Charlie came back into being at the same spot where he left. He did notice differences, like it was daylight instead of the darkness of the early morning hours, the power was definitely off, and he felt different. Better than he had been in quite a while.
As he was realizing that he could see clearly, he heard a click before hearing a voice. His son Dominic’s voice, to be precise. “Dad, don’t panic. You’ve been changed into a pony, but, you’re healed. All the problems you have had these last few years, forget about them, it’s all in the past.
“Come on, Dad, don’t be a stunatze! Sit down, take a few deep breaths, and somepony will be around real soon to bring you to my home. Keep calm and don’t panic, okay? I hope to see you soon! Love you, Dad!”
The message started repeating as Charlie got a grip on himself. Yes, he did feel much better than he had been, he could see clearly, but he was now a horse, a brown and white horse.
Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned to look. In the kitchen, he saw two small horses, one that was silvery-coated with a black mane and tail, and a white horn coming from its forehead, with a silver spiral running through it. The other one was a sky-blue in color, with white and red striped mane and tail, and red and white wings. Yes, wings.
“Hi, Charlie! We’re the Welcome Wagon, sent to greet you!” the silver one said.
Charlie coughed some before finding he could speak again. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Silver Spiral, and this is Silent Flight.” The silver one said.
“We’re twins.” The winged one added. “We just need you to do one thing for us, to prove you are who we hope you are.” He reached under a wing to pull out something with his mouth. A small black box with a cleaver mounted inside it.
Charlie looked at the cleaver in the box, seeing the little plaques inside it. “Yeah. That was presented to my father when he retired to Florida. The whole family presented it to him.”
“Just WHERE did the presentation take place?” Silver Spiral asked.
“At the Deer Head, my uncle Ernie’s bar over in West Nyack.” Charlie said, more than a little stunned. “Why is the box black instead of brown?”
Silent Flight put the cleaver back under his wing. “It is you. Great-Grandfather will be so happy to see you. He’s been hoping all this time you would come back to him.” he said before both he and his sister blushed some, both of them clapping their tails to their rumps. “We broke the frame when we were foals. We got spanked for it.”
“Great-Grandfather? Who is your great-grandfather?”
Silver Spiral took that one. “Your son Dominic is our great-grandfather. It is July sixth, one twenty-four AE, what you would call twenty-one thirty-nine AD.”
“So, I’m two hundred years old today?” Charlie asked, getting weak in the knees.
“That you are, great-great-grandpa. Great-Granddad predicted you would appear today long ago, and made things ready to welcome you. We’ve been training for years to be your welcoming committee.” Silent Flight told him.
“Where’s Dominic?” Charlie asked.
“We’ve been sent here to take you to him. He’s quite old now, at a hundred twenty-four, but he never gave up hope you would arrive before he passed on.” Silver Spiral told him. “Can you walk or should we carry you?”
“I can walk!” Charlie said irritably. Slowly, clumsily, he did, walking around the living room.
“Good!” Silent Flight said as Silver Spiral concentrated. A silver beam came from her horn, forming a silver disc in the air. “Step through it, and we’ll head home. Rapid Transit said to say it’s a bit of good magic, like Star Trek, okay?”
“Just do it quickly, I can’t hold the gate open more than forty-five seconds.” Silver Spiral said distantly, maintaining focus on the disc.
Slowly, Charlie stepped through, followed by Silent Flight and Silver Spiral. When the mare went through, the disc collapsed into a glowing point, then nothingness.