The room was awfully cold.
Normally, Twilight would never feel a chill this early in the season, or what she guessed was early fall, anyway. Certainly not indoors and wrapped up in a huge, cushy blanket like this one... She didn't have her coat of fur though, which was probably why the cold assaulted her relentlessly the way it did, even inside and in the soft bed.
"I should have been more careful." The words were emotionless as Twilight mumbled them and rolled over onto her side. Her forelegs were tucked closely in front her barrel comfortingly, bridging on cradling herself—it didn't help any.
The changed unicorn's body shifted on the springy mattress again, trying to get comfortable. Unfortunately for her, even with the smooth sheets and curiously poofy pillows that seemed impossible. Despite her best efforts and the heavenly sleeping arrangement, she was kept awake by everything that weighed on her mind. From the small to the big, but chiefly by the fact that her last memory of Equestria was of an early morning. She couldn't have woken up and had breakfast more than two hours ago, if memory served her correctly. The lingering taste of the lily and daffodil sandwich she had eaten seemed to confirm that as fact.
The wall stared back at Twilight while she was deep in thought; she couldn't not be. In truth, it simply wasn't in her to not begin researching and figuring out what was going on right away. It was who she was, her nature. She fixed things, she solved the problems, and she was the one that time and again always came through for her friends... just like they would for her.
However, Twilight wasn't in her home right now. She didn't have her assistant, Spike, she didn't have her notes, her equipment or even her...
Twilight reached a frightened, shaking hand up to her forehead for the dozenth-or-more time, searching for a missing part of herself. A silent tear leaked out of the side of one eye, then trailed down her face onto the pillow.
"My horn," she whispered, and sniffled.
The situation she'd put herself in had left her stranded, crippled, and utterly at the mercy of the bizarre looking creature that had taken her in for the night.
"I should have been more careful..." Twilight repeated the words from earlier in an apologetic tone, even though there was no one to apologize to. She waited, but nothing in the dark room replied this time, either. Not even her usually dependable brain answered her.
I just don't know what to do. Twilight's thoughts had raced for an hour now, but she was still left with nothing to show for it. Her mind repeated what had become a routine cycle of ideas and courses of action since she had been left alone in the cozy bedroom. Once again, they started up. This time though, she planned to act on them, too. Everything is alright Twilight, you're safe after all. But, just laying here and sleeping won't solve anything. Maybe this isn't your house or the great library in Canterlot, but surely you can figure at least a couple of helpful things out.
Twilight lifted the blankets off herself and folded them over neatly to the other side of the bed. I gotta do something... Still, in her mind, she was the most incongruous kind of guest right now: the unexpected or possibly even worse, the unwelcome kind. Naturally, she decided she would be more than courteous under any circumstances towards her hostess. You know, Twilight, you're taking advantage of that hospitality a little just by wandering about. Still, she told herself she'd made her decision already and forwent regret with a sigh.
The lack of a floor as she leaned over the side of the bed kept her from sliding her forelegs off. She stared at the empty space for a moment as she dangled helplessly off the side of the furniture, seeing clearly once again just how high up she was.
Twilight's eyes widened in the dark and she scurried back onto the sheets promptly. What the hay? How can— What were they called... humans? Right. How do humans manage to do this? Her fears had never included heights before, not anymore than any other sensible unicorn, of course. Being this unsure of her body certainly made up for it though. She took a deep breath and peered over the monstrously tall side of the bed again.
I can't believe how jarring this is, I never imagined walking on just two legs could make everything seem so... big. Twilight had not had the opportunity to gauge how large humans were properly, just yet. But it seemed that they were bigger than ponies by some margin, and not just in height. Although, that did seem to be caused primarily from the manner in which they stood upon two legs. Such circumstances appeared to be the root of Twilight's problem with getting off the bed at the moment, anyway. Just be careful Twilight, try and simply lower yourself carefully... You've seen Spike do it plenty of times, and he's tiny.
Twilight's feet carefully slid back and off the bed as she clung to the mattress as though it were a life-line, her teeth remained clenched until finally, cold wooden floor came up to meet her legs. Her eyes blinked open to find it was still dark, except for a scattering of peculiar blue or green or red lights around the room, but she could see clearly that the unfamiliar height of the bed wasn't actually as tall as she'd imagined it was.
As a matter of fact, her hips just reached the top of said mattress while standing upright as the stranger 'Jo' had been.
A loud sigh exhaled from Twilight, then she quickly covered her mouth with a hand and looked around. If you're going to be wandering around a stranger's home, then don't be a nuisance and wake her up, dandelion brain!
Twilight momentarily had second thoughts about doing something that could be seen as rude, but fought them back. It really just wasn't in her to sit by idly and waste time, not when everypony else could think she were lost, or maybe even worse...
The hesitation ended, and normal Twilight resurfaced, encouraged by taking the initiative. Out of sheer curiosity, she attempted to take a few steps on two legs, as she had seen Jo so gracefully and flawlessly do. One foot went forward and then... "Wha— No!"
A loud thump filled the room.
Twilight wasn't quite sure what had gone wrong at first, but after some reflection she realized she had tried to take a step with one of her forearms before using her human legs... The old instinct had betrayed her, and now she lay on the ground.
Twilight shuddered on the floor for a moment, sadness welling up. To her, falling down onto the wood floor was a rather... good analogy for how she had felt that entire night. It reminded her of everything in a rush—a painful rush. Her thoughts stormed her will as she lay there and a couple more tears were blinked back. Finally, a calming breath stilled her shaking.
The oddly shaped head Twilight now possessed shifted weakly to rest on the strange, furless limbs that so well mimicked her old ones. Calmly, she reflected on things. I've gone from being one of Equestria's most accomplished, promising young unicorns, to this. Her eyes stared sadly at the things that Jo had called hands, which had replaced her hooves. The dim light provided from the magic fixture nearby illuminated them just enough to make out their alien-like shape. I'm just... Defeated thoughts fought to well up inside of her, just as quickly as memories of her friends and wise mentor tried to fight them back down.
Twilight pushed herself up to standing—in pony fashion—slowly. The aches and bruises—which she had seen covering her entire hairless body back in the shower—all reminded her with some throbbing pain of just how badly she had screwed up.
Ignoring the re-awakened bruises, Twilight quietly began to creep through the house's dark, searching for things and clues that might help her.
Well, the strange bendy digits that were now on all of Twilight's limbs wiggled as she formed a thought. These legs that humans have are certainly a lot quieter than hooves. A smirk managed to accompany the somewhat condescending thought, but it still helped her out.
The first thing Twilight realized as she made her way out of the bedroom was just how dark it was in the house. While sight adjusted to the dark, she momentarily considered if her human eyes might have a stronger or weaker sense of vision in the night than a pony. It seemed about the same, in the end, but reaching a sound conclusion would require tests, a lab and a control group she didn't have right then.
Twilight set out in earnest, only to bump into a wall after some clumsy movement forward. "Gah, doorframe. Was the bigger room this way?" All of the curiously luminescent lights that had filled the home's tall ceilinged rooms were now extinguished.
Twilight's eyes cast about for a lantern of fireflies, gas lamp, or anything familiar, but she didn't see anything of the sort. She would have looked for a light switch too, but it was too dark. I will say this, the humans seem to have a very commanding knack for magic, maybe I'm worrying over nothing. In fact, I bet Jo herself can help me get home... The lighting she had seen earlier had to have been magic, she decided. The steady shine that they had emitted certainly did seem very similar, if slightly weaker than the daylight-like glow magic lighting provided back in her home. She might not think Equestria is real, but I know it is. With power like this I'm sure they have some means that could be of use to me. The thoughts were just meant to comfort her, but they did sound reasonable to her after a fashion.
Twilight's thoughts lingered on her strange hostess as she made her way randomly through the dark. Frankly, Jo seemed like a very interesting creature with an oddly familiar personality. A bit like a cross between Rainbow Dash and Trixie. She shuddered at the idea of the combination. At least she doesn't speak in the third person. A grin creased her face at the thought, then evaporated as she approached the sadly book-filled floor of one room. Oh, poor things...
On instinct, she tried to focus her horn to pick them all up off of the ground. When nothing happened, Twilight gulped and shook her mane angrily. This isn't fair! How am I supposed to fix a mistake if I can't remember what I did or even use magic anymore!? The idea sprang a hateful, and terribly horrified thought.
What if Jo's right? What if I am crazy. It hadn't been hard for Twilight to pick up on what the human had been thinking, even in the state of mind she was in. She shook the thought aside, since it didn't really make any sense. It couldn't make sense. No, that's impossible, too many memories for those to be not real. Besides... that landing outside was way too painful to be fake. She recalled the purple flames dancing over her skin, her hooves clutching at herself desperately to try and put them out even as she felt herself plummeting.
Twilight shook her head again and took a deep breath; the memory had made her blood pump and her head feel heavy. She didn't know what had happened to her to change her body, but she decided to piece it together later. The memories of her lab were a little more blurry, making the sparse recollection of conversing with Applejack almost useless. There was no doubt in her about one thing though, that talking to the farm mare was the last thing to occur before whatever had happened, happened.
"If only I could show Jo my memories or some proof..." Twilight tried to swish her tail distastefully at not having any magic, and was disappointed when reminded of its absence. Oooh, my poor tail... Her hand felt around where the missing limb was absent. What was I thinking... Oh, right, well I'm sure I can bring her around easily, Jo seems like a smart pony- er, human. She concluded the thought, then continued past the abused literature in the room. Her eyes tried to pick out a book or two that might be useful. The light in the hallway was thankfully left on.
Bizarrely enough, they all seemed to be written in plain old Equestrian, and not any of the other languages or fancier dialects that filled Twilight's world. Or more sensibly, an alien dialect. That was perfectly fine by Twilight, though. Come to think of it, we both speak Equestrian. I hadn't even noticed that. She filed the peculiarity she had missed away for later.
Twilight's hands clumsily picked up what was obviously a dictionary. Best to start small, I guess. The question of languages had gotten her interested on the thought, she considered something more involved, but decided things were complicated enough as it was. With luck, I won't be here long enough to be able to learn anything about them... not that I won't take as much back with me as possible. She grinned at the thought of being the first unicorn to have encountered an alien race from another world, or possibly from another plane of existence altogether. A giggle escaped her, fighting back some of her darkened mood.
The wind blew in from an opening in front of Twilight.
She realized upon reaching the next room that it was where the broken door lay. I guess that was my fault. I wonder why Jo wasn't more angry about it? She turned the thought over, then came to a conclusion, smiling. I guess Jo is just one of those rough exterior kinds of ponies... but really friendly on the inside. It made perfect sense, now that she thought about it. "I mean, humans," she corrected herself out loud to the room.
Outside, a grey light had begun to build, filling the window and room with a strengthening light. It was cloudy outside, and the entirety of the horizon was one big foreboding mass.
Twilight frowned out of the doorway at the sight. Humans have a very intimidating way of running their weather... The clouds were quite obviously hundreds of times higher up than the pegasi in Equestria managed to pull off. They must be powerful indeed... She turned and spotted a fireplace in one corner. A smile appeared as she approached it, glad to see a familiar sight in the strange abode.
It wasn't lit, however, but the light from the windows was enough to see by.
"This place is crazy." The words caused Twilight to reflect on what she had said and brought more considerations over the few bits of information she had gotten from Jo. "Wait... how could she know of Equestria if it wasn't real to begin with?"
Twilight turned from the strange fireplace and crawled up onto the nearby couch, still thinking out loud. "I mean, unless their knowledge of the place is pure coincidence and therefore fake, or the word means something else entirely..." The spoken idea made more sense to Twilight than the alternatives—that either Equestria wasn't real, or possibly something else altogether than the first two possibilities.
The couch squished under Twilight's hand oddly and she looked down in time to cry out. A cat likewise yowled and leaped up over the back of the couch away from her, leaving the panicked girl breathing heavily on the floor where she had fallen.
Twilight looked around and tried to calm her heartbeat. "I'm sorry! I didn't see you..." she called after the fleeing feline. It was long gone though. She pushed herself off of her back and up onto hands and knees. As she did so, she spotted another cat on the furniture watching her placidly, swishing its tail from the disturbance.
"Sorry about that," Twilight apologized again to the other creature.
She sorta half stood up, similar to how she had seen Jo doing, then ungracefully fell onto the couch beside the cat. It would take some getting used to, but she thought that she would be able to learn the strange way humans walked quickly. She settled onto the furniture in a position that seemed natural for the body, and ignored the outcries her mind tried to make at the wrongness of it. For the dozenth time her eyes looked wonderingly over her strange body, poking at the oddly shaped legs and barrel idly.
None of it was hers, not really, but at the same time Twilight guessed they were now. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get used to this... She scowled down at the weirdness of the shape that now defined her.
Movement caught Twilight's attention. The cat at the other end of the sofa yawned and stood up, then quickly padded its way over to place itself on her lap. It sat and began to watch her.
Twilight smiled sadly at the creature, then her eyes widened as a realization occurred to her. Jo had said that ponies exist here, not only that, but cats are here as well. This immediately stoked the embers of several more ideas that she chastised herself for not thinking of sooner. With similarities like that, Equestria could be attached to this world in any number of ways. Uggh, if only I had studied harder on a subject like this... Though she tried, she couldn't think of any field of Equestrian magic that delved into other worlds. In fact, other than fictional comics the likes of which Spike read, they were unheard of as far as she knew.
The cat meowed loudly at Twilight, breaking her out of the dreamy, thought filled state. It swished its tail and pawed at her hand enthusiastically. Taking the hint, she obliged the pushy animal and stroked its head. She began to mull over how much better hands seemed to be at this than a hoof might be.
They certainly are more utilitarian than hooves. Magic was still far superior though, as she saw it.
All the while the cat stared at Twilight, she pet it. It was seemingly contented by the attention, at least.
"I wish I could understand animals like Fluttershy, I sorely need somepony right now that isn't..." Twilight trailed off under the cat's strange, stone cold stare at her. "That is, I don't mean anything by that against your owner, I'm sure she's very nice!" Her assuredness wavered as the cat continued to keep its eyes locked with her own. "Look, it's just that I've never seen anything quite like her before!" She looked down momentarily at her hand with a frown. "Or me for that matter, I guess..." Looking back up, the house pet was still watching her clinically, and a worried look appeared on her face as a result.
Is it me, or is this cat kind of creepy? Still, Twilight continued to pet its head. It didn't purr or act very friendly, but it seemed content to lay there and endure the attention. I guess cats from here are just very placid... Her mind trailed off as she stared into the empty fireplace that gave no heat. Beside her, the sun rose in the window and she opened the human dictionary to its light for some comfort reading.