3. Stroll Through The Castle
Damn, another hallway? How big is this castle supposed to be?
I follow silently behind the unicorn guard as we take a left at probably the third intersection so far, my eyes darting everywhere to try to take in as much of my new and constantly changing surroundings as they can. At least, 'changing' as in from hallway A to hallway B, because so far, most of them have been pretty identical to each other, minus the paintings on the walls changing.
Being the most useful source of information in the hallways, I pay attention to every single painting I pass, hoping I could figure a little more about this place. Most of them depict wide, realistic views with an emphasis on nature, filled with trees and rivers and fields. However, once or twice, I spot what's clearly a portrait of Princess Celestia herself, staring down at me with the same gentle, purple eyes that looked back at me in the mirror earlier. Each time though, a shiver runs up my spine and I have to resist the urge to immediately look away. Princess Celestia... who really are you? Did you have something to do with why I'm here, in this 'Equestria', in your body or some clone of it?
Even though they're nothing but paint on a canvas, I can feel a strange sense of warmth and comfort radiating from behind those eyes, like something I can't recall feeling since I was a kid. Is this what everyone else is feeling when they look at me? Or at least, this body I'm in?
I shake my head and look away from the third royal portrait I've come across. The guard in front of me doesn't seem to take notice of my constant distractions, though if he has, he makes no sign of it and continues forward. We reach yet another T intersection, though it seems we're entering from the right side. He takes a swift left, and I follow close behind. This new hallway appears a little more... cozy. A fuzzy, yellow carpet rests along the length of the hallway, and several pink and purple tapestries with intricate, silver curves adorn the walls. Several wooden doors line the sides, each with their own pair of gold, ornate handles. What's the point of these handles when no one here apparently has hands?
My attention is caught by yet more armored horses, a pair of them to be exact, on either side of the hallway, both facing down the length of it. The one to my left has light gray fur, while the other has white fur, but unlike the one walking ahead of me, both don a pair of wings folded neatly to their sides. Alright, so, uh, pegasuses then? Or wait, would that be 'pegasi'? I look one of them up and down curiously. He looks... bulky. I guess you gotta be if you're supposed to be a guard here. I don't know if this part of the castle is available to the public, but I'm guessing they're here to stop anyone from going up the hallways where my room was just at.
After a while, he notices my gaze and starts awkwardly redirecting his gaze all over the place. I just barely resist the urge to let out a laugh, turning back to my 'guide'. To my surprise, he's already stopped in front of one of the doors, one consisting of heavy metal bars and a thick padlock built in. This is the castle's library? Eeesh, tight security much? Why does this look like the door to some medieval prison? Though... this is pretty deep into the castle for what I thought was just some public library. Maybe this is a bit more than that. The same blue energy surrounds the unicorn's horn, and an identical aura surrounds the padlock. Mmmm okay so that's probably how they use doors without hands. But then... what about the ones with just the wings? And I think I saw a few outside that don't even have either wings or horn, what are they supposed to do?
After a few seconds, it clicks quietly. The unicorn guard's 'horn aura' surrounds the door, which slowly swings open outwards with a painful metallic groan. He stands off to the side
A gentle, cool breeze flows from within the room, wafting over me, sending a chill throughout my body, eliciting a shudder from me. Gah, I really felt that. I freeze. Wait, I felt that breeze everywhere. Like, all over me, way more than I should be able to. Do I not... have...
My eyes slowly trail downwards towards the soft white fur covering my entire body, fully exposed to the open air. My breath catches in my throat and my eyes widen.
Ohhhh shit, am I naked?! Have I been walking around naked the whole time? How am I just noticing this??
I glance towards the guards in the hallway, both of which are wearing some very visible armor over their body. My gaze darts back and forth between them, looking for any sign of disturbance in their eyes, but they don't seem to be making any sort of fuss about it. None of the guards are naked, and those other horses I saw outside earlier also seemed to be wearing clothes. Is it... just the royalty that can walk around naked? Or... maybe this isn't normal at all, and the guards just aren't allowed to point it out or something.
"Is something wrong, Princess Celestia?"
"Huh?!" My thoughts are broken and I look down at the unicorn guard staring at me in confusion, having moved in front of me. I shake my head to regain my thoughts, shakily breaking out a calming smile. "Uhm, no sorry. Everything's all fine." Nothing is fucking fine right now, I need to find a way to fix this!
The unicorn guard stares at me for a few seconds, and it takes all the willpower I have to just hold his gaze with a smile. Does he know? Ugh, I don't think I'm doing a really good job as this 'Princess Celestia'. Eventually, he steps aside. "Alright then, your Highness. I'll be waiting outside if you need anything."
Yes, I'm in the clear! "Uh, thank you. I will keep that in mind." I return a brief nod and briskly trot inside. I hear the hard, metallic clang as the guard closes the door behind me.
Towering around me are lines upon lines of bookshelves, filled with various rolled up scrolls and thick tomes, and positioned like spikes on a wheel around a clearing in the center. A massive hourglass sits in the middle, under a domed skylight, emitting a mysterious silver glow as if it were enhancing the light from the stars themselves. Thin filaments of cobweb stretch every which way between the shelves. A flickering, orange light pulses across the walls,
Briefly sparing a glance behind me to my accompanying unicorn guard, who seemed to be striking up a conversation with one of the other guards, I slowly trot towards the clearing, and then through it towards the opposite side. I make a turn around one of the many bookshelves, making sure I'm completely out of sight from the entrance. The last remnants of my strength finally give out as I collapse onto the cold, stone floor, my heart threatening to pound its way through my chest, though I sharply suck in my breath so to not alert any of the guards outside. I scramble backwards until my back presses up against the nearest bookshelf, wincing in discomfort as I feel a few protruding scrolls poke into my sides.
Ugh, I'm not supposed to be here. Why am I even here. How am I a fucking horse, let alone one that's the ruler of a whole damn country of OTHER talking horses on some planet who knows how far from Earth?! And some of them have magic POWERS?! Is any of this is even happening? This has to be a dream, there's literally no other explanation that even makes sense.
I squeeze my eyes shut and pull my limbs close to me. I still my movements, feeling the burst of blood throughout my body with every beat of this foreign heart, in the end of my hooves, the back of my ears, at the bases of my wings. But everything is so... vivid and... real. I was just barely able to hold a conversation with someone during orientation, I'm practically at my limit already acting like I'm some sort of 'princess', I don't know how much longer I can keep this ruse up, I don't even know the first thing about this place.
I slowly release the air I didn't realize I was holding in and let my eyes wander once more around this 'library', back to the wealth of books and papers lining the bookshelves to my left and right. Come on, Sam, just pull yourself together. Freaking out like this isn't going to help anyone, especially you. You made it to the castle library, woohoo. And you made it away from any more of those... horse guards. I just gotta avoid talking to anyone as much as possible or else I'm probably gonna slip up somehow and have my cover blown even quicker.
I look down at my body and once more note my fully exposed body, covered in pretty much everywhere in a soft, white fur. No clothes. Right. Um. How did I take this long to realize I'm not wearing anything? I feel like it should be way more obvious to me when I'm completely naked and walking about. Like... I should be feeling that a whole lot more.
I reach one of my hooves up awkwardly and press it against my chest. Despite the lack of clothes, the contact feels a little muted. Is it... Is it the fur? Is this what it's supposed to feel like fur? It's almost like I got a shirt on, but I can feel through it way easier." I pat various parts of my body with both my hooves, tracing all over my stomach, sides, thighs. No matter where I touch, the sensation is the same. I can feel my muted touch under the short layer of fur, and yet it feels oddly natural, the same way it feels when I'm fully clothed. Huh. Whatever, it's fine. I've got more pressing things to worry about anyways.
Taking one final moment to breathe, I shakily climb back up on all four legs. I narrow my eyes at the shelf in front of me, scanning the titles of some of the books. Wow, I hadn't thought about it before, but thank fucking god wherever this planet is or whatever, they all speak and write in English. This whole disaster would've been a whole lot worse if I couldn't read or write or speak the same language. I pause for a moment. Or maybe everything really is in some alien language, and this body's brain is just... automatically translating it for me? I cough and clear my throat.
"Raspberry, strawberry, banana, table tennis, sandwich, antidisestablishmentarianism." I blink. Well it sure as hell sounds like English. And damn, Sam, really letting your stomach speak its mind there.
I turn back to the books, looking for any titles that might be useful and muttering them as I go. If this is going to be my voice for a while, I might as well get more used to it. "Principia Magica, First Edition, by Starswirl the Bearded. Compilation of Research Notes on the Fire of Friendship, by Clover the Clever. Anatomy of a Pony, by Heart Script. Study on Pony Leylines, by Aurora Star."
Wait a minute, are those actual names? I skim a few more titles and their authors' names, quickly confirming my suspicion. A lot of these names have like... words in them. Is that just how names are here? And... hold on. My backpedal through the titles for a word in particular that stands out to me. "Study on Pony Leylines?" There's a good few of these books here that use the word 'pony'... and not 'horse'...
I briefly recall how all those guards appeared. They had a muzzle, long ears, and hooves that were signature for a horse, and yet were a lot shorter, I surmise even a bit shorter than if I were standing there as a human.
Ponies. They're ponies, not horses. Talking ponies to be exact, that have wings and horns. I process the thought, and promptly spit out in laughter before quickly stuffing a hoof over my mouth to silence myself..
I'M IN A LAND OF MAGICAL, TALKING PONIES! What, did I land in some little kids' cartoon show? Even the architecture is like all bright and pastel-colored!
I shake my head to reorient my thought. Alright, well, at least I now what everyone is supposed to be called now. Magical. Talking. God damn. Ponies. Cool. Very cool. Yes.
Why.
I roll my eyes. Ugh, at least I'm not gonna be misidentifying these ponies as horses anymore. No wonder that one guard looked all weirded out when I called him a talking horse. I snicker briefly. Alright actually, that's pretty funny now in hind sight.
I trot back a bit to where I started reading and reach up with a hoof, grabbing and pulling out the book on pony anatomy. Okay, I'll probably need to look into this one so I know a bit more about this body, in case there's some random, super important detail like 'don't pour water on this part of your wing or your whole body will explode. I attempt to bend my hoof around the book to grip it better, but end up dropping it on the floor several times. Eventually I settle with holding it against my chest with my hoof.
I continue walking along the shelf, looking for any book titles that catch my eye. There's a lot of magic-related books here. I did see some unicorns back there doing some sort of magic thing with their horn. And I guess I have a horn too. Are we wizards or something? Can we cast spells and shit? That sounds so damn useful.
I'm about to reach up with my other front leg to grab a Advanced Combative Spells, Volume Two by that same 'Starswirl the Bearded' pony, but quickly freeze, realizing that would send me painfully crashing to the floor.
I then realize I had been walking around on just three of my legs. Woah, that's pretty cool. I guess this body has a sort of muscle memory when it comes to walking with—
I then realize what I had just done earlier with my fourth leg. Wait, did I just... I crane my neck down and stare at the book currently pressed against my chest. How was I picking this up? How did I even pull it off the shelf? I release my hoof from it, letting it tumble to the stone floor, where it kicked up a small cloud of dust. I reach down and lightly poke my hoof against its cover from different angles, confirming a lack of any sort of large grooves that I could have pulled on or latched my hoof on to. I blink, then reach down again, this time trailing my eyes to one of the shelves and just 'grabbing' at the book with my hoof like I normally would with a hand and fingers.
To my surprise, I feel the book stick against my hoof as I lift it up, though as soon as I turn my conscious thoughts towards the sensation, trying to focus on what's holding the book up without my fingers, it collapses back to the ground.
So ponies can actually grab things with their hooves? But... without fingers? I guess that answers my earlier confusion about the door handles, if all the ponies can do this with their hoof. Still seems a bit unnecessary though. Ugh, none of this makes any sense. I look back to the book lying on the floor, its cover aptly reading 'Pony Anatomy'. Hmmm, perfect. Maybe this book can answer that.
I try to pick up the book once more with my hoof, but my thoughts are unable to shift away from the sensation. It's like trying to sleep while constantly thinking about sleep, which is that it never happens. Eventually, I scoff in annoyance and reach my hoof to the side of it, ready to flick it upwards to turn the cover. Oh well, if I really need to, I can just blow on the pages.
My heart stops as a loud, metallic clang resounds from the entrance on the opposite side of the room, followed by a metallic groan as the door swings open on its hinges. Shit! Is the guard checking in on me? It hasn't even been a few minutes! Did he suspect me all along?
Instinctively, I scramble towards the wall, abandoning my book on the floor in favor of my own safety. I hold my breath and stay as still as possible as the gentle clopping of hooves on stone echoes throughout the room, steadily approaching the center. My eyes remain wide open, gaze locked on as the glowing hourglass casts a blurry, slow moving shadow of my surprise company across the walls.
After what feels like hours, it stops, and a gentler, more feminine voice calls out.
"Tia?"
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Now, will Luna confront "Celestia" about imminent odd behavior, or just carry a strong suspicion? As much as it would be a bit early for such an advantage, it would be nice for our protagonist to have someone read in on the situation.
Another nice chapter. Will be interesting how he/she interacts with Luna.
11910749
Ah! I feel I should clarify early, Sam here is a guy! (Unfortunately there aren't many telling factors of this until later on, so it's easy to mix it up especially with a name like Sam)
Definitely excited for the next chapter.
Good use of book title, Sam.
I’d probably have to read parts before that clicked.
Well, he is discovering more about his body, which is nice.
Still, this next encounter is going to be a nightmare.
Localized entirely within your kitchen?
And now Luna's here.
Absolutely nothing can go wrong. Nothing at all.
11910960
Literally, since Luna used to be NMM.
A very pleasant read, I especially liked that the author chose the moment of the beginning of events the day after Discord's imprisonment and, of course, the Lord of Chaos has nothing to do with the current situation of the main character)
In general, it looks like he has a big blue problem, and I can see this scene where Princess Luna first thinks it's a prank, a joke, and then when everything is revealed, it's time for the royal Canterlot voice and one very angry princess with the question:
"WHERE IS MY SISTER?!"
Perfect plan. Nobody will assume anything is wrong if you just avoid them altogether. We have a genius here.
Oops. Quick, run for cover!
Ahhhhh, I can't wait for what happens next, you damn tease! Not that I blame you, I know the feeling of evil glee cliffhangers give you, but holy *fluffy bunnies*, that's a juicy one. I guess I'll just have to be patient...
For some reason I really want Luna to be inhabited by an MLP fan who’s stoked to be there…and was hoping Celestia could show her/just raise the moon for her, and now Equestria is doomed because neither know how to do their “job”.
Just caught up with this fic! This'll be fun!
Sam's trying to keep her cover, but the longer she keeps it secret, the more suspicious the ponies will be at the end of the day. She'll hopefully see that she can't hide something from this body's own sister...
As before, good quality, as well as a good ending to the chapter to stir up interest and thought. About looking forward to future chapters. Most likely, in the next chapter, Princess Moon will confront our student for not raising the sun, and he will urgently find excuses for this, and in the next chapter after this one, he will most likely still be forced to raise the sun. The truth is how he will do this and whether he will succeed without knowledge of magic, I have no idea. So in the next few chapters I will be expecting quite a bit of panic among the inhabitants of Equestria due to the lack of sun and Princess Luna's panic due to her lack of understanding of what happened to her sister.
11910751
I thought that would be evident given he was looking for his missing dick in the first chapter.