Jimmy checked his watch in a panic.
“It’s Sunday already?” he exclaimed, a sudden fear washing over him as he said it. The last few weeks, or was it even a few months, had set a clear pattern. Every Monday, he had ended up transforming into various characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, or from the spinoff Equestria Girls. Then, a few days later, he would reappear in his home, none the worse for wear, but with a noticeable gap in his memory. Furthermore, he had figured another thing out. Up to this point, they had all occurred in his hometown of Manteo, North Carolina.
“What if I can cheat it?” he asked, frantically. “If they only occur in Manteo, maybe I can avoid it by going somewhere else!” With this, he switched on his computer and went onto the internet, bringing up the website for Southwest Airlines. Whilst there, he booked a flight from Norfolk International Airport in Virginia-
“Mr. Narrator, the readers already know where Norfolk is. You’ve told them often enough.”
If you’d rather write the story, Diamond Tiara, you are more than welcome to try.
Sorry for that interruption. As I was saying, he booked a flight from Norfolk International Airport in Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in California.
Having made the payment, he sighed, and relaxed in his chair. “I hope I can escape this,” he said, sadness in his voice. “Am I just cursed or something? Will this happen forever?” This was a state of affairs he dreaded, going from human to pony (or human to human) and back again, in a never-ending cycle. But hopefully he could beat it this time.
He got to the airport the next day and got through security, going through the food court and grabbing a quick breakfast, as he had left before breakfast to leave enough time to deal with the TSA officers and border police. Eventually, the flight was called, and he took his seat ready for take-off.
Things proceeded as normal as the flight flew over the country of the United States, but that day was to end in tragedy.
When the plane was flying over New Mexico, a storm suddenly brewed up. A violent storm as well, with thunderbolts and rain flying about.
“There wasn’t a thunderstorm forecast in this area!” a fellow passenger exclaimed. “What the hell is going on?”
Jimmy looked out of the window in apprehension. “The storm seems to be following us!” he said.
“Don’t be daft!” said a female passenger nearby. “Storms aren’t sentient; they can’t follow somebody!”
But then something weird happened. A bright light filled the window porthole, and a lightning bolt crashed into one of the engines. There was a crack as loud as a gunshot, as the engine spun and corrected.
Meanwhile, in the cockpit, the 1st Officer spoke to the Captain in alarm. “Lightning strike on No.1 engine, sir!”
The Captain looked over, to see the ‘engine fault’ indicator given on the display next to No.1 engine. “Shut it down,” he ordered.
“Yes sir, shutting No.1 Engine down,” the 1st Officer replied, throwing some switches in the cockpit. There was an audible whine as No.1 Engine slowed down and stopped completely.
The Captain activated his radio. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, with remarkable calm. “We have hit some unexpected rough air, and as a result advise you apply your safety belts for the remainder of the flight or unless ordered otherwise.”
Just as he said this, the seatbelt indicators switched on in the cabin. Jimmy quickly buckled his up, but his sense of unease was growing as the journey progressed.
It initially seemed they were in the clear. But they were wrong. Very wrong.
As the flight was nearing the border between Arizona and California, the remaining engines started to have trouble.
“Sir!” The 2nd officer called. “Engines 2 thru 4 are failing!”
“How is that possible?” the Captain demanded. “They were fine a moment ago!”
A loud explosion could then be heard outside.
“Engine No.1 has exploded, sir! Ailerons, Flaps, all unresponsive! Electricals failing!”
The Captain looked about. “It’s like somebody has disconnected every circuit on the plane.” He switched on the radio. “Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. We have encountered a severe mechanical fault and are attempting an emergency landing. Adopt the brace position immediately.” Just then, the aircraft lurched forward and went into a nosedive.
Jimmy looked about him in a panic. The cabin was in a state of chaos, as passengers were panicking and getting into position for what could well be a fatal landing.
The ground rocketed toward them with alarming speed, the desert approaching below them, grains of sand being whipped up by the aircraft’s approach.
“Lift port wing!” the Captain called, and pulled on the stick. It was too late. The wing crashed into the ground and was torn off, flying into the air and bouncing along the ground until it came to a sudden stop.
“BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!”
The airframe crashed into the ground, and the remaining landing gear collapsed as the plane collided with something on the desert floor. With a groan, the metal holding the aircraft together sheared apart, the frontal fuselage rolling along in the desert sand and eventually coming to a stop. The rear portion then collided with it, the sound of tearing metal and screeching a truly horrible one to hear.
Several hours later, Jimmy regained consciousness, looking around him to see a scene of carnage. Parts of engine lay all around, and the seats and passengers were all tossed around like toys. He quickly touched the shoulder of the man next to him, only for there to be no response. It then became apparent that he was dead. Like all other passengers and crew. The horror of being the only survivor of the accident hit Jimmy like a tidal wave, and it took him all his effort not to cry.
Not that he had emerged unscathed. It was painful for him to breathe, indicating he had broken ribs, and his arm was covered in blood. Not only that, it was unresponsive, suggesting a break. Holding it over his chest, he undid his seatbelt, and stepped over to the safety door, pulling open the door with some effort after adjusting the handle on the door.
He staggered out into the cold desert night, the wind howling all around him and the dust flying into the air. As he glanced about, there was a loud whirring noise up above him, and he could see two helicopters circling the wreckage. Just to the north lay an obelisk and a pyramid-wait, what?
“There weren’t any pyramids in California last I checked!” Jimmy exclaimed, then yelled in pain at the exertion. “Fuck! I need medical attention.” He then waved to the helicopters circling overhead.
“HEY!” he shouted. “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME TO DIE DOWN HERE!”
The pilot of Rescue 2-3 saw somebody down below waving his arms and shouting to him. He switched on his radio. “LA Search and Rescue, I have located one individual in the desert at the crash site. He seems to be the only survivor, over.”
“Roger that,” his superior replied. "Get your chopper on the ground and help him aboard.”
“Yes sir,” the pilot replied, flying over and setting his chopper down on the ground, the sand whipping up all around the chopper as it reached the ground and shut its rotors off.
The pilot and several members of medical staff ran over to Jimmy, who seemed to be delirious. “Lightning....engine...” he muttered, over and over again.
“Hey,” the pilot said to him. “We’ll get you to safety, OK? We’ll get you to the hospital and then back home.”
Jimmy nodded weakly, but then collapsed into the sand, his hand falling onto the sand and onto a green object. “Why...me...the only...survivor...” he wheezed.
The green object suddenly vanished, and before anybody knew what was happening Jimmy was choking, his hands around his neck. “Get it off!” he gasped. “Help me!”
The pilot ran over, and grabbed a knife, trying to cut through whatever was causing this thing was. It was a necklace of some description, with large green beads connected by a green cable of some sorts. The blade was having no effect on the necklace at all, which seemed to be made of diamond.
There was suddenly a loud blast, and the rescue crew were thrown back through the air and landed on their backs. The pilot sat up, and what he saw both amazed and horrified him at the same time.
The man he had been treating had begun to change. The pilot swore under his breath, and shouted to the rest of the team. “I need to call this in!”
Meanwhile, the news chopper was circling overhead, a news reporter onboard looking on.
“We have just seen some sort of blast coming from near where the rescue crew were helping a survivor,” he said. “Camera, zoom in on the epicenter of the blast.” The camera zoomed in, to show a man with something around his neck. But something seemed wrong with his face and hands.
“What in the world are we looking at?” the reporter asked.
They weren’t the only ones who spotted the incident. At NORAD HQ in El Paso Springs, Colorado, the grid suddenly went wild. “Colonel Peterson!” a satellite operator called.
“What’s going on?” Peterson demanded.
“Massive signal spike in the California desert,” he replied. “Huge signature!”
Peterson sighed. What could have created that. “Do we have any assets in the area?” he asked.
“There’s a tank column on exercise in the area, call sign Raider 2, sir.”
Peterson switched on the radio.
The tanks of Raider 2 streaked across the desert, throwing up huge dust trails as they raced along the desert floor, rolling past sand dunes and over small wades.
“Raider 2-1, do you read me, over?” a voice asked over the radio.
The commander took the microphone. “Raider 2-1, who is this, over?”
“This is Colonel Peterson of NORAD. We have detected a massive signal in your area, and want you to check it out. Grid coordinates as follows; 34.5803° N, 115.8745° W.”
“34.5803° N, 115.8745° W. I copy, over. Out.”
“Wait, isn’t that the ghost town near here?” the gunner asked. “You know, Bagdad?”
“I can’t think why anything would be out there,” the driver commented. “There’s nothing left.”
“Whatever it is, we need to investigate,” the commander answered. He then activated the radio. “All Raider units, this is Raider 2-1. We are to divert to 34.5803° N, 115.8745° W. I repeat, we are to divert to 34.5803° N, 115.8745° W. There has been a massive energy spike in the area, and we get to be the lucky bastards to check it out. Let’s go! Let’s go!”
With that, the engines of the tanks kicked into high gear, and roared off into the Mojave Desert toward Bagdad.
Jimmy screamed in pain as the necklace activated. Too late, he had realized who this belonged to.
His body seemed to be on fire as his face started to break apart, the bones cracking and reforming as his nose and mouth merged together into a muzzle. His eyes changed color to a deep purple, and his hair changed to two tone blue and green, the colors of precious stones. His entire body shrank in size, followed by his fingers shrinking into his hands, which then morphed into hooves. His elbows suddenly inverted, becoming backwards jointed as his arms shifted position to be next to his body, changing into a pair of forelegs.
“Why...can’t...I... escape!” he cried, as best he could, before realizing to his horror he was no longer speaking English. This was followed by his toes shrinking into his feet, which in turn shrank into hooves, followed by the joints in his legs inverting as they morphed into back legs. Suddenly, a tail exploded from his backside, the same colors as the mane, as his neck cracked and forced his head forward.
But he wasn’t he for much longer, as his manhood vanished, two lumps replacing them instead. A white headdress suddenly appeared on her head, with a golden front piece with the symbol of the crescent moon fitted to it. Next to the necklace, which now fitted her properly, a loose white dress appeared, the sort of thing an ancient Egyptian would have worn, and two braids appeared in her tail. This was followed by a pair of wings sprouting from her sides, folding up next to her sides.
Finally, her entire body turned scarlet, a coat of fur materializing all over her.
Raider 2-1 suddenly arrived on the scene, the tanks stopping next to the wreckage. The commander ordered a halt, and walked over to the pilot of the rescue chopper, who seemed to have gone into shock.
“What happened here?” he asked.
The pilot, who looked to be in shock, gulped. “Plane crashed, we tried to help survivor, but then he changed into this...thing!”
The tank commander nodded. “I’ll take a look.” He saw the news chopper circling overhead, and headed off over the sand to where he saw this strange pink creature which looked like it was straight out of Carry on Cleo. “Freeze!” he shouted. “What are you, and why are you here?”
It shouted back at him, in a female voice, and in a language he didn’t understand.
Somnambula looked around her in panic, these groups of loud, shout creatures looking at her. “What do you want with me?” she asked them, but they didn’t seem to understand a word she was saying.
Just then, a massive purple creature with the face of a human, the legs and features of a cat, wings, and a horrible purple tail appeared on top of the pyramid. It screeched at all of them, a horrible noise that sounded like breaking glass.
Somnambula quaked in fear.
To Be Continued......
Author's Note
Now you might be wondering why I'm leaving the story as Incomplete. Well.... it's because the first chapter ended on a Cliff Hanger!
So I want you, my fellow friends and followers, do you want me to do a 2nd chapter to see what happens to Somnambula (Me) and The Sphynx next? Comment down below if you want me to do it! :D 
The tanks of Raider 2 swung around, to face the monstrosity in front of them, a massive being of purple and gold.
“What the fuck is that?!” one of the tank crewmen shouted.
The commander of Raider 2-1 sprinted back to his tank, and hopped into the hatch. “All units, back away slowly, we don’t want to piss that thing off any more than it seems to be!” he radioed.
Just then, the monster in front of them began to speak. She spoke more of that strange, unintelligible language. But something behind them seemed to understand. The pony creature began speaking again, also in that bizarre language, and this went back and forth for several minutes, before the pony thing leaped into the air.
The Sphinx laughed. “Well, well,” She said, “fancy seeing you here, Somnambula. Over 2,000 years in a sarcophagus has clearly done you well.”
“You will not succeed here!” Somnambula replied. “The Pharaoh has decreed that you must fall!”
“The Aten himself could not stop me!” The Sphinx replied, her words harsh and vicious. “I outshine all of them! Ra, Akhenaten, even Anubis and Horus!” There was a pause.
“Enough talk!” Somnambula finished. “Vengeance for Prince Hassan!” She then took to the air, flying over the Sphinx to try and find her weak spot.
The creature screeched, and clawed at the air, throwing her off balance. “You cannot stand against me, measly Pegasus!” She laughed. “For the fury of Osiris and Isis is within me! For, unlike the King of the Underworld, I can raise the dead!”
Raider 2 kept an eye on what was happening, when suddenly the creature screeched and bellowed loudly. Then the earth began to shake.
“Shit!” one of the tank commanders shouted. “Back up! BACK UP!”
Reversing as fast as they could, whilst keeping frontal armor pointed at that thing, the tank crews looked on in horror as creatures began to burst their way out of the sand. Scarab beetles, jackal-headed creatures, mummified corpses, all rose from the grave and stormed toward them, howling insane screams into the night.
“LIGHT THEM UP!” one of the tank crews bellowed, and the pintle and hull mounted machine guns opened up, the turrets tracking the creatures as best they could. Bullets tore through them and demolished the enemy, mummified organs and gore splattering all over the place and turning the golden sands crimson. But as soon as the corpses went down, they got back up and continued walking toward the tanks.
One Mummy clambered up the side of one of the tanks, and grabbed a crewman, dragging him off. “GET IT OFF ME!” he screamed. One of the other tanks turned its pintle-mounted M2 toward him, and prepared to fire.
Before it could fire, an emerald flash reduced the Mummy to naught but dust. The tank crewman jumped to his feet and climbed back in.
The commander of Raider 2-1 looked up to see the flying creature overhead, and the green blast had come from the strange necklace it wore.
“That thing is trying to help us!” he realized.
Somnambula flew overhead, discharging emerald blasts in an attempt to slow the Sphinx down, but it was difficult. It simply moved too fast, meaning she couldn’t get a clear shot on the Sphinx. Just then, it clawed the air, and knocked her to the ground.
“Argh,” she groaned. “That hurt.” She shakily got back to her feet...to see another Mummy shuffling toward her. She screamed, and tried to run.
A revolver shot stopped the Mummy in its tracks. Somnambula looked over to see one of the soldiers had shot it with a sidearm. Somnambula, now fully aware that these creatures could not understand what she was saying, indicated to the Sphinx with her hoof. The soldier nodded, and began to speak into his device.
Somnambula took to the air, and spoke once more. “You cannot win!” she bellowed. “For I have a power you lack!”
“And what is that?” the Sphinx laughed. “You have only death to look forward to.”
“I have friends,” Somnambula answered.
Raider 2-1 noticed the creature indicating to the creature. “All crews, ready HE shells!”
“Copy, HE loaded.”
“Acquire target, Sphinx!”
“Traversing turret now.” The whine of electric generators could be heard as the turrets rotated into position.
“FIRE!”
All 6 cannons discharged at once, the noise truly deafening. High explosive shells smashed into the Sphinx, tearing open its flesh and setting the creature ablaze. It screamed with primordial fury, as flames light up the very night. Overhead, they saw the other creature move into position. Another emerald blast, another shriek, and then...
...the Sphinx was no more.
Somnambula landed, stunned by her own victory. She knew that thing was tough, but to actually take out a Sphinx took some doing. “This terror has at long last been ended,” she said quietly. It was then she began to feel exhausted, and collapsed into the sand, memories of something else flooding into her mind.
The commander of Raider 2 saw the creature fall over, and he hopped out of the tank and ran over to it, whilst a C-130 touched down on a nearby airstrip.
“Do you need support?” he asked it.
The creature then spoke to him. "Take.... Me.... Back to.... Manteo...” it gasped, in perfect English, and with the smallest hint of an American accent, before fainting into the sand.
Two USAF crewmen ran over to the position. “We’re here to help evacuate the wounded,” one of them said.
The commander of Raider 2-1 looked at them. “Can you take this thing to the East Coast?” he asked.
Boxcar lifted off with a wooden box and some other military cargo loaded, inbound for Norfolk International Airport, Virginia. Inside, two of the crew, Airman Michaels and Airman First Class Harris watched over the box.
“What do you think it is?” asked Michaels.
“It’s not human, and it mentioned a place called Manteo, North Carolina,” Harris replied. “I’m willing to bet this...is Jimmy Hook.”
“Who?” Michaels asked again.
“Jimmy Hook.” Harris repeated calmly, and then went on with his story. “Not of much significance until 2016, I’m afraid. That year, there was a reported incident of a man of his name going into a school building, and a yellow-orange pony coming out. Furthermore, there was no trace of Jimmy.”
“Are you suggesting-?” Michaels began.
“Yes. Jimmy and that pony were one and the same. Not long after, he reappeared, only to change into the character of Starlight Glimmer from My Little Pony. Not only that, it was her Equestria Girls appearance!”
“That’s the show you watch, isn’t it?” Harris made little secret of being an Air Force Brony, and simply nodded in response to Michaels’ question.
“From then on, a whole string of them followed. Princess Luna (three times, the first two in 2018, and the third in 2019), a batpony of the same name, Mystery Mint (an Equestria Girls background character), Coloratura, Suri Polomare, Photo Finish (Equestria Girls Character), Sunset Shimmer again, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Skystar (Her Seapony Form to be exact), Queen Chrysalis (twice, first in July 2018, and then again in early 2019), Clawdeen Wolf, Cleo De Nile, and Lagoona Blue from Monster High, Pixel Pizazz, Violet Blurr, Lyra Heartstrings (the last three were all Equestria Girls variants), Valley Glamour (recorded by a friend of mine by the name of D.I.Scord), Sweetie Belle (Equestria Girls), Rarity (also Equestria Girls but of her Friendship Power form instead of her Regular Form), Then a string of Equestria Girls ones-Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Cheerilee, interspersed by Sapphire Shores, Cayenne and Pony Cheerilee.”
“So, why does this happen?” Michaels asked.
Harris shrugged. “Magic,” he replied.
After the plane touched down, the box was unloaded and driven to the island of Roanoke in North Carolina. Taken gently into one of the homes, it was placed on the floor, and Jimmy, now fully human once more, was placed in his bed. The two airmen left as if they had never been there.
Leaving Jimmy to bask...in the glow of the Moonlight.
Author's Note
I hope y'all enjoyed Sands of Time!
Now I want y'all to guess down below in the comments, from the last word in the chapter and story overall, as to which Background Character from Season 5 of FiM has the word Moonlight as a first name. If anyone guesses correctly, you will earn a spot for a shout out in the Author's Note of my 9th story from me on Monday!
