twitch twitch

A gentle breeze caresses my nose as the sounds of a moving vegetation surrounds me. I cautiously push my mind into my body testing whether I am awake or not. Everything feels ... asleep. How long have I been sleeping since … a shudder passes through me. I hear crickets in the background, as my ears twitch to their direction. They can do that?

Opening my eyes I find myself buried in tall lengths of, what feels like, grass. Shifting around, I feel off as I try to uncurl myself, which surprises me, since it was not a normal thing to sleep all curled up. Shuffling around, a sharp pinching sensation runs up my spine.

Ow, how did I manage to sit on my spine. Ugh. I hate mornings. It’s still dark, though.

The palpitations of my heart echo through the night, as I shift again looking for that sitting position. Something keeps getting in the way and moving!

“Well that’s odd,” I think out loud, desperately filling the silent night with something.

I look down. Against the light of the moon, what I see doesn't really many sense. Something light and purple is reflecting off my skin in the moonlight. Directing my gaze behind me I notice something swishing around underneath me. Panicking, I swing my hoof to brush it away causing a shock of pain to run up my spine.

Glaring at the offending pest, I trace up the foreign object up to my… butt. Yep, there’s something slithering from my butt. This has gone full annihilation on me, my DNA has been messed with and various parts of my body are turning into snakes.
Bringing my mind into my breath, I pause. One, two, three, breathe. The shock ebbs away and I gently brush up my hoof against this strange object. The hairy teal covered thing whips impatiently and recoils from my touch. I felt that! Brushing my hoof against this strange creature, I could feel the harsh surface of my hoof rubbing against it. I have a tail.

Taking another shot, I directed my tail to move aside as I propped myself up like a cat. Trying not to think about it, I simply gave another attempt at sitting, moving my tail to the side. Surprisingly, it works.

Returning to the space around me, I glance around, looking for anything. Anything dangerous? Anything useful? What’s going on here? Nothing but silence. My heart feels constricting against my chest as my lungs rapidly expand and contract. I could hear my heartbeat, and my breathe, very clearly.

“Is anyone around?” I asked to no one in particular. “Hello, no one here… right?”

I need to move. This is so very wrong. Got to move now. Pulling strength into my legs I stand briefly as gravity begins to pull me back down. Flailing my arms in front of me uselessly, I dance around on my feet trying to stay up. Realizing that it was no good I brace myself as the ground rushes to my face. Reaching out my hands the ground stops abruptly. I glance down at my arms, grimacing at the taut feeling running through them. I expect to collapse, but my arms held rather steady, two light purple pillars holding me up in place.

Deciding not to risk another change of state I glance around again feeling slightly more comfortable at the new height. I am now taller than the fields.

Huzzah, progress!

Looking down at my … front hooves squished in the blades of grass, I feel fairly grounded in my new position. It feels almost, right in a way. Weird.

Pausing, I look up into the moonlit sky. All manner of stars and formations are painted against the dark sky. Following the stars touching the horizon, fields, reflecting gleams of moonlight, trace their way towards me. Breathing in a shuddering breath, my eyes trace their twisted paths down to my… hooves.

Turning my gaze upwards a faint light can be seen off in the distance. A small flickering orange piece of hope dances there, unassumingly. I feel drawn towards it. Drawn towards anything ... not here.

Around me, only the moonlit fields exist, moving with the slight breeze that ruffles my… hair. With nothing but the frenetic beating of my heart, a sense of unease settles down.

“Alright, no biggies, just walk towards the light,” I whispered out.

Looking down I proceed to move my back legs, slowly forwards. I move my left leg up, pause, then push off with a hop onto my right leg. Finding myself kissing the sky once again my arms flailed around madly, deciding that embracing the earth a much wiser prospect.

Letting out a groan I looked down slowly towards the grass. This is going to take awhile.

A telescope swivels around near a window, eagerly scanning the night for any signs of life.

“Anything to report, tenderfoot?” a young male voice rings out from beyond the telescope room.

“All clear captain, “ a younger voice replies back.

Continuing the search, the telescope suddenly stops, sharpening it’s focus on a distant site.

“There’s something out there!”

A shuffling of hooves fills the room as the older voice rushes to the telescope. “Let me see. There is. Fantastic!”

“Hey, no fair! I found it first, “ the younger voice interjected. “They’re moving all weird, jumping up into the air and falling down over and over.”

“Wait, something wrong? Let me check. Wait … that leg twist. Those unpredictable moves. Yes, those are signals!” The older voice rose in fervor. “Do you know what this means!”

“Oh, pony possession. No, alien abduction!”

“All reasonable deductions tender. But, even better, we have an agent!”

“Awesome! What’s an agent again?”

“Look closer,” the voice rang out confidently.

Looking out into the dark, a rather flustered pony attempted to jump onto their front hooves like a cat, instead, finding themselves face first in the dirt.

“They just belly-flopped onto the ground, “ the younger voice stated with confusion.

“Yes, that’s code for -help required-.”

“What does it mean when they trip over their hooves like that?”

“Agent secrets.”

“Ok…”

I lay on the ground resting in the blissful nothingness of surrender. The cool grass felt nice against my side.

I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s dark. I can’t lay on my back. My tail hurts. My...legs hurt. My arms hurt. My face hurts. Just give me a moment to collect myself, someone, please!

Just as the moment passed, I snapped back up to my four-legged stance of weirdness. Eyeing the horizon of grass warily, I noticed two figures approaching in the dark.

Lowering my body, I eye the two strangers.

It is two ponies isn’t it… Are, they like Clarence? Maybe they know what’s going on! Glancing down at my hooves, I notice the purple hair running into my vision.

I really hope this is normal

The taller of the two ponies approached silently until they were a good ten paces from me. Even in the moonlight, I could tell he was a mix of browns and reds.

His face marches into view and the sight shocks me. He has the most ridiculously pleased smile on his face. I cautiously cock a small grin at him, tilting my head away, to which he hastily silences his own expression. He glances left and right furtively, then nods at me knowingly. He moves his left foot over the other then glances at me expectantly.

Keeping up a rather uneasy grin I glance at the smaller figure in the distance. I can't see their face, yet his head is tilted in my direction.

I guess I'm the stranger here.

Mimicking the pony in front of me, I rise my left hoof and cross it over my right. Uneasily, I sway back and forth slightly off balance. Breathing heavily, I pull back into my center of gravity only to find it resisting me completely. The ground rushes up to me, clobbering my chin, forcing my head to whip back.

“Ugh,” I groan out loud. My head throbs painfully.

Glancing from my position on the ground a look of shock is on his face. He smiles again and nodes eagerly.

“The agent is secured!” he yells back to his friend.

Agent? My thoughts refused to process as pricks of pain dance across my body. Picking up my weariness and pain I stand up again. It has gotten easier.

“We have a secure base,” he whispers to me leaning in close.

“Uh, nice job. Wouldn’t want to be caught out here in the dark, “ I whispered back hesitantly.

Seeming quite pleased with himself, he nods his affirmation and turns around saying authoritatively, “follow”.

Seeing him trot off confidently I look around one more time. Noting the complete lack of anything out in the dark and with a shrug of my shoulders I follow.

Keeping my head low I follow along as we move through the moonlit grass. The secondary figure grows closer until I see the smaller pony close up. He has a giddy little smile in the moonlight.

“Is that the agent,” he whisper-yelled excitedly.

The elder one holds up a hoof and the little pony falls silent.

The older pony has spoken. Some things never change…

Fighting my own traitorous arms, I move forward, stumbling every now and then. Movement was easier now. I'm not sure where my legs are moving or how, but its easier to not dwell too much on it. By letting it just happen I am feel more fluid.

A barn appears in the distance, the moonlight reflecting off it's hue, reflecting a haunting red into the night. The flickering orange light is a candle resting up in a solitary window up top.

The brown pony halts and faces towards me with the little one repeating the gesture. The little one was white as snow, which brilliantly reflects the moonlight. Opening the front door, he flourishes his left hoof.

"Welcome to our base, agent."

Author's Note

Tense is difficult. Trying to keep it present feels childish in a way. That's fine though. I just wish I understand why it feels so weird to me.