The next day, things had been awkward for Sora and the girls. Thanks to his dream last night, Sora had been left somewhat absent-minded for the most of this morning. Thoughts of what he remembered of the dream and memories of each girl that was in it would occasionally break whatever else he was thinking about and soak up his attention so much so, that Mogson found it odd that the stallion actually didn’t wolf down his breakfast like every other morning he cooked for him. It weirded, the old Moogle out, but he didn’t want to get dragged into it. He could feel the potential drama somehow from the boy, and right now, drama is the one thing he doesn’t need right now.
Over on Twilight and the girls’ end, Things were awkward and strange for them as well. Twilight’s accidental blurting of her true thoughts caused a stir in all of their hearts. It's true that they all admit to having a romantic attraction to Sora, but the thought of herding with him… Keeping in mind it’s not uncommon to see such a relationship, and there are even herds where the mares in that relationship would focus their romantic feelings on solely the stallion in said herd. However, the question that remained in each of their minds was if Sora is the only one their heart goes to if a herd was even made between them? Needless to say, all these new and strange thoughts were starting to take their toll. They needed to clear their thoughts. Fortunately, Twilight and Sora already had something planned for that.
Donald and Goofy left in the gummi ship for home to let Master Yen Sid know what had just happened, thinking that consulting with the great wizard might enlighten them more on the situation about Black Scale’s time “planet hopping”. Sora and the girls both were in the library once again. It was something He and Twilight had planned on doing back before things got busy for them.
Yo, what’s with the book?” Rainbow asked as Merlin levitated it onto the table they all gathered around and placed it in front of Sora.
“It’s something we wanted to show the rest of you.” Sora said as he went to reach for the book cover.”
“Hey! Look it’s Sora!” Pinkie said as she pointed at the book cover, to the other girls surprise they indeed saw Sora’s Human form sitting with what looked like, a little yellow bear with a red shirt both staring at the stars above.
“You have a book about yourself?” Rainbow Dash asked scratching her head.
“Haha, no, Rainbow…. Actually, I’m not sure why the cover is like that, but that’s not the point.” Sora shook his head. “Everyone took care of any errands or chores they had for today right?” It took a moment before one by one, the girls all nodded or confirmed they did just that. “Good, cuz this might take all day.”
“To read a book to us? I don’t really see the importance of-” Rainbow started to say before Twilight hushed her and responded.
“Just give us a second, Rainbow. I promise you’ll be more than excited about this book.” Sora said as he opened the book.
Rainbow just folded her forelimbs then shrugged. “Unless it’s another Daring Do story I haven’t read yet, I doubt-” the next thing she knew, she was engulfed in a gentle light. The same happened to the other girls and Sora. The looks on their faces, Sora wished he could take a picture of it.
Sora was already in the book first along with Twilight, It seemed that her clothes remained on her human form thankfully this time. He gave her a nod before he pulled out a mini box, that almost immediately expanded to a far larger one causing Sora to buckle a little from its weight. “And thank you, Merlin, for thinking ahead.” He set it down and opened it to check the contents. “1.. 2… 3…… yup 5 sets of clothes right here.” he stood up and dusted off his hands.”
“Good, because it looks like they are arriving now,” Twilight said as she pointed up at them.
Sora nearly faced his gaze skyward in response, but immediately remembered the last time this happened, blushed then jerked his line of sight down to his feet. “R-right, w-well, Can I trust you to help them out with “This part” of our day?” Sora was already walking off aways to give himself distance before sitting down to battle his more primal side to remain the considerate friend he wanted to be seen as. Even if the term friend seemed a bit lacking after that dream last night.
Twilight couldn’t help blushing and looking away as well. “Y-yes, that, that would be for the best.”
The rest of the girls were now starting to appear at relatively the same time as they floated down toward the compass mark on the page. However, no longer were they mares but young women. However, none of them really noticed that until they finally reached the page… with two feet.
:”H-hey, what the?” Said a girl with Rainbow’s voice. “Wh-where are my hooves? What are these?” the same girl would gesture her hand to her feet awkwardly then would get a shock at what she was pointing with. “What are those?” she would then fall over losing her balance. “whoa-WHOA-AAAAH!!”
A few of the other girls would follow her as two others were struggling to understand their new bodies and trying their best to stand up. One of them being a Curly Pink-haired one with a big grin on her face. She seemed to be enjoying this more than the others. “WHOOOA I GOT DIGITS!” she said as she would try to make her fingers flex.
“Oh dear.” Another girl with pink straight hair seemed to be more concerned with something else as she was trying to cover it with her arms.
The purple haired one looked devastated. “My coat! My beautiful coat is gone! I feel so exposed!” she shuddered.
Meanwhile, Sora rolled his eyes listening to them. “It’s not that you FEEL exposed, you ARE exposed, Rarity.” he folded his arms and looked off into the distance, a pink hue on his cheeks.
Rarity didn’t understand what he meant until she noticed the girl with Fluttershy’s hair with a rather embarrassed look on her face as she tried to use her arms to the best of her ability to cover- Rarity gasped as she caught on and looked at herself.
“And here we go.” Sora could only guess what that rather audible gasp meant.
“What is the meaning of this?! My, My, MY-” Before she could even continue there was a hand over her mouth, It was Twilights.
“I know I know, and trust me Sora and I will explain everything to you all, but right now, we need to get you all dressed.”
(You can end the music here)
~~~
A little later
“Please stop,” Sora said with a blank expression on his face as many hands and fingers started poking at his face and hair.
“Whoa, this is so cool and weird!” Said Rainbow. Twilight had managed to help the girls get dressed first so that Sora could assist in teaching them on how to use their current forms. Much to his dismay, the textile sense of touch on their hands seemed to distract them every now and then as some of the girls would try to grab and touch things. For Rainbow and Pinkie, it was Sora’s hair.
“Oooh, the tips of them are kind of pokey!” Pinkie said with a big grin as she would rub her palm on Sora’s head.
Applejack seemed more interested in touching trees when they actually manage to get the group to move into the area where Pooh’s house was. “Huh? You know I buck Apple trees so much, but not once have I ever felt their bark like this.” She seemed almost as Fascinated as when Twilight discovered touch for the first time. Sora stared at the librarian with a smirk.
The girls had managed to learn how to keep their balance on two feet rather quickly, however that was probably more instinctual for them to keep upright. Everything else about being a human was more of a challenge them. Like learning to flex their fingers when before entering the book they never had fingers in the first place.
Rarity spent her new found sense of touch checking out her new outfit she was given. The clothes they were all given were pretty basic. A simple Blouse and pants each in their own color to help tell who’s is who’s when Twilight had to help aid them in wearing them. Along with some unmentionables as well that would go underneath the clothes for important reasons that don’t need be explained… obviously…. (*Looks at the reader* Right?...) and uninspiring looking shoes. Comfortable and functional they were, but utterly drab in her eyes. She made a mental note to get all the girls measurements once she had better control of her own body to rectify this “heinous” act of fashion.
Sora had to wonder if he was taking his sense of touch for granted the way these girls were acting on it. Especially Twilight since she was STILL touching things for the sake of touching now that she was human again. At least Fluttershy seemed more reserved, though he could only guess it was because they haven’t run into an animal yet or Pooh and his friends. If anything would tempt her to touch, it'd be one of those. The walk to Pooh’s home took some time as he and Twilight had to be on the lookout in case one of the girls would stumble or need help.
He was surprised how well Twilight was getting used to walking and balancing like a human, she even jogged a short distance in front of him to catch Applejack before she fell on her rear end after stepping on a loose rock that moved under her foot. There were falls among the girls and some bumping into one another. But they were still progressing well, Pinkie was on a more frightening level with how well she was picking it up.
“So where are we headed anyway?” Applejack asked as she managed to finally pry her attention away from the tree she was stroking to keep pace with the others and stumble along.
Sora managed to push away Rainbow’s and Pinkie’s hands on his head and continued walking forward. “Well, hoping he or the others haven’t been spooked again, we’re going to see my friend Pooh first. I wanted to introduce you all to my friends here. But I also thought the more of us being here, the better we can solve this strange mystery hanging around the Hundred Acre Woods.”
“You mean that Heffa-woozoo thing you tried to tell us when we got here?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight sighed “Perhaps it would have been better to explain it after we taught you all how to stay on your own two feet.”
Sora scratched his head. “Guess I was in a rush to get past THAT part to take a moment to see if what we said actually stuck.” He folded his arms. “Well, basically, I have some friends here that are in trouble, but I can’t seem to figure out why. They all claim it has something to do with these creatures called Heffalumps and Woozals but I haven't seen anything like that before.”
Twilight continued “Sora and I traveled around the place but whatever we found or was told left more questions than answers.” Twilight had managed to pull out a notebook and quill, Sora was unclear as to when she had that on her. “So I suggested that inviting the rest of you here would help fan out the search for answers.”
Sora could see the mixed reactions on the others faces and was quick to answer. “Don’t get us wrong, we were gonna bring you here anyway whether there was a problem or not. I actually was really excited to show you all my friends here and this place.” He scratched his head “It’s just, recent events just sort of, made me lose track of things and we should’ve said something sooner, I know.”
The girls looked at each other, Rarity spoke: “Well, we were sort of busy what with those pylon things and whatnot.”
“Far as I can tell, he ain’t lying.” Applejack responded. “And it’s not like any harm came from not telling us sooner. We’re here now aren’t we?” The other girls couldn’t really argue with that.
“I guess, but no more “waiting” to tell us this stuff, ok?” Rainbow said with a shrug as she looked at herself. “Cuz this is kind of cool. I mean it'd be better if I still had my wings, but it’s still kind of cool seeing what it’s like being an alien.”
“I suppose there are some merits to being… a human was it?” Rarity said her fingers were now going through her hair. “I felt a few knots in my mane with these… Fingers? Yes, Fingers. I can feel every strand of my mane so clearly.” she then started fussing over her hair. “Just imagine how delicate and precise I can be when I brush or style it!”
“Well, I’m glad you’re all enjoying… touching stuff, but there is more to being human than that.” Sore responded before he stopped in his tracks “Oh we’re here!” He pointed over to a familiar looking tree home with the sign “Trespassers Will” above its door, but even better was the sight of a small bear with a red shirt in the middle of doing his stoutness exercises. “Hey, Pooh!” Sora made his way over to the bear only to be shocked at Fluttershy immediately being able to overcome her hurdles of locomotion to rush past him then pick up Pooh in a welcoming hug. “Whoa!” He blinked
“Ooooh, you are soooo cute!” Fluttershy said.
“Oh.” Pooh gave his signature laugh and smile taking this sudden attack of his privacy like a champ. Then again, he tends to take on all sorts of new things rather well usually thanks to his rather laidback attitude. “But I thought I was a bear.”
This made Fluttershy giggle “Of course, you are silly.” as she continued to snuggle him.
Sora finally managed to reach the two. “Hey Pooh, I’d like to introduce you to my friend Fluttershy, but it seems she already introduced herself kind of,” he said as he gestured to the pink haired girl hugging the bear like a stuffed animal.
Pooh seemed to brush off the whole thing like it was nothing as he just smiled “Well, any friend of Sora’s is a friend of mine.” He then looked at the two of them, “But what about them?” When Sora and Fluttershy looked back. They could see the other girls doing their best to catch up with the two. Until Rainbow tripped over her own foot and fell over bringing everyone else down with her since she was in front of them, save for Twilight obviously, as she started to help them back to their feet again.
“Uuuh, yeah, them too.” Sora chuckled nervously “I’ll be right back.” he then ran over to the girl's aid as well. When all was settled, Sora proceeded to introduce the girls to Winnie the Pooh who gave his usual warm welcome to Sora’s friends as the girls greeted him positively in return in their own ways, and before they knew it, as Sora and Twilight took this moment to really fill the other girls in on what’s been going on. They all found themselves joining Pooh in his stoutness exercise.
“Well, sounds like to me this could all just be a bunch of hooey.” Applejack said as she reached down to touch her toes like the others. “I mean, ya’ll never seen one, right?”
“Piglet said he has,” Twilight brought up “It’s probably best to start with him.” When she noticed the other girls confused looks she responded “Another one of Sora’s friends here.”
“Not to mention my very best friend,” Pooh added while they started the squatting part of the exercise.
“As he said,” Twilight replied. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was now interested in meeting a cute little piglet.
“Ok then so what's the plan? We go see this piglet feller about the heffa-whatsits?” Applejack asked.
“That’s one part of it,” Sora chimed in, “We have some other friends here with problems of their own. So, Twilight and I thought the more of us the better.” When the exercises finally ended, Sora stretched and turned to Pooh, “You’re not too busy to join us, right Pooh?”
Pooh folded his arms and tapped his head with his paw in thought. “Hmm, I suppose so, then again, I’m not sure what it is I’m busy about.” This caused Sora to smirk
“I’m gonna go ahead and assume that you're free then.”
Pooh nodded and smiled innocently “Well if you say so, Sora.”
~~~~~~~~~~
And So…
One thing unexpected to everyone was how well Pooh’s exercise actually helped the girls. Among trying to understand and use muscles they previously never had before as ponies, they’re biggest issue was keeping their balance and composure while on two feet. They made their way over to Piglet's house and Sora’s first reaction was to look up above. “Well, Thankfully it isn’t Windsday.”
“Huh?” Twilight turned to him confused as to what he meant.
Sora just shook his head. “I’ll tell you another time, promise.” then he waved it off and made his way to the tree home with Pooh.
“Piglet! Oh, Pigleeeet!” Pooh bent down to knock on the tiny door “Are you home?” At first, it was pretty quiet, but then suddenly the tiny door opened and something peered around it.
“P-p-p-Pooh?” after confirming that it was indeed him a sigh of relief could be heard before Piglet finally stepped out of the house. “H-hello Pooh, not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?” he then turned to see Sora walk up. “Oh, and Sora too and-” he turned to Twilight “Twilight… Right?” to which the purple haired girl nodded with a smile. Piglet nodded as well until he was suddenly scooped up off the ground “YIPE!”
“Ooh, you are just the cutest little piglet I’ve ever seen!” Fluttershy couldn’t contain herself at the sight of Piglet and proceeded to “express her affection” for the little guy.
Piglet on the other and was confused, disheveled, and terrified “Aaaah! H-h-h-heeeeelp!”
Fluttershy gasped, “Oh My, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ When she set him down he immediately scurried behind Pooh.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm about this place and my friends Fluttershy, really.” Sora chuckled
“Well, who wouldn’t be excited jumping in a book to meet new friends!” Pinkie popped up next to Sora.
Rainbow folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “When she says it like that, this whole premise sounds weird.”
“Isn’t strange enough that it actually happen though?” Rarity commented as she walked by, her ability to get the hang of her new body could be shown as she was starting to walk with more elegance than the others.
“l can’t wait to set up the “Meeting new friends party!” Pinkie puked out confetti from her hair to make it rain around her with it. Strangely enough, a few balloons floated up from behind her back and into the sky. It seemed Pinkie was understanding her new body to a degree that could only be achieved by Pinkie at this point.
“Sora, did you know that your friend is a magician?” Pooh said as he watched the whole scene.
“Sometimes I wonder that myself Pooh…” Sora responded nonchalantly as they watched Pinkie continue with her antics.
Once everything settled down Sora got to the point of their visit, “Alright, So Twilight, why don’t you start with what we had planned right now and I’ll lead the girls to Rabbit’s next.
“Right.” Twilight nodded as she stood next to them.
“Wait, Twilight’s staying here?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, I still need to introduce you guys to everyone else, but Twilight and I decided that going to Rabbit’s first would be important.
“Why is that?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight answered. “It was my decision, after some thought when we left the woods the first time, we both came to a thought that some other incidents might revolve around Rabbit’s problem first. Hopefully, we might get some answers that might piece together what really is going on here.”
The girls looked at each other, for a moment before Sora spoke again. “It’s really so we can cover more ground. Once I introduce you to everyone, Twilight and I considered that if we all split up and gather information from everyone else, we could finally get a bigger picture on what’s going on, here.
Twilight nodded. “I promise, if this wasn’t important, we’d be having fun and generally have a more pleasant time showing you around here.”
After a moment of silence and everyone looking at one another Fluttershy surprisingly spoke first. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll do whatever I can…” She had a bit of confidence in her voice. “You said there were more animal friends to see too right?”
Sora then smirked And her true priorities show “Yes, there is, just uh, try to contain yourself a little more as to not surprise them.”
She blushed with a sheepish grin “R-right…”
“Come on, Rabbit's house is this way,” Sora said and was already off, the girls close behind.
Meanwhile, Twilight grabbed both Piglet and Pooh’s attention. “We’ll catch up with them later, I was hoping we could talk more about that heffalump or Woozal you said you saw…
(You can end the music here)
~~~
A little later
For the first time since they arrived here, the girls seemed to have for the most part mastered simple human locomotion to the point that they were talking with each other casually. On one hand, this was good. He wouldn’t have to constantly look over his shoulder to make sure one wasn’t gonna run into a tree or trip over their own feet…. For the most part. However, on the other hand, they seem to have unknowingly left the keyblade wielder to his own thoughts. Something that He desperately was trying to avoid right now. Ever since that dream last night if his mind wasn’t preoccupied, he would think back on that dream.;
Before the trip into the book, it was really getting to him. NOW It was starting to dominate all his thoughts right now. He had to wonder if it was fate that after he dreamed about what the mares would look like as humans he would actually get to see it happen in reality now. He would be lying if he didn’t say that they looked…. Very appealing as humans as they did as their original forms, and THAT right there surprised him about himself. He saw them attractive as mares as he did as humans. He had an idea bouncing around in his head about this, but... It just couldn’t be right? As Rabbits House was coming into view he looked back at the girls and unsure on what to do. How deep was this? Is this really what his heart was saying or was he just over thinking it over a silly dream that more than likely meant nothing.
Is his feelings for them becoming more serious than he originally thought? Farther than just friendship? He shook his head fiercely. No, his mind was wandering again. He had to distract himself. He decided to bring up something random to talk about with them. He slowed his walk a bit and listened to their conversation, waiting for a moment to jump in.
He just had to be over thinking these kind of things anyway… Right?”