Chapter 2 - The Prisoner (Edited 12.10.2016 by JBL)
Darkness. There was nothing but swirling gloominess around me, smothering my very being. No matter how hard I strained, there was nothing to be made out in this void. I shivered, the chill biting into me. Was I dead? Was this what death was like? The freezing cold in the abyss?
What had happened to me? Oh right, the column of water and the orb of light. Was that the light people who had near-death experiences always spoke of? The afterlife? The next life? Why was there no one here to greet me, then? Mom? Dad? Grandpa? Anyone?
I was alone here…
Was this hell, then? There weren’t any flames, no torment, no devils or pitchforks. I shook my head. That was a ridiculous idea, plus I didn’t even believe that stuff.
Still, I didn’t know where I was. What was it grandpa used to say? “Be calm at all times and find the logical explanation.” It was a rather ironic thing for him to believe in, seeing as he put faith in spirits and that sort of mythology. I didn’t know if he conducted his rituals because of traditions, or if he genuinely believed in spirits. I would never truly know. In any case, his advice was the best thing that came to me.
What did I have to work with? An icy, murky nothingness. Needless to say, it wasn’t much.
Murky sensations trickled into my consciousness, though they refused to be defined. I could feel myself lying on something soft, as well as something that covered my body. Straining, I could almost discern voices, though they were warped and garbled. At any rate, it wasn’t English.
There was a low buzz emanating from the recesses of my mind, garnering my attention. A slight pressure built within my mind, temporarily drowning out the voices
“How are you feeling?” a voice echoed around my consciousness, startling me. If I could have shrieked, I probably would have.
‘Whoa! Who are you?’
“I am the one that led you here.” The voice was solemn, intoning its words deliberately.
‘Led me here? Why? And where is ‘here’?’
“I led you here because I wanted you to live and to be safe. And ‘here’ is home.” Did that mean I had been rescued? Perhaps some ship or fishing vessel had found me in time. As if sensing my thoughts, the voice continued, “It is my home, but yours as well. Now tell me, how do you feel?”
How did I feel? Well, it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant of feelings to be cold and trapped in darkness, unable to move or open one’s eyes. I relayed that sentiment, trying to keep my anxiety at bay.
“No, you are far from dead. At this moment, you are more alive than you have ever been. However, at the moment you are unconscious, and you were closer to dying than I expected. For that, I must apologize. Worry not, for in time, all will be explained.”
‘Uh, okay… but who are those people talking? I can hear voices in a language I can’t understand.’
“The language of my people. My kind. Your peo— Never mind, you will find out soon enough. Allow me to help you.”
The voices I could barely hear suddenly warped, before they became comprehensible. “—ody temperature is still a bit low, so bring another blanket. Prepare the sedative, enough to last us to Canterlot. The princess ordered it.”
‘How the hell did that happen?’ I muttered, jarred at the sudden transition.
“I have given you the gift of understanding their language, both written and verbal. It is a little trick I learned long ago.”
‘Oh, that’s helpful. Thanks, I guess. But that person just said something about a sedative. And what’s this Canterlot they mentioned?’
“They will sedate you because they believe you to be dangerous. Canterlot is a city you will be taken to, where you will meet two princesses. They will want to speak with you, though they will not be very friendly at first.”
My mind stuttered at that. ‘Princesses? What have I done?’ I had never heard of city named Canterlot, nor were there any princesses near my country. What the hell had I gotten myself involved with?
“You have done nothing wrong. I am the one to blame for my short-sightedness.” The voice sighed gravely, the hiss rebounding within my skull. I could hear the regret in his voice. “However, you must remember to stay calm and focused. Do not let your anger and fear blind you to the reality that faces you.”
‘I don’t know what to say…’ To say that I was far out of my depth would be laughably inadequate. I still wasn’t entirely sure I was having a hallucination. Could one have a hallucination within one’s mind?
“When you are taken before the princesses, I will come to your aid and explain everything. When you regain consciousness, you will find that things have changed. However, it is something that has always been there, in your mother, your grandfather, your grandfather’s father, and his ancestors as well.”
‘What changes are you talking about? When can I go back home?’ I demanded, not caring the slightest for the direction the conversation had turned. The constant half-answers were beginning to grate on my already frayed nerves.
“The changes are your true form. And as for your hometown… never. Do not be afraid—in a way, you are already home.”
‘I don’t understand!’
“In time you will, young man. In time you will. Sleep now and rest.”
***
The midday sun shone upon the capital city of Equestria, Canterlot. Imposing alabaster buildings and towers adorned by gilded spires gleamed like polished ivory and reflected much of the sunlight onto the streets, alleys, and parks. Most businesses had been open for some time already, ponies hawking their goods loudly to try and attract customers from their stalls, under the suspicious gaze of those who had storefronts. There was, as usual, a crowd milling about on the streets, many heading to their jobs, spending some time in the park, or just having something to eat at a cafe. Canterlot was at peace.
The centrepiece of the magnificent city was Canterlot Castle, home of Princess Celestia, the Lady of the Sun and Princess Luna, Lady of the Moon. A national monument in its own right, the exterior had been constructed using white marble by the greatest builders and artisans of its era. Millions of blocks had been enchanted so that the castle looked like it was carved out of a single tablet of bleached stone. Thousands of master craftsponies had toiled for many years to complete the magnificent structure and beautify the surrounding land with marvellous gardens that now housed several exotic species of flora and fauna, ornate fountains that many a foal would inevitably wade into under the horrified gasps of their parents, and statues of many of Equestria’s notable heroes, some whose names had sadly fallen into obscurity. The interior of the castle was perhaps even more lavish. Several rooms had been dedicated solely for housing numerous invaluable masterpieces, the sculptures and paintings, new and old, garnering countless inquisitive stares amid murmurs about what they represented. Hallways were lined with tapestries and stained glass windows that depicted a procession of important events in Equestria’s history. It all amounted to a single purpose: to signify a new era of peace.
One of the castle’s newest additions was the hangar, built into a naturally formed cliff that made it perfect for airships to safely dock, along with a natural cave which was expanded in order to accommodate other ships when not in use. This was where airships transporting kings, queens, and other dignitaries docked when visiting the two regal Equestrian princesses, allowing increased security and privacy from curious eyes. It was also where Princess Celestia’s private airship was located.
She had commissioned the Warmth of the Sun for herself. Considered to be quite brisk for its size, it was decorated in her favoured colours of gold and white. It was mainly utilized for visits abroad, though it had been used on occasion to aid in disaster relief exercises across Equestria. Thankfully, those times had been few and far in between.
Princess Celestia stood in the hangar, awaiting her sister’s airship to dock. A group of royal guards stood with her, all clad in sparkling armour and with polished, sharpened spears. The princess herself was wearing her usual attire: her golden shoes, tiara, and peytral. Eagerly awaiting her sister’s return, she was excited to hear how Luna’s first foreign diplomatic mission after her return from banishment had fared. Although she had returned to Celestia’s side over a year ago, Luna had felt somewhat apprehensive about the trip, considering that the last time she had visited the griffons, they were much more warlike than now. However, she had eventually acquiesced to Celestia’s nudging and had gone through with the visit.
Celestia waited patiently as Luna’s airship approached the hangar. The large airship moved with grace, floating gently through the air before it came to hover above the runway. It slowly moved forward and then down before finally touching down, the rubber-padded metal skids bringing the ship to a halt with barely any noise, aside from its engines.
A few seconds after the ship came to a stop, a ramp was lowered from the deck to the hangar floor and a stream of guards galloped off the ship, taking their positions around the vessel. Luna walked down ramp and was greeted by her smiling sister.
“Welcome home, Luna. I’m happy to see you back and well,” Celestia greeted her sister and nuzzled her.
“Thank you, sister.” Luna returned the gesture, smiling affectionately.
Celestia took a step back. “How did it go?”
“The griffons have certainly changed since the last time I had contact with their kind. No threats, no challenges—civility suits them well.” She smiled wryly. The last time she had visited had been a hundred years before her banishment. Back then, she had to deal with threats of war aimed pointedly at her from their leaders, along with fiery speeches espousing the superiority of the griffons and the weakness of the ponies. It was common rhetoric at the time, as the relationship between the two nations was quite heated.
“King Auron will be a good leader once he has gained enough experience and time. He desires the best for his people,” Luna added.
“Yes, he is very much like his father. King Gerfried the Wise certainly earned his moniker during his reign.” Celestia smiled fondly to herself as she recalled the late leader.
Luna then turned her attention back to the ship and the gangplank. Her previous smile quickly faded, her stern countenance and flinty eyes staring up at the ramp and the assembled ponies that had gathered on deck.
Celestia immediately picked up on her sister’s mood and followed Luna’s gaze. However, she could discern nothing of note, the only movements coming from the crew as they milled about something that was out of her sight.
“Luna, is something wrong? Did something happen?”
Luna gritted her teeth before releasing a sigh. “Yes, there was an... incident. Off the coast of Fillydelphia, we came upon a shipwreck. There was a small vessel that had been smashed to pieces. There was only one survivor and he, if it can be called such, is something out of the ordinary for several reasons.” She finally turned her attention back to her sister.
Celestia cocked an eyebrow, wondering at Luna’s choice of words, even as she felt the first real tendrils of concern prick her skin. “What do you mean?”
“See for yourself.” Luna turned and nodded at the ship. The remaining guards marched down, carrying a gurney between them to a waiting stretcher, placing the gurney down on top of it.
Walking up to the gurney, Celestia saw the creature Luna had mentioned rested there. Covered with blankets, only the creature’s head, shoulders, hands, and hooves were visible. An IV drip kept a steady supply of clear liquid going into its veins. Its arms and legs were immobilized, strong chains and shackles keeping it bound to the gurney.
To say that Celestia was surprised was putting it mildly. “Luna…” She stared at the peculiar creature. “What is this? Is this the survivor?”
Luna nodded. “It is. I do not know what race this creature is or what nation it hails from. Did perchance a similar creature appear during my… absence?”
Celestia kept her eyes on the creature, momentarily at a lost for words. It appeared to be sleeping, looking peaceful despite the bandage that covered an arm and its head. “No, I haven’t seen anything like it. However, there are certain parts of it that I recognize.”
“As did I. However, I have something of greater concern to show you, but it is not meant for most eyes. May I suggest we continue our conversation inside, perhaps in private?” Luna turned to Captain Night Flight, who had taken up position next to the stretcher.
“Take this creature to the infirmary and ensure it is under constant surveillance. Keep it chained at all times and put an inhibitor on its horn. Station guards inside the room and outside as well,” she commanded the bat pony, who saluted sharply and signalled the guards, who pushed the gurney that held the creature into the castle.
One of the nocturnals walked up to Princess Luna, carrying a box on his back. The first thing Celestia noticed were the numerous runes of sealing that covered it. Luna began walking towards the castle with the guard in tow, and Celestia matched her sister’s pace.
The strange box intrigued her, and she wondered what was inside. It was common for griffonian royalty to give gifts to those they viewed as powerful and wise rulers, and both of the two royal sisters had accumulated a sizeable collection over their many centuries as leaders of Equestria. While it was natural for Celestia to first assume that it was a gift to Luna from the griffon king, the runes of sealing told her otherwise.
“Luna, I am curious as to what is inside the box. May I ask what it is?”
“Not here, sister.” Luna’s voice held a grimness that did little to allay Celestia’s disquiet. “What the box contains is the reason for my concern.”
Shortly thereafter, Celestia and Luna sat alone in one of the castle’s meeting rooms, a small chamber meant for private conversations. Enchantments placed on the room made sure no sound could be heard from outside, and the windows allowed the light to stream inside, but prevented curious gazes from doing so as well.
The two sisters both sat on purple velvet pillows around a round table. Luna looked at the staff Celestia held in her magic. Her eyes were fixed upon the unicorn’s horn affixed to the length of wood, slowly turning it around as she examined it from all angles.
Luna had long since managed to quell her rage to the point that she could converse normally and did not lapse into old Equish. Celestia seemed to be composed on the surface, but the temperature of the room had risen, a sign Luna knew well. It meant that her sister managed to hide her anger but was tempted to allow her mane and hair to burst into solar flares, the most overt sign of her fury that was meant to intimidate and cow the objects of her ire.
The room was silent, not a word spoken. Their eyes studied the grotesque object, the decorative engravings carved into the illustrating indicating ponies and strange bipedal creatures co-existing. Perhaps the pony had been enslaved by the bipeds? The decorations did not invite such an inference.
Celestia's eyes had grown hard, her usual smile and pleasant demeanour gone. Fury boiled inside her, her emotions in turmoil, but not once had she said anything since her eyes had fallen upon the staff. Luna admired her sister in that regard. While Celestia was nearly impossible to anger, always maintaining the façade of her emotions being unruffled, Luna was usually considered the hot-tempered one of the two. They were truly as different as night and day.
The staff was levitated back into the box and shut, the runes of sealing glowing midnight blue as they were reactivated, keeping the simple wooden box secure from the outside world. With a deep breath, Celestia turned to her younger sister.
“Unicorn hunters,” she spat, the very name leaving a sour taste in her mouth, her eyes revealing just what she felt about the word.
“I suspected as much,” Luna replied. “However, the Equestrian army defeated them almost three thousand years ago on the orders of the Council of the Three Tribes.”
“They did. No griffon, diamond dog, or any other being has even attempted that brutal, barbaric practice since then. And now this… this staff appears out of nowhere along with a creature we know nothing about.” The temperature in the room surged briefly, before receding.
Luna looked to the box where the staff had been placed. Her memories of that era had not dimmed with age, the era of the unicorn hunters. The group had been so obsessed with magic that they had attacked unicorns, ripped their horns off, and proceeded to mount them on staffs and weapons in the ridiculous belief that unicorn magic would empower them and their weapons. Of course, it didn’t work. Removing a unicorn’s horn would be the same as ripping off a pegasus’ wings or the limbs of an earth pony—horribly painful, demeaning, and a brutal and horrible practice with no roots in reality, which often led to the death of its victims.
That horrible belief had held such influence over the zealots that they had attacked entire villages and foalnapped the unicorns that lived amongst them. The group had been forever splintered when the Council of the Three Tribes, the early government of Equestria, had assembled an army to root them out. The fanatics had had no chance as almost every member of the army had relatives and friends who had fallen victim to the group, their thirst for vengeance and retribution driving them on. A decent number of the group had survived the battle and had been later sentenced to either prison or years of manual labour.
“And the creature? What should we do about it?” Luna asked after a small pause, both struggling to return to the present, away from the horrors of that age.
Celestia pondered for a moment. She had noticed something that didn’t seem right. “The horn on the staff isn’t new. It looked very old.”
“I noted that as well. It seemed to me that the staff itself was not of this age,” Luna replied.
“That means that the creature you found may not be the one responsible for the death of the poor unicorn whose horn was used on the staff. Did you also notice the many enchantments on the horn itself?”
“I did. Many of them are ancient and extremely complex. I noticed one presence spell on it as well. But since we do not know who needs to be present…”
Both sisters sighed. The mystery that was the unknown creature, the staff that a unicorn had to suffer for—it was a recipe for a nightmare. If a new group of unicorn hunters had arisen somewhere in the world, then Equestria was the obvious target since it was the nation with the highest population of unicorns in the world. And if the group existed, Equestria had little in the way of any intelligence on them. Was it just a few individuals or an army? Who led them? Where were they hiding?
It mattered not. Celestia’s resolve would not fail her when it came to defending her ponies, and she knew that Luna would not hesitate as well. No matter how many the group consisted of, they would be met with fierce determination should they ever step a hoof into Equestria.
Another matter was the unknown creature currently unconscious in the infirmary. What was it? Where had it come from? Was it a threat? Their current disposition inclined them to hold to that belief as a result of the staff the creature had in its possessions. However, no answers could be squeezed from a creature forcibly kept unconscious.
“Luna, did you attempt to enter the creature’s dreams while on the ship?” Celestia asked, hoping for some light to be shed into the matter. Luna shook her head.
“I attempted, but he was unconscious.” A dream was a product of the thoughts of the mind, and only emerged when an individual was asleep. A state of unconsciousness was different, as the brain was unable to create thoughts.
Celestia nodded and went silent for a moment. “The creature’s possessions—did you find anything with it?”
“We did. They are in safe storage as we speak.”
Celestia rose to her hooves and, with a flash of her golden aura, the box was conjured away. Luna stood and joined her sister as they walked out of the room, heading for the storage area that held the belongings of prisoners.
“We should see what else the creature brought with it. There may be something that can tell us more about it,” Celestia murmured, more to herself than her sister.
“And hope that we do not discover any more… trophies.” Luna made a moue of disgust.
Although the creature was kept in the infirmary under heavy guard, his belongings were kept near the dungeons in a storage room. The debris of the vessel was kept in the airship hanger, seeing as it was no threat and nothing else had been found amongst the splintered pieces of wood. In the small storage room, the only light was produced by magic-infused crystal bulbs that hung on brackets on the walls. They provided sufficient illumination upon a table where numerous items, all of them found with the creature, were spread out.
“Sunglasses,” Celestia commented on a pair of shades with gold-coloured frames that she held with her magic. “Finely crafted, yet of no interest.” She placed the sunglasses down and levitated an article of clothing that was found inside the backpack. It was like a cloth tube, similar to hoof warmers that ponies sometimes used.
“Articles meant for procuring food,” Luna noted of her own perusals. She had opened the tackle box and peered inside, finding several different lures and other fishing equipment. “In this case, fish.”
“Luna, have you noticed that some of these items have writing on them?” Celestia asked as she picked up a garment that was dyed black with a yellow circle on one side. Within the circle was something that resembled the silhouette of a type of bat.
“I have. This language I have never seen before.” Luna picked up a small metal item that, once folded out, had an assortment of tools inside of what she assumed to be the handle. Quite an ingenious idea.
“I’ve never seen it either. I cannot even recall runes that looked like these letters.” Celestia huffed in frustration.
After examining the articles of clothing and noting that they had been used a lot, Celestia turned her attention to some of the other items. One gadget she noticed was a rectangular object with rounded corners. One side was flat and had three letters stamped into it, and above the letters were two small circular pieces of glass next to a larger piece of glass. The other side was also covered in a thin layer of glass, and on the sides she saw both a circular and a square hole. The purpose of this object was unknown, but it seemed that it had seen much use, as some of the thin paint had been worn down.
A black piece of leather that was folded together caught her eye. Picking it up and unfolding it revealed many items, including several small circular pieces of metal in a small pocket and rectangular pieces of paper in another. She placed the items on the table and began to study them carefully. Upon noticing this, Luna trotted up to her sister. Levitating one of the metal circles, she noted that there were markings engraved upon it.
“Currency, perhaps? These look familiar to bits, though clearly not made of electrum.”
“Then this must be their leader,” Celestia said sharply as she picked up another of the ‘bits’ and discovered a creature whose profile adorned the piece of metal.
“This bit seemed to have a different creature’s outline to yours.” Luna levitated the coin over to her sister. Celestia snorted in irritation upon indeed seeing a dissimilar creature on Luna’s bit. She then picked up a few of the rectangular pieces of paper, realizing that they also had what seemed to be more of these creatures. She noticed that several of the bits and pieces of paper had some of the same strange letters on them, which led credence to their theory that the collection was some sort of currency.
This was what she had feared, the definitive proof. There was only one reason strange bits such as these could have been minted. “All of these items are currency.” Celestia’s hoof shook briefly, though the action was almost unperceivable. “They are much more organized than what we initially believed. They have a nation.”
Luna closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled explosively. Upon opening her eyes, she turned to her sister. “Then we must assume that the creature is a scout, here to determine our defences.”
Celestia thought of her initial assumption upon realizing what the currency had meant. It was plausible that the creature could be a scout for a large force, arriving in Equestria in order to locate targets of interests. However, the theory was weak, upon further reflection. How could an entire nation of such bloodthirsty barbarians keep themselves a secret? Surely word of such creatures would spread far and wide. Furthermore, why would such a creature come to Equestria bearing a staff with a unicorn’s horn? It would be giving itself away immediately. If it was a scout, then it was as stealthy as a rampaging dragon.
While Celestia was locked in thought, Luna opened the leather object, finding several other items inside. There were several flat, rectangular chits that were stiffer than the paper currency, though they did flex slightly when she applied pressure. Two of these had the image of the creature printed onto them. One of them had a logo of some sort that consisted of four blue letters, with a cerulean line above the letters and a dull bisque-tinted one at the bottom.
Finding the strange flexible paper uninteresting, Luna digger deeper into the leather pocket and found something that was familiar: photographs. “Sister, you may find this intriguing.”
Celestia shook off the cloudy thoughts that had gathered upon her mind and peered at the photographs her sister held. There were four of them, all in colour and in such fine condition that they clearly outmatched Equestrian photography. The paper was glossy and of high quality, and the colours were clear.
One photograph depicted their prisoner with another of its species. The other creature was shorter, had longer hair, some of which were grey, indicating that it was older than their prisoner. Both of them smiled as they held an arm over the other’s shoulder. Behind the creatures was something that resembled a small house and trees behind it.
“Family, perhaps?” Celestia looked at another photo. This one had the same creature, but with several others, six in total. The beings differed in height, build, and the colour of their skin. Possessing hair of varying lengths, the creatures with theirs worn longer had a certain feminine quality to them. They were generally slender, their exposed arms veering on the thin side. The entire group aimed smiles at the camera, frozen forever in time as they sat around a bonfire with tents surrounding them. A lake could be seen in the background, dark blue and calm, with the shadows on the photo indicating that the sun was shining down on them.
The third photo showed the creature with one of the other creatures, only a female this time. In the photo, the two showed affection for each other, holding hands and locked in a kiss.
“The creature’s mate, I would assume,” Luna murmured, to which Celestia nodded mutely.
The fourth photograph was markedly different from the others. It seemed to be older, the colours somewhat faded and the two creatures in the photo different from those in any of the others. One of them was a female with raven hair that reached down over her shoulders, her hands covering her bulging belly. It was obvious that she was pregnant, perhaps mere weeks before giving birth. Next to her stood a male of their species, much taller than her and looked rather strong, judging by its build. This one had long flaxen-coloured hair tied up in a ponytail and a trimmed blond beard, slinging an arm over the female’s shoulders. What stood out in this photo were the expressions the two beings wore. Their gazes were locked onto each other, fond smiles plastered onto their faces, a moment of deep affection captured. It was plainly obvious that these two creatures cared deeply for each other.
Going through these photos had forced the princesses to alter their predispositions regarding their captive once again, along with their initial assumptions. They had experienced what the unicorn hunters had inflicted upon their victims. They had rarely spared their families much thought, focusing only on the atrocities committed. However, these photos illustrated that seldom considered aspect: moments with friends, loved ones, and family; the ability to be capable of friendship and love. Whatever wrongdoing their captive had wrought, it was undeniable that he had others who cared for him.
To further complicate matters, the creature had actually committed no crime within Equestria. It was the staff that was found with him that was the cause of their disquiet and, until they could question the creature, they could not be certain if it was made by his hands or not. They could not put an innocent to trial, but they could not afford to be complacent.
Celestia sighed. This entire ordeal seemed to grow more confusing by the second. She craved a cup of herbal tea to soothe her mind.
“Sister!” Luna suddenly nudged Celestia and held up three of the photos to her face. “We must be blind!” Celestia looked at the photos, wondering what had riled her sister. The photos were interesting, as they provided some clues to the creature and its family life, but other than that, she could not see anything else of interest.
“What do you mean?”
“Look!” Luna pointed a hoof to the photo of their captive with the female. “The head of the creature!”
Celestia looked closer, scrutinizing the photo. “Its head? I don—” Her words died when she realized what Luna had meant—something was missing on the creature’s head. It only added to the mystery.
***
The prisoner was secured to a bed in a private room in the castle’s infirmary. It was a spacious room that had been appropriately tiled and painted a rich creamy colour. The grey curtains had been pulled aside, allowing sunlight to fill the room. Two guards were posted inside the room, and in the hallway outside were several more. Any attempt made by the creature to escape or break free would be swiftly halted.
The heart monitor emitted a steady beeping sound, the creature’s chest rising and falling as it breathed. An IV stand stood next to the bed, a bag of clear liquid hanging from it as the liquid was fed into the prisoner’s arm. All of this was observed by the two guards, both of them standing by the door and at a distance from the bed. As was expected, the two guards were curious about the creature, yet they showed no external sign of it. Their training kept their inquisitiveness in check, and their stoicism was a strong testament to their duty.
A gentle knock came from the door, and moments later it was opened by two female nurses that carried with them a tray of medical supplies. One was a unicorn with a lengthy raven mane and alabaster coat, the other a pegasus with a cropped crimson mane and yellow coat. Both wore nurse hats with the symbol of a red cross upon them
“At ease, colts. We’re just here to change the bandages and clean the wounds. Can’t have this poor thing get an infection now, can we?” the red-maned nurse said.
Both guards just nodded and continued staring at their prisoner. The nurses approached the bed and placed the tray of bandages and ointments on the nearby table. However, the pegasus stopped when they got close to the creature. She stood still for a moment, wondering just what they were supposed to be treating.
“Oh my, this… I thought the patient was another guard that got injured in training.” She took an instinctive step back.
“Didn’t you listen to Doctor Dressing’s briefing?” The unicorn rolled her eyes and brought out a clipboard with the patient’s information. “It says here: “Patient: unknown. Name: unknown. Species: unknown.” Right underneath are the injuries. We’re supposed to follow standard pony procedures since it worked well when Doctor Dressing treated it.”
“I didn’t listen since I was out using the little fillies’ room.” The pegasus smiled sheepishly.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get to work. We have other patients to tend to.” The unicorn’s voice brooked no argument.
As the creature was not awake to fuss or complain, the cleaning of the arm wound didn’t take long, and they proceeded to treat his head. Due to the creature’s size, the pegasus nurse had to clamber upon the bed to reach the wound and clean it thoroughly. After applying a new bandage, she jumped down onto the floor and disposed of the old bandages in the garbage bin.
“There, that didn’t take long,” the pegasus mare said. “Were there any other injuries we should check on?”
The unicorn picked up a rough sketch made by the doctor, showing the patient’s body and injuries. Only the arm and head wounds were listed as minor injuries. “Hmm, there’s a small scratch on the inside of the left thigh. The note says to just keep an eye on it. There was some slight discolouration earlier, so it’s probably just a bruise.” She placed the clipboard onto the tray and nodded to her co-worker.
“On it.” With a flap of her wings, the pegasus hovered over the creature and lifted the blanket away from its waist. Immediately, her face flushed red and her eyes widened.
“OH…. my…”
***
Princesses Luna and Celestia walked with Doctor Silver Heart, the head physician of the castle’s infirmary, down the hallway that led to the creature’s room. While the doctor certainly did little to hide his enthusiasm at the discovery of a new species, Celestia and Luna were much more reserved.
“—and while the collective knowledge concerning medicine we already share with the griffons, diamond dogs, minotaurs, and zebras is significant, this new species is unheard of. Just think about what it might add!” The doctor’s giddiness was profound, like a foal who had finally reached the cookie jar on top of the fridge.
“We are aware of the possibility of advances to medicine this creature can give us, Doctor Heart,” Celestia murmured cooperatively, yet both princesses’ minds were on that small detail they had noticed in the pictures. “For now, however, the creature shall remain under guard.”
“Yes yes, I understand that certain precautions must be taken. We don’t yet know if this creature is hostile or not, but I’m merely thinking ahead.”
“So are we,” Luna replied sternly.
Rounding a corner, they trotted down a hallway to the end, where the door that led to the creature’s room was located. Eight guards stood near the entrance, four on each side, a mix of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, all armoured and armed with spears. The guards had been briefed concerning the nature of the creature and its morbid possession. The guards were all veterans with more than ten years of service. They were perfectly capable of dealing with any eventuality as required.
The door opened and two nurses exited in a hurry, carrying a metal tray with them. The face of one of the nurses glowed red, and she tried to hide her face behind a wing while her colleague scolded her for her unprofessional behaviour. Upon encountering the two princesses, the duo quickly bowed before continuing on with their duties. Celestia and Luna both gave a short nod before entering the room.
The creature still lay in bed, the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor the only significant sound within the room. Celestia and Luna both walked up to the bed and stood on either side. Leaning closer, Celestia began studying the creature’s horn that had not been present in the photo. Now that she was afforded a closer view of the being, she was able to note several distinct features. Inspecting the photo of the creature and his mate, she saw that while his ears had been rounded in shape, they were now pointed, almost pony-like in appearance.
Luna stood on the other side of the bed, shifting the blanket over to the side and holding his arm with her magic. “Sister, there are other differences.” She held up the arm. Celestia looked at the photo she held and moved the blanket on her side away.
In the photo, the creature lacked the tawny fur that now adorned his arms. The fur started at the wrists, covering his lower arms all the way up to the elbows. On the elbows themselves were tufts of fur, longer than the rest. The rest of the arm was practically devoid of fur.
She also noticed that in the photo, the creature wore some type of garment on his legs. Moving over to the foot of the bed, she set the blanket to the side, uncovering large hooves. The unshorn hair of the fetlocks looked messy and long, as though the creature did not believe in personal grooming. The fur that covered his legs continued up to just below the knees, but from there it stopped, giving way to short and scattered black fur with a copper tint to it.
“The legs are also shaped differently.” Celestia looked to her sister. A small amount of Luna’s midnight-blue magic sprang from her horn and enveloped the creature’s. After a few moments, her magic faded away.
“The horn is its own,” Luna noted and turned to her sister. That the creature had grafted the horn from a unicorn onto itself had been one of their earlier suspicions. That would have failed as well, as the magic inherent of the pony, be it a unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony, only responded to the pony itself. The only ones that could perform such a feat was an alicorn or Tirek.
“Then it means that the limbs and the horn of this creature are authentic. It was born with a horn and hooves.” Celestia sat down, rubbing her temples. It seemed that the mystery only deepened, answers refusing to show themselves.
“It would seem so,” Luna replied and went silent as she too sat down next to the bed. She wondered what could have caused such a transformation. A powerful unicorn would have intimate knowledge of alteration spells, but a novice spellcaster could also learn from several available spell books, given enough time. Could it be that a unicorn had transformed the creature into its current form? If so, why?
Luna grimaced and stood up. She walked over to the window and gazed out, mulling over the situation in her mind. There were too many factors, too many unknowns involved, and no answers to be found. Keeping the creature insensible was no longer to their advantage.
“I believe…” Luna eyed her sister, gauging her mood, “we must awaken the creature. He… IT… has the answers we seek.”
Celestia remained silent for a moment before closing her eyes and nodding. “You are right, Luna.” Rising, Celestia opened her eyes and walked over to her sister. “However, it seems rather late to begin now. Tomorrow we shall begin questioning him.”
Luna nodded, ruffling her wings briefly. “Shall we make it a public hearing?”
Celestia mulled over the question. While most hearings were a public affair, this was different, given the nature of the creature and its possible crimes. The possibility of inciting fear and panic was also a strong consideration.
“We shall make it a hearing with a minimal audience.”
“Minimal?” Luna asked. “Like the hearings of old?” There had been times in Equestria’s past when criminals who had committed unspeakable acts had been given a closed hearing. The only ponies in attendance were the princesses and a certain group of nobles. In order to protect the population, it was sometimes better that some things were best left unadvertised. A unicorn hunter amongst them was one such thing.
Celestia nodded. “I will choose the nobles who will attend. Also, as Twilight is inexperienced as a princess, I think this will be an opportunity for her to witness justice being performed.”
“You think she is ready for something such as this?”
“She will choose if she wishes to attend or not. I will not force her.” Celestia then turned to the doctor, who had remained silent as the princesses had talked amongst themselves, knowing that he would keep whatever he heard under the strictest confidence. “Doctor, you may cease sedating the creature. We wish to interrogate it tomorrow,” she told the doctor, who nodded.
“As you wish.” He brought out a clipboard and began writing down notes.
Leaving the infirmary together, Celestia and Luna headed for the throne room. As they discussed the upcoming proceedings, Celestia was interrupted by a yawn from Luna.
“Luna, have you been sleeping well?” Celestia furrowed her brows in concern.
“No, I have not,” Luna replied with another yawn. “This entire affair—the staff, that creature—has made my nights uneasy.”
“Then you should go to bed. You’ll need your rest for the upcoming night.” Celestia placed an alabaster wing over her sister’s back and patted her gently.
“Mmh, now that the situation is under control, I feel that I can unwind for a while. The nights of this new age have proven to be a bit more stressful that those a millennium ago.”
Celestia lowered her head to meet Luna in a nuzzle. “Good night, Luna. Sleep well.”
“Good night, sister.” Luna returned the gesture. Moments later, she was gone in a flash of teleportation magic.
Celestia then made her way to the throne room. There was a letter she needed to compose.
***
I was bored. Constant darkness and little else to do often did that to a person, but it was slowly getting warmer, so I at least had that going for me. I felt as though I was lying in bed still, which was good news. Still, I felt frustration seeping through my being as my desire to return to the conscious world increased.
As if in response, my spine tingled briefly, moving up to the base of my skull, and I once again felt a presence within me. “You will soon wake up.”
An unexpected feeling of relief washed over me. Despite its constant half-answers and riddle-speak, it had been the only companion I had had for the past while. ‘Hey, you’re back.’
“I only left for a small amount of time to look around. This world has changed so much… so, so much…” Despite the echoing nature of the voice, it held a distinct note of sadness in it, though if pressed, I could not say why.
‘Uh, okay. Who are you anyway?’
“That is not important right now. When the time is right, I will explain.” More riddle-speak. However, seeing as there was little I could do in my condition, I decided to play along.
‘Okay, that’s fair. Where am I now? Home?’ Despite his previous words, I still clung on to a stubborn hope that he was wrong.
“Not your hometown or homeland. But you are home, I assure you. You are currently in a hospital room in a castle.”
A castle? ‘Why? Am I sick? Did I… do something stupid again?’
“No. You will soon awake, and aside from some soreness, you’ll be as healthy as you were, in some ways even more so. However, do you remember what I told you about some things being different?”
‘Uh, yeah, some things about me would be different. What things did you mean?’
“You will discover them when you regain consciousness. Do not be afraid—you will get used to them very soon. They will be natural extensions of yourself. Just be calm, relax, and you will be fine.”
‘Alright, I’ll be calm.’ I’d be willing to be just about anything in order to wake up, though I did not mention this.
“Good. Your rationality in the situation you’ve found yourself fills me with hope. I am proud of you.”
‘Uh, thank you?’
“Now then, I shall relay to you what you shall encounter once you’ve regained consciousness. You are currently chained to a bed and have been stripped of your clothing. In the room with you, there are two small creatures called ponies.”
I did not know if that revelation not being the strangest thing to occur this day was a good thing or an ill omen. ‘Like home?’
“No, not like home. They are sapient just as you and are capable of speech. They are trained guards and are wearing armour. Do not fear the look in their eyes—act calmly and they shall follow suit. One of them has a horn on his forehead and the other one is very strong. Do not attempt to fight them.”
‘I don’t want to fight anybody.’ In any case, I doubt I’d be in any condition to tangle with trained guards after waking from a coma.
“Excellent. After you’ve awaken, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the surroundings and yourself. Ask the guards if they can unlock your chains so that you can use the nearby restroom. Look in the mirror in there and do not fear what you see.”
Despite his warning, his constant attempts at assuring me were beginning to worry me. That hadn’t been the first time he had alluded to changes concerning me. ‘What will I see?’
“Your true self. When you are done in the restroom, there will be food awaiting you. Partake in the meal, for you will need your strength. When you are finished, one the princesses will want to speak with you. Her name is Celestia. Speak to her with respect and do not be rude.”
‘Okay, I’ll do that.’
“Good. She is powerful and one of the four rulers of this land. Your attitude towards her will be reciprocated. Now, I must go. We shall speak again.”
The voice began to warp and then fade, my ears just picking up the words.
“…and… please… forgive me…”
‘What? What do you mean? Hello? HELLO?!’
***
‘Ugh, my head hurts,’ was the first thought that came to mind as I slowly became aware of being awake after what had felt like days of slumber in an overly warm bedroom. A splitting headache wasn’t unfamiliar to me, but it was now actually rather mild than what I was accustomed to. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and throat and mouth felt parched. The boat ride must have given me a hell of a beating, given how sore my muscles seemed.
“Ugh, this sucks…” I say with a yawn.
My eyelids felt as though they had been glued shut, and I slowly began to open them before being assaulted by a dazzling light. I quickly shut them and tried to bring an arm up to shield my eyes, only to feel it jerk after mere inches of movement to the sounds of rattling chains.
Before I even got a chance to process that my arms were restricted, I heard a voice from somewhere near me. “It’s awake. Inform the princess!”
‘Wait! What?’ That voice! It sounded like a guy, but the language… It wasn’t English! I don’t… What?
Slowly, I turned my head to the side the voice came from. From behind my eyelids, I felt the light lessening in intensity. I cautiously cracked open my eyes, which watered slightly. Like being underwater without goggles, everything was blurry and out of focus. I could faintly see what I assume was a door, cream-coloured and with a slightly darker outline, and next to the door were two objects, almost identical in shape. I could make out that it was white interspersed with gold on these objects but not much else.
I blinked rapidly to try and blink the sleep from them, along with getting adjusted to the lighting of the room, though it was a poor substitute to rubbing them with my hands. I deliberately turned my head back to its previous position, keeping my eyes lidded in order to observe my surroundings.
White walls, white ceiling, a window with grey curtains. Even the bed sheets and blanket were white. Together with that antiseptic odour that permeated the air itself, there was only one conclusion to be made:
‘Yep, it’s a hospital.’
With my vision clearing, the sunlight streaming into the room wasn’t as dazzling, at least to the point of it not being searing agony piercing my skull. I turned to the direction of the door and saw…
“Well… that’s new.”
It was the entranceway, that much was accurate, but the two objects standing there that I had almost assumed to be children were anything but. There were two horses. Two small horses. Two small horses that wore what looked like armour and helmets, and held spears in their forehooves. I blinked several times, hoping that the ludicrous sight would fade, but it remained.
Their gilded armour gleamed like brass in the filtered sunlight, with swirling engravings on their chest pieces surrounding a cyan star. From there, the armour symmetrically curled towards their ends near the guards' shoulders. The Corinthian-esque helms encapsulated their heads, leaving room only for their muzzles, their steely eyes, and holes for their ears. From their forehead down to the back, a magnificent blue crest arose to crown the uniform. In general, they reminded me of the armour Roman soldiers used to wear. While the spears they wielded had a wooden shaft and seemed simple enough, the spearheads shone wickedly, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
As I stared at them, I detected something odd about one of them. The one to the left had a horn on his forehead, his helmet even modified to fit around it. The horn resembled a… No, it was similar to the horn on my staff. In fact, it was almost identical. ‘Unicorn’ was the first thing that popped into my head, but that couldn’t be right. They were mythological creatures, after all. That did little to deter from the fact that one stood about five meters away from me.
Even though their helmets covered most of their heads, I can clearly see their faces, which didn’t exactly match what I knew horses to look like, though they did bear striking similarities. Their muzzles weren’t as elongated, their eyes several times larger, and their bodies seemed much shorter and stockier.
It was their eyes that most unnerved me. I could see… was it anger? Yes, it was. Anger, hatred, and disgust clearly radiated from their gazes, and by the way they stared, it was all directed to me. The way their mouths seemed to slightly grimace, it was as though...
Sapience. Their faces conveyed emotions the way a human would. Just as some people gave away their emotions no matter how they tried to hide them, it was the same with these beings.
“This can’t be real. I must still be dreaming. Horses wearing armour? I’ve never even been to a medieval festival.”
I returned the stares of the two horses, though the intensity of their eyes were unsettling. I got the distinct impression that they would not hesitate to run me through with their spears if I gave them half a chance. They held their spears with their hooves, though I was pretty sure the forelegs of a horse shouldn’t be able to do that.
Despite my mounting fear and confusion at the situation I had found myself in, a more urgent necessity pushed its way through my hazy thoughts.
"I really have to take a leak."
Once more I attempted to rise from the bed, but my arms and legs didn’t get far as I heard the rattling of metal against metal and something tightened around my limbs. Lifting my right hand up as far as I could, which wasn’t more than ten centimetres or so, I saw what restricted my movements. A metal wristband that shone like polished steel and looked like handcuffs but was wider and lacked any discernable way to be unlocked. A short chain was fastened to a loop on the cuffs and the other end of the chain was linked to a similar cuff fastened to the bed itself. My head jerked to my left hand, where the setup had been repeated.
I begin to panic, my heart racing and my breathing becoming increasingly erratic. I was a prisoner! Where was I? What had happened to me? Why was I locked up? Why were there strange horses in this room?
My internal round of questions was interrupted when I heard a loud beeping sound that pierced my head. A heart monitor was the first thing that came to my beleaguered mind, having had experience with them. I looked behind me and sure enough, I saw that there was one of a small desk, along with medical charts and other medical paraphernalia that belonged in a hospital.
"Was I injured when people found me? How bad was it? I remember the splinter in my arm." I winced at the recollection, groaning at the ache the movement incurred. “I feel stiff and sore, like I called Mike Tyson a chicken. How long was I knocked out for? Gods, I need to use the toilet!"
That last thought spurred me to action. “Uh, hey? Helloooo? Anyone there?” I said aloud, hoping there was someone nearby who could unchain me.
“Speak a language we can understand!” I heard a voice bark from within in the room. However, the voice did not speak in English, but another language. Somehow, I could understand it.
“Did the horse just… talk?” I wondered to myself. As ridiculous as the idea seemed, there didn’t seem to be any other logical explanation. It wasn’t as though there were any speakers to be seen, and the room was otherwise empty. My head swivelled to the two horses, trying to calm my breathing. One of them, the… the unicorn had taken a step forward and looked like it expected a response.
“Um… hey,” I said nonchalantly. As soon as the words escaped, I realized how idiotic I must have appeared, believing a horse could talk.
To my amazement, the unicorn took a step forward and… spoke. “Dooo yooou speeaaak Eeequuuiiish?”
I gaped at the horse wordlessly. It had just spoken! I saw its lips move and the tongue working to create letters. To say I was shocked was the understatement of the century. To top it all off, it sounded its words as though I was a child or hard of hearing. It deliberately enunciated its words, as if hoping I could understand an alien language if it spoke slowly.
It took a few moments for my brain to reboot, my mind exploding in a bevy of conflicting thoughts. How could I understand what the horse said in the first place? I mean, I had no idea what language it spoke, had never heard it before, yet I understood it fluently. The language was… There wasn’t any suitable comparison. The words flowed smoothly, the words like pearls on a string.
The most pertinent question was just how had I understood the horse in the first place? I’d never been good with languages, the only ones I knew being English and Lakota, the latter taught to me by my grandfather. I began to compare the words I knew in English to their Lakota equivalent when I felt an immense pressure in my mind, as though a frozen claw had dug itself into my brain and squeezed. Instinctively, my hands went to grasp my head, my hands jerking as they were arrested by my bounds. White flashes streaked across my sight, and I tried to scream, a pitiful gurgle the only sound escaping. The white flashes intensified before a veritable flood of letters and words began to appear in my view, a language unknown to me. They were followed by numbers, symbols, grammar rules—all of it from a source I couldn’t hope to identify. The information rapidly overwhelmed me, and I slumped back onto the pillow, breathing shallowly as I waited. Minutes passed before the information trickled to a halt, my headache flaring before subsiding.
"What… the HELL was that?" I cracked my eyes open, feeling the room lurch slightly before settling. I was shaking and sweating, feeling a good amount of moisture gathering on my forehead. I take several deep breaths to calm myself, willing my heartbeat to cease racing.
It was an entire language I had been exposed to! It was as though it had lain dormant in the recesses of my mind, only to roar forth just now. Forty-six letters, ten numbers, punctuation, symbols, and more—it was all accessible to me.
The source of this language had also provided its name: Equish. While it was disconcerting to suddenly discover that I now knew a third language, I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. At the very least, I could now attempt to communicate with the duo who blocked the doorway.
I turned my head back towards the two and saw that the unicorn had walked gone to the door. Perhaps I should try and speak to him, as he had been the one who stepped forth earlier. Rummaging around my mind, I found the words needed to string together a sentence. I had little doubt that I would be misunderstood.
I took a deep breath and set my eyes on the unicorn. “Hello.”
The unicorn raised an eyebrow and took two steps forward. “What do you want?” he asked sternly.
Finding the right words took almost no time at all now. “Can I use the restroom?”
He gives me an unamused look, then looked to the other horse, as if seeking his input. The other horse looks unsure as to what to say; then he performed an action that was reminiscent of a shrug.
“No,” was the unicorn’s response as he walked back to his post at the door.
I stared at him in disbelief. “Please? I really have to go. Do you want to see me piss the bed? You think that’ll be fun?” My voice carried the urgency I felt, hoping the unicorn could understand my predicament.
The unicorn didn’t respond, but the thoughtful frown he gave told me that he was at least considering the request. After a few moments, he opened the door and walked out, leaving the door slightly ajar. I could hear him talking to someone else outside. Judging by the voices, there were a few of them there, and they didn’t exactly sound friendly. After almost a minute, he came back with friends, three of them.
There were now five of them crowded inside the room, all armed with spears. They all glared at me, daring me to make a wrong move.
“No tricks! We’ll be watching you!” the unicorn barked as he approached the bed, the rest of guards levelling their spears at me. I could plainly see that the spears are frightfully sharp and pointed enough to run me through with ease.
I nodded slowly to him and swallowed the lump that had firmly lodged itself in my throat. In response, his horn suddenly began to glow crimson, and I heard the sounds of my cuffs unlocking themselves and then levitating into the air before my very eyes. My eyes bulged out at the sight as I inhaled sharply. The handcuffs floated in the air right in front of me, held in place by a glow that seemed to emanate from the unicorn.
‘A trick? Magnetism? Smoke and mirrors or just really thin fishing lines hung from the ceiling?’
The urgent reminder of nature’s call superseded any scepticism I felt, and I slowly sat upright in the bed. My back ached, as though I had spent the entire night sleeping in an uncomfortable position. Stretching expansively, I could feel my spine readjusting itself, the satisfying pops music to my ears. The grimaces on their faces plainly indicated what they thought of my little display. I chose to ignore them, but not their spears for now.
Looking around the room, I spotted a door to the side, with a pictogram of a toilet and sink on it. There is even writing underneath that said Restroom in those strange letters that I had no problem understanding. It seemed that I could read as well as verbalize the language. Still, that was a train of thought for later, and I swung my feet onto the ground.
*Clip-clop*
The sounds of hooves caught my attention, and I looked to the horses, but they hadn’t moved an inch. They still stood at the ready with their spears, waiting for me to move. It must have come from one of them. Shrugging, I proceeded to stand up, only to lose my balance and stumble as soon as my feet touched the floor. With flailing arms, I attempted to grab onto something, but there was nothing to break my fall, and I pitched backwards, my head impacting on the metal frame of the bed and then the hard tiles.
I was insensate for a few moments, my vision blurring along with a dull throbbing sting on the back of my head. “What the heck?” I muttered, rubbing the back of my head as I sat up. How did I fall? I didn’t feel dizzy, but something felt strange about my feet. They felt stiff somehow. As my vision cleared, I looked to my feet, my heart jumping to my throat at the sight.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Where I once had two feet with five little piggies on each, I now had hooves. There was no pink skin, no toes, only hooves with copper hair covering them. I stared in disbelief before I lifted my right leg and rested it over my left knee. This had to be a joke, a sick one at that! However, there wasn’t any indication that it was. Just below my left knee, the leg was thicker and covered in a short reddish-orange coat of fur that reached all the way down to my… I wanted to say feet but I couldn’t, chiefly because they weren’t there! I began to feel around my leg for any signs of a prosthetic or a prop like a fake latex leg, anything that could give me a clue as to what had happened to me. There were no latex, no surgical scars, nothing.
I look to the horses and found their spears still aimed at me. I casted a glance at their hooves, then looked back to mine. They were very similar, almost identical except for size and colour, mine being larger. Even the hooves themselves had the same colour as the coat, tawny with a slight sheen and longer hair just above the ankles that reached down to the hooves. I carefully touched the hooves. They were harder than I expected, but with a jolt, I realized that I could feel my hands on them. They were mine.
As I touched my hooves, I took notice of my hands and arms. My hands seemed to have grown slightly larger, my fingers thicker for some reason. Otherwise, they looked the same. I open my hands then squeezed them into fists, before wiggling my fingers. It seemed their functionality hadn’t been changed, aside from the slightly increased size. Trying to touch my own fingers revealed that the skin and tissue were the same, but the bones themselves seemed to have grown slightly thicker.
I was unaware of how much time had passed since I had fallen on the floor; the only things occupying my mind were the images of myself and how I had changed. I clutched my hair as I strangled a sob, cursing the changes that had occurred to me against my will. I bit into my knuckles as my breathing once again became unsteady, my heart racing again until I could hear the meaty thuds in my own head, overpowering all other senses.
I barely noticed the monitor until I heard a drawn-out beep and then silence. With a gasp, I clutched my chest, feeling as though fire had coursed through my veins. ‘This is it. This is how I die. Heart failure.’
“Move it!” a voice shouted, shaking me out of my fugue. My head pivoted wildly to the small horses. One of them stood next to the monitor, hoof on a large green button, clearly unimpressed at my display.
‘H-He turned it off! He only turned it off!’
My panic slowly abated as I fought to regain control of my emotions, blinking away my tears. This… This was too real. I needed time. Time to think. To reason. To find out if this was real or not. These changes… Changes. That word reminded me of the dream. The voice. The voice said that I would be changed. Physical changes. But this? Hooves? Fur? What had happened? Who had done this to me?
“I said move it!” the unicorn, the only horse who had spoken to me during this entire ordeal, once more commanded, louder this time. Given that they were armed, I was left with little choice but to comply.
Reluctantly, I tried to stand up, noticing for the first time that I wasn’t wearing any clothes—no underwear, no shirt, pants, nothing. A look around the room revealed that they weren’t in the room either.
“May I have my clothes?” I asked, hoping that a modicum of decency would be afforded to me.
“No. Now stand up!” The unicorn dashed that hope as he advanced menacingly.
I warily stood up, using the bed as support, first gathering my feet under myself until I felt like I was somewhat stable. My lower limbs felt weird when I finally righted myself. The hooves weren’t flat with the floor, looking as though I was wearing clown shoes. Supporting myself on the bed bought me some time, at least long enough to take a look at my legs and those of the small horses.
“Small horses, tell me your secrets.”
Oh yes, now I remembered. Horses didn’t actually walk on the flat of their feet, rather on their toes or something similar. What was it called? Digitigrade? No, it didn’t matter—my first priority was attempting to walk on my toes.
I lifted my left leg and extended my feet as much as I could before placing it down on the floor, repeating the process with my right leg. My feet felt as though they had some type of natural suspension—even relaxed, my heels didn’t touch the floor. I tensed the muscles in my feet and lower legs as I made to stand, straightening until I was upright. I looked down to my hooves, finding that the distance to the ground was greater than expected. I didn’t have an accurate measurement, but I estimated that I stood perhaps thirty to forty centimetres taller than my usual height. It felt rather disconcerting, but I counted myself fortunate that I was in no pain due to…. whatever had happened to me.
Now standing upright, I could tell just how short the horses were. If all of them were male, as I had assumed they were, they were well below a meter in height, the top of their heads reaching below my waist. I could see on their faces that they didn’t expect me to tower over them like that, and they reacted by pointing their spears closer to my neck.
Slowly, I raised my arm and spoke in a calm voice. “Easy. I just want to go to the restroom… like, right back there,” I said as I carefully pointed a finger towards the door.
“Move it then!” the unicorn guard growled out, the tip of his weapon almost poking me. I slowly turned around with my raised hands and began to walk.
The first steps were difficult to begin with, but as long as I imagined myself walking on my toes, it wasn’t so bad. In a way, it was almost comfortable. My legs, my hooves, felt strong and sturdy, as though I was wearing a pair of hefty boots. I stumbled for a bit before developing a rhythm.
I reached the door and opened it, the door handle set low so I had to bend down to reach it. Inside was a porcelain toilet, a sink with a soap dispenser, and a mirror over the sink. All of these things were mounted lower than usual, which was to be expected given the horses’ short stature.
I walked in and turned around to shut the door, expecting some amount of privacy for my business, but the guards have actually followed me inside. If I was a prisoner to the creatures, I would expect them to wait outside, but this was ridiculous.
“Err, what are you doing?”
“Our orders are not to leave you out of sight at any time!” said the one unicorn who had spoken to me.
I give him a confused look, waiting to see if he was joking. They remained in place. “Come on! Following me around all the time? What are you going to do in here, hold it for me?” I pointed down to my crotch with both hands. Their eyes flicked down for just a split second before returning to my face. “Where can I escape to? There’s only one door and no windows!”
The guards just stood there for a moment before walking backwards out of the room, their spears still pointing at me. Finally, the door was shut with a loud click.
“Thank you very much. Jeez…”
Walking up to the low-seated toilet, I didn’t bother to figure out if it was the same thing I was used to. The design was similar to modern toilets anyway, although there were some strange differences. Pop up the lid, do your thing, flush.
Plumbing magic!
After I finished my business, I had to struggle to get up, reminded of the disparity in height once again. Walking up to the sink, I applied a decent amount of lavender-scented soap from the dispenser and washed my hands. I bent down to wash my face as well, revelling in how cool the water felt. Face dripping, I straightened to find my reflection staring back at me in the mirror.
“No… no, no, no, no…. WHAT THE HELL?!”
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its a good story so far, but dude i think you may be trying to write too fast if you have 14 chapters of crap. my advice to you is don't worry, slow down to make better quality chapters, and be cool about it. other than that keep up with the long chapters and quality of the chapters.
by the way make most the chapters about 3000 - 5000, instead of 11,000. nobody wants to read that much at once, and will get almost to the point of boredom. good luck.
Not a bad story goin on here, but it could use some grammar work. Seemed a tad worse on this chapter.
The thing I'm most curious about is the identity of the mysterious 'guide' that has spoken to him and given him understanding of Equish.
So, constructive criticism time. I liked it overall but do think it needs to be edited a little better. Things like this ("Oh. I am home?) Most modern people don't say I am, they shorten it to I'm.
(“My home, but it is also your home. Now tell me, how do you feel?”
I’m cold… and scared. Am I dead?
“No, you are far from dead. At this moment you are more alive than you have ever been before. But at the moment you are unconscious and you were closer to dying than I expected and for that I must apologize. But worry not, for in time all will be explained.”)
This feels like a run on sentence, the being uses (And) to many times. Then we get to where he wakes up, I feel like the guards should not interact with him at all, if their veterans they were probably instructed to just get the rulers and do nothing else. Anyway I liked the rest of the story, it was just a couple things I feel are pulling it down. By the way, I like long chapters, 3000 is defiantly the bare minimum on chapter length.
5738789 Thanks for the tip concerning the length of the chapter, I felt like this one got a lot longer than I expected. Before rewrite it was about twenty pages but I decided to add a bit more to make the reactions of Luna and Celestia seem more genuine. The fourteen chapters I have took me a year to write as I wrote a bit on and off, adding and removing things as the story progressed, so in fact the chapters I have cover the first arc of the story. Still, the chapters are too long so in the future I'll divide each chapter into two parts to make it easier for you readers.
5739765 I knew that the part about grammar would pop up. English is not my first language and for some reason I never have any problems speaking English, but when it comes to writing I tend to have some problems when it comes to proper sentence structuring and grammar. I grew up watching james Bond movies and learned most of my English from watching them. I actually had a slight accent for a couple of years, due to Sean Connerys influence.
Still, I should find an editor for the sake of the story.
5740074 Your demand for editing has been noted and will be corrected in future chapters.
I felt that the sequence with the guards was necessary. His first interactions with ponies should be a bit troublesome, considering his prisoner status and the fact that they think he is dangerous. Still, I think ponies, even veteran guards, should know that prisoners have access to basic facilities like a toilet. Considering the status that Celestia and Luna holds I think that a hospital room that reeks of urine would offend their noses and the guards know this, thus allowing him time to empty his bladder.
I just have to say it looks like there's a dick on the guy's head on the cover pic
5740170
if you ever need an editor, you can email me yournightmaresnightmare@gmail.com
im very fluent in both reading and writing in English, and plan to major in english later on
It's a really good chapter keep up the excellent work
5742145 Hah, I was wondering when that would come up.
It's a matter of scaling the size of a unicorns horn up to the size to fit a human. I tried to find a template of a unicorns horn but was unable to, so I had to draw one myself.
Now i am really intrested in what is going to happen soon, i cant wait !
5752824 That depends on the size of the injury itself. I never mentioned the size of the head injury or the circumference of the splinter in Magnus' arm, a detail I never mentioned. Still, a small gash that only requires a few stitches does not mean it's serious. A puncture wound in the arm caused by a piece of plywood can be dangerous, but only if a large bloodvessel is punctured or muscle and sinew is damaged. But I thank you for mentioning this, I forgot a few details in the next chapter and your post reminded me of them.
Next chapter is almost done and now that I have an editor who can help me I'm sure that the quality of the grammar will improve.
A quick update and an explanation followed by an apology:
The next chapter is done and when I read through it and parts of the next chapter I was unhappy. Most of the two chapters are just repetition with little advancement to the story. To be frank: It's boring. So, I've decided to make the next chapter and the one after into a single chapter in order to advance the story properly. This'll take a bit longer, at most two days in order to make it all fit seamlessly. I'm sorry but I firmly believe it'll be worth it.
Edit 22.03. Release date for next chapter has been changed. I got a bit ahead of myself and made promises I can't keep and for that I'm sorry. I won't go into details, but expect next chapter sometime next week.
And I learned a lesson about this: Never promise something if you're not 100% sure about it. So from now on I won't mention a specific date for the next chapter, only that it will be coming.
Maybe he is slowly transforming into a female pony?
5798518 I can tell you that there won't be any more tranformations. Magnus' current form will remain throughout the rest of the story. Check back in a couple of chapters to find out more. I hope you found the story at least a little bit entertaining.
5798555
Sorry, but I think of hate stories where "Human turns into X that does not exist in Equestria and goes to Equestria". Specially since said human may end looking like a monster, but generally ends as a Mary Sue.
Is different is cases like The Wolf's War by Blazing47s, because Link already turns into a Wolf in that game, and him getting new powerups makes sence if he can't take human form while on Equestria or get Midna help.
Anyway, I wish you luck with this story, is not just my thing.
Yes, surely that will work well with a creature you've never spoken to before or had any prior interactions with. Who knows what might come out his mouth.
Dude, you were JUST told NOT TO PANIC!
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The law of man when told not to panic....."....... RUN AnD SCREAM
You know.... he gets TOLD about ehat happened and what he should do..... only for him to freak the fuck out anyway...
8569488
Well, separating dreams and reality, you know...
Do yoooouuuuuuu uNdArsTaND?
On Ch 2 and so far Im liking this. Although I really wish Authors would stop doing everything everyone else does. Here we have a character who has been told exactly whats going on and what to expect, but because every single story has to have a "Talking ponies, freak out moment". The Author put one in. Again, the character was TOLD what to expect and the level of confusion and awe make no sense.
But I cant fault the Author for this, because "Its how everyone else has done it." is a debilitating addiction on this site.
As for the story? So far so good.
Monk
“They may have been a pair of idiots, but the true test of intelligence is how you stick the landing!” -The Dimensional Traveler