• Published 30th Apr 2013
  • 8,951 Views, 626 Comments

Lunar Phases - Dusk Writer



Five Score Divided by Four? Where have I heard that before? Psh, sounds like some cheesy title to a fanfic. What is this itching?! Wait, since when have I had Luna's cutie mark on my thigh?

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13. The Souffle isn't the Souffle...

All the conspiracy sites I’ve been going to for years have practically blown up with the amount of posts flowing into them about ponies. Even some of the news sites such as Yahoo have had sightings of us. It was nice to visit another pony’s dreams and to know that my sister and I weren’t the only ones to be sent here to Earth, but seeing all these posts on the internet about us all really drives it home.

There was even one story, where apparently a certain zebra tried breaking into some botanical garden here in America. She’d gotten careless and there were now several pictures of her all across the internet; people were watching for us now.

Speaking of people, there was the matter of my human parents and sibling. I’m not sure how well they’ll take this news, even if I haven’t had the best relationship with them. Okay, screw that description, I haven’t talked to them for at least a year. They weren’t abusive in any way; it’s just that we had very different mindsets and opinions.

They didn’t see video games as I do; I hate meeting new people in person, but if I meet them online, then we’re fine. But even then, I prefer to play alone. Most of the time I felt worthless and tiny, and the only thing that kept me from spiraling into the dark pit of depression that I still fight off today, was video games.

In those, I could be somebody; I could save the entire universe, and everybody would love me, or I could stop an army of machines and every person I would stop and say hi to would know my name. Even if it was synthetic, somebody was finally paying attention to me, and didn’t ask for me to change who I am because they wanted me to.

My parents couldn’t understand this, for all they ever saw was me sitting there, in my little corner with my computer and Xbox, apparently doing nothing. When I finally moved out, I did not look back.

However, they are still my parents, and they deserve to know what has happened, but not yet. First, I must learn to work with my sister to gather the ponies together. Other than that, I don’t know what we will do, for I don’t even know if there’s a way back to Equestria. The other problem is that most of my memories are still missing, except for the curse and that memory of Tia when I was a young filly.

But, I am that type of person and pony that likes to plan things as they go, so we’ll stick with that. But first, I believe I will check that forum I posted in where Tia first found me.

I click onto the link and enter the forum I had posted only three and a half days ago. Wow, it seems like so long ago now. Unfortunately, there’s even more trash comments about it being fake and gay. However, I do see a few more promising posts as well. I open a word document and copy/paste them into it to check for later.

I almost push away from my desk to go do some other tasks, but then I almost face hoof as I realize that I forgot to do a vlog. I pull up and activate the necessary hardware and software and once the video picture of my now pony face pops up, I hit the record button.

“Hey John, John/Jona/Luna here. As of this morning, I am now a full pony. I do not appear to have regained full magical powers yet though. Also, I do not remember if I have said this in a previous vlog, but I have found out, that I am actually THE Luna from the show. This may bring up problems with the famn damily, but I’ll hopefully survive their wrath.”

“And also, I have found that Discord may have an actual presence here on Earth, even if it's a small imprint left by him to torture us as humans. Just last night, I banished him from the dreams of one whom I believe was once one of my guards. Right now, they are on their way here in a pick-up. Well, that's it for this update, see ya next time."

With that, I stop recording and push myself away from the desk, not bothering to log off of the device for convenience later. As I hop down to the floor, I realize that there really wasn't that much of a change in size. Luna and Celestia were supposed to be a bit bigger than the average pony, so anybody else changing would've shrunk a bit and the top of their heads would reach up to the bottom of a human's rib cage. However, I believe I am only a little shorter than my human self now.

I step away from my computer and back into the living room, spotting Celestia just coming out of the bathroom, and looking a little relieved; she must have found the aspirin. She sees me and gives an apologetic smile, before coming over to me and saying, "I'm sorry about my outburst earlier Luna. It's not every day that you learn that you were born as a pony princess in your last life." She gives a sigh at all the stress.

I think for a moment on her apology; after all, she did laugh in my face after I yelled at her. After a few moments of thought, I reply, "I can forgive you, after all, I did try to murder you earlier."

I can tell I hit a nerve as she shudders at my mention of that past event. "I suppose it won't be the last mistake either of us will make in the next few days." She pauses for a moment before continuing. "That reminds me, you said we were cursed by someone? I'm afraid my memory is still lacking of that event."

Well, that would explain a bit. I guess Helios didn't bother to show her what happened like Selene did with me. "Alright, I'll explain what happened to me, and what I assume happened to you later; first, I want to get a shower." Oh, this shower is gonna feel really good, since I haven't had one in at least four days. Plus, I smell like horse right now.

She grins at me knowingly. "That works for me. I'll just keep myself busy until you are done." She turns towards her lap top, which is still open out on my coffee table from yesterday, but then stops and turns back towards me. "Actually, I'd like to take one after you do if you don't mind."

I smile and wink jokingly at her. "What, don't wanna take one together?" I laugh at her disgusted look and head to my bathroom, more than ready for the nice torrent of hot water.

I can barely hear her, "Don't push it." I laugh even harder as I walk away.

I reach my bathroom at an almost leisurely pace, gasping in surprise when I look inside. Apparently, she had grown tired of my disorganized lavatory in her search of an aspirin; everything was neatly placed and categorized.

Wow, if she was able to do all this in such a short amount of time, she must have been an incredible neat freak as a human. I trot past the lines of medicine and up to my bath tub, using my newfound magic to turn the knobs, and my forelegs to check if it's too hot or cold.

Finally, once I get it to just the right temperature, I change the water from going through the faucet to the shower head. I step into the warm water, and nearly moan in pleasure. That's odd; I've never felt the need to do that before. Perhaps it's just a mix from everything that's been happening lately.

I let the water dampen my fur, mane, and feathers, feeling all kinds of new sensations from all across my body. I examine my mane, only to find that it is still a light blue, but perhaps a darker shade, with a little bit of a dark mist-like substance starting to surround it. I'm assuming that it's the same story with my tail; this must mean that more of my magical powers are returning.

I take my time in the shower, because as a human, I would often stand there and think through quite a few things, letting out hidden thoughts and feelings. So, because I am alone and I really need a release, I begin to explore what I am truly thinking of my current situation. Other than trying to murder her at one point, I'd been trying to seem upbeat and carefree about the whole thing to my sister. But truly? I'm about ready to break down.

Probably the biggest problem I'm having with this whole thing, is the gender switch. And now, I've been turned female, with more hormones taking over my mind than I would like to think. Even now, I can feel the warm water running over my new…equipment, and some of the thoughts that begin to run through my mind make me shiver with excitement… No! I mustn't think that way! I am not going to devolve myself into some breeding horse that only thinks as far ahead as its next rutting!

Among these disturbing thoughts, there's the physical changes. It troubles me to think I am no longer a predator, but prey. I mean, I've been what I consider to physically be an Alpha male human. I've always been bigger than most of my classmates, and my heavier weight made me physically dominant. But now, I am the younger and smaller of two ponies surrounded by a species who's greatest specialty, one that rises above all else, is killing each other. With these mental changes, it actually terrifies me.

Coupled with my life time instincts to be alone, this could be a problem. In fact, if I remember correctly, part of Discord's curse said I would be alone, and I was fine with that? For my entire life? These two parts of me are colliding now, both the herd instinct and the want to be alone.

And now, my last problem I was dealing with; I was royalty. Many ponies that are stuck here are going to be looking up to me to help them solve their problems. I never was a leader type kind of guy, and always had problems with self-confidence, which were now multiplied. Where could I possibly find the strength to lead tens, if not hundreds of lost and terrified ponies? When push came to shove, I'm certain that I would fall.

That familiar dark pit that has been with me for as long as I can remember appears in that same spot as always; the location of my heart. The depression quickly begins to infect my mind, and with it, comes a whispering voice. "Yes, that's right. Celestia only has on a mask. She doesn't understand you. You've always been alone on this world, and perhaps that's what you're meant to be; alone. You can't trust anybody to know you."

The voice fades, leaving me with dark thoughts, not of anger, but of depression. Perhaps it really is right. I don't truly know this Celestia, how could she claim to know me?

The shower has lost all of its appeal now, so I turn off the water and step out slowly. The thoughts of being like this forever creep into my mind. It's enough to make me sit down onto my haunches and lower my head slightly, wet bangs covering my eyes. That's right, isn't it? I'm immortal now, so I'm going to have to live forever with this form, and this responsibility.

My legs begin to feel weak, as my mind spirals deeper and deeper into that pit of depression. However, another familiar voice makes itself known to me, and although it's muffled and desperate, I can barely make out the words.

"Luna! You're not alone! I've always been there, even when you never knew! Don't give into Him!" I feel something akin to a mental light above me, and my conscious stops its dark descent, and begins to ascend once again. "Yes, Luna, come back to us! I know there will be many hardships on the road ahead, but that is the responsibility that comes with being a leader."

Now that I've been able to at least get a metaphorical life line out of my Depression Pit, I can see that she's right. "There's a reason you two are sisters; it's so you have someone to stay with you throughout all of your long years. In truth no one understands you better than she does, and vice versa. Now, you must promise me, my dear mare of the night, promise me that you will try harder to be the leader you once were."

I lift my head, glad to be free of the heavy sadness I accidentally brought upon myself, and trying my best to accept the fact that I am a royal mare now at the same time. I mumble barely loud enough for even myself to hear, "I promise Selena, that I will do my best, although, if we must stay here for the rest of our lives, I will need your help." I stop and wait for her answer, but all I hear is soft and light laughing as her presence fades from my mind.

I get back up to all four of my hooves, and with a newly invigorated mind set, I dry myself off using one of the soft white towels. When I finally finish with the task, I feel so much better than I did earlier. In fact, I don't even smell like a horse anymore as far as I can tell!

With a small bounce in my step, I go to my bathroom door and push it open, walking softly onto the carpeted floor. I trot into the living room and announce to my sister, who is sitting next to my coffee table with her lap top open in front of her, typing away. "Tia! Shower's open now!"

She jumps at my loud entrance, not expecting me to shout. Then, she recollects herself so as not to show that I had surprised, then sighs, saying, "Okay! By the way, what is it with Shadow and cops?"

Now it's my turn to start in surprise. "How do you know who Shadow is?"

She lets a brief moment of guilt flash across her face before responding. "I may or may not have looked at some of the messages on your compute…"

The flashes of mistrust I feel bring back the feeling of that gaping hole in my chest. Does she still not trust me? One's computer is obviously one of their most sacred areas of privacy, mine more so than average as I kept a sort of virtual diary on there. And she decided to just, jump on there and invade that privacy? "Yes Lu-" No, I will not go down that path again; the last time I did, I almost killed her.

I shake my head clear of the webs of anger and depression, and say, "Ah, that makes sense. Also, you said something about cops? I was hoping to speak with him."

"Shadow said something about running away from cops; I think that he may be busy for a while." She gets up from her lap top and closes the lid before sighing. "I'd ask what they did to attract so much attention to themselves, but I prefer not to, considering what I remember of Fireball."

Just at the mention of the name I feel myself wince. "I can tell why you'd be a little uneasy with a pony with that name."

She chuckles a bit and then sighs again. "If you knew only the half of it."

Without knowing what else to say, we both kind of stand there in an awkward silence. After a few seconds, I finally break the silence by saying, "Well, I'm going to go back over there to my computer, and you should probably go hop in the shower."

She smiles mischievously at me and winks. "Good idea, I'm smelling a bit horsey," She chuckles. Oh god, why with the puns?! Granted I was thinking some of those thoughts earlier, but still!

I sigh exasperatedly and nearly face hoof, but stop myself; don't want to give myself too much brain damage. "Oh whatever! Anyways, I'll see you in a little bit." I turn and trot back to my computer, still disturbed that she looked around a bit on my computer and sit down.

I open the word document that held all of the promising comments from earlier. However, what was a big shocker was how much more genuine it sounded than some of the others; well, it did to me at least. But before blindly trusting another stranger, I yell out to Celestia "Hey Sister! Could you come here real quick?"

Fortunately, I catch her just before she is able to reach the bathroom, so she turns around with a look of curiosity in answer to my request. "What is it Sister?" Then she shakes her head, as though she's unsure of something. "That still sounds rather weird to openly say that."

It did feel like that for me as well when I called her sister. I guess that means I'm still used to my last twenty-five years as a human. "Yeah, I agree with you there. Anyways, I was looking on the forum again, and I saw a new comment that looks pretty promising, so I was wondering if you could give me your advice on this one?" I push away from the desk and roll away on my Comfortable Wheelie Chair of Awesomeness, which is still deserving of its title even though I'm now a pony.

As she walks over, she sighs again out of irritation from being kept from her shower and from me finally asking her for advice. "You know how lucky you are that I'm here in the first place? I guess I'm just trying to say please don't take my being here for granted again. I could be visiting the friend I came here to see, but I'm not." Her brow furrows as she thinks about something that's obviously troubling her.

I decide not to pursue the matter, using a bit of logic to figure out that this must be the friend that she had been visiting when she found herself in her…predicament. Before we begin to go down that road, I continue on the path we are on, metaphorically. "Well, you're here right now, and I've learned from my past mistakes, so that's all that matters for now. Now, could you please look at this message?"

“Dear We are the Meta,
As I can see from your post, you have those weird tattoo thingies on your sides. I’ve been lucky because it took me at least a day to know what those were; even finding the proper name was a pain in the butt.
Anyway, we should really get in contact. Let’s just say that, as a man, I don’t like to boast my new pink mane, if you know what I mean.
Hope you answer soon.
~BerryFrost
P.S: If you speak French, everything will be easier :3”

She trots up and leans closer to the screen to get a good look at the message, then mumbles a bunch of French mumbo jumbo under her breath before finally speaking English. "Hmm…it looks like we might have found another pony, although I'm not too confident about it considering how well it went last time." She stops for a moment to give me a very pointed look, to which I reply with a sheepish smile. "They're most likely also an ex-male by the way they described their mane color."

I chuckle at the thought of a guy waking up to find his hair is pink, when I remember just who is standing next to me. "Well, I'll reply to them and hope they're the real deal. Now, go get a shower already!"

She shakes her head and moves away, muttering, "Yeah, whatever sis," under her breath and successfully reaching my bathroom, this time without an interruption.

Since I am currently too lazy too even get out of the chair, I maneuver myself until my hind hooves are able to touch the floor and use them to drag myself back up to the computer. Of course, as soon as I reach the desk, I somehow manage to slip out of said chair and into a small heap on the floor.

With a few quiet curses I stand back up and get back up onto the chair, managing to do so without any more incidents. Once back into position, I sit there, trying to remember what I was going to do. Funny how your brain can do that sometimes, isn't it?

Suddenly I recall what I was doing, and I'm tempted to use my magic to form a little light bulb over my head just to humor myself, but I manage to resist the urge. I go straight to my forum and find the possible-pony reply, and reply to the reply; repliception!

Sorry it took so long to reply, but I was in a bit of a predicament. Anyways, if you have a skype, to contact me for further conversation, send a request to the user "we.are.the.meta". Well, talk to you then!
Sincerely,
We are the Meta

I hate leaving my reply so short, but I was not sure what else I could've put. However, the thought of soon communicating with another possible pony was very satisfying. While I try to think of a good reward for myself, my stomach reminds me that I never did make breakfast for myself, amongst all the high emotions from this morning. Of course! Why don't I just use that as a reward?

I trot happily into the Kitchen and look through my ingredients. If I remember correctly, Tia did say she was planning on leaving today, and just in case she meant it, I'm going to cook her a great breakfast!

But, what should I make? I use my magic to grab one of the few cook books I have in my home, and I float it down gently to me. Placing it onto my cook book rack, I flip through it an almost blinding speed until I reach the recipe I want; soufflés.

I read the directions carefully, and now really testing my fine magic control, I go for all the items at once. I let my instincts on the matter take over, and soon, I have four eggs (with the yolk and white separated), one cup of milk, one-fourth cups of flour and butter, and one-and-a-half cups of cheese.

Doing a double check on all the ingredients, I begin to read the instructions and follow them to the letter. After about twenty minutes of hard work, I can finally put the nearly-finished crepes into the oven. I shut the door to the furnace with the breakfast meal inside and drag my hooves over to the kitchen chairs.

At the moment, I'm a bit too tired to even pull myself on to the chair itself, so I just drape myself over it instead. It's at this moment that I spy Celestia coming out of the bathroom, with her pink mane and tail both a bit damp. I groan and wave a hoof in her direction. "Hey Tia, since you said were you leaving at some point to day, I decided to bake something really good for breakfast."

However, she look a little despondent, and seems to barely even hear my statement. "That's great…"

I narrow my eyes at her worriedly, curious about what could've gotten her to be like this. "Celestia, what's wrong? You can tell me."

She shakes her head to clear it of the dark thoughts and sighs. "Don't worry, it's just a memory that I would have preferred not to have remembered." I can see that she doesn't really want to elaborate or speak anymore on this subject, yet again, I might add.

"Well, alright, but I'm still here if you need to talk about it." I slide my now muscular and thin body off of the chair and trot over to the oven. "The soufflés I'm making will be done in about twenty-five minutes, so I guess we now have time for that talk you wanted." I sit down onto my haunches and motion for her to begin, honestly hoping that she had forgotten about it in the past hour.

"Oh right." Damn it. "First, let's start with the curse; you seem to know about it. I'm afraid that all I have is a feeling that it's my fault somehow." Uh-oh, that may have been Discord's part of the curse for her; depression and loneliness for me, and guilt for her.

She goes to continue, but I raise a hoof to stop her. "No, don't even start thinking that way. If anything, it's more my fault than yours, seeing as how I was unable to stop him before he cursed me, so he then moved on to you."

She tilts her head questioningly and asks, "He?"

I sigh in irritation. Damn, how could I have forgotten that her memories are a little slow on the uptake, and that she was never even a fan of the show. "He, meaning Discord, the god of chaos in the realm of Equestria. Pretty much a less violent version of Eris from Sinbad."

"I'm afraid I don't know Eris either. The closest I know of chaos gods are the ones from Warhammer," She says, pausing and waiting for me to explain.

"Alright, basically Discord is the physical embodiment of chaos. He can pretty much do whatever he wants, and it usually consists of chocolate milk rain, cotton candy clouds, and pink skies." I hope that that will be enough of an explanation for her to remember hm now.

She thinks about my explanation for a few seconds before chuckling. "Heh, and the next thing you'll tell me is that he's voiced by John de Lancie."

I bite my lips and look around the room with an innocent look on my face. After a little while I finally meet her eyes. "Well, uh, he kind of is the voice of Discord…Anyways! What else did you need to talk about?"

She shakes her head quickly and makes such a sharp U-turn in the conversation, I swear I get whiplash from it. "Wait! You mean that Equestria has a Q of its own running amok?" Well, I have no idea who that is, but I'm just going to assume that it's someone like Discord.

"Well as far as I know, he is right now with all of us gone," I say, letting a small bit anger leak into my words. I can barely hear her mutter, "Great," under her breath. I sit there and try to think of a question to ask her, and suddenly, one comes to me. "Oh! Tell me about this friend of yours!"

Immediately, I see I may have hit a sore spot, as she looks a little depressed as she talks about him. "Oh you mean the one I came to visit? Well let's see, his name is Michael Weston, although unfortunately he isn't a secret agent. He is a good author though." She drops her head a little bit as she pauses to think of anything more. "He is actually only two days younger than me, and his birthday was yesterday," She finishes, looking pretty depressed.

I start to comfort her, when I stop and realize something. "Hey Tia, you just said that your birthdays was basically about four days ago, right? On May 1st?"

She raises her head, interested in why I would be asking such a question. "Yes, why?"

I maintain a neutral look on my face as I keep talking. "Well, that's my birthday as well, even if it is at midnight."

"Well, that's rather fitting for you," She says with a snicker. "Not that I'm much better. In fact, if I remember correctly, noon is about the time I had my black out."

I raise a navy blue eye brow. "And also obtained your cutie mark?"

"Yes…"

I furrow my brows as I come to another realization. "And your friend Michael is only two days younger than you, right?"

She sighs again in irritation as she wants me to get to the point. "Yes, why? It's not like he's going to turn into a pony princess too. Not that his younger sisters would mind."

I chuckle lightheartedly, as I've always had a soft spot in my heart for children. "Well, I can imagine. Anyways, the point is, I think that they may be in the same situation that we are in."

She just shakes her head at my theory, either thinking it's too outlandish, or doesn't want to believe it. "I don't think so, though I did want to tell him about my... well I don't really how to call what happened to me anymore... He would most likely call the police otherwise."

That is a good point about the police, so she may want to go visit her friend pretty soon. I glance at the clock and realize that the soufflés will be done in just a little bit. I turn back to her and say, "Alright, we have enough time for one more question, so go ahead and ask."

She's a little hesitant at first, but then finally asks, "So…how is your family?" She doesn't notice my wince, as she suddenly becomes as happy as Cadence on ecstasy. "Or even better, a coltfriend?"

Author's Note:

Finally got a new chapter out! I've been feeling very Five Scorey lately, so I'm going to try and start updating more frequently. Also, I'm going to try and raise the amount of words I put into a chapter. Now, for the story, I know there wasn't much time progression-wise, but I wanted to get a little more character building into it, as well as actually get back into it. However, you can probably expect it to be a bit more fast paced in th next chapter along with some change and progress.