Dear Journal,
I've been meaning to write something down earlier, but I've been... preoccupied. By a multitude of things. One of those includes FINDING a journal I can write in, and then figuring out how to actually write. I'll get to that later, but for now I've settled on a voice-to-text software to write down my thoughts. Dragon, I think it's called? I always found that strange, to call it dragon. Dragons are fun creatures, but thank goodness they don't exist. Or... at this rate, maybe they do. I don't even know what to think anymore. Maybe dragons do exist. Maybe I'm just crazy.
I've decided to write these down to stave off psychosis or something similar. Split personality maybe? I don't know what could happen. Writing helps me get everything down; separate reality from fiction. Besides, should the unthinkable happen to me, other survivors (if there are any) could know my story. Hopefully they don't write me off as crazy. Then again, unless they are going through the same circumstances, they would.
Nevermind, I'm rambling. I guess I should start from the beginning.
Just a week ago, on May 23, I awoke to what should have been a normal day. I had plans to meet with my brother, so I woke up bright and early. I then got out of bed to get dressed, only to immediately fall on my face. A few things felt off right there. The first was that the way I landed shouldn't have been possible. Or... not natural, anyway. I couldn't see, but it just... felt wrong. The second was that there was a pain in my head that felt... wrong. At the time I couldn't say what felt wrong about it, it just did. Now I know exactly what the problem was...
As I write this, I have realized that I'm building up unnecessary suspense. I'll cut right to the chase, and try not to ramble. I found myself unable to walk properly. I managed to get to my feet... and I both then and now realized that expression no longer works. Because I didn't have feet. I had hooves. I was some sort of quadruped! I inched my way to the bathroom (walking on four hooves after having two feet for 27 years is exactly as hard as it sounds.) and managed to prop myself up to the mirror. What I saw still shocks me to date.
First observation: I am a unicorn. Or at least, I think I am. I mean, I look like a horse — a very small and strange one at that, but a horse nonetheless — but I have a horn. The only thing I can think of that fits that is a unicorn. Though... it's strange. I'm really small. You'd think that a unicorn would be about the size of a horse, maybe bigger, but I was downright diminutive. Second observation: I look really ugly. I had a deep blue... coat (I still don't like saying that) with a black... mane (I really don't like referring to my parts by their horse names... but that's just a fact of life now.) A red line highlights the outside of my mane. I don't know, maybe that looks appealing to someone else. Not to me.
My physical attractiveness has nothing to do with the matter at hand. Or, would it be hoof? I found myself mostly unable to walk, so I creeped over to my computer and looked up how horses walk. It took a very long time, but I used my alicorn to punch in the keys. After reading a bit, I tried it out myself. Surprise surprise, it helped! I can walk fine as long as I think about it and deliberate each step. It's pretty awkward looking, but it works. Though I am getting better about muscle memory.
Anyway, I end up going over to my neighbor's house to talk to him. I have no loved one's that live with me in my house, but my neighbor and I are good friends. I figured he'd be willing to help, but he wasn't there! I then realized that I live across from a school, and there was no activity there. I entered the school, and still nobody! It was then that I realized something peculiar about myself. My legs bent in ways that shouldn't be possible for a horse. Same with my spine and... everything really. Heck, even my head seemed able to bend strangely.
Now, I'll spare you some of the details of my investigations, but from that day until now I have determined that everyone seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. That sounds stupid, I know, but there's no other explanation. I wonder though... If I stayed, maybe others stayed? I wonder if they're like me. Horses isn't right. I don't know, I guess I'm more the size of a pony? Even that's too big though. But I have nothing else to call myself.
I have been turned into a pony. Great.
After wandering through the school for a bit, I came upon a play area. There was a cart. I don't know why it was there, maybe the teachers brought toys out on it (It was an elementary school.) Nonetheless, it was helpful. I also saw one of those blue bins, that balls are stored in.
Now, before I continue, I'm gonna share a theory. I think I'm magical. That sounds really stupid, saying it aloud, but it's true. I feel some sort of... flow, within me, and sometimes things happen around me I can't explain. The largest bit of evidence I have is the following:
I was trying to lift the bin onto my wagon, but it just wouldn't lift. My hooves had trouble. The straps were too small. After about ten minutes of trying I had yelled in anger and slammed my hoof into the ground, and wanted nothing more than to pick it up and throw it.
Then I heard a thud.
I looked back and the bin had fallen over. I mean, I know it's not proof, but it means something! If I have magic, and I learn to use it... surviving will be a cinch! What magic could I do? Telekinesis, alchemy, teleportation, combat, growth, the possibilities!
Anyway, thirty minutes later and I had managed to stretch the straps enough to slip my hooves through, and secure it to the wagon with ropes. I am going to refuse to write about how I tied the ropes, as just remembering will probably give me an aneurism. When I learn how to use these body, I'll be able to do amazing feats of physical strength and endurance. But I am gonna miss that dexterity (unless I really CAN do magic. In which case, all will bow to me!)
I've noticed that this is going on for too long. I'm gonna skip a lot of details. Basically, what happens next is I go back home, sleep to the next day (Not only was I annoyed, and convinced it was a dream, but I was also REALLY exhausted for some reason. Evidence towards my magic maybe?) The next few days are spent trying to find a suitable spot to settle down. I just kept scouting, and returning home.
Yesterday was the day that changed. After those few days, I had resorted to staying home, fetching food, and looking at Google maps to find a place. One day I had the intuition to print out the map. That also happened to be the day the internet failed. Lucky me. I've always kept that printed map on me. Yesterday I decided to get moving, and I went to a grocery store. My logic follows that people will naturally flock to the grocery store, so if there are any more survivors, I'll meet them here. The electricity is bound to fail soon too, so I decided to eat perishables first. So for dinner I made myself a good old ham and cheese sandwich.
I won't talk about what happened for most of today. With my new equine digestive system, you can probably guess. Though that does bring up a question: how can an apparent equine like me go to the restroom and have it be sanitary? That's a problem I have yet to figure out. Let's just say that dairy freezer got what it deserved.
And that brings us to now. I have no idea what the future holds, but I have made a list of my goals each day.
Sunday: My day to relax. Try to experiment with magic. Also create a backup reserve food. This is to be hidden in case of raiders.
Monday: Look for a radio of any kind. Also make sure that you really did put all ovens and gas off in the surrounding houses.
Tuesday: Figure out a way to defend myself
Wednesday: Retrieve items from old house.
I'm really gonna miss that place... what has this world come to? Why is it all survival now? My home is good for nothing but sentimental value.
Thursday: Gather more luxury items. I need something to pass the time.
Friday: Search for signs of any survivors. Check other grocery stores and markets.
There's my week plan.
I know this entry isn't that good, but I had a lot to talk about. My voice is getting scratchy. It's been a week, I don't remember a lot. Day One sticks out so much, it overshadows everything else.
One thing I hope to do over the course of my adventure is figure out some questions: Are there survivors? How can i survive? And most importantly... why was I transformed into this, and how can I change back? I don't really want to be a pony for the rest of my life. Magic would make that better.
As you can see, I am REALLY excited about the prospect of having magic. I wonder if it's based in my alicorn, or if it's an entire bodily energy. Or again, maybe I'm just crazy.
Also, something I forgot to mention. I hooked up the old loudspeaker system to a bunch of speakers outside. I had some spare time, so I went over to an electronics store nearby and picked some up. Until I get a radio, this is my best bet of signaling others. I'm going to go make an announcement now. I will update after.
Sincerely,
Leon
UPDATE: My message has been made. It follows: "Dear Dallas, Texas,
"Someone please help. I have been turned into a unicorn, and everyone seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth!
"If you can hear this, please come!
"It's very lonely... please..."