Fate's Substitute

Fate’s Substitute
Chapter 3: Keep Calm

Bright light hammered my eyes as the twisted world focused and gravity regained control. My senses were wracked by a crippling nausea that was far worse than the time I lost my lunch to a Coney Island tilt-a-whirl. I shut my eyes and slowed my breathing in a desperate attempt to stay upright.

‘That teleport was much worse than the first one Sombra used, so why was there a difference this time?’ I groaned to myself as my stomach finally calmed down, only too happy to keep the rebellious bile where it belonged.

I cautiously cracked open an eye to survey my new surroundings, but I quickly shut it again to keep from being blinded. ‘Jesus Christ it’s bright out…’ I cursed to myself, only then realizing where I’d been sent…

‘No! Please god, not again!’ I pleaded with the lately absent deity. That grey bastard had sent me right back to the crystal prison, even after he said he wouldn’t. I seriously considered just laying down to die… until my ears were met with the familiar hustle and bustle of a crowded New York City street… and the click of a nearby camera.

I quickly blinked away the bright sunlight and wiped a stray tear from my cheek. As my vision cleared, I found myself standing in front of a snot-nosed college kid sporting a fedora and exceedingly tight jeans. His cell phone was pointed right at me as I heard another click of its camera.

“Word to the wise, Pops,” the condescending kid smirked. “Rumpled business suits, gaudy fake gems, and tails were never in style,” he chuckled as he tapped his cell phone and strutted away.

‘Son of a… I might actually prefer the reflections….’ my tail flicked in annoyance.

“Hey kid, 1923 wants its hat back,” I lamely hollered as he nonchalantly waved an arm and continued on his merry way.

‘Fucking hipster… I’ll probably be the laughing stock of the internet in a few minutes.’ I fumed.

A cold sense of dread slithered down my spine as I remembered Sombra’s warning, drawing my attention to the pink transformation crystal. It had definitely reacted to my annoyance with the hipster, but luckily it wasn’t glowing too brightly. I thanked the cosmos that the threshold for transformations wasn’t set too low; otherwise I’d never make it the entire three days.

I sighed and took a deep breath to relax, especially since I should be somewhat happy. Somehow, I’d earned a chance to escape Sombra's influence and regain my old life. I wasn’t about to waste it on useless anger directed at a fashion obsessed jackass who couldn’t be bothered to mention the whole physically impossible teleportation thing.

‘Just think happy thoughts Aaron; like puppies, Ferraris, cake and whatnot,’ I forced a smile, eager to look for a more permanent solution to this mess.

I had to find a way to escape the prying eyes of the public, lest my building anxiety force another change. Behind me sat the majestic Trinity Church which stood sentry over the financial juggernaut of Wall Street. I briefly wondered whether I should talk to a priest about an exorcism, but with my luck he’d just scare me into being a pony.

‘Happy thoughts dammit…’

It was only then that I really noticed the hordes of ravenous brokers and businessmen shambling down the packed sidewalks, hunting for a restaurant to spend their scant hour-long lunch break. The beast couldn’t have picked a worse time to teleport me back, but luckily this was New York City. My instantaneous and downright odd appearance would certainly garner more than a few stares and gaping mouths, but it’s unlikely I’d be bothered… again. The weird was to be expected in this city, and then promptly ignored.

However, I was worried that my coworkers were lurking about on their own lunch breaks. If I was going to keep my job after Sombra’s three days, I’d have to keep my reputation intact. If the partners ever saw me proudly sporting a horse tail and strutting around with over a million dollars in jewels around my neck, they’d kick me to the curb as fast as possible. Image was everything in this business.

I hastily spun around and headed for the entrance to the church, hoping that God wouldn’t strike me down for bearing the grey devil’s mark. As I walked, I could feel my tail sway back and forth like a pendulum, but I really had no idea how to consciously control it. It flicked occasionally as I tried different muscle groups in my lower back, but by the time I reached the door I was no closer to controlling the unruly appendage.

The pink gem glowed maliciously as more than a few pairs of eyes gawked at the odd spectacle, luckily they kept their thoughts to themselves. Once inside the ornate church, an overly bored receptionist waved me to the men’s room without taking her eyes off her book. I quickly made my way to an empty stall, closed the door and sat upon the solitary throne.

Now that I had a bit of privacy, my first priority was to get the damned necklace off before my unstable emotions gave it a chance to make another alteration. I grasped it with both hands and tried to gently lift it over my head, but the damn thing wouldn’t move past my chin before halting in midair. I tried over and over, pulling harder and harder to get the necklace to release its grip, but every attempt was easily thwarted by whatever force Sombra used. In desperation, I tried to rip the necklace apart, but it didn’t give an inch. The only reward I got for my effort was a bright pink glow from the transformation crystal and a very faint glimmer from the ruby.

‘Calm down, calm down! Happy thoughts only! T-bone steak, piles of money, bad sci-fi movies,’ I reminded myself and took a deep breath.

The best plan I had was to head home and wait this ‘sickness’ out. I could walk home, but I lived more than twelve blocks away and I doubted that making the trip with a magical talisman that reacts to emotions would be a good idea for my barely coping psyche.

A cab ride home would be best, but my wallet was still in my briefcase… which was stuck in the crystal hell of the diamond I had to lug around with me. At least I didn’t have to worry about identity theft in this case… other than the job the pink gem was already working on.

‘Wait… it’s lunch time.’ I remembered, ‘That means that the office is nearly empty. If I can get there, I can change out of these clothes and don a fresh suit. I’ve even got a fold of cash in my desk as well, so I can kill two birds with one stone if I act fast.’ I clapped my hand to get the blood moving and set about my task.

I quickly hid the necklace under my shirt and stood up. I figured I’d just tuck my tail into my pants and walk off, but something cold and wet flopped around the back of my pants, instantly soaking them. I let out a girlish shriek and spun around, sending the cold water flying everywhere. The bottom portion of my damned tail had been soaked in the toilet bowl when I sat down.

I held the revolting appendage as far away from my body as possible and thoroughly inspected the toilet. I lucked out, no floaters or anything else but ‘clean’ water.

“Fucking… can’t catch a break…” I muttered as I dried it off with fat wads of toilet paper. My frustration compounded as little pieces of the insanely thin paper kept on ripping off and sticking to my tail hairs, causing them to clump.

“None of this is fair! I shouldn’t have to deal with this level of crazy, I’m a simple broker for Christ’s sake,” I whined to myself and pounded my fist against the side of the stall. Bright pink radiation emanated from my necklace, bringing me back to my senses.

‘CALM THOUGHTS!’ but I was too late.

The electric buzzing was back, only this time it was centered on my eyes. My vision briefly blurred before going back to normal. I pulled out the necklace only to see the bright pink glow diminish as I was too shocked to feel anything; something in my eyes had changed.

I hung my head in shame, ‘Well that was stupid,’ I mentally kicked myself, ‘I lost another piece of my humanity because of a fucking wet tail…’ I wanted to get mad, but the pink glow warned me not too.

After a few more minutes of toweling off my tail, I realized that it had actually changed color. Instead of the black and blue that Sombra had ‘gifted’ me, my tail was now a light brown with tan highlights.

‘What the hell is going on?’ I asked myself, but I needed to get a move on or I’d miss my chance at a stealthy infiltration of the office. I wrapped my damp tail around my waist and tucked it into my pants, careful to smooth out the hairs as much as possible so that they wouldn’t pinch my new flesh when flattened under my belt. Once my tail was safely hidden away, I stepped out of the stall and headed for the sinks to thoroughly wash my hands.

I watched my hands intently as I washed them, afraid to look into the mirror and see what other life altering change had been wrought by that crazy beast’s magic. The pink gem glowed faintly in response to my trepidation as I finally lifted my vision to see my new eyes for the first time. I sighed in relief to see that the size of my eyes hadn’t changed, remembering the enormous size of Sombra’s. Gone was the hazel of my irises and in its place was a bright red color that almost seemed to flicker in the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom. They looked really odd, but I doubted anyone would notice.

‘The plan to get to the office is still a go!’ I pumped my arm and half smiled to my well-behaved reflection. ‘With any luck I can also raid the liquor cabinet… God knows I need it.’

With the worst of my embarrassment hidden, I boldly stepped out of the bathroom and trotted out of the church. There were only two blocks that separated me from my destination, but they were some of the busiest intersections at this time of day.

Focused on getting to the office as fast as possible, my walk was a bit more hurried than normal. I ignored the momentary glares I got for my shabby appearance and kept my head held high, projecting a sense of pride as I navigated the busy sidewalk. At a little under four feet tall, I never saw the kid aimlessly wandering in front of me until I had completely bowled her over.

I stumbled, but saved myself from a nasty fall as the kid picked herself up, no worse for wear. I coughed out a muffled apology and continued on, thinking that our encounter was over; until she dropped the doll she was carrying and stared at me with her mouth hanging open. I quickly patted myself see if my tail had fallen out, but it was still uncomfortably stuffed into my pants.

“OH MY GOD, IT’S A PONY!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and lunged at me in a tackle hug. “YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! I ALWAYS KNEW MY LITTLE PONY WAS REAL!” she cried in excitement while bear hugging me.

Shocked by the situation, I was completely unable to move. I could almost feel the pink gem shimmer as my fear of being seen ripped right through me. ‘How the hell had this kid seen anything?’

“Katie! What are you doing?” a boy around her age bumbled over and poked her in the side, a bit worried that his friend had gone crazy. “Why are you hugging that man? You know mom said that we’re not supposed to talk to strangers… or hug them,” he looked up at me with an apologetic expression.

“But Nathan, she’s a pony. A REAL one!” she gave her brother a look like he had two heads.

“That’s a MAN Katie,” he narrowed his eyes and tried to look through me, as if he wanted to see my soul. He returned his attention to his sister, unconvinced, “He’s wearing a business suit, and it’s nothing to go crazy about.”

“I know that!” she finally let me go, a fierce expression plastered on her face as she stalked over to him and jabbed a finger back in my direction. “She’s also a pony! See the golden coat, the four hooves, the orange and red mane… that’s a pony,” she squinted her eyes, taking another hard look at me and squealed in delight, “OH MY GOD! She’s got a horn, which makes her a UNICORN! Don’t you SEE Nathan?” She turned back to me with a huge smile. “Don’t mind my idiotic little brother. I can see you just fine and you’re a really pretty pony!” her face lit up in an even bigger smile and she tackle hugged me again, “OOOOHHH! Can you show me some of your magic? PLEEEAAASSSE?”

Nathan’s patience for the ridiculous conversation had worn out, “Come on! We gotta meet mom at the market.” He grabbed his sister’s hand and started leading her away.

“Bu-but… ok. Bye bye Ms. Unicorn! Please tell Princess Celestia that I think she’s the best! And tell Fluttershy that she’s really nice and that she should try not being so scared all the time! And tell…” She struggled against her brother’s grip to retrieve the doll she had been carrying, which I realized was a mostly purple pony with an odd star on its butt.

“COME ON!” Nathan pleaded with his stubborn sister, pulling her with both hands.

The two of them started to walk away. “Nathan, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been…” I stood still and listened to the pair until they walked around the corner.

How I survived that encounter beat the hell out of me. I had to have been close to the threshold for a change, but for some odd reason that little girl had actually intrigued me more than anything else. She seemed to know exactly what I was, a ‘My Little Pony’ pony. I’d have to look up the names she dropped on my computer… Celeste and Butter… something.

I continued on my way, thinking ‘How could she see me as a pony though, and a completely different color than what I had before or now?’ I asked myself, ‘And what was that about magic? Is that what Sombra was using? But, that’s just crazy… right?’ There were just too many questions that I didn’t have answers too, and I probably didn’t have much more time before the lunch break was over.

I continued my journey to the office without another incident, though people still gave me the stink eye for the rumpled suit. Lucking out, I rode the elevator up to my floor with someone so engrossed in reading their paper that I doubt he even saw me. I dreaded opening the elevator doors though, there was always someone manning the front desk.

But, yet again I lucked out. The secretary on duty must have taken a quick bathroom break. I quietly scooted toward the back, into my office and quietly shut the door. Not a single one of my coworkers had seen me.

‘Maybe, just maybe I’ll live through this mess.’

The clock on my desk showed that it was 12:50. I only had a few minutes before the main mass of office workers came back from lunch. The partners liked to have everyone back in the office promptly by 1:15pm so that business could resume in a timely fashion.

Strolling over to my closet, I took down a nearly identical business suit to the one I had and walked into my private bathroom. I quickly changed into the new suit and made sure my hair was neatly brushed, but I left the tail hanging out. It was just so uncomfortable stuffed into my pants that I relished the chance to just let it be free for a bit.

Flicking my tail too and fro, I smiled as I felt the air caress the skin underneath. It had changed color again, a burnt yellow this time. I wondered whether it was going to continue changing, remembering what the psychic little girl had predicted.

I frowned at the condition of my tail though. The hairs were matted and little pieces of toilet paper clung tightly too many of the clumps. I couldn’t just leave it alone.

“Might as well,” I murmured to myself as I grabbed the hairbrush sitting by the sink and started to straighten my tail. Brushing out the clumps of hair hurt, but once those were out of the way the steady feeling of the brush stroking my long tail was amazingly therapeutic. I could feel the tension slowly ease as I must have sat there for a solid ten minutes, calmly brushing my tail.

‘At least a small part of all this craziness is nice,’ I smiled to myself.

My eyes drooped and my head nodded to the side, but a sharp rap on the bathroom door shocked me out of my stupor. “Just a minute,” I called out as I very reluctantly stuffed my sleek tail back into my pants.

As I washed my hands, I could hear some serious grumbling coming from the other side of the door. I took a quick look at my necklace under my shirt, and sure enough the pink gem was dimly glowing alongside the red ruby, though the ruby was much fainter. I stared into my red eyes and willed myself to calm down. I didn’t want a simple lecture over tardiness to be the cause of yet another transformation.

I hesitantly opened the door to see Carl Lawrence, head partner of the brokerage, sitting behind my desk and glaring at me. I could almost feel Sombra’s laughter through the pink, glowing gem.

“Mr. Medders, please have a seat.” He pointed to one of the chairs in front of my desk, his scowl deepening at the sight of me.

‘Fuck he used my last name…’ I realized I was in deep shit.

“What seems to be the problem Mr. Lawrence? I’m sorry I haven’t been in for… a while, but something rather important came up that I couldn’t get out of.” I still wasn’t sure how long had passed.

I averted my eyes from the burning inferno that flared in his. Hard to believe it, but Carl was actually angrier than Sombra had been. What the hell was I missing?

‘Why is everyone always mad with me these days?’ I groaned as I prepared for a verbal beating from my boss.

“Your tardiness and lack of work ethic are hardly a problem worthy of my attention, though I suspect it has something to do with the contacts you’re still wearing,” he looked accusingly at me and continued, “It’s none of my business if you use your off hours to go to the ‘raves’ that young people seem to frequent, even though you’re over forty… but your private life CANNOT interfere with the firm’s business!” he pounded my desk as he made his point.

I sank back in my chair, trying to calm myself in the wake of Mr. Lawrence’s tirade. But if the foam building at the side of his mouth was anything to go by, he was far from finished.

“In my defense, sir…” I tried to stem the tide of what looked to be a chewing out of epic proportions, but he would have none of that.

“I’M NOT FINISHED!” he yelled, pausing for only a second as he caught his breath. “Your behavior over the past couple of days has been inexcusable. We’ve tried to get in touch with you almost hourly, but no one had a clue as to where you went. We even contacted the police, but they advised us to wait a couple more days before filing a missing person report. Where did you go Mr. Medders?”

“I-I-I…” I stammered, but something was holding me back. I desperately wanted to tell him the truth that I had been abducted by a magic wielding sociopathic unicorn, but the words refused to form in my mouth. He looked at me with seething hatred and I could feel the pink gem picking up my fear of this man’s wrath.

“Can’t or won’t say it… fine then, let’s just move onto the elephant in the room!” he violently shoved the chair away from the desk as he stood up and stomped toward me. I leaned back as far as my chair would allow as he towered over me.

He took a deep breath and collected himself, “I’ll ask you once. Where is the Henderson contract?”

‘Oh, shit!’

He saw the look of horror etched on my face and kept going, “Yes, that one. The 52 million dollar deal we struck with Henderson Pharmaceuticals… the one you were supposed to have filed after your meeting. Where is it?”

‘Fuck. I know exactly where it is, sitting right next to my wallet in the diamond prison. Maybe if I… no, it’s not worth going back there. If I could just tell him…’ but I couldn’t.

Mr. Lawerence must have seen me twitching as I considered my options, taking it as a sign that I’d lost the contract. My knuckles went white from gripping the armrests as he leaned in, looking more like a volcano than a man.

“From the look on your face, I can tell that you don’t have it. Did you LOOSE it?”

“I-I didn’t loose it, I…” My eyes went wide as I felt the necklace stopping me from spilling the beans to my boss. Without that information, I was as good as dead.

‘Ha-happy thoughts!’ I started to hyperventilate. I knew I was close to the threshold for fear; but as I tried to calm myself by thinking about fishing, Mount Lawrence erupted.

“WELL, IF YOU DIDN’T LOOSE IT THEN YOU MUST HAVE IT, RIGHT? SO, WHERE IS IT?” Spittle splattered against my face as I physically shook from the blast.

My voice caught in my throat as I felt the buzzing sensation of the transformation energy take hold of me. I could tell from the intensity of the buzzing that this was going to be a very big change. The electrical charge went from my waist all the way down to just above my knees, encompassing the whole region.

“I knew making you a VP was a mistake… from your silence I can only assume that you’ve either lost the contract due to incompetence or are willfully lying to me. Either way it doesn’t matter, the result is the same,” he said as he moved toward the door, a cold expression set like steel on his face.

I squirmed in my seat as I held Carl’s steely gaze, worried that he would notice the not so subtle shifting in my pants. An itchy feeling spread all over the electrified area, my hips shrank a bit, and the energetic field seemed to have a firm grip on my penis. From the bottom of my vision, I watched in horror as my manhood slowly receded, shifting against my pants. I let out a small sob, feeling and seeing the changes I feared the most.

Carl looked at me with a note of disgust, “You’re fired, effective immediately. I’ll give you twenty minutes to clear out your office before I send security in to do it for you.” He turned and slammed the door to what used to be my office. I had really fucked up on this one.

Wasting no time in mourning the loss of my career, I had to see the extent of the changes. As soon as the door to my office was closed, I leapt up from my chair and ran to the bathroom, tears leaking from my eyes. I didn’t even care about watching my emotions since the worst had already happened; there was no way I was going to escape being that black beast’s bitch…

My pants started to fall as I lost my concentration and my tail erupted in a brilliant blaze of orange and red before I could tighten my belt. I subconsciously flicked the tail side to side as I took a little comfort in the feeling of freedom I got from the action.

‘Another color change,’ I thought as I sadly admired my beautiful tail in the mirror, ‘It’s just like the kid said, and I bet this color change is for good.’

Locking the bathroom door, I hesitantly dropped my pants in front of the mirror to survey the damage. Bright golden fur greeted my eyes, which must have been the itching sensation I felt before. I cautiously ran my hands along my hips and backside, softly caressing the velvety short fur. The feeling was amazingly calming, much like brushing my tail had been; but I had to keep exploring the changes, I had to see the worst of it.

I cast my vision further down and confirmed what I already knew; my not-so-little stalwart companion was completely gone and in its place was a slit. I stared at my new vulva for a good while; depression turned to blinding rage at the injustice, but I looked away at the last second and was able to control myself… or at least I thought I did.

The electric buzzing was back, but this time it was very faint and it seemed to spread throughout my entire body. ‘This is it… the final transformation,’ I thought, resigned to my fate. But instead of fully turning into a pony, the generous deposits of fat that I’d accumulated over a lifetime of overeating seemed to just vanish into thin air. My pot belly shrunk and my man boobs flattened as the pink crystal radiated under my shirt.

I stood still, amazed that the crystal had finally done something I was actually thankful for. There was even some muscle definition to my resculpted body, though it bordered on androgynous at best. I admired my toned form in the mirror as the pink glow dimmed, happy that the changes were over for the moment. But as soon as the pink crystal quieted down, the ruby flashed a bright red light from beneath my shirt. It was strong, nearly blinding and I feared what the mystery crystal was up too.

A warm, pleasant, tingling sensation flowed over my body, like I had been tossed into a hot bubble bath. My fear completely washed away as I wallowed in the bountiful warmth of the red gem.

The feelings quickly turned from comforting to maddening as they focused on my brand new anatomy, heating up and itching to be scratched. My tail began to rise in answer to the strange sensations, and my hands absent mindedly trailed down my luscious golden fur toward my sopping wet pussy.

‘What I would give for a [strong, hard fucking right now…]’ I thought as a smothering blanket of lust clouded my mind. Far past the point of caring, I barely noticed that the red light from the ruby was bathing the entire bathroom in a bright, comforting red glow.

I kicked off my pants and kneeled down on the tiled floor. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable position, but I could hardly care about that in my current state of need. I slowly split my legs apart, gently separating my folds and letting the cool air caress my hot nethers.

I stifled a girlish moan and my tail strained to rise higher as my fingers closed in, stroking the sensitive skin of my labia. The warmth increased exponentially and my new parts dribbled in excitement as I slowly ran a finger down the center of my slit.

Sweat stained my shirt and I panted heavily as I curled a solitary finger into the void, deliciously massaging my inner folds. My head rolled back and my eyes crossed when I brushed by a nub that pulsed almost painfully with need.

I moaned loudly, needing a release of the tension that had been steadily building. I completely gave into the urge to finger myself into oblivion. My moans increasing in tempo as I neared the edge…

A loud knock sounded from the door, halting me in mid stroke. The red light winked out and the pink gem shimmered to life.

‘Fuck… what was that?’ I questioned as I very reluctantly removed my fingers from my vulva, slick with the juices of my desire. ‘And what was I doing?’

“Uhh… Mr. Medders… sir? Hello? I’ve been asked to escort you to the lobby… I’ll give you a couple of minutes too… compose yourself…” came the deep voice of a security guard from the other side of the door.

‘F-F-FUCK… H-he heard everything! What am I going to d-do?’ I panicked as I searched for my pants. There was fluid on the ground, my shirt was soaked, my tail was flicking side to side in agitation, and my nethers were still begging for release.

The room was bathed in pink light as the transformation crystal burned on my chest, ‘NOT NOW!’ I pleaded, but it never listened.

The electric buzzing of the transformation field was as beautiful as it was horrible, a shimmering veil of pink and red energy completely encapsulated my arms from my shoulders to the very tips of my fingers. I watched in horror as my muscles rippled and twisted under my skin as the bones adjusted to fit an equine skeletal structure. Tears flowed as my hands morphed into hooves and a dense forest of golden fur sprouted all over.

“Sir? Are you ready?”