Pain.
That was the first thing he felt. Spreading like a wave across his body, the epicenter being his very spine.
The cause?
A large, flat piece of wood that he’d found himself upon. Eyes of bright green were forced shut from the aches racking his body before they could open just enough to see a set of violet staring back only a few feet away.
Silence echoed through the room as the two pairs stared into each other, but eventually it would break as he vocalized his feelings.
“OW MY BACK!”
The door opened with a slight ringing as the owner of the Golden Oaks library stepped back inside her home, sweat dripping off her horn as she let out an exhausted sigh, wiping her purple furred brow, followed closely by a gaggle of other ponies. Twilight Sparkle, newly crowned alicorn princess glanced back as her friends welcomed themselves into her home to rest up.
Rarity always made her spot first, taking over Twilight’s couch to lay across her back, her horn bringing up a hidden hoof fan that seemed to wave on its own. “I am absolutely drained!” she lamented with her posh voice, looking over her usually well-cared for mane. “I swear if I find a single split end in my mane from those vines, Discord and I will have words.”
A flutter of wings told the unicorn another friend had approached, smiling at Fluttershy who had hoofed over a glass of iced tea from the kitchen. “I know we’re on edge girls, but let's please not threaten Discord. He did help us clean up everything in the end, after all.” Her soft voice had a unique way of calming her friends, even in their exhausted state.
“Sure, Shy,” Rainbow gave in quickly, zipping by to grab some refreshments as well, now resting atop a cloud she had smuggled into the establishment, much to Twilight’s chagrin. She narrowed her eyes at her pegasus friend, but gave in with another sigh. She was just too tired for a scolding about how bringing extra moisture inside was bad for the books.
Applejack was the next to get a glass of tea. “Thank ya kindly,” she smiled at Fluttershy as she downed the entire glass. While used to hard work on the farm, even Applejack could feel the excess stress on her muscles. “At least we got everythin’ all cleaned up. Things can git back to normal by tomorraw.”
There was a loud gasp, all eyes turning to Pinkie Pie, the only member of their friends not any worse for wear after their latest adventure. “Should I-”
“Throw a party?” all of her friends finished for her.
The party pony stared at all of them for a moment before turning to a wide grin. “Ladies, you read my mind! Best way to clear everypony’s mind of all that nasty plunder vines and give ‘em a big ol’ smile!”
The girls all had a small chuckle, the former wielder of the element of laughter already upping their spirits. “How about we talk about parties later, please dear?” Rarity asked through a small giggle. “I believe the rest of us are quite tuckered after the day, but we’ll be happy to talk about it after some rest.”
Twilight nodded along. “I think that’ll be best. We’ve all had enough excitement for now and we don’t want to be all out of excitement for one of your parties, would we?” Pinkie’s horrified face quickly shook to give the princess her answer. “Good. Now, I wouldn’t mind some of that ice tea and a good book.”
As if the universe itself had decided to spite the princess, their calmness was interrupted as storm clouds suddenly formed in the library, encircling the central desk. The wind picked up, causing papers to scatter about, lightning flashing above their heads.
“Rainbow!” Twilight instinctively scolded.
“It wasn’t me, I swear! My cloud’s all nice and poofy!”
Turning back to the storms, Twilight watched in horror as a swirling abyss opened within the clouds, spiraling above them like an encroaching tornado. Her hoof lifted up to protect her eyes, trying to think of what spell this could possibly be as well as how to counter it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Rainbow called out, pointing into the abyss. “There’s something coming!”
“Brace yourselves!” Applejack cried, tackling Pinkie to the ground as she had just been staring at the portal with a goofy grin.
Sure enough, Rainbow’s call hadn’t been incorrect as a shape became clearer and clearer as it fell from the abyss and only moments later, a body came crashing down on to the library’s table, Twilight grateful it didn’t break as there was already enough furniture to replace from the day’s events.
Quickly as it appeared, the vortex swirled into oblivion, the wind dying down instantly, leaving everything to settle back to the ground. Putting her hoof back down, Twilight approached the body, looking to see a young stallion with deep blue fur. The outstretched wings instantly made it clear of the race, though she curiously couldn’t see a cutie mark on his flank like hers and her friends.
Applejack poked her head up, eyeing the pony. “A pony? What in the hay just happened‽”
“Some kind of vortex,” Twilight was quick to answer, making her way closer to the stranger, leaning right into his face as she tried to tell for herself. Though not even a moment after doing so, the stallion’s eyes opened to meet hers. A strange quiet settled between the two for the briefest moment before the stallion let out a pained hiss.
“OW MY BACK!” he shouted, putting the girls all on edge. Rainbow and Applejack were the first to jump to Twilight’s side, cautiously glaring at the newcomer as he tried to roll off his back, letting out hisses and groans. “Ok, ok, come on, come on,” he mutters before finally being able to roll over. “That’s gonna sting for a while.” A hoof rubs his back soothingly as he looks around him, taking in his surroundings properly, blinking a few times. “What the? Am I dreaming or am I surrounded by multi-colored ponies?”
That question took the others by surprise, even more questions populating in their heads. “Uh, you look in a mirror lately, dude?” Rainbow so “casually” asked.
“What’s that supposed to…” The stallion’s question trailed off as he seemed to stare at Twilight, eyes narrowing. Twilight could feel a sweat growing at how intensely he was staring at her, wondering if he knew her, or if she had wronged this pony in some way, or maybe-
“My nose is longer,” he finally spoke, the sense of dread instantly falling out of the surrounding posse’s brains.
“What?” Twilight managed to ask, trying to feel embarrassed that he hadn’t actually been staring at her. Though her question went unanswered as the stallion started looking at his hooves and arms.
“Oookay, this is super weird,” he said aloud while getting a close look at his hooves. “They’re so flat yet I can still feel like I can pick something up.You’d think without fingers…” He trailed off again, before he blinked, looking to his side where the tips of his feathered wings were stretching out. “Woah! So I can stretch like tha- I have wings! I have wings!!” He started laughing, rolling about on the table as he tried to grab his own wings.
Applejack felt herself deadpanning at the scene before. “Do we need ta get a doctor? Fer the feller’s brain?”
“You mean if there’s one in there, darling.”
“D-don’t you think that’s a bit mean, Rarity?”
Pinke couldn’t help but giggle. “He seems like a lot of fun.” She then turned to Twilight who was staring at him in curiosity. “Bit for your thoughts, Twilight?”
Twilight blinked, realizing she’d been staring. “Sorry. It was what he said. Something about fingers.”
“An’ what’s that mean?”
“I’m not sure, but it gives me a hypothesis.” She would then walk closer to the stallion again who’d finally caught a wing to look at closely, staring in fascination. “Excuse me? Sir?”
“Hm?” The stallion’s attention turned to the pony before him, finally able to properly look at her. “Oh sorry, guess I got carried away. I think most in my situation would be freaking out, but I don’t know. It’s really just… interesting.”
“What do you mean ‘your situation’? You mentioned ‘fingers’ before as well. Were you not a pony before?”
The stallion shook his head, getting looks of confusion from the girls around him. “I was a human before I… crashed here,” he finished after looking at where he was currently resting.
“I thought so. I wonder if you found a different portal from the otherside of the mirror.”
“Mirror?”
Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, thinking aloud, but since you don’t know what I mean, we can rule that out. Does Canterlot High ring any bells?”
He was quiet for a moment, his eyes blinking every now and then his face scrunched more and more. “No, it doesn’t. Actually, nothing does. I-I can’t remember.”
“Remember what, dear?” Rarity thought to ask.
“A-anything! Why can’t I remember anything‽” The pony started to take deep breaths, putting his hooves to his head as he scrunched up his face. “It’s like they’re right on the tip of my tongue but nothing is coming!”
The girls all looked at each other for a moment, their eyes of matching concern being all they could do before looking back to the ailing stallion. “Nothing? What ‘bout yer name?” Applejack was the first to ask, only for her expression to dower at seeing him shake his head.
“All I can remember was being human. Nothing else.” He finally looked at the group of ponies that had him surrounded, at first worried he might be in danger, but that thought quickly melted seeing the six faces of concern for him. Slowly he took his hooves down, looking between this color cornucopia before him.
He felt a sensation on his hoof, looking to see Twilight had gently grabbed hold of it with her magical aura, gently pulling to meet hers, a calming smile on her face. “It’s going to be alright. Let’s see if we can help. Let me start by introducing myself: I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you.”
The stallion stared at her for a moment before meeting her smile with one of his own. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”