Forced Perspective

Chapters

The first step is a doozy.
Spike's rough morning.
The solution?
Confontation
Imagination
Adaptation
Contemplation
Inspiration

The first step is a doozy.

Trevor was crouched down leaning into his locker. On the way by I gave him a nudge, causing him to hit his shoulders on the lockers on either side. Trevor was always good for that kind of thing, so I had a big smile on my face when I saw Ryan up ahead.

“Hey Ryan” I said, slapping hands with my shooting guard, “don't be late for practice.” He smiled at me and nodded. It was a running joke. Ryan hated doing the sprints at the beginning of practice so he was always about a half hour late.

Neil was also on the basketball team. He played my position when I needed a break or when the team was way ahead. “Why do you always pick on that guy?” he said, nodding at Trevor as he accompanied me toward the gym.

“What do you mean pick on him? He knows I'm just fooling. Lighten up.”

“Does he? Because that was one serious look he was giving you.”

“Bah,” I said blowing off the thought. I’ve always bugged Trevor; it’s just the nature of our relationship. If he had a problem with it, I'm sure he'd have mentioned it.

Neil and I dressed for practice and made our way onto the court.

Practice went as normal; Ryan was late, the coach yelled at everyone a lot, and we ran a bunch of drills. Soon it was time for a practice game. We were picking teams when the coach called out: “Derek, how about you sit out this next game?” It clearly wasn't a question.

I sat on the bleachers watching the game disinterestedly. They were making simple mistakes and not pressing their advantage. There were openings the size of whales and nobody was playing aggressive. I growled in frustration as one of the defenders tripped and Ryan passed the ball. The guy was practically on the floor and Ryan passed.

I didn't even watch the rest of the practice. There wasn't anything I was going to learn by watching, so I cleaned my fingernails, looked at the ceiling, and thought about leaving.

After practice Coach called me into his office. “Do you know why I called you in here?” the coach asked, walking to his desk. I nodded smugly, amused as I took my seat. “Okay, enlighten me.” he said.

“You wanted them to have a fair match, so you pulled me out. Makes sense to me. Teams can’t be fair if one person is way better than everyone else.” I rested my hands behind my head as I leaned back in the chair.

“You would say that,”-I smiled- “but you're wrong.”-my smile dropped. “You're a hot shot, a ball hog. Yeah you're good, but nobody else gets a chance to practice with you out there. This is a team game, Derek! Every team is better with five good players.” The coach continued on about how “machines only work with all of the components running smoothly” and “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”

But, I thought, if you have an awesome button, why would you need any other button? I’m the one scoring all of the points. I’m the one that makes the plays. Why shouldn't I be the one everyone passes to? Coach doesn't know what he’s talking about!

Later I changed out of my gym clothes and hopped into my car. I turned up the stereo and burned out of the parking lot. About a quarter mile down the road I slowed. Passing an old cut out on the side of the road, I gave the policeman that always parked there a wave.

He always parks at that same spot. It’s almost sad. I took the bend up ahead, tires squealing and soon made it home. Pulling into the driveway, I unlocked the front door, and went to my room. I tossed my bag onto the bed and sat down in front of my computer. I had just installed a new game before going to school today; it looked like it should be pretty good. I loaded it up.

**Twilight**

“It looks kind of stupid just sitting there staring at that box.” I briefly looked over my shoulder at Rainbow Dash then turned back to the purple glowing circle.

“This is called ‘playing videogames’. They press buttons to make the person on the screen do things. It seems to be how male humans spend their free time. I haven’t figured out what it does though.”

“I hope he goes back to that ‘basketball’ thing. That was at least exciting. He was running circles around those guys!” she said, doing a small loop the loop in the air before landing back behind me. “What do you mean you haven’t figured out what it does, it looks like his little guy is blasting the other little guy?”

“Well,” I said as I shifted into lecture mode, “When you fly, you burn fat and build muscle. It increases your general health, coordination, and releases endorphins. When I read, I learn about all kinds of fun and exciting things. I learn how to cast new spells, or why the griffons eat meat while ponies eat grains. I haven’t figured out what kind of benefit ‘playing videogames’ gives yet. But as much as he does it, I should be able to figure it out. If only I could ask him...That would be so much easier...”

“What’s stopping you?” Rainbow asked. She took her eyes away from Derek, still sitting in front of his computer.

“It’s not safe. Plus I promised Princess Celestia that if there were any problems caused by my research, I would be personally responsible. There aren’t any ponies in their world. Who knows what might happen if one of us went there? Who knows how they might react?”

“Yeah, but just for a second?”

“No, Rainbow. I don’t want to risk it.” I laid the quill down and stretched my neck. “I’m sure I’ll figure it out, I just need more time. Right now, though, I have to go. I told Fluttershy I would help catalog the critter food stores for the winter.” My heart leapt at the excitement.

“Boring! I wanted to practice my cloud cartwheels anyway.” And before I could explain how not boring it was, Rainbow shot out through the open window.

**Derek**

I had almost finished the mission when something strange happened. I thought I heard some kind of ripping sound. I checked my pants, the chair, my shirt, and the carpet, but everything seemed to be in order. Then I heard a different sound, like the footfall of someone in high heels on a wooden floor. That can’t be right though, because my brother and I were the only ones with the keys and he never came over without calling, not to mention he didn’t wear high heels. Must just be the house settling as it cooled off outside.

When I first moved in, I got up every ten minutes to check out every little sound. That got annoying fast. I was either going to spend the rest of my life looking out the window at nothing, or learn to let it go.

I had just finished the mission and looked around, stretching. I stopped mid-stretch. Something had caught my eye. The streetlight shone through the window in the room next to mine. It pitched a strange shaped shadow on the hallway wall. I cocked my head as I looked at it. It doesn’t look like a murderer, so I’ll check it out. Probably the blind got caught in a strange position; it kind of looked like the outline of a horse’s head…

As I got up from my computer and turned toward the hallway, I heard a gasp and the sound of someone clumsily running away in high heels. I gave pursuit.

I sprang into the hall and got a split-second view of something about knee height as it shot around the corner into my living room. I pushed off of the far wall to maintain my momentum as I chased it through the living room. I leapt my coffee table and hopped through the open window after it. I just caught a motion out of the corner of my eye as the thing turned the corner of my house. I chased it and as I turned the corner it disappeared into what was obviously some kind of portal. Unfortunately, the portal was positioned right AT the corner and I had no time to slow down or stop before I plunged through it.

Again I heard the ripping sound. There was a straining, a pulling sensation that absorbed all of my attention for a heartbeat…I felt as if my chest and face were stretching forward as the rest of my body stood still. Two heartbeats…My body rushed to catch up. I could feel each hair on my head, one by one, spring forward trying to join my escaping head. Three heartbeats…and the tugging finally released. My body snapped back together. I felt like a rubber band that had been stretched and suddenly released.

Disoriented, I looked around, trying to keep my balance. I ended up sitting heavily on something soft and bouncy. Looking down I realized I was sitting on a miniature bed. As I continued to search my mouth slowly dropped open.

These colors…they seem…intense. I’ve never noticed how blue, blue is. Man do I sound like I’m high… The bedspread felt so…smooth…

**Rainbow**

Looks like the human followed me though, I guess that works. I mean, that was my plan all along, yeah, right. Now Twilight can ask him whatever she wants. She is going to be so excited, and he came through by himself. She can’t get mad at me for that!

I shot through the air in a straight line, leaving my signature rainbow contrail, just in case anyone wondered who was moving that fast. I saw Fluttershy’s cabin was empty so I didn’t break pace. I made it to the food stores and braced myself as I skidded to a halt just outside. I took a few deep breaths, not that I needed to- I just wanted to settle my feathers- before knocking on the door. A second later Twilight opened it with a genuine smile.

“Oh, hello Rainbow, what brings you here? Realize that organizing isn’t boring after all?”

“As if. I just brought you that human, thought you might want to know,” and inspected my hoof ready for her praise.

“You did what?!” Twilight shouted.

“You said it would be easier if you could talk to him and he just happened to come through the portal, thought you should know.” I explained. Sheesh isn’t she supposed to be smart?

“Rainbow! He couldn’t have found that portal unless someone went through first. Who knows what kind of problems this is going to cause? Who knows what kind of imbalance this makes? Oh, this isn’t good this isn’t good…” Twilight whimpered and lowered her head.

“Relax, everything is fine. He is back at your place. What could go wrong?”

Her eyes shot open. “He’s where?” And, without waiting for a response, her horn glowed and the world went white.

**Derek**

…smooth… The bedspread! It feels so nice…I nuzzled my cheek into the bedspread. Mmm.

“Uh…what’s he doing?” I heard someone say.

“I’m not sure, but he seems to be enjoying it…” another voice chimed in.

“Ummhmmmm”

“Strange, I never noticed him do this before,” said the second voice.

I opened my eyes and saw the cutest stuffed animals I’d ever seen. One was a big purple horse with a horn. A unicorn, my mind supplied and I grinned, knowing I had the right word. Next to the unicorn was a blue horse with a multi-colored hair bit…thing… My arm snaked out to feel how soft the plushie was, but the horse flinched.

That’s odd, my eyebrows scrunched, stuffed animals aren’t supposed to move… As my mind slowly put the pieces together, my eyebrows climbed.

“You aren’t a unicorn!” I spat in disgust at the purple liar. “You’re too small! What do you call a pony unicorn?” I asked it.

“Um…” she seemed taken aback, “A unicorn?”

“No, no, no! A unicorn is a horse with a horn,” I explained slowly “You must be a ponicorn,” I decided.

“Bhahahaha” the blue one exploded “I like it. Twilight Sparkle the ponicorn.”

“Stop it Rainbow, I think something’s wrong.” She stepped toward me and her horn glowed.

“Whoa, shiny.” I reached out for its horn. She squeaked as I made contact with it the glow winked out as soon as I touched it, causing me to frown. I took a firm hold, and pulled her toward me so I could inspect it. Meanwhile the blue one rolled on the ground.

“Bad ponicorn, it’s not nice to shine lights at people.” Rainbow said as she giggled.

“Rainbow, help” the purple one squeaked, her eyes shut as she struggled not to be drawn towards the bed. The blue one rolled onto her feet, walked over, and swished her tail in front of me. I instantly let go of the horn and grabbed for the tail.

Stupid colors, why do you move when I try to grab you? I rolled out of the bed, landing heavily on the floor. I scrambled onto my hands and knees trying to follow on three limbs and I reached with the fourth. The colors stayed just barely out of my reach as they turned the corner of the bed.

“Think, Twilight, think! What’s wrong with him? He’s never acted like this before.” With that her gaze drifted up to a spot on the wall. Her jaw dropped “The portal, where is it? Not good, not good, not good.”

**Twilight**

“Twilight, what are we going to do?” Rainbow asked, starting another lap around the bed.

“I’m not sure, there isn’t anything in here about this.” I slammed shut the book. “I’m going to be in so much trouble if I can’t straighten this out! I’m already in so much trouble!”

My train of thought was briefly derailed as the human crawled past me making another grab for Rainbow Dash’s tail.

“I can’t send him back through the portal. I don’t have the components, plus I needed Princess Celestia’s help opening it in the first place. If she finds out what I’ve done…”

“Twilight, snap out of it! Freaking out isn’t going to help anyone! And walking in circles is starting to get to me.” I heard her say behind me. Realizing I’d been pacing I sat down. I looked over my shoulder and saw Derek’s hand make contact with her tail, but before he could grasp it, she pulled it from his hand.

I shook my head to clear it. “On the one hoof,” I looked to my left, “If I tell Princess Celestia it’ll all be over! She won't trust me anymore! I’ll have to go back to Canterlot!” Then I looked to my right. “But if I don’t tell her she is definitely going to hear about a human wandering around Ponyville!”

Frantically I thought: she can’t find out! But she is going to find out! It’s not like I could disguise him as anypony else...or...can I…?

“I have an idea!”

***

“Run me through this one more time,” Rainbow said as she sat on the edge of the balcony, letting her tail dangle off. Derek stood under the ledge with his hands raised, jumping and grasping occasionally.

Rainbow was a great friend. She was always there when you needed her, and her determination was second to none. However, absorbing and sticking to a plan was not her strong suit. I rubbed my head with a hoof.

I took a big breath “I can’t send Derek back to his world without the portal being open. The only way I can reopen the portal is with Celestia’s help. For her to help, she’s going to need to be here… If she sees a human here, when she comes to help, she is going to…” - I whimpered - “... But if she shows up and it’s just a new pony, well that should be okay. So I’m going to turn him into a pony so we can get Celestia to open a portal so we can send him back.” I probably didn’t need to give the whole explanation in one breath, but I figured maybe that way I could work with her short attention span.

“Got it!” she said.

Finally.

“So what are you waiting for? Zap him.” She said, twitching her tail out of the way as he sprang for it.

Okay, let’s just reread the spell one more time to make sure I have it down. Yes...good...need to remember to correctly map the derivative, or the rate of change will be too slow… Fix the template firmly in your mind...yes...and factor in the weight…

“Rainbow, how much would you say he weighs?”

“Um...I’m not sure, you were the one who was getting all cuddly with him.”

Right, well, I don’t have too much time before Spike gets home. Let’s say he is about six feet tall, looks on the athletic side, so judging by his rate of consumption, exercise, metabolism, and nutritional habits he should be about...193 pounds? Better double check...yeah, 193. Or is it 194…nope, definitely 193.

I closed my eyes to focus my attention, set my legs apart to establish a firm stance, and started casting. I had run through all of the math and I knew at which angles the forces needed to join to form the effect I was looking for.

What I didn’t expect was for Rainbow to get distracted and not lift her tail. I certainly didn’t expect him to pull her off of the ledge causing her to gasp. Another thing I hadn’t expected was to open my eyes and see the spell heading toward Derek, who was now nuzzling a struggling wide eyed Rainbow Dash.

**Derek**

My eyes, unseeing, were affixed to a point on the ceiling; my body felt wooden, stiff; locked in position as if any action might make things more real. I was focusing all of my attention inward and my mind raced. My eyes forced a detail into my whirling mind, causing it to come to a halt as surely as a stick through the spokes of a bike. I don’t know how long I’ve been lying like this, but the sun is coming up.

Was this real? My mind started back from the beginning, trying to come to some kind of logical conclusion. I know I’m in the bed from last night. Risking a glance down I saw the blue bedspread adorned with stars and moons resting right there on my...chest… My eyes snapped back up to the spot on the ceiling. This can’t be a prank from a Ryan or Neil, this is way too elaborate and detailed. It can’t be one of those reality show pranks: they wouldn’t be allowed to break into my house, right? That leaves either the possibility of this being real, or me being insane. I’m not sure which of the two I would prefer…

I remember coming through the portal last night...but then things got a bit...swimmy. I remember talking ponies, I remember chasing some pretty colors. It seemed important at the time. I remember a bright flash...and then I woke up here.

The first thing I had noticed when I woke up was that I wasn’t at home. My alarm clock wasn’t beside my bed, howling at me to get up; the standby light of my computer monitor wasn’t greeting me from across the room. As I looked down, the next thing I noticed was the bedspread. It was the same one from my dream, but that meant… I also noticed a strange bulge in the bedspread. The fact that there was a bulge wasn’t what was odd, it was the placement.

My view was blocked much sooner than expected. I tried to press down the puff on my chest but immediately realized there were two good reasons why that wouldn’t work. I hadn’t dared look, but... I moved my legs together, just to check, and that’s when my eyes found their new resting spot on the ceiling.

I heard the door creak and saw, out of the corner of my vision, the top of it move open a few inches. After a brief pause, it opened further and I heard one of the ponies slowly walk across the room. My eyes didn’t move.

“G...G...Good morning Derek.” she ventured.

One of my eyebrows rose...very...very...slowly.

“Maybe not best choice of words,” she said sheepishly. “I know you have a million questions, but I want to start off by saying I’m sorry.”

My short sharp laugh chopped through the room and I heard her hooves scrabble on the wooden floor in surprise.

“No,” I said, and things became slightly more real. My voice was different. “I don’t have a million questions.” I cleared my throat… but it didn’t help. “Just a few fucking big ones. Like, where am I? What are you? And what did you do to me?” My voice stayed calm except for one word I couldn't help shout. I imagined she flinched as she heard it.

“Derek I know you’re angry, confused and frustrated, but please don’t yell. We’ll get this thing fixed up as soon as I figure out what went wrong. Then I’ll send you back and everything will be okay.”

“If you want any help,” I offered “I can fucking tell you what went wrong!” I grabbed my chest, shaking it for emphasis. My eyes left their safe spot on the ceiling, and I tried to melt this tiny unicorn with my rage filled gaze.

She didn’t look the same as last night. Her mane was disheveled and her eyes looked droopy. It didn’t look like she had gotten a wink of sleep last night. Good! After what she did, not getting a good night’s sleep is a drop in the bucket. No, a drop in the fucking ocean!

“I’ve spent all night researching that spell, trying to figure out what went wrong. You should’ve ended up similar to Neon Lights. But when my concentration broke and I saw Rainbow Dash, it may have switched the template for the spell, but that means you should look like her. I don’t understand why you’d still be human…”

“Oh, is that the problem?” I bit sarcastically. “The problem is, after you broke into my house, took me to another universe, drugged me, and starting casting spells on me, the problem is you didn’t change me enough?” It didn’t look like my stare was going to melt her into a puddle so I returned it to the ceiling.

“Can we start over?”

“What?”

“Sitting here blaming each other for what happened isn’t going to solve anything, but-”

“Maybe not, but it sure makes me feel a whole lot better.” I muttered, “And what’s this ‘blaming each other’? As far as I can tell I’m completely blameless here. There wasn’t any ‘blaming each other’ going on. It was just me blaming you!”

“-isn’t going to solve anything,” she continued, “But if I could have a bit of cooperation, we can rectify this whole situation.”

I just glared at the ceiling.

“Fine. Let’s start with your questions. ‘Where am I’ was the first one, right? Well this is Equestria, it’s a land of talking ponies, griffons, zebras, and so forth. You are in the town of Ponyville, which is pretty small and quiet most of the time. More specifically, you’re in the Golden Oaks Library, my home.”

I gave a small nod to show I was listening.

She continued. “‘What are you’, was your next question. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a unicorn.”

I gave her an incredulous look.

“A pony unicorn is still a unicorn, there’s no such thing as a ponicorn…” she explained, misunderstanding my look.

“A land of talking ponies and unicorns, right. Why not?” I returned my gaze back to the ceiling.

“Well,” she said, caught off guard, “There are unicorn ponies, pegasus ponies and earth ponies...oh and alicorns.”

“And what’s an alicorn?”

“An alicorn is a blend of the three types of pony. They have the wings of a pegasus, the magic of a unicorn and the strength and hardiness of an earth pony. There are three alicorns. Princess Celestia rules the day and is the older sister of Princess Luna. Princess Luna has domain over the night, and guards our dreams. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is my sister-in-law. She rules the Crystal Empire and we call her Princess Cadence.”

I gave a “hmmph” allowing her to continue.

“As to what happened to you, that’s going to take some time to explain. Would you like pancakes?”

***

The pancakes tasted wrong. Not bad, just different. They were slightly denser than normal pancakes, but the syrup was amazing.

“So let me get this straight,” I said setting down my fork and leaning back in the chair. “Your friend came through the portal to ask me a question, got spooked and dashed. That’s what I followed back through the portal?”

“It seems that way,” she nodded slowly cutting up her pancakes.

“Then, once I got here, I had some kind of natural allergy to magic?”

“Not an allergy exactly...it just took a bit for your body to become used to the ambient magic here. I never would’ve realized your world had a lower level!” I noticed a quill make a note in the other room while she added syrup. “Anyway, that’s why you were all-” she slowly weaved her head back and forth as her eyes spun in opposite directions in her head.

“But you’re going to be in big trouble about bringing a human to Equestria?”

She whimpered slightly and her ears flattened against her head “Yeah…”

“So you decided to try to disguise me as a pony so Celestia wouldn’t find out when she came to help you reopen the portal?”

Her ears drooped even lower. “Yeah, it wasn’t one of my finer moments. I’m really sorry.”

“I follow so far. How did, disguising me as a pony, lead to me being a woman? That’s the part that really has me stuck.”

“The spell is designed to change one pony into another pony, it never occurred to me that it wouldn’t work on a human. Maybe it can’t cross that big of a species gap...”

“So what’s the plan now?”

“I’m not sure. I could send a message to Princess Celestia, and she could probably fix you and send you home, but then I’d be in huge trouble. The other option is you could give me some time and I’ll see if I can fix this…”

I was furious about her presumptuousness. She spied on me, imprisoned me, and now that she told me there was a way out of this cell, begged me not to leave. Why should I go out of my way for her? She’d been nothing but trouble for me, even before I had met her.

There are a lot of underhanded ways to force people to do what you want. There’s blackmail, coercion, threatening, using hostages, but none were as effective as those puppy dog eyes. She had the perfect mixture of concern, hope, and desperation.

“Fine, you have two days, after that I need to get back for finals. But don’t think you’re off the hook!”

“Understood,” she said as she took her first bite.

“What am I supposed to do while I wait?” I asked looking around.

“Well, we are in a library.” She said leadingly. “What do you like to read?”

Spike's rough morning.

**Spike**

These cupcakes sure are delicious; Pinkie sure knows her stuff. I stuck out my tongue and grabbed another cupcake. I spun it into the air and before it reached my mouth I had lashed all of the frosting off of the top. Once the cupcake was in my mouth I gave a small burp before swallowing. A small curl of green flame escaped my lips and I looked to see if Pinkie had caught on to my ruse.

Pinkie sat on the other side of the counter slack-jawed. Sugarcube Corner was a mess, the sign on the door flipped to ‘closed’ long ago. Cupcake wrappers littered the ground in a pile next to the counter we occupied. Crumbs and frosting smudges adorned the countertop as cupcake after cupcake disappeared one set at a time.

“You may be the Ponyville cupcake eating contest champion, but you’ve never faced a dragon before,” I boasted.

With a look of grim determination she set two more cupcakes on the table between us, adding the wrappers to those already discarded. She reached forward slowly with a shaky hoof, eyes squinted and twitching as she grasped the confection. She lifted it to her mouth, her face slowly turning green. Her head slumped to the table, the cupcake rolling forgotten to the floor. I slurped up my cupcake the same as the last.

Pinkie groaned: “I’ve never seen anypony eat so many cupcakes. Ughhhh”

“And you never will,” I boasted. “Nopony can match a dragon’s appetite.” I puffed up my chest and patted my belly.

After a second I hiccuped and crossed my eyes before a gout of green fire shot from my mouth with a loud burp and a scroll clattered to the floor. That always surprised me. Every time it feels like about I’m about to puke and there’s nothing I can do to hold it back. Luckily the feeling doesn’t linger.

The scroll was addressed to me. That’s odd, they’re almost always for Twilight.

Dear Spike,

I’m not sure why I just received 36 partially eaten cupcakes. Please, in the future only send whole and ungobbled cupcakes.

Princess Celestia

I grinned sheepishly as Pinkie finished reading the note over my shoulder.

“Oh, you’re good,” she said squinting at me. She scooped up the discarded cupcake on the floor and tossed it into her mouth as she continued “So what do you wanna do next?”

“It’s getting pretty late, I should head back to the library. Twilight probably needs me to re-alphabetize her spell component drawer again.”

“Aww Spike?” she whined.

“You’ll have to wait until next time.” Meanwhile, I prayed that she would forget before then. We took the ‘Pinkie Pie Route’ back to the library. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand how that pony moves. We popped out of bushes, trash cans, puddles, and out from behind lamp posts, and I’ll swear on all of the rubies in Equestria, we didn’t pass through any space between them.

“Thanks for the fun day!” I shouted over my shoulder to Pinkie.

I walked up to the door and knocked. I could hear Twilight stumble around inside for a bit before coming to the door.

“Hello Spike,” she said with a giant grin on her face, “What brings you here?”

“Um...I live here Twilight, you know, with you.”

“Right! Just you and me living here, nopony else!” She took a step back and waved a hoof in the air, as if to demonstrate how empty the library was. The effect was spoiled by Rainbow Dash sitting dizzy-eyed on the floor.

“Hi Rainbow,” I called as I stepped into the library. She shook her head and stood up.

“What happened?” She shook her head again and looked at Twilight.

“Nothing much,” Twilight said in a strained voice, forcing her smile a bit wider. “We were just welcoming Spike back to the library.” She tilted her head toward me a few times. She was never the best at subtlety but honestly, if it didn’t cause me more work, keep me from sleeping, or challenge my ‘number one assistant’ title, it didn’t matter.

I started to go upstairs, but was stopped by a bright flash. I rubbed my eyes, and when the spots cleared Twilight stood in front of me with that big grin of hers. She tilted her head slightly to the side “Why are you going upstairs, Spike?”

This better not break rule #2 of getting along with Spike… “I was just going to bed Twilight,” I yawned to accentuate my point “It’s late.”

“I was actually just thinking it would be fun to have a campout. We could build a pillow fort and sleep down here. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” She took a step toward me with the last word. I know that look in her eye, I’m not about to push too hard, but this is straining rule #2.

My shoulders slumped and I rubbed an eye. “Yeah it sounds like a blast, let me go grab my basket.”

“Silly, there aren’t any baskets on a campout!” She grabbed cushions from the couch and the reading areas around the library. She deposited them in an area next to the wooden horse’s head. She draped a cloth from the horse’s head and fastened it to a chairback forming a makeshift tent. I crawled inside.

When you hang around Twilight all the time you realize you have few options. You can try to dig into her craziness, but that rarely works. The best method I’ve found is to ignore it and wait for her to talk to you. I laid my head down and tried to shut out the conversation Rainbow and Twilight were having about what to do with Derek. Don’t they know a baby dragon needs his sleep?

***

Camping out wasn’t that bad. I’m sure the sheet hanging over the area would’ve done a great job blocking out the morning sun, letting me get that extra bit of sleep. I never got to find out though, because Twilight probably read in a book at some point that ‘one should wake early to enjoy the fresh morning air’. Accordingly we probably woke up before Princess Celestia herself. I stretched and groaned, reluctantly being rolled off of my warm cushion. I watched it and the other pillows return to their places. I made it about two steps towards where it landed in one of the cozy reading areas before Twilight scooped me up in her magic and deposited me on her back.

My longing for the warm cushion easily tripled as she stepped into the brisk morning air. I guess I’ll settle for the next best thing, I thought as I spread out on Twilight’s back and used her crest as a pillow. The ride was a lot bouncier than my cushion but soon my nose informed me that at least it came with snacks. I opened my eyes and was faced with a wall of pink and white. Confused, I leaned back and the image coalesced into Pinkie’s giant grinning face.

“Feel like some apple pie for breakfast, Spike?” she asked, as chipper as always. “Applejack will be by in a bit with some fresh apples.”

Twilight lifted me off of her back and set me by the window in a ray of sunlight. I take back any bad thought I ever had about that pony. They talked for a bit, but truthfully, I wasn’t listening. I was content to let the sun work the chill of the morning air off of me.

Soon, Twilight said: “Goodbye Spike, I’ll see you in a few days.”

I heard the words and gave an automatic grunt of farewell. I’ll figure out what’s happening later, right now...sleep... I felt the air move around me, and suddenly the warmth of the sun was gone. I felt a pressure on my head, neck, and back and also I noticed I was standing instead of laying down. I started to slump back onto the ground with my eyes still closed, but as soon as my arms hit the wooden floor, I found I was standing again.I opened my eyes and noticed I was standing in Pinkie’s kitchen wearing a chef’s hat and apron. Pinkie was bustling around the kitchen, fiddling with the oven, working whatever was is in the mixing bowls and retrieving utensils. Pinkie was just adding the bottom crust to a pie tin when I heard a knock on the door. “I got it,” I mumble as a shuffled towards the door.

I made it to the door without having to open my eyes too much. They sunk comfortably closed again as I swung it open.

“Well howdy partner! I wasn’t expectin’ to see you here.”

Well that’s a blessing. At least I don’t have to open my eyes to see who that is.

“Hi Applejack.”

“Somepony’s draggin’ this morning.” She chuckled at the pun.

I opened my eyes to see the cowpony with a bushel of apples on her back. In a pink blur the bushel was empty. A second later we both looked down to see ourselves holding a small plate with a piece of apple pie and fork on it. We just had time to meet each other’s eyes before Pinkie was back, holding her own plate with a piece of pie on it, and I realized my other hand was now occupied with a glass of milk. It seemed this morning might not be that bad after all.

We both thanked Pinkie as we walked over to the table. I’d been around Twilight so much that I found it odd for just a second when AJ and Pinkie both shifted their plates to their backs before walking over to the table. Once there, the pie didn’t stand a chance.

“So, why’s Spike here hangin’ out with ya?” Applejack asked.

“Twilight dropped him off this morning, she said something about some super important dangerous experiment she wanted to do. So Spike is going to stay with me for a few days.”

My head snapped around to see Pinkies smiling face. I slowly looked over at Applejack, she was trying to cover a smile.

“I wish ya the best there Spike,” Applejack consoled me.

I groaned.

“Maybe I’ll just swing by there on my way home, make sure everything’s alright. I ain't rightly comfortable having somepony doing dangerous experiments without someone around. What if somethin’ goes wrong? Who’s gunna help’um?”

“That’s a great idea! We’ll swing by later and check on her too.”

“I don’t know guys,” I ventured “if she wanted someone there, do you think she would’ve sent me away? I am her number one assistant…” I mean, if she wanted anything done she would’ve asked me. Nobody can do assisting better than me...right? She doesn’t think she doesn’t need an assistant anymore does she? “On second thought, maybe we should check in on her in a bit.”

The solution?

**Twilight**

As bad as I feel about what’s happened to Derek, I’m a bit excited about having a good problem to work on. This is what I excel at; research! I brainstormed my ideas, found books relevant to my hypotheses and gathered my note taking paraphernalia. I’m ready to begin!

I had just cracked open the first book, when there was a knock at the door. I trotted over and opened the door.

“Hi, Applejack.”

“Howdy Twilight. I was just checkin’ in, making sure everythin’s alright. Pinkie said something about a ‘dangerous experiment’.” She poked her head in and looked around, presumably searching for giant test tubes or tesla coils.

“Everything is going just fine. I was actually just in the research stages.” I smiled and gestured over to the desk which was piled high with books.

“I guess there’s nothin’ too dangerous about that,” she said, though she sounded uncertain. “I’ll leave you to it.” And simple as that, she trotted away.

It was really nice of her to stop by like that. I’m lucky to have such good friends.

****

Okay, maybe in retrospect I should’ve come up with something other than saying a ‘dangerous experiment’. I can’t get any reading done with everypony checking in on me all the time, I thought as someone new knocked on the door. I let out a “Huhhhh” of frustration.

“I’m fine!” I shouted at the door.

“Um...okay…I just thought I would make sure.” I barely heard Fluttershy through the door.

I turned back to the book.

***

I finished filling another scroll with notes and tried to levitate it onto the pile. Though for some reason it wouldn’t go. I raised my head and noticed in surprise that it was already dark out. When did that happen? I also noticed the glowing scroll bumping into the ceiling as it tried to mount the pile. “Huhhhh.” I guess I need to take a break to organize these…

***

“Twilight darling, some of us were going to meet up at IHOCK for some breakfast. Care to join us?”

“I’m sorry Rarity,” I shouted through the door, “I really can’t break away right now. Thanks for the invitation.”

“Oh, okay dearie. Invitation is open if you change your mind. You really should get out of that dusty library every now and then, clear your head.”

“Thank you Rarity,” I called to her, still reading.

***

The door rattled slightly as, once again, somepony knocked on it. Maybe I should post a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it or something. I pushed my chair from the desk hard and capped my ink bottle.

“Hi!” said Pinkie, bouncing up and down as I answered the door.

I growled: “Hello, Pinkie. What brings you back here today?” My smile would probably have been more believable if my teeth weren’t grinding together at the same time.

“The girls and I were going out for some lunch and we thought if you came you could tell us all about your fun and dangerous experiment.” The bouncing stopped and she just stood there waiting for a response with her head cocked slightly, and a giant smile on her face.

“I’d love to Pinkie, but I can’t right now. I promise as soon as this is over, I’ll come have fun with you girls. But right now, I really need some time by myself to concentrate.” I leaned my head out through the door and looked up and down the street. “Um...where’s Spike?”

“Oh, he’s right here.” Pinkie pulled Spike from somewhere just long enough for me to see his wide eyes and flailing arms before she returned him to wherever. “He’s safe with me!” She saluted and disappeared, zipping away and leaving a cloud of smoke. “Bye, have fun with your experiment!”

***

Finally! I’ve read all of the relevant books on the subject. I’ve reread my notes, postulated, considered, and hypothesized. And I think- “Grwrgrwrg,” my stomach grumbled -it’s time for lunch.

I pushed back from the overladen desk and stretched.

And to think Derek said he didn’t like to read. He’s...well that’s not right. He isn’t a he anymore is he? I guess the correct term would be she...She’s been shut away in my room with those books since breakfast yesterday! I knew all she needed was the right kind of book. My list of popular books from each genre has come through once again. She’d started with action/adventure; went to sword and sorcery; tried mystery; but who would’ve guessed her interest was in romance novels?

I looked over at the stack of books I had perused for answers about why the spell had failed. The best answer I’ve gotten so far was that her body doesn’t have the right genes for equine features. The spell, in theory, will still work. The pattern and effect are still embedded in her; it’s just waiting for the transformation to be possible. The problem I’m having is trying to figure out how to supply her body with the correct genetic material to complete the transformation.

Unfortunately I’m the foremost scientist when it comes to anything human so there isn’t anyone I can go to for help or even a reference manual to check. I discovered their world and was one of very few ponies who even knew what a ‘human’ was! That list contained myself, Princess Celestia and now Rainbow Dash.

I couldn’t help but relive the discovery. I was investigating the multiverse theory and cast a powerful scrying spell hoping for another universe. It gave me a brief look at that strange world. To establish a more permanent link, I needed better conduits and more juice. Luckily Princess Celestia was also interested in the strange new planet, so she assisted.

I walked into the kitchen looking for something light we could snack on while we talked. I never thought I’d say this, but reading isn’t going to get me anything else. Maybe I just need to talk it out. Sometimes it’s easier to organize your thoughts by explaining them to someone else. The only pony I can really talk to about this is Derek, though. I wonder if I can tear him, I caught myself again. no, her away from her book for a minute, I thought with a smile. That really is a strange name, though: Derek. It doesn’t really seem to fit anymore does it?

I grabbed a pitcher of water, some crackers and peanut butter in my magic and headed up to see Derek. As I approached the door I heard a high pitched “eeeee” that I recognized instantly. It made me smile knowing somepony was enjoying books as much as I do. I opened the door and set the snack down on the bedside table. Derek looked up from her book with the biggest, dopiest grin I’ve ever seen her with.

“Hello Derek.”

“Uh...hi Twilight, just let me finish this paragraph real quick.” She went back to reading and I saw the grin grow ever so slightly. I busied myself with applying the peanut butter to the crackers, arranging them on the tray and pouring our drinks. After a minute she slid a bookmark into the book and set it down on the bedside table. I hopped up onto the bed and set the tray between us.

“I don’t know if I can send you back,” I said.

I noticed her pupils dilate, her eyebrows rise and her cracker-filled-hand freeze halfway to her mouth. I regretted my phrasing, but I plunged on. “What I mean is, there isn’t any solid information about what to do. This kind of thing hasn’t ever happened before…” I chewed a cracker as I thought.

“If you can’t solve this, maybe it’s time to ask Celestia for help.” Derek slowly finished her cracker’s journey.

“I was actually hoping you could help me before I contact Princess Celestia.” I emphasized her title.

“How can I help? I don’t understand the first thing about magic.”

“Sometimes just talking through my ideas can help, and who knows, maybe what I need is just a different perspective?”

“If it means getting me changed back and going home, I’ll do what I can.”

I nodded and decided to keep it simple. I explained how the distance from here to her universe was simultaneously very great and infinitesimally small. How bridging the gap was less of a matter of finding the right universe -her body’s frequency would naturally find its match- and more a matter of having enough energy to reach it. I explained how before we needed both the element of magic herself and an alicorn princess to open that kind of bridge. So the only way I was going to be able to open it again was with some kind of help.

Derek’s brows creased as she thought. Her hand rose slowly to her chin as she stared off into the middle distance. I picked up another cracker and levitated it to my mouth slowly waiting to see what Derek was thinking.

Eventually she said: “What about a lever?”

“A lever?”

“Yeah, if you need to lift something that’s too heavy, you can use a lever. If it’s still too difficult you simply need a longer handle. Is there something like that for magic?”

“Well...yes...there are runes and components you can set in specific orientations to maximize your magic...Think of it like this.” I picked up a drinking straw, unwrapped it and poked a few holes in it with my magic. “Normally magic is slightly unfocused. For most applications it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t require that much force.” I blew through the straw and moved its wrapper. “But for more powerful spells you need more focus.” I used my magic to plug the holes and this time when I blew through the straw the wrapper leapt off of the tray completely. “The problem,” I explained to Derek, “is that Celestia and I already plugged the holes, and it still took more power than I have.”

We sat in thought, the only sound being the occasional crunch of a cracker or an ice cube bumping against the glass.

“Sending me back would be great,” Derek muttered looking down at her hands, “But it doesn’t really matter until you can fix what I look like…”

“I’ve been working on that too. It seems I can’t cast another shape changing spell on you until the first one has run its course, otherwise the second one will just be overwritten by the first one. The good news is once the first spell is complete, changing you back should be easy. The problem seems to be that you don’t have the right genetic material for equine features. So all we have to do is figure out a way to get the genetic material into your system, and the spell will take care of the rest.”

Suddenly I was sprayed with a mouthful of semi-moist cracker crumbs. “No, no, no. There is no way that’s going to happen.” Derek said as she backed away from me.

“No way what’s going to happen?” What is he freaking out about? Do humans have a way to pass genetic material back and forth? That would solve all of our problems! If he could absorb some pony genetics, he could complete his transformation, then I could have Princess Celestia help me reopen a second portal and I could send him home! “Do humans have a way to pass genetic material?”

Derek looked surprised but after a second the look changed to disgust. “Well, yeah…” she said, skeptically.

This is incredible! Humans are such an interesting race! I leapt from the bed and ran downstairs.

**Derek**

I heard her rummaging around downstairs but I wasn’t paying attention. Did she not know about sex? Was I about to have the birds and the bees talk, with a pony? With a unicorn no less? Every time I thought the weirdness had slowed down... She charged back into the room and leapt the second half of the way, landing in the bed with barely a bounce.

I chewed on my lip. How do you explain sex and reproduction to a race that doesn’t have it? How do they do it? Do they not have the equipment? It's not like I checked... I could feel her eager eyes boring into me; it was as if she were trying to read the words off of the inside of my skull. The quill rested above the notebook ready to take down whatever I said, and occasionally one of her ears would flick then spring right back to rapt attention.

I searched the room for inspiration. What could I possibly relate it to...my eyes fell on the book I was reading. Wait a minute, of course they have sex. That’s what I’ve been reading for the last day and a half! I leaned over, grabbed the book, and handed it to Twilight. She looked perplexed as she took it in her magic. She stared at the cover, which had a white pegasus stallion holding a light red earth pony mare.

It was obvious the moment she finally realized what I was implying. I watched the blush spread across her face and deepen. Her ears pitched back against her head and her eyes opened wider. She dropped the book and looked up at me, surprised.

I could also tell the moment she started seriously considering the idea. Her blush slowly faded, and her eyebrows scrunched as she doubtless searched her databanks. Her mouth slowly fell open as she considered the idea. I enjoyed another cracker. Every now and then she would shake her head as if arguing with herself, but her eyebrows creased further and further as she withdrew into her thoughts.

“Doesn’t matter if it'll work,” I said as I retrieved my book and headed downstairs, “there’s no way it’s going to happen.”

Confontation

**Derek**

I finished descending the stairs and curled up on the couch with my book. I haven’t spent much time in this part of the library, I realized, so I looked around.

It was a large circular room with bookcases inset into the walls. The rainbow of book covers and dust jackets gave the room an energetic feel. Looking at them like this made me want to read them all. There was a round table with a horses’ head center piece in the middle of the room. Reading nooks were positioned around the room with cushions laid out, presumably for ponies to lie on as they read.

The library smelled of books, no surprise. It also smelled quite heavily of ink and earth. Despite the fact that the room was closed, it had a freshness and openness about it. The couch I rested on was old and worn; the light purple color had faded and the individual threads of the cushions were clearly visible. The seat sank slowly as you sat in it, inviting you to enjoy a good book and stay awhile.

I opened the book to the page I had marked. It was a particularly good one. The mare rescued the stallion from the lizard king, but she injured her leg in the escape. They made it beyond the lizard king’s clutches but couldn’t make it all the way to safety. They were hiding together in a small cave.

Just as the mare was realizing her feelings for the stallion, my stomach loudly reminded me that I had only eaten a few crackers. The tray was still upstairs with Twilight. Maybe I could go snag them while she’s thinking. But just as the thought crossed my mind, I heard hooves cross the floor upstairs.

Please bring them, please bring them, yes! Twilight trotted down the stairs bringing the plate of crackers with her. She set them on the small table in front of the couch.

Twilight walked to the far side of the table directly across from me and folded her legs under herself. She lowered her head onto the table as she lay down, seemingly still deep in thought. Her eyes drifted, settling in my lap. Her eyes, staring into the middle distance, were positioned right at my crotch.

I crossed my legs remembering what she was considering. Odd, I thought, I can do that now without any discomfort. I grabbed a cracker and waited for Twilight to break out of her reverie.

Eventually she said, as if to herself: “But she’s so smooth…” She lapsed into silence for several seconds before I heard her continue, with more resolve. “I promised Celestia that I would take responsibility for the portal.” It didn’t seem she was talking to me; it seemed she was just vocalizing one half of an inner debate. I had another cracker.

Just then there was a knock at the door and both of our heads snapped around to look at it. Twilight got up and walked towards the door, head lowered, still in thought. She made it about half way there when a multicolored streak appeared. It shot down the stairs and ended at a blue pegasus with a rainbow hairstyle.

Twilight turned around wide eyed, broken from her trance. When her eyes settled on the new visitor, she relaxed visibly.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash,” she said, subdued.

Rainbow Dash responded saying something about how nobody had seen Twilight in a few days and something about a dangerous experiment. I wasn’t really paying attention though. Something seemed familiar about this pony. I stood up and walked over to the creature, squatting down to look her over more closely. There is something about her...I can’t quite place it though. As their conversation continued I studied the way her mane and tail changed color, I looked over at Twilight, I noticed she had similar stripes.

My thought process was broken when the pegasus turned her head to face me.

“Ummm…” she said and I felt a tugging in my hand. I looked down and realized I was grasping her tail… “Good job, you got it dude,” she said. “But I wasn't exactly avoiding you this time. Can I have it back now?” I released the tail, embarrassed. She's talking to me like we'd met before… We hadn't...met...before...

“You're the pretty colors I was chasing when I first got here!” I exclaimed as I figured it out.

“You aren't the first to chase these ‘pretty colors’,” she bragged, striking a pose.

I gave her a confused look.

“There’s a reason my name’s Rainbow Dash,” and in a second she disappeared. A rainbow stripe appeared around the room before she skidded to a halt in her original place.

Odd, I can understand naming her Rainbow after seeing her mane and tail, but how did her parents know she was going to be fast? And if Rainbow Dash’s name is simply a comment on her hair and speed...

I looked over at Twilight. “What does ‘Twilight Sparkle’ mean?”

“Not all of our names are quite that literally applicative. For example, one of my good friends is named Rarity; what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means not a lot of ponies get her,” Rainbow said, waggling her eyebrows at Twilight.

Twilight ignored Rainbow and continued. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s the significance of your name?” Twilight said as she turned to face me. “There’s a thing that ponies in Saddle Arabia use but it’s spelled d-e-r-r-i-c-k. It’s used for oil drilling. As far as I know Derek isn’t even a word.”

“In my world names aren’t words. I guess sometimes they are, but most are just names. There are thousands of names and your parents just pick the one they like most. It doesn’t really mean anything. Some people even just pick a collection of sounds they like and call it a name.”

“Maybe you need a new name then,” Rainbow suggested.

“No.” I said firmly. “I don’t need a new name because I’m not staying. Soon Twilight is going to find a way to send me home.”

“Oooo, another portal! Can I watch?”

“Um,” Twilight said sheepishly as her cheeks began to redden. “I don’t think that would be good.”

“Fine,” Rainbow said, “Just hurry up already. Remember we have tickets to see Vinyl tomorrow night!” Before either of us had a chance to respond, she had left.

With Rainbow gone I sat back down on the couch and ate another cracker.

“It might work, you know…” Twilight ventured, rubbing one foreleg on the back of the other as she looked to the side.

“Hmm?” I asked as I sat back on the couch.

“The book idea, it might work.”

“That idea is three shades of ‘nope’. First, no way I’m going to have sex with a horse. Second, I’m not a girl; no way is anyone sticking anything in me! Third, I’m not gay; no way I’ll have sex with a dude!”

“Well lucky for you, I’m not proposing sex with a horse,” she said, obviously miffed. “I’m suggesting sex with a pony. Second, if you look down you may find you are, in fact, equipped for someone to ‘stick something inside of you’. Third, well I guess that’s already been addressed.” Her tone suggested that the argument was over and that she had won.

If she thinks this is over she’s got another thing coming! I stood and raised a finger to make my argument but I was interrupted.

Her horn glowed and my stomach lurched as I was raised into the air. It was strange; it didn’t feel like I was being held aloft. It felt more like gravity had been lessened around me. I floated uselessly in the air trying to reach something to push off of while Twilight maneuvered me upstairs.

“Look, this has to happen. I’m not looking forward to this, but it needs doing if you want to go home. I promised Princess Celestia I would take responsibility for the portal and that means you.”

Again I felt my stomach lurch as she tossed me from her doorway to the bed. Halfway through the air, everything went white. My vision returned just in time to land on my back in her bed...naked…

I snapped into a sitting position and locked eyes with her. She stood in the doorway with a determined look on her face.

I matched her stare with a look of my own. I went to retrieve my clothes but as soon as my foot touched the ground I was lifted and set back in the middle of the bed. I crossed my arms and settled for glaring. My expanded chest made it awkward as I repositioned a few times to try to find a comfortable place for my arms to rest.

She sighed “Look, you want to go home but you can’t until this happens. Just close your eyes and don’t think about it...or enjoy it, either way…” She took a step forward.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek, a tear? I was going for rage and anger, how do tears factor in? Twilight’s image blurred until I was glaring at a purple blob. I rubbed my eyes but they filled again. I can’t stop her. There’s nothing I can do. She can pin me with her magic and do whatever she wants. I’d never felt so helpless in my life.

We stayed there for a long time. The purple blur standing in the doorway and me sitting on the bed letting streams of tears run down my face. I’d given up trying to wipe them away. I settled for letting them drip onto her bed as silent sobs occasional shook my shoulders.

She can pin me down and spread my legs. There isn’t anything I can do, I’m completely vulnerable.

At least I’ll fight, I resolved. If I resist then it’s not like I want it to happen. For some reason it was a comforting thought. If it does happen, at least I can go home... That thought earned a particularly powerful sob and I felt my face contorted as memories of home assailed me.

“I want to go home,” I wheezed with what little voice I could force through my constricted throat. At least people care about me there. My family loves me; my teammates need me. I know how things work there. I’m the star of the team; I have decent grades; I have things figured out.

Now I’m in the strange world with talking ponies that can fly and do magic. I just want to go back…

Maybe it would be worth it to let her do this… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I mean, girls seem to enjoy it, right? It’s not like anyone back home would know. That was also a comforting thought. I could pretend it was all a bad dream when I got back.

My crying slowed. I wiped the final tears from my hot face. My puffy eyes refocused on Twilight. She was giving me a look of concern. It looked like she couldn't decide if she should try to comfort me or if she should leave.

This time when I stepped from the bed to retrieve my clothes I wasn’t stopped. They didn’t fit this new body but it was comforting just to have something on. I turned toward the door to ask Twilight for some time but by now it was empty.

My shoulders slumped; all of a sudden I was exhausted. I shut the door and turned off the light. I slipped under the sheets. After a minute I got back out of bed and pushed the bed against the door. I don’t think Twilight would come back up here, but I really don’t want to see her again until I have some time to think.

Imagination

**Derek**

Had I slept? I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t been able to calm down. Why had I cried? I mean yeah, there was a unicorn trying to rape me, but...was it fear? Anger at my weakness? She shoved me around and there was nothing I could do.

Is that how Trevor felt? At that thought a new wave of sobbs cascaded through my body. Did my teasing make him feel that powerless? I’m sorry Trevor, I know you can’t hear me, but I’m so sorry… I can’t imagine how it must’ve been. Stuck with that feeling day after day. A few minutes was more than I could stand. How do you do it Trevor? How are you so strong?

I peeked out from my cocoon of sheets and registered the moon staring back at me. The moon was strangely comforting. It’s not a lot, but it’s nice to have something familiar. I could almost pretend it was watching out for me. If not protecting me, then at least caring.

***

I got up from my computer and stretched. I turned and walked into the living room. My family was sitting there...with Twilight...

“Ah Derek, we were just talking with your boyfriend. When are you going to give us some grandponies?”

I looked up at my father, shocked, and noticed he was a pony; my mother and my brother too! Somehow they were now all ponies!

I need to get out of here. I fled into the hall. My family was sitting there...with Twilight...

“Oh, come on honey, don’t embarrass me in front of your family,” Twilight called.

I have to get away, I can’t deal with this! I fled into the hall. My family was sitting there...with Twilight...

Mom-pony sighed and said: “She always acts like this when she brings home somepony she cares about…”

That’s not true, I’ve never act like this! I’ve never brought home somepony before! I don’t care about Twilight! I fled into the hall. My family was sitting there...with Twilight...

“Maybe if we give her a minute she’ll stop crying. She’s always crying.” Dad-pony turned to face Twilight. “I don’t know how you put up with her.”

“I probably wouldn’t if it weren't for the SEX!”

Everyone in the room laughed. I heard the word echo along with the laughter. I turned the corner of the living room into the hall.

I slammed the bathroom door shut, my brain racing in several directions. How can they talk about me like that? Twilight and I haven’t had sex! How was Twilight in my house? Why were they ponies? How did I get back home? I was feeling panicked as my mind whirled; however, my thoughts were interrupted by the shower turning on.

I looked at the shower curtain as steam started to drift over the top. I took a step closer; who could be in there? Everyone’s in the other room. Noone else lives here.

I reached out my hand for the curtain. Who’s in the shower?

I pulled back the curtain and saw a the front half of a dark blueish-purple unicorn. Sticking out from the wall of the shower I saw its head, front hooves and wings before the rest was concealed. We gaped at each other for a second before I snapped awake.

**Twilight**

I had left the library and started wandering through town.

I’ve been trapped in the library for a few days now. I’ve been trying to solve my problems without my greatest strength! Friends! Of course I can’t really tell them what happened...but maybe they can give me some good ideas anyway. It really seemed like Derek needed some time anyway...

I spotted Fluttershy in the market. Maybe she’ll have some ideas. I froze with one hoof in the air. How am I going to explain this to Fluttershy?

I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. She “Eep-ed” as she turned then “Eep-ed” again when she saw me. I guess she was surprised I was finally out of the library.

“I’m glad to see you out and about Twilight, you had us worried,” she said, confirming my suspicion. I love it when I’m right.

“Good morning, Fluttershy. I was hoping you could help me with a problem I’m having.”

“Oh...I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m happy to try.”

“It’s more of a theoretical problem,” I explained. “If you’re helping a sick animal and they need medicine, how do you get them to take it?”

“Oh, that’s easy. You sit them down and explain to them that it will make them alllllll better. That usually does the trick for me.”

“And if they don’t want to take the medicine?”

“Oh my! Do you have a sick animal that doesn’t want to take its medicine? I can help!” and she started to fly towards the library.

“No, no, I don’t have any sick animals.” I assuaged my guilt by explaining to myself that it was technically true. “So if they don’t want to take their medicine…”

“Um...Sometimes you have to hide it in a piece of food. But-” she quickly added, “I really don’t like doing that. It feels wrong, like lying.”

“Right...like lying,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Anyway Fluttershy, you’ve been a big help, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Um...Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“If you did have a sick animal that needed medicine you would tell me right?”

“Of course I would tell you.” Things from another plane of existence aren't animals right? And he isn’t really sick...more like...dimensionally challenged...and gender challenged...She seemed to brighten up. We said our goodbyes and she reminded me again of the upcoming concert.

Well...there is something to think about…

**Derek**

I awoke with a jerk as I tried to flinch back from the pony in the shower. It took me a panicked second of looking around the room to remember I was in Equestria. That actions of the previous day slowly bobbed to the surface of my mind.

I covered my face with my hands hoping things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

Nope, things still suck.

I sat on the edge of the bed and resolved to figure out what I wanted and what I was willing to do for it.

I started thinking about what had almost happened yesterday. I thought of how helpless I had been, how Twilight had been in full control and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Twilight could’ve laid me bare and done whatever she wanted.

I realized after a second I was picturing in detail exactly what she could have done to me. It was strangely appealing. Not that I wanted it to happen...just that it was pleasant to think about.

I shook my head realizing exactly what I was picturing. I felt a strange tightening in my gut, just below my belly button. My face felt hot and placing a hand on my cheek confirmed it. My face was definitely warmer than normal. As I stood up my legs slid against each other inside my boxers. It was quite a strange and pleasant feeling. I stood next to the bed rubbing my legs together for a moment feeling them slide smoothly against each other, the friction reduced by...My eyes shot open.

I sat back down on the bed and removed my pants to get a better look. I pulled off the boxers and leaned over to try to get a good view between my legs. My shirt kept getting in the way so I tossed that to the foot of the bed with my other clothes.

Leaning over I saw my inner thighs were glistening and the air felt cool, almost cold, against them. I reached down and felt between my legs. A small thrill shot through me at the contact. It wasn’t a jolt, it didn’t make me gasp, it was a simple realization that the sensation was nice. It felt good. It was like scratching an itch, satisfying on such a simple level.

I laid back and placed my hand over my pussy. God that’s weird to think about. Slowly I moved my hand and concentrated on how it felt. I felt a finger slide between my lips and this time my breath did catch. The sensation was surprisingly intense. Just inside the lips...my lips...I was much wetter. My finger slowly slid forward and back, cradled by my new pussy. It was so strange.

It felt good, but I almost felt like a traitor for enjoying it. What does this mean? Am I gay?

I sat there slowly rubbing myself while I tried to figure out what I was feeling. What does gay even mean? Yeah it means a dude who likes dudes...But do I still count as a dude? My body is female, but my mind is still a guy’s mind, right? So wouldn’t it make sense that my body is wired to enjoy male stimulation, but my mind is still set up to find women appealing? Hmm...

I tried out a few scenarios. I was repulsed by kissing a guy, but the idea of someone sliding a dick into me seemed natural. I pictured a naked woman, and that still seemed nice. The idea of sliding my non-existent cock into a hot chick still worked for me. I tried to picture a naked guy… I don’t know…

That isn’t even considering that I’m in a world of ponies. Though when it comes right down to it...does it matter? It’s obvious they can think and speak, they can express their interest or disinterest. It’s not like I would be forcing myself on a barnyard animal or anything. If nothing else, Twilight has proven she isn’t helpless. Maybe I can just go in with an open mind, take it slow, and see if I can stomach it. Nobody back home has to know, and who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy it.

While one hand was soaked in my juices I let the other play across my new tits. It was strange. I felt emasculated playing with my boobs, but in a very real sense I was about as emasculated as a man could get. I decided it felt too weird for now, and concentrated on my other hand.

I once had a girlfriend back home. We never went further than heavy petting though, so my education was based mostly on what I had seen in porn.

I slid my finger a bit further down and felt around my entrance. I pressed my finger into the small hole and felt it start to give. I pressed just enough to make an indent. I slowly rubbed in circles and felt my finger slowly work its way in. About two joints in, I paused. I know how big my finger is, and I know how big a dick is. My finger felt HUGE inside of me. I can’t imagine how big a penis would feel.

I curled my finger upwards towards my palm and shuddered. Oh, that feels really good. I let my hand rock slowly in and out, pressing into the ceiling of my vagina. My hips rocked involuntarily but I didn’t complain. If I concentrated on my hips bucking I could close my eyes and…

I pictured Twilight above me, restraining my arms with her purple glow. She would stand straddling me as I laid on the bed. My hands would be next to my head, held immobile in a purple aura. I would be able to see her growing erection between her back legs.

After a moment she would lift my lower half as she stepped forward lining her cock up with my pussy. After some adjusting I would feel dick touch me. I shuddered and clenched my eyes tighter as I imagined the feeling. She would step forward and rub her cock tip into my wet mound. I could almost feel it slide against me, rubbing the underside of her shaft along my slick lips. Her chest would be right over my face at this point. She would have a musk about her. A scent of sweat and earth. It seemed right, somehow, real.

She would line herself up with me, close her eyes and press into me. There would be a moment of pressure that would seem to last forever. The force of her cock would overcome my pussy eventually and she would pop the first bit into me. In that instant, the moment her dick entered me,my breath would catch.

I slipped a bit more of my finger in at the thought and bit my bottom lip as the feeling of fullness intensified. She would pause for a moment and readjust herself. After a second she would slowly spread me apart and slide more of her rigid cock into me. Her tongue would loll out of her head as she slowly pressed further and further into me. Soon, she would be all the way in. I could almost feel her furry belly pressing against my lips. Oh the feeling of her buried all the way. I lingered on that thought as my hand started moving faster. The idea of her cock fully inside, her pressing against me to try to fill me with every bit she could, made my belly clench, tightening around my finger.

Soon she would slowly withdraw. I would be able to feel her cock slide against my vagina as it slowly slid out of me. I would be able to see the muscles just under her skin as she worked her hips. She would pull almost all the way out then push slowly back into me. Her head would be just above me and I would be able to hear her ragged breath as she concentrated on keeping me immobile and taking her pleasure. It wouldn’t be my fault that I was being fucked. She was holding me.

I changed the motion of my hand from prodding to a circular stroking motion. Eventually she would cum inside of me. How would that feel? Would I be able to feel it? Would I be able to feel her cock bulge as her cum pulsed up her dick? Would I feel it spurt into me? Would it be warm or refreshingly cool? I could feel her throb as she unloaded her jizz into me. I could feel it spatter against my insides as she pumped me full. My hand changed patterns again, going in a frenzied circle as I bucked my hips against it.

I felt myself clench down on my finger with my first orgasm. My thoughts jumbled as my stomach churned. My arms pinned by Twilight’s magic. Her slowly entering me, feeling her cock start to force its way into my pussy. Her bottoming out as her furry belly met my wet lips. He penis shooting lines of cum into me as my stomach clenched around her.

I laid there on the bed sweating and out of breath. I pulled my hand away and looked at it. It was covered in...my...fluids… I could see my hand shining in the morning sun and something slowly occurred to me. Not only did I just jack off to the idea of a pony raping me...but now I’m in that pony’s bed, which is covered in the evidence.

I stripped the bed before anything could soak in past the sheets. Maybe I can tell her I had a nightmare and they were all sweaty. That’s at least partially true.

As I sat there thinking about what to do, I heard a commotion downstairs. Well, I have to face her sometime.

Adaptation

I sat there on the bed trying to organize my thoughts. I can’t face her after what I just did. I’ll give it some time.

When I do see her, first I need to talk about a shower. I haven’t had one in several days and I’m feeling gross... especially after...that. Then I need to talk to her about food. I had a few crackers yesterday, and some delicious pancakes before, but nothing close to three meals a day. After that, I guess the big subject would have to be addressed.

Now that I had a game plan at least, I felt a bit calmer. I spent the rest of the day poking through the books in her room and generally trying to keep my head firmly in the clouds.

Twilight called up later in the day telling me she had a concert with a bunch of her friends. She said it would seem suspicious if she didn’t go. I was totally fine with her putting more distance between us for now.

The next day I worked up my courage, moved the bed away from the door, got dressed and went downstairs. Twilight was in the kitchen arranging pastries on a plate. She looked like she was going a bit too quickly as one of the pancakes slid off the side of the plate. She caught it with her magic before it hit the ground and placed it back on the dish. The whole time she was muttering to herself too quietly for me to pick out the words.

“Good morning Twilight.”

She leapt around with wide eyes. Her horn glowed and something winked out of existence from the counter.

“I wasn't doing anything! I was just making breakfast!” The plate of pancakes swung around in front of her to prove her point. She moved it too quickly and several shot off. I caught one as it sailed toward me. She gasped and caught several in her magic. Hurriedly, she set the rescued pancakes on the plate. The plate floated over and landed in the center of the table as she walked over to retrieve some of the ones she had missed. I sat down and started to enjoy my breakfast while she cleaned up the mess.

I sat down and cut up the first few pancakes adding the necessary butter before reaching for the syrup. I’ve never seen syrup like this before…

“What flavor is this syrup?”

“Uh…” she says from the other room. “It’s… a new flavor I’m trying out. I haven't had it yet, why? Is it good?”

I poured some of the syrup over the pancakes and started eating.

“How was the concert,” I asked.

I was expecting the syrup to be sweet. It wasn’t exactly. It was kind of a musky salty flavor. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting from syrup.

An odd grin found it’s way to Twilight’s face as her eyes unfocused. “The concert was great,” she said, dreamily. “I really needed that.”

I looked down at my plate and realized it had been stacked with several more pancakes. My stomach gave a satisfied gurgle as I applied more toppings and cut them up. The syrup seemed to be growing on me, at first it had been bearable, but I found myself adding more and wiping my plate clean with each bite. I started devouring them. it's probably because I hadn't eaten well in a few days. I ate WAY more than I thought I could. I stayed my hand before it grabbed the last one. What kind of guest would I be if I didn’t leave my host at least one?

I looked up and realized that Twilight hadn’t joined me at the table. I looked around and saw she was standing across the kitchen staring at nothing. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t blinking, just staring as if mesmerized still.

I realized that the ones Twilight had picked up were missing. I looked around the kitchen but couldn’t spot them. I concentrated and remembered the stack of pancakes not shrinking as I filled my plate. Had Twilight given me floor-flapjacks? I should be mad, but at that moment I felt gratitude for her letting me savor those great treats. I picked up the remaining one and offered it to her.

She shook her head, coming out of whatever trance she was in. “No!...No thank you I mean. Those are for you,” she said quickly. “I...um...I was super hungry so I grabbed something while I was out.”

I shrugged and wolfed the last one down.

“How do you feel?” asked Twilight.

“Ugh, I feel like I have a dough baby in my stomach.”

Twilight’s face could have won a competition for ‘most emotions in a split second’. She gave a nervous chuckle and proposed we move into the library to have a talk.

I stood up and nearly fell down immediately. My legs didn’t seem to work right. These chairs probably aren't designed for bipeds. My legs probably fell asleep or something.

Hunched, with an overburdened gut and barely functioning legs, I waddled into the library. I fell, more than layed down, onto the couch. I curled my arms and legs up against my bloated gut and rested my head on the armrest.

Twilight pulled a cushion from one of the reading nooks and placed it in front of the couch.

“Ugh...Twilight, I know we need to talk about a bunch of stuff, but I’m not feeling great right now. I ate WAY too much. So lets make this quick and we can get to details later?”

She nodded.

“Okay, there are a few things I want to talk about before we get to the big subject. Thing one, I need a shower. I haven't had a chance to clean myself since I arrived.”

“Not a problem. I was actually going to mention something along those lines. No offence but you were becoming...noticeable…” Her nose scrunched up as she said this.

“Second thing, I don’t know how long you were watching me back in my world. But I normally eat three meals a day, and while I’ve been hungry, it haven’t been as hungry as I should be.”

“Most ponies snack as they go. Every now and then I’ll get hungry but usually just a bite here and there is enough.”

“Strange, I wonder why. Anyway the next thing is, I need to wash my cloths. I’ve been wearing these clothes for several days and they’re probably as ‘noticeable’ as I am. Plus I had a nightmare last night and got your sheets all sweaty.” I finished, quickly averting my eyes.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Ponies don’t normally wear clothes, just for special occasions...or if you work on a farm. For some reason the Apples all seem to wear something.” She looked down for a minute, deep in thought. “But if you need them cleaned I’ll take care of it.”

“Um...It’s actually something I would prefer to handle if you could just show me where you keep the stuff.”

“I use magic.”

“Oh, I guess I don’t really have much choice then.”

With a bright flash I found myself naked on the couch. I narrowed my eyes at Twilight but she didn’t seem to notice. She stood up and trotted upstairs. As she ascended I took a good look at her undercarriage. Well there goes that thought; she’s all girl, not that I’m surprised. I’ll ask when she comes down what she was planning on doing the other night.

I laid there on the couch waiting for Twilight to reappear. After a few minutes I started to worry. It shouldn’t take her this long to grab the sheets and come back down to wash them. What’s keeping her? Did she find out it wasn’t sweat? Is she trying to figure out what it is?

Eventually Twilight reappeared carrying the sheets and pillowcases in her magic. She crossed the main room, opened a door and disappeared through, presumably to wherever she did the cleaning.

I shifted uncomfortably. I definitely ate too much. My stomach seriously ached and I was feeling miserable. I laid there groaning for a good long time. I didn’t really fall asleep. I was in that weird state where your eyes are closed and you are having the beginnings of dreams but you’re also vaguely aware of what’s going on around you.

I felt my body start to tingle as I rested. Oddly no matter how I shifted I couldn’t get the tingling to stop. First one leg would start to fall asleep, so I would roll onto my other side. My chest shifted in the process - terribly distracting - but soon feeling returned in my leg. A few minutes later my other leg started to tingle. I reached down to massage some life back into my blood-deprived leg, but my pants were bunching oddly making the sensation pretty strange.

I rolled onto my back to try to alleviate the whole problem. Again my new foreign body settled and it took me a few seconds of readjusting to get comfortable. After some time the feeling returned in my legs. I took a minute to bend them up into the air and just flex them to work out the strange tingling sensation, but they didn’t seem to want to regain their normal feeling.

They felt odd, strange, almost like they weren’t bending right. They bent in the wrong places and I couldn't feel my toes at all. I opened my eyes.

I noticed a pair of light blue pony legs extending down from my waist. A high pitched sound exploded around me. My legs flailed in the air randomly as I freaked out. I reached my arms down to feel them and found that they were not only incredibly soft, but also incredibly strong. The sound stopped and I realized I was out of breath. Was it me making that sound? A door burst open stealing my attention. Twilight sprang into the room and looked around wildly until her eyes alighted on me and widened.

We froze; her looking at my legs, and me looking at her.

I lowered my legs to rest on the arm of the couch and sat up quickly. I ran my hands over the strange limbs, trying to figure out what had happened. Soft fur now coated me from the waist down. It was a light blue color just a few shades darker than Rainbow’s coat. It felt soft and as I stroked my legs I felt around for my leg joints. I shifted my legs and discovered that my knee had slid pretty far up my leg. My ankle had also shifted much further toward my hips. I couldn’t really feel my toes but the joints seemed to have merged into almost a second ankle. My legs now ended in hooves.

I felt a prod at my right leg and noticed that Twilight had moved close to me while I was distracted. I watched as she grabbed me in her forelegs. She pushed and twisted my new leg, observing how it bent and compensated for her movements.

I saw her horn light up and a quill lifted and dipped itself in ink. It scribbled furiously across a page as she prodded and played with my new leg. I concentrated on trying to make the other leg obey me. The muscles all seemed to be in the same place but they didn’t seem to work the same way. Some muscles I barely flexed and it sent my leg twitching wildly into the couch, other muscles I tensed and my leg barely moved.

Wait, hold on. Lets take a step back. Nevermind that I have strange legs. Why do I have strange legs? I haven’t had any sex. What I did upstairs couldn't’ possibly count, right? Masturbating isn’t sex! Right? Well I guess this world somehow counts it...Unless I got pony genetics another way…

Either what I did counted, and I’ll be able to find out by just doing it more or stopping. If it wasn’t...that, it’ll keep happening and I won’t need to have sex with ponies. I smiled.

I looked over and noticed Twilight also had a huge smile on her face. She noticed I was looking at her and she met my gaze. As soon as she did, her smile disappeared as her face was overtaken by… guilt? Was she feeling bad from me?

“What’s wrong Twilight?”

“Uh…” Her eyes darted around the room, finally settling back on my legs. “Your legs!”

I gave her a deadpanned look.

“I mean, I wasn’t expecting your transformation to go...like this.” She waved a hoof at my legs. “I was expecting more of a gradual shifting of everything at the same time. I wasn’t expecting literally half of you to turn into a pony and leave the other half human.”

I didn’t want to ask Twilight about why I had suddenly started transforming in case it was...that. But she didn’t seem to have any questions along those lines. I was glad she didn’t bring it up.

“The good news now is that you almost look like a minotaur. So even if someone sees you, it won’t be the end of the world. Can you walk?”

I shrugged and sat up, making myself uncomfortable with how my chest shifted again. Having my chest turn pony would be alright just to be rid of these things.

It was tricky sitting on the couch with my joints rearranged but eventually I slid off of the couch and leaned against the table. It took me a few minutes to get my legs under myself well enough to put any weight on them.

I stood up to my full height, now considerably shorter than before. I started to overbalance backwards, I tried to position a foot...hoof, i guess... behind me to catch myself, but my leg shot out from under me, banged into the couch, and sent me crashing backwards. I landed on the couch. Once again my breasts reminded me of their presence. How do girls put up with these? Oh right, bras.

Everything went purple and the couch receded. The room shifted lower and backwards then rose to gently rest against my feet...hooves. I looked over and saw Twilight’s horn glowing a more intense shade of purple than everything else.

I took a few experimental steps. My legs still flew out from under me as I tried to amble across the room. Wow, just a few short days ago I was the star athlete on my team. Now I’m failing to walk around without help.

An embarrassing amount of time later I was able to wobble unsteadily without Twilight’s ‘training wheels’. I tottered over to the couch and flopped onto it.

“I’m exhausted.”

“I’m not surprised. Your body just went through a lot of work to make that change. Plus you just used a bunch of muscles in a brand new way and you didn't get a lot of sleep last night.”

I staggered unsteadily upstairs to the bedroom. Or I tried to. More accurately I stumbled on the first step, fell onto my hands and…-ankles?- and crawled the rest of the way upstairs. I crash-landed on the bed which was already made with new sheets.

****

I woke up feeling ravenously hungry. I opened my eyes and saw the room had descended into darkness. Wow I slept a while I guess. I could really go for more of those pancakes…

I rolled back over and struggled to fall asleep.

****

The next time I opened my eyes the night had passed. I stood up and clumsily made my way downstairs. I snagged the book I was reading and went for the couch but there was a note on the table.

Derek

The shower is just past the kitchen, feel free to use it whenever you

wake up. Also, if you are going to pass as a minotaur, Dash’s idea of a new

name would be a good idea.

I felt terrible about how much noise I was making as my clumsy hooves repeatedly touched down on the wooden floor. I'll wake Twilight up with all this noise I'm making. I reprimanded myself, but my outlook brightened a second later. Maybe she will make more of those pancakes then...

I finally reached the bathroom. I sighed as I shut the door; maybe that would keep my loud foot...hoof-falls from reaching her. The bathroom was pretty straightforward. There was a sink with a narrow cabinet above it on the left, the toilet...type thing…on the far wall, and the shower was to my right. The shower itself wasn't too complicated and soon I was standing under a stream of semi-warm water.

A new name? What kinds of names did Minotaurs even have here? In my world there was only the one in legend, and he was ‘The Minotaur’; it wasn't like we had to differentiate between several. Well let’s see, obviously I’d have to pick a female name. Definitely not one of the super popular female names like Emily or Ashley. Somehow if I picked something slightly less common it would make me feel better. Plus the naming mechanics here seem to be based on words more than names anyway. Maybe something that works as both would be best.

Plant names like Rose, Azalea, Daisy, would work, but those all sound too girly. I don’t know how they keep time here so I’ll avoid month names like April or June.

Hmmm…

I finished my shower and toweled off. The fur was something new. The back of the door had a long narrow mirror on it. It was fogged from the shower, but the towel dealt with that. I stood back and looked at myself.

All in all I was much shorter than I was before. Back when I was a guy and full human I was about six foot four inches. Now I was probably closer to five foot. I was still uncomfortable with my new, expanded chest being exposed like this, but the bottom half wasn’t too bad. First, all of my bits were on the inside now so it was much less apparent, and the fur did a decent job of concealing everything between my legs. The blue was actually a nice color; at least it wasn’t pink or yellow.

I rubbed my legs with the towel trying to dry my wet...fur. But soon the towel and my legs seemed equally damp. I guess I won’t be sitting on that couch for a bit.

I opened the bathroom door and headed into the kitchen. Twilight was already sitting at the kitchen table.

“Morning Twilight,” I said sheepishly. “I didn’t wake you did I?”

“Maybe we should work on stairs…”

“Sorry. I still haven’t gotten the hang of these new joints, walking with hooves is strange, and it isn't like you have handrails. I almost feel like I’m trying to walk on the ends of my toes. It throws my balance way off.”

“You’ll figure it out, Derek. Ungulates normally learn to walk pretty quickly.”

“Whats?”

“Ungulates. Humans have plantigrade legs, it means you walk with your feet flat on the ground. Digitigrade legs would mean you walk with your toes flat on the ground, like dogs and cats. Unguligrade legs mean you walk on the ends of your legs, like ponies.” She demonstrated by tapping her front hooves on the table.

“...Right... By the way, I’ve picked out a name. I thought it might work if I need to pass as a minotaur. I’m not sure what their naming mechanics are but...would Dawn work?”

“Ooo.” She seemed to brighten up. “I like it. Dawn, Dawn.” She seemed to be trying it on to see if it fit. “That sounds really good. Dawn what?”

“What do you mean Dawn what?”

“Well most ponies and minotaurs have a two part name. Though not all of them. I was expecting something like Dawn Breeze, Dawn Shimmer, Dawn Dream...that kind of thing”

“Okay… Well I’m trying to blend in as much as possible. I guess I’d want to go with the standard naming pattern...though that kind of seems like throwing a water balloon at a bonfire… I like Dawn Breeze, but can we just use it when someone is around?”

“We could…but it seems the best way to respond naturally would be to practice first…”

“I have to say, the whole new name thing makes me really uncomfortable; can we just not and hope nobody sees me?”

“I guess...” She seemed really disappointed for some reason.

“You don’t happen to have any more of those pancakes do you? Those were delicious.”

“Um...no, I don’t. I might be able to get something for you though.” She looked around, almost panicky. “Let me run into the market.” Before I could say anything she disappeared in a flash.

That’s odd. I mentioned food and she was out of here like a shot. Was it something I said?

I grabbed my book and sat on the couch. After a few minutes of adjusting and readjusting I realized why ponies don’t tend to sit on couches. Strange that they even have them really. I found curling my legs under wasn’t comfortable either so I laid down, stretched out on the couch and jumped back into my book.

**Twilight**

It worked. It worked! Not only had Derek...Dawn... That brought a smile to my face... not realized anything odd about the pancakes, she had loved them. It must be the spell getting what it needed and imposing some kind of craving. That’ll make this a snap!

All I have to do now is get more. Getting plenty of ingredients had been easy at the concert. It seemed like every stallion there had been happy to help. It was tricky explaining why I insisted on using a condom even when I wasn’t in heat, but it all worked out in the end.

Where am I going to get more, though?

Contemplation

**Derek**

Some days you can only read so much. I stood up shakily. Once I got into motion it was easier to keep my balance, like riding a bike. The problem came when I thought about what I was doing too much...or if I tried to change directions quickly...or at all...or if I tried to stop; but going in a straight line at a constant speed was becoming pretty easy.

I resolved to practice walking. Exploring the library would keep my mind off of the mechanics of walking, so I opened the door Twilight took my laundry through. I was right, it was a kind of mud room. There was a washing tub against one wall and several cabinets hanging over it. There was a rug on the floor lined with several different styles of - are they called shoes for ponies? Horse shoes? Pony shoes? - end of the leg-covering devices… It was a bit odd seeing two pairs for each set, but it makes sense.

The room was a dead end, so I hobbled back into the main room of the library. Let’s see, that arch leads to the kitchen, the stairs lead up to the bedroom, and that one is the front door so...where does that door lead?

I walked over to the last door and gave the knob a turn. The door swung open revealing a staircase leading down. Stairs, we meet again. I understand why ponies don’t have handrails, but that doesn't mean I can’t wish they did.

I pressed my one hand against the wall and looked around the edge of the door. It’s too dark. I felt the wall but couldn’t find any kind of light switch. Why would they put the light switch at the bottom of the stairs? I guess practicing stairs is an important part of walking...

With one hand against the wall and the other extended for balance, I lowered my first hoof down to rest on the first step. Okay, so far so good. I slowly rocked my weight onto my front leg but overbalanced forwards. I made a grab for the door frame but…

Well that was about as graceful as a fish on a trampoline...

I picked myself up from the floor, using the stairs to help me reach a standing position. I groped along the wall for a light switch or something. How does she see down here? There has to be some kind of light source, right?

I groped further along the wall, searching for the switch. Soon my eyes adjusted to the dim light coming from the top of the stairs and I gave up. There seemed to be strange boxes down here. Some had knobs and dials all over them and one looked like it had shackles on it. There was also a spare bed and another doorway.

I headed over to the bed to rest. I inspected where I had banged my legs and arms on the way down the stairs; it seemed I’d managed to get a small cut. I looked around for a band-aid, but then realized that band-aids wouldn’t be useful if you’re covered in fur. I looked around while massaging my sore legs and arms. There was a work bench near the bed, I slid over to take a look.

The shapes on the counter were hard to make out in the dark. It seemed like there was a small pile of...somethings, a pair of scissors, a funnel and the syrup bottle? OH! This must be where Twilight was making that great syrup from before. I wonder why she didn’t mention that she made it. She just said it was a new flavor...maybe she didn’t want me to worry about hurting her feelings incase I didn’t like it.

I wonder what that pile is… It’s probably whatever she used to make the syrup. I reached over and grabbed one of the items from the pile. It felt...slick, almost slippery. It was knotted at one end, and the other end appeared to have been cut at the end. My curiosity turned to horror as I raised it to the light from the top of the stairs.

**Applejack**

“Wheeweyy.” It’s sure been a busy day so far. I wiped some sweat from my brow and readjusted my hat.

I looked over to my cart of apples. I had sold most of them but there was still a few hours left before the end of the day.

“How much for a bushel of apples?” somepony asked.

I spun back around to face them. “Three bits for a bushel,” I replied.

“These are some mighty fine apples you have here, but I can’t part with three bits for a single bushel. I could see clear to pay two…” the white unicorn stallion ventured.

“Two will get your this bushel,” I indicated a slightly less brimming basket of apples, “but three will get you this one.” I slid forward an overflowing basket with the shiniest apples you’ve ever seen.

He appeared to consider the bushels as he rubbed his chin. “Three bits it is then. You always do have a way of making your apples irresistible,” he said as he floated the bits to me and the bushel onto his back.

“Mighty nice of you to say sir.” I hoofed the bits into a small bag under the counter as he walked away.

Wow, a whole bushel just like that. At this rate I may have to have Big Mac bring a second cart tomorrow.

“Best apples in Equestria!” I shouted trying to gain the attention of passing ponies. I looked up and down the street for prospective apple buyers when something strange caught my eye.

Gasps and shouts grew from the down the street. I could hear the tide of gasps and inarticulate shouts get louder as I watched ponies part, leaving a clear path down the center of the street. In the brief window between bodies I was able to glimpse a strange looking creature. It almost looked like a minotaur but was much smaller and had a very...mobile...chest.

I’ve never seen a female minotaur before. I wonder what it’s doing in Ponyville? ...Stumbling down the street?... Crying?

**Fluttershy**

I’ve never seen a bush cry before. I wonder why it’s sad. Though, I don’t really know what makes bushes happy other than sunlight and water. This one seems to be getting plenty of both.

“There there. Everything is going to be okay,” I tried as I moved closer. How are you supposed to comfort a bush? I sat next to it and thought about wrapping a wing around it, but that would block its light. “I’m sure whatever it is that is making you sad can be made right. So just tell Fluttershy what’s wrong,” I said as I stroked a leaf.

“This isn’t right.”

IT SPOKE! Wow, this is so amazing. I’ve never met a talking bush before! Are all bushes sad and just can’t tell me? That would be so sad! Maybe this bush can help me cheer up the other bushes…

“I’m not supposed to be like this. I don’t belong here, why can’t I just go home?” The bush seemed to be talking to itself as much as answering my question. The bush shook gently from its grief, so I leaned into it a bit to try to lend it comfort.

“Um, I might be able to help,” I ventured, “maybe if you tell me what you don’t like about this place I can do something about it.”

“This place is full of ponies. I belong with my own kind, not talking ponies. I can’t even walk anymore!”

“It’s not all bad. You can still talk. There sure aren’t a lot of your kind that can do that?”

“What?”

“Um, I haven't met any talking bushes before anyway…” Oh, maybe I made it upset. Maybe all bushes can talk and I’ve been too careless to notice. Maybe bushes have been talking to me and I’ve just been ignoring them. Or maybe they’re shy and are too afraid to speak to me. Think of all the little bushes I’ve been scaring!

A head poked out of the bush that looked like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It had sparse fur on its head, small eyes, and its face was surprisingly flat, no muzzle at all, and it had obviously been crying. I could see the puffy eyes and the tear trails down its smooth face, but I couldn’t read its expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry for calling you a bush...that was kind of silly of me… My name is Fluttershy. Why were you crying?”

**Derek**

I wasn’t sure how far I ran before hiding in the bush, but I wasn’t about to go back to Twilight’s. What do I tell Fluttershy? She is obviously trying to be nice and helpful, I probably shouldn’t try to overload her with what really happened. But I don’t like the idea of lying to her either. Maybe I can be vague…

“Um… well, I’m kind of new to being a minotaur, and I don’t really know where I am or anyone around here.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Fluttershy comforted me “It can be terrifying to be lost and alone somewhere new.” She stood up and offered me a hoof.

I took it and she helped me to my feet...hooves. Wow she’s strong. I rested a hand on her back for stability, which made her gasp. She wriggled under my hand for a second until it rested slightly higher, near her shoulders. Together we started down a nearby path.

“How did you end up a in Ponyville,” She asked.

“I...don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Oh, okay…”

“...”

“Would you like to talk about why you were crying?”

I guess that’s safe enough. “Somebody was mean to me.”

I noticed she turned her head to look up to me when I said that. She had a confused look on her face.

“Somebody?” she said, seemingly to herself “Well, I guess you’re not a pony…”

I looked forward and noticed the path went over a very small bridge and lead up to a tree that had been fashioned into a house, just like Twilight’s place.

“This is where I live,” she said.

Went went inside and she disappeared into the kitchen.

“Make yourself at home. I’m just going to put some nice relaxing tea on.”

I heard her fumble with something in the other room. It must be hard without hands… I’m really not looking forward to that part. I looked down at my hands and flexed my fingers.

I felt awkward standing in the middle of the room so I followed Fluttershy into the kitchen just in time to see her lean forward and turns a knob on the stove with her mouth.

“There, tea should be ready shortly...um... I’m sorry, I’ve already forgotten your name.”

Which name do I tell her? Derek is too weird and would lead to some questions I’m really not ready to answer right now.

“You can call me Dawn.”

“Oh, that’s such a lovely name. Hello Dawn. Please excuse the mess, my animal friends sometimes don’t clean up after themselves very well.”

I looked around at the quaint little cottage. Everything was in perfect order. It was almost off putting how tidy everything was. It looked like one of those showrooms at furniture stores.

“So, um, what do you want to talk about? Do you want to talk about the meany?”

“I don’t want to go into too much detail. But I thought I had a freind, well someone who had my back anyway. But they took advantage of that trust and did something awful.”

“Oh, that is awful. I can’t imagine how I would feel if one of my friends were to take advantage of me.”

Soon the pot on the stove interrupted with its loud whistling. Fluttershy poured two steaming cups of tea. She set them on her back and walked over to the table. She slid one over to me as she sat down.

“So what did you mean when you said that you were new to being a minotaur?”

“Um, that’s kind of a long story. Minotaurs from where I’m from are half one creature and half cow. I used to be fully the first creature. Now I’m halfway turned into a pony, so I kind of resemble a minotaur…”

“Wow, how did that happen?”

“I don’t really want to talk about that right now. I’m still kind of worked up, maybe later.” I took a sip of the tea. It sure tastes different than the tea I’m used to.

“What kind of tea is this?” I asked, to change the subject.

“Oh, you don’t like it like it? It’s a mix of carnation and daffodils. I can make you something else,” she said, as she stood up.

Flowers? Whatever, this tea is pretty good.

“I do like it. Thank you Fluttershy, you’ve been very kind.”

We chatted for some time about her animal friends and what she does here at the edge of town. She told me she lives at the edge of this dark scary forest, and about how she tends and takes care of some of the animals in the area. I started to get a feel for her personality the way she spoke about the times she helped nurse the odd creatures in the area back to health. I did get a weird vibe that I was the newest in her long list of strange creatures with problems she would try to fix, but truth be told, I DID need the help.

The day passed and the sun slowly lowered. She asked me to stay the night with her, and showed me to her guest room. I lay down on the bed atop the covers.

Today was one heck of a day. A lot has changed for me in the last week… without Twilight, how am I supposed to get home? I know Twilight wronged me, but going to Princess Celestia about it seemed wrong too. I know she was just trying to help, even if the methods were...delicious...I MEAN DISGUSTING!

What do I do now?

Author's Note

I've never really added an author's note to a story before. I find, when I read other people fics, that most author's notes are apologizing for taking so long to write a new chapter. Though I do take a long time between each chapter, I won't apologize in each note. That gets annoying fast.

Instead I will ask for some feedback. Comments, likes, and messages are what will get more chapters out of me. I'm not trying to pose some kind of price for my story or anything, I just feel more appreciated and am more likely to write if that's the case.

In closing, I'd really like to make this a long arcing story. I have several things in mind I would like to have happen including the end. However, I really would like to bounce my ideas off of someone and improve as a writer. So someone who could hop on skype or gdocs and discuss plot points, motivations, and general direction for the story would greatly help.

Thanks for reading.

Inspiration

**Derek**

The morning that greeted me was right out of a Disney movie. The birds chirped, the squirrels chattered and the sun was shone. The window was open and a gentle breeze was barely moving the curtains. I half expected the sun to be wearing sunglass and have a big smiley face.

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The sound and feeling of my hooves as they landed on the wooden floor still caught me off guard.

I wobbled upright and tottered to the door. Finally I managed to make it down the stairs without doing an impression of a slinky, but didn’t see Fluttershy. Carefully I explored the small tree-cottage searching for her. Not in the main room, not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom, I poked my head through a window, not in the back. I stuck my head through a window in the front and finally saw her crouched low, nose to nose with a bunny.

Curious, I watched. Is she talking to a bunny? I guess that makes more sense than talking to a bush… As they spoke, I noticed the bunny repeatedly stamp its foot and cross its arms. Apparently it was unsatisfied with Fluttershy’s response because without hesitation it slapped her across the face. Hard.

I was stunned. Fluttershy looked of complete surprised too. Her legs gave out and she sank to the ground. The bunny chittered at her rapidly and once the shock had worn off, Fluttershy nodded quickly.

She turned and quickly trotted toward the cottage. She repeatedly looked over her shoulder at the bunny who stood there, arms crossed, tapping its foot.

She entered the cottage and flinched when I spoke.

“Fluttershy?” I said, to get her attention.

“Ahhh!” If she had been wearing shoes, she would’ve leapt straight out of them.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Is everything okay?”

“Oh, um. yes. Everything is fine. I’ll be right back I just need to get Angel Bunny his jacket, he says its a bit cold out.” She opened a closet by the front door and retrieved a bunny sized jacket. Clutching it in her mouth, she turned and walked back outside. I watched as she helped the critter don his tiny blue puffy coat.

After she returned, she asked: “Good morning, Dawn. Did you sleep well? I didn’t wake you did I?”

“No, I mean yes. I mean,” I took a deep breath, “I slept well but you didn’t wake me.” After a second I asked: “Why was that bunny being so rude?”

“That’s just Angel. He has a short temper sometimes but he doesn’t mean it. Deep down, he’s a good bunny.”

“I don’t think it’s right, him hitting you like that.”

“Aw, it’s nothing. It was just a tap.”

“If you say so... Anyway, thank you for your hospitality, I really should get out of your hair now though.”

“Please stay for breakfast? I’ll make eggs and haybrowns,” she said enticingly.

Breakfast does sound good though I’m not sure what haybrowns consisted of.

I told myself I was glad it wasn’t pancakes, but I’m not sure if I believed me.

Maybe I just liked the pancakes so much because I was particularly hungry. Maybe I should stick around for some other food to see...

My stomach settled it before I could voice my decision.

“Oh, my,” she said, hiding a giggle behind a hoof.

“Uh, breakfast sounds great. Thanks again Fluttershy. You’re very kind.”

“Aww… Anypony would do the same.” She said, with a small blush. She slowly walked into the kitchen. “So, when you do leave, where are you going?”

“I don’t know. I am pretty new here so I’m not sure where to go.”

“Are you staying with your friend?”

“Not anymore. After they...did something… I’m not going around them anytime soon.”

“Oh, my. So you’re alone out here?”

I hung my head as the full force of her statement finally registered. She can’t begin to comprehend the magnitude of how alone I am.

She must have noticed my sudden melancholy because she didn’t interrupt my reverie. I thought about my family who must be missing me.

...My dad, my mom, and my brother who would never see me again.

My brother and I were pretty close. When we were younger we would put on a CD and play videogames for hours. When we heard those particular songs, even years later we were immediately taken back to whichever videogame we were playing at the time. The B-52s reminded us of Mario-Kart, Poodle Hat reminded us of James Bond etc… Those are some of my fondest memories of growing up.

My dad worked all day and usually didn’t get home until after we were sleeping. On Wednesday though, mom would go out with her friends so dad would watch us. When we were younger and we played simpler videogames, he would be our ace-in-the-hole. Sometimes he would stay up hours after we went to sleep so that when we woke up, we would be on the next level. When we graduated to more sophisticated games he would give advice, but forgo the actual playing.

I remember one time he took us to the park across the street from our house and showed us how to fly a kite. The kite string ended up breaking and eventually we found it at the very top of the tree in our front yard. The kite stayed in that tree for years up in the high thin branches.

Mom was thoughtful and caring, though overbearing. She would make us snacks when we got home from school, would help us with our homework and force us to go to church.

I guess I took them for granted…
...
Now that they aren’t just a phone call away…
…
…
…

I looked up from my thoughts to see Fluttershy busy at the stove. She nervously glanced over her shoulder.

“Sorry, yes... I’m very alone here,” I said, trying to keep my voice from catching.

She divided the contents of the pans onto a couple of plates and carried them to the table.

“You’re staying with me then.”

“What? No. I mean, thank you very much Fluttershy, but that wouldn’t be right. I can’t take advantage of you like that.”

“I insist, and you aren't taking advantage of me. I offered.”

“I’m going to contribute somehow then. I’m not a freeloader.”

“Um, okay… How?”

“Uh… I’m not sure. I’ve never take care of sick animals before. What can I do to help?”

Fluttershy chewed her food slowly as her eyes unfocused. Her fork froze halfway to her mouth. As she thought, she slowly lowered it until it was resting on the edge of the plate. After a minute she brightened and seemed to gain momentum as she spoke.

“How about you follow me around today and see what you can do. Then tomorrow I’ll let you take over some of the tasks?”

“That sounds great.”

It turned out that Haybrowns are hashbrowns but made with...hay… All things considered, they’re pretty tasty. It seemed like the meal was missing something though. By the time I was done I felt very full, but strangely unsatisfied.

I followed Fluttershy around outside for the next hour or so watching as she collected eggs from the chicken coup, filled bird feeders and visited burrows.

Each time she stopped outside of a hole in the ground, she called inside. Quickly a critter bound up in some kind of bandage or toting a heated bottle emerged and they had a brief conversation. After a few minutes of squeaking, chittering or chirping the critter would go back into it’s den and we would move to the next hole.

Soon we returned to the cabin and had sandwiches for lunch. I noticed her right cheek was a bit redder than her left.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, as we ate.

“ Um yes,” she said hesitantly, “everything seems to be normal, why?”

“Your cheek looks a bit sore,” I answered, and pointed to her cheek.

She put a hoof up to feel her face and flinched when it reached the bump that was forming.

“I must’ve scraped it on one of the bird feeders,” she said, unconvincingly. She stood and trotted out of the kitchen. I ate my sandwich in silence for a few minutes trying to remember her face getting near any of the feeders. She soon walked back into the room. The red mark on her cheek was gone and I could barely make out the lump under the makeup.

I let the issue drop...for now.

We chatted lightly about the mourning routine and agreed that I could take over the egg collection and feeder filling. The house visits were beyond me, mostly because I can’t speak squirrel, bunny, gopher, bird, fish, and/or turtle.

In the afternoon she set a fire in the fireplace, which sent a pillar of grey smoke into the otherwise clear sky. She propped the front door open and started making tea. Soon enough I heard something quite large approaching.

I looked at the front door and saw a bear walking in!

I tried to agilely dash to the other side of the room to take shelter behind a couch. What I did, in fact, was fall over immediately, flip onto my back and skitter backwards ineffectually.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, trotted right up to the bear and started conversing with it with a series of grunts and huffs. Soon the bear turned around and sat down, allowing access to its back. Fluttershy gasped, and covered her mouth with a hoof. There were three gashes along the bear’s right shoulder-blade. She hurriedly conversed with the bear before galloping into the kitchen. She returned a minute later wearing a nurses’ cap and holding a small box marked with a red plus sign. Soon the bear’s shoulder was shaved and with a maximum of roars and irritated huffs, the bear’s shoulder was stitched and bandaged.

The bear was soon back on all fours. He rolled his shoulder, checking for mobility. Fluttershy stood in front of it shaking a hoof and grunting at it. Soon the bears head drooped and it stalked off back into the forest.

When she turned around she noticed me in full gape and her other cheek blushed a faint shade of red.

“What just happened?” I asked, baffled.

“Um, Harry got in a fight with a manticore. He said that the manticore was trying to use his back scratching tree and was wearing off all the good bark. He’s never been good at sharing…”

“Did you just reprimand a bear?”

“Um, more like advize...I think…”

****

Days came and days went, the routine in general didn’t vary. Breakfast was followed by treating small animals, then after lunch, big animals would arrive for treatment. I saw everything from stubbed toes and thorns in paws, to gaping wounds I would have sworn were mortal.

Fluttershy handled each with courage and professionalism that surprised me. After first meeting the mare I would’ve bet money that she would be the first to faint at the sight of blood, but she tended wounds that would’ve made a field medic squirm.

Slowly I learned my limits, I could bandage small cuts and do simple chores like fill feeders and collect eggs. If a creature showed up needing more than simple first aid, Fluttershy would take over.

In the evening, after most of the patients had gone back to the forest or their homes, I would sit on the couch and tell Fluttershy stories from my world. She would slowly make rounds refilling tea cups and checking bandages for the patients who needed to spend the night.

I told her what I could remember about superheroes like The Flash, Wonder Woman and The X-Men. I also told her about some of my favorite movies like the first three about Indiana Jones. She enjoyed those and told me about this worlds analogs, The Power Ponies, and Daring Do.

In my time there I found myself telling her about so many book series that I had read and movies I had seen that several started to blur together and some I had partially forgotten. Often, halfway through a story, I would forget how it went. Naturally I embellished and added my own guesses about how the story ended so they didn’t lamely fizzle out.

Originally I told these stories for Fluttershy’s benefit. One evening, after weaving together what I remembered of a fantasy book I had read in middle school, I realized that many of the critters in the cottage didn’t have bandages on at all. I asked her about it the next day. She said that many of the critters who had recovered had asked if they could still come by for story time.

I was floored. I knew I enjoyed telling these stories, but I always assumed Fluttershy was just humoring me. If they were getting enough enjoyment out of it to give up their time... wow! (Thank you readers :)

***

The next day I got up and muddled my way down the stairs. I had long since mastered the art of walking on hooves and had even managed to walk up and down stairs without concentrating on every step.

I made it to the kitchen and looked through the cabinets and refrigerator. It was a habit I had developed shortly after moving into Fluttershy’s cottage. I could never nail down exactly what I looked for, but the impression that something would really hit the spot nagged me.

After I exhausted all of the cabinet I set about making muffins. A gasp behind me stole my attention from the chore. I spun around and noticed Fluttershy staring at my ass. I felt self conscious for the first time in weeks of being naked.

“Oh, Dawn I’m so happy for you!”

I could only give her a look of confusion.

“Here.” She said. She reached out a hoof and touched the side of my butt. I leapt away out of instinct but looked down to where she had pointed. There, on my hip, I saw a little picture had developed. I noticed that the ponies I had seen all had a picture on their hip. I wasn’t sure what it meant. But now it seemed I had one too.