I cry for what it feels like hours, then finally notice someone is hugging me, it feels warm and nice. To my surprise, it’s Luna who is doing it, not Celestia. The princess of the sun is looking at her younger sister, who is hugging me, with an expression that I would call surprise if she wasn't trying so hard to hide it.
Then, as if to make the day complete, my new body decides to give me a nasty surprise.
"Uh... Princess Luna?" I say in a soft voice
"Yes dear Tara?" Did she just call me “dear Tara?” Just not long ago she was accusing me of being a changeling! Maybe she bipolar or something?
"I need to... uh... well... use the toilet?" My voice sounds even lower
"Toilet?" Luna asks with confusion, then I blush and try to explain "Well, is the place you use when you need to, um, when you need to get rid of bodily waste."
"Oh, you mean an outhouse?" Luna says understanding. Just great, not only I am stuck as an unicorn, I can't even have decent plumbing!
"Yes... where is the..." Just then, Luna horn glows a dull white and before I can ask what's going on, a white flash surrounds and find myself inside an outhouse. Yes, there is definitely something wrong with her.
"Sister?" Celestia looks at Luna "Wasn't that a bit rude?"
Luna laughs nervously "Did you want me leading a pony that looks like Twilight Sparkle but has no wings or cutie mark to one of the castle outhouses myself? Oh that would have looked great, don't you think?" Luna giggles, maybe to annoy her sister a bit.
"And what's about when she is done?" Celestia gives her sister a hard look.
"Oh I added a spell that will teleport Tara to my personal bathroom after that. Or didn't you want to keep this as a secret for now? If there is a thing that haven't changed during my exile is the servants tendencies to chit-chat about anything odd that catches their notice."
Celestia blinks, then blinks again. "How come you went from thinking she was as changeling to hugging her?"
"I noticed you weren't going to do it yourself. And I do know a thing or two of being in a situation you don't want to be." Luna expression then becomes serious "As they say nowadays, we are royally screwed, aren't we? I am surprised Discord isn't already on a rampage of chaos with both Twilight Sparkle and the element of magic missing."
"I am surprised about that too, I guess that he really values his friendship with Fluttershy or..."
"Or what?" Luna didn't like where this conversation was going
"Or he is responsible for Tara being here in the first place." Princess Celestia then looked around, kind of expecting Discord to suddenly appear to confirm or deny her accusations. But for better or worse, that didn't happen.
After I am done with my 'business', I see white again and find myself in a bathroom, one that of course lacks a toilet. I fall down to the floor, feeling dizzy; I am getting tired of Luna using her magic on me without even asking. What I am, her pet or something?
Yes, that's right, I am her pet; I get dragged around from one place to the other without being able to say “no”. I have no choice about what to do, and even if I wanted to escape, where can I go to escape?
No, I am NOT her pet! I may be a human in mind and spirit, but I am a pony in body, sure I have some rights they have to respect?
"What rights? This is a monarchy ruled by magical pony princesses, who are supposedly able to move the sun and the moon. Do you think they even give any thought about your fate? You are not THEIR Twilight after all."
"Who... who is that?" Just great, as if this technicolor world filled with magical hor… er, ponies wasn't insane already, I am now hearing voices; the voice sounds like the typical seductress villain voice used by femme fatales on TV shows and movies.
"Not ‘voices’ dear, just one. And about who I am, well, you can call me the little devil over your shoulder, even if that would look weird on a pony; like seriously, can I even sit on a pony’s shoulders, let alone if they even have shoulders."
"Then isn't there supposed to be an angel voice somewhere? Please, if there is someone up there listening, I will try to get used to being a pony, just make the evil voice go away.”
"There is no angel up there watching for you dear; no one that cares about you but me. Your parents aren't here to protect you, your friends aren’t here to save you, and since they can't pass you as their Twilight, they will probably lock you away."
"Know what? I don't bucking care, go away. I am not in the mood for mind games and manipulations." Honestly, I do care but I am trusting an evil voice out of nowhere!
"Lets see if you think after a few days in a golden cage."
"GO AWAY!" I honestly hope the bathroom is soundproof, I don't want them to think I am going insane.
"Fine, you will soon be begging for my help... unicorn." The voice says the word ‘unicorn’ as if it was an insult.
I may not be a very sociable person, in all my life I’ve never had more than one or two friends, even when I was little; but I have read enough fiction and watched enough TV to know not to trust an evil voice that talks in my head. I wait a few minutes and thankfully the voice doesn't come back. I finally get a chance to see my surroundings after brawling with my subconscious. The bathroom was a very spacious, it takes about thirty hoofsteps to cross the floor wall-to-wall. The walls are lined with beautiful wall-lights, casting snowflakes of light against the pearly walls. The tiles were a very crystalline pearl, acting as a mirror when I peer at it, except the reflection is slightly warped and blurry. My hair looks like a flock of birds nested in my hair, each strand seemed to interlock and spring outward.
Now, since I am in a bathroom, a bath sounds like a wonderful idea; after all, I was at least two days without taking one.
I look at the tub, I never seen one so big, you could probably fit the two princesses inside and still have plenty more room for more ponies! First, I open the hot water faucet; next, I open the cold one slightly; using my hoof, I test the temperature of the water. I am not in the mood to touch the drain cover with my mouth, so I just enter inside the tub and do my best to clean myself using the warm water and a sponge. No way I am using soap or shampoo, not if that stuff is gonna touch my mouth. But since my mouth is tasting like dirt, I know I will need to wash my mouth anyway. I try using soap, it seems that for some reason I can hold it in my hooves, it would have been nice to know that before.
Despite all the awkwardness of being in a strange pony body, I finally manage to clean myself. Next I close the water faucets and thankfully find some kind of mouthwash. And then use my newfound ability to have things stick to my hooves to finally get rid of the awful taste in my mouth.
After that, I dry myself using several towels and exit the bathroom. Then I find that I am in another fancy princess room, seeing the night, moon and stars decoration theme with a few shades of blue, I can guess it must be Princess Luna room.
Yes, It seems I am her pet all right, dammit.
No, just no. Twilight Sparkle, stop thinking like that! I am not her pet, I am her guest. She is a princess, even if she and her sister want to keep me a secret, she has no reason to let me in her room. From what I read about royalty she must have at least a few servants that she can trust to keep their mouth shut. It would be easy for Luna and Celestia to just keep me locked in a tower or something. Instead I got to drink tea with the two rulers of this country, they were somewhat polite with me, explained me things and Celestia said they will try to make my stay comfortable.
Still, I can't help but think those darn words that evil voice said:
"Lets see if you think that after a few days in a golden cage."
There isn't really a reason to keep me locked up all the time, they could simply just dye my coat and mane in other colors. I saw some of the servants wearing clothes, I could wear a dress to cover my flanks, solving my “lack of cutie mark” problem. Sure they don't trust me, but going out with some guards that will be keeping an eye on me is better than not going out at all. I mean, I didn't see any guards around me, just servants, but every princess has at least a few royal guards, right?
I look around the room, looking for something to distract me, then I find a book about half my size. The cover is a deep maroon with golden letters sketched across the upper-half of the front cover, which read "Unicorn magic for beginners."
I see where this is going; I might be new to this world, and I may be freaked out and scared, but I am not stupid.
Should I play their game? I don't really believe in magic, I would be way more likely to believe their so called “magic” is advanced technology that fakes it. Still, almost every source of fiction I know says that you need to believe in magic to make it work.
Lets try to rationalize this; I don't believe in magic, but I think that mental powers are theoretically possible. In order for a rational mind, like mine, to learn to move objects and creatures like Luna did to me, I could think of it as a form of telekinesis. Telekinesis is the ability to move things or otherwise affect the property of things with the power of your mind.
With that in mind (lame pun), I sit over the oversized bed and open the book, starting to read it.
Is only about ten minutes ‘til dusk, Luna opens the door of her room as quietly as possible and peeks inside. She finds the pony, that she has to remind herself is NOT Twilight Sparkle, asleep while holding a book, it looks adorable. The same book she left in her room when Twi... Tara, when Tara was taking a bath. Tara didn't hear her due to Luna's bathroom and bedroom being soundproofed, something logical if one considered that Luna was usually asleep during daytime.
But that didn't mean her sister would stop teasing her for being asleep during the changeling invasion in the near future; Luna is planning her revenge for that, it involves; one cake, a camera, a rubber chicken, and frosting… lots and lots of frosting.
Anyway, now that Tara is asleep, she gently picks her up and deposits her in the royal guest’s bedroom. Leaving her with only one minute to raise the moon, she flies outside and uses her powerful, unicorn magic to lift the moon, replacing the once-glorious sun that her sister, Celestia, has lowered; the magnificent sight of the Princess of the Night raising the moon while airborne left the few ponies who witnessed this from the streets of Canterlot wide-eyed with amazement, never before have the princesses ever attempt such a feat during their lifetime. Or at least, no pony that still lives has seen it. Both Princess used to show off a little when they where more than a thousand years younger.