Lavender.
The scent of lavender.
There was something inexplicably familiar about the scent of the soap he'd washed his hands with. He lifted his hand to his face and smelled his forefinger. It was mixed with the smell of the soap itself, but it was there. He racked his brain to try and remember what lavender reminded him of, turning his hands around in front of the mirror while looking at his palms and fingers. Their reflection looked weird, like-
Pure white, with gold shoes.
-something had happened to them, but he could not remember. Had he cut his finger? Burned one? But he could see no scars, no burns, nothing but the intricate pattern of his fingerprints. He looked at the mirror and at the backs of his hands. Nothing there, either, though his nails had got a bit long. His eyes wandered upwards until they met their own reflection, which looked-
Pink, oh so pink, and large.
-the same they always had. The irises were just as he remembered them, with their darker and lighter spots. The only thing out of the ordinary was the slight reddish tint of the white of his eyes. But he had woken up not long ago and was still tired, like he had not slept enough. He really should go back to bed for another hour or two. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair-
Which had all the colors of the rainbow in it and flowed in an ethereal breeze.
-and was suddenly attacked by extreme dizziness. He staggered backwards, and then lost his balance and fell... And fell... And fell...
Three heavy knocks rang out on his door. He lifted his chin off his palm and set the glass and the amber-colored whiskey he had been swirling in it down on the table his elbow was resting on. His footsteps were shaky and he nearly lost his balance on his way, but he did make it to the door and put his hand on the handle before looking behind himself. There was a white unicorn, with wings on her back and with a rainbow-colored mane, looking at him with wide eyes. He let out a sigh, did his best to ignore it and pushed down the handle.
“Hi. I... hadn't heard from you for a while so I came to see you.”
A woman, only a little shorter than him and with a shy smile on her face, greeted him.
“Oh, great.”
He rolled his eyes but stepped out of the way and gestured her to come in.
“You don't sound too happy.”
She marched into the kitchen and sat down, casting a disapproving glance at the whiskey on the table.
“I could tell you but you wouldn't believe me.”
The chair scraped the floor as he pulled it back and sat. She cast him another one of her disapproving glances as he grabbed the glass and downed the whiskey in it in one go.
“Try me.”
“...and now I keep seeing and hearing a talking unicorn with wings on her back and a crown on her head.”
He ran his finger along the rim of his glass, and the sound it made was the only one in the room for a good while.
“You're high, aren't you?”
His finger stopped and he looked up at her.
“Am I? Because I wish I was.”
“But...”
She stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth left hanging open. An amused smile crept onto his face as he watched her.
“...but that's... Incredible. You, you have made first contact! Just bring one of those 'ponies' here and you'll be famous beyond belief!”
Her voice grew in volume and her tone became increasingly excited as she went on, her face lighting up to match it.
“I can't. Before I came back, I swore to not risk their world. I'm afraid of what would happen if I ever publish my findings.”
The fire in her eyes did not dim despite his tone being dead serious.
“But you have to! You can't pass this up, it's too important! I mean, think of all the history books you'll be in and all the money you could get by licensing your machine!”
He knew he had lost hope of convincing her.