//------------------------------// // The Appointment // Story: A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake // by The Dimension Traveler //------------------------------// A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake Chapter 7: The Appointment “I will be leaving immediately after I raise the moon. I have already purchased accommodations here in Ponyville for when I return, hopefully with Chrysalis, so you needn’t worry about that. I will first be stopping by my old castle. Clearly I should have cleaned it out long ago to prevent enterprising young Alicorns from casting spells they ought not,” Luna’s words carried a light teasing. “I’m sure Twilight will contain her disappointment,” Tom snarked. “Quite,” Luna’s face was a perfect royal mask, but her eyes danced with merriment. “Anyway, we should probably get going ourselves. At top speed, we should just make it to our appointment with Dr. Mind,” Tom noted, glancing at the clock on the wall of the library. “Then do not let me hold you both any longer. Safe journey,” Luna bid. Tom and Twilight said their own farewells before exiting the library and taking to the skies. It had been three days since the Summer Sun Celebration and everyone was getting used to yet another shake up in the usual routine. Luna had somehow disguised her leaving as a diplomatic mission to the Dragons and Celestia had gone along with it. Neither Tom nor Twilight knew if it was just Celestia being prudent or if it was an effort to make some small amends. As far as Moon Dancer was concerned, she had spent her first day almost exclusively in Golden Oaks, reading. On the morning of the second day, Fluttershy had taken it upon herself to invite Moon Dancer to her house. Tom, Spike, and Twilight were all slightly mystified by the aura of peace that Moon Dancer seemed to have gained from Fluttershy’s presence. Tom had briefly wondered if there had been some kind of recreational drug involved, but quickly dismissed the idea. Moon Dancer was simply relaxed, not stoned. As much as Tom knew it was important to be nonjudgmental with those who self-harmed or were suicidal, he was also aware that he couldn’t quite keep his disapproval out of his tone whenever he spoke to her about it. If hanging around Fluttershy helped her, then both he and Twilight were fully supportive. Half an hour after they left, they arrived in Canterlot, managing to land outside Dr. Mind’s office with only a minor face plant. That was progress in Tom’s book. “Twilight, come in, Dr. Mind has been expecting you! She’ll be with you in just a moment,” Dr. Mind’s secretary, Neat Quills, greeted as they walked in the door. A Pegasus mare of gray coat and two toned blue mane, Neat Quills’ cutie mark was three quills neatly lined next to each other. Tom nodded in understanding and quietly sat in the waiting room. Both Twilight and Tom would be lying if they said they weren’t nervous. They would be further liars if they claimed that the other’s nervousness wasn’t influencing their own. Actually being in the office was causing Tom to start fidgeting with anxiety. They both knew there was no reason to be apprehensive, yet apprehensive they were. “Twilight, you can come back now,” Neat Quills called out a mere minute later. Tom stood and was lead down a hallway to a thick wooden door. Neat Quills knocked on the door once before opening it. With an encouraging smile, Neat Quills ushered Tom and Twilight inside and closed the door behind them. They were brought face to face with a middle aged Earth Pony mare with a soothing forest green coat and plain black mane. She was sitting in a comfortable looking chair, but Tom could still see her cutie mark, a metronome. The room itself was painted in a calm beige color and there were knickknacks, books, and even a few stuffed animals on shelves. “Hello Tom pleased to meet you. I am Dr. Calm Mind. Twilight, it’s nice to see you again,” Dr. Calm Mind greeted. “Ah, so you know?” Tom asked. “Yes, Twilight’s mother and Princess Celestia thought it would be prudent if I had a heads up,” Dr. Mind responded. “That’s good, don’t want to spend the whole session trying to convince you I’m not crazy,” Tom breathed a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. “No need to worry about that. Twilight’s mother thought it wise to book a double session and you’re my last appointment, so we can take as long as we need,” Dr. Mind explained. “Oh boy,” Twilight groaned. Tom promptly ignored her. “First things first, tell me a bit about yourself, Tom. It could be anything that springs to mind; your home life, your aspirations, anything at all,” Dr. Mind instructed. Tom pursed his lips as he took a moment to contemplate how to answer. He ultimately decided to start with the basics. “My full name is Tom Jacob Williams. I am a twenty three year old male Human. I grew up in Bangor, Maine in a country called the United States of America with a disappointing lack of monsters,” Tom began. “‘A disappointing lack of monsters’?” Dr. Mind questioned. “Sorry, bad joke. There was a horror fiction writer who set a lot of his stories in Maine,” Tom explained, “Anyway, I grew up in a loving home with my Mom, my Dad, and my older brother Joseph. I did good in school, enjoyed acting, and was on my way to becoming a history teacher before Twilight’s magical mishap.” “So you still consider yourself male?” This question completely wrong footed Tom. “Here we go,” Twilight sighed. “Uh, yes?” Dr. Mind wrote something in her notepad. “Have you noticed yourself doing things that you wouldn’t have done before coming into contact with Twilight?” Tom quickly reviewed his behavior of the last month. “I don’t think so…” Tom replied hesitantly. As the words left his mouth, he suddenly wasn’t so sure. Would he have pretended to seduce Sunset like he did? Would he have tried so hard to get the former Bearers, sans Fluttershy, to be friends with Discord? Would he have concerned himself with the business of the Princesses? Would he have cared enough about what happened to Moon Dancer to demand she come to Ponyville? Was being in close contact to Twilight altering his behavior? The thought sent a chill down his spine. “Tom, relax, she’s just trying to get inside your head,” Twilight sounded confident. Tom wished he could share in that confidence. “If I know Twilight, she’s still denying she finds anyone physically attractive. How about you, Tom? Has anyone caught your eye?’ “Oh Stars, make it stop,” Twilight begged. “Twilight?” Tom was slightly concerned from her tone. “I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON CELESTIA!” “I never said you do,” Dr. Mind said patiently, as if she could hear Twilight’s outburst. “I was a biped primate. Quadruped equines aren’t my thing,” Tom decided to say, “Are you sure Twilight isn’t just asexual?” He immediately regretted the question. “Quite sure,” Dr. Mind replied and Tom could sense a story there, but chose not to poke the bear. Twilight was already steamed enough. “As you inhabit Twilight’s body, I expect some of her tastes to rub off on you. You now inhabit the body of a completely different order of being. That’s even disregarding any mental bleeding from sharing the same brain,” It made sense to Tom, but that didn’t mean he liked it. If he couldn’t go home, then getting his own body suddenly shot up on his list of priorities. Luna had said there shouldn’t be any worry in that regard, but Twilight had also done the summoning ritual improperly. There was no telling what kind of side effects could rear their ugly heads. “So, what, you expect me to start self identifying as a mare and chasing tail that Twilight would find attractive?” Tom asked. “I don’t expect anything. There are a scarce few cases of possession like this and every case is unique. I’m merely going over all possibilities to make sure you are prepared for any eventuality and of sound mind,” Dr. Mind explained. Twilight grumbled something unflattering. “Twilight!” Tom exclaimed. “It’s quite alright, I’m used to it. Twilight has done her level best to scare me off since she was a filly. If she hasn’t succeeded yet, then I doubt she will,” Dr. Mind assured Tom, “Now, next question, do you resent Twilight, Tom?” “No,” Tom answered immediately, “Twilight made a mistake, that’s all. The rest is just bad luck.” “Good. Same question to you, Twilight, do you resent Tom?” Dr. Mind inquired. “What? No! It’s my fault we’re stuck like this, why would I resent him?” Twilight was confused. Tom repeated her answer. “Feelings are seldom logical. You could resent him for taking your body, being forced to use him as a go between for any contact with your friends. Even if in your head you know you shouldn’t, you might resent each other,” Dr. Mind pointed out reasonably. “She’s not wrong, but I don’t resent you. If I resent anyone, it’s myself for getting us in this mess in the first place,” Twilight stated plainly. “Resenting yourself probably isn’t the best thing either,” Tom remarked. “Tom is right, Twilight. Resentment can quickly turn to hatred. Focus on your emotions, accept them for what they are, and then let them go. Hiding them away to fester is harmful. This applies to you as well, Tom. Search your feelings, tell us what you really feel,” Dr. Mind urged. Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He took the time to reflect on his time in Equestria. He looked back on how close he was to losing it on his first day, revisiting the panic, the fear, the sorrow, the confusion of being in a completely new, female body. It would be one thing if Twilight and Tom had simply swapped bodies or if the spell had somehow crafted him a new one, even if it was in Twilight’s image, but that wasn’t the case. Showering that first time had been miserable. Come to it, showering was still a miserable experience for Tom. He’d just gotten better at ignoring that feeling. Tom knowing that part of taking care of his borrowed body was keeping it clean and Twilight being all understanding about Tom, a male, needing to take care of a female body with all that entailed. It wasn’t like he could ‘explore’, for lack of a better word, or otherwise try and get truly familiar with this body. That would involve violating Twilight’s privacy so thoroughly and in such a despicable manner that even if he did go through with it in some bout of madness, he’d never be able to live with himself. Tom gathered his thoughts and relayed them to Dr. Mind. She scribbled something down on her notepad. “Have you been aroused since inhabiting Twilight’s body?” Dr. Mind asked. Twilight cringed at the question, but Tom was slowly getting used to Dr. Mind’s style of questioning. “Only a little bit, here and there. The only time I think I’ve been truly horny in Twilight’s body was on my third night here. I was moving around in bed, trying to find a comfortable position and I moved in a way I shouldn’t have and the sheets rubbed me the wrong way, if you catch my drift. Poor Spike must have thought I was having a heart attack from the noise I made as I dashed to the bathroom for a very cold shower,” Tom reminisced. “Is that what happened? I had wondered why I woke to you screaming like a banshee,” Twilight commented, “I had assumed it was just a bad dream.” “Tell me about your friends from your old world,” Dr. Mind requested. A flitter of pain crossed Tom’s heart. Heeding Dr. Mind’s advice, he grabbed it, accepted it for what it was, and let it pass. “Most of my close friends were in my theater troupe. There was Daniel, who couldn’t take anything seriously to save his life. Jessica, she acted with us sometimes, but she was mostly our manager, balancing the books and getting us performances. Huey, he was a method actor if there ever was one. He drove us wild sometimes, but he never let it consume him. Herald, he came from old money, but he was never snobbish about it. He was the one who got us off the ground from just playing about on our campus stage to actually being a troupe. Melody was our costume designer…she would’ve loved Rarity. Finally, there was Cain. He was quiet in day to day, but on stage his voice was powerful and he was able to command attention even when he was stage whispering. There were others, of course, but those six were the ones I was closest with.” “Were you romantically involved with any of them?” Dr. Mind asked. “No. I’m straight, so I had no interest in any of the guys. Jessica was dating a guy from out of town, who I met maybe twice and Melody was firmly batting for the other team. I’d make a joke, but I don’t think Melody would be interested in a pony body any more than I am,” Tom quipped. “It’s good that you can take this with some amusement. Laughter is the best medicine, after all,” Dr. Mind remarked. “Yeah, I’d also probably be in a lot worse spot if it weren’t for our friends,” Tom said fondly. “Speaking of the Bearers, Twilight, would you mind telling me how you met?” Dr. Mind inquired. So Twilight, through Tom, retold the story of the night a year ago when she had been sent to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. How she had met the soon-to-be Bearers, was quite cold to them, and how the Nightmare had caused them to all band together to enter the Everfree. “I don’t know when exactly it was, but when I confronted Nightmare Moon, I realized that those five mares were something special. We were then able to call on the Elements and saved Luna from Nightmare Moon,” Twilight finished her tale. “I would like to meet those who brought such a great change on you, Twilight. Something to think about for our next couple of sessions, but for now, I think we’ll leave it here,” Dr. Mind said gently. Tom glanced at the clock and was shocked to see it was already ten minutes past the allotted two hours. “Whoops, looks like we lost track of time,” Tom said sheepishly. “That’s quite alright. I’d like to see you both back here in two weeks time. You can schedule your next appointment with Neat Quills before you leave. It was nice to meet you Tom and nice to see you again Twilight,” Dr. Mind bid them farewell. Tom and Twilight said goodbye, made their next appointment, and were soon flying at a semi-leisurely pace back to Ponyville. Tom was still mulling over what had been said. “You don’t have to worry overmuch about what Dr. Mind said, she’s always like that,” Twilight spoke into the silence. “I feel like I have to worry,” Tom finally said, “What if you are affecting me? What if I’m affecting you? I know Luna said there wouldn’t be any bleeding of our personalities, but what if she was wrong? I’ve already lost my home, my friends and family, my body…what more can I lose before I stop being me?” “I don’t know how to answer that,” Twilight replied sadly. “Could you make me my own body?” Tom asked. “I can think of a few ways to create a golem or automaton, but none would be sophisticated enough to house a Soul, not to mention your mind. The only other thing I can think of would be using a cadaver, but that would be highly illegal, morally questionable, and only serve you a couple of months at best,” Twilight answered. “Maybe you won’t have to do anything. Discord, can I have a moment of your time?” Tom asked the air. With a horrible ‘shloorp’ sound, a portal opened in the air and out came Discord. “Of course, I always have time for friends who ask nicely. What can I do for you, Plus One?” Twilight was deeply surprised that Discord would just answer a call like that, but the more she thought on it, the more it made a twisted kind of sense. “Could you make me my own body? It doesn’t have to be human, or even male, but just a body I can call my own,” Tom tried hard to keep the begging out of his voice. The conversation with Dr. Mind weighed heavily on his mind. “Tired of Twilight’s DCO? I can’t say that I blame you, it must be awful boring to have to shack up with such an ‘orderly’ mind,” Discord teased, but Twilight refused to rise to the bait. “No, but I am afraid of the possibility that our personalities could bleed together, hence the request,” Tom said seriously. “Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t help you,” He summoned an old oil lamp and began to rub it, smoke pouring out to create another Discord, “Near unlimited power I may have, but it is chaos power. With your Souls bound so tightly together, it’s near certainty that if I tried to extract you, one or both of you would wind up more scrambled then the average bear. It’s such a shame too, I had such a wonderful body in mind for you, and it would’ve fit like a glove.” Discord sighed wistfully. “Right, trying to figure it out the old fashioned way it is. Thank you for your time, Discord,” Tom said gratefully. “Think nothing of it, and hey, chin up. You have Twilight “I eat books for breakfast” Sparkle and don’t think I didn’t notice that new girl you brought home. You’ll have to introduce me sometime. I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later. For now, I must bid you a flamboyant farewell. I’ve managed to snag a place of my own and it still needs decorating!” With a sudden explosion, Discord vanished to wherever his new home was. “Don’t worry Tom; Discord is right about one thing. With me and Moon Dancer on the case, we’re sure to figure something out,” Twilight tried to comfort Tom. “Yeah, no use stressing out about it,” Tom agreed. He let loose one final sigh. They were closing in on Ponyville and Tom was under the impression that Moon Dancer would relish the chance to flex her intellectual prowess.