Numb.
There was no other word she could use to describe the feeling that coursed through her whole body.
She was aware that she had regained consciousness, though she didn’t know how or when she went to sleep. The numb feeling running through her body told her that whatever method she used hadn’t been a pleasant way to do so. She couldn’t open her eyes and her mind was cloudy, so instead she continued to lie there in darkness. With nothing to do, her thoughts wandered to the nightmare she had just had; Running in a blind panic, tripping over her own feet every step, trying to figure what happened to her. Finding herself surrounded by impossibly tall walls of leaves, wincing as the pain in her leg continued to intensify. Something was chasing her and she had no idea what it was. She only knew she had to get away, to find out what was going on.
After many tumbles into the shrubbery walls and panic induced sprinting from dead end to dead end, she finally collapsed in an opening that held many menacing looking works of stone. She lay there breathing heavily until eventually the light that had once been there for her had faded from existence and all that remained was darkness. Eventually she could feel something watching her. Weakly peering out of one eye, she could faintly make out a shape hovering over her. A tall figure, garbed in white with a golden light shining above its head, the faint shape of wings behind it.
Then finally silence.
Is… is this it? Am I… dead?
It would certainly explain the numbness. Dread suddenly overwhelmed her. She’d cry if she were able.
All around her was silence. Silence and darkness. There was just… nothing. She floated in oblivion for what might have been hours, or even days, before she experienced something that she never thought she’d be happy to experience again.
Pain!
…
Ow ow oW OW!
Her leg was suddenly on fire, as if someone had taken a red hot meat cleaver to it.
Holy banana pudding, that hurts!
After a few minutes, the pain simmered away, leaving only a minor sting, until eventually vanishing altogether. The only sensation that had pulled her from thoughts of being dead had left her alone in the darkness once again.
Alright, so not dead then. The fog in her mind was beginning to thin. Okay, Jenny, think. I must be… asleep? No, I can’t be asleep, not after that kind of pain. Maybe subdued? It would make sense if she was. The cloudy thoughts, the numbness throughout her body. Had she been in an accident? Was she in a hospital? She couldn’t remember much aside from that weird nightmare.
I was… a dog? The details were difficult to recall, but Jenny did remember being confused about transforming. It felt so real though. She remembered attempting to stand and frequently failing to do so. If that was real then I’d definitely have a bruise on my behind from falling so much, but there’s no way that was real, she reasoned. I mean come on. A dog? I got turned into a dog? That kind of thing only happens in stories, not real life. Humans don’t just turn into dogs.
But the final image she remembered from her dream stood out the most. An angel? If it wasn’t an angel, then I don’t know what it was. Jenny mentally shook her head and decided she was putting too much thought in a dream.
It didn’t take long for her to drift off into a dreamless sleep. The silence and darkness only made doing so that much easier.
A sudden feeling of weightlessness jolted Jenny awake, panic naturally overtaking her mind. AM I FALLING?! Her mind continued to reel in blind panic at the sensation until she noticed something odd. The air beneath her seemed… almost solid, as if she were lying on the puffiest cloud in existence. That’s when she realized something else.
I can feel again!
The numbness from before had faded and now she just felt… actually kind of warm, like she was loosely wrapped in a thin blanket, though her left leg felt like it was being constricted by something tighter. Jenny’s entire body felt off somehow, though since she was still feeling extremely weak, she was unable to move and figure out what exactly was wrong with it.
After a few moments, the floaty feeling that had so rudely woken her up stopped. Now she felt something soft like a cushion beneath her as she lay on her right side. Taking a deep breath, she sighed into the fabric, glad that she was finally able to control her own breathing, though not without feeling something else unusual about her breath as it passed through her nose.
Before she could put any thought into it, however, a gentle giggle-like sound caught her ear from a short distance away. I can finally hear, too? Awesome!
Only a moment passed before she heard two sets of footsteps walking away, quickly followed by what sounded like a huff and two more sets of feet leaving the area. Jenny heard a door softly close and only wondered more about what was going on. She wanted so badly to just open her eyes and say something, anything, but the cushion beneath her was just… so soft… and so… comfortable.
Jenny was just about to drift off to sleep again when a couple voices sounded from behind the door. With her curiosity about her situation finally winning out over rest, she listened closer. Both were clearly female, though one sounded gentler than the other. The second voice clearly sounded angry or upset about something. After a bit of focus, Jenny was finally able to make out what the two were saying.
“-want that, that thing in my room!” the angry one said.
“She,” the other emphasized, “needs to remain somewhere safe while she recovers and while I attempt to find out what to do with her in the long term.” The voice sighed, and Jenny was amazed how well she could hear it through a door. “You know very well no other resident of the castle would take her in and care for her appropriately.”
The second voice, who Jenny dubbed as Miss GrumpyPants, was quiet only for a second before speaking up again. “Why not a guard or maid, then? Why doth it have to be me, Tia?”
Jenny almost laughed at GrumpyPants’ form of speech. What is this? Medieval times? She also took note of what Grumpy called the previously unnamed voice.
“They spend all their time working here at the castle,” Tia replied. “They wouldn’t have time to properly care for her. Please, sister. Do this for me.”
Oh, so they’re sisters then. I’m glad I’m not related to GrumpyPants. I feel sorry for Tia.
Yet another sigh that Jenny could hear freakishly well and silence before Grumpy spoke up again. “Fine, but this is only temporary. I would rather do without a mutt in my room.”
Aww, they worked it out. Jenny was glad the two could come to an agreement for some reason. But what were they talking about? A custody battle over a pet? No, that doesn’t make much sense.
With some effort, Jenny slowly managed to open her eyes. The room she found herself in was rather dark except for an open balcony she was facing that let the moonlight shine almost directly on the bed she was lying on. Before she could search the room any further, however, she looked down and quickly noted something that raised an alarm. Oh God, is that a snout coming off my face?! I’m still having that nightmare, aren’t I?! She kicked around on the bed in an attempt to quickly sit up, though her lack of energy quickly slowed her to a stop. Panting slightly, she raised her head and looked over herself. At the end she didn’t see her legs, but instead the brown and white hind legs and tail of a dog, just like the one in her dream. Only this time, the left leg was wrapped up in white bandages. She followed the fur up the body until she saw her arms, or rather her front legs. Panicking in hopes of waking up, she rolled to the side, only to fall off the bed, landing directly on her bad leg.
Pain! Pain! Not a dream! I repeat, Not! A! Dream!
Trying with all of her might not to scream out and alert any other entities that might have been nearby, Jenny raised her head off the ground and glanced about the room, noticing three things. One, this was obviously a bedroom. Two, the person who stayed in this room clearly loved the night sky as there were paintings and décor all around the room depicting the moon and stars. And three, a large standing mirror sat not far from where she was currently sprawled out on the floor. She was just about to try to get up when what sounded like a loud, muffled ‘Ugh!’ came from across the room. Jenny froze and slowly turned her head towards the source of the noise, only to see a large pair of double doors that were also coated in stars. She sighed in relief as she realized it came from one of the two women outside who were still talking about something.
Returning her attention to the nearby mirror, Jenny attempted to stand up but crumpled under the pain in her hind leg, falling flat on her rear, which only caused yet another pain to flare up. She bit her tongue, trying to keep quiet. Ow! Why does my butt… The beginning of her previous ‘dream’ came back to mind. Right. If this isn’t a dream- the soreness in her leg and rear confirmed that fact –then that probably wasn’t either, meaning I’ve stood up and even ran before. Shouldn’t be too hard to do again, right?
She hated how wrong she was. After falling for the third time, she realized how much more difficult it was to stand with only three working legs instead of the four she had previously. Many failed attempts later, she attempted a more tripod-like stance, spreading her front legs out wide and trying to keep her good hind leg as centered as possible while her bad leg just sort of hung in the air, occasionally tapping the ground in an instinctual attempt to keep her balance. Jenny grimaced every time her hurt leg moved too much, but now she had more pressing issues.
Alright… Now how the heck do I move?
Jenny shifted her gaze from her paws to the mirror at least five feet in front of her. She really wanted to see what she looked like, but she knew if she so much as lifted a single leg to move in her current stance, she’d topple over. So I won’t lift a single leg! Smiling at her own genius, she slid her front paws forward along the thin, flat carpet, stretching her back and bringing her whole body closer the ground. Jenny then carefully rooted her front paws and used them to pull her hind leg forward. Proud that her idea had already taken her nearly a fourth of the way there, she repeated the pattern, confident the rest would go without a hitch.
But the universe just loved to prove her wrong today.
As Jenny pulled her hind leg forward for the fourth time, the mirror tantalizingly close, a claw on her rear paw caught a loose carpet thread, causing her front paws to slip beneath her. Her eyes went wide as she fell muzzle first onto the ground, releasing a tiny yelp. Luckily she managed to avoid landing on her injured leg yet again, but she was more worried about whether or not the sisters outside the door heard her. With her chin still to the ground, she listened towards the front door, her ears rising instinctively. Hearing nothing more than some talk of an appointment coming up for someone, Jenny sighed in relief.
I’d really like to get used to this before I meet anybody. A tiny grin made its way to her muzzle. Who knows? It might be fun to be a dog, at least for a little while. She carefully lifted the front half of her body and decided to just drag the rest of her the last few inches to the mirror, giggling to herself knowing how ridiculous it must have looked. Once she finally made it, she raised herself proper so that she could sit in front of it, though the tender spot on her hindquarters protested a little. Yep, definitely bruised.
The mirror that she felt like she had been trying to reach for hours was now only inches from her face. A collie looked back at her as she inspected it. The first thing she noticed were the beautiful blue eyes staring back at her. Hold on a tick, she realized. If I’m a dog, then why aren’t I colorblind? Raising one paw to her muzzle, the collie in front of her imitated the action in perfect sync as she felt along the long, thin shape, eventually booping herself on the nose. Her eyes went wide as she glanced down at the offending paw, the toe beans facing her. Dogs aren’t normally this flexible, right? To test her theory she watched her reflection as she tried to spin her leg in a classic little kid attack, the Windmill. While she couldn’t move her leg too far back, Jenny knew that normal canines didn’t have the range of motion she was displaying. Heck, I can even put both of my front paws behind my back! This is so weird.
Returning to her self-inspection, Jenny scanned over her lengthy fur in the mirror and while it was still a little dark in the room, she could easily tell just how dirty she was all over, with the exception of her bad leg, which must have been cleaned when someone bandaged it. Her ears were not quite long enough to lay drooped along the side of her face, but instead were about medium length and half bent, the tips hovering just off her head.
Sitting up, Jenny guessed she was just under three feet tall. She counted her blessings. At least I wasn’t turned into something as tiny as a Chihuahua. She noticed her tail sticking out behind her. The fur on it was just as long as the rest and was brown until about halfway down when it became white, just like her paws did. She looked back at her face and stuck out her tongue at the doppelganger, who returned in kind. This made Jenny release an amused huff and laughed to herself.
‘Who’s a silly puppy?’ she attempted to ask her reflection, but the noises that left her mouth sounded like a series of light growls and howls. Right. Dogs can’t talk. Luckily she had the forethought to stay quiet. Jenny looked over herself again and despite the dirt in her fur, she had to admit she looked kind of cute.
Okay, so I was turned into a dog… somehow. Jenny reflected on the conversation she overheard those women outside have earlier. I’m apparently in a castle somewhere and Miss GrumpyPants was put in charge of taking care of me. That must mean this is her room. She glanced around the dark room, noting the night theme once again. Not a terrible design, but she could certainly use a redecorator.
Jenny thought back to how adamant GrumpyPants was about not wanting to take care of her. So now I’m stuck with someone who doesn’t even like me.
…
Wait, who was she calling a mutt?!
A growl managed to escape her clenched teeth before she even became aware of it. Jenny’s eyes went wide as she quickly brought a paw up to her muzzle and looked towards the door, hoping it wasn’t loud enough for the sisters to hear. Luckily they must not have heard, as they were still talking. Man, these two can seriously chat it up.
Rising to her feet (paws?), Jenny turned back to the bed she had fallen out of earlier. I should probably get back to bed before they decide to check on- Already forgetting about how much her injured leg hurt, she tumbled as soon as she put weight on it, falling to the floor again, and releasing a much louder yelp than before. -…me. Jenny mentally cursed Murphy’s Law as she quickly turned her head back to the door, the voices outside going silent. She watched in bewilderment as one of the handles emanated a soft golden glow and slowly turned.
As the door opened, she expected to see one of the women she overheard, but what peeked through the doorway instead made her jaw drop. If Jenny hadn’t already been lying on the ground, she would have fallen back down on her behind, worsening the bruise that was already there. The face she saw as the door continued to open was not that of a human, but a tall white… horse. What she found even stranger was the emotion she could see on its face. The white horse had a look of… concern, Jenny thought, as it failed to notice her right away and was instead looking towards the bed. Umm… I’m not a horse expert, but I’m pretty sure they can’t show concern normally. Wait, is that…? Her wide eyes traveled to the large pointy spear jutting from the horse’s forehead.
…If this isn’t a dream, then I must be on something serious to be seeing freaking unicorns!
The horse also had a multicolored mane that was flowing in some kind of wind that Jenny couldn’t feel. As it took another step in, she noticed a yellow sun-shaped tattoo on its butt, almost covered by its…
Wings... Sure, why the heck not. Might as well go all out with the hallucinations.
Her mind still reeling from taking all this in at once, Jenny failed to notice the horse turn its head in her direction, its look of concern turning to relief. “Oh, good. You’re awake.”
Jenny’s mind froze up again. Did… did the winged unicorn just talk!? The voice of the woman she had associated with the name ‘Tia’ did indeed come out of that horse’s mouth. Oh, I don’t feel too hot. Jenny’s head was starting to spin and she was afraid she’d pass out at any moment.
The talking white horse continued to enter the room, making way for yet another winged unicorn, this time dark blue, with a similarly flowing mane that looked almost exactly like the night sky. Its rear end had a tattoo of a crescent moon on what looked like a black splotch of ink, and its face held a look of general disinterest mixed with a speck of disgust as it huffed. “So it is,” the voice of Miss GrumpyPants grumbled from the dark horse’s lips.
Tia and GrumpyPants stopped at the front of the room, watching Jenny lie on the floor in shock, her mind beginning to settle down a little. Jenny raised a paw to her face and rubbed one of her eyes. She looked back at the horses, hoping she had only been seeing things, but the two equines stayed. So I’m a dog, and there are two talking winged unicorns in front of me. Can my night get any weirder? Tia looked back at the door they had entered as both her horn and the handle to the door began to glow the soft gold Jenny had witnessed previously, before it slowly shut. Aaaaand I can only assume that was magic. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any-
“GREETINGS CANINE.” Jenny’s ears pressed themselves against her head as GrumpyPants bellowed. Wind rushed past her face, nearly bowling her over. “OUR NAME IS PRINCESS LUNA, AND WE-”
She went silent as Tia raised a hoof to her. “There is no need to yell, sister. It is only a dog, not one of our subjects.” Tia lowered her hoof and slowly made her way closer to Jenny as her ears slowly stopped ringing and her fur fell back into place. As soon as she was close enough, Tia lowered her head to meet the dog at eye level. “Hello,” she said in a much gentler voice than her sister. “My name is Celestia, and this is my sister Luna.” She motioned back to the mare behind her. “We are glad you are awake and feeling better. You appeared to be really hurt when I found you, so I was worried.”
Having finally recovered from the auditory assault, Jenny sat back up and met Celestia’s eyes. So was she the angel I saw? She glanced at the darker mare, who was slightly appalled at Celestia’s demeaning display. And did Grump just say they were princesses? Jenny looked at Celestia again. Magical, winged unicorn princesses. What have I fallen into? Some kind of little girl’s fairy tale? I don’t know, but this wom- er, mare, helped me, so I suppose I do owe her. Jenny smiled as she raised a paw and booped Celestia on the nose. That is my sacred boop of thanks. I am forever grateful. Celestia giggled as she raised her head back up. At standing height, she was over twice as tall as Jenny and that wasn’t including the foot-long spear coming out of her head.
“Sister,” Sourpuss spoke up, “why wouldst thou lower thyself to the level of a mutt?” Jenny rolled her eyes. I don’t care that her name is actually ‘Luna.’ I will call her whatever names I want. It’s not like she can hear me.
“Because sometimes, Lulu,” Celestia said, walking back to where her sister was standing, “one must show respect in order to earn it.” I like her.
“But we are princesses, Sister,” Buttface returned. “We need only demand respect to receive it.” Her, I don’t like.
This time even Celestia rolled her eyes. “You must remember that this is a dog. A stray, at that. Simply demanding respect in a language she probably doesn’t understand-” Oh, you have no idea “-will do nothing.”
Grumpy huffed and glanced back at Jenny. “Now that it has awoken, what are we to do?”
“She,” Celestia emphasized for at least the second time that Jenny has heard, “can probably do with some rest while her leg heals. The veterinarian said that her wound was not badly infected, so she should be able to walk freely in a couple days and be feeling good as new by the end of the week.”
If I’m supposed to be a dog, I suppose I should act like one. What do dogs do again?
Thinking quickly, Jenny lay back down on the floor and rolled onto her back, watching the now upside-down horses as they talked. Celestia giggled but Grumpy didn’t seem so amused.
“So I must only put up with the creature for a week,” GrouchyHead mumbled. “I suppose not all is as terrible as I had thought.” Celestia bumped her sister in annoyance.
The statement had irked Jenny, but she did not want to give the impression that she knew exactly what they were saying, so instead of growling again, she simply rolled back on her stomach and barked in their direction before panting. Oh wow, that actually makes me feel a little colder under my fur. No wonder dogs do this so much. The night air coming from the open balcony was pretty cool, but she still felt a little hot under the collar. Heh, dog puns. Speaking of, I wonder if I’ll get a collar.
Celestia smiled again at the display and turned back to the door, using her glowy magic to open it again. “I suppose I should be off. I must get to bed soon if I hope to raise the sun on time.”
Jenny tilted her head at the statement but dismissed it. Probably some kind of princess-talk for starting work early.
“Don’t forget about her appointment tomorrow,” Celestia said to GrumpyPants.
The dark mare only rolled her eyes. “I suppose I will find a servant to retrieve the necessary amenities for the Canine before attending to my own duties,” she said as she tried to follow behind her sister.
Celestia quickly turned around and held out a hoof to stop her. “There is no need, sister. I have already requested everything you will need to take care of your new guest, as well as delegated your duties for the night to other ponies so that you could have the night off and spend a little time bonding with her.”
Doofus’ jaw fell so far, Jenny was afraid it would detach. “Buh… But Tia-”
“No buts!” Celestia cut her off. “If she is to stay here for a while, she will need to become accustomed to your company.” The white mare turned away. “And besides,” she said as her horn glowed to match the door handle, “You still need to give her a name.”
With that, the door shut, leaving a confused mare staring at the door, and a dog upset that she’ll have to rely on Big Meanie across the room for the week. Releasing a weak huff, Jenny turned back to the bed and carefully hobbled her way towards it on three legs. She realized the error in her ways a moment too late as she quickly found herself toppling over, but before she could hit the ground, the familiar feeling of weightlessness overtook her body and she lifted slightly in the air.
“Uh-uh,” the blue dummy said to Jenny as she flailed her dangling limbs. “Thou will not be getting back on my bed. We already need to change the covers from when thou wast last upon it.” She levitated Jenny to the foot of the bed and sat her down. “Thou are to lie hither until thy own bed arrives.” Princess BoneHead approached her bed and began stripping it as Jenny huffed and lay down on her stomach.
This is gonna be a long week.