Grounded
A Conversion Bureau Story by Adam J. Nelon
It was a beautiful day today. The birds were chirping, the tall grass was as green as could be, and the springtime flowers were all in bloom, glorious golden pollen filling the skies. This untarnished prairie was the sole property of Mother Earth, and two of her prized creations darted through them. Both of them were Pegasi, one a filly, and one a colt.
"C'mon, Tommy! Try and keep up!" The colt shouted from afar.
"Yeah! You can't make the Wonderbolts if you keep running that slow!" Chirped the filly aside her male friend.
The pony known as Tommy was about three lengths behind his two friends, desperately darting ahead as best he could, barely keeping pace with his two companions. The fields ahead could've gone on forever, but Tommy couldn't care less. They were as wide and expansive as he could hope for. The ground narrowed just ahead as his two friends let open their wings and flapped away as birds. "Prepare for Takeoff!"
Tommy was ready. Ready to take flight into the deep blue sky ahead as his friends took to the skies. The ground just beneath him narrowed ever more, and the drop-off point was ever closer. As the edge neared, Tommy heaved that leap of faith into the sky. However, before he could even be lifted off the ground, he was pulled back down. The rattling of chains and the weight of two iron balls kept him planted on the ground, left to watch the two ponies fly past him. Then, when he chanced a gaze downward in despair, he saw that he was no longer a natural pony, but now, a human in loose pajamas, rooted to the ground by two iron balls and chains. Moments after looking at his own sorry state, the ledge would give under this weight upon it, sending him falling to his doom...
And then, a gasp and a white fade later, and it was over. That beautiful day he saw went away, and Tommy's eyes shot wide to reveal a white ceiling. He was in his bed, drenched in sweat and prone beneath a comforter. The holo-clock on the wall was at midnight, a sweet lullaby tune playing softly in the room.
"That dream..." the boy sighed. "Why must I keep seeing it?"
With this, the boy turned his body as best he could to the direction of the wall, focused on nothing more than returning to sleep. But one thought kept to his mind.
"When am I ever gonna be able to live past that one dream...?"
Six hours later, Tommy, or rather, Thomas, awoke from his mildly disturbed slumber. Thomas Curry was a young boy of around seven years. 4-foot-nothing, short, brunette hair, crisp, green eyes, and a fair complexion. If you saw him from just the waist and up, he'd have looked like an average boy. But Tommy was not average; Ever since he came from a lucky draw of that fickle game of Russian Roulette known as birth, the cards were not entirely in his favor. He was born with that sad condition of Paraplegia. What this essentially meant to Tommy was, he couldn't walk.
Since day one, he was either helped by someone else, or he had the aid of his wheelchair. Even with all the advancements in technology, yet some terms still stuck. The "wheels" were, in fact, balls moved through a series of magnets. In this day and age, technology of its caliber was fairly commonplace. I guess "Ballchair" would've been too out of place. So, with a tough stretch, Tommy lifted himself out of the bed, tugging at the handling straps on his legs to help move them to the bed's edge. Tapping a few buttons on his nightstand, the wheelchair moved itself just in front of the bed, at a position where he could calmly lower himself into the seat. This feature was installed for his benefit, so that his morning routine could better proceed.
In spite of his disability, Thomas was never keen on being completely helpless. He always preferred to be able to do everything he could of his own ability. From the straps on his thighs to his many machines. While he was fairly capable of doing most of the work himself, the machines were there for that last bit of assistance. For a few moments, he was deprived of his pajamas and put into a nice pair of khaki shorts and a white-collar dress shirt. a brief bit of hair maintenance, a quick brushing of the teeth, and some washing of his face and hands, followed by the application of his black-framed glasses, and he was ready for breakfast.
As he quit his bedroom, strapping his backpack to his chair, he was greeted by the barking, lap-sitting, face-licking ball of fur and sunshine known as Tommy's dog, Tatiana. Just two years old, this Siberian Husky was still in fairly good shape, and as chipper as a bitch her age could get. If nothing else set this dog apart, it was the mechanical foreleg attached to her right shoulder. A year ago, the poor dog took the brunt of a car to her old leg, and she had to become an unfortunate amputee. Thankfully, through the wonder of technology, she was able to get full mobility through the advent of cybernetics. One arm of titanium, three of flesh and bone, all part of a body with a heart of gold.
"Aw...who's a good girl? You are! Yes, you are..." Tommy hummed, taking the barrage of facial lickings the cyber-dog, before forcing her off and sending her on her way. Passing the dog by a few inches per second, the boy coasted his way down the ramp into the den, then into the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Tommy," chirped the calm voice of Thomas's mother, happily working at the stove, flipping a hotcake in the air. "Care for some panca-" For a moment, the housewife gasped, noticing that, in spite of his work to groom himself properly, he was still fairly marred by sweat. "Oh my! Tommy, you look awful! Did something happen last night?"
"Not much..." Tommy yawned, rubbing away the mucus from his eyes, "I just had that dream again.."
"Was it that dream where you're kissing Suzie Thompson?" asked a lighter voice, found to be Tommy's elder sister.
That brief comment left Tommy red as he blurted out a definitive "NO!"
"Now, Rebecca. You know you're not supposed to tease your baby brother like that..." murmured the deep, velvet tone of his father.
"But that's the person he keeps blabbering on about. Her and that unicorn, Bright Spark."
"And just what's so wrong about that?" quipped Tommy's mother, sliding some pancakes onto a ceramic plate, drowning it with a spot of maple syrup.
"Nothing," Rebecca lied, clasping shut her makeup mirror, fluttering her eyelashes like a dime-store harlot, "I just find it weird that little Tommy loves a pony!"
"I DO NOT LOVE A PONY!" Tommy shouted, attempting to rise himself from his chair to meet eyes with his less than stellar sister. "I just...like her, is all!"
"Ha! You should see the look on your face! It's priceless!" Rebecca giggled, falling back a bit in her chair as she tried to stymie her laughter.
"Alright, you two. That's enough. Can't we just have a civil breakfast, for once?" Tommy's mother snapped, setting the pancake breakfast down on the table. "Now then...Tommy, what dream are you talking about?"
Thomas dared not speak for the moment, more focused on eating than trudging up memories of that dream. But, given the concern his family was giving him, he felt now was as best a time as any to let something off his chest. So, after swallowing a decadent piece of airy, syrupy pancakes, he cleared his throat.
"Well...it never seems to change...I always find myself in a prairie....it's springtime, and everything looks so pretty...I'm running after two friends of mine...both of them were Pegasi, as I was...but...as I was about to take off in flight to join them, I felt something pull me down. two balls and chains brought me down to Earth. Then I look down at myself, and I see I'm not a Pegasus anymore. Instead, I'm a human again, and I'm bound to the Earth. Then, the ground beneath me gives way...and I wake up."
"Well, well," chuckled Thomas's father. "sounds like your mind's trying to tell you something about your body..."
"Then if it is trying to tell me something, what is it?"
"If you want my opinion, boy, I think it's time for you to start thinking about what you want to do with your body...after all, technology's so advanced, you can get both your legs replaced with shiny new cybernetic and it barely costs you a dime." His father said, putting some tobacco into a pipe and lighting it from a lighter hidden in his finger.
"But that's the problem, Dad," Thomas whined, slumping in his wheelchair. "I don't want fake legs! I want my legs!" He looked to his father then, taking note of his prosthetic hand. "After all, don't you miss your hand?"
His father was taken aback by his son's choice of words. However, after taking a moment to inhale some sweet tobacco from his pipe, letting plumes of smoke billow from his nose, he found a proper reply. "Well, son, I know how you feel. I lost this hand in an accident in the construction of the Conversion Bureau here in Masonville. I was there when they opened their doors. One of these days, we as a race will have to give up the ghost and let the Ponies take their place on the center stage. Till then, I'm more than content on living it out as long as I can before I cross to the other side..."
Naturally, given that that was a rather long-winded speech to a seven-year-old, Thomas tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
His father sighed, tipping away the ashes in his pipe. "I'll be honest, kid. The ponies..they're real nice folk...they mean well for us all...they only want what's best for us and this beautiful world we live on. I like them, myself. But when someone goes in for their ponification, even of their own free will, they're leaving a lot behind. They're asked not to bring anything they had as a human but the clothes on their backs and their memories. If you want to ponify, that's your choice. We won't judge. But it's a choice you shouldn't take lightly. You're gonna make a real leap of faith...the procedure wouldn't just change your legs. It would change your whole body."
Thomas paused, taking some time to eat to steady his nerves. Then, he had the nerve to ask, "...Does it hurt?"
"Ponification? Oh, heavens above, no. Those ponies make sure you don't feel a thing. The Bureaus were a joint project between us and them, after all. But...so do the people during surgery...they could fix those legs of yours up like new again..."
"Well...does Ponification ever fail?"
"Not that I'm aware..."
Rebecca let out a groan of disgust at this early morning conversation. "God, I can't believe you're even letting him consider becoming a pony!"
"Now now, 'Becca. There's nothing wrong about Thomas wanting to be a pony. A boy can dream, can't he?" Tommy's mom giggled.
"Ugh, of course you'd think that way, Mom. Half the people on this street are ponies!"
"Well, who can blame her?" said the father, chuckling along with his wife. "The ponies are a kind, industrious people. As a matter of fact, I don't think most ponies have it in them to be mean! They might be ones to tease one another, but they never hurt anybody without just cause."
"I just think they're a little weird...they all walk around on four legs, but they all talk like we do. Then there's those weird tattoos they have on their a-"
"Let's just stop right there," said the Mother, a hand out to silence the bickering. "Now let's finish breakfast and get to the van. School's not far off."
"Fine..." groaned Rebbecca, sawing away a morsel of pancake and chewing it greedily.
Surprisingly, now that such heartfelt matters had passed, Thomas was able to better enjoy the savory taste of the pancakes. Blueberry...such a sweet, tangy taste to counteract the taste of grains. And then the orange juice, dear Sweet Lord in Heaven, the orange juice! Made from the freshest of California's native oranges, this juice came not only at its freshest flavor, but also at a bargain price, thanks to the lack of travel. Such great taste at such a low price? Thomas couldn't fathom anything better.
But, with breakfast now concluded, the family unit all made their way to the garage, whereupon most of the others sat in suede seats, while Thomas made his way up into the van itself via a small platform, shutting the sliding airlock door behind him as it folded inward. Thomas often read in books that a few decades ago, paraplegic passengers had to be lifted up and into vehicles like this through a pneumatic lift, which was often quite slow. These days, a simple platform got the job done in seconds.
The van itself wasn't terribly complicated a vehicle. While it did have the option to use the mag-lev collective transit nodes to guide its course, none of the current routes available even stopped at Thomas's school. However, there was a basic route for the mag-lev to guide the van until manual operation was needed. The interior and exterior were designed more with an "Old Fashioned" design in mind, with most of the more advanced features handily decorated to resemble features of cars prior to this day and age.
The "Street" Rebecca was commenting about was Beechview Plaza, the suburbia in which the Curries lived in. Much as Rebecca noted to her chagrin, a good bit of these suburbs were populated by Ponies, the vast majority Newfoals. Only a few of said newfoals even had a cutie mark, and these were the ones who had were those who had acclimated and found a line of work they were particularly skilled at. There were ponified children, too, and these were the people Thomas knew best. While the Human-Equine ratio was 30-70, that didn't necessarily mean that all of Tommy's buddies were Ponies. He did have maybe one or two human friends, and they came well enough in handy when he needed help with things like science and social studies.
But of his pony friends, two particular ones stood out. A pair of fraternal Pegasi Twins. One was a colt of a beige coat and brown hair, with striking golden eyes, who Thomas knew as Eagle, while the other was a filly of navvy blue coat, black hair, and icy blue eyes, known as Raven. The two of them were known by name to Thomas, but to everyone else, they were often called the "Hunter Twins", which both fits their Equestrian names, but also alludes to their Human surnames. Because of this, they were often surrounded by an aura of uncertainty to most children, as they were often thought to be nothing but trouble. However, aside from an appearance and name shared by two birds of prey, they were nice foals. Then again, so were just about everypony else who went through ponification. That was the strange, yet comforting thing about ponification: the person before the pony could have been as bitter and cynical as they could come, but the minute that they left the Bureau in four hooves, they wore a form of innocence and mirth that only children truly had. They found their youth again. Even the most sorrowful of souls could feel happy through this procedure, and that reassured Thomas.
As his friends took note that Thomas was on his way to school, they began to fly in pursuit, beaming a smile, which encouraged a returning smile and a wave from the human. With this, the Hunters flew past the van, off to the destination Thomas was: Masonville Elementary.
The local elementary school, much like Thomas' van, had what one may be tempted to call a "rustic" charm to it. While in much of its design, it shared images not unlike that of schools from the prior century, technologically , it was just as bang up to date as everything else. With paper being a resource no one needed much of aside from toiletries, electronic media was the standard. Sure, some people still enjoyed collecting old books, but it was a collector's hobby that only pertained to historical and literary enthusiasts. These days, a quick skulk around the Hypernet would warrant just about any information one could ask for, and the elementary school had its own private server exclusively for the school's own digital documents. Most students carried a small identification card on their person, which would slot into the scanner in each of their desks. This card would be used to access a private partition of the 20 terabyte hard disk used by the school. In case a card was missing, lost, or forgotten, backup measures like PIN identification, voice print analysis, or a special override usually controlled by the classroom teacher, could be used to permit the students in question to access their work. Should homework be needed, it would be transferred onto a small disk and distributed.
This meant classes usually went by with a degree of speed. Or, at least they did to Thomas.
The school, even by Pony standards, had quite small classes. And yet, even in classes of maybe only ten students, seven of them were ponies. Thanks to the existence of Newfoal Ponies, there weren't many, if any, bullies frequenting the school, and because of that, morale was high. In turn, high morale lends itself to a desire for knowledge. Therefore, Masonville Elementary was one of the best and brightest in the county. Thomas himself was an A-B student. While not the absolute leader of the herd (as that distinction went to Bright Spark), he was still on par with the material.
The matron of Tommy's class was Mrs. Jacobs. Her specialty was in ancient world history, a subject that Thomas enjoyed to no end. Of course, the connotation behind the very word "ancient" ended somewhere around the late 1800's. Tommy's favorite part of the class so far was the discussion of Japanese history, particularly, the Feudal Period, known in more advanced classes as the "Sengoku Period". He found the concept of warriors living strictly on a code of honor and inner strength to be something he could subscribe to for his own life. But, even as Mrs. Jacobs regaled the class with a lecture of Nobunaga Oda, the conversation at breakfast still lingered in his mind, which made him a bit sour in mood.
Thomas sat in the front row of the class, his desk being second to the last before the door. Flanking him (in both meanings of the term) were the Hunter Twins, Raven to his left, and Eagle to his right. Behind him was Bright Spark, a unicorn of pitch black coat, rosy eyes, and a mane and tail colored like fire. Of the trio of Tommy's friends, Eagle was the first to notice his friend's sullen mood, but decided not to speak until Mrs. Jacobs finished her lesson.
"Okay!" The talkative teacher chirped. "That's all for today! Now, I expect to see some research into famous figures in olden Japan on my drive by tomorrow morning! Recess will start in about two minutes, and I expect you all to be back by One o' Clock, okay?"
A collective reply of, "Yes, Missus Jacobs" filled the room, followed by a digitized sound of a chiming clock to indicate Recess had now started. At that cue, Thomas was the first to leave, his head hung a mite low. Quick to rush to his sullen friend, Eagle darted after him on his way to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Tommy! You okay, dude? You seem a little down..." Eagle mused, hovering aside his coasting friend.
"Oh...it's nothing, really..." Thomas sighed, trying to downplay his mood.
Suddenly, as if by unicorn sorcery, Bright Spark appeared to Thomas' right.
"You know, you're a horrible liar...even I could make a better lie." chuckled the coal-colored unicorn.
"She's right, Tommy..." Eagle chimed. "C'mon...what's on your mind? You can tell us..."
Thomas stopped for a moment, letting Raven join the herd a moment before continuing onward.
"We can talk about it outside," He said, somberly, moving onward. "I don't feel comfortable talking about it here."
With that, the quartet nodded and left for the cafeteria, looks of concern miring the three ponies flanking this paraplegic person.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Raven chirped, nipping away at some of the grass beneath her hooves.
"Well..." Thomas said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, a frown upon his face. "That dream happened again."
"Dream?" Bright Spark inquired. "Which one?"
"You know which one..." Thomas sighed. "It's the one with Eagle and Raven...the one where I'm a pony..."
"Yeah?" Eagle and Raven chimed in almost perfect synchronization, before Eagle chirped, "What about it?"
"I've had that dream ten times in the last two months. I'm honestly starting to think this is a sign..." mused Thomas.
"A sign...of what, dare I ask?" Bright Spark quipped.
"Well, my family's gotten the necessary money required to afford for leg surgery. But, from what I've heard, even with all the advances in technology, there's still a chance that it could fail...as much as I want my legs back...I'm afraid to take that risk..." Thomas squeaked, pressing his index fingers against one another.
"But...considering in that dream, and that The Bubble is gonna be here pretty soon...I could go with the safer option and Ponify...after all, since I'd have to do it eventually, why wait?"
"If you want my two-bits, I say you should ponify! After all, we've been needing to add another flyer to our group! If you get lucky, you might just luck out and be a Pegasus like us!" Raven noted, fluttering her wings a bit.
"I see...the problem is, while my parents seem to be just fine with the idea, my sister...she doesn't quite it...plus, what would the others think?"
"Dude, who cares what 'The Others' think?" Eagle snipped, moving his hooves in the air quote motion. "This is your decision!"
"He's right," Bright Spark chimed. "If I could be frank with you for a moment, I suggest you go with the option that you think is best. Weigh your two choices, and then make up your mind. Tomorrow's Friday, so you should be able to head down to the Bureau and get signed up. You might be out for two weeks, though..."
"I see," Thomas said, raising up a bit. "Well...I guess I should thank you guys...but I've got a lot on my plate now...if you'd excuse me, I think I'm going to go back inside...Recess is almost over..."
"Okay..." Eagle said, his ears drooping. "Hope you get to feeling better..."
With this, Thomas retreated inside the school, intent on returning to class and finishing his day as he often did.
The rest of class went on without a hitch, other than the slow dragging on of the class itself. But, as the final bell rang, and Thomas boarded the van to return, Thomas felt glad to be going home. He had a lot to consider tonight, and not just his homework.
"So, Tommy. Learn anything new today?" queried Thomas' mother.
"Nothing much," replied Thomas, a tad plaintive.
"Something wrong?"
Thomas paused for thought. They already had this same discussion this morning, so why dig up what was already mentioned? However, since his mother was keen to ask, he had to be keen to answer.
"I was mainly still on the matter of what to do with myself...I'm still not sure. Should I fix my legs? Or should I just go ahead and ponify?"
There was barely a peed for all of five minutes before anyone said another word.
"Well, tomorrow's Friday...if you want, we could have you sign up at the Bureau tomorrow afternoon...but you have to really think about it..." said Tommy's father, smiling.
"Okay...I'll think about it tonight and tomorrow morning, I'll have my mind made up..."
"Well...that's good to hear," noted Tommy's mother, smiling. "I hope you make the choice that fits you best..."
Thomas nodded at that as they neared the house, releasing the boy down via the ramp and enabling Thomas to return to his room.
Tommy's room was fairly standard for a little boy. A nicely-sized 15-inch threevee, a number of gaming consoles, a few old books, and the like. Model planes and star ships were strewn across the room, and on a shelf above the nightstand, there stood an assortment of pony figurines. Taking the front line of the shelf were the six most iconic ponies from Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, all of whom were positioned to face Tommy's bed. He considered those six to be his guardian angels, always casting an eye of vigilance and protection upon not just him, but his room, as well.
But if it was not the marvelous collection of mares on his shelf that would amaze most, it was his collection of video games from the late 1900's. A holdover from his great-grandfather, the games were mostly Nintendo consoles, particularly those of the era of the Cartridge, where such miniscule bits of data could store such awe-inspiring graphics and iconic games. Sure, with all the cutting edge technology, one could play games with their minds these days, Thomas found a strange amount of fascination and enjoyment with playing by physical means. Being able to scale cartoony terrain as a portly, Italian plumber was amusing thing, unlike the doldrums of shooting soldiers down with modern artillery.
But among Thoma's most prized of games was the game "Pilotwings". In this game, Thomas controlled all manner of aircraft, from the humble biplane, to the hang glider, to even a jet pack. It was a flight simulator that Thomas couldn't get enough of. While not everyone knew of it, Thomas had dreams of becoming a pilot. He dreamed that one day, he would join his friends in the skies, no matter what the cost. He hated being grounded. The sky seemed to mock him as that golden sun set in the sky. So, with that as his indicator, he worked to find information on Japanese swordsmen, getting a basic essay of one Miyamato Musashi written in the course of maybe an hour's writing before a knock came to his door.
"Um...Tommy? Are you in there?"
It was Bright Spark. What brought her here?
"U-uh...just a moment!" He called, rolling to the door, hurriedly opening it.
"Oh...was I interrupting something?" the filly asked, a bright blush coming to her face.
"N-no! I was just doing my homework!" Thomas chuckled nervously. "What brings you here?"
"Oh...well, nothing in particular. Your parents invited me for dinner. They thought I'd be able to help you decide what to do tomorrow...."
Thomas blushed now, but twiddled a strand of hair in his fingers. "O-Oh! Then, by all means! Just give me a few moments, and I'll be down..." He chuckled, waiting for Bright Spark to leave before rushing to wash his hands before dinner. Bright Spark was his dearest friend, but it was hard not to tell he'd been crushing on her. And who could blame him? She was a very smart, very cute, and very dependable pony! Tonight, maybe this fantastic filly would be able to help him decide for himself his destiny. So, with his hands clean, and his mind still murky, he coasted his way down to the dinner table.
Tonight's dinner of choice was sweet potato salad and cranberry juice. Not an overly complicated dinner, but it was a meal that the whole assembly could enjoy.
"So, Spark," Rebecca asked. "You a newfoal? Or are you naturally-born?"
Bright Spark blushed at this question, shrinking a bit. "Technically..." she whimpered. "I'm the filly of a newfoal..."
Tommy's mother smiled a bit, trying to warm the flame-maned filly's spirits. "When did your parents ponify?"
Bright Spark, or as Rebecca short-handed, Spark, held a hoof to her chin, before smiling. "About seven years ago, I think...mom was yet to have me at the time..."
"Oh, so you were born after the Ponification?"
Spark nodded, smiling a bit. "It was pretty nice, actually..."
Thomas looked to Spark for moment. "What do the Bureaus look like?"
Spark thought for a moment. "I guess...you could say...a good bit of it's like a doctor's office, but it has rooms like a hotel."
"Rooms? Why would the patients have rooms?"
"Because. Ponifying isn't a matter of instant gratification. Even though the Bureaus serve multiple humans at once, the patients who are waiting need a place to say. Besides, you get three free square meals a day! That way, you can enjoy your meals as a human, and get to try the Equestrian diet later on! The staff are really friendly, too?"
"How long does it take for a new pony to get adjusted?" quipped Tommy's father.
"Depends on the race. The usual time is about a week."
Thomas then spoke up. "Would I be able to get a doctor's excuse for it?"
"I wouldn't know," replied Spark, chuckling. "I guess if you go there, you might learn."
Thomas chuckled, finding Bright Spark's humor in good taste.
However, as the dinner went on, Tommy felt a mite somber. Eventually, he was in such poor spirits, he had to leave.
"Hey, Mom? I think I'll head upstairs. I need some time to think..."
While taken aback, Tommy's mother, along with the rest, smiled, allowing the boy of the hour to leave for his bed.
Even after a warm shower, Thomas couldn't quite find it in him to sleep peacefully. His mind was reeling. Everything was riding on what his decision would be. He knew that either option would be for his benefit, but which would he choose? Would he have his legs fixed, only to have to surrender his humanity later? Or would he ponify, and gain an assured recovery, even at the cost of a lot of his human pleasantries? It was a decision that wracked his brain to no end, and he had to find a conclusion!
Either way, the decision wore at his conscience, and he needed rest. So, retiring into bed, his trusty cyberdog at his side, and the pony figurines casting a watchful eye on him, he lulled himself into slumber again.
As he entered a state of dreaming, he was greeted by a sprawling black void. No walls, no ceiling, and no end in sight. As he walked about, as often his dreams allowed him, he saw two lights in the distance, as if there to guide him. So, knowing no better, he followed the lights. Before stood two silhouettes, one human, and one equine. The human pointed to Thomas with his finger, the pony pointing with his hoof.
"Who....who are you?" Thomas said, a mite intimidated.
"We are you," the two silhouettes said in perfect unison, "and you are we. From the depths of your soul, we come to help you in this time of trial..."
"Time of trial?" Thomas asked. "What do you mean 'Time of Trial"!"
"Tonight...you must decide..." Chimed the two voices again
"Whether to be a Human, and regain what was lost of you..." Mused the human...
"Or to become a Pony, and begin your life anew..." Finished the pony.
"And just how will you two help me figure out?"
"Simple...we both represent the benefits and costs of your choice..." the human Thomas said in a rather melodic tone.
"When you decide, make heard your voice..." rhymed the pony of Thomas.
And so with this, a heated debate ensued:
"If you choose to be human, you could get back your legs!"
"But if you choose to be a pony, you get a whole brand-new body!"
"Humans can eat anything they want!"
"But to ponies, plants taste really good!"
"Humans can play any game they want!"
"Ponies have all kinds of cool games they can play!"
"When you're a Human, you can dress in all kinds of cool clothes!"
"Ponies don't need that kind of stuff! It's all in the fur!"
This debate kept on for all of ten straight minutes, becoming less focused on Thomas, and more about Thomas' Id and Super-Ego pressing their supposed supremacy against one another, battering each other with banter. What was once a civil dispute degenerated into a full scale shouting match. It was a spectacle that wore at his nerves, forcing him to shut his eyes and plug his ears. Eventually, he could take no more. In one loud, definitive burst, he let rip the two words he rarely ever used on anyone, man or pony.
"SHUT UP!"
Immediately, the two beings silenced, leaving a pajama clad, at-wits-end Thomas staring down those two blank figures.
"I think I've made up my mind...and honestly...I think the Pony in me knows best..." groaned the child, his throat sore from having to accentuate his voice to make his point clear.
Though it was impossible to see a face, it was clear the Human silhouette was aghast. "Please, Tommy. Think about your decision logically!"
"Oh, but I have," Thomas quickly snapped back, "and it only falls to logic that I ponify..." For a moment, Thomas sighed, realizing how serious his next few words were going to be. "As much as I hate to admit it, I have to face the inevitable truth that...even if I had my legs fixed, it would only be a matter of time before ponification would had to be done. Therefore...I have to go through with it...if not for myself...then for those who matter to me the most..."
For a very pregnant pause, neither of the three spoke, but after such prolonged silence, the human silhouette finally spoke.
"I suppose that...you're right..." said the white shadow, as he knelt down and embraced his soon-to-be-changed mirror image. "Well, whatever happens, I hope that you're always happy with your choice..."
Within a moment, the pony joined in the hug. "Because we'll always be with you..."
"Forever."
Thomas felt almost yanked out of his sleep as the lucid dream abruptly came to a conclusion. The clock was pointed to Six, and today marked the end of another week of academic doldrums. However, it was also the beginning of his final days among humanity.
The stress from last night had not done well for Thomas, as he awoke with a mild headache. However, he was not keen on letting such a trivial pain keep him from what he saw he was destined to undergo. Tatiana was fast asleep, which made the labor of rousing himself from his bed, repeating his morning ritual, and heading down to breakfast.
"Mornin', sport," chuckled his father, his attention on the paper. "Did'ya get a good rest last night?"
As Thomas made his way to his part of the table, beginning to eat a bowl of oatmeal, he took a gulp and said in a most candid fashion, "Not really...Sure, I slept, but I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Seems my decision led to a fairly literal internal conflict within my mind..."
"So where does that leave us?" His mother quipped. "Did you finally come to a decision?"
"Yes, I did." said Thomas, beaming with a sense of pride. "I've decided to ponify."
Another silence ensued, but it was not an ill silence. His mother and father beamed at him gladly, while Rebecca rolled her eyes, whether to hide her own elation, or purely out of disinterest or disgust. It seemed that, while slightly mixed, the decision was under a unanimous approval. Thomas couldn't have felt more happy at that moment...
Things at school seemed to just fly by as the final bell neared, the clock being five minutes before the striking of three. His friends picked up on Thomas' change of mood rather quickly, beaming smiles as well.
"Right, now before you leave," Mrs. Jacobs chirped, holding a binder to her chest, "I believe Thomas had something he'd like to say before he leaves."
Thomas cleared his throat as he rolled his way to the front, just ahead of the teacher's desk.
"Yeah, um.." Thomas said, pushing his fingers together. "As you all know, I can't walk. My family has been saving up money to afford leg surgery for me...but, I'm concerned that even if I went through with it, there's a chance it wouldn't work. And if it did work, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it for long...at least, as a Human. So, I decided to do what I think is the right thing...I'm going to the Conversion Bureau to ponify, and I'll be gone for a little while. If anypony here is concerned, don't worry: I'll be just fine. Although, if you'd like to visit and show your support, that would be just fine. But, before I head down there...could I get a hug from my best friends?" He asked, opening his arms.
Eagle, Raven, and Spark smiled as they trotted up to him. While the former two were more than contented to pile on top of Thomas, Bright Spark preferred to do one thing in particular.
She kissed Thomas. Not on the lips, nor the cheek. But a nice, small peck upon his mind's eye, tapping it with her horn as she whispered gingerly, "Good Luck, Tommy."
Thomas couldn't dare hide his blush. Bright Spark, the Unicorn Filly that Thomas had been idolizing for so long, with no true ulterior motive behind wishing well of her friend, kissed him. He felt incredibly blessed by this boon he'd been bestowed, and almost fainted from the shock! But, he kept himself conscious, hugged his friends back, and drove his way out the door, waving away at his class.
"Bye, everypony!" He called, beaming a bright smile.
"BYE, TOMMY!" called back his entire class, waving their friend in such a vast volume that it felt like Thomas was receiving a non-standing ovation.
The halls and lockers of his precious school passed by, their silver coatings reflecting Tommy's bright smile as he made for the doors to outside Masonville. Already in wait, Thomas' parents, Rebecca in tow, awaited.
"So, did you tell them the news?" Tommy's mother asked as he rolled into the van.
"Oh, yeah..." He said, smiling, a sense of pride filling him.
"I take it by the look on your face, they took it well?" Tommy's father asked back.
"Mm-hmm."
"Tch. Typical pony behavior." Rebecca chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"Now now, there's no need to be racist, 'Becca. After all, your brother's gonna be joining the herd, and at some point, so will the rest of us." Tommy's father noted.
"Yeah, yeah..."
And so, with the van beginning to drive away from the school, Thomas waved goodbye one final time at the last notable piece of his human life.
As the van pulled up to the Conversion Bureau, Thomas was amazed at the image before him. Nervous humans entered, contented Ponies left. Part of him gained a sense of anxiety again. He knew he was doing the right thing, but he felt a bit unsure of himself. The van door slid open as he rolled his way down, as he said his final goodbyes. However, as he began to disembark, the engine of the van cut off. Doors opened and shut.
"Huh? What're you doing?" Thomas asked, looking to his parents.
"Well, we can't just let you leave here without a proper send off!" His father said, smiling.
Thomas smiled then, rolling inside. His family wanted to make sure he could see his humanity off? That was true caring if he ever saw it. Inside the Bureau itself, there were a number of people sitting in chairs, reading periodicals off their datapads, either waiting for friends, or waiting for their calling to be among the next ponified group. At the reception desk, there was a unicorn almost too occupied in typing on a keyboard, but upon hearing a familiar chiming noise, the unicorn's ears perked and she turned her gaze to the quartet nearing the desk, particularly Thomas.
"Aww..." the unicorn sighed, smiling as she looked down at the sitting human. "Aren't you just the cutest? What's your name, little boy?"
"Thomas Alfred Curry." beamed his mother, taking the clipboard from off the counter, handing it down to Thomas.
"And is he going to ponify?"
"Yes." Thomas said, beginning to scrawl down his name on the empty space in the list, smiling.
"Before we leave him in your ha-er-hooves...we'd like to make sure that our little darling gets the best care...see, he can't walk and-"
"Not to worry, Mrs Curry!" chirped the clerical unicorn, before giggling at her inadvertent rhyme. "We have the best nurses around! We'll make sure your little one is safe and sound!" After that, she began to giggle again. "Oh! Look at me! I keep rhyming on a dime!"
Thomas and his Mother and Father all started to laugh.
"We'll make sure we have a nurse standing by!" giggled the Unicorn, beaming. "Oh, and by the way! My name's Qwerty!"
With this, Tommy's father shook the pony's hand, smiling. "Well, Qwerty, take care of my little man..."
"Of course!" Qwerty chirped, smiling as she clicked a button.
With this, in a moment that shocked everyone, Rebecca hugged Thomas, almost lifting him from his chair.
"Goodbye, little bro..." She sighed. "I hope you get better soon..." She sighed, before nuzzling her baby brother's neck with a smile.
"That seems awfully out of character for you, dear..." said the mother.
"Well...as much as I'm on the fence on these little ponies, I still feel for my little brother...he's taking a big leap..."
After a few moments of prattling, Tommy's father shepherded the rest of the family back to van.
"Good luck, son." Were the last words he'd hear as the doors separated Thomas and sealed his decision.
After they had left, Qwerty looked down to Thomas.
"Now, if you'd just wait over there, a nurse will be coming in a few minutes to take you home." She chirped, pointing to the inpatient lounge, to which Thomas nodded and escorted himself.
Most of the other patients were far above his own age, save for a girl a few years above his age. The air was stagnant as he retracted his own datapad, reading from a digital pamphlet on the subject of ponification. According to the information, patients may have to wait for at least seven days before their name could be called, and it usually occurred around breakfast or lunch. The cafeteria served humans and ponies equally, and upon completion of Ponification, the outpatient would be given a "release bag", containing some basic pony goods to get started.
He dared not read the details on how ponifying itself worked, as it might have given him an anxiety attack.
Then, a two-tone beep came as the room fell silent.
"Thomas Curry?" asked a deep, feminine voice.
Thomas smiled, raised his hand, and a rather stately unicorn mare began to escort him in a manner that he found interesting. Most ponies did things on all four hooves, but this unicorn was able to push his wheelchair with the greatest of ease on just her two hind hooves, holding the handles of the wheelchair with her front ones in some odd manner.
"You know, we usually don't get little boys like you," The mare chuckled. "Call me Urgent Care...I'm a licensed Thaumatic Medical Therapist, and I'm specially trained with people of your type."
Thomas smiled then. At least her voice seemed motherly enough to back her claim.
"I'm Thomas. But most people call me "Tommy". It's easier to say sometimes."
Urgent Care chuckled at that. "Well, we're nearing your room. Just to make things a little easier on our patients and staff, all the doors are knobless. However, if you feel you need your privacy, there's a slide lock that you can use to lock your door. If you need help, just buzz for us, okay?"
Thomas nodded as the two of them entered his room.
"I'm sure you know this, but Conversion Bureaus provide free lodging to inpatients," The nurse said, smiling as they came in. "This room has the basic amenities. Private bathroom, television, and air conditioning. Everything else, you bring at your discretion. You'll get a chime when it's time for dinner. You're free to talk with any of your neighbors, so, with that done, I'll leave you be."
As she left the room, she was quick to remind Thomas, "If you need anything, just buzz me..."
With that, the nurse pony left Thomas be. With this, Thomas dug into his backpack, retrieving a roll of toilet tissues and placing it in the bathroom, then proceeding to place on the table by the bed that same series of six figurines he had by his bedside at home, smiling as he did so. "I can't believe I'm finally going through with it..." He sighed, smiling. "Pretty soon...I'm gonna be a pony....and I'll have my legs and everything working..."
As he worked his way onto the bed to turn on the Threevee to view a cartoon, a knock came to the door.
"Come in!" He called.
As the door swung open, a voice Thomas vaguely recalled chuckled, "Ha. I knew I heard a familiar voice around here!"
It was Suzie Thompson. Same height, strawberry blonde hair, hazel eyes. At base, she was the Human counterpart to Bright Spark, but aside from that, they'd been childhood friends. They met while still babies, and they were quite fond of each other. Now, to see that Suzie was now to undergo the very same procedure as he was...it made him fairly...nostalgic...
"Small world, isn't it?" Suzie joked. "If I knew you were getting ponified, I'd have come sooner!"
Thomas was a bit lost in thought, but still found it in him to chuckle.
"Let me guess...you came because of your legs, right?"
Thomas nodded, and added, "And because I'd have to go through with it later, anyway."
"That's very true," Suzie noted. "Everyone will have to do it at some point." She smiled at Thomas for a moment. "I wonder if kids feel any different than adults..."
"I wouldn't know..." Thomas said, chuckling. "I just hope I end up a Pegasus."
Suzie smiled a bit and said, "I'd want to be a unicorn. I think I have the brains for it..." Suzie then noted the assortment of figurines lining Tommy's table. "I didn't know you collected the toys. What gives?"
Thomas blushed. Suzie never visited him when he was home, and he was never one to brag of his hobbies, but he felt comfortable enough to be honest.
"Well..." He mumbled, twiddling his thumbs. "They're kind of my lucky charms..."
"Lucky charms, eh?" Suzie said, before messing with Tommy's hair. "What better ones than those six then, huh?" She giggled, causing both of them to burst out in laughter.
Within a few moments, the familiar eight note chime signaled it was Dinnertime.
"Well, looks like it's time for us to eat, huh?" Suzie said, inching her way off the bed. "Need help getting up?"
"I'm sure I can do it my-" Thomas began, only to be picked up and planted onto the chair.
"I insist." Said Suzy in a sweet tone as she wheeled her friend to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria wasn't particularly different from Tommy's usual understanding of them. Long, rectangular tables to one side, small circular ones to another. The special today for the humans was pepperoni pizza with bread sticks and marinara sauce, while the Ponies were to have Forget-me-nots on rye. The counter had two separate, roped-off lines, one for human use, and one for pony use.
"Wow..just like school, huh..." chuckled Suzie as they wheeled up to the counter, each of them picking up a tray, Thomas in particular activating the table feature on his chair, linking the two arm rests with a small, steel table. Suzie let a chipper smile reach her face as a brilliant idea stuck her. "Hey, while we're here, why don't we go mingle with the new ponies?"
"You think they wouldn't mind?" Thomas quipped, twirling a plastic fork and knife in his hands.
"No way! Ponies are good folk! They won't mind at all!" Suzie snickered, holding her mouth.
"Even though we're eating meat?" Thomas noted,
"Meat eating is frowned upon, but no one will judge a human for it," noted the lunch pony, smiling.
Thomas smiled, noting this as he positioned himself at a nearby table, beginning to eat, before there was a sudden hush. As he began to eat, he noticed a table guest neither of them were familiar with.
"Oh, wow...I've never seen a human like you before." said the guest, an earth pony colt. "Are you a cyborg?"
Thomas looked to Suzie, then back to the pony. After a few moments of processing, he burst into laughter.
"No, I'm not a cyborg!" He chuckled, barely able to contain himself, "It's just my wheelchair." With this, he extended his hand as far as he could, trying not to reach out from his chair, the pony extending his hoof to allow him to shake it.
"I'm Thomas...Thomas Curry." Thomas said, smiling.
"Call me Eric."
"It's nice to meet you!" Suzie said, shaking Eric's hand. "I'm Suzie! Suzie Thompson!"
"It's nice to meet you, too!" Eric said, smiling. "I hope everything goes great for you two!"
"Same here." Thomas said, smiling, returning to eating.
The pizza was fairly delectable. Or, at least what could pass as such for something made by pony hooves. At least it was circular, rather than the square slices that the school's cafeteria was known for. Thankfully, the condiments and beverages were plentiful. Eric was busy enjoying the forget-me-not on rye with a smile.
Within a moment, a two-tone ping came from the intercom.
"Attention, please: Would a Suzie Thompson please report to the Conversion room? Suzie Thompson to Conversion."
Thomas gasped. "So soon?! How long have you been here?"
As Suzie stood up, she smiled and said "Six days...looks like it's the moment of truth for me..." And then, much like Bright Spark, Suzie pecked Thomas, only this time, upon his cheek.
Thomas was almost at a loss for words. He was rendered unable to speak, reduced to infantile babble before finally shuddering, "Bye..."
It was then that Thomas had decided to leave, driving himself back to his room.
Today had been fairly tiring. Thomas was entering the final moments of his humanity, and his dearest human companion had just been called to the same destiny he had chosen for himself.
She was becoming a pony, and he was going to be one, as well.
Looking for a moment to his figurines, the glossy eyes of his Twilight Sparkle figurine gave a light of encouragement.
"You're right..." He said, acting as if this inanimate object were one of his friends. "I can't give up now...I have to go through with it...if Suzie can solider on through it, then so can I..." For a moment, he took the figurine in his hand, holding it to his chest, as if to pray to the unicorn for good luck. It was after that that he pulled himself from his chair onto the small bed, tucking beneath the covers with a smile...
Morning came once again in Masonville. Tommy's sleep was fairly uneventful, and oddly dreamless. While the only thing he could think of was Suzie, it did not influence a single part of his subconscious to beckon her to the dream world.
A rapping sound came to the door, as Thomas slowly began to unravel himself from beneath the covers. "Ugh...what time is it?" He groaned, stretching.
The rapping repeated, but firmer, louder, and deeper.
"It's open!" Thomas called, shifting his way to the wheelchair as the door shot open, a familiar unicorn darting in and hurriedly planting him inside the chair. "Whoa! What are you doing?"
"You're late for your ponification. We didn't see you at breakfast. You must have overslept!" Urgent Care noted, pushing the paraplegic through the hallways. "Not to worry, though! We'll have you back in time to eat!" She turned her head towards Thomas. "If I were you, I'd hold on tight."
With this, the boy of the moment gripped his chair as if his very life depended on it. With reckless abandon, Urgent Care, like her name implied, peeled out and through the hallways of the Bureau, before planting her hooves firm, stopping abrupt and swift in front of the room for the Ponification.
"I'll let you go in from here. Now, you behave yourself, alright?" the nurse asked, helping Thomas to catch his breath from that quite exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping thrill ride that was his transportation.
Thomas nodded, taking a few deep breaths before pushing open the knobless door.
"Ah...Thomas is it?" Chirped a voice from the other side. "Please, come right in."
Now that he was given proper consent, Thomas entered into what appeared to be an office not unlike that of a clinic. He felt a very calming aura around the place. The mare who had called him in was a white earth pony bearing a red, curly mane and tail, complete with a red cross cutie mark. At the counter beside the mare was a cup of purple fluid.
"Hi, Tommy. My name is Helping Hooves, and I'll be the nurse in charge of your ponification. Before we get started, may I ask how you're feeling?" The mare asked, smiling.
"Well, I was pretty tired, but I think the fast chair ride over here that almost killed me fixed that." Thomas said, still catching his breath.
"Aw. I'm sorry. It's not often we get little ones like you...handicapped, sure, but so young...You had me a little worried. I thought you'd run off!" Helping Hooves chuckled, sighing a moment after. "Just take a few deep breaths and, if you could, please take off your clothes."
"Beg pardon?" Thomas asked, his eyes going a mite wide.
"Your clothes, dear," Helping Hooves said. "For your sake, please take them off and put them by the table. We wouldn't want them to get ripped while you ponify, would we?" she giggled.
"I...I guess not..." Thomas said, slowly removing his clothes and being aided onto the paper-lined bench.
As he positioned himself atop the bench, the nurse passed him the small cup of purple fluid.
"What is this, exactly?" Thomas asked, swirling it about a bit.
"It's ponification serum. Three ounces, especially for kids your age," Explained the pale pony. "When you drink it, don't worry. It'll make you fall asleep, and you won't feel a thing! It's like being a butterfly. You take a nice little nap, and then you wake up, in a brand new, beautiful body!" She then tilted her head. "Does that make sense?"
Thomas nodded, beginning to gulp down the drink prescribed to him. Based upon its color, and indeed from it's taste, the serum was like grape juice. Only this particular juice was a medicine which, within moments of drinking, he began to feel dizzy. His eyes grew heavy as his vision began to swim. He had no other thought than rest at his mind.
What Thomas saw next was beyond his own prepubescent comprehension. A verdant field sprawled in before him, covered with lilies as far as his eyes could see. Standing in the middle was a large, pink cherry blossom, it's branches spiraling as its full bloom glowed in the bright sunlight. However, what cost his eye most was the being stood in front of said tree. It was a large, pearlescent mare, her wings in full unfurl, her eyes casting a warm, magenta gaze at her subject, and a polychromatic mane and tail billowing in an eternal state of inertia, a warm smile across her face. It was none other than Princess Celestia of Equestria.
"You who comes to me at this hour," said the Princess in a calm voice. "What do you seek in your life as an Equestrian?" Her voice had a matronly quality to it. A voice of compassion and empathy beyond all understanding...
Thomas was hard pressed for any bit of a response, but after a moment of thought, a clear answer formed in his head.
"I want to be...free..." Thomas said, slowly. "I want to be free to walk with my own legs...to follow my own heart...to pursue the goals in my mind...I just want...to be free..."
Princess Celestia chuckled. "Such a young child," she chuckled, approaching him, "And yet...so full of life...you were always bound by one single object...yet that did little to dampen your spirits...you had friends to keep you afloat...both human and equine...and now, you join ponydom, hoping to have a chance at a life you only dreamed of possessing...As princess, I find it a great honor to welcome you into our world...may your new form bring you great merriment...wake now, little one. Your new life awaits you..."
With this, a bright flash blinded Thomas. All of his senses, one by one, began to dim. He had lost all feeling in himself, and it was here that his lucid dream faded into the depths of his mind...
A moment later, Thomas began to gasp, taking breaths through his new mouth before calming down and breathing through his snout. As his eyes began to open, he saw that Helping Hooves was at his bedside, smiling.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," chuckled the chipper caretaker, smiling as she helped to position Thomas into a proper equine sitting posture. "How do your new shoes feel?" She asked, knocking on Tommy's new hooves as if they were little doors. "How's your throat? Feeling a little hoarse?" With that, the little pony nurse laughed a bit to herself. "Sorry. I just love make myself laugh like that!"
Thomas yawned a bit as he...stood?! By the powers! He was standing! Okay, it was actually a very poor attempt at standing, as his knees buckled under, sending him falling as the foal he was.
"Whoa, there, champ!" Helping Hooves said, lending a helping hoof. "No need to go storming out of the gate!" With this, she helped Thomas to his hooves again, helping him stay up. "You just woke up, dear. You need to get a little adjusted. Now then. First things first, let's get a mirror! After all, you must be wondering how you look!"
For a moment, the nurse walked to closet, sliding out a mirror on wheels, rolling it to Tommy's vision. He was a fairly brown coat, his wings tipped by black quills, a fairly dark streak on the crown of his head. From what he could see, he resembled a-
"Falcon..."
"Pardon?" The nurse asked, looking to him.
"I..." Thomas said, holding a hoof to his chin to confirm he was not in another lucid dream. "I look like a falcon...I might just go by that name..."
"Falcon..." Helping Hooves repeated to herself. "Is that a nickname?"
Thomas thought for a moment, then took a look at himself. "Yeah..." he chuckled, smiling. "I guess it is!" He then gasped. "Quick! How do I get to Beechview Plaza?" He asked.
"You could hoof it...or use your wings...that reminds me,I think there was a call not too long ago asking about you. You ought to hurry! I think someone has a big surprise for you!"
He beamed a large smile. "No kidding?! I gotta get there, quick!"
"Now hold on! Before you go, we here at the Bureau would like to thank you for choosing to ponify with us, and as a token of our esteem, we'd like you to have this," Helping Hooves said, passing Thomas a small sack tied to a pole. "It's a release bag. It has a few essentials to help get you started on your new life." She then helped Thomas out he door. As they walked out from one of the side doors of the lobby to the parking lot, something odd lied in the sparsely populated lot: a small horse-drawn wagon, augmented with parts from his former wheelchair.
"We didn't know what to do with your wheelchair, so we had it converted into something more useful for you! So here you go!"
Thomas reflected on his late wheelchair for a moment, but as he approached the wagon, placing his release bag into the wagon itself, noting for a split second his backpack being in there for convenience, he simply wanted to be strapped in and dart off, and as he slipped through the ring to be harnessed in, he smiled. For a moment, he looked back, seeing HElping Hooves put the finishing touches on.
"There you are! All set! Now run, little Tommy! Run as fast as you can!"
Thomas smiled proudly, rearing up his front legs and darting off with a song and fire in his heart, his shadow cresting the sun as his new-found sense of joy filled his heart.
Such exhilaration filled Thomas as he strode back to Beechview, not by car, but on his own hooves, a cart behind him as darted, wings extended as his new brown coat glowed golden in the dash home. Most of the neighborhood, however, seemed eerily deserted. Normally, Beechview was up to its knees in ponies, but not a soul was around now. But what could leave this place so deserted? Hoping to find an answer, Thomas slowed to a trot home, kicking himself free from the harness as soon as he entered the garage. It seemed that in preparation for his arrival, Tommy's parents had begun to replace the doorknobs with pony-accessible push doors. In noting this, he entered the living room...or, at least that's what he assumed it was.
The room was amazingly dark. It was barely even noon, yet the room was black as pitch. "Hello? Anyone here?" Thomas called to the shadows. Hearing nothing, he began to fumble around in darkness, hoping to locate a light switch. A satisfying click helped to solidify his security.
"SURPRISE!" Shouted gleefully the crowd which the light finally revealed, smiling. Almost immediately, Thomas practically leapt from his own hide in surprise, before coming to his senses and realizing that his guests were all his friends, family, and neighbors, gathered together for the occasion. A large banner reading "WELCOME HOME, TOMMY!" hung above a table decorated with a number of human and pony based foods. They were all beaming smiles and gathering around to greet their friend.
"Hey, champ!" His father chuckled, ruffling up his son's new mane. "How's the new body working out for ya?"
For a moment, Thomas paused to think of an answer, before smiling and looking to his friends.
"To be honest...I've never felt more alive in my life." He said, walking into the festivities and indulging himself in such delight at what his friends, family, and neighbors were so kind to bestow him. The taste of flowers, grass, and wheat, while bland or even downright disgusting to a human tongue, they were decadent, rich, and savory to Thoma's new herbivorous appetite! Even the hay was a marvelous thing for him to eat! Then, something rang in his head.
"Hey, dad! Can me, Eagle, and Raven go to the lookout?" He asked, putting his new, larger eyes to work.
"Well..." his father said, holding his chin. "Ah, heck. Why not! Hey, why don't we go with you? After all, what better place to run than there?"
With this, the three beamed, dashing off like fillies possessed, off to a large, verdant prairie.
This was a place the three little ponies called "The Lookout". The reason it got that name was, even before Thomas was given the boon of four new legs (and a nice set of wings to boot), the prairie's drop off point overlooked the single most beautiful valley in Masonville. By government decree, it was deemed to be a nature reserve, and as such, it was a marvelous Eden that always warmed the boy's heart. He could gaze at one of the last few bastions of nature's great expanse, and never decry its splendor. But today, it would serve to be the site of a hallmark achievement in his life.
As it stood, it was this prairie that appeared in that recurring dream of his. For years, this place served as a reminder of his limits and restraints. It served as a boundary between him, and the sky above. But today, little Tommy would break its original paradigm. He was finally going to do the thing his dream stopped him from doing after so long a wait.
After a few moments of looking to the prairie expanse, and to each other, the three ponies darted off, wings at the ready, legs at full gallop, minds set, and hearts racing. Prairie grass bristled past their coats as they ran, the sun beat down on them, and the ground narrowed at their hooves. Then, as the tension hit its fever pitch, and the ground narrowed to a point, Tommy took a deep breath and made his leap of faith.
Only this time, no weights bore him down. No chains tethered him. No ground sent him to his doom. There was no ground beneath him. Just pure, crisp, refreshing air, the clouds, and his friends, with whom he clumsily danced in an aerial ballet with. This was the goal which his subconscious deemed impossible. Something he would only dream to accomplish. And yet, there he was, in the sky, smiling in a way that only a child would smile. He had done it. He had taken flight. He had fulfilled his life long dream...
And it was this moment that remains immortalized in the young boy's heart, not only in memory, but in imagery. Since that very day, Thomas has kept the picture of that moment framed at his bedside, to remind him of that dream...
A dream that he was finally able to accomplish.
~Fin.
