Dream On

by Colbbie

Chapter-1 The Awakening

Pain. Lots and lots of pain. That's the first thing my groggy, barely conscious mind understood. Pain filled my entire body to the point of me just wanting nothing but for it to stop. I had no idea where I currently was as my eyes were still slammed shut, the pain making it extremely difficult to open my eyes, none the less, breathe or really do anything for that matter.

I laid on the ground for probably another good half an hour or so, a groaning, twitching, pain-filled mess. But gradually, the pain started to subside to a more, slightly bearable level, allowing me to get a hold on my current situation to some minor degree. And the first thing I tried to do was open my eyes. All that got me was a large bout pain. So, I decided to use my other senses to try and figure out my current situation.

Touch, that was the first big thing I noticed. I was laying on my side on something I had never felt before in my life. It was soft, like a memory foam mattress, yet it was also holding my weight very firmly. It was also slightly damp against my side that was currently facing downward. But the strangest feeling was something on my back. Every time I thought of the strange sensation on my back, it would result in a brief twitch and a fairly large dose of pain. So I decided to investigate that when I wasn't in pain.

The smell was the next thing. It smelled like it had just rained very recently with a few other much more unpleasant smells like garbage and sewage reaching my nose as well. But the main difference causing yet another sensation to feel completely alien was just how powerful every odor was. It seemed like I was laying face first in a wet pile of garbage in the middle of a sewer, which I definitely was not as the side of my face was resting on the same soft, damp material the rest of my body was currently residing on and not a mound of trash.

The sound became something I quickly took notice of as what sounded like an extremely large bird flapping its wings quickly pushed its way to the front of my mind. But as I heard the sound, another alien sensation filled my brain. Something on top of my head seemed to move in the direction of the unfamiliar sound. This slight movement didn't cause as much pain, so I decided that maybe I would try opening my eyes again to try and see the strange environment I was currently residing in.

The first thing that happened when I opened my eyes was being immediately blinded by a street lamp. After a minute or so of squinting, I had the wonderful idea to try and look away. And after looking away, I continued looking around without moving my head too much but enough for me to know that I was in an alley. Though, the white ground and walls on either side of me greatly confused me as to what they were made of.

Finally, after laying on the ground for well over forty-five minutes, I decided that I was going to try and sit up. And to say that moving was weird would be an understatement. First I rolled onto my stomach, which caused me to slightly wince, but when I tried to push myself up with my hands, I noticed a crucial detail was off. I don't have hands.

"Ahh! What the heck!?" I screamed in confusion, all the pain I was currently feeling was immediately pushed to the back of my mind as I looked at where my hands were supposed to be and saw instead two fuzzy white arms ending in stumps. Panic quickly took over as I held my shaking han- thing in front of my face and waved it around just to be sure that what I was seeing really belonged to me. And after flailing my arm about, I realized that this thing was definitely connected to me.

Next, I decided that I must be having some kind of crazy lucid dream. They say that if you get hurt, you wake up... right? Well, that's what I thought, so without a moment's hesitation, I clocked myself in the head with my new arm and instantly regretted it. I fell back down onto my stomach, my head now throbbing with pain from the self-inflicted blow. I cradled my head with my new arms, feeling like I was going to throw up from mind wrenching pain. "Definitely not dreaming!" I groaned to myself in pain.

Eventually, the pain once again died back down to a noticeable, yet manageable level. With difficulty, I slowly sat back up, this time deciding to try and get a look at my whole body, fearing what could have happened if my new arms were anything to go by. Not too long after sitting back up, I noticed that my legs were bending the completely wrong direction. I slowly turned my head to look at my legs, and my fears were slowly confirmed as more and more of a strange white body filled my vision. I also took note that my neck was very long as I could look almost completely behind me without moving my body. And to top it off, adorning my back were two new equally white appendages that looked like... wings? 'What the heck am I...?' I thought as I tried to take in more of my strange form. While this freaked me out to no end, having a panic attack in some dark alley may not be the best of ideas.

"Hello?" This voice did nearly cause me to have a panic attack as the moment I heard it, my heart stopped and I froze in place. "Hello? Is somepony down there? Are you alright?" Came a quiet feminine sounding voice from the entrance of the alley behind me. This of course caused me to freak out. 'Oh no, someone saw me! What are they going to do to a creature like me?' Thoughts like this ran through my head at a million miles per hour as I decided that I had to see who was there.

Ever so slowly, I turned my head in the direction of the voice. And the closer I got, the more anxious I got fearing that I would see a bunch of animal control people waiting to get me and drag me away or something. Instead, what I saw left me speechless. Standing in the entrance of the alley was what looked like an orange horse, though not quite, with equally orange wings similar to mine and red hair. The creature was just staring back with a timid aura about her. I also noticed that this creature seemed to be pretty similar to me in terms of general build.

"Hello miss, umm, are you alright there?" She said, slowly approaching me with a caring smile adorning her face.

"Umm..." Was all that came out when I tried to talk to this creature... and did it just call me miss?

"Oh my, you're hurt!" It gasped before rushing up to me.

This caused me to back away, which didn't get me far because soon after I bumped into a wall.

This caused the creature to freeze. "Oh I'm so sorry, somepony must have done something horrible to you! I mean just look at you! Please, I live in the building right here," she gestured with a leg to the building I was leaning against "I don't want you getting anymore hurt than you already are."

'Why would this creature just take me in?' I thought, suspicious of why this thing would do such an act for a complete stranger. And given the fact that it isn't freaking out, that must mean whatever I am must be normal or to some degree at least. But, I don't really have anywhere to go, and just laying in a broken heap in some random alley may not be the best of ideas especially if a person were to just come walking by and see me. "Alright." I said with resignation before realizing just how high my voice was which sparked even more worry in the back of my mind.

"Alright, let me help you up." She said, this time approaching me more slowly than she did the first time.

The creature wrapped its... wing? around me which caused me to realize I am now going to have to try and walk. And taking a glance at the creature again made corroborated the fact that I was going to have to attempt to walk on all fours. Sucking in a deep breath, I attempted to stand and immediately fell back down onto my midsection even with the creature's support.

"Oh my, this is worse than I thought. Thank Celestia I live right here." I heard the creature say to itself which raised another question. 'How does it speak perfect English?' I decided to contemplate all this later and focus on standing now.

Sitting back up from my prone position, I took it a little slower this time. Ever so slowly with the help of the creature, I got to my shaky legs. Two too many I might add before I attempted to take a step. This was much harder than I anticipated as soon as I lifted my leg I nearly lost my balance before I planted my leg back down and the creature rebalanced me.

"It's ok, take your time. And I'm assuming you can't fly if you can barely walk. Am I right?" She asked with a very comforting tone that had absolutely zero malice in it that I could find.

"No, I-I can't f-fly" I responded, my voice two octaves higher than what I was used to before refocusing on walking.

And ever so slowly, I started to put one leg in front of the other and move. Coordinating my back legs and my front legs was difficult, but considering we were moving slower than a snail's pace, it was doable. I had to put all my attention into walking to not trip over my extra legs. Though surprisingly, I picked up the whole walking thing pretty quickly. And after not too long, we emerged from the alley and into the artificial light of multiple street lights.

This extra light caused me to look up and nearly pass out from the huge spike in stress. Looking around, it was very evident that this was somewhere not Earth. Looking to the right and left, I saw a white building lining a street, with no street. Instead, there were white sidewalks with bridging connections between the two sides. Floating buildings made out of the same white stuff made me realize what we were standing on. Clouds. Though I immediately rejected the idea that I could somehow be in the sky, who knows how high up, standing on clouds. Though the thought lingered in the back of my mind.

We continued on slowly down the sidewalk towards what was clearly the entrance that the creature said was where it lived. While we closed the distance between us and the door, I used this time to continue to soak in the unknown environment around me. The architecture reminded me of all the greek stuff I learned about in school. Also, every creature that looked like us seemed to have a pair of wings whether they were flying or just walking. I only saw one that didn't have wings walking down the sidewalk opposite of us. I also took note of the lack of fall prevention, but I guess when you can just fly there really isn't all that much of a need. There were not many creatures here because it was currently night time and judging by the building sizes around us, I would assume that this must be a fairly populated area.

"Hello there Ms. Breeze, welcome back, and I see that you have a guest." The doorman... whatever said to the creature which I now know has Breeze somewhere in its name.

"Hello, Shining, I'm just taking her up to my apartment to fix her up." And with that, we walked past the reception desk and towards what looked like an elevator from the 1900s.

"Alright, just up to the 8th and well be there." Breeze said as we slowly walked into the elevator, me being more than a little apprehensive to get in something that looks like it belongs in a museum. But eventually, I stepped in with the elevator shaking a bit not helping to alleviate my worry.

We didn't go falling down the elevator shaft to our deaths, instead, we slowly ascended, the little arrow above the door slowly making it's way closer to eight every second.

The elevator stopped with a slight rattle as we reached the proper floor just before the doors opened and we walked out into the little elevator lobby. The place didn't look too shabby as it was a fairly nice looking tiled floor with a simple beige paint job and lights lining the walls every five feet or so along with flowers and other decorations here and there.

We walked out of the little lobby, past about six doors before stopping in front of a door that had a little 826 on the front of it.

"Alright, here we are, I'm going to let you go so I can get my key alright?" Breeze said which I responded with a slight nod. And a second later, I was standing on my own for the first time. Not having the extra support made my legs wobble a little, but having walked a fair distance made it much easier to stand here than when I was back in the alley.

While Breeze was fishing for the key in the bags I just noticed she was wearing, I took in a little more of my situation. 'I'm on a completely unknown planet for all I know, I appear to be one of the natives, and I'm walking right into one of their houses.' They could be cannibals for all I knew I could just be walking right into a trap. Though, having some kind of shelter was probably be safer even if it is with just a random stranger. But then again, she had been pretty nice to me.

The click of a lock opening brought my mind back to the present. Breeze pulled the key out and deposited it back into her bad before biting onto the handle with her mouth before pulling down and pushing the door inward to reveal her apartment.

Walked right back up to me and helped me into the apartment. Once we were fully inside, she kicked the door closed with a back leg before continuing on deeper into the room. And not too far from the door was a brown, three-person sofa only a few inches off the ground, where we walked up to and I sat down on.

"Alright, you just stay right there. I'll be right back with the first aid kit." And with that, I was left sitting on the couch pondering my current situation. Many thoughts tried to push their way to the front of my mind, but the one that consistently beat them all was, "What the heck am I?"

"What was that?" Came the voice of Breeze from down the hall on the right side of the room.

"Nothing." I quickly responded. This disturbance brought my mind back to the present and I decided I should get to know where I'll be staying for who knows how long.

I appeared to be in what was the living room. A three-person sofa with a small coffee table just in front of it and two pillows on the ground next to the table. Looking to my left showed the front door to the apartment where we came in as well as a closed-door in the wall to the right of the front door. Looking the other way to the right showed a small dining room with a round table with four pillows on the ground as well as a small rose sitting right in the center. And just behind the dining room was a very small kitchen with what looked like a small refrigerator, a stove, and a sink.

'Wow, this looks just like an apartment from Earth minus the small differences in the furniture and lack of technology.' After pondering that for a second, I looked past the dining room and down a hall where Breeze went. There were two doors on the right side of the hallway. One was closed and the other was open with light shining out from within which was where Breeze must have gone. A couple more glances around the apartment showed a few other personal touches like pictures and other various decorations scattered around.

The sound of a shower turning on brought me back once again to the real world. And a few moments later, Breeze came out of the first door in the hallway.

"I started the water for you so you can get cleaned up before we patch those cuts. I left a fresh towel and there are some soaps in the shower already." She said before coming over to assist me.

"No, I'm fine, I can do this myself, but thanks." I said before almost instantly regretting it. 'How the heck am I going to wash myself? I can barely even walk!' So to not keep her waiting any longer, I promptly got onto my legs, very shakily, and slowly took steps across the room towards what must have been the bathroom.

"You sure you don't need help washing up?" Breeze asked with concern.

"No, I'm feeling a bit better. I can do this myself." I shut her down, wanting to save at least a small portion of my pride and also wanting some private time to look at the most important problem of them all. And with that, I continued on my miniature marathon to the bathroom door.

After slowly passing through the dining room and down the hall, I made my way into the bathroom, steam already starting to fill the small room, before closing the door. It was a standard bathroom. A toilet in one corner and a bathtub and shower in the other with a sink in the middle.

"Well, if you need anything just shout." Came Breeze's voice before the sound of her walking away.

And once I confirmed that the door was locked, I took a look between my legs and almost cried. A very important part of me was missing. One that basically defined me was gone. "I'm... a girl." That was all I could say, the bombshell of no longer being male completely obliterating my thought process. My alien reflection staring back at me only making me feel even worse.

In an attempt to not cry by taking my mind off the subject, I decided to get into the shower and try to bathe myself. So without hesitation, I drew the curtains back, felt the warm water, before stepping one leg, then the other, then the extra two before closing the curtain behind me.

The shower was pure bliss compared to how the past hour or so had been. While the various cuts covering my body stung a little, the warmth and the pitter-patter of water against my body calmed me down greatly. But I couldn't just stand under the water, I've still got to clean myself.

With that goal in mind, I quickly spotted the soap bottles sitting in the corner and attempted to pick them up, only to knock one to the ground due to my current lack of fingers. And I mentally cursed myself for forgetting that I now lacking a very important tool that I took for granted.

Thinking back made me remember that Breeze did most of her things with her mouth. While this was extremely unsanitary, how else were you supposed to do it? So with that thought now in mind, I bent my neck down and picked up the bottom end of the bottle with my teeth. Next, I lifted my head up and stuck one of my new appendages, 'these look remarkably similar to a horses hooves' I thought before realizing I was pouring shampoo all over the shower floor and quickly stopped. I then realigned my leg with the bottle and bit down which squirted a fair amount of shampoo all over my arm.

I tried to put the bottle back in the corner, while it was sideways, it was close enough. I then sat down and took my arm and rubbed it over as much of my fur-covered body as I could reach, which was almost all of it.

After covering the majority of my hair and body with soap, I stood back up and walked back under the water to rinse myself out. After a few minutes of just standing under the water and relaxing, I finally decided that I've spent enough time in the shower.

At the front of the shower was a knob which I walked up to and grabbed in my teeth before twisting to the off position which quickly did as it was supposed to and shut the water off.

After shaking some of the excess water off, I pulled the curtain back and carefully stepped out, now noticing my extreme lack of grip on the tiled floor. With all four legs out of the shower and onto the tiled floor, I carefully walked over to the sink and pulled the towel off the corner and onto the ground. I then sat down and put it over one of my arms and proceeded to attempt to dry myself to the best of my current ability, which honestly wasn't very well.

After deciding that I wasn't going to be able to get myself any drier, I put the towel back on the corner of the sink, not having any idea where to put it, before walking back towards the door but not before catching a glance of myself in the mirror and being reminded even more of my current situation.

I walked out of the bathroom and back towards the living room to see Breeze sitting on one of the cushions next to the coffee table. She quickly turned and saw me before getting up.

"Oh, you're done. Why don't you go take a seat on the sofa while I get the first aid kit." She pronounced gesturing to the sofa before walking past me back towards the bathroom.

I quickly took her advice and walked over to the living room and took a seat on the sofa, still slightly damp, before she reemerged from the bathroom.

"Alrighty, let's get you fixed up shall we?" Breeze said walking down the hall and back towards the main room with what was most likely a first aid kit balanced on her back.

I gave her a nod which was all she appeared to need before she set down the kit and started digging through it. This made me look at the condition of my new body, which was not good. I was covered in small cuts and bruises everywhere. 'How did I not notice any of this... Also, how did I get like this?' These thoughts provoked me to try and remember the last thing that happened to me. But every time I tried to think back to just before everything happened, I would just come up blank.

"So, what's your name? Mine's Autumn Breeze but just call me Breeze." Breeze asked while she somehow held a bottle of something with her stump of a leg without the aid of fingers.

"Hello?" She stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yea... just dozed off, my names Ol-" It dawned on me that Oliver may not be a normal name considering that her full name was Autumn Breeze. Something season-related maybe? Well, my favorite season is winter so, "It's Winter Ice, yea, Winter Ice but you can just call me Winter." I said, trying to sound like I at least know my own name.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Winter, wish we could have met under slightly better circumstances, but hey, better late than never." She said with a small chuckle before she resumed her work patching me up. I winced each time she dapped one of my many wounds. She then proceeded to cover some of the larger cuts with bandages before steeping away to admire her handy work.

"Well, it's ain't much, but it's honest work." She said before closing the first-aid kit and balancing it on her back before walking back to where she got it from the put it back. And a moment after she disappeared through the doorway, she reappeared nothing on her back.

She then proceeded to take a seat on one of the cushions opposite of me before she began. "So, what happened?" She asked bluntly.

This surprised me a bit, but I said the truth. "I-I don't know. I can't remember anything that could have caused this. The last thing I remember was me just going about my day like normal," A whole different species I might add but obviously decided against it. "And the next thing I know I'm waking up in an ally."

This seemed to surprise her as she adopted a sympathetic smile a moment later. "Well, I hope nothing too bad happened, but your welcome to stay here the night. Do you live nearby?" She asked, that last question making my anxiety shoot up for the thousandth time in the last hour.

"Umm, well you see, I'm not from around here." I responded, deciding to pretend that I was just visiting. "I'm uh, visiting from very far away."

"Oh my, well, let me tell you, Cloudsdale" 'So that's what this place is called.' I thought and continued to listen, "is a very nice city. I don't know what happened to you, but just know that Cloudsdale is a very nice city." She said with pride for her city very evident in her tone.

I gave a little nod in agreement which seemed to be enough for her.

"Well, it's getting late, would you like any food before bed?"

"No, I'll just head to bed... um, where could I sleep?" I asked, still unfamiliar with the sleeping situation.

"Oh yea, you can have the guest bedroom." She walked over to the door on the right wall adjacent to the entrance before pushing it open.

I got up and slowly walked over, still not completely confident in my walking skills, to reveal a fairly normal-looking bedroom. A white room with a twin-sized bed in the far corner with a nightstand next to it with a small clock and a lamp. as well as a desk at the foot of the bed with a quill, inkwell, some paper, and another lamp.

"Well, hope you like it. I'm gonna head off to bed. My room is the door next to the bathroom. Just knock if you need anything. Goodnight Winter." And with a little wave, she walked away leaving me alone in a fresh guest bedroom all by myself.

I went and closed the door before getting up onto the bed and laying down under the covers. While I was lying there, thoughts were constantly trying to push themselves to the forefront of my brain. Instead of contemplating all my problems, I just shut them down with the thought, 'tomorrow me's problems.' And with that, I promptly passed out from the mental exhaustion of the evening.

Author's Note:

Ponies > School
Hope you liked this first chapter.
Criticism is greatly appreciated as it helps me make better stories.

Comments

[Colbbie]

10660598
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

[Uknikorn]

𝕎hen something bad happens you have 3 choices.
You can either let it define you,
let it destroy you,
or you can let it strengthen you.
-Dr. Seuss

[Flash_Game]

I’m not much into gender-bent stories, at all, but yours has me intrigued for some reason. I’ll see where it goes

[Ziper Ace]

Well Shoot!
If he wants his gender back he’s going to need to ask a Unicorn to help her to be a Male.

[Alxsofthenight]

Okay it's funny how the reception it's named shining maybe it's a cameo either way it's funny how that name thank you for making this I'm going to go read more of this everything's all good here I love reading lesson I hope you make more of this and others :-)

[Teraunce]

Well that gender-bending put this back on my read it later shelf.

[KvAT]

Damn, another one of those "backwards knee" trope. No offense bro, but the analogy between horse limbs and human limbs is literally one google away.