Changes Of Heart and Soul

by Tohshi

First published 8th of January, 2017

Life in a new world can be confusing especially when you wake up in a new body. Zoe must learn her place in Equestria before it is too late. Dark forces gather on the horizon that threaten the peaceful life Zoe finds herself in.

Twilight Sparkle is a prodigy at magic as her cutie mark would imply. When she is attempting one of Starswirl's forgotten spells she stumbles upon a poor soul in need of help. Leaping to action Twilight saves this soul. Sort of.

Zoe finds herself in a new world and new body after a fateful fall. With the scars of her past still haunting her dreams and many strange new things to try to adjust to she will have to learn to stand tall despite the growing pressures of a society that soon will be shook to its core.
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This takes place shortly after the Canterlot Invasion. Many of the events of the show after that will not come to pass but some will though I have no intention of recapping any episode unless I am drastically changing it.

Chapter 1

Twilight repositioned the mana batteries for the fourth time that night. Everything needed to be perfect or this spell wouldn’t work. She was pretty certain that she didn’t need the batteries but when trying new and difficult magic it was always best to be prepared.

Pulling on her wellspring, Twilight projected the magic circle that would shape the spell. Horrendously complex it took all of her concentration and a few moments of time to perfectly align all the runes in the right place in the circle. The mana batteries fell in the four points of a star that formed in the circle. They started to glow as their mana added to the spell. Twilight pushed her own mana into the spell filling it up much faster than if she had let the crystals do all the work.

With the circle charged with mana, she released the spell. A small purple sphere formed in front of Twilight which slowly stretched out becoming a thin layer of magic. After a moment the purple of the spell faded and a clear portal through which a wondrous city could be viewed. There were many buildings as tall as the ones in Manehattan and in the distance it seemed that there were even taller ones which seemed impossibly tall. Twilight quickly started jotting down notes in a journal she had prepared earlier. Every detail seemed of importance to the unicorn. Cars ran down the streets. Though from that distance it was hard to make out too many details about them. The sun was setting behind the portal and the city lights had turned on making the view quite spectacular to the young unicorn. Twilight spent the next hour jotting down notes and doing her best to absorb all that she saw.

The spell was self sustaining and would continue till she pulled the plug by simply exerting her thought which allowed her time to step away and grab a snack. It was a quick grab and dash as Spike had banned her from cooking due to her tendency to set things on fire. Still she kept a variety of granola bars available for quick consumption without bugging Spike for food. With three trapped in her magic, Twilight hurried back downstairs.

The city was still there but the view had shifted without her input as if blown by the wind. It had settled near the roof of a building where a lone human was standing near the edge. Their dress was billowing in the wind as was their long straight hair. A piece of paper was held in their had as the stared off the edge of the building.

So burried in her note taking Twilight almost didn’t notice as the human started to walk off the edge of the building. Her eyes snapped to the portal and she willed the portal closser with her magic. Feeling a sense of dread Twilight reached out with her magic to try to touch the human. Give them some sense of harmony that Twilight knew so well. As her magic reached out from the portal on the human side it connected to human who was now a step away from a long fall and the magic started to be siphoned off of Twilight’s control. Thinking it was but a side effect of the portal Twilight poured more magic into her spellwork. The human had a foot off the building. Panicking Twilight dug deep into her wellspring and pulled as much magic as she could into reaching the human but still it just seemed to be absorbed by the human. Her magic engulfed the human as they took their last step off the building.

Twilight pulled with her magic trying desperately to save the human’s life. Her efforts were in vain as a thud was almost audible through the portal. Tears ran down Twilight’s checks as she pulled back with her magic. As she pulled something can with. A glowing dot followed the flow of Twilight’s magic back up to the portal and through it.

The silvery orb seemed to react violently to the magic in the air and soon a vortex of mana was spiraling into the orb. The portal was soon sucked into the orb and magic from all the sources in the room was being tugged out of its home including from Twilight. Being trained to resist this she pulled back on her magic but it did little to stop the cascade that was happening in front of her. Twilight knew that if she didn’t do something this would explode in mere moments.

Twilight pushed her magic and will into the orb trying to alter its effect use the coalesced mana for something other than a huge explosion that would likely end not just her life but many more of Ponyville. Taking a second to scan the orb, Twilight found it to be soul unlike anything she had read about before. Sensing her time was almost up Twilight wove a spell with the mana from the orb changing its purpose to something less destructive. Celestia would probably be made at her for trying such complex spellwork but she had to do something and if she was lucky she wouldn’t just save her life and those of Ponyville but of the humans too. With as much instruction as she could give it she poured more mana into the orb trying to make sure that it would have enough mana to complete the spell and not implode. With her reserves drained all she could do is watch as the spell ran its course.

A bright flash of light and a large bang herald the spells activation. A large wind kicked up trashing Twilight’s lab and pushing Twilight back against the far wall. Slowly the glow from the orb started to take shape as Twilight’s spell took from the souls memory of its previous body. A second flash and bang rocked the tree as the spell completed.

On the ground was a weird hybrid of human and pony. The new body was pony up to where the neck should have been but instead a human torso sprouted up from there. The body had short fur covering its pony half that was pale green in color. Both its tail and mane were a dark green in color . The face is what caught Twilight’s attention the most though as she looked onto her handy work. It was flat and misshapen by her standards. There was no snout to speak of and instead had a small triangular nose that hung over its mouth. Its eyes were small by Twilight’s recollection. The creature looked emaciated and weak with ribs showing in both of it’s chests even if the upper chest had small lumps of fat where its nipples were. Twilight could tell it was breathing by the slow expansion and deflation of its chests though she had no idea where its lungs were if it had any at all. This was not how her spell was supposed to turn out.

“SPIKE,” Twilight shouted up the stairs. Her legs were wobbling due to her exhaustion. The spell had been too much for her. “I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia. I messed up big time and I don’t think I can fix this one without her help.”

“What did you blow up this time, Twilight?” Spike asked from up the stairs. “It sure sounded like an explosion. What do you want me to put in the letter? The usual plea for help?”

“No this is more important,” Twilight said. “Dear Princess Celestia. I need your help with a new visitor to Equestria. They are from another world and the process of the entry to our world left them without a shell to contain their soul. I have rectified this problem however there were hiccups with the spell and I need your help to put them right again. Please come at your earliest convenience. Your student Twilight Sparkle. Did you get all of that, Spike?”

“Yep,” Spike said. He rolled the scroll up and lit it up with his magical flames.
Twilight lit her horn up casting a simple medical scan she had learned a few months prior. The spell was reading that the pony human hybrid had a mess of organs that twilight wasn’t certain that the creature would live till the next day. She could clearly see the creature had two hearts. Other organs were duplicated in both halves of the creature though the scan was reading some of them weren’t working right. Most of the ones on the human half were pinging as malfunctioning.

Spike walked up next to Twilight and stared at the creature. He had never seen something like the upper half with its nude skin that had no fur or scales. How was the creature supposed to keep warm Spike wondered. Its hands that were at the end of the limbs attached to the upper torso were similar to his own though they had more digits than he did and were lacking any claws. There were instead what sort of reminding him of hooves on the end of each digit though they were only on one side. All in all the creature looked very weird to the young dragon.

“Twilight, what did you do to this poor pony?” Spike asked. His voice was timid and shy which was unusual for the dragon.

“I don’t rightly know. Only that they weren’t a pony at all but more of what this upper half is,” Twilight said quietly.

There was at loud pop that came from upstairs. The sound of hooves on the wooden floor of the library was clear even down in the basement of the library. Spike headed up the stairs.

“I’ll go get her,” Spike said as he left.

A few moments latter Spike returned with Princess Celestia in tow. Her face lacked it usual cheerfulness and instead was solemn and stern. She was wearing what appeared to be some sort of armor which made Twilight cower to the side as Celestia looked down on the creature Twilight had created.

“How did this happen?” Celestia asked.

Twilight spent the next few moments explaining the spell and what had transpired since. Celestia’s face remained solemn through out Twilight’s explaination which did little to help the nerves of Twilight. Afterwards there was an awkward pause as Celestia thought.

“I want you to know that Starswirl’s interdemensional spells are outlawed for a reason. When he first started casting them he let in all sorts of monsters from other realms. I know you meant no harm but you have irreversibly changed this creature. I don’t know if I can fix it or if it will even live for long. I will have to examine it more thoroughly,” Celestia said.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Twilight said.

“I know,” Princess Celestia said. “Don’t worry too much. I forgive you of this act just come to me when you find strange new magic next time. It isn’t like this part of Starswirl’s work is well known nor is the law.”

Princess Celestia’s horn lit up as she inspected the pony human hybrid. Her first order of business was to check the wellspring of the creature. If that was stable there was a decent chance the creature would live for at least a while. At least as long as it would take for organ failure to kick in. Finding a pristine wellspring Celestia turned to other means. Despite never using these spells for her subjects, Celestia knew a number of advance medical scans. She could better tell if the creature might live. The results were hopeful but still had a number of potential pitfalls.

“We need to take her to Canterlot. I can keep an eye on her there and our doctors can make how ever long left this creature has to live more comfortable,” Princess Celestia said. “You are coming with, Twilight. I am making her life your responsibility for the time being. I have a few medical books that might shed some light on this and maybe you can find a way to fix this before it is too late.”

“I’ll do what ever I can,” Twilight said.

“I know you will,” Princess Celestia said. She nuzzled Twilight’s head. “I’ll teleport us directly to the Castle. I would rather not have the news papers know about this yet.”

Author's Notes:

So here is the start of a new story. It is a very similar start to Broken then healed but I hope the story will be different enough to warent your time. As always I tried to edit this and I likely failed allot.

Chapter 2

Celestia’s teleports were always much more smooth than Twilight’s had ever been. Still it left her feeling a bit green. Hopefully the trip hadn’t been too hard on the creature.

She quickly stole a glance over to the still unconcious form of the creature she had saved. Hopefully she had a name as calling her the creature seemed too off. The creature had too expressive looking face to be unnamed. If worse come to shove Twilight would find her a name.

Celestia lead the way up the castle. The area they were in were restricted to only personal staff of the Princess and those invited in. Twilight had long since been given mostly free reign of this part of the castle as her own tower was connected to this part of the castle. Though to call it her tower was not technically correct. There were a number of bedroom suites in the tower hers just happened to be the highest up. They turned away from the tower towards Celestia’s chambers. Twilight had only been in them once before and it was a very special occasion for her. Today however they stop just short of Celestia’s chambers. There was a room that was kept for medical use. Celestia place the creature on one of the two beds in the room. It was not an often used room in the castle but it would do for their purposes.

“I will go summon my personal physician to look over the poor soul. In the mean time why don’t you stay here. You are welcome to sleep here or in your old tower which ever you perfer but for the time being I think it would be best if you were to spend as much time as possible in the room with our guest in case she wakes up.”

“Of course, Princess,” Twilight said. “Do you think it will be a problem if I nap in here?”

“No. Rest. I am certain you must be exhasted after casting a spell of that magnitude,” Princess Celestia said.

Nodding Twilight climbed into the other bed and tried to let her exhastion take her away. Still thoughts and worries danced in her head making sleep a painfully slow process. Hopefully the creature would live long enough for Twilight to find a way to fix her. A pang of worry over leaving Spike in charge of the library ran over her for a moment just before the sleep took her. After all this wasn’t the first time he would be left with such a responsibility and would likely not be the last.
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My head was aching like it had been hit by a truck. Which wasn’t far off from what I remembered happening. Images of my desent off of my appartment building ran through my head but that was all there was to my memory. I couldn’t recall what I had had for breakfast that day or where I worked. My name was still with me but I couldn’t remember who had given me that name. I felt a strange sadness come over me for what I felt I had lost. I knew there was more to me but I couldn’t remember it.

Slowly I tried to open my eyes. There were strangely heavy despite how awake I felt. Almostly like they had been welded shut and I was just now prying them apart for the first time. The dull light of the room was almost too bright for my eyes and I squeezed them shut again for a few moments. It was weird part of me knew that it wasn’t that bright but it was as if my eyes weren’t used to light at all. Blinking profusely I tried to adjust to the light. It only took a few moments thankfully.

My body felt off. It was sending signals from more limbs than I felt like I had before. I couldn’t rightly remember either way which were the wrong limbs but all of them felt off. Fingers felt right though so they must have been the right limbs. Did that mean that my lower half was all messed up? I figured it wasn’t worth worrying about yet. I tried to push myself into a seating position but my back only bent a little ways that way. I twisted around to get my legs underneath me and that felt much more natural. Or at least physically if felt right even if in my mind I could tell something was wrong. I looked over myself and felt a pang of panic as I noticed I wasn’t wearing any clothes. My chest was larger than I remembered it being though really not by much and for some reason that made me happy. The surprises continues as I looked at the light green part of my body which started just south of my navel. My lower half seemed to be that of some sort of hooved creature and while I could definitely tell it was my body I was looking at it still felt unnatural. I ran my hands through the fur relishing how soft it seemed to be. The feeling of my hands on my back sent strange signals to my brain but I liked the sensation.

Looking around I spotted what appeared to be a pony or horse of some sorts. It was bigger than I was though not by much. It had purple fur and a deep purple mane with streaks of other shades and tints of purple running down the length of it. A six pointed star was tattooed on its flank. As far as I could tell that was what my lower half was though why I had a torso was beyond me. The pony seemed to be sleeping and I didn’t want to wake it just to satisfy my curiosity.

Time went by slowly as I waited for something to happen. I wasn’t really in a hurry to go find information. Not when I was still having a hard time getting my body to work like I wanted. On some level my body felt right for what seemed like the first time ever and yet in so many other ways I could tell it was wrong. I wracked my brain trying to fill in the blanks that were there but I found no such answers.
After what seemed like hours but was probably only one, the purple pony stirred from its sleep. It had the larges eyes of any I had seen. I was nearly instantly lost in their purple depth.

“Eh yeep axawaxako. Zaxat dis pit keew zick. Vupp naxamo dis Twiridd Spaxalkro pi Pum whaxavo pit bod quochiens bel ug axas Pum suspond ug whaxavo bel vo,” said the purple pony.

I didn’t understand a word they said. Though there voice was calming and melodic. Maybe with time I could learn to comunitcate. This did however put a hamper on any likelihood of getting any answers anytime soon.

“I’m sorry I don’t understand you. Do you speak English?” I asked.

“Pum'v sellupp Pum peniz uctolchaxact ug. Pum axassumo zaxat ug peniz spoaxak Oquisk hist vaxakos sonso sooick axas ug axalo blem axanethol welrd. Pum peniz loi ox gned axanupp slaxansraxatien sporrs fut Pum weurd revo te slupp te roaxaln velo eb yeep raxackaxaugo dib wo whaxavo timo eb ceulso. Vaxayfo Plincopt Corochiaxa wirr gned pit slaxansraxatien sporr zaxat wirr axarred us te cemunicaxato,” the purple pony said.

Again I understood none of the pony’s speech. She hopped off the bed she was sleeping in and headed out the single door. I struggled to my feet trying to follow her. She had said a lot and I was guessing that was something about following her. With my front feet off the side of the bed I pushed off with my back sliding to the floor. I wasn’t certain I would be able to get back into the bed but at the very least I could follow now. The purple pony was already at the door seemingly not noticing my attempts to follow her. She turned her head around to look at me with her very flexible neck.

“Eh chaxaupp din fow ug axalo plefaxafrupp chirr woaxak blem zo sporr. Pum wirr quich fo lidd faxang Pum axam keick te kot whorp bel eep cemmunicaxatien plefrom,” the purple pony said.

A magenta light engulfed me and I floated up in the air back onto the bed. The purple pony’s horn, which I had missed until that moment, was also engulfed in the strange magenta light. They had a look of concentration as I was gently set back down on the bed.

“Chaxaupp zolo, Ekaxaupp?” the purple unicorn said. She turned and left the room. I was pretty certain she had just told me to stay so I just waited.

I didn’t wait long as she quickly came back into the room though she was accompanied by a white pony who also had a horn they had dark blue mane and a pale blue coat. There was heart with a cross under it on their flank. I couldn’t readily tell the gender of this one but I was leaning towards male. I felt very self conscious about my nakedness and I covered up my chest with my arms.

“Sko dis axawaxako zaxat dis pit keew zick,” said the male pony.

The two of them started chatting quickly back and forth I couldn’t keep up with their words. I stopped trying after a moment and just tried to relax. But my efforts were interrupted as the two of them seemed intent on doing something to me as the came to either side of my bed. The purple pony had pulled a notebook out of nowhere and was busy scribbling on it with a quill.

“Loraxax, quich loraxax. Zis weniz whult dib ug loraxax,” said the male pony.

His horn started to glow and a strange feeling over came my body. It was sort of between painful and a tickle. The male pony kept this up for almost a minute as his gaze ran over my whole body. The glow faded from his horn as did the feeling.

“Worr Pum caxan soo pit numfol eb plefroms. Whol dinsidos axaloniz cennondow an lidd. Pum weurd kivo whol vaxayfo pit woot te rivo. Pum peniz gned dib zolo dis axanythick zaxat caxan fo peno skelt eb semo selt eb vilaxacro. Vaxayfo zo Plincossos wirr whaxavo pit fottol klaxasp en whed te bim whol. Pum'v sellupp,” said the male pony. He seemed somber as if he was delivering bad news. The purple pony had tears in her eyes as she nodded in agreement with the doctor.

Twilight started to scribble on a new sheet of paper. After a moment of work she turned the journal over so I could see. On it were seven suns and seven moons. Or at least I think they were moons. Then she had drawn what appeared to be a tombstone with some flowers on top of it. After a moment I grasped what she was trying to communicate. I was going to die in a week.
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Princess Celestia had much on her plate that afternoon. Twilight had pulled her away from a court session and she had to resume it which interrupted her paperwork time. Knowing she would need help with that she had one of her guards summon her sister. Luna wouldn’t be happy being woken early especially for paperwork but Celestia had tried to drag her into the everyday going on of the country. Luna dragged her hooves for anything that was military or art related.

The court case was something that she wished she could pass off on the Court of Paragons but it had been requested that the Princess looked at it directly. The case was about the rights to a mine in the hills of the Applousain mountains. It was extremely valuable and would greatly increase the supple of iron for her nation. With Luna tring to refit the whole military which hadn’t been done in nearly five hundred years the need for iron would skyrocket. The problem though was that the land belonged to a old earth pony who was afraid that the mining company who was seeking the rights to the mine would destroy the natural balance of the area which would unduely affect the Buffalo in the area as well as threaten the near by town’s water supply. Celestia was in favor of the stallions side but the need of iron weighed heavily on her as the only other source at the time would be to buy it from the Minotaurs and they were unlikely to be fair in the exchange let alone be willing when the found out the use of the iron. There was an environmentalist that Celestia was planing on assigning to the mine but only if both parties would agree to it. Young as the mare was Celestia was certain that under her guidance the mine could be safely operated. Magical cleansing spells had come a long way and getting enough ponypower to keep up with the flow would be expensive but Celestia was certain that it would be worth it in the long run. The clean up costs of other areas which had been mined heavily were much higher if they waited till afterwards to start them.

The court case went as well as could be expected as both parties agreed but only after the mine was signed over to the court instead of the mining company. That way it could be better enforced levels of health standards. With her courtly duties over Celestia wandered back to her personal office hoping that Luna would be there already.

Thankfully Luna was in fact already there. She was busy with some paperwork which must have been related to the military as Luna never did paperwork without coercion unless it was military related. Still that had taken a large load off of Celestia for which she was very grateful for.

“Morning Sister,” Celestia said. She took her usual chair on the otherside of the table from Luna.

“Evening really Sister,” Luna said. It was their little inside joke to greet eachother this way everyday. “Your doctor stopped by to deliver this to you. I read it and I think I might have a solution but it won’t be pretty and honestly it is a shot in the dark.”

Celestia took the paper from Luna’s magical grip. It listed all of the problems Celestia had picked up on as well as a few others. The doctor had given her a week to live. It was more than the mare had given herself but it seemed like such a short time to live. Still Celestia had no answers to this problem.

“What is your solution, Sister?” Celestia asked. “This is quiet dire. You must have a fairly drastic measure in mind.”

“Yes I do. I think that if the elements of harmony were to be used on this poor soul it would bring harmony to her body as it did to my mind and soul when it cleansed the Nightmare from me. I don’t know for certain and the strain of this could just outright kill her but I feel it is our best option,” Luna said.

“I’ll summon the elements,” Celestia said.

Author's Notes:

So here is chapter two. Hopefully I don't leave you hanging for too long. Also tell me if the changes in perspective is too jarring. I normally write in first person so it is a bit weird for me to do third person. also for those of you who are wondering what the ponies were saying here is the gibberish translator I was using.

Anyway the usual about how I suck at editing and I tried on this one but I suck at it so yeah typos and grammar is probably horrible.

Chapter 3

A chariot set down outside the Carousal Boutique and a guard pegasus unhitched himself from it. He quickly entered the building where a white unicorn with dark purple mane and tail was busy putting the finishing touches on a dress. The charioteer sat for a moment and enjoyed the view before approaching Rarity.

“I’m terribly sorry dear but we are closing for the day you will have to come back tomorrow,” said Rarity. She didn’t even look up to see the charioteer.

“I am not here on business, Ma’am. The Elements .of Harmony have been summoned to Canterlot,” said the charioteer. “I’m truly sorry how late this is but I give the orders just follow them.”

Looking at her guest for the first time, Rarity gave him a one over and enjoyed the sights. Charioteers were always in good shape as they had to pull a heavy load while flying. Maybe not as in shape as a Wonderbolt but second best wasn’t anything to shy away from.

“Oh. It isn’t any worry. If the Elements are being summoned it must be for something important. You don’t happen to know what is going on do you?” asked Rarity.

“I was instructed to give you this letter. I think it will explain things. I don’t really know myself as it is a need to know and I don’t to do my job,” said the charioteer.

“Hmm,” said Rarity. She took the letter and quickly read over it. Worry coated her face. “Well I just need to grab my house call back and I’ll be ready. Have the rest of the girls been picked up already?”

“Your the first, Ma’am. I only have instructions to pick up you, Miss Rainbow Dash, and Miss Pie. Another chariot is picking up your other two friends,” Said the Charioteer.

“Well lets not dilly dally then,” Rarity said. She grabbed a large set of saddlebags that were absolutely stuffed to the brim with materials. Despite its packed nature it still was elegant and looked comfortable or at least as comfortable as it could be for its weight. Rarity walked out the door not waiting on the charioteer.
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A dead calm had taken over me. My thoughts had gone down dark places that should have disturbed me but it didn’t and that scared me more than anything. I only had a week to live and it was weird that knowing I had made a choice before to end it but now that choice had been taken away and it felt more horrible for it. I couldn’t tell why part of me was welcoming death so willingly. It was as if there was a deep hole in my heart some where in the void of my memories that even though I knew not what it was it still was there oozing despair.
The purple pony was sitting on the other bed jotting down notes every once in a while. She had kept relatively quiet since the male pony had left and I wasn’t ready to break the silence. Though I wish I had some music. I could vaguely remember being able to carry music around with me where ever I went but I couldn’t for the life of me remember how. I felt like there was a part of me missing with out the music.

There was a knock at the door before the door swung open. I quickly grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to cover my chest. The large pony that entered gave me a weird look as I did so. The pony was much larger than any I had seen before but as it was the third pony I had seen I didn’t have a good reference really. She had a horn and wings and her mane billowed with a nonexistent wind. You could see the night sky in her mane and tail and she was a dark blue in color. A symbol of the moon emblazoned her rump. Again though it was her eyes that captured me. A sense of ancient wisdom could be seen in them especially the way she looked at me. There was a hint of regret in them but mostly sadness ruled.

"Whorre, Twiridd Spaxalkro. Pum zint Pum whaxavo pit serutien te whol plefrom zeugh dit wirr loquilo dewolbur vaxagics. Zo ethol oromonks whaxavo foon summenow pi Pum zint zoupp wirr put zis deel seur lidd axagaxain. Whewovol Pum axam coltaxain zis plecopt wirr fo juto paxainbur pi Pum wisk te waxaln whol. Whaxas sko spekon el skewn axanupp ethol belm eb cemmunicaxatien?" said the large pony.

"Whorre Plincopt Runaxa. Sko waxas taxarkick oaxalriol zeugh Pum whaxavo je didoaxa haxat raxackuaxago. Sko peosniz soom te uctolchaxact Oquisk fut sko soomow te kot zo pindulo Pum wrod wholo te torr whol eb whed reck zo pendel kaxavo whol," said the purple unicorn. She seemed to shy away from this pony. I couldn’t tell why as the large pony had a gentle feel to her.

"Pum whaxavo pit serutien zaxat vaxaupp welk te eep cemmunicaxatien plefrom," said the large pony. Her horn glowed with an indigo light and a strange feeling filled my head. It worked its way around my head in strange spirals before dispersing. “Can you understand me now?”

“Yes,” I said. “How did you do that?”

“I cast a spell on you that allows you to communicate your intent it is translated as well as possible but some things will likely be untranslatable. My name is Luna. I am a princess of this land,” said the large pony.

“Oh, My name is Zoe,” I said. “Or well at least I think it is. I don’t remember much. All I remember is jumping off a large building and then waking up here. I know that I am missing memories. Why can’t I remember?”

“That is a product of spell that created you. Souls do not have memory with out a body and as such only the most recent or traumatic events are left to the souls domain. When you jumped your body died but Twilight Sparkle’s spell had latched onto your soul pulling it free of its host. When your soul crossed the border of our two realms it started sucking up all of the ambient magic and that of anything it could nearby. Much of that was Twilight’s own magic. You were going to cascade with horrendous results. It would have been an explosion that would have killed many. Twilight shaped your cascade of mana and gave it purpose which was to create you. The problem is that it had too much of Twilight’s influence in your soul as so much of your magic was not your own but hers. This made complications in the forming of your new body. As you have been told if we leave you be you will likely die in a matter of days to a week. However we have a plan to fix you. It is not guaranteed to work and will likely be fairly painful but it is your only hope at this point.”

“You don’t have to go through the effort. It is fine. I wasn’t supposed to live through the fall. I am not worth your time,” I said. A deep sorrow spread over me as I accepted my fate.

“You are clearly not of the right mind right now. In this country you can not be considered competent enough to make such a decision on your own. In part if need be I can treat you as your age which as of right now is less than a day old. But more importantly you clearly have a mental illness and need help not to let it consume you,” Princess Luna said. “Now why are you hiding your torso from us?”

“Um it feels wrong to be exposed like that. I need clothes for at least up here,” I said.

“We shall acquire you some suitable clothes in the mean time this will have to work,” Princess Luna said. Her magic pulsed out of her horn and a small bead of indigo light appeared near me. After a moment the bead transformed into a black cloak that looked much too big for me. Luna wrapped the cloak around my neck and it fell down my torso. I let it cover me and while a strip down the front was still exposed I felt much better as I pulled it closed.

A stabbing sensation ran up my left side on my pony half. I cried out in pain unable to contain myself. Princess Luna’s horn lit up as the strange sensation came back though it was concentrated on my lower half. It just added to my unease and I doubled over. The pain was causing my head to spin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Howdy,” Applejack said as she walked up to the chariot that was carrying Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow dash landed with a bit of a thud near by having chosen to fly herself. “I wonder what is the problem this time around. Hopefully nothing that we can’t handle.”

“Yeah it is weird of the princess to call us on such short notice,” said Rainbow Dash. “I bet it is some sort of monster that is rampaging through the country side.”

“Oh I sure hope not,” Fluttershy said. “That would just be awful.”

“What else could the princesses need the elements for?” Rainbow Dash said.

“We are here to save a life,” Rarity said. “The princess had a letter for me to bring my work supplies with. That she felt that my talents would be in demand during this outing. She mentioned something about a poor soul who was in grave danger.”

“Wait a new pony,” said Pinkie Pie. “I don’t think so my tail was twitching in a weird way even for me. I think it is something more than that. I can’t wait to throw them a welcome party.”

A guard came over to the gathering mares. He was the typical stoic fare. He said, “Right this way, Ma’ams. The princess is waiting on your arrival. If you follow me I will lead you to where she is meeting you.”

“Where is Twilight?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “The whole rainbow light show can’t get started without her.”

“Miss Sparkle is already here,” said the guard.

The guard led the group of five mares into the castle away from the chariot bay. The princesses’ part of the castle was two stories up from where they were. Thankfully there was a relatively direct route there if you didn’t mind taking the stairs. There were the usual amounts of guards on the way which always made Applejack a little nervous.

After only a few twists and turns the group found themselves in a large empty chamber in which Princess Celestia had trained Twilight in many different spells. The walls had been specially reinforced to withstand errant blasts or spell mishaps that tending to end in explosions.
Princess Celestia was already in the room preparing a circle of runes on the ground that would help contain the blast of the elements. She had just put the last touches on the circle when the group had walked in. She came over to them and with a smile said, “Welcome my little ponies. I am happy that you all made it on such short notice. How was the chariot ride?”

“It was pleasant as always,” Rarity said. “Where is Twilight and the guest you mentioned?”

“They are in a room not far from here. I will gather them in a moment but first I wanted to let you know what is at stake. As I am certain you already guessed this is a mater of grave importance though not in the usual manner of these summoning. Earlier today Twilight pulled a creature from another realm however the only part of her that came through was her soul. The realm she was from must have not had any magic for as soon as her soul passed the portal between our realm and her home realm she started to gather a large amount of mana. Her soul had no way to contain this mana and she would have cascaded into a large explosion that would have wiped out much of Ponyville. However thanks to the quick thinking of Twilight, that mana was instead shaped and put to use in creating her a body. However the instructions to make that body were jumbled by Twilight’s magic and now the creature is in a body that is failing. She only has a week at most to live and our medicine can fix what is wrong with her. We are hoping that the Elements can bring harmony to her body and soul as it is obvious from our scans they are not in sink,” said Princess Celestia. “Here are the Elements. Put yours on and find your spot in the circle. It is marked with your element on the floor. I am going to go fetch our guest and Twilight.”

Princess Celestia started to walk out of the room but stopped as Princess Luna burst through the door nearly running over Celestia. The creature floated in her magic behind her and Twilight came in pushing the pile of pony at the door over the top causing it to all topple over.

Not bothering to untangle herself from her sister, Princess Luna said, “Are the Elements here? She is bleeding out internally and my magic can’t stop it. We must act now.”

“Great timing sister,” Princess Celestia said. “I was just about to retrieve you. Lets prepare as we are currently in the way of Twilight doing her job.”

“Oops,” Princess Luna said. She hastily removed herself from her sister. She gently placed Zoe in the center of the circle. And then stepped out of the way and back so Twilight could take her place in the circle.

Twilight grabbed them remaining Element and donned it. Taking her place she said, “Ready girls?”

“Ready,” said the rest of them in unison.

A brilliant light started to glow out of each of the Elements quickly engulfing each of the Bearers. A beam of light ran the length of the circle connecting all of the Elements. Floating in the air, Twilight unleashed the final spark sending a beam of rainbow into the semi-conscious form of Zoe in the middle of the room. A bright flash blinding all in the room.

Author's Notes:

So yeah here is chapter 3. Already. I am having a really productive weekend. Well if you ask me. I really should probably be working on homework instead but more story. Lets see if I can get another chapter out today.

Chapter 4

Deep in the darkness of the Everfree forest a group of shrouded ponies gathered. The ruins of an old castle surrounded them. A collection of metallic scraps sat in a pile inside a chalk circle that had been painstakingly drawn into the smooth marble that made up the floor. Arcane symbols filled every inch of the circle.

“Bring forth the last piece of the armor and the sacrifice,” said one of the hooded ponies. He clearly was a unicorn as his horn held the hood up off his face.

Another unicorn brought a large piece of metal that was bent and jagged. Behind them two earth ponies dragged a struggling pony up to the circle. A quick flash ended the poor ponies struggling as their life blood fell onto the circle powering it. The leader of the cultists pulled back her hood revealing a red and yellow mane on top of an orange body. She charged her amber magic and poured it into the circle. Slowly each piece of the metal started to glow with a dark purple energy. The energy wafted off the pile and started to collect as an orb a bit above the pile. Pushing more mana into the spell the lead cultist solidified the orb which formed a spherical black crystal. A flash of a cat-like eye tore through the crystal.

“Success,” said the lead cultist. “When the time is right we will strike and this time the Elements of Harmony will be helpless to stop us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing had hurt like that had. It was like I was being cut apart piece by piece at the smallest level. I could feel as every piece of me was torn from my form, twisted and purified before returning to where it belonged. And then the feeling of being stitched back together piecemeal. It was excruciating. Afterward I was left feeling numb and strangely whole.

The six ponies who had just blasted me with the rainbow of doom looked exhausted. One of them, the yellow and pink one collapsed in a heap. Purple seemed to have taken the least of a kick from what they did and she slowly approached my form on the floor. Princess Luna and the other large pony came also approached. The other large pony was the exact opposite to Princess Luna. Where Luna was night this Pony was the morning sky.

The purple ponies horn sputtered to life though this display of magic seemed to take more out of her than previous times. A magenta aura engulfed me tinting my sight slightly. I couldn’t feel anything though.

“How is she, Twilight?” asked the white pony. She looked down at me with sorrow in her eyes and the vestiges of a tears filled her eyes.

“As far as I can tell she is better. I don’t really have very good scanning spells but I can tell her leylines are where they should be for her pony half and seems to be so for her other half. I don’t know why the Elements left her in this hybrid form,” Twilight said. “From what I can tell she should live now though how well is beyond my ability to tell. The Elements took more from us than they usual do. I don’t think they are used to this use.”

“I doubt they are,” the white pony said. “I don’t know if they have ever been used in this manner. Hopefully it shall be quite a while before the need of the Elements crops up.”

The white pony’s horn lit up sending the barest shivers through my form. I was starting to get back feeling as the numbness slowly retreated from my core and out of my extremities. I could tell that this must be the same kind of magic as before though this time it hurt less and was more of a tickle.

“Am I going to die still?” I asked quietly.

“Not anytime soon hopefully,” said the white pony. “How do you know our tongue?”

“Um Princess Luna cast a spell on me to be able to understand what you were saying,” I said.

“I saw no spell on you. Maybe a side effect of the Elements. Are you able to walk?” she asked.

“Um I think so. I haven’t ever walked with these legs before yet so I don’t think I am going to be any good at it,” I said.

I stumbled to my feet like a new born foal. My legs were still weak and they barely held me up. I pushed my hair out of my face before realizing that I just flashed every one there. Standing I could tell that I was just a bit taller than the purple pony though only because of my upright torso. I was about a head taller than her but my lower back rested bellow hers.

The other mares in the room started to collect around me. It was slightly frightening to be so crowded. The pink one was bouncing up and down with more energy that I would have thought possible for a pony while the yellow and pink pegasus looked at me with a strange mix of fear and wonder.

“Why are you hiding under that dreadful cloak dear?” asked the white and purple unicorn.

“I don’t like to have my self exposed. I should have clothes to wear but all of mine are a world away. Well if I had any I don’t remember. I just know it is important to me,” I said.

“What is wrong with our cloak?” asked Princess Luna. “I happen to love that one.”

“I meant no offense, Princess. I bet it would look wonderful on you but it clashes terribly with her mane and coat. I am glad I brought my tools. This calls for a whole wardrobe for you. Besides this will be fun challenge designing for her attributes,” said the white one.

“Why don’t you let her get settled a little before you go and froufrou her up,” said the orange and blond mare.

“Applejack, it is plain to see that the poor darling is uncomfortable with out clothes. How can she relax if she is uncomfortable all the time,” the white one said.

“Hi. I’m Pinkie Pie. This is so exciting. I have never met someone from another realm before. How was it? Do you like cupcakes? I am going to have to throw you the best party ever,” said the pink mare. She was too intense for me and I shied away from her. A magenta aura engulfed her and pulled her over to the purple one.

“I think we should all let her rest for now,” the large white pony said. “There is plenty of time for introductions tomorrow.”

Her horn lit up and I was lifted in the air by a light amber aura. I tried to relax in its grip and found that I was quiet tired. I was asleep before we made it to where ever she was taking me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinning Armor paced back and fourth waiting on Princess Celestia to return from what ever business kept her from their usual meeting at the end of the day. It had been a long day for Shinning Armor with all the training and meetings that he had. There was another later that day with Princess Luna and the rest of the military heads.

It was about time that there was a actual driving force to revamp the military. It was good to see Princess Luna come into her own after her return. If it weren’t for the mark on her rump Shinning Armor would be certain that she was the Alicorn of battle based on how much the princess knew. She had really turned the heads of military minds for the better. Even Shinning felt more able with her guidance.
It still weighed heavily on his head that Shinning Armor had been tricked by Chrysalis mental controls. He would never make it up to his wife or country but Princess Celestia had regretted his resignation. She had reminded him that even under her control he fought to keep the city safe from the threat that the changelings posed. She had even taught him some ways to resist better the next time but he had yet to master them as Princess Luna could still break into his dreams at night.

The door opened and a strangely exhausted looking Princess Celestia walked into the meeting room. Her face was stoic as ever but it was her eyes that gave the sense of weariness. Shinning Armor jumped to attention and saluted Princess Celestia.

“At ease,” Princess Celestia said. “It looks as if your day has been as long as mine. Your sister has once again stumbled into magic best left alone. I really should lock all of Starswirl’s journals up better. But enough of that. Tell me your report.”

“At once, Princess,” Shinning Armor said. He was worried about Twilight. She had a tendency to go over board with new magic. “The training is progressing as well as to be expected though I do feel like we are still behind where we should be. I will redouble our efforts. The first shipment of new armaments arrived for the Day Guard today and we are about a fourth of the way equipped. We caught one attempted intruder in the gardens this evening but they didn’t get far before they were caught.”

“All good to hear. Sadly I have to add more to your plate. I want you to start organizing a new branch of the military. Take from the army and airforce as needed. Make sure you have a good mix of experience. I will be picking the new captain. There is need of a Dusk guard. Your sister is nearing ascension. There are already hints of pegasus and earth pony magic in her. I don’t know how long it will take before she ascends but I want a guard for her ready before then,” Princess Celestia said.

“As you command,” Shinning Armor said. “So it is finally happening? Does Twilight know yet?”

“I don’t think so. I want to keep her in the dark for the moment. She would just unduly panic about things and it could be upwards of a year still yet. Though I do expect sooner.”

“Do you think she is ready for this?” Shinning Armor asked. “I know we don’t really have much choice in the matter but still I worry for her.”

“As a good brother would,” Princess Celestia said. “But I do hope she is ready. It will be a big change for her that much is certain but I am worried as well for her. With that said I know she will rise to the challenge.”

“After a lot of panicking,” Shinning Armor said.

“One more thing there is a strange guest of mine in the medical room of my personal quarters. I want you to have the guard keep an eye on her and keep her to restricted sections of the castle. I don’t want her existence to be known by the media yet,” Princess Celestia said. “She is a hybrid which can only be made by magic and many out there will react badly to her.”

“As you command, my Princess,” Shinning Armor said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We must strike before they grow any more powerful,” said a large minotaur bull said. “They keep finding damnable Alicorns out of seemingly nowhere. I know the stories of how brutal Luna can be in battle.”

“Yes but the other two are useless. We must be careful to not draw popular support for Equestria from inside the Griffon Empire. I would rather not have a war on two fronts,” said the much larger dragon. “My queen can handle the Lunar brat but the armies of the griffons is much more prepared than Equestria’s. But don’t worry before the year is out we will strike.”

“We had better I don’t know how much longer I can hide our build up from the Equestrians. They may be weak but they are not dumb,” said the minotaur. “My forces are ready to deploy at a moments notice and they are itching for battle. I’ll not linger much longer.”

“You will bide your time till you are instructed to attack,” the dragon nearly shouted. “We will strike soon but a final piece must fall in place first.”

Chapter 5

Author's Notes:

Trigger warning: self harm and suicide attempt If you wish to avoid that stop reading after Celestia leaves.

The drone of a bustling city filled the air. I barely paid it any attention after all it was always there. Many people and ponies walked through the busy square, all almost just blurs of color in the summer heat. Idly sipping from my tea I turned back to my book.

There was something calming about all this that just seemed off. Like a memory of a far away land. One which never really existed. Still I read my gibberish book and sipped my tea enjoying this pleasant afternoon. I barely noticed as the sky grew gray and rain started its pitter patter all around me.

A great big thunder broke my concentration on my book. I set it down and it faded away forgotten. In the crowd I saw her. Oh how I loved her. I needed to grab her in a big hug as if felt like it had been ages since we had met last. I couldn’t recall when that had been though. I pushed through the bustling crowd of blurred colors as I tried to follow her. The rain was picking up and I was getting thoroughly damp. She was always just a bit a head of me. Always out of reach. There was another crack of thunder which I turned to look at. The rain was coming down in sheets as I looked back to where she had been. I couldn’t see her but the crowd had parted up ahead. It grew quiet as I pushed my way through the crowd to see what they all were staring at.

There in a growing pool of her own blood sat someone I had known in another world. I knew I loved her but I couldn’t remember who she was. Her face was a blur to me the details always just out of focus. I collapsed onto her and tears ran down my already soaked checks. The rain was washing away the blood and with it all of my hope. I would never see her again. Not her smile that had brightened so many of my gloomy days, I would never see it again.

A strange soft presence pressed down on my shoulder and soon engulfed me in a hug. A majestic indigo form filled the area to my right. I could tell that it wasn’t supposed to be there but that didn’t stop me from feeling better in the comfort of a wing over my back. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity. The horror before me had melted away into a sea of blurs again.

I woke feeling rested and whole. The numbness had long since faded and I was back to exploring my new body. All of it was strange and new even after a day of having it. I shifted up from my side that I had been sleeping on. Letting my body do what it knew to do seemed to work best so I didn’t try to over think it much even if that was fairly hard to do.

My hair was just long enough to be annoying but not long enough to really do anything with. It flopped uselessly into my face at almost every movement from me. Maybe one of the ponies from last night would have a solution. After all they all had powerful magic at least from what I had saw though maybe it was all in the rainbow of doom category.

The purple pony whose name I had not yet caught was no where to be seen. I was starting to feel a bit parched. I couldn’t remember when I had eaten last, if ever. No one had told me to stay put so a little wandering around looking for food would probably not be punished.
I slid off the bed and onto my four feet. I hadn’t tried walking yet and a bit of anxiety over that built in my stomach. Sitting there wasn’t going to get me anywhere and I was stable enough just standing. Tentatively I took my first step and then another. It was taxing on my mind trying to think out how to walk and I was very unstable. Almost falling I tried to relax and let my body do its thing. That worked relatively well though it didn’t put as much certainty into my step as I would have liked. I pulled open the door which was thankfully not locked and stepped out into the hallway.

Paintings covered almost every inch of the walls and where there were none there were decorative statues or suits of armor. There were no windows but the area was well lit from lamps hung from the ceiling. They seemed to be made of some sort of crystal and must have been magic. They gave off a nice bright light that wasn’t overpowering to my eyes.

A guard stood at attention part way down the hall from me. He didn’t react to my presence but I was under no delusion that he didn’t see me. With no one else nearby I figured I might as well ask him where I can find some water and food. He was a bit scary looking despite being a pony and it took me a bit of time to walk over to him. In part because I was still not used to walking like this and in part because I hesitated.

“Um, excuse me. I’m sorry to bug you but I am a bit new around here and I was wondering where I might be able to get some food and water?” I asked in a quiet voice. I pulled the cloak around me tighter and let my hair hide part of my face.

“If you go down this hall and take a left there should be a group of guards there who can lead you to the dining area,” said the guard. He pointed further down the hall to where I could see an intersection “I can not leave my post or I would show you myself.”

“Oh, okay,” I said.

I left the guard behind and slowly made my way down the hall. I did my best to take in as many of the paintings as possible. Many of them were in the same style and had the same signature to them. Who ever painted all of them was a prolific artist. They depicted all sorts of things but mostly were just scenes of life or the night. Had I ever done anything like this?

A thought occurred to me that was some what disturbing. Was I the same person as the one who had jumped? I definitely didn’t look like her. Something had changed when I had been blasted by the Rainbow of Doom and I wasn’t really certain if I was the same person anymore. I new that this feeling of rightness that was my body, even with the pony half was new to this life. I still carried a hole in my heart but it was different now. It was like I was carrying someone else’s pain for them.

I came upon the intersection in the hallway. I could see a great door to the right just a few yards down the hallway and to the left there was a pair of guards. They looked identical which was confusing to me. Were they twins? But the also looked eerily similar to the guard I had talked to. My anxiousness became more present as I approached the two guards. Alone they had been some what intimidating but now they were frightening.

“Can we help you, miss?” asked one of the guards. His voice was calm and kind and helped push away my stress.

“Um, I need to find some food and water,” I said. “The guard back that way said one of you might be able to help me find that. If it is no problem and you aren’t too busy. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It is no problem,” said the same guard. “Corporal, would you please lead our guest to the private dining room and then see to it that she is properly fed. I am sorry miss but we have to keep you to the private areas of the castle which means the cafeteria is out of the question but we will make sure you are still satisfied.”
“Oh, okay,” I said.

“Right this way, miss,” said the second guard.

He lead me further down the hall to a new room which had a large table with plenty of seating. The room was sparsely decorated but had fancy wallpaper and the furniture matched the walls in its elegance. I did not belong in this room but the corporal seemed at ease with us being here. He pulled out a chair for me and then grabbed a pamphlet that he handed me.

“Just let me know what you want and I will have it delivered,” said the corporal. He stood at attention near the door waiting for me to place my order.

Opening the menu, I found an unfortunate reality before me. All of the words on the paper were completely undecipherable for me. There were no pictures of course. I spent some time vainly trying to squeeze some amount of understanding from the menu. It didn’t work.

“Um, I can’t read the menu,” I said quietly.

“I can read it for you if you would like, miss,” said the corporal.

“Please,” I said.

He started to list of the options which were not restricted to breakfast items. Some of them I had no idea what were even if I could understand the words spoken. I was pretty set on ordering pancakes as that seemed like something I could eat but I wasn’t certain what I could and couldn’t eat. Was I more human in diet or more pony? What did a pony need in their diet? I felt like fruit might be a safe bet as I felt like both ponies and humans could eat those. Still they had pancakes and those sounded familiar they were probably safe.

The door which the corporal had closed behind us swung open revealing the large white pony from the day earlier. She smiled at me and entered the room. I noticed her hair for the first time and marveled in the pastel colors of it. The way it waved with an intangible wind.

“Good morning, Zoe,” said the large white mare. “At ease Corporal Gilded Shield. Are you just now ordering your breakfast, Zoe?”

“Um yeah, if that is alright?” I said. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Everyone needs to eat. I would rather starve myself than deprive you of that,” the large white mare said. “All this means is I can save the corporal and the wait staff a trip. What were you thinking of ordering?”

“Um pancakes or fruit but I don’t know what I can eat. Some of this stuff I can recognize but I don’t know if it is edible for me,” I said.

“Well why don’t we order a sampler plater, a little bit of everything, and find out what soothes your palet,” said the large white mare. “Besides I always have a hard time just picking one thing to eat. I hope you don’t mind me joining you for breakfast.”

“Um no of course not. I should be the one asking you,” I said. “I don’t even know your name and yet I feel like this is probably your castle. Well that and Princess Luna’s.”

“Forgive me, I forgot that you wouldn’t know who I am. Normally my reputation precedes me long before anypony would be in my private area of the castle. I am Princess Celestia. Though there is no need for formalities here,” said the large white mare. “Corporal, will you go place an order for a sample platter?”

“Right away, your highness,” said Gilded Shield. He left the room quickly but politely.

“It shouldn’t be too long now for our food to arrive,” said Princess Celestia. “So how are you feeling this morning?”

“Uh, alright. I don’t have much to compare it to. I can’t remember before yesterday. It is weird knowing things but not remembering why or how you know them. Well and I am pretty hungry,” I said.

“We will help you fill in the gaps as best we can,” Princess Celestia said. “I know this all must be quite confusing for you. I want you to know that the crown will make sure you are well taken care of until such time as you can fend for yourself. Which need not be anytime soon. I know you are not a child but I would like to see you given the same amount of time as any other would to find themselves.”

“Um actually I think I am a child or at least adolescent. From what I can remember about humans my upper torso is still under developed and my pony half is smaller than anybody else around here,” I said. “But I don’t know that could just be because I am a hybrid.”

“Possibly. How much you will grow if at all is uncertain. As is how long you will live. Though to be fair estimates are all anyone has for that,” Princess Celestia said. “Hybrids are very rare in Equestria. The only species like you are from a nearby realm. The centaurs are similar in shape to you but you are very much different from them. And we can not rely on the information you may remember as your realm had no magic in it and magic has a tendency to change everything. Who knows how long a regular human would live in a world as saturated with magic as Equis is.”

“Equis is this world’s name?” I asked.

“Yes. It is good to see you willing to learn of your new home,” Princess Celestia said.

Our breakfast came and our conversation shifted towards tastes and favorites. There was such a variety of fruits available but it was nice to know that some of them seemed the same as those from my minuscule memory. It seemed that I could eat much of the food there though hay seemed beyond me. Apparently I was similar to a griffon in my tastes out side of an increased fondness for sweets.

A wave of sadness washed over me as I chewed the first bite of a waffle. There was something about the texture that sparked some sort of residual memory. Tears started welling up in my eyes and could barely swallow the bite as my throat seemed to clam up. Someone or something had hurt her and now I couldn’t shake the pain.

“What is wrong? Did you bite your tongue?” asked Princess Celestia.

“No. I don’t know what is wrong. Just something about the waffles…”I said quietly fading out.

Princess Celestia pulled my bench closer to hers and wrapped a wing around me. Her warmth was welcomed but it didn’t chase away the hole in my chest that had been opened up. The floodgates of my tears had been opened and there was no damming them. Celestia started to hum what sounded like a lullaby. It was soothing to listen to and while my heart warmed just a bit it only took the edge off the sorrow.

The door opened again and a mare with brown mane and a light tan coat came walking in. Her mane was done up in a bun that looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment. Her emblem was that of a scroll and quill. I hadn’t figured out what they were for yet but it seemed like every one had them. The mare was carrying a large roll of parchment.

“My pardons, your highness,” said the mare. “I didn’t know you had a guest this morning.”

“It is not a problem,” said Princess Celestia. “What is on my schedule for today, Ensorcelled Quill?”

Ensorcelled Quill listed off a long and packed day. I got lost after the first few items on the list and mostly just tried to figure out what sort of job Princess Celestia did in her kingdom. Her daily schedule strangely enough didn’t really shed much light on that though. After a few more moments of letting the schedule become a blur Ensorcelled Quill stop talking.

“Thank you, Ensorcelled,” Princess Celestia said. “I am sorry to leave you alone but I must attend to my duties. I am sure that Twilight and her friends would love to spend time with you when they wake up. In fact I would bet some of the are already awake. I shall see you later, Zoe.”

I nodded and turned back to the food. Princess Celestia had just left it here and I was in no condition to take care of this. It must be a wait staff that did this and as I sat pondering this another mare this one with a pair of bags strapped to her back walked into the room.

“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone else was left in here. It is usual safe to enter after the Princess leaves,” said the mare. She was small but still a bit bigger than me and had brilliant orange hair with a dark brown fur. Here eyes stood out from her face all the more because of her dark fur. She had a heart with a sparkle on it for an emblem. “I can come back later if you are still using the room.”

“No,” I said. “I am done. Let me get out of your way. At least you are being useful.”

“Oh thank you,” said the mare. “My boss would get mad at me if I didn’t have this done in a timely manner.”

I nodded to her and left the room behind. Despite having just woke up a no more than an hour or two ago I found myself drained and listless. I wasn’t so much feeling sad as feeling numb. My thoughts dwelt on my memories and the foggy void that was most of them. I couldn’t help but keep replaying the one memory I did have. I wasn’t supposed to be alive anymore. A dark thought occurred to me.

I turned back into the dinning room. I waited till the cleaning mare had her back turned and then grabbed the knife that had been used to cut the bread. I would fix fates mistake. Hiding my stolen prize under my cloak I backed out of the room.

There had to be somewhere quiet nearby that I could end this in. I didn’t want to mess up any part of the castle which meant finding a place without carpet or a bathroom preferably. I wandered back to where the corporal had been standing. Surely the guards would know where a bathroom would be. They did and pointed me in the right direction when I refused an escort. I didn’t want to be watched.

The bathroom was empty thankfully. It was a single occupancy bathroom that was quite spacious. I hung my cloak up on the rack that was near the door. It was for towels but it worked none the less. The cloak was very pretty and I wouldn’t want it ruined even if that meant they found me naked.

I started to cut but it wasn’t enough. I had to try over and over again to get it to work right. By the time that I had a good flow my wrist was a mess. It hurt but that didn’t drive away the numbness that filled me. I wouldn’t be broken anymore.

The door swung open as I had forgotten to lock it. A familiar orange pony walked in. She said, “Pardon me. I didn’t know this was in use. Wait what happened to your wrist. Oh Celestia. Rarity!”

The orange mare momentarily backed out of the room only to return with the white and purple mare whose name I assumed was Rarity. She immediately jumped into action with her horn lighting up. A towel was pressed against my wrist as she yelled at the other pony to go get help. My head was getting foggy at this point.

“Come on darling stay with me. Stay awake,” said Rarity. She held my arm up above my head with her magic. “Why would you do this to yourself?”

Chapter 6

“Will she be alright doctor?” asked Applejack. She paced back and forth in the medical room. Zoe was sleeping.

“Physically yes but I don’t have any experience with depression. Her mind is what is sick and I can’t heal that,” said the doctor.

“Surely there must be something that we can do?” asked Rarity. “We can’t just leave her like this and wait for the next time she tries this.”

“No I wouldn’t recomend that. Next time she might be sucessful. She needs a therapist which hopefully we can find one willing to work with her. Maybe Princess Luna’s will be open,” said the doctor. “I’ll request one from Princess Celestia.”

“Request granted,” said Princess Celestia as she walked into the now cramped room. “I’ll have one here for when she wakes up. For the time being I want there to be someone with her at all times. I will assign her a guard but that will take a few hours. Can I rely on one of you two for that?”

“Of course Princess,” said Applejack. “One of us will be here till you can get her help. Can you have some one get the rest of the girls? I figure having friends around would be help her out.”

“Just ask one of the guards and they will gather your friends. I wish I had more time to spend on this but the duties of the nation call me away,” Princess Celestia said.

“We will make sure she is well taken care of, your highness,” said Rarity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aegis Heart had just finished his morning training with Captain Shinning Armor. He was dead tired and he had guard duty in just a little while. Staring at a blank wall for hours waiting for someone to come by in an under used area of the castle sounded painful to him. Well at least not falling asleep while doing so would be the painful time. He couldn’t get caught falling asleep at his post again. That punishment was brutal.

The captain was walking towards him. Great Aegis Heart wasn’t good enough during the training and now the captain was going to chew him out personally. This happened to one of the privates almost daily. Aegis Heart shifted to attention and saluted.

“At ease, private,” said Shinning Armor. “I have a change of duties for you. Orders from Celestia herself. You are to report to her private medical quarters and guard her guest for the next few hours while we work out a permanent guard for her. This means where ever she goes you go. I don’t care how improper it is. You are to be gum in her hoof. The guest is sick and you may have to protect her from herself.”

“Sir, Yes, Sir,” said Aegis Heart.

“Oh and don’t fall asleep on the job, private,” said Shinning Armor. Shinning Armor saluted Aegis and walked away.

Aegis Heart breathed a sigh of relief. That went better than he was expecting. A new assignment meant that he was finally starting to be trusted with stuff. Besides guarding a guest couldn’t be too hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up back in the room I had slept in the previous night. I didn’t really know what to call this room as it wasn’t really a bedroom and there wasn’t anything else to give away what it was. But I didn’t dwell on this thought for long.

My wrist ached though it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I lifted my arm up to see it bandaged. Regret poured into me. Both for not suceeding and for even trying to end my life. It wasn’t so bad here but I felt empty and without purpose. I had nothing not even my memories or her memories. It was confusing. I wasn’t supposed to be alive. Only through weird arcane means did I still breathe.

“Darling, why did you do that to yourself?” asked Rarity. It had taken me a second to remember her name. That and I hadn’t noticed that she was there before she spoke.

“I’m not supposed to be alive,” I said. “I shouldn’t be. I’m a mistake. A freak.”

“Darling I simply can not disagree enough. You are meant to be alive and you are certainly not a freak. Unique maybe but that doesn’t make you a freak,” said Rarity.

I didn’t believe her. I was not supposed to be. I was not supposed to be. I was not supposed to be. I kept repeating that over and over in my head. Guilt over how much time I was taking up from others. Rarity and the others were just here for me when they had lives they were supposed to be attending too.

“Would you mind standing over here for me, Darling?” asked Rarity. “I need to get your measurements so I can get started on some clothes for you. Won’t that be nice to have something to make you look pretty?”

I stumbled off the bed and over to where Rarity had pointed. Clothes would be nice but it seemed like such a waste of her time. I said, “You don’t have to. I’ll be fine with just the cloak.”

“Nonsense Darling,” said Rarity. “You need some clothes that properly fit you. Besides I want to do this. It will be a fun challenge to design for you.”

“If you insist,” I said.

Rarity’s horn lit up and a measuring tape floated over to us from the bags near the door. My cloak was unclasped by her magic and set down on my bed nicely folded. My arms were tightly pressed against my chest hiding my breasts.

“I know that this is embarrassing for you but I need you to hold your limbs out so I can properly meassure your torso,” Rarity instructed. A note pad floated out of the bags and over to us along with a quill and hovered in front of Rarity.

I did as I was told. The tape measure wrapped around my bosom and back. My face went bright red at the touch. I tried my best to sit still and not breathe too much so as to not mess up Rarity’s work.

“What brought on that reaction, dear?” asked Rarity.

“Um, that area is private. Only for lovers to touch,” I said. “It is fine. Just not used to it. They are new.”

“Well sorry for making you uncomfortable,” Rarity said.

She went to work quickly getting measurements for everything from arm length to finger length and then she moved on to my lower half. I was happy to be able to cover myself back up again as she ran the tape measure around my lower back.

“So what is your favorite color?” asked Rarity.

“Um purple,” I responded.

“That is a lovely color. A lighter tint of that would look good on you. Like a lilac or periwinkle.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you remember any types of clothes humans wore on their torsos? I assume shirts and maybe dresses but anything else?”

“I don’t remember. I’m sorry I am useless.”

“Darling, it isn’t any problem if you don’t remember. This just means we get to experiment until we find stuff that works. I think something tight fitting would be good for you. It would accentuate your curves which you’re lucky enough to have more of than the typical mare.”

“No man is going to find me attractive.”

“There are plenty of stallions who would love to be with you. Love between species isn’t that rare. Why I have a number of novels about that very thing. Do you like reading dear?”

There was a knock on the door before it opened. I dove for my cloak and managed to have it part way on before the pony walked in. He was a unicorn that looked just like the other unicorn guards with their gray fur and manes.

“Sorry for the surprise, Ma’ams,” said the guard.

“A bit more time between the knock and your entry would have been welcome but no harm no foul. If you don’t mind me asking why are you here?” asked Rarity.

“I am here to guard the Princess’s guest. I am uncertain which of you that applies to.”

“Me,” I said. “I have a babysitter now.”

“It is called a foalsitter dear,” said Rarity.

“Fine a foalsitter,” I replied.

“I wouldn’t dare think of telling you what to do Ma’am. You’re the guest of the Princess it would be improper of me to make demands of you.”

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to this handsome guard, Zoe,” said Rarity.

“Oh. Uh. Hi. My name is Zoe,” I said.

“My pleasure to meet you. My name is Aegis Heart,” said the guard.

“Aegis Heart, if you are going to be here I need to run and grab some supplies so I can start work on a project for Zoe. Will you be alright watching her by yourself? She needs somepony to be there for her right now,” said Rarity. “That and I need to find out what is taking Applejack so long.”

“I will guard her with my life,” said Aegis Heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now were in tarnation did I end up now?” asked Applejack of no one in particular.

Somehow Applejack had taken a turn and found herself faced with another set of stairs and the sinking feeling that she should have asked for directions when she last saw a guard. Shrugging it off she started to climb the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was staring at Aegis Heart from my perch on my bed. Either he didn’t notice or more likely he had been trained to ignore it. I was bored and didn’t know what to do about it. If anything. I didn’t really feel like doing anything so I continued to stare at Aegis.

“Did you need something, miss?” asked Aegis Heart. “You’ve been staring for a while now.”

“No not really,” I said. “I guess I do have one question. Why do all the unicorn guards look the same?”

“There is a glamor on us that makes us look the same while in uniform. You have to be a Lieutenant-Captain or higher to wear your own coat colors,” said Aegis Heart. “I’m just a private hence the gray.”

“Oh,” I said. “Isn’t that weird to look just like everyone else?” I asked.

“Certainly. Especially at first. But you get used to it after a while,” said Aegis Heart.

“On some level it must be nice to look like everyone else. At least then you don’t stick out like a sore thumb,” I said.

“What is a sore thumb? Is that a minotaur saying?” asked Aegis Heart.

I gave him a thumbs up and said, “That is a thumb. I don’t know where the saying came from or if minotuars have a similar phrase.”

“Where are you from then?” asked Aegis Heart. “You definitely aren’t from around here.”

“I don’t know really. I don’t remember much else than this castle,” I said.

Memories of my jump, of her jump, ran through my head again. My heart pumped faster and faster as I fell into the memory till I was fully submerged in it. Everything else had faded and now all there was was the wind blowing in my face and the feeling of my stomach pushing its way upwards. Then pain. So much pain all in an instant. Then there was sweet nothingness.

Aegis shield was shaking me. He was shouting at me or something else I couldn’t tell. I had some how ended up on the floor and my head hurt. Everything just felt unreal. Only the pain felt real and even that was distant. I barely registered that other ponies were entering the room. Someone lifted me up back onto the bed.

“Its fine,” I said. Or at least it sort of felt like I had said that. I heard it distantly in my voice. “Everything is fine.”

The tingling pain sensation of someone scaning me brought me back into my body. My head felt like it had been hit with a semi truck. I tried to sit up and cradle my head in my hands but a hoof pushed me back down into a laying position.

Just rest for a moment or two okay,” said Aegis Heart. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch you. I wasn’t expecting you to fall over like that.”

“Me neither,” I said quietly.

“Just some slight swelling is all,” said a voice I recognized. It must have been the doctor.

Guilt ate at me for taking so much of everyones time. Aegis was stuck on foalsitting duty because of me. The doctor probably had more important patients to tend to than me. Tears sprung up wetting my checks.

“Is the pain that bad? We can get you some pain killers that should soothe that,” said Aegis Shield.

“No. It isn’t that. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Everything is fine,” I said.

“Clearly it isn’t. Or are those tears of joy?” asked Aegis Heart.

He was right things weren’t fine.

Chapter 7

Princess Luna entered the room surprising me. I had been expecting Rarity as it had almost been an hour by my count. There wasn’t a clock in the room so I had no idea. Aegis Heart was busy giving the princess a salute.

“Private, give me a report. How has Zoe been?” asked Princess Luna. She didn’t even look at Aegis Heart as she was talking. No she had been looking at me as if she was trying to memorize every detail.

“I reported to this station at around one o’clock. Miss Rarity left shortly there after and hasn’t been back since. I have watched over Zoe from that time on. She had a fainting spell and hit her head half an hour or so after I got here and the doctor gave her a clean bill of health,” said Aegis Heart.

“Why is her wrist all bandaged up?” asked Princess Luna.

“I don’t know, your highness,” said Aegis Shield.

“Zoe, will you tell me what happened while I was asleep?” asked Princess Luna.

My vision sank to my front knees. I couldn’t look her in the eye. I said, “I cut myself.”

“How badly?” asked Princess Luna.

“Badly,” I said.

Princess Luna was quiet for a while. I could feel her gaze on me though I dared not check visually. Soaking in guilt and dread I started to shake. I felt like such a failure. I couldn’t even last a day without trying again. I was crying again. It felt like that was all I ever did was cry. I wanted to curl up into a ball and forget about all of this. I wanted to know what happiness felt like. I couldn’t even remember that.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you,” said Princess Luna. “I had not realized that it was that bad. I don’t understand what you are going through but I get parts of it. I once was a stranger in these lands similar to how you are. It was so frightening with everything changed and different from how I remembered it. But at least I had my sister. Oh she was my rock. I wouldn’t have made it out of that darkness without her. I’ll be there for you like she was for me. No mater the time if you have need of me just ask and I shall be there. My royal duties are few and far between compared to my sisters.”

“It is fine,” I said. “You don’t have to. I don’t want to be a bother. Especially to a princess.”

“Nonsense,” said Princess Luna. “You have no family in this world so I shall be that for you. As will others in time. Now scoot over so I can sit with my newest sister.”

I huffed in amusement at that but scooted over on the large bed. It was a good thing the bed was much larger than I needed as otherwise Princess Luna wouldn’t have fit. She stepped up onto the bed and then pulled me close with her wing and magic. It felt like my dream. How she had been there was beyond me but I assumed magic. Still she was warm and comfortable and I leaned into her enjoying the feeling of her fur on my skin where the cloak had been pushed aside. I felt slightly daring and I wrapped my arms around her neck in a hug. I couldn’t help it when sleep took me.

Princess Luna was still there when I woke up next. She was asleep. Gently and quietly I tried to untangle myself from the sleeping Princess. I was pulled back in by a indigo wing. Princess Luna opened her nearest eye to look at me.

“Where do you think you’re going? You have not had the requisite amount of cuddles to feel better yet,” said Princess Luna.

“Um, I’m sorry Princess. I need to go to the bathroom,” I said. The urge had hit me. “I can wait I think.”

“Oh that is fine. I had only been joking. We will go together. You shouldn’t be alone right now and you may have questions that would be better to ask a mare,” said Princess Luna. “Oh and don’t call me Princess. You can address me as Luna.”

“If you say so,” I said meekly.

“I do say so,” said Luna. “Private, I can handle this. You stay here.”

Luna lead the way to a bathroom just a little way down the hall. t was another single occupancy which made things a little awkward for me. I quickly relieved myself and found that cleanliness products were familiar to me me here. Still Luna showed me how to properly clean up after myself which was probably a good thing even if it had been embarrassing.

“Your face lights up so interestingly when you are embarrassed. Humans are quite interesting,” said Luna as we were washing our hands and hooves. I looked away awkwardly. “I wasn’t making fun of you. It was just an observation.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

“Is it really fine or are you just saying that because it is easier to say?” asked Luna.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. It is fine to not know,” said Luna. She nuzzled my head with hers. The touch was nice even if it was strange for me.

We walked back to the room to find Rarity waiting for us. She was talking to Aegis Heart about what had happened while she was gone. I didn’t pay attention to their conversation and instead hopped back up onto the bed. I felt like I was getting a handle on my body at least when it came to walking.

“Princess Luna,” said Rarity. “How are you today?”

“I am somewhat tired. It is the second day in a row I woke up early,” said Luna.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“It isn’t your fault,” said Luna. “I would gladly go the rest of eternity with early days for me if it meant you were safe.”

I looked away from her. I wasn’t worth it. Here I was wasting the princess’s time and energy. Never could I be worth her attention. I leaned down over my knees and buried my head into the blanket that was bunched up there. I didn’t want to be. As my panic grew a sort of film formed over my body a distance formed and things started to feel off. Almost numb like. As if all my sensations were coming from feet away. They were tinted and wrong like they were fake. I wasn’t real. Just a golem set about real people. Someone was stroking my back. I couldn’t tell who it was.

“It is alright, Zoe,” said Luna. Her voice was distant and something was off with it. Not in the way she was broadcasting it but in my receiving of it. It had to be something wrong with me. Faulty power lines or something. What ever power lines were.

Luna turned me on my side. My cloak had flapped open exposing me to the room. It didn’t seem to mater and at the same time I felt wrong and bad for it. I couldn’t get my limbs to move to fix it. Thankfully someone covered me back up.

“She got like this when she bumped her head,” said Aegis Shield. “I had thought it was from the fall.”

“How long was she out of it for?” asked Luna.

“Only a few moments,” said Aegis Shield.

“Is she alright?” Rarity asked. “Did the doctor check her out after the fall?”

“Yes,” said Aegis Shield. “He said there wasn’t any serious injury. Just some minor swelling.”

“That shouldn’t be causing this,” Luna said.

Their conversation had felt off and distant to me. I could follow it but It was like I was hearing it second hand. The panic that my body was feeling was still raging and I could feel my heart beating quickly in the distance.

Luna’s horn lit up and the tingling feeling from earlier came back. It was like I was being shown bit by bit where my body was. That it was real. That I could feel. The sensations of my body came back but they were too loud and I couldn’t control it. I was washed away by them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight stretched the sleep away. It had been a while since she felt this rested. She slowly slid out of her sheets. The fog of sleep was always slow to leave Twilight’s mind and this was no exception. She needed coffee to truly be awake. Or some tea. If they hadn’t been disturbed in her absence there was some instant coffee stashed in the room. Twilight had long since learned how to properly heat water with magic and she soon had a steaming cup of joe. Even if it was not the best quality.

Time hit her like a tone of bricks. She was supposed to be with Zoe hours ago. Hopefully everything had been fine in her absence. If she was quick Twilight could grab a bite to eat on the way to met up with Zoe. The cafeteria was on the way so it wouldn’t be too much time out of her way.

Rainbow Dash was still snoring away in her sleeping bag. Twilight shook Rainbow Dash with her magic. Slowly Rainbow Dash stirred. The pegasus did a cute little stretch as she stood up.

“It’s too early Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “Can’t I sleep for another hour or so.”

“Rainbow it is afternoon,” Twilight said. “We should be up. Zoe needs us. I am certain that a few good friends is just what she needs right now.”

“Fine,” said an exacerbated Rainbow Dash. “From what you were telling us last night she definitely could use a bit of Rainbow Dash in her life.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes. The two of them headed out the door and down the tower. Neither of them were quite awake yet so there wasn’t much conversation. It didn’t take them long to make it to the cafeteria where they grabbed some food to go. There was always snacks prepared just for that use available to any of the castle staff and guests.

Rainbow was busy chowing down her armful of sweets as they walked from the cafeteria to the private area of the castle. Twilight was much more reserved about her eating but did try to consume her food before they made it to the medical room. She shoved the last bite into her mouth just a few feet from the door.

The door to the medical room opened before the doctor stepped out. He seemed worried to Twilight but she didn’t know him well and she didn’t trust her judgment. After all he could just look like that all the time.

“Is everything alright, doctor?” asked Twilight.

“No, that foal in there is quite the hoofful. This is the third visit I have had to make today. She is sleeping now thanks to Princess Luna but I don’t know what I can do to help when she keeps having breakdowns. Doctor Mind Matter should be back from Manehattan tomorrow,” said the doctor. “I am just trying to keep her stable till then. Sorry to complain to you so much and then just leave but I have more paperwork I need to do now.”

“Of course Doctor,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Why is Zoe so bad? I don’t think I have ever heard of somepony having this much trouble with their mind,” said Rainbow Dash. “Like I get being sad and all but this is something else entirely.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said.

Pulling the door open with her magic, Twilight entered the surprisingly packed room. Rarity had taken up the second bed and was busy working on a project of hers while Princess Luna was standing in the walkway between the two beds and a guard was shoved into the corner looking rather worried which was a strange thing to see on the usually stoic ponies. Zoe was tightly tucked into bed.

“Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said in a hushed voice. “Did you rest well?”

“Sorry for sleeping so long,” Twilight said. “I should have been here sooner.”

“Your presence would have been most helpful indeed,” said Princess Luna. “But she may have acted on her impulse anyway even with you there. She tried to end herself this morning.”

“What?” said Rainbow Dash louder than she should have. Zoe stirred in her sleep but did not wake. “Why would anyone do that?”

“Depression can become so serious that it effects a pony’s judgment on somethings. There are a handful of suicides a year through out Equestria,” said Princess Luna. “Zoe needs ponies to be there for her right now as friends and to be understanding not judgmental words.”

“Of course, Princess,” said Twilight.

Chapter 8

“Someone will need to dedicate themselves to her for the time being,” said Princess Luna. “I sadly can not be there ever second of the day. I must guard the night from nightmares or they will start to wreck havoc on the waking world. Twilight I hate to ask this of you but would you be willing to step up for the time being?”

“I will be there but I have a life of my own and other responsibilities,” said Twilight. “I need to get back to the library. Spike needs me. And if I am being honest I don’t think I am the right person for this job. I have a hard time connecting to ponies and she needs somepony who is more than just physically there. It is too important to leave in my hooves.”

“That is very mature of you, Twilight,” said Princess Luna. “Though that leaves us with a dilemma.”

“I’ll stay with her,” said Aegis Heart. “I’m a horrible guard but I want to be there for her as she needs. I think I can be the friend she needs.”

“To do this you will have to abandon your post as a guard,” said Princess Luna. “Most would not take to that too kindly. Are you willing to go through that just for a filly who you barely know?”

“I joined the guard to make a difference,” Aegis Heart said. “I would never live out the regret of not acting when somepony needs me. I’ll be her shield from the darkness in her heart.”

“Then you are here by stripped of your rank in the guard,” Princess Luna said. “I relieve you of your oath. Your expenses will be paid by the crown as a caretaker. Now I must go inform Captain Shinning Armor of this.”

“Is there anything I can help with here?” asked Twilight of Rarity and Aegis Heart. “I feel the need to do something.”

“Darling, you are so good at magic maybe you can find some sort of spell that will help calm Zoe when she gets into one of her episodes. Preferably one that doesn’t put her to sleep. I think Aegis Heart here may need some sort of spell like that,” said Rarity.

“I would have to go do some research in the library,” Twilight said. “Are you guys fine with watching Zoe for a while by yourselves.”

“I will be fine without your assistance,” said Aegis Heart.

“Yes we will be fine here without you,” Rarity said. “It is easy to watch a sleeping filly.”

Twilight headed out the door. Rainbow Dash was still strangely quiet and still. As Twilight brushed passed her Rainbow turned and followed her out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stirred from my strange dreamless slumber. It was weird having woken three times this day or at least I thought it was day still. I had doubts as there was a strange pony sleeping in the spare bed. He sort of looked like Aegis but he had different coloration. He must have taken off his armor.

Hunger gripped me and I knew I wouldn’t be getting back to sleep till I dealt with that. I slipped off my bed and headed towards the door. The handle was locked and there didn’t seem to be anyway to unlock it.
I was stuck with a dilemma. Did I wake Aegis or just sit in the dark waiting for him to wake? I didn’t even know how to turn on the lights. I felt like I had no real choice there. I wouldn’t wake him just because I was hungry.

I sat there for what seemed like hours as I tried to fall back asleep to no avail. The pang of hunger was getting more and more demanding of my attention. I couldn’t hold it off anymore. I had to do something. Gently I shook Aegis trying to get him to wake. He jolted to attention as if he was expecting to be attacked. A haze still seemed to float in his eyes though despite his quick jump up. After a moment he shook his head and looked down to me from where he was standing on top of the bed.

“Oh Zoe,” Aegis Heart said. “Do you need something?”

“Um,” I said. I turned away from him as I was suddenly self conscious about my need. What if he just said to go back to bed or that there wasn’t anything we could do or that he didn’t care that I needed to eat? I started to shake a bit.

“It’s alright, Zoe,” Aegis Heart said. “Whatever it is you can tell me.”

“I need to eat,” I said. “I can’t sleep because of the hunger.”

“Well lets go see if we can’t scrounge up you some food,” said Aegis Heart. “The kitchens are still open this hour of night.”

“The door is locked,” I said. “Can you get it open?”

“Yeah I was the one who locked it,” said Aegis Heart. “I didn’t want you to wake up and wander off without me. I am here to help take care of you till you get better. And I can’t do that if you leave me behind. I don’t want a repeat of this morning.”

I nodded and kept my gaze from his eyes. He didn’t trust me. It stung but wasn’t surprising and really did I trust myself? Thoughts of what I did to myself ran through my head. I started to panic again as I couldn’t shake the images of the blood running out of my wrist. I could feel the dull ache in my wrist. A reminder of my shame. Of my failure. A failure of trying to do it and of failing to succeed in trying.

Aegis Heart engulfed me in a hug which went around my waist. At first I struggled against his grip as I was assaulted by feelings of guilt and shame. But his warmth started to ward away those thoughts and left me feeling broken and sad. I leaned into his hug returning it with one of my own as my arms wrapped around his head.

“It will be alright,” said Aegis Heart. “I know it is hard right now but everything will be alright in time.”

Realizing I was pushing my bare chest into his face I pulled away and tried to cover back up with the cloak that had been pushed behind my back. Aegis let me go and looked away while I fixed my cloak. I pulled it as tightly wrapped around me as possible.

“Sorry for making you embarrassed. I can not give you hugs if you would prefer,” said Aegis Heart.

“No, I should just get used to being exposed,” I said. “It isn’t like any of you are looking at me like that. I mean I’m not even the same species. I’m not even that pretty.”

“You are quite the cute young mare,” said Aegis Heart. “Your feelings of embarrassment are valid even if I don’t look at you like that.”

“Your just saying that to make me feel better,” I said. “It is fine. I know I am a freak.”

“Your not a freak,” said Aegis Heart. “Just because your unique doesn’t make you a freak. Now no more of that talk. Lets go find you some food.”

I nodded. I didn’t say it but I still thought it. I was a freak. I hung back from Aegis and let him lead so that I could hide my tears. A battle of emotions ran through my body. On some level my body felt right. In ways that I couldn’t explain but I liked the subtle lumps of fat on my chest. They were suposed to be there. It felt like a long lost friend had returned to me. And while my pony half was weird to me it still felt right on some level. But doubt and fear had wormed its way into my feelings and tainted them. I would always be alone. No one would love a creature like me.

Aegis lead us out a large set of doors that lead to a very different part of the castle. Gone was the constant art and in its place were large portraits of ponies and other creatures. It felt empty and cold out here without the art.

There were many more guards in this section of the castle. None of them seemed to pay us any attention but when we passed a mare cleaning the floors she stopped to stare at me. I hid my face in the cloak’s hood. We quickly passed the mare by though.

The castle had been quiet up till that point but we came up to a section where there were a number of ponies talking. An open door was just a head of us and I wondered who would be up this late. We came up to the door and I peeked in. There were a surprising number of ponies in the room. Most of them had large bat like wings on their backs. There seemed to be some sort of court going on and Princess Luna was at the center of it. There didn’t seem to be any pony on trail just a bunch of ponies mingling and talking amongst themselves. A few noticed me and were staring.

Luna jumped over the crowd spreading her wings to glide over to the door way. Every eye was now on the two of us. I stared at the floor and tried to make myself as small as possible. I could feel their stares through the cloak. Whispers too faint to tell what they contained reached my ears. Shakes started to fill my form as tears ran down my checks. They were talking about how hideous I was. I could tell.

“What are you two doing out of the private area’s of the castle? Celestia didn’t want Zoe known to the public yet. Though at this point it is likely too late,” said Luna.

“My apologies, your highness,” said Aegis Heart. “I wasn’t aware of that. We were headed to the kitchens to grab something for Zoe to eat.”

“In that case Aegis Heart would you mind continuing to the kitchens while I spend some time with Zoe. That way we limit her exposure to the public and I get to spend time with my little sister. That is if she doesn’t mind spending time with me here?” asked Luna.

“Um it is fine. If you say that it is alright. I don’t want to interrupt your meeting,” I said.

“You are not interrupting. This is just a simple social gathering that we have every month on the full moon. Besides I am certain that many here would be interested in meeting you,” said Luna.

“Okay,” I said.

“I’ll be back soon with food,” said Aegis Heart. “Is there anything that you want in particualr, Zoe?”

“Um not really just food,” I said.

“In that case ask for two orders of macaroni and cheese. Tell them to make them Princess sized,” said Luna.

“As you wish, your Highness,” said Aegis Heart. He walked off down the hallway leaving me with Luna and the bat ponies who were still staring at me.

“Everyone I want you to meet my adopted sister, Zoe,” said Luna loudly. “She is new to this realm and a bit shy so do be gentle with her.”

Everyone of the bat ponies bowed their heads before turning away to their conversations. Many were clad in special looking clothes and jewelry. Luna and I made our way through the sea of ponies till she was sitting back down on a large throne. There wasn’t another seat so I just stood near her chair.

“Come sit with me. There is room,” Luna said. She scooted over and there was a sliver of throne available for me that looked barely large enough for me.

“Is it fine to be so close to a princess in public?” I asked. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“I’m a princess. I get to decide who gets in trouble. So quit your worrying,” said Luna. “Beside you are now my sister. And that would make you a princess too. Princesses are allowed to sit on thrones.”

“I’m not worthy of being a princess,” I said.

“I think you are worthy,” said Luna. “Are you saying that I am wrong?”

“Uh, um,” I stammered. Renewed tears ran down my checks and my shaking returned. My world froze stuck on the contradiction of my fear of upsetting Luna who had been nothing but nice to me and my own self loathing. The fight was not over when I was lifted off my hooves and placed next to Luna on her throne. A metal object was placed on my head.

“There now you have a crown. Definitely a princess now,” said Luna.

Everyone in the room was back to staring. I froze. I couldn’t move and I toppled over when Luna gave me a slight push. Thankfully she caught me and the crown. Her magic felt warm against my skin. Her magic thankfully held my cloak closed. I leaned up against Luna after she righted me.

“Your highness, please allow me to introduce myself to your ‘sister’,” said a pony who had approached during my little spill. He had charcoal gray fur and a brilliant white mane. Luna simple nodded at him. “Greetings Princess Zoe. I am Duke Shrouded Night. I am at your service.”

“Um, thank you,” I said quietly. I buried my head in Luna’s mane trying to hide my growing discomfort. It wasn’t working.

“Please forgive my sister,” said Luna. “She is more shy than I had thought. Maybe this is all too much for her. We will have to retire for the night then.”

“There is nothing to forgive, your Highnesses,” said Duke Shrouded Night. He wandered back into the party. I peaked out from behind Luna’s head to watch him return to a mare which he nuzzled gently when he got to her. Maybe I was being childish. These ponies wouldn’t hurt me.

“Is this too much for you?” asked Luna quietly so only I could hear. “If it is we can go else where.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t want to take you from your party. I’ll be fine. Everything is fine.”

“Something tells me otherwise,” said Luna. “But if you feel up to it we shall stay. Though so you know more will likely want to introduce themselves to you.”

“This is all your fault,” I said in just above a whisper. “I’m no princess.”

“You are now,” said Luna.

I could tell she was being playful but I was worried about what that was going to mean. I stewed over this for a while. I barely paid attention when several others came and introduced themselves to me. Their names were a blur to me.

Aegis Heart returned with a tray floating in his magical aura. Food had arrived. Just in time as I was starting to feel the drain of sleep coming again. Luna and I ate as we watched the ponies mingle. It was strangely fascinating despite the lack of action. They came in such a wide variety of colors which was of great fascination to me. Though none were as brightly colored as the blue and rainbow mare from before. With food in my belly it was hard to resist the call of sleep and I feel asleep leaning against Luna.

Chapter 9

I woke the next morning back in my room in the middle of the private area of the castle. Aegis Heart was still sleeping in the other bed. I couldn’t tell what time it was and I didn’t want to wake Aegis up again in the middle of the night. So I just rested waiting for Aegis to wake up himself.
My wait was interrupted when the door swung open and in walked Rarity. She was carrying a bag with her in her magic. Fiddling with my cloak I made sure I was covered up. Rarity turned on the light with her magic and caused Aegis Heart to jump to attention again. I winced at his jumping. This had been the second time he had woken like that.
“Sorry to wake you like that, Aegis,” said Rarity. “I have some good news for you Zoe. I have finished my first piece of clothes for you. It is a simple tunic but hopefully that will work a little better than that dreary cloak.”
She pulled out a lilac colored tunic that looked a bit too big for me. Rarity handed it to me and I turned around to face away from Aegis and Rarity. I slipped off my cloak and put on the tunic. As I expected it was pretty baggy on my but it covered me up in all the right places. I felt better already. That and I could use my arms without exposing myself.
“Thank you Rarity,” I said.
“Come over here so I can see if I need to make any adjustments for the rest of them,” said Rarity.
Coming over, I stood in front of her. She had me move my arms around every which way they could including crossing them across my chest. The tunic was more than big enough for me to have free range of motion. It might be a bit too big and definitely made me look a child wearing this though I didn’t care.
“Hmm, I can go smaller for the rest of them,” said Rarity. “You need something that looks like it was made for you not a hand me down. What do you think, darling?”
“Um,” I said. “It is fine. It works for what I need it too. I kinda like the bagginess as it sorta flows nicely. I like how long it is as it covers up all of my skin and a bit more.”

“It sounds like you are going to love the dress I have planed for you. That one will take a while longer though I want to make it perfect. That and it would be nice to see if you grow any,” said Rarity.

“Do you think I’ll grow?” I asked.

“If your lower half is to go by, then probably a little bit,” said Rarity. “Mind you it wouldn’t be too unusual for you to be a your full height. But with your unusual nature I can’t really say for certain. Do you remember anything about humans and them growing up?”

“No, I only remember the fall,” I said quietly. I pushed against the memories trying to stop them from taking over. It was no more useful than trying to stop the tide. They washed over me and my everything was in them. The rushing of the wind, the feeling of panic overcoming me, the crunch my legs made when I hit.

The memories subsided and I found myself being held by Aegis Heart. I tried to shake the sorrow from my head. It didn’t work.

“My apologies, Zoe,” Rarity said. “I didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories for you.”

“It is fine,” I said. “I’m the one who should apologizing. I can’t be asked a simple question without freaking out.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Aegis. He pulled me closer in the hug and rubbed his head against mine. It must be a sign of affection between ponies but it just felt weird to me. Still the intention behind his actions were clear to me. He was trying to warm my icy heart.

“I assume you haven’t eaten yet. We should all go together. Aegis do you know a place where we can eat in quiet?” asked Rarity.

“I know where,” I said. “I ate there yesterday.”

I lead them to the room that I ate in yesterday only to find Princess Celestia was already in the room. We all stopped at the door uncertain what to do before she turned to us.

“Come in. I could use some company this morning,” said Princess Celestia. “Besides I want to spend some time with my newest sister. Luna told me of your introduction last night.”

“Um, she was just being playful right?” I asked. “I’m not worthy of being her sister. Or yours.”

“If Luna thinks you are worthy of being her sister, then I have no choice to embrace you as well. Besides if you ask me I think you are a fine addition to our family. Now come sit next to me so I can teach you all about being a princess,” said Princess Celestia.

“A princess. Hah. I get to be one to make clothes for the newest princess of Equestria. Darling you simple must let me make you the most fabulous dress now. I hope that you don’t mind if I eat and dash, Princess Celestia. I have so much work to do and I need to get this out before the creative juices dry up,” said Rarity.

“No of course not,” said Princess Celestia. “Here have some of my food the chiefs always prepare much too much food for me.”

“Oh thank you. I’ll just take this danish. I am trying to watch my weight,” said Rarity. “Though I can’t resist a sweet now and then.”

Rarity grabbed the danish and walked out of the room. Which left just the three of us in the room. Aegis Heart seemed stuck in contemplation of where he should be and just stood off near the door. I on the other hand knew where I was expected. I flopped down in the chair next to Princess Celestia.

“So no waffles today. How about some hashbrowns and fruit instead?” asked Princess Celestia. I just noticed the stack of papers that she had near her on her right away from me.

“What is all the paperwork for?” I asked.

“I am just going over the laws concerning title granting. Princesses are able to grant titles or at least my sister, Cadence and I are but the granting of a title such as princess has a bit more to it than just that and I want to make sure that Luna’s actions are properly recognized by the Parliament,” said Princess Celestia. “As far as I can tell it is a large amount of paperwork and has to be approved by the Council of Paragons. Which shouldn’t be a problem if I present them with it.”

“Sorry for all the trouble,” I said. “You don’t need to go through that for me.”

“To be honest this is as much for Luna as it is for you,” said Princess Celestia. “It is good to see her take on a few extra projects.”

I nodded and started to dig into the plate of food Princess Celestia had put in front of me. I had put a piece of fruit when I realized someone was missing from the table. I looked back and Aegis was still standing by the door.

“Aegis, aren’t you hungry?” I asked.

“Uh,” Aegis said. “I can wait.”

“Nonsense,” said Princess Celestia. “Come join us. I am done eating at this point so there is plenty for you.”

Reluctantly Aegis took a seat next to me and started to eat some of the waffles that were within his reach. He kept stealing glances at Princess Celestia while he ate. He seemed worried to me.

“Aegis, what is wrong? You keep looking at Princess Celestia like she is going to yell at you?” I asked. “Wait does she do that? Is there something I don’t know. Aegis?”

Princess Celestia chuckled at my outburst. Aegis on the other hand seemed to loose all coloration in his face and froze in place. My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them not able to put both in my sight.

“Aegis Heart is just nervous around me is all. He doesn’t want to offend me. Sadly there are rumors of my tolerance for mistakes being low,” said Princess Celestia. “Part of the territory of being a Princess.”

“If you make me a princess will people treat me like that?” I asked. “I don’t want to worry people.”

“It is possible but probably not. Ponies will probably always see you in a different light just because of what you are. No if anything being a princess is likely to protect you from any ill wishes,” said Princess Celestia.

“Are people, uh ponies, going to not like me just because I am part human?” I asked.

“My ponies are sadly far too afraid of the unknown and that which doesn’t comfirm to their views. It is a leftover of Discord’s reign over them long ago. I have been trying to make headway into fixing this but it is slow going,” said Princess Celestia. “Still I have made great strides in the acceptance of minotaurs and griffons. Some places are better than others. I hear that Ponyville is doing better after an unfortunate incident with a zebra.”

“Where is Ponyville?” I asked.

“Not to far from here,” Princess Celestia said. “About a half a day’s train ride away. That is where Twilight and her friend live. It was where you were brought into this world. Some of the paperwork here is to make you a registered citizen of Equestria. I have to put a place of birth for you. I think Ponyville is as close as we will ever get to knowing unless your memories return. Technically it isn’t inaccurate.”

“I should visit. It would be weird if I didn’t know where I was born,” I said. “That brings up the question, am I stuck here in the castle?”

“I was hoping to let you recover a bit more before we revealed you to the public however last night changes things. I wanted you to be strong enough to take any unpleasant situations you might encounter in step,” said Princess Celestia. “If I hide you from the public now things will be worse when you do go out into the world so we must act soon. I have a press event planned for this afternoon when Luna wakes so that we may introduce you to the world.”

The door opened and in walked Ensorcelled Quill. Princess Celestia stood up and walked over to the mare. She levitated the stack of papers with her. There was a wordless exchange between the two before Ensorcelled Quill walked back out the door.

“Aegis Heart, make sure that Zoe is made presentable by four o’clock and is in the waiting room c by then,” said Princess Celestia.

“As you wish, your highness,” said Aegis Heart.

We quietly finished the rest of our breakfast. There was still plenty of food left over and I was some what worried about how much waste it was. But again the cleaning mare walked in on us just finishing our food.

“We are just leaving,” I said and I pulled on Aegis’ foreleg. We hurried out the door at my insistence.

“What is the hurry?” asked Aegis Heart.

“I just don’t want to explain what I did yesterday after I saw her,” I said. “What are we going to do today?”

“Well outside of the press meeting later, I don’t know. What would you like to do?” asked Aegis Heart.

“I don’t know. What can we do?” I responded. “It is hard to pick something if you don’t know what your options are.”

“Well we could go to the library or the gardens,” said Aegis. “I don’t really know what there is to do here in the castle outside of those two options.”

“I can’t read so the library seems out of the question and honestly I don’t want to deal with any stares yet and the gardens are outside which means more people, um ponies,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Like you have to have some stories you could tell me. Even if they seem boring to you I want to know. I don’t have many memories and so I want to fill in the blank spots a bit.”

“Okay but let’s talk back in the room,” said Aegis Heart. “If I am going to share stories of my childhood then I rather only share them with you.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said. “I won’t make you share. Are they unhappy memories? I can understand not wanting to dredge those up.”

“Some of them are but really it just is a little embarrassing is all,” said Aegis.

We ducked into the room. No one was there. Rarity must have been working somewhere else right now. I hoped that she would return before too long. I wanted her help getting ready for the press thingy.

Aegis closed the door behind us. He hopped up on the bed he had slept on earlier. I crawled up into my own bed. It was always much harder for me to get up it than down. We sat there in the quiet for a moment.

Aegis spoke first breaking the silence. He said, “What do you want me to tell you?”

“Tell me about an important moment in your life? Or maybe why you joined the guard?” I asked.

“Okay. I’ll tell you about how I got my cutie mark” said Aegis. “When I was about nine my parents got a divorce. I know weird thing to do but they had grown distant. That and my father was a bit of a drunkard. He had been retired from the guard after a back injury left him unable to work. Money wasn’t a problem just his pride. So one night they had a big argument. It was about what to do with myself and my little sister who was just a foal at that point. Well their argument grew so heated that dad stormed out breaking the door on the way out. He never got physical with my mom but he would break stuff. His words though would almost cut as bad as if he had hit her. So dad left and Mom broke down. She couldn’t even stand up she just crumbled to the ground crying. Upstairs May Flower was crying as the yelling had woke her up. And there I was frozen not knowing what to do. As much as Dad was a jerk I still loved him. I tried to comfort mom. It didn't really work. Well Dad came home drunk. And that is when things went from bad to worse. He started yelling at her about how useless she was because she was just sitting there crying when there was stuff to be done. That she didn’t deserve to keep my sister and I if she couldn’t even pick herself up after a little confrontation. He kept yelling at her and throwing pieces of the kitchen around. Something sparked in me and I erupted in a blaze of magic. I erected a shield between us and him giving him only one way out the door he had came in through. Then I slowly pushed him out. He was just too stunned to do anything and just left. Wound up that he got in a bar fight and spent the night in jail. I didn’t notice but I had gotten my cutie mark. A shield to protect the heart.”

“What happened after that?” I asked. “Who got you and your sister?”

“I ended up with my dad and my sister with my mom. I wish it had been the other way. I haven’t seen my mom in about a year now. We keep in contact with letters though. Dad was hard on me afterwards. Like I was his chance to shine again he trained me to be a good guard though I never was up to his standards,” Aegis said. “No I think I have supposed to be taking care of the heart not the shield.”

“Thanks for telling me that,” I said. “I bet that was hard to talk about. I know I would have a hard time talking about my bad memories.”

“It is fine,” said Aegis. “It is nice to get off my chest. I haven’t ever told anyone else before and I would appreciate you not telling anyone else.”

“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”

Chapter 10

It was not an unusual sight to see Twilight Sparkle nose deep in a book. However walking in to see her in the same spot as the librarian had left her the previous night. Hopefully she got some sleep though the librarian.

Twilight had in fact not slept. Instead she had delved into a number of books on psychology and magic. Most of it had been irrelevant to her goal but had been interesting reads. The effects of emotion on spellcasting was something that she had experienced first hand but the idea of trying to intentionally affecting your casting with emotions was something new to her. The book went into details about how one could power more difficult spells if the caster could channel their anger or despair. The last chapter alluded to magics that could not be performed without such emotions fueling them.

The only thing similar to what she was looking for was most definitely illegal. The spell would control and contort the emotions of who ever it was cast on at the whims of the caster. Such magic seemed evil and it was weird that this book wasn't restricted in access. The book stated that all research into these spells had been halted due to the sanctity of a pony’s mind. Twilight leaned on agreeing with the book. That avenue of research was questionable at best and downright evil at worst.

Pushing away the thoughts of those spells, Twilight returned the books she had been reading back to the shelves. Surely there would be something useful in this library for Zoe. Twilight just had to dig a bit deeper was all.
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The garden was particularly nice this time of the year. Though how she had ended up in front of this statue of all things was beyond her. Fluttershy stared up at the draconequus stuck in stone. His visage was that of fear. On some level Fluttershy felt sad for him. He had all this power but he didn't seem to understand what was important. It wasn't having power that made you right but what you did with it that mattered. Discord didn't understand that or chose to ignore it. May be there was something that could be done to teach him a bit of kindness.

She moved on from the statue, leaving her old foe behind. No she had come out here to think about Zoe. Fluttershy just couldn't grasp how much pain the poor filly must have been in to hurt herself like she had. It shook Fluttershy to the core. To have been that deprived of kindness just seemed like a cruel joke to her. Where were Zoe's loved ones and why would they have not noticed things having gotten so bad? Sure it had been a while since Fluttershy had seen her parents but they still wrote to her and she had her friends there too.

But hiding out in the garden away from all the pain that hung over Zoe was not where Fluttershy was need. If Zoe had lost sight of kindness in the world then Fluttershy would be the one to bring it back to her. After all what kind of bearer of the elements would she be if she didn't help out a filly in need. But doubts kept lingering in the back of her mind about what kind of creature Zoe was. Sure she was half pony but she was also half something else entirely. Something that would leave the broken alone in their pain and that scared Fluttershy more than anything else. The cruelty of pony minds was something Fluttershy had first hand experience in and she was afraid of facing that again to help some stranger. That and all the usual voices of doubt plagued her mind. How could somepony like her help anyone? What if Zoe rejected her? Or was nothing but a monster in disguise of a cute creature?

Fluttershy shook her head trying to drive away her doubts. They had been wrong about her friends and they would be wrong about Zoe. Fluttershy couldn't put this off any longer. A young filly needed her. She turned and headed towards the castle.
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Applejack had finally found her way back to the tower the night before after somehow ending up in the Parliament building even though she had never went outside. This darn castle was a bigger maze than the hedge one out in the garden. Still she knew where she was going today. There would be no repeat of yesterday. No she would check in on Zoe and then leave that problem in the hooves of those more qualified than a farm pony to deal with. Twilight and all her books would come up with an answer far sooner than Applejack would. No she was better served heading back home to get back to work.

Dragging Rainbow Dash along had not been part of her plan originally but Applejack figured that the cyan pegasus was as much useless as she was here. Ponyville would be needing its premiere weather pony back anyway. So after an hour of trying to wake the sleeping pegasus the two of them were off to a much later start than Applejack was used to or had wanted.

"Applejack, couldn't you have let me sleep for another hour or two before you dumped that bucket of water on me?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You know this means I am going to have to pay you back for that little shower."

"Look there is no use in us lazing about all the time while we wait on Twilight or the Princesses to come up with some sort of solution for us. Zoe is in good hooves with Twilight and Rarity and we may as well get out of their manes," said Applejack. Thoughts of what pranks her friend might try ran through her mind. "Besides Ponyville needs us to keep running smoothly. There is that big rain coming up that you scheduled yourself, Rainbow. It would be poor form to not be there to take care of it yourself."

"You don't have to lecture me about being there," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm the element of Loyalty. I won't leave Ponyville hanging. Besides we have another day before I would need to be there."

"Well what if the train is out of order and you have to fly back and are all worn out," said Applejack. "Who would make sure the rain doesn't mix with the weather from the Everfree and make a huge storm?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Rainbow Dash. "I still don't see why that means we have to get up so early. We could have taken the evening train."

"Some of us have work we would like to get to today. No point wasting the whole day," said Applejack. "Lets just say goodbye to Zoe and then be on our way."
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Nothing seemed right to the party pony. How was she supposed to throw a party for Zoe when ever theme and reason for a party seemed like it would only bring more sadness to the poor pony creature. Pinkie Pie had been sitting on the roof of the castle for a while now. It was a good place to sit and think as the many sights and sounds of Canterlot helped keep her wandering eye busy with stuff to do. She knew that there was some sort of party for Zoe but she couldn't think of what it was. Something that would bring a smile to her face. Maybe just being there was going to be enough. For the first time ever, maybe a party wasn't the right thing.

With her mind made up Pinkie jumped off the roof only to swing in through an open window. As planned the window lead to the hallway which she needed to visit Zoe.
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Rarity had out done herself this time. After the first one it took little time to put together a dress for Zoe. Her skill with needle and thread was getting better and Rarity was secretly quiet proud of that. This dress was a bit simple but Rarity was certain that it would add a little elegance to Zoe that would bring out the beauty of the filly. Simple and elegant was always a good first choice on a dress. The dress was a white with dark forest green trim that would accent Zoe's coat and mane color.

But all of that would be for naught if the thing didn't fit just right. Which meant for the last part of the dress would need to be sewn up while on Zoe. Grabbing her supplies Rarity headed out the door.
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There was a commotion at the door which halted our conversation. The door swung open and in filled a number of ponies. I didn't know the names of all of them but Rarity was with them and they were the other mares that had blasted me with the Rainbow of Doom.

"Hello, Darling. How are you feeling?" asked Rarity.

"Uh, fine I guess," I said quietly.

The room had gotten quite snug with all the ponies in it right now and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it. I trusted Rarity but the other ponies were new to me still and I felt uneasy being surrounded like this. Especially the one with rainbow hair. She was hovering in the air which I guessed opened up more room but it was her face. She was tense and I could tell it was anger that she was holding back but I didn't understand why. What had I done to make her mad? I hid my face from her and tried to focus on the other ponies.

"Rainbow Dash and I are just checking up on you before we leave for home," said the orange mare with a cowboy hat. "Wanted to let you know we cared before we have to head back to home for work."

"You're leaving already?" asked Rarity. "Well I guess it is understandable what with you having to tend to the farm. But Rainbow I am surprised at you. I would have thought you would have stayed longer."

"I have to get back to for some weather work," said the rainbow one. "I just am not useful here, and I can't leave Ponyville hanging."

"I understand," said Rarity.

The pink on pink pony and the tan and pink pony were both extra quiet. It seemed odd that someone so brilliantly colored would be shy and they happened to be on the side away from Rainbow. I studied her face as much as possible. It was easy to see that she was sad. Another pony I had hurt apparently. My gaze fell to my hooves.

"What is the mater?" asked the timid tan one. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is fine," I said.

"I know a lie when I hear one and that is definitely one," said the orange one with a cowboy hat. "You can tell us what is wrong."

"Uh, I. um," I stammered.

"I think we are overwhelming her," said the timid one. "Maybe it would be best if Rainbow Dash and Applejack left now. I don't think she is used to having so many ponies around."

"Oh," said Applejack. "I don't rightly understand but if it helps. See you later, Zoe."

"Yeah see you later," said Rainbow Dash. She zoomed out of the room with Applejack following her closely behind.

"Is that better, dear?" asked Rarity.

I just nodded. There was a pressure lifted off of me with their departure. Still I stared at my hooves.

"What do I have to do to get you to smile?" asked the pink on pink one.

"Um, I don't know. I can smile for you if you want me to," I said. I gave her a forced smile before bowing my head again.

"That isn't a smile. Well I guess technically it is but really that was way to forced. I mean how can I make you happy. I want to see you smile with joy. Not just force one out so others are happy," the pink one said.

"Pinkie, sometimes a forced one is all you have in you," said the timid one.

"Fluttershy is right Pinkie," said Rarity. "Sometime you just don't have a genuine smile in you at the time. I'm sure that you will figure out some way to make her smile a happy smile."

"I won't rest till I do," said Pinkie.