It was a still day at Canterlot High.
The early morning sun was just starting to rise behind the school. The still Sunday morning air was light and breezy. Far down the avenue came the distant sounds of an early morning runner. Other than the rustle of the trees, the street was quiet.
Nobody got up this early in the morning.
A shining noise echoed in the courtyard of Canterlot High.
The light magic swirling sound filled the air for just a moment before dissipating.
The square statue base outside the school started to shake. A blue-purple boot stepped out from the statue and then lost its balance and fell to the floor. Rarity was bemused. She knew of the changes that would take place but never expected anything like this.
Her hooves were soft and dangly. Her neck felt light and weak. The concrete below her was cold on her limbs as she tried to recover from the disorientating feeling. She felt like her body was covered with fabric, like clothes, but she wasn't wearing any clothes a minute ago.
She moved her new limbs like hooves. One at a time to get uses to the new feeling, crawling a few feet away from the portal to allow Applejack and Rainbow Dash to make their way through. She took in her new environment pulling her head up from her thin neck.
A concrete path lay before her, heading towards what she assumed was Canterlot High School. The tall three story building surrounded the courtyard. Between the path and the school lay well kempt grass. The architecture was very different to Equestria. There was a lot more concrete around. Even the trees behind her were surrounded by the concrete path.
She could not see Sunset Shimmer anywhere. She was supposed to be here to greet them.
Behind her the orange leg of Applejack carefully trod its way into the world. As the swirling noise of the portal rose and fell again. Applejack held herself up by the corner of the portal. Taking in the sights and trying to stay balanced on two legs. Remembering the training Twilight and Sunset had put them through the day before.
Twilight aimed her pointing stick at the chalk board next to her.
"So this is a rough approximation of what a "human" looks like. Sunset will be over soon with some photos she can show you." Indeed on the chalk board was a chalk outline of a rather weird figure. It seemed to have a large head on a disproportionately thin body.
There were four legs but in a rather confusing formation. Twilight pointed to the anatomy of the 'human'.
"These two legs, are legs. But these two near head are referred to as 'hands' or 'arms'. Instead of hooves or magic, humans lift things with their hands and they only stand by balancing on these two legs."
Rarity tried to take all the information in on how to use each limb, but it seemed confusing.
Then Sunset entered the room carrying a small stack of photos. She had demonstrated how humans walk by standing up only on her two back hooves. Then she stumbled down a couple of times. "It's a lot easier with human legs, trust me."
She had also explained to them how humans always wear clothes and refer to each other as "EveryBODY or anyBODY, not anyPONY or everyCREATURE." All in all, it hadn't seemed so far away from the normality of Equestria. Apart from the whole, new body kind of thing.
Sunset came running down the path to their left.
Rarity and Applejack turned their heads to find the sound of the calling.
"Rarity, Applejack! I'm so sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off properly!" Sunset panted, seeming so sturdy in this human form. For the first time, Rarity took in the sight of a human properly. This new body didn't look all that bad.
The first thing she noticed were the clothes. Sunset's leather jacket and pink skirt complimented her orange shirt and yellow complexion nicely. Her long red and yellow hair flowing behind her as she ran which reminded Rarity of pony's manes.
Sunset arrived at the statue. She offered a hand to Rarity on the floor. It was the first time Rarity had seen a hand. Instinctively she bought her own hand up to meet Sunset's. She analysed the fingers on her limb. They seemed fragile and delicate. Her white skin, she noticed, felt light too.
Taking in the delicate feeling of skin on skin, hand on hand, Rarity passed her hands onto Sunset. Sunset tightened her fingers around Rarity's hand.
"Here let me pull you up." She said.
"Oh okay yes, um, yes please." Rarity stumbled over her words. Sunset offered a strong grip and pulled Rarity to her feet. Rarity struggled to keep her balance and tumbled straight into Sunset who supported her.
"Here, lean on me using your arms and just take a second to find your balance on two feet." Sunset said, turning to Applejack. "Has Rainbow Dash made it through yet?"
Applejack looked like she did whenever human Applejack got seasick, green shading her face. She shook her head. Applejack felt light headed and dizzy, so shaking didn't help.
"Don't worry, the nausea wears off in about five minutes." Sunset consoled. "This is so exciting, It's the first time since Starlight that anypony has come through to the human world."
After one more moment Rainbow Dash shot through the portal and instantly tripped on her feet, flying onto the grass next to the path.
"Woahoahoahaohahaaaaaa, I was not expecting THAT!" She yelled rolling on the ground. She came to a stop. Sunset giggled for a moment and slowly let Rarity get used to just standing still on her feet. The she went to go help the downed Rainbow.
The portal rippled once more, and very carefully, Twilight stepped through with confidence, moving both feet into a standing position and keeping herself supported. "Everything okay out here?" She noticed Sunset helping Rainbow up. "Sorry about Rainbow. I tried to warn her, but she didn't listen."
Sunset laughed. "It's okay Twilight, it was kinda funny."
"Thank you for doing this for them Sunset."
"Indeed.... Thank you kindly." Rarity replied weakly. She pulled her back muscles up and supported her head on top of her neck, recovering from the wild ride of the portal.
"I'm looking forward to this week. We have a lot to do and a good mix of adventure and relaxation." Sunset reassured, walking Rainbow over to the group stood around the stone statue.
She gave Twilight a one armed hug, supporting Rainbow with the other. "Make sure they don't get into any trouble. If you need me, you know how to contact me."
"Yes Twilight, don't worry. They'll be okay."
"Okay." She nodded, pulling away from their embrace reassured. "Have a good time you guys."
"Thanks yall Twilight." Applejack slurred, "Just wish this holiday didn't have to START with the headache." she joked.
"Let's get you all settled into walking. There'll be no-one around at this time in the morning. Then we can head back to my place and I'll talk you through the plans."
As the three pony-girls recovered, they slowly came to appreciate the new world and the height that their new body offered, growing in confidence through walking. As they made their way to Sunset's maisonette they fiddled with some of their new features. Exploring what they could do with hands, zips, buttons, hair, arms. All manner of new things that they couldn't do before.