Ponies, Magic, and Other Strange Things

1. New Bodies

The rising sun peeked above the trees of the vast forest beneath it, sending its rays through the dense canopy and littering the forest floor with broken beams of sunlight. The remains of the night were soon pushed away to reveal two figures lying motionless under the foliage.

CC lay on her back, unaware of her surroundings. Her breaths took on a rhythmic pattern of soft snores, matching those of the being next to her. Those snores, however, were interrupted as a beam of light found its way onto her face.

“Hmmm…?” CC rolled on to her belly, and yawned. She winced as her head was suddenly racked with a wave of pain. “Ow, my head,” She moaned, rubbing her temples. “What happened?”

Looking down she saw that she was lying in a patch of bright green grass, still damp with morning dew. CC furrowed her brow, pondering with how she had ended up outside, when the memories of yesterday came rushing back. The orb and its blinding light, the tendrils of energy that had seized her body with electricity, the fear of falling through the endless void of white, and then the agony of her being torn and reformed. CC shuddered at the last experience. She had never been through that type of torture before, physically of course, in her young life. It made her worry about her current predicament.

Taking in her surroundings, CC found that she was in a forest and that it was morning. Judging by the sun’s current position, she could assume it was around 7:00am. Sitting up, she noticed a peculiar brown rock lying on the ground next to her. She whistled, thinking of how lucky she was to have landed on the grass and not the boulder that would have surely broken something vital to her.

Before dismissing the boulder, she realized, upon closer inspection, that it was covered in fur…and was breathing. Truly intrigued now, CC inched closer and found the face of the creature she had before thought was a rock. It seemed to be asleep, judging on its light snores and closed eyes. CC’s curiosity was soon replaced with fear as she wondered what this creature would do to her if it woke up. Seeing that it had a horn atop its head, it was probably something that should be avoided.

Before she could back away from the creature, however, a sudden shaft of sunlight found its way through the swaying tree branches and shot it full in the face, causing the creature’s giant eyes to snap open and focus on her. Both she and the creature gasped, bolting upright in perfect unison. While the alien creature opened its mouth to scream, CC had time to take up her fight or flight instincts and punched it hard in the jaw. The force of her blow caused its jaw to snap shut with a painful CRACK!

“OH, GOOD LORD MY MOUTH!!” It yowled in an all too familiar voice, throwing itself onto its back.

It clutched its jaw in pain, continuing its loud curses. CC didn’t notice this, for her body went rigid, eyes wide with shock. The voice of the creature was way too familiar to ignore. ‘Whose voice is that?’ she thought to herself, momentarily forgetting the trouble she may have caused. Sifting through her memories, she found that the voice sounded a lot like her sister.

CC gasped in realization. “Sunny?” She questioned, hoping she guessed right and wasn’t going to get mauled.

The creature fell silent as it looked up at her, its eyes curious. “C-CC?” it stuttered nervously.

Slowly, Sunny stood up on her four legs, shaking slightly. Upon her standing, CC realized that Sunny’s new body wasn’t completely alien to her. In fact, now that she fully looked at it, she instantly recognized it as the same type of body structure she watched on television almost every day. Sunny was a pony.

“CC, what…?” Before she could finish her sentence, Sunny found her ears tortured by one of CC’s infamous squeals.

“O’m’gosh, Sunny!” She giggled excitedly. “You’re a PONY!”

“Huh?” a baffled Sunny looked down at her sister, barely registering the words.

She stood staring at the mangled creature that claimed to be her sister as it bounced up and down excitedly. It had CC’s voice, but Sunny just couldn’t believe it. In front of her was a creature with a night colored hide that seemed to be made out of chitin. It had a pair of pearly white fangs that resembled mandibles. It also had two bulging compact eyes that were the same bright green as CC’s. But the most shocking thing about it was its legs, which looked as though someone had gone crazy with the power drill on them. Sunny opened her mouth to ask why her sister’s new body resembled a pony bug hybrid, when CC’s previous words finally sunk in.

She instantly reached for her face. Instead of a nose, she found a muzzle. Instead of her normal sized eyes, she found two orbs the size of saucers. Instead of skin, she found soft fur. But the worst, most horrible, thing she saw was when she looked down at her hands. Instead of the normal digits she had always been used to, there was, instead, a pair of furry brown stubs.

CC’s bubbly excitement was quickly replaced with concern when she saw her sister sitting on the ground staring at her hooves, muttering something under her breath.

“What the heck? What the heck? What the heck?” She repeated with increasing volume as her panic began to show. “What the Hell? What the Hell? What the Hell?” CC shifted her eyes anxiously, hoping that her sister’s voice wouldn’t attract any dangerous animals to them.

“uhh, Sunny?” She said, inching towards her sister carefully. “I don’t think we should be making so much noise out here, heh heh.” She laughed nervously. Her ears swiveled behind her. Had that bush just moved?

Before she could investigate, Sunny’s panicked scream echoed through the forest. “WHAT THE FUUUU-mmmph,” CC quickly shot her hoof into Sunny’s mouth, cutting her off.

She turned her focus back on the bush, which was now quivering with the monster it held within. Both the sisters held their breath anxiously, preparing themselves for the monstrosity that was about to pounce on them. The bush shook violently as the creature within hopped out. CC winced and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of claws or teeth ripping into her. When finding she was still breathing, she took a quick peek at her killer but found instead a fluffy white bunny.

“Oh my gosh!” she sighed with relief, feeling her heart flutter in her chest. “You scared the crap out of me, little guy.”

The tiny bunny gave her a huff and crossed his paws angrily. The strange performance had CC’s jaw hanging open in disbelief.

“Angel Bunny?” she gasped.

Having heard his name, Angel regarded CC with a quizzical stare. The little bunny’s eyes widened, as though suddenly realizing something, and he zipped back the way he came, leaving a floating trail of dust.

Sunny coughed, waving the dust away from her face. “What was that?” she asked.

Her question, however, went unanswered as her sister was too busy bouncing with joy.

“Oh my gosh!” She shouted excitedly. “If Angel’s here then that means Fluttershy is here, and if Fluttershy’s here then that means the other elements are here too! Which means…!” She held a dramatic pause before flinging herself in the air, screaming with joy. “We really are in Equestria!”

Sunny’s ears were suddenly assaulted with a fast stream of questions.

“Ohh, ohh, I’m a pony too aren’t I?” She screamed in her sister’s face, not waiting for an answer as more questions bubbled out of her. “What do I look like? WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE?! Am I green, blue, red? Ohh, I hope I’m blue, I love the color blue!” gasp “Am I a PEGASUS?! That’d be awesome if I were a Pegasus, then I could fly and walk on clouds. But what if I’m a unicorn?! Then I could do magic. O’MY GOSH, Sunny, I just realized you’re a UNICORN! Can you use any spells? Oh, what am I saying, of course not, we just transformed this morning! Ohh, ohh, ohh, do I have a cutiemark? What does it look like? Do I have to earn it first?” gasp “Sunny you already have a cutiemark!” CC pointed her hoof at Sunny’s rear, making Sunny flinch.

“SUNNY!” CC cried with a huge smile plastered on her muzzle.  “BRING YOUR BIG BUTT OVER HEAR AND LET ME LOOK AT IT!”

“WHAT?!” Sunny quickly backed away from her crazed sister, her tail slapping against the side of her flank defensively. “No way, you leave my butt out of this!”

Unfortunately for her, the request was not optional. CC ran up and swiftly pinned her older sister to the ground by kicking her hooves out from under her and holding them put with an iron grip. Now that Sunny was successfully pinned, with her face in the dirt, CC could get clear view of her flank.

“Ohh, cool!” CC whistled. On both sides of her flank were two identical marks, CC stared at the one on the left. It was a bright red kite shield with golden trimming that easily contrasted against her faded brown fur, making it standout on her rump. In the center of the shield was a diamond star the same color as the golden trimming.

“I wonder what it means.” She asked, finally allowing her annoyed sister to stand.

Upon seeing her cutiemark, Sunny was suddenly alarmed.

“Did someone tattoo me while I was passed out?!” she gasped.

“No, silly,” CC laughed. “That’s your cutiemark! All ponies have them.”

Sunny calmed down after hearing this, but was soon curious about her little sister’s form. When she had watched the show with her, not once did she see any pony that looked like CC’s new body. But then again, she had only watched two episodes. Rather than think about it, she decided to ask her sister, since she seemed to be the expert on the subject.

“Hey, CC,” She walked towards CC, still getting the hang of hooves. “What kind of pony are you? I mean no offense, but you look kinda like you got a disease or something.”

“What do you mean?” CC asked, anxiously trying to get a good glimpse of herself. After failing to see anything but black, she walked to a nearby puddle and looked at her reflection.

She gasped when she saw a green eyed changeling staring back at her. Looking down at her hooves she saw the holes that riddled the hard chitinous hide. She licked her lips, feeling her tongue slide over her large canines. She sighed sadly, her wings drooping. A few seconds later her gloomy mood soon dispersed into happiness once again. Her head whipped around to find a pair of membranous wings folded against her blue shell.

Sunny pinned her ears down, preparing for the inevitable. The forest was once again forced to listen to CC’s excited squeals.

“Wings, wings, look Sunny, I got WINGS!” she exclaimed, her newly discovered wings buzzing happily. “Who cares if I’m changeling, I can fly…” her wings buzzed rapidly, barely lifting her from the ground. “and…” she placed a hoof upon the sharp horn jutting out of her brow. “I can use magic! I’m practically an alicorn!”

Sunny sighed and waited for her sister’s bouncing phase to subside.

“Yeah well, that’s great and all, little miss whatever you are,” Sunny’s gaze drifted to her belly that had been growling for the last half hour. “But do you know where we can grab something to eat, or, even better, find our way back home?”

CC’s face took a turn from happiness to seriousness before one could even blink. “Hmmm…” she rubbed her chin in thought, her eyes turned skyward. “Well, if that rabbit from before was Angel Bunny, which I’m pretty sure it was, then that means Ponyville should be nearby. We could always eat there, but as for a way to get back home…?” She continued to speak her thoughts. “Maybe Twilight will know some sort of spell that could teleport us back!” she smiled, hoping to receive a compliment for her conclusion but instead found her sister observing herself in the puddle as if it were a mirror, fussing over her mane.

“Sunny!” CC pouted, snapping Sunny away from her reflection. “Let’s go!” With that she turned and walked south, the same direction Angel had retreated to.

“Hey wait up!” Sunny called, running to catch up. “Where are we goin’ again?”

CC rolled her eyes. “You should have been listening!” she snorted, trotting ahead.

Sunny sighed and decided to focus her gaze on the passing scenery around her. The forest was quite beautiful with its trees swaying almost musically in the breeze and the tiny woodland creatures bustling through the undergrowth. She took a deep breath, feeling her lungs welcome the fresh air. Her deep breath came out a weary sigh as the events of the day repeated themselves in her mind. How did they get here? What was the orb? Was there a reason behind this? And most importantly, how were they going to get back home? Although it was a broken home, it was still a home that Sunny already missed. Sunny shook her head, suddenly tired when none of her questions were answered.

Lost in thought, Sunny almost collided into her sister when she suddenly grinded to a stop in front of a large patch of blue flowers. Sunny stumbled behind CC, casting an angry glance her way.

“Why’d you do that?!” Sunny snapped.

“Oh sorry,” CC apologized, trying to hide her smile. “I just wanted to test out my new wings.”

Her small body lifted off of the ground as her wings became a blur, letting out a slight buzzing sound. After a few feet in the air, she began to change her wing direction allowing herself to fly forward, over the blue blossoms below.

Sunny hesitated, expecting some sort of trap, before following behind, sneezing as a small cloud of the flowers’ pollen drifted into her face. Seeing this, CC snickered above. Sunny narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“What’s so funny?” She asked carefully.

CC rolled her eyes innocently.

“Oh, it’s just an old joke I suddenly remembered.” She giggled.

Sunny snorted and continued forward, unaware of her sibling’s evil grin. ‘More like an old poison joke’ she thought giggling, before flying forward, excited to see what the rest of today had in store for them.