Once again, I snapped my eyes open to find myself in a place that I did not recognize. All around me was snow, covering the ground and blowing against my body in the strongest blizzard I had ever been in. The skies were full of dark, stormy clouds, but I could still see despite what should have been a lack of light. Looking down I saw what looked kind of like my original human body, but somehow distorted.
‘What - said?’ I heard a soft voice coming from everywhere and nowhere.
With nothing else I could do, I started forcing my way through the snow in what felt like the best direction. It was up to my knees, which made every dragging step a fight. Surprisingly I didn’t feel cold, just like I was missing something.
‘Old?’ I heard a new voice, somehow more refined than the soft voice.
After what felt like days of forcing myself through the snow, I saw something shining off in the distance. My strength renewed, I started to push even harder now that I saw something other than the endless white.
‘Wake.’ I heard a third voice, this one with an edge of authority to it. Somehow it also felt familiar.
Feeling a sense of coldness start to press in, I tried to push a bit farther. As I staggered to the ground, I looked up and saw the clouds start to open up to reveal a sliver of the moon. Its light hit the ground in front of me, but before it could fully reach me I felt a sharp jab in my side and everything shattered.
Gasping awake, I instinctively reached out with my hoof to swat whatever had jabbed me away. The sound of a hoof meeting flesh was my first response, along with the sounds of a startled mare and her jumping away from me. After taking a deep breath I opened my eyes to see three ponies gathered around me.
To my left was a mare in a nurse’s outfit, with a white coat, pink mane, and wide blue eyes. She had taken a jump back as I hit her with my outstretched hoof, now with a fresh IV in it. Thankfully I didn’t hit her too hard, based on her reaction it was more of the fact I responded with violence than simply waking up. Or at least, that was my guess.
To my right was the same buttercream pegasus from when I first woke up. She looked at me with a slight surprise in her soft teal eyes, but mostly concern. Almost reminded me of my mother before....
Before I got stuck thinking about my mother, I snapped my attention to the pony next to the buttercream pegasus. Slightly larger than the other two, she had a purple coat and both wings and a horn. Somehow, I felt a sense of attachment to her, like I would a cousin or something.
“Flurry, I am so happy you’re awake? Are you okay? You were out for a week.” The purple pony said, looking me over far closer than I would prefer anyone.
“Wait, what the fuck did you call me?” I yelped, feeling my ears pin back as I pulled back away from the purple pony, prompting a frown from her.
“I called you Flurry.” She tilted her head, almost like a dog’s as she raised one eyebrow. “Do you not remember your name? Your chart didn’t show that much head trauma, but....” she put one of her hooves to her chin as she began to think.
“I....I am sorry, who are you?” I squeaked out, still resenting what seemed to be my new high-pitched voice. Admittedly my human one wasn’t super deep, but it was another dig to my now lost masculinity.
At that, the purple pony blinked in shock before furrowing her brow in what I could only hope was concern as she stared into my eyes with her own violet ones.
I swear if she claims to be my aunt or cousin I am gonna freak. I thought to myself, starting to get antsy with the purple pony and the Nurse checking charts and machines at my question.
The buttercream pegasus noticed my rising anxiety and put her hoof on my own...hoof. While a weird feeling, it did make me feel a little better about the strange situation, and I could feel my tensed shoulders (haunches?) relax a little bit.
“My name is Fluttershy.” the pegasus said in her soft, warm voice, smiling down at me. “If you can’t remember me, I guess this is a new chance to get to know each other. Nice to meet you, Flurry Heart.” She pointed at the purple pony and then the nurse in turn. “That is your Auntie Twilight, and that is Nurse Redheart. They’re gonna take good care of you, Flurry.”
Fuck. I jinxed myself. At least Fluttershy is nice, maybe I can stay with her until I get back home.
At the mention of her name, ‘Auntie’ Twilight turned around and smiled at me, albeit a bit too wide to be completely genuine. She looked at me and then back at Nurse Redheart before taking a breath and walking back over to me.
“Sorry about that Flurry, I just wasn’t expecting you to have amnesia. I also wasn’t expecting you to be so old-” She quickly cut herself off as she glanced up in Nurse Redheart’s direction before chuckling nervously. “Anyway, everything is gonna be okay. You’re gonna stay here for another day to make sure you’re alright before we have a sleepover at my place, okay?”
I bit my cheek before taking a breath and asking the most burning question on my mind. “What happened, how did I get here?” At my question, I could see Twilight wincing before the reaction almost instantly disappeared behind another new smile. I quickly looked at Fluttershy for help, but she was hiding under her mane.
“You took a bit of a fall, but nothing too serious, don’t worry Flurry.” Twilight hummed, her horn lighting up before I felt my blanket pull over me and my pillow fluff under me. “Just rest now and everything will be okay.”
I opened my mouth to respond but I started to feel a bit sleepy. In the corner of my eye, I could see Nurse Redheart pull a syringe out of the IV and put it away, probably in a bin under the table if experience told me anything. Against my will, I began to yawn and slowly go back under the sweet embrace of sleep. I could see Twilight and Nurse Redheart head to another corner of the room as they spoke, taking small glances towards me.
For some reason, I did not want to be alone again, despite my manliness crying out to be tough. When Fluttershy took her hoof off my own I reached out and grabbed it again, using all of my remaining energy to focus on her before I fell asleep.
“Can you stay with me? I don’t wanna be alone...” I yawned deeply, fighting the urge to simply pass out. Damn you sedatives, shouldn’t work that fast! Probably something about ponies and this small body....
Fluttershy smiled and said something that I couldn’t really make out before petting my hair (mane?) and singing a soft lullaby. At her comforting presence, I finally gave out and fell back into slumber, for better or for ill. I still wasn’t sure why I was now a pony or what was going on, but with Fluttershy watching over me I at least felt safe.