Jeff Slater, in all of his life, couldn't say he ever expected to be turned into a pony. When he heard about such a thing on the news, he imagined it was just science fiction, just like the many other things that played on the TV. Equestria Online, as far as he understood, was just a popular game that his children played.
It made waking up as a pony at the end of his battle against cancer all the more surprising.
Now she is a mare named Candle Light, living in the fictional land of Equestria, a land that presents itself with unlimited resources and happiness that seems almost never ending. And all that's asked of her is to find friendship and seek satisfaction for herself.
Friendship and satisfaction can be easy things to come by in Equestria, but it's much more difficult to find for the ones left behind on Earth. Happiness, it seems, is a zero-sum game being played between ponies and humans. And Candle Light may just be caught in the middle of it.
Cover art by Merisa.