> Change of scenery > by Unlikely hero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Say what? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I dont recall much of that night, but I do remember the conversation Phoebe and I shared when we stepped out of the movie theater. "Hayley." Phoebe said seriously "Phoebe." "Do you think I have a chance with Taylor Laughtner?" She asked I stared at my friend awkwardly and she looked back with her bright, curious eyes awaiting my answer. "Pheebs you dont want me to answer that." Phoebe stuck her tongue out at me. "Meanie!" We walked on. I remember we were shuffling along the sidewalk when we happened to come upon a huddled figure up against a wall. He raised his old, worn, leathery hand up to eye level with me. "Food." His gruff voice whispered. I remember looking down at this poor, shadow of a man and seeing the pain and tragedy in his eyes. I saw a man who desperately needed to be noticed. Phoebe nervously motioned for us to go and tapped her foot quickly. "Hayley if we dont get back before 10 my mom is going to kill me." she whispered urgently "Phoebe its not gonna take an hour to give to the homeless!" I hissed I reached into my handbag to grab the Hershey bar I had saved from the theater. I picked up the snack and handed it down to the poor lost soul. The figure reached his leathery hand through the air and grabbed my wrist. "Mister you um missed the uh candy bar." Phoebe managed I saw this to be an act of gratitude and allowed him to grab my wrist willingly. But when I tried to pull away from the shadow he would not let go. "Geez mister, you've got an iron grip in all but I think its time for you to let go now!" I squeaked The man smiled deviously showing his few black teeth. "Okay dude your really starting to freak me out let go of her!" Phoebe shouted This comment was hilarious to the man and he howled with laugher. Phoebe grabbed onto my back to help pull him off but soon found a problem. "Umm Hayley.....?" Phoebe squeaked "Listen Pheebs Im sorta in the middle of something!" I mustered out "I Cant let go of your back!" she cried "WHAT?" The mans laughter became louder with each statement. My wrist became hot.... NO BURNING! "OWWW please let me go! Your hurting me!" I squealed. Phoebe began to cry out "My hands are gonna burn off!" She sobbed "That just so happens to be the point Phoebe darling!" The man seemed to sing with laughter I jerked my head up at him, fatigued and hot. "W-wait how do you-" I couldn't finish the sentence. I smacked against the ground dragging Phoebe with me. The last thing I could remember is seeing the man's eyes. Big taunting eyes yellow eyes with strange little red pupils. The danced and spun wildly in different directions as he hysterically laughed. "Thats odd..." Was all I could muster before my whole world went black. .................................................................................................................................................................................. I awoke to the sound of my friend's whining "Aww my leg." I heard Phoebe mumble "Pheebs shut up... Its like five in the morning." I Whined, "Just go ask your mom for an Asprin or something." I opened my eyes and automatically saw large, looming trees. Cool, but I dont remember waking up in a forest I thought My head and my back was all I could think about. They ached like really badly. And on top of that I couldnt feel my fingers! "Yeah Pheebs, I could use an Asprin too." I groaned. Phoebe squeaked in reply I reached up to rub my eyes with my hands "So how did we get here anyw-" I stopped to look at my hands. The problem is, there weren't any. To pale and dare I say shiny white nubs stood in there place. This cant be happening I screamed as loud as I could muster causing Phoebe to jump up. "Wha-whats wrong?" "What have you done with Phoebe?" I said shakily. "Har har har Hayley this is hilari-" She stopped and looked at me. She screamed. "I know my hands are gone!" I whined waving them around wildly. "N-not only that but your kinda sorta a-a." She stopped talking mid sentence. "I'll tell you what you are if you tell me what I am, because I am certainly not what I used to be." She whispered I nodded and at the same time we screamed "Your some cute somewhat creepy unicorn pegasus thing with huge eyes!" We both covered our hooves over our mouths. I gasped and heaved in breaths quickly. I reached my hand... I mean hoof to the top of my head and felt a strange lump. No not a lump... A HORN! And on my back was a set of feathery wings fluttered softly in the breeze. "IM A PONY!" I screamed hysterically. Phoebe threw herself to the ground in a fit. "But I don't wanna be a pony!" she sobbed. Her face was pink. PINK! Sparks flew from her pink horn as she cryed hysterically. "OF ALL THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN THIS IS THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" She sobbed Drama queen.... wait a second I know this. My sister watches this show. Could we be in.... oh whats the name of that rainbow pony land again? Oh I know EQUESTRIA "HAYLEY WHAT HAPPENED?!" the alicorn threw herself at my hooves with her blonde mane blowing in her eyes. "I dont know but I think it may have something to do with that hobo last night." "How do we know it was last night? For all we know it could have been years ago when we watched Breaking Dawn part 2!! For all we know our families could be dead!!! She rambled. Gosh we were tiny. I think we were only fillies. "YOU ARNT LISTENING TO ME!" she shrieked "Umm I think we should just calm down and try to think of a way out of think scary forrest." I said calmly "CALM? YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM WHEN I WAKE UP AS A FREAKING LITTLE HORSE?????" she shrieked. I looked at her and gave a firm nod. "Fair enough..." Damn... I must be freaking adorable for her to listen to me "Okay so what I was thinking was that maybe we could use our tiny wings to fly out of here." I said Phoebe looked at me strangely. Obviously she needed an instruction. "It cant be too hard.. right?" I giggled Focus Hayley it cant be any hard than Track with Coach Phil I convinced myself. I concentrated really hard an focused on only my wings. They soon began to flutter and my white hooves were lifted from the ground. A Huge grin spread across my face as I lifted higher. I was free. It was at that moment when I fell smack on my face. "HAYLEY!" Phoebe screamed I looked up dizzily "I-I am fine. But did ya see me? Did you see me fly?" I shook off the pain and stood up. Again I fluttered my wings softly and my body flew from the ground. I zipped up aand over to Phoebe who was climbing a tree. "Now you try!" I laughed She smiled brightly and zipped her wings quickly. She too rose from the tree but then fell back to the ground landing on her face. I flew back down to Phoebe who now had a bloody nose. "Flying stinks! Just carry me on your back." she whimpered giving me this look of pure innocence. "Carry you?" I managed " I can barely carry myself without nearly breaking my face...snout... Whatever!" I don't know how it was possible, but she widened her eyes even bigger. "PLEEEEAASSSEEEE!" 'Fine."I groaned giving into her cuteness. I knew I would soon regret this. She happily jumped on my back and buried her horn into my neck. "JESUS CHRIST!" I yelled in pain. "This is what I mean! Your gonna kill both of us!" "Oops sorry." she said sheepishly. My wings fluttered anxiously and soon enough we were lifted from the ground. I slowly but surly moved upward, away from the grassy ground. We flew above the tree's into the sky it was a great feeling up until the point when phoebe slipped of my back and began to plummet toward the ground. "CATCH M-" she was cut off by the sound of herself clunking against a cloud. I watched in awe as Phoebe danced on the cloud without falling to her doom. I too stepped onto the cloud. "How are we not falling?" "Who cares!" Phoebe laughed "Okay lets take a break." I said quietly. We sat on the cloud for a while and finally agreed that we kind of liked our new bodies. Phoebe actually learned how to produce fireworks from her tiny pink horn when I could barley even make a spark. We both eventually fell asleep on the fluffy cloud and something strange happened. I was in a castle and a larger mare, with multicolored hair was in the room with me. She looked over at me and said "Come to mommy." A look of pain spread across her face as I backed away "Your not my mommy." A single tear fell from her face "Come my child, please." I so desperately wanted to caress the mare and be entwined in her hooves, but with each step I took she grew further away until she was just a dot in the distance. My eyes shot open and I sat up. Phoebe sat next to me in a deep peaceful slumber smiling gently. My chest heaved up and down as I desperately looked around for the mare. All I saw was a castle... My castle on a hillside in the distance. "I need to get there." I muttered "Hmmm." Phoebe awoke from her sleep slowly. "Pheebs I dont know why but I feel like the only way to get home is to go there." I said with hope. "Can I sleep on the way there?" she grumbled. "Of course Pheebs." I chuckled. I loaded Phoebe onto my back and actually threw myself off the cloud. I spread my wings out and caught the wind with my feathers. I am a badass. I hope I can keep the wings It felt like hours until we finally reached the castle. We flew on and on, well I did at least. Phoebe slept peacefully as I nearly dropped her to her death every two seconds. Phoebe had awoken as we flew to a balcony on the side of the castle. "Hayley what if we get in trouble?" Phoebe asked nervously. "Trust me we won't." I muttered Since I no longed had hands. I couldnt turn the doorknob. "Dammit! How are we supposed to get in with hands?" I said very angry Phoebe said nothing, but rather bent over and opened the door by turning the knob with her mouth. "Thats nasty." I muttered Phoebe stuck her tongue out at me. "It opened the door didn't it?" I rolled my eyes at her. The floor practically shook as we walked in. Please don't have anyone in here Just my luck the large white mare from my dreams was sitting at a cherry wood desk her face was warmly smiling at us. Phoebe leaned over to my ear "She's staring into my soul." The mare laughed happily as she gazed at us "Ive been expecting you, my children." > Are you kidding me? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I looked into the the white mare'e eyes, they were sparking with hope. like legit sparkling! It was actually kinda starting to freak me out. Anyways a sparkly tear dripped from her sparkly eye and soaked into her coat. Let me just state that the next thing I did was totally uncalled for. I opened my mouth and I let out a gigantic laugh. It started out small but then it grew to hysterical laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Its just, you would think that I land here in this magical pony land full of sunshine and rainbows, and this freaking rainbow pony that I meet while I'm sleeping meets me in a whole freaking kingdom of unicorns just to say she is our mom!" I couldn't stop, it was just too rich. Phoebe tried laughing along with me but it kind just looked like she wanted to cry. When I finally stopped my laughing I took a moment to look at this confused Mare. "It may be hard to comprehend but you fillies are my daughters." She said calmly "But we are humans not ponies." Phoebe whispered. "I know it may be hard to understand and I promise someday I will tell you what happened, just not tonight." "This actually makes zero sense." I muttered The white mare placed her hoof under my chin and looked down at me. "Years will pass and I will eventually share the tale with you. The tale of a foolish mare who sent away everypony who loved her." "Wait you cant expect us to stay here!" I said very angry The mare gave me a hurt look. "You WILL stay her. Sadly no pony must know you are my alicorn children." she chided. Phoebe and I exchanged puzzled glances. "You shall refer to me as Princess, or Princess Celestia." She said firmly "Look lad- I mean 'Princess' what do expect us to do all day, just sit in your castle and look pretty? I demanded. Celestia frowned "This is the hard part of tonight, you and Phoebe must choose separate paths." Phoebe looked over at me sadly "What does that mean?" "It means you must choose the life of either a Unicorn, a Pegasus, or an earth pony." Celestia smiled Phoebe looked puzzled "Whats an earth pony?" "Why an earth pony my darling is a pony without need of a horn or wings. They simply live life on the ground normally with just their hooves and love for nature." Celestia smiled. Being an earth pony sounded suckish, very suckish. This whole question was a no brainer, pegasus of course! I looked at Celestia "I choose my wings." "Ah the path of a Pegasus an honorable choice, but I'm afraid that means that you cannot stay here in Canterlot. You shall go to a City far away that goes by the name of Cloudsdale. There you shall join flight camp and maybe even discover who you are." I looked up at Celestia sadly but stepped back. "I-I want to be a pegasus too, like Hayley!" Phoebe yelled. "I'm afraid you cannot." Celestia smiled warmly "You shall stay here and learn the joys of becoming a unicorn. I just recruited a new unicorn about your age. I'm sure you will get along with her smoothly." Phoebe broke down into sobs. "Dont worry my child, you two shall cross paths again someday, I promise." Celestia said. Phoebe embraced Celestia and cried in her hooves. "But I do have something fun for you two." She said happily "You do?" Phoebe sniffed Celestia nodded "Your names wont sound very normal to my subjects, so I'm going to let you choose new ones." I sat down and thought about this. Make it something cool Hayley like... Hayley the magic rainbow ninja of invisibility! "My name will be Melody!" I smiled. Wait a second... MELODY thats so lame! Why did I say that? "How about Starstruck-for me of course." Phoebe asked politely "I rather enjoy the sound of that name aloud." said Celestia cuddling Phoebe's pink body. I was starting to really hate Celestia. What a bitch. "It is time for the spell to be performed. You will both still be Alicorns, but I will make your horns or wings invisible." Celestia explained. Phoebe walked over to me and looked me in the eye she reached down and grabbed my hoof. "You will always be my best friend, Phoebe." I whispered. I grasped her hoof. Maybe if I grab hard enough she wont leave me. A tear fell into her wild blonde mane. "We are ready Princess." Phoebe sniffed. Celestia closed her eyes but when she opened them they were glowing and surging with power. "It must be done." A bright light shown from her horn and I felt myself becoming very lightheaded. Phoebe looked over at me "Remember me." Was all that escaped her lips. And with a poof I was gone. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ When I opened my eyes again I was in a sort of cloud room. Something's missing... I reached up to feel my horn but it wasnt there! "I'm a pegasus!" I screamed happily. I dont think I was so happy in my entire life. I looked around the peculiar cloud room and stood up very fast. On the other side off the room there was a circular mirror. Then it hit me, I dont actually know what I look like. I picked up my wobbly legs, and walked myself to the mirror. I gasped at my refection. A little filly was staring back, my face was round with two huge purple eyes in the center and a few freckles across the bridge of my snout. My mane was well-styled with pale pink side-swept bangs and the length reached my shoulders. On my back was a small set of pale wings. I stared at them and thought I'm beautiful My admiring was cut short by the sound of children's laughter and a mean chant,"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly." they jeered. That cant be good. I zipped outside to see the commotion to find a small yellow filly who was sobbing into her hooves while the other foals were laughing at her! I flew over to the filly's side and gave the crowd a stare. "How could you do this to her? She didn't do anything to you! So why dont you just leave her alone or else you can answer to me!" I screamed. A larger brown colt with hair covering his eyes stepped forward. "Why are you defending Cluttershy she's a loser!" he chortled "Your the loser! Making fun of this nice filly! Now get lost before I make you!" I growled. The big colt stepped forward "And if I don't?" He smiled A squeaky voice from behind me came in "Of else I'll teach you a lesson Billy!" I turned around to find a tiny blue filly with a wild rainbow mane. "Listen Rainbow-Crash I don't have time for this!" Billy snarled. "Just leave." Rainbow got up in his face Billy looked over at Rainbow and spit at her hooves."You disgust me Rainbow and as for you whoever you are-" "Melody." I replied "Smellody you just made the wrong enemy. Lets go boys." Billy and his cronies flew off. Rainbow let out a big raspberry "And stay away!" She paused for a moment to look at the crowd. "You guys leave too!" The crowd muttered angrily but eventually flew away. She looked over at me "Im Rainbow Dash, Thanks for helping Fluttershy." Fluttershy stood up and looked down at me (She was tall for a filly) with her her watery eyes "Thank you, I'm Fluttershy." she said meekly "Its nice to meet you Fluttershy, I'm Melody." I said proudly I just remembered isnt she the one who likes animals? I know how to get on her good side "Fluttershy, did you know I used to live next door to a zoo" I said smoothly She cocked her head at me "Ive never been to a zoo. That sounds awfully scary." she said sadly My jaw dropped but I thought! Wait.... I looked at her yellow flank, It was blank! I couldnt believe it, I was on the show before the show! "Ugghh can we get going guys? Class is about to start and this is turning into a real snooze fest!" Rainbow complained. I narrowed my eyes at her and smiled "Race you guys to class." Rainbow smiled happily "Melody, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship!"