that I almost considered a guffaw. "I knew I sensed something about you, young lady. Not everypony's tough enough to come out of that with a disposition like yours."

"Come out of what?" I asked, realizing how stupid that must sound less than a second later.

"That of course," he said and gestured to my right shoulder. "Whatever caused that wasn't something just anypony can shrug off."

My face hardened for one small moment as I stopped the pang of annoyance from becoming anger. "I wouldn't say I just 'shrugged it off'," I said.

‘It was about as pleasant as you'd imagine,’ I almost said, but I didn't want to continue discussing this matter. Luckily, my chambers were in sight, and there waited a very pleasant bed where I could calm down.

As it turned out, I didn't have to worry. Plate looked at me for a moment before his face fell a bit. After a while, we reached the door and Plate set down the hardcase and said, "I'm sorry, madam, that was highly inappropriate of me."

I took a moment to let out a small sigh before answering. "It's okay. Thanks for your help," I said and gestured at my things.

"My pleasure, madam. With your leave," he said.

"Goodnight, Captain Armor," I said with a small nod.

Plate Armor gave us a small and not all that joyful smile, turned around and started marching down the hall. Studded opened the door and wheeled me in before retrieving my things from the corridor.

"Sorry 'bout him, Gabrielle. He's just... well, he's been a tough old stallion for a very long time now. He didn't mean anything by it."

"I understand," I said and let out a small sigh. "I've heard this before, actually."

"I hope you're not angry. He might be a bit callous but he actually meant it as a compliment," Armor said with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm not angry. Just a bit annoyed. And don't worry, I don't dislike your granddad for something like this. Princess Celestia actually did something similar when I met her. Unintentionally, of course."

"I'll tell him that, if you don't mind. Now, uh, do you need anything else, tonight?"

I looked around my room. ‘Reading material and lamp within easy reach, curtains drawn, stomach satisfied...’

"Could you put my things on the bed?" I asked.

"Of course."

After that short task, I simply said, "Thanks, that's it. Goodnight, Armor."

"Goodnight, miss Gabrielle," Armor said and walked out the door.

I wheeled into the bathroom and took care of all the preparations for going to bed for the night, feeling a bit satisfied at being able to both grab the tube of toothpaste, squeeze, and hit the brush with my magic.

As I lay in the bed a short time later, I opened up the hardcase and took out my guitar. Luckily, the bed was enormous and there was no risk of me or any of my things falling off during the night. I carefully placed a blanket so that no turning of little spasms would nick the finish and placed my guitar so that the neck rested on a pillow. Then I lied down beside it and carefully embraced it.

‘I guess that means that there are all kinds of ponies as well,’ I thought as I gently reached around and strummed the strings, thinking about my reaction with Plate Armor. ‘He made light of your- no he didn't... I know that, and there's no reason to get angry. Just a different kind of person with a different way of expressing himself.

‘But you're still upset.

‘... A bit,’ I thought and snuggled into the pillow.

‘It's been happening less and less, but there's still a ways to go.

‘That was a pretty good session with Redheart in the hospital, and it's not been long, but after today, it might be time for another one.

‘... Maybe.

‘It's okay. You know it is.

‘Sometimes.

‘Just get it over with already.’

I closed my eye and lay in the comforting darkness and relaxed in that specific way for a while.

After a little while, only slightly longer than usual, I leaned my head back and saw one, single, small stain on my pillow.

‘That was a good session with Redheart,’ I thought before remembering that I still had my eyepatch on. After removing it and placing it on the bedside table, I scooted back and placed my foreleg around my guitar, occasionally softly strumming the strings as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day was a calm day. Royal schedules kept the princesses busy and I had a bunch of reading material to keep myself occupied before a magic lesson later with Twilight, who had stopped by earlier and somewhat nervously made sure that I didn't feel neglected. The best way of handling a Twilight voicing baseless concerns, I had noticed, was a reassuring smile and a very casual sounding thanks. Exasperated tones were counterproductive and would not be tried again. If you want Twilight to calm down, try and channel Princess Celestia.

Have you ever tried lying on your belly while reading a book placed on your pillow? It's no use trying to keep that up as an adult. It works better as a child, when you can twist yourself into weird positions all day without feeling uncomfortable. It also feels pretty natural for a pony. So as a pony child it's no big deal to spend a few hours lying on your bed and reading a heavy book placed in front of you. Good thing too, because this was a big and heavy one that I wouldn't be able to hold up with magic and concentrate on the content at the same time.

Book reading by candle light is something I can recommend, by the way. It was very comforting to read the old-fashioned way, snuggled up in a comfortably decorated study with a book printed with a press and natural light. Though perhaps that's just me and my single eye, and I was increasingly grateful to Rarity about the eyepatch being a white textile version, as earlier this morning I realized that with my new hairdo, a classic black one would just have reminded me of Pete Burns circa 1986.

I had read through the basic theoretical parts twice now and was studying a practical section, even though I didn't have any material to work with, when I heard a knock at the door.

As an acclimatizing exercise, I took note of how I didn't have a thread on me before I confidently said, "Come in."

The door opened and Celestia walked in. "Hello, Gabrielle. How are your studies coming along?"

"Well," I said. "I haven't tried out any of the things in the book yet. But so far, it all kind of makes sense. How about you? How are things?"

She actually seemed a bit taken aback before her face mellowed into a smile. "Quite well, thank you for asking. Kibitz is quite the organizer, all important tasks were done ahead of schedule and except for one thing later I'm free for the rest of the day."

"Always a treat," I said and nodded in agreement. "And a rare one in hospitals, take it from me," I continued and Celestia smiled in amusement. "So, what can I do for you?"

"You make it sound like I'm here on official business," Celestia said with a slight smile.

"I know if I had some sudden free time, spending time with me wouldn't be the last thing I'd do, but it's not all that high up either."

"Gabrielle," Celestia said with a bit of disappointment in her voice and actually managed to make me feel a bit bad about saying that.

"Sorry," I said and struggled with how to proceed. "Anyway, what's up?" I asked after a pause, hoping that Celestia's earlier assurances that pedestrian ways of talking were fine was still standing.

"I spoke with Private Armor earlier. He told me, at my insistence, of when you encountered his grandfather yesterday." she said with a slightly resigned tone.

"Oh yeah. Not what I expected but he seemed alright."

"Do you mean that?" Celestia asked. "I was under the impression that you did not find it pleasant."

I bobbed my head with a skeptical thinking face for a second. "I guess," I said before giving up trying to deflect the probing of the godlike being in front of me. "Ah, look. He said something that kind of hurt, but it's not his fault. I don't even know what's gonna make me feel all emotional half the time. I can't expect anyone else to, either."

Celestia gently shook her head. "I'm not here because of what he said. I'm here because of what you heard."

I gave her a puzzled look and thought fruitlessly for a moment.

"That was vague, I admit," she said quickly before clarifying. "I mean that I am here to make sure that you are alright."

"Oh," I said. "I'm fine. Like I said, sometimes, things come up, and I get a little sad. It's not a big deal, I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can," Celestia said and walked closer to the bed. "You are very mature for your age. But having the ability to go through something like this alone does not mean that you should. Let those around you help you."

"I didn't have anyone left to help me," I blurted out before I could stop myself. I looked at Celestia's sad eyes before quickly looking away.

‘Subtlety, thy name is Gabrielle. Why don't you send a telegram asking for help while you're at it?’

Celestia sat down on the bed and put a wing over me and I tensed up. "You do now," she said.

I laid there for a few moments, unable to look her in the eyes.

"Are my concerns unwelcome?" She asked.

She was about to remove her wing when I convinced myself to relax. She kept her wing over me while I mulled over what to say.

"No," I finally said. "I'm just... I've..."

‘Yeah, yeah. You're opening up and making yourself vulnerable and all that jazz. But this is a goddess we're talking about, or something close to it. Gabrielle, you are rational, and you realize that Celestia is not a mean, manipulative bully, so suck it up and spit it out!,’ I thought before letting out a sigh and just putting it out there.

"I almost convince myself sometimes, that I like not having anyone's help. That it's better to handle things on your own because, and stop me if you've heard this story before, if you don't rely on anyone else, you can't be hurt from being left alone."

Celestia pulled me closer to her and softly nuzzled my neck. "I have heard this story before," she said softly.

"Well, I guess you would've," I said.

‘Seeing as you're thousands of years old. "So how did they end?"

"In all the ones I have witnessed, always, the pain eventually faded."

‘These ponies are really good at curing cynicism,’ I thought and smiled.

"The pain has faded, mostly."

"Yes, mostly. You cannot fool me if you cannot fool yourself, Gabrielle."

I pulled away a bit from her, she raised her head and I turned to look her in the eyes. "How about you?" I asked. "Are you ever in pain?"

"Oh yes," she answered earnestly. "I have lost ponies dear to me. And let me share something I've learned over the millennia: the pain does fade."

I had heard her using that tone very recently. "That mirror shard..."

"Reminds me of somepony I've lost, yes."

I couldn't think up anything to say to that, so we stayed like that for a while. ‘I wonder if this is appropriate behavior for a sovereign? Because this is a pretty close moment. Then again, it's probably fine. After all, she did say that she's had others dear to her... that she's... lost.’

My brows furrowed. "Princess Celestia?" I carefully said. When she gave a "hmm" in response I continued. "You're here because you are concerned about me. Why are you that concerned about me?"

"I am concerned for all my little ponies," Celestia said evenly but kindly.

‘Yeah, she might be a saint, but the best way to show that is not cuddling someone who can handle herself. How do I phrase this? Ah, she's not gonna be fooled by prose anyway, just say it.’

"Have you lost... anyone like me?"

"Have I lost-" Celestia started before stopping herself. After a pause she continued. "No, Gabrielle, I have never been a mother," she said and took another pause. "I am sorry for this," she said and relaxed her wing's hold over me. "You are indeed wise for your age. You are not my daughter and..."

I looked up in her eyes as she trailed of. She looked back before continuing. "I have had many good friends, and many good students. I took great joy in helping to form the lives of bright young ponies like Twilight. Had I not stopped myself, I would often had tried to be more than a teacher, and trust me when I say that most would have allowed it.

"But I have never seen a pony in a situation like yours before. I know that you are an adult human, but to me you feel like a lost foal who has had to... fend for herself, with nothing but her own determination. Broken and alone, when she needed her parents the most."

I was feeling pretty happy about those little crying sessions the last few days. I wouldn't be sure I could keep my composure otherwise. "I understand," I said with a sigh. " And it wasn't quite as bad as you make it sound, but I guess it's natural to be, uh, concerned about me."

‘I know I am sometimes. It faded over time, but there was a nagging feeling for years when my recovery was picking up and I was feeling happy again, that maybe it was because I had gone crazy.’

"And I'm sorry for..." Celestia said and trailed off again. "It would be most thoughtless of me to try and be your mother."

She seemed to be feeling disproportionately bad about this. I decided to smooth it over with a little Gabe-style smooth bluntness. "You'd have your work cut out for you. You look nothing like her," I said. Celestia's lips formed into a small smile. "But thank you. I like my independence, but I'm not holding it against people for caring."

She once again held me closer. "You're welcome."

I smiled at that. "And thank you for, all this, as well," I said and gestured to the room at large. "So yeah. I'm a little old to be adopted but-" I looked her in the eyes again, "-friends?"

She gave a larger and more genuine smile at that. "Friends."

‘Well, you've told her about yourself, think she might do the same?’

"Princess Celestia?" I asked after a while.

"Yes?"

"Who does that mirror shard remind you of?"

"... King Sombra," Celestia said after a while with a heavy voice, but with a faint smile on her lips.

I racked through my brain at this. "The same King Sombra that Twilight and her friends told me about?"

"They told you about the usurper of the Crystal Empire, yes?"

I nodded.

"Then no, not the same King Sombra," she said. "You remember how Twilight told you about how she was using an old artefact of Starswirl the Bearded when she brought you here?"

I nodded again.

"A long time ago, he and I traveled to many different worlds in search of knowledge, friends, and perhaps a little bit of adventure. We came across one particular world that was much like a mirror version of this one. King Sombra ruled that place with wisdom and kindness, and my own counterpart was a wicked tyrant."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes," she said. "It was a terrifying thing to see. I had given up going to great lengths to show my little ponies the extent of my patience and lenience, and seeing that world was a good reminder of why many find me intimidating."

At that moment I wondered if I should've felt sheepish about my own relatively casual behavior around her. I found her awe-inspiring, sure, but not intimidating. "... So you must've had some things in common. You and that other Sombra, I mean."

"Indeed. I visited him many times over the centuries. We were, ah... oh whatever, if you're an adult, I'll be blunt, we were in love."

"That wasn't blunt, that was very family friendly," I commented.

Celestia gave a small giggle at that. "And then," she continued, suddenly growing somber. "He was taken from me."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Princess," I said. "If you don't want to go on, I understand."

"No I... I thank you, Gabrielle," she said. "These events are not a secret, but still the only ones who know of them are the ponies who experienced them. Unless you'd like me to stop."

"No don't worry. I know how much this helps sometimes," I said as comfortingly as I could.

"Mmm," she said and gave me a grateful nod, then looked away again and continued. "After my counterpart attempted to execute a most vile scheme, Twilight and her friends tried to use the elements of harmony to subdue and imprison her. But at the time, what would happen to her would also happen to me. So in the end, the love of my life sacrificed himself and took all the evil of my sister's and mine counterpart into himself."

After some hesitation I put my hoof on her wither and tried patting her comfortingly. It didn't really work all that well with the difference in size, but I think she appreciated the gesture anyway.

"In the end, the mirror used to travel between the worlds was destroyed. The shard you saw is the only remaining piece," she said. "I am truly fortunate for having my sister, my student, and my friends," she continued and looked at me. "The pain was great, but in time, I recovered."

‘For centuries? Yeah, sounds like the love of one's life. If I was gonna be thousands of years old I'd like to have someone with me, too.’

"He didn't... die, did he?"

"No," she said. "But he is now a vile being, one that I cannot help."

‘Couldn't magic help? This was caused with magic to begin with, after all. Is this the kind of world where that could happen? I would think so considering the stories that Twilight and friends told me. But, the timescales are really long around here. As is befitting of a fantasy-like world I guess. The other Sombra, the one in this world, had been locked away for... I don't even know how long before he came back. Before Princess Luna was corrupted.

‘Maybe there's a happy ending to this story waiting sometime in the future? Do I say that? 'Princess Celestia, this sounds like a fairy tale that should have a happy ending, so I don't think you should be all that sad that you've lost the love of your life.' Yeah right. Try convincing her that you're an adult again after saying that. Get a grip, woman.’

"I'm sorry, Celestia," I said. "I don't know what to say."

Celestia nuzzled my neck again. "You said that sometimes it helps to talk about these things. Listening is enough."

Just like with humans, ponies' voices can hint of the expression they have, and I didn't feel quite as useless when I heard Celestia smiling towards the end there.

We stayed there for a moment. I didn't feel like it would be tasteful to break it up, and besides, I didn't have anywhere to be right then.

Celestia did, however, when she suddenly said, "Oh, curses. I have to prepare the arrival of someone," and rose up. "As always, you're welcome to join me at dinnertime, but just so you know, there will be more individuals present this time."

"Oh, uh, sure," I said as Celestia headed out of the room.

We made our way down the hall after some fairly rewarding magical practice. It was pretty fun, all in all. I couldn't yet turn my horn into a flashlight like Twilight could, but I had learned how to make several different kind of gems glow in several different colors. I had never been this talented at anything earlier, at first I had thought that my affinity for enchantments had stemmed from my proficiency at magnetic resonance, but now I was starting to think that it might've been the other way around.

"Are you alright, Gabrielle?" Twilight asked me as I wiggled a bit in my chair.

"Yeah, don't worry. Just a little restless. I kind of miss my... well it's a portable music player, but I'll manage without."

"Why do you miss that, specifically?" Twilight asked.

"Some people, when they're feeling the kinks in their legs, go out for a walk. I didn't really do that very often but, well, getting some exercise is important and it felt easier when I was alone with my music."

"How did you exercise?" asked Armor.

"Awkwardly, but it worked," I said. "And that's why I'm feeling restless. I don't know about ponies, but humans who sit still on their butts for too long runs a risk of suffering something very unpleasant," I said.

"Oh my!" Twilight said. "It sounds dangerous."

"Well it's not healthy, but people mostly find it really embarrassing," I said and looked for comprehension on their faces but there was none to be found. "It begins with an 'h'," I continued but still nothing dawned on them. "And ends with 'emorrhoids'."

I looked at Twilight who stared at me blankly. "Hemorrhoids," I clarified.

"Oh. What's that?" Twilight asked.

"You don't have that?" I asked.

"Never heard of it," she said.

"How long were you a human, by the way?"

"A few days."

"Hm, I guess it never came up then. It's not the most common of topics outside of very specific circles, I guess."

I wiggled my backside a bit. ‘Maybe shape and blood circulation in ponies is such a way as to prevent it, or maybe that it's so rare that they don't have a term for it. Or maybe it's just magic, because that particular malady is one of the least magical things I can think of. I wonder what else ponies might be immune to,’ I thought as my eye was drawn to my muzzle, so far away from the rest of my face.

"Does sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia sound familiar?"

Right before Armor said, "No?" Twilight happily said, "Yes, actually!" and looked at Armor. "It's brain freeze, private," she said helpfully.

"Oh."

"And why wouldn't it sound familiar?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I figure that with ponies having their, our mouths positioned away from the rest of our heads, there might be too much tissue to cool down with ice cream."

"Well, it's a thing here too," Twilight said.

The conversation died out with that as my attention was drawn to the two... figures not far ahead of us. A white-coated unicorn stallion of fairly large physical stature standing in front of an open entrance through which entered something I instantly recognized as a gryphon in a traveling cloak. The book I had been leafing through a few days ago had, despite its many pictures, not depicted any beings, it was mostly shots of landscapes and skylines.

I could still clearly remember a show at a park I had been to that showed birds of prey doing stunts as they were trained to manage themselves in the wild, and I had seen several up close, including the really big eagles. My brain couldn't help but add a few things together back then. You were not allowed to touch the big parrots and cockatoos flying around at the park as they were a bit unpredictable and might bite, but that looked outright pleasant compared to being bitten by an eagle. If one of those eagles snapped and attacked someone, those claws and beaks looked like they could be lethal. Here was a combination of a lion and an eagle that was several times my size and I realized several things, chief among them were: gryphons look more than a little awesome (especially with capes), and, unless I become a martial artist with this magic of mine, I shall be very careful around them.

As we made our way closer, the conversation between them became audible. "So, your highness," the gryphon said in a voice that seemed naturally raspy but steady. "May I ask if you're awaiting somepony in particular?"

"Why, I'm waiting to give you a proper welcome, good sir. And don't worry about the title, just 'Prince Blueblood' will do," the apparent prince said in what I can describe as a popinjay manner.

After a very short pause, the gryphon (‘Tercel? Rooster? Gander?... Cock?’) smiled in an uncanny way and I didn't know if it was because it was disingenuous or because gryphons' smiles didn't reach their eyes. "I see, how... gracious," he said as we made our way closer to the crossing of hallways they were standing in.

"Now, if you'd let me summon some servants to take your baggage to your quarters and show your entourage their rooms, I can guide you to the dining hall," Blueblood said.

"Ah, that won't be necessary, I traveled lightly... and alone," the gryphon said as we drew nearer.

The prince looked shocked. "Did you journey all this way by yourself?"

"I did indeed," the gryphon answered evenly before giving Blueblood a questioning look.

"Through dangerous lands? Surrounded by bandits and ruffians and commoners?" Blueblood continued.

"I took the train," the gryphon answered neutrally but with a slightly raised eyebrow, which looked kinda cool on a big bird of prey. "A train like any other."

"How absolutely dreadful!" Blueblood exclaimed and put a hoof to his chest. "Never fear, we shall treat a po- eh, gryphon of your stature with the respect he deserves. You shall bask in luxury your kind could not possibly imagine!" he continued, seemingly happily oblivious to the patronization and waved a foreleg around dramatically. "Now, please let me show you to the dining hall were you can meet Princess Celestia, she's my auntie, you know."

"Capital," the gryphon managed to say with a somewhat weary look on his face.

Blueblood turned around and was about to walk down the hallway to our side when he did a double take upon seeing us. His eyes widened and only managed to say "What is..." before tapering off.

The gryphon shot him a sideways glance before turning his attention to us. "Excuse me, madam," he said and walked up to Twilight. "But you must be Twilight Sparkle."

"I am indeed, sir," Twilight said with a smile and extended her hoof.

"I had heard that Equestria had a new Alicorn Princess. It's a pleasure to meet you," He said and gently shook her hoof, his practically chivalrous behavior putting me at ease. He didn't kiss her on the back of the hoof, however, but I would've liked to see how that would work with a beak. "Arnfried, at your service."

"Well then, Sir Arnfried. Allow me to introduce you to Gabrielle Desrochers and Private Armor," Twilight said with a smile and gestured towards us.

"A pleasure," Arnfried said with a smile as he shook the Armor's hoof, who only acknowledged him back with a stiff nod and a frozen expression like he'd tasted earwax, apparently having spent all his self-consciousness extending his foreleg.

I was next and after I realized that having your hoof shook by razor sharp talons large enough to envelop your entire limb didn't mean having it eviscerated as well (it wasn't even unpleasant), I gave a smile of my own. "Likewise."

Blueblood seemed to have recovered from whatever state he was in during this time and turned to Twilight. "Oh, good evening, miss Sparkle," he said.

"Good evening, Prince Blueblood," Twilight answered in a voice where only those that listened for it could hear the strain, which I did.

"Arnfried!" Celestia's voice happily rang out through the hall in perfectly measured volume before anyone could say anything else. "How wonderful to see you again."

"Celestia, your majesty," the gryphon said and managed to stage bow without looking ridiculous. Like the ponies, it was very easy to tell when gryphons were smiling judging by their voice. "Thank you for having me."

"And I see you've met our newest resident in the castle," she said as she came up to us and nodded towards me. "Arnfried, Blueblood, Gabrielle Desrocher here is the Diplomat of Terra."

"I have never heard of such a place," Blueblood stated loudly, and the confidence and slight affront of his exclamation would've made me think that there had been a mistake somewhere that could be traced back to me, if not for my very pleasant and friendly banter with the nation's absolute monarchs.

"A fascinating place, from what little I've seen of it," Celestia said. "And very good subject of conversation, but I'm afraid that this evening is reserved for talk about the gryphon realms."

"Not intruding on prior topics, I hope?" Arnfried asked.

"Not at all," Celestia said. "In fact, I'm sure that both Gabrielle and Twilight would be fascinated to hear about your home."

That was the truth. Arnfried looked almost as awesome as I looked adorable, and if it wasn't for my rapid progress in magic to compensate for my arm and leg, or just legs these days, I'd be disappointed in not becoming a gryphon instead (also my mane, I'd miss that too).

Celestia invitingly held out a wing in the direction of the dining hall and we filed forward. As we did I heard Blueblood whisper to Celestia. "Auntie, what in the name of the tribes happened to that filly?"

"It is not my place to say," Celestia answered calmly.

‘Talk behind my back, will you?’ I thought with a trace of glee.

I turned my head towards Blueblood and said, "Metal, glass and high speeds happened."

He paled a bit at that, making me think I might've gone overboard as this was just before dinner.

Dinner was fascinating, I never thought that listening to regents and dignitaries discuss political and economical issues would be interesting, but I'm in the magical land of Equestria, after all. Apparently the Gryphon realms were going through a rough spot, perhaps even the avian feline equivalent of a depression.

"But why would gryphons be against accepting help from our superior society?" Blueblood asked, tactful as ever.

"Because that would acknowledge our need for aid," Arnfried said, exasperation slowly corroding the proud monolith that was his patience. "Gryphons do not like the idea of relying on help from others, and that our own hard work has not been good enough."

"But the efforts of your people is clearly not enough to sustain them in the long term," Blueblood countered without a trace of conciliation. I was tempted to try and come with some mollifying suggestion or steer the conversation in another direction, but I had never seen anyone so eagerly dig themselves deeper with such reckless abandon. It was hypnotizing.

"Perhaps the Princess of Friendship could offer some suggestion?" Celestia said and gestured to Twilight who suddenly looked very nervous.

"Oh, uh," Twilight started and let out a nervous chuckle. "Are you sure we can't convince everygryphon to accept our offer? When my good friend Applejack was too stub- eh, proud to accept our help, she eventually almost hurt herself before realizing that she can't do everything herself."

"I'm very happy for her, your highness, but how long did it take for her to accept your help?" Arnfried said without a hint of condescension.

"Pretty long, I admit," Twilight said.

"I'm afraid that neither of us have time to try and convince every gryphon in Gryphonstone to accept charity from... superior ponies," Arnfried said and shot a meaningful glance at Blueblood, who seemed oblivious to the implications. "We are simply not open to the idea of being reliant on others."

A few warning signs popped up in my brain at that. "Uh, can I say something?" I blurted out.

The proud eagle-and-lion combination didn't seem phased from my blunt intrusion into the conversation. "Of course," he said. "And I doubt anypony else would object."

True enough, everyone, even Blueblood, seemed interested in what I had to say. "Well, uh," I said, suddenly a bit more self-aware.

‘Come on, prove to everyone that you're not the little girl you look like.’

"It's just that this reminds me a bit of some history from back home," I started and everyone looked at me expectantly. I mentally slapped myself out of my nervousness and pressed on. "Of course we'd be here all day if I tried to give the entire historical background to this particular situation, which I'm not sure I know anyway, but here it is:

"A long time ago, ages really, a revolution in a powerful nation led to a series of huge wars that swept across a continent where a whole pile of empires originated, and beyond. Afterwards, all the powers of that continent regularly came together to compromise every time war was near and after a long time of relative peace, many factors and a complicated net of alliances turned one small war into a huge war. The land empires of eastern Europe, that’s a continent, by the way, which had been slowly stagnating at that point, fought in what was the greatest armed conflict in history up until that point."

My audience only consisted of four pairs of eyes, but I was happy with that as that meant I could easily see that everyone was paying rapt attention, so I continued.

"After the dust cleared, the old land empires of the eastern part of the continent were pretty much unmade, and with it, a large chunk of the world order. Now, uh, Princesses Celestia and Twilight no doubt remembers what I said about the industrial revolution, and the industrial revolution relied on trade, goods, and resources from across the entire world. Okay, bear with me, because now I'm getting to the point of all this: the nations that used to be those land empires found themselves vulnerable, unstable, and millions of people were now poor and uncertain what type of nations their homes would turn into, in this confusion and desperation followed another war, both larger and longer than the last."

I made a pause here to let them ask questions they seemed very eager to ask.

Twilight asked the one I hoped to hear in the first go. "But how does that compare to the gryphons?"

"There are many factors when it comes to a war of this scale, of course, but one nation had put up a fierce fight for a long time before being defeated, and most people blamed them for the entire war. They turned their backs against a world that shunned them, and tried carving out their own world order. What I want to get at is that people tried to be self-sufficient in an age where everyone relied more and more on international trade, and so this could only happen by taking what they needed by force."

Arnfried leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression on his face, everyone did (except Blueblood who seemed a bit slow on the uptake), but Arnfried especially so.

"So my point is this; if your people are in, uh, dire straits, they might eventually become desperate enough to rally behind a leader that attempts to solve their problems with conflict, which would be a tragedy whether they'd succeed or not."

The ponies and the gryphon seemed to contemplate what I had said, and I was starting to wish that they looked at someone other than me while they did so.

Eventually, a smile formed on Arnfried's... beak. "I would very much like to visit your home someday, Gabrielle Desrochers, it must be a fascinating place to create fillies like you."

"Indeed," Celestia said. "A very interesting tale, if you'll excuse me for saying so about what sounds like a time of great tragedy."

"Well, it was before my time," I said. "I'm too young for that to have affected me personally. Which I'm very grateful for, because the two most destructive wars my home had ever seen, and the poverty, disease and famine that followed them is not something I'd wanna witness, even from a safe distance."

Arnfried once more had a look of contemplation on him before nodding. "You are right, young Gabrielle. Desperation can lead to poor decisions. Desperate gryphons' first target would be Equestria, and I am only a diplomat, serving my people regardless of their decisions. I would not be able to stop them."

"I am convinced," he continued and turned to Celestia. "My people will have to accept your aid. I am not sure what kind of madness might cause my people to attack the ponies of Equestria, our old friends, but I would do everything in my power to avoid it. We will just have to swallow our pride, for now."

"Perhaps you don't have to," Twilight said thoughtfully while looking at her food.

"I'm sorry?" Arnfried asked her.

Twilight looked up, almost startled that she said something. "Oh, well, you see, I was thinking about how Gabrielle said that everypony where she came from relied on each other and that becoming self-sufficient couldn't happen without war. So, if we solved it in a way that relies on both ponies and gryphons, nopony's, or nogryphon's pride would be hurt?"

"How would you suggest that happens?" Arnfried asked.

"Land leasing," I said, grateful that I had been paying attention to the discussion earlier about what the gryphons lacked and what the ponies could offer.

"Yes, exactly," Twilight said with a mix of happiness and nervousness. "You could share some of that fertile but unused territory that you mentioned with us for a limited time, then ponies can work the land while Equestria pays for the use of territory and share some of the yield."

"Making both money and food flow into the cities," Arnfried said with a thoughtful and pleased expression. He looked at Twilight again with a satisfied smile on his face. "You make a fine princess, Twilight Sparkle, and you make a fine diplomat, Gabrielle Desrochers" he said and then addressed the rest of the table, "I accept."

Celestia looked pleased and I detected just a hint of smugness in her expression. Some quick thinking made me realize that it was probably because she was proud of Twilight and not for something more sinister. "Excellent, I am glad we found common ground so readily."

"Yes, let none of Equestria's friends find themselves in need," Blueblood pompously declared, slightly raising my opinion of him despite his ridiculous mannerisms.

"With that taken care of, I propose that we discuss more pleasant topics," Celestia suggested.

"Yes," Arnfried said and looked at me. "When I visit Equestria, meat substitute is very rarely eaten by ponies, and when it is, it's often by ponies that force themselves as a show of acceptance. I have never seen a foal eat it with such gusto."

I looked down at the almost-beef. "Mm, I was confused at first, what gave it away was the perfect lack of tendons but the taste is excellent," I said.

Arnfried smiled with a slightly raised eyebrow at me. "You mean that you can compare this to actual meat?"

Twilight gave a nervous little laugh. "Ah, Sir Arnfried, so far we've mostly spoken of the gryphons' issues and not anything about Gabe or her home and uh," she trailed off before looking at me. "Gabrielle, I hope you don't mind of me telling Arnfried about you and your home."

I simply gave an inviting nod.

"Well, Gabrielle here is from another world called 'Terra', and until I accidentally brought her here, she was a member of another species, the humans. The humans are Terra's apex predators, their civilization stretches over the entire world and is very technologically advanced to compensate for the lack of magic in the world. They are in fact the only sapient beings on their entire planet."

Arnfried slowly turned away from Twilight to look at me. "I see," he slowly said. "I thought it strange that a society of ponies would have a history like the one you described, if you'll forgive me saying so."

I was about to answer when Blueblood spoke instead. "Ah, yes. That is true, sir Arnfried. Ponies have nobility which would never allow anything like that to happen."

‘And my respect for his highness drops again.’

"We've had nobility and ruling classes ever since the first humans decided to settle down and form civilizations over ten thousand years ago, your highness," I said, not caring enough for his opinion to bother injecting any venom in my voice. "What we haven't had however, are life spans of hundreds of years, magic, and ageless deities with millennia of wisdom and experience to turn to. We had to make due with mundane things, muscles, organization, and plain old thinking. Not even claws or wings."

This shut Blueblood up pretty good for a moment. It looked like he was about to stammer some response, but Arnfried stopped him with a laugh. "And you've conquered your entire world?" he said and gave another laugh. "That is a lesson that many gryphons, and no doubt ponies as well, have to learn the hard way. A sharp mind is a greater weapon than any talon, blade, or spell."

"Perhaps, though your talons still look very effective," I said with a small smile.

Arnfried let out another laugh, a chuckle this time. "And how long have you been a pony?"

"For," I started, and had to pause and think, "about five days."

"Then let me share this bit of information: Equestria is a peaceful land," he said and gestured with his glass to Celestia who nodded appreciatively at him. "And few ponies need to learn how to fight, but those that choose to anyway are not to be underestimated."

Blueblood looked pleased at that, but I didn't pay him any mind. Judging by what I had heard about Twilight and her friend's exploits, and also just using common sense, I figured that as a unicorn, magic spells would be my primary weapon if I found myself in trouble again. ‘Self-defense without punching and kicking and all that? Count me in.’ I laughed a bit internally. ‘Yeah, of the three base classes, I always pick the wizard.’

I was never helpless, or no actually, I take that back. After years of physical therapy, I was never helpless, but I often felt defenseless. I neither lived nor worked in a dangerous neighborhood and nothing alarming ever happened and probably never would, but not being able to run properly or defend yourself is not exactly doing wonders for one's general sense of security. I turned to Twilight. "Could I learn? To defend myself, I mean,"

Twilight cast a worried glance at Celestia, who chose to answer instead. "Few unicorns learn to use their magic for combat," she said, "and foals that do almost always do so in schools of martial arts to teach them proper conduct and responsibility;" she continued and I refrained from drooping my ears as I felt a "but" coming up, "however-"

‘Ah, close’

"-and this is something we should establish in detail soon, you were a grown adult in your home and I do not feel it is appropriate to constrict you because of your age. Should Twilight choose to do so, she can teach you quite a bit on how to defend yourself. She may not be a formally trained warrior, but she is still a powerful combatant."

Twilight looked down on her plate and blushed a bit before looking up at me. "Of course I can teach you what I know," she said.

I smiled in response. ‘This could be fun. Man, Equestria really is the place for me, isn't it?’

"If you'll forgive my curiosity, miss Gabrielle," Arnfried said.

"Uh, sure," I said.

"Did whatever cause you your injuries happen to you as a, 'human', was it?"

"Yes," I said. "A long time ago. At least by human standards," I said.

"Mm," Arnfried said. "Now, I hope you are not offended, but you are clearly still accustomed to eating meat, despite your setbacks."

It took a moment before I realized what that had to do with anything, then I let out a small laugh. "Because Twilight said that we're 'apex predators', right? I guess we are, but very few of us have had to hunt for food for a long time. We raise livestock, or stick to meatless diets if it suits us. Unintelligent livestock," I said pointedly.

"You're fishing for recipes, aren't you?" Celestia said to Arnfried with a small smile.

"Guilty," Arnfried admitted with a mock sheepish expression.

This last part made me pretty happy, as I found the laid-back mood was great for appetite.

"Oh, speaking of food with a fellow omnivore around herbivores, Arnfried."

"Yes?" he answered while holding back a chuckle. "Sorry, but I just noticed your teeth."

"Ah," I said and continued. "Well, I was thinking. Since plants are the staple food of herbivores, is drinking tea for them like drinking broth for us?"

Twilight and Arnfried looked confused, Blueblood did as well before looking mildly offended while Celestia just laughed.

"I feel like a third wheel," I said the next day as Twilight made a check-list of all the things we were bringing with us to Ponyville

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not gonna be able to carry anything," I said. "And someone already needs to push me around in this thing," I continued, referring to my wheelchair.

"Oh, don't worry. We're getting help to move this down to the station, and after that I can handle this myself," Twilight said and pointed to the handcart with the enormous wooden crate on it. When I had told Twilight that computer components were fragile and would be really difficult to replace, she had made sure that any minor accident wouldn't ruin anything, and in her enthusiasm had gone a bit overboard and made the packaging practically bombproof.

"Gabrielle, are you alright?" Armor, dressed as a civilian (as in not dressed at all), asked me, bringing the attention of all the ponies and gryphons who'd come to see us off, which was the princesses, Arnfried, and Captain Plate.

I looked at him confused. "Uh, of course."

"It's just that you've been obviously groping around your mouth with your tongue for almost half an hour now," he elaborated, then looked a bit abashed he realized that it was something I might not have wanted attention drawn to.

It wasn't anything embarrassing, though. "Ah, yeah. I was just feeling around and my teeth seem pristine," I said.

"Is, uh, that a surprise?" Armor asked.

"Actually, yeah," I said. "I'm not sure how dental care works around here, but back home, if we got cavities in our teeth, we, that is to say our dentists, grind away the decayed parts and replace it with plastic fillings."

"Does that not hurt?" Luna asked, looking a bit shocked.

"Oh, it'd be agonizing if we didn't have anesthetics," I said. "Anyway, I'd done that a few times and I didn't notice until now, but they seem to be gone."

By now, Twilight had turned away from the checklist. "Oh, does that mean that parts of your teeth are gone?" she asked, sounding a bit horrified.

I felt around in my mouth again to be sure. "No. Like I said, they seem pristine. But I'm just wondering, where did the fillings go?"

"Hmm," Celestia said and put her hoof to her chin. "You came here with all the microorganisms of a living being your size, but since those fillings are not alive, perhaps the magic that brought you here didn't consider them to be you and left them behind?"

‘That never came up in The Terminator. Then again, they probably didn't have time to fill in people's cavities in the future.’

"Ugh," I moaned after realization struck me. "So not only did my clothes and prostheses end up in a pile where I worked, now my dental fillings did as well. My disappearance is gonna be internationally famous at this rate."

The royal sisters held back amused snorts while Twilight looked sheepish, which was nice as I didn't want her to keep apologizing.

"Well, I think this will do it," Twilight said after she tested the last strap around the box. "We'll see you later, everypony."

I shook the hooves (and talons) of the collection of ponies (and gryphon). Celestia was last and pulled me into a light hug with her wings. I didn't return it but I gave her my most genuine smile.

"Your commander in chief told you to behave as a civilian, Private," I heard Plate remind his grandson teasingly.

Armor (the younger) tensed up for a moment before proceeding. "Uh, right. Ah, bye... everypony, see you later," he said and stretched out his hoof to Arnfried. "It was nice meeting you, sir."

"Likewise," Arnfried answered calmly and shook the offered hoof.

"Alright, shall we get going?" Twilight asked.

To this, Plate reared up and loudly clapped his hooves together. "That means you two!" he barked at two inconspicuous stallions standing in the doorway. "C'mon, hop to it!."

The two stallions were also guards undressed in plainclothes, and they scrambled at Plate's shouting and ran over to the large package, one of them wheeling the cart... I wasn't sure what the other was there for.

We started moving out of Canterlot castle and I was happy that we weren't standing on more ceremony since Equestria obviously wasn't a nation that handled itself.

We started moving through the castle ground, with paths that curled like viking symbols across the landscape, like the most tasteful and relaxing tourist-trap ever, except you didn't get trapped there since it was so open.

I turned to the two other guards, the one pushing the cart didn’t seem to be struggling very much. “So, I don’t know if we’re gonna see each other much, but I’d feel dismissive if I didn’t bother introducing myself to anyone who’s carrying my stuff,” I said.

They looked at each other and then to me with a mix of surprise and humour. “Hah! And we’ve been trained to be indistinguishable from the background for years, well, if it pleases you, madam,” the one not pushing the cart said.

Armor sidled up to him and whispered something, and the guardspony nodded slightly and quietly said, “Gotcha.”

“So yeah, miss, we’re just troopers, but If you’re actually curious, I’m Tree Fire and this here’s Sam.”

“Sam?” I asked.

“Yup,” Sam answered simply and gave me a nod.

‘Alright, sure,’ I thought and extended my hoof to offer a shake, feeling slightly dumb when I realized that he’s using all of them to walk around with...

‘What do you want him to do, dummy, lick it?’

... But he saved me from embarrassing myself and reminded me that a quick bump is also a greeting here.

"Pleasure to meet you both," I said.

Sam just nodded again. "And you," Tree fire answered then turned to Armor. "You're lucky, Codpiece. Somepony else might've ended up guarding Madam Floribunda's lunches with the committee of the week."

Armor groaned at the use of his nickname. "Any of you?"

"Almost. But the brass just decided on increasing the support personnel in the modernization project in the Empire. We're among them," Tree answered, sounding pleased.

"Is that a good post?" I asked.

Tree chuckled and said, "Well, let me put it like this. I didn't join up just to see the world, but that sounded like a nice bonus, and now it finally happens."

Twilight decided to join in here. "You realize that my brother still likes drilling, right?"

Tree and Sam suddenly looked at each other with worried faces. "Eh," Tree shrugged after a while. "Still beats guarding nobles' brunch meetings, your highness," he said and the conversation died off.

Canterlot Castle is huge, but it didn't feel like a very long time as we moved through the impossibly beautiful gardens and walkways. Time flies when you're having fun, and when you're fascinated by the scenery, so we pretty soon found ourselves walking through the streets of the actual city.

That wasn't as pleasant, and I have no way to put this succinctly without sounding a lot more sulky than I felt, but it was because it was full of ponies, ponies that looked at me. I still found it strange that in this magical land of unicorns and pegasi and, well, fantasy, I was such an interesting sight.

I wasn't completely unused to this, but I could never remember it being this bad. Some people see someone obviously handicapped and it's the most fascinating thing in the world. I mean they really stare. People often compare something fascinatingly awful to a car crash or a derailing train as in that you just can't look away. Seeing people react to me in the same way in my formative years was really unhelpful and I found myself missing my old therapy sessions.

"Gabrielle, are you alright?" Twilight asked me in a concerned voice.

"I'm-" I started before realizing that it was obvious that I wasn't. I didn't know Twilight very well yet, but it was obvious that waving away concerns isn't something she's comfortable with. "With clothes and cosmetic prostheses, I could walk down the street without people staring at me, but even without that, it was never like this."

Twilight looked practically devastated and put a wing around me. "I'm so sorry, Gabrielle, I should have known. We can turn back and get a pegasus chariot."

I made sure my voice was firm and asked, "How much farther is it to the station?"

"Not far," she said.

"Is Ponyville gonna be like this, too?"

Twilight didn't answer right away. "A little while, I think. But they'll get used to you soon."

I nodded and then steeled myself. "Then I'll be fine."

"Okay," Twilight answered a bit uncertain.

Twilight kept me covered with her wing and without speaking, Tree, Armor, and Sam moved to cover me as much as possible from the pedestrians around us.

I liked the view of Canterlot, and what little I saw of it when we made our way to the castle, but I was pretty eager to get away from crowds by the time we made it to the station.

The train was already waiting when we arrived and promptly moved to board it. The corpulent unicorn stallion in a conductor's outfit didn't look up at us when Armor hoofed him three tickets, he just took them and cast the most fleeting glance at the big package that Sam was pushing before looking down again. "Large luggage goes in the boxcars," he muttered uninterested.

Tree walked up to him and looked back at us and gave us a smirk. "And there's no way to change your mind?" he asked with a mix of accusation and condescension in his voice.

"None, sir," the conductor managed to drone in a smug voice, still without looking up.

"Even if it's really important," Tree asked, the intensity of his voice increasing slightly.

"No, sir."

"I don't think you realize how important it is to keep this package close to the owners," Tree said.

"I said that your luggage goes in the boxcars... sir," The conductor said and finally looked up at Tree with a mix of anger and smug superiority without giving the rest of us a glance.

Tree suddenly gave him a genuine-looking smile. "Can we please keep this luggage in the passenger cart?" he asked.

The obvious anger faded from the conductor face, leaving only the infuriating superiority. "No, and if you don't stop bothering me, I'll call the guard,"

Tree's smile was so enveloping that it looked like his eyes were jumping for cover behind his eyelids. His horn slowly lit up and with a shimmer around him and Sam, their royal guard armor suddenly became visible on them. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked sweetly.

The conductor's ears dropped and he looked at Tree with horror in his eyes for what felt like a full minute while we were just giving him wondering looks.

Finally, Sam cleared his throat. "Open... the door," he said overly clearly like he was talking to an imbecile.

That finally made him act and we immediately moved in and found a car with only two other passengers sleeping in the far end. The package stored safely beside us.

"Are you sure you didn't go a bit overboard, Corporal?" Twilight asked Tree.

Tree looked a bit sheepish at this. "Just trying to teach him to be friendlier, your highness. I think he needed some tough love," he said before turning to Armor. "Now, are you sure you're gonna be alright?"

Armor just gave him a look and nudged his head towards Twilight. "Oh, right," Tree said and punched himself lightly in the skull. "Duh."

"It was nice meeting you," I said to them and shook hoof with Sam who simply gave me a nod and a small smile.

"Yeah, take care of Codpiece for us," Tree said with a little smirk, to which Armor pouted a bit.

"Later, Stud," Sam said and gave Armor a single wave and left with his corporal.

They didn't leave the platform yet, though. They both paused to glare at the nervous-looking conductor before pointing at a pretty skinny stallion who was struggling with an overfull cart of luggage. As I turned away from the window, I heard Tree Fire shout "You work in the service industry! Am I gonna have to come down here and remind you of that every time a train comes in!?" Then the voluminous shape of the conductor wobbled past the window as fast as it allowed. Twilight looked torn between worried and amused at the whole thing.

The only thing that happened before the train left the station was that a mare entered the car by herself. Her eyes went wide when she saw Twilight who had her back to her. Then she saw me, her expression becoming slightly horrified, then awkwardly stood there, making very animated sways with her head between Twilight and a booth behind her. After a while, she sat down in the booth, looking embarrassed. ‘Hmm, at least Twilight didn't see that, or I would have started feeling sorry for the mare,’ I thought as Armor and I shared a look at the behavior

I fished out the book on enchanting I had tucked in beside me, but I didn't start reading it right away. As the train started moving, I asked, "I forgot to ask, how long away is Ponyville by train?"

"Just a few hours," Twilight said. "But you can squeeze in a nap if you want."

"Hmm, perhaps," I said. "What's Ponyville like? I didn't catch much of it the last time I was there."

"No, you were out cold the entire time I saw you there," Twilight agreed. "By the way, Armor, perhaps you should have a less obviously vigilant bearing."

Armor quickly dropped his countenance and looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry," he said.

"It's okay. Perhaps you could try and join in on our conversations?" Twilight said.

"I'll try my utmost, your highness," Armor said.

I gave a small laugh at this. "More casual, please," I said and turned to Twilight. "Anyway, back to Ponyville."

"Well," Twilight said and her smile dropped a notch. "The ponies of Ponyville are very accepting, but I hope you can stand some more stares until they familiar with you."

I kept a sigh back. "Sure," I said.

"And there you can socialize with colts and fillies your age," Twilight continued.

‘After the accident, I didn't get to meeting people my own age until I was seventeen, and by then most people have developed enough to have sympathy for the disabled. Children, on the other hand...'

"Do you know any?" I asked.

"Of course," Twilight said happily. "You saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders, right? They're always up to something... interesting."

I thought about that for a while and didn't realize that I had my thinking face on, which is a very distinctively light scowl. ‘Well, Armor said he entertained the thought of redoing childhood with what he knows as an adult. It's an interesting idea, even though I'm not getting to do exactly that and I don't actually have more life experience, quantity-wise at least, than other foals here in Equestria.

‘Well, let's consider my situation more thoroughly: My old home is not home anymore, in more ways than one considering how little was there for me to say goodbye to. I am gonna live in Equestria, and while sitting around in the castle and studying enchantment has been nice enough, what would be the point in doing nothing but that? Face it, girl, it's time to say goodbye to the social near-vacuum you lived in. Buckle up and make the best of this situation, make friends and stuff. You know you ~wanna~.’

Twilight and Armor were looking at me with slightly worried looks and I realized that my face had combined my scowl and a smile into a smirk. I turned my face into a less creepy smile and said, "Alright, let's meet new people."

"I'm happy you think so," Twilight said with a smile, "because Pinkie throws surprise parties for every new pony that comes to Ponyville."

"Ah," I said and let out a nervous laugh. "Let's not go overboard here."

"Sorry Gabrielle. I might've been able to stop her if it was just you, but now Armor is moving to Ponyville as well."

Armor looked up in surprise at this. "But," he started before sputtering a bit. "Your highness, I'm not supposed to draw attention to myself."

"Can't be helped, Armor," Twilight said with a smile. "Skipping out on a Pinkie party is too peculiar."

Armor looked dismayed as I looked out at the passing landscape for a while before turning to my book. ‘Ah, whatever. You're planning on making friends anyway.’

"Speaking of meeting new people, how does my legal status work?" I asked Twilight.

Twilight scratched the back of her head a bit awkwardly. "Ah, well, you see. You're not actually an adult here, but your position as a royal guest and dignitary sort of overrules just about everything that you need to be an adult to partake in."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"Uh, that you're an adult but that I could uh... restrain you if need be on a case by case basis. You could for example buy property if you want, but Celestia and Luna sort of hopes that you won't try and do anything crazy like trying to qualify as a foster parent or something like that."

The absurdity of that turned my laugh into an amused snort. "Yeah, don't worry about that," I said.

‘Alright, as interesting as it would look, I just hope I won't get a bunch of kids after me begging me to buy booze and cigarettes for them...

‘Alright, party coming up, with lots of people. Let's try jumping in the deep end.’