“Sure is taking his sweet time.” Jon thought as he took another mint from his coat pocket and threw it up in the air to catch in his mouth.
The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of having this seemingly unknown artist on his show for an off the air tapping. Having a backup interview for emergencies had proven effective time and time again.
Even now since Jon had spent the majority of the weekend in Equestria, he didn’t have time to schedule an appearance for his show later on tonight. So while he did some preparatory work behind the scenes, like finding out who would come on the show for the following episodes, the audience would just watch a pre-recorded interview of him talking with a local writer... or so he thought.
If there was one thing that annoyed Jon the most upon his return was the non stop pampering from his colleagues and friends. When they heard about his brief run in with Chrysalis, they did their best to be as inoffensive and gentle as possible, Jon hated it. If he had a nickle for every time someone said the phrase “are you alright”, he wouldn’t need Celestia to give back the equipment he left behind, he could just buy new ones.
He would tell them that he was fine and that they had nothing to worry about, but in truth, he was still shaken up from the ordeal. Being attacked by a magic user was scary enough, but to go head to head with one that could change it’s appearance was a whole new layer of unsettling.
To this, Celestia did her part in trying to make Jon feel better. Firstly by assuring him that no one from Equestria was in his world and that, from here on out, anyone who wanted to go New York for an interview would have to do so through her (or with her permission) whereupon she’d do a thorough background check to make sure they were who they say they were.
This and all pity-brigade by his employees were par for the course for something like this so he could at least understand where they were coming from. So between the time he called Celestia to the time his guest arrived Jon tried to distract himself by filling out some paperwork and making some phone calls. And again was asked to not be disturbed by anyone for anything... but, there was one exception.
Knock knock knock
Jon looked up from his desk as he heard someone lightly banging on the door to his office. The way the person did it was slow in rhythm, but loud enough that Jon could hear it. He recognized it all too well.
“Come in Selina.” Jon announced. Carefully, the door opened making a loud creaking noise. Jon took this moment to get up from his seat and around his desk to the front where he would lean against it.
The door fully opened and, in the background, was intern after intern poking their heads to see the sight that was Selina walking in and being followed by an unfamiliar creature. For some at the office, the sight of a pony coming to see Jon before the show was now a regular occurrence, but it never lost it’s brevity as a spectacle.
The pony in question was a unicorn stallion of average height and length. His coat was a sickly grey color and his mane was a dark rusty orange hue. The most noticeable feature about him was a pair of large black headphones around his neck with the left and right earpieces a bright shade of yellow. Based on how messy his mane was (especially when compared with his tail) Jon could tell that his line of work must have him sliding it on and off constantly. This was proof enough for Jon that, yes he was a DJ and therefore the pony he had requested to see.
“Hello and welcome to “Daily Show Headquarters!” Jon announced as he walked up to his guest and shook his hoof. “And you must be DJ Pygmalion.”
Jon’s only previous interaction with a Disk Jockey from Equestria was when he interviewed Vinyl Scratch, and ever since then he’d had a preconceived notion on how they acted: Loud, obnoxious, and crude. This guy had shattered that idea good and proper.
Based on the letter provided by Octavia and Vinyl Jon had painted a picture in his mind of a hot blooded young up and comer who would do whatever it took to get to the top and cement his status as musician. Even if it meant going to an entire other world to do it.
In reality though, Pygmalion looked and acted more like a domesticated animal being let out into the wild for the very first time. He wouldn’t walk into the office until Selina gestured him in, and even then, he did so very hesitantly, like a child going to the dentist. Eventually, he awkwardly made eye contact with Jon who repeated his greeting when he got no response.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Jon said.
“Uh... yeah, you too.” Pygmalion said with a face like he did something wrong, his voice low and innocent.
“You too?” Jon repeated with a raised eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“W-what?” Pygmalion asked.
“Well in my experience this is usually the part where the person starts jumping up and down and saying, ‘Oh thank you so much for inviting me on your show.’” He explained.
“O-oh I’m sorry!” He blurted as he ran up to Jon like he was holding a treat. “T-thank you so much for inviting me on your show!”
Jon wasn’t sure if he deliberately repeated Jon’s example word for word or if he was being serious. Either way, he laughed a most hearty laugh got down on one knee to address him.
“Look, you’re nervous, I get it.” Jon said. “Don’t be... going on TV isn’t as difficult as you may think... after all, they gave me my own show.”
The joke went over well with Pygmalion who was now giggling like a schoolgirl, but the way his tail was tucked under his legs and his head was slightly lowered also gave the impression he was in trouble by the homeroom teacher. Thinking that maybe it was because he was surrounded by strange giant of a different species, Jon got back up to address his assistant.
“Selina, would you excuse us for a bit?” He asked as he pointed downwards. “I think our guest would be more comfortable if it was just us guys... Could you please head over to stage guys? They could use some help.”
“Of course.” Selina said as she exited the room. “If you need anything, just call me.” When the door closed, Jon thought for sure that this would make his new friend less tense, but in practice, it seemed to have made him even more nervous.
“Now then let’s get down to business... I’m sure Celestia has already informed you on what will happen here today.” Jon said, hoping that getting all the technical stuff out of the way would help. “Later on today, we will go on stage and do a quick interview off the air. The interview will be taped and stored in the archives in case we ever need to use it for the future. Comedy Central holds the right to air this interview whenever it sees fit and makes no guarantee that it will air at a set date and blah blah blah... basically what I’m saying is, our interview today will be an ace in the hole in case something happens... so... any questions?”
For a second, it looked like Pygmalion was going to say something, but instead he rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact. Jon waited patiently for him to say something, which he did after an uncomfortable amount of time had passed.
“No.” He answered “I mean... I understand.”
“Still nervous?” Jon asked, immediately getting a nod of the head in return. “Understandable, but you know what... I’ll give you the same advice I give everyone, human or pony, who comes to this show... just be yourself.”
“But that’s just the thing.” Pygmalion responded. “I’m afraid that if I do... you won’t like it.”
At this point, any kind of personality other than his timid orphan routine would be a welcome change for Jon’s taste.
“Nonsense. I invited you here for a reason.” Jon said. “And that reason is to show the world what you’re really made of... so please don’t hold back on me now, kid.”
“I... I know it’s just.” Pygmalion muttered. “Okay... if I... if I ‘be myself’,will you promise you won’t freak out?” He now had Jon’s attention. He knew these musician types could have a wild side, but he never had one give him a disclaimer.
“Interesting... ” Jon thought out loud as he caressed his chin. “... Alright, deal... I won’t freak out.” The way Jon made his promise gave Pygmalion a sense that he was telling the truth. He looked to have lightened up a bit as he looked him in the eyes.
“In that case... I think you should sit down.” Pygmalion advised.
“Why?” Jon asked now more interested.
“Because you might be surprised.” Pygmalion answered.
“Young man... I’ve been living on this Earth for over 50 years.” Jon laughed. “And in that time, I’ve experienced things you could not even imagine... and most recently, I’ve had to endure traveling between worlds with a dangerous demon in order to save my planet and subsequently the entire world... nothing at this point could surprise me.”
Another lengthy and awkward silence followed with Pygmalion looking down at his hooves then back at Jon.
“Still... I think you should sit down.” He said. “In case you are surprised by my... real self.”
“Whatever you say Bruce Banner.” Jon joked as he rounded his desk and sat in his chair. “There we go... happy?”
“Now remember... you promised you won’t freak out.” Pygmalion reminded.
“I promise.” Jon assured him as he held up his hand in a boyscout sign.
“Okay... here we go.” Pygmalion said as he stood straight and arched his head back. Thinking that he might use some kind of magic, Jon paid special attention to his horn which he had now thrusted into the air. While doing this, he failed to notice that Pygmalion was slowly taking in a very deep breath.
His chest expanding as air filled his lungs eventually stopped as he was now holding it all in. For a split second, a green burst of light found it’s way onto the crown of his head. Jon didn’t think strange of it at first since he was a Unicorn and undoubtedly knew a spell or two. It was only when the light quickly shot downwards did he think something was amiss.
In split second, the green light made its way down to his hooves altering the appearance of Pygmalion’s body in the process. At first Jon thought that this was some kind of trick, but when his mind had finally caught up with what happened, his mouth dropped and he lost all feelings in his legs.
Before his eyes, the once timid and frightened looking Pygmalion shape shifted himself into a new creature. One with a black body covered in holes and fangs that shined in the florescent lights of his office.
“No” Jon thought to himself. “Not again.”
Jon was now once again face to face with a Changeling.