//------------------------------// // Say What Now?! // Story: Becoming Rainbow Dash: A Tale of Two Worlds // by Freescript the Bard //------------------------------// <> Day 1 <> I slammed the pencil that had been in my mouth for nigh upon seven hours down on the desk, a big smile on my face. "New chapter of Brony Recon finished, plus another one ahead of time! Not bad for a guy without fingers." At the feminine sound of my voice, I frowned. Fingers aren't the only thing I'm missing, I reminded myself in a depressed mood. Needless to say, my trip to the bathroom had been extremely awkward, with a ton of blushing involved. I won't go into the details, but I will say that I was very uncomfortable about it, like I was violating someone else's body. Out of all the changes I had gone through, the fact that I was a mare hit me where it hurt. My pride as a man had disappeared in mere seconds. As if to distract myself from my haunting thoughts, I glanced at my alarm clock. In digital font, the numbers four-thirty-two on the display. My family won't be back for another four hours, yet. I glanced at my computer, debating what I could do. As much as I loved it, there was only so much writing one can do in a day. Deciding to actually see what was going on in the Brony community, I opened my browser and clicked on the Equestria Daily tab, refreshing the page. When it had loaded, the very latest post caught my eye. 'Lauren Faust press conference tonight at five-thirty Eastern Standard time,' I read, confusion edging into my mind. But… Lauren Faust is Princess Celestia! I saw it in the photo! Why would she hold a press conference at a time like this? With interest, I glanced at the timeframe again. Five-thirty Eastern… wait, that's now! I immediately clicked the link where the conference was streaming. Soon enough, the feed was up and running, and I looked upon a semi-full press room with a well-dressed man at the podium. Adjusting his collar, he cleared his throat and leaned into the microphone. "I… suppose you're all wondering why Lauren called this conference," he said nervously. It hit me then that this guy was Craig, Lauren's spouse. "You see, the past two days, she and her good friend Tara has been afflicted with a condition that was unknown to us, until the culprit revealed himself. I…" He hesitated, taking a deep breath. "Maybe it's best you all see for yourselves. No questions will be taken." His opening speech left me reeling. Lauren Faust was not only revealing herself, but somehow Tara Strong was involved? Is she a pony too? If so, who would she be? The answer was almost blatantly obvious. Twilight. Tara Strong is Twilight Sparkle. Who else could she be? An abrupt silence broke me from my thoughts. The press room in the feed had gone entirely quiet in a stunned silence, as if echoing the world around it. My own eyes widened, my irises the size of peas, and my jaw now just deadweight on my skull. All witnesses were locked on what had appeared on the stage. Madre de Díos… Two figures had entered from the right of the stage, their hooves striking the hard surface making the only sound in the room. The first was a tall white mare, about four or five feet high, with a long rainbow-colored mane and tail that flowed in a nonexistent wind, with long, elegant wings, a sharp spiraled horn, and a sun cutie mark. Princess Celestia… However, of the two figures on the stage, the second one was the image that caught me entirely off-guard. Following Celestia was a midnight-blue mare, a foot less in height from the Solar Princess. Her mane flowed like Lauren's, but instead was a perfect emulation of the night sky, the deep blue abyss dotted with starlight and a vastness that topped the rainbow mane of the leading pony. Two dark-flecked wings hung at her sides, and a horn protruded from her forehead. On her flank was a crescent moon. Princess… Luna… My mind was lost in the beauty of the Lunar Princess; my favorite (and of course, best) pony. Whoa, stop right there, I berated myself. I can't let this distract me, even if… wait just a min– OH HOLY SCHIST! Like Mike Tyson's fist, the revelation hit me full swing, and my amazement simply grew. Tara Strong is Princess Luna! Lauren Faust, who was visibly trying to ignore the stares of the humans in the room, trotted to the podium, placing her fore-hooves on the stand and bringing herself higher. "I-I…" she began shakily, something rather odd-sounding in the voice of the Princess, "I know you must all be, uh, shocked about this. Believe me, I am too. But please don't doubt me when I say that I am really Lauren Faust, and she," a white hoof is pointed toward Luna, "is really Tara Strong." She took a huge breath before continuing. "The reason I called this conference today is not to tell the world about what happened to us. As you can see, it's obvious," she said, no humor in her voice. "I called for this because this is the only way to assure that I am heard by my target audience. You see…" Lauren stops to clear her throat. "There is one other out there who is like us. I don't know who, or where, but somewhere there is a person just like us. Changed. Into a pony." Say what now?! Completely caught off guard by the comment, I gaped at the screen. She was talking about me. In that shining moment, I felt the world focus on me, or rather, the idea of my existence. I was the lost one, the mystery pony, the anonymous figure. Suddenly, I felt very alone. "But this will not be the case for very long," Lauren continued, drawing me in from depression. "Everyday, someone else is affected, and this will continue until–" She stopped herself, as if she didn't want to say it. "Yet, the most important thing I have to say yet is this, to those that find themselves changed." She looked up, coincidentally looking into the camera that was generating my feed. Her pink gaze went through the screen, fixing upon my own. "If any of you find yourself to be an Element of Harmony, I need your help. You need to come to New York" He stare at my eyes ended with her turning her head away, sighing. "No further comment." With that, she trotted out the door with Tara and Craig trailing behind. You know that one scene in the Spongebob Squarepants movie where they had just witnessed a big fish get eaten by the flipping huge fish? Imagine that face on me… scratch that, imagine that face on Rainbow Dash. That was my overall reaction, my eyes wide and unblinking, my mouth so wide any fly could have buzzed in. Which it did. "Gak!" I gagged, going into a coughing fit in an attempt to rid myself of the insect. Damn you, cartoon physics! Eventually, a black organism buzzed away, leaving me gasping for air. In hindsight, I could thank that little fly for getting my mind back to reality. I bucking hate insects… Still wheezing, I glanced at the screen, which was flashing in bold font, 'FEED TERMINATED.' Placing my hoof back on the mouse, I closed out of the stream and sat back in my chair, running a hoof through my rainbow mane. Lauren Faust called me out… I thought. I need to go to New York City… but how?! How does she expect me to get there? I certainly can't fly there, I mean, a pegasus on an airplane? That just looks… I stopped, thinking about what I had just thought. With a sidelong glance, I looked at my back, to which two cyan wings were attached. Facehoof. I can fly there! Stupid Markus! I slammed my head on the desk, frustrated at myself. I keep forgetting I'm a pegasus! Not a bucking unicorn or earth pony! A pegasus! Masters of the sky! Keeping my inflated ego down, I hop off the chair. I've already proved I can glide, I thought to myself with an arrogant grin. Let's see what it takes to fly like a Wonderbolt… But before anything, I needed to pack. New York was a long flight. ~+~+~+~ Lauren Faust looked around the abandoned factory. The shoe-maker's factory was left for condemnation back in the fifties, but was never torn down, and was eventually forgotten by the city of New York. Even gangs didn't come to this part of the pier. A large, windowed wall separated the workspace from a two-story office complex that took up a third of the ground floor. All machinery had been removed from the workspace and the furniture from the offices. It was so empty, the sound of Lauren's hoofsteps sounded ten times louder. The white alicorn smiled. It was perfect. Increasing her pace, Lauren entered the office portion of the building, going up the flight of stairs clumsily to check on Tara. Unlike modern cubicle office floors, the factory had individual permanent rooms for each office, which was preferable for them. Continuing down the hall on the second floor, Lauren saw the midnight blue mare walk out of the last room in the corridor. Tara had her head slightly lowered. "Well, Tara?" Lauren asked her friend. The actress lifted her teal eyes to meet the pink gaze. "It's a great location for what we have in mind," she said. "Certainly has the space for it." Lauren frowned at the pseudo-Luna. "That's not what I meant. I mean how are you handling this?" she asked softly. "And don't dodge the question. I'm concerned about you." Tara sighed, slumping back onto her haunches. "I miss my voices…" she said glumly. Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Like, the ones in your head or–" "I mean MY voices!" Tara bellowed, bordering on Royal Canterlot volume. "Timmy, Bubbles, Raven…" Tears sprung to the alicorn's eyes. "…Twilight…" The mare broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Pained at the sight of her distressed friend, Lauren walked up beside her and draped a large wing around her shoulders. "It was what made me special. It was my talent; my cutie mark." "Tara, we're going to fix this," promised Lauren, nuzzling her de facto sister. "Soon, everyone that turned into the Elements will be here, and then…" The white mare's eyes narrowed in anger. "…we can stop this chaos from spreading, and get our lives back."