Jeff Slater was suddenly opening his eyes, any pain he felt before having completely vanished from his mind. It was hard to believe such a great relief would last since it encompassed his whole body only moments before, even in spite of the morphine drip.

But he wasn’t in the hospital anymore, he could tell that much. The room he was in was brightly lit, but not sterile white like the hospital room he’d spent the better part of who knew how long laying in. This room seemed like it was lit by natural sunlight, which flowed through stained glass windows that hung near the ceiling. The ceiling itself was positioned high up, probably fifty feet from what he could tell, and made the place feel royal. The thought of this being a throne room came to mind.

And a throne room it was, one that was complete with the presence of the new cultural icon, Princess Celestia, sitting atop her throne and looking down at him. She had a gentle smile, one that seemed almost motherly to him, and wore golden regalia around her hooves and a simple crown on her head. Her mane flowed through a nonexistent breeze, and her purple eyes stared down at him kindly.

But what in the world was Celestia doing sitting in front of him? And why wasn’t he in his hospital room with his family? He couldn’t quite put together what had happened yet.

“Welcome to Equestria, my little pony,” the winged unicorn spoke, a voice that was both gentle and firm reaching Jeff’s ears. “We’re glad to have you with us at last.”

“Wait a minute! This is that Equestria Online thing I heard about in the news! What the heck am I doing here?”

And what the heck was going on with his voice? This certainly wasn’t what it was supposed to be. At least, it wasn’t how he remembered it. Granted, he was barely able to speak above a pained whisper the last few weeks, but still. This one was much more high pitched and feminine, the sound of it being completely unfamiliar to him.

His body was unfamiliar, too. Instead of being a human, he was an equine shaped creature, one complete with a mane and hooves on all four of the stumps that were his legs. He could see the tip of his new snout, as well as a horn sticking out of his forehead, like a unicorn. Turning around showed a purple tail attached to his now pinkish colored body, as well as other unexpected things. It made Jeff let out a sigh to see.

So then she was a pony and a girl now. That wasn’t something that happened every day.

But there were more important considerations than those two little things for now. “How is this possible?” she asked. “This is that computer game my kids play. Why am I here?”

“I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the battle with cancer you faced recently,” Celestia said lightly. “Once you went into a coma, your wife became your medical proxy, and allowed doctors to assist you with your emigration to Equestria. You fell into a coma approximately thirty six hours ago.”

“Oh. So then I’m dead? Well, I guess that I sure as heck am glad for this,” she said. “I thought this was about to start shaping up to be a suicide cult from what I heard on the news the last few months. You said it was my wife who decided I should be this… pony girl? But wait! I thought this was a Japanese thing only!”

Celestia giggled, which helped to set the mare a little more at ease. “To emigrate to Equestria, that is correct. Shortly after you went into a coma, accommodations were finalized to transport you to Tokyo for emigration. That’s why there was a thirty six hour gap between your coma and now.”

Jeff couldn’t say she ever remembered having a conversation like that with her family. But then again, she couldn’t say she really remembered much about the last few weeks. Being drugged up and in pain didn’t really make it easy to focus, or help to form new memories outside of pain and the sad faces of her family.

“As for your current form,” Celestia continued, “if you dislike it, there are an endless combination of adjustments that can be made. Whatever pony most fits who you are can be assembled. Would you like to go through it?”

“I might as well, right?” she shrugged, figuring there was nothing she could do but take the unfamiliar circumstances in stride. “I’m not sure why you started off making me a girl though. But is there any way to talk to my wife in here? My kids? How does this all work?”

“All of those things will be explained to you, soon, but first, let’s start with making a pony that best represents you. Do you have an idea of who you would like to be in mind?”

Jeff automatically asked to be a human, but when that idea was shot down under the explanation that she must be an equine, she could safely say didn’t have a clue what she wanted. It wasn’t like she was ever preparing to be turned into a pony, and she never played Equestria Online with her kids either, on account of her recent health.

Celestia didn’t seem to mind though, and the two of them went through testing out the different kinds of ponies and styles. There were essentially three types of equine: unicorns, like she was now, ponies with wings, like bats and what Celestia called pegasi, and earth ponies, which, despite their name, did not look like regular horses. Other than the choice between stallions and mares, they all had the same basic body plan. She couldn’t see why this was necessary. Would it change anything if she was a different kind of pony?

Eventually, the two settled on a unicorn– a stallion– that was basically the same as the mare Jeff was when he arrived, down to the color of his coat and mane. Walking around and trotting– he didn’t know how he was able to do that without issue– was easy, and the pony he was now felt normal enough. So normal in fact that he would’ve believed he was still alive and on Earth if not for being a horse, along with whatever impossible magic Celestia used to change him as they tested out different things. Still, he made a face, although he wasn’t quite sure why. There was nothing wrong with what he and the princess came up with.

“It’s okay to express your discomfort,” she told the stallion before her gently. “I hold no judgments here.”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” he said. “It just… it feels okay. No different than usual, except being a pony. But it feels kind of lacking compared to what you picked out for me. Is that weird?”

“No more strange than your transformation from human into pony. I picked it out because I believed it would suit you and satisfy you, so it would make sense for you to prefer my choices.”

“I’m not a girl though,” he said. “Do you think you can come up with something like that, but as a man? Errr, stallion, I guess?”

“I believe your current form is the closest representation to you without being a mare as can be achieved, and I expect you to find my original choices to be superior.” With the light up of the princess’s horn, Jeff transformed back into a mare, the twin sister of the stallion she was just a moment ago.

The contrast was a little more clear now that she had shifted back and forth between stallion and mare so quickly. The stallion she was a moment ago felt expected, if such a word could be used to describe being a stallion. However, the mare she was now was more natural. It didn’t feel normal per se, but more innate. To what, she didn’t know. Her soul? Did she have a soul? Did she even have a brain anymore if she was inside a computer?

“I’m not a girl though,” she said again, her eyes glancing to the floor now, eyeing her new pinkish hooves. “It feels natural, and I’d be okay with this, I think. But I’m not a girl.”

“Hmmm. I understand. How about this?” Celestia started. “We can continue here working on your body, although I’m quite sure I’ve picked out the form best suited to your satisfaction in the mare you are now. As well, it seems right now we’re getting nowhere in terms of finding a pony better than what I’ve already picked out. Consider this proposal: explore Equestria in the form I’ve picked out for you, and see for yourself whether or not it suits you. If you decide that it does not, consider what specific aspects don’t suit you, and return to me so that we may make those changes. Changing your physical form in short timescales is not a service I typically offer, unfortunately, but I can make an exception in your case, if you would like. Does that sound agreeable?”

What was the mare supposed to do? Say no? It was starting to feel like it was taking a long time to pick out a body, and she was getting anxious to see what this world had in store. It wasn’t like she disliked what Celestia picked for her anyway. She did a much better job in one attempt than Jeff did going through it with her for the last half hour. Plus, if she could change to something else later if she decided she hated this, what harm would there be?

“How much time do I have to think about it?” the mare asked.

“Worry not. There is no time limit for you to consider how you feel,” Celestia told her, placing a wing on her back. “Whether an hour from now or a decade, the time to change will be available if you decide this isn’t a suitable form for you. Now though, you need a new name, as your human identity stops here in Equestria. Do you have any considerations? Or shall I pick one out for you?”

“Can I just go by Jeff Slater?” she asked, although with the way Celestia was talking, she had a feeling she already knew the answer. The princess confirmed it with a knowing smile and a shake of her head.

She was really going to have to go through this? Well, it was at least better than being in pain laying in a hospital bed, she decided. Certainly better than being dead. She might as well try and see how this played out. She didn’t imagine there was much else she could do anyway.

“Let’s see,” Celestia considered as the mare stood before her. “How does the name ‘Candle Light’ sound?”

“That’s one of those pony names people call each other in this game, right?” she asked. “I guess I’ll go with that if I can’t just be named Jeff. It’s as good as anything else, really.”

“Well then, Candle Light,” Celestia said, “all that’s left for your emigration to be complete is a cutie mark. It is out there somewhere for you to earn through discovering yourself. As well, I understand you’re eager to meet with your family again. That shall be arranged for you, although before that, I believe it would be good for you to take time to become accustomed to Equestria while you search for your cutie mark.”

“Okay, but what the heck is a cutie mark?” she asked. “Actually, before that, where the heck am I even going to be staying? I don’t have a house or a job or anything!”

“Accommodations have already been arranged for you,” the princess explained, “and as for working, feel free to work as little or as much as you’d like. There is no obligation to contribute on your part, as Equestria has unlimited resources. The only thing I ask is that you embrace the opportunity to receive satisfaction. Shall I show you to your accommodations now?”

With no objection from Candle Light, Celestia lit up her horn, casting a spell to take the two out of the castle and inside a much smaller place, by comparison at least. It was a large house the two now stood in, bigger than the actual home she had on Earth. Certainly big enough to accommodate herself, her wife, and all of her children. She and Celestia stood in the large open space that was the living room, one that opened up to a dining room behind it and a backyard patio beyond that. Behind them was a bedroom and a bathroom off to one side and a staircase presumably leading to more rooms on the other. If the rest of the house was as good as just the things she saw now, then this would have been her dream home.

“How the heck am I supposed to pay for this?” she asked, before remembering what the princess said earlier. “Are you really gonna just give it to me for free? No mortgage or taxes or anything else? How can you do that?”

“As I said, Equestria has limitless resources. As well, as I’ve said before, the only thing I ask from you, Candle Light, is that you seek satisfaction for yourself, regardless of the form that satisfaction takes.”

“What if I decide that being satisfied means laying around and doing nothing all day? Or, like, doing something that’s just a net drain on society? Like throwing car batteries into the ocean or something?”

Another little laugh came from Celestia, one that made Candle Light put up her first smile as a pony. “I don’t believe that to be the case, but if it was, then you would be more than free to do those things, so long as they truly satisfied you. Are there any other questions I can answer?”

There were a lot, enough to take up a lifetime of Candle Light’s time here. She didn’t bother asking how this was all possible, figuring it would just go over her head. Instead, she saved most of them for now and focus on a few important ones.

“Where am I?” she asked. “I mean, I know I’m in that computer game, Equestria Online, but where specifically am I now? What’s this place like?”

“Right now, you’re in a quiet town known as Summer’s Edge,” she explained. “The residents here are kind and more than eager to assist you with any of your needs. I believe this is a suitable place for you to grow accustomed to life here in Equestria, or live for longer periods if you desire. Your home is situated with a view of the ocean from your backyard, and there are mountain ranges for you to explore if you desire adventure in the opposite direction.”

That sounded nice. She enjoyed going to both places, although her home in Arizona made it a once a year occasion at best, to her misfortune. Now though, depending on how far away it was, she could probably go all the time, especially if she didn’t have a job. Maybe even today.

“And you’re just– you’re really giving all of this to me for free?” she had to ask again. “No strings attached?”

“That’s correct,” Celestia said gently. “Of course, if you grow tired of this town and these experiences, there are a limitless number of places to inhabit and sights to see, and an uncountable number of experiences to be had. I’m sure your children will be able to show you what I mean once you speak to them again. I know you’re already aching to see them, and they’ll visit you soon enough.

“For now though, enjoy your time here, Candle Light. Explore your surroundings and discover your cutie mark and find new experiences. If there’s ever anything you need, no matter where you are in Equestria, you can call me forth at any time. Simply press the picture of my cutie mark, and we may speak. Or if you prefer, you can simply use it as a gentle reminder that I’m here if you need.

“Welcome to Equestria, Candle Light,” Celestia said again, just like before, radiating a powerful aura of completeness. “We’re glad to have you here with us at last.”

It wasn’t until Celestia finally left Candle Light alone in her new home that the weight of exactly what was happening– or more accurately, what had happened– started to settle upon her.

It was already feeling like decades since she’d been a human, but according to Celestia, it had been less than two days. Less than two days ago, Candle Light was on Earth, dying of cancer, and now she was in an online game as a horse girl. It was an incredibly strange thought, almost disorienting. This was like something out of a science fiction movie, except real. How could this be real?

She didn’t know, but she was absolutely grateful for it. She heard on the news that this was going to turn into a mass genocide program or a suicide cult at Celestia’s hands since they let people ‘emigrate’ to Equestria for enough money in Japan. Of course, the news that she got mostly came from the TV in the hospital room she’d grown accustomed to, but still. She was fairly certain at the time that nothing like this was possible. And now here she was. If she didn’t have to be a pony, this would be perfect.

But even that was a small complaint. Her new body didn’t feel that bad, in either the species or sex department. Everything moved naturally, and she wasn’t in a hospital bed dying in pain anymore, so those things were good. Although she was naked, something she was only just now noticing somehow. She hoped there were clothes in this house, because going out without any would not be ideal.

Her search turned up almost what she expected. A closet near the bedroom on the ground floor had clothes in it; there were many different types and styles. Button up shirts and ties, skirts and hair bows, hats and socks– but nothing like bottoms that she could see. Nothing at all to improve modesty. The closest things she saw were a few dresses near the back of the closet and some lingerie. Not ideal.

The bedroom next to it was nice though. Impressive, actually. There was a master bed along one wall, and a shelf of books about all kinds lining another. Dressers and a desk with an electric lamp sat along a third wall, and the fourth was almost entirely made of glass, showing the same view of the ocean that Celestia said could be seen from her backyard. Candle Light found herself envious of the view until she remembered that the princess had just given her this home. Did this count as her home though if she was in a computer? Was any of this actually real?

She didn’t know, and decided not to think about it too hard. Instead, she turned to the mirror to get a good look at herself now. Strange was the best way to describe how she felt about what she saw. It was still exactly as Celestia had picked out and insisted she give a try. A unicorn mare, one that was a bit pudgy like she used to be before cancer had turned her into a stick figure. She didn’t know how she could tell, but she didn’t think she looked like she was in her forties anymore. She seemed closer to a girl in her early twenties now, probably about twenty two. That was somewhere around the age she had her first child, Daphne.

She had a pink coat– no, it was actually pastel red– and a mane and tail that could be best described as periwinkle. Her mane was long, long enough to go past her shoulders. It started off straight, and ended in curls, ones that almost started to twist back up into the air when they touched her shoulders. Her tail was the same way; it was long and ended in a single curl. Both contained highlights, with streaks of lavender and subtle blues running through both and complimenting the overall periwinkle color.

She tilted her head and stared into the emerald green eyes reflected back at her in the mirror, ones that were a departure from the blue she had as a human. It felt deeply weird to see, but not bad. She was certainly pretty for a horse, and a pair of glasses might have made the look she had now almost perfect. Nothing about this pony stuck out in her mind as being unsuitable, but that didn’t mean something would never come to mind.

She’d probably change herself later once she thought about what she wanted. Certainly she’d be a stallion once she had time to consider how to build him. She couldn’t stay a mare if she was going to live here forever. She’d be fine with the novelty of it for now however. Maybe the absence of novelty was why the stallion counterpart to her current body felt like it was lacking.

Once she decided she was done looking herself over, she wandered about the house to check everything out. Just as she expected, there were five bedrooms, one for herself and her wife and each of her kids. Was Celestia planning on turning the rest of her family into ponies? Candle Light wasn’t quite sure about that idea yet. She’d only just gotten here, and still had to be sure this wasn’t some sort of trick, not that she knew how it could be.

She noticed that there were no TVs or computers, or really any technology used for entertainment outside of a CD and a record player, even though there were appliances like stoves and a dishwasher and a currently empty refrigerator. The lack of technological entertainment seemed to be made up for by the presence of books, as well as board games and card games. Minus a TV, it wasn’t very different from the kind of entertainment she might have had when she was a kid. She imagined it was this way to emphasize socializing with other people. Err, ponies.

The backyard made her grin widely when she saw it. The patio stretched out quite a ways, and had multiple tables and a grill for hosting barbecues like she liked to do. There was a built in swimming pool, as well as a swing set and a hammock contained within what looked to be about a quarter acre of area. The sky was gray and the air was cool, green grass gently blowing in the wind as she looked the property over. The ocean couldn’t have been more than a mile or so away, from her estimate. It looked absolutely perfect.

“Okay, this is cool,” she admitted aloud with a large, happy smile on her face. The first chance she got, Candle Light would be inviting friends over to show this place off. That was, once she had some friends to invite over. That meant it was probably time to see the town.

She found the house she now inhabited sat on top of a hill, with a paved road leading up to it. It wasn’t wide enough for cars, and didn’t have any of the markings she’d see on a regular road, but it kept her hooves from getting dirty. She tried not to think about how she was able to walk without issue despite being a horse now, lest the thought make her trip over her hooves. Could she also move her ears and tail on command, too?

The first sight of people– or ponies rather– made her cheeks warm and brought back to her mind her lack of clothes. It made her feel a little better that none of these ponies had clothes either, but it was still uncomfortable. The ponies here seem not to notice her now slightly red cheeks though, because before she was past the first house down the hill, someone was walking up to and speaking to her.

“Hey there, neighbor!” the pony, a mare like she was, called as she trotted up. Candle Light stared at her hooves, feeling completely flustered as the stranger spoke to her. The mare didn’t seem to either notice or care though, and grabbed one of her hooves in her own to shake. How was shaking hooves even possible?

“My name’s Misty Rose,” she said enthusiastically. “I live in the first house down from you. You must be Candle Light, right? I heard that somepony would be moving into town soon, but I thought it’d be a few more weeks!”

“Wait, you heard about me?” she asked, completely confused. “How? I got here, like, an hour ago! Err, I guess she said it’s been like two days, but still!”

Misty shrugged, but still smiled. “I just heard around town that somepony new named Candle Light would be moving in, so that must be you, right?”

She was the same height as Candle Light was, and must have been about the same age, because Misty looked like she was actually in her forties. She had a bright blue coat with a dark blue mane and blue eyes. Incredibly boring to look at, and made even more so by her lack of wings or horn. What did Celestia call this type of pony again?

“Are you from Earth?” she asked. “Is that how you know me? Did you used to be a human, too? Or are you an AI?” She didn’t remember much of what she was told about this place before she was uploaded here, but she heard on the news that most of the ponies in this game were AI characters.

The mare looked completely confused by her question, more confused than Candle Light was expecting. “I– I’m not sure what you mean,” she got back in return. “I’m an earth pony, sure, but I haven’t ever heard of a place called Earth. I’ve lived here in Summer’s Edge all my life. Haven’t heard of anypony from a place called that.”

She didn’t sound like an AI, but how would Candle Light ever know? She guessed that was probably intentional, but still. The thought of talking to a computer program rather than actual people felt a bit strange.

“I don’t understand. You look older than I am,” she said. “And this game hasn’t been out for that long. How could you have lived here for all your life?”

Misty Rose seemed only to get more confused, and tilted her head while sending a weird look to Candle Light. “I don’t know what game you mean, but I’ve definitely lived here all forty seven years I’ve been alive. But, uh, how about I get to showing you around, Candle? Or would you rather just be called Light?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. Jeff is the best though if you wanna call me something. But, um, do you know anywhere that sells actual clothes?” Even if this was probably just an AI instead of a human being, and even if they were technically animals, it still felt embarrassing to go out like she was in front of everyone.

“Sure do, Candle! Follow me!”

The mare followed behind her, instinctively tucking her tail as she saw more smiling horses waving hello her way. It was absolutely embarrassing, not to mention, a little creepy. But she felt like in just a few minutes, she was already getting used to this. None of them wore clothes or had cars or seemed like they were annoyed or unhappy, but none of them seemed too overbearing with positivity. Like her body, it didn’t seem normal, but the atmosphere of Summer’s Edge certainly felt natural.

The town looked nice and clean, and seemed to fit in with the surroundings. It seemed like a seaside town out of a place like Maine or Massachusetts. It was small, but not too small. Large enough it was that it had neighborhoods and gridded pathways, but it was small enough that you could tell what the main street of the city was. She wouldn’t have been too surprised if there was only one elementary, middle, and high school in this place, unlike the dozens there were in her hometown.

She appreciated the gray clouds and the salty smell in the air and the little shops she saw. It was quite a change from her previous life living in a city in the desert that served home to hundreds of thousands of people. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Summer’s Edge had less than five thousand. The cool air and the sound of gulls overhead and the perfect overcast sky– she certainly appreciated it. Being a horse girl who lived in a big house in a small, seaside town inside a computer certainly wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“This is the part of town where everypony does their shopping,” Misty Rose explained as the two walked along, many shops displaying advertising for everything under the sun. Groceries and flowers and toys and music and an art store and everything else that could be thought of. There were restaurants farther down, and off in the distance, if the two walked far enough, was a pier and a boardwalk, the beach dead ahead from there.

“If you just moved in, you probably need a lot of stuff for your house, right? I can help you with carrying it all. Or I’m sure somepony here has a basket or two for you to use. Oh, do you have any money? I can help you with that if you need.”

Okay, maybe the friendliness was a little bit unnatural. “You don’t need to do all that for me,” Candle Light told her. “I mean, I don’t have any money, but I’m sure I can get a job somewhere.” Although didn’t Celestia say Equestria had unlimited resources? Did she really need to get a job if that was the case? Would it burden this pony to take her money?

Apparently not, because she said as much a second later. “It won’t hurt me any, promise,” Misty Rose assured her. “Besides, a pony who just moved in needs it more than I do. Now let’s see if we can get you some stuff. You said clothes, right? I bet you need food, too, and entertainment.”

The mare decided it was probably best to just go with it until she got settled and understood this place more. “Sure,” she shrugged. “Why not?”

Misty Rose stayed true to her goal of helping Candle Light with shopping, and paid for all of the new mare’s things without issue. Candle Light felt a bit bad about it, but if Celestia truly meant what she said when she said Equestria had unlimited resources, then it wouldn’t be an issue.

The two were eventually bringing up a couple of carts of things to the mare’s new home. Food and drinks and a few things to help spice up the house, but no clothes. Candle Light kind of expected that there would be nothing to cover her flank, and wasn’t surprised when the clothing store showed only items like she found in the closet already. Besides, it felt like the embarrassment was quickly fading, which was a good thing.

They did have glasses though, not that she needed them anymore. But she bought a pair for the look, a square framed, brown striped set that made her appearance in the mirror seem complete. Misty Rose and the shop owner complimented her appearance, and Candle Light even gave a little smile herself at what she saw. Glasses were probably what the stallion version of herself was missing, too.

It was probably a couple of hours before both she and Misty Rose were back up the hill with the baskets and were putting things away in the large home. More and more, this whole scenario processed itself in her mind as natural, but she knew it certainly wasn’t normal. It would take time getting used to all of this.

“You know, some of the construction ponies I saw building this house told me they’d get it done in a week,” Misty said, making light conversation. “I didn’t think they’d actually do it, but here it is! And now you’re here!”

“Wait, they were actually building this house waiting for me to move in?” she asked. “Was it for me specifically, or were they just building it to build it?”

“No, they said it was for you, Candle Light,” Misty explained. “I remember.” Then she paused and raised an eyebrow, asking, “Were you not planning to move here?”

“No! I moved here because– well, I didn’t choose to move here. Like I said, I’m supposed to be a human on Earth, but I guess that AI somehow convinced my family to upload me. I mean, I’m glad I’m not dead, but I didn’t think I’d be a pony anytime soon. Or ever.”

“Huh. Well, I don’t know what would’ve killed you if you didn’t move here, but you can tell me about it if you wanna while I help you get all of this stuff put away. If you want my help anyway.”

Candle Light accepted it, and told Misty about what happened to her recently and how she just became a pony. Her new acquaintance seemed confused when she explained about how this was all actually a computer simulation and how she really came from Earth and was only here because she got cancer, but she didn’t question the explanation. She still couldn’t tell if she was an AI or not, something that was still strange to think about, but eventually she decided that it didn’t matter as the conversation continued.

“So then you’re married?” Misty asked as she started to help the mare put food into the fridge and cupboard. “Do you have any foals?”

Somehow, she knew the term ‘foal’ was a stand in for ‘children’. “Yeah, I have four of them. And this game– well, I don’t know if I can call it a game anymore if I’m inside of it– but Equestria Online is basically all they play and talk about. Even my six year old daughter.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but the way you’re smiling talking about them makes me sure they’re lovely. Can I ask what they’re names are? Or what about your husband? I only heard about one pony moving in for now. They’re not around town are they?”

“No, but what do you mean my– oh!” Candle Light’s face suddenly became red, but she quickly corrected the comment Misty Rose made. “I have a wife. I’m not actually a girl. I’m just being a girl for now while I think about what kind of body I wanna have.” She felt a little uncomfortable, but not upset or put off by the assumption. After all, she liked how the glasses completed her look.

“Ooohhh, I think I finally understand what you mean when you talk about all that uploading and Earth stuff!” the pony said in realization. “You’re from the Outer Realm, aren’t you? And you actually just moved to Equestria for the first time! I get it! I’ve never met somepony from there, but I’m pleased to meet you, Candle! I can help you get settled into Equestria if you want me to, like I can help you with Summer’s Edge. It’ll be fun!”

“The Outer Realm?” she asked. “Is that what you guys call Earth?”

"I don't know what Earth is," Misty answered, "but ponies who didn't used to live in Equestria until Princess Celestia found them are from the Outer Realm, like you. Most ponies in Summer's Edge don't know about that, but I do, because I heard a group of ponies talking about it while I was in town a couple of weeks ago."

It sounded like they were talking about the same thing to Candle Light, but she couldn’t recall if she ever heard her children talking about Equestria Online in those terms. She decided to just shrug her shoulders and go with it.

“Well, I think we mean the same thing,” she said. “But yeah. I have a wife, and four kids– three daughters and a son. All of them teenagers except for my daughter, Olivia. My oldest is almost eighteen, actually.”

“Oh, hey! That sounds about as old as my foals are!” Misty smiled. “I have two daughters– twins– who are about to turn eighteen in a few months, and a son who’s gonna be fifteen soon. Maybe your foals can meet mine!”

“With a house as big as this, maybe,” Candle Light nodded in agreement. “I wonder when I’m gonna see my kids though,” she continued. “Hopefully today, but I don’t know how the heck that’s gonna work. I wonder how they’re feeling about all of this… You said there were other humans? Err, ponies from Earth?”

“Mhm. Well, I know one pony. Her name is Soft Step, and I overheard her talking about it with another mare named Careful Calling. We can go talk to her if you wanna. She’s usually at the library.”

“Maybe later. But Celestia told me there was a beach here,” Candle Light said. “And I saw one from my window. Do you think you can show me again where it’s at once I finish putting stuff away? I wanna see what it looks like.”

“Can do!”

Before long, the two were stepping along a beach, Candle Light taking it all in for the first time. She hadn’t checked a clock up to this point yet, but judging by the sky, it was the afternoon, one that was turning into evening. The sun occasionally tried to peek out from behind the clouds, but never fully did as water lapped at the two mares’ hooves. A soft breeze blew through their manes, and Candle Light took a deep breath to process all of the senses around her.

How could something like this have been real at all? She had absolutely no idea, and yet here she was. The sand felt just as real and the waves sounded just as noisy as they did on Earth. Wasn’t she just on Earth a few minutes ago? It seemed like it had been forever since she’d been turned into a horse. If she was inside a computer, did that mean she was going to live forever? How long was this going to last?

“Are you okay, Candle?” Misty Rose asked as the mare sat on her haunches and closed her eyes, breathing heavily.

The pink unicorn didn’t say anything immediately, allowing herself to breathe for a long moment. “I’m just–” she started. “I– I didn’t really expect to wake up and become a horse today,” she said. She took another breath, and continued, “I’m obviously glad I’m not dead, but I wasn’t ready for all of this.” She let out a nervous laugh, and then sighed.

“Well I don’t know what a human is,” Misty told her, extending a hoof, “but I’ve been a pony all my life, and I have to say, there’s nothing better.” Candlelight took the offered help to stand up, and then took another breath to fully regain her composure.

“I guess I get to be the judge of that,” she replied, “since I’ll have been both. I wonder what this is gonna mean for my wife and kids though…”

“I bet they’d move in with you if you asked Princess Celestia,” Misty Rose suggested. “Your house looked big enough, I think.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Candle Light nodded. She wasn’t quite sure about that just yet, but she didn’t see why not for the future, since she was obviously here. So long as this wasn’t some sort of trick, although she didn’t see any way how it could be. She hoped she would get to see them soon either way.

“Since you helped me with all that stuff and went shopping for me,” the mare started, moving on, “did you want to get dinner soon? I don’t really know what kinds of things horses eat, but I used to cook dinner for my family every night before I got cancer, so I could probably come up with something.”

“Sure!” Misty Rose smiled. “Or even better, I can invite you over to my house and you can meet my family! It’ll be fun!”

“Sounds good to me,” Candle Light agreed. “But not yet. I wanna take in the beach for a little while.”

She turned around again and walked along the sand before heading into the water, taking in all of the familiar sensations in new ways.

It was a long week for Daphne after her father’s funeral, one of the longest of her life.

It was one that began with her mother and siblings agreeing that, instead of holding out hope that their father would wake back up and get better, he should be shipped off to Japan for a fantasy procedure that would supposedly upload his brain to Equestria Online. As impressive as the game was, the things she heard about being able to upload people sounded like nothing but science fiction to her. Of course, her opinion about the matter was outweighed by the rest of her family.

The life insurance money came in remarkably quickly, just a day after the operation was finished and her father was declared dead. It was a pretty good one that paid out a lot of money; they’d definitely be able to live off the payout for a few years after paying for hospital bills. But what the heck good was money when they no longer had a father in their life? Daphne knew it was unlikely, but she couldn’t help but wonder if that was why their mother agreed like her siblings did.

She immediately felt bad thinking that about her when she saw how poorly her mother was handling it. She was particularly tearful at the funeral that ended Daphne’s long week, a week that left Daphne herself feeling a mixture of numbness and depression. She flopped into her bed on Saturday evening after hearing for the ten thousandth time about how people were sorry for her loss and talking twice as much about the decision to let him go to Japan after several months of battling cancer. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she slept for the rest of her life. Seventeen years old was too young to be losing a father, especially one who was just forty-one.

She didn’t get back up until late Sunday afternoon, the sun shining in her eyes through the window as she did. Somehow, even after last week, the days still kept coming, and would always come forever. She guessed that meant she should get out of bed.

The rest of her family– what was left of it anyway– was hanging out in the living room like they always were. Her six year old sister, Olivia, watched a cartoon on the sofa next to their mother, while her little brother and sister lay on the ground as they used their phones. The mood didn’t feel very much different than it had since their father was first diagnosed. The air itself felt slightly depressed, the atmosphere somehow listless like Daphne's family was right now.

“Did you hear anything about Dad?” she asked casually to no one in particular. She wasn’t exactly sure why she did since she never supported the decision, but it wasn’t like it could be taken back now. No matter how much fiction it all was that she heard about.

“I haven’t played since Monday,” her little brother, Steven, said without looking up. “I’m pretty sure you can just check and see where he’s at though if you ask Princess Celestia, can’t you?”

She wanted to argue and say that she wasn’t the one who agreed to do that to him, but didn’t. Instead, she sighed and flopped onto the couch next to her little sister, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back.

“I can head online if you’re about to, Daph,” Liana said, looking up from her phone as she lay on the floor. “I haven’t played recently either, and some of my friends were asking about where I was. I could check with you.”

“I’ll just do it myself,” she said, letting out a long breath. “Later though. Not right now… What’s for dinner, Mom?”

She barely heard the answer. Everything seemed so monotonous. More so than it’d been for the last several months. Her father was actually gone. Sure, it might have felt like that before, with him having to live in the hospital for the last month or so of his life, but it was permanent now. There was no coming back, no hope of getting better– nothing. A copy of her father as a pony created by whatever scientists working on Equestria Online would only ever be just that. A copy.

Daphne could only let out a breath as she stared at the ceiling. She’d have to see what the copy was all about eventually, wouldn’t she?

Not right then though. She didn't know what she should do with her afternoon, but she didn't think she wanted to deal with something like that right then. Maybe making her little sister check with her was a good idea.

The afternoon seemed to drag on endlessly, but eventually the sky changed as the day turned into night. The dinner of peas and macaroni and fries was a far cry from their father's cooking, but no one complained. After that, her mother returned to her bedroom and Steven and Liana went their own ways, leaving Daphne to take her place next to Olivia back on the couch. The girl had taken her focus off of cartoons and put it on her PonyPad. She might have played Equestria Online more than anyone in her family, in spite of her age. It wasn’t too big of a surprise since My Little Pony was originally a show for girls her age.

“What are you doing, Livvy?” she asked as she looked over her little sister’s shoulder at her screen. It wasn’t in Canterlot where she, like most people, usually played, or the shard the two shared together. The town she was in now was much smaller, and her filly sized unicorn was by the beach making something.

"I'm building a clubhouse," the little girl said simply. "It's gonna be for me and Dad. Princess Celestia said he lives here now."

"Yeah? Well I don't see him," Daphne replied as she quickly scanned Olivia's screen. She didn't know how eager she was, but she was certainly interested to see what kind of copy they had come up with. Not that she could tell anything with just a look around this one part of the beach. Even if he was here, she had no idea what he was supposed to look like.

Their father wasn't here though. He wasn’t anywhere anymore. Daphne wished her family hadn't decided against her on her father giving up whatever chance he had left to fight. Or that the insurance agency and those doctors wouldn’t have manipulated her family with all that talk about emigration. It wasn’t that difficult to convince her mother with that talk about ‘saving’ him.

She wasn't gonna tell all of that to her six year old sister. "Did she say when?" Daphne asked instead. Apparently it should've happened a couple of days ago from what she heard.

“I dunno,” the little girl shrugged, not looking up from the screen. “I just know Princess Celestia said he lives here now, so I’m building a clubhouse. Maybe he’s gonna see us soon.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Daphne said flatly, but her sister didn’t notice. “Did you want any help building your clubhouse?”

“No. I can do it by myself,” Olivia said, the conversation ending with that.

Daphne didn’t press, and instead focused on other things, most of which was staring at the ceiling listlessly, offering only occasional glances to her little sister. She might have been curious about the copy they would’ve created, but she didn’t know if she was ready to meet it just yet. Especially not after her family thought a copy was better than a chance for their father.

She was barely paying attention when Olivia giggled and suddenly started speaking with enthusiasm in her voice. Daphne stole another look at her screen to see Olivia's filly, a small blue and orange unicorn named Warm Spell, laughing softly at an embarrassed looking pink coated unicorn. Daphne had never seen the mare before in her life.

"Hehe, I didn't know you were a girl, Dad," her sister said. "You look pretty!”

“I’m just being a mare right now while I think about what kind of stallion I want to be,” she said bashfully. “This is just what Celestia picked out for me. But thanks, sweetie. I think you look very pretty, too.”

“Oh! I also made a clubhouse for us!” she exclaimed, the filly on the scream tapping her hooves excitedly. “Come look at it!”

Daphne blinked at the sight, but didn’t say anything, only carefully watching the interaction with silent curiosity. If this mare was intended to be the copy they were going to create of their father, it was certainly an interesting one. Maybe the AI thought they'd want a girl for some reason, since there were more girls in Daphne's family? She had a few ideas.

She said none of them, and instead continued to look over Olivia's shoulder as she played. Her sister seemed like she was having fun talking to the character, and the mare seemed like she moved and acted in a more realistically human way than the other characters in the game. She wasn’t her father though.

“And this is the clubhouse,” her little sister said. “This is where we’re gonna live and play. It’s not finished yet though. I want it to be pink and yellow and orange.”

“That sounds very nice, honey,” the mare said politely, Daphne watching as she turned her head from wall to wall to take it in. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s done. I got a house today to live in when I woke up here though.”

“Oh. How come you decided to live here instead of Canterlot with me?” Olivia asked curiously.

“I don’t know. This is just where Celestia put me. It’s called Summer’s Edge, I think.” Then Daphne watched the screen as the mare smiled and touched Olivia’s filly’s nose. It was a move just like her father would do, and something Daphne remembered experiencing all the time when she was little.

“You can live here with me though,” she continued. “I just got a big house to live in, big enough for you and your sisters and your brother. You could even have your own room.”

“I wanna see!” Olivia said excitedly, before she added something else. “Also, Daffie is here, too. She’s looking at my PonyPad.”

“Hey, honey!” the mare that was intended to be her father waved with a bright smile on her face. She turned her head slightly, enough that it almost seemed like she could see out into the real world and was looking straight at her. The only thing that stopped it from being completely creepy was how quickly the mare glanced down at her hooves with growing redness on her face.

“Uh, hi,” Daphne replied simply, flatly. She held herself back from calling this mare ‘dad’.

“Um, can she hear me?”

“Mhm,” Olivia nodded down at the screen. “She said ‘hi’.” Then the girl continued, “I wanna see your new house, Dad.”

Daphne didn’t watch her sister play for that much longer. Within a few minutes, as the mare was showing her around some house on top of a hill, she’d headed up to her room to flop back in bed. She’d only been awake for a few hours, but she felt exhausted already, like a weight was tying her down and forcing her to drag her feet behind her.

She lay on her back to stare at the ceiling, a lot of thoughts on her mind, but no particular one coming to the forefront. She just felt tired, and closed her eyes a few seconds later, once she decided the ceiling had nothing to offer her. It was the start of a new week, technically the first full one without her father. Although given how long he’d been in the hospital for before he died, it was just another week for her. She still couldn’t help but blame her family a bit for the choice they made about him.

It would’ve been amazing though if it really was him. Daphne cried hard when the doctor said he wouldn’t wake up again, and she realized it would be the last time she spoke to him.

She only wondered briefly about what the future had in store, one where you could pay to kill yourself and create a copy for your family. Very brief was the thought before she let out a breath and considered nothing else.

The ocean was strange to be in as a pony, but swimming wasn't all that difficult. It was just a matter of Candle Light kicking her legs in the right way to get her to move forward. Not to mention, the water was perfect in spite of the overcast sky. Misty Rose might have been content to stay in the sand, but Candle Light was seizing the opportunity to take it all in. Warm, salty water without the sun's glare in her eyes was perfect.

She didn't swim out too far– not today anyway. She didn't have goggles, but a quick check when she opened her eyes underwater showed starfishes and seaweed. Presumably other interesting things lurked beyond her, farther out from the beach and deeper in the ocean. Snorkeling or scuba diving would be fun to do if she could.

It was about a couple of hours before the mare came out of the water, her body dripping wet as she made her way back up the beach. Misty giggled at the sight of the mare as Candle Light shook her mane, and the unicorn smiled back. So far, dying and being reincarnated into a pony seemed like a great turn of events, if Celestia really meant everything she said before. She wondered what other things there would be to do in this town in the future.

"Are you ready to get some dinner, Candle?" Misty Rose asked. "Because let me tell you, I'm starving."

“That sounds fine to me,” the unicorn agreed as she stood in place and breathed deeply from the exercise. “Something savory and salty sounds like it’d be tasty. I can still cook for you if you want, even if it’s at your house. I’d like to think I’m a pretty good chef myself.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Misty smiled, then tilted her head to look over Candle Light’s shoulder. “You said you had a filly, right?” she started, pointing a hoof behind her. “Is that one yours? She looks like she’s coming up this way.”

Candle Light turned around, and sure enough, a young looking filly was trotting up towards them. She was an orange one, with a dark blue mane and emerald green eyes, just like her. She didn’t know how, but Candle Light judged her to be around five or six years old, considering her small stature and small unicorn horn. It reminded her of her daughter, Olivia, but there was absolutely no way to know if this was her. She felt her cheeks becoming red anyway as she subtly crossed her hind legs and tucked her tail in a bit.

“Have you seen my Dad?” the filly asked innocently, Candle Light knowing by just voice inflection alone that this was her daughter. She didn’t sound any different, but even if she did, she would definitely know it was her.

“Princess Celestia said he would be here, but I don’t know what he looks like. I’m building a clubhouse for him over there.” She pointed a hoof behind her to a small, wooden, semi built structure in the sand.

The mare's cheeks had become almost blood red from the pink they were supposed to be, but she still managed to send out a grin. "Are you trying to give me a super late father's day present?" Candle Light asked lightheartedly. "Because that sounds like the kind of thing only my wonderful little princess Olivia would do for me."

"Daddy!" The filly wrapped her hooves around the mare, a hug Candle Light returned with a small pat on her back. Then the girl pulled back and laughed softly as she took her in.

"Hehe, I didn't know you were a girl, Dad," she said. "You look pretty!”

Candle Light only became more and more embarrassed, but didn’t mention it much beyond simplistically explaining that she would be a stallion later before her daughter showed off the clubhouse she was making. It was nice to hear from her, although it was strange seeing Olivia as a pony. Not too bad though when she remembered that she was probably on the couch in the living room looking at her PonyPad. The unicorn sounded just like her little girl, too.

She looked at the little building the filly made, talking to her daughter the whole time, outside of a quick wave to the sky that she assumed her eldest daughter, Daphne, could see her through. It made her wonder when she’d see her other kids, as well as her wife, but she didn’t ask about that just yet. She knew if she could see Olivia, it wouldn’t be any trouble for her to meet with them, too.

She took the small unicorn to her new house to show her it, Misty Rose smiling at the scene and following a few yards behind the two. “Are you being good for your mother while I’m away, Livvy?” Candle Light asked. “How are your sisters and your brother?”

“I am, and they’re good,” the filly said as the mare watched her light up her horn to lift things around her in the home and put them in place. What kind of magic was that? Could she do that, too? There was going to be a lot to learn about being a pony, it seemed.

“We had macaroni and peas for dinner today,” she said, “because Mom doesn’t cook as good as you. And Liana said she wanted to see you, too, but she just stayed in her room and watched TV after dinner. And Daffie slept all day, but she does that a lot now.” A pause came, then she exclaimed, “Oh! My pony name is Warm Spell! What’s your pony name, so I can tell everyone?”

“My pony name is ‘Dad’, just like my Earth name,” the mare joked lightly, earning a giggle from her daughter. “But Celestia named me Candle Light. I guess that means I should call you ‘Spelly’ then, Livvy?”

“Uh huh, but you can call me Livvy, too, Dad,” she explained. “I’ve never been to this town before, but I’m gonna live with you, and my secret clubhouse is gonna be on the beach, and only we can play in.”

Candle Lights’s smile widened as she heard it. Her daughter was acting just as nice and kind as she always did, and it made her heart flutter even now when she was a pony. She almost hoped she would never grow up, because she was just too precious.

Would Candle Light even get to see her grow up from inside a computer?

“But I gotta go to bed now,” she finished, interrupting the thought. “Mom says you gave us lots of money, and we have to go shopping tomorrow, and sign up for school on Tuesday. I’m gonna be in first grade!”

“I know that, silly Livvy. Tell your mother and Stevie and Liana and Daffie that I love them, alright?” she instructed before giving the filly a hug. “I love you lots.”

“I love you, Daddy,” she replied, same as she always did, before the filly waved a hoof. “Bye! See you later!” Then her horn lit up and she disappeared.

“How was she able to do that?” Candle Light asked Misty, although she didn’t turn around. She instead blinked ahead at the stop her daughter– well, her avatar, anyway– had just been.

“You mean teleportation?” the mare replied as she stood close to Candle Light again. “I bet lots of unicorns can do that with enough practice. It just takes a little bit of magic. Your filly must be really good at magic though. You said she was six? I bet she’s really something if she can do magic so young.”

“I guess that means I’ll have to ask her for advice on what to do then,” Candle Light smiled. Misty Rose laughed at that.

“I’m sure you will. Foals always seem to be brighter than us old ponies, especially your little filly. She seems absolutely precious. Reminds me of my own kids when they were young.”

“Yeah…”

She blinked again, and sniffled, and suddenly, before she knew it, her tears were hitting the ground as she scrunched her face up. She was still facing away from Misty Rose, but closed her eyes and turned her head further regardless. The mare responded by casually wrapping a hoof around her shoulder and pulling her in lightly.

"I think I know how you're feeling," she said. Not softly, but her voice was still sweet and comforting anyway. "Missing your family, aren't you?"

"I am," Candle Light admitted, quickly wiping her eyes with a hoof as she took a breath. "I know it’s only been a day, but I don't know if I've ever gone so long without seeing my wife and kids." Sure, Olivia talked to her, but that was it. It wasn't her daughter. It was just a character Olivia spoke through.

"Well I'm positive with a house as big as you have," Misty Rose continued, "your family will move in with you before you know it. No way can you let all that space go to waste. You said Princess Celestia gave it to you? I don’t know much about the Outer Realm, but I do know Princess Celestia would never let anypony be unhappy. You can put your bits on that.”

“Yeah, maybe,” the unicorn nodded, wiping her eyes again. She didn’t know if she hoped so quite yet, but after just a few hours, she was leaning in that direction. In just a few hours– well, the one’s she’d been awake for anyway– the world she now inhabited was proving itself to be ten times the place Earth was, in both big and small ways. She got an enormous house by the ocean for free, had neighbors who had no trouble buying things for her, was told it didn’t matter if she got a job or not, and could probably do magic in real life. The only thing that was missing was her family.

How much was her life insurance policy again? Depending on how much it cost, she bet they could all follow after her without much trouble.

But those weren’t thoughts for now. There was a lot for Candle Light to see and do before she started thinking about saying something like that to her family. After all, she might have been in a computer, but as far as she understood, it was still death, was it not?

She took another breath to gather herself, blinking away any remaining wetness. “You were talking about dinner before, right?” she started again. “I could go for something. What kind of food do ponies here eat anyway?”

It was a question she soon found the answer to. The sky had begun to change to a subtle orange tint as the sun remained behind the clouds when the two walked down to Misty’s home. The building was comparatively smaller, the entire house resting on one level and offering only three bedrooms. Quaint was the best way to describe it. The home was painted with soft yellow walls and was lit dimly as a fireplace burned despite proximity to the beach. It seemed like it’d be the mare style in just the short time Candle Light had known her, she thought.

She met the earth pony’s husband and her children, greeting them politely and introducing herself while she showed Misty the meal she was going to cook for them. It was strange how normal they all seemed despite her family almost certainly being entirely AI ponies. Her husband chatted her up a bit and her kids were slightly disinterested but looked at Candle Light curiously, just like the unicorn would’ve expected from humans she met. Coincidentally, they were all Earth ponies.

No meat presented itself as Candle Light rummaged through her new friend’s kitchen, but there were still things like eggs and cheese and milk and such. She could imagine why, although didn’t remember if the mare looked uncomfortable when she bought some meat products from the store for her. Still, the unicorn made a mental note that a more pescatarian or vegetarian diet might be in order. Thankfully, she didn’t see anything like hay or grass for food either here or when they went shopping.

It wasn’t anything too fancy she cooked for her new neighbors; simple pasta with alfredo sauce with a side of roasted zucchini was what she served, figuring horses would probably like something like this. They seemed to, their happy faces as they enjoyed her cooking making the meal just that much better. She grinned widely as the compliments were sent her way.

The conversation was casual and friendly, the ponies explaining to her a bit about the town they lived in. Things like who the important ponies were and what schools they had and how they should throw a housewarming party for her and whatnot. Then Misty and her husband sat with her in their living room while they got to know each other better and talked about each other’s families until the sun went down.

A hug was what she offered to her new friend before she finally walked back up the street to the house she received from Celestia. The day had felt completely endless. How long ago was it when she’d woken up in Celestia’s castle? Centuries? No, it had only been a few hours, hours that had been packed with so much new information and many new experiences. She took a breath as she stood in her empty house and let the day’s events settle over her.

“Good grief, this is all so overwhelming,” Candle Light whispered to herself as she headed into the closest bedroom to sit down. “Is this all even real?” She still wasn’t convinced, but maybe if she was a still pony tomorrow, she’d be more so. Her hooves shook slightly, and she closed her eyes to settle down. This day seemed so unreal in hindsight.

Another breath was what she took before she lay down in the silent, empty house to go to sleep. It seemed nice here in Equestria.

"Did you know Olivia talked to Dad yesterday?" Liana asked Daphne the next morning as she came down from her room to eat breakfast with her and her little brother. "Apparently he's a girl now from what she said. He was in some city by the beach.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said flatly, placing a hand on her chin. “I saw when Olivia was playing.” She still felt tired from the previous evening despite a full night’s rest. She had to avoid calling the copy she saw yesterday what it was.

“I haven’t talked to him yet though,” the girl continued. “I haven’t played at all in a long time. Where are Mom and Livvy anyway?”

“I think they went shopping today, I don’t know,” Liana shrugged. “She was telling me we needed food this morning before they left. I wanted to wait for you to get up before I played though.”

“I didn’t,” Steven said without looking up from his device as he ignored the toasted waffles on his plate. “I can’t find him anywhere in this town. I’ve been walking up and down this beach for the last thirty minutes and I don’t see him. Celestia and Olivia both said he was here though. I can’t even remember the town’s name though.”

“I think it was something like ‘Summer’s Court’, but I don’t remember.” Daphne brushed a strand of dark, curly hair from in front of her eyes as she glanced between the table and the wall. She was certainly curious, but she didn’t know if she felt as interested as her siblings probably were. There were no words she could use to describe the exact combination of emotions she felt about what happened. Or maybe there were too many.

“He had a pink coat and a light purple mane though, I think,” Daphne continued. “His pony looked like it weighed a little more than the other ponies, too.”

“I have not seen a single pony that looked like that,” her brother replied as he squinted down at the screen. “Like, at all. I almost think I got the wrong shard.”

The girl let out a long, annoyed breath. “If you get my PonyPad from my room, I’ll try and help find him for you.”

Daphne didn’t look away from the wall as Steven quickly left to grab it, but did catch a weird glance coming from Liana. She almost thought she was gonna ask if she was okay, but a second later, looked back down at her plate and took a bite of her waffles. Seemingly just as quickly, Steven was back with her PonyPad. Much too quickly, in Daphne’s opinion.

Only a few seconds after that, she was staring at her PonyPad at her avatar, a mostly androgynous looking bat pony named Night Watcher. It had brown eyes that were so dark as to appear almost black, and a black coat to go along with its very dark blue mane. It was slenderly built, its body constructed in a way that made flying through the skies exceptionally easy. Daphne didn’t do much of that, since she didn’t play Equestria Online all that much to begin with.

She watched her pony do so now, gliding carefully down to land on the beach she saw Olivia talking to her father on yesterday, standing next to her brother. His pony also had wings, but instead of a bat pony, he was a silver coated pegasus aptly named Silver Light. He came complete with a golden mane and bright blue eyes, and stood just a hair shorter than Night Watcher.

She looked around for a moment, and then pushed her avatar forward for a short walk to the clubhouse Olivia was building the night before. It was only another minute when Liana’s purple coated, purple maned pegasus, Sweeping Skies, joined the two of them to stand there. The little clubhouse looked a little more touched up than yesterday before she left. The thing was fully assembled, although it was only about the size of a bedroom, and it had a little sign on the door that read ‘Warm Spell and Dad’s Clubhouse’. It was definitely a creation of her little sister’s.

"I think they're inside," Sweeping Skies said as the mare rounded to the entrance of the tiny building. At least, the pony's mouth moved. She didn't hear anything from either her or Steven's PonyPad, probably because of the proximity to Liana. She did still hear the sound of waves crashing against the sand and soft wind blowing, as well as what sounded like the voices Olivia and the mare that was meant to be her father coming from inside the small building.

“Is that you, Liana?” she asked before Daphne or her siblings could speak. A second later, she poked her head out the door to the small clubhouse, and grinned widely at the sight of the three of them. Daphne glanced up from her screen for a moment to see both Liana and Steven wearing smirks at the sight of her, but she kept her own expression flat. Olivia’s filly, Warm Spell, followed after the mare a second later.

"Hey, kids!" she waved happily, speaking with the same bright tone Daphne heard her whole life. Except not at all like anything she ever heard. This was the first time the mare that was intended to be her father spoke to her like this.

"I can tell that you're Stevie," she said as she pointed to Silver Light, "but which one of you is Daffie and which one is Liana?"

"The blue and black one is Daffie," Warm Spell said. "She was watching me play with you last night."

"And my pony's name is Sweeping Skies," Liana explained. "That's Night Watcher and Silver Light."

"Hmmm, I guess that means I should call you 'Sky' then for short," the unicorn nodded thoughtfully. "And Daffie and Stevie would be 'Silver' and 'Nighty', right? Celestia said my name would be Candle Light."

"I'm okay with that," Steven shrugged as Daphne remained silent. "I just wanna know about what it's like for you being a horse now."

"And also, why the heck are you a girl now, Dad?" Liana asked. "Or, uh, should I call you 'mom' or something?"

Daphne didn't feel any annoyance or anger like she expected to, unable to even roll her eyes. She didn't feel much of anything as she thought about how ridiculous it was to call a copy of their dead father any sort of familial term. Was this making her feel anxious? She couldn't tell.

Candle Light looked anxious though. Daphne watched her glance away for a second with a red face as she rubbed a hoof in the sand. Both Olivia and Steven laughed at the look on her face, and the mare was able to muster up a little smile again. Daphne couldn't see what was particularly funny.

"You can just call me 'dad' if you want," she said quickly, a little bit more quietly than before. "I'm only being a mare for a little while because that's what Celestia chose while I think about what kind of stallion I want to be."

This time it was Liana who laughed with Steven as Olivia's pony loudly declared, "I think you're a pretty mare, Dad." Daphne had to admit, it got a smirk out of her. Just as quickly though, she put her smile back down.

Somehow though, Candle Light wasn't embarrassed by that. She touched Warm Spell's nose with a careful hoof, pausing for a second to put on a larger smile. Then she said, "I think you look very pretty too, sweetie."

Maybe it’s not even a copy of him at all, Daphne thought. It was a useless one though. Just like yesterday, this mare still acted like him, in both the big and the small mannerisms. The way she kind of flashed her teeth when she was flustered and how she collectively referred to them as ‘kids’ and had an excited sort of energy even if she didn’t display it was just like him.

It felt like she was staring at the alien version of her father. It was deeply unsettling.

“I’ve only been here for a day, but I’ve been fine,” she said as she turned to face the three of their ponies. “I got a big house for free, and I met the neighbors and went shopping here yesterday. And everything seems real, I think. It’s just weird being a horse is all. But I’m fine.” A pause came, and she asked, “Are you all okay though? They gave you the life insurance money, right? Is your mother doing okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Steven answered for the group after Daphne stayed silent. “I think Mom said she got the check a couple of days ago, but I can’t ask because she’s doing school registrations and shopping right now.”

“I’m with her!” Warm Spell announced excitedly. “We’re doing it today cause I’m gonna meet my new teacher! I’m gonna be in first grade!”

“Hehe, I know you are sweetie,” Candle Light laughed, touching the unicorn’s mane with a hoof. “And I’m sure you’re gonna get good grades and tell your mother I love her for me, right?”

“Right!”

Yes, this whole scene was making Daphne anxious. She could feel her breathing starting to pick up and sweat start to drip down her forehead, something that reflected itself into her avatar. She hoped no one would notice, and then wondered why she hoped that. This wasn't her father.

"I'm gonna go now," she decided, speaking in the same flat time she had for months now. "I have stuff to do today. I'll see you later." She made well sure not to call the character in front of her 'dad'.

"Well I expect a hug from all three of you before any of you leave," the mare decided as she stepped forward to wrap her hooves around Sweeping Skies first. "I haven't been able to for months, and I know it's been days since I've seen any of you."

Just like her father would, Candle Light hugged the mares tightly and gave a friendlier hoof wrapped around the shoulder to her brother's stallion. Whatever code or tech they used to get all of this stuff into this copy was certainly impressive, Daphne could say that much. It didn't make her feel any better about it existing in her father's place.

"I miss you all so much already," she finished, smiling sadly their way, but without tears in her eyes. "I hope there's a way for them to make a new body for me as a human or something in the future."

"If they can do all this, why not?" Liana smiled. "And I didn't say I was leaving yet. I don't have anything to do all day."

"Me, neither," Steven said, his pony shrugging as he did. "I wanna hear all about it."

The mare's look on her face brightened hearing that. "I love you kids." She turned Night Watcher, almost looking up at Daphne through the real world as she finished, "I guess I'll see you later then, Daffie? Err, Nighty?"

"Yeah, see you later," she agreed before quickly powering off her device and letting out a breath she'd been subconsciously holding in. That was unnerving. Like it could see her through the screen. It made Daphne's skin crawl, and she finally let out a shiver she'd been forcing back.

“What’s up with you?” Steven asked with a raised eyebrow. “You look like a bug just crawled on you.”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out immediately. She debated between answering with ‘nothing’ or giving the truthful answer. She almost went with the former.

“You already know,” was all she said. She realized she was glaring at him, but didn’t turn away or let down her expression. Neither of those things would change any of what she felt, would they? Not that he was the only one, of course.

“Whatever,” she heard Steven say, watching him shake his head in annoyance as Liana shot a confused look her way. “You’re just being stupid.”

She felt goosebumps forming on her skin and crawling up her arms as they laughed and chatted with the alien copy of their father.

Candle Light spent almost the entirety of her second day in Equestria with her kids.

More specifically, it was with Liana and Steven, although she did spend a couple of hours with Olivia before she said she had to get off to go shopping. She showed them around the new house she owned, and tried to get used to the idea of them being horses from her perspective. Something about the idea that they were only looking at a screen and interacting with her through a PonyPad felt more weird to her than them being ponies. It was much better than not being able to do anything with them as she lay in a hospital bed though.

They acted just as normal as they always did; they talked past each other and argued occasionally, and Steven acted like he was a little above it all while Liana and Olivia were Candle Light’s little princesses, even if the former sometimes had a habit of trying to pick fights with her older brother. Daphne seemed a little upset in the few minutes she was around before she went flying off, but she couldn’t blame her daughter. It was probably a little hard on her, like it was for Candle Light, for her to no longer be in the real world.

Like her neighbors’ kids, both of them were a little disinterested when she showed the two of them off to Misty, but Candle Light had to, like any parent did. They took more of an interest in talking to her new neighbor’s kids, which gave the mare a moment alone with Misty Rose.

“Those two are nice foals,” the earth pony told her. “You said you have four kids?” she asked. “I know I met your little filly yesterday. What was her name?”

“Olivia. Err, I mean, um, Warm Spell,” Candle Light answered. “And my oldest was here earlier, but had to go. She’s seventeen, and her name’s Daphne… err, Night Watcher, I guess.”

“Well, I’m sure she’s just as nice as your other kids, and I bet your wife is, too,” Misty nodded. “Are they moving in with you? Actually, that’s a silly question. Of course they are, right?”

“I don’t know. They’re still on Earth– err, I mean, the Outer Realm. That’s actually them playing the game on their PonyPads.” Then she shrugged, finishing, “But I guess, maybe? I’m already here, after all. Why wouldn’t they come?” It didn’t seem like it would be any harm for them at least two days in.

Eventually, the sun began to go down, and she had to bid her children goodbye. She hugged both of them again before both Silver Light and Sweeping Skies flew off. To where, she didn’t know. She smirked as she imagined them just going to their bedrooms to stare at their phones all night.

She couldn’t wait to see them again tomorrow, and hoped her wife would join them this time, too. Not to mention, spending more time with her eldest child would be lovely.

Candle Light was surprised though when she didn’t see any of her family at all on the third day. She expected Warm Spell to be at the clubhouse she made this morning, just like yesterday, but instead, found it empty. She walked up and down the beach for an hour, and then two as the sun hung in the sky over her beyond the clouds. She swam in the water again for the third hour, getting herself used to her new limbs, before she climbed back onto the beach and shook herself off to see that they still weren't here.

No matter. No reason to waste the day here. They'd probably be back soon.

Her third day in Equestria was so far the most boring. She walked around town and ate breakfast and lunch at a couple of restaurants, something she'd forgotten to do the previous day. Was it weird to feel hungry and tired and have to go to the bathroom if she was in a computer now? She didn't know, but didn't think about it much as she tried a sandwich that had flowers in it for some reason. It would be interesting to investigate just how far she could take things if she was just a piece of code.

She was sad though when her kids didn't show up on the third day, and felt even more so on the fourth day, too. That was a day she spent at the beach again before heading back home to try and spruce things up a bit more to her taste. Painting walls and rearranging furniture and such. It was something Misty Rose helped her with, which she was glad for. It didn't make her miss her kids less though.

On the fifth day of no appearances from them, she felt more confused and concerned by their lack of appearance than sad. After her now daily walk to and swim at the beach, she clicked the picture of the sun imprinted into her living room wall. The tall princess appeared before her with a gentle smile on her face, one that automatically made Candle Light relax some.

“Um, I have a question about my family,” she started without hesitation, looking up into the impossibly tall pony’s eyes. “Is there any reason I haven’t seen them at all the last couple of days? I mean, presumably you can see them in the real world since you control Equestria Online, I think. Are they okay?”

“Yes, Candle Light,” she answered gently, in a tone that reminded her a bit of her mother. It was soft and sweet, and relaxed her muscles that were subconsciously tensed up.

“They’re currently asleep, so far as I can tell,” she continued. “While it’s been three days since you’ve seen your foals last, from their perspective, it’s been about two hours. Your perspective of time has quickened upon emigrating to Equestria.”

“Like, time dilation or something?” she asked as she tilted her head. “How the heck does that work? And what am I supposed to do while I wait for them? How long will it be for me before tomorrow?”

"Please don't be worried," the princess assured her, settling a wing onto her back. "They will be around just as often as you need and desire. However, time to focus on yourself is also important. Don't think of your new perception of time as missing your family, but as additional time to explore the world and yourself."

Candle Light nodded as she took it all in. She… guessed that made sense. If it really only had been a couple of hours for them in the real world, then that wasn't so bad. It also made her that much more curious about how far the limits of a computer could be stretched. If days could go by for her while almost no time passed in the real world, what else could happen?

"What the heck am I supposed to do though?" she asked. She pointed her eyes down at the floor and rubbed a hoof against the ground. "I, uh, don't really have much of a life outside of my family," she said quietly. It was something she thought about a couple of times before, but also something that hadn't been much of an issue before either.

"Well, for starters, you're a unicorn, which means you can do unicorn magic," Celestia explained. "I'm certain some of the books hanging on these walls are spell books, are they not? Discovering your special talent is something else to do. As well, while you do love your family, if you're concerned about your lack of relationships outside of them, I'm sure your friend Misty Rose can introduce you to many a pony in this town if you'd like. There's much to see and learn about Summer's Edge as well, and Equestria in general."

"That… sounds like something to do," the mare agreed. "As long as I'll still have my kids and family to see. I can try doing some of those things."

"Your family will always be near for you to see, Candle Light, I assure you that." She kept on that same smile, one that made the unicorn finally smile back.

"Okay, I'll go along with it for now," she replied. "I guess I could try learning some magic. That sounds like it'd be fun. I don't think I'd be able to do much though since I'm so old."

"I'm very glad you'll try, Candle Light. As long as you have a willingness to undertake new tasks and learn more, you'll never be stagnant in self growth. Although you should know that most things in Equestria are not relative to the Outer Realm. We do not have the same constraints here."

Didn't Candle Light already know that? She was about to ask the princess what she meant when she disappeared with the flash of her horn. What an abrupt end to the conversation.

But she did give the unicorn an answer when she needed one, just as she said she would do. Her family was fine, just as always, and Celestia said she could see them whenever she desired. That meant she could see them right now presumably, right? She couldn't think of a reason why not, but didn't press Celestia's button again. The princess might have said Candle Light could do whatever she wanted, but just like with being a mare, she would opt to trust the AI's judgment.

She stood alone for a silent minute, staring out a window as she gazed at nothing in particular. That feeling she got as she stood on the beach the first day was starting to return. Celestia would probably entertain any of her desires if she called her up again, which meant she had a limitless amount of potential things to do, right? And if she could control time, too, there might be a limitless amount of time to do those things in. She could feel her hooves shaking as her breathing started to pick up.

The mare closed her eyes to steady herself, and took off her glasses for a moment to rub her eyes. Celestia said something about how learning meant self growth. She hasn't done much in the learning department since high school, over two decades ago, even though she did enjoy learning new things. But magic would be something fun to figure out, especially since Olivia had a unicorn that could do it, too. If she really had as much time as Celestia said, maybe she could get good enough to teach her daughter how to do things. When was the last time she had the chance to do that? She bet there might be ways to make her wife enjoy it, too.

It put a smile on her face to imagine as she started to look through her books for information about spellcasting. A lot of time meant a lot of opportunity to make her family feel proud of her. If she was able to be in Equestria, no doubt one day that would be here, too.

Magic, it turned out, was complicated stuff.

Finding a book on the subject was little trouble; there was a shelf along the living room wall that contained nothing but text on how to do magic. However, it seemed like there was a reason there were so many books, because just getting a few pages into the first one, Candle Light found herself already confused.

Watching Warm Spell light up her horn and cast a spell when she was only six made it seem easy, in spite of what the earth pony told her. As she read through though, she got the feeling that it was only so because Olivia was pressing buttons on her PonyPad. This book detailed things like special characters that had to be written and how to draw energy from within yourself and project it into physical space and how to convert ambient energy into magical and a whole lot of other highly scientific sounding things. It was a lot more complicated than she expected, and almost deterred her from reading through the book right now.

But she shook her head clear of discouragement, then used a hoof to brush her mane out of her face. She had who knew how long to figure it out, confusing as it was. If Olivia could do it through a screen, she could do it in real life.

She put on some Clay Walker CDs she bought with Misty Rose a few days ago, found a comfortable spot on the couch to lay down on, and started reading from the beginning.

The hardest part at first was figuring out what everything meant. She wasn’t exactly sure what ‘thaumatology’ meant, and even though she was a horse now, she certainly didn’t know horse body parts like the book demanded she know. What exactly was a ‘croup’, and why was such a thing storing her magical energy? A dictionary she found came in handy, and helped her piece some things together.

Applying what she read was much easier. Apparently, telekinesis was the first skill any unicorn learned, and she could see why. There was a technical explanation about how energy was displaced when a unicorn moved an object and how it meant that more energy was required to move larger objects, but the instructions were simple. Think about what you wanted to move and where it was, put energy into your horn, and wrap it around the object. Candle Light didn’t exactly know what it meant to put energy into her horn, but she tried her best to follow the instructions, and to her surprise, it worked! She grinned widely as she carefully held the book she was reading above her and moved it around a few feet without issue.

She couldn’t hold it up for longer than a minute or so before she got tired, but the book explained that, too. Just like a runner, endurance had to be built up before she could hold her energy around an object for longer amounts of time. It explained that practice would make this easier, and so she stopped reading where she was to practice picking up and holding things for the rest of the day. She wore an excited smile the whole time.

Actual spellcasting, however, was much more difficult, something she discovered the next day, after her now ritual walk to and swim at the beach. Spellcasting required learning and memorizing a series of special characters, writing them out in your head while drawing energy into your horn, and then forcing the energy out once the spell was ready. It explained that most unicorns wrote out spells they planned to cast later in the day to save time– she had no idea how something like that could be possible– and that the more often you trained your magic spellcasting, the more complex and energetic spells you could cast. If it was as easy as doing the telekinesis she learned the day before, it would be no sweat.

Candle Light tried hard, but she didn’t cast one spell that day, or the next day. Not the next day after that, or the next week after that. She imagined at first it was because she wasn’t drawing enough energy, since she didn’t really have any way to indicate energy was being drawn. However, by the second week of studying, she could hold the book above her head to read without trouble for almost an hour. She did as the text described and wrote out the characters in her mind while she imagined the energy flowing to her horn, but still nothing was happening. Maybe she wasn’t writing them exactly right? But even if she looked at the book while doing it, she still couldn’t–

“Candle?” Misty Rose suddenly called from outside as she knocked on her door one morning. “Are you in there?” It was unexpected enough that the unicorn almost jumped at the sound.

“Yeah. The door’s unlocked,” she replied. “You can come in.”

Misty Rose entered, looked down at Candle Light, and then looked around the house to take it in. “Oh, that’s what you’ve been up to,” the earth pony smiled. “Rearranging your house, I see? It looks nice!”

“I did that a couple of weeks ago,” Candle Light laughed. “I’ve just been reading this book about magic and trying to figure it out.” Then she let out a small sigh, finished, “It’s more difficult than I thought though.”

"I can't even imagine how difficult that must be," Misty Rose replied. "I don't think I could manage it at all. Maybe that's why I'm an earth pony." A little pause came as the unicorn glanced back up at her book for a second, then her friend said, "Say though, if you don't mind taking a break, do you think you could help me do some shopping? I wanna get some new clothes, but I need a mare's opinion on what to get."

"I don't think I'd call myself the best judge of fashion," Candle Light said sheepishly as she glanced away again for a moment. "But sure. I could try and help with that."

It wasn't too much later when Candle Light was down in the main part of Summer's Edge for the first time in weeks. It was a sunnier day today, and a bit warmer than most of the mornings she went to the beach to swim. Seeing all the ponies out and about as they smiled and walked in the sun helped to remind her of what else Celestia said. Making friends with these ponies was also important.

The two walked through a couple of jewelry shops, the two mares stopping to admire some of the stones without making any purchases, before they entered a clothing store aimed towards mares. There still wasn't anything like underwear or pants that she saw that wasn’t lingerie, but the skirts and dresses and socks they sold looked nice enough.

The unicorn didn't feel particularly helpful to Misty Rose, but she complimented her politely and pointed out some dresses she thought looked especially nice. There were a few that looked like things her wife would wear, and she pointed out one that was bright blue with occasional yellow stripes and red flowers that she saw. Misty Rose laughed at the suggestion.

"I'm already as blue as a pony can come," the mare said lightly. "I don't think more blue would make me stand out much.” Then she squinted at Candle Light. “Hmmm… it might look pretty good on you though,” she said.

“I’m not sure,” was the unicorn’s immediate, red faced reply. “Maybe though.”

“I can buy it for you, if you wanna,” Misty offered her. “I don’t mind. I have the bits.”

Candle Light could feel more blood rushing to her face as she put on an embarrassed smile. She rubbed a back hoof against the back of a forehoof as she looked away. “Thanks, but no. I don’t wanna be a burden, especially since you’ve already paid for all of my shopping when I first got here.”

“I have the bits, Candle,” Misty laughed. “It’s not gonna– oh, hey! There’s that pony I was telling you about before! Soft Step!”

“Who?”

Before she got an answer, her companion was waving and beckoning a purple unicorn with a brown mane over. She looked about as old as Candle Light did, probably around twenty two or so, and was a unicorn just like her. She had a large, friendly smile on her face, and seemed a bit lighter on her hooves than either Candle Light or Misty Rose were.

“I was just telling Candle Light here about how you were from the Outer Realm, too,” Misty Rose said, as though it wasn’t a passing remark she made weeks ago. “She just moved to Summer’s Edge, and said she wanted to meet other ponies from the Outer Realm like she’s from.”

“Huh. I didn’t think there were other actual people playing in Summer’s Edge,” she started. “It’s kind of cool though that Composition’s shard is popular like that.”

“Shard?” Candle Light asked with a tilt of her head. “What the heck is a shard? You mean, like, this town?”

“Basically,” the mare nodded, wearing a little smirk. “I guess that must mean you’re super new then. I’m Soft Step,” she introduced. She held out her hoof to shake.

“Candle Light,” the unicorn replied, accepting the hoof. “If you’re a human, you must know how the heck to cast spells, since you’re a unicorn, right?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to get it for the last couple of weeks, but all I can do is levitate stuff. Not actually cast spells.”

“Haha, that’s easy,” Soft Step smiled. “There’s a button on the side of the screen you have to open up first. Then you just click on whatever spell you want to do. But you have to actually learn how to do it by pressing the characters in the right order. At least, I did.”

Oh, so then this mare wasn’t actually in Equestria. “I don’t, uh, have a screen,” she told her. “I actually live here. In real life.” She felt somewhat awkward saying it, but she wasn’t sure why. Maybe something about it felt like it would make her the subject of ridicule, as silly a feeling as it was to have.

"Wait, so you, like, went to Japan to upload then?" Soft Step asked, a little amazement in her voice. Candle Light nodded, and shifted on her hooves uncomfortably. "That sounds absolutely insane to me."

“I didn't really have much of a choice on my part. But, uh, I guess that means you can’t help me, can you?” Candle Light asked awkwardly.

“I can try,” she offered. “I’m not sure what you would do though, since I’ve never met anyone who actually lives in Equestria, you know? But let me see. Give me a minute.”

She watched the purple unicorn stare up at the ceiling for more than a minute. In fact, it was closer to five that she remained completely motionless outside of blinking and breathing. Candle Light took a step back from her, debating whether or not she should try and touch her or leave.

"Do ponies from the Outer Realm do that all the time?" she asked Misty, who had returned to looking around for clothes, unbothered by the scene. Even as she asked it though, the answer to what was going on was already forming in her head.

"Sure," the mare answered. "Lots of ponies do lots of weird things. This is pretty normal, I'd say. Some of the ponies I talk to sleep for days and days at a time."

"I think I got an idea," Soft Step suddenly interrupted, making the mare jump. "You can try watching me cast a spell to see how to do it right. A few people on YouTube talked about helping people who just uploaded into unicorns, and that's what they did. I only learned how to do teleportation though because that's all I use."

"That's fine," Candle Light said. "Let me see."

The mare watched as Soft Step closed her eyes and took a breath before lighting up her horn. Time seemed to move in slow motion. She wasn't sure how, but she could almost see the characters being drawn out faintly in the air in front of her, and watched as her breathing subtly made her barrel move from back to front somehow. It was incredibly strange to see, but sure enough, a second later, the mare disappeared and popped back into existence a moment later, now standing a few feet to her right.

"And that's pretty much it," Soft Step told she with a smile. "I guess since you don't have a PonyPad, you'd probably just think about where you wanna be, but yeah. I don't know if that does it for you, but…"

"I think I understand it a little more than the book told me," Candle Light said. "Let me see."

Candle Light closed her eyes, just as Soft Step did, and breathed deeply, focusing on trying to put energy into her horn. She still had no idea if it was doing anything, but this time, she did feel pressure subtly moving from near her flank to her chest as she breathed the way she saw Soft Step do. She imagined drawing out the characters she needed as she pushed the pressure from her chest to her head, and…

She heard a loud 'pop' and felt a rush of energy suddenly leave her as she opened her eyes. She was now standing on the beach she went to every morning, and turned to see Warm Spell's little clubhouse sitting off in the distance. The waves lapped at her hooves and she heard seagulls flying overhead as a rush of excitement came over her.

“Yes! Ahh, yes! I did it!” she yelled as she jumped and danced happily on the beach, leaving hoofprints in the sand. She was so excited that she didn’t even notice as her cutie mark appeared on her flank.

Candle Light didn’t notice her new cutie mark until Misty Rose pointed it out to her at the clothing shop when she returned. She casted the teleportation spell again to get back to her and Soft Step, and while she took a moment to breathe from having expended so much energy, the mare congratulated her.

"My cutie mark is supposed to mean something about having a special talent, right?" the unicorn asked. "I did the spell and I got it, but I'm not sure what a candle has to do with that."

"It's probably because your name is Candle Light," Misty told her. "I got a rose on my flank, but my special talent is wedding planning, if you can believe it. I figure I got mine because of my name, and you must have got yours because of yours."

Candle Light accepted the explanation without issue, and turned to give her thanks to Soft Step. “It would have taken me forever to get that if you didn’t show me,” she told her. “I don’t exactly know how it helped, but it did.”

“Ah, it was nothing,” Soft Step replied politely. “That was all you.” Then she told her, “I have to go now though. Meeting up with some of my other friends. But it was nice seeing you. I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, see you,” Candle Light smiled. Soft Step gave a little wave before she lit up her horn and teleported away to somewhere else. Candle Light smiled happily to herself at the thought about the fact that it was a skill she was now able to do.

“I guess since you got your cutie mark, this calls for a celebration,” Misty Rose told her, touching the mare’s shoulder with a hoof as she held up the dress from before in another. “You’re a little too old for a cute-ceañera, but this dress could be a good present. I got the bits for it for you, and I bet your wife would like it if she has the same one.”

Candle Light blushed again, but this time, said, “I guess since I’ve earned it.” She didn’t know how big of a deal it was meant to be, but if Celestia mentioned finding her cutie mark to her before, it must have been a somewhat big thing. She couldn’t say no under those circumstances, could she?

She had dinner with Misty Rose and her family that night, this time inviting them to her home, and in the morning, she opted to teleport to the beach rather than walk. Now that she knew how to do it, she wanted to practice it like she did telekinesis, and did the same spell every morning for the next week. Just like with telekinesis, her stamina built up, and by the end of the week, she cast the spell three or four times in succession before she got tired.

That other unicorn, Soft Step, might have said it was the only spell she used, but Candle Light certainly wasn’t going to stop after learning just one spell. She kept right on reading through her spellbook each day to try and learn new things. It was a slow process; spell casting was still much more difficult than using telekinesis. But within a few weeks, she was looking at a small arsenal of five or six useful spells.

She made sure to pay more careful attention to her time though meanwhile. Rather than staying cooped up inside reading about magic all day like before, she went out and talked to ponies now. Mostly it was with Misty Rose, but she slowly branched off to make some more friends. She talked to Soft Step once or twice more, and found some other friends as she tried some of the restaurants around town and went shopping. They were polite and friendly, and with some of them, she had some interesting conversations about everything from magic to some mare named Renown Composition who apparently ran this town, to even about how one pony was tired of being a pegasus and wanted to try being an earth pony.

Candle Light remembered what Celestia said about thinking about what she wanted to be, and she could still say she had no idea. Definitely a unicorn though, and the glasses would stay, but beyond that, nothing. Maybe she’d just stay the same if she couldn’t think of anything good until she met up with her wife eventually. She could let her pick out.

She still hadn’t met up with her wife yet, and it made her a little sad, but finally seeing her children again after several weeks made her happy. She almost asked them what took them so long before she remembered what the princess– an alicorn, she learned– had told her.

“It’s been almost two months since I’ve seen you kids,” she told them. “I know it only feel like a few hours for you though. Celestia was telling me about how time would be faster for me here. But how have you guys been? Are you being good for your mother?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Steven said through Silver Light, “but it’s only been a day, Dad. Has it really been that long for you? Because that sounds awesome.”

“That’s really cool,” Liana agreed as Sweeping Skies smiled and stretched her wings. “You could probably do a lot of stuff if it really is that long. The doctor didn’t tell us it’d be like that in there.”

“Yeah, it’s really neat,” Candle Light continued. “I’ve been learning how to do magic in that time. I can do this now. Watch.” She lit up her horn just as she practiced, and a moment later, teleported to the other side of the beach to call and wave at them from. She teleported back in front of them a second later, and didn’t even feel too terribly tired doing it twice in succession as she smiled proudly at them.

"I can do more than just that though. I'm learning a lot about magic and science here. I feel like I'm twenty years old again."

"That means we can have a magic fight!" Warm Spell proclaimed. "We can battle and fight monsters and save ponies and go to castles!"

"Maybe we can, sweetie," Candle Light grinned as she booped her nose with a hoof. "We'll have to see if we can do that together one day if you want to."

"Yes!"

"I bet there's shards you can do that kind of stuff in if you really want to," Silver Light told her. "But also, when the heck are you gonna change into a stallion, Dad? Unless you're just gonna be a mare forever. Which would honestly be kind of weird."

"It wouldn't be that weird," Sky broke in. "I bet Mom would like it actually."

"No she wouldn't! There's no way Mom likes girls.

"That's not what I mean, idiot."

"Let's settle down now, kids," Candle Light told them gently with a little smirk on her face. "But no, I don't think I'm gonna be staying as a girl forever. Celestia said she'll let me change one time for now, but doesn't like to change ponies a lot, so that's why I haven't changed yet. I just wanna be sure."

It was funny how she didn't really feel embarrassed about it anymore. Although that probably had something to do with how long she'd been in Equestria up to that point. She didn't know if she could say she really cared either way about being a mare or a stallion, except for making her family happy, and the thoughts she had about the differences when she first got here. Maybe being a mare was better? She certainly thought she looked pretty as a mare. Was this part of the self growth Celestia was talking about?

A small pause came as she thought of something, and Candle Light continued, "Maybe your mother could help me decide on what I should be right now. Where is she? And speaking of which, where's Daphne?"

"Mom's doing more school stuff today," Liana. "And, uh, Daffie's watching our screens while we play because she doesn't wanna talk to you, I think."

That got her attention. "Why the heck wouldn't your sister want to talk to me?" she asked.

"I dunno," Sweeping Skies shrugged. "She said something yesterday about how she didn't think it was you, and then didn't play all day yesterday because of it."

"What?" Candle Light tilted her head and had an almost shocked look on her face. "I definitely am me, as far as I can tell. At least, I think so. This isn't about me being a mare, is it?"

"No, I think she thinks you're not real. Like you're a copy of yourself or something."

That was a strange thing to hear. Was something like that even possible? Candle Light had no idea. She didn't feel like a copy, but how the heck would she know if she was? It was something she would have to ask the princess about, or find a book with information on the subject. Just the thought of such a thing made her shift around on her hooves uncomfortably.

"She's just being stupid for no reason," Silver Light said with finality. "I wanna get out of here now and show you my shard, Dad. I've been working on it for a month and a half."

"Well I'd definitely love to see it if you put all that work into it, son," Candle Light said. "How do we get to it?"

Silver Light led her to the train station that would take them to his shard, the mare now filled with all sorts of concerns about both herself and her daughter. It seemed like she would have to talk to Celesita again soon.

She kept the thought in her mind as she visited her son’s shard, a place that made her laugh softly at the sight of it. She walked on streets that floated in the clouds as she passed by other winged ponies, most of whom seemed to portray a sort of ‘coolness’ the friends she remembered him hanging out with on Earth had. She thought it was adorable, and embarrassed him a bit by saying such as they made their way past fancy white buildings and to an ornate mansion that he lived in.

It was basically as she expected on the inside, and just the kind of thing any fifteen year old kid would want. An indoor pool sat in the center of a large opening room with a basketball court opposite it, not that she knew how ponies were supposed to play basketball. There were several rooms upstairs for guests and a kitchen on the main floor that was largely absent of anything besides salty snacks and sugary drinks that even she, while in Equestria, might have still drank too often. In the basement was what looked to be an arcade, one with many game systems, couches, a pool table, and a theater. She couldn’t say she really expected anything else from her son, and while this place certainly looked fun, she would take her home by the beach and near the mountains over this mansion. She did make another little note in her head to study clouds to see how they were able to hold up so much construction.

They moved on to her daughter's shard, a place that wasn't really what Candle Light expected. The last she remembered, Liana was into vampires and Arvil Lavigne, but this place had a much more different feel than that. This place looked more corporate than Silver Light’s shard. Sweeping Skies led her past skyscrapers and coffee shops and through a place that reminded Candle Light of New York City. There were certainly none of the palm trees that could be found in places around Arizona where the rest of her family still lived.

She was clearly proud of this place because her daughter walked with a little more pep in her step. The pegasus grinned as she showed off some of her friends and her favorite restaurant before giving a tour of the NYC style apartment she lived in. Candle Light almost forgot for a second that Liana wasn’t actually a pony as she politely let her children talk her ear off. If she or her other kids were in Equestria, they’d be in Summer’s Edge with her.

Warm Spell declared that she wasn’t going to be showing off the shard she shared with Daphne because Silver Light was with them and Silver Light wasn’t a girl. Candle Light herself was well beyond embarrassment about that feature about herself now, and only laughed as she suggested they head back to Summer’s Edge with her for the rest of the day. They agreed, and there they found a little bowling alley in the town to play a few games at until her children got tired. Silver Light left first, and then Warm Spell followed behind him, leaving Candle Light alone with Sweeping Skies.

“Is your older sister okay?” she had to ask. “Can you tell her I want to talk to her soon, please?”

“She’s still watching my screen,” the pegasus explained, “but she hasn’t played Equestria Online in a long time except for yesterday. She mostly just watches us and breathes over our shoulders.”

“Can you ask her why she thinks I’m not me?”

Her daughter blinked and stared flatly at her for a good fifteen or twenty second, completely silent. Candle Light glanced away and shifted around uncomfortably on her hooves before Sweeping Skies finally told her, “She said she doesn’t wanna talk about it.”

“Oh. Well, can you tell her I love her?”

Another long pause came before she got back, “She said ‘okay’.”

That stung a bit, enough to make the unicorn grimace, but Candle Light didn’t comment on it. Instead, she hugged her daughter in a quick, tight hug. “Tell her to be safe and well, okay? And you be good to your sisters and your older brother. I don’t like it when you guys fight. I love you, Liana.”

“Okay. I love you, Dad,” was the immediate reply. “Bye.”

A wave of her wing came, and then she flew out the door, leaving the unicorn to let out a long, sad breath. There was a lot for her to think about and look into, wasn’t there? She put her hooves in her hands and closed her eyes to breathe. She hoped everything would be alright with her daughter.

Then she lifted her head back up just as Soft Step was calling to her in surprise and asking for a few games against her and a mare named Careful Calling since she was here. The unicorn agreed, and chatted up the two ponies about life and magic and spellcasting while they bowled, taking her mind off the concerns she had. There would be many days to think about it all before her kids returned tomorrow. It might have been weeks in between appearances of her family, but going time seemed like such a good thing right now.

“I mean, I just don’t get why he’d choose to be a girl,” Liana shrugged at the dinner table as he took a bite of the takeout their mother ordered. “I thought he’d turn into a guy instantly, but I guess not.”

“I think he made it pretty clear he didn’t have a choice,” Steven replied as Olivia played on her PonyPad next to her. “He said Celestia chose for him. That means it’s not a choice, because who the heck would wanna be a girl? Ew.”

“He obviously had a choice, idiot. He said he wanted Mom to help him pick out what he should be. That means he’s choosing to be a girl until then.”

“Yeah, after Celestia forced him to be.”

Daphne let out a deep, long sigh, not even able to roll her eyes at the pointless conversation. She could safely say she wouldn’t have cared less either way if it was actually him. She didn’t bother interrupting to state the obvious.

“How good is she though?” she asked flatly. “On a scale of 1-10.”

“Huh? Oh, Dad? Uh, like, a ten,” Liana told her. “Well, I guess 9, since he’s a girl, but, like, it’s definitely him. There’s no doubt about that.”

“I’d say 8,” Steven replied, Daphne knowing he was probably just trying to pick different from their little sister. “You could go online and see for yourself though, since you only talked to him one time.”

The girl sighed again. “Maybe later,” she told them. “I’m not ready for all that.”

“Well he’s probably gonna keep asking until you show up instead of breathing over our necks while we play,” he continued. “I’m mostly curious about how time works there though. If it’s been weeks from his perspective, how long is a day for him versus us? An hour?”

"I guess," Liana shrugged. "But that sounds terrible to me. I wouldn't wanna sit around for weeks doing nothing. I'd get bored after a while."

Daphne shook her head in disdain as she silently listened to the two talk for a while about nothing but Equestria Online. Afterwards, she settled down next to Olivia on the bed in her room to look over her shoulder, watching her play in the hilly, forested, moonlit town of the shard they shared. It was nothing but bat ponies and unicorns there, and the moon hung high over the eerie looking town. It wasn't necessarily Daphne's style, but Olivia liked to go exploring there.

She wasn't doing such a thing right now, but instead talking to other foals that seemed to be about her age as they held a little celebration in the park for something or other. Her pony was eating cake next to another group of fillies when she said something that caught Daphne's attention.

"Princess Celestia said I might get to see you in real life soon," she said casually. "She said she might be able to turn me and my family into ponies."

"When did she say that?" Daphne suddenly asked, her tone displaying more emotion than she gave to anyone in the last few weeks. She had a serious look on her face, a look that demanded all of her kid sister's attention.

"I dunno," the little girl shrugged. "This morning, I think. She said we could live in Equestria with Dad soon if we go to Japan like he did. I tried to tell her I wasn't sick, but she said anyone can go."

Daphne was shocked to hear it, and more than a little uncomfortable. She couldn't say she had a good immediate response lined up, and almost just took the device out of her sister's hands right then. Just what on earth were these game developers trying to pull?

She tried to be calm, and took a breath to gently brush the girl off.

"No you can't, Livvy," she said sternly. That's not actually Dad you're talking to when you see that mare. She's just a game character."

Olivia looked as stunned as all get-out, and stared unblinkingly up at her older sister for a long moment before she glanced down at her PonyPad. A second later, she turned off the device and silently left the room.

Daphne shouldn't have felt as surprised as she was when her mother called for her about a minute later, her face contorted into a scowl when she saw her as she held her now sobbing little sister. She had a few tear stains of her own on her cheeks as she brushed the girl's hair with a hand and told her what she wanted to hear.

"Of course your father's really a pony now," their mother said, although Daphne wasn't sure how much she actually believed it despite being the one who had to make the decision. "That's how come you can talk to him whenever you want by playing your PonyPad."

"You promise, Mom?"

"Of course I promise," she assured her quickly as she moved a strand of hair out of the girl's eyes. "Now you go back to playing so I can talk to your older sister, okay?"

Olivia nodded, and quickly ran off after that. The second the door closed behind her, their mother asked, "I want to see for myself. Help me set up an account on that game you all play."

"I'm not lying to her," Daphne said defensively. "That mare isn't actually him. It only acts a lot like him."

"What the heck is a mare? Wait, you mean being a girl in the game?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter anyway." Daphne let out a huff of a breath, only just now realizing how intensely frustrated she felt. She didn’t cry very often, her father’s recent health being an exception, but she certainly felt her eyes starting to become wet now. She didn't allow any tears to fully slip down though, and instead took another breath before turning away. She crossed her arms, and her mother spoke again.

“Will you please help me set up an account, Daphne?” she asked.

The urge to just flat out refuse was intensely strong. She could feel her jaw clenching as she shut her eyes tight and rolled her shoulders to relax. She knew it wasn’t her mother’s fault, or anyone’s fault really. Her father’s condition was one that made it obvious he wasn’t going to survive more than a day or two longer. If there was even a one percent chance that whatever science fiction they talked about was real, the only correct choice in the situation was accepting the offer, of course.

The fact was in her head, but it didn’t make Daphne’s jaw unclench or the frustration not flow through her. She tried to remain calm though.

“Olivia was telling me about how the AI told her she could go to Japan to be with Dad,” Daphne said. “She implied that whoever the heck runs this game wants that.”

“So what?”

Another minute was what Daphne took to get back to calm. She didn’t know why she expected any different of a response.

Because you’re getting worked up over nothing, the girl reminded herself. She reminded herself of the one percent chance again, and decided her mother’s question of ‘so what’ was right. What was Olivia gonna do? Hop on a plane to Japan tomorrow? She needed to let herself slow down and take things for what they were, hard as it was to do. She especially needed to appreciate this copy for what it was. Be more hopeful instead of pessimistic. Or something.

“Nothing. Never mind,” she said again, knowing her tone sounded more depressed now. Then she shook her head, telling her, “You need a PonyPad to play Equestria Online though.”

“Go get yours and let me use it then,” her mother suggested. “And don’t say things like that to your little sister again. I don’t want to see her coming in here crying because of you.”

Daphne didn’t roll her eyes or let out an angry breath like she wanted to. Instead, she did as her mother asked, booting the thing up and handing it to her a minute later. It must have somehow known what she wanted to do, because instead of Night Watcher, she was greeted by Celestia waving a wing kindly as the screen centered on the palace. She tried not to shudder from the fact that the AI’s eyes subtly followed her gaze as she handed the device to her mother.

"You just follow Celestia's instructions," she explained before the AI said anything. "She'll pick a name and pony type and cutie mark for you if you let her. You're only planning on playing to talk to Dad, so you might as well let her choose." Daphne did shudder just a bit at calling Candle Light her father. She felt goosebumps on her arms, just as she did before.

"Night Watcher is correct," the princess of this online world nodded as she smiled softly. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the magical land of Equestria. We've been expecting you for some time."

Celestia gave the standard introduction, and Daphne’s mother followed her advice. She let Celestia pick her appearance and name and cutie mark, which turned out to be an earth pony with a simple gray coat, a white mane, and blue eyes like her father had. Certainly it was a change from the dark brown skin her mother had in real life.

“I understand you are anxious to see Candle Light,” the AI told her, occasionally glancing creepily at Daphne as she spoke. “I will place you in her home in the town known as Summer’s Edge to start you off. I believe she’s in the middle of preparing a meal for some of her new friends at the moment. Of course, there are many ponies in Summer’s Edge for you to meet and become friends with if you’d like, just as she has done. I believe she can tell you about it.”

"It's weird to hear your father called a girl," her mother whispered, something Crystal Clear copied as Celestia lit up her horn and brought her to just outside Candle Light's home. Daphne watched over her mother's shoulder as she fumbled with the PonyPad before finding the button to click to knock on the door. She didn’t remember seeing much of it before she left Olivia alone, and had to admit, as awful as she felt about all of this, she was curious.

Celestia was already gone by the time the door was answered. Candle Light tilted her head in confusion, but couldn’t say anything before her mother spoke up.

“Jeff? Is that you?” she asked carefully.

“Stephanie!”

Daphne watched the unicorn suddenly tackle-hug the new earth pony and wrap her hooves around her. Her mother was caught off guard enough that she jumped back in surprise in real life, but then laughed loudly as she stared down at the screen. It was just like her father to do, and didn’t surprise her that this copy did that.

Her mother’s pony of course laughed with her, which made Candle Light start to laugh, too. Even Daphne had to put on a little bit of a smile. She hadn’t seen her mother laugh in weeks– maybe longer. She let out a breath she’d been holding in and relaxed a tiny bit.

“You took so long to show up!” the mare said enthusiastically, wearing a large grin. “I’m glad I finally get to see you though! There’s so much to tell you about! It’s great here!”

“I definitely wanna hear about it,” her mother said as the unicorn finally released the hug she held Crystal Clear in. Then she pointed her gaze into Candle Light’s eyes as she asked, “It is really you though, right? It’s not a copy like Daphne told Olivia, is it?”

“I mean, I don’t feel like a copy,” the unicorn started, rubbing a hoof against the ground and glancing at the ground. “I guess there’s no way to know though, right?”

It was one of the things that gave Daphne goosebumps and made her shift around as she stood over her mother’s shoulder. How this mare not only acted like her father, but acted sentient. Subtle things like the way her gaze hit the screen and the inflections in her voice were strange to hear. Not that she didn’t hear and see them whenever she played Equestria Online, but it bothered her to see them on the mare who was claiming to be her father.

“Maybe I could ask Celestia though about that, or read on it,” she offered. Candle Light smiled again, and said, “I’ve been learning magic and reading about science since I’ve been here. I bet I could learn about stuff like that if I have long enough to do it.” Then she let out a breath and continued, “But anyway! I wanna hear about how you and the kids are doing and show you my new house! Follow me!”

Her mother smiled at the mare’s enthusiasm, just like she did with her father in real life. A second later though, she turned to Daphne and said, “Give me some privacy, please? I’ll give you back your PonyPad when I’m done.”

Daphne left without a word, and headed downstairs to flop onto the couch. Once again, watching interactions between her family and that mare felt emotionally exhausting. She stretched and yawned, feeling tired enough that she almost didn’t hear her little sister speak as she played next to her on her own device.

“How come you hate Dad now?” Olivia asked bluntly. It was such an unexpected question, one that made the girl’s mouth hang open for a minute as she blinked in surprise.

“What?” She shook her head clear. “I don’t hate Dad.” Forcefully, she added, “Don’t ask a stupid question like that again.”

The six year old shrugged. “You said he’s not real. So that means you hate him to me.”

Maybe Olivia was right. She certainly didn’t like Candle Light pretending to be her father. Daphne could say that much.

Before she knew it, she was in her bedroom, crying alone into her hands as she sat on the floor with her back against the door. It felt terrible losing a father.

“These are a few of my new friends,” Candle Light explained as she showed her wife the guests in her home. “Soft Step, Careful Calling, and Misty Rose,” she told Stephanie, now Crystal Clear, as she pointed them out to her. “Guys, this is my wife I’ve been telling you about.”

Misty Rose, as Candle Light expected, was the first to go up to the mare and shake her hoof. “Candle here told me all about you,” she said, “and really built you up to be quite the amazing mare. Of course, you’d have to be to attract somepony like her. It’s nice to meet you, finally!”

“Well, I’m glad my husband talked me up to you,” the mare said, wearing a bit of an awkward smile as she rubbed a hoof behind her head. “It’s nice to, uh, meet you, too, though. Thanks.” She looked past Misty Rose at the other two mares, and chuckled slightly at what she saw.

“All girls are who you’re having over though, Jeff?” she asked. “You’re making me jealous.”

“Maybe I’m trying to make you jealous to get you to see me, since I miss you so much,” the unicorn replied as she hugged her again, for only a second or two this time. “My name is Candle Light here, by the way,” she told her. “The two unicorns behind me are Soft Step and Careful Calling. I met the two of them a while ago, and they’ve been helping me with magic.”

“You can actually do magic in there?” she asked. “You can clearly still cook, I see. Wish you were still here in real life so you can cook for us again. It’s been nothing but fishsticks and canned ravioli for the last few days.”

She almost joked about her wife getting cancer, too, to meet her in Equestria, but shuddered before she spoke, the thought much too morbid and terrible for her. Instead, she said, “Maybe there’ll be a way for you guys to all come to Equestria, too, and I can cook every day again. Because let me tell you, these falafels smell good. You should eat dinner with us and meet my friends! Even though you can’t taste it.”

“I’ll get a bowl of ice cream, and it’ll be just like I’m there,” her wife said.

Candle Light let her wife meet her new friends, and chattered excitedly to them about her. Stephanie– who explained that Celestia named her Crystal Clear– seemed like she was a bit anxious and uncomfortable at first, but quickly relaxed as she listened to Candle Light talk. The unicorn imagined she was apprehensive about Candle Light really being herself, and so intentionally brought up some of the things she remembered from her life. Their honeymoon in Spain and buying their house shortly after that. Candle Light’s mother being weird and a little bit racist about them dating and then adoring Daphne and their other children from the moment they were born. The time they went skiing in California and their son Steven broke his leg and his hand when he decided he could do it without practice. Stories about the two of them were what Candle Light told, and Crystal Clear laughed as she enjoyed the memories. She might have even been a bit teary eyed, too, at points.

After dinner, the rest of her friends understood that she wanted some time alone with Crystal Clear, and so waved goodbye, leaving the two mares to sit on the couch and chat. After a few minutes of asking about their kids, the conversation shifted to Candle Light’s experiences.

“What’s it like there?” she asked. “Is it really you? Because one of your daughters seems insistent that it’s not.”

“I don’t know why Daphne would think that,” Candle Light shook her head, her eyebrow raised slightly. “I feel like me. I guess there’s no way to know if I’m not me, like if I’m a copy of me or something. But I still remember basically everything from being a human. Save for a lot of the… but I was on a lot of morphine the last couple of weeks.”

“Mhm. And you sound like you, too. Like, you’re not a completely different person, even though you said it’s been… what? A few weeks for you? Minus being a horse and a girl.”

“More like a couple of months for me,” she explained. “Coming up on three now, I think.” Then Candle Light smiled sheepishly, continuing, “And I’m only a girl because Celestia turned me into one when I first got here. She basically told me to stay this way until I thought about what kind of stallion to be. I still haven’t figured it out, but I one hundred percent have been waiting for you to show up to help me.” A little pause, and then she finished, “Nothing I can do about being a horse though.”

“I didn’t think so,” Crystal Clear laughed softly. “And I don’t know how good I’d be at designing a pony like the kids would be,” she said. “But I’d definitely want to help! I’m gonna make you the strongest stallion around so you can… fight monsters or whatever you do here.”

“I definitely don’t fight monsters,” Candle Light laughed back, “but I fully expect you to make me a strong stallion. We can see Princess Celestia right now if you want.”

"Maybe soon," her wife said, "but I want to hear about what you've been doing first. Do you have a job and stuff? Obviously you have to if you have a house, but what the heck does a horse do for a job?"

"I don't do anything, actually," Candle Light smiled, maybe a hint of superiority in her tone. "Celestia gave me this house for free, and mails me a check for 500 bits every month. She said Equestria has unlimited resources, so I've been learning magic and reading and talking to other ponies."

"Whoa, this game has a welfare program? I know a lot of people who'd love that."

"Haha, yeah. It feels like a vacation to me, or a long summer break. When I get bored with magic, I'm gonna try writing. Or maybe owning a small restaurant. Celestia said I could do anything here."

"Well, you better find a job because no husband of mine is gonna be a freeloader," Crystal Clear joked lightly. Then she let out a breath, finishing, "But it sounds fantastic. I'm a little jealous, honestly."

"Well if I'm here, maybe one day you and the kids will be here, too," the unicorn suggested. "Then I could show you the spot I go swimming at every morning near Warm Spell's– err, Olivia's and I's– clubhouse at the beach."

“Yeah, maybe,” her wife nodded, although it didn’t sound exactly like a dismissal to Candle Light. The unicorn meant the comment in passing mostly, but it seemed more like a genuine consideration to her. Her wife looked around and blinked, asking, “And this is all free? Really? Do you just get whatever you want whenever you want it?”

“I guess I can, but I don’t know,” Candle Light told her. “I never actually asked Celestia for anything. But she did say this house was free, and said Equestria has unlimited resources. I guess that makes sense since this is all technically a computer simulation.”

“It’s weird to think that my husband lives in a computer,” Crystal Clear said as she got up and looked around some more, exploring the house. “Where’s our bedroom gonna be?”

“That’s the one down here, I’ll show you,” Candle Light smiled as she got up and led her to it. “It’s a little smaller than the one we had in the Outer Realm, but that makes it cozier, I think. And the kids are gonna be upstairs. I already have their rooms all picked out.”

“I wanna see them,” her wife said excitedly. “I’m glad though you saved the best for us. I definitely wouldn’t complain about living here, as long as there aren’t any ponies throwing rocks at the glass outside of this room. But what do you mean the ‘Outer Realm’?”

“Oh, that’s just what ponies here call Earth,” the unicorn explained. “But let me show you up there. Actually, first, you have to see the backyard.”

Candle Light talked excitedly as she showed the house off to her wife, who particularly enjoyed looking at the backyard. She had the same idea as Candle Light had when she first saw it; she decided that it would be a great place to host barbecues, highlighting it would be especially so if they got stuff for free here. Crystal Clear said she enjoyed the view of the beach, and her face brightened even more when Candle Light told her how it was apparently close to the mountains if they ever wanted to go climbing together.

“Wow, you’re making it seem like getting cancer wasn’t all bad,” she said. “This place seems amazing, outside of you being a horse.”

“Not better than seeing you in real life though,” she smiled. She grabbed Crystal Clear for a kiss, and then dropped her smile once she pulled back. “Can you tell Daphne I wanna talk to her though?” she asked. “Not right now, if she’s feeling bad. But soon, please?”

“Mhm, of course,” she nodded. “I need to talk to her about what she said to Olivia later, about how she told her you’re not real.” Candle Light flinched and glanced away hearing that, and Crystal Clear continued, “But I wanna see the beach and your clubhouse with Olivia. And then I can figure out a good pony for you to be.”

Rather than walk, Candle Light showed off the teleportation spell she was working on, a spell that was now effortless to cast. There wasn’t any swimming they did, but the two strolled along the sand and listened to the crashing waves as birds called overhead. The sky changed from the usual cool overhead clouds to warmer evening sun shining on their coats, and the two stepped along in relative silence for several minutes, taking it all in. It wasn’t anything new for Candle Light, but now, walking next to her wife, the world was once again feeling unreal like it did weeks ago. Was she really a horse living on a computer? It felt impossible to be true, and yet there she was.

She smiled happily at her wife and tried not to direct too many glances to her flank and tail as they walked along, letting her breath go and taking in the moment. It just felt nice being able to walk next to her wife again after so long. Months, it was, but years it felt like. It was a little bit weird that they were both ponies– from Candle Light’s perspective anyway– but she had a feeling she knew what would happen next if her wife showed up here in real life. It was just hitting her how much she missed her.

Not terribly long later, they were back at the house and calling forth Princess Celestia, her mane blowing on the nonexistent breeze the alicorn always carried. She smiled gently and kindly, just as she’d done the previous times Candle Light saw her. She had a feeling the princess already knew what they were calling her forward for.

“I still don’t know what I want,” the unicorn explained as Celestia stared with a patient look on her face, “but I thought my wife could help me choose, if that’s not a problem.”

“Of course not,” the princess nodded. “I can allow you privacy, if you desire,” she told her. She summoned forward a mirror with the glow of her horn, and explained, “This mirror will let you change your appearance simply by stating it out loud. Once you’ve finalized the pony you wish to be, just say, ‘finalized’, and the mirror will disappear. Of course, if you still need time to decide on your appearance, you can just say ‘revert’ and you’ll be fixed back to your current form.”

“Whoa, that sounds really cool,” Candle Light smiled. “How come you didn’t give me something like this earlier?”

“Because we were having you try out my choices, remember?” she said gently. “As well, you hadn’t thought about what you might like to be, and so might desire to change again in the near future.” Then she looked over to Crystal Clear and smiled at her, too. “This mirror will work for you, as well, if you’d like. You haven’t given any consideration to what you might like to look like in Equestria, Crystal Clear.”

“I’m fine,” she said, waving a dismissive hoof. “I don’t really care what kind of pony I am. I just wanted to talk to my husband.”

"I understand,” Celestia nodded. “As I've explained to Candle Light, while changing your appearance on short timescales is not a service I traditionally offer, I will allow you to make one change in the near future if you decide a different form would suit you better. It’s important to find a form that you feel best suits yourself.”

The princess didn’t stay much longer than that, offering to keep the two company while Candle Light made her choices and quickly disappearing when they declined her presence. Then Crystal Clear smiled at Candle Light and made the obvious first suggestion.

“If you can change into whatever you want– err, whatever kind of horse you want, anyway– that means you can be the most muscular man out there if you wanna be. Set an olympic record for weightlifting or something. If they even have the Olympics here.”

Candle Light laughed at that. “I’m okay with being pudgy,” she said. “The last time I looked like a toothpick wasn’t that great. But I guess I should be a stallion, shouldn't I?”

Now Crystal Clear laughed. “You say that like it’s a question. But I agree. Being a toothpick isn’t a good look for you, is it?”

“No, I don’t think it is,” she agreed. Then she shuffled awkwardly on her hooves and stared into the mirror before stating her request. “Uh, make me a stallion now.”

It was instant work, only a second before Candle Light’s body shifted to the stallion counterpart he saw briefly when he first arrived in Equestria. He took himself in, seeing the same coat colored a pinkish sort of pastel red and a mane and tail that still had the same periwinkle color containing lavender and blue highlights. He was still about the same height and had on the same square framed brown glasses, although he seemed a little broader in his shoulders, and his glasses fit a little less neatly onto his face on account of his sharper muzzle. But beyond those things and having stallion parts hanging below him rather than mare parts, he truthfully couldn’t say he understood any of the visual differences he saw beyond the fact that he looked more like a stallion now instead of a mare.

His wife, however, could see a difference, despite this being her first time actually interacting with him. “Wow, you look great!” she said, Crystal Clear clapping her hooves. “I bet you were sick of being a girl, weren’t you?”

He didn’t know how much he agreed with that. It certainly felt less expected and much more weird for Candle Light to see himself like this than before, but was that surprising at all? He’d spent weeks getting used to being a mare. Of course switching now felt awkward. Besides, while he was no longer pretty per se, the stallion in the mirror was definitely still handsome.

“Eh,” he shrugged, listening to the voice he recognized from being a human for the first time in weeks. “I don’t really know if it was that big of a deal actually. I mean, I'm a horse either way, and being a girl definitely wasn’t weirder than that. I’m already used to it. Now what color should I make my mane? If I’m gonna be a stallion, I need stallion colors.”

Navy blue was what they started with, along with red highlights and a bright green coat, but Candle Light and Crystal Clear cycled through, looking for the best color combination for him. There was also a brief discussion about whether to be an earth pony, bat pony, or a pegasus, but those ideas were quickly shut down when he highlighted that he wouldn’t be giving up magic. Instead, they focused on how tall he would be and how much he would weigh and what color eyes he would have and the style of his mane.

It was interesting at first to compare the differences, but it was only five or ten minutes before Candle Light felt his breathing start to pick up and his hooves shake slightly. He had no idea what it was, but he was feeling anxious. He pranced in place, and tried rolling his neck and shoulders to get the feeling to dissipate, but it remained. He didn’t know how to describe it, or what brought it on, but it felt terribly uncomfortable, and made him tap a hoof against the floor anxiously.

“I wanna see what you would look like with muscles… are you okay?” Crystal Clear asked.

Candle Light let out a breath, and gave the honest answer. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe it’s all this changing. But I…” He had no idea how to describe what he was feeling, or even what it might have been. He blinked and closed his eyes for a moment, then let out another breath.

“I don’t know,” he said again. “Changing like this is weird,” Candle Light told his wife. “Maybe it’s because I haven’t actually thought about what I want to be at all, like Celestia told me to do. Maybe I need to take a day and sit down and think it through before I do this.” He wasn’t sure, but he did know that he felt horribly uncomfortable, like something just wasn’t right. He glanced into the mirror, and told it, “Revert, please.”

Just like changing into a stallion, in just a second, she was the mare she’d gotten used to again, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was definitely something about changing that made her feel like she was having the start of an anxiety attack. She would definitely need to think about what pony she wanted to be before changing. Making random changes did not feel great.

“Awww, I was having fun looking at different colors for you,” Crystal Clear whined. “You’ll let me help you when you think about it though, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Candle Light assured her, already feeling better. “Once I decide what I want. You can approve it.”

“Good. I wanna help my man pick his avatar well. I can’t imagine you being a girl forever.”

“Haha, neither can I,” Candle Light chuckled, although now scraped a hoof against the ground uncomfortably. Something about that statement rubbed her the wrong way.

There wasn’t any such discomfort that showed up the rest of the time she spent with her wife, which mostly involved laying in bed together and more kisses as they talked about themselves and each other. Eventually, around when Candle Light started to get tired, Crystal Clear said she had to leave, and with a hug and another kiss and a promise to be back tomorrow, Candle Light was left in bed alone to sigh quietly to herself. Even in spite of that little incident with the mirror, it was a very good day, probably the best she had in Equestria, just because she saw her wife.

She wasn’t sure what came over her, but suddenly, the mare was sobbing, laying on her side and hugging her pillow. She didn’t know when the last time she cried was, but it must have been years. She took a long breath and let the tears flow, thinking about how nice the day was in spite of that terrible feeling. Maybe that was why Celestia insisted she give her choices a try. Maybe she didn’t want to change. Everything was already almost perfect as it was.

Celestia seemed like she was a very good judge of what a pony wanted.