A Kindred Spirit

I slowly became aware that I was laying in the softest thing I had ever encountered. I don't really know why that was the first thing I perceived, but go figure. The sheets of the grand bed I was in must have been woven of the finest silk. I stretched out, and decided to get out of bed to figure out where I was. I sat up, swiveled, dropped my feet on the floor, and stood up like I normally would have.

I fell on my face.

"Ow! What gives..." I looked down. "...legs...?"

I found that my legs were in the proper place, but that they were covered in soft aluminum-grey fur that shone in the light with a silver luster. They also happened to have hooves on the end and the structure of a pony's hind leg.

I came to the realization that I was a pony.

As ever in a situation such as this one, emotion.exe had stopped responding.

I fruitlessly waited about 3 seconds to see if my train of thought elicited any response to this extreme stimuli of total body transformation. I decided to see if I could stand, then figure out how to walk.

I stood up, with poise and balance, as if it had been something I had done every day of my life.

Well, thank you, new pony instincts. You'll be very helpful to me..

I pressed my luck by starting to walk without thinking about it; again, instinct took over, and though my first couple of steps were a bit awkward, I found myself moving around without any trouble.

I decided to examine my surroundings to deduce the room I was in. All it took was one sweep of the eyes about the lightless room and one over the deep, darkly-colored decor to know I was in the bedroom of Princess Luna. I slowly plodded over to the large mirror on the wall of the princess of the night to look at myself.

I froze mid-stride at seeing my new body for the first time. Naturally, the first thing my gaze focused on was a face.

It was definitively that of a stallion, which I was immediately grateful for. After a bit of analyzing I found it to be rather akin to something one might see on pony nobility. My jaw was sharp, but not strangely so; my cheek bones were on the high side, and my cheeks themselves were not pudgy, but supple and held a moderate degree of fullness.

My eyes. They were the same shape as that of Princess Celestia herself, albeit a bit less in scale, and thankfully I did not share her long lashes. They had also retained what I had thought of as brilliantly unique irises, of brown mixed with green, giving the impression of a dark forest.

My edges of my mane and tail were steel-gray with the most subtle hints of a deep blue hidden in them. That blue got stronger as it got to the middle of those articles of hair, almost manifesting itself. The edges were like curls that had just decided to stop curling and let live as sharp-edged waves. The coloration on the very tips of these were transparent, but as the light struck them, the outlines of my hair's shadow was set alight with a prismatic spectrum of light.

The second thing I noticed was my massive pair of rather solar princess-like wings, standing proud at 45-degree attention away from my back. The feathers were actually rather tidy, despite my indefinite period of rest in bed. Finding my flight muscles, I gave them an experimental pull; even from half stroke, the air displaced easily lifted my mane and tail after ricocheting off the floor. I pulled on my wings again, softer this time, to lay them flat and extend them. They looked akin to that of a great eagle, spanning about 3 yards and holding promise of long glides anytime I wished. Having finished my examination of them, I put them back in the position I found them in, and, with some difficulty, folded them up and stowed them away. I got the distinct feeling that my pair of wings would not tolerate being folded for any long periods of time, such as two days.

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I had accepted my new identity as a proud pegasus. There was one odd thing that I had noticed; my legs seemed a bit lengthy, and I got the feeling I was a bit larger than your average pegasus. I took this well; I liked being tall. I walked in my strangely not strange new four legged way to the door of Luna's chambers, and realized that grasping things would be difficult. I tried, without much hope, my hoof to grasp the door handle. Somehow, against all odds, this worked; it was like magic fingers, sort of. I pulled open the heavy doors to reveal two of Luna's guards who seemed to have been expecting me.

"Oh, um, hello, guardsponies."

"Good morning," they said impassively and without turning.

"I was wondering what time it might be, and how long I've been out?"

They turned their heads to me and one began, "I'm not sure of the time in numerals, but dawn just came around. The princess will be retiring soon-"

As if on cue, Princess Luna appeared. She saw me and a smile lit her face.

"Oh, thou hath awakened! Verily, I was just about to retire! Cometh with me; we must discuss current events!"

At this time, she was standing near me, and I noticed we were about the same height. I did as she asked, and took a position next to her as we walked down the hallway.

"I'm guessing you figured out what that release of magic caused?" Luna asked jokingly in her velvet voice.

I wondered where the princess from a few seconds ago had gone. Gone was the archaic language, gone was the royal tone of voice (Now it hadn't been Royal Canterlot; just the royal projection of voice) and now she seemed to have taken on a far more relaxed, friendly vibe.

"W-well, yes." I gave an earnest smile.

She perceived my confusion and let out a short giggle. "Wondering where Princess Luna just went?"

"Yes."

"I act like that in front of my guards or in court; formal business. This is Luna you're with. Not "the Princess", Luna."

Picking up on both her meaning and her implication to drop the formal titles, I spoke something that had been bothering me a bit.

"Well, Luna, if you don't mind my asking..." I began hesitantly, not wanting to prod.

"Go ahead." She seemed to have an idea of what I was about to ask.

"Where did you sleep while I was unconscious?" I finished.

"Well, in my bed, obviously!" she said in a jokingly condescending tone before letting loose a laugh.

I just blushed at this. I shared a bed with a royal princess while I was out? This could be scandalous.

"Don't worry, there won't be any scandals or anything. And even if there was, I don't think the press would like my reaction!"

I chuckled. Since the guard had not the opportunity to answer my question, I asked it of Luna.

"How many days have I missed?"

"It's been a day and a half. Wondering where the Elements of Harmony are, right?"

"Yep." I almost smelled the bait in that question.

"Gotcha!"

Suddenly Luna switched gears again into the royal leader of her people. Her whole demeanor turned intimidating and commanding; even though we were the same height, she seemed far taller.

"I asked all of the Elements if they had mentioned their positions; they said no, however, my sister made a passing reference, but I honestly doubt you remember that. Now tell me," she leaned in close, "How do you know so much about ponykind?"

I was intimidated and impressed. Luna was extremely sharp; she could be very dangerous to her foes if they were dull. I was also happy that she was using this to protect her kingdom.

I sighed. "You are a razor sharp pony, Princess. It's a long story, but I'll try to explain best I can."

She seemed to revert to that bubbly pony from just a short time ago.

"Good! Now, begin." The command held a little bit of the edge from before, but it was an undercurrent; it conveyed she was happy but I better not lie or keep her waiting. I started to explain about the show as we resumed our slow walk down the hallway...