//------------------------------// // [03] The Land of Magical Talking Horses // Story: The Expected, Unexpected Twist // by PuckDaFolice //------------------------------// The Land of Magical Talking Horses "Luna, I'm afraid that I sense it nearer, as of now." Celestia said, while furiously writing on a piece of worn out parchment. Luna flinched but kept pacing around the throne room. The only sound that could be hear for a while was the scribbling of a quill and the clopping (the normal clopping) of hooves. "Sister..." Luna spoke out, catching Celestia's attention "Should we tell the Bearers?" Celestia looked over from her completed letter and set aside the quill on the throne. Celestia's horn glowed a healthy yellow for a while as did the letter, as said letter lifted in mid-air. Suddenly the letter disappeared with a transition that looked as if the letter ate itself. "I already informed my faithful student to be on the look-out for anything strange." Celestia replied. Luna visibly relaxed for a while but suddenly tensed up. So did Celestia. "It's here" they proclaimed simultaneously. The sun hit Lance's face fairly quickly, quicker than he was used to. Lance groaned as he flailed his arms around, effectively hitting the side of the cave he was apparently in. 'Wait, cave?!' Lance woke abruptly, eyeing his surroundings. "Oh shit, I am in a cave!" Lance's voice echoed strangely in the cave. Lance tried to stand up on his legs but found it impossible. Why? Well, because he's a quadrupedal now, shocking I know. Lance eyed his arms, only to be greeted by black and holed stumps. "Are these...hooves?" Lance asked to no one in particular, as he eyed the ends of the stumps. Lance was sitting on his haunches as he examined every part of his body that he can see. All of them were black, slick, and holed. "I've had weirder dreams..." Lance assured himself. Lance stretched his body a tad awkwardly, creating a cracking sound he didn't expect "That sounded morbid..." he mumbled. Deciding he ought to get used to his "dream body", Lance stood unsteadily on all fours. He grinned to himself as he managed to maintain this position. Lance cleared his throat (which sounds like a farting sound actually) "OK then...I've got standing...now for some walking, or was it trotting? Ah whatever!" "Another beautiful day in Ponyville!" exclaimed a purple-esque horned pony. Or you can just call her Twilight Sparkle, personal student of the Sun Princess and. Twilight Sparkle trotted over to a large oaken tree resembling a house. Because it is a house. Twilight's house. Twilight's library/house thing, called "Golden Oaks Library". Using her unicorn magic, the door swung open, revealing a distressed small purple dragon by the name of..."Spike! What's wrong? You look like you have Gem indigestion! Do you? I know the proper procedures to--*BELCH*--cure you..." Twilight was hit in the face by a piece of rolled-up parchment. "Ugh, oh man, that hurt..." Spike complained, rubbing his belly. Twilight rolled her eyes as she levitated the letter inside. As soon as Twilight Sparkle manage to sort things out in the library (though admittedly Spike did a good job of cleaning up), she unfurled the letter and began to read. To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle My sister and I have discovered a rapidly growing energy throughout Equestria. We do not now what could possibly be the cause of this; Discord has been reformed, Queen Chrysalis has been forced to scurry back to her hive, and King Sombra has been...eliminated. We are truly worried on what might the power source be, but I ask you and your friends to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and report back via Spike, immediately. With love, Princess Celestia P.S. Could you be so kind as to ask your friend, Rarity to produce a giant hat for me? I know how she loves giant hats, as well as making them, and I am in dire need of one. If it's no hassle to her that is. Twilight finished reading the letter and curled it back up, flinging it to an oblivious Spike. "Spike! I'll head off to Rarity's for a while, keep an eye on the library again. Don't worry, I'll be back soon!" Twilight galloped away, leaving a mumbling Spike alone. "But I wanted to go to Rarity's..." "So, I've got trotting down." Lance reminded himself, as he paced around the cave. The sun was high in the sky, meaning it had to be around afternoon. "This...this is a pretty long dream" Lance looked up to the sky, only to withdraw his head. "Damn, that sun is bright!!" Lance spun around to face the innards of the cave, examining it in detail. Lance had a sudden realization. "I have freaking ultra-vision! This is epic. Heh, maybe this dream isn't so bad after all" A sound behind Lance caused him to freeze. He heard crunching noises, like a pair of feet(hooves?) is treading on the fallen leaves just outside of the cave. Ever so slowly, Lance turned his head to spot any possible threat that could, um, threaten him. All of a sudden, Lance was staring at the eyes of a minty colored...unicorn. "A Changeling!" the unicorn shrieked in a high-pitched voice. Lance assumed the unicorn was female. "A...what?" Lance croaked out, confused. Lance tried to near the mare, but every step he takes forward, the unicorn takes one backwards in response. Lance could feel the tension emanating from the unicorn. "P-p-please don't hurt me! I have no love to give!" the unicorn cried. If only she listened to Twilight and studied up on more magic, she could have easily teleported away from the changeling in front of her. Lance tilted his head, creating a sickening *snap!* sound "Love? Wha-...I'm not gonna rape you!" The look on the unicorn's face was a mixture of confusion, fear, and embarrassment. "Rape?..." she whispered. "What?..." A deadly (and awkward) silence made itself known with a cricket rubbing it's hind-legs to create that distinctive sound only failed performers and their audience would know. "So..." Lance began, stepping back "I'm just...gonna go back to my cave and...take a nap?" Lance suddenly felt the tension from the mare cease and be replaced by utter confusion. "Um...sure...changeling..." the unicorn cocked an eyebrow "...I'll, see you later? Hopefully not though." the mare began to back out off the cave and into the woods. "Uh yeah, bye?" Lance called out, the unicorn disappearing from view. "Huh" Lance mumbled "That was interesting...so I met a unicorn... a freaking unicorn. This dream is pretty funny. What's next huh, a pegasus? Dragons? Chimeras? Hahaha." Unbeknownst to Lance, he will be meeting pegasi soon. Royal guards to be exact.