//------------------------------// // The Tenth Day (Empathy For Your Fellow Man) // Story: Ponid-21 // by Cadenzel Washington //------------------------------// I open my eyes. I open “my” eyes. I open Twilight’s eyes. Twilight opened her eyes.  “Can you hear me? It’s me, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight opened up her own eyes. “I want you to know something. I want you to know that...I’m here for you.” Twilight opened her eyes that are not my eyes. “I know it feels like you don’t have a choice in the matter. I know that you’re worried about losing yourself. That probably feels scary to you.” Twilight speaks to “I want you to know that when this is all over, you’ll still be you.” Twilight talks about “I probably seem like an invasive infection to you or some sort of malignant cancer. I know you didn’t ask for me, but I respect who you are and I won’t erase what makes you unique.” Twilight asks the “But I need you to understand something and I want you to take it to heart.” Twilight “I want to help you.” “We can talk later. But I want you to know this. You’ll always be you. I’ll always be me." “You can open your eyes now.” The Tenth Day I open my eyes. I was awake for real this time, no bizarre dream shenanigans. Now I could be alone with my own thoughts. I frowned, thinking about the “conversation” I had with Twilight. She claims she wants to help me. Hmph. Everyone claims they want to help me. The doctors, Franklin, Akai, the Governor. It’s hard to feel like I’m being “helped” when I’m turning into some sort of weird horse mutant.  I shook my head. That was enough reminiscing, it was time to examine what had changed. I groaned and got up onto my hooves. I knew I was in for something big when I noticed a big change in my stance. Instead of standing straight and upright with my spine standing tall, my body seemed to want to default to a sort of hunchback position. I surmised that maybe I was transitioning to standing on all fours. A shiver went down my now altered spine. Fortunately, it wasn’t a huge problem and it wasn’t super noticeable. Granted that might be because all the stuff surrounding it was even more unusual. It’s kind of hard to ignore purple fur. My eyes were drawn to my arms. There seemed to be no trace of humanity left in it. I touched my left arm with my right hoof. It was very fuzzy and soft, like a brand new high end pillow, made for snuggling. It was really nice to touch, I just wish it wasn’t attached to me. My chest was similarly furry, but there were still some patches of human skin here and there. I guessed it was about 50/50 on the horse to human ratio. I figured I should enjoy it while it lasts. I briefly thought about trying to shave it off, but then I dismissed the idea just as quickly. Knowing my luck, it’d just grow back twice as thick and with some magical “anti-razor” shield or something. On the plus side, I probably wouldn’t have to shave ever again. The only other things I noticed were the continuing growth of my wings and horn. I noticed that they seemed to exceed the length of other patient’s wings. Will seemed pretty in love with his wings, but even with the naked eye, I knew his wingspan was smaller.  I squinted at my wings. It had been a while since I had Biology but I remembered that a creature that has a mutation like this would usually end up with the two different aspects being weaker, not stronger. But there they were; two large wings and an extended horn. I suppose I could ask Doctor Matt or Nurse Akai, but I was not in the mood to talk to those guys after yesterday, especially after what I learned from Cadance. My eyes widened. That’s right! I forgot I had invited her to come by the Magic Meeting Room. I’m sure she’ll want to be introduced to everyone. I walked over and opened the door only to be met by someone blocking my way. “Ah, Penn. It’s been a while. How are you doing?” Doctor Matt asked in his typical chipper manner. “Hmm, what do you want?” I gave a blunt reply. Doctor Matt frowned. “Well, we haven’t had a check-up for a while and we need to get new readings from you if that’s alright.” “Hmph, fine.” I turn back around and make my way to the examination bed. “Penn,” Doctor Matt began before pausing. He looked off to the side before looking back at me. “I’ve heard some stories from the other staff. You’ve made a lot of friends, which is great!” “I sense a ‘but’ coming though.” I retorted. Doctor Matt cleared his throat. “I’ve been told that you and some of your friends are building a growing resentment from all these changes.” He explained. “Ha! Now there’s a massive understatement.” I scoffed. “You’re really putting that Doctorate to good use.” Doctor Matt sighed at my stubbornness. “Penn, if you blame me or any of the other staff members for what happened to you, I won’t hold it against you. However, I think it’s unfair to expect that every patient will respond to this situation the same way you are.” “Hm, are you a psychologist too?” I asked. Doctor Matt shakes his head. “It’s not what I specialized in but I did have to take courses on it. I learned enough from those courses to know that mental health is just as important as physical health. What I’m trying to say is, don’t hate your friends if they feel differently about this situation.”  I sighed. I’m guessing he knew about that outburst I had with Alex yesterday. Not like it was hard to miss, we were yelling so loud the entire presentation hall could hear us. Doctor Matt isn’t...wrong. I shouldn’t bring Alex down just because I’m not comfortable with my situation. I just wish he had a bit more empathy for the people who aren’t totally on board with ponification. I sighed. “Okay, okay. I’ll be more mindful of my friends. But now, I have a question for you.” I asked. “Shoot.” Doctor Matt replied. “Do you think there will ever be a cure for this?” I ask. Doctor Matt falls silent and furrows his brow. He opens his mouth then closes it again, putting a finger to his chin. After a brief period of silence he responds. “Ultimately, I think we can come up with one, Penn. The real question is how long will it take to create something that could reverse these effects. Unfortunately, that’s a question I don’t have the answer to at the moment.” I thought about his answer for a long time. Doctor Matt had always seemed like an honest person to me. He always told me the truth, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. He always tried to tell me all he could, even if his hands were tied by Franklin and his restrictions. I nodded at his response. “Alright. Thanks for answering me honestly.” Doctor Matt grins. “Alright, let’s go ahead and get your check-up done so you can go visit your friends, yeah?” I nod and get up on the examination bed. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ My examination with Doctor Matt went about as well as could be expected. I did end up slapping him in the face with my wings a couple of times by accident. I hope he isn’t too mad about that. I really need to keep those damn things under control. Anyway, I had gotten all my examinations taken care of and now I was ready to go and meet with my friends in the Magic Meeting Room. I opened the door and greeted everyone. “Hey everypony, how are you all doing?” I didn’t get many reactions out of anyone. They all seem laser focused on the TV which was tuned to some news channel. I get a mild acknowledgement from Nathan, “Oh hello. I’d grab a seat if I were you, there’s something you should probably take a look at.” I throw him a look of concern, but I do as he says and get seated in my chair. I look up at the news feed on screen and I’m instantly hit in the face with the headline they’re running. The text read “CRITIC BELIEVES VACCINE TRIAL HAS QUESTIONABLE ETHICS” I let out an inaudible gasp. Was this news story about us? It had to be if everyone else was so enraptured by it. I listened in so I could glean more information about what they were talking about. “So, let’s see if I understand this correctly,” The news pundit began. “You’re saying that Merchant Medical who was conducting these vaccine trials have performed malpractice and are now attempting to cover things up?” The other person on the screen hadn’t even spoken yet, but he screamed “corporate schmuck” to me. He had slicked back hair with just enough hair gel in there to cause his hair to unnaturally glisten in the glow of the artificial lights. As he spoke, his voice did nothing to shake my initial judgements. “Well John,” he began, as if talking to a child. “Merchant Medical has been touting the fact that they have a new breakthrough in fighting this epidemic and yet they seem completely adamant on keeping so much of it a secret. They’ve refused to tell the public what they’re implementing in these treatments, while simultaneously asking for government assistance. Now suddenly the Governor is going to be sending the guard in? There’s a lot more going on at the Cheyenne Facility and the American public has a right to know about it.” The pundit nodded. “Okay, now Mr. Argus, do you have any evidence that this...that Merchant Medical was doing something illegal?” “Well that’s what we’re trying to figure out.” The man replied a bit too quickly. “We’re trying to find out what they’re up to and have that information be out there for the world to see, but right now we’re being stonewalled at every opportunity. If they’re truly innocent and they have nothing to hide, they would simply tell us what they’re working on.” “You can’t just assume they’re guilty right off the bat, there needs to be an investigation first.” John the pundit replied. “Oh, we’re going to be investigating for sure. We’ll see what they’re doing, mark my words. We’ll expose their lies for the world to see. They’re going to need to tell us what they’re doing eventually.” “Alright,” the pundit quickly replied. “Thank you for joining us, Mr. Argus and thank you for your time.” “Thanks for having me.” He quickly nodded. The news program shifted over to another news story. I turned around to look at everyone in the room. “What the heck was that all about?” I ask, having dropped in at the middle point of the interview. “Seems like the moves the governor made were public, but what’s actually happening in here with us is being kept private.” Darnel commented. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.” Will replied. Juan nervously twiddled his hooves. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with everyone knowing what’s happening to us.” Juan sunk into his seat, looking down at the ground. I huffed.“What I want to know is who the heck was that slimy looking business man that was being interviewed?” I didn’t usually keep up with the business world since it always seemed to be a competition to see who could be the most agonizingly boring. Still, whoever he was, he seemed to be incredibly aggressive toward Franklin’s company. Were they competitors or something? “Ah, that would be Hayden Argus.” Nathan uttered, barely hiding his dismissive tone. “He’s a very wealthy businessman who has his hands in a lot of different industries. While he’s very successful and smart about business, that comes at the cost of being incredibly insufferable.” “You seem to know a lot about him, Nathan.” I comment. “I’m well versed in the business world and I must be aware of the different players and what they do. Even if those people happen to be...very unpleasant.” Meghan popped up next to me. “Yes, the world of Capitalism is a cruel place indeed, comrade.” she muttered in a fake Russian accent. “That whole conversation brings up a good point though,” Alex said while tapping his chin with his hoof. “What exactly do we do if...when this all gets exposed to the outside world? We might be hidden here in this facility right now, but I don’t think we’ll be able to keep that up for long.” The room was silent for several seconds. I was so concerned about what would happen to me, that I didn’t even think about what the others would think about it. Could we be able to get jobs? Would we still be treated like any other human citizen? That was a lot to think about and not all of those thoughts were pleasant. James spoke up. “I think we’ll be okay...but we need to be the ones to control the narrative.” Darnel tilted his head. “Pardon? What do you mean by ‘controlling’ the narrative?” “Well, we want to be able to show our best faces. We don’t want someone else telling us what we are and what we intend to do. We need to show humans that we are peaceful and if we do things right, people will accept us.” Nathan stifled a laugh. “Ah yes. I’m sure people will accept us!” Nathan belted out with heavy sarcasm. “Sure, many people right now are struggling financially, scared about a pandemic and are divided on social issues. But no, you’re totally right James! They’ll just accept us with open arms!” “I shan’t be made a fool in this instance, for I did not say this venture would be a simple jaunt!” James fired back at Nathan. After a brief pause, James cleared his throat. “T-that is to say, I never said this would be easy. I suspect we will initially be met with confusion and maybe even fear and hostility. But that’s exactly why we need to control the narrative, so we can tell everyone who we are.” “That’s under the assumption that we’re stuck like this, right?” I blurt out. The room goes silent. “I-I mean, we can’t ignore that possibility!” I continue. “Nothing like this has ever happened before and we don’t know if it can be reversed. We need to keep that in mind.” I saw Juan somehow sink even more into his chair while Nathan frowns. I sigh. “I...I know that’s not what some of us want to hear. I’m sorry for putting that out there. I hope there is some way to get us back to normal and back to the way we used to be.” Darnel plopped his hoofs on the table. “Well, I don’t how everyone else feels but…I kinda like this and I was hoping I could stay a pony.” “WHAT!?” An aggressive yell erupted through the room startling everyone. The defiant yell came from Juan. “How...how can you say that!? You’re just going to give up who you were just like that? Do you not care about who you used to be? Are you just gonna toss that away?” “Hey, I never said I would do that!” Darnel rebuffed. “Just because I like having a pony body does NOT mean I’m forgetting who I am. I ain’t no liar." Juan narrowed his eyes and started to breathe in sharply. His hooves shook a bit, his forearms tensing up a bit. If he still had hands, they’d probably be curled into fists. “I don’t want my friends to change.” Juan spoke, his voice trembling. “I’m worried that we’re going to be different after this is all over and then...we...we’ll stop being friends.” Juan uttered, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice. I quickly get up and pull him into a hug. Hearing Juan utter his fears so openly stirred up something within me and made me want to reach out to him and let him know everything was okay. “Juan. Even though we’re changing, we’ll still be your friends. I want you to know that.” I say, squeezing him tight. The tense feeling in the room subsided and the noise calmed down. “Uhm...am I interrupting something?” A voice came out from the side of the room. My eyes whipped around to see Cadence standing in the doorway, with a confused look on her face. “Ah!” I stumble over my words, realizing that out of context, this looked a bit weird. I slowly released my hug and gave Juan a pat on the back. “We were having a heart to heart.” Cadence smiled and entered the room proper. “Well, that’s something I can definitely get behind. Is a...there a chair I can use?” I was about to say no but Meghan once again pulled out a chair from out of the corner of my eye and plopped it down near the table. “Here you go! Come sit down!” Will threw up his shoulders, his mouth agape. “Where the heck do you keep those?!” “Oh, I have them hidden all over the place...in case of chair emergencies!” Meghan said confidently. Will lifted his hoof again as if to comment but he soon lowered it and shook his head, deciding to just not question it. Cadence soon got herself seated and made herself comfortable. “Anyway, hello there, everypony! Some of you already know me but for those of you who don’t, my name is Tyler, though lately I’ve been going by Cadence.” I took my seat to listen to what Cadence wanted to tell us, even though I pretty much already knew what she was going to say. “I’ll be very direct; I need your help.” Cadence said, a small frown forming on her face. “We’re really popular, aren’t we?” Will commented. “I’ll have to do a bit of explaining first,” Cadence continued, ignoring Will’s comment. “I don’t know how the rest of you are reacting to these changes, but I’ve noticed something strange...well, besides the physical changes. As far as I can tell, I have an ability that’s unique to me. It might sound weird to say, but I seem to have some kind of...super empathy powers.” “That...doesn’t sound like a real power.” Will interjected. “I mean, James being able to wander into people’s dreams and interact with us sounds like a legit super power. But super empathy? What does that even do? Are you able to understand everyone before you even meet them?” “Well, it’s kind of like that but there’s more to it. I’m also able to instill that empathy in other people. I can help calm down two people who are arguing and help them empathize with each other.” “Whoa, what?” Darnel jumped up in surprise at the explanation. “That sounds like it’s some kind of mind control!” “W-what?! N-no! I don’t control people’s minds with it!” Cadence shot a panicked look at me. She wanted some back up from me. I nodded at her. “I’ve seen her powers in action Darnel and I don’t really think it’s mind control.” I said. “Hmmm?” Darnel responded, a twinge of curiosity in his voice. “Yeah,” Alex interjected, rubbing his arm and looking away from the group. “Penn and I, well...we got in a bit of a fight yesterday. Funnily enough, it was basically the same argument Juan and Darnel were having. I was so angry, but then...it all just kinda melted away and I realized Penn was still a friend and well...I was able to empathize with him.” “Whoa!” Meghan yelped in surprise. “So you two were arguing but then you just became friends again and weren’t mad anymore? That’s awesome!” Cadence chuckled. “Oh, it’s nothing quite that amazing. I just made them realize the friendship they already had. Another thing related to this power is I can read the emotions of others and that helps me figure out how a person is feeling toward another person. Sure, sometimes people yell on the outside, but people can also bury their feelings on the inside too.” “Remind me never to play poker with you.” Darnel quipped. “Granted, I’m not great at it to begin with, but that’s another story.” “There is another quirk involved with my power.” Cadence continued. “My powers seem to respond much more strongly with transformed people like you guys. I can use them on humans but it seems to take much more effort and gives less of a payoff. I suspect ponies just have more compatibility or something like that.” “Hmm, that’s all well and good,” Nathan began. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here and why you said you needed our help.” “Right.” Cadence nodded. “I wanted to mention the unique powers and how it interacts with both humans and ponies because I think I’ve seen someone else here using their powers around here. And let me tell you right now, it was definitely not for benevolent or altruistic purposes.” “You think you saw someone using powers?” Will said, crossing his hooves and tilting his head. “Well, let me explain.” Cadence presses her hooves together as she continues. “I was walking down a hallway and I saw a lab tech walking by in another hall. Normally, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought but...remember how I said my power works way better with ponies? Well, with most humans I only get a modest reading on them, but with this guy, it was just as easy as with any pony. Not only that but this person’s emotions seemed to not fit. Like someone wearing a t-shirt inside out or something. Basically, it was completely off.” Everyone except Alex and myself gave surprised looks at that little bit of information. “That made me stop in my tracks. I decided to backtrack and take a look at this person. I made sure they couldn’t see me so I didn’t give away my position. I saw them walk over to a locked door and stop. The lab tech looked around, as if trying to see if anyone was looking and then…” Cadence trailed off for a second, as if preparing for a bombshell statement. “The lab tech well...he shapeshifted into a completely different person!” She exclaimed. “WHAAAAAAAAAT?!” Meghan yelled in surprise. “You mean he’s got super secret shapeshifting stealth powers?” “Er, I guess you could call them that, yes.” Cadence replied. “Finally, a worthy opponent.” Meghan grinned, rubbing her hooves together. “A stealth battle for the modern age!” Cadence cleared her throat and got back to the story. “A-anyway. I saw this shapeshifter go inside a room that looked...incredibly restricted. There were a lot of signs and labels that basically meant that you needed some massive high level access to get in. But the ultimate takeaway is this; someone has the power to change forms, and they’re using it to take human form and sneak around this facility.” I nodded solemnly. Alex and I had been told this yesterday, but it still didn’t change the gravity of this information. We had no idea who this person was, what they wanted or what their ultimate goal was. Was this person like us, just someone who wanted to know all the answers and they were going about it in a more stealthy and direct manner? Or was this person’s intent more malicious and sinister? “If it makes you all feel any better, I know for a fact that none of you here are the shapeshifter. None of you have that weird mismatch.” Cadence explained calmly. “Whew, that’s a relief.” Juan sighed. “I’d hate to think that any of my friends was a shapeshifter.” “Still, I have no idea who the shapeshifter is and while we’re talking, they’re still out there doing who knows what.” Cadence grimly explained. “Augh!” Will threw up his hooves. “The more we learn, the more questions keep popping up! Why can’t there just be a simple, straight answer?” “Well, there’s not much we can do about it right now.” I reply. “But we should try and find out more about this shapeshifter character. Find out what they’re up to. They might have the answers we’re looking for, especially if they’ve been into those restricted areas.” “Spy Mission 2: Spy Harder. Coming this summerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.” Meghan belts out in a very gravelly voice. I chuckled and shook my head. “I guess so, Meghan. Well, since we have yet another friend who’s joined us in the Magic Meeting Room, you know what that means!” I proclaim. “Our table gets more crowded?” Alex replies. I shake my head as I produce a game box labelled Cards Against Humanity. “Game time!” “...we really should find games that work well with more than 8 players.” Nathan commented. “Oooooooh, we should make a Pathfinder group!” Meghan happily exclaims. “Well, maybe we can try to do that next time.” I say, putting that suggestion in the back of my mind. “But for right now...it’s time to see how raunchy you all are!” \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “Cadence?” I ask. “Yes, Penn?” She replies. “Did you use your empathic powers to tilt the game in your favor?” I inquire. “...now what in the world would make you think that? I can assure you, I played this game completely legit.” She replies, her side of the table absolutely drowning in black cards. “Hmhmm.” I mutter out, unconvinced. “It’s official then. I hereby dub Cadence ‘The Princess of Lewd.’ Wear that title proudly!” I snicker. “Pffft, alright, I will.” Cadence chuckles. “Well, it’s getting a bit late.” Alex comments. “We should probably get to bed. Same time tomorrow, right guys?” Alex gets a myriad of positive responses from the group. “Alright guys, see you all tomorrow!” I say as I leave the room.  I made my way back, trotting up the hallway in a casual jaunt. As I head towards my room, I encounter someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. “Ah, hello there.” Nurse Shinzo Akai said, waving at me as I went down the hall. She seemed just as friendly as ever, but I noticed small bits of pink hair starting to unfurl from her normal human hair. “Oh, hey there Shinzo.” I reply, trying not to stare. “I...guess I’m finally starting to understand what you all are going through. It’s definitely a shock to have your hair suddenly change color.” She looks away. “Ah, look, it’s okay.” I reassure her. “I know I was a bit harsh to you a few days ago. I felt like you couldn’t understand what I was going through. But, heh, I ended up learning a lot about empathy from a friend of mine.”  Shinzo grinned. “I’m glad to hear it.” I felt that Shinzo really did care about our wellbeing and wanted to help us out. Even though I knew there was a shapeshifter about, I felt a genuine sincerity from her. Still, maybe I should ask Cadance to use her “Super Empathy” to figure out if she’s the real deal or not. A thought soon popped into my brain. “Hey, Shinzo. Are you still assigned to do Nursing duties given your...condition?” “Well, they haven’t told me to stop what I’m doing yet, though they have assigned me to solely do tests and check-ups on transforming patients, given my situation.” She explained. I tapped my hoof against my cheek a couple times. “Would you mind telling me if you spot any of the other staff members who look like they’re sneaking around?” Shinzo narrowed her eyes. “What exactly are you scheming?” “I wouldn’t call it a scheme. It’s...well...have you checked up on a patient named Cadence?” “Hmm? That kid who used to go by Tyler? Yeah, I’ve checked on them a couple of times. Why?” “Well, she’s seen something very unusual happen with one of the staff members.” I explain. “I just want you to ask her about that and tell her I asked you to do it. If she asks if that request really came from me, just utter the phrase, ‘The Princess of Lewds’ and she’ll understand.” “The Princess of WHAT?!” Shinzo yelled out in surprise. “Uh, long story short, she’s REALLY good at Cards Against Humanity.” I explained calmly. “Ah...alright, I’ll be sure to ask her.” Shinzo agrees, still a bit put off by the wording. “Thanks, I really do appreciate it. Anyway, I’ve probably kept you up for a while. See you around!” I say as I walk towards my room. “See you around!” Akai waves goodbye as I turn the corner. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I opened the door to my home away from home. Even though the room was as clinical as it gets, I was finally starting to get used to the whole thing. Being alone in my room gave me the chance to think about all the things I had learned over the past 10 days. I went from just some guy trying to earn some extra money, to being in the center of a medical anomaly with a plethora of players and a myriad of mysteries for me to solve. Heh, I love alliteration. Alliteration is appealing. My mind then drifted to my condition. Despite all the other things happening, that’s what concerned me most of all. Some of my friends were embracing these changes and they were in the mindset that this was something amazing that happened to them. Others seem to resent the changes and feel like they’re losing who they are. I feel like I’m leaning more towards the latter myself. That finally leads me to the last thing on my mind; Twilight Sparkle. Who exactly was she? Obviously, she’s the pony who’s body I’m going to have pretty soon, but in terms of her personality and her motive, I’m completely at a loss. She says she doesn’t want to hurt me and even wants to help me out. Then again, a lot of people here want to “help” me. Maybe my dreams would be able to shed some light on things. With that thought in my mind, I hopped up onto the bed and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.