Colors Fiction

Fiction is a universe I have always wanted to be in. It is where lightsabers, legendary swords, magic beans, and even a talking hat exists. Creatures like griffins, demons, fairies, ghosts and even those that can be ungodly reside in such world. In this world, I am forced to accept facts laid out by scientists and discover a world that is not excited. Sure, there things worthwhile, but not for long. Technology, concepts, trends, or anything becomes outdated and boring.

That is why I escape reality and went into the realm of unreal, through books and other media; not wanting to get bored. Life gets boring, even with friends. The lacking of friends is even more boring. Reality is the kingdom of boredom, and I refuse to accept it, that is until I grew older. I realized that it is futile to wish for an alien invasion and save the world, be a hero, and win the lady. I had to give it up, for reality crushes the sanity of the person who kept wishing. Even some religious people become crazy for believing too much. I don’t want to be crazy, so I stepped into the world of grown-ups. I left what can be deemed as childish and immature, and instead lived with the fiction that grown-ups think are appropriate for them. Though I enjoyed these adult fantasies (not in a sexual way), I always missed the simpler times; stories of ghosts, a tale of a magical land, and more.

So when I said I wanted to write my own story, I wanted it to be something magical yet daring as serious as any action movie, something powerful, but not cheesy.

Little did I know that my life is going to be something as outrageous as being a colourful flying horse, er, pony rather? I am small, after all. All my life had I wished something ridiculous to happen to my life, as long it resembles fiction. And now, it is a fiction on its own, and I feel stupid for wishing so. Of all fictional possibilities that can happen, fates have decided I become a pony with wings forcibly attached on its back. I always knew Pegasus cannot fly, due to their weight, so I doubt I can.

But I have more important things to do right now than contemplating about my transformation into a talking mythological creature, so I should get right back on track with what’s going on around me.

I can feel the car moving at probably dangerous speeds. Only God knows if I will survive this car ride. I am still under the pile of jackets, and so I woke up to the sound of the engine that seems to be begging to be destroyed due to being abused of its horse power. Horse power, funny. It wasn’t long before she hit the brakes, tossing me to the back seat with my head first. I swear, amnesia won’t be long if this keeps up.

As my consciousness came back the second time, I realize the engine is silent. I plunge into the pile of clothes deeper, hoping she won’t see me. I hear the car door beside me open. I only hope she doesn’t rummage into the colourful laundry.

She didn’t; instead, she picks up the pile along with me inside. Calm down, she doesn’t know you’re here. Yet. Shit.

I couldn’t see anything, but I hear footsteps then a screen door swinging open. It’s hard to breathe in this thing, it smells too much of vanilla. Maybe she has an obsession with vanilla.

“Haa… Tsukaretta…”

I don’t know what that means, but I hope it doesn’t stand for ‘I found an intellectual equine that requires further study down in the basement.’ I am overthinking about this, aren’t I?

I feel the pile being set down on something and hear her walking away. I hope I’m near the front door, because I need to get away fast and hide. As soon as I hear no more footsteps, I poke my head out of the pile. I study the room. Huh, this place isn’t bad. I am currently in a living room, and a big one at that. It has a really high ceiling, or maybe I think it’s high since I’m small? There are bookshelves on the right, about three of them, and a hallway. I can only guess she’s reading comic and those shelves are filled with those. I never seen her read anything and she never asked me about anything I read.

The floor is made of shiny wood and the walls are decorated with pretty fancy wallpaper, the ones with bird cages outlines and whatnot. This place looks really expensive. I can also see two couches in front on the television on the left and U.I. sitting on it, staring at me. Those couches look really comforta-

Wait, she saw me.

Shit.

I see her staring with her mouth open while she held a can of something. She blinks three times and then stares at me again. I can only stare back. The atmosphere is filling with tension, though I don’t know what kind. What is going to do? Scream? Grab a broom and shoo me away? Call pest control? Worse yet, kill me?

As I assume the worst, she stands up, still holding the stare. I stare back, unable to move for reasons I couldn’t know. Fear? Anxiety? Nervousness? Feelings start to swirl inside me as she walk toward my direction. My breathing becomes faster. My heart starts to pump like a timer on fast forward. My body is frozen. She is now right before me.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the ear-piercing scream, or the hard swing of the broom. Instead, I feel hands around my arm pits or rather my leg pits? I feel being lifted in the air and then lowered. I am still in her hands. I slowly open my eyes, and I see her still staring with her mouth open.

“Ka-kawaii…”

At least I know what that meant.

“I’m not cute you know,” I reply to her. My voice is very not masculine right now.

She jolts, loosened her grip on me a little.

“Shabetta…” She says without closing her mouth.

Apparently, she is more fascinated than terrified. Wait, what am I thinking? Who would be terrified of a brightly colored pony?

“Su-sugoii! Kimi shaberu koto dekiru des ne!? ” She asks with now a brightened face.

“I’m gonna take a guess that you’re asking if I can talk, yes I can.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! You speak English, right. Oh my, you are so…”

“Cute?”

“Adorable!”

I frown at the word.

“Can you put me down now?” I ask her.

“O-of course!”

She places me beside the stack I was in. I sneeze at the scent of too much vanilla.

“Honto ni kawaii!!!”

She is totally fan-girling over the fact I sneezed. I’m not sure how I should take that. After a few squeals from her, she calmed down and bends down with her hands on her lap to match my height, or at least try to.

“So, where did you come from, little one?”

She’s treating me like a little kid, or a pet and I don’t know which is worse. As for her question, I don’t know the answer. I do know that the owner of this body is currently running around with mine. I don’t also know if I should tell her. I don’t know her much and she doesn’t particularly strike me as the smart type. Still, she’s the only person I can confide to right now.

“Okay, here’s the thing, U.I.-”

“Wait, only Gerald-san calls me that.”

Shit. Well, at least she now has an idea who I am, I think.

“You’re…”

“I’m…?” I gesture my hoof with spinning motion, gesturing her to continue.

“That is so cute!”

“U.I.!”

“Right! Um, you’re… Gerald-san’s pet!”

I face palmed. Or face hoofed. God, I have to remember I’m not human right now.

“No. Pets don’t talk, U.I.,” I say with disappointment.

“Oh, okay. Let me try again! You’re…”

“Yes?”

“A robot created by Gerald-san!”

Another face hoof, and this time, it hurts my face. And she even said it so seriously. If she can’t guess it, I might as well tell.

“No, U.I. It’s me, Gerald.”

Her face become contorted with confusion, registering the new information in her head. When she realize what I was saying, her smile became bigger.

“Now don’t be silly! You could be friends with Gerald-san, but I know I’m not that stupid to fall for that!”

“You see a multicolour pony in your room and you think that is impossible?”

“Oh you silly little pony!” She started petting my head. It reminds me of being praised by my dad. I kind of like it. I close my eyes and-

“Knock it off!” I shake my head, tossing away her hand.

“Sorry,” she says and then chuckles. “It looked like you enjoyed it.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “I am Gerald, no matter what you say.”

“Really? Tell me something Gerald knows.”

“U.I., you don’t know anything about me.” This is true, since I never really talk much to her, unless it’s business.

“Just say something!” She seems too excited.

“Ugh, I like reading?”

“There you go!”

“So you believe me?”

“No,” she answers so casually, with a smile.

Never before have I wanted to stampede on a girl with my new hooves so badly. She’s not taking me seriously. I have to convince her.

“Anything else?” She asks.

To be honest, I don’t know anything about her, and she doesn’t even know me much too. Just great. Now she thinks I’m just someone’s pet.

Wait, I have an idea.

“Then why don’t you call me- I mean, Gerald?”

“Aw, you want to go home already?” Her tone irritates me.

“Just call.”

She fishes out her cell phone out of her pocket. Her phone is one of those flip types, colored bright orange with a strap of an orange slice. I don’t know what to think of that.

“Just a sec, Rainbow!” She says as she hold the phone on her right ear.

I flinch at what she called. It is the pony’s real name, Rainbow Dash, the one who stole his body. He has to get it back, before she makes me look like an idiot.

“That’s odd, no one’s answering.” She puts down the phone and calls again. After a minute, she puts down her phone. “Usually, he answers quickly.”

“Let’s check up on him,” I suggest.

“Nah, he’s just sleeping in early.”

This girl is very hard headed, I am tempted to try kicking her temple.

“Fine!” I shout. I give out a stern look, an all-serious, I-am-not-kidding-with-you look. It’s going to be hard to achieve with this spectrum equine body of mine.

She looks at me, a little curious at what I am going to say, although I think she is mostly amused.

“Gerald is my owner, I want to go home, so please take me back to him.” I say with probably the most bored and uninterested tone I can manage. Since she’s so dense, I might as well say it that way.

“There you go, now I can take you back to your owner!”

“For the second time, I am no pet; I am a sentient being, not some dog that follows orders and craps everywhere.”

“Right. Sorry about that. But you just said he’s your owner.”

“I meant friend!”

“Okay, calm down. Sorry about that.”

At least I can go home for now. I walk forward and notice I am on top of a coffee table. I jump down and go straight for the door. The front door has a shoe rack beside it and the floor before the door goes lower than the floorboards.

“Come on, let’s go. I wanna go home.” Which is true.

“Wait! Don’t you want to rest for a while and have dinner while you’re at it? Please stay.” Her face is actually like a puppy begging to have its belly rubbed. I want to say no, but God, I don’t want to ruin that face. Besides, I am hungry.

“Fine, just some grub and we go.” I roll my eyes as I say.

Her face brightened up.

“Oh thank you! Let me get you something to eat! So what would you like, uh…? What’s your name, anyways?”

I think about that for a while. She doesn’t know it is me trapped inside a pony body, so I guess using this pony’s name will be fine.

“I’m… Rainbow Dash…”

“That is so adorable! And cute! And… and… KAWAII!!!”

I regret that I have said that name, and I yearn for a time traveling device to undo such happening.

“So Rainbow Dash, what would you like?” She asks as she walks toward another room, presumably the kitchen.

I ponder at her question. Would I be okay eating human food, or am I limited as a vegetarian? I decide not to care and just eat anything.

“Whatever you’re having.” I go straight to the couch she was sitting on. Damn, this is pretty comfy.

“Um, about that. I’m having bacon.” Her voice is filled with concern.

“I can eat meat, don’t worry.”

Then, I started to hear the frying sounds from the kitchen. I just sit on the couch, like a dog I guess, making myself comfortable. Should I feel degraded? Before the couch is a glass coffee table and then a large smart television that probably costs about like my whole salary for two months. I find the remote control beside. I guess I’ll watch some television. I grab the remote, and the remote slides farther from me. I miss my fingers.

I try to hold with both of my front hooves holding the side and then sliding it on top of my left front hoof, as if I have a palm. With my right hoof, I pressed the power button, which ends up smashing all of the buttons next to the power button. After a few presses, I manage to turn the television on. The display shows Discovery Channel, and the topic is about… horses. What a coincidence. I think God or whoever is in control of my life is laughing right now. I toss the remote control to the other side of the couch with minimal results. I really miss my fingers.

U.I. came in walking while carrying a stainless, fancy-looking tray. From the way her house looks, I think it’s only missing a butler or a maid.

“Do you live alone, U.I.?” I ask as I sit up straight, like a dog. As much as I want to sit like a normal person, this position seems best for my current condition. I also notice that she is half of my standing height, or maybe even smaller. I thought ponies are supposed to be bigger?

“Not really.” She sets down the tray onto the coffee table before the couch. “I had maids around, but I had them leave. I’m more comfortable cleaning up my own house.”

A house your dad bought for you. Still, I admire her determination to live on her own. It was like being myself, learning to do things on my own.

I look down at the tray; a plate with piles of bacon strips, another plate with French fries, and another plate with four pieces of bread. This is a weird dinner.

“I didn’t what to cook, so I cooked what I like.” She smiles. She does that awfully a lot today.

“U.I.?”

“Yeah?” She sits down beside me, picking the plate of bacon and eats one strip.

“Why are you being like, uh, acting this is all normal? I know myself that I am not normal, being a pony that can talk.”

I hear her swallow the strip down.

“I don’t know. When things that are too good to happen happens, I just enjoy it. Though I should question it.”

“Then why aren’t you?”

She ponder on the thought. Even I would question the existence of a speaking animal. Heck, I talked to it before her, and a lot of questions have been hanging around my mind since I met the pony. Then I became the pony.

“Well, you know Gerald-san. I think that’s enough for me.” She takes a piece of bread, places the bacon and some fries onto it, and folds it. She then takes a huge bite.

“How is that enough?”

“Gerald-san doesn’t have many friends. I think I’m just glad you two are actually close enough for him to talk about me to you. He never really talks to anyone else in the office, or even to me.” As she said that, her smile fades for moment, but then comes back.

For a moment, I feel weird. I didn’t know she cared that much about me, her co-worker who could care less if she trips and breaks her laptop. Me, who escapes reality on a daily basis, and there she is, thinking if I was okay.

“Rainbow? Are you okay?”

“What?” I notice I was staring and shake my head. “Sorry, I dozed off or something.”

She laughs.

After a few bites of bread and fries, I lay on the couch, just like how a dog- just like how a pony should. I realized before I ate was that I had to use my mouth to eat. U.I. offered to spoon feed me, and for some reason, I agreed, though I had to stop since it was getting embarrassing for me. Unfortunately for me, bacon doesn’t taste as it used to anymore. I actually spitted the bacon off my tongue. I can’t believe the day I would come to despise bacon would actually come.

U.I. just went to her room to answer a phone call, probably from her dad. According to her, her dad does this every night, and I told her dad is being so overprotective. She just shrugged and went to her room.

Looking around the room, it still amazes me that she gets to own this majestic house. I didn’t even notice the chandelier before. Some paintings on the wall bores me, though. They were just still images of objects like fruits or a bench. Why a bench, of all things?

I get up and jump off the couch. Right now, standing and walking on four legs doesn’t even surprise me anymore. It became instinct. I also learn how to move my tail, which is totally a new thing and even freakier than walking on four legs. It feels like connected to my spine, so moving it feels like moving my spine itself. I look at my colourful tail, moving according to my thoughts. Don’t ponies use tails to swat flies?

I notice another part of me; my wings. Technically, this body is not mine, but the fact remains that I am controlling it, so I guess it’s good as mine. I still haven’t figured out how to move them. Flying does sound exciting, and it is possible since I saw this pony fly before me last time. That will have to wait. Until I get home I can… Wait, what happens then? All I think about it getting home, but I never thought about what is next.

Do I go after my body thief? What happens after that? Can I even change back? What happens to U.I. and me?

Life will never be the same, and I realize it is my fault. I asked for this. I so longingly desire this unnatural transformation. I sought it, rejecting everything real. And now, I have it, and I feel, well, nothing. I am still Gerald, an employee of an unknown television station under the creative services department, living alone in an apartment. I guess I’m fired if I am like this. There’s a feeling inside me that I couldn’t describe. I missed walking on two legs. I missed working.

I missed being normal. Wow, the past me would have killed me right now. It saddens me, even though I should be celebrating that I have seen the impossible. Why am I feeling like this!? Is it because of U.I.? When I learned that she cared even I was being non-existent?

I push away the questions. I don’t want to get depressed, so I walk around the living room, making the sounds of clip clop with each of my step. I have to get used to that eventually.

I approach the book shelf. It’s as tall as the ceiling, and to think there are three of them. There’s even a ladder to reach the ones that are on top. At my place, the books are just stacked on a table next to my desktop computer. I really need to get a book shelf.

On the shelves, each row contains different kinds of books like ones from college and some fiction. Why does she keeps her college books? On another row, it is filled with books with Japanese texts on them. I can’t see the next shelf. I climb up the ladders, making my head reach the third shelf. There are English books here, but they featured anime characters and some of them are just Japanese words in English texts.

As I climb higher into the ladder, a deafening shout of the word ‘what’, causes me to fall on the wooden floor, hitting my head once again. This time, I keep myself awake and conscious, with the world spinning around me. I stand up on my legs, only to find myself swaying left and right.

“Rainbow-san, taihen des’!!” U.I. emerges from the other room, holding her cell phone. She then finds me doing sways like a drunk. She only giggles.

“Help me…” I manage to stutter.

She catches me on my right, holding my side and touching my wings. Reacting to her touch, my wings flare open. I don’t know how I did that.

“Oh my, you have wings!” Her excitement immediately removes itself. “Wait, no, we have a problem.”

“What?” The world finally stops spinning. “What’s going on?”

She leads me back to the couch, and I sit down.

“Well, my parents bought me this house.” She sits beside me.

“I figured.” I rub the bump on my head. “Do you have any ice?”

“So, my parents offered to stay here, and I refused since I wanted to be independent,”

“My head hurts, can you get me some ice, please?”

“Since they worry too much, they sent the maids I mentioned before. They were really professional, you know! They must have cost a lot.”

“Uh… I think I have a concussion.”

“Anyway, I sent to away and told them to tell my parents that I can take care of myself.”

“U.I….”

“My mom always thought I couldn’t get by on my own, so she does this thing every month.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake! My head hurts!”

“S-s- I am so sorry!”

She rushes to the kitchen and soon enough, she hands me an ice bag, filled with ice cubes. I hold it on my head. Ouch.

“What were you saying?” I ask as I press the cold plastic.

“My mom will be visiting,” she says as she sits down.

Oh, her mom will be visiting. That’s nice of her. My parents could care less what I do, that kind of makes me jealou-

“WHAT!?” I drop the ice bag.

“Don’t worry! You can hide in the attic while my mom stays to talk. It will only last a few minutes, probably two hours tops, and then she leaves.”

I pick up the bag and place it back on my head. Two hours? What the hell are they going to do, play Scrabble? I can’t really complain though, she is treating me like a guest here.

“Okay, so when does she arrive? In an hour?” I can only guess that long, since it’s already nine in the evening.

“Here’s the thing,” she breathe in and out slowly. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know when your own mother is coming to visit you?”

“Yes.”

I am tempted to do my face hoof, but I don’t want to hurt my head any further.

“Why would you not know when your mother is coming?”

“She likes doing surprises. One time, I was getting inside my house and she was waiting for me, dressed like a ghost, with make-up and all.”

I’m not so jealous of her parents, all of a sudden. It’s hard to imagine an old woman scaring her own daughter for the sake of surprise.

“So, should I go to the attic now?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, its cosy in there.”

We go to the right of the living room and enter a hallway. We walk until we reach the end. She pulls out a stool from underneath a table, steps on it, and makes a couple of small jumps. For a while, she jumps until she manage to take hold of a string I didn’t notice before. She steps down the stool, and makes a hard pull. The ceiling folds, unfolding a staircase. Dust soon followed.

“I haven’t been in this room for a while.” She says as she swat away the particles from her nose.

“Cosy indeed.”

We climb the stairs, and enter the low ceiling room. She wasn’t lying about not being in this place, alright. The place is not even a match with the rooms downstairs. Instead, the walls and ceiling is a curve, making the room like a semi-circle.

“This is it.”

I’m not staying in this dust bin. I flap my wings, blowing all the dust into the air. U.I. started coughing and so did I. I should have opened the windows first.

I stop coughing and rub my eyes, and U.I. still haven’t stopped.

“Geez, the dust has settled. Are you asthmatic or something?”

“That wasn't me.”

Soon a figure emerges within the room, the source of the coughing sounds. A young girl steps out of the post, as if hiding for some time. We both only stare.

“Konbanwa, *cough* Yui-chan,” the girl says in a soft voice as she rubs her eyes.

“I thought your mother is visiting, not your sister,” I tell her without removing my eyes off the girl.

“She is my okaa-san.”

“And that would mean?”

“I meant she’s my mother.”