//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: First a Rhyme, Now a Reason 
// Story: Recherche 
// by Crescent Pulsar 
//------------------------------//

For a second, Marshall was afraid of opening his eyes, fearing that the source of his relief would somehow turn out to be a lie, since it was also behind the excitement that was beginning to burble up from some long-forgotten corner of his being. Fortunately, he was able to draw strength from the hoof on his shoulder and opened his eyes.

When he gazed up at Rarity, she pulled her hoof back and softly asked, "How are you feeling?"

Marshall opened his mouth to reply, but paused because he was unaccustomed to feeling so many things at once, as well as so strongly, and wasn't sure where to start. Eventually, though, a simple solution occurred to him, at which point he smiled gratefully and said, "A lot better."

As Rarity returned his smile, Twilight Sparkle shuffled a little closer to him, appearing to have a concern of her own. "Does that include how you're acclimating to your new body? Are you having any physical or mental trouble, or otherwise notice anything strange?" She caught the poor phrasing of her last question and sheepishly added, "Beyond the obvious, I mean?"

As far as Marshall could tell, which wasn't saying much due to the unfamiliar body that he now inhabited, nothing immediately struck him as being wrong: weird, maybe; different, definitely; but not bad. His biggest issues were the change in species and sex, although he wasn't going to admit that to his present company. It wouldn't be too bad of a trade-off for the rest of the experiences that he hoped to get out of exploring a new world in a completely different universe, especially if he didn't think about it too much.

Since he wasn't going to learn much more by lying around like a fish out of water, even though that was — figuratively speaking — exactly what he was, he began to work his new limbs by pulling them under himself, directing the bottom of his hooves so that they planted themselves upon the ground, then raising himself to a standing position. He hadn't been sure of what to expect, but the procedure had turned out to be trouble-free. While he could definitely feel the differences, especially in regard to his hind legs and neck, it wasn't difficult to adjust to them. However, he was still highly aware of those differences, which might prove distracting.

Once he was sure that keeping his balance wouldn't be an issue, he raised one of his new forehooves for a visual inspection. It would have been strange to see the kind of hoof that was attached to the horses from his own world, but he couldn't be sure if it was just as strange, or more or less so, to be unable to distinguish — by sight alone — between leg and hoof on a cartoon horse. It was a little ironic, though, that a part of his new body could be described as being like a marshmallow in appearance without it involving his weight.

Next, he lowered his hoof and proceeded to tap and paw at the ground with it a bit, to get a clearer impression of the scope of its tactile capacity. He had expected to feel little to nothing with hooves, aside from vibration and pressure, so he was surprised when he got some feedback on the texture and temperature of the ground. It wasn't strong, certainly nowhere near what he would have sensed with his hands, but it was enough to work with — especially once he had more frames of reference for the purpose of comparison. In truth, having hooves didn't feel all that strange to him in this one respect, because it wasn't that different from the effect of wearing gloves at work, and he'd had nearly two years to get accustomed to working with the dulled sensitivity of his hands.

With that inspection done, he opted to find out how well he could walk on four legs. Since Rarity and Twilight Sparkle stood in the direction that he was currently facing, his first order of business was to turn aside until he had an obstruction-free path. Upon doing so, he began to move forward at a sedate pace without really thinking about it, since walking wasn't supposed to be a conscious chore. Thankfully, despite how odd it felt to move his hind legs, he was able to walk just fine. He wasn't sure if it was due to his crawling abilities as a human, the instincts of the body, Rarity's muscle memory, or even cartoon mechanics, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He wasn't the only one to see his achievement as being a notable one, because Twilight Sparkle commented on it while he was making his way back to where he had started. "It looks like the rate of your acclimation is better than I had projected, if you're already walking this well."

"Maybe," Marshall replied, who stopped at his destination before sharing his opinion on the matter. "But it could just be that it's not so different from when a human crawls, or the instinct of this body. At least, if I'm remembering correctly, and it's the same for this world, then horses can walk shortly after birth."

Twilight Sparkle hummed thoughtfully at that and stroked the underside of her chin. "Now that you mention it, those explanations do seem rather plausible. That first one might even explain how I had no trouble crawling when I was a human."

Marshall was a bit surprised to hear that last statement, in part because it sounded familiar, somehow. "You've been a human before?"

As Twilight Sparkle nodded her head, Rarity spoke up and said, "Don't you remember? That's how I knew enough about humans to identify you as one, even though I hadn't seen a human before."

"Oh, right," Marshall replied, who ducked his head a bit in embarrassment. Not much of what Rarity had said had been committed to memory prior to the current situation, since he hadn't been able to take her seriously.

"That aside," Rarity went on, as she looked him over with a speculative eye, "I have to wonder why he isn't an exact copy of me, unlike Pinkie Pie's copies. On top of looking so," she trailed off for effect, with a mild expression of distaste reserved for the next word that she would speak, "plain, she lacks a cutie mark and doesn't sound like I do, either."

"I don't?" Marshall asked, who only then noticed that his voice sounded a little off from Rarity's. While he had taken note of the change to his voice, he hadn't worried about it enough to spare it some scrutiny, in light of all of the other things that had been vying for his attention.

Knowing that Rarity was directing the question in her words to her, Twilight Sparkle turned her attention to the pony in question and helpfully supplied her with an answer. "Actually, you both sound exactly alike." Rarity looked at her questioningly, but she would have elaborated without such prompting. "You see, for the speaker, not only do they hear the voice that everypony else hears when they speak, but the vibrations that reach their ears through their head, which causes what they hear to sound different."

Idly, as Marshall awaited further explanations, since they involved him, he recalled having learned something to that effect at some point.

"The lack of makeup and different hairstyle," Twilight Sparkle continued, "is because the Mirror Pool only captures the essence of a pony — it doesn't copy anything extraneous. At the time that Pinkie Pie had made copies of herself, her appearance had been completely natural."

While Rarity gave Twilight Sparkle a doubtful look regarding the naturalness of Pinkie Pie's appearance, Marshall spared his mane and tail a closer look, so he could compare them with Rarity's. Where the original's hair looked rather fancy, with its bountiful curls, the unnatural shape that it retained, and the gradient effect applied to its color, his was mostly straight and of a solid color, swayed easily enough, and only curled a little bit at the end. On an unrelated note, he also noticed that his vision was a little blurry while looking at his mane.

"As for the cutie mark..." This time Twilight Sparkle took some time to ponder and form her answer, partly for the benefit of Marshall. "My guess is that the Mirror Pool treats the body and mind as separate — but otherwise connected — entities. Although cutie marks manifest themselves on our bodies, they are ultimately a product of our mind and magic." Twilight glanced between Marshall and Rarity with an inquiring expression on her face. "Perhaps, if Marshall had met the requirements for a cutie mark, he might very well have one of his own right now...?"

Cutie marks were one of the things that Marshall remembered well enough, from among the various things that Rarity had told him about, since he had needed some help to wrap his head around the concept. Rarity already knew the answer that he would give Twilight Sparkle, due to prior questioning, but she remained silent and gave him the choice of sharing it. So, he shook his head and said, "I'm pretty sure that I don't meet the requirements: I'm not particularly good at anything, or know what I want to do with myself."

The looks that he received from the natives conveyed the sentiment, "What a shame"; or, in Rarity's case, "That's still a shame." Ordinarily, he wouldn't be bothered by such a thing, but this was a magical experience that he was missing out on, and it felt relevant — in its own way — to how he currently lived. Getting a cutie mark, as he understood it, was akin to a coming of age ceremony, a part of life where one discovered themselves, their talent, and their individuality. He felt that it would be great to have that kind of innate self-assurance, instead of going through life without a rudder, much as he had been going about things so far.

"Well," Twilight Sparkle awkwardly began, in order to change the subject, "there's just one more thing that I'd like to check before we leave." As if suddenly recalling something, she looked at Marshall expectantly and added, "That is, if you'd like to see more of our world before I send you back?"

Noticing that Rarity was looking at him in a similar manner, Marshall figured that they had both assumed the same thing: that he would have been interested in exploring outside of the cave. They weren't wrong, of course, so he didn't really mind. While an errant thought told him that he should be more cautious, he was tired of being haunted by unknown possibilities, and didn't want to spoil the mood and experience by worrying over nothing again.

So, he smiled slightly and simply said, "Sure."

"Great!" Twilight Sparkle enthused, before she began to look around herself for something. Upon finding it, her eyes lit up as she said, "Okay, here's what I'd like for you to try..."

Marshall watched with growing interest as Twilight Sparkle's horn began to emit a magenta-colored glow. A second later, a stone that was surrounded by a glow of a matching color floated into view, and his eyes widened in amazement as he made the connection and figured out what was going on.

When the stone was placed on the ground before him, Twilight Sparkle said, "See if you can levitate that stone."

Looking between the aforementioned stone and Twilight Sparkle a few times, in equal parts disbelief and excitement, Marshall asked, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"For now, simply try to will it," Twilight Sparkle advised. "Telekinesis is one of the most common of a unicorn's natural abilities, though it can require some extra training for some. You see—"

Rarity zipped over to Twilight Sparkle's side and laid a hoof upon her shoulder as she interjected, "Let's save that for later, darling. You wouldn't want to dilly-dally in this cave for too long, would you?"

At first, Twilight Sparkle had looked a bit disgruntled by the interruption, but it wasn't long before she seemed to understand whatever it was that Rarity had been hinting at. While Marshall had no idea what the underlying message had been, their exchange had made it rather obvious that one existed. He idly wondered if noticing it was supposed to be strange or not, since it was common for characters to be oblivious toward what often passed for subtlety in cartoons — usually for the audience's sake.

"Right," Twilight Sparkle said, more to herself than anyone else, before she returned her attention to Marshall. "Well, if you want to know more about unicorn magic, you can ask me about it later, okay?"

Marshall nodded his head in reply, which seemed to satisfy Twilight Sparkle, before he directed his attention to the stone and thought, "Just will it, huh?"

He stared the stone down as he prepared to move it with magic, but he was hesitant. Had he seen a fictional character in his current position, he would have wondered what the hold up was, thinking that there was nothing stopping them from doing it, since he would have taken the opportunity to wield magic as soon as possible. However, his elevated heartbeat and giddiness, in anticipation for what he wanted to happen, and the nervous butterflies and cold sweat that beaded on his brow, in light of potential failure, proved to be a very distracting cocktail. Of course, it also didn't help that Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were watching him as intently as they were.

Finally, with a calming breath, he rose above the din of his nerves and focused on the task at hand. The result, a light blue glow around the stone, was so immediate that he lost his concentration, and the glow with it. Now, it was the positive emotions alone that threatened to distract him, but his eagerness was backed by those selfsame emotions, which made it possible to work through them.

As the stone rose into the air, without any of the usual, tangible means, so too did his heart soar. Had someone placed a mirror before him right then, while gifted with the range of expression that a cartoon face could muster, he would have seen an immensely radiant smile, and eyes that sparkled like the starry night sky. He had never felt so happy in his life at that very moment, as far as he could recall. It wasn't that he had been particularly unhappy, or had lived a hard life, either: things had just become... dull.

Whereas many people could live with the mundane world, and even thrive in it, there were others — like himself — who didn't read books, watch movies or play video games simply for the entertainment value. Inside of them, whether hidden within the darkest recesses or erupting from the surface for all of the world to see, were unfulfilled dreams. How said unfulfilled dreams affected them was dependent on the individual, and, in his case, he'd grown a bit somber and detached. Perhaps, without the dreams that he would have preferred to chase, that was why he had lacked ambition for the pursuits that remained.

However, not only was magic proven to be real to him, even if on another world... He had it! He was using it! Sure, he never would have imagined that his ticket to magic would come in the form of a cartoon unicorn, and a female one at that, but still... Magic!

"Well," Twilight Sparkle said, while smiling at Marshall's over-the-moon display, "if he can use telekinesis that easily, I can safely assume that he has fully acclimated to his new body."

Rarity giggled when Marshall began to look for more stones to levitate, who had an obvious bounce in his step and seemed oblivious to the fact that he had an audience. "I'm just glad that he's feeling better. I hope he enjoys what we have planned for him even half as much as he's enjoying that."





A few minutes later, after his head had been brought down from the clouds and reintroduced to reality, Marshall stood before Twilight Sparkle and Rarity once more, only now he was extremely embarrassed — so much so that he could actually feel a heat suffusing his face as he avoided eye contact. Today was a day of many firsts for him, and the newest among them was of him taking leave of his senses to indulge in a dream that he had once thought to be impossible.

He couldn't really blame himself for his behavior, but said behavior just wasn't him. At least, that's what he would like to say. After all, the person that he had become had once believed that magic didn't exist, despite the feelings that he had harbored for the concept, so — within that context — had his growth actually been stunted? Did he now have an opportunity to reach the true potential of his character?

The notion was both scary and enticing, but ultimately moot, since this was going to be his one and only opportunity to use magic. He would be returned to his magicless world and body before too long, and his time in Equestria would become a bittersweet memory. While some might say that it was better to have had and lost than never to have had at all, they were — in his opinion — crazy: because, like Tantalus, who knew the pleasures of sating thirst and hunger before being denied water and food, the thing that he desired would soon be taken out of his reach. The effect might not ever get close to reaching such a level of torment as it had with Tantalus, but he felt certain that he would be better off not knowing that magic was real.

Just as he was beginning to wonder if he should bother making the most out of his time in Equestria, which would surely provide him with more cause to miss it, Twilight Sparkle broke through his thoughts with, "So, are you ready to see more of our world?"

"You bet," Marshall couldn't help saying. Whatever his conscious thoughts might have been at present, he simply had too many thoughts from the past that had worn a groove of sorts into his mind, one that played a tune when the stylus of magic was introduced to it. His body nearly thrummed with eagerness, knowing that there was more of the magical world to see beyond the cave, and it was a bit of a chore just to contain himself.

Instead of being led up that long, winding ramp, which had seemed like an obvious path toward an exit, Twilight Sparkle's horn lit up as she jauntily said, "Alright, I'll have us out of here in a jiffy."

Before Marshall could ask how she planned to do that, the glow around her horn flashed, which caused him to squint his eyes out of reflex, and then... He wasn't looking at the inside of a cave anymore. As he opened his eyes fully, in order to take in his new environment, he also noticed that his vision hadn't been affected by that bright flash of light.

Looking this way and that, he saw that they now stood in a forest, one that looked rather foreboding. It was gloomy despite being midday, there was mist roiling along the ground, the trees looked twisted and sinister, and there appeared to be a lot of brambles in the vicinity. Beyond where the brambles were thickest, he could just make out what seemed to be a boulder-filled hole.

Right when he was about to question the reason for being in such a place, how they had gotten there finally caught up to him as he opened up his mouth to speak, which silenced him and made his jaw go slack from shock. It didn't help when he turned his attention to the one who had been responsible for their mode of transportation, since he was reminded that he also had a horn, and thus could — potentially — do the same thing.

Much to his chagrin, he spoke with a squeaky voice when he focused on Twilight Sparkle and said, "Did you just—" He cleared his throat and tried again, even as he tried to suppress a blush. "Did you just teleport us out of that cave?"

"I sure did," Twilight Sparkle replied, with a hint of amusement at his level of interest.

As much as he wanted to pursue the subject of magic, Marshall felt that there was a more pertinent matter to address. "So, uh... Why did you teleport us to this place?"

Twilight Sparkle spared her surroundings a glance, and — upon seeing what she had expected to see — realized that Marshall hadn't been the pony that she had traveled to the Mirror Pool with. "Oh, well, we're just outside the entrance to the cave."

After sweeping the forelock of her mane aside with a flourish, which was accompanied by a slight tossing of the head, Rarity pointed in the direction of the aforementioned cave entrance and explained, "It was easier than going through that." When she lowered her foreleg, as an aside she added, "Well, that, and the dimensions of the tunnel leading into the cave are a bit... inconvenient."

Marshall's attention had automatically followed the direction that she had pointed in, so he almost missed the half-lidded stare that Twilight Sparkle had directed at her. Based on his impressions of Rarity thus far, he could only assume that she was the type to be protective of her appearance, which probably meant that that had been inconvenient enough times in the past to garner such a response from Twilight Sparkle. Still, the expression seemed friendly enough, and he had gotten an experience with teleportation out of the deal, so he wasn't going to worry about it.

"Anyway," Twilight Sparkle began, as she turned to face the direction that she planned to travel, "the Everfree Forest isn't very safe, so let's be on our way."

Seeing no reason to argue with that, Marshall began to follow her, with Rarity falling into step at his side. After only a few steps, his curiosity prompted him to ask, "So, where are we going?"

"We are going to Ponyville," Rarity responded in a mildly gladsome manner. "After all, if we're going to give you a view of our world, we can certainly do better than some dark, unsightly cave."

Marshall chuckled a bit at that, and his brief inattention earned him a stumble after a misstep on an exposed root. Fortunately, despite being so new to walking with four legs, he was able to recover his balance and save himself from a fall. When he returned his attention to Rarity, he saw that she was regarding him with some concern, so he offered a somewhat bashful smile to indicate that he was alright — and a little embarrassed.

Twilight Sparkle had turned her head aside when she had heard him stumble, so she could see what was going on and help if necessary. Seeing that he was alright, she smiled and picked up where Rarity had left off. "More specifically, we thought that you might like to have a taste of the best confections that Ponyville has to offer."

That certainly got Marshall's attention, and — for the first time — he was made aware of his equine ears when they perked up and homed in on the source of the good news. That wasn't enough to distract him from his current train of thought, though. He'd always had a bit of a sweet tooth, but he'd had to restrain himself so he didn't pack on the pounds, and that hadn't gotten any easier once he was in control of both a budget and what food he chose to stock his home with. Now that he had a new, temporary body, however, he should be able to enjoy himself without any worries.

It was just one amazing thing after another!

"Afterward," Twilight Sparkle continued, which interrupted his drool-inducing thoughts, "if you'd like, we can give you a tour of our town."

Marshall nodded his head. "That's fine by me. I might as well make the most out of this while I'm here."

He thought that there was something strange about Twilight Sparkle's expression, following his response, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. When she returned her attention to the fore, thus depriving him of further study, he decided that he had probably just imagined it. It wasn't like he was an expert on cartoon horse expressions, or anything; heck, he wasn't all that great at reading human expressions, either.

Eventually, he could see the edge of the forest ahead, and the inviting, open field beyond. He had to squint his eyes by the time he had left the canopy of the forest, as they adjusted to the full brunt of the noonday sun, but it didn't stop him from taking in the sights. While there wasn't much to see, aside from the odd tree, occasional shrub and assortment of wildflowers, it was still a pleasant view. There was also a faint smell in the air that was both aromatic and fresh, and the grass beneath his hooves felt a lot nicer than the rough, uneven and debris-covered ground of the forest.

One of the things that he had missed since moving into the city, from the somewhat out-of-the-way and underdeveloped subdivision, had been this. Not exactly like what he was currently experiencing, since there had been plenty of neighbors within sight and earshot, but it had been a lot quieter and better-smelling, overall. The lot had been along the boundary of the subdivision, against the forest, so he'd gotten to enjoy the soothing sound of gently-rustling leaves when there was a breeze, and he had particularly enjoyed the smell of honeysuckle while they were in bloom, which had been allowed to grow over the side of the fence closest to the forest. Of course, he hadn't really learned to appreciate it as much as he currently did until he had gotten a taste of life in the heart of a city — its unimpressive size notwithstanding.

Before long they crested a hill, where they came to a stop. Twilight Sparkle had initiated it, and he'd had an idea as to why since he had begun to notice the taller structures of Ponyville rising above the hill from his vantage point, but it had still come as a pleasant surprise to see the town in its entirety, especially due to the first — and most obvious — structure that he had seen.

It was hard to tell exactly how technologically-advanced their civilization was, or if it even mattered with magic involved, but most of the buildings had thatch roofs and half-timbered frames. Then there were more "modern-looking" structures, like the clock tower, the old-fashioned schoolhouse, the farm, and whatever the second-largest building was used for. Finally, there were odder places, like the ones that looked like tents, the few that were of an elaborate style that he couldn't identify, or the one building that looked, well... edible.

Of course, then there was the largest structure, which looked really out of place with the rest of the town and the area around it in general. It was like a tree house, except the tree portion was made out of various shades of purple and blue crystal, and it was cradling a purple castle that had golden accents reserved for its balconies and roofs. On top of that, quite literally, was a large, star-shaped crystal, like it was the top of a Christmas tree. He wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling that the star should remind him of something else, too.

Once Rarity thought that he had been given enough time to take it all in, she asked, "What do you think?"

"To be honest?" Marshall temporized, and took a few extra seconds to gather his thoughts. "I really don't know. It's not bad, but..." He struggled to find the right words for what he was trying to say, since he didn't want to upset the denizens of the town that he was commenting on. "Well, it's like an artist began by painting a quaint, medieval village. Then, when they were nearly finished with it, they were introduced to a psychotropic drug and abandoned all thought toward consistency. By and large, the town looks alright, but there are a few things that I can't make heads or tails of — that castle in the distance, for instance."

"You don't say..." Twilight Sparkle remarked as evenly as she could manage, who turned her head away to hide her face, due to being a little self-conscious about her castle.

Before Marshall could get a good read on her reaction, Rarity cleared her throat, in order to get his attention, and explained, "Well, it is the newest addition to the town, truth be told; an unplanned incident with magic, in fact."

Marshall looked at her incredulously, despite all of the other unbelievable things that he had experienced thus far. "Something like that can unintentionally appear with magic?"

Rarity, amused by the expression on his face, teasingly said, "Darling, you do recall how you were able to see that castle in the first place, don't you?"

While Marshall was looking away and rubbing the back of his neck with embarrassment, Rarity remembered that she had something to do, so she abruptly said, "Anyway, I'll go on ahead and place our orders, so it will be ready when you arrive."

Marshall hadn't expected Rarity to say that, and then immediately suit actions to words, so he could only stare after her in silence as she headed toward the town at a good canter. Before he could really wonder about her behavior, Twilight Sparkle caught his undivided attention when she said, "Sorry; I kind of put her up to that."

Being no less enlightened by that bit of information, he looked at Twilight Sparkle with confusion and intelligently said, "Huh?"

Twilight Sparkle spared the retreating form of Rarity a glance, to make sure that she had reached a distance where neither party could see the other, before she sat on her haunches and refocused her attention on Marshall. "I wanted to talk to you alone... about Rarity."

Now that he understood what was going on, Marshall followed her example and sat on his haunches. He was a little nervous, though, because this was the first time that he had found himself in such a situation. "...Okay. What about?"

After a deep, calming breath, Twilight Sparkle began to speak. "I was hoping that you could help her with her workload until the two of you part."

"Why?" Marshall asked the obvious question, who cocked his head in puzzlement. "I mean, it's not just that I don't care about fashion, tailoring and the like, but I don't have any of the skills, either."

Twilight Sparkle nodded her head in understanding. "Well, you wouldn't be helping out with any of that. You see, the spell that connects you two is a construct. What that means is that a portion of her magic — most of it, in this case — is indefinitely devoted to it. While it takes very little magic to use the construct itself, it doesn't leave much magic for anything else, and, well... The work that she does demands a lot of magic to meet her standards in efficiency. Right now, she is significantly limited in how many objects she can manipulate, both in weight and quantity."

As Marshall digested all of that, he wondered if that was the explanation for why Rarity seemed to be tired during most of the morning sessions. She had said that her work was the culprit, of course, but never had she said anything about the circumstances being abnormal, or that he was indirectly linked with it. He could understand not wanting to burden someone with their problems, since he tended to keep things to himself, but still...

Desiring to get a better feel for the situation, he inquired, "Well, since you've come to me with this, I'm guessing that she hasn't hired assistants, or accepted any help?" After receiving a nod of confirmation, he added, "Why?"

The question made Twilight Sparkle deflate, her sad visage joined by a slouching posture and flattened ears, and for the first time in his life he felt the urge to hug a cartoon creature. He didn't act on it, of course, although it had nonetheless made him aware of the aesthetic element that he had been overlooking, since his attention had been focused on more important things. Of course, now wasn't the time for his mind to stray, so he continued to focus his attention on Twilight Sparkle as she began to speak.

"I really wish that I knew the answer to that," Twilight Sparkle admitted. "Her behavior makes sense, but only up to a point. We all knew that she was driven, and why, but now I'm not so sure that we understand what it is that is driving her — really driving her. I can understand why she wouldn't want any of us taking turns with assisting her every day, yet she's bound and determined to stay the current course. I just..." She stopped and released a sigh, her gaze falling to the ground.

Marshall felt a pang in his chest, an ache, and wondered what was wrong. Well, not wrong, per se, but... It was odd, since he had been a bit distant for a while, emotion-wise. He'd never felt sympathy quite like that before. Was it the alien body? Was it just him, somehow? Would being so emotionally-charged, as he had been as of late, be the cause? Either way, should he even care? Well, this particular day seemed like one for firsts anyway, so why not tack on another one?

So, he got up and sat beside Twilight Sparkle, in order to console her with a one-legged hug, and said, "You know what? I feel like trying."

Twilight Sparkle's expression was a mix of gratitude and surprise, which quickly turned to worry. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel pressured into doing it, or anything..."

Despite his own doubts on the matter, Marshall nodded his head resolutely before withdrawing from the hug. "It's not like I have anything better to do." Suddenly, it dawned on him what his volunteer work would entail, and his eyes went wide, filling to the brim with excitement. "Wait, does that mean that I get to make return visits!?"

With an amused look on her face, Twilight Sparkle rose to her hooves and half-jokingly asked, "Are you sure that you just realized that?" Upon receiving a rapid series of brain-rattling nods, she chuckled and began to walk again, with Marshall quickly catching the hint and joining her. "Well, I'll teach you how to move your consciousness between bodies later. For now, let me tell you what I can about Rarity before we reach our destination."

While Twilight Sparkle told Marshall what she felt was appropriate for him to know without learning it from Rarity herself, he absently wondered about his act of generosity. It wasn't that he lacked altruistic tendencies, but he preferred thoughtful foresight and being anonymous. He could handle things well enough if they were at arm's length, but he was generally uncomfortable about handling things personally, in part because of a distinct lack of opportunity, thus practice and experience.

It was too late to take back what he had said, so he decided that he could give it a try and hope for the best. Either way, he now had indefinite access to a magical world, and he figured that alone would be more than worth the trouble.