Prologue
CHAPTER ONEPrologue
Amongst the books of the Ponyville library an Earth pony stallion sat with a nervous look on his face, his mountain meadow coat stained with sweat. He blew an errant strand of mustard yellow mane out his eyes and drummed his forehooves on the floor.
The sound of a door opening, followed by voices, shocked the stallion into a statue-like state. Hoofsteps resonated throughout the library as two ponies came downstairs, talking as they walked.
"Is he even here yet, Twilight?" a male voice asked. "Because if he is, he's being very quiet."
"Spike told me that he arrived some time ago." Twilight replied. "But it has been a while, so perhaps he's reading something? You know how I get when I'm engrossed in a good book, Geo, so perhaps our guest is the same?"
The two of them entering the room prompted the stallion to leap from his seat and smile at the two alicorns now looking at him, each of them sporting a smile of their own.
One was Twilight Sparkle: the personal protégé of Princess Celestia, and recently crowned Princess of Equestria. At her side stood her husband Geo: a former human who was the first of his kind to set foot in Equestria for a thousand years. He had been transformed into an alicorn by Princess Celestia at the same time Twilight had been, and was now light grey with a brown mane and tail. His cutie mark – a shield with a heart on it – symbolised his willingness to protect the ones he loves, such as his family and friends.
"Let me guess," Geo said, "you must be Sweet Tale."
The stallion nodded and bowed. Geo rolled his eyes and chuckled, motioning with a forehoof for Sweet Tale to stand.
"There's no need for that." he said. "I may be a Prince now, but I still don't consider myself to be above my fellow man... er, I mean, my fellow ponies."
Sweet Tale straightened himself up and grinned. After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke up.
"We understand," she said softly, "that you wish to hear the story of our transformation, so that you can write a book about it?"
"Yes, your Highness," Sweet Tale replied. "that is correct. I think that everypony needs to know your story. As a writer, I would be honoured if you would let me do this."
He gestured to his cutie mark, a yellow quill in front of a blue crescent moon, and nodded towards a nearby saddlebag which was full of parchment and ink.
"I see that you've come prepared." Twilight giggled. "I guess I'm not the only one who is serious about their note-taking."
Sweet Tale chuckled and walked over to the saddlebag, taking out the items he needed before sitting in the middle of the floor and putting the quill in his mouth.
"Could we get started?" he said. "I don't want to take up too much of your – no doubt valuable – time."
Twilight and Geo both sat in front of him. Sweet Tale pointed at Geo and opened his notebook.
"So," he said, "how did you cope with the sudden change, Prince Geo? Being turned into an alicorn after being a human for so long can't have been easy for you. Would you like to tell me about how the two of you worked around it?"
"I'd be happy to." Geo replied.
And then he started his story.
Foal Steps
CHAPTER TWOFoal Steps
The morning after my transformation I woke up to a bright new day. As I lay in bed, I didn't realise what had happened to me for a moment — until I rolled over and whacked my horn off the headboard, my groan of pain causing Twilight's eyes to flutter open.
"Are you all right?" she asked. "Did you hit your horn?"
I rubbed the sore spot with a forehoof and nodded, sticking my lower lip out in a small pout. Twilight giggled and tenderly kissed it before sitting up and stretching her wings.
"These are going to take some getting used to." She said. "I have no idea how to use them."
"Uhh, hello?" I teased. "Former human with no idea how to use any of his new appendages here!"
Twilight blushed sheepishly.
"Of course." she replied. "You're new to the whole 'being a pony' thing. Well don't worry, Geo, I'll be here to help you."
I smiled and leaned in to kiss her — only to poke her in the eye with my horn. She yelped in agony and I drew my head back as quickly as I could.
"Holy shit, Twi!" I stuttered. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Twilight rubbed her eye and nodded.
"Horns are a lot more dangerous than they look." I muttered. "Better add that to the 'list of stuff I need to deal with'."
Twilight giggled and climbed out of bed. I went to follow her, only to end up on the floor in a heap.
"Oh come on!" I shouted into the floorboards. "I thought I'd nailed the whole 'standing up straight' thing last night!"
I slowly got to my hooves and take a tentative step forward, only to wobble slightly. I looked pleadingly at Twilight, who was trying hard not to laugh.
"Awww," she cooed, "it's like you're a foal just learning how to walk! It's so cute!"
"As cute as it may be," I replied, "I can't very well stay here all day. How the hell do I walk on four legs?"
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Just watch me," she said, "and do what I do."
I did as I was asked and looked diligently at Twilight. She put on a smile and started walking. After watching her for a while I made a mental note of how she moved.
"Okay, I think I've got it." I said confidently. "Left front, right rear, right front, left rear."
Twilight nodded.
"Good." She replied. "Now give it a try and see how you fare."
I slowly put my left front hoof forward. When I didn't fall over again I followed it up with the rest of the movements I had copied from Twilight. Soon I was trotting around the room with all the grace of an overexcited foal on Hearth's Warming morning, complete with a gleeful expression on my face.
Twilight giggled at my antics and opened the door with her magic before walking into the hall. She stood in the doorway and watched me as I continued making a fool out of myself.
"Are you coming?" She asked. "Or are you just going to run around the bedroom all day?"
I stopped walking and chuckled sheepishly.
"Sorry." I said. "But it just feels so good to be able to walk... on four legs, that is."
Twilight giggled and walked out of sight. I heard her going downstairs and proceeded to follow her.
It was at this point I learned that while I was able to walk on a flat surface, inclines – such as stairs – were a different matter entirely.
But at least I managed to avoid hitting my horn as the floor once again rushed up to meet my face for the second time that morning.
