//------------------------------//
// 1 - Meant to Live 
// Story: A Fateful Flurry 
// by FIygon 
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"Heya there!"

I groggily lifted my head, which was already a surprise. I felt like I’d been hit by a bus, and I slowly opened my eyes. The sight that met them was a small pink pony with purple and pink hair that had blue streaks. Her eyes were comically sized as she stared at me with an overly giddy expression.

Of course, the first thing I asked was, "Am I dead?"

She giggled and hopped between two hooves, "Of course not silly! I made you not dead anymore!"

Well, that was just a sure sign that I was dead.

My eyes widened a bit at these new implications, and I shook my head as throbbing pain coursed through it. I lifted my hand to try and rub at it, but a much harder impact connected with my face than expected. It felt like I’d just punched myself. I pulled my hand back in confusion and saw a pink hoof. Panic now began coursing through me as I immediately looked down at the rest of myself. Yep, I was a pink pony. And nearly the exact same as the one sitting in front of me. 

"Ouch! I bet that hurt. I’m Princess Flurry Heart, by the way. What’s your name?" She asked as she got closer.

I immediately propelled these new limbs to get me as far away from her as possible as I released a yell of confusion. The yell, which was that of another little girl, "What did you do to me?!"

She tilted her head and hummed innocently, "I wished for a twin sister, and now I have one!"

I held the forsaken pink hoof up to keep her at bay. "No, no, no. That is not how this works!" I protested loudly. "You don’t just suddenly wish and get a twin sister. And I am not a freaky pony thing!" 

Flurry’s ears seemed to lower a bit sadly. "Yes, it does; that’s how magic works! I went outside and wished on a shooting star, and now you’re a freaky pony thing just like me!" She giggled at the words as she said them and stepped a bit closer. "What should I name my new sister?"

I shook my head and both hooves wildly in a display of disbelief. "I’m… I’m a human! My name is Kieran; you can’t just repurpose my existence for your own needs! That goes against, like… every single one of my constitutional rights!"

Flurry giggled, "Consti-what now? What’s a human anyway? Oh, are we playing pretend? I get to be a manticore!"

She leaned in even closer. "Also, what’s a silly name like Kieran?" I looked at her incredulously; this princess definitely was a child, that’s for sure. If the way she acted and the size of her compared to the rest of the room were anything to go off of. 

She saw my look of confusion, approached, and began pondering with her hoof against her chin. Eventually she shrugged and said, "Oh well, whatever my new sister wants to be called, she gets!"

I sat for a couple of moments, really letting what she had said sink in. Then I caught on to her slander of my name a second ago, and I wasn’t having it. "What’s so weird about Kieran? At least it’s not over the top like Flurry Heart."

"Who cares about names anyway?" Flurry said with an enthusiastic giggle as she began to nuzzle me like a dog. "Oh, momma’s going to be so happy!"

I recoiled away until I eventually shoved her away with a bit of force. The face she gave of sadness did actually make me feel bad, but I wasn’t just some stuffed animal!

I slowly began to put my hooves underneath me; it couldn’t be that hard walking with four instead of two, right? Or so I thought, as I immediately fell forward and face planted. As I struggled to make sense of my new appendages, I interrogated the psychotic little princess. "So what do you mean you wished for me? How does that work?" 

Her ears slowly rose on her head, and she animatedly began acting out her memory: "I was on my balcony when I looked up and saw a shooting star. So I looked at it, closed my eyes, and wished for a twin sister with my whole heart. Then my horn began to glow, and you slowly began to appear."

I managed to stand up for a couple of seconds before falling to the ground, which was quite painful. As I collected myself off the floor, I groaned, "Wait, so magic is real? Where am I even?"

Flurry began to prance around without a single worry in the world. "You’re in Equestria! Land of friendship! And we’re in the Crystal Empire!"

Alright, so a new world completely. Got it. I guess all my experience reading and playing games prepared me for this outcome in a very slight way. There’s a new world, magic is real, and now you’re here. Just roll with it; it'll be less painful than trying to deny everything.

I stood for a couple extra seconds—it honestly wasn’t that hard—but I was just too confused to focus entirely on learning to walk. "The last thing I remember is dying in my old world and floating in the most peaceful silence I’ve ever known." I said quietly.

Flurry Heart grew concerned as she gasped, "What? You died!? Oh no…"

I sighed and resisted the urge to facepalm with hooves, "Yes, I wasn’t kidding. I really used to be a human named Kieran. Your little science experiment is certainly fascinating, but I don’t remember signing up to be a test subject." I huffed out angrily, then face-planted. I was really holding back the urge to curse right now.

She began thinking to herself again, "When my horn began glowing and I wished for a sister, I remember hearing somepony else for a moment."

Is everything these creatures say going to have the word ‘pony’ replacing any existing description of others? Do indefinite pronouns not exist here?

Focus! Focus.

My ears perked up as I turned and raised my brow at her. She continued on her tangent, "The voice was really sad, and they said something about… not wanting to be alone anymore."

I felt a large pang of hurt in my chest as I lowered my head to the floor. But I looked back up just as quickly with an annoyed expression and said, "Wait, so you just read my dying thoughts like that? That has to be like… a breach of privacy."

She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah, I was so caught up wishing for a sister, I guess I didn’t think too hard about it all." She shrugged at me, "So what was being dead like?"

I huffed, "Peaceful, quiet… dead, way less confusing. I don’t know."

I looked around at her room awkwardly for a moment. Everything was either pink, purple, or blue with frilly designs. The walls and floor were made of crystal, and the furniture was adorned with crystals; it was certainly gaudy. But, you know, it checked out. She did say she was a princess, and this is apparently the "Crystal Empire" if this psychotic little necromancer was trustworthy with her descriptions, anyhow.

I took a couple of steps carefully, which ended up working better than I thought. "So, aren’t you like a kid or something? How do you have the power to just… bring me back from the dead like this?"

She giggled and spread her wings wildly as she let her horn glow. "I’m an alicorn! Alicorns are the strongest ponies in the world. There are only five of us!" She gasped as her eyes widened in realization: "There’s six now! You’re one too!"

Well, that was certainly a fun tidbit of information. I may be a carbon copy of a pink princess, but this kid was already one of the most powerful ponies. I could work with a new life like that. It was sort of like all those anime where they get some stupidly overpowered ability in a new life.

Wait, did I get isekai’d!?

Flurry Heart giggled as she watched the expression dance across my face. "You’re kinda like a video game character respawning; that’s really cool!" Huh, we kinda had similar thoughts just then. 

"I don’t remember sitting at any campfires recently." I said with a smirk and raised brows, which quickly widened as I looked at her with surprise. "Wait. You have video games here?"

She nodded proudly and pointed over to a section of her room that had an odd-looking but distinctive television with a couple of things that must’ve been game consoles. "Momma gets me all the new consoles! Wanna play?"

I stared in wonder. An entirely new collection of games and consoles in a new world? What kind of gems could I find here? I had to grab my outreaching hoof with my other hoof.

Wait, no, focus. More pressing matters at hand. Interrogate the necromancer before engaging in recreational activity.

"So why are there only five… or six, of us alicorns? Like, did you train or something to get this powerful, Flurry?" I asked with a curiously raised brow.

She huffed and looked away. I must’ve touched a sore spot for her as she stared at the floor. "Because my momma is one! Why can’t I be one too?"

"Your… mom is one?" I asked slowly, with worry. If this kid had a mother, who’s to say she wouldn’t hear Flurry’s story and immediately expel me from this new body? And I’m sure an adult alicorn is infinitely more terrifying than this kid. Y’know, being a female and a pony was certainly jarring, but at the very least I was alive again. I didn’t exactly want to lose this opportunity.

She smiled and nodded. "My momma is the ruler of the Crystal Empire. She’s super cool and super nice; I love her! Oh, you have to meet her!"

Flurry bounded forward and grabbed one of my hooves, but I quickly pulled it out of her grasp. How was she even grasping things in the first place with literal hooves? "No, no. Wait Flurry. I’m not exactly an expert on magic, ponies, or… moms. But I have a feeling you weren’t supposed to do this."

"Do what?" She asked innocently. 

I gestured down at my entire body, "This. Flurry, you realize you just reincarnated me as a copy of yourself. Right? Unless in your world it’s normal to grab every single dying soul and create living copies. Sorta creepy, by the way."

Flurry’s growing apprehension was certainly interesting to watch as she made up excuses. "Well, it’s okay; I heard momma wanted another foal anyway. I’m sure she’ll be okay with it."

I groaned and rubbed my hoof against my forehead, "Flurry, let me put this into perspective. I was a human male; I died, and you created a body out of nothing to give my soul a vessel in an alien world. Do you get it?"

Flurry’s eyes widened. "I have a twin brother?" She asked in wonder.

I looked at her incredulously and said, "No, well, not anymore. I think?" I slowly lowered my head and looked between my legs, then back up with an affirmative nod as I blushed wildly. "Nope! Definitely a girl now!"

She waved her hoof dismissively. "It’s fine! You look like a pony now anyway; nobody will realize."

I tried to resist the urge to facepalm once more as my eye twitched. "You’re certainly… optimistic. Aren’t you?"

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. And a much older male voice assaulted my ears: "Flurry, dear, are you getting ready for bed, sweetheart?"

Flurry seemed to panic as she whispered harshly at me, "Hide! Daddy might think you’re a changeling!"

"A what?" I asked back as she began pushing me towards her bed. I took the hint and shoved myself underneath the bed quite easily. I am very small now.

What a curveball she decided to throw at me! There are changelings in this world? The things that literally steal children’s appearances in old folktales? How in the world did this kid exactly think this would work? I was doomed. I’d be blasted into a third dimension the moment her parents saw me.

Flurry called out after composing herself, "Yes, daddy!" She walked over and opened the door. "I was going to bed suuuper soon! I just wanted to watch the stars!"

Her dad stepped in. A large and imposing unicorn with a kind and gentle face. He was white, with a blue mane and tail, and a tattoo of a shield on his butt. He chuckled, "Well, you know, little fillies need to get their rest soon." He said with a smile as he leaned down and nuzzled her. Seeing her standing by her father made me realize how small the both of us were. She barely reached his stomach with her head…

Flurry giggled, "Yes, daddy. I’ll go to bed in a minute."

He nodded his head, then kissed her forehead and said, "Goodnight, sweetie. When mommy comes to say goodnight, tell her I beat her to your room for once."

Flurry giggled sincerely, "You did, Daddy! I’ll rub it in her face!"

"That’s my girl." He said with a chuckle as he exited.

Flurry released a loud breath of relief before coming over to where I was hiding and helping me out from underneath. I knew the kid would be upset, but everything she told me made me make my final decision.

I looked up to her seriously. "Flurry, you got me into this situation. You have to help me escape from it."

Flurry’s ears flattened against her head. "Escape? Why can’t you stay?" I could see small tears forming in her eyes after that.

I sighed and leaned forward, pulling her into a genuine hug. She was just a small child after all, with amazing powers, and she had reincarnated me, which was truly amazing. "Because I can’t let them find me and try to steal my memories or something."

"Momma wouldn’t do that!" Flurry protested vehemently.

I released her from the hug and backed up, "I don’t belong here, though. I’m a copy; you said it yourself earlier. I’m a changeling, I think?"

Flurry shook her head wildly, "No! You’re not a changeling. You're my sister! Changelings steal people’s appearance; I gave you mine; it’s different!"

I looked at her sadly and decided to rip the bandaid off as I said, "I’m not your sister, Flurry. I’m sorry."

She began tearing up and quickly cried her eyes out, "Do you hate me? Is it because I made you not dead anymore?"

I sighed and rested my head on my hoof. I didn’t have the mental capacity for this right now; I myself felt like I’d break down crying in confusion at any moment. I couldn’t console a pony child while doing so. I sighed. "Why else would you hide me from your dad? If you really were confident they wouldn’t hurt me, you’d have let him see me."

Flurry’s eyes widened in horror. "No! I-I… I didn’t think… I just, what if he did hurt you before I could explain?"

I pointed my hoof at her, "So, you see my point? You need to help me escape."

"Why don’t you just stay in my room? I’ll bring you back food, toys, we can play video games; and… and…" The poor kid was hiccuping through her tears now.

I shook my head and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I actually want to live this new life you gave me to its fullest. It’s actually super wonderful that you did this for me; I mean it, Flurry." She gave me a small smile before I continued. "But your idea doesn’t sound like a very fun existence."

Staying here was such a high risk, regardless of the temptation to play video games. It would only take one misunderstanding between me and the ruler of this "Crystal Empire" and I’d be smoked. Though I may have the upper advantage of her not wanting to attack something that looks like her child.

Flurry stayed silent for a while longer before she sniffled and wiped her eyes with an affirmative nod. "O-Okay then. I’ll show you how to sneak out."

Just then, another knock came at the door. But the knocking pony didn’t seem to feel like waiting as the door began opening. Flurry, in panic, pushed me as hard as possible to the side. She's lucky I caught myself on these new hooves. I hid behind a small bean bag as what seemed to be her mother entered. Her mother was pink, much like Flurry. She had hair that was cream, purple, and hot pink. On her flank was a crystal heart. And on her head was a golden crown, and she wore a golden necklace and golden hoof shoes. Or whatever they were. Regardless of the fact that she had bags under her eyes and looked tired as all sin, she was certainly royalty.

"There’s my princess." She cooed, "Getting ready for bed, little one?"

Flurry nodded nervously as she shot me a nervous glance. "Y-Yes momma! I was just getting to bed!"

The much larger mare nodded her head with a smile. "Want mommy to tuck you in?"

Flurry was practically dying under the pressure already. I slowly nodded at Flurry from my spot, using my hooves to very poorly illustrate my plan for my first ever pony stealth mission. I creeped quietly towards the door behind her mother. Flurry hummed confusedly, then she smiled up at the mare, "I… sure, momma!"

Her mom giggled and began to lead Flurry towards the bed, "Are you alright, dear? You seem a bit stressed." The mare placed her hoof against Flurry’s forehead worriedly.

Flurry glanced over at me again. Not only was I learning to walk on the job, but I was also trying to do it quietly. But Flurry’s constant nervous glancing didn’t go unnoticed by her mother, who asked, "Are you okay? Is something the matter?" The mare was turning her head, and Flurry quickly groaned loudly.

"I think I have a headache, momma." She moaned rather convincingly. 

I was nearly to the door now, and her mother grew alarmed. "Oh! I’ll go get you some water and medicine, sweetie!" She began turning again.

"No!" Flurry shouted, then she put on another worried smile as her mother looked at her in alarm: "I-I just think I need a bedtime story, is all."

I could tell her mother was seeing through the cracks as she raised her eyebrow at her daughter with suspicion. "You haven’t asked for a bedtime story in a long while. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?"

This was it; I was nearly at the entrance of the doorway. I took my final step and rested against the doorway, then I looked around the corner. I wanted to pump my fists—or hooves—in victory; there weren’t any guards posted around outside right now. "Did you know Daddy beat you to my room tonight?" Flurry asked casually. Wait to go, kid; keep up the act!

I took one step into the hallway and was immediately assaulted with new terrain. Apparently Flurry’s room had a different kind of floor, because whatever was in the hallway was like a slip-and-slide! 

My first step into the hallway immediately resulted in me practically flipping over, and my back fell against the floor with an audible thump. It was certainly a loud enough sound to cause distress, and I looked over in horror at Flurry’s mother, who was staring wide-eyed at me. Flurry was covering her face with her hooves. I couldn’t blame her, I guess. This one really was on me; Flurry had done her best, and I failed her. Curse these hooves. But now I was stuck in a predicament as I scrambled wildly to get back on my hooves. 

I could see the gears turning in her mother’s head. Her face went between many emotions, one of which was anger. But despite this, her features settled on a worried expression, and she took a step forward. "H-Hello? Who are you, little one?"

Huh, that wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Was she faking it and trying to lure me in? Or was she actually going the innocent until proven guilty route?

I grew a bit panicked as I finally got onto all four of my hooves. I gave her mother a short friendly wave and rambled, "Oh, don't worry about me; I’m just a simple illusion. Yeah, your daughter is practicing illusion magic now wow would you look at the time alrightgoodnightsleepwellseeyoulater goodbye!" I rambled before taking off, my legs barely giving me any speed, as if I were in a Looney Tunes cartoon.

Expertly done.

Wait, was running an admission of guilt in this situation? Well, it's too late now.

"Wait!" I heard a concerned voice shout out from behind me.

Escaping the castle after that point was actually pretty easy. The guards were dumb as bricks, as I came to find out. And the only guard who truly noticed something was off about me was at the entrance to the castle. And I obviously just ran past him.

Running into the crystal city at night, I heard guards pouring out of the castle immediately afterwards. I had always wanted to be a fugitive of the law in some fantasy world; I just didn’t expect it to play out like this. Especially since I was a fugitive of the law because of my looks. I was hoping to gain my status by slaying a corrupt monarch or some other hero story.

I shook my head at the thought. This wasn’t just a fantasy story; I was in real, actual danger. And I was ill-equipped and hopelessly confused about my situation. Confidence would only take me so far.

The streets were empty, so it was quite easy to navigate. But the guards that had been dispatched everywhere made me feel like I was playing a stealth video game. I even used the Solid Snake box technique a few times, where you pick it up and walk a few feet. It worked like a charm! Scarily so, actually. Like I said, the guards were dumb as bricks.

Eventually, I found a very small nook that led into a back alley between buildings. I dared to step out of my box shell for only a moment as I looked around. A pair of guards ran past my entrance at that exact moment, confirming for me that I was finally safe here. I released a long and loud sigh.

I heard a meow from above and lifted my head just in time to see an orange tabby jump down and begin circling me cautiously. Hey, at least they had cats in this world! This one even sorta reminded me of my old cat.

He took a few sniffs at me and then began rubbing against my legs. I giggled. "Hey there, kitty." He stopped and tilted his head with a meow, "I’m gonna call you Pickles." I said with a smile.







Flurry Heart bawled into her mother’s chest as Cadance and Shining Armor looked at her with intense worry. Each of them was intensely curious but unable to get words out of her just yet.

Cadance rubbed the filly’s back, "Shh… shh… Flurry, sweetie, please tell me what’s going on."

Flurry just kept saying the same thing she’d said since Kieran ran away. Shaking her head wildly, "No! No, you’re going to hurt him. He’s not a changeling momma!"

"I know! I know, dear. You’ve said that at least a few dozen times already." Cadance said with a sigh.

Shining Armor leaned in and nuzzled their daughter, "Honey, we don’t want to hurt anypony. But right now we really need to know what’s going on… for your friend’s safety as well."

Flurry sniffled a couple of times, and brought her head back to look her mother in the eyes. "I-I… I was on my balcony before bed, and I wished for a twin sister… And… And…" She broke down crying once again.

Cadance was now fully alert with worry as she wrapped her wings around the foal gently, "Than what, sweetie?"

Flurry hiccuped. "My horn g-glowed, and I heard somepony. They said they didn’t wanna be alone anymore, and they were sad… And then I was stupid, momma! I pulled whoever I was listening to and made him look like me, but I’m super dumb, and his name was actually Kieran, and he used to be a human and-"

Cadance put a hoof over the foal's mouth, as she was literally exhausting herself while talking, "Flurry, slow down! You’re going to pass out."

Shining hummed curiously as his face turned a bit whiter than usual. "So, you took somebody’s soul and created a body that looks just like you?"

Flurry nodded slowly. "H-He said he had died, and the first thing he saw when waking up was me. But he’s not actually a male anymore, I guess, because I made him just like me."

Cadance looked at her daughter in shock as she opened her mouth in disbelief. "You revived somebody, Flurry? H-How-"

"I don’t know, momma!" Flurry cried. "I really, really wanted a twin sister! And sometimes I hear you saying you wish you’d had more foals… and it just happened, momma!"

Cadance’e expression softened into motherly worry. "Shh…" Cadance nuzzled her tenderly. "Why did your friend Kieran run away?"

Flurry rubbed her eyes and sniffled again. "He was scared. Neither of us knew if you would hurt him if I told you. He asked me to help him run away."

Cadance and Shining locked eyes with each other and shared a worried glance. "Shiny… It’s winter."

He nodded at her with sadness and said, "I’ll have all the troops searching day and night."

"No!" Flurry shouted, "Don’t hurt him! Or her! Whatever! It’s my fault, all my fault!"

Cadance nuzzled her quickly, "We’re not going to hurt them! We want to help, Flurry. They’re in a new world with a new body, and they’re only a little filly just like you. Also, after just dying, they’re probably hopelessly confused."

Flurry’s eyes widened with fear. "Is Kieran in trouble, momma? I don’t want them to get hurt."

"Shh… we won’t let them get hurt." Cadance reassured.

Shining Armor left the room to give the guards orders as Cadance slowly lowered the filly into the bed. Gently, she kissed her forehead, "Try and sleep, dear; I need to help find them. I promise, we’ll be as nice as possible. Okay?"

Flurry gave a little nod as she snuggled into the bedsheets as her mother tucked her in. "Momma," Flurry said as her mother turned to leave.

"Yes dear?"

"They were happy… to be alive again. I liked seeing them happy." Flurry said quietly.

Cadance gave a small sad smile, "I’d like to see them happy too."