The Die of Fate

"...the die is cast." Was the last thing I heard before my sight was blocked by a bright purple light.

I awoke as a cold breeze passed over me, biting into my skin. I tried to move but something felt... off. I opened my eyes, I was met by darkness, not complete darkness. I could clearly see around me but everything was cast in deep shadows of the night. I sighed deeply, part relief and part frustration. I already had an inkling of where I was.

I was lying on a carpet that looked worn and bleached, even in the poor light of night the age and neglect was clearly visible in the old fabric. The old and damaged tapestries and worn paint covered cracked stone walls and ceilings. Sections had long since caved in on itself and had left the castles innards open to natures whims. I soon discovered why the air felt so cold.

Snow covered part of the room I were in. It seemed I had been spared from its cold touch as I laid tucked in a corner away from the opened and caved in wall on the other side.

I could not help feeling a shiver down my spine, it was not from the freezing temperature, the place felt abandoned. No surprise there. This was the old abandoned castle of the royal pony sisters. At least I hoped it was, otherwise I would be terribly lost.

Another cold wind drew across me sending a real shiver through me. I could not stay there rested against the cold wall, nor the floor, though the carpet helped to keep the cold from me a little but it sure would not be enough, not for long anyway. I had to move somewhere warmer before I got too cold.

I rolled onto my back, noting how uncomfortable it was, specifically around my shoulders. I took the chance to rub my eyes. A combination of cold dry air and drowsiness blurred my vision in tears. I halted mid action when my arm hit my nose, it was not painful but it sure was bewildering. My nose were not that long? I opened my eyes to see why. I noticed my arm over a decimeter away... covered in orange fur. I blinked a few times studying this phenomena for a few seconds.

I withdrew my arm back to study the new stubby end that had once been a hand and was now a hoof.

I were a bit divided in how to feel. I had dreamed of this, very often in a positive way, and had prepared myself for the possibility. Though it helped little, that had been mere thoughts, this... this was real. I did not panic but I felt shock set in. I had forced myself to calm down as I felt my limbs tremble. I remembered the uncomfortable feeling behind my shoulders.

I slowly craned my neck to see down the sides of my chest. I was met with more orange fur and, I gulped, feathers. I moved a trembling hoof forward and stroked my new appendage. I could oddly feel the feathers through my hoof and... wing. I guess one could say it felt like touching my hair but... different.

So I was a pegasus? Well I had always dreamt of flying. Tough I had preferred to be a unicorn, had fantasized about the ability to use magic most of my life too. But you could not have everything in your life I suppose.

I sighed and put my head down to rest, keeping it lifted had put to much of a strain on my neck.

This complicated things. I was unsure if I could even walk. But that was beside the point, I needed to move or risk freezing to death, something I really did not want to happen.

It took me only a few tries to roll myself on my stomach, and another few moments to orient my new limbs under me and brazed my fore hooves against the ground.

"Come on, you can do this." I tried to pump myself up, I still felt exhausted from whatever 'The Guy' did to send me here. Dozens of theories played in my head on why, though I believed it was the transformation in itself that was the fault.

I took a deep breath and pushed myself up, forelegs shaking and straining under the stress, into a sitting position, my wings hanging limply at my sides. I let the air in my lungs go in a deep sigh. This was really going to be hard.

I took the chance to take a better look around the room, though It would be better to call it a hall. It was huge. If it where not for the moonlight coming in through the large hole in the ceiling at the far end I would not have been able to see the end. What caught my eyes was the raised dais at the far end, or more specifically the tapestries above it. One was in different shades of dark blue depicting the night sky, the other in bright yellows depicting golden landscapes with a sun shining high above. Both where weather-beaten and tattered as large chunks was missing. The thrones shared the unnatural destruction of most of the room had. It was however not a mystery for me, i already knew what had happened to the room long before nature even had a chance to bite into it. Probably no one had been in the room since Luna became Nightmare Moon.

I became curious about the thrones, how many people can say they had the opportunity to sit in an actual throne? Not many I reckoned. The problem was getting over there. I looked down at my new hooves then back to the thrones. Well nothing like the present, right?

I rose to my hooves, slowly and carefully, It was weird to... stand on all fours but I was sure it would come to me in time. The first step was the hardest I had ever done in my life. My head nearly connected with floor when I lost my balance, only saved by the wall close to me. Yup, it was going to take a little while to get the hang of it.

Slowly but surely I made my way towards the thrones, keeping a steady shoulder against the wall helped a lot. I had given up trying to lift my wings and simply let them scrape limply against the floor. Soon i stood before the short but albeit intimidating staircase leading up to Celestia's throne. I looked at the snow covered stairs, then at my hooves which was standing in the thin layer of powdered snow. The snow was cold to be sure but it was a dull shill compared to the wind, at least it did not seem like I would have any need for shoes to keep my hooves warm if I would take a stroll in the winter. At least it did not feel as cold as my bare feet would have as a human.

I returned my gaze to the snow covered staircase. It was going to be hard climbing up, especially since I only made it to the foot of the stairs with the help of an entire wall... I was not going to have that luxury anymore as the stairs lacked any kind of railings at all.

I looked behind me towards the other end of the hall where the only exit I had seen was. I knew I really should have been walking towards that instead of the thrones. It would have probably been warmer in the castle's hidden study room. I shrugged, at least I think I did the equine version of a shrug anyway, I had already wasted time and effort making it this far and I could probably afford to spend some more.

I placed a tentative right hoof on the first step, soon followed by the left, I wiggled my back hooves closer to ascend another step up. I repeated the slow motion upwards until I had to stop halfway up. I was sweating and I felt overall uncomfortable. Having fur and sweat was not a good thing in my opinion I discovered.

I saw something in my peripheral vision followed by a sharp clack of stone. I looked towards the sound and saw a large pebble stick up through the snow. I looked up towards the hole above me in concern. I did not want the roof to finally collapse when I was standing under it. I did not see anything other than faded colours of a once richly painted ceiling, some cracks and the moon shining brightly through the hole. I shook my head and returned to walking up the stairs.

It was then I slipped.

My hoof had barely touched the step when my left hoof slid away from under me, my right hoof did similar and followed his brother's example, forcing me into a foreleg split. My head painfully connected with the stone steps and everything went white in pain. It felt like someone had split my skull in two and twisted a limb or two just to be sure. I bit down on my tongue and growled in pain.

"hnngh, damn it!" I shouted and rolled over on my right side as it hurt less, right foreleg clamped tightly to my left foreleg. I definitely regretted my choice by now.

I barely noticed the moon being shadowed. I looked up and saw three shadows dive towards me and before I knew it they landed, hard, on me.

I barely had time seeing white and a gleam of gold before three pairs of hooves roughly pinned me painfully to the stairs. Two hooveswas pressed up against the back of my head and chin forcing me to look away. A weight pressed down my wings and a second pair of hooves pinned my injured left leg against my body. My hind legs could only fruitlessly spasm under a third pair of hooves.

I let a deep guttural growl out of my throat as I hissed in pain, and act that resulted in my aggressors too put more weight on me.

I could not see any of them after they pinned me down but what I saw could only mean one thing. I had been attacked by royal guard ponies.

I could hear the old door at the end of the hall way creak open and a harsh and carrying voice rang through the hold hall.

"Good job colts, quick and easy just as I ordered!" more than one pair of hooves entered into the old hall. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest even though I tried my best to calm my nerves but I still could not get rid of the sense of foreboding.

"Tender, Sky, get me some restraints. Her highness wants this pony in her quarters pronto." the... commander... barked. I could only raise my eyebrow at the choice of words. I could feel and hear the guard holding down my head quietly snicker behind me.

"Quiet Gullible, i will not tolerate such thoughts!" the commander barked again, this time I could sense some hostility in his voice.

My head still pulsed in spikes of pain and I still felt dizzy from hitting my head. It was hard to focus on anything for more than mere seconds at a time. I got only more disoriented by the second and barely noticed someone doing something near my forehead before everything went black.