The hospital, home of the sick. The weak. It was the only place Twilight never had truly visited in her past life with her own body. Yet, now she found herself with her mother, sitting on a stool for children while staring at a horse doctor, struggling to barely see his muzzle. He was a dark brown stallion with a black mane, his horn was long and sharp while his eyes carried the hue of oceans, the mark on his flank was that of a syringe.

"So doctor, she has been acting weird for a week and we are really worried, she has not eaten nearly anything and has barely drunk anything." Velvet couldn't bear to watch her child go on like that, it stung to see how skinny she had gotten. At first, she only thought that maybe her cooking just wasn't good enough, flavor enough - yet no matter what she made little Twilight's eyes were clouded every time she saw her on the table. Velvet ran her hoof on Twilight's mane, "I'm really worried..."

And that small touch was enough to ignite an old emotion for Twilight, worry. She repeatedly shook her head until finally Twilight Sparkle slowly turned her head towards her mother and resigned with a silent 'screw it.'

"I'm sorry." What is the difference between horses and humans anyway? This is a chance, a chance to live without being cursed! Even more, in a world with no curses! With whimsical magic! It can be... Worthwhile. Twilight nodded to herself, she will make this work.

Velvet lowered her head and kissed Sparkle "It's not your fault, sweetie." The doctor, who had been silent his whole time cleared his throat, tapping a pencil on a notepad with his telekinetic field. He had a long schedule and honestly, didn't feel the need to entertain some sort of family drama.

So, direct he was. "Miss Sparkle." He looked at Twilight, "You should really start to eat more. Besides that, everything is normal although there is an unusual." Velvet gasped, "Which is the growth in her thaumaturgic pathways are thrice the size somepony her age usually has."

"Is it a problem?" Her hooves drew to her mouth.

The doctor shook his head, "It will only be if she doesn't eat anything." He then checked his notepad, "In the olden times, it was common for foals, to die due to magic starvation." Velvet sharply stared at the doctor for the unnecessary D-word. "So, as long she eats well all's good."

"I-I'm sorry." Sparkle had the urge to slap the silliness off of her as her face grew warmer. "I'll be a better daughter."

Her mother immediately hugged Twilight. "You're already the best daughter I could ask for!" It was so strange, to feel love after so long. Maybe giving it a try won't be so bad after all.

Shining Armor slapped a card against the blankets, multiple others rained down from Twilight's bed to the ground, "Plus two!" The purple unicorn swore to herself to make her brother pick up those cards later.

Twilight hooves had one plus four, one change color, and one "Plus two." The card barely shifted the mountain of cards.

The stallion grumbled louder as each card was picked from the deck until at the very last one, a smile ear-to-ear replaced grumble-le-grumbler, his revenge against his young sister begins now! "Plus four!" And once again he slapped the card down, more cards shifted and fell. This time Twilight did not even bother to say anything as she placed her plus four. "How?! You are cheating!" He threw his cards away. On the ground. She will need to talk to him about these frivolous actions.

A sigh escaped the purple unicorn, "Yes. I am." She slowly put her cards down and watched Shining Armor's mouth slowly widen by the second, "It took you ten games to notice." A sprinkle of disappointment leaked from her voice. Cheating is a heian-certified sorcery skill, if an advantage in battle can be gained then said advantage should be pursued, yet his brother has both a terrible eye and a huge amount of innocence, just like... Yuji.

"Moom! Twilight is cheating!" Twilight shook her head at her brother's shout, the way the cards made a mess on the ground was an easy way to push the blame on her brother, creating a false story that he had a fit of rage after a streak of losses. But was it worth risking her relationship with his brother?

No, no it wasn't. The slow hoofsteps getting louder by the moment made a pit in Twilight's stomach grow, but there was no visible change in expression - she had already got that down. Slowly the knob turned and the wooden door opened smoothly without a creak. Shining hopped like a rabbit towards the matriarch of the house. Velvet had to put a conscious effort to not smile and mess up her son's mane, a forced neutral face, and equally forced upright stance that any amateur, in Twilight's vision, could see through. "Twilight angel, you know that cheating is bad." She waited, expecting an excuse of sorts but as none came, she raised an eyebrow, "Why did you do it?"

Twilight turned her head to the window and slowly stretched her hooves on the bed, Velvet scoffed but before she could say anything Twilight cut short, "To teach him about the world." Her mother swole back her words, "That if given a chance, somebod- Somepony will buck you down for their own success." Velvet's eyes slowly widened, "And, if he doesn't know how to spot those 'lies' he will plummet in the mud." As many sorcerers did before.

Velvet slowly trotted to her bed and Twilight half expected to be slapped for disrespecting. Her past mother sure did that enough times, but all that she received was a hug. Warm as the first spring day, just as welcoming too. "Did something happen at Magic Kindergarten today?" Velvet soothing whispers shifted Twilight enough for her to be on edge and gently pushing her mother back.

A meek "No." was all that Twilight could manage. It felt wrong, a cold day in the summer - like a curse. Shouldn't she get disciplined instead of comforted? It didn't make sense.

Shining trots were uneven and slow stopping just by the bedside, a hoof rubbing on his chin "I don't really get what you said," then a small smile formed on Shining's face, "But, when I feel sad Mom and Dad are always here to cheer me up, right?" Velvet's smile was now impossible to conceal, "So, if you cheated because you were sad, that's fine! As long as you don't do it again."

"That's right! So, for us to make you feel better we just need to know what is wrong." Velvet said, Shining eagerly nodded and hopped onto the bed. It was certainly heartwarming but that put Twilight into a corner, or at least she felt that way as nothing was truly wrong.

Twilight shifted her hooves and sat on her haunches, nothing was truly wrong besides the fact of everyone being horses - while most structures are human-designed in nature. Then there is magic, actual magic, and not some scam created by a cunning old man to pawn off a few coins. "It's... Nothing." Nothing that they could help with. All Twilight had to do was adapt, then finally take a new path.

Another chance is another chance, being a horse or not doesn't matter. A life free of curses is not one that Twilight will throw away that easily. "Okay, just know we're here if you want to talk about something." Velvet slid off the bed and trotted to the doorway, stopping briefly. "Also no more cheating on games, okay sweetie?" Twilight nodded. Shining armor still smiling picked off card by card with his telekinesis and began shuffling the deck, a fire reignited in his eyes as he gave seven cards for himself and his sister.

This time, Twilight got... 7 blocks, there was at least one of each color. "I'll go first!" At least, this time she isn't cheating.

Author's Note

Uno! I win!