Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

88 - Simple Hooves

Trixie walked with a determined stride, her stone held out in front of her. "Trixie cannot wait to find this other and then she will best them in a display of magic."

Starlight hiked a brow as she followed along. "Why are you assuming they will be hostile?"

"They have Linda." Trixie shrugged. "How friendly can they be?"

Tod hopped up onto a guard rail they were going past and walked along it. "Maybe they're taking care of her? Also, other what?"

Starlight spoke through clenched teeth, "other unicorn, of course."

"Oh." Tod hopped down, sneakers striking the dirt of the path they were walking along. "Are they hiding as people too then?"

Starlight wobbled a hand. "Maybe? They've hidden this long."

"Do you miss being a pony?"

Trixie grunted at that. "Don't even get her started. She is looking forward to stretching her legs, all four of them. How do humans even make it through a day without a tail? It is beyond Trixie's understanding."

Tod got a lopsided grin as he considered it. "What's it like, you know, having a tail?"

Trixie glanced aside at him before returning her attention to her tracking efforts. "Trixie could not have said before, until she didn't have one. It is a comforting presence. Trixie feels like she is being an... like she has no expression, or at least only half of one. She can smile and frown and these fingers are not bad at it, but they are not what she is used to."

Starlight lifted her hands in a grand shrug. "I hear you there, Trix. Always wearing clothes? That might work for some ponies, but it was never my style. Always rubbing and touching, ugh."

Perhaps Tod took a moment to consider the two of them without clothes, because he began to blush a little as he went quiet.

"Time to get off the path." Trixie's rock was pointing left right off of it. "She will lead the way." She stepped off into the underbrush with the other two following behind. "Trixie will admit, she thought of this from Twilight's work. The link between things is a powerful thing, is it not."

"Don't sell yourself short." Starlight put a hand on Trixie's shoulder. "This is just what we needed, when we needed it."

Tod hustled to be just beside them. "Is Twilight here too?"

Trixie glanced aside at Tod, suspicion in her glare. "Why?"

"Just curious!" He held up his hands placatingly. "You're a better wizard anyway."

Trixie's expression lightened into joy. "You are more perceptive than Trixie had originally thought. Mayhaps once this is finished she can show you some real magic."

Starlight waved a hand between the two. "Let's not get to counting our chickens before we even have the eggs, alright? Trixie, can you tell how close we are?"

"It can't be far. She took one more long step and stopped. She circled around and came back a little step before she lowered the stone towards the ground. "Here? Trixie is confused..."

Starlight frowned at the spot in the ground. "Is she buried, or is that rock of yours broken?"

Tod looked around at the thick gathering of trees that surrounded them. "She's down, you think?"

"Trixie is certain of it." She pocketed the rock and pointed at the same place. "That way, that's where she is."

Starlight dropped to a crouch before hitting the ground on all fours and patting at the ground in a searching pattern. "Well, either there's some way in there, or we have to get digging, which is it going to be? It looks like normal grass and stuff to me."

Tod shuddered from top to bottom. "Look, if we dig and find, you know, her dead body or something, I'm not afraid to say I will scream like a little girl."

Trixie lifted her shoulders. "We cannot help Linda if we don't find her. One way or the other, we will find her. Trixie does not fail to do what she sets out to do." She huffed softly, crossing her arms. "So you'd better start digging."

"You're not?" Tod looked at the ground skeptically. "I didn't bring a shovel.

"Fortunately for you, Trixie is a master of transmutations!" She waved at a long stick that became a shovel with a sparkle of magic. "Ta da!"

A new female voice spoke, "What are you?" All three spun towards it to see the furry snout of a pony peeking out from some bushes. The same snout retreated quickly on their quick motion. "Stay back!"

Starlight smiled a gentle expression at the new pony. "Relax, we're not here to hurt you, just find and help our friend. You've seen her, right? This tall--" she held up a hand even with her own head, the two about the same height. "We look like sisters."

"Are you sisters?" The snout emerged a few inches. "How did you do that magic? Only unicorns can do that kind of magic." The pony had a reddish/brown coat and her eyes were large and emerald.

Tod was barely breathing. He probably wanted to rush the actual pony, but, to his credit, he controlled that urge.

Trixie glanced left and right before she leaned in and tipped her hat just so, revealing her horn. "To start, she is a unicorn."

Tod squeaked, but managed to keep himself mostly quiet.

The pony sagged. "Oh... Oh! Wait, does that mean you know how to escape?"

"Escape?"

Starlight shook her head. "She means getting home, to Equestria. That's a project in progress. Come on out of there, we're all friends here."

The mare's nose danced softly before she took an uncertain step forward. With her head clear of the bushes, it was obvious she was no unicorn. No horn hid in her blue-ish mane. "I... have your friend. I'm trying to take care of her."

Tod lit up. "You have Linda? She's alright?"

"N-no." She shrank back. "I'm doing what I can, but she's badly hurt."

Trixie spread her hands in a grand gesture. "Then bring her to us. We'll take care of her."

Starlight nodded quickly. "Please, and thank you for keeping her safe."

Her ears pinned against her head. "I shouldn't have even moved her as far as I did. I don't... think it was best, but leaving her on the beach seemed worse. I don't want to move her, at all. I... can show you how to get in, but it's barely big enough to squeeze her in, flat. You won't fit, not as whatever you are."

Trixie suddenly fell forward, hitting the ground on four hooves, her tail giving a strong swish. "Trixie is fine going like this." She squirmed free of her human clothes, though her cape and hat remained.

Starlight glanced aside at Tod. "Are you willing to keep watch up here?"

"Can't I go with you?"

"Not like that you can't. She just said so."

"If you can go human, can't you make me go pony?"

Starlight considered things to argue, but Tod looked quite eager to go. "Don't... tell Linda, alright?"

"Alright! I mean, not like she'll be listening right now. Make me an awesome pony, with wings and a horn!"

Trixie burst into musical laughter. "Already eager to be a princess? You pick one tribe and you enjoy it. It's more than you had before anyway."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Tricks is right. Pick one or I'll pick one for you."

"Pegasus."

"Nope." Starlight fell to all fours, squirming free of her clothes in her original form. "Last thing we need is a kid deciding he really wants to fly right now. Trix, do it."

Trixie gave a giddy giggle. "Thank you for letting her have the pleasure." Her horn began to glow brightly and engulfed Tod. The teen fell to the ground with a startled bit of pain. "Relax. It hurts less if you just go with it. Trixie has this under control."

Tod vanished into his clothes as Trixie watched him. "She has a clear image in her head. He will become a fine little stallion." Trixie advanced on the lump of clothing and smiled. "Behold! Tod, the pony!" She helped extract him, producing a lanky pony in the years between foalhood and adulthood.

"I..." He reached up a hoof and stopped, peering at it. "Oh, right..." His tail gave a twitch and that distracted him, making him curl up on himself to see it. "I'm yellow? Orange tail? Am I a unicorn? How do I do magic?!" He reached up as he had meant to start, poking around on his head.

Starlight shook her head. "Looks like Trixie made an earth pony out of you. There's no time to teach you how to do magic anyway." She turned towards the new mare. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, this is--"

"--Trixie Lulamoon." The mare was smiling a little. "I saw her perform once."

Trixie looked quite pleased at being recognized. "What magnificent performance did you have the luck of seeing?"

"I was on vacation to Las Pegasus. You were quite a sight. If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have been so scared."

Trixie's ego inflated with every word. "Well, you do now. She will take care of everything!"

Starlight rolled her eyes as she approached. "She means we will take care of things. Let's get going. The sooner we can get our hooves on Linda, the better. Humans have a strange way of doing everything, but they know their emergency medicine. We have to get her to them as quickly as possible."

Tod staggered after the others, getting used to having hooves and how to move them properly. "I'm a pony," he said to himself as he went, as if amused by the very idea of it. Could one blame him? I was pretty amazed the first time myself.

"But.... moving her?"

Starlight and Trixie shared a glance before Trixie cleared her throat. "You are now in the presence of two of Equestria's greatest spellcasters! We can move her without harm, we assure. Simply lead the way."

"Well... alright. I'm Night Star, nice to meet you all."

"I'm Tod, and I'm a pony!"

"Yes you are," she agreed with a raised brow before turning away to retreat into the bushes she had emerged from. She led the way to a small hole that looked like a narrow fit even for a pony and began squirming inside.

Starlight took her turn next. "How did you get Linda in here? Especially if she's hurt so badly?"

Night's ears fell limply. "I did the best I could... I saw her there... she was really bad... I nursed her." She pointed back at her cutie mark that showed a few stars with hearts scattered. "I was a nurse to start.... Back in Equestria, I was Night Heart. It... doesn't feel right to have that name, not here..."

Trixie squirmed in after Starlight. "All she can see is Starlight's tail."

Tod likely had a similar view, but had fewer complaints.

After wriggling forward, all the ponies popped out into a slightly more spacious little cavern where I rested. It was like a coffin of dirt, with a human laying there, looking half dead.

Night trotted to my side and leaned in, ear perked. "Still breathing... that's good... I've done what I can. I... keep her warm and safe... I feed her what I can... She's..."

Starlight strode in towards me. "She is a mess, but she is alive. We can fix this."

"Do you know a healing spell?"

Starlight raised her brows in unison. "You really are desperate. You know there's no spell for that."

Night sagged. "I can hope... What do you plan to do?"

Trixie stood as tall as she could in the confined space. "First, we get her out of here. We appreciate your assistance, but she isn't going to get much better in here."

Starlight nodded in agreement, but Tod moved in and let out a gasp. "Is she alright?!" He was at her side in a flash, tripping over himself to get there. "Fucking hell, she looks bad."

Starlight's eyes half-lidded. "I would say 'no, she is not 'alright'.' Let's get to work."

Author's Note:

We found a Linda, and a new pony. We're all ponies! Except Linda... sorta?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Tod uses Pony. Its not very effective.

A wild Linda has been stumbled upon. Menu: Fight. Heal. Eat. Run.

[RadicalDishonesty]

She... felt like she could no longer lay claim to her name if she wasn't able to act as a nurse professionally?

... Cutie marks frighten me, sometimes.

[Emtu]

a few starts with hearts scattered.

stars (I assume?)

[David Silver]

8372086
Oops, fixed!

[tsaukpaetra]

Night didn't sense the stallion part of Linda? Hmmm, is it it because she's away at the moment? Curious... She did mention feeding, we wonder with what.
Keep going! ;)

[Greenhorn]

Tod is now an earth pony, why don't use him to carry Linda?

[David Silver]

8373418
They don't want to jostle or move a critically injured person any more than has already been done.

[Greenhorn]

8373457
No, I mean let him drag a trolley (magically conjure) with Linda on it.

[Warrior Kitten]

That was stupid, Starlight. Keeping Tod up there to keep watch would've been the best thing to do.

[Daremo]

blue-sh mane - blue-ish mane
She has a clear image in my head. - She has a clear image in her head.
a few start with hearts - a few stars with hearts

[David Silver]

8383354
Belatedly fixed!

[Luckyfanisaac]

"It can't be far.”(—— She took one more long step and stopped. She circled around and came back a little step before she lowered the stone towards the ground. "Here? Trixie is confused..."

"You're not?" Tod looked at the ground skeptically. "I didn't bring a shovel.“(——