Let me explain how I looked before I go any further.
Picture Pinkie Pie. Yes, that's an obvious starting point, but stay with me. She's wearing jeans that her tail sticks through; they were made for human knees but they're just loose enough to collect around her hooves. A brown-grey striped t-shirt covers the rest of her body. Around her forehooves are thick rubber circlets, holding in place a variety of pencils. That's layer one.
Layer two consists entirely of my coat. It's long sleeved, black, and made of thick cotton. The hood can zip out and the front... well, bottom now, can zip up. I left the front unzipped, though. And there are the pockets, the two near the back that hold and assortment of drawing tools and the two round my chest that hold my phone and a bunch of feathers. I collect feathers from the street. Don't judge. Also there's an inner pocket that holds items of sentimental importance.
Of course, my jury rigged saddlebags make up layer three: On one side, a grey-and-orange satchel with two accordion folders literally JAMMED full of drawings, carefully organized with index cards, and the rest of the satchel's pockets holding even MORE art tools (such as triangles, stencils, and about half a pound of pencils). On the other, a One Hundred and One Disney suitpack, from which hangs a sleeping bag and itself contains food, toiletries, and changes of shirt. These are connected by a network of bungee cords wrapped in a blanket, atop which is my sackbag with my sketchpads and iPad. My earphones and charger hang, unplugged, around my neck.
On top of all this sits Figment, a purple dragon plushie/puppet in a yellow tshirt, looking like Spike's cool older brother.
And my face... or Pinkie's face, rather, hosts an expression of both worry and determination.
Do you have this picture in your head?
Good. Because I looked ridiculous, and I KNEW it. And as my oldest brother--still younger then me, but he's legally an adult--pulled into the driveway and gave me a look, I knew he knew it too.
"...Figment?"
"Obligatory non-talking traveling companion."
"So... a teddy bear, basically?"
"....yeah, pretty much," I admitted.
After a moment, he shrugged. "Well all right. Hop in."
I smiled. See this is why my brother is awesome. He's so mellow, but so deep. I'm mellow and deep too, but that's more because I'm a social recluse. He's one of those actually cool chill dudes, bro. I'm just the weirdo in the corner, drawing fantasy worlds that nobody will ever see.
"Alright, let me just..." I scabbled at the car door handle. "Um... okay, that's not working. Sorry, still getting used to hooves, would you mind--?"
He rolled his eyes, hopping out of the car--oh look, he was wearing his RD tee, the one with RD in flight silhouetted--and opened the door for me. "Your chariot awaits, milady."
"Why thank you kind sirrah, I shall enter posthaste." I clambered into the vehicle with exaggerated dignity, gently placing Figment in the seat next to me before I began to twist into my own chair. "Wow, this tail... okay, I think I got it." I reached out for the seatbelt...but found my brother had already grabbed it and was extending it across me. "Hey! I'm not totally helpless, you know."
"Obviously. You did so well with the door."
I crossed my forelegs. "Fine. So I'm a little bit slow when it comes to grabbing things. I still think I could have handled the seatbelt."
"I'll let you try next time." He shut the door before swinging back into the driver's seat.
The car started and began to roll out the driveway and down the road, triggering two completely disparate urges in my head. One part of my head, the part that woke up early habitually and spent two or three hours on trains and buses, wanted to catch a quick power nap. A distinctly more felt-feeling urge wanted to roll down the window and shout GOOD MORNING HURST TEXAS! at a decibel level normally found at high level rock concerts.
Eventually I took a third option, pulling out my iPad to start browsing the news clips. Working the touch screen with hooves was a pit of a challenge, but it ended up being pretty similar to hunt-and-peck.
So, what was the situation exactly? Faust called the Elemental Harmony Squad to New York, because apparently Discord was doing something evil that threatened the world. People were turning into ponies--one sight speculated the rate was roughly exponential, with the pony population doubling daily, but there was some trouble arranging a proper census to examine the data. Fluttershy was traveling... wait, she was headed for Kansas City? That was almost directly north of here!
"Are we going by the way of Kansas City?" I asked my brother.
"Well, no. Why?"
"The person that got transformed into Fluttershy is headed that way. I thought maybe we could meet up."
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel--OH MY FLARKING SKREEP, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY GESTURES YOU NEED FINGERS FOR?!--considering my proposal. Eventually, he gave a resigned sigh. "Yeah, that would work, I guess. I'll need to plot out a new route."
"You totally just want to meet Fluttershy."
"They're all good ponies," he countered defensively. "I want to meet as many of them as I can."
"Well... part of Pinkie is in my head, so I guess it could work," I mused.
My brother pulled over at that, parking next to a horse farm, and turned around. "What did you just say?"
"Look, yes, Pinkie is in my head. But it's cool!" I reassured him quickly. "I'm not losing myself or anything, and I'm watching my own thoughts very carefully."
"...Look, Reid, if you're going through some sort of brainwashing--"
"I. Am. Not." I affixed him with a firm glare. "For me this is just like writing, or when I'm on the stage. I talk to the characters, I don't control them. Pinkie's thoughts are here, but they feel like felt. My thoughts don't. I can keep myself separate from her if I so wish, and I do so wish, I'm just respecting her wishes as well. So don't ever suggest that Pinkie is brainwashing me again. She would not do that."
My brother gave me a long, cautious look.
I stared right back at him.
Eventually, he pulled out his phone and opened the door. "Right, I'm... I'm going to plot a new route for us."
"I'll chit the chat with the shy one."
That had been surprisingly... intense. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure I was right, but enough had been taken out of my hands already--including my hands themselves, and quite frankly I was NOT going to let my traveling companions worry over the state of my mental health if I could help it. I got enough of that with my usual aspie shenanigans. I wanted them to understand I could still control this one aspect of my life.
In fact, I decided to make the post to Fluttershy's facebook perfectually my own style, ignoring all of the felt urges in my head as I typed in a greeting.
Reid: Heyo heyo! Hail to the fellow hoofed adventurer! I'm tracking my map and yours too, are you headed to Kansas? Cause I am! Maybe we should meet up in Kansas City for a shuffle. Puns and tropes, tropes and puns. Anywho, gotta cut this short, there is a horse here looking at me.
GO SEE A HORSE FLUTTERSHY. IT WILL BE AWESOME. Laters!
Ha! She would never guess I was the Preposterous Pinkie Pie! All she knew was that I was hooved! And Reid! And that there was a horse looking at me curiously.
I lowered my window and waved. "Hey there!"
The horse turned his ears forward.
"....How's the grass?"
The horse's tail flicked twice.
"Good to know! So, um, yeah!" I leaned out to look at my brother. "Can you hurry it up with the map, the horse is creeping me out."