//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Confirmed 
// Story: Can't Stop Now 
// by PingSquirrel 
//------------------------------//

        I stormed through the castle hallway at a very quick pace, ignoring everything around me.  Only one thing mattered right now, however there was things that could cut through my focused state enough to make me acknowledge them. “Stop!” called a familiar, and commanding voice behind me, and I briefly turned my attention to him.

        “You can’t stop me, Shining, and trying to hide this from me was stupid.  You know you can’t keep things from me,” I replied shortly as I resumed my quick pace down the hall towards the exit.  

        He ran to close up with me and kept pace to stay at my side. “I know that.  I’m not trying to pull rank on you, but-,” he started to explain.

        “That’s good, because you can’t.  I don’t answer to you,” I interjected harshly.  I didn’t have the time or the patience for this right now.

        He huffed, and simply continued.  “But, you can’t go, and I’m telling you that as a friend.  Sanguine’s got into your head and he wants you to come to him.  If you go, you’ll do something stupid that you’ll regret.”

I shot him an icy glare.  “What would you have me do?  Do nothing?  Just wait for the Royal Guard to run their playbook while he plays his own game?  What would you do in my situation?” I demanded from him.  If the only advice he was going to give was not to go, he damned well better have a better idea.

He looked stymied at that before he let out a frustrated sigh. “I’d probably be doing exactly what you’re doing right now, but that doesn’t make it a good idea.  He doesn’t have my sister.  He has yours, and you’re not thinking clearly.”

“I’m thinking clearly enough to know exactly what I want to do.  I’m going to get her back and beat the daylights out of him while doing it, along with anything that stands in my way.  Now, are you going to be one of those things, or are you going to let me go,” I returned as we stopped at the door.  I knew my friend well enough to know it was unlikely he could stop me on his best day; he simply wasn’t like me.

“I’m not going to even try.  Just,” he said before pausing to think how to word his next sentence.  “Just be careful.  You’re good, but he made this personal for you and I’m worried that he’ll use that against you.”

“Really?  Because, I think he’s the one that should be worried right now, because I’m coming for him,” I returned, then left through the door, leaving my friend behind me.
        
        “My Little Pony!” blared the TV, forcing me to the waking world, but it was hard to tell the difference.  The dream seemed so vivid, yet surreal at the same time.  It felt like I was there, and there was the name again: Sanguine.   How did that tie in?  More notably, the dream was new, but the one thing that didn’t change about it was the black feelings it left in the pit of my stomach.    

The theme song ran its course, letting me know how long I was laying in bed, thinking about the dream, and I decided to move on.  My sister was watching shows on my television again.  She had been watching the show nearly non-stop whenever she had the chance.  I’d forgive her for waking me up, “Sally?  Is that you?”

        “Yup,” she answered in the barest of answers as she sat on one of the corners of the bed.

        “Shouldn’t you be at school today?” I asked as I began to fight around the blankets wrapped around me.  I must have cocooned myself in these last night; the dream must of had me really tossing and turning.
        
        “I was but now it’s done so now I’m in here, watching cartoons,” she explained.  “Now quiet.  Pinkie Pie is on.”

        All day?  I hadn’t slept through the day since I was fresh out of high-school.  I was semi-decent clothes wise with a white-t and boxers, so I worked my head free of the nest to glance at the clock.  Four twenty in the afternoon.  Crap.

“I sent a text to one of your clients.  Your phone was going nuts, so I told them you were up all night working.  It slowed the messages up,” she said without taking her eyes off the screen. 

“We’re going to have to work on that personal property issues you have, squirt,” I muttered as I sat up, while keeping my blankets over my lap.  “For example.  This is my room and I need you out of here for a while.”

She huffed and turned to protest when her eyes got wide. “Wow!  What did you do to yourself!?” she asked as she pointed to the space just above my head.

 I blinked once.  “What?”

“Did you lose a bet with Lanny?” she continued before she started giggling at me.

        “What are you talking about?” I muttered before I tried looking up to see what she laughing at, but it stayed stubbornly out of view.  I didn’t have a mirror handy, but I did have was my phone.  I snapped a picture of myself, then flipped it over to see the image.

        There was no way that this picture was right, so I got up quickly and rushed to the door.

        “O-M-G!   You got a cutie-” my sister was saying before the door closed behind me and I pushed through to my little bathroom.  There I was, in the mirror, confirming what the picture told me.  I had blue hair.  It was a dark blue, like a navy that was laid over my natural black.  You might even mistake it for black if the light was bad, but under the light, it definitely was blue.  

        I blinked hard and shook my head, as if that would restore my default settings, but it stubbornly stayed that unnatural colour.  Just like the tattoos, there was simply too many questions to process so the two big ones took the lead.  Firstly, “Why?” demanded an answer, and secondly, “Why now?”

        No matter how much I stared at my hair, I couldn’t grasp the fact it was real.  It’d just bash into the walls of accepted reality I had long since established.  Slowly, my hand lifted up to deep blue hair, and tugged on it.  It felt like mine so I moved onto the next test.  I  glanced at my fingers to look for dye that might of rubbed off, but they were clean.  So, it wasn’t dye.

 Before I could consider that too long, there was a knock at the door.

“Ryan!” my sister called through the door. “Why is your hair blue?  Did you lose a bet?”

“Not now, Sally,” I called back.  She responded by fiddling with the locked door.

“Come on!  Let me see it!  It looks neat!” she whined while she knocked at the door.  Even so, I was doing my best to ignore her so I could look at the hair one more time.  It didn’t make any sense.  Last night, I was up and awake until the crack of dawn, and though I had a few drinks with Lanny, I was sober the entire time; Painfully sober for Lanny’s stripper, but the less I think about that, the better.  I really didn’t like that sort of thing, and it was even more awkward than last time.  Seriously.  She was pretty enough, but the whole thing left me just feeling nervous and very un-turned on.

In the end, the only thing I was sure of was this wasn’t going away anytime soon.  Between the marks and my hair, it seemed to be getting worse.  It was time to make a plan.  “First, I’ve got to talk to Jacob and Daphne.  Second, do what they need done.  Finally, if there’s time, look into this weirdness.”  I ran my fingers through my short hair again, to check it one last time for roots.  There were none to find.

It was time to get moving, so I wrapped a towel around my waist in preparation.  I had boxers on, but I was sure my sister was still going to hassle me as soon as I opened the door and that I wasn’t something I wanted to do in my underwear.  The door swung open, and Sally was waiting there.

“I thought you liked the show, but I didn’t think you liked it that much,”  she said as soon as the door opened.

        “Excuse me?” I asked as I walked by my sister to my room again. “Getting dressed.  Don’t follow.”

        The door was pretty cheap so the conversation continued through it. “You’re dressing up like a pony.  Two tattoos and blue hair is totally pony stuff to get, and it all looked pretty good, too,” she excitedly explained.  

        That drew my attention away from the hunt for a clean shirt.  It was on the news lately that there were rumours that this sort of thing was happening, but they were mostly unconfirmed beyond what people had on YouTube.  But, that can’t be true and it couldn’t be happening to me.  I didn’t even watch the show at all.  Maybe, that’s not what my sister meant.  I hesitantly asked, “What do you mean?”  

        “What do you mean, what do I mean?  I mean it looks pretty good, even if you look like a total pony nerd like that,” she returned.  That serves me right for thinking my sister would be the source of enlightenment.

        It was time to go logical about this.  “Why do you think I look ponish?” I asked.

        “Well, the hair is one thing, and you got something on your legs that looks like a cutie mark.  You know?  Those things ponies have on their backsides?  I thought you’d know all of this.  You’re the one with them,” she explained. 

        Well, she was right that ponies had those marks on their legs.  Then, I hung up on a thought.  I had just seen a man with markings like this on him just yesterday morning at the gym.  I had his details on file, so I should be able to find the man and see if something similar was happening to him.  If I did that, I should be able to mitigate what was happening.  Of course, the nagging doubt (pun not intended) was if the rumours were one hundred percent accurate I’d be riding a change fully out to completion, but that was impossible.

        About as impossible as the rest of it.  Heh.

        “Earth to Ryan?  You there?  You kind of went quiet there,” my sister asked as she knocked on the door again.

        “Yeah. I’m here.  Just thinking,” I replied before I grabbed myself some pants.  “Can you do me a favour?”

        “What is it?”

        “Keep this quiet.  No one needs to know about this,” I stated flatly.  There had to be no room for ambiguity on that.

        “But, I bet you’d get like a bunch of hits on-”

        “No way, squirt.  Speak to no one on this.  Period.  That includes texting, messaging, Youtube, Facebook or any other site you can think of,” I repeated.

        I could almost see how her face was twisting as she tried to think of a counter-argument that might sway me before she huffed, “Fine.  No one is going to hear about your new hair colour or cutie mark.”

        “And a second favour; stop calling it that.  It’s a stupid name,” I added.

        “But, that’s what they’re called on the show,” she quickly returned. “Now, do you got pants on?  I want to get back to the TV.”

        I sighed and opened the door.  “Give me ten minutes, squirt.  I need to work for a bit,” I said, and though she huffed, she knew I was serious about that, and once she was gone I got to work.  It only took a few moments to see that there wasn’t any hits back from the picture of “Sanguine”.  That was a setback, but there was a few more sources that have to come in.  I moved onto my phone and looked through the message list to see that the Esterhazys had been trying to get in contact with me.  Two messages didn’t really count as my phone going nuts.  Even the message that my sister sent them was pretty professional so things shouldn’t be that bad.

        The phone only rang once before Jacob answered me.  “Hello?” he asked quickly, as if he was desperate to hear from someone.

        “Hello, Mr. Esterhazy. I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you,” I apologize. 

        There was a pause.  “It’s alright, Black.  They haven’t contacted us yet with any follow-up reply.  I just wish they’d let us talk to Porsche so we’d know she’s alright.”

        Do you have any sort of recording devices on the phone they’ll call?  Having a recording of it could be useful.  If not, I can hook up something for you,” I offered.

        “I’d appreciate that,” he said, “Now, I understand you were working late to identify the man.  Was there any breakthroughs on that?”

        “None so far, though, I do feel he’s familiar.  I don’t want to get your hopes up too much though, incase it’s doesn’t pan out,” I answered.  I wish I did have something more to give the man, but at least with the picture, we did have something to go on.

        “Really?  Familiar how?” Jacob asked with obvious interest showing through in his tone.

        That one question made me think about how I spontaneously named the man and felt so strongly about ‘Sanguine’, but neither of those were something I could just tell Jacob.  “As of right now, it’s just a feeling like I’ve seen him before, and all I’ve got to do is figure out where.  I’ll let you know the instant it gets more concrete,” I finally answered.  There was so much shame that came with telling a client that you ‘got a hunch’.

        “I see,” he said.  “Then, I’d like to have you come by tonight.  Maybe we can work out who this man is together.”

        “That’s an idea.  I can be your way in a few minutes if you like,” I offered outright to the man, only to kick myself a moment later.  I had blue hair.  I can’t exactly look professional with blue fucking hair, but I was committed now.

“It’d have to be in an a few hours.  I’m at the office right now, trying to keep up appearances and arranging the payment,” he said, “I just want all of this to be over and done with.”

“I know, and I’m sorry it’s all coming down on you, but we’ll get you through it, then catch the pricks and put them away until Doomsday.  It’s all just a matter of time.”  He actually chuckled at that, even if it seemed bitter.

“Thank you.  I really hope so.  Does seven work for you, Mr. Black?”  he asked.

“You know, you can call me Ryan, sir.  And, it works.  I’ll see you soon.  You just try and hold yourself together,” I replied quickly, and he gave barely muttered farewell before he hung up.  I guess, he had to get back to his work and that was alright with me because had to work out what I needed to do about hair before then.

“Alright.  I’m all done,         Sally.  You can go back to watching your show,” I called and the door opened, then a thought occurred to me.  “But, you have to do something for me first.”

“What is it?” my sister asked.

“You called the tattoo a cutie mark.  Can you explain that a little more?”  I hesitantly asked.

“Well, sure.  It’s on the show and it’s what shows a pony’s special talent.  One magically appears when they figure it out,” Sally answered as she hopped up onto my bed and started the show again.
                  
        “I see.  And, all ponies have one of these things?”  I couldn’t believe I was asking my sister for information, and on something so childish, but what could I do?  She was the resident expert.  Just to be safe, I sidled up to my computer and went to google to get verification on anything she told me.

        “Almost all of them.  The kids don’t have them, and I don’t think there’s one on the show with the one that you got.  I thought someone that looked like you would’ve looked all of this up,” she said then she got a really wide grin.

        “I’m just doing that now.  Watch your show and stay quiet,” I muttered as I started sifting through news reports and images of ‘real’ ponies.  Much of the results were utter crap like cosplay and drawings, then a few interesting ones came up like the rumours of a pegasus on a military ship and something about a harp being stolen.  They were light on details though, and so I relegated them all to hearsay.  Then a security camera photo came up of a man with red pointy ears, not unlike a pony’s.  It didn't look photoshopped, and what was happening to me made me feel that it was legit.  And, if that was the case, there could be more people in my situation.  That meant more people that might have answers.

Like that guy I was running surveillance on a couple days ago!  How could I be so dense not to see it?  He had those stupid dumbbells on his thigh where I had my own marks, and, as a bonus, I had his address, name and telephone number so tracking him down shouldn’t be that hard.  Of course, he was huge and wanted to kill me last time I saw him.  I think I better call Lanny and ask him to tag along, just in case things got ugly, but I might get some answers if things went right.

        I glanced at the clock quickly and confirmed that I had time right now if I hurried.  I could pick up Lanny, go see if we can track down that guy and get some answers before I had that meeting with my clients.  To that end, I called my buddy.

        “Hey Lanny!  How do you want to go for a drive tonight?” I asked as soon as he picked up.

        There was no hesitation in his answer.  “That doesn’t sound good.  What’s the catch?” he asked me.

        “Two things.  First, I’ve got blue hair and you’re not allowed to laugh,” I said right back.  The stipulation didn’t help at all.

        “What?  Blue hair?  Why the hell do you have blue hair?” he laughed.

        “That’s brings us to the second catch.  I need you to look tough when I go talk to a guy about this whole blue hair and tattoo thing.  I’ll explain more in the car,” I continued as evenly as I could, so as to let Lanny calm down.

        “You got to throw in a dinner with the explanation because I’m starved.  But, this sounds like that time you had me be tough with that deadbeat dad, and that was kind of fun,” he replied.

“Deal, but you don’t get to laugh when I pick you up.  At all.  This is stressful enough already,”  I warned him.  “I’ll get you a sub or something on the way.”

“Deal.  See you in a bit, bro,” he said then hung up.  He better keep up his end of the bargain or I’ll be ticked.


_-_-_-_-_-_-_


        “Say it again!” Lanny laughed.  He’d been laughing for a solid minute now and didn’t show any sign of slowing down.

        “No.  You heard me just fine the first time,” I replied coldly as I drove the directions my phone was feeding me.  At least Siri respected me enough to help me.

        “I did!  That’s why I’m laughing so hard!  It’s crazy because you’re serious!” he guffawed before he wiped his eyes and forced down the laughter.  “Come on, say it again.  We can try this again, bro.  Serious this time.”

        “I think I’m turning into a pony,” I said dully, without taking my eyes off the road.  I wouldn’t have to endure the laughing long anyways because wasn’t going to be too far to Randy Hister’s home.  That was the man that I was taking pictures of at the gym, and hopefully, he knew more than me about the infliction.

        “Well, that’s just cra-cra- hehehe.”  Lanny was trying hard to fight down the urge to laugh, but it was too much for him to do.

        “Lanny!  Seriously!  I didn’t dye my own hair, and the marks aren’t tattoos.  They just appeared entirely on their own, and they’re consistent with the other alleged transformations.  This is big!  Bigger than just us and it’s happening across the world to people at random!” I snapped at him.

        “Sorry bro, but that’s just insane.  You’re not turning into a pony.  One, it’s impossible, bro.  B, it’s insane.  And quatro, see point one.  You got drunk and high or something and don’t want to admit it,” he stated without laughing.  He was in fact, serious about the points he was making, but he mulched the point list system in two languages and that did nothing for his credibility.  What was worse was he dismissed everything I said outright, despite the evidence.

        “Whatever.  You’re still going to help me with this,” I muttered as I pulled my hoodie back up.  If he was going to laugh at me, I will just wait until I get the last laugh, even if I didn’t want it.  I had too much going right now to be turning into a pony!

        Anyways, after snapping at Lanny, he settled into eating his dinner while I drove.  It was awkward, but he looked calm by the time we pulled up in front of the townhouse.  Maybe the food helped.  “Sorry.  I know this is all crazy, but I need you here for this.  I don’t need you against me too, so here’s the deal.  If it turns out that I’m crazy you can laugh all you want, alright?  But, if I’m right, you don’t get to tell one joke about my condition.  Ever,” I stated. 

“Hey bro.  I’m with you, deal or not.  You know that.  You also know that nothing is going to stop me from making jokes about you if you do change,” Lanny said before getting out.  “You might even say, the situation behooves bad puns.”

“Fuck you.  And, I don’t think that word means that,” I snapped with enough annoyance that it approached fury.  The glare I shot him made his face lose all signs of mirth and he began to stammer an apology when I lost my poker face.  We went from being on edge to laughing so hard it hurt, and the tension broke entirely.  “It’s all fucking nuts, but lets’ find out if it’s me or the world.  Now, all you’ve got to do is look tough at the door incase the guy’s crazy, and leave the talking to me.”

“Got it, bro.  Let’s do this!” he cheered, and that rallying call is what got us out of my car and to the front door.  We even did the side-by-side power walk you see in the movies.  If it wasn’t for the blue hair that was peeking out from under my hoodie, I’d almost think we looked badass.  A quick nod to Lanny let him know he could do the knocking at least, and he did so.  The reaction from within the building was instantaneous, with the sound of a scramble within that quickly faded away.  It almost sounded like a clumsy gallop, and I didn’t know if I should grin or feel more worried.

        “Did you hear that?  I think that was the sound of being right,” I said to Lanny, who just looked confused.

        “So, he dropped something.  Should I go to the back door or something so he doesn’t run?” my buddy asked with a shrug.

        “Nah.  He isn’t going to leave his house if he looks like what I suspect he does, but I still want to talk to him,” I replied as I tried the door.  It was locked, but that wasn’t a big deal for me because I came prepared for this.  The lockpick set I had was a very good one and it occasionally came in handy when I needed to get to a specific place for surveillance purposes.  “Just watch for passersby for a minute.”

        “Bro!  This is going from weird to illegal in a hurry!” he snapped at me, and I just waved him off while I worked my way through the tumblers with ease.  This was a real cheap lock and was more of a suggestion not to open, rather than anything that would stop someone.  “I get hassled by the cops for walking down the street already!”

“You’re doing fine, Lanny.  Just stand there and look casual,” I said without much care for his concerns.  I’ve been picking locks for years; this was child’s play.

“Oh sure, says the white guy.  If a cop picks me up, I’m looking at serious time for this,” he huffed, and he returned to just watching for anyone that might report this.  Could he look anymore suspicious with that anxious dance he was doing on the steps.

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think I’ll be a white guy for long,” I retorted.
        
        “Whatever, man.  You’re nuts, and if you can’t get this lock I’m going to-” he started to threaten when I turned the handle and the door swung open.

        “I’m sorry.  I didn’t hear you that stupid thing you were saying over the sound of my resounding success,” I snarked as I stood up and pocketed my tools again.  “After you.”

        We entered into the townhouse, and carefully closed the door behind us. To the left was a  den with an old green chesterfield and matching chair and a kitchen to the right.  The place didn’t smell bad though, it was cleaned lately, and the lunch that the guy had going was not that bad; carrots, lettuce, oatmeal, tomato and cucumber.  Wait.  Since when was my sense of smell that keen?

        “Can you smell that?” I asked as I rubbed my nose.

        “Smell what?” Lanny asked. 

        “Nevermind.  My imagination,” I said, before walking around to actually look into the kitchen, and everything I smelt was right there on the counter.  Including one other thing, but that was something harder to place.  The only thing that was coming to my head was something like down like from a pillow or a jacket.

        “So, where’s your pony?” Lanny asked sarcastically as he followed me.

        “We’re getting there.  Relax,” I said, before calling out.  “Hello?  Mr. Hister?  I’m Ryan Black and I suspect we really need to talk.  I understand you’ve been going through a lot of changes lately, but I understand what it feels like.  Can you come out?”

        Lanny just followed behind me as I walked slowly through the place.  In the back of the building was a set of stairs going up, and I had a hunch that Hister would’ve went up if he ran anywhere.  “It’s alright.  I’ve just got a few questions, then I’ll be on my way, I promise,” I continued as I climbed the stairs.

        “G-go away!” called a gruff voice from the upstairs bedroom.  “I’ll call the police!”

        Lanny instantly looked scared at that, but I gave him a little shake of the head to let him know there wasn’t anything to be frightened of.

        “Now, if that was true, you’d already have called them.  You don’t want them here anymore than we do.  All I just want to do is ask some questions about your condition because, I think I got the same one,” I calmly said.

        “Same condi-  No!  Go away!  Please!” he Hister yelled through the door.

        I really needed an answer, so I started to open the door, when it slammed back shut with such a force, it nearly sent me flying.  When I got my footing again, I couldn’t even budge the door open a little.  “Little help here?” I grunted at Lanny and he settled in beside me to help push the door open.  To be honest, I was half the size of Lanny and felt utterly useless in a contest of strength. 

        “Holy fuck, Ryan!  What the hell does this guy do for a living?  Lift engine blocks?” Lanny said as he pushed on the door with all the strength he could manage to open it up just a crack only to have it slam shut again.

        “YEAH!” yelled the man on the other side.

        “He wasn’t talking to you,” I yelled right back.

        I could see that Lanny wasn’t making any sort of headway on this, so he backed off the door and took a few steps back. “Woah.  That guy must be ripped or something because I couldn’t move him an inch,” he said as he regarded the door. 

“Well, I did tell you that he works out right?” I said with a shrug, then he dropped down into a three point stance.  He wasn’t going to do what I thought he was, was he?

“Yeah.  I work out and play football,” Lanny stated with grim determination right before he charged.

The poor door never stood a chance in the contest between the irresistible force versus the immovable object and shattered in a terrible crash that made me wince.  In a heap just inside the doorway was Lanny, the splintered remains of a former door, and, most importantly, Hister.  Or, at least I suspected it was him because he didn’t look like the photo I took a couple days ago.

        Once Lanny rolled himself to the side, we all just stared at each other in silence.  We were awed and Hister was terrified.

“Randy Hister, I presume,” I said, trying to sound as casual as I could when I broke the silence, but I was looking at a small white horse with wings.  It was also worth mentioning that he looked ripped for a small white horse.  His muscles had muscles.  He also looked mortified as he tried to crawl away from the wreckage.

“Ya saw me, now get out,” he muttered in defeat as he struggled up to his hooves.  He looked to be a state where he wasn’t sure if he’d be more comfortable on two or four hooves from how he kept standing up only to fall down again.  

Lanny was significantly less cool with this.  “What the fuck are you?” he asked with all the grace I could expect from him.

I was tempted to snark at Lanny, but realised that it was also my worst case scenario, but at least I knew why I was smelling feathers a moment ago.  Hister didn’t seem in the mood to talk further, so I answered for him.  “He’s a pegasus, and hopefully can explain a few things to me about the condition.”

“It ain’t no condition!  A rash is a condition.  This is something else, and I don’t know what,” he spat out at me.

“Hey!  I caught it from you, Snowflake, so don’t get all high and mighty on me now!” I snapped right back.

“Bro!  Did you just called him, Snowflake?  Gay,” added Lanny as colour commentary.

        “I remember you!  You’re that punk that took those pictures of me the other day.  And, you caught this from me?  Heh, then you’re fucked just as bad,” the pegasus said right back, before grinning cruelly. “Serves you right.”

        “Hey!  I got tattoos on my ass, my hair changed colour and now I can smell what you’re having for lunch from up here!  I think I deserve an answer or two about what you gave me so I can get back on with my life, Snowflake,” I shot back.

        “Heh.  You did it again,” commented Lanny.

        “Shut up, Lanny!” I snapped before putting my hands to my temple and taking a deep breath to try and calm myself.  “Listen.  I need to know what you know.  There’s a lot more riding on this than my life.”
 
The white pegasus just stared at me for a moment, then frowned.  “I don’t know.  It sucks, but I know nothing.  Just woke up, feeling better than I did in months and with the barbells on my hips.  Got an urge to start lifting again, and well, you can see how well that went.  You probably got a day or two left before you look like me,” he said out of calm pity.  

“You know nothing at all?  No cure?  No reason for it?” I asked.

        “All I know was I was on my couch, watching TV when I zoned right out, and when I came to, I felt better.  If I knew a cure for this, do you think I’d be looking like Mr. Ed right now?” he replied.

        “I need a moment to put things together,” I said as I stepped back.  Is this really it?  Is this my fate?  There had to be something I could do.

        “So, bro.  You lift?” Lanny asked, as if to break the tension while I just let the facts churn in my head.

        “Used to.  Don’t think I can now.  I’m pretty sure that most gyms have a “No Pets” policy,” Snowflake said to Lanny.  

        Wait?  Why am I thinking his name is Snowflake.  It’s Hister.

“I can’t afford a gym, but I got a set up in my place.  It’s pretty sweet for what I paid for it.  What were you benching?” He asked as he sat on the bed beside the white pony.

Ever since I zoned out and had that new dream, everything had been getting worse.  Was I losing my mind?

“Well, when I was at my best, I was doing a bit more than three hundred, but that was before I hurt myself,” he replied.

“Three hundred?  That’s pretty good,” Lanny commented.

“Yeah!  Damned right it is!” Hister said right back, looking a bit happier.  At least those two were getting along.

“If I can interrupt for a moment, did you have any strange dreams lately?  Anything when you passed out like “Five score, divided by four”?” I asked cautiously. 

Hister’s eyes went wide. “No shit?  You too?  Well, ain’t no disease that does that to people.”

        “What does that mean, bro?” asked Lanny.

        “Pretty much just that. Nothing else other than coincidence, or another clue that might fall into place later.  Any other dreams, Hister?  I know I’ve been getting some really odd and vivid ones,” I asked.

        “Nothing really, other than that one.  I think that’s just you,” he replied.

        “Great.  Just great. I’m a unique case in a unique case,” I muttered, then I cracked open my case book and started taking down notes.  Details are important.

        “So, why did you call him Snowflake, bro?  Is this like that “Sanguine” thing?” asked Lanny.

        I shot my friend a harsh glance. “That’s another case.  Please don’t go spreading details like that around.  It’s unprofessional and confidential,” I said, before it clicked that he was right, but what did that mean?  What could it even mean?

        “Sorry.  Just thought it was weird that you’re getting messed up with names like that,” my friend said.  “You’re usually great with names.”

        I went back to my notes, walking and writing at the same time.  Moving helped me think.  At least, until Hister spoke up again. “Heh. You’re on your toes.  You got “pony-itius” pretty bad,” he chuckled.

        That sent my eyes down to my feet.  He was right, I was on my toes as a resting position to my feet.  Several attempts to put my heels to the ground were instantly cancelled out when they simply popped back up.  “Fuck me,” I said.

        “Looks like something already did.  Sorry,” Hister said.

        “Am I going to catch this from you guys?” Lanny finally asked.

        “I don’t know Lanny, but I think it’s too late to worry about it.  You’ve hung around me plenty and tackled Snowflake over there, so I think if you’re going to catch it, you’ve caught it already,” I said and then room went quiet again until Lanny broke the silence.

        “I’m Lancaster and he’s Ryan,” he said, offering a hand to Snowflake.  “What’s your plan?  Just hang out here until you get kicked out?”

        He put a hoof up and they shook.  “I don’t really got a plan.  Just don’t have any better ideas, either so I’m pretty much stuck here.”

        “How about you come stay at my place then?  You’re pretty much our expert on this pony shape change thing, and well, I’d always wanted a workout buddy,” said Lanny.  

        “Yeah?  You serious?” Snowflake asked, looking rather hopeful as he did so.

        “You’re serious?” I asked with my eyebrows hitting the top of my head.

        “Yeah!” declared Lanny.

        “YEAH!” echoed the pony.

        “I don’t think that’s a great idea,” I started to say.

        “You shouldn’t talk because you’re going to be in the exact same situation in about two days,” pointed out Snowflake.

        “Fine, you’re a grown man and horse thing, so if things go bad, don’t expect any help from me, alright?”  I checked my phone for the time and saw it would be tight to get to the meeting, but it was doable. “How about this?  You wait here, pack or whatever, and we’ll come back by later tonight to get you.  Otherwise, you’ll have to wait in the car.”

        “Yeah, that works,” Snowflake says, “But, why worry about work?  You ain’t going to be able to do it in a day or two.”
        
        He did have a point, but I wasn’t the one that had so much at stake if I gave up on my job now.  Even with this happening to me, I couldn’t just drop everything to sulk.  The Esterhazys deserved much better than that.

        “Just pack and be ready in a couple hours, alright?” I said and I turned to leave.

        “See ya soon, bro,”  Lanny said to Snowflake and he hurried down the stairs to catch up to me.

        “So, you were right. You’re turning into a pony,” he said with a shake of his head. “Sorry for calling you crazy.  I really didn’t think you were sick like that.”

        “Thanks Lanny.  I’ll pull through, one way or another.  I hope.  Jeeze, it had to be now though.  What the fuck?” I said, as we walked through, and I closed the door behind me.

        “Well, if it makes you feel better, you look pretty good for a sick guy, even if you sound a little hoarse,” he said before grinning ear to ear at me.

        That pun was so bad that it hurt physically.  I even groaned.  “Hey Lanny?”

        “Yeah, Ryan?”

        “Fuck you and everything you love.”

        “Love you too, buddy.  But, seriously, I’ll help you anyway I can, Ryan,” he said as he gave my shoulder a pat.  “You aren’t going to be alone.”

        I huffed at my car door and looked across it to Lanny.  “Thanks, buddy.  That actually does mean a lot to me right now,” I said, then I looked at my car. “Well, if you want, after it happens, you can have my car, because I won’t be able to drive anymore.”

“Don’t worry.  I’ll drive you anywhere you need to go,” Lanny said before we both got in, and started talking logistics of me winding up like Snowflake.  I’d have to break the news to my parents, and make sure I still had a place to live, then work out if I could actually still work.  Maybe, it could work out, but I was still left a little numb about my future.  It was all up in the air right now.  To top it all off, I was feeling less and less comfortable in my seat as we drove along like I sat on something, and no matter which way I turned it just got worse and worse.

“So, what’s the deal with this job?  It’s not an insurance scam or anything or you’d just walk away,” Lanny asked nearing the end of the drive.

        Part of me wanted to just keep the whole thing to myself, but considering the situation and how dependant I’d be on my friend soon, I should come clean. “It’s a kidnapping.  That Sanguine guy is one of the suspects,” I said flatly.

        “Woah."

        “I know.  Of course, I’d change species when I’ve got a case with lives on the line,” I said flatly as we pulled up that long driveway.   “With luck, they’ll go to the police ASAP and let me off the hook before I’m like Snowflake.”

        “Why do you keep calling him that?”  Lanny asked.

        “I’m doing it again?  I don’t have a clue why.  It’s just what’s coming to mind as his name.  I’ll look it all up later when I got more time,”  I said as I took the car to a stop.  “Now, go for a drive or something and I’ll call you back when I’m done.”
        
        “Alright, bro.  See you in a bit,” Lanny said as he walked around to take the driver’s seat.  “‘I’ll get you a coffee or something.”

        “Thanks,” I said as I adjusted my pants to try and fix that pressure at the base of my spine before I knocked on the door, but it was stubborn.  Finally, I tucked a finger behind myself to find a little nub with thick hair.  I had a tail.  “Fuck.”

        I pulled a few strands of the hair out and took a look.  They looked like they’d be down to my knees in length, and the same dark blue colour as my hair.  All I could do is sigh and tuck the hair right back into my pants.  If blue hair wasn’t going to stop me, a tail that I could hide wouldn’t either.

        After a moment to recompose myself, I knocked on the door, and Jacob answered it in a hurry.  “Good evening, Mr. Black, I hope- Oh.”  He stopped talking and ended up blinking at the blue on top of my head.

        “Yeah.  Blue hair.  I know.  It was my birthday the other day and well, I might of went a little far on a dare.  It’s a  thing between my friends and I do every birthday,” I lied.  I could actively keep my heels down, but needed to explain the hair.  

        He accepted it with a slight nod and half smile.  “Of course.  Come in,” he said, and I followed along.

        “So, have they contacted you since we last spoke?” I asked as we moved down the hallway.

        “No.  Haven’t heard anything.  The wait is nearly as bad as anything they could say to us,” he said.  The balding man was still in his suit, but he looked wrecked.  If I had to guess, he didn’t get a wink of sleep at all over the last few days, and adding a full day of work on top of it didn’t help.

“Well, let’s get that recorder on your landline and I’ll show you how to use the app on your phone.  It’s all pretty simple, but the more documentation we get, the better for the case when we put these guys away,” I said to reassure the man.  His office was pretty much as I remembered, if with a few scattered papers spread around the room.  “Is Daphne going to join us?”

“In a few minutes.  She was trying to get some sleep and needs to freshen up.  The poor thing isn’t taking this any better than I am,” he said.  “I think I’m going to try to sleep as soon as we’re done here.”

“Understandable,” I said as I started hooking a small device to the land line.  With the tail, it felt much, much nicer to be standing anyways, even if it felt kinked against the belt.  “Now, if you get a call from an unknown number, answer it on this phone and hit the red button.  You’ll get a recording, which you can send out as a digital file to pretty much anywhere you can plug a USB.”

        “Simple enough.  Has there been any further information on the red haired man?” he asked next.

        “Nothing I’d want to tell you right at the moment because it’s all too vague.  As I said before, I was sure I’ve seen the man before.  Currently, I’m calling in some favours with some non-police sources I’ve got to try and get anything on him,” I said, wanting to keep the whole “Sanguine” thing quiet, especially since it seemed to imply a pony connection.

        “Well, I checked my employee files, and he’s not there.  Damn.  I wish I knew who this guy was!” said Jacob with his voice getting edgier as it went. 

        “I know. I wish I had something a little more solid for you, but that’s what I got.  A hunch and a few callbacks that haven’t happened yet.  I’m sure something will turn up, but they need time to run,” I replied with a shrug.  To be honest, I didn’t really have much hope of anything turning up until the end of the week at least.  “If we are holding off going to the police, the best thing we can do is carefully document everything so when we do go to them, they can make a proper case out of it.”

        He sighed at that, but he understood. “Just a couple more days.  I hope Porsche will forgive me for leaving her out there for a couple more days.”

        “I’m sure she will.  Now, let’s get your cell set up,” I said, and he handed over his phone to me.  While I worked, Daphne walked in and sat down.  She looked a little better than her husband, but not by much.  He started to explain what I just told him, and what I was doing when the house phone rang.  The world stopped as everyone looked at it and we all could see that it was an unknown number.

        I motioned to Jacob to answer it, and he picked up the phone as soon as he hit that button exactly how I showed him, then switched it to the speaker.  I knew I had to be silent for this.

        “This is Jacob Esterhazy,” he said.

        “I know who you are.  We got your little note.”  The voice on the other side was gruff and muffled.

        “Is Porsche alright?” Jacob asked, trying not to show desperation. 

        “She is for now.  We’re not happy about the changing of the deal though.  We wanted the fucking money, and now we got to be watching her for a few more days.  I don’t like it.”

        “Please, don’t hurt her!  We haven’t gone to the police like you asked.  You’ll get your money,”  Daphne said with her voice wavering.

        “We better.  We just thought we should call and let all of you know not to do anything funny.  You’ve got another three days, and after that, we fucking kill the bitch.  You all got it?” he snapped and both the parents were struggling to be strong.  Jacob moved over to put an arm around his wife.

        “Yes.  We understand. It’ll be there,” Jacob stammered out 

        “Good.”  Then, the line went dead and Daphne just started sobbing.  It was hard to watch this reaction, but nothing I could say seemed that appropriate to what just happened.

        “Mr. Black?” Jacob said while he held Daphne.

        “Yes sir?”  I asked, trying to look as calm as I could given the circumstances.  

        “Find out whatever you can,” he said flatly, and I was already taking a copy of the call onto my phone, before he even said that.

        “Of course,” I said, then nodded.  It was a major coincidence that this happened just as I installed the recorder, but I counted that as a win, more than anything else.  At least the guy was willing to wait, and it’s now confirmed for sure he wasn’t alone which was good.  The more suspects, the more likely one of them had a warrant out on them or a record.  The transfer completed and I looked over to the pair. “Are you two going to be alright?”

“We’ll be better when we get Porsche back,” mewled Daphne.

“I think it might be best if I take off for the night. I know I haven’t been here long, but there’s
not much I can do from here,” I said apologetically, and they just gave me a nod to send me on my way.  “We’ll be in touch as soon as something comes up.”

        I called Lanny as I walked out of the room.  “Hey.  You can pick me up,” I said.

        “I just got to Tim’s and you want me to come back?” he pouted.  “Can you hold your ho-.”

        “Lanny.  If you finish that joke, I’m going to beat you until you’re a bloody smudge on the floor.  I’m not in the mood,” I snapped harshly.

“Take it easy, bro.  It was just a joke,” he said, “I’ll be right back.”

I hung up, and started walking outside, and after a few steps, I pulled my new tail loose from the confines of my jeans.  The relief was instantaneous.  “What the fuck did I do to deserve all this?” I said to myself as I made my way down that driveway.

  By the time I got to the end, Lanny pulled up and got out.  “How did it go?  Either really good, or really bad,” he said.

“Really bad.  The kidnappers called and really scared them.  You can drive,” I answered dully.

        “Nah man.  This might be your last time driving ever.  You’re going to do it,” Lanny said as he tilted his head. “The tail’s new.”

        “Yeah, it is, but you got a point.  I might as well enjoy fingers while I got them,” I answered as I walked around the car to the driver’s seat, got in, and closed the door on my tail. It was like having your entire head of hair pulled at once.  “Fucking ouch!”

        “What did you do?” Lanny asked as he got in.

        “I just slammed the door on my tail,” I said, as I pulled it in and tucked it behind me.  It’s going to be a while before I got used to having this thing. “Why are you taking this so easily?”

“Because, you’re my friend, bro.  That’s not going to change even if you are, but if I can make you feel a little better about all this, I’m going to do it,” he said warmly. “And, your coffee is just right there.”

        “I know.  Thanks man.  For everything,” I said as I started driving, “But, let’s stop before this gets too lovey.”  

        “I’m serious, bro.  You’re always the guy that kept me on track and made sure I kept in school and working.  I’m here for you all the way, and if that means being your cover for you, you got it,” he said with a smile. “I’ll even try and quit with the horse jokes.”

        He really was a good friend and a much better one than any guy like me deserved.  He, in the course of a couple hours not only broke into a house with me, but also accepted that I was going equine and was still willing to stand by me.  “Yeah, I appreciate it a ton.  Do you think you can help break the news to my mom and dad?” I asked.

        “You got it, bro.  Anything.”  Nothing more needed to be said on that for now.  We were still friends and that was all that mattered right now.  Knowing that gave me a bit of a base to work out what I was going to do.  Of course, the case still needed running, even if I was being nothing more than a glorified fact checker for them.

We came to a red light, which gave me some time to pull out my phone and I tossed it over to Lanny.  “I just want to think about the case for a bit.  If you go onto my phone, can you play the audio file on the front?  I want to hear the call again.”

“It’s not going to be a problem if I hear it?” he asked.

“Nah.  It’s alright.  Just don’t go spreading it around,” I replied. He tapped the screen several times and the recording played.  I listened to it carefully, trying to pick out a clue of where they could be.  And, then I caught one and it wasn’t any sort of noise.  How did I miss that?

“Woah.  Shit,” Lanny whispered.  “I can see why you’re all stressed out right now.”

“You heard it, too?” I asked as I started working out what it could mean.

“Yeah!  That guy sounded pissed,” Lanny said quickly.

“Not that.  The guy knew I was there, and there should be a very short list of people that know I’m working this case,” I explained as I tried to keep a hold of my anger, but if that was true, someone was playing me for a sucker.  I made a quick u-turn, and punched the gas, sending everything loose against the passenger side.

“Woah!  What the fuck?” Lanny cried as he was pressed to the side of the car.

        “The guy at the end was talking like he knew that there was another person in there with the Esterhazys and since only you and them know I’m working for them, that leaves exactly two people on my suspect list,” I growled as drove back a little quicker than the speed limit would allow for, but I was angry and wanted answers.  There were too many complications in my life right now without any sort of answers and this was the last one I could tolerate.

        “What do you mean?  They’re trying to fuck you?” Lanny asked.

        “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!”  We were only about twenty minutes away at that point, so it wouldn’t be long before we got back to the house.   I didn’t really have a plan if things got ugly, but I was pretty sure I could take Jacob if it came down to it.

         The car stopped hard just outside of their house and I stormed out of the car.  Lanny yelled something at me, but I didn’t really care.  “Just stay in the car, and call the police if you hear gunshots.”

        “Open up!” I yelled at the door as I pounded on it.  Jacob got to it first, and he looked like he was just getting undressed for bed.

        “Mr. Black?  Did something turn up?” he asked hopefully as he tried to wake himself.

        “No.  Nothing turned up, but I did have a question.  Why do the kidnappers know that I’m involved with the case?”  I asked as I pushed my way into the building.

        “What?  How would they know that?” Jacob said as he stepped back from me.  I must of looked angry.

        “That’s what I want to know!   Did you tell them?  Is this all some sort of hoax or a scam?  Because, this is what I’m thinking; someone in this building needed to look like an investigation was happening while keeping the cops out of it, so they flipped through the yellow pages until they found the youngest PI they could, hoping he was some sort of inexperienced idiot that wouldn’t catch on,” I said, speaking harshly as I kept walking toward Jacob and he kept backing up. 

        Then the world went white, and Jacob screamed at something.  Did someone just hit this place with a flashbang because that’s what it felt like.  I buried my eyes under my arm to protect my eyes from the searing light.

        “Jesus.  Wha- what are you?” Jacob asked in an awed shock.   Shit!  My tail!  I forgot about my tail and I turned myself to face him entirely, in hopes that he didn’t see it.

        “It’s not what it looks like,” I murmured as I peeked an eye out from under the cover. The world was bright like it was noon, not after eight in the evening.

        “Y-your eyes,” he asked in hushed awe. “Are you some sort of demon?”

        “My eyes?” I asked, unsure of what he was saying, so I pulled my phone out again and snapped a quick picture of myself.  I was still mostly me with the blue hair, but my eyes were entirely different. They looked like a cat’s with a diamond shape to the pupil, surrounded by an over-sized gold iris.  The case had to come first, no matter what happened to me.  “Just- just ignore them for now, Jacob, for your daughter’s sake.  Did you set me up as a fall guy?”

        “I didn’t, but what’s happening to your eyes?” he asked as he tried to get another glimpse at them by bending down. 

        “It’s too long to explain.  Now, where’s Daphne?” I asked.  She was the one that was first to say no to the police and apparently she found me on a ‘recommendation’. 

        “She needed to get out to think for a bit and left a few minutes after you did,” Jacob said, “You can’t be suggesting that she’s in on this?”

        “I don’t know, but it’s the most likely case right now,” I said, “Where would she go?”

        “I can call her,” Jacob said, then the land line rang.  He stared at me for a moment, then ran to get it.  I couldn’t blame him, considering the last call that he got on that line and I had to followed him.  

Everything was so bright under nothing more than normal lighting, but my eyes were adjusting to it slowly.  I made a note that I’d need shades before long though to cope with the light, and to hide them.  They did look rather creepy.  I could look up the sort of pony had eyes like mine later.  

I didn’t get long to reflect on it, because as soon as I got into the office, Jacob lifted the receiver, and the sound of chewing was on the other side.  

“Oh, good!  You picked up!  I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t talk to me.  I’m looking for a friend of mine.  Is Vantage around?  You can tell him it’s his old buddy, Jack.  Oops, I’m sorry, that’s my fault.  That name’s an old habit.  You can tell him that Sanguine needs to talk with him.”