“So, this is where playing all those cute games with the cartoon characters got you.” The world seemed to get a little darker around Alex as that voice registered in his ears, a voice that he’d recognise anywhere despite not hearing it in years. “Trapped in a world surrounded by creatures too girly for Toys R Us to sell.”

“Better than where it got you!” Alex shot back, though his new voice did little to express the venom he spoke with. “A failed liver and a rap sheet a mile long! Go back to your shitty dive bar and leave me alone!”

He found himself back in the living room of his childhood home, complete in its mid-aughts splendor. One of the Kingdom Hearts games rambled away in front of him. Looking down, he found a PS2 controller in his hands.

“Look at yourself. That game’s gone and literally ripped your dick off. You should have played the games I bought for you, you ungrateful little shit.” There was a crack-popping sound followed by gulping as his father’s broad frame filled the doorway of his bedroom with a can of beer in one hand. “No overprotective mother here to save you now either.”

Alex stood up, still in the form of Xion, only even younger. He clearly looked the part of his father's insults, his eight year old frame clad in a sundress. “Y-you can't scare me! All you do is get drunk, all bark!”

“I gave you that black eye the last time you backtalked. Couldn’t even take a punch without crying like a little faggot.” The large man practically growled as he took a step into the room and held up a game case that was literally dripping with blood. “You’re gonna play this now, and you’re gonna like it, or I’m gonna bruise something other than your girly little face this time.”

Glancing at the case, Alex took a step back. With a tug, he yanked the controller out of the console and chucked it at his father. Turning on his heels, he made a beeline for the stairs; intent on getting to his room.

The dull clunk of plastic hitting metal and flesh was heard, followed by a roar of pain that couldn’t possibly come from a human throat. “You get back here you little fruit, or I’m going to make you regret being born!”

“Like I'd take your advice!” Alex took the stairs as fast as his short legs could carry him. Rounding the corner at the top he spotted his destination right down the hall. “I didn't ask to look like this!”

Heavy footsteps sounded quickly from behind him, closing the distance rapidly before a series of heavy impacts and another grunt of pain indicated a stumble either on the stairs or right at the bottom. “Oh but you did. Bought the thing that did this to you all because a pretty girl implied she’d show you some leg, like a little toy of hers. I raised you better than that, that you’re supposed to take charge if you want to get that tail you’re chasing.”

“Nicole's a friend, nimrod! You'd know if you had some!” Crossing the threshold into his room, he slammed the door. Taking a moment to lock it, Alex let out a shuddering breath. “Drunk asshole.” Looking in his mirror, he felt a mix of elation and horror. “It's not my fault!”

The footsteps in the hall outside his room seemed to grow even heavier as they drew closer, and were accompanied by sickening sounds that were both mechanical and wet at the same time somehow. “She wanted you, you little dumbass, and you were blind to the fact that she wanted to ride your dick and was finding a way to show herself off to you. How many times did she ask you how she looked in a bikini?”

Alex covered his ears, feeling hot tears streak down his face. “Just shut up! Hate you! The day they tell me you've finally drunken yourself to death will be the best day of my life! Just fuck off and leave me alone!”

The door to his bedroom jolted, and the very house seemed to shake around him as it cracked in the middle with a heavy crunch. “You’re going to play this game for men and like it, or you’re going to learn what it’ll feel like when you grow up and want to take it instead of giving it!” His father’s voice was still familiar, but had an odd edge to it as if coming from a speaker or megaphone instead of a mouth.

Huddling in the middle of his room, Alex squeezed his eyes shut. “Just leave me alone,” he quietly pleaded, choking back a sob. He squeaked, feeling a cold, vice like grip surround his throat. “Leave me alone...”

A large metal hand covered in blood broke through the door on the next punch, sending splinters flying across the room as it stretched out towards Alex. It was large enough for the thumb and first finger alone to wrap around his throat in a warm, wet grip while the other fingers painfully closed over his shoulder and pinned his left bicep to his side. “Alex...you’ve made your father very angry indeed.”

Alex whimpered weakly, desperately trying to pry the fingers off his windpipe. A deep, indescribable terror coursed through his veins, mind racing for a solution to its imminent demise.

“Begone shade!” A thunderous voice cracked, followed by a loud sizzling sound as a brilliant blueish-white emanated from the doorframe and around the arm that looked more like metal than flesh. A roar of rage was cut off quickly as the arm, and presumably the body behind it, began to dissolve from contact with the light.

Within seconds the door shattered as well, collapsing into a similar dust and exposing the rest of the arm and the clasping hand to the brilliant light. The pressure around his throat vanished, dropping Alex to the ground. He glimpsed for a moment a midnight blue alicorn before becoming aware of his surroundings. Fluttershy's guest room surrounded him, as did sweat soaked bed sheets.

Alex took a few deep, steadying breaths before a weight on his lap registered, as did the sound of sniffling and hushed sobs. Fluttershy was laying on top of him, and obviously either scared or worried if she’d come in in the middle of the night.

“Hey, I'm okay,” he assured, keeping his voice to a low whisper. “It was just a bad dream. That's all.” It hurt to see someone this worried on his behalf. Too much baggage for the sight to be even slightly welcome.

Fluttershy sniffled again as she raised her head slowly. “It must have been horrible. You screamed a few times, and I heard sobbing so I tried to wake you up...but you didn’t. I couldn’t wake you up and your bed’s soaked. I thought…”

Alex wrapped his arms around her, looking into her eyes. “My dreams suck and sometimes they can be pretty bad. I promise though, I'm fine.”

“A-alright then. Do you think you’ll be able to get back to sleep after we change out your sheets, or did you want to lay on the sofa instead?”

Debating a question, he bit his lip. Finally speaking, he asked “Can I use you for a teddy bear?” It made him feel silly, childish. But her presence was nothing but soothing and she seemed willing to offer comfort when he needed it.

“Oh, um, I don’t see why not, but that doesn’t answer the question I asked. I don’t want you having any health problems before we get you examined, and sleeping in a bed with sheets this wet isn’t something you should do as far as I know. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about…”

Alex raised his eyebrow. “That’s sweet, Fluttershy. I got turned back into a teenager, not a toddler.” Releasing his hold on her, he slipped out of he bed. “Humans sweat a lot when stressed. Especially nightmares.”

“Oh, this is all sweat?” She hopped down from the bed and quickly slipped the sheets off anyways with a quick bite and a few tugs that demonstrated just how much practice she’d gotten with doing things like this. “It’s not uncommon for young girls to have some problems with control, Alex. I know I did, and your body’s newer to you than a toddler’s is.”

“It’s called Night Sweating, Fluttershy.” Alex stretched out, suppressing a yawn. “Happens when you get overly stressed, which in my case should be obvious. Nightmare didn’t help. You have a better nose than I do, it should be obvious what it is.” He looked away, muttering. “If it was that kind of thing, I’d need a shower and new underwear.”

“A better nose doesn’t mean much when I’m not used to the scents you put out yet. Cats, dogs, ponies, cows, all animals have different scents, and some are far more subtle than others.” She sighs and looks up with a smile. “I’m sorry if I insulted you by accident, though. The comment about girls, and I know you consider yourself a boy.” She picked the bundle of sheets up and hurried out of the room briefly before returning with a set of fresh sheets in under a minute.

“You didn’t insult me, I’m just wired. Nightmares do that.” Snapping his fingers, he pointed at her. “Dream horse. I saw a dream horse in the dream, uh, blue with wavy hair.”

Fluttershy paused for a second before she returned to putting the new sheets back on the bed with a combination of mouth and wing movements. “That would be Princess Luna. She probably had trouble intervening considering how long it took for you to wake up and calm down after your first scream. She’s a nice pony, and I’m sure you’ll like her if you meet before Nightmare Night.”

“What’s that, something like Pony Halloween?” Yawning again, Alex let himself flop onto the bed as soon as she finished putting on the new sheets. “Sounds like a fun time. Do anything good for it?”

“Oh, I don’t normally go out for it. I don’t deal well with frightening situations” She quickly hopped up on the bed herself and laid down next to Alex while putting her head down on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind if you went out though, as long as somepony else was willing to watch over you.”

“You’re starting to sound like my mom.” Alex pulled the covers over them, and wrapped his arm around her. “Always worrying about every little thing. It’ll be fine. This is fine. I’m fine...” he trailed off, not really believing his own words.

“Well, sometimes it’s a good thing to worry a little bit, and I’ll take being compared to your mother as a compliment.” Fluttershy responded quietly, even for her. “We both need to get some rest though. Tomorrow’s the big appointment with the doctor and the scanning specialist so they can get a good picture of what’s inside your body and how different it is from ponies, then there’s your first test with Twilight.”

Alex yawned, letting his head sink into the pillow. “Yeah, yeah. Places to meet, people to see. The usual. G’night.” Thankfully, either to Fluttershy’s presence or Luna’s intervention, Alex was blessed with peaceful sleep; full of mundane dreams too banal to remember.

Morning was a head scratching paradox of peaceful and hectic, with Fluttershy delegating some of her animal feeding duties to Alex. The moment that stood out the most was when Fluttershy’s bunny, Angel, punted a half-eaten carrot at the mare’s head. Alex grabbed at the little hellion, and picked him up by the back of his neck. “No! That’s not ok-”

He didn’t manage to get one more syllable out before Angel began to struggle, then outright scream in sudden distress. The other animals cringed or scattered and hid in various places at the noise, and Fluttershy raced over immediately. “Alex, no. Put him back down please.” Her ears were laying flat towards the back of her head, practically hiding in her mane. “He’s been getting better with his temper tantrums lately, really.”

Alex put the rabbit down, rubbing at his ears. “I just saw him punt a carrot at you. The animals here are freaking weird.” Looking down he, glared at Angel. “Stupid nightmare inducing rodent.”

“It was just a carrot. Just last month it was an entire salad bowl because I couldn’t get a cherry. Progress is progress.” Fluttershy made a few odd sounds, and this was followed by most of the animals that had scattered at Angel’s screams coming back out of hiding.

“Yeah and it shouldn’t be happening at all,” Alex insisted, crossing his arms.

“I know, but Angel’s had problems for as long as I’ve known him. I have no idea what happened that made him act like he does, but he is getting better.”

Alex snerked, grinning to himself. “Maybe he’s traumatized from when some Englishman tried to blow him up with the holy hand grenade of Antioch?”

“I’m guessing that’s something from your home world, right? I don’t think it was anything like that, but he simply won’t talk about what his previous owner did to him. It’s the one subject that makes him more timid than me.” She sighed and leaned down to nuzzle Angel between his ears. “Anyways, what did you want for breakfast? We have fresh eggs, some cheese-”

“I could go for an omelette,” Alex said,taking a seat on the couch. It didn’t take long for the animals to adjust themselves to his presence. “So, you take care of all of these guys? I hope you get paid for all of this work.”

“Oh, well, yes. Some of them are wild animals that just feel at ease around me, but others are problematic rescues that get sent to me when abusive owners are found out. Poor Harry has so many back problems from being kept in a cage that was too small for years.”

“Who’s Harry?” Alex questioned, putting his feet up on the table. “And why does he have a human name?”

“Oh, he’s probably still asleep outside. He’s a bear that was one of many animals rescued from a griffon circus, but I couldn’t take all of them in myself so the easier cases got sent to other ponies. I’m always happy when one of my rescues becomes somepony’s pet, but not all of them are able to leave.” After making sure that all of the smaller animals either had eaten or were eating, Fluttershy went back into the kitchen to make something for herself and Alex’s omelette.

“You keep a bear? How has it not eaten you yet?” The more time he spent in this world, the more in continued to baffle him. “You use weird magic on them or something?”

“Harry prefers salmon, walnuts, and wildberries, and he knows I’m the only pony who can really understand him when he’s having an episode with his back, so nopony else would know where
it hurts.”

“Right, forgot you were a Disney princess.” Alex went still, letting a few animals latch onto him. “Friendly bunch, aren’t they?” Raising his hand, he gently pat an ocelot’s head. “Always wanted an ocelot.”

A series of rapid knocks sounded from the front door, a crazy staccato that ended with five oddly-spaced beats that sounded like the classic ‘shave and a haircut.’ “Oh dear, could you get the door, Alex, before she does something weird?”

“Ah, Pink Aisle. Right.” Reluctantly pulling away from the adorable ocelot, Alex rose to his feet. “I can do that.” Putting a little hurry into his walk, he made it to the door. Opening it up, he pointed at the pony on the other side. “Business hours aren’t until after breakfast.”

Pinkie just smiled up at Alex and giggled. “Hi Alex. I’m just here to invite you and Fluttershy to the special Castlewarming Pancake Breakfast that I’m planning for Twilight in a few days. I know you said you didn’t want a big welcome party yourself, but I’d feel really bad if I didn’t ask you to come too.” Even this early in the morning she was offensively perky and energetic.

“Hey, Shy! Pink one is inviting us to a pancake thing for Purple Smart!” Alex called back into the cottage. “Should I tell her yes?!”

“Oh, yes please! Pinkie’s pancakes are delicious. When is it?” Fluttershy called back, her voice barely carrying to the door, but still audible.

“Let her know it’s after washing day. She’ll know what I mean. I’m off to invite Applejack now, bye!” And with that Pinkie bounced away, hopping like Pepe Le Pew on crack.

Alex watched the sight for a moment before closing the door. “She said after washing day,” he informed, resuming his place on the couch. “That a holiday or something like that?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that. Twice a month I give all of my animals a good bathing unless they don’t want it. Once a month at a minimum so I can clean their fur and check their claws and such. Some of them still try to hide injuries or signs that they might be coming down with something even though they know I’ll help them.”

“Ah.” Alex nodded, finding himself playing pillow to a possum. “I can help with that. Hands are probably better for that kind of thing than hooves are.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful if you aren’t still busy with tests that Twilight wants you to take...oh, and She’ll be here that day too. She said she wanted to use it as an opportunity to...how did she put it again? Assess work volume for compensation adjustment, I think…” A series of gentle clattering sounds came from the kitchen as things were moved around, followed by hoofsteps approaching.

“See, that sounds important but I doubt it actually is.” Adjusting himself to avoid disturbing his guest, Alex sat up as Fluttershy placed his plate in front of him. “Damn girl, that smells good~”

“Oh, I’m glad it smells good to you. I wasn’t sure what you liked so I cut a little bit off every block I have and mixed them together, except for the ones that get bitter when they’re warm. I also gave you a cranberry muffin, but if you can’t eat that we’ll have to talk to Pinkie about finding a batter recipe for you that uses different ingredients.” She backed away for a second, then walked back into the kitchen to get her own breakfast brought out, which turned out to be a large and simple salad.

“Cranberries are good.” To punctuate his point, Alex grabbed the muffin and took a bite. “Mmmm... you should run a side business as a baker. Get a lot of customers.” Whatever other comments he thought of making were forgotten as Alex devoured his breakfast.

Fluttershy blinked, and then giggled. “Oh, no, I didn’t bake that muffin. Pinkie gave me a box of them a few days ago from Sugarcube Corner.”

“Oh, okay,” he responded, looking up from his plate. “Gotta tell her that then when we see her.” Stopping to take a drink, Alex licked his lips. “So... Doctor’s visit first, right?”

“Yes, of course, but you should probably bathe first.” Not an unreasonable suggestion by any means, but a quick glance at the table revealed that in the short time it’d taken him to polish off his entire meal Fluttershy had barely made a dent in her salad. “Plus the appointment isn’t for another hour or so.”

“Are you saying I smell?” Alex questioned, raising his eyebrow. He let Fluttershy sputter before giving her a smile. “I’m joking, relax. Give my clothes a quick wash while I’m getting clean?”

“Alright, as soon as I eat I’ll get them clean and dry.”

It turned out that having a pegasus tell you your clothes would be dry was no empty promise, as Alex was able to watch Fluttershy pull the moisture out of his clothes after washing them, and send the resulting miniature cloud out a window to rain on the flowers outside her cottage before handing them over to him while he stood there in a positively huge towel.

“Okay, that is amazing. Go Fluttershy.” He gave her a thumbs up, grinning. “You’d be rich back home, takes hours to dry clothing back where I’m from.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t think it was anything special.” She hid behind her mane for a few seconds before leaving the room. “I’ll just go collect all the paperwork Twilight gave me for this visit while you get dressed, then we can get on our way, alright?”

“Be out in a bit!” Grabbing his freshly washed clothes, he dipped back into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he came back out. “Alright. Let’s go and give those doctors something to poke at for a few hours.”

Fluttershy was still gathering up a stack of papers, and a few scrolls, under her wing when Alex came back out, but she managed it on her own and even opened the door for him “Alright, just follow me and try to ignore it if you see three silly mares run screaming in fear from you, okay?”

“Er... okay. Sandbag screaming people, got it.” Grabbing his coat, he slipped it and his gloves on. “What? I paid good money for this thing, I’m going to get its max worth out.” Walking past Fluttershy, Alex followed the path into town.

Fluttershy trotted along at his side, pointing out the various stores and other town fixtures on the way to the hospital, which was a rather large building for such a small town, almost looking like it was designed to hold the entire population. The only larger building they’d seen on the way there was Twilight’s crystal tree-castle-thing.

“Nice place, a little too... rustic for me but nice place still.” Alex took in the sights and sounds, waving at a few ponies. “Seems like a nice quiet town.”

“Oh it is, most of the time. We do get a few exciting things happening every so often what with the Everfree Forest being right at the edge of town. Sometimes it feels like they’re happening a little too often, but there’s not much we can really do about that.”

Checking in with the hospital reception was simple, but the wait was just as boring as it was with any normal doctor. Soon enough they were brought into a room with what looked like a large x-ray viewing wall lit up to one side and three ponies in lab coats. “Ah, Fluttershy and Alex, yes? Sorry to keep you waiting, but we had a bit of trouble clearing out the traces of the last spells used in this room. We want minimal interference to make sure this foal has everything identified as accurately as possible.”

“It’s fine,” Alex assured, removing his coat. “Hold onto this thing for me, will you?” he asked, holding it out to Fluttershy. “Anything I shouldn’t take over there with me, docs? Metal, plastic, stuff like that?”

Fluttershy took the coat with her mouth before quickly moving it to lay over her back. Meanwhile the only doctor that wasn’t a unicorn out of the three laughed softly. “No need to worry about anything like that. The spell is quite advanced enough to differentiate between things that are part of you and things that are not. Do you have any questions about the scan itself before we start, young l-”

One of the unicorns cleared his throat and indicated a section on one of the forms to the non-unicorn doctor. “Oh, right. Young man?”

“It gonna be weird?” Alex stopped at the wall, tapping it with a knuckle. “See, we don’t have magic back home, least I thought we didn’t, so all of this stuff is way out of my wheelhouse.”

“Only if you haven’t ever seen...hmmm.” The doctor trails off in thought. “Well, I know that in ponies it tends to not feel like anything, but I don’t know about the overall experience for something like yourself.”

“Did you want to see them take a scan of me first, Alex? It can be used as a fast way to get a checkup once your record is created.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Alex spoke, regarding Fluttershy with a smile. “Might want to do something with the coat though. I got no idea what kinda interrence that’ll have. Who knows what, uh, magic stuff it’s got on it.”

Fluttershy blinked at that and looked back at the coat lying over her back. “Why would this have any magic on it?”

“How about we just move that to the table we won’t be using?” the other unicorn suggested before trying to pick up the coat with his magic. The coat seemed to glow, the magic finding no hold on the fabric. This happened a few more times before the unicorn spoke up again. “Huh. That’s odd. I’m not able to lift the coat, but it’s causing the same amount of strain as if I had every time I try. I feel like I’m holding five of them up, but it isn’t budging.”

“See, told you it was weird,” Alex spoke, lifting it off Fluttershy’s back. “Lemme do it.” Walking over to the table, he laid it down. “There, done.”

“Ah, right. Thank you.” The doctor blushed, but scribbled down a note about the odd effect the garment had. “Alright miss Fluttershy. If you could spread your wings for us so we can get started?”

Fluttershy nodded and did so after making sure the other papers she’d brought were all collected together on the floor nearby. Almost immediately she was surrounded by a sparkling aurora that wavered between brown and red. Within a few seconds sheets of paper started appearing on the lit walls detailing all kinds of medical information about the timid pegasus.

“Huh, look at that.” Alex leaned in, examining one of the papers. “And this tells you everything you need to know, huh?”

“Oh yes.” The one doctor not involved in casting the spell came over and quickly skimmed over the various papers on the wall. A few sections with numbers began highlighting in green, and one in red. “Of course, as usual. Miss Fluttershy, you’ve been neglecting your wing strengthening exercises again. You need to perform some kind of heavy exertion regularly to prevent atrophy, or else you won’t even be able to fly soon.”

“That sounds dire,” Alex spoke, his eyes widening. “Wow, okay. I’ll make sure she does them, Doc. Promise.” He gave a thumbs up and crossed his heart.

Fluttershy just sighs. “What’s the number doctor?”

“Your wingpower barely measures above two-point-three. You know what happens if it goes below one.” He shook his head and looked up at Alex. “Most pegasi have a resting value of at least three.”

“And I’ve always been a weak flier, doctor. I don’t understand why that always gets flagged as a concern for me when that’s my average.”

“Because it’s low enough that an injury could cripple you whereas a pegasus with a higher resting wingpower would be able to recover without question.” This time the response was from one of the unicorns as they ceased the spellcasting and two final papers appeared on the wall. “Same as with a unicorn. If we don’t exercise our horns regularly they start to get weaker. Your problem could be solved by flying for at least an hour a day and doing a few wing-ups before bed. You likely wouldn’t personally see much of a benefit, but your scans would show it.”

“Oh. Thank you. Nopony ever bothered to actually explain it to me before.” Fluttershy carefully picked up the papers before walking over to sit by the table with Alex’s cloak. “I always thought they were just trying to correct something that I didn’t feel was really a problem...except for hurricane duty.”

“My turn I guess, huh?” Alex asked, eyeing the wall. “Alright, let’s see if my insides are still okay.” Stepping behind it, he braced himself for the feeling of magic. He shivered, feeling the tingle spread over his body. “Yup. as weird as I thought.”

“Oh, try to ignore it Alex, please? If you move too much it can make it take longer.” Fluttershy’s tone was comforting, as always.

“It’s going to take a bit longer than yours to begin with as we’re documenting a new species here.” Papers began to appear on a different wall this time, and collected into sets rather than individual sheets as the tingling intensified slightly in the areas where the scan was focusing. The entire process took a good ten minutes before individual sheets started to be displayed, giving focused data on certain basic statistics. “Let’s see here. Alex, you are feeling well and healthy today, correct? No headaches or other signs of a potential illness?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Alex assured, nodding his head. “Anything weird on those papers? That is, if you can make heads or tails of them.”

“Nothing weird as far as I can tell just yet. Your temperature is a little different from the average for a pony, ever so slightly colder. We’ll have to make a note of that to include with any school admittance forms so that any attending nurse will know what is and isn’t the normal baseline for you.”

“Human body temp should always be 98.6 Fahrenheit or 37.0 Celsius,” Alex began, listing off any useful information. “Uh, we’re our own branch in the great ape family, with Chimpanzees and Bonobos as our closest relatives and we have dna from another, now extinct species of human in our genome.”

“Interesting...it seems that we have similar measurement systems in place. Fetlockheit and Celetias are disturbingly close to the words you used, and the numbers are an exact match. Your bone density seems similar to an earth pony, but muscle density closer to a pegasus, meaning you should be relatively durable, but agile. You’re almost exactly between those two, so if you worked hard you might even be able to match strength with an earth pony at the lower end of their range.”

The two unicorns ceased their synchronized spell and walked over to examine some of the other papers quietly.

“Let’s see. Oh dear. You’ll have to forgive me for this, but you do present an odd problem for us. With you stating that you’re male and wish to be treated as such...we will endeavor to address you so, but your hormone levels are very clearly that of a female.”

“Mammary glands are oddly placed, but yes, everything else reads as one hundred percent female. Ovaries, uterus, etcetera.”

“His cecum is positively tiny. I take it your kind doesn’t eat many raw vegetables that need to be broken down?”

“Nah, everything we eat is cooked, including vegetables,” Alex elaborated. “We call that thing the appendix and no one agrees on what it actually does. What I do know is that it can go bad and cause sepsis.”

“Well, I doubt that’ll be much of a problem unless we can’t get your coat off. It’s flagging as a cecum in your scan, so the cleansing spells we have should function normally on it. Far more concerning is that we’re still showing multiple growth plates and yet you claim to be a teenager.”

“Average height for a human male is about uh... 5’9 and the average for a female is I think 5’7. Plus there's the development of secondary sex traits...” Alex muttered, seeming to be lost in thought.

“Well, you’re already around twelve hooves tall. It seems there’s no real correlation in measurements there. I can’t even give you an estimate for your final height, other than maybe being a little shorter than Princess Celestia. That would be quite tall for a pony, but also a bit short compared to, say, a minotaur.”

One of the unicorns grunted as he read something and opened his mouth to speak a couple times, only to shake his head and walk over to show Fluttershy something on one of the pages instead. He whispered quietly to her and she nodded in response.

“Okay, I’ll watch for that, then.”

“Watch for what?” Alex frowned, looking over at them. “Don’t be sneaky about my health, people.”

“Oh, ummm,” Fluttershy looked from the doctors to Alex and blushed. “The doctor just noticed that there were signs that I should give you a talk that mothers usually have to give young fillies, and I’d be watching for the usual warnings.”

“I know how reproduction works, I used to be a med student,” Alex replied, giving an eye roll.

“Oh? Splendid! Then you understand why we’re so concerned about knowing what normal is for you. Accurate treatment leads to the best results after all.” The heretofore mostly-silent unicorn finally spoke up. “If there’s nothing else that you feel you need to tell us about your species, we’ll get to work writing up a basic profile for you to send copies to the other hospitals in Equestria just in case you travel. If we come across anything else that we can’t figure out without clarification from you, we’ll mail a form out.”

“I’m fine with that.” Alex smiled, giving a thumbs up. “But uh... do we have the same writing system?” he questioned, looking at the papers. “Just wanna be sure about that.” The lettering was recognizably English to Alex, though some of the letters had ornate flourishes to them that would have had some of his old teachers screaming.

“You’d have to tell me, young man. I can hardly tell you that. If necessary, Miss Fluttershy could read you the questions and write your responses for you.”

“Nah, looks like I can read it. Just a little too flowery for my tastes.” Moving back to his coat, Alex slipped it on. “That everything you guys need or?”

“I think we’re done here for the moment. All of this information will take time to read through, but it will be invaluable in treating you should you ever suffer some serious injury, or infection.”

“Alright, thanks for seeing us.” Zipping his coat on, he patted Fluttershy’s head. “Off to Twilight’s big, shiny eyesore or what?”

“Alex, be nice about it. Twilight lost her old house, and the town library, recently. That ‘eyesore’ was a gift from the Tree of Harmony to replace it and act as her royal estate.” Fluttershy blushed slightly, but smiled widely. “And all five of her closest friends have our own thrones in there too. It’s really exciting to think I’m that important to harmony, but also slightly intimidating.”

“Wow, look at you, all important and stuff.” Alex scratched her ears, leading her out of the room. “All I got out of this is a new body and a big dumb key-sword.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Alex. I’m sure something will come up that makes you feel important someday.” Fluttershy offered comfortingly as she led him back out of the hospital and towards the castle. This time she decided to fly there rather than walk, but she kept pace with Alex.

“You kidding me? The keyblade can do more things than you can ever imagine! If I can figure out how to make it turn into a glider I can go anywhere I want.” Looking down at his hand, he fought the urge to summon it. “It’s every kid’s dream, ya know?”

“Only if I’m with you, young man... though that would definitely give me an incentive to fly more often.” Fluttershy chided jokingly.

“What is this thing?” Ahuizotl gasped for breath as he slammed one more thick stone door shut behind him and quickly looked around this room for something he could use as a weapon, with the hand on his tail flicking out to bring down the heavy wooden beam to secure the door behind him. His eyes settled on an ancient ritual spear he’d stolen from a tomb in Saddle Arabia, and he didn’t hesitate to smash the glass case with a bare paw. After all, what were a few minor scratches when that blue thing had claws a longer than his forearms? Another glance around the room turned up a small ritual dagger, which he quickly grabbed with his tail before turning to face the door he’d just closed and put his back towards the open door to his inner sanctum.

Whatever had attacked had walked through his tribesponies like nothing. Their spears and weapons had done nothing to it. It simply swiped them aside, its unblinking red eyes staring straight at him. Gripping the spear tighter, he aimed it at the door, trying to ignore the trembles wracking his body.

The sound came again, that grinding noise that had preceded each door closed in front of this beast being clawed to pieces, the sound of rocks crumbling and grinding against each other. Ahuizotl backed another step away from the door as the center began to crack and crumble, with three silver claws soon punching through to dig and pull away at the material of the door and beam. “Go away, foul beast! My weapon is...is imbued with ancient powers you cannot understand!”

The creature stopped its assault, peering through the hole to stare at him. It stayed there, motionless, leaving only the sound of Ahui’s frantic breathing to break the silence.

“Well? Go on! Leave!” Ahuizotl tried to master his fear as this unstoppable beast actually hesitated for once. He shifted his feet and took up a fighting stance in an attempt to intimidate the silent destroyer. He also moved the dagger to the side so that it could be seen, trying to brandish it threateningly. “Leave or die! Ahuizotl commands you!”

“He didn’t stop for you.” A spike of pain shot through Ahui’s body, tearing through to his very core. “Just wanted you someplace more private.” Whatever impaled him was removed, all of Ahui’s emotions pouring out along with his blood. Anger. Fear. Indignation. Every feeling vanished from his mind as his body crumpled to the ground. His eyes rolled in a final attempt to catch a glimpse of what had just attacked him.

“W-who... why?” His breathing slowed along with his heart, staring up at what had attacked him. His body shimmered, starting to fade away. Only black glass met his gaze, staying there until his vision faded to nothing.