Fall of the Rightful King

Chapter Ten

Nick

I’d been talking to Alan when my mom called. As weird as he was acting, I hadn’t talked to my mom in… hell, months now. I took the phone, my hands shaking. I quickly stepped into my bedroom.

“Hello?”

“Nick? How are you doing?”

How am I doing? I hadn’t talked to her in months and I hadn’t seen her in years. She calls now? What did she want? What was she trying to do? Was she really trying to repair our relationship? Did I even want that?

“Um, fine. You?”

“Pretty well, just getting used to this whole furry thing.”

“Yeah,” I said. There was a long silence.

“Stan and Ashley are doing well. They just had a baby a month ago.”

“Oh, good for them,” I said. I hadn’t heard from my baby brother since the divorce either. Every word, I was waiting for something to happen. I was tense, and getting tenser by the second. Something had to happen to break the tension or release it.

“They’re both pegasuses, but their baby’s a griffon. Funny how that happens, right?”

“Yeah, pretty weird,” I acknowledged. There was another pause. “How’re you and…”

“Raphael? We’re good! He’s got a horn and I’m just a blue horse, no horns or wings.”

“Oh, neat,” I said, voice flat. “Did you ever go back and get your degree?”

“Yes!” she said, voice getting a bit… what was it, exasperated? No… she sounded like she was expecting the conversation to go elsewhere, and was getting frustrated that it wasn’t. “I was in my first year of professional nursing, but I haven’t gone to work since this whole Alexander thing happened. I heard you were working as an EMT?”

“Yeah, yeah, been there for more than a year now.”

“And how are things with… everything that’s happened?” she asked.

“Pretty hectic. Lots of people are having problems when they change,” I replied.

“Oh.” Pause. “You’re going to make me just ask, ok, fine,” she said, quietly. I don’t think she expected me to hear it. Her voice returned to normal volume. “Nick, what did you end up being?”

“Being?” I asked.

“Yes, hon,” she said, voice annoyed now. “Are you a horse like the rest of us?”

“No,” I said, and my voice caught.

“Well, tell me already! Are you a griffon?”

“No, mom, I…”

“Just tell me! You’re an adult, Nick, don’t make me play games with you.”

“I’m… still just me.”

Silence. I took that as an invitation to keep talking. “I mean, I haven’t change-”

“I know what you meant,” she interrupted. “So you’re still human? You haven’t lost your face or your hands? You haven’t…” she laughed without humor. “You haven’t lost anything?” I didn’t answer.

“Well, it would be you, wouldn’t it?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it, Nick?! For fuck’s sake, SAY SOMETHING!”

“I…” my head was spinning. This was worse than I had expected. My stomach was twisted up and I felt all kinds of emotions battling out inside me. Confusion, anger and sadness were all trying to make first place.

“Oh, shut up,” she said. “You… how… do you not care how much this hurts? This hurts me, Nick, it really, really hurts.”

“Mom, this is not my fault. I didn’t ask-”

“Oh, that makes it all better! Just because you didn’t ask to stay human, that makes it ok. I mean, we didn’t ask to stay human either, but we got changed? Is that fair? Is it?”

I didn’t know how to respond to this. Was she really mad at me for something I didn’t have any control over? This shit again?

“No, don’t say anything, don’t own up to your mistakes. You’re just like your father.”

A spike of anger shot up and disarmed the careful part of my brain. “No, you listen to me,” I said, grip tightening on the phone. “This is not fair to me either. I didn’t ask for this. I am sick as hell of you getting mad at me for things that are not my fault. I did not ask for this. I did not want this to happen to anyone. Damn it, mom, can’t you see that?”

“Do you know what happened to your cousin, Jeanette? She’s dead because she couldn’t stand to see what she turned into. She killed herself before she lost her hands! People have died! Raphael can’t go to work anymore without his hands! We’re going to lose the house if he can’t work! You think you can just sit there mocking us? If you’re going to act like shit-”

I hung up. I knew, logically, that she was just scared and confused and taking it out on me. I knew that people everywhere were hurting others because they didn’t know what to do. I knew that I reminded her of what she’d lost.

It was still so damn unfair. I couldn’t even think straight. I clenched my fists as my face burned. It was all I could do to keep in a scream.

I cooled down after a few minutes and stepped out of my room. I had to clean myself up a bit in the bathroom – my face was blotchy and my eyes were red. I glanced up and saw a Hispanic guy with the whole freaking world on his shoulders. This whole situation was just shit. If my mom thought I’d fuc-

I looked over to the left and saw Erin. She was standing in our room in front of a mirror. Her new legs bent in when they got to her hips in a weird way, and she had to keep her top hooves pressed against the wall to keep up her balance. She turned to the side, looking at herself from a different angle, then lifted a leg a few times. She seemed to be watching how it moved. Looking at her eyes, I could see a mixture of different emotions. Fear, curiosity, apprehension… acceptance? Nah… this was more of an “I can work with this” face than a “this is awesome!” face.

My own emotions started to split. One camp was convinced that I needed to be there for her. No matter what, right? Hadn’t I promised her the world? Told her I’d never leave her side? Promised to be there no matter what happened? She was Erin.

The other side wasn’t going down so easily, though. Sure, she seemed like the same girl, but the simple fact was she wasn’t going to be for very much longer. Already she had hooves and fur. Was I really going to be comfortable kissing a horse?

But she wasn’t a horse. Brittney didn’t look like a horse – she looked like, well, Brittney. Sure, her face was a little longer and her eyes were a little bigger. But she was no more a horse than I was a gorilla.

My emotions felt evenly split. Erin was my girlfriend. She wasn’t my first. She was turning into a pony. But she was still her.

So, Nick. What’s more important to you? How much do you really care about her?

I walked into the room behind her. She turned and looked at me.

"You don't have to pretend to like me," she said miserably. "I'm not even fucking human anymore."

“Listen,” I said. “We should talk.”

The door shut behind us. I leaned in and kissed her forehead. She was starting to shake.

"I love you," I whispered, "and I'd walk through hell for you."

"Nick, I'm sorry," she said, "but I need to sit down. My legs..."

"It's ok," I said. I helped her sit on the bed. She sat on her haunches, letting her hind legs stick out in front of her, and supported herself on her two front legs. It was a very pony-like pose.

"But, Nick... I'm not..." she started to say. I put a finger on her lips and she locked eyes with me

"You're still you," I said, "whether you're human or a pony. I don't care if you have hooves or fur. I love you." I kissed her.

When we pulled back, she was crying, I was crying. She reached for a box of tissues with a hoof before letting out a loud sniffle and pulling it back.

“I’ve got it,” I said, as I took a tissue and wiped her nose with it. She rested her head against my chest and put her arms around me.

"We'll do whatever we can to stop this and turn you back," I said. "But even if we can't, nothing changes for us. We'll still go out, I'll still love you, and I'll always be here for you."

“Even if I’m a horse?” she said, half her words interrupted by her crying. I kissed her forehead.

“You’ll be the prettiest mare in the world.”

She snorted. “You told me you didn’t like ponies like that! Back when we started dating?”

“Things changed when the girl I loved started becoming one,” I said. I pulled her in close as she continued to talk.

“I just… I feel so helpless. I mean, these things are useless,” she said, holding up a hoof. “People are gonna have to treat me like a baby.”

I took her hoof in my hand. “I think things are going to work out, though. I mean, millions of people have probably changed. Most of them can’t use magic, so they’re going to have to figure things out. It’ll probably take a few months and maybe years, but people can be kind of clever when they have to be. Besides,” I added. “We might even figure out a way to stop Alexander. Maybe make him reverse it.”

“Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t sound hopeful.

“I mean, he’s just one guy, right? And the whole freaking world wants to stop him. We can probably figure out a way to do it. Or maybe the people I’m talking to will figure out a way to turn people back.” I’d told her about the meeting. She wasn’t thrilled.

“I still don’t know if you should talk to them again,” she said. “They seem pretty dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

I was quiet for a bit. “But what if they can help me get you back to normal?”

She didn’t answer, but she hugged me. I held her for a few minutes.

“I do have to go to work,” I said. She pulled back reluctantly. “Got to go save lives,” I added. She nodded, then put her hooves on either side of my face.

“Are you sure it isn't weird if I touch you with these?” she asked. “Actually, if it is, you’re just gonna have to deal with it. I want to touch my boyfriend even if I don’t have fingers anymore.”

I brought both her hooves in front of my chest, running my thumb along the soft underside. “It’s not weird, it’s… ok, it’s a little different.”

“A little?” she asked.

“A lot different. They’re warm and soft in the middle, and the outside’s hard but it’s not sharp or anything.” I kissed one. Erin wrinkled her nose at that.

“Ew! That’s like kissing my feet! Oh, wait, aren’t there princess ponies?”

“Well, yeah-”

“I demand that you kiss the royal hoof!” she said, holding her hoof up in front of my face. I rolled my eyes but obliged her, taking her hoof in my hand and making as much a show of it as possible.

“Oh, my queen,” I said, “thy way with words is beyond measure.”

“Shut up,” she said, and kissed me.

I let go of her… arm hooves. Sure, that’s a name that makes sense.

“Be safe,” she said a bit more somberly.