Hello there. My name is Linda, and this is my story.
I checked my alarm one last time. I had important things to do the next day, and didn't want to be late. Confident that all was in order, I snuggled in under the covers, closed my eyes, and was out like a lamp.
But not for long, I discovered. No sooner had I nodded off than I found myself suddenly conscious. Conscious and trapped. I was being firmly held all over. I couldn't breathe! I tried to pull and heave, to little avail at first, but suddenly I heard a loud crack and blessed air reached my frantic mouth.
A thin shell of stone began to fall away from me, tumbling to the stone dais I was standing on with my hooves... why did I have hooves? I held my altered arms out in front of my face as details began to come to me. One, those were legs, not arms. Two, I had a snout poking out into my vision.
I realized I was far from my bed and paused my self-examination with a sudden sense of danger. I was out in the open. I was also some kind of animal, from that first glance. A hooved animal, I had to guess, what with the hooves and all.
Looking around with a building sense of panic, I could see there were other platforms. Each had a statue of a horse on them, many holding something as if their hooves were actually hands. Some looked happy, some pensive, and one of them... was me?
I looked down at my horsey chest and saw dark blue fur. I was not made of stone. Did the other statues have horses inside of them?
I heard a faint clip-clop. Something was coming! I hopped down off my platform on alien legs and almost fell over for my effort, but managed to hide in time for another living horse to wander in, wielding a rake.
The rake was quite odd, seeing as the horse wasn't holding it at all. It just floated along and moved on its own, glowing gently as it did so. Magic? I was in a land of magical horses, of course. It was just like that show my niece had mentioned that time. My Pretty Horse? Something like that.
That horse wasn't paying me any mind. Maybe I was hiding well enough, but he just wandered along, raking leaves and tidying up the garden, at least until he arrived at my platform and gaped up at the missing statue there. "Princess's gonna be mad," he muttered to himself before turning to trot away in a hurry.
Princess? Was she a good princess, or the evil kind? If she could get angry... she could still be either. Would my presence be welcomed, or horrifying? Forget that! I didn't sign up for adventures in magical horse land, or to become a horse. I held out a hoof to look it over, then twisted to give the rest of myself a going over. I had a light cyan tail that I could move after staring at it and concentrating. Great, that was... fantastic.
I lifted a rear leg and took a peek, just to practically fall over. I did not have the parts I was expecting. In hindsight, that had been silly of me, since if I was a lady horse, the parts I was looking for would be pretty much behind me, not under me. Second, those were not lady parts at all. I was hanging, like a horse. Like a stallion to be more specific about it.
Though unrelated to my gaining of masculinity, my brain skipped, just putting together another piece of things. "That horse talked," I said out-loud, confirming that I, too, could talk despite being a horse.
Perhaps it was the panic, but my thoughts were jumping around without much in the way of a smooth pattern. I suddenly thought of all the other statues. Most of them were holding something. Where was my thing?
I hopped up, my forehooves supporting my on the edge of the platform as I peered over the top. There, a bow, and a quiver. How on Earth did a horse make use of those?! Well, they were... mine? I guessed anyway. I reached out a hoof and couldn't quite reach, which is when I felt a warmth in my forehead.
I glanced up and went cross-eyed focusing on a growth I had up there. A horn?! "I have a fricken horn?!" Two horns, technically. I had a horn above and below, lucky me. I laughed sardonically at my little joke before the quiver from before bopped me right in the nose. It was glowing like the rake the gardener was using. Was I doing that?
I held out a hoof and imagined the quiver sliding into place, and it did, just like that. I giggled, even if it was lower than I was used to, more of a chuckle really. I was a magical horse in magical horse land. I was a pretty pretty unicorn stallion, the fantasy of many doe-eyed little girls, come to whisk them away to a land of fantasy where they could be pretty pretty princesses and live happily ever after!
Bonk. The bow had bumped up against me. I was really scatterbrained in the shock of it all and must have taken the other half of the set. I only noticed then that the arrows had hearts at the end instead of lethally sharp points. Was I a statue of a love stallion? Could I make people fall in love? That would be...
I sank to my haunches, the bow falling over me and hanging awkwardly. It was too much.
"Are you certain?" came a mature female voice.
"Sure as the sun in the sky," replied that gardener from before.
I should have hidden, but I was too busy overloading on everything, so I mostly just sat there while a very large white horse with a flowing mane of brilliant shades came in beside the gardener.
They spotted me there. I did have the sense to try to hide, but only after already being seen, which made it quite a useless gesture as I scurried behind the platform clumsily.
The large white horse nodded to the gardener. "I will take it from here. Have somepony come later to clean this mess, please."
I could hear the gardener walking off, then the large horse coming closer. She had wings, and a horn. Did I have wings? No. No wings, just the horn.
"True Shot?" she called gently. "Is that really you?"
Who the hell was True Shot? I sure didn't know.
"True?" She slowly circled the platform and I scurried to keep it between us, panicking. It didn't keep up for long, however. Her horn glowed and it felt like I was being held in the warmest blanket. She lifted me up gently. "True Shot! But... how? This... Are you alright?"
I was dangling there in her magic. Her voice was kind, her expression was concerned. Even her magic felt benign and gentle. I started to feel a little silly fearing her as I had. She had the answers I needed. "I'm sorry," I said in my new stallion voice. "I'm not 'True Shot'. My name is Linda, and I have no idea what's going on."
The large horse flinched, looking immeasurably sad for the briefest instant. "I see... Linda? Is that not a mare's name?"
She could see that I was not a mare, what with me dangling there in front of her. "Y-yeah, a woman, specifically. I wasn't--"
My alarm went off with the the loud grating buzz that I had purchased it for. I sat up like a bolt, panting. I thrust out a hand. Yep, hands...
Had it been a dream? It had to have been...
I had things to do, so I tried to focus on them. I finished writing up the grant paper that was only a day away from deadline. I had some meetings with important people. I had places to go.
And yet... the dream refused to leave me. It had been so... I could smell things, feel things. It was so... It was as if I had been there. That was, of course, ridiculous, or so I had decided. I shoved it all as far from my mind as I could, soldiering through the day and getting all the things done that were expected of me.
But, eventually, it was time for bed again. I wasn't so quick to fall asleep. What if I had that same dream? What if I didn't wake up?
I snorted at that thought. That was getting silly. It was just a dream. I really had to grow up. I also really had to get some sleep. I had another day, blessed Friday, before I had any days to myself. So, more sleep, less freaky dreams.
Resolved, I settled in, closed my eyes, and was suddenly trapped again.
The urge to panic wasn't as strong. Was I a statue again? I gave a firm heave and the shell broke, allowing me to slowly free myself. I could see that I had been petrified in the same position that I had been in when the large horse had been holding me. It was morning again in that magical place. Had they had a day in the time I had a day?
There was a scroll placed on the stand. As I brushed off bits of stone with a hoof, the scroll lifted up and came closer because I wanted a look at it. I unrolled it with a thought. The writing was... not English, but I could read it anyway, as if I could hear that large horse speaking in my head. Maybe this body knew the language enough to translate it? Was that even remotely possible? About as possible as becoming a transgender magic horse, I supposed.
Hello Linda,
I am aware that this missive may rest forever unread, but if you do return, please know that you are not unwelcome here if you come with peaceful intentions. I am Princess Celestia, and the form you reside in is True Shot, a dear friend from long ago. He... passed, as all good ponies must in time, and I had this statue constructed in his likeness to keep his memory alive. I never believed it would become the host of another. If you are reading this, look around until you see the large castle, that is mine. Travel there and bring this scroll with you and the guards will allow you entry. We have much to discuss, if you are willing.
My magic rolled up the scroll with barely a thought as I circled around until the large castle came into view. It was right out of a fable. The fable I was living. So, I was her old friend. Her old, dead, friend, come back to life. That was kind of creepy. Wait, she said he died of old age, but she didn't seem old. That was odd.
I had two basic choices. Wander off, or take up Celestia on her offer. Of the two, Celestia seemed the smarter choice. She was offering answers, and she seemed like the nice kind of princess. I hopped down from the dais and began slowly walking towards the castle, even if that meant... a hedge maze.
It gave some time to think, just meandering through there. I used to have a nice maze in a park near where I lived. I'd walk it for hours, thinking about things. That wasn't any different, and I thought, and felt my new body. The play of alien muscles was exhilarating and disconcerting all at once. I was a stallion, and not a poorly-shaped one, so far I could tell. I felt powerful, and able. I also had a bow and some heart arrows of unknown intent.
I emerged from the hedge maze to find other horses. Some wore gleaming golden armor and stood at rigid attention, while others were dressed in expensive-looking fineries and walked around with an air of self-importance.
I suddenly felt quite naked, being the only one in sight that wasn't wearing something and I doubted my quiver counted for much. I looked around nervously, but none of the other horses seemed very alarmed by my presence, though they clearly saw me.
One of the guards approached. "Excuse me, sir. The hedge maze requires permission to wander. You shouldn't be in there."
I jerked back to the present. "Oh, yeah. Here." I floated over the scroll.
The guard looked confused, but accepted the scroll in his hooves and unfurled it quickly. His eyes scanned rapidly. "I see. This way, please." He turned away and began walking. It wasn't the walk I did. It was bouncier, and faster. I hadn't learned horse gaits. It wasn't a gallop, I was sure of that. What was it? Whatever it was, I tried to imitate it with clumsy success, and we entered the vaulted halls of the castle.
The guard spoke over his shoulder as we went, "Princess Celestia is attending court. You can wait for her here. If you require anything, simply ring the bell."
'Here' turned out to be a small waiting room, which seemed fitting enough for waiting. There was art... everywhere. The halls had art. The windows? Also art. Even the table, filled as it was with cookies and tea and other treats, also had bits of art on it. The candle set in the center looked exquisite. There was no doubt I was standing in a place meant for royalty. And horses.
"Thanks," I mumbled, a bit overwhelmed. "Say, could I ask a few questions?"
"Yes, sir?"
Sir. Right, I did have those parts. "Where are we?"
The guard blinked owlishly. "This is Canterlot Castle, part of the city of Canterlot, capital of Equestria."
Equestria... how... horse like. "And you are?"
"My name, sir?"
"No, what are you?"
The guard peered at me like I was a little out there, but he did answer, "I am an earth pony, part of the Celestial guard." Predicting my next question, he pointed at me. "You are a unicorn pony."
I looked back over myself. A pony? Well, a pony was mostly just a small horse, right? "So... Celestia's a horse then?"
The guard flinched faintly. "Please do not refer to Princess Celestia as a horse. She is a pony."
I held up my ha--hooves. sitting on my haunches to not topple over in the act. "No offense intended, promise."
"If you require anything further." He pointed at a bell on the table, nodded, and did his jumpy-jog out of the room.
I was alone. I also had a lot of delicious smelling treats. Well... It was just a dream, so eating a little wouldn't mess with my diet, right? I wanted one of those raspberry-filled cookies, and it hopped up and floated over to my open mouth. My teeth came down on it and I let out a soft moan of delight. It was delicious, light, and melted against the tongue. It was everything I wanted a cookie to be!
I had another before serving myself some of the tea to wash it down.
As I availed myself, I almost didn't hear the door opening. I glanced over to see Celestia stepping in.
She nodded at me. "Linda, I presume?" There was a faint hint of hope there.
I had to dash it. "Yeah, sorry." I wasn't her 'True Shot', nor could I ever really be.
Celestia shook her head. "No, it's alright. You have done nothing wrong." She reached out and tapped at my quiver. "Do you know what this is?"
I did not, and shook my head. "Not a clue."
"They were just stone replicas, but I... The original set was an artifact won by True Shot. When fired at two ponies quickly, they would be drawn towards one another. If they were of compatible inclination, the magic would reinforce it and love would blossom swiftly. If not, a harmless conversation." She nudged the quiver again. "I would urge you to caution with them. I could not say for certain if whatever magic has allowed you to inhabit True Shot's form has also endowed them with life."
They were Cupid's Arrows?! "Doesn't it hurt somebody, you know, being shot with literal arrows?"
Celestia gave a wan smile at that. "They pinch a little, but the sensation passes quickly."
How did... Oh. "He shot you, didn't he?"
Pink spread across her cheeks faintly. "He had it in mind that my perfect companion was out there, somewhere, and strived to find it. He was a pain in my flank, quite literally." A soft sigh echoed forth from her large lungs. "I miss him." She leveled a gold-clad hoof at me. "Let us speak of you. Linda, yes? Welcome to Equestria. What do you intend?"
What did I intend? That was a big question. "This is the craziest dream I ever had."
Celestia blinked at that. "This is no dream from where I sit, but I suppose anypony asked in a dream would say much the same. I would encourage you to treat it seriously, especially if ever you are tempted to use those arrows. You mentioned you were a mare before coming here?"
"A woman," I corrected. "Human, homo sapien, which is a really cocky name when there are other talking species around come to think."
Celestia gestured over my form. "And here you are, a stallion of ancient repute. True Shot is a legendary figure, though few are learned enough to consider the story deeply. Foals are taught he will appear like a faerie to bring true love's touch with his magic arrows." She smiled. "In some, he is a pegasus, others, a unicorn, and others yet, an alicorn."
"Alicorn?"
She spread her wings even as she indicated her horn. "Those of us who have both horn and wings. We are the royalty of Equestria. While dear True Shot was a wonderful soul, he... Well, to start, he was a he. Stallions do not easily cross that barrier. In fact, none have in recorded history."
Magical ponies were sexist? "Well, I'm not really a he."
She raised a brow. "By most definitions, you certainly are, though if your heart and soul are female, who knows." She lifted her shoulders. "Do you intend to take up his work? We have a princess of love now. You could be competing with her."
I had to laugh, so I did. "Seriously?"
"Quite. Her name is Cadance. She is quite kind, and would likely enjoy meeting you, but she lives far to the north, in the Crystal Empire." She started suddenly. "I... see our time is running out. I'm glad we had longer to speak today."
What did she mean? I followed her eyes down to my hooves to see they had already gone grey. I was turning to stone, smoothly and quickly. It didn't hurt. It actually tingled pleasantly now that I knew it was happening. Did that mean I was waking up? "See you tomorrow?"
"Be well, Linda, heir of True Shot." She bowed her head, and everything went dark.
I roused from sleep more naturally. I was up before the alarm had a chance to snap me awake. I had another day ahead of me, and got to meeting it. Crazy horse dreams would have to wait until the evening.
*haven't read it yet* is this something like Kimi no na wa?
7812271 File not found.
following this!
What do you mean by transgender?
7812272 Kimi no na wa is a japanese animated movie about two teens exchanging "souls" every time they sleep, but they can move around and live the others life, they don't exchange every night but they stay in the other for only a day, then they write to each other and I wont spoil it, if you are going to see it, but emotional roller coaster.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Name
7812295 The protagonist, a human female, gains an alternate life where she's a stallion, a male pony. Transgender, as in changing gender.
So I'm taking it on faith that the title is simply meant to be a reference to the sleep-crossing between Earth and Equestria, since the line, in Hamlet's original soliloquy, was regarding the contemplation of death (that is, suicide) as possibly being better than going on living. But I digress.
First, I have to say, I was wondering how long it was going to take you to start something new after your last story ended. As it turns out, it was one day, though that seems to be more to do with Patreon-based sponsorship than any a need to write. Not that I'm criticizing; when something is your profession, then you need to maximize its profitability, rather than only doing it as the spirit moves you.
Anyway, on to the story itself.
I suppose the first question that comes to mind is the ubiquitous question of what (if anything) Luna can glean from this. The fact that Linda asked if this was a dream should clue Celestia in that there's some sort of sleep-based aspect to this, and that's her sister's domain. That doesn't mean that there's necessarily anything to do with dreams, or that Luna will have any special insight, but it's the idea that Celestia would think to have her check that seems to plausible to ignore.
As for Linda...I can already see her fumbling those arrows and jabbing herself (and probably somepony else) in short order. It's a bit of a shame, I think, that we avoided the obvious scenario wherein she did that before she understood the artifact she was wielding, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen going forward. Given the transgender nature of this fic, as well as the author, one can quickly foresee the confusion/hilarity that will ensue when Linda finds herself attracted to Rarity or Fleur or some other mare and finds her stallion body reacting to it. That said, I seriously doubt that she'll be "competing" with Cadance, since Cadance's nature as the "princess of love" is technically pure fanon - while she might use love as a force (e.g. to help Shining Armor use his changeling-banishing force field), her technical job is to protect the Crystal Empire, and nothing more (e.g. Twilight says as much at the end of Twilight's Kingdom, just before launching into the beginning of "You'll Play Your Part"). Cadance might use her magic to make ponies having an argument instead focus on loving each other, but that's not what she's princess of, per se.
I suppose the major question here is why this is happening in the first place, but at least for the moment I don't think that matters. The nature of what's going on here seems to be more important than the genesis, particularly since an examination into the why's and how's of this would likely overshadow what's done with it, which doesn't seem like where this story wants to go. Obviously there'll need to be some examination of why/how this is happening, though, simply because it's too implausible not to try and get answers, but that can be chalked up with a shrug if no one has any answers to give.
[Insert ubiquitous "Disney's Gargoyles" reference about her pony form turning to stone when she's awake here.]
This is good.
when comes the next?
7812324 I tend to post updates swiftly and without mercy.
7812319 Sleep is a little death. No man awakens the same as the one who went to sleep. This woman can't even wake up a woman. It's a bit disorienting. Instead she's become a stallion with some background with Celestia.
Had Linda more deceit in her from the start, she could have pretended to be True Shot, and oh the drama that would have been, but she played her cards straight.
Still, she has a whole world to explore. It's just a dream, right? Nothing to fear as she savors this new rash of lucid slumberings.
As for Luna, she's coming, have no fear.
7812349
Good.
Does this story overlap with your other stories? Will there be any other humans that break out of statues in that garden? Will there be any humans that travel to Equestria differently?
7812716 No to the first. The others would be spoilers I think.
7812755 Is any of those newcomers going to try to overthrow Celestia?
7812770 That also sounds like spoilers. Do you have any questions regarding the content of this chapter?
7812783 Nah, I'm just comparing your story to the one I started and almost abandoned :) I hope yours turns out better :)
The idea of adapting the old tale of the Monk dreaming of being a Butterfly was really good.
Turning her into pony Cupid... not so much.
7812881 Squint at the picture. I did not invent that.
7812903 Its an old Chinese folklore tale, every night when the Monk went to sleep he dreamed he was a butterfly, living its everyday life until it went to sleep, at which point he would awake as a human once again.
And so he simply could not tell if he was a human that dreamed of being a butterfly every night, or a butterfly that dreamed it was a human every night.
Huh. Shades of Gargoyles. Not sure where you're going with this. I look forward to finding out.
7812911 No no, I meant the heart arrows.
They are in the picture. I have heard of that tale though, yes.
Princess' gonna - Princess's gonna - normally a single apostrophe at the end of an 's' word is fine to show possessive tense, but this is a contraction.
fore hooves supporting my - forehooves supporting me
must have took - must have taken
glanced to see - glanced up/over/around to see
homo sapien - homo sapiens
I already like this and will happily continue reading and commenting. I'm looking forward to learning more about Linda and seeing what happens with the plot hooks we've seen so far. There's a certain impish charm to the idea of, in good spirits, trying to play matchmaker with Princess Celestia.
I do suspect that True Shot may not be entirely absent. If this iteration of Equestria is similar to the Silververse, most untrained humans in unicorn bodies fizzle out in their first attempt at using magic for any purpose, but Linda did it instinctively. This is wild speculation based on meta-knowledge, so feel free to assign it the weight that it deserves, i.e. none.
Of note: 'not unwelcome' isn't quite the same as 'welcome' is it? In formal logic the terms may cancel each other out, making them equivalent, but the former conveys a sense of distance and caution absent from the latter. This isn't a criticism but a comment on the subtle nuance of Princess Celestia's carefully chosen words.
Gender change, this should be a fun read.
7813154 I reject your last fix. She's allowed you get it wrong, in character! The rest have been stricken from the record.
Oh what trouble will Linda get into tomorrow?
I'm a little late writing this but good job so far can't wait for next chapter
we got that reference!
Time to play catch-up!
XD ! stone by night stallion by day her spell is broken he lives again!! I instantly thought of gargoyles *rolls around on the ground laughing*.
Interesting premise!, I'll keep readin'!
Now there's something you don't see a lot of here. I mean, you see lots and lots of it the other way around, because we have plenty of repressed (but curious) teenage boys around here, but a story where a girl actually turns male? Nope, now that is something I'm pretty sure I haven't seen before.
8411001
Yeah, it definitely got my attention.
8411001
8765764
Indeed. I've yet to see a female human to make stallion fic on here before.