“We hope you are all having a fantastic evening tonight. Once we get back from our sponsors we’ll finally be getting into the latest breakout news: DJ Martinez and her husband conceiving a child of both human and pony qualities. Miracle? Or controversy of the decade?”
The radio was quickly silenced as the power button was practically slammed, its owner belonging to a black-haired man with his other hand on the wheel to the car. “Controversy? Are ya freaking kidding?” he jibed. He ripped his hand from the radio, which quickly began the task of massaging one the temples on his forehead. “Though I guess ya should expect that these days when it comes to Alter-Earth politics, huh?” he added as he also glanced to the azure coated, goldenrod maned unicorn in the passenger seat.
She gave a roll of her eyes. “Karl,” she started, “That’s why I told you to keep the radio off.”
“I know, I know,” he sighed with a shake of his head. “That’s what I get for forgetting to sync up my phone to get some proper music.”
“‘Proper’ as in your pre-millenia pop and rock?”
Karl’s eyes shifted over to his passenger. “Says the one who changed their name to be almost exactly like mine – Karyn.”
“Hey! It’s my mom’s callsign in the Air Force! I always liked it!” Both of them were silent for a moment, before they each began to chuckle.
“I know, I know. I’ll probably meet God before I meet someone else in my generation who likes Green Day, Rolling Stones, or other stuff from nearly a hundred years ago.”
“And even my mom – who unironically likes today’s reality shows – thought it was awkward when I changed my name.”
Both riders relaxed into their seats as the drive continued. The sun was going down, and soon it would give away to night. The roads mostly empty as they passed through a small suburban town. Each one was dressed for the summer evening.
“Where are we going again?” Karyn asked.
“To the pier. My grandpap used to take me there to relax.” Karl answered. “Plus,” he put on a small smile, “it’s always empty this time of day at this time of year. No one goes out on their boats and people stick to the beach instead of the rocky shore if they’re still out wanting some sea air.”
“So it’ll just be us then, eh?” Karyn responded with a twinge of excitement.
“Just us.” Cause I’m sure as hell not letting anyone ruin the moment. He eyed the bag Karyn was holding in her lap. It was their dinner they picked up earlier, but he also hid an extra gift inside – one that he needed the perfect situation to give. Karyn hated crowds, hated going out unless she could be alone or it was with him.
He silently took a deep breath as he composed himself. Daylight wasn't burnt out yet, but it was still a way to go for the surprise.
Agonizing minutes later to Karl, he finally felt some relief as he turned the ignition off on the car and stepped out. Taking a deep breath, enjoying the feel of the saltwater air going through his nostrils and down, he began to make his way over to the other side of the car.
The door was already open, and out floated their dinner in an emerald glow. Without any exchange of words he took the bag and then extended a hand out which quickly had Karyn’s forehoof placed in it as she began to step out.
Not that she needed the help.
“How ya feelin’ there?” Karl asked, looking down to Karyn as she maneuvered her hind legs out of the car.
“Mmm, feels like I’m about to have a good time,” she replied, a smile on her face.
“Hey, what kinda guy would I be if I drove ya out ten miles from home and didn’t give ya a good time?”
Karyn began to stand up, stepping out of the car. “A scumbag,” she answered, looking down at Karl. “A tall, dark, slender, and handsome scumbag.”
Pity the scum who mess with ya, Karyn. Karl kept to himself. Even almost a year later he still felt a tad intimidated by her stature, but of course it was a reminder of why exactly Karyn hated going out in public and the exact reason he chose this spot. “That I ain’t though.”
Karyn gave a tug of Karl’s hand, urging him to step next to her. “Nope.” Immediately she knelt slightly and leaned into him as their lips connected. Had it not been for Karl’s other hand being occupied he probably would have joined her in hug, so he settled for letting Karyn fix that issue.
“So then get this,” Karl had both hands up to emphasize what was to come. “After ya clearly can see in the shot the kid is looking directly at them, the characters go ‘phew, we almost got spotted!’ It’s like, what the fuck? Hello? Did yaur animators and writers not coordinate or anything?!”
“Are you kidding me?” Karyn responded. “And this is supposed to be Disney?” she asked.
“Disney lost any artistic integrity they had right after I was born. Last good movie they had was Zootopia. Nowadays we get stuff like Toy Story 7 and next month Cars 6.” Karl shook his head, picking up a pair of chopsticks. “I swear, ya can pinpoint the exact time they went downhill: right when that Star Wars deal went down into the shitter.”
Karyn leaned back into the bench they were sitting on, staring out into the ocean – specifically the Long Island waters. “I’m kinda glad I didn’t get tied up in any more contracts and stuff for my art. I’m fine with being just a simple artist.”
“‘Simple’ as getting to design the covers for some of the biggest authors out there along with commissioned to design logos for Alter-Earth companies?” Karl shot back, right as he popped a piece of classic California sushi roll in his mouth.
“Shush.” Karyn turn to look at him. “Simple… remember?” Karl only smiled back as he too relaxed back into the bench.
“Are ya enjoying the evening then, Karyn?”
“How can I not?” She leaned over towards Karl’s side of the bench. “Nice food, quiet place,” she swiftly but smoothly scooted herself next to Karl. “And you know I always love time with you.”
Karl felt his heart race a bit, especially as he felt her tail poke at his leg. He was sure he was sweating a bit too when suddenly one foreleg was around him and her head was resting on top of his.
In this position he was basically her little love doll given the proportion and size difference, but she never went there… not yet anyway… not even in bed when—
Karl forced that thought down before it got out of control. In the meantime he settled for returning Karyn’s embrace: His right arm going behind her neck and his hand carassing her cheek, and his other arm going toward the foreleg already around him.
The two sat silently as they watched the evening sky over the ocean. The sun was starting to set, giving an amber coloration to it all. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the pier, the wind blowing by, and the occasional breath from either of the couple as they embraced.
“Karyn,” Karl spoke, as he slowly moved his arms away. It’s now or fucking never. He managed to separate from her, and looked her in the eyes - those beautiful emerald eyes - as he slowly stood up. “There’s one more thing to this trip.” Karyn’s head tilted slightly but she remained silent as she watched Karl stand up and reach into the bag that had their dinner in it. “Come see the view from the pier edge.”
Karyn followed Karl toward the water, passing over the gravel before stepping onto the wood. Karl was staring out into the distance, holding something in his hands that she couldn’t make out. Prying her curious eyes away, she looked out also into the horizon.
She couldn’t keep a smile down as she got the full view of the scene. The gentle waves, the twilight sky of dusk setting in soon, and the cool breeze with the calming lapping of the water against the land.
Natural scenery… what are you up to, Karl? She knew that he knew that this was one of her weaknesses: put her in front of beautiful nature scenery and she just forgets all her problems in that moment. ...and sushi… and them alone. Karl was using every ace in the deck so far.
“We’ve known each other for almost a year now, Karyn,” Karl started to speak. Karyn turn her attention to him, his own eyes looking down at what was in his hands. “I know we didn’t exactly hit if off in the best circumstances, but we’re here now. And I know also when we first started to truly date, I was a bit of a moron in how I tried taking the step.” He picked his head up, turning to look Karyn in the eyes. “However, I’m sure about this step I want to take.” He turned his arms to her, and she realized he was holding a jewelry box.
Karyn’s eyes didn’t so much snap open, it was more like they broke any restraint on them holding them back as multiple realizations began to reach her brain. “Kar…” she whispered and couldn’t finish.
Karl slowly began to kneel, picking up his left foot. “Karyn Miles, will ya— FUCK!” Immediately Karl began to fall forward. Karyn jumped and stepped back as he quickly was about to have a close encounter with the ground. She blinked her eyes, and then she saw the box fly out of his hands as he careened to his left.
She flinched as she saw, heard, and felt Karl hit the pier hard. As she regained her composure, she also heard a loud splash next to them. Karyn didn’t need to look to just realize what happened.
“FUUUUUUCKKKK!” Karl screamed, almost causing Karyn to cover her ears as it felt like he put all his energy into that. “Fuck, shit, holy fucking bitch-asscrackers! Fuck, fuckfuckFUCK– AAAAARRGGGH!” Both of her forehooves went to her mouth as she watched Karl writhe, both his hands clenching onto the back of his head, and almost threatening to pull out his hair in bloody clumps. “YA’VE GOTTA BE SHITTING MEEEE!!” He continued to scream into the pier, but despite that she still heard him fully both in volume and in the pure rage and despair he was projecting.
Both of his fists slammed into the wood in front of him. Karyn slowly but surely began to kneel down to inspect him. His left hand was scrapped badly, bleeding in a few areas. She sucked in a breath and tried to speak. “Karl—”
“I can’t believe this shit!” he continued to yell, though it sounded like his voice was giving out already. “The most important thing I’ve ever done, and I fuck it up! And all because of a FUCKING, UNDONE, SHOELACE!” His bloodied hand raised up to hit the ground again, but this time Karyn reacted. She quickly sparked up her horn, catching his fist in her emerald glow and holding it steady.
“Karl… please stop…” she whispered, but just loud enough to know it was more than just pleading. Karl was still, the only signs of moving being his breathing. Then his other hand slowly unfurled itself and began to push against the ground, and he looked up to her. She bit down a flinch as she looked over him. Karl wasn’t afraid to cry when he was upset, that’s something she picked up in their relationship, but the bloody scrapes that were along his cheek combined with red, tear-filled eyes that almost muted their normal hazel didn’t help the scene.
“Karyn, I…” Karl tried to speak more, but his mouth just moved and nothing came out. Both of them sat still, Karyn still holding his other hand in her magic. Slowly as the minutes went on, he onto his own knees. She released his hand and before it could even fall back to his side she immediately reached out and pulled Karl into a bear hug. “Hnn!” he grunted.
“Just relax.” Karyn held her breath as she waited for a reaction from Karl. She had to admit she was really biting her tongue at the moment, so even though she just saw how he reacted, she couldn’t imagine what was going on his head still.
Silence continued to pass between the two, the sounds of the waves and the wind coming back into the scene. Karl was still not responding, so Karyn resided to watch the world pass by as she pondered the situation. Slowly she relaxed her grip as she felt Karl move to embrace her back.
Soon enough they were both sitting down side by side on the pier looking out into the ocean again. Karyn took a glance to Karl once in awhile, and she caught him having a dead glare that she could tell was ignoring the possible stinging pain in his cuts. It was a feeling she knew well unfortunately.
“Something just had to go wrong…” Karl spoke, breaking the silence at last. His good hand went to his head, palm massaging his forehead as he continued, “Why did something have to go wrong?”
Karyn scooted herself away from him, turning to face her whole body to him. “Karl,” she said, but held herself right after. Although she was normally the calmer one – to which she had to admit it was partly because her biology didn’t allow her to become as emotional angry as a human – she didn’t know exactly how to share the secrets of her calm state. Forcing a gulp in her throat, she blurted, “Ask me again.”
Karl stared for a moment before doing a slight flinch, eyebrows raised. “Wha?”
“Just… ask again,” she forced out. Good one, she thought.
“Uh, I…” he gave a shake of his head, before reaching out his hand palm out. “Karyn Miles… will ya… marry me?”
Karyn smiled, and eagerly put her forehoof into his hand. “Yes, yes I will.” She reached her other forehoof out and pulled him into a hug, and the two embraced again, lips firmly on one another’s.
After a few moments, the two separated, still kneeling and facing each other. “I…” Karl scratched the back of his head. “Ya don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to ask that.”
“I’ve been waiting for a while to be asked, I was thinking of asking you.”
“And I planned this for months! The bracelet, the scenery! I found the perfect gem cut of emerald and—” Karl was silent as Karyn’s forehoof was placed on his shoulder.
“Karl, don’t. Please,” she urged. “It’s just a bracelet. I know it has meaning, but I think what you were asking of me is the more important part.” She rubbed her eye, smiling as she blinked away some tears. “Plus, I don’t want these to be tears of sadness.”
Karl began to smile, the first on his own without Karyn’s aid after his fall. “Ya know I don’t ever want ya to be upset.”
“And that’s why I’ll gladly be your wife.” Karyn began to stand up, holding her forehoof down to Karl. “Let’s get out of here, I can’t also bear to see you hurt like that.”
“...good point,” he agreed, holding his good hand to his bad cheek.
“Spirit-chan, honey, that’s fantastic! Oh I just want to drop everything and drag your mother along too!”
Karyn gave a laugh under her breath, leaning back into the couch as she talked into her phone. “I know, Dad, I know.” When they had gotten back home, technically Karl’s home, she had called up her home back in Equestria almost immediately.
“Well, I would if it weren’t for the fact I have a new job in Zhuanguo coming up.”
Karyn lost her smile at the new information. “Zhuanguo? Is that… safe for you, Dad?”
“Hey, I’m getting a personal escort this time around. My reputation and job is sort of the reason I have this seller phone to talk to you. Especially because of those pandas. Your uncle Dust-kun is still jealous I got one, and South Cloudsdale got the means for me to use it too.”
“Cell phone, Dad. Cell phone.” Karyn rolled her eyes. As much as both her parents embraced human tech, her father didn’t exactly do his research in that regard.
“Hey, my name’s Diamond Stone, not Diamond Mind. And you’re gonna be Mrs. Stout Spirit– er, I mean, Mrs. Karyn… uh…”
“O’Donnell, Karl’s last name is O’Donnell. And you can still call me by my old name.” The rest of her family would probably do so anyway she figured.
“Where is he anyway?”
“He’s… patching himself up. He took a nasty fall.” Karyn glanced in the direction Karl had walked off to, hoping he didn’t hear that. No need to discuss the specific details yet.
“Oh dear, well I hope he’ll be right good for the wedding!”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Dad, we still don’t have a date for it.”
“Well I can’t wait to hear it! A human in the Kimono family. That’ll certainly be one for the books!”
Karyn blanched a bit. Please don’t remind me. “Y-yeah… one for the books.”
“Anyway, I have to get going now. My flight to Canterlot is leaving soon, then I’m off to Zhuanguo. Hopefully your mom can arrange for time off so we can all talk! Maybe talk about grandfoals? I heard the news about DJ Martinez-chan's baby.”
Her eyes snapped open, remembering just what that news implied. "Foals?" As she looked up and past the ceiling into space, her smile returned in full glory. “Me… a mother…”
She found herself and Karl standing outside at a park. Kids all around were running and yelling, and on Karl’s shoulders riding happily with a wide smile she found—
“Karyn-chan? Hello? You still there?” She literally jumped back to attention, and found she had also during that daydream had laid herself down on the couch.
Adjusting herself back to sitting upright, she put her phone back to her ear. “Sorry, Dad. You know how I am about that subject.”
“Heh, it’s why I brought it up. You stay happy now, you hear me? I’ll speak to you again soon.”
“I will, Dad, bye.” She clicked off her phone, the speaker antenna retracting back in. Allowing herself to relax again lying down, she tried to recall that daydream.
A room away however, Karl stood with his back to the wall next to the doorway. Although his hand and cheek were fixed up, his face told the world that he wasn’t doing fine at the moment.
She wants… to have kids?! he screamed internally. He felt his heart quicken, and he tried to calm down less she managed to hear him. Nononononono, me… a father?! I can’t be a dad! I’d be terrible with kids! Quietly as he could, in took a deep breath and snuck away from the door and over toward the fridge. I need something to– perfect! He grabbed an unopened Pepsi bottle, and after ripping off the cap began to chug without abandon.
A minute later after catching his breath, he stood with his hands braced on the countertop. Leaning low and stretching out his back, he grunted as he tried to force the stress out. “Just tell her…” he whispered. “Don’t let this fester… don’t try to beat around the bush: ya just have to tell her.” He stood upright, and looked toward the doorway to the living room and therefore Karyn. “If I just tell her though, I drop a bomb on her happiness.” He hung his head, staring at the counter. “Okay, just… just ease into it. ‘Karyn I know yau’re excited, but I don’t think we’re at that step yet.’ Yeah. Just like that.” Giving himself a nod, he pried himself off the counter and began to walk to the doorway.
He took in a breath to steady himself, but lost his composure as he took in the sight. Karyn was happily daydreaming away, full body on the couch and lazily splaying her limbs out. Karl could the heat of a blush come on as he just stared. While she hated to be reminded of it, Karyn had the body of a literal princess: sleeker body, a less rounded head than most ponies, and of course the part she hated most was the height that made her stand literally above everyone else.
It was something Karl only started to truly admire once they began their relationship– prior to that he used every last nerve to not try to keep it off his mind for her sake. God damnitall… she’s gonna be my wife. He let out a happy chuckle at the thought, despite the other thoughts in his head.
Karyn’s eye popped open and looked to Karl. “Oh… you’re back.”
“I am,” he replied, stepping next to her. “Enjoying yaurself?”
“I was… but I think it’s better now that you’re here.” She smiled as Karl rolled his eyes. If there was thing Karyn loved to tease Karl with, it was old, corny, romantic lines. Usually plucked from old movies he showed her.
“May I have a seat here?” he asked.
Karyn crossed her hind legs, and laid one forehoof to her side. “A seat? Wouldn’t you rather lie down here with me?” She gave a wink as she asked.
The heat he was feeling before suddenly intensified until it felt like he was in a desert. “Wha? I mean, lie down? Now? I—”
Karyn began to giggle. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered like that.” She swept her hind legs off the couch, sitting herself up and beckoning Karl to sit with her. “Actually, you seem really excited yourself there.”
Oh, right… the reason I wanted to tawlk with her. “I am, actually.” Get to the point. “I mean…” Bring up the issue of children! “We’re getting married.” No ya fucking moron!
“We’re getting married,” she repeated, leaning onto Karl as she also placed her hoof next to his hand, which he took. “I can hardly contain myself too.”
Ya need to tell her ya Goddamn idiot! Karl continued to yell to himself in his head. “What’s on yaur mind right now?”
“So many things. I mean, I just told my dad, and the rest of the family will probably hear soon enough. And, just, well… you and me, together.” She pulled away from Karl slightly, looking him up and down. “I’m already picturing us together.”
“Same here,” he added. “I’m still wondering about what to tell my own folks. I mean, there’s my own parents, but then there’s my brother and sister. Of course… what do I say about me dropping yaur engagement bracelet in the freakin’ ocean?”
“Karl…”
“I mean, I was so pissed I even said the A and B words! I never say that specist garbage!”
“I know you wouldn’t.” Without warning, she pulled him into a hug, which quickly caused him to relax. “Don’t be upset, this is supposed to be a happy moment for us. Just forget about it. It’s just a bracelet.”
“Yeah,” he agreed in a quiet tone. I can’t fucking tell her. I can’t make her upset! I can’t break her heart like this! She doesn’t want me upset, I can’t just drop this on her!
“It’s getting a bit late, why don’t we just spend the rest of the night together and relax?” Karyn suggested. Before Karl could respond, he felt something brush against his leg. Looking down, he found Karyn’s tail had wrapped itself around his ankle.
He looked back up her, smiling and caressing her cheek. “I love ya,” he said as he began to scratch her ear. The two of them laughed a bit before making their way out of the living room and to the bedroom.
The day after, Karl sat waiting at a pizza restaurant. Karyn was enjoying the day at home, while he had decided to get lunch out of home.
That, and hopefully get some much needed help for his situation. He looked down at his plate, and then to the clock which was a quarter past noon. He almost finished his meal, yet the person he was hoping to see wasn’t—
“Hola, Karloso!” a voice called. Karl immediately snapped his head towards the source, seeing a blue maned, yellow-coated unicorn stallion approach him.
“Damnit, Wave, I told ya not to call me that,” Karl groaned. “And yau’re freaking late!”
“Sorry, met a cute pegasus out front. We’re gonna meet later this evening!” Wave said as he approached the table.
Karl facepalmed. “Another date?” Wavelength, or just Wave, was one of Karl’s coworkers at his job at WDET radio. While you could count on him for keeping up with current events and research, decency was not exactly something he prided himself on. In fact the opposite he was open about. That and randomly using words in another language he happened to learn.
“Hey man, I gotta try when I see the chance!” Wave sat himself down opposite Karl, still a large smile on his face.
“What happened with that minotaur ya dated last week?” Karl asked.
“Steel Shoe was sweet, but unfortunately she’s tied down to her job so it wouldn’t work out,” Wave explained. “By the way, this is a nice place. I didn’t know there was a brick oven pizza place here! Reminds me of home!”
“I used to come here when I was little. Used to be called Tony’s, but now it’s Giardi’s.”
“Well I’m starved then, lemme just—”
“Oh no ya don’t,” Karl interrupted. “I asked ya to get here on time, and ya weren’t. So yau’re gonna wait until ya hear me out, okay?”
Wave pouted, but submitted as he relaxed in his seat. “Okay, I guess you got me there. So what’s on your mind?”
“It’s about Karyn.” Karl quickly raised a finger. “And no, this isn’t about ya able to date her.”
“Aw, really?” Wave whined. “I swear, you got one heck of a mare there. She’s got the body of a princess!”
“And ya got smacked upside the head for not keeping yaur mouth shut about it, remember?”
Wave only laughed as he rubbed a spot near the base of his horn. “I can’t help it, man. She’s magnifique. If it wasn’t for that bright hair of hers, I’d think she was a unicorn Princess Luna!”
“Anyway,” Karl grunted, getting the talk back on track. “Ya definitely will not get a chance to date her ‘cause… I proposed to her last night, and we’re getting married.”
Wave’s smile vanished, replaced with an open mouth shock along with wide eyes. “Oh dear Faust above, I didn’t expect to hear that!” His smile returned in earnest though as he leaned over the table. “Congrats! ¡Felicidades! ¡Gratis!”
“Calm down, bud,” Karl urged, holding up a hand.
“Are you asking me to be best man or something?”
“No,” Karl answered immediately, prompting another pout from Wave. “We don’t have a date yet for the wedding, so no details yet,” he added. “However,” he leaned onto the table, braced with his elbows, “I do need help.”
Wave adjusted himself, relaxing into the seat along with his face relaxing as he saw it wasn’t exactly a time for smiles. “You said it was about Karyn?”
“Yeah… I heard her tawlking with her father and… well…” Karl hung his head.
“He didn’t approve?” Wave guessed.
“No, no, no, nothing like that.” Karl waved his hand, shaking his head. “Karyn… she… she wants to have kids. I learned that apparently she wants kids… and it seems like she’s wanted to be a mother for a long time.” He laid both of his hands down on the table, palm up as if he was admitting defeat. “I don’t want kids, Wave. I can’t stand infants and toddlers. I’d be a terrible father. Plus, I just couldn’t handle that responsibility.”
Wave pursed his lips, leaning back into his seat and bringing one forehoof to his chin. “Hmmm, that’s… that’s actually a kinda bad conundrum you got there. Though, I have one question myself.” Wave moved his forehoof away from his chin, and pointed it to himself. “Why are you asking me?”
Karl quirked an eyebrow. “Cause… yau’re my friend?” He looked off to the side, as if it would provide another answer, before looking back to Wave.
“Well, yeah. But I recall two broadcasts ago you referred to me as ‘My partner in media demolishing that goes through more dates than a calendar.’ Which, yeah, I do. I just didn’t expect you to ask me for advice about romance.” Wave shrugged his shoulders and kept them there for a second, just to show the irony of what he was suggesting
Karl stared forward for a moment, before bringing a hand over his eyes. “Cause… well, I don’t have many people to ask. I mean, no one else at the station I really tawlk to, and my parents… they’re kinda my last resort.”
“You don’t talk to anyone at your weekly job?”
“Hell no!” Karl declared, removing his hand from his eyes which were narrowed. “Everyone there is a soulless drone who wouldn’t know the word ‘funny’ if I surgically implanted a funny bone they don’t have into them, while they were still awake!” He gave a light pound on the table as he finished his sentence, causing Wave to jump a little. “Sorry, just… yeah, they’re not exactly people I can get along with.”
“I can imagine,” Wave responded, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. “Well, let’s see then. So why can’t you just talk with her then?”
“I tried, Wave. I honest-to-God tried.” Karl leaned forward, tapping a finger on the table. “I kept telling myself to tell her, but seeing her this happy, hearing her not wanting to see me unhappy: I just cannot bring myself to potentially upset her.” Wave looked back down to watch Karl as he continued, “Look, we’ve been through hell together. I mean, I met her on the side of a highway by pure chance. She got into an accident, and I was there to help her. I brawt her to the hospital, made sure she was okay, but it didn’t end there.
“Just after that she becomes fed up with her job, has to suddenly move out of her little house, and she’s at her breaking point. And I was there to freaking help, but by all rights I shouldn’t have.” Karl shifted himself upward, gesturing to himself. “I mean, I work two jobs just to make ends meet and I only rent out the bottom half of a house. I managed to get only a motorcycle for luxury along with a working car for bad weather. By all means me taking in someone to help them prevent becoming homeless or at least not having to move out of the country back to their home is probably on the list of things I shouldn’t need to stress myself out with for a guy like me. But I freaking did it anyway.
“It was fucking hard at first, I mean she put in her work sure, but there was the issue of her career work. I thawt I would actually have to sell my bike cause I didn’t want to just kick her out. But soon enough she came by a miracle and she finds a big break for her designing. I don’t know what exactly went through her head that day, but the way she and I first kissed… I’m sure ya could think of something.” He took a breath, pausing, before his hands found himself on his face. “And God-fucking-damnit, I love her and I don’t wanna hurt her! I was so fucking lonely before and she’s the only woman I’ve ever even liked!”
Wave’s lips scrunched as he watched Karl lose himself, tapping his hooves together, he tried to think of something to say. “Eh… maybe– oh!” His eyes shot open wide as he followed with, “Maybe we could ditch this place and find some real drinks? That always helps!” Upon finishing his sentence, Karl immediately stopped all movement. He slowly brought his hands down off his face, before revealing a deadpan stare to Wave.
Without words, Karl moved his left arm forward, and pointed to it with his other hand. Pointing right to a silver chain bracelet with a hospital logo on it.
Wave immediately blanched. “O-oh! Right, you can’t— yeah,” he forehooves began to rub and scratch at one another. “I-I guess maybe we could– what I meant was—”
“Wave, why don’tcha get some pizza?” Karl droned.
“Hey! Why don’t I get some pizza?” Wave repeated as if it was his idea, before quickly excusing himself from the table, almost tripping over as he rushed over to the counter.
Karl gave a small shake of his head before letting it fall into one of his hands as he decided to just look at the air. Maybe he was wrong in his current friend count list. The air never forgets important details about himself, so maybe the air was a friend. Then again it’s Wave after all. Attracted to anything that can tawlk and is female, yet also attracted to making himself look like a moron both on purpose and accidentally. He gave a small chuckle. Wave may be a jokester, but he’s still a smart jokester.
Hoofsteps coming toward him brought Karl out of his thoughts as he saw Wave coming back to the table, receipt in tow. “Okay… where were we then?” Wave asked, taking his seat. “Quick recap: you’re getting married to Karyn, she wants kids, you don’t, you know you need to tell her, but you can’t bring yourself to.” He started to tap the table, also clicking his tongue and he drifted his gaze around the restaurant. “I mean, the obvious thing I guess is to just try and figure out a way to talk to her… but by the sounds of it you’re too tongue tied and don’t even want to imagine her upset in any way.
“But speaking as someone who does wanna have kids one day, I can tell you that I’ve had to accept the possibility that I won’t be able to.” Wave’s horn began to glow orange, and he began to float his receipt in front of him, folding it randomly. “I know there was DJ Martinez’ kid in the news and that ambassador pony’s also, so we only just discovered a way for humans and ponies to have kids, and even then it’s only human kids.”
“Only human kids?” Karl asked.
“Yep. I read up on it. The spell used involves changing the pony to a human. The short version is that it’s only possible to change the pony to a human for compatibility at the moment. Long version involves a lot of magic spellwork explanation and also the science of magic conservation of matter and genetic drifting, whatever that is.” Wave looked away from playing with his receipt, looking to Karl. “It’s easier to make a human than a pony. And I say ‘easier’ cause…” Wave gave a wink as he tore the receipt in half, holding both pieces.
“Whoa,” Karl breathed. “That sounds… dangerous.”
“It’s actually not.” Wave placed the receipt pieces on the table. “I mean, yeah, there’s always a danger to using transformation magic, but they teach you that stuff in magic kindergarten. Plus they wrote in a good bunch of safety matrixes that are designed to activate in case of incorrect subject recognition as well as some other spell fluxes that allow an untrained unicorn to be able to cast the spell. In fact you only need level one magic training to—” Wave stopped as he noticed the blank expression of Karl’s face, giving a sheepish smile as he got the message. “Sorry, forgot you’re not… magically knowledgeable.”
“Uh huh,” Karl huffed. “I mean I took one look at what a teleportation spell looks like, and I was lost despite staring at it for hours. Got the image burned in my head. But ya know Karyn, never wants to tawlk magic. I don’t know why, but she obviously has a problem with tawlking magic.”
“Yep. I remember when she almost knocked me out when I asked about her special talent,” Wave recalled. With a quick shake of his head to stop remembering that moment, he continued, “So look, the point I’m trying to get at here is that when she even started a relationship with you in the first place, she probably knew kids were out of the question unless you maybe adopted. She’s not insensitive, I would say you need to approach her and appeal to that. You two are gonna be together after all.”
Karl began to drum his fingers. It was true, during their initial days of staying together, she often brought up how he should of just booted her out considering her lack of contribution. Even going as far as to call herself a leech the week before she finally got a break out of her built up guilt. Yet whether it was him being that considerate and/or that desperate for not being alone again he still held out for her.
Still though, doing something like that perhaps made her think Karl would be a good parent. He shuddered at the thought: He couldn’t even stand the screams of children even when they were doing something harmless like playing, felt like a demon was yanking out his spine through his ears.
“Uh… are you okay there, Karl?” Wave inquired, bringing Karl back to reality. “You’re… actually shaking a bit there.”
“I have no fucking clue, dude,” Karl mumbled. “But… thanks anyway.”
“Hey, c’mon now, don’t stick your head in a raincloud. I mean, I kinda need you to rip apart a new Disney disaster piece each week.”
That forced a smile onto Karl’s face, one his embraced quickly. “Dude, they actually just announced Cars 7. Holy shit, how freaking stupid are they?”
“Doesn’t Bambi 4 come out to direct to download this week?”
“Oh yeah, I’m already preparing a eulogy.” He cracked his neck before relaxing back. “I tell ya, the exact moment ya can tell Disney shot themselves in the head: right when they cancelled that tropic movie back in the tens.” The two shared a laugh, felt like they were back in the audio booth already.
Though the moment didn’t last as long as Karl hoped. Once Wave’s order was called, Karl decided it was time for him to get out of here. After saying his goodbye to Wave, he approached the front counter.
“Hey, Giardi? Can I get a whole pie to go also?” Karl requested.
“With the usual?” an Italian-accented voice asked.
“Yep, and don’t hold back on the barbeque sauce.”
Some footsteps approached, and a griffon came to the counter, eyebrow quirked. “¿Come stai? You look like you’ve been hit by a car, ¡amico!”
“Let’s just say this pie is just for me this time, and not both Karyn and I,” he muttered.
The rest of that week flew by faster than Karl would have liked for once. His customer service job was normally something he’d just like to get through, but this time he wanted that painful shlock to give him time to think about his current situation. Between all the morons who’d try and act smart about computers, internet usage, and console maintenance it usually slowed things down to a crawl. This time though the universe decided to be ironically merciless.
The silver lining perhaps he did get to be with Karyn quicker throughout the week (the bleeding issue aside). These days with her new design deals and general freelancing she was glued to her computer and/or tablet even when he got home. When the work was done for that day though they would both just kick their stress in the back of their head once they were literally and figuratively in each other’s company as much as they could be for those nights.
However that pit in his stomach was beginning to feel like a black hole even though only a week had past. He made no progress in trying to compose himself, nor could he still try to bring the issue to Karyn. It was so bad that the time he looked forward to all week, his radio broadcasting with Wave on whatever was on their minds, felt empty to him despite the amount of times that suggested otherwise especially with all the swearing that he knew was censored.
Aside from Wave, the only other help he had to turn to was his family. His siblings though didn’t exactly add any more than what he already knew, nor did they boost his confidence. Didn’t help his older brother Sean was literally impossible to contact at the moment since apparently he had snagged a trip to a non-wired part of Grifonica of all places.
That left his younger sister Claire, who despite all her brains couldn’t add anything. Well, anything except not-so-secretly admit she was dating someone. Karl could only “guess” as to what as the family knew she was in a university experiment with testing human chemistry and zebra alchemy.
So here he was already having to use his “last resort.” When he broke the news to his parents about the marriage (leaving out the literal painful details), the floodgates were obliterated from causality as if they never existed in the first place. Questions upon questions, embarrassment that ran over him at faster-than-light, and of course a wanting to meet to celebrate.
Something Karl wanted, but also dread as he knew what that implied. Karyn had met Karl’s parents already, but he was hoping they would just shut their blowholes for once.
So even as both he and Karyn walked up to the door, it felt like a long hallway. Death Row, gates of Hades, another Disney movie premiere: those all sounded more appealing than what may come from this. He didn’t hate his parents, just what they decided to blurt out without second thought.
He didn’t have to wait for more tension to build as the door opened. “Heeeey! There they are!” Karl had to force a smile as he watched his dad, Nolan O’Donnell, come out with open arms– that was a sign something was about to happen.
“Hey, Dad,” Karl said as loud as he could in his nervous state.
“My little Karl’s getting married!” Karl forced a groan from coming out as he gave his father a hug. The days of “little” Karl were far over, in fact the only ones in the family who didn’t stand over his father now were Claire and their mother. As Nolan pulled away from Karl, he turned to Karyn. “How about a hug for your soon-to-be father-in-law, huh?”
Karyn meanwhile was proud to have a smile on her face. “Sure, Mister O’Donnell,” she said as she obliged with one foreleg.
Nolan gave a pat on her back, pulling away. “Hey,” he started, pointing a finger to her, “You can start calling me ‘Dad’ now. Or ‘Daddy’ perhaps, Karl there did it until he was seventeen.”
“DAD!!!” Karl bellowed, his face quickly going red and his teeth bared. Nolan only gave a chuckle as Karl’s hands tried to go toward his head to massage his temples which despite not showing probably threatened to burst. Karyn meanwhile could only stare with her own blush.
Nolan finished his chuckles, catching his breath to speak again. “Well, come on in. We got burgers fresh off the grill along with potato salad.” He waved them in as he stepped inside. Meanwhile Karl was still fuming, hands fidgeting and fingers twitching.
“Well,” was all Karyn could say in reaction. She stepped in front of Karl, looking him over as he continued to radiate anger– just looking at him seemed to make the temperature rise. “Are you okay?”
“I’m… fine,” Karl growled, with Karyn swearing he saw his pupils shrink. Karl gave a rapid shake of his head, and crossing his arms to contain the rage they still held. “Let’s… just head inside.” Karyn nodded in agreement, and the two of them stepped through – or ducked through in Karyn’s case – and they both followed their nose to where dinner was.
“Ah, there you are!” came as they walked out to the back patio. With a wide smile, Karla O’Donnell approached the couple, and they both gave their greetings. “Hope you two are hungry, pulled out the big guns and the special Deutschland touch.”
Karyn looked to Karl. “I thought you said your family’s Irish?”
“We are,” Karl answered. “Mom just happens to be German.” He looked to her, puzzled. “I thawt ya knew.”
“We’re Irish through and through,” Nolan added.
From there, the group began to indulge in both the food, and also the coming wedding. Setting was the big question, as everyone was well aware of Karyn’s… disapproval of crowds, even if it would be her own family and Karl’s.
Furthermore, in regards to her family, it was explained that not many of hers would probably be able to attend anyway due to how spread thin they all were. At most it would probably just be her immediate family. Though the big thing she explained was that because of her heritage, Karl would be inducted into her line at the ceremony.
Karl meanwhile sat cautiously. Both for hoping that his parents didn’t blurt out another personal detail, and also the subject of kids. If that came up now… well, he felt his head threatening to explode just by thinking about what could happen and what could go wrong.
Thankfully though as they all began to wind down from full stomachs, the topic didn’t seem to be on the horizon. Yet he knew better than to think his parents wouldn’t yank something out of their a— behinds.
“I just need to know though, Karyn, what is your family line exactly?” Karla asked.
Karyn bit her lip. “I’m part of…” she placed a hoof to her chin, thinking. “...a special family in Equestria. My ancestor was a famous unicorn way back. It just so happens that because of that history, it’s tradition to welcome any new family member with a special ceremony.” She gave a shake of her head, leaning back in her seat. “Personally though, I’d rather not go through those formalities, but tradition is tradition.”
“Maybe we can talk more about it in the living room,” said Nolan as he began to stand.
“Actually,” Karl suggested. “Can I tawlk to ya alone for a second, Dad?”
An eyebrow was raised, "Sure, kiddo, what's going on?"
"Alone," Karl repeated.
"Actually, go ahead," Karyn insisted. "I wanna talk food with Karla here. That potato salad I would love to have again."
"Well come help me with these and let's leave these two together," Karla said as she began to gather the dishes. She stopped though once she saw Karyn gather them in her telekinesis. "That is a real gift you have, you know.
Karl blanched. Dangit, Ma. He silently watched Karyn as for a split second her faced became crossed and the dishes fell a bit. Thankfully though nothing was broken as they left the room.
"It's true," Nolan agreed. "I see that and wonder how we can compete."
Karl looked to him with crossed arms. "Yeah, but Karyn doesn't like to tawlk magic. So I'd suggest ya guys don't bring it up again."
Nolan meanwhile was taken aback. "Don't like to talk? Why though? I mean, imagine how easy our lives could be with magic!" He put on a nostalgic smile as he said, "Imagine the selfies we could have gotten."
At that, Karl's palm met face. Of all the outdated fads from his father's time, that one had to be brought up. "Just please don't bring it up," he pleaded.
"Alright, alright, I got it." He shifted himself, arms leaning on the table. "So what's on your mind then?"
Karl sighed, resting his head in hand as he decided to get straight to the point. "Karyn wants to have kids," he declared. The millisecond he saw his dad's face start to beam, he quickly added, "But I don't want to."
Nolan paused for a moment, only managing to produce, "What?" as a response.
"I would not be good with kids, Dad," Karl moaned. "I don't know how to tell her, though."
Nolan leaned forward, all giddiness removed from him. "Well if you know she wants to, that means you've talked some, right?"
Karl gave a defeated shake of his head. "I overheard her mention it as she tawlked with her dad."
It was then Nolan tilted his head down, still staring forward, the look of disappointment. "This is your future wife. Don't you know that communication is—"
"I know!" Karl cried. "I've tried, tried, and tried to say something! I know that I need to come clean and tawlk with her! I thawt that from the very second I found out!" He slammed a fist on the table. "But I just can't! I don't know how to tawlk to her, plus especially after all the shit she's gone through, I do not want to upset her!" Karl's face was red, almost ready to completely break down. "What am I supposed to do?"
Nolan however sat silently, hands folded together. As Karl began to calm down, he spoke, "Well it seems you know what to do, but not how. Problem also is that you don't even know her side aside from the bare minimum.
"And for Lord's sake, why don't you know? Are you also just going to assume she wants to do this the second you get married?" Karl's eyes shot open in realization, before he right after hung his head in shame. "You're being too considerate to where you're swinging back around and being inconsiderate. Look, if you want the angry version: you need to pull your head out of your ass."
Karl snapped his head up. "Dad, ya can't say—"
"I know, I know," he interjected, waving a hand to tell him to keep quiet. "Cause of donkeys and all that, but I said that to get your attention." He put on a stern glare as he stated. "You need to talk with her. I know you want to know how to do it, but it's your fiance and you know her best." He relaxed his stare, "I know it's going to be hard, but even the happiest couples are going to clash," he amended.
Karl sat dead still, trying to absorb what had been said. A lot of voices in his head, all variations of his own, were all arguing with each other.
Before they could give him an aneurysm, he huffed out, "Okay, I understand." He stood up, head still hanging low. "I just…."
He felt a pat on his back he saw his father had come around to comfort him. "Remember what your grandfather used to say: 'sometimes we have to be hurt in order to be healthy in the long run’."
A smile managed to break out on Karl's face. "I miss him," he whispered.
"We all do. But I think he's happy. Maybe he's up there square dancing with a country pony grandma for all we know." Nolan gave a shake of his head, walking to the door. "I'll let your mother know to not bring up the subject for tonight. Why don't you head into the living room?"
A nod was given back. "Sure, Dad."
A couple weeks later, after another broadcast well done (all things considered), Karl dismounted his motorcycle and began to walk inside. Time to do this, he thought. Put it off long enough, I can fucking do this. Even though it had taken longer than he would have like, he felt a scrap of confidence in talking to her and he certainly did not want to let the moment pass. She’ll understand… she’s smart, fuck she’s smarter than ya by miles! he reprimanded himself again.
So he stepped into the house, not stopping for a moment as he went to the living room… only to find no one there.
Considering that Karyn was usually there waiting for him and/or doing some extra work, that was odd.
"Karyn?" He called out. "Where are ya?" No reply back. Did she step out? he thought as he began to look around the house. As he scanned the rooms and looked for signs, he heard a twinkle of sorts coming from the bedroom.
A twinkle that could only mean magic being performed. Now that was out of the ordinary unless it was just her holding something in it.
Coming to the door, he gave a quick knock. "Karyn, ya in there?"
The noise stopped. "Oh, Karl! You're home! I didn't hear you come in!"
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, come on in, I was just hoping to surprise you."
"Surprise?" he opened the door, and stepped in. He saw Karyn on the bed, sitting down with her computer. "Uh...." he let slip as he took in the fact her clothes were off. That was exciting, especially as he felt heat wash over him, but not that surprising .
"Well I wanted to try something," she started, scratching the back of her neck. "And the instructions did advise to have your clothes off."
Karl had to bring himself out of his stupor as he processed those words. "Instructions?" He took his coat off, it was getting too hot too fast– at least temperature wise.
"I...." she brought a hoof to her mouth, smiling. "I wanted to see if I could turn myself human," she admitted.
"...wha?" he slipped out, dumbfounded.
“I mean, um…” she gave a shake of her head. “I just wanted to see and experience it, y’know?”
Karl took another moment before he was able to respond. “Huh?”
“A spell!” she blurted out. “I looked up a spell to turn me human, and I thought maybe I would try it!” she admitted. She hung her head, a blush appearing. “I mean, I’m no DJ Martinez, but I still just wonder what it would be like to be fully human.”
Karl sat down next to her, looking her in the eyes– trying as hard as he could at least. Doesn’t help she doesn’t even have on her underwear that covers her mark, he noted. He still couldn’t guess what the two stars meant. The way they were connected by a trail of sort to each other maybe meant teleportation. However, not even he dared to ask her about her mark of all things. “I… didn’t think ya would be interested,” he admitted.
“It’s crossed my mind quite a fews time,” she confessed. “Sometimes I wonder if it would make my life easier if I was human.” Turning her head away from him, she continued on, “I’ve said it before, but I just wish I wasn’t standing over literally every other human. Not having to worry about bumping my horn on the ceiling, or even just not having to go on all fours for some places.”
Karl shuddered a bit. When she did go into these kind of topics, he still felt like he was always walking on thin ice. “I guess… no, I can understand that.”
She turned back to him. “So do you mind if I at least try it now?”
He paused, only staring. I need to tawlk to her already. “Actually, there’s something I need to tawlk to ya about, Karyn,” he said.
She quirked an eyebrow. “What about?”
He took a deep breath. This is it. “Well, it’s about—”
“Wait, wait,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but, I just need to try this now. Especially when it’s right there.” She leaned over, scanning her computer. “Just give me a minute please, Karl?”
He sat there stupefied. He was well aware of her issues with her image, and the attention she got for it. What he wasn’t aware of was how deep it really was. As he watch her stand up and walk backward from the bed, still staring at her computer, he managed to bring himself out of his trance. No damnit! No more interruptions! He quickly stood up, walking toward her as her horn began to shine. “Karyn, no, I need to tawlk to ya now about this.” As he got within arms length, he found her eyes shut, clearly concentrating. “Karyn?” he asked again, with no response. For the love of— “Karyn!” he barked, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“Hnn?!” she gasped, her eyes snapping open and staring straight at him. Before either of them could react, the glow from her horn condensed and shot down to Karl, a bright green flash filled the room after.
Karl’s head was throbbing, whether it was from the fall or being hit point blank was anyone’s guess. All he knew was that after the flash he was on the floor, he couldn’t move, and he wished he could have passed out for that experience.
Shifting himself, he tried to move his limbs, which he could slowly start to feel again as the deadweight of them lessened. Orientating himself he realized he was flat on his back, so he quickly tossed himself on his side, managing to brace himself on his elbow.
“Oh… why does it feel like my head’s been impaled from the inside?” he groaned. He blinked his eyes, trying to look around in his blurred vision.
“Nnnn…” he heard, and he looked to make out Karyn sitting up. From what he could tell thanks to the blue he was seeing she was still a pony. “Karl? Are you okay?” she asked.
“I think so,” he said back. “Though I got a splitting headache, I can’t feel my hands or feet, and my vision ain’t all there yet,” he explained. “How ‘bout ya?”
“I’m actually fine, though I feel exhausted.” He was able to see her look toward him. “You sure you’re… oh my God…”
“What?” He blinked his eyes again, his vision slowly coming back. “Karyn? What’s wrong?”
“Uh…” she raised a hoof forward, pointing it toward him.
“Me?” He raised his hand up, pointing to himself. “Something’s wrong with…” he didn’t finish his sentence as he looked at his hand. Though it wasn’t a hand he was seeing, instead it was a grey hoof attached to a limb covered with navy blue fur. “Fuck me…” He pushed himself up into a seating position and looked down at himself. He saw his clothes still on him but not form fitting with more blue fur underneath, along with his feet replaced with another set of hooves with a black trail – or rather tail – between them. “Fuck me.” He brought his hand – hoof – upward, and felt around. He felt his ears on top of his head, along with a hard protrusion coming out of his forehead, right near where his headache was. “FUCK ME!” He screamed.
“Karl! Calm down!”
“HOLY SHITBALLS! I’M A PONY!” As he began to hyperventilate, his hooves started to pat himself down, as if to try and dispel the harsh truth of what happened. “HOLY FUCKING ASSCRACKERS!”
“Karl!”
“This isn’t happening this isn’t happening this isn’t happening!”
“Karl!” He froze as he felt Karyn’s hooves landed on his shoulders, and realized that she was in front of him. “Relax,” she ordered.
“But—”
“Relax,” she repeated. “Deep breath.” Karl gave a nod, breathing in after. “It’s going to be fine,” she started, as he continued to try and calm his nerves. “I know it’s… not what… it’s....” she gave a quick grunt, “It’ll be fine.”
Karl managed to unclog the nerves in his throat. “A-are ya?”
“Positive. And I know, it’s freaky. I remember I freaked out when my cousin Adept changed me into a griffon.” She pulled away and sat herself down. “Look, we just need to calm down, and let me see if there’s anything about this from the spell information.”
“O-okay,” he responded. He moved to stand up, only to find his not-feet slip and threatened to have him fall forward.
“Careful!” Karyn gasped, catching him in her forehooves. “Let me help you up.” As the two stood up, Karl had to focus on his balance as he found the lack of proper feet meant it felt like he was going to fall over at a moment’s notice. As they got onto two legs, he had to step out of his pants as they slipped off, and also try not to burst out again as he felt his tail, his tail, sway behind him.
As they got to the side of the bed and he began to sit, he had to make sure to not sit on said tail as he actually felt some pressure from it. I’m a pony… a freaking pony… wait. “Uh… Karyn?” he started. “About that… ‘I’m a pony’ thing—”
“Don’t,” she interrupted. A smile formed as she followed up with, “I know you don’t mean it. Don’t worry about it.” She sighed, walking over back to her computer.
“Okay,” he breathed out. As he watched her begin to go into research, he looked himself over again. He noticed that his tail also had an off-white stripe going down it. Which could also mean he had one probably going through his hair. Or mane, rather. He focused on the other physical changes of his, and all of it felt wrong: the way his legs felt now, the way his hips felt like how he was during high school, how he seemed to sit up higher now despite being shorter than what he was standing up. He even had a freaking cutie mark, of a critic cap no less!
“Alright,” he heard Karyn speak, snapping him out of his thoughts. “So apparently this is a thing that can happen.” He looked to her, and she to him. “So you’re a pony, but not completely. The spell failed, and ended up changing you as much as it could given the incomplete cast.” She raised up a hoof. “By which you’re only a pony in shape. You won’t be able to use magic or even hoofspace, but you still got the pony features.”
“I think I remember my friend Wave telling me about that,” he added.
“Now the most important part: the time you’ll spend like this. The effect is temporary, but it depends on the magic source.” She sighed, sinking a bit. “The bad news though, since that source is me, it could be up to a week or even more. My magic is drained, and I know I have a lot of… reserve.”
“A week?!” he cried.
“...or more,” she said meekly.
Karl brought his hooves to his face. “Oh… what am I gonna do? I can’t go to work like this. They wouldn’t believe me that I’m me!”
“You can’t let them know of this?” Karyn asked. “Back in Equestria unexpected transformations I know allowed you to miss work or school.”
“I… well, maybe.” He groaned, bending back. “I just need to calm my head.” He allowed himself to fall back, turning and laying his head down, the pillow feeling like a cloud now.
“No kidding,” Karyn responded. He watched as she started to clear off the rest of the bed, also going to hit the lights. “Let’s just try not to think about it, no need to get worked up. Some sleep will help.” As she slowly eased herself into bed, he felt that familiar warmth whenever he got to just relax with her.
“Have I told ya that I love ya?” he mumbled, managing a small smile.
“I think you have,” she quipped back, sliding a little closer to him.
“Maybe we should get married,” he said with a tired laugh.
“Maybe I should say yes, and also ask how much you love me?”
“Fucking love,” he answered.
“Really now?” she asked, with a slight inquiring tone.
Karl knew what that meant immediately. “Not this time,” he wheezed. “I just want to…” He closed his eyes, groaning as he tried to relax in a way that wouldn't get his heart pumping.
Karyn closed the rest of the distance between them, leaning over to give a quick kiss. “Love you too,” she whispered, draping a foreleg over him.
The week to follow was a new hell for Karl. It started off fine with him being able to skip work with no problems, but trying to even live a normal life with your body changed up was a trial worthy of Hercules he concluded.
With his fingers missing and not being able to use hoofspace, he had to become dependent on her for the most mundane things such as dressing and eating. Walking around on two hooves wasn’t going to work since he couldn’t control his tail properly to balance - or at least it just didn't listen to him despite what he felt back there - so he had to learn to get around on four hooves which was humiliating to say the least. The worst part of all, was just not having proper clothes. He had to borrow some from Karyn, but no set of pants or shorts fit him.
At least Karyn herself was taking it in stride.
So here they were a week later, still having pony-Karl and still no having any sign of returning to normal. The worst part is that he actually had to skip broadcasting with Wave for the first time ever! It was one thing to having to get away from that soulless desk job, but to be deprived of what was basically his reason to actually leave the house willingly?
The worst part of— another part of the worst moment of his life was just how empty he felt. He didn’t even know why though. The whole time he felt this pit in his stomach that over the week just spread all over his body. It didn’t make him feel weak, but just felt wrong. It made him unable to really take initiative on anything, he just wanted to try something that he said couldn't be done. But any time he thought of it, he felt a chill that didn't sit well with him.
So here they were in front of the television, enjoying a classic movie, as claimed by Karl at least.
“This used to be Disney?” Karyn asked. “From what you’ve shown me, they’re nothing but unimaginative hacks.”
“Oh, they are,” Karl reassured. “The only possibly good things that come from them these days are those remakes they make. I heard the recent Bambi one actually didn’t suck.”
“Then how come we don’t get things like… this anymore?”
“Finding Nemo, and I have no fucking idea. I know when they went downhill, but no idea why.”
“Well I guess I should thank you for showing me the good Disney then,” she said as she leaned over pulled him into a hug.
“Whoa, the hug already?” Karl asked. “Ya okay there?”
“Never better,” she replied. With a hoof, she lightly eased Karl to turn to look at her. “I know this week has been hard on you, but the time together… well, let’s just say I don’t think I’m loving it enough.”
“‘Enough’?”
“I… I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe it’s just all the excitement from the engagement catching up to me finally, I have no clue.”
Karl responded by leaning forward and giving a kiss, which she happily leaned into herself. “I do know I haven’t thank ya enough for helping me this week.” He reached for the remote, trying to turn off the tv with clunky taps of his hoof. When that didn’t work Karyn did it for him. “If yau’re really all that excited, I think I have a solution.”
“Does it involve the bedroom by any chance?” she asked.
Karl almost flinched, feeling a fire start to go off in his stomach. “Okay, yau’re definitely excited.”
“Too much for you?”
“Fuck no." The moment he said that, he felt his body (with some aid from Karyn) start to move.
Karl groaned, it was the middle of the night. He had to ignore the chocolate in the air as he crawled out of the bed, also in the process slipping out of Karyn’s forelegs. He winced as he stepped onto the floor, everything hurt for once.
Getting through the door and toward the kitchen, he coughed as his dry throat that woke him up demanded him to hurry up. Blinking some awareness into himself, he realized he was at the fridge and after managing to get his hoof hooked into the handle, he pulled it open and looked at his prize.
Then remembered he wouldn’t be able to get the bottle open easily. He groaned as he managed to get his whole foreleg around the bottle to lift it out of the fridge. Getting it on the counter, he pondered how he would even open it.
“This is just getting fucking annoying now,” he mumbled. “Actually this is torture now,” he amended considering the high of what had just happened. He snorted as he got his teeth around the cap, doing it the old fashion pissed-off way.
Spitting out the cap, he was about to indulge when he found a glass on the counter. He almost growled, it was like the universe was wanting to taunt him now. He glared at the bottle, he could hear it laughing at him and his feeble attempts to work it. If only he actually had magic, he’d… what did that character say? Oh yeah, he took a potato chip, and ate it. Well, Karl would take that bottle, and lift it.
Then he watched as the bottle did lift up. He blinked himself out of his shock and looked. Around it was a silver glow, and there it was floating in the air.
“What the fuck?” he whispered. He was probably more tired than he realized. There was no way this was happening. It was… maybe it was a dream, and for once he was lucid dreaming. Well now that he acknowledged that it would stop. It wasn’t like if he imagine the bottle going to glass and pouring into the glass it would—
Then the bottle started to do exactly that, and Karl felt ice crawl all over him. As it started to near overflowing, he panicked and tried willing it to stop, which it promptly did. Breathing deep, he tried to calm himself. There was no way it was coming from him, it had to be— I hear the twinkle, it’s just like Karyn’s. And there’s a glow coming from right above me. He took a literal step back, almost falling over since he still wasn’t used to walking on all fours. This was impossible, he shouldn’t have magic, Karyn said this wasn’t how it worked. Wave said it wasn’t possible too. He clutched his head, feeling a migraine coming on. He just wanted this all to stop.
Right after, he heard a clunk and saw the bottle fall back onto the countertop. This had to be a nightmare, the universe was messing with him again. But then again… the door, how did he get it open without Karyn’s help? The knob wasn’t a handle, so… did he actually grip it with hoofspace then? He was able to move his hoof slightly, but those muscles to actually grip shouldn't be there... or were they? This whole time if he actually tried he could have—
He just wanted to go back to bed. He closed his eyes, imagining his bed. He would force himself to wake up. There he was, in Karyn’s forelegs, lying down, that’s how he saw it.
He heard a pop, then he opened his eyes. There was the ceiling of his room, and he felt Karyn’s embrace again. Bad dream, it was all a bad dream. Now he would just close his eyes, go back to sleep…
Karl woke with a imaginative hit to his head, the hit of his body clock telling him to wake up. Even when he wanted to rest in, he could never do it. He felt sore all over, and could still smell the chocolate in the air. Still, the fatigue in his eyes from just waking up didn’t let him enjoy the moment. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get—
Wait a second. He pulled his limb away, and looked to find a hand in front of him. He gave a flex, and the fingers responded. He gave another flex, and he felt his toes again. Then he touched his head, finding that his horn was gone.
“Holy shit I’m human again!” he couldn’t help be cheering.
“Hmm?” he heard from Karyn. He also realized he was wrapped up in her forelegs, and looked to see her slowly waking up. “Wha? Oh!” She snapped awake as she realized what was going on. “Hey, there’s that handsome face! Though I admit you were also cute as a pony.”
“Feels great to have my fingers back,” he commented. “I’m glad that’s over with, and I can function properly.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” she giggled out. Karl could only stare and feel a blush develop.
“I… think I’m gonna go shower,” was all he could say. She gave a nod and released his grip on him. As he stepped onto the floor, he smiled as he felt his limbs back to normal, but winced at the pain. He cracked his neck and relished the feeling, being able to walk properly again.
Grabbing a towel from the dresser, he stepped out of the room. A thought crossed his mind, maybe something to celebrate? He and Karyn could— Wait, why was the door open? He turned back to the bedroom door, seeing it wide open. He remembered it was firmly closed before he and Karyn… but he opened it when he— No, no, that was a dream, he reassured, feeling his heart quicken despite that. Just go to the shower. Relax.
He began to continue walking, and then curiosity got the better of him and he almost ran to the kitchen. It felt like he walked into absolute zero weather as he witnessed the scene. Sitting there on the counter was a glass filled with soda and the opened bottle it came from. Just like last night.
He had to brace himself on the counter, trying to process the situation. What was going on? Even after he had managed to move himself away to try and get on with his day he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Not helping was that even when he was under hot water, the ice cold feeling he had picked up didn’t leave.