Five Score Divided by Four - A Mother and Daughter's Paths

by Autum Breeze

Chapter 11

“I know you’re here,” the voice calls out and I shudder, pressing myself against the other pony.

He’s a brown stallion with a mop for a Cutie Mark. I don’t really know him, but he pulled me into this hiding spot the moment I ran passed, placed his hoof on my mouth and made the sign for quiet.

We’ve been hiding here for several hours.

After he took Mommy, I was lucky enough to be saved by a Pegasus who took me away. But we got separated and now I’m on my own.

“Got you!”

We both scream and bolt, glancing behind us to see the large figure of mismatched creatures looming above us.

Suddenly his gone, I turn back and scream as I see he’s reappeared directly in front of me.

I skid to a halt, my heart hammering in my chest as he stands over me. He leers down at me, before scowling as the stallions pushing me behind him and I cower.

Discord just smirks and snaps his talon before I scream; pain erupting in my body as the white mist suddenly surrounds me.

"Mommy!" I scream as everything turns black.

"Mommy!" I shout as I leap up in bed, panting heavily. I’m covered in sweat and my bed is soaked.

What the hell was that? I... I can’t remember what I just dreamed about, but it scared the crap out of me.

This happened last night, too. I don’t know why, but I remember feeling just as terrified as I do now... though, I also feel a sadness, one I can't explain.

"Hmm, shuddup, man," my roommate's voice groans from the next room. "S'too early fer shouting."

Once I’ve managed to calm myself down, I glance at the digital clock on my bedside table and groan. It’s only two in the morning.

Flopping back down, I put my pillow over my head. Great. Have a scary as shit nightmare I can’t remember but still feel the fear of and wake up hours before I need to get up for work.

“Hey, wake up!” I shout, pulling the covers off of my roommate.

He grumbles, not bothering to open his eyes as he moves his arm, trying to find the covers I’ve taken off him. They’re at the end of the bed now. Only way he’s getting them is if he sits up and moves around, which would defeat the whole purpose in the first place.

I roll my eyes and move over to the curtains. With one swift yank the room is flooded with sunlight.

“Aw, c’mon,” he groans, putting a hand over his eyes.

Another eye roll. “Max, classes start in an hour. If you don’t move your ass, we’ll miss what little’s left of breakfast. Plus, I’ve work today so I need to leave soon. I’m not in the mood for getting a fast food breakfast today.”

He grumbles, slowly pushing himself up and lifts his shirt to scratch his stomach. “Why can’t it be the weekend?”

I chuckle. “Cos Sunday was yesterday, buddy. The day after my 25th, remember? Yours is today.”

Name’s Tom Wills. I turned twenty-five yesterday, work in a factory and have started study at uni in Sydney. The lazy bum in bed is Max Halton. He and I have been roommates for a while now, but I’ve only really become a uni student recently.

If you’re wondering, yes, I did manage to get back to sleep after that shit scary nightmare I can’t actually remember beyond how scared and strangely sad it made me feel, but I don’t think I had another dream, or nightmare. But I felt groggy as heck when I got up, so I’d waited until I felt better to get up, before then getting my roommate up too.

He grumbles again, though what I hear this time annoys me more than makes me joke around. “Man, if I were one of those unicorn ponies I could just shut you up and sleep.”

I know exactly what he’s referring to and I scowl. “That’s not funny, Max. It’s really serious. Don’t joke about that kind of stuff.”

Two weeks ago, strange rumors started floating around about something odd. People were turning into characters from the show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

At first it was just that, rumors. A few people had PMed each other via certain websites after their blogs kept mysteriously disappearing, saying how they’d seen the ponies being in certain areas.

I’d thought it just as much a rumor as anyone else, until one of our classmates changed. It had started on her 25th birthday. First she’d found an image of a hunk of Swiss cheese on her hips.

At first, she’d had no idea what it was, until she was watching the beginning of season five during lunch break and she shouted “That it!”

Some of us had gone over to see she’d paused it during the season premiere, at a point when the Cutie Mark vault was on screen. She was pointing at one of the marks that looked like a hunk of Swiss cheese.

During the next few days, we all saw her change from a human to a pony. She became a bright green Earth Pony with a darker green mane and tail.

I never really got to know the girl too well, despite us both being into My Little Pony, so I can’t say much about her. All I know is she was studying to work at a cheese factory making, ironically enough, cheese, just like the mark she’d gotten.

Thing is... no one’s seen her since a few days after she finished becoming a pony. She just... wasn’t around anymore.

Several other students and even a teacher or two have also gone missing, each of them having either been or starting something similar. On their 25th they woke up and found they had Cutie Marks.

Days later, some even on that very day, they’d just no longer be around.

Several of the students and other teachers had inquired as to what was going on, but the Dean just said they’d transferred out to another uni or going on leave in the case of the teachers.

Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes. “Dinky... sorry. I didn’t mean...” he groans, before sitting up, scratching behind his head. I just... you know.”

I sigh, leaning against the wall, my arms folded as he starts to dress. “I won’t lie, when I put the fanboying brony part of me aside, it is a little worrying. I mean, all the students and even teachers just vanishing? I mean it’s...weird. Still,” I grin, “becoming a pony is every brony’s wish at some point.”

He stops, having just finished pulling off his shirt, his expression deadpan. “You really wouldn’t be the least uncool with turning into one?”

I scratch my neck, grinning sheepishly. “Come on, man. Even if you’re not a fan of the show, getting wings or magic would be pretty cool. And if you became an Alicorn it’d be even better, you’d get both.”

He just shakes his head. “You told me the only Alicorns are Princesses. As in female. I’ll keep my manhood, thanks.”

I chuckle. Having a roommate who understands why I like being a brony and willing to talk about it is good. Beats the guy at work who just doesn’t think of me as a friend because of it and forces me to keep quiet.

“Well, I guess losing my manhood would kinda suck. Though, if I could.... get... ”I trail off, my eyes going wide. “Holy shit, dude! You too?!”

He freezes in place, his eyes widening, before he straightens up and looks down at his hips. On each one are a trio of carrots.

He shakes his head, flopping down on the bed. “I... I’m gonna become a pony too. I’ll disappear, just like the others.”

I frown, stepping forward and putting my hands on his shoulders. “Dude, take it easy. For all we know, the dean is telling the truth and they all just transferred or went on vacation or something.”

He looks up at me, before his eyes widen. “When did you dye your hair? And it’s longer than I remember.”

I blink, frowning. I look over to the mirror on his desk and have to rub my eyes a few times. My red hair is longer. I noticed on my birthday it was longer, but hadn’t paid it much mind. However, now my hair is not only even longer than yesterday, it reaching bellow my neck, but it's almost completely blonde.

He looks to me with worry. “Are... are you changing too? But, you turned twenty-five yesterday. Wh-why would the change start happening now?”

My hair does look a lot like a mane now, doesn't it? I quickly pull my boxers down and look at my hips, before sighing. No Cutie Mark. I’m not changing into a pony. Phew.

I pull them back up, before frowning. If I’m not going through the same thing, why is my hair longer and why is it now full blonde?

Putting those thoughts aside, I return to comforting my roommate. “Dude, we’ll get through this. I don’t know how... I’ll see if I can get some time off or something. Just try and get through the day.”

He nods slowly, looking down.

There’s silence for a long while.

“So... who do you think I’m turning into?” his voice is barely a whisper.

I lean down, examining the mark. “Well, three carrots. To be honest, I never paid much attention to ponies with carrot marks. The only one that comes to mind is Carrot Top, an Earth Pony mare, but I’m sure there are other ponies with this kind of mark. Maybe I’ll see about doing some research during my lunch break. I might find something.”

He nods again, before getting up and slowly getting dressed. It’s a good thing it’s Autumn here. No one will question why he’s wearing jeans, thus hiding the mark.

I walk into the factory, passing my card over the scanner to clock in at 8:25, five minutes before my shift, walk around the corner and onto the factory floor, deciding it’s only five minutes, so I may as well start working now.

I notice a few of the other employees staring at me, but I just put that down to now being a full blonde. If asked, I’ll just say I decided to dye it completely.

Moving to my locker I put my bag away and head for where I’m pointed to go by the supervisor. Today I’ll be labeling San Remo fusilli pasta bags today.

There’s a conveyor belt set up so it can go down the line. Every time we finish labeling a bag, we put it on the conveyor and it goes down to the guys boxing the bags.

I move over to one of the empty tables, since I’ll be labeling today. Looking to the table across from me, I inwardly sigh. It’s Jonathan, the guy I used to be friends with until he let his hate of MLP break our friendship.

I honestly tried to keep it going, to mend the bridge he was burning down, but he just wouldn’t accept my friendship again.

He’s looking at me with confusion, before his eyes narrow. “Oh, so you’re one of them now, too,” he says in a tone that’s clearly meant to be insulting.

Frowning, I glance around, before catching my reflection in the metal of a nearby machine and nearly have a heart attack!

My ears! My ears are now on top of my head and they’re pony ears.

My quickly reach up and feel them, feeling dual sensations from before the hands’ touching them and them feeling the hands.

Not only that, my eyes have changed. They’re now golden, a colour no human eye can be, unless with contacts and I know damn well I don’t use those.

I look around and see several others are staring.

I stop, take several deep breaths, and try to calm down, like my childhood friend Ben Smills always tried to get me to do. After a few minutes, it works and I’m calm.

I sit down, only to yelp and stand back up. Man, that smarts. It’s now I notice how uncomfortable my pants feel, like there's a large bulge in my underwear that's pressing hard against them. I pull my pants down a bit, only now noticing something I hadn't before, that I'm standing with my heels lifted, and reveal a blonde tail, just like my hair.

I sit down, being sure not to sit on my new tail this time and get ready to be passed the labels by my ex-friend so I can do the job like everyone else.

As I sit and wait, I frown down at the table, trying to figure this out. Why am I changing? I didn’t get a Cutie Mark. Everyone I know who’s changed got a Cutie Mark, so why the hell am I changing when I don’t have one.

I blink as a thought occurs to me. What if... what if I’m turning into a pony that doesn’t have a Cutie Mark yet? But... wouldn’t that mean I’m turning into a foal?

I sigh, my head slumping. Great. That means, once the change is complete, I’ll have to go through puberty all over again. And, not only that, but as a completely different species. Great. How do ponies even really go through puberty. The show never exactly touched upon that subject, for obvious reasons.

I tap my fingers against the table, thinking. So, if I’m turning into a foal... who exactly am I going to become?

I glance at my reflection again, focusing on my eyes and ears. Golden eyes.

Hmm. Well, there is that filly with the green coat during the episode Twilight Time.

Ah! Nope, not her. Her eyes might be golden, but her mane isn’t blonde. Well, technically it is, but it’s a much darker, more orangish blonde. Plus, my ears aren’t the same colour as her coat, so that rules her out anyway. Plus, I just remembered she has a Cutie Mark, an orange, I think.

After several more moments of thinking, I slam my head onto the table. The only pony without a Cutie Mark that I can think of is Dinky Doo. Plus, now that I glance at the colour of the fur on my new pony ears, they match her coat colour, purplish-grey.

I sigh, closing my eyes. Great. So, not only am I turning into a pony child and don’t even have a Cutie Mark to show for it, but I’m going to be female.

Well, at the very least I’ll be a unicorn. That’s some bonus points, I guess. Lose one horn, gain a new one, right?

After several more minutes of wallowing on those thoughts I sit up and look to where I need to start working... only to frown. I don’t have any labels.

I blink, before looking over to Jonathan, who’s keeping his head bent down, a scowl on his face.

I cock an eyebrow. He’s the one with the roll of labels, so he’s meant to give them to everyone working on this job... so why hasn’t he brought some over already, or put them on the conveyor belt and called to me so I could grab them?

“Yo, John?” I call, waving to him. “Can you pass down some labels. Just put them on the conveyor and I’ll grab ’em.”

He doesn’t even react.

I frown slightly and call louder. “Jonathan, please pass me down some labels so I can do the job.”

Still, he doesn’t react. It’s like he isn’t even listening.

My frown deepening more at the fact I am clearly being ignored, I get up and walk over, stopping in front of his table. “Can I please have some labels, John?”

He finally reacts, looking up at me with a glare. “No. Go fuck a horse, you freak!”

My right eyebrow twitches. “Excuse me?!” I say, my voice rising. “What the hell’s with the attitude? I just want to do my job and you’re not letting me by refusing to give me some labels. What the hell, man?”

He scowls coldly. “You’re one of them! Go back and join your fellow horses in the paddocks!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!” I shout, gritting my teeth. “Are you seriously refusing to help me do my job because I’m turning into a pony?! Is your pony hate that thick?”

“FUCK OFF, FREAK!” he shouts back, standing up. “LEAVE ME ALONE OR I’LL TELL THE GOVERNMENT WE’VE AN ALIEN AMONG US!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

We both turn to see our supervisor Chris walking over, a stern and confused expression on his face. Chris is an older man, with green hair and a wide bald patch atop his head.

He stops in front of us and looks between the two of us. “Okay, what’s going on? Why all the swearing?”

“He’s refusing to let me have any labels to do the job you gave me, Chris,” I point at Jonathan, “all because I’m turning into a pony from My Little Pony and he hates everything to do with the show.”

At once, Chris’ expression sours and he looks to Jonathan in annoyance. “Jonathan, is this true?”

“Why should I help a freak like... that?!” he retorts, pointing at me. “It should be locked up and studied, not working alongside us!”

Chris’ expression sours further. “So, you willingly disrupted work production, just because you don’t want to help Tom, and all because he’s turning into something you hate?”

He nods, before glaring at me again. “Glad you finally see reason, Chris. It’s bad enough you let it work here when it wasn’t a fan of that stupid thing.”

“You’re fired, John.”

“Finally!” Jonathan says, looking to me with a sneer. “About to you got rid of this...” he pauses, before turning to Chris in confusion. “Wait. What did you say?”

Chris just glares at him. “You’re fired, Jonathan. Get your stuff from your locker and leave this factory. I won’t have you insulting other employees anymore. I’m sick of it, and it’s always just because you hate something Tom likes.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” he yells, glaring at the older man as if planning to murder him. “You’d take this freak’s side and fire me for simply having common sense?!”

Chris just points away. “Out, now! Or I’ll call the police and have you arrested for causing a disturbance.”

For several moments, Jonathan glares at Chris, before looking at me and snarling. “You’ll pay for this.”

He walks off towards his locker, being sure to slam into me as he goes passed.

I glare after him, before a cough pulls my attention to Chris.

“Take the day off, Tom,” he says, looking serious. “Maybe the next two, at least until this has finished. Don’t worry, I’ll clock you out and arrange it as Sick Leave.”

I want to argue, but sigh and nod, heading for my locker and getting my stuff, then head out.

Before catching a bus, however, I pull a hat out of my bag and put it on, covering my pony ears. Thankfully, my new long hair will cover the sides of my head, so no one will see the bare skin where my ears used to be and I can hide my tail in my pants.

As for the eyes, I thankfully have a pair of sunglasses, so I can wear those until I get back to the dorm and then worry about what comes next.

I toss my bag across the room as I close the door, walk over to the cough and plop down, only to yelp and stand up.

Reaching into my pants, I pull my tail back out and then sit down again, making sure not to sit on it again. That hurt like hell.

Now seated, I just let my mind wander. So I’m turning into a nine-year-old pony, huh? Guess I’ll have to drop out of uni and go back to primary school.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I grab the remote and turn on the TV. Maybe that will get my mind off things.

Flicking through the channels, I stop on Nine News and feel my face turn into a scowl.

“The Prime Minister addressed worrying concerns about humans turning into what can only be described as ponies from the children’s show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic,” the female news anchor says, before the image cuts to footage of the Prime Minister at a press conference.

“There is no confirmation that humans are turning into animals,” he says with a straight face. “No proof has come up that such a thing can even happen. Humans don’t just turn into animals. It doesn’t happen. This is all speculation and nothing more.”

I turn off the TV, still scowling. I know damn well he’s lying. The fact that every time someone posts anything about it online and it vanishes almost instantly means someone’s stopping people from spreading the word.

Whatever is going on, the government are purposefully covering it up. Why, I have no idea.

It would make more sense to be open about this. I’m pretty sure this is a worldwide thing.

I sigh, flopping back and close my eyes. I need some rest.