She was hurtling through a vortex of electricity and light. It was not an unfamiliar feeling, but it carried the same sense of disorientation as it always had. The lightning prickled at her fur, causing her to giggle as the tunnel opened up, and deposited her at her destination.
“Ooh, tingly.”
She rubbed her antennae as the static electricity crackled around them, before turning to address her tail as well, waving them around to look at them. She had always enjoyed this form, Something about it felt more connected to her roots. Looking around, she found herself to be in a courtyard, adjacent to a castle.
“Halt! Who goes there!”
Grace turned to see a winged white horse, wearing gold plated armor, galloping over to her.
“Oh, hello Mr. Pegasus horse, sir. My name’s Grace and—”
“Who are you, and what are you doing in the Canterlot Gardens?”
Well, my name’s Grace, and...” Grace scratched for a moment and gazed upward. “Well, I’m not really sure what I’m doing here. I don’t even know where this Canterlot Place is. Where exactly are we?” She asked, turning back to the guard.
“You are in the royal courtyard, just outside of Canterlot Castle.”
Grace’s eyes became all sparkly as her mouth opened wide in a big smile.“A castle! You mean, like, for a princess? Oh this is so cool. Where is she?”
The guard motioned to his right. “She’s right over--wait, hey. No, I’m not letting you see the princess!” His eyes narrowed as he turned back toward her. Grace's smile vanished, her lips drawing tightly together as she leaned away from the horse's accusing glare. “What are you, exactly?" The horse said. "Clearly you are not equine."
Grace's smile returned at the mention of her appearance. “Ooh, would you like me to look like a horse? I could do that.”
The horse became even paler. “I—What?!”
Her antennae melting back into the rest of her head, Grace began to morph into a horse. Her bushy tail from earlier returned, and her hands and feet became hooves at the end of far more horse-like legs. Dropping onto all fours, she addressed Pegasus, mare to stallion. “Hi.”
“What in Celestia’s mane are you?” he exclaimed, shivering as beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face.
Grace looked up, as if trying to see the fuzzy brown horn now alighting her forehead. “Well, technically, I'm what's called a seyunolu.”
“And just what in the hay is that?” Pegasus took a step backward.
“Just a human-uryuom hybrid, with some lespuko DNA mixed in as well.” Grace squeed, looking back to the white, winged horse.
“What the buck is a uryuom?!” Pegasus was now slowly retreating.
“Shapeshifters.” Grace shrugged.
“And t-the les—whatever thingy?” His voice faltered as his wings proceeded to pin themselves to his side.
Grace put a hoof to her chin, gazing upward. “The lespuko? A super powerful alien race with incredible magical abilities.”
The white, winged horse froze. “I... you...” He tried to give her a stern look, but Grace could hear his armor rattling as he stood there. Whatever he had been trying to say, however, was silenced by the appearance of an even larger and much more majestic looking Pegasus. Upon closer inspection, Grace noticed that this one was also a unicorn.
"Quiver, what's going on over here?" Said the large white unicorn pegasus, with a soft but firm voice.
"We have an intruder, Your Highness." The guard replied. "This—this creature just appeared out of nowhere and asked to see you. It could be dangerous, Princess. We should send it away."
The taller one eyed Grace for a moment, before looking back to the guard. "No, that's quite alright, Quiver. I'm actually very interested to learn how she got here."
"But, Your Majesty—"
"It's alright, Quiver. I think I'll be perfectly fine. I am Princess Celestia after all, am I not?" She stared at the guard for a moment.
"Of—of course, Princess." Quiver replied, stuttering a little.
Turning back to Grace, Celestia went on. "Why don't you tell us, miss... "
"Grace!" Grace answered.
"Miss Grace." The unicorn nodded.
"So then he shot me with the gun, and that’s how I ended up here.”
Celestia turned to look at the guard. He lifted his wings a feather momentarily in response, and she returned her gaze to the dark brown unicorn standing next to him.
“And, what is your name again?”
“Um, Grace, your majesty,” the unicorn replied, scratching at one of her hooves with the other.
“And you are a... what, exactly?”
“A seyunolu. I’m a human-lespuko hybrid.” The unicorn’s mane then sprouted two very thick tufts of hair, which she proceded to wave around like antennae. “See?”
“I do.” Celestia stood up.
“Oh, and, um... squirrel, your majesty,” Grace added.
“Squirrel?!”
Celestia ignored him. “Well, Grace, there’s really no need to be so formal. You can just call me Tia, if you’d like.” She added, walking over to where Grace stood.
Grace laughed. “Do you drink a lot of it?”
Tia blinked. “I’m... sorry?”
“Tea,” Grace replied. “You asked me to call you ‘Tea’. You must drink it a lot if everyone calls you that.”
Celestia thought about it for a moment, then let out a chuckle. “You know, I think I might know somepony you would get along with very well. You said you were stuck here, and you don’t know how to get home?” she asked, walking over to her balcony.
“That’s correct, Tia,” Grace replied, nodding fervently.
“Excellent,” replied Celestia, turning back toward Grace. “Quiver, see Grace to the train please. Next stop: Ponyville.”
“Of—of course, your majesty,” the guard replied with a quick salute, before turning on his hoof and exiting the room.
When they were gone, Celestia let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Whew, at last. I thought I’d never get them out of here.” She trotted back up toward her throne and knelt down. “Thank goodness she has no clue who I am. And a lespuko, no less.” She rubbed her head with her hoof, before lying down to take a rest. “Oh well, she’s out of my hair now.” She laid her head down and closed her eyes.
“Tia!” a familiar voice called from just around the corner.
Oh, no. She had forgotten.
“Sister, we seek your acquaintance at once.”
Luna.
When the train came to a complete stop, the conductor returned and gestured to Grace.
“Miss, this is your stop. The princess arranged for you to stay with somepony here in Ponyville.”
Grace looked up from her seat. “Aww, we’re here already? I’m in the middle of a really fun game.”
“Oh, that’s quite alright,” said the pony sitting across from her. “I think you beat me again anyway.” A small, yellow unicorn with glasses began levitating a set of colored figurines from the checkered board between them into a box beside him. “I must say: It’s been a while since I met somepony who could give me enough of a challenge for it to be enjoyable, let alone beat me three times over.”
“Aww, it was nothing, really,” Grace replied.
“You’re telling me,” the unicorn muttered to himself.
Grace turned and trotted happily over to the conductor. He led her out onto the platform, whereupon she was flattened by something with thick, pink hair.
“Hi!” it said, climbing off of her. Grace looked up to see a small horse standing over her, but this one was bright pink, with even pinker curly hair. “I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be Grace. Twilight said you were coming but I didn’t think you would get here so soon, but I couldn’t miss you on the train so I came straight here to wait for you, and it’s a good thing I did because it’s only been an hour and you’re already here! I barely even had enough time to set up the party decorations and mail out the invitations!”
Grace’s eyes became super large, as well as shiny, and sparkly. “Hi, Pinkie Pie! Yes, my name’s Grace. I can’t wait to meet Twilight and the other girls. Thanks for coming to meet me at the train. This is so cool!” Pinkie climbed off of her long enough to be glomped in return. “And it’s so cool that you’re throwing me a party! YEEEEE!”
She squeezed Pinkie Pie so tightly that after a few moments even Pinkie Pie had to ask her to stop. Pinkie Pie, for the first time in the history of... ever, had just been out-hugged. Pinkie’s ego bouncing the way it always did, she recovered instantly, and the pair sped off toward the library.
“And then we’re gonna play pin the tail on the pony...”
“Pinkie.”
“And throw confetti and streamers...”
“Pinkie!”
“And eat cake and candy and drink punch and sasparilla...”
“PINKIE!”
Pinkie’s rant ceased immediately. “Yes, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing, and began to blink her eyes rapidly.
“You still haven’t told me who your friend is.” Twilight turned toward the unicorn Pinkie had brought with her. “I’m sorry, Miss. Pinkie gets a little overexcited sometimes. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Twilight!” Pinkie's friend then tackle-glomped Twilight. “Pinkie mentioned you on the way over. I'm Grace. You’re the town librarian, right? And you live in this tree with a dragon named Spike who has a crush on you for some reason.”
Twilight stared, open mouthed, at Grace. “Huh?”
“Was I right?” Grace asked.
Twilight—whose face had suddenly turned pale green and begun to sweat—turned to Pinkie. “Why did you tell her Spike has a crush on me? I didn’t even know that.”
“Know what?”
They all turned to see Spike walk through a door underneath the staircase, carrying a small stack of books.
“That apparently you have a crush on me?” Twilight stepped forward with a questioning look.
“What?! No!” Spike dropped the books he was carrying as he stepped back, gagging once or twice. “Why would you think that, Twilight? I mean, come on, you’re almost like my big sister or something. Besides”—He motioned for her to move closer and whispered in her ear—“I like Rarity, remember?”
Twilight stepped back, her eyes wide as her entire face began to turn red. “Wait, but then... Pinkie!” Twilight turned to Pinkie, eyes narrowed. “Why did you tell Grace that Spike has a crush on me?!”
“I didn’t tell Grace that Spike has a crush on you,” Pinkie replied, appearing as shocked as Twilight did.
“Oh, I guess that’s my fault, sorry.”
They all turned toward Grace, who was still standing in the middle of the room where they’d left her, and now wearing a very guilty-looking smile. She sat back on her hind legs, tapping her front hooves together in front of her. “Akiko said there was a dragon named Spike who was in love with a unicorn. I guess I kinda assumed she meant you.” With nothing left to say, Grace let out what could only be described as an adorable squeak.
There was a long awkward silence, during which Pinkie scurried out the door, mumbling something about party preparations. Finally, Spike said something.
“Who’s Akiko?”
(convenient scene break)
“So, let me see if I got this.” Twilight paced back and forth in front of Grace, who stood next to Pinkie and Spike in the middle of the library “You’re not a pony; you’re a part human, part”—she paused, trying to remember the word—“lespuko?” Grace nodded, so she went on. “Part lespuko, and part... sayoonowloo?”
“Actually, I’m not part seyunolu. Seyunolu just means ‘greater chimaera’. I’m a mix of human, lespuko, and squirrel.”
“Uhuh. And what exactly are you doing in Equestria, again?” Twilight scribbled something on the scroll on her desk, taking notes on Grace’s story.
“Well, I don’t really know. Tedd just said he was trying out a new form on his TG ray gun, and he wanted me to research its abilities. Something about”—Grace rubbed her head with her hoof—“teleportation?”
Twilight zapped herself directly in front of Grace, grinning wide at the thought of a fellow jumper. “Teleportation?”
Grace leaned back a bit, letting out a small “meep!”
Twilight stepped back, her face relaxing a bit. “Sorry. Teleportation has always been something of I’ve had an affinity for. So, do you know how to teleport?” she asked, warping back to her desk with another pop.
“Actually, no,” Grace called from across the room. “Tedd had only just shot me with the gun when I got sucked into this weird vortex portal thing. I ended up in some courtyard somewhere and met a very grumpy guard. After that, Princess Tia sent me here to Ponyville.”
“Mhmm.” Twilight nodded, trotting back over to where Grace stood. That matched up with the letter she’d received from Celestia. “Well, given your lack of a cutie mark, that story almost makes sense, but it still doesn’t explain why you look like a pony if you aren’t one.” Twilight stopped, turning on her hoof to face Grace.
“Oh, that’s easy. The guard was freaking out, so I turned into my pony form to fit in. Do you like it?”
“Ooh! Ooh! what else can you turn into?” Pinkie Pie burst out next to her. “A dragon? Maybe a lollipop? Oh, I know! you’re a werefrog, right?”
Grace’s eyebrows grew closer together and her mouth pressed into a tight loop as she stared at Pinkie Pie.
“Actually, I can only turn into forms I’ve logged with the TG gun, but I can do this.” She reared back onto her hind legs, which lengthened, and grew paw-like feet with fur and claws while the knees reversed themselves. The same thing happened to her front legs, and her tail grew thick and bushy. Her horn dissolved into her head, which was now covered in thick brown fur, and she stood erect on her hind legs without visible effort, indicating that this form normally stood that way.
Pinkie Pie squinted her eyes for a moment, before bursting out. “She looks like a giant squirrel!”
“Squirrel?” a soft voice called.
Twilight looked up, as the others turned around, to see Fluttershy standing in the doorway.