"Alright, but is everyone alright?" You point up to your new horn. "And what's up with this thing? Magic unicorns can do things with this, right, besides poke people with 'em."

"Everyone I care about is alright." Nick kneels down, one knee on the hard tile of the bathroom. "Now, being a pony is soft and comfortable, right?"

Soft, comfortable? Well... When you consider it, yes, those are two proper words for the condition. "I feel like I might be a soft doll."

The lady laughs. "Waiting to be hugged." But she doesn't advance to deliver a hug, deferring to Nick instead.

"Right." Nick pats your head gently. "So you have to stop being so comfortable. Being a human isn't so comfortable, but it's worth doing, right?"

"Right..." Not comfortable... "Not soft, and fuzzy, and..." You turn to see yourself in the bathroom mirror. It was a bad angle. You couldn't really see yourself, just a reflection of the room. "But probably less cute..." Just an old guy. Retired, male, with fingers! You felt the room receed under you suddenly. You weren't getting larger, just standing up.

"There you go." Nick stands up to clap you on the shoulder. "I knew you could do it."

"Great... So what's going on?" And why did Nick still make you feel funny?! You were a guy, and didn't swing that way, you thought? Dang it, you're too old to have sexual discoveries! A glance showed the curious horn was gone, along with the rest of your pony form. "Does this happen a lot, your house being trashed?" You don't recall seeing signs of that before.

"Thankfully not." Nick leads the both of you back to the front, where the other card players are at the table, as if they had never left it. "Hey guys. Everything's clear."

"Good to hear." One of them tips a baseball cap he wore. "Sounded tense a moment there."

But... Wait. "Are they like her?" You hike a thumb at the lady, related to ponies, somehow?

Nick waves to the two. "Time for reintroductions. To start, yes. All three of them are 'family'. Not related directly to me, but close enough."

"That's hurtful." The one on the left stands up. "Name's Jacob, and I'm his cousin. Not related, really..."

"Won't argue it," the other guy shrugged. "Tom, but we've met before." You do remember Tom. "So you related too?"

"No..."

Nick laughed at your denial. "Sorry, but you're as related as they come. They went and dropped tail at the worst time."

"Or the best time," argues the lady, coming from behind you to your side. "They helped save the day, even if it was by accident. Name's Sally, if you forgot in all the chaos. Now, if you could just show us that tail again?"

Nick scowls at her. "He just got back on two legs, and I'm sure he's really mixed up."

The fact that he cares felt... nice. "I'm alright... Just want to know what's going on. We can start with why was I a horse?"

Jacob shook his head. "You're older than most who drop tail, but I've seen older. Welcome to the family."

Sally shook her head. "They're so obviously a Kindness. Let me be nice to her. She'll like it."

Nick held up a hand. "First up, no. That's cold. Ask them what they want to be addressed as. They woke up a guy, then this. Assuming they're a girl now is pretty offensive."

You don't want Sally yelled at, but also, yeah... That was a little rude. "I'm pretty used to being a guy, and I am one right now."

Sally was not convinced. "You're wearing a guy suit. The cute girl pony inside there is still inside there." She pokes at your side insistently. "Waiting to shake her tail again. Tell me you don't feel that."

Nick slides between you and Sally. "It's still up to them how they feel about it. Ain't nobody that tells someone who they are."

Aw, Nick's defending you. That... felt embarrassing, but also kinda nice? "I'm alright... She isn't hurting my feelings. So, hey... Let's pretend a moment." You wave a hand over Sally's form. "You 'drop tail', right now, pop, but it's a guy horse. Are you a guy now?"

"That's a fair question, and creepy." Sally wrinkles her face in disgust. "I should note, I'm lesbian. The idea of being a guy... Yuck. No offense to the guys present. Y'all cool and whatever, just not me."

Tom set down the deck of card she had just finished shuffling. "That's just cold. We hang out all the time, and just because you don't want to bang, there's no other use for us? I thought that was a guy thing."

Nick left her to color and defend herself. He sets a hand on your shoulder instead. "Seriously, you must be lost right now, but I'm with you. We're all here for you. You're not alone."

That was more comforting than it had a right to be. "Tell me where I'm not alone? What's going on? I'm not a kid, so just lay it straight and trust I'll figure it out."

"Alright." He gestured towards the back of the house. "That thing that attacked? It's one of several things that 'bump in the night'. Surprise, those are worryingly real and are perfectly happy to show you how annoyed they are at the situation. But let's put him aside. This is about you, and your condition. We are ponies."

We? "You look pretty human to me..."

"You look pretty human to me," Nick echos with a chuckle. "But you know that isn't all true now, right?"

Sally giggles as she hears the conversation. "He has a tail too. He's a guy both ways. Most are the same either way, some aren't, like you."

"Lucky me." You are not sure how lucky you are on that. "So... am I all girl when I'm that?"

Jacob snorted, turning a hand palm side up. "Are you asking if you could get laid? Sure, even have a kid if that was your goal. One warning, if you're busy doing that, no being a guy until you're done."

Nick put up his hands quickly. "Not that anybody here is trying to pressure that on you, but yeah, if you were to get... pregnant... you'd be stuck female until you weren't pregnant. Uh... it was that or a lot of spontaneous abortions without anyone ever noticing."

What a choice... "O...kay, so all female, or all male." What a lucky choice you had... "Why did you point to the back, about that guy? Is... he back there?"

Jacob slaps one fist into the other hand. "What's left of him. Christ, vampires sure do get messy."

Vampires? "Ponies and vampires, of course..." It all made sense. Which is to say that it's not making a lot of sense. "Wait, he's dead?"

Nick points to a gun, abandoned on the floor where you had placed it without thinking before. "You did that deed... Don't feel bad. He would have done the same to us if the option was there. Thanks, for helping... Sorry you had to help. Oh, we should move on."

"To?" You roll your hand at that. "What?"

"To what we are. We have a tribe, you already know yours, unicorn. I'm an earth pony. Four hooves, no wings, no horn, all made of tough. That's our specialty." He points up at your head. "Unicorns have horns, usually less tough, sometimes smart, sometimes not, but always magic. Like 'this is a thing that breaks physics' magic even more than a pegasus flying around."

A pegasus? "So some people can just... fly? Crazy." You could have had wings?! But you had a horn instead... "All it did was let me grab things. Not upset, but you're implying a lot more."

"A lot more," Nick repeated. "Wierdest thing you saw a unicorn do, go."

Sally happily took the offer. "I saw a unicorn turn water to wine, just Jesused it, pow."

Tom raises a hand. "Once met a fucker that cheated at cards. Slimy guy would just swap the cards. Won't be playing with him again..."

Jacob looks ready to talk, but hesitated. "Wait, Paul? He was cheating?! You didn't tell me?" He shoves Tom even as the other laughed. "Bastard... Alright, strangest unicorn trick I saw was more related to today. She could literally zap things, like bolts of magic at whatever pissed her off, and she had a short fuse."

"Huh..." Maybe not flying wasn't the end of the world! But... "So how do I learn to do things like that? If I'm going to be a cute pony girl, I want fancy magic tricks." Priorities!

Nick smiles at your question. "You must be doing alright, if that's the question on your mind. I'll take you to a unicorn I know really well. He's old, like you, and he tells it straight. You two will get along just fine, and he'll show you how to unicorn it up. I can't help with that directly."

"Because you're an 'earth pony'." You are capable of learning! "I'm in no position to demand, but... do I get to see?"

"Show him!" Sally was quite pleased with that option. "Drop your tail and shake it for us."

Jacob rolls his eyes. "Didn't you just finish saying guys were gross?"

"Ponies are not guys, and are cute whether they are a guy or a girl. That's just a fact." She nodded at Nick. "Go on, show it."

Nick glances towards the back, then at you. "Alright.... You may as well see what it looks like from the other side." He falls forward, hitting the ground on all four hooves. His clothing fits him despite that as if they were made for his altered form. He, unlike you, did get bigger. He was a beefy pony guy. "There." His voice hadn't changed.

Sally doesn't hesitate, petting at one of Nick's ears. "So so cute... This is what was fighting before, and why he could take it. Earth ponies are tough."

Nick snorts in an equine way, nostrils flaring. "Unicorns are not. Don't try to imitate me." He turns towards you. "If you'd been in that situation..."

He doesn't finish, nor needs to. You can already imagine how badly that could have gone. "Magic tricks, not super tough, or can fly. Is that all the tribes?"

"Hay no!" Nick shook his head firmly. "We come in a lot of varieties, both of tribe and calling. You are a, I think, Kindness Unicorn. Pretty nice, really. So who do you like?"

"Pardon?" What was he asking? "Like?"

"Kindness ponies usually really like someone, or something. You don't have any hobbies I know of that'd qualify the 'something', so someone feels more likely." He looks over the others there. "Is it one of us, or maybe someone else?"

Jacob slapped the table. "You're just going to drop it like that? I thought you were saying we were the mean ones."

Sally nudges into you. "It's different. Kindness unicorns that are kept away from what they like get... depressed, the clinical kind. Like no will to do anything... We don't want that."

Nick nods with a flick of his right ear. "Exactly. I care, so I need to know who you care about. No shame, no fun." He glared at the two men at the table. "No making fun. Besides, the one you like could be for all kinds of reason. Could be a kid you take care of. Could be a parent you love, or a sibling. It doesn't have to be romantic."

There was exactly one person you kept thinking about, and they were right there! "Um...." Not that you were eager to admit that fact. "Is there a dead body in the house?"

Nick cringes at that. "A small case maybe? Look, that's my problem. If it helps, they were dead before they got here. Fucking vampires..."

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