High Flyer

by BG

Chapters

Ch. 2 - Leaping lizzabeth
Ch. 3 - Mirrored Mares and all the warm fuzzies
Ch. 1 - Must Have Been One Hellavuh Party

Ch. 2 - Leaping lizzabeth

Ch. 2 - Leaping Lizzabeth

Creak!

Clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop clop-thp…

“Um, hey. Are you awake?” A gentle feminine voice whispered.

Me? Am I awake? Maybe. I don’t want to be. I tried to drift back to sleep but there were too many distractions. Just a little longer please… The TV was still on. I couldn’t make it out but didn't really try to.

“I guess not.” She whispered back, oblivious to my inner thoughts. “Alright.”

The sound from before returned moving closer: something tapping against a wooden floor. I tried to ignore it but I was just awake enough to match the sound to hooves on floorboards. It made sense somehow. The events leading up to my loss of consciousness were creeping out again but I refused to dwell on them too much. The sound transitioned into soft steps on a carpet floor with the occasionally groaning of a loose floorboard. She was walking towards me.

I could sense her standing between me and the annoying noise box above and to the right of my head. I became more aware of my position on the floor. I was lying on my right side with my back to her and all limbs but my wings pointing, more or less, towards where I remembered the couch to be. I could feel my tail curled over my hind legs. My right ear was folded uncomfortably against the rough carpet. My right wing didn’t bother me nearly as much being crushed against the floor, and it had the full weight of my body to deal with.

I was also still naked. I felt a shiver run through me and tried hard not to let it show, not to move.

I was strange; alien; I was wrong! I felt sickened by my form in a strange way. It wasn’t the inhuman feeling but also the loss of my sex! I wanted nothing more than to hide, not lay out with my fuzzy form exposed to the world. Still I didn’t dare move. I couldn’t let her to know I was awake and listening. I wasn’t ready to deal with anyone just yet.

I felt her move behind me. My heart was beating faster but I kept my breathing slow and calm. She leaned over and I sensed two inhuman legs placed cautiously by my exposed stomach. One of them then lifted and seemed to be pawing at something. I had a good idea of what she was; I remembered the news.

I was more worried though about who she was. And why I was in what I assumed to be her home.

After what seemed like a short struggle of something with something else, she sighed and shifted her weight onto what I figured to be her front hooves, both again resting in the space between my own outward facing legs and stomach. I heard the sound of fabric being moved as she then stepped back over me. She had just pulled the blanket off the couch and onto me, pulling it up to my neck.

Something was strange about all that. Did she try grabbing the blanket with her hoof, maybe? Obviously that wasn’t working. Did she just grab that in her teeth or something? She must have with both her front legs on the floor.

An ominous feeling crept through me as I considered the implications of a life without hands. I wondered how much I would be forced to resort to the same. Maybe my wings would be useful for something, like carrying things somehow.Is walking on two legs is still an option at all?

I heard her giggle a little under her breath. She seemed to stand there for another full minute before moving away. It sounded like she was having trouble walking in reverse though.

A door creaked in the direction I had first heard her hooves clopping in from, followed by careful footsteps. Feet not hooves. Soft steps on creaky wood. Two legs—not four. The horse girl behind me paused her clip-clopping at the sounds.

“Lizzy?” A new voice said as both sets of foot and hoof steps came together and ceased. “What are you doing up?” The voice was also female, but older and tired.

“I couldn’t sleep. I still feel too… weird. I wanted to check on her too.”

Her. She meant me. The word seemed so strange being applied to me.

“Why is she on the floor? Did she roll off?”

“I don’t know. I found her like that. Maybe her tail was keeping her awake too.”

“Well let’s hope so. That would mean she’s just sleeping normally now. I was worried when we couldn’t wake her, if she got a concussion from the accident it could cause long term damage or put her in a coma or—“

Lizzy cut her off, her voice rising above the whisper they had both been speaking in. She sounded a lot younger than I had thought. “I know mom, I know. You said all this like a thousand times on the way home.”

Her mother shushed her a little halfway through so she’d go back to whispering. They paused their conversation, possibly to see if I had woken up.

The mother broke the silence, “I’m just worried, is all. They were just being stupid at the hospital. I know they were busy and everyone wanted in, but they shouldn’t have said they were letting in only people in obvious need, only for the police to turn away every car that came by, twice. We drove all that way. It’s not right.”

They were both silent for a minute or two. I heard what sounded like the two settling on the floor near the hallway.

The mother spoke again. “So your tail was keeping you up?”

“Yeah.” Lizzy said. She paused before continuing. “It’s all just so… weird. I don’t know how to feel about any of this.” She paused again. “None of my clothes fit. I didn’t try very much, it’s hard enough not… not having hands. I’m not even wearing anything under this robe, and it’s hard enough walkinglike this without loose clothes to trip over.”

Her voice started to break up a little. It sounded like she was crying. “I don’t have hands mom. How am I supposed to do anything! I couldn’t even open the door. I couldn’t even get undressed. I couldn’t even get my bra off, even though it was so loose, it got caught on my w-wings and pinched my hair and I broke the clasps. It doesn’t even matter. I barely needed one before, but now I never will. What am I gonna do?” She sobbed.

Oh great now I feel like crying.

“It’s alright.” Her mother said, “It’s all going to be alright. You’re not alone. Just remember that. There are people everywhere right now trying to deal with the same problems you are. There’s even one lying on our living room floor. What sort of panic do you think she was in to crash into us? You’ve been dealing with this bravely so far and I’m proud of you. Just hold on. Things will get better, it will all get easier in time. And I’ll be here for you too, whatever you need.”

The girl was trying to keep her sobbing under control as her mother shushed her a little.

“I love you mom.” Lizzy said sniffling.

“Love you too my Lizzy-beth.”

And now I’m crying too.

They went quiet again, except for the occasional sob from the little horse girl. I felt a slight ache in my chest. I felt like crying more, but more than anything though the scene tired me.

Closing my dripping eyes again I fell back to sleep.

* * * *

It seemed as though I blinked and things were different. The tv was quiet and there was a beam of light peeking through my eyelids. I hadn’t noticed the window there earlier but I couldn’t ignore it now. I guess it had been night when I was awake before.

Footsteps sounded past the couch with hooves clopping close behind.

“I know you were having trouble with your phone so I turned up the volume and set it to automatic speaker. I’ll leave it on the end table so if you need me or you need to answer it, you can just tap the screen or press the button for the voice commands. I’ll only be gone a couple hours, maybe less if all the stores are still closed. Make sure to call me if she wakes up, ok?” The older woman was talking again but sounded rushed and was not trying very hard to whisper.

“I know, I will.” Lizzy answered.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Her mom asked with concern.

“I’m sixteen mom.” She said with a little laugh, “If crazy Ms. Straus can trust me babysitting, you can trust me home alone for a couple hours, even like this. Just go. I want to know how Sam and Rachel at doing too. Out, now!”

There was a quick exchange of goodbyes as a door was swung open and then slammed shut. I heard Lizzie sigh and clop back into the room. I had lifted my head to follow the sounds as they walked by and was now squinting at her through tired eyes.

She was pink. Light pink. Other transformed people on the news had been all kinds of colors but none of them exactly the same shade. Still not being used to the whole thing, it was surreal trying to match the voice I’d been hearing to the small horse-like creature standing across the room from me. She was obviously young, but never having seeing anything like ‘us’ before I could never have guessed her age. She had a short muzzle that carried a slightly surprised expression in her large eyes (not terribly large, but still seeming bigger than human eyes) that were an unreal shade of purple. Her hair, or mane I guess, was a sort of ridiculous cotton candy blue and pink.

Almost the strangest thing of all was what she was wearing. She had on a simple green dress obviously not meant for her shape, or even color scheme. The straps were loose and even though it was short enough to only barely cover most of her tail it still hung down around the hind legs, likely to make her trip is she wasn’t careful.

“Oh.” She said, “You’re awake!” She stared at me for a moment before her ears (and mine) twitched to the sound of a car engine starting. She suddenly jumped backwards, rearing onto her hind legs and taking a few steps like that before she turned to the front door.

“JustholdonI’llberightback!”

I could make out her trying to twist at the doorknob with hooves, though in vain, then bashing the doorframe with one hoof in frustration. She gave a loud groan of annoyance and dropped back down and grasped the doorknob in her mouth. Still no luck. She darted back into the room and stumbled to a stop at a table by the couch. She glanced by at me staring back at her as she fumbled with a smart phone her mother had left for her. It fell onto the floor face down and she kept sliding it around on the carpet while trying to flip it back over with her hooves.

Sighing really loud and then stomping the carpet in frustration, she looked upwards at nothing in particular. She then got up and walked over to where I was laying.

I rolled over, folding my legs under me awkwardly but comfortably. My forelegs were bent in such a way that I felt I was resting on my elbows. It was weird to think I was lying down but still upright given the angle and shape of my neck.

We stared at each other for a moment. I think we were both trying to hide our curiosity about the other. I hadn’t even gotten good look at me; so far this was my first real look at a horse-person. Or whatever we were.

“Um… Hi.” She finally said. How are you feeling?”

I stared at her a moment. “Hi.” half-mumbled. My voice it seemed was still asleep.

I looked away from her and around the room, eyes darting back but not wanting to make contact.

“Hi.” I said again, being reminded of my new higher voice. My voice sounded fairly mature compared to hers though. Feminine, but not girly, though it might have just sounded that way in my head. “I’m feeling ok I guess. Still tired.”

“That’s alright. If you want more sleep go ahead. We were just worried you wouldn’t wake up at all. It seemed like you hit your head really hard.”

She stared at me some more. I stared back, making her look nervous. This is seven levels of awkward. I hoped I wasn’t nearly as intimidating as she made me feel.She was such a small thing. The stare down I was giving her probably didn’t help either. I couldn’t help it though, she just looked so surreal.

I debated whether or not I should say anything before she broke the silence first. “I’m Elizabeth.”

I looked away and mumbled a response while fighting a yawn. “Steve.” Oops, wait. Shit. That’s not a girl’s name now is it.

“Steff?” She asked, “Like, short for Stephanie?”

“Yeah, sure.” Aaaaand saved.

The news hadn’t mentioned any gender changes that I’d heard. I wasn’t sure I wanted let that secret out yet, to complete strangers no less, though for all I knew there might not be any male horse people, though it didn’t seem that way on the news. That would just be weird too. Or weirder. Everything was already weird enough.

And we’re back to the awkward silence. Great, I have to fix it myself now don’t I?

“Calm down kid I’m not gonna bite.” I said.

She giggled at that making me half-smile myself.

“I’m sorry, it’s just... Well you are looking a little wild, right now.” She gestured at me with her hoof, still grinning a little.

“I what? Oh. Yeah.” I still felt beat up and bruised pretty bad, and from what I’d seen I must have looked like something the cat dragged in (maybe like the half of a rabbit my old cat had left me once). This all brought up a very important question, “What happened?”

“You sort of crashed into us when we were driving home.” She answered, smile failing a little.

“Oh. Is my car alright?”

“What? No, you weren’t driving.”

“So you hit me?”

“No.” She said looking annoyed (Human expressions looked adorable to her short muzzle), “We weren’t moving, you were. We stopped because the storm was so bad... Let me explain.”

Elizabeth and her mom were out grocery shopping when the “event” happened. Her muscles started cramping as she was loading bags from their cart to her mom’s Jeep Cherokee. She couldn’t remember much of what happened before the changes stopped, and after that she was near panicking. They had left the parking lot, any remaining groceries forgotten, but traffic had come to a standstill long before they reached the hospital. After several hours of her freaking out in the backseat, only for them to be turned away from the hospital by police, they decided to head home.

The rain picked up as soon as they started home and soon it all became become too much for both of them. Elizabeth’s mom had pulled them over and moved to the back seat to comfort her. The storm wasn’t promising to let up that quickly.

After nearly an hour something big hit the car roof, making the whole vehicle shake. Elizabeth thought it was a large hailstone but her mom said it was probably a branch from one of the tall trees near where they parked. They both agreed they should get going and her mother was about get out to check on the “branch” when it slipped and slid down the windshield and onto the hood making them both scream.

“I fell. Onto your car.”

“Yeah. Scared the shit out of me. I thought a monster had jumped out of the woods or something.”

“Fell from where?” I asked deadpan.

“What? I don’t know, the sky? You tell me.” She looked at me curiously.

None of this made sense. I assumed my kind hosts would be able to answer my questions. I now knew why I was in such bad shape, why my head hurt, and why I had woken up on in a stranger’s house. So why was I left even more confused than before?

Shiver again, tail flick, left ear and right wing twitch. Wings.

“Oh.”

“Oh what?” she asked.

I shrugged off the blanket enough to spread my wings.

“Ha! I knew it!” She squealed, her own wings fidgeting under the fabric of her dress, “You were flying. People on TV keep saying there’s no way and it shouldn’t work but you did it! Show me! Show me!”

“No.” I interrupted. God she talked fast. “I didn’t- I mean I... I don’t know. Maybe I did. I don’t remember.”

“What do you remember?”

What did I remember. Last thing I remembered before the first time I woke up was watching a movie on my laptop before going to bed. I had a job interview in the morning... no wait I went to that interview. I remember because the manager’s lack of hygiene made me very relieved when he turned me down in the end by saying they needed someone with more experience. That really ticked me off though.

More experience. Ha! You change oil and check tire pressure and almost nothing more. I’ve been doing that on my own since I was Sixteen! Do I suddenly need a bachelors to be less than a mechanic now? If you’re too embarrassed to say you’ve hired someone since calling me in for the interview then a “we’ll call you,” and then never calling me back would have been better than complete bullshit.

That was all on Tuesday though. I knew more had happened since then.

“What day is it?” I asked suddenly.

“Friday.” She answered, “The 17th, or 18th, I’m not sure. Why? Do you remember something?”

“I don’t remember anything since last Tuesday.”

“Oh...”

She seemed really disappointed. Was she wanting flying lessons or something? I guess I could understand that after being turned into a freaky horse-thing and having giant wings glued to your back, that it would be really awesome for them them the make up for the loss of hands somehow.

Oh god I have no hands. I should be freaking out about that more.

There was something else I had become aware of while we were talking that I needed to ask about. I was almost afraid to bring it up. My voice lost some of the presence and power I had been passively forcing into it to make up for its lost masculinity and what I said came out in an embarrassingly soft squeak. “Hey uh, do you have a bathroom I can use?”

I doubted my red face was visible behind the fur covering it but she caught on to my obvious embarrassment and giggled a little. “Sure, it’s right down the hall, only door on the left.” she motioned with her hoof.

It occurred to me just the sort of image I was presenting her with. She had first seen me after I had crashed into her car, possibly from the center of a storm cloud for all she knew, battling tempests while she cried in the corner. I could be a badass angel that fell from heaven, but I was too embarrassed to ask where the bathroom was. Damn. I only ever think of first impressions in retrospect.

My wings had gradually moved from their literal spreadeagle position to almost shielding my body from sight. I was still feeling very exposed, especially since letting the blanket slip a little. I folded them back against my sides and reached back for the blanket.

I remembered how Elizabeth had fumbled with her hooves to grab the cloth (and doorknob, and phone) so I decided to follow her example and turned my head back. Again I marveled at just how far I could reach back with my neck. The blanket was barely covering my hips and I was able to bite down with my weird new front teeth and pull it up past my shoulder. Tucking it around me I stood up.

Elizabeth seemed surprised at what I just did, maybe she had been embarrassed using her teeth herself. Her surprise was directed upwards though as it turned out I was a bit taller than her despite how much we both likely changed. That would make me more intimidating to her now wouldn’t it? I had nothing familiar to use as a reference, but while I was much smaller than I had been before the change that meant very little when compared to this girl.

Before the change I had stood a little over six feet and five inches tall (thanks to my dad’s side of the family being from some place in Eastern Europe I could never remember, but which apparently had very tall people living there according to my brother) but I wasn’t exactly skinny. It seemed to me most other tall guys had a very average build but were just stretched out vertically. It was like taking a picture of an average guy on your computer and resizing horizontally. With me though whoever resized the image made it keep the same proportions. So I ended up meeting both categories in the “big and tall” department. I’ve always felt small on the inside though, I guess I’m sort of a cliche like that.

I couldn’t assume the same proportional size increase with my new form as my only point of reference was a teen girl who could very well have been on the small side herself before the change, but whatever the case was I must have seemed a giant to her. On all fours we were both still much closer to the ground than was comfortable, and if I stood up and stretched out my freaky neck I doubted I’d reach even her original height, but I was nearly twice her current size regardless. She seemed such a small thing I could easily saddle myself up and carry her on my back without strain, as strange as that thought was (alright, I did not like that mental image at all).

She must have been thinking some of the same as me (though I hoped not the saddle part) because when she had to look up to see me she said, “Wow, you’re tall.”

So even on all fours I still get that. Why is it people always say that like it’s something to be ashamed of. It’s like short people have to make you feel guilty for your height. This was going to be weird though having to look up to anyone who hadn’t changed. Unless I reared up I wouldn’t be seeing over crowds again any time soon. In one way at least I’d learn what being vertically challenged was like.

“You’re short.” I said back.

She winced and looked down.

Oh great I hit a sore spot. A puppy bites you but when you kick it back you only feel bad. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” She said. It obviously wasn’t. Maybe I was right about her being short before, cutting that height in half when it was already a problem would make anyone upset. I guess.

“Look,” I said, “I might be taller than you but we’ll both have a lot of people looking down on us from now on. Just don’t let it get to you. There are more important things to worry about right now.” Obviously I wasn’t cut out for cheesy pep talks, and definitely shouldn’t give them to random teens. “Like bathrooms. I’m terrified right now of figuring out how to sit on a toilet like this.” That at least got a giggle from her.

Wrapping the blanket around me more and pinching it under my wings a little so it didn’t slip, I walked passed her and around the couch. She turned and sped in front of me to lead the way down the hall.

Once or twice I nearly tripped on the blanket as it dragged behind me. I hadn’t even walked this far on hooves as far as I knew but I wasn’t going to mess up now. I had felt so smug at how easy my first steps had seemed and I didn’t want to end up with with a “hoof” in my mouth (literally) for saying walking was easy.

I kept my focus ahead of me, trying to not look at the way little Lizzie’s butt bounced under her dress as she walked. It wasn’t out of attraction mind you, It just looked silly. I honestly did not even consider yet how my sexual orientation could have changed with the rest of me or if that change even included horse-people at all instead of just humans. I was too scared of my own sex at the moment to think about anything even close to it. As embarrassing as it is to admit I was thinking more of how my much larger posterior might be doing the same amid the complex movement of hooves required to walk that long fifteen feet. I tried to suppress any unnecessary swaying.

When we reached the door I tried to keep my face straight as she turned around in the narrow hallway. Her small size had that advantage at least. It didn’t bother me realizing there was no way I could easily change direction, in what was really not too small a space, without rearing up. I had the feeling any excuse to assume a more human stance would be very welcome with the amount of looking up I was looking forward to.

Unlike the front door (or any others in the hall), the bathroom had a handle and not a doorknob, something Elizabeth was almost too happy to make use of.

“You probably want a shower right now too so feel free to do that. I’m going to try calling my mom again to let her know you woke up. Just holler if you need anything.”

I nodded and walked through the door, tugging the blanket clear of the door awkwardly so I could close it again with my hoof. I clicked the button to lock it and let the blanket fall to the floor, kicking it into the corner by the sink.

Finally.

****************************************************************************************************

Ch. 3 - Mirrored Mares and all the warm fuzzies

Author's Note: Need to take the time and check this still for any problems in formatting or last minute changes and fixes. I figured I should put it up anyway because I said I would. I'm trying to find the time to get enough at least submitted if not published so that this thing will pass moderation. I didn't realize before that it would take until chapter 7 or 8 for it to be obvious enough how this story relates to the mlp:fim universe. Oh well. I'll get there. I don't think I'll be posting past chapter 4 until then though.

And gosh dang it, I do believe this is the only chapter I haven't had any help proofing. Prepare yourself for grammatical assault! My comas do what they want and frighten away all but the most hardy of semicolons.

Ch. 3 -Mirrored Mares and all the warm fuzzies

It was thankfully a very spacious bathroom. It seemed to have been made with a full bath in mind but instead only had an extra long shower stall, which I was also thankful for. I really did need a shower and didn’t want to see how slippery hooves were in a bathtub.

This was obviously a female dominated house as was evident from the bottles, brushes, and many other toiletries filling every shelf and corner of porcelain or tile. They were obviously not expecting company as and the room wasn’t exactly tidy, but it was well kept at least. The brightly colored towels and bathrobes hanging from a few hooks on the wall reminded me of a few ‘people’ I’d seen on tv recently, but the the fluffy mat by the shower reminded me more of one of this house’s residents. And that was definitely a bowl of homemade soaps sitting on the back of the toilet.

Welcome to your new gender. Yay.

What am I thinking, I’m the one critiquing a bathroom’s fung shui here, that’s way more girly than a dozen bottles of shampoo and hobbies involving soap. Those colorful towels really do clash with the light blue tiles though. Oh, hello Stephanie it’s nice to meet you.

Honestly though, none of my old girlfriends had bathrooms like this. Then again I only lived with one of them before and she was the one that moved in with me, aside from her I’d barely even seen any of my old girlfriends’ houses. Still, Jackie was more of a slob than me so I really didn’t have much to go by.

I’ll admit I’ve always had a decent eye for aesthetics and colors, but I never felt more girly for it than after becoming a girl. And my girly features were not what I wanted to be thinking about at this moment as my eyes finally fixed on the toilet.

I rose up for what I realized was the first time since my metamorphosis and stood on my hind legs. My original legs. It felt more awkward than it should have. Though I felt like I was standing on my toes. My reshaped legs resisted, trying to straighten out completely and protesting the weight being put on them. I didn’t see myself being able to stand like this for more than an hour without practice or risk my legs collapsing underneath me (even with my right front hoof resting on the wall for balance). My eyes caught the mirror for a second. my head was just out of view but I could see the surreal shape of my back from the end of my mane to my wings. I looked away, that would have to wait, I had a more urgent need to take care of.

Gripping a towel hook in the joint that used to be my wrist I reached my left hoof to lift the seat. I lifted my tail up and to the side and attempted to sit down. It was harder than I could have thought. My legs were completely the wrong shape for chairs of any kind. The bones that made up my thighs were way too short and forced me almost to the edge of the seat. Sitting further back would result in my elongated feet pointing straight up, ruining my balance and looking incredibly silly. I just had to hope my new ‘equipment’ didn’t have a wide enough ‘area of effect’ to cause a mess this far up the seat. My plan B was to straddle the bowl while down on all fours and hope for the best as a female trying to pee standing up. Fortunately that wasn’t necessary.

As weird and embarrassing as my potty training session felt I failed to create any sort of mess. I felt relieved in more ways than one and reached over to tear off some toilet paper to wipe myself with. No one had told me that bit of female hygiene before but I was worried about white wet fur than anything.

I stood up on my hind legs again and focused on my next awkward task; familiarizing myself more fully with my new body. No, not in that way. As I said before, sex and all relating to it were the last things I wanted to think about. Almost.

Again I got annoyed with the lack of feeling hooves allowed. There was something to it, the inner part of each hoof was sensitive enough, but the lack of digits made discerning shapes through touch alone more of a trial. I relied more on sight than touch for my examination and had to rest a hoof on the sink for support as I awkwardly leaned forward.

I’ll admit I hadn’t seen very many in real life, and rarely in enough light for any real detail, but I don’t think I need to say anything more than that ‘It’ looked closer to a haman’s than any other part of my body currently did, just with a different texture of ‘fur’ around it.

There was a stranger part of my new biology that caught me completely off guard though. I discovered my nipples had relocated to a location much further south, practically between my legs. I really did not want to think of them as being like equine udders, the concept of ‘having breasts’ in any form bothered me more than most aspects of my change. Something about the primal feelings brought up in thinking of their purpose made me really uncomfortable. There were questions there I didn’t ever want to consider.

Despite the thinner fur around my more private anatomy, my mostly shaggy coat kept most things down there hidden from plain view when standing upright. I knew that I’d be keeping my tail down when on all fours from now on though, even when clothed.

I took a few careful steps towards the shower and set the water running. After getting it to a satisfactory temperature I finally dropped down on all fours. It was time to find out just how white this fur was.

I stood under the the shower head for several minutes feeling the warmth melt away the tension in my muscles. My wings hung limp at my sides, my neck was raised but my snout was pointed down, and my eyes were shut lightly as the water pelted my face. My hind legs decided to protest my attempts earlier at more human locomotion, and folded down so I was rested on my haunches like a dog. I hadn’t even considered the position but it was comfortable enough and felt natural.

I shook the water through my wings a bit, being careful to keep them from opening too far given my limited space. I browsed the selection of shampoo bottles available and picked one that seemed less likely to smell of strawberries. I poured large globs of it from the top of my head where my mane started and all the way down my neck and back. I then set about lathering it everywhere but my wings.

I was surprised that my arms were flexible enough to reach that much of my body. I seemed more flexible than even before the change in some ways. I fumbled to hold a loofah I found as I used it to scrub the matted dirty fur on my flanks. Unsure of how to clean feathers, I simply scrubbed my wings lightly without soap and hoped I didn’t ever have to resort to preening like a bird. That would just be gross.

My tail and I became very well acquainted as I tried to brush out all its knots. I had to sit back, low against the wall, legs spread, and tail tucked under me against the shower floor. I couldn’t grip a brush handle in one hoof and was using both to push it along my tail. It felt very dog-like in thickness and even length, but the hair coming from it was in every way just like the kind running down my neck. I started to like the look of the two blue streaks running through it and how it contrasted the dark grey making up the rest (as I said before, I know my colors), the water made both colors extra dark which was awesome.

Clean at last and with all bruises and scratches from my crash inventoried, I turned off the water and reached my dripping head out to grab a towel. Pulling the closest one off the hook with my teeth I flipped it over my head with my forelegs and rubbed it through my mane, tail, and fur. I stepped out of the shower as I finished drying up.

I refused to attempt shaking the water out like a dog or using the blow dryer sitting by the sink. I’d had enough of embracing both my animal-like side and my feminine side for the time being. Both would likely have not worked out well anyway.

Holding a different brush from before, larger and easier to grip in two hooves, I did my best to comb it through my mane, tail, and the shaggier parts of my fur. I was finally ready to confront my reflection. I decided earlier I wanted to look at least decent before then, first impressions and all that jazz.

I stepped towards the sink and reared up, resting my front hooves around the seashell-shaped basin. Well now, I thought, doesn’t she look cute. I giggled at that, then realized I had giggled and ended up giggling even more. I hadn’t really been hit before by the contrast of my new girly voice and the imagined masculine sound of my own internal dialogue. I’d also never realized that the main difference between a snicker and a giggle were the pitch, or maybe I was making that up. I was pretty sure if I had laughed like that with my old voice it would have been labeled “snickering” by anyone that cared, though now it was definitely “giggling”. This train of thought just let loose another fit of giggling.

The shower might have left me feeling a little refreshed and slap-happy, but I was right about the first impressions. A positive feeling about my new face could only make things easier. I really wasn’t that bad looking though, by horse people standards, or at least I thought so. My snout was definitely longer than I had thought. Elizabeth’s was fairly short, as were a number of people I had seen on the news. The only others I had seen with such long faces were a few guys, and they had more masculine jaw-lines than I did.

There were my little horsey ears poking up from my head. I moved them around, hearing the white noise of the room change in volume. I noticed my lack of eyebrows, but after practicing a few facial expressions in the mirror decided they hardly mattered in that sense, and my ears perking up and dropping could more than made up for them if they did. My lips were thin but still capable of a variety of familiar expressions as well.

What really caught me were my eyes. Elizabeth’s had been two sparkling purple jewels, but mine were two sapphires, well not really. They had been blue before the change, but nowhere near as light and bright as the sky blue color they were now. So not really sapphires in any way.

They really did seem bigger. It could have been that my head was smaller and narrower, or differently shaped at least, but whatever the reason, they really dominated my features, though not as much as Elizabeth’s had to hers.

I stared deeply into the two pits of pure and open sky before me. There was a fragment of a memory there and a feeling of longing. I shook myself out of it as the feeling passed.

Maybe I really did fly.

The pegasus in the mirror was grinning at me now. She she had her wings half raised as if to swoop through the glass like a bird of prey and carry me away. I stuck my tongue out at her and she did the same. We made silly faces at each other for a few more minutes until I broke out into another fit of girly giggles.

The fun turned back into curiosity as I got a better look at me teeth. It was strange enough what having a long snout and all that did to my jaw and tongue, and that I could stick my tongue out the side like a dog, and that I could lick my nose, but the one thing negating the whole ‘canine’ look the most was the lack of actual canines. Which made it very weird that despite this, and despite seeming to have more teeth overall, they still all looked very much like human teeth to me.They were not as flat as I expected, and with my complete lack of any equine and human dental knowledge it might have just been my opinion, but my teeth didn’t look very horse-like to me at all.

I twisted my head around and reconsidered what I thought of it. It was almost as if someone had started with a human skull and deformed it just enough to have horse-like qualities. Maybe that’s all the change really did, we weren’t turned into actual horses, obviously, but we were turned into human horse hybrids. Or maybe if horses had evolved the higher brain functions humans possessed they’d eventually start looking like this, sans-wings.

If there was a higher power involved in all this I didn’t want to know. It might be wrong, but I can live not knowing why this all happened. It didn’t matter though, some people were likely to attribute it to God or something else anyway.

I gave a somewhat sad smile to the pegasus in the mirror and she returned it in in kind. I’d already been committing that sin myself hadn’t I? I sort of accepted that I’d have to deal with being called by that name and there was nothing me or my old Latin teacher could do about it, but here I was using it myself before anyone else even had the chance. It was better than winged-horse. As much as I made the comparison in my own head I knew that if anyone called me a horse I’d probably kick their ass.

I wondered what sort of words people would end up using for things. Would the different types of us (wings, horns, and vanilla flavored) end up with different nicknames? I was female, but would I be referred to as a woman or maybe a mare? There would be slurs eventually, there always are. Horse might be mild.

If I ever get into a fight with a unicorn I’ll have to remember to call him a horny bastard just to see how he takes it. I’d have to watch out for the horn though, he might try to gore me for that.

There was a knocking on the door followed by Elizabeth calling, “Hey Steff, you okay? Need anything?”

I have been in here a while haven’t I. I considered opening the door when I realized there was something I did need. “I um. I don’t actually have anything to wear.” I said.

There was a pause before she said, “You could wear my mom’s bathrobe for now if it’s on the hook there, until we find something better at least, I don’t think she’ll mind. It would fit you better than anything I have.”

I stood up on my hind legs and lifted the green bathrobe off its hook with my hoof (not my mouth). I stuck my ‘arms’ through the sleeves and wrapped it around me. It was a little short and snug, especially over my wings, but otherwise fit nicely around my torso and hips. I eventually figured a way of tying is closed by holding the cloth belt on the hinge that used to by my wrist. It took plenty of tries but I managed in the end. It fit fine though the sleeves were at least a foot short of my hooves.

I looked silly in the mirror. I seemed an ordinary human in a robe, but with a horsey head, and hooves instead of hands. Satisfied and smiling I dropped onto all fours. That’s when I had trouble.

While the robe reached just far enough past my hips to be considered decent on two legs. On four though it was pulled up enough that it nicely showed off my ass. With that area being the part I actually needed to cover there was really no point to this thing. I was already starting to get hot enough in just one fur coat, this fluffy mess didn’t help that.

I untied the bathrobe, shrugged it off, and hung it back up. Looking at it again it did seem a little small. Her mom must be really short to wear this. Or maybe it’s not hers.

“Hey, um, Elizabeth?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“There's a bathrobe in here but it doesn’t fit me.”

“What color is it?”

“Green.”

“That one’s mine. Is there a purple one in there?” She asked.

Well shit. “No,” I answered, “only this one.”

“Well put on a towel I guess. We’ll find you something.”

A towel. Somehow I didn’t think I’d be wearing it how I wanted.

It turned out I was right. It was obvious right away that it would come untied once I got on all fours, but then I didn’t need to tie it at all. I just tossed it over my back like a blanket and adjusted it so I wouldn’t trip. if only it were longer. I could tie it around my neck like a cape. I instead settled for my ‘pinched under wings’ trick to make sure it stayed in place.

I hardly felt any less naked with the towel but I opened the door anyway.

Elizabeth sat on her haunches in the hall with her silly green dress and a smile at seeing me. I smiled back, at least until the towel slipped from under my wings and caught up around my hoof, pulling it the rest of the down as I maneuvered to stay upright.

I glared back at my fuzzy tail and hindquarters while Elizabeth held back a laugh.

Fuck it. I don’t care anymore.

“Do you have anything else I could try?” I asked, keeping my face as expressionless as possible and my voice a calm monotone.

“I’m sure my mom has something.” She said. She pointed to the door at the very end of the hall with on hoof while the other covered her smile.

I waited until she got the hint and lead the way. There was no way She’d be walking behind me right now.

“You cleaned up pretty well.” She said looking back at me, “Your fur is really very pretty.”

I just sighed at that but smiled. I had thought I looked pretty too.

She grinned wider, showing her teeth, and did a little skip the last few feet to the door that looked a little like a canter. The door was ajar and she just pushed it open with her forehead and kept walking. I followed her inside.

I barely glanced around the master bedroom as we headed straight for the open door to a small walk-in closet. I waited on my haunches by the door as she reared up and started looking through the modest selection of clothing on hangers. I noticed a pair of medical scrubs laying on the floor in a heap. Strange. Why would a hospital turn away a nurse?

“Is your mom a nurse?” I asked.

She saw where I was looking and said, “No. Well, she was going to be, but she said she switched to veterinary school when she realized she could actually afford it. She said the hours sounded better too.”

I noticed a framed certificate or something hanging on the wall over a computer desk opposite the bed. I could make out what looked like a “Certif-” and “Vetrin-” in the heading but not much else. So I’d had my head and injuries cared for by a licensed vet. That wasn’t a very happy thought.

Elizabeth saw the look on my face and giggle. “Don’t worry about that. She knows a little about people to. She was even saying we look more like people to her than any ponies she’d seen.”

Well Now. Something nice to think about, we’re still very human. Straight from the horse's mouth, or her mother’s at least (Oh god I feel bad for thinking that one).

She may have only said it to comfort her daughter though.

Elizabeth had been pulling out a few items of clothing to look at. Her mother seemed to have nice taste, in a weird and formal way. Somehow I hadn’t imagined her mother as being that skinny though. I had just missed her when she walked through the living room on her way out what I assumed was a back or side door (possibly to a garage). I only had her voice to go on before.

When I heard them talking the night before she had sounded really gentle like a lot of my friends mothers did growing up, and most of them seemed more on the older, heavier side and did things like make us all brownies and lemonade. Not like my mom, who was thin, sour, and yelled at me when she couldn’t find her cigarettes. I was the one always hiding them from her though so she had good reason to blame me.

I felt incredibly uncomfortable being brought in to the private bedroom of a seemingly kind older woman I’d never actually met, more so with her wardrobe being shown off to me like this. Even stranger was the idea that I’d be expected to wear whatever was found in here that might fit me, be it a dress, skirt, or something else. At least tight jeans or slacks weren’t an option, there was no way they’d fit my legs, or at least I assumed they wouldn’t.

If she pulls any lingerie out of there though I’m out of here. Naked or not. Same goes for swimwear.

Funny. I’d pretty much forgotten that I was still naked. Somehow that should make this rifling through a stranger’s closet with her daughter even more awkward. If that’s the case then maybe I don’t really need to wear a dress or anything. I’m just fine. I’ve already got this “pretty” fur coat and it would be a shame to cover up my nice tail after all that brushing... Why are my excuses to get out of wearing a dress even more girly than actually wearing a dress?

“Here we go!” Lizzie said suddenly.

She was holding up a simple blue sundress on a hanger. It was a really simple dark blue dress, and almost nothing more. There were no frilly bits anywhere, the top was cut at a modest level that made no promises to the amount of cleavage it would show off on the woman who wore it, the straps were no more or less than two inches in width, it started flaring out just a little below the bust, and on an actual woman it would likely reach just past the knees. It was nice, but that’s all it was.. If I had to wear a dress I figured this one was ok.

“Nah.” Elizabeth said. She hung it back up and continued riffling through hangers.

I am actually disappointed. Wow.

“How about we try something else.”

She moved to the far corner of the closet where I saw a few winter coats hanging and pulled something out from behind. It was a long grey coat with a belt around the waist. My old girlfriend Jackie had worn something like it to cover up her work uniform. Not being very knowledgeable on most types of clothing (I don’t think I’d ever owned more than a simple leather jacket and a few hoodies at any one time in my life), I couldn’t help but categorize it as simply “The kind of coat women wear outside to cover up something else.” I didn’t look terrible warm either so that was good.

“I figured it would be easier to wear without tripping over. And it’s loose enough that it should fit.”

“Good point.” I said. I had noticed the safety pins in her dress keeping it from tangling with her legs. Likely her mom had helped with those, having fingers and all.

She held it out to me and I hooked the hanger with my hoof. I motioned for her to look away while I tried it on and she rolled her eyes at my sudden modesty and complied. I didn’t want her seeing anything when I reared up to slip this on. Somehow it didn’t occur to me to put it on while sitting down, it must have been habit that made me feel like standing on two legs while putting my arms through the sleeves.

It already had the sleeves rolled up and buttoned at the elbows so it fit fine there, with the weird positioning of my joints it technically went past my elbows. I wrapped it around my waist, feeling annoyed at having to restrain my wings (they had really grown on me). It buttoned up so I don’t know how she expected me to close it with hooves.

I dropped back down into a sitting position as I fumbled with the middle button. There were only three of them and each a couple inches in diameter, but buttons were meant for fingers, not hooves.

“Can you lend me a hand.” I said. or hoof.

She came and sat down in front of me and we got to work. After a lot of fumbling around for five minutes we got one. I had to hold one side down one hoof, pinch the other side in my wrist and drag it over, all while she held the large button between both hooves and slid it into the hole.

“Well that’s one of them.” She said frowning.

The bottom one was easier after we’d already figured out a process. The top I didn’t need. I figured it was supposed to be optional by the look of the thing, and it’s not like I had anything I really needed to cover up there. As soon as I had the right chromosomes to be required to cover them they must have gotten the hint and high-tailed it south to be near the other unmentionables.

“Good enough” I sighed, “Now help me with the belt.” I could probably have gotten it buckled myself but it was nice to have a little help, I wouldn’t have gotten it as tight as I wanted anyway without her there to grip it in her teeth and pull.

I stood up on all fours and turned to the full length mirror hanging conveniently between the closet door and dresser. I gave another sad sigh for my lovely wings being hidden from the world. The jacket wasn’t too loose when standing like that and ended up nice and snug on my hips, which I wasn’t exactly happy about, but it was just high and loose enough at the end to give my tail some freedom, which it was happy about (swish, swish, flick). The belt and bottom button were the parts that kept it all just tight enough that I wouldn’t trip over it while the open flaps below them didn’t restrain my back legs like I worried they might.

It wasn’t casualwear by any means, and the idea of wearing only that coat around indoors was ridiculous. Outside seemed even worse. Unless it was raining now I didn’t think it would be fun wearing it until September ended at least. The past summer had been deathly hot here in the midwest. At most I hoped I only had to wear it until I could find something more practical. All that aside though I actually liked this jacket, It made me look kinda cool.

“Elizabeth you’re a genius.” I said turning around in front of the mirror. I lifted my legs to see if moving any of them would make the coat rise up or get in the way, but everything checked out just fine.

“I just thought you’d look awesome in it, and you do! It matches your hair so well. It’s, like, the perfect shade between you fur and mane. It just suits you so well, I love it! Mom never wore it anyway, it’s meant more for rain and wind than for cold and she says she doesn’t like going out in bad weather if she can help it.”

“Well thanks. I really appreciate all of this. You’ve both been really nice to me. I don’t know where I’d have ended up without your help.” I put my hoof on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “You both probably saved my life too. I really don’t know how to thank you enough.” I felt my heart well up in my chest saying that. My eyes were feeling a little wet.

Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

“Really, don’t worry about it.” She brushed my hoof away, “That part was all mom anyway and she just loves helping people. And she’s the one that said to find something of hers for you to wear.”

“You’ve still been a lot of help. You’ve been helping me out while dealing with your own problems too. After all thats happen I just...” I just felt a wave of emotion I didn’t realize I was holding back. It was all catching up to me.

I was far from home, I likely didn’t have a home anymore because I was so backed up on rent (I’d sold my car and computer to make rent over the past six months while desperately looking for a job, they didn’t even sell for that much), I had dropped out of college a year ago because my grades weren’t high enough for the free ride the state had been giving me until then, my closest friend had left for Germany for an internship, and now I had lost my humanity as well as my gender, thrown out of the sky for reasons I couldn’t remember, left sore and beaten without even the clothes on my back, and likely had a close run in with death or two.

And now I'm crying into my foreleg because I don’t have hands anymore.

I felt Elizabeth wrap an arm around me and lean into my shoulder. I returned the hug as I started sobbing harder. I couldn’t remember ever crying like this. My last breakup had just made me angry more than anything. I always tried to be tough and bottle things up. I barely even cried when my mom died.

But then... that was mom.

I don’t know how long I sat there, crying my brains out into the dress of this tiny girl I hardly knew. We must have looked pretty silly, given our differences in size and our weird new shape. After what felt like an hour I eventually calmed down some and we pulled apart.

“Sorry.” I said staring dumbly down at my hooves on the carpet. My stupid little hooves. I brought them up to wipe my eyes.

“It’s fine. Really.” She choked out. “I thought I got all my crying done last night. But here I am at it again, joining right in. I’m just a sad, silly little pegasus pony who cries at everything.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. I felt a little better actually. There had been a pressure weighing on me that I hadn’t noticed until it was gone. I felt so light I could fly.

“Well.” I said, surprising myself in giving her a friendly hug, “Maybe we should both go cry somewhere else. I still haven’t met your mom and it’s really been kind of weird sitting around in her bedroom like this.”

She laughed and wiped the remaining tears from her own eyes. “Oops. sorry, I didn’t even think about that. I probably should have just come in here and brought some clothes out, huh?”

“Yeah. That would have been a lot less awkward.”

My legs felt like jelly, but I had four of them so I was sure that would be enough. We were both laughing and giggling our way out the room, almost leaning on each other to keep from falling over.

“So is that. *snrk* what we are?” I asked between laughs, “Ponies?”

“Of course. What did you think were were? Giraffes?”

“I’ll have you know we Pegasi are a proud and *snrk* noble race!” I stopped walking and lifted a hoof up to my chest and held my head high. “We are superior to giraffes in every way. The- *pffft* they grew out their necks to reach tall branches. But they dreamed too small. We looked at them and we said, ‘Those branches are still too low!’ And so we grew wings!”

She punched me with her hoof and we both fell against opposite walls laughing.

“You’re so weird” she said, flailing her legs in my direction before rolling over and picking herself up. “Come on, let’s get something to eat. I’m starved. No leaves though.”

I’d almost gotten back up but what she said set me off on another fit of laughter which in turn set her off.

When we were finally finished, and able to stand and breathe normally, we trotted drunkenly down the hall to the kitchen.

****************************************************************************************************

Ch. 1 - Must Have Been One Hellavuh Party

Voices. Someone was talking but I couldn't make out the words. It sounded like some news commentators or something.

My head was hurt.

Barely able to open my eyes in my sleepy state and not wanting to move my head; I could catch the bright dancing lights of an LCD screen in the corner of my left eye.

I didn't have a TV by my bed. I didn't even own a TV. And this wasn't a bed. I could feel the rough texture of couch cushions under my chin. It felt more itchy than it should have though.

A couch I guess. Am I at a friend’s place for the night? Did I pass out on the couch after a party? That would explain the pain in my head. No. wait, no, just sore, doesn’t even feel like a hangover. Head’s bruised or something. I must have hit it hard. Shit! I hit my head and passed out! That can't be good! Whoever dumped me on the couch after I passed out should have call—

I pushed myself up. My joints and muscles were sore and aching all over but that wasn’t what gave my mind pause. Something was wrong. I felt wrong. I felt very, very wrong.

I stared down at my hands. What was left of my hands. My arms were... white. Like, actually white colored.

Why am I wearing long sleeves in August?

My eyes were still having trouble focusing but I could make out that it was some sort of dirty-white hair covering my arms.

Furry white arms with weird joints that don't make sense, and no hands. Where are my hands.

I could make out something at the very ends of those arms obscured by both the longer hairs hanging over them and the cushion they were pressing into. They were slightly darker colored and hard looking. I felt like I was pushing myself up on my fingertips. Somehow.

A shiver ran from my neck and down my spine, and I felt something twitch at the very end. I felt another something twitch on my back below my shoulder blades. My heart was racing now. I closed my eyes and tried to stay calm. I tried to think. I didn't know if it was the panic or the blow to the head, but my mind did not want to focus on anything. In some way I wanted to just shut it off and not think about anything. I felt like I wanted to just turn off my brain and run. Run away from whatever had happened. I felt something on the edge of my mind, like a memory of a dream or something.

I think it was one of those flying dreams; I’ve never had one of those before, except I was running too I think. One of those weird dream things I guess where one thing becomes something else. I guess. Still never had a flying dream I could remember. Only falling dreams.

My mind started focusing on some very alien signals coming from my back, and I felt the tensing of sore muscles where muscles should not have been. I quickly focused on the pain in my head instead. My right ear itched and then shocked me by twitching.

Ears don’t move like that.

Breathing faster, I became aware of the extra space inside my mouth. My tongue ran along my teeth. They were different. Everything was different. Even my tongue seemed longer than it should have been. My heart skipped a beat and I felt that alien twitch again at the end of my spine. Something brushed against my leg.

My legs.

My legs were different. I could feel my knees pressed against my sides in a way that shouldn't have been possible; and they weren't even long enough to reach past my stomach now. I couldn't even feel my toes.

A wave of dizziness washed over me and my arms ceased to hold me. My head hit the cushion and something fell over my eyes. Was that my hair? I grew my hair out once in high school but cut it and kept it short after realizing how gay it made me look. I never even let my bangs grow passed my eyebrows now and combed it all back anyway. At least it was a more familiar feeling than whatever the hell was going on with the rest of my body.

I bent my head back, realizing how long and flexible my neck had suddenly become. My hair fell away from my face a bit and I got a good idea of its color. Sort of a deep grey, but I swear I saw something else, too. Adding to that my hairy white arms my only conclusion was that I had turned into a fuzzy little raincloud. My mouth twitched to a slight smile at the thought. I must have been really out of it to think of that.

I pushed up with my arms again, feeling the odd “on the tips of my fingers” vibe as I did. I also felt a blanket I hadn't paid any mind before, slowly slide halfway down my back. I suddenly noticed a lack of clothes under the blanket as well and felt the cold air entering under it. Somehow it didn't feel as uncomfortable as it should have.

I lifted my left arm up to examine. Oh yeah, that must be why. The hair. Fur. All over. Dirty-white fur. And, Apparently… hooves? Okay. Neat.

My thoughts and observations were now failing to sink in. It was like my emotions had given up and I felt nothing but calm at that new information. I had hooves. Weird ones. I'd never seen any hooved animal with front limbs like these or hooves so strangely shaped.

Front limbs. Animal. Fur. Hooves. Back legs. Ears. Tail.

It twitched. I jumped.

My legs failed to catch me, and slipping on the cushions, I rolled off the couch and landed on all fours. The adrenaline from that slip-up was all that kept me standing, but I was standing. On all fours. Not two. I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling. I felt like I was balanced on my toes and fingertips. My knees were bent only slightly and pressed to my sides a little. I shifted, testing the weight on each leg and trying to understand the new way all the joints in them bent.

Short arms, elbows almost touching my sides, long hands with long finger(s?), long feet, short legs, knees still touching sides (stretch those out, stand straighter, there we go), and hooves. What the sweet fuck was with those hooves?

Ear twitch, tail flick. Long hairs brushing my legs.

I already knew what I was, in a sense, but I didn't want to put a name to it. I only felt the presence of the word "animal" lurking in the back of my mind with a feeling of dread reaching from it if I tried to label my form.

No! Still thinking, still rational. Legs times four does not equal... that. Still a person.

I took a deep breath and shook my head slowly, knocking my hair back further and feeling it running along my long neck. Holding that breath I twisted my head back to look behind me. It was strange that I marveled at the feeling rather than panicking like before, for the first time the alien sensations of my strange new form brought intrigue rather than shock.

I found my head uncomfortably close to my back.

Jesus, this neck is freaky.

Looking further I could see my tail. Dark grey, like my hair, like a horse's (ah, there's the word I was avoiding). And was that... blue? There were two true blue streaks in my tail. Like, highlights or something. I flicked it again, slowly and on purpose for the first time. Again I marveled at an alien movement.

So strange... So fucking cool! Tails are awesome! Even with gay blue stripes dyed in them. Wow. And that's my ass. Maybe that's what I turned into, an ass. No, they have different tails, don't they? That was definitely a very horse-like tail. And butt. Damn. Is it just me or is my butt fucking huge! Definitely wider than before— or was my head just smaller? Wait, no, that doesn't make sense. Moving on now. Ok, very horse-like torso there, flaring out a bit too much around the hips. Damn.’

I noticed an odd bulge on either side of my upper body. Lifting my head more I could see that it was indeed on both sides. They were the same color as my fur but a different texture entirely. Were those feathers? I lifted an arm, trying not to think of it as a foreleg, and reached back to touch the foreign object—feeling a small amount of surprise that my arms were still able to bend in that way, very not animal!—When my hooves (definitely not regular horse hooves) made contact, I felt a repeat of the twitch from earlier, when I had first noticed my tail. This time, though, I saw the shapes on my sides move to match the feeling. I tried to move them on my own, though they ached as if with sore and overworked muscles. I went too far. Both shapes shot straight out, knocking my raised hoof away, nearly making me trip on the other three, and barely missing a shelf of fragile looking objects by the tv.

Wings.

Those are wings there.

I tried to get a sense for them. They were two alien limbs coming out of my back; a second pair of arms jutting out from my spine. They had weight to them, and length. They didn't look nearly so big folded at my sides. They felt powerful even through the soreness, though that may have been because of the air they were circulating as I moved them up and down. Such small and slow movements caused quite a bit of fanning. I could feel the flow of wind on my underside and was aware again of my lack of clothing, but I didn't feel "bare", and the cold air didn't chill me like it would have sans-fur. I felt naked, yeah, but not uncomfortable.

I’m still diving for that blanket if anyone walks in here.

I tried to fold my wings back at my sides but couldn't figure out which muscles did what; they just bent into funny shapes and ached more making me grit my teeth. It was like trying to fold a broken lawn chair or something.

JUST CLOSE, DAMN YOU!

Okay, just forget it; they can just hang there for now! Fuck. Some brand new wings. Sure don’t feel brand new. Ow.

A streak of color caught my eye. It seemed the stripes in my tail repeated a little in my hair.

Or is it a mane? If I’m making the horse comparison with the tail then it makes sense to do the same with weird long hair that grows all along my neck. All weird like.

All odd limbs and weirdnesses seemingly accounted for, I finally took in the state of my form. When I say my fur was dirty white I meant it. It was already several shades below pure white but it was filthy enough in some places that it became simply “dirty” and the “white” was thrown out the door. I looked like a stuffed animal that had been tossed about during a storm and then given a roll through the street. Add in the places where the matted hair had been stained a little red, where I’d apparently been scratched or bruised, and I looked like I had been hit by a car, which made sense because I certainly felt like I had.

I turned my head away. My neck was a little stiff from keeping it bent back that long—not terribly though. My wings and legs felt worse, and necks shouldn't even be able to bend like that, anyway, so I couldn’t complain.

Okay now, gotta stay calm. I didn't even realize I should be panicking until I decided to stay calm.

Fuck. Well Now I'm panicking a little! Calm. Deep breaths. Slow inhale, slow exhale. What have I figured out so far? Hooves, quadrupedal, fur (raincloud colors are kinda cool, always loved stormy weather). Tail (also cool, also blue, but I repeat myself, hehe). Horse thing, but smaller. Pony thing? No, too girly sounding. Tiny horse sounds better, but still silly. Wings. Holy shit! I'm fucking Pegasus!

And no, not "a Pegasus"; my high school Latin/mythology teacher would roll over in his grave if I even thought that. He scared me shitless. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back as a zombie to kill me for something like that.

Tiny winged horse. Yes. Makes sense. A horse would have to be smaller and very differently shaped to fly right? Yeah, no. Even for a weird little winged-horse like me there is no way I could fly without fairy dust or a jetpack. Did Pegasus have a jetpack? No. I didn't do too well in that part of the class but I know that much. I liked the Norse myth section much more.

I suddenly felt a little letdown at that earlier thought. I hadn't made the connection between “I have wings” and “holy shit maybe I can fly!” completely but part of me seemed to put two and two together, but addition is always so much more fun than subtraction.

Shit.

I stared blankly ahead of me and I shifted my weight a little, re-positioning all four hooves and lowering the front one I didn't realize I was still holding up. I noticed the shifting of the shadows my wings made on the furniture around me. A new thought came to mind as my eyes drifted around the room. This is definitely not my apartment. I've never seen this room before. Where am I? I relaxed my wings a little and felt them curl up naturally at my sides. Dammit! Ouch. Well at least that's one set of limbs sorted.

I decided to try walking.

I lifted my left foreleg (yes, a foreleg, I'm using it for walking right now so it's a leg. Logic) and I slid it forward. I felt my back left leg lift a little as my weight shifted, my tired muscles ached like they knew what was coming. I stopped thinking to ignore the pain and just took a few steps. That was easy. Ow. I took a few more. Neat. It reminded me of a time when I was a kid, like seven years old or something, and pretended I was a cat. With the way my legs were shaped, like a normal kid’s legs, not tiny-winged-horse-person legs, I probably looked more like a frog then than anything, with my knees bumping my elbows if I tried to move too quickly. My favorite green shirt certainly helped that look.

One might think moving on all fours like this would be hard to figure out. Somehow I expected it would be, more legs to sort out and all. It definitely didn't feel natural walking like that but the ordered movement of the legs did. When I thought about it more, I could recall other times when I'd had to crawl on my hands and knees to reach under or behind something (I never considered when reaching one hand forward which knee would then need to move moved after, so why would I need to now?) I felt silly assuming I’d fall all over myself trying to organize my legs. Honestly I should have expected it to be easier than walking on two.

I was up against the far wall and could not move forward any more. I hadn't moved more than six feet from where I started. I tried turning around and nearly tripped.

Ok, not perfect. But not terribly difficult.

It wasn't the coordinated, ordered movement of the legs but the alien feeling each limb presented and the re-distribution of joints that caused me to stumble. Same four limbs as before even if they're shaped a little different. If I had to organize six legs at once then there'd be trouble, sure. I glanced back at my wings.

I walked back to the sofa and took stock of my surroundings. There's the blanket I was under hanging off the couch, there's the TV on the right. Oh, right. TV. News. The light and noise coming from the TV came into focus for the first time. My eyes blinked and adjusted from the gloom of living room to the bright screen. Shaky camera angles came into focus as I heard, "—spitals and health centers are still filling up as panicked victims and their families seek help. Most are being rejected outright and some hospitals have asked for police assistance in barring entry to those without obvious need of medical help. Many doctors have insisted that with the sheer number of those affected by the transformations it is impossible for them to attend all those asking for help, especially as, despite the difference of appearance, the victims are not in any apparent physical danger from their transformations. The general chaos and confusion that has followed the event has left many injured and doctors everywhere are insisting on giving them priority. They've echoed the words of government officials, the president in his public address on the situation last night, and many news outlets such as ours, for people to stay calm and not panic. We've also received word that the white house has asked for those affected, as well as all unaffected individuals worried about these events, to stay at home for the time being, for their own safety as well as the safety of others, stating that 'the last thing we want is to encourage further panic.'"

Images were flashing before me, videos and still pictures popping up, changing, and floating side-by-side. Hospitals, doctors, politicians, police standing guard in riot gear, crying and terrified families. The most shocking part of all this were some of the people. They weren't all people. They looked like me! Or I think they did. I still hadn’t seen my face but I now had a good idea for its shape. Many of the pictures were of shocked looking horses (Horse people, people horses, whatever) of every color of the rainbow, some with wings and some without, and a couple actually colored like rainbows. Some seemed to even have horns.

Unicorns. Wow.

Some of the videos were of people turning into these creatures. There was one from a cell phone of a woman collapsing on the ground while waiting in line for coffee. She started spasm-ing as her fingers melted together and her bones started changing shape and making her clothes fit strangely. The camera showed enough for pink fur to sprout out of her skin before turning quickly to a man going through a similar change on the other side of the room. The camera jumped between several people sprawled in chairs and on the floor flailing their quickly changing limbs, terrified faces all around them, some screaming though the video had no sound. It eventually turned back to the pink horse girl laying on the floor in ill-fitting pants and t-shirt. She had a horn sticking out under a long, light-blue mane.

I reached up with a hoof to tap my forehead and felt nothing. No horn. One less problem for me, then, I guess. I kept my arm raised and examined the odd shape of my head, face (or snout apparently) and ears as I watched on.

The camera eventually cut to the anchorman as he wrapped up. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let me be honest here. We're all afraid and confused, but we’ve all been affected. You may notice my usual co-anchor is absent. I don’t think I need to explain why she felt unable to come in today.

“We all know someone who has been changed, and I know many of you out here listening have yourselves been changed. No one knows what caused it and what exactly it is that is happening, but let me tell you for the first time since this nightmare started, for the first time in fourteen hours, what it is that we do know. These are people who have transformed, and we've been given no reason to think they're anything but people now. These people are still people, living, breathing, rational, talking people. Even if we may find they've changed into something very inhuman looking outside, we know now that inside they are still very human. They are still people. People we know, loved ones, family, and friends. And they need us now more than ever to remember that, because all of us unaffected by the change can't imagine what it would be like to fear you’ve lost your humanity, and to treat each other as anything but human would be to lose what humanity we all still have.

“Thank you. We'll be back after this short break."

To my surprise, it changed to the network logo with a scrolling bar at the bottom rather than cutting to commercials.

I turned away from the screen and stared unfocused ahead of me. I felt relieved. I wasn't alone. I wasn't an animal. He said what I sort of already knew; I was a living thinking, talking... talking.

"Animals don't talk." I said aloud.

My joy at still being able to talk despite a weirdly shaped mouth left as quickly as it came. Is this a joke? Is this like some kind of cartoon thing? Like when someone gets hit with a shrink ray or magically turned into a small rodent their voice is suddenly much higher?

"Hello." I said, again testing the vocal water. "Hello. HELLO. HeloOOO. This is weeeeeeeeiirrrrrd..." I tried various pitches but they all had similar results. My normal bass was now an alto. I could never really reach a tenor before but now I had trouble dropping below it when just speaking normally.

I sounded like a girl.

My attention turned to the one part of my body I hadn't yet considered for examination. I pressed my back legs together at the thought and then felt them collapse beneath me at the now compounding feelings of fear added to the weirdness.

I craned my weirdly shaped head down. I almost didn't know what I was looking for. What are horse bits supposed to look like anyway? It was impossible to tell without arching my back so I instead reached one of my now shaking hooves down.

I stared forward as I felt around as best hooves would allow, for… something, anything that could answer my now urgent question. It took longer than I’m comfortable admitting; hooves are not so sensitive to touch as fingers. When I found what I was looking for I suddenly found myself standing up on all fours again with my adventurous foreleg pressing into the floor in horror. I felt the blood beginning to drain from my head.

Left ear flick, tail twitch, right wing quickly extending and then darting back after bruising against the TV stand. Ouch.

Well. That's it I guess. Small, four legged, big butt, raincloud colored, winged, horse girl. With blue highlights in her hair.

"Her."

"Girl."

My head seemed to float as the lights dimmed from the edges of my vision inward. I had just enough energy for one more test of my girly voice before the becoming fast friends with the carpet dust and a hoarse breath escaped my little horsey snout, “fuck...”

I didn’t even feel my head hitting the floor.

****************************************************************************************************