Chapters Was there a memo I didn't get?
Hooves? Feathers?.....What?
I was never sure as to whether I enjoyed or disliked waking up. I'm no morning person that's for sure. But there are those rare moments I was able to wake up full of energy. Ready to face the day. Regrettably this is not one of those days. I'm getting ahead of myself here aren't I? My name is Shane, and I guess one way I try to describe myself would be. I'm too weird to be normal yet normal enough to be not weird. Yes, I know it's a bit of a contradiction, but I can't ever seem to come up with a better way to describe it.
Waking up I was less then thrilled to know that my congested sinuses, itchy throat, and over all aches had not dissipated. The wonders of that infernal hay fever I'm prone to around Fall or Winter. My eyes opening to a rather dark room I feel my bed beneath me. No doubt by the absence of illumination I guessed that it would still be early morning. The grogginess and aches discouraging me from wanting to move my body. Therefore I turned my head to look back my window.
Blinds or not, it wasn't hard to tell that it was still very dark and the porch light was turned off. A telltale that dad has already gotten up and left for work. An indication that it should be anywhere between 4:40-5:00AM. Though something felt strange. Picture this if you will. I'm laying on my side facing away from my window, said window is located near the foot of my bed. Practically at a 45 degree angle from my back. Yet here I am nearly looking directly at it... How did my neck get so flexible?
It was then that I decided to turn over on my stomach and push myself up with both arms, bringing my right arm up to rub my eyes. It was then that I was met with a sensation I was not expecting. Being that I wasn't quite awake yet, two details came fourth more slower then they should have normally. The first being that the limb I now have up to my face is covered in fur. The second was the complete lack of feeling in the fingers at the end of that same limb. It felt like a good minute or so as I sat there frozen with my mind stuck somewhere between fur and Royal Pony Sisters knows where else.
After what felt like an eternity, I lowered my right limb slowly back down on the bed. Pressing down experimentally to test if my fingers were still there but just numb, but no, the limb touched down giving me the feed back saying there was a definite lack of fingers. Then going down the proverbial list I turned my attention to my legs, and much like my arms, a few movements confirmed lack the lack toes yet giving feed back very similar to what my arms were giving. I then lifted my right arm back up to my chest to feel a kind of nail thing shaped like an upside down U.
"A hoof...? I have a hoof?" I finally said aloud.
"My voice!...Oh, that didn't change at least." I said feeling somewhat relieved.
Then turning my attention back to my body, it had one more surprise in store for me. Now aware I was fully naked, one last detail grabbed my attention. Despite my being unclothed I felt something extra on my back that was draped over my sides. Not wanting to support myself with just one hoof I put the other down. Then kind of on an odd whim I flexed my back feeling muscles I never had before. Just then the draped feeling was lifted from my sides and back.
In addition to the feeling there was also the sound of something rustling. Once the sound was made I felt a light pressure of two joints on my back. I then relaxed the muscles then tensed them back feeling a small rush of wind about me. The joints and muscles giving me an ever so odd feeling. Finally after a few moments of tensing and relaxing I put two and two together.
"I have wings too?" I said now looking back at the two silhouettes of feathered sails in the dark of the room.
I'm usually not one to state the obvious but this is all so much to take in. I wake up to a flexible neck, hooves at the end of my four limbs, and wings on my back...What happened to me?
At around this time the shock and awe was now starting to wear off. Allowing familiar bodily needs to surface in my new unfamiliar body. Now, this actually did two things to me at the time. First, I was being told by my body that the plumbing needed to be drained. Second, while somewhat different, the style of piping told me I was still very much male. The body function now beginning to become more assertive in it's message. Demanded that I begin moving now lest I want a soaked bed.
Now Despite the urgency of the situation I still had something to work out. I had to move using all four or my limbs, which didn't translate too well when I jumped out of bed. Now funny enough I actually have some weird reflexes when falling is involved. Also thanks to a short time when I trained a little in Aikido. I was taught how to handle falling rather reasonably, And too my credit I actually did land on all fours. However, it was my center of gravity that got me.
In a few quick seconds, there was Jump! Land! Tip! Crash! Yeah, that could have gone better,
"Ow..." I whined as I laid there on my side.
I began by pulling my legs against by body, then I shifted my weight going neck first to pull myself in an upright laying position. Now starting with my right foreleg then my left, slowly pulling myself up mimicking my front with my back until I stood there up right. This time with my legs a bit more spread out for better balance, I now find myself facing the next challenge. Which came in the very evil form of a locked round door knob.
Despite my current situation become a little more urgent by the second I stood there...staring...At that thing that now mocks my lack of fingers by existing. That vile piece of brass parts stood between me and my goal. I could almost hear it sing it's taunting melodies at me. First thing I needed to do was unlock the door, which actually was pretty easy using teeth and a twist of the neck. Then came other part, actually turning the door knob.
There I was, using attempt after attempt to turn that infuriating brass orb. Teeth slid off it's surface, trying to use booth hooves resulted me having more crashes then I care to admit. Attempting to get the door to respond to the furry joint between my hoof and elbow was down right laughable. Now the frustration was close to driving me to tears as my bodily function driven urgency increased. Standing there feeling defeated by something so simple yet so devious.
I just simply laid my right hoof over the door knob, and it was then something odd hit me. At the end of my hoof I was feeling a cold sensation, in response to that realization, I brought my hoof back to touch the end of my nose. It was then that another discovery was made, giving me new knowledge that I now have a snout. My nose at the end of said snout being sensitive enough to feel the bear skin in the middle of the hoof, I was able to put two and two together. Putting my hoof squarely on the center of the door knob and placing a bit of pressure, I was able to turn my hoof using the traction provided by the fleshy part between.
In turn my wrist finally turning the door knob and conquering the fiend. I pushed forward in my elated feeling of victory only to be stopped shortly afterward...In my moment of conceited celebration, I failed to remember that my door actually opened inward.
"SON OF A......! You have got to be kidding me!!!"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Having the majority of possible immediate solutions certainly did not bode well for my nearly diminished patience. I couldn't have used everything at my disposal yet, so what have I not thought of that could possibly fix this predicament? I know things are getting worse but maybe I need to take a step back for a moment. I mean, easier said than done, but there has to be something I have at my disposal right now that I have overlooked.
That thought process had given me an ever so tiny foothold on my current state of panic as I began to calm down just enough to let myself take a deep breath. Which in turn allowed me to begin relaxing, and as a result I felt something brush against my sides as it drooped down from the relaxing of the muscles. It was then that a possibility was starting to form in the reaches of my mind.
“These aren’t just any kind of wings.” I say aloud to more or less let the premise register.
“These are pegasus wings, and if there is anything I learned from being a brony, then it would be they don’t work anything like normal feathers.”
Turning my attention to the wings on my back, I began to move them around experimentally to see if I couldn’t get individual feathers to move independently. Sure enough, I was able to get the longest one of my right wing to bend and move in different ways that shouldn’t be allowed under normal logic. Kind of like a cat's or spider monkey's tail. Anyway, now armed with a new possible way I return my attention to the door knob. This time I place my right fore hoof on the door for the traction, and being able to turn it while wrapping the longest feather of my right wing around the rest of the knob. After a twist here and an awkward three hoofed shuffle backwards, by Luna’s mane I was finally able to get that door open. Take that you evil chunk of metal!
With the door knob problem finally overcome I then proceeded to bathroom just across from my door in the hallway. Is it bad that I completely ignored the toilet and continued to the walk in shower next door instead to relieve myself? Yes, I did turn on the shower nozzle for a moment to drain it out, and it was considerably more forgiving than that brass demon attached to my door. Did I mention that I had the presence of mind to step out before I turned it on? Also for some reason I find it necessary to inform the reader that the nature of this was only liquid, and that I dread for when the other waste function becomes involved.
Talking about that is starting to make me feel VERY uncomfortable, so I’m gonna move on now as there are other issues at the moment that probably need to be addressed. For starters, what do I look like now? During my recently solved plight it had skipped my mind to actually take a much closer look to what I am now. I got it down that I now had four legs instead of two, fur covering my skin, hooves at the end of my legs, and feathered wings on my back.
With all that information gathered at once it should be obvious as to what happened to me, but I still had to see it with my own eyes. Therefore I then proceeded to the bathroom I mentioned earlier, and stood up on my hind legs to place my front ones for balance on the bathroom sink. The simple way to put what I saw was, a brightly colored pastel pony staring back and me. I’d want to call it a shocking sight but that would be a lie at this point, as my mind seemed to start numbing things down in response my waking experience. At least that’s the best I can come up with right now to attempt as an explanation.
Anyway, back to the situation at hoof, which involved myself having a staring contest with the pony in the mirror. The previous discoveries have left me to the evidence that what I’m looking at is with a very high probably my new reflection. Because of that, and for the sake of my own sanity, I will just accept that I am now a pegasus and move on to the next point. Which would be my coat and mane, while I actually do like them there’s one thing that nags at me.
You see, my coat is a very light blue, I would like to say maybe a shade or three lighter than cyan. Following that my mane, which is oddly long and spiked at the end, is a vivid orange accented with pale yellow streaks running through it. My eyes also a pale yellow similar to my streaks but it’s kinda hard to tell if they’re darker or lighter than the hair. Anyway, with all that finally described, I can now get the the point I was wanting to get at.
If you take the colors I described at their base, I look like what might happen if Soarin and Spitfire had an illegitimate love-child... I mean, I guess if I think about it enough the idea did kinda sound cool, yet something just kinda bugged me about it for some reason. Before I over think that one I need to move on and see about the rest of myself. That and I’m pretty sure you’re wondering why I’m taking the idea of walking on all fours in strides. Allow me to take a moment from reality to explain that prospect for you.
Lecture begin!
A bit of music to set the mood?
For starters, walking actually wasn’t too hard of a concept because as a child, I put way too much thought in the idea. Needless to say, watching FIM has also caused me to put even more thought into the concept. My walking simply involves me following the motion of a normal bipedal walk only with two sets at the same time by moving my right side then my left. For a good visual reference take a look at any FIM episode that involves slow paced walking, season 1 episode 3 if you feel don’t feel like skimming through all the episodes.
Now going on to the idea of a faster pace like a jog, or trot if you will, that is when the idea of alternating steps in the front to back start to come into play. The way I picture it most of the time is more of a kind of skipping motion as it looks like more of a way to lightly kick off the ground. I should also take the time to say that at the current moment I’m more discussing theory, as I would be getting far too ahead of myself since I’ve yet to move at any pace above a walk.
Moving on to the next one would be a run, or gallop if you prefer, is actually the most silly one for me. You see, when I refer to the idea of the motion in my head, I actually use a part of a Disney movie known as The Lion King as a visual reference. When Simba runs back to the pride lands after being convinced of this duty. They a decently long clip of quadrupedal running allowing you to observe the motion in detail. The action itself is rather simple as it is more or less a series of leaps instead of a continual motion. I think one way to put it is that while the back legs kick off, the front legs move forward to counterbalance the new momentum. Then once the back legs shift enough to get back into position to kick off allowing the process to repeat.
End of Lecture!
It may have been the overall flow of the details distracting me, but as a brony I’m actually embarrassed to let it be known that I forgot to check if I had a cutie mark. So yeah, let me address that for a moment, which I began by letting myself back down to all four hooves on the ground. When I looked back at my flank I was greeted with an emblem that consisted of two parts. The first being a white four point star turned about forty five degrees tailed by a streak that seemed to indicate movement, while the star is backed by a simplified depiction of the sun.
Once I got a good enough look at the mark, there was one thought that surfaced and really kinda left me at a bit of an impasse. That thought being.
“What now?”
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Slowly making my way down the hallway towards the living room, I find myself attempting to grasp what might of happened to me. I wanted to go back to my room and see if I couldn't find anything on the internet, but I didn't think I was ready for attempting to work with my laptop yet. I felt more like relaxing a bit before attempting fine control with my hooves or wings...wings...
Realization in T-minus five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Celestia's mane I have wings!" I said almost shouting.
Observation completed, I then proceeded to the living room fully intent to examine these feathered wonders in further detail. As I reached my destination of the open area, I let out my wings to full span testing their movement. I gave them a few experimental flaps before giving a strong one that lifted me a few inches off the ground. With excitement beginning to well up I bent my legs down as my wings returned to being upright. With another strong flap followed by my legs pushing off the ground, I was surprised by the height that I was able to achieve this time.
Letting the excitement reach a peak as I flapped a few times to soften my landing, I prepared for another launch. I must have been more caught up in the moment then I thought since I pushed forward instead instead of up. With the second attempt under way I let my wings stay horizontal to attempt a glide. I was in mid flight when my body locked up on me from the realization of my flight path being on a direct course to the back door. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as my excitement gave way to panic with the now inevitable collision.
'The controls aren't responding Captain, she's on a direct course!'
A split second passed followed by a loud 'BONG' resonating throughout the house. Personally I just experienced intense panic, then replaced by two parts pain and one part dizziness now mixed well in a heap at the door. Somewhere through my current situation, I was somehow able to hear about two distinct sounds that made my blood run cold. Those sounds came in the form of barking, not just any barking to me though, they were barks coming from a doberman and a beagle.
Relevant facts aside I was now pressed with about two immediate problems. The first being the rest of the house is most certainly awake, and the second would be that unless I think quick, I'm gonna have one potentially aggressive set of teeth on my hooves.
"I know this is probably not the best thing to think right now, but is there anything else that could make this possibly worse?" I asked aloud.
Getting my answer in the form of the distinct sound of my parent's door opening, indeed the situation did get worse, as the sound of paws on wood and carpet now sounded down the hallway. My thoughts shifted into high gear as I tried to look at possible ideas of escape before that black blur of a dog reached around the corner to see me. What does it say about my ability to make quick decisions when I wound up just freezing as the familiar sight of "that dog" rounding the corner.
Left with very little to use an escape, I stood up still feeling dizzy from the crash, the feeling of being a cornered animal washing over me. It may have been the anxiety of the idea but I was terrified, normally I’d be fine as a human. Now I’m a few yards away from facing something now roughly the same size as my current form armed with sharp teeth. To make things worse is how I’ve seen, and heard this same dog react to what she thought was a real threat.
“AROOOOOO ROO ROO ROO ROO!” Was heard in and likely out of the house the moment that black doberman named Jasmine locked eyes on me.
Intense ringing of the ears followed as the onslaught of sound was then increased, as a small blur of white, brown, and black appeared on the top of the living room couch. Now a coward of a beagle I know as Spike is on his perch, making things worse on my ears. With the dizziness and pain now topped with fear, I was left with very little to do other then to lean back on what instinct I might have. Which I'm not too sure where the next thing I do came from, but my wings flared up at full span, while I bent my legs in what I can only guess to be an aggressive stance. Then in what I'm guessing to be desperation, I breathed deeply in preparation for the next moment as I shouted at the top of my lungs "JASMINE!"
Neither side had made a sound or movement, it's funny how expressive dogs faces can be sometimes. You could see it clear as day that jasmine was confused, and really I can understand. I'd be confused too if some bright and colorful thing just shouted at you in a familiar voice. The silence presented was broken up in bits due to a persistent bark from Spike, but enough to let me hear footsteps coming from down the hallway accompanied by grunts. Which reminded me of the other two inhabitants of the house, my mother and the miniature black pot belly pig known as Mr.Tweed.
To be honest, I can only wonder what this scene is doing to that poor woman's mental state. I mean really, what kind of a way is it to wake up to your dogs making a commotion? Then finding some strange brightly colored pony in your living room after hearing what sounded like a shout from what you're sure is human. Then to make things even more absurd is the first thing this woman hears from said pony is.
"Uh, hi mom."
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Let's get a little elaboration on the scene that is now encompassed in the living room shall we? For the start of the morning, my mother was awoken by the rather normal sounds of barking dogs. Then following the barking was a little different yet still somewhat normal, as in certain moments I use sudden abrupt loud noises. As a means to temporarily pause the situation on similar occasions. What isn't normal about this situation would be, how she is now being greeted by a brightly colored pony with wings. To make things even more complicated is that not only is she being greeted by a pony, but a pony that has the same voice as her youngest son.
Understatement it is indeed as this is one very different start of the day for her, as she stood there by the front door, mouth hanging open. At this point, even the barking went down considerably, leaving enough silence to hear the loud sniffing coming from Mr. Tweed standing there by my mother's feet. The silence persisted for a fair amount of time, as the seconds began to feel like minutes. Even if the majority of eyes on me were from animals, it really didn't help, as being the center of attention was something I seldom enjoyed. I could feel myself shake slightly due to the residual fear left over from Jasmine's entrance.
"So uh, did you sleep well mom?" A right wordsmith I was in the attempt to break the silence.
"Shane? Is that you?" She finally spoke after a long pause.
"Yes, it's me, the same person who cried on his fifth birthday because he liked being four."
"What happened to you?" She said stepping forward to get a closer look at the equine that is her son.
"Other than stating the obvious, I don't think I could possibly come up with a good enough explanation right now." I said relaxing a little by allowing my wings to fold, as she knelt down to begin inspecting my new features.
Noting how the situation had relaxed a little more, I stopped shaking as Jasmine stuck her nose in the situation to do her own investigation. Which is fine with me, as I'd prefer nose over teeth right now. Though I swear if teeth do become involved, I'll find out just how good I might be at apple bucking. Possibly pointless threats aside, the situation itself is reasonably tame. That was until a cold nose found it's way to a place it shouldn't be.
"Hey!" I yelled while jumping a few inches off the ground, my tail reflexively tucking under my legs, and possibly scaring my mother at the same time.
A little surprised still from the cold nose, I calmed down again to let my mother resume her observation before finally beginning to speak again. Before that however, she finished and got back up with a look of thought present. It took a few moments before the silence was broken.
"I thought the stories on the news were just elaborate jokes, meant to get everyone whooped up."
Rather I admit that due to the election going on, I kind of shut myself off from the internet and such, to ignore the thing and not get irritated about the situation. So in effect, for the past week or so, I've been for all intents and purposes, shut off from the rest of the world immersed in video games. With that explained, the response I have for that statement should be more understandable.
"News stories? What news stories? What have I missed that might have warned me about suddenly being a pony?" I said a little louder then I intended to and possibly with a hint of hysteria.
"Calm down, all I heard was that since Saturday last week, there has been news reports about people called bronies turning into ponies everyday." She replied looking like she almost didn't believe what she was saying herself, but continued to explain.
"There was a press conference by a woman named Lauren Faust, who also turned into some pony, sending out a request for a group called the Elements of Harmony to make their way to New York."
Fidgeting there for a moment, I took in the information to critically examine it. Lauren Faust is now a pony calling for the mane six to make their way to New York. Is she the OC fans made for her? Is she another pony? Those questions are probably gonna be answered later, but now another one is present. There are not only other people turning into ponies, but there are high chances that each of the main six are present in this world. If they are heading to New York now, I wonder how their progress goes?
Light of the current questions took a backseat when the ailments I felt while waking up earlier, made themselves more noticeable. Few moments later I was having a coughing fit, courtesy of my scratchy throat. It's funny what you don't notice under the influence of an adrenaline induced existence crisis.
"Great, you're getting sick as well?" My mother asked a little exasperated.
"Yeah.... It started last night before I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I felt achy with a scratchy throat."
"I'm getting the thermometer." She said plainly before walking to the back of the house to retrieve the object in question.
At this point in time, I think I should let it be known that I'm somewhat grateful the thermometer is an ear one. So as I now waited there sitting back on my haunches, a familiar face had appeared in front of me with a waging tail.
"Hello Spike, I see you got over being a coward and decided to join us." I said putting a hoof on the beagle's head.
Respectively, this beagle is rather different from other ones, instead of being like most who love everyone they come across. This one gets paranoid around new people and keeps his distance, only to get up in your face if he's around you long enough. I wonder if it's the sound of my voice that made that process quicker? Another thing that was brought to my attention was yet again, that sound of heavy sniffing. I could see Mr. Tweed still standing there taking in the air, while the gears turn behind those eyes to make sense of this new creature in his home.
Elsewhere my mother found the thermometer, and is now turning it on while putting the disposable plastic over the sensor, as she reentered the living room. A few moments later, I had an uncomfortably cold plastic covered thing stuck in my ear. It was absurdly hard to resist the notion of jerking my head away, as my ears attempted to flatten against my head wishing the prodding never happened. Still, the temperature was taken I could see my mother visibly frown upon seeing the reading.
"If you're still anywhere near human, then you have a fever of 102.3 degrees Fahrenheit." She said after what appeared to be a long moment of thought.
"Well... That's great news to hear, any idea on what we should do then?"
"You need to go to the doctor, but I don't think we can go to a normal one, So I'm taking you to the vet instead." She said with finality.
".....What?"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
I stood there for a moment to carefully go over the statement I just heard, as somehow I didn't fully catch the meaning of what was just said. In what felt like eons, I examined the words one by one until I finally found the one that felt out of place. Did my mom just say vet, as in she plans to take me to a veterinary hospital? She's actually going take me to get checked over at a hospital for animals...?
"You heard me, I'm taking you to the vet I take Tweeds to." She said as if reading my mind.
"Hold on, are you sure it's actually necessary to do that, do I really need to get checked on that badly?" I say with my old friend panic coming back for another visit.
"Yes, we're going and that's final, I'm going to get dressed so be ready in about half an hour."
'At the very least, I guess I can look forward to what awkward looks I get when I walk into the lobby. Who am I kidding, this is gonna be a fiasco and I know it. I suppose while I have the time, I can see what other Info I can get from looking on the internet.' I think Idly to myself whilst I proceed to walk back to my room.
On the way back I hear an odd amount of shuffling kinda close to me, I turned to find Mr. Tweed there facing me with ears turned back. Recognizing how that's never a good sign on most animals, I begin to back away slowly keeping my eyes on the pig. When I took a step or two, Mr. Tweed lunged forward while snapping at me.
"Hey!" I yelled as I jumped back in surprise from the sudden movement.
"Darn it Tweed, what did I ever do to you!?" I said as I made to quickly distance myself from the pig.
I get the pig is never that great around other animals, but it gets really annoying how he acts when there's a new animal around. Still, that's not important right now, I need to find out what I can before leaving. On that note I am also presented with yet another problem, just how am I going to work with my laptop? I guess I'll just have to find out, what a learning experience this will be...
Once I'm in my room, I walk up to turn my desk chair around using a hoof. I sigh a bit as I moved one foreleg on the chair followed by the next, then I lifted a bit shakily with one of my back legs. Once the leg reached the chair, a chain reaction occurred as the leg I still have on the ground slipped. I'm not sure how it slipped on carpet, but I'm going to guess it had something to do with the hoof at the end of it. Nonetheless, the sudden weight shift plus the swiveling computer chair, equals one pony squirming on the ground.
"Ow..." Was most of what I got out as I laid there on my back.
Picking myself back up, I turned the chair back around for round two. This time I decided to try putting two legs at a time, beginning with the front followed by the back. The computer chair skillfully evaded the attempt with a quick spin, followed by me some how ending up in the closet next to the desk.
"rrrrgh..." That one actually hurt a little more.
A few struggle attempts later, I was able to untangle and free myself from the closet. The next attempt I decided to try something different, by pushing the chair to where it's back was against the wall. With the chair hopefully secure enough, I pushed off the ground using all four legs, followed by flapping my wings in order to hover over my target. After a few good moments followed by confused twisting motions in the air, I was able to drop myself on to the chair. Once secure enough, I used my forelegs to push and position the chair in a way to face the desk. At this point I'm grateful by the fact that the wall is within arms length of my desk.
Now sitting on my haunches, I took my nose and lifted the screen up while holding the bottom down with a hoof. As I turned on the laptop, another problem presented itself in the form of my log in screen. How was I supposed to type? Even if used my hooves to try to hunt and peck, they just didn't have the fine points I needed to hit single keys. I didn't see any pencils, and there weren't any other objects in my immediate vicinity that could work.
"Strawberry glazed pineapples! Why did I have to lose my ability to type!?"
The frustration was rising again, that was until I remembered a detail from the the last time I was feeling like this. Going back to an earlier means of solving a problem, I looked back as I spread my wings. I'm not sure if this would be entirely viable, but if I could narrow the points down enough, I might just be able to strike individual keys. Turning back to the laptop screen, I stretched the longest feather of both wings forward in an attempt at fine control. A few minutes filled with frustration and colorful language, passed before I was able to passably type in my password and gain access to what I sought.
I think I need to take a moment to say, the tentacle like nature of these feathers is really starting to creep me out! Putting that aside, these things are actually quite useful when you get a grasp on controlling them. Using one to control the usb mouse and the other to poke on the keyboard, I was able to gather enough info on the past week or so, concerning what was going on in the world.
"Lauren Faust became Princess Celestia." I said while slowly taking in the ironic yet absurd nature of that very idea.
Though I didn't have quite enough time to completely contemplate that notion as I was called, my mother had finished getting ready and was waiting by the door to leave. I decided to continue my research further when I got back home, until then, I have some thick awkwardness to tread through. I decided against the idea of sitting in the front seat during the ride, mental distractions aside, I still felt under the weather. Therefore, I chose to lay down in the backseat to nap before we got there.
Normally when I dream, it almost never makes sense and usually something I would consider discord worthy. This time however, was considerably different and very new to me. I stood there on a large circular platform where it was dark all around, being lit by the glow of the platform below, opposite of me was another pony. This pony is a pegasus with a deep blue coat with a silvery white mane and tail, take away the spiked ends of my own and add more of a flow to them and we had the same length. The pony in front of me was also slim, giving the impression that this is very much a female facing me now. Her cutie mark is a yellow crescent moon, circled in a fire that matches her mane.
"Hello." she spoke with a slightly soft, and very feminine voice confirming her gender.
"It's nice to actually meet you!" She said rather cheerfully.
"Um, hello to you too I guess." I began.
"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" I asked thinking it would be the most reasonable question I could ask.
"I'm the pony that you've become!"
".....What?"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
I think I must have missed something really important, as I was just told by a pegasus that is certainly a female, that I've become the pony that she is. Did me getting sick screw my mentality up that badly?
"Um, say that again, please?" I ask to make sure I heard right.
"I'm the pony you've become!" She repeated a little too cheerfully in my opinion.
That time confirmed that I heard her correctly, so that part is out the window. I just couldn't understand what she was trying to get at, is this some sort of joke that my subconscious decided to play while I slept? A glance at myself confirmed that I still had that pale blue coat, with the orange mane and tail with pale yellow stripes.
"I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense, I'm sure you've seen yourself rig...AH!" I said turning back to look at the mare, whom is now close enough for our noses to touch.
"I know what I'm talking about, but it's a bit complicated and will take time, which is something we don't have." She said retaining that same cheerfulness, as I backed away a bit out of reflex.
"So then, what do you intend to explain?" I asked.
"Well, when you stepped into the sunlight, did you feel anything strange? She asked as a bit of her cheerfulness dissipated.
I didn't mention it earlier, but when I walked outside to get in the car, the sunlight did feel a bit odd when I was in it. Though I'm also sick at the time, so I just chalked it up to me feeling weird due to illness. Not to mention how the sensation was weird, but it was also kind of minute, so I didn't think it was worth mentioning.
"I guess I might have felt a little off when I stepped into it, but I'm also ill so I could have just been feeling the aches."
"I see, if that's the case then I guess you don't have anything to worry about." She said now looking thoughtful.
"Wait, what? I don't think I like the way you said that, why would I have to worry?" I questioned.
"It's a little complicated, and... oops! Looks like we've run out of time!" She said, as the darkness around our glowing platform began to light up.
"Um, I don't know if this will be an issue, but if you can try to avoid U...."
"Shane, wake up, we're here." I heard as I slowly returned to being conscious, the memory of the unfinished sentence still fresh in my mind.
The grogginess was still lingering, as I struggled to get out of the car without tasting concrete. I was at least able to get out and onto my hooves, a good amount of the weariness was shaken off by the time we reached the lobby. Enough in fact, that I was able to remember why I was dreading my arrival to this place. There was something a little off about this place though, we must have been here really early, as there's no one in the lobby aside from the receptionist.
"Hello, how may I help you?" She said once she noticed my mom walk up.
"Yes, I have Shane here who's fallen ill, I'd like to get him checked." My mom replied as the receptionist laid eyes on me.
"Okay, could you fill out this form please? We'll be with you as soon as possible." She said handing said form to my mom.
"Uh, mom?" I said as we moved over to the waiting seats.
"What?"
"That didn't strike you as weird, how the receptionist kept on like nothing was wrong?" I said with a feeling of growing paranoia.
Mom sat there for a good few moments looking thoughtful about the subject.
"No, she was just being professional."
I couldn't believe what I heard, does the full gravity of the situation not weigh in on my mother's mentality? That woman behind the counter, just took the fact that a brightly colored equine walked into the lobby in strides! Is there some kind of collective sick joke that is being hid from me for kicks? Maybe I'm over thinking things here, but this is sending red flags and I really don't feel like being here. I couldn't form a plan of escape however, my mentally induced panic had me sitting there in my own world for enough time to pass so they could be ready to see me.
When I arrived into the room to be examined, everything went disturbingly smooth. After being lifted up on a table, things like temperature, eyes, ears, etc, were all checked by the nurse and I was told to wait for the doctor to arrive. Did she have to pick me up without asking? I do have wings, I could have hovered my way on to the table. Her picking me up without question left me feeling awkward and even a little violated. Still, sitting on that cold metal table was really uncomfortable, so I jumped off with a few flaps to ease the landing.
It wasn't long before the door suddenly flew open and in came a blur of black and white. Once the blur found a place somewhere above to hang on, I was able to clearly recognize that I found myself in the presence of the vet's mascot. The lemur known as Zippy, whom is now hanging on a door frame staring at me. I would have felt a little awkward about the whole being stared at, but something took my full attention away as I heard a set of sounds that drew my attention. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm certain it was a clop-clop sort of sound getting closer.
A few seconds later of the sound getting closer, my jaw probably hit the floor as an honest to Celestia unicorn walked into the room.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Reinald, how are you today?" The unicorn, clearly a stallion, sporting a light orange coat with a dark green mane and tail.
I couldn't believe my eyes, so the first thing I did was walk up to the doctor and poke him. After finding out that he was quite solid and very much alive, my brilliant vocabulary came up with only one response.
"Luna's mane, you're real!" Still not entirely believing what I had just said.
"An astute observation you have there, any other thoughts you wish to share?" The doctor stated as our silent observing lemur had found a new perch.
"But you're a unicorn!" I said feeling exasperated.
"And you're a pegasus, you can't tell me you haven't seen the news lately. Can it really be that surprising to see another pony in front of you?" He retorted.
"...Touche, but I woke up in this body today. Also, is it really that unreasonable to see another pony so close to home?"
"Ah, now your confusion makes more sense. I thought by now things would be a little less weird to people, but it seems there are still others that are lost in the current events." He said levitating a pair of glasses to his nose before continuing.
"You see, you're not the first pony that has found their way to this vet with some sort of ailment or other. I've been visited by a handful of other ponies with similar ideas of where to go. While I do have some knowledge of equine anatomy, thanks to my field of study. I simply haven't had enough time to gather the proper information on what medicine I could possibly give to the ponies that come here. That being said, I can only give you the advice a human physician would give in these type of situations." He lectured on for a moment while a pen idly raced across a clipboard held by his magic.
"Let me guess, the usual get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids?" I said now a little put off.
"Snarks aside, there's a few other instructions I've taken the liberty write down during our conversation." He said as he tore off the sheet of paper and levitated it towards me.
"They're mainly dietary suggestions that will hopefully be safe for your consumption." He continued as I extended a hoof to accept the sheet of instructions.
I was a little quick to grab it as I touched the unicorns magic aura, causing a very strange feeling to spread over my body. To say the least, it's something I can't describe easily and if I ever get anywhere close to it, I'll let you know. Though I think I'm kinda missing over a very important detail, because once the sensation receded I felt very different. Not to mention that very awkward look I'm receiving from Dr. Reinald.
"Um, is something wrong...? ...What?" I asked as I was met with a very soft, very familiar feminine voice.
The look I was getting from the doctor remained, as an odd mix of worry and confusion began to spread across my mentality. I then slowly looked behind myself to find that my coat had changed to a deep blue, while my mane and tail had followed by turning a silvery white. My cutie mark had also changed, to that emblem of a yellow crescent moon circled by fire that matched my current mane. Slowly I looked back to the doctor and opened my mouth for one thing to come out.
"Do you have a mirror near by?" I said with a shiver to my voice.
Luckily enough, there did happen to be a mirror on the shelf of the sink in the room. Dr. Reinald stood there for a moment as if he was presented with something from another planet. After a few moments of very awkward eye contact, he levitated the mirror on the shelf to me while keeping a bit of distance. Once I got a view of myself, I felt like I was run through with a bolt of electricity. Staring back at me is now the same mare I had encountered in my dream on the way to the vet.
".....What?"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Embarrassment & Enlightenment
"I can say with confidence, that this has certainly not happened with the other ponies that have visited me." Dr. Reinald stated as he levitated the mirror back to it's rightful place.
How did he gain his composure back that quickly, did the things he had witnessed after becoming a unicorn desensitize him that much?
"Are you alright?" he asked after an excruciatingly long pause.
"I don't know what to think about this." I said slowly with a mix of anger, sadness, and arousal began to rise up.
I didn't know if I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs or run out that door screaming. My mind is a mess in desperate need of finding something to calm down on. There has to be something I can do, at this point in time to keep my own composure. No, I think a fair amount of my rational thought is out the window by now.
"Excuse me, but could you answer a quick question for me?" I asked rather flatly.
"What would that be?"
"What do you see?" I said as I turned around and lifted my tail in his direction.
"Ma'am, please put your tail down!" He said with a blush visibly spreading across his face.
The reaction I received from the doctor gave me my answer, even if he didn't say it aloud. I let my tail down and turned around to sit back on my haunches, the reaction letting me to fully understand my current situation. It may be a small foothold in my sanity, but I have one now.
"I'm sorry about that, I needed to confirm my fears and I didn't want to see it for myself." I said with a quiver to my voice.
"I understand, though I'd much rather a decent warning before such a lewd gesture." He said regaining his professional composure at an unnervingly fast rate.
"I think I'd like to see about getting the paperwork done, and on my way home as soon as possible." I said as the shock began to be replaced by embarrassment, since I slowly became aware of the fact that I blatantly flashed a unicorn stallion.
"Yes, that may be for the best right now." He stated as he moved to the door to the lobby and motioned for me to follow.
When we reached the lobby, a few more people could be found sitting in the waiting chairs. I can only wonder what kind of a scene it might be for those people as a unicorn stallion waked in, followed by a pegasus mare.
"Mrs. Garrett?" Dr. Reinald said as he looked around for someone to respond.
"Yes, that's me." My mother said while standing up from her seat, with a very confused look on her face as she continued.
"Where's Shane?" She asked.
"I'm right here mom" I said even drawing a confused look from the receptionist. 'Ha! She's human after all!'
"Ah yes, I'm Dr.Reinald and I was examining your...son when an unforeseen complication occurred." He cut in.
"Doctor." The receptionist piped up from behind the desk.
"Yes?" He said turning to her.
"Did you wish really hard?" She asked with a smirk leaning over her desk, drawing an exasperated sigh from the guy.
"Shane, are you alright?" My mother said with a concerned look on her face.
"I might be, it could be worse I suppose, even though I have A DISTINCT LACK OF TESTICLES!" With hysteria beginning to take hold and the shout drawing the full attention of the room on me.
It only took a few seconds for me to become fully aware of the attention I just gained, my face starting to feel intensely hot as the feeling of wanting to leave rising. Under the collective gaze of the room I felt like bolting out the door.
"Can I just wait out in the car while you finish the paperwork?" I ask meekly while struggling to resist laying down and hoping to disappear.
A few words were exchanged before I walked out with mom to let me in the backseat of the car. The windows rolled down a little, I laid there hoping to lose myself in a torrent of thought and forget my embarrassment. What happened in that examination room, what could have possibly triggered this? Better yet, why this kind of change, why am I a mare now? I thought I was through the worst of this transition to pony. Sadness slowly took over as I spiraled away into thought, only to be interrupted by the car door opening as mom got inside the drivers seat.
The drive home was uneventful as the silence between us broken by my mom's attempts to ask questions. With the amount of recent things adding together, I was left feeling much less talkative then normal. After enough attempts to get me to talk, mom just gave up in frustration, leaving me to my thoughts for the rest of the ride. Once we got home, we were greeted by a pair of excited dogs in their usual way of acting when someone arrives home. I just simply ignored it and proceeded back to my room with one thing in mind.
"Aren't you hungry at least, don't you want something to eat?" I heard my mother ask from behind.
"I don't have much of an apatite right now and I only feel like laying down to sleep. Maybe I'll eat something when I wake up, but until then, I just want to rest and clear my mind on things." I said before continuing to my room.
Once I got through my door, I turned around and paused for a moment. Do I really want to shut this thing? I know I don't want to be bothered, but do I really want to shut it and go through the trial of opening it again? After a few good moments of deep thought, fatigue ran through and made me make a decision. Which I promptly shut the door and locked it on instinct, then turning to my bed, I got on and laid on my side letting my head hit the pillow.
After a while of idle thoughts and odd musings, I was given what I sought and sleep took me. I found myself in the now familiar setting of standing on a glowing circular platform surrounded by darkness. Across from me on the other side I saw what I had seen in the mirror earlier this morning. That same pale blue coat and orange maned pegasus stallion, the sight of him made my anger slowly creep up.
"Hello, how was your day?" He said with my original voice coming from his lips.
The sound of my own voice coming from a different living source is a stick poking at me, provoking my anger further. A badly hidden smile creeping up on his face served to further irritate me. He's enjoying this, that monkeys intestinal track is having fun at my expense! I've about had it, I would really like to see what kind of damage hooves could possibly do now!
"There are many things I would like to do now." I began calmly.
"Yelling, screaming, assault, and bludgeoning to name a few." I continued while his smile began to crack.
"Though none of that would serve to get me the information I currently desire, I'm going to make myself comfortable and allow you the time to explain yourself, before I find out whether or not it is possible to cut with hooves." I finish slowly as I sat down on my haunches.
That last part is what he needed as he broke down in a fit of laughter on the floor. I chose to allow this and patiently watch the ridiculous scene to unfold before me. I'm sure later on when I gain a complete grasp of the situation, this will become far more weirder as I watched the stallion laugh with my voice. He took his sweet time in the merriment before finally attempting to get his composure back.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but your reaction and face when you went through that change was priceless!" He said between breaths.
"In all seriousness though, let me begin by telling you our names." He said as his composure slowly showed itself again.
"You see, the form I have now is called Solar Glint, and the form you hold is named Lunar Flare." He said as he pointed to us respectively when he spoke the names.
"To put this in the the best way possible and really I already told you, but in a different way. We are the same pony, you and I"
That was when all the anger building up dissipated and was replaced by a severe confusion which left me with one thing to say.
".....What?"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Jolted awake by the offending noise and the irritation fresh in my mind, someone's fortune does not bode well. I turn my full attention to the door to hear what I can on the other side.
"Shane, are you in there?" I could hear being said by what I recognize as the voice of my 14 year old nephew.
"What?" I call out with anger dripping from my voice.
"Shane, is that you?" He questioned.
"Yeah, of course it's me! Who else could I be?" I say as my anger from the last conversation, fully shifts towards the Justin Bieber lookalike on the other side of that door.
"You don't sound like him." He retorts.
Reaching a boiling point, I jump out of bed and quickly unlock and open the door to face the current object of my rage.
"What do you want?" I demand while staring daggers that the teen.
"You're a pony?" Are the first words out of his mouth as he adopt a surprised and confused look.
How mad do I have to be to completely forget the gravity of my current situation and the fact that the teen I face now is also a brony?
"If that's all you have to say, then I'm going back to sleep." I say while moving to close and lock my door again, until I found that a foot had been lodged in it.
"Wait, how did you do that, how long have you been like that?" He said now putting his weight into opening the door.
"Not now Nate! I'm tired, irritable, and sick!" I say trying to force the door closed, but failing due to the size and weight difference, curse pegasus bodies for being so light.
It took me a few seconds later of useless struggle for me to realize just how far I'm not getting.
'You know what?' I thought to myself while getting an idea.
I then stopped struggling and jumped back while getting ready to pounce with my wings flared out. Once that door fully opened, I let loose my spur of the moment plan.
"ROO ROO ROO ROO ROO ROO!" I began by doing my best Jasmine impression while leaping forward at the teen.
I must have caught him off guard as he turned and began to bolt down the hallway back to his room. I follow in hot pursuit to drive in my point of not wanting to be bothered.
"Gimmie them kneecaps!" I shout as the hysteria of the moment reaches a high point.
Moments later, Nate is behind his own door with an angry pegasus mare on the other side. Standing at the ready. I want to go back to my own room at this point, but I wait for him to try and open his door. A few seconds and I was rewarded with just that.
"ROO ROO ROO ROO!" I bark out again while he shuts his door in response.
"Yeah, that's what I thought!" I say now pleased with the situation.
"What's going on?" My mother says as she appears in the hallway looking reasonably bewildered.
"Raspberry bubblegum, that's what!" I say while lacking the means to come up with a proper answer, as I make my way back to my own room.
I ignore the rest of what happens as I close and lock my own door, followed by me jumping back into my bed. Once down and resting, the anger slowly faded allowing me to review the situation that just unfolded.
"Luna help me, I need to see my psychiatrist sometime soon." I say aloud when looking back with a more sane mind.
As I laid there, enough time passed for me to realize that I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. I couldn't help but wonder if that rich woman's head dress had anything to do with it.
"Fine, I may not be able to get to you now, but just you wait until I get tired again." I say to nowhere in particular as I get up.
I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do at this point, I needed to rest but laying down just seemed so boring. I could get on my laptop, but I'm not sure if that would be the best idea. I like the idea of talking to my friends, but I don't know how they would react to my new condition. Better yet, how will the rest of my family react to this? There's only two that actually know and knowing my mother, the news will spread like wildfire.
"Oh no..." I say as my blood turns to ice.
"She hasn't gotten on facebook yet has she, are there any pictures taken of me?" I say while my panic started to grow.
Am I over reacting? The news will spread eventually, but is my panic justified? Being my family, you'd think that they would be accepting of it. Only I don't know for sure how things might turn out, there is always that what if, and it can be really terrifying.
"I need to find a way to relax." I say with a sigh.
Despite the experience from earlier, I decided to head out into the living room. It's probably not the best idea right now, but what else can I do? Once I reached my destination, I immediately hopped onto the recliner to begin my pursuit for a comfortable position. It took a little while, but I managed to find such a position by curling slightly and tucking my legs underneath myself. I could find a bit of solace in the fact that the living room is empty, save for two dogs, one of which is now in my face.
"Not now Jasmine, go lay down." I say putting out a hoof to stop the onslaught of licking.
A few pushes here and there were made while the doberman came back for more rounds, it lasted a minute or so before she gave up the advance. Just after that event ended, I heard the distinct sound of Nate's door opening. Hearing that sound made me breath deeply and sighing at my predicament. I'm too comfortable in this recliner right now, so getting up and running for it is out the window.
"Fine... I guess I'll just deal with the situation this time." I say while firmly set in not wanting to move from my resting spot.
A few footsteps later and Nate appears at the entryway to the living room. Upon laying eyes on me he immediately ducks under cover in the hallway. Reminding me a bit of the times he would do the same under the threat of an air soft or water gun.
"No, don't you even!" I hear as he retreats back into his hiding place.
Is it bad that I could have possibly just barked again to drive him back to his room? As nice as that probably would be, I do need to face the issue eventually.
"Don't bother, I'm not going to do anything this time, I only chased you off like that because you woke me up at one of the worst possible times. Therefore I would like to apologize for doing so, it was wrong of me to take it out on you." I call out in my attempt at a peace offering.
"I don't trust you!" He retorts back.
"Very well, guess that makes things easier on..."
It wasn't until that moment I had realized how long I've been talking without noticing just how feminine my voice is. Why did that not bother me before, was it the shock I was going through? I mean, yeah it didn't seem so important at the time, so why did this detail decide to make itself more prominent? To make things worse, is the sound of my current voice subsequently reminded me of the rest of my situation. The really unfair part about it is, unless I find another unicorn anytime soon, I'll have to face the nature of my current anatomy. Suffice to say, I'm not looking forward to that adventure.
"Hey, are you listening?" I hear while leaving my train of thought to see Nate standing before me.
"Changed your mind quick I see." I say not even thinking.
"Whatever, so when did this happen?"
"I don't know exactly when, I just woke up a pony some time after dad left for work in the morning. The best guess I can give would be somewhere around four and five."
"What happened after you woke up?"
"Well, I had a fight with my door knob, tried to test out my wings and woke up the dogs. Then after giving mom probably the worst wake up call, I was taken to the vet. The doctor there turned out to be a unicorn and I was turned into the mare I am now." I say a little too easily even to myself.
"The doctor turned you in to a mare?" Nate said now raising an eyebrow.
"You're right and wrong about that." I say after a pause to consider the answer.
"Long story short, unicorn magic causes a reaction to some sort of energy in me that changes me physically as a result. I first woke up as a stallion with a pale blue coat, an orange, pale yellow striped mane and tail." I say while wondering how I did that with a straight face.
"How do you know all that anyway?" Nate said now sitting on a couch not too far away from the recliner.
"It came to me in a dream" I say as the front door opens to reveal a man who looks to be in his late sixties.
Almost immediately after he shuts the door and moves to the living room, he stops upon noticing my presence on the recliner.
"What the hell is that, a stuffed animal?" He says after staring for a few seconds.
"Good to see you too dad..."
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Just add a little more to the mixture.
The silence after the last statement hung in the air for a long time as the staring continued.
"So your mother wasn't off her rocker when she called me earlier." My dad said with a smirk that completely threw off my preparation for conflict.
".....What?" I said since I couldn't think of anything better.
"She called and told me that our son is now a talking pony." He semi repeated.
".....What?"
"You got wings too huh, can ya fly?"
".....What?"
Where is the lemon meringue conflict? I don't understand why this man is acting that way! He has absolutely no reason to be taking this as easily as he is now!
"What could possibly be forming in that sick mind of yours to let you take this in strides?" I say regaining my composure.
"Nothing at all." He says rather flatly with that smirk.
"Bull! That is complete bull! Me and my brother are perfect examples that you are lying through your teeth old man!" I spout to only receive a laugh as a response while he walked over to the living room computer.
"Okay, I'm done with this, back to my room I go." No matter how lazy I felt I did not want to sit and subject myself to this, so I hopped off the recliner.
"Pretty pony princess!" I hear in my dad's trademark high pitched mocking tone, as I proceed back to my room.
'How is it that I am related to that man!?' I think to myself, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a response.
Once I reached my room I promptly shut and locked the door leaving me to my own devices. Having no idea on what to do, I hovered onto my computer chair to turn on my laptop. Even though I could type through the hunt and pick method, I still had much to be desired. Such as video games, I'm now not sure if I'll ever be able to play console games anymore. Maybe if I get proficient enough with these feathers, I might be able to play pc games with some of the fineness my hands had.
"Sitting on this thing is now more depressing then it should be." I say with a sigh.
Not willing to face my friends, I shut off skype and continue to pass the time by surfing around for what info I could gather. Minutes melded into hours as I moved along for what I could possibly find, I didn't find much. Though there was one particular video that I found of Pinkie Pie giving a speech to a crowd somewhere in Oklahoma. Further poking around let me find out that it happened today, what is today anyway? I mouse over to the clock on the bottom right of the screen.
"Huh, usually Sundays aren't that eventful for me." I say while taking note of the time.
"Is it that late? I know I slept a good amount away but did I spend that much time on the computer?" I question as the clock read 11 PM.
"No doubt everyone's asleep by now, maybe I can go out and relax in the living room without anything happening this time." To which I promptly hop out of the chair, to make my way out to the living room for round three.
Once in the open space, I make a bee line for the recliner to immediately curl up and make myself comfortable. Despite the lack of lights being on, it wasn't hard for me to find my goal. Once set in the position I wanted, I could finally let myself relax and retreat into my own thoughts. Which for the moment, really isn't much, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to focus on first. Today had a lot to throw at me, at least in the morning I still had my manhood.
"Forget freaky Friday, this is a strange Sunday..." I say then looking around for a moment.
"Thankfully no one was around to hear that." I finish as I lay my head on the arm rest.
It was then that a tickling in my throat made itself known, causing me to cough a few times. How distracted to I have to be in order to forget the entire idea of my being sick? Come to think of it, that's the reason I went to the vet. Well ain't that just a bowl of grapes, if I didn't get sick, I'd still be a stallion.
"Oh well, nothing I can do about it now." I say while letting out a sigh.
I continued to lay there, letting my thoughts flow from one to another as time passed. It was actually really boring, but probably for the best for now. I'd much rather lay here and not let anything weird happen, as opposed to moving and getting into more trouble. Yet my curiosity decided to take over when I noticed something familiar shining through the back door. That something familiar was none other than moonlight, taking an oddly strong interest in the pale light, I hop off the recliner and move towards the back door.
A quick hover and the light switch to the back yard was off, followed by a small struggle to get the door itself open. Once out side, I could immediately see the moon's reflection in the pool. Looking up at the moon itself, I couldn't help but feel drawn, like something inside me is stirring. I wanted to get closer, an urge within me demanded that I get closer. The urge being strong enough to bring movement to my wings, soon I was in the sky. I found myself soaring upwards through the chilly fall air, though for some reason I didn't feel cold. The opposite really, I felt warm, like I was being embraced.
I wasn't sure how I was moving like I was, kind of like an instinct separate from myself, took over my wings. Once I got to a decent enough height, my auto pilot left me on a stray cloud in the middle of the night sky. I would marvel at the fact that I stood on a cloud, if it weren't for my full attention being to the moon itself. Seeing it like this is a much different experience then I've ever had before. It's pale light showering down upon me, giving me this warm and safe feeling. I could lose myself in this feeling all night if I were allowed.
"Hmmm, you seem to be gaining a charge after all, maybe the talent wasn't diminished. Perhaps the nature of the talent has changed." I hear a familiar voice say from not very far away, I'd jump in surprise, but the calm I'm getting in this light won't let me.
"Who's there?" I say while lazily turning to the source.
"Seems like you're getting the same reaction I did when I first got a taste of moonlight too." I heard just before coming face to face with Solar Glint.
".....What?"
Was there a memo I didn't get?
"Hm? Wait, you're looking at me, and you can hear me?" He said after a few moments of staring went by.
"Yes...." Was all I could get out for the moment.
"Huh, here I was thinking that things may have been more normal then I originally thought. Although this conversation says otherwise." He said with a hoof to his chin.
"How are you...?" I try to begin saying.
"Standing here like this?" He finishes, to which I nod.
"Actually, I've been doing this for quite some time, you could never see me is all."
"Just how long is 'quite some time'?"
"Since you first woke up!" He said too cheerfully.
"I'm not sure if I even want to try being mad or surprised about this." I say lifting a hoof to my head.
"Anyway, you're not physically here, are you?" I continue.
"No, of course not. If I had to guess, I'd think it would be the moonlight that's making this one possible. Still, it's just a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true though. You know, different world holding different properties and all."
"Anything else you would like to bring out in the open?" I ask.
"Yes actually, something's been bothering me since arrived on this cloud."
"I don't like the sound of that, it's nothing bad is it?"
"Well, I don't know if it's bad or not."
"You're not making it sound any better." I said making him visibly sigh.
"Let me explain first, my concern is more towards our talent." He while observing me as he walked around.
"Okay, what about it?"
"It seems as though I was partially right, they might have diminished a little, though not as much as I had thought originally."
"Are you gonna shed some light on that soon?" I said while getting slightly impatient.
"If you don't interrupt me, yes I will." He said as he came to a stop by my tail.
"Though instead of telling you, I think it will be better for you to see it. Like I said before, your mane and tail act as a conduit for the energy you gain from moonlight. The current setting is probably best to try out what I'm talking about, take your tail and move it like you're trying to paint something with it." He instructed.
"How am I supposed to do that again?" I ask.
"How do you not know by now?"
"Well, I didn't really put much attention to my flank when I first woke up as this and I certainly didn't give much attention to it since I became a mare."
"I don't see why not, it is your body after all."
"Yeah but, it just feels so wrong at the same time!"
"Wrong or not, you're gonna have to deal with it sooner or later, especially when you get into taking a shower among other things."
"You had to remind me didn't you?"
"We're getting off subject here, it shouldn't be hard finding the muscles you need to move your tail. Oh wait, I know what you can do!" He exclaimed rather suddenly.
"What?"
"You could do the same thing you did when you flashed that vet your hind quarters earlier."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that."
"Whether you did or not, it's still the same thing."
"Whatever."
Even though I didn't like it, he had a point, but it doesn't help that I have to go back to that embarrassing memory for it. I hope I didn't leave any lasting impacts on that poor guy. Anyway, retracing the movements from earlier, I flicked my tail out causing a streak of something that looked like a cross between liquid and gas to appear.
"Yes that's it, that is lunar energy when it's manifested out of your body." Glint said as I turned around to look at the substance.
"So, how does this stuff work exactly?" I say putting out a hoof to touch it.
"I still don't fully understand it myself, but what I do know is that when you want it to be, it's like putty in your hooves"
"You're not kidding." I say as I sit back on my haunches, the energy fell around both of my hooves in an almost cloth like manner.
"Yeah, sometimes I can get it to do what I want it to, other times it almost acts like it has a will of its own." He said as I twirled it around, then rolling it in to a ball tossing it off the cloud to watch it dissipate in a sparkly way.
"Is that all you'd like to share for the moment?" I say as he gained a thoughtful look.
"No, I can't say there's anything else from the top of my head." He said decisively.
"Okay then, now I can move on to how I'm gonna get down." I say walking up to the edge of the cloud to look down.
"Ugh, this isn't gonna be easy." I say almost to myself as I gained a familiar feeling in my legs.
"You're not afraid of heights are you?"
"No!" I say before pausing for a few moments.
"I'm afraid of falling from long distances." I say, causing him to give me an 'are you serious?' look.
"But, you're a pegasus and you flew up here!" He said giving me a turn to give him that same look.
"Don't pull that on me, you know that I was under a weird euphoria I got from looking at the moon!" I say, causing him to rear back a little.
"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about that one, it's been a really long time since that last happened to me." He said with slight nostalgia to his expression.
"Whatever, I still need to find a way down." I say looking down again to get that feeling back.
"It's really not that hard, you just have to jump and spread your wings." He said while doing just that.
"Says a projected image of a pony in my mind."
"Oh come on, even if that's the case, I still know how to fly. I can give you small pointers while you try it and all you have to do is just glide down."
"Maybe, it's just...." I try to say before releasing a Fluttershy worthy squeak due to the cloud shifting a little.
"Wow, you're being a real girl about this." He said, causing me to look up in anger.
"Considering my current body, I'd like to think that's rather appropriate!"
"Hmm." He said as he landed next to me.
"Maybe there's something I can do to calm you down first." He said as he closed his eyes in a bit of concentration.
"What are you doing?" I asked only to receive no answer.
"Got it!" He said after a few moments of silence.
"Got what?"
"This little memory should do just fine." He said as he began to whistle a a very familiar song.
Those notes reminded me of an old desire I've held for as long as I could remember. A desire that originated from the game they came from, that one day, I wanted to walk among the clouds. My own childhood hit me in full force as it dawned upon me that I was doing just that. My fear made quick head way to the back of my mind as excitement elbowed it's way to the front. Once I reached the peak of my excitement, I jumped off while hearing Solar Glint behind me.
"Oh dear."
Now keep in mind that I just jumped off a cloud that was high enough to where I definitely couldn't see my house from. Hm? Oh hey fear, what are you doing back so soon?
"Smashed cranberries, what was I thinking!" I yell out as I plummeted towards the ground.
"Open your wings already and let yourself glide! I hear Solar Glint yell from behind me.
I've never been sky diving before, but I'm pretty sure this is what it feels like when you open the parachute. With my descent now slowed to closely resemble a falling leaf, Glint managed to catch up to me.
"What were you trying to do, make a sonic rainboom?" He said, now gliding close by.
"No, I just forgot the gravity of the situation is all."
"Clearly, and that is a terrible pun."
"Whatever." I say as I look down at the suburbs of Houston below me.
As our flight towards the streets bellow continued, Glint began giving me pointers about the basics of flight. By the time we touched down in the field over by the hospital, I knew how to turn at least.
"I guess I should be heading home now." I say as I looked to the street heading back to my neighborhood.
"You sure you don't want to try flying around some more?" Glint asked.
"I wouldn't mind but..." I was then cut off by a tickling sensation in my throat causing a fit of coughs.
"Ugh, even if I have a new body, how could I forget I'm still sick?" I say when for the first time that day, the pangs of hunger set in.
"Yeah, home it is." I say as I began to walk back towards my neighborhood.
"Don't you at least want to trying flying back?" He asked.
"I won't deny that I am seriously thinking about it for the sake of getting back quicker. But I also don't want to being that it's night time, I'm not sure if I'll be able to recognize things from above in the dark like this."
"Okay, that makes a little sense, but there's one other question I'd like to ask."
"What's that?"
"What do you plan on doing after you recover from being sick?"
"I don't know." I say while putting a lot of thought into that question.
"I'm not sure what I could do."
"What about going to New York?"
"Last I remember, Mrs. Faust asked for the elements of harmony to do that. Plus, even if I did go, what would I be able to contribute anyway?"
"You could offer your support at the least."
"I don't know, I kinda can't help but feel that I would be in the way if I did go there."
"It couldn't hurt to try."
"Maybe, it's something that I'll have to think about before doing." I say leaving the walk back to my house in silence.
Was there a memo I didn't get?
"Well, this just bites oranges." I say as I give the locked front door before me an angry look.
"You could always knock and hope someone wakes up." I hear Glint say from behind me.
"I'd much rather not wake anyone up, it would just limit what I could do when I get in." I say as I turn around and proceed towards the back yard gate.
"Why?" He asks.
"I'd much rather be alone for right now." I reply while coughing a few times.
"Okay, that's a little hard to accomplish at the moment." He said as I passed the corner towards the gate.
"You know what I mean!" I say with an exasperated sigh as I reached the gate to look at the lock mechanism.
After looking at it for a good few moments, it had occurred to me that I may not be able to open this one either. Anyone who's seen a backyard gate, will know they can be excessively tricky even with hands. This one is no exception as the first part is simple, it's only I have the same problem that I had with my first door problem. I needed to be able to pull the darn thing and feathers just won't cut it this time. I'm truly grateful I'm not an Earth Pony at this point in time.
"Where are you going now?" Glint asked as I began walking back towards the front porch.
"I'm gonna fly over to the backyard and why do you actually need to ask that?"
"It would be kinda boring if I knew everything you knew at the moment, so I keep that to a minimum." He replied.
"Whatever suits you I guess." I say as I reached the porch then walked out to the middle of the front yard.
"Anyway, I don't have much available to me other then to fly my way to the backyard." I say as I spread my wings and continued as I pushed off to begin hovering a few feet above ground.
I flapped my wings more vigorously to gain height until I found myself to be above the roof, the wind beginning to rush past me more frequently as I gained height, what a feeling this was to feel the air blowing trough my mane and tail. That feeling of absolute freedom you can't get anywhere else, I couldn't help but close my eyes to savor the moment and enjoy the night air. Then that infernal tickling in my throat robed me of my enjoyment in the form of coughing, painfully reminding me once again of my condition and how I needed to get back inside and rest.
Once the coughs resided, I turned my attention back to the sight before me and gauged the height I needed to be to clear the roof in a glide. Once I was sure the roof was far enough below, I tipped myself forward letting my wings go rigid to catch the wind. Once past the roof, I angled myself downward to descend. Still not very familiar with the idea of sudden stops and turning, I just continued downward to the other side of the pool. A few flaps gave me a soft landing on the deck and allowing me to walk safely toward the door.
"Not too shabby, seems like you pick things up a little quickly." Glint remarks while landing next to me.
"Thanks, I've been told I'm a good student before, but I really want to be able to fly with finesse. You know, the way that makes it look effortless." I say getting a little excited at the prospect.
"Yeah, that will take time and a fair amount of it." He somewhat painfully reminds me as I proceeded to walk around the pool to the door.
Thankfully the door doesn't require anything fancy other then a hefty push to open. Once inside, I immediately proceed towards the recliner and hop in to rest. Initially, I was planning to lay there for a long period of time until the pangs of hunger came back in force.
"Ugh, just when I got comfortable too." I groaned as I got back up and hopped off.
"Still odd to me that you went the entire day with out eating." Glint remarked as I walked past towards the kitchen.
"I lose my appetite when I get sick and considering today's events, I'm surprised I have one at all." I say as I reached the kitchen.
"Do you want any suggestions on what you can eat?" I hear Glint call from behind.
"Not really, I'm just gonna get some fruit and leave it at that. I'm in no mood to do anything more complicated then just biting into something." I reply when irony clearly had other plans.
Once I opened the refrigerator, I was reminded of another problem that I had forgotten about. That reminder coming in the form of a pitcher of tea, promptly reminding me of not having anything to drink today either. A rather odd prospect considering the original problem that spurred me out of my bedroom this morning. A glass of tea would be nice right now, but that thing looked full and I'm fairly sure I won't be able to move something bigger then gallon sized. The only thing I can do now then would be to move on to the fruit and hopefully figure something out later.
Proceeding to open one of the bottom drawers, I shifted through to find a few apples. Taking a few moments to chomp through them, satisfied, I close the refrigerator door then turn to go back to my resting spot. Resting being the higher on my list of things to do, I make a bee line towards the recliner to find Solar Glint laying in it.
"Ah no, that's my spot, get out of it now." I command.
"How are you gonna make me do that?" He asks with a smirk.
"Fine, hard way it is." I say while bending my knees and spreading my wings.
"Don't you do it!" He says as his eyes widen, but it was too late, I had already launched myself in the air in mid sentence.
A flap of my wings and I was in the air with my target before me as I stretched out my fore hooves in anticipation of the impact. Though the impact didn't feel like I was landing on to another pony, but instead I just felt chair cushion. My own body passing through his as if it were just a hologram, a fair moment of thought later reminded me that he is indeed still a mental projection. To be honest, I'm actually a little disappointed by this.
"Okay, I may not be able to get you now, but wait until I go to sleep." I say as I lay down on the chair.
"If you can find me there that is."
"That's okay, I'll figure something out."
"Current conflict aside, when are you going to let your friends know about this?"
"That's going to be a trip and a half..."
"You really think so?"
"It might just be anxiety but for some reason I just don't want to face that yet."
"They're your friends right, how bad can it be?"
"That is what scares me about it, I don't know."
"I'd like to think if they're really your friends then they would be accepting about it."
"Can we talk about something else for now? I'm just not ready to face that sort of thing yet."
As we sat there in silence, one thought remained prevalent in my mind. Living like this will take some getting used to won't it?
Was there a memo I didn't get?
Embarrassment & Enlightenment: Second Pass
Embarrassment & Enlightenment: Second Pass
A long amount of time passed before I could bring myself to gather the right words to say next.
"Could you please elaborate on that point? I think it's safe to say that we might have enough time for it this round."
"If that's the case then I hope your comfortable, this is going to take a while." He said while sitting on his own haunches.
"I'm gonna have to begin by explaining my talent first, before I can adequately answer that question. You see, as Lunar Flare, when exposed to moonlight your body begins to absorb it. When absorbed, it converts into a type of energy unique to this body, they dubbed as Lunar Energy."
"Wait, hold a moment there, who's they?" I interrupted.
"The two unicorns that studied me, but enough about that. When Lunar Energy is converted from moonlight, the body begins to hold a charge. Usually the state of your mane and tail would be an indication of how much of a charge you're holding."
"Okay, that's nice and all, but what does collecting energy have to do with what happened to me?"
"I'm getting to that so please be patient. When a charge is present, the energy could be produced with the mane and tail as a conduit. Once out and present, this body can interact with it in a similar way pegasi can with clouds. Through the amount of tests I was run through, it was discovered I could use it for some very interesting things. In fact, if I had enough of a charge and got creative with it, I could actually go toe to toe with a full grown dragon as Lunar Flare." He said looking rather proud.
"Though there are actually a lot of restrictions on that." He said visibly drooping in mood.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Well, there's all kinds of conditions and variables attached to how it behaves. Like how during the day, what charge I may have built up the previous night would slowly begin to release on it's own. On top of that, the amount of energy I receive is dependent on the phase of the moon and how long I stay in the moonlight. For a frame of reference, in order to do what I just said I could, I would have to sit out in the moonlight all night every night for an entire week and the moon would need to be full. When you factor in the amount I lose during the day and the varying amount from what phase the moon has. It can wind up taking, at minimum, about three months to get the charge necessary for that feat."
"The way you're talking about it sound like you've actually pulled that off, what sort of situation would require that kind of thing to even happen?"
"Well, it was kind of an emergency and Twilight kinda sorta got a special favor from Princess Luna." He said rather abashedly.
"A favor, what kind of favor?" I asked now fully curious.
"Um, if it's okay, I'd rather not talk about it, that was a weird night for most ponies involved." He said now visibly blushing.
"Hold on a sec." I said now getting up and walking forward.
"You got to witness several embarrassing experiences I had to go through, do you honestly think I'm going to let that one go?" I finished as I stopped just a few inches away.
"Um, ah..." He stammered for a moment before straightening back up.
"You still want to know how you changed right?" He said gaining his confidence.
"You feather duster! You're lucky that one is taking priority right now, expect to explain that night at a later date." I said sitting back down.
"Ah well, anyway." He began with a breath of relief.
"First I would like to point out that even though Lunar Energy dissipates during the day, there's always a constant residual amount sitting in this body." He continued on.
"That said, I can finally explain to you that it's unicorn magic that acts as a catalyst when introduced to the body to cause the same change you went through. You see, what happens is when unicorn magic touches this body, the Lunar Energy is converted into Solar Energy. When that happens, this body follows suit and visibly changes to reflect the nature of the new type of energy within."
"Hold on, maybe that quip about the energy converting because unicorn magic touches it makes sense, but why would the gender change as well?" I interrupted.
"That part was actually never fully examined, mainly because once the initial conversion happened, the energy itself changed in properties and how it behaves as well. They were so interested in that part, despite my protests, they never got around to the gender issue." He said with his ears drooping a little.
"Either way, when the conversion happens and this body becomes Solar Glint, the playing field changes considerably. First difference being Solar Energy is more volatile and doesn't stay in a charge nearly as much as Lunar Energy. Even during the day it still dissipates, and the way it manifests kinda looks like the way heat reflects off things in that wavy optical illusion sometimes. Not to mention it doesn't do that unless I'm moving and the faster I move, the more it produces, making me harder to see. In fact, on one occasion I was flying fast enough to discover, that when coated in Solar Energy I could bypass the sound barrier. In order to compensate, the energy would produce a small flash of light to which viewers would simply see a glint of light instead of say, a sonic rainboom occurring."
"Will I be able to do the same thing." I asked somewhat lightening up.
"I'm not entire sure, it seems like things have changed when I came over to this world." He said taking one hoof and rubbing the other.
"I don't like the sound of that, what do you mean changed?"
"Well, there are two things that are off about the way things used to be. You see, while you did begin to hold a charge of Solar Energy, there wasn't as much that would normally be absorbed. Also, the conversion between Solar to Lunar had another condition." He said resuming a normal position.
"You see, the change happened more as a reflection of the celestial body most present in the sky when unicorn magic is introduced. You changed from Solar Glint to Lunar Flare during the day, that's never happened before. If I were to take a stab in the dark here, no pun intended, the talent itself might have been affected by my journey to this world."
"Well isn't that wonderful..." I said.
"I think it's too early to say, but I'd guess that it would be something like when you put ice in a glass of apple juice. You know, how when the ice melts and dilutes the juice, but that's just my speculation at this point."
"Right, at least I know what changed me now, I guess that can be a little bit of consolidation." I said now feeling rather defeated before something else occurred to me.
"Wait a second, unicorn magic is what makes the energy convert." I stated plainly while he simply nodded.
"Possibly not long ago, I left behind the only unicorn I currently know at that vet, and I'm quite possibly stuck like this for quite some time." I said slowly as a smile began to creep into his face.
I took a moment to take a deep breath, knowing that I had reached a breaking point, I could only do one thing.
"SON OF A B...!" Was all I could get out before being jerked awake, by some loud and obnoxious noise on the other side of my door.