“Aaand that’s the last box!” I said triumphantly as I set the last cardboard box from my old place into my new one. I looked around my new two bedroom, one bath house that I’d just purchased and smiled proudly. “Well, that’s that!”
“Ya gonna want some help unpackin’ here, mistah?” One of the movers, a burly tanned bald guy wearing a blue cap asked from the front door.
I looked around my new place, then back at the guy. “Nah, I don’t own that much stuff. I can take care of it. You need anything from me?”
“Just a signature heah,” the guy said as he held up a clipboard with a piece of paper on it.
I made my way through the living room towards the front door and took the clipboard and pen from the mover. Finding the spot at the bottom with a space for a signature, I clicked the pen open and wrote Stephen Waverly along with the date: April 11, 2024. “Is that everything?” I asked.
“Nah, yer good,” the man said as he took back the clipboard from me. “Are ya sure ya don’t need any help?”
“Nah, like I said, I’ll be alright,” I replied. “There’s not much here for me to unpack anyway.”
The man nodded and, putting a hand to his cap, nodded at me. “Well then, mistah Waverly, welcome ta yer new home. Have a good rest of yer day.”
“Thanks, you too,” I replied as I watched him go back to his moving van. Closing the door behind me, I locked it, then picked up the key that I’d hung on a tack I’d placed in the wall next to the door temporarily until I could put up my key rack. Smiling, I kissed the key and pocketed it before turning back to the boxes and furniture in the room. Clapping my hands and rubbing them together gleefully, I grinned. “Welp, time to get settled in!”
Five and a half hours later, not including the quick lunch of ramen I cooked for myself around noon, I’d unpacked and stored everything away in the placed where I wanted them and was already lounging around on my brand new queen sized bed. It felt really nice to have a house of my own, even if I had a mortgage to pay. It was my house. Mine!
I opened my laptop, connected to the internet that had just been installed the day before, and began browsing the web. The new job I’d gotten here paid three times as much as my old job, meaning I could finally afford the higher speeds of internet I craved. And not only that, but the mortgage payments were actually less than my old rent. Sure, there were utilities to pay, but even those were cheaper than my old utilities.
I’d really lucked out.
The first thing I did upon opening my laptop and signing onto my now faster internet was finding the closest pizza place, which so happened to be a Godfather’s Pizza, and ordering the most meat stuffed and cheesiest pizza I could order along with a giant two liter bottle of root beer. I then went straight to my external, plugged my laptop screen into the TV and began watching the first episode of Psych. I was around a half hour in when my pizza arrived. I thanked the driver, put the pizza box on my coffee table and just lay on my couch like a lazy ass, watching the episodes pass by and the night fell outside. Finally, with half a pizza gone as well as half the soda bottle, I turned off the laptop and TV, put the pizza and soda in the fridge for tomorrow, then went and enjoyed a nice relaxing shower. It was nice not to have hot water that didn’t go on and off randomly, so I stood there for ten minutes after I washed up, just letting the water wash over me. I even laid down in the tub for a little while before finally getting out and changing into some clean pajamas.
The bed was one of the best beds that I had ever lay in. The comforter was heavy and warm, and the sheets I lay on were soft to the touch like velvet. It felt like I was wrapped in heavenly garments. I grabbed a book from the bookshelf, turned on the light to the side of my bed and spent about an hour reading before I felt my eyelids begin to droop. I put the book on the endtable, turned off the light, put my facemask on, and lay down. Despite my excitement at owning a brand new house and the new job that started in a week, the day had been exhausting. The house around me felt more like a home, with the exception of the pile of broken down cardboard sitting out in the garage for the next garbage day.
Feeling contented, I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and began falling into a peaceful, contented sleep.
I woke in the middle of the night feeling incredibly thirsty. Looking at my phone, I saw that it was just past one thirty in the morning. Not only that, but I really had to go. Obeying my body, I stood up and went straight to the bathroom just on the opposite side of the hallway to my bedroom. After using the facilities, I walked down the hall, turned on the light to the kitchen, then grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the fridge’s water dispenser. The ice cold water felt good going down my throat as I drank about three large glasses before my thirst was quenched.
Feeling a bit peckish now, I pulled out one of the slices of now cold pizza and wolfed it down in only a few bites. This led to me needing more water, which I downed again before I put the glass in the sink to wash in the morning. With a yawn, I began heading back to my room.
And that was when the ground began to sway beneath me.
I froze, stunned by the sudden movement. I’d moved to North Dakota mostly because the chances of an earthquake there were some of the lowest in the U.S. I looked around, watching a painting I’d gotten from an old girlfriend sway in the quake. It popped off of the hook and fell to the ground. “Welp, time to get out of dodge,” I said as I turned and headed quickly towards the door.
And at that very moment, the ground beneath me fell, opening into deep black pit. I tried to stop, but I lost my balance. I fell screaming, clawing helplessly at the air in a vain hope for a handhold. However, what felt like an eternity of falling later, my head struck something and I knew no more.
When I next woke, I was in an inordinate amount of pain, indescribable even. I couldn’t see anything and all I could hear was the tumbling of dirt and rock around me every so often. I tried to scream or call out anything, but all that I could manage was a small croak. I tried to move, but something was on top of me, feeling like it was crushing me.
“Down here!” I heard a distant voice call from above me. “I see a hand!”
“Be careful! The structure isn’t too sound!” another voice called out.
“Oh God…it looks like half the house fell on whoever’s down here. Hey listen! If you can hear me, try and remain calm! We’re coming to get you!”
I was terrified, but I was too weak from whatever had happened to me in order to have a physical meltdown. I tasted something metallic in my mouth. Blood. Tons of blood was pouring out of my mouth. I tried to open my eyes, but nothing happened. Everything was pitch black.
“Holy shit, someone help me get this all off of him! He’s in pretty bad shape! Sir, if you can hear me, we’re gonna get you out of here.”
“Fuck! Look at his eyes!”
“Oh God!”
I felt myself wavering on the brink again, but I was a stubborn guy. I didn’t want to die! Not now! I tried to move, but that only caused me an indescribably amount of pain. I groaned weakly.
“Try not to move, sir! We’re trying to get you out now!”
I tried to say something, but nothing else came out. Something inside me snapped and something warm began flowing out of my mouth. Instinctively, my body coughed which sent me into spasms. Something moved around above, and it sounded like said something was sliding towards me. “Oh no, someone catch that-!”
Immense pain, then complete and utter oblivion followed.
Darkness. That was my entire world for eternity upon eternity. Utter quiet too. The pain was gone, so that was a plus. I was just alone with my thoughts.
Did I just dream about a sinkhole opening in my house? And did I also dream about being crushed to death under debris? And what did they mean about my eyes?
As I pondered the unusual dream, I tried to get a feeling for whatever the next part of my dream could mean. I felt content, that was for sure. Like I was some ethereal nothingness. Huh, pretty cool. I wonder if I can create anything in this dream?
Concentrating, I tried to create a large field of grass underneath a sunny sky. Unfortunately, since I’d never really practiced lucid dreaming, nothing happened. If I had a body, I would have sighed. The darkness persisted as did the quiet.
THUMP. Huh? What was that?
THUMP. Seriously, what is that??
THUMP THUMP.
THUMP THUMP.
THUMP THUMP.
THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!
Whatever was making that thumping sound only sped up until it became a steady hum in the background. Confused, I tried to identify where it was coming from, but it sounded as if it was coming from everywhere.
As the hum persisted, I felt a strange change coming over me. The lack of feeling slowly began to chance. It felt like I was growing I was suddenly warm, feeling like I was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth. I felt like I was floating too. Everything around me was dark, not that I cared. It was nice where I was, wherever I was. I also felt like I was wrapped in a thick blanket. It was really comfortable, and I didn’t want to move. Strangely enough, I also felt like I was wrapped in some kind of liquid, but I didn’t feel the need to breathe. I kept my eyes closed and just basked in the strange feeling around me. If this was a dream, I didn’t really mind anymore. It was really better than feeling like my body was completely broken.
The constant humming was shattered, however, when I heard something. I heard a muffled voice, which sounded like it came from an older woman, say something in an unfamiliar language from somewhere. At that same moment, the humming vanished, only to be replaced with the strange THUMP THUMP sound. I frowned and tried to move my hands so I could cover my head, but my hands wouldn’t move the way I wanted them to. Another voice, younger and also female, replied. I couldn’t understand the words, but I could hear the terror in the voice.
I listened in, unsure what I was hearing since the language not only was one I didn’t recognized, but it was muffled like it was behind a thick wall. Suddenly, I saw a light ahead of me. I looked at it in utter confusion since it was right near my head. Something possessed me to head towards it, and so I tried my best to move, but I felt strangely weak. The warm walls around me clenched and I felt myself being pushed towards the light.
Okay, dream, I thought to myself, This is new. Guess I’ll play along. I moved closer to the slitted opening, and the walls around me responded by easing up. The older female voice said something, and the younger one responded with a scream. The walls clenched down around me again, and I moved ever so closer to the opening cave. After the walls released their grip on me, I struggled once more to move. For some reason, my body felt strange all of the sudden. Like it was too small or something like that. However, I continued to struggle with what little strength I had. The younger woman screamed again, and my world became a blazing wall of yellow, warm light. I shut my eyes tightly against the light. From very close by, I could hear a baby begin to cry as icy cold air assaulted my body. I finally began breathing a bit, but only in spasms.
I felt myself being lifted up, then a very large hand began rubbing me. The crying persisted and I tried to open my eyes to see where it was coming from, only for the bright yellow light to force me to close my eyes again. I felt sticky as well.
After what felt like an eternity, I felt something damp being dragged across my body. The sticky sensation slowly went away, and I was wrapped up in what felt like a thick towel or blanket. The crying subsided, then I was surrounded by even more warmth. I heard the gentle but weakened voice of the younger woman say something, and I could tell it was directed at me. I might not have known the words, but the intention was definitely understandable. The warmth and care in her voice spoke volumes to me. Someone’s hand stroked my hair and a small bump on my forehead-
Wait, a bump?! The fuck is that?!
I moved around as best I could, but whoever had wrapped me up had done a damn good job of wrapping me up. I tried a few times to open my eyes, but each time all I could see was a wall of sky blue. Moving my head felt like a chore. Finally, however, I moved my head just enough to see something else. It looked like a bright sun, which forced me to look away. I lay there for a while, wondering just why the world around me felt so bright.
Just then, something changed. There were a number of voices all around me talking in worried tones. The extra warmth vanished and I was lifted into another set of arms. The tones only became louder. The crying resumed, and all I knew was that I was missing the extra warmth of whoever had been holding me.
Holding me…
Slowly, I opened my eyes again, only to find that I was now lying in a massive wooden box of some sort. Above me there was a large wooden roof. I heard footsteps around me and the voices only seemed to get louder. As did the crying. My vision began getting blurry and liquid began seeping out of it. And with that, sudden realization hit me.
I was the one crying. I was dreaming about being born! Now it made sense. The thumping had been my heartbeat and I hadn’t needed to breathe since I was encased in embryonic fluid. What didn’t make sense, though, was why the thumping heartbeat sped up. Had my heartbeat really been that fast?
I closed my eyes, trying to move my arms to cover my mouth, but my body was wrapped tightly. Now that I knew I was dreaming about being born, it made sense. Babies were wrapped up tightly after being cleaned up at birth, after all. I closed my eyes and tried to close my mouth. I was rewarded with the crying stopping. I blinked the tears out of my eyes and the world became sharp again.
That was when the second bombshell dropped. A face came into view above me suddenly, but what a face. I was looking into the face of a weirdly shaped horse. And weirdly colored, too! Its mane was a bright yellow color and her fur was a warm crimson, while her eyes were a sharp blue. The being opened its mouth, and the same older female voice I’d heard before said something in that weird language of theirs.
No, that wasn’t a horse I was looking at. My eyes wandered up to her head, seeing a sharp protrusion coming out from what I assumed was her forehead. A protrusion that resembled a horn. A unicorn’s horn at that.
Just what in the hell is going on?! I thought. Why am I dreaming about weirdly colored horses all of a sudden?!
The woman-no, mare, if all the hours I spent watching My Little Pony were right, looked away, said something in a harsh tone, then looked back down at me. To my surprise, the multicolored unicorn mare reached down with two arms, lifting me up again and cradling me close to her. I was flabbergasted by that. Not only was she a unicorn, but she was an anthropomorphic version as well. I was completely lost. What the hell kind of dream is this?!
At that moment, something inside me seemed to die. A presence that was always near and dear to me was suddenly snuffed out. And the world around me began to divide and blur. I didn’t know why, but I was crying again, only this time out of sheer grief. I tried my best to hold it back, but nothing helped.
I wailed in utter despair and sorrow. I didn’t know just why or how I knew, but something precious to me had just been lost.
Then, I felt myself slipping away into the welcome embrace of slumber…
I groaned when I woke up, trying to keep my eyes shut against the sunlight that was pouring into my eyes. The dream I’d had the night before had been one of the weirdest ones I’d ever had before. It felt so real. Getting up and heading to get a drink, the sinkhole, presumably being crushed, then being reborn in some strange place with some kind of anthro unicorn mare. For some reason, the memory of everything was incredibly clear. Impossibly so.
I should write that down before I forget about it, I thought as I tried to sit up. However, I wasn’t able to move. My eyes slowly opened, and to my horror I found I was still in that wooden box wrapped in a white blanket. Oh, goddamn it! I’m still dreaming!? Can someone wake me up, now?!
I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but all that came out was, “Eeh bah!” What? I can’t talk in my dream?! That’s new…
I frowned, then tried again. “Aaah uuuh?” Don’t tell me I’ve lost the ability to speak!
Just then the unicorn mare’s face appeared above me, looking down at me. Her unusually expressive face was etched with worry, but upon seeing me she relaxed. Reaching down, she touched my hair and stroked it gently. She said something in a kindly voice with a tone normally directed to an infant, then held up a massive bottle filled with white liquid. In that moment, I realized that I was starving, like I hadn’t eaten in days.
Reaching down, the mare brought the bottle to my lips. Realizing what it probably was, I opened my mouth and accepted the bottle without any hesitation. The mare looked slightly surprised, but her smile returned and she gently lifted the bottle up. Some warm and tantalizing liquid flowed into my mouth and I began sucking on it.
All the while, I was trying my best to figure out why I couldn’t wake up or even control the dream. My mind was running circles trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing. Something I’d always heard about dreams was that the people seen in them were always faces that the dreamer had seen in real life, whether in passing, on a daily basis, or anything in between. As I drank, I looked up at the unicorn made. I was positive I’d never seen a face like that before. I’d seen horses on TV and online before, of course, but this was unlike anything I’d seen before.
My thoughts returned, once again, to My Little Pony. I’d discovered it back when I was thirteen. I had a little sister, Sasha, and she’d watched some of the earlier generations that my parents had recorded on VHS off of the TV back in the day. So when the fourth generation show had begun to air, she’d immediately sat down and watched it. Since we only had one television in the house and my parents strictly regulated our computer usage since we only had one PC at the time, I was stuck watching the show whenever it aired each Saturday.
To my surprise, I actually grew to like the girly show and it was one of the things that my sister and I secretly bonded over. At school, I fervently denied watching such girly shows, and thankfully my sister had promised my parents not to tell her classmates or my friends about it. If my former friends were ever over for a Friday night sleepover which spilled over into the morning, Sasha would always be up watching the show. Since she was my little sister, I was ‘forced’ to watch the half hour show with her along with my friends while Mom and Dad made breakfast for us.
I relaxed at the memory, and that helped ease the sadness that was slowly creeping up on me. The same sadness that I’d felt earlier when I felt something had been lost to me. Continuing to suck on the milk bottle, I tried looking closer at the mare who was holding me. The warm crimson colored anthro mare had her sharp blue eyes locked on mine with a gentle kindness, but there was sorrow in those eyes as well. She was wearing a long white apron over a black dress. On her right shoulder, I saw a dark green and stained towel and she was wearing what looked like an older style nurse’s hat over her bright yellow mane. On the left breast of her black dress, though, I saw an embedded image, which showed a sky blue baby bottle with white liquid inside being turned downwards at an angle with three drops of more white liquid coming out like a small fountain.
After half the bottle was gone, the mare gently pulled it away, then lifted me onto the shoulder with the towel on it and began rubbing my back. It was here that I got my first real glimpse of the room I had been born in. And I had to say, my mind had gone overboard with the details. To me, it was a gigantic room, but I tried putting things into perspective and realized, judging from how tall this mare nurse was, that I was in a relatively small bedroom. There was a fireplace in a corner, which was well lit. The walls were white and had brown planks of wood arching upward to the slanted ceiling. In another corner was a freshly made bed with white sheets that had a couple of old faded brown stains near the bottom, but other than that looked relatively clean. Next to the bed was an old wood endtable with an old style electric lamp which illuminated the room even more. The wood floor had a round green carpet with white swirling patterns sewn into it. There were sconces on the walls with unlit lamps hanging from them, and I could see daylight streaming in from a window that I couldn’t see from my angle.
But what was really telling to me was the painting that hung right above the fireplace. The painting was one of a massive palace nestled directly against the mountain slope. Its towers came up out right next to the slope of said mountain, and in some cases even out of the mountainside itself. There were two large waterfalls falling around the palace itself, both of which flowed down into the circular shaped city in front of the palace and leading through the city. The city below was divided into two circles by a river that spread from a lake that one of the waterfalls emptied into. The other waterfall fell into another circular river that spread around the perimeter of the city and fell into artificial pools built directly over the edge of the cliff where the city was built. The city was surrounded by clouds near the bottom and near the top of the city I could see what looked like old style dirigibles docking at some sort of port. To the left of that, a large forest green valley lay with a large river snaking through it. But what caught my eye was an anthro version of what looked like a pegasus flying in the corner towards the palace itself.
Only, as I looked closer, I realized by the coloring that the anthro horse I was seeing couldn’t be a pegasus. The individual in question was wearing a long sleeved flowing white dress with a bright yellow circle with orange sun rays spreading out of the circle painted or sewn near the hip of the flowing dress. Near the bottom of the skirt, I saw some faded colors sewn into a pattern of green, blue, purple and pink. The mare wore a golden belt around her waist, a necklace with a purple gem hanging from said necklace, two golden bracelets on her wrists and a similarly colored crown on her head. She was turning and looking at the painter, gesturing with one hand to the city and holding out her other towards the painter, her magenta eyes full of warmth as her multicolored mane and tail flowed around her. I saw a pair of gold high heels on her feet, and they were feet, not hooves.
I recognized her after a while. It had been only four years since the show had ended, and while I would sometimes go back and watch an episode or two from time to time and would sometime watch one of the fanmade videos on YouTube or read the occasional fanfiction, I knew her for what she was. The alicorn princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia, which was only confirmed when I looked and saw a long white shaft poking out of her forehead that I’d somehow missed.
At that moment, something began rising up my stomach and I burped, spitting up what tasted like warm milk. At the same time, I realized that a pressure that had been building up in my stomach had been released. I realized then that I’d just been burped.
And I slowly started to begin to suspect that whatever was happening to me might not be a dream after all.
I thought back to my last few memories before awaking in this dream, going over them carefully as the woman said something in a slightly amused voice as she lifted me back into her arms. Memories began flooding back into me once more, and I felt myself begin to hyperventilate.
Falling…
Crushing weight…
No sight…
PAIN!
Warm walls…
The oddly shaped entrance…
Being pushed out by receding walls…
No…no way…no fucking way! I refuse to accept that! I did NOT just go through that! This is just a dream! A weird dream about a weirdly anthropomorphic version of Equestria, sure, but a dream nonetheless! Wake up, Stephen! Wake up! WAKE UP, DAMN YOU!
The warm look in the unicorn nurse’s eyes changed to concern as I wore my emotions on my sleeve again, crying out in an admittedly embarrassing display, but the harder I tried to reign in my emotions, the more I wailed. The mare gently rocked me, but the memories continued to play back in my mind. I closed my eyes, trying to banish the few images I had seen before my vision had been impaired in the dream, but even then, the images only persisted all the more, crystal clear. Clear enough to not be a dream.
I opened my eyes and struggled once more, trying my damndest to get out of the blankets wrapped around me. At that moment I heard a new noise from just above my head, but it hardly registered with my little freak out the foremost on my mind. At my sides, I saw an arctic blue glow coming from where I felt my hands were. The sound that I was hearing from my forehead now came from where the two spots of light were coming from.
The unicorn mare saw this and her eyes went wide in fear. If she was afraid, that freaked me out even more and I screamed. Something seemed to flow through me at that moment, coming from my head, flowing down through my neck and splitting as it made its way down my arms and to my hands. The bright lights from the blanket increased, and suddenly two bright bolts of light shot out of the blanket, aimed directly at the ceiling. One struck a wood beam and the other the white patch of ceiling next to it.
That caught my full attention, and not just because there were two holes in my blanket which were somewhat steaming. The holes revealed my babyish hands. I slowly brought them up while the nurse mare was distracted by the smoking ceiling above her. My hands were light gray, and had very short but noticeable fur everywhere. As I looked down, the fur on my hands slowly changed from light gray to white. I reached up and tried to touch my head only to find that I wasn’t able to reach it in this new body. I was, however, able to reach a large tuft of hair. Pulling it forward, I was surprised by how long it was. It was a light amber color and straight, which was a sharp contrast to my natural curly hair as a human.
I heard a door open quickly to my right. The mare who was holding me turned and faced whoever opened said door. A younger voice, but not the same as the young woman from before (who I now guessed was my mother) said something in a frantic voice. The older unicorn mare replied in a calmer tone, then looked down at me. Her kind smile actually helped put me at my ease, and for the moment the memories of my presumable death and the fear that this wasn’t a dream were pushed aside as I went and looked back at my new hands. They were chubby and clean, a lot like a baby’s hand should look like. I tried to get a feel for my new feet, and felt them wiggle ever so slightly, but they felt furred as well.
I looked around again, and caught a glimpse of the second woman. A lot like the first mare I’d seen, this one had a very unusual color scheme as well. She had no horn to speak of, but she was still an anthro pony. She wore an outfit similar to the mare holding me. Her eyes were a dark purple her fur a deep fuchsia and her mane, which was straight until the end where it curled up, was a light pink. However, I saw a pair of fuchsia and white tipped wings poking out of her back, both of which were spread in presumable alarm as she looked at the older mare nurse. When her eyes looked at me, there was some worry in them as well as she approached. However, that worry turned quickly to a smile as she stopped beside the older mare and reached down towards me. One of her fingers extended towards me. The first mare said something in a worried tone, but the younger one quickly replied in a reassuring tone.
Curious to see what her hand was like compared to mine, I reached up and did my best to wrap my own hands around her index finger. Her fur was a bit coarser than mine, but it was still plenty soft to the touch. Her nails were remarkably humanlike as well, and were pretty clean as well. Opening my mouth, I tried once more to say something, but all that came out was, “Haa! Haah!”
And somehow, that was enough for exhaustion to wash over me. Even a little bit of exertion seemed to be enough to wipe me out. And with all the crying I’d done in this new body of mine, along with my mini-freak out and magic casting I did, it made a modicum of sense. I released the younger pegasus’ finger and blinked a few times. My heavy eyelids shut again, and the exhaustion overwhelmed me. I fell back into a, gratefully, dreamless sleep.
When I woke again, I was in what felt like brand new blankets, but I was back in the same wooden box, or presumably a crib. The blankets were sky blue instead of the plain white. The lighting in the room was a bit darker than it had been before. Once again, I was wrapped up tightly so it was hard to move, and I felt something warm wrapped around my head.
So, I’m still here, I thought, and I looked around as best as I could. There wasn’t much to see, other than a soft pile of blankets underneath me and the four walls of my crib and the ceiling above me which showed flickering orange and yellow light, presumably from the fire I could hear crackling nearby.
As I lay there, I decided now was the best time to try and think through exactly what was happening to me. I really didn’t want to, but I knew it was better to face the facts as they seemed to be laid out before me. I woke up at night back in my brand new home, got a drink, then there was either an earthquake and a sinkhole appeared beneath my house, or the rumbling was just the sinkhole appearing on its own.
Which didn’t make sense. I’d made sure to do my research on various properties in the area near my new working place before I settled on that small house at the end of the block next to that small forest. It was as solid as they came. Sure, it was built in the 1980s, but I had assurances from the realtor that the old owners, an elderly couple who’d wanted to move to a warmer climate, had done some impressive renovations before selling it. New wiring, plumbing redone, a new roof and more improvements besides those.
Then again, sinkholes did happen at random. I remembered seeing that there’d been a small lake nearby, but it hadn’t been full in months due to a small drought.
That’s it, isn’t it? The water got into the ground and caused a collapse. Fucking hell…
I closed my eyes and tried once more to wake up. Please wake up, Stephen! Please wake up! God help me, I don’t wanna be here! Help me someone! Please! I clenched my body tightly, trying to force my mind to wake up.
And that’s when something warm enveloped me around my lower body. I opened my eyes wide in horror. No please…dream, you’ve humiliated me enough! Don’t make it so that I’ve just shit myself!!!
I moved around, and the warmth moved around with me. I began babbling in fear as I moved around and shuddered when the warmth moved up my back. In frustration, I screamed again. In rapid response to that scream, the older mare nurse appeared in front of me. She said something in a kind voice, then her horn began to glow the same color as her eyes. All around me, I felt a slight tingling and heard the same sound as before when I used my magic. I felt my ears move for the first time, facing forward. I was lifted up without her hands and moved to a nearby table. She set me down, stopped her magic casting, undid my blanket and then used her hands to change me.
I was so embarrassed. I’m a fucking adult male, for Christ’s sake! I shouldn’t have to be wiped and changed, even in a dream!
As she lifted me up, I looked between my legs. Seeing what I expected to find there, I was a bit relieved to find I was still the same sex. At least my dream didn’t take that from…me…
No, Stephen. You really should face the facts now, shouldn’t you? Is this really a dream? It’s way too realistic to be a dream. But what else could it be? Who dies and gets reborn as an anthro pony except those damn protagonists in those Human In Equestria stories?! Sure, I like the show, but not enough to be sent here! Come on, I mean really! I just got a nice job and a house with a low mortgage that I hope to pay off in less time than it says! And I don’t wanna go through puberty again!
As the nurse mare put a clean diaper over me, I shuddered once more. I really should face this new reality, shouldn’t I? I died in my old world. Rather brutally if what I heard those rescuers say was true. Then I wake up here, in the womb of a pony mare.
As I thought about her, I realized I had no idea where that mare was. I’d only been close to her for maybe a few minutes before I was taken away from her. While the mare wrapped me back up in the blanket, I went through all of my memories one more time, just to be sure. And I made sure not to get distracted this time. As I listened, my stomach sank. This was absolutely no dream, of that I had to begin accepting. It was too realistic to be one. It was just…way too real. What I couldn’t understand was why or even how I was born here? Here, of all worlds!
Okay, did the Tree of Harmony bring me here? Or Discord, maybe? Or maybe this has something to do with Twilight Sparkle? Maybe Celestia or Luna did something? I forced my once more growing panic attack down and made myself focus on the here and now. Weird reincarnation into an anthro pony foal body aside, I had a plethora of problems. The first and foremost being that the language I’d heard spoken was completely new to me. If this really wasn’t a dream and I was here to stay, I’d have to learn the language being spoken as fast as I could.
Fortunately, since I’m in a baby’s body, I can probably absorb stuff a lot faster, I thought to myself as the mare who’d changed me was now sitting in a rocking chair, singing some sort of lullaby softly to me. But why can’t I speak my own language? Is it because I’m not in a human body anymore? Or is it because I’m in a younger body in general? Or maybe it’s a combination. Anyway, I need to relearn how to talk, and learn the language of this world as fast as I can. I’m gonna go crazy otherwise.
Once again, I felt my eyelids begin drooping. Again with this?! I didn’t even do much this time! What the fuck?! Upon seeing this, the mare smiled and finished her lullaby, then carried me back to the crib, put me back in, then leaned down and gave me a small kiss on the protrusion coming out of my forehead. My horn, I realized. So, I’m a unicorn, huh? I’ve always wanted to cast magic. But language first. That’s the most important thing. And find out where my mom is and why she isn’t here with me?
The mare spoke to me quietly, and I finally heard her say something that I recognized. She said it at the end of the sentence, and it felt like the word was directed at me. But it wasn’t a very pony-ish name.
As I drifted off once more into sleep, my last thought was, What kind of a name is Vladímir?