Phoenix's Scrap Bin

by PhoenixHorseGuy

HBS Prologue Three: A Stranger in a Strange World.

Prologue Three: A Stranger in a Strange World.

“Is something wrong with your hooves?” She asked. The worry was evident in her voice.

“I… I…” I couldn’t find the words, so I shut up and just kept staring down at where my hands were supposed to be. After a few more minutes of this, I finally spoke.

“I… need a moment to process… everything… that’s happening to me right now.” I replied.

Celestia nodded. “Very well. We shall leave you alone for now. I must attend to the day court. If you need anything, there will be two guards posted outside the door. They should be able to get you anything you request. I’ll come visit you around noon.”

I nodded, staying silent as I look down at my hooves again. Both Celestia and the guard left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Me being me, I got out of bed and started pacing around the room. It was difficult at first, but eventually I got the hang of using four limbs to walk. At some point I started talking out loud to myself again.

“Where the fuck am I? Why did I end up in the Royal Gardens? Why am I a talking horse? Why am in a princesses bedroom? Did I put my laundry in the dryer?” I stopped my pacing at that final question, trying to remember. “Fuck! I didn’t!”

I was about to resume my pacing when a knock came from the door. A guard poked his head in. “Hey, you okay kid? I just heard you yelling through the door.” This guard looked exactly like the one from earlier, but he sounded a lot younger. Probably in his twenties, if I had to guess. Concern was evident in his voice while he spoke to me.

“Yeah, everything's fine. Just remembered that I didn’t put my laundry in the dryer before I ended up here is all.” I replied. “Oh wait, you just reminded me of something.”

“And that is?’

‘The fact that I’m a child again.”

The guard gave me a very confused look. “What do you mean by again?”

“Well, last I checked I was a nineteen year old with a job, a car, and enough of a social life to pretend that I do have one. Now, I’m at least younger than ten years old and being held captive in a princesses bedroom by another talking horse.” I said. “Either I have somehow discovered inter-dimensional travel completely by accident, or I am hallucinating after doing a fuck ton of drugs.”

The guard simply pulled his head back and closed the door, seemingly deciding that he didn’t want to deal with a mentally ill child anymore. Good. I wouldn’t want to deal with me either if I was in his shoes. Or would it be horseshoes? Who knows at this point.

After that interaction, I finally noticed the bathroom connected to the bedroom. ‘Might as well see what I look like now.’

I walked in and… it was a bathroom. Shocking, I know.

No seriously it kinda was. I wasn’t expecting this place to have running water.

It was a pretty standard bathroom. Had a toilet, a shower, a sink. Everything you would expect from a bathroom. The bathtub looked a bit big, but what do you expect from the room of a princess who’s taller than everybody else in this place? I saw the mirror in it’s usual place up over the sink… which I was to small to see over the top of. I contemplated asking a guard for help before noticing a box in the corner of the room. I pushed the box over with my head and jumped on top of it. Now I could see the mirror and, by extension, myself.

I had a white coat of fur and light blue eyes. My mane and tail were short and orange. It felt weird having short hair again after growing it out for the past three years, but that was quite low on my list of concerns right now. I also had a horn sticking out of my head, so that was cool. I also took this chance to verify that I am, in fact, still male.

‘Good. At least there’s one thing that’ll stay consistent.’

I left the bathroom to resume my pacing and ended up in front of the closed curtains. ‘Well, if I’m gonna be in here for hours on end, might as well get some sunlight.’ With that, I opened the curtains to reveal that the window was actually the entrance to a balcony. I step out in order to get a good look at my surroundings.

The sky is still blue, and there were some clouds scattered about in it. The deadly laser we all call “the sun” is high in the sky, yet it still felt somewhat chilly. I noticed snow on the roof of one of the other towers and a few icicles scattered about, so I come to the conclusion that it was winter in… wherever I was. Still needed to figure that out. I could see I was in a castle of some kind, overlooking a city in the side of a mountain. All in all, the view was beautiful, and it helped me calm down some after the stressful morning I’ve been having. Judging by the suns current position in the sky, it was a little before noon.

“I’m definitely late for work.” I chuckled to myself when I said that. Work. Work was the least of my concerns right now. I’m sure that even my asshole of a boss would understand why I didn’t show up this morning once the news of my death and/or disappearance breaks. Assuming any of this was real, of course. I could be hallucinating. Or maybe I’m dreaming. Or maybe I did die and got reincarnated. Really, who knows at this point?

I looked over the railing at the ground below. “If this were a dream, then I would probably wake up before I hit the ground.” I stopped myself for a moment and shook my head while chuckling. “Haven’t even been here for a day and I’m already thinking about killing myself.” I stopped looking over the railing and back out at the city.

I was quickly lost in my thoughts. So lost in them, in fact, that I didn’t even notice Celestia sit next to me until she put a wing over my back and pulled me into a hug. Her wings were soft, and she was warm. I felt comfortable for the first time since I woke up here, and I would be lying if I said that I wanted that to end.

Another thought entered my mind in that moment: This is the first hug I’ve had in years. I got hugged plenty as a kid, my mother wasn’t a monster, but it had been a while since the last time I was hugged by someone. Even then, I didn’t stop looking at the skyline. We stayed like that for a few moments, simply looking out.

“Enjoying the view, my little pony?” Celestia asked, her regal yet calm and comforting voice just seemed to have some calming effect on me. Whether it was magic on her part or my already much calmer state of mind I’m not sure. I nodded in response. “It’s nice to see your doing much better than you were when you woke up.”

“You can thank the view for that, princess.” I replied, still focusing more on my own thoughts than anything else going on. Finally, I sighed and meet Celestia’s eyes. “I still have no idea what I’m gonna do about all of this though.”

Celestia remained quiet, so I took that as permission to continue. “I mean, I have three working theories right now. Theory A: I’m dreaming, and I could wake myself up right now by jumping off this balcony and simply waking up in a cold sweat back in my bed at home before hitting the ground.” I noticed Celestia raise an eyebrow at that. That was enough to tell me she didn’t like the fact that a child was contemplating suicide just to see if he was dreaming or not.

“Theory B: I did a lot of drugs at some point and now I’m having a really crazy hallucination. If that theory is true, then I could just wait out the drugs effects and figure it out from there.

“Theory C: This is real. I am now a talking horse, in a land full of talking horses and this is just my life now. I am also a child again, and- wait, are child labor laws a thing here?” Celestia nodded. “Okay, there goes that plan of getting a job at a shady factory somewhere for some cash. That means I would probably end up in an orphanage somewhere until I either get adopted or get kicked out by the people running it for not being a child anymore about a decade or so down the line.” I shrug, or at least try to. I haven’t figured everything out, okay? “That gives me a decade with free housing and free food if the second thing happens. More than enough time to figure out some kind of plan for the future.”

“Well, haven’t you been thinking a lot?” I swear I could see a small smile on her… muzzle? Or do I stick with just saying face? “Most colts your age aren’t thinking that far ahead.”

“I kinda have to. If Theory C is correct, then I’ve been thrown into a world I know nothing about in a body I only figured out how to move properly about an hour ago. And I highly doubt anybody would believe me if I walked up to them and said ‘Hello fellow horse! I used to a hairless monkey, but now I’m a horse! Can you teach me how to survive in your world?’” I chuckled. “That would get me a one-way ticket to a psych ward if I did that.”

Celestia seemed to crack another small smile at that. “Yes, I suppose it would. But do tell me, my little pony, have you thought of any other paths besides the orphanage? If Theory C is correct, of course.”

I looked back out at the city. “Not really, honestly. Suicide is out of the question. I haven’t lived here long enough to consider it as a serious option yet. Homelessness is a possibility, but I don’t think I would last long on the streets. Child labor laws prevent me from getting a job, so trying to earn my own income right out the gate is out of the question. Orphanage and possible adoption seems to be the most realistic and safe option in my mind.” I looked back up and met Celestia’s eyes. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, have you considered asking to stay here in the castle? If what you say about coming here from another universe is true, I would more than happy to provide you a guest room while you get your bearings.” Celestia said. “Who knows, perhaps you can find a way back home somewhere in the royal archives.”

Author's Note:

As you can see, overly analytical and rambly characters are my specialty.