Gears of Life and Change

The first thought that enters my head is, "Holy crap, my friends are dicks." Cody said I had only been dazed for about 5 minutes. Could he have lied? I think i'll go interrogate him when I get out. Just then, almost on cue, I just barely hear the door to his room slam closed over the noise of the shower. Better wrap up. I soak for a few more minutes, then step out and dry myself, catching occasional glances at my 'Cutie Mark'. Although, I think, the 3 cogs are kind of fitting for my line of work. I'm studying to get into an engineering trade school, but Steampunk is not the type of specialization I was planning on going for. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I grab my clothes and head into my room. I hold the clothes as far away from nose as possible, as the stench of vomit was almost unbearable. I get dressed, then sit on my bed and open my laptop. Before I question Cody, I want to check whose Cutie Mark I have on my thighs. I open my search engine, type in 'mlp wiki list of cutie marks', and click on the link. Scrolling down, I see many Marks I don't think I ever saw in the past, before finally coming across the 3 cogs I now have on my legs.

"Hmm... Gearswitch? Who's that?" I'm pretty sure Gearswitch was the name Discord called... me? This is very odd. Returning my attention to the page, I click on the link to her page.  The description reads out like this; A pegasus mare who appeared in Season 4, Episode 9 - The Steamship Express. I remember watching this episode only once, I guess it didn't stand out enough. In the episode the Mane 6 visit a city which is powered by the magic of Steampunk. Gearswitch and a unicorn named Gizmo Gadget both worked in some sort of mechanics shop, Gearswitch repairing the steamgear, Gizmo inventing new kinds. I scroll down to the gallery at the bottom. Strangely enough, they didn't have a picture right at the top, as they usually do. I click on a picture of Gearswitch and Gizmo together. Gearswitch has a shaggy, blond mane with black tips that almost look like the ends of her hair were dipped in oil. She has a lime green coat, and shining silver eyes. She wears a red belt with all assortments of tools on them, and a pair of safety goggles. I'm about to scrutinize Gizmo when Cody busts open the door to my room. He takes one look at me, than proceeds to look through my coat.

"What are you doing?" I question him suspiciously.

"Looking for my wallet." He responds dismissively. He searches for a few more seconds, lets out a frustrated groan and begins making his way to the door. I call his name firmly.

"Cody." He stops and and turns to face me, cocking his head to the side. "Sit down, I have some questions for you to answer." He slowly walks towards my desk chair, obviously wondering what this is about. I motion for him to pay attention. "Now, I am going to show you something, and you are going to tell me the truth about it, ok?" He nods, clearly quite puzzled. He always was a good actor, I think to myself.

"So... Matt. Are you feeling ok? Did I do something wrong?" I look at him sharply.

"Yes, I do believe you did. Can you explain this for me?" I reach down, and in one swift motion, drop my pants. He quickly covers his eyes.

"Dude! What the hell? I'm not gay!"

I sigh. He's really playing the innocent card until the end, isn't he? "No, not those. You're so dirty minded. I mean these." I say, gesturing at my Cutie Mark. He uncovers his eyes, stares at the cogs for a few seconds, then grins at me.

"Nice tramp stamps," he says. "I mean, I knew you liked MLP, but don't you think this is a bit too much?" I glare at him.

"Stop acting innocent. I know you did this to me. Now tell me how to remove it." He looks at me with the most convincing guiltless look I've ever seen. Even that can't be acting. But if he didn't do it, who did? Melissa wouldn't have, and Kyle doesn't know that I'm a brony. Or does he? I doubt Kyle did this, but I can't be sure. Mike doesn't have a mind like the rest. Still, I can't rule him out.

Cody gets serious for a moment. "Matt, I swear I didn't do that. Trust me."

"Well if you didn't do it, who did? Kyle? Mike?" I snap at him. He doesn't say anything, just shrugs. "Well this is ridiculous."

He grins. "Know what else is ridiculous? You are, right now. Put your pants back on. By the way, I like the choice. 3 cogs, with you wanting to be an engineer and all-"

I cut him off. "Yes, yes, I know. Very funny. Now help find out a way to get rid of this."

We sit in silence for several minutes, both of us thinking about homebrew ways to get rid of my mark. Going to a surgeon to get it removed is not an option, as I do have some dignity left, and lying on a hospital table while someone removes my 'Cutie Mark' will cause me to black out in shame. I'm not kidding. It wouldn't be the first time.

Cody's voice cuts off my thoughts. "Hey, Matt. Uh... your hair just changed colour. Not by much, but it was too fast to be a sunbleach." He stares at my hair for several seconds, squinting as he scrutinizes the colours. "Ya. That's odd, man. You're going blond. Really fast. Was there a chemical in the shampoo that would be causing this?"

"Not that I know of..." A nagging thought at the back of my brain keeps bothering me. Five score, divided by four, it keeps telling me. What the hell would it have to do with anything? How much is a score anyways? Argh, this is going to bother me until I figure it out. "Hey Cody," He lifts his head up from his phone and looks at me. "How long is a score, yearwise?"

He thinks for a few moments. "Uhh... I think it's something like, 10 years? Good question, I'll check it out." He types on his phone a few times, his stylus making an annoying 'tap, tap, tap.' everytime he clicks. "Ah! A score equals twenty years. Or something. All I know is twenty."

Alright, 5 scores. Five times twenty equals one hundred. One hundred divided by four equals twenty-five. It takes only a few moments for the dusty gears in my brain to process that 'Hey! I just turned 25 yesterday at midnight! Oh, and that's also when I blacked out and got the crazy pony dream!'

"Thanks, Brain." I say quietly to myself.

"So... any reason in particular why you had me search that? Or are you still drunk from yesterday?"

"No reason, just curious." Cody looks at me with a slightly worried look. Whatever, he doesn't need to know this stuff. He exits the room, grabbing his wallet from on top of my desk. No idea how it got there. I lie on my bed, deep in thought. First the tattoo, and now my hair is changing colours? What the hell is going on. Am I turning into Gearswitch?

"No..." I say out loud. "That... that can't be possible. It was a children's show. I can't be turning into a pony from some cartoon show. That just doesn't make sense."

Someone opens and closes the door to the bathroom. Probably Cody taking a shower. He smelt like vomit anywa-.

Melissa suddenly bursts into my room, screaming various things at me. "What the holy fuck did you DO TO ME?!"

I stutter. "I... uh... wha...?" She lifts her jeans to show a tattoo on her thigh, similar in colour to mine. Hers, however, is just a singular cog with a small flame in the middle. I'm betting that she has an identical one on her other thigh. "Wha... you got one too?" I barely manage to speak. She continues shouting at me.

"And the hair too? Really? God, you obnoxious little-." She stops, and stares at me with a strange look. "What do you mean, 'You got one too?' " She looks down at me. I realize that I'm still not wearing any pants. I have a bad habit of forgetting my pants. She's still staring at my Cutie Mark "What, you got a Cutie Mark as well?" I nod.

"And my hair has changed colours." I brush my hair out of my eye. Wait a minute. I kept my hair long, but not that long! Is it changing colours and growing? I return my attention to my girlfriend. She is looking straight into my eyes, almost like she saw a wraith. For some reason, her eyes are now a dark blue instead of hazel. I didn't know she needed contacts. Why is she staring at me like that?

"Switch, your eyes are silver," she says. "They just suddenly changed" Oh no, now my eyes are changing as well. Why is this happening? I have to find a way to stop this before I become a full blown pony. The thought makes me shudder. What would I do if I became a pony? I couldn't work, I couldn't go to school, I couldn't even be seen in normal society. My life would essentially be over. Alright, Matt, just calm down. We can figure this out later. Another thought hits me.

"Did you just call me Switch?" She looks confused.

"Did I? I suppose I did. Sorry about that Matt." She seems baffled as to why she called me Switch. "Must have been just a slip of the mind." I know her. She doesn't have slips of mind. That's also the second time she has called me Switch.

"It's fine. Let's just figure out how to stop this before we keep changing. I don't know how much time we've got left until we can't be seen in public." She appears worried, her eyes wide with fear and most of all, utter confusion.

She speaks slowly as she tries to piece together what I'm saying. "Are you saying that we're actually turning into ponies?" I nod. She shrugs, then grins. "Well, I'd like to know which pony I'm going to be. Or are we just turning into pony versions of ourselves?"

"From what I know, I think I'm going to become a pony named Gearswitch, and you are going to turn into a pony named Gizmo Gadget. I don't have much evidence to support yours, but it would make sense, as those two were very close in the show."

"So how long do we have until we are full blown ponies?"

"I don't know, but we need to act fast if we're going to prepare for this." I stand up, and grab my keys.

She looks at me skeptically. "Oh? And how do we suggest we do that?"

I turn around, almost like something out of an action movie. "We're going shopping."

* * * 4 HOURS LATER * * *

So 4 hours, $200 worth of various horse stuff, and very sore feet later, my girlfriend and I are lying exhausted on the couch. We got basic grooming supplies, a lot of alfalfa, and some vaccines. I don't know if a My Little Pony has the same diseases as normal horses, but better safe than sorry. I look at Melissa. She's already asleep, and it's only 8 at night. Whatever. I was going to take shower then head to bed anyways. The shower will give me a chance to look at any new changes. I make my way over to the bathroom. I try to open the door as silently as I can, as to not wake up the sleeping figure on the couch. I turn the knob on the shower, and wait for it to get warm. I should check myself out in case any other changes have happened. I think. Stepping over to the mirror, with my silver eyes looking back at me, I examine my body for any significant changes. My hair, or should I say my mane, has reached a full colour change. Light blond, with oily black tips, going down all the way past my neck. I feel a few strands of hair in my hand. It's soft, almost silky. I wish I could have a pillow made of this stuff. So soft... I slap myself to bring me back to attention. Concentrate on my body, dumbass! I shout at myself. Looking back at the mirror. I sweep my hands through my hair, still enjoying the velvety feel of it, when I reach my ears. My furry, lime green, perfectly equine ears.

"Well. That's new." I play around with my ears, flicking them back and forth. You would think I'd be feeling a bit different about looking in the mirror and finding out your ears are now those of a horse. You know, something along the lines of "Holy shit, I have pony ears and that shouldn't be possible." But no, I'm perfectly content to sit here and play with them, like a 5-year old with a brand new toy. For crying out loud, snap out of it! My brain shouts at me. I shrug. Might as well get into the shower. I can play with them some more once I'm done. I remove my clothes and step into the now-hot shower, and give myself a good scrubdown. I reach around with the soap to wash my back, when I see something I totally did not expect.

A tail.

Well. This is escalating quickly. Too quickly. I decide to leave it alone until I get out of the shower, so I don't waste my usual 15 minutes standing under the steamy flow, but get out as soon as I'm finished washing. I hop out, dry off, put my robe on and walk into my room. I immediately begin to mess around with my tail. Holy crap it's so soft! I could almost fall asleep with it. It's the same style and colour as my... mane? Light blond, with the black tips that look like oil. But my tail has something that my mane doesnt. It's got a strange blue-green border around the edges of the tail. Whatever, probably not important. Wait a second. I have to check if Melissa has grown her tail as well. I sneak out of my room, still wearing my robe, and stand beside her. She definitely has her tail, and her mane is fully coloured now. Hers, however, is a dark purple with red streaks. Reaching over, I nimbly pull her hood back, praying that she doesn't wake up. She doesn't and I get a look at her new pony ears. They barely poke out of the tangled mess that is her hair, but I can see that they are light blue in colour. I step back and stare at her. All I want to do is cry out 'aww'. She just looks so adorable! With those cute little ears and that colourful tail, I just want to snuggle up to her and give her a hug. Besides, I guess it's time for me to crash anyways. For some reason I'm really tired. Normally I don't fall asleep until eleven or twelve at night, later than that on the weekends. Oh well, it's probably my body getting used to all these changes. I cuddle up to my dozing girlfriend, and fall asleep in a matter of minutes, with three questions bouncing around my subconsciousness.

What the hell is going on? Why is this happening? What's going to happen tomorrow?