//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: A Pony's Guide to Playing the Cello // Story: Symphonies and Wubs // by BLT185 //------------------------------// “And that’s how we got here. Like I said it was a long story” I said. Jed and I had put Rachael in the guest bedroom and brought all of the supplies we had purchased yesterday into the house. Jed hadn’t changed at all...well, aside from the obvious. She was still the same boisterous, fiddle-playing ranch-hand I’d grown up with. We were now sitting in his living room catching up. “That’s quite a story you have there. If I wasn’t seeing it myself I’d of thought you were telling tall tales.” said Jed. “Yeah, You and me both” I muttered under my breath. Jed waited a few seconds before asking the question she always asked when he saw me with a filly “So...anything going on between you and Rachael?” Of course she would ask that, it was just too easy not to pass by, wasn’t it. Grrr. I was very dodgy on the subject though, having tried to avoid talking about the two of us, together. However, he just bluntly laid it out, so I couldn’t avoid it any longer. “No, we’re just friends…” I said, hesitance plainly obvious in my trembling voice. She gave me a curious look for a few moments before a big grin spread across her face and she said “If you say so” My thought went rampant trying to understand that she just let me off the hook, unless he already knew. I had to stop myself from gasping. Having tried to come up with a story as to how he “knew”, I also had the thought of collapsing on my bed pass through my head. Jed sensed my exhaustion and said “You can take my room if you’re tired. I’ll just sleep on the couch.” “I can’t let you do that, it’s your bed!” I said “Besides, I would feel like a mooch if I did take it” “Well, I’m the one who offered, so don’t go feeling like you’re a mooch.” She said. I tried to respond with a clever comeback but… “And before you come up with anything, I won’t take no for an answer” “Fine” I said “Hey, Jed?” “Yeah?” she said I paused a few seconds, then said “Thank you, for letting us stay here.” “No sweat. You’re family. It’s the least I can do.” She said. She walked back from the closet carrying an armful of blankets and tossed them on the couch. “G’Night” “Good Night” I whispered as I slowly ascended the staircase to the bedroom. Climbing stairs with hooves was a bit of a challenge. I slipped a few times, but eventually made it to the top. No staircase was going to make a fool of me. The master bedroom was at the end of the hall, and though it was the master it was kind of a small, but cozy, room. It had a queen sized bed, a nightstand with an alarm clock, a full length mirror and its own bathroom. I started to take my clothes off and took a moment to look at myself in the mirror. My face definitely had an equine shape to it now. My nose and mouth were an inch or two off my face, forming a definite muzzle. Eyes, definitely larger. Grey fur was now covering my entire lower body and streaks of it had grown on my upper body and arms. My hooves were oddly shaped and it had become difficult to manipulate them. My middle finger had grown larger, and it became very hard to move the hand in general. My fingernail had become very thick and discolored; to the point where it was not something I wanted to look at. I turned my head away. I would have been more concerned about these things, but my exhaustion from “recent events” had left me feeling very enervated. The bed was soft and I fell asleep within moments. ooOOoo I awoke to the sound of my brother’s alarm clock. Curse that annoying device and the crazy psychopath that invented it! I didn’t want to open my eyes yet, so I felt around for it. My arm brushed plastic it slammed down on it with a very noisy crunch. At least it isn’t ringing anymore. Intending to see if anything changed last night, I tried to sit up, but it backfired and I ended up tasting carpet. I tried standing up, but it didn’t work. I looked down, and saw that my hands had become hooves as well. I oriented myself properly this time, and got myself on all fours. It felt quite awkward, but at least I could stand. I turned to the mirror, and it showed a figure that was all too familiar yet, not my own. The face that stared back at me belonged to Octavia. The only thing missing was the bowtie. I stared at my reflection for the longest time. My mind was having a hard time issuing the command to recognize this body as my own. Two questions entered my head, and though not the most prevalent, I still found them very important. “Is the transformation over?” I checked myself from head to hoof “How on earth am I going to play my cello?” The former would answer itself in time. To answer the latter I had no answer. I got up and turned to leave, but once again fell flat on my face. Standing back up, I cautiously took a step with my front-left hoof, then another with my back-right hoof. I began to see the pattern and began to count to four in my head. It was almost like learning the rhythm of a song. Start slow then gradually get faster until eventually you can do it without a thought. Soon I was walking at my normal pace, at least until I reached the stairs. My hoof missed a step and fell. My cello was sitting in the living room in its case. The latches wouldn’t be easy to open without fingers. The first option that came to mind was to use my mouth, but that seemed rather unsanitary. I pushed on the bottom of the latch with my hoof. The first latch was open, now for the other one. Once the lid of the case was lifted I liberated the instrument from its padded, plastic prison. I tried to stand upright using the cello as a support. It was surprisingly stable given that moments ago I had trouble with the simple act of walking. I couldn’t grip the bow with my hooves it seemed impossible. Wait, Octavia used her wrists, or whatever the proper term was, was it fetlock? To play her contrabass. Surely I could manage that. It looked awkward, but at the same time it also felt strangely… right, though it was a bit awkward, because I was about the same size as it. I drew the bow across the strings and my mind began to drift, and soon I was playing a slow melody, and the low sound of the cello echoed in all directions throughout the house. I closed my eyes and went into my own little world. Nothing mattered, there was no distraction...there was only me and my music. “GOOD MORNING ADAM!” Clearly I had done something to offend gravity; it wasn’t my friend this morning. The loud noise behind me broke my concentration and I fell over. Rachael stood there looking exactly like Vinyl Scratch and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I glared at her, she knew very well how easily startled I can get while playing. “What are you so happy about?” I intoned. “You’re so predictable Octavia, it makes pranking you almost too easy” she said her grin widening. “Don’t call me that” I said “Hey, I got a present for you.” She said as a magenta aura manifested around her horn, and a very familiar bowtie floated down the stairs. I knew exactly where this was going. “No, absolutely not!” I said “C’mon!” she said, pressing the bowtie at me with magic “No!” I said as I swatted the bowtie away She gave me the puppy dog eyes. She knew I couldn’t resist her puppy dog eyes, even as a pony they were still working. I tried to resist the onslaught but my will was weak, I had to give in. “Fine, but that’s still cheating” I groaned as she tied the bow around my neck ooOOoo Jed woke up, and we finally had breakfast. I guess turning into a pony is tiring work! We had salad, because neither I nor my new sister wanted to cook, seeing as how we had hooves, and neither of us trusted Rachael with a stove. We sat at the table and discussed our next course of action. “So what now?” asked Rachael, sitting back in a very Vinyl-esque sort of way “We’re staying here and hoping this as far as it goes” I stated matter-of-factly “I don’t see how it could get any worse, were already 100% pony, and besides, that’s boring, we should go on an adventure! Oooh, maybe we’ll even find more ponies like us.” She said, and became very giddy at the thought. “Tavi’s right Vinyl, we can’t go anywhere, humans might see us. This is the only place that’s safe for us right now.” Said Jed. I looked at both of them.“You’re going to keep calling me that, even if I tell you to stop, won’t you?” I asked. “Nope” they both said in unison, and collapsed in laughter.