Rainbow Dash landed in front of the statue at Canterlot High about as gracefully as a pegasus turned human who had flown through a magic portal could be expected to land. Fortunately, her forelimbs had been stretched out, so her impact with the pavement started with her hands. Still, it only somewhat mitigated the inevitable collision with her face. Mostly limp, the only sign of Dash's consciousness was a feeble and drawn out "ooow."
Sprawled out on the ground, eyes closed from the impact, Rainbow Dash reached up a hoof to massage her temple, only to feel some sort of bizarre spider-like creature grasp her face.
Eyes shooting open, Dash screamed, pushed on the ground with her forelimbs, and tried to fly away, but instead flopped back down again as her arms and legs flailed about uselessly. It was then she realized she couldn't feel her wings! She tried standing up with her arms and legs to run, but found that her forelimbs were only about two-thirds as long as her hind legs. Unfortunately, she realized this too late, and again toppled onto her face.
Seeing that she was getting nowhere by acting without thinking, Rainbow Dash rolled over onto her back and took a deep breath. If she was going to make any progress, she had to understand what she was.
After giving herself a few moments just to breathe, Dash raised and looked at her new arms. The things were jointed at a 90 degree angle - clearly not designed for walking forward. They almost totally lacked fur, instead having only the smallest hint of hair. And at the ends, below a pair of rainbow colored bands, instead of solid hooves, there were strange five-legged squids. Trying to adjust her hoof revealed that each of the tentacles could move independently.
Dash frowned at her new appendages.
The closest normal thing she could compare them to were Spike's claws. But the lack of scales showed her that she was not a dragon. Besides, the claws were tipped with dull nails, not sharp talons.
Looking at the rest of her body, Rainbow Dash saw that she was wearing an outfit for some reason. A blue jacket and a white shirt that bore her cutie mark, along with a pink and white skirt that looked pretty good considering she normally didn't like pink. And she was wearing tall shoes, but only on her hind legs. She supposed that, if her claws were anything like Spike's, then she'd need them for doing things and couldn't put them in shoes.
Even with that reasoning, it still felt strange to only wear shoes on her hind limbs. She wondered if her lower limbs also had grabby things, so she tried wiggling them. There was something there, but they seemed much smaller than her forelimb ones. What were Spike's called? Talons?
No. Toes. She had toes.
Toes and claws instead of hooves.
Well, I always thought it would be cool to be a dragon. Looks like I'm about 80% there. Dash smiled at the idea, but soon frowned at the implications. Spike, and most younger dragons as well, walked on their hind legs. Her only shoes were on her hind legs. Which meant... But I hate being up on my hind legs!
Rainbow Dash was a flyer, occasionally a runner, but not a two-hoofer. Sure, some circus performers could walk on two hooves, but most ponies did so rarely, only using the extra height afforded by being on hind legs to reach high-up objects. And they almost always propped themselves against something with their forelimbs for balance. Rainbow had never gotten good at the practice. She had wings to reach high-up stuff, and had used them proudly since she was a little filly.
But that was in another body and another universe. This Rainbow Dash was clearly designed to walk like a circus pony. No. She reminded herself. Like a dragon.
Taking another deep breath, Rainbow Dash put her claws on the ground behind her and pushed, causing the wanna-be dragon to lift herself into a sitting position. Nodding at her success of getting closer to standing, the former pony now considered her options for moving forward.
In her mind, she pictured how she wanted to end up. She would have her hind legs below her and her forelimbs at her sides, her head all the way up at the top of her body. She didn't remember learning to walk as a filly - most didn't, they learned before they could start forming memories. But she did remember learning to fly, and how important it was to have her wings be at the foundation of everything she did.
So it seemed reasonable to start with the foundation for standing up.
In the desired position, her feet would be flat on the ground. So Rainbow turned her feet to place their soles on the cement in front of her.
Next, she needed to get her legs up. So she pulled with her feet and legs, but found that she didn't move. The stupid backward joints at her knees didn't give her the leverage to stand up. That couldn't be right. How was she supposed to stand up and stay standing if she couldn't pull up her weight with her legs?
Looking around, Rainbow Dash saw the statue where she had entered. She was surprised to see that the portal on this end wasn't a mirror, but was glad that there was something solid there. She'd have to use the side of the statue to prop herself up. It was the only way. But how to get there...
Examining her body again, Dash realized that, while her legs were much longer than her forelimbs, her backward joints would allow her to rest her weight on her knees. Nodding, Dash rotated herself so that she was on her knees and then fell forward to plant her claws onto the ground. This was a much more familiar posture and it was relatively easy for Dash to crawl toward the statue. Upon reaching its base, the girl pressed both of her claws firmly against the side.
As much as she detested this feeling, she did know how the process worked.
Drawing her weight toward the statue, she moved her upper body up and, slowly, her legs unfolded. The girl formed an archway above the cement and, carefully, she clawed her way up the side while bringing her feet closer to the statue. Before she knew it, her feet were flat on the ground.
Dash could feel that virtually all of her weight was now being supported by her hind legs and allowed herself to let go of the statue. She found that she was standing upright with minimal effort. Looking down, Dash smiled.
Piece of cake.
She then looked around her at the world.
The ground seemed quite far away. Normally, Dash only saw grass and roads from this perspective when flying above the ground. To see things this way with hooves planted was a strangely satisfying experience. She thought of ponies like Big Mac and Celestia and imagined that this was how they always saw the world.
Dash also clearly saw Canerlot High in front of her.
With a sigh, she looked to her legs. "Just keep putting each hoof in front of its other." That was the expression and it should work here too. Only, without the "each." So, one hoof in front of the other. She lifted up one of her hoofs and quickly placed it slightly forward. Then, she repeated the process, taking the hoof farther back and pulling it up to be in front of the other. And again. And again.
With each step, a smile began to manifest on Rainbow's face. Then, a chuckle formed. Finally, a laugh was let out as she began to rapidly walk toward Canterlot High.
Mastering an alien body in ten seconds flat. Rainbow Dash was truly was the most awesome being in any universe.
★ ★ ★
Not far off, Sunset and Spike were about to cross the street to enter the high school grounds.
"Why is Rainbow Dash outside the school at this hour?" asked Sunset.
Spike's paw scratched at his temple. "And why is she cackling manically?"
"And why did she just trip on the stairs?"