Can't Stop Now

by PingSquirrel

Chapter 7: Preparations

Now this wasn’t the sort of place I ever imagined myself shopping in. Especially for myself. I mean, what the hell? Why was I in a livestock supply store wondering if I’d need this ringworm treatment in the near future? I really should’ve researched this more before I came here, but it wasn’t like I had an abundance of time to work with here. It was getting harder and harder to hide my pony parts and the pace of the change was only getting faster over time, so here I was looking at this damned box covered in legalize and possible side effects.

The door rang as someone came into the store, and my ears immediately swiveled to track the noise of his movement without any effort on my part. It was automatic and every footstep let me knew exactly how far he was from me even though I couldn’t see him past the shelves stacked with small boxes. It wasn’t hard since I had been the only person in here for the last fifteen minutes. I went out of my way to find a small mom and pop store on the edge of the city to minimize the chance of others seeing me. It wasn’t like I had a lot of friends into equestrian activities, but why chance it?

I went back to staring at the box helplessly and in the few minutes it took him to get whatever he wanted, have a friendly conversation with the old lady at the til, ring up and leave, I determined that I might actually need this ringworm stuff. Maybe.

“Fuck!” I snorted to myself as I tossed the small box into my cart. Who was I kidding? I knew shit about horses other than I was becoming one with fangs and possibly batwings. I had pulled up a website on my phone about horse and pony ownership. But it was mostly a primer about the costs of stabling the animals and the work involved, and I wasn’t about to set myself up in a stable or anything like that. I’m just going to look like an animal; not be one! This was getting to me and I didn’t have time for this. My humanity was slipping away by the second, and I couldn’t even rush this; every step I took had to be carefully done or someone might hear the ‘clop’ of my hooves.

My ears turned again to another person walking in the store and this one was closing in on me. Maybe if I kept my head down, he’d just walk on by and leave me alone. Maybe he’d just think I looked a little too creepy or something with my sunglasses on, my hood up and baggy jeans that touched the ground around my hooves. That or a shoplifter, but I just had to hope he wouldn’t think that. The last touch was turning to my phone again and I flicked to a random page on the horse site. Hopefully that’d dissuade him from talking from me.

The plan was flawless. All I had to do was keep my eyes down and uh…

…

What the fuck!?

My luck’s record remained unbroken as I was now looking at a rather graphic set of diagrams and pictures related to horse breeding. This was bad enough but what was worse was that I wanted to keep staring at the pictures to the point that I was absently scrolling down the screen like I was some sort of pervert. This was like that whole ‘bat pony mare’ thing Sally showed me last night, but worse because these equines were real.

“Do you need any help there?”

I scrambled to shut down the screen, but I kept fumbling it. It was like my fingers didn’t want to do anything I needed them to do. After several seconds of struggle, I just shoved the phone into a pocket and turned to look at who spoke at me. A tall, nearly impossibly thin man was looking down at me. He could’ve been any age after forty, but his short, silver hair with his deep wrinkles while he smiled at a potential customer made me suspect he was closer to retirement age. He had to work here, because while he was casually dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans, he also had a nametag on declaring his name was “Greg”.

The good news was that the heat in my cheeks died down pretty quickly, but it was still hard to get my brain to shift from neutral to thinking again. Stupid sexy horses. "Ah, um, not really. I've been doing pretty well on my own, I think." God dammit that was bad. Stupid nice, old man for catching me while I was distracted.

He wasn’t convinced. “You sure 'bout that? You just took twenty minutes to get a single thing in your cart. Whatcha looking for?” he asked helpfully.

Even he could see that I wasn’t making progress and didn’t have a clue on what I needed. He even that whole, ‘kindly old man’ vibe going for him. Toss in the fact that I didn’t have time to waste and it was pretty clear that I had to give in. “Okay, I give. I’m not really sure what I need. You wouldn’t have anything like a ‘starter kit’ for someone that is buying a horse?” I asked.

“Oh? What sort of horse you thinkin' of gettin, son?” he asked while he folded his arms across his front.

I could tell he already was thinking of lists of things to sell me so I should make sure the right lists were going. “Well, more like a pony,” I added with a quick smile. It took me a moment to remember the fangs and I stopped. I don't think I showed them off.

He arched an eyebrow and looked me over. I know I didn’t fit the demographic for the typical pony fanatic (At least real ponies). “Really? Do you got one picked out?”

“Uh, kinda.” You gotta love being technically correct, but I didn’t need this guys digging into my life. Time to get this conversation back on track. “So, about that sort of starter kit?”

He looked both ways down the aisle. Maybe he was checking for another customer to help. I knew we were alone though; I couldn’t hear or smell anyone but us. He turned back to me and leaned in so he didn’t need to speak so loudly. “We don’t have one but you know, there’s been a few young people like you that have taken a sudden interest in owning a pony.”

A few young people? Did he just suggest what I thought he did? No. Ah, fuck. What else could that mean? That threw my train of thought off its rails entirely. “Really now. Uh…”

He was smiling while he gave a quick, affirmative nod. “A couple even came through this store a week or two back. All done up in hoodies and glasses like you,” he recalled. “A nice couple.”

Fuck!! Really!? How many more of us were in this situation? Nevermind. Just get out of here and put some distance between us. I stepped towards the door with that familiar clop of a hoof. “You don’t say.”

“And, we do talk with others in our business. There’s actually a lot of kids like you getting interested in ponies all of a sudden,” he continued. “It’s a nice upswing in the business, but you’d think something odd is happening. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I took another step away from Greg and glanced down the hall. It was all clear and now I could hope that hooves had enough traction for a sprint on tile. “That’s very neat. I guess, uh, I’ll be going.”

“What?” he said in surprise, then realisation washed over his face. “Oh! Just hold up there! I didn’t mean to spook you like that. We just want to help poor kids like you out.”

“We?” I asked skeptically. I wasn’t going to sprint yet, because he seemed genuine, but I wasn’t about to let him cut the way off to the door either.

He didn’t so much as budge from his spot. “Mildred and I. She’s my wife of thirty two years and co-owner of this here store.”

“She knows as well?” I asked. He certainly didn’t seem like the sort to be planning evil things to do with a young man that was turning into a pony.

“I’m just saying, we watch the news and can put two and two together even if the answer doesn’t make much sense,” he chuckled.

“Four?” Curse my natural inclination to snark without thinking.

He was caught off guard by the flippant remark and that made the conversation lull for a second. “Heh. Nobody likes a smart ass, kiddo. We’re trying to help.”

“Sorry.” I gave my shoulders a shrug and noticed how stiff they felt. They just have to have to wait until I had some time to do something about them.

He accepted the apology with a curt nod before he rubbed his chin and looked me over again. “So, what do you really need?”

It was a tempting offer. It’d save a lot of time to actually have someone that knew what equines needed to help me out. “I wouldn’t mind something for the hooves. They’re really noisy and don’t get much traction on tile floors.”

“I might got just the thing for you but it’ll have to wait a minute,” he said while grinning ear to ear. He took a couple steps towards the door. “Dear?” he called out.

“Yes, hon?” the old lady that was at the till called right back. That must of been the previously mentioned Mildred.

“Is the store empty?” he asked loudly.

“I think so. No one is saying you’re being too loud, hon,” she answered.

“We got a very special client in the store. Why don’t you put the ‘out for lunch’ sign on the door and come back here to meet him?"

“Special client? Oh? Oh!” she said in a normal voice, but I could pick it up with my keen sense of hearing. The reply that I was supposed to hear came a moment later. “Of course. Be there in a minute!”

There was the sounds of busywork and movement of the front, punctuated with the loud click of a lock being turned. A moment later, a matronly lady poked her head around the shelves and lit right up at the sight of us. “There you guys are,” she chimed before hustling our way. Alright, she was pretty adorable with her little stetson on her and those over-sized glasses. She came straight for me and took my hand for a quick shake. “I’m Mildred, dear. You must be one of the poor kids.”

“Ryan. And yeah, you can say that,” I said with a shrug. “But, why are you so eager to help out?”

“Do you have to ask, son?” Greg said giving me a pat on the back. “It’s just the right thing to do. You got enough to worry about without anyone giving you the help you need.” Mildred just nodded quickly in agreement.

“Thanks. It’s appreciated. I would’ve read up on what I needed if I had any choice in the matter, but that’s not how it played out,” I admitted before looking between the two. They seemed nice and honest but I still had my doubts that anyone would offer this sort of thing selflessly.

Your instincts are as keen as ever! It’s clearly because they’re not.

What?

They’re going to need you to pay them back eventually. That’s how the world works, and you’re pretty good at the taking part, but when it comes to giving, well...

What the fuck does that mean?

How should I put this? You tend to drop the proverbial ball and the literal familial relation when it comes to giving.

Don’t you dare...

What’s the sound of a little sister hitting the ground from a dozen stories, hmmm? Is it more of a thud or a splat? Or maybe some combination of both of those?

HEY! What the fuck!?

Hay is for ponies, and you’re getting off topic. I’m just saying that you’d do well to remember exactly how well you do at that ‘giving’ thing. You might as well save everyone the trouble and not even let them get close to you. They’ll be in less danger that way.

You’re not a just a voice in my head. What the hell are you?

You’re a smart pony. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

What do you want from me?

“Hm? Nothing, son,” Greg said, snapping my attention back to where I was. He looks me over critically. “Are you alright? You went a little quiet there for a minute.”

“Uhh... Yeah, I’m fine,” I muttered. What the hell was that? The voice was gone now but it was so foreign from my normal thoughts. Was it the pony I was changing into that was talking to me or something else? It’d explain the dreams. God dammit, there had to be answers out there somewhere. “No, yeah, I’m fine,” I repeat. “Its probably just something to do with the change, I guess.”

“Ah, well, if you say so, dear. Speaking of that, though, may we see what we’re dealing with?” Mildred asked delicately. Oh good. At least this is awkward for them too.

“Well, I’m probably not like the other ones that you’ve seen,” I warned while I brought my hands up to my sunglasses.

Greg scoffed. “Don’t worry too much. I mean, it’s an odd situation, sure, but nothing we haven’t seen before with the others. I doubt you coul...” He trailed off as I lowered my glasses. I couldn’t help but smirk at the reaction when I showed off my new slitted golden eyes. It was hard to see in the glare of the fluorescent lights but I could still see that his mouth was left partly open on the half formed word until his wife noticed the delay and gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Ah, yeah, that’s something alright.”

“You’re telling me,” I joked. “I guess those others didn’t have anything like these?”

“No,” he answers, transfixed.

“So there really are others?” I ask.

“Yes. Just… not quite like that,” answers Mildred.

I put my shades back in place and they both visibly relax. “Oh! I’m sorry for staring,” Mildred apologizes. “I don’t know what came over me. It’s just the other’s eyes were more… colorful and rather pretty.” She catches what she said and backpedals, “Oh! Not to say yours aren’t! They’re just… different. Are you sure you’re turning into… you know?

It was understandable that they’d have doubts. I doubt they’d seen any more of the show than I have and I’ve seen only a couple episodes. “Apparently some sort of night-pony with bat wings and eyes, but I got the hooves,” I said as I finally risked pulling up a pant leg to show off a hoof. I lifted it up too, and gave it a wiggle in the air while they looked at it.

“I think we got something in your size. Don’t normally sell them but back when the rumours and speculation started, we decided to pick up a few odds and ends. Lucky for you,” mused Greg as he looked down at me. “I’ll tell you what. You come with me around back, and we can get you sized up and Mildred will pick up the rest of the stuff you’ll need.”

“Actually, can I get two sets? There’s another pony like me just back home and he never got a chance to prep,” I asked.

“Oh my, yes you can,” Mildred gushed. “Just give me a few and I’ll have it all boxed up for you.” She was practically bouncing as she went for the rest. I’m sure she’d be a contender to for world’s best grandma if this is how she treated a stranger like me.

My attention turned back to Greg and he motioned for me to follow. “Come on.”

“You’re not worried about catching pony-itis?” I asked as we made our way to the back room.

He laughed. “Nope. At my age, I’m more worried about my prostate killing me, or my ticker just forgetting to tock one time,” he joked before he held the door open to the back room for me. I stepped through into a room filled with boxes and crates packed with merchandise and store records, but there was one spot that was cleared out with a couple of chairs.

“I think that’d be the world's loss,” I said.

He shrugged. “We all gotta go sometime, but I want to make sure people and ponies are both glad I was here more than glad I’m gone. But anyways, take a seat and let me see them again.”

Well, the first worry that it was going to be some elaborate trap had been addressed and dismissed. I let my guard down and took the seat on the chair and as soon as I leaned back, I winced He didn’t notice because he was already going through some boxes, pulling a couple odd cup like things out of them. God, my shoulders are getting sore. “Done this before, I see.”

“Only a couple times where I can talk to who I’m sizing up,” he chuckled while he worked.

“Whatever happened to those other ones you mentioned?” I asked as I reached back to adjust my tail a little bit I stopped fighting it a moment later and pulled it loose. He already knew everything, so why fight it now. He did leer my way for a moment. I followed it up by pulling down my hood to show off the ears and mane. It took him a second to get his mind back on his work.

“Oh, they said they were getting out of the city. Didn’t mention where or anything that detailed, but a park or a farm is the where my bets would be. How about you?”

“Me?”

“Where are you going?” he asked as he brought several sets over to me and knelt down. It looked hard on his knees to do that, but he didn’t complain.

Away.

~ I don’t need anything from the peanut gallery, thank you. ~ I thought in my internal monologue. “I don’t know yet. I don’t know anyone outside of the city, and I don’t camp,” I answered as he took a hold of my hoof and pulled it up so he could take a look at it. He hummed in thought, then pulled out one of the cups to test fit it. Sure, it felt weird with that pressure around what was pretty much one big nail, but it felt big, like it could fall off in short order too. He thought so, too, and took it off to try another. “It’s not like we get much time to put everything in order when this happens,”

“Heh. Any reason why it happened?” He asked as he looked for a slightly smaller one.

“Does it matter?” I replied with a shrug.

He looked up at me. “If I was changing into a horse, it might be something I’d want to figure out,” he replied.

“I only got a couple days to get as much put away as possible. Likely much less than that now, even. I can leave ‘why’ for later, and get the rest of the issues taken care of while I still got thumbs.”

He smiled up at me. “That’s a good head on your shoulders that you got there. If you keep thinking like that, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Now, how do those feel?”

I looked down at the black rubber cover over the hoof before I stood up. They didn’t clop on the floor nearly as loud as they did before, and I took a few steps around to test them. Not only they feel pretty good, they added to my traction a lot, too. “Not bad. What are they for normally? I can’t imagine that a lot of horses come in here looking for sports shoes.”

He shook his head. “Usually, they’re special order for those rich yahoos that want to take their ponies somewhere that they shouldn’t go in the first place. If you’re worrying more about the floor than the animal, I think your priorities are wrong, but I can’t fix all the world’s vices.”

“Take on what you can, eh?” I said as I looked in the box. Sure enough there were two more in there. It was a harsh reminder that I was going to need them too soon enough.

“You’ll live longer doing that,” he chuckled. “Now, speaking about living longer, do you feel alright about needles? There's a few bugs ponies can get that you really should get a shot for."

I winced. “Maybe we should hold off on that until the change to go full run. Might be some complications, and that’s the last thing I need right now. But, I guess I could stop by for them afterwards?”

He nodded. “Not a problem. Just call us and we’ll make sure the store can be closed up for you. Does that mean you’re planning to stick around the city?”

That was food for thought. I didn’t have any real plans yet, but I could figure that out with the help of Lanny and Snowy later. That didn't change that being a horse in the city didn’t seem like a viable option. “For the foreseeable future, I guess. But, just one problem at a time, eh?”

He smirked. "You're a brave kid. Keeping being that no matter what happens to you. You'll do well by it. Now let's go see what sort of care package Mildred has got for you." He gestured for us to go back to the front door.

“That fast?” Seriously. All we did was chat a bit and size me for these hoof cover things.

“She moves fast and it ain't a big store,” he replied. “We’ll go through what she pulled for you before you go. Some things might need some explanation.”

“As long as it doesn’t take too long. I’m liable to go full equine any minute now and I still need to get my car home,” I pointed out. That'd be awkward.

He waved me off while he held the door for me. “I’ll make it quick and we’ll get you our business card for when you got questions later. And, you’re going to have them. No one learns everything overnight.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Time was of the essence though, so I checked my phone to check the time and what do I see. That’s right. Horse breeding techniques in full frontal detail. Dammit, I hope this blush goes away before I get to the nice old lady.

~~~

It didn’t but she didn’t find out why I had that blush, so that worked out and as a bonus, she threw some snacks into the boxes. Of course, I was on my third one before she explained to me that it was her homemade horse treats. I don’t know if that counts as a win or a loss for me because they were damned tasty.

What really was a shitty loss for me was how hard it was getting to drive. My back ached every time I leaned into my seat and my legs felt like they were cramping up as I drove just from the angles I was forcing myself to sit in. It felt like my knees and ankles weren’t in the right positions anymore. Maybe they weren’t and no amount of shuffling in my seat was going to fix it. I’d just have to check letter and maybe swear about it a bunch before grudgingly accepting it.

The drive came to an end outside of the plain red brick apartment block. It was the sort of building that could be faithfully recreated with only a few red Lego bricks and a little imagination. It's not like Lanny really cared where he lived and being on the top floor might help out for his new roomy with wings.

The thought made me snort in amusement and it took me a moment to realize what I just did. "Dammit."

Time enough for that later. I got out of my '92 POS and gathered up the plain cardboard boxes the Wolfes gave to me. They were heavy with everything a growing stallion would need as Mildred put it. She had a good helping of 'kindly grandmother' in her and I'd bet she'd be knitting me a sweater if I was still in their store.

I headed to the door Once I was all loaded up and maneuvered my elbow just enough to hit the buzzer for Lanny's pad. He answered a moment later. "Who's that?"

I put on my best generic, non-English accent and replied, "Ah, no sorree. No English. No English." The door clicked open and I forced my way through it and up the stairs. It was a hassle to manage the climb but it was a great test for the covers. The… my hooves still didn’t sound quite right but that might be my extra sharp hearing. I also could hear the game of Madden that Lanny had going in his apartment. I didn’t even bother knocking and walked right in because I knew he wouldn’t be able to hear me. Maybe Snowflake, but not him.

Anyways, the place was as it was always; unnaturally (and unexpectedly for first timers here) clean. Lanny came from a family that didn’t have much and he took care of everything he hand now that he had his own place. It still wasn't much but he took care of it like it was the Princess's Crown Jewels and I admired that in him. What I didn’t admire was the fact I still had to get the door on my own while struggling with the heavy box.

“I got this guys. Don’t worry! I love carrying heavy boxes without any help whatsoever,” I called before dropping the box on his kitchen counter.

“Oh good! I was worried I’d need to get up,” sniped Snowflake as he mashed at the buttons with his hooves. The plastic controller couldn't last long with that muscle bound pony using it.

“You know you’re going to get your asskicked if you keep doing that,” Lanny called from his couch without missing a beat. Snowflake was beside him, trying to use his hooves to play along. It was clearly a struggle for a pony to use a controller as evidenced by how he’s was down about 60 points in the first quarter.

“Keep doing what?” I asked as I made my way over to the two.

“That accent thing. Someone’s going to hear that and get really pissed at you,” he said without so much as pausing his game. The clattering of hooves on plastic wasn’t too much of a distraction.

I rolled my eyes and took off my glasses since it wasn’t exactly bright in here. “Good thing I’m not going to be able to do that again, eh?”

I could see Lanny work his way through that statement until he gave me a sad nod and paused the game. "Right. So you find you stuff?"

“Yeah. Found a store where they sell this stuff and they really helped out,” I answered. I hesitated to add the next point, but they did deserve to know about them. “They know about us.”

Two sets of eyes were wide and peering over the couch at me. “You serious, bro?” Lanny asked while Snowflake just looked terrified. “Do we got to go right now or something?”

“Nah. It’s cool. They want to help us out and it sounds like they’ve done it before for other ponies. They didn’t even charge me for all this stuff. For example, this.” I pulled out a brush and tossed it to Lanny.

“What’s that?” Snowflake asked while Lanny picked it up. “A brush? You ain’t touching me with that!” The muscular pony recoiled back from Lanny. I think the word is ‘indignation’ or something like that. He was full of that.

“What’s the matter little pony? Don’t like your brush?” Lanny joked as he followed and the situation looked ready to escalate to an outright fight at this rate. That’s okay. I had myself another of those treats Mildred game me to munch on from my safe place in the kitchen.

"Hey, get away from me!" Snowflake kept recoiling back right until that stiff bristled brush hit his neck. Rather than continue his struggle, his eyes went wide and he got a silly grin on his face right before he melted into it. "Oooooh yeah."

Dang. I was ready to watch a fight and not a pony leaning in like a happy dog. God, that's going to be me is a few days. I had to put a stop to this now. "Should I give you two some alone time?" I snarked at the pair and immediately the two of them stopped to pull to the very opposite corners of the chesterfield. "Aww, you're blushing."

"Fuck you, bro," Lanny sniped.

"Anyways, I lined us up for some shots at some point so we got to figure a way down to Greg's store after I'm done with... You know," I said. This was it. The countdown for my humanity.

"You're going to go back home, right? Spend it with your family before you can't?" Lanny suggested forcefully.

"That's what I wish I got to do," Snowflake lamented wistfully. He even folded his ears down and looked at the ground in front of him. "Never got the chance; mom and sis live in a different city. Now, I don't know if I'll ever talk to them again."

I did promise my mom I'd get back to spend some time with her today, and I really wanted to, but there was one more thing I wanted to check up on. "I will, but I want to-"

"I swear to god Ryan, if you say you want to check in with your client, I'm going to kick your ass," Lanny interrupted.

"I'd be a quick stop and nothing else," I suggested. How did he fucking know?

"Fuck man. You got fangs and hooves and you're still worried about some rich old man's kid? The police got it. They're paid to stress about that shit. You got to take care of your own shit, bro," he stated as he got off of the couch. As for Snowflake, he just stayed in place but was nodding in agreement. "So, you going home right?"

He was right. I was trying to pass the case off from minute one but now that it was in police hands I found myself wanting to stay involved. I did have a connection of my own to the case. "But what about Sanguine?"

"What about him? After you're done changing, you can do whatever you want. Right now though, you should be at home. You ain't going to get another chance," Lanny argued.

"Do the right thing. They're going to miss you," Snowflake urged.

I glanced between the two of them then sighed. They didn't get that this was important too, and the least I owed Jacob was a call. "Fine. You made your point. I'll head home. Can you do me a favour though?"

"Whatcha need, bro?"

"Can you drive me back? It's getting hard for me to drive. It's too bright even with the sunglasses, and the seat doesn't feel right anymore." I turned slightly and lifted a leg up to confirm my suspicions. It was clear that my legs no longer had the correct shape to them and my baggy pants couldn't hide that from anyone looking at them.

"Yeah, bro. I can do that. Just let me hit the bathroom and we'll get going," Lanny said before he looked at the full pony beside him. "You'll be alright alone?"

"Yeah, so long as I don't have to open a jar," he said with a chuckle.

"Right. I'm gonna hit the can and then we can get going," Lanny said with a jerk of his thumb towards the bathroom. He didn't wait for my blessing or anything before he headed off. Snowflake just nodded once hard and went back to his game but this time he was trying to use his wingtips.

"I'll look at the stuff while you’re gone" he said gruffly while he quit out of his game.

This left me to nothing but my own thoughts and most of them were on the case now that I got the stuff for me and Snowflake. I know I passed it off to the police but I should at least call Jacob and see how he's holding up. It wouldn't take any time at all and would help settle my nerves. Why not call him? I don't think Lanny would even mind a quick call and my family wouldn't even know so while he was in the bathroom did the call.

"Jacob Esterhazy," was the prompt answer. He sounded stressed already.

"Hello sir. It's Ryan Black. I just wanted to check in with you," I answered in a hushed tone.

"I have to say that I didn't expect to hear from you again given your condition.

"I want to be professional, even given the circumstances. Have they found your daughter yet?"

"No. And Daphne never came home last night. The police are looking for her now. I hope they catch that lying bitch soon. I want my daughter back," he snarled.

"I totally understand, sir. What do you mean when you say she never came back last night?"

"They found her car abandoned. She's now a person of interest in the case and they've started a search for her. They've a few leads but nothing to show for it yet," he explained with barely contained frustration. "How could I not see this?"

"Sorry. If knew how this happened you'd be the first to know," I said. I could feel where he was coming from. I think. It was that dream coming back to mind now. It was like I was in his situation before and all the frustration, anger and worry was burning in me. "Have you mentioned me to the police?"

"No. Given your condition, I'm not sure how'd they'd react and the last thing I need is to undercut someone that has helped me as much as you," he said, calming down. "How is your, uh condition, anyways?"

"I'm still on two feet. For now. Not sure how long that will last," I said with a glance at my hooves. I was still human enough to work. I had time to do what was right and track down Daphne. It was the least I could do and still look at myself in a mirror in the morning. "Where was her car found?"

"I can send you the address if you want it, but given what's happening to you, I couldn't ask for your help," he said oozing concern for me. He was a family man to the core.

"Good. I'm not asking, I'm volunteering, sir. Send me the details right away. I'll be in touch if I find anything." I ended the call and I knew Lanny was right behind me. I heard him the entire way.

"What the hell? What's wrong with you?" he snapped at me before I even turned about to face him. He was pissed at me and rightfully so.

"Lanny. Somewhere out there is an evil, manipulating woman that has gotten a man killed and her own daughter kidnapped," I replied. "What's wrong with me now is nothing in comparison to what's wrong with me if I walk away from this. I was wrong to let you talk me out of my job before but I can't stop being me."

"What about your family? You're just going to disappear on them?" He demanded. It was rare to see Lanny like this.

"What? No! I'm pretty sure I got a few hours left before I hit the point of no return so I'm going to use it and help look for a couple hours, then rush back home, spend an evening with the family then sneak off," I explained. "Everyone wins except me but there's nothing I can do about that."

"But-"

"No buts. That's how this is all going down I can still drive for now and when that goes to shit, I can walk. Now, are you going to help me or not?" I said while pointing directly at Lanny."

"Fuck man. Snowflake, back me up," Lanny pleaded.

"He knows what I think," he snorted without so much as looking in my direction. At least he wasn't directly siding against me but it was disappointing that he couldn't see that I did care for my family. It was just that there was other things I had to do.

"So, Lanny. In or out?" I repeated.

"You know I'm in. I just think you're fucking up," Lanny flatly stated.

That worked for me just fine. He’ll forgive me later when everything works out for everyone. The bad guys will get caught and the girls will be home and I’ll be a pony. Well, it’ll work out for nearly everyone. "Let's get going.”

It took Lanny a few moments to follow, and when he did he was grumbling loudly. He’d forgive me when I was right.

~~~

It’s been proven time and time again that time moves its slowest when you wait for something you wanted. It’s why Christmas morning was torturous to so many. The more you wanted it, and the longer you did without it, the more tedious and painful the wait, and today Sanguine was waiting. He had been waiting his entire second life for this day, and it was so tantalizingly close. Soon, he’d have the only one that truly understood him back.

Unlike his current company. Brad was propped up in a corner, but that didn’t make him any better of a conversationalist given his condition. It had been a few hours since the lesson but Chris had yet to speak to him, and the girl was still whimpering about her hand. A single finger didn’t seem like much of a loss to him though. After all, he'd be losing his shortly. They were already stiff and getting non-response, and he was sure they’d recede away as his proper hooves returned to him.

Again, he’d have to wait. Sanguine sighed and finally decided he'd need to something to fill the time. He was patient but a complete and total idle was taxing. He glanced over at the slumped over Brad. Not much entertainment to be had there, but there was his phone not too far away. Now, he wasn't the sort that found much joy in meaningless digital prattle but it did offer more potential entertainment then nothing.

"Mind if I borrow your phone again, good sir?" He didn't wait for an answer of course and with a tug of his aura, he pulled it to himself. It was locked of course, but this wasn't the first time Sanguine accessed a phone by pressing a thumb to a fingerprint reader. "Thank you again."

There were icons all over the screen but he didn't really know what he wanted to see. He could pull up the news but he could assume that the search for the girl and her mother was on and wouldn't give him anything more substantive than that, though that did mean it would be time to move from their current location soon. He had hoped he'd be done with this awkward change by the time it came to that.

He hummed as a thought occurred to him and he clicked on the Facebook icon. A screen of meaningless messages for and from people he didn't care to know. He cradled the device in his aura and poked at the screen while he put in a search for someone that he did want to know about.

It didn't take much effort before a page dedicated to one Ryan Black came up. Sadly, there wasn't much activity on the page. Just the odd picture of a small, black-haired human and a few mass apologies for missing events due to work constraints. Even so, Sanguine grinned. He could see his friend in this human and soon he'd be free as well, and the sky was the limit from there.

Curiously, he was tagged in a recent picture by one Sally Black. The picture wasn't that telling. It was a heap of blankets with a navy horsetail dangling out of it. The caption was simply, "My brother is a total brony :0". His brow furrowed for a moment, then he moved onto her profile. She was an avid poster with pictures and comments about anything and everything about her life.

"This is so much more than I expected and deserve, Discord," he laughed. How could he do anything but revel in how perfectly things were turning out for him? "Truly, I never knew a more generous soul than you!"

He knew exactly where to find the Black's home simply by looking into the addresses set for some of Sally's events. He was positively giddy as he gathered the factoids about the Black's; where they worked, where they went to school, names of friends and more. This was too perfect and he'd be a fool not to take advantage of what was offered to him.

"Chris! I've somewhere I wish to go and I require you to drive. It'll be a nice distraction for you from what happened earlier," he called as he stood up and instantly fell to all fours. The position felt familiar. It felt good. It felt liberating. If only the return would complete itself soon.

Chris got up and came into the room and stared at the near unicorn before him. The creature barely had a trace of humanity in it and it looked as far from a predator as it was from a human. Maybe it was that fact made those bloodthirsty eyes all the more terrifying.

"Bring around the van and I'll bring the girl down. We're going for a little trip to visit an old friend's family."

Comments

[NightlyGrape]

The Rule ought to be that if a story is judged good enough by the Fimfic community, that it can exceed the usual Five Score limit.

[PingSquirrel]

5284643 I get why they did that limit. The 5x20/4 universe was the source of a lot of 1k self inserts that were plotless and didn't get a second chapter.

[Von Snootingham]

Another fine fine chapter, good sir! Truly a work of art. Give your (surely roguishly dashing) prereaders my regards.
5285074
Yeah, it was a bad situation. It was necessary to stem the torrent of crappy non-stories that were cropping up. It's just unfortunate that it pretty much killed the universe.

[NightlyGrape]

5285074 Yeah, I figured as much. That's why I suggested an alternate plan.

[swyrl]

Wait, this is the last complete chapter? How did I read them all so quickly?

[Labpony]

I realy enjoyed reading it. hope you can update it soon.

In my oppinion, this could be a realy nice movie :D

[De Lupe]

WTB more Sanguine...