The Herd Evolved

by Spyderwillster-TLP

Test Flight

The Herd Evolved

Chapter 2 - Test Flight

It was time to test the limitations of my telekinesis. I located a few sheets of paper and a marker in my desk drawer, both of which I levitated out into the living room for another experiment. I manipulated the cap off the marker, and pressed the felt tip to the paper, where I attempted to write the letters of the English alphabet. My new hoofwriting was somewhat legible, just enough that I could make out the message written on the page. Satisfied, and a little surprised, I tossed my first paper aside and spread out a fresh sheet, where I scribed a simple message with the black marker.

Look Up! Hello!

The concise message was sufficient for its cause, so I trotted onto the balcony, paper wrapped in the green net of my telekinesis, and looked down at the apartment where I had seen the pony earlier. Sure enough, it was still there.

I closed my eyes and began to focus, knowing that I would need all the concentration I could muster to achieve the distance the message would have to travel in order to wedge itself in the pony’s window. The paper started to gently float over the gap between the buildings, flapping lightly in the faint autumn wind. Sadly, I lost my concentration when it had travelled a little more than halfway, and the paper drifted lazily from side to side, descending to the city floor below.

My determination hadn’t faded, and I practically ran back into the living room where I repeated my note-creating process. When I had produced another message, I returned to the balcony to attempt my levitation again.

Once again, the page hovered slowly across the gap between our apartments. A few feet further than my previous attempt, I lost grasp of it, and it fell down to the street, just as the previous one had. Since I had made it further this time, I figured the range of my ability was gradually increasing, and set off to create another sign.

Many times I repeated this process, running back and forth between my balcony and living room. My ability to walk was definitely improving, and my hoofwriting was more legible every time I scribed the message on the white surface. There were a few times that the occasional person below me would notice the papers floating down, and do as they instructed by looking up. On these occasions, I ducked out of view, afraid to spook any innocent passersby.

Finally, I was able to get the page over to the pony’s window. Unfortunately, I was unable to wedge it in the space between the glass and the frame, so I held it there instead. With my eyes closed and all of my focus directed towards keeping the paper afloat, I didn’t know what was happening on the page’s end. What I did know, however, was that I was losing grasp quickly, and that soon this attempt would end up failed as all the others had.

Suddenly, I felt the paper being thrust outwards at a slight angle. I assumed the pony had noticed, so I opened my eyes and felt the note slip out of my control and start to fall. I then trotted to the edge of my balcony and looked down at the pony, who was now attempting to visually locate the source of the message.

I did my best to balance on three hooves as I waved the fourth above my head as humans normally did to signal a greeting. “Up here!” I shouted. The pony scanned his vision frantically, and he eventually rest his gaze on me.

“Oh, hello up there!” he yelled, waving back with the same amount of caution I was using.

I wanted to continue the conversation. “How are you?” I asked.

“Good!” the pony replied rather casually. “Could I come up?” he asked.

“Sure! Fly on up here!” I yelled, excited to be in the company of another equine being.

Nervously, the pony replied. “I’m afraid I would fall, we’re rather high right now.”

This was probably a true fact, as flight was theoretically much more complicated than telekinesis, and if he had endured my same transformation just tonight, I assumed he was no Rainbow Dash.

I quickly thought of a way to help him up. “Here, I’ll try to lend you a hoof!” I yelled, closing my eyes to focus my telekinetic aura around him. I felt the pegasus flap a few times, now aware of his advantage against the forces of gravity. His position shifted and I felt him in the air. The result on his end was the beginning of his first flight higher off the ground than a foot or so, and the result on my end was an awareness that my telekinesis had limitations, as I was having trouble doing more than just removing a small bit of gravity’s influence over the pegasus. I made a mental note to work out my magic on bigger objects at a later time.

After what seemed like hours, but really only equated to a few minutes, the pegasus was standing firmly on my balcony, around two stories above where he had been earlier. I opened my eyes and let my net of magic dissipate. I now caught a good look at the pegasus, who was tan with a chocolate brown mane. His wings were naturally folded up on either side, which I assumed was a reflex that came with the form, like my sitting position when I had sat down in my room before I had proven that I was, indeed, still in the real world.

“Hi,” I gestured with a hint of shyness in my voice.

He looked at me. “Hi,” he replied. “I’m Test Flight-”

I watched as the the pegasus suddenly became distressed after saying his name. He shuddered at it, looking around for an explanation that would never reveal itself physically.

After watching for a few seconds, I mustered the courage to ask the cause of his anxiety. “What’s wrong?” I inquired, concerned.

Test Flight stopped and looked at me. “That’s not my name! My name is, uh, I can’t even remember! Test Flight is the only name that comes to mind!” he exclaimed.

“Strange,” I admitted. “Anyway, my name’s Wires.”

After processing what I had just said, I almost fell into the same distressed pattern that Test Flight had just moments before. “Wait-”

“Let me guess, that’s not your name either,” he assumed.

Indeed he was right, but every feeling told me that was the name I had been given, that it was the name I was supposed to go by in this world. The small knowledge that existed in the back of my mind told me otherwise, and I’m glad it did. I didn’t want to forget who I was before, but all the memories were still there! Everything where it should be, all except for my name.

I shook my head. “No.” There was a small moment of silence, intruded only by the ambient noise of our current location. I then suggested we retreat to my living room, as it was getting colder by the minute as night reached it’s peak. In agreement, I shut the door and we settled down on the carpet, my furniture still surrounding us from my learning experience before.

“Hungry?” I asked. Test Flight nodded, so I returned to my kitchen and carefully lifted a bowl out of the cupboard, which I filled with some potato chips shortly after. I returned, still thinking of how I could determine my pre-pony name.

“So,” Test Flight began, “what was your life like before you became a pony?”

I thought for a second, making sure I had all of the details correct. First and foremost, I was a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which I assumed was a rather important fact to inform my friend of. Thinking of the show sent a rather strange and far-fetched idea into my head, and I started to think about how it could be the reason for my sudden transformation.

With my thoughts gathered, I had my reply - in addition to another question - for Test Flight. “Well, I enjoyed watching My Little Pony-” I started.

“Me too!” Test Flight exclaimed, answering my question which I hadn’t even gotten the chance to ask yet. “So you were part of the herd?”

What he was referring to was the Brony fandom, a group of older men who enjoyed My Little Pony. We weren’t exactly accepted into society, so I usually didn’t tell people that I was a Brony at the time of introduction in fear of hurtful judgement. I guess I felt at ease with it in this case, probably due to the fact that I was talking to a person who had become the very kind of pony I enjoyed.

I smiled. “Were? As far as I know I still am!” I exclaimed.

“Awesome. So, um, I was wondering about the meetups. Are they still going on?” Test Flight asked.

Nearby members of our fandom met at a coffee shop a few blocks away from my apartment every Monday. There were usually around fifteen to twenty people that attended. I haven’t missed a meeting in several months, so I was pretty good friends with most of the frequent attendees.

“Yeah. Are you new to the area?” I asked.

Test Flight nodded. “I moved here last week. New job, needed a change of scenery.”

I levitated a chip into my mouth. “Where’d you move here from?”

I looked at the bowl of crisp snacks, and then to Test Flight. I remembered that he didn’t have any way to eat them without plunging his whole muzzle into the white dish, so I levitated one up to him, which he munched happily. “Alaska,” he informed after swallowing.

Visiting Alaska had always been a dream of mine. The landscape was beautiful, mostly untouched by humankind. “Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve always wanted to go there,” I admitted.

“It’s not as great as everyone thinks,” Test Flight continued as I fed him another chip. “Really cold all year, hard to get around.”

“But beautiful and untouched!” I looked at the pegasus, and then something in my mind clicked into place like a piece of a puzzle. A possible way to figure out my human name. My laptop!

“I’ll be right back,” I said, rushing into my bedroom where I searched for my portable computer. After a while, I found it on my desk, and tried lifting it down to me. It was fairly heavy, and I had a little bit of trouble getting it to the door without dropping it.

I quickly devised another plan, and slid a piece of stray cardboard underneath it. I gave it a gentle push, and the makeshift sled glided gently across the floor without much effort. I smiled and continued to push it all the way back to the living room, where Test Flight was watching me with interest.

My idea was this: I would log onto my computer, which was registered under my human name, and find out what it was before turning pony.

“Alright,” I declared, opening my laptop and pushing the power button with my hoof.

Test Flight looked confused. “What’s your plan?”

“This computer is registered under my human name, so if I login, I can figure it out!”

Time seemed to slow down around me as the loading screen remained for a minute before actually getting me to the login screen. I used a marker on the keyboard like a finger to enter my password.

For a long time it loaded, and when I saw the message displayed on my computer afterward, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Welcome, Wires!

Author's Note:

Shorter than the last chapter - I wonder how that happened!

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How did you come up with the name for this story?

[AsherThePhoenix]

DUN-DUN-DUNNNNN! Can't wait to read more!

[Spyderwillster-TLP]

6902055 Well, it took a lot of thinking. I can't remember exactly how it came to mind, and the details I could give you would spoil later points in the plot...

[ferret]

I guess it couldn't have been that easy!