Ponies, Magic, and Other Strange Things

1. When you wish upon a star… weird stuff happens

The sun hung in the sky above the quiet neighborhood below, beating its inhabitants with its scorching rays. Except for the shallow breeze and the occasional car, the streets were quiet, everyone locked in their homes with the AC blowing. Even the annoying dog, who would bark at the faintest sound, was hidden in its dog house, attempting to escape the heat. But in one of these houses the sound of singing could be heard through the open windows.

Sunny let out an exasperated sigh, wiping the dampness from her brow. Sitting on the couch beside her was her younger sister, Cecilia (aka CC), watching her favorite tv show, the one with the ponies. While CC enjoyed the sound of the singing ponies, the same could not be said about her sister. Sunny growled in frustration, trying to block out the pink pony’s cheesy singing. It took all of her might not to throw her book at the television and put an end the colorful show once and for all.

“ugh, CC!” Sunny snapped after one of the ponies began yet another song. “tell me again why you have to watch this show every day?”

CC laughed at her sister’s irritated remark. “Because,” she replied smoothly. “it promotes happiness and joy to the grueling life I have to spend with you every day.”

Sunny scowled at her sister’s unusually high vocabulary. “Why do you talk like that?” she pouted angrily.

CC smiled. “To make you feel stupid, of course.” She giggled.

Sunny crossed her arms angrily. “At least I don’t watch baby shows.” She snapped, hoping to receive her intended response.

CC just shrugged and turned back to her show, a knowing smile on her lips. Sunny clenched her jaw in frustration. She hated it when her sister could show her up with such a simple response when she herself would fall for the bait and throw a tantrum, it did ,in fact, make her feel stupid.

“Aren’t you too old for these type of shows?” She tried again, determined to win the argument.

CC snorted and casually replied, “I’m eight years old, which makes me a child, so it is appropriate for me to watch a children’s show.”

Sunny sighed in defeat and went back to reading her novel while CC hummed along with the song. After a minute of reading the same sentence, Sunny finally gave up and decided to watch the annoying show with her sister.

The television screen revealed, six colorful ponies laughing and telling jokes about some sort of celebration they called the Grand Galloping Gala. Sunny snickered at the obvious pony pun. After watching a few more minutes of the show, Sunny realized it wasn’t quite bad. The jokes were funny, there were constant pony puns, the storyline was pretty well written, and the characters were SO FRIGGEN’ CUTE! All and all the show wasn’t half bad. She would never admit this to CC. That would definitely lead to nonstop bickering and I told you soing from her younger sibling. ‘But still,’ She thought, ‘this show really is interesting.’ Realizing what she was saying, she shook head, attempting to clear it from the plague of ponies. She would not be lured into such silliness, it was a children’s show, and she was 16!

CC, who had been silent throughout the episode, now spoke up, snapping Sunny out of her thoughts. “I wish that this show was real.” She said, her eyes far off, “It would be awesome if it were.”

Sunny snickered at the impossible dream. “Wow, CC,” She started, turning to her sister, whose face was now burning in embarrassment at her confession. “I guess we know who the stupid one is n-,” She stopped midsentence, jaw frozen ajar, her pupils shrank in horror.

A bright white orb suddenly appeared behind CC, pulsing with blinding light, filling the air with tingling static energy. CC, noticing the sudden light source, turned to face the miniature star. She gasped in terror, stumbling on her back in an attempt to distance herself from the orb. Before she could escape, however, the orb suddenly shot out two bright tendrils of energy. The tendrils zipped towards CC with blurring speed, wrapping CC’s wrists in a white aura.

Sunny watched in horror as her sister was encased in bright light, screaming in either fear or pain. Her screams were drowned out by invisible winds that filled the room with loud whistles. Papers and other loose objects flew around the room, trapped in the miniature typhoon. When the screeching winds began to pick up speed and volume Sunny knew something terrible was going to happen. Squinting against the blinding light, Sunny’s fears were confirmed as CC was pulled into the orb with a burst of light.

“CC!” Sunny screeched, and dove into the orb, reaching for her sister.

Sunny was completely blinded by light, searching frantically for CC. the air around her sent shivers down her spine. After a few swings threw the air, Sunny finally found, what she hoped to be, the hand of her sister. Grabbing the hand with all her strength, she was immediately seized with agony. Her sister had become a conductor to the orb’s energy, sending painful bolts of electricity through Sunny’s body. Despite the pain, Sunny held tight to CC’s hand, refusing to let go.

The ball of energy was also refusing to let go, sending more tendrils to wrap around the interfering sibling, who was reluctantly pulled in. Suddenly the orb imploded into nothingness, taking with it the two sisters.

Sunny immediately felt the sensation of falling, but when she looked down, all she could see was white. The electrical pain was then replaced by a whole new source of agony. Sunny screamed, though they sounded hallow, as she was ripped apart. Her bones snapped and reshaped. Her muscles were shredded and reformed. Her organs twisted and buckled to fit a new design. Throughout this entire process, Sunny screamed and shrieked in agony. Once the transformation was complete, Sunny felt her new body land, with a thump, on solid ground.

The last thing she thought, before darkness swallowed her, was how she was going to blame this whole thing on CC.