I welcome the darkness of slumber as it rushes towards me while I lay on my bed. It envelops me and I embrace it like an old friend. Just like the night before, I begin to float towards the small light above my head.
Yet again like the night before, once the light surrounds me completely, I am thrown out of my body and into my room as a bluish shadow with a black cord tied to my sleeping vessel. Speaking of which, I look back down to my face.
Huh, it almost looks like my features are turning feminine. Eh, I'm probably just seeing things. Anyways, onwards for another dream adventure! However, this time I feel an urge to go out onto the balcony.
I phase through the glass doors and find myself afloat. Looking into the sky, I see the lines of sand flying through the air. Oddly enough, there's several strands that are a bit of a mixture between golden and blue sand.
One flies over the city and flies into an apartment building about a block away, another floats over the southern section of the city, a third leaves a trail towards the a distant farm, and the last-
Goes into Fiona's apartment.
Unfortunately, before I can so much as touch the flowing sand to see what her dreams are, I'm pulled off of my balcony and through several buildings. Willing myself upwards, I manage to begin being pulled above the offending apartments and houses.
Finally, the dragging sensation stops as I float above an overpass. My vision seems to have been switched to that of an eagle as my eyesight zeroes in on a young girl.
A soft whispery voice drifts through my mind and is then gone. "Go to her." Huh, that was odd, but I guess I'll follow its advice. I land my ethereal being-like body down next to her and see her a little more closely.
She couldn't have been more than seven, and here she was, lying on the side of a street sleeping. Why does her face look familiar? Where have I seen her before? On instinct, I begin to look up to the bright moon for guidance, when it suddenly feels like the moon directs my vision to a nearby light post with a missing poster on it.
I feel my physical body's heart clench a bit as I stare at the image of the little girl. No wonder she looked familiar; I've been seeing her face everywhere around Muscatine for the last week!
As I lean down to get a closer look at the girl, she stirs. The movement may be miniscule, but it still startles me. I stumble backwards, but instead of falling I just start floating, almost like I lay down on a bed. Well, this is actually kind of comfy.
Looking back down, I see the young, missing girl staring directly at me. Wait, can she actually see me? Probably not, she may just be looking at something behind me.
"Princess Luna? Is that you?"
Well, scratch that thought. Maybe children really do see more than adults in this world, it wouldn't be surprising. I float down and land softly on my shadowy feet without making a sound.
After a moment's thought, I speak to her, although not in the voice I thought of as mine, "It is okay, young one, I am here for you. May I ask, what are you doing so far from your home?"
Well hot-diggedy-darn, I sounded just like Luna there. I really hope I still sound like me in the waking world. The sudden sobs and crying bring me back to reality.
"Oh Princess Luna! Some strange man grabbed me while I was playing with toys at the store! And then-" Her tale was cut short by another bout of sobbing and sniffling.
Some type of instinct within me kicks in and I lean down and put my ghostly arms around her. "Shh, shh. It's okay, I'll try my best to help you get home tonight." I decide not to ask her to tell the rest of her story.
I let go of her and study the poster, memorizing the address given. I turn back and motion for her to come with me. She scrambles to her feet and takes my ghostly appendage into her own hand.
We walk down the streets for about thirty minutes, and by then, I am having to wake her up after almost every step since I cannot pick her up. She mumbles a few words quietly to me, "Luna, do you know any songs?"
We stop as I think for a moment, "Well, I do know one, just let me try and remember." I look up at the shining moon and speak to it through my mind. Please, help me with this, my friend.
I feel a burst of confidence as I choose my song, the words flowing to my mind. I begin to sing in a voice, not my own, but beautiful nonetheless.
Come little Children,
I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment.
Come little Children,
The time's come to play,
Here in my Garden of Shadows.
We've been walking through the backwater streets of Muscatine for awhile and were just now getting back into the suburban area. I turn to her as she stumbles after me, although more awake than before, and begin to continue singing to her
Follow sweet Children,
I'll show thee the way,
Through all the pain and the sorrow.
Weep not poor Children,
For Life is this way,
Murder, and beauty, and passion.
Hush now dear Children,
It must be this way
To weary of Life and Deception.
We rounded a corner and her home was directly in front of us. She was almost falling at this point from exhaustion. My ethereal form gave her the last little bit of energy she needed to lie down onto the cement doorstep.
Rest now my Children,
For soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet.
Come little Children,
I'll take thee away
Into a Land of Enchantment.
Come little Children,
The time's come to play
Here in my Garden of Shadows.
As my voice trails off, she closes her eyes to sleep peacefully. I look down at her, nothing but parental love in my heart for her. I feel a tug from the misty cord, and look at the doorbell. Using the pure will my form is made of, I press it twice.
Directly afterwards, the cord pulls me backward and through the night. I am thrown upwards above the clouds and directly in front of the moon. The same voice that told me to go to the young girl earlier speaks to me again, "You must remember, Princess, always care for the little ones."
The cord tugs at me again, this time pulling me all the way back to my body. I shoot into my own forehead, and awake with a massive headache.
"AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" I practically scream as I stumble through the apartment and into the bathroom. Temporarily taking my hands off of my forehead, I grab a cup, fill it with water, grab some pills, and quickly down them both.
I sit down onto the toilet seat, waiting for the effects of the medicine to kick in. I try not to think of anything, but my mind keeps drifting to the odd dream I had again the previous night. There was no way that I was actually leaving my body and going on these trips.
With headache finally fading, I trudge over to the T.V. and sit down. I slowly pick up the remote and turn the television on, flipping to the News Channel. I have no idea what's possessing me to go this channel out of all of them but-
I interrupt my inner dialogue as I get a good look at the Breaking News headline; Young Girl Who has Been Missing for a Week Found!
I turn up the volume just as they begin to interview the parents and daughter. The parents go on about how grateful they are to whoever it was that found her and brought her home. You know, the typical stuff.
However, the little girl (the same one from my dream) instantly speaks and interrupts her parents. "No! Princess Luna found me on the side of a street and guided me home! She sang to me, and helped me lay down on the doorstep!"
The Newscaster goes on to state that the child is most likely suffering from PTSD. She is also kind enough to describe who Luna was. I, however, am not listening.
Is it possible? Was everything I did last night real? It couldn't be...right? I Just don't...don't know what to think anymore.
I decide that I need a distraction and sit down at my computer, turning it on. As I sit there, waiting for the computer to boot up, a clump of light blue hair falls into my eye ball.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH! My gosh, darn, fricking eye!" I pull the offending article out of my vision and almost end up tearing it out. That's when I notice just how long my hair is now; it's at least four inches longer than before.
Huh, that's interesting. I wonder...
I quickly walk into my room and check my eyes in the mirror. Just as I thought, the light blue flecks in my eyes from yesterday were now much more prominent. I sigh and look at the whole of my face. The cheek bones are a little more angled and my mouth kind of looks like it's been pushed forward, but I'm not sure.
I hum a little to myself to test my voice, but can't seem to hear any difference. I think to myself for a few seconds, and then walk over to and sit down at my computer. Opening a recording program, I click the small red light and it turns on, showing that I'm recording.
"Alright, well this is probably going to be the first of many voice recordings I do. I'm only doing this for a test on how my voice changes." I click the same little red light to stop recording and stand up, popping several of my joints on the way.
Well, what do we do now? I guess I could continue playing Destiny, but I didn't want to have another breakdown like yesterday. I'll be honest; that actually kind of scared me. The growl emanating from my stomach was what actually decided for me.
I search through my kitchen for something to eat, but it's rather odd that the foods that I would normally consider a delicacy just doesn't seem to sound good to me right now. I think through a list of different foods that I have when one thought stops me.
Just the mere of this food makes me start salivating; apples. I must have one now! I almost rip the door off of its hinges when I tear open the fridge, looking for the small, red spheres. I grab one, bite into to it, and promptly fall into a deliciousness-induced coma.
~~~~~
About ten minutes later, I wake up with the apple still in my hand. I sit up and take another cautious bite out of the fruit. It still tastes really good, but nowhere near the explosion of flavors from earlier.
That's odd. I've never acted that way about food before. Did Applejack put some new type of fertilizer in for her trees?
Wait.
Where in the world did that come from? Applejack doesn't even exist! I continually eat my apple as I sift through the overabundance jumbled thoughts.
Once the thoughts are yet again organized into their mental folders, I check into the reminders section of my mind. Oh yeah! I completely forgot about all the thread topic posts I put up yesterday. Let's go check up on those.
I log onto my computer and open up my Internet Explorer, making tabs for each of the forums I posted in. Looking through each of them, I see nothing but junk replies asking if I was serious, drunk, high, trolling, and a great number of other things. However, there was one response, only one, that seemed genuinely serious.
They had sent me a private message about an hour after I posted the thread. I click on the box with the message and read what they have to say.
Dear, We are the Meta
I'll take a guess that a cutie mark is one of those strange tattoos that appeared by itself. If that is the case, I might be in the same case as you. However, changing into ponies just seems like a weird and rather farfetched conclusion just from the appearance of those marks, unless there is something weird that has happened to you so far.
Sincerely,
Sarikano
After checking real quickly, I see that he is, in fact, online right now. I send him a an invitation to a private chat and wait patiently.
After about ten minutes of waiting, I sigh and stand up, going to the kitchen for another snack. After looking around for a little bit, I choose to eat another apple. The juices run down my chin as I sloppily eat it as quickly as I can.
I throw the remaining core into the trash and check the private chat room with Sarikano. He still hasn't said anything whatsoever.
I go over to my extensive bookshelf and pull out a random book. Looking down, I see that I have selected one of my old time favorites, Halo: The Fall of Reach. I sit down and lean back into my computer chair and read for several minutes, patiently awaiting for Sarikano to send a message.
Finally, the beep that emanates from my computer announces his arrival into the chat room. I quickly set down my book and slide forward, my fingers automatically going to the familiar positions above the key board.
We are the Meta: Hello? You there?
Sarikano : Yes, I'm here.
We are the Meta: So I saw that you replied to my thread with the possibility of turning into a pony?
Sarikano: Only if the sudden hair growth I noticed this morning is part of the changes. But, it could be worse, I could be turning into Rantanplan.
The meaning of his reference(?) is lost on me. After thinking for a few seconds, I reply with the most sensible thing I can think of.
We are the Meta: What?
Sarikano : ...
Sarikano: Nevermind.
We are the Meta: Lol ok. So anyways what's your name? My name's John Sappington.
Sarikano: My name is Alex Mercier.
Ha! Could this be Alex Mercer from Prototype? Highly unlikely, but I decide to tease him a bit.
We are the Meta: O.O
We are the Meta: As in the Prototype guy?
Sarikano: No *facepalm*
I snigger quietly to myself, proud of my apparent trolling. Alright, I had my laugh. now, let's get into business.
We are the Meta: You have to admit though, it is kind of fitting; something supposedly bad happens to you, and now you want to figure out what happened.
Sarikano: I guess that comparison could work. I just hope I don't need to absorb people to learn more.
Alright, time for the finale question! Drum roll please!
We are the Meta: So anyways, have you found who you might be turning into?
Sarikano: Yes... Apparently it is somepony named "Celestia".