6 Universal Nights

by The Blue EM2

Night 4: Scraping the Barrel

Tom, firmly himself once again, got up from his chair and strolled back to his room. Whilst certainly feeling better over what had transpired a few (OK, two) days ago, he was still a little concerned about the future of both himself and his friends. Constantly changing into fictional characters, apart from the inconvenience it caused you at the other end, was also extremely tiring, and he was increasingly finding himself sapped of strength as time went on. This morning he had struggled to get out of bed, such was his tiredness, and this was not like him. There were times he felt like cursing Jimmy for passing this on, but at the same time he also knew that it was hardly Jimmy's fault. He, after all, had had it forced upon him as well, and so it made no sense to blame him for something he couldn't control.

He rifled through his things, including his phone, miraculously repaired from two days ago, and popped crucial things like his wallet into his pocket. Never go anywhere without a means of paying, after all. Having found his things, it was time to go to the park. Sorry, let me try that one again. Tom felt it was time to go into the park now that he had all the things he needed. Much better.

Anyways, he paused outside Jimmy's room. He and Jimmy were going in similar directions today, so it made sense for him to wait. He knocked on the door. "Jimmy! You ready?"

"Just a moment, I need to finish writing!" came the reply.

Tom sighed. "Well, make it quick, OK? Time is very much against us."

There was no response. "Typical," Tom grumbled. "Jimmy really has no sense of priority some days."

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Jimmy opened the door. "Hey Tom!" he said. "Sorry for the wait. I was writing to Luna." He pointed to a red book on his desk.

"Jimmy, this has to stop." Tom looked cross. "Your obsession with Luna is getting out of hand. Yes, I know you've been her a lot, but seriously, writing to her? Books that write across dimensions don't exist! I think you need help."

"But it is true!" Jimmy protested. "I once became a human version of her and got to be her for a few weeks. Then, after we swapped back, she gave me that and a replica of her dress so we could stay in contact!"

Tom facepalmed. "You have to be pulling my leg. Well, we've wasted enough time as it is, let's go!" He grabbed Jimmy's arm, and they headed away towards the park, neither noticing a woman sparkling into existence, shutting and locking Jimmy's door, and then vanishing as if nothing had happened.

---

As the pair walked into Islands of Adventure, both of them chatted idly about Marvel comics. Tom, admittedly, was a little less knowledgeable in that field, but he tried his best nontheless to keep up with Jimmy's talk about Spiderman beating Doctor Spider or whoever it was for the umpteenth time.

"Did you know this was originally going to be a shopping mall?" Jimmy said, suddenly, snapping Tom out of his thoughts. He felt off. His jeans were riding lower on his body than they should have been, so he subconsciously pulled them up.

"Yes. Cancelled due to Universal's financial muddle in the 1990s." He stopped when he saw Jimmy snickering. "What's so funny?"

"I love that word, muddle. It's so British!"

"Like how you found loopy hilarious?" Tom retorted.

"Reinforcing my point!" Jimmy snorted. "Need to do some shopping?"

"I suppose I could," Tom sighed. His shirt felt loose now, for some reason. "I can't explain why, but my clothes are feeling a little loose. Maybe the Florida heat has made them expand, but without copious amounts of methane gas."

"I don't think that's how farting works," Jimmy replied.

"Noise that came from behind," Tom laughed, trying to cover his unease over the fact that the lamppost nearby seemed to be getting larger. "Anyways, gotta go, see ya!" And Tom sprinted away as fast as he could, before anybody could see anything of what was going on.

---

Jimmy was obviously long gone, so Tom slowed down and went into a side street to try and figure out what was wrong. He knew it was a possibility, but it all seemed like he was getting shorter. Far away from anybody else, he suddenly tripped as his shoes came flying off. Both of them sailed through the air and crashed into a nearby wall.

He suddenly had horrified flashbacks to an incident at a convention many years ago. If his shoes that fit perfectly had, for no readily obvious reason, come flying off, it meant only one thing.

A look at his socks confirmed that very fear. He could clearly see it as his socks collapsed like deflating balloons. His feet were shrinking.

He shakily pulled himself to his feet. "I have already done this twice, I am not being Apple Bloom yet again!"

His legs abruptly slimmed down, losing years of built up muscle as much of the hair on them fell off. Tom grabbed onto something in anticipation of what was coming next, but what actually happened caught him off guard. Instead of pressure building up in his hips, they actually shrank inward slightly as his legs got shorter.

He needed that something next, as the worst bit happened. The bits between his legs began to tingle, and then suddenly got sucked into his body, making a horrible sound as they were replaced by the female equivalent.

The world around the now girl began to get larger as the rest of her body got in on the shrinking game. Her shoulders narrowed and her arms pulled back in length, her hands becoming even smaller than they already were. The sensation of muscle, bone, and skin physically getting smaller was bizarre, and it felt as though Tom's entire nervous system was on fire as it tried to keep up with what was going on. She felt something happen to her chest, but it was barely visible when she looked down.

Her neck suddenly flattened as the Adam's Apple was dismissed from duty for today, followed by her skin softening, like that- you know what, that image is redundant. Moving on, her face shifted and softened until she looked like a preteen girl, before massive locks of orange hair tumbled down the back of her head and onto her fringe, covering her forehead. This new hair ran to her shoulders, and felt as though it was freshly washed and cleaned as a pink bow abruptly joined it. Her normally brown eyes then turned a shade similar to that of grape flavoured Gatorade, which looked very odd, followed by her skin turning a very light yellow.

Tom was, by now, in a mass of clothes that didn't fit her properly. But this was of little consequence to the magic of the day, as it set to work once more. Her shirt shrank onto her body, and suddenly turned turquoise, looking like something worn as part of a business suit. The sleeves grew until they reached her elbows, and the cuffs were closed with two buttons, one on each side. The collar was closed by the top button, and all the other buttons were neatly done up.

A black bow tie appeared in the collar, and sat around her neck, soon joined by a purple or deep maroon jacket which faintly reminded Tom of the blazer she wore at the private school she went to back in the day. The buttons were also neatly done up and polished to perfection, and the cuffs were also neatly done up. Tom found herself subconsciously brushing the collar down. Moments later, a pink bow appeared in her hair.

Her slacks suddenly glowed and began to change, turning purple in the light as they began to shrink up her legs, stopping just above her knees. The legs proceeded to merge together to create a skirt, and the zip and button vanished into oblivion as it shrank onto her body, elastic holding it in place. Tom found herself subconsciously tucking her shirt into it as the changes went on, the garment being covered in a tartan pattern of pink, blue and yellow.

Her socks slithered up her legs like snakes, turning purple and stopping partway up her calves. Her shoes then shifted, the laces and front plate vanishing and merging to create a pair of dark blue loafers, held in place with light blue bows.

The light faded, and Tom could only infer it was over. She glanced over herself in confusion, and was startled at how high pitched her voice was. "Well, I have no idea who this is meant to be. They're clearly Crystal Prep, but-"

Tom then looked in a puddle, and clicked. "It's one of the background characters! Marigold Medley! YIPPEE!"

Not sure what had just come over her, Marigold began bouncing about as if she were made of springs, and headed into the main street for the next ride on her list.

---

Whilst impressively themed, Dr Doom's Fear Fall wasn't much to write home about. It was a pretty average drop ride, and Marigold felt stupid for securing an Express for that. That said, a lot of people had asked what on Earth a schoolgirl was doing here. As she headed away, she suddenly tripped and flew through the air, landing next to the exit for The Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster.

"Stupid shoes!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up and standing up. "Oh well. It's a lovely day, and there's so much to do!"

Just then, she saw a woman with red hair exit from a ride. Marigold ran over to them and knocked them over in her enthusiasm. "Did you see that? IT WAS AWESOME!"

"What?" the woman asked, now identifiable as Cayenne. "The ride or something else?"

"The ride!" Marigold exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Wanna get an ice cream?"

Cayenne paused. "Well, I suppose I-"

"Great!" Marigold sped off toward the nearby ice cream stand.

The pair stood there, eating ice cream, when suddenly Marigold's phone went. "Hello! Marigold Medley! How can I help you?"

"Great, another perky one. I've had enough of those for today."

"Who is this, please?"

"What's it to you?"

"There's no need to be so rude!"

And there's no need to be so annoying."

Marigold ended the call. "That was weird."

"Hello you two!" called a voice. Cayenne and Marigold looked up to see Starlight Glimmer joining them.

Author's Note:

Marigold Medley is the fan name given to one of the background characters in Friendship Games. She can be seen in a few crowd shots in the film, most notably in the 'Welcome to CHS' party which Pinkie spices up. She is also the star of this story;

ESo Her Legacy Will Endure

• Equestria Girls
• Comedy
• Drama

Marigold Medley, Sour Sweet's younger sister, is super-excited for the Friendship Games. So why does it seem like she's the only one at Crystal Prep who is?

• Twist
• Other

PresentPerfect · 8k words  ·  85  5 · 2.7k views

Any suggestions for a VA for her?

Dr Doom's Fear Fall really is an afterthought in the park, being a generic drop tower ride.

Anywho, who do you was on the phone?

Comments

[Thunderous]

In the 2nd picture, Marigold looks like a doll... That's fuckin creepy, dafuq.

Either way, good chapter, as always, Blue!

[The Blue EM2]

10157065
Yeah. Chalk it up to an animation error.

[The Blue EM2]

10157124
Do you?

[The Blue EM2]

10157144
Very good.

[The Blue EM2]

10157147
See you there.

[JimmyHook19]

Heh. First time Tom has transformed into a Background Character I will bet.

[The Blue EM2]

10157493
Most users don't know Marigold.

[JimmyHook19]

10157522
With the exception of yours truly. ;3

[The Blue EM2]

10157530
You called her a different name.

[JimmyHook19]

10157559
Huh. So I did. :P

Well we all have our name preferences anyways.

[The Blue EM2]

10157563
I see.

[Godslittleprincess]

Tom facepalmed. "You have to be pulling my leg. Well, we've wasted enough time as it is, let's go!" He grabbed Jimmy's arm, and they headed away towards the park, neither noticing a woman sparkling into existence, shutting and locking Jimmy's door, and then vanishing as if nothing had happened.

(sarcastically) Gee, there's no way that can possibly be concerning at all.

As for the phone call, I'm going to have to say Aria Blaze.

[The Blue EM2]

10375525
Yes. Not concerning in the slightest...