Chapters Tuesday morning
I like to call myself a pretty centered guy. I'm not exactly the most grounded person in the universe, but I know I could be a lot worse off. That being said, I have a tendency to talk to myself and sink into depression from time to time. That however could be fixed by watching some of my favorite TV shows, like the show My little pony. I also have the terrible habit of staying up till the way early in the morning before I sleep. You'd understand then, why I was a little surprised to find myself waking up bright and early at around 6:00 AM, especially since I had just gone to bed about 3 hours ago. What made it even stranger was, I wasn't tired in the slightest.
The first thing I noticed (besides waking up at that abnormally early time) was all three of my cats had taken an interest in me. They must be out of food again. I thought to myself as I threw the sheets of my bed off me. Or at least, that was the plan since that's what I do normally every day when I wake up. What happened instead was, the sheets moved slightly before falling back on top of me again.
"Since when did these get so heavy?" I immediately noticed something was wrong with my voice, and I don't mean just a cold wrong. It was almost feminine, and somehow it sounded familiar, but not familiar enough for me to place exactly where I'd heard it before. But that wasn't the only thing that felt off. My body as a whole was definitely much smaller than it should have been.
My curiosity got the better of me and I rolled myself out of my now abnormally large bed. Actually, I guess the bed wasn't as large as I was small, but you get the idea. The problem with rolling out of bed is, when I went to place my feet under me so I wouldn't fall on my face, I failed completely and instead bashed my face into the floor.
Let it be known that Zeik is not the most graceful man on the planet.
It was then I saw it. By it, I mean my freakishly long hair in my face. See, if you didn't know, and you probably don't, I wear my hair extremely short. By short, I mean about half an inch. Why is my hair suddenly so long and green? Is this some sort of ridiculous prank? I raised my hand to pull what had to have been a wig of some sorts, and stopped dead when it reached eye level. My hand wasn't a hand, but a mint green hoof. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
And then it hit me. In the previous days, I'd been watching the news. Apparently people all over the planet had been turning into ponies as a part of something something. I'll be honest, I didn't really pay much attention to it and dismissed it as some sort of prank. But, with the mint green hoof now trembling in front of my face, I was very quickly showed that it was no joke.
Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god.
Do you know how hard it is to keep yourself calm and collected when you've been ripped out of your own body and forced into somebody else's? Well according to the news a few of you do, but if you didn't I'll inform you. It's neigh impossible. I panicked, fell onto the floor again, and began mumbling incoherent gibberish while holding my head with my hands hooves while shaking like crazy.
I must have spooked my cats at this point as they all went running out of the room. Not that I blame them mind you. I think I would have gone running away from a crazy psycho ponies if it started doing that. Not that I noticed at the time, I was too busy having a mental break down. I'm not sure how long I spent on the floor trying to keep my brain from imploding, but it was long enough for my father to get curious what all the noise was about, especially since I had screamed multiple times about who knows what.
"What in the hell is that?"
That got my attention enough to snap me out of my panicked daze and I looked up at my now wide eyed father. Oh shit. This can only end badly. I hope he's seen the news. "....Hi dad."
"Who the hell are you?" Apparently not. "Where is Zeik at?"
"Have you been paying attention to the News recently? The whole, person turns into a pony thing? Yeah, turns out that WASN'T a joke." I said to him, trying to find humor in waking up as a 2 foot nothing mint green pony. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't know who I had actually turned into. At least not yet.
"Zeik? Is that really you?" He asked. Apparently, he still didn't believe me.
I sighed. Apparently he needed proof. "You were born on Halloween. You crashed your boat into a rock, and almost sunk it. You went down to Florida for a vacation in one RV and came back with a different one, and you needed me to drive you home from the bar yesterday cause you got too drunk." If that doesn't do it, then nothing will.
"Alright! You didn't have to bring up the boat thing." He said, holding his hands up. "So, your one of those ponies now? You seem to be taking it surprisingly well."
Considering I was still laid out on the floor and had just gotten done panicking before he had shown up, I'd just consider that good timing on his part. "Yeah I'm ready for anything life throws at me." That was the biggest lie on the planet. "So dad, do you mind lifting me up to that mirror? I haven't refigured out how to actually walk yet, let alone how I'd get up that high to begin with." I asked.
He obliged a very carefully walked over and picked me up off the ground. His hand's felt nice on my new found coat. "You know what they say, you never know what you've got till it's gone." I never realized how much I needed my hands for EVERYTHING.
My father held me up in front of my mirror sideways so I could inspect myself. "You know, you're a hell of a lot lighter now." Oh that's nice, take a stab at my weight. Well, old weight. I'm not sure anymore.
With access to a mirror, I finally decided to give myself a good once over. I instantly recognized who I was, but I guess I was more surprised then anything. I don't think I've got anything in common with her. "Lyra... I'm Lyra Heartstrings." I said, while taking a glance at my flank. Green and white hair, yellow eyes, a horn and a Lyra for a cutie mark.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" He asked with honest curiosity, referring to my horn.
"Dad, I can't even walk and you want me to use my horn already? I think we should take this one step at a time." I said with a deadpanned face. "Put me down, and I'll see if I can work it out."
He carefully put me back down on the ground and backed away. "Tell you what. Come back later when I've figured this out. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." I asked him as I laid on the ground again. He laughed at my expense and walked out of the room. You'd think he would have panicked a little more right? Nope, trust me. I've done some pretty odd things to him before. Some of them pranks, some of them accidents.
"Alright Brain. New Brain. Old brain? I'm not sure. Anyway, you and me are going to work this out." Talking to yourself again? You really ARE insane.
Am not.
Are too.
Now you're fighting with yourself? Somebody call the men in the strait jackets!
Ignoring the voices in my head, tried to work out exactly how my new body worked. Where my arms once were, now apparently worked like my front legs. My back legs work somewhat like my human legs, only the knee was a little funny. Very shakily, I attempted to lift myself off the floor. I fell over a few times due to lack of balance, but going from two legs to four will do that too you.
After a few more attempts at trial and error, I did eventually manage the incredible art of standing . "Awe yeah, I can stand. Making progress." I said proudly. Next step: Walking.
This was an entirely different ball game. Compared to learning how to get up on all fours, walking was like taking 5 year old and telling him to pass a exam in advanced algebra. Bucking hard, that's how. "Ok, so how do they do it in the show?" I imagined one of them walking and tried to mimic that, only to fall flat on my face. Ok, that didn't work.
I pulled myself up again and simple just tried my left side at once, and then my right side. This worked, to an extent, but I had almost zero balance while attempting it, and again fell over. With a sigh, I thought. "This is a lot harder than those ponies make it look. But at least I know Humans are real!"
.....Where did THAT come from?
Tuesday - Afternoon
To say I was a little shocked by that random outburst is an understatement. I’m familiar with Lyra’s personality as described by the fandom of the show, but I didn’t actually think it was canon. I guess there really was something to the way she sat on that bench. More importantly, it proved to me that Lyra was in my head. Actually, I think that’s the other way around since I’m in her body. Whatever, you get the point.
It was around... I’d say 3:00 PM or so by the time I had finally worked out walking. And before you say anything, yes it’s harder than it looks. If I remember correctly, the news said they had need of the Elements of Harmony up in New York. I maybe not be an element, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help! I thought to myself.
“I supposed I should go see if I can get my father to drive me there, seeing as I... don’t have hands.” I said, while looking down at my new hooves. I trotted myself out of my room, only to be stopped a few seconds later by the sight of a nearly empty food dish. “Yep, I was right. Cat’s are almost out of food. Gonna have to fix that.”
I love my cats. I’m pretty sure when I’m sitting in my house 50 years from now, the kids on the block will call me the “Crazy Old Cat Man!” I couldn’t just leave my house without feeding them, so I moved myself over to our bucket of cat food. The problem is, we have to keep the buckets closed off with a lid or my cats would be all over it.
“This is a problem. Although... I do have a horn now. Maybe I could just levitate the lid off?” But that would require learning how to use it. Maybe its not as hard as it looks! I mean, it can’t be too hard if fillies can pull off things like levitating around the room...”
Magic. Pretty sure that’s not something God ever intended humans to figure out. Then again, I guess I’m not human anymore. And I’m not even sure how powerful Lyra’s magic is, I mean she’s no element of magic, but she has to be able to at least levitate things, right? Right.
So, how to go about doing this. I can kinda feel it in my head/horn, but I’m not really sure how make it work. Maybe if I focus the lid...
I imagined how the various unicorns have looked during the random various episodes of MLP, closed my eyes, and focused on my horn and the lid itself. Nothing. I tried a few more times with a few different angles, but didn’t get any response from my horn aside from giving myself a headache. Magic is a lot harder than it looks. But if I’m going to figure this out, I need to keep trying.
So I continued, still trying to get the lid open. I must have been pretty engrossed in it, because I didn’t hear my father sneak up on me.
“What the heck are you trying to do?” He said quickly, scaring the living daylights out of me. This worked in my favor, as the scare caused me to finally get my magic to do something. Like sending the lid into the roof.
“Sweet Celestia don’t SCARE me like that! Don’t you know its rude to sneak up on ponies?” It was then I noticed the lid in the way of having it land on my head.
Ouch.
“Hey! I got the lid off! Huzzah!” I celebrated my mini victory with by clapping my hooves together. Afterwards, I took the cup in my magic inside of the container and filled up the once empty food dish.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you float random objects around the room, but I suppose that means you’ve worked out the horn out.” My father asked while watching me fill up the cat food.
“Well I wasn’t having any success until you scared me half to death. Now I just need to focus on an object and push my magic though my horn and into that object.” I raddled that off like I actually knew what I was talking about. That’s fairly impressive, self. Keep that up and you might not make a fool out of yourself before this is over.
“I’ve been paying attention to the News and doing some research since I found you like.... this.” my father said, gesturing to all of me. “Are you one of those... Helements of Armoury?”
That made me facehoof. “Ok, first of all their called the Elements of Harmony. Secondly, no I’m not.” I replied, while hanging my head. “HOWEVER! I will not just sit around and do nothing while the rest of the world tries to fix my problem for me. To that end, we must get to New York as fast as possible!” I said, attempting to strike a dramatic pose. Which was rudely interrupted by a loud rumbling from my gut.
“Oh yeah. I guess I haven’t eaten all day long.” I said, blushing. “I don’t think Lyra would appreciate it if I starved her to death, heh. Can you do me a favor? Grab a backpack and stuff it with some of the apples we bought the other day, if you wouldn’t mind. I’m gonna go pack a few thing from my room.”
My father nodded “Alright then. I’ll see you upstairs in a few minutes alright?”
“Sure thing.” He left me and walked back up the steps to pack some food. I was still hungry, but my own personal needs could wait a few minutes more. I took ahold of the lid that now laid on the ground aside of me and placed it back on the container.
The first step on a long trip, is to pack clothing. Not just any clothing, but PANTS. I had the strangest urge to find a pair of pants and put them on as fast as possible. I walked back into my room and took a look at my options. “I don’t think my pant’s will fit this new body, but a nice set of shorts might.”
I pulled dug out a smaller pair of shorts from a while back, using my new found ability use magic that my father scared me into learning how to use. I’d have to thank him in the form of a prank later. As far as actually getting them on, I just flopped myself on the floor and pulled them on with a combination of magic and my teeth.
“PANTS! Finally!”
Another outburst. I think its getting worse. That’s starting to get a little worrying. What happens if Lyra takes total control? Do I stop existing? Scary thoughts. But then again, I was never one to plan too far ahead, and its not like I could stop it if I wanted too.
I shook the negative thoughts out of my head, and packed the rest of what I thought I’d need. A few shirts, more pants, my gloves for some odd reason, and the bathroom necessities. I placed all of it in an old book bag from school and placed it over my back, latching it.
Satisfied, I made my way out of my room and very carefully made my way up the steps. Upon entering the Kitchen, I found my father had already packed a second bag. I drew upon my magical energy once again and pulled a single apple out of the pre packed bag. Now, I don’t know if it was because I was a horse/pony now, but that apple was by far the tastiest thing I’ve eaten in weeks.
I spent a few minutes finishing that happen before I heard my father walk in the room behind me, and grabbed the bag with the remaining apples off the counter before turning to face me with a confused look. “Why are you wearing pants?”
“That’s a silly question. Why are YOU wearing pants?”
He just shook his head before saying. “Nevermind, forget I asked. Anyway, don’t worry about your job, I already called in and explained everything to them.”
“You told them I was sick of something right? Because I don’t think Wal-mart would believe you if you told them I turned into a pony.” I said with a joking expression.
He nodded his head. “Well yeah, I told them you had caught a flu and you’d be out for a little while. I’m not sure how widespread this.... sickness is you have, so I thought it’d be for the best not to mention it.”
I don’t give him enough credit. “Thanks for clearing me dad. So, are you ready? I’m kinda in a hurry to get there as soon as I can.”
“Alright. You're really sure about this aren’t you?”
I sigh before answering. “Listen dad, I haven’t really done a lot with my life. I... am kinda a loser. But for the first time in my life, I actually have a chance to make a difference. Even if it ends up being a small difference, or even none at all, its better then just sitting here and doing nothing.” I looked into his eye’s before continuing. “I have to do this.”
He nods. “Alright, if you sure. Lets get going. I don’t see New York moving any closer to PA any time soon.” My father walks out the front door of our kitchen and opens the door to the Garage with me following close behind.
And then I saw it. My father’s Black Jeep. I didn’t think my eye’s could get a wide as my head, but they were sure trying too. “Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh, that’s the coolest thing I’ve EVER SEEN.”
….There it is again. That pretty much cements it. She’s definitely in my head.
My father turned to look at me with a concerned look on his face. “Well yeah, it’s just my jeep.” He kneeled down to look at me. “Are you sure you're OK.Zeik? You’ve been acting a little strange all day.”
I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t. If I did, he might panic more than I already am.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Never better.” You're lying again. You know he hates liars.
It’s better then telling him the truth. Right now I need to focus on getting to New York.
“Well.... if you're sure. Come on, I’ll open the door for you.” He said, unlocking the doors with the remote. He put his keys away and opened the door for me to leap into. Or rather, try to leap into.
Wow, I had a hard enough time trying to walk today and now I’ve gotta jump into a jeep.
I guess he saw me staring at it, decided to save me the trouble. He lifted both me and my backpack of goodies into the backseat and placed the load of food in the seat next to me as well. Shutting the door, he made his way around to the front seat and jumped in.
I’ve gotta ask.
“CAN I DRIVE?!” I yell, with big ole puppy dog eyes.
He just laughed at me. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting a walking Breath mint colored pony drive my brand new jeep. Especially without hands. Now buckle up and lets go.”
Instead of fidgeting with the seat belt, I just used my magic. Each time I attempted to use it, it came easier.
I’m going to assume that Lyra has something to do with that. She’s already proven herself to being around. “Hey dad, I’m just gonna get some sleep. I was up late last night and this whole day has been tiring as all hell.”
I never did hear his response. I laid back in the seat and fell asleep almost instantly. Must have been the lack of sleep from the night before.
I found myself standing in a field of green that goes off in all directions. Looking around, I could see a few tree’s and felt a light breeze blowing through the meadow I found myself standing in. I also found myself back in my old human body, dressed in my standard blue oants, grey shirt and leather jacket.
“Where in the world am I?”
“Ponyville park!” Came a female voice from behind me.
“JESUS!” It’s a good thing I hadn’t drank anything recently or I think I would’ve just wet myself. I turned around quickly, and saw a certain mint green pony staring straight back at me with a huge grin on her face. “What is it with people and sneaking up on me today?”
“Sorry Zeik, I didn’t do it on purpose.” She responded, rubbing the back of her head.
Likely story.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on right now? Why am I stuck in your body?” I’ll be honest, I was really confused as to what the hell was going on. Maybe I overdosed on some drug I didn’t even knew I took.
“We’re dreaming! Well, I’m dreaming anyway, I just put you in it. It’s called a lucid dream. Now, smile for a picture!” She pulled a camera stand out of nowhere and placed it next to her. “Bon Bon is never going to believe any of this happened unless I get a good snapshot!” I assume she set the camera for a timer and came running over to me, grabbed one of hand and put that smile back on her face again.
*click*
The picture came out with her of course, standing next to me with my hand in her hooves. I however had the silliest look on my face. Probably had something to do with a pony in my dreams attempting to take pictures of me.
“Lyra, if we’re dreaming, that picture isn't real. How would you even give it to her? Also, what’s a lucid dream? I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those before.”
“Don’t you rain on my parade too Zeik. I’ll figure out how to make this work later. But with THIS-” She said, pulling out the picture of and her again. “I’ll be able to prove it to her! Human’s DO exist! And to think, she always laughed at me when I spent all those hours reading those old books.”
“You still didn’t answer my question! Why am I stuck in your body?” I was trying not to sound annoyed, but I wasn’t doing a very good job. She’s cute when she gets excited about something, but I was REALLY trying to get some answers from her.
Wait a minute. I’m sharing her body. Did I just call myself cute....?
“Oh that.” She placed a hoof on her chin in thought. “I have no idea!”
Great. She’s as clueless as me.
“Maybe we can go find whoever did this and get them to REVERSE IT! You know, like get them to put ME in YOUR body so I can control YOU and use your wonderfully beautiful HANDS!” She was staring at my hands the entire time she said that, with that big goofy grin from earlier back on her face again. Getting kinda creepy.
She placed the picture away in some imaginary pocket of nothingness and turned back to me. “Anyway Z, you shouldn’t try and use my magic without my help. That’s why it was so hard for you to get that lid open earlier.”
“Wait, that was you? Why did you drop the lid on our head?” I asked her. She started laughing at me, and replied.
“I thought it would be funny to be honest with you. I didn’t feel a thing. Your the the one driving my body, not me. The only thing I can still do is control the magic.” She said, tapping her horn. “You didn’t think you could learn magic in just a day did you? That kinda stuff takes years to learn how to do without blowing yourself up.”
“Um.... Kind of? I wouldn’t know, human’s can’t use magic.” Well that’s a downer. Here I thought I had actually accomplished something. NOPE. Turn’s out Lyra was just messing with me. Prolly helped me get that apple and seatbelt earlier as well.
I let out a sigh. “Ok, one more question.” Another one she dodged earlier, that is. “Do you have anything to do with the random outbursts?”
She ducked her head as soon as she heard the question. “I’m not really sure. I definitely remember saying those things, but I’m not sure how I did it.”
Before I got a chance to question her further, and try and make any logical sense out of what was happening to me, the entire world shook.
The grass plains of Ponyville park vanished out of my sight and into a brief darkness.
“Zeik for love of god, wake up!” My father shouted in my ear. I’m a bit of a heavy sleeper, so when it comes to waking me up, it can be more than a little difficult. I’m not sure how long he’d been trying, but that last one got my attention.
I just moaned rolled over. “Not now, give me five more minutes....”
*Smack*
“Ouch! Ok ok, I’m awake. What?”
“We’re about two hours out from the house and I’ve stopped for food at wendy’s. Do you wanna come in?”
I thought it over for a minute or two before I nodded my head in agreement. “I’m not really hungry, but I do need feel the need to get out and stretch my legs.”
I had a lot to think over anyway. If that dream was actually to be believed, that mean’s Lyra is very much in aware of my actions. I’d also have to somehow get her back for dropping that bucket lid on my head.
My father opened the door for me using those wonderful hands of his. I very carefully made my way out. I almost tripped on that last step anyway, despite my efforts. I never used to be this clumsy, but I guess thats what happens when you get thrown a curveball by god.
“You should really watch where you're going Z. You're going to end up getting yourself hurt. You feeling any better after that nap?” My father asked me.
If he only knew about the human obsessed pony that was screaming in my head right now, he’d understand. I’ll have to tell him eventually. Right now I was just trying to combat the headache she was giving me from all the questions.
“Lets just go inside so I can sit down.”
We walked to the over the front door of the establishment. I could already feel the eyes on me, from the random people. I could hear whispers of a few people as we entered the Wendy’s.
“Do me a favor and just get me some water, ok?” I asked my father. I felt really thirsty for some reason. Probably something to do with being a horse. Pony. I don’t really care anymore.
“Will do. Why don’t you go take a seat and I’ll take care of this?”
I didn’t wasn't about to argue with that. I slowly walked over to a opentable, waving at a few kids and adults alike who all had been giving me odd looks. Not that I can blame them. I think I’d be just as weirded out if a pony walked into wal-mart one day.
I took a seat at the table and tried to mind my own business. Lyra was still yelling in my head though. That started after that silly dream.
“Why do I have a feeling like this is only the beginning?
I guess I never realized how popular Lyra was until I had her body forced upon me. I had more than a few people asking me for pictures and what not while I waited for my father to come back with some food and my drink. I didn’t mind too terribly, I could never be rude to a random stranger for no reason, I’m only rude to people who crease me repeatedly.
After a few minutes of waiting in a line, my father made my way back to his way back to my table and chased away the few kids that had gathered. He handed my drink and sat down on the other side of the table.
“I thought you hated kids.”
Oh yeah, kids. Bane of my existence. Not that I hate them all for no reason, but working in customer service for 10 years will do that too you. All the nagging whining kids who run around and cause a ruckus while their parents turn a blind eye.
“Well I still kinda do, but Lyra loves the little ones. I can’t make her look bad for my own selfish reasons, you know? I still plan on getting my own body back at the end of this somehow, and when I’m back in my old self I can go back to being an anti social guy in a cave. But until then, I will play nice.”
He pulled out a burger out of the wendy’s box and took a quick bite out of it. It was kind of an odd feeling actually. Before this pony business, I would have never given a second thought to it. But now that I’m actually a pony, it's almost cruel to do that in front of them.
“I realize you're in a hurry Zeik, but we should probably find a place to stay for the night. It’s getting pretty late and you know I don’t like to drive late at night.”
“You’re crazy, I love driving at night. The stars are always beautiful to drive under. Plus there are a lot less driver and you fly down the highways!” I loved to speed. Not a safe practice mind you, but it was still fun.
“You are gonna get yourself hurt doing that one of these days. Or a speeding ticket.” He said, pointing his big ole finger at me.
“Well, not right now I’m not. I don’t think I trust Lyra to drive a car, especially since her body is too small.”
I could always use magic to help with that.
No. You’d kill us in five minutes.
You’re no fun.
We ate the rest of the meal in relative quiet. Well, I drank water and he ate a burger, but you know what I mean. Towards the end, my new body made me aware of the fact that I had to use the bathroom. I’m not really proud of what happened next.
“Hey dad I’ll be right back alright? I gotta use the little boys room.” I said quickly, and scooted off my rump. He simply nodded and I was on my way. When I got to the restrooms, I walked straight into the mens room. I didn’t think anything of it at first, until Lyra started yelling at me.
Zeik, what are you doing?!
Using that bathroom? Is that a crime?
No, but you're in the wrong-
Too late.
A tall man turned to me with an angry face. “Hey, what do you think you're doing? This is the mens room.”
“What is it with you people? A guy can’t use the restroom in peace?”
“Listen Sweetie, I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but you're not a male. Or a person for that matter. Now get out!” He grabbed me by the back of my tail and literally tossed me out of the mens room.
I sat there stunned for a few minutes while what just happened sank in. I was not a male anymore, and NOT ONLY THAT, but he had called me sweetie. I realize I’m in Lyra’s body sure, but being called “Sweetie” doesn’t really sit right with me.
I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen.
You are so not helping.
I stood up and walked into the correct bathroom this time. It was a little odd but I finished my business without incident. I washed my hooves with a little help from Lyra’s magic, and was out the door pretty quick. When I had gotten back to the table, my dad had already cleared out the trash and was waiting.
“You ready to go?” He asked.
“Yeah, lets get out of here before that angry guy from the mens room comes back.” I said to him back, pushing him towards the front door.
“Wait, what guy from the mens room?” He asked back.
“Nothing! Jeep! Now!”
We walked out the front door and into the parking lot. My father pulled out his keys and opened
the jeep back up. I got myself in this time, without incident. A step in the right direction. Literally.
“Now, I don’t have a lot of money, and as nice as it’d be to stay in a hotel, I think we could just sleep in the jeep. You know, like when we’d go camping all those years ago! It’d be like old times.”
My father could be a little nostalgic when he wanted to be. We used to do a lot of things together, but as I got older, I didn’t really like doing the kind of things he did. I just did them to spend time with him.
“Sure, that’ll work. I already drooled all over the back of the jeep anyway, might as well add too it.”
“You WHAT?!” He spun around to look at me.
“Hey, in my defense, it wasn’t something I did before I merged with Lyra’s body. Blame her!”
That’s a big fat lie and you know it.
Yeah, but he’ll never know that. That’s what you get for dropping a lid on my head.
Touche, Zeik. Next move is mine.
We drove the jeep around to a strip mall and parked around back, just like what we’d do when my father and I traveled around before. I didn’t need a covers or anything, I was a walking floor mat. Literally. My father however, pulled out a few covers out of a bag he packed with him and laid across the front few seats.
“Sleep well Zeik.” He said to me before rolling over.
“You too dad.”
I didn’t dream that night. Lyra did though, and I saw it. It was weird too, she was dancing with a pair of pants on one side of her and a gigantic hand on the other. I’ll never understand her. Ever.
The next morning was.... well hilarious for me, but I think it was my father's worst nightmare. I should have been upset, because it created a serious problem as far as advancing on my quest towards New york. I awoke with my father screaming in my ear. Again.
“ZEIK WAKE UP!”
I just rolled over. “Do you have to yell at me every time you wake me?” I said back, half asleep. When I turned around and looked at him, I saw a light purple pegasus pony with Bluish eyes, and black hair, finished with a rainbow cutie mark.
“Zeik, I’m one of those pony things! Help me!”
I gave him a few looks over while I tried to remember exactly who this pony he had turned into was.
“I don’t know what you want me to do about it. You know if I could fix that I would’ve fixed myself first.”
He was panicking now, obviously not satisfied with my answer, or lack of an answer. I can’t say I blame him for panicking. I rolled around on the floor like Homer Simpson in that one episode when it happened to me.
He’s Spectrum.
Who?
Spectrum. Spectrum is a gay pegasus. That’s all I know about him.
Then I lost it. I laughed harder than I had in an extremely long time. Here’s my father, who’s yelling and screaming about becoming a pony in the front seat. Then you’ve got me, rolling around in the back seat, laughing my plot off. You’re probably confused, so I’ll explain. My father doesn’t like gays much. He would always take every chance he got to make fun of them.
Apparently the galaxy had a sense of humor.
You know what they say. Karma’s a bitch.
A/N: I thank Derpy for the idea.
Day 4
So here we are, behind a walmart. I’m laughing at my father's misfortune, and he’s somewhere between angry at me for laughing and panicking because he can’t figure out what the hell just happened.
“Would you STOP LAUGHING and help me?!” He snapped. I’m pretty sure he would’ve turned towards me, but he was too busy rolling around in the front of the jeep.
Ok Zeik, that’s enough. Give him a hand.
Oh but this is too perfect. I suppose you're right Lyra, but that doesn’t mean I’m finished laughing.
I rolled myself back onto my hooves and opened the side door. Carefully, I jumped out of the Jeep, successfully landing on my hooves. Score one for Zeik. After that, I had Lyra open the front door with her magic, and drag my squirming father out and dropped him out of the Jeep.
“Ouch, hey! Did you have to drop me on my head?!”
“Yes. Yes I did.” I was still kinda stifling a laugh, but if I kept laughing at his misfortune for too long, Karma would come back with a vengeance and slap me straight in the face.
“What?! When I figure out how to walk, I’m gonna come over there knock that smirk off your minty green face!” He yells, attempting to stand.
“Oh dear! A crippled pegasus is going to beat me senseless!” I said, letting him fume for a few more minutes before I walked over to give him a hand. I got a swift punch in the face as soon as I got within range.
Don’t even say anything, you deserved that.
….Yeah you're right, I did. Was still totally worth it.
The next few hours consisted of me attempting to teach my father how to walk. I may or may not have actually let him fall on his face more than once. What can I say, I’m vindictive when I want to be. Its what he gets for laughing at me when I had that problem.
“Ok, so do you know who this is? I am? You're the pony fan after all.” He asked me, still with an angry look on his face.
“I actually have never even seen that pony before. Lyra however has informed me that his name is Spectrum. And, well.... There’s a chance he might actually be gay.”
If you thought he was mad before, you havent seen anything yet. I think his eyeballs were making an attempt to bust out of his head while he screamed bloody murder at the top of his now pony lungs. I told you my father didn’t exactly like gays.
“Well, at least you’ve got wings! I think I’d kill to have wings. Its always been kind of a dream of mine to fly under my own power.”
Hey, wait a minute, what's wrong with unicorns?
Nothing. But if I had a choice I totally would’ve been a pegasus. I have an OC and everything!
I don’t think my father was convinced that he had actually gotten the sweet end of the pony deal. I would have swapped bodies with him if I could have. Actually, scratch that. I don’t know anything about this “Spectrum” other than the fact that Lyra think’s he’s gay. At least I kinda know Lyra’s personality.
“Well as hilarious of a hand as karma just played you, this presents a pretty big problem. You can’t drive anymore.” I said to him, pointing at his now hooves for hands. “I could always give it a shot with my magic, but then Lyra would have to help. She gets a little TOO excited around certain human made inventions, and I don’t think we’d survive.”
Why don’t you let me have any fun?
“I don’t trust you OR Lyra to drive my Jeep. Lets just lock it up and go find another method of transport.”
“You think it’s a good idea to leave it back here?” I asked.
“No, I don’t. But we don’t exactly have a choice. Just grab our bags and lets go. Maybe we can find a bus station or something.”
“Sounds like a good of plan as any. I just hope people are as friendly around here as they were inside that wendy’s.” I said, while Lyra levitated my bag and my father’s bag out of jeep. She locked the door afterwards with her magic as well, after some prodding from me.
“Ok, so where the hell is the bus station?” I ask, as we walked out from behind the wal-mart, towards the streets.
“Good question. Did you bring your phone? Maybe we can find some directions on google maps or something.”
I facehooved. “I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING. Damnit.” I’m forgetful sometimes. Something I’ve been dealing with for a while. Oh well.
“Nevermind, I can use mine. Its alright.” He said, and pulled out his phone. Or rather, he TRIED to pull out his phone. It was rather funny watching him flailing around attempting to get it out his bags. When he finally managed to actually get it out, he was reminded of his lack of hands pretty quickly.
He let out an annoyed grunt. “How am I supposed to use this thing without fingers?!”
“I told you hands are amazing!” I said. Lyra again. She’s apparently able to override whatever I do sometimes. “Sorry, that wasn’t me. Anyway, let me see it. I should be able to get Lyra to use it with some magic, as long as she’s careful with it.”
She dragged the phone off the ground and dragged it in front of me. “I’m sorry, do you have a pen or something?” I asked.
My father now Spectrum, just shook his head no. “No, sorry. I didn’t pack much of anything. This was only supposed to be a four hour trip. So much for that, huh?”
Between the conversation we had been having, and my attempts to get Lyra to use his phone, we had made our way out to the street. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t do crowds that well, even in the smallest portion, but when we got out front, I felt eye’s on us from every direction. Not like I blame them for staring mind you, it was just uncomfortable.
“Don’t look now, but I think the entire area knows we’re here.” I said to Spectrum dad. I wanted to shy away, but Lyra just LOVES crowds, especially when the crowds are full of humans. So, I waved to the ones who didn’t have a big angry look on their faces.
“Just smile and wave, dad.” I said while giving him a look. He was still pretty upset from earlier.
“I think we should keep moving. Did you find the bus station yet?” Spectrum dad asked me.
I whacked the phone a few times while Lyra moved around in front of me with her magic. “Lyra keeps opening up random links. I can’t really control what she does with it, she’s got a mind of her own.”
Look at this...
Lyra had managed to open up a youtube link to a video. “Apparently people all over the place are having the same problem. This is more widespread than I thought, look at this video. There’s somebody who got turned into a pony named Derpy.” I said and shoved the phone in his face.
“This really IS a bigger problem than I thought.” He said. “If all these ponies have the same idea, then we need to get to New York. Mostly because the longer I spend in the body of this pony, the more violated my brain gets.”
I couldn't help but laugh at that one, though I think he did it on purpose. “Yeah. Lyra’s cool and all but I REALLY miss my hands. And Feet. And the rest of my body now that I mention it. That magic is a cool plus though.”
Will you PLEASE check for a bus station now? We’ve been out here for 30 minutes just standing. The one guy in the back keeps staring at is and he’s making me uncomfortable.
Fine Fine.
Lyra finally did what I asked her to do (for once) and found us a nearby bus station. “Apparently there is a bus station not too far from here. We should head there and see if we can find a bus to New york.”
And we set off. I think the entire trip should have only lasted about twenty minutes, but we kept repeatedly getting stopped by random people on the street. Some of them just wanted a hug, some of them asked as many questions as Lyra. Some of them just spit at us just because we had been ponies. Seriously, I’ll never understand the amount of hate people can give for no real reason.
I heard some footsteps behind us, and spun my head around. The same man from earlier had still been back there. I just ignored him at first, but every time we made a turn, he was there as well. He never got too close, but never got to far away.
I leaned over to my dad and whispered in his ear. “Dad we’re being followed. Don’t look, but we should really try and lose him.”
“Are you sure he’s following us?” He asked, still not looking back.
“Its the same guy from in front of the wal-mart. He’s been following us for more than a few intersections.”
“Alright, lets try and dodge him in an alley or something.” Spectrum dad whispered back.
Heading down a darkish alley in an attempt to drop a follower. If was paying any attention at all, I would’ve seen it coming a mile away, but he followed us down the alley. I gave my father a bump with my hoof and we picked up the pace a little. The man behind us followed suit, and continued to follow us down the alley.
“We need split up. Up ahead the ally splits and goes into two different directions. You go left, and I’ll go right. Deal?” He said giving me a serious face.
“I guess. Just be careful Spec.” I said, whispering back.
“I will. And don’t call me Spec. Pony or not, I am still your father.” He responded, and we split paths.
I wanted to say no, but Mr. Creepy behind us was definitely still chasing us. Reluctantly I agreed. It’s not like I had a choice. When we got to the end of the alley, we both took off in a sprint in different directions.
My path lead back to the street and relative safety. My first thought was to find my father. I circled around the other end of the block, hoping to find him at the other end of the alley.
“Spectrum?” I yelled out.
No response.
“Dad?” I yelled again. Suddenly,I heard some yelling. This was followed by the unmistakable cry of my father, calling for help. I panicked, and ran towards the sound of the voice through the alleys. No matter where I traveled, I couldn’t find him. He just vanished. My father had literally just dropped off the face of the earth.
I must have spent about a thirty minutes looking for him, but I had no luck. After running around for that long, attempting to find my missing father, I gave up and did something I haven’t done in over fifteen years.
I cried like a two year old.
You’ve gotta understand, the last two days have been the most stressful days in existence for me. My father had been supportive of me the entire time. Now my father was gone. Vanished into thin air. Captured by an old angry man (I assume) and here I was alone in an alley by myself.
I felt like I had just been crushed by a building.
Day 4
I’m not sure how long I sat alone in that alley, silently crying for my lost father. The alley itself had trash in it, but I didn’t care. I probably stank like moldy cheese from sitting next to the trash itself for so long. I didn’t care. The one person in my world who I had to lean on when things got tough for me had just been stolen away.
What do you do when your pillar of strength is stolen from you? I’m not sure I know the answer to that question. I had an extremely rough childhood in school. My doctors made me use a special backpack because of a disability I had. The same disability hinders my hand motor skills, which impairs my writing. The school itself gave me a laptop which didn't help me from hiding from bullies. I stood out a LOT from the average student. That made me a prime target for bullies.
I’d come home from school upset, and he’d be there to comfort me. I eventually learned to ignore the bullies, but they persisted for a long time before they gave up. I guess thats why I don’t let anybody in anymore. I couldn’t risk letting anybody know how I truly felt when they insulted me, or it would just lead to more insults. So I locked away my emotions and only ever let loose around my father.
But now, that wonderful man who kept me on the straight path. That man who didn’t allow me to follow down the same path of darkness many others had, was taken from me. I had no idea where he was taken or even how to find him. For the first time in an extremely long time, I felt completely and totally helpless.
The sun had gone down by now. I must have been there for what felt like hours. I heard my stomach remind me it was time for food a few times. There was some radio chatter followed by some footsteps coming from the left towards me, but I didn’t dare look up. I didn’t know who it was, but I frankly didn’t care. I almost wished it was that old man come to take me as well. At least then I could’ve gone to see my father. If we could stand together, we’d get out of whatever trouble he was in.
“Hey, are you alright?” He asked, kneeled down next to me.
No. I wasn’t alright.
“You really shouldn’t be sitting in the trash you know. Aren’t you one of those people who had been turned into ponies?”
No, I was wearing an extremely elaborate cosplay outfit and sitting in the trash was part of the dress.
“Hold on a minute.” The man said again, as he turned. “Dispatch, this is Officer Parks. I’ve found one of the Ponies mentioned on the news a few days ago. This one looks like she’s been through a rough spot.”
I heard some radio chatter come back through, but couldn’t understand what was said.
“Acknowledged. I’ll see if I can get her to come back to my place and get her cleaned up. I’ll keep you informed if I get any information.” He responded back before turning back to me. “Listen, I can’t really help you if you won’t talk to me. But I can at least offer you a warm bath, food and a place to sleep for the night.” He said to me, offering me his hand.
I looked up at his hand. I part of me wanted to brush it away and walk in the other direction, but that was the path to nowhere, and that’s a place no man should walk. Besides, it was better than sitting in trash. I brushed his hand away, but walked with him anyway out of the alley, all the while staying silent.
“I had just come out of the coffee shop when I heard you in the alley. My car is just over there.” He said, using his free hand to point to a black and white police car.
We walked over to the car and he opened up the passenger side. He leaned down to help me, but pushed him away as I jumped into his car. I felt a little guilty sitting in his nice clean car when I was literally covered in trash and smelt terrible, but it was his idea. Mr. Parks walked around and got in his side of the car, and started it up.
We drove for about ten minutes, during which he kept trying to get me to talk to him. He must have been a brony because he knew my name. Or rather, Lyra’s name. Lyra is one of the background ponies whose name never gets mentioned, so you could only know her name if you actually looked. He went on to talk about how odd people have been acting around the neighborhood ever since the pony business started.
I ignored him for the most part. Since I wasn’t talking, he continued to talk about his home, since we had been heading there. He mentioned living alone in a small white house on the edge of town. If I had any sense, I’d be kissing his feet for dragging me out of the trash. But typical stubborn Zeik wouldn’t allow for that. Nope.
We arrived a short time later. He pulled the car up the driveway and placed it in park. He jumped out and walked around to help me out, but I had already had Lyra open the door for me. We walked silently up to his doorstep as he fumbled around in his pocket for I assume his house keys.
When we stepped inside, I was more than a little surprised. The place looked extremely well kept. I’m not sure what I expected coming from a neighborhood like this, but then again I wasn’t exactly in a pleasant mood right then.
He lead me into his kitchen, which had all the standard items you’d expect to find in a kitchen. “Listen, I gotta go get this gear off. I’ll report back to dispatch that you’re going to stay here for the night. When I get back, I’ll help you get cleaned up.”
Another example of when I should have been expressing my gratitude, but instead I just kept looking at the floor. He was right though, man I stank. Just like that smell that the old expired meat from my old job. (Don’t tell Lyra.) Parks walked off into the hallway and entered a door. I heard him talking to “Dispatch” again about me, but I wasn’t listening too hard as to what exactly he was saying.
A few minutes later he came back with a white shirt on and some pants that looked pretty similar to the shorts I had put on yesterday. Heh, yesterday. That seems like it was a year ago.
“Alright, first thing you need is a bath.” I couldn't argue with that. “You know Lyra, you can talk to me if you need anything.” See? What did I tell you, he’s a brony.
“My name is Zeik.” I said in a quick, annoyed voice.
“Aha, so you DO talk! What happened to you?”
“…”
“Not ready to tell me?”
Nope.
“That’s fine. Let’s get you into the shower.”
I’m not going to describe how a random stranger led me into the bathroom and washed me head to hoof because that’s kinda weird. Just know that Mr. Parks did, and he was incredibly thorough and careful about it. I removed my own pants/shorts and he threw them into his hamper. I guess he was going to wash them off for me. The whole process took about an hour or so, because of how dirty I was and the fact that fur takes FOREVER to dry off.
“There you go Zeik, you’re all nice and minty fresh again.”
I bet he think’s thats funny.
“Alright, so are you going to talk to me or do I need to feed you first?”
My stomach replied before I could. I hadn't had anything major to eat that day, and I’d lost my bags while running from the old man. He just laughed at me and led me back out into his kitchen, which had a dirt spot on it from where I was sitting earlier, which made me feel worse than I already was.
Parks reached into his fridge and pulled out a few apples and some lettuce, placed them in front of me on a paper plate.
“Now then, you can sleep on the couch in the other room.” He said. “I’m gonna go ahead and wash your pants for you. You’ll get them back tomorrow.” He said as he walked into the bathroom to do so.
“It’s pretty late, so I think I’m going to head off to my bed when I’m finished.” He yelled. I could hear him well enough through the house. “If you need anything at all during the night, just ask.”
I wanted to say I wasn’t hungry and keep on being stubborn, but my stomach reminded me I hadn’t eaten all day long, so I dug into the plate full of food with my mind still on my missing father. I had no idea how I was going to find him. I didn’t even know what had happened other than that man chasing us.
I know one thing, and that was I was tired. After finishing what was on the plate, Lyra used her magic to levitate it into a nearby trash can. She then took a napkin and attempted to wipe the dirt spot off the floor.
You could at least clean up after yourself. That man has been extremely kind to you.
I just ignored her. I walked into Parks living room, which consisted of a coffee table, an entertainment center with a TV in the center, a lazy boy chair and tan couch of which I threw myself on. I’m not sure how long I laid there. I was certain I wasn’t going to sleep with the thought of my father lost on my mind, but it did eventually find me.
“Wake up!”
I felt a hand smack me across the face which instantly got my attention. As for where I was, I’m pretty sure it was my old Elementary school. As soon as I saw Lyra standing in front of me, I knew what was going on, I was having another lucid dream. I was wearing the same get up as I was last time this happened, except this time Lyra had mechanical arms.
“What the hell happened to your front hooves?” I asked a little surprised.
“It’s a dream, I can have whatever the hell I want first of all. Second, I called you back in here because we need to talk Z.”
Oh good, I’m about to get lectured by the mint green talking pony. Great, just what I need. Can’t even sleep anymore.
“Alright fine, I’ll listen. I don’t think I have much of choice anyway.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I don’t think I could leave even if I wanted too.”
“Not in my dreams you can’t. Listen Zeik, you need to get ahold of yourself. Do you not realize what just happened?”
“You smacked me?” I asked sarcastically with a smug look on my face.
“No, you cocky bastard. You’ve been so busy feeling sorry for yourself that you’re letting a perfect opportunity to get your father back get away from you!”
That language kinda surprised me. “Since when did you swear like that?”
“Since I started to merge with your subconscious.” She responded. “It’s not my fault you have a low vocabulary.”
“Wait, what? I’m not merging with you at all. My personality hasn’t changed...”
“Not that you know of! But it has, and you’ll notice it sooner rather than later.” She said, pointing her metal finger at me. “If you're wondering, it started when you finally let down your emotional barrier.”
“Emotional barrier? You mean when I... cried in the alley?” I asked, turning away ashamed.
“Exactly. You’ve been so busy making sure nobody see’s your “weakness” that you’ve been bottling up own emotions for years. Now I understand why, I’ve read into your memories, but that doesn’t mean you should just sit there and do nothing about it.”
“Who gave you permission to read my mind?” I asked a little annoyed.
“Trust me, when you're sitting inside your own body and unable to interact with the world at all, there’s not much to do but reflect on old memories. Even when they aren't yours.” She replied.
“I’ll repeat what I said earlier, you’re letting your chance to get help and find your father get away. Mr. Parks is a COP you idiot, they deal with kidnappings all the time. If anybody can help you, they can. All the things he’s done for you tonight he did because he was a caring man who saw a pony in need, and instead of repaying him by letting him help you, you’ve been shutting him out.”
I turned away in shame, but she was right. Instead of letting him help me, I was just being the stubborn asshole I’ve always been.
“I understand what it’s like to feel like an outcast, believe me I do. How many ponies do you think can even play a lyre? How many ponies live with a CHANGELING?” She said growing angry with me.
Wait what?
“Changeling? What are you even talking about?”
“How else do you think Bon Bon can have five different voices and switch between earth pony and Pegasus? Anyway, that’s not the point. The point here is, you need to wake up and smell opportunity when it kicks you in the face.”
I couldn’t help but feel shamed.
“That Parks man fixed up your coat, brushed you, gave you some much needed food, and you snuffed him. I think you owe him an apology, followed by an explanation.”
“...You’re right.”
“I know I’m right.” Lyra said, walking towards me and giving me a hug with her metal arms. “Listen Zeik, you need to learn to let people in when they’re here to help you. And try not to bottle your emotions up so much. You depend so much on your father, but you had the strength to stand on your own the entire time. You just need to stop being such a stubborn hard ass and see it.”
She broke off the hug and looked me dead in the eyes. “But you're never going to get your father back and fix this mess if you don’t talk him.”
Her words hit home. “You’re right Lyra, I’m sorry I’ve seen such a... well, me.”
“Good. Now, when you wake up, you better start talking to him, or else I’ll use my magic to slam your face into a wall.”
Yeah, I was definitely rubbing off on her.
Day 5
The first thing I noticed when I woke up, was I had somehow managed to find a pillow and attempt to eat it during my sleep. Its kinda funny, I’m not even sure where the pillow had come from. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there the night before, but then again if I didn’t manage to pull a pillow out of nowhere, I think I’d manage to upset the fabric of the universe somehow.
I removed said pillow from my mouth and tossed it to the side. I’d have to apologise for that as well as for my rotten attitude yesterday. As weird as Lyra was last night with the metal arms and her attitude (my attitude), she was right.
I found Parks in the kitchen after a short search, already dressed in his uniform. He was eating breakfast-some form of cereal.
“Ah, sleeping beauty has finally awoken!” He said to me between bites.
I sighed, and swallowed my non-existent dignity. “Listen Officer Parks, I need to apologise for being rather rude to you yesterday.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. Now, why don’t you tell me why I found you sitting in a pile of trash in an alley. I thought Princess Celestia had called all of you to New York.”
“Well... to be honest, I was heading there with my father. Let me tell you the whole story.” I said, taking a seat on the floor next to him.
I spent the next thirty minutes or so telling him how my last two days had gone, from me falling face first out of my bed, to Lyra appearing in my dreams multiple times. I told him about how my father had turned into that other background character Lyra had called Spectrum. I told him how we had planned on heading to New York together when we started getting chased by that strange old man.
“When he followed us down into that alley, we split up. I went one way, and he went the other, in at attempt to lose him. When I got back out into the street, I circled around the block in an attempt to find my father, but he was gone. With him gone... I felt completely alone. I didn’t travel much before this whole... pony thing, so I had no idea where I was.”
“Last night while I slept, Lyra came to me again and talked some sense into me. I am truly sorry I acted like the way I did.” I said, lowering my head in shame.
He just laughed. “Zeik, don’t worry about that. I’ve had people treat me much worse than that. Lets just say that cops aren’t always everybodys favorite thing to see during the day.”
I couldn’t argue with that. To be honest, cops always made me incredibly nervous. I realize that the police are only around to keep people safe, but something about some random stranger I’ve never met who carries a gun around makes me nervous. Yet here I was today, sitting at the feet of Officer Parks like a lost dog. If I had any dignity left before that, it was definitely gone.
“Anyway, so you say your father was kidnapped. Are you sure?” He asked.
“I had spent about a half hour trying to find him before I eventually gave up. That’s about when you found me sitting in the alley.”
“Alright, well I need to make a missing persons-I mean missing ponies report. I’ll call this into dispatch. In the meantime, your pants are sitting on the counter, though I’m not sure why you had been wearing them to begin with.” Parks said, before reaching for his radio.
“This is Officer Parks reporting in for the day. I’ve got some new information regarding the Lyra case I talked to you about yesterday night.” He said, speaking into the mic. “It turns out we’ve got a missing pony and a kidnapping. There’s another pony named Spectrum.”
He turned to me quick. “Can you describe this Spectrum pony?”
“He’s WAS my father, but he’s got black hair, lighter purple fur and a rainbow for a cutie mark. He’s a pegasus.”
Parks turned and relayed the information back to whoever he was talking too on the radio. “This Spectrum was reported kidnapped in back of an alley when the two ponies had noticed they had been followed. Report all that back to the station and let me know if you guys find anything. I’m gonna take Lyra out and see if we can’t find some clues.”
Roger- Came a static voice back over his radio.
He turned back to me. “Listen Ly... Zeik. I want you to know, that I WILL find your father. We’ll find him and make whoever kidnapped him pay. This I promise you.”
“Thank you for your help Officer parks.” I said, extending a hoof. He hesitated for a moment before giving me a fistbump. I guess they’re actually called Brohoofs, or something. I’m not really sure what you call it when one has hands and the other doesn’t. Oh well.
He mumbled under his breath about giving Lyra brohoof followed by a little laugh. I’m pretty sure he was trying his best to try hide his fanboy side, but he wasn’t doing that great of a job. Or maybe Lyra just has good hearing. Yeah, probably that.
Anyway, the rest of the morning consisted of me watching Officer Parks go through his average morning routine while I slapped my fashionable pants back on. Something about wearing them just made me feel better.
Eventually we stepped outside in world again and got into the mans car. At this point, I had managed to get in and out of vehicles without falling on my face.
“Alright Zeik, we’re gonna head off to the same alley I found you in before in an attempt to find out where your father was taken. Maybe we can find some clues.”
“That sounds like as good of plan as any Parks. The sooner we find my father the better.”
“So, while we drive, do you wanna talk about anything? Got anything on your mind?” Parks asked me.
“What? Aside from my missing father? Well... Do you know what its like to have two voices in your head?” I asked him.
“I can’t honestly say that I have, sorry.”
Stupid question. “Yeah I guess you wouldn’t. Normal people don’t wake up mashed into somebody elses body.”
“You know, I gotta ask you Zeik. What’s it like?” He asked me, enthusiastically. His brony was showing again.
“What, being this?” I asked, gesturing to all of me. “To be completely honest? Hell. Lyra is constantly talking to me in my head, I had to completely relearn how to walk, and now I’ve been dragged into some world wide problem that until two days ago I was perfectly content ignoring.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I’ve always kinda wondered what it would be like, but now that its actually happening to people, it doesn't seem to be as exciting as glorified as the rest of the bronies I know had been making it out to be these last few years.”
“You remember the saying, ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone?’ Parks? I REALLY miss my thumbs.” I replied, look down at my stumps for hooves.
“Yeah but Zeik, you’ve got magic now! You can do... just about anything if you put your mind too it.”
I just laughed. “Yeah, magic I can’t even control. Lyra does all of that for me. However, she does do what I ask her to do. Most of the time anyways. To be completely honest, I always wanted to be a pegasus. Flying has always been a dream for me.”
We spent the rest of the ride in relative quiet while we drove to the location. It didn’t take long, he didn’t live that far away.
When we arrived, Parks told me to retrace my steps from the other night. I showed him hoof step for hoof step what had happened. I described to the best of my ability what I had done and my scramble to find my father afterwards.
“Alright, this should be pretty simple.” Parks told me. “There are camera’s all over the place near this particular section of the city. All we really should have to do is find one of the camera’s that has a good shot of your father and the kidnapper.” He said, as we walked back towards his police car. “If he vanished as fast as you said, he must have used a car. If that’s the case, we can simply track the make and model and find him pretty quick.”
“Hopefully it’ll be that simple, but somehow I doubt it.” I replied back to him.
“We need to make a stop at the local station so I can report our findings. I’m not going to leave you alone with ponynappings happening, so I’m afraid you're gonna have to stick with me for a little while longer.” He said.
“Listen Parks, you are the best shot of good luck I’ve had in awhile. Besides, I’d go to hell and back to find my father and bring him back.” I replied back to him.
We jumped back into Officer parks police car and we drove off towards the station. The station itself was a little farther off than the ride to the scene itself. During the drive, he asked Lyra a few questions, which meant I was a middle man of sorts since she couldn’t talk directly. Not normally anyways.
Finally after about thirty minutes we had arrived. He lead me inside the station where he asked me to wait in the front. Apparently they didn’t like having non-personal in the back. So, I waited. And waited. And kept waiting.
This part of the day kinda sucked. Parks was looking over all the tapes that they had access too in that part of the city, so I was in there for the long haul while we waited. I was having a little conversation with Lyra the entire time, so it wasn't too bad, although I probably looked pretty crazy just staring off into nothingness for hours on end. Actually, I’m pretty sure some of the cops and other employees who were coming in and out of the building were more than a little surprised to see a pony sitting there, staring off into nothingness.
Lyra and I had been talking about random things. She’d ask me questions about things that humans do, I’d ask her about equestria things. It got to the point where we started telling each other funny stories, which of course would make me burst out laughing. Got all kinds of funny looks for that.
Anyway what seemed like an eternity later, Parks returned with some sorta good news. “Listen Zeik, I’ve been through all the tapes in the area. Turns out we did get one good shot of a man dragging an knocked out pony into the van from that intersection. I’m 100% certain it was your father, he matched your description perfectly.”
“The down side is, while we’ve got a make and model, it’ll still take a day or so to track him down. I’ve got a warrant out for the vehicle and sent it to all of our patrolling officers. If anybody sees the van, we’ll know about it.”
“Thank you again for your help Parks.”
“Like I said, I’m just doing my job as a cop. Besides, I’ve wanted to hang out with one of you ponies since this whole thing started, so I’m more then willing to lend a hand.” Parks said to me.
“Listen, I’m still not too keen on leaving you out and about, so would you mind terrible staying with me for the duration of the investigation?” He asked.
Hmmm...... Go get lost in a city with some crazy out there kidnapping ponies or sleep in a cops house. Hard choice.
Don’t think I won’t carry out my threat from earlier if you do something stupid and mess this up.
Easy Lyra it was a joke.
“I think I’ll take you up on that offer. I don’t have a better place to go anyway.” I said, shaking his hand. “Besides, I’m NOT leaving till I find my father and give Dr. Creepy a bit of payback. Nothing stands in the way of the Hassler family.”
“Hassler? Is that your last name then?” He asked
“You heard NOTHING.”
Nice job.
Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeik.....
I heard my name called through the darkness, but I dared not look back. I didn’t know what I was running from, but I knew it couldn’t let it get to me.
Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeik....
I’m not even sure how I got in this forest, but that wasn’t really important, all I know right now is to keep running, no matter how far I had too. I felt every step the monster behind me took, rattling the earth.
Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeik....
Ok, it was definitely getting closer, and I’m not sure how much longer I could run for. I was feeling the strain from running for an extended period of time, and whatever was chasing me was definitely right on my tail.
Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeik....
Don’t look back. Keep running. Don’t look back. Keep running. Don’t look back. Keep runnin-
I ended up tripping on an upturned root, which seemed to grab at my foot. I didn’t have time to free myself before it was upon me.
Day 6
“ZEIK! Wake up!” Said Parks straight in my ear.
I shot up from the couch, and instinctively looked around for whatever it was that was about to smash me out of existence.
“You kicking and screaming in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare or something?”
I looked up at Parks wide eyed and a little relieved. “Wow... Yeah, I was being chased by something through some woods I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know what I was, but something told me to just keep running away from it.” It was then that I realized I must have been sweating pretty good. I was gonna need a shower.
“Thanks for waking me up, Parks. That’s a little unsettling, I normally don’t have nightmares, especially not like that. Either way, why aren't you dressed in your uniform?” I asked, hopping off the couch.
“I’ve got the day off today. I’m still gonna keep an eye on you today and keep my pistol on me, incase anything happens, but for the most part today is gonna be an easy day for us.” He replied
“What about my father?”
“Trust me Minty, I’m far from the only cop in this town. By now the entire state is out looking for that van. It shouldn’t be too much longer before they locate it. Besides, YOU look like you could use a few days to unwind anyway.”
I wanted to argue back about how finding my father was the most important thing to me, and it was. I also couldn’t argue that I had a lot of built up stress. These last few days haven’t been kind to me.
“Yeah... alright. But the second you hear anything about my father, we go alright?”
“Deal.” He said, and shook my hoof.
“....Wait, Minty?”
The rest of the morning was pretty standard as far as mornings go. I got a shower with Parks help again. I got a quick salad from him. I’d have to find my wallet and repay him somehow for all the things he’s done for me.
When the morning rituals had been completed, we headed out of the house. By now it was around noon ish. What can I say, I like to sleep a lot.
“Alright Zeik, where are we headed?” He asked me.
“Wait, you're asking me? This is your town, not mine. I don’t know.”
“Well... what kinda thing’s do you enjoy doing?”
“Well before this whole pony thing, I’d play games with my friends, so maybe an arcade or something. Anything to put my mind at ease at this point would be wonderful.” I replied back.
I tried my best not to show it, but I was still really freaked out by that crazy nightmare. And the fact that I hadn't heard from Lyra all morning was a little frightening.
“Well we have a small one down a little ways. Come on, lets walk there. It’ll be good to get you out in the city a little bit.”
“Why, so another random stranger can run off with me too?”
“Zeik, I’m a cop with a gun. I highly doubt anybody would be stupid enough to try something like that with me near you. You can think of me as your bodyguard of sorts till we get this all taken care of. Besides, fresh air is good for you.”
Couldn’t fault him there, he was right again. I’m gonna start calling him Mr. Right if he keeps that up. Heh.
Arcades! Home away from home. Sure you could call me a bit of a no life loser if you wanted, but that’s my story and I’m sticking too it.
Coming to the arcade definitely helped me relax a little bit. I used to work inside one of these back in my hometown, so I knew all the little tricks to the insides of the machines and easy ways to “cheat.” Hey, I never said I was honest. That’s applejacks job not mine.
The arcade itself was a little run down. The whole place have used a good dusting, but maybe that was old habits talking. The building itself was full of people, all of which instantly turned to look at me at once.
Seriously, I swear they all must’ve had microchip implants that told them when ponies got near, because it was probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never had the honor of being the center of attention before, so it wasn’t exactly helping my nerves.
“They are ALL staring at me. All of them. Every single one.”
“I hate to tell you this Minty but Ponies aren’t something you see everyday.” He said, patting me on the head.
“Would you stop that?!” I say, brushing his hand away. “Yes, I realize that I am abnormal, but come on, can’t a pony get any sense of normality?”
“Not when the pony is the one out of place, hah.”
“You are so not helping.”
We wandered into the arcade, searching for anything to keep my mind busy, which was still oddly absent of Lyra. I however quickly took notice of an old favorite of mine. They had a laser dome in here!
“Parks, we have to go play Laser tag.” I said.
“Laser tag huh?”
“Yeah, its an old favorite of mine. Plus, how many people do you think are gonna expect a small mint green pony to pop out of a corner?”
He laughed. “Well I suppose you have a point there. Lets go sign up.”
We headed off to the counter and signed up. The man running the place was more than a little surprised to see me, understandably. A few minutes of signing later, and he had us set up in the back. Getting a vest that fit me was a little difficult, but we eventually found one.
The game itself was nuts all things considered. Don’t ask me how I managed to hold the gun, because I’m not even sure how that worked. I assume ponies have some sort of super glue that they used to hold things with their front hooves. I would have asked Lyra to help me, but she still had not responded to my prodding.
As far as actually playing, well... lets say nobody was expecting Lyra Heartstrings to come around the corner and blast them. It was amazingly fun, even if we managed to lose most of the games we played in.
I finished the game, and I should have felt happy, I really felt like everything was great, but I just felt like I had woken up. I almost felt angry that it hadn’t somehow made me instantly happy.
My fear and bitterness returned quickly. I had to force a fake smile to keep Parks from asking what was wrong, and when he asked what we should do next, I drew a blank. I had no motivation.
I wanted to lay down and just stare at a wall. But I couldn’t tell Parks that. He was trying to help.
I could feel the bitter thoughts running through his... our head.
It reminded me of my own past, and I cursed the similarities that were pushing us together, no matter how hard I fought.
I had just moved out of my parent’s house...
It took me awhile, I managed to finally get a home in a small town called Ponyville. I lived it a rather nice house just a few blocks away from the local bakery run by the cakes. Paying for the home itself, was quite the challenge, however.
My parents gave me a few hundred bits when I moved out, but it wasn’t enough to sustain myself for too long without a source of income. For a while, I took my Lyre out to the middle of the local park and would just play. The Lyre was an incredibly rare instrument for a pony to play, so I’d manage to get a few bits that way.
It wasn’t enough in the long run, as the bill did eventually begin to pile up. I couldn’t find a job in the local area, and if I didn’t manage to do something soon I was going to be out of a house.
I started posting room for rent signs around the local town. It was a desperation move, in an attempt to not lose my house to the bank, but for the longest time nobody had responded to my ads.
I considered asking my parents for bits, but I wouldn’t let myself fall to that level. If I had known then what I know now, it might’ve made a world of difference. But then, if I had done that, I also would have never met Bon Bon.
She was the tan earth pony who eventually answered my ad. Back then, I was pretty sure it was already too late. The Bank was about to have me vacated due to lack of payment, but then Bon Bon came into my life.
I told her that I was about to lose the house, but she had an idea. We came to an agreement eventually, and she used her own money to buy the house from me, and pay off the bits owed to the bank, thus saving my house. Her house.
During the time before I met Bon Bon, I felt incredibly alone. But, here I was again, stuck in this boys mind alone without her. Now he had lost someone dear to him as well, and the similarities began to stack up.
The rest of the day was pretty much a blur of action. We left the arcade soon after the lazer tag, and Parks showed me around his little town. I kept a brave face on so he wouldn’t worry about me, but I was constantly trying to keep my thoughts my own.
He gave me a few worried looks but I brushed them off as nothing while we passed through the town. At one point I had my picture taken with a few girls who said they recognized me. Said they would post it on their facebook or something.
Before the day was over, I was pretty much exhausted both mentally and physically. We headed back to his place and checked the answering machine for any information regarding the mystery van. Apparently a few people rumored seeing it, but all of the leads ended in dead ends.
Looks like finding my father wasn’t going to be easy, and now I’ve got to worry about losing myself as well. Then again, nobody ever said life was easy.
Another night of restless sleep. I haven’t actually had a good solid nights sleep since this whole fiasco with Lyra started, and its only gotten worse with my fathers disappearance. I gotta say, I felt a little guilty sleeping soundly with my father somewhere lost in the world.
The day started about the same as it did yesterday, I dragged myself of Officer parks couch. I helped him make breakfast this morning to try and take my mind off.... well, my mind. I helped him make eggs of some sort, and even if I used to be a terrible cook, Lyra’s actually pretty good at it. That’s not exactly a good thing though, just means we’re merging more as the days go own, despite our efforts to stay separated.
I was still doing my best to keep my thoughts my own, trying to retain my own sense of self, but its becoming increasingly hard. I wonder if Parks has noticed? I imagine if he had, he would have told me by now.
Speaking of Parks, he was talking to me while I was off in dreamland again.
“I’m sorry Officer Parks, I didn’t hear you. What’d you say?”
“I just asked you if you're alright. You’ve been acting a little odd since yesterday.”
“Yeah I’m fine. Totally great. Never better actually.” I said, taking a bite of an apple he’d given me.
He just shook his head. “You are a terrible liar. Either way, we need to hurry. I need to be at the office soon. Word is that somebody at the station has seen the van that had your father in it.”
There goes that apple, all over the floor. He really shouldn’t surprise me like that while I’m trying to eat.
“Wait, somebody found him?!” I said, excitedly while jumping at him.
“I didn’t say that. I said somebody saw the van We need to check out credibility of the source before we just run off. It could just be another false lead.” He explain, pushing me back to the floor.
“Wait, another? You mean people have been giving you false leads?” I asked
“Well yeah. There are a lot of Black Vans in the world you know.” He replied.
“Oh... But still, I suppose that’s better than nothing...”
Well damn. Still, thats hope! Any hope at this point is definitely welcome. We finished the rest of our breakfast in a hurry and headed into the police station.
This time, I was allowed into the back. I guess since I was so related to the case (He was my father) they let me in. Not sure why they didn’t let me in last time. Cops man, go figure.
Either way, this time he lead me into what I could only assume was his office. Very neat place, if I do say so myself. His desk extremely well organized for having a ton of papers on it. Twilight Sparkle would be proud.
“So, you said somebody had seen the van. Who?” I asked him while pacing back and forth in the smaller office.
“Hang on, I’ve got the report here on my desk.” He said to me while shuffling around some papers, looking for the correct one. “Aha!”
“Alright Minty, here’s the scoop.” He said, while reading the paper. I shot him a glare, but I don’t think he saw it. Stupid short Ponyness.
“The van was spotted via a security camera off one of the stop lights. Its confirmed as being the same van that your father... Spectrum had been thrown into as the licence plate matches exactly.” He said, giving a small pause. “The van was last seen around Lake Erie, Northwest Harborcreek.”
“The van’s exact location is currently unknown, but we can confirm that it has not left the area. We should head out there as soon as possible.” He finished, putting the paper back into the folder in which it came from.
“Finally, progress!” I said excitedly. First sign of good News I’ve had in awhile. “Thank you so much for your help Officer Parks, we’ve got to get going immediately!”
“Hold on Minty, that’s a bit outside my range. I can’t just up and go that far out without approval. It shouldn’t be too much problem though, so don’t worry too much.” he said with a smile at my enthusiasm.
“I never really thought about that, but I guess cops do have set areas huh? You guy’s do a lot more work then I gave you credit for.” I say back.
“Tell you what, you stay here and I’ll go ask my superior if its alright for me to continue working this case, alright?”
With a quick nod, Parks was out the door and left me there alone with just time on my hands. I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing somepony. It wasn’t just my father, somebody else was missing. It was kind of like a piece of myself had gotten up and walked away. Or maybe I was the one who had walked away. I’m not sure, but what I DO know is, I REALLY want to find my father. I never really truly appreciated him nearly enough.
Note to self: Glomp father upon reunion.
A few minutes longer, Parks poked his head in the door. “Hey Minty, I need you to come with me.” He says in a serious tone.
“What’s wrong? Won’t he let you go?” I ask.
“I can go, but only on one condition. Come with me.” He said, and lead me out of his office door and down the hall. We walked inside another room with a much larger cop inside.
“Thank you Park.” The Larger cop said. “I am Officer Hanks. Your name is....?”
“Lyr-Zeik.” I said, shaking his outstretched arm, in a wonky handshake. “My name is Zeik, regardless of what parks says.
“Listen, we at the station have no problem letting Parks follow this case. He’s the one who’s been taking care of you and making sure you’ve been well cared for while we found your father. There is however, a slight problem. See, you aren’t the only one who’s been turned into a pony, as you're well aware. There’s been rumors going around of some kind of anti pony group going around.”
That explained my fathers kidnapping, but it also put him at a LOT more risk. What if they wanted to hurt him?
“To that end, you are also allowed to go, but on one condition. You have to wear this.” He said, holding up what I’m PRETTY sure was one of those leg bracelets they put on people who are on parole.
“Why exactly do you want me to wear that?” I ask, giving the device a glance over.
Officer Hank Continued “We want to be able to keep track of your location at all times. This is in no way a leash, please don’t think of it like that. But, just incase something like this happens to you, we want you to wear this.”
I thought it over a little bit before responding. It made sense in practice, and I understand why they’d want to keep track of me. Still, it would feel a bit degrading having to wear something they normally only put on criminals.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to wear it.” I responded back, agreeing.
“Then its settled!” He said, handing the device to officer parks. I raised my front right leg and he (carefully) attached it. It was definitely a snug fit, but it didn’t look like it would have fit a human, which got me curious. Did they have this thing made ahead of time?
“Did you have this made up ahead of time? I doubt very much this would have fit a human.”
Parks looked at me and said. “Its true. They had it made up the first day I found you, but I wouldn’t let them slap it on you right away. I think the plan is to have all of the existing ponies wear one so they can keep track of you, but it has to be voluntary. The Police don’t want to force it. At least, I don’t. To that end, we also have one made up for you father when we get him back.”
“That sounds reasonable enough.” I said, giving the black device a few glances over, with it now attached to my leg. “So does that mean we can leave now, Parks?”
“That depends on Hank.”
Hank just writes down a few things on his desk. I couldn’t see it, I wasn’t tall enough to see exactly what it was, but after a few minutes he gave a sheet to parks and gave us an all clear. I gave Hank my thanks, even if he did slap a tracking device on me, it was for the greater good.
“Alright Minty, we’re set. Lets get going!” He says, leading me back out of the station and to his specific car.
I get myself set in the passenger side, and use my Magic to buckle myself up. Hopefully, by the end of today, I’ll have my father back, and I’ll be back on track to New York. For now, however, I have a drive ahead of me.
Did I ever mention I hate car rides?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: I am so sorry this took so long for how short it was. I was forcing myself to write out chapters and needed a break. Anyway, the next chapter should be out MUCH faster then this one took, and will most likely be much longer. I have plans.
Day 7 - One agonizingly long car ride later.
Did I mention how much I hate car rides? I’m pretty sure I did, but I think I need to say it again to make sure my point gets across. Its one thing if I’m the one driving, I have to pay attention. But when I’m just riding, its so PAINFULLY boring.
Ok, I’ve ranted enough. So, one long car ride later we had finally arrived in the area the Black van was spotted in. I of course wanted to begin searching immediately, but no such luck. Parks had told me that we needed to stop at the local Police Station so he could check in with them.
When we pulled up the station, he parked along side. Parks asked me if I wanted to head inside with him, but I declined his offer. I wanted out of the car, but police stations still kinda stress me out.
I watched Parks walk into the Station as I got out of the Car as well. I wasn’t too concerned about anybody trying the same trick they pulled on my father for two reasons. First, I had this itchy device attached to my front leg, and second I was sitting RIGHT next to a cop car in front of a station. I hopped out of the car and stretched my legs out and waited for Parks to come back out of the police station.
While I was waiting, I heard some shouting from across the street. Being the nosey person I am, swung my head around to see what the commotion was. Turns out, a smaller child had noticed me sitting across the street and had taken off straight in my direction. The mother was shouting after her, chasing her across the street, desperately trying to catch up to her daughter. Thank the gods the street was clear.
The small girl belined straight for me and gave me a tackle hug. And you know what? It felt nice to get a hug from somebody for once, even if it wasn’t Bon Bon. Shortly after the mother arrived and finally managed to pry the girl off of me and apologized.
“Don’t worry too much about it, it was nice to get a hug for once.” I said to the mother. I extended my hoof and we shook hands/hoofs.
“I’ve heard about this commotion on the news, but I never expected to see one of you Ponies just sitting on the street!” The mother asked.
“Trust me Ms, if this situation we reversed I’ve as about as surprised as you.” I responded back.
“What’s that black thing on your right hoof?” The small girl asked me.
I glanced down at it before explaining. “Well... There’s been some trouble around recently. The Police Officers want me to wear it so they could keep track of me.” I hesitated slightly before continuing. “A.... friend of mine had been ponynapped from me.” I said. “I’m working together with the cops in an effort to try and get him back.”
“Oh dear... That doesn’t sound very nice! Was it Bon Bon?” The small girl asked. The question actually surprised me a little bit, but apparently this girl knew her background ponies. I didn’t get a chance to answer the girls question however, as Officer Parks came back outside.
“We’ve got all the information we need. Lets get searching.” He said to me, before waving at the mother and child. I said my goodbyes to the small child and her caring mother before getting another Hug from the girl, and we departed.
“Made a friend did you?” Parks asked me.
“I dunno if I’d say that, but she was nice. Besides, how can you say no to a hug from such a cute little girl anyway?” I replied back.
Parks turned back to me and gave me a questioning glance. “You ok?”
“Yep! I mean, aside from my father being missing, I’m great! Especially since we’re so close to finding him!”
“You’ve been acting stranger the normal today, that’s all.” He said, before continuing. “Anyway, the local cops haven’t been able to pinpoint the location of our van, so we’ve got some searching to do.”
“Well, we won’t find it sitting here. Lets drive!” I said back
First time I’ve ever been excited for a car ride.
A few hours later
“Ugh, we’ve been all over this place. Where could he have gone?” I said.
“I’m not sure Minty, but we’ve been at this for more than a few hours. We should stop for food soon. Its already dark outside.” He said, looking back and forth between the road and a GPS.
“Stop? But I thought you said he was in this area! We can’t stop if he’s close!” I yelled.
Parks responded back. “Listen Minty, I realize you're worried for your father's sake, but we can’t search forever. We’ll stop for subs at a nearby subway and then we’ll find a place to say.”
“But-”
“That wasn’t up for debate.”
Wow. Now I’m getting talked down to by an police officer like he was my father. Then again, he was probably just looking out for my safety. Parks found a Subway on his crazy Police GPS road map thingy, and we were off towards one in no time.
Sure I was hungry, but my first priority was finding my father. I hated putting myself before others, especially when they were in potential danger, but Parks was the cop, so I don’t really get to argue with him.
A short while later, we found ourselves inside. We both had relatively small subs. I don’t know about Parks, but I wasn’t really hungry. I couldn’t help but stare out the window as I waited for our search to continue. I’d guilt Parks into continuing if I had too, but we weren’t stopping until we found him. Not when we were so close. I’d drive the car myself if I had too!
I ate my sub quickly, and while I waited for Parks I decided to talk to him. It hit me a while ago, that I didn’t really know much about this man who was going well out of his way for me.
“So Parks, how long have you been on the Force with the Police?” I asked him.
“I joined about a year ago. I can tell you I don’t regret a minute of it, helping out people feels good, though I can say you are by far and away the strangest case I’ve ever had.” He replied back.
“I can definitely believe that.” I said, looking back at my own tail and fur. “You know, this thing bracelet thing is a little itchy.” I said while trying my best to itch with hooves. Let me tell you, that’s complicated.
“So Minty, do you have any friends back home?” He asked me.
That’s a complicated thought. “Yes and No. I have a lot of friends on the internet in all corners of the world. If you mean friends I’ve actually met, there’s a REALLY good friend I know named John, and a few others, but mostly I play a lot online. What about you?”
“I... don’t have a lot of friends outside of the force. My parents aren’t anywhere near where I live and work, so I use the internet as well.” He responded.
“Well, tell you what Parks. When I get this whole business sorted out, I’ll come back to your home town and maybe we can chill together. Deal?”
“That sounds like a fine plan Minty.” He said.
The relative calm of the shop was shattered as Parks police radio roared to life.
“Older Male Spotted driving the Black Van involved in the suspected kidnapping of a Pony has been spotted heading near Lake Erie. It’s currently being tracked by a police chopper. All units, please converge to the location.”
That’s all it took. Both Officer Parks and I were off in a flash, leaving our messy table and a small tip that had been laid out earlier. We wordless left the Subway and jumped back into Parks Police car and took off.
“The Location isn’t too far off from where we are now.” Parks said to me as we flew down the road. “Dispatch, is anybody near the Van at this time?” He asked his invisible partner.
“Negative. The Suspect however, know’s we have a chopper following him and is driving recklessly. Please proceed with caution.”
Parks flipped a switch in his car, and his Sirens were flaring atop his car. “Make sure your buckled up Minty, this ride is gonna get a little rough.” He said to me. Not that I wasn’t already buckled, but I guess he didn’t want to take any chances.
By this time, the sun was down and it was dark outside. Regardless, Parks speed down the streets at speeds I wouldn’t ever dare reach. They teach these cops how to drive like champion racers, because Parks was doing a fantastic job weaving between traffic.
The entire time, I was glued to my seat. I didn’t dare say anything to the man driving this car. Its not that I didn’t trust him, but driving at these speeds had me nervous. I rarely drove over 50, and I’m pretty sure Parks was doing near 90 down these roads.
Before I knew it, Parks had already managed to catch up the Black van. It was indeed headed down the road following Lake Erie.
Parks picked up another mic and spoke out of a loudspeaker attached to the top of his car. “Pull the vehicle over now, or I’ll use force!”
The Man the in Black Van responded by pulling a pistol out of his window and firing it a few times in our direction. I immediately ducked of course. I was already scared shitless at this point, and the gunfire wasn’t helping.
“Shots fired!” Parks yelled into his mic attached to dispatch. I’ll never forget what happened next for the rest of my days. Parks Pulled his pistol out of its holster and aimed it out of his window. While driving 90 Miles an hour down a road, he managed to shoot the Vans back rear tire out.
“Holy shit you’ve got good aim.” I said
“They don’t let just anybody use a pistol you know.” He replied back.
“Back up is on its way Officer Parks, continue pursuit.” Came Dispatch again over his radio.
The van swerved back and forth as the man attempted to maintain control. I can only imagine how hard that must be with a tire down at 90 miles an hour. The Black Van tried to make a quick turn towards a warehouse, only to lose control. It spun out several times before coming to a stop on its side.
The Man inside was quick on his feet however. Before Officer Parks could get his car stopped, the man had climbed out and fled inside.
“Stay here Zeik.” Ordered Officer Parks as he jumped out of his car and darted into the warehouse.
I didn’t listen. Instead, I jumped out of the car as well. I wanted look inside of the van. If that’s the van my father was seen in last, maybe he was still in it! At least, that was my hope.
I ran around the back of the Black Van and tugged the black doors open with my magic. They didn’t budge right away, so I had to use a little extra force. Probably because of the damage the van had sustained. When the doors finally did swing open, I peered inside hopefully. Instead, all I found was a an empty van, a few guns the Man had in the van, and a carpet that had some blood on it.
That immediately made me think the worst. Was my father dead? It was a possibility, the man had a lot of guns and was apparently insane. I picked up a pistol with my magic and closed the doors. If this man had taken my father from me, he’s was going to pay.
At this point, I wasn’t sure if I was thinking straight anymore. I had never held a real gun before, let alone use one, let ALONE with magic. I didn’t think about that when I picked it up initially, but I had it now. I headed towards the Warehouse where I heard gunfire coming from.
I peared my head inside to see what was going on. The inside of the warehouse had boxes and cages all over the place. Most of which were empty, though there was one cage near the back that had something inside it. To the left of the cage, was the crazed old gunman firing officer parks across the room.
Suddenly, the old crazy man spoke. “You should be on our side you pig! These ponies are an abomination! They deserve nothing less than death! They could be a threat to the human race!”
I continued inside and snuck around the right edge of the warehouse inside. The gunfire was much louder from inside this building, with all the noise contained, my ears were flat against my head and the noise still hurt my poor pony eardrums. This was going to scar me to for life.
Parks responded back while reloading his pistol from behind a box. “Those abominations as you put it, were human once! They still have their human spirit trapped inside of the bodies! Why do you attack them?”
I snuck behind Parks and was slowly making my way to the other side of the warehouse. Had I been in my right mind, I wouldn’t have been anywhere near this scene, but clearly I’d lost my mind. I mean, I was still scared shitless, but I wasn’t about to let this crazy man take my father away. Not again.
The old man responded. “What they once were is no consequence of mine! They are now abominations and are to be destroyed!”
I managed to eventually get to the other side of the warehouse, dangerously close to the man who was very actively trying to kill Officer Parks. I still had the gun, but I couldn’t bring myself to shoot him. I aimed it at him a few times from a distance, but couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why I couldn’t do it, especially since he had every intention of killing me, my father, Officer Parks, and maybe even others.
Instead, I looked up at the cage I had spotted from across the room, and there he was. My beaten and bloody, but still breathing father. My excitement got ahead of me, and I shouted.
“Father!”
What happened next will most likely guilt me forever. Parks noticed my position and yelled for me to get away from the man. The Old man took advantage of Parks momentary lack of awareness and shot him in the chest. Parks immediately fell to the ground in a yelp of pain.
“No, Parks!”
“You little beast you!” The man shouted, and turned the gun on me.
I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. Ponyville, my high school, the bullies, my family, Bon Bon. I saw both of our memories flash in front of me.
I turned.
I ran.
I heard the gunfire go off as I ducked behind a box.
I was too slow, as I felt a blinding white pain pierced into my back leg as I cried out. I kept running away on my three good legs, but he was easily keeping up with me. The Reality of my situation came crashing down on me. I was most likely about to die, and not only was I going to die, but I was going to take Lyra and Parks with me.
All because I was too stubborn to wait in the car.
I tried to duck behind another box when I felt the man’s hand grab my mane. He lifted me into the air, staring at me in the eyes while pushing his pistol against my skull. I could feel the cool metal, pressing up against my fur, and knew I was done for.
I was thinking as fast as I could trying to find a way out of my situation. Then, it happened.
I heard gunfire. But it wasn’t the gun next to my head that had gone off. Instead, Parks had made it to his Knees and managed to shoot the man in the head. He dropped me to the ground, as his blood covered my fur.
I heard Parks yelling into his Mic about something, but my ears couldn’t pick it up. The pain from being dropped 4 feet directly onto my already damaged leg put me in a massive amount of pain. As I lay on the cement inside of the warehouse, more of the local cops finally showed up.
I never got to see if Parks was ok, or if my Father was alive or not. Between the pain in my leg, witnessing a man’s head explode, and all the stress of dodging a firefight for the last 10 minutes finally got to me.
I blacked out.
