"Trigger"

"Mmmmm....yeah....that's the spot, Mom" I purred, leaning into my mother's hand as she scratched my ear gently at the base. My right hoof thumped up and down on the floor and my tail flicked this way and that. Needless to say I was enjoying this. "I love you, mom."

Mom giggles slightly. "I love you, too, Alexis." Mom smiles at me while she cracked eggs into a pan. "You like being a pony?"

I nod. "Y-yeah, it's fun!"

Mom continued to pet me from where stood at the stove, letting the time pass us by. "That's nice, I'm just glad you're happy, my sweet...mare?"

` I giggle and nod. "I'm really grateful for this. I mean, last night, I saw a guy getting mugged and guess what?"

"You watched and didn't do anything stupid?"

"Well...sort of..."

Mom tilts her head at me.

"I jumped out the window, rolled down the porch roof and pushed myself off at the edge to make like a little arch in the air as I came down, then..."

So, I explained to mom how I stopped the mugger and how I nearly got stabbed....and shot....again. Needless to say she wasn't very happy with me, yet seemed pretty impressed.

"Then how come we didn't hear anything? I was in the kitchen..."

"Maybe you're just deaf?" I giggled.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Yeah I got-"

"No you don't. I have the enhanced pony ears. I hear and smell MUCH better than you possibly could." I smirked.

"Oh hush, you." Mom runs a hand through my mane. "You being a human-like female unicorn is...going to take a while to get used to. Would I be correct assuming you'll be Alexis as long as your father's gone?"

I nod. "I really like being a pony..." I blush.

Mom shook her head a little. "Just make sure not to let your fur clog up the shower drain next time you shower okay?"

How did she know about that!?

"MMOOOOOMM!" I blushed madly.

"I was wondering what that clump of beige and orange hair was."

I growled lowly. "You're embarrassing me, Mom..."

"But there's nobody here but us..."

"Still..."

"Anyway," Mom adjusts herself on the couch and holds one of my hands, examining it," I should do some shopping to accommodate for this. Things like Horse shoes for your hooves, saddle bags, Mane-n-Tail, brushes....salt lick?"

"Mom, stop please..."

"Heh, I should get your father to build you a stable out back."

"MMOOOOOMM!!" I groaned and she only laughed at my suffering.

*****

Elsewhere...

"Have you found it yet?" my commanding officer's voice hissed through my ear piece as I scanned the area.

"Not yet, I think the scanner is broken," I replied as I drove slowly along the neighborhood streets.

"Well, you need to find it and retrieve it before they do. If the orb gets into the wrong hands, who knows what they'll do with that kind of power? We don't even know what it does yet. Find it! Now!"

"Yeah, I'm working on it."

The scanner beeped at a steady pace from where it sat on the dashboard. If I got closer, it would beep faster. Sort of like a metal detector.

"You're not working hard enough then! Two weeks is long enough, agent six!" she snapped.

I grumbled lowly and rolled my eyes.

Beep.....Beep.....Beep.....

"Don't worry, I doubt they've got it. IF only this thing wasn't made to be so hard to detect!"

"Your excuses make my ears bleed, six!"

I turned down another street, slowly driving the car along.

Beep.....Beep.....Beep.....

I watched as people went on with their lives, sitting on porches with nothing better to do. Others were leaving or just arriving home. A few were walking down the side walk, chatting among themselves.

"My apologies."

"You're damn right your apologies!"

I sighed as I came to another intersection. I stood at the stop sign for a few extra seconds to allow the scanner to...scan.

It dinged.

Beep..Beep..Beep!

"Hey, I think I got it!"

"Good, now find it and bring it back to me!"

I turned left, and the scanner began turning this way and that to find in which general direction I need to go.

"Got it."

I failed to notice how familiar the area looked as I drove, watching the silver device, the red light moving from left to right reminded me of KIT from "Knight Rider".

BeepBeepBeep!!

"It's about time!"

The scanner dinged again and ceased its beeping. Finally it gained a lock on and it faced towards...

"No..."

"No? No what?"

I pulled open the laptop that sat in the passenger seat, opening the scanners heat sensing camera.

"The orb has found a host..."

"WHAT!?!?"

I lowered my head and shut the laptop.

"Bring whoever it is back to HQ were it can be extracted! It is vital we get the orb back, agent six."

"I know. I'm working on it." I turn off my ear piece and I stick the laptop and scanner in the glove compartment.

*****

"Mom, I think you're enjoying this too much to be braiding my tail..." I deadpanned from where I sat on the coffee table. Mom had my tail in her hands, doing her handy work.

"Oh hush!" Mom laughed. "I want to make my daughter pretty!"

I wore a bemused expression as I rolled my eyes. "I swear, if I find a single ribbon, I will..."

"Will what?"

"Dunno. I'm thinking." I crossed my arms over my chest.

I smirk, giving her a little swat to the face.

"Hey! You made me mess up!"

I shrug. "Tell somepony who cares."

"Somepony?"

A frown replaces my sly smile. "Did I say that?"

"You did," Mom giggles, resuming to braid my tail.

"No, I said somebody..."

Mom shook her head. "No, I'm sure you said somepony."

"You must be hearing thing, dear mother."

"Whatever you say, Alexie."

"Alexie? You've come up with a nickname already?" My right ear twitches.

Mom nodded. "Just like how I call you Davie."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence for a short time before a car door was heard closing in the driveway.

"Ooh! Change back, your father's home!"

With a nod, the orange rings appear around my waist and the sequence begins again, leaving me human, just as the door opens and dad walks in with a plastic bag hanging from his arm.

"Hi honey!" Mom canters over to him and wraps her arms around him. "Why are you home so soon from work?"

I frowned. "Something wrong, dad? You seem a bit unsettled..."

Dad shook his head, kissing his wife. "N-no, I'm fine! I need to....take you somewhere."

"Oh, um...okay..." I shrugged.

"I got you a latte, David," dad reaches into his bag and pulls out a Starbuck's cup.

"Oh, sweet!" I take it from him, taking a sip from the sweet beverage.

"Where is it you need to go, honey?" Mom asked, kissing dad's cheek.

"Oh, just going to go out to spend time with my boy!" Dad pats my shoulder. "So let's go!"

Dad kisses mom again and heads out to the car.

"Well that was strange..." Mom glances around a bit.

"Yeah. Well, I best get going." I hug mom. "And thanks for not freaking out about Alexis..."

"Don't worry about it," she returns my hug. "I just hope your braids will be there when you change again so I can finish.

"Hah. Funny. Bye, Mom." I kiss her cheek and I head out to the car.

I get in the front passenger seat and buckle in. "So, where are we going, Pops?"

No answer.

As dad drove, and as I drank my latte, I began to feel drowsy. Dad didn't say a word - didn't even look at me. Try as I may to fight the tiredness, I found myself succumbing to unconsciousness.

Last thing I saw was dad placing his hand over mine and held it as beige fur sprouted.

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled.

BTW: It's not his father's hand that grew fur, it was his own