[PTFG] The Trial Ch. 1

>You continue tapping away at the keyboard, trying to tell these plebs on 4chan how to truely write green.
>Not that you even know how to do it yourself, really.
>You mean, you're sure you have the basic concept down pack at least, like seriously.
>How hard is it to separate main character dialogue from the greens lines, and keep those for the "extras", eh?
"Tsh, scrubs."
>But then again, you realize that a lot of the stories in this thread are written in prose, so maybe the transition can bring with it a bit of minor confusion or conflict with their usual way of work.
>Fehkin FiMFic scrubs, the lot of them.
>You finish typing out your "rant" and mash the hotkey you set for "send", satisfied with your impressive bout of superiority.
>To this day, you can't remember how you did that.
>On this 5 year old laptop of yours, you don't think you really need to care about minor tweaks, so much as a reset when things get too buggy.
>Anyway, rather than sit idle waiting on someone to respond, and mash f5 like a krik, you set that sucker to auto-update, and tab out like a boss.
>Some few hours of Youtube surfing later, you see the "(1!)" on the thread's tab.
>You also notice that it is highlighted red.
>You raise an eyebrow and verbally "dohoho" like a goof, quickly tab swapping to observe this alert, and read the scorn you expect.

[Text]: So you think yourself a genius don't you? Bet you even gave yourself a little pat on the back after your 'successful triumph' in the art of greentext knowledge.

>Woa, look at this guy here.
>You don't think you've patted yourself on the back.
>Should you have?
>You continue reading.

[Text]: What if I told you what you said was shit and doesn't have shit to do with anything.

"Well I'd say 'no shit, it don't mean shit.'"
>You express aloud to no one in particular.

>The page auto updated, and there appears to be another post.
>From the context you assume it to be from the same user, so you read it.
>Not that it would matter either way.

[Text]You obviously aren't a complete twit, so how about a little challenge? A trial if you will.

>You scratch at the stubble under your chin in thought.
>A challenge eh?
>Well, it's not like you have anything else planned for tonight, besides sleep of course.
>Nothing happening tomorrow either, so you can stay awake as long as you please.
>Plus, you love a good challenge.
>Here's to hoping this isn't a total waste of time.
>You respond
"Sure, I'm game. Not like I got much else going on right now anyway."
>Post
>As soon as the 10 second timer on the update passes, you are greeted with a reply.
>Posted under the name "Mica"
>"I was hoping you'd say that. Why don't you follow me to this link right here >>>_______"
>Huh.
>So it seems they thought about that too.
>Then what was the point of the name then?
>You shrug and scroll over to the link.
>As your mouse cursor hovers over the link, you get a slight tingle in your knuckle connected to your index finger, the common dominant clicker. It starts feel a numb and find yourself unable to move it. Ddd.
>Your physician had warned you to watch your blood pressure though, something about it being low. Needing more iron.
>Maybe this kinda thing is a symptom?
>Could you be stroking out?
>After a moment, the sensation subsides, and you can move your finger again.
>You're relieved that it didn't go further than that.

>You consider passing this moment to get some rest, and see about getting another appointment or calling for a prescription order form from you physician, but decide you want to see this through.
>You take little caution though, and use your other hand for the mouse this time.
>Hooray for ambidexterity, although this isn't exactly the best display of it.
>You hover the cursor over the link again and feel another sudden jolt into your finger tip, but it is gone as quick as it came, so you shrug it off.
>Finally, you click the link, anticipation slowly growing as the page just loads and loads.
>and loads
>and loads...
>...
>...
>...
>Goddammit, this shit ain't real is it?
>And you were prepared to throw sleep, and possibly your life away for this shit? Waste of five minutes.
"Motherfuckin-"
>The page finishes loading, and it goes black, stars slowly twinkling on from the header to the the center.
"Oh."
>The stars twinkle in sequence before swirling together.
>Quite a nice touch, this trial thing must be legit if their going to put in this much effort.
>The whirling of the twinkling stars increases in speed, forming seeming to form into a semi-perfect circle, the "edge" itself still sparking along it's rotation to signify it to be still a mass of swirling, spinning stars.
>You suppose that adds to the aesthetic.
>Then, within the circle, a pony-like silhouette of a face fleshes out, along with some ears emerging from the sides.
>There's no mouth though.
>Kinda like those featureless logos on the loading sequences of some games.
>Like sonic.
>No, wait, there's a mouth.
>And it's... growing into a smile.
>Nope, a grin.
>An increasingly creepy grin... euhg.
>If this trial is something like cupcakes, you're not sure you want part of this.
>Especially at this hour.
>But you were born with balls, and you're gonna use em.
>You find yourself completely lost in the gaze of the grinning silhouette before you.
>You begin to feel a bit drowsy the longer you stair into the screen.
>You don't think you have epilepsy, but you think you know the problem.
>Maybe you should get some rest after all.
>This can't be good for you staying up after even that little bit of trauma.

>But you're too tired to move.
>You resign to resting in your place at your desk.
>As your eyelids close ever so slowly,
>You notice the grin on the silhouetted face grow ever so slightly, but it could just be your mind playing tricks on you.
>Then, a voice.
>"Heheheh, yes... rest easy... You'll need your energy for the trial ahead. You won't be missing the life you have now anyway, wasting away at a desk in the filthy apartment you call a home. Perhaps a change of scenery would be good for you, and your health"
"W-wha..."
>"Shh. Just sleep, now. A new dawn in your life awaits..." the voice fades off into an echo of ominous chuckling.
>Worry creeps into your barely conscious form, but you're far too tired to be able to process any thoughts other than "i sleep nao".
>Darkness encompasses your vision as you make your way to the land of dreams.
>You feel small nick or two at the back of your mind like someone watching you as you pass out.

~~*~~~~*~~

>You're traveling aimlessly through a seemingly endless void.
>You feel a floor-kin surface beneath you, but see nothing. You decide to float about instead to through off some monotony.
>This is how your dreams are now, nothing but pitch blackness, an empty space of limitless possibility, not much like the common dreams of most, since usually, people dream of what they fantasize on a daily basis.
>Some relive the day they had, often with a twist.
>Many dream of the last things they think of before falling asleep, whether or not they were conscious of the thoughts prior.
>Though, not as common, especially not among average youth, some fall into a lucid reality, able to consciously experience the events of the dream.
>Rarely from beginning to end, though you think there are those that do.
>You are not one of those rare cases, though, your time spent is usually brief, so you are left confused.
>It feels as though you have been floating aimlessly in this limbo for ages.
>By now you would have already awaken, the soft beating of your heart being your counter for time in the silent expanse.
>Usually, in this short time, you take on the privilege of tapping into your relatively wild imagination.
>This time though, you didn't feel like doing so, just wanting to rest through your time here, but now you're completely bored.
>Bored in of your mind.
>You can't be bored |out| of your mind because, well, duh.
>You never did have one of those "out of body experiences" did you?
>The darkness around you "shifts" as you imagine various scenarios of out of body experiences you |could| have, before you sigh.
>Suddenly the loud noise of a train whistle bellows in the "distance", the echo growing stronger the closer the sound gets to you.
>Funny, you think.
>You you attempt to imagine what your "train of thought" could look like.

>You notice a light shining in the distance the whistle/horn noise seems to be coming from.
>It's growing even brighter, the noise getting louder as well.
>Wait...
>FUCK
>You jump out of the way just in time as the train whizzes by you, the g-force knocking you into a rough roll as the cars speed by.
>Following this is a loud screeching noise, akin to what you assume to be the sound a train makes when coming to a halt.
>You haven't had much experience with hearing the sounds of trains and their stopping outside of a TV screen, so you're surprised even more by the vividness of the effects your mind is processing.
>This shock of a happening also forced you to take a vague form of yourself, as you hold your chest, gasping for the breath you lost in the sudden exertion.
>Then you stop breathing, realizing that you are still, in fact, dreaming, and are in no actual need of breathing.
>Still though, What the actual Fuck!
>That was scary as hell!
>You know you were bored, but you didn't expect your own subconscious to almost kill you right off the- well, nightmares are a thing.
>Your mind boggles on the happening a bit more until the screeching of the train comes to a complete stop, followed by a loud hiss.
>Curious, now what does your mind have in store for you?
>It's been a long time since you had a real dream, you think back on all the fucked up dreams you had with all the raging hormones brewing in.
>You wonder why it all just stopped.
>You shrug and get onto your feet, making your way to the nearest car of the train.
>It looks like one of those cargo cars or whatever they call them, where hobos hitch rides on a train to live life on the rails or whatever they called it.
>You think about hitching a ride as you climb through the doorway onto the platform.
>Once you get settled in the back of the car the train chugga chugging as it starts to move again.

>The whistle blows once more, signaling the train's resume.
>You lean back against the well of the car, content to enjoy this ride until you wake again, to continue your life of mediocrity.
>Not to say you aren't content with your life, although you do wish it to be more.
>You have a stable job keeping you by, with little extra money on the side in event of a cause for necessity.
>You don't have any mates or friends to keep company, and though the knowledge makes you feel alone at times, you've grown not to care so much about that when thoughts about your ability to keep contact comes up.
>You're not so good at keeping friends, so you don't really worry about making them either.
>If you were to, say, take this train ride away from your reality, there wouldn't really be anyone dear to miss you, or you them.
>In your time of isolation, you decided to detach yourself from the worries of your members, and successfully so.
>You did not want to worry anyone with yourself, as selfish as the notion may be, and you them.
>It's probably not entirely true, they likely do think of you, but you had subconsciously worked in that enough that they could easily lose personal connection to you as you can them.
>You're parents have long since died, leaving you with your grandparents until you reached adulthood.
>Feelings of mourning don't come to you as easily as most when you try to remember the times you'd spent with them, or the love you'd shared, as it did long ago.
>You weren't really close to any other relatives either, nor did you have any siblings.
>If this train could carry into a new place of rest, you think, maybe, you would try to change that, but you don't know.
>It is kind of hard to change how you are and the way you think and act without that bit of intervention.
>Maybe, given a situation in which you are forced to adapt in a way that influences you, it is possible for you to become a completely different person.
>You laugh a little, as if you were wishing this to be the case.

>You stare out through the open doorway of the care into the void expanse of your psyche.
>This dream has gone on for far longer than you would have liked, and you wish it to end so you can wake up already.
>You attempt to remember what you were doing before you fell into this realm., pondering your anxiety over having more than enough time to indulge in creating your own fantasy world.
>Ah, yes, the trial.
>You wonder what kind of trial that anon was referring to, and from the page they linked you to it seemed like it was going to be some sort of harsh mind game to play with a puzzle to solve.
>You try to recall the images on the screen you saw before you lost consciousness.
>Normally, it should be that easy to remember these things, considering your location, but the mind is a curious thing isn't it.
>You vaguely recollect the grinning silhouetted face of a pony, reminiscent of the cartoon you so enjoy watching.
>Not so much that you'd watch it every chance you'd get, but you do take some time to watch your favorite episodes once in a while.
>For some reason this part of the memory is fuzzier than the rest of it.
>Not fuzzy in the sense that you have trouble remembering it, but more like... glitching or distorting around itself or something.
>You try to clear out the haze around the memory before giving up.
>You'll see it again when you wake up again anyway.
>"Or will you?" questions a voice, coming from the direction of the car leading you.
>The voice is vaguely familiar to you, and it clears a bit of the distorted image in your memory.
>You snap your head forward and realize why.
>Stood before you, on all fours, is a "familiar" shadowey visage of a pony, most of it's features hidden in the darkness in the room you're currently in, besides the eerie white glow of it's eyes and toothy grin.
>You wish there was a bit of light in here that you can see, most of it is place on the walls and does not reflect, only to show the surface of a barrier that you are aware of.
>The face on the figure shifts to a more relaxed posture before they speak.
>"Pardon my intrusion on your little reverie, but as your current conductor and guide on this train ride, I have come to respectfully notify you, that we will be reaching our destination very soon." they calmly state.
>The sound of the voice is slightly melodic and feminine in tone, and it makes you wonder of how they would sound if they were to sing lyrics accompanied by a symphony.
>They spoke in a way as if they are attempting to easy you before revealing anything that could cause you to panic. You humor them, expecting just that.
"What destination are you talking about? You mean I'm finally gonna be waking up from this long ass dream?"
>You question.
>"Yes," they reply "although, what you see once you awaken may throw you off a bit."
>The grin on their face returns.
>These sudden changes in expression interest you.
"What do you mean?
>"Why don't you take another look outside?" the voice replies again.
>And you do so.
"There's nothing out here but pitch darkness and gr-"
>Wait, there wasn't any grass on the surface before was there?
>Before you, outside the doorway of the car, is a large expansive field of grass, colors faded in the atmosphere of this limbo.
>The texture barely noticeably taking a deeper, more realistic tone, slowly but gradually.
>In the distance you can see hills coming into form, each one covered in the same dull colored grass that you pass on the speeding train.
>You feel a bit of excitement at this event, you haven't had a real dream for a time.
>But there is also a small feeling of dread in you, and you're not sure why.
>Something just doesn't feel right about this, not natural, but what?
>"Beautiful isn't it?"
>You jump.
>That voice was right by your ear.

>You could feel their breath on the back of your neck as the words left them.
>You touch the back of your neck with your hand, and notice the familiar warm sensation of flesh connecting to flesh.
>Yeah, this is a bit too real to be a normal dream.
>And you want no part of this nightmare.
>The figure chuckles at your display, "My, a little jumpy aren't we? Are you catching on to anything yet?"
>Catching on to what?
>It's just a normal dream isn't it?
>You open your mouth to question it verbally but-
>"Not quite"
>You stop.
>You suppose if this is your mind, you wouldn't need to verbally express anything for a figment of your subconscious to be able to know your thoughts before you say them, so you don't immediately panic.
>Not that it isn't still a bit creepy.
>"My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you." says the creepy figure that likes sneak up on people and walk through the shadows.
>Don't worry, you're not intimidating in the slightest.
>"Well now, I wouldn't be so quick to judge? But let's leave my intentions for later, right now, I have to prepare you."
>Prepare you for what?
>You don't want to stay on this ride any longer with a creepy mare stalking over you.
>You just want to wake up already.
>The figure chuckles again.
"Did I think something funny?"
>The figure creeps closer to you, leaning over just enough that their face is within inches of yours.
>Personal space, please.
>"Oh, don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to worry about personal space after we reach our destination." they speak up again. "Or maybe not."
>"Once your trial begins, personal space will be the least of your concerns." they say teasingly.
"And by that you-"
>A hoof gently presses under your chin, interrupting you and raising you face to face with the figure.
>You stare into the large lavender orbs now visible in the light growing outside of the care.
>Still not enough light coming through, meaning whatever is forming is not yet complete.

>"It seems we're just about there." the figure looks out the doorway. Your eyes roll to follow and what you see looks to be a twilight.
>A sunrise it seems by the growing brilliance of the light. "Let's get you ready for your arrival then, shall we?"
"What are y- Mmf!"
>The figure silences you with the locking of their lips to yours.
>You can feel a passion behind the sensation, but there is no tongue in this meeting.
>You again begin to feel a bit of drowsiness as the moment drags on, your eyes dimming as your limbs become numb, lying limply beside you.
>Gently, the figure lowers you to the ground, leaning into you as they do so, your vision becoming blurry as you lie helpless under their form.
>You feel their lips curl upward in the kiss, and your brows struggles to furrow as you attempt to express how you feel in this situation.
>You begin to lose consciousness again, with only one thing lingering in your mind.
"Fucking... inception..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>You reawaken to the sounds of the train rumbling along the tracks.
>You feel the heat of the sun pouring in through the open doorway of the train car across your legs and curl up into yourself, dragging yourself further into the shade.
>You lie there content to the cool feeling return to your previously exposed legs.
>Wait a second.
>You're still dreaming?
>The train hits a bump on the tracks, shaking you and causing you to hit your head against the wall.
>You groggily prop yourself up on an elbow and rub the affected area.
"Ow..."
>You hear that mocking chuckle again, and slowly open your eyes, expecting to see the sardonic expression of the figure hovering above you.
>You have to squint a bit as your eyes adjust to the new light, the sunlight you think, considering last you were conscious the sun was supposedly rising.
>You're kind of relieved after your eyes are fully adjusted and you don't see them, but you can feel their presence lingering and your eyes scan around for confirmation.
>It doesn't appear they are here anymore, so you feel that you can relax a bit, but you stay with guarded emotion.
>You roll over to get a better look at the light source to the side of you.
>You were lying against the eastern doorway of the car.
>East to you anyway, the entrance to what you perceive to be the front of the car, that is, the direction opposite to which you lay, serving as the northward point.
>You peer out of it, making sure only that your head was out just enough for you to see.
>Your jaw drops at the sight before you.
>You shout off into the vibrant valley of green reaching deep beneath your position.
>You're struck with awe as you gaze of at the Many colors that seem to pop out in the scenery.
>The green of the valley itself is incredibly full, as if painted over the landscape.
>Little patches of reds, pinks, yellows and more litter the area.
>Blending together so nicely to make the most vibrant and beautiful combinations.

"To beautiful for one of my dreams..."
>Even the sky seems to be a bit more blue and full of life, a little lake below, deep into the valley, reflecting that hue perfectly in the most unrealistically artistic way.
>One could kill for a view like this.
>Barely even a cloud in the sky, other than the few that dot the distance far off, giving the air that little touch of paint-touched realism.
>The way the puff together and break away.
>How they suddenly poof away into the nothingness, leaving not but line thin trail spectrum of colors to beam of into the to who knows where.
>Wait what?
>You double-take.
>The cloud's, they're gone.
"What the hell?"
>Yep, you're probably still in that long ass for no god dam reason dream trip you've been having.
>It could just- wait.
>What was that sound?
>Someone spoke.
>Is it that figure again?
>You look around again, but see nothing in the room, other than a few empty open crates and a bit of hay littering the floor of the room.
>Your back aches when you think about how you could have used that hay to pass out on instead.
>But if the voice wasn't from them, then could it have been... you?
>You voice out a whispered "Haaaaah..."
>It was you!
>You're voice! It's so squeaky!
>Wait a minute.
>Your voice! You sound like /them/!
>You gasp and clutch at your throat,.
>What in the fuck did that-
>Wait...
>You pat at your throat again.
>The sensation of something flat comes to mind.
>You try to grasp at your throat, but can't feel anything, not even the grasping motion.
>You hesitantly pull your limb away from your neck, and raise it up to see...
>Nothing.
>Ha, just kidding.
>You stare emptily and the padded and fur covered appendage before you.
>Then suddenly it hits you, and you wail for the second time this morning.
"Okay, Don't panic. You're still dreaming right?"
>You reason.
"I-it. It's a pretty dam long dream but... this is definitely a dream."

"...right?"
>You listen to your voice as you speak, and take sharp notice at the pitch in your voice.
>You really do sound like /them/
>You raise your... hoof again, touching them to your lips.
>You remember the kiss they gave you before you fell out of it again.
>This is some pretty surreal shit, you don't think you can take much more of this right now.
>You slump back once more, but you don't feel dizzy.
>Just exhausted.
>You give an exasperated sigh and stare back out into the passing expanse.
>So, not only are you a pony.
>But now you're /that/ pony, you think.
>Well, if you're gonna be a mare now, and this dream being as oddly vivid as it is, you might as well test just how "close" to real your mind can make it.
>You close your eyes and raise your hoof once more.
>Slowly, you let your appendage slide "south" along your fuzzy chest, curious of what sensation your mind could concoct for this new body of yours.
>You're more than perplexed, though, when you hit a little "bump in the road" on your way down.
>You open your eyes again, looking up at the ceiling, before moving your gaze to follow your adventurous limb.
>You spread your legs and sigh at what you see.
>You're a disappointed but just as well relieved by your discovery.
"Well, it seems I still have my little man."
>Looking down, you notice he's gotten himself a little shelter with this transformation.
>You think biology call that a sheath?
>You humor the thought of swing your "sword" at any mare that dares to stand adversary to you in the "heat" of battle.
>You chuckle-cringe at your terrible joke, and scratch at your very much still present balls as the breeze rushing in through the open doorways blows a bit of hay between your spread form.
>So, it seems, despite the voice change, you're still male.

>Though with that biological contrast, the size of your package to the shrillness of your voice, you wonder what you look like in this form.
>But oh, how many have wished to be the little mare.
>You didn't notice a mirror in this room, so you don't think you'll be seeing yourself before this ride ends.
>Unless...
>You try to imagine yourself up a mirror, or anything that can reflect your visage.
>You strain over the thought, repeating "mirror mirror mirror" over and over in your head for a good couple minutes, before giving up as you feel the tingle of a headache coming on.
"Uhg..."
>You rest your mind a bit after that, pondering over why you couldn't form a simple mirror.
>You absentmindedly scratch yourself again.
>This body is going to be a little difficult to deal with if you have to be in it for a bit longer.
>"Well, aren't we enjoying ourselves a bit much already."
>You stop at the sound of the voice, and scan around once more, not surprised to find yourself still very much alone.
>You sigh, the voice has become disembodied now, and will probably taunt you until you really wake up.
>"Not quite disembodied, my mutual friend." they quip.
>What do they mean by that?
>And since when were you "mutual friends?"
>"Well, I suppose the only thing we do share is a mind right now. Quite possibly, a body as well, kehehee?"
>Good god, this dream is getting old.
>You'd rather perform fucking inception again if you're gonna have to deal with this.
>"Okay, okay, enough fun... for now. I'm just going to stop you right there."
>You raise a brow.
>"I mean, forget the notion. That this is still a dream, just forget that."
"Forget that this is a dream? What the hell do you mean?"
>"I mean exactly what I imply, my /friend/. This, this reality you see before you. The beautiful scenery, the sound of the train rushing along the tracts... That itchy feeling from the hay constantly attaching itself to your nethers." the mention of which making you scratch yourself again.
>Fucking seriously.

>"This. This is all real. It is all." they pause.
>Probably for dramatic effect.
>uhg
>"Part of your Trial, kehehe."
>The emphasize the word trial in that sentence.
>Wait.
>Trial?
>What trial?
>The only thing you could think of in reference to a "trial" is- wait...
>This is your trial?
>Ha.
>Ha ha ha.
"Hahahahaha ha aha hahahahaahaha."
>You laugh for a good moment.
>The voice in your head joining in as well.
>The two of you share this laugh for a moment, before you srs da fuk up.
"Are you KIDDING me?"
>The voice cuts itself off after your outburst.
>"What? Is there a problem?"
"Well, I'm not sure. But there definitely is going to BE a problem if all this means the meaning of meanings of what meanings I think this meaning means!"
>"Uh. What?"
"Do you really think I'm going to believe, that this,"
>You gesture to the car.
"that,"
>You gesture to the outside
"and this!"
>You gesture to yourself
"Is all real?"
>There is no sound but the wind in that moment.
>Until the voice speaks up again, "Well, no, actually. At least, not immediately. Really you can't expect a person in your position, or -kehehee- pony, rather, to accept the current situation as a reality instantly. At least, not without a bit of proof or a /reality check/, kehee. Unless, of course, they've waited their entire lives for something like this to happen after some inspirational event occurs, hoping that such a reality would come true, and for them to be the object of the occurrence."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean? And quit it with the "kehee's" already. You're like one of those anime characters with "personality traits" or "character themes" or whatever to keep a viewers attention with their out of place characteristics."
>"Keeheeeheeeeeeee" is their response.
"..."
>"..."
"..."
>"Kehee?"
"Quit it."
>"Haha, you're no fun. But the point is, whether or not you believe it? It doesn't really matter right now. You're just going to have to go through your trial and deal with it."

>You ponder over the those words.
"And... after I'm done with this... Trial. I get to go home right?
>You can feel that sadistic smirk on the face of the figure edging itself at the back of your mind.
>"We'll see. Who knows? Maybe after all is done, you won't even want to go home afterwards?"
"And what is THAT supposed to mean?"
>"Meaning, meanings, meanings. That's all you keep asking for."
>There is a loud screeching sound, and you feel yourself lurching to the side of your facing out of the doorway of the train car.
>You hadn't notice the change of scenery and your eyes open wide at the sight before you.
>"Well then. It looks like the trial is /really/ about to begin."
>You look ahead of your position at the stoic forms stationed near an arrival platform that you recognize.
>All in purple tinted silver plates cover their hardened bodies from head to... hoof, they stand in hardened stances, they gazes heavy, though obscured by their Sparton-esque helmets.
>At the center of them, one, in a darker tinge, his set more decorated and his stance more disciplined.
>Not as openly threatening, yet even more so intimidating.
>Their collectively piercing gaze pointed at your car as it slowly approaches near the platform.
"Um..."
>You whisper as the tracks hiss, the train stopping completely with your car stopping right before them.
>The one in the middle is the first to one to make any movements, raising his hoof to signal the others, who follow his mark and sharpen their stances.
>Armed to the teeth with spears of all kinds, some of them literally, they ready themselves for a possible threat.
>"Yes?"
"W-what kind of trial is this supposed to be?"
>There is worry in your voice as you stutter the words out in a more hushed tone.
>You scoot back from doorway that leads to what could be your death.
>"Kehehee... Your Trial is"
>You gulp as your eyes make contact with the hardy stallion before you.
>"To survive."
>"Excuse me miss..."

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>The decked-out-in-metal pony addresses you with his expression firm, but giving off a sense of calm, as if to dispel any concerns that you are in any danger yourself. His cohorts are, however, send the intimidating feeling of "so long as you comply."
>You suppose if you were a normal person...
>A normal /pony/ in this situation, you probably wouldn't feel you have a need to worry.
>But considering your situation, you don't think this is supposed to be a simple escort.
>"To survive."
>"Excuse me miss..." the stallion says, "Would you mind stepping out of the car for me please?"
>Your heart is going a sanic right now, many thoughts raging in your mind.
>"To survive" those words repeating in your mind a thousand times with each heartbeat,
>You're frozen in place as you stare back into the stony expression of the stallion before you.
>A bead of sweat slides down the side of your face and your legs quiver.
>What do they want with you?
>You didn't do anything wrong... yet.
>Could it be they know who you are?
>What you are?
>Or... what you used to be?
>Are they here to arrest you!?
>TO KILL YOU!?
>Your knees lock, you're too afraid to move an inch.
>The stallion seems to take notice of your panicking and his expression softens.
>He speaks up again, this time with a more delicate tone in his voice.
>"Miss, please, could you come out of the car? No one here is going to hurt you. Just..." He looks back at his subordinates, and nods.
>They take this motion as a signal to lower their guard.
>Hesitantly, they do so lowering their spears.
>Some of them retain their hardened expressions, still trying to keep ready as if something could explode at any second.
>The leader among them accepts this much, turning his attention back to your quivering form.
>You had backed up and curled yourself into a ball, taking refuge in the shadows hoping they wouldn't notice you.
>"Come on, now, my men have lowered their weapons. We have no intention to harm a single hair in your mane."
>LIES


>You're staying put right here in your little corner.
>You consider making a plan of escape, but you're not sure if you can accomplish that much in this new body of yours yet.
>You haven't even tried standing up yet, let alone walking or running.
>trotting... cantering... Whatever.
>You resign to becoming a decoration for this car.
>Maybe you can live out the rest of your trial in here.
>The voice never said |how| you were to survive.
>You're essentially a horse now, and this room is full of hay.
>You think you'd just have to figure out how to hide yourself every now and again when it would be re-stocked.
>You catch eye contact with the guy again.
>You get the impression you're not gonna get that chance.
>...
>You sigh.
>There's no way in hell you're going to survive in this car when winter comes.
>And you don't think you want to be homeless... not in Equestria of all places.
>In a body you are yet familiar with.
>With a shape you obviously have and are not comfortable with.
>You guess you don't really need that mirror now.
>I mean, the dude just called ya "miss".
>Then again, you've been lying in the shadows this entire time, so maybe you just need to step into the light?
>With that thought, you take your first bit of movement, careful of your actions under the gaze of the armed soldiers.
>It can't be too hard can it?
>Like being on all fours as a human... right?
>You used to do this all the time when you were little...
>You reminisce about the times you'd act like a dog or something when you played with your little cousins back in the day.
>Chasing them around the yard until either you or they got tired, or you all got called in for dinner.
>Although, being bipedal, it gave you a bit of a hunch to your stance.
>This way felt more natural, you think as you come up to your full height.
>You look forward and see you're just about neck height above the stallion at the doorway.
>From this angle you finally notice the horn poking out of his helmet.


>On that note, you decide to scope out the rest of the group.
>Another wizard.
>Two flies
>Two dirt pones.
>Quite the combination they have here.
>But is this really just for a stow away?
>"Are you ready to come out now, ma'am?"
>You look back down to the wizard pone right in front of you.
>You nod.
>Alright, this is it.
>Your first steps as a pony, you can do this.
>Just one hoof before the other, easy peasy.
>You take a deep breath, and make your move.
>You raise your right hoof, your lucky side, your trusty side.
>Always count on righty for the first move to be the best.
>Your hoof makes a dramatic touch down as you take your first step.
>Yes, you did it!
>Only a couple more!
>"Some time to day, ma'am?" the stallion questions jokingly.
>You leer at him for ruining your moments, and he responds by with an pleasant smile.
>This guy, he's not as stiff as the rest is he?
>Pony culture.
"I'm coming, just give me a moment. I... just woke up. Gotta stretch the old legs, you know."
>Yes, you did.
>Anyone moving this slowly would have to be either groggy, sick, drunk, or old, and you're going to make with looking the former.
>You go through your "morning stretches" and look to your "audience" for any kind of reaction. You must be pretty convincing, they don't react much at al
>After you're done with that cheap display, you decide to make your next step.
>Just like the first.
>One hoof, over the oth-
"Weh!"
>You trip over yourself and roll over out of the car, nearly missing the stallion or leans over just in time to preventing you from paving the ground with your face.
>"Perhaps a little more stretching was needed for your tired limbs?" he quips, holding you like he's dipping you.
"Tch"
>You wiggle out of his hold, this ain't no Disney theatrical.
>-and fall the rest of the way.
>Oh, hey floor, never thought I'd see you again so soon.
>Face down, ass up, you're face planted hard into the dirt, your tail hanging down to cover your rear.
>The rest of the soldiers seem a bit befuddled by the mishap.
>The officer gives them their command, "Alright now, what are you waiting for? Back in formation men. Search the car!"

>They all solute, one by one making their way into the train car, as you attempt to recover from the fall.
>Back on all fours you watch as the stallions all climb into the care and begin looking around every inch.
>Not like their gonna find anything in there, there's nothing but hey.
>"Now." the chief man turns his attention back to you.
>"What's a mare like you doing stowed away on a train car like this?"
>You huff, feeling offend and puff out your chest trying to look tough.
"Okay, first of all, I'm not a mare."
>Then you blow some mane hair that drops in front of your eyes.
>"Oh?" he takes on an inquisitive expression.
>He's just going through the motions, isn't he?
>"With a voice like that, it sure sounds like it to me."
>You deadpan as he begins to circle you.
>"And with a figure like yours..." he trails off  as he's about to round your-
"Hey!"
>You quickly twist yourself to face him.
"Eyes over here, buddy."
>He chuckles, "Sure, sure... Sir."
>You glare at him.
"Ay, man. I can prove to you that I am |not| a mare, but..."
>"But?" he holds his grin, and you flush.
>You consider showing him that you got, just to wipe that grin off his face but...
>You can't just show another dude your junk.
>This isn't a locker room, you're not comparing sizes.
"Um..."
>"Sir!" shouts from inside the car.
>"Hold that thought." the officer says, turning to face the car and address one of the soldiers.
>You sigh, feeling a heavy weight leave your shoulders.
>You look back to them and see the officer observing some small object before attempting to pick it up with his magic.
>His horn glows brilliantly and his eyes begin to go dark as the object begins to glow brightly.
>The officer seems to strain himself as he attempts to suppress whatever is happening to him.
>Your heart sinks when he looks back to you, that intense feeling of intimidation crawling back over you.
>His expression seems a bit more intense than before.
>He calms down quickly enough, though, regaining composure as though nothing happened.
>What's up with that.

>You stare at him with worry, but he raises a hoof. It was more worry for yourself really, that does not look good for you. You were in the same
>He whispers something to his subordinate and they salute.
>The other four group together with the soldier, an earth pony presenting some sort of small chest as the two pegasi move in to either side of the object and, with a rather impressive display of coordination, form a small gust between them that lifts it into the air. And with the aid of the other earth pone's spear wielding, lead it over and into the box.
>They then head off at into the direction of the huge ass castle that you didn't notice until now.
>"Now." that voice snaps you back to the orange coated unicorn chief officer captain guy giving all the orders around here.
"W-what"
>He turns to you nods in the direction the group headed in.
>"Shall we?"
>You look ahead at the giant rocky crystal tree fortress.
>This can't be real can it?
>You sigh, dreading your fate.
>You begin to trot behind the group of soldiers keeping a distance from them and their spears. The Officer in command here, making pace with you.
>Now that you're on his level, he does stand higher than you, only a bit though.
>He keeps glancing toward you as if expecting you to say something.
"What?"
>"Oh, nothing really. I just think it's a bit weird is all, don't you?"
>You know what he's talking about but play dumb.
"Uh... no...?"
>Nailed it.
>"I'd like to thing so, though. A sudden surge if magical energy, followed by a lingering traveling anomaly, the source of which found in the back of a train car, hidden under a pile of hay. Accompanying the artifact giving off this energy is no one but a strange pony of..." he glances back again, "questionable nature..."
>You put some more distance between you.
>"Well, you get my point. It's all too much to be a coincidence don't you think?"
"... Isn't it though?"
>You're bullshitting.
>You're bullshitting and he knows it.
>He faces forward and resumes pace, "So it seems."
>He seems to be taking this a bit lightly, but you can tell he's being more serious than he lets out.
>You look around you to observe your environment.

>If the castle is anything to go by, then you know where you are.
>Ponyville, The town in Equestria where all the shit happens. Or at least the main general setting of the show.
>And as luck would have it, you happen to be one of the shits that happen here right now.
>Can you say ill omen?
>The residents stand by and watch on as you and your party trot through the town towards the castle, curiosity and worry in their eyes.
>When you make contact with a few of them, they avert their gaze, resigning to whisper amongst themselves, taking the occasional glance in your direction when they think you aren't looking.
>Great.
>Not only are you where the most important events in the show seem to circulate, but also where gossip runs like water.
>Juuuust great.
>"Do not worry, citizens of Ponyville, there is no cause for alarm. We are only escorting a... /friend/ of the Princess here to the castle."
>The whispers intensify and he looks ahead of him to the guards, realizing his faux pas.
>"You all know how the Princess can be, always taking every precaution to make sure things go just right." he ends with a chuckle.
>The crowd of color candy seems to accept this, some rolling their eyes before dispersing and going on with their lives.
>You're still looking around, not believing where you are right now.
>"Don't lag behind, now, you'll have plenty of time to see the sights after we take you to the princess."
>What.
>"Probably"
>What?
>Whats does he mean probably?
>He smiles reassuringly, "Don't worry, I'm sure you've done nothing wrong. Right?"
>He's asking you?
"Of course not."
>"Good, because we're here."

~~**~~~**~~

>"Good," he says. "Because we're here.
>wot.
>The castle was miles away from the station, there's no way you could already be-
"Oof"
>You walk right into one of the soldiers.
>You shake off the disorientation, then gape at the atrocity standing before you in all its grandeur, the large gemstone-make tree-thing that reaches the heavens, piercing through any clouds that may collide with its sharp, shard point branches.
>Way to the top of this geological impossibility, of even more questionable majesty, a great purple hued fortress of a castle, with spires that reach higher still, a Jewish star like structure to the center of it, also taking reign as the highest point , sits firmly in the gap between the branches, which form neatly around the walls to, as if grasping it like a large hand to hold it affixed.
>Actually wait, that's exactly how that works.
>You shield your eyes against the intensity of the sunlight reflecting off of its surface, the radiance seemingly amplified by the refraction of the monument.
>Wait, something's up there.
>On one of the balconies, you can see a little speck.
>Is that.
>No way.
>No flipping way.
>Ponyville.
>The castle.
>The princess.
>The mane six.
>This is so surreal.
>And you're about to meet Princess Spergel herself, you assume.
>This is supposed to be her castle right?
>The one that grew out of a box in the anime episode?
>Under ominous circumstances.
>You feel your nerves acting up again.
>What if she checks out the stone, and what happened to master chief here happens to her?
>She'll definitely associate you, given all the evidence points to you bring connected to that... thing in the box.
>You peak pass the soldier to get a look at the box.
>Its an ornate chest with a latch, instead of a key hole.
>Its decorated with many signs and characters you aren't familiar with, probably enchantment runes to keep whatever is in it in check.

>"To survive." the words ring in your head again.
>"Kehee…"
>Your heart races again as you begin to panic.
>You try to moderate your breathing, as not to draw the attention of your "escorts".
>"I guess everyone gets cold feet when they're about to meet royalty." Tangerine speaks again.
>That breaks your thought for a moment, bringing you back to the world. You take another look at the balcony.
>The speck, it's gone.
>Shit.
>Time you faced the music.
>You stand in front of the large doors to the trunk of the tree for what feels like years until they begin to creak open, slowly sliding across the smooth gem-make floors they hide.
>An aged dragon would probably trade his entire hoard for something like this.
>A diamond dog would probably trade his entire country for it.
>If diamond dogs have a country of course.
>It wasn't exactly established whether or not diamond dogs actually have an entire form of politics in the show, just a small gang of dopey gem miners in a quarry on the outskirts of town.
>But you think if they're intelligent enough to speak some kind of English, then they probably have some sort of society built somewhere off.
>You wouldn't want to think all diamond dogs are just random tribes of diggers and miners split off from each other in territorial grounds, like wild animals.
>Wait, how did you get on this again?
>Oh, right, castle, magic chest, life potentially in danger.
>PANIC
>No! No panicking, you've done that enough for the morning.
>You look around you and see the soldiers hunched over with their heads to the ground.
>What are they doing?
>Is there something interesting on the floor?
>You don't see anything as you scan the ground for a little critter or something out of place.
>Your scanning leads you to look ahead of then and you see some piece of brass or gold something.
>Attached to a purple fuzz.
>A thin column of purple fuzz.
>Standing next to an identical one.

>Slowly, you lift your head, following the trail of the furry limbs to the body of their owner.
>You realize now that what the guards were doing was bowing.
>Though she's not Celestia, Luna, or Cadence, she's still a princess, whether you'd like here to be or not.
>Not that you yourself cared about it personally.
>You're not entirely sure why people were so off about it anyway, Twilight becoming a princess.
>You thought it was pretty obvious how things would have turned out, what with Twilight being Celestia's "Personal Student", how gifted at magic she was, the powerful magical artifacts at the disposal of her and her friends.
>The fact that hers was not only one of the more key pieces to the set, but also directly linked to her special talent, which was magic itself.
>The Element of Magic, a magically gifted unicorn, with magic itself being her special talent, studying the MAGIC of friendship, under the guidance of one of the most magically exceptional beings in the known world of this dimension.
>Yeah.
>The only shocker in all that, was how soon it happened.
>I bet even Faust herself would have established that it was going to happen eventually, though, she probably wouldn't have actually written it in to the canon story itself until the actual end of the series, you think.
>Okay, so maybe you do get it now.
>And all it took was for you to
>Accept the trial of an anonymous entity on a random night over the computer, get rendered unconscious by the effects following your implied accept of said trial, float aimlessly through an abyss for a few hours - waiting for a train to appear out of no where, to take you to magical pony land, get transformed into a pony yourself, and become captive to a group of pony soldiers, who then escort you to their nearest Leading authority figure, who happens to be the subject of your-
>Wait, what are you on about again?
>You stand there staring off into space.
>Or more accurately, into Twilight's face.
>"*Cough*, Um..."
>You snap out of it.

"Babbl ba ff ah..."
>She tilts her head to the side in confusion, "Okay..."
>You bite your tongue.
>Welp, there goes your first impression.
>10/10
>"Uh... arise, ponies." she queues the soldiers, who then look to you suspiciously upon getting back into form.
>"Sorry," she chuckles nervously, "I'm still not used to ponies bowing to me like that."
>The soldiers, for their part, remain stiff and expressionless, showing off years of training and social discipline.
>You doubt these guys were born, or at least raised in Ponyville.
>Princess Sporkle shifts around on her hooves before remembering something important, then her face becomes serious.
>"Ehem. Commander Shinespark." she calls out, looking in your direction.
>Who?
>"Ma'am!" rings back beside you, startling you a bit.
>You forgot he was even there, Christ!
>He stands straight with a stiff salute.
>"At ease, commander." she says, and he relaxes his stance, taking on his same smile.
>"Yes, princess," he responds.
>Twilight herself seems to relax a bit as well when he drops his pose.
>"You came back pretty quickly. I take it your assignment is already complete?" she inquires, scrutinizing you from the corner of her eye.
>"Yes, of course, Princess Sparkle." he responds.
>"If you look over here," he gestures to the grouped soldiers, more specifically one of the two earth ponies, who carries the chest on his back. "We found something on the train car, just like you said we might."
>"Oh?" she peels her half gaze away from you to observe the container as the soldier in question makes his way to present it to her.
>You shiver a little.
>Her horn begins to glow It's purple hue and she seems to fall into a deep concentration.
>After a quick moment of nothing happening, she opens her eyes and turns back to face your direction.
>"Yes, this indeed the source of the disturbance I picked up." she states. "Which brings me to ask." her eyes focus on you. "Who's this?"

>She doesn't ask it in any harsh way, just her expression reads curiosity rather than defense. Offense? Or at least that's what you get from the tone in her voice.
>"Oh, right. This pony here, we found them on the train. More specifically in the very same car as the object in that chest."
>"You don't say..." she responds, her curiosity turning into suspicion.
>"Yes ma'am. I thought It a bit suspicious myself for an odd pony to be in such close vicinity to a powerful magical artifact by themselves, so I brought them here for you to decide what to do about it." he finishes.
>"I see." her horn begins to glow and you enter panic mode again.
"U-uh... well."
>"Don't move." she says, stepping closer.
>You gulp.
>"Don't worry, I'm just going to scan your body for any sort of strong magical residue."
>You start to sweat, they will definitely find something on you, you know it.
>You only just got here, so you don't think whatever got you here is just gonna go away.
>The fact that that stone was with you must mean it has something to do with you being here.
>At least that's what you think, anyway.
>The words "to survive" ring about in your head again.
>You bite your lip.
"W-will it hurt?"
>She stops, horn still aglow, and looks at you quizzically.
>"No, of course not, why would you think that?" that relaxes you a bit, but not much.
>"What, have you never had an hexical diagnosis before?" she raises a brow at you.
"U-um... Yes! I mean, of course I have. I just..."
>"Oh, it's fine, just hold still. I was kidding, I'm sure you've gone through this many times before. It's standard hospital procedure for unicorns."
>Uni-what. huh?
>"Now just hold still, it'll only take a second. You don't have to worry about any mishaps, I /am/ the princess of magic after all." she chuckles at her comment.
>You chuckle nervously as well.
>That's not exactly what you're afraid of.
>You brace yourself as she resumes her steps, stopping just in front of you.

>You have your eyes shut tight, waiting for the prickly feeling of a magical invasion on your person.
"A-are you finished yet?"
>"Um, no actually, I haven't even started yet. You're being more timid a friend of mine, and she has "shy" in her name. Is something wrong?" you open an eye to see her arching a brow.
>Ouch.
>That sting to your pride hit you hard, and it made you man up.
>You take a deep breath and exhale to calm yourself.
>If you're going to face judgment, you're at least going to do it with dignity.
"Okay, I'm ready."
>You close your eyes again, more relaxed this time.
>You hear the sound of magic being activated, you know, that chiming sound from when this was a cartoon, signalling the beginning of her spell.
>You're still a bit nervous.
>Rightfully so.
>You feel a warmth wash over your body, slowly covering you from your head, all the way to the end of your tail.
>You feel it traveling down your spine, phasing through your body, and slipping down through your limbs, that same tingling sensation travel further along your abdomen, flinching a bit as the aura reaches your sensitive areas, before stopping abruptly, then avoid it entirely.
>This lasts for about a second more before you hear "Done!"
>Good, the fun part's over.
>Now you just need to hear the results, and then you'll be off to your jail cell, awaiting your next "trial", and death sentence.
>You slowly open your eyes, preparing yourself for the worst, but the worst doesn't come.
>Instead, you see Twilight Sparkle staring at you, her mouth in a flat line and her and the fur above her muzzle a darker shade of purple from the rest of her coat.
>She's looking at you for a bit longer than you're comfortable with, the intensity of her stare not really focused directly on you.
>But you're sure that it has something to do with the diagnosis.

>"Ehem, Princess?" the commander clears his throat, interrupting her from her trance.
>"Huh?"
>"The diagnosis?"
>"Oh, uh, yes. Just a second, I just, I didn't expect, um..." she trails off.
>She clears her throat, "Right! The results of the scan tell me a few things about your magical signature. For one, you are one very healthy unicorn."
>Unicorn.
>You're a fucking unico- fuck, dammit.
>Shit.
>No wait, awesome!
>You're a unicorn, in magic pony land!
>Super!
>That means you can do magic!
>Or at least, it means you can learn magic.
>Right, back to the situation at hand.
>You're not even sure you're going to live long enough.
>You think you've already failed the trial.
>"And as far as your connection to the artifact goes..." she continues.
>This is it, the moment of truth. The thing that determines how you are going to live your life in this new world.
>Maybe after they throw you in the dungeon, you'd meet something there that will help you escape.
>Maybe a diamond dog.
>You think that one of them would have ended up in there one way or another, you expect them to be very troublesome if that episode is anything to go by, what with their apparent addiction to gems.
>And you doubt after that bout with kidnapping a fellow member of their society, that their reputation with the ponies would be kind of underwater.
>Perhaps you can make a plan with them to escape.
>You'd be living life on the lamb with your diamond dog sidekick.
>Maybe they'll even have a pack to go home to.
>Maybe they actually |do| have an advanced society, a huge city full of diamond dogs.
>If you're lucky, they'll accept you as one of their own, and take you there!
>"You have none. I guess it really is just coincidence you happen to be near it." oh thank god.
>You feel as if you were hit with a tidal wave of relief hit you once those words leave her mouth.

>You sigh heavily and slink to the ground limply, fertilizing the soil with your surplus amounts new found solace.
>You've never been so stressed out in your life, you think.
>You lie there on the floor, content to just stay there and sleep the rest of the day away, probably start over once you've recovered from all of that.
>Then you remember where you are.
>You look back up to see the group of ponies looking at you with equally quizzical expressions, even the soldiers had fallen out of mode at your display.
>You smile sheepishly and attempt to pick your spaghetti off the floor as you clamber back onto your fours.
"Right... That was... relieving to know."
>"I'll say." responds Princess Spoople. She turns to the soldiers. "Bring the chest to my study and place it in the area I've prepared, you'll know what to look for once you enter." she says, nodding to the two earth ponies standing side by side.
>They salute, and trot uniformly into the large room, becoming obscured as the get further away.
>"As for the rest of you," she looks the others over, then nods to the commander.
>He makes a few gestures to his troops and they salute.
>The two pegasi take off in either direction up the castle, while the unicorn takes a stance beside the doorway.
>"That will be all. Commander, come with me, we need to report this to Princess Celestia."
>"Yes, Ma'am."
>With that, the break away from you, heading of into the castle proper.
>Leaving you behind.
>Wait, they're just gonna leave you out here by yourself?
>What do you even do from here?
>Where would you even go?
>You probably should have made an actual plan about what to do if you were to come out of this safely.
"H-hey, wait!"
>They both stop and turn to look at you.
>"Yes?" Twilight asks.
"What about me?"

>They look between each other, then back to you.
>"Well, normally I'd have many questions about how a pony, a unicorn no less, could be so close to an artifact like that, and not even notice." she taps her chin. "You didn't notice right?"
"W-well, no, but..."
>Come on, think think.
>Think of something.
>The Commander Shinespark seems to pick up on your distress and faces the Princess.
>"Oh, that's right. I forgot, this little mare here was a stow away on the train."
>You twitch a bit at him calling you a mare again.
>You notice Twilight shift as well, that shade returning to her features.
>Is she, no.
>She doesn't know does she?
>Was it the scan?
>You feel a heat coming to your face when you remember the sensation of the magic taking a sudden pause when it reached your nethers.
>Twilight seems to catch herself before you do, "Wait, what? Stow away?"
>She turns back to you, "Why would you be stowing away in the storage car of the train? You do realize it is against the law, don't you?"
>She has a tone of scolding in her voice.
>Shit, you didn't think about that.
>Quick, think of something.
>Lie! Lie through your teeth!
"Well, you see, about that..."
>Come on...
>Wait, you don't have to lie.
"I don't exactly have a home..."
>Yeah! That's actually not a lie!
>Wait, that's actually not a lie.
>You feel your ears droop and a pang in your chest at the realization.
>You look back in the direction of the station, hoping that maybe-
>It's gone.
>The train's gone.
>Welp, looks like you're homeless.
>Homeless in Equestria.
>Maybe this is what that voice was talking about when it said "survive".
>That dungeon thing doesn't sound so bad now, you guess.
>Free meals, shelter.
>Actually, does twilight even have dungeon in her castle?
>Maybe the town has a jail cell.
>You did technically commit a federal offense, and with no way to pay any fines, they'll probably put you in anyway.
>That or put you to work.
>But without a home, they won't just send you out into the streets.
>Would they?
>"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Twilight says, apologetically.
>You hear a bit of whispering for a brief moment and make out a muffled "okay".

>You plant your flank on the ground, defeated by circumstance, and stare at your hooves melancholy.
>Then Twilight speaks up again, and you brace yourself for the inevitable, "Well then I have an idea."
>You sigh and raise your hooves ahead of you, as if waiting for them to slap some cuffs on.
>"My castle has a few unused rooms left around..."
>Your ears perk up.
>"And there are a few positions open in staff. Although the only ones available are more in line with direct servitude. You know, like cleaning and catering."
>Is she saying what you think she's saying?
>She's not only offering you a place to stay, but a job as well?
>Stranded here in pony land, practically knowing nothing about how to actually go about living here.
>With no food, no home, no source of income.
>"Would you like to-" is there any other answer?
"YES!"
>She jumps at your sudden outburst.
>You catch yourself, your eyes are wide and red in the corners.
>You didn't even realize you were about to start crying.
>But given the situation, you almost could.
"I mean, yes. Yes, Princess."
>You bow your head to show respect, bending at the knee of your right forehoof with your head down low to the ground to show your appreciation and that you submit to her will.
>Never in your life would you have thought you would be committing yourself to direct servitude of a princess. A Pony princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle. In Pony world. As a Pony.
"I would be honored."
>Sell the dream, boy. Sell the dream.
>"Eeheheh..." she laughs nervously. "Please, no need to be so formal."
>You hold your ground.
>"Ehem. Yes, um."
>You slowly get out of your pose.
>Still not used to this body, gonna feel that later.
>"Commander."
>"Yes, Princess?"
>"Please escort our guest to the servants quarters, where, they will be staying for the time they are here." she says.

>It didn't even bother that time when she tripped in her sentence there, you're too relieved by her generosity to give a dam.
>You're about to be living in a castle!
>In the servants quarters, but in a castle! For Free! And you're getting paid for it! You mean, you'll be working for all of it, but still!
>You feel yourself smiling for the first time today.
>"Of course, Princess." he responds.
>Twilight then turns her attention back to you.
>"Well, before I leave to go sort out your employment, I'm going to need some identification from you. You being... homeless, I doubt you'd have any documentation about?"
>You shake your head no and she sighs.
>"Do you at least have a name?" she asks.
>Shit, you didn't think that far ahead.
>You need to think more.
>Come on name.
>Name name name.
>You try to think of a good name for a pony, since you'd to abandon your own human name.
>The memory of the start of your trial flashes over, and you remember the title in the post with the link.
>"You do have a name, don't you?" Twilight asks, worriedly.
>Oh, right, you're homeless, but you don't want her to think you were also an orphan.
>Or do you?
>You shake off the thought.
"Mica"
>"Mica...?"
>What, you need a last name too?
>Applejack doesn't have a last name!
>Then again, her name is a two part.
>Um...
>Ponies have names related to their cutie marks right?
>You're an adult pony, so you should have one.
>And you're not even sure this body is really yours, despite you living in it, so maybe there is one for it.
>If your own talents don't change that.
>You take a quick glance off the side, trying not to make it obvious you're trying to look at your flank.
>From this angle you can make out the vague outline of a...
>Thing...
>...
"Just Mica."
>"Just Mica?"
>You nod.
>She smiles, "Alright, Mica. I'd like to be the first one to... ehem.. you to Ponyville, but I have a feeling if I do, something bad might happen."


>She shifts nervously, muttering under her breath.
>You make out "I'm surprised she" and "matter of time" but don't get much else before she simply walks off, distracted by her thoughts.
>Every now and then her ears would twitch this way and that as if she's listening for something.
>You wonder what she could possibly- oh.
>Ooooh.
>Oh shit.
>Well, you'll have to hop off of that bridge when you come to it.
>A light tapping sound pulls your attention to the Commander, standing in the doorway waiting for you.
>"Shall we start the tour?" he asks, that smile of his giving you a chill for some reason.
>It's not a wicked smile, but it's just something about him that you just makes you feel uncomfortable.
>You're a bit apprehensive to having him as your guide, and you get the feeling you know why.
>You deadpan, let's just get this over with.
>He smirks.
>He stands to the side, gesturing inward. "Lady's first."
>Your eye twitches.
[TRANSITION]
>"And this is where you'll be staying."
>You're standing in a long hallway on the second floor of castle proper, in front of one of the many identical doors.
>The only thing distinguishing it is a symbol on it you have no recollection of.
>Looks like a two, a zero, and a backwards two placed closely together to make a character.
>You hope you don't have to learn a whole new language and alphabet system.
>You stare at the knob on the door and attempt to puzzle out an idea of how to work it with hooves.
>"Would you like me to give you a tour of the bedroom?" he ask.
>The way he said that made you shiver.
"No thanks."
>You sneer.
>They let this guy be a commander?
>The tour on the way here was just unbearable.
>You mean,  he's a good tour guide, you'll give him that. And he's not a bad guy at all.
>But everything he said when he addressed you directly had some form of an innuendo.
>Random on the scale of minor to obvious.
>You keep insisting to him you're a stallion, and you don't swing that way, but he just kept ignoring you or playing it off in his own amusement.

>He even teased about when you said you could prove it.
>You deadpan again, he's still grinning.
"Could you open the door for me?"
>He smirks again, "You change your mind?"
>nigga plz
"Cut the shit."
>"Ah ah, language please." his horn glows a pale yellow, and a second later you hear the sound of the door opening.
>It opens inwards.
>Good, it means you can board it up if you need to.
>"Will that be all?" there's that smile again.
>You're still deadpan.
>You wordlessly enter your room, quickly making your way behind it you begin to close the door.
>"See you-"
>Slam
>You lean up against the door, one ear pressed against it.
>...
>...
>...
>After a minute you hear "See you at dinner."
"Go Away!"
>You can hear chuckling on the other side as the clip clopping of his hooves on the tile fade away.
>You slump against the door and sigh.
>It's going to be a long stay at Casa de Sparkle.
>>>*He seemed nice.*
>Oh, look who's finally decided to speak up.
*Please, not now. I can see a bed right there. Let me at least lay down first.*
>>>*Kehehee, Okay.*
>You shuffle your way across the room, not paying any mind to the rest of the decoration for now.
>You're a bit too exhausted to do anything at the moment.
>Once your neck hits the mattress, you immediately hop off of your hooves and roll into it.
>Unnnnnnng, so soft.
>You could use something like this in your apartment.
>...
>You groan into the sheets.
"Uhhg."
>...
"Hey, voice in my head."
>>>*Yes, |Mica|? Kehehe*
>You groan again.
*What did you mean when you said my trial was "To survive". I mean, I thought my life was in danger earlier, but according to Torchlight Spindle, I'm in the clear. She's even letting me stay in her castle. What gives?*
>>>*Maybe she's letting you stay so she can keep a closer eye on you?*
>That's a good point.
>But you're still not sure.
*Probably, but still. "To survive" is still a bit vague.*
>>>*Aha, you catch on.*
>>"I thought there was something."

*Exactly what is it about this trial that I am surviving.*
>>>*Everything.*
>...
>What
"What?"
*What?*
>>>*What?*
*What do you mean 'everything'*
>>>*Kehee, simple. Your Trial is to survive, as a pony, in everyday life.*
>...
"..."
*...*
>>>*...*
*That's stupid.*
>>>*I wouldn't be so quick to judge. Remember where you are, Mica. Ponyville, the one of the center areas for all sorts of random mishaps to take place.*
>You ponder this. That's right, this IS Ponyville.
>You may be out of the danger of being on death row, but your still in mortal and psychological danger by just being here.
>To make matters worse, you apparently look enough like a mare than some guard commander is hitting on you despite your insistence upon being male.
>Even Princess Twittle was a bit shocked when she found out what you were, though she hid it as well as she could.
>>>*I mean, there's actually a little more into what your trial actually is, but if i revealed everything to you now, it wouldn't be all that fun now would it?*
>You can sense a bit of mirth in that and groan some more.
There is a flash of purple light appears to your right.
>You look over your outstretched foreleg and notice a little letter on a desk, still glowing from the effects of the teleportation.
>The sun is low in the sky, meaning it's almost night time. You're going to need to find a to get some light in here if you're going to be reading that.
>>>Let me help with that.
*Help?*
>You feel a tingling and warm sensation emanating from your forehead, then you hear a click.
>Then suddenly, your eyes are assaulted with brightness.
>You silently scream as your eyes attempt to adjust to the light.
"My Eyes!" You finally cover them. "Could you give me a little warning next time?"
>>>*Kehehee~*
>God dam mystical force.
>Seems they can do your magical thing for you.
>Eventually you're going to have to figure out how to do that on your own so you won't have to rely on them all the time.
>You rub your eyes some more see what this says.
>Your crawl over to the nightstand and... gran the note with your teeth, place it on the bed, and begin reading.

"Dear Mica,

You'll be happy know that as of today, you are officially a staff member, servant of the royal household. Your employment begin effective immediately, and you begin working at eight AM in the morning. We have elected a staff member to educate and supervise you for a duration until you are able to manage on your own. However, before that, we would like for you to participate a form of orientation tonight, so please report to the dining hall by 7 o clock pm tonight. By the time you get this letter, it should be just after five, so you should have some time to get ready. There should be some uniform in the closet ready for use. Someone will be by to escort you there to make sure you arrive on time. See you in a few hours.

~Sincerely
  Princess Twilight Sparkle."

>You groan again, no rest for the wary.
>>>*Sounds like fun.*
"Easy for you to say, you get to just stand back and enjoy the show. I'm so tired..."
>>>*Now now now, don't be like that. You're about to server dinner for a princess. You have to make an impression on her and her guests. Wouldn't want to show up looking like a mess on your first night, would you?*
>You groan out a sigh and roll off the soft, soft bed.
>So soft...
>You look around for the closet and spot it on the other side of the room.
>It looks like a standard home closet with a mirror set into it.
>It's color and design matches that of the rest of the castle, purple-ish and gemmy. You think the mirror might actually be some kind of reflective crystal, if those exist. The probably do here.
>Next to it is another door, leading to what you would assume to be a bathroom.
>Gonna have to use that thing soon.
>Might as well check out the wardrobe.
>You shuffle over to the closet doors, and stop at the door frame.
>You stare at it for a while, looking at your reflection.
>Godammit, you |do| look like a mare.
>The small roundish muzzle, the slim shapely frame, the slightly wide and round hips.
>Pressing it down, it even feels a bit squishy.
>Your mane is a kind split in colors, a darkish gray, almost black color, the other, a seemingly smaller section off than the rest, as if someone tossed paint onto your head, coating a third of it in a splash of graying-white.
>It extends a bit long too, the darker side coming down over your right eye.
>Your eyes themselves have a purplish, you think lavender, color to them, like the ones you saw on the figure before you passed out on the train.
>Your coat is a blander, lighter shade of grey than the dark portion of your mane.
>If you were to be a pony Anon in Equestria, then you'd be glad your color scheme isn't the Green one, when you think about the fact that the last thing you were doing before coming here was browsing 4chan.
>You'd take the grey Anon any day.
>You gaze more at your form noticing your tail. The hair extends well on this too.
>You flex your rear muscles to try to move it. It whip suddenly whips hard, the hair hitting you in the face.
>You glare at the offending appendage, noticing the scheme in it is similar to your main, but with a thick single streak of the lighter bit, seeming to curve out from the under side of your tail to the left.
>You blow the tail-fur out of your nose.
>You’re supposed to live her looking like this? Why? Why couldn't you be a normal looking stallion. Or better yet, a look that would send /mares/ wild. You feel a bone coming on just look at your /own/ reflection. Last time you checked, you weren't that vane.
>Your gaze falls down to the knob on the door.
>...
>>"Little help?"
>You feel that same warm sensation from earlier, and the door clicks as it opens.
>You use your hoof to pull it open the rest of the way to reveal.
"... Oh you have got to be kidding me."
>Maid outfits.
>Nothing but maid outfits.
>You shift them around searching for Something in there you can wear for uniform that isn't a maid outfit, and what you do find.
>You can already tell that dinner thing's gonna be go real well.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Steam fogs the air in the room, obscuring bits here and there, a thick mist of vapor that caresses you, opening your pores and making you feel relaxed simply from the exposure.
>The humidity threatens to make you sweat, if horses could sweat that is, but the temperature is intentional.
>Why?
>Cuz motha focka it's bath time!
>Yeah!
>Clean yo stinky feet!
>No wait, you pony now.
>Clean yo dirty hooves!
>Not stinky, they smell fine.
>You checked them yourself.
>You turn the knob on the faucet counterclockwise, stopping the flow of the water into the nearly filled tub before you.
>It's a pearly alabaster enamel acrylic make bathtub, a standard bathtub in most modern homes.
>You think.
>It's like the ones you remember from back home.
>The size of it is relatively large, even in here, taking up quite a bit of space, sitting quite centered, proportionate to the distance between the sink, the doorway and the opposing wall.
>You take a hoof and hover it just above the water's surface.
>You can feel the heat of it already, and you wonder if maybe you set the water a little too hot.
>Well, only one way to find out.
>Slowly, you dip your hoof, and to your relief, it isn't that hot at all.
>You mean, it's still quite hot, but not scalding, just enough that you can really feel the heat, but come out without serious burn damage.
>With that, you make the rest of the way in, stumbling a bit as you awkwardly scramble to get better leverage.
>It's understandable you'd be having a bit of trouble because can't into hooves, how they work.
>Just a little bit more, you've got your body from your head to your waste hovering over the tub.
>Now to just ease in one of your hind legs and-
"Wah!"
>You slip on a soap bar conveniently located and well dampened on the floor beneath your levering hoof, and fly into the tub.
>Your face connects to the the back of it with a force that shatters your muzzle.
>Well, not really, but it still fucking hurt!
"Eeahh..."

>You turn over and lean up against the inner walls, rubbing your nose in a vain attempt at nursing the reddening bruise.
>>>You should be more careful next time, kehehee.
>You groan.
>>"Yeah, of course. I'm sure you didn't have nothing to do with it."
>The voice takes on a tone of mock offense.
>>>Wha- oh me? Why, I'd never do such a thing. How could you think me to be so low.
>>"Well, I wouldn't exactly put it past you, all things considered."
>>>True, but what makes you think that -I- would have even done anything? Hmm?
>>"Oh, I don't know. It's kinda warm in here, and a bit foggy. And you also happen to be in control of my magic." you point out accusingly.
>>>So what? That doesn't prove anything.
>You glare into nothing in particular, but concentrate hard on the thought of burning a the mental image of HATE into your mind.
>>>Kehehehee.
>>"I thought I told you to quit that already!"
>>>You did, but I don't exactly have to listen to you, now do I?
>You mumble a few curses as you submerge yourself deeper into the water, your words becoming more incoherent as bubbles begin to form at the air escaping your mouth under the water.
>You close your eyes and let out a heavy sigh , the air coming through your nose, still exposed for breathing, blowing at the stream wafting about.
>You lie there in contentment, your body going completely limp as your relax, letting the heat of the water soothe your aching body, cleansing the impurities of the day, and washing away your woes.
>Oh how you wish it were that simple.
>You consider using this time to get a bit /more/ relaxed.
>You're a pretty stressed out man, after all, especially with the day you've had so far.
>And sometimes a man's gotta do something about relieving all that stress.
>Even if he has to go solo.
>You reach down between your legs and grab at you-
>...
>Oh right, hooves.
>Uhhhg.
>Can't even masturbate in the tub anymore.

>How do you even fap with these things. Do stallions even rub it?
>Maybe they use both hooves when they do it.
>You raise booth hooves out of the water and get a good look at em.
>You observe your almost purplish grey limbs with the fur matted down against them.
>Turning them inward you gaze at the frog of your own hooves.
>Looks kinda soft.
>You discard the thought immediately, resigning to just enjoy the momentary isolation.
>In another hour and a half you'll be out in the open again.
>In /this/ body.
>It's a bit disgusting anyway.
>You'd swimming around in your own spooge after you'd finished.
>Bathing is already pretty disgusting like that anyway, moving around in your own filth after you'd just scrubbed off all that dirt, the remnants of your efforts cling to you as you shift around in the tub trying to pull the plug and do away with the little annoying specks.
>Sometimes you still had to take a shower afterwards anyway because of that.
>Bath-times for you had always been a sort of therapeutic type deal, a special occasion saved for lazy Saturdays after work.
>You'd wake up at noon, with nothing much to do with yourself, and draw a bath much like this one, and just lay until it chills, reflecting on your life.
>Sometimes you just stay there, inhaling the vapor in a continual motion until eventually you'd fall asleep.
>Usually on your back to avoid drowning.
>You're tub was kinda small, so you wouldn't be able to maneuver around much in your sleep.
>Not that it was super cramped, but it wasn't all that spacious either.
>Dam in-apartment furniture.
>You couldn't even get a replacement, not unless you broke the old one.
>And even then if you'd moved out you couldn't even keep it.
>Speaking of which, you wonder how things are back there.
>You're sure your landlord is gonna have a fit if they come back to see you no longer there.
>They'll probably charge the next person your month's rent if you never got back.

>Wait, what are you saying.
>Of course you'll get back!
>You just gotta finish this dam trial and you'll be set.
>It's not too hard right?
>And maybe time here is faster than time back on your own world, yeah!
>Like, um, think with the um.
>Um...
>Yeah...
>You sigh again and sink deeper into the water.
>Maybe you should just relax, all of this work on your mind can't be good for your pressure, you'll probably pass out in here and completely miss your orientation.
>But then again, would that be so bad?
>It's only orientation, you can catch up on the actual first day.
>...
>*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
>You jump up in the tub, slipping around and sloshing water everywhere.
>What was that!
>You try to calm down and listen for the sound again.
>You settle yourself in the water and sit quietly for a moment.
>You hear a knocking sound coming from the other room.
>Someone must be at your door.
>Wait
>Someone's here right now?
>But you weren't expecting to see anyone until around quarter to seven.
>Oh shit, you're not late are you!
>You scramble around in the tub, trying to HOOF your way out, tripping up again and face-planting on the cold damp tiles.
"Oww...."
>The knocking resumes, and you snap yourself back to reality.
"J-Just a minute!"
>You shout back into the other room.
>You hope they can hear you all the way over there, you're a whole two layers of wall and a room apart, plus you have the bathroom door closed to avoid a sudden barrage of unexpected sergeant stallion sausage.
>You don't really expect him to actually try anything, especially after you've kinda only just met the guy.
>But he's been coming on a bit strong and you're not taking any chances.
>You shuffle around the bathroom searching for a towel or something to dry off with, but you can't seem to find anything.
>You check the towel rack, the cupboards, the medicine cabinet hovering over the sink.
>Everything's empty.
>Why is everything empty!
>There was a bar of soap!
>What the hell!


>"I'm coming in!" hear a muffled voice from the other side of the door, followed by the creak of the hinges as the door to the main room opens.
>From the sound of the voice it's probably a mare.
>Your own vocal contrast to your gender aside.
>But wait, she just came right in! What the hell!
>You know ponies probably don't have a proper sense of personal space, being an apparently more open culture as the show portrayed, but who just let's themselves into someone's bedroom like that!
>Wait... you forgot to lock the door!
>"Hello? Is anyone in here?" inquires mysterious, home invading mare.
>She also sounds a bit irritated.
>You're not /that/ late, are you?
"Y-yes, I'm in here! Just- uh-"
>They cut you off, "What are you doing in the bathroom at this time! You should be getting ready for your orientation right about out now. In fact, I should have already met you standing in the hallway, fully uniformed and waiting!"
>Wow, impatient much.
>Talk about high standards.
>She even has the accent that you'd expect someone from Canterlot would have, something like Rarity’s.
>Maybe she IS from there.
>"I can't understand what you could possibly be doing in there that's taking so much time! Young mares these days, spending so much time in the bathroom doing who knows what-" bla bla bla, rant rant.
>Wait, she thinks you're a mare too?
>Hold on, it sounds like she's getting closer.
>"Let me see this hold up is abo-"
"NO"
>You shout.
"No, please, don't come in!"
>They stop for a moment, probably shocked by your outburst.
>Then they speak up again, "I don't see what the fuss is about. You're going to be late if you don't come out of there already, now-"
>They're even closer now.
"Don't come in here!"
>This is bad.
>You can't have some random strange old mare just walking in on you like that.
>It's not just embarrassing, but totally gross.
>You can tell she's old from her voice, it just seeps with age and wisdom.
>That and she talks like yur grandmum.

>'Young people this' and 'I remember when' that.
>You miss your nana.
>"Well, whatever it is you're doing in there, you better hurry it up. We have a schedule to make. It might not actually be the first day, but it is still the beginning of your job. And as your supervising mare, I will not have someone under my watch arrive late before they even begin their official duties."
>You sigh, at least they didn't just barge in.
>Wait.
"Um, excuse me! Miss, boss lady?"
>You call through the walls.
>"Yes, what is it?" she spits back.
>Wow lady, what crawled up your webbed cave and got stuck?
"I... There... uh."
>"Out with it already."
>You sigh again.
"There aren't any towels in here, I can't dry myself off. Do you see any there? Could you maybe pass one to me, please?"
>There is a silence.
>You said please.
>"Are you serious?" she says. "How could you go into a bath without any towels to dry yourself with. Did you not have any forethought?"
>Well no, but you couldn't exactly account for passing out in the bath tub.
>If that didn't happen you wouldn't even be in this situation!
>Stupid relaxing bath!
>You glare accusingly at the bathtub.
>"Honestly..." there is a soft tapping against the bathroom door. "Here you are."
>Your horn glows and the door opens slightly.
>You see a thick white towel surrounded by a teal glow hovering on the other side of the crack in the doorway.
>Another unicorn, huh. Explains a lot. All these unicorns in Ponyville man.
>Must be 'cause of the castle.
>The pale lavender glow of your own magic wraps around the towel and the teal fades, then your magic pull it in and drops it before your hooves.
>You sigh.
>>"You could have at least gone the whole mile and done the drying for me."
>>>I'm not going to do everything for you, you know. I'm just a spectator here. You said it yourself, or thought rather, you're going to have to learn how to do magic sometime. And as luck would have it, guess what your supervisor is!

>You groan, it's not like you can just /ask/ her to teach you magic.
>How weird would that be, a full grown pony asking another to teach them how to do basic levitation.
>She'd probably think even worse of you as she apparently does now, and it'll be a pain dealing with here the entire time if you even get her to do it.
>Probably, you don't know.
>You lift the towel up with your hooves, prop yourself against the wall, and begin the awkward task.
>After a minute or two of thoroughly towel drying yourself, which was pretty difficult because
>1. fucking hooves
>2. fucking fur
>You're walking out of the bathroom, and are met with the unpleasant hardened gaze of the aged teal colored, grey maned maid sitting on your bed, arms folded impatiently and her hind legs crossed.
>She's not that old actually, she looks somewhere around mid to late 40's, if not bit older.
>Like you observed briefly, her mane is greying, yes, but you can still make out a fading navy hue in it.
>Maybe it’s all just grey from stress.
>"Let me guess. You passed out in the tub didn't you." she says, leering with a condescending expression to rival miss Harshwhinney.
>She knows!
>Kill her now!
>She sighs, taking a more sympathetic form, "I suppose I can excuse that this one time. I heard from the princess about your situation. This is probably the bath you'd had for a while."
>Something the princess said?
>Like wa- oh. Right. Homeless.
>Well, technically you haven't had an actual bath in a long time, yeah.
>"But still, that doesn't excuse tardiness." aaand just like that it's gone.
>"Uhg, your mane, it's an absolute mess. No, this will do at all." her horn lights up.
>Suddenly you feel a tugging at your head.
"Ow! Hey, what are you- hey!"
>You're tugged towards a dresser beside the bed a planted firmly onto a stool in front of a mirror.

>You stare flatly at your reflection as a comb and brush, each held in a pale teal glow, hover above you, "Now hold still. A mare of your age can't show up to server a princess looking as though she picked a fight with a clothes rack."
>A what?
"Look, lady, I'm not a-"
>"That's Ms. Teardrop, to you. Now hush, I'm concentrating" she begins to run the comb through your mop of a name, "Unless you're prepared to lose a few strands from this mane of yours."
>Your eyes shrink to pin pricks, you can imagine the pain of your follicle being yanked out in chunks.
>Especially with the length they have now, you imagine it'd hurt like shit, the short cut you had before was already a bit much when you tried to comb it when you were still you.
>She notices your silence and smiles, continuing her act as your hair stylist.
>By the time she's done, you mane, Is somewhere between Twilight's and Fluttershy's.
>The darker bit, splitting off evenly from the white, rounding high down into an end curl, like Flutters, still hanging over your eye, obscuring your vision.
>As if your vision wasn't obscured enough, you now have poor depth perception.
>The lighter bit is a complete contrast, coming down to end in a straight cut, similar to Twilight's own dorky style, the rest hanging down behind your ear in a similar style, some of the excess darker split hanging under over your left.
>You're rather impressed by this lady's skill, she could probably make for good hairstylist.
>Maybe it's her actual talent.
>You roll your eye to get a look at her flank in the reflection, but she's standing directly behind you, so all you can see is the edges of her dress.
>"There, now don't you look like the proper mare?" she says, seeming satisfied with her work.
"But I'm trying tell you, I'm not-"
>“Now hurry up and get dressed, we have time to make!"
>She magically tosses something black into your face, and you pull it down.
>Could she be anymore- wait.
>No.
>No no no no no.
"Okay, you see. There's a little pro-"
>"Whatever it is, it'll have to wait until /after/ the orientation. Now, make haste."
"But I-”
>"No buts, missy. I'll be out in the hallway. Don't make me have to wait any longer than I have to, or you'll be sorry for it." and with that, she walks out the bedroom door, closing it behind her to give you some privacy.
>You sit there staring at the fabric in your hooves.
>You gulp, a sense of dread lurking the air.
>You hope you don't have to wear those fishnets...

>With the uniform in "your" magical grasp, you stand in front of the mirror.
>The bit of clothing unfolds itself giving a full view of the bib and lacy bits that adorn the highly decorative piece of working attire.
>They could have given you a suit, or maybe even something raggedy, but no, they put you in a room with nothing but frilly shit and fishnet stockings.
>Wait a minute.
>He knew this would happen didn't he?
>That rat bastard did this on purpose!
>You feel your anger boiling, that piece of shit. You can imagine him staring into you, absorbing your entire form with a lecherous grin on his face, stripping you with his eyes, filling in the puzzles, with all the WRONG pieces.
>If you walk out there with this getup on then everyone will keep thinking your a chick, that or a fruitloop.
>The uniform rotates itself to give you a view of the back, then it turns back around and floats over to your side and shakes around, the sleeves bobbing and the skirt shifting as if it was dancing.
>>"You're enjoying this aren't you?" you think-say in the most annoyed tone you can imagine.
>When you think about what you're doing, you compare it to the act of telepathy, and considering all that's happened so far, you don't exactly doubt that it's very much a real thing.
>Especially since you're mentally communicating with a faceless entity within the reaches of your subconscious.
>Then again, would that even count as telepathy?
>If you were to tell people, or ponies, that your were communicating with a vocal entity at the back of your subconscious, and told them it wasn't telepathy, they'd probably think you were just crazy.
>The  uniform continues to jiggle beside you and you hear a giggling from the back of your mind.
>>>How could I not? Not only was that mare completely convinced that you were a mare, and wouldn't even let you get a word out to defend yourself, she also groomed your mane for you, styling it up, and making it all pretty for you. She even tossed the uniform to you, leaving you with no choice but to use it, not that you had much of one anyway.

>>>Kehehee, this just keeps getting better. I can't wait for dinner.
>groan
>The uniform stops bouncing around in the air for a moment, and a second later you begin too feel a sense of weightlessness.
>Looking down you notice you're hovering slightly in the air, surrounded in the same glowing aura.
"H-hey, what's going on!"
>You whisper shout, keeping your voice down as not to alert the mare standing outside your door.
>>>Dressing you of course! Can't have you late for dinner just because you couldn't figure out how to slip on a few bits of clothing.
>You wiggle around in the air trying to get your bearings.
>It's true, you don't have any idea of how you would put on clothes without hands now, or with hooves in general.
>You've seen on the show that the ponies are fully capable at performing menial tasks with either the hooves or their teeth, but you don't want to put your mouth to anything in this world that someone else probably has.
>But that's not really the problem here now.
>>"No! Put me down! I don't want to wear that shit. I'd rather live on the streets or forage in the forest for the rest of my life. Anything but... this!"
>The uniform brings itself closer to you, and suddenly you feel yourself stiffen.
>You attempt to move, but find yourself bound by an unknown force, as if something was holding you down.
>Oh, yeah, right.
>>>Now, now, don't make things anymore difficult than they have to be.
>Your arms extend themselves outward, but you have no control over them.
>The uniform hovers its way over your head, then covers you as it drags itself down your form.
>It suffocates you for a moment, getting at the neck, the cloth getting sucked into your mouth at your frantic breathing.
>>>Your head might be too big for this.
>After a bit of tugging, your head finally slips through with a comical pop.
>>>There we go! Now for the arms.
>You feel your left arm brush across the fabric as it makes its escape through the first sleeve.

>Your next arm follows, although, like your head, there was a bit of difficulty getting it through.
>Not that there was anything obstructing, or the space being to small. It just got stuck with your elbow poking clumsily out of the pocket.
>It quickly corrects itself, poking out by the hoof, and aligning itself parallel to the other as you gently float back to the floor.
>You feel the sense of restriction leave you and roll your shoulders to stretch out the a bit of sourness in your right arm.
>>>Sorry, sometimes I have a bit of trouble with my right side.
>Your focus returns to the mirror, and you have to admit, you look pretty good... for a mare anyway.
>Goddammit.
>>"I'm not going out there."
>You state flatly, planting your flank onto the floor and folding your arms defiantly.
>You know resistance is futile, considering what just happened, but you refuse to willingly go out dressed in such a way.
>>>Well of course you're not.
>...
>That caught you off guard.
>>>You're not even fully dressed yet~
>Of course.
>You feel weightless again, but just at your backside, lifting itself over the ground in the magical aura.
>Oh no, no no no no no.
>Your upper body is still free, and you would attempt to stop whatever is happening, but you'd risk re-introducing your face to the floor.
>And you think you've smashed your face enough for one day.
>>>Wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face.
>You actually snort, your pinned.
>You feel a smooth fabric slip across the fur on your hind legs, followed by something soft and leathery pressing and wrapping itself around the ends of your hooves.
>Then, what you didn't expect, was the feeling of something slipping both around and between both of your legs, slipping up to your hips.
>What ever it was hits you with like a rubber band with a loud snap.
>You yelp.
>>>Done!
>You feel your legs touch back down and the tingly sensation of the aura leaving you.

>You feel a bit of chafing in your hindquarters, and shift your hind legs around trying to get comfortable.
>You feel like you're suffocating.
>>"What did you just put on me."
>>>Oh, just a bit of covering for your rear. You used to wear clothes all the time right? I did you a little favor.
>You did feel kinda naked on the walk on the way to your room, especially with the company you had.
>You felt exposed.
>You thought about using the money you'd make from the job you'd get to get some clothes in time, considering that it wouldn't totally be a problem what with basically everyone being nudists around here.
>You didn't expect to get free clothes so soon, and while you feel a bit more comfortable having something to cover your body, at the same time you're feeling less comfortable in your new attire.
>You're fearfully curious at what they could have possibly forced you to wear.
>You turn opposite to the mirror, hold your breath, and slowly, turn your head around.
>A thin pair of lacy white panties ins plastered to your backside, your tail sticking out through a little hole near the top.
>You feel the blood rush to your face when you imagine having to walk in front of a lot of people wearing that, on top of the uniform.
>Your tail hangs stiff at the base by the hole arching up, raising the skirt a bit, with only the tight white barrier to leave whatever to the imagination.
>The bulge of your set only noticeable if you stared long enough, but you don't want to give anyone the chance.
>You clench your backside in an effort to move your tail again, to force it downwards to cover up.
>It takes a bit of effort, but you succeed.
>"What's taking you so long in there!" you hear from outside of your room.
>Shit, you forgot about here.
>Gruuuhh...
>There's no helping it is there.
>You turn around and give yourself another look in the mirror.
>Maybe tonight, you can talk to Twilight about getting you another set of uniform. Preferably something that /isn't/ a maid outfit.

>A butler's uniform would be much more suitable than... this.
"Uhhhg. I'm coming!"
>You step towards the door and stare at the knob again.
>You sigh.
>You're really going to need to learn how to do this yourself, relying on the entity would become tedious eventually, and you don't want to five them anymore power over you than they already have.
>Maybe, and this is probably in vain hope, you could gain full control over your magic, and not have to deal with being forced into clothing you don't want to wear again.
>>"Little help?"
>>>Kehehee, I love you how you're taking all this. Most people would have probably lost their minds in a panic by this point.
>The knob twists in the aura that suddenly surrounds it and clicks as the door opens.
>>"I've watched enough movies and anime to know how to react in times like this. And though I didn't actually expect something like THIS to even be possible! I did consider the what if's and how to's in a-just-in-case scenario. Panicking wouldn't really solve anything anyway, sometimes you just gotta take your troubles with stride.
>>>Hehe, I like the way you think. I knew I found the right one when I picked you. It only took a few dozen tries.
>>"I'll take that as a compli- wait what?"
>You stop yourself just before you pull open the door.
>>"What do you mean a dozen tries?"
>The voice hums then reacts as if it didn't here you.
>>>Did you say something?
>>"Yeah, wha-"
>Your internal conversation is cut short when the door nudges itself, hitting you in the muzzle, causing you to jerk back at the sudden jolt of pain to your still sensitive nose.
>"Quit dilly dallying, this is no time to be spacing out." the old mare gives you an irritated stare pasted into her features. Copy pasted."If we leave now, we might just make it in time. Come along, now."
>She leaves the door open for you, and begins to trot down the hall in the direction left from your doorway.
>You sit there, rubbing your muzzle, and grunt.

>She stops suddenly, and you flinch when she cranes her neck to look at you.
>You shrink under the intensity of her gaze, "Or do you need me to carry you. Because if need be, I am willing to drag you there myself."
>You feel as if she's staring into your soul, a cold hand gripping at your neck, pressing its thumb to your jugular, to bend you to their will.
>Your breath catches in your throat.
>You hastily shake your head "no".
>"Good." she looks ahead of her and resumes her pace.
>This is who Twilight elected to be your supervisor?
>You quickly get back on to your hooves and attempt to catch up with her, not wanting to make things worse.
>You get up to her side and attempt to match her pace.
>You look at her and notice she only comes to about your muzzle in height.
>You were standing eye to eye with Twilight during your first meeting with her, and if you remember correctly from the show, alicorn Twilight stood slightly higher from the the rest of the mane six.
>You thought it was a nice touch they added to say she was in fact growing in her now state, and that she could potentially become as tall as the other princesses.
>You only noticed this because you wanted to compare her with regular ponies and the princesses.
>You wouldn't want to think that the only trait she'd have to be considered an alicorn is the fact that she has both wings and a horn.
>If they're gonna go that far, they might as well go the extra mile and just make her taller.
>Fan depictions of what she would have looked like as an alicorn made her out to stand eye to eye with Celestia, but even Luna isn't as tall as here, and she's the second youngest alicorn, that you know of anyway.
>Could there be more alicorns in this world?
>Could those faggots actually be right about Celestia and Luna having parents, one ruling Elysium and the other Tartarus?
>Or could... could their mother really be Faust this whole time!
>You gasp and the mind blowing realization.
>Nah, that can't be right.

~~**~~~**~~

>Meanwhile, in some remote part of the castle where it considerably dimmer despite all the ambient lighting.
>Magic
>Twilight Sparkle hovers above a glimmer of light, radiating from within a small chest of sorts, surrounded by a dense purple barrier of her own making.
>She gazes at it skeptically, running through various theories as well as books, many of those surrounding her, floating in her magical grasp with pages flipping fast enough to rip them out if she weren't so precise.
>Skilled in the script, such a thing would never happen with one such as her.
>Well, never say never, [spoiler]don't you fucking dare sing bieber. Reference American Tail if anything.[/spoiler], but you get where I'm going with this.
>"There has to be something in here that can tell me about this. Anything!"
>She stuffs her face into one of the passing scripts, her eyes darting to and fro as she searches desperately for answers, but coming up short.
>A couple strands of her mane pop out with a "twang".
>"Uhhhhhhg" sounds her exasperated, audible sigh.
>The books swarming around her all drop simultaneously when she loses concentration to frustration.
>"Ow!" Yelps the voice of her young ward, brother, son, compadré, whatever your preference.
>"Watch where you drop these things!" He whines.
>Twilight looks back and smiles sheepishly at the battered little dragon.
>"Sorry, Spike, I'm just a little... miffed that I can't find anything about this talisman." She says, gesturing to the the glowing object behind the barrier that she used a few runes along with a special spell to generate and confine it.
>It sits on a single-staff leg pedestal, with the lavender tinted crystalline jewel resting as a pendant to an off black necklace chain, hanging around the neck of a special stone-make a pony bust.

>The purple lizard waddles over to Twilight, groaning and rubbing his abused skull, stopping just before the barrier to get a better look at what she's talking about.
>"Is this where that glow is coming from?"  he says, Twilight responding with a nod.
>"But there's nothing in it."
>"Exactly." she says, Spike still not getting it.
>She points toward the necklace on the bust just behind the stand, "The gem in that necklace was the original source of the energy related to the light. The necklace itself has properties within it, much like the chest, designed for repressing the magic of items placed into provided slots. However, even after removing the stone from the chest and placing it into the pendant, and it's own glow fading away, the energy that radiated from it while it was still within the chest seems to have clung to the inner walls, leaving behind a luminous trace of sorts. The chest may not have had many high level enchantments on it, but the fact that it left behind a strong essence of mystical radiation with enough quality to illuminate a good portion of the room," she gestures widely, "then there must be either an absolutely amazing, or terribly dangerous properties contained within the the shard itself." she finishes, pointing back to the stone.
>Spike stands still for a moment, soaking in all the information, before shaking his head, unable to process all that information.
>"Um, what?" He responds dumbly.
>Twilight rolls her eyes, "Whatever this thing is, it's really powerful. And I can't-" she stomps.
>"find-" she lifts a book to her face, before tossing it to an empty shelf, " -anything!"
>She plants herself on the ground, rubbing her temples and growling like she usually does.
>"Is this why you were cooped up in here since you came back inside?" spike asks, lifting up one of the tossed tomes, "Not that it's any different from any other day really."
>"Hey Twilight, what's this one?" he says, trying to see the label in the dim lighting.

>"The Stallion Among Us..." he reads, Twilight's ears flicking up at this.
>Opening to the first page past the index, he reads aloud "Chapter One: Sometimes a mare isn't what she- Hey!"
>The kobold fire breather yelps as the book is literally ripped from his grasp, throwing him off balance.
>"I-It's nothing! Just uh... Research, yeah!" Twilight nervously exclaims, hugging the book close to her.
>Spike gets up and folds his arms, unamused.
>"Research? It just seems like a regular novel to me."
>Twilight fidgets in her spot, trying to think of an excuse. "I'm uh..."
>Her eyes dart around the room, where she spots a quill and scroll lying on a desk nearby, "... doing a book report for Celestia"
>Spike looks raises a brow unconvinced, then glances over at the desk and notices the scroll.
>He walks over and picks it up.
>"Twilight, this is a grocery list."
>He waves it to her, and she bites her lip, beads of sweat forming at her forehead.
>"Uhm..."
>He continues to eye her suspiciously, meanwhile she chuckles nervously, silently panicking as she tries her damnedest to think of a better alibi.
>Spike opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a knock on the door.
>"Princess?" the voice of the commander can be heard, a muzzle peaking through the door left ajar from Spike's entrance.
>She told him many times not to leave the door to the study open, but she couldn't be more thankful for his negligence than now.
>She visibly relaxes, as spikes attention turns to the commander has he steps inside.
>"Sorry for the intrusion." he says, hesitantly taking another step, noticing the flat expression on the face of the dragon.
>He looks to Twilight, and she smiles nervously with a shrug.
>"Don't worry about it, Commander," she says with a wave of a hoof, "nothing important was happening anyway.
>Spike huffs, and Twilight chuckles again, nonchalantly floating the book to a nearby shelf, notably to the highest point in the furthest corner.

>The commander just shrugs and looks over Twilight's shoulder.
>"Pardon me, Princess, but did you find out anything about the crystal?" he asks, gazing at the trinket behind the barrier.
>Twilight shakes her head and sighs, "Unfortunately not. I checked all the books in my study, and couldn't find anything about it. Not even the books from the castle's library have any information on it. I may need to request copies from the Canterlot Archives for this. Perhaps the entire Starswirl the Bearded Wing. If I'm lucky, that's all I'd need."
>The commander nods, knowing how frustrated the intellectual princess must be.
>She's one of the brainiest ponies he's ever come to know, a knowledge that can stand probably on par with the Two Sisters' infinite wisdom.
>The fact that she can't find any information about something must be giving her quite the headache, judging by the way she's kneading her temples.
>"Commander." Twilight calls, getting his attention. "You told me when you first interacted with the talisman, you had a bit of a reaction to it?"
>He nods.
>"Explain."
>The commander takes a breath and raises a hoof to his chin as he tries to recall the events of the day a couple of hours ago.
>"Well, when I first tried to lift the stone, I remembered you said to test anything that could possibly be the cause for the disturbance."
>He places his hoof back down and continues,  "And I enacted a spell I learned in training, similar to the spell you used on Mica. You know, the one that isn't as safe to use on living matter."
>Twilight nods, "Of course, I know of the spell. Continue."
>The commander's face contorts to a pained expression, as if the memory itself was damaging to his nerves.
>"Well, once I did, I heard... something. Like a voice, and a feeling of grinding at the back of my mind. I began to feel a growing headache, before casting a spell on myself to negate my own magic. After that I was fine. But when I tried to remember what I heard, what I saw..."

>"Nothing. I just get the small coming of a headache, then a blank."
>Twilight looks at him worriedly, his face relaxing a bit as he finishes.
>"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you harm by making you recall that information."
>The commander shakes his head, "It's nothing."
>Twilight continues to give a concerned expression before remembering something.
>"Oh, right. Did you need anything when you came in?" she asks.
>He nods, "Yes, right. A couple of your friends came to visit you this evening. One of them, Pinkie Pie, seeming a bit excited about something. Well, more excited than usual. Something about her Pinkie sense?"
>'Her friends?' Twilight thinks. 'Why  would her friends be visiting her right now. And doesn't Pinkie have to hold the store this evening?'
>And then she remembers something. Something that fills her with dread.
>She sighs. "Thank you commander. Is that all?"
>"Well, that-" he ponders, "as well as..." He clears his throat, looking to the clock on the wall above the doorway."
>Twilight follows his gaze and her eyes widen.
>She's late, and for her own employee's orientation.
>She wrote that letter herself.
>She bites her lip again, almost teleporting right there.
>"Commander, you're dismissed from your duties this evening. Take a rest for that headache of yours."
>The commander chuckles, "Yes, Princess. Although, if I may request, might I accompany you to the orientation?"
>The princess stops midway through the door to the hallway, thinking for a moment.
>"Well, I don't see why not. But just make sure you get some rest tonight."
>"Of course, your highness." he nods, coming up behind her.
>"Spike!" Twilight yells back into the room, "Do me a favor and sort the books back onto the shelves."
>Her response is a grunt, which she accepts as an affirmative before power walking to the dining room. the commander pacing behind her.
>Meanwhile, Spike gives a final grunt as he reaches the top of the shelf, grabbing onto his target "Gotcha! Woa!"

>He loses his footing, and tumbles down, falling "safely" onto a nearby pile of books.
>He groans, rubbing his back and cracking it has he gets back to his feet.
>Looking at the cover of the book in his hand, he opens it back to the page he was on.
>He shrugs, re-reading the title.
>After reading the first page, he begins to think Twilight was overreacting.
>As usual.
>"I don't see what the big deal is..." he sits down on the pile, peering into the novel and turning the page.

-----

>You stand still way to the corner of the dining hall, your chin up, knees straight, and eyes forward, as instructed by your supervising officer.
>Er, that's what you'll call it anyway.
>You've been standing here holding this position for at least 20 minutes now, and your body is getting tired of forcefully becoming a statue.
>Your legs begin to quiver a bit and you start to sag.
"Ow!"
>You feel a sharp pain to your right calf.
>Looking in the direction, you see Miss Teardrop standing in a similar way to you, her stance more practiced and refined.
>You wouldn't think she even moved if you didn't feel that hit.
>Scary.
>The years of experience in the art of uniformity easily seen, and her expression firm.
>"Eyes forward." She hisses, her face unchanging, but the tone carried felt like venom, and you jolt back into position.
>You're watching the door on the opposite end of the hall, all the while trying not to allow your obvious discomfort or natural urge of laziness to cause you to falter, earning you another bit of punishment, possibly something harsher than a quick, unnoticeable... whatever she just did.
>A few more minutes pass by in silence as you resume holding the position.
>You don't care how long she's been in this line of work, this lady can't possibly be used to standing This Stiff for This Long can she?
>You don't think that even the guards on the opposite end of the room would be trying This Hard to Keep Up with standing while trying to appear threateningly authoritative for prolonged periods of time.
>I mean look at those stooges.
>You're sure you've seen them stop and relax for a second or two since you've been in here.
>One of them catches you looking and he makes eye contact.
>Not one to punk out in a stare down you return his gaze, and it sticks like that for a good long while.
>Then he does the unthinkable.
>He winks at you, his lips curved a bit at the end, grinning.
>Why?
>Then you remember something rather important.
>You break away, refocusing on the door.
>Absolutely disgusting.

>You try your hardest to ignore what just happened, but you can feel him still looking at you, watching.
>You notice a twitch in his direction, and risking a glance, you see he's not actually looking at you, but has taken a sudden interest in the ceiling.
>You feel a malicious aura emanating within your proximity, and risk another glance in the general direction of the probable source.
>You still don't think she moved an inch, but it looks like Ms. Teardrop's gaze has somehow become more... threatening.
>Kowai
>Just then, the doors burst open.
>"HELLO, EVERYPONY!"
>The doors fly freely on the axis of the hinges, careening into the two guards stationed adjacent.
>One such guard, manages to jump out of the way just in time, other one, not so lucky, as his attention drawn to the ceiling leaves him less that prepared, and he gets smashed into the wall.
>You wince when the door slowly dislodges from the wall, revealing the pony cartoonishly planted into a new crack in the wall, spazzing a bit before falling on the floor with a thud.
>You follow the source of the shrill cry and notice a pink bouncing blurb vibrating rapidly at the center of the chaos.
>You have to cover your ears as as high pitched noise starts to come and grow from a location unknown, though you believe that the- whatever that thing is- must be what's responsible.
>You clench your eyes shut, it's actually starting to hurt.
>You feel a trickle on the side of your head.
>Dear lord, are you bleeding?
>And as quickly as it happened, the sound stops.
>Everything stops, and there is nothing.
>Just silence.
>Holy shit, did you just go deaf?
>>>Don't worry, I just made a barrier around your ears to prevent that. Things seem to be getting a bit more interesting.
>With that, you open your eyes, noticing everyone else in the room covering their ears.
>You even see a pair of purple and blue masses behind the pink blurb hugging low to the ground.

>Looking over to Ms. Teardrop, you see she isn't down, but her face does contort slightly to make a pained expression.
>Only slightly.
>Her features begin to relax, as well as her posture.
>Sound slowly returns to your ears, a small ringing as the barrier in your auditory canal  fades away.
>A high pitch noise in the form of infinite words is rushing in your general direction, coming in from the other side of the hall.
>Returning your gaze to ahead of you, the pink blurb has taken the form a pony.
>A pony that is now bouncing up and down, their lips flapping as quickly as the vibrations from before.
>You know that voice.
>You know this pony.
>You know exactly who this pony is.
>You know exactly why you have this boner.
>Wait, what?
>You may be getting a bit excited right now, but not that excited.
>Okay, maybe just a little.
>In the last memories of your life at home, you indulged to Pinkie Pie related art forms and illustrations of a rather explicit nature a about 10 minutes before receiving that fateful reply.
>Of course you washed your hands after you finished. Who doesn't?
>Some sicko.
>You feel the uncomfortable chafe that you spent the last half hour getting used to returning with vigor, and shift in place.
>Think of dead grandmas, think of roadkill puppies, think of inside out bunnies.
>bonerintensifies.gif
>You sicko!
>The mare in pink pauses her auditory onslaught when she notices your awkward semi-stationary dance.

>"Eh-hem!" sounds from beside you, and your reaction is instant.
>You stop what you're doing and resume the position.
>You see a look of confusion on Pinkie's face, "What's wrong, do you have antsies in your panties?"
>That caught you off-guard.
>How does she know you're-
>She giggles, "Just kidding. You're not even wearing pants!"
>Phew, crisis averted.
>She takes in a deep breath, but before she can say anything, she's force-fed a purple marshmallow.
>"Hold on there Pinkie. " Twilight says, "You've already introduced yourself. "
>When did she get in here?
>Maybe she was the purple mass by the door.
>"Now I'm going to remove my hoof, and you have to remain quiet okay?"
>Pinkie nods, doing a zipping motion above her mouth with a hoof.
>You swear you actually heard the sound.
>"Good," Twilight says, removing her hoof from pinkie's mouth with a wet pop.
>"Ew..."
>Pinkie just beams.
>Poor Twittle.
>"Now," Twilight continues, wiping her hoof off on Pinkie's shoulder.
>Rude
>"Let me formally introduce myself." she says, clearing her throat. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, as well as your new employer. But, of course,  you may already know that."
>You bow your head, then raise it back up.
>She gestures to Ponk, "And in case you didn't understand a word she said, this is my friend, Pinkamena Diane Pie, otherwise known as Pinkie Pie. Resident Baker, Element of Laughter-"
>"And Ponyville Party Pony!" shouts Pink Menace.
>"- er, yes." Twilight half-glares at Pinkie, who his blissfully bouncing in place once again.
>Then she gestures to the door "And this is-"
>Swoosh! "I'm Rainbow Dash!"
>A blur of blue starts zipping about from across the room, "Fastest flyer in Equestria, number one cloudsplitter, Wonderbolts Cadet aaaaaand the first and ONLY pony Ever to perform-" she stops to hover in mid air above Twilight, probably to pause for dramatic effect.

>She makes a grand gesture with her hooves as she says, "A Sonic Rainboom!"
>You stand there silent, and she takes this as you being shocked by her awesomeness.
>Which is true, you are more than a bit overwhelmed by the fact that you're getting to meet the main cast face to face like this.
>Especially after witnessing a performance like that.
>However.
>"I know, I know, I'm awesome. You can ask for my autograph anytime!"
>Wow.
>You kind of expected that, but you still thought she may have been pass the whole "autograph" thing.
>Guess even though she's more mature than in the first season, old habits die hard.
>You just nod your head in her direction, trying to move as little as possible.
>You don't want Ms. Teardrop to get on your case for being "improper" in front of the princess and her friends after this is over.
>You'd like to get some sleep tonight.
>Well, more sleep.
>And that bed was so soft, unnng.
>Rainbow dash comes out of her pose and just hovers above Twilight, who groans, just staring at you with a raised brow.
>Maybe it's because of your less-than-excited reaction to what you just witnessed.
>And as much as you'd like to splerge out, the old lady gave you quite the earful about etiquette or whatever on the seriously long walk to the dining hall.
>Well, it wasn't that long, but she sure made it feel that way.
>At any rate, you can't do anything to casually in the presence of the Princess if you wanted to..
>Not with her around at least.
>"Well," Twilight starts "why don't we begin the orientation for tonight?"
>She begins to walk to the table, her chair already pulled out for her by you.
>You didn't anticipate for other ponies to be dining with her, so Pinkie and Rainbow have to pull their own chairs out.
>"Commander, You can take a seat right over there next to Rainbow Dash." she says.
>Wait what?
>"Of course, Princess." that voice responds.

>You begrudgingly look back to the door entrance to the hall and see the guy, sauntering over to the table nonchalantly.
>He notices you looking and that same smile he's been giving you all day makes it's way onto his features, looking to you from as he makes his way to his chair.
>Taking a seat next to Dash, he gets comfortable, his gaze never leaving you.
>The dining hall, much like it would be in any castle, is quite large. A few flags and the like hanging from the walls reaching up near the ceiling.
>The one wall to your left has five tall windows in it, also reaching near the ceiling, covered by large translucent purple-blue curtains to match the rug that runs along from the door across the hall, under the dining room table and Twilight's chair, to the opposite wall where you're standing.
>The table itself can serve up to twelve people, five two either side of the longer length, and one on either end of the short.
>It's decorated with the expected things you'd find in a high classed dining room table. Bowl of flowers, candles, dishes like bowls and plates.
>And off to the side is a serving cart with food already prepared and placed onto it.
>It looks like there will be enough to feed more than just one per- uh, pony, so you don't have to worry about having to make any requests from the kitchen.
>Which by the way, is lead to by a door just to the wall opposite to the side with the windows. If you do need to get anything, you can go through there and make a request.
>In front of more ponies who would see you in this... outfit.
>Wearing fishnets and...
>Uhg.
>You feel a nudge and you look to the source to find Ms Teardrop is not pleased with your dawdling.
>You look to the commander, still giving you that look.
>You sigh, better get this over with so you can get out of here and these clothes fast.
>>>I'm sure he'd like that~
>>"Not helping"

>You make your way over to the table, in the direction of the side Pinkie is on, stopping beside Twilight's chair who clears throat.
>"I'm sure Ms. Teardrop has already told you about what you are going to be doing tonight and  how you are to perform your tasks at the table?" she asks.
>You nod
>"Good! And I believe you've already gotten familiar with the commander on the tour to your quarters." she says looking to him.
>"You, can say that, Princess." he says still watching you, causing dash beside him to snicker.
>You try to keep your composure and hide your animosity.
>Gotta remain professional.
>Twilight raises her brow at the two before realizing her faux pas.
>She then turns her head to look at you.
>A faint shade begins to grow on her face.
>What is she-
>No she's not implying.
>You reel, shaking your head, then glare at the commander.
>Rainbow holds a hoof to her mouth trying not to laugh.
>"What's wrong, Dashie? Got something in your mouth?" Pinkie asks over the table.
>Dash looks like she's about to burst.
>Must
>Remain
>Calm
>Twilight clears her throat, "Yes, well, then let's get on with it. First you'll be taking orders of food for each of us. You may have noticed that there is already a cart of food positioned next to the wall," she gestures, "and it should have enough food to serve each of us, so you shouldn't need trouble yourself to making another order for the table."
>That's a relief.
>"You can start by serving us each something to drink. Since this is just a test to see how well you serve, you may just pour us each a glass of regular apple cider."
>"Non-alcoholic?" ask Dash.
>Twilight nods, "Yes, Rainbow. I didn't plan on getting inebriated tonight."
>"Boring." Dash says, and Twilight rolls her eyes. "Hey, uh..." she says, looking at you.
>Oh right, in all the commotion you didn't even introduce yourself.
>"Mica, right? That's what Twilight said your name was, I think."
>You nod.
>Guess you don't even have to.
>To them at least.

>"How about after this little test of yours you join me and my friend Applejack at the bar in town for some real cider?"
>You gaze upward and mull it over.
>After the day you've had so far, what with the whole world jumping thing, stressful encounters, annoying voices in your head that can manipulate your body, and annoying dude that doesn't understand the meaning of "fuck off"
>A drink sounds pretty good right about now.
>"Yes, actually, I would like to." you reply.
>"She talks!" Pinkie shouts next to you.
>Damn mare gonna blow your ear off.
>And she called you- gah fuck it, you'll deal with it for now.
>"Would you mind if I came along?" asks the commander.
>God fuck dam, no.
>Dash notices your reaction and smirks, "Yeah, sur-"
>"Actually," Twilight interrupts, "You're not going anywhere tonight. You still need to rest, remember?"
>The commander sighs before nodding, "Of course, your highness."
>His smile never wavers, but dash looks bummed for a moment.
>Then she smirks again, "Oh well, we can still have some fun with just the three of us."
>You get a sense of dread, she's probably gonna spend the night teasing you.
>You consider taking back you acceptance, but you can't just do that.
>You hope pony drinks aren't as weak as most of the fics make them out to be.
>And if they are, with your new pony body, you probably couldn't tell.
>You're really gonna hit the barrel after this.

>You sigh, might as well get this over with.
>Nodding again, you turn and walk around to the cart.
>Ms. Teardrop already gave you a little tutorial on how this stuff is supposed to go down, and you have little experience except serving as a waiter at a hotel restaurant way back.
>So to you, this should be a simple task.
>However
>You have no idea, how you're going to manage pushing over this cart and doing all that
>with hooves
>You wait and just stare at the cart.
>The room goes silent as everyone waits for you to serve their drinks.
>Even Pinkie is quiet, surprisingly.
>Maybe she's more tame than she seems.
>Aha, right. This is pinkie.
>Its probably a struggle for her to just remain in one spot for so long without so much as a-
>*Squeak*
>Yeah you better hurry this up.
>>"Hey, uh-"
>>>Nope
>You take another pause.
>>"What?"
>>>Sorry kid, not helping you out here. This is your trial, I'm only along for the ride, you gotta figure this out on your own.
>>"Wait, you've been helping me out so far, why stop now? The day's not even over, you have to at least give me aid til then!"
>>>Haha, but that would be cheating.
>>"Then how the fuck am I supposed to do this?"
>>>Figure it out.
>You groan.
>"Is something wrong, Mica?" You hear Twilight call behind you.
>You turn around and reply "No, ma'am. I'll be right there."
>You look across the room and notice the others share a look of either confusion toward your stalling.
>Looking at the ponies in the room as you try to come up with an idea your gaze, falls upon another observer.
>You jump, swiftly turning back to the cart.
>You gulp.
>Here goes nothing

>You stand behind the push bar on the cart and rear up,  nearly teetering over as you place your hooves on the bar, quickly propping yourself against it.
>Phew.
>Alright, just like before, one hoof before the other.
>You can do this.
>You used to walk on twos just a day ago, so this should be easy.
>You hope.
>Gently you begin to turn yourself and the cart, getting off to a slow start as you take your first few steps back to the table.
>Thankfully your hooves kind of fork much like feet in terms of step motion, instead of being tilted on the edges.
>What, you're no horse doctor.
>But still,  that's a relief.
>You finally get back to the table and get back to your fours.
>So far so good.
>Now you just have to fill and place the cups and.
>Oh.
>Well, luckily the glasses are already set and all you have to do is pour in, but how are you gonna lift the bottle?
>Think think think.
>Your eyes scan around the room for any idea of how you could possibly perform this structurally impossible task.
>Quick.
>How does one lift bottle when hooves?
>You're a unicorn, right?
>But you don't even know how to magic, and Ms. Presence doesn't want to help you.
>What a bitch.
>>>Kehehe. And I was actually reconsidering giving you a hand with that bottle problem.
>>"Huh?"
>>>But I guess you-
>>"No wait please!"
>>>Sorry, kiddo. Changed my mind.
>Fuck you, you fucking fuckwatt.
>"Are you sure you're alright, Mica?"
>You snap out of your panic and turn to the voice, Twilight again, who eyes you with concern.
>You smile nervously.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit nervous, you know. I am, uh... serving the Princess of Magic and Friendship herself after all!"
>Cheese it.
>You look at the others at the table.
>Pinkie's cheeks look a bit more than inflated.
>"Not to mention 3 of the elements of harmony. And... And THE Rainbow dash!"
>Said pegasus raises her head and manages to puff out her chest in her seat.
"It's all just a bit overwhelming and I'm afraid to mess up in front of such icons."
>Somewhat true.

"And who'd have thought I'd get to do it all here, in a castle!"
>Ms Teardrop clears her throat in the background.
>You freeze.
>Twikkie chuckles at your praise.
>"Please, you don't need to be nervous around us. We're just regular ponies, like you." She says.
>Well you know that, but it's still pretty amazing to be here.
"Like me? Please, princess. I'd have never thought, ever at all, that I'd even get to meet any of you in my lifetime."
>No fucking shit.
>Just a day ago they were just a bunch of cartoon characters on your TV or computer screen either spreading joy, or their legs respectively.
>And now here you are in a magical, mythical, land of wonder serving foodstuffs to a talking purple horned winged horse from a cartoon you enjoyed, bordering on obsession.
>Said horse being the subject of your-
>Wait.
>Now you actually Are becoming a little nervous here.
>What if you really Do mess up?
>What if you just end up spilling shit everywhere.
>Shit, fucking hooves.
>Twilight places a gentle hoof on your shoulder, and when you look to her she's smiling.
>"Alright, fine, you can be nervous. Just don't worry too much about it okay? All of my friends and I have learned this lesson many times. Some of us more than others." She states.
>Who is she talking about, herself?
>Oh yeah, she had, or /has/ a Celestia obsession.
>Or maybe she meant Rainbow?
>You sigh and nod, and she removes her hoof.
>But there's still a certain problem.
>You eye the cider bottle, then raid a hoof and look at it.
>You shrug.
>You raise up again,  propping yourself against the cart once more.
>Tentatively, you slid both your hooves along the surface and wrap them around the bottle of cider, and pull back slowly to the edge.
>Then, in a quick yet smooth motion, you hope, you spin around and stand up next to the table.
>Your new biology makes balancing like this very tricky, but you're determined now to get this done right.
>Well, really you just don't want to fuck up.
>Too much.


>Next, you crane your head and bite at the cork, twisting it.
>For better grip, you bring your lips down, and in a jerking motion you pull, popping it off with your teeth.
>Your loose hanging mane whipping to the side as you do so, some of the cider bubbling and flowing a bit over the top of the finish.
>You smile with the cork still between your teeth, glad you can still do something without hooves that you could before.
>Horse teeth are strong.
>Twilight raises her brow at you, but you are too busy concentrating to notice.
>Gently, slowly, you lean toward her and her cup, trying way too fucking hard to balance yourself and the bottle over the table on two hooves, and begin to pour the bubbling party safe fizz drink into her dining glass.
>Your mane hangs over your eye again, but thankfully to the side of where you're pouring.
>Which is a relief, it would be bad if you got hair in a princess's first drink. Even spickle.
>A bead of sweat forms on your forehead as you struggle not to tip over and spill everything.
>Once her glass is filled, you set the bottle down and prop back up on the table with one hoof to catch yourself.
>You look to Twilight for any sign of approval, but she doesn't say anything and just keeps staring at you.
>Her mouth opens just a tad, then closes again.
>You must have done a pretty good job.
>You smile again, satisfied, the cork still between your teeth.
>You don't want to just spit it out anywhere, but you also have no idea where you'd dispose of it right now.
>Moving on, you do the same to the other glasses, nix the cork popping, getting the hang of it after the third glass.
>By the time you get to Captain Creep, you can easily hold your self and the bottle up long enough to pour.
>Well, not easily, but better than the first time.
>You stand over his glass pouring his drink, all the while he watches you with a pleasant smile on his face.
>It just irks you that he's here. Shouldn't he be, you don't know, commanding something.

>That's what commanders do right?
>Actually who is he even commanding, Twilight's guard?
>Doesn't that really make him captain?
>You don't know how this ranking think works.
>You thought the leading officer would be, like, Sergeant General or something.
>What does that make him though.
>And wait, since when did Twilight have a guard?
>Well, you suppose it comes with the title I guess.
>An entire castle in a town, a small town, that actually is pretty huge though, completely unguarded by anyone except for six ninnies with magical jewelry and the power of exploding rainbows.
>And then there's twilicorn magic and pinkie physics.
>All that, but its probably not enough?
>Maybe?
>You don't think she still has all of the magic of the other alicorns still.
>You haven't really seen past the 4th season, so t this point you don't know what to expect.
>You wonder what kinda things you've mi- woah.
>You were so lost in thought you nearly overfilled the glass
>It takes you a couple seconds to realize you were staring at the commander the whole time you were pouring , and quickly look to the glass.
>By god you hope no one took that the wrong way.
>A side glance to a certain pegasus leaves little to hope.
>"You had me worried there, for a second I was sure you'd let it overflow." He says.
>You carefully pull away with the bottle in... hooves.
>"I'm lucky this wasn't alcoholic, I'd think you're trying to get me drunk on the first night." He says with a cheeky grin.
"tch"
>Dash snickers at this.
>Smarmy little-
>"But what wonder is," he continues, his glass gently levitates from the table in a pale glow.
>"Why didn't you use your magic?" He says, taking a sip.
>You open your mouth to say... something.
>Before you can say anything though he speaks again, "Perhaps maybe you were trying too," he looks to your fish net laced legs, then back to your face, making eye contact. "seduce us?"
>u wot
>You feel a heat rising to your face as you break away.

>You turn back to the cart to place the bottle back onto it, attempting to pull the skirt a bit to no avail.
>Damn one set uniforms.
>You see, this is why you didn't want to wear this thing.
>You sigh and set yourself back to the cart.
>At least you didn't have to
>"Hang on," Twickle speaks up. "That's a good question, Shine."
>She looks to the commander who replies with an "Oh?"
>She nods, likes over to you, "Yes, actually. Why didn't you just use your magic, Mica? Wouldn't it have been much easier to pour the bottle via levitation, than leaning over the table and uh, ehem, doing it manually?" You barely catch the stutter in that.
>You're not concerned with that, however, now you need an excuse.
>You're a unicorn, of course you would have been able to use magic.
>It's a basic thing for them, like breathing air, or blinking.
>What unicorn would waste effort and energy over something so simple as uncorking a bottle and pouring come juice?
>Said cork, is still happily nestled between your incisors.
>You try to think of something easy to say, but draw blanks.
>Stupid panicking, now you don't know what to say.
>You really don't know.
>...
>Well, if there was any time to somehow get about asking for lessons...
>At least you have that whole homeless thing going for ya.
>Maybe they'll think you're an orphan too.
>Five points for pity, yay.
>You look around at all the ponies looking at you waiting for your answer.
>You inhale slowly for effect, and convincingly as you can, sag your shoulders in your exhale.
"I don't know..."
>You say in a hushed tone.
>Twilight catches the tone, "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said I don't know."
>You speak a little louder this time.
>"You don't know why? What do you mean, that doesn't..."
>You lean off if the cart and look to the ground.
>"You mean... You don't know /how/?"
>You nod your head.


>"How do you not know how to use magic? You're a unicorn. Every unicorn learns at some point. And even the ones who could learn on their own had someone to teach them." she says.
>"And besides, I sensed you using magic earlier when Pinkie was going off." she points to balloon to her right.
>She looks about cataclysmic bomb right now.
>You hope your at least out of the room when that happens.
>Wait, she can since it?
>woop
"Th-that I don't even know what happened. For a minute I thought I just went deaf from the noise."
>"You're saying you cast the spell absentmindedly with knowing how or if it even happened?"
>Sorta
"Y-yeah."
>Her expression, which was inquisitive switches back to concern.
>"Wow that's..." She exchanges glances with the others at the table.
>Everyone is about the same, but shrugs.
>Except for pinkie, who seems to be floating in her seat.
>"I wish I could do something. I mean, I can, and I'd like to help you with that, but I have a lot of responsibility." She says her gaze returning to you.
"Oh... Well thanks anyway, ma'am."
>Oh well, there goes that idea.
>"Princess, what about a tutor?" suggests the commander.
>He looks you up and down "Someone you can appoint to give teachings. Perhaps I could be of some assistance and give Mica some... Private lessons."
>Dash snickers.
>What is she, twelve?
>You scoot further away, putting the cart between you.
"I'd rather be handicapped"
>He chuckles.
>Twilight raises up and taps a hoof to her chin. "That's not a bad idea, Shinespark."
>Oh no.
>"Yes, a tutor would be a great help in this situation, but we are a bit shorthanded on capable unicorns..."
>Please, Twilight please.
>Don't say what I think you're going to.
>She seems to pick up on your distress.
>"However, I couldn't ask you to to look after Mica when you already have so many subordinates." She states.
>He sighs and nods, "Of course, Princess."
>You feel, relieved.


>"Besides, I already have an idea of sompony who is very adept in their magic who can teach as well as look after Mica" she continues.
>Good job, Sparkle.
>"Somepony whose job it already is." she looks to you again, or rather in your direction.
>What is this feeling of trepidation.
>"Don't worry, Princess." you hear a stern voice from right behind you, which almost causes you to jump back onto your hooves immediately.
>You look up to see Ms. Teardrop standing over you imposingly looking down at you, a frightening sense of duty about her.
>"I'll make sure Mica is properly trained and prepared to server you adequately. You have my word." She bows to Twilight as she finishes.
>Twilight smiles and claps her hooves together, "Great!"
>She looks to you again, who is now shaking in fear.
>Fear of the future.
>You know you thought about it. You thought about asking her yourself.
>But after your walk to the dining hall, and the wait in the room for Starlight and crew, you had changed your mind.
>You almost consider taking up Sergeant Sleeze's offer, but no.
>Anything is better than working side by side with another guy taking every opportunity to eye rape you on a daily basis, constantly torturing you with an endless repetition of personal invasion and perversion.
>You're barely dealing with it now.
>You shakily attempt to stand up, despite the heavy aura of oppression you feel encompassing you.
"Th-that's alright, no need you trouble yourself, M-ma'am."
>The feeling somehow intensifies.
>"Oh, nonsense, it is of no trouble at all." that doesn't sound like a polite gesture.
>Though that could just be the fear creeping in.
"No, seriously, I've gone my entire life without doing magic, I think I can go a few-"
>"Your whole life!?" Twilight interrupts. "That's not natural for any unicorn! Mica, exactly how old are you?"
"Um... [REDACTED] years old." You said more like a question than anything else.


>"Huh," says Dash, "you're about the same age as us. Though I thought you'd be a little bit younger."
>Wow, convenient.
>"That means your legal to drink, heck yeah!" She says.
>"Among other things," Shines park adds in, raising his brow.
>Dash snickers again and you huff.
"You know, you can do a bit more with cider bottles than drink out of them."
>You say, making a lethal gesture with your hoof that can easily be misinterpreted.
>His only retort is to hold his smile, and you try your best Fluttershy stare impression.
>But you're not Fluttershy so you settle for a death glare instead.
>Ms. Teardrop clears her throat and you immediately cease and desist.
>"Well whatever the case, I shall still see to it that you are able to at the very least perform basic levitation. The princess herself has left you under my wing, so to speak. So it is imperative that I at least do well by her request to that extent. And by extension, you are also obligated to comply. Are you not?" She states.
>You're too scared to move.
>"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
>You silently yelp, and quickly turn to face her.
>The intensity of her expression is quite intimidating.
>"Well?"
>You nod quickly, but the feeling somehow intensifies.
"Y-yes ma'am!"
>She sighs, satisfied with that. "Wonderful."
>Out the corner of your eye you she Rainbow lean over to Twilight, faintly hearing her whisper "Geez, Twi, where'd you find this lady. The everfr-"
>Ms. Teardrop immediately snaps her gaze to the prismatic pegasus, who freezes in her position
>"E-ever fun... happy, uh, Sunshine!"
>Nice save, Rain-doh.
>She turns to Twilight, "Will that be all, your majesty?"
>Twilight, seeming to ignore all that just happens just nods happily, "Yes, Ms. Teardrop, your acceptance and cooperation are much welcomed. Thank you."
>She bows again, "It is of no trouble, your highness."
>Twilight shakes her head again, "I'm never gonna get used to this... Well, I suppose we're done here for now."

>What, already?
>But they just got here.
>Oh well, if she wants to turn in already, that's her businesses.
>Looking to the table it seems everyone's already downed their cider.
>Even Pinkie Pie who, woa.
>Someone should probably do something about that.
>Twilight notices you looking confusedly in her general direction and asks for at least the third time this evening, "What's wrong, Mica?"
>You say nothing and just point at the bloated ball of fluff that used to be a pink mare.
>She follows your hoof and her eyes widen in horror.
>"P-Pinkie, are you okay?" She asks hesitantly.
>What you think is her eye, within the over inflated mass, rolls down to look at Twilight.
>Something seems to click in Twilight, before she utters a few dangerous words. "You know... Its okay if you spoke now..."
>At this point, everyone in the room is staring in utter shock at the Pink balloon that has until now been out of everyone's notice range.
>Pinkie's eye rolls back into the "straight ahead" position, and she begins to vibrate again.
>Suddenly the room begins to quake and Rainbow dash shouts "EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!" before zooming off to parts unknown, you doubt taking cover behind one of the decorative tables about the room.
>All you can do is back away slowly as she continues to expand.
>Suddenly the table flips and a large purple barrier emerges.
>"Stand behind me!" Twilight shouts.
>Don't have to tell you twice.
>You quickly run behind twilight, taking cover, joined by the iron maid-en and major dick, who put up supporting barriers of their own.
>The two guards stationed at the door have, well, one of them disappeared, the other one is still unconscious.
>The poor bastard.
>You consider going to grab him before you hear Dash cry, "She's gonna blow!"

>Meanwhile
>A certain little purple dragon is currently engrossed in a thrilling reading session, hidden away in his makeshift tent/cave, made out of stacked books in a dark corner of Twilight's study.
>The only source of light being that of a low lit lantern, ignited by his own green flame.
>His eyes are dilated as he absorbs every detail.
>Suddenly, there is a huge bang, and with it a quake.
>A quake that shakes the entire castle.
>The shaking causes all the books to come crashing down upon the little dragon, and the lantern, smashing it.
>Now free of its prison, and with a new source of food for its flame, the fire grows, eating away at the scrolls and frames it engulfs.
>Spike bursts from the pile of books, panicking as he tries to put out the flames, unsuccessfully.
>He rushes off to find a fire extinguisher, then returns to the pile and sprays at the flames.
>Once put out, he tosses the extinguisher and begins ruthlessly digging.
>"Come on, come one..." He pleads, stopping once he finds what he's looking for.
>"Please be safe..." He dusts the black char from the cover of book and finds it relatively unharmed.
>"Phew, for a second I thought-" then he opens it.
>Every single page in the book has been burnt out.
>"Nnnnnoooooooooooooooooo!" He screams to the ceiling, book clasp firmly in one hand.
>He tosses it, "And just when it was getting good..."

>You cough, trying to rid your lungs of the precarious pink pollution permeating the parameter after the preposterously prominent paroxysm that is quite possibly one of the most paradoxical pass this side of ponyland.
>Alliterations are arcane.
>You don't know what this pink fumes are, but you feel a bit dizzy after inhaling so much of it, and cover your nose.
>It could just be a result of the shock brought about by the unreasonably nonsensical explosion, but you don't think you should take the chance.
>Whatever Pinkie Pie is on, that could cause her to do this, it can't be good.
>And as much as you love the clinically insane, yet gratifyingly intuitive mare, you fear the consequences of inhaling her essence.
>The door to the hallway re-opens and the fumes pour out.
>After a moment, the air is clear once again, and you take this time to observe the chaos.
>Everything seems, to be alright.
>You know, besides the fact that everything is not alright.
>Curtains were torn by the force of the concussion, tables upended and plant pots smashed.
>One of the windows seems to have a crack in it, and that one guard now has his head stuck in the wall.
>That's going to hurt in the morning.
>You follow the destruction back to the source of the calamity, and find the culprit gasping for breath at the center of the anomaly.
>"Phew, I don't know how much longer I could have held that in! I think that's the longest I've ever held my breath ever!" the bubbly pink mare jovially exclaims.
>A frustrated "uuuuurgh" signifies that Twilight is a alright, and you spy her off to the right next to a disheveled looking Ms. Teardrop, who rubs her head with a fine grimace upon her features.
>Rainbow Dash is laying on her back behind the shattered remains of a table that once held a now smashed potted plant, her mouth open in shock.
>She suddenly bolts up. "That... was... Awesome!" she cheers. "Pinkie Pie, you can be so random sometimes, but this was just over the top!

>She zooms off to ramble with her friend, and you just stare agape and the... everything that just happened.
>This is your life now...
>This is your trial...
>This has got to be the best trial ever!
>Wait a second.
>One, two, three...
>Wait, someone's missing here.
>You're pretty sure there was a certain annoying stallion somewhere in the mix here, but you don't see him anywhere.
>Maybe by the divine forces of the powers that be, he has been erased by the absurdity that is Pinkie power.
>For a moment, you feel content with these results, that is until you feel something poking at your hindquarters.
>There is a muffle voice heard from below, and you feel an odd discomfort down below, as well has a strongly growing sense of dread.
>"*Now, as much as I do enjoy a good face-sitting, I do quite revel in the ability to breath as well. Would you be so kind as to-" you more or less fly, taking a great leap in an effort to remove yourself from the aberrant administrator.
>Effectively dooming yourself to become prey, once again, to a paved surface.
>You land on the ground, hard, and perform one of the worlds most try-hard impression of an ostrich.
>Fucking hurts like shit, aaaah.
>"You weren't kidding when you said you were a stallion." he coughs.
>What powers in existence could have allowed such a travesty to fall upon you.
>"White lace, huh?" he chides. "It suits you."
>You groan.


>You lay in your bed, head buried in a pillow, curled up in a ball, sheets wrapped tight around you, hugging your tail to your body, trying to stay as hidden as hu...manly possible.
>Fuck your life...
>You have long since abandoned your previous station within the destroyed dining room of the bookworm princess.
>And have assumed the role of self-isolation, hidden away in the shadows, confined to your new bedroom.
>Your uniform lay haphazardly tossed into a pile in the far corner of the room, along with a certain pair of lacy attire.
>You feel soiled.
>Even after a good, long, rough body scrub in a particularly hot bath.
>You used a very strong smelling soap you found in one of the cabinets, and if what you assume of soaps is correct.
>The heavier the smell, the more potent the disinfectant.
>That's how it works right?
>If it's not, then it doesn't matter anyway, you've used up the entire bar.
>You hear a knock at the door.
>"Come on Mica, you can't stay cooped up in there all night! You said you'd hang out!"
>It's Rainbow Dash.
>You groan.
"I changed my mind, I'm never leaving this room again!"
>"That's not true! You're gonna have to come out when you get hungry! And judging from what Twilight said, you haven't eaten a single thing since you got here!"
>Your stomach growls it's agreement.
>Quiet you.
"I've got everything in here that I need!"
>"Oh yeah, like what?"
>...
"Toilet!"
>"You can't eat a toilet!"
"I still have a closet full of uniforms in here!"
>"Ewe, that's gross, you can't just eat clothing! What are you a goat!?"
"I can do it if I try! Now leave me alone!"
>"Listen... Mister! You're coming out here, right now! And I am taking you to the bar! And we are gonna hang out! With my friend AJ! Talk shit! Get smashed! Have fun!"
>...
>"Are you listening to me!?"
>You don't respond.
>"Alright that's it!"
>You hear the sound of hoofsteps moving away from the door.
>After a moment of silence, you are relieved by the thought of her finally relenting.

>But all is not as it seems as what sounds like an airplane and the wail of a banshee all comes at once, and your door booms open.
>"Yaaaaaaaaaah!"
>Pomf
>All of your blankets and everything have flown off the bed, and you with them, as well as the persistent pestgasus, who tumbles along with you, who is cursing the whole way.
>Your pile of FUN comes to a rolling stop and you open your eyes to survey the damage.
>What is revealed to you is a panting rainbow dash, standing over you, her eyes fierce with determination.
>It scares you a little.
>"Now, I'm taking you to the bar with me, and I am NOT gonna take no for an answer."
>You look around for any route of escape, but she stands over you keeping you perfectly pinned, her hooves pressed against your sides keeping you locked in place.
>Your untrained unicorn body would be no match for the athletically excelled pegasus.
>You sigh in defeat and look back up to your captor.
"Fine..."
>She takes this moment to do a celebratory hoof pump, which urges a certain accursed lacy white, pink smeared article of cloth to drape across her face hanging by her mane.
>She grabs it off and takes a look at it.
>"Euch, is this the one you were wearing?" she quickly tosses it to the other side of the room.
>It lands safely on top of your pillow which is still somehow on your bed.
>Damn, you're gonna have to wash that pillow now.
>Or torch everything.
>If allowed.
>She gets off of you and helps you to a stand.
>You nearly lose your footing, still not used to this new body of yours, but play it off as imbalance due to the shock of being tackled off your bed halfway across the room by a deranged pegasus.
>You dust yourself off.
"So, where are we going anyway?"
>She looks up in deep thought, tapping her chin with a hoof.
>Has she really not thought this far ahead?

>"Well, I /was/ just gonna go to Sweet Apple Acres and fetch my friend, buuut seeing how much time has passed since Somepony wanted to play bedridden," she looks at you pointedly, and you just grunt.
>"I guess we could just meet her at the bar."
>Oh, you guess she has thought this through.
>Sort of.
>There's still a chance Applejack won't even show up.
>But then that won't stop the turbulent technicolor tomboy from take you anyway will it?
>You just shrug.
"Fine, whatever. I could use a drink right now."
>"That's the spirit!"
>She leads you into the hallway and you attempt to close your door.
>You can't though, It's been unhinged.
>Rainbow Dash apologizes, stating that she could tell Twilight what happened and get you "a sweet new room with a good view of the town."
>As well as a nice view of her cloud house that passes by the castle every few days.
>You thought that pretty darn cool.
>Rainbow Dash is pretty darn cool
>You always thought she was just more level headed than before, but it seems you gotta get to know someone before you can really make any judgments.
>Didn't they do an episode about something like that?
>As you walk through the halls, Rainbow proudly tells you of her adventures with her and her friends, at least the ones that include here, which you knew about most of.
>There are some things there that you didn't know, but not as monumental.
>She also told you over her exploits at the Wonderbolt Academy, which you did not know of, except for the part about Lightning Crust almost killing everyone and that time she passed the test.
>She tried telling you some tips about how to learn, maybe you can apply a bit of it to your magic lessons.
>But then you told her that you have your own method of learning and memorizing.
>And she goes on to say that she and the gang learned a lesson about that too.
>Which you knew.
>Sigh, television.

>If you're gonna be staying here, that's definitely something you're going to be missing.
>That and your computer.
>The withdrawal is going to be a bitch when it finally hits you.
>Hopefully while you're in this world it's going to be too fucking exciting for you to even stay focused long enough to even notice.
>You're surprised you're not already bouncing off the walls in excitement.
>Look at where you are!
>Speaking of unfocused and highly excitable, you half expected Pinkie to want to come along too, considering she was in the room when Dash asked you to go to the bar, so you ask about it.
>"Meh, Pinkie's not a bar type gal. I mean, she's a real party animal for sure, but most of the parties she does are usually pretty PG. And even when that's not the case, she's still more of a house party type pony. Besides, she couldn't hold her liquor if she tried. She's almost as bad as Twilight. Then again, she's Pinkie Pie. She probable /lets/ herself get drunk easily so she can have even more fun."
>You nod your agreement.
>That mare is probably as in control of her senses as she is in tuned with the void.
>Except for her Pinkie sense.
>And sense of rationality.
>And sense of personal space.
>And sense of dietary constraint.
>and self-control
>You could probably go on for an hour countering your own statement.
>"We're here!" dash says, pulling you from your thoughts.
>You look up to notice you've already arrive to the bar, true to her words.
>Fuck, you didn't watch where you were going!
>How are you going to find your way back?
>You look back at the HUGE FUCKING CASTLE on the outskirts of town.
>Oh, right.

>The Sign above the door reads "The Rusty Horse Shoe".
>Gee, you wonder how they came up with /that/ name.
>"Well don't just stand there staring into space, come on!"
>She stands holding the door open, gesturing inward, and you comply.
>Once you cross the threshold, all of your senses are assaulted at once.
>The smell of smoke and alcohol fill the air of the room, dimly fogged by said fumes that seem to be sourced from a particular group way to the corner.
>There are two griffons sitting over in that group there.
>All around are gruff stallions, and the occasional mare, chatting to each other about their day, their work, their life, or their women.
>A few waitresses walk around to the tables taking orders and carrying trays with bottles and glasses, empty or full, perfectly balanced on their backs or on a hoof.
>If you never learn magic, you're gonna at least have to learn how they do that.
>At the bar counter itself sits a few patrons, and a lone bartender stallion serving drinks.
>What catches your eye is the large brimmed stetson of a familiar orange earth pony mare.
>Rainbow Dash leads you over to said mare and catches her attention by knocking her hat over her face while she was taking a sip from her glass, causing her to sputter a bit as she tries to collect herself.
>She coughs a bit before she speaks.
>"Now what's the big ahdear, pard- Oh. Rainbow Dash! Took you long 'nuff to get your flank over here!"
>Rainbow chuckles at her friend and they share a greeting hoof bump.
>"Yeah, sorry I'm late. I got hung up at Twilight's castle at some lame dinner orientation thing for her new maid." she smirk when she says that.
>You roll your eyes.
>"Oh yeah, that's right. Pinkie tol' me 'bout that new trainee o' Twi's doing something tonight. I might just have to meet them some time. Maybe at Pinkie's inevitable welcomin' party." she takes another sip of her drink.
>"Actually AJ, there's someone I'd like you to meet" Dash says.

>"Oh really now. Is this yer friend here standin' all silent like next to ya?" Applejack asks, looking over to you.
>"Yeah," Rainbow replies, "This is Mica." she says gesturing to you.
>You take that as your queue to step forward.
>"Well shoot, ah didn't expect ta meet ya so soon, especially since ya just got here." she raises a hoof to you. "Names Applejack. Resident apple farmer, and brewer of the best apple cider this side of Equestria."
>She accentuates this by taking a sip from the cup, that you guess is filled with cider.
>From the smell, you can tell it's stronger than the bottle of juice you served earlier.
>How strong though, you wonder.
>You do the polite thing and raise your hoof, slowly at first so you can get used to the balance, and then meet hers with a firm grip.
"Mica, recently employed... worker at Princess Twilight's castle."
>You both shake once.
>"Wooh, you got a strong grip on you for a mare. We might just be able to use someone like you on the farm, if'n ya ever want a change in job description."
>You wince again.
>Rainbow dash just chuckles, leaning towards her friend. "Don't be fooled AJ. This guy isn't all that he seems to be, if you know what I mean."
>"Guyh?" AJ says, raising a brow.
>She looks you up and down, and you shift a bit in place.
>"Are you sure about that sugarcube? Ah think ah'd know another mare when ah see one. And with a name like ‘Mica’, ‘n’ that voice. Ya sure you haven't had a little bit o' somethin' already? Let me smell yer breath."
>Rainbow snickers at you then leans closer to Applejack, whispering something in her ear.
>Applejack's mouth form's an 'O' shape in recognition, and you feel a bit uncomfortable.
>What did she just tell her.
>"Well allrighty then, ah guess you really are aren't a mare. Sorry bout, that, sugarcube." she says, taking another sip from her glass and it turns up empty.
>She then turns back to the bar. "Hey Rusty, another round over here! And gimmi two extras for mah friends over here!"


>You look to the bartender who nods, and in a moment three more glasses slides your way, Applejack picking up one of the muggs and handing it over to you.
>"Fer yer troubles. Rainbow tells me you've had a pretty rough day, so ah think you deserve a cold one. On me."
"Oh really? Thanks Applejack."
>You reach and take the glass, struggling to grasp the proper method of, well, grasping the mug, but manage to do so without too many tried, so you don't get any weird stares from Applehat.
>"Don't mention it, none. From what I've been told by Rainbow, you've still got a lot more troubles to deal with ahead of ya. That Teardrop lady sounds mighty strict, kinda like how mah granny used to be back in her young days with me n mah siblin's" Aj says, taking a sip from her new mug.
>"Now way, Granny Smith? Strict? Sounds like horseradish to me." Rainbow says, taking a sip of her own.
>"You'd be surprised."
>The both turn to look at you still standing there idly by, which catches you off guard.
>You kinda forgot you were even here, to be honest, watching those two in their natural habitat.
>Kinda like the show really, only more real.
"What?"
>"Well what're you waitin' on, pard? Try it out. I bet this is the first real apple family cider you'll ever really have tasted, right?"
>"AJ, he didn't even get to taste the regular cider back at the castle because Pinkie blew it up."
>"No kiddin'. That's kinda tragic to hear." she looks back to you. "Don't worry, Mica, I'll get you some regular cider to try t'morow. But for now, sip a little bit of that there hard cider. It's my special brand,-"
>Don't you fucking dare.
>"Applejack Daniels."
>Goddammit.
>You look down at the contents of your mug, the thick fizzing golden liquid sloshing around.
>You're actually gonna taste the fabled Apple Family apple cider from the show.
>Well the alcoholic version anyway.
>Let's not ruin the moment by wasting it in deep thought.

>Before you can do anything, Rainbow puts a hoof under your mug and shoves it to your mouth. "Hurry up, already."
>It forces you to take a mouthful of the cider, but you pull your tongue back just in time to block it from getting into your throat.
>You furrow your brow and the pegasus, and she sticks her tongue out at you.
>Then, it hits you.
>The taste.
>The strong taste of aged, yet somehow fresh apples.
>A wonderful blend of golden delicious, mackintosh, and smith, along with a bit of the traditional red mixed in over.
>You swallow, feeling the cool burn of the alcohol as it flows down your throat.
>Ah you miss this feeling, the last time you had a proper drink was... well you can't remember it right now, but it was a little while ago.
>A couple weeks before you ended up here.
>You stand there the you mouth open and eyes widened in bliss, staring into space and reminiscing.
>"That good, huh?" Applejack interrupts your daydreaming.
>You try to muster up a response, but just end up babbling instead, your tongue to busy tasting all that taste to work properly.
>"Yeah," Rainbow dash says, "That was my first response too."
>Applejack gets up from her stool, "Alright, y'all, how about we move on ta one o' them empty booths over there."
>She points to literally one of two booths near the back.
>You had no idea how packed this place was until now, especially considering you can still hear Applejack pretty clearly about now.
>"Yeah, I'm getting tired standing here this whole time anyways."
>The walk ahead of you, and you follow behind, lagging a bit.
>This drink is stronger than you thought it would be, you're already feeling a little tipsy.
>Rainbow Dash looks back, sees you and grins, "Don't tell me you're lightweight, Mica."
>You raise your head, stiffen your lip.
"Nah, I just wasn't prepared for this to be so strong is all."
>You take another gulp of the cider to prove a point.
>"Woa, okay. I didn't know I was dealing with a heavy drinker," she chuckles.

>You roll your eyes.
>As you walk behind the two mares following them to the booth, you hear a few woots and cat calls and a "check out the new mare in town" as you pass the other patrons.
>Rainbow chuckles again. Speaking low she says, "These guys are so in for a surprise if they-"
>She notices the glare you're sending her, via radio transmission, and stops herself short, resorting to just snickering.
"Please, don't remind me of my "situation"."
>You say as you finally arrive at the booth
>"Right," Rainbow says, taking a seat and sipping at her cider. "You're a perfectly 'straight' man, whatever that means."
>She takes another sip. "But if you're so straight, then why do you have your mane, all combed out and styled like that." And another. "And why did you wear that maid outfit," and another, "and those panties."
>Applejack nearly spits out her drink, choking it down like a pro.
>Or just choking on it.
>"He wore a what!? Ahahaha!" orange southern breaks into guffaws.
>You bury your head into your hooves and groan into the table.
"Don't remind me..."
>"Aha, ha... Sorry, sugarcube." she stops laughing, still snickering a bit though as she takes a sip of her cider. "But what in Equestria would you put on one o' those if yer suppose to be a, uh... straight 'may-yan' or whatever Dash just said? You androgynous er somethin."
>She takes another sip.
"L-look it's not my fault, alright? I didn't want to put them on."
>You finally take a sip of your own mug.
>"So what," says Rainbow, "Did you just, 'fall' into them?" she emphasizes 'fall' by doing air quotes with her hooves.
>Well, you couldn't tell them what really happened, that could raise unnecessary suspicion.
"Well no but... Anyway, I didn't even want my main like this either. But Ms. Teardrop wouldn't let me do anything myself, except get dressed for some reason."
>"Oh yeah, Applejack, you should have seen the look of Teardrop's face when she found out about Mica being a stallion." she says, taking another sip.

>"She was furious. After Twilight Pinkie and I left the room, we could hear her going off on Mica about not telling her the whole time, and letting her do his mane up like that, and not saying a word. Of course, he tried to defend himself, albeit timidly, which is understandable, but she wouldn't let him get a word out. It was hilarious. I thought he was gonna come out crying!" she starts laughing.
>You sink back in your chair.
"It wasn't that funny..."
>You're going to have nightmares about that moment for nights to come.
>You take another sip and notice the glass half full.
>The table is silent for a moment, before trade brand opens her box lid, "So Mica, where ya from?"
>You raise your head up.
>Should you tell them the truth?
>Nah, you'll leave out the obviously alien bits and just tell them the things they can more or less connect to here.
>But what can you tell them?
>As far as anyone you've met so far is concerned, up until today, you were a homeless railroad hitch hiker.
>There can't be much you can say if that were to be true.
>Rainbow looks across the table to you and notices you in deep thought, wiggling your mug absentmindedly with your head still on the table.
>You think she knows the story from Twilight, but that's based on what Twilight assumes, which could leave her to think questions concerning your origins would be a sore topic for you.
>"It's okay, dude, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to." she says.
>AJ picks up on her tone.
>Well, you've played the pity card long enough, shouldn't oversell it.
>Besides, you think you've got a story for them.
>"Listen, pard-" you raise a hoof.
"Nah, nah, it's cool." you take another gulp of the cider. Let the power of alcohol strengthen your bullshitting.
"Now let's see..."

>A few glasses later, The table is littered with empty cider mugs.
>Three for you, four for AJ, and a whopping seven for Rainbow, who has her eighth in hoof as you regale them on your wonderful life as an international explorer.
"So then I told that aussi faggot that that if his mum ev'r showed up, I'll give /her/ somethin' from down unda"
>The both laugh at your terrible joke, even though they don't get a lick of it, but it's probably just the booze.
>Rainbow laughs so hard that she starts breaking out into a chain of hiccups.
>Definitely the booze.
>"Aahahahaha wow. Dang, Mica, das some cold shit right der." gulp "I bet dat guy was all red up wit rage."
>Apparently Rainbow becomes a black American when she gets drunk.
>"Yeah, sugarcube," AJ says between chuckles, "yer quite the hoot, that's fer sure."
>Then she gets up. "Well, ah best be gettin on my way then. Got some apple buckin to do in the mornin'."
>Rainbow leans on AJ, "Aw cmon, bb gurl, wher u goin. the night's still young, we can make it work."
>Applejack just shakes her head. "Rainbow Dash, you're drunk."
>Rainbow just laughs like AJ said the funniest thing in the world, "Yeah, I like funk too."
>Shit, girl is smashed.
>And she called you a lightweight.
>Applejack turns to you, "Make sure she gets home safe, eh, Mica. She always gets like this when we go out. Sorry I can't help ya none, I've kinda bit out later than I should already. My lil sis gets worried when I'm gone for too long at night."
>You nod.
>"Take good care of her for me." she says, putting on her hat, as she slides out of the booth and heads to the door.
>You look at the hammered bluefast trying to counter the fingers on her hooves.
>You're not even sure how she knows the word, or why she thinks she has fingers.
>Then again, Minotaurs are a thing, but that doesn't explain why she thinks she has fingers.
"Damn, girl, you drunk." you say to her.
>She registers your voice, and a weird smile grows on her face.
>"Say Mica..."


----


>You're not sure about the tone she takes when she does that.
"Yeah, what's up."
>She, literally, drags herself over to your side of the booth, laying herself against you as she asks, "You know how you say you're a stallion right?"
>You raise a brow.
"Yeah?"
>"And you remember how earlier when I tackled you off the bed, and straddled you."
>You can guess where she's going with this, but you're not sure you can take advantage like that.
"You mean when pinned me?"
>She takes a huge whiff of you, like actually burying her snout into your neck and inhales deeply.
>"You know, you smell reeeeaaally good." another wiff. "Like reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally *sniff* good..."
>You're shiver.
>Yeah, you know /exactly/ what's going on here.
>And as much as you like what's going on here.
>You'd feel dirty if you let what's going on here actually go somewhere.
>He breath carries the heavy scent alcohol.
>And speaking of smells, what's she talking about?
>Is it because you used all that soap earlier?
>"Hey there, lil lady" comes a husky voice from behind you.
>You turn to see an equally husky looking stallion, and from the looks of it, he's had more than his share as well.
>"How about you ditch the queer over there and get with a real stallion."
>He starts flexing.
>The scent of his breath finally hits you, and whooh boy, you don't think even rats could stand that stench.
>This guys over the limit.
>That accompanied with the fact that he's hitting on you, or trying to anyway, makes retch.
"Ay, listen buddy-".
>Rainbow suddenly hops up, "Hey there, Pal! You better back off if you know what's good for ya."
>The stallion stops his muscleman impression and his expression turns as he addresses Dash.
>"Hey, watch it, Dyke, I'm to pick up a lady over here."
>"What did you say to me!" Dash doesn't seem to take to kindly to this gentleman's words. "Say that again! I dare you!"
>She gets in his face.
>Now kiss.

>Maybe you should actually step in before this escalates any further.
>You slide your hooves between them and /attempt/ to separate them.
>Their pretty tenacious.
>You pull back and clear your throat instead.
"Alright you two, break it up. You're both drunk. How about we all just go home and-"
>"You hear that, Dyke? Ya girl says she's coming home with me." he says smugly.
>Rainbow looks to you, hurt for a moment, before catching herself and turns back to the burly stallion.
>"Nuh uh, no way. There's no way Mica's going anywhere with you. Besides, h-"
>"Yeah yeah, whatever." He reaches for your hoof, but you pull away and look at him with disgust.
"Hey, watch it buddy."
>"Aw, what's the matter, ya shy?" he says with a grin.
>What you think is his posse starts to come in to observe the commotion there friend seems to be causing.
>Ohey, it's those two griffons from earlier.
>Now that they're closer, it looks like they're of different gender, so a couple maybe?
>That's not important now, anyway.
>The manlier one speaks up, "Okay, Pack, you've had your fun, but I think it's about time we called it a night."
>He gestures to the rest of the bar, only a few ponies still in, and the bartender polishing a glass.
>You think he's watching your little group, but from here you can't be sure.
>"Just a second, Leo. Hey, if ya come with me I'll buck ya straight. Who knows, you might even enjoy a little stallion in ya."
>Griffon guy face palms shaking his head, griffon chick giggles, and Rainbow gins at him.
>He looks back to them, then to her. "Hey what's so funny."
>"Oh nothing, little stallion." Rainbow chuckles at her joke.
>The behemoth flares his nostrils, glaring down at your blitzed booze buddy.
>The 'Leo' guy places a claw on 'Pack's’ shoulder.
>"Come on, Pack, we should leave before-"
>"Is there a problem over here?"

>You all turn to the voice and notice the bartender walking up to you lot.
>A dark brown stallion with a short cut Indigo, wearing a white sleeved button shirt with a smooth grey button up vest with white stripes and a red white-striped bowtie.
>You’re gonna have to get something like that for your uniform.
>Leo steps forward, "Sorry, sir, but we were actually just about to leave." He looks back to the fuming rock pony, "Right?"
>The stallion holds his ground against the sneering rainbow until the other griffon nudges him.
>He flares again, and turns his head to the side, grumbling.
>Leo sighs, "Yeah, sorry for the trouble. We'll-"
>The bartender shakes his head, "Don't worry about it. We don't get many griffons in Ponyville, so I can tell you're new here."
>He glances to you for a moment, then back to them.
>"If you're friends with Pack, then while you're here you can do me a favor. He always seems to go over his limit in the middle of the night."
>He looks over the stallion, "Sometimes I have to kick him out for causing trouble, much like tonight." he sighs. "And I thought I told a certain waitress to stop serving him drinks an hour ago!" he shouts to the back.
>You hear a gasp and the sound of glass shattering.
>He shakes his head again.
>You notice lady griffon leading the drunken stallion to the exit.
>Leo speaks up, scratching his head feathers "Yeah, I thought it was funny the way that one waitress kept coming back to the table so much. Anyway, the wife and I are staying at his place on a visit, so we can keep an eye on him for you. He's actually an old friend of mine. Sorry about the trouble though."
>He looks to you and a doting Rainbow Dash, "And sorry to you, um..."
"Mica."
>You look down at your dazed companion.
"And Rainbow Dash." you say, speaking for her.
>"Right," he says. "Sorry about my friend causing trouble for you two, especially for you ma'am."
>Okay, this has to stop.
"Sir."
>"Huh?"
"especially for you, Sir."

>He tilts his head, raising a brow at you "I don’t follow."
>You sigh.
>Rainbow decides speak up, “Heheh, this ain't no mare dude. Got a *burp* dick and everything.”
>You face-hoof.
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash."
>She pats your shoulder, now propping herself against "No problem bruh, any time."
>The griffon seems surprised at this, whereas the bartender stallion just sniffs.
>"Really?" Leo inquires, giving you a good once over.
>"Yea," Dash says, "he's what you'd call a genuine trap."
>Leo starts to look at you funny, "Well, I guess, If that's how you want to live your life."
>His wife calls to him, "Well, that's me. I guess I'll see you all around the next few days."
>He turns around and heads for the door.
>Goddammit.
"Wait, It's not like that!"
>"Don't worry," he says back, "I don't judge the lifestyle of ponies. You, be you, guy. My name's Leonhard, by the way"
"But-"
>He waves away as joins the other two and they head out, the doors closing behind them.
>You turn back to the table and look to Rainbow dash who is smirking.
>You groan, she seems to have sobered up some after that bit.
>"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, though, Rainbow." the bartender speaks up.
>She turns to him and whines, "C’mon, Rusty, what did I do."
>"You're just as bad as Pack with your habits. You had me worried I'd have to clean up a mess of feathers, blood, and glass. Or at least, have one of the waitresses do it. And we wouldn't want that now would we."
>Rainbow looks down for a moment. "But- but he called me-"
>"You know how Pack can get after he's had bit too much."
>"Still-"
>"And you're barely any different." he rebukes. "You both need to learn some self control."
>"Tch, whatever" she folds her arms.
>He turns to you, "And you."
"Wh-"
>"I'd also like to apologize for Pack's behavior towards you. When he really gets deep in the bottle, he loses his sense and starts hitting any young thing with a pretty mane."

>You sigh, drifting a hoof through your still pretty well groomed mane.
>"Yeah, see. One of my waitresses knows him well, and was probably trying to get him drunk enough so he'd notice her. She's got a bit of a crush on him, you see, but she's kinda shy around him."
"Then why didn't she try drinking a bit to loosen up herself."
>"Now, we can't have our waitresses drinking on the job. It's bad for business."
"Right..."
>"It must be tough being a stallion when you look like that."
"Yeah, I-. Wait, what do you mean."
>"Well, you said it's not like that, right?" you nod. "It would be pretty hard to pick up a mare when they think you're one of them, or a random colt comes trying to make a pass at you."
>Sounds like it's gonna suck to be you.
>"I mean, unless you're actually into tha-"
"No!"
>He reaches into his vest pocket, “Relax, I’m joking.”
>He extend his hoof to rainbow dash, holding out a strip of paper.
>Rainbow notices and reaches for it, taking it. "What's this?" she asks.
>"The bill for your drinks." He turns and heads back to the bar.
>She skims over it, "What they hay! Didn't Applejack say she'd cover it?"
>He looks back, but keeps walking. "She said she'd cover your "next round". I don't remembering that having to do with the rest of the drinks."
>Rainbow face gets more flushed with anger. "Rusty, you-"
>"Sorry, Dash, we're closing." He stops at a door at the back. "You can pay me back tomorrow. Do me a favor and catch the lock on your way out."
>He goes through, and Dash huffs, "How am I supposed to lock it without a key!"
>Click
>"Grr..."

>You didn't even realize the bar was empty now.
>You slide out of the booth, and dash limply follows, getting onto her hooves and uses you for support.
>Oh right, in all that commotion, you forgot she was supposed to be drunk.
>Guess she can hold it better than you thought.
>Probably gonna have a wicked hangover tomorrow, though.
>"Alright,  Onward."
>You look to the door to the exit.
>It's weird how he trusts you both to just leave without taking any of the now unattended booze AND lock the door on your way out.
>Maybe the ponies really are just that trusting, or maybe he has some influence or a way of surveillance.
>Ponies, man.
>You exit the bar and are greeted to the cold spring night air.
>Rainbow closes the door behind you.
>You shiver as a soft breeze blows over, pushing your mane in front of your face.
>She props herself against you again, and you welcome the warmth she brings with her.
>"Alright, let's go! You're my designated walker tonight, so you lead the way."
>Designated walker.
>You begin moving forward, finding the path that leads to the castle.
"Where should I take you, exactly?"
>"I don't know, anywhere that isn't as cold as it is out here."
>She pulls herself closer to you.
>You have to shift your weight to keep yourself balanced.
>Well, at least she's not- *sniifffffffff* , "Ah... Why do you smell so good, Mica?"
>oi...
"I guess I used a bit too much soap in the bath after Pinkie blew up."
>She sniffs again and you shiver.
"Could you stop that, please?"
>She leans closer, "I know, how about about your room in the castle. The bed in there are pretty soft." she sniffs again, "And we won't need any sheets to keep warm."

>You push her head back with a hoof, feeling a new heat rising to your face.
"Well, I was headed there anyway... But I can't sleep in there. You broke my door remember?"
>Gotta think of a way out of this.
>"So? What harm's an open door gonna do?"
"Who leaves their bedroom door open in the middle of the night? And I like my privacy."
>Rainbow ponders over your words, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Can't have anypony walking in on us."
"Please don't talk like than while you're drunk."
>She reaches a hoof up and starts digging in her mane.
>She pulls out a tiny bottle. Like real tiny.
"What's that?"
>"I have an idea. This," she holds it out to show you, "Is a concentrated version of the cloud-walking spell. Lasts for about half a days worth. Had Twilight whip this up for mean in case I ever wanted to bring a non-pegasus to my house."
"Why?"
>You gaze longingly at the tiny treasure she dangles before you.
>"To show off. Ever walked on a cloud, before, Mica?"
"Only in dreams."
>She shoves it to your chest, "Well you’re dreams are about to come true. Drink up, I'm taking you skyward."
>You grab it.
"You're not flying me up there are you? You sure you're okay to do that? You're not exactly walking straight on your own."
>Not that you're faring any better.
>You've nearly tripped on once or twice since you've started walking.
>The four rounds and the fact that you're sort of walking for two.
>"I may be too drunk to walk a straight line, but I can handle myself anytime in the air. I AM the best flier Equestria."
>Self-proclaimed
>The fastest flier maybe.
>You wiggle the vial.
"I'm not so sure..."
>She grabs your hoof and shoves the bottle to your mouth, just like at the bar, forcing you to down the contents.
>You nearly gag at the shock of it, but it doesn't taste all that bad.
>It's actually pretty fruity.
>Grape maybe?

>You swat her hoof away and pluck the bottle from your mouth, glaring at her.
>She smirks, "How are you feeling."
>You're starting to feel a bit lighter on your hooves.
>Like the gentle breeze of the night could knock you over.
"Umm..."
>She suddenly lifts off of you and shoves her hooves under your shoulders. "Good enough for me."
>She flares her wings. "Let's go!"
"Wait I'm not read- Gah!"
>With a mighty flap of her wings, you both lift off of the ground.
>She zooms off into the sky, carrying you effortlessly as she cuts across the sky.
>You're legs are flailing wildly in the air as she drags you along.
>You then realize you're probably hundreds of feet above ground right now and shut your eyes tight.
>Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down.
>You feel that you've come to a sudden halt.
>Then, you feel her hooves sliding out from under your arms.
"What are yo-"
>"Just trust me" she says, right before dropping you out of the sky.
>You begin to panic, flailing your hooves around trying to grab hold of the pegasus.
>"Hey watch it, you trying to kill me?"
>She lets you go.
>You scream as you freefall to the earth below.
>You even scream like a girl.
>This is the end of the line for you, you couldn't survive, and you have your fate decided.
>Murdered by a drunken wing horse how sent you plummeting from X hundred feet high, your body splattered on the ground, undecipherable to anyone  who discovers it.
>Your life flashes before your eyes.
>All coming to a halt at the moment you clicked that website link.
>You wonder what you would be doing today If you hadn't-
>Pomf

>Well, that was a rather softer landing than you expected.
>Maybe ponies really are made out of marshmallows or something.
>You peek an eye open to see how in the hell you're still alive to find that you are lying on a large surface of fluffy white clumps.
>Opening both eyes, you see the night sky.
>Other than the surface, the sky is all you see.
>Yep, this is a cloud.
>You are lying on a cloud.
>So the spell thing worked then.
>Turning a bit, you can see that you're on a kind of balcony.
>You crawl over to the edge of the, and looking over...
>Yep, you're definitely on a cloud.
>Hundreds of feet above ground level.
>You scoot as far away from the edge as you can, bumping into something that blocks you from going any further.
>You look up to see Rainbow standing over you, a smug expression decorating her features.
>“You doing okay there, champ?”
>You're a little embarrassed after all that, and and you’re heart’s still racing, so you can't come up with anything to say.
>"Whenever you're done pissing yourself, you can go ahead and crash on my bed, I gotta go downstairs and fix a few things. I'll join you later."
"Oh, oka- whoa wait. Why your bed."
>She chuckles.
>"Well, yeah, I only got one piece of actual furniture in this whole  mansion. I know, I know, but I'm hardly ever actually in here anyway. I mostly just have a kitchen with food and a fridge, with some cupboards for storage, and that one pool down there." She points over the edge.
>You don't wanna look back over there.

"Oh, okay, so you don't have a couch then. But this is all cloud anyway, I can just sleep on the floors right?"
>"Trust me, you wouldn't want to lay on a cloud for too long.  Especially with you not being a pegasus, you might actually start to sink through if you don't move after a while."
>You look down at yourself, and notice you have begun to sink a little.
>"Sleeping on a cloud isn't as comfortable as they say you know. Trust me, I know. Clouds are made of both water AND dust you know. Besides, my floors are actually pretty solid, and I haven't cleaned them in about a week."
>Well, you don't know about all that, you've slept through worse.
"I move around in my sleep a lot anyway, or so I've been told. You wouldn't wanna share a bed with someone like that, right? And besides, I don't mind getting a little dirty."
>She smirks and turns around, walking into a doorway, shaking her hips as she does.
>Sloppily, thought, given her drunken state. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
>She crosses the threshold, but shouts back "Make yourself comfortable, but don't touch anything!"
>You roll your eyes.
>She pokes her head back through, "I'm serious! If I find any of my limited edition stuff out of place by even a millimeter, I'm gonna make sure you feel it!"
>She emphasizes the end of her sentence with a motion of her hoof similar to making a strike.
"Alright I get it. But I drank a lot, What If I have to pee!"
>"You're a colt, ain't ya? Piss over the edge!" she shouts back from further in the room.
>You sigh.
>Getting up, you follow her way into her house proper.
>Looking around, you see her room is just like in the first Daring Do, episode, albeit a little more detailed.
>It’s so much better to see in first person all the little things you couldn’t see on the 2D screen.
>Absorbing the entire layout, you almost walk right into into a pillar, you’re so distracted.

>Now's not the time for that though.
>Right now, you're in quite the situation.
>You are now held captive in the bedroom of a drunken, and apparently horny athletic pegasus.
>Normally, you'd be down with this kinda thing, and hell, as a horsefucker, not a real one of course, you'd be diamonds in anticipation for this moment.
>I mean, you're about to actually fuck one of the ponies from the show.
>One of the main characters.
>And they're coming on to you!
>Sorta, kinda, influence, whatever.
>You'd probably be the first person ever to
>Cum inside Rainbow Dash.
>You don't know if it's drunken stupidity, or a sense moral fiber, but right now, it doesn't feel like you should actually go through with this.
>But when are you gonna get another chance like this?
>When will this trial end?
>Will you even be able to come back here when this is over?
>Why are you even self-debating all of this, you should-
>Woah, is that what you think it is?
>You walk over to the bed and notice a book over by a night stand.
>It is.
>A Daring Do book!
>An actual Daring Do book, not one made by Hasjew or the Brownies, but a real live, genuine, Daring Do book from the actual...
>You can't help yourself.
>You snatch the book up and hop onto the bed.

>You scoot back to the bed rest and flip the book so you can see the cover.
>Daring Do and the Cult of The Crystal Gems.
>What a weird title, but still sounds pretty interesting.
>You read it out loud a few times to get a feel for it, cautious to keep your voice down so as not to alert your warden.
>Now, this is a good book cover and all, but...
>Now you face a problem.
>You fiddle around with the book for a moment.
>Turning it this way and that, attempting to use your hooves, but with a lack of experience, you can't seem to get anything done.
>You try meditation, but you can't get our horn to work.
>You try flicking it, but that only... stimulated you.
>You consider using your teeth to open it, but then you'd leave marks.
>Then Dash would know you were messing with it.
>You sigh
>Maybe you should just put it back on the stand before she gets back.
>You lean over and set the book back, straightening it on the the desk as best you can, trying to make it look like it wasn't tampered with.
>Then, to make it look more convincing, you tilt it ever so slightly so it doesn't look too uniform.
>There, that looks okay.
>Now you just have to pull away and act na-
>"Ahem."
>You freeze.
"Um, okay this looks bad, but..."
>Yeah, you're totally fucked.
>You hope she wasn't serious with her threat before.
>"I thought I told you not to touch anything..." she sounds like she's getting closer.
>After a moment, you feel the bed displace as she hops onto it.

>"I warned you what would happen." You feel her breath on the back of your neck.
>Yep, this is it, game over.
>Time to face your demons.
"L-look Dash, honest, I-"
>As you speak, trying to come up with an excuse, you turn over.
>The sight that greets you, is a bit too familiar.
>Though, it's probably a bit more frightening than last time.
>Rainbow Dash stands over you, once again, panting.
>This time though, there are traces of sweat all over her face.
>Which, by the way, is much redder across her cheeks and the bridge of her snout.
>She stares at you hungrily, a lustful look in her eyes.
>Once again, she has you pinned, her hooves hook themselves to your sides, pressing your arms against you so you are unable to move them.
>Your hind legs are caught behind her, and you couldn't bring them in to kick her off if you tried.
>"Now you're really going to feel it."
>You feel helpless as she bears down on you, pressing her muzzle into your chest, taking a strong whiff of your essence.
>"I don't know what you put in that bath of yours... But It's got me real excited right now."
>You gulp.
>You have many fetishes, some of them can even be disturbing given a situation pertaining.
>You've fapped to some of the craziest shit on the internet.
>But among all your fetishes, being raped by a drunk chick crazy in heat is not one of them.
>Okay, maybe it is, but that’s besides the point.
"Listen, Rainbow-"
>She lifts her head up, bringing her face closer to yours.
>"Call me Dashie..."
>Eeee....
"D-dashie..."

>She starts to nibble on your ear (pick one) and one of your legs (pick one) twitches involuntarily.
>You accidentally kick her hips and she pitches up.
>"Oh, sensitive are we?" she smiles, and goes back to it.
>You give out a low moan.
>This is so wrong...
"Dash, we- I- you shouldn't do this."
>She pauses for a moment and lifts her head up again, "Why? It feels good doesn't it? Was I wrong?"
"N-no actually, it's weird, but I actually- what, no what am I saying?"
>You take a short breath.
"Dash-"
>"Da-shie" she corrects.
"DaSHIE. You're drunk. Like really fucking drunk. What you're doing right now, is this something you'd normally do sober?"
>She looks up in thought a for literally half a second, "Meh, probably not. But what's wrong with a little fun once in a while."
"Your quest for 'fun' is driven by what was possibly just an aphrodisiac."
>"Yeah, so, what's that got to do with anything."
>Eh?
"You know what an aphrodisiac is right?"
>"Um... yeah, that's like... A mushroom right?"
"Er, sort of."
>"I like mushrooms. And you know what mushrooms make me think of?"
>She starts grinding on your lap.
>You shudder.

>You feel damp.
>But that moisture isn't coming from you.
"Dash-"
>She looks at you
"-shie. We only met like, what, a couple hours ago?"
>"Are you saying you don't actually want to get a piece of the Dash?"
>You almost wanna laugh at how she said that.
>A piece of the Dash.
>Wait, that's not funny.
>Why is that funny.
>Oh, right.
"No, that's not what I'm saying."
>"Then what's the problem. I thought you said you're into mares. Or were you just being insecure."
>You hesitate before you speak.
"Well, now that's-"
>She interrupts you, shutting you up by pressing her lips against yours.
>You feel something warm and moist slip between your lips and wriggle around in your mouth.
>Her tongue thrashes around wildly within, before viciously attacking your own.
>You can taste everything she's had tonight.
>Of course, you'd had about the same as her, but the intensity of the traces on her tongue are bringing those flavors back fresh.
>Even the burning of the alcohol is carried in her breath as she wrestles with your quivering muscle, totally subduing it and fight her way to the back of your throat.
>You put up a valiant effort in an attempt to hold fort, but become utterly submissive to her will, letting her continue to take advantage of you in your vulnerable state.
>After she's satisfied with her domination of your alimentary orifice, she slowly begins to cease momentarily.

>She pulls away from you, a string of saliva connecting your tongues as both of your mouths remain agape.
>"You talk too much. I'm more of a Do kinda mare than a sit-and-talk."
>She leans back in, and with your mouth still open in shock, she begins to suckle on your exposed tongue.
>You don't know what to do or say right now.
>This is a bit surreal.
>You'd never have thought something like this would happen to you.
>She stops suckling on your tongue and starts kissing your neck.
>She takes subtle sniffs in between, tracing lower and lower as she does.
>She's removed her hooves from your side as she makes her way further south.
>Now would be a good chance for you to attempt stop her, and she knows this.
>But after that kiss, she's pretty confident that you wouldn't want to stop her anymore.
>She'd be right about that.
>Whatever possessed you to want to make her stop, that spirit has been lifted.
>A long with a certain member of your person.
>She pokes it with a hoof, "Oh, looks like someone else is getting a bit excited too."
>You shudder as she begins to gently rub a hoof along your erect length, "What's wrong, you've gone all quiet now."
>She presses a cheek against it, "Weren't you just trying to tell me to stop a minute ago?"
>She looks pretty smug right now for someone with your cock pressed against her face.
>Sticking her tongue out, she runs it along your shaft, starting from the lip of your sheath, to the head of your flare.
>You let out another low moan as she continues to drag her tongue along your throbbing piece.
>It's still weird to look at that thing, being in a body you're not familiar with, with an organ so similar yet so different.
>Well, at least you still have it.
>You don't know what you would have done if it got switch out for the other one.
[spoiler]>Probably masturbate furiously.[/spoiler]

>She cups your balls in one of her wings, and begins to stroke you with the other, the softness of the feathers sending an odd wave of pleasure through you as the bristles gently graze you by their tip,
>Rainbow begins to suckle at the tip of your flare, her tongue teasing at the glands at the mouth of your urethra.
>You've never been stimulated this way before, a jolt traveling through the extremely sensitive nerves being sent with every deliberate flick of her tongue and brush of a feather.
>As she does this, she slides one of her hooves between her legs and begins to rub at her overheated and sensitive lips.
>She has her eyes closed in concentration, her lids twitching as she tries to stay focused through it all.
>Then, she opens her mouth, easing onto the head of your girth.
>Slowly, she begins to descend, your shaft grazing her teeth as you go further though, coming to a stop when you reach her throat.
>Just as slowly, she begins to pull her head upwards,  leaving behind a trail of saliva in her wake.
>Your dick comes out of her mouth with an audible wet pop, and she licks her lips, opening her eyes to stare into yours.
>You are a mess of sweat and heavy breathing, your face about as red as hers, and you could barely keep your eyes open.
>She smiles, "You look like you're about done already. Compared the stamina of an average stallion though, I'm surprised you even lasted this long."
>You moan as she begins stroking you with her wing again, "If you can, hold out for a bit longer. I'd like to enjoy you a bit more."
>You say nothing as she begins to take you in again, slowly descending over your hardened member, and begins to bob lightly.
>Your fore-hooves dig into the sheets as she does.
>Her wings lightly stroking you as she bobs up and down over your cock, her mouth gripped tight around the shaft, while another wing gently plays with your jewels.

>With every third trip as she reaches the peak, she takes a second to tease your glands some more with her tongue.
>You feel as if you could burst at any moment.
>She stops using her wings, and places both her hooves onto the bed.
>She slowly raises her head all the way until her mouth is barely over the tip, then she-
>!!!
>You tongue thrusts itself out of your mouth, hanging off to the side as you stare wide-eyed at the ceiling.
>You are now balls deep down the throat of the multicolored pegasus.
>Her tongue laps at your balls as she holds you there, a visible bulge in her neck.
>Slowly she slides back up, making slurping and gagging noises along the way.
>Then she goes back down, and it feels as if you went even deeper.
>You bite your lip as she resumes her steady pace, deepthroating you with a wonderful sense of rhythm.
>Another pop as pulls off and she releases you from her mouth.
>"Pah. Man, you're bigger than I thought." she says between gasps for breath
"..."
>"I think it's about time we moved onto the next step."
>You watch blearily as she climbs over you, and stops when she's perfectly positioned with her soaking, reddened lips hovering in line with your fully erect stallion-hood aimed directly at the point of entry.
>"You ready for the fun part?" she says, looking down at you.
>She wiggles her hips above you and almost loses balance on the bed.
>"Whoa... better do this quick before pass out."
>Without warning, she slams herself down on you, and her head shoots up, her eyes widening.
>"Fuck!"
>Her walls are tighter than you would've imagined them.
>You feel the intense heat of her insides as she gripes ever so tightly around your shaft.
>You look at her expression to she her gritting her teeth, her eyes closed tightly.
>"Dammit, got it in the wrong hole..."
>Oh wow, so that's why.
>She shakily a attempts to rise off of you, but falls short, slamming herself down against.
>You both grunt loudly in unison.
>This is too much.

>Her hips shift on your lap as she attempts to adjust herself, "Oh well,  no point in stopping now."
>She slowly begins to grind on you with you deep inside of her, her sphincter grasping tightly around your shaft as she does so.
>You grunt, biting your lip at the intense sensation.
>Your arms move on their own, and you take a good hold of her hips.
>"Oh, so you can move now, huh?" she raises up a bit, revealing a bit of your shaft.
>She then slams back down roughly, sending ripples through the bed that cause you to bounce, and forcibly thrust you even deeper.
>She gasps.
>"Co-come on, stud, you can't let me do all the work here." she begins to ride you, sending even more waves of pleasure through you.
>You grab her hips and began thrusting on your own, and she starts moaning with each pump.
>"Oh yeah..."
>She leans downward, laying against you as you begin to do thrust after thrust into her tight ponut, biting your lip and grunting a moan with every slap of your hips meeting.
>You suddenly roll over, and she gasps in surprise as you lay her on her back, taking her legs in your hooves.
>"Look who's finally decided to take control." she says, look up at you with her eyes barely open.
"Sh-shut up."
>She pushes herself up and your lips meet again, "Give me all you got, Mica, and don't hold back."
>She lays back down and you spread her legs a bit wider so you can get a good view of her untapped snatch.
>"What are you waiting for," She reaches a hoof down and begins to rub at herself.
>Wow, they really do wink.
>That would be a turnoff if you weren't already half buried into her ass.
>Slowly you begin to thrust again, and she lets out another moan.
>"Ung~ come on, man, you can do... Oh~ better than that."
>She begins to rub herself even furiously, biting a hoof as you thrust deeper and deeper into her anus.
>She starts to prod at her opening.
>"Harder!"
>You lean over and begin to thrust faster.
>"Yeah, unf~, keep that up."

>You prop yourself on one hoof, holding one of her legs up.
>This forces her to lay on her side, but you keep going.
>Looking down at her, you see a moaning pile of bliss.
>She's stopped hoofing herself, laying there taking it like a champ, her tongue lolled out to the side of her face, moaning with every thrust.
>Pretty soon, you've reached your limit.
>You give a couple more rough thrusts before you finally bottom out into her rectum.
>G-get it?
>The feeling of your seed filling her sends her over the edge as well, and she sprays juices onto your stomach and the bed.
>You give a few more weak thrusts until your man batter begins to leak out around your crotch.
>You fall to your side behind her.
>You both lie there, panting and spent.
>You wrap your arms around her back, spooning her, and she wraps her own hooves around yours.
>Your cock is firmly lodged into her backside, but neither of you make any effort to move or get it out.
>Rainbow sighs as she nestles herself into you.
>"You know, Mica, I never tried that until just now, but it was better than I thought it would be."
"You're telling me..."
>"You were good too."
"Okay, hold up."
>She sighs and mumbles out, "Yeah, maybe we should do it again sometime..."
"W-what?"
>She doesn't respond, and after a minute or two you hear her breathing began to slow, and you feel her chest rhythmically rising and falling slowly.
>Wait, she's out just like that?
>You sigh, and reach for the sheets.
>Lifting them from under you, you manage to cover you both up, pulling yourself closer to her.
>You still haven't pulled out yet, but you're still a bit too tired for that, never mind the fact that you just lift a sheet out from under you both.
>As you drift off, you begin to wonder how this little story's gonna play out once you wake up.
>Boy, that's gonna be a great start of the morning.
>Closing your eyes, for the second time since coming here, you begin to drift off into the land of dreams and fantasy.

~~*~~~~*~~

>You wake up.
>You feel the heat of sunlight pouring in over the side of your face.
>You also feel that your head is pressed against something hard and rugged, like a broad board with a bunch of lumps poking out of it.
>As you do, the lumps seem to release themselves somewhat, but never leaving the surface and sticking to your face, to your relief.
>You lean back, removing your face drone what is probably the most uncomfortable headrest.
>It feels discomforting, yet some how familiar.
>You cup your mouth as you yawn, leaning back into your chair and reaching upward to stretch your arms out.
>You rub your fingers through your hair and scratch your back as you-
>Wait.
>Your eyes shoot open.
>You stare ahead of you at the black computer screen in front of you.
>Your computer...
>What the hell?
>Looking down, you notice that what you were using for a pillow was the keyboard of your laptop.
>You rub your forehead, feeling the patterns and lines of the keys in your skin.
>The screen boots up, and goes straight to your desktop rather than a blocked login screen.
>No one else uses your laptop but you anyway, so you turned the lock of.
>It only ever needs you to log in after its been turned off, logged off, set to hibernate, or locked manually.
>You're greeted with the page you last saw on the screen before you lost consciousness that night.
>There is the smiling silhouette of the pony just like before, except now it's dancing, you think, hopping on leg to leg, front left and back left, while kicking out the opposites in either direction.
>It seems pretty silly how it starts to do different moves, strutting around, bouncing back and forth, bobbing it's head to a rhythm of music unheard.
>But wait, you being here, back in your room...
>What does this mean
>Was it all just a dream?
>You stare at the screen with the silly dancing pony silhouette with that creepy grin on its face.
>It all seemed so vivid...

>You raise a hand in front of your face and look at it.
>You shrug and pull back away from your desk in your rolley wheely spinny chair.
>Might as well do your morning routine then.
>You groggily get up to a stand.
>On your feet.
>It feels, weird to say the least.
>Like your body in that moment was not yours at all.
>You ease back into it fairly quickly though, dragging your feet as you shuffle your way to your bathroom.
>Your first stop is the mirror.
>Grabbing your razor off of the counter, you step in front of the sink and turn on the faucet.
>You stick your hands into the water and slap it into your face.
>You look into the mirror at the scruffy face of a young man in his prime.
>A bit of stubble littered across your face, a few bags under your eye.
>You rub them then reach into a drawer for the cream.
>After applying, you go through the whole process of dehairifying your face.
>After that is done you quickly throw off your shirt to hop into the shower.
>You pause as you are about to take off your boxers.
>You look back into the mirror.
>Yep, that's you alright.
>You aren't really all that out of shape, but you're not exactly the athletic type either.
>Still, you got the average build for someone your age might have, if they ate properly.
>A visible set of four in the place of where your abs should be, and your pectorals are more or less defined, but not like, really hard toned or anything.
>To say the least, you're not exactly flimsy, you can still hold yourself against anyone.
>Against someone huge, you could probably handle them with your wits.
>By running away.
>Most of all, in means you're actually back to yourself again.
>You resume your stripping and look down to your erogenous organ.
>It’s a relief seeing things back to normal, human cock.
>Do you do sort of miss having and oddly disportionately sized dong for your body.
>You turn on the water in the tip and lift the tiny metal tool rod thing that activates the shower head.


>Once the running water is at a comfortable temperature, you step in under it, sighing as the warm stream washes away the stress of the night.
>You reach for the soap and towel and rub them together and begin to scrub yourself.
>As you go through the motions of bathtub hygiene, your thoughts drift to that oddly realistic dream you had last night.
>Like seriously, all the things you saw, all the things you smelled, you tasted, you heard, you felt.
>It all felt too... real for just a dream.
>That must have been a pretty damn powerfully lucid dream you had.
>Especially that last part...
>Your hands begin to move a little south as you remember the happenings of that moment.
>"My, aren't we enjoying ourselves..."
>You freeze.
>That... That voice.
>Could it…
>You thinking in your mind “Hello?” and wait a moment.
>You get no response.
>You must be hearing things, maybe you’re still a bit too tired..
>Still, your thoughts are right.
>You're not just some lonely loser who masterbates in the shower every morning, are you?
>You pour some shampoo into your palms and rub them together.
>You then begin to rub it into your hair and scalp.
>Gotta keep your hair clean and fresh.
>After you complete your shower, you step out, wrapping yourself in a towel.
>Yeah, you live on your own sure, you can walk around naked if you want.
>But hey! Its fucking cold in your apartment, even without the AC turned on, and you don't know why.
>Well, its not /that/ cold, but its cold enough to tell to not walk around naked and soaking wet.
>Taking another towel off the rack you use it to dry your hair.
>Then you hear the door to your bedroom creak open
>You freeze again.
>Shit, is someone breaking in?
>Its not even 8:30 yet, who would be trying to break in this early.
>You lean against the door and put your ear to it to listen for footsteps.
>After a while of waiting, you her nothing.
>Maybe you just left your bedroom door open and a stray breeze from an open window pushed it.

>Yeah that has to be it.
>What are you even worried about, that voice?
>Ha yeah, that was just a dream wasn't it?
>Come to think of it, last you remember for all of that was thinking thinking to yourself something about low blood pressure.
>You probably just passed out because of that and sleep deprivation or something.
>You gotta remind yourself to ask your doctor for a prescription subscription later, that could be serious if it's responsible for you having such a weird dream.
>Despite all the weirdness of it all you still wish you could go back, even though if you went back now, where you were, it would be extremely awkward.
>And you never did get to learn how to use your magic either.
>You put your hand on the doorknob and sigh.
>You twist and it opened easily.
>Good old hands, glad to have you back.
>Maybe you can get them a pair of gloves as a reward for being so helpful and reliable in your everyday life.
>Working with hooves was practically hell, well, at least it was when it came to something as "precise" as turning a simple doorknob.
>You're sure you can do it. Other ponies done it, so you know you can.
>You shake your head.
>Why are you even thinking about this.
>You walk out into your living room and head to the kitchen.
>You open your fridge and see what you got in there.
>You got some PB n J in there, and some slices of honey wheat...
>Wonder if your toaster still works.
>If not, you can just use ye olde pan and flame.
>Your stove.

>You have a gas stove, because fuck yeah, propane!
>You take out the food items and walk over to the toaster.
>You stick in the bread, and set the two jars aside and wait.
>You didn't see any juice or anything in the fridge, but you got some fruits and a blender.
>Maybe you could make a smoothie?
>You prefer milk, but you don't have any of that.
>Maybe you'll settle for some water instead, with some apple slices.
>You dig back into the fridge and pull out a nice red one.
>Huh, you don't remember your apple being this full before.
>Maybe you got the right bunch from that fruit vender.
>Maybe those "all natural" hippies are actually onto something, this apple looks down right juicy.
>You pull your cutting board from behind the dish rack and grab a knife from the wall-mounted holster.
>As you carve the apple into even slices of six.
>What, 6 is your lucky number.
>The toaster dings and the slices shoot out.
"Fuck!"
>You scramble for a plate as the two pieces of yeast fly into the air.
>Somehow, you manage to catch them just in time, and they land evenly on the plate, the bottom of each slice opposite, on the sides relative to them in which they were separated from the rest of the loaf.
"Safe!"
>You do an air pump.
>You're used to that happening by now, you're toaster's spring started malfunctioning half a year ago.

>You take a bow to no one in particular, then move back to where you left the two jars, gabbing a butter knife for the jam and nut butter.
>Just as you're about to grab the PB jar, you hear the sound of slow clapping behind you, and you stop.
>"Oh, Bravo, yes. Quite a marvelous performance."
>No, wait, that voice.
>It can't be real, she can't be real.
>It was just a dream right?
>You're hearing things right?
>Yeah, you're pressure must be getting to you again.
>You're just going crazy.
>"How did you know I love to have a show before I eat..."
>You feel a pair arms slipping around your waist and something press into your back, "Honey?"
>You jump, spin on a dime, and point your knife at the intruder.
>You're greeted with a tall slender looking woman, about your height.
>Her hair, long and black with a single thin streak of white going through it, reaching down  to her shoulders, a bang covering half of her face.
>She has a creepy grin on her features and she stares right into your eyes.
>Right into your soul.
"W-who are you?"
>The woman chuckles, "What, are you saying you don't recognize me?"
>"Wow, I'm hurt," she says, taking a mock pose to display this effect.
>She even throws in a little pout, her lip out and quivering.
"What? No, you're not real. Or, maybe you are. I don't know! How did you even get here? How do you get IN here!? Why am I freaking out so much so suddenly!?”
>You clutch your head as you become suddenly afflicted with an intense migraine.
>You fall to your knees, dropping the knife onto the floor.

>"Now, now, why don't we just calm down for a moment. Wouldn't want to get too excited with that blood of yours, would we?"
>She walks closer to you and kneels down.
>You're too busy holding your head, the throbbing pain becoming too much to bare.
>Then she pulls you into her bosom, pressing your head against her plum breasts.
>You feel the sudden migraine begin to leave you and you relax in her embrace.
>You're still panting from the random headache.
>She rubs the back of your head, "There, now isn't that much better?"
>You hesitate for a moment before you speak.
"Wh-"
>"Shh, don't worry. Just be calm." she continues caressing you, trying to get you to relax.
>You acquiesce, sighing as you let her contain you to coax you out of your suddenly turbulent state.
"That headache was too intense to just be brought on by my low blood pressure. Is that even how it works?"
>You feel her arms shift, probably a shrug, before she speaks, "I haven't the slightest clue how the the complicated parts of the body are affected, in reference to the blood pressure of the living."
"The 'living?'"
>You shift under her hold and look her in the face.
"Are you trying to say you're like, a ghost or something?"
>"Hmm... not quite." she replies.
"Actually, hold on a second, I gotta wrap my head around something right quick."
>She smiles at you, "Alright go ahead."
>Okay, let's start over real quick, gotta recap a bit of what just happened.
>Bla bla bla bla, you wake up in front of your keyboard after having an incredibly lucid dream about being in magical pony land as a pony.
>A pony, unicorn, with biological fixings made out to look like a mare, but not really, cause you still had a dick for whatever reason.
>You're hair was long, your figure lithe and suggestive, and even your voice was more than a little misleading.
>A vocal pitch similar to that of the strange woman hugging you in your kitchen.

>Speaking of her, you're not exactly stupid.
>A couple seconds of connect the dots and you could figure out where this story is going by everything being pointed out in a way so unsubtle.
>Writer must be having some sort of-
>Whoa, hey, okay, no breaking the fourth wall.
>This ain't that kind of story.
>Now where were, you, oh right.
>Let's see.
>Well considering what's going on right now, you can deduce that that was, in fact, not a dream at all.
>You sigh.
"And here I thought I just had one of the weirdest bat shit surreal nightmare dream fantasies ever in a long time."
>"Hm Hmm, you know, it could be too quick to say it wasn't a dream."
>What?
>"And at the same time, it would be too quick to say it is."
>Huh?
"Speak English, I can't understand what you're talking about."
>She opens her mouth.
"Actually no, scratch that, I don't even want you to try to explain that."
>She frowns.
"I'm guessing this is also part of the, uh, trial thing that was supposed to be going on huh?"
>She smiles again, "Not exactly, Kid, take a look around."
>You examine your kitchen.
>Or at least you think it's your kitchen.
>You think you know what's going on, yet at the same time, you're completely lost to everything right now.
"Yeah, I don't get it."

>She sighs, looking down at you. "Yes, you are still going through your trial, if that's what you were wondering."
"Phew, for a second there, I almost thought this shit has finally passed. That's a relief."
>"You're terrible at sarcasm, you know?"
"I'm well aware."
>She chuckles. "Well, okay, let me try to see if I can make sense of what's going on right now."
>She raises one of her arms and swirls it around in the air for some reason.
>It is then you fully grasp the situation concerning your location.
>You'd probably be a bit flustered right now, but considering you're supposedly a bit more sober than when you were still a pony, and bit less tired, and currently critically low on fucks to give, you don't immediately freak out by the fact that
>There is a naked woman  with long jet black hair that has a white highlight, hugging you into her breasts on your kitchen floor with her arms wrapped around your head.
>You casually push yourself off of here, getting a good feel of her supple chesticles along the way.
>The jiggle a little as you release them, and your actions do little than distract her from whatever the fuck she was doing just then.
>She smirk, grabbing her supple breasts and smushes them together, "Do you like them? I went through the recesses of your memory to perfectly shape your ideal woman. Not too big, not to small, round in the hips, but not to much "junk in tha trunk"."
>She turns around, bends over, and wiggles her ass in your face.
>It takes a little more than self restraint to hold you back, that and forcibly throwing any fucks that are suddenly spawning within you out of the nearest window before they can propagate and multiply, overwhelming your sense of reason.
>She looks back over her hips and sees you giving her your best deadpan stare with your arms now folded across your chest.
>Don't try this at home kids, it's actually much harder than you make it out to be.
>Internal sweating intensifies.

"Weren't you about to show me something that is no doubt incredibly oversold?"
>She pouts, "Oh, you're no fun."
>She gets back up to a stand, extending a hand to you.
>You swat it away, you don't need some crazy witch looking, magic, weird, fucking deus ex shit helping you stand up.
>You get up on your own like a real man.
>A real man with the ability to fight the urge of >rape.
>Bonus points for abstention, minus points for being a moralfag twice in the same story.
>"Well, like i said before, you're trial is still going on," you nod, "however, you are currently in your break period of the trial."
"... break period. What?"
>"Think of it as a convenient step away from the world after getting used to it for an entire day and falling asleep."
>You... guess that makes sense?
>But wait.
"You mean If I wanted to come home and end the trial, or take a break or whatever, I just had to fall asleep? Didn't I fall asleep in the tub though?"
>"Yes, well, you hadn't really been there an entire day have you? You still had the rest of it to go. Besides, there was a lot of fun to be had after that, right?" she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
>You blush.
>She begins to twirl her arm in the air again, and before you starts to form some sort of ethereal projection.
>It clears up to show you, or rather the pony that is supposed to be you, sleeping in the bed cuddled up behind Rainbow Dash in her bed.
"Okay, so, why am I here exactly? In my apartment, I mean. Wouldn't it be better to just have me there anyway until the trial is done.?"
>"I'm glad you ask that. See," suddenly, the world around you begins to shift. The fine details of your company's visage becoming obscured as everything suddenly becomes a void.
>Just like at the start of this whole damn thing.
>"You're not really at your home world, right now. We're actually still in the mystical dimension, which I guess is what we'll call it for now. More specifically, we are in your mind. Our mind."
>You grunt

>”Okay, Your mind. Kehee”
>You look down at the familiar darkness of the endless void of your empty mind.
>Just like your dreams usually are.
>You sigh
"Figures."
>A rock materializes under you as you sit down, successfully taking a seat on it.
"You know, I still don't get what exactly I'm supposed to be doing here."
>"Hmm?"
"This trial. At the beginning, just as a group of guards ponies came up to the train car, you said that I would have to "Survive." Which, by the way, was a bit too ominous for anything with such an illogical turn of events. Then later, with an even weirder twist of events, you said my trial was to "survive everyday life". Even then, with all the crazy shit that could happen in Ponyville, it still doesn't seem like I'd be doing so much surviving as it would just be dealing."
>You look upward into the void, and it forms to make an approximation of the night sky, stars, moon, clouds and all.
"It all just seems ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated."
>You turn toward her to see her playing with her boobs.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?"
>She stops fondling herself for a moment to acknowledge you, "Oh, were you saying something? Sorry, I got distracted with these things, when they're up here, they're actually kind of fun to play with. How do humans get them to grow so big? Maybe it's like with minotaurs and some diamond dogs..."
>You just stare at her as she continues to jiggle her exposed breasts up and down, the nipples flicking about as she does.
>She notices you looking and gets a devilish grin on her face and closes the distance between you two.
>You fall over, "Do you want to play with them too? Come on, You know you want to."
>You turn away.
"Could you be serious for a second and answer my question?"

>She grins, "Kehehee, sure. Now try saying that again, this time without squeezing them with both hands."
>You quickly pull away, locking your hands under your armpits.
>"In any event. The answers to your questions will come in due time, just know that when what is to happen happens, you will truly be tested in your Trial. Think of all these awkward occurrences in between as sort intermission or prelude. The judgment of whether or not you pass will be determined by the end of it.  I can't tell you what that judgement will be based on, whether it be outcome or circumstance, but I can say this. You've done a fine job so far."
>Wow.
>I feel so proud of myself.
>Getting sexually harassed, pitied, covered in weird pink dust, yelled at, wasted, and "raped" is a good thing.
>Suddenly she pulls you back into her chest.
>You begin thrashing around.
>"I saw this in your memory from all of those animes you used to watch. The main protagonists in a few of them often got into similar situations right? Teasing you like this is actually kind of fun. I can see why the commander did it for so long."
"T-this isn't teasing. A-and I C-can't breathe"
>You say between gasps.
>"Silly, you're asleep. You don't need to breathe, your body is already doing that for you."
>You manage to wrestle yourself away from her grasp and she laughs at your flustered expression.
>"That's it, that's the face I was looking for."
"Fuck you."
>"Now now, no need for swearing. Now, I suppose I'll leave you to wait out the rest of your break, I've taken up enough of your time answering question I probably could on a daily basis here. You should use this time wisely."
>The image of yourself cuddling with Dash appears again, and Dash twitches a bit in her sleep, moving around her lower body to get more comfortable.
>You can feel, even in here, the sensation in reaction to her motions.
>Right, you fell asleep with your cock still firmly lodged up her anus.
>Like what the fuck, what were you thinking.

>"Just so you know, these little breaks won't always be daily, so don't expect to see me every night when you go to sleep after a good rutting with the rainbow mare."
>Your lips tighten.
>"And also, I won't always be with you during your trial, so from here on, you'll be more or less on your own.
>I'll still be watching though, and anytime you're in need of assistance or dire need of help, call onto me, I'll lend my aid if it's within my power or reason. Up until now, I've been right with you the entire time, helping you get into the swing of things up until the night.
>Now, I think you're ready to take on the rest of the trial on your own, more or less. Just be a little careful not to reveal too much of yourself to anyone."
>That's not ominous at all.
"Oh? How come."
>"Well, remember the crystal that was with you when the commander and his soldiers came to investigate anomalous magical activity?"
>You nod
>"That stone is actually more related to your trial than you think. Actually, you're a smart guy, you probably already knew that."
"Well... I've watched enough TV and Movies, read some shit..."
>"Well alright then. Stay safe now, and remember, I'll be watching you. /Mica/"
"Tch"
>"Kehehee
>With that, she fades away into the void.
>You turn back to the projection as you feel another sensation course through you.
>Yeah... that's going to be a tough one.
>Maybe If you're lucky, you'll wake up first, and be able to sneak out without her noticing or something.
>But then, how are you going to get down from a giant cloud in the sky without any safe way of descent.
>Eventually, after a while of pondering, you begin to feel yourself losing grip of this reality.
>You must be waking up again, or this break realm is melting off into an actual dream.
>Fuuuck, and you didn't even come up with anything.
>Oh well, guess we'll just have to see how it goes.

[End Chapter]