Ketteh's first half of this chapter - [link]

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Today started off different to many others that I'm used to.  I opened my eyes to find the space next to me in the bed occupied by Dash rather than Twilight.  That, and the knocking on the window next to me.  I glanced over to find Blackout tapping on it, trying to wake me up.  I sullenly dragged my corpse out of the bed, trying to breath life back in to my body.  I've always been terrible with getting out of bed.  

I slowly made my way down to the main room to grant Blackout entry, but Twilight was a step ahead of me.  Blackout was already waiting for me.  

"Where's Vinyl?"  I questioned immediately.  

"She was still really worn out, so I left her to sleep.  She said she would catch up later."  He responded.  

"Sounds good!  What's the plan of action for the day?  Are we ready to go see Zecora?"  I further questioned to nobody in particular.

Twilight trotted into the room from another portion of the house;  "As far as I can tell, we're good to go!  You coming Rainbow Dash?"  She called.  

Rainbow was quick to respond, racing down the stairs and coming to a dead stop right in front of us.  "You know it!  Move it or lose it, we're racing here.  First one to get to Zecora's place wins!"

Everyone looked at one another for a brief second, each of us just as tense as the other, waiting for one to make a move and trigger the race.  Several painful seconds went by as silence encapsulated the entirety of the house.  

Blackout tried to unfurl his wings as quick as he could, but even that small of a movement set everyone off.  Twilight grabbed my neck as quick as she could, and everyone shot out the door like a bullet.  I wasn't aware of the route to Zecora's house, but at least I have Twilight to guide me.  I suspect Blackout will tail Dash there.  We'll see how this goes.  

Everyone was already running at full speed, keeping pace with one another was we tore through the streets of Ponyville.  Citizens caught quick glances of us as we ripped across the town, leave trails of dust in our wake.  Rainbow was obviously slowing her pace to let the rest of us keep up with her, albeit she did tend to stay a good 20-30 meters ahead of us.  

As quickly as we had began, we were already making good progress, we had made it from Twilight's library, far past the marketplace and just recently had flown by AJ's orchard.  The tree line of the Everfree forest was in visible range, and was nearing our grasp.  

Blackout was right above me for the majority of the race.  "How are you doing Justine?  Having some trouble keeping up?"  he mocked, putting emphasis on 'Justine'.  

"Worry about yourself friend, watch out for smashing into a tree face-first.  We wouldn't want another flattened face now would we?  I don't want to have to peel you off of some bark."  I retorted, picking up my pace to keep up with Dash.  She flew above the tree line, which made it impossible to keep track of her.  From this point on I relied on the guidance of Twilight, who was still grasped tightly onto my neck.  

within a few minutes of of following the directions provided by Twilight, I had arrived at her house, which brought the sprinting to a hault.  Dash was impatiently tapping her hooves on the ground, waiting for us.  Blackout landed next to us as Twilight and I came to a stop.  

"You all need to learn to keep up."  Dash said, rolling her eyes as she knocked on the door.  

Shortly after a figure opened the door that Twilight described to me as a Zebra.  I was familiar with them, but Twilight expanded my knowledge on them.  

"Greetings to you all who visit my home, what is the purpose for which you roam?"  She began.  

"Hey Zecora!  I brought a few friends.  We have a small issue..."  Dash said, pointing at me.

She studied me with a careful eye for a moment, before motioning for us to follow her in.  "I see you need to recompense, but it's nice to make your acquaintance."  

"The feeling is mutual Zecora, it's nice to finally meet you, despite these circumstances."  I said, giving her a warm smile, which she reciprocated.  "I'm guessing you can tell what the issue is?"

She let out a laugh before shaking her head and addressing me;  "I can see why you're experience lament, it's quite apparent your gender is bent."  

"Spot on, is there any you can help me out with this?  It'd be fully appreciated beyond any comparable measure."  I stated.

"Don't worry my child, you need not stress.  I have a potion that will help you regress."  She said, walking over to a large cauldron in the middle of the room.  She slowly started adding a multitude of ingredients to the pot, each of them upon entering the fluid creating a spark or two, some kind of reaction going on in the potion caused small works of light, it was actually quite fascinating to watch.  

"This may cause you to feel lethargic, but soon you will not be feeling nostalgic."  Huh.  Funny she'd use those words to describe that.  

As she finally arrived at the last addition to the pot, she tossed in a few petals of a plant I had never come across before into the pot, which spontaneously erupted into a green flame for a brief second.  "Thank you for the help Zecora, you were the last one I could think of to help us with this."  Twilight said as the smoke in the room died down.  Zecora just grinned at us as she poured me a bowl of the liquid from the pot.  "Drink it right quick, or the effect will not stick."  

As instructed, I drank the brew as fast as I could.  The effects of the potion were instant, I could feel things being triggered within my body.  Just like that, the feminine features of my body seemed to disappear, returning me to my old self.  "Is my voice back to normal?"  I spoke out loud, more so to answer myself, rather than anyone else.  

"Welcome back Justin!"  Everyone said to me.  

"Thank you, you're a miracle worker Zecora."  I said, pulling her in for a hug.  

"My prior warning you should heed, right now, a nap is what you need."  

The moment she informed me about the lethargy, I felt more tired than I ever had in my life.  I essentially collapsed on the spot, too dead tired to even move a limb.  

"I'll go get Vinyl and bring her here!  She'll want to see the good news."  Twilight sang, merrily trotting out the front door.  

"Blackout and I will stay here and keep an eye on lazy flank.  See you in a bit!"  Rainbow said, which were the last words I heard before falling in to a deep sleep.  

The potion must have had an effect of making the dream you experience afterwards lucid, because I could tell I was dreaming, but I seemed to have free roam over my actions in the dream.  I was placed in a large meadow, the grass was about halfway up my legs, and it seemed to flow perpetually with a light breeze that existed within this area.  it was really relaxing.  Open space as far as the eye could see.  

I noticed that I was alone in this paradise.  I saw no other course to take, but to just lie down and enjoy it.  As my back hit the soft cushion of grass, I gazed up at the sky, which held many different shapes of clouds.  After a few moments of laying there, I felt the grass next to me become displaced.  I glanced over, and my eyes came across those of Twilight.  She was laying next to me, looking at me with eyes just as lovingly as I was gazing back with.  I detached my eyes from her to once again look at the wondrous sky hanging above my head like a large canvas.  Twilight rested her head on my chest as gently as she could manage, and we laid there in each others embrace, just gazing at the sky above us.  Minutes flew by, as my eyes began to feel heavy.  They slowly closed themselves as I laid there in blissful peace.  

"Wake up, come on, WAKE UP!"  A frantic voice echoed through the room as I was propelled out of my dream into a hostile environment.  My eyes shot open and I jumped to my hooves as fast as I could manage.  I scanned the room, but all I could make out was the confused look on Blackout, and the horrified expression on Dash.  "What the hay is going on?"  Blackout questioned.  

"Twilight, and Vinyl, they must have tried to take a short cut."  She stated.

"What happened, what's going on?"  I asked.

"There's a bridge near the castle of the royal pony sisters that's a bit faster on foot than the path you took.  They must have wanted to save time.  I don't know what happened.  I was just flying around a bit outside, and I heard some screams come from that direction, I didn't know what to do so I came back here, we need to go find them, I think the bridge might have given out!"  Dash said, panting, completely out of breath.  

"That's a 1000ft dive, there's very little chance they could survive."  Zecora blankly stated.  

Blackout and I looked at each other, staring at each others emotionless faces.  Both of us too shocked at the idea of losing those we hold most dear to us on the face of this planet.  Nothing could have prepared me for this.

"Oh fuck..."  we both echoed, before racing out the door.