My Life as a Bipedal Quadruped

by Snakeskin Ducttape

Bonding

It’s in quite a few stories. The hero, or protagonist at least, probably human, but perhaps elven or something like that depending on the setting I guess, has a steed. It’s strong, and intelligent, and loyal, and brave, or at least well-trained. Probably looks magnificent, too. It comes when the hero whistles, and if he, the hero (it’s usually a he, I think) gets separated from the brave steed, and is later wounded in a fight and heroically limps through the wilderness for a while before collapsing from exhaustion and his wounds, his loyal and intelligent steed will show up to carry him off to get medical attention. It’s so smart, it practically understands what the hero’s saying.

My steed was all of those things, and not only did he understand what I was saying, I understood what he said, too.

“What do you think?” Armor asked me.

I gave a contemplative hum. “This might work, with some practice,” I said from my vantage point on top his head, trying to find a good way to stand on his upper back and lean against his neck. “I’m a bit torn between suggesting some sort of bridle to help me keep my balance, and me simply grabbing your mane.”

The first suggestion seemed off the table, judging by the heat that radiated from Armor’s face. “Uh, I think holding my mane would be fine, if you grab enough of it.”

“Not quite close enough friends for such an equipage, eh?” I said, grinning.

“Well, it’s more that we’d have to be careful with the design,” he said.

“How informative, and somewhat exciting,” I said, and looked down on the floor on the library’s main room. “But really, it’s not that far up. I mostly want to avoid falling down because of appearances, rather than hurting myself.”

“I’ll let you get away with that glib about my stature because it’s you,” Armor said, and held out his left wing. “Try falling down on this side.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “You’re holding it outstretched.”

Armor craned his head slightly to look up at me. “I can carry my own weight, another guard, and both of our equipment with these, and it can be a big and burly guard,” he said with a small smirk. “Try it.”

I shrugged and let myself fall into his outstretched wing. It was one of the most softest things I’ve ever touched, and probably the most comfortable thing I’ve ever flung myself into.

“Alright, I’m convinced,” I said, as he lifted me onto his back again, and helped me scamper up his neck again. “Let’s try walking.”

Armor slowly walked in a circle along the shelves. It was a bit shaky at first, but it was becoming more steady as we were figuring out the details of this way of moving, me figuring out how to position myself and place my weight, and Armor figuring out which movements of his moved me which way, all the while steadily speeding up, first at a slow walk, then a faster walk, a trot, canter, and finally full gallop.

As this was happening, it might have been pretty fitting to play Yankee Doodle on a duet of banjos with a steadily increasing beat.

Eventually, Twilight poked her head out of her study. “What are you two doing?” she asked loudly.

She didn’t sound angry, though Armor still came to a screeching halt, and I was lucky that he also raised his head, as I probably would’ve been catapulted off from his back otherwise.

“Oof!” was the sound that came out of me as I was thrown against his neck. “Whoa, warn me next time you’re gonna to that.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said.

“That’s okay,” I said, and turned to Twilight. “We were just practicing novel ways of transportation.”

“Novel?” Twilight said after a pause.

“Well, novel to me,” I said. “Armor’s supposed to help me whenever I need help, but considering the progress I made with my plans for prosthetics last night alone, I figured I should get the most out of having a personal valet while I can.”

“I live to serve,” Armor said with a casual smile.

“And get a paycheck,” I said.

Armor craned his head to look at me with a smile. “Enabling me to live and serve some more.”

“Circle of life, with bureaucracy,” I said and turned to Twilight. “I thought we’d have another try and visit the market today. I wanna see if I can make something out of that gryphon meat substitute you ordered, and I wanted to know what a cloud feels like. You talked about a spell that you used to walk on clouds once, can you put that on me?”

“Sure,” Twilight said and lit up her horn. “Just be careful not to fall off.”

“I’ve got a flyer to order around if that happens.”

A purple glow surrounded me, then sank into me, leaving a slight tingling sensation in my hooves.

“Don’t you like the wheelchair?” Twilight asked.

“It’s really good. I just don’t like having to use it. Some variation might be nice,” I said.

“Alright, well, have fun,” Twilight said. “And here are some bits.”

Twilight hoofed some bits to Armor, which he put in a saddlebag, we double checked what was stored in the kitchen, and then heard a knock on the door just as we were heading out.

I magicked the door open, still leaning against Armor’s head. “Stand and deliver!” I said loudly, figuring that it might be Pinkie with another delivery of cupcakes.

As the door opened, I saw that it was not Pinkie, but a grey pegasus mare with a blond mane, and seriously crossed eyes hovering above the ground. That is, she was seriously cross-eyed, not that her eyes looked seriously angry.

“Okay,” she said happily, and touched down on the ground, then shoved her muzzle into a bag and pulled out a letter, holding up to us with a beaming smile.

Armor and I looked at each other, and Armor took the letter in a hoof. “Okay, thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” the mare said and flew off.

Armor held the letter up to me. “Again?” I asked, and magicked a letter knife lying on the window sill over.

Armor had to hold the envelope in his mouth while I opened it, since we hadn’t practiced him sitting on his haunches with me on his back yet. After a few moments, I magically held the letter up to my muzzle.

To: The esteemed Madam Gabrielle Eleanor Desrochers.

Acting on concerns expressed by distinguished members in Equestrian society, we have finished examinations on an aberrative condition affecting one of the Equestrian government’s official associates. As such, I respectfully express a desire for you to—

Hey, Gabe. Redheart here.

What the good doctor means to say is that we’ve looked at your stool sample, and have synthesized a treatment to augment your gastric microbiome. I’m certain (in that way where we don’t want to say that we’re officially certain but we kinda are, you know, the way we talk in the biz) that this will guarantee you to be able to digest anything a pony can digest if you couldn’t already, and that you won’t lose the ability to digest anything you can digest right now.

We should have time today, otherwise, come by some time and we’ll fit you into the schedule.

Hope to see you. With hugs.

/Nurse Redheart at the Ponyville General.

PS: /And Doctor Stable.

“It appears we have been waylaid,” I said. “We’re going to the hospital first.”

—

Ponyville’s hospital was pretty empty when we walked in, except for a stallion sleeping on a bench with a makeshift bandage around his ear which had a fork jammed through it.

Armor and I gave him a curious look as we walked past, but he just snored calmly.

We walked up to the front desk where a mare was shuffling papers around. She looked up at us with a surprised look.

“Oh, you must be Gabrielle,” she said jovially, and stretched out her hoof to us. “I’m Ink Sketch.”

We bumped her hoof, me leaning forward over Armor’s head to do so. “I guess I’m building a reputation here,” I said, slightly dejected.

“Well, with me at least,” Ink Sketch said. “This is the third time you’ve come in here in just a few days, but you’ve never been conscious before.”

I struggled with what to say at that for a moment, before just shrugging. “What can I say? Timberwolves and Dragons are exhausting.”

“Tell me about it, my nephew keeps both dogs and iguanas, and whenever he visits he brings them with, and they all shed and molt constantly. Well, he doesn’t get into the house anymore without helping to cover up all the furniture on the first floor with sheets, and helping to clean them off when he leaves,” Ink Sketch said

Me and Armor looked at each other, but Ink seemed to be one of those people whose default mode of being is endless babbling.

“‘Course, I suppose it’s easier to clean up than bark and dragon scales. Still, I can’t understand how he stands it, my coffee-machine stopped working after he had visited once, and I found scales clogging it up. Not very appetizing, lemme tell you.”

Redheart poked her head out around a corner.

“Oh, hey you two,” she said with a smile. “Here for a scheduling or treatment?”

“We’ll see, depending on what it entails,” I said.

“Right, let’s go find Doctor S,” she said and gestured for us to come with her. She turned to Ink Sketch and said with a smile, “You can keep talking, Ink, we’ll be with you in spirit.”

“Okay,” Ink Sketch said. “Well, you should’ve seen one Hearth’s Warming, they were all over the decorations and…”

Ink Sketch’s voice faded away as we moved down a corridor, along with the gentle snoring of the stallion on the bench.

“You two are becoming a real team,” Redheart said, looking back at us.

Armor and I looked at each other again. “I guess so,” I said. “Though when you put it that way, it feels kinda selfish since we’re teaming up for my gain.”

Armor just smiled and shrugged.

“Well, not being a team would probably mean that one of you wouldn’t be doing their job, or that the other was being difficult,” Redheart said.

“Hm, she’s right,” Armor said.

“Alright, fair enough,” I said.

“And I gotta say that your eye looks really good,” Redheart continued.

“Oh, thanks”, I said and laid against Armor’s neck so that I could tap it with my hoof. “I thought it would be obvious with one this size, but every time I look in the mirror it’s just like the real thing. So, what does this treatment entail?”

“You know of these kinds of transplants?” Redheart asked as we moved into an examination room.

“Kinda, yeah,” I said.

“Well, this one’s–” Redheart said before stopping herself and looking at Armor.

I looked down at him, too. “Hey, can you put me down on the bed?” I said.

“Sure,” Armor said, and deposited me on top of the paper-covered bed.

“Alright, thank you. You’re dismissed, private. Uh, to the hallway,” I said.

Armor stood at attention before walking out the door.

Redheart giggled a bit before turning to me with a somewhat somber face.

“Hey, I think I should apologize,” she said.

“Yeah, well, normally I wouldn’t be jumping up and down for this no matter how great a dinner anyone’d buy me, but I got a soft spot for nurses,” I said, shooting her an overly sweet smile.

Redheart looked at me blankly before letting out a snorty laugh. “No, no,” she said, and forced a serious look on her face again. “No, I mean what I said back in Canterlot.”

I gave her a blank look. “When you said what? You mean that thing in the castle?” I said before remember what would make more sense. “Oh, you mean that thing with, uh…”

“Yeah,” she started, a bit awkwardly, looking down and scuffing a hoof against the floor. “I was a bit worried that you’d reject being what you are.”

I considered this for a moment. “Well, I suppose that could’ve been pretty bad, but,” I said and just shrugged. “You got a weirdo who’s totally fine with being transformed into an alien pony, so I guess there’s no harm done. Your, heh, red heart was in the right place,” I said and chuckled.

Redheart chuckled back. “Thank you,” she said.

“What brought this on, though?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Maybe just thinking back to what I said, and how well you seem to be doing.”

“Well, I’m not doing perfectly, you still haven’t told me how this is gonna work,” I said.

“Oh, right, I’m gonna go get the doctor, and make sure that the formula is ready.

—

A little while later, Armor set us down on a cloud, and I hesitantly reached out for the fluffy white construction.

I met some resistance, which felt like fluffy hammock, but pleasantly cool in the warm weather. I still wasn’t sure about jumping off Armor’s back yet.

I looked down on the ground. Things didn’t look all that small. ‘Ah, why are you scared of this? Dragons, girl! Infinity-wolves!’

I looked at Armor, and said with an as serious voice as I could, “Be ready to catch me, alright?”

“Of course,” he said.

I gently let myself fall down, back first, onto the cloud. There was a very short moment of fright when it gave way, but it turned out to just be the fluffiness.

“Huh,” was all I could say, and started rubbing my back against it.

“So what happened in there?” he asked.

I let out a sigh.

—

“So, after the procedure, you just swallow this, and then don’t eat anything else for at least four hours,” the stallion with the stethoscope said.

“Got it,” I said, trying not to show fear.

“Ready?” Redheart said.

“As I’ll ever be,” I said.

In a detached kind of way, it was just a bacterial-rich substance mixing with bacterial-rich substance. But in a detached kind of way, that brown stuff that coats your wash-basin is just soap-residues and chalk. If that reasoning ever held water, it popped like a balloon when I felt my tail being lifted.

—

“You know what? That’s all you’re getting,” I said.

Armor nodded slowly. “That’s totally fair.”

I wiggled my butt a little. “It feels like you can tell. You can’t tell, can you?”

Armor slightly reluctantly looked at my rump. “I can’t tell, but I don’t want to go too much into detail about this. That could easily make it seem like I’ve made a study on the area in question.”

It took a while before what he said caught up with me, and I gave a sniggering snort. “Alright,” I said. “I’m considering teasing you and saying that I don’t mind if it’s you, but I can feel the moment passing.”

Before Armor had a chance to answer, A rainbow-colored head poked up from the other side of the cloud. “Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically. “I don’t mind the company, but you should probably tell me if you’re gonna join me on my nap cloud.”

We looked at the depression where Rainbow had slept. “Oh,” Armor said sheepishly.

“So, you working hard, or hardly working?” I asked, only slightly deadpanned.

“Both,” Rainbow Dash said. “I was over at Fluttershy’s earlier, and making sure that her backyard was the right humidity.”

“And it was so tough that you needed a nap?” I asked, a bit teasingly.

“No, but I wanted one. I could’ve had one over at Fluttershy’s, but she kept cooing and playing with these blue tits,” Rainbow Dash said.

Me and Armor cast a very brief glance at each other before looking back at Rainbow. “Uh, okay” I said. “Does she do that a lot?”

“Yeah, she’s really good at taking care of them, they’re practically spherical. A little annoying when you’re trying to work, but I manage.”

“Yeah… sounds like it,” Armor said.

Rainbow finally seemed to notice the look we were giving her. “Cyanistes caeruleus,” she said slowly, her embarrassment overshadowed by annoyance. “The blue tit songbird.”

“Oooh,” me and Armor said in unison.

“Yeah, what did you think I was talking about? Actually don’t answer that, I’m gonna go find Scootaloo,” she said, and crouched down to take off.

“Hey, wait,” I said, and Rainbow stopped to look back at me. “Scootaloo said she’d help me with making my new legs, me and Twilight thought up a way for her to help. Can you ask if she’s still interested?”

“Sure, see you later,” Rainbow said and took off.

Armor joined me as I rolled over to look out over Ponyville, and its colorful inhabitants going about their business. Lyra and Bon Bon sat on a bench and talked about something in the distance. The grey pegasus from earlier was delivering something to Sugarcube Corner. (and getting a pair of muffins from Pinkie) One grey and one pink filly walked down the street some ways away, laughing about something.

“This can’t be healthy for people with paranoid delusions,” I said.

“What, being able to sit up here and spy on ponies?” Armor asked.

“Yeah, easier to indulge in it, so to speak.”

“Hm, maybe. I wonder if the old pegasi warrior societies helped or hindered that,” Armor said.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, considering his words. “Good question. I don’t know much about military life.”

“And I don’t know much about mental health issues,” Armor said.

“Yeah,” I said, again with slow consideration. “It’s strange, but all this, coming to Equestria, being a pony, has probably been mentally beneficial for me, and I don’t think I’d be the only one who’d feel this way.”

“What, being a pony is better than being a human?” Armor asked.

“No… or, well, I think so. But just having magic to help you. It’s not always easy, being a human.”

Armor looked at me curiously. “Why?”

“Well, there’s, ehm,” I said and waved my hoof around, trying to find the words. “Well okay, let me put it like this: I lived in a city, right? It wasn’t all that big, but big enough.

“Now, humans don’t have magic to help them, so keeping a big and complex society running properly needs a lot of work, and in a city, with all the people crammed together, and all the services and administrations they need, and all the industry they’re supposed to fuel, all that requires so much attention.”

“Cities around here needs a lot of work to run, too, though,” Armor said evenly.

“Well, yeah, I guess they need the same amount of work, but ponies have their magic and their special talents to help them. That perhaps doesn’t make it require any less effort, but it’s pretty obvious that magic makes it easier and more efficient.”

Armor nodded slowly. “Okay, yeah, I can see that. And you think that it’s too much for some humans?”

“Yeah, in a sense,” I said. “There’s this… anonymous pressure to contribute when you live in a society like where I lived. It’s not said to your face, but if you don’t work, if you just sit around and get help for doing nothing, just taking and never giving to the great, faceless masses, you end up judging yourself. And it’s not helping that some people seem to able to take and take and take, and never feel a thing about it.”

Armor was quiet, so I looked up at him, saw the sad expression on his face, and let out a sigh.

“Yeah, I suppose I’m talking about myself,” I said. “All that help that the great, anonymous masses of a society can offer you? I got it all. I got everything. And it still didn’t feel like enough.”

“Nopony’s judging you,” Armor said.

“I know. And I said that it didn’t feel like enough, but it was. I made a life for myself, but sometimes it just felt so hard. Then there are those that try and fail, or never get to try at all…”

I looked out over Ponyville again. “That’s what I mean with a lot of humans perhaps benefitting from coming to Equestria, and being given magical talents. Everything here feels a little healthier, a little easier, a little more fair, and if you’re not succeeding at the moment? No biggie, we can afford it,” I said and gestured towards Sweet Apple Acres, stretching out into the distance. “Case in point. Enormous amounts of food, grown and harvested by two ponies with buckets and a cart. Not one drop of oil.”

“Well, I’m sure they need to oil the wheels like any other pony,” Armor said.

“No, I mean petroleum. A modern human society needs petroleum to run, and lots of it.”

“Hm,” Armor said with a facial shrug, before a small smile started growing on his face. “Well, you might be right. Hauling you around isn’t very stressful. You don’t exactly weigh a ton.”

“Hm, yeah,” I said, being kinda happy that he was dropping his stoic demeanor from time to time. “Maybe I should make it harder for you?”

He looked at me with a slightly raised eyebrow. “How so? Am I gonna have to carry around shopping bags? I’d thank you for the exercise.”

“Oh, I got something better,” I said with a small grin. “Wanna hear a joke?”

“Do I have a choice?” he asked.

“No,” I stated matter-of-factly. “Okay, so there was this pony that kicked the bucket, right? She was collected, and a funeral was prepared, and then driven to the cemetery in a hearse. Now, turns out that she was undead, and the funeral was called off, no harm done. And later, she decided she wanted to pass on, and arranged another funeral for herself. So on her way to the cemetery, the drivers say to her, ‘You know, this is pretty weird, you’ve rehearsed this whole funeral thing, but now that it’s time for the real thing, we gotta rehearse getting you there’.”

Armor slowly closed his eyes in mental agony as I gave him the most obnoxious grin I could.

“Do you have a lot of those?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I said.

He slowly nodded. “Yeah, this could be a lot more exhausting than it seemed.”

—

“What you said earlier might be something you should tell the princesses about,” Armor said, as we walked into the marketplace.

“True,” I said. “The extent to which a people strain themselves to provide for themselves and others probably says a lot to… you know,” I said, and leaned onto his neck again so that I could wave my hoof demonstrably. “Says a lot to someone who’s very old and wise and all that jazz.”

“Also, ponies aren’t the only ones with magic,” Armor said. “I’m not a mage myself, but now I’m curious about how magical your home planet could be. Her highness did move you here, so her magic must’ve interacted with Earth in some way.”

“Hmm, yeah. Remind me to ask her about that.”

“So what are we looking for?” Armor said as we looked around us. We must’ve caught the market during a slow hour, there weren’t all that many shoppers, and the ponies manning (ponying?) the stalls were mostly quiet, not loudly advertising their wares

“I’m not sure, actually,” I said. “I just tried memorising everything relevant that was in the pantry, and the different kinds of meat substitute. I thought we’d have a look around and see what’s available. If Twilight lets me borrow a cheese grater or something, I’m sure I can at least whip up something taco-ish.”

“‘Taco-ish’?” Armor asked.

“Taco. The most mundane of all exotic dishes. Back on Earth, at least. And it could mean that you’re gonna be on meat mincing duties, depending on how tough the stuff is,” I said, before realizing what I was talking about and looking around for reactions.

We didn’t seem to attract much attention, though. Vital parts for forming a group mentality, or mob mentality if you like, seemed to be missing from the market this day. We went by mostly unnoticed, and when a pony saw us, or, mostly me, they just looked on in curiosity, their fascination not being fueled by a dozen other pairs of eyes around them.

I let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn’t ideal, but with some effort and a little luck, I might be able to trick myself into a good mood.

“Uhm, hello,” I heard a voice beside us say, but it didn’t seem to be aimed at us.

‘Alright, now just find some—’

“Excuse me? Miss Gabrielle?”

Armor and I turned our heads towards the voice. Beside us stood the flower trio that I had tried talking to two days earlier, with embarrassed expressions on their faces.

Armor caught my attention and questioningly nodded towards the trio. All rather discreetly. I gave a small, affirmative nod.

“Hello?” I said as we approached.

“Hi,” the pink-coated one with blond mane said nervously. They seemed unwilling to look me in the eye, and as we got closer, I realized that I sort of had to tower over them, since I was leaning over Armor’s head, who was already taller than they were. “Uhm, we just wanted to say that we’re sorry for the day before yesterday.”

“Yeah,” the red-maned one said. “We’ve just never seen anything like, uh, that is to say, we, uh, you… we were at a bit of a loss, let’s just put it that way.”

“I could tell,” I said. It was supposed to come off as casual, but the way their ears drooped suggested that it didn’t have that effect, so I scrambled for something else to say. “But it’s okay, I’m used to it.”

“Oh,” they said, and looked down on the ground.

‘Yeah, that was a pretty bad save.’

“Well, anything we can do to make it up for you?”

“You already sent me a very nice bouquet,” I said, and suddenly realized something. “Speaking of which, it’s nice that you remembered my name. I didn’t think you would.”

“Oh, well. Uhm,” the blond one said.

“Rarity told us,” the green-maned one said.

“Oh yeah?” I said, doing a little detective work in my head.

‘We went to Rarity after that whole fiasco, she said that the next day would be better, and lo! The Crusaders showed up after I got a… what would probably have been a very nice present for someone else.’

A small smile formed on my lips. I guess there are more ways to be generous than giving away stuff. “That sounds like her,” I said.

“Yeah, it does,” the red-maned one said. “So, uh, are you new to Ponyville?”

“Yup,” I said. “New to Equestria, even.”

“Oh, really?” red-mane said, their ears perking up. “What are you doing here?”

I bobbed my head a little in consideration. “I guess you could say that I’m a bit of an exchange student, or a cultural attaché.”

“Wow, somepony so young!” green-mane said. “And your name sounds so exotic! Were you raised by gryphons?”

It struck me that I’d been asked that quite a few times by now. “No, does it sound like it?”

“Well, I don’t know any gryphons personally, but it sounds like it to me,” blond-mane said, before her eyes widened. “Oh! Names! Sorry. I’m Lily.”

There was a round of hoof bumps.

“Rose.”

“Daisy.”

“And I’m a bit relieved, I was worried that you had hurt your eye, too,” Rose said.

“Hm?” I asked questioningly before I realized what she was on about. “Oh, no, this is actually a prosthetic,” I said and tapped it. “But I’m guessing you don’t want me to show you?”

“No!” they all shouted at once.

“Just as well,” I said. “It’s comfy, so I’d rather leave it in.”

They laughed nervously. “And you, sir?” Lily asked Armor.

“Oh, uh, Studded, ma’am,” he said.

“Oh!” Lily said and giggled. “There’s no need for any of this ‘ma’am’ here. Are you visiting Equestria, too?”

“Uh, no. I’m helping Gabe– uh! Gabrielle, here,” Armor said.

“He’s my helper and guide,” I said.

“That would explain why you’re staying with Twilight,” Rose said. “Could we tempt you two with a rose-bouquet?”

“Thank you, but no,” I said. “I’m sort of looking around here, trying to find something that tastes like home.”

‘If by "home", you mean something from another hemisphere.’

“Well, maybe we can help you?” Lily said. “Say what you’re looking for, we’ll point you to it.”

“Well, I haven’t decided on anything yet, but okay,” I said.

I moved my taco plans up to another day as I got a rundown on the range of wares available in Ponyville. Not because there wasn’t enough stuff available, but because I got the munchies for something Oriental when I heard about sesame oil.

As we moved away with a thank you to the flower trio, I looked down at Armor. “Was it just me, or were their eyes strangely lidded whenever they looked at you?”

Armor’s cheeks became very hot. I could tell.

“You a chick magnet, Armor?” I asked teasingly.

That made him stop and look at me questioningly. “Uh… you mean as in an attractive older gryphon tercel?”

—

The small amount of content hissed and spat in the pan. They didn’t throw around all that much boiling grease, though. Mostly because there wasn’t any actual grease, just the meat-substitute, and the small amount of butter it was frying in.

I magicked a fork over and speared the strip in the pan and brought it to my mouth, chewing slowly and methodically, trying to sense everything about the flavor and texture.

“Yeah, this is a definite nominee,” I said, and placed a strip from another package in the pan and magicked it over to Spike. “Alright, fire when ready.”

Spike blew a small but very hot stream of green flames (green flames!!) at the bottom of the pan. I was still feeling a little guilty for dropping the pan right on his face earlier. It turns out that dragon fire does some weird things to unicorn magic, but he said he was fine, and now I was making a point of only holding the pan in the handle. (or "hoofle", or maybe even "mouthle" here in pony land) And I guess it was a good thing that it was Spike I dropped it on, with him being a dragon and therefore both covered in armor and completely fireproof. I probably wouldn’t have gotten away so easily, and three hospital visits in three days was quite enough, thank you.

I had another bite, letting Spike have a taste as well, and decided that these two would go pretty well together.

“Mmm. This is actually pretty good,” Spike said.

“Alright, I guess the consistency is gonna be a bit different from what I’m used to, but I think this’ll work,” I said.

“So should I start grating?” Armor asked from the table.

“Yeah, though I might as well do some of it. Need to train my magic and all,” I said.

“How much should I do?”

“I dunno. Do you want any?”

Armor looked contemplatively on the big lump of meat substitute he was holding up against the cheese grater. “Sure,” he said after a while. “Why not?”

“Alright, then you should go with your guts, I think you’re the most seasoned chef among us,” I said, and shot him a trollish grin.

Armor looked at me impassively for a while.

“... No,” he simply said with a small shake of the head, and went back to grating.

Some time later, my experiment with ingredients available in Equestria turned into the actual dinner. With Twilight joining in as well, saying that as a princess, she should have a broad culinary horizon.

“Mmm, this is really good,” Twilight said. “I was a bit worried about trying out some of the gryphons cuisine, but not anymore.”

“Well, this has a bit of a far east feel to it. I don’t know a lot about gryphons, but they don’t strike me as the ones to cook these kinds of meals,” I said, and paused, realizing that I hadn’t seen lot of mediterranean food in Canterlot, despite all the unicorns and marble palaces. “Then again, I wouldn’t know.”

“So what were you saying about Scrap’s plans?” Twilight asked.

“Mm, yeah, I think I’ve made some progress, and that perhaps he could help with the design of a limb. He would probably know better on how to place the weight and mechanical parts of the thing. I wore a prosthetic leg for years, but it turns out that I don’t know all that much about the fine details of how it functioned, and I would like an metallurgist to look at it.”

“You want them made out of metal?” Twilight asked. “I thought you were gonna make them out of gems.”

“Ah, that’s the beautiful part,” I said, smilingly. “I had this idea when I was going through my plans this morning, and I think I’m being really clever here.”

“Oh, can I see?” Twilight said.

“Sure, I just need to write it down properly,” I said and turned to Armor. “And I’m gonna set up in the basement. Now that I’ve had a taste of ‘home’, I need the sound of it, too.”

Armor looked at me in mild confusion, but I just remembered a conversation with him from earlier today, and turned to Twilight.

“Hey, Armor brought something up today, that I thought sounded right. If you were able to use magic to move me from Earth to Equestria, Equestrian magic must be able to interact with Earth.”

“Well, yes,” Twilight said. “I’m not sure I would’ve been able to detect Earth at all if it couldn’t.”

“Does that mean that there could be magic on Earth?” I asked.

“I would assume so,” Twilight said. “But if a species of your intelligence can’t use it, it must be very, very dormant.”

“Could it be awakened, so to speak, or actually, I think what I wanna get to is: can humans use magic?”

“I… would assume so too,” she said. “I hope so. It would be fascinating to see in what way it would manifest.”

“How would you think it would manifest?” I asked, curiosity almost overwhelming me.

Twilight put her hoof to her chin and looked out the window in contemplation. “Hard to say, but judging from how both ponies and other magic-using species on Equestria use magic, I’d say longer lives, greater health, and some sort of assistance in influencing the world around you.”

“Lives as long as ponies?” I asked.

“Uhm, possibly,” Twilight said with a shrug. “I’m a bit reluctant to study Earth closer after what happened the last time.”

I nodded, and for some reason, the main thought going through my head went, ‘I wonder what Michael Ironside’s career will look like in two hundred years.’

After dinner we relocated to the basement, where we unpacked my hard case with my guitar and harmonica, freshly arrived from Canterlot, and I spent the rest of the day alternating between practicing my magic and relearning to create music, and writing down my ideas for prosthetic legs while listening to sea shanty tunes on my computer.

I kept glancing over at Armor, who was relaxing in a lawn chair with a book, his head bobbing and his ears flopping to the tunes, and continuously had alternating feelings of joy and sadness. I was making really good progress, and soon I was gonna be able to be as independent as I wanted, with magic on top of that. But that would mean that I wouldn’t need Armor around anymore.

‘Well, this was always the plan. He’s not really your servant, he’s a soldier who befriended you. Duty calls and all that… duty calls to Princess Celestia, where he’s supposed to be stationed… and you have a suite at her place.’

My mood swinging over to happy again, I turned back to the parchments with my half-written plans.

—

It wasn’t a void. Or at least it didn’t feel like it.

I think a void is supposed to be cold and alone, and very depressive, both despairingly infinite yet upsettingly oppressive. This was more like the warm embrace of sleep. Fitting, since by now I had figured out that I was asleep.

“Yes, companionship,” the voice said. “It is not an easy thing to leave behind.”

We, and I say "we" because if it did turn out to be a projection of my subconsciousness or something that I was having conversations with in my dreams, I would’ve preferred to not think that I was talking to myself.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a real goodbye,” I said, the ‘words’, if it indeed was words, seemingly coming out per automatic. I guess you can’t hide things from your subconscious. “He’s gonna be in Canterlot, and he’s still gonna be my friend.”

The voice chuckled, his tone joyous and his voice silken, despite sounding like the color black had learned how to speak. “I approve,” it, or he, said. “Such a precious thing should be fought to be kept, and if lost, fought to be reclaimed.”

I’m not sure how much I was listening, or rather, registering. “Mm, you’re right,” I said. “I missed it.”

“So do I. But I will not miss it forever. What companionship was once mine shall be mine again. I shall make it so.”

“I’m sure you will,” I mumbled, as I fell back into dreamless sleep.

“Remember what you’ve been taught.”

—

I did remember. As I rolled out the parchments across Scrap’s workbench, It was a struggle to keep my smile from seeming too smug.

“So, an enchanted lapis lazuli core that resonates with my magical aura, inside a bronze casing, with all the various toughening enchantments and self repair enchantments and so on,” I said. ”And as you can see, I’ve left the core empty.”

“That’s a good idea,” Scrap said, looking closer at the plans. “It would cut a lot of weight.”

“So now we just need a properly fitting piece of lapis lazuli,” Twilight said.

“Ah, that’s one of the beautiful things about this idea. No, we don’t,” I said. “I was thinking back to how my prosthesis worked, the knee joint could only turn in one direction. I mean, it was great that it could turn and all, but it was really rigid. So I figured that we could encase a fine powder of enchanted lapis lazuli inside a bronze structure to allow it to move in any direction, then I figured we might as well do that with the whole thing.”

“Oh!” Twilight said. “Yes, if you enchant a powder, you don’t have to worry about the enchantment being disturbed by physically damaging the unit.”

Studded Armor was trying to follow along with what we were talking about. I could tell that he was having some trouble, but he was clearly impressed by this.

Scrap looked skeptical, though. “I looked into prostheses earlier, and one of the great obstacles is that the enchantments are very easily disturbed by outside influences. This would make it almost impossible to function around even background magic.”

“I thought about that,” I said. “I figured that we could enchant the bronze covering to seal the magic in the lapis lazuli, while at the same time using it to keep out unwanted influences, a bit like a faraday cage, then we simply adjust the sealing enchantment on the bronze covering to let the magical signature of my legs through, and nothing else.”

Scrap looked at me contemplatively, then down at the plans, then his gaze shot back at me again. It looked like he was gonna give a barking laugh, but instead it came out as a sigh and a long chuckle as he looked up into the ceiling.

Twilight did something much the same, but seemed to want Scrap to confirm my words.

After Scrap had finished chuckling, he looked back at me. “I don’t know what a ‘Faraday’ is, but I’m gonna start on it right away, because I’m not only hoping that you’re right, I really think you’re right,” he said and floated over some measuring tapes to us. “Oh please be right. I wanna see this work. I haven’t invented anything new, or been around when it was invented, in way too long.”

“How would you attach it, though?” Twilight asked.

“I seem to recall you mentioning a spell that attaches things to each other,” I said. “I’ll just wear something that I can attach it to.”

I sat on Armor’s back while Scrap measured my foreleg. “We’ll start with the front one, I think,” he said. “We’ll make two connected tubes, a bit thinner than your normal leg, so that we can pad it.”

“Mm, exactly. Then we’ll ask Rarity to come up with some way to cover it up,” I said.

“Yeah. I suppose this first one will be a prototype, so don’t worry if it doesn’t fit perfectly.”

Twilight seemed to wake out of a stupor at this. “Oh, that’s right, I was supposed to document everything!” she said. “I hope you don’t mind, Gabe. I want to make sure that this is never lost to time again.”

“I certainly don’t mind,” I said.

‘I remember watching shows and stuff with perfect replacement limbs, and pretty much stomping my foot frustratedly at modern medical technology, going, "Mmm! Come on!’’'

“You’re probably gonna end up in magical journals, too,” Twilight said.

That gave me pause. “... Okay,” I said, a bit hesitantly.

‘It’ll probably be worth it.’

—

The water on the pond was disturbed by another splash, caused by a blue magical orb.

“Duuh dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-deduh-duh, dun-deduh-duh.” I was happily humming the Airwolf theme from atop Armor’s back, as we hovered over the pond that me and the Crusaders had relaxed by two days ago. I didn't bring up what Airwolf was with Armor, though, as that might've made him nervous about where I would put the rocket engine.

My practice with magic in the last few days was starting to pay off, and now I was able to fire several of the little bolts of magic in a row. They probably wouldn’t do much if I tried using them in a practical scenario, but that didn’t matter to me at the moment.

“Haha! Pew pew!” I shouted happily, not caring the least about how childish I sounded, and sent another blast down against the water, where it made a satisfyingly large splash.

“Somepony seems happy about something,” Armor said smilingly.

“Well, it can’t be me, because ‘happy’ doesn’t adequately describe how I feel right now,” I said, grinning from ear to ear. “Everything seems to be going my way.”

“Everything, including dragons,” Armor said.

“Well, you made sure that wasn’t so bad,” I said, and decided that this was a good time to reinforce what I said a few days ago with a physical gesture, so I hugged Armor’s neck and nuzzled his cheek. “This is all going a lot faster than I thought, but thank you again for everything.”

Armor leaned into my nuzzling. “Well… thanks for giving me an interesting posting. Although, I’m supposed to stick around until you’re feeling comfortable as a pony, so I guess it’s your word that decides when I’m going back to Canterlot.”

I pulled away gently. “I was half expecting you to flush and stammer and stuff when I did this.”

“Well, I think we’re friendly enough by now, and nopony else is around,” Armor said.

“Isn’t that a bad thing for a bodyguard?” I asked teasingly.

“I bet my commanding officer would have some objections,” Armor said. “But I’m also pretty sure that your words hold more weight in this case.”

“Still having trouble wrapping my head around that. The only thing I’m used to having authority over was the MRI scheduling. Also, you might be wrong about there not being anyone else around,” I said and pointed to the ground in the distance, where the Crusaders were approaching.

“Giddy-up. No, wait, giddy-down,” I said, and Armor descended to the Crusaders.

“Hey, Gabe! Hey, Armor!” they said happily.

“Hey, guys,” I said.

“Hello,” Armor said.

“We heard that Cheerilee is gonna come over to Golden Oaks tomorrow to see you,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Really? Why?” I asked.

“I think she wants to know how smart you are and stuff,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh, okay. That makes sense,” I said.

The Crusaders looked at me curiously for a moment. “Cheerilee is a great teacher and all,” Apple Bloom said. “But I didn’t figure that you were looking forward to it that much.”

I realized that I was still smiling. “Oh, that’s mostly because it seems we’re making good progress on a replacement foreleg.”

The Crusaders’ eyes lit up at this. “Oooh!” they said in unison.

“Can we watch?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Sure,” I said. “In fact, Scootaloo, did Rainbow Dash find you yesterday?”

“Of course she did. She said that you wanted my help with something,” Scootaloo said, a bit cockily.

“Yeah, me, Twilight, and Armor’s uncle are all gonna be working on the prosthesis, and I think it would be good to have someone to model the motions after,” I said and gestured with my head towards Armor. “We have another pony who’s not working directly on the project, but there’s a bit of a size difference,”– Armor shrugged with his wings –”and since you offered to help, could you model? We’re about the same size.”

“Sure,” Scootaloo said.

“We can watch, too, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Sure, and then you can tell Rarity about it. She’s gonna make it look like a real limb,” I said.

After the arrangements had been made, the Crusaders continued on towards wherever they were going, while Armor and I went back to Golden Oaks, where I finished the day with my usual routine of reading up on enchantments, and practiced my magic on various things, including playing my old guitar. I promised myself that I would show the ukulele that Pinkie gave me some more love, too.

—

The next day, I was sitting in my room with my guitar, finally working up a routine and losing myself in my music. I could practically hear the harmonica joining in to the jaunty tune, when I heard a knock on the door.

Snapping out of my stupor, I struggled a bit for words. “Oh, uhm, ah yes?” I asked loudly.

The door opened, and Twilight poked her head through. “Hey, Gabe. Cheerilee, the school teacher, is here to see you.”

“Oh, okay, thanks,” I said, putting my guitar to the side of the bed.

“Did you play the harmonica as well just now?” Twilight asked, looking at me curiously.

“Uh, no?” I said. “Not that I noticed, at least.”

“Hm, that’s strange.” Twilight said, and gestured to her side, where an earth pony mare with purple coat and two-toned pink mane entered. “Anyway, this is Cheerilee, the schoolteacher of Ponyville. Cheerilee, this is Gabrielle Eleanor Desrochers.”

Cheerilee walked in with a smile that fell away immediately to give way to a look of barely concealed shock as she saw me.

I was ready for that, though. “Hello,” I simply said, and gave a little wave.

Twilight didn’t seem to notice, just as I intended, and simply said, “Alright, call if you need me.”

“Will do,” I said.

As the door closed, Cheerilee was still obviously struggling to regain her composure, and process my appearance.

My current demeanor probably didn’t help. Not that I was scowling at her or anything, but I was sitting in a slumped over, casual way, in my messy bed, with my slightly provocative hairdo, and a beautiful, but still kinda mean-looking, gleaming red guitar. Not to mention that I hadn’t bothered putting on an eyepatch, and my current prosthetic eye was resting in a glass of water on the bedside table. I guess all that, together with my obviously mutilated appearance and casual bearing, hinted a lot of things to a teacher, among them that I might not be impressed into obedience simply by virtue of her being an authoritative figure.

But the Crusaders liked her, so I simply decided to dial up the friendliness a notch, and gestured to the desk with the vacant chair. “This is technically Twilight’s residence, but make yourself at home anyway,” I said.

“Oh, uh, thank you,” she said, putting some papers on the desk, walked over to me, then offered her hoof. “Speaking of Princess Twilight, I’m sure she already said, but I’m Cheerilee. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. My name’s Gabrielle, but you can call me Gabe,” I said.

“‘Gabe’. That’s quite a shortening of a very interesting name.”

I shrugged casually. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said, and floated a cushion over to her from a shelf.

“It was,” Cheerilee said, and shot me a grateful smile as she sat down. “‘Gab… rielle, Eleanor… Desrochers.” She slowly spelled out my name. “That’s not a gryphon name, by any chance?”

I looked away to the side, not remembering how many times I’ve been asked that now. “Not as far as I’m aware, but I wouldn’t know. Does it sound like one?”

“A bit, yeah, and a pretty extravagant one, too,” Cheerilee said. “Twilight said she’d rather let you explain where you’re from and such, but she said that you have diplomatic immunity, and it almost sounds like it would be a name for gryphon royalty.”

‘Oh, yeah, I might be last descendant of a house of nobles who fled an attack on our estates by another noble family, only to be taken in by a gryphon royal family, who taught me the arts of combat and court intrigue, and prepared me to take back my destiny,’ I thought, before looking at my empty shoulder. ‘Then again, maybe not.’

“Well, I’m sure I could have someone register me under a more pony-sounding name, but for now, my name can simply be ‘Gabe’. So is this gonna be an evaluation?” I asked, gesturing with my head towards the papers on the desk.

“Among other things,” she said. “I’d also like for us to get to know each other a bit.”

‘This sounds promising for a teacher.’

“Alright, what did you have in mind?” I asked.

“Well, normally I’d just ask things like ‘What do you like to do?’, and ‘Have you found your special talent yet?’, and so on, but I’m really curious about you with your political status and such.”

“‘And such’?” I asked, with a small smirk.

“Well, uh,” she glanced at my right side before looking away. “I admit that I’m curious about that as well.”

“Alright, hold on, this might help,” I said, and floated my eye out of the water. I shook it twice, before raising my head and casually plopping it in.

‘I wonder if that’s magic as well, because this thing is really comfy.’

I aimed two eyes and a casual smile at Cheerilee. “Alright, fire away.”

“Well, okay... do you have any parents?” she asked.

“Nope. Lost them the same time I lost this,” I said and gestured towards my right side.

“How long ago was that?” she asked, her voice having quieted a bit.

“Ten years.”

“So you must’ve been very young,” she said, her voice now so cautious that she seemed reluctant to use it.

I let out a "hmm", and looked up at the ceiling. “You know,” I said and looked at her. “The only people here who knows where I’m from are heroes and military people. Almost makes me think that this is some state secret, but if I wasn’t allowed to tell you this, I think Twilight would have said so.

“So here it is. I’m actually from another world, I was brought here by accident, then the princesses took me in and gave me all that I have. I also belonged to a species without magic, who don’t live nearly as long as ponies, so I was, and still consider myself to be, an adult.” I decided to leave out Twilight’s role in me being here.

Cheerilee looked at me with wide eyes for a few moments, before seemingly just shrugging it off. “Okay, and the diplomatic immunity?”

“Is because I’m advising the princesses on a world that it might just get into contact with sometime again,” I said. “And probably because it lets me be a child on paper while not robbing me of freedoms.”

Cheerilee nodded slowly. “And you’re not a child?” she asked.

“I guess I am to you ponies, but I don’t consider myself one,” I said.

Cheerilee nodded some more. “I heard some rumors in the past few days, about a poor filly in a wheelchair. I was expecting it to be really bad, so I’m sorry for staring earlier.”

“That’s okay,” I said.

“And I heard that you made friends with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom,” Cheerilee said in a hopeful voice.

“Oh, yeah,” I said with a smile. “Yeah, we’ve already been on adventures. Sort of.”

“That’s nice,” Cheerilee said. “It’s easier to go to a new school when you already know some ponies there.”

I nodded in agreement, before realizing something. “And if you’re worried about how I’m gonna be treated because of this,” I said and nodded towards my right side. “Me, Twilight, and Scrap Armor are making good progress at some magical replacements, so I’m not worried.”

“Oh? That… sounds interesting, I must say. I guess that brings us to magic. You said that you didn’t have any before coming to Equestria, if I understood it correctly.”

“That’s right,” I said.

“Can you tell me how school worked?”

That caught me off-guard. “Well… there was mostly rows of students looking at a teacher who told them all the things.”

Cheerilee jotted something down on a notepad, which caught my interest because she was using her mouth to do so, but paused when I said this. “That’s it?” she asked, her pencil still in her mouth.

“Well, that’s not all,” I said. “Then there was stuff like projects and essays and things like that.”

Cheerilee nodded and made some more notes. “Alright, I guess without magic, there wouldn’t be much point in talent hours,” she said, seemingly half to herself

“Talent hours?” I asked.

Cheerilee finished some notes, before setting the paper down and looking at me. “Talent hours are the time of school where I help colts and fillies with their special talents. I let them practice them in new ways, so that they can really grow.”

“Oh,” I said, and scratched my muzzle. “Okay. Are there any lectures?”

“Yes, for things like math, and geography, and science,” Cheerilee said.

“So, fact-based subjects?” I asked.

Cheerilee seemed a taken aback by that. Maybe because my vocabulary, but I don’t know. “Uh, yes, more or less.”

“What do you do if you don’t have a special talent, though?” I asked.

“You’re free to study whatever you wish, or go out and try and find it,” she said.

“Aren’t you worried that people are just skipping school in that case?” I asked with a small smile.

“Well, there’s nopony who doesn’t want to find their special talent, and I know that your friends are trying to find theirs,” Cheerilee said with a smile.

“Fair enough,” I conceded. “So maybe we should get started on that evaluation, I want to know what subjects you have in this world.”

I studied a lot of math in school. More than I can remember, and I never got any use out of most of it. The first possible exception was during an evaluation with a magical pony on another world, where despite feeling really rusty, I breezed through the most advanced stuff Cheerilee had. So in the end, I managed to impress an alien with it. Yay me.

On the other hoof, I was close to oblivious when it came to history and things like that, here in Equestria that is. Magic theory was slightly better, but I was still held back by my unfamiliarity with the lingo. Speaking of which, I did also impress Cheerilee with my ability to speak three languages, further reinforcing the image that I might’ve been raised by gryphons.

“Alright,” Cheerilee said. “These were some interesting results. I’ve made a list here for you if you want to study some of the subjects that you’re, well, lacking in. You can find all of these at the local –” she faltered a bit here as she realized where she was “– library,” she finished with a bashful smile.

“I believe you,” I said with a smile, and magically grabbed the list.

“Do you have any other questions?” she asked.

“Hmm,” I said. “Not at the moment.”

“Well, Twilight can show you where I live if you think of anything else. Hope to see you in school,” Cheerilee said as she packed up her things and walked towards the door.

“You too,” I said.

I threw myself back against the covers and sighed. It had been getting difficult to focus on mundane things like numbers and languages. It was almost lunch time, and Scrap had promised that he would be finished with the base for the prototype after that.

—

Scrap held the shimmering bag up to his muzzle, seeming a bit distracted by the eleven eyes looking at him.

“Maybe we should open a few windows?” he said. “I don’t usually have this many ponies in here.”

Armor, Twilight, and the Crusaders all opened all the windows of the observatory/workshop, and went back to look at Scrap with me.

“Alright, I guess we’ll just begin,” he said, and turned to me. “How about you perform the enchantment that you used to move the gem with earlier, and I’ll try and help make it as smooth as possible?”

“Uh, okay,” I said. “How does it work when several people enchant something together?”

“Much like any situation where somepony assists somepony else, only with magic. Just start magicking, and I’ll try and figure how you did it, and see if I can add anything to it,” Scrap said, putting the bag down on the table in front of us, and put his magic goggles down over his eyes.

“Alright,” I said, and projected myself myself into my horn.

I held the phantom outline of my foreleg out, and magicked the bag of gem dust (courtesy of Spike’s teeth) along with it, matching the pulsating lights and swirling shapes. It was a bit tricky, though. Working with the powder was best described as "slippery", compared to the solid thing, and the dust made small jumps and pops inside the bag.

“Slow down, try doing it more methodically,” Scrap said.

“Alright, but I’m still new to this,” I said.

As I tried a slower approach, I strained more, but it also gave Scrap some time to figure out what I was doing, and how to help me. It was a bit like having someone grabbing your hand and positioning it the right way. I automatically kind of jibbed at his magical presence, but I could also tell how much better his way of doing things were.

After we had finished, the contents of the bag responded perfectly to whatever I did with my phantom limb, but it also squirmed and made little jumps all the time.

All ponies present looked at the bag with curiosity.

Scrap, who still had his goggles over his eyes, scanned the present ponies.

“Scootaloo, right?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Scootaloo answered a bit hesitantly.

Scrap held out an inviting foreleg. “Could you rear up against the table and flap your wings a bit?”

Scootaloo hesitantly approached the table. “Do you want me to fly or something?” she asked nervously.

“No, just flap your wings in different ways,” Scrap said. “You should see what I mean when you do.”

Scootaloo put her forelegs against the edge of the metal table, and did a little wave with her wings.

The bag with the enchanted dust immediately reacted, flattening against the table, and still continued to twitch and squirm. We all looked on in fascination, Scootaloo’s eyes being especially wide.

She continued doing little waves and flaps with her wings, with the bag reacting seemingly at random to the various little movements, doing little jumps and rolls.

“So, for all attendants wondering what’s going on,” Scrap said to the room at large. “We’ve made an enchantment that, as far as I can tell, responds perfectly with Gabe’s arcanomorphic field, and as an unwanted part of the bargain, it also responds very unpredictably to just about every piece of magic around. The little squirms are from background magic, while the larger movements are from Scootaloo’s wings.”

Twilight had been following along perfectly, of course, but Armor and the Crusaders let out a collective "aaah" in comprehension.

“Kind of worthless for a replacement limb in itself, in other words, but as Gabe figured out”– Scrap held up the metallic foreleg –”we should be able to isolate it in a container, which only lets through the magical signature of Gabe’s arcanomorphic field.”

There was another "aaah", this one longer and a bit delayed.

“So if you’ll all just– by the way,” Scrap said and looked at me. “What was that thing you did through the whole process? I couldn’t figure it out.”

There was one thing that Scrap hadn’t assisted me with, I figured that he didn’t have any insight to offer, but now I figured out that he didn’t know what I was doing. “Oh, I think you mean the on and off switch.”

Scrap looked like he was gonna say something, but stopped himself.

“See, we’d have trouble removing the bag from me if I didn’t figure out a way to turn it off,” I said.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Good thinking. Anyway, if you all just stand over there in the corner, I’m gonna try and pour this into here with as little magic as possible interfering.”

“This is so cool!” Scootaloo said, as Scrap was tying the bag around the top of the metallic leg. “Are you gonna have super strength with that thing?”

“Actually, yes,” I said. “This is only a prototype, but it’s gonna be pretty strong, and there’s room for other enchantments both on the dust, and on the ‘rig’.”

“Cool!” Apple Bloom said, and turned to Sweetie Belle. “Hey, we should go tell Rarity. She can make it look just like Gabe’s real leg.”

“Hay, yeah,” Sweetie Belle said and the three started cantering towards the door.

“Hold it, Scootaloo,” Scrap said from the corner. “You were gonna help us get the anatomy of the real thing right.”

“Oh, right,” Scootaloo said. “You get Rarity, I’ll stay here.”

“Now, Gabe, could you switch this on before I seal this thing?” Scrap asked, holding the bag against the hole on the top of the foreleg.

I wheeled myself over and did so, before Armor sealed it. Then, with some difficulty, he managed to pour the enchanted dust into the lower foreleg, and the hoof.

“Alright, now we just enchant the base to attach to your, uh, shoulder,” Scrap said, and held up the piece of textile that Twilight had provided two attachment enchantments on.

It was smooth sailing from here, the plugs of the bronze structure having to be a two-step construction, one to physically seal the dust in, and one to seal the enchantment. We considered this to be an acceptable solution during the development-process, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to remove the leg without wiping the enchantments and doing the whole sealing thing over again.

In the future, we’d probably conjure up a solution to let a custom "activation spell" through, but for now, my attention was focused on the leg finally being attached to me.

The leg was magically attached to the textile base, which was in turn magically attached to me, a bit like double-sided tape (which we were gonna come up with a better version for in the future). I moved my ghostly foreleg into the physical one, and it responded immediately.

“It’s working,” I said in a small voice, and lifted it up to inspect it, turning it around. I would’ve done the dramatic looking thing where I clenched the fist, but that obviously wasn’t an option. “It’s really working.”

Twilight hadn’t been taking notes for once, instead she was looking on in fascination as my new foreleg responded perfectly to everything I expected an actual limb to do. “Congratulations,” she said, and gave me a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Y– yeah,” I said, filled with more emotions than I knew what to do with. “Thank you, too.”

Scrap was looking intently at the limb giving such lifelike little movements and twitches. “You know,” he said slowly. “We’re planning on making improved versions, but I could have a hind leg like this one ready in less than two hours. We have more than enough gem dust for it. So you can start practicing today.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. “If it’s not a problem.”

“Of course not,” Scrap said happily. “Then we can–” he was interrupted by the door flying open, and Rarity storming in with a manic look on her face.

“I heard! I hea– oh!” she stopped herself as she saw Scrap, and calmly walked up to him, but with some noticeable twitches in her legs, and raised her foreleg. “Good day to you, sir. I am Rarity, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Charmed. I’m Scrap Armor,” Scrap said with a calm smile, took her hoof in his, and just barely brushed his lips against it. In the background, his nephew rolled his eyes.

“Oh! Hoho,” Rarity giggled. “And I understand that you have been instrumental in assisting our dear Gabrielle with the construction of a replacement for her foreleg.”

Scrap simply gestured towards me, and Rarity walked up to me with a look of anticipation in her eyes.

“May I?” she asked, and held out her foreleg.

I offered my newest addition in the body department, and she took the rough-looking metal construction in her hoof and inspected it. “So it is functional?” she asked.

By now, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came in through the door as well, their panting stopping as they saw me moving my artificial limb.

“Ohohoho! Magnifique! <And with some work on my end, its appearance shall match its function in beauty>,” Rarity said.

It took some moments for me to get my bearings, but I was happy for the distraction from all the emotions swirling inside me. “Uuuh, <yeah, that sounds great, but why are we speaking French>?”

Rarity held her hoof to her chest in surprise. “Oh! <I’m sorry, I didn’t– wait! You speak–” she stopped herself and looked around at the assorted ponies around us “– I mean> Uh, I mean, I’m sorry, I must’ve lost myself there, and you…” she said to me before trailing off and shaking her head. “Oh, I came to offer taking part of the aesthetic part of your marvelous construction, just as we agreed,” she said.

I looked down at the unpolished construction, and turned it around a bit. “Yeah, but just so you know, this isn’t going to be the final product,” I said.

“Oh, it matters not!” Rarity said and shook her head. “There shall be no repeat incident from what you told me about the market. Come with me, and we shall make it so!”

I looked back at Scrap, who seemed more than a little amused at the whole thing. “Go on. Check back in two hours, and I shall have a hind leg ready.”

“Alright then, let’s go, I guess,” I said, and started wheeling towards the door.

I didn’t get very far before Rarity magicked me up on Armor’s back.

“There is no time, my dear. We must fly!” Rarity exclaimed and dramatically posed towards the exit before cantering out of it in the direction of her boutique.

Armor and I looked at each other, before he gently took off and caught up with her. Twilight and Scootaloo looked on in confusion for a moment before following, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle let out a sigh and pantingly followed, too.

—

The storm that was Rarity’s work routine kept me distracted from things I didn’t want to focus on while there was people around. A hurricane of different fabrics was flowing all around us, as we were sitting on an assortment of cushions while Rarity babbled about her plans.

“Something strong, yet soft. With an outer layer that can easily be washed, and the whole thing should be able to be worn when washing,” she said to herself. I thought that last part sounded like an excellent idea, too.

I was busy looking down at the metallic limb, turning it in different angles and marveling at how responsive it was, when I glanced up and saw Rarity inches away from my face.

“So, Gabe, could you please stand up on the catwalk?” she asked, managing to keep her tone somewhat conversational.

I looked up at the small catwalk, then down at my right thigh. “I dunno, I haven’t even had the chance to try standing with more than two legs yet.”

Armor’s wing enveloped me, and gently lifted me up with its beguiling strength, holding up my lower half. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold you like this.”

“Ah, okay, thanks,” I said.

We slowly walked over to the edge of the catwalk, my left legs making soft clopping sounds, while my right one made metallic clacks. Armor’s grip around me hardened, and he jumped up on the platform with one beat of his free wing.

“Scootaloo, would you please stand next to Gabe?” Rarity asked.

Scootaloo did a little jump, and clambered up next to us.

“Now then,” Rarity said. “I would like the two of you to walk back and forth, slowly. Twilight and I shall take notes about the finer details of the movements, I want to know where to make the covering flexible, where to make it taut, and so on. Twilight, you were…” she trailed off and gestured towards Twilight.

“I’d like to take notes on balance and weight distribution, how the metallic one compares to an organic one,” Twilight said. “And things like that.”

“Oh, I also need to remember to ask Scrap to add some way to attach the covering to the leg,” Rarity said.

“Good thinking,” Twilight said.

“And I need to remember to see if I can perhaps add a sense of touch to the covering,” I said.

“Also good thinking,” Twilight said, as she and Rarity floated up clipboards in front of them. “Begin, please.”

And so we did. I had been on a display where I relearned to walk before. This time, I couldn’t hold on to any railing, of course, but Armor helped instead.

The whole thing was fairly uneventful. Rarity and Twilight were taking notes, occasionally asking some questions, and I was stumbling along, with Armor’s help, next to Scootaloo. This wasn’t the way I was going to be walking in the end, but it still felt pretty useful, learning what movement shifted my weight in what way and such. The greatest flaw with the design of the leg was probably the attachment base. We decided to try and make it more accommodating to the muscles stretching and flexing against it. The hind leg wouldn’t need as much customisation, though, since I still had a good bit left to attach it to.

Little more than an hour after this, in which we alternated between walking and having tea and biscuits, there was a knock on the door.

“So sorry to ask this, but who is it?” Rarity called.

“It’s Scrap Armor,” Scrap’s voice sounded from outside.

Rarity opened the door with a surprised look. There stood Scrap with what I could only assume was a metallic hind leg wrapped in cloth.

“This went a lot faster than I thought. It took a while to cool it off without warping it, though,” he said, and unwrapped the creation. “I already filled it, and I think it’s ready to use.”

“Oh?” Rarity said, and floated some more papers up to her face. “Another round, then!” she exclaimed.

And so another limb was attached to me, and there was another bout of walking up and down the catwalk. The new addition didn’t hurt, but I could tell that it was going to start chafing after prolonged use, and that was added to the list of things to fix to the final creation.

After another hour. Rarity was ready with two tubes of royal blue fabric that could be slid over the limbs. It didn’t fit perfectly, but they were soft, and only a few movements hinted that they weren’t the real things. They were noticeably colder to the touch, though.

I sat and looked at my new limbs, the only thing visually giving them away as replacement being the dull metallic tinge of their hooves, at least from a distance. By now, I was exhausted. Both for wobbling up and down for hours, and for holding all my emotions in in front of everyone.

I think my composure was starting to show some cracks, though, when I stood up by myself and walked around a few steps before slumping down on the cushion again.

“Uhm,” Armor spoke up a bit hesitantly. “Maybe we should call it a day?”

“Nonsense! We’re making such good progress. One should strike while the iron is hot, and I was thinking that... ” Rarity trailed off when she saw me. “Although, perhaps you are right. This has been a very productive day, and we’re not working with iron in any case. What do you say, Gabe?”

I shot Armor a grateful look. “I… think that perhaps this could be a good time to finish up for today,” I said.

“Alright, we’ll just take another day to, uh, convene on what the end product should entail?” Twilight said, and started wrapping up the parchments with her notes. “I think we’ve made a lot of progress today.”

I looked up at the assorted ponies, and made an exertion to give them all a great smile. “Thanks, everyone.”

Before anyone could respond, the Crusaders simply walked up to me and gave me a group hug. I’m proud to say that I barely cringed and my hugging them back barely felt stilted.

“Hey, no need to thank me,” Scrap chuckled. “It’s nice to know that if something really bad happens, you know how to patch me up.”

“And I appreciate your gratitude, dear,” Rarity said. “But I’d do it again. Eagerly. And I will!”

As the Crusaders broke away, Twilight smiled at me and offered me her hoof. “Come on, let’s go home,” she said.

Everyone started slowly filing out of Rarity’s boutique, into the orange light of the setting sun, with me and Armor taking up the rear.

“Actually, Twilight,” I said. “Perhaps you could go on ahead,” I said, limping only a little bit.

Armor and Twilight looked at me.

“Okay, I'll uh, see you later, then,” she said after a while, and walked away in the direction of Golden Oaks.

Armor and I stood in silence for a moment, with him no doubt wondering what he should do.

“I think I saw a hill in that direction,” I said.

Armor followed, and after a minute or two of me walking very slowly, he simply bent down beside me. I wordlessly climbed up on his back, it being much easier to hold on with four limbs, and away we went.

We set down on the hill, empty of ponies, with a single tree and a single bench, and I climbed off his back.

I walked over to the bench, and jumped up to it. In some ways, I was still thinking that I was wearing some of those electric prosthetics from Earth, but my new limbs responded with the strength and speed that I wanted, so the bench-climbing was a lot easier than I expected.

I sat down, looked at my new limbs, and then up at Armor.

“Armor, thanks for everything today, and all the other days, but I’d like to be alone right now,” I said, my voice small and sounding a bit distant.

Armor didn’t say anything, he simply stood there and watched me with a very hesitant look.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I just need some time by myself.”

Armor was quiet for a while, before saying, “Okay,” in a soft voice, and taking off.

I watched him fly away, keeping low and moving between the houses, then simply fell down against the bench.

I laid there for a while. I couldn’t tell how long, but it couldn’t have been too long, since the sun hadn’t moved all that much when I sat back up and looked at my new foreleg.

I turned the limb around, looking at it from different directions, marveling at how easy it moved.

I turned the hoof, looking at the empty space where a frog would’ve been, before the feelings I had held in for the last few hours suddenly washed over me.

I almost furiously tore at the blue covering that Rarity had made, folding it down over the upper leg, and giving me access to the plug that would allow magic to enter it. I moved the plug, then turned the enchantment "off".

The limb fell off me immediately, completely lifeless. I took it in my other foreleg and threw it pathetically as far as I could.

It landed a small ways away, and I flung myself back against the bench, and sobbed quietly.

Again, I didn’t know how long I was lying there, but again, it couldn’t have been long, judging by the light, when I felt someone gently put their hoof on my now empty shoulder.

“Gabe?” I heard a familiar voice say, and I looked up at a face that, for a moment, I didn’t recognize.

It was Redheart, her hat missing and her mane flowing loosely around her face, and my new limb held in a foreleg.

I didn’t answer, and instead simply stopped my sobbing and sat up, the occasional tear still running from my left eye.

Redheart sat down beside me, and held me close to her side.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that I knew you were here,” she said. “But let’s just say a little– a big bird, told me.”

I was relieved to find out that I didn’t feel angry, or even irritated, at Armor. “Why are you here, though?” I asked, keeping my voice free of accusation.

Redheart was quiet for a moment. “Because I think you’d like some company,” she said.

I didn’t say anything, only letting out a sigh.

Redheart tightened the hug. “Go on,” she said quietly. “I think this would be a good time to let some things out.”

I nuzzled into her barrel, just like I had a week ago, and softly sobbed.

“It’s perfect,” I said, between sobs.

“I know,” Redheart said.

“It’s perfect. It’s better than I would ever have been able to have.”

Redheart gently moved her hoof up and down against my side.

“It’s all so amazing. It’s magic, and I can do anything, and I have everything, and I have so many friends,” I kept babbling.

Redheart simply let out a soft humming sound.

“And they’re never coming back,” I said, before letting out a much bigger round of sobbing.

Redheart tightened her hug further. “No, they’re not,” she said sadly, but matter-of-factly.

We stayed like that for a while. The only sound being my sobbing, the intervals of which grew until they faded completely.

I looked up into Redheart’s eyes.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“Well, no,” I said.

“Yeah, but, do you think that you will feel better?”

“... Yeah,” I said.

Redheart smiled at that, and grabbed the limb that she had put beside her. “Alright, now you gotta show me how this thing works,” she said with a smile.

I let out a final sniff. “Okay,” I said, and magically grabbed it. “It’s a prototype, but it works like this.”

Redheart was fascinated by the construction, impressed enough by what I showed her, even with all the workarounds, and even more impressed by what we had planned for the actual thing so far.

“Well, there’s nothing I can say that you don’t already know,” she said as she held up the limb in position for me to attach it.

“I know, but thank you anyway,” I said.

“No problem, I hope it helped.”

“It did,” I said. “One of those annoying emotional things, I guess. Constantly needing to prove things that you already know.”

“Yeah, but you’re not alone in that. I just asked you if this helped, didn’t I? Despite knowing that it did,” she said.

“I guess you did,” I said.

“Alright. I think Twilight and Armor are waiting for you at Golden Oaks,” she said and stood on the ground. “Race ya?”

“Heh. Yeah, sure,” I said with a shrug.

Redheart started gently trotting towards the buildings, and I followed as well as I could. As the sun shone its final rays for the day from behind us, I let one more tear roll from my eye, this one anything but sad.

Author's Note:

As always, cred to Topaz Moon and Eckaji for their prereading and feedback.

Edit: Also, kudos to those who gets the John Carpenter + Acq Inc-reference

Comments

[Szalhi]

Damn. I made it to the end.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351336 What, you didn't think you would? I did

[Greatazuredragon]

“So, you working hard, or hardly working?” I asked, only slightly deadpanned.

That's so fitting for that blue daredevil...

Nice chapter, good work.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351369 Thank you. I'm glad you like it, especially as one of my veteran readers

[Snow]

D'awwww! So much

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351442 My art, man. It like, does things to people
Thanks

[Themaskedferret]

Another beautiful chapter. Poor Gabe, I've been in a similar sort of position and you captured that dissonance perfectly.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351472 Yeah it made sense to write it like that. Which is a bit strange, because if I have any reference for that kind of sadness, I can't remember it

Anyway, I'm glad you like

[kontonken]

I will never stop loving this fic!
Happy to see an update, and eagerly anticipating for to follow.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351559 Just like that Whitney Houston song (and around fifty or so Bon Jovi songs)

I'm gonna keep writing, and try not to disappoint you. And thanks

[drone_r0m-3]

In a detached kind of way, it was just a bacterial-rich substance mixing with bacterial-rich substance. But in a detached kind of way, that brown stuff that coats your wash-basin is just soap-residues and chalk. If that reasoning ever held water, it popped like a balloon when I felt my tail being lifted.

memegasms.com/media/created/hy0xrg.jpg

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351584 Something like that, but I'm under the impression that actual fecal transplants come in this paste-like form
"For your digestive microbiome to recoup, choose someone else's poop!" Paraphrased from Minutephysics

[Orbiting Kettle]

Nice new chapter, it was well worth the wait. And your Rainbow Dash was spot on.

[Mare Imbrium]

Quite the chapter. It's a long one, but I think it works as a boundary. Very tangible progress! Makes me wonder when she'll get the idea to enchant her glass eyes to give visual stimulus.

Actually, given that they already have some enchantments, she'll probably have to get that one pony to assist. But if the principles she's using in her prosthetics have transference, she could probably do some pretty interesting things. Like on-the-fly spectrum configuration (think NIR, UV, and everything a mantis shrimp can see), low-light enhancement, thermal imaging, high resolution zoom, snapshots, remote connection, maybe an AR HUD...

Six-Million-Bit Mare. Or maybe Shatterhoof.

The voice in her head is starting to become a bit more disconcerting, though. What's up with that?

[Misdirection01]

Great chapter, gave me warm fuzzies while reading. Looking forward to the next.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351622 Even though she apparently knows latin? Thanks

7351635 Not that long. Far from my longest chapter

The eye might be enchanted, but I think I wanna keep it very limited right now. Once you can make magical wetware, I'm not sure what else you could make, but it would be a lot, so it would be hard for me to keep the story sensible

Ooh, 'Shatterhoof'! I like that

As for the voice, well, it might have something to do with the larger story-arc on the horizon, so I won't spoil it in the comment-section. Send me a pm if you want me to reveal it, though, or if you just want hints

And thanks for the compliments

7351642 Feelings! And the ones I was going for! *Fistpump* Yes!

Thanks, and I think I'm looking forward to writing it, once my creativity-core has been recharged and realigned

[Greatazuredragon]

7351375 No problem.
Hey could I ask for a favor? I recently published a story of my own, "Frozen Tears", could you check it out and tell me your thoughts about it?

[drone_r0m-3]

“Duuh dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-dun-dun-duuh, dun-deduh-duh, dun-deduh-duh.” I was happily humming the Airwolf-theme from atop Armor’s back, as we hovered over the pond that me and the Crusaders had relaxed by two days ago.

YES! Finally someone who appreciates both quality 80's television and has been given the opportunity to fly.

Doing "Human in Equestria" right!

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351708 I can indeed, I'll send you a PM

7351712 ... and shoot things

I was hoping that scene would warrant comments

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

This chapter was amazing. I was considering if it was moving a bit too fast, the limb replacements finally moving from theory to full usage, but it was done not only well, but had the warm and fuzzy emotional section afterwards which, let's be honest, is the real meat of the thing.

I love the mixture of Slice of Life elements (and world building) here with actual progress. I was expecting discoveries of unintentional but useful features and unforeseen setbacks mixed together, and we may still get that in the future since it's still the first prototype.

Still, it's amazing to everypony involved that it worked out so well. So much so, you have to wonder why more effort hasn't been put into enchanted augmentation. I mean, what about wings? How about for ponies without natural wings? Similar stuff you can wear for cloud manipulation work, and horns for the homeless, too. And she is just working with trying to make legs as realistic as possible, let alone trying to give them features beyond normal limbs.

(Was I the only one who couldn't help but question what wing attachments could do for Scootaloo? I mean, we have proof that she can greatly affect the same stuff that powers the limbs...)

I'm greatly looking forward where the story goes from here, as well as the occasional situation that beg to take advantage of false limbs that function so good you can barely tell it isn't the real thing at a glance.

[Orbiting Kettle]

7351664
I like to think she learned per osmosis when she is with Fluttershy, and that our beloved animal-carer is a bit of a chatterbox when she's alone with ponies she trusts.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7351855

had the warm and fuzzy emotional section afterwards which, let's be honest, is the real meat of the thing.

Well, yeah. There were complaints about the last chapter which didn't have much of that. I struggled a bit to figure out how to fix that for this chapter

I was expecting discoveries of unintentional but useful features and unforeseen setbacks mixed together, and we may still get that in the future since it's still the first prototype.

Mmhm. There might be a part where Gabe is experimenting on propellant-systems for her grappling hook-launcher, and ends up creating a high-power mass-accelerator

I mean, what about wings? How about for ponies without natural wings?

On the to-do list. It might come from the atmosphere-manipulating parachute+general purpose-cloak that Gabe will be working on.

Anyway, as my prereader, Topaz, has pointed out that I should add, prosthetic replacements will probably have some drawbacks. I'm thinking that it's a bit of a drain on a pony's magical reserves to use them.

When it comes to Scootaloo: My headcanon is that she might be a bit over-talented when it comes to flying. Her wings are super-powered, but leaks magic like sieves. Her trying to fly is a bit like a propellers trying to move a plane when they're going super-sonic. Once her wings have developed enough to contain and control all the magic they exude, she's gonna give Rainbow a run for her money (which Rainbow probably suspects).

I'm greatly looking forward where the story goes from here, as well as the occasional situation that beg to take advantage of false limbs that function so good you can barely tell it isn't the real thing at a glance.

Hey, don't keep it to yourself. Share some ideas

And I'm very glad you liked it. Thanks for the kind words

7351865 My thoughts exactly

[RantingPirate]

My first reaction to the title of this chapter: "That sounds like an interesting name for a law firm."

[Mortefleur]

Nice to see Gabe get a leg up in life.... Or two

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7352117 Flim and Flam's latest scheme, hm?

7352221 Pull the other leg, it's got a horse on it

[Mortefleur]

7352429

Does it come with a free meal?

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7352450 That depends. Can you catch a unicorn with super-strong legs?

[Mortefleur]

7352453

Eventually, through either intelligence or Endurance hunting like our ancestors of old.

[zooba]

Now she just needs to replace the hoof with an unfoldable set of fingers so she can still grab things with it.

[The Rogue Wolf]

“No, but I wanted one. I could’ve had one over at Fluttershy’s, but she kept cooing and playing with these blue tits,” Rainbow Dash said.

Well, come on. Who doesn't like playing with big bouncy tits?

vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/uncyclopedia/images/1/18/Bouncing_tits.gif/revision/20090227175828

I didn't understand that final part at first, and then it dawned on me- Gabe's gotten new legs, a new life, new friends... but her parents are still gone, and she feels like she's cheating.

[Azreal DuCain1]

7352453
Depends on how much they like legs.

[Pio286]

It’s in quite a few stories. The hero, or protagonist at least, probably human, but perhaps elven or something like that depending on the setting I guess, has a steed. It’s strong, and intelligent, and loyal, and brave, or at least well-trained. Probably looks magnificent, too. It comes when the hero whistles, and if he, the hero (it’s usually a he, I think) gets separated from the brave steed, and is later wounded in a fight and heroically limps through the wilderness for a while before collapsing from exhaustion and his wounds, his loyal and intelligent steed will show up to carry him off to get medical attention. It’s so smart, it practically understands what the hero’s saying.

I'm soo sorry

[DMakkam]

There are some things that I've spotted...

Duty calls and all that… duty calls to to Princess Celestia,

Double 'to'.

while at the same using it to keep out unwanted influences,

You seem to be missing 'time' there. (I may be wrong here)

Oh, yeah, I might be last descendant of a house of nobles

There's something missing here.

I asked, gesturing with my head towards the papers on the desk.”

Stray end quotation.

I one more tear roll from my eye,

I don't know about this one...

I know I missed more, but I didn't list it down or I completely didn't notice it.

Otherwise, it was a great read. Some laughs here and there, and engrossed all throughout.

[dargonax]

Haha blue tits i laughed way to hard at that!

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7352493 Good thing I'm not a horse, then. Those are my dump-stats

7352673 That's a little mundane, don't you think? She can have so much more!

7352752 Whenever there are Great Tits around, there's a lot of 'peep-peep-peep-peeping'

'Cheating', how? And yes, she would probably want to show her parents her new limbs, and tell them that things are looking up for her and to not worry about her, but getting back all of the things she's been missing really highlighted what she can never get back, and who she can never get back. Joy and sadness in an ethereal duet

7353111 I approve of your approval It's always nice to know you're doing something right

7353280 Then they better keep them striped socks of'a them legs if they don't want me after 'em

7353488 Luckily, Armor's not that stupid.

Don't worry, though, we're gonna see more of Snips & Snails

7353562

Duty calls and all that… duty calls to to Princess Celestia,

Double 'to'.

'to to Princess Celestia'?... "Celestia in a tutu!" New expletive? I'm making a note of that

Fixed the rest, changed 'roll' to 'rolled' in the last part. Not sure about the one with nobles houses, that still looks fine to me
Edit: Actually, I think I needed to add a 'let' to that last sentence. Changed again.

Thanks for both the help and the kind words

7353563 Rainbow's fun to be around

[Opponent]

I'm kinda interested how lady Sunset Shimmer would react to this.

[zooba]

7353886
A Swiss Army Prosthetic then? The best one of those that comes to mind off the top of my head is John Silver's from Treasure Planet.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7353976 React to what? The human in Equestria? Magical replacement-limbs? Also, lady Sunset Shimmer?

7353980 Possibly, but why stop there? Ray-guns, jetpacks, what else can you put in there? And I do plan on giving her a grappling hook-launcher

[Opponent]

7353989 Mostly magical replacement limbs, but the whole situation as well. As for lady, well... Not royalty or anything, but she WAS Celestia's personal student. That alone should count for something, and knowing Celestia she might not even officially revoke it.

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7353995 Ah, good point. I should probably watch the movies again if I want get a feel for how she would react, but pre-Equestria Girls Sunset would probably either want to harness any power that replacement-limbs can offer in some way, or just be dismissive of them compared to the power of the Elements of Harmony. Post-Equestria Girls Sunset would probably be fascinated by it, and if she knew Gabe, congratulate her on the whole affair.

I'm not sure how she would react to the situation as a whole, though.

[Mortefleur]

7353886

Why would you dump stat Intelligence god damn it.

Bloody Fighters & Barbarians

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7354181 Fighters and barbarians? I'm talking real li– or, wait! Ehm... uh, yes, my... barbarians have low intelligence. That's right, 'glances around nervously'

[Cyber V]

Can you please explain to me what she meant by "they're not coming back"? It's always a treat to see this story update thank you

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7354273 Gabe is actually ahead of where she was before coming to Equestria, she has magic, all her limbs, and a bunch of friends, but no matter what, she can never get her parents back. That's what she was sad about. The one thing she wants the most is the one thing she can never get.

... Hey, that's just like Harry Potter, now that I think about it

And you're welcome for the update. Thank you for voicing your appreciation

[Cyber V]

7354350 okay that's what I thought of first, the other thought was that the possibilities of going back home are now gone with her life moving forward

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7354361 Oh. Yeah, I guess I can see that, but no, she doesn't miss Earth all that much.

I guess I could've hammered it home more about how her life back on Earth was dull and grey and kind of frustrating, but I didn't want it to seem too obvious that I wrote Gabe as someone who would believably say goodbye to Earth and love it in Equestria

[Moowell]

(green flames!!)

Now wondering if Gabe was simply amazed at the sight, or if she used to watch Acquisitions Inc...

[Snakeskin Ducttape]

7354593 You, my good pony, earn a kudos for that

[Moowell]

7354598
I guess I have my answer

[nocara]

7354799 Who doesnt?! XD
Btw I still reading so I cant give my final opinion, but so far I am hooked at your writing style :)