[Author's note: I'm switching over to a new story perspective. Prepare to be confused until the previous chapters receive their updates.]

As soon as the words left his mouth, Taylor knew something was extremely wrong. His voice had become... feminine. A closer inspection of his form in the mirror confirmed his fears. What stared back at him was most assuredly a mare.

A pink one. Wearing poorly-fitting clothes.

Lyra and Bon-bon had been laughing at him for some time, but he didn't really take notice of it until he got over the initial shock. He glared at their reflections in the mirror with an expression that could put Fluttershy's infamous stare to shame. "Very funny, Lyra. You got me. Now fix it."

Lyra was still rolling on the floor, gasping for air between bouts of laughter. Realizing she woudn't be of any help for a while, Taylor picked up the spell book, still lying open on the transformation page, and began reading to figure out what happened.

"As with all magic, transformation is a serious matter indeed. It's important to remember all the basics and fundamentals when undertaking such a procedure. Failure to do so can result in undesirable consequences such as missing limbs, extra limbs, or critical spell backlash. In order to properly transform your subject, be it an object, your own extremity, or an entire pony, you must have a clear picture in mind of the end result through the entire process. If you do not properly visualize this, the end result may have slight imperfections. In some cases, they may become magically volatile, severely hindering or utterly preventing further use of magic on the subject. Additionally, several cases have been reported in which the subject became a mutant fishdog. None of the reports have been confirmed, but be advised - it could happen. All the more reason to exercise the utmost caution."

"Lyra, did you actually read this warning? Like, at all? Even a little bit?"

Doing her best to keep a straight face, she sat up, took one look at Taylor, and went right back to her fit of hysterical laughter.

"Okay, I'm going to go with 'probably not'. At least tell me this was a joke and not a botched spell. If not, your book says I might be stuck like this forever."

Lyra was still struggling to fight back her bouts of laughter when Taylor decided to expedite the process a bit. "If I have to look like this for much longer, I might just go have a chat with the Princess. Then we can all go to the moon together."

All it took was the proper motivation. Lyra leapt to her hooves, suddenly much more cooperative. "Fine, fine, I'll try again," she groaned, taking her spellbook from Taylor. "By the way, you look fabulous. Swap those clothes for a nice dress and you could be quite the standout at the Gala."

"I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that. Fire up the horn and try not to make it any worse than this, alright?"

She didn't seem to take notice of the gibe, silently beginning the spell. Taylor considered himself lucky, since it's probably unwise to upset someone before they use a transformation spell on you.

He closed his eyes, feeling a familiar tingle in his body as the spell took effect. Bones became malleable and reformed, skin stretched and collapsed like putty to accommodate his new form. It was still unpleasant, but not nearly as bad as the first time. It felt similar to going down a steep incline on a roller coaster - or so he imagined, having been too much of a coward to set foot on one of those things.

The gentle ringing of Lyra's spell ended and Taylor opened his eyes. The familiarity of his old body was comforting, but something still seemed... off. He took a step toward the mirror-

-and immediately fell on his face.

Pressing his hands to his nose in a futile effort to stifle the pain, he howled an obscenity that he was fairly certain Lyra didn't need to learn the meaning of. Trying to determine the source of that fall, he craned his neck, looking backward.

"Oh, I have horse legs now. That's not a nauseating sight or anything."

He stared daggers at Lyra, whose ears were already drooping. She knew she messed up again and the guilt was written all over her face. Bon-bon glared at Taylor, as if daring him to say something to make Lyra feel worse.

Patience had never been Taylor's strong point, especially when another person's error directly affected his quality of life, but he somehow managed to let it go this time.

Love and tolerate, right?

"Care to give this another go?" he asked, trying his best to seem as positive about the situation as he was able. Lyra just nodded silently, her ears still hanging low. A flash of memory from his childhood sparked an idea in him. Of course! All she needed was a little incentive - something to give her that extra push to succeed. It had usually worked for him, after all, and he had just the thing. Reaching into his pocket - no easy task with this half-horse body - he managed to retrieve his phone. With the press of a button, it blinked to life in his hand.

"Kinda surprised this came with me through... whatever it is that you used to get me here. Anyway, it has a ton of pictures from my world on it. I'd be happy to show them to you. After you get me into a convincing body, that is."

Lyra's ears perked up, fascinated by the prospect of actually seeing his world, not to mention getting to examine that strange rectangle Taylor was using. Her eyes practically sparkled with delight.

"Alright," she started, "I think I can get it this time!"

Lyra's horn sparked to life, flooding the room with an ethereal blue color. None of her previous attempts had seemed quite so intense, and even Bon-bon, who was used to living with a unicorn, looked uncertain about this one.

Taylor and Lyra's eyes locked for a moment. No words were needed, they both knew something was different this time. Her horn radiated a blinding light, extinguishing itself almost instantly afterward. The sound of her spell hung in the air for a moment, fading with the bluish hue that filled the room seconds before.

Taylor turned to find an unfamiliar reflection staring back at him, and yet it somehow seemed right. A silvery coat, dark brown mane, muscular legs ending in large hooves. Everything seemed just as it should, with one exception.

"Huh... no cutie mark?" he asked, more out of curiosity than criticism. It would be odd to be seen without one, and avoiding attention was definitely priority number one.

Lyra shook her head. "Sorry, there's no magic that can give you one. It's just something that all ponies have to find for themselves."

Taylor put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Okay, what about humans that have been turned into ponies? Would it even be possible? I can't really risk leaving this house without one."

Lyra cocked her head to one side. "I don't know, let me go ask the other humans around town."

"Great, now even ponies are giving me the business," Taylor groaned. "I guess I'll need to fake it. Got any paint or something ?"

Lyra shook her head.

Of course not. That would make things easy.

"I'll go get some," Bon-bon said, rising from her seat. "I need to get a little air anyway. All this excitement is a bit much for me to deal with in one sitting." She trotted across the room, almost as if she was in a hurry to get away. Clearly she still hadn't quite adjusted to the idea that there was a human in her own home.

As soon as Bon-bon closed the door behind her, took a seat, staring intently at Taylor. Her face was still lit up, waiting for Taylor.

"Right. The phone. There's a bit of a problem with that, actually. I didn't really think this through..."

He struggled to pick it up off the floor, only succeeding in pushing it around clumsily. Lyra decided it would be best to go get it for him, grabbing it easily. Taylor stared, dumbfounded.

"What kind of sorcery is this?"

Lyra smirked a bit. Something so simple made so difficult. Hooves had a way of complicating life like that. A quick flash of magic around her hoof brought back the fingers she was fond of using. Another flash, and she gave Taylor hooves the same treatment.

"Somehow this spell is even creepier when the fingers are mine." Taylor mused.

Using his new digits, he showed her all the pictures he had taken with his phone. Most of them were of his friends or his pets, but there were a few that really stood out - particularly the ones he had taken of the sunset over the local beach. She wished she could see it in person, to sit on the sand and watch the sky explode with shades of pink and orange over the water before disappearing, making way for the night.

Taylor started letting Lyra play with the touch screen, and guided her through some of the features. She never took her eyes off of the little plastic rectangle, enthralled by all the things it could do. This kind of 'Human magic' was amazing to her, and yet Taylor seemed to view it as nothing special.

"Almost everyone has one of these things. At least where I'm from. There are thousands of different types, but they all serve the same purpose. You can talk to anyone from just about anywhere in the world, as long as you both have one of these. Mine just happens to do a lot more than that. It can hold pictures, games, entire books, music-"

Lyra nearly dropped the phone at the mention of that last word. Being a musician herself, that was one of her greatest obsessions with humans. She spent the better part of an hour listening to samplings from Taylor's collection. Most of it was harsh, loud, and fast, and the singer almost sounded like he was in pain. She couldn't imagine how humans actually enjoyed these songs.

"It's not for everyone," Taylor explained, "most people have a hard time getting past the vocals, or understanding them, for that matter. If you had the lyrics in front of you, it's a whole different song. They can paint an incredible picture in just a few verses."

"I still don't get it, though. It sounds so... angry. Why would anyone want to listen to someone shouting at you?"

Taylor didn't even need to think about his answer. He had already explained this to dozens of people. "It helps me with my own anger. There's a lot of things in my world that I hate. I even hate myself most days. Having this gives me a way to release that built up frustration. In a weird way, it's relaxing. Soothing, even. An escape from all the things in my world, and my life, that make me wish I had a way to start over. Having this makes me feel like there's other people out there screaming their frustrations out along with me."

Lyra didn't understand. She couldn't. She was used to life in Equestria. The very concept of hating anything was foreign, but to hate yourself? Not only that, but to say it so matter-of-factly, as if it's okay to harbor such negative feelings. As if it's normal.

She pitied him. What kind of world conditions someone to live like this? What strife does the human race suffer through every day to not only harden themselves against such depressing thoughts, but somehow embrace them? To accept them as another facet of the human experience and carry on? Even tapping into them to make music - albeit horrible and earsplitting?

Her train of thought was broken by Taylor's voice.

"I've been meaning to ask you about something that Bon-bon said earlier. Could explain what the Canterlot Inquisition is?" Taylor was trying to approach this delicately, but it didn't seem to be working. Lyra tensed at his question. This was not going to be pleasant.

"Normally I wouldn't talk about it, but I guess you need to know. From what I've read, the Inquisition was created a long time ago, when things were different in Equestria. It was a way to maintain order when things were at their worst, but the things the Inquisition did were... extreme. Unspeakable things."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Once order was restored, the Inquisition wasn't needed anymore, but it continued to exist. Some ponies say it still exists today, as both a reminder of how things used to be, and as an emergency measure in case they're needed again. Nopony really believes it, though."

Taylor stared, frozen by Lyra's words. That didn't sound like the Equestria he knew at all. Not that he really knew Equestria, but it still seemed out of place.

"Well, this body you gave me is pretty convincing, and when Bon-bon gets back, we can put the finishing touches on it. Nobody will suspect a thing, as long as I don't slip up when I'm talking. What I don't get it how she knew about them. You said yourself that no one believes in the Inquisition."

Lyra's eyes were locked on the floor. "The only ponies that believe in it are the ones that have seen it. I'd like to leave it at that."

Instantly, Taylor understood. Lyra must have had a run-in with the Inquisition at some point. It explained why Bon-bon knew about them, and why she really didn't want him here.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Thankfully, Bon-bon returned a moment later, carrying a bag in her teeth filled with various paints and brushes. She seemed to be feeling better, which was a great relief to both Taylor and Lyra. Setting it on the table, she took a seat across from them.

"So, why the serious faces? Not happy to see me back?" she asked jokingly.

"He asked me about the Inquisition, so I told him." Lyra said flatly.

Bon-bon seemed stunned more than anything. "I guess I should have kept my mouth shut earlier, but he knows now, so I guess there's no undoing that." She turned to Taylor "Now you know why I reacted the way I did. They've already told her to leave the human research alone. If they find out she brought you here, I don't want to think about what will happen to her."

Taylor nodded, not really in the mood to speak. He was beginning to realize just how much danger the three of them were in. Overwhelming didn't even begin to describe it.

"You're both going to have to be really careful, especially you," she pointed a hoof in Taylor's direction, "because you're not familiar with how things work around here. Keep quiet as much as possible and try not to blow your own cover. It's not just your safety on the line."

She glanced at Lyra, and Taylor nodded again. He wasn't too worried about what might happen to him if he were caught, but Lyra's well-being was a different story altogether. Getting her in trouble - or worse - for his own blunder would be devastating.

"Understood."

Bon-bon seemed to relax. This human looked determined, as if he wanted to protect Lyra as much as she did. Perhaps they're not all bad. "With that out of the way, we have one thing to do." She opened the bag and picked out a brush.

"You need a cutie mark, and a proper pony name to go with it!"

[Bon-bon's right! Taylor needs to complete his disguise, but for that, he's going to need your help! Leave your suggestions for a name and cutie mark in the comment section. Just keep in mind that each pairing has to make sense. I'll be picking my favorite combination and crediting that person in the next chapter!]

[P.S. - There might be a few errors in this chapter. It was half-written when I made the change to a different writing perspective, so just point 'em out and I'll swat 'em]