Colors Fiction

If you would go back in time, exactly about two days before all this and tell me that my life will be all different in one day, I’d simply shrugged off that statement. If you tell me that I will turn into an equine that has fur matching a box of crayons, I would say that you must be out of your mind. But if you tell me that I would become a girl, I would have hit your face with my fist. I’m a man, and I have no intention in going over the other side of gender wall. I like being a guy and I never wondered what’s it like to be a woman, or at least not particularly interested. Sure, there are some fictions that tackles the certain issue, but they weren’t my type of reading. I like adventure, action! Maybe I should have been more specific when I was desperately asking for the impossible. I don’t like this. I like being a man. I enjoyed its perks and grew up being one, and now you tell me that’s not the case anymore?

It’s funny. I reacted more on my gender change than my whole body swap. I should’ve checked my whole body, but I guess my mind was too occupied to do anything. Now that I think about it, I wonder what happened to my real body. From what happened that night, it seemed that she needed to do something, but only as a human. She said she would take care of my body, but people only say that when something is dangerous is going to happen. I don’t know what to think of Rainbow Dash, other than what she shown me; brash, rude, and sounds like a lesbian. Wait, is that it? Is she going for human females!? I have to hit myself for thinking like that. There’s just no way. She’s a pony, why would she go for humans? Unless it’s okay for them? Am I being racist? I have to find my body and get an explanation.

As of now, I am riding shotgun in U.I.’s car, while she drove to my place. It is about half an hour to get to my place, since I live in the city rather than in a neighborhood. I have to say, this is a peaceful looking place, unlike my place. I look out of the window on my door. There are people hanging outside their houses, either gardening or just resting. The atmosphere makes me want to live here.

“Are you sure you’re supposed to seat there?” U.I. asked, sounding worried.

“I called shotgun. Shush.” I answer back as I keep people watching.

I’m not worried that people might see me. After all, people easily doubt what they think they see and always put up a logical reasoning for what they see. Unless I am completely in front of them, I have nothing to fear.

I see a kid on a terrace staring at me as I stare back at her. I wave a hoof at her, and instinct lead her to do the same, while her jaw dropped.

“Stop calling attention to us. We might get in trouble.” U.I. says without looking away from the road.

“Please, like it’s illegal for a pony to sit in a car.”

“No, it’s not. But-”

“But what?”

“Now that I think of it, I don’t know. I don’t think anyone cared if anyone sees you, especially in this neighborhood. It’s kind of lax around here.”

And it’s true, from what I observed.

For a while I just stare outside, until it got boring. Nobody reacted whenever I wave at them. It’s like they don’t find a rainbow mane pony to be surprising, so I stopped. Then silence ensues. For a minute. Within that minute, I have cooked up a perfect conversation starters for U.I.

“Hey U.I.”

“Hmm?”

“What you and your mom fighting about?”

Asking her what they were fighting about was not in my conversation starter list, but it came out anyways. I know I am being a meddler, but their fight was something serious that they decided to ignore my existence.

“It’s nothing.”

And when people say that, it always meant the opposite. So, I did exactly what she did.

“Oh, okay.” I answer and look out of the window again.

Silence comes back, and this time it is unsettling to U.I. From the way she looks, she always wanted to tell someone about her problems, and just now, she shot down her chance of doing so. Twenty seconds has passed from my last word. Just ten more seco-

“Okay, it was something.”

See? I was off ten seconds, but I still got it.

“So, what was that all about?”

Her face contorts to a miserable form, as if remembering the very night.

“You see, I had a dog.”

“Your mom was comparing me to a dog!?”

“Will you let me finish?” She looks at me with a face of disappointment. I decide to shut up and nod.

“My mom always love animals. She would take to zoos and petting places and the like. I enjoy those trips, as any child would. So, there was this time we went to a stable, where you can ride horses and ponies.”

The last sentence made me raise my eyebrow, if I even have one. I can’t imagine someone riding on my back.

“So my mom rode a horse named Joshua and I rode a pony named Pringles.”

“Pringles? Really?”

She nods.

“We were riding them normally, you know, making them walk and stuff. I had an idea to make Pringles gallop, so I did what horse racers do; kick them. Sure, Pringles did gallop, but then Pringles was a bit of a retard and crashed himself into a fence. I was thrown off to the bushes, which really cushioned my fall. Pringles just lied there, helpless.”

She pauses.

“My mom, worried as hell, thought I was tossed away by the pony and start blaming it. It was the first time my mom was so angry at an animal. She thought I was harmed or even got killed.”

I try to picture it; her mom verbally abusing a pony because of her daughter’s plight. I couldn’t.

“So, with my childish mind, I decided to trick my mother. I made a fake voice pretending to be the pony and said sorry.”

What?

“And my mom bought it. Maybe her mind was really vulnerable at that time, or something. She then cried, thinking she was being too cruel to an innocent creature. It was weird, even for me as a kid.”

“So how is this story supposed to relate to the fight last evening?” I tilt my head.

“She thought I was reminding her of the past to get back at her for the surprises she did. I was explaining to her I wasn’t trying anything like that. She wouldn’t believe it, though.”

It look to the front. What I just heard was probably one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard. At that moment, I didn’t know what to say.

“That’s why I’m really thankful to you.” U.I.’s eyes still on the road.

“For what? I didn’t do anything.” I look at her.

“For breaking the fight between us. I know how uncomfortable it is to be in the middle, but you still stepped in even though you’re a pony.

If you didn’t talk, well, I don’t want to think about that.” She then smiles.

That night, when they were fighting, I didn’t realize how big it was for her.

“You’re… welcome, I guess.”

We finally reached my place. U.I. parked the car right in front of the building, as my car is at the company. The building is eight stories high, with aging orange bricks that made it look like a giant carrot strip, with holes being windows. The front glass doors look unpolished, as always.

“This is where Gerald-san lives, huh.” She says, looking up to the carrot building.

“Yep.” I answer, doing the same. It looks bigger now, with my height lower. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait! What if there’s people in there?”

“Trust me, nobody hangs outside their rooms.”

Walking inside the halls made me feel at ease and at alerted. After all, I’m not quite normal at the moment and there’s a chance one of the tenants might leave their rooms. I knows one particular old lady here that hates animals and would bash her cane at any four-legged creature, unable to differentiate a dog from a cat. I would do anything to avoid seeing her.

“Hey, let’s take the elevator.” U.I. says as she approaches the said contraption.

“It’s broken, so don’t bother.”

“What!? Are you serious? This building has eight floors!”

“And I live on the second floor.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

We approach the staircase, and U.I. starts climbing the first set. I just stare at the staircase. I guess you can say I’m on a ‘stare case’.

God, the pun is so bad, I want to hit myself.

“What’s wrong, Dash?”

“I have a problem.”

U.I. starts to climb down. “What is it?”

I look at her.

“I can’t climb stairs,” I said, in almost a whisper.

For a moment, she just stares at me, totally baffled at the thought of me not able to climb stairs.

“What?”

“I can’t climb stairs.”

U.I. stares yet again, then blinks while I stand there, looking away in embarrassment. She whispers something.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing!” She shakes her head violently. “So, I guess I’ll have to carry you?”

“Just do it!”

After a few minutes, we reached the second floor. Apparently, piggy back rides only work if you have fingers, so I ended up falling one time, and it was then I decided to let her carry me with her arms. Embarrassing as it was, it reminded me of being carried by my parents. We reach the door to my room.

“You can put me down now.”

“O-oh! Right.” She sounded a bit disappointed.

I drop to the floor and look around for people.

“So, do you have any keys?”

“No, it’s-”

“Under your rug!”

I look at her.

“Except I don’t have a rug.”

“Oh.”

“Just go the end of the hallway, there’s a plant. Look in the pot and the spare key should be there.”

She looks at me curiously.

“That’s actually a smart way to keep a spare…”

After a while, she comes back with the key. Come to think of it, I never invited U.I. over. Heck, I never did with anyone. U.I. goes to the

door and inserts the key. As she turns it, her face becomes confused.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“The door is not locked.”

What? I’m pretty I locked up before going to work. I never left the house unlocked. Was I robbed? Did someone broke in? Shit, they could have stolen my P.C.!

In my worry, I kick the door with my hind legs and move to get inside, only to be slammed by the door as it swings back from my attack, sending me flying to the wall. I stick like an insect to a windshield.

“Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.”

“Yes. Yes it does.”

I fall from the wall and make a thud to the floor. I got up, shake my head, and run straight to my room. There’s no time to waste, my humble abode was intruded and desecrated.

Through the door, I can see no difference. It is still the way it is, all my belongings in place and intact. The room first greets me is my living room, where my bookshelves on both left and right wall are filled with different books, novels I have read and have yet to read. The floor is covered in a carpet I only vacuum once a year, making the bright blue covering take a darker hue. Farther to the north from the door is the couch before the LED television. And the television is on, with Discovery channel showing.

A head poked out of the couch’s back rest, obviously belonging to the intruder. It seems he or she hasn’t noticed my loud knocking. What kind of a person breaks into an apartment and watches Discovery? You can look up things in the internet. As the show progress, I can hear the uninvited guest murmuring.

“Fascinating…”

The television is showing images and videos of space rockets, the lift off, and the astronauts themselves. While it is an interesting coverage, I still can’t believe the intruder sounds like it was their first time seeing space stuff. The intruder, who apparently is a girl, keeps murmuring.

“Is that even possible!?”

The television shows the rocket bursting to the skies, emitting tons of smoke and fire on its bottom. Slowly, the black and white pointed tube lifts off, and then penetrates the paper sky.

“Oh, my. They reached the moon this way?”

From that sentence, I can already tell the girl is not very bright, or that she never been to a school. I am taking the former, though. Okay, I had enough of this. I loudly clear my throat.

“Wah!” The girl jumps off the chair, and lands standing facing us. The look on her face is mixed with confusion and panic. Then, recognition. “Rainbow Dash?”

Do I know her? Let’s see, shall we? The girl is around flat five feet or lower, her black hair reaches her shoulders, however the other half of her head is shaved, which is kind of disturbing for me. Thin and slender, she wears a black tank top, black leather pants, and God almighty, a pair of leather boots that has some sort of metal cover on the toes. Her shoulders are bare, covered in tattoos of skulls, a woman, and others that I can’t recognize. Did I mention that her tattoos on her arms that reaches before her hands?

She wore makeup that reminds me of a certain rock band who claimed they weren’t emo, but I know they were. Thick black eyeliner and a bit of lipstick. While she does have a pretty face, her make up ruins it.

Basically, she’s a teen in a stage of rebellion. I can imagine a woman crying seeing her. No wonder she’s so amazed with Discovery.

Oh, and the answer’s no.

The fact the punkish looking girl recognize this pony body can mean one thing; she’s one of the ponies stealing bodies. Which means her pony body is somewhere in the city, lost and confused. Unforgivable.

“Oh, you’re not Rainbow…”

“The hell I am! You turn me back this instant!” I even stomp a hoof, which I later realize look too adorable to be taken seriously.

The girl looks at my companion with recognition.

“Rainbow, I told you to explain before doing the swap! Did you even ask for their permission?” She says as she folds her arms.

U.I. didn’t reply. In fact, she doesn’t have anything to say as her mind probably went blank.

“Rainbow?”

“That’s her, right?” U.I. points at me.

“That’s her body with someone else’s mind. Wait, if you’re not Rainbow, then…”

“Oh, yeah Twilight, I forgot to ask, can I dye my hair?” A new voice enters the room, originating from my bedroom on the left, but I couldn’t see who it is. “… ‘Cause you just appear too bright for me and…”

The voice’s owner comes to view after it arrives next to the couch, and along with it the stink of instant coffee. A lavender pony with purple hair stops as soon as it sees us. I also notice the floating mug above its horn, which is on its forehead.

That makes it a unicorn, right? A pony unicorn. It’s making the cup float. Unicorns are magical, right? That’s not a trick, right?

“Oh wow. Two ponies in the room,” the unicorn says in a bland tone.

Seeing another pony made me silent. I think my jaw fell at the sight before me. The purple one looks at me for a while.

“At least I don’t look like a gay parade advertisement. I’m starting to like mine. Right.” She moves to the couch and jumps on it. “I guess you guys are in the same boat, huh?”

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” the girl asks and that snaps me out of my stare.

“Wait, I’m the one who asks the questions. What did you horses do to me?”

“First off, we’re not horses, we’re ponies. Secondly, Rainbow Dash should have explained to you everything. Are you saying she just took your body and left?”

“Yes! That darn pony just took off!”

“Oh, Rainbow…” She makes a face palm.

“What the hell is going on? You better explain!”

The other pony hides in the couch as my voice reaches levels of howling.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn my head. U.I. looks at me caringly. I realize my face was plastered with anger all over it.

“Are they cool now?” The unicorn asks.

I sit on a cushion from the couch and others did the same, making a circle behind the couch.

It’s an awkward gathering; a pair of people and a pair of ponies. For a while, all of us were just exchanging looks and glances without saying anything. U.I. did not even look up much, she’s pretty interested in her own sock-covered feet. I couldn’t blame her, though.

Twilight, who seems to look like a metal band member that could possibly be a drug pusher, didn’t quite act her look’s part. She often would look at her fingers, moving them or hold a pencil like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

As for the other pony, she just sat there, looking at us with less interest compared to the others.

“Um, we should introduce ourselves.” Twilight stands up. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I have been sent from Equestria by our leader under order.”

“Your name is Twilight ‘Sparkle’? No kidding?” I ask.

“Is my name that weird?”

“Never mind.”

The girl sits back down.

“Your turn.” She says to the unicorn on her right.

“Fine.” The pony stands. “People call me Morrigan. I used to be a really awesome girl until I became a girly, bright pony.” And with that, she sits on her haunches. Twilight rolls her eyes.

It is my turn to introduce and they all look at me expectantly. I gulp, and stand on my hooves.

“Uh, name is Gerald. Used to be guy until this colour explosion showed up and changed bodies with me.” I sit down, not able to think

other things to say. “Okay, can we get to the part where you explain all that is happening to me?” My irritation increases with each passing second.

“Okay. As you can see, we are not of this world. We come from a different world, one we call Equestria, where ponies and other sentient creatures dominate the planet, unlike your world where humans are the only species.”

“Yeah, I’m not here for a history lesson, so can we get to the point where why I am like this?”

“O-okay? In our world, we have two princesses who rules over us, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Pretty pony princesses. I’m gonna be sick. Where are the queens when you need them?” Morgana groans, which earns her a glare from Twilight.

“Two years ago, Princess Celestia was the only ruler.”

“Are you telling me Princess Luna is only two years old?” U.I. asks curiously. I’m pretty she wants to see a baby pony princess.

“Uh, no. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are actually more than a thousand years old.” Twilight’s answer places a grimaced look on U.I.’s face.

“So, really old horses does the governing?” Morgana lies on her belly, with her hooves splayed out. “Not to mention, immortal. Kinda hard to imagine wrinkling old horses barking orders to others. Oh, wait, it’s not hard.”

“They don’t age, from the looks of it.” Which brings back a grin to U.I.’s face. The thought of immortal and forever cute ponies governing is probably the reason.

“Just get back to the story.” I scowl at Twilight.

“Sorry! We go back thousand years ago, where Princess Luna became jealous of Princess Celestia. The legend says Princess Luna envied Princess Celestia’s daylight, since ponies are awake by the day and sleep at night. Evil spirits tempted her and conned her into giving in to the darkness, and then, she became what all of Equestria’s fear, Nightmare Moon.”

“Have I seen this show somewhere? ‘Cause this sounds like weak plot at an attempt to make a T.V. series.” Morgana says in a deadening tone.

Nightmare Moon. The name sticks into my mind. As I heard the name, there was a flash of recognition. I have heard the name, but I am pretty sure I have never read anything about a princess being transformed into a… I don’t know.

“Nightmare Moon,” Twilight says, with a tone of irritation. “Made the night last forever, until she was sealed in the moon with the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Cliché as fuck.” Morgana says.

We all shoot glares at her.

“Oookay. Sorry, go on.”

“We now go back to two years ago from now, Nightmare Moon returns from her banishment, aided by the stars in her escape, or what the books says.”

“Let me guess; princess saves the day, seals her back to the moon?”

“Well, no. Princess Celestia was the one who got sent away, with Nightmare Moon being stronger than before.”

“How was she defeated?” U.I. asks, worried about the fate of colourful ponies’ future.

“My friends and I wielded the Elements of Harmony, and defeated Nightmare Moon.”

“You killed her!” Morgana feigns a fake dramatic voice, pointing an accusing hoof.

“What, no! We didn’t kill her!”

“You tossed her into the sun!”

“Star Swirl’s beard no!” She stands up, upstarted by Morgana’s accusations.

“Just let her finish.” I didn’t even realize I am already placing my right hoof onto my face.

Twilight places her hand on her chest, and lets out a big sigh and with it her hand forward. She then sits back down with us.

“We destroyed the evil magic that possessed Princess Luna; we saved her.”

“Okay, then you guys lived happily ever after with magical rainbows and gumdrops, hooray. Now tell me where we get involved in all this?”

As much I wanted to learn more about a magical land dominated by assorted colored ponies, I still have to know why the hell I am like this. I might go asking Twilight after this is all over.

“Two years ago, we thought we eradicated the evil spirit possessing Princess Luna.”

“Whoopdie doo, now the evil spirit is in our world, and you need champions to help you deal with the ghost?”

“I- Yes, exactly.” She scratches her head. “How did you know?”

“Like I said, fucking cliché.” Morgana smiles.

“Why do you even need us? From what you said, the Elements seem to control the thing just fine. Whatever those are.” I ask, ignoring the foul mouthed pony.

“That’s what I thought too, but our Elements only work in our world.”

Well, that’s dumb, how convenient for the demon. I didn’t say it out loud, for some reason.

“And why is that?” U.I. asks and then grabs and stuffs some potato chips from Morgana in her mouth. Who told them to make themselves at home?

“The nature of our world is well-versed with what makes the Elements of Harmony. This world, however, is not so much…”

“I don’t get it.” Morgana eats more potato chips by putting her muzzle through the bag.

“What I mean is your world is kind of uh, how I put this nicely… Chaotic?”

“And your world is paradise, okay, sure. This world is hell, I know that. I can only imagine a little girl’s world over there.”

I can only agree with the sarcastic purple curser here. A land where colourful ponies live in peace, not to mention they have unicorns and pegasus too. It does sound like a damn toy set from a kids’ show.

“What’s our part in this?” I ask.

“I’ll be straight with you guys then; the spirits want your bodies.”

Us? Why us? We aren’t even special, though in ways different from other people. All I did was to hide from realness of reality with books. I can’t be special. I don’t know about Morgana, but she doesn’t seem special too.

“Why us?”

Twilight looked down, as if the answer is in her lap. “I don’t know.”

Of course, she doesn’t know. That’s how it always work with stories; you just have to embrace the path laid out for you, but this is just ridiculous. It feels awkward to be in a plot so similar to some stories I have read before. The chosen one cliché. Zero chances of winning, an unknown enemy and fictional, sentient creatures; I thought I would love it, but then again, responsibilities is a part of reality I always escape from, so this new responsibility is no different.

I was about to say something; but the door behind me explodes, sending over our heads and crashing into my T.V. I’m supposed to be angry about that, but I’m more afraid of what’s capable of doing such a thing.

A figure walks into the room. It’s myself, wearing a biker jacket and dark jeans. Am I wearing boots?

“Sorry, tryin’ out these new kickers!”