//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 Baby Steps // Story: Concord of Destiny // by Zeta Dragon //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Baby Steps You awake from your memory as the dream fades from existence into your sub conscious. The bright moon shines down on you. You feel different as your eyes and ears are still straining from whatever it was that assaulted you. “Hey I think he’s waking up.” A voice jabs at your ears. Your eyes slide open seeing that your lying in a soft meadow, a few trees in the distance as the dark blue night sky looms overhead. ‘OH CRAP’ you think to yourself as your memory blasts back what happened. You remember falling through a gateway or something. You remember meeting those strange horse creatures the watchers you think they were called. YOU GASP hitting the memory of what happened to you as you launch your body sitting straight up you double take at what you see. Standing in front of you are three horses….small ones….ponies. They look kind of like the watchers but more friendly, far less threatening. In the middle you see lavender Alicorn with a purple mane with a pink streak. To her left you see an orange mare with a Stetson hat and her long blonde main tied at the ends. On the other side of the Purple one you see a Cyan Pegasus slightly hovering in the air. The thing that caught your eye most was her rainbow colored mane and tale. Out of the corner of your eyes you see more creatures. You spin your head around and see three more ponies. There was one yellow Pegasus with a long flowing pink mane, another pure whit unicorn with a dark purple mane that looked to be styled almost and lastly a Pink mare with a curly pink mane. You spin back around towards the purple Alicorn and notice all of them are giving you a look of concern. Like something isn’t right. You reach your hands up to rub your eyes in disbelief. “AAAAAH!!!” You scream out making them all jump back in shock as before you, you see not hands but yellow hooves. You quickly toss your head around frantically trying to get any kind of glimpse as to what you are. A memory of seeing your reflection in the spell of the watcher sets in your mind but surely that was a dream right? Your eyes confirmed your fears as your appearance, no your whole body was transformed. “A-Are you ok?” the purple Alicorn said. You snap to attention at her as you feel your eyes widen, 'did she just talk?' you think. You must be going crazy there’s no way this can be happening. “Maybe he can’t talk?” the white Unicorn said. All of them continued to stare at you. You don’t know how you did it but you finally mustered the courage to speak. “Wh-what’s going on?” you ask, a strange question but none the less you had no idea what the answer was. “We found you out here unconscious. Actually Rainbow Dash here is the one that found you.” She said pointing to the cyan Pegasus next to her. You can see where she got her name from. “How did I get here where am I?” you start to panic as you feel your breaths becoming choppy and short knowing you’re in danger of hyperventilating. “Whoa, whoa calm down.” The purple Alicorn said “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle…but you can call me Twilight.” She says pointing to herself. A princess you mean these things had a form of government, a society? The idea shocked you even more. “What’s your name?” she asks her voice sounding gentle. You are still reluctant to trust her since you still don’t know what happened to you or Finn for that matter, somehow though you sensed no danger in telling her your name. “A-anon” you say “Pleased to meet you Anon, these are my friends Applejack. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy” She said pointing a hoof to each of the mares introducing them. “Where am I?” you ask. “Why silly you’re in Ponyville friendliest town in Equestria.” Applejack answered. “Ponyville…..Equestria?” Your face yielded a confused look. “Wait you’ve never heard of Equestria.” Twilight asked. You stare blankly at them as they seem to have stepped a little closer to you. “This isn’t right.” You say. “What isn’t right” Twilight asks you the same confused look on her face. “Ngh, ME! YOU! THIS!” you gesture around with your hooves. “What do you mean” Applejack asked. “WHAT DO I MEAN? LOOK AT ME! I'M A HORSE!” The white Unicorn glared at you “Darling don’t you ever call yourself that!” “Yeah you look like a normal Pegasus Pony to me even if you are a bit nutty.” Rainbow Dash smiled hovering in front of you . “Rainbow!” Applejack barked. You protest not believing that this is actually happening “But I’m not a Pegasus Pony! I’m a human a-a damn human!” Pinkie Pie instantly clouds your field of view “Ooh, ooh what’s a human ooh is it like a dog a cat a goat a chinchilla!” “PINKIE!” Twilight yelled out as the pink pony looked at her sheepishly before backing away from you. Twilight stared at you as in deep thought “Some of our oldest texts briefly mention a race called homo- sapiens sometimes referred to as humans.” “Yes, yes that’s us! ME!” You stumble getting the words out as a gleam of hope beams in your eyes. “Prove it!” Rainbow Dash says glaring at you and flying in close. “Rainbow!” Twilight yells out again. “I believe him.” “WHAT!?” The five ponies look to Twilight. A smile from ear to ear grows across your face, at least by some miracle some outrageous miracle one of these creatures actually sees that you’re telling the truth. “I’ll take him back to the Library where I can study him better I will also contact Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about this and see what they recommend.” Twilight said. “Twilight ya really think that’s a good idea Ah mean he might well be dangerous.” Applejack said you notice she has a southern drawl. “Yeah, how can you be so sure he’s telling you the truth?” Rainbow said. “Darling as much as I hate to say it I think I’d have to agree with them on this one. Why he’s almost more out of it then Screwloose.” Rarity said. Your hope quickly started to dim. The bright beams now candles in the wind. You were almost on the verge of tears….You were scared. Twilight stomped her hoof in a distinguished tone “I have made my decision.” The others sighed clearly disagreeing with her logic. However the hope came rushing back. “Can you walk?” Twilight’s voice brought you back into reality. “Wha…I I don’t know.” You say “Well only one way to find out!” Rainbow said flying over and grabbing you around your waist. “Hey what are you do-“ before you could finish she lifted you up as your legs dangled down. She let go and you immediately felt the weight of your body being distributed onto your limbs. IT felt wrong being on four legs. It was unnatural to you. Your wings were also stuck out in random positions. You didn’t know what to do with your two extra limbs. You could feel your control over them. It was like having two extra arms except coming out of your back. For now you just let them flop around and do whatever, got to learn to walk before you can run, literally. You feel yourself tipping from side to side as you feel your weight shift with your wings. You put extra pressure on the opposite side to compensate. Slowly you raise your foreleg to take a step forward. Immediately you feel the imbalance as you lock your back legs to brace. You feel the front part of your body start to nosedive to the ground but quickly place you foreleg back down a little further ahead catching yourself. Slowly you bring up its companion back leg and then repeat the process on the other side. It was hard your mind trying to handle four limbs at once. But you did it. You have taken your first steps as a pony. Twilight and the others smile at your small accomplishment. You hear a few giggles knowing that you either look like a newborn foal or a pony that’s had one too many, you didn’t care, anything to get back home. Twilight and Applejack braced themselves against you to help you not tip so much. You continued trotting forward. “There you go you’re getting it.” Rarity said trotting alongside slightly ahead of Twilight. “He’s doing it He’s doing it!” Pinkie could barely contain herself as she ran over and wrapped Fluttershy in a tight hug “CAN YOU BELIVE HE’S WALKING!” Step after step you stared at your hooves trotting forward in a rhythmic pattern. After a few more slip ups but being caught by either Applejack or Twilight it all started to feel more natural to you. “I think I can do it by myself now.” You say letting your new confidence take hold. Actually you weren’t sure if it was confidence or just pure adrenaline, either way you felt you were ready. Twilight and Applejack nodded at each other and stepped away from you as you kept your momentum Just one hoof in front of the other only two sets to worry about, you thought to yourself. You were doing it trotting like a pro or at least enough so that you didn’t look like you were wasted beyond your mind. As you walked with the group you came upon what looked to be like a medieval village. “Welcome to Ponyville Anon” Twilight said with a friendly smile. “Ooh, Ooh After this is all over we need to throw you a Welcome to Ponyville Party!!!” Pinkie Pie jumped in your face bouncing. You gave her a shy smile but said nothing as you trotted on. Why was everyone so friendly? Especially to a guy who for all they know could be a raging lunatic. As you walked through the town you noticed dozens upon dozens of other ponies. All finishing up their daily business, shopping at the market chatting on a bench, eating at a restaurant. Speaking of eating you were getting hungry eh it can wait. You continue walking with Twilight and her friends through the town. “Here we are Anon” She smiles as you are lead to a large tree that looks to be hollowed out. There are windows and lights coming from it. Her horn lights up, which makes you flinch brining back memories of pain when the watcher cast a spell on you. Though Twilight didn’t cast this spell on you but on the door as it was enveloped in a lavender aura swinging open. As you step inside you see that the walls are lined with books. Clearly this was the library Twilight was talking about. Twilight and the rest followed you in as your hooves clopped on the hard floor of the tree. “Spike I’m Back” Twilight yelled from behind you. You turn around to her but hear the patter of footsteps coming from behind. You again turn around to where you were facing and see a small purple green lizard making his way down the stairs. “Finally your back I was starting to get worried” Spike says. You nudge Twilight and subtly point as what you assume to be Spike. “Uh is….is he a dragon.” Twilight giggles “A baby Dragon” “Baby key word there” Rainbow dash says flying overhead of you. “Stop calling me that!” Spike says annoyed as he crosses his arms “So who’s your new friend.” “Twilight presses a hoof to you shoulder “Spike this is Anon, Anon this is Spike.” She says introducing you. You flick your head acknowledging the dragon. “So what are you in for?” he says. “I’m sorry?” you say confused. “Twilight only brings new ponies back here if she wants to do some sort of experiments on them.” Spike says. “Spike!” Twilight barks. “What it’s true.” “Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Twilight says glaring at him. Spike sighs and simply turns around running up the stairs. “Now then Anon you can stay here tonight we’ll get this sorted out Tomorrow” Twilight says. “Twilight if you need anything just call.” Applejack said giving you a glare; you knew she still didn't trust you. “Don’t worry AJ I can handle it.” Twilight rolled her eyes. With that Twilight's friends left as Twilight used her magic to shut and lock the door. “Follow me” she said beckoning with her hooves. You start up again trotting across the room every step you take is a little easier than the last, But then you hit your arch enemy. “Stairs” you say in a meek voice. Twilight was trotting about halfway up when she stopped. “Oh yeah….right” she said with a small smile. “You think you can do it?” “I guess so” you say as you cautiously place your front hooves on the first wooden step. There isn’t enough room to have all four of your hooves on one step at a time so you’re going to have to keep going and not stop. Quickly you press with your front hooves bringing up your back ones while instantly reaching out and grasping the next step. You alternate from side to side slowly as you begin your ascent. One step after another you climb still a little unsure of your walking skill. You reach out again for the next step but find your front hooves collapse as you gasp in panic. Then you realize it. You’re at the top, you did it you climbed a flight of stairs as a pony. Your confidence went soaring through the roof though knowing that it wasn’t that big of an achievement you feel like you climbed MT. Everest. “Nice job!” Twilight says giving you a wide smile. “Thanks” you reply having a cheesy grin spread across your face. Twilight turns around and leads you into a smaller section where you see three beds. One is large with a purple sheet another is slightly smaller with a blue sheet across from the first and on the floor in the corner is what appears to be a dogs bed where Spike is sleeping soundly. Twilight enters and uses her magic to pull back the sheets on both the larger beds. She steps over to the blue one. “This is you.” She says “Sleep well and try not to worry…although I know that’s asking a lot…We’re going to figure out what happened though I promise. If you need anything just wake me.” She smiles, a feeling of comfort came over you. Why is she so friendly? Why is everyone here so friendly? It wasn’t like back home. You crawl into the soft sheets of the guest bed as your head hits the pillow. Twilight trots over and enters her bed and uses her magic to pull her covers up. You wiggle around in the bed your wings making it hard to lie flat on your sides or your back. You sit up and look over at Twilight who has her wings semi-neatly tucked in at her sides. Trying with all your might you can’t seem to get yours to fold in. At this point you’re thinking why couldn’t I have been a Unicorn or a regular pony? Seeing no other option you flip over onto your stomach and let your wings stand in the air. No covers for you tonight, which sucks because it was freezing out. You already feel yourself shivering. You turn your head to the side so you wouldn’t be smothered to death by the pillow which your head had sunk a good three inches into, it was so soft. You turn your head to the side and breath in the cool night air fluttering in through a small open window on the wall. Outside you see the dark night sky lit up by a pale full moon. Your mind raced in its thoughts but eventually you felt your eyes getting heavy and sleep once again claimed you. The sunlight broke through the sleep encumbering you warming your body and bringing you back into consciousness. You open your eyes and find your gaze staring at the wooden walls of the Library; if any thoughts of this entire thing still being a dream existed…they were gone now. You’re cold as you wake even though the sun shines bright in the room, sleeping with no covers because of your stupid wings which seemed to have become a little more manageable as they were now draped downward spreading across the bed. You press into the softness of the mattress in an attempt to get yourself up and out of bed. Your new body was making this very difficult so you gave up and just decided to “gracefully” slide out of bed. While your hooves barely caught you, you were up and standing. You felt a little stiff in your wings, which still seemed funny to think about, however you knew that Twilight wanted to see you to talk about getting you home. You looked over to her bed and see it vacant with the sheets neatly made. You figure you should do the same to your bed so as not to be an impolite house guest. Since you didn’t use the covers they were still neatly folded back from Twilights spell from last night. This would be as simple as folding the sheet over to meet the bottom of the pillow. You reach up with a hoof and grasp the sheet. “Well at least I can grab things with my hooves” you say making the bed. “I wonder where Twilight is?” You then hear noises from downstairs; you remember she wanted to meet with you to talk about getting you home. You then notice something about yourself. You can walk effortlessly now it feels like you don’t even have to think about it you can just go. Effortlessly you trot down the stairs and look around. You see that you are in a main room that is lined with books. You’re surprised you didn’t notice this last night but then again your mind was pre occupied with the fact that you’re a magic horse. You look around and see a few other rooms branching off from the main one. One appears to have a sink and shower in it. You make that your first stop going through an abridged version of your morning routine splashing some water on your face. A thought then hit you, on that made you blush “how do Pegasus stallions pee?” you look over at the toilet which looks similar to a normal human toilet. After a few minutes you find a way that works for you and you finish your routine washing your hooves and heading back out to the main room. You hear clattering coming from another one of the side rooms and investigate. There you find what you know to be the kitchen as there are counters and Twilight Is there casting a magic aura as several ingredients float around her. “Oh good morning Anon.” she smiles turning towards you. “Uh good morning.” “Well it seems your adapting to your new pony body.” “Y-Yeah I woke up this morning and could just walk. I could also pick up stuff” “The magic of Equestria is seeping into you. It will allow you to pick stuff up with your hooves.” Twilight says as she pulls out a large bowl of Salad and seven plates. A salad for breakfast you think. Oh yeah Ponies can’t eat meat can they. Why did a princess make you breakfast. “T-Twilight?” you ask. “Hmm oh sorry do you want dandelions or daisies.” “WH-no you didn’t have to make me breakfast.” “Well I invited all my friends over to discuss your situation.” “As long as I can get home.” “That……may be a while.” Twilight says “What do you mean?” you say your voice going into a sense of worry. “Well I contacted Princess Celestia and ………she wants to meet with you in one week.” “A WEEK?!” You shout. You then hear several raps at the front door. “Could you get that?” Twilight says, smiling slightly. Trotting out of the room you hit your wing on the wall. "Oh why do I have to spend a week as a Pegasus" You say as you trot over to the door. "Why couldn't I have just been a Unicorn or a regular pony instead of these stupid wings." You look at the two limbs spreading out in random positions. Twilight giggles "Aww but then you wouldn't be able to fly." Your eyes go wide with a look of horror. "...Fly?"