It was a dark and stormy night - or so I was told - when I appeared in Equestria. 'Appeared' is the only word for it, really.

One moment I was in my car, driving out to my mother's in the middle of the night with tears streaming down my cheeks, muscles aching with fresh bruises, hands trembling on the wheel. Next minute, I wake up to a pounding headache, blurry vision, and my whole body feeling as though I'd been hit by a train or two and just come out of surgery, so weak, dazed and confused I felt.

I couldn't see properly yet, but my hearing cleared up much quicker. I froze as a shrill scream broke the silence, threatening to deafen me and doing wonders for my throbbing head. I groaned eventually, trying to shuffle away from whoever it was that managed such a cry, before a jolt of pain, and unconsciousness greeted me once again.

* * * * *

"I don't understand, Princess. This mare just appeared out of nowhere, in your quarters, in the middle of the night? Why?"

"If I knew, my faithful student, I would have waited until morning to call upon you all."

"Oh, right. S-sorry..."

A warm chuckle. "That's quite alright."

I moaned as my senses returned to me once more, albeit very slowly. Two woman had been talking, as far as I could tell, and though my body still felt sore and numb, I felt like I was lying on the softest, most comfortable bed in the world. Was I in the hospital? I guess that made sense. Maybe I'd had a crash? Only one way to find out.

"Hey, look! She's waking up!"

The newest voice had been light, cheerful even. Paying it no mind, I cracked open an eye for a moment, only to groan in discomfort at the brightness of it all. Baby steps, then.

"Ugh, how long have I been here?" I croaked, "am I gonna be alright? Did anyone else get hurt?" A moment's pause, before I'd added in a murmur, "does my mother know I'm here?"

"Calm down sugarcube, let's take it slow with the questions, alright?" Was that a southerner? Jeeze, talk about overkill. "First one, you popped in about an hour ago."

"And what accident are you talking about?" The very first voice returned, "Was it a Changeling attack? Have there been attacks in other towns? Are you a Changeling too?!"

"Now, darling, we were taking it slow with the questions, remember?"

What the heck are these girls talking about? Groaning more from frustration than pain this time, I tested my eyes once more, opened just a smidge and finding the light bearable enough to blink them open completely.

And I froze.

Seven brightly colored horses stood before me, blinking in what looked like a mixture of awe and concern. One stood about a metre taller than the rest, with a mane and tail that rippled and waved in some unfelt breeze, in colors of pastel rainbow. The others were no less vibrant, maybe more so, one of them even sporting a full rainbow for a mane and tail. But the purple one with a horn stood front and centre, violet eyes looking quizzical. What, the fuck.

"Are you okay?" She asked. She actually spoke, in that first voice I'd heard. She was talking, the purple horse was talking. "You look like you're about to have a heart attack."

"It's a wonder I haven't already," I managed to choke out, blinking several times to be sure I wasn't just seeing things. "I mean... I must have died, to be seeing this."

"Seeing what, my little pony?" The tallest horse leaned down to face me eye to eye, looking more concerned than the purple one. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I... This is a really weird dream, dude," I laughed nervously, then rose to my feet and backed away. Or... I meant to? Instead, I just found myself tumbling backwards and landing with a grunt on my back, butt still propped up by whatever I'd been lying on.

And then, things got weirder.
Looking up, instead of my own lower body, all I saw were a pair of stumpy, caramel-brown hooves. I twitched my foot, and a hoof moved. The other foot, the same reaction. I only stopped when I realized two of the horses, the rainbow-maned and bright pink ones, had burst into laughter.

"This isn't funny!" I cried, rolling about until I fell on my side. "I'm a... I'm a horse! How?! How am I a horse?!"

At that, the white unicorn among them gave an exaggerated gasp. "Why, I never! What dreadful language!"

The two laughing only laughed harder.

"I believe you mean pony, little one," the tallest murmured, but she seemed a tad confused. "Are you saying that you were not born a pony? You're a different species?"

"Yes!" I cried out again, staring at my hand-become-hooves in horror. "I'm a human, not a h- pony, whatever! Where am I?! What is going on?!"

"Uhm, if I may," the slouching yellow Pegasus in the back murmured, scarcely above a whisper. Then, she carefully picked her way through the rest of the group, stopping in front of me. She offered a gentle smile, then reached in and hugged me with her forehooves. I might have liked to push her away, but the shock was enough to have me accept all the comfort offered. "Shhh," the Pegasus cooed. "It's going to be alright. Just relax, breath. It's okay."

Confused, but obeying, I breathed deeply, inadvertently getting the flowery scent of her mane as well. Shaky at first, but eventually calming down, I returned her hug. "T-thanks."

"My name's Fluttershy," she whispered sweetly. "What's your name? I-if you'd like to tell me, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Heh, cute.

"Alice," I breathed, "Alice Jones."

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Fluttershy and I both pulled apart to look at the pink pony, bouncing up and down. "Does this mean we have two AJ's?!"

For some reason, the orange pony sighed, and face-hoofed.

Author's Note

Hey! I hope this seems at least semi-interesting so far, please let me know! Any critique, thoughts and such would be very welcome for this and any future chapters! Sorry this one was a little short, and it leaves a lot to be explained, but there are plenty of chapters to come anyway~