I didn't sleep very well last night. Well, I did sleep for an hour or two, I can't really tell. It was kinda hard to tell the time when your only clock wasn't working(dead phone, remember?). Maybe I should get a watch, that would be helpful with telling the time. Anyways, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, and by the time I was about to fall back asleep, a guard walked in and told me it was time to get up.

He also gave me the stink eye too, which was pretty fun. I am a Changeling, and from what little experience I have of people reacting to Changelings, people didn't exactly take well to bug horses. Or should I be using 'ponies'? I'm not sure anymore. I'll fit in better if I could get used to little nuances in language, such as instead of 'everybody', I should use 'everypony' and other small differences like that.

Though fitting in was already going to be a challenge. I'm a freak, so there's a pretty solid chance I couldn't fit in, even after I manage to make use of what was a more 'ponified' version of the English language, I still wouldn't be able to fit in. I am a Changeling, and apparently I could feed off love somehow, which would also hurt my ability of fitting in. I also could assume that I could change my appearance based on the name of the species I've taken up. That could help with being a horse.

I quickly made my way to the bathroom, spent a minute figuring out how I was supposed to use a toilet, and showered. It seemed ponies took their dental health just as seriously as people did; there was a fresh toothbrush and toothpaste ripe for use. I did struggle a bit, as it seemed like I'd have to relearn some finer movements with my hooves, but I did manage to brush my… fangs. After I rinsed, I took a moment to eye myself in the mirror for a bit.

While I did get a good look at myself on my first say of being here, now was a good chance at getting a better look at my new looks. Two big, blue insect-like eyes stared back at me, half lidded and what not. I blinked and caught a glimpse of a second, and possibly third set of eyelids. The second was normal, kids used to get that second eyelid out from the first as a party trick. If I had a third, then that would be kinda concerning. And it would be cool since if I had them, surely my body had to have a reason for them, so they can't be harmful.

I had the snout of a pony, though mine wasn't as long as the princesses(Celestia's snout was almost like that of a horse), but I did have a snout. Even Shining Armor's snout seemed a bit longer than mine, but that's probably because he was an adult. I don't know much about Changeling or Pony Biology, but it was safe to assume my muzzle would grow in time… depending on the age of my current body. That in itself was a headache.

On one hand, I was 14 years old, and had the body of a 14 year-old Changeling to go with my age. On the other hand, I was an adult Changeling with the mind of a 14 year-old. Granted, I was apparently mature for my age(according to Cadence), but I was still only 14 years-old. My biggest concern should be what test I was taking tomorrow, not 'oh look, I'm in a land with talking ponies with no way out! Oh! And I'm considered a monster in said world!' Well, at least these ponies were willing to give that monster a chance.

Looking back at the mirror, I noticed a lack of bags under my eyes. Maybe it's because I now had a hard, black exoskeleton that hides how sleepy I am, or the lack of blood red pupils that people tend to get after not sleeping… I'm not sure. At least I won't be questioned about if I got any sleep or comments like 'Oh my god! You look awful! Did you get any sleep last night?' Stuff like that got annoying pretty quickly. That's one benefit of not being a mammal anymore, I suppose.

I exited my room, backpack on my back(go figure on that one. Nice observations, Sting), and was being led down the corridors of the castle. Apparently there was one othwr than this castle, which was the one me, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna would be going to. I think Princess Celestia mentioned a third, but I could've also been hearing things. I'm not exactly… the most aware of things.

Eventually we made it to the dining hall again, the princesses and prince(Shining Armor counted as a prince right? He was married to a Princess… though why wasn't there a king or queen?). The four seemed to be discussing something, while eating breakfast. It was just pancakes and a couple of eggs per pony, which seemed fine enough. Personally, I would've forgotten the eggs, and get some bacon instead, but I wouldn't be surprised if pigs were also sentient, and as smart as I was in this world.

After all, bug ponies existed, and I was one of said bug ponies.

"Good morning, Ray. How did you sleep?" Princess Celestia greeted.

I nodded. "Yup, never better," I said as I took my seat. As soon as my rear made contact with the chair, a plate of food was set in front of me by a servant. If that was how life is going to be from here on out, then I don't want to live. I'd rather not have somebody do everything for me, from prepping meals, to ensuring I'm well groomed, I'd rather be doing that sort of thing myself. Sure, I can't cook, but I can probably make something if I were given a cookbook and copious amounts of supervision.

"Well, I find that hard to believe," Princess Luna said as she took a sip of what I assumed was tea. "I barely even caught a glimpse of your dreams close to… midnight I believe. So either you've had a relatively dreamless sleep, or you've been awake since then." She punctuated this with another sip of her tea. I tilted my head as I grabbed a fork and stabbed one of my pancakes with it. "What? I, as the Princess of Night, have several duties. One of which is ensuring that my subjects have a goodnight's sleep."

I blinked a couple times before sighing. "So I'm in a land where two ponies control the day and night cycle. Love is an energy source, which happens to be what my body feeds off of, and magic also exists. And it's a normal occurrence to have a lady that happens to be able to lift and raise the moon, to walk into my dream and call me ugly," I summed up. Princess Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought, and nodded.

"I suppose your description could use a bit more detail, but you are spot on. Besides, you will be staying with my sister and I. Having a peaceful slumber is important to me, after all. And your slumber means a lot to me, not only as a subject of mine, but also because I am going to be one of your guardians." The princess then wolfed down her whole stack of pancakes in a couple bites.

"But you will happily drag me across the carpet though a building for at least 10 minutes," I say with a bit of humor etching into my tone. "If that's considered normal amongst your ponies, then I pitie your kids."

"Now, it could be worse for kids. Children of royalty like us, if their grades in school are poor, risk being put under the guillotine. It helps keep children in line, or else they face a rather… royal punishment," Princess Celestia grinned at her own terrible pun. "And as your guardian, if your grade slips up even a little, then you shall spend four days on a cross, with your hooves nailed to it." We both had a good chuckle at that.

I almost forgot that I was speaking to royalty… was letting loose and joking a rare thing for these guys? I mean sure, being a princess sounds fine and dandy, but then there's a few things to consider. It's pretty hard to be yourself when you're literally a leading example to your people. You have to act a certain way, have a certain tolerance to your people no matter how much you'd love to shut an idiot up. And then there was a mountain of paperwork to put up with…

Why was I even looking so deeply into this shit? Maybe I hit my head or something, because I keep going off on mental tangents. Maybe my body has my memories, but has a new brain in it. So maybe if I didn't have ADHD when I was human, there'a a solid chance that my current brain does have that as an issue. If I somehow developed a mental illness while crossing dimensions, then that'd be icing on the cake for my situation.

"Speaking of me and Lulu being your future guardians," Princess Celestia set a stack of papers before me. I quickly made quick work of my breakfast, and began to read the paper while I managed to swallow a whole pancake in one bite. "It's a lot of paperwork, but essentially all of that is just adoption papers. Usually there would be less paperwork, but given that there's no orphanage to adopt you from, it has a couple extra spots for you to sign.

"The pages that you need to worry about have been marked, everything else can be taken care of by myself and Luna. Do you have any questions?" By the time she had finished, I quickly skimmed through the pages I needed to sign. Most of it was wordy and full of fancy jargon, but most of the pages just boiled down to 'I, (adoptee's signature) consent to (adopter) adopting me.' It's like those tests that ask the same question over and over again.

As I struggled to write down my signature, something slowly began to etch its way into my mind. I only got two pages done before I realized what this entailed if I didn't sign this thing. I never really gave this much thought, since my parents were technically still alive and still probably wanted to keep me, but I can't really ignore it now that I've thought of it:

I'm an orphan.

Sure, I had parents that loved me, but they were in another dimension. They were probably concerned about my whereabouts, and doing their damned best to find me only for their efforts were for nothing. There's now a literal dimension separating us, and I can only imagine how my parents were feeling. In a month's time, they'll think I'm dead. They'll think that their child is dead, yet there I am. A whole month from now, my parents will be planning my funeral, while I'm kicking my feet up and asking a servant for another glass of lemonade.

I didn't even notice that my eyes were starting to tear up. My ears flattened with my mood as I continued to sign the pages. No matter what, I wasn't going to show my emotions. These were mine and mine alone, and I wasn't going to let anybody else know how I feel. I finished the last page and wiped my eyes with my left foreleg and faked a small smile. My efforts to hide my internal suffering didn't go unnoticed, however.

"You're thinking about your parents, correct?"

I looked up at Princess Celestia in shock. "H-how did y-you know?" I stuttered.

"Well, you are quite young, it makes sense that you'd miss your parents. At the very least you'd give them a thought or two. And don't think you can hide your emotions from me, I may be a bit rusty at reading Changeling body language, but I have a thousand years of experience. And even then, it doesn't take a thousand years of reading body language to tell how you're feeling. You're a child, now separated from your parents. It's easy to see why you're upset.

"And while I might not be able to fully fill in the void, I hope I can do a good enough job at making sure you're well taken care of."

"It's not even the fact that I'm not gonna see them again," I said flatly. Princess Celestia gave me a look that said 'continue' and so I told her. I told her what might happen in a month's time, what I imagined my parents were going through, and how that made me feel. How I was alive and well, but had no way of showing my parents that. I was as good as dead back in my world. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna listened with intent, and by the end of it, Luna was draping her wing over my back.

"Does it feel better to have that off your chest?" Princess Luna asked.

"A little bit. Doesn't change how I'm feeling, but it's… nice to let that out," I admitted.

"Now, next time, don't try to hide how you're feeling from me or my sister. You've signed those papers, so now we're responsible for you. And while neither of us are therapists, we can help you, and we will know if you need help. You can't hide your emotions from this old hag," Luna chuckled at that last comment towards herself before regaining her composure. "I do believe it is time for us to get to our train, correct sister?" She asked.

While it seemed like the subject had been dropped, Luna still kept her wing draped over me. It felt oddly comforting, like when Mom always held me when I was scared, or crying, or just upset when my favorite toy broke. There was no way I could see either of these ponies as a replacement for my own mother, but I could appreciate the attempt that Luna was making right now.

It's been what? A day since these two have met me, and they already care about me? I know it was a bit fast, but if they genuinely care about me, then maybe my life here in Equestria will be just a little bit more bearable.I really hope this wasn't just apart of some act, that they won't toss me in a prison cell after they get gather all information could on Changelings… it seems unlikely given how genuinely concerned both princesses seemed about my emotional well being, but I'll just assume that I'm nothing more than a list of agenda for them.

At least then I won't be disappointed when I end up in a jail cell and starved to death.

Anyways, one mental tangent later, and we were standing outside of the train station. I didn't really pay attention to my surroundings, I was clearly lost in thought, but I did get a glimpse of the train station. It was pretty nice, it wasn't made of crystal like the castle(it was made of wood), but it was still pretty well built. It was pretty bare bones, a board was kept with train schedules, and benches to sit on while you waited. There was a little booth near the entrance, which was probably where you'd buy tickets to even get on a train.

There was already a train waiting for us, and I only just now realized that Cadence and Shining had accompanied us to the train station. Princess Celestia and Luna said their farewells to their niece and nephew. Cadence told me she'd look forward to seeing me again in the future. Shining Armor seemed indifferent to me, but we've barely talked to each other.

Maybe he wasn't super keen with me being a Changeling, even if I really wasn't one. Maybe it was because he was a royal guard and he had to set an example. I was apparently a threat and the captain had to be ready for when I turned and ripped out Princess Luna's throat. Good thing I'll only be a heap of minced Changeling meat the very second I even attempt to do that. The train doors closed and we went to have a seat.

The next stop was Canterlot, but only after I've caught up on some much needed sleep. Turns out you don't get very far on two hours of sleep…

Am I a prince now?