The Quiet Kid: Day by Day

by aegishailstorm

Operator? Are you there?: Part 5

"So, what's your stance now?" William asked eagerly as the final notes of the song played out. Preston just nodded. "Good enough for me, glad to have you back." William chuckled, and hopped down from the chair, "I was never gone in the first place, just ask the other's in this town." With that, he grabbed his laptop, slammed it shut, and headed out the door.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow called out, breaking the awkward silence, "I knew William's taste in music was...Odd, but that was amazing!" Joey shrugged, "Glad you like it, but don't go pestering him for more." She smiled, and left out the back door, Joey turned to Preston, "So, is the couch going to be good enough? Or would you like the guest bedroom?" Preston thought about it for a moment, "Uh, I think I'll just stay here, if that's ok."

"Good enough for me, goodnight. "He jumped up, and glided down the hallway to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him shut, a moment later, all light's in the house went dark. Preston rubbed his eyes, and slumped back onto the couch, pulling the blanket up, "This has been the strangest day of my life, oddly enough, I can't wait for the next." He said to himself.

William rushed home, dropped his laptop off in his bedroom, then headed back out. His nap earlier meant that he was still filled with energy. He sat down on his couch, and began brainstorming ideas to try and pass the time, almost immediately, one came to him, regarding his namesake, "Luna called me Hailstorm in my dream, and given that pony names reflect their traits and talents in life..." He got up, and rushed out the door, taking flight as soon as he crossed the threshold between between his house and the outside world. He made for the nearest bank of clouds he could find, and set himself down on it, gently.

"Alright, now that I'm here, let's give a go, if normal pegasi can create thunder and lightning when jumping up in down on clouds, then..." He raised his left hoof up, tapping the cloud one. Then, with all his might, he jumped. At first, there was just a clap of thunder, and for a second he wondered if he had been mistaken, then, there was a gust of wind that chilled him even through his fatigues and fur. Then, a flurry of hail ball's dropped out of the cloud, picking up speed as they rushed toward the ground. "Huh," Was all he could think in the moment, he just stood there, admiring himself as the ice balls crashed into the ground several hundred feet below.

"I'm in the mood for a night flight." He said out loud, there was no response, and the frigid wind. And so, with nothing to stop him, he extended his winds, and dropped right out of the cloud, catching himself halfway down, and shooting back up. "I spend my day's fighting, I've earned myself a break." He turned, and looked off at the distant Everfree forest, dark and eerie as ever. He flew off in it's direction. Eventually, he set himself down in the moss covered, cobblestone courtyard of the castle of the 2 sisters. "Ah, this place again, hmm, I've got to say, I don't really care that it's snowed in." He made for the nearest entrance, a pair of ancient gilded wood door's, faded by time. The threw them open, the moonlight cast long shadows into it's otherwise dark interior. William snapped a headlamp in place, but, upon remembering that his horn could also function as a flashlight, opted to use it instead.

"I'm quite literally using a part of my body to light my way-that sounded way weirder in my head than it does now." He murmured to himself. He shook his head and headed for the throne room.

"Ugh, W-where am I?" Preston asked, he had found himself in a wide open meadow. Oddly enough, his frost bite and cough where gone. "Hey, world, I asked you a question!"

"Greeting's, Preston. My name is Princess Luna-" He balled his hand into a fist, and reached for his holster, finding his Glock was there, "I'll ask again, where the #### am I!?" There was a pause, and a moment later, the alicorn of dreams appeared before him, "You're dreaming." He threw up his hands," Great, I have to deal with you abominations here as well!?" He furrowed his brow, "What do you want with me?"

"Well, you see, it is my job to protect everypony in their dreams, but, you are not clearly not a pony, so instead I decided I would just stop by and ask how you're faring." He growled, "How do you think? I'm stuck in fantasy land, surrounded by colorful horses!"

"Well that aside, how are you faring?" He paused, and scratched his head, "Pretty good, William seems to be acting like himself, his friend's are a bit...Odd, I've got frostbite. But other than that, they've all been nice." She nodded, "Well, you seem to be handling yourself ok, would you like me to stay?" He shook his head,"Ehh, whatever, stay, go, I don't care."

William entered the throne room, gazing up at the wrecked ceiling. Then at the 2 thrones on the far side of the room, "Mine!" He called out. As he took a step forward, he heard growling, he looked behind himself, and came face to face with a Timberwolf. "Well hello there, are you having a good night?" He demanded, "No?" He drew his M45A1, trained it right in between it's eyes, and before it could pounce, put 2 rounds through it's wooden skull, it collapsed where it was, tree sap oozing from the bullet holes in it's head. Slowly, the green glow in it's eyes faded. satisfied with his work, he turned, and headed for the throne, he seated himself down on the center one, tearing the old Celestial banner from it as he did. "Hmmm, I like this." A wicked grin appeared on his face. "Undermining the royal sister's will never grow old." He launched himself off it, flying backwards for a moment, before landing back on his hind legs. He had found that the combination of wing's, and a horn had made himself just as nimble as he had been as a human. He jumped back into the air, shooting up through the ceiling out of one of it's many, many holes. Landing on it's crumbling roof, he perched himself on the very peak of it, gazing out over the Everfree,"Ah, beautiful, just beautiful, just wish I had myself a camera. He looked up at the moon. "Well, I got my wish, but now that I think about it...I do have a camera back home." Grinning, he took off again, making for home, flying low over the treeline as he drew closer to town.

"Hey, idiot's, open the door!" William's hoof banged on the front door of Joey's house, he could hear scrambling, but not hooves, it was feet. A moment, later, Preston opened the door and peeked out, "Yes? Oh, William, what are you doing here?

"Let me in. "He said gruffly, Preston obliged, and William trotted on in, tossing a white combat Jacket, pant's, combat boot's, gloves, and a hat on the table. "Get dressed, we're going for a walk." The deputy stopped for a moment, "Where?" William laughed, "I figured I should give you a tour of the town, is your frostbite gone yet?"

"Not entirely, but, it has improved since last night. Would you mind, I haven't eaten breakfast yet." William left, and began pacing back in forth outside. The repeated motion of moving his hooves back in forth didn't even bother him anymore, at first, he had found it annoying. But now, it was normal, well, as normal as being a magical horse in a world full of them could be. Finally, the door opened again. It was Preston, dressed in the gear that he had given him, his utility belt still visible, and his badge now pined to the outside of the jacket. Behind him followed Joey. "So, how was your night?" William frowned, motioning to his sidearm, Joey nodded, "What, were you chased by timber wolves or something?"

"Or something." The 3 of them set out into the snow. William down by his left side, and found Joey, trotting along beside him. He hadn't noticed before, but he was at least half a foot taller than his friend. Something he was glad about, one of his original concerns had been the change in height. While the transformation may have shaved about a foot off, he was still taller than his friend, and still towered above the equestrian natives. He froze when he caught sight of a mint green unicorn, who in turn, stopped and turned to look at him, "Why did you stop?" Preston asked. William turned and snarled at him, "That, is Lyra, she has an 'obsession' with humans." He looked back to see her already making her way over to them.

"Hi Joey! Uh, where's William? And who's the new human?" He groaned at this, "Uh, hello Lyra." She squealed in a way that made both William and Joey's ears recoil, Preston groaned, "What do you want lady?"

"Oh, sorry. It' just, you're the first human we've had here since William. I'm Lyra Heartstrings, welcome to Ponyville!" She stuck out her hoof, Preston rolled his eyes, and shook it," Deputy Preston Marmoza, Yuba county sheriff's department." He didn't add 'pleased to meet you'.

"Sheriff's department? Cool!" he grinned, a commendation was still a commendation, regardless of who it came from. "Well, thank you, now, please leave us be." She smiled, and trotted off, as soon as she was out of sight, Preston turned to William, "What the hell man?" He just shrugged, and motioned for him to follow. Over the next few hour's, he led him around the town, showing off it's various establishments. Avoiding some more so then others, so as to ensure his friend retained his sanity.

"Well, I don't quite have the word's for it William." He grimaced, "Disturbing, horrifying, disgusting?" Preston scratched the back of his neck, "Well-"

"Hey, it's perfectly fine, I thought the same thing when I first came here, and I still do. The only reason I'm ok with it now is because I'm used to it. I'm usually out of town 90 percent of the time anyway." William looked on ahead to catch sight of a particular group of creatures he hadn't seen for a while. The young six. And they where headed their way.

"Preston, this is Gallus, Ocellus, Ember, Silverstream, Yona, and Sandbar." The group of creature's stopped, and looked up at Preston, then down at William, then up at Preston again. William held up his hoof and cleared his throat, "Oh, yes, I forgot. "Hey, down here, it's me, William! "They eyed him with confusion, "Uh, last time we met, weren't you walking on 2 legs?" Gallus finally asked.

"Well, yes. I made some...Changes for the holiday's, and no, I don't want your opinions either. This is Deputy Preston, he's a friend." Preston gave the group a small wave. "It's been a very strange past 2 day's for me."

"Uh, William, question, can they all speak English?" He nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. Pretty much everything sentient in this world can talk, or at least converse in one manner or another." Preston facepalmed and shook his head," You know what? I don't even care at this point. I've seen so much, I'm completely fine with it."

"So... You finally up for that race? I mean, you've got yourself a pair of wings now-"

"No, and the answer will forever be, no." With that, William sent the group away, and turned to Preston, who was still processing what had just happened, "What was that supposed to be, a bipedal dragon?" He shrugged, "Yes, please don't question it, I found it as strange as you did when I first found out about it." William replied with a short laugh, "So, anything else you wanna see?"

"No. Please, get me out of this place, I've damn well had enough." William nodded, alright then. "What do you say to lunch?" He thought about it for a moment, "Yes, what kind of lunch?" He questioned as they turned and began walking back down the road. "The kind that makes you satisfied and keep's you from dying of starvation."

"I'm not sure weather I should take that as a threat, or as a compliment." William didn't respond.

Several day's later...

"Hey, William? William!" Preston called out, he was currently standing at the base of William's house, holding a box of decorations for him, "Remind me why I'm volunteering to help you with this?" William paused in the middle of hanging a string of lights, "You never volunteer for anything, I quite literally dragged you out of Joey's house, shoved that box in your hand, and said "Don't drop this." And you just went along, now, be a good human and don't complain! Plus, it's the day before hearth's warming, and Christmas." Preston groaned in anger and frustration, it had now been a whole week since he had ended up here. Oddly enough, it had actually grown on him. Albeit, some things where impossible to get around, William's ego, to name one.

"You know what, I'm freezing my ass off down here!" He set the box down on the ground, "I'm going home, I'm grabbing myself a mug of coffee, and I'm not doing anything for the rest of the day!" William grunted, and Preston stormed off, "5 days, and he still hasn't given me my damn sidearm back!" He cursed to himself as he pulled open the front door. He opened it up to find Twilight and Joey there. "Hello Preston, don't worry, I'm here to help." She said it in a lighthearted tone. One which made him worry.

"And pray tell, what can you supposedly help me with?" He asked, "Well, according to Joey here, you haven't exactly liked your time here in Ponyville, you've said multiple times that you'd like to leave, so, I'm giving you a choice, you can go now, or you can stay." He didn't even need to think about it, "Are you kidding me? Get me the #### out of this place!" He stopped for a moment, his mind drifted back to William, and that damned Glock 17 he had slung around his neck. "I can go now, like, right now?" She nodded. "Well then, let's get on with it, but first, there's something I need to do." He hurried back out the door.

"Hey, guess what, I'm going back to earth!" he called out. "William stopped in mid air, and looked down, "You serious?" Preston crossed his arms and nodded, "Do I look like I'm serious?"

"You know I'm not going to answer that, deputy." He flew down to Preston's side, and, using his right hoof, pulled the Glock 17 from his neck sling, "Merry Christmas." He passed it to Preston, who took it, and looked at it as though he was holding the most valuable thing in the world, before sliding it back into his holster. "Thank you, and merry Christmas too." William chuckled, "Hey, before you leave, mind if I get a group photo?" Preston shrugged, "I don't see why not." Without another word, the pegasus/Kirin hybrid slammed the door behind him, and came out a few seconds later with a digital camera.

"Well, let's go!" The 2 off them walked back over to Joey's house, where Twilight was still waiting on them.

"Hey, do you think you could hold it off, just for a bit?" Preston asked Twilight, who nodded upon seeing the camera ,"Group photo?" Joey looked at the 2, and rushed to their side, "Yep." William responded. "Line up by the fireplace." They stood side by side, and Twilight took the camera from them, "Alright, everycreature smile!" They all did, even William.

"Lemme see." William shoved Twilight out of the way and took the camera with his magic, "Yep, this is perfect. One is enough." He turned to Preston, "Bye man, 'twas good having you around." Preston didn't respond to him, "Let's just get this over with." Twilight sighed, and lit her horn. A flash of light later, Preston Marmoza was gone. "I'll miss him." William rolled his eyes, "I honestly don't care anymore. It was...interesting to have another human around here. Even odder still was the fact that I wasn't one for this occasion. He turned, and made for the doorway, leaving Twilight and Joey alone in the dark room. Wondering what had just happened. To other's, it seemed as though William couldn't care less he himself knew better.

"Sure is beautiful, ain't it?" William asked Joey, the 2 friends sat on a cloud over looking Ponyville."It sure is, I noticed something, your gruffness, your incessant need for violence, it's all decreased as a pony. Why?" William laughed, then his expression turned deathly serious, "It hasn't, but, I do have to admit, I have enjoyed my time roaming the world as a four legged equine." He paused for a moment to scratch his eyebrow, "I've made my choice, today is my last day as a pony." Joey raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because, I'm getting sick of begin treated softly. I wouldn't say it's irritating, but I have , for now at least, definitely had enough of it. Though there are a few thing's I'll miss, standing on cloud's, flying, ect." His ears drooped down," You know, I can turn you back whenever you want. Just like the original transformation." William sighed, and nodded.

"Yeah, I know." The both of them looked up at the night sky.

Comments

[DrCygnus]

Is nice yes

[aegishailstorm]

11605802
Why thank you. I'm glad y'all enjoyed it.