//------------------------------// // The Hallway // Story: A World in Chaos // by Mocha Star //------------------------------// Scootaloo trotted along looking at every door from her peripheral vision as she kept a pace going forward, the hall seemed to never end, and it was the same the farther she walked. “Ugh, c’mon. There’s gotta be a way out of here,” she said, slowing to a walk, and looking at the nearest door to her right. She reached for the handle and turned it until it clicked. “Oh! It’s unlocked. Sheesh, why didn’t I try that sooner?” She looked in and saw another door similar to the others so she walked through and the door slammed behind her, startling her, making her drop and spill the water from the bowl across the carpeted floor. She turned to see the door behind her was gone, she was in the same hallway, everything was the same, and now her feet were wet. “Wait, what the hay? What are these?!” she stumbled back and fell to her bottom and rolled to the side and screamed looking to her naked body. “Wha-what am I?! Where’s my orange coat? My fur? My,” she gasped as she turned and looked to her smooth peach white fleshed back, “my wings? My tail? What the flock am I? What happened to me?” she began to weep as she held her arms in front of her and inspected them. Fingers moving independently and her arms twitching she felt tears streaming down her cheeks and she moved her right hand to wipe the tear away and smacked herself in the face. “Ow! You stupid thing, where’s my hoof? Where’s my foreleg? Where’s my BODY?!” She shouted down the hallway before leaning her head back and resting it on the wall where the door was, she started looking at the ceiling. “Even looking around is different,” she sniffed and scrunched her nose and reached her new arm up to touch it. Jerking as she got used to it she brought it to her face and touched it breathing in sharply as she noticed how flat her face now was. “And my muzzle too? What else have you taken from me?” She looked down her body and around her legs, between them and tried her best to examine her body as best she could. “Well, doesn’t seem like much else is changed except for this hole in my stomach and my teats are different and moved but at my age that’s nothing for me to worry about.” She got to all fours and reached to pick up the bowl with her mouth but couldn’t manage it until she sat on the carpet in frustration staring at the bowl full of water and grumbled. “I can feel everything in this body. Ever drop of water is soaking my not fur wet. I can’t pick up the bowl and what are these things?!” she shouted looking at her hands again. She slammed her right hand down into the bowl and splashed water across herself and growled making a fist against the side of the bowl, lifting it with her raising arm. “Ohhh… So it’s like a grabber? Why didn’t they just, no. Nevermind,” the image of having mouths on the end of her new forelegs was the creepiest thing she’d ever thought of and pushed it from her mind as she moved the bowl in her outstretched arm. trying to learn about the limits of the changed appendage. Half an hour passed as Scootaloo smiled and giggled learning the new range of motion of her body and the ways she could grab the bowl with her fingers and toes. “I never though this freaky body could be fun but it sure has it’s uses. Well, I’d better get movin’ and find the next way out. She got to her hands and feet and stumbled forward awkwardly before sitting again. “I don’t think this’ a four legged body, the rear ones are way too long or maybe the front are too short. Okay, I think this is a reared up body like a Diamond Dog so,” she leaned on the wall and heaved herself up waving and weaving as she locked her knees. “Okay, I’ve done this a billion times like a pony so it shouldn’t be that hard like a... Tall, naked, peach, and pink colored thing that totally is NOT a pony. “Hey! I’m as tall as Luna now,” she giggled as she took a step forward leaning on the wall, “easy, I’ve totally got this! Piece of -- woah,” she shouted stumbling forward along the hallway and landing face first onto the carpet. “Owowow. Rug burn hurts more, a lot more!” she said holding her face in both hands and choking back tears. “Okay, I’m not a foal I’m a young mare. I can totally do this,” she sat up and grabbed the bowl determined to not stay in this area for a second longer as she stood tall again, and spilled the water from the bowl across her body. “Dammit again,” she cursed as she took her first steps and began to wobbily make her way down the hall. Scootaloo wiped sweat from her brow as she stopped to catch her breath. “Okay, this thing can run, but not as good as my pony body,” she lifted the bowl to a level position and smiled as it slowly filled with water. She lowered it to the floor and lowered her mouth into it and coughed loudly as she inhaled the water. “Great! Now I have to learn how to eat and drink?” she growled and squeezed her eyes tightly,” and I have to go to the bathroom. Everything looks mostly the same but Luna knows what’s gonna happen. Fine, these funky hooves are grabbers so I guess I pour it in. Sheesh, why’s this so difficult. Why couldn’t I just be a pony and finish this stuff? “Turn right and prepare for a fright my plot.” She poured water into her mouth and across her body again and drank as best she could before dropping the bowl to the floor in frustration. “Discord, you’re a plot-hole. I hope you get a tail infection, and it has to be really itchy for months.” She stuck her tongue out down the hall to her left, then right, and placed her hands on her hips. “Okay bowl, you’re my assistant on this, where do I go next? You know where the bathroom is?” she ask mirthfully as she picked the bowl up and stood tall again. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, lets just get this done and over with.” She began walking and several doors later she stopped and turned to another door to her right. She couldn’t open it with her mouth she knew so she grabbed it with her left hand and turned the handle. “Ow, it doesn’t bend that way I guess. Sure is slick, c’mon. There we go,” she said as the knob turned and the mechanism clicked letting the door swing open. “Big surprise,” she said looking in, “another hallway, what are the odds?” she said sarcastically as she walked through and fell to the floor almost landing her face into the door across the way as the door slammed behind her. “Fine, this door it is.” She got up and opened the next door, the next, and the next going through in a straight line through the halls, door by door until she got bored and frustrated. “Okay, now I really have to pee and I’m lost in a maze or something and no toilet in this weird world. C’mon, where can it be? I’m not some dog that goes wherever. Gotta. Find, Toilet!” she began to panic slightly as her grip on the red bowl she tightened her knees together as she made her way down the hall opening doors as she went between both sides. “There has to be something besides halls here, there HAS to be.” She tried dozens of doors before she squeaked in pain, and resigned herself to what she had to do and where she had to do it. All the doors opened away from her so she couldn’t even hide behind one to make herself feel like it was private as she knelt against the nearest wall and hid her face behind the water bowl and went. Three ounces lighter she blushed deeply and jogged quickly through a door into another hallway hearing the doors all slam shut behind her leaving what she had done in a hallway out of her reach. “Oh no, what if the owner comes back and finds that spot? He’ll get mad some weird creature peed on his carpet,” she said fearfully as she turned and walked down the new hall trembling slightly. “What if a dragon lives here? Or, or a Minotaur with two heads and six arms that carries an axe in each set of it’s hands and, OH! these are hands! I can’t believe I forgot that, it’s just like in that story Rainbow let me read. So these are paws I’m standing on. Hands, paws and a toes on my face,” she sniffed. “Wait, I smell something. It smells good, kinda sweet and heavy like a hay-burger!” She followed her nose as she walked ahead until the smell was almost making her mouth water. She stopped in front of a door that had a white mark on the corner and smiled. “Different. That’s good.” She reached forward and turned the handle letting the door swing open. She gasped as she saw herself mixing ingredients in a bowl. The table was set with oatmeal, something on the table that she didn’t recognize, carafes of juices, bowls of berries, and waffles dripping with three different kinds of syrup sparkled in the light. “Um, Scootaloo? Can I have my body back? I know who or whatever you are you must really miss this thing and I know I’d love to be a pony again.” Her smaller Pegasus body didn’t respond save for her wings fluttering quickly. “I don’t know what you mean,” a mature mares voice came from the little fillies body, “I love this body. I can imagine when it grows up all the things I can do that I couldn’t as a human.” Scootaloos mind raced and her vision blurred for a second then she squealed as she did her first jump landing on her feet fairly well but still fell to the floor safely. “I’m a HUMAN!? I thought they were myth or made up!? Can I get a mirror? What color is my mane? I can feel it but can’t see it. What about my, your body, that’s the one I’m looking at? Are you okay using it? How come you’re so okay with this, shouldn’t you be scared or have to learn how to use my body? What about flying, can humans really fly when they’re in heat to find mates across the land?” “God dammit shut up you little shit!” Scootaloo stopped talking and sat up straight. “You said a bad word.” “Like I care, I was fine and dandy as a human until I got pulled here by that dragon thing then trapped here. That was years ago. He popped back up a bit ago and said I could be another creature to pass the time so he gave me a choice. Pony or slug.” “Which did you choose?” The creature inhabiting Scootaloos body dropped the bowl onto the counter she was at and turned to look at her human form with a disgusted sneer. “Are you the most vapid creature in your world or do you have to study to be this stupid? I picked a freaking pony and poof, here I am. Let me guess, you picked the most amazing creature to ever run a planet into the ground?” Scootaloo didn’t know how to respond but she lowered the bowl to the floor by her side and looked into it. “I can almost see myself in the water. I was a filly. Nine years old and I had lost my whole family to a war. The first war in over a thousand years that was to decide the fate of the planet,” her bodies inhabitant listened intently and got closer. Sitting cross legged the small pony moved a hoof outward inviting her to continue. Scootaloo shifted her body and laid on her stomach to get comfortable, shivering slightly as she noticed the floor wasn’t carpet but a polished wood. And cold. “Well, then I found out I had the magical power of courage-” “Wait sweetie, magic?” “Yeah, it’s everywhere. Don’t you need it to fly when you’re in heat?” “We don’t fly when we’re in heat!” she shouted, “Just tell me more. I haven’t heard a story for a long time.” “Okay, so my friends and I used our elements of magic-” “The elements have magic in them now?” “Well, kinda. See the Pegasi do the clouds and rain. Earth ponies usually do the farming and unicorns do the special magical work but-” Her counterpart hopped up. “Wait, you have real unicorns!? Oh my god, oh my god. OH MY GOD! What do I have to do to see them?” Scootaloo looked at herself and raised an eyebrow quizzically. “What’s so special about unicorns except their magic and horns?” Her counterpart screamed and fell backwards giggling. “Um, I’m Scootaloo, what’s your name?” After a moment to compose herself she rolled to her belly and turned face to face. “My name is Amber.” “Amber? That’s a nice name, like the color?” “Exactly! Scooter dude, we’re gonna get along fine.” “...My names Scootaloo. Scoots for short.” “Oh, sorry,” Amber said rubbing the back of her neck. “So, how do we get out of this house?” “House? You mean hallway maze,” Scootaloo corrected. “What? No it’s not,” Amber said trotting to the door and climbing up a small flight of stairs by the door. She grabbed the knob in her mouth and pushed it in until it clicked and popped open. “See?” Scootaloo gasped as she looked into a large entryway, double doors at the far end of the corridor with natural sunlight shining in through the windows in the glass framed door. “We’d better get you some clothes, you can’t go around in a human body like that or you’ll get in trouble.” “What? You’re not always like this? We almost always are,” Scootaloo asked as she stood up to follow Amber out of the room. “Wait, can we eat first?” “Eat after, I couldn’t stand to look at myself before and now I have to look at my entire younger self? No thanks. Follow me.” Leading Scootaloo upstairs and stopping by a door Amber waited for Scootaloo to open it. “I’m too small to open it now. Would you mind?” Scootaloo reached up and turned the handle letting the door swing open. “See, hallway!” Amber facehoofed. “Close the door, genius. Okay, now push the handle.” The door popped open to a lavish bedroom with a terrace bed with a veil in the center of the room, large dressers against one wall, a wardrobe and closet near the door, and a large glass rectangle against another hanging on the wall. “This’ awesome! Is this your room? Can I have a sleep over?” “Wow, you’re a total child.” “Hey! I’m almost ten years old, and I’m going to school, and I was gonna start flying soon I bet. Then it’d be a breeze to get my cutie mark and live the dream.” “Okay, you’re gonna have to explain a lotta things to me over the next few hours. Let’s find you an outfit that suits the old me.” “So,” Scootaloo asked as she followed Amber into the room to the closet, “this used to be your body?” “Yeah, when I was a little girl your age. I’d grown up before I was taken here. I guess that since I didn’t age, and luckily didn’t go insane, I stopped caring really. I was a woman of thirty five when that alligator dragon stole me from my family and life.” “So, a girl is like a filly then and a wool man is a mare?” “Woman, and yes, I suppose so. You evolved on a world where horses were dominant and me, humans won the charge.” “Horses aren’t really around anymore and what charge?” Amber tugged a dress down and it landed on her covering her completely as Scootaloo giggled and knelt down to take it for herself. “So, this’ a dress you humans wear? Wait, are you a boy or girl?” “Wha, you don’t know? What’re you?” “A filly, so girl to you.” “Exactly, the first thing I checked for was a penis. That woulda been another perfect prank from that thing.” “Oh my, you said another bad word.” “What? Penis?” Scootaloo dropped the dress and covered her ears. “Penis penis penis,” Amber shouted giggling, as Scootaloo blushed and grabbed the dress to cover her head. “Oh Celestia, please stop.” “Holy shit I haven’t laughed this much in years.” Scootaloo gasped. “You are such a plot mouth!” “Plot mouth? Is that like a bad work to you horses?” “Ponies, and no. It’s a bad mouth. You need soap and when I get back I’ll take you with me and introduce you to Fluttershy can she teach you proper manners.” “Proper manners? Are you a lady or something? Rich and well off living the highlife?” Amber joked. “No, I live in a small house next to a tree. My parents lived in Cloudsdale for a while but then we had to move to the earth because they got different jobs.” “Put that on and talk. What do you mean moved to the earth?” Scootaloo laid the dress out and began to worm into it like she was still a pony and got stuck. “Well, Pegasi live in the cloud city Cloudsdale. Earth ponies live all over the kingdom and the same for unicorns,” she said, as she struggled to get her arms into the right holes in the dress, “Unicorn can use magic actively and don’t ever touch anything, cuz they’re always using their telekinesis. Earth ponies do the,” she grunted as she pushed her head through and began shaking it down her body like she would as a pony letting it stop at her hips and smiling proudly. “Does it look good on me?” “Only if you were twenty years older and drunk. Stand up and let it fall, dear.” “Well, we all live in peace and harmony with the planet and the goddesses Luna Moon and Celestia make sure we’re safe.” “Wait, you have goddesses?” “Yeah, alicorn ponies with incredible power. I’m friends with them and the other fillies and colts in my class are super jealous cuz I can stay at the royal palace whenever I go to Canterlot. Luna Moon controls the moon and Celestia the sun. They raise and lower them and Luna Moon makes the most brilliant star displays some nights.” Amber sat with her mouth agape as she listened. “So, what exactly are alicorns?” “A super magic combo of Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi that are super awesome,” she said waving a hand, “I can totally introduce you if you want.” “Wow, you’re serious, aren’t you? You’re some kind of superhero where you’re from and now I’ve got your body which means… I’m the super hero! Magic activate,” Amber shouted rearing and thrusting her forelegs into the air. “Just kidding. So, let’s get you something to wear.” “I’m wearing a dress, that’s enough.” “Nope, you’re me, and I’d never leave my room without jewelry. Go over to my chest and pull out a few options.” Scootaloo stood up and an audible ripping noise was heard as she tore her dress by standing on it. She shrugged and went to the dresser and gasped. “My element!” She grabbed it and put it on as Amber trotted over, shouting something and tripped, landing face first on Scootaloos foot as a light flashed around them both.