Author's Note

Edited:7/6/23

Re-edited:9/24/24
Might just tag these edits with, "I couldn't sleep so I went back and looked over my very poor writing skills."

Chapter 1

I woke up excited, more excited and actually eager to get out of bed than I’d ever been in my life. I fumbled, misjudging the size of my body as I threw the covers from on top of me, before rolling out of bed and catching myself mid-air as my little lumps that I liked calling wings, fluttered. They stopped me from face-planting and instead let me land on stable hooves.

Only then did I turn and immediately run out of the room, nosing my door with more and more force until it cracked open just enough that I was able to squeeze my tiny form through. The sound of my hooves were hardly audible on the carpet lining the hall as I skidded to a stop in front of a bedroom door. And not just any bedroom door.

It was mother’s bedroom door.

Albeit hesitant, since I liked actually letting my only parent sleep – as that was her only reprieve from me. But today was the day, so I couldn’t afford to be hesitant. She brought me into this world on this very day and I was going to remind her of that with the best way I could.

I just had to get this door open first.

I got up onto my hindlegs and tried reaching for the doorknob, these tiny stumps doing nothing to help me reach the doorknob staring down at me. My belly pressed against the cool wood of the door before I hopped, once, twice – and then stopped because I wasn’t getting anywhere.

The fluttering of my tiny wings softly getting into a stronger flapping motion filled the hall as I slowly but surely hovered into the air and grabbed onto the knob, it twisted in my grasp, and I positioned my hind legs so that I could gently kick the door until the momentum carried me and the door inward.

My wings folded neatly against my back once more as I now hung from the knob inside of mothers sparsely lit room, quickly letting go and flopping onto my belly. I hopped up and quickly made my way over to the foot of her massive bed.

The singular eye of the dolphin shaped clock she had sitting above her bed, a weird design, but it did its job. Ticking softly as I walked over to where the snores were loudest, I wasn’t too short to see, mother just liked having items too big for me to interact with properly. And so I jumped up and grabbed onto the end of her blanket hanging over the side of the bed to pull myself up just enough so that I could swing my legs over and throw myself up onto the bed.

The mattress barely made a sound. I rolled to a stop, the faint depression made by my hooves followed me as I eyed the lump under the covers, head firmly stuck underneath her pillow.

She was a hard sleeper, when she wanted to be. Though, there were times where she could give possums a run for her money with how well she could pretend to be asleep.

A little suspicious, but I did notice her going to bed later than usual last night. So I still have the edge.

Instead of nudging like a normal person, I sat back and rubbed my tiny hooves together as deviously as I could, an evil plan forming in my head.

I bit back a giggle as I stood up, pushing my upper body into a cat-like stance before using my wings to throw myself forward, “Wake up!” I shouted as gravity carried me down to land on top of her form.

Rather, gravity should’ve carried me on top of her. But mother was on some next level matrix levels of agility when, all at once, she appeared from underneath the blankets, tossing the pillow aside and grinning deviously as our eyes met. I had no time to divert or try to fly out of the way before she opened her arms wide and caught me.

“Bleh,” I muttered in defeat as she giggled and held me over her head, limps hanging limply as she sat up further.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet, little – naive baby!” she said in a fit of laughter as she nuzzled me ferociously, no part of my face was spared by her affection and slight morning breath before I was face first in her chest fluff.

Very warm and comforting.

“You should know by now that the monster cannot be snuck up on by cute little foals wandering into her den,” she tutted as I squinted my eyes, that earlier suspicion coming back as I measured the amount of anticipation in her tone.

“Monster?” I muttered in – not fear. Well, a little. Because I knew exactly what she meant when she referred to herself as “The Monster,” and it was nothing good for me or my stomach.

So it was time for me to make my great escape.

But only her playful laughter taunted my ears as I squirmed and fought to get out of her hold, absolutely reveling in the panic that she had me before leaning down to whisper into my ear.

“Oh yes, baby, the tickle monster,” she said ominously.

“N-no..” I could only try to deny.

“Yes,” she giggled. “And you know the price for trying to disturb the tickle monster, right?”

I knew damn well what that meant, and my escape attempts yielded nothing as I squirmed further, the tight hold keeping me nice and cozy as my fate rained down upon me.
“Wait, m-mom, we can talk about thiiii! – Hehe,” I couldn’t stop either her or the involuntary giggle escaping my mouth as she brought me up and pressed her lips to my belly, blowing a raspberry upon me as I playfully squirmed.

The tickle monster only rained down more of her methods of torture upon me as my giggles and laughter fueled her drive, ending up with me rolling around in the bed trying to avoid as she tickled my sides, trapping me into a loop of rolling away from one hoof into another.

This lasted for minutes before I was left panting on the bed, soft giggles leaving me as the phantom sense of being tickled flew through my body before I finally let out a sigh of relief. I looked up at mother, she looked happy with herself as she pushed her hair out of her face before leaning down to grab me.

She cradled me against her chest, comfortably leaning my head into the crook of her neck as she gently rocked me, humming happily.

“I think you’ve had enough, hm?” she started. “Look how cozy and adorable you look!” she cooed as I brought a hoof up and playfully booped it against her nose.

“Birthday,” I softly replied.

Her eyes lit up, “are you sure you aren’t too tired for your birthday? All that tickling must have tired you out.. Maybe a cuddle and a nap will have you properly rested for your big day,” she tried persuading, I knew her tactics.

As attractive as that offer seemed, I wasn’t easily side tracked. Most of the time, at least.

“You just woke up,” I argued. “And I want my cake now..”

“But we can cuddle later,” her eyes lit up at that.

“Oh, fine,” she said as she leaned down to nuzzle me once more. “Curse you and your adorable little foal powers!” she said dramatically as she set me down onto the bed, ruffling my already unruly hair even further. The long strands fell all over my face as I huffed.

She rolled out of bed much like I did, landing on her hooves and groaning as she stretched, muscles popping as she flexed her wings before turning to look at me as I walked to the edge of the bed.

“And what do you plan on doing standing like that?” she giggled, always smiling and happy whenever her eyes were on me. And she was so good that her eyes were almost never straying too far when we were out and about. .

“Riding on your back,” I said with a grin. “It’s my birthday, you’re legally obligated to do whatever I want,” I stomped my hoof down matter-of-factly.

“Oh, is that so? And here I thought I was the one doing whatever you wanted everyday!” she laughed as she scooped me up with one hoof and gently set me down onto her back before yawning as she walked out of the room, humming along as she turned on the hallway lights with her wing.

“Would you look at that? Looks like a little elf decorated the kitchen,” she said with a delighted tone, flipping on the lights to the living room, I spotted decorations galore. A banner that wished me a happy birthday, some balloons tied to the furniture and some very nicely wrapped presents sticking out from behind the couch.

Guess I figured out what made her sleep late.

I loved her.

She did all these things for me, always going the extra mile and never leaving me hanging. My life was never without amenities and love, she gave me everything that I could ever need at this age.

Much more than I’d ever been given in the past. That’s why I was and still am so grateful that I was given a parent that loved me so much, I was literally her world. I didn’t care about the lack of a dad, for all parts, she was both the mother and the father.

She’d set me down onto the couch and gave me a gentle pat on the head before quickly making her way into the kitchen, happily humming as she opened the fridge and a few drawers. I could hear some items being moved around before the clicking of a lighter caused her to step out from the kitchen with the cake on her back, a large number four shaped candle held a small flame.

I could feel my cheeks start to cramp just from how much my smile had widened, her starting the usual happy birthday song, the familiar tune bouncing along in my ears as my thoughts trailed once more.

Four years old. I’ve spent four years in the body of a baby horse in a world where horses were just as smart as humans – but the catch was that everything you thought was fantasy? Actually it existed here. Crazy, I know.

It still is crazy, even now.

Even more so that mother was entirely unaware of the one secret I kept from her.

And as she set the cake down on the coffee table in front of me, the song coming to a finish, I closed my eyes and leaned in, softly blowing on the flame.

Mothers happy cheer and the snapping of a polaroid camera were muffled behind my inner voice.

She still has no idea her little pony was a human.

But.. I think I could live with never telling her that fact. Life here was good, even better than what I had back on Earth. In fact, the reason I’m so relaxed with the fact that I died in another life and woke up in the body of a talking horse? I think I’ve already said it before.

Mother.

The first thing I saw when I came into this world were her eyes staring down at me with such love and care.. that all that initial panic and existential crisis running through my head at that point in time, went away as she gently cooed at me. Her hoof brushed aside my hair as she whispered soft words to me.

I never had that before.. and, could you really blame me for accepting my fate?

I’m sure some other people would react differently in my shoes, y’know, cursing fate and screaming at the heavens to change them back or whatever. But not me.

If given the chance, I would never look back.

Life here was perfect.