So, I learned a few things today. One being that when you meet a stranger, stay away. Stranger danger. Two being, the world of ponies is real. Only, it is not as peaceful as you would think, and Equestria is only a country on a bigger planet.
Hey there. My name is James. And do I have a story for you. Now only, this story is not one of happy endings, good fortune and good times. No. This is a story of a land many thought to be peaceful and very, girly, in a sense. I am talking about Equestria. Only, Equestria is only a country on a big planet, like America is on Earth. And I was lucky enough to get sent there. This planet is at war and it doesn't even know it. And I have been sent there by a women from Target. She sent me here for a reason. I just wish she hadn't set me on fire to get here. I also wish that my job was a bit more clear. Honestly, I really just want to get home. Oh, and I'm no longer human, nor a pony.
I am not one for shopping. I know what I want before I go to the store, go in, get it, and I’m out. I hate looking around for things. Lucky me, I never have a say in anything. I came home from school early since JROTC practice was cancelled, and lo and behold on my day off from activities, my mom gives me stuff to do. Go to the store and buy my brother and sister a present for their birthday. What else is messed up is the fact I have to use my own hard earned cash. Well, there was no arguing it, so I kinda just sucked it up and walked ten miles to the store. The other stores happen to have no power for god knows what reason (And here I thought my day couldn’t get any better).
So there I was, standing in some toy aisle in Target in the boys section. Now what would a 6 year old turning seven like in todays society? I needed something that was fairly cheap, something that was definitely not Lego’s. Thank god for G.I. Joe’s, because those were cheap, unlike Lego’s. I liked them as a kid, and I tell you what, those guys never go out of style. I grabbed the box in front on the rack. Snake Eyes. The best G.I. Joe. Now to get something for my sister. I turned around to head to the girls side and my vision was instantly assaulted with pink as I started to look up from the little army figurine.
“When did I…” I turned around again, and the other side was girl stuff too. “I was just…” I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder. “Boys….toys…” I was in the boy aisle, and then in the blink of an eye, I was in the girl aisle. Did I just have a blackout?
“Such interesting names,” Said a voice as smooth as silk with a hint of trickery. I spun around to see a lady that was about five foot, five inches, judging from my height. She had fox orange hair and she wore some sort of Japanese robe like outfit. Her back was to me as she spoke. “Are they not?”
I blinked and furrowed my brows then opened my mouth to speak. “Uh...excuse me?” I asked, not knowing what for; Maybe I could get a name, or she could explain what had just happened. Anything at all would be nice, really. I took a few steps towards her.
“Their names. Aren’t they just the weirdest?” She turned around to look at me and she smiled. She wasn't exactly asian, but not exactly white. She looked, kinda like your typical american anime cosplay girl. The only other thing odd with her, was her eyes. They were emerald green, and very tempting. If I had to guess, I would say she was at the target getting some things for a comicon or something to that effect. I must have also gotten lost in her eyes, because she snapped her fingers in front of my face.
“Gah!” I flailed a bit, taking a step back. Blinking a few times, I noticed she was giggling just like an anime girl, covering her mouth with a hand while the other rested near her stomach. Weird. She then stopped and looked back to what she was looking at. I followed her gaze. She was looking at ‘My Little Pony’? I looked back at her, remembering her question. “Yeah...I guess they are weird names.” She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“That was awfully fast reading there.” Crap! I can’t let her know I am a brony. I tell some people, yes, but not random adults.
“Yeah, I read a lot of stories.” Hopefully she buys it. She nods.
“You must. Reading all of the names that aren’t there, that is.” Wait, what? I looked over to the toys and boxes, and sure enough, they were all nameless. I blinked and stammered.
“I...uh..you see…” She just held up a hand for me to stop and I did, She put it down and I began. “Look, I didn’t me-” She held up a hand again with a smile. I stop mid sentence with a confused look on my face.
“It’s okay. You didn’t want read them and you just want to go on your way and leave an old crazy lady to her own craziness.” Wait, what?! Old?! She didn’t look a day over twenty-five. Don’t judge me on that age choice. She looked somewhere mid-twenties.
“Okay, one, you are not old. You don’t look a day over 20. Two, I wasn’t going to say that, but, yeah, I really do need to get something for my sister’s birthday.” She just nodded. It wasn’t the complete truth, since I also intended to get myself something MLP related and con it off as for my sister as well.
She just looked at me and shook her head. “I am actually way older than 20. I so happen to be 457.” Did she just say…I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
“Nice one, and I am a girl who watches My Little Pony at the age of 16.” I continued laughing as I grabbed my sides too. Wow, I never laughed that hard before. Why is this so funny?
“Well, That isn’t entirely a lie, now is it, James?” I slowly stopped laughing. Not entirely a lie? And, I don’t remember giving my name. I took a step back.
“How…?” She simply sighed and put her hands in the opposite arms sleeves and looked me dead in the eye.
“How did I know your name? Well, I know a lot more than that James Warren.” I just looked at her in slight shock. “I know what your favorite color is, your favorite dog, and, what you like to do in your spare time. I know that you are 16 and do in fact watch My Little Pony, although you aren’t a girl.” She raised an eyebrow and looked at me in a slight disgust manner. “Yet anyway. Who knows?” I...what? I would be worried about the MLP thing, but what the hell is she talking about? She is talking about stuff only my best friends, family, or a stalker would know. And she sure as hell wasn’t the first two.
“I...I gotta go.” He quickly turned around to walk away. I heard a chuckling behind me.
“How would you like to go there? To the world of Equestria?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, lady.” I called over my shoulder. I hurried to the check out once I was out of the aisle. I looked behind me as I paid for my brothers toy. I can get my sisters at a different store, but I wanted to leave this store. I had enough of creepy anime women.
Once done paying, I was happy to see I wasn’t being followed. I left the store and began making my way back towards my house. There was a Walmart about 30 minutes away from my house that way on foot. So, I slowly made my way in that direction. If I wanted to get there faster, I would have to cut through the park.
<oOo>
The park is never being used. I think I only ever saw it have a party once or twice a year. Other than that, it’s the animals to rule. Or, me in this case, since I was cutting through it to get to Walmart faster. The walk may not seem like it shortens the trip, but it actually shaves about five to ten minutes of time off. That being said, the walk still sucked.
I was already halfway through the park when I let out a small sigh. The october weather kinda made it gloomy, but what can you expect from Michigan? I stuck to the paved walk until I hit a trail that cut through the woods of the park. From there, I would have to head straight until I hit the parking lot for Walmart. I had about another three, maybe four minutes left of walking. I decided to let myself get lost in thought and enjoy the nature.
As I walked, I saw a few squirrels and birds. I had my headphones in and was singing ‘Fake It’ by Seether when I saw something red flash by from the corner of my eye. I quickly stopped and looked over while pulling out the headphone. It was small, like a cat, but was going too fast for me to see what it was.
Looking around, I didn’t see it again. Not a single sign. I shrugged my shoulders and continued walking forward without my headphones in. Not to long after, I heard the sound of a cat or small dog running really fast and a flash of red went by me on the left. I stopped and looked left. I was looking at a red fox.
‘Cool’ I thought to myself. ‘Not everyday you see one of these around here.’ Trying not to spook it, I slowly shifted so I can stand looking at it comfortably. It was looking right at me now, sitting down calmly, as if I was the interesting thing about this. ‘Weird, yet cool’
“Interesting creatures, aren’t they?” That sounded like…
I quickly turned around and there she was. The lady from Target. She smiled at me while sitting on a fallen tree. I turned around to see the fox and it was gone. I turned back at her and rolled my eyes.
“What do you want with me?” I asked her. As soon as I got her in my vision, she was petting the fox. And it was wagging its tail!
“Well,” She began as if nothing was out of the norm for her. “You never answered my question from earlier.” I was so shocked from seeing her pet the fox, I nearly didn’t hear her.
“W… What question?” I asked stupidly, somehow forgetting that she was a stalker.
“How would you like to go to the world of Equestria?” She never looked up from the fox.
Go to Equestria? A fictional world of ponies? In a world where wishes came true, I would believe it would happen, but this is real life.
“Look. I don’t know what you are getting at here, but going to Equestria is impossible.”
“Kinda like petting a wild fox?” I blinked at that retort.
“No…” Come up with something, dammit! “You probably have a trained one. They can be pets.”
“So what is your answer to my question?” Are you kidding me?
“Like I said. It’s impossible.”
“That’s not what I’m asking.” I threw my arms up in defeat.
“Ugh! In a perfect world, yes, I would like to go. But it can’t happen. Won’t happen. Never will happen.” I turned to walk off.
“I say it is possible.”
“Right, and I am a girl.”
“Want to make a bet?” Fine, I will humor her. This was getting stupid, fast.
“Sure! Why not?” I turned around and looked at her. She was smiling a sinister smile though. I knit my eyebrows in confusion.
“If it is real, you go there. If it isn’t, I’ll let you have my pet fox.” I didn’t see a problem with it, but somehow, something was off. I could see it in her eyes.
“Sure…?” She snapped her fingers and the fox looked at me. I looked at it. The fox walked up to me and sat by my side. “I win…?”
“Nope. I win.” Then my world went up in flames as the fox turned into an inferno of fire and engulfed me in it. Before I could scream from the pain, everything turned to black.
I have never felt such pain before. It felt as if all my flesh was being burnt off.Maybe because I was on fire, I don’t know how, but I had to stop this fire. Not knowing what to do, I began looking around, only seeing red hot flames. I was no longer standing, but I was somehow still moving, but where, I knew not. I was moved left and right, up and down, my very core felt as if it was being shifted by some unknown force. I saw nothing but the flames molting my skin and red all around me like some sick tunnel to hell. Sticking out my hand, I saw bones for my fingers and only charring flesh around my arms. Screaming as I clawed at my face for anything at all, not knowing what or how to fix this, I lost my sense of place and time. I lost sense of my place in time. I didn’t know where I was going. All I knew was pain and fire.
I eventually saw the end of my hell tunnel. My bones started to break and fracture, crumbling to dust. I couldn’t scream anymore, for I had no lungs to scream with. The end of the tunnel was not black or red, but a mixture of bright lights, similar a rainbow. I saw as the light went over my crumbling fingers, and then all my senses exploded into overdrive. All I could see now was the rainbow, feeling nothing and everything. I then heard a huge rush of sound blur everything out and…
<oOo>
A humanoid with a vulpine appearance and fire red fur sat down with a sigh on a beach to a lake. After a long day of fishing, he was finally done tying his boat down to shore. He looks up at the night sky and lays down. As he studies the stars, his friend, of similar appearance works on making a fire to cook their catch of the day. The first one sighs.
“I wonder what it’s like out there.” He states after some time of silence. The one working on the fire cursed at his luck, only having wet wood to work with. He snapped his fingers, and with a spark, the fire started to life. He gave a satisfied grunt and reached over for his knife and a fish.
“What was that, Jouir?”
The first one rolled over to look at his friend, resting his head. “Huh?” The one who started the fire started to gut the fish and put the meat on a stick, tossing the rest into a wooden basket.
“You said something.” Jouir blinked for a second, then nodded.
“Oh, I said I wonder what is out there. Don’t you ever wonder, Widdler?” Widdler chuckled as he started to cook the fish on the end of his stick over the fire.
“Out where, Jouir?”
“Beyond the trees. Outside of Hidden Ash territory.” Widdler simply sighed as he put the knife down and propped the cooking fish up so they wouldn’t require him holding them still. He then got up and walked close to the waters of the lake.
“Quit it, you know it’s forbidden past those trees.”
“You act like I don’t know this.”
“Don’t go out there. You know what the elders say, ‘Only trouble awaits, and the destruction of our species.’” Jouir just sighs. “Come on. I need some help with the fish. We are falling behind.” Widdler walked back over to the fire as Jouir stared back at the stars.
“I wish I could get a chance to go out there and explore.”
“You will, if you pass the warriors training in a few years.”
“If I don’t get stuck with gathering and fishing.”
As Jouir studied the stars, he looked at the moon. ‘Goddess, could you please give me a chance to go out there. Even if it is just for a second.’
“Jouir. The Fish.”
“Yes, uncle.” Jouir stood up and started to make his way to the fire. He took one last look out over the waters and to the woods across it. His gaze was then drawn to a brightly shining star. He stopped to look at it. It seemed to be getting brighter and bigger by the second. “Widdler, look.” He pointed to the star. “Why do you think that is happening?” Widdler looked up from his fire with annoyed grunt. Then he saw where his nephew was pointing.
“What in the Lunar hell is that?”
“Is it not a star?” Widdler shook his head.
“I’ve not seen a star like that before, only when they fell…” The star gave a sharp curve down, and behind it trailed flames longer than any Widdler has seen in his life. “Jouir! Run!”
Jouir couldn’t understand why he had to run. Widdler reached out and grabbed his arm. “Come on, Jouir!” Jouir didn’t budge however. He was transfixed on the falling star. Only when it got closer, did her realise it was headed right at them. Awe quickly turned to fear. He turned to run, tripping over the firepit in the process. Widdler reached down to pick him up, then saw how close the star was. The falling star was lighting up the whole area. He only had a few seconds left before it would touch down. He did the only thing he could. He jumped down to cover his nephew with his body.
The star touched down in the water, turning the lake into a wave of steam. The steam scorched the surrounding area, badly burning Widdler. Widdler roared out in pain, but the blast easily drowned him out. It then ended as the steam wave was done. If Widdler hadn’t been covered him, Jouir would have died. Widdler coughed as a few embers left his lungs. “Goddess, I’m getting old.” He looked at his nephew. “Are you okay?”
Jouir coughed under his uncle. “Yes…”
Widdler smiled. “Good…” He then closed his eyes and sighed. He rolled to the side and flinched. He looked at his burns and sighed. Jouir got up and looked at the surrounding area. It was all burned by the steam. A good mile radius at least. Steam was still rising in multiple areas. Jouir crept towards the edge of the crater, where the lake used to be. He peered over the edge while his uncle called out.
“What do you see…?” Jouir looked in the crater to see something small and red at the bottom.
“I see something red!” Widdler nodded and coughed. “I am going to get a closer look!”
Widdler mumbled something, but it wasn’t heard by Jouir. He started to descend into the crater. As he neared the object, he started to see it more clearly. He saw arms, legs and a tail. “It’s a person!” Jouir ran the person, and noticed what the were. It was one of his kind with soft features. “A girl!” Jouir reached out to touch her, not surprisingly, she was burning. He had to take her and Widdler in for medical attention. He reached down and lifted her up, trying not to think about the fact she was naked.
He had a hard time carrying her up the crater, being as scrawny as he was. “Uncle! It was a girl!” He saw his uncle and started heading towards him. Why wasn’t he talking? Jouir set her down on the ground and ran over to his uncle. “Uncle, did you hear me?” As he got to him, his uncle's eyes were closed. “Uncle…?” Jouir started to tear up. “No...No no no no.” He started to shake his shoulders. “Wake up. Uncle, wake up!” He gave his life for him. “Uncle!!!”
<oOo>
I felt hot and sick. I was sweating and I was being carried. I tried to open my eyes, but was too weak to keep them open for long. Everything I heard was muffled and distorted. It was as if my brain had everything on distort and echoe. I opened my eyes to see a fox like face looking off somewhere. I closed my eyes and opened them again, finding myself on the ground all of a sudden and looking at stars in the night sky. My head rolled to the side and I seen something hunched down in the distance. I was then assaulted by what sounded like a distorted wail that echoed in my head. It hurt a lot. I closed my eyes again, tears forming. ‘Oh please, god. Make it stop.’ The pain was growing. It hurt to breathe. My body felt like molten lead.
I closed my eyes again. Everything was moving back and forth, as if I was floating in a stormy ocean within my own head. Opening my eyes again, I was being carried again. I saw the tops of trees and heads of more fox creatures.. Every motion I saw had a blur to it, and it was making me sick. I heard nothing but shouting and yelling.
“....She….*words ran together*....Wake up….fire….” I opened my eyes up to being carried by a single fox. He was not moving, only talking in a language I couldn’t understand. He looked upset. I closed my eyes again. What is going on? Where was I?
I opened my eyes again and things were in better focus. My view cleared only by a margin, but I was able to make things out more easily. I was in some sort of hut. My hearing was almost back to normal, now that I can actually hear the sounds of talking and shuffling around. I tried to sit up, but grunt in pain as my body refused to move. A wet rag was placed on my head,It was refreshing, and cool against my skin, though didn't help as much as I would have liked. A soothing voice, like silk, then spoke to me.
“Shhhh. Lay back down. You shouldn’t move. I am surprised you’re still alive.” She chuckled a second, which made my head throb. “Oh, listen to me ramble. Rest up.” She went about wetting rags and putting them on me. I just laid back and looked at the ceiling. It was made of straw and wood.
The next time I opened my eyes, everything was crystal clear. My hearing was at least, from what I could tell at the moment. The first things that came to me where the sounds. It sounded like a fishing town. How would I know what one sounds like? The movies. But, I was confused. Something was missing. Voices and talking, things moving around and all. Yet, something was odd about this place, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I slowly opened an eye, at first being blinded by the light, but getting used to it in time. I saw the ceiling again, this time, the straw stood out to me.
“Where am I…?”
I attempted to lift my arms, and to my surprise, they weren’t bound down to keep me in place. They felt… lighter than usual. Like, several pounds lighter. That was definitely weird. Bringing them up to my line of sight, I blinked in surprise.
My arms were black upt to my elbows, then red the rest of the way. They were also furry, like completely covered. Small too. This was not my arm. These are not my arms. I quickly sat up and the sudden rush gave me a headache and made me dizzy, but I chose to ignore it. My legs were the same. Red furred with black tips, and somehow smaller. I looked over to a third thing by my legs. Were those tails?! They moved back and forth, and I somehow knew that I was controlling them. I had three tails!
“What is going on?!” I cringed and my ears went flat. My ears were changed as well. My voice was oddly enough too high and soft for my liking. “No…” I looked around for a mirror. I found one and I ran to it, my chest bouncing during the process. Not thinking about it. I knocked over some small tables and chairs, stubbing my toes in the process. When I got to the mirror, I froze.
I looked like one of them. The fox things. I had shoulder length red hair, purple eyes, and was shorter and smaller than my old self. I was definitely not a guy anymore.... My legs went shaky, my head went dizzy. I don’t remember hitting the ground.
I open my eyes and everything is blurry, I also have a bad taste in my mouth. I look around my room and wonder why something felt off. I try to fight the feeling of a dry throat as I clear it and call out.
“What?”
“It’s my birthday,” Said my sister. “What did you get me and Mikey?” My sister screams this as she runs in my room with Mikey and jump on me in my bed. That really woke me up.
“Oof!” I tried to wrench her off me and she is easily removed.
“Go run off as I go get your present…” I said while yawning mid sentence. They both nodded and ran off as told. I couldn’t help but blink. ‘That was surprisingly easy, usually they fight me as much as they can.’ Whatever, maybe they were cutting me a break.
I got up from my bed and walked to my closet. I remembered going to the store and getting something, but what did I get them? ‘Mikey got an….action figure! Yeah, a G.I.Joe, but what else did I get?’ I opened my closet and a big present was there. It had blue and pink stripes with an orange bow on top with a tag written in blue ink. The tag had my brother and sisters names on it. I was confused but shrugged it off; It was early, judging that my clock was saying seven in the morning. That was early to me at least. I picked up the box -Which was actually pretty fricking heavy- and walked out with it. The thing was big, easily matched the size of a small T.V. box or something of same size.
“Alright,” I called out. “In the living room if you want it!” I put said gift down in the middle of the living room and sat on the couch. The two little devils run in and look at the box. My brother gasped as my sister smiled a wicked grin.
“Awesome! What is it?!”
‘What...is it?’ I thought I would remember by now.
“...Uh...open up and find out, duh.” I said after thinking.They didn’t need any more convincing. They started ripping the wrapping paper off, and as they did, I noticed there were holes poked along the side of the present. It was funny, but, I only really saw those size holes in presents if there was...
“A Puppy!” My sister screamed and my brother gasped again. I blinked, while my mom, who was in the other room screamed ‘What’ herself.
“A what?!” My sister reached in and pulled out a puppy cat thing that was red orange with black paws with…
“It’s not a puppy, It’s a fox!” I half screamed, half gasped. The thing looked familiar. Why did it look familiar. I mean it should, I got it. But, I didn’t buy it. I won it. Wait….
like that, a flood of memories hit me. All at once, everything stopped moving. I looked around the room. It was like time stopped.
“What is going on…?” I asked myself. Then I heard an all too familiar voice speak out from somewhere.
“It took you long enough to break this dream. Seriously, I hardly even used a fraction of my power. You need to work on your awareness.” I looked to my right and saw the anime woman.
“What is going on?!” I screamed at her. “I...Fire...pain…” Past the fire, everything was foggy.
“Well, our bet. I won. But, give that a second.”
“What are you talking about?! Send me home, fix this!” I screamed at her. I was done with this. Done. Nope. Time to get the fuck out of here.
“Well, I said listen. You see.” She began as she sat on the couch and took upon a thinking pose whilst speaking as if nothing was going on. “I won the bet. Now, you are here for a purpose, to do something for me.”
“Forget that! No, I want out now!” I screamed at her. She simply sighed.
“You annoy me boy.” She waved a hand and my mouth closed shut and I sat down in the couch. I was sitting straight and everything, but I couldn’t move a thing. I. Didn’t. Like. This. I didn’t even remember getting up.
“There, much better. Now, listen to me.” She fixes her hair and looks at me with a smile. I was glaring at so hard, I felt like I was going to explode. I do not like this feeling at all. I hate this beyond all reason.
“So, as you may remember, you woke up in a land not like this. Granted, you were in so much pain you can’t remember much of it. Sorry about that, but hey. Not everyone can fly in on a rainbow.” She began while also laughing to herself. I found none of this funny at all.
“Well, I’ll keep this short. Basically, you lost the bet. To prove it, I sent you to the world of Equastria. Equis. Now, don’t dwell on that thought.” She decided to cross her legs at this point. “So, now that you are there, you should do some good. Now don’t get me wrong. It will be very hard. But, stay there a few days and you will see why you should help this place. I will come back in two weeks time. Then I will ask you if you want to stay or go home. But until then, that is all you get.”
I wanted to scream at her again. Tell her to send me home and leave me alone. I didn’t want anything to do with this.
“Oh, you may not remember this because I decided it would be nice to see again, but hey. Equastria is real. Now what was it you said about yourself if Equastria was real?” She smiled and looked me in the eyes. Her smile was conniving and evil. “Oh yeah, something about you being a girl.”
I was sore, unimaginably sore. I knew what sore was, I have done my fair share of working out, but this was a new world of sore to me. I opens my eyes after groaning, my voice sounding feminine. My ears flinched at the sound, my eyes shooting open at the memory of the last time I woke up. I sat up so fast, I got light headed, close to repeating what happened last time. I looked down and instantly blushed. I was a fucking furry. I was what weirdos look up online. A fucking female...and an anthro fox, the things I saw last night.
I looked at my hands. It was strange, having been a furry, there is not much of a difference. my hands had a fine layer fur, but I still felt everything like my old hands, in fact, I actually had more control of my senses. I felt my blanket in between my fingers, listening to the world around me. From within my room, I could hear sounds of a village again. My ears then swiveled to the door and I sat up straighter, not moving an inch. Call it instinct, call it what you will, but I had a feeling that I needed to wait about another twenty seconds before I moved again.
My ears enhanced the sounds coming from the door while it made the world I was listening to seconds ago disappear. The talking died down outside my door. I could only pick out the fact that there was one guy and two girls.
I heard the guy clear his throat and the door slowly opened after three knocks. When the door finally opened all the way, I saw another fox-anthro guy only wearing these baggy pants that resembled sweatpants. He had 7 tails and a scar on his chest running from his left hip to his right shoulder. He had hair that was messy and short, but somehow nice. Another thing was, they had hair even though they had fur?!
He opened his mouth to speak, then looked from my face to my chest, then looked away after clearing his throat. I heard a girlish giggle and I looked to his side and saw two fox girls with both their hairs done in a similar way, in a bun. They wore these japanese style dress robes as well. One pink and one light green. As I looked at them oddly, the pink one gestured to her chest and I looked confused. She then made a motion of picking something up. I was confused. I looked down in thought, then placed things together…
I quickly pulled up the blanket and covered my chest with the blanket as I felt my cheeks get warm. I never had to cover myself before…It was different.
“Well,” He began while clearing his voice and walking over to my bed. His voice was raspy, kinda like a smokers voice. “Quite the entrance you made a few days ago.” I blinked, not comprehending what he meant by that.
“What,” I coughed, my throat was sore and very dry. “Sorry...but what do you mean?”
“Well,” He chuckled and looked over to me. “You being carried in by Nlaur, who was screaming about fire and death caused quite a scare.”
“Who is Nlaur?” He carried me in, and I didn’t get to talk to him yet? I felt a little bad and thankful at the same time.
“Well, he is the Kyubi’s son.”
“Ki-what?” I asked in confusion. ‘Who names their kid Nlaur?!’
“Kyubi. The leader of our village. Now, I have a question for you.” He grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to my bed and sat down. He studied my face for a bit, then he took out a pipe and added something to the end. He lit it and took a few puffs, soon after blowing the smoke in my face.
“Hey!” I said in repulsion after coughing. “You are not supposed to do that here!” He blinked and looked confused He then shook his head.
“I take it you don’t smoke. Well, it will only take a second. Now, for my question,” He took another puff and blew it in my direction again. I coughed and tried to fan the smoke away as it burned my eyes and throat. “What were you doing there?” He asked, as if I knew where ‘THERE’ was.
“Uh, where exactly?” He rolled his eyes and sat back.
“The lake, or more importantly, the crater where the lake used to be.” He asked, sounding a bit irritated.
“What lake? What crater?”
“The place you were! Where you were found.” He said with a huff.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I said, confused and little scared. He looked me square in the eye.
“Where were you before hand then?”
“Uh...the store.” I said somewhat confused on why that mattered.
“So a shop? Where at?” I thought about what to say. Did it matter what I told him.
“Uh...Ponyville?” I half said, half asked. I had to admit, I didn’t sound sure, so I had to do something to help my case. “Uh...Why does it matter?”
He took a few puffs from his pipe, then sighed. “Very well, I will leave you alone. When you get the chance, the Kyubi would like council with you.” He stood up and put his arms behind his back like he was at ease in front of an officer.
“Okay…?” Was all I could mutter, looking down soon after. I heard him walk out and the door close. I looked up and saw the two girls start working around my room. The pink one spoke up, and upon seeing her up close and paying her more attention, I could tell she was a little heavy set.
“Shy one, aren’t yah?” She picked up some cloth and towels from a drawer. The green robed one spoke up before I could respond.
“You bet she is, and how rude of Theous. Didn’t even ask the poor things name.” She pulled out a half barrel that I could easily sit in out and into the middle of the floor, closing the closet she got it from.
“That was rude, didn’t even give a name either. Well, doesn’t matter. What is your name sweetie?” I looked over to her and opened my mouth to respond, only I was lifted up and dropped into freezing cold water. I yelped from the immediate transition of bed and bath. I grabbed my sides and my teeth shattered.
“Jade, you forgot to warm the water!”
“Well Ruby, she could easily do it herself.”
“A three tailed do it herself?! Really?”
“I could do it.”
“Does it look like she is right now?” They began to bicker back and forth.
“Look-” I tried to speak through chattering teeth.
“No, but she hasn’t tried yet.”
“And you didn’t even ask her name yet!”
“My name-”
“She doesn’t seem to want to give it.”
“Quit being rude!”
“I-”
“You stop bothering me!”
“Get plugged!” I had enough of this.
“STOP!” I yelled as loud as I can. They both looked at me in surprise and I smiled sheepishly. “Heh...please..?”They both went about doing things around the room again.
“Yeesh...sorry. Who got on your bad side?” I thought I held a pretty good poker face.
“Nothing, just a little irritable.” After some silence, and the ladies washing my hair and scrubbing my back, the pink one, I think was called Ruby finally spoke up.
“So...what is your name?”
“My name is J…” I couldn’t say my name anymore. I wasn’t a guy anymore, so James wasn’t going to work. “Uh...my name is Julia…” The green one, who is Jade apparently chuckled. “What?”
“What kind of name is that?” She asked. I saw Ruby shoot a glare towards her.
“It’s pretty common where I come from…” I said, getting quieter, thinking I blew my cover or something.
“What, were you born on an outpost or something?” Before I could think, I nodded.
“Yeah. Born and raised.” I said with a smile that probably did me no justice.
“Well I’m surprised they didn’t educate you there.”
“Heh...Well, I didn’t pay much attention.”
“Well, not much you can do now.” She said with a sigh. She stood up and looked at me. “Now dry yourself up and get dressed. We are going to that council of yours.” I simply took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay…” She nodded and looked to Jade. She nodded in return and they both left the room. When they closed the door, the room still had a sense of uneasiness about it.
There was a knock at my door and I jumped. I looked over to the door and back to what I was doing. I looked down at the robe like clothes I was given to wear, those of which I had no idea how to put them on, especially with these tails. Somehow, I had managed to entangle myself like a child did with their bedsheets when trying to toga. I groaned in frustration-I never did that before-and called out to the knocker.
“Please give me ten more minutes!”
The door opened immediately after, Jade walking in with a face of annoyance. She took the view of me in my predicament, sighing she shook her head. I smiled and chuckled sheepishly. She rolled her eyes and ripped everything off of me. I immediately covered myself. Did they not hear of privacy?! I looked at her with a shocked expression, she seemed not to care, getting to work.
“Arms out, stand up straight.” I blinked at what she just said.
“uh...heh...what?” She looked at me again, shook her head, then smacked thy thigh. I jumped in pain.
“OW! That stung!” When I jumped and stuck my leg out however, she wrapped it three times with the cloth, moved across my waist and made an underwear and covered my right leg. I sat there mouth agape, blinking at how she did that with such ease.
“Will you listen to me now?” She asked with a bored expression. I simply nodded and followed directions. I mentally sighed and went into my mind. So much has happened in the past few days, granted I was asleep for two of them. I switched bodies, and I was acting weird from the way I normally acted. I was being more goofy compared to my more laid back self. I could blame the new world and body, but it shouldn’t affect my mind much, at least I hoped it didn’t. I couldn’t read others here well either.
I looked over to Jade. Just twenty minutes ago, she was very giddy and chatty with her sister, or at least who I thought to be her sister. I guess I couldn’t make assumptions off of short meetings.
“And...Done. Head on over to the mirror and check yourself, then head outside. We need to get going soon, the trip won’t be a short one.” I nodded, half paying attention since I was stuck in thought. walking over to the mirror, my mind wandered back to the lady from Target. I forgot her name already, if she even gave it to me. ‘This is going to be interesting...’
I got to the mirror and looked at myself. I was shocked, not believing I was the one in the mirror. I guess the fact that I was now female added to the effect. I took in my features completely. I had shoulder length brown hair oddly enough, even though I had fur all over. Looking at my face, I looked like a typical fox from what I could tell, my eyes were purple however. My ears were atop my head like a canines would be. I wore a dress like robe, it was red with gold stitches on it making a design of trees an moons. My legs were covered in black cloth like they would be if I were a ninja, the best reference I had. I didn’t know what these clothes were called, but I looked good in them.
I shook my head and blinked at the thought of liking wearing this. It was beyond me why I did, but I shrugged it off. I looked around the room for shows but found none.
“Guess I’m going shoeless…” I shrugged again, I went barefoot a lot at home. My parents would often say I was part hobbit because of it. I turned and walked to the door. I would have thought my legs might have had backwards knees like most animals, but no, they were like a typical humans. I opened the door and was surprised to see it was dark inside. I looked around my room and at the window again. It looked like it was day outside the window, the sounds of a village still going on. Looking out the door, however, proved the opposite to be true. I stepped out and the door closed behind me. I looked around and saw a total of six buildings, two of which looked to be like houses, the rest resembled that of buildings of public use. This place was too small to produce the village noises I heard in the room.
I thought about the fact that this place is supposedly Equastria, so the only explanation I had was Magic. That was some bullshit explanation for me, I was going to have to look into that later.
“Are you gunna gawk all day, or are we gunna get headed on our way?” I looked over to see Ruby looking at me, Jade nowhere in sight. Next to Ruby was a wagon that I would see in the movies depicting the era of the 1800’s or sooner.
“Uh...sorry...I was just...breathing in the fresh air.” I sighed as I made my way over to the two. Ruby shook her head at me.
“Get your head out of the clouds, ya hear? If you were to do that in the council, her highness would surely send you to the lake.” ‘The lake? What about a lake?’
“That is why I shall educate her on how to address her.” I looked up to where the voice was coming from, inside the wagon sat Jade. I sighed, somehow getting a feeling these two were bipolar or something, but if memory serves, she was a bit sour during the bath. “Now come on, we don’t have all day. We must leave soon in order to not be seen by the locals.”
I nodded and entered the wagon. It was rather cramped inside, just like they looked in the movies, the inside was of two benches laden in silk, the four walls had windows for you to look out of, but they were closed. I sat down and looked out the door at Ruby. Ruby looked at Jade and I felt they somehow made a silent agreement about something since Jade simply nodded in return. Ruby closed the door and left me alone with Jade. I looked at Jade, but she remained silent and looked at me. I just looked around soon after, eventually trying to pull the cover from the window to look outside, but Jade smacked my hand saying not to touch anything. Rubbing my hand soon after, I just nodded and apologized. ‘You would think I killed her cat the way she is acting.’
I sat there patiently waiting, we haven’t moved yet and I was getting antsy. Looking around the carriage, I tried to find some way to distract myself before I eventually grew bored. I finally resorted to asking her what we were waiting for.
“We are waiting for our outposts head, the man you saw the earlier. We are also waiting for the carriage pullers.” I nodded as if this interested me. In all honesty, it didn’t. I was kinda pissed I had to share a space with smoke breath, and if he lit up in the carriage, I was going to flip a shit. I was about to speak my concerns when the door to the right of me opened and smoke breath met my gaze. I mentally sighed.
“Are we ready to head off?” Jade simply nodded back to him. He looked to his right and smiled. “Ah, our carriage pullers are here. How good to see you again Horseshoe.” I leaned forward in my chair to try and see who he was talking to, but I couldn’t see.
“Nice to meet you again, Hisao.” The voice was rather hoarse. I heard a clopping of hooves on dirt, then a figure appeared in the doorway. It was a brown pony with same eyes. He wore a hat of straw, I couldn’t see his flank from this position. “So where am I taking y’all?”
I was stopped stupid at seeing a pony. Now I know I was of a different race myself, a race that I had no idea existed, but when you see a pony that you thought didn’t exist but hoped it did, it had this effect on you. However, smoke breath, or Hisao as it was, talked as if this was nothing.
“You are taking us to the port of Foxx Hollow.” Hisao grabbed onto the carriage and put one foot in but not entering entirely. “You know the usual. Precious cargo, no looking inside. His majesty prefers our secrecy above everything.” He then entered, leaving the door open for Horseshoe to look inside.
“Alright. Let us get going. The morning rush will start soon.” Hisao nodded and closed the door. I continued to stare at where the face of my first pony encounter was. I heard Hisao clear his throat then wave a hand in front of my face.
“Are you alright young one?” I blinked and shook my head to clear it.
“Sorry...I just...uh...got lost in thought. Did you say Foxx Hollow?” I tried to sway the conversation to something that didn’t bring about the questions of why I was looking the way I was. Apparently I asked a good question, because Hisao chuckled like a boy.
“I sure did. We will be taking the royal ship.” ‘The royal ship? Like Celestia’s?’
“Really?!” I asked, sounding a little too enthusiastic, but I didn’t care.
“Yes. We are.” He smiled at me, then ruffled my hair. I adopted a bored expression at this, but it quickly went back to smiling. I looked at the wall in thought. ‘The royal ship!’ Things were going well, in the case that I didn’t look too weird, I could pull this off without many questions my way.
<oOo>
It had been nearly thirty minutes and all I’ve heard was the straining of the carriage and the breathing of Jade and Hisao. It wasn’t even sunup yet and I was getting tired. I eventually found a corner of the bench across from me and got lost in it. I literally just sat there, thinking about nothing, doing nothing, just staring. I don’t know how long I sat there like that, but before long, I felt a tap on my shoulder that brought me back to reality. I looked over and saw Hisao. He had a smile on his face that reminded me of a father.
“You get bored easy, don’t you Julia?” I nodded to him, yawning soon after. He was right. I would be on my phone or reading a book if I were at home. That, or I would be sleeping. But I needed a pillow to sleep on.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to dislodge the sleep from them but not really succeeding. In the end, it really made me more tired. He chuckled and shook his head.
“How would you like to hear a story to help pass the time?” I smiled and nodded. I always enjoyed listening to what my father and grandparents had to talk about. I would engage in conversation all the time, or simply listen to some facts they had on something.
Hisao smiled and then looked over to Jade. She was fast asleep. He looked back at me and signalled me to get closer. I scooted closer. He whispered to me, “Wouldn’t want to wake her, now would we?” He chuckled. I giggled in return, then yawned again. He sat back into the seat and took upon a thinking pose.
“Now, the story I am going to tell you is the same one that was told to me by my father, and my fathers father, and so on. It is one we all know, but my family knows the true story.” He began, his voice now soft and naturally a relaxing deep sound, very unlike the first time I had heard it.
“Back before we could speak or walk on two feet, we were simply foxes. You see, we all began from a regular fox in the woods. We foraged and gathered like typical animals. We lived in boroughs and the like. One night, after one particular fox had lost half her stored food, she set out to gather again. This night was one of a full moon. Well, the fox entered a field for she knew of a berry bush that grew here near a stream. Once the fox got to the stream it had found the berry bush, but sadly, it had already been picked. The fox sighed and turned to head back the way it came. As it did, a bright blueish white light shown down from the heavens, scaring the fox. The fox ran and hid behind a tree in the wood off the edge of the field.”
I yawned again and tried leaning back on the chair, listening to the story. I kept slipping due to the carriage and the uneven trail. And I thought Michigan roads were bad. After fixing myself a third time, I felt an arm rest around my shoulders that pulled me slightly. I smiled and allowed Hisao pull me in. I rested my head on his shoulder, it was soft much like the pillow I used on my trips. I sighed happily.
“Better?” He asked me. I nodded and then closed my eyes. He continued his story.
“The fox looked out to the field to see a spirit of unmatched beauty descend from the heavens. The spirit, once on the ground, started to walk into the woods. The fox, out of curiosity, followed the spirit at a distance. The spirit walked deep into the woods, but sadly did not know the land well. She eventually wound up lost. She tried to find her way out of the woods, but sadly couldn’t get out. She wandered, exhausted and lost, not knowing what to do for hours. The fox however, knew the woods, so she ran up to the spirit. The spirit looked at the fox, and decided to follow the fox, since she was all out of options. Well, not too long after, she was out of the wood and in the field again.
“More than thankful for the foxes help, the spirit wanted to repay such kindness and helpfulness. She gave the fox a part of herself, granting the fox great intelligence, the gift of magic and speech as well a new form. And so the first Kitsune came into existence, a Kitsune with ten tails. Using it's newly given gift of speech, the Kitsune asked the spirit what it should do now that it knew so much. The spirit only smiled and said, "Live," before ascending back to where she came from.
“The Kitsune took the spirit's advice and lived, but not too long after she discovered that living was not so easy. She was lonely. She wondered what she could do to ease her loneliness, but she could think of nothing. Then she saw a fox coming towards her with curiosity. And that was when she got an idea. Using the magic she had been given she took a piece of herself and gave a small amount to the fox, giving it a part of her own power. So came to be the second Kitsune. Thrilled by this new idea, the Kitsune and her new friend went to spread her gift. And so the Kitsune race was born.
“At some point though, the ten-tailed disappeared without a trace. It is said however, that she will return to us again. In her old body or new, it isn’t said. But her soul shall return to the Kitsune race once again one day.”
I just thought after that, once the story ended. The Kitsune race was born out of kindness. The element of kindness was shown by a fox. Now the element was of kindness, if the show was accurate, was now Fluttershy. The animal was the kind one. ‘Is that why Fluttershy relates so well to animals? Is she the reincarnation of the ten tailed?’
I yawned, and without thinking, I laid my head on Hisao’s lap. I had so many questions now. ‘Why was I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Is Fluttershy a reincarnation? Is Hisao petting my head…?’
He was, in fact petting my head. Instead of feeling repulse or weird however, it felt good and calming. I relaxed and snuggled up to him.
“How old are you Hisao?” I asked after a second.
“I’m 26. You?” I smiled and decided to choose the magical age for all teens.
“21.”
“We are fairly young compared to the rest.” He chuckles. “I’m surprised I’m a noble. Usually nobles are a 40 before they start their service.” I nodded. This was very comfortable, with the petting and such.
“So…” I twitched an ear to try and listen to what he was going to ask. He didn’t say anything though.
“So, what?”
“Nothing.” He said pretty fast. ‘Alrighty then...’ I did have a question though.
“Do you smoke much?” He shifted a bit.
“Huh?”
“The pipe. Do you smoke much?”
“The..pipe...oh! That.” He chuckled softly. “Yeah, no. No. I don’t. But it is the base of my magic.” He shifted and put his hand into a jacket pocket. He then pulled out the pipe and held it in front of me. It was as white as bone, with small engravings that looked like crescent moons on it. “It’s been in my family for years.” I smiled.
“It looks cool.” He chuckled and put it back into his jacket.
“Yeah, it kinda is, isn’t it?” He then shifted really fast, my ears shifting to my left. I instantly sat up and looked.
“What is…?” I didn’t know what to ask. I heard something.
“I don’t know.” He opened the door slightly and called out. “What is going on?” The air felt heavy all of a sudden. Horseshoe called back.
“Nothing. We are fine where we stand.”
“Okay.” Hisao closed the door and looked at me. “We shouldn’t be worried. Horseshoe knows this route better than anyone. If he says it is fine, then it is fine.” He didn’t sound so sure though. I looked at the window to my left again.
You know that feeling you get in the movies? When the person is about to do something stupid and you know the monster was or bad guy was right on the otherside? I felt that right then at that moment. I didn’t stop though, I reached a hand out and grabbed the cloth. I took a deep breath and looked back at Hisao. He was looking at his pipe. I looked back at the cloth in my hand. It was red. I took another deep breath and pulled the cloth to the side. Outside, all I saw was woods and darkness. Nothing. I let out the breath I held and let my heart calm down.
I studied the outside for a second and smiled happily, seeing nothing. I looked over to Hisao. “I see nothing.” I said with relaxation.
“What?” He looked up and his eyes went wide. “NO! Don’t! The light will attract-” He was cut off by what sounded like a freight train, then everything went up in an explosion, my side screaming in pain.
You ever had a day were you weren’t yourself, but you had no idea until you got knocked sober? That was what happened when the carriage exploded into wood and splinters. Not only was I able to think more clearly and feel a hundred percent, but I mainly felt a hundred percent when the pain hit. I instinctively closed my eyes and jumped back from the new hole in the wagon, trying to flee. Doing so, I found myself tripping into my companion. There was a roaring and barking going on outside, lots of howling and noise.
“Shit!” He shouted as the wagon gave a groan as another force hit the carriage again, tipping onto only two wheels on the right side. “I told you not to do that.” The cart righted itself, I myself eventually getting the courage to open my eyes again. The carriage was practically the whole left side. Another thing was missing, or rather, person.
The carriage lurched and dipped forward, roughly stopping. Hisao and I were thrown into the wall, more white hot pain shot through me as I choked back a scream. I was getting tired of taking random beatings, my body could only take so much trauma.
“What the hell is going on?!”
“Randorians. They hate the light.” He quickly got up and blew out the candle lighting the carriage, looking around frantically.
“What the hell is a Randorian?!”
“A winged demon that is similar to a harpy without feathers.”
“Like that helps me out any!” He glared at me, throwing the candle at me.
“Just shut up, okay?!” He said through grit teeth, looking where our other companion was, finding out that she was also missing. “I did not need this shit… almost had her under, too…” I was lost. Randorians, pain, almost had me under? What the hell was going on? “Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh.” He looked around, his ears twitching left and right. “You here that?”
I listened and heard nothing. “I don’t hear a thing.” He nodded at me and moved to the side a bit.
“That’s the thing, I think they are gone. They just got rid of the light, then moved on their way.” I blinked to myself. That was it? Really? He moved closer to the hole in the wagon, looking back and forth before speaking again. “Alright, we’re going to have to move on foot from here on.”
“Are you insane?!” I whisper shouted. “With those things out there?!” I felt my anger coming back like you wouldn’t believe.
“They won’t touch us if we don’t have any light. Now come on.” He hopped out of the wagon and walked to the front of it, leaving me alone. I bit my lip and cursed, soon following after. Why was everything beginning to feel like it was scripted?
“Hisao!” I silently shouted. “Where did you go?” I looked around, but the only thing I saw besides the carnage of our wreck, was the expanse of the wood. My vision was clearing still, and I was beginning to think and question things, first of which, why didn’t I freak out more about being gender flipped? There was no sense behind anything that was happening.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when someone grabbed my arm. I jumped, almost screaming as loud as I can. Looking over, I saw Hisao. He was talking to me, and yet, I was getting nothing. After a few seconds, sound came into focus, catching the last of what he was saying. “... What are you waiting for?”
I looked at him, and the dream feeling was back. “This… what is going on… I have never felt this before...this isn’t real... “ You can feel pain in dreams… but you couldn’t die in one.
The way he looked at me would have been textbook for how to look at an idiot. “Are you insane?! They are coming, this is real, let’s go!” Barking this quietly, tugging at my arm. I would look at him, tugging my arm free.
I find that waking up is both the most amazing thing, and yet the worst. Mainly because of the fact that, when you wake up, you can go back to sleep again, or you have several people staring you straight in the face. Never have that happen to you?
I felt tired and groggy, waking up in the same cot and bed as I did last time, the first time. The same nurse of their species next to me, putting another towel to my forehead. I must have looked about as confused and sick as I was, because the second her eyes and mine connected, she smiled reassuringly to me. The amount of ache I felt as I tried to speak was bad enough, but my dry, water deprived mouth wanted to be quenched so badly. Before I could attempt to ask, she picked up a porcelain bowl and leaned it toward me, her hand cupping around my neck and helping me get to the life sustaining liquid.
“What…” That was all I could crook out, my throat and voice sore, and still foreign to my groggy mind. It was just now starting to accept and rationalize my change, or at least try to. The main factor my mind was clinging to was the fact it was still a dream. This, however, was proven to be false.
“You are okay now, sweetheart. Had to see if you were of the same kind, and not just a shifter.” She continued to put the bowl down and grab another cloth, wiping away at me, almost as if this was a regular thing. And to my mind, it probably was, seeing how I was the alien here, yet everything was so alien to my. There was no need to try and comprehend it. “You passed the test, and left our friend Hisao over there with a headache.” She tilted her head to the side, in turn I tried with much effort to strain my head to the direction she had motioned in. Hisao was laying there, unconscious with a towel on his forehead as well.
“How…?”
“That, my dear, is something I don’t know. I am only here to heal.” She would reach down and grab another ceramic bowl, holding both hands underneath. She then leaned her head down, closing her eyes as she muttered something under her breath almost. Her hands then flashed to flames, causing me to jump. I instinctively grabbed the other bowl and threw it at her hands, then I winced and fell down, blacking out again.
I had to get out of the habit of passing out. It had to be bad for my mind, which of course, I’m pretty sure I had already lost it. I awake again,alone this time, and feeling better. I was able to sit up again, going over the same routine of looking myself over, to which I found the same female vixen body. I just sat there, staring at my hands, tracing them over with my eyes. I then grabbed my tail. I had a tail, and it felt weird, yet, almost perfect. It was supposed to be there. It felt soft, and fluffy. I also felt my hands on it, which was a mental trip to get over with, as well was going to the bathroom, which is going to be left unsaid. I don’t know how long I was zoned out on my tail, because I would have noticed something.
“You aren’t a shifter, yet you look at yourself as if you are foreign. You fall from the sky in a ball of fire, but show no trace of anger or bloodlust in your mind or soul. Who are you, really?” I nearly jumped out of my skin upon hearing the familiar voice, looking over to the bed that Hisao sat on. He looked back at me, hand resting on his head as his eyes studied me.
“I’m Julia… Now…” I looked back down to my tail, letting it go from my grasp. “I am from earth, and I don’t know how I got here…” I looked over to him, leaving out a lot of details wasn’t that bad, because he got the major information.
“And you don’t know how or why you are here.” He shook his head, standing up. He would then get dressed, no longer looking at me. “We are leaving again, for real this time. This outpost is still secret, but we have a couple days journey. You will need to talk to my superiors.” He then looked over to me, finished getting dressed. “You were sent here by someone, and until we verify your necessity or importance, we will have you under surveillance at all times.”
I didn’t know what to say, understanding, but not. “I didn’t do anything…” I mumbled, but it was lost upon him. He looked back, his eyes serious, and almost menacing.
“Only this time, you won’t know where we are headed.” He then walked out, brushing past me. I only watched him leave, my senses finally coming back. If this is how it’s going to be, then I better plan a way to get away from this. I wouldn’t be held prisoner in a new place I never saw before, new body or not. I simply nodded, striking my attention back to the bed, walking over to it.
After that, things were kinda slow. I spent a whole day and night in the same room, spent studying each feature. I asked for something to read, but once it was brought to me, I couldn’t even understand what was written down. A mix between images and strange characters foreign to earth. I put the scroll down, eventually giving up on acting like I knew what was written down, and laid back. I then began to play with my tail and reflexes, doing stretches. When the nurse came back to bring me my dinner, she asked how the read was, and I replied that it was unique. She simply nodded, going on about how the wood is a new way to judge something related to mana. I didn’t understand it, just nodded and ate my soup and bread roll. I eventually found it to be night once again, sitting at the foot of the cot, staring in the mirror.
Looking to my hands, a thought crossed my mind. I was the same creature as they were, so it could be assumed I could do the same things that they could do. One of them being, using fire in with their hands, like magic. Which was a safe bet, if this world really was Equestria. Staring at them, my features twisted to concentration. How would one even begin to summon the ability to use fire? It must have been easy to do, judging how the nurse simply did it without blinking… Maybe it was the way you felt it, or thought about it. Which is what I began to do, closing my eyes to think and concentrate, holding my breath as well. I then peaked my eyes open, gasping for air, only to see nothing had happened… I grumbled, looking at them. It probably was more complicated than I thought,most likely looking into myself for confidence or some shit.
After doing this for damn near three hours straight, give or take the way the sun moved, I threw my hands up in frustration. “Really?! I guess I’m not the same afterall. How bloody hard is it to spawn fire with my hands?! I bet if I just imagined it, or just made the image in my mind, it would work? Huh?!” A spark jumped on my thumb, causing me to blink. My expression went to excitement, to annoyed real fast. “This… is the most stupid way to learn magic…” I stated, looking to my hands. After just willing it, kinda, my hands lit on fire. I smirked however, looking at them, from front to back. “As stupid as it was to learn… this is pretty cool…”