I walked through the aisles of my local grocery store. Soft background music was playing. People were spread out a bit beneath me as I floated along searching for something. "Where is it?" I muttered to myself. How could a can of beans hide so well?!

"Looking for something?" I turned to see a lady I hadn't run into in quite some time.

The boss lady. "Oh! Hey... when did you start coming here?"

"Since I heard you shopped here." She casually put a hand on my floating torso.

"Hey! You're still my boss." I pushed her back. "Professional distance, harassment, you know the deal."

"Well, alright." And she wandered off like nothing had happened.

I heard a clip-clop and turned to see Flash with a shopping basket held up by one of his wings. "Hey Lauren!" he called out so cheerfully. "I found it."

"Found what?" I floated closer, confused.

"Your beans." One wing dipped into the basket and pulled them out, offering the can towards me.

"Thanks!"

I woke up with a frown. As dreams went, that one didn't feel very important. Still, it was not the first dream where I felt like I was above everyone, floating. Was that a thing?

I slid the computer aside that I had been typing the dream on and jumped in the air, and almost toppled over. I didn't float, and I still felt awful. "Nope..." Maybe a later thing? Starlight hadn't learned how to do her magic until she was already a complete horse. I pushed the disappointment aside.

Which also reminded me that I needed to visit the bathroom, for related needs but also to inspect myself. "Hello?" I called as I went, not because I heard anything, but because my voice sounded... different. "La? I am Lauren, how do you do?" I spoke as I went, listening to myself as I went.

"Dear god." I was looking in the mirror and what was looking back at me was not what I had gone to bed with. My face... It had completely snapped into place, just as they warned. I was a slimmer, female version of that... what was his name... Discord? He was named after a chat program? I would have laughed if I wasn't so busy peering at the alien face in the mirror.

I reached up and felt along my grown snout, tracing from where my cheeks ended and the proper snout began, feeling the teeth, my twitchy nose, my whiskers... Did I mention I had those? They were fine and easy to miss, but there they were.

With a sudden urge, I made a kissy face, then let out a thunderous sigh of relief. At least I still had full and proper cheeks, not like a dog or other carnivore. Opening my mouth as wide as I could, I poked out my tongue and spent maybe too long just gaping at what I could see. It was all so strange and alien. It was also all me.

Horns. I had those. They were not as big as they... should be? I was guessing there. One was a soft blue color, like a unicorns but curved backwards along my head at a mild angle. The other was a light brown, more straight, like it belonged on some kind of deer-like creature. They were mismatched, like the rest of me. Well, not the entire rest of me. Plenty of me did mirror properly.

My hips were on the right place left and right. My cheeks were a match, thank God. My teeth, minus that biggun that hung, were fine. I had one tail and it was right in the middle, which meant it qualified, better than a lot of other things, really.

I reached around and grabbed that tail, drawing it into easier examination distance. "I never really asked much about you, little tail." It wasn't that little. I had a dragon's tail, all scaled, except for that furry tassel at the end. "I kind of like you..." It was... a little bad ass. If I was hunting for a Halloween costume, I wouldn't be sad wearing a tail like that. Except this one was attached to me.

I turned for the toilet only to pause. "The hell...?"

On my back, two little proto wings shot out, wagging wildly. "The hell!" Of course, thinking back on it, Discord had wings too. I should have seen that coming. On the same side as the blue curved unicorn horn was a blue pegasus wing. On the other side was a bat-like wing, dark purple in color. They were not only mismatched but comically tiny. I surely would never fly on those.

I was done in the bathroom. I came jogging out, which was a curious thing. I could jog, normally, without it feeling like strain. Of course, I was also still super sick, so that took a lot of the wind out of me, but I was a slender draconequus and movement was something this body could do, once I stopped being so dang sick.

I finished my daily report to the 'good' doctor. He had already written me an email.

Good morning,

I am pleased to report that we have discovered some details on what you are becoming. You are a perfect example of that and nothing is wrong. You've passed the most uncertain periods of the transition and I am pleased to note that you should be physically fine at this point.

I have informed staff. If you need anything at all, please ask them. Your happiness is our happiness.

Here For You,
Doctor Miller

I arched a white brow at that letter. That was not the noise of a concerned doctor. What I was becoming worried him. I didn't say that out loud. There were cameras watching me. I casually closed the email and went on to the next.

Lore!

What you need right now is some soup and you know it. Tell them to let me visit and drop some off. You know I'll drive down there and do it. Just give me an address and I'll be over there in two shakes of a tail.

I had to roll my eyes at that line. I had a tail, she did not. Some humor became awkward at times...

Besides, I want to know where my girl's being hidden, even if I can't give her a hug yet. Ask them!

In smaller red letters, there was more. You can provide the address to the public-facing facility. After inspection, we can deliver gifts.

I had to blink at that. One, a reminder they were reading my mail. Yay... On the other mismatched hand, I could get some Cindy Soup! Yes! That would chase away some of the snotty misery I was in. I smashed that reply button and quickly gave her the address.

They won't let you past the front counter, but they will pass on the soup to me. You are the best, has anyone told you that?

I sat back on the bed, tail wagging like a dog about to get a treat. My flu-like suffering abated a bit, distracted with thoughts of future soup. "Work." I sat up and logged into work, mashing away at that.

A soft chime alerted me to the fact that I had received in-company mail on my remote connection. I pulled it up.

While we have attempted to navigate the current health crisis to the best of our ability, we have had to make some painful decisions.

I frowned at the letters. We were mostly a tech company. Most of us remoted in. What were they going on about?!

Our clients are losing business, and when they have less, so do we.

Oh...

With less projects, we have to let some of you go. We recommend you apply for unemployment as soon as possible. The Pan--

I skipped ahead.

If you received this email, it's because you were one of the ones let go.

I felt a painful tightness in my chest. "What?"

We're very sorry. When things recover, you're more than welcome to re-apply.

It went on and on about how sad it made them and how much they really didn't want to fire anyone. It didn't matter. I was still fired.

I alt-tabbed on the remote machine and saw I still had work in my bucket. I wasn't officially terminated just yet... I could... at least get one more day done. With a shaking breath, I forced myself to resume typing. I would not leave on a sour note, at least. I would finish my work.

About halfway through my shift, my mouse went veering off. Someone was at the actual computer! Their mouse movements overrode my remote ones. They seemed to click around as if figuring out what was going on. Then a notepad popped up.

Hi,

Is this Lauren?

I stared a moment before I got to typing on the same notepad screen.

This is she. I was finishing the day's work.

Oh, thanks. You always were good about that. We will miss you so much.

Can I finish what I started?

Lauren, can I be straight with you?

Um, of course. Who is this?

This is Peter Illin

My boss?! A window appeared, a webcam pointed at him. It really was him, waving, though it closed a moment later.

That email did not go out to some people, everyone got it. The business is shutting down. I am soWHAT?! sorry. You were one of theWHAT HAPPENED?

It's complicated. We've been bleeding for a while, trying to skate by, but it didn't work.😢

I'm shutting this computer down. Your last check will come, don't worry.

... bye...

I had written that last bit, and just... stared at the laptop as the remote connection was terminated and I was left with an error window notifying me of the fact. I had no more work. Work was done...

A sudden clopping came from the door. "Lauren?" It was Starlight.

I wiped tears from my eyes I hadn't noticed were even there until that moment. "What?"

"Is that you? Can I come in?"

"Not right now." I flopped back onto my bed. "I just... I can't even..."

I heard a click. She'd used her magic. I thumped the bed, pushing myself sitting upright with the same motion. "I said go away!" I screamed. "Not break into my damned room!"

"Just worried about you, is all," came her awkward reply, approaching on three legs. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"You want to tell me what made you visit? Right now? Right this very instant?" I was on my feet, storming towards her. She was right around the corner and backed up sheepishly when I came into view, obviously angry. "And don't bother with the 'I just happened to be there'."

"Tossing that right out." Starlight made a motion as if she were hurling something with a hoof towards the nearest trash bin. "Look, they told me you were super upset and asked if I could check in. You're a friend, so I came running over here... Wanna tell me about it?"

"I really... do not." I crossed my arms under my chest that was too dang small for me. "By the way, look, a unicorn horn."

"I... see." She looked to my altered face and head. "A lot changed today. I was pretty spooked when this happened to me... Like a really... vital part of me... was gone, and I guess that was true. Your face is kind of... you, and suddenly it wasn't my face. More than before, before it was just 'a different me', but on that day, today for you... it wasn't my face anymore. It was... like the universe just outright said 'hey, you're not you anymore. Welcome to that!'" She threw a hoof aside in her little rant. "I felt so weird and... Wanna talk about it?"

"This has nothing to do with that." I swept at her as if to brush her away. She went flying, bouncing off the wall and sliding to the ground. Had I done that? "Jesus, sorry."

"I'm alright." She sat up, shaking her head. "I'm alright! Wow... hey, your horn works." She smiled awkwardly. "So... sorry, I'm really bad at taking a hint, but if that isn't what it's about, wanna fill me in on what is?"

"My life just ended." I threw my hands up. "Even if I wasn't in here, I'd be incredibly..." Sad? Mad? Some combination... "Upset... I don't want to think about that right now, not even a little."

"Then how about I offer you something nicer to think about." She casually trotted over to me. "If you're willing to give me a chance."

She sounded so calmly cheerful. Not annoyingly cheerful, just... a friend who was dead set on helping. Ugh... I sank down, squatting in front of her to be on more even a level. "What do you have in mind, Starlight? I don't want to play any games right now."

"No games, just... relaxing." She reared up and casually climbed into the lap I had made in my squat. Her horn glowed as she took hold of one of my hands and drew it towards her back. "Go on, I know you enjoy it."

She was offering herself as a petting sacrifice? I had to laugh, and I did. "I didn't forget, Starlight. No petting unless you mean it."

"So do it because you mean it." She stretched out across my lap. "As a friend."

I scooped her up, one hand under her chest, the other getting a big handful of breastflesh as I supported her lower half. I was too livid to blush about it, instead just carrying her over to the bed and placing her on it. "Reminder, I'm still sick, and tired, and sick and tired." I flopped onto the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around, pulling her in. "This was your idea, so no complaints."

"Not a one," she assured, her tail wagging as she nestled in with me, accepting the affection I was given despite the tension in the air. "I'm here for you."

"Why?" I touched my freakish nose against her cheek. "We barely met..."

"And we are already friends." She rolled over in place to face me. "I care, and you care, I know it. That's why you could hear me, because you cared about me. You couldn't hear the other person you didn't care about." She reached out a hoof and gently brushed my cheek with it. "We're friends."

I had friendship-spying powers? That was so ridiculous it might have been true. "Stupidest super power ever," I groused, pulling Starlight in closer. My fingers trailed through her fur, scratching lightly with sharp claws. "They fired me."

"What? Did you take some time off because you were sick?" Starlight was scowling and angry. "How dare they! Is that even legal?"

"I kept working." I set a finger on her nose, making her eyes cross. "I worked right until they pulled the plug."

"But, then... why?" Starlight shook her head, confusion clearly growing. "What did you do wrong?"

"Nothing... That's the worst part." I touched nose to nose with her, sniffling softly. "They're closing. It isn't my fault... but I'm still fired. I did nothing wrong... still fired. I'd been working there practically from the start... still fired."

"Horseapples," cursed Starlight. "That's lame, really lame." She nuzzled into my neck. "I'm so sorry. We'll make our own company, even better! What did you do, exactly?"

Laughter escaped from me at Starlight's question. "Data management," I offered as I rolled her right onto her back. "Which I don't think you're qualified to do much with."

She kicked her legs in the air as if trying to trot. It wasn't effective. "I could learn. We'll make a company that's even better, just you--"

I grabbed her, not an accidental thing. I just went right ahead and groped her as one never should a woman. "Starlight, your alien body turns me on. I wanted to just... get that out."

Starlight's cheeks were a bright red. "I had figured that out on the first day we met... But I'm glad to hear you admitting it."

"Well, it helps that my body is just as alien." I swayed my dragon's tail for emphasis. "I am angry and sad and frustrated and sick right now. I want to sleep cuddle the hell out of you. Are you up for that?"

"I'm already laying on your bed, Lauren." She hiked a brow at me, a smirk on her lips. "I think I'm consenting to a little intimacy, still, it's better to ask and answer these kinds of things, so, yes. I would be delighted to sleep with you, my phlegmy friend."

"Good." I picked her up and pulled up the covers. Soon she was under them with me and I was curled around her, holding her. "You're my breathing teddy bear." I casually nuzzled her chest, eyes closed. "Good night."

"It's not even close to night," she complained, but she didn't squirm away, and things got quiet.

For at least a little while, I could not rage at the world.

"This is a bad idea," noted Starlight, frowning at Doctor Miller. "She might be listening right now. I told you I won't spy for you anymore, and I meant it."

"This room is completely soundproofed," he assured. "What upset her?"

Starlight rolled her eyes with obvious doubt. "She was fired. Who isn't upset when they're fired? She... needed a friend, and I provided one. Stop being a jerk about it. She's a person with person feelings, like being out of sorts when they're fired. How would you like being fired." Each emphasized word came with a sway and point of a hoof, pacing back and forth in front of Miller's desk.

"She attacked you," he calmly noted. "Were you injured?"

"It stung, but I got over it." Starlight brushed a hoof along the opposing leg. "She has a good grip, like me. I wonder when she'll get the hang of it."

"I would prefer you not assist her."

Starlight's eyes half-lidded, falling into a casually dismissive expression. "With all due respect, sir, fuck right off."

"Duly noted." Soft strikes of a keyboard noted he likely wasn't even lying about that. "But that isn't a negotiable point. She is obviously attracted to you. Use that to keep her happy."

Her eyes fell further, moving from bored dismissal to outright scowling. "So don't fuck you, let her fuck me. I am not your prostitute, sir. What... intimacy we have shared is because we both decided on it, and now you've ruined it." She thrust a hoof at him accusingly. "I hope you're happy. I'll never be able to look at her and not wonder if I'm doing it because I like her or because you asked me to."

She turned away, starting to pace in the room. "How long do you plan to hide the others from her? She isn't stupid. In fact, she's a real smart pony--"

"She isn't a pony," casually noted the doctor.

"Ugh, that wasn't literal." She rolled her eyes with aggravation. "She's going to figure it out, and she'll be mad at me for not saying."

"You can tell her the truth, that you weren't allowed to," calmly reasoned Miller. "You know how this works."

"Right, seniority." She flicked her tail as she looked to him, trotting up to the desk and rearing up, fore hooves coming down on the edge of the desk. "I've been here long enough I get a few little perks, like spying on my friends, and I don't like it, but I can't forget what I already know. She's going to find the others."

"We will deal with that if it happens. Miss Glimmer, did you want to retire from this position?" He was typing away casually as if their conversation wasn't all that important. "It's not being forced on you."

Her teeth clenched, but he wasn't paying that much attention to the pony's feelings. "No... no. I'll be good." she dropped to the floor, moving to walk meaningfully towards the door. "Just stop treating her like she doesn't have feelings. She does, and they're really frayed, for good reason."

She left and Miller soon pulled up a window. "See that no patients move from floor 13, even higher priority."

"You got it, sir." came the response, someone nodding at the camera. "Any reason I should give them?"

"They're not allowed," he stated as if it was obvious. "They don't need to know much more than that." He hung up on the call and moved to his emails, checking on the daily report. "At least you're quite diligent in this..."

Cindy entered the medical facility. She hadn't gotten the address more than a few hours before. It was only the time it took to make good soup that had delayed her. "Hey, got a gift for--" She walked up on the desk.

"--No mask, no service," berated the man behind the counter, pointing to a sign that said as much.

"For the... This is a hospital, right? You have a mask? Mine's at home."

He looked at her as if she were scum, which perhaps she was for going out in public without basic tools. Still, he reached into some cubby and out came a basic blue mask. She grabbed it and soon had it over her face. "There. Now, I have a gift for a patient here. Lauren Keibin?" She set down her multi-use tote bag, faint sloshing noises coming from within. "It's for her health."

"It's for your health," berated the healthcare worker as they typed at something. "Lauren Keibin... Ah, I can take that." He reached for the bag, only to have it drawn away.

Cindy fished out the jar of soup from inside and put it down separately. "You can have that. I need the bag." She gestured at the jar. "Make sure she gets it, please."

"We will." He moved to slide it off, but it was heavier than it looked and soon both hands were involved with moving it off with the slide of glass against the countertop. "Anything else you need today?"

"Well, since you asked." She leaned against the counter, trying to smile winningly at the bored worker. It might have worked better had her mask not been hiding most of her features. "My friend, Lauren, how is she? She getting out soon? Any chance I could get a little visit? I'll wear a mask, promise."

A mouse was moved, a few clicks. "She's fine," he reported with all the energy of the day's weather forecast. "No visiting hours are posted, sorry."

"I see how it is." She crossed her arms, bag tucked between them. "Well, get that to her and send her my love if you can."

"We'll get it to her."

Cindy departed with a little huff. At least she had made her delivery to her little Lore.

A knocking woke me from my nap. Starlight wasn't there anymore. "Who is it?" I fought my way to my mismatched feet.

"Package," came a muffled voice. "We'll leave it here."

Package? Package! My sleep faded away as I hurried towards the door, a grin on my changed face. I threw it open to reveal, there, yes! One of her mason jars of pure pleasure! "Woo!" I cried out, uncaring of who was watching me as I scooped up the jar and hugged it close. It was only mildly warm, but I didn't care. "I need a spoon!"

I put the jar down inside my room, closed the door, and hurried across the way into the cafeteria. "Spoon spoon spoon," I called to myself like a really bad song. "Need a spoon!"

Flash was there, pointing the way towards the blessed spoons.

I paused long enough to kiss him on the head and rush for the spoons, grabbing one and kissing it too for good measure. "Soup is on!" I charged back for my room in an almost-spritely jog. Nothing would stop me from enjoying that treat.

I heard Flash mutter behind me, "She's going nude too?"

Author's Notes:

Well, that had a lot of things to unpack, besides the soup. The soup will be unpacked first, into a deserving mouth. Yum! It's good to have friends. Do you have any that'd come on by with soup for the soul?

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