I slid around the corner, my body conforming to it like water for the instant I went around it, springing upright the moment I was past it. Bright red lights were strobing and a strange omnipresent alarm was making an electronic noise that wasn't really a siren, but was clearly an alarm of some kind. Despite it, I felt no particular worry.

With a low clop-clop, I walked forward, each step different in my ears. One hoof was cloven, the other the clack of sharp claws. One was thicker and had a dewclaw, and the other did not. I was no longer much good at matching left to right across my body. Even my eyes were different colors, though considering how many other things didn't match, it was perhaps a mercy that it followed the trend.

Despite all the mismatches, my gait was easy. I was balanced, smooth even. "Now where is everycreature hiding?" I called out, my tongue curling a little as a little smirk appeared on my face. "The hiding part of hide and seek can only last so long. I will find you."

The clean halls of the medical facility offered little cover to my sweeping gaze, but there were--oh, no, there was someone, several someone's. The elevator door chimed with a simple beep before sliding open, revealing three men in full body armor. Two of them had billy clubs, the third had a gun. A stun gun?

They saw me, not like I was hiding from them. "Return to your room," shouted one of them as they spilled out of the elevator in a hurry, fanning out as if to surround me.

"I'm in the middle of playtime," I casually dismissed, my red scaled tail flicking behind me. It was still odd at times to think I had one of those, but, in perspective, it was perhaps the least odd thing about it all. "You can try asking a lady more politely than shouting at her like that. You're sending a bad message."

The one with the gun raised it and fired with barely a pause between. A loud pop echoed in the hard-walled area we were in and the barbs were flung at me with almost sonic speed. As I began to dodge out of the way, it struck me.

I hadn't explained who I was, or what I was, or any of that. How rude I was being. Let's start from the, well, start. The beginning, that fateful day when the dominoes began to fall and led to this situation.

I was in front of my standard PC, typing busilly on a standard keyboard with normal human fingers clacking away at the data entry that was my life. Check and double check what had been given, enter it into the proper columns, upload and verify, repeat. This was much of my life, and I was alright at it. I was at home, a place I did that from more often than not.

More and more often since the outbreak. Shelter at home, work from there if you could. Well, I could, so I did. At least I didn't have to worry about money. A television played to the right of me, offering some noise to keep me company.

"Infections continue to spread at an alarming rate with cases doubling every three days. The CDC strongly recommends staying home unless you absolutely need to go outside for food or exercise."

"Vaccines are being developed as a #1 priority, with human testing scheduled to begin any day. Our contacts report they hope to have it ready for the public within 6 months."

I glanced over at that just in time to see a needle being drawn from the frame. Stock footage likely. A commercial break, and it wasn't trying to sell me something. They were doing clinical tests for the vaccine they had just mentioned. A phone number was displayed, a local one in my area code.

"Lauren," I told myself. "Why not help out people?" It wasn't like I didn't have the time, and I hadn't gotten sick. I jotted down the number and got back to work. "Hey, Google?" My phone chimed softly in reply. "Call 555-6219." It calmly noted that it was calling that very number, and it began to ring.

An actual human picked up, startling me mid-entry and forcing me to restart that bit. "Oh, hello. I thought I'd hit a menu before any people picked up."

"I get that a lot," laughed a man on the line. "Hello. How can I help you?"

"Well, I just saw a thing on the TV." I was still typing as I talked. The phone was no excuse to be lazy. "You're testing the vaccine and were looking for healthy volunteers. I'm a healthy woman in the area who'd like to see this virus go back to where it came from."

"Great! Why don't you come in..." I could hear papers shuffling, then some clicks. A mouse or a keyboard? "Are you available tomorrow?"

"I can be. What time and can you give me an address?" With a quick combination, I tabbed out of the work to an open wordpad to jot some notes. He provided the time and place. "Thank you, got it. I'll be there. Do I need to bring anything with me?"

"Your ID would be preferred, legalities. Other than that, just you. See you tomorrow. Oh, my name's Doctor Miller. I should be here when you arrive." Another few clicks. Definitely a mouse. "Did you say you were local?"

I plugged the address into a map site and laughed aloud. "You're about five blocks away. Oh, my name's Lauren."

"Lauren, it'll be nice to meet you. Since you're so close, you can even go right home afterwards."

That got a brow quirk from me. "Can you normally not?"

"Though the odds are quite low of it, we don't want any bad reactions hurting people too far away for us to reach. We'll exchange contact information and you can enjoy the comfort of your own home. Thanks for helping."

"You're welcome," I barely got out before the line went dead and the phone flashed the time the call took. I had a date, with science.

I pulled into a spot just outside the facility. It was like a hundred other medical buildings I'd ever seen. Unassuming with a sign out front declaring it as such. I locked the car with a button press and made my way inside, the wind of the day fluttering through my sweat pants. I was not feeling fancy that day, or much any day since I was forced to just stay home all the time.

Who was I being fancy for? Of course, as I started to see other people dressed properly, self-consciousness began to return with a vengeance. I was criminally underdressed. "Too late now," I muttered to myself, elbowing the door open to avoid putting my hands on the bar and slipping inside.

There were about six people sitting in the waiting room. Each was spread out from the next. Social distancing was in effect, I quickly noted on my way up to the counter. "Hi, I'm Lauren. Doctor Miller's waiting for me?"

"Let me see." I could hear her rattling quickly on her keyboard that was hidden behind the counter and her monitor. "Here we are. Go on to room 105." She pointed the way. "You have your ID?"

I did and dug it out for her to see, attached to my phone as it was. She took it from me and copied some of the information down before offering it back. "Thank you."

"Thank you," I echoed, heading out of the waiting room. Were the other people there for medical reasons? Besides clinical trials, I meant. There were few hints given about it, and they probably didn't want me prying into their business, so I didn't. I focused on trying to walk professionally, as if that could hide the fact that I was basically dressed in my jammies.

Opening the door revealed not a checkup room, but what looked more like a doctor's office. He had a desk he was seat at, looking up at me. "Hello. Lauren?" He was already rising, thrusting a hand at me before suddenly stopping partway out and drawing it away with an awkward smile. "Habits die hard. Now, thank you for coming in today. This shouldn't take long, but there is a little paperwork involved."

"Doctor Miller," I replied, shaking the air between us as if I had held his hand, which I did not. "Disclaimers and things, I bet?"

"Got it in one." He sat back down and grabbed a clipboard, popping it up at an angle towards me. "It's not long, thankfully."

I took it and claimed the only other chair there. Name, address, gender, ethnicity, do you agree to not sue us if everything goes horribly wrong, the usual. Thankfully, there was a note saying that if something did go wrong, they would cover that. Good. I wasn't up for working with some shady people ducking responsibility for what they were doing. I signed my name at the bottom and dated it. "So, will this really fix it?"

"It won't do a thing for people who already have it," he corrected, taking back the board. "But, assuming it works, it means more people don't have to suffer through it. A quick shot and enjoy the immunity. Hopefully, it'll be lifelong, but we can't be sure of that until we test, which is what you're here for today."

"Right. So..." I rolled up one of my sleeves and turned to offer the exposed arm. "Now we get to the part where I get jabbed, for science."

"For science," he half-laughed, but it was that time. He got out the needle and poked it into a bottle, withdrawing some fluid into it, mostly clear with a faint pinkish hue to it. "I may not be a nurse, but I know how to use this. It'll be over in just a moment. You may feel a bit light-headed after injection and we recommend you stay put for at least an hour before going home."

Is that what those people in the front were doing? That made more sense. A soft prick was the signal that I had been needled. A strange coolness rushed down along my arms and back up towards my chest, and then, gone. "That wasn't so--" The room began to spin and I fell sideways into the chair, clutching weakly as I tried to ride it out.

"It's alright." I could hear the needle being set down. "It passes quickly if you don't pass out."

I could have passed out?! Well, I hadn't. The vertigo began to fade and I sat up, huffing for breath a little. "That has a hell of a kick! Is that something you plan to work on?"

"If we can. But even if we can't, if it's effective, would a moment of vertigo be reason enough to not use it?" He backed up from me, nodding softly. "You're looking better. How do you feel?"

Besides a faint bump where he had jabbed me, I was intact. Standing up, my balance seemed returned. I pulled my sleeve back down. "All better. So, what happens next?"

"You check in, daily. Do you have a computer?"

Did I have a computer?! My amusement must have shown on my face. He sat at his desk. "Give me your email." Which I did and he typed. "I'm sending you an email now. Reply tomorrow and every day with an update. I've attached a PDF for you to fill out. After two weeks, we'll need you to come back in, assuming nothing makes us want to do it earlier than that."

"So go home, live, work, and do the usual things. I just have to add updating the PDF to the daily checklist and I'm doing my part?"

"That's it. Easy."

It wouldn't be easy.

I woke up with a stuffed up nose. Thankfully, I had a box at my computer that I pulled from to keep from being too snotty as I worked. My assignments did not pause on account of sniffles! I brought up the workload, logging into my work network and getting right into it.

My computer at work's monitor was off, as it usually was. I liked imagining sometimes that it was on, that people wandering past might see the ghost employee working so busily on windows that flickered in and out and numbers and data flowing in with no person there to do it. I was the ghost in the machine!

News was playing, offering some background noise for the whole thing. A naval ship was getting more and more cases of the disease even as they tried to disembark the ship. Why couldn't they just walk the people off, I didn't know. Most of my attention was on the datasets I had to get right.

A sudden cough interrupted me, my face turning to stuff my chubby checks into my elbow, not that there was anyone else in the house to even possibly infect with whatever was bothering me. What was bothering me? I hadn't been sick the day before. The shot? That was ludicrous. Even if it was filled to the brim with the plague, I wouldn't start showing symptoms that fast, right?

Heck, the biggest problem with the current disease was how long it took to go from 'you have it and can spread it' to 'oh, and you notice something's even wrong'. It had to be something I had before the shot. Maybe a normal flu, or just the classic cold, there to bother me and reduce my productivity.

A lone cough and some sniffles wasn't going to stop me. I gathered myself and got back to work. I won't bore you with the data I was busy entering. Besides, there were confidentiality agreements on it and even if I want to share this story with you, breaking the rules of my work don't have to be included, as if you needed to know that part anyway.

You'll have to settle with learning about little me instead. With the morning's workload out of the way, I checked my email for updates. Oh, there was Doctor Miller's letter. Right, I was supposed to update that PDF. I downloaded it and opened it up to have a look. I went ahead and filled out the parts that wouldn't be changing. I had no plans to get my name switched in the coming days, or my address. Those I filled out and saved, then made a copy to do the first day with.

These are the data entry tips you came for, I imagine. Either way, I waffled about how I was feeling. It couldn't be the shot's fault, right? Would putting my sniffle down contaminate the results? With a soft grunt, I pushed ahead. Honesty. Lying on medical reports for a study sure sounded like a bad idea all things considered and I went ahead and wrote exactly how I was feeling.

Temperature? I stood up and made my way into the bathroom where the thermometer was kept and that's when I saw it. One of my eyes was a bright yellow outside and vibrant red on the inside. That was not how I went to sleep the night before, I swear! I squealed in shock and jumped back, just to slowly expose the changed eye to the mirror. Yep, there it was, almost taunting me to try and hope it was fake again.

The strangest part, to me, was that it didn't hurt. I could see through it just fine. Hell, I'd been doing my work with one of my eyes looking like... that, and didn't even notice until I had a good look at it. The other eye was perfectly normal and unchanged, healthy as can be. Did I catch some kind of nasty version of pink eye? Was that what had given me my runny nose and cough? That would... explain part of it.

Still, temperature, right. I grabbed the thermometer and fled that mirror. What lousy timing, I swear. I popped the thermometer under my tongue and sat down at my computer to add my eye condition to the report. While I was doing that, I went ahead and noted my suspicion, that I had caught some other secondary illness that was throwing things off. I wasn't a doctor, they'd get to puzzle through that, but at least I could share my opinion for what it was worth.

I didn't think you could mess up being a clinical study, really. And yet, there I was doing it. A soft beep informed me the thermometer had its result and I pulled it out to have a peek. 99 degrees. That was definitely a fever, but a mild one. That could be a reaction to the vaccine, or whatever crazy variety of pink eye I was experiencing. Either way, I noted it down on the sheet.

It asked a lot of other things that weren't terribly relevant. No, I wasn't experiencing any digestive problems. No, no problems breathing, thank God. Basically a check list of symptoms of the primary disease, which I was thankfully not showing too much of outside of the cough that came and left. A mild cough at best. All dutifully written down. I saved the file and attached it to a reply to the doctor.

Here's the first of the daily updates. Since I'm here, do you know anything about the eye thing? Do I have pink eye? That has light sensitivity, right? I don't think I have that, and I can still see clearly. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have known it was a thing at all. I know you're not, technically, my general practitioner, but you are a doctor, so I figured I'd ask.

Thanks,
Lauren

I hit send. Day 1 of clinical duties, complete! I hummed a little victory song to myself as I went to the next email in the queue needing digging through.

A different kind of music began to play. Someone was calling me on the computer. I hit answer reflectively and the smiling face of a friend appeared, but that smile faded almost instantly. "What happened to you?!" came the alarmed cry of my lady friend.

"I'm fine!" I pulled out a little mirror to make sure I hadn't grown a second head from the way she had reacted.

"Your eye! That looks... bad. Girl, have you gotten that looked at?" She was leaning in close to her screen, making her closer to the camera. "Look at me."

"Cindy, you're overreacting." I did look at her though, or more specifically I faced my webcam and leaned in towards it, giving her a good look at my yellow and red eye. "Doesn't hurt. I can see just fine."

"That's not normal," firmly insisted Cindy. "Tell me you're already talking to a doctor about that."

"I am, actually, but that's not what you called for, right?" I sat back in my seat and brushed the thermometer to the side with the tissues. "What's up?"

"Just checking in on a friend," she assured with a little smile returning. "I was hoping seeing your happy face would remind me not everything in the world is falling apart." Well, that had been ruined. "It doesn't hurt at all? It looks..."

I reached up and tapped the side of my head, basically tapping the eye where only the eyelid was keeping my finger from touching the orb itself. "Not a bit of pain, I promise. Here." I closed my unchanged eye. "Alright, test me."

She held up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two. See, working just fine. No tears, no pain, just sniffles." I reached for a little bag of nuts I kept. Battle supplies, just the thing for a hard day's work.

"If you're sure," she allowed with little confidence in her voice. "Do you have a dry cough? Can you breathe alright?"

"Eye color changes are not on the Covid symptom list," I firmly noted with a bit of a smirk. "I do have a little cough, but just a little. Hey, you know they're testing a vaccine for that right now?"

"Right now?" She seemed surprised. "So fast! Amazing how much science gets done when the entire world decides it's worth spending money on. Call me back when it's actually out there. So... you sure you're alright? Want me to bring over some soup?"

I smiled at that. Cindy really made some fine soup. "I would be delighted to have a big bowl of your soup any day, sniffles or not. So how are you doing? Keeping inside?"

"It's driving me crazy, but yes." She reached to prod the camera, her finger dominating the view a moment. "If it wasn't for the Internet, I would have gone loopy already. The inside life is not my life. How do you handle it?! Don't you want to talk to people?"

"I love talking to people." In limited doses. "We're talking right now." I smiled at her, hopefully in a comforting way. "We'll get through this, my lovely extrovert. When this is over, you can drag me out to something loud and busy, since you've given my lifestyle such an earnest try."

"I will hold you to that," she warned, wagging a finger at me. "But, today, you're getting soup, and I have an excuse to step outside this house. I'd give you a hug, but..."

Well, really, there were many good reasons for us not to hug that day. I obviously had something, and there was the disease making the rounds. Social distancing and all that. "No hugs today. Soup, on the other hand. I'll gladly accept that."

"And soup you will have." She stood up, giving me a fine view of her shirt-covered belly and little else before she turned and left the frame entirely. "I'll get right on that. A little of momma's special recipe will chase away the creepy crawlies and put a smile right on those pinchable cheeks of yours."

Those pinchable cheeks warmed with a blush. "Hey..." So I was a little chubby. I worked from home much of the time even before it became cool. I wasn't an athletic or trim person. That didn't mean my friends had to make fun of it.

"You know I love them, and the rest of you. Now you sit back and wait for me to stop by. Oh, shoot. I forgot to hang up and I'm already in the next room. Could you do it?" I could hear the sounds of her preparing things. Pots, metal striking metal. A fridge opened and closed. She was in her cooking element.

"See you when you get here," I said even as I pressed the hang up button, terminating the call. At least lunch would be thoroughly handled! It was good to have friends, even if I didn't feel the urge to party loudly with them.

The rest of the email was fairly normal. Donate to this, click this. Buy that! Alarming news! Speaking of that, the news was still playing in the background. Oh, there was Trump giving an overview of what the federal government was doing. Then there were governors saying the federal government wasn't doing enough. Clearly, nobody involved was terribly happy. They'd stopped talking about this all breezing over by Easter, so there was that.

At least I didn't live in New York, poor people. Maybe the vaccine I was testing would work great and then everyone would get it and we could put it all behind us with only a major recession to worry about! That'd be a step up, right? Still, at least I knew I was doing my part. I was staying inside, keeping calm, and even allowing doctors to poke me with strange chemicals that could maybe help.

A sudden knocking woke me from my thoughts. I got up quickly and did a little dash to the door. Peeking through the window in it, I could see Cindy outside, but she was not at the door. She had already backed up a small distance on the sidewalk leading away from my door. I opened it with a bright smile. "Cindy!"

"Laura!" We exchanged a hug. In the air. We remained quite separated. "Now you go eat that up and don't leave a drop behind." She pointed towards my feet where a big plastic container rested, probably with the soup. Could you even call it a soup? The soup she made was jam packed with stuff. More of a stew? It wasn't time to argue over the terminology.

I plucked it up and held it close. "You are an absolute darling. Thank you."

"You can thank me by getting better." She blew a kiss and headed back towards the curb where her car was still running. "I'll check in on you tomorrow!"

I waved at her until she had pulled away and was speeding down the road at a little over the speed limit. She was a good friend. I hip-bumped the door shut and made my way towards the living room to set down the soup, then went and got a big bowl and poured out much of the soup into it. It was time to enjoy some soup made with love.

And you really could taste her love. Mmm, love was mildly spicy, definitely savory, and just so, so good. It's like magic, that soup she can make. I just forgot about my sniffles and my cough stayed away until I had savored every little bit of it. I felt so much better, warmer on the inside, and just...

It was really nice having a friend that'd rush to do that for you. Seriously, most people wouldn't, right? Would I rush to do that? Probably not... My cooking was tepid at best. I could remote-order them a pizza! Yes, next friend who seemed upset was getting a surprise pizza.

I put what little remained of the life-giving brew into the fridge, feeling like a new woman. I was cured! My reflection was quite visible in the shiny chrome side of my fridge, that yellow and red eye losing the lines of a happy smile quickly. Well, I wasn't entirely cured, clearly...

Why only one eye? Was that normal? Well, any change of colors wasn't normal, but what affected one eye and not the other? Was this how old people ended up with one cloudy eye? I wanted both eyes, thank you. I returned to my computer but couldn't quite plant myself there. I paced and set my hands on the chair and roamed about it, but didn't sit in it. I was a bit worked up. Can you blame me?

Eventually, I got my butt back in the chair and finished out the day without anything more annoying than the occasional cough. My sniffles did return. It was still great soup.

The next morning, the first thing I did was rush to the bathroom. My left eye was still yellow and red. My right eye, unchanged and as it always had been. I could still see just fine. I even did a little impromptu sight test, covering each and reading small text. The coloration didn't seem to be coming with any pain or lack of vision.

It just looked weird.

I took my temperature, 99.1. That was barely a difference, but I did data entry. You entered it as you saw it. I pulled up a copy of the daily trial PDF and got to filling it out, a little bowl of the remainder of the soup sitting there, being sipped on as I worked.

A typo. Now, I never claimed to be perfect, who is? But it wasn't the first. My typing was just... off. And it seemed to be specific keys. Was my keyboard going? I jammed the w key a few times, no, it responded each time. e e e e, no, that worked too, but when I was typing something that used both, like 'when', I would smash w or e twice instead of when they were called for.

Was I slipping? I was getting worked up over the cough, which I still had, and the eye thing. "Calm down, Laura," I chastised myself, taking a slow breath. "You'll get through this." None of this was lethal. None of this was close to lethal. I couldn't let it get me down and degrade my typing. I needed my typing!

I had completed the daily checkup and went to find the email to reply to. Oh, he had replied. I opened it right up.

Good Day, Lauren,

I got your report, thank you for being prompt with it. I'm sorry you've caught a cold, but can confidently say that you're probably alright on that front. Your fever isn't nearly high enough to launch into immediate concern, but let's keep an eye on that.

Speaking of that, the condition of your left eye is concerning. This isn't an entirely new side effect.

It wasn't? They hadn't told me that! Or had it been in the sense bits of legalese I'd skimmed over while doing my paperwork? They could have saved me a lot of headache and worry by making little things like that clear from the get go. A little hysterical laugh escaped me as I continued reading.

While not harmful, can imply a specific reaction to the vaccine we were hoping we'd gotten rid of.

Oh, lovely. I was the second stage, and the first stage's glitches were still in there. Oh, the scowl I was wearing, but I had to know more.

For your safety, perhaps you should come by sooner than we expected, so we can monitor you more closely and keep you safe. Your health is our number one priority, and I'm not just typing that. If you're reading this, you may have already done the second day's report. Please do send that with any changes. How are you feeling?

How was I feeling? Not so great, if I was being honest, and most of that was focused on what I was just reading.

If you can come back, let me know in the email.

See You Soon,
Dr. Miller

Great, just... great. I got to typing in a reply, my fingers slamming against keys to vent my annoyance, even if the typos kept coming more often than I would have wanted.

Morning,

I did my rweport. EWhy dudmn't you--

I'll spare you from seeing the rest of the typos, but trust me, all over the place. I could see them. I could feel them. I was doing my best to fix them as quickly as they came up.

tell me about the possible side-effects? The eye thing really freaked me out. It scared a friend of mine too (Video call). My typing's down the toilet, but that could be stress. Just adding that here in case? When's a good time to swing by? You have something to put my eye back the way it should be?

Watching For Replies With Both Eyes,
Lauren

I jammed the send button and got back to work. I didn't call in sick. For one, I was already home. For two, whatever was happening with my eyes wasn't enough to not do my part. In fact, I was rapidly growing more annoyed at my typing than my eyes. I even tried meditating, just taking a break to do some calm breathing, listening to beach noises, lighting that stick of incense I had gotten three Christmases ago and never bothered to use. Whatever I tried, it wasn't helping, but it did reveal something.

My middle and ring fingers refused to play nice. They wanted to be closer together. When I really focused on it, I could force them to do what I wanted them to do, but when I was just casually typing, one or the other would slip in the way and the typos would come out in force. Holding up my hands, I could see how the other fingers could spread out wide, but those two, on both hands, were just more comfortable together.

This deserved an update. I pulled up my email and, oh, he had replied again.

Good day,

You should definitely come in. I'll be here all today, if that works? If you don't feel confident, I can have someone by to pick you up instead. If I don't get a reply from you in three hours, I'll try calling the number you left with me. Please reply as soon as you see this and we'll get that taken care of.

Oh, so they did have an answer? Well, thank goodness. With a relieved smile, I hit reply. The timestamps said he had sent it about an hour before that, well before the three hours when he'd assume something awful had happened to me.

Hey, Doctor. I'll come by today then. Sorry if this messes with the trial, but I need my fingers to work! They don't come apart like they're supposed to and it's really messing with my typing speed and accuracy. That's basically my entire job, so I need that fixed.

See You Soon,
Laura

Music suddenly began to play. It was Cindy. I slapped answer and her face appeared. "Hey! Oh, still all freaky eyed. Feeling any better today?"

I smiled. Cindy brought that out of me. "After your soup? How can I not feel better?" I lied, perhaps a little. "Still got the eye thing, but the cough's not that bad, temperature's about the same."

"You drank it all?" she asked, leaning in and getting that 'mom is judging you' look on her face.

I held up the bowl that had held the last of it and ceremoniously slurped up the last little bit of it. "All gone. Thank you, Cindy. Seriously, best part of the day. You are one of the best friends I have."

"I try to be everyone's best friend," she retorted with a smile. "At least the people worth it, which you are. Now you tell your work you're checking out for a day or two and go back to bed."

"Look, relax." I held up a hand, even if two of the fingers were closer than I had planned them being. "I'm going to see a doctor, today even. He'll figure out what's up."

"He better." She crossed her arms. "Don't let them go poking you with experimental drugs or nothin'. I want my Laura back in one piece."

Oops, that bit of advice was at least a few days late. "I'll be careful." Oh, the lies we weave. "Want me to call you when I get back?"

"Yes! Please. As soon as you can, let me know what they say. Before you go getting worried, fretting over you is better than worrying about the big wide world out there. It can take care of itself. I'm here for you, Lauren." I responded to both variations of that name. Laura, Lauren, or even, rarely, Lore. "I'd offer to drive you there myself if it wasn't for this stupid distance thing."

"No need to end up with you getting whatever I have." I grabbed a tissue to deposit some phlegm in. "Aside from what feels like a good cold, I'm still fine. I can breathe, I can type--" Mostly, I kept to myself. "--, and I'm doing my work. Speaking of that, I'll finish that and head over to the doctor."

"Just take care of yourself. Give me a call the instant you get back." She waved at me, fingers wriggling, and she vanished, the call ended.

And get some sleep.

The message appeared in the chat program from her. At least I had friends.

I had a feeling it would take more than a brief glancing at, so I came prepared. I was entering the medical building with my phone properly tucked in a pocket. I was wearing actual pants, and even my laptop bag was draped over me. I had everything I needed for a long wait if it came to it. But wait I would! I needed my fingers, darn it all.

It was a different secretary, a man, but he reacted about the same way when I told him what I was there for. "Just that way." Why did my doctor seem to never have a line? The other people there, and there were other people there, were all waiting patiently, but not to get to him. Were they waiting before going home? Were they freshly poked and feeling dizzy?

Would their eyes get weird? Speaking of that, while the people waiting there that had noticed visibly flinched or gawked or just looked away, the secretary didn't seem bothered by it at all. A common side effect, right?

Commonly fixed, I hoped. I went past the front desk and down the hallway I had been down once before to knock on Doctor Miller's door. "It's Laura."

"Laura," came his voice before the door swung open, him standing there and waving me inside. He wore a surgical mask and had gloves on. "You came prepared, but I didn't need you to do any computer work?" He closed the door behind me and turned to me fully. "Let me have a look."

That's when he began peering into my eyes, shining a light into either, making so many little notes in that impossible doctor's scrawl that only a doctor could read. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I have a cold." I spread my fingers, the two in the middle resting closer than the others. "But this is more important. My fingers are my livelihood. Is this also a 'common side effect' and do you have something to fix it?"

"Type D," he muttered under his breath, though he sounded unsure about it. "The other fingers, they move normally?"

I wriggled all of my fingers, even if the two were insisting on being together unless I focused on them. "As normal as can be. Type D?" I didn't like having any types, except maybe a blood type.

He sat at his desk. A loud c-thunk of a click came from the door. "I will explain, but if you would, have a seat, and hear me out until the end."

"I... think you just took that choice away from me." That had taken a sudden turn I didn't like. "Tell me why I shouldn't be dialing 911 right now?"

"You're not a prisoner," he promised. "But you are in a delicate place, and potentially contagious. We want to take complete care of you until it's done."

"Done?" I didn't like the way he said that. "Look, I'm an adult." I sat then, looking at him across his desk. "Just tell me what's going on. Assume I'll understand so long as you keep it to three syllables or less."

"The treatment we're testing is, in part, based on the genes of... That's not important." Yeah, I didn't believe that. "Sometimes, rarely, a vaccine recipient, like you, has a specific reaction. On the positive, you are completely immune to the disease, and most other human diseases for that matter.

I blinked dumbly. What the heck could be happening to me that would make me immune to most diseases? "Because I'll be dead soon and corpses are bad at catching things?"

"Nothing that morbid," he assured with a little chuckle. "You'll still be alive and well."

"Great!" I said in perhaps a bit of a squeak. "So, type D?"

"The reaction can take several courses. The fact that your fingers are affected at all implies one path, that they aren't all affected is another clue. Going into details when we can't be certain isn't helpful. Just know that you're alright." He looked towards the laptop bag sitting in her lap. "Actually, maybe it was a good idea you brought that. We'll help you get online from your room. You'll still be able to talk with your friends. The outgoing bandwidth is limited, so video call sites are filtered. Incoming works great, so it's time to Netflix and Chill a bit."

I was feeling so not chill at that moment. "Worst case scenario, what am I looking at here, Doc?"

"Your body will return to a sort of 'second puberty'. Cells will be broken down as others revert to stem cell state and begin migrating around your body. Over the next month or so, you will grow into the new genetic state that is overtaking you."

That sure... "Wow. That sounds very extreme, if you don't mind my fucking saying." I slapped a hand over my mouth. "Sorry, I don't normally curse, but... damn wow... That sounds like something that'd kill someone."

"Lethality rate for this is well under 1%," he stated with so much confidence I briefly wanted to punch him. "It's... fascinating when it's not you, I admit."

"So have you experienced this?"

"I have not." He pulled out a flat card and slid it across the table towards me. "This is your door key. Think of this as a vacation, on us. We'll be giving you everything you need, at no cost. This possibility was in the contract."

Well, fantastic... "Look, you said I could get online, so I'm not taking a vacation unless I have to."

"That's entirely fine." He stood up. "Let me show you to your room. I know this is an awkward time, at best, but we'll make it through, together."

What was I even turning into? A thousand possibilities danced in my mind as I followed him down new hallways. I was, perhaps, in a state of shock. I wasn't really paying a lot of attention, unable to even get my thoughts in order. Then we were in front of a door with a slot to the side, one of those slot locks you'd see at a hotel. He put the card he had shown me into it, the light turned green, and he opened the door before offering the card to me.

I took it, the key to my new door. "Thank... you? Look, what if I just want to go home?"

"I couldn't allow that, not yet. You're infectious right now." He gestured inside. "Go on, take a look. You'll have free run of the place. There are others like you for you to meet. This isn't a jail, promise."

"Isn't that what they always say just before you're locked up forever?" I tucked the card away, foot sliding to keep the door from closing even if he let go of it. "Who's to say the card will work on the inside?"

He smiled at that. "It's not locked on the inside. You only need it to get back inside again. It also has a physical lock inside if you want privacy. To be fair, there are cameras too, please don't tamper with those. We're monitoring you for your sake."

Ugh... There had to be something... "I don't want this." That wasn't what I meant to say, but it slipped out.

"I'm sorry." He sounded like he meant that, but I couldn't see him very well.

I blinked my eyes clear of what was in the way. Oh, tears. He put a gloved hand on my shoulder. "We'll get through this." And into my room he nudged me, and I wasn't really fighting it at that moment, shaking and lost. "Wi-fi password is on a card by your bed." With a soft click of a latch catching, the door was closed, and he was on the other side.

I shambled, shuffled basically, into the room. It was... kinda nice actually. It had a king-sized bed, a big television, the works. It was just like a nice hotel room, except I was there because I was a menace to everyone around me and may die (Less than 1% chance!). Luxurious... I set my laptop bag down on the bed with a huff.

"Thank goodness I brought you." There was the little desk by the bed. On it was a folded card with a little map of the floor. They had a gym and a cafeteria and a pool. It really was like a hotel, just one I never asked for...

It also had the wi-fi password. I dug out my laptop and powered it up. Soon I was blissfully online. It was working! I could check my email and everything. There was one from Cindy.

You're probably still out, but when you get back, remember to call me!

I pulled up the video client, but it was busy saying it couldn't connect. I flailed at the settings, trying to get it in before I remembered that he had said video chats were not allowed.

I could still email.

Hello, Cindy,

Good news and bad news. Good news! I'm alive, and have less than a 1% chance of that changing.

Bad news, I have a less than 1% chance of dying from this. Also they're keeping me here. Speaking of here, it'd be downright decedent if I wasn't busy being freaked out about what was happening. A bright side. A silver lining? Whatever you want to call it. My typing is not getting better. From the way the doctor went on about it, it'll only get worse from here, but, please, let's email. No video chat allowed.

Freaking Out,
Laura

Good thing I had finished my work for the day, because I was not in the mindset to get anything productive done. It was, indeed, time to put on a movie and just exist for a while. So I did that.

That night, after having had no dinner, I was finally asleep. It wasn't that they stopped me from going to the cafeteria or anything, but I was kind of busy losing myself. Wouldn't you be? So I was watching movies, crying, thumping the pillows, sometimes at the same time. I was a mess.

And, finally, I faded into a fitful sleep. Now, normally, I dream like everyone does, but also forget it pretty shortly after waking up. This wasn't one of those.

Cindy was there. We were at a concert. Had the shutdown ended? She was so happy, and I was happy too, which was odd for me at a concert, but dream logic being dreamy, I didn't question it. The oddest part though was that she was under me. I was throwing my hands in the air like I just didn't care, and she was... below me, as if I was like twice as tall as I usually was.

Someone bumped into me and knocked me off kilter, but I didn't fall. Instead, I was literally knocked off balance, floating there, in the air. I looked down and couldn't really make out the details of my body, dream logic, but I knew I was floating, somehow. "Watch where you're going!" I shouted. Cindy laughed.

I woke up.

First thought, panic. That wasn't my room! Oh, right, hospital/laboratory... thing... I got up onto my still-shoed feet and realized that I really needed to change, and I had no change of clothes. Well... First thing's first. I went to the bathroom and clicked on the light. There was that eye, yellow and red. My other eye was still nice and normal.

I held up a hand, my rebellious hand. I tried to spread my fingers wide, but the two stubborn ones didn't split, even when I focused on them. I reached for my left hand with my right, trying to manually separate them, but they were almost stuck, as if I was trying to do some strange new stretch. I quickly gave up, breathing a little hard. What the heck was I turning into that didn't have five functioning fingers?

"Good morning," came a female voice from the door. "Housecleaning, can I come in?"

Did I mention that place was like a hotel? It felt more and more like it... "Uh... come on in?"

The door swung open and a cart rolled in before a person pushing it came into view. She was dressed in a full hazmat suit! "Good morning," she repeated, muffled by the suit she wore. "I'll get to cleaning up. Why don't you get breakfast and I'll be done by the time you come back?"

I was about to question that when my body helpfully reminded me that I hadn't eaten for over 12 hours. "That... isn't a bad idea. Which way is that? Oh! Is there a laundry?"

She pushed ahead into the room and came back with the folded card, offering it to me. "This has all that. Keep it on you until you get used to the layout."

It did have a map, I remembered. "Thank you... I'll be back."

"If I do my job properly, I won't be here," she said in almost a sing-song despite being garbed like she was ready to take on Chernobyl. "Enjoy your meal. Oh, you have your key card?"

I dug it out to make sure, then I headed out the door that was still propped open by her cart, even if that meant I had to slip around it. Outside was brightly lit, but it was artificial light. Looking at the card, I made my way towards the cafeteria. It wasn't that far, and it looked like a little restaurant really. It had round tables and comfortable chairs and a counter with someone behind it. Someone... very strange.

He was dressed in a nice clean serving suit, name badge on display. He also had long fuzzy ears that had turned towards me when I came into the area. "Good morning," He called out, waving.

I blinked dumbly at the strange person. Was that what I was becoming? That didn't explain the fingers... "Hello..." I dared to come closer. "This is going to sound rude, but..."

"What's up with the ears?" he asked. "I'm told it'll get worse before it gets better. I didn't follow the protocols just right, got infected, here I am." He shrugged softly. "On the bright side, I don't have to wear the suit anymore. Can't avoid catching what you already caught."

"Is it something I could catch?" Or something I already had. I really didn't know. "Does it hurt?"

"You're living here, right?" When I nodded, he pointed at me. "Then you already have it. Did you catch it from someone else, or were you given the shot?"

"The shot," I said in such a little voice. I cleared my throat, trying to control myself. "Sorry, a shot. Y-you?"

"Oh, alright." He reached for a tray and put it up on the counter. "You came here to get breakfast, right? Today's your first day, right? I recognize most of the people here. Want me to get something?"

"Or...?" I looked around and spotted a buffet selection tucked up against the wall. "Oh! I can serve myself." I took the tray and he didn't stop me. "Where are the forks and--" He was already pointing and I wandered that way. "Thank you... So... you've been here a while?"

"Months."

I started to serve myself. Some fluffy eggs, some broccoli, asparagus spears, and some light fruits. No bacon? No sausage? Not really any meat besides the eggs. Odd. "Do you know what's going on then? What's happening... to me, and you I guess?"

"Only what I've seen others come in with." He lifted his shoulders softly. "I can talk about myself, but, you know, confidentiality. Would you want me talking about you?"

"I suppose not..." I grabbed the slice of bread I had taken and chewed on it almost idly. "So, you then, if you don't mind? I... understand if you don't want to."

"It's different." He rested an arm on the countertop, fingers drumming lightly. "If you get it second hand, the change comes on you different. I'll never be put on all fours."

"All fours?!" I squeaked, the bread dropping to the platter. "I'm going to be on all fours?!"

"Wait long enough and you can meet the others." He suddenly set down an empty cup on the counter. "If you want a drink." He pointed to a soda bar just waiting to be used.

At that moment, I wanted something a bit harder than soda... "Alright, so, you got it second hand, so you're... not going on all fours." Unlike me. I was going to become an animal. I would lose the ability to type. My life was... over.

"I'll just look less human," he grunted, sounding frustrated. "Horse face to match the ears, a tail. Compared to directs, almost nothing, unless you're the one getting it."

I was being unthoughtful. That poor person. Jake, his nametag said, was experiencing his own collapse of his life. But he'd keep his fingers! Lucky bastard... "Horse face?" I said even as I caught up with the thought. Images I'd seen online crept into my head. "You're... what, going furry?"

Oh the sour look he gave me. That was exactly what he didn't want to hear, poor thing. "Basically," he spat. "And I'm infectious too, at least for a while. Again, you already have it, so we're safe for each other."

That reminded me as I scooped up some eggs in the bread like a little sandwich. "They said I was alright for basically any other disease. What's up with that?"

He smiled at that. "It isn't obvious? We're becoming not-human. Why would a human disease work on us? I wouldn't go running out in the streets right now. We're still close enough." He started polishing the countertop as if cleaning it, not that much had been done to make it dirty. "A bright spot in all this."

"Dogs can catch human stuff, sometimes," I noted, putting on my nerd hat. I'd watched enough videos on random science trivia. "I don't think I'll want to roll around in filth anytime soon to test what I could catch."

"Probably a good idea."

The conversation faded awkwardly and I got back to eating. It wasn't bad, as continental breakfast-type offerings were. The yawning void inside me was satiated, which meant it was time to compute! I pulled out my phone and got to checking my email.

There was one from Cindy.

Lore,

Lore Lore Lore. What happened to you? Please tell me you're alright. You can send pictures, in the email, right? Show me you're alright, please. You owe me a concert, and I won't let you live that down, so if I have to break into wherever you are and get you out, I will!

All the hearts and love,
Cindy

Well, she was worried at least half as much as I was. I quickly typed that I was mostly alright. I felt less... completely frazzled than I had the day before, even if my sniffles were still there. "That reminds me." I turned back to Jake. "Why do I have a cold if I can't get colds?"

"That ain't a cold," he answered simply.

"But... Oh." It was what was happening to me. I held up my phone and took a picture of my smiling face, even if I wasn't entirely feeling that smile. Off it went. I wasn't entirely cut off from the world, just given a forced vacation of sorts.

"Thanks for breakfast." I stood up, phone sliding into my pocket in a practiced one-motion I had perfected over years of digital life. "Sorry, for before. I wasn't trying to poke fun."

"It's an awkward time for everyone." He gave a thumbs up. "You have it worse than me, I won't make fun if you don't."

"Promise..." And off I went, digging out the little card. Right, laundry! Off I went to the little hole in the wall that had several washers and dryers. One problem there. I had nothing to wear while my clothes were cleaned. So close to cleanliness, just to be denied. I didn't see a clothing shop on the little map there.

With a soft grumbling, I returned to my room. The cleaner was gone, just as she promised. I had to use the keycard, but it worked, the second time, and in I went, some privacy returned. At least if I entirely ignored the not-hidden cameras in the room.

I sat at the desk and got to drafting up the daily letter on my condition. I was still part of the trial... right? He never said I wasn't. I noted my fingers were even stiffer than the day before. A thought struck me and I kicked off my shoes and peeled off my socks.

I wriggled my toes and... yep... The same stiffness was in two of them easily missed with shoes on, then laid bare as my feet. Except, it was worse. My left toes didn't really want to wriggle at all. I could force them apart with that alien stretching sensation, but all of them were close together and didn't really want to come apart. My right foot, same as my hands. How...

Into the checkup it went. Doctor Miller would know what it meant, maybe. Not that he was sharing nearly enough about it to me. I slapped the send button and went next to work without delay and let me just say that having four fingers instead of five, which is what I effectively had, makes typing pretty annoying. On one level, it was better. I couldn't try to just 'remember' to move the fingers. They weren't moving.

It was adapting, instead of a focus thing. It's hard to explain, but I started adjusting how I typed as best I could. Work wouldn't wait, and I didn't want to quit. Typing and getting things done was a lot easier, and better, than fussing over what was happening to me as I was broken down and rebuilt in some alien form.

Would Cindy even recognize me after it was done? Would I be on all fours, unable to type ever again? I pushed aside those questions with a cringe as I struggled to even match half my usual typing speed. Still, work was getting done. I wasn't falling behind.

I heard something outside. Clip-clop-clip-clop went the sound of a horse trotting along the hallway. They had horses in there?! I understand wanting to keep patients happy and calm, but bringing in literal horses seemed a bit much.

Unless it was one of those little seeing-eye horses? I heard of those. They were so cute! Better than dogs in a lot of ways. Would I get one?

Would I be one? My good cheer deflated a bit, imagining a guiding rod hanging from my mouth for someone to hold onto as I walked them through things. "The light's red," I could call to them, waiting patiently for it to change.

A talking seeing eye horse... If I was going to become a horse, that might be the best thing I'd be able to do, my typing fingers taken away forever.

Ugh! I didn't want that. I really really didn't want that. I slapped the final button, my day's work completed. It had taken me longer than usual to do it, but I did it.

Miller had sent a reply!

Good Day, Lauren,

I hope you're getting used to the accommodations. If you need anything, please let us know.

A cure and a ticket home?

Thank you for remembering to send your update. Most patients forget that until reminded. Are you certain your left and right feet are expressing different symptoms? That's a bit odd. We'll have to monitor that. For now, relax. You're in good hands.

Thank You,
Doctor Miller

There was that. I was basically in a hospital. A very cushy hospital.

"This computer is too slow," I lamented in a dream. "Probably needs more ram." I pulled out a sheep from nowhere and rubbed its back up and down along the top of the laptop. "Much better!" I tossed the sheep aside and got to typing.

I was talking to Cindy. The transition was abrupt, but also smooth in that dreamlogic sort of way. "Hey, Girl!"

"Hey, Cindy! I just did a little ram upgrade." I pointed at the screen where she was. "Can you feel it?"

"I was wondering why it felt better," she agreed, not that that many any sense, not that I argued it. Dream logic. "Feeling down for some fun today?"

"I was just about to do some work." I wriggled fingers at the camera. "But as soon as I'm done with that..."

"Lemme know." Her face dramatically shrank to a point, taking my perception with it.

I woke up.

A new day, a new chance to chronicle what was happening to me. Fingers, stuck, just plain stuck. The two that were rammed into one another on each hand entirely refused to come apart, as if I was just born that way. I slipped out of bed and a new surprise was there for me. I was walking on my toes for reasons beyond me. Aside that, my left toes were all nicely stuck together, and my right toes were actually worse than the day before. It was like they had made three separate groups to become entirely stuck together with, my pinkie off on its own separate of the other two groups

What did any of it mean? I had no idea. But I loyally typed it down after a visit to the bathroom. Oh, I still had that freaky eye, peering at me.

On went the socks. I hadn't worn my shoes to bed again. The socks fit just fine despite my new stance. Shoes, on the other hand, were a bit odd. Not unwearable, mind. Not like you couldn't stand on tip-toes in shoes. I wore them anyway. Work! I pulled my laptop over and got busy. Sure, I should have had breakfast, but right at that moment, working felt good.

Work was reliable. Work was something other people needed. Work was something I was good at, and hadn't changed. Work wasn't turning into an animal. Work wasn't turning me into an animal. Work hadn't done anything wrong. I could do work, and I did, typing busily away. I was getting a little better at four-finger typing. A step up from the day before, but still below where I had started.

I figured it'd taken a while to get that first speed. Expecting to master a new typing style in two days was a bit much, but I felt... less frustrated about it. I was getting work done.

I was also out of work. It was done. All the database structures needing to be massaged were in place. All the data itself was entered. I had done my job. All standing notes left in my company inbox were resolved.

I had to face the world around me. Pushing the laptop off onto the bed, I slid up to my feet, even if I was tip-toeing around. It was time to step outside and exist a little. Sure, nothing was actually forcing me out, but I was hungry...

"Maybe I'll meet somepony new," I muttered as I reached for the door and pulled it open. It was wide open and airy. There was the cafeteria and I went straight for it, but I heard voices.

Several voices, talking.

Creeping up along the wall in a sudden fit of self-consciousness, I peered around the corner with my unchanged eye to see what I had to assume were two other patients, and Jake.

Jake's face had deformed, as he promised it would, jutting out strangely and not quite... right? Halfway between human and horse, he was still obviously speaking without a problem. "--think she's still in shock, so be nice."

"We will be," assured a little horse, tail swaying. They had light purple fur, but also hair. A mane? It was done more like human hair. That hair was darker purple with a cyan streak. "We've all been through it," she insisted. "Right?"

The other pony, they were ponies, right? Little horses were ponies so far as I knew. "Yeah." Obviously male. They had a more natural brown and unpatterned fur color, though their mane was a rich blue. "I was freaking out something awful."

Extra parts! Did I mention the boy-pony, stallion? Stallion. The stallion had folded up wings on his back. The mare had a horn. These were not regular horses, even if you forgave them for having a conversation.

"Sometimes you need a helping hoof," suddenly sang the female.

"Sometimes it's hiding under the same roof," continued the male.

Jake sang the next bit, "To reach out is sometimes hard."

And, just like that, I felt the urge to step out of hiding. "When did I become a bard?" I sang that question, coming into clear view.

My sudden entrance was apparently enough to end things as all three looked to me.

The mare began trotting towards me. "Hello there! You must be so confused, but it's alright. My pony name is Starlight." She raised a hoof to her chest, then threw it wide to the stallion that clip-clopped up beside her. "This is Flash Sentry. We've both been through this, so don't hesitate to pepper us with all the questions you have."

"For sure," agreed Flash. "And she's Starlight Glimmer, but first name's fine between friends." He offered a hoof. "We can be that, right?"

I was talking to two little ponies. Who I would one day join. "No!" I swatted that hand away and recoiled, toppling over. It was too much and I couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears came and sense left. I lost all track of everything in a moment of self-pity and mental breakdown. Not my brightest moment.

"There there." Starlight was seated on her haunches next to me, rubbing my face gently with a hoof. I didn't even know horses could be gentle with a hoof, but she was managing. "Baby steps. What do you want, something small and simple? Let's make this day a step better."

Flash was at a table, sitting in a chair and eating something. He felt safe to forget was there, so I promptly did, focusing instead on Starlight.

That's when I noticed something odd about her. She had breasts.

They weren't where I'd expect them to be, on a human, but she wasn't a human, was she? They were on her lower torso, but clearly there, shaped the way you'd expect them to be, but covered in soft fur everywhere but the clearly visible nipples in view, or were those teats? There was only one per bump... nipple?

Why was I staring at horse boobs?! My cheeks lit up and I sat up slowly. I fell back on science trivia. "Don't horses only have obvious breasts when they're nursing? Are you...?"

Starlight's cheeks lit up, which was odd, really odd. See, she had fur all over them. Fur is not supposed to change color, and covers flesh, which is what would change colors. Despite my cry for logic, her fur went a bright red on her cheeks. "Oh! Well, I guess, normally? Whatever normal is these days." She waved a hoof idly. "These things were full size when I changed and never got any smaller." She lowered the same hoof to rest on one of her breasts. "I didn't want to mention you looking at them. You weren't exactly being subtle about it."

"Are... mine going to do that?" I tried to envision belly-boobs and shivered softly. It was wrong. So were my stuck fingers, and my tip-toe stance, and... "This is all wrong."

"It's the new normal," gently assured Starlight. "I was serious. Let's get you something you want. What do you want?"

"To go home and not turn into an animal?" I ventured with a hopeful little smile.

"I can't do that, something smaller." She held up both hooves close together.

Ugh. Well... "A change of clothes?"

"That I can do!" She hopped up to all fours and turned. "This way. Flash, gonna get her some clothes."

"I'll be here, or the pool," he replied before resuming his eating, apparently as relaxed as I was not.

Speaking of that... "So... You two are... friends?" I got up to my feet and tried to stand normally, but I sprang right back up to tip toes the instant I stopped actively thinking about it.

"Oh yeah." She started to trot once I was up, leading the way. "The facility here? We're basically one strange family. Everycreature knows everycreature else. and we're here for each other."

I reached for her, resting a hand on her back. I was touching a real pony of such strange colors. My fingers trailed down her spine, feeling them. I was soon outright petting her, scratching through the fur.

That's when I realized she had stopped and was watching me. I yanked my hand away as if I had been touching something hot. "Sorry!"

"I didn't say you had to stop." She smirked faintly. "A good little scratch between friends is nice. I know you're a bit.... everything right now, but we're here for you, promise. Odd thing, but most of the people who got the shot were guys." She resumed her journey. "At least those that came here. I'm not used to a human woman."

Wait. "You're a woman, er, mare?" A quick glance revealed she had all the parts, a teardrop shaped equine genital. I already confirmed she had breasts. She was a mare, for sure. She also had a picture on her butt, a star with wisps coming off of it? That didn't change her gender, but it was odd and I took note of it.

"I am now," she said with almost a little laugh. "You're not the first, not by far, but, I dunno. Maybe more guys volunteered?" She shrugged softly.

She had been a he? That must have been... "Wait, does that mean I might get..." Mental images of me with facial hair and a wobbly thing between my legs assaulted me and I stopped the little train by flopping against the wall. "That's too much."

"It's not a for-sure thing," Starlight assured, turning to me with a patient look. "You may stick with being a lady, or not. More people become mares than stallions, so your odds are actually pretty good."

I took a shaking breath. "Less than 1%"

"What?" She quirked an ear at me. "You want to just... stop a moment?"

"No..." I pushed off the wall, rejoining her at her side. "Where are those clothes?"

"Right here." She turned off the hallway into what looked much like a drycleaners. "Anypony home?!"

"Oui," came a french-sounding voice. A mare's voice poked free between a line of cyan-shaded hospital overalls. "Oh, a new patient!" Her eyes were on me. "Welcome welcome," she bade, her voice thick with a French accent. "Step over here and we'll get you something fresh."

Then she stood up. She seemed to be able to balance on two legs just fine, even if she had no hands. She brushed clothes along a great line. "You appear to be, mmm, yes." She grabbed one plastic-wrapped set in her teeth and turned to me, draping it over one of her crooked arms. "Try this on."

Starlight sat down, tail swaying. "This is... hey, I never got your name."

"Cind--I mean Lauren," I replied a little numbly. "So, you got the shot too?"

"Oui," affirmed the pony that was dressed like a maid. "I was a normal burger flipper, and now, here I am." She curtsied, which is not a motion I expected a horse to ever do. "I like this job better." She stepped closer. "Go on, once you change, we can clean your other clothes."

I had been wearing the same set of clothes for several days. The chance to swap out was damned enticing. "You have a changing room?" Turns out, they did. When she pointed the way, I took the plastic-wrapped offerings and then got to see she also had boobs. They were also down on her lower belly.

I managed to not stare that time, moving past her towards the fitting room.

As I got into my hospital gown and out of my stinky old clothing, I could hear them talking.

"She seems nice," spoke the maid pony.

"And completely freaked out," added Starlight. "Be nice. We've been there, right?"

"Oui!" I heard a clop of hooves. "Perhaps she is in need of a special friend?"

"I'm going to suggest against that until we know for sure which way she's ending up." Which way? What did she mean? "Did you notice her hands?"

"Oui, they could still move. Is she that new?"

"A few days I'm told. They should be basically frozen. Hooves aren't good at that." Another sound of a hoof striking something. "Maybe a griffon?"

"Or perhaps, the drag-ohn?" she replied in that accent. "I hope whatever she becomes, it is being very nice. Good neighbors are so delightful."

"No argument there." clip-clops approached the changing room. "Everything alright in there, Lauren?"

I had my clothes all bundled up, my phone and other little things transferred over. "I'm alright. I think I should visit the laundry next." My clothes obviously needed it. "And I am terrified to ask, but why does this gown have a hole in the back?"

"For a tail," she bluntly replied, brushing the curtain aside with a hoof and revealing me in my new light-blue attire. "You look great!"

"Oui, a perfect fit." The maid looked satisfied with her work. "Do you want your clothes cleaned?" She held out a hoof towards me.

"I can do a little laundry on my own..." It was something I could do, I wanted to do it. I felt so out of control... "Thank you, uh..."

"Soft Touch," introduced the maid, giving a name. "Oh, have you been told?"

"There's more to this?" I dreaded whatever she had to say.

"We all had names, human names. Eventually, a new one will come to you. It will feel right. Tell us when that happens and we will switch to it. For now, you are Lauren, and it is tres nice to meet you."

Starlight nodded as she turned for the exit. "Very nice. Now, don't be shy. Like I said, one big family around here. Soft here keeps our clothes nice and fresh, even if a lot of us don't wear them much anymore. We still love her for it."

"Aw, it is too much." Soft waved Starlight away with a little giggle. "I am doing my job."

"Thank you, Soft." I wiggled my fingers at them. A griffon? A dragon? Did that mean I would be keeping my fingers? I was... alright with that idea. I needed those... "Starlight, I'm going to the laundry."

"Want some company?" She was already following me. "This is all... a lot, I'm sure. You must feel so... everything, but I'm here, promise."

"And you're nice for that." I resisted giving her a pet. "So... Since you're here, you were a guy, right?"

"100%," she assured. "Why?"

"You don't sound like one, or act like one really." I felt awkward asking it, but prodding into her life was less terrible than facing my own at that moment.

"This is the Year of Our Lord 2021," she chastised. "When somepony transitions, you don't poke them for 'not acting' like their old gender. I am a mare. What I was doesn't matter." She glanced away and back. "No hard feelings, promise. If you don't mind my admitting, I am very curious which way you'll go."

"Male, or female," I sighed out. "And I don't get any say in it?"

"Not a one," admitted Starlight with a soft shrug.

Now, this next part, I wasn't there for, just to be clear. But there was Doctor Miller. He had read my report, and he was watching through cameras. He could see me interacting with the others. "Subject progressing in a standard fashion." He tapped his pen against a pad before the scribbling resumed. "Finger and toe patterns are not congruent with known patterns. Fingers imply a Type G or D, but combined with toe progression..." He pushed away from the terminal to get to another with his chair rolling beneath him. "We will need to keep her under close supervision."

"In other good news, she appears to be socializing well with the others. They've accepted her into their social structure. This could become tested as mental changes progress. Subject has not mentioned any dreams in her reports. She either isn't experiencing them, or just isn't writing about them. Consider how to get her to write them down without being too obvious."

"For now, an X-Ray would be helpful." He pressed a large red button. "Get the new patient some basic imaging. Focus on the hands and feet."

"Right away, Doctor."

My clothes were washing with the soft rumble of the machine. I was perched on the same machine. Starlight was seated on the next machine over. "By the way," she said suddenly. "A little thing." She raised her hooves close together. "Once you're covered in fur, at least for us all-the-ways, you stop worrying much about what people see. Nudity taboos, who needs 'em?"

Oh... "And you don't wear clothes, but Soft Touch was wearing clothes?"

Starlight shrugged. "It's a personal choice. She likes clothes. She likes frills. She feels naked unless she's in that maid getup of hers. Good for her, she's cute in it." Starlight smirked a bit. "Her choice. Flash wears nothing, I wear nothing. I mean, usually. Sometimes I wear something. Jake'll probably keep wearing all the usuals, because he's not an all-the-way."

"He's... furry."

Starlight squinted at me before it seemed to dawn and she laughed. "Yeah! Exactly. He's still human-shaped and will wear pants. Not for our sake, but his own. All I'm getting at is you wear as much as you want to, or not. Nopony else is going to--"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we try to be nice?"

I waved a hand. "Not that part, 'Nopony'?"

Starlight blinked softly. "Oh! Well, you'll get that too if you haven't already. It just comes naturally. Nopony, anypony, somecreature... It's a bit odd when you think about it." She lifted her shoulders. "But the same thing lets me be a mare without screaming to the heavens for my missing anatomy, so there is that."

"So... if this is infectious, is... everyone going to become a pony?" That would not go over well in the world, I could only imagine. "Is that why they have us bottled up so tight?"

"It's not that bad," assured Starlight. "Once you finish and about a month goes by, you stop being infectious. Heck, I'm not infectious anymore." She reached out and put a hoof on my side. "No horse cooties." She rubbed lightly as if that somehow proved it. "They're keeping us here so it doesn't become a huge thing outside. No worldwise horse pandemic, thank Celestia."

"Celestia?"

Starlight's eyes widened. "Oops! Another ponyism, and I really don't even know where that one comes from. What is a Celestia?" She shrugged gently. "Whatever. We're ground zero and so long as we play nice, there will be no pony plague across the lands. So they treat us nice and give us what we need and we just wait mostly. We'll be fine. The world already has one pandemic and I'm not rushing to make it two."

The washing machine beneath me came to a gentle stop, the spin cycle ending. I hopped down, landing on my tip toes somehow without falling over. "That is still strange." I turned about and flipped up the lid, reaching in to grab my soggy clothes. "To the dryer with you." And off I went to toss them in there. The machines didn't ask for quarters. I just had to press the button and it got going faithfully. "Say, Starlight? What were you called?"

Starlight shrank at that. "You ever hear of the term 'dead name'?"

"Sorry." I hadn't meant to dig where I wasn't wanted. I leaned back against the dryer as it worked. "I was just curious. You'll know... my 'dead name' when I get a new one."

"True." Starlight leaned forward, tail lashing with a little smile on her face. "Then we'll make it a trade. When you get your new name and share it with me, I'll congratulate you, then tell you my dead name, so we can both never use it. It'll be our secret, between friends."

I reached for Starlight and couldn't. My hand was glowing a purplish hue, and so was Starlight's horn. "Wha--"

Someone rapped on the frame of the door leading to the laundry. There was someone in a full hazmat suit. "Sorry to bother. Lauren, we were hoping to take a few X-rays. It shouldn't take very long at all."

On some level, I felt relieved. They were going to do some actual medicine on me. "My clothes are drying." I pointed at the machine, only realizing after the fact that it was the hand that had been held still.

Starlight hopped to the ground. "I'll keep an eye on it and put it right outside your door when it's nice and dry." She raised a hoof to her chest. "What are friends for?"

"Thanks." I made a little mental note to ask about what had just happened, but for that moment... "Lead the way." I followed the well-protected man, trailing in my hospital gown. I felt so underdressed in comparison, but he was the one who didn't want to catch what I had. "So... things normal, you know, outside?"

"As normal as it can be. People are sick, dying, and complaining. We're doing what we can." He glanced, big covered head turning towards me. "Of course, I'm here working with the Ponid strain instead of the Covid one, but that's how it works out."

Oh. "You wanted to be working on Covid then?" I tried going beside him, but he knew which way he'd turn and I didn't so I soon fell behind him again.

"You all seem nice enough, but you're not dying, and Covid is doing that. Given the choice, yeah. No offense." He opened a door to a small clean room. "We're just going to get a peek at what's going on in your hands and feet, if you don't mind."

He had a little point there. Whatever was happening to me, I wasn't dying. My odds of death were 'beneath 1%', which was a fair sight ahead of where people were if they had the other option for plague of the day. I was just suffering an existential sort of death... "Look... I'll keep breathing, probably, but is whatever I become me?" I challenged as I sat on the examination table. "I feel like I'm dying."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He took one of my hands and held it out. "Say cheese." Something made an odd noise, like a flash bulb, but there was no flash. "And the other." He switched hands, then went for feet. "That was uncalled for. You're right. Comparing your case to others isn't fair, to you. For you, right now, this is a big deal. Can you wait a moment?" After a nod from me, he scooted from the room, to get the results I figured.

The room looked like any doctor's visit office really, minus specific plaques that said who it belonged to and what achievements they had achieved. I felt... almost normal. I was a little sick, so I went to a doctor.

Perfectly normal.

I was in an idyllic little town. Cindy had invited me over for tea. She lived in a cottage. Sure, the actual Cindy never lived in a cottage in her life, to my later recalling, but it was a dream, so I rolled with it.

"Hello, my dear Cindy." I greeted as I slipped from nowhere to somewhere inside that cottage. "Ready for tea time?"

"As always," she agreed before she commanded the music system to start playing some high-energy electronic music that didn't fit a tea party at all. "You're here, which means it's party time!"

A little rabbit thumped Cindy on the leg. Cindy looked down at it, then at me. "Oh, he's reminding me that you have to go. But don't worry, you'll be back soon."

"Aw, but I didn't even have a chance for some tea." I reached out with talons, but it all seemed to be slowing down.

I woke up.

I sat up in the darkness, though the darkness didn't last, my movement causing the lights to come on without my prompting. I squinted against the light and slid up to my feet. A hearty yawn escaped me on the way to the bathroom, where my clothes were waiting for me, all nice and clean.

As Starlight had promised, they had been waiting for me when I got back to the room, just outside the door for me to grab on the way in. At least I had a friend, even if she was a pony, and used to be a man.

"Calm down," I chastised myself outloud. "They're not even the first trans person you ever met. That's the least of their problems."

I turned to the mirror. One eye was normal, the other... the new normal? Was I a little taller? I could swear the bathroom counter was a little lower. That had been only a hunch, but when my clothes didn't quite fit, that was another sign. I mean, they did fit, but they didn't overlap as much as they used to. It was a curious thing.

And it was nothing compared to what I saw when I reached down to put on my socks and instead fell against the door behind me. My left foot had no toes, just one big hoof I had been balancing on with an otherwise human foot. That was... so unnatural on every level. Even for a horse, it was just... wrong.

But it got worse, since the other foot hadn't followed suit at all, instead the three grouping of toes had come together and swollen, becoming three... claws? Big strong toes with claws at the end. "What is happening to me?!" I asked nocreature in particular. Not like there was someone there to ask it besides myself. I was increasingly certain I wasn't becoming a dragon or a griffon. None of them were... that.

Was it messed up? Was I dying?

I was thoroughly awake at that point, but tried to press on with the day. I rose up and got to fixing my... hair.

That's when I noticed someone had colored my hair while I was sleeping. My normally brown hair had darkened, with streaks of almost dark, kind of grey running through it? I leaned into the mirror to inspect it, and another change became obvious. Hair! Not on my head, but instead... on my ears?

I felt over them, soft and plush, just as pettable as Starlight had been, but I was the one that was becoming pettable.

But I was also the one becoming a total freak. Some kind of... freak with furry ears, a hoof, and... whatever my other foot was doing. Unable and unwilling to assume any part of me was still myself, I began to take my clothes right back off again for a better look.

Breasts, right where I left them. General shape, yep, dumpy office worker, the charming chubby. I smirked a bit at my self-deprecating thoughts as I turned in place, getting a peek at my side, then my back.

I had a tail. Well, not... exactly a tail. I reached for it, examining the strange growth with my fingers, which had thankfully not progressed from the day before. It was a little thing, hanging off my back end. I could... even raise it and wriggle it, just a little. It was also scaled and... "Dragon." A dragon's tail, yes, thank you, me.

It was... anemically tiny, but that could change, right? None of these changes had been... instant per se, creeping up on me day by day. I shook that thought out and got dressed again. That hole was for a tail, I remember myself, looking over at the hospital gown. Everyone got a tail? Running down the list, there were ponies and griffons and dragons. All of those things had tails.

Whatever I was becoming, it had a tail too.

I had a few choices. I could write up everything that had happened to me. I could get to work. Or I could sob into breakfast.

Write up. I didn't want to think about it any longer than I had to, so do it while it's fresh. I had my laptop powered up and got to typing furiously, detailing all the alterations I'd suffered.

Give it to me straight, Doctor. Is there a way out of this? Just tell me if I should hold out some hope on that, or... not, alright?

I stared at the words I had written, frowning.

Scratch that, mostly. Just tell me what is happening. I'm not turning into a pony, or a griffon, or a dragon. Are there other things you know about? The uncertainty is the worst part of this. Probably unrelated, though maybe it is, my cold feels worse today. Keep me stocked up on tissues if you would, thanks.

Being broken down into a second puberty, the words echoed in my head. Doctor Miller had mentioned that. I was going through that awkward phase of life all over again, but instead of blossoming into womanhood, I was becoming... whatever it was.

I smashed send and let my breath out. It was time for work, and to not think about that for a while. So I got to it, jamming at the keyboard. My typing rate was better. Each day it got a little better as I got used to working with four fingers. Maybe, eventually, I'd get back to full speed. A little smile touched my lips, looking forward to that.

If I was having a second puberty, did that mean I was also younger, biologically speaking? Did I get a new lease on a completely freaky life?

I shook my head a bit, probably not. There were a thousand little biological mechanisms that made 'age' happen. They'd all have to be wound back for that to really happen.

Work was done. I was out of options, and my stomach was lodging formal complaints. Food. I gently folded the laptop and set it aside. "Time to face the world." I started forward on my altered feet and wobbled a bit. Whatever force had been guiding me was just as confused as I had been with the horrible middle state I was in.

I took it slowly, but got to the door.

As I pushed it open, I heard a soft clip-clop. "Hey there," called a male voice. Flash Sentry's head peeked around the door. "Almost hit me." He was smiling despite any worry of physical harm. "Feel--" His words trailed off, his huge eyes quickly falling to my feet. Neither of them fit my shoes anymore, so I hadn't bothered. I had managed socks, but their strange shape was quite obvious in them. "I hated this part," he grumbled with some sympathy.

"This is... normal?" I waved at my malformed feet. "I have a tail!"

"So do I." He wagged it a bit behind himself. "I bet yours is barely anything." Why was he so calm about it? "It's alright. Hungry?"

Well, since he had brought it up... "I was going to get some breakfast."

He inclined his head left and right. "Breakfast? They closed the breakfast buffet, but there's plenty of lunch options." He turned away and took a step before looking over his shoulder. "Need a hand?"

I tried to follow him, but each step was awkwardly slow. "You don't have any of those."

"No," he admitted, not sounding that worked up about it. "But I can still lend one." He reached out a wing as he backed up and soon I was leaning against it.

I was walking into the cafeteria with a pony's wing as a walking bar. How strong was that wing? "Isn't this tiring? I'm not a feather." I wasn't afraid to admit that, even for my height, I had a few more pounds going on.

"Nah." He brushed my front with the feathers of the wing I was leaning on, letting the limb fall and raise in a ticklish way. "Wings are about as strong as an arm, maybe more. Let's get you something to eat. Jake!"

There was Jake, his face less awkwardly shoved in the middle, more of a proper pony snout on his face. His ears were becoming long, already fuzzy and atop his head. "Hey." He raised an equally furry hand, though it was covered in a plastic glove. At least I wouldn't be eating hair. "Good afternoon, Lauren. What can I get you?"

"Your hair." His hair had gone from black to a deep orange shade. "Just like mine."

"Yours doesn't look orange." He pulled out a little one-page menu and set it on the counter. "But it is darker. No idea what I'm busy turning into, but it has orange hair, real orange, none of that 'red but we call it orange' thing." He sounded almost proud of it.

I took the menu, leaning against the counter instead of Flash. "Thanks for the help."

Flash saluted with the same wing before folding it up on his back. "I'll be around if you need help after you eat." And he trotted off without delay.

Which left me with Jake. "I... understand more what's going on. Aren't you worried? You could... change a lot, even if you're going to stay on two legs."

"I could scream and yell, but I'd rather not." He tapped the menu held there in my hands. "Go on. I'll cook you up something tasty."

"You could become a woman," I pressed. "Isn't that a little worrying?"

"Why, does it hurt?" His eyes roamed over me. "You seem to be managing it alright."

"I was born this way!" I threw up a hand, and everything started to tilt. My socked feet were sliding on the tiled floor. His hand suddenly grabbed my arm, wrenching me forward against the counter instead of toppling over backwards. "Jesus... thank you."

"No problem." He gave a thumbs up even as he moved to switch which gloves he'd been using. "You should take those gloves off. Look, I get it." He snapped on new gloves. "It sucks, but there's also no stop or reverse button. I've seen a lot of people fall apart, I don't want to be one of them."

I took a slow breath. "Right... Sorry. I'm venting all over you and all you're trying to do is get me lunch." My eyes went to the menu. "That reminds me, why are there so few meat options?"

"Shortages," he replied simply. "Blame Covid for that one. Fortunately, most of the people in here end up as horses and horses don't mind vegetables one bit. Try the carrot omelette." He pointed it on the menu. "Creation of mine."

I'd had omelettes with carrots in it before, but... "What is it, half carrots?" I put the menu down. "I thought breakfast was off the table, but since you're offering, that, and some orange juice maybe?"

"You got it." He snapped the menu right off the counter and tucked it away. "Go have a seat and I'll bring it over."

Just as I sank into a chair, a pony hopped up across from me. It was Starlight, looking at me with some concern. "That was not a graceful bit of movement. You alright? I mean, I guess you're very obviously not alright, but I just wanted to come and let you know I was here for you and now I'm rambling." She put a hoof on her chest and let out her own breath. "So, let's try that again. Good afternoon."

Her awkwardness was somehow a relief. I wasn't the only awkward thing there. "Hey, Starlight. Thanks for dropping off my clothes." I gestured down to them, seeing as I was wearing them. "If they let me out of here, I'd go home and grab a few more sets."

Starlight pointed away. "Soft Touch would be glad to get you more, but I'd wait a little before then. I don't mean to be a dour note, but you're still changing, quickly... So... did you get shorter?"

"No?" I put a hand to my own head and moved it over over hers as flatly as I could manage. "I'd say I got taller if anything."

"Taller?!" she squeaked with obvious surprise. "Even the larger ones... I mean... that's odd. I lost height pretty fast before plumping out into a little pony." She wobbled a hoof at me. "Behold, for we are small, but packed with adorable muscle. We're stronger than we look, trust me."

She was a little brightly-colored pony. I should have been more worried about her being poisonous. "You're kidding." But it hit me. "Your friend, Flash. He was supporting me with a wing. A wing shouldn't be that strong."

"Pegasus wings are quite strong," she assured. "Incoming OJ."

And there was Jake, setting down a glass filled with orangey goodness that matched the shade of his hair. "Thank you," I got out as I reached for it, giving a sip. Mmm, just the sweet tang I wanted. "Perfect. Still, it was... surprising."

Starlight suddenly slapped down an elbow on the table, offering a hoof towards me. "Arm wrestle?"

She was so small! Like a medium-large dog really. "I..."

"C'mon, just for fun." She wobbled that hoof, beckoning me to take the challenge.

Down went my arm. "Don't blame me if you lose, or win. I haven't had a lot of practice with it." Then it was time for the next challenge. Our arms weren't close to the same length, and she had no hand, just a hoof, but we shuffled a bit until we got it about right.

"Jake," called out Starlight. "Say when we start."

"Alright," came his reply from the kitchen. "One. Two.--" I could feel Starlight tense, preparing to press against me. I returned the gesture, not planning to throw the match. "Three!"

Our muscles struggled against one another. While hers managed to bunch up enough to show through the fur, mine were lost in soft pudge. I didn't immediately lose! But I wasn't winning either. She was slowly forcing my hand back, tilting my arm. I was losing an arm wrestling contest with a small horse and I felt both shame and hilarity bubbling inside of me, which didn't help my struggle.

Thump went hand and hoof against the tabletop, defeated. I reclaimed the arm, rubbing at sore muscles. "You are a lot stronger than you look."

"I did warn you." She nudged her chair forward with little hops. "So, been meaning to ask... any weird dreams? Sometimes they give hints."

"Hints?"

Jake approached, a big plate of yellow and orange goodness upon it, with slices of potatoes and other delightful veggies worked in. He set it down in front of me. "Here you go. I don't take tips." He winked and scooted right back to where he started.

Not that I had any tipping money on me. "Tips?" I repeated at Starlight, reaching for a fork. "Thank you, by the way. It looks great."

"Hints," she corrected. "I dreamed of being a unicorn before I had one of these." She pointed up at her horn. "I imagined all my friends were little ponies too. We sang and danced a lot too, was kinda odd, but hey, hints. What are you dreaming about?"

The eggs, as it turned out, were perfectly delightful. A mix of scrambled eggs and a bunch of yummy veggies with just the right hint of spices. I didn't even answer at first, just enjoying filling myself a moment. "Mmm? Oh! Sorry, these are pretty good. Want a bite?" I offered a laden fork towards her and soon Starlight was taking a chomp right off my fork.

"Mmm, good stuff, Jake. I don't expect people to be comfortable being that intimate so early in," she said the last part towards me. "Sharing a fork like that."

Intimate was not the word I'd use for sharing a fork! Still, was she wrong? It is a bit odd to share cutlery in use with someone. "I didn't really think about it." Of course, then I was, and I set the fork down.

"I'll get another." She pointed towards the bin of forks and one jumped up, glowing purple as it flew over to us and set itself down gently beside my plate. "There you are. I didn't mean to creep you out about it."

"How..."

"You're about to ask a question I don't have an answer to." She lifted her shoulders softly. "It works, sometimes, when I want something."

I reached for the bewitched fork, but it didn't dance or move anymore. It was perfectly normal. "You stopped my hand, yesterday. The was the same thing, wasn't it?"

Her cheeks lit up in that impossible way she could do. "You were being really... friendly." Her tail gave a sudden lash. "I mean, I'm not against a special friend, but you keep right on touching and... stroking me."

Guilty. I set the fork down, my appetite waning a moment. "Is it alright if I lay it like it is?"

"Please, go ahead." She nodded softly. "And about those dreams?"

"To me, right now...you're a talking dog. You're an adorable little harmless animal, and what do you do with little cute things? You pet them. You pet them as much as they let you pet them unless you're busy with something else."

Starlight put a hoof behind her head. "That's me, a cute little harmless thing... But this cute thing has feelings, and we both know you'll be joining the club soon, so petting has a bit more... meaning. If you mean for it that way, that's different, but you're just doing it without thinking." She leveled the same hoof at me. "That's rude."

"Right..." I dared to resume eating. It was still delicious! "Only pet if you mean it."

"Exactly." A gentle smile returned to her face. "Only a precious handful have full petting rights. I know you're new at this, so I'm not angry, not at all. Please don't think I'm yelling at you. So, those dreams?"

She was really being persistent about those. "In the first one I remember, after I got here, I was floating somehow, and I felt really tall. My friend was with me, at a concert."

"Floating? Did you have wings?" proposed Starlight. "Flash had a lot of flying dreams before he finished getting his wings all the way."

"I don't remember wings..." Down went another forkful. "The second time, I... rubbed a sheep on my computer to give it more ram."

Starlight's brows fell. "That pun was bad and you should feel bad."

"It was a dream!" I defended, holding one hand up, the other getting more eggs. "The third one, I was visiting a cottage, and my friend was there. She had a pet rabbit for some reason that kicked her, I remember that. I didn't want to go and..." Right, I remembered that part. "I had talons." I reached out my left hand. "Here. Four talons."

"That is not the right place for a griffon," noted Starlight with a huff. She leaned off to the side, peeking under the table at me. "Your feet are also way off. What are you becoming?"

"I would love to know that!" I said a bit louder than I had intended. "Really... It's bad enough I'm busy becoming something inhuman, but I'm not even a match there? I'd rather be a unicorn, or have wings, or a dragon? Sure why not, I like dragons. Anything but this! The only thing I know for sure is I plan to be me. I'm rejecting that pony name before it even comes up. I am Lauren! Lore!"

One of her hooves brushed up against the elbow I had on the table in a fit of bad manners. "It'll be alright."

I set down my fork. Lunch was over. But I could still use a drink, so I plucked up the glass and chugged half of it down without pausing for air. "Starlight? Thanks. I know you're trying to be a good pony, and... thank you. I appreciate it."

She smiled just a little. "But?"

"But I think I have some soul searching to do." I stood up and started wobbling back towards the counter. Dignity somewhat intact, I set the tray down where Jake could reach it. "Thank you, both of you. I'll be in my room, considering my various life decisions that brought me here."

A soft clopping raised Doctor Miller's eyes. "Come in."

In came Starlight, trotting up to his desk and hopping up onto the chair facing it. "I asked her, caused a little breakdown along the way. I feel terrible. She needs friends, good friends, not spies."

"You're not spying," he assured. "We just want to know what is going on, to help her. Her case is--"

"--Strange, yeah, I got that impression." Starlight was glowering at him. "She dreamed her left hand's fingers were talons. You know what has talons on their hands? If you say dragon, I can assure you that's not what she meant."

"She isn't a dragon," he flatly agreed. "The imaging came back. I would go into detail, but..."

"Sure, confidentiality." Starlight rolled her eyes. "This is where I remind you that you had me spy for you."

"And you want to intrude on her personal space more?" He sat up, hands folded on the desk in front of him. "I thought you regretted it."

"I... do," she got out through clenched teeth. "I want to help her! Did something go crazy wrong? Is she falling apart? You tell us the odds of us dying are basically zero, but 'basically' zero, and zero are not the same thing. is she dying, becoming so many different things at once she shuts down?"

"No! We don't believe so."

"No, and 'we don't think so' are not the same thing either," retorted Starlight. "Look... look, you've all been good to us. You've given us everything we need and a bit more. I get that. You aren't treating us like monsters, and I appreciate that." She sat up as tall as she could. "But she is... in trouble. Even if everything works out, physically, she's in a bad place. No more skulking around. I will not spy for you again. She needs friends, without secrets."

"One last favor then." Despite Starlight's skeptical look, he pressed on, "Tell her to record her dreams. She enjoys tasks, and she enjoys typing. This is both of those things. She shouldn't argue it."

"We'll see." Starlight hopped down to the floor with a clop. "If things take a sudden turn... tell me. I want to be there, even if it's just to hold her hand at the last second." Her ears were pinned against her head. "I only just met her, but I won't abandon her. Not for you." And off she went, the door slamming shut behind her.

He casually made a note of the strong pack bonding ponies displayed.

Dreams are a chaotic place, and mine were no exception to the fact. Usually, though, you weren't aware of the madness until it was already passed. That night it was different. I reached for a glass of juice, the orange juice I had been given the day before, by Jake, who was suddenly there. "Thanks."

Jake tipped a hat he hadn't been wearing, but suddenly was, then he was Starlight.

I saw the change. I knew the change had happened. "Starlight?"

"Could you write this down?" asked the unicorn. "I'm so sorry... I'll try to be a better friend."

Friend. Suddenly Starlight was Cindy, looking around. "Woah, crazy place. This is where they have you locked up, Girl? It's like a--"

"--hotel," I finished with a little smirk. "Tell me about it."

"I just did." She moved up to grab my talon between her hands. "You look so soft and huggable. Tell me I get to pet you when you get--"

Suddenly I was standing with Starlight just a little ahead and to the left. My talons were scratching and petting her softly. Pony fur was so nice to pet through. "Where'd Cindy go?"

Starlight looked over her shoulder at me. "This is your dream, and what did I tell you about petting?"

I woke suddenly. Or I hoped I did. It was dark. I raised my left hand up and brushed my cheek. Fuzzy, and sharp. Also less of them?

Sliding to my feet, the lights flickered on. I could see things had progressed. My left hand was entirely a set of talons, four of them. My right side were pudgy fingers, four of them, covered in the same soft fur of my ears.

Speaking of feet, they weren't in that halfway state anymore. My left foot was one big brown hoof. The right one, dragon claws. I was walking on the balls of my dragon foot, with a big sharp dewclaw coming out the other way. My legs and arms, so far I could see, unchanged.

I had reached the bathroom and turned to examine my back end. Yep, tail, but bigger, about twice as large, longer and thicker and easier to move around. I had a dragon's tail and one dragon foot, and one... other foot. A pony foot? Something with one hoof. A pony had one hoof.

Hair! My hair had gone entirely that dark grey color. The fur on my right hand was a soft brown shade. There was some fur starting just where my hoof ran into the rest of me. It was a darker brown color. My ears were completely covered in fur and seemed just a little pointed. They were a lighter grey than my hair, not matching anything else.

Whatever I was becoming, it didn't feel like matching anything to anything. I set my hands on the counter in the bathroom, my clawtips of my talons clicking on the smooth marble. Suddenly I felt muscles I never had before flex and new clicks sounded out. Claws had emerged from my pudgier fingers. A paw! My other hand was a paw. They were also still fingers.

I could wriggle them easily, but they had claws inside, and the hand was covered in fur. What was happening to me? Griffon! Yes, of course. "I have a griffon hand." And a dragon hand, and a dragon foot? And a pony foot. Somehow, that was reassuring. I had figured out what I was, sort of. Good enough. I looked to the mirror to see that odd eye looking back at me.

My nose. I reached up and felt it with altered fingers. Talons or furry, I could still sense properly. You'd think fur would get in the way of that, but it didn't. Either way, my nose seemed a little wider. Not monstrously, but enough to notice it. "Right..." I would grow a snout, like Starlight or Jake or Flash.

Despite all the changes, I felt less... freaked out than I had the day before. Maybe it was because I could stand and walk. I wasn't in an awkward halfway state that left me feeling even more vulnerable and helpless. I was an independent woman again.

I emerged, showered and dressed in a hospital gown and sank down onto my bed. Laptop booted up, I got to writing up a report of what changes had occured.

Oh, he had replied.

Good day,

Your case is unique, and we are sparing nothing to make sure you are safe. For now, we can only wait and see and monitor, which we are doing. Your vitals are nominal and I hear you've made friends. Social networks can be quite useful in times like this, and they speak well of you, so don't hesitate to lean on them.

I rolled my eyes a bit, images springing of giving Starlight more scritches and leaning on Flash's wing. They were friendly enough to put up with it, but I had to be a functional adult.

Things should get a little easier from here forward. While the physical changes can be disorienting, you will find it becomes less mentally jarring. A little warning, some subjects experience more severe hormonal shifts than others, causing mood shifts, typically not violent. Be mindful. Your new friends are already aware of the situation, having experienced it themselves.

I huffed softly at that. "I am Lauren," I spoke in defiance. "I will not have mood swings." Ignoring the fact that I'd already bust down crying and snapped at people a few times already. "I am the master of me..."

Oh! A letter from Cindy. A big smile split my face as I pulled it up.

Hey! Where are your emails? Did they take your computer away?

A shoot, I hadn't been mailing her. I read on, prepared to be chastised for my failure.

Seriously, are you alright? Don't leave me hanging like that. My girl's all caught up in some secret luxury jail and suddenly she stops talking and what am I supposed to think? Hit reply and tell me you're alright, if you're alright. If you aren't alright, tell me what's going on.

Well, how did one argue that? One did not. Not if they were a decent human anyway, and I was still one of those, maybe?

I got to typing with my new fingers and, I swear, it was a little faster. There's a difference between getting used to one big finger and having all your fingers far closer to the same size. They were all moving naturally. Still not at full speed, but I was improving.

Cindy!

I miss you so much right now. I'm busy... going through changes, a lot of changes. They say we can't do video calls, but no rule about pictures, so...

I pulled up the camera app on the computer and began showing off. One hand, the other, then my crazy feet one at a time and lastly a butt shot, my tail lifted for easy viewing as it clicked.

Tell me that isn't super crazy! I'm not in pain, promise. It's... just... super... Ugh, words. You just imagine it happening to you, alright? They don't even know what I'm turning into, but I'm still Laura, alright? Promise you won't be scared of me when I get out of here?

I will write more often,
Laura

Friendship mission complete! I clapped my alien hands, then the fingers slid between each other. The tickle of my own fur against my talons was a new sensation. I could feel the talons pressing back against my furry fingers. As inhuman as they were, they were mine. I could feel them and became fascinated for a moment, just... experiencing that, the tickle of digits, four of them, not five.

"At least I have hands." Seriously, I wouldn't have wanted hooves. Poor Starlight. Poor Flash, denied hands forever more.

Ah, right, update! I got to typing that up, reporting the odd fingers and feet and the tail and the face. So many things. I didn't feel as shredded by it as the day before. But the day before I was also basically an invalid. A sudden sneeze interrupted me and I reached for the tissues, blowing my subtly altered nose. "Cold's still there," I grumped and noted that down too.

Work! There was no work. It was a day off and I was helpfully reminded when I logged in to get to it. I had to smile. Even before the virus, or my changes, I had forgotten the day of the week a few times. It was easy when you didn't actually go into work all the time. "No work, alright." I closed the laptop and slid it to the side before I stood up. "Let's socialize."

For once I'd meet people and do something besides hunt for the basics of survival. More than food or laundry. Today was the day!

In another room, someone we'd never meet was busy sifting through lumps of data. "Hmm?" An email caught in the filter, awaiting permission to continue on out to the world.

The words didn't have too many red flags, but the pictures... "We don't need a panic..." He casually pruned them out and replaced them with error images, as if it had simply failed to send them.

Another job completed, he let the mail continue on its way, neither party aware of his meddling.

I had gotten something to eat. Jake was looking even fuzzier than normal, but something else, right there for everyone to see. Well, not exactly, he did wear a shirt. A shirt being pushed forward by two growing bits of fat known more positively as 'breasts'.

"Hey," he greeted as if nothing was wrong. "Well, I know which way it is now." And that was that. He fed me and he didn't seem too sour about it.

Until I went to leave. When I put the tray on the counter, his plastic-gloved hand came down on my talons. "One thing."

"Yeah?"

"What... should I expect? I hear periods are a bitch. I hear being a lady is a lot more complicated than it looks. Can you... give me any advice? I know I'm supposed to be here for you, but you're already used to this."

A bit of movement caught my eye. It was his tail, just as brightly orange as his hair, short, much like mine. He was a pony, a biped pony.

He looked... scared, I wanted to say. I couldn't help but feel some sympathy. I turned my taloned hand to gently wrap my new fingers around his. "Being a woman isn't so bad," I assured. "But, yes, there's... more to it than being a guy. You have most of that on automatic. Are you living here?"

He pointed and gave a number.

"I'll stop by, later. So we can talk, privately, when you're not working. I'll give you a crash course in all things womanly."

His smile. His careful neutrality had given way to hope. I felt lighter just seeing it. "Thank you. You're the best anypony could ask for."

"For now, just do what you do. Women work the same way guys do." I tapped my widened nose with a furry finger. "Even if today's a day off for me." I wandered off, only realizing as I went that he had thrown a ponyism at me. Not really his fault, I figured and I put it out of my mind.

"Look who's out and about," came a friendly female voice. Starlight crossed the hallway, moving to walk alongside me. "And you don't seem to be headed for the laundry or food, so what are you hunting for? Feeling better?"

"I'm feeling like a freak." I wriggled my altered fingers at her. "But a functional one, which is a fair sight better than yesterday, I think... Hey, since you're here." We were passing the pool. It was a modest sized thing, but I found myself getting tempted. "Wait a moment, do they have swimming gear?"

Starlight leaned around me to get a peek. "Oh, you want a swim? Sure! Let's make a quick pitstop at Soft Touch's and get you a swimsuit." She turned and began trotting without a hint of delay.

"What about you?" I fell in with her. "Don't you want one?"

"I don't really need one?" She shrugged as she walked. "My fur is going to get all wet and soggy either way. That's just life, but the swimming part is fun, and shaking out is surprisingly good feeling."

"Like a dog?" We were approaching the dry cleaning area that was Soft Touch's domain. "I suppose that makes sense, being on all fours with no fingers."

"Stop showing off!" Starlight turned suddenly and prodded my furry hand. "You got the injection, but you still have hands? Unfair."

"You can make things float around," I retorted quickly. "I didn't get that."

"Well, sure, maybe." She shrugged softly. "Really, glad you're feeling better." She turned back as she walked in. "Soft? You in?"

"Oui!" She came trotting out with a friendly smile. "Oh, Starlight and our new friend. You have changed." Her eyes swept over me. "How interesteeng," she noted in her French accent. "What can I be getting for you today?"

I didn't see any swimwear handing on those hooks. "Starlight mentioned you could get a swimsuit here?"

"Oui Oui, of course." She turned in place, tail wagging. "We keep those in the back." And off she trotted out of sight.

Starlight sat on her haunches. "Your feet... how do they feel? If you want to talk about it."

I lifted and dropped my new dragon talons, their claws tacking on the ground. "Mismatched, but working." I wobbled my hoof, raised in the air. "I miss toes, so I'd have to say, right now, liking the dragon side more than the pony side." I thrust the hoof at her. "It is a pony hoof, right?"

Starlight hiked a brow as she leaned in to study it. "I think so... Perfectly formed, healthy. There are a few things you want to do to keep them looking nice." She wobbled a fore hoof. "As if girls didn't have enough to worry about. Think of it like a big nail and you're most of the way there. Like any nail, you have to take care of it or it'll turn ratty."

She turned her hoof about, flatside up. "Just don't forget that there is basically one big finger inside there. It's what you're wiggling around." She wobbled the hoof left and right. "So don't think you can just cut into the hoof or file it down to nothing."

"Here we are!" sang Soft Touch as she emerged, walking on two legs. She had about a dozen bits of things draped over her right arm. "It is now being only a question of what you prefer."

I realized quickly that she must have remembered my size. "You take your job seriously. You are a delight."

"You are too kind." Her cheeks warmed, coloring despite the impossibility of it. "Now, you want a one piece, or two?" She began to drape the pieces over a bar for me to see. "I think you are good with the warm colors, Oui?"

"The way I am, I can't be sure of that." I used my blessedly present fingers to select one anyway, not that I had a strong sense of fashion. A simple one piece would do. Movement behind me reminded me of something. "Tail."

Soft reached over and brushed a flap with her hoof. "It is, as they say, ready for that. The clozing, they are made for the rezidents," she explained with a soft bobbing of her head. "Enjoy!"

I took my selection towards the fitting room I remembered. "Let's try this on then. Thank you." I slipped inside and got to changing.

"She seems less confused," noted Soft. Why were ponies so bad at whispering?

"Yeah... She's happier, today. I'm glad to see it. Soft, I messed up."

"Messed up? That is not being like you."

"I spied on her! How do you even admit that? Ugh, never again, but I did it."

"It is not being that--"

"It is that bad," cut in Starlight. "But never again. We are friends. Friends do not spy on friends."

I was changed and emerged, more of my human body exposed than before. "Starlight, two things."

"You look great," she complimented, approaching with a wagging tail. "What's up?

"One, thank you for making the right decision." I held up one finger, the next following. "Two, who/what were you spying on me about?"

Starlight's approach faltered to a sudden stop. "They... you heard?"

"You were talking normally. Was that a whisper?" I started to fold up the hospital gown but Soft Touch was already there, snatching it in her teeth and spiriting it away.

"I will have two by your door," she promised along the way.

"I was whispering," she hissed at me. "Ugh... You must hate me." With a hoof to her head, she turned towards the door. "And you'd deserve it!"

"Starlight, I didn't say that, but I do want to know what's happening." I walked past her, heading back into the hallway. "Come on, you can tell me while we swim."

Soon we were by the water. Starlight hadn't said much on the way. "Stop pouting. Look, you're one of the few friends I have I can reach." I sat down at the edge of the pool and let a hoof sink in. I could feel the cold water, but it was different than a fleshy foot, like it was radiating from my hoof to somewhere inside, which was logical I supposed. "Tell me."

Starlight nudged at my back suddenly. "You didn't get all dressed up just to sit by the pool, did you?"

"I'm not even sure if I can swim like this." I wriggled talons and fingers and let my dragon foot descend into the water. "No webbing at all."

"Horses don't have webbing," Starlight countered. "They can swim." As if to prove the point, she suddenly jumped right in the water. A great splash of water rippled from the point she hit, sending water all over me and everything else in the area. I squeaked in surprise as she bobbed to the surface, paddling in place but managing to keep herself buoyant. "See?"

Her carefully brushed hair, it was carefully brushed, right? It was ruined, all wet and hanging down. Such was the pitfall of pool fun. "I'll come in if you tell me what you meant."

"Ugh." Her eyes rolled dramatically. "Fine, get in here!"

Suddenly I was glowing, and the world moved around me. I was hurled face-first into the water suddenly. It was wet, but not as cold as I had thought at first. Of course, I was too busy frantically clawing my way back to the surface and sputtering. "Starlight!"

"I didn't mean it!" she squeaked, her eyes wide. "I swear! I was thinking about wanting to push you in, but I didn't mean to!"

I flopped an arm over the side of the pool, anchoring myself as I heaved for breath, catching up with the situation. I was in the water. I wasn't dissolving, or sinking like a stone. "I'm... alright."

"Good..." She paddled her way over, slowly circling me. "Sorry, really. I'm on a roll it seems... They wanted me to ask about you, learn more about what was going on in your head, ask about your dreams." She touched her snout to my free shoulder. "I told them what you told me, then told them to shove it. The last thing I did for them was say I'd consider telling you to write down your dreams."

"Who?" I let go of the wall and turned in place. I was holding myself up in the water, which wasn't as hard as I feared to do. "A random doctor?"

"Miller." Starlight shrugged softly. "One of many, really. Do you even--"

"--I know him," I cut in. "He's the one that gave me the shot, and who I send reports to."

"Ah... that makes sense." Starlight's head inclined faintly. "He's keeping track of his patient, that's you." She raised a hoof out of the water to point at me. "Well, here we are. Are we going to have any fun?"

I splashed a little water at her. "It's why we're here. I also wanted to... move a little. I've been soaking in misery and barely moving, even for me."

"A couch potato already?" Starlight suddenly submerged only to pop up a few feet away, water sloshing from the movement. "Maybe this'll be a free tummy tuck along with everything else."

Oh, yay... "I was comfortable the way I was." I crossed my human arms, inhuman hands at the ends of them. "But I don't get a vote in this. At least I'm still two-legged, with fingers."

"With fingers," sighed Starlight. "Stop showing off."

I felt the glow as much as saw it. She was pulling me, but she moved more easily than I did, pulling herself back over to me. "We both have things to learn," she advised. "I'm getting the hang of... this, whatever this is." She reached up to point at her horn. "Does it scare you?"

"A little," I admitted. "But I'm scared of it, not you. There is a difference." I reached up and gently pet her cheek, rubbing like I would a cat I favored.

She lit up, turning red. "Not unless you mean it," she reminded, relaxing when my hand withdrew. "I'll try to get better, so you don't have to be scared of it or me. They're both part of me..." Her eyes wandered over me. "Speaking of part of me. You have a lot of parts."

"Griffon, pony, and dragon." I pointed to the different parts for emphasis. "If there's anything else, I haven't picked it out yet. It's like I got the combination platter. Has anycreature come out as a combo before?"

"Well, yes." Starlight softly nodded as she started to climb out, ascending a ladder one would not have thought a horse would use. "I know at least one that's a pegasus and a unicorn at the same time. She's also a friend of mine. We met in here, like me and you." She wobbled a hoof between the two of us. "I haven't brought her over because you're still... adjusting."

"A she then?" I stayed in the water. It was nice just... moving in there, getting a feel for... everything again.

"Like most, male first, then female. Twilight is their name." She suddenly gave a violent shake, like a dog with a wet coat. Water drops went flying in all directions. Just like that, she was mostly dry. She held out a hoof towards a rack of towels and one suddenly flopped to the ground. "Oops." She trotted over to grab it in her teeth and apply it manually. "Still learning that."

A thought tickled me. "Do you think that's why they were eager to get me? Hoping it wouldn't do... that to a woman?"

Starlight blinked softly. "I hadn't thought of that specifically, maybe? I said most were guys, not all of them." She let the towel flow to the ground, dry and shiny. "You having fun in there?"

"I really am." I kicked at the water, propelling myself along at a sedate rate. "You're already done?"

"I should get going." She pointed away. "Twilight's actually expecting me to stop by. I'm... glad you're not mad, and I don't have to try to keep it a secret."

"You're bad at secrets."

"Well, yes, apparently." Starlight rolled her eyes as she began to walk. "Or you have really good hearing. I swear..." And off she went, trotting down the hallway.

That left me alone in the pool. I enjoy alone times, so I let myself float and just 'be', learning with little motions how my altering body functioned.

I was facing a mirror. It was a dream, and I knew it. I wasn't in the habit of lucid dreaming, but it was becoming one.

Gazing back at me was what I could become. I couldn't make out all the details, lost to dream fuzziness, but important bits stuck in my mind. I was male, for one, and I didn't like that. "No," I stated firmly, reaching out towards the mirror and casually rearranging things.

I had belly boobs, like Starlight. "No." I casually pushed them up in the mirror back to where they rested on my chest as a human woman should have. "Better." Much better. I'd still be a freak, but I'd be a freak on my own terms. I blew my reflection a kiss with a little smirk. "Maybe Cindy will be alright with this."

I awoke to confusion just like that. "Why am I wondering how Cindy likes it?" Well, she was my best friend. I didn't want her to run away screaming forever...

The lights flickered on from my movement as I stood up on changed legs. I could feel them, their inhuman natures having spread up from my shins all the way up to my hips. On one side, soft fuzzy pony(Still not sure on that) fur, medium brown. On the other, green scales, a dragon's leg. On the positive, they had the right shape for a woman, swelling out into my big bottom that hadn't shrunk. I was still a plump lady... whatever I was.

Speaking of that, I half turned to look over my shoulder and wag my tail at myself. Larger, stronger, thicker. It was a proper dragon's tail, its furry tip flickering. "That's going to make buying a computer chair less of a mindless task..." One that let the tail through but still supporting the rest of me properly. I'd have to go off more than the one with the most favorable reviews.

My existing chair? Useless. My tail would have been all bunched up against it. I sat down in it and felt the tail awkwardly curling against me, trying to not be in the way. "Ugh." I could imagine a few hours like that, trying to work. "No."

Wait, what had I sat in? I suddenly crashed to the floor. "Had I been imagining it?" There was no sign of a chair, just a confused mutant, that being me. I scrambled back up to hoof and claws and got to the bathroom. There I went about taking care of what people generally have to take care of when they wake up, and I noticed it pretty fast.

My lady parts! One, they were entirely covered in dark brown fur. That fur went over my hips on the inside and out. More pressingly, I was changed, down there. When I wasn't busy using it, the fur pulled in on either side, concealing the entire thing away. Starlight and Flash had their stuff just... out there, so that wasn't a pony thing.

When it was open, which I learned I could... encourage... Alright, so I touched myself a little to get things moving. When it was open, it was very similar to Starlight. I had to laugh. I had a horse vagina that was hidden behind the genital slit of a reptile, or a dragon. The best of both worlds?

On the... plus side? I really didn't even look naked when I was naked. Hell, my asshole was part of the whole operation. Unless I was using it, it was hidden. I feel awkward talking about it, but it's a part of the process, so here it is, for you, dear reader.

I had a lot to report. To the computer! I charged out of the bathroom, not even dressed. I grabbed the laptop and booted it up. "C'mon..." It wasn't any slower than usual, I was just being impatient.

I had mail! Both from Miller and Cindy.

Hey Girl,

Your email didn't come through right. I didn't get any pictures. Does it hurt? Are you alright? I'm more worried about you. If you're still my Lore, I'll forgive whatever else you have going on. Focus on getting better and not on whatever crazy war scars you come out with.

Sending Positive Energy,
Cindy

I hit the reply button. I wasn't going to let my girl wait on that.

Hey!

So... Still going through changes. Some of them freakier than others, but... I'm hanging in there. I'm still Lauren! I won't let that change. I still owe you a concert, right? Not sure why the pictures didn't send, but they're almost out of date now anyway. Tell me, do you like ladies with a bit of fur?

Asking For A Friend,
Lauren

Off it went, and I noticed an email from someone new. A system email?

Hello Patient,

We have detected an attempt to upload personal pictures outside the boundaries of the network. Please abstain from this. We understand you want to share your experiences, but the world is currently unstable enough with other issues. You will be allowed to share once things calm down. You are welcome to document things for that time, but please do not upload any of it to any user outside the facility.

Thank You,
IT.

"The fuck..." Now, I'm generally a mild-mouthed person, but... "Seriously?" So my pictures had been specifically stopped, not just errored out. Part of me wanted to reply with an angry tirade.

But the only response to that would be to cut off my access to the outside world altogether if it looked like I'd try to weasel around them. "Fine, no pictures," I grumbled to myself. I wanted to be able to email Cindy! And do my work. If they snipped my outside access, work would suddenly be gone. I... wasn't ready for that.

They were nice, but also super in charge. It was an email like... that... that reminded me how much in their power I was.

Onwards, to Miller!

Good Day,

Your images show that your left foot is a goat, thought you should know.

Goat? But... I raised the hoof to look at it. It did look odd for a pony hoof, but it didn't have a big obvious cut in it either. That was a cloven hoof?

You've already discovered what your other parts are. I wanted to thank you. It was not your duty to assist the cafeteria worker, and we hadn't asked you to. She submitted a formal note of appreciation along with her request to have her registration adjusted to female.

Thank you for being part of the family,
Doctor Miller

My ear twitched faintly, which was an odd feeling. I couldn't normally feel my ears. I reached up to feel them. They were covered in soft fur, but also long and narrow. They could also twitch a little and did so as I felt them over. I had my ears. At least they felt pettable. But who would be doing that petting? My cheeks warmed as I lowered my hands away. "Work."

I typed up the report of the day and paused. "I never got a good look." I had gotten distracted. Back to the bathroom!

Flicking on the light, I stood in front of the mirror for a better look. Yep, big ears. Not as wide as the pony ears, but just as big. So... not pony ears? What were they? On my chest, well, I still had boobs, that was good. They hadn't gone anywhere, but... they had fur. For once I was getting the same fur color in several places. The dark-brown that covered my hips was also spreading out over my chest. My ears were a light grey, and my hair dark grey. My brows had changed, both changed eye and not, starting to look bleached white.

I rated my body 3/10 for color coordination. At least my chest fur was soft, but I was starting to feel naked again. As hidden and neat as I was between the legs, my breasts were still out for the world to see, nipples included. I got back into a hospital gown, my big tail thrust through the flap in the back. Ta da, I was decent.

Did I mention I was taller? Every day it seemed my gown was a bit less able to cover me as it had been the day before. Whatever I was... busy turning into, it was big. Soft Touch would have to re-measure me. Back to the computer I went, typing all of these changes in.

By the way, I'll be good about the Internet. Don't cut the darn things off. My emails with friends and my work are very important to me.

Thanks,
Lauren

Off it went, work time! Fortunately, work didn't care what I was turning into, only my typing speed, and that was steadily improving. I still wasn't at where I had started, but I was recovering. It was like I sprained a finger and was healing. I'd get back up to maximum speed, eventually.

More importantly, my accuracy was close to where I wanted it, and soon I was done. I folded the computer shut and just... sat there. I realized that, normally, I would stay in front of the computer all day, but the urge to do that was much less. For one, I was hungry and there was no fridge to grab things from like there was at home.

And I had friends really closeby. They would want to know how I was doing, and I wanted to know how they were doing. We were all trapped in a strange place with bodies we weren't born with. I pushed the laptop to the side and left it there to quietly charge as I sprang up to my strange feet. "Let's go say hi!" And with my card in my pocket, I set out into the hallway.

"Lauren!" There was Starlight, veering away from where she had been going. "Hey. How's it going?"

"Freakier by the day," I confessed. "Look at these." I raised a hand to my ears. She gestured and I went down to a knee to let her get a better look.

She reached up and felt over them and oh dear god. No wonder Starlight had been blushing! Ears were very sensitive, and I had more of them than before. Her hooves and magic were busy patting them down and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It was.... good, but also felt super personal. It was like we were having casual intimacy right in the hallway where anyone could see.

"I understand how much of a jerk I was being," I confessed, and her hooves drew away. "You were doing that on purpose."

"Maybe," Starlight sang out. "Sensitive, aren't they? With someone you trust, it can be really relaxing."

"Wait, relaxing?" That was the opposite of how I had felt. "I'm about to grab a bite, then visit Soft."

"I already had something to eat. I need to meet somepony. How about we meet at Soft's?" She pointed the way. "See you there."

I let her clip-clop away as I clop-tacked towards the cafeteria. There was Jake, looking more female than the day before. She had the right basic shape all over. Her face was a perfect little pony snout and her bright eyes watched me approaching. "Hey," she called, waving me over. "It... happened."

"Me too," I confessed. "Did my advice help?"

"It... really did." She let out a sigh. "I don't want to spoil your food with it--"

"--You go on ahead." I waved it off. "Think of me as your freakish godmother. You can tell me anything about strange girl parts and we'll work through it."

"Thank you," she let out her breath with a sigh. "I thought you were being overdramatic, about cleaning up... after the bathroom, then I had to actually do it... thank you."

Ah, one of the more glamorous parts of being a woman. "And we get the extra 'benefit' of a literal fur pelt. They should install bidets and get it over with."

"Bi-whatnow?" Oh, she looked so confused. "Is that another girl thing?"

"More of a European thing, actually." It was... calming in a way to talk to Jake. He was in deeper than I was, and being able to reach out a hand and pull him free made me feel... better. What was that even called? "Imagine, you do your thing, as a guy or a girl, and suddenly you're being sprayed with water from under you."

Oh how her eyes got wide. "That sounds really creepy."

"And it is, but you get used to it, but you also get clean. The only tissues you need are to pat yourself dry, and you get on with the day." I patted one of her gloved hands. "Something to consider, for home, when they let us go home. Is there a timeline on that?"

"Not one they shared with me." She took a slow breath and then flashed an awkward smile. "So... What can I get for you today?"

I got some food and ate it. Nothing very special there. I waved to Jake on the way towards my next destination.

"Hey!" It was Jake. "Mind if I stop by, later? I doubt... we covered everything."

"That'll be fine," I gently assured. I imagined a large part of it was just feeling lost. I... knew that feeling. If I could help him... her... I should. Besides, it still felt nice to do it. "We'll talk girly things."

And off I went into the den of clothing. "There you are," came a melodic chime, Soft Touch already watching me as I came in. "Oh, I zee you are progresseeng," she noted in her accent. "So tall." She had to crane her head as I came close. "I simply must measure again." And off she trotted.

As if replacing her, Starlight poked her head out from some hanging clothes. "There you are. Hey."

"Hey is for horses."

"Good thing I'm one of those." She stuck out her tongue at me. "How are you? You look... together."

"Way better than two days ago." I couldn't imagine it getting much worse than then. "I was talking with Jake a little, giving her the run down on the girl life."

"That's nice of you." She emerged fully into view. "So what'd you come here for? Want a new outfit?"

As if to answer that, Soft returned on two hooves, balancing quite well despite being a four-legged pony. "She is here to be measured!" And lo it was that she started to apply measuring tape to me with only instructions of when to raise an arm or move a leg.

"That was a big part of it," I admitted. "I want clothes that fit. Can you re-tailor the clothes I came with to fit too?"

"That is more of the challenge, but I will try, oui. It is the least I can be doing." She fell back to all fours, muttering numbers under her breath. "I will have gowns ready for you. Hopefully, you are done growing. How tall you are!"

Starlight inclined her head towards Soft. "You know she's good for it. Just drop off your other clothes. I didn't even try to keep my old clothes. For one, kinda on all fours." She lifted a hoof to waggle at me. "As amusing it is to envision me in some jeans. No thanks."

"Clothes make ze mare," argued Soft as she trotted off to other business.

"What was that you were saying, about relaxing?" I was leaving the clothes depot with Starlight. "I didn't feel relaxed."

"Because you were busy feeling something new, from someone you like, I hope?" She inclined one of her fuzzy ears at me. "Different context. On the other hoof." She lifted her left hoof instead. "Once you're just a little used to it, and someone you're already familiar with is doing it in a safe place, you can get really drowsy instead." She coughed into that hoof. "It's a dirty habit among some. I swear. They'll just flop over each other and softly nibble until they fall asleep on top of each other with big stupid grins on their faces."

She was blushing. So was I. "Those are some tight friendships... Like rubbing someone on their back. You don't... do that casually, usually."

"Unless you're good friends," agreed Starlight. "Now, we have a whole day ahead of us! You want to talk to me about anything, or shall we do something fun?"

"You've perked my curiosity... What do you consider fun around here? We went swimming yesterday."

"Swimming is fun, but yeah, we did that." Her pace hastened. "You ever play many rhythm games? Like Guitar Hero?"

"Once or twice." We were approaching a new room. It was mostly open, but there were cubbies in the wall, and big televisions on another wall. "What is this?"

"It's our arcade." She rose up to two legs and approached one of the cubbies. Her horn glowed and pulled it open before she reached it. Various instruments began to float free. "And I want to play a game with you. You want to sing, drums, guitar? They have 'em all!" And soon all the instruments were set out in a big spread. "I'll let you pick the music genre."

The floor beneath us had become soft, rubbery. This place was meant to handle a bit of dancing and rough play without issue. It was a game room, for people to enjoy themselves. I felt a smile coming on. "Alright... You like electronic? I could use a solid beat right now." I pulled the drum set over and began patting it down experimentally. "I never played this one, so don't get too mad when I mess it up."

"Messing up is the first step towards not sucking." She grabbed the microphone. "I'll do vocal." One of the televisions snapped on, warming up to display the menu, music already playing at a good volume around us. "Now, electronic..." She navigated to a piece and pressed the go button.

As it turned out, Starlight had a perfectly nice voice. The way the game rated singing was on hitting the notes and cadence, and she was able to do that even as she sang entirely new words. "Playing with my friend, we're in this to the end. Gonna go for all the points, watchin' her use her new joints!"

My part had a lot less singing involved. I had to hit the right drum at the right time. I was pitter patting at them busily when my feet weren't involved, but I was only mildly dragging our score down. The music was good, and I was having fun. The way Starlight was smiling, she was too, or so I hoped.

For how odd they were, my various limbs were cooperating with me. I partially blamed that on my insistence on typing. Waving drumsticks around wasn't too bad in comparison, or so I thought. The song came to a smooth end and Starlight threw her microphone down with a triumphant pump of a hoof. "Yeah! That wasn't so bad."

The score tallied up. B+. I smiled at it. "I was expecting a lot lower than that when we started, so I'll gladly take that."

"Next time, A," she promised. "No matter how weird things get, at least videogames are nice and normal. If you ever want to go another round, just say so."

"How about... now?"

And so we did play. I tried out different instruments, but I wasn't feeling brave enough to try the microphone myself. Maybe... later.

Starlight set aside the guitar she had been playing. "Alright, now I think I'm done with that. Thanks!" She trotted offer and offered a hoof towards me. I wasn't sure what that meant. A hoof was like a hand, so I took her hoof in my hand and shook it.

She burst into laughter. "Not quite what I meant." She tugged me, taking advantage of my curled fingers. Once I was close enough, she threw up her other arm and pulled me in for a hug. "Thank you. Let's have more fun later, alright?"

For someone shy about being pet on the ears, she was eager for hugs. I did return it though, and soon we separated, with her trotting out the door.

Which left me with a bunch of instruments still taken out. She hadn't cleaned up. That fell on me. With a sigh and a smile, I got to work, getting the room back to where it had been before we showed up.

A knocking came on my door back in my room. "Who is it?"

"It's me," called a female voice. "Jake."

Ah, right. I had invited her. "Coming." I bounced to my mismatched feet and hurried over to the door. Soon I had a Jake inside my room. "Your shift's over?"

"All over," she agreed, rubbing one furry arm with the opposing hand. "I'm just a patient right now."

"And a friend," I suggested, gesturing at my bed. "Have a seat, I'll crash over here." I flopped onto the chair facing the bed. "So, welcome... You must feel so strange right now."

"In a lot of ways," she admitted. "You don't miss something until it's gone."

I raised a hoof-foot towards him. "You're telling me? I keep wanting to wiggle toes I don't have. I didn't care about toes before, but take them away, suddenly I miss them a lot."

She raised her shoes. "Still have my feet, for now. Not sure if that will stay that way or not. People like... me... change different compared to the direct infections. So... you staying a girl?"

"I am.. I had a dream about it, actually?"

"Want to share? You don't have to." She held up hands placatingly.

"I already put it in the report, since they want it." I rolled my eyes softly. "I was looking at myself, in the future. I was a guy, but I just... decided not to be, and I wasn't."

Jake frowned at that. "You got to pick? I saw myself in a field. I was tending to a bunch of carrots. I was already a girl. Ponies were going past, waving at me like they all knew me."

"Carrots? You're orange like one," I pointed out. "Still, yeah, I guess? I felt like I was making a choice. No crotchboobs. I didn't want those either."

Her eyes went to my chest, where my breasts remained. "In... usual cases, this would be where they start moving."

"Seriously, there's a timeline for this?" I folded my arms under my, thankfully un-moved breasts. "Why hasn't this been shared with me?"

"I dunno! You're not doing any of the normal ones, so maybe they just didn't bother." Jake shrugged softly. "So... girl things. Do I need to start wearing a bra? That's just a fashion thing, right?"

My eyes went half-lidded at him, er, her. "They are not just a fashion thing. If you plan on moving, which you do, and you have large breasts, which you do, you need bras." I pointed at her chest. "Those aren't small." Sure, they weren't super large, but they were big enough, easily. "Bras keep things where they should be, which helps you stand straight and stops things from... sagging. You want to sag?"

"No, Ma'am!" she squeaked, horror in her voice. "Christ, I didn't even have them and now I have to make them not sag?"

"Welcome to the other side," I sighed out with a little smile. "Let's make that today's project." I pushed up off the chair. "We'll visit Soft Touch and get you measured. I'll show you how to read bra sizes, and she'll get you a nice pair or three."

"You need more than one?"

Oh, I had so much to teach. "You don't wear underwear more than one day in a row, do you?" The lack of an immediate no from Jake told me all I needed to know. "Come on."

"Why'd you keep it a secret?" asked a female that was either Cindy or Starlight or Jake. I wasn't sure and also didn't care because dream logic.

"I can't keep a secret if even I didn't know," I had retorted.

"Guess that's true." Whoever they were threw open the shades and let the sun in. A pony and a human were walking by outside and both waved at us. We waved back. It was a perfectly domestic little nice-neighborhood kind of moment.

I woke up later, more annoyed at the dream that had felt so... silly and small and useless. Then again, that was how dreams used to be, before I started sliding down a hill towards becoming some kind of strange something. Fearing I'd forget such a silly little dream, I warmed up the laptop and got to starting the report of the day.

I didn't finish the report just yet. For one, I felt terrible. For two, the bathroom required me for self inspection and the usual things one did in a bathroom. That flu would not go away, it only got worse.

Of course, I was busy being broken down in a second puberty. I hadn't forgotten that. I was growing hair in new places and having strange new thoughts. A smirk spread over my face, imagining one of those old puberty public service announcement-style videos they'd show in school.

I was getting more hair than they were ready to explain. Off to the bathroom! There I was, peering back at me with eyes that didn't hide that I was feeling sick. "Bah." One of them still that big yellow and red... thing. Would the other eye match it eventually?

More pressingly, the change of the day was pretty quick to spot. The fur of my lion's paw had swept up over to my elbow. On the other side, my talon's texture had pressed up as well, then transitioned to fur. The fur on the talon's side was the same dark brown that was on my chest and around my hips, so hirrah for more places that matched.

However, the lion's paw was lighter brown and the fur that spread from it was also that lighter brown, tawny, like a lion. I mean, that was logical, sorta? Upstairs! My ears were higher than they had been before. Not taller, higher on my head. For just a moment I wondered at the biology at work there. Maybe it was good I was asleep when that happened. I couldn't imagine how that'd work and it not be intensely uncomfortable.

My ears twitched there halfway-up to the top of my head, wincing with the imagined pain of it. "At least this isn't doing that to me..." Whatever was going on, I had been mostly spared the literal horror of snapping bones and flowing limbs. It all waited for me to shut down so it could apply updates while I rebooted.

Suddenly that made more sense to me. Did computers want to close their eyes as their insides were made to move in new ways? We were such rude things, being annoyed at them for wanting that much as we changed their operations in ways large and small. It was the least little comfort we could provide.

I was busy offering sympathy to an unfeeling machine. I finished in the bathroom and emerged, cleaned and ready to tackle a new day. By the way, you hadn't asked, but when I went with Jake to get her some bras, I got some new ones too. Bigger body, different chest. Thankfully, Soft had provided without a whisper of complaint.

Funny thing though, despite it having more to wrap around body wide-wise, I had lost a cup size somewhere in the wash. Was I using my fat to fuel the change? I reached back with both hands and grabbed my bottom. Still flesh, still plump, but maybe not as plump? I felt up along my sides, inspecting where the rolls had been somewhat tamed. I was being given a slimming down, whether I liked it or not.

I was unsure. Part of my identity had been wrapped up in being chubby Lauren. I had worked... to get a positive body image. Sure, I hadn't been the perfect model of human attractiveness, but I was a lovely Lore, who was liked, and was just fine with a few extra pounds.

Except that was going away with the rest of it. I sank to the bed, feeling heavy and weepy. "Why am I crying about losing weight?" I berated myself, though it didn't stop the tears from flowing. "Stupid... teenage hormones." I blamed it on those mood swings the doctor had mentioned. Grabbing the box of tissues, I got to clearing out my sinuses for what had already felt like too many times that day. "Report time."

I got to typing up the report to Miller and sent it flying. He hadn't sent me anything new. At least that meant the Internet would stay on? I hoped?

That's an odd question, Girl. I love my people because of what's on the inside, but you better be washing yourself. I don't like dirty people. I will personally hold you under the water if I have to and you know I'm not joking.

Somehow I could imagine Cindy doing that...

So whatever's going on, you let the water hit you and don't worry about a few extra hairs.

A few extra hairs... I hit reply.

First, thank you for the mental image. I know you'd wash me good if you had to, but I'm still taking care of that even if it feels like I have the worst flu ever. No coughing, no Covid. It's all wet mucusy bleh going on over here. Besides that, a few extra hairs isn't the problem. Can't send pics, so I suppose it didn't happen, but I will have a lot more hair, or really fur, next time we meet. On the plus side, I will also be extremely pettable.

I hit send, only to realize literally a second later... "Why did I type that?" Pettable?! Pettable?! We were friends, not... that kind of friend. Why was I advertising my ability to be petted? My cheeks burning, I went on to work. You can't hit undo on emails.

Ugh, work was a real slog. I was feeling worse by the day, but I pushed through it, and ta da, work complete. Oh hey, an email on the corporate server. It basically announced the company picnic was officially cancelled.

Well... good? I hated that thing, and I was in no shape to show up there, not that I bet the lab would have let me go. Work completed, I set the laptop aside to chill out and rose to my feet, stretching towards the ceiling, which I reached easily. On the plus side, I hadn't grown again. Was I done? Well, good. I didn't want to be too tall.

I made sure I had my key on me and slipped outside into the hallway.

Flash's ears skewed, having been trotting past and instead turning to look at me. "Huh..."

"Huh?" The door clicked shut behind me on its own. "What's wrong... Flash, right?"

"That's me." He pointed a hoof at himself. "And you... look really nice today." He started towards me with a smile. "Like I never noticed before."

Was that adorable stallion making a pass at me? "Thank you for the compliment, I think..." It really didn't help that I was slimming down. Did he just like me now because I was less fat? Jerk! No, no... calm down. He's trying to be nice, right? "I'm really stuffed up today."

"Huh, oh, yeah." He nodded, his lips peeling back for just a moment and letting me see his big horse teeth. "It was kind of awful for a bit, but it gets better, I promise. Want some company?"

I felt genuinely uncertain. "Well, I've been hanging out with Starlight the last few days..." Maybe giving Flash a chance wouldn't be so bad. "What do you do for fun?"

"All kinds of things." He sat down and raised his hooves, clopping them together. "I got permission to order stuff, so I have a little collection going."

Collection? "Of?"

"Miniatures." He turned to the side. "Follow me. I'll show you. They're cute."

And so it was that I was following Flash down the corridor. This is when I remind that ponies hid nothing. That big sweeping tail that bobbed back and forth was nice and all, but did not a thing to stop me from seeing that he was a stallion, with dangling furry balls and an equally furry tube that ran in the middle of his belly area. "See something you like?" He was peeking over his shoulder at me.

Nope! "Uh, oh. I was supposed to check in with Jake. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Alright... Or later today." He gave me his room number. "Just knock." He made a knocking gesture with his right forehoof. "Take it easy."

I disengaged maybe a bit too quickly to be polite, feeling flush and miserable. Back to the cafeteria I went, but Jake wasn't there. It was someone else, in a hazmat suit. Which meant they were human, and uninfected, so far. "Hello?"

"Hi," replied the female voice, even if the hazmat suit hid most of the signs of being either gender. "What can I get you?"

"Is Jake alright?"

"Jake? Oh! He called in sick. You don't look so well either. You know we do room service, just pick up the phone." She pantomimed a phone receiver and put it to the side of her armored head. "Go get some rest."

That... felt like a nice option, actually. "Thank you. And Jake's a she."

"Sorry." She didn't sound that sorry. "Can I get anything for you?"

I made a little non-committal noise and turned away. It was hint enough, and she didn't try asking me again. Part of me wanted to just go be miserable in bed.

On the other hand... I began walking, soon in front of Jake's door. I raised a lion paw to knock on it, which... wasn't as effective as I'd like. Fur muffled knocks pretty good. I switched hands and rapped it with the talons. Ah, much better.

"Yeah?" came a voice from inside.

"Jake? Lauren here. I hear you're feeling like hell too." I reached for the knob. "Can I come in?"

"Second..."

That didn't stop me from trying her door. It swung open easily, not locked. "You didn't close your door," I lightly chastised.

"I heard it click," she called out. "Whatever... come in."

I slipped inside, my tail swatting the door shut without really thinking about it. "Jake?" I didn't see her until I went around a dark corner to see her sprawled out on her bed, looking miserable. "Yeah, mood..."

"Mood," she echoed with a faint smile. "I think we're twins."

"We look nothing alike." I came closer, crashing into the comfy chair that I had been sitting on in my room the day before.

"Yeah, but I think we got it at the same time." She grabbed for a tissue and made use of it, tossing the phlegmy paper aside. "Ugh... Look." She raised a hand up towards me. Her fur had pushed back towards her elbows, much like mine. Her hands were still hands. Her bare feet, still feet, human feet, if you ignored the fur creeping up from them. She was becoming a biped pony, as I turned into... unspecified.

"I'm seeing. But I came here to keep you company, and see how you were doing, not gawk." Well, I could gawk too. She was shaping up much like I had, gaining the physique of a physically active female.

Wait... "This is going to sound odd, but am I getting more fit?" I stood up, ready to be judged.

Jake looked more confused than discerning. "Is this a girl thing, asking other girls to look at you?"

That snapped me back towards normalcy and I sat right back down. "No! I mean... not usually... but good friends sometimes trust other good friends to give honest opinions. Don't guys do that?"

"Am I a good friend?" Oh, she had this little innocent smile on her uncomfortable face.

"I'm your godmother," I reminded. "Here for all your awkward girl questions. That rates us as good friends, right?"

"Yeah..." An uneasy silence grew in the room. She rolled over onto her side, facing me, but she didn't say anything. She was just... kinda watching me.

"I'm not helping..."

"I feel better than a few minutes ago," Jake argued. "I bet you do too."

Funny thing, I did. I really did. I mean, I was still clogged and miserable, but I felt better. "Yeah..."

"They say misery loves company, and I'd rather have a friend over." She curled in place, pulling up the blanket over herself and nuzzling into her pillow. "You must be tired though..."

"I am... but I'm also bored." I worried the tips of my strange fingers against one another. "Want to watch someting?"

Soon, we were enjoying a movie on the television they had put in all our rooms.

At least until I heard a snore. She had faded off, comfortable enough around me, or just tired enough, to slip away. I stood up as quietly as I could, helped by carpeted floors. I was going to just sneak out, but the temptation was too great. Her ears were all fuzzy and... there. I crept over and reached out. Her breath caught and I yanked the hand back, silently chastising myself for even trying.

But she calmed, and there I was, reaching again. I gently touched an ear and it flicked weakly. I ran the end of my furry finger along her ear, the softest little pet. She smiled, but I dared not continue, creeping out of the room.

"There you are." Uh oh, there was Flash, trotting towards me as I closed the door to Jake's room. "That isn't your room."

"Just checking in on someone. What are the odds?"

"Yeah," he laughed out awkwardly. Was he following me? "You looked kinda out of it. Everything alright?"

"Sorry for bailing on you before." I kept my eyes on his eyes. That's when I noticed something I never really took note of. Ponies had big eyes! They took up a lot of his head, looking at me with obvious concern, and maybe something else? "Jake called in sick and I was checking up on her."

"You don't look good yourself. Want a walk back to your room? I'll get you whatever you need." He turned and offered a wing towards me as if I'd use it like a walker again.

But my legs were working, even if I was busy suffering. I didn't take up the offer. "Not a single person told me that changing species was easy."

"I hear that," he laughed out as we began to walk towards my room. "Seriously... You, uh. It's hard to explain it. You look really out of it, and I want to help... but you're also, I dunno, glowing? You're just really... you, and I like it."

Suddenly he spotted something out of the corner of his eyes and looked to the right. "Glimmie!"

"Flash." Starlight came trotting into the corridor, joining us. "Lores! You look terrible."

"Flash was just saying I'm looking better than ever." I hiked a thumb at him.

"I said she looked bad too!" he protested, stomping from hoof to hoof in a little cute tantrum.

Starlight casually slid herself between me and Flash. "I think I know what's going on. Seen it a few times now. Flash, be a darling and find something else to do."

"What?" He scowled at her. "I was helping her."

"You were, and you're a good pony." She raised a hoof to gently rub under his chin. He started to relax, but his eyes were on me, not Starlight. "Go find something else to do."

"I'm helping her," he repeated, only to begin glowing as Starlight suddenly shoved him back with her magic, sending him skidding along the floor. "Hey!"

Starlight pointed towards my room. "Go on. I'll meet you there." But she didn't move to follow me, instead glaring at Flash and remaining between us.

I really wasn't sure what was going on, but I got moving. I was tired of standing anyway. Ugh, I hoped the sickness would pass. Maybe once I was finished turning into whatever it was.

Now, I wasn't there for the next part, but...

"Alright, now you listen here, Flash. We're friends, right?"

"You're not acting like it," he bitterly noted, watching me vanish down the corridor.

"She's in season and you're barely a step away from acting like a wild stallion." She rolled her eyes. "Think with the head upstairs and not the one downstairs." She thumped him in the breast. "Now is not the time! In Celestia's Name, I don't even want to consider what it'd be like if you managed to knock her up while she's transitioning. Besides, she's in a vulnerable place. This? This is what we call rape."

"What?!" he squeaked, going pale at the end of his snout. "I'm not a rapist! I was just trying to help!"

"And you would have, and you would have gone into her room, and you would have rubbed on her and tried to be as nice as possible, hoping, maybe not even out loud..." Starlight tapped a forehoof on the smooth tiles. "I'm shooting you down, right now. If you are her friend, you will give her space, and only hang out with her in very public places until she has her feet firmly on the ground."

He danced from hoof to hoof with obvious frustration. "I'm not some brainless wild horse."

"Then act like it," she challenged with a scowl.

"I will!" He turned away from where I had vanished. "She really does look bad though."

"Didn't we all?" Starlight's expression softened then, smiling at her lusty male friend. "I'll check in on her, with no chance of awkward consequences. We've all been through this."

"Yeah... are you mad?"

Starlight came up beside him and threw an arm over him, hugging him closer. "We didn't have to come to blows over it, so I'll forgive you. You're a stallion thinking like a stallion. Sometimes it takes a mare's point of view, alright?"

"Alright," he miserably allowed. "I was just trying to help."

"I hear that, I do." She pulled her arm back, going back to all four hooves. "The best help you can be, right now, is to do things that do not put you two alone. Be a supportive friend and nothing more. Now, gonna go make sure she's in one piece."

He suddenly went in, smooching Starlight on the cheek. "I'll do that. Sorry... I really wasn't trying to hurt her."

Starlight raised a hoof to her blushing cheek. "She's really affecting you."

"I guess." He looked left and right, then started to trot away. "I need to think about stuff."

I was comfortably in my room, perched on my bed, busy being, well, anything but comfortable. Ever have the flu? It sucks! I was running my hand along my aching head.

The knocking didn't help. "Who is it?"

"Starlight," came the reply. "Checking in on you."

I grumbled, getting up and approaching the door.

The handle glowed as it turned and the door swung open a little. "Oops! Did it again. Can I come in?"

Had Starlight just magiced her way in? "Uh, go ahead." Was that what Jake had felt? I returned to bed, kind of relieved I didn't have to finish the trip.

Soon there was a brightly colored pony sitting beside the bed, looking to me with concern. "Wow, you... want something to drink? Hot tea really helped my throat stop screaming when I was going through this."

"That sounds... delightful."

And off she went like a bolt. I heard the door thump on something, not actually clicking shut. A few minutes later I heard loud talking.

"What are you doing!?" questioned Starlight.

"Huh? I saw her door was open and was worried--" It was Flash.

"--I'm on it," hissed Starlight. "You need to not be here. Shoo!"

Then she entered, the door clicking closed behind her. She took a little breath. "Damn stallions..." She came into view, smiling like nothing had happened. "Here we are!" She was floating along a saucer with a big mug of steaming something. "Just the thing for making you feel better."

I sat up, reaching for the saucer even as my feet hit the ground. "Thank you. Was that Flash?"

"You heard that?" Starlight hiked a brow. "You hear everything, I swear. I sent him on his way." She sat down and pointed at the cup. "Go on, a little sip until you get used to it."

"Was he really going to rape me?"

Starlight sputtered, glancing around wildly. "W-what?! No! I mean... wait, where did you...?" She squinted at me a little. "You were way down the hallway, I could hear you walking, barely. There is no way you heard that!"

And yet... "I did. Did he really want me that badly?"

Starlight waved it off. "Let's be clear, he's a fluffy harmless idiot. He was attracted, but he wasn't going to attack you." Her brows came down. "I'd murder him if he did. Besides, he really is a nice person. He's still a stallion, and I'm guessing you're having that special time of the month."

"I am not having a period," I noted wryly, taking a longer pull from the cup. It really was helping...

"I don't think you ever will again," corrected Starlight. "You... transitioned, down there, right?" Her eyes fell down between my legs.

"Yes." Excuse me for closing my legs in response. I'm not used to that much attention being paid thataways.

"Congratulations, you'll never have a period again." She mimed pulling on a confetti popper and spread out her hooves with a confetti-like fwoosh of a noise. "On the other side, your... fertile time... is not as subtle as a human lady is used to. You put out scents, and stallions can pick it up."

"And that's why he was looking at me like I was suddenly an award-winning model?" I sipped from the cup, as if it could scare away the changes. It didn't.

"It affects both sides." Starlight brought her hooves together. "You wanted contact, I imagine. Parts of you were ready to get snugglier..."

I thought about when I had followed him, ready to see what his room looked like, my cheeks warming with the thought.

"That's a yes," cut in Starlight, watching my face. "We're both thinking creatures. We don't just turn around and present our rump, but it affects us. We want to be closer. We want to touch, be touched, by those we trust. We want to be close... and, you know, if things happened... Nature gets to pump its fist at getting us where it wanted."

"I touched Jake," I suddenly admitted. "I'm not any better than Flash, not even a little. Jake was asleep and I snuck over and touched her ears like I had any right to touch her at all. I'm just as bad!"

Starlight set a hoof on my shaking knee. "Calm down... Did you do anything more than ear touching?"

"I thought things..."

"Thoughts don't count for much." Starlight lifted her shoulders. "Look, relax. You didn't hurt anyone. When you and Jake feel better, you can admit your naughty ear touching and laugh about it." Starlight turned for the door. "For now, rest. If you need me, call." She gave me her number. "I'll be sitting right next to the phone in case you need me for anything at all."

"You're being given a serious responsibility," explained a smooth male voice in what was otherwise darkness. "Having reality wrapped around your pinkie may sound fun, but it also means you can mess it all up in a hurry. Now, you could do it like I did and just ride out the laughs." He chuckled softly to himself as if at some ancient memory. "Or, you can take a step back. Accept you can't be at the front of the stage, or the stage won't look like itself."

His presence came closer. "Are you listening to me? I came all this way across several realities to give a hint and I don't think you're listening."

I could hear him and had little choice but to listen to him. I reached out where his voice seemed to be and encountered soft fur, then a talon grabbed me by one of my arms.

"There you are. Oh, what's this? Well, my my my. You're lucky I'm a loyal draconeques." He released me and I got the impression his arms were crossing. "As I was saying, things are going to get stranger for you, much stranger. It's up to you how much of that strange you'll share with your friends, and enemies. The special ones may even like it. The rest, eh, up to you."

"I'm already pretty strange," I argued. "Wait, what did you say you were? Are you the same as me?"

"Same as you? Perish the thought. We're cousins at best." His hands settled on my shoulders. One like a lion, the other a talon.

He was like me! The shock of the realization drove me awake.

I sat up in bed, looking around and squinting against the light that had come on when I started moving. "What... was that?" I felt delightfully stuffed up. The flu was still there for me to enjoy.

I grabbed for my laptop and wrote down that strange dream as quickly as I could, jamming keys busily until it was all down for later reporting. "Draconeques," I mouthed to myself, tasting the word. "Is that what I'm becoming?" I looked down at the dragon foot and wriggled a few toes. "Dragon... But I don't have a lot of equine. Was a goat that?"

A quick google told me, no, goats were caprines. Maybe my face? I reached for it, feeling the widened nose and altered jawline, still slowly creeping towards a snout. Was that equine? Maybe. My ears were long and fuzzy but I couldn't pin that down between equine and caprine. Speaking of those, they were all the way on top of my head at that point.

I went to the bathroom, did bathroom things, and looked in the mirror. My eyes! I had gotten used to them being an anchor of sorts, but they had changed along with the rest of my head. They were bigger, my teeth were changing. One of my fangs was jutting right out of my lips, casually draping itself over in work that I'd normally be running screaming to a dentist to fix.

It looked painful, but it didn't hurt. It wasn't bent out of shape, it just... had an odd shape. "That is not attractive," I berated my image, turning left and right to examine how the tooth curved downwards from my upper jaw to hang down in front of everything else.

I had gotten to pick my gender and how it manifested, but no hint had been given that the tooth was coming. "Not complaining!" I quickly spat out as if the universe was listening and ready to be annoyed I was arguing. "Still, at least a warning?" I twitched my long tail and huffed, leaning in to study my larger eyes. My normal eye was still... normal, if larger. The other, yellow and red, also larger. White brows raised and lowered as I considered it. "Huh..."

I turned to present a profile and noticed it. I had no belly. Well, not no belly, but I was slim. I ran a talon across where I had been pudgy and fat and... Lauren. "Hey, brighten up," I chastised myself. "Some people would pay money, a lot of it, to get results like this." I let my hands wander, tripping over the fur that was still spreading over my chest. "Maybe not this part." Fur had taken up about a quarter of my chest. I was a slender draconeques. My breasts had become even more slender, easily confirmed when I tried on a bra that didn't quite fit anymore.

"To Soft!" I declared, and then didn't go outside. Oh no, I had a report to type, not to mention work to do. I sat down on the bed and felt my tail swaying with a mind of its own. Somehow... I felt a little better, despite still being sick. I wasn't sure what to pin that on and pushed it aside to get some work done.

Lore!

You're making me worried. Tell me what's going on. I want to hear more. I care about you, Girl. Don't be bashful, just tell me. Words are almost as good as pictures. Oh, did you hear, they're opening up. Part of me wants to go running through the streets, and the other part, which sounds like you by the way, reminds me this is all speedy until... Nevermind that. You alright? Write back.

PS: I will remember that petting is allowed.

I smiled at the rambly message from my friend and got to replying, even if her reply to the petting comment put a blush in my cheeks.

Hey Cindy,

Lauren here, even if I feel so strange. Let's start with I think I'll be fine, just... it's weird. I'm not dying though, promise.

I paused to think on being pet. Raising a hand, I ran it through my hair only to smack into something new. "What the?" Rubbing carefully, I could find two lumps hidden in my hair. "The... hell?" Starlight had a horn, one horn. I had two lumps. Would I get two horns?

Did that mean I'd have magic too?!

Twice the magic?

I made a mental note to add that to the report and resumed typing to Cindy.

The first thing told to me really stuck with me, so I'm going to share it. I'm going through a second puberty. Instead of becoming the little dumpling you know, I am... becoming a slim and strange thing that still adores you. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and give me a chance when I get out of here.

I'd send pics if I could, but please, no panicking. I'm alright.

I hit send and leaned back a bit. "Am I alright?" I wasn't sure how true that was, but Cindy freaking out about it wouldn't help her, or me. It'd also get my Internet cut off if I went panic mongering. I wanted my Internet!

Work! My typing speed was improving and I burned through it, minus the time I spent coughing or sneezing or ordering more hot tea. They did have room service, as they promised. Sure, the one delivering it was dressed for Chernobyl, but the tea was nice and I flipped them a tip.

They looked oddly at the bright gold coin in their palm and left.

Bright... gold coin? Where had I been keeping that? I shook my head and got back to the assignment. My day's worth of work was soon done and I let out a happy little sigh. I liked being good at my job, at being productive and knowing my effort was going towards something.

Report! I copied over the dream and added all the physical alterations I'd found.

So, draconeques? That's what I am, apparently. Have you run into one of those before?

And with a final click, the email was off. My duties were complete, to my work, and to the lab.

The phone suddenly rang and I jumped with surprise. "Jesus..." I grabbed it off its cradle and held it up. "Hello?"

"Lauren?" It was Starlight. "Checking in on you. By the way, you have a computer, right? I've seen it. Did you know we have a server to hang out on? A little private Discord for us caged oddballs."

"I wasn't told about that." I pulled my laptop over closer. "What's the URL?" I typed it in as Starlight said it and soon I was logged into the server. "Wow! I've only seen like six people and this server has over 20 people on it. Are they doctors?"

"Some of them." I couldn't see it but I could imagine Starlight waving it away. "Most of them are just like you and me. Um, after a little... incident... they separated us, physically. It's a lot smaller now, each one, and less prone to... mishaps. I like it in some ways. We're more of a little family instead of a sprawling mess."

Little incident? "Oh, since you asked, still feel like hell, and I'm changing. This reminds me, how can I tell when I'm not 'in heat' anymore?"

"Good luck with that," snorted Starlight. "Boys can smell it on us. We just want some cuddle time."

"Are you up for that?"

There was a moment of quiet. "Um... Just making sure you know what you asked. You want to cuddle?"

Oh crap. That is exactly what I had asked for. "I think I'm still in heat."

"You sound it... Seriously though... We... could do that. A little girl cuddling has less awkward consequences than a little boy cuddling, if you know what I meant."

A lewd image sprung to mind and I shoved it away with bright red cheeks. "Yeah! Yeah... Look, we're both adult whatever-we-ares. I just... made a pass at you. You are so welcome to just say no."

"Ugh, Lore... You can't give proper consent right now. I don't want to take advantage of you." I heard movement through the phone.

"If that's true, I can never have a kid," I suddenly argued. "Any time is the right time, I also can't 'consent', so the only way I could get one would be rape, and that is not a reality I'm comfortable with living in." I folded one arm under my chest, the other busy holding the phone. "We're friends... I want to hug you. Will you let me hug you?"

"It won't end with a hug," noted Starlight flatly. "If you insist, I have to demand you be honest. You want me over to fuck. Starlight, want to fuck. That is the only honest way to approach this. There are no 'hugs' right now. You're confused, horny, and sick too. It promises to be a really snotty, sneezy, coughy, slimy mess of a time."

"Does that mean yes?" Why was I being so desperate? "Look, Starlight... I really want a hug. I don't... Christ, I'm scared and alone and I can't fix one of those, but the other? Can you come over?"

"If I don't, Flash gladly will. You wait right there." The phone clicked dead.

That was when I noticed I wasn't wearing a darn thing. With a squeak, I grabbed a hanging gown and got into it in a hurry. I heard knocking at the door. "If that's Starlight, come on in. I know you can do it."

"Maybe," came the muffled reply. I heard something fall over, then a rattle. A soft muttered curse, then a click, the door opening. "There we go." She came trotting in, circling the corner into view. "Um..."

"What? Is it that bad?" I patted myself down to notice I had put on the gown backwards.

Which means Starlight could basically see everything. Starlight's horn glowed as the door clicked behind her. "You... are... You have nothing!" She thrust a hoof between my legs, where no sign of a sex was present. "How are you in heat?!"

"I thought you didn't want sex," I snapped at her with more acid than I had originally planned. "Did you come over here just to yell at me?"

"No! No... Look, sorry." She walked around my bed, hooves muffled on carpet. "I know this has to be an unfun time for you. I'm here."

"Thank you." I flopped onto my side and reached for her as she came close. She didn't dance away and I could feel her. I could pet and stroke her. She was warm and soft, so soft. I pulled her closer and she didn't stop me. I could smell her mane, a nice little floral hint. Jasmine? I couldn't quite place it, but I liked it. "Mmm, you smell nice."

And then the sneeze. Oh god, right into her poor mane. I grabbed for a tissue, cheeks burning. "I'm on it! Don't be mad!"

"This is exactly--" She sat down on her haunches, watching me frantically rush to try to clean her. "--what I saw coming. Now, if you want me on your bed, you're going to have to ask, honestly. Otherwise, this is as close as I come."

I was patting her dry as best I could. "I'm so sorry. I felt happy for a moment. You're so... and you smelled nice. I forgot I was sick, then I was... reminded."

Starlight pointed at me. "You're still transitioning, so, yeah, you're sick, and it'll get worse. You're creeping up on it, but if we're following the schedule, you have... half a week?" She hiked a brow, seeming to consider it.

But I had an ear to pet. I began to stroke one of her ears gently. They were so pettable... "It gets worse? I don't really want to think about that right now, thanks."

"Nopony does, trust me." She stuck out her tongue a little, tolerating the ear stroking. "I checked in on Jake for you."

That snapped me back to awareness. "How is she?"

"About as good as you, but intact. I brought them breakfast. Speaking of which, did you order anything to eat? Did you forget eating?"

Eating! That was a thing people did, and I had not. "I had some tea..."

"Want me to grab something for you?"

I mean, I did, but I also wanted her there. "Be quick, please." I watched her trot off and let out a loud groan. "Lauren, why are you being such a putz right now?"

I could hear Starlight clop up to the counter, in the cafeteria. "Breakfast bar still open? No? Shoot." I couldn't hear the reply, just what Starlight was saying. "Alright then, I'll take an omelette and some orange juice. I'm bringing it to Lauren. Yeah, she's in it bad. Ugh... you don't need to remind me of that." What was the other person saying?

Hearing half a conversation was frustrating. But why was I hearing it at all? I peeked out around the corner and saw the door was closed tight. Starlight was way outside of where I should be hearing a thing from her.

"Thank you." I heard her clip-clopping away, back towards my room.

By the time she got back, I was back on my bed, smiling innocently as she trotted past, a tray floating in her magic. "Thank you. What kind of eggs did you get?"

"How...?" She placed the tray on my bed and pulled off the lid, revealing the bounty. "Alright, once is a coincidence, this is just nuts. How good is your hearing and how have you not gone crazy just hearing a lot of nothing?"

I grabbed the plastic fork and didn't answer in favor of filling my face with cheesy eggy goodness. I washed down some of it with some OJ and grabbed for some tissues to stop from sliming up the place. "I'm still trying to figure that out. I could hear you, and only you."

Starlight hiked a brow. "Uh, all day?"

"Since you went to get breakfast." I went for a second attack run on breakfast. "Thank you, Starlight. I know I must be a huge pain right now."

Starlight smiled a little. "Other ponies were there, for me, when I was going through the same thing. I'm passing it forward. One day, some other confused soul may be looking to you the same way."

"And I'll help them out, if I can." I let out a happy little sigh. "Ugh, I think being hungry was not helping with things. I'm feeling... better. Starlight, want to watch something?" I grabbed the remote and had the TV on in a flash. "I don't want to be alone, but it's alright if you don't want to get all close and personal with the booger factory right now."

She turned to the television and plopped onto her haunches. "Sure, but I'm still curious... So you could hear me perfectly fine, even when I was all the way over there?"

"You were talking with whoever was in the cafeteria. I couldn't hear them, but I'm guessing they asked about how I was doing... You did mention you were bringing it for me." I finished up the eggs and pushed the platter away, holding the cup to nurse from. "By the way, this is a big bed. There's room for two if you want something more comfy to sit on."

"You're getting more subtle," joked Starlight with a little smirk. Her eyes rolled before she hopped up on the far side of the bed from me and sat down. "Look, I've been there. I've had a few cycles. I spent them online, talking dirty to people too far away from to make a mistake with. I.... took care of it, alone." She coughed into a hoof softly. "It wasn't like I couldn't think. That's why I decided to just stay inside for a few days."

"A reasonable course of action..." Thinking on it. "There are only so many ponies, here, physically. There's Flash--"

"--I know enough biology to know how that'd go," snorted out Starlight.

"--and Soft."

"Cute, don't get me wrong, but she's also very proper. I think she'd die of embarrassment if I approached her about that. Besides, I don't 'feel' her that way. She's a good friend, but I don't think I want to push past that." Starlight waved a hoof negatively. "Wonder how she deals with it...? I never saw her call out a day, or hunt for snuggle time."

"Why are your breasts bigger than mine?" I suddenly blurted. "Look at mine." Easy to do with the gown still on the wrong way. "They got smaller. I used to be big all over, and now I'm outmatched by a little horse. How is that fair?"

"They, uh, fit you." She looked pointedly away from me. "Whatever you are--"

"--Draconeques," I cut in. "I'm a draconeques with little breasts, watching television with a cute little unicorn with big breasts. How fair is that?"

Starlight thumped down a hoof, bouncing off the springy bed. "Do you know how much a pony body is built to have big breasts? Let me enlighten you, it's not! My legs knock into them, they knock into each other. It's a mess. I'd wear a pony bra, but guess what? That doesn't exist! I asked Soft about it once and she made a lot of excuses." She scowled at me. "I think she's just glad she had little hoofulls instead of these big things!"

"You think I don't already know what big boobs are like?!" I shouted at her. "I lived most of my life with big everything. It's a huge pain in the ass, but it was my pain in my ass and it was just what I was and I miss it and--"

"I'm sorry," she suddenly chimed, but it was too late.

"--I'll never get it back. I'm busy being some slim draconeques, whatever that is with nothing up here, or down here." I reached back to grab my significantly reduced back end. "I'm exactly what society said I should always want to be but also a total freak! Thanks, I hate it!" I grabbed a pillow and buried my face into it for some good sobbing time.

Starlight raised a hoof to her cheek, rubbing lightly. "Look... sorry... I snapped, and you snapped. We all snapped... I don't hate you, Lauren." She came closer and set a hoof on my belly, my face hidden under a pillow. "This is a really awkward time... but I'm still here."

"Stupid teenage hormones," I muffedly complained. "I'm too old for this..."

"Been there." She gently patted me, a slow soft brushing with her hoof. "Feel better?"

"A little." Without removing the blanket, I felt around and grabbed the box of tissues, cleaning myself off before I dared to sit up. And there was Starlight, right next to me. "And you're going to run away now."

"I'm not scared of you," she huffed, sticking out her tongue. "So, you wanted to watch something?"

I turned to the television, one arm going around Starlight and pulling her over. It wasn't far, with Starlight already sitting next to me, but I wanted to feel her against me. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Likewise." She draped a leg over one of my arms. "You are pushing into snuggle territory."

"Is that alright?" I squeezed her just a little. "You can leave, if you rather... Or--" A little smile emerged. "I can give you some tips about being a big lady."

Starlight burst into laughter, suddenly rearing up to thump me with her forehooves. "I'm not a little foal! You doof, I can handle myself." She went back to her haunches. "Still... thanks."

"These things are as much a blessing as curse." My fingers were brushing the soft warmth of one of her swells. "Pony or human, from the sound of it. Do you get... looks?"

She shoved against me. "Mostly from you!" She rolled her eyes. "I take that back. Jake used to look. Are horse breasts really that interesting?" She folded her arms across her entirely flat chest. "I swear, you put a nipple on some fat and suddenly it's the most fascinating thing."

"Not trying to bring up sour memories." But she hadn't moved away. She was still in my grasp, and I held her gently. "Thanks, for putting up with me."

"You are welcome, but you didn't pick, so I will." The remote was suddenly snatched in her glowing magic and she flipped through the channels. "Did you see this remake? It's pretty good." On the screen, a feline-human was busy shouting at some normal-looking human. "They are totally lesbian, I swear." Her voice raised, "Stop arguing and kiss already!"

Well, if she'd rather. I didn't try to kiss Starlight. I was perfectly happy having her there. Besides, I wasn't lesbian. I was straight. I'd had boyfriends before! Sure, they had all... moved on, or gotten kicked out for various reasons. Still! I was hetero. I just needed a nice kind person that wanted to enjoy me for me and not what I could be, or what purpose I served for them.

"Um."

I had been cupping Starlight's far breast, as if the weight would calm me down. Well, it had, come to think, fitting so well in my hand like a living stress ball that I could slowly feel and squish to work off stress. It was also part of my friend! "I'm so sorry!"

Starlight swiveled an ear away and back, the other trained on the television and the episode I was barely paying attention to. "You never did say how that works." She directed a hoof downward, towards my thighs. "You have nothing down there but fuzz. How do you go to the bathroom? Let alone go into heat, let alone decide I'm a perfectly valid target for your lusts."

"I'm lousy company." I slid off the bed, rising up and trying to straighten myself out. "Why don't you head on home? Maybe tomorrow I'll be less completely out of it."

Starlight frowned a little. "If you want, but you have my number. Call me if anything comes up, alright?" She hopped down to the ground and began trotting for the door.

Since she had brought it up, I could see how her horse breasts bounced around down there. Her legs did hit them, they did hit each other. It was far from graceful, but she was handling it well. And then she was gone.

It was just me and my confused hormones.

"I don't normally visit twice," spoke a voice I had heard at least once before. "But you didn't even say bye. Kind of rude if you ask me."

With a loud snap, the darkness was banished. We were floating among the clouds. It should have been cold, but it felt perfectly fine. Another draconeques was there, smiling at me. We were both floating as if that was a normal thing to do. Dream logic? "Dream logic? Not quite. You make your own logic. Now, promise me you won't be startled again."

"I didn't do it on purpose." I was busy looking him over, studying him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Discord, and that's my name, so kindly get your own." He casually tapped me on my wide nose.

"I'm Lauren." I put a hand on my chest. "Speaking of that, I thought I was supposed to be 'given' a name, even if I planned to not take it."

"You want a name to not use? Well, alright. You can be Eris," he so flippantly provided. "A lovely name, pity you won't be using it."

It... felt right. It felt too right. I grabbed the word, literally, suddenly between my mismatched hands and hurled it violently away. "I am Lauren! I have friends waiting to see me again, and I will be Lauren for them, even if every other part of me is unrecognizable."

"Setting boundaries?" He darted in, face just to the right of mine. "I'm so proud. They grow up quickly!" His hands settled on my sides. "You are developing nicely."

"Are you... making a wife?"

Oh, his laugh. "I have a very special somepony, thank you. Besides, long distance relationships never work out." He waved the matter away. "And, to be frank, I like her better, even if her life's passions don't really include me. Ah, dear dear... I'm getting distracted. As you are aware, you are a confused teenager. You're ready to chase anything that doesn't run away."

"But are you doing this?" I gestured over my strange form. "This isn't a pony or a griffon or anything else they know about."

"They know about this, they'll tell you about it not long from now." He rolled his shoulders softly. "But, no, this isn't my trick. I'm not that mean. Now, I don't want to strain your little mind, so I'll let you get back to your regular dreams."

"Wait!" I grabbed for his shoulder, but it was so much cloudstuff, the rest of him breaking apart into mist. "Please visit again. I have so many questions!"

"No promises," was the last thing he said, like a sigh on the wind.

I woke up and grabbed for my computer, typing furiously the dream that teased at me. Only once it was written out did I rise to my strange feet and head towards the bathroom. An inspection revealed the fur and shape of my arms had gone all the way up to my shoulders. I was just a bit more slender, not that there was much left to that if the dream was any indication.

I ran fingers over the newest patches of fur, along my upper arms and spreading over my torso. "I'll be just like him." It was comforting, in a way. At least I knew what I was supposed to look like, and I was looking like that. He didn't have breasts, but he was also a he, so that wasn't too strange. He had horns, two big mismatched horns. I reached up and felt the bumps had part, allowing the tiniest nubs of what would be my horns to poke free.

"Will they be pretty?" I felt there was no assurance what sort of horns I'd get. Goat, rhino, unicorn, or something else?

I grabbed some tissues to make a deposit, the flu still with me as I returned to my computer and got to expanding my report with physical changes. "And... send." I clicked the button and checked my inbox.

Doctor Miller had written me.

Good Morning,

I know you're going through a lot right now. As your doctor, I'm here for you.

Huh, when had his bedside manner suddenly improved?

Thank you for your diligent reports. I appreciate their attention to detail. I noticed you've been talking to Starlight Glimmer a lot. Are you two becoming friends? You mentioned you were growing horns, which has, thus far, meant other things. She may be able to help with that. Your body appears to be healthy, just take care of it and the rest of you.

Keep Up Those Reports,
Doctor Miller

I drummed my fingers on my keyboard. That didn't feel like the same doctor. Something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Either way, I put it aside. Oh, a Cindy-Mail:

Lore!

You're becoming a woman, again? Slim? You found a secret diet in there? Be sure to take some notes for me and don't be stingy with the details. Some of us want some of that. Now, don't get me wrong. You're scared, and you're being a big girl about it. I'm here for you! When you get out of there, you are getting a big hug, and probably a few pets, you said I could.

🤗
Cindy

I smiled at the unflinchingly positive message. That was Cindy, I felt certain. I got to typing a reply.

Cindy!

Always nice to hear from you. Right now, riding out this thing which is like the flu, bleh, snot everywhere. I'm alright though, promise.

I felt an ear twitch without being asked.

If you want to give me a hug, that sounds kinda nice right now.

My finger trailed over to the backspace key, frowning at what I wrote. That sounded too desperate. And yet, it remained.

I still owe you that concert, so let's look forward to that when I get out of here.

Missing You,
Lauren

I did a responsible thing, cancelling a bunch of things I wasn't using while pent up as I was. At least my wallet would be a bit happier about it. Speaking of that, I did my shift of work, typing busily and eating delivered breakfast at the same time. Soon I was satiated in mind and body, with food and work both being devoured. "Time to hunt down a unicorn." Snotty or not, I left my room.

"Feeling better?" There was Flash, across the way in the cafeteria with a plate of something.

"In some ways." I wandered towards him. "Hey, tell me if I'm in heat."

His cheeks went red. "Huh? I can't tell..."

"Sure you can. You said so." I pointed at him. "I looked extra pretty. So, do I look pretty or not?"

He reached a hoof to rub behind his head. "Oh, uh... You look interesting." His eyes roamed over my still adjusting body. "You're a lot skinnier now." He brought his hooves together in front of himself, tapping lightly. "I hope that isn't offensive."

It had ended. I wasn't in heat, and he didn't see that extra glow around me. "You've told me all I need to know, thanks." I reached out and casually patted him twice on the head before moving on. "Is Starlight in her room?"

"I think she just went to--oh there she is." He pointed to where Starlight was coming towards us, a tray floating over her head.

"Lauren! I was just about to come visit you next. Jake's feeling miserable. How are you doing?"

"Likely equally as miserable." And yet, I was smiling. "Heat's over. Oh, and something else..." I gestured for her to come to the side, away from Flash.

Starlight raised a brow, but didn't stop on her way into the cafeteria, setting down her tray, and only then emerging to come over to me. "What's on your mind?"

I crouched down so I could speak quietly. "I think I know what my new name was supposed to be, but I also plan to not use it."

Starlight frowned at that. "Can you even do that? I don't know a single person who has so far." She pointed up at me. "Besides, if you don't switch, that makes our promise a little awkward."

"You don't have to tell me." I set a hand on her shoulder. "Unless you want. Anyway, it's Eris." I pointed to myself. "But I am still Lauren. I have people who are waiting for Lauren to come back to them, not some strange Eris person. I'm already strange enough in other ways..."

Starlight leveled a hoof at me. "This is all connected," she flatly stated, not sounding amazed or baffled. "What you're becoming... how you act... the way you could hear us. I don't know, exactly, what it is, really, but it all... It has to be connected." She sat down on her haunches. "It's your choice, in the end. Nopony forced me to be Starlight, or even told Flash to be Flash."

"Nope, just came to me," he agreed, obviously listening in on us. "Eris? That's a nice name. Sure you don't want it?"

It was a nice name. I could be a perfectly lovely Eris... "No! No. Lauren." I hiked a thumb at myself. "I am Lauren, nice to meet you both." Let out a small breath. "It's nice to talk to you both without losing my mind. Was I really that bad as a stupid teenager?"

"Probably worse," joked Flash with a wry smirk. "But I was just as bad, if you listen to Starlight."

"You were," she flatly agreed. "But, really, glad everypony's feeling a bit more grounded today. Now, you never answered a question of mine." Her eyes fell away from my face, across my chest, belly, thighs, to right between them. "How do you work? Seriously, it's been bothering me all day."

Flash's eyes got wider. "Star! Rude. You were yelling at me, and you just go and ask that?" He hopped down from his chair. "Are you in heat?"

Starlight huffed, rolling her eyes. "I am not, thank you for asking. Still, seriously, she's a barbie doll between her legs. How do you use the bathroom? Where did that heat come from? What would you actually do if I had left you alone with Flash?"

Ugh, now they were both looking between my legs. Thank goodness I was wearing pants. "Is it normal to just casually discuss anatomy?"

Starlight rolled a hoof. "If it has to do with our transformations, yeah, it really is." She raised a hoof towards her horn. "You think I even could shut up about this at first?"

Flash burst into merry laughter. "I remember that. You're getting better at it though. How's it feel?"

"More and more... natural? Is natural the right word?" She looked back towards me. "But that's beside the point. Yes, strange things related to our new bodies? Yes, we talk about those. So, spill it."

I had two options there, that I saw. Well, maybe three. I could just tell them. I could get huffy. I could flee. Starlight had been nothing but a friend so far. I had sneezed right into her hair and she didn't run away in a panic, that had to mean... something...

"It's weird," I prefaced, which just made the two of them look at me more intently. "I have all the parts, we'll start with that. They're just shy. When I'm... not using them, they hide. The fur you saw was just a cover. It can get out of the way." I was wriggling fingers, miming the act of a door opening up left and right. "But, when not, I'm PG-13 at worst, even stark naked."

I raised both hands to my altered chest. "Put a shirt on me at least and I could be G."

Flash slowly tilted his head. "That is strange. Wait, it covers up all the things?" He waved idly at his own back end. "Front and back?"

"I saw it, it's true," confirmed Starlight. "That is so freaky... Um, not in a bad way. You know what I mean, I hope! You're our friend, we care."

Ugh... "Are we done talking about my private bits? I'm still dying of flu over here. Can we do something relaxing?"

Flash circled in place. "You been to the music room?"

"Music room?" I didn't remember seeing that on the map.

"The lounge," corrected Starlight. "It has a stereo system. Over here." She began to lead the way, with us following behind her. "More often than not, it's used by one person to just listen to whatever, or read a book, or both." She looked over her shoulder at me. "We can put on something relaxing?"

"I know a few good ones," assured Flash, accelerating past Starlight. He arrived there first, and we found him tapping at a stereo system. "And here we... go." With a swat of his wing, he hit play and easy listening jazz began to play. "Just the thing to close your eyes and just exist for a while."

I didn't normally tune in jazz, easy listening or not, but... "This is actually a good pick." The melody was already relaxing me and I sank onto a provided chair, pausing only to get my tail out of the way. "Yeah... that's..."

"Good pick," echoed Starlight, slowly bobbing her head along to the tune of the song playing. "Send me a link to this playlist later. I could use this while studying."

Studying... "Oh! Hey, Starlight. Horns." I reached up to brush the little nubbins I had. "I'm getting them, and that might mean that crazy magic grabby thing you do. Can you show me how to do that?"

Starlight trotted over next to my chair. "I'd be glad to share what I've figured out, but we can't be sure yet. Besides..." She reached up to pat my head for a change of pace. "Oh wow, those do feel like... Still, we can't say they're unicorn horns. Maybe they work different, or not. Either way, way too small to do much so far. Expect that to change, quickly. You're right at the part where your head snaps into place."

Flash winced softly. "I remember that... Right when my wings started getting close to full sized." He flapped them in time to the music, intentionally or not. "Not sad about these babies."

Starlight smiled a little at that. "I like my horn too. Still, Lauren, if you feel, you know, worried, you call us, alright?" She pointed at Flash. "Give her your number."

"Huh? Sure." He rattled it off. "I'm allowed to visit now?"

"I'm not a horny teen anymore." I jazz handed lazily in front of myself. "Yay." I then grabbed the box of tissues there and made use of it. "Sorry if I made your day super awkward."

"S'cool," he assured with a hooves up. "Yeah, give us a call if you need anything. Did Starlight get you on the Discord yet?"

"Yesterday. I'm on as Lores," I explained, taking a slow breathe. "Right now, let's just relax. I like the music, and the company." I closed my eyes, but I could hear them moving. They sat down near me. They were good little fuzzy friends, keeping me company. "I hate to ruin this... but you two don't have things to do?"

Flash responded first, "I'm cool being right here. Star?"

"I actually should meet with Twi. Flash, take care of her." I heard her walking away. "Feel better, Lauren!"

I felt Flash's fuzzy nose touch my equally fuzzy arm. "So, did you figure out what you actually... are?"

Cracking an eye to see his curious expression, I smiled a little. "Draconeques. Heard the name in a dream."

Flash's right ear twitched. "That sounds off. Could you say it slower?"

"Dracon. Eques," I repeated firmly. "You've heard the word before?"

"Nah, but pretty sure it should be draconequus, a kind of w after the q. Dra kahn E Kwas," he explained. "Don't ask how I know that. Pretty sure it's right in there next to calling everypony everypony." His shoulders lifted. "Try it out, bet it'll feel better."

Did words have feelings? I tried it anyway, "Draconequus." My tongue curled as I said it and I felt a faint tremble run though me. That word had power, a little power. Yes, it felt right. "Yeah... Thanks, Flash. I've been a horrible friend." I set a hand right on his head. "And I will express my regret with some quiet petting if you're alright with that."

He didn't complain, and the petting gently began. I stroked over his skull and gently ran fingers over his ears. Like Starlight had warned me, in the right environment, it was relaxing. I could see Flash going all to putty under my gentle, not sexually charged, familiar touches. We were two friends, nothing more or less. It was like I was giving him a quality massage and he was ready to fall asleep under the spell of the relaxing music and my casual exploration of his skull and ears.

A little snore revealed he had actually slipped off, eyes closed, a happy smile on his face, and his head resting against my hand as I gently petted him. Flash was a good pony. I had just been in such a bad place to appreciate it. I made a mental note to hang out with him a little more, learn what made him tick. He deserved that much. It had been all Starlight all the time.

We were all stuck there in that lab/hotel, waiting for infectiousness...

Wait. I had a thought. Starlight said she had finished changing some time before, and she wasn't infectious. Why hadn't they let her go? I was the only one still in the early throes of... whatever it was. Why were they even still there?

"Mmf?" Detecting my lack of pets, Flash stirred. "Oh, sorry, fell asleep." He laughed a little embarrassed. "You give good pets."

"Flash, can you confirm something for me? How long ago did you go pegasus?" I pointed at his big feathery wings.

He glanced back at them as they spread. "These? I went pony about half a year ago." He folded them back in tight. "Why?"

I stood up, only to flop right back down. My head ached. "Ugh... it's just, bothering me, you know? You're not infectious now, right?"

"That's the theory." He inclined his head. "Why?"

"Shouldn't you be allowed to go home?" I looked him in the eyes. "Don't you want to go home?"

"'Course I do." He reached up a hoof to my hand. "You alright? Look, they're still figuring out what this is. I can't be angry at them for not wanting me to accidentally make a bunch more ponies. That'd be a huge mess in the middle of the huge mess we already have going on."

He wasn't... entirely wrong there. "But that does mean, after the first thirty days are up, they won't be letting me go home, I trust?"

"Probably not." He pointed back towards the cafeteria, even if walls stopped me from seeing it. "Want me to get you a drink?"

"Just some water..."

"I don't even have to go for that." He trotted over to a water dispenser and with a press of an agile wing, soon had it pouring water into a glass that he carried over cradled between wings. "For you. Relax. We're alright. They're not abusing us or anything."

I accepted the glass with a little smile. "They aren't, but they're also keeping us here. I don't like that." But... what didn't I like? Given the average day before this all began, sitting at home and not paying for food and working on my computer would have been the definition of perfect. And yet, I felt dissatisfied. "I want to know what's going on, exactly. Flash, can you get my laptop?"

"I don't have your card," he warned with a shrug. "Starlight can get past locks, but not me."

I fished out my card and held it towards him. "Bring it back with the computer, thanks."

"Not a problem." And off he darted with the card in his mouth. That couldn't have been super hygienic...

Without trying to, I could hear his trotting despite him being out of hearing range. I was starting to grasp the difference. I could hear him on the inside, not the outside. Why had I locked onto him like that? I heard the card slide into the slot, a click of a lock. "Yes," he cheered to himself, and the sound of the door opening could be heard.

"Huh? No! She gave me her key." He sounded upset. "She just wanted her computer. She's over there! I, hey!"

Whatever was happening, Flash sounded unhappy about it. I got up and grabbed the handle of the door heading out of the lounge, throwing it open to reveal the hallway just outside of my room, where a guard in hazmat gear was leading Flash away. "Stop!"

The guard looked over to see me with surprise. "You're there?"

"I am." I was also confused at how I did that, stepping out into the hallway. "He was just getting my laptop."

"Like I said!" objected Flash, his wings giving a little impotent flap. "Tell them."

"I let him borrow my key. Is that not allowed?"

"No, that's fine..." The guard released Flash. "We just weren't sure that's what happened. I was going to bring him to you... in the lounge, to be sure." I think he was just as confused as I was. "Have a good day then."

Flash trotted up to me with a queer smile. "Since when could you run so fast, and how did you know I needed the helping hoof?"

I didn't answer right away, watching the guard wander off. "Hard to... explain, but I didn't want you being roughed up for doing me a favor." Still, I was there. I turned around, half-expecting the lounge to be behind me in the doorway, but no, it was my room. "I'll get the laptop..."

Why should the room one leaves be the room behind you when you walk through a door? Boy that was silly of me, right? I got my laptop and soon we were back in the lounge, walking there the normal way.

I got an email later.

Lauren,

It seems your unusual energies are manifesting a little earlier than usual. Please be careful with how you use them. While you have the right to move about certain areas of the lab, using those abilities to bypass security will not be tolerated.

I had to roll my eyes. Starlight had bypassed security a few times, but maybe they trusted her more?

In regards to your question, we are closely monitoring the situation both internally and externally of the lab. When a release can be managed with minimal issues, we will proceed. Until then, you are our guests and will be given all the accommodations we can provide.

I hadn't written that down. They were listening to us. That was kind of obvious even after I thought it. They had cameras everywhere. They hadn't been secretive about that. They had heard me complain before.

Your anatomy remains unique. If it causes any sanitary issues, do not hesitate to let us know.

They had listened to that part too. Ugh. It wasn't like I was new to being a girl. Cleaning myself was a task I learned many years before then. Jake was more likely to have an issue, even with his comparatively normal parts. Ugh...

We're here for you,
Doctor Miller

Part of me wanted to flip the nearest camera the bird, but I calmed myself with a few soft cycles of air.

Thanks for checking in. I'm fine. Keep me posted with when we're not prisoners anymore, alright? Thanks.

Sick and Tired,
Lauren

I hit the send button and sank back onto that comfy couch, casually nudging the next song to play.

I walked through the aisles of my local grocery store. Soft background music was playing. People were spread out a bit beneath me as I floated along searching for something. "Where is it?" I muttered to myself. How could a can of beans hide so well?!

"Looking for something?" I turned to see a lady I hadn't run into in quite some time.

The boss lady. "Oh! Hey... when did you start coming here?"

"Since I heard you shopped here." She casually put a hand on my floating torso.

"Hey! You're still my boss." I pushed her back. "Professional distance, harassment, you know the deal."

"Well, alright." And she wandered off like nothing had happened.

I heard a clip-clop and turned to see Flash with a shopping basket held up by one of his wings. "Hey Lauren!" he called out so cheerfully. "I found it."

"Found what?" I floated closer, confused.

"Your beans." One wing dipped into the basket and pulled them out, offering the can towards me.

"Thanks!"

I woke up with a frown. As dreams went, that one didn't feel very important. Still, it was not the first dream where I felt like I was above everyone, floating. Was that a thing?

I slid the computer aside that I had been typing the dream on and jumped in the air, and almost toppled over. I didn't float, and I still felt awful. "Nope..." Maybe a later thing? Starlight hadn't learned how to do her magic until she was already a complete horse. I pushed the disappointment aside.

Which also reminded me that I needed to visit the bathroom, for related needs but also to inspect myself. "Hello?" I called as I went, not because I heard anything, but because my voice sounded... different. "La? I am Lauren, how do you do?" I spoke as I went, listening to myself as I went.

"Dear god." I was looking in the mirror and what was looking back at me was not what I had gone to bed with. My face... It had completely snapped into place, just as they warned. I was a slimmer, female version of that... what was his name... Discord? He was named after a chat program? I would have laughed if I wasn't so busy peering at the alien face in the mirror.

I reached up and felt along my grown snout, tracing from where my cheeks ended and the proper snout began, feeling the teeth, my twitchy nose, my whiskers... Did I mention I had those? They were fine and easy to miss, but there they were.

With a sudden urge, I made a kissy face, then let out a thunderous sigh of relief. At least I still had full and proper cheeks, not like a dog or other carnivore. Opening my mouth as wide as I could, I poked out my tongue and spent maybe too long just gaping at what I could see. It was all so strange and alien. It was also all me.

Horns. I had those. They were not as big as they... should be? I was guessing there. One was a soft blue color, like a unicorns but curved backwards along my head at a mild angle. The other was a light brown, more straight, like it belonged on some kind of deer-like creature. They were mismatched, like the rest of me. Well, not the entire rest of me. Plenty of me did mirror properly.

My hips were on the right place left and right. My cheeks were a match, thank God. My teeth, minus that biggun that hung, were fine. I had one tail and it was right in the middle, which meant it qualified, better than a lot of other things, really.

I reached around and grabbed that tail, drawing it into easier examination distance. "I never really asked much about you, little tail." It wasn't that little. I had a dragon's tail, all scaled, except for that furry tassel at the end. "I kind of like you..." It was... a little bad ass. If I was hunting for a Halloween costume, I wouldn't be sad wearing a tail like that. Except this one was attached to me.

I turned for the toilet only to pause. "The hell...?"

On my back, two little proto wings shot out, wagging wildly. "The hell!" Of course, thinking back on it, Discord had wings too. I should have seen that coming. On the same side as the blue curved unicorn horn was a blue pegasus wing. On the other side was a bat-like wing, dark purple in color. They were not only mismatched but comically tiny. I surely would never fly on those.

I was done in the bathroom. I came jogging out, which was a curious thing. I could jog, normally, without it feeling like strain. Of course, I was also still super sick, so that took a lot of the wind out of me, but I was a slender draconequus and movement was something this body could do, once I stopped being so dang sick.

I finished my daily report to the 'good' doctor. He had already written me an email.

Good morning,

I am pleased to report that we have discovered some details on what you are becoming. You are a perfect example of that and nothing is wrong. You've passed the most uncertain periods of the transition and I am pleased to note that you should be physically fine at this point.

I have informed staff. If you need anything at all, please ask them. Your happiness is our happiness.

Here For You,
Doctor Miller

I arched a white brow at that letter. That was not the noise of a concerned doctor. What I was becoming worried him. I didn't say that out loud. There were cameras watching me. I casually closed the email and went on to the next.

Lore!

What you need right now is some soup and you know it. Tell them to let me visit and drop some off. You know I'll drive down there and do it. Just give me an address and I'll be over there in two shakes of a tail.

I had to roll my eyes at that line. I had a tail, she did not. Some humor became awkward at times...

Besides, I want to know where my girl's being hidden, even if I can't give her a hug yet. Ask them!

In smaller red letters, there was more. You can provide the address to the public-facing facility. After inspection, we can deliver gifts.

I had to blink at that. One, a reminder they were reading my mail. Yay... On the other mismatched hand, I could get some Cindy Soup! Yes! That would chase away some of the snotty misery I was in. I smashed that reply button and quickly gave her the address.

They won't let you past the front counter, but they will pass on the soup to me. You are the best, has anyone told you that?

I sat back on the bed, tail wagging like a dog about to get a treat. My flu-like suffering abated a bit, distracted with thoughts of future soup. "Work." I sat up and logged into work, mashing away at that.

A soft chime alerted me to the fact that I had received in-company mail on my remote connection. I pulled it up.

While we have attempted to navigate the current health crisis to the best of our ability, we have had to make some painful decisions.

I frowned at the letters. We were mostly a tech company. Most of us remoted in. What were they going on about?!

Our clients are losing business, and when they have less, so do we.

Oh...

With less projects, we have to let some of you go. We recommend you apply for unemployment as soon as possible. The Pan--

I skipped ahead.

If you received this email, it's because you were one of the ones let go.

I felt a painful tightness in my chest. "What?"

We're very sorry. When things recover, you're more than welcome to re-apply.

It went on and on about how sad it made them and how much they really didn't want to fire anyone. It didn't matter. I was still fired.

I alt-tabbed on the remote machine and saw I still had work in my bucket. I wasn't officially terminated just yet... I could... at least get one more day done. With a shaking breath, I forced myself to resume typing. I would not leave on a sour note, at least. I would finish my work.

About halfway through my shift, my mouse went veering off. Someone was at the actual computer! Their mouse movements overrode my remote ones. They seemed to click around as if figuring out what was going on. Then a notepad popped up.

Hi,

Is this Lauren?

I stared a moment before I got to typing on the same notepad screen.

This is she. I was finishing the day's work.

Oh, thanks. You always were good about that. We will miss you so much.

Can I finish what I started?

Lauren, can I be straight with you?

Um, of course. Who is this?

This is Peter Illin

My boss?! A window appeared, a webcam pointed at him. It really was him, waving, though it closed a moment later.

That email did not go out to some people, everyone got it. The business is shutting down. I am soWHAT?! sorry. You were one of theWHAT HAPPENED?

It's complicated. We've been bleeding for a while, trying to skate by, but it didn't work.😢

I'm shutting this computer down. Your last check will come, don't worry.

... bye...

I had written that last bit, and just... stared at the laptop as the remote connection was terminated and I was left with an error window notifying me of the fact. I had no more work. Work was done...

A sudden clopping came from the door. "Lauren?" It was Starlight.

I wiped tears from my eyes I hadn't noticed were even there until that moment. "What?"

"Is that you? Can I come in?"

"Not right now." I flopped back onto my bed. "I just... I can't even..."

I heard a click. She'd used her magic. I thumped the bed, pushing myself sitting upright with the same motion. "I said go away!" I screamed. "Not break into my damned room!"

"Just worried about you, is all," came her awkward reply, approaching on three legs. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"You want to tell me what made you visit? Right now? Right this very instant?" I was on my feet, storming towards her. She was right around the corner and backed up sheepishly when I came into view, obviously angry. "And don't bother with the 'I just happened to be there'."

"Tossing that right out." Starlight made a motion as if she were hurling something with a hoof towards the nearest trash bin. "Look, they told me you were super upset and asked if I could check in. You're a friend, so I came running over here... Wanna tell me about it?"

"I really... do not." I crossed my arms under my chest that was too dang small for me. "By the way, look, a unicorn horn."

"I... see." She looked to my altered face and head. "A lot changed today. I was pretty spooked when this happened to me... Like a really... vital part of me... was gone, and I guess that was true. Your face is kind of... you, and suddenly it wasn't my face. More than before, before it was just 'a different me', but on that day, today for you... it wasn't my face anymore. It was... like the universe just outright said 'hey, you're not you anymore. Welcome to that!'" She threw a hoof aside in her little rant. "I felt so weird and... Wanna talk about it?"

"This has nothing to do with that." I swept at her as if to brush her away. She went flying, bouncing off the wall and sliding to the ground. Had I done that? "Jesus, sorry."

"I'm alright." She sat up, shaking her head. "I'm alright! Wow... hey, your horn works." She smiled awkwardly. "So... sorry, I'm really bad at taking a hint, but if that isn't what it's about, wanna fill me in on what is?"

"My life just ended." I threw my hands up. "Even if I wasn't in here, I'd be incredibly..." Sad? Mad? Some combination... "Upset... I don't want to think about that right now, not even a little."

"Then how about I offer you something nicer to think about." She casually trotted over to me. "If you're willing to give me a chance."

She sounded so calmly cheerful. Not annoyingly cheerful, just... a friend who was dead set on helping. Ugh... I sank down, squatting in front of her to be on more even a level. "What do you have in mind, Starlight? I don't want to play any games right now."

"No games, just... relaxing." She reared up and casually climbed into the lap I had made in my squat. Her horn glowed as she took hold of one of my hands and drew it towards her back. "Go on, I know you enjoy it."

She was offering herself as a petting sacrifice? I had to laugh, and I did. "I didn't forget, Starlight. No petting unless you mean it."

"So do it because you mean it." She stretched out across my lap. "As a friend."

I scooped her up, one hand under her chest, the other getting a big handful of breastflesh as I supported her lower half. I was too livid to blush about it, instead just carrying her over to the bed and placing her on it. "Reminder, I'm still sick, and tired, and sick and tired." I flopped onto the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around, pulling her in. "This was your idea, so no complaints."

"Not a one," she assured, her tail wagging as she nestled in with me, accepting the affection I was given despite the tension in the air. "I'm here for you."

"Why?" I touched my freakish nose against her cheek. "We barely met..."

"And we are already friends." She rolled over in place to face me. "I care, and you care, I know it. That's why you could hear me, because you cared about me. You couldn't hear the other person you didn't care about." She reached out a hoof and gently brushed my cheek with it. "We're friends."

I had friendship-spying powers? That was so ridiculous it might have been true. "Stupidest super power ever," I groused, pulling Starlight in closer. My fingers trailed through her fur, scratching lightly with sharp claws. "They fired me."

"What? Did you take some time off because you were sick?" Starlight was scowling and angry. "How dare they! Is that even legal?"

"I kept working." I set a finger on her nose, making her eyes cross. "I worked right until they pulled the plug."

"But, then... why?" Starlight shook her head, confusion clearly growing. "What did you do wrong?"

"Nothing... That's the worst part." I touched nose to nose with her, sniffling softly. "They're closing. It isn't my fault... but I'm still fired. I did nothing wrong... still fired. I'd been working there practically from the start... still fired."

"Horseapples," cursed Starlight. "That's lame, really lame." She nuzzled into my neck. "I'm so sorry. We'll make our own company, even better! What did you do, exactly?"

Laughter escaped from me at Starlight's question. "Data management," I offered as I rolled her right onto her back. "Which I don't think you're qualified to do much with."

She kicked her legs in the air as if trying to trot. It wasn't effective. "I could learn. We'll make a company that's even better, just you--"

I grabbed her, not an accidental thing. I just went right ahead and groped her as one never should a woman. "Starlight, your alien body turns me on. I wanted to just... get that out."

Starlight's cheeks were a bright red. "I had figured that out on the first day we met... But I'm glad to hear you admitting it."

"Well, it helps that my body is just as alien." I swayed my dragon's tail for emphasis. "I am angry and sad and frustrated and sick right now. I want to sleep cuddle the hell out of you. Are you up for that?"

"I'm already laying on your bed, Lauren." She hiked a brow at me, a smirk on her lips. "I think I'm consenting to a little intimacy, still, it's better to ask and answer these kinds of things, so, yes. I would be delighted to sleep with you, my phlegmy friend."

"Good." I picked her up and pulled up the covers. Soon she was under them with me and I was curled around her, holding her. "You're my breathing teddy bear." I casually nuzzled her chest, eyes closed. "Good night."

"It's not even close to night," she complained, but she didn't squirm away, and things got quiet.

For at least a little while, I could not rage at the world.

"This is a bad idea," noted Starlight, frowning at Doctor Miller. "She might be listening right now. I told you I won't spy for you anymore, and I meant it."

"This room is completely soundproofed," he assured. "What upset her?"

Starlight rolled her eyes with obvious doubt. "She was fired. Who isn't upset when they're fired? She... needed a friend, and I provided one. Stop being a jerk about it. She's a person with person feelings, like being out of sorts when they're fired. How would you like being fired." Each emphasized word came with a sway and point of a hoof, pacing back and forth in front of Miller's desk.

"She attacked you," he calmly noted. "Were you injured?"

"It stung, but I got over it." Starlight brushed a hoof along the opposing leg. "She has a good grip, like me. I wonder when she'll get the hang of it."

"I would prefer you not assist her."

Starlight's eyes half-lidded, falling into a casually dismissive expression. "With all due respect, sir, fuck right off."

"Duly noted." Soft strikes of a keyboard noted he likely wasn't even lying about that. "But that isn't a negotiable point. She is obviously attracted to you. Use that to keep her happy."

Her eyes fell further, moving from bored dismissal to outright scowling. "So don't fuck you, let her fuck me. I am not your prostitute, sir. What... intimacy we have shared is because we both decided on it, and now you've ruined it." She thrust a hoof at him accusingly. "I hope you're happy. I'll never be able to look at her and not wonder if I'm doing it because I like her or because you asked me to."

She turned away, starting to pace in the room. "How long do you plan to hide the others from her? She isn't stupid. In fact, she's a real smart pony--"

"She isn't a pony," casually noted the doctor.

"Ugh, that wasn't literal." She rolled her eyes with aggravation. "She's going to figure it out, and she'll be mad at me for not saying."

"You can tell her the truth, that you weren't allowed to," calmly reasoned Miller. "You know how this works."

"Right, seniority." She flicked her tail as she looked to him, trotting up to the desk and rearing up, fore hooves coming down on the edge of the desk. "I've been here long enough I get a few little perks, like spying on my friends, and I don't like it, but I can't forget what I already know. She's going to find the others."

"We will deal with that if it happens. Miss Glimmer, did you want to retire from this position?" He was typing away casually as if their conversation wasn't all that important. "It's not being forced on you."

Her teeth clenched, but he wasn't paying that much attention to the pony's feelings. "No... no. I'll be good." she dropped to the floor, moving to walk meaningfully towards the door. "Just stop treating her like she doesn't have feelings. She does, and they're really frayed, for good reason."

She left and Miller soon pulled up a window. "See that no patients move from floor 13, even higher priority."

"You got it, sir." came the response, someone nodding at the camera. "Any reason I should give them?"

"They're not allowed," he stated as if it was obvious. "They don't need to know much more than that." He hung up on the call and moved to his emails, checking on the daily report. "At least you're quite diligent in this..."

Cindy entered the medical facility. She hadn't gotten the address more than a few hours before. It was only the time it took to make good soup that had delayed her. "Hey, got a gift for--" She walked up on the desk.

"--No mask, no service," berated the man behind the counter, pointing to a sign that said as much.

"For the... This is a hospital, right? You have a mask? Mine's at home."

He looked at her as if she were scum, which perhaps she was for going out in public without basic tools. Still, he reached into some cubby and out came a basic blue mask. She grabbed it and soon had it over her face. "There. Now, I have a gift for a patient here. Lauren Keibin?" She set down her multi-use tote bag, faint sloshing noises coming from within. "It's for her health."

"It's for your health," berated the healthcare worker as they typed at something. "Lauren Keibin... Ah, I can take that." He reached for the bag, only to have it drawn away.

Cindy fished out the jar of soup from inside and put it down separately. "You can have that. I need the bag." She gestured at the jar. "Make sure she gets it, please."

"We will." He moved to slide it off, but it was heavier than it looked and soon both hands were involved with moving it off with the slide of glass against the countertop. "Anything else you need today?"

"Well, since you asked." She leaned against the counter, trying to smile winningly at the bored worker. It might have worked better had her mask not been hiding most of her features. "My friend, Lauren, how is she? She getting out soon? Any chance I could get a little visit? I'll wear a mask, promise."

A mouse was moved, a few clicks. "She's fine," he reported with all the energy of the day's weather forecast. "No visiting hours are posted, sorry."

"I see how it is." She crossed her arms, bag tucked between them. "Well, get that to her and send her my love if you can."

"We'll get it to her."

Cindy departed with a little huff. At least she had made her delivery to her little Lore.

A knocking woke me from my nap. Starlight wasn't there anymore. "Who is it?" I fought my way to my mismatched feet.

"Package," came a muffled voice. "We'll leave it here."

Package? Package! My sleep faded away as I hurried towards the door, a grin on my changed face. I threw it open to reveal, there, yes! One of her mason jars of pure pleasure! "Woo!" I cried out, uncaring of who was watching me as I scooped up the jar and hugged it close. It was only mildly warm, but I didn't care. "I need a spoon!"

I put the jar down inside my room, closed the door, and hurried across the way into the cafeteria. "Spoon spoon spoon," I called to myself like a really bad song. "Need a spoon!"

Flash was there, pointing the way towards the blessed spoons.

I paused long enough to kiss him on the head and rush for the spoons, grabbing one and kissing it too for good measure. "Soup is on!" I charged back for my room in an almost-spritely jog. Nothing would stop me from enjoying that treat.

I heard Flash mutter behind me, "She's going nude too?"

I was playing some kind of Sims game. Which, I didn't know. In dreams, did you ever really pay that much attention? I was directing Starlight around in a house I'd made for her. She was so happy, going about her chores with a little smile and a pep in her step.

I scrolled away from her and saw her neighbor, Cindy. She was sniffling and coughing. As happy as Starlight was, she wasn't.

I woke with a start, a hand moving to my head as I squinted against the lights coming on. A glance at the clock revealed it was way too damn early. But I had napped the day before? With a low grunt, I grabbed for my laptop and began typing that extremely short dream out. "What does it mean?"

Off to the bathroom I went, muggy and miserable and... fully horned. I reached up for them, feeling the long smooth lengths of both. My head hadn't changed much aside from that. I was an exotic horned creature. "Rawr," I playfully growled at myself as I turned to look at my profile.

Wings, I had those. They were larger. Still far too small to consider flying on them, but how big were Discord's? About the same size, I realized as I slowly wobbled them, stretching one out, then the other. I tried flapping them together, but they didn't lift me from the ground. If they didn't work, how did I fly, or was that just a dream?

I reached back and began stroking over the pegasus wing, feeling the feathers as best I could from the odd angle. They were soft... kinda nice. If I had gone pegasus, I would have gotten used to it pretty fast, I decided. I would preen my pretty feathers!

Wait, did that mean I had to preen these feathers, even if I only had one wing that couldn't even fly? I spread the other wing and moved my hand over to it. It was leathery, a flap of skin. It was also sensitive, as if the whole thing were one big finger that could detect touches on it. Of course, it was me touching me, so it wasn't like a surprise or anything, but I could feel the brushes keenly.

I mused how it would be for a moment to have someone close touching that wing. Maybe they'd preen the feathers on one while washing the bat wing. That... sounded stupidly good at that moment. Next cuddle session would be in the bath...

Next cuddle session? I frowned as I did my morning needs. "When did I start scheduling those?" Sure, I did have one with Starlight... It was kind of... nice.

No time for that! I had to get to... work...

"Crap." There was no work to get to. I returned to my laptop. An email from Cindy!

Hey Lores!

Did you get the soup or is it still in the mail? They'd better have gotten it to you before it went bad, or I swear I'll storm right over those people! Got the sniffles, ugh. Maybe I should have wore a mask like that guy was yelling at me about.

What guy?

Let me know if you got it or not.

Love and hugs (and later pets),
Cindy

I smiled at the letter a moment. Would she be willing to help care for my awkwardly out of place and hard to reach wings? It was an excuse to be in my personal space. She'd probably go for it. I hit reply and got to typing.

Morning! Is it morning? It's really early, but here I am.

Status report: Still stuffy and miserable and arguably worse than before, but... I feel more positive than yesterday. Not hard when yesterday, I was fired. Speaking of that, think I should try job hunting in the middle of this? I bet they'd do email and voice chat interviews in the current climate. What do you think my odds are?

But that's all beside the point. Soup! Your soup was just what I needed. For a little while, I wasn't miserably sick. I was a little child held in the arms of my loving mother and everything was just gonna be fine. Thank you. What guy did you mean though? Did you meet someone?! Spill the details! You know you'd want the same from me if the tables were turned.

Changed, but still your friend,
Lauren

I finished up my daily report to Doctor Miller. There wasn't a lot of physical changes to go over, really. I felt... basically done? I was a female draconequus. I was not a pudgy out-of-shape female human anymore. The old me had gone, but the new me... "I'm still Lauren," I reminded myself as I hit send. "Not giving that up. I have specific friends and wants and I'm still that person. Lauren is not dying, or going anywhere."

Speaking of those specific wants. It was too dang early to go haunting the hallways, and Old Lauren didn't do that anyway. I loaded up a game instead, smiling through my sniffles as I did battle with decrepit zombies and mythological baddies in a world rotting from the inside. "Ah, you bring a smile." An odd thing to say to a game so morbid, but it was true, even when I was busy dying repeatedly to some boss, I just enjoyed that game, and it remained true even with a sudden fur coat.

I will say, though, furry enemies had long since ceased to be alien just for being furry. So what, I had fur. Maybe they were nice people too! Except they were lunging for me with curved blades that put the idea of diplomatic routes right out of my head.

I reached a bonfire and rested, then turned off the game, satisfied with my progress. "I'd put that off for too long." I'd been meaning to get back to it for months, but a thousand little other things were more pressing.

A new icon sat on my desktop, confusing me. Oh, right! Discord! I had installed it when Starlight mentioned there was a server for other people turning into cute furry things. I clicked it and it popped up. A moment later, I was connected.

"Hello," I typed in. "Anyone awake?"

"Heya!" replied someone with an avatar of a grinning pegasus cartoon. "Never saw you before. What's up?"

A chorus of similar questions arose, everyone wanting to know who the new person was.

I grabbed the top of my laptop, aiming it as I took a picture with my best smile. I set it as my discord profile picture before reply, "Sorry for not chatting until now. Starlight invited me. I'm Lauren."

"That's not a very pony name," came the reply of a red horse-avatar. "Don't worry, yours will come!"

Noises similar in nature rose up, as if they were all trying to encourage me to look forward to and embrace my incoming pony name. "No," I simply typed. Three keystrokes, four if you count shift. "I am Lauren, nice to meet you all. I plan to stay with that, so there."

"You look interesting," someone commented, side-topiccing entirely. "What are you?"

A little smirk played across my face as I reached for another tissue, typing with my other hand, "Are video calls allowed here?"

"Yes," came the reply about a dozen times in a blur.

Well! I couldn't... deny them after that. I clicked on the voice channel, went to broadcast and went live. At first, nobody, but then someone joined, then another and soon there were about six patients crowded in there, watching me. "Hey," I started, waggling my sharp claws at them. "So I am a dra-kahn-E-kwas." I said each syllable slowly and purposefully. "I went from a pudgy girl to... this." I gestured down my slender form, turning in place so they could get a look at me. "Hideously weird, right?"

People began typing busily in the voice text chat, that is the channel for people to type in relation to the voice chat. The Internet was funny that way. "You look cute! !" smiling pegasus replied.

"Your eyes are really pretty," gushed the red horse. "Why do we all get such nice lashes?"

"Especially us girls," added one that looked like a leering bat on their avatar. "Come, lose your humanity, gain awesome lashes."

A round of lols rippled through the chat.

"Where are your lower bits?" asked, you know, I should stop describing them by their avatar. This one was Sweetie Bloom. "Did they get erased like mine did?"

My eyes went wide, typing quickly, "Wait, what? Yours got erased? Mine are still here, promise." I didn't rush to show mine off though, even if the webcam was still watching me. Actually, because the webcam was still watching me.

"There I was," continued Sweetie. "I was a nice normal middle-aged guy, pow! Now I'm a pre-pubscent pony filly with a squeaky voice and nothing back there but the bare minimums to use the bathroom, and you don't even seem to have that."

"Your voice is not squeaky," defended Apple Bloom with an equally cute avatar. "It's cute!"

"Aw, you're just being a friend." They exchanged hug emojis.

A new person typed. Twilight. "Hello, Lauren. I've heard about you from Starlight. You're certainly an interesting specimen! Have your physical changes concluded? How do you feel?"

I inclined my head a little. Twilight... Right! Starlight had mentioned her. "Where are you hiding?! I heard Starlight mention you, but never saw you."

"Different floor. I'm in floor 8. You're on... 13, right? With Starlight," Twilight typed in reply.

Big Mac joined, "Isn't 13 supposed to be unlucky? I thought they just didn't have 13th floors on things."

Bon Bon added, "Well, this is a medical building. Maybe they just said no to superstitions."

"Oh, yup."

So many people, and they seemed nice enough. It was... kind of nice talking to so many people. Still. "Wait, floors? Can I visit you then?" I typed busily, wondering if I could actually see them.

Twilight typed, "They didn't let me down to floor 13 when I tried earlier today, something about an order? Quite unusual, but arguing with the guards is a waste of time."

Wait, what? "Was travel between floors usually an option?"

A chorus of mixed answers came about. It seemed some ponies were allowed to move about, and others were not. I didn't like it... "Well, it was nice meeting you all." I ended my broadcast, denying them the chance to admire my strange form further. "Maybe we can do it in the flesh next time."

Big Mac added, "Yup." simply.

Apple Bloom's reply came quickly, "You take care now, ya hear? Ya looked a might stuffed up. Been there. It gets better, promise!"

"Yeah! Come chat when you're feeling despondent," added Sweetie Bloom. I could imagine a little pony waving excitedly at her screen, but I had no proof if that was actually happening.

I said my goodbyes and closed Discord. A glance at the clock showed it was closer to a reasonable hour. I decided it was breakfast time. I grabbed my card and tucked it away before heading for the door and peeking outside. The hallway was as lit as it always was. Did the floor ever have a sleepy time lighting? I clack-clopped my way towards the cafeteria, only to see someone in a hazmat suit.

Of course she wouldn't be there. She was as miserable as I was.

New idea! I skipped down the hallway. "This part isn't so bad..." It was... maybe kinda nice, just feeling so free, so... dextrous. Movement was a pleasure, not a duty. It was very not-Lauren, but Lauren could get used to that part at least. I arrived at the door and tapped on it with my claws. "You in there?" I called quietly, hoping to not wake her if she wasn't already awake.

"Mmmmf," came the muffled reply, then a thump. She was awake, if not coherent.

"You don't have to get up just for me," I promised. "Did they fix your lock?" I reached for the handle and tested it. It opened without resistance. "Nope. How long does it take for them to send a technician?"

"Lauren?" asked the voice from around the corner. "You sound different."

"I look different," I added with a little smirk, slipping inside and closing the door behind me. It clicked properly, but I doubted the lock would hold. "Want some company?"

"Yeah." I heard a butt hit a bed and danced around the corner, bringing her into sight. She was shaping up nicely. Her bright green eyes were not all the way open, instead looking as miserable as I had been. Scratch that, still was. I was just ignoring it in favor of the moment. "Hey." She raised a hand, waving it at me. "Wow, you weren't kidding even a little."

I approached her on her bed. "Is this just 'a thing'? People talk like it is. If you get a fur coat, you'll just have to get really nasty sick." I half-turned, displaying my wings to her. "Check these out, Jake."

She reached, taking hold of the feathery one first and gently brushing along it. "Wow... And..." She touched the bat-like one. Oh wow, it was just as powerful as I predicted. I wanted to either slap her hand away or sit down and invite her to keep going.

I went with the latter, sinking down on the bed next to her, turned to keep what she was exploring easily available. "Not sure what they're good for, but I have them. I have a unicorn horn too." I pointed to the curved horn atop my head.

"And another too." Her hands left my wings, aw, and began poking at my horns instead. They were not nearly as touch-sensitive. I could tell she was doing it, sure, but it didn't come nearly as powerfully. "How do you feel? Did you get a pony name yet?"

"I did, and I tossed it out," I noted with confidence. "I am Lauren."

"That's early," Jake noted. "Nothing here yet, just a lot more farming dreams. There was one that had you in it." When I looked at her, she began to blush through her furry face, her pony-snout curling in a smile. Like me, her face had changed quite a bit, becoming entirely an anthro-pony. "You were floating. Weird huh? You were just kinda ignoring all the rules while we talked about carrots."

She brought her hands together, worrying her fingers. "It was a nice little chat. I was worried about something. A rot in the soil? Dream stuff, I don't know, I was just... worried, and you calmed me down, told me it'd be alright." She reached for one of my hands, holding it with hers, fingers brushing against my palm. "And you just... You fixed it. I was so happy, and I woke up."

I squeezed her hand. "Hey, if I can fix something for you, I would. I know we just met. I swear, that's everyone around me... but you're all important to me." I leaned in, touching my big nose to her big nose. We both had nice broad inhuman noses. I could feel our breath mingling between us. "Has Starlight been by?"

"Almost every day." Jake smiled, taking my other hand. "She's a really good person...She said you're doing better than me. You can move. Shoot, you visited me, that kinda proves it." She glanced away and back. "This is a lot to ask, but..."

"You want to cuddle?"

Oh how red her cheeks became. "Can we? Starlight got really nervous when I brought it up. Please don't run away. No's alright too!"

I pulled her closer by her hands, forcing her to flop against me, her breasts, annoyingly larger than mine, against my own as I released her hands and moved to hug her. "We're both going to sneeze and get snot on each other. If you accept that, we can relax."

"That sounds great," she sighed out, looking relieved. She pointed past me. "I dropped the remote. Can you get it and put on something, then we can lay down."

Remote? I flopped over, releasing her and looking over the far edge of the bed. There it was, falling out of sight under the bed. I reached down and grabbed for it, but I missed and it slid further under the bed. "Dang it." I slid further after it, grabbing wildly, and pathetically, knocking it further back away and away. "Almost..."

Jake suddenly squealed, and it was clear to see what I had just popped free of the bottom of the bed and my snout was right between her legs on the floor. "What the?" I muttered, looking up to see Jake's thighs, but also mine just off to the side, my feet so very close. "The heck!?" I had just done the most epic stretch I'd ever seen.

"How are you... not dead?" spoke Jake in haunted tones. "Tell me you're alright."

I leaned off to the side, touching a cheek to one of her feet. "Doesn't hurt at all, also, here." I made one last lunge and grabbed the damned remote. twisting in place to offer it up towards Jake. "Here you go."

Jake took it as if it was made of some kind of explosive material. "You are bent over backwards over the bed." She paused to sniff loudly. "Then twisted over again while you're down there... How?"

I looked down at my hands, which were right where they were supposed to be, but the long trunk of my body was bent in all kinds of ways that should have been horrifically painful. "Is that right?" And suddenly it wasn't. I was pulled right back under the bed, thwipping my nose on the edge of it along the way. With a snap, I was back to 'normal'. "Ow..." I rubbed my sore nose where it had struck the hard metal edge. "Got it."

Jake set the remote down and pulled her legs up under herself. "Are you... alright?"

"Other than flexible, I'm fine, and is that a...bad thing?" I really wasn't entirely sure. "Let me try that again." I slid up to my feet and reached for my dragon toes. I was able to reach it without a hint of resistance, as if I wasn't even stretching. "Huh..." That was not a feat I could do before. I grabbed the floor and began pulling myself down until my spine bent over right at my hips and from there angled sharply right back to the ground where the rest of my body was. "That just looks crazy as Tartarus."

Jake slid forward along the bed and held a hand up behind me. "Give me a high-five without turning around." It was too low to make sense going for an actual 'high' five. I slid back and considered a moment before going for it, slithering right between my own legs over myself. There was her hand. I reached up and slapped it. "Ta da!"

"That is amazing, and kinda disturbing. Can you... just go back to normal for now?" She smiled awkwardly. "I'll put on something quiet."

I slid and pulled myself upright with a little ta da for good measure. "Behold me, for I am part snake."

"Part dragon," corrected Jake with a little smile. "Mine doesn't come with any perks like that. All I've gotten is boobs and a new way to go visit the bathroom."

"Hey, being a woman has more going for it than that." I joined her on the bed, but was reaching for the phone. "I'm going to order breakfast now, for the both of us. Put on something quiet and let's just enjoy the moment."

"That sounds stupidly nice right now," agreed Jake as she sank down onto her bed. "Thanks for not running..."

"Despite alternative phenotype, subject shows equally powerful pack bonding inclinations." Miller tapped busily on his keyboard. "A common bond in the transition? Subject shows no irritation despite understanding the limitations placed on her. Interactions with another subject at a similar stage of transition seems to be calming both of them, matching with previous observations. Starlight used to be the closest we had, but Jake's accident couldn't have been better timed to provide that social support." He moved between windows on his machine.

"She had introduced herself successfully to the greater community of subjects and appears to be welcomed. Consider controlled physical meeting." He paused to consider. "One of the filly subjects may be wise. Threat of complication is minimized." He tapped at his desk softly a moment before resuming typing. "Consider two or three. Pack bonds between The Three are strong enough that removal of one without the others can cause stress."

He didn't want stressed subjects, oh no. It was his job to avoid that sort of thing. "Schedule meeting with floor 5 head."

We were happy. Sure, we were still sick as all get out, but we were happy anyway. My arms were around her, her arms were around me. Our stomachs were just the right amount of full.

"Laura?" I heard clopping knocking, but it was an internal hearing, not an external one. Starlight was calling for me somewhere else. Where? "You home?"

My room? Shoot. I was not there by far. "You asleep?" she spoke more quietly. "Call me if you need me..." And then clopping noises. She was trotting. I couldn't tell if it was towards or away anything, just the sound of her trotting along.

"You alright?" Jake was watching my face. "You look distracted all of a sudden."

"I think--" I pointed towards his door. "Starlight may be coming."

Jack sat up with surprising force, only to groan and hold her head. "Aw, dang it... She'll think we've been doing--"

"--nothing," I cut her off. "We're listening to some chill music and relaxing. That's the truth and I'm sticking to it. Neither of us has touched the other in naughty places."

"Hey Flash," spoke Starlight who wasn't there.

"Hiya," he replied. "You look down, what's up?

Oh no, they were having a personal conversation. How did I turn off this thing? Why didn't it just come with a knob to twist?

"It's about Lauren," sighed Starlight miserably, a squeak of a chair against panel. Were they in the cafeteria? "The Doc made me feel like barely-warmed filth for liking her. He said I should, for him. Like it was ever about him!"

"Woah." I heard a faint sound. A hoof patting fur? "That sounds super rough. Hey, you two are... a thing? Neat." He sounded way too happy about that. Little perv stallion. "How does that work?"

"You're kidding." Starlight sounded aghast and unbelieving. "You don't know how lesbians work?"

"Why should I?!" he protested, sounding awkward. "I'm a guy. I like girls. I know how that works. I don't watch dirty stuff that has two ladies in it... So... how does it work?"

"This is a conversation I refuse to have." I could hear that flat denial in her tone. "I'll keep it simple. To start, kissing is fun no matter what gender the other person is."

"Oh. Ohhhh. Oh!" I couldn't see it, but I could imagine Flash getting all blushy. "Neat... Good luck. You two are nice."

Starlight's tone become kinder. "Aw, thanks... You're not jealous then?"

"Huh? Oh! We're not a thing, don't be silly." I heard a hoof hit something metal. "I'm chatting with AJ, don't tell anypony, alright?"

"Your secret's safe with me!" crisply promised Starlight, not knowing that secret was already blown. Not that I knew who AJ was. "AJ though? Nice. She's a good mare. I hope you two work out."

"You too!" A rustle of fur on fur. I think they were hugging. Ugh, how to turn off my hearing!

"You alright? Is she coming?" Oh, right, Jake was still there.

I tried to push the outside voices aside and focus on who was physically present.

"Subject Lauren Keibin is avoiding many of the problems associated with--"

I was watching the letters appear on a screen. They were being typed. I wasn't anywhere in the room. I shouldn't have known any of it, and yet, there I was.

"--this variety of the Ponid transition. Her forming bonds with those she has accepted as a part of her social unit is very powerful, to the point that she obsesses over their needs and opinions of her without consideration of her own desires."

That wasn't true! I had plenty of selfish thoughts... I wanted to yell at Doctor Miller, but I wasn't there. I wasn't... at all, just somehow watching.

"Her physical alterations appear complete. Despite her unusual appearance, the others accept her readily. Part of her form was self-determined. Of course, such tricks are not outside the means of this--"

So he did know more about what was happening to me? "Tell me!" I shouted, but there was no noise. I was just shouting in my head, and I didn't even know where my head was.

I was but words on a computer.

But the computer wasn't real either. It was a description of a computer that was itself on another computer, being typed by some other being I didn't even know. That being was being dreamed by yet another being, and behind it. "Stop."

Discord was standing in front of me, in a field of stars. "Don't look too far that way. You're about to give yourself quite the headache."

But I could remember it, the... thing I had seen, felt? "What's going on?"

"You're confused, scared... I get it, really I do." He smiled charmingly, his voice so soft and smooth. "Just listen to me a moment. Now, I'm going to keep you."

"Keep me?!" I jerked back and away. "I don't want to be kidnapped, thanks."

"Oh, no. Nothing like that." He drifted closer, his hands closing on mine, his fingers trailing through my fur. "Just for a day. Let your body sleep. It's just getting more miserable anyway. I want your mind."

Tears welled up in my eyes, even if I knew they were fake eyes. I was dreaming, but the sobs wouldn't stop. "I'm so scared... Tell me, help me! You're like me."

"I am you," he corrected. "Well, sort of. You're more like a 'could be' of me. Don't think about that too hard." He waved it off, smiling at me so calmly. "Now, I'm serious. If you want to hang out with me, you got it, a full day. What an honor. But if not, that's alright, your choice. I'll let you wake up like you usually do."

"Tell me." I grabbed his lion's paw, squeezing it. "Please, help. I want to be Lauren. I want to be me, not you."

"But I am you," he reminded, but he didn't pull away. He didn't shrink or flinch. He was calmly floating there, holding hands. "You are me. What 'Lauren' is? That's up to you. I'm sure you're a lovely people, and you'll keep right on being one. One thing about being us, we get to make the rules."

"I don't know any of the rules," stomped down a dragon's claw on ground that hadn't been there until I needed something to stomp on. I was standing then, on an island in the middle of the stars. "I've turned into... this." I waved with my dragon claws at my strange body.

"It's not that strange," he said in almost a whine. "I happen to think we're quite handsome. If I was the narcissistic sort, I'd ask you out, but let's not get too far into the self-love thing. Besides, I have a mare waiting for me."

"My dreams." I drew both hands away to weave patterns in the air. Colors, shapes, and even textures seemed to gather at the tips of my claws, creating outlines then moving shapes of my past dream visions. "I was in a cottage. I was back home. I was in a lot of places, changed in--"

"Hey now, that's a personal cottage." He crossed his arms, but looked more amused than offended. "Funny you found it. Still, not for you." He tapped my nose with a lion's finger. "Oh, poor thing." He was looking at the image I had of Cindy at her home, coughing. "You should probably do something about that."

"What can I do?!" I made a wide sweep, banishing the image as if I had swept away some fog in the way. "I'm stuck in the hospital, or lab, or whatever it is. She's... not there. What could I do?"

"Whatever you wanted." A little smile spread on his face. "But, since you asked, at least getting them somewhere safe." He wriggled a few fingers at me. "We can't have them spreading pony cooties everywhere... Why not bring them here? They're used to pony people."

My eyes widened at the implication. "She has--"

"--Oh yes, quite the case. You know, she got it from you."

I sputtered before throwing my hands down and back. "That's a lie! There's no way that could be true."

"She came while you were sick, brought you soup. Don't you remember?" He leaned forward. "She really isn't in the habit of wearing masks. No matter. She's been changing, slowly. She's going to explode in pony awkwardness any moment now, all at once. You got a warning, she won't even get that... Lucky her."

"Lucky her," I repeated, my tongue feeling heavy. "She's in trouble."

"You could save her." His voice was so smooth, making sweet promises.

"How? You keep implying things without saying anything! Tell me--" I grabbed him at the shoulders. "How!"

"Step one, stop shaking the handsome fellow trying to help you." He was just suddenly to my right, a hand on my shoulder instead of the other way around. "Step two, start making what you want a thing, instead of asking me how to do it. Shall we try a little experiment?"

"If it helps Cindy, I want to know."

Her forming bonds with those she has accepted as a part of her social unit is very powerful, to the point that she obsesses over their needs and opinions of her without consideration of her own desires.

The words appeared floating over us, the typed words on a screen. Discord shook his head softly. "He isn't entirely wrong. Still, being a good person isn't all that bad. Works out for me." He shrugged softly. "Just don't let it make you too soft."

I reached up with a hand that was just large enough to grab the letters and began tearing them apart angrily, casting them out into the void. "I want to see Cindy!"

And we saw her. Her house was right there, below us. We were floating over her neighborhood. It was dark, minus the many street lamps. "Jesus! What if someone sees us?"

"What if they did?" he countered. "Besides, we're not really here, so nothing to see." He looked around slowly. "Nice place. You live not far from here, am I correct?"

"That way," I replied a little weakly, pointing in the direction of my old home, where I wasn't. I felt the scene try to slip away and I grabbed onto the air, preventing it. "Stop it! No, Cindy. How is she?" I dove down through the air. Was I just a thought? Like an astral traveler? I willed my wings to flap and my tail to sway, propelling me as if through water to get to her bedroom window. "I'm being such a creep right now."

"Checking in on a friend is hardly the worst thing one could do." Discord was right next to me. I hadn't saw him move, he just was. "Well, we're here. Go on, take a peek."

I hesitated a moment before leaning forward, putting my face against the glass of the window. Of course, I had no physical body at the time. I went right through it.

The room was dark, but I heard soft breathing, fast? Little grunts. Thump. Thump. Thump. Rapid little thumps. What... was that? It was coming... from her bed. My cheeks began to go a bright red in the gloom. Was she with a boyfriend?!

"Lore!" she groaned. It was Cindy, flopping back suddenly, heaving and huffing. "Oh... Oh wow..." She snorted up a big snot collection and grabbed for tissues. "What the hell is happening to me?" She blew her nose and grabbed more tissues, cleaning something... else.

"She has it bad," noted Discord, still right next to me. "Or should I say 'he'? I imagine you'd need to ask them which they'd prefer."

"What?!" I basically screamed at him.

"Huh?" Cindy looked around as if she heard something. Despite me floating there all too close, she didn't act like she saw me, and returned to what she was doing. "This ain't right..."

"She's becoming a fine stallion," explained Discord patiently. "Well, a human-stallion. What do you call them... anthropomorphic? What a delightfully conceited word that is." He waved it was as if it were nothing. "Still, they have it bad. You going to help them?"

"You keep saying that. You keep acting like I could just... do whatever."

"Who says you can't?" he challenged with a little shrug.

"Uh... physics?" I started, counting on fingers. "Laws, biology, chemistry?"

"All boring." He looked me in the eyes. "Fix it, or don't. But don't act like you just can't"

"So... what? You think I can just grab her." I snatched at Cindy, taking hold of her night-time jammies. "And just throw her into my room." I made a throwing motion. Cindy got out a squeal of surprise as they vanished into a hole that closed up after them, popping with all the permanence of a bubble.

I floated there, staring at the spot where my friend had been.

"Congratulations." Confetti rained down around us. "You did it! Good job." He brought his hands together in a slow golf clap. "Now, you have company. Isn't that delightful? Of course, now I can't let you sleep all day, unless you want your friend wandering off without you."

I imagined her landing on or next to me back in my room, and the freakout that would--

We were back in my room. "Where am I?!" Cindy cried, falling off the bed where my body was snoring peacefully. "The hell is that?! What's going on?"

Discord clucked his tongue. "Well, you may as well wake up now. Still, congratulations are in order. You'll have to figure out the rest on your own. Oh! One last tip."

"What is that?" I was already reaching for my body. I didn't want Cindy to get into trouble. "Make it fast, please."

"A sharp snap helps things along. Distract the universe and it doesn't notice the changes you make as easily. Now, ta ta. Have fun making your own rules." He casually bowed so hard he folded in on himself, popping out of being.

I jumped for my body, crashing into... myself.

I woke with a start, gasping and looking around, squinting against the bright light. "Cindy! Please don't panic, Cindy!"

"Lore?" Cindy scrambled to her feet, sniffling with the same flu that still had me reeling. "Is that you? What did they do to you?"

I rolled over onto my belly and pushed up, scrambling closer to her. "I'm alright. Sorry! Sorry!"

"What are you apologizing for and how am I... wherever we are? Is this a dream? Is this why men jack off so often?"

I blinked at her crude words. "I hope not... I pulled you--"

The door suddenly slapped open. Heavy boots filled the room as three men in full hazmat suits charged in. I suddenly slipped up between Cindy and them. "I brought her here!" I squeaked. "She didn't sneak in. She needs help, please. She has the ponid."

One of them pulled out a small walkie talkie. "We have visual."

Revision: Subject Lauren has demonstrated worrying abilities, Keep under closer watch.

The words were being typed, somewhere. "I'll be good," I promised. "I just want to help her."

Cindy's hand landed on my side from behind. "That really is you, Lauren? You're... soft." She was feeling my sides with her finger tips and I felt my muscles flutter. I wanted to just... enjoy being pet. A pity there were several guards in my room.

Part of me wanted to shove them out, to send them far away. But they hadn't done anything wrong, just their job, and it wasn't even a bad job. "I'll make sure she starts filing reports."

"Tell her to keep the unidentified patient in lockdown until we've had a chance to enter them in the system." This was spoken to the man. I didn't hear it, but I did hear it. Internal hearing.

"Roger," he replied out loud. "Keep her here until we say otherwise." He motioned with a fist and they began to leave.

I sagged against the bed with relief, tail thumping the bed in the motion, nervous energy looking for a way out even as I sniffled, still clogged and miserable.

"Thanks... for saving me." She sat down on the same bed next to me. "Now tell me what's going on."

"This is where I live." I waved around my room. "And you're becoming a pony."

She blinked softly. "That... explains parts of me." Her eyes dropped right down between her legs before going back up to me.

I was not a very dirty person, promise, but enough hints had been given. "Are you seriously sporting... that, down there?" I pointed with a dragon's claw.

"Are you going to make fun of me?"

Make fun of her? It was... "You're a woman..."

"You were a human, Lore... What... are you now?"

I shrank at those words. Not a human? "I'm still Lauren..."

"I never said you weren't." She reached for my closer hand, rubbing it gently with her smooth fingers. "I'm still Cindy."

"But not a... woman Cindy?" That bothered me so much. It bothered me more than it had any right to bother me. "How do you feel?"

"Like I should be screaming, but I'm not. Instead... here I am, with you. I want to show it to you."

My cheeks darkened at the offer. "You're joking!"

"You're already showing off everything you have." She casually reached up to my chest, cupping my slender breasts, her fingers trapping my nipples and squeezing. "I still like what I see, even if you aren't as round as before."

"A-are you in heat?" I stammered out. It was not helping that being manhandled by Cindy was... a nice thought. But Cindy wasn't a lady! Which should just make that better, right? She was a he. She could do... guy things... I, a heterosexual freak of nature, should be happy about that.

Why wasn't I happy?

"Like an animal?" She... he? Was looking me over. "You're the big tall furry thing. You tell me. A sudden sneeze broke the romance, peppering my front as they slumped back with a miserable groan.

I knew that feeling. I grabbed for the tissues and stuffed the box in their hands. "Here. I'm going to wash up, then we're going to bed."

"Bed with Lore," she slurred out as if drunk, or just miserably sick. She giggled as I slipped away to wash up.

I took a little shower, enjoying the warm spray of water as I thought to myself. Why was I hearing more and seeing more? Discord implied pretty heavily it was all under my control. I just... had to do more. And snap. I made the motion, but, as it turns out, it's hard to do with wet furry fingers. Wet scaly fingers were only mildly better. When the sound emerged, I felt a strange little something. An instant that attention was focused, not on me, but on that sound. It was gone as quickly as it came.

I had distracted the universe, and that was a scary thought.

A huge snort interrupted the thought, my nose so full and miserable. Stupid flu.

Wait... That was a test worth doing. I had finished changing. I was a draconequus, hear me roar! What if I... I raised a dry hand up. "Look here." I waved the hand and snapped, my thoughts focusing. As the slow-instant sensation of attention sliding off me towards the motion and sound, I pushed the sickness out of me.

Time resumed, a great glob of snot splattered to the ground. I felt... clear. I felt... whole. I was cured! I giggled with a childlike joy, dancing from foot to foot, narrowly avoiding the mess I had made. I was all better! I mean, still a freak, but not a sick freak!

I scampered out of the bathroom, falling forward to all fours and scuttling along despite it, slowly getting myself back upright as I hurried back to bed, a huge grin plastered on my face. "Still there, Cindy?"

"Lore?" mumbled a voice, her voice. "You sound different, again."

"I feel better," I assured as I slid in under the covers. Cindy was already under them. It was so much nicer having someone to snuggle. "Hey... I need to know. Are you a he or a she?"

"Physically? About as he as you get, and more than that considering..."

I reached down and felt her hand. Our hands intertwined a moment before she began drawing me down the rest of the way, to feel things. Right into her pajamas, I soon felt the truth of it. She had an equine sheath, a tube of flesh that began to swell as I felt along it. Under it, big horse balls. She was a stallion... "But... are you a he or a she?" I repeated. "Be honest."

"You can't argue--"

"--You can," I flatly denied them. "Which are you? Which... are you, not your body."

She hooked one arm around me, pulling me closer. "Right now, I'm tired and horrible. Did you like the soup?"

I smiled in the dark, snuggling against her. Without really thinking about it, my hand was slowly exploring and playing with her, taking note of what made her jump, and what made it grow more. "It made my day... You saved me. Emergency soup, right in the nick of time. You... should be freaking out a lot more, just saying."

"This is a crazy, but sexy, dream. Is this what you meant by getting pets?" She stroked through my fur in slow motions. "Because you are very pettable... just like you promised. I'm going to enjoy it, and wake up, and wonder what kind of crazy dream I had."

Part of me wanted to push the sick out of her like I had myself, but there were so many questions. Like, she wasn't done changing. Would doing that mess it all up, leave her as a mostly-human with a big fat horse dong? Would that be an improvement or not? Would I hurt her trying it? It was one thing to risk myself, another to play master with her delicate form like I was some kind of furry god.

"Stop doing that unless we're going all the way."

My ears pinned against my head. "Cindy! Seriously?"

She flopped against me. "If I have a huge boner with my lady friend in a dream, why shouldn't I enjoy it?"

I pulled her up, rolling her right up on top of me, supporting her on my long fuzzy form, my hands on her hips. "Can you assume, for a moment, this isn't fake. If it was real, all real... what then?"

"I... would freak out a little," she admitted, looking less sure. "Laura... You would keep me safe, right?"

"With all my heart." I squeezed her hips. "Guy or girl, you've been a wonderful friend... Which is why I want you to trust me when I say what I say. I'm actually this. This is me, Lauren, the draconequus."

"Lauren..." She sat up on top of me. "This is scary as hell."

"You don't sound as scared..."

"You're here, at least." She sank down against me, curling up on me. "And I'm sick, I think... Gonna go to sleep now."

Her fitful sleeping sounds soon filled the otherwise quiet room. I held her, smiling a little. No matter how frightened I was for her, I had her. I had my Cindy. Life wasn't going to be so bad. I lapsed off myself without really thinking about it much.

"This cannot be allowed," spoke another scientist in a window on the screen. "We have room up here. Send the patient up here."

Doctor Miller spread his fingers. "The subject has already shown signs of social bonding and previous experience with the unknown. We have reason to--"

"--Be that as it may, you already have an unstable situation with your Type-DE. Focus on her, and send the other up here."

"As you order, but I am objecting."

"Your objection is noted." The window closed.

Doctor Miller sighed softly, opening a new window. "Get the new subject and bring them to floor four. Be gentle, and quiet."

Hopefully, Lauren would not be too upset about her new friend going away, but it was out of his hands. He resumed his typing.

I woke with a start. "No!" But she was already gone. But I had seen it. I saw the exchange. I got to my feet, tail lashing behind me. "Bring her back," I snarled, looking around until I found a camera, stalking towards it, fingers flexing. "Bring back Cindy, now!" I pointed at the camera. "I don't care who told you to take her, bring her back."

But the camera didn't reply. With a grunt of annoyance, I stormed right out of my room, click-clopping along.

Now, that was so far away from the time to be consider it, but I felt pissed at the universe. "Why is my goat hoof so... not goat hoofed!" I thrust the smooth hoof forward and clapped my hands. Distraction. My hoof touched the ground, cloven into two. My toes felt... so much better. They could wriggle properly. "One down..."

"Hey, Lauren." There was Flash, waving at me. "What was that you did?"

I didn't have time for him... "Just a little trick I picked up. I'm getting the hang of this. Where's the elevator?"

He suddenly looked super nervous, taking a step back. "Uh, I dunno."

He was lying. I could feel the lie. It was an oily thing, slithering against my ears. "I bet you were told. Did you forget?" I reached for him and he scrambled back, but not fast enough. I got a hold of him and casually pulled a DVD from his furry ear.

He gaped at the media I had created. "What is that and how...? Are you going to hurt me?"

"Hurt you? Of course not." I petted him gently with my free hand, turning to stuff the DVD right into the wall as if it had a spot to play it. "I just want answers." I snapped my fingers. "Ah, there it is." I casually hit the play button and a scene began to play of Starlight pointing out the elevator to Flash.

"But don't tell anyone," Starlight advised. "I wasn't even supp--" I smacked the stop button. I had seen enough. I turned away from the player and faced where the elevator was.

"I'll be back, with my friend." I began striding forward, a frown on my face.

And then Starlight. She scurried between me and the elevator. "Lauren, I know you're super mad, and you have every right to be."

"If you know that, why are you in my way?"

"Because I'm your friend?" She smiled nervously, but her words were not a lie. "Please, calm down... Let's talk this out. We can take care of this without... this."

"Without what?" I huffed out, feeling very ready to test what I could do, or not.

"Anything. Please... One day, that's all I ask." She held up a lone hoof. "Show them you can be reasoned with like a nice sane pony."

"I'm a very angry not-pony," I corrected, crossing my arms under my chest. But I didn't shove her aside. "One day..."

"One day," she echoed, slumping with relief. "All I ask."

"My hands! My feet!" Cindy crashed back against a wall, standing awkwardly against the wall.

"You're not going full pony," I reminded her in a soothing tone.

"I'm not?" Her hands suddenly sprang free of their hooven shells, the bone falling to the floor to be forgotten. "Oh yeah." As if reminding her was all it took. "Lore!" She suddenly hugged me. "How did you find me?"

"I'm dreaming, I think?" I tilted my head to the left before looking around. We were in another bedroom, similar to mine. "Or am I?"

"Only if I'm a dream." She snorted, grabbing for some tissues. "And I don't think I am."

Was it not a dream? "Cindy, are they hurting you?"

"They won't answer my questions, and they're keeping me away from you, or much of anything else." She sank against her bed. "And I'm changing..."

Of course she was changing. She was joining us, and I should be there, at her side, helping her... "I'm coming."

I woke up, if you could have called that a dream. "Enough." I was awake, not sniffly, and ready to act. I stormed for my door with a predatory gait. I was on fours as often as twos, practically flowing along the walls. Whatever I was, it was a sleek and magnificent body. Discord hadn't been lying. We were... pretty, when you got over all the strange parts. We were a predator that distracted the universe.

I threw open the door. Trick there being that the door normally opened inwards. Oops. I had already done it, I didn't worry about it, trusting it would fix itself sometime after I was gone and the universe noticed what I had done to it.

"Good morning!" There was Starlight, smiling at me so nervously.

"Morning." I reached out and patted her right on the head, the way she didn't want me to do unless I meant it. "You are a dear friend, but I have an older friend that needs my help right now. I promise I won't hurt a single person, but I am going to get her and bring her back."

Starlight recoiled at my words, backing out of reach. "Lauren, you're basically declaring war."

"Not a single person," I repeated. "I just want my friend, that's it. Tell Miller that."

She ran her tongue over the insides of her lips, glancing nervously around. "Lauren, you don't know how to do... all that yet. You could hurt yourself, or your friend. Please... Remember when I pulled you into the pool? That was an accident! What if you have an accident?"

"You're a unicorn." I held out a paw towards her. "I'm something worse." With a sharp snap, I felt the universe's attention sliding. I dashed while it was gaping at where I had made the noise. When it recovered, I was already by the elevator, mashing the call button.

Starlight blinked at where I wasn't anymore and turned in place. "Lore?"

The elevator hadn't arrived, not that it gave any hints as to what floor it was on by the time Starlight turned and saw me. "Lore!" She dashed towards me with a rapid clip-clop. "Please, stop it! You don't even know the password."

"There's a password?" That made sense, in hindsight. If anyone could just walk up to it, that wouldn't be very secure. "Well, won't be getting anywhere without that."

Starlight slowed in her approach, stopping just in front of me with a releived sigh. "Good, so let's--"

I casually reached out as if to pet her ear, but I went for what was just behind it. "Really, Starlight. Writing down your passwords?" I was holding a paper that likely hadn't been there a moment before. "That's a bad habit."

Starlight crashed to her haunches, eyes wide, scared. I felt suddenly bad. Starlight was a friend, I was like 90% sure of that. "I'll be back, promise. I'm just going to get my friend. Have a little faith in me."

Turning to the elevator, looking to the scrap, I saw the 'password' was more of a combination. You had to press a few buttons at the same time, then jab the call button. Easy! Poor earth ponies, it must be quite hard for them to figure it out even if they were told what to do. But I had fingers! The button lit up! It was on the way!

"They're going to be really mad," whispered Starlight, sounding so very shaken. "They may hurt you... It's not too late. Let's go back to your room, relax, talk?"

I brought around my tail and tickled under her chin with its fluffy tip. "You wait here. I'll be right back." I wouldn't be dissuaded, not until I had my Cindy back.

Elsewhere, Miller scowled at what he saw. There were plenty of cameras, and some of them were watching me and Starlight. "This is going about as poorly as predicted." He turned in place, swiveling his chair as he clicked quickly with his mouse. "You're about to get a visitor."

"Visitor?" came a familiar voice. "Nothing on the schedule for today."

"Type ED is on her way to your floor," explained Miller. "She has the elevator key."

"Where are your guards?" the other chastised.

"She hasn't caused any issues on this floor," replied Miller simply. "I will not engage her. She has done everything I asked and remains a good subj--"

I reached up, pointing at the camera watching me, piercing it, jabbing him right in the chest with a dragon's claw. "I'm a patient, not a subject," I snarled through the camera. "And you got that right. I'm going up to bother your friend and get mine back."

Starlight scrambled backwards. "What in the name of Celestia was that?!" She had one hoof raised, shaking but pointing at the camera I had just been shoving my arm through a moment ago. "What did you do?!"

"Miller's watching us." A soft chime sounded as the elevator opened. "You be a good pony." And in I went, slipping inside with a sudden rush and twirling in place, smashing the 4 button with my tail. Starlight looked so unsure, making a scramble towards me, but it was too late. The doors closed on her.

I could feel the elevator moving around me. The thought tickled at me. Why was I using an elevator? I didn't technically need it... But I wasn't reality itself. I tricked it. I fooled it. Who's to say if I didn't do it too often and too constantly, it wouldn't catch on? Better to do things the old-fashioned way sometimes, just to keep it on its toes.

A soft chime announced our arrival. I was out the moment the door began to open, flowing between the still-too-close panels and slinking out. There were no ponies in sight. No staff either. Had the warning of my coming sent them scurrying?

I slid around the corner, my body conforming to it like water for the instant I went around it, springing upright the moment I was past it. Bright red lights were strobing and a strange omnipresent alarm was making an electronic noise that wasn't really a siren, but was clearly an alarm of some kind. Despite it, I felt no particular worry.

With a low clop-clop, I walked forward, each step different in my ears. One hoof was cloven, the other the clack of sharp claws. One was thicker and had a dewclaw, and the other did not. I was no longer much good at matching left to right across my body. Even my eyes were different colors, though considering how many other things didn't match, it was perhaps a mercy that it followed the trend.

Despite all the mismatches, my gait was easy. I was balanced, smooth even. "Now where is everycreature hiding?" I called out, my tongue curling a little as a little smirk appeared on my face. "The hiding part of hide and seek can only last so long. I will find you."

The clean halls of the medical facility offered little cover to my sweeping gaze, but there were--oh, no, there was someone, several someone's. Another elevator door chimed with a simple beep before sliding open, revealing three men in full body armor. Two of them had billy clubs, the third had a gun. A stun gun?

They saw me, not like I was hiding from them. "Return to your room," shouted one of them as they spilled out of the elevator in a hurry, fanning out as if to surround me.

"I'm in the middle of playtime," I casually dismissed, my red scaled tail flicking behind me. It was still odd at times to think I had one of those, but, in perspective, it was perhaps the least odd thing about it all. "You can try asking a lady more politely than shouting at her like that. You're sending a bad message."

The one with the gun raised it and fired with barely a pause between. A loud pop echoed in the hard-walled area we were in and the barbs were flung at me with almost sonic speed. I grabbed them, but they weren't barbs, they were ropes. I pulled sharply and they fell from confused fingers as I laughed. "Now where are you hiding Cindy?"

The two with clubs advanced with determination. What did guards of secret medical facilities make? Probably not enough to have to deal with my flavor of nonsense. I almost felt bad for them, almost. That faded when they began to swing at me. "Hey, morons," I scorned as I bobbed and weaved back away from them. "This isn't a movie. You crack someone with one of those, you could really hurt them."

Perhaps play time was over.

I grabbed the wall and scrambled upwards away from them, digging in with claws and leaving little holes behind. They were shouting and looking for some way to reach me when my snap echoed out. I fell down as the universe recoiled and grabbed one of the security guards.

I was about to give him a taste of pony, but I saw he was married, even had a kid. I shoved him instead, sending him home to both of them. The universe caught up, the other guard getting out a muffled scream through his hazmat suit. In his eyes, I had snapped, then suddenly been right next to him, and his friend was just gone.

I reached for him, but he was faster. Pain exploded through my right arm as he smashed me with his club. Tears welled up. That hadn't been a light hit. Did he break something? He wasn't pausing. I had panicked him, and he smashed my startled chest. I felt something break, on the inside. Breathing was suddenly hard.

I had messed up. I snapped, or tried. Pain and staggering ruined the motion as he came on me, cracking my left shoulder smartly. An angry bruise began to form almost instantly. "Stop!" I shouted out, blood splattering the front of his visor. My blood? Shit, I was bleeding on the inside. That was bad. It was all bad.

He raised a big booted foot and just... kicked me. It was damnably effective, sending me sliding along the door. One benefit of being all nice and soft and pettable, I could slide along smooth floors pretty darn well. Though it hurt where he had just slammed his foot into me, I was thankful for the distance he had just made. I grabbed my broken arm with the other hand, ignoring the throbbing shoulder as I pulled it.

Fresh pain exploded through me, blinding my vision a moment, but I could feel it working. I had yanked the bone straight. It was set. Tears were streaming down my face. This wasn't fun. This wasn't a game. I could pull myself back together, but it hurt to do, and I had plenty of other injuries to see to. "Your friend's alright," I got out, scrambling to my feet in time to see him bringing his club down.

I slipped, the club whooshing inches from my face. I leaned into the momentum, sliding right under him and popping up behind him, scrambling away.

Suddenly I was crashed into. The second guard, the one that had been holding a stun gun, tackled me. We both tumbled to the ground in a heap. He was trying to hold me tightly, which made my insides scream in agony. There were broken things in there, damn it all! "Stop it!"

"Lay down," ordered the guard hugging me. "Stop resisting and I'll let go."

That... was an option I was willing to try. I went slack in his grip, flopping bonelessly against the floor. I could hear the other guard, the one with the club, stomping closer.

The one holding me slowly released me, likely feeling for me trying to make a move. "Where's Howard?"

"Howard?" Oh, right, the one I shoved. "He's home. Surprised, probably, but should be alright." An urge to cough came over me, blood speckling the ground near my snout. "I'm... going to take a deep breath."

A club prodded me, right on my angry bruise. "You ain't doin' nothin'," ordered the club-wielding guard.

"Noclip!" Suddenly I fell through the floor. I couldn't see them. I couldn't see myself. I was _in_ the floor. I also couldn't breathe, but holding my breathe was way better than fearing the next swing of that club. I grabbed my sore shoulder, wincing and sniffling as I wrenched it back into place. My insides were still knocked loose. How to fix that...

I flapped my stupidly small wings and wriggled my tail, swimming through the cement of the floor, away from the guards. Where was Cindy?

"Subject contact lost," barked the guard who had been holding a stun gun into a walkie talkie. "Went right through the floor."

"You're the one that gave her a chance," barked the club-wielder. "We should have kept hitting her."

"We're not here to kill people, shit." The gun-wielder shoved the other as he turned away. "She said Howard was sent home. Can you confirm?"

"He called," came the reply over the walkie talkie. "That's exactly where he was, and heading back to the lab."

I tried to shake the vision and sounds of the guards. The other one was safe, good. I didn't want to hurt him. The club guy, though... I could still feel the smashes he'd delivered. He...

I came up for air, gasping loudly as I emerged in what looked to be a kitchen. I pulled myself free of the floor and shook myself out, standing normally, the cheat apparently disabling itself the moment I was free. But... Discord floated, didn't he? I had dreamed of floating.

Maybe noclipping was just a thing I could do? "Noclip," I whispered to myself and I drifted upwards. I laughed, or tried. My insides screamed in agony and I ended up coughing up unfun red stuff instead. "Okay, okay..." How to fix myself. My arms were simple enough to just force back into position. Oh, right!

I took a deep breath. Agony rippled through me as I forced bones where they shouldn't be and exasperated cuts on my insides, but it was working. I could feel things shifting back into their proper positions. I just had to... hold it. With a great whoosh, I let the air out. The pain began to ebb. I was fixed...

"They're making this too dangerous." I opened a freezer and casually pulled out a padded helmet, popping it on my head. It had holes for my horns and fit properly. A vest came out next, slipping into its chilly but protective grasp. "Alright, maybe less broken bones now." What did they wear to protect arms? I didn't know. And not knowing would hurt me. I couldn't make things happen that I couldn't imagine.

I had to laugh. "The only limit is your imagination? That's scary..." I had a lot to figure through, but I needed to find Cindy.

Footsteps were coming closer, quickly. Nice heavy bootfalls. They knew where I was. There were cameras, of course. I could see someone watching me. Someone I didn't like.

Wait. I turned towards the closest camera with a wicked smile. "Didn't Miller tell you?" I suppose he hadn't, or maybe the other guy hadn't listened. Both were possibly. "Either way."

A different doctor was watching the situation unfolding. "Miller, I will be charging your floor for the damages she causes."

"That would be rude." Suddenly a snout burst through his monitor, the rest of her long form coming out after it, armored and smiling. "You're the one that made this whole mess. Also, turn on a light, it's too damn dark in here." That was me, of course. I snapped sharply, the lights of the room turning up to full brightness.

This doctor was... round. He was round like I used to be. He even had breasts like I used to. I would have called him cute, if he hadn't also been the cause of my frustration for the last day or so. His glasses fell off his face as he awkwardly stood up, his chair falling behind him. He was Caucasian, unlike little Filipino-me, but it somehow still reminded me of me, the old me.

It was like a twisted mirror. What if I had been a guy, and also white, and also a scientist, and also a jerk. That was a lot of alsos. Maybe he wasn't all that much like me. "Just tell me where Cindy is and I'll stop bothering you and your guards." I felt my ears swiveling around. "Speaking of that, are there cameras in here too?"

He needn't have answered. Thinking about it let me feel it. Someone else was watching me. I ignored them. "I won't hurt you, just tell me where Cindy is."

"You can't just--"

"Don't tell me I can't do what I just did." I rolled my mismatched eyes, crossing my arms under my chest. "Now point me in a direction so we can both have a better day."

"Lauren?" Miller's voice emerged from the monitor. He was still connected, and could see my butt. Lech. "Please return to this floor."

I looked over my shoulder. There he was, on the screen in a little web-cam window. "Hey, Millie." I wriggled a few fingers at him. "I'll be right back as soon as I have Cindy."

"I told you this was ill-advised."

"Be quiet," snapped the other doctor, glaring at the screen, then at me. "As for you, get out of my office!"

"You are very much not in a position to order me." I leaned forward, floating in the air. "I have a doctor." I hiked a thumb at the image of Miller. "He's a jerk too, but less of one than you. I'll go back to him as soon as I have Cindy. Do I need to use smaller words for you?" This was a simple concept! What wasn't he getting?

A thought suddenly hit me. "What is your name?"

"You don't need to know that," he snarled. "Security's already on the--"

I grabbed his fat cheeks between my hands, my eyes swirling as I gazed into his. I was looking not at him, but past him. "I see a mare, nice and round, just like you. You're a shitty human. Maybe you could be a nice pony."

He began to tremble. For all his bravado, I think he was starting to understand just how much of a threat I was to his state of being. "N-no, don't!"

"The next word out of your mouth is how to get to Cindy, or a loud distressed neigh. Your choice. One word. Make it count." I leaned in, touching my fuzzy snout to his little pudgy nose. "Make it good."

"Laura," spoke Miller, still on the screen. "You understand this makes you quite the security risk."

I flashed my teeth for a hot moment. "Too late for that. I have simple wants. Cindy." I turned my attention fully back on the quivering fat scientist in my hands, waiting for his potentially last words as a human.

A shaking finger raised, pointing the way. "At the end of the hallway. First left, second right, third left."

"Easy as one two three," I sang out, releasing him in a shove that sent him sprawling. "No hooves for you today. Pity, you would have been adorable." I left him there to get up on his own speed, darting to the door and shoving my head through it.

There was a guard approaching, a stun gun already in hand. I wrenched my head back with a frown. "Time to cheat." I ducked out of the room, sideways, right into the next room. I burst into the hallway behind the guard, grinning as I swam through the air. He charged right past me, banging on the doctor's door, unaware of how close he had come to me.

First left, second right. I was darting and bobbing along from cover to cover, but I knew they could see me. They were watching me advance through the lab. "Cindy!" Poor Cindy was likely feeling like hell. I had shaken off the sickness myself, but she didn't have that. She was probably in bed, feeling awful. "I'm comin'!"

I grabbed her door, third on the right, and pulled down the handle. Locked. I reached into the layers of my fur. "Where did I leave..." There it was. I pulled free a keycard. It wasn't my keycard, though it looked much the same. I slid it in. Click. "Cindy!" I wrenched the door open and flew into the room, the door closing behind me.

"Lore?"

I flowed around the corner, tail twitching. There she/he was, sitting up on their bed, eyes only partially open like they were just waking up. "Lore?!" They reached and flopped. "How'd you get here?"

I was on them in a flash, my hands cradling the one of theirs closest to me. "That is complicated, but I am here, and I'm going to take you down to my floor. Does that sound good?" Nasty scientists got threats, my friend would not. I wouldn't do anything without her go-ahead.

"You'll keep me safe?" They sounded so small, so scared.

I grabbed them up, hugging them close. "Oh Celestia yes!" I turned in the air, drifting back towards the door. "You heard that. She wants to go with me. I'm taking her back now. Let me go and this is over. Turn off that stupid alarm!" It was still going, flashing red outside the door as we floated back outside. "It's not helping anyone."

"About that."

I perked an ear at Cindy. "Huh? What, you like the alarm?" I was floating towards the elevator, eager to get 'home'.

"Not that... You called me a 'her', but I'm a 'he' now, I think..."

I came to a halt in the air, blinking with confusion. "Seriously?"

"You saw it, you felt it," he noted. "Guy... That's not the end of the world, is it? I get to go standing up now."

My cheeks warmed at the thought. "You're still Cindy though, right?"

"I think so." He raised a hand into view, fur swept up over it, along his arm. It was bright white in color. "I'm failing at being a human woman though. Are you alright with it?"

I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that one way or the other. "Right now, let's get home." There was the elevator, and not a sign of a guard so far. Maybe they'd listened. I pressed the secret combination.

The door didn't open, nor did the light come on. I scowled at it.

"You don't have all the power," came a voice through the intercom of the call button. "You will need to be punished."

"Bite me," I replied with the utmost of eloquence. "Right on my furry butt."

"Return to your room and do not leave," ordered the voice. It wasn't the scientist I just scared, or Miller.

"I planned to do that anyway," I grunted, annoyed. "Talk to Miller. I only have the bandwidth to deal with one manipulative mad scientist at a time."

The elevator door suddenly opened without a chime. I was free to go, for the moment.

I took Cindy home, guy or girl.

I felt like my body was infinitely long. My front was pressed against the soft bed, and Cindy was behind me, grabbing my hips that felt like they were so far away. He was making love, rocking against me, our sounds of mutual delight filling the darkness of the room. I was a hetero girl, I said that!

We were... doing what a hetero girl and a hetero guy, who happened to used to be a girl, do.

"Hey."

I looked up at the new voice. Another draconequus, just like me, was looking down at me with a big silly grin. "Wow, you're having fun."

I went quite the shade, glancing back at Cindy still doing his best to please the both of us. That felt good! But it was hard to focus on that with a visitor. "Why isn't he reacting to you being here?"

"Dream, duh." She snapped her fingers and we were suddenly alone in a starry void. "Hi, I'm Penny."

"Lauren," I offered, righting myself with no lover to let rut me anymore. "And you're like Discord too."

"Who?" She squinted at me. "Look, you're me, well, a could be me. I could be you, but I'm not, and you're not. We're from different, what do you call it, layers?" She shrugged expansively. "Noodle life is complicated."

"Noodle life?" I looked her over. She was long, like I was. "We are... not noodles."

"Ugh, not literally," she laughed out. "We're longer and bendier than everyone else. Get it? Whatever." She waved it away. "I have a reality to deal with, but I wanted to see how you were doing."

"How did you even know I was there?" I put my hands on my sides. "I didn't know you even existed until you were here."

"That's because you're self-centered."

"What?!" I blurted, face going a bit red. "I am not!"

"Oh wow, you super are." She prodded me right on the nose. "You only see when it's about you. You only hear when it's about you. Nice defense, really. Keeps you from seeing the whole picture, but it also keeps you from seeing the whole picture. Get with the real noodle program, open wide, and let the whole thing in."

It hit me then. "Hey, you're a woman, like me."

"You're just noticing that." She pouted a little. "What did you think I was? Learn to look around you. The world's full of stuff that isn't you. There are people who need you, and people you need. Learn which is which and be a great person." She snapped her fingers and the universe slowed.

But I didn't. I saw her starting to dart off and flew in her way. "Stop!"

She came up short, looking confused a moment. "Huh? Oh yeah! We're both noodles. No noodling away from you," she laughed. "That's actually kind of crazy, having another noodle around. I like it." She thrust a hand at me. "Penny, to remind. Let's visit sometimes. Just because we're a world away doesn't mean much for supreme noodles like us."

"You sound so confident. Doesn't... all this scare you? We can do anything, which is a lot of possibly awful things." I threw a hand wide. "And we can still be hurt."

"Yes, and yes," agreed Penny. "But I'm a good person, and I bet you are too. You don't want to hurt people." She made a sudden duck face at me. "So if you make a mistake, fix it, and learn."

"Won't it hurt them? If I make a mistake that involves someone else..."

"That's when you use the secret weapon." Penny drifted in closer and her arms slipped around me, drawing me in for a warm fuzzy embrace. "A hug can make so many hurts get smaller."

That was, for lack of better words, an A+ hug. I returned it and drifted there, just enjoying the touch, the innocence. Neither of us were doing anything but hugging.

I woke up.

I heard Cindy coughing into his pillow, still asleep at a glance. I grabbed for my laptop and got to typing my daily report. Just because I had been on a little adventure didn't mean I wasn't expected to do my reports! Besides, doing them made me feel better...

I mentioned Penny from my dream. "Met another me. She called me a Supreme Noodle. Curious, isn't it? She was a lot of things I wasn't, so confident in herself. I hope I can grow into that, to lose the fear of this new... me." I smacked send.

The computer began playing a new note. Someone was voice-calling me on Discord? I quickly alt-tabbed over and saw it was Miller. I hit the answer button. "Hey Millie." I wriggled fingers at the camera. "Cindy's still sleeping, so let's keep it quiet."

"Good morning, Lauren," he replied far more officiously. "Good to see you in positive spirits. I'll review your morning writeup shortly. Thank you for being timely about those." I had been late the day before, but I had gotten it in! "I wanted to try something new that I think you will like."

My brows went up together. "You have my curiosity."

"Glad to hear it. Do you remember the younger su--patients? Apple and Sweetie Bloom? Scootaloo?"

"Oh yes!" I clapped my hands together. "They seemed so cute in the text."

"They wish to visit you. How do you feel about that?"

Little pony fillies, visiting?! "I admit... I'm surprised. I would have figured, after my little stunt, there would be no rush to let me talk to any new people, especially in person."

Miller's webcam sudden came to life, showing him smiling at me. "Lauren, that was unfortunate, but I don't think it's a terminal mistake. I meant what I said, you've been nothing but a cooperative subject. How do you feel about that visit?"

"Patient," I reminded with a little huff. "But, yes. Send them. That sounds... really sweet. I'll be good."

"I have very little fear that you won't be. Two of them are adults, or were, physically, one of them was a child to begin with. They'll be down later today to come say hello. I hope you have a pleasant visit."

And the call was over. It occurred to me that he had been monitoring me. He knew when to call. It was kinda obvious, looking back on it.

"How did I know?" My thoughts went back to the other doctor who hadn't shared his name. I was about to make him a mare. I had... seen past him, to a chubby mare. I was about to make that reality. "Where had she come from...?" I looked to the still slumbering form of Cindy. "What are you becoming?"

I was still unsure what effect there would be, chasing away his sickness while he was changing. Would he keep changing? Would he just... freeze right there? Who knew! I reached and cupped his cheeks, gazing into his closed eyes. "What lurks past," I whispered to myself, trying to see through him, past him, to get a glimpse.

I imagined a stallion, white, with a confident smile. He had a big horn and blue/cyan mane and tail. He was also partially human, with hands! He had a picture on his butt, on either side, but I couldn't get a good look at it. The more I tried, the harder it became. I gave up. He was tall and strong and I knew, somehow, he'd give the best hugs. This is what Cindy was becoming.

"Mornin'." He woke up and was staring right into my eyes as I stared into his. "What, do I look that bad?"

"No!" I blurted, backing up so hard I fell off the bed. I never hit the floor, just kinda drifting away until I got my feet to the ground. "Sorry. How do you feel?"

"Like mildly warmed hell." He pushed upright, then paused. "Huh... wow... that is not cool..."

"What is it?" I darted in, flying to his side. "I'm here."

"You're here, but these are not." He raised his hands to his chest. They hadn't moved, like Starlight's, but why should they? He was a boy pony. Boy ponies had... nothing, and neither did Cindy anymore.

"Oh... no, sorry." I wrapped an arm around him, rocking softly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, I think... It's... just really... strange. More proof I'm a guy now." He swung his feet over the side and began to stand up. "I should wash up."

"I can help," I offered, floating after him.

"I need to use the bathroom," he more flatly stated, though he was smirking. "Are you that dirty, girl? Let a fella have a moment, then we can--" He had to pause, sneezing violently. "Ugh, nevermind, still out of it..." He hurried to the bathroom to take care of things.

The temptation to yank the sick out of him redoubled. "Miller? I know you're watching." My tail twitched softly behind me. "I got rid of the sick in me. I seem to be alright. I could do the same for Cindy, but I don't know if it'll turn out the same or not. Should I? Email me or something."

I got no emails. I got a sick Cindy instead as a booby prize. I tucked him back into bed to rest and recover from the illness burning at him. I even got a little peck, but I left him there for the moment. He was safe, and just needed peace and quiet.

I emerged from my room.

"The lady of the hour." There was Flash, trotting towards me. "Wow, the Discord went nuts talking about you. You know that?"

"It did?" I said and thought at the same time. "How many of them even knew what I was doing?"

"Rumors spread, especially on Discord." Flash nodded softly. "Starlight ran onto there, hoping everycreature wouldn't get mad at you. She was really--"

"That's enough of that," cut in Starlight, approaching from down the hallway. "Hello, Lauren."

"Starlight." I went to give her a morning petting, but she danced away from my reaching hand.

"You scared me, Lauren," she said flatly, not meeting my eyes. "I thought you'd get hurt, or worse... You broke so many rules... Was it that important?"

"I did get hurt," I sighed out, remembering the injuries I had suffered, even if I had fixed them since then. "But, yes. I got my friend and I know he's safe now. He's miserably sick, but we've all been there."

Flash grinned lopsidedly at that. "Oh yeah, the ponid flu's just the worst. Don't miss it, not one bit."

Starlight pointed up at my face. "Speaking of that, why aren't you knocked over on your butt? You should be being nursed to health, not storming another floor and setting off basically every alarm they have to set off."

"I used my, uh, noodle powers." I shrugged softly as I said it.

"Noodle powers?" they both echoed.

"I'm a noodle, I'm told. It's a silly name, but it works." I smiled a little. "Like it?"

Flash raised a hoof. "It's silly. Love it."

A soft chime sounded and all three of us looked over. My heart melted.

Three little ponies charged off the elevator, looking around with eyes way too big to be legal. One of them, a little pegasus, pointed at me. "There she is!"

"Aw, yep, ya done found her." A normal pony with a big bow approached with a smile, the white unicorn filly just beside her. All three moved for us.

Starlight blinked softly. "What the... Why are they here? Shouldn't you be... on super lock down?"

The unicorn thrust up a hoof, squeaking as she practically shouted, "We're here to talk to her and help her calm down!"

The normal pony gestured at herself. "Ah'm Apple Bloom, we met on Discord, remember? This here's Sweetie Bloom." Sweetie dipped her head. "And that there's our best friend, Scootaloo. Say hello, Scoots."

"Heya!" Scootaloo waved eagerly at me.

That didn't sit quite right. "You mean your friend Scootaloo and Sweetie, right?"

Sweetie burst into giggles. "We may be fillies on the inside."

Apple Bloom gestured at Sweetie and herself. "But we were both adults before. We still have some adult wants."

Sweetie nodded. "Nothin' dirty, we promise. We just wanted to have partners."

"Lifetime partners," continued Apple Bloom. "So we got married."

I blinked owlishly at the two children that were lesbian married. "Wow..."

Scootaloo waved it away. "Gross, right?" She trotted right up to me. "Wanna play something fun? You look like you like a good action game."

Starlight shook her head slowly. "Huh, well... good. Guess they're not too mad at you then."

"Are you?" I smiled at Starlight hopefully.

"Right this moment, yes..." She looked away. "Give me a day or two to calm down, alright? Glad you're alright." She trotted away without another word.

Flash raised a hoof. "I'm up for an action game."

I had to laugh. "Count me in. Something multiplayer so we can all play at once."

We started as a big group to the game room. Trick! There was only one actual _computer_ in there, and only one of any console either. Multiplayer with all four of us seemed out of grasp.

Scootaloo looked really let down. "Aw man. They have four player setups on our floor."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Well, they have us on that floor, so they'd be nuts not to have that ready. Oh well, nothin' fer it."

But there was something for it. "One moment. I bet it's just buried." I stuffed an arm down into the darkness, through the tangle of cords. "I bet..." I felt something brush against my fingers and grabbed it, starting to work it free of the cords on the way back out. "Here's something."

Sweetie Bloom inclined her head. "What? The likelihood of that is very--"

Out came another console, with several joysticks dangling from it. We were suddenly ready. Flash cheered and grabbed the console in his wings, rushing to plug it in and get it set up. "I'm a pro at this, just to warn you. I won't take it easy on you just because you're a filly."

"I won't take it easy just because you're an old pony," countered Scootaloo, sticking out her tongue at Flash. "Prepare to go down."

"We're on a team." Sweetie leaned over against Apple Bloom, the Blooms united, even in a death match.

And the shootout began. I won some, I lost some. I had no particular complaints. FPS wasn't my specialty, but I could have fun with it. A small hoof poked me in the side. There was Apple Bloom. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," I replied, smirking a bit. "What's up?"

"That wasn't in there." She pointed at the box the new console had emerged from. "You're not like unicorns, are ya?"

"No... not a unicorn." Not much point arguing that. "Twice the horns and half the sense."

Apple Bloom waved that off. "Don't be like that. Even with all the mess ya were in, ya didn't hurt not a single person." She smiled bright at me. "Yer nice, if also a bit scary."

A hoof came down on her head, Sweetie Bloom rolling her eyes. "Don't call someone frightening when you're trying to cheer them up. I swear." She smiled at me so sweetly. "Ignore that part. You're a nice person."

Scootaloo waved a hoof quickly between rapid movement. "You're alright I guess." A sudden shot sent Flash flopping over to his side. Scoot's smile deepened. "You're better than Flash at least."

"She's so young. I should be smashing her," whined Flash, hooves pedaling in the air. "How is she so good?" He looked over to me. "Noodle, save me."

All three of the fillies joined in looking at me. "Noodle?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Just a name I heard," I answered lamely. "I'm kinda noodly." I began to undulate and wiggle in place, showing off my maximum noodliness. "Hate it?"

Sweetie Bloom threw a hoof. "Don't be absurd. You may not be a pony but you're a lovely creature all the same."

"Yeah," joined Scootaloo. "Besides, that was pretty cool." She was giving a big grin. "They showed me some tapes, said I should know what I was getting inta. Pfft, just made me want to meet you more."

Apple Bloom quickly applied a hoof to her face. "And you weren't supposed to mention that part."

I quickly shook my head. "I'm more surprised they'd share it than that they recorded it... Wait, how far and wide are they showing people yesterday? That wasn't me at my best..."

Flash looked between the others, rolling up to his haunches. "I have no idea what you're all talking about."

Sweetie pointed at Flash. "Question, answered. I do believe they showed us specifically."

Apple Bloom shrugged her shoulders. "Well, guess they thought we should know what we were walking into, but it was purdy darn clear what was goin' on. Ya just wanted to help your friend."

"Yeah!" shouted Scootaloo, bouncing in place. The game had been entirely abandoned at this point, I should note. "So, you can do anything?" She approached, not clipping or clopping on the soft floor of the game room.

"I imagine not anything," corrected Sweetie. "Or why would she even be here anymore?"

Apple pressed a hoof to Sweetie's nose. "Because she's a good creature and is followin' the rules. Ain't nothin' wrong with that."

They did bring up a good point. The lab was, if I got a decent grip on things, a 'suggestion' at best, for limiting where I went. "You little girls aren't scared at all?"

Flash tilted his head. "What's this about leaving now?"

Right, poor Flash, out of the loop. I mussed the top of his head, petting his mane. "I got lucky, or unlucky. What I am comes with a lot of strange perks besides flying." Speaking of that, I drifted into the air to show that off. Which meant noclip was still going? I could dart into a wall to check, but that felt rude.

Flash crossed his arms, hooves dangling. "You can fly without flapping? Unfair."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes suddenly. "Your wings actually work. Suck up your old man tears."

Flash's color drained before rushing back, going red. "You take that back! I'm a perfectly normal stallion adult, not an old pony."

"Prove it." Scootaloo lifted a joystick with a grin. "I'll take it back when you get a point. Nothing like a bullet between the ears to get a pony to change their mind."

The game was back on, Flash struggling to prove his youth.

Apple Bloom looked away from the two of them. "Don't mind her none. She's just makin' fun. So, uh." She reached out and ran a hoof over my belly. "Yer a might curious of a thing."

"Undoubtedly," quickly agreed Sweetie. "But we're not doctors."

"Or scientists." Apple nodded firmly. "So, we'll actually ask, polite like."

"We have so many questions." Sweetie bounced in place a little. "You alright with that?"

I was being watched. Of course I was. I almost didn't bother to mention it. It should have been pretty obvious. How many, that was the part I wasn't sure. They didn't want me doing anything odd to my guests. I reached and gently petted Sweetie and Apple Bloom since they seemed to be pressing in on my space. My hunch proved correct as neither complained about being touched. The contact seemed to be invitation for them to come closer and soon I had two fillies sniffing and nosing around me.

"Here it is," announced Apple. "Ya weren't lying."

There was a little filly with her nose where fillies had no business. I nudged her back with a foot. "Watch it."

"Sorry, didn't mean nothin'." She sat down, a foot back. "I saw the video and I bet, to myself, that if I was lookin' in person, I could find it. You weren't lying."

Sweetie raised an ear at her... wife? Little kids getting married, so weird. But they were both adults too, just in kid bodies. That made it... less... or more strange? I wasn't sure. "You should show some more faith. If she says she has lady parts, then she does. Why would somepony lie about that?" She waved it off and looked up at my face. "You can float, and go through walls and make people go places." She tapped her hooves with each thing named.

Apple Bloom hopped. "Oh yeah, what else?"

Had they not been shown the part where I threatened a doctor? Probably for the best, that... "I cured myself." I took a nice big breath through my nose, phlegm free.

The two of them frowned at me. Sweetie pointed at me. "This is the part where you're adjusting, up here." She pointed to her head. "You shouldn't interfere with it, even if it isn't much fun."

"Yeah, what if ya never get a grip on what ya are?" She inclined her head. "Seems kinda important."

"It's a bit late..." Not like what I did seemed to come with an undo function. "Besides, I'm getting a grip, a little at a time."

"Did you get a new name?" asked Apple, then pointing to herself. "I wasn't always Apple Bloom."

"I wasn't always Sweetie Bloom. Hay, I was Sweetie Belle before me and Apple decided to marry."

"Gross," noted Scootaloo. But it was a vital moment of distraction. "What? Nooo!"

Flash pumped a hoof with a victorious grin. "Ha, now you have to take it back."

"That wasn't fair." She sulked, pushing the controller away. "Fine. You're not a complete waste." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Still need practice though."

This did bring things to mind, wobbling a finger between Apple and Sweetie. "You two, you mentioned you don't have much going on back there." I couldn't see a thing. "So do you two... what, snuggle romantically?"

"Yup," they echoed in unity, throwing an arm around each other, faces pressed against one another from the side as they smiled at me.

I had to smile. They were so darn cute, and together, it was amplified. I wanted to protect them from the world, not that they seemed to need my help for anything. "Thanks, for visiting. You're all adorable."

Scootaloo stuck out her tongue, less impressed by that praise.

The other two giggled, accepting it as it was. Sweetie suddenly brought her forehooves together. "I had a favor I wanted to request. Feel free to say no. You don't owe us anything."

Apple perked. "Oh yeah, since you have special magic." Both came in closer to me. Apple produced a little phone she had tucked in a little bag that hung from her. She nosed at it, booping it with her cute little nose until she found what she was after and she turned it towards me.

There was a listing for a scooter, all shiny. "Can you get this?" she whispered.

Sweetie pointed at Scootaloo, joining the whisper, "It'd make her quite happy. We can't afford it."

They wanted me to... conjure a scooter? That wasn't on my list of abilities.

But my abilities didn't really have a list. Discord had said I made my own rules. Penny had implied a lot of the same. Shoot, she casually jumped between realities, like Discord, just to visit me. And there I was balking at a scooter. I reached for the phone and they let me bring it closer for a good staring at. "One scooter for a little filly that'd love it to pieces." That sounded like a chore worth doing.

Requested by her two friends even! It was so pure... I had to at least try... Alright, so... I could... yank one over, but then I'd be stealing it. Wait! "Be right back!" I darted off, stealing Apple's phone. In another room there was a lonely computer and, more importantly, a printer/copier.

I took a slow breath and reached out my hand. "I'm not stealing. I'll put it right back," I said mostly to myself. I could feel the cold metal. I yanked back and out came a fully formed scooter. I slapped it down on the copier without delay. "Copy copy copy!"

The machine jumped and bounced in place, trying to obey me. Bit by bit, a scooter began to emerge from its tray, disgorging it despite the impossible nature of the sizes involved. There. Two scooters! I shoved the original back where I had found it. Ta da, no theft!

With my prize, I hurried back into the game room to surprise a little filly.

"After calling around, we were able to find where the scooter was procured from."

"So it wasn't fabricated?"

"No. It was a display model in a closed bike store."

I could hear voices, speaking about me. Was I being self-centered?

"Their security footage shows it being taken and placed back a minute later. The owner was convinced it was a glitch in the recording."

"No reason to argue that assumption."

The voices faded, my mind wandering.

"We aren't your harem." There was Starlight, in my house, sitting on the edge of my bed in an outfit clearly designed to be sexy, if you were into ponies with big ole crotch boobs like she had. "I'm not sure I approve of this at all."

Cindy peeked in from the kitchen. "A harem only has females, but here I am, not complaining. Lunch will be ready soon." Cindy was covered in soft fur, like the rest of us. He had a smile on his snout and his blue tail was swaying behind him.

"Picking one of us is probably a good idea," threw in an orange-haired biped pony. Oh right! Jake. It was Jake in her completed form, approaching me. "I'm flattered you care for me this much."

Starlight prodded me from the side. "But at least two of us aren't big on the poly thing."

"Stop being wet blankets," called Cindy as noises of food creation drifted in, flatware striking metal. "She can literally give you anything you want and all she wants is cuddle time. There are so many worse arrangements. I thought you all liked her anyway."

"I do!" hotly defended Starlight. "All the more reason I'd prefer having her to myself."

Jake reached out and tapped Starlight right on the nose. "Sounds selfish to me."

"This dream is too on the nose," I suddenly objected, drifting upwards. "I will do the responsible adult thing." They were all looking at me, Cindy from just around the corner. "I'll talk to you all, when I wake up."

So I woke up.

The lights in the room blinked on for just a hot second. I made a downward gesture just as they came on, flicking them back off again. Trick there being that I hadn't touched anything and they weren't motion controlled in any way other than turning on.

I had noodled the problem without realizing it. "Oops," I whispered to myself, peeking at Cindy. He was sleeping soundly, thank goodness. "You wouldn't say no... I don't think..."

Let's be real. I'd already held him by his personal parts, and he liked it. He wanted more of me... I wondered if that had been true even before things had shuffled...

"Hey." He flopped over onto his back. "G'morning."

"Good morning to you too." I smiled at him, my own tail swaying through the air as I floated there above him. "Are you open to talking Adult Stuff."

"Girl, I'm always up to talking 'Adult Stuff' with you." He reached a hand upwards towards me. "Want to come down?"

"If you want?" I lowered a few inches and he grabbed me, pulling me the rest of the way down. I could have resisted, but I didn't. "Cindy, you're very sick right now."

"You don't say," he laughed out. "But it's... not all bad."

"Cindy..."

"Lauren?" He leaned in and touched the end of his snout to my cheek. Snout? Oh! He had one of those, like my dream, like he hadn't had the day before. Shoot...

"This may be an awkward time to ask this... But did you... Were you attracted to me, before?"

Cindy propped himself up on an elbow. "It was a different kind of thing. Besides, you were such a shut-in... I tried to not even really think of it much. The only times I heard you made a move was with a guy, so I figured you were straight as white bread to start."

"But were you," I countered, reaching to rest a hand on his belly. "You seem to be pretty straight right now, for a guy, but as a girl...?"

"I am very straight, right now." He smiled at that. "And you're still my Lore." He rolled over right onto me. "So, tell me, did you get stupid horny too?"

"I was told I literally went into heat, like a, well, horse." I shrugged, adjusting beneath him. I liked his warmth. "Even if I'm more dragon, and goat, and lion, but hey, two of those have heats."

"Are you in heat right now?" He sat up on me, a new tail twitching behind him, still small, but that would change, I knew it. "That would be kinda hot."

"That was a bad pun and you know it."

He looked lost a moment before it hit him. "Christ, ha! Lore, you know what I meant."

"I mean it though... Tell me more about before-this Cindy... Were you eyeing me? Were you straight, gay, a little both?"

"We'll go with 'open to possibilities'." He shrugged as he reached for me, running a hand down my furry front slowly working ever downwards. "You're missing important things."

His fingers were starting to approach where it was hidden, and I won't lie. I was getting turned on. Which made hiding it harder and harder. When he actually brushed that fleshy portal, it yawned open just for him and a flash of delight tingled through me. I had exposed myself, ready to be intimate with this man I'd struggled to reach. "Oh, there they are," he half-giggled.

He was still sick and perhaps a bit loopy. Was I taking advantage of him? "Cindy, you're still not all there."

"I'm not sure I ever will be." He suddenly flopped against me, nibbling through my fur but bonelessly melted against me in a graceless display. Not the hottest thing, and yet, we were close. "I feel like I'm changing, all over... Inside and out in some ways. What about you? Did you look my way, little girl? Were you as straight as I thought?"

"She is a walking security nightmare." These words were not spoken, they were typed. "We can't even discuss her out-loud without fear of her monitoring."

Did they not know I could see them typing?

"She was going to make me into a pony!" Well, I could guess who typed that.

"You would have been respectfully cared for."

"And likely cute, if her description was accurate."

"She is as dangerous as we make her," added another person. "When handled carefully, she is eager to cooperate. You saw my report."

"She casually ignored several laws, including laws of science, to please another subject."

"Girl? Girl? Lauren?" He kissed me on the cheek and I started. "There you are. You went all five mile stare on me. You alright?"

I was still under Cindy. He was more aware, perhaps scared to that state by my spacing out. "Cindy, I can see and hear things I shouldn't."

"Mmm?"

"The scientists... They're talking about me, and I saw it." I leaned up to touch noses. "And they probably know now, since I said that out-loud. Cindy, I'm a little scared..."

"Shhh." He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, rolling over so we were side by side instead of on top. "I'm here."

While true, he was there. I was the only one that could actually even dream of countering the scientists in any meaningful way. My eager little stallion there was powerless. And I didn't get to finish my stupid little relationship question!

Feeling suddenly annoyed, partially at myself, I just blurted it out, "I am attracted to several people right now and I don't want to cheat on anyone but I also haven't, you know, married or even gone steady with anyone. Does that bother you?"

Oh, wow, he looked so confused, or maybe just surprised. "That was... out of nowhere." He sank against the bed. "You're... kind of a god."

"That is super not an answer." I put a hand on his side. "Whatever I am, I don't want servants or worshipers, god, that sounds creepy."

"A little." He kissed the end of my snout. "But, right now... I just want you."

"To yourself? Most boys want their girls like that," I reasoned. I set a hand on his hip, rubbing gently. "I'm trying to be open and honest."

"You're doing both of those, girl." He leaned in and sniffed me. Ugh, was I in heat? It hadn't been that long. Though, thinking of it, I probably could turn that on and off... "I appreciate it, but I'm still... fucking sick for lack of better words. Right now, I just want you, and I can't think about the other stuff. Who are the other people? Other guys? I don't think I'm ready for male gay love right now."

Well, actually... I started to color, deepening shades of red showing through my fuzzy cheeks.

"Not guys? Is my little Lore learning to widen her horizons?"

Ugh. "Yes! The other two are girls." I crossed my arms under my slender chest. "Happy?"

"I want to meet them."

"You want to fuck them," I countered.

"If they're nice enough to attract you, probably." His turn to color a little, but just a little. He was shameless! Ugh, that was pretty Cindy. Cindy was Cindy, guy or girl, and shame was never high on their list of feelings.

"Alright, so... you, not at all worried about my considering feelings about other ladies then." I sat up and floated right off the bed. "So long as you get a chance to say hello and make friends too."

"That's the size of it." He looked suddenly less-sure. "You won't leave, will you?"

"Huh?"

"You could leave. You could get anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted. Why settle for me?"

Oh sheesh! I zipped back in close and smooched him on the forehead. "You stop that right now! Cindy, that's not you. I want Cindy."

"Sorry..." He raised an arm to wipe his face, ugh. I casually pointed to the bathroom and I heard a thump.

"Lore!"

Oh, I had thrown him in there. Oops! I rushed in after him. "You alright? I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"I'm not hurt." He was standing in the shower, looking awkward and surprised, but not hurt. "Hint received, girl. Next time, just ask."

"Sorry." I zipped in and started grabbing his clothes, peeling him free of his hospital gown so he could bathe properly. He was still a bit erect, showing off that horse tool of his. I specifically didn't look there, fleeing from the room once he was ready for shower--

He grabbed my hips just as I was drifting way. "You ever take a shower with someone?"

Oh god. If I let him, we would do things. Things... that would probably feel really nice for both of us. But he was sick, and loopy, and his arm had snot on it. "Get better, then we can approach that again." I gently swatted his hand with a thick dragon's tail. "This isn't a no."

"Just a 'not right now,'" he finished with a little smile. "Be that way."

I left him to the sounds of running water. He would soon be clean. Report time! I grabbed my laptop and got to typing.

Eris. It surfaced in my thoughts. Discord had offered it as a name. It could be my name. But I was Lauren. I would remain Lauren. What was Eris anyway? One Google later... Oh. No. No no. I was not Eris! The world didn't need an Eris roaming around.

"She knows we're discussing her." Floating words, being typed somewhere private. Not that private to me, however.

"We can't even pretend to run a secure environment this way."

"She is more occupied with her pack structure than anything else. Allowing her to select her mate(s) and nest would likely result in a significant calming effect."

"Could you cross over a few more wildly different animal mannerisms in there? Most of them are ponies, to begin with, so she would be dealing with herd structures, which are significantly different than packs."

"Would that make her the alpha female of this herd?"

"We are being distracted." I'll say! "She is not an animal." Damn right! "She has full sapience." Yeah! "Which makes her much more dangerous and difficult to predict." Crap...

Ugh, watching the letters flow was getting annoying. I raised my hands and set them down on a keyboard that hadn't been there a moment before. "Hello."

I got the impression that several people were typing.

"Who is this? Is this a joke?"

"Lauren, if that really is you, please leave. This is a confidential conversation."

I shook my head, not that they could see that. "Can't do that." I slapped enter and resumed typing. "I didn't ask to see this, but I do."

"Lauren, since you're here, I'd like to do a few examinations. Can you report to the same room you had the X-rays taken in? At 1pm."

"Sure," I typed. "Miller?"

"Yes. Just like the name says." I couldn't see the names! Just what they typed. Shoot.

"Hello Millie." I wriggled fingers at his letters. "Why are the other doctors being so... creepy? I'm not here to hurt anyone."

"I know that, Laura. Could you please leave?"

I tried to do as Miller requested, turning my mind back to the physical world and ignoring the echoes of thoughts.

Something brushed against my hoof, then yanked. I was being pulled downwards. Looking there, my lower leg was glowing. "What the?"

"You awake?" There was Starlight, her horn glowing the same color. "You were just floating through the hallways, looking really distracted. I thought I'd catch you and bring you back to your room."

There she was, person number two I needed to talk to. "Starlight, I was hoping to find you." I smiled brightly, tail wagging with a puppy's energy. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure?" She glanced off and back. "Sorry, for exploding at you... I hear you and the foals had a really nice time." She hiked a brow. "That ended with a gift. How did you manage that? The local store doesn't have a scooter, and if you ordered one, it'd be a while before it got here."

"That's complicated..." I tapped my fingers together. "I'm a Supreme Noodle." I wiggled to show off my noodliness. "And that comes with it."

"Are you taking requests?" She hiked a brow, looking at me slyly.

"Are you... forgiving me because I can be helpful?" I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Maybe a little," she admitted just as shamelessly. "I can't stay angry at you anyway. I was scared for you. So, little thing." She sat down and brought up her forehooves close together. "Tiny, really... But it involves something I know you have a personal interest in." She grinned so brightly.

"What... would that be?"

She set her hooves on her pony udders, running them around and cupping her breasts. "These. I want a bra. I want a bra that supports them properly, holds them in place, and looks good. Can you do that? I make it look easy, but these are actually a huge pain. You can save me a lot of suffering."

I inclined my head. "Why haven't you ordered one?"

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Because she thinks I'm exaggerating every time I bring it up. She doesn't have them so large! She doesn't know my pain." She thrust a hoof at me. "You were a big lady to start. You know what it's like to be big! It isn't fun! It isn't sexy on the inside. It's a big pain in the flank. A pain you could help with."

On one hand, paw, talon, whatever, Starlight wasn't angry at me. On the other, she also wanted a favor. On the other other, it wasn't that unreasonable a favor. Being big without a good bra sounded super unfun... "I'll help."

Starlight squealed, er, more of a squeak from how widely she smiled. "Thank you! What do you need? Do we have to go back to the copier?"

"Well..." I reached and she didn't stop me from resting my lion's paw on her pony rack. "Option A would be to make them smaller. If you're smaller, the problem goes away. But, if you're like me at all, they're a part of you. You don't want them smaller."

"Tempting," she admitted without hesitation. "But yeah, they're me. I just want them to not hurt all the time! That's not too much for a mare to ask for, is it?"

"No no..." I felt in a slow circle, cupping each of them. "Do you have a measurement? Never mind." I saw some measuring tape literally fall from between my fingers and grabbed them with both hands, taking proper size of her grand spheres. "You are the proud owner of E breasts." Sheesh! And they hung differently than on a human. She needed a specific pony bra to handle them.

I couldn't steal them, as they did not exist to steal, so far as I knew? Oh! I held a paintbrush in my hand. "Hold still." Starlight looked confused, but didn't stop me as I began to slather her with paint from a bucket that hadn't been there before. I painted a bra right onto her, lifting them up as I did it. When the last swatch was covered, I snapped my free fingers.

The universe slowed and I focused on the paint. "Bra. Cloth. So soft. So comfortable. So clean and supportive! With wires that never dig in. So perfect!"

The universe resumed and Starlight fell backwards, hooves flailing as she squeaked. But her breasts were not flying. "Wha...?" She rolled up to her hooves and bounced up. "How in the...?" She began to take steps in a wide circle, testing things out. "It's like they're being hugged just right." A silly smile began to spread. "I feel like I can gallop without grimacing." She turned on me suddenly. "Tell me they're waterproof!"

"That... wasn't even a thing I considered," I admitted, rubbing behind my head. "They can do most of what you expect a bra to do. Handle them carefully and they'll return the favor." I reached to pat her on the head and she didn't resist it that time. "Enjoy it."

"I already am," she breathed out, taking a deep inhalation. "Wow... You have just transformed my life." She suddenly refocused. "Oh! You said you were looking for me and I got carried away hoping you could do a miracle, which you did! What did you want? Was it to apologize? Ha! Forget it." She waved a hoof dismissively. "Forgiven!"

"It wasn't that..." How to segue... "I've been thinking, about ponies I like."

"You have a crush on somepony?" she gushed with a big smile. "Who? Tell me! Is it the friend you rescued?" She leaned in, brow raising. "Is it Flash? C'mon!"

Did she not even see herself as a potential target. "You." I pointed right at her fuzzy snout. "You're smart and nice and you've been there, for me, when I needed it. You aren't afraid to stand up to me. Well, maybe a little afraid, but you did it anyway."

Starlight began to color swiftly. "Oh! Oh... wow... I mean, when you were in heat... I kinda figured that was the hormones talking..."

"If you're not into mares, that's fine," I quickly added, hands up. "Just let me know and I'll never bring it--"

She put a hoof on my leg. "I didn't say that. Don't be so quick to shove words in my mouth. Also, you're too complicated." She sat down on the smooth floor. "There's no way you're just proposing to me. There's a catch."

Well... "You aren't the only person I have any feelings about, though one of them is pretty immature."

"Immature?" Starlight's brows fell. "If you tell me you have a thing for any of those fillies, I swear."

"Not that! Celestia forbid... Jake. I barely know her, even less than you in a lot of ways, but I've been helping and..."

"Oh, that." She laughed, waving it all off. "That's common. That isn't love."

"Isn't... love?"

Starlight hiked a brow. "Hay no. You just said, you don't even know her. You're just feeling close to her. But you said 'one of them'... Tell me there's only one other one?" She pointed past me. "Is it that friend of yours?"

I put a hand to me face, my snout between two fingers. "Ugh... That's all three."

"Ok, good... good..." Starlight put a hoof to her cheek. "You understand, I have to assume this is still you-on-drugs talking. I mean, you on Ponid, still changing, up here." She pointed to her head. "I'm flattered, really, but I have to be sure this is a long term thing or if it'll fade with a little time."

"That's reasonable... but you're really not going to be upset about my just casually naming three people I'm interested in?" I swear to god, was I the only not poly-amorous person in the place?! "It's alright to call me out on being a pervert."

Starlight's eyes half-closed, eyeing me shrewdly. "Look, you don't get it, alright. You can, apparently, do whatever you want." She rolled a hoof in the air. "I bet you could throw me over something and show me how a stallion does it.

Oh god! "I would never!"

"But, you could," she repeated with a smirk. "You could do a lot of things, but you don't, because you want to be a good pony. I see that. Miller sees that, I think." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Unless I say it's on, it isn't. I feel 100% confident in that. I feel safe around you. I sometimes don't feel safe for you, but you won't ever hurt me. On purpose, at least."

"I'm not a monster," I weakly muttered, feeling so awkward at that point.

"But you could be. That you aren't is a good mark, for you." She turned away. "And why I trust you completely. You didn't even want to fib about your feelings and came to tell me all about them. We'll work it out, or go our separate ways, but you won't hurt me." She looked over her shoulder at me. "And I'm kinda curious, I have to admit. What's your friend like? We have to meet. Are they up to coming outside?"

When I was at that stage of Ponid, I was outside basically every day... "I'll encourage him to come out tomorrow, promise..." I rubbed behind my head. "I told him there were others, but not about you specifically."

"So, introduce us." Starlight rolled her eyes. "I promise to be nice so long as he is. He was a she at first, right? That coulda happened to you. Crazy to think about, right?"

"Insane..." And, according to Starlight, a thing I could do to myself if I wanted to. A big fat horse dong of my own to use on mares I liked. I shook the thought free. That was too strange! "You are taking this way too calmly."

"They picked me for this floor for a reason." She trotted towards me, her eyes on mine. "I help ponies who are having it rough, or going through strange changes. I can offer a hoof when others get scared."

"What's Flash's excuse?"

"He's easy going. He won't always connect, but he never upsets anyone too much either." She inclined her head. "This is the 'it's complicated' floor. Miller took one look at how you were going and had you assigned here. Makes sense, right?"

It's complicated... "Yeah... But then I'm just one lost little pony among so many." I felt my heart sink a little. "Like a teacher smiling patiently at a student that swears undying love."

"Well, yeah, there is a little of that." She raised a hoof behind her head. "But you're an adult, not a random kid. I will not just shut you down, but I also won't take another step until after you're settled and can make real decisions."

Her reactions to my heated state made so much more sense. No wonder they trusted her so much.

"I feel guilty just looking at her," echoed in my mind in Starlight's voice. "How can I know if any of my feelings are mine or just what I was asked to do? Damn you, Miller. Why did you have to poison this well?"

I had been studied. Doing my job was a thing I just did, even if 'my job' was being a worrying test subject/patient. There was a blood pull and x-rays, but little more than that. I had returned to my room for some Cindy cuddles and eventually bed was a thing.

"The way I see it," spoke another me, floating with her head resting against her lion's paw. "We could just reshape the world the way we want it."

"We could," added another me, her head against her dragon's claw. "But then we'd be in charge of it all. Who needs that kind of responsibility?"

"Who said we have to watch it afterwards?" asked yet another me, dancing in place like she didn't care.

"Our friends seem faster on the uptick than we are," noted the first of my clones who floated right up to me. "We can do anything, and at least two of them are turned on by that idea."

The second was on me. I could smell their breath, which was surprisingly pleasant. "Some people like the idea of knowing there's something stupidly powerful out there, that actually cares about them."

The third poked me in the center of the chest. "When we were a girl, didn't we wish to god a lot? It's not that different, except--"

"Here she is," noted the first.

"In the fur," added the second.

"And she already said she likes you?" completed the second.

"Of course they're interested," all three spoke at once.

"Do I get a turn?" I asked, glancing from one of my faces to the next.

The first laughed. "Silly girl, of course you do."

"I am you," noted the second. "So you're getting a turn right now."

"We're just different thoughts." The third shrugged. "Speaking of that, this place looked nice." Suddenly we were inside the homey cottage. There was a confused yellow pegasus peering at us.

I threw up a hand. "Discord called dibs on this spot." And we were just as quickly not there, instead back in my house, which was mine! I had the deed and everything. "That's better."

The first inclined her head. "Speaking of that, you're not making money, how are we making the payments on this place?"

The second clapped her hands. As she separated her hands, piles of gold and jewels rained down. "We could just fix that."

The third broke into laughter. "Why do that when you could just check your bank account and add a few zeroes?"

"That'd leave a really obvious paper trail?" I objected, imagining how terribly that could go. "So would just showing up with pounds of gold and diamonds."

"Boring," all three of... me? complained at once.

"I'll handle it," I assured. "But, for now, maybe it's time to wake up?"

And I did.

Cindy was hugging me from behind, sniffly and miserable, but apparently happy to have a Lore-doll to hold. I flowed free of the grip, as if I was water instead of solid just long enough to reform in the air, looking him over. He had a horn atop his head, long fuzzy ears. He was becoming that unicorn. Well, a unicorn-man. He was covered in fur except his belly where it was still spreading towards.

He was well on his way. All white fur, except the blue hints around the mane and tail. A pretty pony, I decided. Well, handsome? Lots of guys got skeevy about being called pretty. I had a feeling Cindy wouldn't mind it much.

Ideas! I had them. I grabbed for my laptop and got it running.

Good morning!

How are you doing, Doctor Miller? I had an idea! I need something, you need something, we can both win. Namely, I know there are supply issues around the lab. Let me address those. All I want is simple, cash. I have mortgage payments to do. I have enough cash to float a month or two, but then, poof, my house goes from mostly paid off to not-mine way too fast.

So, the way I see it, why don't I help out around here, and you can pay me, and everyone wins. You need meat? I can get you meat. You know I can do it, you've seen me do it.

PS: Anything interesting from the poking and prodding?

I attached the usual morning report. I didn't have any physical changes to report. I was pretty sure I was done, physically, minus whatever I did to... myself? I was about to say that was new for me, but the old dream resurfaced. I had decided to be a lady-Discord instead of a guy-Discord. I gazed in a floating mirror that hadn't been there before. "I do like this look better." Not that guy-Discord was ugly, but she-Discord was better. I blew myself a kiss.

And I heard a little chuckle. Spinning in mid air, I saw Cindy watching me with a too-amused face. "G'morning, Lore," he greeted, starting to slip up to his feet. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than you," I stated obviously. "But doing alright. You?"

"I need to go to the bathroom but that's a morning thing." He scooted on past me towards relief.

"Look in the mirror," I called after him, "And do your morning report."

"She contacted me this morning with a proposition."

"She who must not be named?"

"Don't even start that," added a third person. I still couldn't see names. "Using her name or not doesn't seem to matter, so just use it. What did Lauren suggest?"

"She offered to enter the employ of the lab to assist in supplies," expanded Miller. I was pretty sure it was Miller. Who else would it be?

"Supplies? How can we trust her?" asked the second.

The third quickly typed, "Unlike you, she doesn't seem to hold a grudge. She also made her desire simple. She wants a job, to get paid. Is that right, Miller?"

"That appears to be correct. She has been nothing but fastidious about her work. I suggest we accept her offer. It will give her something to do and calm her down. She needs a little stability and I think she likes being needed."

Ugh, I was being psychoanalyzed. That he wasn't that far off was the worst part. I liked being useful!

Scaredy Scientist typed, "What are the odds she's watching this conversation?"

"Probably somewhere around the league of 80%. Does that scare you? ;)" added the third.

Miller began to type, his words appearing all at once. I couldn't see his words before he hit enter. "She could see our typing the other day, and her response was to apologize, not get angry. She is as dangerous as we make her."

I was being kissed. I blinked rapidly, coming back from nowhere land to see Cindy had hopped up on the bed and grabbed me and was holding my fuzzy cheeks as he planted a big one right on my lips, waking me up. "There you are," he called happily. "I finished my report. Why are you so anal about that?" He slid down to a seated position, fingers leaving me to float as I was.

"Good morning to you too." I drifted down after him, tail swaying behind me. When had I gotten so used to that? It even felt kinda nice to have that thing swishing around back there. "It's our job, silly as it is. They're trying to learn how this works. All we have to do is report what we can."

"Sneaky idea." He hiked a thumb at my laptop, which wasn't locked. I didn't even have a password set on it. "But clever. Think they'll go for it."

"I hope, and it's not sneaky!" I sat down next to him. "Hey, want to go out today? I know you're not feeling good, but making a few friends actually does help."

"Sure."

It was... that easy? "Good then! Let's get some breakfast. Hopefully Starlight or Flash will be roaming around to run into." I took his hand in one of mine and soon we were both standing. "I'm here, if you feel too blah. You just tell me, alright?"

"With you as my nurse, I'm set." He wrapped an arm around me and set his hand right on my far hip, drawing me close. I felt jealous a moment. It would have been really nice to have had someone willing and able to be close to like that when I was feeling miserable.

But I could at least do that, for him. I was like a parent trying to make sure their kid didn't have to go through the same nonsense they did. "Onwards, to food!"

And out we went. There was a Starlight, literally a few steps away from the door. I didn't buy it. "Did they tell you to be here?"

Starlight laughed nervously. "Maaaaybe?" she half-sang, grinning just as nervously. "Look, didn't I just tell you yesterday? I'm here for a reason." She tilted to the right, her whole body. "And you have someone with you. Hi there." She pointed to herself. "I'm Starlight. Starlight Glimmer. Nice to meet you."

"Your friend has the biggest breasts I've seen outside your old ones."

I started to turn red so quickly. "You did not just start the conversation with that!"

Starlight burst into laughter. "Oh, wow, hi... You are either a very cheeky person, deep in the ponid flu, or maybe both." She turned in place and began trotting towards the cafeteria. "Want to get something to eat?"

We started after her. Cindy leaned in to whisper, "Is she wearing a bra? Looks good on her."

I decided to not mention I had created them. "Are you that fascinated with what she has down there?"

"A little," he admitted. "Is she one of the ones you were considering? Because, if so, sure, she has my vote so far."

Good to see that part was easy... Why didn't I feel reassured?

There was a face! It was Jake, behind the counter, back at work. She smiled at us as we came closer. "Hey! Lauren, how are you? And who's your friend?"

She was a pretty orange-haired pony-woman. I didn't have to work that hard to see where Cindy was looking. "Or is it her?" he said not as quietly as I would have liked.

"I'm fine." I gestured to Cindy. "This is a friend of mine, Cindy, who's going through what you just went through. Cindy, this is Jake--"

"Carrot Top," once-Jake interrupted. "That's my new name. It fits." She gestured up to her bright hair and swayed her equally vibrant tail. "Nice to meet you both. They let me start a garden and everything, so we can get some real carrots going."

I had to smile at that. "That sounds entirely wholesome. Can I see it, the garden?"

Starlight waved from a table. "I'm over here. Come on over once you've ordered."

"Speaking of that." Carrot Top leaned forward, her arms going on the counter and her breasts resting on it as if it had been placed for that specific purpose. "What can I get you two?"

Thinking on it, Starlight really wasn't wrong. I didn't know Carrot Top. She was pretty enough as ladies went, but I didn't know them. I had helped them, but that was about it. "You still making those carrot omelettes? It's been a while since I had one of those."

"Carrot omelette?" echoed Cindy. "That sounds bizarre, and now I want one too."

"Two Carrot Top specials!" She twirled away and strode into the kitchen to get to work. "Go sit down. I'll bring it out."

We joined Starlight. I sat across from Cindy, with Starlight to my left. "So, good morning, but also, Cindy, this is Starlight. Starlight, Cindy. You are also the two I've talked to the other about."

Starlight looked at Cindy with a new sort of examination. "You're a little rough..."

"Sorry about that." Cindy reached for a tissue to blow their nose. "I do not feel right. Worst flu ever."

"Ah, yes, we've all been there." She looked towards me. "Isn't that right?"

"Too damn right." I tapped the top of the table lightly. "I do hope you two get along. I'd prefer my friends were also friends of each other. Besides, the whole floor is like a family, right?"

"I'll do my best," sang Starlight with a little smile. "Oh, speaking of that. You." She looked towards me. "You're coming at about the point that you'll get a new love for music."

"I like music already?"

"Nothing like a good bit of soul in the morning." Cindy nodded with certainty.

"More than that." Starlight rolled a hoof in the air. "You experienced it, briefly, once. Sometimes, we just hit the right note, and we gotta sing..." She raised a hoof to her chin, just under her mouth. "You get a little tickle, you gotta let it out. I can feel a little fickle, but there's no reason to pout," she sang out, her voice becoming so delightfully melodic. "But you just roll with it--"

"There's no fighting the spirit," joined Carrot Top from the kitchen, her voice clearly audible despite being around a corner.

"Because it's just what's right," concluded Starlight with a firm nod. "There, a little taste. You have about a week." She pointed at Cindy. "You're practically there." She pointed at me. "It's a pony thing. We sing."

"I'm not a pony," I pointed out, hiking a lion's thumb at myself. "Do I still do that?"

"So far as I know." Starlight shrugged lightly. "Everyone does. Dragons, griffons, ponies, whatever. Of all the symptoms, it's pretty harmless, but I figured I should give a warning."

"Expect music," mused Cindy. "Did you two practice that?" He waggled a furry finger between Starlight and the hidden Carrot Top.

"Breakfast's up!" There was Carrot Top, approaching with an energetic step and a platter across each arm. "I feel so much better! Not 100%. 90%?" She set down the trays in front of us, one for me and one for Cindy. "Enjoy."

"Eat up," bade Starlight. "Thanks, Carrot. Go on, we didn't practice that, promise."

I started in on carrot-eggy goodness. It was just as good as I remembered it. "You need to never get sick again."

"On it," she half-sang, moving back behind the counter.

"This is strange, but good." Cindy was getting food in their snout, but not entirely gracefully. "Which about sums up this entire experience. Strange... but good."

I wobbled a claw in the air. "Even the being locked up in a strange lab part?"

"I'm locked up with my Lore, oh no." He flashed a grin, eyes trailing to Starlight. "And meeting new friends. So, Starlight was it? Hi."

"Hi yourself," she returned. "How are you feeling?"

"Inside out a little." He got a fork almost entirely inside his snout that time. "But I also feel... strong? I'm a guy now, and a horse. A horseguy. I'm liking the power, hating the flu. What's up with this?" He reached out and tapped Starlight right on her horn. "I have one too."

Starlight burst into laughter. "So I see. This is a horn." She eyed a spoon that wasn't being used and it floated towards her, wrapped in the same glow that her horn was throwing off. "It lets me do things like this."

Cindy's hands came down, slapping the table. "Get out!"

I pointed up at my straighter horn of the two. "I have one too."

"We're the horny squad," he giggled, moving to get some more food off his plate. "Can you do magic too?"

Starlight suddenly snorted, looking away. "You don't know the half of it..."

"Your favorite color, it was Orange, right?" I asked Cindy, smiling at her.

"I love it, why?"

"Is that why they gave you an orange gown?" I waggled by eyebrows with a little smirk.

Now, Cindy had been wearing a nice normal blue gown like the rest of us. But it had gone bright orange, bright as Carrot Top's hair. He almost fell over with surprise. "What the hell was that?! Lore!" He leaned in towards me. "You're a wizard, Lore."

Starlight giggled, a hoof over her mouth. "Your friend, they may be alright. That reaction... Anyway, yes, that is Laura's special talent." She waggled the same hoof. "She can make what she wants, do what she wants..."

I really didn't like how Starlight was phrasing that. "Not anything... But most things, so far?" I awkwardly deferred. It sounded lame even to me. "I'm still Lauren."

"You are Lore with More, and that isn't bad." Cindy crossed his arms over his chest. "So when can I do things?" He raised his hands and wriggled them at his fork, probably trying to make it move, but it wasn't moving.

Starlight snickered at the attempt. "I'll show you how it works when it's finished growing in."

"Aw nuts, I have to be the only one without magic?" He rested his chin on his folded hands. "Lame. Lore, bedazzle me and cheer me up."

Both sets of eyes were on me. Make that three sets. Carrot Top was also watching from the counter. I was the star of the show, yay? "What do you want to see?"

Starlight held up her hooves. "Let's keep it simple and small. No targeting each other, to start."

"Narc," prodded Cindy. "What are you afraid of, her giving you a second head?"

Oh god, could I do that? I couldn't prove I couldn't do that. "Alright, not on anyone breathing... "

I heard myself say that again. I could see myself at an angle. A camera was watching me. Someone was watching the camera. Several someone's. "How does this not bother you?" asked a male voice.

"She is well socialized and in good temperament. All present want to be there." Was that Miller? I was fairly sure.

I shook away the voices and echo vision. "Why not something to show off we're all friends?" All three of those there physically looked interested, but said nothing, watching. I reached into my gow... I wasn't wearing a gown, but then I was. I hadn't been, but my will to reach into it had produced one. I hesitated a moment.

I was not used to it always working like that. Go with the flow... I let out a little breath and grabbed at an inside pocket, pulling out hats! One was purple with one big horn. "Who wants Starlight?" It had hair attached, giving an impression of her mane.

"Me!" called out Carrot Top. I sent the hat flying and she caught it with a happy laugh, popping it right on her head. "Now I'm a unicorn."

"Only fair." The next one I offered was Carrot Top. "Bouncy locks included. Who's the lucky pony?"

Cindy raised a hand just before reaching to claim it. "I always wondered if red heads had all the fun." On it went, though its feminine appearance of hair didn't quite match his well-cut masculine body. "How's it look?"

Starlight snickered softly. "Well, that means I get Lauren." She held out a hoof. "Let's see what two horns are like!" And I hung it on her hoof. She brought it back and wriggled her head into it. Her horn, like Cindy's, prodded from the inside, but the hat stretched around it, giving her what seemed to be three'sh horns. "It's breathtaking, admit it."

And I got Cindy, with one horn. My horns did not push up through the fabric, hiding to help the illusion of my only having one unicorn horn. "There, now we're all officially friends. We've gotten in each other's heads."

"That was harmless," noted Miller, sounding satisfied. "You were saying?"

"She's a loaded gun. Just because she hasn't hurt anyone yet doesn't mean she can't, and won't."

"What do you suggest then? She has no drive to harm others. Simply leaving her alone seems the wisest course of action."

"What do you do with a loaded gun?" asked the other voice. "You turn on the safety and you lock it."

"Lore?" Cindy reached across the table to tap me on the shoulder. "You're looking spacey again."

Starlight turned an ear away. "Are they watching you? I'm sorry..."

I forced a smile. "Now isn't the time to be stressed. We all have nice new hats." I reached up to pat mine lightly. "And you've all met my friend and didn't hate each other on sight, so that's nice. Let's do something fun."

Starlight wobbled a hoof at Cindy. "As much as I like fun, I think you need to meet another member of the floor first."

"Who's that?" he asked, moving to stand up, his food abandoned, though also mostly eaten. "Not too far, I hope. Still feeling wonky."

"Not too far. Lauren, can you guess who I mean?"

Only one person came to mind. "Our favorite french tailor?"

"Oui!" called out Starlight with a faked accent, trotting along to show the way. "This way. We'll get you fitted for a new wardrobe. You're looking mostly finished."

As we head off, I waved to Carrot Top, who was on duty and wouldn't be joining us. I thought back to the last thought of Starlight I heard. "Cindy isn't nearly as bad as I feared," I heard her think and immediately frowned. There had to be a way to adjust that. Maybe if I...

"God, why did I even bring that up?" What? "I'm glad she forgot about it..." Forgot about what?

"I'm a straight shot. Her friend's a fine slice, and she's a great person..." Oh god, why hadn't she just told me? "But she could be whatever she wanted! Ugh, I'm not thinking clearly. Can a boy pony's heat throw a mare off?" She was glancing over at Cindy, apparently trying to figure it out. "Ugh, I'm here to help them, both of them. Keep it in your pants, Starlight. They trust you to be an even hoof."

And there I was wondering a moment if boys had heats? I mean... was that even a thing? But wait, there was more important things on the table. I reached for her, floating over her as I tapped her on the mane. "Starlight, little question?"

"Hm? What's up?" She looked startled but focused up at me quickly. "Sorry, my turn to be a little distracted."

"I'll forgive you if you forgive me." I smiled uneasily at her. "So... Be honest, are you straight? I'll totally forgive you if you are! I mean, jeeze, we can still be friends, right?"

Starlight's cheeks lit up like christmas trees. "What brought that on! I mean..." She glanced off and back. "Oh god, she'll figure it out. I'm going to die of embarassment..." That one had been a thought, not spoken. "I didn't turn you away for being a girl, Lauren. You're just fine..." Her thoughts crashed and mixed with her speech, making it a bit of a chore to sift through, "But you could do so many things and ugh, Miller! I would have loved her without you telling me to! Why?!" She glanced at me, trying to face forward again. "She's watching me. Does she even know how hot she is?

"I'm hot?" I asked, realizing my own mistake a moment later. Starlight was gaping up at me, her eyes were so wide, her body was trembling.

And there was Cindy, looking lost at the exchange. "So you can swing both ways? That's cool, sister."

"You..." Starlight crashed to her haunches, a strained little laugh escaping her. "Of course. You're a god, a noodly god. May you have mercy on us..." She suddenly threw herself to the ground facing me. "Forgive this supplicant, for I have sinned."

I wasn't sure what to say. "Uh, Starlight... I'm not mad at you, but I'm very confused. Can we just... talk? Assume I'll handle whatever you want to tell me, and tell me everything."

That evening, I had two ponies. Starlight had stuck to us firmly, through Cindy's new clothing getting right on back to our room. I had slipped in some headphones along the way that had little brain symbols on either side with a big slash through them, keeping me from hearing all her thoughts.

People did not need me listening directly to their thoughts. But, I also didn't need to hear her thoughts to get the implications when she just casually hopped up onto the bed and got to cuddling the heck out of both of us. I was hot stuff, a god, and she wanted to worship me, not as some distant idea, but something she could wrap her arms around and run her hooves over.

"You have magic too," I gently discouraged. "I bet you could do some of the things I do, if you practiced."

"I can make things float around," she rolled her eyes. "I haven't figured out a thing past that. Twilight has theories, but that's all they are."

Sleep came, and found me wedged between two people that were ready and willing to be as physical as I let them.

I contemplated what that meant, one arm wrapped around a guy I liked, the other a mare.

"Thanks for coming." Miller looked up from his computer, thrusting a hand over his desk. It was met by a female who sat across from him.

"Not a problem," she assured. "Not every day we get an HR request internally like that. I'm glad you realized there are a lot of specific laws at play." She set down a slender folder. "You mentioned they can source food, and that sounds great, but there are obstacles to that. Food has to have a known source, and, from what I've read, this isn't a known source. How do you plan to get around that while remaining above board? Our funding comes in no small part by direct government grant, so..."

Miller tapped his fingers on the desk in a thoughtful way. "So she needs a food sourcing license?"

"Basically," she agreed. "For now, I suggest she just not do that. There are plenty of things we need that do not need licensed sources. Her producing meat means she has to explain where the meat came from. If she just gives over a box of pens, nobody cares where a box of pens comes from. No medicine, no food, no drink. Basically, if it goes inside someone, the paperwork involved makes it unlikely to be worth the trouble."

Miller rolled a hand from palmside down to palmside up. "Alright, accepted. What if we didn't hire her?"

"You sound like you have an alternative?"

Miller nodded firmly. "What if she just became a vendor? We put in orders to her, and we pay her what we would normally pay a vendor to get it to us. Less paperwork that way, right?"

She sat up, obviously considering the angles there. "You're pulling her right back out of my hands, but that isn't an awful idea. If she's listed as a vendor, you don't have to worry about a lot of things, including benefits. You just order things, and pay for what you get."

Ugh, why couldn't I have normal dreams anymore? There I was, just kind of loosely 'there', watching the conversation go back and forth. Still, Miller! Man, he was going to bat for me, even if he was also arguing I wouldn't get any sweet benefits, boo.

On the other hand, my work could be done in a flash, so if I wasn't doing full time work, what benefits did I really deserve?

"We already have price sheets," continued Miller. "If she can match or beat them and provide superior service, why not let her have the chance?"

"Again, no food," warned the HR lady firmly. I floated up to her, despite not having a real body. I had checked, I wasn't there, but I had a point of view and moved up to have a look at her. She was in her forties, seemed nice enough at a glance.

I could imagine her as a pony. Unicorn, still would have the glasses she had. She'd be so cute!

She could be that pony. I could do that. I could make her just fall off the chair right onto hooves.

That would have been an incredibly terrible thing to do.

"Right." Miller typed something on the computer and I wasn't watching what it was. "I'll send her an email then. Let's see if she can fill an order. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for having me." She stood up and suddenly I was inside her, my face seeing squishy internal bits doing what they do. I yanked myself free, but I had seen something in that precious moment.

They shook hands and she moved to leave, but I was on her, darting in. "I don't know if this is a good idea..." But I tried it anyway, reaching inside of her. She gasped and fell against the frame of the door she had been trying to walk through.

I gave a sharp pull before I could change my mind, yanking out a little ball of slime from inside of her. "Let's not let this have a chance of growing."

Thankfully, Miller was right there to help the lady recover from my impromptu surgery. She would need a little help, but she wouldn't get cancer. A fair trade?

I awoke with a shudder, not from what I had experienced, but for the fact that there was literally a snout pressed right into me. Cindy was mouthing at my chest in a lewd way, but he was also crying, making that a confusing set of signals. "You alright?" I asked, waking up in a hurry.

"No!" He lifted a leg behind himself.

Looking at it, I could see why. His human foot had gone partially-hoof. Ugh, I could remember when that happened to me. I couldn't even walk. "Poor thing... It passes in a day, then you can walk normally again."

Starlight yawned as she blinked her eyes open. "Hm? What? Oh." Her eyes settled where mine were, seeing the misshapen hoof-feet that Cindy had. "You got it right in the middle."

Cindy reached for my right hand, only to recoil. I was still holding a little slime ball.

I threw it in an arc, thump, right in the trashcan, two points! Cindy was right back on me. "Fix it! Do that crazy magic." He wriggled his fingers at me. "Go ahead, just get it over with."

Starlight shook her head quickly. "Do you want hooves, or feet?"

"I'm not arm-wrestling with Ponid," I stated flatly. "I don't know what that could cause, and I don't want you getting hurt, Cindy."

"Then help it instead." He sat up and folded his legs just so to be able to put a foot forward, giving me a face full of not-quite-hoof. "Fix it, please, girl. I know you can do it."

"This is not how I wanted to greet the day." I took his hoof-foot and ran fingers over it, feeling where one ended and one began. "Nice big hooves for a big stallion?" I was already imagining it as I worked, as much playing clay with him as anything else. "Nice and round and clip-cloppy..."

He moved, rousing me to full awareness and also making it clear that it left an indentation of my finger on the side of his hoof, oops! I reached back to yank him closer. "No moving!" And back I went to getting it right. "I was never that good at drawing..." But sculpting! I... would have to get good at in a hurry.

The other hoof, I cheated. I pulled out a mirror and held it up between the two feet, showing a reflection of the first foot where the other foot would be. "A perfect match." Drawing the mirror away, it was just as such. Pow, two lovely hooves.

Cindy was eager to put them to work, setting his hooves on the ground and standing up. He wobbled dangerously, but he could stand properly, it seemed. "You are a literal life-saver. Now... bathroom."

"Race ya!" Starlight hopped down and galloped with wild laughter, beating poor Cindy to the restroom. The slamming door marked her victory.

I grabbed for my laptop as they formed an unruly queue to the bathroom.

Good Morning, Doctor Miller,

I may have been naughty. Your friend, the lady from HR? I saw something that shouldn't be there and yanked it out. Is she alright? I was pretty sure it was... bad. Let me know.

There was an email waiting for me that I noticed as I sent in my daily report.

It was that order. It was entirely as if I was just Amazon and they were putting in an order. There was a list of items, a price per unit and a total price per line. There were totals, including expected shipping.

If I could make it all, I'd make the money. Simple! I pulled straight the jacket I hadn't been wearing, feeling super businessy at that moment. "Alright, we can manage this." I reached up and adjusted my glasses. "Nothing like a little logistics to get things going."

He must have been listening to the nice HR lady. The very first thing on the list was Pens (Black) x 200. I grabbed a pen off the bed table and held it up. "Just like one of these..." I dropped it in a bag that hadn't been there and gave it a shake before turning it upside down, allowing a little waterfall of identical pens to rain free. "That... looks like 200."

Wait, cheat! I slapped down a scale and put down one pen. A little under a gram! Easy. I grabbed a bunch of the fallen pens and began piling them up on the scale until it was just shy of 200, 198 or so. There, That'll be 200 pens, maybe a few extra. I swept the extra pens under the bed, confident they'd never be seen again. "Two hundred pens!"

"What are you doing?" There was Cindy, standing by the bathroom impatiently.

"Filling orders." I waved a pen at him. "Two hundred pens was the first line."

"Shouldn't they be in boxes or something, girl? Who wants 200 loose pens?"

He... was not wrong. I spread my fingers to stretch out a rubber band that I had just decided was there to be stretched and began adorning the pens, making bundles of twenty each, ten of those. Oops, I did have some extra, just a few in their own little bundle. Close enough. "Next!"

Paperclips, straight up paper, and other sundry items that were taking up more and more room as I created stacks of them. I was smiling. Creation was fun!

Hands grabbed my hips and I looked over my shoulder to see Cindy there. "You look really happy."

"I am." I smooched him right on his furry snout. "Making things is fun, and it's work, and I like getting work done, so double points." I looked past him to see Starlight lounging on the bed, watching us. "Starlight, what's next on the list?"

"Looks like you got the basic things." Starlight's horn glowed as she tapped at my keyboard. "Office supplies, down. Next section seems like recreational things for other patients, like us. Three medicine balls."

"Why do they call them that?" I pulled out a big pill and blew into it until it was nice and round. "Ta da, medicine ball."

Cindy laughed and reached to grab it. "Wow, it feels like one too." He was turning it around and bouncing it off the ground. "Two more to go."

They were having fun, and so was I. We created things, some of them normal-looking, but plenty with a little extra touch. It was a silly, and productive, way to spend the morning. "And one controller," I declared with finality, setting it atop the pile of other things. "Alright, all done! What did I make?"

Starlight squinted at something on the screen. "Well, if they're paying you the total here, that's a few hundred dollars. Not a bad take for a day. How about we celebrate with some food?"

If they kept sending me orders, my bills would get paid. Hirrah! "Breakfast time." I grabbed up both of my precious ponies and floated from the room with them caught under my arms. Neither strongly opposed it, even if they were a bit surprised by it.

I set them down at a table and looked around for Jake. Nope, another cafeteria worker, in a hazmat suit, boring. I ordered lunch anyway and sank down to sit with them. "Thank you both for helping out. I have a house and I don't want it foreclosed on while we do this, so keeping employed was a high priority."

Cindy shook his head. "I was renting." Then it hit him. "Shit... They're going to take all my things."

Starlight glanced between us. "You could just grab his things?" She swept the air with a hoof. "Just reach out and, you know, your thing."

She had such complete confidence in me... "By the way, just to be clear, I am not a god."

"You're a friend that can do whatever she wants. Call it whatever you like." Starlight crossed her arms and sat back. "I like it. If you don't, punish me."

The way she said that almost sounded like she kinda wanted it. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Fortunately, there was a Cindy there to distract me. "You gave me nice hooves." I heard them tapping on the ground out of sight. "I mean, hell, girl, they're hooves, but if you're going to have hooves, at least good ones?"

Starlight rolled a hoof in the air. "By the way, I know you're nervous around Cindy, still changing and all, I get that! Totally get that. But I'm all done." She smiled lasciviously, brows giving just a hint of a wag. "I am a willing canvas. What do you want? You spent all morning working for the lab. Get some you-work done."

"That is too trusting," I stated flat out. "You do not wander up to a person and just casually surrender bodily autonomy to them. That is..."

"Kinky?" she attempted to finish my thought.

"Kind of odd," threw in Cindy. "You alright over there, girl?"

"Starlight... You said not to touch living things, remember?"

"That was yesterday." Starlight waved it away. "You already shaped Cindy this morning, remember? You can do it, and it didn't even look like it hurt."

"It didn't," confirmed Cindy. "But I did it because I couldn't walk. What's your excuse?"

I heard the elevator opening. Peeking that way, I saw four folks headed directly for my room. They were all dressed for hazmat, with heavy carts at the ready. In they went with their own key and they entered, grabbing all the stuff I had produced for the lab. Huh... guess I didn't need to report it was ready. Convenient, but also a reminder that privacy sure wasn't a thing at that moment.

Starlight raised her hooves to her chest. "I know you like those, down there. You could put them up here, or make a second set?"

I slapped down my hands. "Woah, you can stop that line of thought!" My friends were not silly putty for me to work out kinks with! "If that's something you want, that's one thing, but you're really creeping me out."

Cindy was eyeing Starlight. "That is... super kinky."

"You can read my thoughts." She was looking at me directly. "You know why I'm asking."

Actually... I pointed to the headphones I was still wearing. "These keep the thoughts out."

Her magic glowed on them and yanked them right off of me. "You are the manifestation of my deepest, lewdest, not-very-secret-anymore desires." She hadn't moved her lips or said anything out-loud. "Use me gently. Use me lovingly, but go ahead, use me. I want to be your willing toy, to know without a doubt that I am your most prized little possession."

I grabbed the floating headset and jammed them back on my head, blocking out her silent whispers. "Don't do that ever again! I didn't ask to hear thoughts, and forcing that on me isn't nice. I didn't make friends with a blow up doll," I exploded at her so loudly she fell over.

And rolled off the chair, her mouth in a permanent O shape. She had no fur, just a lustrously smooth plastic hide. She was an embarrassingly perfect pony sex doll. Cindy stood up with equal shock, just to fall over backwards on their new hooves, scrambling away a few inches.

"Starlight?" I squeaked, terrified. "Oh, god, tell me you're alright." But Starlight didn't reply. Sex toys didn't talk. They just waited to be used. "This isn't funny anymore!" I grabbed my headset and yanked it off. "Think at me."

I could hear screaming. Starlight's screaming. She was alive, in there, unable to move. "I'll help, just be calm." I threw the headphones aside. "Okay, we went to this, we can come back from this..." I lifted into the air, going over the table and down at Starlight, grabbing her by the cheeks. "Nice and furry," I demanded. "With that little scent on her breath." I could remember it, one of her appealing features. "With eyes that could blink..."

The Starlight Doll blinked suddenly, but was still plastic. Her O-mouth closed partially just to open again. A little voice issued from inside of her. "This is... Wow..." I reached for her ears, rubbing them as fur began to return. This was too damn slow. I snapped my fingers and the universe paused, focused.

I ran my hands over the Starlight Doll, quickly reshaping it back into the lovely unicorn it had started as, mumbling little apologies as I did so. Time resumed just as I tapped her restored horn.

Starlight's eyes focused on me. "Why'd you stop?"

Cindy threw a hand aside, standing. "You were... Did you die?! Girl, that wasn't funny."

"That wasn't funny," echoed Starlight's thoughts, but she sounded way more interested in it. "Now we know you can do that," she said out loud, like it was all good news. "And undo it too. See, nothing to be scared of."

With a chime of an arriving elevator, a new set of people arrived, familiar people.

Oh god, it was that jerk with the club. They were all armed guards from other floors. Had they watched what happened? Well, of course they did. I just would have thought Miller wouldn't have called for them. Did I just miss that part?

Fearing the return of pain, I grabbed a helmet from nowhere and popped it on my head. "I surrender!"

They shoved Cindy and Starlight away, sensibly enough in my view. "It was an accident, I swear. Everything's fixed. We're all good," I hurriedly blurted out. "No hitting, please."

The guard that had broken several bones already prodded me with his club. "You're really bad at keeping out of trouble."

I was being watched, of course. Doctor Miller was there, shouting into his computer. "Get off my floor. That is my subject--"

"Patient," I corrected from the window on his monitor that showed me.

"--And I did not request assistance." He took off his glasses. "This is a complete breach of protocol."

"I made the protocols," spoke another scientist I didn't know on the screen. "Don't quote them at me. She's too dangerous. We're taking her, and her friends."

"That will only--" He didn't get to finish. I was too busy popping out of his monitor.

"The hell you will!" I roared at the other scientist on the screen I had just come through. "What did they do?! You're mad at me, fine, but you keep it between us."

I could see the guards all looked confused, as they should, seeing as I just vanished into one of the cameras. Good luck finding me, suckers. Despite my vanishing act, they were handcuffing my friends. Cindy behind his back, while Starlight had all four of her hooves bound together and she was hoisted upside down, held like a random furry child. They were taking them away! "Put them down!"

"I will not. Go with them and you get to keep an eye on them. I am ending this call." And the window closed. Smart, I realized after the fact, because I could have hopped over through it. Well, too late to do that.

"Miller..."

He set his glasses on the desk. "I feel confident you're already aware. This isn't my idea, Lauren. You are happy with your friends and being productive. You are not a meaningful threat to me or my floor. I will not tell you to go with them, or not to go with them."

"It isn't really your floor, is it? This whole place..." I waved at the walls around us, floating there. "There's a boss. You're here so long as he's happy."

"That is typically how it works," he agreed with a thin smile, reaching for his glasses. "We performed a biopsy on the sample you extracted. 80% accuracy for cancerous cells. There was some damage done, but even a surgeon would have been hard pressed to cut it closer. She will make a full recovery. Thank you. I can't pay you for that. You don't have a medical license."

Yeah... that would have been super illegal. I was a walking, floating, illegality. "You're welcome... I need to get my friends back." I looked around the office. It was the same I had imagined Starlight in. Was that imagination? "Hey, question. Did you ever tell Starlight to like me?"

"I did," he admitted without preamble. "A mistake. You two were entirely compatible to begin with."

"She's still hung up on that," I noted with a little frown. "Doc, keep with being a doc. Docs don't play matchmaker, alright." Lashing my entire body around like a snake, I dived into the camera window I had started from, reforming in the middle of the guards. "Let's go."

My vision swam, pain throbbed. That right asshole had smacked me on the head on the helmet hard enough to still knock things loose. "You." I threw a hand out at him and he slammed against the far wall. By the time he hit the ground, it was with much smaller hands. "Grow up," I huffed. "I give up, no more hitting and we can do this smoothly."

The other guards, thankfully, didn't press. They handcuffed me, too damn tight, but didn't hit me again. I could hear the bawling of the new infant behind me as they led me to the elevator. Maybe that guard would have a better second childhood...

As we rode the elevator, one of the others poked me in the side lightly. "Why are you wearing that?"

I looked down and realized I had, at some point, put on a very sciency-doctory top. A nice clean white shirt and a stethoscope dangling. "Huh, oh, saved someone before." I wriggled my trapped arms, realizing I could break free any time I wanted. I was playing along with them.

Just playing.

I could be free the moment I wanted to be. "Where are we headed?"

"Bottom floor," replied the same one that had asked me a question. "Your friends are already there."

With a soft chime, we stepped off the elevator. I felt like I was walking into something. It was like the universe was watching me, closely. The hell. Did that mean I couldn't get away with what I usually did? Fear. I had avoided it on the ride down, increasingly confident that I held all the cards.

But did I?

I lashed my tail behind me, working on my smirk as I followed them. No reason to tip my hand that anything was wrong. Looking around, I could quickly see that the floor was laid out just like the one I started in, but the rooms were used differently. That sort of made sense. They probably built all the floors first, then furnished and refurnished them as needed.

There was no bright and clean cafeteria, or clothing depot. None of the nice features were in sight as they led me along. A security room over there. Lots of closed doors everywhere. "So, my friends?"

"Get in." One of them was pointing with their club at a door. "And stay in."

"Are they in there?" I had to roll my eyes. "Opening doors with handcuffs is a bit tricky. If you don't want me doing odd things, which you made crystal clear you don't, maybe take them off?" Ugh, was good security that hard to find? Where was that nice, oh, there he was. "Hey." I smiled at him, my longer tooth shifting position in the grin. "Nice to see you again."

"Uh, hey," he replied without the confidence I was faking. "Will he turn back?"

"Over time," I replied as truthfully as I knew. "I didn't change him, just made him younger. Can you?" I turned to offer my hands, claws hands wriggling at him. Another guard shoved against me, sending me thudding against the door by my front. "Asshole, that doesn't get me through the door. I swear..."

I felt hands take mine. "Stay calm." It was Mr. Nice. One of the few guards that acted like he didn't want to escalate the situation. Hirrah. He soon had the cuffs off. "Nice and slow."

"Nice and slow," I echoed as I reached with the tingling wrist, blood returning to it. That's when I noticed, there was no card slot on the outside. Cheeky devils, they'd reversed the locks! You needed a card to get out of the room. Little hotel prison rooms. Nice... I pushed down the handle and stepped inside before they took it as a sign of my 'resisting'.

The door slapped shut behind me, likely yanked by one of the many guards actually terrified of me. A glance showed, yep, there was the card slot. "Cindy? Starlight?" I walked around the corner, my noclip seeming to be off. I couldn't will myself into the air, and tapping the wall was enough to know I couldn't slip through it as I had several others.

There was a single twin-sized bed. There were no friends, or anyone else for that matter besides me.

They had lied. Of course they had. I threw up my hands with a suffering groan. Why did I even think they'd just do the nice thing when being dicks was so clearly part of their standard operation? At least Miller had tried to do right. But there I was, with the universe breathing down my back. How had they pulled that off?!

It was only then that we entered day nineteen. I actually had a normal amount of sleep without a single dream of places I wasn't actually in, doing emergency surgeries or conversing with gods of other realities. Just a quiet time of darkness. It was almost relaxing. Then I woke up and remembered where I was, locked up at the basement of a lab, my friends? Who knew...

"Hey, dicks." I didn't normally curse so much, you should know that by now, but I was on edge. "It's time for me to do my morning report. Bring my laptop, unless your power trip includes making sure I don't do my job."

"Let me go," I heard as if through half a foot of wool. "I'm an agent of the lab!" Starlight? "I've followed all the reg! So she made a little mistake. She fixed it too."

The voice wasn't coming from a specific direction, like it was bouncing around in all that wool I mentioned. I looked around as if I could home in on it, which I couldn't. As if I could slip through a wall to get to them, which I also couldn't.

"Where's my Lore?" came an angry male voice. "If you hurt my--" A sound? Did they hit him!? "Bastards, when I--" The voices cut off, as if the wool got thicker. My poor Cindy was trying to fight for me when he was in need of his own saving!

So the universe wanted to stare at me? Let it! I brought my hands together in a sharp clap. The eyes of reality flickered towards the sound, barely looking away from me. I had a brief time, even for me. It would have to be enough. I dove into the nearest wall, emerging into pure darkness and intense crushing discomfort in my midsection.

The wall had caught my noodly body right in the middle as I was going through it. My hands were free. With a sharp snap, I burst free and hit the ground, panting. That muffled feeling was just a little lesser. Were they focusing it on the room they put me in? That sort of made sense.

The room I was in looked much the same, minus every shred of hospitality. Cold stone floors echoed as I stepped forward. Boxes of...stuff were around me. It was just a storage room. I was being watched. I turned and glared at the camera, and the impression faded instantly. They were learning, but that meant they also knew where I was, crap.

What if I just wasn't there? The door thundered open from around the corner. I could hear booted feet slapping that hard cement. Did it have to be my noise? They were making plenty. The universe's attention was wobbling, like a high pitched humm. Between one stomp and the next, I just ceased to exist, at least there.

I hit the ground, hoof and claws clacking as I bent and twisted. I was in my work room. There was my computer, unused for weeks. I approached it, flooded with nostalgia. "One day, we'll get back to work." I gently ran a fuzzy finger over the monitor. "But not today..."

My friends were locked up in a creepy lab, and who was going to rescue them? Call the cops? Oh, man. I could already imagine them laughing as I spun that story, which could elevate to being shot if they saw me. No, no. I was a little quasi-god. I had to handle my own mess!

The mothballs in my head had lifted. I was away from whatever was jamming up the works. Time to take advantage of that. "First priority, not being hurt." I sat down at my chair which was... too wide. It was made for my plump old self, not my new noodly incarnation. Regardless, I stirred the computer to life and got to browsing. I plucked advanced armor from web pages and casually put them on, outfitting myself from things that were still not even released fully for soldiers to have.

Why the heck not? Not like I had to pay for manufacturing or anything. My vision was shades of green before I reached up and flicked off the night vision mode. "That's kinda cool." I was ready to wage a war. A war for my friends! But wars were not won with defense alone. Not being battered or shot to pieces was a plus, a big plus! But it didn't equal victory.

A gun? I shuddered violently. I didn't want to shoot people. I didn't even really want to hurt them. But they were big angry men and I was just a nice noodle lady. I tapped my chin with a draconic finger. "Something to take the fight out of them..."

I could zap them, like they had been ready to do to me? But that was less lethal, not, you know, just not lethal. Being electrocuted can mess someone up. Kind of half the reason you don't poke light sockets with metal things.

My phone rang, I literally hopped out of my skin, leaving my armor and outer layer to crumple into the chair. "Jesus..." And that felt really weird! I had spent all that time being not naked, not really naked. I could feel a breeze tickling my raw flesh. "Creepy..." I grabbed for the phone I hadn't used in ages. Who used land lines anymore? Well, I had to fax once in a while, okay, so I had a landline...

"Hello?"

"Lauren." It was Miller. "I was hoping you were there."

Shit. "You ratting me out?"

"No, but they've likely already figured it out. Lauren, you're endangering innocent people by being outside of containment. You understand that, right?"

His call was monitored. They knew what number he dialed. It would not be hard to figure out my address. He wasn't wrong. He didn't have to actually rat me out at that point. "I'm not here to bother anyone. I won't get near to anyone. I'll be right back anyway. There's no one in here but me. Give me a few minutes and I'll be back, alright?"

"I'm glad to hear that. The safety of the community at large is the priority. We can handle our issues without endangering them--"

"--Release my friends," I hissed, my skin back on me, armor over that. "Let them go. They didn't do a damn thing wrong and you know it."

"You know I know it," he countered, and he wasn't wrong. He wasn't the problem. "We inspected your goods. They passed. Payment has been made, expect it to arrive in your checking account in 1-3 business days."

I had to laugh. "Great, so tell your boss to shut up and let me get back to work. I'll fill out the next invoice, get paid. Everyone can be happy!"

"I am certain he's heard your offer." Jerk. Of course he has. "Please return. Miss Sheila sends her confused thanks."

Miss... who? "HR Lady? Oh, that's sweet, really." I was smiling. I was legit happy she was alright. "I'd much rather be talking about how she's doing than all of this, but I'd better be going."

"Back here?"

"Yeah." I hung up. I'd be back there, I had to be. Not like...

Wait.

Why couldn't I just yank them out? I turned to an empty part of the room. "Practice makes perfect." I reached out a gloved hand which had four fingers for my four fingers despite the original having five. With a nice crisp snap, I reached between spaces in a great big scoop and pulled free an incalculably massive-feeling blob of stuff and let it crash to the ground, filling my room with Cindy's various belongings that fell over themselves and rolled every which way.

I had become the owner of Cindy's life. A theft, on some levels, though he had said he wanted me to rescue them, right? They were safe in my house. "If I can get all of you, getting two people should be relatively simply."

Besides, I'd gladly return them the moment he was safe from the lab and could return to something approaching a normal life. Even if he had hooves, and a big horse nose, and a big horse tail... and a big horse package... He was a big bipedal horse. It would take time before 'normal' entered the equation.

I reached up and clicked the night vision on, then turned it further in the direction it had no business turning further in. My vision became shades of pinks and purples. I was in noodle vision, under my control. I turned in the direction the lab was in. There, amidst the sea of pinks was a bright blue blob that extended downwards. I reached up with both hands, adjusting the focus that the goggles didn't have before. I zoomed right in to get a better view of the facility.

I could see the shapes of people coming and going upstairs, where I had gone and never come back out. The elevator ran up and down. The first floor or two were different, but then became the hotel-looking blocks I had gotten used to. A little 'Home' sign floated in green just over a room. Yep, that was my room. Home? Well, I supposed it was for the moment until I could set my home back to my actual house! It was something. Further down!

That was when I noticed something else. The various shapes had different hues, a sparkling purple that filled some of them, in others it was spotty, spreading from their limbs inwards towards their cores. Others were entirely clean of it. Ponid. I was seeing their Ponid. The ones still changing, and the others who were entirely given to the way of pony, griffon, or whatever else.

For just a moment, I wanted to see myself, but I had to focus! I was looking at something miles away. Looking away would cost time I didn't have. Amid all the colors and shapes, a little icon popped up, pointing at a shape. It was a smiling Starlight icon, winking eternally. Not far away from it, Cindy's equine face was grinning and offering a thumbs up. Each pointed down to a specific shape. I had found them.

Cindy had been hit. Starlight worked for them. They seemed to be treating her a bit better. My choice was clear. I stepped forward, not across my room, but entering what I saw, slipping right beside the shape that owned the Cindy icon.

My vision was lost to purple as I heard alarmed gasps and cries. I smacked the switch, flicking it to normal vision. "Step away from him!"

"Lore!" There was Cindy.

There... was Cindy. I felt numb. His face was swollen, eye puffed out where he had obviously been struck one time among many more. He was tied to a wall like a dangerous psychopath instead of a harmless social butterfly. Blood. He had it, and it wasn't all on the inside. "Lore..." He sounded so happy to see me, but also scared. So scared...

I was punched in the side. No, they had shot me. The bullet-resistant armor I wore had done just as it promised, spreading the impact of the pistol across my entire side, making me rock as if I had been shoved instead of being stabbed. "What did you do?!" I roared out, feeling my body swell, new armor plating growing beneath the soft mesh that had turned away the initial hit. "Cindy deserves nothing but love," I hissed out, not a drop of love in my own voice.

The guard that had took the shot took a step back, but there was another, firing wildly. I could barely feel them, my skin growing harder by the moment, the flesh underneath racing to catch up. The mothball sensation was there, but I was cutting through it like a red hot knife of pure rage. "You don't even deserve that." An image of him as a pony had come and was brushed aside just as quickly. "Tell me your worst fear." I was on him. Another loud bang filled the room as his friend fired wildly into my growing form, but they were helpless. I tore his friend's head open to reveal its secrets. "Oh, that's nasty," I rumbled, shoving him forward as he screamed.

His screams became broken, his body falling apart as I turned on his friend. "Do you have a nicer--" I paused, a bullet hovering just in front of my eye. "Son of a whore, that could have hurt." I reached up, casually plucking the incoming munition. "Like you hurt my friend. I'm just returning the favor."

The pressure was immense. I felt like some inside part of me was rubbing against sandpaper. It hurt, but I also didn't care. Nobody would hurt Cindy again. "Pathetic slug," I growled at him as he made a break for the door. He slipped on slime that hadn't been there before, slamming face forward. Blood and pus spread as he scrambled helplessly, his body losing definition as his clothing gathered on his back, becoming a brightly-colored shell for his new life. By the time he reached the door, he was a huge helpless slug, oozing against it impotently. "You're lucky I didn't bring salt." I stomped on him, kicking him aside and knocking him over. His friend had broken apart into countless scurrying ants. He was dead, and I didn't much care.

"Cindy." I wheeled on him. "You're safe."

He didn't look safe. He was trembling, terrified. "You're safe," I repeated. "They can't hurt you. Let's get out of here."

"Lore?"

Did he not recognize me? There was only one noodle. There was also a lack of time. "Yeah, let's go." I grabbed him and wrenched him free, the chains popping as if they were made of little more than a single sheet of cardboard. "We're leaving." I hurled him backwards, his form lost to a portal as I sent him home. "One more."

I grabbed the door handle and wrenched it with such force that it came off, the door unmoving. Crap. I grabbed the edges of the door with two different great ape hands and crushed it inwards. I felt so powerful. I felt unending pain. I would share that pain. I threw the door aside with a dull thud of metal on the cement. "Starlight!" I howled as I charged into the hallway, tail lashing.

Something bit me right on the right rump. Then the electricity flowed from the bite downwards towards the ground. My goat-hooved leg twitched but twice before the whole thing went wet and slimy, the entire leg becoming that of an electric eel, as if fish had legs. With a low grunt, I sent the electricity right back down the lines, exploding the shock-gun another guard had dared to fire at me. "Brown pony." I waved dismissively, ignoring the startled whinny as I coiled around a corner. "Red pony." I grabbed a guard that was passing the same corner and threw them forward. By the time they hit the ground, it was with all fours, startled neighs filling the hall.

In front of the door I could smell Starlight behind, four men stood side by side, grim determination on behind their visors, as if they were putting up some grand last stand against some terrible foe. They were the terrible people. I was just speeding along karma a touch. I slammed down a draconic paw. "So many ponies, waiting to be born."

"Her bones can be broke," reminded one of them, all of them clutching their batons as if their lives depended on it. Silly little men. Their lives were not in trouble, just their humanity. Such a little thing. They'd get used to it, eventually, and maybe emerge better for it. I was doing them a favor.

I bumped into the wall with an annoyed grunt. Why did the whole hallway feel too small? I let our an ursine howl and lunged for them, bear claws tacking the ground alongside tremendous clomps of rhino hooves. I didn't realize it at the time, but my stability was looking especially... unstable, for lack of better words.

They screamed back, maybe hoping it'd scare me off. It didn't. One of their batons struck my right arm as I was raising it, the two meeting with such force that the baton exploded on contact, peppering us both with splinters. I grabbed him with insectoid pincers. "Boy pony." I threw him aside, slamming him into the wall as his bones popped and creaked, becoming a little pony far more quickly than the comparative mercy of Ponid.

"Girl pony." My voice was alien even to me as I grabbed his baton in my jagged, uneven teeth and crunched it in half. I charged through him, running him over. As my huge heavy feet crushed him beneath me, I could feel that sparkling purple welling up. He wasn't dying, even if it hurt like hell. He was becoming a mare, his groan becoming a feminine cry of pain.

One of the guards took a step back, faltering. "Please..."

"Big pony." I grabbed the second to last guard, giving him a big kiss with lips that didn't quite fit with his, not that I cared. I blew powerfully, his fingers popping out into big hooves, his limbs straightening as he became a big pony just like I imagined, a stallion earth pony that was left reeling, their insides on fire from the forced change they had endured. "Little pony." I closed with the last one, drool splattering to the ground beneath me.

"I'm just doing my job!" he wailed pitifully. I drove him to the ground, growling, but he was still human, for the moment.

"Your job sucks," I noted eloquently. "The mare in there is on your side, the stallion you beat up didn't do a damn thing wrong." I grabbed his hand that was trying to swat at me and smashed it into the ground in a gorilla's grip. I could feel bones cracking. His chocked gasp of shock was clear enough. "If you had balls, you would have gone for me. At least I'm the trouble."

"Don't kill me. Don't... kill me," he sniffled out, losing it entirely.

"Kill you?" My laughter, oh god, in that moment it unnerved even me a little. It was like an entire zoo was cackling. "Change." I ate him, one big bite, chomp, gone. I chewed, hearing him scream, then spat it out, a little ball of fur with curly locks on her horrified little head. "Cozy Glow," I announced. Where I had got the name, I wasn't sure, but it was his, er, her name then. "Get out of my sight."

She squealed in maddened horror, tripping over herself and scrambling to get away, but doing a really bad job of it. Her little wings beat erratically, not helping her move. I didn't care. I ignored her. I threw myself against the door and it crashed inwards along with a great portion of the wall on either side. "Starlight!"

Starlight looked up from where she had been sitting, reading a book? "Lore? What in Celestia's grand plot happened to you?!"

I reached for her and she shied back. "We don't have time. We have to go, yesterday." Could I yank her out yesterday? There was no time to consider that. Everything was pain. "Let's go."

She leaned to the side, getting a peek into the hallway and the sounds coming from it. "I'll go, but you need to calm down, right now."

They had picked such a good pony for freaks like me... "I can't calm down until you're safe. After that..." After that, I imagined passing out for basically forever. "Let's go, now." I didn't wait anymore. I lunged for her, grabbing her with a raccoon-like arm. "You wanted a god, and now you have one."

Starlight trembled in my grasp, perhaps realizing just how bad it could get to be in the reach of a god. Space folded around us as I dived for safety, away from that accursed floor and its equally damnable tyrant of a boss. He'd get his, some... other...

Day...

I was seated at a table. I was also seated at the table. "This looks really bad," I said to another of myself, seated to the side.

The other me nodded gravely. "We've ground the gears down pretty good." She waved at me. "How are we going to fix this?"

I could see the gears of power, what made me the noodle. Many of them were stripped and haggard. I had pressed so hard against what had tried to stop me, I had hurt myself, badly. I could just... feel that. "If I'm feeling lively enough to chat with myself, I must not be entirely out of it yet."

"How do you know that?" I doubted myself, but I took my... hand in my hand and I squeezed gently, looking into her, my, eyes. We smiled a little, and I felt a little calmer.

"I am the noodle," I reminded myself as I turned to my prone and torn form, alone besides that inert form. "I can get through this."

I became aware I wasn't alone. They were there, Starlight and Cindy. They were talking about me, on top of me. I couldn't hear their words, but I felt sure that is what they were doing. Were they worried about me? It seemed likely. To them, I must look even worse...

I reached for the first stripped cog and gentle began to knead and shape it, giving it a crude groove like the screw it once was. "Like that," I muttered to myself as I worked.

I woke up suddenly and hissed with the rattling noise of at least three different animals.

I heard Cindy say something, but I couldn't make out the words. Starlight said something too. I felt them sitting up, looking at me. Scared.

I growled with irritation and my body shuddered. I was still full of anger. Not at them... I loved them. I wanted to protect them from everything, but how? I felt certain I couldn't just hop away. "What did I miss?" or, at least, that's what I had meant to say. It came out as confused animal noises, as if a bear and a cat were having a conversation with a pig.

That's when I saw it. My form was unhinged. Whenever I stopped staring at a given part, it would change and flow. Even my overall stats were in flux. I was a man, a woman, both, neither. I was a mammal, a lizard, or something else new entirely until I got distracted and kept shifting.

Cindy hugged me tightly even as I shifted in his grip. He just kept hugging, as if to remind me he was there.

I was... happy that he was. I just breathed, trying to calm myself, to still the raging, thumping, heart inside me.

A voice talked, neither of them. I couldn't grasp the words.

Starlight looked towards it and replied before resting a hoof on my mutable shoulder.

"You hurt a lot of people," she said, her voice suddenly clear. With no warning, it was gone. I could hear her talking, but there was no meaning.

An idea came to me and I smiled, the left and right side of my lips not matching. I reached out and pulled a big microphone out of nowhere. Sure, it was yellow at the base and a bright pink at the top and it wasn't straight at all, but a microphone! I shoved it against Starlight, brushing her snout once and pointing at the mic. Please, please understand, I begged softly, knowing I was making no noise that could be understood.

Cindy snatched the mic away! "Girl?" he asked into it, and I could hear it, past my shifting ears, in my mind, or my soul, or whatever I had! Oh, the relief that it had worked. I think he noticed it, talking more, "You understand me? You kinda messed up a lot of people. They're super pissed at you."

Starlight leaned in. "Miller's trying to keep them away, but that's a big ask. A big big ask..." She glanced away and back at me. "I don't want to ask anything right now but if you're alright."

"She's not alright," cut in Cindy. "But if you can get us out of here?" he finished far more quietly. "That'd be fine."

Sure, we could hop to my house, where they'd show up a bit after and drag us back. No, that wouldn't work.

"Stuck?" There was another me, floating over me. That other me wasn't metamorphing wildly, and obviously could talk. "They warned you this would happen."

Who? All I got out were strangled animal noises for my effort.

"You cleaned yourself up before you were ready," chastised the floating me. "Look, I'm what you should have been. You can call me Eris. You remember that name, don't you?"

Eris? Eris! Discord had given me that--

"Yes, Discord, and he wasn't lying. I am Eris, and so are you. Just admit that and you can stop hurting." Her snout was upturned in a wicked smile I wasn't sure how to feel about. Her tail curled and swayed as she swam in a little closer. "You are Eris," she whispered seductively, running at odds with how everything I was feeling.

Was she the cure? "Yes." Could I trust her? "You don't have a lot of choice, but I am you." My name was Lauren. "That's a crappy attitude," she sang above me. "Put it aside and let's get better."

Not being a mess would be-- Movement? Guards. They had guns, I think? It was hard to focus.

"Enough wasting time. I'm coming in!" She easily wrapped her arms around me. "As if I have to ask myself, pfft."

And we were one. I was Eris. I sat up sharply as a bullet came at me, but it was following the musical composition I was doing with my restored fingers, directing it around in a circle. The original firer slumped to the ground, completely unable to handle having a bullet thrown back at him. "Don't throw out what you don't want returned," I sang with a sly grin.

There were several others, most with larger munitions. Where had they shopped, an army surplus store? "You saw what happened to your friend. You've gone and scared my friends and I don't want to traumatize them with more bodies. Wanna put them down? Besides, snakes are dangerous."

Oh, the look of surprise when I called them that. One of them yelped in fear, seeing that he was indeed holding some kind of huge snake. I rose sinuously from the bed as the would-be soldiers dropped their former guns in a hurry, the snakes slithering off to find a new life at least until I forgot about them. "Cindy, Starlight, let's go."

Starlight thrust a hoof at the ground. "You get right down here, Young Lady," she barked at me. Which is why she had a waggy tail and a lolling tongue, panting. She yipped, realizing what had happened to her. "Hey!" she objected, still able to speak despite being given a rapid dog-over. "Please, calm down."

"But I am calm," I objected. "Oh, but we haven't met." I reached for her, gently mussing her hair and petting her floppy dog ears. "I'm Eris, and you, especially, are my little toy."

Something was coming at me. Ah, a club, a baton really. It seemed to be pushing through molasses, time slowed as I watched it approach, no fear in my heart. I swam around the arc of the slow club and time sped up the moment I was out of the way of it. "That's just rude," I noted of the human who had swung it. "Well, I'm feeling generous today. What do you want to be?" I pressed my nose to his, even as he tried to back away. "Go on, say it, admit it. Whatever."

I could hear him, fearful thoughts at war with manic attempts to rally himself. "I won't kill you," I reminded. "Whatever you want, the world's the limit." And I wasn't even sure that was true.

"Bring back Thomas," he got out.

Thomas? "Who?"

"The one you turned into ants," he clarified. "Bring him back."

"He hurt my friend," I said as if I was correcting a small child. "He got what he deserved. Why should I do that? Really, you could get anything and you want to ask for your friend?" I suddenly smiled brightly. "That's actually kind of sweet. Aw, such a loving soul." I grabbed his cheeks, pinking them roughly. "You're in the wrong job. What did you want to be before you took--"

I stopped my question as I felt hands grabbing me. Another guard had thought my talking was a lowered guard. It wasn't. I tickled his front with the tuft of my tail, and his laugh was a loud bleat as he fell back, a nice rolly polly sheep. "We were talking," I chastised, keeping my eyes on the guard in front of me. "Go on."

"Thomas wasn't a bad person," they insisted, still stuck on that topic. "Fix him. You can do anything, right? Show it."

"A challenge?!" I grabbed his shoulder. "Oh fine, but I want something for it." I swiveled an ear towards Cindy, who had been quiet. "This guy's going to become something, so, what do you want while I fix his friend, assuming you're alright with that jerk being back."

"Y-yeah," stammered out Cindy. "Girl, look, calm down."

"I am calm," I reminded. "So what do you want this boy to be, or girl, whatever. You ever wanted a pet, or a child, or a toy? Just name it..."

"Lore," he shouted as much in a frantic yelp as a mean to be assertive. "If you can un-kill that person, you do that!"

"Really." I shoved the guard away and swam up to Cindy. "You're lucky I like you. Dead naming me like that. Did you not hear?" I tapped him right on his cute pony snout. "I am Eris. You'll get a name--" It hit me. "Oh, there it is. Try Shining Armor on. It'll feel better soon. That's a handsome name for a handsome stallion."

Starlight gestured for the door with one of her newly-given paws. The guards weren't entirely stupid and most of them took the advice. "Eris, nice to meet you... We made a promise. Do you remember that?"

I twisted in the air to face her. "Did we? What was it about?"

Starlight put a paw on her chest, tongue still drooping out. She was such a cute little dog. "When you got a new name and you shared it with me, I'd tell you my old name. Remember?"

I could remember that, and how confused I was at the time. I was so sick and awful and ugh. "Well... Are we still on?"

Starlight put her paws out close together. "Two little things. I want to be my pony self as I do this. Also, please fix Thomas. Even if he was a complete jerk, killing them isn't the answer, is it Eris?"

"You are a pony," I reminded her, patting her with her horn poking up between my fingers. "You are such a chore sometimes. They're all ready to break my bones and shoot me, but if I hurt them, I'm the bad guy?"

"Yes," she replied without even a hint of delay, standing up tall on her restored pony haunches. "Because you have the power. You could take away their weapons, put them to sleep, or even just make them prefer to get a nice big hotdog instead of fighting with you, but you killed them instead. They're wrong, but you could be better, and you're not. I want more from you, Eris."

I tapped her nose. She was lucky I still thought she was so cute. "Is that how you address your noodle god." I put my hands on my hips, my entire body wriggling before her. "I thought I was your alpha and omega, start and end. You were ready to give up everything for me, and now you're telling me how to feel bad? You're not a very good supplicant."

Starlight turned a hoof to point at herself. "I can make decisions, like an adult. If I roll over and let you have your way with me, that's on me. That doesn't make it alright for you to end people, Eris." She stood up and pointed across the room to where the dead guard was slumped against the wall, a bullet in their head. "Fix that. Come on. If you can, you should."

"He shot me!" I hissed out, crossing my arms. "You're the worst sycophant ever."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "I'm not one of those. I am here to tell it to you straight, even if I get turned on by a few things."

"Can you do it?" asked Cindy. "Fix him?"

They sounded so sad. Huff, fine... "You two owe me!" I shouted as I snapped loudly, reversing time in just one little space. The man un-staggered to his feet, bullet un-piercing him as it zipped over to land obediently on my extended paw, panting like a new little dog. "Who's a good boy?" I smiled at the little friendly bullet. "Go on, back into your kennel." I underhandedly lobbed it and the bullet zoomed right back to the gun it had come from, nestling itself comfortable. "And you, get out and thank them."

The restored guard fell back, muttering something. "Get out," suddenly barked the one that had been making requests, who had not fled. "Go on!"

Why was he still there. "Maybe you should take your own advice?" I twirled in the air, giggling softly. "Shoo, shoo." I made little motions with my fingers. "We have things to discuss, family things."

"Did you fix Thomas?" asked the brave little guard even as his friend took the smart route and got out of there. "Steve was a bit of a jerk," he suddenly admitted. "But Thomas was cool."

I was suddenly curious. "Thomas is ant boy, is Steve slug-pal?"

"Yeah..." He looked over to Cindy. "Steve's the one that did it."

Ugh, I killed the wrong one?! "Fucker, but Thomas didn't stop him, and he was right there. That makes him pretty guilty..." I looked to the guard's chest where a nametag was hanging where it hadn't been. "Robert."

"He was--"

"Oh, my, me," I cut him off with a wheezing laugh. "You are not going to use that tired line on me!" I put my hands next to my head as I leaned it. "I was just following orders," I petulantly mocked with a grin. "Give me something better."

"Eris!" There was Starlight, trying to be my conscience. Oh. I plucked her up as she squeaked and parked her on my left shoulder where she floated, a halo floating over her head and little angelic wings beating. "Not funny." She crossed her arms, but she was stuck there as my shoulder angel. "Really, come on. He's trying to save someone, that's not being a bad person."

I glanced over at Cindy. "You want the other side?"

Cindy looked far from sure. "Uh, hey, they were both jerks, in my book." That was consent! I soon had him placed on the right side, little horns poking from his hair and his tail gone red and spade tipped. "Great... Look, Lore--"

"Eris," I stated firmly. "You're dancing on my nerve, even for a shoulder devil. Eris. E R I S, mistress of chaos." I fluffed myself a little. "Now, you were saying?"

"They were both jerks," he continued. "But I didn't want to kill them."

"What did you want? You didn't say. That makes it your fault." Ha, pro-level logic.

Starlight put a hoof to her face as she bobbed up and down. "Eris, please. We're all stressed. Let's just.... wind it all back." She rolled her hooves. "Put everyone where they started, we can do the day over again?"

I buzzed with all the force of an alarm. "No can do! I can change them, but rewinding, that's a limited game. We're past it." My shoulder squad was annoying! "All this trouble for an anthill." I pointed to where a sizable anthill was on the floor. It hadn't been there before, as if I cared. Ants crawled all over it. "Your friend makes a great ant colony, so industrious."

Robert recoiled from the sudden new ant hill. "Jesus... that's... him?"

Cindy squeaked, covering his mouth with his fuzzy hands. "L...Eris, you don't feel bad at all?"

"I feel annoyed my friends aren't thanking me for rescuing them." I crossed my arms under my chest, tapping at the air with a foot. "What's a noodle have to do to be appreciated around here?"

"We do appreciate you," assured Starlight, running a hoof along one of my ears. "But we'd appreciate it even more if you could be a good god for us instead of a naughty one."

"You don't want me being naughty?" I hiked a brow. "Now I know you're lying."

Starlight colored vividly at that. "That kinda naughty's alright! I'm talking about the 'kills and hurts people' variety."

Cindy grabbed the other ear, giving a little tug as he pointed to the anthill. "Can you put them back together? Please..."

"Monster!" Robert was making a last ditch rush at me. How brave. Also kinda dumb... I snapped my dragon fingers, the universe's attention somewhere else. I considered making him a monster, since he has asked for one so desperately.

But Starlight had just told me. If I did that, she'd yell at me again. Ugh... "Go get a hot dog," I grunted as time resumed.

Robert staggered forward before turning in place. "I'll be back, need a snack." And off he went, hunting that beefy treat.

"There, see, I can be reserved. Congratulate me." I didn't turn to Starlight, just speaking as I instead pivoted in the air to the anthill. "And you want this put together?"

Cindy scratched at the ear he held. "Please? Come on, girl. This isn't you."

"None of us are ourselves these days." I rolled my eyes hard enough that they came loose. Fortunately, I was able to catch them before I got ants all over them. "Fine, whatever. I bet you even want them to be boring human?"

"If you can?"

"Are you doubting me!?" I huffed at that. As if I couldn't do what I wanted! With a sharp snap, in their eyes, there was an anthill, then there was a very naked man sitting on an anthill, minus the ants. Sure, he had a thousand yard stare and was shivering, but he was there. "Ta da. Thomas, I presume?"

He tried to stand, but apparently forgot how to human correctly and barely accomplished more than flopping over at a new angle. He made noises, but they weren't words. "Speak up," I huffed. "This guy is a bore." I made a dismissive wave, sending him sliding out of the room with a nice bang of the door behind him. "They can take care of him, not my problem anymore."

I casually set my friends back down, restoring their height and erasing their celestial markers. Though Starlight still had a halo, little goodie two-hooves she was. "There, everything's fixed. No dead people at all. Not a one."

Starlight forced a smile, I could tell. "Good, great, even, thank you, Eris... Now, let's just calm down. Everypony, let's do a little mindful breathing." She sat up, crossing her legs in a way I didn't think a pony could, crossing them with her hooves pressing together. "Close your eyes and follow with me."

"Your goddess is already bored," I complained, looking to Cindy. "You still hornier than a teen that discovered he has a working penis?"

"I never called you my goddess," he denied hotly. "You're my girl, my friend, and you're not being you right now."

"Is that a no?"

"No sex for crazy people," he confirmed. "You did a lot, for us, thanks... but you went way off the rails, and you aren't even worried about it."

"That's the part I like the least," admitted Starlight. "Eris, I like you. You know that... You know know that... You need to slow down and consider what's happened so far."

Oh, right, hearing. I wasn't wearing the cancelling headphones. Why wasn't I hearing her? Focusing on it, that changed.

"Let's get through this," came her floating voice. "I don't know what the top man's going to do, but if we can get through this, we can go back to being happy. Don't run away from us, Lore."

Ugh, dead named, in a thought. Did that count? It was just as annoying. I stopped listening to her thoughts. "I'm still me," I defended. "The old me would have done anything to save her Cindy. You." I looked to Cindy. "You mean so much to me."

Cindy's guarded face eased, a little smile spreading. "And you do to me... We can get through this, together."

"Of course, together." I grabbed them both, pulling them in for a big noodle hug, the best kind. "We're a team!"

Starlight wobbled a hoof. "And a team calls it as they see it for the good of the team. Eris, I'm putting you on a time out."

I had to just kind of peer her a moment. "How do you plan to even dream of making me do that?"

"By saying it and knowing that you respect and trust me and know that I'm on your side." She pointed down. "Sit down. It's time to relax, all the way relax. You have a lot to decompress, and it won't be fun, but it has to be done."

I let go of Starlight and she slid down off of me, thumping to the floor with an oof. "Hey."

Cindy shook his head. "I never did much with meditation, but I'll do it, with you. It'll be a group thing."

"A group thing, yes." Starlight nodded from where she sat on the floor. "We're all doing it, not just you. This isn't a punishment."

"I'm not a kid." I threw away the pacifier that had been in my mouth. "I feel great, energized!" I threw my hands up. "Like I could do anything."

"You already could do anything," noted Starlight in that gentle tone of hers. "It's more that you would do anything that bothers. Sit with us, let's think it through, slowly, peacefully." She spread her fore hooves slowly. "Give it a try."

Cindy landed so much more gracefully when I let him go. I sank down to join the three of them, giving Starlight a bit of a glare. "This isn't fixing anything."

"It may not." She reached up, tapping her halo. "But would I be me if I didn't try?" My little angel Starlight. She was trying...

I heaved a great big sigh. "Oh fine... I'll give it a chance."

So I let her lead me into a relaxed state, drawing me deeper and deeper away from the pressing desires, to abandon the physicality. I was led to a place where I'd be facing the most troubling opponent I'd faced.

Myself.

She could be a real drag...

"I'm tired of this."

It took me a moment to realize I hadn't said that. I had said that. I mean, the other me, a plump lady that used to remote work for a living and was a shut in.

"I'm still you," she/I corrected. "Just because we can do things doesn't mean we should."

"Oh, so we should just let them abuse us and our friends?" I retorted hotly, waving off her weak little words. "You did such a good job. Literally a god, and here we are."

"We should be human first." She pointed at me. "Look at you, you've lost all of your old self." She brought out a mirror from nowhere. "Look at you!"

I squinted at the image, two bright yellow eyes staring back at her. "Wow that's a wrong answer." I zoomed up to me, my tail swaying as my whiskers lifted. "I mean, really, look at me. I'm a noodly god, not a human."

"I'm inside you," I retorted, waving a pudgy naked finger. "I am you. You don't get to just call 'not it' on humanity. You ask Starlight or Flash, they didn't stop being what they were, just... some extra baggage on top." Alright, alright, I'm being a bit unfair. We should talk.

Look, I wasn't in a good place at that point. I'm trying to show just how divided I was. You think it's bad for you? I lived it! Both sides felt like me. I could see me looking at me from both of me's perspective, at the same time. Both sides were pissed at the other, and they were both me!

Alright, I try to not be a complete jerk. How about I call the round me Laura and the fuzzy me Eris, for the time being? That means we're going to third person, which makes as much sense, seeing as I wasn't sure who the first person was right that second.

Eris curled around Laura, squeezing her with her long body. "Admit it."

"Admit what?" huffed out Laura, looking more angry. "Let go of me."

"You were turned on, by your friends. The idea of a god taking a personal interest in you? You want that." Eris leaned in, touching her fuzzy snout to Laura's nose. "Part of you is jealous. You can't have that if you are the god. You have to be the responsible one."

"So try being responsible." She shoved Eris away, putting an arm's length between them. "If my friends want me to be their comfort, fine. I can do that."

"But do you want to?" taunted Eris, curling in place, chin on both of her hands as she gazed at Laura. "It was pissing you off. I could tell, hard not to really."

"Life sometimes has that." Laura threw up her hands. "You do some things you don't want to, because it's the right thing to do."

"But you don't have to, not anymore. Don't feel like pants today? Who's going to stop you?" Eris waggled her rump. "Cry and moan, little prudes, because I'm going for a walk and letting it all hang out."

"That's just being a kid." Laura crossed her arms under her chest. "I won't do it. I'm an adult, dammit. Great powers, responsibilities, yadda yadda. Now get out of my way. I have to get up and clean this mess you made."

"You made it," noted Eris, twirling upside down. "You were so eager to remind me that you are me, which means I am you, so we both made a mess."

"Great, so I'll fix our mess. Either way, shove off!"

"Not happening." Eris was on her, rubbing her cheek to Laura's. "You pushed me down for so long, didn't let me come out. Repressed feelings aren't healthy, didn't anyone teach you that?"

"You admitted you are me!" Laura moaned out, stomping in place.

"And so did you, but you're not living it." She put her hands to her cheeks, making kissy faces. "You aren't Lauren anymore."

"Well I won't be Eris!" she snapped back, turning half away with her head alone. "That isn't what I want."

"Well, then what do you want?" Eris waggled a claw up and down at Lauren. "That's probably not happening. You're not going back to that life any time soon."

I, both of mes, were dimly aware that our friends were talking about us. Not due to any special sense. They were literally seated next to us. We were just deep inside our own head, arguing it out. They were talking, but neither of me could pick out the words, just that they were talking.

Lauren threw up a hand. "What's up with that, in specific? The whole 'I can't understand you' thing is annoying as hell."

"No real argument there," confessed Eris. "We might have stressed a few little things while springing them out..."

"Will it get better?"

"I dunno, will you?" Eris shrugged as she drifted around Lauren. "First you have to get better, dummy, then that can start to get better. You are a creature of raw potential, of chaos manifest! What are you going to be? And don't say Lauren. Lauren isn't that."

"But I'm not chaos either," she sank down onto a chair that hadn't been there a moment before, but it was her thoughts. She could have a chair if she wanted one. "Hey, wait, what did you say?"

"Raw potential? Chaos manifest?" Eris shrugged. "Why?"

"That first one." Lauren smiled, a genuinely warm expression to break up the others. "That's me. I like that. I want to be a source, of good things, of new things." Lauren brought her hands together in a sharp clap. As she brought them apart, toys and gadgets began to rain to the ground, creating a swift pile of electronic debris. "I felt so good, making things."

"And who was that?" asked Eris with a slowly arching white brow. "You were using my power while shoving me in a hole. I'm not going back there, it stinks."

"My brain is nice and clean," argued Lauren, only to be given a raised brow. "Hey look, I only browsed that once." Lauren crossed her arms. "Look, just sit down and let's figure this out. Neither of us want to be cooped up in here when there are things to do."

"Well, now at least you're being civil. Still, I'll float. I like it better anyway." Eris twirled, arms extended to either side. "You know you have fun as me."

"And people get hurt and I do things to regret later," she argued back, sitting back against her chair.

"Like it or not, you're mostly me." Eris gestured to herself. "This is your body, and it's a nice one, admit it. We're a sexy slice of noodle."

"When we're not randomly shifting along the zoo's lineup," bitterly noted Laura.

"Small details. Either way, I'm not wrong." Eris wobbled a hand in the air. "Admit it. You like it."

"I do like being mobile," confessed Lauren. "I like the twitchy ears. I don't especially like when fur gets itchy, which it loves to do."

Eris pulled free a back scratcher and began running it over her own back vigorously. "But then you get to take care of... mmm... it, and that feels good."

Lauren laughed, a moment of levity. "You're not wrong there..."

"So you're me," She hiked a thumb at herself, her other limbs spreading wide in a joyful stance. "Welcome to Eris land, population, us!"

"Not so fast." Lauren tapped at the armrest firmly. "I said I wasn't going to be Eris, and I meant it!"

"But you aren't Lauren," noted Eris flatly. "If you aren't either, then what are you?"

The two met eyes, locking gazes as if they were both challenging the other, dueling minds clashing with visible sparks dancing between the both of them.

But then I understood. "I am Eri." Sure, I had only lopped one little letter off, but the smile on my fuzzy face was genuine. That was my name, what I'd accept, what I had given to me, and also not a goddess of mischievous trouble and causer of the Troy fiasco.

There was only one of me left in that dark place. Both sides were inside me, wanting their things as a part of me. I wanted to run wild, and be responsible, and protect my friends and make things and experiment with chaotic magic and...

Get some sleep.

I awoke to day 21. There were one presence pressing against me, though they were doing it twice at the same time. Cindy was hugging me close in their arms, and also prodding me with what a male horse has. It was charming, and lewd, all at the same time. It helped that he was asleep. Not like guys could control that while snoozing.

I rolled against him, ending up on top of him with that little guest pinned between us. "Hey," I whispered, just realizing then that I could speak. A good night's sleep was so helpful! "Hey, Cindy..."

"Not Cindy," he mumbled, eyes opening to witness me atop him. "Lore!"

"Not Lore," I fired back with a smirk. "And I already told you that, but it ain't Eris either, so I'll let it pass."

"Shining Armor," he introduced, moving his hands to grab my hips and gently squeeze. "And what is your name, enchanting woman?"

"Eri." I inclined my head. "You seem calm today... Where's Starlight, what'd I miss?"

He ground his hips upwards, running sensitive bits through the soft fur of my belly. "I could get very used to waking up like this... Starlight snuck off in the middle of the night, said she had to report in." He lifted an ear, still rubbing at me with his hands. "Feeling better? You look better, sound it too."

"You're lucky I'm just not open for business unless I want to be." Not entirely true, but close enough. Still, I was so happy to be back in one piece, I wasn't angry at Shining's morning amorousness. "You do know we're being watched, recorded, and almost assuredly judged, right?"

"Let 'em," he laughed off. "We're a thing, right? They can know that."

We were a thing? I supposed it was hard to directly argue that. "When did you become an exhibitionist?"

"When it stopped being an option not to be?" He shrugged a little, but did start to wriggle upright. "Still, bathroom first."

I let him go, floating up and twirling in place to the camera. "I'm going to do today's update, sorry about yesterday. You know what happened there."

"She's just going to do a morning update, like nothing happened?" asked who I thought was the head honcho?

"She's a psycho, I warned you!" raved the scientist I hadn't turned into a pony but had threatened the idea.

"She finds comfort in routines. Her disrupted routine is the cause of most of the 'issues' of the last few days," argued Miller, typing diligently. "Thank you for giving her time to recover. It worked perfectly. Intact and re-balanced, she is eager to resume those routines."

I could feel the boss leaning forward, but couldn't see them. They were typing and all. "She caused a severe increase in the rate of Ponid infections. Thomas is in remedial therapy and is likely to be let go on permanent disability as a result of this, to say nothing of the condition of the rest of the affected staff."

Coward piped up, "It's a miracle Thomas isn't infected!"

"It's a miracle Thomas isn't dead," added a new person. "Do you have any idea what the paperwork on that looks like? At least Ponid-related infections were already thoroughly covered. Being reduced to a swarm of ants? How do you even start on that."

I could see they were still typing. "They are a force to be reckoned with, but not an evil one. They didn't ask me before operating--" HR Lady?! "--but the results were clear after the fact. If I could talk to her personally, I would have quite a few words for her, but they would end with 'Thank you.'" Aw... You're welcome, HR Lady.

Miller was typing, "It seems clear to me. She can help, or get in the way, and the choice is literally ours. Which will it be?"

I hit send, firing off reports for both days, my focus slipping back into the present with my job done. "Hey, Millie." I didn't expect a response, nor got one. "Tell HR Lady she's welcome. She must be feeling alright, if she's typing with you guys..." I set the laptop aside and heard the bathroom door close. "Shining?"

"If you want a turn." He hiked a thumb behind himself as he clopped towards me, wearing a towel. "All free."

"Thanks." I took his hand when he got close enough and squeezed it before continuing to speak at not-him. "Starlight deserves a raise, by the way. She never gave up, even when I had. Does she even get paid?" Besides inter-floor wandering rights, that was. "Pay her if not. She's doing good work!"

I pulled Shining's hand, propelling myself. He went with it, twirling with me and sending me flying towards the bathroom. I laughed as I soared through the air, casually noclipping through the door and landing on my mismatched feet to get to work preparing for the day.

"You know what? It's time I started expressing myself more." I ran a finger along my brows, coloring them bright rainbow hues. "Today, rainbows!" I shook myself down, then stepped into the shower. "But who knows what tomorrow will bring."

I ran hands all over my strangely inhuman body, but it was my body, and I felt pretty alright with it. It was even better when it was clean! I began to sing a little song as I thought about the last few days and how it went. "Millie, if you can hear me, feel free to send another invoice." I paused a moment. "If you want to sign me up for a therapy license test, I could help the people I gave rough lessons to." An ear twitched, sending water flying. "That last one, was she guilty?"

I emerged from the shower and shook off even as I reached for a towel to finish the job. There, on the big mirror that filled the wall, I could see my face, one eye bright yellow, the other nice and human white. I was both, and that was alright. "If they weren't involved, in hurting Shining, I owe them an apology. I wasn't quite myself."

I dried, then got to powdering lightly and curling my lashes, not that they had given me either of those tools, and not that it mattered to me. "I do hope you're listening."

"Yep," came Shining's reply. "Though I am wondering who you're talking to. Pretty sure it's not me, girl."

"This is a no stallion zone," I called out in a half sing-song. I emerged from the bathroom and showed my displeasure by giving him a big hug that he returned without delay. "Thanks for not running and screaming into the night."

"Thanks for coming back to us." He set me down on my feet, patting my on the head. "And for being awesome. I always figured I would be the one showing you things you don't expect."

"Pretty sure you still have that chance," I assured. "Soon as we get out of here. I owe you a concert, don't forget."

That was when he threw me on the bed. With clear eyes and a big smile, he did what he had been waiting so long to do. Won't lie, I enjoyed it. We didn't explode the universe with sex so good it defied definition, but I liked it, and he liked it, and I made sure to leave him a good Yelp review afterwards.

He got five stars for snuggling and nuzzling afterwards. Ponies were good at nuzzles, pony people counted, and we gently touched our sensitive snouts, sharing breath and hugging tightly. I didn't imagine I'd one day be doing that with Cindy, but maybe I should have seen it coming with Shining Armor.

I couldn't think of too many reasons to complain.

"Knock Knock!" came a sang voice, the door opening. "Your favorite unicorn is here with good news."

"Starlight," we both called at the same time, sitting up.

"Don't let me interrupt." She came into view, an envelope floating beside her in her magic. "I pulled a few strings."

Shining peered at her. "You sound like you were up to no good."

"Who, me?" She turned a hoof to point at herself. "Perish the thought. I just reminded the board what the head manager's been up to." She leaned forward, smile growing. "They were quite curious about the report..." Starlight tossed her head, sending the letter sailing in a toss.

I grabbed it from the air and sliced it open. "What did you do?"

Inside was, to put it mildly, a job offer. "What?"

Starlight sat on her haunches. "Well, you are not qualified to do a lot of things, but management? Turns out there aren't a lot of required licenses for that. They want your eyes." She slowly rolled a hoof. "On the whole thing. They want you at the top, managing things. Not being the scientist, you aren't one of those. But you are uniquely capable of addressing problems across the facility."

My fingers dug into the paper, arms shaking a bit. "You're kidding..."

Starlight inclined her head faintly. "Don't like the idea?"

"No! I mean, yes! I..." I threw the paper aside and dropped to my knees, hugging Starlight close, not that she complained one bit. "You adorably clever little horse! Now, explain something... Why is the board so willing to forgive someone that... just finished doing what I did?"

Starlight rolled a hoof. "I told them. There was no point in lying. You spotted a plethora of violations in the protocols set way ahead of time and you jumped into action." She turned her hoof to lean her head on it. "Nothing could stop you until you had it all in order. Also!" She turned that hoof upright and thrust it into the air. "You're stuck here, with the rest of us, so your loyalty is pretty solid."

"What... about the old manager, who's probably watching this?" There were multiple people watching us, I could feel it, but couldn't rip them apart and figure out which one was witch. "I can't imagine he's happy about this idea."

"Tough apples." She rolled her eyes and pointed to one of the room cameras. "Check your email. You're a floor director now, under Lauren Keibin!"

"My name changed," I noted.

Starlight waved that away. "We can update the paperwork, that's the least of our problems. Eris, do you accept this job?"

"Eri," I corrected with a little smile. "And I do. I'll do the best I can."

"Fantastic." Starlight began to clop her hooves. "Sign that paper you just threw and I'll get it back to the board. It'll be a pleasure serving under you, ma'am." She saluted sharply, barely hiding a snicker.

"Yes! No more lies, just the two of us, doing our best, and possible the best playtime ever. Score!" came her mental voice.

Ugh, knowing what I didn't need to know was getting trying. It was time to fix that, but not with a silly Discord thing or an Eris thing. No, a Lauren solution, er, an Eri solution! I flicked my hands, unfolding glasses that hadn't been there a moment before. Slipping them gently onto my snout, I blinked through them. I could only see what was in front of me, and could only hear what my ears picked up. They were glasses of mundane vision, at least +2.

As a positive side effect, I felt like I looked way more like a proper manager sort. "Time to celebrate, who wants some Arby's?"

Both Shining and Starlight peered at me oddly. Not that this stopped me from reaching into the nothing and fishing out a bag full of salty, fried, goodness. I flicked a $20 through the same hole to pay for what I took and set down the bonanza of fries. "Eat up!"

Starlight's horn glowed as she floated out a small bag of fries to start sampling from. "Mmm, been a while since I had these fresh... Okay, so, real talk, sign the paper and I'll get galloping back with it. After that, remember, you're in charge, so you have to set a good example." She pointed to the very bag she was eating from. "Which means keeping our cooties to ourselves."

"I promise, not a single bit of Ponid was involved." I raised a hand over my chest before grabbing a handful of fries, mmmm. Soon I had the paper signed, several times. There was not just one line that needed it. They also needed my identification information and what not. I was being hired, and that needs documents. Fortunately, drawing out my social security card was easy. While I was at it, I yanked a passport whose picture matched me perfectly. I had bought the passport fair and square! I just had a change of appearance...

That reminded me. With Starlight rushing off to deliver the paper, I pulled my laptop over and started filling out online forms. "Official name change request..." Sure, it had to be handed in at a court, but I could get around that. Not like Space was really much of a barrier...

I filled it diligently, signing the document and plugging in the information. I hit print without remembering that the computer wasn't connected to a printer. I made little printing noises and held my hand beside it, accepting the paper as it came out. "Now to mail this..." I stuffed it in an envelope I decided was there, but I didn't create a stamp.

USPS needed my support. I paid for a stamp like a good citizen, then the envelope vanished, whisked away to where it could finish the mailing process. "And off it goes!" I set the computer back down and flew up and around, facing the bed with Shining on it. "So, what's your job?"

"Huh?"

"I'm the facility manager, I got that. Starlight is a trouble patient liaison, and she's good at it." I counted fingers as I went. "What do you do?"

"Girl, that ain't funny." Oh, he pouted so cutely. "I'm still getting over this Ponid thing. Give--"

The door suddenly slammed open, several sets of feet rushing in. I was ready for them to come around the corner, but they didn't. They just shot through the wall. Who does that? Seriously? Who? I wasn't expecting that!

But I wasn't punched full of holes either. A bright shield was around me and the bed. Most of the room was covered in a shimmering hemisphere that reflected the incoming bullets, denying them entry. Shining was concentrating, their horn flared bright. "Good boy," I purred. "Think I found a bodyguard." Job, found!

I ceased to be, appearing behind the group of men. "You're interrupting," I sternly chastised them. "Also, I'm the boss, so shooting at me isn't a good way to get a positive performance review."

They wheeled around to get their guns into view, but I made a nice grand sweep of a leonine paw, sending the guns skidding away. "Cut that out. Pretty sure firing those isn't even legal. HR, could you look into that? Now, since I'm being elevated to management of the facility, I have to do things by the book too, so no pony time for you." I raised a brow at them. "Unless you want that?"

None of them volunteered, but one seemed just a touch unsure, and I had to smile. "Alright, shoo shoo." I looked to that one outlier. "Except you, let's talk."

Would they be the first new patient of my facility? I was willing to listen.

The tale of how I grappled with my transition was, by and large, done. I was Eri, and Eri's a neat person, at least so I say. Eri isn't exactly Lauren, but Lauren isn't Lauren from just a few years back. She isn't dead, promise, just changed, as we all do.

I was typing busily, finishing a report on the facility. "Most things are in order."

Most things.

The floor bosses that had run into me and experienced my anger still remembered me, and they weren't happy. Mister could-have-been-a-cute-pony was certain I was still itching to ponify him. I'll admit, part of me was, if only to calm him down. He ran a floor decently, and the people under his care didn't have a lot of complaints. Besides, he was a trained scientist. He would stay.

The one that had tried to kill me... Man. I'm sure you're already wondering why he's still working there. For one, Cindy being beat up wasn't his idea. The guards took that lunge without him, thinking it was some hot shot way to get back at me, which he had forbidden, trying to get at me. He wasn't a total moron. He knew trying to come at me directly would have caused a huge problem, so he told them not to do that.

So they went after Cindy, er, Shining Armor. That was their mistake, their last mistake as a human for most of them. A lot of the guards I'd rampaged through weren't even directly involved. Some of them didn't even know it was happening. I did feel a little bad for them. I didn't turn them back though. Did that make me a bad person?

But you're still wondering how that led up to trying to kill me. He told the guards it was my fault, all of it. Every one of their number I had left as confused ponies, his loss of his position, all my fault. I mean, he wasn't entirely lying there. I did do it. Not much to argue about it. Either way, he made it sound like I was some monster to be crushed, for their honor or whatever.

"Boss?" A pony set her head on my knee, looking up at me with big cute eyes. I reached down and scratched behind her ears gently, which just made her smile. "Hey. Starlight wanted me to let you know she was greeting a trouble patient on floor six." I nodded at the pony, once a guard, one who had actually asked me to plunge him deep into ponid, right past the usual steps, to rearrange his body. He was a small pony, female, by the name of Silver Spoon. "Shining said he's secured the place up tight." Her tail was wagging eagerly, looking at me like an affectionate pet as much as any person, though I knew she was a person.

"Thanks for the update." I trailed a finger along the middle of ear, which never failed to get a shiver from her, a weak spot of hers. "Say, how's the new you treating you?"

Silver tilted her head. "Hm? Oh, like, I love it." She raised a hoof to her chest. "I get a new lease on life, and I'm... this." She threw her hooves wide. "I miss fingers sometimes, but these hooves are surprisingly good at it once you get used to it, Boss, Sir."

I was her boss, it was true, but I felt... more possessive than that. Her happiness was my, what, responsibility? I had helped them get to that point. "Good to hear it. Go get yourself some lunch and say hi to the girls." She cheered and charged off to find the other young ponies, likely to frolic and play until she was needed.

I called up a video chat. It rang twice before a dour expression appeared. He didn't dare hide from the camera with his boss. Bottom floor man, he was the one that set me over the edge, and called the fury of the real bosses down. "How are they recovering?"

"Poorly," came the curt reply. "We had to let the one you shattered go entirely. We'll be paying on that for as long as they live."

That was a pity. Part of me considered reaching in there and 'fixing' it, but I didn't like reaching into heads. I loved creating new things, or modifying things, but not minds, not brains. Those were... special... "Thank you for doing your best. The others?"

"Cut the idle chat," he groused, scowling so heavily. "I'll send reports regularly, as usual. Nothing unexpected has happened."

"Let's move to the future," I prompted, ignoring his outburst. "We need replacement guards, and they need to be responsive to the needs of the patients. We don't need rogue cops, we need--"

"--babysitters."

"Well, yes." I raised a brow. "These are people in vulnerable states. They need comfort and support, not macho warriors. Is that in your skillset, yes or no?"

"I'm not quitting." He slapped his hands down on the desk. "You had your chance to get rid of me, now you're stuck with me."

I smiled at his defiance. "I look forward to your work." I hit the end call button, confident he was inspired into action.

I flicked through the cameras. "Let's see how Starlight is doing."

"Hey," interrupted another voice, a furry hand wrapping around me, arms following as Shining Armor squeezed gently. "How are you feeling?"

"I could ask the same. Ponid all the way gone?"

"I told you." He kissed one of my fuzzy ears, making it dance. "Right after that last attack, felt better, and I got a sweet tat for it." He inclined his rump. The rump was not exposed, but he had it added to his clothes, the shield mark he had on both of his butts. "Fits what I did pretty well."

"My hero," I admired with a little laugh, twirling the chair around. He sat down in my lap and soon we were snuggling on the company dime, hugging. "I hear you have things secure?"

"Yep." He pointed up to his horn. "Not a single thing coming or going without our permission." He touched his nose to mine, our breath mingling as he began to nuzzle gently. "Even you'd have to ask nicely to get out."

"Is that a challenge?" I hiked a brow, doubting that he could keep a noodle that tried from getting in, or out. "You're cute when you're confident."

Our lips met in a soft exchange, only broken when he spotted something on the screens. "Hey, there's Starlight."

"Look... Starlight?"

"That's me." She had her award winning smile on. "Feeling better?"

"No." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I lost it, a thing I didn't think about most of the time, but I really want it back."

She inclined her head, eyes wandering over him. "What would that be?" Her eyes delayed on his forming hooves, his hands and feet already gone, becoming cloven hooves. Not ponies, not griffons... something else? He had a horn, like a unicorn, but it was bent.

"My junk," he casually corrected. "When I came here, when I agreed to be part of phase 3, I didn't know 'junk removal' was a possible side effect!"

Starlight spread her hooves slowly. "You are exactly why we need to go through the phases, to make sure other people don't run into these side effects un--"

"--How does that help me?!" he roared, flames erupting from his eyes. "Are you going to fix that, or is this just another case of 'shoulda read the fine print!'" He was on his feet, er hooves, fuming and angry.

Starlight made little placating motions with a hoof. "Calm down, you'll get--"

"--don't you dare say used to this." He threw a cloven hoof wide before he fell forward awkwardly, body half combusted as he struggled to rise again. "I'm feeling things I never felt before."

"If you need help with... womanly things." Starlight kept her voice nice and even, speaking calmly despite the rage being shown.

"Not that kind of thing," roared the confused patient. "I had anxieties before I got here and they've only, what, tripled! I can't stop thinking about the things going wrong, big or small."

"Hey, I've been there," she assured. "A lot of us have. No sour feelings, promise. Ponid is--"

"--That's a stupid name." He waved at her suddenly. "Am I going to get big horse boobs like you?"

Starlight colored. However professional she was about most things, attention to that part of her anatomy always seemed to get right to her. "Are you... hoping for, or against?"

"I'm not like that," he suddenly spat, his fires dying out in a rapid gutter. "Shit, sorry, sorry... I don't normally get all worked up about things." He sank down onto his chair, sighing loudly. I'm just... angry... And I don't even know what at."

"Well, there is the sudden gender reassignment you didn't request," offered Starlight. "It's entirely acceptable to be upset about that. Being upset is normal."

"Being upset won't make it go away." He leaned forward, looking Starlight over all the more intently. "I'm a guy. I don't need boobs at all, but nobody asked me... so, all the lady ponies get them or not?"

Starlight rolled a hoof slowly in the air. "Well, yes, the adults. Some are big, some are small. Mine are on the, uh... larger side." She coughed softly into the same hoof. "With any luck, you'll be in the normal range, so we can get you--"

"A bra, like you?" The flames around his brows burst up, eyes going white. "I should never need a set of bras in my life!"

"Some mares just don't ever wear them. I need them because I'm... you know, large." Starlight shook her head, watching him work up. "I can come back later, if you need a moment to vent."

"I don't know what I feel," he admitted, sounding small and vulnerable despite the obvious anger burning visibly. "When does it stop?"

"About two weeks from the onset," advised Starlight. "Then you're all changed. Three weeks and the mental stuff is done too. You're a special case, you know."

"I'd rather not be." He put his hooves on his face. "What even am I? I don't look like any of the others."

"You have hooves," reasoned Starlight. "Good enough for me. You're welcome here, promise."

Starlight sank against a panel. "He is a mess," she admitted.

"I saw that," I agreed. "But he hasn't shut you out. You're more vital than before."

"Like somepony else I remember." She stuck out her tongue a little. "Did you see their tail?"

"Actually no." I hadn't reviewed personal tapes. That was mostly for the floor manager. Speaking of... "What does Tom think of him?"

Starlight threw up her hooves. "I haven't the foggiest. That guy only cares that people have what they physically need. Don't get me wrong, he's good at that. Nopony on this floor suffers a lack of supplies. A+! But when it comes to the mentals, he's very hands off. This isn't the ideal floor for an emotionally heavy patient."

Well, that was good... "What about Millie? He's gotten better."

"He had," she sighed out. "But it isn't fair to lump all the trouble cases on him either. Besides, Tyrone's settling, just not all a once." She sank down, smiling a me through that intercom. "I think they'll talk, and adapt." She raised a finger. "The less we try to nudge, the better it will be."

"Just working through my feelings," came a melodious tune from around the corner. Starlight glanced that way and back to me, but it kept right on going. "Didn't ask for these proceedings, but maybe it's for the best. I can pass this test..." The music became more focus on notes, rising and lowering.

Starlight leaned in. "That's something I forgot to mention. He's not a usual transition, part of why they called me. He's not growing the usual parts at the usual speed and he's already in the hold of song magic and he isn't even done yet. The worst you had was being swept up in a number or two, not bursting into your own jingles without warning." She flipped an ear back. "Poor guy, well, girl."

I swayed a hand to the beat of the song that could still be heard. "They carry a good tune. Star, I know you can handle this as she--"

"About that." Starlight pointed into her camera, at Eri. "You could skip past this, get them in their new form at least."

"And I won't."

"And you won't," sighed out Starlight. "Can you remind me why not? I know you can. Hay, one of your proud converts is skulking around your office."

"Hay!" came the voice of Silver Spoon, just getting back.

"Nailed it," declared Star, looking smug in her victory. "So, why not?"

"Because, for one, researching how Ponid works is what we're here for." I wriggled fingers at the camera. "If I mess with it, that throws all the variables off and how will we actually learn? Now, if they need anything, I'm happy to help."

Starlight quirked a smile. "When did you become a scientist?"

"I'm in charge of making sure a whole building of them are on the right course," I reminded. "Now, I'm not rated for proper scientisting, but I can, at least, avoid making it harder for them." I casually reached through the screen, tapping Starlight right on her cute little snoot. "Now, ask nicely, and we can do that sort of play, later, in private and off the records."

Her cheeks lit up even as she backed up a step. She was obviously not expecting my through-screen boop, her mistake. "Hey... um, not going to say no. I'm just worried, for them."

"And that's what makes you so good at your job." I leaned forward, head resting on my palms. "Not joking, you take each patient in your care, total care. I never felt safer than when you were right there next to me."

"Speaking of that." She glanced off. "I'm going to see if they want a bit more company." She waved and trotted away without properly ending the call, so I did it for them. Starlight was busy doing what she did well.

"She works hard," noted Shining, who had never left. "Hey!"

Silver danced back, looking up at him with a big not-so-innocent grin. Shining reached, shoving her back. "Not my speed, little filly. Don't care how old you are upstairs, you're riding the body of a little thing. Finish growing first."

She tittered and looked instead to me. "I just wanted to be small and innocent, to not... to put all that behind me, the violence, the... macho everything. People used to look at me and they assumed, they always assumed. The way I looked, what was the other option?"

I tapped her on the end of her nose. "There's always a choice. Most don't unlock the secret 'become a small filly' option, but you went the extra mile, congratulations." She pressed forward, nuzzling my hand like an affectionate cat. I gently returned the gesture, petting over her almost purring little body. "You really like your new you, don't you?"

"Love it." Silver Spoon pointed up at her face. "I can just be... nice, and, like, nobody thinks that's weird. I can be... touchy, and people think it's cute instead of horrifying." She reached up to adjust her glasses. "Even these add to me looking less... scary. I like not being scary."

Shining's brows fell together. "It's cute until you touch certain places."

Silver looked to me. "If you call dibs, I won't argue it." Her little eyes half-lidded. "You made me, pretty sure you can unmake it. High mistress, I will obey."

That was, perhaps, a bit too on the nose for god worship. "Obey this, if someone says no, that means no. Adult, filly, doesn't matter. You made your intent clear, and they turned it down." I tapped two clawed fingers together with a smirk. "Harassment is a serious thing, so let's not go down that road."

"Oh fine..." She glanced away and back at Shining. "I'd just like to be held by somepony with fingers. I want to be pet and massaged. I bet you give way better ones than most ponies could dream of." Her eyes were on his fingers, imagining what hedonistic pleasures they could bring.

"Dibs," I called with utter finality.

"Aw." Silver Spoon did turn away as commanded. "Going back on duty." She trotted off, little filly on patrol. She was still part of the guard force, despite her small stature.

"Strange filly." He pulled up a second chair to set next to me instead of trying to park himself on me. "I'm not into that pedo stuff, even if there's a technicality."

And yet, maybe she was... They were, by all definitions, over 21. I put the thought out of my mind. That wasn't my problem precisely. I flicked through the cameras to find Starlight. She was knocking on a door.

"Derek?" she called gently. "Wanna talk? Have you eaten today?"

The door opened an inch, permitting a mildly snouted face to peek out at her. "I think I need a bath."

Starlight blinked rapidly. "Well, I won't stop you from having one of those."

"My back!" Derek suddenly spat out. "How do I... god, I feel so useless."

"I suggest a shower." Starlight gently nudged the door. "If you like, I can help."

Derek backed up, allowing her to come in. "There aren't a lot of ways to help someone take a shower. All wet, so wet," he began to sing. "How do you help me, I don't know yet." He swallowed, stamping the urge to continue the song. "Seriously, what are you offering?"

Her horn glowed, grabbing a brush from the shower and yanking it over to float in her magic. "I can reach those scales. I'll give them a nice little brush, make them sparkle. Speaking of that, how do they feel?"

"Still itchy." He reached awkwardly to scratch at his own back. "Having... You know what, sure, fine." He reached for the door, slapping it with a cloven hoof to close before heading towards the shower. "A girl can watch another girl shower. That's not that strange."

Starlight trailed after him(?). "Oh, you're alright with being a girl now?"

"No... but it is what I am," she admitted. "Some hairy lady named Derek." She smirked a bit, stepping into the bathroom. "At least I got a handle on walking on hooves." She leaned left and right, testing that balance as her cloven hooves supported her. Starlight's eyes drifted to the displayed tail, still small, with a big tuft at the end and some fluff leading towards it.

"Why do you hide that?" she asked. "Your tail, I mean. It's... interesting." Starlight flicked her own. "Mine is basically just a waggy stick with straw on it. Yours is all... ornamented. I like it." She hurried forward, nipping at one of his dark brown fur tufts on his otherwise pale green furred legs. "Here too. Your fur is so... neat, for lack of better words."

She darkened, stepping into the shower. "I didn't ask for this," she sang, just to cough suddenly, avoiding finishing the ditty. "Seriously, I was happy as a normal human guy."

Shining leaned in from the side. "Are we going to watch her take a shower? Seems a bit skeevy."

Well, shoot. He wasn't wrong. I dismissed the view and leaned back a little, considering a moment before I turned, swiveling back to start typing busily. "Hey, HR Lady." Yes, I knew her name, and yes, I did say the words as I typed them. "How are things? I was just checking to see how things were going, any complaints I should know about? We're on the same team, so just checking in."

I could see her typing a reply on the chat program. "I'm just fine, recovered from your intensely illegal, if appreciated after the fact, surgery. Just to remind, operating on people without their consent, to speak nothing of your lack of medical license, could get you in a lot of trouble outside of the most dire emergency situation." Well, shoot... Why did people keep saying things I didn't like that were also annoyingly true? "I think morale is climbing slowly. Perhaps ironically, your presence has been a sign of stability. Besides, people didn't like your predecessor all that much. By the way, you are still authorized to fill work orders."

Ah, right, the work orders. "Any idea if there are any pending?"

"Always. We know you've been settling into your new position," came her typed reply. "But I'm HR, so that's outside my field of view. Reach out to warehousing and they'll be glad to get you a list of what needs restocking. Just remember, nothing that is applied to people or goes inside them, and you should be fine."

"You are just the best," I sang out as I typed it.

Shining put a hand on my shoulder. "Go on. You had a lot of fun when you were doing those."

Making things? I rated that a lot higher than admin work. "Oh, sure, pin my arm behind my back." I smirked as I got to typing out a request for a new list to work. "Does it bother you? I mean, my settling into corporate work with a little swan dive?"

"Girl, you were like this before you got the pelt." He reached under my chin, scratching gently just the way I liked it. "If I didn't like that part, I would have moved on way before now. You still owe me that concert though."

"Concert, One(1)," I read off as if it were on the upcoming invoice. "I didn't forget. As soon as we're allowed to, we're going to make that happen." A thought came to me, "Hey, since Derek has the song magic all deep inside, maybe they'll just like performing. As they settle in, we should check on that, maybe letting them give a show would cheer them up, and get us a little in-house concert."

"Clever," admitted Shining, nipping at my closer ear. "That won't count as the one you owe me. If my ears don't hurt at least a little from hundreds of people in a tight space, it isn't legit."

I typed a quick email to Starlight for her to notice later, bringing up the idea. Starlight had a closer look at Derek. She'd know if it was a horrible idea or not. How different things would have been if other doctors had just listened to her as she tried her best to do right by me.

"Now... you've finished your rounds?"

"Every one." He raised a finger to tap his horn. "One truck came in, on the schedule, I let it past. One of our pegasi tried to fly off, hit the wall."

I cringed at the mental image. "They alright?"

"Dizzy, but they didn't break anything," he assured. "They pulled him back inside and gave him a chastising."

"You are the best." I patted him on the shoulder. "Now, with our duties complete for the moment... How about we relax?"

"Listen to music relax, watch a movie and relax, or... relax relax." His brows waggled salaciously.

"That last one," I agreed, a sly smirk on my face as I casually plucked him up by the nape of the neck despite him being a fairly large hunk of a human-pony. "I feel certain we can while away a few hours."

"Just a few?" he sighed as if disappointed. "A quick session it is."

Note, he was a horrible liar. Like a real horse, if you let him, he was pretty fast with the main course, but, at least, he had a lot of other ways about it, and the follow up rounds got longer and longer. I wasn't left unsatisfied.

Starlight nodded appreciatively as the other pony rambled on and on. "That's a bit... dense."

Twilight inclined her head. "Oh, it is, sorry." She reached a hoof and her magic bridged the gap, bringing over a book. "But I need you to understand it, at least some of it. If only I can do it, not much has been proven. It's time to learn how to use your horn."

Starlight pointed up at hers. "I have. I'm a lot better at it than I used to be. Accident free for over a week!"

Twilight adjusted the red polo that covered her front. "Not the telekinesis. This goes further, and deeper. Look." She turned to an X-Ray on the wall of a unicorn's head, horn included. She brought a pointer in her magic, tapping at darker portions inside the horn. "These muscles allow us to control what's going on in there. Very specific motions can produce specific effects."

"But you still have something to prove," noted Starlight. "What is that?"

"I made a specific effect." She glanced over her shoulder towards Starlight. "If you can reproduce the same effect with the same internal effort, then we know it's not just a fluke. I think we're on the edge of something new, and fantastic. Magic, for lack of a better word for it. I may have discovered our first spell."

"That's great," gushed Starlight genuinely. "One thing, a tiny thing." Twilight was looking at her expectantly. "Why are you wearing that?"

Twilight looked down at her polo, then back up at Starlight. "I have no idea, but please, focus."

Derek's tail had grown longer, her legs and arms transitioned up to her torso. She scampered on two legs as often as four, but was currently seated on her haunches, looking at Starlight . "A friend?"

"Besides me," Starlight qualified. "A fellow convert to talk to. They'd like to meet you."

Derek brought her strong thighs together. "They won't make me clothes," she grumbled. "Not anymore."

"Because you're changing too quickly?" guessed Starlight.

"I'm not changing so fast a hospital gown wouldn't work," she spat, her voice sounding far more female than it had a few days before. "But when I get too... upset... I kind of light on fire, and the gowns don't like that. It's not fair!" Flames rushed over her form, fading out as quickly as it came, but if she had been wearing something...

"Well... he is a perfect gentlecolt, and changing just like you are. His eyes will be on yours, not anything past that unless you ask him to," Starlight gently assured. "Would you like to meet him? He has a horn too."

Derek smirked at that. "We are the horn club," she sang without trying before taking a soft breath and rising to all fours, the song continuing, sweeping Starlight right along into it so powerfully that both lost all track of time until they realized, at some point, a third person had joined them, a human male with a horn and hooves clearly of pony origin. He wore not a gown but a blue starry robe like a wizard that draped over his form.

Sunburst sat as the music died away. "Oh, um, hi!"

"Sunburst?" guessed Derek. He had announced it during the musical number, she remembered, gathering her wits back up. "Er, hey, why are you in my room?!" Her form exploded in fire and heat, a pool of it collecting just beneath her.

"You were singing and suddenly I was inside," he hastily explained. "I can go, if you want. I just wanted to say hi."

"Oh, yeah, hi." She crashed as the flames withered away. "Sorry, I'm... Ugh, this sucks, a lot. I'm turning into this... thing, and apparently I can mind control people? That's more than a little weird."

Starlight gestured at Sunburst. "This is Sunburst, that friend I was mentioning before. Neither of us are upset about a little song, are we Sunburst?"

"Huh? No! No..." He stroked his little beard with a hoof. "You remind me of a kirin."

Starlight and Derek both blinked at him. Derek pointed a cloven hoof at herself. "You know what I am?!"

"I'm... a little of a myth nut," he admitted with a shy smile, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "I'm a unicorn, but not a classic one. Myth unicorns look more like you, minus those tough scales. With the scales, kirin, I feel confident." He held out an arm, only the end of it fuzzy and sporting a hoof. "Proper unicorns have cloven hooves, like yours. And I don't usually have either one, but here I am."

Starlight smiled as she patted Derek on the shoulder. "Well, now we know what to call you, not that you weren't just fine without a name."

"Kirin." It was like Derek was tasting the word in her mouth. "I heard of those once before. Weren't they... magic? Like good magic." Her eyes were settled on Sunburst. "You're a myth nerd, tell me more. Make me happy to be a kirin."

Sunburst blinked owlishly behind his glasses. "Oh, well, Kirin hail from the east." He pointed a hoof in what he hoped was an Easterly direction. "They bring many things, good fortune, acting as heralds of coming good events, fertility, protection, and success."

Derek giggled at that. "Wow! I'm a good luck charm!" She looked happy, a big grin spilling her changing face. "That's kind of great. East? Like China?"

"Exactly," he quickly agreed, reaching to rub a hoof against his chest, though his chest was still entirely human and bare of fur, a fact he noticed when he did it. "Hooves are weird."

"You're telling me?" Derek shoved a cloven hoof in his face. "Check this out."

Sunburst brought up his hooves awkwardly to hold the hoof being shoved against him. "It's, um, fascinating." His eyes wandered past. "Oh, um..." He began to color, glancing away.

Starlight saw where his eyes had made contact. Derek had moderate breasts, but they were halfway down her chest, still in the act of migrating to where equines typically held them. She coughed into a hoof softly. "Your hooves are perfectly fine."

"And strange." Derek set her hoof back down, covering the view somewhere with her arms back in the way of it and none the wiser for what she had shown off. "So... you got the Ponid too? Sorry, sucks."

"It's not, uh, all bad." He rubbed one hoof along the trim of his cloak. "I was a... It isn't like an... alien thing. On some levels, it's really kind of exciting." He looked skywards. "Starlight tells me, eventually, my horn will start working and I really will get magic." His tension seemed to ebb, thinking about future magic. "I can't wait."

Starlight gestured at Sunburst. "Oh, something else, Derek. Just in case you're feeling too strange. Sunburst here had his name come to him on the first day. Can you imagine that? All he had was changed eyes and a new name."

Sunburst blushed at being called out, but also didn't deny it. "I liked it..."

Starlight stepped over and touched her nose into his human cheek. "That was very brave of you. You must have been so confused, I can only picture it." She turned towards Derek. "You'll get a name too."

"I hope it's a good one." Derek raised a hind hoof suddenly, batting at one of her new fuzzy ears. "I like Derek."

Sunburst inclined his head. "If it's like me, you'll know it when it comes to you, it'll fit... If it doesn't fit, nobody's forcing it on you. So, uh, you light on fire. Kirin are known for their elemental connections, but not typically..." He frowned, plumbing the depths of old knowledge. "No, wait, breathing holy fire is on the--"

"--holy fire?" cut in Derek. "That is... metal." She sounded pleased.

Starlight started for the door. "You two seem to be getting along just fine. Call me if you need me, but I should get on." The two waved as she departed and she fled with a little smile, confident the two were getting along famously.

I patted a closed box. "All done." Another batch of lab supplies, down! "You were saying?"

Starlight nodded, eyes wandering over the piles of things I had assembled. "Kirin, that's what Sunburst said she was becoming, and she liked it, so I logged that as a species name suggestion, and it was accepted. So, ta da, she's a kirin."

I leaned against the pile of boxes lightly. "You look satisfied. Everything going great?"

She was perfectly happy to go over the details, which I already shared with you. "You weren't watching?"

"I don't watch you all the time, Starlight." I reached for her, gently stroking her soft mane. Ponies were so pettable, and when they liked you, it felt good for them too, so win win there. Soon she was almost purring like a cat as I worked her with my claws. "I trust you."

"I appreciate that," she sighed out, leaning against the petting and scratching. "Really, I do... You have every right to keep an eye on me, and my patients, but..."

"Been on the receiving end of that," I huffed. "I trust you'll let me know if I'm needed really badly, but mostly, I let people handle themselves. You're not prisoners, you're all... we're all patients, as I liked to remind no few times." I crossed my arms under my chest. "I'm not reversing that the instant I get a taste of power."

"Good!" She stuck out her tongue a little. "Oh, little thing... but if Derek is comfy being a girl, which I think she's becoming, she may end up doing... things... with Sunburst. Sunburst is a guy, and awkward, but also easily pushed into things. If she gets aggressive, I doubt he'll resist for long."

That brought a thought to me. "Hey, but have we had any pregnancies? I mean, we're not the randiest bunch out there, but we're far from puritans either, overall, through the lab." I raised a hand, a finger twirling. "There are natural consequences and the orders for condoms are nowhere near enough to explain it."

Starlight coughed into a hoof. "I don't remember wearing one..." She glanced away and back. "I didn't really think about that."

"We're both exactly the people that should be thinking about that," I challenged. "Now, I could cheat, but I don't... think I would."

"Again?" Starlight hiked a brow at me. "You have the power of a god, but don't use it so often."

"I was never a mother before... I'd want to experience it, properly." I moved to perch myself on a seat. "All the ups and downs, then probably just not do it again."

"Just... not do it again?" Starlight trailed after me. "I guess you could just make that decision, but it's still strange to hear... and a little sexy." She licked over her lips. "So, stupid request time you'll probably shoot right down."

"Yeah?" I watched her squirm with some question in her head, probably salacious. I'd learned to tune out thoughts without needing big headphones, which was good. I didn't want to hear what she was thinking all the time.

"I'd like you to do it." She looked me up and down. "Shining Armor is great, don't get me wrong. I like him a lot, but I want your foal. If I'm not already occupied, I'd want you to... do it."

Well, shoot. I really should have seen that coming, without mind magic. She had basically mentioned that before. It wasn't like I didn't have the power... "I wouldn't fast forward you either," I warned.

"Then we'll do it together," she brushed off. "Besides, I happen to enjoy a little pain delivered by somepony I like, and I happen to like you quite a bit, so, go ahead, make me uncomfortable." Starlight's eyes half-lidded. "Make me cry, I'll thank you afterwards."

I knew she was a well balanced adult female, and she was perfectly happy to roll over and surrender entirely to me. I reached out, scratching her cheek fluff just the way she liked it. "I could never hurt you, Starlight."

"Not directly," she sang in defiance. "But you will, and I'm ready. As was mentioned before, natural consequences. I just want to choose mine..."

There was an easy way to pause that, and I took it. "You're not in heat. Unlike a human woman, we can't just 'keep trying' and hope for the best."

"That's half the fun," she groused. "Besides, you could, snap, make me so in heat I literally competed with Derek for combustion levels."

I could do that... "But you have work to do, and you waddling around with a lady boner that won't quit sure won't help with that."

"It'd be hilarious... but no," she admitted, though it looked like she didn't want to admit that. "Well, fine, then next time we get two days off in a row, first day, you set me on fire, then we spend the rest of it dousing me down, hard." She licked over her lips meaningfully. "Then I go to work with a satisfied smile that'll have everypony asking questions."

"There is literally no way of doing this without Shining noticing."

She raised a brow. "So tell him? A healthy poly relationship requires honesty. You're letting him knock you up. You're knocking me up. Everyone's involved! One big poly family." She threw her hooves wide. "No secrets. Secrets make it all awkward. You need me to tell him? I will, don't test me!" she said as if she was threatening to shoot a hostage, a grin on her face.

I gently, but firmly, pushed her back. "I'll talk to him, promise. Still, seriously, you want to be plowed by a magical horse dong?"

"Yes?" she replied without a hint of hesitation. "It doesn't have to be a horse. You can be whatever you want. Experiment. It'll be fun for both of us." She turned and started trotting off. "Back to work for me," she sang as she went, looking happier than when she had come in.

I let her go, watching her trot away, considering what she was promising. Damn crazy woman, she wanted me to become a mom and a dad simultaneously, while running an entire crazy secret facility. And also crazy sex. Lots of that. Shoot.

I hated that I didn't immediately have a no on my lips.

"So, uh..." Sunburst rubbed his cheek with a hoof. "You were a normal person, like me, right?"

"Was," agreed Derek. "Now I'm shrinking, and all fuzzy everywhere." She moved a cloven hoof to rub at a furry arm. "And, hey, just to make it worst, I stopped being a guy." She half-lidded her eyes. "Is Derek a name that works for a girl?"

"Not really," he admitted with an awkward smile, adjusting his glasses. "Oh... do you think that'll happen to me too?"

"Hope not," she said before even noticing the tone she said it with, blushing and pushing that emotion far away. "Maybe? You'll still be you, right?"

"We'll both be here," Sunburst promised, reaching to put a hoof on her shoulder, then noticing something. "You're warm."

"Huh?"

"No, really." He let the hoof run down her arm. "You're warm, really warm. Curious. Do you feel cold?"

"Why would I feel cold? You just finished saying I was hot..." She hiked a brow at him, peering.

"Well, if you're warming, everything else should feel cooler, you know, relatively." He shrugged at that, his cloak flowing in the motion. "Sorry, not trying to bother you." He suddenly sniffled, reaching to grab a tissue. He was still in the mild stages of Ponid.

She was much further along and took the prompt to grab a tissue herself, or try. "How did you manage that with hooves?" she challenged, bits of flame wafting over her as she tried to get a better grip.

He clapped his hooves together, trapping a tissue between and raising it up. He held it in front of her and she buried her face into it, blowing a big nasty blob into it. "Oh... thanks," she sighed, sitting back with her flames dying away, the frustration ebbing with her less clogged nose. "Seriously, how?"

He looked to his hooves and waved one at her. "If you press them flat and imagine you still have fingers, inside, and clench them real tight, they can stick to things."

"Huh?" She reached out a cloven hoof and rubbed it against the topmost tissue, slowly working it out. "Hey, you're right. That's a great trick!" She grabbed the next one, wrenching it free, even if it just ended up fluttering to the ground. "I saw you looking, by the way."

He blinked rapidly. "Saw me looking at what?" he asked, nervousness rising.

"Me." Derek leaned in a little. "You're a guy, lucky you. You checked out the goods... I would have too, if I was a guy..." She raised a hoof to roll it. "God, what, am I supposed to look at guys like that? What do you even look for? How big their bulge is?"

"I... uh... Starlight probably could answer that far better than I could... sorry." He rubbed at his beard softly. "Why are you getting longer?" he chastised it.

"Hm? The goatee? Good look." She nodded softly before she realized she had stepped in it again, glancing away.

"Thanks," he accepted without realizing anything at play, an innocent boy. "I really like your tail." She colored, and that he noticed. "I mean, it's... neat."

"Yeah," she allowed, glancing at it. "It is kind of neat, isn't it." She rose up to her hooves. "Look, glad we met, really, maybe tomorrow? Today, a nap is calling me."

"Am I going to get that bad?" He stood up, taking a step towards the door. "I hear Ponid gets really rough."

"You have no idea." She hopped up onto her bed, watching him go. "See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." He gently shut the door behind himself. He had made a new friend. "That... went well."

"Well?" Twilight leaned forward with an expectant expression. "How are you coming along?"

"I have the first ones worked out." She concentrated, Starlight's horn glowing, that glow shifting in subtle ways. "A... B... C!" She said each part as the glow shifted. "Ta da?"

"Perfect. That's the first part down." Twilight nodded firmly. "Now that you have those, do it."

"It?"

"The spell." Twilight slapped a pointer at a hanging piece of paper that read, 'A C C A B'. "Nice and quickly. Doing it slowly causes nothing to happen but wasted time. While you play that, focus on this." She levitated a pencil over. With a loud wooden snap, she broke the pencil in half and placed it down, the two halves pressed against one another, but clearly still broken.

Starlight looked at the letters there, playing the magic letter A, then C, then back to A. "Alright, so... It'll put it back together?" Twilight hadn't told her that, but the broken pencil seemed like a hint. "Let's give it a try." She took a slow breath. "This'll be nice, if it works." She began to play the notes of magic, unheard of outside the gentle usual hum of unicorn magic.

The pencil began to shake and quiver. Then went still. "Did I do it wrong?" Starlight looked up from it to Twilight, who looked like she was holding in a joke. "Did I miss something?"

"Oh, nothing..." Twilight's magic brought over a mirror for Starlight to see.

Starlight squeaked at what she saw, a hoof rising quickly to her mane. "What did you do?!"

"Just a little spell, and you did it, technically," she coyly defended. "Still, it worked!" She brought her hooves together in a rousing clopping. "It worked! Starlight, do you know what this means?!"

"It means you will get my mane the right color right now or I will be cross with you, Twilight." Her magic grabbed Twilight by the scruff of the neck, yanking her closer. "Now."

"Hey hey hey... relax." Twilight gently pushed back at her irate friend. "It'll wear off on its own in a few minutes. Still, the effect is exactly what I experienced when I found the spell, which is important. Same spell, different pony, same effect, which is vital. Entirely, 100%, vital. Magic, we have magic." She giggled with growing excitement. "Actual magic."

Starlight's eyes fell at a flash. Adorning Twilight's flanks were new marks. "Hey, yo, Twilight. You... feeling alright?"

"Never better," she sighed out, taking a deep breath. "Huh, my cold wore off."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "That was the lingering effects of Ponid, which you were holding onto for record amounts of time, and you just threw off with the arrival of--" She grabbed Twilight's head in her magic and turned it carefully to see. "--that." She pointed for emphasis.

Twilight blinked at the sight of her mark. "Oh! Like yours." She coiled on herself. "Stars? Mmm." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Magic? I was... celebrating our achievement with magic. It's magic, or science, or collaborative achievement!" She squinted in thought. "There are multiple stars arrayed around the center. That collaborative element seems even more likely." She unwound, smiling at Starlight brightly. "Still, we did it!"

"We did do it," Starlight echoed, not as manically excited. "Next time, tell me the truth of what spell I'm practicing though if you want me to be a happy participant. I will sic Eri on you." I did hear that. It was hard to avoid hearing when people were speaking of me specifically. "And invite her to be creative."

"I promise." Twilight rose and trotted towards a book. "Now I just need to start finding other spells, confident that they can be replicated. Oh! We should try sharing the spell we do know to others." She looked over her shoulder at Starlight. "You have contact with many more unicorns, share the spell? It's harmless, making it great for a first spell."

Starlight peered at the reflection of her discolored mane. "Mostly harmless... But I will tell them what to expect at least. I will not lose trust in patients for your cause, Twilight. And you shouldn't want that either."

"That wasn't the intention." Twilight waved it away. "It was a practical joke, with a friend I trust."

Starlight smiled a little. "Well, if that was the intention... I can accept it as that. It is a little funny, now that I know it'll wear off." She reached out and booped Twilight. "But not a joke I will be repeating."

"Not angry anymore?" She smiled a little nervously.

"Aw, no." She wrapped a leg over Twilight and pulled her in. The two shared a nice friendly hug a moment before Starlight slid back. "Keep me posted, and no sharing spells until you throw it past me. Depending on what you find, we may not want some of those spells ever being shared." I could imagine a few spells that sharing around the lab would cause all kinds of trouble.

The question was if there was a limit to it. There was no limit to me, but I wasn't a unicorn, so there was only one of me, thank goodness, right? Unicorns we had a lot of, so if they had a worrying spell, we could get into a lot of trouble really quickly. Starlight was doing things right by keeping it quiet until they were sure it was safe.

I'd agree with her, later. For that moment, I had gotten myself distracted, and Starlight was not talking about me, so tuning back in wasn't something that happened by accident. I respected her privacy enough to not tune back in. She did tell me later what happened though.

"I keep shrinking!" huffed Derek, tail lashing. "Why aren't you shrinking as much?"

Sunburst turned a hoof on himself, the fur going all the way up to his shoulder, his hind legs equally changed. He had progressed to the point that he could sit on his haunches, which he was doing. "I am shrinking," he assured. "But, I'm told, males shrink a bit less than females, and you were a guy to start, so..."

"So there's more shrinking to do," she huffed, flames licking as if she were ready to combust, but she was fighting it. "Still unfair." Her horn began to glow as she grabbed a tissue from a box from across the room and it flew towards her needy nose.

"Hey." Sunburst's eyes followed the glowing napkin. "Since when could you do that?"

"Huh?" She dropped the napkin out of surprise. "Woah." She pointed at it and raised her hoof, the napkin coming with the motion, glowing again. "Cool..."

Sunburst began to clap softly. "Congratulations!" Then he sneezed, barely having enough time to turn his face away from Derek before it happened. "Really..." He staggered to grab a tissue for himself. "Oh, man, Ponid sucks."

"I'll drink to that." Not that either of them were drinking. "I think I'm gonna... pass out."

"Good idea."

She hopped up onto her bed and curled there. The bed jostled lightly as another form hopped on it and thumped down into a curl next to her. "Silly boy," she sang out. "Don't you have your own bed?"

"My bed is all the way over there," he said through a sniffle. "G'night."

"Good night..." She didn't have the heart to chase him away. Besides, it felt kinda nice to have him there, pressed against her back. She closed her eyes with a little smile. Sleep buddies!

"Guess who has two days off," sang Starlight, her tail wagging behind her as she grinned down at me.

I was in bed. Shining was next to me. We had both been waken up by her sudden arrival when she had just pounced on me. "Starlight, good morning." I took off the sleeping mask I hadn't been wearing. "But I don't have the next two days off."

Shining was laughing and getting to his hooves. Without really thinking about it, he scratched the agitated Starlight behind her ear. "Girl, you are thirsty as hell. Tell her when your schedules match up so she can be put out of her misery."

I reached out a fuzzy hand, my schedule zipping across the room to be caught easily. "Well, let's see." I sat up, a pouting Starlight in my lap. "I don't see any matches this month."

"Take--" She thumped me in the chest. "A--" She leaned forward, bonking her forehead against mine. "Day--" She inclined her head, forcing mine when our horns met and she kept going. "--Off."

Shining's hand came down, rubbing around the horn that wasn't in contact with Starlight's. "You better do what she says, doesn't sound like she's ready to take a no."

"And you're too scared to make me say no, so, pfft, you're stuck with opinions you don't want." She reared back, hoof at her chest. "I am being naughty, and you won't discipline me, so there. Take a damn day off, make it match one of your day offs with one of mine. Do it!" She thrust a hoof at me. "Do. It."

I grabbed her, right at her hips. My fingers pressed into her warm flesh, feeling the powerful muscles of her legs as I rubbed gently along her cutie mark. Her eyes half-lidded, a little smile on her lips. "Are you that desperate to have a weekend under me?" She bobbed her head without delay. "Ugh." It wasn't as if I didn't get time off. I could request one basically any time, being the guy near the top of things.

But I was used to not being that, of giving people proper notice, a few weeks ahead of time... "You have another weekend... In two weeks. I'll schedule my time off to match with that. How's that?"

Oh the mighty rolling of her eyes. "And, today, you're telling me to buzz off."

"Oh, no." I gently pushed her aside to be sitting on the bed as I floated right out of it. "You're quite welcome to hang out with us, but we have work to do. Shining, you up for a Belgium breakfast?" I drew a plate piled high with exotic cheeses, my other hand bearing a platter of freshly baked bread. "Mmm, fresh."

So she was denied fun times, but she got to eat some good food, and hung out with us as we got back to work.

Speaking of that! I had a visitor not long afterwards. "Hiya!" chimed a smiling Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Bloom nodded as she walked into my office. "Nice to see you again."

Coming last, but not least, Scootaloo came flying through the door, her little wings beating in a blur that propelled her forward. "Yo!" She hit the ground at an angle, skidding to a stop. "I have-a question!" The other two blinked, looking to her, apparently not part of the plan.

Scootaloo pointed at the other two. "Why are they so weird?"

The other two gasped in shock, but I had a more neutral smile. "What makes them so strange, Scootaloo?"

"They hug and they kiss all the time." Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "I mean, I get it. They were adults before... all this." She waved her hooves vaguely. "I wasn't. Am I gonna hug and kiss and stuff when I grow up? 'Cause, no thanks."

I had to fight the urge to laugh. Adults were pretty odd, when you thought about it, especially from the eyes of a small child, er, foal. "Scootaloo, just to be sure, they never bother you with that mushy stuff, right?"

Scootaloo inclined her head. "What? No! We wouldn't be friends otherwise." She waved it off. "They only do that stuff with each other... all the time. They don't try to get me in it, 'cause they know I ain't interested." She half turned, showing off her wings. "I have these bad boys and they're pretty great, especially with the scooter you gave me!" She pointed at the scooter that she had one arm draped around. "Love this thing, by the way. I can go so fast!"

Speaking of that... "While I can undo the damage you cause right around me, most people don't have that advantage, so crashing through doors into offices, maybe tone that down." I held up two fingers close together. "In return, I'll ask they keep their wild displays of adoration a bit down, hm?" I looked to Sweetie and Apple.

Apple huffed, crossing her arms as she stood up. "You just had ta ask!"

Sweetie nodded in agreement. "We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Scoots."

"Yer our friend," added Apple with a smile.

"Our best friend!" gushed Sweetie in strong agreement.

Scoots rubbed behind her head. "I know that... I just... wanted an outside opinion." She made a grand wave. "Alright, go ahead."

Sweetie advanced a step towards me, clearing her throat. "That matter settled, we all wanted to talk about something that's actually related."

"Too related," noted Apple Bloom with a bit of a squint. "It's about that guard."

"Silver Spoon," added Scootaloo. "She takes their weird and dials it to 11."

Sweetie coughed into a hoof. "She is different than us by a few... key... points."

Apple leaned forward. "You made her, didn't you?"

"I did," I agreed. "Did I mess something up?"

"Ya sure did," quickly snapped Apple Bloom. "She's got all the parts."

"The ones we don't have," added Sweetie.

Scootaloo shrugged lightly. "They were stupid parts anyway."

I didn't like which way the conversation was going. "I want you three to be absolutely honest with me. I am not angry at you, and nobody will be able to bother you without my say so. This aside, what, exactly, did Silver Spoon do."

Sweetie Bloom shook a hoof in the air. "Woah, hey, adult here, remember? If she was... molesting any of us, I would have filed a report ages ago."

Apple's face twisted into disgust, and Scootaloo looked adorably ignorant. "Sure woulda!" Apple cried in agreement. "It ain't that."

Well, alright. "Good, so what is she doing?"

Sweetie glanced sidelong towards Scootaloo with Apple following the look, the Blooms of one mind. I got the hint. "Scoots, could you let us talk boring adult stuff? There are a few tax forms I really wanted their help with."

"Taxes?" Scootaloo stuck out her tongue in repugnance. "No thanks. How long's that gonna be?"

"Oh, you know, taxes can take a while. I'll send them to find you. Where will you be?"

She thrust a hoof downwards. "I'll be in the game room, unless Silver's there." And off she went, powering herself on her buzzing wings.

Sweetie wiped her brow clear. "Alright. I love her to pieces, but this isn't appropriate talk for fillies."

Apple nodded in agreement. "Darn tootin'. Alright, Silver. She isn't doin' anythin' wrong with us, not really. She's even kinda fun to play with, but whenever an adult is around she fancies..."

Sweetie's brows fell. "She isn't subtle."

Images leaped into my head. Legally, Silver was an adult playing the part. She had a social security belonging to an adult citizen. She had a career path! She... was also a little filly pony, which threw all legal precedent right out the window. "Now, wait... She's still potentially infectious. Are people looking back at her?"

Apple shook her head. "None of the still human ones, thank Celestia."

Sweetie shook her head in unison. "That'd be something else... No, but she does give stallions looks, and some of them aren't entirely put off by her... small stature."

Well, shoot, I'd messed up. I gave Silver exactly what she wanted, and she was using it. She a pony loli, and she liked it, and it was my fault. Crap... I had to do something, but what would be the right thing to do... What law was being broken? Well, none, technically... Who was she hurting? It was... her body...

I let out a slow breath. "As offensive as it may be... she isn't... actually doing a thing wrong. She is the child we would be protecting, and she's old enough to give informed consent... which she's doing. Pressing past that is me telling an adult who and where they can do things, and..."

"She's doin' it on the clock," noted Apple Bloom, brows lowered.

Well, that changed things. "We'll talk then. That is improper behavior for any member of the facility, on duty. I'm not here to police your off hours, but..."

Sweetie nodded. "Please? We don't want to be mean. Like we said, she isn't all bad. She's even kinda fun, when she isn't thinking about that stuff." She flumped down onto her haunches. "If you ever make a young pony, be sure to take away the parts, like ponid does."

The Blooms trotted off together, their sides touching the height of their lewd tendencies.

I had a Silver to write up.

Derek opened her eyes with a wide yawn, stretching and noticing something was off quickly as her legs pushed into something laying half on top of her. She twisted her neck and saw it, er, him. Sunburst was laying on top of her, his face nestled into her side as if he had been nuzzling her ribs.

She took a slow breath, thoughts racing. There he was, more pony than ever before. He had shown no signs of becoming less stallion, more of it, in fact. Her eyes darted over him, noting he still wore that wizardly getup, and that was literally it. He had embraced the nudity-taboo absent lifestyle of ponydom. Being half under him, her eyes could see that he was a stallion.

He was even enjoying a bit of mid-sleep action. She licked over her lips and squirmed a bit, looking away from that. She was a guy! Why was she even looking at that? "Sunburst," she whispered harshly. "Wake up!"

"Mmm?" He reached both hooves around her, hugging her close and nuzzling in. "Mmm, so warm..."

She didn't feel warm, to herself, but that sorta made sense. It wasn't fair... She huffed, a bit of flames tickling at her mane. "Sunburst, you are a friend, and I don't want to set you on fire. I am doing my best to remain calm. Wake up."

"Hmmph?" His sleepiness was interrupted with a sudden hoof applied to his face. He jerked back, squeaking on his way to fall off the side of the bed in a pile. "Ow." His face popped back up over the edge. "Um, hey."

"Hey yourself." She rolled upright and sat up. "Stupid stallion."

"What'd I do?" He climbed back up onto the bed, yawning softly. "Feel better?"

"No." She smiled a little. "But a little less tired at least." She reached out to prod him on the noose, booping. "You know what it's like."

"Yeah," he miserably allowed. "Hey, you know you can order in, right?"

"What?"

"Like a hotel." He half climbed over her, grabbing the phone receiver stuck to his hoof. "You just have to call and ask and they'll bring most stuff."

"You are absolutely shitting me," she sang out melodically, her smile deepending. "There must be some hidden fee," she continued the song, rhyming without noticing. "You sit there giving casual glee, it makes me want to go on a shopping spree!"

"I would never lie to you. My adoration awaits no further proof." He was singing too, drawn along by her tune into the melody awkwardly. "Hello, yes please. I would like twoooo." Unheard, the person answering joined the song, managing a perfect rhyme. "Thank you," he sang, slamming down the receiver before noticing something, the magic fading. "What did I just order?"

Derek sat up, rubbing behind her head with a hoof. "I don't know, but you ordered two, so we both get one."

He laughed at that, nudging the kirin on the shoulder. "You have me under your spell."

"You don't sound that torn up about it." She stuck out her tongue a little, considering the stallion. Why was he so gosh darn cute?! "I need your honest opinion."

"Huh, oh, sure, always." He bobbed his head. "What's on your mind?"

"When you look at me." She turned a cloven hoof at herself. "What do you see? No thinking about it."

"Thank you for coming." Twilight trotted towards her fellow unicorn. "Starlight mentioned your horn was just starting to show signs of activity."

"And I wanted him to learn from one of the best," noted Starlight, who was already there, seated.

"Stop that." She waved it away as she leaned to the side. "You have no mark yet."

His eyes followed her eyes to his rump. "Um, oh, the picture?" He adjusted his glasses as he peeked at the two mares in the room who both did have a picture on their rump. "Not yet. They represent what you're good at, right? Hope it's something to do with magic."

Twilight raised a hoof high. "Then the first thing you need is to attain mastery with the basic functionality of your horn. Without that, you'll never realize your magical potential. Now, this will not be easy." She shook her head. "But it will be rewarding." She reached suddenly, adjusting his glasses for him. "Are you prepared?"

He squeaked, backing away from the hoof at his glasses. "Yes! I mean, that's why I came here. Please, show me how to do it."

"We will start with the easy things, move on to telekinesis, and, if you're still ready, your first spell." She brought together her forehooves in an excited clopping. "I can't wait!"

"Neither can I!" he quickly joined, looking to Starlight. "Thanks for bringing me here. I wasn't allowed to leave my floor."

"I have a bit of an 'in' with the head noodle around here." She polished a hoof on her chest. "Told her what I was doing and she was all for it, so we got things straightened out nice and fast."

"Well, thank you!" He looked back to Twilight. "What's the first--" He didn't get to finish his words, her magic glowing about his horn. "Huh?" She manipulated something inside, poked a muscle he never knew he had. "Woah!" His horn began to glow a different color, his magic and hers competing for space. "What's going on?"

"You've felt this before." Twilight inclined her head as her magic poked at the strange internal muscle. "I'm just letting you feel what's in charge of this. Flex that for me--perfect." Her magic withdrew from him. "When you get it down, you'll be able to start glowing on demand."

"The first spell is light, of course. Of course..." He smiled a bit, looking up as his horn as it glowed and stopped, testing its ability. "Can I change its color?"

"Mmm? No." Twilight shook her head. "I'm still working to unearth other spells, but I haven't found one to create light outside of whatever color your horn's shape creates by merit of its physicality." She reached up and tapped beside her own. "For now, we all have one color."

"It's still light, and I'm making it," he admitted with obvious wonder in his voice. "Thank you!"

"I knew you two would get along." Starlight clopped softly. "Speaking of that, you and Derek, how are things going?"

"Well..."

"I see a confused person," he got out quickly.

She skewed an ear at that. "Really, that's your first impression?"

"Well, you are... You're also nice, and I like being around you. We like a lot of the same stuff." He tapped his hooves together. "I actually... really like your songs."

Her cheeks lit on fire, literally. "You do?! I mean, man, they make you do things. You're just saying what you think I want you to say." She took a step towards him, her features awash in flames, becoming fully a Nirik. "Tell me the truth!"

"Even if you take my thoughts away, you won't chase me off today," he rhymed, trying to capture that elusive song magic.

It wasn't terribly effective, but Derek felt the urge to follow it despite that. "I'm on fire, confused desire. You don't know what, sit down, shut up!" she said in more of a rap than a song, advancing on him. "I'm throwing down rhymes, it's about time, you listened for a second, you got a moment to reckon." She thrust a cloven hoof at him, burning and thumping him, knocking him backward onto his haunches.

"I'm on fire," she repeated, louder. "Confused desire" She stalked around him, heat washing away from her. If the bed was not fire proofed, it would have long ago given up to the abuse. "Sittin' there with a big horse dick, has me thinking, what a prick..."

"Check out this chick," he got out quickly. "Fire's getting thick. That thing ain't a control stick. I like her even if she's homesick."

"And I kinda blacked out," he admitted. "I think we rapped at each other for a while... Next thing I knew, we were hugging. She's..."

"Warm?" proposed Starlight with a wry smile.

"Yeah," he admitted with a silly smile. "But when she came to, she shoved me away and asked me to leave, so I did... she's, uh, going through a lot. I understand that."

"She was a guy," reminded Starlight. "She hasn't forgotten that. You're a big threat to her identity." She lifted an ear. "Speaking of that, you're alright with her having been a guy not even a month ago?"

"Uh..." He worried his hooves together. "She is what she is. What she was... doesn't matter, unless she says it does. I didn't have hooves a month ago, and she likes them now, am I going to hold that against her?"

Twilight's magic flicked his horn. "Keep practicing," she prodded more verbally. "You need complete control of your light before we advance to the next stage."

Starlight snickered at that. "We, Twilight and I, had to figure it out on our own. Now that she knows more, she's not taking anything but the most effective path. You're a cruel teacher, Twilight."

"It's for his own good," she defended, huffing. "As interesting as hearing of your social issues, we're here to learn magic, not establish your romantic life."

"I do appreciate it." He resumed the soft glow, seeming to have somewhat of a better grip on its control. "Sorry, Starlight asked, and I didn't want to not answer her."

"And that's perfectly fine, so long as you keep practicing." Twilight crossed her arms, a hoof bouncing in the air. "I'm eager to have another student with enough skill to attempt spells with. So many of the ones we've tried have no particular aptitude or desire. I don't even understand it. How can you resist magic?!"

"Beats me," he admitted. "Magic? Sign me up! Well, I already signed up, I suppose." He let out a soft breath. "I'm getting a little tired, up there. Can I have a little break?"

Twilight groaned with impatience. "Fine... But as soon as you've caught your--"

Starlight's hoof came down between them. "Twilight, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but let's not chase away our first eager student. Sunburst, head on back to your room, practice as you can, and we'll come back when you have light mastered. Sound good?" She glanced between the two.

Sunburst nodded easily. "Sure thing. Twilight?"

"I suppose," she allowed less eagerly. Her magic wrapped around a book and brought it towards him. "Here are a collection of meditations I have found to be effective at increasing your stamina. It's surprisingly on point for unicorns, though the author had no idea one would be using their techniques."

"Huh, what are the odds?" He grabbed the book between his forehooves and slipped it into a big pocket of his cape. "Thank you. I'll head back."

Starlight waved, letting him go, then looking to Twilight. "Unicorns are people first, Twilight."

"I know that," she sighed. "But I'm so eager to advance!"

"For now... help each unicorn we have learn the basics. Get their light working, get their telekinesis working. No spells there, and everyone seems able to do it, when shown how." Starlight bobbed her head slowly. "And don't push them. See where they go. If they want more, they'll ask you." She looked towards the door Sunburst vanished through. "Pretty sure he'll want what you're selling, Twilight. Relax."

"I'm not selling anything," she huffed defensively. "But, yes, he did seem eager to learn more about the workings of magic. I don't understand how anypony would not be, but at least his head is on straight. I can't wait to show him a proper spell." She began tapping her hooves together, a silly smile on her face.

"He's looking forward to it too," Starlight assured, rising to her hooves. "So look forward to that. Speaking of, Sweetie Bloom wanted to learn how to perform basic unicorn functions. She has light going, but telekinesis is a bit slower going."

"I'll have her floating things in no time," assured Twilight, hoping it would go beyond that. "She's an adult, right?"

"Despite her size, yes." Starlight softly shrugged. "But I don't think you'll insult her by treating her as a filly, unless you want her to not do something specifically because she's a kid. She can make her own decisions."

"And one of those was to mention she needed help with her horn." Twilight inclined her head. "Excellent decision! Who knows, maybe she'll really be into magic..."

"We can hope." Starlight trotted off, leaving Twilight to consider lesson plans and machinations for the future.

"What... is that?" Silver Spoon's face was a blend of curiosity, disgust, and horror. Her tail lashed behind her as she cocked a brow at it. "Like... who messed up bad enough to need one of those?"

I gestured at them. "These are pants, and they are now mandatory clothing for all ponid-infected members of the faculty." I reached over to the pony-shaped doll and clicked closed the buckle. It beeped.

"It... beeped. Like, what?" She inclined her head at it. "This isn't funny! What's the deal?"

Starlight suddenly leaned against me. "Only adults..." She trailed off, frowning. "Actually, nocreature is allowed to be stuffed while on duty."

Silver thrust a hoof at Starlight. "Then where's yours?!"

Starlight's ears wilted and she looked to me for reprieve. But... "You're getting one too. You're faculty, you're ponid-infected. When you're on the clock, you should not need to be doing anything down there." Ah, right. "Important note, it will let you take them off in the bathroom stalls. We're not trying to torture you."

"Kinky," noted Silver, her eyes dropping to half-mast.

"Silver," I practically shouted at her. "Look... You're making things awkward, for me, for a lot of other ponies. You're enjoying your new body, great, fantastic even. At least keep it off the clock. There are basically zero jobs I know of where that's alright."

Silver nodded at the metal shorts. "Like, fine, but you could ask first?"

"You didn't ask?" Starlight was gaping at me. Crap, I was the bad guy.

"I didn't think of that," I lamely defended. "Alright, consider this a final warning. Be good, or everyone gets a nice set of security-enabled shorts." I hiked a thumb at the display model. "Okay?"

Silver half turned away from it, tail flicking. "Fine, whatever! I can keep it in the pants I don't want to wear while I'm on the job." She raised a brow of the eye closer to me, the one fixing on me. "You made me this way, and I like it, alright? Speaking of that... You do know I'm not against--"

"Nope! You stop that right there." I held up both arms in an X formation. "I am in a faithful bond. Sure, we may be poly, but we're a closed group."

Starlight shook her head at Silver. "Glad it works for you, but I'm really not into... little kids, even if they have adult brains. Alright, that all settled, going back on patrol."

I let her trot away, my eyes on Silver. "We all clear?"

"Crystal." She reached up and fiddled with her glasses a bit. "Don't be a jerk... You gave me something wonderful, I want to like you."

I reached to gently tap her nose. "That goes both ways." I felt her tongue dab my hand and she turned, trotting off.

Ugh, I created a lolita.

So, there I was, prancing, bouncing, pronking? I was jumping and singing. I could see the notes escaping me as I just let it all out in joy. I was... so happy. The world around me was... so pretty, I can't even... It was like it was singing back to me, welcoming me. Like it was me, and I was it, and it just made me sing louder and louder.

There weren't any other ponies around, or kirin, or anything but some birds that tweeted along with me, oh, and some squirrels! I stopped and spread my hooves and they just scurried up onto my arms. They weren't scared of me. Heck... I think they mighta sang with me too? Not words, they could only squeak and stuff, but they did it along with me, and I was so happy, so I sang back. Everything was just right.

Then a pony showed up. At first I thought they were another kirin, their horn emerging from the bushes, but it was all straight, not like mine, you know, curved and striped and stuff. Kirin have better horns, sorry, just the truth of things. Aw, don't look like that, so anyway, this other pony comes closer...

Huh? No, I didn't recognize them. They definitely did not look anything like you... Anywho, they met my eyes and the song... stopped. I swallowed heavily as they circled around me. "Sweetest of Autumns," he whispered as he went. "You could light on fire, but you already have, a blaze, right here." They raised a hoof to their own chest. "Autumn Blaze, I am ready to throw myself on your pyre, to be consumed entirely."

Don't look at me like that! It was a dream! I'm not normally so poetic, you know that. God, stop staring. Can we go on? Okay.

So, in dream logic, all his mushy words sounded lovely. I was ready to buy what he was selling... God... I'm...

Sunburst gently held Derek close. "Shhh, it's alright... I know you're going through a really difficult time. I'm at least still the same gender I started with, so I won't claim I 'know what you're going through', but I am here. I will say you're a great person."

She smirked oddly. "So... I got a name." She tilted her head. "Autumn Blaze... What a corny name... Derek's my name, Derek. I was born a guy."

Sunburst touched his nose to her warm cheek. "I was born a human. We're both changing a lot... I will be your friend, wherever you land."

She suddenly shoved him away. "What if I decide I'm still a guy, and I'm not interested in guys?"

He inclined his head. "Then I'd never lack for a gaming buddy? And I'd still be here."

She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Alright, I did mine. Your turn! How'd magic classes go?"

Well, so I was with Twilight and Sweetie Belle. We were both working on our telekinesis. I had the advantage for a change. The way Twilight put it, Sweetie's little horn was still working up durability and strength, so she couldn't lift things very smoothly, and if it was heavy at all, she got tired really quickly.

I was floating blocks around. They were those little letter blocks you played with as a foal, er, kid, whatever. Except they were made of metal! I could feel their heft, but I could move them around too. "Alright, mage hand. That's two cantrips down. When do I get a level 1?"

Twilight peered at me like I had grown a second head. "What?"

I set the block down on top of another and moved a third atop that in a nice little tower. "Sorry, a little roleplaying humor. Light and Mage Hand are both cantrips, level 0 spells. I'm super excited to have them, don't get me wrong, but when do we move on to level 1?"

Twilight nodded, looking happy I think. "Then it's time to begin learning the alphabet."

I pointed to the blocks, which read A, B, and C. "I think I have that down."

She squinted at the blocks. "No, the magic alphabet." She drew a book over, hoof reaching for it as her magic pulled it over as I had the blocks. "Entirely different, but it does A, B, C, and as of recently, D and E. You will need to learn the alphabet and how to do them." She pointed up at her horn. "Up there. Playing them in specific orders, quickly, is how magic is made."

So she sent me home to study them.

"How's it going?" Derek asked, looking up at Sunburst. She was entirely a kirin. Which made her about half a foot smaller than the still dwindling Sunburst. Her ornamented tail swayed left and right behind her, watching him. "I have A through D worked out. E's a little trickier, but I think I'll have it down."

"I... How?"

"What do you mean how?" Derek raised a brow at her fellow quadruped. "Just, here." She pointed up at her horn as it began to glow in subtly different ways. "A... B... C... and... D!"

"I get the idea, intellectually. In fact." He coiled on himself, his magic grabbing a book out from his saddlebag, Twilight's book. He set it between them. "I can see the patterns, and what's going on. That makes sense. I think I could make a new spell, with a little trial and error." He rubbed his cheek softly. "It's not random. The letters have a meaning. But..."

"C'mon! A!" She glowed, showing it off. "Show me an A. Just cup it in your head like you're holding water and whistle through it and bam, A!"

"I tried that," he snapped, then began to go red swiftly. "Sorry, sorry..."

"Hey... it's... alright." She reached to set a cloven hoof on his shoulder. "Not even C? C's the simplest one. Let the magic glow, like you're just trying to glow, then tighten up, clench!" She was grinning as if trying to infect him with a little positivity. "Forget A, go for C."

He began to glow softly, his horn lighting up. "I know it's in there, I move it when I start glowing and relax it when I stop, but..." He began to grunt and clench his teeth, the glow shifted in strange ways.

Derek inclined her head, watching it. "Uh, you're making new letters. Come on, just clench up all over!" She brought her hooves together. "Like you're trying your best to not fart!"

He burst into laughter, the light going out instantly. "Seriously?" He shoved her, only to be shoved in kind, the two sharing in laughter at the silliness of the moment. "But, really," his voice took a more serious turn. "I'm trying, I promise." He peered at her and her big red horn. "Yours is so much... bigger, and it has that nub, and you can control it?"

"Yeah?" She hiked a brow at him. "The way I hear it, the muscles are like your lips, and the horn is the flute you blow magic notes through." She reached up and ran her cloven hoof along her horn. "So I have a pretty horn, but that isn't the issue, is it?"

He closed with her, eyes on her horn, studying it. "Not precisely." He looked up and down, towards the base, where those muscles hid, the lips. His warm breath washed over her, their faces so close together. His eyes on the base of her horn meant he almost met her eyes, sitting so close to her.

She ran her tongue slowly over her lips, nose flaring as she took in his scent, different from her own, or most other ponies in little ways. He as a stallion, a masculine presence, but so gentle and warm, welcoming, never commanding. He wanted to be close to her...

"Mmf?" His words were cut off, as his lips were pressed against something. No, someone... Derek was pressed against him. Sunburst's ears went up rigidly, then slowly fell down to either side as he let out his breath through his nose in a slow sigh. It... was nice, good, and strange. He had not a clue how to kiss. Was he supposed to do something? She was doing all the work of kissing him like a statue, a happy statue, but still a statue. He inclined his head a little, letting their kiss get deeper as their mouths fit together.

So close, his senses were filled with her scent, her spicy alluring scent. Though he didn't know it, her body was signalling him in a way his body couldn't misunderstand. This was a mare, in heat and ready. This was a mare, showing her willingness.

This was a mare.

She suddenly shoved him, sending him rolling backwards with a squeak. He hit the ground on his back, his erection wagging in the air in an ungainly display of her effect on him. "Uh?"

"I'm in love with my best friend, oh god, this is so wrong." She turned away from him on the spot. "Gotta go! Maybe, uh, gotta go!" She scurried away in a frantic scramble, leaving Sunburst laying there with a dazed and confused expression.

"W-wait!" He awkwardly scrambled to his hooves. "Uh, we're in your room."

She applied her hoof to her face. "Shit," she cursed, coiling around towards him and marching up. "Get out! Get. Out." Flames erupted over her, mane going black, flames blue, eyes blanking. "Get out of here!" Her angry approach had him scrambling backwards away from her. Her horn glowed, hurling the magic book at him. "Take this with you. Go!"

He grabbed the book in his magic before it could collide with his face, tucking it away quickly. "Derek, please. We're friends."

"Friends don't do that," she roared, heat washing away from her in a pulse. "Get out, out out." She pointed past him to the exit. "Go."

He withdrew from her. "I'm going... because you asked me to. I'm not afraid of you, Derek... and I still--"

"Go!" She glared at him with furrowed brows, looking ready to charge him if he tried anything. She thumped against the door, making sure it locked after he was gone. Her fire went out as she sank to the floor in a quivering mess, trying to sort out her feelings.

This left Sunburst just outside her room, dazed.

A passing mare huffed, Bon Bon squinting at him. "Put that away!"

Oh, right. He pulled his cape around, trying to hide his stallion-ness from vasual view. "Sorry!" He smiled awkwardly at Bon Bon as she trotted past him with a withering glare. "Didn't... mean anything."

Derek watched him slink off, cracking open her door once she was fairly sure he was gone. "Starlight!" She hurried off to find a mare she needed to talk to.

Sunburst sat in his room with a frown, his horn glowing and flickering as he stared at the pictures in the book. "B..." he repeated under his breath over and over in a slow intonation. But it wasn't much of a B. More of a.. T? J? They hadn't even invented those yet, but there it was, his inner muscle fluttering when he tried to make it do more than just open wide or relax.

There was one stance he could assume, one. He could grab things. His telekinesis was working just great.

He would be stuck with cantrips, forever...

He reached for the phone in his room. It flew the distance towards him and parked beside his ear. He imitated pressing the keys with a hoof as his glow appeared long enough to press at the phone. He could hear the dialed beeps.

It was ringing. "Pick up... Please..." But she didn't pick up. It just kept ringing. He couldn't do magic and he'd lost his best friend. "Man..."

"Thanks for coming in." Twilight tilted her head to the right. "I admit, with your inability to advance through the alphabet, I thought you'd drop out."

"Ah, yeah..." Sunburst rubbed one leg with the opposing hoof. "I can't... do magic, but it does make sense to me... The spells you've discovered, there's a logic there." His horn glowed, pulling out her book. "I was hoping we could compare notes?" He smiled timidly as if scared he'd be chased from another mare's room.

"Certainly," she agreed without hesitation, ignorant to his issues. She saw notes scribbled all along the inside of his copy of the book. "You've been quite busy, I see."

"Oh, yes... um..." He nudged the book towards her. "Did you want to try that one?"

Her magic twirled the book around to face her. There, on the first page, another spell. A D D C D A A D. "What does it do?"

"Well, in theory." He began tapping his hooves together. "It should let you change the flavor of the target."

"Magical flavoring?" she laughed out. "That's amazing. We need something edible to test with..." She buried a hoof in her labcoat and dug out a pack of gum, slapping it down. "Here we are." Her ears perked. "Before I start, I have to know. How did you think this up? You can't try random letters. You can't try any letters."

"Thanks for reminding me," he grumped, glaring at her.

"Sorry, but it is true, so how?" She rolled a hoof in the air. "This isn't just a guess, is it?"

"No! No... I'm trying to decipher this... language, for better word? We're missing words, letters to be specific. A through E? I have a hunch there's more to learn there, but I can't help with that. This is just me trying to logically approach the letters you have and the combinations you've already worked out." He tapped at the book from his side. "Please, try it? I'd... like to know if it works or not."

"Fair enough. I am also curious." Her magic swept over the gum, lifting it up. "Mint? What was I thinking? How about... Cherry? Yes, cherry gum, real cherry, not that artificial flavor." Her horn began to play the notes of the musical song. "Cherry," she repeated as she went, imagining big ripe cherries exploding in her mouth. The gum shuddered and shook under the effects of whatever she was doing, then went still.

The glow around the gum shifted as Sunburst took a grip and pulled out a strip of gum. "Well, my spell. Might as well be me that tried the result in the end." The gum looked unchanged, bright pale green mint gum. "Hm..." He brought it over despite that and sniffed it. Cherries tickled his senses. "Hm!" his magic peeled away the wrapper even as he tossed it onto his waiting tongue and snapped it up, starting to chew eagerly. "Hmmmmm, wow... you made a really nice cherry."

Twilight did not wait long before starting to chew on her own stick. "You're right, wow... This beats the feathers out of the competition." She snorted softly. "A pity we could never sell this. Imagine what the FDA would say about 'magically altered ingredients'? Not in my lifetime, I bet... Still!" She suddenly thudded her hooves down on either of his shoulders. "You did it! You made a new spell. I had been doing it the brute force way." She pointed to a board covered in letters. "Random generation, hoping for the best, and praying to avoid the worst."

She began to laugh, sitting up tall. "Now that you've joined the cause, I can slash off 'do not accidentally create a fireball centered on the caster' off my worry list."

Sunburst allowed a smile, spirits lifting. "Oh, cause? You mean--"

"Oh, yes." Twilight nodded firmly. "You will be our official spellchecker."

"You can do a better name than that," he chuckled out. "But I would be delighted to check some spells, and make some new ones." He pointed at her. "You can actually cast what I come up with."

"And that is something I look forward to doing." She nodded softly. "Speaking of spellcasting, Starlight and Derek are doing quite well at memorizing each letter I've discovered so far. They can also be consulted when you want to try a spell."

He looked away awkwardly, rubbing his cheek.

Twilight inclined her head. "What's wrong? I understand Starlight can be a bit intimidating with her position and connections, but she really is quite approachable and kind." She laughed as she turned a hoof on herself. "She calls me out when I get a little too excited. You can--"

"--It's not her," cut in Sunburst. "Um, how... is she doing? Derek, I mean..." He rubbed his forehooves together, looking increasingly awkward. "She alright?"

"She's doing great," gushed out Twilight. "One of my best students. She has a very precise control over her magical movements. Do you think it's related to singing capability?" She inclined her head faintly. "I was told, when I'm under the effect of song magic, I have a very melodious singing voice."

Sunburst quirked a smile at that. "I'd like to hear that, sometime, uh, not today."

"Not today," easily agreed Twilight. "Today, I need to see this." She pulled his book closer, starting to flip through it. "Ah ha! More spells, I knew it... What does this one do?!"

They spent the rest of their 'study' time with Sunburst explaining what he thought each of the spells he had invented did. Many even worked! Twilight could not have been more happy about it.

Derek tapped at her chin softly. "So... Autumn Blaze..."

Twilight perked an ear. "Hm?"

"What do you think of it, as a name?"

Twilight pointed at herself. "Seems thematic enough. I'm Twilight Sparkle," she reminded. "Not exactly 'time of day, special effect', but close enough. Time of year, special effect. What brings it up?"

Derek smiled awkwardly. "I didn't think of it like that. Starlight Glimmer... Wait, Starlight isn't exactly a time of day, but it makes you think of one. Close enough!" Her smile eased. "Sorry, got distracted. Uh, so... that... could be my name..."

"Congratulations, Autumn," accepted Twilight without hesitation. "Or would you prefer Miss Blaze?"

"Autumn, for sure. Wait!" She squinted a little. "I just said I was thinking about it."

"It's a nice name." Twilight shrugged softly. "One of the better I've run into so far. Go for it."

"Autumn Blaze," she whispered to herself, tasting the word. "Autumn... I... I like the fall. The leaves falling, the crisp taste in the air." She clopped her cloven hooves together with a silly smile. "Thanksgiving is the best!"

"What about Halloween?" ventured Twilight with a gentle smile. "Free candy, an excuse to dress up, and enjoy a few spooky stories."

"Oh yeah... that's a great time too. See, autumn gets all the good holidays." She nodded with growing confidence. "Autumn Blaze..."

"You look like an Autumn Blaze," continued Twilight. "You have the colors about right, and you do literally combust."

"Yeah," she didn't sound as excited about that part. "So, alright, what are we going over today?"

"Glad you asked!" Twilight was more than happpy to shove away talks of names and holidays to get down to magic. "Time to try a new spell, designed by your friend."

"My friend?"

"Sunburst." Twilight's horn glowed as chalk wrote the letters down on the chalkboard. "There's the spell. Cast it while examining something edible and focus on the desired flavor and, like that, it will taste different! Near as we could discern, it mostly overwrites the previous flavor, so don't worry about mixing flavors, just focus on the desired one."

Derek began to giggle. "Sun, burst. You're right, that pattern comes up a lot. Day burst would have been even more on the nose." She reached up to tap her own nose. "Autumn Blaze..."

"I'm glad to see you feeling better." Twilight tossed her head at the writing. "But, if you could, the spell?"

"Ask nicely." She stuck out her tongue at Twilight.

"Autumn Blaze, please, continue?" She raised a brow. "We're here to study magic, right?"

That was not the name she excpected to be used, but it didn't feel so bad, that time... "Autumn Blaze," she repeated to herself as her horn began to glow, playing out the notes one by one precisely as she looked around for something to test on. "Ah ha." She snatched an apple off the desk and set it down in front of herself.

"Chocolate apple, let's do it!" She played the song much faster, staring at the apple, imagining sweet milk chocolate melting on her tongue.

The apple shook and vibrated a moment before going still. "Did it work?" She leaned in and sniffed. She chomped it a moment later, agreeing with the smell. It was like she had just made the biggest milk chocolate bar she ever had, crunching noisily on the apple that didn't taste like an apple. "Wow, you were right," she muffedly noted, sampling the treat of her own creation. "Does this add calories?"

"I don't think it does?" Twilight inclined her head. "But I lack the tools to be certain of that." Not that it mattered. It was much more important to see that Sunburst's spell worked for more than one unicorn.

A new chapter of magic had opened.

"Twilight."

Twilight looked up. "Yes, Sun?" She inclined her head a little. "Did you invent a new spell?"

"Not what I was going to talk about," he admitted. "Tell me, uh, as a mare."

Twilight's ears danced. "As a mare?"

"Well, you are one..." He rubbed behind his head awkwardly, glancing away. "Have I... acted oddly?"

"Besides being unable to do magic? Not to my knowledge." She leaned in a little. "Why?"

His cheeks warmed. "Well, you see, Derek is going through a lot."

"Autumn Blaze," gently corrected Twilight.

"Huh?"

"She accepted her name." Twilight nodded with certainty. "Look, I get it. I'd rather be focused on magic, but I do get it." She rose up and thrust a hoof back alongside her barrel. "I used to be a guy too, all waggly and whatever. I know what that's like." She sank to her haunches. "I... might have buried myself in magic to forget about it."

Sunburst slowly inclined his head, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "Oh... I'm sorry. Am I digging at a sore--"

She set a hoof on his chest. "You're a stupid guy, just like I was. Stupid stupid stupid." A little smile spread on her lips. "She's stupid in love with you, you know that, right?"

"I..." His glasses fell askew from his shocked face. "Really?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "She has basically sent you a hoof-written letter at this point. And it scared her."

"And she ran away," he sighed out, pushing his glasses back into position. "What can I do?"

"Let her feel her feelings." Twilight waved it away. "Celestia knows I have more than a few of those." A brow raised. "Pity I don't have another pony with romantic interests to distract me."

"Um."

"That was a joke." She poked Sunburst on the shoulder. "You're quite distracting as a research assistant. I won't move in on Autumn's territory. That'd be rude, and might cost me two research assistants. That'd be counterproductive." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Speaking of that, I have an idea, a new line of research if you're up for it."

One of his ears shot up, the other joining it a moment later. "Hm? What's on your mind?"

"Eri, our Leader." I heard that. "What she does, I have it well documented." She floated a book over to rest on the table in front of him, one hoof tapping just ahead of it. "See which of them you can duplicate. Her list of accomplishments can be considered a sort of 'what if', inspiration, if you'd prefer. I'm not promising we can do it all, but trying..."

"It's what we're here for," agreed Sunburst, his glowing horn lifting the book. "Is she alright with this?" Sheesh, at least one of them had some sense. "Some of what she did is... out there. Starlight's told me a few stories." And I got to hear them. She had focused on the parts she liked, which were still enough to make Sunburst nervous.

Twilight waved the concern away. "Don't do the ones that hurt anypony. That isn't either of our goals. But, the rest? Why not? Better than just trying to randomly think of things to do. If she can do it, it means it can be done. The question is just, can we do it?"

Ugh, would I need to take him aside later? "I'm not sure, uh, I'll start with what looks to be harmless." The book flipped open under his power and he began to read it in a skim. "Are we done for today?"

"For today," sang Twilight. "Lyra's getting a lesson next."

"Oh, good luck to her." He tucked the book away and looked ready to leave, but hesitated. "So... question, has... any other unicorn had my problem?"

Twilight inclined her head. "Hard to say. Many of them simply have no interest in pushing past the basics, which means they could have your issue, or not, and we'll just never know. Lyra seems to have some interest, thankfully." She nodded firmly. "But we're getting the basics down before trying the alphabet." Tossing her head towards the door, Twilight waved Sunburst off. "Good luck."

"Like a song," he mused as he trotted off.

Autumn took a slow breath. "Alright, girl, you have this. He's just a guy, like you once were. If some girl just walked up to you and said 'Hey, I like you', what would you do? Be happy! That's what you'd do. He thinks you look awesome and you are kinda awesome and he's a dork and you're just gonna knock on the door and he'll open it and you'll explode his day." She threw her hooves wide in imitation of poor sunburst's mind being shattered. "You got this."

She thudded a cloven hoof on the door. "Hey, open up. Unless you're not there. You might not be there. Shoot, I didn't think this through at all. Maybe you're busy or something and I should just come back--"

The door suddenly opened, revealing Sunburst, watching her, staring into her soul.

Or at least it felt to her. "H-hey," she squeaked out, her confidence shattered.

"Hey, Autumn."

"Y-yea! Autumn Blaze, that's me! My name..." She burst into nervous laughter, taking a step back. "Good to see you." She thrust a hoof forward, but it was on fire, burning with the blue flames of her nirik form. "Oops!" She turned the hoof up and blew across it, snuffing the flame casually. "Um, later!" And she fled, clip-clopping away in a panic.

Sunburst watched her go, unsure what to do. Chasing her felt wrong... "I'll be here," he whispered out, willing the door closed.

"I freaked out!" wailed Autumn. "He was right there and I just... panicked! I'm the worst kirin ever..."

"You're the only kirin ever," noted Starlight, brow raised. "Which makes you the best."

"And the worst," huffed Autumn. "Look, you've been showing me how to be a mare, even if I'm not technically a mare." She inclined her head, "What even are female kirin called?"

"A lin," noted Starlight. "But we're getting off topic. You're a lovely lin. Do you feel like one?"

"Y-yeah...." Her tail wagged nervously. "Which feels odd saying, but... yeah... I'm a girl, mare, lin, whatever, fine, whatever." She turned on Starlight. "Ain't no reverse on this train. Went away without a pain. Unless you count, the head in doubt" She pointed to her head, voice lilting melodically as she sang on, "I want him bad, it'd make him glad, but I'm really not quite sure."

"There is no cure," continued Starlight, drawn along with the song magic that Autumn wielded so naturally. "That aching heat, your strong heartbeat. You're ready to spread wide."

"I'm not a whore! But him I adore. I liked him even before this. The last time I tried, I almost died, pressing into a french kiss!" Autumn sprang right over Starlight, flames touching the air behind her, burning hot with her mixture of emotions. "I want a friend, not to display my end. I want to talk, not this sidewalk."

Starlight followed after, a light canter to her steps. "The best mates are partners too, I'm still waiting for my screw. Mine loves me but won't finish the deed, I'm wide open, go on, breed." She blinked softly. "Getting off topic, let's not be myopic. This is all about you. He wants only the best, he's acing this test, he's waiting for you to come through."

Autumn suddenly pounced Starlight, driving her to the ground and grinding against her in a way that left little to the imagination. "What about you and me, we could try even if you're a lady."

"Enough!" Starlight rolled right back over, pinning Autumn instead. "Enough." The song was disrupted, ended. "Autumn, you in there?"

"Yeah?" Autumn tilted her head faintly. "That... a no?"

"That's a no," noted Starlight with a sour look. "I'm taken by a certain someone that could really get angry and not in fun ways. I'll avoid their name so they don't know, but can we cool off a moment?"

"Yeah..." She sagged onto her back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you like that. Ugh, I'm messing it all up." She applied her cloven hoof to her face. "Why can't I face him?! He's my friend... He was ready to be guy-friends with me even when I was smoking hot in his view and very not ready for... any of that. He'd a damn nerd, the good kind."

Starlight smirked a little. "The kind you were?"

"Ha!" She sat up, Starlight stepping off as she did. "Hay no. I was cool, thanks. I had girlfriends before." She pointed at her own chest. "I know how to hook up for Friday night, and how to party. I was a cool dude, not a nerd. He's a nerd... But an adorable one." She sighed softly. "God, is that hormones talking?"

"Uh huh." Starlight rubbed softly at her chin, considering Autumn. "So, when was the last date you had, before coming here?"

"Oh, uh..." Autumn paced in place in little fidgets. "Not that long... ago... Uh..."

"That's what I thought." Starlight prodded Autumn in the side. "You're looking back through Autumn eyes. I don't think Derek was as outgoing as you've become. Now, look. Sunburst is more like Derek. He's afraid to overstep, terrified of chasing you away. So do you want his company or not, make a choice."

"Ugh." Autumn shook herself out, from her mane down to her adorned tail. "I want him as a friend, yes... maybe more? Look, we need to talk." She pointed back at her own rump. "I'm new to this. Are you a virgin?"

"Pardon?" She raised an ear at Autumn. "That's quite the question."

"And still the one I asked," was sang in response. "The way you were talking, guessing no."

"No," affirmed Starlight with a flat expression of annoyance. "Why?"

"What's it like?" She turned to keep starlight directly ahead of herself. "I mean, sure, I get the idea. Guy goes around, hops up... He's all stiff and whatever, been there, and he just... shoves it inside? I never worried about it from the other side, but now I'm on it and I'm not afraid to say that sounds kinda painful."

Starlight burst into snickers. "Sorry, sorry, not laughing at you, but... yeah, any stallion that 'shoves it inside' deserves the kick you'll give him." She inclined her head. "They're not animals, and neither are we. He cares about you a super ton. You tell him to go slow, or just not go at all, and he's on it. Any good partner would too. Tell him to take it easy."

"Take it easy," softly echoed Autumn. "Nice and gentle." She made quite the lewd noise, like wet sliding. "So we can both enjoy it."

Starlight huffed. "Wow, you're... yeah, that. Assume he'll do what you say."

"That doesn't tell me how it feels," countered Autumn. "I don't have the part I used to. What does it feel like? Reversed?"

"Oh, no. No no no." Starlight shook her head quickly. "I've helped enough new stallions to confidently say no. For a stallion, that little stick of theirs is the center of their universe, like everything is pulling in tighter and tighter to a point, then it explodes." She threw her forehooves wide. "And they're shattered and happy. There, the male experience."

"Okay, sure." Autumn nodded quickly. "Been there, so the girl experience?"

"The girl experience is... a state of being." She tapped at her chin, considering it. "The contact is great, don't get me wrong. But thinking about what you're doing, how much you love the guy, how hot it is that he's doing what he's doing, how great your future is, how great he is, and you feel. A girl's thinking a mile a minute, reaching out and out and out instead of in and in and in. When it's really good, it's like we're... all over the universe at once." She leaned in suddenly. "And I didn't even get to the fact that orgasm doesn't mean the end for us girls."

"What?"

Starlight inclined her head. "Seriously, you never heard about that? You hit orgasm, and that's great, real great, trust me, but the guy doesn't have to stop, and you don't want him to. You're floating on cloud nine and man, I'll take another half dozen of those, thanks." She suddenly smirked. "Watch out though, stallions are not really known for their endurance. You'll have to teach him to use other parts of his anatomy too."

"Other... Oh!" Autumn began to blush furiously, flame licking at the tips of her ears. "God, I have to teach him that?"

"What, do you just... instinctively know how to dive between a lady's legs?" Starlight turned away. "Doubt it. If he's your boy, take responsibility and show him how it's done."

"But I don't know how to do that!" she quailed.

"But you'll know what feels good." Starlight peered over her shoulder. "Just guide him to what's good and away from what's not. Shoot, I don't even know if kirin have... exactly the same anatomy, so don't go asking me. You'll learn on your own, and I bet he'll come for the ride if you let him."

"Right..." She suddenly sagged to her belly. "So... how do we do... things... safely? I'm getting used to being a girl, sure. That doesn't mean I'm ready to be a mom."

Starlight turned suddenly back to Autumn, surprise on her face. "You get a gold star. One of the first mares to really ask about that. Well, not the first, but a minority." She shook her head. "I'll take him aside, get him some condoms. Pills aren't guaranteed to work on mares, or lin. We're not human, go fig..."

Autumn burst into delirious laughter. "Oh, wow, of course." She clopped a hoof to her forehead. "How else do guys avoid that? Look, thanks, really." She closed in and touched noses with Starlight. "I know I'm a mess, but you're great."

Starlight gently rubbed the tip of her snout against Autumn, returning a warm nuzzle. "You go on, and go say hi to him. You two are impossible, and I doubt I'll get him to move."

Autumn crashed back. "Wait, you've been talking to him?"

"Duh?" She hiked a brow. "I introduced you two, remember? Poor guy thinks you must hate his guts."

"No! No... I don't..."

"I told him that." She rolled a hoof. "But you keep avoiding him. Go make his day already."

Autumn scurried off, desperate to get somewhere.

"It's been a few days." I reached for her head and patted it gently. "And not a single complaint."

Silver looked quite smugly satisfied. "Now, not complaining, but you're asking me to cool it, but you have your hand on, like, my head." She ducked back and touched her snout to the hand before I could draw it away. "Not that I mind, but, like, crossed signals, you know?"

"Silver..." I crossed my arms, considering her. "I made you--"

"--You can unmake me?"

"Technically, yeah? But that wasn't what I was aiming for." I lifted both hands in a shrug. "I feel responsible for you. Even if you aren't the only person I've ponied, you're the one that asked, that I talked to." I gestured between us. "I feel like there's more there."

"Probably helps that I'm one of the only ones that day that doesn't hate your guts a lot or a little." She huffed softly. "Sucks for them. Ever consider letting me talk to them? You made one other little pony, bet she has all the parts too. I could maybe turn her around."

"No turning any fillies around by you!" I huffed out a little louder than I intended. "Look, Silver. I'm like a parent."

She suddenly sat and began clopping her hooves together. "Finally."

"Finally...?" I peered at her, confused as hell.

"I've been waiting for you to realize, like, I'm ready to be your daughter." She smirked softly. "Benefit, daughters and mothers don't do 'things'."

"You're an adult," I reminded. "Adult adoption is..." To be honest, I had no real idea. "I'd have to even look that up. But, still, you barely know me."

"I know you're powerful, but kind." She hopped suddenly, pouncing my lap and curling there. "I know I feel completely safe around you, even when you're, like, telling me I've been bad."

"Like now?" I gently rolled her off and she landed on her feet, tongue stuck out at me. "You are an imp."

"Your imp." She pointed at me then leaned to the side. "Where are your SOs? I mean, I really should talk to them too. You're a family. If they... hate me, well, that's that."

That was surprisingly mature of her. "I doubt Shining 'hates' you, but they're both a little odded out that you specifically chose the lolita path of all things."

"Really?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kid, so no Lolita. I just like being small and cute. I think that's fun, and a little sexy." She half turned away. "I'm an adult, you said that. I'm either an adult, or not. Which is it?"

"You're an adult," I sighed out.

"And adults can have sex lives," she concluded. "Two consenting people, not a single pony, like, hurt, so relax." She polished a hoof on her chest. "Besides, eventually I'll find Mister Right."

Wait. "You're looking for a permanent thing?"

"Duh?" She hiked a brow. "What, did you think I'd just, like, slut around forever."

I didn't need that little filly using words like that... "You seemed to be enjoying yourself," I noted as tactfully as I could.

"And I am, but I'm not totally stupid." She waved a lone hoof. "I want a family. Look... It's like this." She let out a slow breath. "My parents already know what I did... they were not happy. I don't have a family anymore. They weren't the sort that could take a trans daughter, let alone a cross-species one." Silver Spoon pointed at me. "You are my chance to have a mom, and you're already way better than the first one I had. I... know I've annoyed you."

"Silver, we're both on the clock." I gently shooed her away. "Let me think on it, and we'll both earn our paycheck."

"Alright," she allowed more quietly than her other words. She trotted out, leaving me there.

I flopped onto my chair and began typing rapidly. There was something I needed to see. Sure, I didn't have a hacking program... 10 minutes ago, but I did then, double-click. There we were. I typed in Silver Spoon and her file came up. "Communication," I said to myself as I browsed to the proper file. "Let's see."

Hey Guys,

It's your boy, well, girl. I've been through a lot, and now I'm a ponygone through a transition.
Don't worry! I'm fine, and I love you both a lot, okay. I'll be stuck here while I'm infectiousI'm adjusting to the new hormones. I'll see you when I can.

I scowled at the message. It wasn't... against regulations. That didn't mean I had to like it, even a little. I clicked the scroll wheel along. They had replied.

The hell?

Did you go gay on me? I told you working there would get to you. Did they inject you with some kinda gay drug? Bloody fucking hell. I'm going to sue them into next year. Don't bother, you're dead to me. They're gonna pay for this.

A little note was attached. The message had been forwarded to HR, who reported the likelihood of successful legal action was small, but not zero. It was far more likely they wouldn't actually jump through the hoops to bring it that far.

Shit... Poor Silver, thrown right out, just... abandoned, instantly. I checked the timestamp on that. She had emailed them a week ago, and got the reply a few days ago. No wonder she had gotten a bit more... reserved. Shit... I couldn't just admit I saw what I had no business looking at.

Sure, she was an adult. Adults didn't need parents the same way kids did... Still, damn... damn... That couldn't have been anything short of agonizing to read. I could imagine my parents scowling at my new look. They wouldn't have been happy...

I still had to tell them...

I could be next on the dispossessed line, though I was also looking down the barrel of a huge promotion! And I was married! To... a horse man, and a horse lady...

Yeah, that could get ugly.

What was the outside world doing? We were in here failing to cure the big disease. I flipped over to some news sites and began browsing around curiously.

"Stage 3 trials are well underway," noted one reporter.

I clicked onwards. "Look, I'm telling you. All this hurry for a vaccine is costing lives." A haggard man was wearing a mask, shouting through it at a reporter. "A friend of mine went in for trials, never came back."

Oh geeze, was that us? I copied the link and forwarded it along. That was above my pay grade. I kept the facility running. PR? Not my thing.

Fortunately, the news seemed to treat it more as a singular oddity rather than any grand conspiracy, like say a secret lab full of horses and stuff...

That reminded me... I started a new search for my company. It was on a site listing the great many others that had collapsed under the weight of the pandemic... Great, lost to a bookmark in history. I rather liked that place...

California was on fire? Huh...

"You could fix that." There was another me, a really small me, on my left shoulder. "Just a little snap, done, fixed. No more fire. Snap, no more global warming. Snap snap snap. Just one would make a big difference."

Another me appeared on my right shoulder, arms crossed with a frown. "That's taking a lot of agency away from people."

"Ugh, sure, but most of the people who want to fix it, also can't. You're 'stealing agency' from rich pricks who don't care."

"And how will this convince them?"

"Snap them too," offered leftie with a wicked sneer.

"You can't listen to her," huffed Righty. "You know there's nothing good that way."

"Yeah, I know, I know." I stood up, the shoulder mes vanishing without a sound. I was not the same person I had arrived as. I was a godling. I had a husband and a wife and maybe I'd be getting an adopted daughter?

I was a mess. But I liked that mess. That mess was me, and I was alright with that.

"Um, I don't... have anyone I plan to be with." He rubbed behind his head, eyeing the selection in front of him.

"Relax." Starlight gently nudged him. "It's too late if you're already ready and you don't have protection." She inclined her head. "Now sit down, close your eyes, and let me measure you."

His eyes went wide, glasses fogging. "Starlight! We're... friends, um, at best, and you're offering to--"

"--Provide a medical service." Starlight hiked a hoof as a measuring tape floated over. "Now think of England."

He squeezed his eyes tight. "If you say so!" He was fidgeting, but it was soon over, and Starlight was back in her own space. "You do know I'm American, right?"

"Yeah, so am I." She pointed. "That one right there."

He set a hoof on the condom box. "Really?"

"That'll fit you," she assured with a little nod. "Then if a nice mare does happen to make a move, well, you're ready. Now... do you actually know how to put one on?"

He suddenly fell over, unconscious. "I will take that as a no..."

Silver nudged open the door with a hoof. "Thomason?"

"You can call me Peter," assured the voice from within. Inside was a man dressed in a hazmat suit, as people who worked in that place who didn't want a tail tended to. "Come on in." He sounded friendly. As friendly as a man in a hazmat suit could.

Silver Spoon let out a slow sigh as she walked inside, her tail swatting the door on the way, causing it to close behind her. "So you're my jailkeeper?"

"Far from it." Peter gestured to the closed door. "You're not being forced here. I'm just here to help. But I can't do that if you really don't want it."

"Yeah yeah, the first change comes from admitting there's a problem," she quoted in sarcastic tones. "Like, I get it." She hopped up in the seat across from the man, adjusting her glasses. "So, hey, my name's Silver Spoon."

"Peter Thomason," he introduced, even if that was known information. "Nice to meet you." He offered a gloved hand, wrapped in the plastic of his suit. They shook, hoof held in that hand. "You're not the first pony I've talked to."

"I would hope not." She inclined her head at him. "Reminder, I, like, work here. Hey, I've taken a few ponies to your office before."

"Forgive me for asking, but I thought people who were exposed second hand didn't go... all the way." He rolled a hand as he noted that. "You couldn't go much more pony than you are."

"100%," she chimed, tail wagging, as if she were nakedly proud of it. "Long story. Look, we're obviously here to talk about my... Shoot, what was that word again... slutting around?"

"Promiscuity," offered Peter. "That is one thing we could talk about. Do you see it as a problem that needs talking about?"

"I'm onto you." Silver wagged a hoof at Peter. "You're digging into my head."

"I'm just here to ask questions and maybe lend a hand." A brief pause lingered before, "You seem to be short of any."

"That joke was bad and you should feel bad." Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, though a little smirk was on her face. "Anyway... I just want to find somepony."

"A specific person, or any person?"

She pushed up her glasses, fidgeting with them nervously. "I think the right one... The one that... sees more than a momentary fun thing, fun as it is."

"Have you considered that approaching them with the fun part presented first may be coloring things?"

"Yeah..." She sighed and crossed her arms. "But if I don't, people see a little kid, which I am, like, not. I've worked here for over five years! I don't want to be ignored because I'm small."

"But you're not just small," noted Peter gently. "Despite being an adult, mentally, your body is still growing and maturing. It will get much larger."

Silver's voice fell to a whisper, "wish it wouldn't..."

"Why is that?" He made little notes on his pad. "Do you like being small?"

"I..." She put a hoof behind her head. "I want..."

Sunburst took a soft breath as he reached for the door. "You let her think about it. It's time to act like a stallion! Just... say what you feel. Just put it on the table and let her respond. You can do this." His hoof trembled, just shy of knocking.

He brought his hoof in, knocking twice with a clop.

"One moment," came the melodic reply. The door swung open to reveal a smiling Autumn Blaze. "Oh, Sunburst! You finished your change." She came right out, starting to circle him. "But your glasses still fit? That's great!" She suddenly reached, catching his glasses right in the gap in her cloven hoof and bringing it to her own face. "Wow, everything looks so strange."

"Hello," he stammered, flummoxed at her aggressive greeting. "Have a moment to chat?"

"For you, always." She threw a leg over Sunburst's withers, hugging them in as she started back into her room. "So how are things? Sorry for ghosting you. I was a mess. Feeling better now though!"

With a glowing horn, Sunburst gently reclaimed his glasses without objection, blinking as his world came back into focus. "Funniest thing, really. I still have the same prescription. They say the odds of that are... basically zero. Maybe that's why I got my name right away?" he ventured. "I mean, shoot, people normally have one eye go off, but mine never changed. I guess I already had the right eyes?"

Autumn released him just to circle in front of him. Her horn glowed as the door closed behind him, her eyes on his face. "But they both got bigger," she noted as she raised a cloven hoof to tap. "You can see mine are slightly off, one just a little bigger than the other. Face it, you're a freak." She laughed, clearly not bothered at all by it. "Like I'm one to talk!" It was true though, her eyes didn't match, in color and slightly in size. But that was standard for Ponid. "I like you just the way you are."

"About that..." He worried his hooves together, sitting up on his haunches. "Autumn, I like you too."

"Aw!" she gushed, going red in her cheeks. "Be honest, did you like me the entire time, even when I was all, you know, part guy human flailing around?" She wobbled an arm for emphasis.

"Even then," he confessed, though he looked confused. "You're alright with it."

"Give me a moment." She stepped away to the far corner of the room, facing away. With a sudden roar that shook the walls, heat and blue-white fire exploded from her in a great display of energy. She turned around and trotted back as if nothing had happened. "That's better. Now, as you were saying."

"What... was that?" He eyed the spot that looked like it had weathered several such blasts with bits of soot and ash dusting the ground and walls. "Are you alright?"

"Never better," she assured before moving in to touch noses. "So you like me?"

"Y-yes?" His right ear skewed a bit. "Does that bother you?"

"Nah." She reached in and grabbed him in a full hug about the neck with both arms, snuggling in close. "I'm just sorry I was so out of it I couldn't just, you know, accept that. Seems silly, looking back at it now. You're a great friend, waiting like that."

"What are friends for?" He reached up to adjust his glasses as she snuggled him fiercely. That was all going not as he had imagined it, though not badly either. He was being held by the warm and soft mare he had wanted to talk to. "H-how are spells going?"

"I hear you're the one making them up." She shoved him back suddenly. "No fair! I'd love to be able to make up spells like that. I could think of a thousand spells that'd be great." She danced from hoof to hoof. "Like how about one to make a unicorn look like a kirin or the other way? We're kinda similar, right?" She tilted her head. "That'd be fun, and we could match!"

"You'd have to cast it," he noted with a hint of sullen bitterness. "I can't cast spells."

"What? No fair!" She clopped down a hoof, a little ring of short-lived fire flaring from the impact. "You were trying so hard! Why not?" She leaned right in, almost mashing her face against the length of Sunburst's horn. "I don't see anything wrong. You sure you're doing it right?"

He shoved her away, his magic sliding her evenly away. "I am quite sure I'm doing it right."

"It's like singing," she went on, seeming to ignore his insistence. "Have you tried just--"

He put a hoof on her lips. "Do not start singing."

She pouted, backing away from the hoof. "Hey, look... Singing? I like that. If we're going to be friends, songs will be involved. Kinda my thing? You get a singing kirin, or no kirin. Not much room for outside that."

"I didn't... mean it like that." He looked over Autumn, transformed as she was. "You've... changed, a lot, and I feel like I didn't much at all."

Autumn blinked rapidly, moving to close back in. "Well that's what I was saying. You became a pony that you already were, mostly. Your name just slipped in and, pow, you were there! I had... to walk further." She put a hoof behind her back. "Permission to sing?"

"Granted," he allowed with a quirk of a smile.

Her face exploded into a bright smile. "I was a confused man," she got out, launching into a musical number that had her prancing and bouncing off the walls, bed, and anything else that could support her weight, which included Sunburst. "Didn't know if I could be a mare!" she sang out much later, sliding on her knees just in front of Sunburst. "Technically, that's a lin." she winked even as she pressed on in the song.

"I'm still Derek," she noted suddenly. "But he became a she. Her name is Autumn Blaze." She thrust a hoof at Sunburst. "Nice to meet you, again."

Sunburst met the hoof and the tickle threatened his throat, beckoning him to play his part in the musical number, but he backed away shyly.

"Go on," bade Autumn with that happy smile. "Let it out. Let the magic wash over you and wipe away your fears. Let me hear you!" She was clopping her cloven hooves, cheering her friend to sing. "C'mon!"

"I don't want to!" he got out, and the sensation faded, the spell broken. "I'm not good at singing." He hung his head a little. "Sorry..."

"You should be, for yourself." She tapped his shoulder. "Only one way to get better, and that's to do it. So you might stink, so what? We all stink before we get kinda alright at something and there ain't a soul out there that's good at something that didn't get to 'kinda alright' first." She inclined her head. "Besides, if it's related, getting better at singing might help your magic."

"Now you're teasing me." he licked over his lips, nose twitching. "Autumn?"

"Yeah?"

"I hate... to ask this, so feel free to just tell me to shut up, but..." He sat up, watching her. "Are you... done with being in heat?"

She inclined her head at him, one brow raising. "As a kirin, I don't think I'm ever not in heat." She laughed even as she combusted, blue-white flames licking over her form as she began to circle him, flaming tail flicking. "That's me, a smoking hot mare. Like it?"

"Well, yes... you are that." He followed her movement with his eyes but kept his head forward, meaning there was time she was out of sight. "I'm just... feeling a bit off in a... specific way." He reached up to adjust his glasses. "And this is odd to... talk about, but..."

"But you're turned on, without the obvious special effects." She brought her flaming tail close to him, the blaze tickling at his fur as it faded, slowly revealing her normal form, ears twitching to shake off the last bit of flame on them. "Look, Sunburst. It's me. Hey, I got a present for you." Her horn glowed as a drawer slid open and a box popped out, floating over quickly. "Starlight said I should have it."

There, floating in the air, a box of condoms. "Just the thing!"

"W-what?!" He scrambled back a step, only to stop and come in closer. They were the same size as the ones Starlight had selected for him, which meant... "She.... told you what size I am?!" he squealed out, voice giving in his shocked dismay.

"You know what that means, right?"

"She has no respect for privacy?" he ventured.

She waggled her brows. "Well, maybe that, but, more importantly, she wants us to have a good time. A good safe time. Look, let's be real. Neither of us are ready to be parents." She put a hoof to her chest. "I'm just getting a grip on myself, and you won't sing. What kind of parents are those? Lousy ones! But we can improve, bit by bit... Maybe, one day, in the future, we won't need 'em..."

"I thought... You were still unsure about that?" He inclined his head at her.

But she was coming in close, touching nose to nose. "Look, I'm this." She waved her ornate tail about. "I trust you. I want to know how this all... works, so, if you can promise me you'll take it slow and be a gentle stallion, maybe we can both... try it?"

"You're a stallion," he silently reminded himself. "She's a mare, lin, kirin, and she wants you. Do the manly thing!"

"This is too fast," is what came out of his mouth. "Let's be friends first." He raised a hoof at her. "Hi, I'm Sunburst."

Autumn inclined her head a little, ears falling with her head. "Oh, I mean, hi... I'm Autumn Blaze..." She touched a cloven hoof to his solid one. "Wanna watch some streaming stuff?"

"I'd love to."

And then nothing lewd happened at all. I can assure you, I was monitoring them on Starlight's request. All they did was watch some shows and get cuddly. He seemed to think she was the best pillow around, resting on her and cuddling. Fortunately, she seemed to like being used as a pillow, so that worked out. They hung out for the rest of the day, talking about a lot of nothing... but isn't that what relationships are? They were taking it slow, but they were going for it.

I was alright with that. Good for them. I cut the feed, giving them some privacy. They didn't need me watching over their shoulders.

"How's it going?" Shining's hands came down on my shoulders, rubbing them firmly. Sure, I bristled a bit at the sudden personal space violation, but, for him, I forgave it. "You done watching them?"

"They're doing fine." I swiveled to face him and soon he was in my lap. "You know, we're going to see a bit less of each other on the weekend."

"Is it already that time?" Oh yes, Starlight had waited so (im)patiently. "I won't pretend I'm not a little jealous."

"Well, thank you." He looked confused at my words. "I'd rather you were honest about it." I tapped him on his wide nose. "You got your turn, mine now."

"Oh fine." He crossed his arms with a huff. "Still... have you even... done it like that before? So far I know, you've been 100% female your whole life."

"It's not that complicated," I demurred. "Tab A, Slot B, repeat until both parties are satisfied."

"Way to make that sound boring as hell." He prodded me right dead center of the chest. "You know there's more to it."

"I do, and I'll make her happy enough, promise. I mean, seriously." I raised a bone white brow. "I can re-write reality, and you're worried I won't be able to manage this? Really?"

"I'm worrying for you." He had an arm around me, hand dropped across my chest as he nestled in nice and close. "You're both family, the way I see it. We're a little bike with three wheels, a tricycle, yeah that was the word, forgot a moment. Girl, you know what I meant."

"I did," I chuckled out, guiding him to his feet as I got up myself and began to float. "We need to do something. Something fun, as a family. Speaking of future problems, we can't all be married, literally not legal."

"Dibs."

"I refuse to be married on account of dibs. What are we, 10?" I huffed at Shining softly. "We have to come to a more reasonable solution than that."

"While we're on the topic of the After Times." He rolled a hand and leaned back against a wall. "When do we get out of here? You're the boss, didn't they tell you anything?"

"No." They really hadn't. "I just want to know how they've kept the lid on this tight. Really, people vanishing into a trial? That's kind of Big News, you think? So, where's the news?"

An idea struck me. I knew Starlight's full name, she'd whispered it to me. I flew to my computer and began to type without sitting, stretched out to it as my fingers danced in an excited click-clack. "Everything is just a Google away." I mean, sure, I wasn't actually asking Google. More of the entropy of the universe for a hint. Same thing, right?

--died today of Covid complications. She will be missed. She is survived by--

An obituary. The most recent article that mentioned Starlight, an obituary? She was... dead? That couldn't be right! Afterall, I checked my bank account. I did business. I did a lot of things that would be awkward for a dead person to do!

But did Starlight? She lived within the facility pretty entirely. She had no outside life.

"You alright?" Shining set a hand on my floating side. "You look like you just saw something awful."

"Starlight is dead as far as the world knows," I announced with a small voice. "I think the only reason I'm not is because I'm too loud. I keep paying all my bills. I keep moving my money. I keep..." I sank down onto my comfy chair, though it didn't feel that comfortable. "They're writing off as many patients as possible as dead, to avoid questions." And what could I do about it?

"Shit." He set a hand on his own hip, a scowl on his face. "Am I dead? Wait, that don't even matter. Are they ever planning on letting us out?" He swiveled my chair so we were facing. "Are we working for the bad guys?!"

"Calm down." I set a hand on his chest. "Deep breaths... You're partnered with a Power Noodle. I can figure this out."

"That's still a stupid name."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Then come up with a better one. Until then, I am a Noodle, deal with it." I began to float out of my chair. "I'm going to do some digging, alright?" He nodded, and I vanished.

"One advantage of being a horny pony." She casually wrapped it down with her magic. "You can do things carefully, while watching, without fingers getting in the way."

"I... thought we were slowing down," noted Sunburst in uncertain tones, but there he was, armored, ready to do his part as the stallion of the relationship.

"You can say you don't want to." She met his eyes. Silence grew between them. "Look, real talk. Silence is not consent, stallion. Speaking of that! You are so cute!" She suddenly clapped his head between her hooves. "Who gave you permission to become such a cute pony!"

He smiled awkwardly in the grip, held in the grasp of the mare he had thought so much about. "Can guys even be cute?" he demurred, his ego a little bruised at such a soft adjective being applied.

"You are adorable and I love it," sang out Autumn, starting to nuzzle under his chin as her magic gave him a squeeze where he began to squirm and fidget. "Now give me a clear answer. We do what you want, nothing more. You want me to put it back in the pants I'm not wearing, done. Just like that, done."

She was pushing, but was shy of running over his input and agency. He appreciated that, smiling awkwardly. "Autumn, I don't want... to... do things... with any mare... just for fun. If we... did that... it's because we're serious about... maybe something permanent..."

She lowered her face to his, noses touching, her eyes on his. "Little stud--" She suddenly snorted. "I mean, you literally are one of those. Congratulations! Living the guy dream!" She rubbed her nose against his, a big grin on her face. "Maybe you're being smart, too damn smart... I... the new me wants to run straight forward and... we can work it out afterwards, I guess..." She fell onto him, the two both sprawling over onto Sunburst's back with her biting and nipping his throat. "You're yanking the reign, but this equine's so hot to trot..."

"But you're not an animal," he gently counseled, not that it stopped him from rubbing a little back against her, to feel that thrilling tickle of her belly fur against his sensitive parts with the delightful pleasure that came with it. "We're both adults, humans with hooves, cloven or not. We have to have boring thoughts."

"Ugh, so boring," agreed Autumn with a little smile. "What's next, gonna go over my taxes?"

"If you let me." He gently tickled her sides with his hooves, the two laughing at the idea.

She snuggled against him, her belly to his. "That doesn't seem that awful... We could get a little house, a rockin' video game system."

He ran his hooves up and down her sides more gently. "A huge television, but a nice back yard too... I think we'll both want one of those."

"Yeah... nice and big, with a stone path, where I can flare up when I need to." She giggled softly, gazing into his eyes. "Two stories, with a bedroom or two for visiting friends, or maybe little ones, if we do that."

"If we do that." His tension returned, thinking about it, trapped between them. "I'll be happy if we do, or we don't. Autumn."

"Sunburst?" she tilted her head.

"I think I might love you."

She burst into a grin. "You don't sound sure."

"Because I'm not." He trailed his hooves to her hips, holding her. "Autumn... let's be friends. Let's learn each other. Let's fall in love, the slow way, maybe forever."

"Forever," she sighed, gazing into his eyes. "That sounds kinda nice..." She wriggled a little on top of him, rubbing her hips back against his hooves. "Slow... forever. I think that could be... really nice." She hiked a brow. "You are leaving me with a wicked lady boner, just to make that clear."

"I'll make it up to you," he promised, hugging her from below, quickly returned, the two flopping and rolling to the side, neither on the other anymore. "As many times as I have to."

"Naughty boy." She licked his chin and nuzzled the damp spot. "Naughty naughty stallion, cute, mine, wonderful." She nestled close. "Fine, we'll do it your way, and you get to make up for it, later... So... color of the fence?"

"Red."

"Blue!" She stuck out her tongue. "Red, really, c'mon..."

"What about a powder yellow?"

She inclined her head, considering it. "That could be nice..."

They spent the rest of the day fantasizing about the house they'd get someday, in the future. To put the perfect ribbon on a nice day, they played a fighting game. Turned out Autumn was pretty good at them. She didn't stand a chance against Sunburst's first person shooting skills.

Both went to their own beds, happy, that night. It was the start of a relationship both felt confident in.

Even if the odds of their fantasy home were even smaller than they had thought at the time, when it already seemed like a whimsical future that was far enough away as to not exist.

"Why?" I coiled around the man. He looked upset. Not sure why, we were in his kitchen.

"Director!" he got out, reaching for a bouquet of flowers. Sure, they had been something more dangerous before, but I didn't feel like fighting the guy.

"That's me." I withdrew, floating in front of him. "You trust me to keep an eye on things, and I am... But you don't trust me with the truth. Time for that to change."

"This is a complete violation of protocol and trust." He scowled through his glasses at me. "Not to mention illegal."

"Because declaring living people dead is completely legal." I rolled my eyes mightily, scoring double sixes. "It's time to talk. You want me to keep things under control? I need to know what I'm controlling." I wagged a finger at him. "You might have hired me, hoping I was some soft touch princess that could keep them all mollified." I made a perfectly loud buzzer of a sound. It was neat being a living special effect. "But I'm not, I'm a chaos noodle with a sense of morality. So give it to me straight."

He glared at me a moment, likely considering how much I already knew, but I had put a card on the table. I knew more than I was scheduled to know. "How?"

"I might tell you if you tell me something," I offered with a smile, tail wagging. "Also, I'm not infectious, promise. Not a single cootie on you. If you start getting fuzz, I'll snap you out of it, promise, and I take those seriously." I could, with a little effort, flip back into Ponid heat vision. He was cold as a rock, no ponid in there.

"Wait," he blurted, his eyes going sharp, an idea? "You can undo ponid?"

"I can... do whatever I want, I think." So far, I hadn't hit a limit, a real limit. If there was a limit to noodling, I hadn't hit it. "But I don't, because I'm a decent person trying not to ruin a world by playing god."

"You... could fix it. You could make the treatment not cause ponid, and protect from covid?" He rolled a hand a little. "If you're telling the truth, and you've given little reason to suspect otherwise, you could make it protect from every disease there is."

"Probably," I admitted. "But I wouldn't do that."

"Why not?" He took a step towards me, looking angry. "You could save thousands, no, millions, eventually billions of lives. You are literally the answer to all of our questions, but 'no'?"

"I will not write the future of humanity." I crossed my arms over my chest. "If I did half of what you're suggesting, I would be. A lot of biologists would suddenly be out of a job, permanently, and when I was gone some day, humanity would be up a creek." I snapped my fingers, without taking advantage of the universe's distraction. "Think long term."

He let out a ragged breath, moving to claim a chair and sink onto it. "You've given me a lot to think about."

"And you haven't given me a thing. How about that?"

"Look." He raised a finger at me. "Imagine, if you can, you weren't what you are. We call ponid a disease, and why shouldn't we? It's communicable, reacts to immune systems, the works. But, like many diseases, there is no cure. To cure ponid would be to advancing to the point we could re-write what it means to be human." He spread his hands wide. "We're not there."

Well... crap... "Isn't that what the facility is for, to figure that out?"

"No!" he blurted almost hysterically. "Containment. That's all we can hope for. We've almost isolated out this... side effect from the treatment. We can cure a pandemic, but we don't want to cause a second in the process."

"Enough." I landed just so I could clop down a goat hoof. "I need answers, the full introduction I should have gotten when I took the job. Where'd this come from in the first place? How does that translate into ponies?" I thrust a finger at him. "It's lesson time, so start educating."

"I want to be... cared about." Silver rubbed behind her head, looking around awkwardly.

"Do you feel isolated?" asked Peter, still dressed in his hazmat suit, hardly a model for not being isolated.

"Of course I feel isolated," shouted Silver, her glasses going askew. She reached up to fiddle with them back into position. "Look, I had a girlfriend, back before the director got a hold of me."

"Did your transition end that?" he asked with obvious concern.

"Huh? No." She waved a hoof at the idea. "We broke up half a year ago... I was busy here, busy with work... And she didn't get me, and she wasn't really trying.. She... She just wanted a big strong man. I was that." She laughed suddenly, a strained noise. "If she could see me now..."

"You are not a strong man," Peter noted the obvious.

"No I'm not!" She thrust down her hooves, thumping on the soft material of the chair. "But I always was, used to be... People looked at me, they saw a big guy, a bruiser, a tough guy... Good or bad, it started there. I didn't have a choice." She smirked a little. "Tried going fat once, still big, still strong. Didn't change nothin'."

She sank against the back of her chair. "I don't want to be the big guy anymore. Ever. Is that too much?"

"You aren't that," he agreed easily. It would be hard to argue the little filly with glasses before him was a big strong man. "Does that make you happy?"

"Yes!" She leaned forward, her eyes set on his, even if glasses and hazmat visor was in the way. "I'm not large, or strong. I'm small and soft and... cute..." She sagged a bit. "I like that. I like all of that... People don't get nervous... People don't... shy away. They're not scared to argue with me like I'm gonna punch them if they say the wrong thing." She suddenly began to giggle. "Sometimes they even talk over me. Being little means being ignored sometimes, and... I think I'm alright with that."

"It's never perfect." Peter made notes idly. "Is there anything you do miss, from before?"

"Only stupid things." She smirked a little. "I used to draw things when I was... going, you know, little boy's room? God, like, so stupid, but I miss that, a little bit? I told you it was stupid..."

"You aren't stupid," he assured. "We all have to do it, you just enjoyed it in a way that didn't hurt anyone or thing. Is there a harm to that?"

"Well, no... Just can't really do that anymore, and you did ask." She rolled her eyes. "And now I have a tail."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Hay yes." She flicked her tail, curled around her bottom as it was. "It's like another arm. I can move things with it, grab things if I'm careful, like... express myself? It's like a little super power." She fiddled with her glasses nervously. "I don't have any, like, real super powers. Some ponies can fly and stuff. Some have actual magic!" She wobbled a hoof in the air. "I'm just a pony."

"Does that bother you?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Silver stuck out her tongue at Peter. "Don't you have opinions of your own?"

"We're here for you," gently noted Peter. "Not for me. Your opinions are the important ones."

"Well, sure, but you're a person too." She tilted her head faintly. "What if I want to know who I'm talking to?"

Paul set down his pen, the clipboard following it to be set on his desk gently. "Go ahead then, ask me a question."

Silver blinked owlishly, clearly surprised at the offer. "Oh! Well, um..." She tapped at her chin. "What do... you think?" She rose up, standing on the chair and doing a slow turn.

"Of you?"

"That's a question!" she noted with an extended tongue. "But, like, yes."

"I think your body reflects you more than you realize."

Silver frowned at that, flopping back to her haunches. "Whattaya mean by that?!"

"I mean you are still developing yourself, an identity." He reached for his clipboard, pen attached. "You felt trapped, stifled, but you broke free of that in quite the dramatic way. Free of that shell, you are reaching out and discovering who you are. You may not be young, physically, but you are immature, in maybe the best kind of way."

"There are good ways to be immature?" She crossed her arms over her chest, one hoof wobbling. "This I gotta hear."

"Your personality is growing and changing, and your outlook, on a lot of things, is very flexible right now." Peter shrugged softly. "People pay to try to get that loose again. I can only say to be careful, and pick good role models. You're an adult, right?"

She scowled at him. "Yeah?"

"So you know how important that can be. Pick them, instead of having them happen. Take that in your own... hooves."

She lifted her hooves into view. "Huh..."

"We're just about out of time." He made a little quick note. "But I think we've been productive. How do you feel?"

"I... think I agree." She smiled as she adjusted her glasses. "Like, you know, not... finished, but... yeah... When's the next one?"

They worked out when the next therapy session would be.

"Where is she?" Starlight trotted in, looking around. "Where is anypony? Hello?!"

"Right here." Shining came out from the back, dressed in sweat shirt and pants with a headband on. "I was just prepping for a jog. Wanna come with?"

"Tempting, but I came for Eri." She inclined her head. "In fact, after she answers me, then sure. Where's she hiding?"

Shining hiked a thumb behind himself. "She bamfed off to do something. Noodle stuff, secret noodle stuff."

Starlight's brows fell as one. "Secret noodle stuff I should be really worried about?"

"Not sure. But it's something heavy." Shining squatted down to be more on Starlight's level. "I think she's ready to start asking real questions."

"She could have asked me," whined Starlight with a roll of her eyes. "Could have made for awkward pillow talk. Speaking of that, she didn't forget our date, did she?"

"I don't think she could," chuckled Shining. "Look, between us." He gestured between them. "You're all girl, and I'm settling into the guy thing pretty well, why are you pushing her to play against her type?"

Starlight hiked a brow at him. "Pardon you? She's a little god. She's a very well mannered one, I'll grant, too good for this world, but she's still a god. She can be a he, she, it or even they if she wants, and there ain't nocreature that can tell her not to. I'm just inviting her to show what she can do, at least partially to herself."

"It's all for her benefit," agreed Shining with a heavy layer of doubt. "You get nothing out of this."

"I get to enjoy being taken on a wild hedonistic ride where the breaks may not be working the entire time, but I knew the risks going in." She waggled her brows lightly. "Speaking of that, 'they', I should suggest that. If playing with one Eri is fun, being pinned between a half dozen of them should be... fun..."

"You're a pervert."

"Takes one to know one." She stuck out her tongue at Shining. "I heard what you were doing. Not even a stallion for a week and you were already taking that pistol out f--"

Shining had grabbed her by the snout, cutting her off. "I was sick and confused, alright?"

Starlight drew her head back, smirking at the blushing stallion of a man. "Right, 'cause you never do that anymore, unlike most men ever." She rolled a hoof softly. "Tell me a few more sweet lies."

"Star, girl, you are awful." Shining rose up to his hooves, dusting off his hands. "I'm going for that run, coming or not?"

"Yeah yeah." She trailed after him even as their pace began to accelerate. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, I'd do it too. Pretty sure that's just a person thing."

"Shut up and run." And they began to jog in earnest, though it was more of a trot for Starlight, who seemed to have no particular difficulty keeping up with him, darn cheating four-legged motion.

"I want to try something." Twilight set down a paper with clearly labeled magical notes in big bold fonted letters, each letter also had a color just to be double sure they were understood. "While our magic is quite a marvel to behold, each individual spellcaster can only emit so much energy."

Autumn tilted her head. "Only so much, yeah. Makes sense. If we could make, like, infinite energy, that'd be crazy!" She threw her hooves wide. "Imagine the trouble we could get into."

"I'd rather imagine what we can actually do." She tapped at the page impatiently with a hoof. "Do you remember this spell?"

Autumn leaned in, examining it, fala-laing under her breath as if test-singing the song written. "Oh, the coloring spell!"

"I am... curious how you figured that out. It didn't appear to be memorization." She shook her head, rising to her hooves. "The goal is to color something large, at once, rather than through brushes. The energy required is too much for either of us to do, alone."

"Are we singing a duet?!" Autumn threw a leg over Twilight, drawing the unicorn in for a firm side hug. "I'm so ready! Let's do it!"

Twilight smiled awkwardly as she was shook in that firm hug of affection. "Well, yes, that is the idea. We will both cast the spell on the same target and try to harmonize. It was your idea that our magic is music, was it not?"

"Sure was, and still is." she reached up and tapped her horn. "Check out this wicked flute I have, super pretty and ready to bellow out a few sweet notes."

"Right..." Twilight inclined her head faintly. "And, like other vocalizations, we will try to harmonize, to match our pitch and notes so that the waveforms collapse into one another and produce one, larger, wave and a greater effect."

"I was ready a few sentences ago," assured Autumn, her horn glowing with readiness to sling magic. "Just tell me what I'm singing this spell at."

"Willingness is not the final requirement. We must be in perfect harmony, or the waveforms will interfere with one another instead of supporting."

Autumn shoved Twilight, hoof to her shoulder. "We won't get it right until we get it wrong a few times. Let's do it!"

Twilight smiled at her eager assistant. "You're not wrong. Alright, let's start with something that won't be missed." Her horn began to glow as she floated over a sizable, but not very valuable, basket of plastic. It was about six feet long and tall. A great bin for storing things. "Let's color this."

Autumn considered the basket as one might a fine portrait, rubbing her chin through her thick curls. "Mmm... What color are we aiming for?"

Rather than say a color, Twilight drew out a new paper and slapped it down. It was a bright bold yellow. "That."

Autumn's eyes fell to the paper, considering the color, then looking at the plastic basket and imagining it if it were that color. "Alright... Let's... color it!" She brought her hooves together, her horn glowing.

"Hold on!" Twilight thrust a hoof up. "We need some way to get in time."

Autumn tilted her head. "Huh? Go ahead, do the spell."

"But... we have no method..." Looking worried, she tried anyway, performing the magic of color.

An instant after her horn began to glow, Autumn's followed along. They began to glow all over, more than their horns, the air thickening with conjoining magic. "Yellow!" burst out Autumn with the hugest grin as they finished the spell.

A bright flash blinded them a moment, leaving Twilight rubbing her eyes with her arm before drawing it away to behold the basket. It had been colored. Not quite the same yellow, more of an orangey-yellow? Still, it had been colored. Twilight brought her hooves together. "For a first try, this is quite good!" She reached out as her magic picked up the basket, twirling it around. The color didn't go flying, for it was magic, not paint, that had done the coloring. "How did you match up with me so easily?"

"Duh?" Autumn looked confused at the idea. "I heard you start the song and joined in. You never joined in on a song someone else was singing before? It's not that hard."

"But... then you didn't do the first note, you couldn't have." Twilight inclined her head as the basket sank back to the ground. "You don't know what note I'm playing until I'm afterwards, and that's still quite the eye for magic."

"Thank you." Autumn buffed her chest, looking proud, and happy. "But you're right, I skip the first note. Just like you'd skip the first few words if you join a song being sung. Going back over it would throw the whole thing off."

"Which may be the reason for the discoloration." Twilight tapped the basket. "I can't be sure. We need a way to start and end together that doesn't have a delay in it, as remarkable as your intuition is."

"More music."

"Pardon?" Twilight hiked a brow.

"If there was a song going and we knew what beat to start our spells and follow along, we'd all be on the same page," explained Autumn, tapping her hooves along to some song only she heard. "And that's it! Easy!"

"Easy," echoed Twilight, shaking her head. "You are something else, but you may also be onto something there."

They would try again, with music.

Sunburst clicked his tongue as a pen, grasped in his magic, took slow notes. "And with the power thus created," he muttered to himself, slowly writing each letter, only to often skip back and add smaller letters between them, sometimes with arrows pointing from one to the next, or just slashing one out. "That won't work at all..."

He could make magic, but there wasn't a creature around that assured the process was simple and easy. "Too energetic," he complained, tapping at a letter. "We need..." Another letter was added. "To calm it down, control..."

If only his marefriend was around to compare notes with.

His cheeks warmed, thinking of that literally hot mare that, for some reason, wanted to be around him. "I hope she's doing alright..." He tapped at the paper with the floating pen. "She wants this spell too! Focus, Sunburst, focus..."

"Moving from here... to here..." He drew an arrow between two of the letters. "Father, I mean gather focus...." He licked his lips softly, thoughts straying to the kirin that haunted his dreams and whimsies. "I hope you're doing better than me." He jotted another letter. "And being able to test this would be so much easier..."

No, mistake! With a loud groan, he tore up the paper and threw it aside, grabbing a new sheet to start doodling on. "I will get this right, Autumn. You'll play a new song, the one you asked for." He smiled a little. "It's for you..." And he resumed his efforts, all the more invested in success.

"Looking back on it, we had this coming," admitted the man with a heavy sigh.

"But you did it anyway."

"Look, we needed a solution, fast. Yesterday fast," explained the man as he thumped a balled fist on his armrest. "This thing is tanking the economy. Not even just here. It's like we're in a global war, without the war."

"A worldwide recession, I got that." I floated in closer, watching him. "So you did something stupid to stop it."

"To try to," he agreed. "We found something, a skeleton."

I had to blink. "I'm sorry, but what skeleton did you find that could even remotely be connected to a global pandemic?!" There was absolutely no way that could end well. None. Well, it hadn't, looking back on it.

"It was an outside thing." He folded his arms, hands together on his lap. "Before my time by a few months. They discovered it had surprising genetic repair abilities, the sort that seemed powerful enough to undo attempts of a virus to damage it even in the moment."

He raised a hand, two fingers close together. "There it was, a solution to a lot of diseases, an inch away. It was a temptation too harsh to ignore."

"Bullshit," I cut in. "How did you get from 'this looks interesting' to 'let's put it in people and see what happens?!'"

"Not directly," he was quick to point out. "We aren't entirely without some manner of ethics, or common sense. We started with animal testing." He rolled his shoulders lightly. "They did not become brightly colored equines. They were healthy, strong, no negatives at all. Rats, horses, and even pigs went through the trials, and we had not even a single negative reaction. Horses made the most usable serum in the end, so they were selected to make the final product."

"So you gave me a serum made from some kind of reaction between a fossil and a horse? Nice..." I had to take a slow breath, digesting that. Maybe if they had used rats or pigs for that final serum, we would have turned into something quite a bit different... "So you moved on to human tests... and things went sideways."

"Worse." He set his hands down, pushing up to his feet. "If it only resulted in ponid and nothing else, the project would have been canned, and that would have been that. It would have been cleaner, in the end. Almost wish that was the case, sometimes, but no."

How could it be worse? Oh. It clicked... "It... really did fix some people."

"It really did fix some people," he echoed miserably. "Some of the test subjects came in with pre-existing conditions and left cured. Cured and still human. It did exactly what we had wanted it to do. We were standing on a drug that could still deliver what we had set out to do... if only for one... small... problem."

"Alright. Alright!" I threw my hands out to either side. "Alright! I get it. It's fucked up in a lot of ways, but I get it. Why aren't you telling them this?" I leveled a finger at him. "None of this explains why they still think a cure's coming for them, when I get the idea that there isn't. They're ponies, forever. Why aren't they just being told the truth?"

"Look at yourself." He gestured up and down my form. "You're... incensed, outraged. Do you think an entire facility of the same will result in anything but a lot of hurt people, hooved or not?"

I hated that he had even a kernel of a point. "You can start fixing it."

"No, you can." He put his hands on his hips. "This is literally your responsibility. You haven't been told to keep this a secret. You want to tell them? You do it, and don't mess it up. This will be on your performance review."

Oh. Oh damn...

He had told me not because I asked nicely. He told me because it had become entirely my problem. He had just divested himself of it. It was my problem how to tell them, or if they should be told. It was all on me.

Thanks. I hated it.

"Great..." With a weary sigh, I vanished back to the facility I was in charge of. Someone would have to fix the mess...

"A D A C A E," muttered Sunburst, drawing and sketching lines between them busily, his tongue working faster than his lips as he worked through the spell in his mind over and over again. He tapped the floating paper before flipping it over and starting to scrawl over it. "Gather, focus, temper, control..."

The spell he was working on was quite a step up from the others. It wasn't just adding a color, or a flavor. No single sense. "The penalty for failure..." was high, too high. Terrifyingly high. He was a pony on a tightrope with no pole and no net. To make it better, he wouldn't know the result of his success or failure until after the fact.

No, he was planning the trip and handing it off to someone else to walk, for someone else, him possibly, to feel the sting of failure. "Maybe I should..."

No. He had come that far, he wouldn't give up! He just had to remain calm and use his strength, logic. "It's all logical, little units that had to work together..."

Twilight patted the bright yellow basket that had been flipped upside down. Resting on it were a few trophies that were also colored in different bright hues. "This is the effect of magical harmonization. With it, different spellcasters can pool and combine their abilities into an effect greater than the sum of their parts."

She brought her forehooves together with a proud clop. "We gathered four spellcasters who knew the spell and this is the result." She waved a hoof at the room they were in, painted not one solid color but a repeating checkerboard from top to bottom of brightest white and deepest of blues. "As you can see, the more are involved, the more pronounced the magnification can be. I have a few theories on that."

"I'm... very proud. You must be excited," I noted, floating before the super excited looking Twilight. "But that isn't why I came here."

"I thought you came for a status report on the project?" Twilight canted her head as if she couldn't think of one other reason I'd be there. Suddenly, she gasped. "Did someone use magic inappropriately?!"

"No, thankfully." Ugh, I didn't need that mess on the rest. "I want to talk to you, about you, well, not just you. It doesn't involve magic, but..." Well, really, I was pretty sure she was actually really happy being a unicorn. She seemed a safe test. "Ponid, the cure, your thoughts?"

"Pfft." She threw a hoof at the air towards me. "As soon as they can fix the contagiousness, I'm leaving and keeping this horn, thank you." She pointed up at it. "The idea of going back to not having magic? Yuck, no thanks."

Well, really, I could appreciate that. The idea of losing my noodle powers was not a pleasant one... "So you don't care if you ever go back to being human?"

"Human is as human does," she countered, brow raised. "I am a member of this civilization, regardless of the number of hands I possess. I never stopped being human, being raised by them, in their culture, and not divesting myself of it nearly enough."

Alright, that was enough to push on. "Well, alright, not arguing that. We're both Americans, even if we have sweet fur pelts." I patted my front lightly. "I learned something, and I'm going to need you to keep it a secret, not because I want it secret, but because I'm working out exactly how to share it reasonably."

"And you're telling me?" She shook her head. "I thought you were, oh! I'm being silly. You already told Starlight this, I imagine, and--"

"No," I cut off. "Not a single other pony knows, yet. I plan to change that."

"And you came to me?" She inclined her head before righting herself and saluting as best she could with a hoof. "Well, go on then. I'll give my honest opinion if that's what you want."

"Thank you." She was a good pony, if a touch odd at times. "Ponid, there is no cure, and probably won't be for quite a long time. They aren't even looking right now."

Twilight blinked softly. "They're looking for a way to make us non-contagious though, right? I can easily imagine that reconfiguring our gross anatomy would be quite the scientific challenge. And I don't want that anyway." She waved it off. "Most ponies I know have grown quite pleased with their new selves anyway."

"I'm happy to hear that." That made my news less likely to result in mass riots, but... "But, really, it's a low priority, getting any of us out of here. Their #1 focus is on making the injection that put us here safe for use. They want to stop Ponid from being a new thing, but fixing the mess already made... Not quite as pressing." I was worrying my fingers as I bobbed in the air in casual hovering. "Sorry to be the bearer of awful news."

"You... didn't do this," reasoned Twilight. "You were one of us just a short while ago. These... policies have been handed to you. I can't, logically... say you did this..." She sank to her haunches heavily as if the weight of the world were pressing on her. "This is a lot to take in."

That was more of the reaction I expected. "I'm really sorry, and angry too. I want to be able to go. Shoot... I can already just not be infectious, but I'm still stuck here, how fair's that?"

Twilight blinked at me, looking puzzled. "How?"

Ah, right, noodle powers were still kinda new to everyone who wasn't me... "I can do things, which includes that. You've heard of some of the things I did."

"I've heard of some of it, indirectly." She rolled a hoof in the air. "Spontaneous magic, driven entirely by your will alone. I'd say I'm not jealous, but I'd be lying. You have all the power of all the unicorns here, without needing spells. It's... terrifying, really. You could destroy the world as we know it."

Part of me swelled with pride, while another cringed. She wasn't wrong... "That's why I try not to use it for big things. My morality only stretches so far, my ethics along with it, so I figure, keep it small. If it's bigger than what I'm personally dealing with, just don't. No fixing world hunger."

"You could do that?" She hiked a brow before it fell right back down. "No limits. Hm. My respect for you has raised." She put a hoof out a few inches off the ground. "You saw your limits and reacted accordingly. Many others would not. They would reach as far as they could, as soon as they could, only to regret it afterwards, if ever at all. To even consider ones ethical and moral limitations is... quite a rare mental trait. Starlight's praise of you makes more sense now."

"Your flattery will get you nowhere, except a cookie." With a snap, a big metal tin of cookies sprang into being beside her. "Those are unofficial. I'm officially barred from creating food for supply sake."

Twilight burst into laughter, sweet cute laughter. "Unofficial magic cookies? The best kind there is." Her horn glowed as she popped the top off and reached to snag one of the cookies in its paper tray, nibbling. "Mmm, just like one from the store. Your reproduction is spot on." The cookie vanished into her mouth. "Now, you told me for a reason."

"Yes. I just learned this, about the state of things. Everyone deserves to know the truth, but I don't want people freaking out either. Any suggestions?"

Twilight raised a hoof to her chin. "We could start with those with an affinity for magic. They are least likely to be upset at remaining as they are. After them, I'd go for those that are enjoying flight. Similarly, they have grown attached to something that is impossible to have in a human body, so they are unlikely to be that upset about that part of the news."

Ah ha! "Genius! I'm overthinking this." I clapped my hands and did a little twirl, which is so much easier when you're not touching the ground. "We'll break the announcements into two parts. First part being that they're staying ponies. Don't even bring up the other part, yet, that's for later."

Twilight rolled a hoof. "I'd couch it as 'they're working on it with no real timeline' rather than 'never', since it's not never... right?"

Ugh, corporate shadytalk, but perhaps the right course of action... "Let's start one thing at a time. You're basically in charge of magic, who's your #1 student?"

"Well, we have a #1 for research, and a #1 for practical." She tilted her head left and right with thought. "I'd say go for practical, as she actually uses magic. In theory, research could have been done as a human."

Wait. Starlight had... "Do you mean Sunburst?"

"You've heard of him?" Twilight smiled brightly. "Yes, he's #1 for research, able to make new spells. Quite remarkable, really, but he has no magical aptitude for casting."

"And who's #1 for practical?"

"Autumn Blaze," reported Twilight with a little nod. "A bit excitable, but she's calmed down. I think she'd be a fine first pony, besides myself, obviously."

She wasn't, technically, a pony. The point still stood. "Isn't she involved?"

"Involved? Of course, that's why--oh!" She began to blush. "You mean, yes, she is in a romantic relationship with Sunburst."

"So telling her without telling him would be a bit mean. Let's tell them both, together. Send them both to my office, please. I'll let security know." And I vanished.

Silver Spoon trotted into the office, her new skirt bouncing with her steps. Her bottom was concealed with a set of frilled briefs that kept eyes off anything untoward. She bounced up onto the chair, sitting facing the doctor with a big smile. "Good afternoon, Paul," she greeted, adjusting her glasses.

"Good afternoon, Silver," he welcomed in turn. "You seem in good spirits today. Want to share?"

"Yes!" she burst, clopping her hooves together. "You were so, like, right on point. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was fun, but it wasn't the point." She waggled a hoof at him. "I need to find the right pony, or, you know, human." She tilted her head. "But a human would go pony, shoot, that's not the idea... Anyway! Like, so I need to sell people."

"Isn't that what you were doing before?" Paul gently pried, watching his eager patient.

"Well, yeah, but I was selling the wrong thing!" She threw her hooves wide to either side. "I put up big signs that said 'Hey, come check out this fun ride!' When I shoulda been, like, 'here's someone interesting to know.'"

Paul allowed a little smile. "That's quite the realization."

"You're telling me?" She curled a hoof back at herself. "I was being a total, like, slut, inside and out... Anypony that was attracted to that is not the pony I should be with. Enough of that!" She clopped a hoof down firmly. "Like, not that I can't have some fun, with friends... but that isn't who I am, isn't what I should be, you know?"

"How do you feel?"

"I..." She trailed off, frowning a little and poking at her glasses. "I feel a little weird, but good weird?" She gestured over herself. "How do I look?"

"I admit, it's new, to me. You're wearing a fine bottom, but no top."

"Duh," she half-sang at him. "What have I got up here that needs hiding? I'm a horse." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ain't a thing up here. This is where ponies should be looking." She pointed at her big glasses. "Right here, got a nice big target and everything."

The session went on, but Paul had a good feeling his patient was progressing nicely.

"So." Autumn bounced a little in place. They were in a waiting room together, a bored secretary typing busile. Sunburst was next to Autumn. "She's the boss?"

"Director, actually." Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "There are ponies in charge of her, so she's not the boss boss?"

"That still sounds like our boss, even if she has a boss," countered Autumn, worrying her cloven hooves together. "I heard she has all kinds of crazy magic too!"

"Well, yes, but she's, uh, beside the first incident, been quite reserved in its use."

"She had an incident," noted Autumn, brows falling. "Do you have an 'incident'?"

"Well, no, but you have."

"I did not!"

"You set me on fire, uh, twice." Sunburst smirked a iittle. "Not mad, but it did happen."

"That was an accident!" She was blushing more like being reminded an embarassing thing rather than being any actual danger to Sunburst. "I just hope she's nice and not mad. When your boss calls you in, it's almost never good news."

"She's pretty nice, I hear."

"She'll see you now," announced the secretary, nodding towards the closed door.

"Thank you." Sunburst started forward. "Let's go meet her."

"You haven't even met her yet?" Autumn trotted with him, their magics both grabbing for the door and pulling it open with a little wobble of their wills tussling. "How do you know..." She trailed off, spotting Eri sitting on her chair, but she was not sitting exactly.

Sure, she was in a seated position, but the chair was several inches beneath her. She was actually floating there casually, typing on an equally hovering keyboard, her monitor behind that, caught up in the urge to defy gravity for fun.

She was also not a pony, or a griffon, or a kirin. She was nothing Autumn had ever seen before, and that apparently piqued her interest. Her magic slapped the door shut as she took a step forward. "Hey! Uh, nice to... meet." Suddenly she exploded in heat, black-blue flames engulfing her with tinges of white. "Raw! I'm messing it up!"

Sunburst raised a hoof adorned with a cooking glove. Where had he hid that? He patted her gently on the head. "It's alright. I don't think she's upset."

"I'm not," I assured, lowering with my things. They landed on the desk as I touched the floor. "I'm glad--" Suddenly there was an Autumn right up on me. She was looking me over, the last bits of her flame being patted out by Sunburst even as she snuffled and poked. "Um, everything alright?"

"What are you?" she asked with naked curiosity, reaching my tail and reaching both hooves to feel at its base. The urge to swat her was quite strong, that's a private place! But she gave off such little malice, more like an excitable little kid. "Hey, we're both clovies." She slapped her cloven hoof against mine with the biggest happiest smile.

It was hard to be angry with her. "We are," I agreed instead, lifting my hoof so she could see it more easily. "Now, I brought you here because there's something they've been fibbing about, and I don't want more fibbing on my watch. Our relationship has to have trust in it."

She let go of my hoof, crashing to her haunches. "Uh-oh. You wouldn't say that unless it was something really big." She threw her hooves out wide. "Are we gonna melt into puddles?"

Sunburst hiked a brow. "I doubt this is the case."

"It could be!"

"It isn't," I cut in before they could get into arguing it. "I'll get right to the point. What turned you into a pony, and you into a kirin--"

"And you into a, uh, whatever that is." She was pointing at me.

"Yes, that. Medical technology isn't even close to reproducing that, meaning this is it, we're this, forever." I waved over my form, then towards the forms of both of my guests. "We are what we are. There will be no more promises of future fixes on that."

Sunburst rubbed behind his head softly. "Oh, uh... I... kinda assumed that."

"Me too," chimed Autumn. "I mean, not entirely, but I was guessing. If they were close, there'd be news about it already." She burst into sudden giggles. "Can you imagine? Being able to get rid of extra parts, or put extra ones on? It'd be all over!"

That was not the reaction I was expecting. "I want to give everypony a chance to hear it from me directly, so if you could not share it just yet?"

Autumn's horn glowed as she drew a zipper over her lips with a big fancy lock. It wasn't an illusionary zipper. She literally drew it quickly with her magic, markings on her fur. Sunburst just nodded. "Of course, um, thanks, for telling us. Are we in the middle?"

"One of the first," I admitted. "But there'll be more." Maybe even that day, from the way they took it. Maybe that part was just the truth people knew, but hadn't come out and said just yet. "To be clear, this changes nothing. I'm still here, and I will protect you all as best I can."

Autumn clopped her hooves and undulated in place like a smitten woman. "My hero! It's good having an all-powerful magic girl watching over me." She snorted a giggle. "Better than the usual. You seem kinda nice."

"I try to be," I allowed with a little smile, relieved she was taking it well. I set my eyes on Sunburst. "You alright with this?"

"Oh, yes." He bobbed his head. "Starlight, you know, talks about you... She's very fond." He rubbed behind his head. "Hard to think anypony she latches onto like that could be a bad sort... Besides, you saw something wrong and you did the right thing, you told us. Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks." Autumn slapped Sunburst's back, eyes on me. "How far along are they on the 'don't turn people into ponies by being close to them' thing? I wanna gallop out into the world and sing!"

Dang it, so much for just not bringing that up. "No estimate on that." That was the truth, even if not the whole truth. "Their priority is on something else right this second." Also the truth... also not the whole story. I hated it.

Sunburst and Autumn both sagged a little at the news. Sunburst pointed at me. "You're not a scientist, right?"

"Oh, wow, no." I was so unqualified for that title.

"Do you, uh, set the budgets?" he pressed, adjusting his glasses.

"A little?" I held up two fingers close. "I can prioritize floors in the facility and slide the money around them. I can move for people to get fired or hired, but not actually do it, that's HR. My job is to keep this place running smoothly, to keep you all safe and secure, both in terms of making sure none of you wander out and cause a new pandemic and making sure nobody comes in here and freaks right out on seeing all of you."

"A two way thing..." Sunburst worried his hooves together. "A gate to keep us in, and them out." He sighed gently. "You can't do much about it, from the sound of it... I'm not mad, uh, at you."

"Still sucks," grunted Autumn with a frown. "How are we going to get those yellow fences?!"

Yellow fences? "Thank you, both of you, for understanding. If I... could, without godmoding, I'd fix that."

Autumn was on me, rearing up to get her snout to mine, touching noses. "You have a godmode?! How's it work? Is it tiring? Tell us more!"

"IDDQD," chuckled out Sunburst. "Um, probably not like that though, uh, Autumn, she's still the director."

"Yeah, she is." Autumn was still on me, hugging and wagging her tail quite excitedly. "Tell us more please," she tried a touch more politely.

I had to laugh even as I pushed her back. It's for the best ponies have breasts in not the usual place, allowing me to push without worry. "If I do too much, especially all at once, it can get very tiring. It's not a literal godmode like a video game, I can still be hurt." I could remember the injuries I got the last time push came to shove. "I'm not immortal, just... functionally omnipotent?" That sounded just as weird to me as anyone else.

Sunburst inclined his head. "If you can do anything, can't you just make yourself impossible to hurt?"

"And be as strong as you want," sang out Autumn. "Tall as you want, beefy as you want." Her brows began to waggle. "As sexy as you want."

Sunburst tackled her even as she laughed, the two collapsing into a pile of wrestling hooves.

They had forgotten their tension, and that was fine by me. "I'm glad you two came in today. You're both in contact with Starlight, right? Tell her if you need anything, she can bend my ear pretty easily."

"She can bend other things," joked Autumn even as Sunburst struggled to contain her, much to no avail, her laughter filling the room.

With a sharp snap, they were suddenly outside, in front of the secretary. The door was closed. They had been dismissed.

Autumn sat up. "Aw... I wanted to ask her more questions."

"Like what?" Sunburst offered a hoof, helping Autumn up.

"Well, she has, basically, all magic ever. I bet she could really kickstart our work there."

"Maybe." Sunburst tilted his head. "But you don't need her, you have me."

"True." She leaned in, touching noses with him. "And you're way more fun to hug, not even a competition."

The two trotted off, content with things for the time being, even if their idyllic home was put on pause for the foreseeable future.

They wern't the last ponies I saw that day. They didn't all take it as well. "I have rights!" shrieked Bon Bon as she strode firmly from the room. "You did this, the least you can do is release me from this prison! I'll be calling my lawyer!" No, she wouldn't. I felt sure on that, but that sureness didn't make me feel less awful for how upset she clearly was.

"I'm going to be here, forever," miserably muttered one pony, sinking in place. "Just my luck..." The oversized stallion, as big as an actual horse, left without any angry words, but he looked so sad.

"I get to stay here?" Scootaloo inclined her head. "Cool."

"You're alright with that?" I asked, studying the filly, the true filly.

"Why wouldn't I be? I have good friends, I get to do school one on one instead of a big class of screaming people. I get to do what I want!" She threw her hooves wide. "Becoming a pony's pretty cool, uh, minus the wings that don't quite work, but they work good enough."

She hiked a brow. "Having teachers that wear big plastic suits is kinda odd. I like to think I'm a radioactive monster, rawr!" She threw up her hooves in a faux attacking way, giggling. "But they're nice. They say I'm learning really well too. Oh! Hey, even Silver's getting less strange. She plays more games and spends less time trying to hang out with the adults. She's fun now. Good job, uh, whatever you did."

She trotted out, a happy filly.

"I'm stuck here?" Silver inclined her head. "Am I even infectious? You made me, not Ponid, so... am I? I mean, like if I aren't, why am I stuck here?"

Oh damn... "Either we're all stuck, me included, or we all aren't. Letting some people go would make a riot, you know that."

Thankfully, she was still a security guard. I could see those wheels turning. "Shit," she said in a very un-filly like way. "You're not wrong, and I hate it. Hey, thanks, for being even with me." She hopped to the ground. "I respect that... I know I asked kinda... awkwardly before, but the offer's still... you know, open? Wouldn't mind a mother that watches out for me..."

For this entire chapter, I am not there. I can't be, sorry. Not that I don't want to give you an update on things, and I'll make sure you get something, but it was time, and Starlight was not taking a no for an answer. Amusingly, she also wanted me to not take no for an answer.

She wanted me, all of me. She wanted the caring me, and the godly me, both and seperate. She was eager to encourage depravity from hugging to far more raunchy things. She even demanded I make her conceive, to let us watch it happen, the quickening of her ovum in glorious 4k resolution, with her consciousness expanded to feel it, to go from one level of awareness to the next as what would be our child stirred.

She made quite the noise. I hadn't shared the sensation to myself, so I couldn't tell you exactly what that felt like... but it must have been something from the way she squirmed. Not that being successfully seeded would be the end of her weekend. She coaxed me right on to other things without much delay.

So, you might now easily imagine, I was busy. It wasn't a bad busy. I had fun, she had fun, and our family grew. I've wasted weekends on stupider things before.

"Did you hear?" appeared on the facility Discord.

"Hear what?" replied Applejack.

"We're not patients, we're prisoners!" alarmingly typed out Bon Bon. "They told me straight to my face."

"That's a mighty big claim," replied Applejack, others chiming in agreement.

"She's not entirely wrong," added Scootaloo. "But she's making it sound all scary."

Bon Bon posted an image of a famous actor raising a brow high. "Alright, phrase that in a way that isn't scary."

"We get to stay! We get to be a family, uh, community? I love all of you. We're great friends, and we get to keep doing that. They give us what we want, we're never hungry, or bored. I put the new Playstation on my wishlist and I got it. I mean, sure, I share it with my friends, but I'd do that anyway!"

"Aw, thanks," added Applebloom

"You're the sweetest," agreed Sweetie Bloom.

"Some of us want to do more than play video games," added Carrot Top. "They let me garden, and I do appreciate that, but I want... to go outside, real outside. I want to travel and see new things, meet new people."

"Exactly!" emphatically agreed Bon Bon, likely waving at her screen as she typed it. "We're prisoners in a really comfy cell, but it's still a cell and we're still in it!"

"More of a really, uh, big... place, with lots of friends."

Bon Bon replied quickly, "So we're in a jail, a big, luxurious even, jail. We're treated like kings and queens, but we can't leave. And I'm supposed to be alright with that?"

The conversation began to frazzle with words coming up in favor and against. Some of them were pretty happy with their accommodations, but others joined Bon Bon in railing for the right to decline it.

"Alright, calm down everycreature." Starlight joined the conversation. "This is a civil place for nice chats. Take it to DMs if you can't keep it chill. They're doing what they can to make things better, promise."

"So what's up?" Autumn bounced in place, looking quite excited. "You don't often call me here."

They were in his room. He was sliding open a drawer on his bed-side table and out came a folder in his magic. "I want you to be the first to see this."

Her eyes widened, watching the folder come closer. "Oh gosh! Are you... proposing? This is not the way I expected it to work. Maybe some soft music, or you'd set up something big and corny." She burst into giggles, eyes locked on the floating folder.

"Oh, um, not that." He set the folder right in front of her. The moment was ruined, his thoughts thrown off the rail he had set up. "You... want me to...?"

Autumn came in, thumping her head against his, their horns jostling between them for space. "You are so cute... We already planned our dream house. I'm ready whenever you ask. Now, if that's not it..." She slid back and threw open the folder with her magic. "Oh, oh wow! Wow.... Really? Woah..."

Before her was a paper festooned with letters and arrows and musical notes, all arranged in a byzantine mesh that she had never seen before. "This is like we've been playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and we were so proud and here you come, swaggering, and throwing down Sonata, um, 5 at us."

"I was... listening to you, how it's like music." He directed a hoof at where the musical notes were. "And that was the secret, I think. The shapes you form are only half of the equation. You also need to put more or less stress, to reach higher or lower notes, see? I... hoped you'd get it." He deflated a little, sagging in place.

Only for her to grab him by the shoulders. "I love it!" she burst out, eyes on the paper. "And there, to there, yeah! I want to try it, but I have to learn it first. This is way too complicated to just do it off the cuff, you know? What's it do?! Gotta be something big, something special..." She threw her hooves wide before bouncing up to all four. "Tell me!"

Sunburst opened his mouth to reply, only for her hoof to cut him off. "Don't tell me. You should be telling us, I mean, Twilight and I."

He gently pushed her hoof away. "Autumn, thank you for being interested, and excited." She was bobbing her head quickly. "But this is for you."

She tilted her head left and right. "That's kinda sweet, but what's it do?"

"You heard Starlight." He cycled one hoof over the other. "She can change her form whenever she wants, like the, uh, like some of the other patients."

Autumn inclined her head left and right once more before she frowned. "Yeah? Oh! You made a shapeshifting spell? That's so cool! I mean, I like the way I look right now, but it's still super neat!"

"Not exactly as you imagine it." He pressed his hooves together. "Shapeshifting is... complicated, to say the least. I tried to, uh, make it variable, at first, but I don't even see how you'd do that. I made a specific one form. One specific target."

Autumn's ears danced. "Ooo? So it's a 'turn someone into this 'specific' thing spell? That's still really cool!" She burst into giggles. "You said specific like three times, trying to make that really obvious huh? Specific!" she sang the last word out as her eyes wandered over the paper, trying to learn it even as they talked. "Wow, this is... so next level. I'm proud of you! I couldn't dream of composing magic this complicated."

"I couldn't dream of playing it," he countered.

"Which is why we're such a good team." She abandoned the paper in favor of moving to his side and nestling close. "So why are we keeping this a secret from Twilight?"

"Because it's for, um, you." He raised a hoof behind his head. "After we have it working for sure, then we can share."

"You still haven't told me what--" She cut off. It hit her. "Oh!" She began to poke him repeatedly in little tap-taps of her hooves. "Silly stallion! You want me to use it on you, don't you?"

"Maybe!" He began to blush increasingly badly. "Yes... Um... I'd do it myself, but, on thinking about it, this is safer." He inclined his head. "Performing surgery on... yourself? Maybe not the best idea."

She whistled softly at the thought. "Maybe not, and by maybe I mean super definitely. I don't want to hurt you." She flopped against him, wrapping her arms around him as her hooves worked into his fur. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"No," he admitted with perhaps too much speed. "But we're gonna try it."

"That did not make me feel better." She slipped up to her haunches and scowled at him. "If this starts--"

He planted a hoof on her lips as she had done to him. "No. Once you start, you finish, or you could make it worse. You play the whole song, start to end, no matter what. Got it?"

"I really don't like it," she admitted in a soft voice. "I don't know what I'd do without my little sun." She raised her hooves to his cheeks. "You are the most important pony in my life." She burst into giggles. "I had no ponies, important or not, before, but hey this is 2020, welcome to it!"

"I'll drink to that," laughed out Sunburst. "But I trust you, and I trust my spell. Learn it, take your time, and play it, for us."

"For us." She touched noses with him.

Autumn slapped down glowing papers on the desk. "He's nuts!" Her magic spread the papers out. "Look at this."

Twilight leaned in over it, eyes sweeping. "Did... he... wow... But... how?" She bobbed a hoof, trying to follow the magic. "This is amazing."

"Amazingly awful!" Autumn threw her hooves up wide. "It'll change him, or just kill him, and he wants me to promise to finish the spell, no matter what. I get to watch and listen as it does... whatever it does, for good or bad, and I'm supposed to just not react, just play. I could be killing my boy!"

"The ethics of this are... troubling." She raised a hoof to her chin, tapping lightly. "Scientists stopped using themselves as test subjects a long time ago. Can't he at least try this on an animal subject first?"

"That's a great idea!" Autumn slapped down her hooves on Twilight's shoulders. "Oh, I'll try to be sneaky. I'll ask him if this should work on an animal, and if he says yes, we got a way forward! I'll zap a mouse and see what happens."

Twilight inclined her head. "I need to do significant research. There are rules for using animals like this, and I'm entirely unaware of most of them. If we want to do this right, we need to be informed. The mice have rights too."

"Sure sure sure, yes, of course." Autumn bobbed her head. "But, look, anything is better than just zapping Sunny with a spell that could hurt him real bad. He's brave, I'm proud, sure, but he's also an idiot, and I have to protect him from himself. You with me?"

"I am." She offered a hoof and they met with a loud clop. "We will not allow him to risk himself needlessly. Besides being a friend, he is vital to the forward progress of the program. He can fashion spells far more ably than I, I'm not afraid to admit." She gestured over the papers spread out. "Look at this! If this works, we're entering whole new realms of complexity."

"I get you're excited, but let's not hurt ourselves trying to go too fast." She let out a long sigh. "Thank... you. I was so worried you would agree with him, that you'd just tell me I was being a big foal about it."

"Um." Both mares looked to the side where Lyra was watching them with a raised brow. "Is my lesson cancelled?"

"Oh! No, of course not," laughed Twilight. "Sorry. Autumn, go on. We'll talk more later."

Autumn saluted as she gathered her papers in her magic, trotting from the room and letting Twilight get back to the job of teaching other unicorns how to use their magic. They both had very important tasks ahead of them, and neither would wait for the other. "I'll save you from yourself, my wonderful moronic genius of a dork." With a growing smile, she accelerated, all the more determined to see things through safely.

"I'm glad you all could make it." Bon Bon's eyes wandered over the crowd of about a dozen others in the game room, a ping-pong table shoved aside to make room for them all. "Now, I feel I should be clear." She raised a hoof to her own chest. "I've been told that I'm being unfair. The director didn't make these rules, and she was the one that came out and told us what's really going on. She's one of us, a victim to this so called vaccine! One little shot and her life was over." She cut across her throat with a swipe of a hoof.

"We are all now inhuman." She waved a hoof at them. "But they have a point. The director did the right thing, she told us the truth, so, hey, I'm a grown ma--" She frowned as the equine word tried to slip into her language and she fought it off. "--woman. I can admit when I was wrong. Eri is not the source of our problems. But she is our jailer, even if she didn't make the system, even if she wants us all as comfortable as possible."

Carrot top raised a hand. Being an indirect infectee, she had fingers, not hooves, and sat up on her chair as a human normally would. "Look, they gave me warnings, lots of them. Heck, this is partly my fault. Just one silly little rule, what was the harm." She gestured down her front. "Pow, lost my man card and got a new one shoved right into my hands."

She reached up to feel over her new snout. "And now I'm something new. Kinda... It's hard to describe. I don't hate the new me. I even like it in a lot of ways, but being locked here, forever? And they're not even working on fixing it? It that legal?"

"Hay no!" came the sudden shout of another mare. Vinyl Scratch adjusted her glasses with a hoof. "I was musical before, and I became a musical pony. I appreciate that in a way." She nodded mostly to herself. "But what's the point of music if I can't go play it for people?!"

Bon Bon nodded in solidarity. "Hear hear. At least you have fingers."

"Do not." Vinyl arched a brow at Bon Bon.

"Close enough." Bon Bon pointed into the back. "You, you've been quiet. Share your story."

The stallion rose when called on. "Hello... I am Carrot Cake, um... and... I feel like I'm missing something, and I'm not allowed to go look for it." He put a hoof behind his head behind his little hat. "Something that would complete me. I'm a law-abiding pony. I won't make trouble, promise... Why won't they let me go?"

"Hear Hear," called Bon Bon, the others joining in their murmur of approval. Other ponies offered hooves and arms to the stallion in a show of community strength. "We have done nothing wrong. This can't be legal! They should be forced to put all efforts into letting us out. I hear we're infectious..." Her eyes went to Carrot Top. "And it's hard to argue that, with proof of it right here with us... but why isn't that basically all they're working on?"

"I've been checking," came a lispy note, a young female standing up on her chair. "I'm dead." Eyes turned to her obviously not-dead being. She coiled on herself and grabbed a slip of paper in her mouth, tossing it onto the floor in front of her. "Look!"

A few came forward to see what Peppermint Twist had. There was an obituary of a random woman none of they knew. Dead due to covid aggravated with obesity and diabetes. Sad, surely, but it felt so irrelevant.

"That's you," noted Vinyl. "Your original self, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she admitted with a small voice. It wasn't easy to dig up dead names, and that one was deader than usual. "I'm put down for hithtory as a fat lady that got what thee detherved. Tell me that ithn't methed up?!" She thumped a hoof down. "I have family! They muth... think I died... but I'm not dead!"

Alarmed murmurs spread from others who had friends and family on the outside. Carrot Top raised a hand. "This didn't happen to me. I'm still tracking my stuff and paying bills and whatever."

Bon Bon scowled. "So only some of us?" She hissed softly. "The ones that accepted this comfy little prison, who're cut off enough to take scissors to without anycr-- anyone being the wiser. Clever, but it won't work!"

"Break it up." Swinging a billy club in her mouth, Silver Spoon rapped it against the door frame. "Get back to your floors."

Bon Bon fixed eyes with the security guard that was also a filly. "What, are you happy being locked in here, maybe forever?"

"Nope, but it's my job, so get back to your floors." Other guards were present, pushing in and taking posts around the room. "This little gathering is officially cancelled. Like, if you have a problem, use the suggestion box, or write an email." She shrugged softly. "The director does read them."

"They were super mean to her," noted Carrot Top. "Why is she working for them now?"

Silver rolled her eyes. "Am I stuttering or, like, speaking Spanish or something? Go on! She's doing her best to run it from the inside. She let you all get from one floor to the next, don't abuse it by having little hate rallies or whatever."

"This isn't about hate." Bon Bon marched towards the small filly that would also be a guard. "This is about our rights. We did not agree to any of this." The room echoed her sentiments in unhappy mutterings, others rising to their hooves and feet. "If you want to stop us from talking about it, your choice, I suppose, but it won't make the problem go away."

They stared at one another, even if one was larger than the other. Silver snorted softly. "I'll remind, you're being watched. You should, like, know that by now." She leveled a small hoof at Bon Bon. "She already knows it sucks, she hates it too. What do you plan to do about it?"

"Let them listen." Bon Bon shoved past Silver Spoon, nudging her aside. "Party at my place. Pizza will be provided." There were no rules against hosting a party in one's room, and they were leaving the room they were asked to leave. The guards watched them filter out.

"I would have cracked her over the head if she tried shoving me like that," noted one of the guards closing in with Silver, the others cleaning up casually, putting things back in order.

"It was tempting, you know." She threw up her club and turned, allowing it to land in its holster in a display of precise accuracy. "But we're supposed to be upping the peace, not, like, making it rougher. Let them whine, but the people who live here deserve to have a game room."

Soft noises of agreement rose on that point, and soon they vacated, leaving a game room available to anyone who wanted to make use of it.

"I've discovered something," typed in Vinyl with a glowing horn. "Big news, for everypony here. There is not a single person here that doesn't want what I'm about to lay down."

"Stop hyping and start telling," insisted Rainbow Dash. "We get the idea."

"I did some digging where I shouldn't and--" The following words were not what she had originally typed. "found out they were gonna get us all ice cream cake!"

Vinyl squinted at those new words. She hadn't typed that. "Wha--?"

The door to her room swung open, opened easily with security key cards. "Step away from the computer and close the lid," came the stern voice of the filly at the head, eyeing her. "Make this easy."

Vinyl slowly raised her hooves as her magic closed the laptop and pushed it away. "Hey, hey... be cool." Her eyes, hidden by her glasses, darted to see the other guards fanning out to cut off her escape. "It's not even that big of a secret. We're not the only facility! There's at least three others right here in the US of A!"

"I knew that." Silver Spoon hopped up, grabbing the laptop in her mouth. "And you're guilty of hacking. That is so against the terms of service, so you lose laptop privs for a while."

One of the other guards, still human and garbed in hazmat, prodded her with a stick. "Be thankful that's all you're getting."

"Until we get word from the director," reminded a third.

Silver rolled her eyes behind her glasses. "Ugh, right. She will be informed of your naughtiness and she has the last say on what your punishment is." With a toss of her head, she sent the laptop flying to be caught by one of the other guards. "For now, no computer access. We see you touching anything with network access, we'll have to get more mean. You, like, get it?"

Vinyl looked to one of the other guards without turning her head. "Is she the boss? You're alright being ordered around by a filly?"

"She's a filly on the payroll." The guard shrugged softly. "We let her in first because she can't be infected." It was difficult to give ponid to one who was already a pony.

"Uck, I have seniority too!" She stomped a hoof. "Anyway, that has nothing to do with you. Do you understand what I told you or not?"

"A little kid with seniority," chuckled Vinyl. "I dig it... Whatever. When do I get my laptop back?"

"When the director says so." Silver turned away and they all began to leave. "If she says so."

"Ice cream cake?" Rainbow typed. "I mean, cool, whatever. Kinda random."

"Very random," added Apple Bloom.

"But cool!" interjected Scootaloo, typing on the channel. "Do we get to pick a flavor?!"

"I doubt it," Sweetie Bloom added. "That would be a lot of different requests."

"True..."

Bon Bon could be seen typing before her message appeared. "They think they can bribe us into being happy, with ice cream of all things? What are we, kids?"

"Yes?" replied Scootaloo without a moment of doubt. "What? I am. Not afraid to admit it." One could easily imagine her buffing her chest with a hoof.

"Hey, @Vinyl, are you joking?" But Vinyl had dropped offline, and did not reply. The curious announcement of surprise ice cream cake is what she had left behind.

That there actually was ice cream cake appearing in a few days made it less odd. She wasn't wrong!

But some of then knew her personally, and she wasn't locked in her room, so they heard her tale even if she couldn't type it at them. "They burst in and took it, just like that." She clopped her hooves together.

"Harsh," echoed a half-lidded mare, Tree Hugger nodding softly. "At least they didn't do anything to you. It coulda been totally worse."

Vinyl rubbed behind her neck. "I'll give Eri that. I hear, before she got there, they would have... They just took the laptop and left."

Bon Bon clopped a hoof on the floor. "They're impinging on out rights, and we deserve to know that! There are other facilities? Well, if that's the case, we should at least be able to go between them. Not like we can give each other ponid, right?"

"Right," joined Carrot Cake, his heart quickening. "Maybe what I'm looking for is there...?"

"Probably not," disagreed the other carrot-named pony-person, Carrot Top folding her arms under her chest. "But I want to know more about it. What's it like there? Are the ponies there annoyed the same way, or are they being let out? Is this a 'this place' thing or not? We deserve to know." Cheers erupted in agreement.

And that's what I get for taking a dang weekend off. That'll show me...

So, I was back on duty, and I had a number of emails waiting for me, many with too many exclamation points and high priority tags. Ah, the bliss of an ended weekend...

"The hey is this!" Starlight was seated at her own computer, apparently also hit with missives like I had. "You seeing this?"

"I will when I read it." I started from the top, which was the newest, meaning I was working back through time, fun!

From: Theodore Svelte, VP (That was above me)
To: You

Good day,
Checking the records, you had this weekend off. Forgive the brusque nature of my last email. When you do get back, please do respond to them.

New Medicine for a Better Tomorrow,
Theodore Svelte, VP
Pi Labs

Oh sheesh. I figured skipping to the next from him specifically was likely the right course of action.

From: Theodore Svelte, VP
To: You

Eri, what's going on in there? Why haven't you replied? What are you doing?! We trust you to keep things running smoothly. Was it a mistake to invest this level of trust in someone who is also a patient? Tell me what's going on, now.

New Medicine for a Better Tomorrow,
Theodore Svelte, VP
Pi Labs

What exactly had gone down while I was away? "Shining?"

"Yeah?" He poked his head in from the next room. "What's up?"

"Has the facility been on fire to your knowledge?" I raised a white brow, trying to imagine what had set off the emails.

"Not that I know of?" He shrugged a little. "But hey, I just keep the shield up, and I didn't mess that up."

That was good news. If the shield was up, we didn't have any containment breaches.

Time to dig further into the thread. That last one was the most frantic, devolving down to questions and pokes. Finally, the first of them.

From: Theodore Svelte, VP
To: You

It has come to my attention that one of your subjects has compromised the security of our internal networks. While the exploit they made use of has been patched closed since then, other reports make it clear what information was obtained. As director, you are authorized to know this.

There are multiple facilities engaged in similar research. No two of them are precisely the same, but related enough. I am given to believe that your subjects want to visit the other facilities, and this is thoroughly unfeasible for a number of reasons. For one, their presence alone would contaminate other sensitive situations. You already know the challenges of keeping one facility straight. We're not trying to throw off another directors' efforts.

For another, each patient, every one of them, is a walking biological weapon of staggering potential. Transporting them safely is a daunting task. The only reasonable way would be in an air-tight container. This is not feasible. The safety of the public has to be considered first. (The fact that we would be liable for all damages if we caused such an outbreak certainly helps shape our stance here)

It is your duty to calm your subjects. Increased security reports imply growing instability, and we can't afford trouble at this time. Thank you.

New Medicine for a Better Tomorrow,
Theodore Svelte, VP
Pi Labs

Well, alright. I had a good idea what was going on, at least. I grabbed a phone and dialed.

"Hello?" came an uncertain female voice. "And why did my earpiece just ring? Boss?"

Ah, the privs of being a noodle. "Yep, it's me, sorry for surprising. Just read one thread of email that makes it sound like the whole place has been in a state of panic."

"You could say that," half-sang Silver. "I've been on call, a lot. Have no fear! Your equine security force has been on the task! And not just me." There was a pause. "I mean, do you remember? You were... kinda out of it, but you turned a few of us in security into ponies. Only I got input in the matter... and they've been helping. It's an awkward subject... Especially the other one you made into a foal, boy was he not prepared for that!" She laughed despite the awkward subject matter.

"Seriously, we've been, you know, bonding? Is that even the right word... Since the subjects started getting up in arms, we guards have had to band together. We're coming back together, four legs or two. It's kind of nice, like, thinking on it."

That was charming, in a way, but... "Have any actual fights broken out? Anycreature hurt, guard or patient?" What was it with everyone dropping to subject so often? They were not really subjects. We were barely studying them, which was a damn crime all by itself. "I need all the details."

"No injuries," she quickly spat out. "Just a lot of frayed nerves. Speaking of, like, exactly that. Since you're on the line and you didn't answer my email, we had a pony, Vinyl? Vinyl Scratch? She hacked the system!"

Ah, right, I did read that. "Known. What did you do with her?"

"I snatched her laptop. Networking cut her access before I even got there, guys were all over it. I told her we'd wait on any punishment until you got here." Ah, lovely, the buck had been passed on to me. Still, maybe for the best. "That was the right thing to do, yeah? We didn't hurt her."

"No! I mean, yeah, don't hurt her..." Hurting my fellow patients was really down on the list. "Tell me what's going on. Who's asking for what?"

"Give me a second and I'll be, like, right up. Easier than talking on this thing." And she hung up, which was actually surprising, as her headpiece had no such function, but it did fit with the phone start I had used. I suppose what I had started, she had ended with my own logic, so I couldn't hold it against her.

Well, time to read more mails. Ah, there were a few from here, basically saying what she told me. I clicked through them quickly to mark them as read.

I'd get a better review from her when she gave it in person. Oh, there was something new.

From: Jennifer Colte, Head of Biochemistry
To: You

One of the subjects(Twilight Sparkle) inquired on our animal testing abilities. Now, as I hope you know, animals do not contain or serve as disease vectors without specific processes that allow us to create the vaccine we are working on. As a result, I saw no immediate harm in allowing them use of a few lab mice if they followed protocols and reported on the case on a regular basis.

Still, in the interest of safety, I am writing to both inform you and give you a chance to override that decision. If I don't hear back, I'll let them have a few mice and I will keep you up to date on any noteworthy changes or issues.

I hear you have a vacation coming up,
Jennifer

It wasn't 'coming up'. I was already on it by the time that email was sent, which means the mice were probably given. But there had been no follow ups, so it went alright? I quickly jammed out a letter asking how it went. What did they even need test mice for?

I pressed a button, a soft buzz playing like an especially dull doorbell.

"Um, hello?" came the confused voice of the target unicorn. "I didn't know this thing had an intercom button, fascinating. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

"Twilight," I gushed in a friendly tone. "Eri here, the director? Do you have a moment?"

"Director, oh, of course." I could imagine, or maybe see, her saluting. "How can I help?"

"I hear you requisitioned some test mice. A curious request, and it did what curious requests do." I kept my voice gentle and even. I was not a big scary person. I was looking for a few answers. "How are they going?"

"It was a bit of a learning experience," she replied in a gust of intellectual pleasure. "Mice are much more complicated to deal with than I had first envisioned. Fluttershy heard about my efforts from Lyra and came to help, bless her. She found and corrected all of my errors and the mice are being treated perfectly. Isn't that right?" I could hear little squeaks. Was she petting one of them?

"Lovely, lovely..." I mean, it was. I didn't want to hear animals were being abused on my watch, or on anyone's watch, really. "So... what do you need mice for? You aren't a scientist."

"That's unkind, Director." I could imagine her turning up her nose. "Of course I am, a thaumaturgist! That's, uh, magic scientist. It's not superstitious if we take a lot of notes and do things repeatedly under controlled conditions. Speaking of that!" I wanted to ask her a question, but she was so excited. "I hear there are other facilities. I would like to communicate with them. Being able to conduct cross-facility trials with their magic-enabled patients would accelerate my work. I'd love to see if any of them came up with a means of controlling it as we have, and if they did, did they arrive on the same solution, or something else? The answers to that alone would be so telling! Please reach out to them, Director. You are the one that could do that, right?"

Wow, she was really into it. "I'll check on that." Exchanging emails or connecting Discords sure felt less worrying than physically transporting anyone to or from the other sites. "But about the mice. What were you doing that needed mice?"

"Mmm? Oh! A gross biological reconditioning spell." I heard her hooves clop together. "And it worked perfectly."

"It did?" I mean, alright, that sounded scary. Kind of scary as hell. "Can you define what 'reconditioning' you did?"

"Does this thing have..." I heard her hoof tapping at the camera we were talking through.

"Are you trying to show me something?" I flipped to her camera on my computer. "There, I can see you." There she was, leaning in on the camera, feeling over it. As I said that, she backed up and waved at me.

"That's better," she spoke to the camera, echoing. I flipped the camera over and muted it so she could hear me talk but I wouldn't hear her twice. "Most of the mice have reverted with a mean time of two hours and forty two minutes." She was reading some of that off a floating clip board that bobbed gently beside her. "One did not. I'm investigating what the difference is. Some reverted in as little as thirty minutes and the longest, beside the one that simply didn't, remained in the form for precisely one day."

"You were going to show me what they turned into?" I gently prompted, speaking into my phone, which echoed out the camera she was facing.

"Oh, yes." Her magic glowed, filling the screen as she took hold of the entire camera and rotated it into a new position. "I have her isolated from the others. They react erratically in the presence of altered mice. I suppose that isn't too remarkable. But a good--"

She kept talking. I was looking at that... mouse? She was a little big for a mouse, but not that much more that I could see. She had a little blue horn curving from her head and her tail had the distinct fur tufts that a kirin would have. It was no mouse, it was a mouse kirin. Mirin? "Is it alright?"

"Hm?" Twilight was startled out of her explanation. "Oh, yes. Fluttershy wouldn't forgive me otherwise. She's mildly confused at her new state, but is otherwise fine. Her diet has not changed, but she has gained the combustive abilities of a kirin, requiring extra safety measures. Her cage is fire resistant enough to hold Autumn, if she were small enough, without failure."

That was fascinating, and also more than a little terrifying. Is this what watching me doing things was like? I think it was. "What are the odds the mouse will... eventually... go back to normal."

Twilight turned in place. "Well, technically, since this is the first time we did it, I can't, in good faith, provide that." She tapped her floating pad with a floating pen. "From what little we know, she should eventually snap back. The magic did not cause any genetic change, meaning her body will continue to build mouse parts in mouse ways, not kirin parts, or in kirin ways. She either reverts, or... there may be health consequences."

She tapped at the pad. "If you're curious, she is six inches long and one and a half ounces heavy."

I did not study lab mice. "What's the usual?"

"About half again as long and twice as heavy," reported Twilight with a nod. "Fascinating. This is typical of mice who underwent this process. The only thing different, at first glance, is the duration of the effect."

While scientifically intriguing, I had no doubt... "Can we do anything to get the mouse back where it started, to encourage it along? I don't want my patients, small or large, suffering if we can avoid it."

Twilight suddenly turned entirely towards me, the clipboard going down to rest on a table. "That is actually very comforting to hear." She put a hoof at her chest. "I had a good feeling about you, Director. I hereby authorize you to continue using me as a test subject."

I had to blink. "That wasn't... Can we help?" I turned the conversation back to the not-mouse.

"I have a few ideas, but I didn't want to use them."

"Because..." I rolled a hand at the webcam on my monitor she could see me through.

"Because then we'd lose valuable data, of course. I want to see if she turns back on her own, and at what time. If she never does, that is also valuable information."

"If a scientist were conducting a similar experiment on you, I would have their head," I gruffly noted. "You're risking that mouse, you just said that. How long until it even might be harmed by this trial?"

Twilight inclined her head a little to the left. "Well, the greatest risk was immediate system shock." She inclined her head. "Near as I can see, the subject being so far removed from the target is the cause of the issue, but I'll admit that is at least somewhat conjecture. Using a pony subject, there should be less uncertainty, since it was designed to start from a pony and end with a kirin." She tapped her chin softly. "That is a thoughtful, if silly, gift."

"Pardon, gift?" What gift?! "Who made this?"

"The spell? Sunburst. You remember him, right?"

"Hard to forget." I remember him wrestling with his... girlfriend? "Wait, he made it for her?"

"To cast on him," finished Twilight. "I proposed we start with animal testing, for safety."

I wanted to shout, but... "I'm glad you did that... I would not want to start the evaluation of anything this invasive on a living patient!" I took a slow breath, trying to get a grasp on it. "I presume, then, if this is ongoing, you have not moved on to tests on any patients?"

"Correct," she half-sang, trotting in place. "I thought it would be wise to see this through to the end, so I'm monitoring little fire-squeak."

"Fire-squeak? Wait, the mouse?"

"That's the name we've given her." She reached into the cage, gently patting the mouse, which seemed alright with it. Until it wasn't, combusting in a great display of blueish fire that Twilight yanked her hoof away from. "Oops! I did mention that..."

Was I nuts for feeling bad for a random lab mouse? This was... kind of their job, but according to some people, I was a lab mouse, and so was the pony I was talking to. I refused to accept we were expendable in the name of science. "Please, return Fire-squeak to normal, gently if you can. Does that conclude your need for animal testing?"

"For now, yes. We should talk more often." Her magic pivoted the camera to keep facing her as she went to a cupboard and fetched some chemicals and a syringe. "We're making excellent progress in our studies. You are also a spellcaster, though you don't perform your magic in the same way. Comparing and contrasting the methods would be fascinating, as I was talking about earlier. If nothing else, I'd love to show it off to you. You started far ahead of us."

Started? "You're catching up?"

"It'll be a long time, if ever, before we get to the point you're reported to be at." She approached the mouse, floating syringe coming with her. "You can just... do things, which is amazing! We can't. Still, comparing could be valuable, for both of us! Director, don't be a stranger."

"I'll try not to." I didn't want to see the mouse get poked. "Director Eri, signing off."

Twilight saluted, the needle zipping forward to find a mirin as I cut the feed with a cringe.

That was one more fire put out... On to the next.

Twilight withdrew the needle as the mouse shivered and spasmed. With a bright sparkle of Twilight's magic, which had made the mouse change in the first place, the mouse popped back to normal. "A success! That's at least worth taking note of." She scribbled it down, so they knew in the future how to encourage retrogression from forced biochemical optimization. A useful fact! "Now..."

She placed the mouse back with the others, where they all seemed to eagerly greet each other and socialize. "Animal testing is over. It's time to experiment with a much larger subject." She willed the phone over, her magic pressing keys quickly.

"Hello," sang a female. "What's up?"

"Autumn! I believe it's time."

"It's always a time," laughed Autumn. "Which time are you talking about?"

"Time for you to grab your colt--" She dropped the used syringe in the trash, clapping her magic hands together. "Get over here, and prepare to blast him with the power of love, and science."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"None of the mice died, or even got hurt," assured Twilight. "Not even one. That's pretty good! You can zap me with it if it makes you feel better."

"Twilight..." Autumn smiled into her receiver. "You're cute, and insane."

"And you like it."

"I do, nutball. I'll get him." The phone went dead, her subjects on the way.

Twilight clopped her hooves then gathered up her mouse cage. "Let's get you home." And off she trotted to get her smaller subjects back where they belonged. "You all did well, and helped advance science." They did not cheer for their accomplishment. Pity that.

"Bon Bon."

Bon Bon inclined her head. "That is my name. I was told you were out on a vacation. Must be nice." Oh, what a bitter edge she had to her voice.

"My vacation was taken in my room, behind my office." I pointed towards that door, closed as it was. "I don't leave the facility." Well, usually. Sometimes I snuck out, you know that! Still, she didn't need to hear that. "I hear you've been a bit... upset."

"Upset isn't the right word." She crossed her arms, one hoof bobbing. "Let's go over the facts. I now know, with certainty, that I am and always will be a small horse." She inclined her head faintly. "At least I am the same gender I started as." She waved over herself, not that ponies had a lot of hints, but she did have modest breasts down there. "Lucky me. I will never have hands again, I'm almost used to that... But--"

"--You want to go outside," I interrupted.

"Yes! And is that such an outrageous request?" She thumped down a hoof on the armrest of the chair. "I have family, friends, who may both think i'm dead, I get to add to the list of things I am angry about." Crap, when did that get out? "Which you knew about." She started to squint at me with a thousand accusations. "Go on, tell me a few lies."

"I would rather not." I offered a hand, though it was not taken. "I get it, I really do. I avoided being 'erased' just barely, and I only just recently found out it's a thing... I hate it, a lot. You don't even understand how much I dislike the idea."

"But here you are, working for them." She threw her hooves wide. "They keep saying that, by the way. 'Don't be angry at her, she's one of us!' But what are you doing? Exactly what they want you to do. You're just another prisoner with extra responsibilities. I pity you, but you're still not on my side." Her arms re-crossed, glaring daggers at me. "We deserve freedom."

"Let's say I agree, entirely. That's it. I'll order Shining to drop the shield. I'll order the guards to go take a smoke break lasting a week. You all walk away, done." I made a grand wave. "What happens next?"

"We go home?" She started, a brow raised high. "We start making phone calls to un-dead ourselves, and get new jobs."

"What job do you see yourself in?" I asked patiently, watching her.

"I was a clerk, a front desk clerk. At a nice hotel." She gestured vaguely. "It made good money, before covid came and ruined it. Part of why I signed up to help end it... I know how to talk to people, answer a phone, that sort of thing."

"And you imagine guests won't find talking with a small horse off-putting at all?" I put my hands together. "Fortunately, ponies are capable of typing, on slightly altered keyboards... But that's edging around the main problem."

"What's the main problem." She hiked a brow. "Are you gonna say--"

"You will be patient zero of a new wave that will make covid look like the mild flu they said it was." I sat forward. "This spreads not by your mouth, by the way, so wearing a mask will not help. People who come within about five or so feet of you for longer than about two minutes will have a good enough dose. You think you can work like that?"

She recoiled. "Five feet? Two minutes?! That's impossible, I'd have to be--"

"--constantly shedding the disease, we are." I mean, technically I wasn't, but no need to inform her of that. "You'll infect every guest that checked in. You'd infect every guest that checked out. Your boss and coworkers, doomed. You miss your fingers? You'd be sentencing them all to lose theirs, on purpose. You understand what that would make you, right?"

"I'm not a criminal!" She almost fell off her chair, landing on all fours with a clop. "Don't accuse me of that."

"Then don't ask for that. That is what you're asking for." I slid up much more smoothly, hovering in front of her. "Does it suck? Yes. I am doing everything I can to make it suck a bit less."

"So let us at least visit the others." She made a grand wave of a hoof. "Give us something. Let us out of this box." She stomped a hoof. "I'm not asking for a lot here."

"You really aren't," I gently agreed. "You aren't. I'm exploring ways for you all to get to interact with the others. The company, I don't agree with all their methods, I don't." No lies there. "But I'm doing what I can, to keep this place sane, to keep us all safe, and to keep the people out there safe." I offered that hand. "Give me a chance."

Autumn had her eyes closed. She didn't normally do that when casting spells, but she didn't want to see what was happening. If it was going wrong, she was to proceed anyway. That would be easier if she couldn't see it working, or not working, or anything in the middle.

She sang her magical song, and thought pleasant thoughts of her precious Sunburst, who she planned to hug, possibly to death, as soon as the spell was done. As gifts went, she decided, she had received better, but the thought behind it was good. Despite that, she would have to fashion some manner of revenge for it at some later time. After he was, for sure, safe.

Sunburst, who was the target, and had his eyes open, could bear witness to what was happening. His back prickled and tickled as the strange energy seeped into him. He looked back over his shoulder, but his worn cape didn't let him see what was going on back there. Tickles at the back of his legs heralded the arrival of new, longer, tufts of hair. His eyes crossed, feeling that stiffness reaching down between his eyes, scales like armor extending along his snout.

He wanted to laugh, to call out, to cheer! But he kept his lips shut. Autumn was working hard, and interrupting her would be rude, and possibly self-defeating. His cheeks suddenly went red. It was... like, as a male can do, he was suddenly fiercely aroused, but it wasn't between his legs. Instead his eyes went up to his horn as it throbbed, or it felt like it was throbbing, growing larger, more curved, ornate. He was growing a kirin's horn, and it felt way too good. He licked over his lips, crossing his legs to hide any other signal of how nice that part felt.

It was working, just perfectly. He was almost vibrating as he felt his mane growing, gaining volume as it wrapped around his head. He could feel the beat of the magic, in him, around him. It was doing everything perfectly, and he fell into its trance. His own horn, changed, began to glow in the curious ways that kirins did, and he did what anyone listening to good music did, he began to sing along, playing the notes in a complimenting fashion, more complex than he ever could before, not thinking of it, just doing it.

Twilight tilted her head at the sight, watching the two. Her adept eyes could see the magic, make out the notes being played. He wasn't playing exactly the same spell as Autumn. What was he doing? She reached with her magic for the intercom button, but that isn't what came out of her. She began to play her own song, falling under the sway of the expanding song magic. Instead of controlling their throats, their horns were falling in line, and she joined in the orchestra of magic.

It spread through the unicorns of that floor, bouncing from one to next in a silent infection. Each unicorn would sit down on their haunches, a satisfied look on their faces, their horn glowing brightly. They were all captive to the seductive power of the intricate piece, joining it, but also altering it. Even its starter, Autumn Blaze, was swept up in it. No one singer could command the entire orchestra being played, unaware to the others in immediate view.

This would have gone entirely unnoticed, perhaps died there. But the manager of that floor leaned forward, her brow raised as two of her subjects began changing on the cameras. Scales grew along their backs, their hooves were splitting. Their tails were becoming naked in the middle, tufted at the end. All her unicorns were becoming kirin!

She turned up the sound and heard the unicorns, er, kirins, in the swimming pool were singing of their transformations in whimsical fashion as they paddled and changed all at once. The other subjects were starting to join in, the song music impossible to refuse. Their horns didn't glow, they didn't have any, but they were able to join in the audible song, praising their transformation. They all looked so happy, but it was all so very wrong.

She smashed a button, calling all the other floor directors at once. "Emergency!" she blurted out as soon as people's faces began to appear on her screen. "This is, look at this!" She patched in the audio/video feed of her camera into the conference call, letting them all see her ponies singing, horns glowing, and changing, all of them. Even the not-unicorns were adorned with horns. They were becoming kirins, each and every subject she had. "What do I do with this?!"

Singing emerged from one of the manager's cameras. That manager swore. "You just passed it to my floor. Damn it all." He hung up. Several other windows went dark, realizing the danger of continuing that call. But it was too late. It was spreading like wildfire through the facility. Each time a new pony was caught in it, the song would wind back a bit, to facilitate their change, to welcome them into it. The entire facility was singing a song of change, even if only a small handful had any idea what was going on.

"With a sway of the tail, it never fails, the kirin welcome you," softly hummed a janitor, releasing a mop from his yellow-plastic covered hand. The ponies were singing, again. They did that sometimes, and that one was especially catchy. He didn't even notice he was bobbing in time to the song as he put his things away.

The cafeteria worker of another floor was less in luck, not being hidden away, cleaning up. She was right there, serving ponies, when the mnemonic disease dropped on her, and she began to sing along, cooking with it as she played her part. Neither realized at the time, the way their hands became cloven hooves. Sure, she had dropped her tools, but she wasn't paying attention, trying to dance instead.

It was hard to dance in a form that was so quickly becoming a poor fit for the hazmat suit she wore, starting to tear at it as she bent and sang out in the joy of the moment. Unseen by her, Ponid eagerly filled the gap, but she was in the throes of an entirely different transformation.

She hit the ground on all four hooves clopping smartly just in time for the beat of the song as she swayed and sang, eyes shining with an unbridled joy, unaware yet what fate was befalling her.

The entire thing would be known as 'The Autumn Incident', when about 80% of the subjects and 60% of staff had succumbed to an infection they had no countermeasures prepared against.

Which is where I had come in. I had Autumn, Sunburst, and Twilight seated in front of me, each on their own chair, each looking guilty as hell, as well they aught have! "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Autumn threw up her hooves. "I didn't mean to! I was just doing the spell on Sunburst, like he asked."

I should mention, Sunburst and Twilight were both kirins, neither singing, thankfully. As soon as the last person that would change finished changing, the song came to a sweeping finale, and they had stopped, confused, and altered. "You had mentioned that. Sunburst?"

"This isn't what I planned," he assured, adjusting his glasses with cloven hooves. "I mean, it worked perfectly, on me, but it was only supposed to affect me."

Twilight inclined her head. "I wasn't aware 'song magic' as they call it had any actual interaction with... magic magic, for lack of better term." She reached up, patting her altered mane softly. "I am unharmed, neither are any other ponies I've spoken to. It should wear off, like the mice."

I narrowed my eyes at that. "Speaking of the mice. I remind, most reverted quickly, some slowly, and one... never without assistance."

Twilight raised a hoof quickly. "Assistance I was able to provide."

"You're missing the point. If we assume the same number carries forward to--"

"Ponies should have less problems, not more," cut in Twilight. "I predict very few problems with ponies subjected to this spell."

Right, but... "What about the very human staff of the facility? We've hurried them off to isolation, but how they're reacting to it, or will recover from it, is entirely unknown." I leveled a good glare at Twilight. "Do you even have a hypothesis on that?"

"Well... no, not so much." She worried her cloven hooves together before she hiccuped, starting to glow. "O-oh!" With a bright flash, her changes ran backwards, hair exploding along her tail, her horn going straight, and the rest of her following along as she returned to her unicorn self. "That feels... much more interesting without the song magic distracting me. Ah ha! Still, right in the predicted time. I imagine most ponies should be reverting within the hour if they haven't already."

Autumn licked over her lips. "Still... hoping Sunburst is one of the 'lasts a day' ones." She leaned over and touched her nose to his altered ear. "All of this fuss has stopped us from enjoying the moment."

Oh, man... "You're all in trouble." But what could I really do with them? "No spells until I give the word. Not even the ones we know. Until we can get magic magic to not cross with song magic, we can't risk it." I tapped an arm with the opposing finger. "You also get to apologize to anyone who suffers effects from this beyond a day."

Twilight looked like she had taken a bullet with how drawn her face became. "Surely there must be another way! We're making so much progress..." She looked ready to cry, sniffling a bit as she looked to me, hoping, begging. Like a little kid just informed that Christmas had been cancelled.

"Make that your priority," I challenged. "Get magic separated from songs, so we can never have that happen again."

"I'm on the case!" she sharply barked, saluting and looking so very determined. Twilight was a peach, a very dangerous peach. "All research into thaumaturgy will be towards this safety consideration." She hopped down without hesitation. "I'll inform you of any progress."

I wanted to stop her, but she was basically doing what I wanted. I couldn't think of a good reason. "Good luck, and keep it safe." Twilight was soon gone, which let me look at the other two kirin, one who used to be a unicorn. "You two can't do much about this." This was a Director problem, not a Patient one. "Go on..."

Autumn threw a leg over Sunburst, almost knocking his glasses off as she dragged him to the ground and towards the door. "I want to inspect my boy! You're coming with me."

"Yes ma'am," he got out as he was dragged away, mostly willingly. I imagined they would have a great time. Good for them. A pity I had a lot of mess to deal with.

"You are frisky today," sang out Autumn nuzzling her stallion right where he most easily displayed his state. "Not that I mind, but why?" She clambered on top of him, belly to belly in a not typical way for two equines. Sapience, among its many advantages, meant they could mate in quite a few positions if they wanted to, and belly to belly as they flopped about happened to be one of Autumn's favorites, starting to make love with her roused stallion before even hearing the answer.

"Oh, um... you..." His words were haltering, his attention distracted with the want to drive against her, to work with her in the dance of life they had begun. "You... It worked... I mean... This..." He squeezed his eyes tightly, his horn beginning to glow.

"A!" She called out, squeezing tightly around him. "B!" She was watching the glow, picking out the letters as they came, but C never arrived, as her internal flexes drove him back into the physical moment, and they both forgot all about magic, except for the spell they were casting between them, the ancient spell shared by two mammals that liked each other very very much.

Neither could complain about the distraction.

As Twilight had thought, most people, pony or human, began to turn back to normal. Most rapidly around the time she had, lasting that roughly half an hour that had been noticed as the first and most likely time for reversion.

But then it slowed. They came in fits and spurts, but it was progress, and I was happy for that. That was fine, good even. There was another problem staring at me. A lot of staff was human, and had damaged their protective suits during the whole mess. We had them tested, and I snuck a peek. Some of them smoldered with Ponid, in them, ramping up.

Now, there was a thing. I could just, snap, make Ponid go away, spare those people, make it never have happened...

But then that would be the normal, what people would expect. I would be the safety valve of the facility. I didn't want that. I wanted people to be safer, not trust in God, even if god was a noodle that lived in the same building.

At the same time, I felt really bad for the poor saps that hadn't even agreed to the experiment, like Carrot Top, they did know the risk, but that didn't make me not feel bad for them. They had been following the rules, taking the precautions. None of the rules at the time covered song magic stealing it all away from them.

"You look sad." There was Starlight, looking kirin. She was on the slow side of regression, still all kirin despite the hours. Hopping up onto the chair next to me, she reached over a hoof. "This isn't your fault. Hay, it wasn't even your idea. Now, be honest, how do I look?"

I looked over her scaled, cloven, form. "I'd say exotic, but it's not really exotic when the entire facility shared the look today." I reached out and pet over her ornate ears, scratching her touch head scales. "You feel alright?"

"Perfectly fine, except that you're obviously being torn up." She raised her hooves to grab my hand, nipping at it. "I'm here for you."

At least I had people that cared about me... "I'm just worried about the minority, those who get stuck in kirin mode. That regression drug she has was made for mice, which we are not. Will it work out just as well? We can't be sure of that."

Starlight reached up, batting an ear with a cloven hoof. "Then I hope I'm one of them, since I'm a big girl, and this isn't, you know, the end of the world. I'm still yours, unicorn or kirin, to play with as you please."

Well, her fetish hadn't changed. "If it's you, I can change you back, or into something else... We have an agreement, a special thing."

"Just between us," sighed out Starlight. "That's so hot. Oh, by the way, I did get an email reply." She leaned in over me, swatting the keyboard, her horn glowing as she struck other keys quickly. "You asked me to check in on this, remember?"

There was an email, from a Director Reddings.

Good Day,

A pleasure to hear from a fellow director, though I'm told I'm actually writing to the assistant of one? I trust they will pass this letter to you. Though you almost certainly don't feel it, you got lucky.

Lucky? Starlight could see my doubt. "Keep reading," she bade, pointing at the screen.

Your patients are basically human.

I did not like that sentence. "Compared to...?" I kept reading.

I drew the short straw. I've worked miserable posts before, kept a calm head, and got the work done. They must have decided I was perfect for this. While most administered the ponid vaccine who suffer changes follow a few, very specific, lines, often into the ponies that gave it a name, some progress far less... elegantly.

Many of my subjects can't be called human. The majority of them show no signs of even basic sapiency. Hunger, thirst, anger and fear are about the only emotions they have left. We have to feed them like wild animals, but wild animals would be easier to train and befriend. That isn't even bringing up how many sharp bits and dangerous anatomies they have to bring to bear, and do so without hesitation.

In short, I must decline your request for 'visitors'. Your subjects do not want to meet mine, I can assure you.

Oh... I could have been a random mashup of angry body parts in a package of eldritch fury? Compared to being a noodle, I felt... quite lucky at that moment. I hit the reply button and quickly thanked Reddington for getting back to me. By his description, he wasn't wrong. That was not a facility that would give, or get, anything with contact with mine. "Starlight, that's just one, they can't all be that messed up, right?"

"I'm still digging," she threw up her hands deflectingly. "I've send out like five emails, and you saw the reply I got." She waved a cloven hoof widely at my screen. "A lot of quiet out there."

As if summoned, a new email popped up, to me, which made sense, that being my computer.

From: Randal Laudin, Director
To: You

Director! I thought I was the only one babysitting little ponies as they did their thing. They would be adorable if I wasn't responsible for everything they do. Hello, I am Randal Laudin, Director on the Pacific Northwest, not far from Washington (I can't specify much more than that, regs). Still, nice to hear from you.

We have ponies, pegasi, unicorns, gem ponies, and combo sets (Three unicorn pegasi). Mostly friendly, though they vary just like the humans they once were, with some preferring to hide in their rooms, but most being outwardly social creatures, forming fast and easy social circles with other subjects.

As you've likely been informed, physically transporting subjects is off the table. However, there's nothing stopping a little communication. The more socialization the subjects perform, the more content they become, overall, so I'd approve of moderated chat between our facilities, if you're up for it. You have a building-wide Discord network, don't you? Let's make a new channel they can chat in.

Right things in the Right place,
Randal Laudin

Well, that was... far more positive. "Alright, that... I can work with that." I hit the forward button, sending it on towards IT with a note saying I was alright with it. "I'll let them hash out the details, then our 'prison' gets a little bigger, with a window to chat with their neighbors." A perfect solution, no... but it was better.

Starlight huffed softly. "Sorry, shoot. After all that, I didn't bring you a single answer, just doom and gloom."

"You were trying." I gently petted over her head. "The others may get back to those emails you sent."

A new name appeared in a new channel. Princess Celestia typed, "Hello, my dear little ponies."

"Yer a princess?" came Apple Bloom's quick reply. "Princess of what?"

"I couldn't say," admitted Celestia. "It's just the name that came to me. Still, it is nice to meet you."

"Hello!" chimed Sweetie Bloom. "So you're from another place?"

"Me too," added another new name. The conversation began in earnest as names and greetings were swapped, quickly diving into similarities and differences between them.

"Your director is also a patient? 👀" asked Celestia.

Scootaloo jammed at the keys. "She sure is! She's super cool! She likes us all a lot, and she gives gifts! I think she's like a wizard or something. She can make whatever she wants. Super awesome!"

"How can we be sure?" Bon Bon entered the conversation suddenly. "That you're from somewhere else, and that you're another ponid patient, and not just somepony pretending."

"*body, god I hate that."

"I could upload a picture?" proposed Celestia. "Sending pictures from in a facility to another part of the facility should be alright. Perhaps I should hold up a sign that says something, so you know it's me?"

Bon Bon could be seen typing. "'I am definitely not screen capturing and editing this on the fly'."

"🙄Relax, Bonnie," assured Lyra. "But do it! I wanna see you!"

"One moment." There was a brief pause, then an image appeared, Celestia seated, facing the camera, perhaps of a laptop? Her wings were spread wide behind her, her horn glowed. Held in her magic was a paper, 'I am definately not screen capturing and editing this on the fly.

PS: Put your periods inside the quotes.' She was also smiling, looking so gentle and approachable, despite also seeming quite large compared to the things around her that gave some amount of perspective.

Lyra almost instantly posted a meme of a famous person laughing uproariously. "Wow! All hail the princess!"

Twilight began to type, "You have wings, and a horn. I wasn't aware that was possible. Please explain."

"I am uncertain I can do that." There was a pause before Celestia resumed typing, "This is just what I became, likely as the rest of you. None of you had much say in the matter. I feel... comfortable. I miss fingers at times, and I miss my old life at others, but... this new life isn't all that bad."

Bon Bon began typing quickly, "Why? What do you get out of this 'new life' besides locked up?"

"I get to support and help others," Celestia typed back far more calmly. "They consider me like a mother here, and I'm alright with the title. I never had children of my own, and now, suddenly, I have dozens on dozens."

"She really is," added another new pony, Fancy Pants. "Quite the noble sort, and obliging of any issue one of us might be facing. I couldn't have asked for a better friend."

"Hello," added a new person, who did not have a pony or other odd creature for a profile pic. "I'm a Doctor here. We consider Celestia to be practically a member of the staff. We can trust her to handle things appropriately."

"I doubt I will be 'handling' much of anything," retorted Celestia. "But it is an honor to be so trusted. Do some of you work with your doctors?"

"Ooo, me," piped in Starlight. "Starlight here! I work right with the director and the staff at large, helping to keep things in line and make sure everycreature gets what they need."

"Me too," chimed Twilight. "Though less regularly than Starlight. My current task is to decouple Vanilla from Chocolate Beans."

"I did not type that. I guess I can't talk about that. Shoot. Sorry, I wasn't trying to break any rules!"

Fancy added, "I was wondering for a moment there, miss."

"While I have you! Have you discovered how to use [REDACTED]?"

"Oh, well, at least that's more obvious. I think I prefer that." Twilight gave up on trying to discuss magic. Perhaps once they had removed its attachment to music, they could revisit that topic. "Still, nice to meet you all!"

"A pleasure. I would like you to meet my best friend," calmly typed Celestia. "Luna is currently 'getting her steps in' as she likes to call it. She is like me, a winged pegasus. She also watches over the other patients with me, though in a different manner and method."

"Winged pegasus?" asked Applejack.

"I don't suppose anyone here likes to bake?🍰" added Carrot Cake suddenly.

"That is a bit random," replied another new pony. "But, yes, I do." Chiffon Swirl was her name. "Let's not clog up the channel. We can DM."

"I meant winged unicorn," admitted Celestia, the conversation continuing.

"It's been a day." She set a cloven hoof on the one-way mirror she knew was one way. She was on the wrong side of it. "Please..."

I was there, on the other side of the mirror. Looking to a doctor, who had returned from kirin-hood without any lasting effects we could see. "Well." I could tell she heard it, her ears pricking. "You're the largest one, strangely enough. Also, as you've noticed, you haven't returned to your normal form, making it impossible to do the usual tests for Ponid infection. Director?"

Oh sure, the buck was passed right back to me. "I'm going in." Not like I could be infected. I slipped through the door, only remembering on the other side that I hadn't used my keycard. I was the worst security risk in there, I swear. Good thing I was on their side.

"Hey there." I waved at the big kirin. I mean, shoot, they were about double the normal size of the other ones. She had pretty eyes, which seemed a strangely common thing among ponid patients. She was, you know, a she. I read she was a she beforehand, good on her! We were both normal female ladies... as far as that went with ponid. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"You're the director, right?" She trotted towards me, her eyes looking me up and down. "This isn't... normal, I mean, even for Ponid. Look." She raised a cloven hoof to her eye level. "Most of the ones I've seen are different left and right. Mine are exactly the same."

I had managed to miss that, but it seemed so obvious with it pointed out. My eyes were still mismatched. I could have made them match, but, eh, it was my look. "This was a spell. How much were you told, about how this happened?"

"Almost nothing," she sighed gently. "I'm stuck here, aren't I?"

I let my focus of vision shift. Infrared, radioactivity ticks, there we are, Ponid. The room was... cold. She was... ponid free? Huh... From what I read, she was right in the worst place possible. Unless Ponid couldn't affect someone who'd gone ahead and just... become a kirin. Kirin do not get ponid... Did it... die in her?

Of course, that raised further problems. Like Silver Spoon, technically, she could walk out of the lab and would present literally zero risk to anyone, other than 'oh god, what is that?!'. She was ponid clean.

And I couldn't tell her that, not right then. "Right along with me," I gently answered. I should have kept it a secret, but, man... I couldn't. "Look, it's like this. You're a special case, in a good way."

"I don't feel that good." She reached up, gently poking her horn. "I want my hands. I want clothes that fit. I didn't get a new name. I didn't get a new way of thinking." She raised a brow at me. "I don't have ponid. Maybe it's worse." Her hooves went to her face. "Do you have any idea how much effort... You were a woman beforehand, right?"

"Yeah." I offered a hand towards her. "Let's swap names. I'm Eri. You?"

"Susan." She placed her hoof in my hand and we shook. "Look, we both wanted hair off our faces, and now look at me." She returned her hoof to her cheeks. "No amount of shaving is going to make this look right."

I reached for her head and she recoiled. Right, she didn't have ponid. She never had the wiring that made her accept, even enjoy, a good earscratching or headpatting. "Sorry, not trying to move in on your space."

"No... no." She took a slow deep breath. "I know what you were doing. I've done it myself. Ponies look up at you with their big smiles. You just... reach out and give them a little pet, and they smile more. It's cute... But..."

Then she was on fire. Blue-red flames engulfed her as she let out a great roar, heat washing over the room. I reached up, wiping off the soot off my fire suit's visor. "I don't get it!" she hissed as she thrashed in place a moment, tail lashing about, spreading the fire around. "Help me, Eri! Make it all stop!"

"Director, are you alright?" asked a worried scientist over the intercom from outside.

"I'm alright." Thank goodness for noodle powers. "Now, Susan, deep breath. Let's relax... This is a normal kirin thing, which you are."

"It is?" She kicked her bed suddenly, even as it fell apart, still on fire. "I hate it! How can anyone live like this?!"

"We have one that's been living with this for a while, our first, actually." I kept my voice low and even, trying to be a gentle rock for her to cling to, emotionally. "I'd like to introduce you to her. She has a fireproof room too, which we'll get for you."

The fires guttered out just as suddenly. Susan was looking at me, tears starting to well from her eyes. "I'll have to be alone, forever... How can anyone be safe around me if I... could hurt them at any moment, burn them, burn everything..."

I reached, and she didn't shrink that time. I gently pet over one of her long ears and she colored. "I guess I really am a horse, uh, kirin? Whatever... What am I going to do?"

"I wasn't joking." Since she seemed to be more comfortable, I moved my attention to her mane, usually a safe place to deliver gently scratches, and she seemed to be relaxing, just a little. "You should meet her. Her name is Autumn Blaze, and I can already imagine she wants to meet you."

"Isn't she scared?" accused Susan with a sudden frown, a little fire dancing around her legs, but not entirely combusting.

"So far as we can tell, kirin just... don't burn." I lifted my shoulders. "Have you taken your temperature recently? You run hot all the time, and we haven't seen one get hurt by a fire... ever. Maybe if we really tried, like industrial works? But why would we go that far to hurt one of you?"

"That would be illegal," noted the scientist outside. "And unethical." Well, good. Glad I wasn't the only one that thought it might be wrong to experiment much with that.

"Since you're here." I turned to the one way mirror. "I want to take her out of here, get her signed on properly as a patient. Any reason I shouldn't?"

"Oh... god..." Susan sank, burying her face under her hooves. "I'm a patient! I wore the PPE. I washed my hands! I did everything right!" She wasn't angry, I could tell, no fire, but she was sad, very sad, sobbing into her hooves. "This is so unfair!"

"It really is." I could imagine my old, simple, plump self. I did not want to become Eri, and yet, there I was. "But let's make the best of it. Want to meet a new friend?"

Susan peeked up around a hoof. "We never met. How can you even... know if they want to talk to me?" She sat up slowly, wiping away her tears with a loud sniff. "God, I'm... I have a tail, and these ears, and... I'm barely even slightly human... Deep breaths, Susan. Deep... breaths..." The smoldering fires died as she began to calm herself. "One two three..."

She had some experience meditating. Good! "Come with me."

"Keep her to fire safe areas," warned the scientist.

Which was fine. It was a response, and it wasn't a word of objection, so I led Susan back out the door. That time I remembered to use my card.

Autumn nuzzled into the furry bottom of Sunburst's chin, nosing at his goatee. "You're still handsome in my eyes."

He gently wrapped his arms around her, snuggling up against her. "Thanks. I mean, um, I admit, I miss the horn."

"You don't need the horn." Autumn sat up, pushing against the ground until she was standing over him. "The horn is the flute. The horn wasn't ever the problem. It was the lips. You felt how it's supposed to work now."

He inclined his head faintly. "But it's... all together?"

Autumn rolled her eyes before thrusting a hoof at him. "Stand up." She helped him rise, then crashed her head forward, clacking her horn against his. "Our horns just... carry the wind. It's up to our lips to make the different notes. I saw notes out of you. I saw it when you were a pony, and you did it again, as a kirin."

She backed up a few steps, a bright smile on her face. "So I want you to just pretend you're still my Sun'rin and play me a song!" She waggled her brows. "Technically, you weren't told to not do magic, 'cause you couldn't. I think you can! Prove me right!" She began to bounce in place. "Do it!"

That's when I knocked. "I'm going to pretend you're not trying to get around me in clever ways," I sang through the door.

Autumn squeaked, eyes going wide, and setting herself on fire without trying. "Get it, get it!" she hissed sharply at Sunburst.

So it was Sunburst that opened the door to see me and Susan. His eyes went to me first, then wandered to the great big kirin. His jaw dropped. "Oh... wow, you're... big."

"You don't have to stare," muttered Susan a little sullenly.

"I'm sorry, really." He raised a hoof to his chest. "I'm Sunburst. Nice to meet you." His eyes went back to me. "Director?"

"You can call me Eri." I gave a smile. "I'm not here to chastise you or give orders, promise. Susan here is a kirin, as you've noticed. I was hoping to introduce her to--"

"--coming!" came Autumn's voice as she burst into view from behind Sunburst, patting down a bit of fire. "Hey--woah!" Her eyes fixed on Susan, going all the way up to the big kirin's horn. "Wow! You're..."

"Hideous..."

"I was going to say amazing!" Autumn threw her hooves wide. "Wow, huh. I can't place it, but I feel like... I know you, somehow? Like we met before? Anyway hi! Wow, woah, cool!" She bounced right out the door to inspect Susan shamelessly.

I cleared my throat softly. "Susan, Autumn Blaze. Autumn, Susan." Speaking of... "Did you have a last name you want us to use?"

Susan quirked an odd smile on her snout. "That may as well be dead. This feels so strange... So, uh... hi?" She raised a cloven hoof at Autumn. "I'm Susan Smith, a perfectly normal woman that worked in a bio lab for years before a song put me on hooves and makes me... kinda explode on fire?"

Autumn's cheerful examination crashed to a halt. "Oh."

Susan turned to face Autumn, who had stopped behind her. "What's wrong?"

Autumn began rubbing along a leg. "Oh man, please... don't be angry with me..."

"Why would I... You did it." Susan was suddenly glaring at Autumn, towering over her. "You did this?!" She waved a hoof over herself as flames erupted up over her, going full nirik without a pause. "You ended my life!" she howled at the cowering Autumn. "You hurt a lot of my friends!"

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, curled miserably. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"Do you know how much damage you did?" She smashed a hoof down, the tile cracking, fires hot enough to make me back away. "Do you care? You sure look happy! Good for you!" She roared the last word across Autumn, flames lapping at the smaller kirin. Though, as predicted, Autumn did not seem to be melting under the heat, though she looked quite distressed, likely more from being shouted at.

I was about to intercede when a different pony jumped into things, Sunburst rushing ahead of Susan. "Please, calm down, um, Susan? That's a nice name."

Susan seemed confused, the flames faltering a moment. "Who are you?" She demanded, still burning, but not raging at him. Likely good for him, seeing as he wasn't nearly as fireproof.

Sunburst reached up to adjust his glasses nervously. "Oh, uh, Sunburst. Nice to meet you, ma'am." He inclined his head a bit. "You're angry, for good reason! Autumn didn't mean to do that, and we're working really hard to make sure it never happens again. Um... So... if you could not scare her before she does that?"

"I'm really sorry," assured Autumn with the biggest pout a kirin ever made. Which wasn't that hard, there not being many kirin pouts I had seen. "How can I make it up to you?"

"That is literally impossible!" She thrust up a quivering hoof before she... flopped. Right down onto her belly, the fires guttering out, her eyes brimming with tears. "My life is officially over."

I set a hand between them, floating into a better position for mediation. "Emotions are running high, I get that. Nopony here was trying to ruin the other's day, promise."

"Day?" Susan sat up tall. "I am a mother. My child came home and I wasn't there. I got a call from a concerned neighbor who had, thank god, took him in and reached out to here to find me. I got to listen to him sob. I couldn't promise him I'd be home then. I still can't. I may never be home... I'll never..." She wilted, sagging. "My husband, bless his soul, called. He says he understands, but he really really doesn't. How can he? How long until we're divorced, and who can even blame him?!"

Sunburst muttered something unintelligable. Autumn rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Sun, not every guy can appreciate how hot kirin are. Still, wow, that's... awful." She spread her hooves left and right. "I'm so sorry! Come on inside." She started trotting for the door. "We got Sunburst's room fireproofed too. Seemed like a good idea."

"Who is he?" Susan asked, following her. "I mean, besides a random pony friend?"

"That's Sunburst." She pointed back at Sunburst, who was going in with them. They were all inside, the door was glowing, about to close. Should I go after them? Nah. I let them get to know each other. I wondered briefly if Susan would feel better knowing that at least one pony thought Kirin were pretty things.

I had more work to do, and they seemed to be getting things settled.

Ane email was waiting for me.

From: Theodore Svelte, VP
To: You

Good day,
I have been informed there was quite the accident at your facility. It is both worrying, and interesting. If this 'magic' that was used to the change can be controlled, it could be the answer to returning our patients to human shape. If they are also not shedding infectious ponid material, it means we can release them safely and efficiently. This is such a large opportunity, I've been given permission to have you proceed immediately. That is now your #1 priority, besides the well-being of your subjects.

This may, or may not, be the start of a new tomorrow. We don't believe in assuming results. Take care of your subjects with the assumption that they will remain as they are. HR has been informed that magically-able subjects who assist in this project will be given a $200 stipend per week. I leave it in your capable hands to make sure only those who are helpful are enlisted in that, and to help them spend the funds.

Relatedly, we've been informed you're in contact with Pacifica. Reach out and see if they have able subjects that could help. If they have any promising subjects, we'll ship them to you. We'll cover those expenses.

New Medicine for a Better Tomorrow,
Theodore Svelte, VP
Pi Labs

Well... damn it. Damn all of it. That was a heck of a curveball. I scowled at the screen, reading and re-reading it. I was being given a huge new project that could, maybe, change the whole trajectory of how Ponid was being approached. There were a thousand 'if's in the way, but it could work, and, as scientists working in a science building, it was our job to explore that.

Lucky me.

It meant... I reached over and slapped a cartoonishly large red button. "Twilight?"

Twilight turned towards the camera in her lab. "Director? Hello!" I could hear her hoofsteps coming closer. "I think I'm getting close to an answer for you." Oh, right, the reason I didn't want the ponies doing any magic, ugh... "Did you want an update?"

"Yes and no." I frowned, not that she could see it. "Go ahead and tell me what you've come up with." Good news on that front would be lovely.

"Well..." I could hear her hooves clopping as she adjusted her stance. "Near as I can tell, no one pony casting a spell will ever trigger a cascade in a not-unicorn. It has to be another pony that not only can do magic, but understands the magic being used." Something clattered, marker noises? "So, as you can see--"

"--Let me turn the camera on." I flicked over to Twilight, who was reared up in front of a whiteboard, new marks appearing on it as she worked her marker busily.

"Despite his inability to cast spells," she explained, having drawn a crude face of Sunburst. "He understood what notes were being used, and he was studying the spell as it was being performed very intently." She drew little concentration lines around his head. "Which put him in the right mental state, very focused, but not all there in himself, and he began to, for lack of better word, sing along."

"Now, then you had me." She dutifully drew herself with big glasses, swirls in them for extra anime geek iconography. "I saw he had started performing magic. What do I do? Well, I start monitoring intensely, of course. Which means I was in the exact same mental state." She drew those concentration lines. "And, pow, I fell right in. Now, see, before this point, only unicorns who knew magic and were focused on the act could have started this cascade."

I was getting the idea. "But it started skipping to unicorns who were not paying attention. How did that happen?"

"I'm so glad you asked." Twilight hopped and twirled in place. "With the help of a volunteer that is not magically active, they're a pegasus, I was able to determine something fascinating!"

"Which is...?" I rolled a hand at Twilight, not that she could see me.

"Magic has a sound!" She clopped her hooves and looked so self-satisfied. "It's very faint, but you get enough unicorns working in harmony, the sound overlaps and with the power of constructive interference, it gets just loud enough for unicorns to hear without being in direct sight."

"And like a song hummed down the hallway... they just started to sing along, not even knowing what they were doing..."

"Exactly!" She threw her marker across the room. where it bounced and missed its can, landing on the floor. She did not bother approaching it. "Get enough unicorns doing it and less attuned ponies begin to hear it. Then you're in real danger, because they can't follow it with their horn, which they don't have, so they sing, out loud. Now everyone's falling into it."

"Every single creature." She inclined her head at the camera and me. "Not knowing what it does or why it's so catchy, they just sing, and even their not-magical singing produces more constructive interference, helping it spread and making it stronger." She raised a hoof at me. "And we all had cloven hooves. Oh! Were you affected?"

Actually... "I wasn't." Earworms were no match of the power of noodles. "Starlight was, but it wore off. I swear she was mildly disappointed."

"Kirin have many interesting biological adaptions," agreed Twilight. "But so do unicorns. I'm perfectly happy with either phenotype." She stroked her chin. "Oh, right. I was distracted. So, the point is how to prevent a cascade, at least any time you're not specifically wanting one."

"Yes." I grinned at the camera. "Tell me you found something. I do appreciate you have a better understanding of how it happened, don't get me wrong."

"You need to know how something starts to reliably get it to stop," spoke Twilight as if she were reading from a textbook somewhere. "The first basic thing is a safety measure we didn't realize we needed to have. If you're not specifically participating in a spell, you need to not watch another unicorn that rigorously. I would suggest, in fact, that all such monitoring be done with a time delayed video at best, so even if we tried to harmonize, we'd fail."

"Twilight, you are our expert in this field." I wriggled fingers in the air. "I want you to educate all the spellcasters we have with this. We can't have that accident again. That aside, if it starts cascading, can we stop it? We really need a way to put the breaks on that chain reaction before the reactor explodes. Next time it may be more than a new round of species dysphoria."

"I'm on the case!" She saluted the camera. "I'll prod into ways to stop a cascade, though an ounce of prevention here is what I think will work the best in the long run. Still, yes, it would be good to have." She rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Oh, since we have this... can I resume my research?" Oh, that smile. That sweet sweet smile, her eyes shining with hope.

"I actually have an assignment for you."

She covered that distance almost worryingly fast, her face right up on the camera. "Is it a magic assignment?"

I reached through the camera, gently pushing that excitable nerd of a horse back. "You're lucky I like you," I laughed as I drew my arm back. "Okay, so, the top brass got wind of the cascade, and they see possibilities. If you can revise the spell Sunburst made to turn a pony into a human..."

She applied a hoof to her own forehead. "How did I not think of that already?!" She threw a hoof aside. "Well, I have no interest in returning to homo sapien. I have a working sapient mind, all I need out of that package. I rather enjoy being a unicorn, but I can see why they'd be interested. Consider me on the case! I will need the assistance of my #1 spell designer, however. So...?"

She was rolling the ball back towards me. "Of course you can bring on your #1 designer and your #1 caster." Actually... "Come to think of it, your caster made a new friend today. She will need magical tutoring, but I think it will be good for her to have something to focus on besides her... condition. She was human before the cascade put her on cloven hooves."

Twilight hissed softly. "As much as I have grown to enjoy my form, I can still imagine how terrible she must feel." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Though, she may be our first test subject, depending on how she feels about the idea of returning to humanity. How exciting! I'm on the case!" She slapped the top of the camera, but it remained on. Not like we installed a turn-off button up there.

Thinking I wasn't watching, she turned away, tail swaying as she sung a little song of victory to herself. "Gonna do some science, gonna do some magic. Gonna do it all because I'm Twilight!"

"I'm still here," I gently reminded with a lopsided smile. Silly dork. "I'll see you later. Be careful. Oh! This comes with a little bonus for your efforts."

"Lovely." She didn't turn, already jotting numbers and figures. The money didn't really impress her much, I figured.

"Hello, director."

"Good afternoon--" I glanced at the clock on my screen. "Morning, director."

"Time zones," he laughed. There was Randal, on my screen. "You've become something of an urban legend." That was the first time he could see my fuzzy face, having taken the director's chair. The insane running the looney asylum? It was working. "Pleasure to meet you."

I shook hands, reaching right through the screen to grab his surprised hand and draw mine back just as he recoiled in shock. "The rumors are true," I confirmed with a little smile. "I come in peace, promise."

"Not to sound reactionary, but should I be exploring new wardrobe options?"

A reasonable fear, really. "I'm ponid negative," I assured. It was my own fault. "And so are you. Now, as I hope the higher ups told you, they want us to work together."

"I don't like it," he admitted frankly. "We've established a stable, dare I say it, happy equilibrium. The ponies here all see each other as one big family, and having them sent to you would mean breaking up that family."

"I can understand that." Not like my own little ponies were any less well established. "I'm not trying to stress them all out. They are people first. As people, they can be asked." I rolled a hand at the camera. "We can tell them what we're trying to do, and they can help, if they want, or not, if they want. I am not trying to force a person."

"That is something of a relief." He folded his hands in his lap. "Too many directors see the patients as material with an annoying habit of talking."

That matched my predecessor pretty well... "Well, I am one of the patients, to be frank." I gestured at my chest, waving over the whole noodle package. "An unusual one, but still one. I don't want to be abused. I won't abuse anyone else if the option's open."

"Then we're on the same page." He turned a hand palm-side up. "I can't assume everyone I talk to is there. Alright, so, upper management was cagey, their specialty. What exactly do you need 'all horned subjects of note' for?"

"First question." Up went a finger. "Have your patients figured out magic, beyond grabbing things or glowing?"

He looked a bit more defensive, eyes glancing off for just that precious instant, his hand on his armrest clenching, but only a moment. "Magic? Like spells?"

Was it my noodly nature, or was I good at reading people? "Calm down. Mine have. If yours haven't, that limits things."

He was quiet a moment. Considering things? "A few," he allowed at last.

"Fantastic." I began typing busily. "If you'd share their emails my way, I'd like to put them in contact with our head of magic research, Twilight Sparkle. If they happened to have developed the same method, that will make this--"

"--All well and good, but you've skipped a part." He tapped a finger loudly. "What are you doing?"

Ah, dang it. I was being cagey. "Sorry. Alright, so we have a spell that turns a person into something else. If we can turn them into humans, that's a spell being worked on, we may be able to free people who don't want to have a tail forever." I mean, I had learned to be alright with my tail, but different strokes for different folks...

"That's a hell of a sell..." A brow went up. "What's the timeline look on that?"

"I do not honestly know." I folded my arms as I leaned back in my chair. "A love smitten stallion managed to make a similar spell in a few weeks. If we can prod him to repeat the performance...?"

"Let's assume a few months," he proposed, fairly reasonably in my view. "What are the unicorns for?"

"More people to practice the art of spellcasting," I started. "Learning if there's only one way to do it would also help, which is why I wanted to get them in contact even if they never show up. Once we have the spell, we'll need all the capable unicorns we can to cast the result on anyone wanting it."

He drew a soft breath. "You realize, if this works... the rate of patients will increase, not decrease, right?"

Hm? "What? We'll be getting them back out the door."

"Sure, and that will open the flood gates. They will rush to get Ponid working properly, confident they can undo mistakes. It will become a very busy time, to say the least... With a lot of startled people, even if we can undo the mess afterwards." He put a hand to his head, leaning against it. "This will eventually become a textbook example for an ethics class."

He wasn't wrong, in my view. "What's the alternative? Not help people we can help?"

"No... I'll send that email." And so ended our call.

Susan looked up at her glowing horn as she worked through the letters. "L-like this? It feels so strange."

Twilight tapped her chin. "You are in a unique position."

"How?" She inclined her head. "Besides being the largest one in the room."

"That's immaterial." Twilight waved it away like a nuisance. "You are changed but were not adjusted neurologically to adapt to it, meaning you can feel the differences. You are not a kirin."

Susan snorted at that. "Sorry, got a doctor's note arguing the case."

"Physically, of course." She stood up, trotting towards a white board. "But not mentally, meaning you have the unique position of knowing what it 'feels like' to be a kirin. Autumn couldn't tell you, it's just 'what I am'. I am equally unable to tell you what it's 'like' to be a unicorn. It has been set as my default being. You--" She twirled to face Susan. "You are a human, up here." She tapped herself with a hoof on the head. "That's the unique part."

"Fantastic..." Susan lowered her head to be more on Twilight's level. "You do understand, you're asking me to be happy about feeling species dysphoria. That is a tough sell."

"But think..." She trailed off, frowning. "I'm sorry."

Susan blinked in surprise. "Pardon? I thought you were going to make a scientific plea?"

"I was!" assured the geeky unicorn. "But you're right. I'm being very thoughtless of your feelings." She put a hoof to her own chest. "As the head of this department, I can't be so ignorant of the concerns of others. Sorry, really."

"I... alright?" Susan smiled with a little smirk. "Not what I expected... but alright... Look, I feel like I'm a woman in a really big suit that I can't take off... Trust me, I tried a few times..." She raised a hoof at Twilight. "Almost every part of this body creeps me out if I think about it. I don't like it, to be blunt."

"This may... not help, but most ponies I've spoken to find you quite... pretty."

Susan's cheeks lit up bright. "You're kidding!" Her cheeks literally caught fire, little fires flickering. "I'm not even a... pony. I look very different from them. Why would they think that?"

Twilight lifted her shoulders. "Almost all of your differences are... very ornamental. Your ears are... Your horn... Even your hooves. There's just more to every part of you." She rubbed at her cheek with the flat of a hoof. "I am wildly inappropriate to specify why, but you're different, but in a good way. It's like the opposite of the uncanny valley!"

"So... I'm a pony supermodel?" Susan sagged a little, a strained laughter shaking her sides. "What a life! I'm like an angel, so perfect it's uncanny, but in a way you want to see more." She suddenly slapped her hooves down on Twilight's shoulders. "This is not helping! So am I getting the letters right or not?" She did a nice, strong, A B C in her horn.

Twilight shrank at the attack, but did see the letters. "O-oh, yes! Very good, quite good!"

"Great!" She pushed Twilight back and rose up, towering over the unicorn, letting out a slow breath. "Great... So, this might fix me?"

"Do you remember Sunburst?" She adjusted her glasses back into place on her snout.

"Pony, hangs with Autumn? He... keeps watching me. Does he think I'm pretty too?"

"Probably," admitted Twilight with a lack of tact. "But he's taken."

"O-oh? Really?"

"He and Autumn are in a relationship." Twilight rolled a hoof. "But that's beside the--"

"They're a thing?!" Susan drove down a hoof with a loud clop. "Why didn't she tell me?!"

"I couldn't say... But he's working on the human transformation spell." Twilight inclined her head faintly. "If it works, then perhaps we could return you to normal."

"About that..." Susan grabbed some chalk in her glowing magic and brought it over to a green board, making marks. "From what I've gathered, only about 2%, give or take, remained kirined. Is he working on raising that percentage for humans? If most of those made human end up not human again, you're not... getting anywhere."

"He is aware of that." She hopped up onto a stool and spun in place, talking despite it, "I'm certain he's working on it, but this is really his specialty, not mine. If he can find out how to 'purposefully' trigger that 2%, perhaps? But I'm just theorizing wildly here."

Susan set a hoof on Twilight's stool, stopping it so immediately that Twilight squeaked and was sent flying. Her magic wrapped around the unicorn, drawing her back to where she started. "Is there any way I can help?" The hope of becoming human again a powerful motivator.

Twilight's horn glowed as she retrieved her glasses, tossed across the room as they had been. "I appreciate your eagerness. I'd like to help more myself. For now, learn the alphabet. We've gotten a few letters down, but there's more to go." She clopped her hooves together. "One thing."

"That sounds like a negative 'one' thing." Susan frowned suspiciously.

"Sort of." Twilight lifted her shoulders. "You shouldn't use the spell on yourself, even if it worked. Autumn or I will likely be the one to use it on you."

"Then I'm... not really helping, am I?" She let out a soft breath. "Why bother learning magic then?"

"Well, for one, aren't you curious?" Twilight inclined her head. "I know you're... feeling out of sorts, to put it mildly, but aren't you even slightly curious? I mean, magic. Real magic!" She thrust up a hoof to emphasize the possibilities.

"Did they not tell you what I was?" She sat back, rearing up so she could put both hooves on her chest. "I'm a lunch lady, to put it bluntly. A short order cook that worked in a cafeteria setting, if we want to be fancy about it. I was not a scientist. I was not involved in any of that. I came in, I cooked, made people happy, went home. That was my day!"

"I'm certain you were good at it." She tapped her chin softly. "But, even with that in mind... aren't you... a little curious?"

Susan huffed at Twilight so strongly flames erupted over her own eyebrows, threatening with a combustion. "I understand you're trying your very best to get me to see the 'bright side', that silver lining, but this is a really big dark cloud, alright? You want to help? Just... listen more, and telling me how to think less."

She felt something touching her leg and looked down. While she had been talking, Twilight had walked right up to her and gently embraced one of her big legs. "I... Is this professional?"

"No," admitted Twilight. "But it's what you need. I don't know how you feel, but I want you to feel better. We can wait on everything else. You don't have to do a thing you don't want to do."

"Besides turn into a kirin?" Susan asked with a little smirk, but its edges were blunted, turning into a smile gently. "Thank you..."

I gazed with confusion as they set down several large plastic containers. "Here you go," announced one man in a hazmat suit. I signed the pad he was holding, and off he went.

And I was left with a bunch of sizable plastic tubs. Each was large enough to... No...

I grabbed for the edge of one of the higher crates and pulled it free with a loud pop of an air seal being broken. Inside was a dead pony, and air mask over their snout, their eyes closed, peaceful, and not moving. God. "Tell me you're alright. I reached in and gently shook the stallion, to no effect, but I did see something. A faint misting of the end of his gas mask. He was breathing! Thank all the gods.

I began prying the tops off the rest, setting each side by side. "What are those?" asked Starlight as she came in to check. "What they dropped off?" She leaned in over the top and scrambled backwards fairly instantly. "Sweet Celestia! Did they send us a bunch of bodies? Why?!"

"They're alive," I assured with a placating motion, "Just need to figure out how to--" I popped the last lid, and, of course, there was a paper in that one. "Here we are."

They were put into induced comas and shipped in airtight crates with oxygen supplies that would have run out, had they needed the proper amount of air during that time. "Turn them over to your medical staff for resuscitation." Man, they could have emailed me this info, preferably before I got a bunch of mostly-dead ponies in my lap... I quickly reached for the phone, just to hesitate.

"What's wrong?" Starlight was peering at me oddly.

"I was just thinking, even with medicine, these things aren't a 100% thing." I lifted into the air, leaving the phone behind. "I think I'll cheat on this one."

"Ooo, can I see?"

Um... I didn't know anyway for someone else to witness slowed reality. Starlight was a gem, but she was not a noodle. "I'll try to figure out how I can share that. For now..." I brought my hands together with a loud clap, reality focusing on the point and the sound.

I began plucking the needles in each of them and gently slapping them across the face. "Wakey wakey!" I swam back up to where I started just for the universe to stir.

"What? I say?" The first unicorn sat up, groggy, but awake. The others began to stir similarly, all of them coming to life. 100% success! "Where, oh, did we make it?" The stallion slipped free, literally, crashing to the ground with an ungainly splat.

A much larger pony was able to just step free, her eyes on me. "Director? I am Princess Celestia, and it is a pleasure to meet you." She dipped her head slightly. "I thought we'd be waking up with a lot more beeping, and doctors."

She was certainly large enough to fit what I knew of her. "It's really nice to meet you." I offered a hand and got a hoof in turn, but we did shake on it. "You were quite valued at your lab. I'm surprised they'd send you, of all ponies."

Celestia inclined her head. "I insisted. If I can help some of my ponies, I will do it." She winked gently. "Besides, I feel a steady eye on 'magic' is best, to keep it from getting out of hoof. I was told you're much farther ahead of it than we are, in most ways."

Most ways? "Are there ways you were ahead?"

"We understood the importance of cutie marks." She half turned, displaying her butt, or rather the suns on her butt. "A pony can work magic relating to their mark more easily. Ponies with a mark of magic can do it all a bit easier, but lack the specialization of a more specific mark."

Well, shoot, that was good information! "Thank you for sharing. Twilight is going to be--"

"--oh, yes! I can't wait to meet her." Celestia brought her hooves together in a loud clop. "She was an interesting pony on Discord, but in the real world will be even better, I feel certain."

"Pardon?" A voice came from a new mare. She was not a unicorn. I hadn't noticed at first, kinda panicking and all. "Yes, hello."

It was a chubby mare. Wait, I'd seen her before! Where, where... I know I had... "Welcome. Pardon the asking, but why did they send you?" She obviously couldn't do magic.

"About that. There was a pony here that wanted to meet me very much." She smiled timidly. "And he seemed like a nice pony. We've been chatting... I... just want to meet him."

That... "You realize that was, probably a one way trip. Getting you all here was already quite the feat." I offered a hand to help her get out of the crate. "I mean, seriously, welcome. We'll get you a room, promise. I'm just a little floored. This isn't really a vacation..."

"I know that, dear." She shook her rounded form out, looking more awake. "Maybe I was foolish, but it's too late to second guess myself now."

The population of the lab had grown that day. I began making the calls to get them rooms and added to the family. At least they were all in good spirits. "Ma'am?" The first unicorn was looking at me. "Pardon my saying so, but you are a curious case." He adjusted his monocle softly. "I am Fancy Pants." He had no pants, fancy or not. "Pleasure to meet you, director."

I offered a hand towards his extended hoof, shaking it as I held up the phone. "Mmm? Yeah, talking with one of the new patients right now. Fancy Pants? Unicorn, like most of them." Minus one. "Great." I hung up the phone, allowing me to focus on him. "I am the director, but I'm also a patient, as you can see. Thank you for helping us. Maybe we can get a lot of people a lot happier."

"I do hope we can." He nodded firmly. "Why I signed up to come. I confess, magic isn't my 'specialty', but I will try my level best." I glanced at his mark, three crowns? He was an aristocratic pony. I wasn't sure how that'd help, still...

"Thanks." Twilight would sort it out, in theory.

Susan's hooves came down on the bed on either side of Autumn's surprised face. "Why are you alright with this?"

"Pardon?" She wriggled in place, but didn't try to get away. "Alright with what?"

"I'm living with you, keeping you away from your boy." She tossed her head. "Who you never mentioned was your boy."

"You needed help!" squeaked Autumn. "So I gave it."

Susan leaned in, pressing her much larger snout to Autumn's. "You did it just because you were feeling nice?"

"Yes?" Autumn smiled awkwardly. "Is it... working?"

"I don't understand you." Susan thumped the bed they were on, making Autumn bounce in place. "I don't understand most of you. When I just made you lunch, that wasn't such a big deal. You were just cute little customers. I smiled. I gave you headpats..."

Autumn blinked as something wet struck her face. A big tear from the big kirin over her. "Did something happen?"

"Did something happen?!" stormed Susan, her form erupting into flames over Autumn. The bed, as fireproof as promised, did not join the flames. "Everything I knew would happen... happened. He left, he was taken away from me. Everything, gone..."

Autumn inclined her head faintly. "I'm here to talk about, promise, but you used a few too many 'hes' in there. Who left, who was--" Susan slammed the bed, making poor Autumn bounce. "Alright, not in the mood to chat! Right now is angry time, I get it."

"Angry time," repeated Susan as if she just liked the sound of it. "Right... Autumn... Right now is angry time."

Autumn suddenly darted, only to lift into the air. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Susan's horn glowing, holding her in the air. "Angry time?"

"Angry time," agreed Susan, thumping Autumn on the bed, then her hoof on Autumn's chest. "You want to know? Then listen. My husband, who I had no problems with? He left. Of course he did. His wife is gone in some shady medical facility for who knows how long. He's taking my child for the ride. They're leaving, who knows where." The flames exploded from her in all directions, raining down little bits of drifting ash, still burning. "Even if I became human today, my life is over. Done. Done."

She suddenly jumped off the bed, raging with howls and slams of the ground and walls.

Autumn sat up, watching her friend melt down. But she hadn't been struck. She hadn't been tossed against a wall. For all of Susan's fury and sorry, Autumn was intact. "I'm so sorry... I won't just pretend I know what that's like."

"Good." Susan deflated, the flames guttering as she shrank into a miserable, but still quite large, pile of fur. "I doubt many do."

"But I still care." Autumn bounced down from the bed and began trotting over towards Susan. "Look, this will sound super strange, but you're a part of our family. We're not married, and we have no kids, but that doesn't even matter."

Susan smirked faintly at Autumn as she came in closer. "Because ponies are just nice little creatures."

"I'm not a pony," reminded Autumn. "But I'm still nice. And you're still a friend. So if the universe is being super unfair... You can tell me about it." She offered a hoof out wide. "I can listen."

Susan let out a slow noise, air escaping her. "You have no idea." Despite those words, she closed the step to bring them together, nuzzling the smaller kirin. "I want to tear him apart... As if that would somehow make him stay..."

"Okay, see... that I know the feeling of." Autumn grinned lopsidedly. "That's a bit of kirin peeking out."

"I'm not a kirin," stormed the large kirin. "I am a human woman."

"You're Susan, and that's good enough." She reached up to rub at Susan's belly with her cloven hoof. "That's good enough."

Susan shoved Autumn away suddenly. "You are a dork."

"Guilty."

The two met in a gentle hug.

"Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight went rigid. Something deep inside of her reacted to that call of her name. She turned quickly, spinning on one hoof to face the great big winged unicorn. "Oh... hello? Wait! Celestia?"

Celestia smiled gently. "I asked them to not warn you of my coming. I see they..." Twilight had passed out on the ground. "Oh dear." That was not the intended goal.

Twilight woke to water splashing against her face. "Dearest Twilight, I have come to help. Are you alright?"

Twilight sat up sharply, almost poking Celestia. "But how?! I mean, you were a country away, and very contagious." She rubbed one arm with the other hoof. "Like me. They wouldn't let either of us walk out like that."

"And they didn't," assured Celestia in that kindly tone she had. "They put me to sleep, and I woke up here." She curled a wing around to lift Twilight's face. "And here I am, to help with your project. There is still room for me, I hope?"

"Of course!" Twilight beamed up at the big slice of pony, feeling somehow safer around her. "It's really nice to meet you, in the flesh. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"This I know, but I am Princess Celestia," she reintroduced. "Let's work together, to make a lot of ponies, and humans, happier."

"Yes, exactly that." Twilight nodded firmly. "No wonder the ponies liked you, you are... very nice to be around, and we've only met in person for about a minute." She rubbed her cheek thoughtfully. "Maybe that's your talent? Let's get started!" And she had recovered, launching into demonstrations of magic and determining where Celestia was in the process.

They had work to do!

"Flowing up to down." Twilight gestured with a slowly lowering hoof. "The notes form songs, I realized. If our horns were actually instruments, we'd sound lovely when we performed magic."

Fancy inclined his head. "But they are not."

Autumn thrust a hoof in the air. "Bet we could find a spell to make them into flutes or something, temporarily."

Several sets of eyes went to Sunburst. He squeaked in alarm. "That sounds potentially dangerous. We already have a complicated project on our plates."

Twilight nodded. "Entirely correct, but understanding how this works helps." She tapped a floating pointer against the whiteboard. "This also explains how the cascade could happen. There is a pattern and a rhythm for one to follow along with, even without understanding what exactly they were following along with."

Sunburst inclined his head. "And why incorrect spells feel... wrong. It's like a sour note in a song."

"Precisely!" Twilight brought her hooves together in a merry clop. "Celestia?"

"Thank you. I had wanted to ask, Sunburst, how has your progress been? I understand you are under quite a deal of pressure." She leaned forward a bit, her head coming down to be even with his. "We are here for you."

Autumn thrust out a hoof in front of her Sunburst. "He has a mare who takes care of that."

Sunburst was lit up brightly. "It's not like that! Um, I mean, thank you. It's good to have support, uh..." He rubbed behind his head awkwardly. "It's going good I think. I just have to finish, uh... deciphering? Figuring out, yeah." He nodded to himself, working through the idea. "I have to get the song of humanity, in relation to what we already talked about today. The song that means 'human'. Slot that in there in the shapechanging spell and, pop, you're making humans."

Fancy Pants stroked at his chin. "I say, that is quite the task you've set for yourself, old bean. To think, all that it is to be a human, condensed into a musical number."

"One without words," added Starlight as she trotted in. "That sounds hard."

"I'm chipping away at it," assured Sunburst. "But it will take time."

"Meanwhile," Twilight's voice was much louder, surer. "The rest of us need to keep practicing, and learning. The more we understand magic, and can use it, the better the position we'll be." She slapped the pointer on the board. "Even this will help Sunburst figure it out faster. So, remember, what you learn, is also helping him."

Susan let out a loud sigh, easy to do when she was one of the two largest people in the room. "Twilight." Twilight looked up at her. "Please rate this." Her horn began to glow in that specific way that kirins had, the bands lighting up instead of the entire thing glowing with the same intensity. She played a song of magic with her ornate arcane flute.

The entire room full of magic users and designers were focused on her. Some hooves tapped, following the flow of the magic without it rising fully to consciousness. It wasn't a long or powerful spell, not enough to prompt a cascade.

An apple appeared, hovering a moment before it hit the ground with a soft thud, bright, red, the ideal of an apple. "Ta da..."

Twilight inclined her head at the dropped fruit. "Huh... That was... actually fairly impressive." With her approval given, hooves began to clop the ground or each other, an applause given pony style. "I admit, I thought you had lost interest in large part."

Susan huffed at that. "Look... I can't go back to my old life, it's dead." She thrust a hoof at Twilight. "But if I can help even one person not go through what I did? That's what I want to do. Nobody, not a single person, should have what they are ripped away like that." Fire began to wave over her form, anger building. "It's not fair, but I'm stuck with it. I'm... not going to let that happen to anyone else."

Autumn leaned against her larger friend, able to weather the fire without complaint. Susan leaned back, and the fire began to ebb, drawing some measure of comfort.

Twilight nodded softly. "I would prefer ponies not work on new spells alone, however. We're in unknown territory, and somepony could get hurt, and none of us want that. Have a partner." She pointed at Susan and Autumn. "You two are obviously friends, so partner up!"

Conversation picked up as everpony tried to get a partner to be with. "Madame, it would be a pleasure to work alongside you." Fancy dipped his head at Celestia.

"Fancy, you always were such a polite thing." She accepted him with a smile.

Starlight prodded Twilight. "That includes you, miss headmare. I'll make sure you don't explode yourself."

Twilight looked confused a moment. Why did that feel... right? "Thank you."

I didn't have a partner. I had witnessed the meeting. Starlight had tipped me off that they were doing an update on the progress of things, and I wanted to know how that was going. It was going well, turned out!

Still, I didn't have a partner. How could I? Not a creature in the world could even witness what I did, let alone intercede with it in any way, for better or worse. Magically, I was entirely alone. I mean, I had a family, a maybe too big family, depending on how you looked at it...

But magically...

On the other hand, was the world ready for any more than one of me? There was absolutely no assurance that another person who became a noodle would be nearly as nice about it, or even try to be responsible with it. I imagined for a moment, going up against another noodle that was bent on taking over the world, or even their corner of it. There was no way that'd end well for anyone involved in it.

"I'm a nice boring element of chaos," I half-sang. "Just the way the world needs it to be." Any other variety would have made a big mess of everything. Speaking of that! I whipped out a remote control I hadn't been holding a moment before and flicked on the television to see the news. Hey, they had vaccines going everywhere. Covid's days of ruining everyone's lunch was numbered. Great.

Of course, that meant not a dang thing to Ponid. Ponid had stopped being about Covid a long time back. What it could do went way beyond it. I imagine they had to... think of another angle to get testers. Not as many people would be lining up to test possible Covid vaccines with three of them already out and about.

A soft chime told me I had gotten email flagged as important. A staffer had called in sick. I turned off the TV and gave it a quick read and set my hands on the desk. I wasn't a doctor, but those symptoms... Wait...

If they already had those, that meant they had been spreading it...

I let out a suffering sigh. I already had to deal with one pandemic. I didn't need another muscling in! I grabbed a comically large phone receiver. "I need all staff to swing by my office as soon as possible. Security, do it in waves. Thanks." My voice had been echoed all through the facility from speakers that were there just long enough for me to do it. "Let's nip this right in the bud."

I reached up to adjust the goggles I hadn't been wearing before, changing the frequences I was seeing. Temperature, sound, ponid... there we are, covid! Of course it was just one click away. I looked down at a thrust out arm, nope, I was dead of any covid presence. Good. Lousy germ had no business with me, well, not any business it would be happy with.

I heard a knock on the door and swiveled my chair to face it. "Come in!" The doctor was in, and would not be permitting that little bug to get a foothold in my lab.

So I saw the people as they came in. Thankfully, most of them were a nice cold dark blue in color. I thanked them for coming, told them to keep up the good work, and sent them on their way.

But some... It was a little speckle, as if their lungs and throat had freckles in my vision. No good. "This will tickle a moment." Sure, it was... awkward... to have me take a bathroom plunger to their face, but it got all the creepy crawlies out of them in a flash. "All better, sorry about that."

Most of them were... confused, really, but they mostly accepted it. I was their boss, their boss' boss in a lot of cases.

But then a doctor came in with it, and I couldn't just... do that... "Didn't you get the vaccine?"

"Hm? Do you mean against Covid? Moderna's," he provided with a nod. "Both shots a while ago, why?"

And yet... "I'm going to share something with you, and I need your medical opinion, even though you're very involved and a non-biased opinion is kinda impossible."

"That isn't ominous at all," he laughed out. "Alright, what is it?"

"I can see covid right now." I tapped my goggles. "And you have some inside you. Should I be concerned?"

"I should. I'll self isolate."

"Wait!" I darted in front of him. He'd been ready to just walk out. "Does it pose any danger to you, at all?"

"Not really. The vaccines prevent death 100% of the time, so far we've been able to see. It doesn't stop you from potentially getting it, but your body is ready to fight it off," he explained. "And I might shed some. I don't want to get anyone else sick, so I'll head home for now, with your permission?"

"Of course!" I slipped out of the way. "It's just... Look, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Thank you." He pulled the door open. "It's good to have a facility manager that cares about that as a priority, but the most I really need is some warm chicken soup and to relax. Those are doctor's orders."

"Well, we can't argue with those," I jested with a little smile. "See you back in a bit." And so he left.

I remembered when I had some nice soup when I was feeling bad. It didn't cure ponid, but I did feel better... And that was a blessing at the time. Speaking of that. "Hey you!"

Shining looked up from where he had been reading something on a tablet. "Yeah? Lunch time?"

"No, still doing a full covid sweep." I waved at the room behind me. "But, after that, I want to get away."

"There aren't a lot of places we can 'get away' to. You know, ponid?"

Sure, but... "Where we're going to go, there is not a single person to infect, trust me."

So we spent our lunch under a clear sky. But it wasn't really a sky. A great explosion made the ground shudder, an asteroid impacting the lunar soil some distance away. We weren't breathing, because I said we didn't have to. We had lunch under the stars, and it was, well, breathtaking feels corny, and yet, still appropriate.

"We're all clear."

Shining nodded at that. "Do I have any?" I shook my head quickly. "Good. We're still pretty sure we can't get that, right?"

"If we can get it, it means ponid won't do what was promised." I brought together my mismatched hands. "Stopping all genetic damage means stopping viruses... virii? Whatever, those things from doing what they do."

"One thing." He raised a lone finger. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't, you know, evolution, require some amount of 'damage' to work?"

I raised a finger back at him, only for the end to crook. Crap...

I was seated in a cramped student's desk, my noodly form wrapped around it in peculiar ways that I found comfortable. "Teacher, teacher!"

The doctor pushed up his glasses. "Director, there's no need for these... theatrics."

Aw. "No fun." I slipped away from the desk and it faded away, forgotten. "So, you were saying?"

"Most viruses cause no genetic damage." He tapped at his laptop, which showed a picture of a virus in the middle of doing what it does. "It doesn't have to. It just throws its notes where it will be read, and the cell produces more of the virus."

It had been a long time since I took biology, alright! I was a data entry expert turned biomedical lab director... Oof, what a strange life I led. "Alright, so if Ponid was working perfectly, people could still get viruses and get sick then?"

"Yes," he said with no hesitation. "Both viruses and bacteria and most other external threats would still be an issue."

That was more than a little of a bummer. "It'd stop cancer though?"

"So far as we know, cancer would be gone." He nodded along with that. "And, with that, you'd be eliminating one of the primary sources of human death in the world. That is why we're working so hard. In theory, this could also defeat one of the largest contributors to age, though that isn't entirely proven just yet. So you'd not only stop people from dying now, but you'd keep all of humanity around longer. To say this is a big deal is to speak mildly of it."

And that was why the budget was as large as it was. To be the company that brought that to the world... "One thing a friend of mine brought up." I waggled a finger in the air. "If we arrest gene damage entirely, which is the idea, how do we evolve?"

"We don't." He shrugged softly. "If it's 100% effective, that would remove all natural genetic change. Of course, we have not tested if this is effective at arresting alterations and mistakes at the zygote and gamete level. If that is still there, then evolution would continue just as it always has. We don't know if ponid transfers from mother to child and at what point."

"About that..." I swept an arm through the air, creating a viewport to Starlight trotting down a hallway. "There's an expecting mother. You may want to look into that, provided it won't hurt the child."

The doctor folded his arms. "I would need her consent."

"Which she'd give." Starlight was a good pony, and a hard worker. "Go ahead and ask, and have the forms ready."

"Do... you know when inception was, roughly?"

Of course most people would have a vague idea at best. Oh, the look on his face as I told him exactly the date and time, within a second. "And so our child was created."

He shut up. Was it because it was my child? He likely knew I was with Shining Armor, so I just threw a big helping of polygamy at him in the mix. Poor guy, I could see him getting increasingly uncomfortable thinking about it, and writing it down. "It's been a strange year." I smiled at him in what I hoped was a gentle way. "We're all adapting, in different ways."

"Director, it's not my place to question your personal life." He tapped his clipboard lightly against the counter before folding it against himself. "I will point out, it is illegal to be married to more than one person."

He wasn't wrong, and I hated it. We couldn't do that. "Yeah..." If I was more mature, perhaps, I'd just pick one of them and let the other go, but I still felt like I'd be abandoning one of them, and neither of them deserved that, and both wanted to be with me. Dang it all.

"I'll check with her. Good day." And he was gone, the conversation dead on such an awkward note.

Crap! I just realized I had just admitted I, a lady-noodle, had somehow conceived with another lady. Crap.

Before him, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Vitruvian Man” was spread out. Sunburst considered it as his horn glowed, working through the beats of his arcane song. A G G E G H... Long pause... B B H... But what about guy humans and girl humans?

He shook is head quickly. He hadn't worried about genders with his kirin spell, and both guys and girls had resulted. But what if that was a mistake? What if that left it to chance? He scowled, only to feel something warm press against him from behind.

Autumn's arms wrapped around him, hooves pressing against his front gently. "You look like you hit a hard part."

He swiveled an ear back at her. "Oh! Hello..." He relaxed a little in that warm embrace. Autumn was good at that, as were most kirin. "I am thinking I may need to make two spells, and I'm not sure how different they'll be."

"Yeah?" She leaned over his shoulder, peeking at the art. "Your picture there is a guy. Kinda hard to miss that."

The piece left nothing to the imagination. "Pity he only made a male version." He raised a hoof to brush along his whispy beard. "Maybe the Internet has that, a female version. That sounds like something they'd do."

"Probably," she laughed out, squeezing him. "Want me to look for it while you work?"

He hadn't thought of that! It was so nice having friends, er, girlfriends? Both, both were good... "Please..."

"But that can wait until after lunch." She pulled him back, sliding his furry butt across the floor. "Come on, Susan made some real nummies."

He scrambled to his hooves to go with her. "Susan? Oh, right." She was a cook. That had been her job, to work in the cafeteria. "I forgot. Huh, is this the first time since... then?"

"It is," came Susan's voice from around the corner. "So you get to tell me if I lost my edge."

They emerged into their living area where a brightly colored blanket had been spread out, plates of food already set out. Sunburst's nose quivered as he approached. "Mmm. The cafeteria is usually light on beef."

Autumn hopped, landing on her belly in front of her plate. "Susan can play by her own rules, and if she wants to serve us some meat, well, that's what we get."

Susan poked her head out. "I just wanted to make an old family recipe of mine... I hope that's alright?" She emerged, a floating platter just beside her head. "I know we usually serve ponies vegetarian stuff..."

Sunburst's right ear quivered. "Let's not make it a habit, but I don't think one time will hurt us. It smells great!" He clopped his hooves together with growing excitement. "I say you haven't lost your edge at all."

"Cheers to that!" Autumn's horn glowed as she lifted a glass of fruit punch high. "And cheers to my new family, which I say is better than the original model."

Susan placed the tray down a bit stiffly. "Too soon." Autumn wilted and Susan leaned in, touching her nose to Autumn's forehead. "I'm not mad, but too soon."

"That was dumb." Autumn grasped a fork in her magic. "Unlike this food. This looks and smells so good!"

"That I will agree with." His eyes were on Susan more than the food, his magic taking his cutlery and serving himself a portion that smelled of delicately spiced tomatoes and beef in a blossoming mix of other surely delicious things. "Susan, sorry. I know... things have been rough, but you are welcome here, in this odd little family." He coughed suddenly. "Gosh that feels odd to admit, but it is that, and you're a part of it."

Susan quirked an ear. "You and her are the item. I'm just a roomie you get along with." She huffed softly. "And no that isn't me asking to change that. One lady, one guy, the way I like it." She inclined her head faintly. "That doesn't mean we can't be a family, I get that. Friends are the family you pick, right?"

"Now we're talking!" Autumn chomped down into her serving. "Oh, wow, that is so good! Less talk, more eat." She did not follow her own advice, making a bit of a mess as she devoured the food before her and talked as if she wasn't in the middle of that. Still, that she was enjoying it was easy enough for the others to see.

Susan took a sample of hers and looked thoughtful. "Hm. It... It tastes different." She took another nibble. "I avoided all that... mental, but my tongue is... I have an alien tongue." She stuck out her tongue nice and long and wide, displaying it to the room. "I ahm an alien," she slurred out with the extended tongue.

Autumn sat up sharply, bringing her hooves together. "You're better than an alien, you're a kirin."

"Is it a bad different?" asked Sunburst with a concerned expression.

Susan drew her tongue back in, taking another small bite, swishing it around thoughtfully, chewing and working it. "It's... Not a bad different, just... different." She smiled a little. "Now that you bring it up, I bet things taste different over time, as we age, but it happens so slowly, we don't notice it."

"That is something." He took a new bite, a little smile growing. "You got to see it happen. Most of us don't. We changed, but ponid glossed over that change for us, so we'll never know that difference."

Autumn brought her hooves together with a sharp clop. "Now I wanna know what this would taste like with my old tongue, just to compare. I don't know how it'd get any tastier, but I wanna know." She stuck out her own tongue, in more petty anger than any attempt to show off. "Lucky."

"Every day a little death." Both kirin looked over at Sunburst's comment. "Sorry, just..." He cycled his hooves a little helplessly. "It's just, you know, philosophy, and, um..." He let his head sag a bit forward. "I'm making a mess of this."

"I get it." Susan turned her new hoof at herself. "This is why I'm so glad I didn't get Ponid, the full thing. I'm... glad I'm still me... I'm still Susan, adjusting to things, not... some new person." Her eyes flicked to Autumn. "No offense, you're very comfortable being you, and you're a darling for it, but I'll take my lumps if it means it's still me."

Sunburst sat up. "By the way, this really is good. Thank you for sharing it." He continued more neatly than Autumn was busy glutting herself with. "I think I'm making progress. It's just slow, and impossible to... debug? Either of you ever program before?" Both mares looked at her blankly. "Nevermind that... I just can't test it, is the thing. How do you test a spell that could really hurt someone?"

Autumn tilted her head slowly. "With bugs and bunnies and rats and stuff?" She shrugged softly. "Best I got."

"You're not... wrong." He slumped down to his belly, but his tail started to wag, resuming his food. It was nummy time, not thinking time.

Surely science could wait until after they'd had their fill.

"Pass the eggs, kindly." She reached out a hoof for barely a moment, the carton of eggs pressed against it. "Thank you." And she could continue her work. "What are the odds that two ponies would get ponid that love baking so much?"

Carrot Cake rubbed behind his head a moment before he wandered off to get another ingredient. "I worked at a bakery, in a supermarket. Pony life wasn't as... dramatic a change as I thought, you know, would have guessed?"

"I was a teacher," admitted Chiffon Swirl. "I only baked for myself, back then." She fell to all fours and grabbed the platter in her teeth, carrying it on towards the next step. "This isn't how I imagined things going, but here we are. Pow, I'm a chubby pony."

"Y-you look great!" His cheeks went red. "I, uh, didn't used to be so skinny."

"You're just fine," she returned the kindness, moving over to touch noses with the stallion. "You're slender, not skinny. I don't see your bones poking through."

"I never really considered that." He glanced at a mirror and back to her. "And you're moving and healthy, not some... you know, obese case example. You have heft, um, good heft."

Chiffon paused a moment before a smile quirked on her lips. "I know you're trying your best over there. More of me to love, is it?"

He nervously laughed, eyes darting. "That's not a bad way to put it. Look... I'm not trying to be odd, but I think you're just fine the way you are. You don't even eat that much." He inclined his head. "And I eat a regular amount, right?"

"So far I've seen?" She worked a whisk vigorously in the batter. "We've been eating together for a little while, so we're pretty even."

"And I'm still, uh, slender... And you're zaftig."

She quirked a brow up. "Zaftig. There's a word I don't hear often."

"It's a good one." He came up beside her, toughing just barely. "You're a treat, up here--" He pointed at his own head. "And the rest of you." He swayed the hoof in a broad circle over his form.

"Charmer." She planted a kiss on his snoot, and they got back to cooking. Things seemed to be working out.

"I'm glad you made it." Twilight turned to regard the largest of her students. "How have you been doing?" She paused. "Not in a generic sense, though I do hope you're doing alright?"

"I understand." Celestia was calm, as she tended to be. "Twilight, you have all done your best to be kind and welcoming to me, and I do appreciate that. I miss my little ponies, but this is important work, so I understand why I came here." She raised her hoof, not clad in metal as another princess in another world would have done. She set the naked hoof on Twilight's quivering nose. "I've just made new little ponies."

Twilight snorted and backed away with a grin. "Compared to you, we're all little ponies. Have you had any difficulties... being that large?"

"Should I have?" She settled down, horn glowing softly. "I have completed the drills you gave to me."

"Fantastic!" Twilight clopped her hooves together with a bright smile. "Would you care to give me a demonstration?" But Celestia just pointed. Twilight's eyes crossed to see the end of her nose had been colored a bright golden hue. "I see." She reached up to rub, but there was no paint there, done entirely by magic. "What I get for not paying attention to what spell you were working there. I know the method you used--"

"--Was not the same, at first. I've made the leap across that divide." She nodded once with confidence. "We were chasing the same thing, just at different angles. I like your musical magic."

"Yours is... pleasingly mathematic," admitted Twilight as if she regretted not being more involved in the other way of doing magic. "But both are effective, by all measures. Still, one standard is key to keeping us all on the same page, so I'm glad that change wasn't too harrowing."

"You will find no argument from me there." She inclined her head at Twilight. "One thing."

"Mm?" Twilight had started doodling on her board with a bit of chalk. "Are you ready for the next spell I have in mind?"

"I am, but this is not about that." She considered Twilight from behind as the unicorn wrote. "When you first saw me, you seemed to have a... reaction, as if you knew me, in person, which clearly had not been the case."

Twilight's chalk came to a stop, hovering there as she looked over her shoulder at the much larger pony. "You... It's difficult to explain, but you elicit a specific response." She raised a hoof to her own chest. "Instinctual? Are ponies hardwired to react in a given way around the ruling slash alpha class?" She inclined her head faintly. "I find myself entirely alright with the idea of being a part of your social group."

"I am pleased to be a part of yours," she said, a little laughter hiding in her words. "You don't need to speak so clinically, Twilight. They are feelings, we all have them."

"True." She turned away from the board entirely. "But these are feelings I am certain are not a product, entirely, of my own thoughts. As a rational pony, this is disquieting, yet, at the same time, your presence is calming. I feel. somehow, certain that any issue that would arise would be taken care of."

"I would do my best," assured Celestia, leaning in, nose close to Twilight's. "But I am just a pony, like you. Perhaps a little larger, but that doesn't give me any strange abilities outside of reaching the cookie jar more easily without the use of magic."

Twilight snorted at the idea, imagining Celestia craning her long swan-like neck towards a cookie jar that her parent, or possibly a lab technician, had told her to leave well enough alone. Eyes alit with desire, her teeth closed around the top of the jar, ready to secure her prize. "That is a small gift, but a gift it remains." Twilight nodded firmly, banishing such whimsies away. "Let's get back to magic!"

"Let's do so." Her wings ruffled on her back. "I would like to learn a specific one. I saw it listed." They had a list of known spells. The spells themselves weren't included, out of safety concerns, but the list was freely available to view. "I would like to be able to calm the hurt of others."

"Ah, do you mean the anesthetic or the analgesic?" She peeked over her shoulder, starting to write again despite not looking at it. "They have very different use cases."

"You have me at a disadvantage. Twilight, dear, could you explain the difference?" She wobbled a hoof with uncertainty. "I just want to be able to make a pony that is hurting to stop hurting. That seems like a lovely spell to know."

"Anaglesic it is." She began drawing a nerve on her board. "Now, mind, for safety's sake, I do have to remind you that this could cause problems. A pony that is numbed entirely can't function. Making their legs go numb mid-gallop is a good way to send somepony crashing to the ground, possibly with fresh injuries that they won't feel right away, which isn't a plus..." She swiveled an ear as she doodled. "The spell we have is a complete numbing of whatever part, or pony, you encompass in your magic. A more targeted spell would be delightful, but it's the best we have."

"What is an anesthetic then--" She sat up tall, looking over Twilight at what was being drawn. "--for comparison?"

"That's when you render somepony unconscious entirely. This spell doesn't do that. They will be awake, but unable to feel, numb. May I demonstrate?" She extended a hoof towards Celestia. When Celestia nodded, Twilight's horn sparkled with magic.

"Did you do something?" She looked back over herself, but nothing had changed. She lifted her wi-- Oh. Only one wing unfurled, the other remaining exactly where it started. She gently poked and prodded, but the wing had no sensation in it. "Remarkable... I will be very careful how I use this, but yes, this. I would like to learn this spell. How long does it persist?"

"If you focus on it, as long as you keep doing that." Her horn wasn't glowing, implying she wasn't. "Once you stop, roughly a minute? It can pass faster or slower depending on the mindset and physiology of the target. You're larger, so I think you should regain feeling faster. Imagine the magic is... a drug, and there's more of you for it to get lost in and disperse through, so it will go away faster."

"I see." She was able to spread her wings in unison, giving a little flap before they folded in tightly, entirely restored to function. "Then I should be extra careful with little foals. Though that stands to reason at any time, but especially with this."

"Good point." She struck the board with her chalk before dragging it along, starting to draw the magical notes that formed the spell. "This is not a complex spell, which may explain why it's not any more specific than it is. All it deadens are pain receptors and voluntary muscle groups. You can't stop a pony's heart, thank Celestia."

"Thank me? I don't think I helped." Celestia inclined her head quizzically.

"N-no, I meant..." She came to a sputtering stop, realizing she wasn't really sure what she meant by that. "It just came out... like 'anypony'. I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything." She threw herself prostrate before the large pony.

Celestia's ears flattened. "Twilight! You've done nothing wrong, other than confusing me a little. It's quite alright."

"Are you sure?" When Celestia nodded, Twilight sat up, letting out a breath of relief. "Alrighty then. Where were we?" She turned back to the board and resumed drawing the spell to its conclusion. "And there you are. You know all of these notes. It's just the pattern you have to get down."

"Simple enough." Her long horn glowed with power and faint aborted notes, working through the song one beat at a time in preparation for actually trying it later. "Can you print that?"

"Only if you can promise that not a single pony, or person, or anything other than you or me, will see it." She waggled a hoof at Celestia, looking like a child berating an adult with their relative sizes. "We need to keep these secure to avoid a few tragic mistakes."

"I can only imagine." She shook her head free of dreadful images. "It will not leave my sight, or enter another's, this I swear."

"I feel confident." A soft glow as she pressed a few buttons across the room, getting a copy of the spell to print out onto a lone sheet of paper. "There you are. I look forward to seeing you master that. Don't rush it." She nervously laughed, hoof over her mouth. "I know you can get a little anxious, trying to get it right! But it'll come, so just... let it, and yourself."

Celestia had a feeling Twilight was speaking of a more personal experience. "I will take it one step at a time." She rose to her full height and went to retrieve the paper by mouth, snapping it up. "I look forward to being of some use, should... oh, does this work on humans too?"

"Equally as well," assured Twilight. "Every animal I've tried it on seems to react the same way. I feel certain there are exceptions, but I haven't found them."

"Then if anycreature should need help in an emergency, I can be of assistance." Celestia smiled with a radiant sort of joy, pleased that she could lessen the misery of the world.

Sunburst regarded the small mouse and its little quivering nose. "I hope you're ready to help science." The mouse was not. The mouse was incapable of understanding the concept, or even really the meaning of the noises coming out of Sunburst's mouth.

It was, at least, a friendly mouse. Sunburst reached in and the mouse scurried up onto his hoof. "Good girl." It had been easier to get a female lab mouse. Most scientists went with male mice, fearing the variability of estrus cycles or something like that. That little girl seemed alright with him. She allowed him to gently hold her between both hooves, nose twitching as she sniffed at him. "It's me."

The mouse knew who he was, at least. That large friendly thing that fed her and made odd noises at her. "I'm going to cast a spell on you. It may feel funny..." Not that the mouse could know what he was saying or draw any comfort from his care of her potential discomfort. "Maybe, afterwards, you can tell me what it was like."

He set the mouse down in a different enclosure. She had a lot more room to scurry around than the first one, seeing as it was large enough for a human, which was the goal. "Alright, enough delays." The mouse did not need reassuring. He did... "Let's do this..."

He grabbed a bundle of paper and, with a flick of his magic, unfolded it to many pages attached with staples that he laid out, one big spell. One big song. "You're a girl mouse, so..." He gestured at the big sheet. The symbol for female was drawn at the top, to be certain one did not get it confused. "No reason to give you one more thing to be confused by."

He had not told Twilight. He hadn't told anypony he was ready to even try the spell. The thought of somepony else knowing he'd hurt a mouse like that...

It was silly. He was silly. He shook his head violently. "Focus." He dragged his eyes to the start of the spell, mouthing each note as if singing the spell, which one could do. He found the beat and began to bob along with it, feeling as ready as ever he would be. "Next stop, humanity."

So he played the song. It was long. It was complicated, and he barely noticed either, carried way with the totality of what it was to be a human. A girl, in that case, which was an odd thing to experience. It wasn't that he had become one, no, he was a stallion. But, working that spell, he felt as if he had set his hoof upon the surface of what the other side was, to know it, even fleetingly.

He hadn't noticed it, but tears were flowing. With the realization, he could feel the sting of them and he noisily snorted the phlegm it produced, trying to press on past it, to put it aside. He had been reminded what it was to be human. He was alright being a pony, but that stark reminder pierced deep. But he had a spell to cast. There was no time for distractions.

It was for the best, he realized as he worked, that he had not allowed others to see him. The spell was so long, large, and complex, it would probably create a cascade with any other pony in the room. Maybe even if they weren't a unicorn? Not a theory he planned to test that day. A wave of human transformation would be... He threw the thought aside, getting distracted wasn't the idea!

He wasn't watching the mouse. He couldn't, focused as he was on each note following the ones before it, some coming at the same time, requiring intricate knots in his horn, but he was pressing through.

It hit him. He was performing a major act of magic. Had his magical handicap faded? Or would he wake up the next day with the largest hornache the world had ever known. Both were possibilities! Even both at the same time, technically. He felt quite silly, not realizing that much sooner. Maybe he should have given the spell to Autumn Blaze and let her try it?

Too late! He was deep into the spell. Forward was the option, the only one. He had to finish.

He struck the last note, his horn emitting an odd light. A pity he wasn't there to see it, flopping over limply.

Which is about where I came into things. One thing our little love lab had, cameras. Every room basically. When our brave and maybe a little stupid stallion flopped over, one of the techs noticed, who called a guy, who called a girl, who bounced it on towards me.

Sunburst fell unconscious. His spell worked.

What a post! Well, alright. It was clear they were hoping I'd settle things. I wasn't a doctor... Still, I wasn't going to let Sunburst suffer for the mistake of others. I could at least check on him.

"BRB," I called out, one letter at a time, then I took a step to the left, and down several stories.

I emerged floating above Sunburst's limp form. "You alright?" He didn't answer, to no particular surprise. He was breathing though! That was good! Not in any dangerous position or place, I decided to just leave him for the moment. I'd just make it worse by poking and prodding. Again, not a doctor, and he wasn't dead or dying that I could tell.

A soft thud drew my attention. I twirled in the air to face the enclosure that took up about half the room, beyond the huge spell that Sunburst had been working on when he passed out. "Well... hello there." There was a woman, a naked woman, eyes dilated with abject terror. She was scrambling against a wall as if she could somehow get through it, or climb it, I wasn't sure which she was trying to do, but she was failing on both counts.

She had made a mess of herself. Considering she had been a mouse a moment before, I wondered how that even worked... No time to consider the digestive track of mice that became humans. "It's alright," I gently assured, even if she likely couldn't understand me. She had a human brain, but that didn't mean she understood English. Why would she?

Perhaps a side effect of being a new human, she was largely... together, except where she'd made a mess. Much like in her mouse form, her hair was as long as it naturally wanted to be, which was fairly long, coming down in a long carpet of dark brown across her back, and in her other parts where hair tended to be. Mice did not shave, and that translated over without alteration.

And she was scared. Of course she was. She had been a little mouse, then she was not. She had no idea what was going on, but it was really strange. But she slid to the ground, twisting and approaching on all fours in a scuttle that looked awkward on human limbs, trying to move as a mouse would, but she was managing, coming at me and looking at me as if I was more curious than whatever had been in her mind.

Had she forgotten she changed? No... It was deeper than that. It had... just simply stopped mattering. Like a mouse with an ear growing out of their back, it was... just a thing, like all things. If it wasn't tearing them apart, they got over it. She was a mouse, still a mouse. Could she become more than a mouse? Perhaps... "Hello." I wiggled a few fingers at her. "Nice to meet you."

She made an odd noise. Perhaps, had she still been a mouse, it would have been a little squeak. Human vocal cords did not work the same way, and she found that out, making all sorts of noises now that she knew she could make new noises, and not the old noises. She grunted and she shouted and she mumbled. Communication had become her entire world. "It's alright," I assured, watching and listening as she tried so hard to... do something. Maybe she just wanted to squeak properly?

That was when she began to sing. It had no words. She arched her back, tilting her head upwards as she made her strange little song with groans and almost-whistles that came together in what was, clearly to me, a song. She was watching me as she did it.

Was that a mouse song? Well, a mouse song, performed with the wrong instrument. She was trying to talk to me! But I didn't speak mouse, and I definitely had no idea what mouse-but-human songs meant. The urge to cheat was growing maddeningly. I could make a translator, surely! Didn't she deserve to be understood? She was in a scary situation, an unknown one, and we put her there.

The least I could do was understand...

I drew out a hearing cone and popped it in my ear.

"Hello, are you friendly?"

"Hello, are you friendly?"

"Hello, do you have food?"

"Hello, are you friendly?"

"Hello, is there danger?"

Mouse song, communicating mouse needs. But more than that, it was a greeting. "Hello," I sang back, not as a human would, but with a rodent squeak so high pitched only mice could hear it. Except she was a human. I had to repeat it a few times, lower each time, before she seemed to pick up on it with her human ears.

"Hello." She inclined her head a little and brushed her hands over her face, where her whiskers would have been, but female humans didn't usually have those. "Hello."

It was a very simple communication... But she was still a mouse, under all that. At least, she seemed calm. I was just another mouse, a friendly mouse.

I went back to Sunburst, gently poking him and looking him over. He seemed alright, just... not awake. "Come on now." I gave him a gentle little shake.

"Huh?" His eyes drifted open before clenching shut. "Owwww!" His hooves came up to clutch at his horn. "Owwwwww."

"That bad, huh?" I dug out a few aspirin and offered them to the ailing unicorn. "It worked."

With a miserable groan, he rolled up onto his haunches, his eyes still clenched shut. "It worked? It really worked?" He didn't dare to crack open an eye and see for himself. "Any mistakes? Is she alright?"

"Hello."

She had said it not at me, her eyes directly on Sunburst. With recognition? "Hello."

Of course, Sunburst wasn't wearing the translator. "She says hi."

"That's her?!" He tried to open an eye, barely getting it open before he slammed it shut. "Oh wow... it worked... She sounds... uh, funny?"

She was singing mouse songs as best she could, as a human. Considering, she was doing just fine. "I think she recognizes you."

"Hurt? Hello."

Huh... "She... can tell you're in pain. She's probably more worried about you right now." That. That was a human thing, that level of keen awareness of how others might be feeling. It was one of our many super powers, and the mouse had gained it without realizing it. Many animals had some level of sympathy, but humans had it down pat, and it was mostly built in, so it was working for the mouse. She could see him groaning and holding his horn and being miserable.

She made new noises, but no translation came. Was she trying to express something entirely new? "Sunburst, this is amazing, but you clearly need to be looked at, and to rest. You got that?"

"Yeah..." He flopped slowly down. "Make sure somepony... keeps an eye on her... please."

"You got it, now go to bed, young man." I snapped my fingers and he fell through the floor, onto a nice soft bed, where he could be taken care of.

That left me with a friendly human woman with the brain of a mouse.

The average time for a transformation was one hour, I remembered from the last big event. That hour came and went, and the mouse-woman was still there. I tapped on the firm plastic between us and pointed to a water bottle. It was meant for a mouse to suck water out of, but would she even understand a glass or normal water bottle?

She was watching me, following my finger motions. There, she saw the water bottle. She scampered over, favoring all fours, which made sense. She was a mouse. That was how mice moved. She examined the water bottle, tilting her head a bit before reaching out and feeling it. A noise came from her, but the translator didn't help.

Was she saying things no mouse would have before? That was a mouse translator, not a 'everything translator'. My cheating had limits, imposed entirely by me. "Go on," I gently encouraged. "You must be thirsty."

She dropped down, eyes going alight. Perhaps, from lower, she could see the water bottle from a more familiar angle. She affixed herself onto it and I could hear the click click click as she began working the metal ball inside to get the water out. She was a human woman drinking from a rodent water bottle. I wasn't sure what emotion I should have been feeling at that instant.

But, I could show her? I drew out a nice normal human water bottle and slipped inside the confined area. She turned instantly, surprised? "Hello." Well, not in a hostile way, that was good.

I jostled the water bottle at her and undid the top. The odds of her learning how to get that top off, minimal. Even a human would need more than a day of life experience to do that. Still, I upended it just enough to let a little splash of water come free. That got her attention. She was coming in closer, peering at the bottle like it was the most amazing thing ever.

I put it to my lips and took a nice swig from it, allowing her to see each step as I did it, and trying to be sure she could see that my lips had become wet in the process. She made an excited noise, but no translation came. "Want?" I offered, holding out the bottle towards her.

She circled left and right, considering? Suddenly she lashed out a hand, knocking the bottle free of my surprised grasp. It slapped the hard ground, water splashing, and she was on it, getting her mouth over it and sucking the water down eagerly. Poor thing crinkled and groaned as it deflated under the pressure. She had been thirsty! Or...

Was she bored? I grabbed a phone from nowhere. "Hey. I think we have a new patient. What floor has a room available? She's not very well socialized. Not hostile, I think, but care should be shown, to her, and with her."

The bottle was drained and she flopped back just to suddenly sneeze. She was looking at me as I talked on the phone. "She was a mouse."

Said mouse had come up towards me, casually pawing at my labcoat and pulling me down, or maybe pulling herself up? She was going bipedal in the process, eyes locked on me, nostrils flaring as she sniffed. "She seems friendly, arguably too friendly? Yeah..."

She fell against me, and we both flopped to the ground. She had knocked me out of the air, mostly in surprise, and she landed on top of me, just to scamper without delay off, circling around and jumping in place, on all fours, which is an odd thing for a human to do.

She was playing with me. It was mousey games. Aw... That was kinda cute... "Let's get you somewhere more comfortable." I took her hand gently, which startled her. "It's alright," I gently assured. "Alright... No one will hurt you."

"Director." One of the floor managers was facing me through their webcam, arms crossed. "I have a report."

"Do go on." They didn't normally call me for reports. It had to be something important. I had an email! It worked!

"The mouse, she seems to want to interact with people, but there are a few things in the way of that." He spoke evenly, clinically. Well, he was a clinician. Made sense?

"Which are?" I rolled a hand at him. Get on to the good part!

"She refuses to be dressed, but that isn't really a problem, considering. She is showing all the signs of Ponid infection. The mouse will soon be a pony."

Oh no, poor thing... She'd have literally no clue what was happening, just that she felt miserable. Would she think she was dying? Did mice have a concept of dying? I didn't think they did... She'd just know she felt terrible on every level. "How's she holding up?"

"She's dug a burrow in her bed and seems to be hiding there, waiting for the pain to stop." The floor manager pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is, at once, touching and distressing. She isn't house broken, which is not a term I typically use with nominally human patients."

"Clean out the room daily, change the bedding, even if she complains about it. Be gentle! She has no idea what's happening."

"Right." He let out a slow breath. "Of course. I'll keep you informed."

"For my big stallion!" Autumn set down a floating bowl on a legged tray that allowed her to set it across her boyfriend, steam wafting up from it. "Susan made it, and it's so good! I already had some, so I know. Eat!"

A soft groan was the first reply before his furry snout peeked free of his covers, an eye cracked open. "Autumn?"

"Who else would it be?" She rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Feeling better?"

"I guess a little maybe?" He really didn't sound certain, but he slid upwards, sitting up slowly to not knock the tray over. "That... That does smell good."

"Because it is good!" She nudged the tray with a cloven hoof. "Go on."

He bent over forwards, sipping at the hot brew with a little noise of satisfaction. "You two are too good..."

"We are perfectly normal." She stuck out her tongue. "We care about you, dummy, so here we are." She curled a hoof to her chin. "Now, next time? Don't do that! Don't! I woulda cast the spell! Why didn't you ask me?!"

"Because I got carried away in the moment. Because I was worried about hurting a mouse. Because I was dumb. Take your pick." He sat back, licking his soup-stained lips, a few flecks of moisture dangling from his beard. "O-oh! How is she? The mouse. Did she turn back?"

"Ah, yeah... about that." Autumn rubbed behind her head. "I've been keeping track of her. I knew you'd want to know!"

"But you aren't telling me." He watched her as she looked increasingly awkward. "Did she die?!"

"Noooooo.... Not exactly?" Autumn laughed nervously. "Finish your soup!"

A brilliant yellow furred unicorn poked her head free of her covers and she stretched with a grumble, hoof going to her head. "Aw man... Still hurts." She slid to the ground and began a series of stretches despite it. "Gonna brave it!" She started for the door, clopping along. "Hay! Tail, looking good..." She wagged it at a mirror, admiring that it had become as long as it needed to be.

"Who chopped off some of my tail anyway?" She rolled her eyes and got to brushing her mane and fur out, whistling a cheerful song as she went.

She looked back over her body, standing a bit oddly in her eyes. "What happened?" Her tail was cropped, she was... bent in some odd ways, but it had gotten better! Every day was a little better! Whatever had happened, it was wearing off.

"Musta been bad." No wonder she couldn't remember it happening. "Wonder if anypony's around." Her horn glowed as she willed the door open and trotted out into the hallway. Fortunately for her, her door had never been locked. There was no reason to worry about a mouse's privacy, and to expect one to remember to use a keycard would have been a cruel joke at best.

That was when a pegasus saw the unicorn emerging. She blinked. That had been the room they said to be careful around. The pony coming out looked... mostly normal, if still in the grips of Ponid, turning into a pony, though they sure seemed to be taking to four leggedness readily despite their body looking in that awkward stage between the two modes. "Hey." She raised a hoof. "How's it goin'?"

"Rainbow!" The unicorn smiled brilliantly. "Good to see you!" She approached at a light trot. "I am so confused, but seeing you really puts me at ease. You usually know what's going on when things get strange."

Rainbow Dash blinked softly. She did not know that pony, nor was she usually the pony others trusted with strange things... "Yeah?"

"Oh gosh." The unicorn rolled her eyes dramatically, one of them a bright raspberry, the other a mousey brown. "Did you already forget me? Lemon Hearts? Friend of Twilight's? We've met before!" She reached up to thump Rainbow in the side. "Stop being silly! Where are we?" She looked around with obvious wonder. "This all looks very fancy, but this isn't my house at all."

"Twilight Sparkle, unicorn, great at spells?" ventured Rainbow with an unsure tone. "Yeah, I know her. You looking for her?"

Lemon sank to her haunches, which she was still developing. "Oh, yeah. She's super smart. I bet she knows what's going on! Hey, do I smell breakfast?" She looked over to the cafeteria, nose twitching. "Mmm... I left my bits at home, don't suppose you could spot me?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Uh, hey, it's free." She hopped down from her seat, wings spreading an instant as if to control that brief fall. "Just go up and ask for what you want and they'll serve it right up."

"Oh gosh! Really?! That's pretty great!" Lemon looked quite happy at the news, bringing up her hooves to clap them in appreciation. "First step, breakfast! Do they have tea? Some hot tea may make my head stop hurting." She was still in the grips of Ponid miserably, but she smiled right on despite it. She started trotting towards the food smells. "Wanna eat with me, Dashie? Some food together is always better!"

Rainbow trailed after the peppy mostly-unicorn. "I gotta say, for somepony at the step you are, you are really cheerful. Most are having a good day if they can stumble out and get something to eat before collapsing back into bed." She snorted in memory. "I was a mess." She waved a wing. "Glad it's past. So, uh, welcome!"

"Welcome to what? Do you know where we are--Oh wow, what is that?!" She pointed at the human dressed in a full hazmat suit. "Is it dangerous?"

"Nah," came from within the strange creature. "I'm just wearing a suit, so I don't become a pony like you."

"What's wrong with being a pony?" laughed out Lemon. "And why would wearing a thing like that change it?" She inclined her head with wonder. "Well, whatever. I hear you have food! One daffodil sammich please."

"Uh... I don't have that."

Lemon Drops pouted a little at that. "Aw... What do you have?"

He began listing the more American offering they had. "Eggs and cheese!" Lemon interrupted. "And a big glass of orange juice." She clopped her hooves. "That sounds good." She looked to Rainbow. "And you?"

Rainbow returned that smile with less certainty. They had a new pony among them, and what an odd one... "Give me my usual, Hank."

"Not a problem." New sizzling coming from the next plate being prepared.

"Your name is Hank? Hi Hank! I'm Lemon Drops." She pointed at herself with that big smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Twilight!" The new pony trotted right up to Twilight with a big ole smile. "Finally, a pony that will know what's going on."

Twilight inclined her head at the unicorn. She did not know that pony, but she had been told about them. "Lemon Drops, right?"

"Did everypony get bonked on the head?" Lemon squinted a little before bobbing her head. "Of course it's Lemon Drops. We were classmates? Friends basically forever?! Twilight, what's going on? What is this place?!" She waved a hoof wildly around the magic classroom. "Don't get me wrong, kinda nice. Free food, games, like that part. But where are we? Seriously where are we?"

Twilight reached out a hoof that Lemon didn't stop from resting on her. "You must be very confused."

"Yes!" She was nodding as furious as she could.

"But so am I. What do you remember?"

Lemon sat back and raised her hooves. "That question is way too vague. Today? Yesterday? Back at school? That time you and Moon Dancer made up 'cause that was totally adorable and sweet!"

Twilight couldn't help but to smile a little at that pony's powerful cheerfulness, even in the face of her obvious bafflement. "I don't remember you from school?"

Lemon's hooves fell limply to the ground. "What? Alright. Alright... Forget me! Twilight, you are the one that needs help." She put a hoof to her chest. "What do you remember? Start from the, uh, start. Give me a rundown of your life."

Twilight's smile quirked. "Now I see how large a question that was."

"Right?!"

"But I will answer." Twilight nodded gently. "I was an athletic girl, loved moving, track and field in school, not bad at it. Not the best, but not bad. Then I hit the real world, and that kinda... fell away. I became a manager at a business of all things, less running myself and more running other people." She laughed softly at that. "But I was a human back then, so... Then Ponid, pow, welcome to being a unicorn!" She waved a hoof over herself. "Can't say I miss being a manager, but I still am if you think about it. I just get to manage pony wizards, and that's way cooler."

Lemon Drops blinked slowly before she cycled her hooves wildly counter-clockwise. "Go back, go back. Human. That's what the people in suits are, right? Two legs, two hands?" Twilight nodded. "And you were one of those?" Twilight nodded again. "You... aren't my Twilight... What... What even are you?" Lemon slapped a hoof to her cheek, just starting to get a hint of the situation she was in. "Oh gosh..."

"Don't panic." A fine thing that has always worked every other time it was said. "I'm here to help, and you're not in danger."

"Danger?! I'm, uh, guess not." She laughed a little hysterically. "This place has been really nice, except for the huge cold and the weird dreams." She rubbed at her head. "At least that's past. Oh, and who cut my tail?!" She flicked her restored tail with an angry snort. "Grew back, thankfully."

"And a fine tail it is." Twilight was not paying much attention to Lemon's tail. "Now, I gave you the basic run down of my life. Your turn." A pad hovered closer, ready to take notes. A recorder floated on the opposite side. "Please, be as detailed as you are comfortable."

Lemon reached up to swat at the pad. "Subtle much? Fine." She rose up to her full height. "I am Lemon Drops, born and raised in Canterlot. I went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns--"

"Did you say Celestia?"

"Princess Celestia?" Lemon hiked a brow. "You forgot her too?! Or maybe you never knew her... This is so strange..."

"I know... A Celestia..." Twilight wobbled a hoof before her note-taking resumed, the recorder capturing the conversation faithfully. "Can you describe your Celestia?"

"Big." Lemon spread her hooves far. "And a princess, kinda why she's called that. She's super nice and gentle and she's great at parties! She's ruled Equestria for a bajillion moons! At least over a thousand years. Gosh, can you imagine doing a job that long? She seemed alright with it..."

Twilight nodded slowly along with the story, however implausible it seemed. "Equestria?"

Lemon rolled her eyes at that. "Seriously? Our country? Well, maybe just my country? Where ponies live!" She thrust a hoof at Twilight, not making contact. "You are a pony, tell me you at least know that much."

"I am definitely a pony," agreed Twilight with a smile. "As are most of the other spellcasters here, other than the kirin."

"Oh! You have kirin? Awesome! I never met one of those, but I wanted to." Lemon bobbed her head firmly. "But, um, so I went to school... with you, and others... Well, not you? Another you? Like the other Celestia?" She sank suddenly. "How does this even work?" She flopped right over onto her side. "So I graduated, flying colors, and I went on to the highly magical career of... event organizer." She burst into giggles.

Rolling back upright, she nodded towards Twilight. "Guess we got something in common there, Not Twilight. We ended up in a place we weren't trying for, but it wasn't bad, right?"

"Not at all." Twilight made a quick note with her floating pen. "I'm quite satisfied with what I'm reaching for now. However... I would like to go back a little. Do you know magic?"

"Do I know magic? I just told you, I passed school. I was good at it." She sat back up, head held high. "Maybe not my-Twilight levels of good, she was something else, but good!"

"Now... a curious question. Do you remember being a mouse?"

Lemon's brows fell. Annoyance or confusion, hard to tell. "I... had some dreams about it? Kinda strange, really. I was in my old mouse costume, the one I wore for Nightmare Night. Gosh, that thing was silly, but kinda cute. But, here's the thing. I was also really eency." She held up her hooves close together. "I was scampering around all small like and squeaking, like a mouse. Ha... That was just a silly cold-induced dream though, why?"

"No reason." Twilight kept right on taking notes, scribbling busily. "That was a lie... I want to tell you the truth, but it will sound very strange."

"Try me." Lemon rolled her eyes. "I'm talking to not-Twilight. I'm... like on another world maybe? There's no Equestria here. There are a bunch of ponies... who never heard of Equestria. Seriously, try me."

"If you... insist." Twilight cleared her throat and set aside her pad. Her recorder would at least capture it all for later note taking. "You, at least... physically, were not Lemon Drops a few weeks ago."

"I'm pretty sure I remember being Lemon Drops a few weeks ago." Lemon hiked a brow at the idea. "Yep, pony."

Twilight's magic grabbed a folder from a cabinet and drew it over quickly. She flopped it down, opening it in the motion. There was a picture of a perfectly ordinary lab mouse. "This was you. Again, physically. Mentally, clearly not. Mentally... It seems you, Lemon Drops, have moved in completely."

Lemon reached out with a shaking hoof. "That's... That's what I saw, in the dream... I was... Oh wow." She was wobbling as if dizzy. "This... How?!"

"I think it's time I explained what Ponid is."

And she did exactly that, explaining the disease and how it worked.

"Hold up." Lemon Drops clopped the ground angrily. "The mouse shouldn't have turned into a pony."

"Pardon?" Twilight hiked a brow. "Why not? It was exposed to Ponid, likely from Sunburst."

"But it wasn't an injection." Lemon clopped her hoof down all the harder. "It shoulda became a pony-human. Why did it become a pony? Why... did I happen? Would I have... come as a pony human? Gosh..." She put a hoof to her cheek. "Don't get me wrong, happy to be a pony, but that doesn't make sense!"

Twilight soon joined the frown, realizing that Lemon wasn't wrong. It hurt because she should have known that! How did someone entirely new to the situation put that together?! "The only theory I can put forward is that the caster, Sunburst, was in way over his head. With such an imperfect casting, any number of confounding factors could have interacted with Ponid and the mouse to create... Well, you." She tapped at her chin. "We'd need to repeat the experiment to know for sure, but... there are ethics in the way of that idea."

"Oh gosh..." She could imagine more mice becoming ponies. "No! That'd be horrible. Let's keep that at the one we got..." She raised a hoof into her own view. "I was a mouse? Where is that mousey? Did I hurt a mouse?!" Her head flopped limply. "Gosh..."

"You are that mouse," reminded Twilight. "So they aren't hurt. They are you. You... replaced them, mentally."

"Twilight, that's... still basically... I killed that mouse." Lemon Drops rose to her full height. "Sure, it was just a mouse, I guess. But we're all 'just' something. I'm just a pony! I bet something else thinks that's not much. I'd care about it!" She clopped down a hoof and turned away. "Sorry... Sorry... You didn't do this... I... Actually. I really... Really should meet the pony who did. They... It's kind of their fault, all of this, isn't it?" She turned back to Twilight.

"He's a very important pony to our projects. I can't have you hurting him," she warned as she adjusted her glasses.

"What? Hurt him? Gosh, what kind of pony do you think I am? I'm busy being sad about a poor little mousey. Hurting a pony won't help! Still, he... pulled me here, in this confusing place... I want to talk to him. I have that right! ... right?" She smiled hopefully. "I won't hurt him, promise. I'm not a violent pony."

"I will see about scheduling a meeting. But first!" Her magic grabbed a whiteboard and flipped it over, revealing a spell. "What is this?"

"Music?" Lemon inclined her head and began to sing along with it. She was singing magic, though just singing it as music did little to affect reality. "Not bad, not great. Alright. What about it?"

Twilight hissed softly. "I was afraid of that. Alright, can you, please, write down a spell? Any spell. A simple one would be ideal."

"Oh, um, sure?" Lemon looked left and right before spotting a marker and grabbing it in her magic. She started writing. It wasn't English. It wasn't any language Twilight had ever seen before. Almost runic, really. But she wrote something down across the board faithfully. It was intricate, yet rough at the same time. It was a practical language, meant to be able to be gotten down quickly, as a written language must if one plans to use it day by day. "Here you are."

And it was entirely alien to Twilight. "What does that specific spell do?" She gestured at it as her phone lifted into view, snapping a picture of the board. She would have so much data to sift through later!

"That?" Lemon shrugged softly. "Fireworks." She inclined her head as her horn began to glow with magic. "Behold!" And lo did the little classroom become home to streaks of light that exploded into brilliant flares, popping and fizzling in dramatic displays of cheer. "I always loved this spell," sighed out Lemon as she kept it going in various colors. "Now's the part where you say you don't know magic and you break my heart."

"Hm? I know plenty of magic," proudly defended Twilight, raising a hoof to point at the original spell on the board. "Like that one."

"That's a sheet of music," dryly retorted Lemon Hearts, but it hit her a moment later. "That's how you write magic down?!"

"I felt the same way when you drew yours...." Twilight clopped her hooves together. "If you are willing, we should speak on that more."

"She is coping, or at least trying." I was looking at one of our therapists through a teleconference window. "But I can tell she's not taking it well. Every bit of news is a bit more stress, and she smiles as she loses it."

"Like a shatter proof window." He looked a bit oddly at me and my example. "She's cracking but not falling apart, but cracking all over." I made a wriggly motion with my fingers. "What can we do to help?"

"I'd normally say to send the patient home, but that's not really feasible. Failing that, friends and family, but that's also not feasible." He tapped a pen against his pad, slumped a bit in thought and concern, I supposed. "She is surrounded by her friends and confidants, but none of them are actually that. I can only imagine how horrifying that would be, to be in that situation."

I took a slow breath, trying to imagine that. They were a literal alien, and they knew what we...

"Can I talk to her?"

He perked up. "Why?"

Because I was the boss! I stamped down on that urge. That was a perfectly reasonable question. Don't be a bad boss! "I rejected a lot of what was being pushed on me. I may be something she can interact with that reminds of home, but isn't a stand in of a friend that's forgotten everything."

He looked thoughtful. "Hum... You have to be gentle. She could finish breaking, and if she does, she has every right to freak out, so please don't react back."

I was the overpowered reality controller. She was a scared pony. "Right. I promise not to be angry at her. She's in a terrible spot right now. I'm doing pretty good. I will take what she can sling at me."

"But don't be a statue," he hastily added. "She needs people who react, just... don't lash back at her."

I held up my mismatched hands. "Promise. I will be on my very best behavior. So you'll send her by?"

He sighed so dramatically. "Please be careful." And he hung up. Rude. I forgave him though. He was in an odd spot too. He wanted to help our new lemon pony, and would sending her to me help? Maybe... Maybe not.

"Excuse me?" There was our lemon pony, looking around curiously as she nosed into my office. "I was told to... come here?" She swallowed audibly. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"No! No no. You've done nothing wrong," I assured as I swooped in on her with a big smile.

"Discord!" She blurted, only to crash to her haunches. "Wait..." She inclined her head left and right quickly. "You... Discord... Say something."

"Hello?" I offered a hand towards her. "Do I remind you of someone?" Discord... Discord... Oh right! "Right! I talked to Discord."

Her eyes widened. "So you're not Discord. You don't look like him, now that I think about it." She shook her head slowly. "Um, hello... I'm Lemon Hearts." She tapped herself on the chest. "You're...?"

"Eri." I took her hoof and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you." I set my feet on the ground, allowing gravity to work, for the moment. "And I may be the boss, but I'm also a patient. We're both in an odd spot, and I want to help."

"If you're like Discord..." She tapped at the ground in a fidget. "You can just snap and have whatever you want, right?"

She did know me! Well, other me. That guy I met. "Basically, but, unlike him, I don't think the world is here to be my toy, and I don't like messing with things, especially if I can't predict what the consequences are."

"You sound nicer than him then." A smile, a real smile. "At least this world's Discord is responsible." She thrust a hoof at me as if to offer to shake, though I had just shaken it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lemon Hearts. Now... if you have that kind of power, can you tear open a hole back to my home, please?"

Shit. I... technically could do that, I supposed. "The instant I do that, the two worlds are in contact." My mind whirred with possibilities. "Especially doing it here." As much as I watched and recorded others, I had no illusion that I was not being watched and recorded in return. "I don't want to risk your world getting involved."

Besides... "I have a theory, and it's a big one, and it may hurt your head."

She sagged. "I'd say I doubt it, but... fine." Flop, right onto her belly, eyes closed. "Fire."

Poor thing... I considered taking it back, but I had already said I was going to. If I just said 'nevermind' that would be almost as bad... "So, you. There's a very real possibility that you are a copy of Lemon Hearts. That there's a Lemon Hearts back home, in Equestria, living her life, unaware of any of this."

"Oh.... gosh." A line of tears escaped her clenched eyes. "And if you sent me back, then there'd be two lemons, and there's not room for that... Oh... Oh...." She brought up her hooves to rest on her temples. "Oh...." She was rubbing deeply and vigorously, as if trying to chase away a migraine, unsuccessfully. "Oh!" She flopped over onto her side, sniffling and almost writhing as she broke into quiet sobs.

I broke her... Crap... "I am so sorry. We made you, we're responsible for you. You are not being abandoned, I promise." I mean, technically Sunburst did that, but I was the boss. The buck stopped with me. A pity this was not working with her, lost in tears and little pitiful sniffles. Oh man, I really broke her. He asked me to be careful and I went right and broke her.

I set a hand on her quivering side as I sank down, sitting next to her. "I know it's really hard to imagine right now, but I've felt that kinda lost before. A lot of us here have... We don't look like it, all smiles these days... But we didn't start there... You can cry. Keep right on it. Get it all out, and I won't be mad."

A glance showed she was watching me with one big eye, the other facing away from me on the other side of her head. "What?" I asked with a little smile.

"That sure is not something Discord would ever say." She giggled weakly, transitioning to a sigh as she rolled upwards to her haunches. "I hear he's not a... bad creature, but he doesn't understand ponies. He isn't a pony." She inclined her head at me, looking me over. "But you're not him. I mean you're not even a him." She giggled at that, a little stronger. "Gosh, a girl Discord..."

"Eri," I reminded with my own little smile. "I know you didn't ask to come to this world, but, really, is a single one of us ever asked if we want to come to the world?"

Lemon blinked softly. "Gosh..." Oh no, did I break her again? "I never thought of it like that... You're not wrong... We don't get a choice there..." She quirked a smile. "And we're expected to thank the ones that did it."

I had to smirk at that. "Damn those jerks, making us celebrate the event."

"Seriously." She wiped her eyes with a sweep of her arm. "Speaking of... that... I really do want to meet your Sunburst. He's... kind of my dad. He made me, this me. Here me? I didn't ask him to, but who does?"

"Are you going to thank him, or punch him?"

She snorted softly, grabbing for a tissue I had on my desk to get on her nose and blow the snot out. "Is both off the table? I'm kidding... I don't want to hurt anypony. I'm sure he had his reasons... I'd like to hear them though. I want to meet him." She took a shaking breath. "He's my parent. He can take responsibility, right?"

"I'll reach out." I pantomimed reaching for something not there. "And let you know. Thanks for stopping by. By the way, are you up to talking about something I just wanna know? A selfish thing, really."

She raised a brow. "That's a very polite kinda selfish, if you ask first... Um, sure." An unsure smile appeared. "What's on your mind that you can't find out yourself?"

Technically, I supposed, nothing. If I was ready to break the rules, I could learn anything. I didn't like that... "The other me, the guy version." I traced a pattern in the air that became a floating image of Discord. "Tell me about this guy?"

"Gosh!" She raised a hoof to her chin. "He got up to all kinds of trouble, long ago, before I was born. He terrorized the world! At least Equestria, but maybe past that? I dunno... He made the world his playground and nopony could stop him, um, until they did at least."

He was a bad guy? Huh... "So you don't like him?"

"Well, that's not fair." She shook her head vigorously. "He came around. Twilight and her friends turned him around, showed him how to be a nice creature, and he's a lot better now, I hear. He still makes a mess, but he isn't trying to ruin the world. Foal steps?"

"Foal steps," I gently agreed, swooping up next to her for a sudden hug, which she returned. The room was quiet in our embrace. I could feel her shivering in my grip, but it was calming, just a little. A hug was exactly what she wanted, and what she got.

"Thank you." She stood up with a last little huff. "Thank you. This is... a lot, but hey, so is every birth, I guess. I'm just more together than a little foal would be, lucky me." She glanced away and back at me. "You won't tell me today, and maybe I'm not even ready... But I really do want to know my friends are alright. That my world's alright... Even if I never get back, I wanna know they're alright." She smiled thinly. "Even if you have to confirm there's another me, living the life I'd really like..."

"That's another topic for another day." I saw her out, still trembling a little. I had broken that glass properly, but, perhaps, that meant she could start to heal. I hoped...

"You did exactly what I told you not to do." Oops. That therapist did not look pleased.

And I kinda deserved it. "It had a happy ending," I lamely defended.

"It was a miserable start, more accurately." He fiddled with his glasses. "She's a mess. At least she's a more obvious mess now, instead of a simmering one waiting for the time to shatter. Permission to see her twice a week?"

"You can see her as often as she allows," I granted without resistance. "At least once a week until she's... recovered? Is recovered even the proper term for this?"

"It's the best word we have. Adapted? I will admit, this is the first time I've... I'm doing a first. I'm providing mental health services to what is in no way a human." He gestured a bit wildly at the camera. "She is not wired the same. She just isn't. She is not us. I don't mean that in a bad way. She seems very sweet and nice and completely alien."

"But she can hurt like us." I tapped two fingers together. "She can cry like us. She misses her friends, just like any of us would do. She can feel empathy for us, just like we do for her. She may be an alien, but that barrier is not complete."

"No.. No, of course not." He sat up straight. "Sorry if I implied that. She's a good person, that word that needs a new definition. I will try to do good by her."

No matter how bad any of us Ponid sorts got, we were human. She was, well, a mouse and an alien mashed together. We'd have to figure that out...

"Wow." Autumn inclined her head left, then right, then threw out her hooves wide. "Wow!"

Lemon shuffled in place. Before her was Sunburst, the target, but also two kirin. And one of them was huge! "I thought I was..." That was rude, maybe? "I thought I was meeting Sunburst today?"

Susan was far less twitchy. She did not tilt her head. She was just watching Lemon steadily. "He still isn't a hundred percent."

"And I bet you're a nice pony, but you're also a mad pony." Autumn put a hoof to her chest. "I get that! I was kinda annoyed at the doctor that did this." She waved wildly at her form. "Got mostly over it now, but at the time, I thought some not nice things about the guy."

Sunburst advanced with a little smile. "Wow..."

"I've felt that way a lot lately," Lemon got out with a little laugh. "Um, so, hi. This world, it's called Earth, so I am calling you Earth Dad."

Autumn twitched suddenly, one brow quivering. "Dad? What does she mean by that?"

Sunburst was quick to raise and wave his hooves. "Not like that! But, um... Lemon?"

"Uh huh?" She advanced in return, circling her would-be father. "I know you aren't my... Not the usual kind of dad. But you kinda put me here, on this world. You started me, here. So, yeah, dad, you're it." She stopped behind him, sitting down. "You look just like him."

"Like who?" He turned in place to face her again. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you."

"It's the craziest thing." Lemon inclined her head a little. "If I think about... not thinking about it. Ha, that's a twist, but... I can remember you. You were that big friendly thing..." Her eyes went distant, digging into the distant thoughts of her mouse life. "Big and friendly. That's... all I knew you as. Kinda scary a little, but big... and friendly."

Autumn thrust a hoof at Susan. "She's the big one around here."

Lemon looked from Autumn, following the hoof to the giant kirin. "She really is... But I don't know her even a little." She pointed at Sunburst. "My, uh, mousey side knew you, and my pony side, well, I know you're my earth dad." She suddenly clopped the flat of a hood against the side of her head. "Now tell me why!"

"Why?"

Autumn nudged against her clueless stallion. "She's asking why you made her. Oh, wow. I bet some kids ask their parents that, but most don't. I never did."

Susan sat up a little. "My little boy asked that once... He wasn't angry or upset. He was just... curious." Bits of flame touched on her edges, threatening to spread. "He looked me in the eyes and asked why I had a child... 'Didn't it hurt? Wasn't it hard? Why did you go through all that, just for me?' He... He's such a good boy. He... He... felt bad... for me."

Autumn moved over to Susan quickly, leaning against her even as the larger Kirin trembled. "It's alright..." It wasn't alright, but at least Susan wasn't alone.

"Gosh." Lemon was watching the two in their emotional moment. "Was it... so hard for you?" She looked back at Sunburst, one ear up, the other to the side.

Autumn piped up before he could. "Oh wow, yeah. Poor Sunnie hurt his little horn doing that spell. He's not all that good at doing magic, but he's great at making it up."

Lemon blinked softly at that, watching Sunburst as he blushed under the report, truthful as it was. "That's what got you booted out of school... But you were a magic researcher? Gosh!" She slapped the flat of a hoof to her cheek. "The teachers would feel dumb if I... ever see them again." She sagged in place.

"What school?" Sunburst perked, curiosity winning over embarrassment easily. "On your world?"

"Yes, on my world." Lemon tapped at herself for emphasis. "Oh gosh, I think it's my world? Am I a mouse that thinks she's a pony or a pony that remembers a mouse?" She scrunched her face up in ponderance. "I'm going to be stuck on that thought a while, so..." She made a motion as if setting aside a small box. "Putting that aside. You made me, why? I really would like to know."

Sunburst's eyes wandered up and down the pony that had been that mouse, that had been that confused new human he didn't really get to meet. "You must be so confused..."

"That doesn't even scratch the surface." She made a wibbly motion with a hoof as if pawing at the air. "But I really wanna know."

"That's fair." He gathered himself up properly. "Ponid, the thing that made us become ponies, and kirin, instead of humans, has extreme possible medical uses. It could... change the world, for the better." He rubbed behind his head. "But asking the people to also have a high chance of stop being the species they are as a part of it is... not an acceptable offer."

"Gosh." Lemon inclined her head, thinking about that. "Alright... So you have a... thing... that can help humans, but sometimes, pop, pony." She clopped her hooves with the pop. "And you don't want that. With you... I think. So why a mouse to a pony?"

"I... That wasn't the idea," he admitted, deflating a bit in the process. "The idea was to make a spell that turns something into a human. That part... worked... mostly... And the mouse was a human."

"Yay!" Lemon smiled brightly, just for it to fade away. "But seeing as I'm not a human right now, that didn't stick. What happened?"

"Well... That's..."

Autumn suddenly leaned in over Sunburst, half draped over him. "The dumb dumb I love very much got Ponid all over the mouse, and then the mouse was a human, and then the human became a pony. A you-pony specifically."

"A me-pony." Lemon turned a hoof towards her face. "Wow... That is... a lot to take in, but I don't feel like I'm breaking right now. Thank you."

"Um, what for?" Sunburst raised an ear curiously at Lemon.

"For telling me, for one." She tapped her hooves together. "And if, uh, you squint at it right, you... sorta made me, sorta... changed me." She set her hooves on her chest. "I was a mouse."

Autumn tilted entirely to the side with her head. "What? I thought you were a pony dragged into this from... like another world?"

"That's what it feels like... But that isn't... That isn't what happened." She sat up, looking more confident in it. "You all became ponies, or kirin... So did I, I just had... less stuff in the way. I was just a mouse!" She threw her hooves up wide and high. "I had... mousey thoughts. Little thoughts... Your mice are kinda dumb, by the way. Equestrian mice are way smarter. Um, gosh, getting off topic..."

Sunburst began to smile a little. "I would love to hear about your mice."

Susan snorted from far behind. "This is why you get in trouble with your girl."

"Stop that!" Autumn waved at Susan's comments. "I wanna know about the mice too. Do they talk, like the ponies? That'd be super amazing! Do all the animals talk?!"

"Noooo." Lemon shook her head rapidly. "Only a few ponies can have a chat with a random animal, but they, uh, they're still smarter. If you offer one a treat, they will come right up and take it. If you stop to say hello, most will quack or squeak or whatever at you. What'd they say? Who knows! But they at least knew you were trying to be nice." She set down a hoof, then another far away. "That's a big difference from Earth animals."

Autumn raised a hoof and began to wave it wildly.

Lemon tilted her head at the display. "Autumn Blaze?"

"Yes! I have a question." She leaned in a little. "Can you name the ponies that talked with animals?"

Sunburst's ears quirked right up. "That is an amazingly good question. If we got a copy of them and their talent came with them... Think of the possibilities."

"I am!" sang out Autumn with a big grin.

"Now I'm curious," joined Susan. "Do you know of any of them?"

"Gosh..." Lemon went still a bit to think about it. "I only know one, and only because she's a friend of a friend. Fluttershy."

Sunburst's eyes went wide. "She is pretty great with mice. And she is here. I have so much to ask her." He hopped to his feet, only to hesitate. "Um, did I... answer your question?"

"You... really kinda did." Lemon nodded slowly, unsureness in the motions. "The rest I kinda have to answer for myself. Gosh. Still... here I am... I was a mouse, and now I'm a pony." She smiled a little, the uncertainty only growing. "It's so much easier to understand the pony part, it thinks. It knows. It talks. The mouse side just... lived. It... knew some things, mouse things." She leaned in a little. "Like you were a large friendly thing." She burst into giggles at Sunburst's memory in her mousey side. "It wasn't wrong. Um, her, she wasn't wrong. She still isn't. I still am her. Gosh..."

Sunburst danced in place, sympathy for the mouse-pony wrestling with his urge to dash off, which was won when Autumn casually pushed him over. "You're going nowhere. You still have a sore horn so you get to lay down and be foaled by two kirin that like you. Tough for you, I know."

"Foaled?" chuckled out Susan. "Your 'ponyisms' are wild at times." She had none of them, being entirely human upstairs. She looked to Lemon. "But you do raise a ton of questions. You're as close as we've gotten to talking to someone from this place the others just kinda touch."

Lemon inclined her head at Susan. "I didn't hear your story. You seem a little different." And huge! She was so big! "Would you like to share?"

Susan took a hissing breath, a little fire escaping in the process. "I... still have a lot of feelings about that... But if you're patient, we can try to get through it."

"I am ready to listen." Lemon plopped herself down on her haunches, eyes fixed on Susan. "Please share your story."

And so Lemon learned the tale of the lunch lady that became a kirin. "That doesn't make sense."

Susan blinked. Of all the responses, that was not one she predicted. "What part? My family exploding?"

"I got that part, um, sad as it was." She pointed at Susan. "Why did you skip Ponid? You were a human, then you were a kirin, so shouldn't you... You know?" She tapped her head softly.

Susan smiled a little. "I didn't become a kirin from Ponid though, remember? They cast a spell, and the spell made me a kirin. Ponid wasn't involved, so my brain wasn't lovingly scrambled. You two are great, don't get me wrong, but your heads were definitely shaken up by this."

"I'm still basically me," lamely defended Sunburt. "I basically became a pony version of me, not much scrambling required." He touched his nose to Autumn's cheek. "You went through a lot more."

"Oh, wow, yes. So yes" Autumn nodded, rubbing Sunburst's nose into her fur in the process. "I was a guy!" She threw a hoof wide. "A straight guy with thoughts of bagging a lady some day, pop, turned out I was the lady that got bagged. Oh no!" She flopped against Sunburst. "At least I have a cute boyfriend now."

"If I... became a stallion." Lemon sagged her head against a supporting hoof. "I'm not sure I'd know what to do. I guess I should be thankful the mouse... I was? She was also a she. We're both shes, so we agree, she is it." Her eyes fixed on Autumn sharply. "You're really relaxed about this, gosh."

Lemon cycled her hooves in the air slowly, laying on her back on her bed. They had really comfy beds! For a place of science, it had pretty cozy arrangements, really. That part she did not complain about, and that wasn't what she was thinking about.

Friends.

She missed hers. But, as she thought about them, she missed other friends. Mice. They didn't have names. Mice didn't do names. But she could imagine them, what they looked like, sounded like, smelled like? The world of a mouse was not the world of a pony, and knowing what they smelled like was just as important... To her mouse side.

It poked a hole in her theory, however. "You had a life," she sighed out, sifting through the thoughts that had been smooshed down by her pony presence. They weren't... The mouse had an inner life. "Gosh." That hadn't been a word she used so often, she had realized. Was it from the mouse? How did the mouse have a catchphrase?!

She rolled over, flopping from the bed to her hooves. "There is a pony that can help." She nodded with building certainty, trotting from her room. She had her key with her, tucked away for safe keeping. Oh, that door had confused her so much when they first turned it on and hadn't told her about it. She felt silly thinking back on it.

The pony she was seeking did not live on her floor. However, good ponies were allowed to use the elevator, and she was a good pony! Sure, she had heard, before their female Discord came around, that wasn't the case. Good thing that had changed. "Excuse me." She was approaching a well-armored human, dressed in that hazardous suit to keep Ponid out. "I'm looking for a specific pony. Can you help me?"

"Hm?" The man looked down, face visible. "Give me a second." He grabbed a walkie talkie thing and squeezed it. "Pony has a question." The reply was too quiet to hear. "Yep, still there." Another reply. "I'll tell her." He hung the thing back up where it had started. "Wait a bit, someone's coming to help."

That was easy! "Thanks." Lemon clopped her hooves, sitting down to do it, and remaining seated to wait.

And things got quiet. The, uh, guard? was still standing there. "Are you waiting for somepony too?"

"How did you know they were a pony?" They looked surprised.

"Lucky guess, really!" Lemon inclined her head a little. "Kind of a thing we say, being ponies, I guess." She rubbed at her cheek with the flat of a hoof. "A pony, huh? Are they nice?"

"Sure." An awkward silence. "She decided to go pony."

Lemon blinked with owlish eyes, processing that. "Oh, so they were a human, like you?" She pawed at the ground with little taps against the tile. "But then she wanted to be a pony?"

"Yep, and she's still a guard."

Lemon's confusion only grew. "A guard pony?!" Not that there weren't ponies who were guards, or sheriffs, or played other law enforcement and protective positions. "Wow." Her mind swam with images of royal guards. "You said she." Less mares took up that job, limiting the number of ponies it could be.

None of her guesses matched when Silver Spoon walked in, dressed like a guard, minus the hazard suit. "Wha?"

Silver Spoon nodded at the guard on her way in. "Hey Frank."

"There she is." Frank gave a brief wave towards Lemon.

Silver turned her large pony eyes on Lemon. "Hey, I heard you had some questions?"

"You're a filly."

Silver Spoon frowned a little. "You're a mare. My name's Silver Spoon."

"Y-yeah. Gosh..." Lemon shook her head slowly as she rose to her hooves. "I was hoping to talk to Fluttershy."

"What for?" Silver Spoon circled around Lemon Hearts, taking measure of her. "You were a mess when we first brought you here."

Lemon turned, trying to keep Silver Spoon ahead of herself. "I was? Oh, when I was a mouse?"

"You were a mouse?" Silver stopped, confusion visible a moment. "No, human. Didn't talk, didn't bathe, and got sick real bad. A terrible case of Ponid." She wobbled a hoof at Lemon. "And this happened."

"I happened." Lemon glanced down at herself. "I don't remember you." She had no mousey memories she could find at least of Silver Spoon, or the other guards. Had the mouse not been paying attention to that? It was a hard time, perhaps. Lemon felt sorry... for herself? "Um, so about Fluttershy?"

"Nice girl." Silver nodded appreciatively. "One floor down." She pointed towards the floor. "She's a little nervous around new ponies, but she's nice."

Lemon smiled brightly at that. "She hasn't changed much then." She could see Silver's confusion. "I mean, the other Fluttershy, from... my world?" The confusion was not abating. "Um, can I meet her?"

"I'm taking her." Silver started for the elevator, getting a nod from Frank. "You know how to ride this, right?"

"I've been in an elevator before, yes." Lemon half-hopped through the doors as soon as the elevator opened. She turned around to face the buttons. "I just can't read these numbers."

Silver squinted at that idea. "One, two three?" She pointed at the appropriate numbers as she went.

"Is that what they are?" Lemon began to smile. "So this must be four, and five and..." She tapped along the buttons, not actually pressing them in. She had a hoof in the door at learning some scrap of Earth writing.

Silver nudged her aside and booped a button with the tip of her nose. The doors slid shut and movement began. "So you can't read?"

"I can read Equestrian just fine," huffed out Lemon, turning her nose up. "Not my fault things on Earth are all... strange."

"But you can understand me talking?"

Lemon blinked at that. How... did... that work? "Gosh." She started to sink to her haunches, but a friendly chime sounded and the doors opened. "Oh, here we are." Her previous thought, abandoned in favor of prancing free of the elevator. Each floor was, for the most part, like the other floors. She could guess where the food was, and the doors that had bedrooms, and oh there was the game room. "Nice."

Silver followed her out, glancing around. "She's probably out on the patio."

Lemon swirled to face Silver. "Patio? There's a patio?"

"It's not actually outside," warned Silver. "But it's built to look like it, and there are animals, which she likes." Silver trotted past Lemon, guiding the way down the hallway. Through a doorway, it was as if the world changed around them. But it wasn't outside. Fake trees jutted up from the floor, lost in the ceiling that was painted with natural hues and an artificial sky.

But a very real set of birds chirped, watching them come in.

"Hm?" A yellow snout poked into view, the rest of her following behind it. "Oh... my." She looked between Lemon and Silver. "Um... hello."

Silver raised a hoof. "Hey. Lemon here wanted to meet you. Is that alright?"

Fluttershy sat and played with her mane with little swipes of her hooves. "I suppose so... Actually... I kinda wanted to talk to her."

"Perfect then." Silver turned to go. "Call if you need anything. No promises I'll still be on this floor, but there are other guards around."

Lemon watched her go before approaching Fluttershy curiously. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"You were Amelia."

And, in that instant, Lemon's eyes grew wide. She knew that name. It rang clearly to her, as clear as Lemon Hearts. "Amelia," she repeated breathlessly. With it, memories of Fluttershy. "Big and friendly, Fluttershy." Never before had a name come from that part of her thoughts. It felt so completely alien.

Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... yeah." Lemon leaned, head propped up with a hoof. "Wow that was odd. I feel like I met you before... as the mouse. Amelia... She had a name..." Lemon suddenly clopped a hoof down. "I hurt a creature with a name. That isn't better!"

Fluttershy inclined her head. "I gave her that name. She felt like an Amelia to me. Did you know mice can learn names? It's true." Speaking of the talents of animals seems to be easier for her, relaxed as she talked about it. "They can learn tricks too. Oh. I wonder... May I... try something?"

Lemon sank to her haunches. "At this point I'm dying of curiosity, so go ahead."

"Thank you." She extended a hoof towards Lemon, then raised it up in a little skip. "Hop," she ordered firmly.

And Lemon was hopping. No thought, just as big of a bounce as she could manage. "Woah!" She wobbled a bit on the landing, recovering from her stunt. "That was like you mind controlled me a second there."

"That was a trick I taught Amelia and a few other mice," explained Fluttershy, reaching for Lemon, a hoof on either of Lemon's cheek. "You really are her..."

Lemon's ears folded, wilting. "I hurt her..."

"You are her," countered Fluttershy, her mane flowing as she turned. "This is... simply incredible. What do you remember, of me, if you don't mind?"

"You..." She dug back, reaching for the rodent memories. "Large, friendly, Fluttershy. Fun. Rewarding? You... made... me work but it was always worth it in the end." Lemon began to smile. "I can... remember." Remembering something else's thoughts was a bit odd. "That hop trick. I did not understand. You wanted something. You picked me up... When I got it, you made new noises, and gave a treat. It was a good treat."

"See, you are Amelia." Fluttershy's timidness was entirely forgotten. "My little Amelia, look how you've grown." She waved a hoof over Lemon's larger form. "Oh my. Are you alright?"

"I'm not 100% on that." Lemon gestured at herself. "Hi, I'm Lemon Hearts, but I mighta been Amelia before?" The name felt so familiar. She was experiencing the name recognition that Ponid patients experienced, but in reverse, tugging her away from her pony name, but she was Lemon Hearts. She could see Lemon Hearts in the mirror! "And I'm really confused right now."

Fluttershy sank beside Lemon, wrapping an arm and a wing over the bewildered unicorn. "It's alright." However nervous she was, comforting another creature took priority. "Now, um. You said you wanted to talk to me? What about?"

"Oh yeah!" Lemon perked right up, remembering her purpose of the day. "Can you talk to animals?"

Fluttershy inclined her head. "I can usually figure out what they want. I'm good with animals." She smiled gently. "Some people are like that. I didn't expect becoming a pony would make me better at animals, but it did..."

"Right... but can you talk to them?" pressed Lemon more firmly. "Have you tried?"

"Animals... don't talk." Fluttershy inclined her head with building confusion. "How does that work?"

Lemon frowned a bit, puzzling it over. "You understood me, before, as a mouse, didn't you?"

"I understood you... sort of..." Fluttershy frowned a little before raising a hoof. "Beatrice." One of the many birds that lived in the fake branches of the room looked towards her. "Would you please come here?" And the little budgie took flight, landing on her offered hoof. "That... was not my usual command." Her ears pricked. "Oh, no, you didn't do anything wrong. Sorry."

Lemon clopped her hooves, scaring the budgie away. "There, you did it!"

Fluttershy was quiet a moment, realization sinking in. "I... did do it..." She clopped a hoof against her cheek. "I can talk to animals?!"

Lemon was grinning so widely. She whistled in celebration, humming a few bars as she went. "I knew it."

"Favorite?" Fluttershy inclined her head at Lemon.

"What?"

"You just said something." Fluttershy was frowning with thought. "It was hard to make out."

Lemon sank back onto her haunches. She had just spoken mouse.

"We are gathered here to discuss what we will do when we get out." Bon Bon nodded at her group, its purpose tilted with time a bit. "Which the director insists will be soon." Her confidence wasn't very high. Also, I was watching at that point. Nobody seemed to notice talking about me drew my attention.

Not that I told them, so I'd forgave them that slight and kept right on listening.

Lemon tilted her head, a new participant of their group. "I've never been outside, um, on this world anyway." She wobbled a hoof with uncertainty before she sat up with a cough. "Sorry. Am I in the wrong place?"

Bon Bon inclined her head. "How? I mean, we were all people, doing things, being alive." She threw a hoof with each part. "We had lives."

"I think maybe I'm in the wrong spot." Lemon stepped down from her chair. "It's a bit complicated, but I never had a life, uh, here." She smiled just a little. "Bon Bon, do you still make candy here?"

Bon Bon's eyes dilated with surprise. "What? N-no!" What poor Lemon didn't know, that I was checking, was that Bon Bon had a few dreams related to making candy, but hadn't done anything about it. "This is hardly the place to make candy in, and I'm not a foal."

I made a quiet note to bring a few proper supplies to an empty room on Bon Bon's floors, writing a letter to that floor's manager while I was at it. Maybe it would calm Bon Bon down if she was allowed to partake in her pony past time. If it worked, it also meant the other patients would suddenly have candy available. Win win.

One large equine watched the other for a quiet moment. Both had grown used to being the largest thing in the room. Even humans were closer to eye level, and with the impressive bulk of their body, they knew even if a human was a bit taller much of the time, they were still bigger. Not that either had tried to knock a person over. That would have been quite rude.

"Uh, so... hey?" Susan waved a cloven hoof at the large horse before her. "Celestia, was it?"

"Susan," countered Celestia with a little smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I confess, this is a new experience."

"You and me both!" Susan reached out a hoof towards Celestia. "Nice to look someone in the eyes for a change."

Celestia met the hoof with a gentle clop of meeting. "You are not a pony... I feel strange pointing that obvious bit out, but I've grown quite used to facing my little ponies, not... my moderate-sized Kirin."

Susan looked off to the side, but an eye was fixed on Celestia. "I'm not exactly 'yours' either. I already have two that seem to be calling dibs on me, and that's quite enough. And a bit odd, if you ask me."

"Hm?" Celestia's wings rustled on her back. "Are you being bothered?"

Susan smiled a little at that. "Nothing bad like that. They're both friends, and basically a unit with each other." She brought up two hooves and touched them together. "They'd be married if that was an option in here, but they insist on me being around. So I'm left being the third wheel."

"A third wheel can be quite stabilizing," noted Celestia in soft counsel. "That they welcome you implies they appreciate your presence. Do correct me if I'm mistaken, but you are not the first person to ever be a roommate to a married couple."

"Usually not in an apartment," countered Susan with a soft chuckle. "Not a lot of space. We... had to work out a system for when they want... special time."

"Oh." Celestia had the manners to blush at the implications. "Good of you to handle that. I can... imagine how that would be trying."

"Now you're getting it." Susan tapped at Celestia's closer shoulder. "To make it worse, I was married before... all this. So each time is a little reminder..."

"I can imagine..." Celestia rose to her considerable height, though not much different than Susan's. "For now, we should get back to work. Twilight is probably beside herself."

Susan laughed at the conjured image. "Probably. Why did she think we'd have any troubles?" She led the way back to their waiting unicorn.

Twilight gestured at their newest member. "Lemon Drops is the purest example we have."

Lemon inclined her head. "Purest what? By the way, been meaning to ask... but where are your wings?"

That caught Twilight, blinking dumbly a moment. "Wings? I'm a unicorn." She pointed up towards her head.

"She has... Oh dear Celestia." Lemon rested a hoof against her forehoof.

Celestia raised an ear but didn't comment on her name being so used.

"The Twilight I knew, who I was good friends with, did a lot of things."

Twilight, the one there, nodded. "Sure? And they had wings?"

"They were an alicorn," huffed Lemon, pointing at Celestia. "Not as large, but larger than me." She turned the hoof back at herself. "She discovered a whole new kind of magic with her friends and pop, alicorn princess time."

Twilight set down the pointer she had been planning to use. "I... see... I am not a princess, as I feel certain you noticed."

"Other than in name, nor am I," agreed Celestia. "No kingdom for me, unfortunately." Her wings spread lightly. "But I am surrounded by such wonderful ponies."

"And kirin," noted Susan, seated beside Autumn in a tiny knot of kirin solidarity.

Twilight put a hoof flatside up. "We're getting distracted. Was your twilight always an alicorn?"

"Nope." Lemon pointed at Twilight. "You're perfect, for a younger Twilight. Then she learned stuff and did stuff and princess Twilight." She turned the hoof on Celestia. "She took your job, so you could retire with your sister."

Celestia started at that. "I don't..." But she didn't finish the words. "Right, my other self. The one from... where we all come from..."

"Speaking of that," cut in Twilight. "That is why I brought you all here today. Lemon is an untapped wealth of magical knowledge."

"I'm not a wizard," argued Lemon awkwardly.

That caught Twilight by surprise. "You said you were good at magic?"

"I'm good at magic I practice a lot, sure. I know how to read a spell, yes. But I don't make new spells really, or mess with spells. I cast what I see." She clopped her hooves, arms at angles. "The other you was a wizard, and Starlight and Star Swirl... Huh, wizards are named after the stars a lot, come to realize just now, gosh..."

"You come from an alien culture." Twilight leaned in at Lemon. "I want to hear more. But first." She turned her head towards the chalk board, lifting the pointer along the way with her magic. "You were going to show us how to magic, your way."

Autumn raised a hoof. "Pardon me?" Twilight looked over with a cocked brow. "Y-yeah, hey, sorry..." She nervously shuffled in her seat. "Not trying to be a pain, but we already have a spell to perfect, don't we? Tearing it all down to learn a new way of doing magic is kinda... a little getting off track?"

Twilight took a slow but noisy breath. "You're not... entirely wrong." She set down the pointer, instead grabbing a sheet of paper and wrenching it over. Attached to the paper next to it, which was attached to the next and the one after, she drew the song sheet of humanity with a big male symbol at the top. "Here is the spell of humanity, male version." She looked to Lemon Drop. "You said you are not a 'wizard', but... can you proofcheck this anyway? Is that within your skillset?"

Lemon's eyes darted from one magical note to the next. "It's a... really complex song... But it isn't magic, that I know of."

Autumn began waving again, wildly flailing a hoof. "Yes?" called Twilight, brow high. "You seem to have a lot to contribute today."

"Sorry!" Autumn pointed up at her ornate horn. "But I can cast the spell nice and slow, so you can see it?"

Twilight was waving away the idea. "There's no way she can just watch you and--"

"--Sure." Lemon nodded firmly. "If I see a spell, I can look for bad crosses, and start to get a grasp on it." She grappled with an imaginary ball in the air. "Not good enough to copy it right away, but it's a start."

Twilight sat back a little. "Or... well, please continue." She backed away a little, removing herself from blocking the spell.

Starlight sat down beside Lemon, having snuck over. "Did you say you knew me? A different me, I can only assume."

"Shhh." Lemon urged, hoof at her lips and eyes on Autumn. "I want to see this."

Susan rubbed at Autumn's back in quiet support as Autumn read over the spell quickly, her horn starting to glow. "What should I be aiming this at?"

Twilight cringed. "Question. Is it still permanent? Was that Sunburst's imperfections, or just dumb luck? Do we even know?!"

Lyra waved a hoof. "Why not cast it on a pony that doesn't want to be a pony. Like Bon Bon. Bet she'd sign right on the dotted line for a chance to be human again."

Twilight considered that a quiet moment. "Not a bad idea." Aw, I hadn't even gotten to try giving her a candy making room... "Let's call her in, if she's willing. Autumn, you alright with that?"

Autumn bobbed her head with enthusiasm. "Sure. But you'd better pull out the girl spell. Bon Bon was a girl, right? Shoot we'd better just ask her. You have both versions ready, right? So it shouldn't be a prob--"

Susan popped a hoof over Autumn's mouth, silencing her. "She's ready."

Twilight pulled a phone, attached to the wall, towards herself. "I'll make the call then." Her magic rapidly struck the buttons needed. "Assuming she's--Oh hello Bon Bon."

"Why are you calling?" demanded Bon Bon. "I'm not a fancy unicorn."

"No you are not," agreed Twilight without resistance. "But we have a spell we're trying that can turn things into humans. Interested?"

"You're pulling my tail," spat Bon Bon with mistrust. "Tell the truth."

"I am being completely honest." Twilight paced a little, the rest of the room watching her, listening to her side of the conversation. "We were about to try it, and your name was raised as somepony who may appreciate being the target of the spell."

"Someone," hissed Bon Bon, resisting that linguistic tic. "If you're not playing with my feelings... That does interest... me a little." A paper could be heard, a notebook being opened or closed? "Will I still be infectious?"

"To be perfectly honest." Twilight turned towards Autumn. "We have no idea. There's a not small chance you become human, just to go through the whole process again."

"That sounds positively revolting." And still... "But it's a chance..." A hoof tapping against something. "I could try to get my life back... Is this going to be secret?! I know others who want their fingers back, their lives back, their homes back!"

"If this works properly, the idea will be to use it, a lot, not hide it away," quickly assured Twilight. "But first we need to know it'll work, and animal testing has... more issues than you'd think. So a person, a human, or someone who once was a human, is the ideal candidate. Are you up for the task?"

One could almost hear Bon Bon's brows falling together. "Does it pay?"

Twilight crashed to her haunches. "That is not the question I expected."

"I want this, but I'm still providing a service." Bon Bon set the phone down to lecture it sitting there on the surface. "I'm going to need money when I get out of here. I may not have anything, and I have paperwork to do. If I can get paid, I want to be paid. There's a lot to do, so, yes, does this pay?"

"I need to be in here?" Bon Bon was looking left and right in the small room with the clear wall. "This looks kind of sketchy, if you don't mind my saying, and especially if you do."

I was there, hovering over Twilight. "We don't have any hazmat suits that'll fit properly on a pony, or that won't get in the way as you stop being a pony, or that might not interfere with the magic..." I wriggled fingers as I counted the various things wrong with the idea. "So, bottom line, no suit. If you want even a chance of staying human, we need you somewhere clean."

Bon Bon poked her little pony nose into the room. "How did you clean the room? I mean... I'm not a doctor, but isn't me being in there already getting Ponid all over it? Ugh, the thought sickens me."

I had been ready to wipe the room clean... but Bon Bon wasn't entirely wrong. She was shedding Ponid wherever she was, and the only fix for that would be to rip Ponid out of her, which wasn't a long term solution... Dang it...

Bon Bon twisted around to face Twilight. "Our great and illustrious leader looks stumped. Here." She coiled on herself, drawing out a photo in her teeth that she held out towards Twilight. "If your magic works better with an image, this could help."

Twilight's glowing horn took hold of the photo, lifting it into view. "Who is she?" She could see a human female, middle aged, Caucasian, likely American.

"Me," hissed Bon Bon. "The old me. I want back to that." She waved a hoof in the direction of the floating photo. "So keep that picture in your head."

Twilight passed the photo right along to Autumn. "I admit, I am impressed. You really seem to understand a lot of this, which confuses me a little."

Bon Bon let out a little sigh. "Lyra will not shut up about it. I listen when po--people tell me things, alright?"

"Sorry," called out Lyra from the crowd, not that she looked especially regretful.

"No you are not." And Bon Bon didn't look that upset by it. Friends? "Since the room isn't going to help, let's just get this over with. I will be paid each time you try, mind you."

Twilight looked to me. My hands went up. "This project has a budget already. Using it to pay a volunteer is not against any rule."

Twilight brought her hooves together. "Fantastic, then I have no particular objections. Lemon?"

"Here." Lemon poked free of the crowd of other spellcasters. "Are we about to start?"

Twilight nodded, but was already looking away, to Autumn. "If you're ready?"

"As ready as I can be." She looked left to right over the human spell, the photo laid flat just in front of it. "Let's see if we can't make a woman out of you."

Bon Bon hissed in a long breath, just to let it out just as slowly. "Lemon, you were hit with this spell. Does it... hurt?"

Lemon looks suddenly sheepish. "Well, um, not sure... I was kind of a mouse at the time. They said I looked... confused, but not hurt?"

"Confused." Bon Bon sat on her haunches. "I'll take confused. Now, one little thing." She waved a hoof at the sizable crowd. "Do I need to be leered at by this many people? Is that strictly required?"

"They will have to drag me away," came Lyra's firm voice. "I got your back!"

Bon Bon half-laughed, an aborted noise. "You are impossible. Whatever. Let's do this."

Autumn sat up tall, her horn glowing as her eyes went across the musical notes she'd be playing. "Alright. I suggest relaxing. I can't imagine it won't feel kinda odd and so, you know, expect that but don't freak out. Just relax and let it happen."

Sudan nudged Autumn gently. "Phrasing."

"Huh?" Autumn did not get it, instead focusing on the spell that she began to cast. "Wow, Sunburst cast this? This is so... so..." Her words failed her as she labored to keep up with the strange flexes and undulations she had to do to play the complex song on her horn, the glow growing brighter around it.

Bon Bon began to glow sympathetically. Her teeth clenched, but she kept her words to herself. I was still there, mind, in case things went absolutely wrong. It would be cheating, but if I can cheat to stop someone from being killed or horribly mauled, that was a line I was willing to draw. Especially while I was literally in charge of them.

I had reviewed the tape (It wasn't actually a tape) of Sunburst's use of the spell. Autumn was, simply, a better caster. Things were going a lot faster than when he had done it. On the other hand, he had taken it very carefully. I wasn't trying to throw shade at him, he did do it.

"Now it's started." Bon Bon raised her hooves to her cheeks, which were a bit of... oddness. It was like she had shaven, perfectly. Her snout was bare of any visible fur, which is not what pony snouts were generally supposed to be. "Keep going."

Not that Autumn seemed to need the reminding as she powered onwards into the spell.

Bon Bon squeaked as her pony breasts became human ones as if they had been grabbed and wrenched upwards along her bottom to her chest. "This... is a lot... faster." Ponid was merciful in some ways, coming on slowly, in your sleep. This was fast forward, and you got to watch it.

Well, we all got to watch it. Conversation had died away, eyes fixed on Bon Bon's transformation. I'll give it to her, she did not look like she was having a grand time of it, but she wasn't complaining. She was leaning into it, or standing up I should say. "Pervs," she grunted as she lost the fur pelt that had provided any amount of decency.

Autumn inclined her head. "You amazing bastard." A tricky part of the spell? She was pressing right on past it, her horn glowing furiously with magic. Which made me think. Were we setting up for a new cascade?!

A glance around dispelled those fears. Basically nopony there was watching Autumn. They were stuck on Bon Bon's change, which meant they weren't at risk of following the spell being cast. That was lucky, but that was all it was. I'd have to chastise Twilight later, and chastise myself right then. Bad me. I was right there, and I let almost catastrophe smack into us.

Bon Bon covered her naughty bits with a hand in a feeble attempt at decency. As if a human set was somehow more tawdry than the pony one she had been showing off a moment beforehand. "Just the tail..." She still had a tail, all long and fluffy. I had a feeling if everything just... stopped, Bon Bon probably would have tolerated it. 90% human!

But the tail began to recede as Autumn pressed on. From the way her eyes were looking, I could see she was finishing up the spell. Bon Bon was about human. Autumn stuck out her tongue as her eyes went towards the end of the page. "And... Ta da!" She gestured forward as a bright sparkly flash erupted from Bon Bon.

Lemon clopped her hooves appreciatively. "That was a very complicated spell, but not too far off from other transformation spells I've seen. Twilight, um, other Twilight, showed me her breezie spell before."

Our Twilight was moving to make sure Bon Bon was alright, which she was. "I'm fine," she insisted, brushing Twilight back. "That felt very odd, but I'm... me. I need a mirror, like yesterday. This may not last."

Lyra rubbed at the side of her head. "What if you end up becoming a different pony?"

Bon Bon's eyes widened. Well, she wasn't technically Bon Bon? Maybe she was. We'd have to ask her. "I'm not sure I could handle that. I am going to hope really hard that if I slide back, it'll be the same pony."

Autumn began folding up the spell nice and neatly in her magic. "When I see Sunburst, gonna thump him one! Really, kinda surprised he didn't turn you inside out or something."

Lemon swallowed audibly at the idea. "That didn't happen... thankfully."

"Bon Bon." That was me. "Are you Bon Bon? Who are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

Celestia had floated over a mirror, which Bon Bon was using to examine her human self. "I'm... me..." She tilted the mirror one way and the other. "But I'm... not me... This... I don't... I need a moment, a day, a week? I need to... wrestle with a few things."

I could imagine what was happening. "Bon Bon, you are allowed to rest and recover. Not a single person here will hold that against you, right?" All the others were quickly shaking their head. "Thank you, for volunteering in the first place. As much as a volunteer normally gets paid."

Bon Bon smirked at that. "I still want that money, but I also want to... lay down right now." She went to flee and bumped right into a floating hospital gown.

Lyra was winking dramatically. "I said I got your back."

"Impossible!" Bon Bon slipped into the gown, achieving minimal decency. "Lyra... thank you, but gonna need some me time."

"I'll be here. You have my number," called out Lyra as Bon Bon staggered away. "I'm heading back to my room, in case she calls." And off Lyra went at a spirited trot.

Lemon was pointing at the magic spell, folded up as it was. "I got the general gist, but I think I'm going to need to see the magic of each... note." She tapped at the folded set of papers. "If somepony can take the time to walk me through?"

That got Twilight to perk up. "With pleasure. In return, you can show me what each note is in your arcane... language? Even if I can't get everypony to switch over right now, I'd very much like to learn."

Lemon suddenly grabbed Twilight, a hoof on either of her cheeks. "You aren't that different."

"Pardon?" Twilight tried to slip away, but Lemon had a good grasp.

"From the other Twilight." Lemon released her then. "You're just as curious, and just as hot to trot when it comes to learning something new, especially about magic. Oh! Oh..." Lemon leaned in. "You're younger Twilight, so you haven't learned about friendship."

Twilight began to blush at that. "I have numerous friends." She waved a hoof wildly at the crowd that remained. "We're all working together."

Lemon gently lowered Twilight's flailing limb with her magic. "Those are partners and associates and I'm sure you and they respect and adore each other very much, but that isn't friendship. I'm not attacking you, promise. The other Twilight was exactly the same way, and I loved her dearly even then."

Twilight looked to Celestia as if she had the answers. That was new, I'll admit. Usually people looked at me for the easy answers. For once, someone else got that look.

Celestia cleared her throat softly. "I think, Twilight, is she means you generally speak to us on matters of magic, but rare is the time that you relate the dream you had last night, or that song you can't get out of your head, or much of anything outside the realm of magic." She set a hoof on her large chest. "Not that we are angry about it. You're just very focused."

Twilight sagged. "But I thought we were friends."

And she lifted, floating up off the ground in a golden color as Celestia pulled Twilight over to wrap her arms around. "Twilight, I did not mean to imply that I have anything but the warmest regard for you. I feel certain the others feel the same."

And so the room became a chorus of agreement. Twilight was liked, even as a focused nerd. "Perhaps we can become better friends, now that you're thinking of it."