//------------------------------// // Confusing, thy name is... Apple Cider? // Story: Just a bit of Cider // by Joyous Apple //------------------------------//         One factor most Michiganders like to live with. We know cold. Michigan is the place where you can drive south to canada. We are known for our apples and breweries. That being said, I hate it here. Why do I live in a place where the air hurts my face? I don’t like it when the air hurts my face… Time: 1020 Destination: Somewhere near my high school, Westland Michigan.         One thing I can agree with, is that having fur covering my body really helps with the cool air of fall. But being michigan, it already snowed twice and I hated it. Putting on a jacket as a pony, by any means, is not easy. Putting on a backpack? Slightly easier, when the bag is empty. Put a bunch of essentials and non-essentials in it, and I swear, I was probably half pony, half donkey. Or was I just being a jackass?         Now here I was, walking outside in the broad daylight with my hood up to cover my head. I was probably going to get caught, but knowing how things run anywhere, people may just assume I’m a dog, or something. In the end, I am not their problem, so why would they care? They were too busy trying to make money or get to where they were going. People. Couldn’t be bothered unless it meant helping themselves. I loved it.         I was used to walking around barefoot, but that was because I liked the feel of the ground on my feet. Now, it was just a trippy feeling. Walking without shoes on, but with hoof like thingies that made it feel like I was wearing reverse heals? Yeah. Made about as much sense as it felt, sue me. Actually, could you sue me as a pony? What if I just got away with everything I did! or… I could be put down like an animal. The death penalty just became more realistic for me… and a lot more easier to achieve. Anyway. So far, not noticed. Just gotta keep an eye out for animal control.         I was about halfway to her house when a vital error occurred to me. She was probably still in school. No, that wouldn’t be right. School was cancelled. I couldn’t really remember. With a mental shrug, I kept pushing on to her house. I looked at the world around me, bored. I watched carelessly as cars drove by and people pointed at me, murmuring about something. I guess people do notice, but I still proved to be correct about them doing much else about me. What a lazy world.         It didn’t take much longer to get to her house, being distracted by cars and the attention and all. Don’t ask me how I remembered where she lived. Let’s just say I have a good memory of things… Nope, you are already mentally shipping.         I bit my lip as I looked at her door. There was no car in her driveway, which didn’t surprise me. She said her parents were always gone. I went to knock on the door. The second I did, however, the door started to bark at me.         “Ahhhhhh!” I fell back on my butt… plot, whatever, and scooted back really fast. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t the door that barked at me, but her dog. Which of course, was a puny chihuahua. Who would keep such a rat?!         “Scared the schiz out of me… agh.” I stood up, heading back to the door again. I knocked again, listening to another ferocious and deadly onslaught of threats come from a furry football. Still no answer. I groaned and turned around to sit on her porch. I guess I could wait for her to get home. Taking a nap could probably help me out right now the most. After all, the world was pretty lazy. The furry football kept barking up a storm.         “Oh shut up! Or I’ll get a bat and see how far I could hit a home run.” I grunted. “Annoying animal…” I laid down on the cold cement, sighing. Another neat thing about fur or whatever is was, it helped with letting you lay down wherever. The cold did not exactly kill me. Then again, I was wearing a jacket. “This is going to take me forever to pass out.” I closed my eyes and listened to the world as I tried to sleep. *** I shivered and curled up into a ball. “Oh my god… why is it so fricking cold?!” I scratched my head, sitting up. I wanted to get some blankets. It was too fricking cold to sleep. I felt around with my hands for my backpack. “Ugh… where is my bag. I know I brought it with me.” Feeling around a bit more, I realized my stupidity. I shot my eyes open and looked down at my hands, legs and everything. I even felt my manhood again! I jumped up and shouted with glee.         “Yes! Yes! Fuck yeah! Hahaha!” I didn’t care how crazy I looked. I wasn’t a pony. And I had my junk again. You don’t do that to a man. Although, it would be best to make sure how long I was asleep. I took a look around, only to make a very confused face that could only be matched by Jim Carrey. Seriously, that guy was a pro at facial expressions. But imagine my shock when you go from sitting on a porch to just standing in the middle of a city. A very vacant city. I shivered. I hated ghost towns. Those were the things of my nightmares.         “Well, I believe at this point, you can turn me into the cuckoo nest. Talking to myself and having delusions.”  Looking down, I seen a trail of horseshoe prints. Blinking to myself, I decided to follow them. Hey, if I was delusional, I may as well play into it. May be interesting. Get the whole experience, you know?         After a bit, the tracks lead out of the city and cut off at the grass of a field. I kept going though, because looking out, I could see the creature that made the tracks. It was sitting by the only tree out here. I knew exactly who it was. I mean, not the name, but I knew that body. Even from this distance, I could see the body that I was walking around with for the past few hours.         Once I was close enough, I called out, trying to get her attention. I did this so I didn’t startle her too much. Once I said her name, her ears perked up and she bolted up. She then turned around and looked at me.         “Monster!” She looked left and right, looking for a place to hide, she then ran behind the tree. I rolled my eyes but decided to play along if it were a real situation. “Hey, look. I am no monster.” I said this in a warm, soothing tone as I continued to slowly approach her. “Yes you are! You. You’re a body snatcher. Like a changeling! But you took over my body!” I blinked at her. “What the hell is a changeling?” What the hell was a changeling?! The hell? She peaked from behind her tree and looked at me fearfully. I knew I wasn’t going to get through to her, so I just shrugged my shoulders and sat. “Whatever. And I didn’t take your body, by the way. I hope you would like to know, I am trying to get out of your body. I like having a dick. So there’s that.” I continued to sit there as she stared at me. “Don’t believe me? I can understand that, cus you’re scared. But seeing how this is a delusion, I will just play with it and say, sooner or later, you will get your body back to your self to do whatever the hell you like.” I looked down at myself, a bit of a temper growing. “I’m not even in your body right now, anyway.” She continued to stare at me from behind her tree. I threw my arms up in and air and laid on my back. Once I did, I noticed something funny about the sky. It was pure white. It kinda hurt to look at. “Even the sky is messed up…” I heard some shuffling around, but I didn’t bother to look up. I heard her stop not too far away from me, but not anywhere close either. “You… you didn’t take my body?” She asked, somewhat skeptically with a hint of fear. “No. Trust me, if this is just a delusion and I am still in your body, I would probably do anything to get it back to you. Just so I could have my body back.” I sighed and rub my face. “Hey, look, sorry about coming across as a jackass, but I just don’t like my situation. I’m pretty sure you are a cool horse and all, but you just caught me in a off mood today.” “I’m a pony… and you don’t look like a donkey.” I blinked at that statement. “Let me rephrase that. Sorry for coming across as a jerk.” “It’s okay, I mean, if what you said is true, then you must be scared like me…” Her attitude toward me changed faster than a bullet. I was very confused. Usually people tend to stay skeptical for their whole life in situations, but here she just tossed it out like last weeks newspaper. “How can you just do that?” I asked, curious. “Do what?” She looked up, a face of confusion about her. “Flop from being scared of me to being sympathetic with me? People just don’t do that. I have a friend who would smack you just for being sympathetic. Says it’s useless.” I  shrug, laying down. “Not used to it, I guess. But what would he know?”   She shuffled closer to me. “I dunno. I just have a feeling you are telling the truth. Call it a sixth sense?” She shuffled a bit. “I’m Apple Cider.” I could see her hoof out of the corner of my eye, so I grabbed it and shook it up and down. “Rich.” She sat down next to me as I laid on my back looking at the sky. “So, see any good movies lately?” Call it what you want. I was bored and I didn’t feel like talking about stuff I didn’t know. Silence sucked as well. I looked over and saw the confused expression. Man, was she good at the facial expressions. Or, maybe it was a pony thing. “A movie?” I shook my head. “Nevermind. Read any good books lately?” She brightened, smiling. “Yeah I read this book about…” She continued on as I zoned out. I rolled my eyes halfway through and closed my eye. I then felt a strong poking in my side. “Cider, stop poking me.” The poking continued. “Cider. Stop that.” It still progressed. “Cider!” *** I groaned as I felt something fabricy in my mouth. Don’t ask for a better explanation. Describing things while tired was not an easy feat. Opening one of my eyes, I could tell by the blue of my nose and the lack of feeling from my fingers, that I was once again in a pony’s body. As for the fabricy taste in my mouth, I somehow found a way to get a pillow into my mouth while sleeping, and continued in chewing it. I spat the thing out and rubbed by mouth. “Ew…” I was poked again, causing me to look over. It was Rachel poking me! “Rachel! Oh my god!” I stood up excitedly, causing her to jump back and shriek a bit. I calmed down. “Heh, sorry Rache…” I chuckled sheepishly. “Uh, hi pony. Why were you sleeping on my porch?” She stood up, dusting herself off. “Cus I’m not just any pony. It’s Richard.” She blinked at me. “Suuuurrreeee.” She nodded her head. She fixed her shoulder, which I noticed was a backpack. “Okay. How about this. To prove I am Richard, I will say this.” I jumped up and down. “It’s ME! ALRIGHT?!” She jumped back again, looking at me somewhat scared. “I lost my testi’s and turned into a fricking female pony! Who happens to be blue and has an ass tattoo! Why would I make this up?!” [Could you please be more quiet…] Great, now I am hearing her voice. I mentally sighed. [Hey. bozo. Calm down.] [Sorry…] Rachel snapped her fingers in my face, causing me to flinch and scrunch my face. “You were making faces, and I believe you rich. Seems too ridiculous to make up. That, and I can tell who you are just by the act. You are a different kind of person.” She walked up to her door and unlocked it, opening it up. “But why are you here?” I rolled my eyes. “Duh. I need you to drive me to New York.” Genius plan. Didn’t exactly think about how I’d ask. She looked at me then laughed. “Yeah. Nononono. I am not driving to new york. I JUST got my license, too. Plus I have no car.” I walked after her as she entered her house. “Come on, Rache! Seriously! I can provide a car! And I’ll help yah out.” She shook her head at me. “Sorry, but it’s a no.” She started walking up her stairs. I heard yipping and her furry football ran up to me, barking. I growled at it and it yipped, running away. “Damn chew toy.” “What was that?” “Seriously. I can pay for expenses!” She sighed, entering her room, putting her bag down on her bed. “Sorry, Richard. But I can’t. I would so get grounded, let alone we may get hurt going out on our own.” I sighed. “Come on. Where is your sense of adventure? Don’t you want to have a story to tell your kids?” “I do, but this is ridiculous. Rich, think about what you are asking.” “Rache, please. What could I possibly do to convince you to help me out with this?” I could see the gears turning in her head as she thought. “Well… there could be one thing. I mean, you are a pony. Why are you heading to New York?” “Because everyone else was going there. Why?” “Well, maybe you could help me meet Fluttershy!” I blinked. “Flutter who?” “A pony. I’ll tell you about her. If you help me talk to her, then I guess I can take you. IF, you can provide a car.” I nodded my head, eyebrow raised in confusion. “Sure, whatever you want.” She eeped in excitement. “I can’t belive I am actually doing this. I’ll be back down in a second!” She pushed me out the door of her room, then closed it. “That… was strange. And here I am, a talking pony.”