Heartstrings, Sweetie Drops and You

“Do you want anything else, ma’am?”

Your customer, for her part, doesn’t even bother to respond, as she just takes her goods and walks out of your store.

You sigh. What a stuck up bitch that was. It’s nothing new to you though. Working at a convenience store, as a night clerk even, means that the folks you get tend to keep to themselves. The odd night owl like that woman earlier, tend to be the normal customers, be they somewhat rare at times. Usually, it was just some poor sop that was stuck doing night duty, just like you. They’d come in for a pack of smokes, or a bottle of booze mostly. Can’t really blame them, as doing night duty was the most ungrateful job there ever was. People during the night tend to be assholes though, and it was honestly rare to see someone come to your counter with a smile.

The night owl types are still the kind you prefer though, as you’re one yourself. They’re a lot better then the crazies and the hobo’s that also frequent the store, that’s for sure. Sure, they pay for their goods just like any other, but they give you the creeps. Not to mention the smell at times. You don’t earn nearly enough that you like with this job, but no way will you ever allow yourself to become homeless, and be forced to live or smell that way. You’d rather jump in front of a train or something like that.

And you still prefer those types over some robber that thought to earn a quick buck, by hitting your convenience store. It hasn’t happened yet, but you expect it will happen one day. It seems to be the norm for this type of job. Should it occur, you’ll just give him the money in the cash register. No way is this job worth getting shot over.

You glance over at the clock. Just another five minutes before your shift was done. And to add to your joy, today was Saturday morning, meaning that you’d be off for two days. It’s funny, because a little over two months ago, that actually was something you didn’t even give a toss about. You didn’t have much to come home to after all. A lousy apartment, located in a really shitty neighborhood, with nothing of luxury to speak off, was all you had. You didn’t get along with your neighbors. Heck, none of them got along with each other, and you’re sure the guy below you is running a meth lab or something odd like that. All kinds of gangster like types seem to enter that place. Oh well, none of your business, lest you get shot or stabbed for being curious.

But now you liked getting home, if only to quickly get on your computer. It’s corny as hell, and you never expected that you would be one of those people, but you found a girl… on some chatroom… about My Little Pony. Yeah, for some reason you really got into that silly little cartoon, and while you wouldn’t publicly call yourself a brony, you’re still a fan of the show all the same. So, one boring early night, right after your shift ended, you joined some chatroom, if only to look around a bit, see what kind of people lurk in these places. Not many people where in that chatroom, but considering the hour, that’s no surprise. But it didn’t take long for a private box to pop open, as a user named Heartstrings said hello.

You normally aren’t the kind of person that does these things, but Lyra was your favorite background pony, and considering this user’s nickname, you assumed he or she was the same. So, you chatted for a few hours about that mint unicorn and the other ponies. Then the next day you did the same, and the next, until it became a daily occurrence and you quickly gained a friend. Sure, it was an online friend, but a friend all the same.

Gradually, you two became closer, and you soon learned that Heartstrings was an actual girl. At first, you took that information with a grain of salt. The last time you met a girl online, was on some free to play MMORPG, and the orc warrior you quickly befriended, claimed she was Rebecca, a girl your age. Turns out Rebecca, was actually Dave, some old dude praying for easy gold by fooling teenage guys into online relationships of the sorts. While you weren’t particularly close to ‘her’, it was still a blow to the head that someone you thought of as a friend, had in fact been lying to you for all that time.

But the more you chatted, the more she checked out. One day, you two even used voicechat, and for the first time your worries of Heartstrings being a man after all, got buried for good when you heard her voice. It was slightly grainy, yet cute and feminine in every way. She was embarrassed in a way and seemed unsure if she was using the microphone correctly. You could tell by the sound of her voice, but then so where you. It had been quite a while since your last girlfriend, and that meant you were rather rusty on the whole chatting with girls thing. It is one thing to type a conversation, but it’s another thing all together to actually be using speech. She seemed to calm down though during the conversation, and before long so did you.

It was in a sense liberating to be able to speak about ponies, and she seemed to be an expert on the matter. It was as if she knew every little detail about the show. Be it from the mane six to the background ponies. She even seemed to know every nook and cranny of Ponyville. She was quite informed about the show, that’s for sure. The fact she was a girl, made it so much easier for you as well. Your masculinity always came rearing up, whenever you actually stopped to think that you were basically geeking out over a bunch of colorful ponies, but with Heartstrings that just didn’t happen.

It didn’t take long for you two to talk about other things, such as hobbies and the likes. She really seemed to be into music, as that was what she mostly talked about. She was a bit secretive about her personal life though, but you suppose you can’t blame her. A girl can’t exactly tell every little thing to a guy she met online. Plenty of times, that will end up with the girl hurt, raped, or dead. You’re not a creep like that, and you would never do anything like that in a million years, but you understand why she wouldn’t be comfortable giving out that kind of information. You were curious, sure, but you never pressured her. The last thing you wanted was for you to lose your friend, or perhaps something more than friends in the future.

But as the time you spend over the internet grew longer, so did she seemed to relax more and more, and before too long she let a few things slip. She lived with a roommate, also a girl, although she never told you her name, nor did you ever ask, as frankly, the only girl you cared about was Heartstrings. She was into the mystical things, like weird creatures and ghosts. A weird hobby, especially for a girl, but if she liked that, then she liked that. She had a job in the music business, although she never went into full detail about it, as if she was afraid you would ridicule her or something. So you once again never pressured her into telling you more. You were content enough with the little details she told you about her personal life, as little as those were.

She also didn’t seem to mind that you were just a night clerk. Most girls, heck most people even, wouldn’t exactly call your job great for future aspects, as being a convenience clerk isn’t exactly the most thrilling or high paying job in the world. But Heartstrings though it was nice anyways. As she said, a job is a job, and for the first time you actually seemed to be ok about your job. She made you feel that you weren’t just some loser that settled for the lowest of the low, and you honestly grew to like her, perhaps even love her. It’s immensely silly, liking someone you never met in person, but she was seriously everything you could ever want for in a girl. Funny, charming, and actually liking you for who you are. And you got all that just from her voice!

And then the day came when you two finally used a webcam. You thought it was the silliest thing ever, but you went to actually buy one of the damn things all the same. Maybe, it was because deep down you where lonely, or maybe you just wanted to sate your curiosity, but after talking to Heartstrings for close to two months, you just wanted to see how she looked like.

She was nothing like you expected. Your luck always ends up shooting you in the foot, so you expected her to be somewhat average to even ugly, maybe even fat. It’s horrible of you to say that, since you really did considering her a friend, but deep down you were hoping for something more than just being friends.

So, imagine your surprise when an angel appeared in front of the webcam. She looked somewhat odd though, cute as hell but odd. She basically looked like a Lyra cosplayer with her eyes being orange, and her hair dyed cyan, with a white streak towards the right. She also wore a mint colored dress, as if to complete the cosplay look. It all looked very cute and actually quite sexy, but odd none the less.

She claimed she did that for you, since you both liked Lyra, and you honestly felt happy. She didn’t have to do that at all, but the fact a girl went out of her way to please you, was almost enough to make you tear up. You do wonder why she used contacts to make her eyes orange and dyed her hair for a webcam chat, but goddamn if it didn’t accentuate her already stunning appearance. She just made those colors work, as if she was born with them.

You couldn’t help it, you blabbed out you found her the cutest thing ever. It was so embarrassing, and the fact she blushed hard at your remark made it somewhat worse, but she thanked you all the same. It was a bit of an awkward webcam chat, that first time, but she really took the Lyra cosplay a bit too far. She asked you to wiggle your hands and all in front of the screen. You thought it was the silliest thing ever, but you complied, if only to hear her giggle. That sound was pure heaven to you, and you would do anything to hear that over and over again.

That was a week ago, and this last week you two have been using the webcam every day. She kept using her cosplay looks though, but you didn’t care anymore. If that is what she liked, and as she claimed, did it for you, then you could deal with it all the same. Maybe she was embarrassed deep down about all this, and this was a way for her to cope, or maybe she honestly did it for you, thinking you’d like her more like that, which in a way, you did.

She really took the Lyra thing too far though, as she even played the lyre. You have no idea if she could play it before she watched the show, or if she learned it after, but she was good, great even! That must be what she does for her music carrier. Maybe she plays in a band that does opera music or something like that? A lyre isn’t exactly a common instrument these days after all.

Lyre music isn’t something you would have ever thought you’d enjoy, but it was so soothing and so pleasant to listen to, that you honestly loved for her to play it for hours on end, which she did, much to your enjoyment.

Over the last week, your conversation went from ponies to more personal things, and you finally let it slip you liked her more than just a friend. At first, you thought you blew it, as she felt silent, as if she didn’t know what to do. Didn’t she like you? Was she afraid of you? Or was it just mere shyness? But in the end she said she liked you too, and was willing to try going on a date.

You were overjoyed, and you settled for a date at her place, which was set for tomorrow evening actually. Ten PM, as odd as hour as it can be, but the fact you two are both night owls means that meeting over the daytime wouldn’t work out that well.

You seriously can’t wait, and as soon as this shift is over… speaking off, what time is it? You glance back at the clock, and realize you could have been home by now. It’s already fifteen minutes past your shift. You seriously can’t believe you’ve been daydreaming about Heartstrings for twenty minutes straight. Making sure nothing is out of place, you do a quick check over inside the store, to find everything in order, so you lock up and go to your home.

You live relatively close to your job, so it doesn’t take you too long to get home. A ten minute walk, give or take a minute, is all it takes, and you soon find yourself home. You take a quick shower and grab a quick bite to eat, before you head off to bed. Heartstrings wouldn’t be on today, as she said she had to prepare for your date tomorrow. What she meant with that exactly, you have no idea, but girls tend to go overboard with those kinds of things anyways.

With a smile, you fall asleep knowing your date tomorrow will be great.

***

You wake up in the late afternoon, just like you’re used to. You take a long shower, making sure you’re sparkly clean, before shaving yourself and basically doing everything you can to make yourself look as good as you possibly can. You pick out your best outfit and dress up into it. After that, you make yourself something easy to eat. Finishing that, you patiently await your date tonight.

And that’s when you come to the realization that you never asked Heartstrings her actual name. How the hell can you be so stupid! You have no idea if it was because you’re a beta faggot, or if you just honestly never thought about it, but you’re going on a date, at a girls place, and you don’t even know her actual name. There is nothing else to do, but to ask her tonight. God, you hope she doesn’t get mad at that.

Still, maybe you should get her flowers? Girls like flowers, right? But what if she is allergic to them? The more you think about it, the more you realize you don’t know Heartstrings at all. You know some details, but the most basic ones you got no clue on. Why didn’t you ever ask her these things? Was it because you didn’t care? No, that not true. You’re not some insensitive jerk, but you can’t deny that you might come across like one right now.

She never told you these things either though, and she was quite secretive about her personal info to begin with. Come to think of it, she would be particularly odd about that at times. You once asked her about siblings, or her parents, but she never actually replied to that, and instead moved the conversation to another topic all together. At the time, you thought that meant she didn’t want to talk about them, but maybe there was another reason?

And there would be times, where the conversation would span to the early morning, but as soon as the sun was due to come up, she would make up some excuse and go right offline. You can’t deny that’s odd either. It’s almost as if she’s a vampire, and needed to be in her coffin before dawn. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all? Yeah, you should just cancel this date…

Ugh, stop thinking weird stuff like that! So, she’s a bit odd. So are you, and she’s the perfect girl for you, possibly even your future girlfriend if this plays out right tonight. It’s just your nerves talking. You’ll be fine! You’re going on a great date, and hopefully come out of it with a new girlfriend. This evening will be one of the best ever, you’ll see!

***

You went to a little flower shop, and got yourself a bouquet of roses. You don’t know the first thing about this shit, but girls like that, right? After that, you got onto a public bus, and went on your way. Luckily for you, Heartstrings lives in the same city as you but on the opposite side, so you had quite the journey to make. You don’t know a thing about the neighborhood she resides in, but it’s not that far from the bus stop.

The journey itself took close to two hours, but finally you are here. That might become an issue in the future though. You don’t mind doing this. Especially for a girl as special as her, but two hours is a long time to travel. You can’t do that on a working day.

Well, there is no reason to start thinking about complicated stuff like this from the get go. For all you know, this is the only time you come here.

You get off the bus and maneuver the streets. You memorized the way to go, but you’re still somewhat surprised when you arrive at quite the nice neighborhood. That’s good. It means one less reason to be worried. Somehow, you can’t help but have some deep down fear about all of this. You expected to get send to some creepy cabin in the woods, and some dudes would be waiting for you there to cut your organs out for the black market. But nothing of the sorts will happen, if this neighborhood is anything to go by.

You really can’t relax for some reason though. It must be your nerves. You have never done anything like this before. That being online dating, and it is making you nervous as hell. You take a deep breath to calm down, and continue on your way.

It only takes a few more minutes to arrive at your location, but you soon find yourself in front of a big looking house. It looks fancy. Really fancy. As in, you can never afford this type of house ever fancy. You had no idea, but Heartstrings must be loaded. She could get any type of guy if she’s this rich, and yet she agreed to go on a date with a bum like you. Once again, you can’t believe that such an angel exists, and you didn’t even ask her real name. You’re such an idiot!

This is it though. In a few moments, you’ll meet the girl that you have been anxious to meet. God, you hope everything goes alright tonight.

You march up to the door and ring the bell. You take a last moment to straighten yourself, before you wait for her to open the door, your flowers in your hand.

It takes a bit, and you’re about to ring again, but before you can, the door finally opens.

You let out a breath that you didn’t even realize you were holding in, but she’s just so gorgeous. Sure, you’ve seen her on the webcam before, but she’s every bit as stunning, if not more, in reality. But… she’s still in her cosplay look. The mint dress got replaced for a more stunning, nicer looking dress, be it also still mint colored. You don’t know the first thing about dresses, but it looks quite expensive. You also spot a nice looking necklace adorning her already gorgeous look. Come to think of it, you’ve spotted that thing on earlier webcam sessions. You don’t know for sure, but it looks to have a diamond in the middle, and it sure as hell looks expensive.

“Hi, nice to see you found the place.” She says ever so chipper.

“Huh?” you shake yourself from staring like a retard “Oh, yeah. Nice place you have here.”

“Thank you. Want to come in?”

“Yeah…” you start to move but remember the flowers in your hand. “Oh. These are for you.”

You hand her the bouquet of roses, and she stares at them a bit before accepting them. You can tell by her face though, she doesn’t seem to like them. Crap, did you fuck up? Don’t girls normally like flowers?

“I’m sorry. You hate them.” You mutter weakly with a sigh.

“Oh no, I don’t. I prefer lilies or tulips though. Roses tend to be too bitter and can be hard to chew. Not really my kind of thing.” She’s still smiling but you do a double take at that.

What? Did she seriously mean that? Is she still into her Lyra roleplay thing? Or was that meant as a joke? What do you do now? Do you laugh at that? It wasn’t exactly funny to you. Too much time has passed to laugh now though. You’d look like a retard, and it would be embarrassing for both of you now.

God, you’re totally acting like a pathetic little virgin right now. What’s wrong with you? This isn’t your first date. It might be the first online date, and a bit awkward due to having found each other over pastel colored mini horses, but you need to man up, badly! Also, you need to learn her name.

“Um, I know this is rather stupid of me… but I never asked your actual name.” you finish as you scratch the back of your head.

“Oh. It’s Laura.”

Laura…Lyra… That’s awkward.

“Hah, that made the cosplay thing a lot easier, right? Speaking off, I can’t help but notice you’re still doing it.”

The smile drops from her face and she looks worried. Damn idiot, you upset her!

“You… don’t like it?”

Oh god, she looks crestfallen. You retarded prick! You should have just kept quiet.

“Oh no, I do. I’m just not used to girls cosplaying I guess.”

You laugh awkwardly, as you try your hardest not to fuck this up more. Screw it. You might as well come clean to her.

“Sorry. I’m just not used to this whole thing. Online dating I mean. And well, regular dating has been a while as well. So forgive me if I say some awkward stuff.” You finish with another sigh.

“It’s alright. I’m not really used to this either.”

She does seem to be as nervous about all of this as you are, so that’s a good sign. Least you can be awkward around each other together.

“So, are you going to stand there or are you going to come in?”

She’s right. You’re still standing there like some retard. You flash her a smile, a genuine one at that, and enter her house. She leads you through a hallway, but most doors seem to be closed. You also spot a stairs leading up. You still follow her as you come to the end of this rather long hallway, and enter a nice looking dining room. You also spot the kitchen on the other side, and the rooms seem to be connected through an open section. The exterior looked nice, but this place looks so damn expensive. That’s the word that comes to mind. These chairs, the dining table itself, the decorations and flowers, every bit seems to be top notch stuff. The kitchen itself looks to be high tech rich stuff too. Damn, she really must be rich. You once again can’t believe she’d go out with a bum like you, but here you are.

First things first. Compliment her looks.

“You look great by the way.”

“Thanks. Do you want anything to drink?”

Well, that didn’t work as well as you had hoped. It’s as if she just shrugged your compliment off.

“Yeah, sure. Anything is fine.”

You watch as she goes to the kitchen to pour you, and probably herself a drink. You can’t see everything, but you can see that she opens her fridge, and pulls out some sort of carton box. The real surprise came when she bends down to pick out two glasses from a cupboard. Holy shit! She’s not wearing underwear, and you just got a nice view of her firm looking ass, and more importantly, her girly bits in all its glory. Yeah, you’re going to score tonight!

You quickly face away when you spot her turning toward you to pour the drinks. No need for her to think you’re a creepy, even though she kind of led you on there. Creep or not, any man would stare if a girl flashed her goods on full display. You doubt she did it deliberately, but it’s a good sign for tonight, that’s for sure!

Crap, now you got sex on your mind, and junior down there is making quite the tent in your pants. It won’t be long before she comes over, so you need to distract her for a bit. Think, what are some good things you can ask her?

Oh wait! She mentioned a roommate. Is that girl here too, or did she go out for tonight? This place looks big enough for another person to live here, and the rooms did seem locked when you entered.

“So, is that roommate of yours home?”

“Oh no. She lives in the other house.”

Wait what? OTHER house? Just how rich is this girl? Rational thinking would perhaps have told you that this might be her parents’ house, and she means a dorm, or apartment of sorts but you’re not thinking rational at all. Even if that is true, it still doesn’t change the fact that she must have a hell of a lot of money. You’re not going out with her for that reason, but you feel like this is some weird fairytale where some princess falls in love with a lower class bum and they live happily ever after. You’re getting ahead of things by far, but you’d love for that scenario to be true. Though even if she was poor, you’d still like Laura as she seems to be a really nice girl.

You shake yourself awake when you see her approach with two glasses of some orange liquid. When she hands it to you, you can quickly tell it’s applejuice. Really? That’s all she got? Seems like a poor choice for a drink on a date.

“Hope this is fine?” either she can read your mind, or she saw your frown.

“Yes, don’t worry. It’s fine.” You give her a fake smile as you down the drink in one go. God, you haven’t drunk applejuice since you were a kid going to grade school. She really got some weird quirks at time. That will take some getting used to.

You place the glass down, but as you look back at Laura, her face changed from a smile to one of concern? Or is it guilt? Why is she looking at you like that?

“What’s wrong?” you ask her.

“I’m really sorry. This is the only way I know how.”

Know what? What does she mean by that?

“I’ll hope you can forgive me one day.”

No really, what is she on about?

“Slow down Laura. You’re not making any sen…”

You suddenly feel very woozy. Why are you feeling so woozy?

Oh god. What’s happening to you? More importantly, what did she do to you? Did she poison you? You knew this was too good to be true! Why didn’t you listen to your gut instinct?

“…Poise…” You can’t even speak properly anymore, as the best you can do is a sluggish muttering.

“Don’t worry. It’s only a sleeping potion. It won’t harm you, I promise.”

Sleeping potion? Why would she put you to sleep? Suddenly, that organ harvesting crew pops in your head. No! You need to get out of here, fast!

You try to walk, but all you accomplish is knocking down one of the dining chairs as you fall to the ground. Get up! Get up, or you’re going to be killed! Try as you might, you can’t accomplish more than getting one arm off the floor. Your vision is weakening and blurring, as the tranquilizer starts to really kick in.

Laura’s face suddenly appears in front of yours. “Ssshhh. Just let it happen. It will all be over soon.”

This bitch set you up, and now she has the audacity to mock you? You lunge at her as a last desperate action, but all you accomplish is to grab the necklace around her neck. As you start to pass out, you rip the necklace off her neck, and the last thing you see before you pass out is a bright green light.

***

You seem to be fading in and out of consciousness for some time. What happened? Why are you like this? It takes a while for your brain to respond, but soon you realize what happened earlier. Laura set you up! Why would she do that?

You try to get up, but you’re still so weak. You barely got any control in your arms and legs, and the only thing you can do is to open your eyes and lift your head up slightly. The first thing you spot is that you’re in a different room. Looking from the crummy look off the walls, this is most likely the basement of the house.

What makes you gasp is when you realize you’re surrounded by half a circle of red gemstones surrounding your body, almost set up like some ritual of some sorts. Oh sweet merciful god! Is this some satanic ritual with you as the living sacrifice?

Looking around some more, you spot a similar setup of green gems across from yours. Other than that, there is also a big mirror present. Looking at the mirror more closely, you can see half of a room, as is evident by the bed. How is that possible?

You’re also quite aware by now that you are naked. Not a piece of clothing remains on your body, and there hasn’t even been a towel or something draped around your waste for modesty.

Suddenly, you hear a door opening and loud bangs coming down the stairs. Why is it so loud? Are you going to die? Like this, sacrificed like some lamb to the slaughter?

You try to get up once more, but it’s no use. Your strength has been zapped from your body, and all you can do, is move your fingers and toes slightly. You always heard that survival instinct kicks in when you’re in grave danger, but it seems that’s bullshit as your body stays in the same daze as it was before.

You brace yourself from your would-be killer, or killers as you have no idea what awaits you, but you do a double take when you spot a mint unicorn appearing in your vision. Are you hallucinating from the drugs you have been given?

“Oh good, you’re up! I was afraid I gave you a too high dosage. That’s the last time I trust some quack unicorn.”

What is going on? Why is Lyra here? Why is she talking to you? What happened to Laura? Wait… you get it! This is a dream! A very fucked up dream, but a dream none the less! So, why can’t you move then?

“Once again, I’m really sorry, but this is the only way.”

“…Whas… goi… n.” You still can’t talk properly, as a silent mutter with broken words is all you can muster.

“Right. You’re probably wondering why this is happening to you, right?” She looks apologetic to you. “I don’t really know where to begin. I’ve always wanted to see your world, but until recently I couldn’t. I finally found a pathway through a very long search of rare antiques with magical powers, like this for example.” She points a hoof to the mirror you spotted earlier. So the reason why you see a room in there, is because it leads to another world? No way is that true… right?

Lyra focuses on you again as she continues her story. “You see, there are two mirrors like this. One in Equestria, and the other one in your world. Once I managed to find the Equestrian mirror, all I had to do was walk into it, and tada! Instant teleportation to another world!” She finishes with a smile.

Ok, you get that, but why are you here? Why did you get lured into her house? Does she plan to kidnap you, like her own pet human?

AS if she can read your mind, she replies. “I needed you to come here and stay with me. I can only do so much in this form. From what I’ve seen from your world, they don’t take too kindly to new exotic things. The last thing I’d want is to be caught and caged in some lab for the rest of my life. So, I need you to change bodies with me.” She finishes with another smile.

What? Change bodies with her? Did you hear that correctly? Why the fuck would she want to change bodies with you? Wasn’t she a human before? Or is Laura in on this?

“But… Laura…. Human.” You’re getting some speech back, and it’s not as muttered as before, but still rather weak.

“Oh yes. Remember the necklace you ripped from me? That allows me to temporarily change into anything I want, that being a human. But it only works during the night so it shuts down as soon as the sun comes up.”

Is that why she always made sure to be offline before daylight? So what, she’s been playing you like a fool for these two months so she can steal your body? How is she going to do that anyways? Why did she pick you off all humans anyways?

Once again, she seems to read your mind as she replies. “Imagine my surprise when I found out you humans knew all about us ponies! So, I waited and looking for a lonely human. One that wouldn’t be missed, or wouldn’t be paid much attention to if he acted differently, or left his job to explore the world.” She’s staring right at you now, and you realize you got no hope like this. She’s right. You got none to save you from this. You got no close friends. Your boss wouldn’t miss you either, and would probably be glad to get rid of you. Anything for him to save a few bucks by hiring a new guy for a worse pay. You spend way too little time with your parents as well. By the time they realize you are missing, it will be too late.

“If it’s any consolation, I really did like you, and would have loved to be your girlfriend if I was a human.” She’s at your face now, and gives you a quick peck on your lips as she smiles at you before walking to the green pile of gems. You don’t even feel disgusted by getting kissed by a cartoon pony, as all you want to do is wake up from this nightmare. That’s what this is right? This can’t be real right?

“I wish there was another way to do this, but I’m afraid this process will be quite painful.” She apologizes once again as she lays herself down at her stack of gems.

What’s going to happen? Why did she say it will hurt? What’s going on? You want to get out of this nightmare! Why can’t you wake up?

You hear a sound, and look over as you see Lyra’s horn glow with a golden aura. You stare in awe as you realize that you are witnessing that she is using magic, but that quickly fades when the golden aura becomes a huge display of light. You avert your eyes when it becomes too much for you, but you still notice that the aura became an orb, before that explodes into several beams that hit all the gemstones in the room. The gems seem to come alive, as you get surrounded by a glowing red mass of light, as the same thing happens to Lyra, only hers being green.

Soon, the arc of gemstones hit you from every angle, but no pain is forthcoming like she said there would be. Thank god for that. You do realize that you’re glowing bright red now though, and Lyra is glowing just as bright, only in green. Just what is going on?

As if to answer you, one of your red gems shatters and the light beam fills up your body, before it arcs over towards Lyra. At the same time, the same thing happened on her side, and a green beam is coming towards you.

Nothing could have prepared you for the excruciating pain that comes over you when the green beam hits you.

It feels as if every fiber of your body is on fire, and your legs seem to be melting away. You scream in agony when the pain becomes even more severe, and you actually feel your legs changing. You can do nothing else but watch in horror as you notice your toes melting away, and your feet and legs changing into hoof like shapes.

Looking over at Lyra, the same thing seems to be happening to her, only in reverse. Her hooves disappear as a pair of feet and legs grow in the place. She didn’t just mean swapping bodies! She aims to become you!

You want to run, hide away or stop the process, but you can do nothing as a second crystal breaks apart and the process happens again. Sure enough, a second red light hits you before it fires onward towards Lyra and a green one comes towards you.

You brace for the pain, but it’s every bit as severe as it was the first time. This time it’s your hands that get morphed into hooves, as your fingers fuse together to become them.

The process seems to pick up as a third gem breaks, and the beam that hits you this time seems to affect your hair, as it grows grey and white. It’s a lot less painful than the other two, but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting.

The fourth gem breaks, and you shriek in pain as it hits your body once again. Oh no. Oh god no! You stare in horror as you see your penis shrinking, and you can actually feel your testicles retracting within your body. Soon enough, nothing is left of your scrotum, and the last bits of your genitals are disappearing. In its place, a girl’s vagina seems to appear from nowhere, but that too comes with excruciating pain.

A brief moment of clarity in between the insanity of the events, and the pain of your body morphing, shows the exact opposite for Lyra. A penis actually burst forth from her vagina, and the same thing happens with a ballsack, as if she was giving birth to it. Soon enough, you can’t see her girly bits at all anymore, as if they vanished all together.

Another shriek of pain as another gem breaks, and this time you had enough. Tears actually burst from your eyes. Fuck this! You rather die than to have to go through with this. This time you feel a very sharp pain at your head as you feel the skin enlarging. Something is trying to burst forth from your head, but the skin won’t allow it, giving you even more pain than you’ve ever been in in your life. With a sickening sound, and quite the disgusting looking green goo, it finally burst forth, and you can see a horn growing from your head.

Yet another gem breaks as another beam comes towards you. This time it’s a sharp pain in your tailbone, and before too long you can feel a tail growing right above your behind. After the horn bursting from your head, and your genitals disappearing, it’s not the worst pain, but it’s still bad enough that you cry out once again.

Two more gems remain, but you don’t know what they can be for. You got hooves now, you got a horn now, and you even got a tail. You got a pony body now right?

Your answer comes when another gem breaks apart, and you wish this one didn’t. The pain from before was nothing compared to the one you’re feeling right now. You scream, louder than ever, and you’re honestly surprised none can hear you with the amount of sound you are making.

Your bones feel like they are shattering, like you are being run over by a tank, or stepped upon by an elephant. But unlike them becoming useless or mashed together, they seem to rearrange themselves. You realize in horror that they’re rearranging themselves to adapt to your new pony body. You can actually feel them merging and fusing together in a shape that they should never be in at all, but you can do nothing to stop the process. How much longer will your suffering end?

***

It took a while for that process to finish, but you’re hoarse by now. Your voice gave out during the sharp pain that you experienced, and all you can do now is pray to god that this nightmare will end soon.

As you stare at yourself, you realize that not only your bones have rearranged themselves, but you have shrunk, significantly even. You really are the size of a pony now, only your missing fur.

The final crystal breaks as if to answer to that, and when the beam hits you, minty green hairs sprung forth from all over your body. Soon enough, you are covered in fur, and you realize in horror that you have now become Lyra Heartstrings, the mint green unicorn.

Sure enough, when you look over at where Lyra was lying, you now see yourself in its place. She not only stole your body, she morphed into it!

You want to yell, you want to move, hit her, get your body back, but a tinier gem that you totally missed amidst the debris from the other ones shatters. You close your eyes in fear of another painful attack, but the only thing that happens is that you fall asleep yet again, unsure of what is going to happen to you this time.