Elu woke up in the middle of the night. His ears twitched as he caught some strange noises, a rustling of sorts. He opened his eyes and looked around, easily seeing in the darkness despite there being almost no light. His mother was sleeping on the bed, her chest rising and falling calmly and steadily. The window to the outside world was open, a stream of fresh air coming in, sometimes strengthened by gusts of wind. Critters were chirping quietly and all was quiet as the moon shone onto the land below. The former human closed his eyes when something suddenly collided with his crib, rocking it. His eyes shot open and he immediately saw the cause of it.

It was a strange creature about the size of him, maybe even slightly bigger. It had membrane wings, and so Elu assumed it was a bat of sorts. However, something was different. He focused and managed to make out a long snout, a pair of big round eyes, and two simple ears that reminded him of a cat. The creature was looking at the foal with interest, and Elu was staring back at it, not knowing what to do.

The creature jumped down, landing near the former human, and started sniffing around. Elu was still, somewhat afraid to move or even breathe. What was that strange creature? He remembered seeing something like this on the internet but he forgot the exact name of the creature or what it was supposed to be. Carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore? It was the main question on his mind.

Suddenly, the snout of the creature appeared mere centimeters away from Elu's. Its wings were holding a piece of banana, and soon the said piece was gently pressed against the maw of the former human. He opened it hesitantly, and the banana was stuffed in it soon enough.

"Eat frut." the strange creature said in a language Elu couldn't understand yet, its voice chirping slightly. The creature booped him on the muzzle and unfolded its wings, taking off.

Elu, dumbfounded, chewed the banana slowly and watched as the creature flew up and soon took place right on the ceiling, its hind legs securely holding onto the chandelier. In a cocoon of its own wings, the creature was fast asleep in just a few moments.

After the former human ate the banana, he lay in his crib for a few long minutes, thinking about what had just happened. His tail was twitching slightly, his ears flat against his skull as he stared at the unmoving cocoon. However, he eventually drifted back into sleep.

In the morning, after Elu's diapers were discarded and he was properly bathed and fed, his mother brought him to the soft-carpeted floor and let him go once he reached it. Elu was stuck in one place, his ears slightly drooped as he looked at the floor under him, not knowing what to do. He glanced upwards and noticed that the creature he saw during the night was still sleeping, hanging on the chandelier. Ring Keeper and her husband were lying not too far away from him, observing him with interest and encouraged him to move by smiling at him.

"Now, come to mama." Ring Keeper said, spreading her forelegs in an inviting manner.

Elu, understanding the message, started to crawl towards her, his ears perking up. His legs still wouldn't let him move properly, but he could give them something to work with anyway. The tickling sensation down his body made him even more nervous as the carpet rubbed against a certain sensitive area. He had no idea how he would get used to the casual nudity of ponies. Doing it in reality would be harder than thinking about it while writing a story, after all. He felt exposed way too much, vulnerable, and defenseless, especially being as young and as small as he was at the time. However, his worries faded into the back of his mind as his parents continued to smile at him.

Soon, he made his way to the mother, and she grabbed him with her forelegs and then brought him up. She nuzzled him lovingly, making him blush at such an open sign of paternal affection, something he wasn't used to at all. At first, he wanted to push her away but ended up surrendering himself to her. She was his new mother, she was showing him how she loved him. He wasn't a changeling but he craved loved like one, feeling its warm waves washing over his soul, making it feel like his heart was shivering with delight and comfort. He giggled childishly, feeling a tickling sensation where Ring Keeper nuzzled him.

Soon, he was put back on the floor, and he turned to his father. Without the latter having to say anything, Elu quickly crawled up to him, sat on his haunches once he reached Stellares, and extend his forelegs for a nuzzle from him. Without hesitation, the stallion grabbed his son and nuzzled him as lovingly as Ring Keeper did if not more. The colt giggled once again, and soon he was put down one more time. He turned around to face his mother, willing to continue this type of playing around, but surprisingly, she had something in her hooves.

"Elu, it's you." his mother said warmly. "Take a look."

His eyes widened as he crawled towards what was apparently a mirror large enough to provide him with a view of himself. He awkwardly sat in front of the mirror and looked at himself, a tingling sensation in his eyes.

The short but soft fur of a light shade of brown, dark-brown mohawk mane that had yet to grow into a longer mane, and eyes of grayish green. It was him, how he envisioned himself as a pony. He remembered drawing how he would want to look like. A simple unicorn with some bat pony or, how he decided to call them, lunar pegasi heritage. He knew he could make himself into anything he would want: an alicorn, a griffon, some other sort of being. However, he decided to be a unicorn despite having all the other options. His horn was yet small but it was there, his tufted ears perking up on his head. He gazed at himself, his mind somewhat empty as he stared into his own eyes. It was him. Sitting there on a soft carpet, looking at himself, his mother holding the simple mirror still.

If what he drew came to life, became true, then what were the chances that other things he had created in his previous life had become just as real as his pony life? Could it be that one of his characters was somewhere nearby, could it be that he was thrown into one of his stories? He wondered if his story was written by himself, by another him. However, he decided not to overthink. While it wouldn't make him insane, such thoughts of 'what would' or 'what if' were unnecessary.

He returned to his new world. He noticed wetness under his eyes, a warm feeling on his face. It was all real, there was no doubt. The corners of his mouth lifted up as he continued to look at himself, repeating those four words in his head:

It is all real.

"Is everything alright, Elu?" Ring Keeper asked worriedly, putting the mirror away. Without saying a word, Elu shuffled over to his mother and hugged her. "Aww..." leaning away only slightly, the colt looked at his father. Understanding what he wanted, Stellares was quick to join the hug. Pressed between the two ponies, Elu nuzzled each of them, letting out some incoherent but nonetheless cute foalish noise.

Despite feeling anxious, Elu knew it was a good thing both for himself and his parents. He also had an idea but he wasn't sure if it would work at the moment. However, he decided to try it.

"Mh... Mmh..." he opened his maw, trying to utter something that would make sense, at the very least to him. "Mm... Muh..." he was frustrated at his inability to speak but he was struggling nevertheless. "Mum." he looked Ring Keeper in the eyes. "Mum!"

She nearly gasped, her smile widening. She nuzzled him lovingly, placing a kiss on his forehead afterwards.

More confident than before, Elu turned to his father.

"Ph... Pf..." he struggled once again, finding the right things in his body to control his voice. "Pha... Paph... Papa." he finally said, grinning from ear to ear. "Papa!"

It was time for Stellares to nuzzle the colt, and soon after, the three ponies hugged once again, sharing the familial love they had for each other, and Elu's was growing by the seconds of the embrace. He had no idea if the two understood what he was saying, the meaning of his words, but it didn't matter. He meant what he said and sooner or later, he would be able to make them understand him.

But how could he speak already, if one could even call it speech? Do foals grow up faster than human babies? From his limited knowledge, Elu knew that horses could walk and even gallop within a day. It was apparent these ponies weren't the same. However, he wouldn't mind faster early childhood, but only as long as his life wouldn't be limited to thirty or forty years, and who knew, maybe it was even less.

After all, he planned to stay in Equestria for a long, long while, and his journey had just begun.

Author's Notes:

It's a shorter chapter but next chapters will be far larger. This one doesn't fit what I've planned next, so here it is as a stand-alone, I suppose.

P.S. Eat frut