Chapter 3:
What’s Up With Your Hair?
May 2, 2020:
The next morning, the day after William Weston turned 25; strange things began to occur, starting with the Cutie Marks, according to Charlie, on both his outer thighs. He had no memory of getting those two tattoos, and the strange dream about the pegasi and the chimera creature confused him even more. He got out of bed and took his morning shower, hoping to clear his mind. Somehow, his hair grew a bit longer while he was asleep. He figured he would just go get his hair done before his shift, and no one would be the wiser. When he looked in the mirror, his irises had turned a turquoise color.
"I don't remember wearing contacts of that color. That's strange, and my eyes aren't watering." William said, then looked at his longer hair. A few strands of bluish green highlights had mixed in with his original black hair. Looking closer William noticed something that unnerved him, "Even stranger. That Pegasus in my dream had the same turquoise eyes and blue-green hair, as well as the same Cutie Mark,” William remarked.
William left the bathroom and saw that his sister was waiting in the living room, holding her dream journal. “I had the strangest dream last night, Charlie. It had flying ponies in it.”
“You had a dream about ponies too?” Charlie asked, standing in the living room, talking with her brother, who had just exited the bathroom after examining his new eye and hair color.
“Yes, do we know what this is all about yet?" William asked, pointing to his hair, which was noticeably longer with a light blue-green tint to it.
“Nope,” Charlie sighed, “But I have to go to school, I’ll tell you if anything else happens!” With that she walked downstairs, leaving her brother deep in contemplation of the dreams and their interpretation. They were so vivid, and the ponies in the dream were siblings.
William then changed into a business suit, which he made some adjustments to fit his new frame. "Did I lose weight or something?" He then put on a pair of sunglasses, and went to work.
Before he got to work, he stopped by the barber shop and confided in the barber about the strange thing with his hair. He did not divulge the connection to the Cutie Mark or the dream he had last night. He just wanted to look nice and presentable for work.
Shortly after his trip to the barber's, William pulled into work, and was noticed by his co-anchor, Susan Jameson. Susan ran her fingers through William's hair, which by now had started growing out a bit and changing into that blue-green color. "William, what's wrong with your hair? Maybe you should let one of our on-site stylists take a look at it." She then also stated, "You may want to take off those sunglasses of yours." She went to remove the glasses, only to see the turquoise eyes. "Are you wearing contacts?"
William shook his head, avoiding Susan’s line of questioning. He wondered why Susan wanted to know if he was wearing contacts or not. “I don’t know, Susan. I've never worn contacts, as far as I know.”
Then the question of the hair came up. "The hair? Uhm, I’m not sure either. I just got it trimmed for work, and it’s starting to grow out again.”
"William, something is not right here. Hair doesn’t usually grow that fast or have that color, unless it’s from some anime. We need to go see a doctor about this before..." Susan froze as Mr. Farwell, the station manager, had shown up while the two co-workers were discussing William’s new appearance! What would the boss think about the new hairstyle?
Mr. Farwell slapped William on the back, startling the now light blue green haired man. The slap made the small, developing wings on William’s back twitch, causing some discomfort on William’s face. It was either from the slap, or something different.
"Mr. Weston! Just the man I want to see." He then looked at the hair of his employee. "I'm not sure about the change of hairstyle and color, Mr. Weston; it’s too distracting for our viewers. I'm sorry, but we need to talk in my office."
William gulped and pulled at his collar slightly. He was afraid of being let go. If this was just a talk about his hair, he would see to it, and it would conform to company policy.
He went into the boss's office, “Y-you wanted to see me, Mr. Farwell?" He nervously sat down at the seat across from the desk from his boss.
Mr. Farwell steepled his fingers, which to William were known in upper management circles as the triangle of doom. "Mr. Weston, I need to talk to you about your hair. I'm afraid I am going to have to let you go until I can find a new weather reporter. I'm sorry. I just cannot have my best reporter coming into work looking like they came from a comic book convention. Take this time to think about your life."
William's heart dropped as he looked down. He was terminated for having different color hair. "Sir, I don't think its fair legally, but if you want me gone, I will leave. I am sure someone out there will want my services. I'll clean out my desk."
William cleaned out his desk and put his personal effects in the car. He looked back at his old workplace dejectedly, and left the parking lot for home. What would he tell his sisters and brother?
When he arrived home, he became very upset of being fired for having strange hair and eye color. He began to cry as he sat on his bed. For the first time in his short career, William felt useless. He also considered that his family may be disappointed in him. He figured it had to do something about the appearance of the Cutie Marks on his thighs.
"It's all your fault, you stupid marks!" William yelled at the Cutie Marks on his thighs, as if they would speak back, pounding on the bed in frustration. He began to rehearse in his mind what to say to Jennifer, Eren, and Charlie concerning his termination. Would they be supportive or refuse to help?
After his termination from Channel 25, William Weston began to experience some changes throughout the afternoon while trying to understand why he was suddenly out of work. By dinner time, William's hair had completely changed into the mane style of the Pegasus pony he would become. He also began to look for food in the fridge, and came across some carrots and celery stalks. He began to munch on these vegetables. He would have to go out later in the week and get more food, but right now, he needed to think about trying to rebuild his life.
By 8:30 PM, William Weston went into the bathroom, and looked at his face. Looking back at him appeared to be a feminine-looking version of him, complete with longer lashes. His hair had already became long enough to take on the appearance of the mane of the pony in his dream.
"Wait a minute; was that pony character in my dream female?" William nodded, “That Pegasus was indeed a mare; a female pony. That makes perfect sense now." He thought of a way to get back to reporting on the weather. Perhaps he should sleep on it and feel better in the morning. Perhaps there was a chance that he could get his old job back; then again, with his new appearance, he did not think he would be taken seriously. William grabbed some more carrots and munched on them as he headed into the bedroom. "Man, these carrots are good!" He then took off his clothes to get ready for bed.
Then his phone started ringing. Sighing, William picked up the phone and answered it. “Hello,” William answered. The voice on the other end was Charlie’s, and she was very upset.
“William?” Charlie asked, “Something’s not right! I have light green ears on my head and I’m starting to panic! I also have frosty purple eyes and a light dusty rose mane, I mean hair!”
William heard his sister panic over the phone, “First of all, calm down, Charlie! You think you've had it rough; the boss fired me because I ended up with light blue-green hair, and my eyes are now turquoise. I think I’m becoming that pony we saw on that show and in my dream. Wasn't she a female pony? A mare?”
“Yes,” Charlie said slowly, “But I’m pretty sure that won’t happen. I’ll see you tomorrow I guess. What happened in your dream? Was there the bright pink pony, and a pony that matc-”
“Yes,” William said, cutting his sister off, “I saw a pony that looked almost exactly like that, she came to get the pony that she called Summer for a party at a place called Sugar Cube Corner. The pony that was with the light grey Pegasus was her sister, named Spring. Then, when they got to where they were going, they got a present that, when opened, caused a vortex. The creature that gave them the present was a mix of various creatures and had weird yellow eyes with red irises.”
“I've actually come up with a theory about that vortex,” His sister started, “But anyways, do you remember the show, did you recognize him?”
“Yes,” William stated, “I remembered. His name was Discord, and was voiced by John de Lancie. They based the character off of a character he portrayed in that Star Trek show, Q. I believe they referred to Discord as a draconequus in the episode Return to Harmony, Part I.”
“True, but did you notice that the dream looked more realistic than the show? You could see each individual strand of hair like you would on a human.” Charlie told her brother, “And if you’re wondering how I remember all this, it’s because that notebook I was writing in this morning was a dream journal, and I’m looking at it right now."
William nodded, “You and I had the same dream, only from the perspective of the ponies we will eventually become. This means we were related as ponies, as well as now."
“Why are you so sure?” Charlie asked, mystified.
“I just am,” William stated, as though it was a fact.
When the phone call ended, William’s body looked a lot smaller then it was before. His feet had a noticeable change in gait, as he was walking on his toes. His shoulder blades began to ache as he turned to notice the beginnings of wing buds. "How am I going to hide these under my clothes?" He tried to figure out a way to hide his proto-wings as he decided to lay on his back, much like Summer did in his dream.
Overnight, the changes decided to continue as light grey fur began to start spreading over his feet and started up towards his ankles. His ears migrated from the sides of his head to the top of his head, which were of the same color of the fur on his ankles. The feel of the new equine ears was of velvet. William would notice his new ears were quite sensitive to his emotions and to sounds. His feet became smaller, and the nails on his middle toe began to fuse into one solid form. The wings of the Pegasus were covered with light grey feathers with dark grey trim. His tailbone began to lengthen as the beginnings of a blue-green tail began to sprout. William Weston, former weather reporter for Channel 25 News, was about to get a rude awakening come morning.