The New Problem

Moonlight opened her eyes finally after a couple of days of sleeping, hoping that everything that had happened was just a dream. She had hoped that she was back at Floral Blossom's place or better yet, her own world. The feeling of hooves at the end of her limbs made it apparent that it wasn't the latter and when everything came into focus finally, she looked down, upset that it wasn't the former. She was the size of a filly instead of a full grown mare, she was more helpless than she was previously. She stood up and walked over to the edge of the bed, the smell of food reached her nostrils. She was admittedly hungry after her slumber and wanted some food. She didn't know how she'd get down though. At her normal size, she'd just walk off the bed and use her hooves to balance. But now she'd have to jump.

Or so she thought. Zecora appeared before her, scaring the daylights out of her. Without a word she could tell the unicorn mare's intentions and gently grabbed her by the sides. The investigator was lifted off the bed and placed on the ground. She started to try to walk around, but a hoof on her back stopped her from moving. "I have someone that you should meet, but first something to eat," the shaman told her.

Moonlight was guided to a table, where a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of water sat. She was helped up into her chair by the Zebra who sat down across from her. The two of them sat in silence, waiting for the other to speak up, but neither of them would. The unicorn started to eat her oatmeal, her dark blue eyes not moving from the shaman who had done this to her. She was upset, but she didn't bother trying to fight it in fear of being made even smaller.

"That hate you have for me will do nothing to change your fate. If I may be curt, it will only continue to hurt," the shaman warned her.

The investigator didn't care, she still carefully watched the shaman who didn't seem to mind. She tried to get any read on this zebra, but she was unfamiliar with any of the body language signs of ponies, she was used to reading the body language and facial expressions of of humans and aberrations. She quietly ate her oatmeal and drank her water.

Zecora helped her off the chair and Moonlight finally decided to ask, "So who is this person you wish to have me meet?"

"She used to be a stage magician, then she mused and became a counselor," was the reply from the shaman.

Zecora packed some food in a bag and carried it in her mouth, she motioned towards the other mare to follow her and without a choice, Moonlight did so. The two of them quietly walked through the Everfree Forest, the Timberwolves from before didn't bother either of them. It was almost as if they had respect for the shaman. It wasn't long before the two of them left the forest and wandered into Ponyville.
Everyone started to look at the unicorn as if they recognized her, but she could hear them whispering. She couldn't make out what they were saying though.

She stomped one of her front hooves into the ground and stopped herself, "Take a blasted picture, it'll last longer!" she yelled.

This didn't escape the notice of the shaman and she swiftly turned around to narrow her eyes at the unicorn who recoiled instantly. Moonlight looked to the ground and slowly walked towards Zecora. She was given a disapproving look by the zebra and the two of them continued on their journey to the counselor that the shaman had mentioned.

They arrived at a building that was surrounded by a moat, stones lined a path that led into the school. "Go inside and ask for the pony called Trixie. She will help you find that you were the one who walled your heart in," the zebra shaman said.

Moonlight turned around to see the zebra walking away, her lunch on the ground, "Aren't... aren't you going to come with?" she asked, nervous.

"I am sure we will meet again, young pony. Until such time, you should take a seat in this school," she replied as she kept walking away.

The unicorn mare was left alone, she was small, in an unfamiliar place and the one person that could have helped her was gone. She gently picked up the bag in her mouth and pushed against a door. Much to her surprise, it opened. She walked into the extravagant hallways and was immediately greeted by an excited purple unicorn with a purple mane that had a blue streak running through it. "Hi, are you here to enroll in our School of Friendship?" she asked.

The investigator had to lay her lunch down, she was upset that she had been tricked by the shaman to come to some school. She had graduated from school years ago, yet she was being dragged back as if she was some common child. This didn't escape the taller unicorn mare. "Don't worry, I know that you can be anxious but the School of Friendship is for ponies and creatures of all walks of life and all ages. You don't have to worry, you're among friends here," the headmare tried to reassure her.

Moonlight didn't care, she tried to shove past the larger unicorn, but this didn't work. A hoof blocked her path and her small size made it impossible to fight through. "You'll get lost if I don't show you around the school, little one," the headmare warned.

"Just show me where Trixie is. I couldn't care less about what the rest of this school had to offer," the smaller mare replied.

Starlight was confused at this, the filly sized mare had spoken in the voice of an adult and it was unsettling to her. Not to mention that she had been extremely rude to her when she tried to help her. The headmare pondered what to do for a moment and decided it would be best to let Trixie help out. "Follow me," she said.

For the first time Moonlight had gotten what she wanted and she was happy about this. A smug grin crossed her features and she followed the larger mare through the halls of the school. There weren't any words exchanged between the two of them and the shrunken mare had no issues with this. She was also thankful that the halls were mostly empty. This meant that no one would be gawking at her or her stature.

Starlight opened a door to a room and an azure unicorn sat at a desk, her mane was striped white and blue as her tail. "Starlight, I see that you have brought another student in need to Trixie," the mare at the desk said observantly.

"This one isn't yet a student, but she wanted to come straight to you. I will try to find what parents she has so that we can enroll her in the school," the headmare replied.

Moonlight walked into the room and tried to climb up into the chair. A telekinetic hold was able to lift her onto it properly and she stared into the purple eyes of the counselor. No words were spoken, none had to be. She could feel the counselor's eyes watching her for any slight movements that would show a shift in her mood. Being watched so carefully made the investigator nervous, this reminded her so much of the end of many investigations she had been sent on.

Her superiors had always debriefed her and it always made her uneasy to be stared at like they did. Every question needed an answer, whether or not she felt like it was important to the investigation at hand. One of the questions she remembered answering was what color were the shoelaces of the shoes an aberration was wearing. The counselor took her hat off of and she pulled a rabbit out of it to try to relieve some of the tension.

The air grew thicker between the two of them, it was obvious that the shrunken mare wasn't at all amused by this parlor trick. "Sorry, Trixie tends to try to use magic tricks to make ponies more comfortable," the former showmare said quietly.

Moonlight arched a brow, "That seems mildly pointless," she stated.

Her voice surprised the counselor, the taller mare wasn't expecting the voice of an adult to come from someone so small. This annoyed the investigator, "Do not gawk at me! I was reduced in size as some form of punishment devised by a shaman and I presume the Princess!" she snapped.

"S-sorry, Trixie just hasn't ever encountered something like this before. Let's start from the top, what is your name?" the counselor asked.

"Moonlight Gleam," was the curt reply from the annoyed smaller mare.

"Well Moonlight, can you tell Trixie anything about yourself?" the mare sitting at the desk asked.

"I was told to come to by that striped witch who did this to me. I didn't want to be this size and I didn't want to be here. I don't know you, I don't know any of you and I don't trust any of you. For all I know, all of you could be waiting for me to lower my guard in order to betray me and sell me to the creature that I had followed into this world for a bit of temporary safety or money," was Moonlight's reply.

There was absolutely shocked silence between the two of them. Trixie couldn't possibly believe that anyone would insinuate that anyone in Equestria, let alone the School of Friendship would willingly put anyone in danger. It wasn't just wrong, it was hostile and rude for her to have done so. Without a single hesitation, the counselor lifted the smaller mare off the chair and placed her in the corner. "When you are ready to talk to Trixie without being so hostile, you can let Trixie know," she said.

Moonlight enjoyed this corner, it allowed her to be alone. She closed her eyes and withdrew into her own thoughts, tuning the rest of the world out. She slowed her breathing, but a shake quickly broke her out of her thoughts. "The time out corner isn't for sleeping, it's for reflecting on your behavior," Trixie told her.

Starlight walked back into the room, "Well, I got her enrolled in the school, even though there are apparently no records of her existing at all in Equestria. The Princess did tell me that she came from the human world while we were talking. I set up her schedule so that she'd have classes with Luster Dawn, Ginger, Floral Blossom, Yarwood and Gallop J. Fry," the headmare announced.

Moonlight turned around, she recognized four out of five of those names. She looked down at the mention of Floral Blossom, she had been kicked out of her house by her father. Would the Kirin want to see her again she wondered. She stepped out of the corner and was immediately greeted by the voice of Trixie, "Are you ready to talk?"

"No...", was the honest reply from investigator.

The tone in shrunken mare's voice suggested regret for everything she had done. She tried to walk towards the door of the room, but Starlight stood in her way. The headmare had a gentle smile on her face and she placed a hoof on the smaller mare's back. "Moonlight, if you ever have an issue, you can come to Trixie or myself. I want you to know that you can trust us and that we will never hurt you. I promise that she and I will do everything in our power to help you as we do all of our students," she said in a reassuring tone.

Moonlight wanted to believe these two mares, they seemed so sincere. But she couldn't allow herself to do so, she slid past Starlight and walked the halls until she found a dorm. She slipped into an empty room and locked herself in. She didn't want any company. She sat down on the floor and once again closed her eyes, shutting herself off to the world. She calmed her breathing and then focused on it. Meditation was something she did when she needed to calm herself or to try to quiet her mind so she could find the answer to her problem. In this case, she was doing it for both reasons. She found it odd that Sunrise hadn't appeared in over a week, and she wondered if she would soon find out why.