In two hours Cadence had somehow made the drab military room into a place that felt lived in. She had guards running to get all sorts of things from all over the city and castle apparently but I was more surprised by how personal it felt. I wasn’t certain I would keep all the things she added but some of the things had been genius. Toys had been a given but she got books for Pandora as well and books for me to touch up what little I could read. What ever Luna had done the night prior had imparted some reading skills onto me but I struggled with it more than I felt I should. Further she added two big dressers which apparently had once been Celestia’s. The castle never threw out anything of hers as somepony or another would always fight often to the point of violence for the trash. Instead there was a large room with her former worn out furniture. The dressers were from a period where clothes had been more in style than they were now apparently and I was thankful for them nonetheless. Even if them being Celestia’s was lost on me in some part.
All of this kindness felt so unreal and I sat in the room where Pandora slept trying to sort my mind out on things. I felt so indebted to them and all I had done for them is unleash, if unwittingly, an evil onto their world. How was I supposed to know that fiery hell two was where they banished some demonic goat? Or for that mater avoid the place as I went screaming across the dimensions? I wasn’t and yet I felt a strange guilt. There was at least one pony dead because of that and here they were giving me more gifts than I could ever repay them, all of which I took with a grin and thanks as what else was I supposed to do? Say no when I had to take care of a child I knew nothing about? No this was the only way I was going to get on my feet, it just made me feel uncomfortable and a bit dissociated. I had passed through several hells to get here but I had landed in a heaven.
“Are you feeling alright?” came a soft voice from the door. Cadence had poked her head in and she looked at me with her big expressive eyes and I could tell I was hurting her. I tried to put the mask on again but it took more will than I had to do so and instead all pretenses faded from me. “Hey now, it’s fine. Everything is fine. Why the tears?”
She came and wrapped a hoof around my back and rubbed up and down my spine. It was strangely soft even through the layer of tapestry that I had kept tied around me. The warmth of her touch though only brought the storm on more as I felt so unworthy. I had done nothing for to deserve this and yet it was handed freely. I pulled her close letting my tears out. A soft small hand fell on my arm and little Pandora had made her way over to us. She got pulled into the hug where she snuggled her head into my chest. It seemed too good to be true.
“Sorry, just drained I think is all,” I said. “I don’t deserve this treatment. How am I ever going to repay you all?”
“We don’t do nice things hoping for a reward. Well at least the only reward I expect is to see a happy pony or person in your case,” said Cadence. “Equestria has always stood for generosity and harmony. This is just us showing that our values always come first especially for those in need. I don’t really understand your feelings but I don’t need to what is important that I’ll be here to help you through this. Chin up you have a little one to look after.”
I nodded and pulled Pandora up in my arms and kissed her forehead. I had to be strong for her now and so I pushed my worries to the side as best I could. At least those worries. Other ones popped up in my head instead. Food seemed most pressing. I hadn’t eaten this entire time and I was starting to feel it. It was nearly lunch and I didn’t even know what I could eat let alone what Pandora needed in her diet.
“Food,” I said. “Food then clothes. The both of us need something to cover us. My lower half is fine I guess but I would like a shirt at least but Pandora needs something more covering. The creatures that looked similar to her from my world wore clothes all the time in part for decency but also to protect against the environment.”
“I know just the tailor for that,” said Cadence. “She should be here sometime tonight though I wager she will be rather busy till tomorrow. I’ll order food to be brought to us for now.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Just one thing though, I don’t know what I can eat. What little I remember of my older more complex half’s life leads me to believe that the fare my deer half ate isn’t going to cut it. I’m concerned considering your peoples nature that the food here may be incompatible.”
“What sort of eaters were your people?” asked Cadence. “We have plenty on hand for omnivores if that is your concern. We even deal with carnivores on occasion. Mind you the castle staff are probably the only ponies that know how to cook meat but it could be done if that is what you think you need.”
“Can you order some of everything?” I asked. “I think the best will be for me to test what I can and can’t eat but even a taste test can only tell me so much.”
“Hmm,” said Cadence. “Can you do magic?”
“I don’t know why?”
“I know a spell that lets the user know if anything is poisonous to it. It works off the users biology so it will show allergens and things too if you could cast that at least you would know what not to eat.”
“I don’t know if I can cast magic though. There were stories from the world I grew up on about magic but I think they may have just been that. I no nothing of this body. I could die in a week because I don’t have the right organs for all I know. I hope not mind you.”
“We could get a doctor to come look you over. Probably best either way. Not that he will know any better but at least it is a start. No wonder you are so worried. Well you two just sit here for a moment and I’ll go get working on all of that.”
I nodded and watched her leave the room. My bed had been placed in the room a short while ago and so I climbed up on that with Pandora. She had watched me talk for a while and I smiled at her cute though somewhat sinister face. She had small fangs in her mouth and the four eyes was an odd experience for me still her short scruffy hair was soft to the touch as was the small amount that grew right above her hooves. She had four instead of five fingers on each hand and her little tail wrapped around my wrist like a monkeys. Even her wings were slightly furred with a layer of peach like fuzz. She giggled at my probing of her wings and reached out to touch me. There was no malice in her and I snuggled her tighter. I wouldn’t have guess I ever would have called a demon my daughter but here I was.
I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep till Pandora woke me with her giggles. She was playing with the tapestry that I had wrapped her in and it looked like she was trying to mimic me by holding the thing up around her. Her little wings which were much to small for her to fly with flapped happily as she shouted and giggled. I shook the sleep from my head and went to help her. The thing was big enough that if I tore a hole in the center she could use it as a poncho. After doing so and putting it on her there was a simple problem of her wings being in the way but I wasn’t a tailor. I had no way of fixing the thing any better than that and I was just happy to have been able to rip the thing in the first place. I could tear it more but I was worried I would over do it.
Cadence was talking to Shining in the dining area and I picked up Pandora and walked over to the area. For her part she didn’t fight me and instead played with the tapestry more. She had a cute little smile and I felt my heart melting. She was still warm to the touch and I worried if she was ill or if that was her natural. My heart couldn’t take much more of this anxiety. Especially my lower heart which beating particularly fast.
“The stress is getting to me and I need to eat soon. Did any food get here while I napped?” I asked. “I’m sorry to leave both of you alone with Pandora though like that.”
“It was fine,” said Cadence. “Shining is good with children and we had each other. As for food there is some in the fridge. Would you like to try some tea?”
“Yes and awesome,” I said. I walked over to the fridge opening it to find a couple of apples some carrots and some greens I didn’t recognize. I pulled the apple at and shrugged. Biting into it felt right and both my prior forms had eaten this. The risk paid off as the tart apple exploded with juice in my mouth. I couldn’t help as a small moan escaped me as I savored the fruit. I held it out to Pandora who took a bite as well she lit up with surprise and greedily took another bite. I grabbed the second apple and let Pandora chew on the first one. Hopefully she wouldn’t choke or have an allergic reaction to the thing especially since she seemed to like it. “This is good. We, as in the two parts of me prior ate these so I should Babel to do this now.”
“Pandora seems to like apples as well. Now now, take smaller bites Pandora. Smaller,” said Cadence. She mimed a smaller bite and Pandora just stared at her blankly. “This may take some time. Do you think she will let you cut the thing up for her?”
“No idea,” I said. “Worth a try”
I took the apple from Pandora and immediately she started to whine. A magenta glow surrounded the apple before it magically popped into pieces small enough for bites for Pandora. One piece floated down to her waiting grasp and I looked to see Shinning armor’s horn lit up with the same glow. A plate floated over to us from a cupboard and put the rest of the apple on it while the core floated to the trash.
“Impressive,” I said. “Or at least I think it is. Is it?”
“Fairly impressive if he weren’t Captain of the Day Guard. For him and his rank that is fairly normal amounts of magic,” said Cadence. “Still it was good timing. I’d hate to see Pandora choke. Pan or Dora for short?”
“Pan I think,” I said. “What do you think, Pan?”
Pandora twisted her head towards me and smiled showing a mouth full of partially chewed apple. I kissed her forehead and turned to my apple. For a moment I focused on the apple and tried to imagine myself cutting the thing in two. Something in me ignited similar to what had brought Pandora forth but it didn’t hurt. No it felt natural even to the part of me from a world devoid of magic. It built along my spine and then my horns and I felt a tingling in my hand as faint amber aura appeared around the apple. Everyone including Pandora stared at me as I concentrated on the apple and pushed this new feeling, my magic I assumed, further trying to split the apple. The faint aura grew in contrast.
“Loose…” said Shinning Armor as the apple exploded in my grip sending paste every where. “…en up. Too late. Sorry.”
“Thanks for trying,” said Cadence. Her horn lit up and she stood perfectly still as a towel wiped her face off. She passed it to Shinning Armor. “At least we know you can do magic now.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry. I guess I over did it.”
Pandora just giggled and licked some of the apple off my face. I wiped her face first then mine and looked around the room noticing how the apple was pretty evenly on everything. I sighed and set Pandora on a chair and started to wipe the table down. A pink glow stopped me and took the towel from me.
“I got clean up. It will take me a minute or two with magic. By hoof that will take you the better part of an hour,” said Cadence. “Relax. It was an accident but there isn’t any need to wear yourself out fixing it.”
I nodded and went to the fridge grabbing a carrot. I washed it off before taking a bite of it. It tasted wonderful as well though not as much as the apple had. Still I ate the whole thing quickly and still wanted more. I looked at the rest of the mostly fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge and wondered if I could cook anything from all of that. There wasn’t any butter to be seen but I found a small thing of oil in one of the cupboards that looked usable.
“Can I cook something? Does the oven work?” I asked. “Some of the stuff looks like things I think were fried back on my other world and that sounds real nice right now.”
“Stove works fine,” said Shining Armor.
“How would you know you have never cooked in this room,” said Cadence. “He can do all these wonderful things with his magic but he can’t cook to save his life.”
“I boiled water on it plenty of times. For tea,” said Shinning.
I laughed and Pandora laughed with me. I was pretty certain she didn’t know what was funny but it was a cute laugh nonetheless. I pulled out a pan and a knife. They would need a better place as I noticed Pandora watching my every move. The place wasn’t quite toddler safe yet. I set to chopping up some of the carrots and onions and soon had a vegetable saute going. The oil was thankfully still good and soon my stomach was grumbling as I waited for the onions to caramelize slightly. I was concerned that Pandora might not eat them otherwise. A box of salt floated over to me and I sprinkled it on not knowing which one had helped me. Soon my food was ready and I dished a plate for everyone. It wasn’t a fancy meal but it was warm and my mouth watered for it. Thankfully Pandora seemed to enjoy the onions and she ate the food rather quickly. I wasn’t certain how much to feed her yet so I let her eat till she wouldn’t eat any more. Even if that meant letting her pick at my plate. Still I tried to get her to use the fork as best I could. They clearly were meant for unicorns as the handles were smaller than I thought they should have been that or ponies had a different grip which made sense.
Knock. Knock. I moved to the door to find a shorter dark mare with a stethoscope around her neck. She jumped when she saw me and nearly screamed if it weren’t for Shinning Armor’s magic that appeared around her muzzle. He released her as he motioned her into the room.
“This is the guest that we wanted you to check out,” said Shining Armor. “They are from another world and it is too confusing to me to explain so I am going to let someone else explain. Suffice to say that they are friendly and just want a quick check up to see if you think anything might be wrong with them.”
“Ah,” said the doctor. She bowed to me and came into the room. “Is that a demon? Eating carrots?”
“Maybe?” I said. “I don’t rightly know. Your guess is as good as mine. But what I do know is that her name is Pandora and she is a sweet little girl who could use a check up as well. Kinda important as it is her birthday. Not that I know what day it is.”
“First of February,” said Shinning Armor. “So yeah too much to explain. I’m just gonna go eat my food.”
“Of course, sir,” said the doctor. She walked over to me and started to peer at me from other angles. “I’ve read documents talking about centaurs but outside of general shape I would say you don’t seem to be one but then again the account I read may not be accurate. Supposedly Centaurs are furred all the way up their upper torso but you are bare. Is that normal for you?”
“I think so,” I said. “I know I am not a centaur of this world at least. I came from another world got warped by the trip and then fused together with a deer of this world. At this point what is normal is not something I can tell you. I can’t even tell you what species I used to be in this other world. I can tell you about the deer’s life and how maybe the back leg might have some problems because she got it caught in a branch for a day once and that I don’t think she ate the best but I guess I don’t remember.”
“That is a lot and some of it well above my pay grade. Still I will do my best. Do you want to go somewhere private? Preferable somewhere where you can lay down.”
“Yeah the room will work,” I said. “Can you watch Pandora for me, please?”
“Of course,” said Cadence.
The two of us went into the bedroom and the doctor closed the door behind me. I stepped up onto the bed and then laid down. She came up to me her bag in her aura as she took out a few instruments. They were ones beyond my knowledge and seemed to light up with her magic. I couldn’t help the tension that built in my body.
“Relax this is just to test your magical field strength. Everypony or well everybody has one and it is important to check that. Probably the only thing I’ll be able to trust the results from. All I have to do is stick this in your mouth and hold it there for twenty seconds. Then we can tell if you are magically healthy.”
I opened my mouth and she put the small crystal in. A strange sensation spread through my mouth though it wasn’t unpleasant just unusual. After twenty seconds the doctor pulled the crystal out and held it up by its handle. The crystal was glowing a pair of colors and I wondered what that meant.
“Your magical field is a bit unstable right now. Take it easy for a few days and I want to check again then. Otherwise it looks healthy if a bit strong. If you can cast magic try a few simple exercises a day to see if that helps,” said the doctor. “If you feel suddenly exhausted for no reason that is a bad sign and you need to call for me right away.”
I nodded. At least I had some decent news but the exam was just starting. The doctor raised the stethoscope next and hovered it over to my chest. I breathed evenly not having been told otherwise and the doctor didn’t seem to care as she listened to something in my body.
“Two hearts is weird but I bet normal for you. The two pair of lungs as far as I can tell is also a bit odd. You seem to have doubled up on organs at least as far as I can tell without scanning you,” said the doctor. “I think a full scan is probably necessary but your hearts sound regular I think. Bit hard to tell with the way they beat in unison. Still there wasn’t any unusual beat so probably good there. Now I’m gonna listen to your lower torso for breath. It seems to be moving more so yeah.”
I nodded. I took a deep breathe as she listened hoping everything was alright but I had no idea what that would sound like. I knew I had two sets of lungs and the whole thing was a bit odd but I hoped nothing was wrong. I hadn’t felt my breathe limit me even when I had run so I hoped this was well as well.
“Shallower than a ponies but I think you are fine here,” said the Doctor. “So from here what we test is up to you. I can perform a full body scan but that is pretty invasive for a check up. There are also things that I am trained to check that may not be as pleasant for you.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“I’m the princesses gynecologist,” said the doctor. I winced at that and felt my small tail clamp itself over my rear. “A bit of touchy subject but it is important.”
The next few minutes were awkward but thankfully as far as she could tell I was in working order. Still the exam brought forth stirrings of things I hadn’t thought of before. Miss Deer had been young and had no children running the forest yet. She hadn’t even had her first heat and yet I knew that was coming. I wondered if I would be like her or those from my old world where such things were constant and lesser drive. I didn’t really want to spend too much thought on it as I was probably incompatible anyway. I had Pandora do worry about as it was. That would keep me plenty busy.
The full body scan sent a strange sensation through out my body and I was acutely aware of every inch of my body as she seemingly infused her magic into every single pore and follicle of me. The scan seemed to go on forever and the doctor was busy taking notes on her note pad with her hooves at least it proved ponies could somehow grab things with their hooves. Finally the thing was over and I had to stretch every bit of me I could.
“I’d watch out for spinal injuries there is some damage that has healed poorly in your fourth vertebra down. Your back leg does look a bit off as well the bone seems to be twisted slightly like a fracture healed oddly. You seem to have all the organs you would need most in duplicate but I would try to not over tax your liver you only seem to have one of those,” said the doctor. “I think you are in working order just careful for your back. Now you said you didn’t used to be like this, how much has changed?”
“Everything. I used to be two beings, a deer from here in Equestria I think and a creature that walked on two legs back on my old world. My top half seems similar to that minus the horns and my ears are larger and more pronounced than they were I think. I have foggy memories of it but I am much paler than either of us used to be. Like all my color was drained from me. The magic is new as well for both of my parts.”
“So you have little idea on how to take care of yourself do you?” asked the doctor. “I am going to want to see you weekly for scans to make sure things are doing well for a while. At least till I have a good baseline written up for you. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me.”
I nodded and rose from the bed. Next was Pandora and I sat in on that as well. Surprisingly the doctor seemed more knowledgeable with her than with me. It didn’t surprise me too much. Pandora was given the same prognosis of good health as I was and for weekly visits for now. She behaved well and afterwords I tried to play with her for a while. Things seemed to be going well but a slight dread kept nagging me.