“Oh my…” Rarity said, as she saw the mare lying there, tied down to a bed, and chewing on the ropes that were binding her.
At the sound of someone else entering the room, the mare stopped and tried to look around, but she wasn’t able to see at all with the blindfold securely over her eyes. Her fur and mane were all out of place, not that the poor dear could be blamed with her current state and all, but Rarity did think that she was in dire need of a good spa date.
“Who’s there? If you want to go for another round I’ll knock your head off,” she said, trying to put up a brave front, but Rarity was experienced enough with ponies trying to mask their fears to know that the mare was terrified.
“Oh don’t worry dear,” Rarity said, as she hurriedly made her way across the room, “I will have you untied in just a second.”
“Rarity I don’t think…” Twilight began to argue, but the glare the fashionista shot her stopped her dead in her tracks.
The mare froze as Rarity pulled the binding on her left hoof free with her magic, and when she finished untying her completely she immediately shot against the wall where the bed rested. Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, undeterred by the rising tension in the room, while everypony else just watched from outside, wary of what was going to happen. The mare sat there, pressed as much against the wall as she could possibly be, while Rarity cautiously approached her.
“Okay,” Rarity began, “now I’m just going to…”
“Stay back lady!” the mare shouted, holding a hoof out pointed at the approaching unicorn. “Just...leave me alone.”
“I was simply going to removed the blindfold, dear.” Rarity’s horn lit up again as her magic surrounded the blindfold over the unicorn’s eyes, and gracefully untied it. It floated into the air with Rarity’s aid to reveal the shining red eyes of the panicked mare.
The mare continued to sit there, but as her eyes slowly adjusted to the room the first thing they locked onto was the white pony standing in the middle of the room. She blinked, several times in fact, before her eyes roamed past the white unicorn to the other two ponies in the room, one of which was bouncing impossibly up and down. There were more ponies just outside of the door looking in, and a weird purple lizard thing watching her as well. A loose scrap of linen was floating in the air next to her head, surrounded by a very strange aura. All of it was so bizarre and out of place that it brought a smile to the unnamed mare’s face.
“Oh thank god, it’s just a dream. I was really freaked out for a second,” the mare said as she let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
“Umm…” Rarity began, biting her lip.
“Oh cool we’re in a dream,” Pinkie Pie excitedly said as she bounced onto the bed the dark blue unicorn was in. “I always wanted to go into other ponies dreams, but it’s like really hard, though one time I did meet this pink starfish riding a seahorse. Man that game was really fun, but we ran out of quarters.”
“Ponies?” The blue unicorn asked, raising a hoof in front of her face, her eyes bulging as she inspected it. She turned her hoof all sorts of ways before looking over to the other one and doing the same with it. “Being a pony and tied up in a bed against my will, kinky. I should really see a psychiatrist...and stop trolling 4chan.”
Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy all turned a deep crimson a the mare’s words, but they only caused Rainbow Dash to snicker uncontrollably. Pinkie Pie however simply stopped bouncing and tilted her head to the side.
“What’s 4chan?” she asked.
The blue mare was about to say something before Twilight stepped forwards and cut her off. “You aren’t dreaming,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Of course I am, strange purple horse,” the mare replied simply. “Not the weirdest I’ve had, and it took me a bit longer than normal to realize it, but yeah, totally a dream.”
“I’m a little worried that you don’t understand what is going on,” Twilight went on, trying to guide this mare onto a much saner path. “If you could just answer a few questions for me, like how you got to Ponyville…”
“Heh, Ponyvile. Classic. Not very imaginative, and here I am trying to be an amatuar writer while my subconscious can only spit out lame puns.” the blue unicorn interrupted.
“Look, you aren’t dreaming okay,” Twilight replied, her patience being sorely tested.
“Twilight, I think it best that we try and proceed with care,” Rarity said, displaying a strained smile to her friend.
“Look!” The mare yelled at Twilight, pointing a hoof at her accusingly. “There is no way this isn’t a dream!” As if to prove her point she quickly moved her hoof to her face and bit down her her leg before anypony could stop her. The group stood there in silence for a few moments as the mare’s eyes slowly turned from smug righteousness to stunned fear. She pulled her leg from her mouth and looked down at it, her bite mark still a visible outline against the fur, no doubt going to leave a nasty bruise.
“That...hurt,” she said, still staring down at her leg. “This is real, that...that can’t be. There’s no way it can be real, but…”
Seeing the mare injure herself, Fluttershy immediately rushed into the room to help, but was stopped in her tracks as the blue mare started to scream her head off.
“Aaaaaahhhhh….*huff huff huff*...aaaaah….*huff huff* aah…*huff pant* uh.” I was too exhausted to go on, my lungs deciding that my hysterical screaming just had to come to an end. The horses, or whatever the colorful creatures were, finally opened their eyes and looked at me. All except for the pink one, which had just been staring at me the entire time watching with interest.
The yellow one took a step forwards, it had wings on its back, freakin wings. “Um,” it began, “can I take a look at your hoof please,” it asked.
I looked back at my arm, or what should have been my arm, but all that was there was an alien appendage covered with some blue fur. I took in a deep breath, fully planning to start screaming again when a magenta light clamped my mouth shut.
“Please don’t do that again,” the purple one said. That one had a horn, and it was glowing the same color. I exhaled forcefully and stared at that one, my head being held tightly in place. The yellow one took the opportunity to grab the leg I had bitten and inspect it.
“Oh...my…” she said as she turned it over. I had picked up by the voices that all of these brightly colored horses seemed to be female.
“Is it bad?” The white, I can’t believe I’m going to say this but, unicorn asked as she stepped forwards.
“She hurt herself pretty badly,” the yellow *ugh* pegasus replied.
I made some fake gagging noises, pretty fed up with whatever was holding my mouth shut, and the purple unicorn immediately turned her horn off and took a sheepish step back. “Oh, sorry.”
I opened my mouth and made a show of sucking down air, before pulling away from the yellow pegasus. “Stay back!” I nearly screamed.
She looked hurt as she took a few steps away, but at the moment I couldn’t really care. I was just thankful that she was moving away, which is why I was so pissed when another pegasus, this one blue, flew right into my face. “Hey!” she said, her own voice matching the volume of mine, “nopony yells at Fluttershy.”
“Um...Rainbow I don’t think…” The yellow one started, but immediately stopped as I took a swing at the blue pegasus. She nimbly avoided my right hook, something I hadn’t quite expected, the force of the swing sending me off balance and falling off the edge of the bed. My head hit the ground with a crack, and a shooting pain slammed me right in the middle of the forehead.
I sat up, trying to rub away the ache in my head, but finding my hoof connecting with a long cone protruding from my forehead. I followed it all the way up to the tip that was actually quite pointy and tapped it a few times before it finally dawned on me. “Oh my god, I have a horn.” This was all too strange, far too strange.
“I got the mirror Twilight,” the miniature Barney said from the door. That weird magenta aura surrounded the mirror that he was holding and it began to float in the air over to the purple unicorn.
“Thank you Spike,” she said as she turned over to me and started approaching slowly. “Okay, I know you’re scared and everything, so I think that it is for the best that you take a look at yourself now rather than later.”
I just stared back at her, my brain utterly refusing to bring any words to my mouth. The mirror moved in front of my eyes and I gasped at what I saw. I had figured out by this point that I wasn’t me anymore, or at least not human. I didn’t know how, or why, but I was just like these strange creatures in this room now. My face looked like theirs, bright red eyes staring straight back at me as I looked into the mirror unblinking. A crop of short and straight blue and white hair fell over the side of my head, and plastered onto the center of my forehead was a long and sharp horn. I just continued staring into the mirror for the longest time, eventually reaching out and grabbing it. I didn’t even notice when the yellow one returned to my leg and started wrapping it in a bandage.
“This...how?” I asked after a little while, looking back to the purple unicorn.
She sighed and walked over to me. “I don’t know,” she replied, “what do you remember?”
I tried to think back, it was hard for me to remember what had been going on before I woke up here, but but all of a sudden it came rushing back.
“I just got off a run with my dad,” I said, as the memories started flooding back in a torrent. “I showered and went to bed. I had a dream that I was walking through a town, and then some guy stabbed me.”
“You were stabbed?” The yellow one gasped, quickly flitting about me and checking me out thoroughly
I continued staring at those red eyes, those foreign orbs in the mirror that wouldn’t let me look away, my eyes. “Then this has to be a dream right?” I asked, the question seeping with desperation.
“I’m afraid not,” The purple one said, slowly pushing the mirror down until it was resting on the floor. “This is real.”
I stared down at the floor, my eyes starting to water. It took all my willpower to push back the tears that wanted to spill out; I had promised myself long ago that there would only be one more time I let myself shed tears, and no matter how strange this situation was it didn’t qualify. My legs shook as I leaned on them heavily, but they held me all the same.
“Okay…” I eventually said, exhaling a long and shaky breath.
The purple mare in front of me laid down, so that she could catch my eye. “Look, I don’t know what happened to you, but I will work my best to fix it okay. Right now though, I think we need to get to know each other a little better. My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she said, gesturing to herself with a hoof, “and these are my friends. What is your name?”
“I’m…” I started, taking a calming breath and trying to gather my courage. “My name’s Gabrielle, but my friends call me Gabby.”
“Gabrielle, that is a beautiful name,” the one called Twilight said.
“I agree,” the white unicorn said, approaching me. “My name is Rarity, and it is a great pleasure to meet you.”
I looked up, finding that Rarity was smiling gently as she looked at me. In fact, the rest of the creatures all around me were looking at me with something akin to cautious optimism. Except for the blue one that was standing on the bed glowering at me. I guess I couldn’t blame her, I did try to take a swing at her, I kind of wanted to again. What, with her face just sitting there being all...hitable.
“Yes,” I said, trying to adopt a more positive outlook and cheer myself up a little. I brushed the hair that had fallen over my face back over my ear, a little nervous habit that I had. “Nice to um...meet you I guess.”
“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” the pink one said as she jumped right into my face, invading my personal space far too much. It was all I could do not to take a swing at this one too, but she genuinely seemed to be absolutely no threat so I managed to stay my hoof, for now.
“Hello?” I replied, as that same magenta aura surrounded Pinkie Pie and she was lifted away from me. “What exactly...are you all?” I asked.
“We’re ponies silly, like you,” Pinkie Pie said from where she was suspended in the air upside down.
“Like me…” I slowly repeated, looking back to my hoof. The mere thought put a significant chink in the facade of ‘alrightness’ that I was trying to build, and it must have shown.
“Gabrielle,” Twilight said, pulling my attention back to her, “I know that this is quite a shock to you, but when we found you, you were rampaging through town and wrecking everything. When we finally managed to calm you down you kind of turned into a unicorn.”
I tapped the horn on my head again, and knew that what she said was probably the truth. For some reason, god only knew, I was here with a bunch of colorful ponies and I was one of them. “Okay,” I said again, laying down on the ground and sighing.
“Oh it’s not so bad,” Pinkie Pie said, hugging me tightly, having some how freed herself from floating in the air. “Plus, being a unicorn is pretty neat. Not that I would know, with me being an Earth Pony and all, but the whole glowy horn magic thing is pretty neat.”
I stuck a hoof between us, and pushed her swiftly off of me. She seemed a little disappointed by this, but didn’t let her cheery smile falter for more than a split second. “Right, magic…” I said sarcastically.
Twilight and Rarity both screwed up their face at my remark, like I was the crazy one, which would have definitely been one explanation for everything that was going on right now. “Yes, unicorns can perform magic,” Twilight stated.
“Uhuh,” I simply said with a nod, everyone knew there was no such thing as magic.
Again, Pinkie Pie floated into the air surrounded by a magenta aura, Twilight’s horn lighting up at the same time. “See,” she said, holding her friend there like it was proof.
“Suuuure,” I nodded along while sitting back up. “Magic.”
Twilight’s mouth fell open, as Pinkie Pie giggled. I looked over to the orange pony that was still standing in the doorway as she snickered at Twilight’s expression. Rarity stepped forwards and put a hoof on my shoulder.
“Do they not have magic where you come from?” she asked.
“There’s no such thing as magic,” I said simply.
“Look,” Twilight insisted as Pinkie Pie shook up and down in the air.
“Weeeeeee,” she exclaimed, enjoying the ride.
“Darling,” Rarity calmly continued, “while I don’t know if they do or don’t have magic where you come from. Here in Equestria magic is a very real thing.”
It, well it wasn’t completely out of the question. How else would I have gotten here really if it weren’t for some weird freak accident, or some act of god. Magic, that was a little hard to believe, but I guess it would make a certain amount of sense. Plus, the whole floating pony thing was some pretty good evidence.
“Okay,” I said after thinking it over for a minute. “How do you do it then?”
“I’m sorry?” Rarity asked, taking her hoof from my shoulder.
“Magic, she said that unicorns could do magic and stuff so how do you do it?” I asked, folding my hooves across my chest. I looked down and marvelled that somehow this body was able to keep it’s balance in this position, even though it was quite difficult.
“Well it’s um...Twilight?” she said, turning back to her friend.
“I really don’t think that is what we should be focusing on right now,” Twilight said as she put her friend once more on the ground.
“So it’s just a trick then,” I replied with a shrug.
“A trick...no, it’s just that I think we should be focusing on…” Twilight tried to rationalize.
“If it’s just a trick then that’s fine. Not like I care,” I said.
“It’s not a trick but...fine look. Telekinesis is the easiest spell a unicorn can do. You simply need to focus on what you are trying to move and force your will upon it,” she explained.
“Uhuh,” I said, staring down at the mirror and trying to get it to jump sideways, or fly to the ceiling, or something; knowing full well it wasn’t going to happen.
“Gabrielle, what are you doing,” Twilight said, looking just above me.
“Absolutely nothing,” I replied sincerely, the mirror wouldn’t even move an inch.
“Darling, I think you should stop what it is you are doing, please,” Rarity said as she took a few steps away, her voice strained with worry. I noticed that both of the pegasi had also taken quite a few steps away from me towards the other end of the room as I looked up.
“Why what’s…” I started to ask, before my eyes followed theirs to where I could see a glowing red light at the very tip of my horn. “Huh, would you look at that.”
And then the room exploded.