Chapter 15: Horse Friend
"Right," Dad said awkwardly. It looked like she wouldn't have to work hard to convince them to leave—if anything, they seemed eager to be gone. "We'll see about those... issues."
"Oh!" She turned hastily, focusing briefly on her mom's phone and levitating it back to her. "Here's this. I, uh... wanted it to be gone so you wouldn't call the police earlier. Sorry, I... I just thought you'd probably be flipping out. Like I did when this started. I wanted it to just go away, but... yeah. I keep saying that."
They hadn't said anything about it before, but now they were both staring. Maybe they'd thought the alien baby could levitate herself around, and didn't need her help. Mom glanced between her glowing horn and the phone. "What's causing that?"
She chuckled awkwardly. "I wish I understood. It's me, somehow. This is one of the first powers the baby used. Like... moving things around. It's what makes me hopeful I'll be able to figure this out given enough time. If I can levitate things, then hopefully I have the rest of her powers too."
"Powers," Dad repeated, walking back out the way he'd come.
Mom glanced after him, but didn't leave right away. "Let us know if... Tell us if you need anything, Kyle. If there's anything we can do."
Kyle laughed. "Sure, Mom. Will do." She waited until her mother was gone, before finally lifting Fay up to eye level. "Alright, alright. You're hungry, it's fine. I just didn't want them to see."
Fay didn't look particularly understanding. Kyle might doubt just how clever a baby could be, but she knew frustration when she saw it. If she waited much longer, Fay probably would've done something rash, and then all the cooperation she'd earned from her parents would be right back out the window.
But they didn't throw me out. That's way better than I expected. Somehow, impossibly, her parents were actually on her side. She had more time to try and figure out her powers, more time to use them to change back. Assuming that's even possible. I don't actually know what I can do.
But that reminded her of something else, something she shouldn't have let herself forget. While Fay ate, and the sensation relaxed her even further, she focused her attention on her laptop. At least while she was relaxed, it was no trouble to get her strange powers to work. It was only when she really tried to focus on using those abilities that they struggled and she dropped things. I held the baby and a phone at the same time just now. I'm getting better at this.
Now if only she was brave enough to go out into the preserve and learn how to use her wings while she was at it. Maybe if all else failed she could flee to Canada and eat grass in the wilderness for the rest of her life.
Don't be stupid, Kyle, that won't happen. Mom and Dad aren't going to abandon you. You won't have to run away.
It was easier to forget about her stupid ideas when she was feeling relaxed, and little was quite so relaxing as the sensation of feeding Fay.
She didn't want to feel that way, actually she wanted to think as little as possible about what she was doing. But there was no escaping the simple biology. She was being mind-controlled, but by entirely physical hormones instead of some otherworldly force. These were hormones as old as life itself, and just as hard to fight. But she could worry about that when and if she ever found a way to change back. In the meantime, caring for the baby was more than enough work to occupy her attention.
She settled the laptop on the sofa in front of her, where she could read the screen and occasionally check on Fay at the same time. She didn’t even bother going back to that old thread anymore, she'd clearly learned all she was going to learn on that thing. But she did check her disposable email address, and was delighted to see a response. Just one, so apparently the disposable address on the other end hadn't been compromised. That didn't necessarily mean anything it sent would be true, though. The message was shorter than she might've hoped for:
"Thank you for sending proof. I'm going to rigorously analyze this and the other images before I share anything with you. Given where the message was sent, I hope you understand. The stuff I have to share is less valuable to everyone the more people have it, so I have to be careful.
“I will get back in touch with you as soon as I'm certain you're not lying to me. Initial examination of your evidence suggests it's real, or I wouldn’t have bothered sending as much as I did. In the meantime, I suggest not sharing more pictures or images anywhere else online. If you're telling the truth, then you and that baby are extremely powerful, with more magic than most beings on this planet. But given your ignorance, you're also extremely vulnerable at this moment.
“Never share information about your location. Your images aren't geotagged and don't show scenery or the sky—pay special attention to this; a few of the stars might be enough to narrow down your location. Keep information about your condition as secret as possible if you wish to remain safe.
“On the other hand, you might be able to trade the baby away for help, though I still think the chances of reversing this with human magic are small. True transformation isn't really in the wheelhouse for us mortals, only short periods and parlor tricks.
“I have an image expert going over your shit. Expect to hear from me by tomorrow.
“-Anon"
You didn't have to sign it that way, she thought, glaring at the bottom line of the message. But considering they'd bothered getting back to her at all, there was at least some hope. Either they were real, or they were some jerk leading her along and trying to make her more afraid than she already was.
I wasn't going to share any identifying information anyway. I don't want this to turn into one of those fifties horror movies where we're locked up in a military base in the desert somewhere. That would probably end with some poorly acted scientists threatening Fay so much that she would nearly destroy the planet, so that someone could turn to the camera and remind the audience that humans were the real monsters all along.
Or something.
When she'd finished eating, she went through the monotonous task of changing Fay's diapers and getting her ready for the day. Unfortunately her "remodeling" of the stable didn't include a shower, so there was no way to get clean. Kyle would've liked to wash off herself, but she doubted her parents would take too kindly to her letting herself inside right then.
In a little bit. Once they get used to me maybe I can get my old room back. There were some benefits to living in a gigantic old house, even if it wasn't staffed anymore and much of its older sections were showing their age. She could easily imagine setting up a nursery inside, maybe even moving all the furniture from out here. Though there was a chance that her parents wouldn't want her there. Just because she didn't have any friends didn't mean the same was true for the whole family.
"I don't suppose you can Doctor Who the hell out of this stable?" she asked, once Fay was changed and seemed happily occupied playing with her toys and watching Kyle. "You know, like... bigger on the inside? Give us a real bathroom, that would be great." There was a hose on the side of the building—assuming the total reconstruction hadn't gone deep enough to break all those pipes, she could probably rinse off that way. Completely naked, in full view of the house.
I can deal with smelling a little like a barn for the time being. It's not like that isn't where we belong.
For the insanity of her last two days, very little of interest happened that day. In a way it was a relief, since that meant she wasn't afraid for her life and there was no danger of her world being upended. Fay didn't change all the plants into man-eating monsters, or set the house on fire. She did want to go outside and play again. This time Kyle could keep up with her a little better, pushing her away from anything particularly dangerous. If the baby really wanted to, she could easily overpower anything Kyle wanted to do.
But just because she could didn't mean she did. Fay was surprisingly cooperative with her attempt to keep her from danger, either able to understand or at least not resisting her foster parental influence. If anything, she seemed eager to have Kyle nearby, lingering near objects and waiting for an explanation. At least, that was what Kyle imagined.
"This is... our great-great grandfather. He was an officer in the Union army, see? You... don't know what any of that means, but that's why he's on a horse. You were probably just looking at the horse, huh?" No response other than energetic babbling, but maybe that was her way of showing how closely she was listening. They walked all the way around the backyard, at least to the parts that she could reach without being visible from the street. There would be no going to the side of the house with its iron gate, where they could be easily seen.
Her parents were honest with her in one other respect, and by the time lunch rolled around they'd actually brought some food. Granted, it was a bag of bulk carrots marked for "livestock," but considering how hungry she felt, Kyle didn't even complain. She asked for a peeler, but by the time they'd brought one out she'd already eaten a third of the bag. At least she took the time to wash them first.
Kara came out around evening, knocking lightly on the door in her usual way. Before Kyle could even say anything, it was already swinging open. "I realized that there's no point in waiting for you out there. It's not like you're not decent—you can't be right now."
Kyle glared, as much because of what she said as the volume. She gestured towards the crib with a wing, rising from the couch and her laptop. So far there hadn't been any further messages on her disposable email address—she could only hope that meant the writer was taking their time to verify her claims, and not that they'd given up on her. It's either get help learning these powers, or I'll have to figure it all out myself. What would it be like to invent a computer from scratch?
Hell, she didn't think she could build a toaster from scratch, let alone a computer. "Let's talk outside. Don't want to wake her."
Kara didn't look terribly eager to do that, but Kyle didn't give her a choice. She marched right past her, straight out the door into the evening twilight.
She waited for her sister by the door, pushing it closed with her magic. At least... that was what she thought it probably was. Assuming her anonymous new friend was right. "What's the news? I don't suppose Mom and Dad found a cure without talking to me."
Kara laughed weakly, patting her on the shoulder. "You're getting that desperate already?" But there was nothing but sympathy in her voice. "Nothing so convenient, bro. Lots of rationalizations, wondering what god we pissed off to get cursed like this. Way more literally than last time. I didn't believe in anything supernatural either, but... it's hard not to."
I hadn't even thought of that. "If this is divine, it seems more... Greek." She took a few awkward steps forward in the dirt, spreading her wings. "I could picture something like me flying to Mount Olympus."
"Oh, you're gonna let me ride you now?" Kara smiled wider. "That didn't take long."
"Sure, but read up on what happened to Bellerophon first. It didn't actually work out so well for that guy. I'm feeling it will go about the same for us."
She hadn't expected Kara to recognize that, and apparently she was right. She just shrugged, turning back towards the house and looking bleak.
"Thanks for sticking up for me," she said. "I don't know where I'd be without you, Kara. I'm really grateful."
That was enough to elicit a smile, anyway. "Keep saying that. I'll think about whether that's worth what I've been going through. So far, well... could be better, but that's not your fault. I'm hoping Mom and Dad calm down about this, if we give them a little more time."
Kyle was silent then, considering. “I don't really know how anyone could calm down about this. It's completely impossible. More than once I find myself wondering if I'm going to wake up from this bad dream, and so far I just... haven't."
Kara rested one arm around her shoulder, silent. She didn't say anything for a long time, long enough that Kyle wondered if she'd fallen asleep. Kara had that gift, the ability to sleep anywhere she wanted with very little effort. But shouldn't I be the one who can sleep standing up? I'm the horse.
Eventually she did speak, cautious and confused. "The baby doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world to deal with. Not having hands... obviously blows, but that doesn't seem to be slowing you down anymore. You figured out a way around that in what, two days? Too bad you couldn't be that resourceful about the rest of your life, eh?"
Was that supposed to be a compliment? Kyle wasn't sure if she should be mad or not, so she only stuck her tongue out. "Adapt or die, didn't have a lot of options. I wouldn't say I've figured everything out, though. It's still... hard. Like my brain is trying to catch up with my body. I keep trying to do things that would be easy before, twist a knob or open a box or whatever, and I just hit my hand against it like a block of wood."
"Hoof," Kara offered unhelpfully. "You hit your hoof against it, right?"
"Nitpicking is supposed to be my job."
"I'm filling in." She let go, taking a few steps towards the house. "Mom and Dad want to help you, so we're still doing okay. Not sure what they think they're going to do, but... maybe if they just give you enough time, you can become a magical girl too?"
She gritted her teeth together, but resisted the urge to say something angry. "I believe I'm already magical, and I'm positive I’m a girl. The whole—being a gigantic horse-sized almost-horse makes it hard to miss. Can't say I'm a fan so far. Aiming whenever I need to piss is a nightmare."
"Just sit down," Kara said, grinning back just as wickedly. "Just try and hold on, bro. Maybe we could... get you in touch with a counselor or something? Like, have you thought about it? Are you technically trans now? If anybody has the wrong brain in the wrong body, it's you."
Kyle almost answered with a reflexive denial without even thinking about it. The subject made her so uncomfortable that she didn't want to get within miles of it. But she couldn't just ignore it and expect it to go away now that there was no sign of a reverse transformation in her future.
"In the sense of feeling uncomfortable and wanting my old body back, yes," she began. "But... I'm not really sure I can handle everything else that comes with that. In that room is a baby that basically made me her mom? Or... the most involved babysitter in the world. I guess they used to call it a wet-nurse... whatever. Point is, I don't really want to get magic all mixed up with regular people dealing with all this. Hey Mom and Dad, today I'm coming out as a guy. You already know that, but..."
"You really think you're going to feel better just ignoring it? How well does that usually work for you, Kyle?"
She winced. I feel like you're not understanding what I'm trying not to think about. Not even that being female was an endless well of confusion for her, and embarrassment whenever she thought about her family seeing her. Even worse, whenever she was caring for Fay, she actually didn't care. The implications were so horrifying that she certainly wasn't going to suggest them to Kara now.
"You can keep calling me Kyle," she said. "I don't really care about the rest of that stuff. Use whatever words you want. I'd give my left arm for some fucking clothes, and wouldn't feel too picky about what they were. Just so long as I wasn't showing my junk to everyone behind me."
"If you're stuck for long, we could probably... figure out something," she said. "I've seen a few horse costumes before, but they wouldn't fit. You're not the same shape. And most of them don't cover..." She gestured vaguely behind her. "Well, animals poop. I guess that's not really a problem for you."
She laughed again, relieved that they were moving on. "It's a gigantic problem for me. Have you seen how much I eat now? Just... it's not by accident."
Kyle couldn’t imagine how she would deal with this nightmare—but at least she wasn't alone anymore. She had her family, and Fay had her. That could keep her sane.
Probably.
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Oof, Kyle has my sympathies.
Now more than ever I'm imagining how the encounter with the equestrians will go. Likely to involve shouting, both on their irresponsibility and for them to turn him back. Wonder how he'll react when that second part can't be done.
And we can add Anon tag now.
Kyle hope you meet twilight soon
I guess now a question is how willing the parents are going to get in terms of proximity. Or will they make Kara do everything and that first time was an exception?
Waiting for the parents to try to attempt to show concern about Flurry and whether she is eating, only to have Kyle have to explain that Flurry is eating just fine.
I AM LOVING THIS STORY SO STINKING MUCH!!!
I have a sneaking suspicion that “Anon” is going to turn out to be a bad guy. Being super-secret about everything and trying to keep Kyle to itself...reminds me of some villains in Starscribe’s other stories. And it doesn’t seem like what Twilight or Cadance would do, either, and we know they’re good...
The Centipede Problem. A shame it's not as simple as calmly willing herself back to humanity.
Hmm. Curious.
Uh, yeah, even without the biological imperative, I wouldn't trust anyone who'd say they could undo this for the low, low price of one innocent child.
So... was last time recently, or something unrelated? Because I still have my reservations about this family.
Still, Kara is a good horse friend. Let's just hope the situtation doesn't decay too rapidly when the less friendly horses show up...
10091209
Sunset?
10091303
Maybe! I hadn’t thought of that possibility.
10091358
Wouldn't she have recognized an alicorn and told Twilight by now though?
There are Pro and Contra of making a video of her talking as a horse showing Flurry and magic and put it in Internet
Pro: Maybe someone who knows about magic could help
Contra: They could think it's special effects or the government could try to investigate
It is not a curse! Because even fictional curses are magic!
This makes me doubt malicious intent is involved. Not asking for location and advising not to share location are good points.
10091449
It’s not clear to me that she could have, given what we know about what Twilight and Cadance have been doing. I’m not sure Twilight has been around to answer the journal, much less step back through to check in.
10091720
Lol that's a good point. Imagine after all that, Sunset just says "you should really check your texts"
10091108
Amen mare.
Oh no.
Really getting curious about who Kyle is corresponding with.
Yep... things are in motion on both sides of the dimensional veil now... for better or worse.
Sanity: %78.547
10092831
A rather generous estimate.
Sees title
Oh no....
You never specified if Kyle's mom took her phone out of the telekinetic grip or not.
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/uncovering-cicada/images/8/81/3301orig2012cesarincluded.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140110060301
"I recognise that bedrock - see you soon!"
-some noobs on 2b2t probably
I sincerely hope not. That's gotta be the most nasty, whimsical and vindictive pantheon out there
And the famous Anon makes his appearance
You just keep that optimism a little longer, Kyle. Just a little longer...
It must be Sunset!
...no, that's "Anon-A-Miss".
...er, wait a second...