TO MY DISMAY, AND to the joy of whatever sort of cruel god or goddess I had apparently ticked off, Dean's little trip to grab his unicorn helper seemed to have caused a big stir in the castle. Guards were more active, constantly talking to one another as I was wheeled by with my companions, and even a few of the maids had paused in their work to check up on us. I never did like crowds, not because I don't like being surrounded by tons of people, no, that's not why. I don't like crowds because somehow, no matter what, I always seem to have the spotlight land on me. I don't like the attention. The feeling of having dozens of eyes glaring at me, judging every tiny movement and spoken word of mine, I just really don't like being singled out like that. Like I was right now, being pushed down a long corridor in a wheelchair with two medical practitioners, a guard, and a... whatever Speck is supposed to be. My buddy, I guess.

"So," Spectral Stone began, trying to ease the tension our group had been moving in for the past few minutes, "...Uh, Jenny. Why do you have such long hair?" The way his voice wavered made it sound like he was questioning himself instead of me.

I rolled my chin in my hand so I could look at him. "I just never cut it, save for a few trimmings here and there. Why?"

"I was kinda curious, you know?" I guess I did. "I mean, look at Dean, his hair is pretty closely cropped to his head. And your hair is a lot longer than the other females, even most of the mares here."

"I take pride in my haircut," Dean stated with a half-smile. "I think it makes my chin look a tad broader, not to mention short hair doesn't get in the way of whatever I'm doing."

"And what are you doing now, exactly?" I asked him, craning my head over the back of my chair too look at his stubble-covered chin. "Because I still have no real idea of why you're wheeling me out into the city."

"Like I said, just a little checkup, hopefully," Dean answered calmly. "Marmalade couldn't give me a definite answer for my worries, so we're going to somepony who can." This got the unicorn to shuffle in her steps.

"Well, you can't truly blame me for not knowing how the human body works, Dean," Marmalade said with her nose up in the air. "It's only been, what, three years since you appeared on the face of Equus?"

"Technically," Dean drolled on, "if you really search, we may not have been." This caught my attention and I turned my head up to listen better as he wheeled me along. "Some of the more ancient historical writings that date back before Celestia and Luna and even their mother and father have mentions of large, brutish bipeds ravaging the lands. Many are described as ogres and such, but who knows, perhaps we are not the first humans here."

The guard escorting us gave Dean a look before he rolled her eyes.

"You do know that ogres did exist, right?" he stated. "The horrible result of introducing biological and magical engineering to the Minotaurs all those years ago. Big, green, nasty things that actually went off to become a full-fledged species until about three-thousand years ago when they drove themselves to extinction in an attempt of war with the rest of the nations. That whole fiasco sent Equus' advancements back centuries."

"...Oh." You could see the air rush out of Dean's sails. "Welp, so much for that theory. I guess I'll have to talk to somepony about that."

I raised an eyebrow at his last sentence, not really at the meaning, but at his vocabulary. I've only had a very short interaction with the other humans here (God, am I really referring to my species as a separate species?) but slips of the tongue were heard, just like Dean's. But then again, he said he'd been here for two or three years, so maybe the local lingo had rubbed off on him.

"Riiiiight," I sighed. "So what now?"

"Well," Marmalade said as she sped up a tad to reach my side, "we'll be walking for a good few minutes since we're almost out of the castle, perhaps we could just talk?"

"What about?" asked the rest of us in unison, which resulted in a three-way stare between myself, Dean, and Speck. Dean looked at me, I looked at Speck, and he looked at Dean. Then we reversed the order, which in turn made Marmalade laugh a very snorty and undignified laugh.

"You guys~" she teased. "Alright, how 'bout we ask a question, and then just listen, kay?" Without waiting for an answer, she looked to me. I didn't want to get put in the spotlight right away, but my split-second anxiety faded as soon as it appear when her eyes flickered above my head to Dean. "How about you, Dean? Anything preoccupying your time outside the castle?"

"Like you don't know already," Dean replied, snnrking as he finished. "This mare."

"Come on, tell us~" Marmalade pleaded. "Not really for me, but for them." I knew she was talking about me and Spectral Stone, but something was off about this whole conversation now.

"Alright, alright, jeez." Dean gave a slight chuckle before continuing. "Well, for those of you that don't know, I don't spend all my time here at the castle working as the human doctor. Sometimes I go down to the local hospital and lend my services to the patients, sometimes I go down to one of the bars and spend a few hours unwinding with this mare" he said while gesturing to Marmalade, "and sometimes I just go to bed, both here at the castle when I'm needed and in my own home."

"You have a house here?" I spoke up, genuinely curious. Though my time here had been short, the thought of the other humans here in the castle living somewhere other than in the marble and stone palace never really... well, came up. I just assumed we all stayed here... Except for the rest of us that had left, as Celestia and Dean had stated before, they moved out and made themselves at home in their respective towns and cities. There was even a human in the neighboring town of Ponyville, just a short train ride away. I relayed the rest of my thoughts in hopes of an answer.

"Yeah, I can see why you'd think that, but it's true," Dean said. "I'm one of the two humans that currently resides in Canterlot with a house to call my own."

"Why?" Spectral and I asked at the same time.

"Because out of all of us," Dean paused as we exited the castle's hallways and into the main lobby, "we're the only ones with a job that pays enough bits to afford a home here. Brooklyn has her house near the end of the city, next to her nightclub."

"Her own nightclub?" I asked. Seems a bit weird to have a nightclub in such a... ritzy city.

"Yeah," Dean answered as we took a turn. "Rebecca is really the only other human that does any work outside the castle, but only for repairs and such, like fixing a carriage or two. Either that, or working on her half-truck. Though she'll probably never get it working, we don't have gasoline here. You remember her?" he asked me. I put a hand up to my chin as I thought. I think I remember... Yeah, the dark-skinned woman in the overalls. So her name's Rebecca and the other woman must be Brooklyn. "Oh look, ready for some fresh air, Jennifer?" Dean quipped.

I looked away from the underside of Dean's chin to see our little entourage officially leave the castle and into the wide open air of the city of Canterlot. And let me tell you, I thought of five or six words that accurately described something pretty back home, and none of them could do justice on this amazing sight.

The pillars of the castle's opening passed us and let me see the awe-inspiring city that was Canterlot. Magnificent stone buildings with such ornate carvings and designs, they looked like they had been crafted by angels. Some had solid roofs, some shingled, and some thatched. Most had darkened windows to prevent prying eyes from looking in on the residents. Neon signs were unlit, but still provided a way to tell business from residence. Were those really neon signs? Not a single cloud was in the sky, which let Celestia's sun shine bright upon the immaculate surfaces of the homes and businesses, the shiny surfaces of buttons and buckles that adorned the population's fancy and elegant clothing, the reflective faces of their jewelry sparkling as well. Ten or so marble stairs stood between us and the perfectly-fitted cobblestone roads that paved their way all throughout the stone city, the beautiful mix of dark grey stone, marble, and lighter-colored cement worn smooth over the years.

"Wow..." was the only thing I could say at that moment.

"I know, it's very pretty," Spectral said as he began to walk down the stairs. "I had the same reaction when I really saw this place for the first time too."

I couldn't help but stare ahead of use as Dean and Marmalade both helped ease my wheelchair down the stairs. All these wondrous architectural achievements, these well-trimmed and luxurious outfits, it was all a sight to behold. A sight that suddenly brought my awareness to my situation. My situation of being pushed out into a city of elegantly dressed ponies in nothing more than my underwear.

"...Dean?" I drolled out as he and the mare beside him eased my chair down the last stair and onto the cobblestone street.

He bent over my shoulder and gave me a soft smile. "Yes, Jenny?" God I want to punch him right now, he's just too nice.

"Why didn't you let me put on some pants before wheeling me out into town?" He just gave me a shrug before standing straight once more. With a sudden lurch that got my chair's wheels out of the first divots of the cobblestone road, he started pushing me to the hospital.

I couldn't but stare at some of the homes we walked by. Some were large enough to comfortably house ten people, or ponies in this case. Some were tall and skinny, some were two-story and wide. I don't think there's any single story houses in the city. After about three minutes, my group wheeled me into the market district. Most of the stands were owned by ponies, but I saw a few creatures that had the heads and claws of eagles and the body of a lion. Griffons, if my mythology is correct. And walking around the district were a few zebras too. Their clothing, if they had any, looked like it was han—er, I mean, hoof woven out of long grass. Kinda gave me an Amazonian vide, maybe African. And then I saw the Minotaurs too. The bottom half of a bull, and the head too, but the midsection was definitely humanoid. Fingers and everything. I couldn't help but notice that all the female Minotaurs I saw were... well, very flat in the chest region. Looks like us humans would be winning the breast wars here. Some of the females were wearing very nice dresses, while the males did nothing to hide their bodies. This world and its fixation with nudity. Maybe I should go shopping once we were finished with all this, get myself some new clothes.

Our group passed one particular stand that held feathers, beads, and other odd trinkets. The crowd in front of it held only two ponies, the rest were... I don't know what they were. They walked upright on two legs, like humans, and were vaguely humanoid. All of them had a thin layer of differing shades of yellow fur, and all of them were wearing some sort of shirt or vest and a pair of baggy shorts. Long feline tails poked out under their belts, and wide paws were attached at the ends of their limbs. One of them looked over at us and smiled a very toothy grin as he waved to us with a paw, giving me a look at his very feline-like face.

"Never seen something like that before," I said as I politely waved back.

"They are Ailurians," Dean responded. "Legend has it that just as ponies evolved from more primitive forms of horses, so did they evolve from the extinct mountain lion. They fought for the right to settle in what's now the Griffon Empire against, well, the Griffons. The Ailurians now make their home in the deserts of Camelu off on the Fourth Continent. Its odd to see such ravenous hunters here in Equestria."

"Hunters?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. "What do you mean?"

"Look at them," Dean answered as we moved by another couple of cat-folk. "Ailurians are known for their merciless hunting tactics. Of course, they don't kill anything that can talk and mostly stick to hunting basilisks, sandwyrms, ocean life, and whatever type of bird they can find out in the desert. Quick, but not very clean. An Ailurian can take down a foe that outweighs it by four times alone, even higher if they train."

"Are they friendly?"

"Sort of, it depends on the individual," Dean said. "The Camels seem to enjoy their presence, but I think that's because they scare away any potential threats and other predators. They make for great allies and terrible enemies. Skilled with both blade and claw, the Ailurians are indisputably the most dangerous non-magical race on the face of the planet. One might say they're the humans of this world; the Apex Predator."

"Wow," I replied, short and simply.

"Yeah, you wouldn't think that something that fuzzy could have you on the ground in pieces in under four seconds, would you?"

"How do you know all this?" I asked up at the fellow pushing my chair. All he gave me was a smile for the first few seconds.

"...Well, what was a man to do for the first few weeks here but read everything I could get my hands on?" he replied. "It wasn't until the next human fell out into the gardens that I really slowed down and started taking care of others again."

We passed out of the market and into the business regiment of the city. There was quite the variety of shops in Canterlot; woodwork, glass forming, jewelry, antiques, photography, an orphanage even, home furnishing, easy-living goods, the works. Everything you would ever need you could probably find here in Canterlot.

We all stopped and looked up when a shrill whistle pierced the air. A young unicorn mare with a brilliantly bright red coat and heavenly golden mane was waving at us, and this got a reaction out of my buddy.

"Hey, would you look at that," Spectral said as he took a step forward. "That's Rosy Meadows, my work bud! Hey, could you guys go ahead without me? I kinda want to catch up and get the details of what's been going on with our store." He looked directly at me, this time. "I promise I'll meet you guys up at the hospital," Speck said with an adorable pout on his face. I know it was for show, but I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"You're good, Speck," I answered as I playfully messed his mane. "Go get your girl."

Spectral's face rapidly gained a hue of pink as he sputtered. "What? N-no, no, it's not like that, heh..." With an awkward jump, he took off towards his shop and the mare calling his name. I smiled when she said something we couldn't hear that made Speck's face go even redder and basically trip over himself. We started our way once more to the hospital with a new topic of discussion, one that was directed at me.

"So Jenny," our unicorn helper spoke up as she trotted closer to my side as Dean wheeled me down the street, "Stone's pretty cute when he's flustered like that, huh?" I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it just amazes me how cute and cuddly you ponies are. Your big, expressive eyes just complement your whole figure."

"Our eyes, eh?" Marmalade asked me. "What else do you like about us?"

"I don't really know," I said as I looked away from her face. "...Um, maybe that you can talk, I guess. Humans are the only sapient species back home, and we are not counting the silly cats on TV." That got Dean to chuckle at Marmalade's confusion, so I clarified, "Some cats can almost sound like they're saying words when they mewl. Most commonly its something like 'no' or 'love,' but a real famous one was known for saying 'Oh long Johnson~ Oh Don Piano~'"

My impression got Marmalade to snrrk, which got Dean to do it as well, which in turn set me off in a fit of giggles I tried to hide behind my hand. It wasn't long before we were all laughing, me softer than the other two due to my stomach ache, like a bunch of idiots. We got quite a few odd looks from the populous as we laughed at our own stupidity. Eventually, we managed to calm down and return to the discussion beforehand.

"Ha... anyways, yeah, meeting another species that can talk is cool, and entire planet of them even cooler," I continued. "I just wish that there was a way to go home."

"But," Marmalade interrupted, "would you have completely avoided coming here if you could?"

To that, I snorted and waved a hand. "Oh fuck yeah." My answer brought disheartened looks on both Marmalade's and Dean's faces. "I mean, I was ripped away from my home right in the middle of my life and dropped here without a coin to my name and just the stuff on my being. If there was some sort of safe portal beforehand, then yeah, I may have checked it out, but not in this case. If I could have gone back in time and prevented myself from walking through my front door and coming here, I would."

"But then you wouldn't have met us, right? or Stone?" Marmalade asked me, as if she was trying to get me to change my mind.

I looked here right in the eye. "So? I'd rather be back home instead of meeting new people, or ponies. If I had the chance, I'd take it."

My answer brought on a dull silence as we entered a large building. Looking around, I could see dull blue painted walls with brightly-painted pictures and portraits. Cushions and chairs lined the walls for a few yards, a couple short-legged tables sitting spaced out evenly in front of the seats that provided reading material. I couldn't help but notice that the guard that had been walking with us was no longer in our group; he must have stayed behind at the castle. Up ahead, I could see Marmalade talking to a receptionist pony, a light blue unicorn with a purple mane tight up in a bun behind her little white hat. They exchanged words before Marmalade pointed over at me and Dean. The receptionist nodded and brought up a bulky-as-all-Hell phone and magically punched in a number. This is when I felt dean lean over my shoulder.

"You know," Dean halfway whispered in my ear, "you should be a bit more considerate with your words here in Equestria. You really hurt her, you know."

"How so?" I asked him.

Dean sighed in response. "Here in Equestria, and most of Equus, we don't establish relations with money or goods or force. We just offer our hand, hoof, claw, or whatever you may have in friendship. Friendship is a big part of Equestrian society, it's been ingrained into nearly all of the sapient species' culture for thousands of years. Yes, there is the occasional conflict, but still. And by openly rejecting her friendship back there, you really hurt her feelings."

"I didn't reject it!" I nearly yelled. "I just said that—"

"You would rather have gone back in time and prevented your coming here. We all gave you our friendship to try and help you adjust, and you plainly stated that if our friendship isn't home, it isn't worth your time."

"It's only been a week and a half!" I yelled this time.

"And I made a friend my second day, and she holds a dear part in my heart now," Dean answered me in a calm voice. "Saying what you did back there, just basically stating that you'd give up her offer of friendship in a blink of an eye like that, was like slapping her in the face. I think you should talk to her about this later."

"Dean" I growled, "if I could stand, I would slap you in the face!" I puffed out a long sigh. "I'll talk to her when we get back to the castle. It's just fucking hard to really deal with this, you know?"

"It's only as hard as you make it," Dean answered as another pony walked up to the two of us. He was wearing a white doctor's coat like Dean's, only it was cropped to fit his quadruped body. His fur was a rich chocolate, as were his eyes, and his mane was a crispy tan, combed to the left and only separated by a long horn protruding from his forehead. A stethoscope hung around his neck, ready to be used, and a plastic covered popsicle stick stuck out of one of his pockets. This pony could not be any more cliché if he tried.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Ward." I stand corrected. "What seems to be the problem, Dean ole boy?" he asked the human beside me.

"My patient here needs an abdominal examination," Dean replied formally. "An internal screening would be best."

"From what you've told me about Toad, humans and magic don't mix too well, right?" Ward questioned. Dean waved him off.

"That's why we've come to you, Ward. You and Doctor Cutter have treated Toad four out of the five times he's been here, helped with the surgeries." What is he talking about? Toad? Surgery? "You've even screened me twice when I came down with the stomach flu," Dean said calmly. "You two have the most experience with screening a human, so I was hoping one of you could help. Just keep the magic below seven jewels and she won't absorb too much."

"What do you mean I'll absorb magic?" I asked the two of them.

"Let's get you to an examination room, then." With that, Dean started to wheel me down another hall following the brown unicorn. Once again, Dean leaned over to talk in my ear.

"Humans don't have any magical imprint in their bodies, so if we absorb too much magic, we get what's called 'magic saturation.' It's a very unpleasant condition that occasionally affects any creature over-exposed to magical forces. When every cell in your body is charged with magical energy, you feel bloated, nauseous, feverish, and sore. Very, very sore. Every cell in your body would be constantly swelling and decompressing as it tried to get rid of the excess magic, but its worse with us humans, for since we don't have magic in the first place, whatever type we are over-exposed to is imprinted in our beings. Toad, our youngest human, has been exposed to so much healing and mending magic that he now has the natural, or rather supernatural ability of advanced regeneration, which would be a great thing except for the drastic consequences; it draws from his own life force if his magic supply runs dry, meaning if he gets hurt too badly or uses too much magic and then gets injured, his body will take off years of his life to try and fix it. Doesn't help that he's been in surgery three times now in two years. The doctors say he'll be lucky to see his sixtieth birthday, now. That's almost a forth of his life, gone in such a short time."

"What happened to him?" I asked, genuinely curious about this 'Toad.'

"When he came through the portal, he was teleported from somewhere in Europe. I have an inkling he was from London, but he can't remember. He can't remember a lot of things, really. Brain damage will do that to you. His real name is Pippen Croaker, but he insists we call him Toad. All we really know is that wherever he was, he came through after being a victim to a gruesome mauling from, of all things, a freaking polar bear. That was his first surgery, trying to put him back together again. Even now he doesn't have complete control of his neck, can't turn his head to the left any more than about an inch. Toad is missing his right hand and left leg just below the knee, and he's half-blind in his left eye, thanks to that bear."

"That poor man," I said sadly.

"You mean boy," Dean corrected. "Toad is only fourteen years old now. Almost fifteen, in about five weeks."

The kid from the castle!? "That's terrible!" I cried.

"I know," Dean agreed. "His other two surgeries were right after one another. Unfortunately, Toad suffered from a disorder known as Dilated Cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart weakens to the point where it can no longer pump blood through the body. The first surgery as to replace his heart with that of a deceased pony. The second came only days later when his body rejected the tissue and we had to give him a pig's heart. Its been a few weeks since his last surgery, so we're hoping he's okay now."

"...Was he the second incident you were talking about on my first day?" I asked.

"...Yeah... Yeah, he was."

"Is he..." I paused, trying to think of my question. "Is he okay now?"

"Toad is doing better," Dean answered me. "He still has a long way to go with his physical therapy, not to mention he's getting used to his newest prosthetic leg; the older one was little more than a table leg stuck to a plunger head that was suctioned onto his stump, but the newest one is a bit more realistic. He's been very clingy to his buddy, but she's a nice mare, older too. Knows how to deal with children. Hopefully he'll come out of this just fine. You'll get to meet him once we get back to the castle, you know. Too bad the rest already left."

"Left?" I looked up at him as we entered a sterile looking room. "What do you mean left?"

"The rest of the humans took off earlier in the week," Dean replied as he wheeled me to the edge of a padded table. "If we humans find a place of work that suits our lifestyles, we can move out of the castle whenever we feel we must. Everyone else left yesterday, which was why I was constantly pestering you to go out and talk with them before they went their own ways. Brooklyn and Toad were the only ones to stay behind because Toad is still recovering and Brooklyn lives here in Canterlot, though she stays at the castle a lot more than her own house."

"Oh."

"Alrighty!" We both looked up at the chocolate unicorn as he grabbed a few items from a desk in the corner of the room. Ward turned to us and gave me a smile. "Let's get her standing, shall we?"

"Think you can stand?" asked Dean as he readied himself to help pull me out of the wheelchair. I gave him a nod and pushed up with my legs, while dean pulled and quickly grabbed my sides just under my arms. With me on my feet, Dean slid the wheelchair out of the way with his foot. "There you go," he said calmly. "Now, I know for a fact you are not going to like this part."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked Dean, but Doctor Ward answered for him.

"To do a low-level screening," he said while his horn lit up with a bright brown aura, "I'll need you to remove your garments."

"Otherwise he'd have to use more magic since your clothes add a layer of materials to analyze," Dean clarified, "and that wouldn't be the best course of action." I was pretty sure Dean could read me like a book, because he put his hand on my shoulder and turned me slightly so I was facing him. "Jenny, listen. This is a medical facility, and we are medical staff. This is all a professional and standard procedure, it's completely normal. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, okay?"

My eyes drifted to the floor, then up Dean's legs before finally landing on the wall behind him. A few posters of pony medical information hung from the wall, as well a one just for the wing of a pegasus. But the freaking cliché poster of a cat hanging in there by a thin wire was replaced, at least; it was a ferret, not a cat. A lot or this was all alien to me, and the whole setting of this situation set me on edge, but... Dean really was the only human here with any experience with medical practice. I sighed and gave him a short nod, partway lifting my arms out and grabbing the bottom of my shirt. Dean let go of my shoulder as I stripped, then quickly caught me as I stumble to get out of my underwear. He carefully lead me to the edge of the table and sat me down on the cool wax paper that covered the thin cushion on top of the table's surface.

"So," Doctor Ward asked, chipper as ever, "what sort of scan will I be doing? I'm not seeing any wounds."

"Abdominal, internal. Normal procedure," Dean replied. "We're looking for anything out of the ordinary, at all. A single thing wrong, and I want to know."

The unicorn doctor nodded and made his way to me, a clipboard in his magical grasp and thin pen in his mouth. He gave me a once over, mulling the end of his pen in his lips as he stared at my stomach. I began to feel self-conscious under his scrutinizing gaze, but I stayed perfectly still. Slowly, the doctor sat down on the floor before me, which was fucking right between my legs! I huffed an crossed my legs in an effort to hold onto whatever shred of dignity I had left. Finally, he spoke.

"So, Jennifer," Ward asked slowly, "when was the last time you had a full physical?" The question caught me off-guard.

"Uh, a physical, huh?" I put a hand to my chin as I thought, grimacing as the action moved me a bit and caused a mild flare in my gut. "Um, I'm not entirely sure when, but I think it was a few years ago, back in the beginning of middle school. Yeah, that's right. About five years ago." I heard Ward scribble on his clipboard.

"Mmhmm, and you are eighteen years old?" he asked me.

"Not quite, I'll be eighteen in May."

"Have you ever had a pelvic exam?" he asked, calm as ever.

"Excuse me?" This question really through me off. Where did that come from? Ward ignored me, and asked another question that even upset Dean.

"How far along are you?"

This caused Dean to give his fellow medical practitioner a slap upside the head, a very unprofessional act, but seemingly appropriate. "The Hell did you get that assumption, Ward?" Dean questioned the unicorn as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "We came in for a standard screening, not an ultrasound." Ward glared at him, then looked me over once more before he buried his muzzle into his clipboard and uttered his answer.

"Disheveled look, slight swelling of the abdominal area, enlarged mammaries, it points to a perfectly plausible conclusion." Dean rolled his eyes before informing the doctor.

"The swelling is the result of Jennifer refusing to eat anything for a week, same with her look. We literally wheeled her here because she can barely stand, as you could see," Dean said as he gestured to the wheelchair, which was so obviously different from the local hospital's wheelchairs in no such way. From the doctor's expression, I was pretty sure he believed I had arrived, then put in the chair as we were moving to this room. "And as for her breasts..." Dean trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain my girls to the unicorn. "...Human females have varying breast sizes, based on their genetics and diet. They can range from anywhere from non-existent to the size of cantaloupes, and even then we have the one-in-a-million who naturally have beach balls stuffed in their bras." He could have phrased that a lot better than he did.

"Naturally that large?" Doctor Ward asked me disbelievingly.

"Very rarely," Dean answered him. "Some undergo surgery to increase their breast size. For some stupid reason humans as a species like things big, and the same goes for when it comes to our bodies. Jennifer is actually within the average margin, if her heritage is—"

"Can we get on with this fucking screening!?" I yelled out, my temper flaring and my patience worn through. Both males in front of me shared a look, then looked up at the ceiling with looks of slight embarrassment. "Men are all the same, Equus or Earth," I muttered. "Once boobs enter the conversation, that's all they can think about."

The doctor grimaced at my words. "Err, right. My apologies," Ward said quietly as he patted the table I was sitting on. "Please, lie down straight and we'll begin."

I did as he asked, straightening out on the padded tabletop, the cool wax paper ebbing at my discomfort. I never cared for hospitals, even though I'm rarely ever near them. They have that same smell like the nurse's office at school, only multiplied by, like, four; the scent of disinfectant, rubber, and illness. I couldn't really watch many medical shows because the nature of hospitals wigged me out, besides House and maybe Bizarre ER. I only watched those for entertainment purposes, some of the weirdest things happen when nobody's around.

Dean moved a stool over to the side of the bed I was lying on and sat down next to the doctor. Ward charged up his horn and soon I felt that same nauseating feeling in my mid-section again. After a few seconds, a static hologram blurred into existence over my stomach. It began to focus, and this time Dean started humming to himself.

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure, but..." He trailed off, letting the doctor scan me as he did his own observation.

"I'm not getting a decent view at this power level, Dean," stated Ward. "On your advice, would I be able to increase the level by a jewel?"

Dean rubbed his chin at the same time he waved at the unicorn with two fingers. "Yeah, that's still under the precautionary limit. Go right ahead."

Doctor Ward's horn began to glow just a smidge brighter, and the unusual feeling in my stomach doubled in intensity. I felt my stomach lurch, which sent the pain in my abdomen into overdrive, but I tried my best to remain still while Ward was working. I cast a quick glance at the translucent screen the two were looking at, seeing a lot of orange shapes.

"That's still a tad blurry," Ward said aloud.

"Yes," Dean agreed. "But you can make out a lot of swelling right here," he said as he gestured to a section of the screen. "That's a bit concerning. I'm not entirely sure if my assumption is correct, though, it's still too blurry to pinpoint the problem."

Ward looked up at Dean. "Permission to increase power to eight point five jewels?"

This got Dean to look down at the unicorn. "You know that the most we've used on a human without incidents is seven jewels, Ward." I didn't like the sound of that one bit. Dean, don't you do anything rash now. Dean looked up at the ceiling for a second, finding a particular ceiling panel very interesting. Another few seconds passed before he whistled from the gap from his missing tooth. "Keep the exposure under two minutes, and we should be fine."

Ward nodded, then returned his attention to me. Immediately the instinct to curl up and move thudded into my brain as I felt that I was going to seriously start heaving. The pressure pushing on my stomach from all around just kept growing, almost to the point where I cried out, but I tried to keep my voice calm.

"Guys," I gasped, "it hurts."

"Bare with us, Jenny," Dean replied as he reached over and slid my hand into both of his. "I can see it now, it's clear, right there." he said, letting one hand leave mine and point to the screen. "Just as I thought, Ward, I know what we need to do."

I held onto Dean's hand like there was no tomorrow as I tried to think of anything else to keep my mind, and gut, from going into a frenzy over this feeling of weight. The pressure reminded me of a hose that had been kinked, letting the pressure build behind it until either the hose of faucet gave into the stress. Or perhaps a girdle, because that what it felt like; someone squeezing the life out of my tummy. They just kept pulling the strings tighter, and tighter, and my not quite agony-but-still-disturbing pain continued to grow.

Until the strings snapped.

All of the sudden the pressure in my innards lessened considerably, and my pain went down to a dull throb. I took a deep breath, and realized I could do so without the stabbing pain, just mild discomfort. I gave Dean's hand a squeeze, which made him turn to me. He smiled at me when he saw I was smiling at him.

"Everything's gonna be just fine, Jenny." Dean told me. "It was just as I thou—"

"Dean!" Ward spoke up in an elevated voice. Both of us looked to the unicorn, where he adjusted the magical screen in front of us so Dean could see it better. I could see it as well. A detailed map of my organs was up on the screen. my lungs were blue, heart was blue, stomach blue, but my intestines were the bright orange I saw before. And now, on the bend that looped my intestines around themselves, was a growing spot of deep purple.

Dean's expression grew hard. "Oh shit."

"What? I asked them both. "What's going on? What happened?"

Dean ignored me for the moment. "Ward! Go down and get a nurse to bring us a gurney." The unicorn nodded and was out the door before we knew it. The whole situation just turned sour. My heart felt cold, my lungs locked up with fear, and if I was like one of those old cartoons, I'd be a fucking sunflower right now I was so scared.

I felt my pulse skyrocket, which lead my heart to slam against my chest with each beat. Everything had been going so smooth, what was happening to me now? I turned to the only other person in the room with me and asked him while he was helping me into a sitting position.

"Dean, tell me what's happening," I asked him, almost pleaded him. I was scared more now that ever in my life before, even when I met Celestia for the first time.

"Jennifer," Dean started as he pressed a finger to my neck, "this turned very serious. I think I know what happened, too," he said, regret dripping off of his every word. "I think when I allowed Doctor Ward to increase his magic, we gave you too large of a dose and it worsened your swelling."

"What swelling!?" I yelled, almost screamed. "You haven't told me anything! What happened!?" My throat felt tight as I spoke. "Dean, ple-hease, you're scaring me really bad right now..."

Dean opened his mouth to answer me when the doctor slid back into view with a blue unicorn mare next to him. She was pushing a large wheeled bed, the gurney. Dean turned around and nodded to the two.

"Ward, go prep the O.R." The brown unicorn nodded before taking off once again. "You," Dean said gesturing to the mare, "help me load her onto the gurney. No magic."

Without a word, the mare zipped to my side and stood up on her hind legs. Dean pulled me up into an upright position then pulled me up on my feet. The mare beside me helped me stand as Dean led us just a few inches over and sat me down on the gurney. The unicorn then helped me lie down before she pushed me out into the hallway, Dean following close behind.

I reached up and grabbed Dean's hand, making him look down at me as we progressed through the halls. "Dean, tell me now, please," I asked him, almost in tears. "Tell me what happened."

Guilt, remorse, and sadness flashed on his face. "It's our fault, Jenny. I'm sorry. You're going to be fine, though," he said, realizing how his sentence sounded. "We used too much magic," he explained as we pushed through a pair of doors, "and it caused your swelling to go past the acceptable standards. I was hoping to have this resolved with just some meds, but... We need to do a little operation, Jennifer."

"Op... operation?"

"Surgery," Dean corrected. "Your appendix burst."

...A lot of a weight over my chest vanished when he said that. The whole situation had been blown out of proportion, I know that now, but with just how urgent they sounded, how they were talking... It kinda sounded like I was gonna die.

Dean had something else to add. "Back on Earth, we would have this fairly quickly and keep it small. This isn't Earth, Jennifer." I tried to looked him dead in the eye, but his face was forward, watching the halls. "This is major surgery, we're talking about. We don't have cameras, or proper invasive equipment, or even the same chemicals here. Magic takes up a lot of it, but I don't want to risk overexposing you to any form of mana. So I'll have you make the call."

"...What are the choices?" I asked him as we busted through another door. I lifted my head and saw we were in the operation room now. A wide open area over tiled floor and just three small metal tables, all empty. A larger table sat near the center of the room, the operation table I presumed. There was a small drain in the center of the floor. Two unicorns were in the room as well, one already washed and prepped for whatever she may need to do, and another washing his hooves in a sink.

Dean leaned over into my field of vision. "These are your choices, Jennifer. One is that you take your chances with the unicorns preforming their healing spells, perhaps a potion or two, and risk mana saturation, or we preform surgery. Magic is quick and clean, but could have unknown arcane consequences, since you are human. Surgery will take you down a fairly lengthy road of slow movement and recovery, but we will all know what we're doing and there will be so little risk." Dean helped wheel me over to the center of the room, and the two unicorns joined our little group. I looked at each of them while they were helping me move from the gurney to the table, catching their gaze with my own, then back at Dean. I almost had my answer with one-hundred percent clarity, but I needed to make sure.

"...If I choose surgery, how big will the cut be?"

Dean merely ran a finger from my naval all the way down the right side of my stomach. "At least six inches," Dean answered. "Maybe more."

"Will it leave a scar?" I felt stupid for asking that.

Dean nodded. "But we have a cream to help with that here."

I nodded. "Okay. Cut me."

"You heard the lady, fellas," Dean said to the two surgeons. The responded by walking out of sight and started rummaging around for tools. Dean looked back down at me as he touched my bare shoulder. "It's okay Jenny. I'm the one who handled the major human emergencies. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Okay then," I said quietly. "Just one thing..." Dean leaned down to hear me better, and I took advantage. With my left arm, I reached up and grabbed his tie and brought his face even closer to my own. "Just be careful when you're rooting through my insides, Dean. I still want kids someday in the far future, so don't do anything hasty."

"I understand, Jennifer." I let go of his tie, and Dean removed himself from my vision. It was replaced by the light green unicorn surgeon. She had on one of those paper surgical masks over her muzzle, and the strings holding it together tied around the back of her head instead of around her ears. She lifted up a clear plastic face mask that looked like it protruded a tad to far to be normal, but then again everything that talks here had a muzzle or elongated nose, so... yeah.

The surgeon put the mask over my face, and I could smell a faintly sweet something once it was on. "Breathe deeply and count backwards from one-hundred," she said in a soft, kind voice.

I don't think I made it past ninety-six.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, a lot of crap going on and whatnot. College registration, bills to pay, playing a bridesmaid for a friend's wedding, the works. I've also gone through the first few chapters and edited them, made them a bit easier to read and fixed any mistakes that passed through the final editing. See you next time~

For the map I use in my work, this one and future stories, you can find it here.
This wonderful piece of art was created by Icaron.