Author's Note

If the main character comes off as autistic, I apologize for being autistic. On a more serious note, this is my first time "publishing" anything and I one hundred percent have no structured plan for this story. I have a lot of ideas though, and I want to continue this story for as long as can, so a couple of endings won't end anything. Any Mlp episodes I include (probably a few) will mostly happen out of order, with obvious exceptions being like Twilight not being an Alicorn when Zecora comes to town.

1. Who and where am I?

I don't really remember waking up, or perhaps I truly did wake up staring into my reflection. Eyes with rings of neon purple for sclera and a single ring of neon blue for the iris stared into themselves even as they took in the image of the body they belonged to. Teal fur accented with a sharp red and yellow pattern surrounding two... horns? Antlers? Perfectly symmetrical and curled towards each other, nearly creating a perfect circle. Ears that doubled as wings hung limply from my head, teal on the outside, peach in the inner parts, and tipped with purple at the end of each "feather." A collar of fur (a mane?) concealed my neck and my shoulders, and three... whiskers of equally teal fur poked out from each side of my head. All of this cemented one thing in my mind, this was not my body.

I had become IDF86, the Ultimate Lifeform, Fecto Elfilis.

I tried to remember where I knew it from, and vague memories of a game came to me, of playing as a creature known as Kirby, of defeating Elfilis to save two worlds. He was an Invader, a destroyer with numerous powers and abilities that I recall believing should belong to no one. And as I looked at the perfect mirror in my hands, and the portal behind it, those powers belonged to me now. I appreciated the irony, though the pressure I felt from the realization that I could destroy worlds while dying was something I did not know how to deal with. The panic from realizing that these memories of playing a video game were the only ones I had overpowered everything.

I fell to my knees and nearly began hyperventilating. The mirror shattered and the portal closed, and the noise was enough to distract me for long enough to try to compartmentalize. I couldn't remember being anything other than Elfilis, I should try to stay calm, if I forgot my life it probably wasn't important. I winced at that thought, it wasn't really what I was going for. Rather, there is no point in worrying myself over something I can't truly remember having. Vague video game knowledge aside, I should work with what I have to move forward. That sounded better, and I released a sigh as my heart started to calm. I needed to learn more about my situation, not panic over what little I already knew.

Without thinking, I had summoned another mirror and realized that it was far too easy to use portals to summon things I wanted. Choosing to distract myself I looked back into the mirror to try to learn more, and that was I noticed the discrepancies. It was hidden well by my ring of fluff, but I did have a mouth, which I couldn't recall Fecto having at all. I lifted my chin and opened my mouth to get a good look and saw a set of teeth that felt familiar and I could only assume they were similar to what my old body had, whatever it had been. I lifted a hand to pull at my lips to try to see inside better, and while I did notice an unfamiliarly thin tongue far in the back of my mouth, my focus was quickly pulled to my hands, my fingers specifically.

Fecto had comparatively large hands on his body, and while mine were still large they were mildly smaller, and the long nails/claws that I expected to see were clipped down to tips of my fingers. Filed down at some point maybe? Or perhaps mine will never grow to be that large in the first place. It felt good regardless, and rubbing at my hands and interlocking my fingers without scraping them against keratin felt natural enough to me that I couldn't really complain. But now the differences were building, and I had to finish the rest of my self-checkups to see if I had any more surprises for myself. So further down I went.

I did indeed have a belly button under all my fur, and further down revealed my testes firmly attached to my pelves. I felt, embarrassed, seeing them? But as much as they weren't a feature on Fecto in my memories, they were normal enough to me that I moved on to what I knew was supposed to be above them now. I only saw a bump with a hole in it and figured that either was it, which prompted more embarrassment for some reason, or it was hiding, which was a slightly more comforting thought. Try as I might though, I couldn't really find any more differences on the rest of my body.

My legs were awkward to me, so I could only assume my mysterious old self had different locomotive abilities than I do now as Elfilis. My tail was as limp as my wing-ears, and I was guessing at the time that meant I was up three extra appendages than what I had before, so I had no idea how to move them. My legs just ended at ankles where I recall there being something under them before (started calling the ends "hooves" at some point without realizing later). And my final check involved some awkward stretches and angling with a mirror to see under my tail. Sure enough, plumbing was in place. So now I knew my body inside and... well I knew my body on the outside. I wasn't going to check for my kidneys though and I was breathing just fine so I shelved my self-autopsy for the indefinite future.

Vivisection? Whatever, didn't matter. What did matter was step two of my master plan to function as a living creature: Find out where I am.

That was done much faster than my physical had been. I'm underground, and there seems to be one exit. I idly noted that I was probably capable of seeing in the dark as I tried to stand. It was an enlightening experience, as I had to use my whole body to balance on my lanky toothpick legs and walking made me feel like a newborn taking his first steps. I might have been on some level. I made it about five steps before I fell over and caught myself on my crutch. Oh, I also had a crutch now. My portals were working with almost no effort on my part, and as stressful as that is, I knew it would be useful should I grow hungry. I also gave me a better idea than trying to learn how to walk.

So I ignored the pile of apples that now rolled around on the floor in front of me and decided that I wanted to float. And then I did! My hooves barely scraped the floor and my ears had even begun to hold themselves off of the ground. Look out world, Elfilis can stand up straight! It was with no small amount of pride that I ditched the crutch and walked out of that cave with a handful of apples (which was quite a few apples actually) into the outside world. Let me see what my future may hold!

...

It held trees. I was in a forest. It felt obvious in hindsight that a cave would be in the middle of nature, and I didn't really know what I was expecting. It was a very scenic forest though, with stocky trees and a thick canopy that blocked out the sky. It did unfortunately hide the time of day from me and my night vision, while useful, was also obscuring that information from me. I idly chomped an apple in half as I pondered my next move, and as I finished it off I came to a conclusion.

I had no idea what to do. I didn't have any information on anything around me besides my own body and that was suspect at best. So the only thing left for me to do was to try to find clues, whether they be about where I am or who I used to be, anything was helpful. As I looked at the compass that appeared in my other hand, I silently amended it to almost anything. Cardinal directions weren't helpful without landmarks. I think. Probably. I started walking before I stood still thinking about nothing useful. If my only goal were to survive I would be set, apples and water in infinite supply, but I wanted to know what was happening. Unfortunately I wouldn't find out for a while.

I spent what must of been days in that forest without finding anything useful. No rivers, no skylights, no other living creatures. Besides a squirrel, but he was less than helpful. I started making marks on trees to try to narrow down my options, and I should have done it earlier but the thought of damaging anything made me nervous. I didn't want to find out if destruction and invasion were natural instincts of my body. It didn't help though, at some point I turned around to see every tree in sight was scratched by my horns. Which meant I had just zig-zagged through the forest. My previously abandoned compass solved that problem as I decided that a straight line was a better strategy.

I did find out that my genitals (why is that so embarrassing) were in fact hiding when nature called, so I could now say I knew a little bit about my insides. I considered that a win, I wasn't getting many of those on that walk. Just tree after tree after tree after tree! They were beautiful and yet I couldn't wait to lay my eyes on literally anything else. And I did finally get my wish, I had almost missed it. Opening my eyes from a quick rest (which was entirely for my state of mind, my body felt as fresh as ever) I finally spotted something new.

A singular ray of light beaming through the treetops. The canopy had gotten thinner, and that was my first sign of progress in what felt like a week. I stuffed a piece of jerky in my mouth and almost glided through the trees with how excited I was. I wasn't even moving my legs anymore, letting the wind caught in my wings and my little pushes of float faster carry me through everything. The foliage slowly became more sparse and the sun kept finding more holes to sneak through, until, almost all at once the forest disappeared from view. Progress, for real this time.

I saw civilization, and a good amount of it as well. To my far left stood a mountain with a whole city built onto its side, to my far right was a clearly manufactured series of clouds with creatures I couldn't quite make out the details of flying about. Just under that and to the left was another city of concrete and steel with lights flashing everywhere, I could see the roads that connected it all and all the signs of life forced a smile onto my face. And I hadn't even gotten to best view yet! The closest buildings to me with the sunrise as its backdrop painted a picturesque view that attracted my eye more than all the others.

It was a large town, perhaps on the verge of becoming a city itself, made up of quaint residences and unique businesses you could see from miles away (or I could see for miles away, I have good eyes). The gingerbread house was the one that caught my eye the most. And life! I could see the residents from here, all quadrupeds of eye-popping color. And as I saw them all gather in the middle of town, I looked beyond and saw an apple farm, and even further another forest with the sun cresting above everything. I wanted to enjoy this. I didn't get to enjoy it.

Just as I started to sit down, everything went to hell.

That glorious sign of progress over the horizon fell back under so quickly that everything turned black before my eyes could adjust. I shot back into a standing position so fast the ground under my feet cratered, and I instantly began scanning the sky. It reminded me too much of Fecto and his ability to move planets, this couldn't be natural. The locals in town running screaming and scrambling out of their homes to watch the sky only confirmed this. All that screaming and running actually ended being a big help however. My attention, drawn to the town, saw something that didn't match. One local with a lizard of some sort on her back was making a straight line for a large tree building near the center, and behind her a little ways followed five others.

They all stood out to me for the sole reason that they were the only six to not be staring wide-eyed at the night sky or at each other. They had a purpose, I could feel it.

If I had to honest with myself, the "heroic" thoughts I was entertaining were selfish in nature. I wanted to distance myself from Fecto as much as possible, and acting as his more helpful counterpart was a good way to do it in my mind. That group had something in mind, and regardless if they were the cause or the solution to bringing back order to this world, I was going to need to talk to them.