The following day, Sunday, was another day with no school. Flash and Sunset had each e-mailed the six Equestrians suggesting they spend a day getting used to just being human, to prepare for school the following day.
After breakfast, the girls gathered at Rarity's shop, which was closed for the day, the shades drawn over the windows and the door locked. Rarity seemed perturbed; Twilight remembered that something had apparently been bothering her the previous day. "What's up, Rarity?" she asked.
Rarity looked around at her friends and took a deep breath. "Ahem. Yes, well. Not to be indelicate, but...have any of you examined yourselves since we arrived?"
"Examined?" Twilight asked, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, have you actually looked at yourselves in the mirror. Without clothes, I mean."
The others blinked.
"Ah...hadn't really even given it a thought," Applejack said.
"Who's had the time to worry about stuff like that?" Dash asked. "The only thing I've done in my room is sleep. Besides," she added, "after losing my wings, freezing my butt off, and dealing with these hand thingies, I'm not sure I even wanna know what else is up with this crazy body."
"What's this all about, Rarity?" Twilight asked.
"Well, for starters," Rarity said, "this." She hiked up her skirt, gathering the fabric in her hands until her thighs and hips were completely exposed. She turned her bare hip to her friends. "Notice anything missing?" she asked.
The others blinked. "No Cutie Mark?" Pinkie asked. She turned to the full-length mirror and examined herself in much the same way. She gasped loudly. "Mine's missing too!"
"Maybe it's just somewhere else on your body?" Fluttershy suggested.
Rarity shook her head. "I've looked at every single inch of my body. No Cutie Mark." She frowned. "And there are other...peculiar things about this body, but I'm not entirely sure I even want to know about them."
Twilight frowned. "I didn't really have time to think about things like that last time I was here, and I only got undressed one time for about five minutes. We'll just have to ask Sunset Shimmer to come over and explain things." With that, she pulled out her phone and spent a few minutes awkwardly sending a text.
The others watched her, fascinated and disturbed. "You make that look so easy," Fluttershy said.
Twilight snorted. "Are you kidding? I barely even know what I'm doing. I'm still clumsy and awkward with these crazy fingers."
"Having hands isn't THAT bad," Pinkie Pie said. "Here, look what I can do!" She pulled a flashlight out of her hair, pointed it at the wall, and started making shadow puppets with her hands.
"Ooookay, that's...uh...very random," Rainbow Dash said after a few minutes of this.
There was a knock at the door. Rarity walked over and raised the blinds slightly. "I'm closed--" she began.
"It's me," Sunset said from the other side of the door.
"Oh!" Rarity threw the door open. "Goodness, that was fast."
"I was about a block away," Sunset replied.
"Sunset," Twilight said seriously as Rarity closed and locked the door again, "we need to know everything you can tell us about these bodies. Not just about hands, or how we can make do without magic or wings, but...well, everything."
Sunset raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on her face. "Oh, this is going to be fun..."
* * * * *
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called as she trotted down the steps into the library proper. "Did you sleep well?"
"Ugh..." Dash called from the beanbag chair. "No, I didn't."
Twilight frowned, tilting her head. "Huh? Why not?"
Dash grumbled. "THESE things kept locking up on me," she muttered. It was then that Twilight noticed that Rainbow Dash's wings were fully flared out at her sides.
Spike padded into the room from the kitchen, took one look at Dash, and snickered. "Whoa. Wingboner."
"Wingboner?" Twilight asked, blinking. Then, her face turned red. "And how DARE you say 'boner' around a girl, that's rude and gross!"
"Huh? It is? Sorry, didn't know," Spike said, scratching his belly.
"Hey Spike, what do you mean by wing...uh...boner?" Dash asked, cheeks reddening slightly.
"Oh, it's when a pegasus pony's wings just...lock up like that." Spike shrugged. "Usually it happens when a pegasus is angry or excited, but sometimes it just kinda happens." He chuckled. "My Twilight's wings have been driving her nuts ever since she became an alicorn. She's had them for three months and she still gets wingboners when she's trying to sleep!"
"Yeah yeah great, embarrassing story about your best friend, now how do I fix this?" Rainbow asked, grumbling.
"I dunno. Just relax," Spike suggested, shrugging. "Think loose thoughts."
"Loose thoughts, huh? Great, thanks, that's a BIG help."
Twilight frowned. "Funny, I'm not having ANY problems with my wings." As if to emphasize the point, she gently, gracefully ruffled her wings at her sides before tucking them securely back into place.
Spike laughed. "That's so ironic! Because Rainbow Dash has the best wing control of any pony in Equestria, and Twilight can barely control hers!"
As Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry at Spike, Twilight frowned. "Spike? I don't suppose you can tell me how I'm supposed to use this thing?" she asked, indicating her horn.
Spike tilted his head. "I'm not really the best one to ask about that. But I'm sure one of the unicorn ponies in town can teach you and Rarity how to use unicorn magic! Or maybe you should ask Shining Armor when he comes around to check up on you."
"Hmm..." Twilight said, frowning. She shook her head. "Maybe we should just focus on breakfast first, then deal with all of this later." She grimaced suddenly. "On...second thought...there IS something I need to take care of...first..."
Rainbow Dash suddenly shot to her hooves, wings unlocked and clamped tight to her sides. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."
As one, they turned to Spike and screamed, "WHERE'S THE BATHROOM?!"
* * * * *
By the time Sunset Shimmer was finished, the faces of the six Equestrians were flaming scarlet.
"Wow. Um. Thank you, Sunset Shimmer, for that, ah, THOROUGH explanation about how human bodies work," Twilight said. "I, ah, think I'm just going to go totally die of embarrassment right now, so..."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What's the big deal, Twilight? I mean apart from the whole boobs thing, it's nothing any of us didn't learn when we were still fillies. It's just that it's all in different places now. And not even really all that different."
Sunset chuckled. "Yeah, Dashie's pretty much nailed it. Just get used to how bra hooks work, remember to carry a tampon or a maxi in your purse, and watch those skirts, and you'll be fine." She looked around at the group, then said, "By the way, one more thing you should probably know about..."
* * * * *
The six girls-turned-pony met up later in the day. Spike took great pleasure in regaling the others with the story of Rainbow Dash's wing problems.
"Ah always said you was a tomboy, Rainbow," Applejack joked.
"Huh? What's that have to do with--" Rainbow Dash's mind caught up to Applejack's implication, and she groaned. "Oh, you're SICK, AJ."
After that, the six decided to walk around town for a bit, observing the other ponies and how they worked and played. It was an enlightening experience, as they witnessed the myriad ways in which ponies seemed to be able to use their hooves in lieu of hands. They were particularly surprised when they encountered four ponies--only one them a unicorn--functioning as a string quartet. "Now how the heck're they playin' those with hooves?" Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.
"You know," Rarity said a while later, "now that I'm getting a bit more comfortable on my hooves, I have been noticing some peculiar things about these pony bodies."
"Such as?"
"Well, such as these, for starters," Rarity said, trotting up behind Fluttershy and tapping a hoof against her flank. Fluttershy skittered away from her hoof, face flaming.
"Um, please warn me before you go anywhere near that end of my body," she said softly, earning a snicker from Rainbow Dash.
"Sorry, darling," Rarity said. "But you all get what I'm talking about, right?"
"Oh, you mean those funny little tattoos on our butts?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Because I know I've seen those marks before, on our clothes and earrings and stuff back home!"
"Yes," Rarity said, nodding. "I recognized the symbols as well. Though I'm afraid I can't quite figure out why those symbols would be appearing on our bodies. Especially not there. And did you notice that all the ponies seem to have them?"
"They're called Cutie Marks," Spike said. "They appear when a pony discovers his or her special talent. The Cutie Mark represents what makes a pony special and unique." He frowned. "Although I'm a little surprised Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash even have their Cutie Marks in pony form," he said. "I mean, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, yeah, you three are exactly the same as your pony selves, but...the rest of you, I mean the ponies, earned their Cutie Marks doing things that aren't even possible where you come from." He shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, everypony has a Cutie Mark, except for the fillies and colts who haven't figured out their special talents yet."
"Well, since all these other ponies have cute little butt tattoos, then I guess we shouldn't really worry about it," Pinkie said.
"Wait," Twilight said. "What do you mean by 'they appear'?"
"They appear. Magically," Spike elaborated.
"What, just...on their own?" Rainbow Dash asked.
The little dragon nodded.
"Weird," Applejack said.
* * * * *
Dear Princess Celestia
Today, I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about this new body. I also
finally learned how to use the bathroom as a human, which is a major relief, because
the last time I was here, I just held it the whole time. I wonder if our other
selves will be as freaked out about estrus as we were about periods? I'm just
glad we learned about THAT ahead of time; imagine if Fluttershy had started her
period without knowing what was happening? I'm pretty sure she'd have died of fright!
There is still so much to learn here, and after today, I'm almost afraid to know
what tomorrow holds in store. But as long as I don't have to go through it alone,
I can handle anything this strange new world throws at me. I hope.
Your faithful student,
Princess Twilight Sparkle