I never understood why I always felt so depressed. I had just finished veterinary school with a 4.0 GPA and landed my dream job working in an animal clinic right outside of town. I got to help dogs, cats, birds, horses, and a number of many other animals on a daily basis. Who wouldn’t love a job like that? I had a loving family who had always supported me through school, though they didn’t know my big secret. I lived in a nice apartment (a house would come after I paid off all my student loans) and had the greatest friends who liked to take me out to bars and party. Course, I was always too shy to tell them I didn’t really like bars. I had fun, but it always took a lot out of me. All in all, life was going well, and yet, here I was, sitting on the floor of my bathroom crying my eyes out.
It always started the same. I would feel this strange emptiness that would consume me until I couldn’t feel anything at all. I tried to cry it out, make it go away, but that never worked. There was only one thing that helped. It was summer and I still wore long sleeves. Everyone always asked why, but I told them it was because I liked them. They never suspected the scars the sleeves hid. Now, as I slowly rolled up my left sleeve, I looked at each scar in time, touching them gingerly as some were still healing. Pulling out the razor blade from my pocket, I carefully selected a spot where no scars were yet and placed the metal on my flesh. A swift stroke later and a new, red line joined the many others.
I watched the blood drip down my arm and, at once, a sense of calm washed over me. I leaned my head against the wall and simply allowed the wound to wash away all my anxiety. Then, the tears started again. I hated this, I really did. I couldn’t understand why I was like this. What could make such a perfect life so sad? Deep down, I feel I knew the answer but I was too scared to reveal it. What would people think? It wasn’t natural, wasn’t normal, or so my family always told me.
Sniffing, I came to my senses and wiped away the snot and tears on my face. Then, I got up and gently washed the blood from my arm, carefully scrubbing the cut to make sure it didn’t get infected. Splashing my face with water, I cleared my head of the last bit of fog and sighed deeply. "I’m okay. I’m okay," I repeated, closing my eyes and trying to believe it.
That’s how it always went. Trapped in a vortex of depression I didn’t understand, I felt scared and alone with no way out. But I always seemed to pick myself up at the last moment and drag my feet to a new day. Finishing my nightly rituals, I pulled the blankets of my bed over me and tried to fall asleep. The burning, stinging pain prevented sleep from coming for a long while, but soon, my eyes grew heavy and I drifted into a dreamless slumber.
* * *
"Thanks for helping me with that cat today, Dr. Animalia. He was a handful."
"Sure thing, Abby."
"Need any help with those files?"
"No, you go ahead. This shouldn’t take too long."
I watched the vet tech smile and shut the door to my office. Moments later, I heard her close the door to the clinic, leaving me by myself. I sighed, and pinched the bridge of my nose. Today had been busy. Dr. Russell had called out, leaving me the only vet on duty. It always seemed to be like that. I felt tears forming in my eyes and I quickly rubbed them away with the heel of my hands. No, I didn’t need to start that again! The cut on my arm was still throbbing, constantly reminding me that I was alive. I was okay…
Finishing the last of the paperwork, I made my routine check through the clinic, making sure things were clean and the animals had been taken care of. Biggles, the cat Abby needed help with, hissed at me as I walked by his cage. The little shit had nearly taken my finger off when we tried to take his temperature. I didn’t blame him. I would probably bite the person shoving a cold, metal object up my rectum too. The thought made me smile, an action I didn’t seem to do much, and I winked at the angry cat before completely my tasks. Confident things were well and done I set the alarm and locked the door behind me.
Just then, my phone rang. Pulling the little device out of my purse, I looked at the screen and groaned. A picture of my Mom from her vacation last year announced she was calling and it took everything I had to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, sweetie!" I winced at her excited shrill voice.
"Hey, Mom, what's up?"
"It's about time you answered your phone. I've been trying to call you all week."
"Sorry, I've been really busy."
"Oh, I bet you have. My little girl's all grown up and has a fine career ahead of her. Now all you have to do is find a handsome man and make me some beautiful grandbabies!" she laughed.
I forced myself to chuckle, but didn't manage to convince myself. My mom didn't seem to notice. I hated when she did that. All she wanted was for me to settle down with the right man. That, of course, was the last thing I wanted. Not that she would ever know. As I walked towards my car, I listened to her go on and on about meaningless things. Nothing had caught my attention as I stepped into my car, until she spoke about a new neighbor that had moved in to the dorm room next to my younger brother.
"Jackson says he's a nice lad, but he thinks he might be," her voice lowered to a harsh whisper, "gay."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "R-really?"
"Of course, I told Jackson to stay away from him, even if he does seem like a nice boy. The last thing we need is your brother being poisoned and coming home thinking he can kiss another boy and dress like he's some kinda freak going to Mardi Gras."
The tears were already forming in my eyes and it took everything I had to keep my voice level. "Hey, Mom, I just got off work and it's been a long day…"
"Oh alright, Amora, I'll let you go. You should call your father too, honey, he's been missing you ever since you moved. We're having dinner next Sunday, I hope we'll see you then."
"I'll try. Love you," I choked, my voice quiet.
"I lov-" I hung up the phone before I could hear her lie.
Before I could control myself, the tears streamed down my face and sobs racked my body. That same urge to cut myself suddenly overwhelmed me and I reached into my pocket to grab the blade. Only to realize I had left it at home in my other pair of pants. Frustrated and upset, I continued to cry, punching my steering wheel a few times for good measure. Luckily I was alone in the parking lot. I could only imagine what some of my clients would think if they saw me like this. Slowly, I began to calm down again as the sun started to set. I watched it for a long time, before starting the car and pulling out of the stall.
I rolled the car to the end of the driveway, still trying to gain more control of myself. I felt numb, out of place, and distant. Maybe that's why I didn’t look both ways as I moved the car into the road. It was the most basic rule, one that I was supposed to be good at remembering. It was already too late when I saw a pair of headlights flashing to my left. The horn of the other car blared. All I could do was braced myself for impact.
My vision went dark…
I heard the explosion of glass and metal…
Then… nothing.
* * *
I don’t know how long I was out for, but when I awoke the first thing I realized was how little pain I felt. There should have been broken bones, maybe a collapsed lung. I didn’t even have a sore muscle. Things were still dark, but slowly, I became aware of my surroundings. First, came sound. Birds were chirping from somewhere and the sound of running water made my mouth feel dry. Was that gasoline coming from my car? No, it was too fast for that. Then, came vision. As my eyes fluttered open, I knew at once it was night time. That made a little more sense. The accident had happened at dusk. It would take a while for medical teams to arrive so it would be pretty late, right? But, as my vision cleared, I saw how very wrong I was.
I was in the middle of a garden. It was beautiful! All around me were hedges trimmed to look like mythical creatures. Dragons, unicorns, pegasus, and even a minotaur. The water I had heard was coming from a large fountain spitting water into the air in a perfect curve. At the top was a center piece of a winged unicorn, rearing up to the sky. The sky! I gasped as I gazed at the thousands of stars that glimmered in the night. The moon was perfectly full and shining brightly enough that I could easily see around me. We never had night skies like this. It was that thought that made my heart drop to my feet. Where ever I was, I wasn’t home. As panic began to rise in my stomach, the urge to find out where I was overcame me and I tried to stand up, but the action felt unnatural. Gazing down at my body, I couldn’t stop the shriek that escaped my mouth.
Where I expected to see two feet, I saw four hooves.
What? How?
Rolling over, I stood on wobbly legs. Four legs! How was I supposed to walk on four legs!? Better question, why did I have four legs? Taking a deep breath, I tried to think back to watching the horses that we would go to examine from time to time. Closing my eyes, I remembered how they walked. One foot… hoof than the other, then the next one, and the fourth one last. Okay, I could do this. Slowly, I took a step forward and was surprised to feel how easy it was. Almost on instinct, the other legs followed until I was moving at a smooth pace across the garden. Walking to the fountain, I had to see what the rest of me looked like, even if I really didn’t want to.
The water’s surface was not the greatest and the light of the moon wasn’t enough to see the reflection looking back at me. I glared at the water, wishing there was some kind of light I could use to better see what kind of mess I was in. Suddenly, a spark ignited from my head and a pale red glow engulfed me in a soft light. Gasping, I gazed up to see the tip of a horn lit up. I was afraid to see the rest, but I forced myself to look at the water…
…and screamed!
A pony! I was some kind of pony! No, no just a pony, a unicorn! Looking back at me was a gray unicorn with a brown mane and green eyes. I couldn’t believe it. Hyperventilating, I tried to understand what had happened to me. I was a human. I had been in a car accident. Now I was a pony and I was in some kind different dimension or something. Trying to control my breathing, I backed away from the fountain and looked around to get a better grasp on my new body. There was some kind of symbol on my flanks, a red cross with a white paw in the center. A tattoo of some kind? Was that normal in this world? With a sigh, I realized there was nothing I could do. I would just have to find out what happened to me and see how I could get back to my own body.
Suddenly, the world began to change before my very eyes. It had been the dead of night, but now the moon was being moved (I say this because it didn’t look like the normal way my moon would move) to the horizon. It vanished behind the distant mountains only for the sun to rise right after it. That… that was weird. Obviously day and night worked differently too. Okay, time to go and see what I could do to get home. Turning, I moved to find a way out of the garden. Only to see two ponies racing after me, each one wearing golden armor. One carried a spear in his mouth, the other’s horn was lit up like mine had been in a green field. The same thing was wrapped around a spear hovering at his side.
"Halt, trespasser!" he hollered.
I panicked! Before I really knew what I was doing, I galloped away from the stallions, my hooves running on basic instinct now as I tried to get away. I rush around trimmed bushes and statues as I tried to find my way out of the garden. When I turned a corner, I skidded to a halt as a castle loomed over head. Where the hell was I?? No time to think about that. The guards (castle, fancy gardens, yep they were guards) were losing ground behind me, their hooves fading on the gravel trail some distance way. Picking a random direction, I pushed myself into a full on canter as I tried to make my escape.
There! A gate leading out of the garden was right in front of me. Lowering my head to gain momentum, I darted for it and jumped. My back hooves tapped the top of the gate, but I cleared it, only to topple to the ground on the other side. Right, still getting used to the whole four hooves thing. Wasting no time, I got back up and took a few steps. I could hear the guards still searching the garden for me but a sharp pain throbbed up my arm… leg… and I looked down to see a cut bleeding. It was surrounded by at least a dozen other scars. Oh great, those had followed me. Ignoring them for now, I looked around me swiftly, trying to get a sense of direction. This place was huge! A pathway led out of the gardens and towards a main square of some kind. Beyond that was a high wall with a large opening and a draw bridge. That! Sensing my ticket out, I cantered towards the wooden bridge. With my hooves clattering on the pathway, I couldn't help but think I was drawing too much attention to myself. Luckily, it seemed like no other ponies were around. Either this was the worst guarded palace or they were changing the patrols. Not wanting to stay and test my luck, I zoomed under the opening and kept going until the castle was well behind me. Only way to go now was forward. Which so happened to be a large city! Skidding to a halt and panting heavily, I gazed at the metropolis as figures began emerging from houses as the day started. I needed a moment to rest and, feeling I was safe from those crazy guards, I moved off the road and sat next to a bush.
With the adrenaline fading, panic started to set in anew. Unable to stop myself, I cried. It was all too much too fast. Where was I? Why was I some kind of pony?
"Are you alright?" said a voice.
Looking up, I saw a blue unicorn wearing a saddlebag staring down at me, her green eyes full of concern. I hadn't even heard her approach! She looked nothing like those guards so I figured she was safe (at least she didn't have a spear pointing at me). “P-please help me. I’m… lost.” I wiped my eyes with a hoof, the feeling odd, which only made new tears form.
"You’re hurt."
I followed her eyes to my forelegs (that still felt so weird to think) and the scars resting there. Feeling awkward and naked, I quickly folded them under my body. Too bad I didn’t have some kind of pony sweater to cover them up. I returned my pleading gaze back up to her. “Please. I need help.”
She seemed to ponder my request for a moment than lowered her head to help lift me back up on my shaky hooves. "Come with me. I can fix you up at my place and help you get to where you need to be."
I nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate this."
"Of course. I’m Astral Pen, by the way. Who are you? Are you new to Canterlot?"
"Canterlot?" I asked.
That got me a weird look. "Yes, Canterlot. The capital city of Equestria. Home of the princesses."
I shook my head. It was just too much. I didn’t say anything as we continued walking through the city. Astral seemed to sense something was off and she, thankfully, didn't ask any more questions as we walked alone the city streets. Ponies started emerging from their homes, all different kinds of them. Some were unicorns, like Astral and I, but others had no horns at all. And then there were pegasuses (or was it pegasi?) flying through the air above the streets! I gaped at it all as we moved between them. What kind of a world was this?
"Are you okay?"
Astral was looking at me like she was debating whether or not to run away and leave me behind. I nodded, forcing a smile. "Yes, sorry. I’ve, uh, never seen a place like this before. Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you my name. I’m Amora. Amora Animalia."
Astral giggled. I felt my cheeks flush at the sound. “That’s an interesting name. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Amora. Oh, here we are!”
We were standing outside a small building that looked like a bookstore. I could see shelves of different kinds of books lined up inside and the display window had a cardboard cutout of a brown pegasus rearing up, her wings stretching out behind her.
"The Daring Do Adventures," I read aloud.
"She’s my personal favorite. I have all her books autographed. She’s also my top selling author."
I simply stared at the mare with a dull smile. She cleared her throat and lifted a hoof up to the sign above the door. "This is my shop, Astral’s Books. It’s not much yet, but its home. Please, come in. Let’s get that cut taken care of and find out where you need to be."
She walked to the door and pointed her horn towards the bag at her side. It lit up like mine had done (only hers was green in color) and the flap of the bag lifted up followed by a key hovering by itself. Soon, the door was unlocked and we walked inside. Astral locked the door behind us and she ushered me towards the back. A staircase led us up to a small apartment above the store. It was a cozy little home covered in more books and other personal items.
"Have a seat. I’ll go get you a bandage."
Following her instructions, I sat down at the small table in the middle of the room. Astral took off her saddle bag and moved to a small side room, what I assumed was a bathroom of some kind. I guess ponies didn't just poop outside like they did in my world. Watching her rummage about in a cupboard, I took notice of her flank. She also had a mark, but hers looked like a stream of stars coming from the tip of a fountain pen. Strange…
"Do all ponies have a symbol?"
Astral turned to look at me, noticed where I was staring, and gazed at her flank in turn. "You mean… my cutie mark?"
I nodded. So that’s what it was called.
"Well, yeah. Everypony earns their cutie mark when they discover their special talent."
"Special talent?" I asked, my head tilting to the side.
Astral Pen didn’t say anything. She continued to look at me with a worrying gaze. She was acting like I had just asked her if gravity exists. It was making me feel uncomfortable. I avoided her eyes and looked down at my scared legs instead. At least those were familiar.
"Amora… you’re not from around here, are you?"
"N-no, I’m from, um, out of town."
"I mean, you’re not from Equestria, are you?"
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! This story is of my oc pony (Amora) and my wife's oc (Astral). It's just a fun short I am doing in my spare time. I am always happy with any feedback so if you have any, feel free to let me know.
