//------------------------------// // The Departure // Story: Family Tree // by miss-cyan //------------------------------// Princess Luna shook my hoof, mulling over my real name under her breath. “Lottie…I am glad finally be able to refer to you by your true name.” she looked out into the sky. “I wish Princess Twilight could be here to speak with you, she is incredibly curious about you and your species.” “Well…I guess I’ll be spilling my guts to her and the rest of them.” I shrugged, trying not to be mopey about it. They did deserve an explanation of why I acted the way I did. “Princess Twilight’s curious about me?” “Oh, yes. She is a studious pony, my sister’s former pupil. She takes to new knowledge quite insatiably.” She looked like she just thought of something and straightened up a bit. “For reference: There are four Alicorn princesses in the land of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, whom you’ve briefly met, Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of Love was the latest addition before Twilight. I am Princess of the Moon. And my older sister is Celestia, Princess of the Sun.” “Huh… Hey, what’s up with your guys’ sun anyway? Why’s it all weird?” I asked, finally ready for an explanation on this. “W-…weird? How…do you mean, exactly?” “Like, why is it always smack dab in the middle of the sky, no matter what time it is?” I was still genuinely puzzled by that. “The sun is where my sister places it after the morning sunrise. She is Princess of the Sun, after all. Just as the moon sits where I decide.” “So…you’re telling me that you and your sister just…move the sun and moon around?” This was a bit farfetched, despite the fact that I had just been rescued from a bad dream by a pony princess. “Yes.” She nodded. “We place them in the sky, day and night without fail. You see this as strange?” “It’s pretty strange to me, yes.” I shrugged, and I just knew this was one of those things that would secretly drive me crazy as I just let it slide. Like magic and Pinkie’s odd rejection of gravity. “But I can worry about all of that later, when I know certain plans are in motion.” “Oh! Speaking of such a plan.” She got a more focused look on her face. “I told Princess Twilight and her friends of your condition to your consent and they agreed. I returned to Canterlot to…inform my sister of the present situation. Twilight is resting until morning to begin the process of returning you to your natural form. I shall be on standby in Canterlot…I will need a day or so of recuperation after this long venture into the dream realm. I will be available should anything should go wrong, but I believe you will be in good hooves.” “How long should this “process” take?” I asked, worried by the word. “Not long, but transformation magic is notoriously difficult, even just reversing the effects. You were not changed by traditional magic, so it might be more difficult than expected. But there is no reason to suspect that you will be unable to return to your natural form, do not worry.” “Twilight’s resting…And no one else can help me? Not to sound ungrateful to her but the sooner I’m not trapped in my dreams, the better.” “…Alicorns are the only creatures with magic powerful enough to perform such a transformation. My sister is now otherwise occupied with…matters I am hesitant to discuss while we are here, alongside her regular duties. I do not wish to bring up any negative thoughts while you are vulnerable.” “Mi Amore Cadenza, the Alicorn Princess of Love, or Cadence as she prefers to be called, is currently on her late but well-deserved honeymoon in a place called the Crystal Empire. She and her new husband recently went through a very traumatic experience during their wedding, so we all decided it best to leave them be for the time being.” “Oh, alright. Yeah, that’d be kind of rude on my part, I guess. 'Hey, can you drop everything and deal with this huge mess, ‘kay thanks.” No thank you.' I sighed, looking at Luna. “And you aren’t offering to do it so I’m guessing there’s something to that?” She looked hurt at my words, stepping back and not looking me in the eye. “Oh hey, I didn’t mean that like…I’m not trying to be crappy about it, I swear.” I waved my hooves defensively. I really wasn’t trying to bully the only pony who could really talk to me while I was stuck in this place. “If it’s a bad deal for you, I understand.” “…No, you know not of my past, or my current predicament.” She sighed, her ears down. “I am not…capable of such magic…anymore.” It was silent for a bit before she spoke up again. “I…do not wish to go into the details of my past. Perhaps it is selfish, but having somep-…some…one?” I nodded. “Someone around who knows not of my past failings…is a pleasant feeling. I hope that once you learn of them you will not…judge me too harshly, Cornflower.” She pulled up one of those magic rectangle windows and a normal-looking pegasus mare was in view. She was standing on a stone floor, eyes closed and looking peaceful. “I once…abused my magic. For my own gain. I took willing, loyal followers…innocent subjects of mine…” She looked really upset by whatever she was about to say. I put a hoof up to let her know she didn’t have to go on, but she shook her head, continuing. “I was…looking to build…something of an army. And I used my transformation magic to…well, you are about to see.” A beam of magic hit the pegasus from off-screen and…something happened. Her wings shifted from long, shiny feathers to dark webbed bat-like wings. Her flat pony teeth stretched into pointy fangs and stuck out of her mouth slightly. Even her fur turned a few shades darker, and it looked just a little bit shaggy. The magic stopped, and her eyes fluttered open, a big fanged smile on her face. Her eyes had turned bright yellow and her pupils turned cat-like, shrinking dangerously. The mare danced in place happily, bowing deeply to someone off-screen. “I abused my power.” She said finally, a tremble in her voice. “There were those among the kingdom who wished to be turned...for a number of reasons. Strength, power, an unhappiness with their place in the regime…I even went so far as to find criminals and dissidents opposed to the throne...I transformed so many of my subjects in order to obtain what I desired. And in the end, I…could not watch over them. They were loyal, and unwilling to be changed back. There was nothing my sister could do for them.” I wasn’t sure how this all went down, but the princess seemed heartbroken watching the mare prance around before the screen dissolved into the air. “When I…regained my original magic…I found that there was…some sort of block on that part of my mind. Whether it is something I have truly lost…or something I so strongly wish to undo that my body made it so, nopony knows.” “Well…It didn’t look like she was in pain. You said unwilling transformation magic hurts pretty bad.” “They were innocents!” she cried, stomping a hoof. “I get that, I do.” I held up a hoof and she looked a little put off. “You did something for the wrong reasons and you regret it. But, you know…did they?” She looked taken aback. She dipped her head down, thinking for a minute or two. “They remember their origins, to this day. And they have formed their own proud tribe. They have their own traditions and customs…They thrive.” “See. No harm no foul.” I offered. “I can’t pretend like I know anything about this stuff, but you seem like a nice pony.” I sat at her side, nudging her softly with a hoof. “And the fact that you feel bad about it shows that you’re good. Only jerks feel no regret.” She laughed under her breath, looking up and blinking a lot. I hoped she wasn’t crying. “Thank you…Lottie. You are a kind creature.” Pinkie had been at the counter again this morning, after helping prepare the morning stock. The Cakes had offered to let her take the day off but she didn’t want to drive herself crazy, pacing around and waiting for news. She felt weird, deep inside. She couldn’t go to the hospital, no matter how much she wanted to run all the way there and give Bluey the biggest hug. She had come back to Sugarcube Corner to a lot fewer party guests (they had been gone a few hours, she guessed) and a worried Cake family. She really didn’t know what to tell them, and Pinkie could tell they had so many questions, but they were nice enough to let her be for now. She cleaned up the party and took a few cupcakes to bed to make her feel better. She had dreams last night. Dreams about big, lurking monsters out in the woods with all those scary vines. But she hadn’t been scared or sad, not for herself anyway. She could see a creature, alone with the trees, watching Ponyville from far away. Waiting to be invited, waiting to meet somepony who wanted to be its friend. But anytime she got too close to the woods, the creature would cry an ocean of tears and sweep her away back to the dry land of Ponyville. And the townsfolk she knew and cared for dearly would look down at her, asking why she wanted to be friends with a monster? Even her best friends shook their heads at her, asking themselves why they would want to be friends with a pony who was “dumb enough to care about a monster who didn’t want her around”. It was at that point Pinkie woke up with a stomachache, worse than the time she accidentally ate the cardboard in a fake gingerbread house. She just told herself that no matter how big or scary Bluey really looked, her newest friend was special to her, and she wouldn’t abandon her just because things got hard. Pinkie loved making new friends, and meeting Bluey had been lucky, no matter how things had worked out. But this newest friend was different. It wasn’t that she was sad, it wasn’t that she was in trouble. It wasn’t even that she wasn’t a pony. Pinkie hadn’t really felt the need to explain why she liked her new friend so much. Not even when ponies around her had, just for a second, thought of Bluey as less than friend material. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. “Bluey doesn’t want me to see her change.” She wanted more than anything to rush to the hospital and bust down the doors, but she couldn’t. She more or less understood that Bluey had put terms to her transformation and waking up, and Pinkie being there could mess it up for everypony. “But I have to be there when she wakes up, to let her know nothing has changed. Well…except her face. And her body, and…maybe her name? And Luna said she wasn’t gonna be blue anymore-but that’s besides the point!!” It was gonna be a long day… It had been a dreamless sleep for Twilight. Her mind and magic were so exhausted from the day’s happenings that she had pretty much passed out the moment she had gotten under the covers, after tucking Spike into bed. Twilight woke up feeling much better than the day before. The dull hornache was gone and she could feel a full reserve of magic humming away deep in her body. It was strange, being conscious of that feeling, now that she knew how being near-depleted felt. Twilight had told her friends that she would send word to them as soon as her work was done, so that she could keep her word about Pinkie without everypony else tagging along. She did explain to them that she had no idea how long this would take so they didn’t come along out of pure curiosity. And it was true. “I’ll approach with basic transformation magic, and vary my magic based on how she responds…” she said, pacing the hospital room. “Then I have to figure out the sleeping spell.” At last, she could set out to do what she had promised. She didn’t know which aspect of the new day way the most exciting, performing this complicated but fascinating spell for the first time, learning about a new creature and their culture, or possibly making a new friend (who was a creature with an unknown culture which only made it better). A hearty breakfast and a note to Spike later, she was off for Ponyville Hospital, doing her best to avoid curious ponies who had been at Pinkie’s party the day before with an offhoof “I’ll do my best to explain everything at a later time, sorry.” She was prepared, she was confident, she was eager to keep her promise! … Upon arriving in the hospital room, she looked to Cornflower Blue. Luna was committed to protecting her in her dreams at the moment, and she looked more or less alright. Her sheets had been kicked off in the night, and Twilight hoped her sleep hadn’t been so fitful. She had recalled Luna’s mention of the Manehattan incident, which is what made her think of asking Luna for help in the first place. It was also what could very nearly proved an adult pony with no cutie mark impossible. “It happened years back.” She told the sleeping creature, pulling the sheets back over her and tucking her in a bit. A force of habit from putting Spike to bed so many nights. She felt better with somepony to talk to about all this, even if she couldn’t hear her. “There was a young stallion who had attempted a sleeping spell of his own making at a young age, back when I was just a filly myself. He had a magical surge and the spell backfired, sending him into a magic-induced coma. No matter what his doctors did, they couldn’t reverse the spell. So, they made him comfortable, and for years he slept.” “Eventually during a routine check-up, the doctors noticed that overnight he had gotten his cutie mark. Now, cutie mark studies are exceedingly rare, you see. They are hard to observe because any circumstances where one would try to keep a cutie mark from appearing, to see if it’s possible, are considered cruel. There’s never been a case of a pony reaching past late adolescence and staying bare flanked.” “When that young pony got his cutie mark, even when unconscious, it raised a new theory to the magical and scientific communities: that it is possible, even for a pony with no active part in their own life to get a cutie mark. It implied that not getting a cutie mark, no matter the circumstances, might be impossible.” “Now where Luna comes in…” she continued, charging up her magic for the long process ahead. “…Is that once she returned to Equestria, long story, she used her magic to travel into the young stallion’s dreams. She planned to ask him what exact spell he used on himself so it could finally be reversed and he could wake up. Turns out that he had been living an entire life in his dream, no different than if he was still awake. He dreamed of earning his cutie mark, and it happened. She worked with him to undo the magic from the inside, and after sleeping for so many years, he woke up.” “Once I get this transformation reversed, I’ll undo your sleep spell, thanks to Luna. And we’ll figure out how exactly the forest is involved in all this.” She swept her magic over the creature, locking onto the same spell she discovered before. “And I do hope that you’ll enjoy your time in Ponyville, you are our first otherworldly visitor, after all! The whole thing started off a bit…rocky, I’ll admit! But your visit could be the start of something wonderful!” “You and your kind could learn from us, and we could learn from you! I have no idea of anything about you! And that’s what makes it all so exciting!” Cornflower Blue was not as excited as her, or awake for that matter. She settled down, hoping that no matter what happened, she could at least get the mare’s help to keep anypony else from being lost to the forest. “I can’t wait to meet you, whoever you are.” She smiled. “And I know a certain pink pony who really wants to see you again.” She felt her magic cover the form before her, and deep below that was a very weak, and very foreign feeling signature, Twilight wondered if she could even classify it as magic. Did her kind use active magic? Did they come from a world much like her own where magic influenced just about everything? So many questions that would have to wait. She hoped that they could talk soon. “Okay, here we go.” Twilight had started to see why transformation magic was not performed very often. She had spent hours just searching the magical signature for the…keyhole, as she liked to imagine it. The break in the magic’s armor that would allow her to slip in and start to undo what had been done. When she finally found it, she almost lost her concentration from the excitement. Soon she was navigating the magic and undoing the hold that the magic had over the creature called Bluey. It was a slow, frankly terrifying process. She had watched a pony not unlike herself turn into…she didn’t even know. She had grown almost double in size, and her blue coat had shifted into a near-hairless form, though the bare skin had been the same shade of blue for an hour or so. Her eyes had shrunk too, and they went from a brilliant yellow to more of a golden brown. Most of her coloring had turned brown, actually. Watching her hooves spilt into long, minotaur-esque digits had been particularly unsettling, if not fascinating. Even her hind hooves had split, giving her flat, soft pads not unlike Spike. From what Twilight could gather, not being able to ask and not invading the mare’s privacy, she was warm-blooded, a mammal, and her semi-sharp teeth revealed a mixed diet. She expected long, grotesque fangs the way Roseluck went on about them. She was certainly foreign, as Luna had said, but she didn’t feel afraid. “I don’t really see what all the fuss was about.” She said to the sleeping creature, her skin still glowing with her magic. “Though I suppose it was particularly bad luck when the first pony you ever meet is one of the most skittish in the entire town. I wish you had met somepony who could’ve made friends with you, let you know that you’re welcome in Equestria just as you are. Somepony like-” “Princess, I brought the-AAH! SWEET CELESTIA-” Nurse Redheart was sprinting off down the hall, wailing the whole way. “Wait! Please just-…Oh dear.” Her ears went flat, suddenly regretting not warning the staff. “Well, I’ll have things sorted out with her by the time you wake up, don’t worry.” Luna had suggested light, meditative exercises to keep our minds clear. I knew it would probably help, seeing as I could let any unsettling thoughts that came into my head with the intention of keeping my head and not slipping into another nightmare. From what I could read on her, neither of us seemed to be the social types so the conversation was a bit strained, but we didn’t bother with aggravating, unnecessary small talk. I just asked her relevant stuff that seemed to peak her interest, if only because she seemed to want to put my mind at ease. “Do you ever worry about losing it here, like I did?” I asked, trying again at more relevant conversation. “Being as strong as you seem to be, but you kept saying how dangerous it is here.” “My magic allows me to traverse this realm relatively easily…though it is not without it’s peril.” She answered, her eyes still closed in her calm state. “I fight the nightmares of my subjects, and here they are not just figments of their imaginations, they are fully realized visions with their own strength and magic. If a pony dreams about being attacked by a monster, not unlike yourself, I must face a version of that actual fiend, not an ill-conceived recreation.” “And you do all that…because you’re their princess?” I was honestly impressed with her resolve on this. It wasn’t just that she was an alicorn or a princess. She was…powerful, but not just how she used her magic. Just sitting with her, I felt like if I needed someone to watch my back, or even just feel secure around, she’d do her best. Not exactly maternal, more…cool older sister, with an awkward streak. Maybe it was just because in this pony body she was taller than me. “It is my sovereignty. My destiny. If I was stripped of everything, I would still feel the urge to protect anypony I could.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, opening her eyes to look to the sky. “Those who have the power to protect others, should.” I nodded, mostly understanding where she was coming from. In my own, non-princess way. “I don’t like to fight.” I admitted, not purposely avoiding her eyes but trying to just say what I was thinking without chickening out. “Any time I’ve lost my cool and got into it with someone, it was…to protect someone that I cared about…or someone who just needed me to.” She nodded, a look I couldn’t quite recognize directed at me. “But…” I was hoping this wouldn’t trigger any more…living nightmares, but if I kept it in now, it most certainly would. “It hasn’t always worked out for me. I remember once, my brother came to me instead of our parents. He told me he had a violent bully, and I told him that he should fight back. And he did…and it worked, don’t get me wrong. He never did get picked on by that jerk kid, but once my folks heard about how I put the idea of it in his head…” I sighed, not really enjoying this memory but it wasn’t my worst moment by far. “I was suddenly the worst…like they were convinced I was a no-good punk who was gonna taint their “good kid” …They never put it like that, but…I could tell. He’s always been…better than me.” I clenched my non-existent fists, hating how it sounded. “God that’s pathetic, he’s my baby brother but…he’s so smart, and my parents are so proud of him and I just…I had such a hard time in school. He’s gonna go on to be the kind of adult they’ll be proud of and I’m just…their screw-up.” I laughed, it felt good to talk about it, but it was still upsetting. Luna kept listening. “I am though. I messed up my whole life, over…” I couldn’t go back to that memory, not just yet. Even though I wanted to work through this stuff so the ever-present hole in my chest wouldn’t swallow me up again, now wasn’t the time for this level of sad. “I…got in a fight. When I was a kid. A bad one. To protect…someone.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying to tackle this as gently as I could. “Someone I…loved. The creep deserved every last thing I gave him, and then some. But he was…he had a hold over…her.” “She…something bad happened to her. And I fought the asshole responsible, and then something worse happened to her. And if I had just kept my cool…” I couldn’t. “I was…messed up, even before then. But everything came crashing down and I…well, I’m…I’m broken.” “I’m broken and I don’t know how to fix it.” I sighed, trying again not to catch the princess’ gaze. The tiny hole in my chest was still seeping awful wisps of smoke every now and again, but the hole itself stayed the same size. Part of me wished she was just part of my dream, so I wasn’t spilling my guts to a real person…pony. But she surprised me. She looked up at the sky again, maybe trying not to look me in the eye either. “I was broken…once.” I listened, not daring to scare her off with talk. “I gave in to my worst impulses. I let the darkness take me…I often dream…of a better time. One where I never gave in to that darkness, that hate…Where I never left this world behind. But…” Her eyes were burning into mine, and I was almost terrified. “…One cannot dwell in better lives, doubt who they would have been if they only had the knowledge they have now.” Her wings tucked fully into her sides and she blinked slowly. “That way lies the path of a mad-pony.” “Heh…” I half-laughed. “That was almost Shakespearian.” “…I do not understand the meaning of your words, but I hope they are ones of good will.” I nodded, and she did too. “You sound as if you have had your share of hardships, and I have sensed great pain and unrest around your dreams. But…We are both still standing.” “Yeah…I suppose we are.” Before I could lighten the mood with some hopefully witty sentiments, a strange feeling took me over. It wasn’t painful, but it quickly consumed my entire dream-self. I was numb, and my body was going slightly see-through. “Thank the stars.” she sighed, looking worn down all of the sudden. Had she been keeping it together for my sake? “It appears Twilight has begun her undoing of your sleep spell. You will rejoin the waking world shortly, if I’m not mistaken.” “This feels weird.” I declared. “I’m so excited to get my body back but this is a weird feeling it’s not bad or hurting but it’s like my whole body fell asleep and it’s very light pins and needles Luna, is this normal please tell me it’s normal aaaaaaaa-” “Do not distress, you are in good hooves.” She was trying hard not to smile at my monotone panicked babbling. “Just let yourself…float away. Let this new sensation consume you and follow the call that your body will send. It…well it misses you.” I was gonna call her out for her weird words when a portal of light appeared in the sky far above us. I couldn’t help but feel afraid, but I couldn’t believe she was right. Far above my head, I could feel something…almost tender. I could hear my physical body calling out to my unconscious mind like a wayward loved one, they were two things that were never meant to be separated and I suddenly felt a deep, almost painful ache in my chest. I needed to go to it. My dream body was losing shape and I had to get up there. I kicked off the ground and found myself floating towards the light. Something with this imagery would in any other scenario make me fear I was floated head-first towards…death? The afterlife? But I knew I wasn’t afraid. “Okay, I guess I’m…going.” I laughed, looking down at the rapidly distancing princess. “Thanks Luna!” I called down. “Sorry I was such a hassle!” “T’was a hassle I would rise to the occasion of every time.” She called back, waving to me. In a shroud of darkness, she sank into it and vanished, off to get some rest like she said, I hoped. I stared into the fast-approaching portal, unafraid. I could feel a bed under me. My whole body was cold and feeling was slowly returning to the tips of my fingers. I took a deep breath, I couldn’t open my eyes. I could hear the faint hum of something I barely recognized…magic? Like the hum of magic I’d seen once or twice. “Hello?” I whispered, my voice sounded kind of raspy. “Oh! I’m…not exactly done-but, no. Hello!” there was a kind of familiar voice. “I’m glad you’re awake!” “…Princess Twilight Sparkle?” I guessed. She was the one who’d be working on me. “Yes! That’s me. But you can just call me Twilight, if you want.” She laughed, sounding tired herself. “Princess Luna must have told you I was the pony helping you. How are you feeling?” “…Tired.” “Well, that’s to be expected. The sleeping spell itself is broken, but I’m still flushing it out of your system. You should get your sight back soon, I know this must be disorienting.” “…I feel cold.” “Oh, well, that makes sense. You did lose your coat.” “My…jacket’s gone?” “No, that’s here, I meant your fur.” She laughed. “You were blue for a while after that but then you went to your natural brown. ” “No fur…” I could clench my hands now, and I could feel my toes. “I know you’re nervous about being seen. But I’ve been here the whole time, and I have to say...I was more surprised by your form than anything. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been here for a while, but I wouldn’t say you look scary. Just different.” “…Thanks.” I was too tired to figure out how honest she was being. “You did frighten a nurse though, full disclosure.” She laughed nervously. “She walked in thinking you were still going to be a pony. Once I explained things she was fine.” So I am scary, at least a little bit. Princess Luna said it might be rough. “Is…” I stopped to cough, my throat was dry. I felt a straw touched gently to my lips and I gratefully took a few sips, ignoring my thought of not wanting to be fussed over, too tired, too parched. “Is there anyone else here?” “Nopony has been by. I told them they could come once you were awake and moving around. Given that it was alright with you.” “…I guess.” I wasn’t being stubborn, I just didn’t know who else she would be referring to, besides Pinkie, if she’d told her about me. I’d imagine some of the other ponies I’d met would swing by, if only to gawk or get an explanation. And I could handle that, I hoped. I could move my arms a bit. I moved one to my upper thigh to feel cool bare skin under my fingers. I’m starting to put this together. “I’m…naked.” “Hm?” she paused. “I…suppose? Oh! You don’t have any fur! Here, I’ll put the sheet back on.” I felt a thin, cool sheet touch my skin, and I did my best to pull it all the way up my body. “I was making sure the transformation was progressing well.” So, not even a day back in my body and a pony saw me naked, and she’s royalty. That’s a thing that happened… I thought, dreading being a human in this pony world with no pants. Maybe they’ll let me borrow this sheet. The feeling in my body was swiftly returning and I stretched my arms out. I couldn’t have been out for more than a day, but I felt as if I’d been knocked out for a week. Every stretch of my limbs was so gratifying I could’ve cried. And I was starving. I opened my eyes, but all I could see was the harsh lights above me, glowing too bright to focus. I put an arm over my face, letting them adjust to the room. I could still hear the hum of magic in the air, but I couldn’t feel it on me. Was I supposed to feel it? Was I gonna open my eyes to find that this whole crazy thing had gone horribly wrong and this princess was just too polite to let on? Or god forbid, I was…off, and she didn’t know what I was supposed to look like, so she wasn’t worried? Now, calm down. I couldn’t let myself get carried away. I feel fine, I just have to…trust these guys to do right by me…even though they have no reason not to. I was starting to see the color in the white ceiling. I blinked away the last of the blurry vision and at long last, I could see everything as clear as day. And at the foot of the bed, I looked down to see the same alicorn I’d toppled over just yesterday, even if it felt like forever ago. She was the one who’d saved me. In all the commotion of nightmares and magic I’d almost pushed that thought aside. She was smiling, but also…maybe a bit stuck in place. She looked like she could be holding her breath. But, most obviously, she looked tired. Her feathers and mane were disheveled, and her eyes had the beginnings of dark circles under them. It got me worked up, as I tended to do sometimes. All this fuss… “…Thank you.” I tried my best at a smile, I think we were both pretty exhausted. “Oh! Um, no trouble at all!” she laughed, nervous. “The magic has mostly worn off now and I was able to-” I held up my hand, shaking my head and she froze. “Thank you.” I said again. “For saving my life.” A much calmer, gentle smile crept on the princess’ face this time. “You’re welcome.” When her magic finally died out, I felt everything much more strongly. All the numbness had flushed out and I marveled at the regained sensation, not realizing just had numb I’d been. But with sensation, came the good as well as the bad. My legs and arms were covered in light bruises, and I felt them with every movement now. They were long and wrapping, evidence of the vines pulling my body into the ground. “Huh. That’s weird.” I thought out loud. “The last time I transformed, all my little cuts and bruises were healed.” Remembering back to those first terrifying, clumsy hours as a pony. I heard scratching and I looked up from my limbs to find a quill in Twilight’s magic scratching furiously on a scroll. “Are you…taking notes?” I asked, wondering where on earth this was going. “Oh, I’m sorry!” the stationary stuff whirled around in the magic glow to behind her back, her wings rustling nervously. “I just…well, I was only getting ready to document the important parts of our conversations, but what you said about your injuries seemed important too and I just…I’m sorry, does it make you uncomfortable?” “…I guess not, but uh...” I didn’t want to refuse her, after I’d already resigned to answering questions, it being the least I could do. “But don’t you have like…more important questions?” Her face lit up, the scroll and quill whirling around as she sat in the bedside chair. I could hear her under her breath. “Yes yes yes yes yes!” Luna did say she was the studious type, loves to learn. I looked around the room, remembering bits about where Luna said I was. “Do you uh…mind if I ask some things first?” I asked. “Just some basic stuff to…bring me up to speed?” “Oh, yes of course!” she looked a little embarrassed, setting the stuff on the counter. “I got ahead of myself just now. You must have so many questions about your situation, I’m sorry.” “It’s fine…” I gathered my thoughts, trying to figure out what I should ask first. But an obvious one came to mind. “Is…did anyone else get hurt out there?” I asked, dreading the answer. “Running after me or…with the…vines?” “Oh no! Everypony is fine!” she assured, seeing my discomfort. Guess she could tell I would’ve felt guilty. “There were a few falls during the…the um, pursuit…but nopony got hurt.” I felt better, but the feeling of guilt still sat in my stomach. “Um…Luna said I was in a hospital. Does the doctor know I’m…Have they seen me? Like this?” “Doctor Horse examined you when you first arrived, but he hasn’t been back yet, neither have any nurses…save for the one who saw you…earlier.” She hummed thoughtfully. “You should be seen soon though. I’ve done my job here, but I’m not a doctor, I wouldn’t be able to tell if something else besides those bruises was wrong.” I didn’t like it, but if something was wrong, I’d like to know sooner than later. “He won’t be…too scared, or…something like that?” My stomach was in knots. “Doctor Horse is a professional, and I trust him to act like it.” She nodded sternly. “Besides, I think you’re more…unfamiliar than anything. I’ve been working on you for hours and trust me, you were the scariest when you were…between forms. Compared to that, you look like a million bits!” I half-laughed, hoping she was right. Also, I was trying not to think about myself as some horrifying union of horse and human. “Is he the same doctor I…hit while I was having the convulsions?” “Oh, I’d almost forgotten that.” She grimaced. “Yes, but he was the first one to assure everypony that you didn’t do it on purpose.” I still hated that I had hurt someone, but I only hoped he didn’t hold it against me now that I wasn’t a pony. Would he just be one of the ones who wouldn’t…couldn’t trust me? “You really don’t think it’ll be that bad?” I asked, trying to get it out of the way. “Princess Luna said that ponies can be…skittish. And she never came out and said it, but she kept promising nothing bad would happen to me…more or less implying they could happen, ya know?” She sat for a moment, then another. “Ponies…have trouble with creatures they think might cause them harm. We’re a prey species after all.” She shrugged. “And some ponies…don’t like those who are different from them, even amongst ourselves. But…” She looked surer, her tired face reflecting a confidence that reminded me of Luna. Maybe it was a royalty thing. “The ponies who matter, they’ll be the ones whose opinions you’ll care about.” She smiled, giving off a friendly sense to her that…kind of sold me on her. I barely knew this pony princess, but I could tell she’d at least…try. Try to do right by me, try to help me, maybe even try to be a friend. The jury was still out on if any new friendships would survive this whole thing, but this kind of atmosphere almost made me wish it would. “Ponies…hey, speaking of.” I didn’t quite know how to approach the subject, but it was still on my mind. “Is Pinkie…I mean, I was kind of wigging out before but…does she…” I clenched the bed sheet in my fists, the cold of the hospital room not chilling me as much as my nerves. “…Is she mad I sent her off?” I settled on asking. “No, of course not!” Twilight looked nervous, almost jumping out of her chair to assure me. “Pinkie’s…well she’s more worried than anything else. Luna made sure she knew that you were just scared, that you didn’t mean to push her away or anything like that.” I remembered Pinkie’s face when the vines had a hold of me, how she cried and pulled me out of the ground. I still held onto that guilt, that I had thought I could just abandon her once I got what I needed. That my plan had been to run off, leaving her to wonder and worry as I disappeared from the face of Equestria. “Hey, um…” I pulled the sheet tighter around myself, not knowing what to expect. “I…I think I’d…” Princess Twilight sat patiently, as I struggled to get the simple words out. Could I assume? That everything would work out? That I could be the same person, er…pony she knew me to be? “…Can I see her?” Twilight smiled, looking a little sheepish. “Well, I’m sure she’d be happy to see you…but I feel I should note that it’s um…” she pointed a hoof to a clock on the wall with unfamiliar numbers. “…three in the morning.” All at once I was relieved, sad, and fretful. “I’m…so sorry, you’ve…you’ve been up for hours! And I’m just lying here, well-rested from my magic coma, bothering you with my crap-I’ll just, uh…” “Hey there, it’s okay!” she laughed, her voice still giving away just how tired she’d been. “I’ve pulled longer all-nighters than this. But there are things I’d like to know before I get my rest. Things that are crucial right now that can’t wait if I’m going to protect the ponies of this town.” “Oh…right.” It felt like she was super serious about this and I could think of a few things that might be on her mind. I wasn’t sure how much use I could be but I was willing to help. “Okay, I’ll save the personal questions for when everypony visits, so you’re not repeating yourself, but I need to know…First Question.” She sounded serious, but not intimidating. She got her scroll and quill back and sat up, looking me dead in the eye. “How did you come to Equestria?” “Uh, well…” I wondered how much of this was going to make sense, considering it was weird to me, but she was a talking, magic, purple pony princess. “I was out in the woods behind my house and then, I wasn’t. There’s a spot out there that’s like…a portal. It lets me through when I…when I ask, I guess?” “Hmm…how can you tell when you’ve slipped through this portal?” Okay, I guess this was normal for her so far. “I…well, the sun is different, for one thing.” I guessed, remembering Luna’s explanation. Twilight looked puzzled, and eager to hear more. “Luna said that your sun stays in the same place all day long, because of her sister. But my…world’s sun moves. So when I saw that it was different…plus, back home it’s a bit chillier now that fall is in full swing, but here it’s still pretty pleasant out.” “Okay…” she wrote down what looked to be what I had said, word for word (based on how much she was writing, I still couldn’t read), with a few notes in the margins, circled and underlined here and there. “I’ll get to some of that later…How did you transform yourself? If your magic is that much different that I can’t detect a signature, you must have a source that I’m unable to sense and-” “Hang on, hang on.” I stopped her before she talked until sun-up. “First off, I didn’t transform myself. The vines did that, I think. Second, I’m not magic. No magic, jot that down in your scroll thingy right now.” “No magic? No, that’s impossible. I found something there, albeit weak and it gave off an odd signature. If you had no magic, you’d-hang on.” She stopped her fast, confusing talk and did a double-take. “The…the vines? You…you let them transform you?” “No! Hell no!” I was getting frustrated, more at everything but this pony but she wasn’t helping. “Those…things dragged me into your world, literally! They…they took me apart and put me back together like this! It hurt, it hurt so bad I thought…I thought I was gonna die!” She looked at me with the same horror Luna did. But I was still going. “Those vines made me a pony, and then they tried to murder me!” I was shaking, still terrified by those things. “They tried to make me disappear, like they did those girls!” “Wha-…The Maple sisters?” she looked worried, for me or otherwise I wasn’t sure. “I saw them! In my nightmare!” I must’ve sounded crazy, but I was well past trying to look calm and collected in front of pony royalty. “I saw those innocent little ponies get swallowed into the ground, multiple times! I saw the terror and suffering on their little faces and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna haunt me for the rest of my life!” “What were their cutie marks?” I looked at this pony like I would’ve back when I thought I might be the crazy one. “What?” I asked, tripping up and losing steam. “What does that matter?” “Just tell me, I promise this isn’t a trick, or a set-up.” I wanted to believe her, or not take this entire line of questioning as a bad time waiting to happen. “Do you remember seeing anything? Close your eyes and try. Please.” I hesitated. But I barely remembered half the stuff I’d run into since this had begun so I couldn’t imagine this would satisfy her. I closed my eyes, slipping back to the horrible dream I’d had not hours ago. It was so fuzzy, but…if I concentrated, I could just make something out, and I tried my best to say what I was thinking. “Uh…I think…Sugar. Sugar has…like a red maple leaf with…some sparkles? Something shiny at least. And Silver…it’s more…it’s like two comets…chasing each other?” “What color are the comets?” she asked, my eyes still closed but I could tell she was holding her breath. “I think…” It was hard to remember but something connected in my brain to recall a small fact. “They’re mostly white, with…a pale, green around them, like her eyes.” I opened mine to see a file in front of the princess, looking blown away, to be as accurate as possible. “I saw the same files you have and the photos too, from your bag and the house. No description or photo of their marks exists but they both had them at the time of their disappearance.” She explained. “But the newspaper from that day describes them, to help identify them, and I know nopony but me has seen this article in over fifty years.” She looked at me, her eyes darting back and forth as she looked to be thinking at ninety miles an hour, and she laughed, still looking half-terrified. “That wasn’t a nightmare you had!” She bounced in her chair, and I could tell her nerves were shot at this point. She reached out suddenly towards me, forcefully smooshing my face in an excited fit while I sat there, growing more and more confused by this pony. “It was a vision!”