//------------------------------//
// 6. Dark Side of the Moon 
// Story: Lunar Phases 
// by Dusk Writer 
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	Ok, that's kind of scary. You know, for a midget (to me), he really does look like he can do some damage. I put my hands up in a calming gesture. "Hey, calm down. There's no reason to get upset."

Oh, uh-oh. His eyes grow wider in the he feels towards me. He opens his mouth and begins to yell at me, "Shut up! You have no idea what I have been going through!" Seriously? I have no idea what you're going through? Do you not see my hair as well? I open my mouth to reply, but he continues ranting. :You're not the one with pink hair! I thought you would understand, but all you do is tease me! Well I, have had, ENOUGH!"

After throwing his arms into the air in exasperation, he begins to stomp past me, each footstep louder than it should be. Just as he passes me, there's a crunching sound, followed by a snap that rings through my very soul.

I look down and see something that hadn't been there before; my copy of Halo 2 that I'd bought twelve years ago. I slowly bend down and pick it up, my hands shaking with the current feeling of nothing inside of me. Opening the ruined casing, I look inside to see the disc snapped cleanly in half.

I fall to my knees, reaching out with my fingers to stroke the front of disc, the crack running down Master Chief's helmet. I jerk my hand back as though I was shocked by it and my breathing begins to quicken. I feel Alex's hand touch my shoulder as he attempts to comfort me in obvious sorrow for what he had just done.

My body begins to shake, and my feral growl forces him to take a step back. I slowly stand to my full height and turn to look at him. As I stare into his eyes, the blanket of anger returns in full force. My vision turns red, and every voice, including the one telling me to take revenge, fades from mental hearing.

My prey is slowly backing away, now scared of my mere appearance. Suddenly, I let out a scream filled with anger, hatred, pain, and every other negative emotion I've bottled up for my whole life. It turns to run, but it is useless, just as it is useless for a cornered rabbit to run from the wolf. I grab the cloth on its back and jerk backwards, throwing it back across the living room and onto the floor.

My prey stumbles back to its two feet, and yet again tries to run past me. I shoot my arm out, catching its neck in my hand. I spin and throw it into the kitchen, causing it to slide across the floor and stop at the base of my cabinets. I quickly stalk forward towards it as it stands again. Odd, it has a lot of endurance for such small prey. It brings up its fists in an attempt to fight me; psh, a useless gesture.

I jab it in the face with a quick punch, and while it's dazed, I slip around behind it and snake my forearm around its neck, lifting it into the air. Its feet are pulled clear of the ground and it begins suffocate in the headlock I've placed it in. Its arms are flailing around, but it does not matter. Soon, it will be dead.

Its movements are getting slower and weaker, and I am almost victorious, when suddenly, a loud bang and a sharp pain on the back of my skull cause me to drop the prey. I fall to my hands and knees while holding one hand at the point of injury. The blanket of anger quickly dissipates and I rise up onto my knees.

I raise my head to see Alex standing in front of me, wielding a skillet with both hands as though his life depends on it. His throat is a deep red, and fear is plainly written across his face. I look at him and mutter quietly, "Celestia?" He then proceeds to whack the skillet across my face and I plunge into the darkness of unconsciousness.
~~~~~
Unlike the several other times I've recently been sent to this world, I did not go into my Dreamtime state. In fact, I was quite suddenly and harshly drug back into the waking world. Ugh, this headache is killing me. I move to hold my head in my hands, but I find I'm tied to a chair with tape. Oh wait, it's not just any tape; it's duct tape! All hope of escape has been lost!

I hear a noise to my right and quickly turn my head in that direction, soon regretting it. Wow, remind me to make sure I don't get hit in the face by a frying pan ever again. I see Alex leaning against the door to my bedroom, but something seems different. Can't quite tell what though.

"You know, the tantrum you had back there made the Hulk look like a spoiled brat." Ooooh. That actually kind of hurt. Oh well, I guess I kind of deserved it after what I did to him. Looking at the clock, I end up doing a double take. I've been out for three hours?!

I still need to do the voice log, and buy a new...Halo...2. Oh yeah, I kind of forgot about that. Oh well, no sense complaining over loss of material items. On the bright side, I got to take it out on Alex without killing him.

I quickly formulate a response, "Alright, fine, I did deserve that insult, but could you let go now?"

Alex seriously doesn't seem to be taking this as light as I am. I can see it in his face as speaks to me. He really needs to lighten up! "Actually, I think you owe me an explanation, after all, you only tried to kill me."

Oh yeah. I wonder if it could've been, that voice. I tense up as I feel another presence within my mind. "Do not worry, Luna; you tired the other one out. She will not be coming back for a while." The presence leaves my mind again, and I relax after realizing that it was the friendly voice.

I sigh as I reply, "I know this'll sound crazy, but I think a much more, primal, version of me took over when you broke my Halo 2. That game has always been precious to me as it was the one that sucked me into the world of gaming."

Alex looks a little unsure about my answer. After all, I guess I did just try to kill him. "Is that it? That isn't a normal reaction really, for anyone." He turns away from me and quietly mutters something under his breath, but unfortunately, I cannot understand him. He turns back to me, "Is this the first time this has happened to you?"

I think for a few moments before replying, "Yes. I have come close to that point before, but I have always been able to stop myself before I got to that point." It's true, the last time I almost lost control was, the last time I talked to my friend. I steer myself away from that subject quickly, since I need to stay concentrated.

He rubs the back of his head with his hand, sighing as he does so, "Fine, I'll let you go, but you'll have to help me with something first." His voice gets a little hesitant towards the end of his sentence, odd. He smirks a little playfully, "Besides, I kind of have to trust you since you were able to lead that one little girl home."

I'm about to agree with his request, when I stop and think about his second sentence. "Hey, how do you know about that little girl? Wait, was it because of the News?" His nod of affirmation confirms my suspicions that that truly wasn't a dream.

"Yeah, it was in the News. I wasn't sure at first that it was true, but you just confirmed it. By the way, where do you keep your scissors?" Alex seems a little irritated with something, I just still can't figure out what it is.

"Well, that confirms my suspicions that that wasn't actually a dream. Oh, uuuum, they're in the third cupboard from the right in the kitchen." Alex quickly leaves to go find the scissors, and while I wait, I watch the clock continue to count. It's 7:40 by the time he gets back, and he gives me an apologetic smile for taking so long.

After quickly cutting through the duct tape, I stand and stretch, unfortunately with no pops. I turn to Alex again, "Why thank you, kind sir." I turn and walk out of the room towards the computer, when I remember something and stop. "Hey, what was it you needed help with earlier?"

He looks a little embarrassed at this, before simply replying, "Eh, it's actually about my hair..." He trails off, and something finally clicks in my mind.

"Ah ha! That's what's different about you! You tried to comb them out earlier! Is that the other reason you asked about the scissors?" Wow, I can just be so dense sometimes. I mean, seriously, how could I not notice this until now?

He starts shaking his head wildly, "What? Oh, no no no. If I had wanted to cut them, I would have done it before leaving for our Starbucks meeting." He kind of casts his eyes downward and mutters something else to himself that I can't hear.

I'm kind of curious as to why he keeps doing that. Is there something he's hiding? Uh-oh, nature's calling again. I smile at Alex and quickly excuse myself from the room. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

As I head towards my small bathroom, I'm deep in thought. Why had I lost control so easily earlier? I haven't had an incident like that since I was about five. And even then, it had been because my little cousin was teasing me constantly, so I snapped. Now, however, I had no idea why. Sure, Halo 2 was incredibly special to me, but it wasn't any reason to almost commit murder over.

I walk into the bathroom and try to quickly do my business, still deep in thought. I finish and quickly zip up my pants, walking to the mirror. As I get there, I plan to examine the changes happening to my face, memorizing whatever was left of my humanity.

I arrive at my destination, slowly looking up into my now azure eyes. Wait a second, is this mirror kind of smudged? I rub the reflective surface to make sure I'm not seeing things. Okay, that's some really thick smudge, unless...

I reach a hand up to the point of offense, and sure enough, I touch soft fur. A few soft breaths later, "What the heck?!" I guess my nerves from my berserk earlier haven't worn off yet.

Without waiting for any further observation, I burst out of the bathroom and run into the living room. As I turn the corner, I see Alex standing up from the couch, rubbing where his tailbone is located. On top of his skull lie two, porcelain white horse ears.

Alex looks as he hears me enter the room. With a grimace on his face, he speaks to me, "Remind me not to call you KOS-MOS again as a joke. I think you actually hurt my coccyx when you threw me against the wall earlier."

I barely stifle a laugh at the name (BOW CHICKA- Oh shut up Tucker-part-of-my-brain), and manage to ask Alex just what a coccyx is. "So, Just what is this coccyx?" I walk up close to him, but he suddenly tenses up at my presence.

Frowning a little, I back away and he relaxes. Oh well, I can mend this relationship later. As Alex relaxes, he speaks to me, "It's the useless bone at the end of the spine, which is actually the remnant of a vestigial tail." Oh wow, I actually didn't know that. He mutters something under his breath, which my new pony ears swivel towards and pick up automatically. "Useless except for causing pain whenever you sit down in a bad position."

Ok, that's pretty neat, but the automatic swiveling is gonna get annoying fairly soon. "Oh, so that's what the scientific name for this is called." I reach back to kind of feel where my tailbone is located, and feel...hair.

I pull my hand back, gripping whatever was found down there. Sure enough, there is a sky blue tail that trails all the way down to my ankles, ending in a bit of a curl. I stare at it for a moment, then begin alternating my sight between the new addition and Alex, who looks just as surprised as me. Finally, I find my words, "Okay, I got used to the ears kind of quickly, but what is this?!"

His face quickly goes from surprised to 'whatever'. "I would guess that that's the not-so vestigial tail." Wow, what a smartass. Oh well, I guess I don't have much room to talk.

Giving him my 'no really' face, I simply reply, "No, I thought it was a gummy worm."

He shakes his head and rolls his eyes at my sarcasm, "Right...just try not to eat it." Then proceeding to unbutton his tan cargo pants so he could easily pull his own new tail out and let it breathe.

Just like his hair, the tail is a completely solid soft pink. I open my mouth to tease him a little about the color, but then I remember what happened earlier and how I almost killed him. Looking behind my back at my own tail, I'm pleased to see that it's still the manly color of blue.

I look back at Alex, just now realizing how long his hair really is. "Uh, I think your hair needs to be called a mane now." He looks up at me from examining his tail.

He lets out an exasperated sigh, "Personally, I'd prefer to just call it a mess at the moment." I can definitely see why. Since his hair (mane) had grown exponentially, the bottom half was a tangled mess while the upper half was silky and smooth; reaching all the way down to his waist now as well.

I turn my head to see that my own new mane is now reaching all of the way down to my waist as well. However, I mentally note with glee, mine is not as tangled. I look back to Alex with a small bit of sympathy as I decide to be kind about his hair for once. "Hey Alex, I'll help you with your hair, but first, We have something that We need to do."

Alex looks momentarily confused, then cautiously replying, "We do?"

Huh? What did I say that makes him that-. Oh, I see now; these mental changes are coming further along than I thought. Oh well, I need to do my next recording, then I need to get my guest some supper. I raise my hands in apology, "I'm sorry, I meant to say I have something to do."

He looks a little uncertain with whatever just happened with my voice slip. I'll admit, it's probably a good thing he hasn't watched My Little Pony, or else this may have freaked him further. He points towards his lap top which he must have gotten out while I was unconscious. "I see. Is there any internet access point I could use?"

Is he joking with me? Does he not see the amount of technology within this room that requires internet? I wave my hands around the room, "Alex, my friend, any place in this apartment has access to the internet."

However, he looks a little irritated, as though I'm an oblivious child that doesn't know anything. " Yes, I noticed that there was a wireless access point. But I need the password if I want to use it..." Oh, no wonder he thought I was stupid; I completely gave him the wrong information.

I sigh in frustration at myself and begin digging through my memory, searching for the Wi-Fi password. Oh wait, how am I still being so retarded?! It's super easy! I turn to him and speak, "Well, the password is, Password."

He gives me an incredulous look before typing it into his laptop and finding he now had access to the internet in my apartment. Mumbling under his breath, my new ears easily pick it up, "Very secure..." After giving me a look that said he wanted to hit me because of my idiocy, he turns back to his minicomputer and begins to do some stuff with e-mail.

I leave him to his own devices (quite literally) and sit down into my own comfortable computer chair. Upon logging in, I set up my webcam to do my first vlog since this whole thing started. Once I finally open the necessary programs, I begin recording with a clear view of my face.

"Hey John, it's you again. However, going against what you said earlier, you are now recording a video as well. As you can see, you were an idiot and did not begin to record until the changes were pretty far along." Hm, is there anything else I should mention? Maybe I should turn these into more of a way to keep track of what happens for future reference.

"Alright John, you just made another change of plans; instead of doing this to just see if there's any changes in appearance and voice, you have now decided to use this as a way to keep track of what happens! Alright, so, first things first. Upon waking up I found that the supposed "dream" I had of guiding the little girl home actually wasn't a dream and I actually did that."

"I guess that this means I am now inheriting Luna's powers as well." That seemed like a pretty good hypothesis. "After waking up, I also found a valid reply to my call for help, and as is not seen, Sarikano, otherwise known as either Alex, or soon, Celestia, is now staying at my apartment for the night."

What else happened that could be worth noting? "Oh yeah, I hate to admit this, but I totally lost it earlier. Not as in throwing a tantrum and knowing what you're doing. But as in, vision going red type of anger. What caused it was that Alex stepped on and broke my precious copy of Halo 2. It scares me to know that I can get like that. Thinking back on it, I realize that I started to think of Alex as more of a form of prey than another human. I have to be more careful in the future not to get to the point of primal instincts."

I think for a few more seconds for something to wrap this up, and with the right words in mind, I do just that. "Well, everything turned out okay, if you can call being wacked into unconsciousness in the face by a frying pan okay. Anyways, new developments are a tail, pony ears, full-blown mane, and fully converted eyes. And, I believe that wraps up this vlog. I'm gonna try to find time tomorrow for the next one, but no promises."

With that, I stop recording on all of the programs just in time to hear Alex sigh in frustration at whatever he was doing. Looking at him curiously, "What's wrong?"

He just sighs again in exasperation, "Something I can't do anything at all to fix." Wow, I kind of feel bad for him; first, he's turning into a pony and has pink hair: second, he was nearly killed by me: and last, now he can't do anything to fix something!

And that is why I have preferred to be alone for most of my life; no girlfriends, no close friends, nothing. A familiar emptiness starts to eat away at my soul. The Depression, as it was appropriately named, was taking over, and there was only one way to get rid of it. "Hey, I know things are kind of rough right now, but the best way to distract oneself from something like this, is first with a good supper, and then video games!"

Just as I predicted, and as though his stomach could hear me, it grumbled a complaint at the mention of food. "I guess my apple and yogurt from earlier are long gone by now."

Seriously? That's all he's had to eat today? Not under my roof! Putting my game face on, I quickly ask him, "What type of foods do you like?"

Oops, I think I may have scared him a bit with my face, but that doesn't matter! "I would eat just about anything right now."

He trails off, allowing me to think for a moment. "Alright Alex, just wait here for a few minutes and I'll have something ready." Alex just nods and turns back to his laptop, opening some type of game.

I enter the battlefield known as "The Kitchen" and get to work.