When Anon woke up, the first thing he noticed was that there was something round and hard stuffed into his mouth. Confused, he opened his eyes and discovered that it was his new hoof, which sparked a cascade of memories about recent events. A lot of feelings that were associated with them rushed to the surface as well, competing to sum up how he felt about his experiences overall.
A bit overwhelmed, he removed the hoof from his mouth and unconsciously retreated into the warmth and gentle pressure surrounding most of his body, rationalizing that he'd feel better prepared after some more rest. However, that made him aware of the source for his sought-after comfort and finally noticed the white forelegs that were loosely yet securely wrapped around his middle, making him realize that he was being held by someone.
He didn't know if it was his new body, being quarantined for months and denied the most basic of physical contact, his mind trying to cope with the new circumstances, something else, or some combination of those things, but he wriggled his body so he could snuggle closer to the pony holding him, which included pressing the top of his head against the underside of theirs. At that moment he wasn't going to question his behavior, because he preferred his immediate situation to thinking about more serious things.
Closing his eyes, he simply lie there and enjoyed the contact with the other pony, safe in the knowledge that they had been the one to initiate it. At least, he was fairly sure that they wouldn't turn around and judge him for participating, or make fun of him. It felt strange to put down his defenses like that, which he never would have thought of doing back home, but the ponies that he knew the best put him at ease and it felt very liberating to trust in them. Idly, he wondered if any of the women that he had once shared a bed with had ever felt like he currently did in his arms.
After a while hunger began to gnaw at him, but he was able to ignore it in favor of his current activity. Eventually, though, his stomach made an audible complaint and Isopropyl's familiar voice quietly asked him, "Would you like something to eat?"
Anon considered that for a moment, and what it meant. It was one of the things about being a baby that had been more of an afterthought to him at the time of his decision, in light of attaining "instant" freedom instead of struggling and experiencing a simile of it for an unknown length of time, and he still had some misgivings despite the necessity. At least drinking the milk from a bottle was an option...
It wasn't something that he could put off forever, so he tried to answer in the positive before he remembered his inability to form words, resulting in a sound that someone pretending to be a sheep might make.
Isopropyl got the message despite that, who released him and sat up before raising her voice to a normal volume and inquiring, "Would you like to eat with me holding you, or would you feel more comfortable as you are?"
Already missing the contact, not that he'd admit it, Anon managed to push himself up onto his haunches by the time his guardian set the "stickerboard" that Twilight Sparkle had used earlier down in front of him. He looked up at her before answering and paused, caught by her gentle, maternal expression. It hit him with a strength that was unlike anything that he had experienced before, making his heart race and very tempted to put his pride aside so he could be treated like a baby.
Seeing the conflict on his face, Isopropyl moved the stickerboard aside and apologetically said, "Sorry. Please lie on your back; I'll have your bottle here in a moment."
As Anon let himself fall onto his back, it only then occurred to him that she hadn't needed to give him an option on whether to feed himself or be fed. Before he could think about what that might mean, he heard the door open and turned to see a bottle float into the room within an aura of orange-colored magic. He watched as Isopropyl's face scrunched up a bit in concentration when the bottle was within her reach and saw the aura flare for a second, then she pressed it to her cheek to check the temperature. Apparently satisfied by what she felt, she transferred the bottle to him and released it from her magical grasp once he was hugging it to his body and the nipple was in his mouth.
He didn't know what to expect from the taste, but it wasn't bad; it was kind of good, actually. As he drank, he began to feel that it was a bit bothersome to crane his head up to meet the nipple of the bottle, and that brought his mind back to Isopropyl's offer to hold him. It didn't seem necessary, yet she had wanted to despite knowing that he was an adult — even if his body said otherwise. It made him wonder about her motives for the first time, although he highly doubted that it would be anything to worry about, all things considered, since she clearly understood whose desires took precedence.
"Oh," Isopropyl softly began, "the princess didn't get a chance to tell you before, but the reason why you look so much like Rainbow Dash is because she ended up being your surrogate mother when Discord disrupted the procedure."
Anon gave her a questioning look, since he didn't recognize the name, and she hesitated before inquiring, "Would you like to visit her?"
Finding her hesitation a bit odd, he nonetheless nodded his head as best as he could in his current position. Not only did he have no other plans, but at that point he'd accept just about any opportunity to go outside. Plus, he was a bit curious about the pony that was technically his mother, and wondered if they were as girly as his inherited appearance might suggest.
...Which reminded him: he was female. After he finished his meal and — with some embarrassment — got burped, he used the stickerboard to ask, "Can I be male again?"
"You'll have to ask Twilight Sparkle," Isopropyl tactfully replied. "All I can tell you for certain is that changing sex is one of those things, like changing age, where there might be a unicorn that can accomplish it in a generation. It's been such a rare occurrence that there isn't enough documentation for the modern medical community to know the extent of what is safe, especially for somepony so young."
Anon nodded his head in understanding. It made sense — at least from where he had come from — for there to be standards and regulations for the kind of thing he wanted done. With Isopropyl being a nurse, and more familiar with the history of her race in general, he supposed that he could place his trust in her words.
Since being male again wasn't out of the question, he decided to save his concern until he could get a more definitive and authoritative answer from Twilight Sparkle.
A bit later Anon found himself being carried in a sling by Twilight Sparkle as she flew him to Rainbow Dash's house. Not only were they flying to avoid making a public spectacle so soon, especially before he was ready to weather the attention that his new body would bring him, but because the house in question was located on a cloud. He found that hard to believe despite the magic that he'd witnessed thus far, and the fact that he was being transported through the air, but that wasn't what he really cared about at the moment.
What had his undivided attention was the world passing below him, which he stared at with wide-eyed awe. Not only did the sight exhilarate him and get his heart racing, but the thought that he would one day be able to fly around under his own power, and possibly in more adventurous ways. He didn't know if it was human nature to be fascinated by flight, or if it was just him, but he couldn't wait for that day.
He was brought out of his reverie when Twilight Sparkle took out the stickerboard from one of her saddlebags, levitated it into his reach and asked, "How are you feeling about your situation so far?"
Anon thought about it for a few seconds before noncommittally tapping out, "Could be worse."
"Don't worry," Twilight Sparkle tried to reassure him. "I'm already looking into a sex-change spell. It's not a common or easy thing to do, and there's your age to consider as well, so I don't know exactly when I'll be ready to cast it on you."
"Cool," Anon responded before he relaxed and turned his attention back to the scenery, feeling a little better about his situation.
It was nice to know that someone was looking out for him and didn't have to ask anyone to solve an issue that mattered to him. Well, his sex probably didn't matter at his current age, but it would in time and he wasn't keen on finding out how the other half lived. While he didn't like being a baby either, he had agreed to age normally so he could naturally develop his immune system and adapt to using his new anatomy. There was no telling how long he would have to wait to go home anyway, and just the thought of shaving years off of his life by aging himself made him shudder.
Eventually his gaze wandered back to where they were going, to see if he could make out their destination yet, and saw something that made him squint his eyes to get a better look, just in case he was seeing things. When he realized that what he was seeing was real, his mouth dropped open in awe. He'd been told that Rainbow Dash lived in a house that was located on a cloud, but seeing truly was believing.
The house in question looked like some kind of tower, one designed to be united with the cloud, as covered in fanciful clumps of it as it was. There were pillars along the outer wall, some in odd places, and arched windows were all over the place. What really stood out, but were not surprising inclusions to him considering the owner, were the rainbows coming out of the tower's summit, as well as the pools of rainbow-colored liquid that drained off of the cloud.
Twilight Sparkle landed far up the winding path leading to the front door. As she knocked upon it, Anon gazed at the edge of the path and wondered if he would really be able to walk on a cloud. While it was evident that a building could be supported by one through some means or another, and a lot of seemingly-impossible things had been proven to be real to him already, he wasn't exactly a normal pony and worried that he'd fall through like he would normally expect. Even so, he couldn't wait to give it a try at some point.
When he heard someone invite them in, the raspy voice caught him by surprise. It was even more surprising to see the speaker on the other side of the door, because he hadn't expected that kind of voice to come from — in his mind — a girly-looking pony like Rainbow Dash. If that wasn't enough to defy that assumption of girliness, she was in the middle of doing push-ups with her wings, and all around her were various exercise tools and equipment, like a pull-up rack, dumbbells, a jump rope, and a treadmill.
She glanced their way initially, probably just to see who her guests were, but her gaze flashed back to him in specific and she froze in the middle of a push-up. The expression on her face was a strange one, possibly due to mixed emotions, but he couldn't read it either way. Twilight Sparkle couldn't as well, who noticed her expression and inquired, "Is something wrong?"
"Nope!" Rainbow Dash quickly denied, as she rushed to her hooves. "Just wasn't expecting Anon to come here. Since, y'know, I figured he'd stay with that nurse."
"Isopropyl," came Twilight Sparkle's mildly exasperated response, as she stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind her. "And Anon wanted to see you."
"He did?" Rainbow Dash replied, looking at Anon questioningly for a few seconds before swiping the rainbow-striped sweatband from her head, tossing it aside and nonchalantly deciding, "Well, whatever; I was about to take a break, anyway."
Looking at her skeptically, Twilight Sparkle asked, "You haven't spent all your time exercising since you were released from the hospital, have you?"
"So what if I have?" Was Rainbow Dash's defensive retort, before making a point of showing off her flank and prodding it with a hoof. "This flab isn't going to go away all by itself, and the sooner I tone up and slim down the faster I'll be off the bench and performing again."
Although she had called it flab, Anon honestly couldn't tell if she was carrying extra weight anywhere, but that was probably because of his unfamiliarity with the pony form. And while he wanted to get a better look at his surroundings than stare at a pony's "flab" at that moment, something about Rainbow Dash held his attention and seemed... admirable? It definitely wasn't sexual attraction, but it didn't feel the same as when he'd registered a pony as cute, either.
"I know how much you want to fly with the Wonderbolts again," Twilight Sparkle patiently began, "but don't push yourself so much that you accomplish the opposite."
Rainbow Dash snorted. "I'll be fine. I just don't want to retire early like a lot of," she paused, because what she was about to say still felt foreign to her, "other mothers did."
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "Being a mother isn't going to stop you from having a long career as a Wonderbolt."
"That's not what the books say," Rainbow Dash countered, who sat on her haunches so she could cross her forelegs imperiously. "Aside from injury, the biggest reason for why most mares retire long before they're too old is because they became mothers."
With a slight frown, Twilight Sparkle replied, "I'm sure it's more complicated than that."
"I don't care," Rainbow Dash said, who slapped a forehoof down on the floor for emphasis. "I'm going to have the longest career as a Wonderbolt — so long that my record'll never be beaten. And that's not going to happen if I take it easy."
At that moment Anon briefly saw his human mother's face superimposed over Rainbow Dash's, looking exhausted and harried as she often had during much of his childhood and teenage years. Although she hadn't been career-minded or ambitious like Rainbow Dash, she had still worked very hard — sometimes holding two jobs — to support them. Not only had that not been good for her, but it had been bad for his younger self, who had held the inattention against her until he had grown up and realized his stupidity. If there was one regret that he would have, in the event that he was unable to return home, it would be never putting aside his pride and apologizing to his mother for his past behavior toward her, who had only done what had been necessary.
Only one part of that applied to Rainbow Dash, and he hardly knew her besides, but that part had had a significant impact on his life; so much so that it moved him to prevent someone else from becoming worn out and bitter like his mother. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about that, being a baby and all, until that thought made him pause and think of an idea. It wasn't an idea that he liked, considering what it would entail, but... he was sure it would be worth it?
Gathering his resolve, he poked Twilight Sparkle's chest until she broke away from the conversation that he had tuned out and looked down at him, at which point he pointed at the floor.
Getting the message, Twilight Sparkle said, "Alright," before levitating him out of the sling and placing him onto the floor. "There you go."
Once Anon had his forehooves underneath him, he began to inch his way toward Rainbow Dash, idly thankful that he'd be walking soon because ponies usually graduated from crawling not long after birth.
Seeing this, Rainbow Dash glanced at Twilight Sparkle questioningly and asked, "What does he want?"
Twilight Sparkle gave a one-shoulder shrug and said, "No idea."
When Anon reached her, he looked up and saw her staring down at him, with what he hoped was uncertainty rather than fear. She was definitely tense and keeping herself in check, which was quite different from how he felt: because the closer that he had gotten to her, the more certain and at ease he had become with his plan. While he'd noticed it to some degree, he was too caught up in the moment to reflect on it and question what all was driving him.
Regardless, he forged ahead and raised his forelegs toward her.
Rainbow Dash suppressed her flinch enough for it to express itself as a twitch. "What are you doing?"
"I think he wants to be picked up," Twilight Sparkle observed, confusion coloring her voice.
"I know that," Rainbow Dash replied, slightly agitated. Directing her next words to Anon, she pointedly said, "You're a grown... stallion-alien-thing, aren't ya?"
Anon gave his forelegs an insistent shake.
"I'm not picking you up," Rainbow Dash asserted, her voice breaking a bit. "It's weird!"
Anon narrowed his eyes and repeated his prior gesture.
Rainbow Dash stood up and took a step back, her voice a little strained as she said, "Look, I'm not your mom, okay?"
"You don't have to be to pick up a foal, Rainbow Dash," Twilight Sparkle remarked, only then picking up on her friend's behavior and finding it both a bit odd and concerning.
While Rainbow Dash made a snarky reply to that, which she seemed a lot more comfortable focusing on than him, Anon suffered a pang in his chest from being rejected: due to the "I'm not your mom" part, not his request to be picked up being denied. His reaction had surprised him, but it had also made it apparent that his new body came with a bond to its biological mother, something that hadn't been anticipated.
Despite being able to understand where some of his recent feelings had come from, the rejection had still hurt, which only exacerbated his prior annoyance at having his request turned down. Feeling spiteful, he decided to get back at her in one of the only ways he knew a baby could, since he'd already committed to acting like a baby for the sake of his plan — regardless of how much it had been influenced by his new body.
When he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, Rainbow Dash heard the latter and pulled her gaze away from Twilight Sparkle. What she saw him doing made her eyes widen in panic, as a certain memory of another recently-born alicorn flashed into the forefront of her mind. "Wait! Don—!"
Anon let loose a wail that made the air ripple, and standing in place an effort for the other ponies in the room. The sonic bombardment lasted for several seconds, fracturing stone, shattering glass and ceramics, and warping cloud. When he ran out of breath, he opened his eyes and beheld the damage, which he took in with surprise and confusion, quickly realizing that his yell had somehow caused it.
While the floor was made of sterner stuff and largely unaffected, the same couldn't be said for the walls, which bore many cracks and fissures. A nearby vase had been reduced to pieces, the statue by the door had lost its support and fallen onto the floor, where it had broke into many fragments, and the glass-top tables in the adjoining room had become walking hazards. Said room was also where some of the cloud structures and furniture could be seen from the foyer, whose shapes had become deformed by the sound waves.
Ears falling at the sight, Anon returned his attention to the owner of the house, who stared at the damage with a mixture of disbelief and devastation.
"My... My house..." Rainbow Dash quietly choked out.