> Healthy as a Horse
>  by Crescent Pulsar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Special Delivery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anon stared up at the ceiling from his bed. There was nothing interesting to see up there, but his depression had gotten the better of him again and he was feeling listless.

He'd been in quarantine for several months now, due to the fact that his immune system was ill-equipped for a whole world's worth of new microbes, with no defense at all against the magical varieties, and he had spent most of that time in a single place. The ponies had built a special outbuilding on the hospital property to better accommodate both his needs and the hospital staff's, but fifteen-hundred square feet had become stifling after a while, especially with so little in the way of things to distract himself with.

The world that he'd somehow been transported to didn't have an Internet, console video games, any computers worth mentioning, or television. Usually one of a couple of ponies would come by to engage him in conversation on a daily basis, since there was little else that they could do in terms of interacting with him, but it had reached the point where he preferred to be alone than see their pitying gazes. Books had been his best friend for a while, and he'd learned a lot about Equestria and the world in general, but even those had grown stale. The food didn't inspire any enthusiasm for being conscious either, although that had more to do with it going through a sterilization process than it coming from a hospital, and the fact that the only meat that he had access to was fish.

He turned onto his side and stared at the wall, which wasn't appealing to look at either.

By now he'd come to terms with being stuck on another world and potentially never seeing another human again. At least, it didn't seem like the ponies understood the way that he had arrived on their world, and only had a working theory on why he'd been stripped of his identity in the process: because his universe was so different from theirs that there wasn't an analog of himself present. Apparently, if two universes had a close enough relationship with each other, one would assume their analog's identity upon their arrival in the foreign universe.

That's how he had come to be known as Anonymous: he couldn't remember his original name, was detached from his original identity, and he was no longer of a mind to desire a new one. In fact, his nature as a non-entity was such that poison joke had reversed that instead of his immune system's performance, as a well-meaning pony had hoped it would. He still shuddered at the memory of becoming "Sancho," someone who thought themselves so special that the world revolved around him being "Sancho" and making sure that everyone else knew it.

It was probably for the best that he was detached from his old life, though, or else he'd be less depressed from being stuck in quarantine for so long and more emotionally distraught about what he had lost and left behind. He could only hope that the ponies would find a solution to his health problem, so he could see about living a relatively normal life without said life being in peril again — a near-death experience wasn't something that he was keen on repeating any time soon.

The sound of an electric bell jolted him out of his brooding. He didn't need to look to know that it was one of the nurses that had come to visit him, which was almost always the case. Since he didn't want to take out his frustrations on someone who didn't deserve it, despite not being in a mood to talk to anyone, he released a sigh before languidly rolling over and sitting up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed in the process.

Looking up at the window by the door, where a desk and intercom was set up, he saw nurse Isopropyl waiting for him expectantly on the other side, a young-ish — he could only guess — unicorn pony who had a snow white coat, orange eyes and silver hair that had a single white stripe running through it. What he didn't expect to see was another pony with her, although he couldn't see enough of them from his vantage point to know who they were by their face or cutie mark. Curious, and having nothing better to do, he rose to his feet and approached the window.

As he pulled the chair away from the desk, he noticed that the nurse's companion was Twilight Sparkle, supposedly one of the princesses of Equestria. She may live in a crystal treehouse castle, of all things, but he would have never guessed that she was a princess otherwise — not before learning about alicorns, at least. His general impression of her was that of an eccentric college professor who also happened to be a bit of a naive child. Granted, he was usually a subject of interest to her whenever they had the opportunity to chat, so he had probably seen a more skewed view of her personality than those most familiar with her.

Twilight Sparkle had been one of the ponies who had discovered his unconscious body on the outskirts of Ponyville. Apparently, whatever had brought him to their world, an event that he had no memory of, had been really conspicuous: on top of it involving quite a light show, the charged air had made the fur and hair stand up on most of the ponies in Ponyville. Despite that, only the princess and a few other ponies had been brave enough to approach and handle him.

She had taken him into her spacious castle and offered to aid him, although — at first — she hadn't been able to help sate some of her curiosity about him and his origins. Then, shortly thereafter, his health problem had become apparent, and his memory of the next several days were rather spotty. The next time he was fully cognizant, he found himself being quarantined in a small hospital room — in stable condition, thankfully.

Twilight Sparkle had been waiting in his room, within a shield that kept him safe from her germs, and she solemnly restated her promise to help him. From then onward he hadn't seen her much, due to all the work that she had been doing for his sake; they may have only chatted as many times as he could count on one hand. She usually came alone when she visited him, like the nurses did, so he couldn't help wondering if he was about to receive some news that concerned his fate.

After easing himself into the chair, he tried to act casual as he reached across the desk and pressed the button on the intercom. "Is this a special occasion?"

The two ponies shared a look, and the slight nod that Isopropyl sent to Twilight Sparkle told him that she was likely present for moral support. A shot of adrenaline hit his system at the thought that he was about to be delivered bad news.

Twilight Sparkle took a calming breath before reaching for the intercom button on her side of the wall. "Anon, as you've no doubt noticed, I've avoided talking about the progress of our work to get you home. We wanted to wait until we had something concrete to offer you instead of leading you on or getting your hopes up. Well..." She hesitated, worried about the response that she would receive. "We've concluded that there are only two ways that we can help you going forward, and it will be up to you if we proceed with either one of them."

"By the sound of it, neither choice seem good," Anon remarked, keeping himself calm despite his accelerated heart rate.

"...They're far from ideal," Twilight Sparkle reluctantly admitted, "but how far will ultimately depend on how you see it, of course."

Anon sat back in his chair and considered the two ponies before him. As much as he didn't like the thought of his future looking bleak, he couldn't hold it against the ponies who had been nothing but sincere and sympathetic toward his plight. At the very least he could hear what his options were before deciding whether or not he wanted to rail against the heavens for what his life had become.

"Okay," he finally said, as he prepared himself for what he would hear. "What are my options?"

"The first one," Twilight Sparkle began, who carefully watched the expression on his face, "is that we continue to search for your home universe. I had hoped that a friend could find it even without an identifying signature, which we have, but he encountered an unknown source of interference that he hasn't been able to work through. As a result we have been feeling out universes for a match, which means we could find it any time between now and, well..."

"Never?" Anon flatly guessed.

Twilight Sparkle managed a confirming nod before continuing. "In the meantime, we'll provide you with special clothes and equipment so you can move about freely, as well as offer limited interaction with the world outside of your home. We hope that won't be the case forever, because we'll try to inoculate you to as many illnesses as we can, but even then — unless we can figure out a similar solution — you will likely need to continue taking special precautions to avoid catching anything magical in nature."

Anon silently stared at Twilight Sparkle, which clearly made her uncomfortable, and wondered how that option could have been described in any way other than bad. Unless he got really lucky, it sounded like his immediate situation would only improve slightly and there would be little chance of it improving significantly any time soon. If that was what the first option was, he began to worry what the second would be.

It wouldn't do him any good to avoid learning more, though, so he finally queried, "And what's my second option?"

"Well," Twilight Sparkle temporized, which did nothing to relieve Anon of his concern, "the second option would solve your health problem, but..."

"But?" Anon prompted, fearing the worst.

Twilight Sparkle licked dry lips before saying, "You'll be a pony. We'll preserve your consciousness in a magically-constructed embryo and introduce you to a surrogate mother. That way you'll develop the same immunity that we have."

Anon's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he found his voice. "Are you trying to tell me that I'd be reborn as a baby pony?"

"...Yes?" Twilight Sparkle nervously replied, her ears folded back.

"Would I be able to become human again?" Anon pointedly asked.

"Of course!" Twilight Sparkle readily replied, looking more confident. "We'll save a redundant amount of your DNA just in case, so it'll be easy."

Leaning forward, Anon inquired about another concern that he had. "Will I still be treated like an adult?"

"You'll only be treated like a foal in the ways that can't be avoided," Twilight Sparkle reassured him.

"What about my sex?" Anon went on, his gaze becoming more intense. "And can I choose what kind of pony I'll be?"

Twilight Sparkle was unaffected by his gaze because she knew she had an answer that he wanted to hear. "We can arrange whatever you want, short of making you an alicorn."

Anon frowned as he sat back, folded his arms and thought about his options, his eyes staring down at the desktop. They certainly weren't ideal, but they were better than nothing changing at all, or pursuing another option that he'd rather not contemplate. However, between the two options being offered, there was only one that would make his life more interesting and grant him immediate freedom while he waited to go home.

Slamming his open hand flat upon the desktop, which made the two ponies outside jump, he decided, "Alright, I'll take the second option."

"Are you sure?" Twilight Sparkle checked.

Anon resolutely nodded his head. "Being shacked up inside all of the time, with no social life and nothing but books for entertainment, is probably the worst thing I've ever experienced in my life."

For a moment Twilight Sparkle looked as scandalized as she felt, and was about to argue with Anon over his remark, but she caught herself and thought better of it. Instead, she turned her attention to Isopropyl and gestured for her to speak next.

Isopropyl worried her lip for a few seconds before making eye contact with Anon and timidly asking, "May I be your surrogate mother?"

Realizing that Isopropyl was also there for him, rather than just as moral support for Twilight Sparkle, he was touched that she actually cared about him beyond her obligations as a nurse. Really, all of the ponies that he'd had significant contact with had been nice to him, but he'd never been in a mood to properly appreciate it. This act of kindness, though, on top of his past experiences with Isopropyl, helped to ease a lot of his misgivings about being a baby and needing a caretaker.

"Sure thing," he softly granted.
> Chapter 2: The Plans of Ponies and Men
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isopropyl, Twilight Sparkle and her fellow princesses — sans Flurry Heart — gathered within Anon's "home" the next day.

The alicorns' first order of business was to put Anon and Isopropyl into a deep sleep after having them both lay down on the bed. The procedure that would ensure Anon became a healthy pony required a lot of magic and was extremely complex, making it highly susceptible to outside influence and mistakes, so they removed any unaccounted movement and magical factors from the patients' part of the equation. Aside from that, though, they simply hadn't been sure what the whole experience would feel like, so they had also erred on the side of caution on that front as well.

Now they stood beside the bed, about to proceed with the procedure. Twilight Sparkle regarded the other princesses from the foot of the bed and asked, "Everypony ready?"

She noticed them share a look between themselves before nodding their heads, which reignited her suspicion about the motives behind their involvement. While they had certainly been indispensable and made this procedure — her own idea — possible a whole lot sooner than she had imagined achievable, which was partly why she was willing to remain silent and trust them so far, their interest in Anon made her wonder if they had some idea of how or why he had arrived in their universe.

If that was the case, she hoped that they would bring her into the loop without having to confront them about it. It was bad enough that she felt like she was missing something about Anon's arrival, which might give her an idea of what had happened to him. There was something familiar about his situation, as if she'd heard something like it before, but the answer continued to be a carrot dangling from a stick whenever she pursued it.

However, she had thought this procedure a good idea before she had begun to suspect that there was more to Anon's situation than was obvious, so she mentally prepared herself for the task ahead of her. Before she got to work, she looked toward the window by the door and signaled to her friends outside, who had wanted to be present to either watch or be present for what could easily be considered a big deal.

"They're about to start," Starlight Glimmer noted for those who weren't watching, with a hint of excitement.

Pinkie Pie plastered the upper half of her body against the window and enthusiastically prattled, "Oh, my gosh! This is the awesomest thing ever! I can't wait to throw my first ever 'welcome to Ponyville, Equestria, our universe, ponyhood, fillyhood, and birthday' party!"

Rarity gently but insistently nudged Pinkie Pie aside and began to address the condensation on the window with a hoofkerchief. "Well, for your sake, darling, I hope you can wait: because Anon won't be born for quite a while." When her view into the building was clear, she regarded her friend with a cocked brow and added, "Also, I'm pretty sure that he chose to be a colt."

"He did?" Pinkie Pie replied with genuine confusion.

"He also chose to be a pegasus," Rainbow Dash interjected as she hovered above her friends, sounding pleased by his choice.

With a roll of her eyes, Applejack remarked, "Well, if I'd been cooped up for so long, I'd probably want some extra freedom of movement myself."

"Um," Fluttershy finally managed to speak up, because she felt that something important was being overlooked, "I don't think newborn foals can fully enjoy parties — especially the food."

Pinkie Pie shot up onto her hind legs, grasped her head and gasped, "You're right! I might have to plan for two birthdays! Maybe even three!"

While her friends continued with their banter, Starlight Glimmer filtered them out so she wouldn't be distracted away from what the four princesses were doing. She was still a little disappointed that she wasn't involved, but Celestia and Luna had offered their services when Twilight Sparkle had first approached them with her idea, Cadence had been contacted and invited by the two soon after, and by that point there was already enough redundancy.

She watched as Twilight Sparkle and Celestia weaved the majority of the spells, while Luna and Cadence mostly provided additional magic to power them. They worked deliberately and meticulously, not only because of the difficulty of the spells and how many they would need to have ready and apply in a timely manner, but due to the fact that making the wrong mistake could endanger the mind they were trying to transfer and preserve.

Eventually, Twilight Sparkle and Celestia coordinated the casting of a series of spells. At the same time, Luna cast a spell of her own in support while Cadence lent her magic to them so they could focus more on their awareness and control. This resulted in Anon's body being transformed into a glowing, featureless mass that slowly became spherical in shape while it shrank. When it reached its final size, which was about the width of a hair, it was a pinpoint of light that Starlight Glimmer could barely perceive.

Then, to the surprise of the four princesses and those watching them, Discord appeared in the air with a flash of light, nearby to what had become of Anon, and he was holding a lorgnette up to his face with one hand and cradling a large, soggy bag of butter-drenched popcorn in the other. Already peering closely at the speck of light, it was with a mix of disappointment and curiosity that he remarked, "Huh. With all the magic at play, I was expecting a much bigger light show than this."

Before any of the princesses could voice their concerns about his unexpected presence, they either gasped or shouted something in alarm as the ambient magic from his teleportation reached Anon. Upon contact, Anon's form flickered briefly before zooming toward the mares outside instead of Isopropyl. Between its size and speed, the only warning that Starlight Glimmer and Rarity had of its trajectory was the movement of the princesses' heads as they tracked it. The others were alerted that something was up when the two unicorns hopped away from the window, parallel with the building, and began to tell them to move out of the way. Unfortunately, by that point it was too late for anyone else to react in time.

Rainbow Dash yelped in surprise and fell onto her hooves while the warning was still in the process of being voiced, who whipped her head around and immediately began to inspect the area between her barrel and hip. While Twilight Sparkle rushed out of the building and made a beeline toward their group, which went unnoticed by most there, Applejack approached her and concernedly asked, "Something the matter, Rainbow?"

"It felt like something hot shot into me," Rainbow Dash replied, somewhat anxious because she knew that something was going on.

Having been close enough to hear that, Twilight Sparkle skid to a stop beside her and hurriedly asked, "Can you show me where?"

It wasn't until Rainbow Dash had her hoof pointing at the spot in question that it occurred to her what might have happened. "Hold on," she said, her eyes wide and ears lowered as she turned to regard Twilight Sparkle. "You don't mean..."

"I'll check to be sure," Twilight Sparkle stated, before she closed her eyes and lit up her horn.

Dreading the verdict, Rainbow Dash put up a brave front as the rest of her friends gathered around her in a show of concern and support. Not caring much for the silence either, she decided to ask, "So, uh, what happened?"

"Discord happened," Starlight Glimmer replied with a thoughtful frown. "My guess is that his magic interacted with the spell during the transfer phase and changed the target host."

"It made other changes, too," Twilight Sparkle added with evident worry, who opened her eyes and sent an imploring look Rainbow Dash's way. "We need to make sure that Anon's okay."

Rainbow Dash barely managed to hold back her own concern, since she wasn't the one who could be dying or dead. Instead, she silently followed Twilight Sparkle — along with everyone else — into the building, where the princesses calmly waited and Discord was conspicuously absent. After Twilight Sparkle updated the three on the situation, she was told to stand still while they checked on Anon.

It wasn't long after Twilight Sparkle and Celestia lit up their horns, to begin the examination, that Rainbow Dash looked around for something to distract herself with, hoping to make it easier to ignore the faint, weird feeling that arose within her gut and made her want to squirm. Her gaze quickly found the unconscious nurse on the bed, and not for the first time did she wonder what kind of pony would be so willing to bear a foal, whether it was their own or not. Just the thought of being a parent herself was alien, because her dream of being the best Wonderbolt ever, after becoming one, had never allowed any room for such a consideration.

"Anon's mind appears to be fine," Twilight Sparkle eventually determined, with evident relief.

"Everything's good, then?" Rainbow Dash inquired, who wanted her own problem addressed as soon as possible.

Starlight Glimmer regarded Celestia, who was still doing her own examination, as she answered, "Not if Anon's body is no longer viable."

Only the context of the situation allowed Rainbow Dash to understand what that meant, so she did her best to be patient and wait for Celestia's diagnosis. That came about a minute later, when she turned her attention to the room at large and solemnly stated, "Anon's body will be whole and healthy, but no longer a pegasus."

"What will he be, then?" Twilight Sparkle anxiously queried, who was already beginning to feel the weight of responsibility for something going wrong.

Celestia glanced at everyone around her before calmly replying, "An alicorn."

With the exception of Cadence and Luna, everyone displayed some form of surprise or shock at the news. Among the latter group, Pinkie Pie was the first to recover, accept it, then bounce around happily while making celebratory declarations. Applejack was the next to recover, who was understandably puzzled as she looked up at Celestia and said, "I can kinda understand how Flurry Heart turned out to be an alicorn," she glanced at Cadence to acknowledge her, "what with her mother being one and all, but how is this possible?"

"It's hard to say," came Celestia's reserved response.

Luna stepped forward and offered, "It may have something to do with the fact that there was so much alicorn magic involved."

Unable to wait any longer, Rainbow Dash looked between the princesses as she spoke up and asked, "Now that we know he's going to be okay, can you take him out of me?"

When she saw their faces assume expressions that could only be associated with bad news, her body went into high gear and exploded with energy, her fight or flight response on the verge of being triggered.

"About that..." Twilight Sparkle hesitantly began.
> Chapter 3: You're a Friend in My Book
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anon raised heavy eyelids and stared blearily for a few seconds before yawning and closing them again out of reflex. It wasn't until he felt something furry against his eyes, when he tried to rub the sleep from them, that he remembered what kind of situation he was supposed to expect.

Opening his eyes once more, he raised what still felt a lot like an arm and saw a light blue foreleg that ended with a hoof. The pastel shade was a little off-putting, but he didn't think that any of the ponies would find it strange and make him feel self-conscious about it. He was just glad that he didn't have olive green fur; just the thought of it made him shudder.

Wanting to see one of the main selling points for allowing himself to become a pony, he raised his head and looked down the front of his body. The diaper was to be expected, an unfortunate necessity, so he ignored it and directed his gaze toward his left side. However, something colorful and sparkly caught his attention before he got a good look at one of his wings, and for a few seconds he stared at it with confusion, wondering why the six colors of the rainbow that were arranged into stripes was familiar.

It wasn't until he remembered why it was familiar that he realized that what he was looking at was his tail: because he'd once seen a curious pegasus with rainbow hair peeking in on him shortly after he'd been moved into the outbuilding, which wasn't a feature that would be hard to forget even among other ponies. With that memory in mind, he also noticed that the color of his fur wasn't that different from the pegasus' as well. It made him wonder if that was the other half of his inherited genetics, since he'd only been aware of Isopropyl's contribution.

Rather than a normal tail, though, it was ethereal, with little stars that briefly flickered into existence, and gently wavered on a non-existent breeze. Those qualities reminded him of Princess Luna's hair, who he had met after she had rid him of a nightmare one time. He looked up and tried to see if his mane was the same, but his gaze snapped to another surprise instead: he had a horn.

Puzzled, since he'd been told that being an alicorn was off the table, he checked to make sure that he had wings and confirmed that he did. He wasn't going to complain, since what they offered had made it difficult to choose between the two, but something had obviously gone awry and he began to worry that he had ended up trading one serious complication in his life for another.

Wanting an answer for what happened, he finally turned his attention away from himself and looked around. He found himself lying in a barred crib, inside of what appeared to be a bedroom in Twilight Sparkle's castle. Normally he might have done more than give his environs a cursory inspection, but he had spotted the owner of said castle sitting in a chair nearby and she was markedly more interesting — not to mention more relevant to his needs.

He tried to say, "Hey," to get her attention, but ended up voicing something that started with a gurgle and transitioned into a drawn-out vowel. He had forgotten that he wouldn't be able to speak, but at least it wouldn't be for as long as he'd first feared, since it wasn't uncommon for ponies to start forming their first words within a month. Hopefully his past experience would be enough to cut that to an even shorter date despite his unfamiliar mouth.

Still, his attempt at speech was enough to get Twilight Sparkle's attention, who put aside her book and deliberately asked him, "Is that you, Anon?"

Anon simply nodded his head.

Twilight Sparkle proceeded to levitate him out of the crib and arranged it so he was settled upon his haunches on the end of the bed, which was only a few feet across from her. He squirmed a bit because the diaper felt strange and too big, but discovered he was stable enough when he planted his forehooves on the bed directly in front of him, which felt oddly natural despite it bringing up mental images of cats and dogs in the same position.

After taking a calming breath, Twilight Sparkle established eye contact and earnestly said, "I don't know if you've noticed anything odd about your body yet, but I take full responsibility for what happened. You placed your trust in me, and I failed to meet your expectations."

Anon didn't know if he had seen the full extent of the unplanned changes, and thus if there was anything that he should be worried about, but he wasn't going to hold it against Twilight Sparkle if it was an accident. Her remorse was obvious, and it was clear that the incident had weighed upon her enough to make sure that she was present to apologize to him as soon as his consciousness returned. In addition to that, she was one of the few ponies that he had any significant experience with, which wasn't saying much, so it would be unwise to turn her away without a good reason — never mind that having access to a princess could be useful.

He'd need to know more before deciding on what to do, so he tried to express that he wanted to know what happened. What he managed to voice and gesticulate was embarrassing to say the least, but at least it got across the message that he was trying to say something: because Twilight Sparkle told him that she had made something that would allow him to communicate with her.

She levitated the aforementioned something into view and held it in front of him, within reach of his forehooves. It was a thin panel made of some transparent material, and there were stickers for every letter of the alphabet on it, as well as some numbers and punctuation marks. It reminded him of a Ouija board, except it was meant to communicate with someone on the other side of it, rather than the other other side.

With his right hoof, he tapped out the question, "What happened," with each sticker lighting up for the duration of his touch.

Having expected that question, Twilight Sparkle set her jaw and replied, "It was left up to my discretion regarding how much I should share with you, so if you wish to hear it all... I'll trust you to keep your silence if you promise to keep a certain matter to yourself."

Anon felt his new ears drop. If Twilight Sparkle was referring to a state secret, he didn't know if he wanted to get involved with something like that. However, it also seemed to suggest that whatever had happened to him might not have been purely accidental, and he didn't like the idea or feeling of being manipulated without knowing how or why. Still, if she was willing to give him an opportunity to know about it at all...

When he reached a decision, he tapped out, "I promise," and tried to look as serious as he could manage.

In response, Twilight Sparkle's severe expression eased substantially. "There's a special tree called the 'Tree of Harmony,' and for the past millennium it has been directly and indirectly responsible for Equestria's peace and prosperity. Until the day you were conceived eleven months ago, I understood that it was intelligent and could perform various actions remotely." She paused, and looked apologetic. "I hadn't been aware — and this is the part that you must keep to yourself — that it could transport someone to our universe from another, and that this has happened before."

Seeing the questioning look on Anon's face, she went on to explain, "Princess Cadence, my sister-in-law, was the first case. She was from a parallel universe where the Crystal Empire was never overthrown by Sombra or banished for a thousand years. Instead, their culture of love thrived, and by Cadence's time she felt redundant and unneeded." Her heart still panged in sympathy at the thought, and continued in a softer tone. "It brought her both emotional and physical pain, having no outlet for her love because her parents and older siblings were enough for everyone's needs."

"So," she continued, "one day, when she was ready to leave home and seek out a place where her love could make a difference, the Tree of Harmony transported her to our universe, right before a remote village would need her love the most. She would go on to become an alicorn and princess, gifting Equestria with her love and eventually ruling our version of her old home."

She gestured for Anon to hold on, when she saw him reach out to send her a message. "The reason why I told you that is not only because of Cadence being glad for what happened, but she was eventually able to return to her own universe, directly after the time when she had initially left, and was able to give her family an explanation and a proper goodbye. Everything had worked out well for her, when all was said and done. But," she slid off of her chair and stepped up to Anon, so she could stare into his eyes meaningfully and rest a hoof on his tiny shoulder in a show of support, "that doesn't change the fact that you didn't ask to be here. I'm going to continue looking for your universe, because that's what you want. I just don't want you to think the worst if my search takes too long, okay? It's my hope that you'll be happy whether I'm successful or not."

Touched by her support and optimism, Anon's eyes began to sting and blur with the onset of tears. He turned away and wiped at his eyes, not wanting to look even more like a baby than he already did. Regardless, he was thankful that he had someone in his corner, who had been trying to help him ever since his arrival, and tried to express his gratitude with his new face. He appeared to succeed, because he received a smile from her in response before she returned to her chair.

By the time he regained his composure, he knew what his next question would have to be. "Why was I brought here?"

"I don't know," Twilight Sparkle replied, voice tinged with a hint of frustration. "I've been dwelling on it ever since I found out about the Tree of Harmony's role in this, and there are just too many unknowns. Not only do we not know much about you, but — if Discord and the princesses are to be believed, and I want to believe them — what happened to you seems to be by chance. Celestia has assured me that Discord was ignorant of Cadence's origins and that no one knew what the Tree of Harmony's intentions were; they just assumed that something was going to occur and wanted to help make that happen in addition to aiding you. And Discord swore that his attention was simply attracted by the amount of alicorn magic being utilized and investigated out of curiosity."

She let Anon chew on that for a bit before she continued. "Regardless, I must warn you that being an alicorn is a big deal. You're going to attract a lot of attention, but my friends and I will do our best to shield you from it."

Anon nodded his head to condone her aid. He wouldn't have liked a lot of unwanted attention even back when he had just been another brick in humanity's wall.

Twilight Sparkle hesitated before speaking again. "There was another unexpected change to our arrangement, too."

Made uneasy by her hesitation, Anon forced himself to tap out, "What?"

Rather than answer verbally, Twilight Sparkle worried her lip and replaced his means of communication with a mirror. There he saw much of what he had seen already, save for the pastel pink color on the ends of his wings and the cerise of his irises. Seeing the whole picture, however, revealed that he looked cute. Really cute. Probably-too-cute-to-be-a-boy cute. Adorable, too. He would have been tempted to hug the pony in plain view of others while he was still human.

And that cute, adorable pony was him.

If that wasn't mind-boggling enough, he was obviously a she, which was definitely something that he hadn't asked for. While he was certainly upset about that, he just couldn't get over his appearance and find the will to dislike it, making him conflicted and confused. When he couldn't reconcile his feelings on the matter, but was unable to ignore the reality being presented to him, his brain went into protection mode and pulled down the emergency shutdown switch for the first time in his life.

Twilight Sparkle silently watched as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, followed by his body slumping over in a dead faint. "Well," she muttered under her breath, "that could have gone better."
> Chapter 4: Foal in the Ointment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Anon woke up, the first thing he noticed was that there was something round and hard stuffed into his mouth. Confused, he opened his eyes and discovered that it was his new hoof, which sparked a cascade of memories about recent events. A lot of feelings that were associated with them rushed to the surface as well, competing to sum up how he felt about his experiences overall.

A bit overwhelmed, he removed the hoof from his mouth and unconsciously retreated into the warmth and gentle pressure surrounding most of his body, rationalizing that he'd feel better prepared after some more rest. However, that made him aware of the source for his sought-after comfort and finally noticed the white forelegs that were loosely yet securely wrapped around his middle, making him realize that he was being held by someone.

He didn't know if it was his new body, being quarantined for months and denied the most basic of physical contact, his mind trying to cope with the new circumstances, something else, or some combination of those things, but he wriggled his body so he could snuggle closer to the pony holding him, which included pressing the top of his head against the underside of theirs. At that moment he wasn't going to question his behavior, because he preferred his immediate situation to thinking about more serious things.

Closing his eyes, he simply lie there and enjoyed the contact with the other pony, safe in the knowledge that they had been the one to initiate it. At least, he was fairly sure that they wouldn't turn around and judge him for participating, or make fun of him. It felt strange to put down his defenses like that, which he never would have thought of doing back home, but the ponies that he knew the best put him at ease and it felt very liberating to trust in them. Idly, he wondered if any of the women that he had once shared a bed with had ever felt like he currently did in his arms.

After a while hunger began to gnaw at him, but he was able to ignore it in favor of his current activity. Eventually, though, his stomach made an audible complaint and Isopropyl's familiar voice quietly asked him, "Would you like something to eat?"

Anon considered that for a moment, and what it meant. It was one of the things about being a baby that had been more of an afterthought to him at the time of his decision, in light of attaining "instant" freedom instead of struggling and experiencing a simile of it for an unknown length of time, and he still had some misgivings despite the necessity. At least drinking the milk from a bottle was an option...

It wasn't something that he could put off forever, so he tried to answer in the positive before he remembered his inability to form words, resulting in a sound that someone pretending to be a sheep might make.

Isopropyl got the message despite that, who released him and sat up before raising her voice to a normal volume and inquiring, "Would you like to eat with me holding you, or would you feel more comfortable as you are?"

Already missing the contact, not that he'd admit it, Anon managed to push himself up onto his haunches by the time his guardian set the "stickerboard" that Twilight Sparkle had used earlier down in front of him. He looked up at her before answering and paused, caught by her gentle, maternal expression. It hit him with a strength that was unlike anything that he had experienced before, making his heart race and very tempted to put his pride aside so he could be treated like a baby.

Seeing the conflict on his face, Isopropyl moved the stickerboard aside and apologetically said, "Sorry. Please lie on your back; I'll have your bottle here in a moment."

As Anon let himself fall onto his back, it only then occurred to him that she hadn't needed to give him an option on whether to feed himself or be fed. Before he could think about what that might mean, he heard the door open and turned to see a bottle float into the room within an aura of orange-colored magic. He watched as Isopropyl's face scrunched up a bit in concentration when the bottle was within her reach and saw the aura flare for a second, then she pressed it to her cheek to check the temperature. Apparently satisfied by what she felt, she transferred the bottle to him and released it from her magical grasp once he was hugging it to his body and the nipple was in his mouth.

He didn't know what to expect from the taste, but it wasn't bad; it was kind of good, actually. As he drank, he began to feel that it was a bit bothersome to crane his head up to meet the nipple of the bottle, and that brought his mind back to Isopropyl's offer to hold him. It didn't seem necessary, yet she had wanted to despite knowing that he was an adult — even if his body said otherwise. It made him wonder about her motives for the first time, although he highly doubted that it would be anything to worry about, all things considered, since she clearly understood whose desires took precedence.

"Oh," Isopropyl softly began, "the princess didn't get a chance to tell you before, but the reason why you look so much like Rainbow Dash is because she ended up being your surrogate mother when Discord disrupted the procedure."

Anon gave her a questioning look, since he didn't recognize the name, and she hesitated before inquiring, "Would you like to visit her?"

Finding her hesitation a bit odd, he nonetheless nodded his head as best as he could in his current position. Not only did he have no other plans, but at that point he'd accept just about any opportunity to go outside. Plus, he was a bit curious about the pony that was technically his mother, and wondered if they were as girly as his inherited appearance might suggest.

...Which reminded him: he was female. After he finished his meal and — with some embarrassment — got burped, he used the stickerboard to ask, "Can I be male again?"

"You'll have to ask Twilight Sparkle," Isopropyl tactfully replied. "All I can tell you for certain is that changing sex is one of those things, like changing age, where there might be a unicorn that can accomplish it in a generation. It's been such a rare occurrence that there isn't enough documentation for the modern medical community to know the extent of what is safe, especially for somepony so young."

Anon nodded his head in understanding. It made sense — at least from where he had come from — for there to be standards and regulations for the kind of thing he wanted done. With Isopropyl being a nurse, and more familiar with the history of her race in general, he supposed that he could place his trust in her words.

Since being male again wasn't out of the question, he decided to save his concern until he could get a more definitive and authoritative answer from Twilight Sparkle.





A bit later Anon found himself being carried in a sling by Twilight Sparkle as she flew him to Rainbow Dash's house. Not only were they flying to avoid making a public spectacle so soon, especially before he was ready to weather the attention that his new body would bring him, but because the house in question was located on a cloud. He found that hard to believe despite the magic that he'd witnessed thus far, and the fact that he was being transported through the air, but that wasn't what he really cared about at the moment.

What had his undivided attention was the world passing below him, which he stared at with wide-eyed awe. Not only did the sight exhilarate him and get his heart racing, but the thought that he would one day be able to fly around under his own power, and possibly in more adventurous ways. He didn't know if it was human nature to be fascinated by flight, or if it was just him, but he couldn't wait for that day.

He was brought out of his reverie when Twilight Sparkle took out the stickerboard from one of her saddlebags, levitated it into his reach and asked, "How are you feeling about your situation so far?"

Anon thought about it for a few seconds before noncommittally tapping out, "Could be worse."

"Don't worry," Twilight Sparkle tried to reassure him. "I'm already looking into a sex-change spell. It's not a common or easy thing to do, and there's your age to consider as well, so I don't know exactly when I'll be ready to cast it on you."

"Cool," Anon responded before he relaxed and turned his attention back to the scenery, feeling a little better about his situation.

It was nice to know that someone was looking out for him and didn't have to ask anyone to solve an issue that mattered to him. Well, his sex probably didn't matter at his current age, but it would in time and he wasn't keen on finding out how the other half lived. While he didn't like being a baby either, he had agreed to age normally so he could naturally develop his immune system and adapt to using his new anatomy. There was no telling how long he would have to wait to go home anyway, and just the thought of shaving years off of his life by aging himself made him shudder.

Eventually his gaze wandered back to where they were going, to see if he could make out their destination yet, and saw something that made him squint his eyes to get a better look, just in case he was seeing things. When he realized that what he was seeing was real, his mouth dropped open in awe. He'd been told that Rainbow Dash lived in a house that was located on a cloud, but seeing truly was believing.

The house in question looked like some kind of tower, one designed to be united with the cloud, as covered in fanciful clumps of it as it was. There were pillars along the outer wall, some in odd places, and arched windows were all over the place. What really stood out, but were not surprising inclusions to him considering the owner, were the rainbows coming out of the tower's summit, as well as the pools of rainbow-colored liquid that drained off of the cloud.

Twilight Sparkle landed far up the winding path leading to the front door. As she knocked upon it, Anon gazed at the edge of the path and wondered if he would really be able to walk on a cloud. While it was evident that a building could be supported by one through some means or another, and a lot of seemingly-impossible things had been proven to be real to him already, he wasn't exactly a normal pony and worried that he'd fall through like he would normally expect. Even so, he couldn't wait to give it a try at some point.

When he heard someone invite them in, the raspy voice caught him by surprise. It was even more surprising to see the speaker on the other side of the door, because he hadn't expected that kind of voice to come from — in his mind — a girly-looking pony like Rainbow Dash. If that wasn't enough to defy that assumption of girliness, she was in the middle of doing push-ups with her wings, and all around her were various exercise tools and equipment, like a pull-up rack, dumbbells, a jump rope, and a treadmill.

She glanced their way initially, probably just to see who her guests were, but her gaze flashed back to him in specific and she froze in the middle of a push-up. The expression on her face was a strange one, possibly due to mixed emotions, but he couldn't read it either way. Twilight Sparkle couldn't as well, who noticed her expression and inquired, "Is something wrong?"

"Nope!" Rainbow Dash quickly denied, as she rushed to her hooves. "Just wasn't expecting Anon to come here. Since, y'know, I figured he'd stay with that nurse."

"Isopropyl," came Twilight Sparkle's mildly exasperated response, as she stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind her. "And Anon wanted to see you."

"He did?" Rainbow Dash replied, looking at Anon questioningly for a few seconds before swiping the rainbow-striped sweatband from her head, tossing it aside and nonchalantly deciding, "Well, whatever; I was about to take a break, anyway."

Looking at her skeptically, Twilight Sparkle asked, "You haven't spent all your time exercising since you were released from the hospital, have you?"

"So what if I have?" Was Rainbow Dash's defensive retort, before making a point of showing off her flank and prodding it with a hoof. "This flab isn't going to go away all by itself, and the sooner I tone up and slim down the faster I'll be off the bench and performing again."

Although she had called it flab, Anon honestly couldn't tell if she was carrying extra weight anywhere, but that was probably because of his unfamiliarity with the pony form. And while he wanted to get a better look at his surroundings than stare at a pony's "flab" at that moment, something about Rainbow Dash held his attention and seemed... admirable? It definitely wasn't sexual attraction, but it didn't feel the same as when he'd registered a pony as cute, either.

"I know how much you want to fly with the Wonderbolts again," Twilight Sparkle patiently began, "but don't push yourself so much that you accomplish the opposite."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "I'll be fine. I just don't want to retire early like a lot of," she paused, because what she was about to say still felt foreign to her, "other mothers did."

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "Being a mother isn't going to stop you from having a long career as a Wonderbolt."

"That's not what the books say," Rainbow Dash countered, who sat on her haunches so she could cross her forelegs imperiously. "Aside from injury, the biggest reason for why most mares retire long before they're too old is because they became mothers."

With a slight frown, Twilight Sparkle replied, "I'm sure it's more complicated than that."

"I don't care," Rainbow Dash said, who slapped a forehoof down on the floor for emphasis. "I'm going to have the longest career as a Wonderbolt — so long that my record'll never be beaten. And that's not going to happen if I take it easy."

At that moment Anon briefly saw his human mother's face superimposed over Rainbow Dash's, looking exhausted and harried as she often had during much of his childhood and teenage years. Although she hadn't been career-minded or ambitious like Rainbow Dash, she had still worked very hard — sometimes holding two jobs — to support them. Not only had that not been good for her, but it had been bad for his younger self, who had held the inattention against her until he had grown up and realized his stupidity. If there was one regret that he would have, in the event that he was unable to return home, it would be never putting aside his pride and apologizing to his mother for his past behavior toward her, who had only done what had been necessary.

Only one part of that applied to Rainbow Dash, and he hardly knew her besides, but that part had had a significant impact on his life; so much so that it moved him to prevent someone else from becoming worn out and bitter like his mother. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about that, being a baby and all, until that thought made him pause and think of an idea. It wasn't an idea that he liked, considering what it would entail, but... he was sure it would be worth it?

Gathering his resolve, he poked Twilight Sparkle's chest until she broke away from the conversation that he had tuned out and looked down at him, at which point he pointed at the floor.

Getting the message, Twilight Sparkle said, "Alright," before levitating him out of the sling and placing him onto the floor. "There you go."

Once Anon had his forehooves underneath him, he began to inch his way toward Rainbow Dash, idly thankful that he'd be walking soon because ponies usually graduated from crawling not long after birth.

Seeing this, Rainbow Dash glanced at Twilight Sparkle questioningly and asked, "What does he want?"

Twilight Sparkle gave a one-shoulder shrug and said, "No idea."

When Anon reached her, he looked up and saw her staring down at him, with what he hoped was uncertainty rather than fear. She was definitely tense and keeping herself in check, which was quite different from how he felt: because the closer that he had gotten to her, the more certain and at ease he had become with his plan. While he'd noticed it to some degree, he was too caught up in the moment to reflect on it and question what all was driving him.

Regardless, he forged ahead and raised his forelegs toward her.

Rainbow Dash suppressed her flinch enough for it to express itself as a twitch. "What are you doing?"

"I think he wants to be picked up," Twilight Sparkle observed, confusion coloring her voice.

"I know that," Rainbow Dash replied, slightly agitated. Directing her next words to Anon, she pointedly said, "You're a grown... stallion-alien-thing, aren't ya?"

Anon gave his forelegs an insistent shake.

"I'm not picking you up," Rainbow Dash asserted, her voice breaking a bit. "It's weird!"

Anon narrowed his eyes and repeated his prior gesture.

Rainbow Dash stood up and took a step back, her voice a little strained as she said, "Look, I'm not your mom, okay?"

"You don't have to be to pick up a foal, Rainbow Dash," Twilight Sparkle remarked, only then picking up on her friend's behavior and finding it both a bit odd and concerning.

While Rainbow Dash made a snarky reply to that, which she seemed a lot more comfortable focusing on than him, Anon suffered a pang in his chest from being rejected: due to the "I'm not your mom" part, not his request to be picked up being denied. His reaction had surprised him, but it had also made it apparent that his new body came with a bond to its biological mother, something that hadn't been anticipated.

Despite being able to understand where some of his recent feelings had come from, the rejection had still hurt, which only exacerbated his prior annoyance at having his request turned down. Feeling spiteful, he decided to get back at her in one of the only ways he knew a baby could, since he'd already committed to acting like a baby for the sake of his plan — regardless of how much it had been influenced by his new body.

When he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, Rainbow Dash heard the latter and pulled her gaze away from Twilight Sparkle. What she saw him doing made her eyes widen in panic, as a certain memory of another recently-born alicorn flashed into the forefront of her mind. "Wait! Don—!"

Anon let loose a wail that made the air ripple, and standing in place an effort for the other ponies in the room. The sonic bombardment lasted for several seconds, fracturing stone, shattering glass and ceramics, and warping cloud. When he ran out of breath, he opened his eyes and beheld the damage, which he took in with surprise and confusion, quickly realizing that his yell had somehow caused it.

While the floor was made of sterner stuff and largely unaffected, the same couldn't be said for the walls, which bore many cracks and fissures. A nearby vase had been reduced to pieces, the statue by the door had lost its support and fallen onto the floor, where it had broke into many fragments, and the glass-top tables in the adjoining room had become walking hazards. Said room was also where some of the cloud structures and furniture could be seen from the foyer, whose shapes had become deformed by the sound waves.

Ears falling at the sight, Anon returned his attention to the owner of the house, who stared at the damage with a mixture of disbelief and devastation. 

"My... My house..." Rainbow Dash quietly choked out.
> Chapter 5: Tangled Up in Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anon slowly paced around some building blocks, trying to manage both his locomotion and stacking blocks with telekinesis at the same time without messing up either.

Thanks to his body being a few days old by the time he had woken up earlier in the day, ponies being able to walk soon after birth like horses from his world, and his crawling experience as a human, walking had come awkwardly but easily enough. Using his horn had been Twilight Sparkle's suggestion rather than something that he had been ready to initiate himself, and Isopropyl had accommodated his need to practice.

It had been decided that he should start learning how to feel and handle his magic sooner than planned, in order to help prevent him from using his magic on accident again. Unlike what he had thought, using magic was easy enough to do if he didn't think too deeply about what he was doing, but it made sense considering what he had been told about the feats that babies could accomplish on a whim. To ensure that unicorns weren't a danger to themselves or others, they had to train their minds to manipulate magic deliberately, rather than allow the magic to respond to any desire or thought.

Due to another alicorn baby preceding him, they were pretty sure that access to his horn wouldn't be interfered with by his maturation, which meant that he'd have uninterrupted access to his magic. Normally the growth of a unicorn's skull and brain eventually interfered with their magic for several years, thus making the possible incidence of newborn magic use and surges relatively short-lived, but an alicorn's thaumaturgical system was interconnected throughout the body instead of just between the mind and horn.

He didn't have to practice with both his magic and walking at the same time, but he wanted to distract himself from thinking about certain things, things that made him feel strange, uneasy or confused. He'd known that there would be challenges and stuff he wouldn't like about being a baby going in, but the surprises were somehow worse than experiencing incontinence and having his diaper changed, which hadn't been fun or comfortable at all. If not for any of that, he would have been excited about using telekinesis and glad about his upgrade in mobility.

He was just thankful that Isopropyl was such a caring and understanding pony. Although the naps were nice ways to retreat from reality as well, especially when he woke up with Isopropyl—

Shaking his head clear of Isopropyl's friendly visage from his mind's eye, he threw off his balance and fell forward, planting his chin flat against the floor. The block that he had been levitating dropped beside the short tower and bounced his way, softly hitting his cheek.

Isopropyl chose that time to return after attending to some of her pre-bedtime routines. Upon seeing what kind of position he was in, and the tears that had beaded at the outer corners of his eyes, she hurried over, scooped him up into one of her forelegs and worriedly asked, "Are you alright?"

Embarrassed, Anon looked away and nodded his head.

The blush and averted gaze reminded Isopropyl of the circumstances, so she gently put Anon down and apologetically said, "Sorry. I'm so used to taking care of real foals that it's hard to not act before thinking."

Not wanting to think about how comfortable it had felt being cradled — however briefly — as he wiped the tears from his eyes, and curious about the pony tasked with taking care of him, Anon levitated the stickerboard over and asked, "You take care of foals?"

Smiling pleasantly, in light of the subject, Isopropyl replied, "Yes. I normally work at a hospital in Canterlot, in the maternity ward. When I'm not working, I volunteer at a daycare whenever they need me."

Confused, Anon inquired, "You came here?"

Isopropyl nodded her head. "My talent is sterilization, and sometimes I get requests to help with something serious. When Princess Twilight Sparkle reached out to our hospital for aid, the administrator came straight to me to provide you with a safe environment and purging all of the germs from the external portion of your body."

Upon finding out that she'd had a hand in saving his life, on top of everything else, Anon was so surprised and moved that he needed to set the stickerboard aside and sit down.

Isopropyl was a rare breed of individual where he came from, as far as he was concerned, and he never thought that he'd ever meet one personally, let alone be on the receiving end of their care. He could only imagine how he would have been affected by her had she actually bore him, as it had been planned, because even without a parent-child bond he was seriously considering making some allowances for her maternal disposition.

Speaking of whom, she was regarding him with a concerned eye, no doubt due to his reaction. Offering her a smile to reassure her that he was fine, he used the stickerboard long enough to say, "Thank you for saving my life," before choosing one of her forelegs and giving it a hug to further express his gratitude. Normally he wouldn't bother being touchy-feely, but things weren't normal and he felt safe expressing himself a bit more than usual with his current company.

"It was a group effort," Isopropyl modestly replied, who smiled down at him and lightly pat his withers, "but I'm glad I was able to help."

When they disengaged, Isopropyl glanced at the alarm clock before asking, "Are you ready for bed?"

Anon shook his head, since he didn't feel tired and was allowed to choose his bedtime unless his body demanded rest. Instead, since he was already asking questions that were revealing consequential things that he hadn't known about, concerning someone who had a significant connection to him, he retrieved the stickerboard and decided to broach a subject that he had been trying to not think about throughout the day but had bothered him nonetheless. "Why did Rainbow carry me to term?"

Isopropyl was reluctant to answer, but after some consideration, while being subjected to his unerring gaze, she sighed and softly admitted, "She didn't have a choice."

Stunned, Anon had to pick the stickerboard back up so he could hastily tap out, "What do you mean?"

"Your life was of paramount concern," Isopropyl began to explain, sad eyes joining her subdued tone, "so many safeguards were put into place, which would activate as soon as your surrogate mother received you. Safeguards that would protect you from ambient magic, and anything that would deliberately tamper with the spells. There was also one spell that would anchor you to the surrogate mother until you were physically attached to her, to prevent you from being dislodged from her body and the many potential threats to your well-being that could follow."

She turned her head aside and looked away, and Anon heard what sounded like a hint of strain in her voice as she continued. "There were so many spells involved, and some very complex ones, that stability and compatibility issues took precedence. When those were addressed, finding a way to make them safe to dispel on top of that would have been extremely difficult and time-consuming, and by then they were confident that they wouldn't need such a measure. When you were unexpectedly sent into Rainbow Dash, it was decided that trying to remove certain spells — so you could be placed into me — would be too risky."

Anon bowed his head and stared down at the floor as he absorbed all of that. Not only the fact that Rainbow Dash had to carry him to term for his sake, whose earlier comments and behavior he now understood a whole lot better, but how Isopropyl felt about the situation. She had tried to hide it, but ponies — the ones that he'd interacted with thus far, at any rate — seemed to be rather expressive, to the point where he didn't need to try very hard to read them, and her evident love of children had made it easy for him to connect the dots. Missing out on bearing him aside, he could give in and allow Isopropyl to treat him more like a foal, but as tempting as some of that was he was still unsure about his feelings on the matter.

As for Rainbow Dash... He couldn't even imagine what it would have been like to be in her position, mostly because he'd never had to worry about becoming pregnant. Not too long ago he likely would have felt like her situation wasn't any of his business, and thus not something to care about, but — despite not being responsible for what happened — his involvement still made him feel bad. More importantly, however, he'd never wronged someone anywhere near as much as her, regardless of it being an accident, and that definitely weighed heavily on his conscience. Heck, her house was so damaged that it was unsafe for her to sleep there until repairs could be made. With misfortune heaped upon misfortune, he couldn't help wondering how he could make it up to her.

Considering his reaction to what Isopropyl had told him, it wasn't a surprise when she placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder and kindly offered, "Would you like to see her?"

Raising his head to meet her gaze, trepidation stopped him from answering her immediately. At the very least he could apologize to Rainbow Dash, because he hadn't been able to earlier, between his shock and her storming off after she barely managed to stop herself from yelling — possibly at him as well as the heavens — several times, but she inspired a lot of emotions that he wasn't ready to deal with.

Between not wanting to show that he was afraid of visiting someone, and knowing how easy it was to put something off indefinitely once started, he tentatively nodded his head in response despite knowing that he was out of his element.

Isopropyl placed Anon on her back and picked up his stickerboard with her magic. After she made sure that he was stable, she said, "The princess' guest quarters are a bit of a maze, but hopefully we will find her before it gets too late."

After opening the door and stepping out into the hallway, she looked down one way and then the other, trying to decide which way to go. Secretly, Anon hoped that they wouldn't find Rainbow Dash, but — at the same time — his heart jumped a little with anticipation at the thought of meeting her again. Unheeded, a vision of the pegasus appeared in his mind, of her standing proud, rainbow-colored hair carried by the wind, with her wings spread and a determined expression on her face, looking like a force of nature. Then her gaze fell upon him, and her features blossomed into the embodiment of maternal love.

As he hit himself over the head, in an effort to clear it, he heard Isopropyl say, "What's that?"

She started to walk, presumably toward what had caught her attention, so he looked around the side of her neck that was facing the far wall and saw four sources of light appearing to come from the floor, in the middle of the hallway. Once they were close enough, he could make out that the lights were shaped like hoofprints, which started to disappear and reappear farther ahead of them when they drew near, as if there was an invisible pony walking away from them.

"Will this lead us to Rainbow Dash?" Isopropyl wondered aloud, since she'd never been told about a feature that would help ponies find their way around the castle. She couldn't think of what else it could be, partly because she wasn't willing to entertain the thought of it being something scary or dangerous in a place that she assumed was safe. After some consideration, she decided, "Well, following this can't be any worse than wandering aimlessly..."

Once she was following directly behind the moving hoofprints, which resulted in Anon being unable to see them, he settled back onto his haunches and tried to relax. Unfortunately, that was hard to do because his mind wouldn't stop drifting back to his looming visit with Rainbow Dash.
> Chapter 6: Foal's Errand
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hoofprints led Isopropyl and Anon to the opposite end of the castle from their room, three floors above their own, where they stopped in front of a door before fading away.

Even though she couldn't be sure that they had been guided to the right place, particularly since no one had given the glowing hoofprints any direction, Isopropyl looked over her shoulder and — just in case Rainbow Dash was inside the room before them — softly asked Anon, "Are you ready?"

Anon gave a hesitant nod despite steeling himself for what lay ahead of him. He could only hope that Rainbow Dash hadn't been exercising again, because her strong and pervasive scent had really done a number on him last time, due to the bonding that had occurred between her and his body before his mind had awoken. He had been caught off guard, though, so he was fairly confident that he would be able to control himself better this time.

Regardless of whether he could or not, or how much his effort was influenced beyond reason, he was convinced that he was doing it for a good cause, and that was reason enough for him. Besides which, this was going to be his life for an unknown length of time, so he figured that he should accept that and treat his new life and those around him as if they mattered. That meant he couldn't simply ignore Rainbow Dash's circumstances, and he felt that he was in a unique position to give her insight into an issue that he had strong feelings about, or — at the very least — a warning about it.

After Isopropyl lowered him to the floor and transferred the stickerboard into his possession, she stepped up to the door and gave it a couple of solid knocks.

"Come in!" Came the response.

Isopropyl opened the door, and Anon hurried into the room before he could have second thoughts, his hooves slipping a few times in his haste. When he came to a stop, his search for Rainbow Dash ended when he saw a pair of hooves and the tip of a rainbow tail hanging off the side of the bed, which was all that he could see of her because of his short stature.

When the door closed behind him, Rainbow Dash began to ask, "Did you forget something, Twi—" She'd been in the process of sitting up as she spoke, and stopped when she saw that the only pony that should have known of her location in the castle had not been the one to visit her.

"What the hay!" She exclaimed, as she quickly pushed herself up onto her haunches and became more alert. "How'd you find me!?"

The unexpected use of the stickerboard initially kept her silent, because she had realized that she shouldn't expect a verbal reply from a newborn and had been about to move on from her question. When the answer didn't make any sense, because she'd never heard of such a thing happening in the castle, she decided to abandon that line of questioning anyway, since she had a more important issue to address after her surprised reaction.

"Never mind," she impatiently said, her displeasure clearly showing on her face. "What do you want from me?"

"I'm really sorry about what I did to your house," Anon tapped out, his sincerity unintentionally resulting in drooping ears and a look that approached puppy dog eyes.

Losing some of her fire in response, Rainbow Dash turned her head away and said, "Yeah, well... It won't take too long to repair it." Clearly uncomfortable about their meeting going any further than that, she looked askance at Anon and added, "Is that all?"

"I know you didn't want to," Anon began, doing his best to look at Rainbow Dash as he wrote his message, "and that you didn't like it, but thanks for carrying me to term. If not now, I hope you come to think that I was worth the trouble some day. It means a lot to me, to be able to leave quarantine and interact with the world normally."

In the lull that followed, because Rainbow Dash was conflicted and didn't know how to respond to that, Anon put his thoughts together and gathered his nerves for the hard part. Ordinarily he wouldn't be inclined to be so forthright about poignant or emotional subjects, and would have — in fact — preferred to not broach them at all, but he felt a strange sense of freedom from being in a new world and body, as well as from being able to establish a new reputation and history with everyone. Of course, the detachment from his past didn't hurt that sense either.

"Also," he tapped out, after making sure that Rainbow Dash was still paying attention, "I'm sorry for wanting to be picked up earlier. I wasn't really thinking straight, but that's no excuse. I was just reminded of my mother, who worked a lot to support us, and had little in the way of free time with her other responsibilities. She became aloof and bitter, and I didn't want that to happen to you, since, well..."

Not being able to express his thoughts any further on the matter after a couple of false starts, he decided that he'd said enough and turned around to leave, hoping it would be enough.

Before he could knock on the door, to let Isopropyl know that he was ready to leave, because he wasn't sure if he could pull open the door and didn't want to risk embarrassment if he couldn't, he paused when he heard Rainbow Dash quietly say, "Hey."

Looking over his shoulder, Anon saw that Rainbow Dash was hesitating to continue, perhaps struggling to find the right words, but she eventually got out, "Look, uh..." She began to fidget and couldn't make direct eye contact. "Back when I found out you'd chosen to become a pegasus, I was kinda thinking that it would be interesting to teach you how to fly, and I have some free time right now, so..."

Anon smiled, figuring that the offer that was being suggested was Rainbow Dash's way of forgiving him, and was at least willing to clean the slate between them whether she cared to listen to the advice that he had alluded to or not. Turning his body about to face her properly, he brought his stickerboard up and messaged, "Thanks. I can't wait."

Relieved to hear that, Rainbow Dash regained her composure and replied, "Cool. I'll drop by tomorrow and we can figure out when you can have flying lessons, okay?"

Nodding his head in agreement, Anon proceeded to knock on the door and rejoined Isopropyl in the hall after she opened it for him. Once the door was closed, she reclaimed the stickerboard before picking him up and setting him on her back. With that done, she began to make the walk back to their room.

In Rainbow Dash's room, the pony in question flopped onto her back again once the hoofsteps outside had faded to nothing, only this time she had her forelegs folded over her closed eyes as she thought to herself, "What in the world am I doing? This is so confusing!"

"So," Isopropyl casually began, once she had turned down a different hallway and looked over her shoulder, "how did it go?"

When the stickerboard was placed within his reach, Anon tapped out, "Rainbow Dash offered to give me flying lessons, so I think it went well."

Isopropyl smiled weakly and responded, "That's good to hear. She's a Wonderbolt, so you'll be in good hooves."

Anon could see beyond the smile, to the fear that she might be replaced by the pony that had actually given birth to him, but didn't know what to say or do about it right then. Frankly, just thinking about it felt strange. Still, he mulled the issue over in his head during the trip back to their room, which was just as well since the rest of it was accompanied by silence. By the time they reached their destination, he had come to a tentative decision on how to allay her fear, inspired by some of his recent thoughts and experiences — among other things.

So, after they entered the room and he was placed on the floor, he went over to the bed, made eye contact with Isopropyl and pointed up at it.

"Do you want on the bed?" Isopropyl asked, just to be sure.

Upon receiving a resolute nod in confirmation, she hoisted him onto the bed and placed the stickerboard nearby, in case he wanted to talk, then joined him. Before she could lay down at the head of the bed and do some reading until she felt tired enough to sleep, she noticed Anon picking up the stickerboard, who was already turning to face her and making his intention obvious. His hoof hovered over the first letter he wanted to touch, making her wonder what would cause him to hesitate.

Eventually, Anon wrote, "I don't want to sleep in the crib."

Tilting her head slightly, Isopropyl made a guess and asked, "Did you want to sleep on the bed instead?"

Anon simply nodded his head.

"Alright," Isopropyl granted, before pointing at the spot between the pillow and the nightstand, which was close enough to the bed to prevent someone of Anon's size from falling off of it. "When you're ready to, you can sleep there."

While she went to lay down and rest her head on the pillow, with the covers beneath her, Anon psyched himself up for what he was about to do. He also had to remind himself that he wasn't a human in a human society, male, or — technically — an adult, and that he was doing this because Isopropyl was a nice, well-meaning pony. And, well... Maybe he was willing to explore one of the new optional activities in his life after experiencing a taste of it.

Isopropyl had just finished levitating a book over to the bed when he made his move. With determined steps, he made his way over to her while she was still distracted and plopped down next to her, with his back against her side, before curling up into a comfortable resting position. While he wasn't particularly tired at the moment, he was sure that would change soon.

"What...?" Isopropyl voiced her confusion, then saw the source of the unexpected contact. "Anon? What are you doing?"

When he didn't answer in any way, she eventually gathered the nerve to cautiously ask, "Is this why you wanted to be on the bed?"

He nodded his head.

She had to wrestle with her emotions when she realized what that might mean, so it took her some time to clearly, yet quietly, query, "Are you sure?"

Upon receiving another nod, she set the book down and gazed down at Anon with a gentle expression on her face, wondering why he wanted to rest with her of his own volition. Had she been too obvious about her feelings, and this had been the response? Either way, and whether or not he was doing it for his or her sake, she wasn't about to reject him, so she scooted back a bit so she could lay on her side and softly envelop his small form with her larger one, hold him to her belly, and rest her chin upon his head.

"Thank you," she softly whispered.