//------------------------------// // Not Proportional Dimension // Story: A Pony's Guidebook to Becoming a Grand Duchess // by RuanQingSi //------------------------------// "Ugh," groaned Celestia, whose body was sore and searing from top to bottom. She could feel the pain and discomfort hitting her with full force immediately the moment she regained her consciousness. It was not a good feeling; then again, the sensation that your muscles are being shred into strings, your brain craving for a hole to be punched to the back of your head, and the desire to vomit out all your organs never was pleasant. It took a while for Celestia to muster up any strength to move, the action surprisingly demanded more effort than she would ever thought she'd need to shift a limb. Before she could bother to place anymore bit of thought into that matter however, another detail quickly captured her attention when her vision finally demystified. It was...her hooves. They looked bewildering, strange, baffling, perplexing, abstruse, and plainly...weird. At the end of each of her forehooves were five uneven sticks extending into a curved square of which was carved with multiple vague lines. When Celestia's eyes reached the ten sticks, she noticed small glassy rectangles that felt like porcelain upon contact. However, the source of Celestia's flabbergasted reaction weren't these...parts, since she'd seen them on monkeys before, but it was the notion of her change and possession of such oddities that shook the former sun princess. Celestia, who was still processing the changes her hooves went through, stared lost in thought at her new limbs. If my hooves changed, what of the rest of my body? Celestia then placed her new hooves on her muzzle, and found that her nose and mouth were a bit, if not, considerably different. Slowly, Celestia explored her new face, and found that instead of stretching out horizontally, the range of it was greater vertically. That was even not mentioning the conversion of texture and shape her ears went through. They were once soft and shaped like a rose petal, but now, they're firm and molded into something that resembles a half moon in structure. The next feature subjected to Celestia's detection would be her old hindlegs, which similar to her forehooves, had five things sticking out of each of her back limbs. They're stubby little things, not even proportional to their neighbors or upper counterparts. What's worse was looking back and forth between her new forehooves and hindlegs caused the ex-alicorn to squirm. The reason for Celestia's movement was how uneven her limbs were. They used to be proportionally slender and round, but presently, they look eerily and annoyingly outlandish. Celestia sighed. Although her desire for perfectionism among any material did not surpass Twilight's, the casual misplacement would irk her should it ever stand out, not to mention disproportionate limbs that were hers. Hers. A sudden idea came Celestia's mind, and she quickly checked for other oddities. Fur? No. Horn? No. Wings? No. Cutie-mark? No. Flowing mane? N-It was then that Celestia realized what creature she become, and the comprehension pained her to ever think she'd have to live with such not proportional hooves as much as the unforeseen metamorphosis scared her. A voice Celestia suspected was the one she'd heard before she blacked out interrupted her deep and totally not nonsensical contemplation. "G-Grand Duchess? You-you've...awaken!" Glancing at the interloper, Celestia saw that they too were a human, but one that occupied no familiar qualities she could use to recognize their identity. The alien human, who presented herself in a maid's attire, had an auburn mane paired with green grassy eyes which matched with one another quite well. The title used to address the former sun princess was what followed the maid in seizing Celestia's attention. Grand Duchess? Yes, she's heard others address her using many titles: Your Highness, Your Majesty, Ma'am, Your Holiness, Keeper of the Light, Guardian of Ponykind, Goddess of the Sun, etc. Yet, she never heard anyone call her "Grand Duchess". "Grand...D-Duchess?" Celestia asked quizzically at the human maid. "Yes Your Grace! I can't believe you've awoken! Everyone in the grand duchy will be so glad to hear this! Especially the Old Madam!" The maid exclaimed with loud volume, a Twilight-happy smile, and Pinkie Pie-excitement. Celestia took a glimpse at the object the maid was pushing, which seemed to be a food cart, before returning to the real subject of import. "Wha-what?" Sputtered Celestia. She's a Grand Duchess? When? How come she's never heard of this? The grand duchy? Is the grand duchy where she's currently lying in? Is this where that darn portal dropped her? Why is she a human? Was what she experience the phenomenon called inter-dimensional travel? Is this an alternate universe? Ugh! Everything's just so confusing! "Did you just say I'm a-" Before Celestia could finish her question, the maid ran out of the door she used to enter. The maid who left a food cart and a confused Grand Duchess behind to their own devices lifted up her dress and sprinted with surprising speed for a bipedal creature, all the while yelling, "Old Madam! Everyone notify the Old Madam! The Grand Duchess has awoken from her coma!" "-a Grand Duchess?" Celestia, former sun princess, now Grand Duchess, looked toward the door like any other lost pony seeking for answers or directions. Celestia didn't want to stay like this, she didn't want to be lost, she wanted to move on to another thought. Thus, she surveyed the room she was currently laying in, and discovered the chamber to have similar aesthetics to her old resting place in Canterlot castle, though more luxurious and extravagant. The blood red curtains that were made of the softest silk did nothing to dim the sunlight glazed room despite its bold color, the windows and door frames were made of the purest gold, and from the floor to the ceiling, everything was inlaid with marble. In the center of the vast room was a symbol of the sun, the rays shining from the image of the yellow orb sharp and almost realistic. Celestia was sure the symbol was also crafted from real gold. As for the bed, she didn't realized it when she had just regained consciousness, but oh, on it has to be the softest mattress and pillows Celestia had ever slept on. She now honestly suspects the material to be made all from silk, she wouldn't place it past the owner of this room considering how outrageously lavish everything in the chamber is. Everypony likes to occasionally live a life of splendor, Celestia didn't know anypony who wouldn't wish to, even she who is so idolized by others loved the perks of wealth. However, back in Equestria, never in a thousand years would Celestia decorate her royal chamber with such luxuries and spend bits that her former subjects labored so hard to create on a life of wasteful opulence. It wasn't her cup of tea, so she couldn't understand why the owner of this chamber wanted such a cup of tea. If what she wanted was extravagant goods, it would be from her private savings. However, she wasn't sure half of her more than one thousand years worth of savings could afford everything in this room. Everything in here was just so...expensive. After Celestia was done with her observation, the only thing left for her to remark upon was the food cart the maid left behind. On the food cart were several dishes served with golden plates which were embellished by gems of all colors, red, purple, green, etc. The dishes itself were made up of entirely new cuisines Celestia had never seen before. Though there were some aspects in one cuisine she could recognize, like tofu, lettuce, and...is that...meat? Meat. Meat! These creatures consume other living things. They consume others like them who can talk and walk! Twilight never informed me of such a thing! Wait...Since I'm also a human now, does that mean- It was then that the perception of everything smacked Celestia on the face. However, Celestia, being the normal human she is, now, released her emotions calmly like any other transformed pony would. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"