The scent of clean sheets, and a soft bed underneath her were the first things she noticed. As sleep slowly left her, the next thing to come to her was the soreness. Everything ached, her arms, legs and back were stiff as boards, as if she had just been sitting on them for hours. The worst part was her eyes. Opening them, even slightly, stung horribly and her vision blurred into a swirling mix of white and gold. As she stirred, she felt a slight pain in her right arm. As she reached for the point of discomfort with her left hand, a sudden gasp caught her attention; she was not alone.

Jolting upright, she forced her eyes open to take in her surroundings. She was in what looked like a hospital room. The white walls and ceiling glowed in the light of the midday sun streaming through the window to her right. Turning that way, she could see that the pain in her arm was being caused by an I.V. needle, but she ignored it for the time being. Turning to her left, she came face to face with a man sitting in a chair against the wall next to an open door. He was a young man, dressed in a button-up shirt and slacks, he was of average height and athletic build, his reddish hair was slightly long and pulled back in a ponytail, save for a small braid on the side into which was woven a sky-blue feather, and he sported a well trimmed goatee. He was currently staring at her with wide eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked, fixing him with a look that could cut stone.

"You're in the hospital. How do you feel?" he asked.

"Lousy. Who are you?" Her words were short and forceful.

"My name is Lero, and I'm here to help," he said, raising his hands into plain view and slowly getting up from his seat.

"You don't look like a doctor," she said plainly.

"I'm not. But, they thought it would be best if I spoke to you first," said Lero, as he took a step forward.

The woman quickly reached to her right, grasped the I.V. in her arm, and pulled it out. She held the needle point down, and brought her fist up so that it was pointing straight at Lero. "That's close enough," she ordered, her voice a low growl.

"Okay, Oh-Kay," said Lero, as his hands went higher, and he stepped back to his chair. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Damn right, you're not. You want to talk, you can talk from right there." The woman lowered the syringe, but kept a firm grip on it.

"Alright, just let me start by bringing you up to speed on a few things," he said, in the calmest voice he could muster. "You've been unconscious for a long time."

"How long?" she demanded. Lero paused, as if trying to find the right words. Either that or he was stalling. "How... Long?" she repeated, with a threatening tone.

"About eight weeks," Lero said, with a sigh.

The words hit her like a boot to the head. She had been laying there for the better part of two months. As she tried to remember what had happened, pain suddenly shot through her head. Dropping the needle in her hand, she reached up to grasp her skull as her mind suddenly was bombarded by half formed images of strange places and bizarre creatures. They whirled around in her head, causing a wave of nausea to wash over her, before finally fading. As she came back to reality, she found herself leaning over the bed, trying to retch but nothing was forthcoming. She also realized that Lero was holding her hair back for her.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped, batting his hands away. The effort of swatting him was arduous, her arm felt like it was made of lead. As she continued looking down and clutching her stomach, her eyes went wide. Looking up to see that he had once again returned to his side of the room, she fixed him with another glare. "Alright, if you're not a doctor then who are you and why are you here?"

"Like I said, my name is Lero, and I'm here to help. I'm sure you must have a lot of questions, so I'll do my best to answer them." Lowering his hands, Lero slowly took a seat in his chair again.

"Okay then, first question, what the hell was in that I.V.?" she asked.

"A basic vitamin/mineral solution?" Lero offered, unsure why that would be her first question.

"Really? then how did I get like this?" she asked, gesturing to herself.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Lero replied.

"Last time I checked, I was not a plus size, and I did not have these things hanging off the front of me!" she snapped, gesturing at her full figure and pointing her thumb at her chest, and the ample breasts that rested upon it.

"That's probably a side effect of the other things that have happened." Lero spoke hesitantly, as if trying to pick his words while speaking them.

"What other things?" she asked, clearly getting annoyed.

"Well, I'm not sure how best to say this, but you're not on Earth anymore." Lero cursed himself in his head. Two months he had been rehearsing this conversation with himself, and that was the best he could come up with.

The two were silent for a moment, as the woman's eyebrow rose steadily higher. "Pardon?" was all she offered In response."Okay, you better start making sense real fast, or I'm going to leave and find someone who will," she said, edging to the side of the bed, away from Lero.

"Alright, but brace yourself, this is going to be kind of hard to believe," Lero warned, as he turned to the door. "Okay, Twilight, you can come in now."

"Coming," a young woman's voice called from outside the door.

As she watched the door, a strange double tapping sound could be heard from just down the hall. Is this girl wearing stilettos or something? And, what kind of name is Twilight? As these and other questions were going through her head, she was not prepared for what she saw next. Through the door walked what was easily the strangest looking creature that she had ever seen. It resembled a horse, but it was tiny, probably no more than three feet at the shoulder. Its head was also wrong, the muzzle was too short, the cranium overly large with what looked like a horn sticking out of it, and its eyes were enormous and set on the front of its face and not the sides. To top it all off, its fur was purple and someone had apparently taken the time to dye a pink star on its hip. To be honest, she probably would have thought the thing was adorable... if it wasn't smiling at her. Horses couldn't smile.

"Hi, my name's Twilight Sparkle," it said.

The words hung in the air as the room went quiet. The little horse had just spoken to her, and the implications of that were nothing short of staggering. So many questions flooded her mind that she was unsure where to start, and so she sat there, eyes wide, staring at the little creature, who's smile was becoming more, and more, nervous.

"And, you are?" Twilight asked, hesitantly.

"Rebecca... Rebecca Lancaster." The words were little more than a whisper.

"Well, Rebecca, it's very nice to meet you." Twilight's expression shifted from joyful to serious. "Now, we have a lot to discuss."

****

About an hour earlier.

Princess Celestia sat at the lone window of the intensive care unit. Her sister, Luna, had just departed, after assuring her that the internal conflict going on inside the human had been resolved for the time being. This had been a immense relief to Celestia, as it meant that truly drastic measures would not have to be taken. So, with the immediate crisis averted, her gaze had once more returned to the daily goings on of Ponyville. How, she wondered, would her little ponies react to this new human, especially if word got out of her condition. In her haste to be left alone she had neglected to instruct Doctor Vital Signs to remain silent on the matter. It was likely that he had already informed his staff of what had happened, and even if she were to gather all the hospital workers together and order their silence it was entirely possible that some had already left the hospital, for one reason or another, and proceeded to start gossiping about their day at work.

Celestia let out a deep sigh. She could only hope that the ponies of Ponyville would be as excepting of this human as they had been of Lero. Still, precautions would have to be taken until what had been done to her could be undone. She wondered if guardsmare Heartstrings would be willing to take on another charge, or if she should call upon somepony new for the task, perhaps Pinky Pie. While she was not a member of the guard, her ability to keep tabs on ponies had been well documented in Twilight's letters. Then again, Celestia doubted her ability to keep a cool head in the face of an emergency. So, Ms. Heartstrings it was.

The sound of hooves thundering down the hallway brought Celestia's attention back to the present. As she turned from the window, the door to the room was kicked open to reveal Twilight Sparkle carrying a large saddlebag that was bursting with books.

"Princess, (huff) we're (Gasp) back," Twilight panted, as sweat ran down her brow.

"Sheesh, Twi, we only ran, like, half a mile. You are seriously out of shape," said Rainbow Dash as she and the rest of the elements of harmony, as well as Lero and Lyra, made their way into the room.

"I didn't (pant) see you running," said Twilight, still trying to catch her breath.

"Oh, oh, is that a challenge to a race I hear?" Dash retorted.

"Ahem, I trust your endeavor was successful?" Given that each of the ponies before her was carrying a pack similar to Twilight's, Celestia figured that she already knew the answer.

"Yes, Princess," Twilight piped up. "Every single book with any mention of chimeras in it."

"Did you find any mention of a condition similar to that of our friend's here?" Celestia motioned to the woman.

"No, Princess, I'm sorry to say we didn't," Twilight said, with a bow of apology.

"Good."

All of those present cast the princess bewildered looks, except for Twilight who nearly toppled forward.

"E-excuse me, Princess," Twilight sputtered.

In response to the question, Celestia quickly lifted several books from Twilight's pack with her magic, and began swiftly perusing them. Some of the books she recognized, some she did not, and some she had even written, all of them had one thing in common, though. Throughout the books Celestia found pictures, references, and even diagrams, all of which were of one creature; the terrible three-headed beasts that roamed the most dismal places of Equestria.

"Yes, Twilight, good," Celestia repeated.

"Princess, I thought you wanted us to find some way to help this woman."

"I do, Twilight, but first I needed to know that the bureau of magical study's censorship branch has been doing their job. If all the books you found are like these then it would seem that they are," Celestia explained.

"What does the censorship board have to do with this?" Twilight asked.

In response to the questioning stares she was getting, Celestia reached out with her magic and closed the door to the, now somewhat crowded, room. "First off, why don't you all put those packs down and get comfortable? It's a bit of a long story."

"Oh boy, story time!" Pinky cheered, zipping up and taking a seat in front of Celestia, an expectant smile painted on her face.

"Princess, is this really the place for this?" Lero turned to regard the woman as he pulled the pack from his back.

"Do not worry, Lero, she is perfectly safe now, my sister saw to that before you arrived," Celestia assured.

"Huh, so that's the mare y'all been talkin' bout all winter?" Applejack asked. So far, the only pony present who had seen the woman, aside from Lero's herd and the Princess, was Rarity. She had stopped by one day to take the woman's measurements in preparation of making her some clothes at Lero's request.

"Yeah, that's her," Lero replied, depression creeping into his voice.

"Gosh, she's a biggin isn't she? I thought you said mares were smaller than stallions where you're from," she said, turning to Lero.

"Well, most are, but there are exceptions," Lero answered.

"Oh, my, she doesn’t look like she's half owl," Fluttershy said, hovering over Applejack for a better look.

"Yeah, one minute she was, then she just changed." Rainbow Dash flew up behind Lero to place her forelegs on his shoulders. "It was really creepy to watch."

"Aww, is she going to be okay? I still haven't thrown her that welcome party yet," Pinky Pie groaned from the foot of the bed.

"Please, everypony, I know you all have questions, perhaps I can answer a few of them," said Celestia, as she took a seat to one side of the room.

While the ponies got as comfortable as they could in the small room, Celestia did her best to clear her thoughts, trying to figure out where to begin.

"All right, I'm sure that by now you are all at least marginally familiar with the creatures known as chimeras." In response to nodding heads she continued. "What you are not aware of, is that they are not the first creatures to bear that name. You see, long before Nightmare Moon, before the rein of chaos, before the unification of the tribes, before even my own birth, Equestria was a very different place. I will assume that I need not go into detail about the many conflicts between the three tribes, but among the many problems of the ancient past was a near complete lack of restriction on the practice of, and experimentation with, magic.

"As now, every tribe had its own practitioners of magic then, be they unicorn wizards, earth pony alchemists, or pegasus weather shapers. Also, like today, many of them possessed an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and in their quest for it they managed to create many wondrous things. Some of Equestria's most common items, from simple spells of teleportation to enchanted fruit, are far older than many ponies think. Indeed, it was a time of great innovation and discovery back then. Sadly, it was also a time when morals and decency were far harder to come by, and with no overarching organization to keep ponies from delving into its darker aspects , the practitioners of magic were able to create some truly reprehensible thing."

"Like what?" Twilight asked, regretting the question even before she finished it.

Celestia searched her memories for a suitable example. "You are familiar with timber wolves, are you not?"

"Are you sayin' that a pony made those things?" Applejack asked, unable to believe her ears.

"Yes, Applejack, I'm afraid that is exactly what I'm saying," Celestia answered.

"But, I don't remember reading about anything like that in school," Twilight interrupted. "Wouldn't something like that be mentioned in history?"

Looking at her student, with a sad smile, Celestia shook her head. "Twilight, I think you underestimate how quickly history can be forgotten. Why, in less than a hundred years the deeds of Nightmare Moon were no longer fresh in the minds of even the oldest ponies. By the time a thousand had passed, all that was left of her were a few musty old tomes and a children's holiday."

Twilight had no counter for that. Truth be told, it had taken even her a considerable amount of digging though the royal library to find the book that had tipped her off to the mare in the moon's return, and even then she had stumbled upon it quite by accident. If that was any indication then finding any reliable information on the period of time that Celestia was referring to would be almost impossible.

"If I may ask a question," chimed Rarity, "why would anypony create such a horrid creature as a timber wolf?"

"Because they could, and nopony was stopping them," Celestia answered. "You see, back then, magical might often went hoof in hoof with leadership and one of the more popular pursuits of powerful magic users was the acquisition of servants to carry out their will and help them with their research. As you can imagine though, most ponies did not wish to be anywhere near something as dangerous as a powerful mage. So, eventually, some of them decided that if good help was so hard to find then they would make it instead. So, the creation of magical servants came into practice. Everything from living constructs of wood or metal, to wild animals, and even other ponies magically compelled to service were employed.

"It is not known who first stumbled upon the idea, but at some point during this time period somepony decided that crafting golems was either too expensive or arduous, and the existing creatures of nature were inadequate as servants. This unknown practitioner of magic decided to try something else. If all the current creatures of the world were unsatisfactory, then they would create a new one. Using arcane techniques, that are still poorly understood, they were able to take many animals, and combined them into one, giving the resulting creature the ability to assume the form of any of its component creatures, or even take traits from many of them at once. So it was, that the first chimeras came to be."

"And you think that's what's been done to her?" Lero asked, looking at the woman.

"Yes, Lero, I believe so."

"Then why did she try to attack you, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Because, Twilight, she was still in what is known as the fugue state," Celestia replied.

"The fuwhat state?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The fugue, or formative state," Celestia clarified, "Is a period following a chimera's creation in which the minds of its component creatures via for dominance. How it behaves, and which form it is most comfortable in, depends on which mind emerges as dominant."

"So, dose that mean that her human side is the one callin' the shots?" Applejack asked.

"Yes, I believe so." Looking over her subjects, Celestia could see the worry in their eyes, not only for the woman's safety, but also their own if the situation changed. "Fortunately, my sister was able to see to it that the other mind currently sharing her body was buried deep in her subconscious. With any luck it will remain there until we can find a way to undo what has been done to her. Still, some precautions will have to be taken." Celestia turned her gaze to Lyra and gave her a small smile.

"Would you like me to keep an eye on her, Princess?" Lyra asked, with a smile.

"I would indeed, Lyra, you're about as well versed in the ways of humans as a pony can be, hopefully you will be able to spot anything out of the ordinary, before it becomes a problem."

"Celestia?"

She turned to find Lero looking at her with utmost concern in his eyes. "Yes, Lero?" she asked, as her own face darkened with worry.

"You make it sound like she's going to be like this for a while, can't you just use your magic to change her back?"

Celestia's head lowered a bit at his words. "I'm sorry, Lero, but this is no mere transmogrification spell, it is a blending of two creatures through the use of dark magic. We need to know more about what's been done before we can try to undo it."

"Princess?" Twilight asked, taking a tentative step forward. "If I may, it sounds like you already know quite a bit about this. I thought you said that this was all taking place before your time."

"It did, Twilight, but just because Luna and I took the reins of Equestria does not mean that it stopped overnight. The creation of chimeras was one of many practices that were made illegal upon our taking the throne, that does not mean, however, that it ceased immediately. Indeed, stopping practitioners of the dark arts was a full time job during the early days of our rule. And, while some knowledge of this particular practice was gained, I am afraid that between the passage of time, and the occasional disaster, little of it survives in the present day. I shall have the royal archive searched for what remains of it, but I fear that much of the work will have to be done from the ground up."

"So, what are we supposed to do with her in the mean time?" Twilight asked.

Celestia was quiet for a moment, as she looked upon the sleeping human, before turning back to Twilight with a smile. "I would recommend, friendship."

"Huh?" came the unanimous response from her audience.

"Friendship, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, Twilight, friendship. You see, despite everything that has been done to her, this woman is still, for all intents and purposes, human. Aside from Ms. Heartstrings' care and observance, I would like for you all to treat her as well as you did Lero here." Celestia gave Lero a warm smile as she spoke, and while some of the concern had left his face, enough of it remained that his next question didn't surprise her.

"But, Princess, what if the situation changes? What if she changes?" Lero's expression left little doubt as to the nature of the outcomes that were running through his head.

"That is precisely why I want you all to help her get along in Ponyville. If she has friends looking out for her-"

"Then somepony will notice if anything happens to her," Twilight finished, with a smile.

Celestia's smile only widened as she saw the wheels in Twilight's head start to turn. "Indeed, Twilight, that's why I would like all of you to help her find a place here in Ponyville."

"You can count on us, Princess," said Twilight, as she squared her shoulders. "Right, everypony?"

"Oh, oh, I love making new friends," cried Pinky.

"I wouldn't mind getting some fashion tips from the mare's side of human culture," Rarity offered.

"Well, if there's one thing we Apples like, it's makin' new friends," said Applejack.

"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash, as she landed next to Applejack and rested a foreleg on her shoulder, "and you can count on us to help Lyra keep an eye on her, just in case."

"I'd appreciate it Rainbow. Humans can be surprisingly stealthy when they want to be," said Lyra, as she bumped Lero's led with her hip.

"Hey, you're not still sore about that game of hide and seek are you?" Lero asked, enjoying the blush that crept across the mare's face.

"I still owe you for that stunt," she replied.

"Well, I guess I could introduce her to some of the animals around Ponyville," said Fluttershy, from behind her mane.

"Wonderful, my little ponies." Celestia stood as she spoke. "But for now, I believe the sleep spell that she triggered earlier will be wearing off soon. So, Lero, I think it would be best if you were to greet her first."

"Yeah, it probably would be best if we eased her into this, but I doubt that she's going to take it well." Lero replied.

"Hey, do you want some backup?" Rainbow asked. "Don't want you getting hurt if she decides to do something crazy."

"That's not a bad idea, love, but I was kind of thinking it might be better if Twilight were to help with this one," Lero said, sheepishly.

"Twilight?" asked Dash, looking at her herd mate.

"Well, you know how you get when it comes to... social encounters."

Rainbow cheeks flushed at the reminder of her aggressive streak, and the problems it had caused on their first date with Twilight. "Oh, yeah, she probably would be a better bet, huh?"

"Just a little." Lero paused to run his fingers through Dash's mane. "Maybe next time okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, while leaning into him, before turning to Twilight. "You keep an eye on him, okay Twi?"

"Of course, Rainbow," Twilight replied, giving Rainbow a reassuring smile.

"Well, if it's all settled, shall the rest of us head to the waiting room?" Celestia suggested.

As everyone filed out of the room, Lyra and Dash paused to give their herd mates one last hug, before leaving Twilight and Lero alone with their, hopefully, soon to be new friend.

"So, Lero, how do think we should do this?" Twilight asked, as she turned to look at the woman on the bed.

"Well..."

****

"And that's where we stand now," Twilight finished. Throughout the story that she had just told the woman, Rebecca, had remained mostly quiet. She now sat with her legs pulled up against her body with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"We realize what a shock this must be, but we're here to help you get through this," Lero added.

Rebecca was silent, the only noise she made was the sound of her breathing, which came in quick deep breaths."I don't believe this," she said, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Miss, are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, little horse..."

"I'm a pony."

"I mean, I've only just woken up to find that I've been abducted by aliens and turned into some kind of bird creature, only to wind up in a hospital thirty pounds heavier then when I last checked, and talking to something that looks like it jumped out of a children's story, but other than that I'm... just... fine." Rebecca's head was buried in her knees as she finished the last words, only to have them be replaced by gasping sobs.

Lero and Twilight sat there for a moment, looking at each other, wondering how best to proceed. To their surprise, however, Rebecca recovered quite quickly.

"You said that this extra weight might be a side effect of what happened to me"- Rebecca dried her eyes with her blanket- "how does that work?"

"Well," began Twilight, "this is just a hypothesis, but your body now has the potential to take on features of another creature, however it would seem that those features don't come from nowhere. When we saw you change the first time you had the wings, claws, and head of an owl. Yet, when you changed back into a human those features didn't just vanish, they seemed to meld back into you. I can only surmise that these potential features are converted into some other form of body mass when not in use. It's actualy quite fascinating, why I've never heard of this kind of adapta-" Twilight was silenced when Lero's hand made its way over her mouth.

"I think she gets it, Twilight," he said, motioning to Rebecca, who had apparently stopped listening, in favor of staring out the window. She at least seemed to have relaxed a little.

"Oh, sorry," said Twilight.

"Miss, I realize this must all come as quite a shock," said Lero. "Is there anything we can do to make this easier for you?"

Before an answer could be given a low growl cut through the silence. Both Lero and Twilight looked at Rebecca, who looked down and gave a humorless laugh. "Well, something to eat would be nice. I guess I'm eating for two now, after all."

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but here it is the wake up scene in ernest. I hope you all enjoy it.