//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: My Past Is Not Today // by Kaffeina //------------------------------// "Uhhh, you talking about horse me or me me?" I blanked as I felt the thudding of birds come to a stop and attempted to process what exactly my day had become. The RA's silence was practically palpable, in fact it made me uncomfortable that he was staring at me. He let out a sigh, and then shook his head. "Whatever, this room has been empty for months, no one has been in it since the incident," the RA answered his voice stern, "So tell me what you were doing in there." "Doing? I lived in there!" I spat out, "One minute I'm headed to bed, the next I'm a horse and it's been months!" "The last person in that dorm went home shortly after the incident, I find it hard to believe you stayed here and hid in the dorm. I checked myself just last week and it was empty," he rolled his eyes. "So again, you will tell me what you were doing or I'll have you removed from the campus by security." "I live here!" I answered, pushing the door back open. My lapse in judgment was only momentary as I realized the demonic little bastard birds had to still be in there. "Oh shit wait they'll-" I went silent as the door creaked open and revealed a room devoid of furniture or anything really. The floor was dusty and the curtains only let faint light in, enough to realize that, as the beam of light from the hall entered it, this place hadn't been touched in awhile. "I-What? Where's my stuff? My computer? My bed?" I whispered as I stared wide-eyed at the devoid room. "It was just there I swear, how could it have-" I was interrupted by a yell from the RA, "Security!" Where was my stuff? It hadn't even been half a minute, there's no way it was all moved out that quickly. That must dust and dirt can't possibly build up that quickly. Literally everything was gone! In my shocked stupor, I felt myself being picked up off the ground as I stared blankly into the room. This wasn't possible, it was all just there! Wait, but why hadn't the room been covered in dust when I woke up. This made no sense! My internal monologue was interrupted by my muzzle meeting wet grass and I stared blankly at the ground. "Now I'm homeless, a horse, and completely broke. What kind of nightmare is this? Can I wake up now, is it possible to wake up? Hey, subconscious, can I please get up now? This dream sucks," I closed my eyes and stayed on the ground, hoping that in a moment the wet and hard ground would become my soft comfy bed and I'd get my hands back. 3... 2... 1... I opened my eyes, nope still a yellow fur-coated muzzle and no hands to speak of. "Reality fuckin sucks," I sighed and peeled myself off the ground. "Right so where did big horse say it was she needed those element ponies?" I sat down and tapped my chin with a hoof and frowned. "Uhhh, New York? I don't think I'm one of them but it can't hurt, especially since I just got evicted without a notice." I let out another sigh and a cough interrupted me. Sitting in front of the brick wall blocking off the school was an older man in a lawn chair. "You seem pretty relaxed if you've been evicted," he said. I shrugged, I think, but I'm a horse right now so no guarantees, right? "If there's one lesson I've learned, you have to roll with the punches, dwelling on them is a waste of time." The old man nodded calmly. "Clever horse, ain't ya?" he chuckled. "If yer talkin about where them horses are goin, it's the Apple. Not sure why they picked it, but ain't my job to wonder, I'm just here to bird watch." "Seen anything good?" I asked. "A few cardinals, a hawk, and a few jays, ain't much but my wife loved doing it," he said and turned his gaze back to the trees. I looked skywards as well. "Well, thanks, have a good one." "Be careful kid, all kinds of stuff has been going on with the horses," the old man didn't even look back at me as I stood up. I waved my hoof and looked down the road at the winding road. It had, evidently, rained recently considering the puddles and smell of damp earth. My new-found hooves clopped on the ground as I started walking. I hummed a merry tune as the droplets of water fell down and occasionally splashed against my back. No cars as of yet and I had to have been walking for an hour. Really, will I have to walk the whole way? Man this freakin suckkkkkks. Which horse even am I anyway? I mean, honestly, I know most of the horses from the show were of varying colors but I can't remember any with bacon hair. Not sure it honestly matters, I'm probably just one of the hundreds of random characters in the background anyway. As I mused while walking, I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. I turned around and waved my hoof again. Maybe they'll be nice and stop. Even a few miles down the road would be fine at this point, "Excuse me! Could I-" I was interrupted something crashing into my head and the car sped off down the road. "STUPID HORSE," followed by loud laughter was all I heard. I wiped my face with a hoof and looked down, a Styrofoam cup. Yup, that was definitely soda. Lovely. Sticky skin was bad enough, but fur too? I am going to need one hell of a shower, but first was finding someone actually nice enough to help. Even my phone was in that room, I can't even make a call now. "This just in, this fuckin sucks," I muttered as I resumed my walk. I could feel the sensation of matted down fur and I was already dreading the mess this was going to be. Honestly, throwing a soda at someone is a dick move. My hooves resumed their typical soft clopping sounds as they met with the asphalt. It was already annoying enough the school was so far from town and walking that distance was even worse. "Ha! Finally! Civilization!" I raised a hoof in victory. The town was up ahead, well within sight. It wasn't a huge one, but a few thousand people was a decent chance at a ride or help of some sort. I walked past the first building and say the gas station, with a nudge from my hoof the door opened. "Hello! How are you today?" the clerk greeted me with a cheery smile. Long brown hair, green eyes, and a relatively normal shirt reading Casey's along with her nametag. "Could be worse," I answered as she looked down at me and her grin grew wider. "You're adorable!" she squealed. "Thanks, you got a phone?" I asked as I pulled my front up and rested my forelegs on the counter. "Sure!" she said and went to hand a smartphone to me. I stared at her for a minute. "I'm a horse, you have any idea how hard it'll be to use this thing?" I looked at the device in her hand with a cocked eyebrow. "Don't unicorns have magic?" she asked. "Sure, but I can't, or more like, I don't know how to use it."