//------------------------------//
// Leslie  
// Story: Broken Gates 
// by SuzukiDragon 
//------------------------------//

	The beginning of a story is probably the best part to start one. Of course, you can always start a story in the middle, or even at the end. You might be entirely confused and have no idea what's happening, but you can certainly do it. 
In the case of the story I wish to tell you, it's hard to say where to start. I could start at the beginning of my life, but I'm certain you wouldn't want to hear most of that.
The end of my life is still hopefully far away, so I can't exactly tell you about that part yet.
The events that started about three years ago, In the late June of 2013? Huh, that could be a pretty good place to start. Of course it could get confusing if you don't know at least a little bit about me.
Or if you know nothing of that event at all.

I've never really told the whole story before, but I'll give it my best shot.

Of course, it begins with myself: My name is Aurora Drift, though back while I was a human it was Leslie Keegard. I used to be a guy. What am I now? Well, something happened to turn me into a mare, a female pony. I know what that something is now, but I'll have to tell you about it later.
I was seventeen, about to enjoy my last summer before my last year of school. My parents were away for a couple weeks and I was home alone with my sister, who I actually get along with pretty well. My parents had taken the dog with them, and I was all set to start enjoying my summer vacation when it happened.
I remember that last night of being an ordinary human well, even though I didn't really do anything too memorable. They are the last human memories I have after all.

"Hey Sis?" I called down the stairs to my distracted older sister. She was busy watching a fan-animation of one of the few shows we watch together, My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. I didn't catch the name of which fan-animation it was, so I was asking now.
"No!" She called back immediately, rejecting my attempt at conversation. She really enjoyed teasing me, like, a lot. I sighed loudly and continued my retreat up the stairs. I was feeling really tired for some reason, despite it only being about 2 am.
"Okay, what?" My Sis finally called after me.
"Never mind, night Sis!" I replied with annoyance, even though I wasn't actually mad at her at all. My sister Samantha was the exact opposite of the stereotypical sister. Sure she pretended to be annoyed and unfriendly to me, but most times she was unnecessarily caring and kind. Of course, there were reasons for this: such as the fact that she had almost single handedly raised me back in the days while we were placed in custody of our neglectful Uncle. She had already looked after me for about half my life, and I guess somewhere along the way she had basically said, 'Why stop now?'
If you have a normal sister who is more true to the sibling rivalry type, cherish her for it. Living with a sister who cares for you like a mother is not a fun thing once you reach your teenage years.
Sam was a pretty standard female as far as looks go. She was just a bit taller than most, at five foot ten, and had a not so thin frame. She wasn't beefy or large, just solid. She was built like an athlete, but the only sport she really competed in was swimming. She also had a bit of a mousey nose, and long hair naturally red that she usually wore in a loose ponytail hanging over her shoulder. Her eyes were a dark blue, and usually wide and alert.
"Kay. Night Bro?" She called back uncertainly, no doubt unaware of the time. In a few seconds she would probably look at the computer's clock and decide to pull another all-nighter. Either that or she would actually go to bed, but that would be quite unusual.
After I reached the top of the stairs, and headed to my room, I heard a creak from the bottom of the stairs. Hmm, I guess Sam decided she would actually sleep tonight, peculiar.
I pulled open my door, and stepped into the darkened lavender room, closing my door behind me just in time to avoid an awkward second good-night with my sister. I didn't bother turning on the lights, since stumbling through the dark to my sizable bed in the corner seemed way funner for some reason.
I managed to kick off the cargo pants I was wearing, but my boxers fell down with them. I gave up, and slid off my shirt too. Guess I'm sleeping nude today, I'm much too tired to fight my clothing tonight.
I still had no idea why I was so tired, it was beginning to seem like I was being pulled towards my bed against my will. My eyes refused to open, but that was alright with me. My room was tidy enough that I would have no trouble navigating through the-
"Ack!" I tripped over a pile of clothes, and landed hard on my- Oops, never mind. I landed softly on my bed. I rolled under the blankets piled on top of the bed I had forgotten to make that morning, and felt all remaining energy leave my body.
No really, I was beginning to get worried. I was so very, very tired, more so than I had been in a long time. I hadn't done anything today, why was I so-

At that very moment, I passed out. I was completely unaware of the events that would follow that morning, and by then my suspicions of my hastened sleep were long gone. It would take me a rather long time to learn that that night I had been effected by- Well, I'll explain everything later.

Waking up that morning was weird. I have woken up lots of times, I might even say I'm an expert on what waking up is like since I have done it so many times. Normally I might slowly regain consciousness, or be woken up quite jarringly by an alarm clock. Other times I might even fight off sleep, keeping my eyes closed with the hopes that my dreams would stay with me. They never do, but that is besides the point.
When I woke up that morning, it was instantaneously, and without any memory of dreaming or even being asleep. I was just suddenly awake almost as quickly as I had fallen asleep. I would have stopped to ponder this for a while, had I not tried rolling my body to face the alarm clock.
As I did, a rapid fire of unfamiliar sensations assaulted me. The first thing I took note of was the flop of hair that buried my eyes. Ordinarily I would be okay with a flop of hair in my eyes, save the two reasons that currently applied. The hair didn't look like mine, it was red and pinkish. Also, I got a buzz cut less than two weeks ago, there was no way my hair could have naturally grown to a length like this.
The second thing that tickled my fancy was a feeling of, well... A tickling feeling! Everywhere! And what was that weird feeling slightly above my head? I've never had nerves delivering sensations from above my head before!
A nervous habit I have is the rubbing of my tongue along the insides of my mouth, especially against an old scar on the inside of my cheek caused by a dental accident.
My chest began to contract and my breathing sped up as I failed to find the dental scar. Where is my scar? What is this? What's going on!? I demanded to know mentally, twisting on my bed and setting off even more alarms in my body as I felt more and more unfamiliar sensations.
A sharp pain in my side as I squished something that somehow seemed to be part of myself was the last straw, and I attempted to roll out of bed in a panic to escape my confusion.

A blanket twirled around me as I fell to the floor, and I quickly found myself somewhat trapped underneath it. And now I'm stuck too? AGHHHH!!! A mental groan of frustration echoed about my mind as I tried to calm my nerves.
"Sam? Are you-" I began calling for my Sister, before I choked on my words. My voice was high-pitched! Never mind that now, focus on calling for help! Struggling in this blanket will only result in... In what? Death? Was I afraid of suffocating in my own bedroom because I had a blanket wrapped around me and I was getting uncomfortably warm?
A dose of logic helped ease my troubled mind. The calm was quickly removed as I tried to pull my leg upwards towards my chest and- AHHHH! MY LEG IS BROKEN! The joint of my knee seemed to be bending backwards, and it took me a while to notice I wasn't at all in pain. None the less, It was enough to discourage me from trying to fight my blanket for a few seconds and go back to calling for help.
"SAAAAAAAM?!?" I called out, again being surprised by the squeaky voice that escaped my lips rather than the slightly deeper shout I was used to. Is it just me, or do I sound like a girl? I asked myself. "Hello?" I asked nobody experimentally, receiving a voice that sounded quite unlike what I was used to.
I ran my tongue against the corners of my mouth again, and got the same lack of scar as had suddenly become usual. I also became aware of another predicament. My mouth and tongue stretched away from my face much more than I thought they did. I tried to feel my teeth, and realized another shocking thing.
I was completely lacking in the familiar teeth I was used to. I have no canine teeth? Actually I have no sharp teeth what so ever! Did I- Did I turn into a- A-A... I had no idea what I had become. My teeth were all wrong, and don't get me started on my mouth.
Okay, let's start figuring out what happened here. It's obvious that somehow I changed in the middle of the night, now the only question is into what? Let's start slowly, with something simple. What is different about my mouth? Well I guess to answer that I have to decide what my normal mouth is like. I reasoned, my attempts at calming down and rationalizing seemingly successful.

Okay, focus on mouth. Normal mouth is... Well, Mouthy. This mouth is... I ran my teeth around the edges once more, wondering how in the world my tongue had become so long. It felt like I could lick my nose if I tried, and that wasn't something I could normally do. My mouth itself had gone from a normal little hole I could explore to a vast tunnel that stretched forever outwards. Okay, not really, but it does seem much longer and larger than usual. What the heck happened to me? What am I?
I was pretty sure that I had stopped being human, judging by the inverted knee joints and the source of the tickly feeling, which I had realized was probably fur. It wasn't actually too ticklish, it was like having hair only everywhere and- Okay it was quite ticklish. I wondered just how long it would take for me to get used to this.
While I'm on the topic of how long things take, how long am I going to be like this? I wondered, my mind loyally giving me a clear, terror invoking response of: What if I stay this way forever? That wouldn't be good at all! I still have school to go to next year, and what is Sam going to say? And Mom and Dad? Is this happening to more than just me? Oh god, what if this is happening to everyone?
I shook my head, and the sensation of touch above it, combined with sounds of blanket contact made me realize that I probably had extended ears as well as a mouth. Longish ears? Longish mouth? Covered in fur, and backwards knee joints? Just what am I?
The realization that I was still sitting under my blanket, having given up my escape attempts and all but the tiniest movements, forced me to take action. I tried to clench my hand and- Nothing? No feeling of fingers or paws? Just a weird- What is that feeling? There was simply a lack of feeling at the end of my arm, though not quite numbness. It wasn't as though I didn't have feeling, I could still feel the blanket, which was a weird sensation considering my lack of fingers now that I thought about it.
How did I fail to realize my lack of fingers earlier? Is there any other part of my body I'm neglecting? Like, toes, or- An odd muscle twitch happened in my back as I tried to twist my body, and really weird feeling passed through my back. Or rather, outside my back, as though I had some sort of extra arm things folded out.
Too much! I'm out- I gave up taking it slow, I wanted to know what the heck I looked like. I struggled and moved my arms and legs and extra arm things every which way that I could. Soon the blanket began moving, and I found that simply laying on my back and pulling downwards hard with my arms was a very successful way to remove blankets.
If only the blanket didn't stretch on and on forever. 

It finally left me, and the dim light of my room met my eyes for the first time I was properly awake that morning. The first thing I noticed was the light blue fur covering my arms. Oh good, my fur is a nice, unnatural colour. Surely that bodes well to my sanity. I thought sarcastically.
And then I noticed that instead of fingers or paws, my arms simply ended. Or at least they did from the angle I was looking at them. When I moved my arms towards my eyes, bending them so the ends faced myself of course, I noticed both that: My arms were now extremely flexible. Seriously, it really didn't seem like any normal creature should be able to bend it's forelegs like this. Of course, I was now assuming that the creature I had become was quadrupedal, if it were- No, arms/forelegs shouldn't bend like this.
The other thing I noticed was that I had hooves, and thanks to an unreasonable amount of optimism my mind decided that this was good news. Maybe I'm a pony! Like, a cartoon one! The more reasonable side of my mind interjected.
No, cartoons are pretty much known for being unreal. this is real life. How would that even happen? The odds of transforming into a cartoon pony like the ones you happen to watch a popular cartoon about would probably be bigger than the universe.
None the less, I had hooves. It was actually kinda freaky looking at them. They were rounded, and the actual substancey hoof part was hard to tell apart from the fine morning-sky blue fur. They did, in fact, look cartoony.
I moved those reality breaking forelegs away from my eyes, hoping- Well, I didn't actually know what to hope for. That I wasn't going to stay this way? That I was? That I was a pony? That I wasn't?
My feelings began to get a little conflicted, and I had no idea how to react to any of this. I flopped the extra arm things I had in frustration, and realized that those still existed, and I should probably find out what the heck they were.
Glancing to my side, I flexed a muscle in my back again. A light blue feathery thing flopped up to meet my face, and I blinked.
My mind was still processing and trying to comprehend, so I blinked yet again.

"Am you- I- Are you Serious? Am I a- What!?" My words were insufficient to describe my confusion. I, think I'm a Pegasus. More importantly, I think I'm a Pony. Most importantly- WHAT?!?

It took me several minutes for me to stop mentally stammering in confusion, and calm down enough to focus on getting to Sam for help. I still wasn't completely sure about my new form being a Pegasus pony, I could still be a weird animal thingy with wings that isn't a pony. Yeah, not likely. Everything I've seen so far points to me being a Pegasus mare.
Wait... MARE!? The mental stammering and confusion began again, as I became aware of some particular parts of me which were absent. Namely the male ones.
"No! That's just not fair!" I squeaked. I began pulling myself desperately with my forelegs, attempting to escape the room.

By the time I had crawled my way over to my bedroom door, 15 minutes had passed. I REALLY wanted to get to a mirror, desperately wanting to confirm my fears. I don't want to be a mare! I was quite happy with my own gender, being a mare means that- I shook my head viciously, trying to clear my thoughts. I had to be sure about things before I fell into a panic again. 
I glared up at the door, it's handle too high for me to reach. Wait, really? Just how small did I become? Am I less than three feet high now? I know that blanket earlier was really big, but- Okay, stop it Leslie! Focus up bro, you need to get to your sister! And then... And then something! I have no plan! I realized suddenly, before shaking my head again. I had read to many fanfics where the main character simply can't deal with being a pony and sits around in their room for several chapters. I refused to let that be me, I was a man of action! Or in this case, mare of action! Assuming of course, that I am actually a mare.
Either way, my current height would simply not do if I wanted to open my door. Chances were that Sam had slept with her noise cancelling head-phones on, so I couldn't call for help either. I had to do this alone, face the challenges before me, and conquer the worl-
With a sudden creak, the door swung open quickly, bashing my nose and toppling me over. I gave a squeak, and looked up at my sister. My eyes began to tear up, and my nose felt incredibly sore.
"LESLI- Nope." She said, before stepping away and making her way down the hall. Did she just... Fail to notice the pony creature on the ground? Well, at least she left the door open. I began to wonder why she was looking for me so early in the morning, and it occurred to me that she had looked rather worried.
I brought a hoof to my poor nose, giving it a gentle rub. My nose was soft and squishy, and connected with my mouth to form a small muzzle. Oh right! I never finished doing an inventory on what my new body was like. I never even checked if I had a tail or anything.
I listened with a frown as Sam's footsteps retreated down the stairs, and then blinked as I felt another weird feeling in those things I kept referring to as ears. I couldn't be sure, but it felt like my ears were turning by themselves to follow the noise in the house.
I finally remembered that I still had a voice, no matter how feminine it was, and realized I could have called after my Sister at anytime. "Sam! Wait!" I yelled shrilly, just in time to hear the front door slam as Sam left the house.
"Okay! Never mind, I'm sure I can just, do... Something." I finished, and followed off with a heavy sigh. My Sister was gone, and she hadn't noticed me despite literally bumping into me. Though it felt more like slamming into me. I thought as I rubbed my nose again. The feel of fur and muzzle through my already weird feeling hoof caused a feeling of queasiness in my chest. I really wasn't handling this well.
Struggling to my feet, or hooves I guess, I slowly but surely managed to stand up in a quadrupedal position. No way was I gonna be like those silly fanfic characters who try to stand like a human! If I was gonna be a pony, that I was gonna do it right!
It was time... To learn how to walk.

Three attempts later, I managed to remember to remove my excessively long tail out from under my hind legs. I took the slowest step forwards in history and...
Success! I had accomplished a single step as a pony without falling over or exploding twice. One step down! About Sixty-seven more to go! Whooo! Of course, now that I had mastered the art of moving my left foreleg forwards, surely it would all be happy trotting and skipping from here on out!
About five seconds later I was on the ground once more, again struggling to stand. I carefully repositioned my arms front legs, and pushed the front of my body upwards. I dragged my hind legs to a manageable position, only receiving a mild carpet burn. Then, pushing down with my hind legs I was able to regain a steady posture. Or at least, steady in the sense that I was upright and not tipping over just yet. Certainly not steady in the sense that I was sure-footed or avoiding any shaking.
I took another step, moving my hind leg forwards. Gah! Inverted knees are so weird! I complained, as my ears rotated backwards in annoyance. Wait, they can do that? My ears can display my emotions for me? I felt a twitch in my hind quarters, and realized that my tail had twitched in annoyance as well.
I twisted my neck to watch my tail flick back and forth, and realized I hadn't looked at my body at all. I had been struggling towards the bathroom to find a mirror, when all this time my neck could just turn my head completely around.
My fur looked a bit like a plushie's fur, soft, fine, and tumble-dry. It was a pleasant light-blue, like the early morning sky. I noticed that there was some hair/mane hanging in front of my face now, so I gave my head a majestic toss. My mane defied me and landed splat in my face.
You know what hair? That's it. I'm shaving you all off the first chance I get. I flicked my head again, with the same result. I gave sigh, and decided to simply lift a hoof to brush my mane out of my eyes. 
The world turned sideways as the hoof I was balancing on lifted to fulfill less useful purposes. THUNK! My wing crumpled under me, but fortunately I didn't break it or anything silly like that. My muzzle was far less fortunate, receiving another bump.
"Ow!" I cried out, finding my ears flattened against my head and my tail flicked itself angrily. My hooves brought themselves to my nose to surround and protect it from anymore inconsiderate bumps. Ow... Well at least now I know that balance requires focus. Lets start again, I can't get discouraged yet!
I decided to finish studying my body safely on the ground where I couldn't break my nose anymore. My mane was conveniently out of the way now, so I had an unobstructed view of my wings and flank. If I still had any doubts about being a pony, they were certainly being pushed away, hard. I certainly looked very, very, very ponyish.
I noticed for the first time just how my fur seemed to give off a slight shimmer of an outline, to appear more like a cartoon. My tail was ridiculously long, and my immediate thought was that I would have to ask Samantha to give me a hair tie. Maybe after that she could braid my mane, and-
I shook my head, blinking my eyes. Since when do I have desires to receive braids?! I spent most of my childhood avoiding them, and now I suddenly want them? I hope I'm not slowly losing my personality and becoming more feminine, dealing with being a pony is more than enough already! I tried to focus on wanting masculine things, like steak and bacon, but since I now had herbivorous teeth I probably wouldn't be eating those things anyway.
Woah. Stop the presses, I probably won't eat meat ever again. This is one thing I can stop to panic about! My panic was so extremely short lived that it never actually happened. I had always preferred pasta and sauces to anything excessively chewy like steak and roast. And though I would miss ground beef and bacon, I could probably live just fine without them. Chicken though, that was going to be a little tougher. And no more turkey dinner at thanksgiving? Or Christmas? What is the world coming to?! That was usually the point in the conversation in which my mother would tell me I was living too privileged of a life and that I had to think of the starving children in the rest of the world.
Geez Mom, I know that kids are starving elsewhere in the world, but the corrupt governments that fail to feed their people are not the fault of a single teenager having a preference to turkey. Thanks for the depression Mom, I've already donated more than you twelve times over, please stop.
Seriously though, my Mom is great. Anyway, what was I doing again? Oh yeah! Learning how to walk! I struggled my way to a standing position once more, and took a daring step forward. I failed to collapse or fall over, so I decided to take another one.
After about five careful steps of moving my tail out of the way, and focusing on one leg at a time, I managed to make it outside of my lavender room. I was now in the long hallway of victory. I slowly moved my hooves to the right as I walked, attempting to turn. Eventually I faced the direction that would lead to the bathroom mirror, and I began making my way there.
Walking seemed to be getting easier now that I had a rhythm for it. I was swinging my opposing fore and hind legs at the same time, while pushing down and forwards with the other ones. Then I'd switch it up, and rinse and repeat. "Hey! This is easy!" I said, putting a squeak of emphasis on the word easy. I was so proud of myself for walking five normal human steps that I rewarded myself by trying to accelerate.
Considering I was only moving at the pace of a snail before, my acceleration was an awful idea. I tipped and tumbled immediately, landing once again on my poor nose. "Myah!" A noise like a cross between a squee and a sneeze escaped my lips, and despite the fact I was in pain I soon began laughing at my own voice. Seriously, this is too much. Am I secretly Fluttershy now? I really can't deal with this voice! I sound way too fragile and pathetic. Not that Fluttershy is fragile or pathetic, but... I'm not either! Am I?
The mist of tears in my eyes made me realize that perhaps I now was fragile and pathetic. My nose was beginning to feel constantly sore from all the abuse, and I felt a trail of liquid slowly leak from it. I automatically licked my lips and tasted the saltiness of a bloody nose. Uh oh, Mom said she would kill me if I ever left anymore bloodstains in the carpet after that last nosebleed I had. I better double time it to that bathroom!
Not knowing how to pinch my nose and walk at the same time, I charged. Left hindleg and Right foreleg, bring forward, push with others. Switch! Go! Aaah! I recited the national anthem of panic and confusion that only people who found themselves learning how to walk for the first time in a hurry could know.
I reached the door, which was fortunately open, and wandered into the dark room. "Ha ha! I think I'm beginning to understand walking! It's not hard so long as- Never mind it's hard." I still could barely turn, and my pace left a great deal to be desired. None the less I had managed to avoid letting a single drop of blood touch the carpet.
I stumbled my way to the counter, and puzzled at how I was going to plug my nose to stop the flow of blood. I decided to try something extremely risky that would probably result in disaster. I was going... To rear up and put my forelegs on the counter.

It was around my third try when I managed to jump the front of my body off the ground so I could reach the box of tissues set upon the counter. My body was completely perpendicular to the ground, and I had never felt so unbalanced when standing up straight as right then. The box was just out of reach of my hooves, so I stretched my neck out as far as it would go. I reached my tongue out too, hoping I could nab a tissue and get it to stick.
Alas, the tissue box was simply too far away for my little pony form to obtain. I heard a door downstairs slam, and I heard Sam call my name once more.
"Sam! Help!!!" I yelled in my squeaky voice downstairs, trying to deepen my voice at the same time for whatever reason. I heard a quickening of footsteps, as Sam raced towards me. She seems a bit panicked, like she knows that something is wrong. How could she though? Are there more people in the same predicament as me? I wondered, as the footsteps drew nearer.
Wait, what will Sam think if she sees me like this? She isn't going to be very happy, Should I hide? No, can't do that, I have to- Do I have to do anything? What do I do?! the sudden feelings of anxiety pierced my chest and stomach, and my ears flattened themselves out. Why did I think that letting my Sister see me like this would be a good idea? She'll either cry, or mock me forever.
The footsteps reached the top of the stairs, and then slowed down as Sam approached the bathroom. Slowed down? Is she anxious too? A hand reached into the doorway of the bathroom, as I swallowed nervously. This was it, no time to hide or run now.
The lights flicked on, Sam whirled her head past the edge of the door frame, her eyes wide. She studied me for a few seconds, as I stood there in the sudden glare of a 100 watt bulb. 
Her pale blue eyes met my... Whatever coloured eyes, I didn't know if they had changed at all, and she slowly began to laugh. It quickly dissolved into a complete giggle-fest for her, and I just stared with wide-eyes. "Uh, Sam? Care to elaborate the humor in this situation?" I requested mildly, once again not failing to notice the unfamiliar high voice invading my ears. I tried to decide whether or not I liked my new voice, and came back with no determinable answer.
Sam stopped her giggly reactions to the amusement I couldn't see, and finally said. "Well it looks like I just won a bet. You owe me about eight dollars Bro."
"What? Why?" I asked, a little curious about why she wasn't at all surprised to see me in my current state, which was as a non-human with a dripping red muzzle.
"Remember that bet I made you when I was first joining the pony fandom? I betcha eight dollars that if you ever become a pony you'd be a mare?" She replied smugly, a look of determination and victory in her eyes.
I feel the resulting face-hoof I gave her was well deserved.

"But what's going on Sis? Why is this happening to me? How far spread is it, if at all?" I was asking, after having just joined her in another round of giggles and laughter.
"Well, nobody knows just yet, but don't worry bro, you certainly aren't alone." Another smug look invaded her face, and she added, "Actually, I guess I can call you Sis now. Sweetness! I always wanted a sister."
"Hey! I'm still a guy at heart." I complained, as Sam pulled the box of tissues closer to me, and began using one to wipe the blood off of my chin. 
I was now sitting comfortably on top of the toilet, in a way that probably looked awkward but was oddly relaxing and comfortable. If I turned my head to the mirror, I would be able to finally see myself in all my red-chinned glory. I almost did turn my head, but at the last second I had decided I wasn't quite ready.
"I don't think so, your heart is the exact same as a mare's heart. Thus it probably lacks guyishness." My Sister mocked, as my ears folded up in slight annoyance. "I still can't believe it! You're a mare! Ha! This is the snazziest thing since climbable trees." There she went again with one of her crazy Sammy sayings. She slipped into laughter again.
"Hey! I have to have some guy left in me!" I retaliated. It's all true though, I'm probably pretty much 100% female in every way except my personality and memories now. I realized, and I felt my head tipping forwards as I glanced at the ground. I didn't want to be a girl, I was fine with being a guy, I was used to it! Why did this have to happen, now I'm going to be stuck as this thing. I didn't really want to be a pony either, even if I was a Pegasus! I had been living my life fine as a human, how am I supposed to go to school and- Oh my god- HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET A GIRLFRIEND! WHAT THE HECK! This wasn't fair at all. There were still so many things in life I had never had a chance to enjoy, and now my life had basically ended.
I'm pretty sure I felt a wetness around my eyes, and I'm certain that my nose was trying to run since I just sniffled. My parents weren't going to like it either, in fact I'm certain that SAM didn't like it. I looked up at her quickly, slightly surprised at just how blurry my vision was getting. Was I crying? Sam was no better, looking away from me and biting her nails nervously. I noticed just how frizzy her normally perfectly in place hair was, and it wasn't hard to tell she was feeling a great deal of stress now that her moment of laughing at me was over. My eyes teared up even more at the thought of causing my Sister such trouble.
Whatever, let my eyes drain out! I didn't have any use for them anyway. My life is over, I'm just a pony now! What's the point of caring anymore, everything I knew and loved just flipped upside down and fell off the trampoline.
I felt my body heave as I gave an inaudible sob. Another soon followed. "I'm sorry Leslie, I- I don't know what to do." My Sister informed me, before leaving the room.
Come back!? Let me know I'm still your brother? Anything except ABANDON ME? I wanted to shout, but my voice box was otherwise occupied by my sniffles and quiet moans.
As far as I was concerned, I just died. Leslie Keegard had died, and I was the empty shell that stayed behind.

My ears were glued to the back of my head, and I reached a hoof up to try and pull them off. I didn't want pony ears, or pony anything! So many other bronies would write stories and talk about how great it would be to turn into a pony. 
It sucks! Life ends, you lose all hope! You think it will be all fun and rainbows, but seriously! If you actually stop being yourself, and just turn into something else, with no control over it and no idea if it will ever end, it just- just-
Sam had come back, and had pulled me into a hug. She hefted me up over her shoulder with ease, and I found myself burying my face into her back. "I can't do this Sis- I just can't." I mumbled into her shoulder with a whine.
It's terrifying, that's the word I'm looking for, I decided, squeezing my eyes shut and just enjoying the warmth of my sister's embrace.
I felt a weird tug on my tail, as Sam fidgeted with it. I ignored it, still lacking a care in the world. Unfortunately not caring didn't mean I wasn't curious, or maybe I still had a little bit of care in me. I turned my head, forcing my bleary eyes open once more. Sam had tied a royal blue hair tie around my tail, so it held together in a loose way. I probably wouldn't be tripping on it anymore.
I noticed Sam lifting a pair of scissors to the bottom length of my tail, and for some reason I can't explain I resisted it. "No, let's keep the long tail. And the mane. Leave those alone Sis." My very strained voice asked of her. I felt a shrug, as Sam returned the scissors to her pocket. 
I glanced up at my reflection for the first time, and confirmed that I was indeed a cartoon pony that did not belong in the world as I knew it. I had a rounded face, though the bottom part of it was currently smeared with a hint of red. Two impressive ears jutted out of the top of my head, splitting apart the messy pink and red mane that flowed around me. I had a smallish muzzle, that I have to say looked somewhat adorable.
But the most attention grabbing feature of my new body had to be the contrasting purple eyes that made up most of my face. Like seriously, I knew pony eyes were huge, but this was ridiculous.
Right now those eyes were half closed, and rather reddened by tears and sadness. I closed them, hating to see a pony that looked that cute in distress. Did I just call myself cute? Yeah, I guess I did. Weird. I opened my eyes again, blinking away the last few tears.
I went quiet as my attention turned to my hindquaters, as I realized I was a blank flank. Or maybe magic tattoos that show a secret special talent just aren't real.
Samantha noticed my quietness, and gave me a gentle squeeze. "Will you live bro? You stopped crying, are you feeling better? Ish? At all?"
I blinked again, trying to get used to the fact that the cute pony in the mirror was myself. She was even more adorable when she wasn't crying, or at least crying in a non-adorable way. Stop looking cute reflection, you're making me happier. I silently told it, to no avail. Cute ponies had always completely obliterated any forms of sadness or displeasure I had ever felt. It was part of the reason I was so obsessed with Fluttershy for the longest time.
I gave one last experimental blink, before making a silly face. "Ha, yeah. Maybe I can do this after all. I don't know why, but I think I feel less hopeless." I admitted softly.
I closed my eyes one last time, deciding on attempting to make one last face to motivate me to push on past all the obstacles in my way. When I opened my eyes, I was met with such a look of determination that it quickly faded into a look of awe. 
Leslie Keegard the human may be gone, but Leslie the pony is alive, and she has something to live for. She will fight, so that the poor mare in the mirror doesn't have to cry anymore. It was an odd resolve, I admit. I was fighting to be happy, and it made me happy somehow, despite being a bit of circular reasoning and not really resulting in anything.
But none the less, I wanted to keep going, and see what may lay ahead. And hopefully the look of determination reflected my real determination to get there.


Of course, I hadn't yet learned anything of what was truly going on, or even gotten used to my body yet. I had simply gotten past the first of many obstacles, but it was perhaps one of the most difficult ones. It was the obstacle of self, and being able to accept that I wasn't going to be human again. In all honesty I can't remember how I was able to overcome this by simply looking into my own eyes.
It may have been the fact that I didn't yet associate that pony as myself, and was able to pretend I was fighting for somepony else who simply looked sad, and I couldn't bare to see that.