A Few Good Ponies

As Sunrise sat curled up in the darkness he felt the walls around him squeeze against him in a series of contractions. There was a tugging on his tail which soon moved to his hindquarters as he was quickly pulled into a much tighter space. Seconds later he felt cool air against his skin as he was unceremoniously regurgitated onto the ground. A pink abyss filled his vision when he opened his eyes to find himself looking up into Screech's wide open maw before the tatzlpony closed his mouth and looked down at the prone unicorn with a smile.

"Welcome back." Stated his beaming friend.

After several unsuccessful attempts to stand that resulted in his face having an uncomfortable meeting with the ground, Sunrise forced himself up into a sitting position. When he did he felt an unusual new sensation stemming from his tail. Looking back, he noticed that the flowing silver hair of his tail had been replaced with a thick snake-like appendage that extended out several feet behind him before ending in a tuft of silver fur.

"What the buck!" He screamed, jumping forward and immediately face planting onto the ground.

It was at this point that Lightning ran forward to help him up.

"Sunrise! You're a...a you're a tatzlpony!" She exclaimed.

Sunrise walked around in a few short circles before sinking back down onto his haunches. Reaching up, he ran a hoof across his forehead where it brushed against the familiar bony protrusion of his horn, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. At least some things had remained the same.

"How ith thith pothible?" He asked, still quite disoriented.

"I think I have a theory." Twilight chimed in.

"When we found you, you were gravely injured. When Screech's healing magic interacted with your own, it must have conflicted with the spell I used to immunize us all from the corruption. Since that spell contains a piece of Screech's tatzlpony magic, it must have confused you as a tatzlpony and changed you at a very basic level. Since your own magic is present as well though, I can only imagine what kind of implications this could have."

Sunrise had calmed down a great deal as he sat there listening to Twilight. He formed his words carefully as he spoke; slowly starting to get used to speaking around his extra tongues.

"Can it be reversed?"

Twilight sighed, looking down for a moment before meeting his gaze.

"I'm sorry....I....I." She stuttered, trying to get the words out.

Sunrise frowned. "I see."

Getting up, he noticed his armor piled up neatly a few feet away. Walking over, he attempted to light his horn. It sputtered, throwing off a shower of orange sparks before going dark again. He tried again. This time it lit up with a reassuring orange glow, and he reached out and levitated the chest piece carefully into place. He repeated this process with the boots, sliding each one into place on his hooves. He went to do the same with the helmet, but as it was floating over his horn flared and it shot forward, beaning him square in the nose.

"Ow." He grunted, bringing up his hooves and holding his nose with a grimace. He considered trying to levitate it again before thinking better of it and lifting it onto his head with his hooves.

"Well that confirms another part of my theory." Twilight stated. "Now that you have both unicorn and tatzl magic, they're going to conflict with each other as your body adjusts to the change. I'm not sure if they'll balance each other out eventually, or if this is permanent. I've read about transformations before, but they're so rare that not much is really known about them."

"Well I guess I'll just have to deal with it." Sunrise replied. "At leathst my armor still fits."

Lightning approached him, walking up and wordlessly wrapping a hoof around his withers.

He shook it off and got to his hooves.

"I'm sorry. I need a moment to myself to process this." He said before walking out of the camp and into the woods. It suddenly got several shades darker as he left the camp behind, the illusion spell hiding the light of the fire from his sight, leaving only the light of the moon to keep him company. Unbeknownst to him, a shadowy figure slipped into the woods behind him, stepping carefully to avoid drawing his attention.

***********

*Smash* Wood splintered as Sunrise slammed his rear hooves into a log, reducing it to splinters. His front hoof struck a sapling, snapping it in half. A trio of tentacle-like tongues shot from his mouth and wrapped around a rock that was about the size of a pony's head, lifting it with ease. He almost gagged as he realized he could taste every detail of it. Moss, dirt, and even a gritty metallic undertone from the stone itself. It was quickly flung away in disgust, connecting with a tree trunk and sending bits of bark flying in all directions. He staggered back as he looked at the serpentine forms protruding out in front of him, seeming to flail around with a mind of their own. His breath came in short gasps. He....he could't breathe! He panicked as he struggled to regain control of himself. After a few terrifying moments of choking and coughing he managed to pull the tongues back into his mouth and fell back onto his haunches.

Sunrise sat there in the moonlight, cold tears running down his face as he took slow deep breaths. His body was filled with unfamiliar sensations that unnerved him to his very core. He could feel every detail of the cold ground against his tail as it lay wrapped around his haunches. He let out a long yawn and almost shuddered as he felt his mouth open in not two, but three directions. His lower jaw splitting down the middle seamlessly and spreading out into two triangular halves. He quickly closed his mouth, rubbing a hoof against his jaw in a futile attempt to make it feel...normal. What even was normal for him anymore? He wasn't hungry, yet he felt strangely empty inside. It felt like he could actually feel his insides moving. It wasn't necessarily an uncomfortable feeling, like an upset stomach, but something much more alien. He didn't know if it was his imagination, or if he could actually feel the walls of his stomach rubbing together as if they had the same sense of touch as his skin, if not more.

He collapsed to the ground before curling up in a ball. What would they think of him if he ever made it back home? His friends? His family? He would be a monster in their eyes. He lay there for several minutes before he felt a hoof gently stroking his back. He looked up slowly to see a pair of sapphire eyes staring back at him reassuringly.

"Lightning?"

"Shhh it's going to be okay." She whispered back. "I can only imagine what you must be going through, but if there's one thing I want you to know it's that you're not alone."

He just lay there for several minutes as she stood over him with her hoof resting gently on his back. Neither of them said a word, but just knowing Lightning was there filled Sunrise with a sense of calm. Eventually she offered him a hoof. He wrapped his own around it and she pulled him up onto his hooves.

"Come on. Let's get back before the others start to worry."