Now, an important thing about me. I don't do the waking up ritual that many people do. When I wake up, I'm up.

So I woke up. I opened my eyes, my dreams fading. I always had dreams. Even short naps had them, but they faded quickly as a rule. I sat up and yawned even as I stood up, and fell over.

I laughed at my stupidity. Who falls standing up? I shook the grogginess away and tried that again. I was awake enough to realize that things were just not in the right places. My feet were on the ground but my legs were not supporting me and strange sensations my brain didn't even have inputs for were arriving.

I was lost in my own body.

I stopped.

Since moving felt out, I decided to sink back into the bed I had started in. It wasn't even my bed. I sat on the edge of it. That much I could do. I reached to feel over my rebellious legs.

I had no hands. I had no fingers.

I had no hands or fingers. I had hooves.

That part wasn't actually as shocking as one might imagine. I'd written plenty of stories of such things. I had hooves.

"Hello." I was talking to my body. It wasn't even the first time. "How did you get there?" I curled my arms and paused, really looking at them. They weren't human arms. I threw off the blanket to confirm.

I was a horse. Well, a pony? An equine, for sure. I had a snout that hogged up a good portion of my view, but my clever brain was already working hard filtering that out. Only when I thought about it could I see that snout there, and I reached to rub along it slowly. "I'm a horse." In case the universe needed a reminder of it.

"You are a pony." The door to the dim room swung open, glowing with Twilight's magic as she entered with a smile. "And you're awake, good. How do you feel? I was very disoriented when I visited your world."

Twilight was not her plush self. She was a horse, er, pony. A type of horse called a pony. She was an alicorn, with folded wings and a long horn. "If you're hungry, Spike is preparing a breakfast. I can ask him to make one more portion."

I blinked slowly at Twilight, this new yet familiar form of her. My brain was still rebooting, synapses trying to make sense of equine limbs and the lack of opposable thumbs. But the promise of food stirred my attention.

"Spike is here too?" I asked slowly. My voice sounded strange emerging from a mouth not designed for human speech. I gave my pony muzzle an experimental rub with a hoof. This would take some getting used to. A pony tongue and lips were actually quite able for speech, but they were subtly different motions than human ones. I'd have to adapt.

Twilight smiled gently. "But of course! We're back in Ponyville now thanks to Starswirl's spellwork. All your old friends are here and quite eager to meet you." Her smile turned impish. "I may have raved a bit to them about the noble creature from another world who aided me."

I ducked my head, feeling suddenly self-conscious at the thought of facing Twilight's famous entourage. "You, uh, might have oversold my helpfulness a bit..." I mumbled.

My stomach growled loudly just then, making us both laugh. "I suppose proper introductions can wait until you've had something to eat," Twilight acquiesced. She turned towards the door. "Now, let's get you up and at 'em the Equestrian way!"

Her horn flashed, yanking the blanket fully away. I yelped as I was abruptly levitated, limbs dangling clumsily beneath me through no will of my own. Such casual magic would certainly take adjustment! But the scent of pancakes and syrup wafting in motivated me not to complain too hard.

A brief thought tickled at me about my diet. Pancakes and syrup? Surely full of carbs. Then again... I curled to look back at myself. I was standing, on all four hooves. Ponies used hooves, four of them. That was why I had fallen over, trying so hard to stand the human way.

I was a pony, a slender one. A few carbs wouldn't kill me. "Tell him I said thanks."

"Tell him yourself." Twilight casually made the bed with a whistle. "He's very eager to meet you. I apologize, I was just thinking to start drilling you about the creatures that live on this world when... Here you are. Are you mad?" She pinned her ears. "We didn't even ask if you wanted to be here..."

It was hard to be angry at first insinct at Twilight. Besides... "I don't have a headache."

"Good?" Twilight inclined her head. "I'd hope not."

"I did before." I tapped at left temple with a hoof. "Forever, always. 24/7, headache. Now it's gone. I don't have a headache." It was such a simple thing to be amazed about, but it filled me with a radiant joy. Bouyed by it, I started towards that smell. "My back doesn't hurt either... I'm... This is a new chance in every way."

Twilight's eyes softened, her earlier uncertainty melting away in a wave of palpable relief.

"Oh David, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see you up and about with no troubles!" She quickly trotted over to fall into step beside me. "When Starswirl brought you through, he assured me the translation spellwork was seamless. But I still fretted something might have gone amiss!"

She gave me a cautious sidelong glance, earlier enthusiasm turning apprehensive. "Is everything really feeling normal though? Proper quadruped form, senses all aligned, magical essence stabilized?"

I took quick inventory, still marveling at my headache's absence and strange new energetic hum thrumming through my veins. "Seems right as rain from what I can tell! Although..." I smirked wryly at her while nearly tripping over my own hooves. "Might need to practice with these parts.

Twilight laughed brightly, relief returning. "Well you've come to the right place for that! Pony mobility is our special talent after all." She steadied me as we reached the kitchen. "Now then, let's start your education on Equestrian culture with the most important meal of the day!"

And there was Spike. That wasn't Spike. At least, that wasn't the Spike of the cartoon. That was a dragon. A dragon over a story tall, slaving over a stovetop that seemed comedically tiny for his massive claws. Despite that, he was making good progress on producing a great pile of pancakes. "He's up?" asked Spike with the voice of an adult dragon, no child dragon. "Good. I made plenty for everycreature."

Twilight went for her table, unbothered by the presence of a dragon. "Is Twinkle awake?"

"Nope." Spike turned, carrying the platter of breakfast goodies. "Hello, David. Thank you for taking care of Twilight. That sounds like it was a scary trip. Wish I'd been there."

David reached to help, but his hooves were the ultimate mitts, quite poor for anything he wanted to manipulate. He let Spike handle it. "I was just living, and Twilight showed up. How can I not help her?"

Spike smiled at that. "She is kinda special." He placed a jug of syrup and other condiments there, doublechecking forks and things on the way. "She mentioned you weren't a pony before? What were you?"

I rubbed the back of my neck with a hoof, still stunned to encounter the looming dragon form of Spike so casually puttering about the kitchen. Clearly, this Equestria played by somewhat different rules.

"I, ah, was a human before," I explained. "Don't know if you'd know what that is. Kinda like a hairless monkey with some odd extra features, like walking just on our hind legs."

I nodded to the generous spread Spike was laying out with appreciative hunger. "Gotta say, though, I could get used to being pony-fied if it comes with feasts like this!"

Spike chuckled at that, the low rumble sending soft vibrations through the floorboards. "Well, from what Twilight told us, your human world sounded crazy and confusing. So make yourself at home here!"

He leaned down to give me an appraising sniff. "Hmm, yeah, I can still detect some weird alien aromas. But nothing a good dousing in pancakes and our sunshine can't fix!"

I lifted a hoof self-consciously but had to laugh. "Can't argue with that logic, oh wise dragon chef! Work your breakfast magic - I'm eager to sample genuine Equestrian cuisine."

Twilight smiled happily from her seat, clearly delighted to see me already adapting to her unconventional household. As odd as it felt fumbling through feeding myself without fingers, for the first time in forever I felt simply at peace.

Well, almost. "Twilight." She perked. "You mentioned there was a way to reach back home. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I owe people typed words." I lifted my new hooves at her. "How do you type with these?! No offense, they're neat." I even nuzzled one. I could feel it both ways, from my snout and from my hoof feeling my snout. "Neat... But how do I type with them?"

Twilight waved over me. "I'm afraid you're just a pony right now. With proper diligence and work, you could advance." She pointed to herself. "Like me. Not to show off, but I earned my wings and my horn. With a horn, typing would be easy. Without... I imagine it would be quite slow and imprecise..."

The rules of that Equestria didn't scare me. I wanted to know more. "So all ponies are born as earth ponies?"

"Yes." Twilight tapped her chest. "Earth is the element that comes naturally to us. Some rare few ponies are born with a different elemental alignment. Airy pegasus foals, for instance, but most are earth to start. If they devote themselves to self-perfection and knowledge, they can gain other elemental attributes."

Spike hiked a thumb at himself, great and sharp. "I'm fire, but dragon, fire, kinda goes together, you know?" He huffed a warm breath at me. "How's breakfast?"

Oh! I had gotten distracted.

I still had hooves. "Still learning, alright if I shove my face in?"

Spike snorted at the mental image. "If you really want..."

"Spike!" Twilight grabbed a fork in her magic and offered a bit towards me. "Say ah..."

I was no young thing... But it was also Twilight, taking time to feed me. I saw no good reason to decline her. I said 'ah' each time and enjoyed the delicious fare. It was... fresh, and untainted. There was nothing artificial there, and it all tasted so dang good. "Love it."

Twilight beamed as I enthusiastically slurped up another levitating bite of pancake drenched in sweet syrup under her attentive care. As novel as manually manipulating equine eating utensils seemed, I had to admit there was something charming about simply relaxing into being fed by an attentive friend.

"Wonderful! I figured you'd enjoy genuine Equestrian home cooking," Twilight praised. She used a napkin to dab a stray smear of syrup from my muzzle. "Once your energy is restored, there's plenty more where that came from," Twilight assured.

As she turned to gather another forkful for me, I shifted to address her previous insights about pony self-actualization. "So all ponies can eventually obtain horns and wings if they work at it?" I marveled. "That feels pretty fair... More fair than most Equestrias I know!"

Twilight laughed lightly as she lifted another bite my way on magical currents. "I suppose you could see it that way, though it's really more about pursuing one's innate talents and purpose rather than just achievement for its own sake."

She shrugged fluidly. "Most earth ponies are quite content focusing on their physical labors and deep connections to nature's bounty, of course. But exceptions crop up now and then..." She winked playfully.

I chuckled through another mouthful of sweet cakes. Clearly, this reality played by very different rules - but at least hard work and bettering oneself seemed valued by its remarkable denizens. As bizarre as my future path remained, I strangely felt this new world suited my sensibilities well.

That and I had someone that wanted to feed and house me as a start. "Am I sitting on my tail?" The pain signal was finally getting through, a new connection to my mind that wasn't ready to receive such a signal from a part I didn't have before. "Funny." I shifted so that stopped. "I have so much to learn."

Author's Note

Welcome to Equestria, but this one plays by its own rules. It isn't a cartoon, but it offers a warm hearth and open arms.

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