Guided Rhythm

by Valshe

Rising Concerns

Chapter 10: Rising Concerns
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Holy-fucking-shit. The very person who I’ve known for years was now no longer the blonde jackass that I knew as my best friend. What now sat in the front seat of the van was the famed Wonderbolt, Soarin. His body splayed over the seat with his back hooves resting on the center console and his front hoofs dangling off the front seat. His head swayed with the movements of the car as he snored. A rivulet of spittle flowed down on a string of spit. His right wing was stretched up the backrest, with his left folded, the feathers rustling as the fan blew air on him.

This was so strange, seeing this change occur basically right in front of my eyes. He was sleeping right there on the seat as if nothing happened at all. What I’m wondering is how the hell he didn’t feel the transformation from human to talking horse.

“Trixie,” Zecora asked hesitantly. “From your words last night, you’ve seen this before, right?”

Trixie’s lips worked over her teeth for a moment before she gulped, as if she was trying to form a response. “Yes… Enrique changed into Snips while he was driving; we crashed into a swamp. But this… But that was like in an instant, he was out like a light, then the change came. It wasn’t over the course of a morning like this.” She leaned forward a little, looking to Luis. “He was right: Discord did it to mess with us.”

Snips and Snails nodded, lips turned downward as they shuffled towards the back.

Both myself and Redheart leaned forward to take a look at Soarin—formerly Merille. Neither of us could form any words at what laid before us. However, as Redheart continued to look over him, she turned to Luis and asked, “Luis, could you pull over for a moment? I need to get a better look at this.”

What she just said was pure madness. There was no way she could have been serious, “You mean you want to pull over now? When there’s a group of murderous bikers chasing after us!?”

Trixie jumped in between us and pointed up the road. “There’s a side road up there, go down it, should lead us to the main highway, we’ll travel faster once we’re on it, the bikers will keep following the road we’re on, and have less to worry about.”

I crossed my hooves as I gave it some thought. We had to get away fast, but going to an out-of-the-way road would be smart, “Well… Alright then, but make it real quick!”

Luis, who had nodded towards us, slowed down a bit as he turned into a side road. It was a bumpy road, as we felt the van bounce up multiple times. Snails, being so light, was actually bounced into the air as we kept going down the street.

Wooden telephone poles guided wires down the left side of the road with aspens and poplar trees flanking us on the steep hill to our right. Luis pulled into an overgrown driveway leading to an empty lot, and put the van in park. “Okay,” he said, “let’s move Merille.”

He got out of the van and opened the back for all of us. Trixie and Redheart hopped out of the back and walked to the front passenger seat where Soarin’ still slept. As the passenger door opened, Trixie asked, “Alright, what do you need me to do?”

Redheart pointed at Soarin’ and said in a commanding tone, “Use your magic to lift Soarin from the passenger seat. Luis and I will then lay him down in the back.”

“I ran myself into the ground hauling a colt around a parking lot, do you really think I’m going to be able to lift a star-athlete of the Wonderbolts through a van without bashing him into something?” Trixie deadpanned.

Redheart facehoofed as she glared daggers at Trixie, “Fine then... Drape him over my back while I carry him to the back of the van. Just make sure he doesn’t fall off.”

“That I should be able to do,” Trixie answered, horn glowing as light enveloped Soarin’. He floated out of the seat, his body had not shifted position at all until he was lowered onto Redheart’s back while a glow of magic kept his head cradled as Redheart made her way to the back of the van. They deposited Soarin’ next to Zecora, and clambered in themselves. As soon as Soarin was put in the back of the van, a glow of magic shut the van doors behind him.

Trixie tapped Luis on the shoulder and gave a smirk. “We’re good; let’s go.”

As Soarin’ now lay in the back, Redheart made a quick examination of him. She lifted his head up and turned his head to the side, lifted his eyelid and took a look at his eyes, and even examined his wings on his back.

“I don’t know what to say about this. He’s completely changed. No sign of his human part remains… Well physically at least. We just have to wait until he wakes up and hopefully not startle him.”

Snails approached Soarin’ and prodded him with a hoof, jabbing just underneath his wing. Trixie batted the colt’s hoof as he prepared to test Soarin’s wing.

“No poking.”

Tired of listening to just the sounds of the road bumps that the van travels over occasionally and Merille’s snoring, I began to search through the CD cases that were strewn about the back. Although George’s van had many mix CD’s, they were all of a similar genre, which was country.

Hearing the snoring get slightly louder, I turned to everyone and asked, “So, how much longer do you think it’ll be until he wakes up?”

Snips sat by Merille’s head. “Eh, I think I’ve got an idea of how to wake him up.” Snips, took a deep breath, and then shouted in the van, “Come and get your freshly-baked apple pie!”

I don’t think Zecora could have rolled her eyes any harder. She looked towards the chubby pony and said, “Snips,To trick Merille with desert, won't make him awake and alert.”

“Mmmmm… Pie…” Soarin mumbled in his sleep while mimicking a chewing motion.

Zecora let out a sigh and mumbled, “Though I’ve been wrong before…”

An evil thought passed through my head as I grinned grinned, “Well, it seemed to work a bit.” I lowered my head to Soarin’s ear and said, “There’s a sale on pies at the local bakery.”

Soarin continued to mumble more about pie as he shifted even more in his sleep. Seeing that, I laughed a bit harder.

Trixie stepped beside Snips and lowered her muzzle in front of Soarin’s. “Delicious… piieee!” she proclaimed before lifting her head up and giggling. Soarin’s wing fluttered briefly as he tossed his head about. Bringing a hoof to her mouth, Trixie whispered to Zecora, “Go on, do it, Zecora, it’s funny!”

“I, well...” She looked back and forth between us and shifted a bit. She seemed to be a bit unsure about it until she finally caved in, “Oh alright.”

Zecora scooted forward towards the sleeping Pegasus and whispered into his ear, “A delicious dutch pie, with glorious apple filling, and cinnamon.” The words seemed to make the stallion begin to drool. “Wouldn't it sound lovely to eat?” She said with a bit of a giggle.

Suddenly, as if to answer her question, Soarin leaned his head forward towards Zecora. Getting up so quickly didn’t give Zecora any time to reach as his muzzle slammed right to hers. It looked as if they were kissing each other.

To say I laughed would be the understatement of the century.

Soarin’s slowly opened his eyes and as soon as he saw what happened, his pupils immediately turned to pinpricks. Startled, he jumped back as his wings fluttered in response which caused him to hit his head on the roof of the van. He fell back down rubbing his head and turning away in embarrassment.

Zecora immediately fell over backwards as she wasn't sure what just had happened. All she could do was stutter out, “I… They… It... Them!”

I was bowling over in laughter as tears began to form, “If I had a camera, that would’ve SO been posted to Facebook!” Zecora glared daggers at me for that, but it couldn’t calm me down.

Trixie sat there, smirking as she looked between the stuttering Zebra and the freshly-awakened pegasus. “Come on, it’s not everyday you get to wake up with a kiss!”

Soarin’, who was trying not to make eye-contact with Zecora, muttered, “Just… What exactly happened?”

“They asked me to do it!” She blurted as she looked back to the confused stallion before looking back down again in embarrassment. The way she looked, it was as if she never kissed someone before.

“What are you going on about?” Trixie elbowed Snails. “I distinctly recall Zecora wanting him to wake up to a mare with her own racing stripes! Isn’t that right Snails?”

The colt nodded mutely before adding, “Uh huh!”

She huffed as her face reddened, “It was merely a mistake! A silly little prank!”

Suddenly, Redheart approached Zecora and laid a hoof on her shoulder, “Don’t worry. It’s alright we all know that it was unintentional,” She said as she glared daggers at all of us and said with venom in her voice, “RIGHT?”

Snails cowed under Redheart’s eyes, but Trixie kept her wan smile on her face.

I quickly looked away from Redheart and scratched the back of my head before giving a motion like a thumb up, giving my best Larry Butz impersonation, “Yeah! Just an accident!”

Soarin, who was now looking over his new form, turned to us with wonder on his face, “So, who exactly am I now?”

“You are the flying ace, and pie-loving Wonderbolt, Soarin’,” Trixie stated. “So all in all, you shouldn’t be feeling too blue about who you became.”

“Soooo…” Merille asked, “That’s a guy character right?”

Deciding to save my friend the horror of the gender check, I said, “Yes Merille. Soarin’s a guy. There, I saved you from the gender check.” Afterwards, I resumed searching through the countless amounts of CDs.

Merille took another once-over of himself and said enthusiastically, “Well, at least I didn’t go through the unexpected gender swap. So I dodged that bullet and… Wait,” Soarin quickly stared at his wings with amazement, “I can fly!”

He flapped his wings in excitement as he jumped up and, once again, hit his head on the roof of the van. “Ow!”

Luis, who was eyeing the road quickly turned his head around and scolded Soarin, “Hey! You might want to quit hitting the top before you break through the van or give yourself a minor case of serious brain damage.”

Trixie turned around and poked her head into the front compartment. “How’re we doing for time?” she asked.

Luis, who finally turned on the main highway, took a quick look at the road signs and said, “We’re actually getting close to Chattanooga, Tennessee. So, we’re making good time.”

“We should be able to make Knoxville before too long. Keep it up, you’re the only one whose face matches their license now.” Trixie turned back to us and sighed. “Well, that was hectic. Anybody else feel like leading us into a biker bar? Maybe we can go roast marshmallows at a Klan meeting? Pilfer some donuts from Westboro?” As she spoke, her look slowly centered on Soarin’.

Soarin’ noticed Trixie’s angry glare and shuffled around a bit, “I honestly don’t know what came over me. Before then I never even cared that much for a pie.”

Trixie closed her eyes, sagged down, then dragged herself past us towards the back. “I-I’m beat… If something important comes up…” She hit the carpeted floor with a thump. “You know where I am.”

After a few minutes of looking, I found a few good discs, so I pulled out a few and said, “Hey, how about we listen to some music while we ride? Who here’s a fan of Johnny Cash? All I found was country stuff. It’s a mix CD of a bunch of his and other artists’ stuff.”

Trixie’s tail thumped against the carpet, accompanied by a muffled “Me.”

I reached over and levitated the CD into the CD player and hit play. A solo guitar began to play from the van’s speakers, soon followed by a Johnny Cash’s voice. Zecora's ears perked up as she listened to the song, apparently being unfamiliar to her. It didn’t sound too bad actually, dated, but it was easy on the ears.

“Western Vinyl?” Zecora asked as she looked toward me. “I didn't think you the type.”

I rolled my eyes a bit, “I’m not. But listening to something is better than listening to nothing. Besides, I recognize this song. It’s a cover of Soundgarden’s ‘Rusty Cage.’” An thought came to me and I said, “You know, this song is like the theme for our van here. The title fits so well!”

Zecora took a glance around the van and noticed the interior walls had tons of rust around the doors and edges. “Is it because it is old, and covered with rust and mold?”

I yawned a bit and said, “Exactly. You know...Trixie has the right idea. I’m going to catch some Z’s. Wake me up when we get to a pit stop.”

I took a quick once around and saw a backpack filled with clothing. It looked soft enough, so I grabbed it and placed it under my head as I slowly began to feel the hold of sleep get the better of me.
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I saw myself in an unfamiliar place once more. I began to wonder to myself if every time I sleep will be like this. All of these weird lucid dreams were getting tiring. I just wished I would have a normal dream… Like fighting zombies… Or being in Minecraft. I took a look at myself and gave a dejected sigh. Now even in my dreams I was now ponified. I took my shades off of me and took a look at my face through the reflection. I looked exactly like Vinyl now, save for a few details which made me look slightly more masculine. Everywhere around me was foggy until I began to walk forward. With each step I took, the fog began to clear and soon enough, I found myself inside of a nightclub.

The entire place was lit up and colorful lasers were flashing about. Speakers were set up on a stage where an empty DJ booth sat. In front of it was a dance floor which was lit up with many colors and effects. As I continued to walk forward onto the dance floor, a heard a fog machine go off and a silhouette form behind the DJ booth. The shape was of the figure was Vinyl, no doubt about it. She lit up her horn and placed the needle on the vinyl disc and soon enough, I started to hear techno music.

The fog around the stage soon cleared up and Vinyl was now clearly visible on stage. She let the DJ booth continue to play as she approached me. She slowly stepped off the stage and stepped closer to me. Soon, she stood less than a foot from me.

She leaned her head close and just when her face was just inches from mine, the music suddenly stopped and yelled in my face, “Just what the hell was that back at the diner!?”

I flinched at the tone and volume of her voice. I tried to regain my composure to say something, but it was all for naught as no words left my mouth. I was suddenly struck with Silent Protagonist Syndrome.

She lifted her shades over her eyes and I was now able to see the anger in her. “That was the stupidest thing you could have ever done! I mean, I can be reckless at times, but never something as stupid as that!”

All I could do was hold my head in shame. I fucked up badly back at the Waffle House. I had let my emotions get the better of me. I recklessly charged at a group of armed thugs and almost gotten myself seriously injured.There really was no excuse for my stupid behavior.

I held my head down and finally said, “Yeah, I know... I screwed up badly. But I learned my lesson.”

I looked at her in the eyes while lifting my head slightly, “I know now to not be a hero like in any of the Elder Scrolls or Kingdom Hearts games I’ve played. Teamwork is important… And necessary for survival.”

She gave me a confused look, “Like in what now? Kingdom… Scrolls and Elder… Wha?” She asked aloud, wondering what Kingdom Hearts and Elder Scrolls were.

I lifted my head a bit, “They’re video games… But the lesson I learned though is still true!”

She gave me the stink eye for at least five seconds before giving a smirk and lightly bonking me on the head, “Alright, I believe ya, knucklehead!”

After that little bonk, I couldn’t help but laugh a bit. She really knew how to lighten up a mood. However, when the laughter finally died down, I had realized something. This dream is different from the others I’ve had. Before, my dreams were of something I was familiar with. Mainly the Stations of Awakening from the Kingdom Hearts series. Now, it’s a nightclub that was obviously made with ponies in mind. It was a place I had absolutely no familiarity with.

I assumed Vinyl must have noticed me taking a look all over the place, as she said, “This place was the start of my career… The place where I had my very first gig.”

She had mumbled something else to herself, but I couldn’t hear it clear enough to understand. We both began to head to the backstage area and approached a door with a sign that said “Vinyl Arpeggio Scratch A.K.A. DJ Pon-3.” When we walked into Vinyl’s room, the place was a mess. There were papers and trash strewn about, and speaker cases being used as makeshift tables. On one table-case was a pizza box with the brand name “Little Celestia’s.” Vinyl had taken a seat on the worn couch and grabbed a slice.

She levitated a slice towards me and said in a teasing tone, “You know you want one.” She then waved it around and said in a sing-song voice, “It’s supreeeeme!”

After sitting on the opposite end of the couch, I took the slice she levitated at me. Though when I looked down at the slice, I noticed something that I thought, at the time, shouldn’t have been there.

“There’s meat on this slice.”

Vinyl looked at me and said in the most sarcastic tone ever, “You don’t say?”

That was probably the funniest thing I’ve seen since, well ten minutes ago, but still... I had completely lost it. I laughed so hard I actually fell off the chair. When I hit the floor, I had hurt my head a bit, but I soon regained my composure.

After dusting myself off, I sat back down on the couch and said, “But I thought equines couldn’t eat meat. I had gotten sick after that sandwich, which was loaded with meat products.”

She shook her head, “Well, there’s your problem. It was overloaded with stuff like beef, pork, and things. Ponies can indeed eat meat, but not in abundance like you humans. You’d have no problem eating a chicken salad, as long as there’s not too much chicken. Just don’t try eating a steak covered in gravy.”

I facehoofed. That was why I felt so nauseated after that sandwich. After wolfing down the slice, I remembered why we came in here in the first place, “So… You said this was your first gig?”

She nodded and pointed to a calendar on the wall, “Yeah. It was eight years ago today, if this calendar in the room is correct.”

I lifted another slice of pizza in the air, “Happy eighth then.”

She giggled a bit and lifted her second slice in the air, mimicking what fancy people would do when they give a toast, “Happy eighth.”

As I began to munch on that slice, I realized that if one were not to count fanon, I knew nothing about Vinyl. In the show, she only had a few one-second appearances. I decided to use this opportunity to get to know just who’s mind I’m sharing.

“Hey Vinyl, I was wondering… Mind telling me more about yourself? I mean, we’re sharing a body and yet, I still know very little about you. Like, your parents and stuff.”

“Well shit. You’re actually right. I guess we never really had the chance to chat, you know… With all of that stuff happening… And then me teaching you basic magic things. I guess now’s a better time than ever!” she said excitedly.

My voice went to inhuman high pitches, “Really!?” Out of all of the people in the world, I got to be the one to learn about Vinyl’s actual backstory! To say I was excited would be the understatement of the century.

She saw my silly reaction and said with a smile, “Yeah, really.”

I soon calmed down on the outside, but I was fanboying like crazy internally.

She relaxed on the couch and began to tell her tale, “Well, as you saw on the sign, my full name is ‘Vinyl Arpeggio Scratch.’ My father was a local radio DJ while my mother was a pianist for the Canterlot Orchestra. Yeah. They were total opposites, yet at the same time, they were head-over-hooves in love with each other. Her yin to his yang, ya’ know? Well anyway, my mother wanted me to try out for piano classes. Well, I’m pretty sure you know how that turned out.”

I leaned back on the arm of the couch, “You couldn’t stay still for long enough and were bored way too easily?”

She flicked her hoof mid-air, “Bingo. I just found piano to be way too boring! I guess it didn’t help that most of those students were stuck-up pricks. I dropped the classes altogether a few weeks later. After that, I really had no direction. I mean, I already had my cutie mark for making music, but I still had no idea what instrument I would play.”

When she said that, I was confused, “Then how’d you get your mark then?”

She waved her hoof dismissively, “School play. Wrote the songs for it. Anyway, after I dropped the piano classes, my dad offered me the chance to help him out at the radio station. When I began working the turntables for the first time, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. So, after working there for a while, I bought my own set and the rest is history… And if it weren’t for my friend Neon Lights giving me the chance and gave me my first gig here, then I don’t think I would’ve gotten as famous as I did… Though I think he’s a bit jealous of me since I was considered by magazines somewhat of a prodigy.”

Hearing Vinyl’s history was awesome. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for me. Besides, I wasn’t asking for an autobiography. We continued to make small talk until Vinyl asked about me, “Well, you know about me, but I don’t know much about you.”

I sat up on the couch and began to explain a bit about my life, “Well, my life is pretty uneventful. My mother’s an assistant director of a daycare. I’m a high school graduate, having graduated just a few months ago. I’ve worked at the local supermarket as a cashier. Though I’ve had a few experiences there. In fact, it was working there in where I encountered ponykind for the first time.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Mind telling me?”

I shrugged and said, “Alright then. Well, it was a few days before I transformed into you. It was during my shift when I met a mother whose son had turned into a griffon. It was a pretty short time period, all I did was ask a few generic questions and took a picture.”

“Sounds like it was a pretty cool thing to see.” Vinyl said while smirking, “But I’m curious, what do you plan to do after all of this is over?”

I shrugged once more and told her, “I always wanted to go to college to become a game designer. But, as you can see, I don’t think I can attend any college while looking… Y’know, like this. Honestly, I’m surprised that I didn’t just hide until this blew over. And here’s the thing… I don’t regret leaving home. Usually, I’d turn tail and head back.”

Vinyl gave me an approving look, “Good for you. Just keep in mind that in this little trip, you’re not alone. Just keep your head up, and keep looking toward the future.”

I flashed a smile her way as I felt my vision blurring, “I think I’m gonna wake up soon. It was nice to just sit and chat, y’know?”

The last thing I remember doing before finally blacking out was giving her a single hoof bump.

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I felt myself being woken by the bumps in the road. In my half-asleep state, I heard a muffled voice.

“We need more gas if we want to make it to New York. Might as well wake everyone up to see if they want anything to snack on.”

As I began to wake up more, I heard Trixie’s voice.

“Mmm, a meal does sound wonderful right now.”

Now finally awake, I rolled onto my stomach, stood up, and stretch, “Mmm, where’d we stop at?”

Zecora looked out the window once more as the van came to a slow stop underneath a large roof, beside two large pumps. “It appears to be a gas station by my guess, but it will give us a chance to leave this small recess.”

I looked at the sign and immediately recognized it. It was one of the best convenience stores ever! I didn’t even wait. I used my magic to quickly open the back doors and hop out into the fresh daylight.

I quickly turned to my now-ponified friend, “Hey Merille, it’s a RaceTrac! Remember the last time we were at one? Those cups of ice cream were delicious!”

Soarin’ laughed a bit as he said, “Well, I told you that they had some good ice cream.”

“Ice cream, nachos, cheese puffs, soda; I’m just about willing to eat anything so long as it doesn’t dirty my appearance!” Trixie declared, walking with Zecora and poking her head out the door. While Zecora joined Merille and I, Trixie withdrew her head and went to her own bag, pulling out her laptop. “Luis, go get us food while I see what the situation is abroad. There are people outside, and I will not go before my audience with a rumbling belly.”

Redheart, who had been talking with Luis through the door, finally hopped out of the van, “So... Trixie, Snips, Snails… Want anything in particular while we’re inside?”

Looking up from the laptop, Trixie nodded. “A large slushie for each of us, a large bottle of water, and cheese puffs.” She turned to Snips. “Root-beer flavor?” Snips nodded, and Trixie turned to Snails, who was already nodding himself. “All root-beer flavor, please.”

Zecora nodded and made a mental note of it, “Alright, I’ll keep it all in mind, just tell us what you happen to find.”

I turned to Luis who beckoned for us to follow him. We made our way to the front doors and upon entering the convenience store, saw an astonishingly clean interior. The brown false-stone linoleum stretched past several shelves filled with junk foods to the coffee and baked-goods bars at the back. Along the right side of the store were the frozen yogurt and slushie dispensers. At the back left were two cash registers, working through a small line of people.

Before walking off on my own, I turned to the others and said, “If anyone needs me, I’ll be making the ultimate ice-cream sundae.”

I walked over to the frozen yogurt dispensers and grabbed the large cup. The place had multiple flavors ranging from vanilla to chocolate to mango to pineapple and everything in between. The moment I went to put my cup on the mango flavor dispenser I heard a fangirl squeal.

“OH! MY! GOD! It’s DJ PON-3!”

I barely had time to register where the voice came from before I got surprise-hugged, “Wait, what?”

Suddenly, I felt myself squeezed between a torso and two arms. I almost couldn’t breathe as she squeezed the life out of me, “Ugh! Can’t… breathe…”

“Oh! Sorry!” she said as she released me from her vice grip. “It’s just that… Well… You’re Vinyl herself! The best electronica artist ever!”

I laughed a bit and said, “Well, thanks. Though, just don’t crush me to death like you did just now.”

I took a look around, and it seemed that the girl’s squeal garnered some attention. Soon, others were looking in my direction. Some looked at me with indifference while some looked at me with pure glee on their faces. Soon I saw the flash of a camera and quickly turned to the source. It was from some guy’s camera phone from across the bar that had all of the ice cream toppings. Not long after that flash went off, more people started taking out their phones and snapping pictures.

Before anymore pictures can be snapped, I signaled for them to stop, “Look, if you want pictures, then just one at a time, and let me actually be ready for the pic, okay?”

The fans complied and began to ask to pose with them in pictures with them. I must have been really in the moment, as when I turned around, I saw two things. The first thing was that one of the fans had made my frozen yogurt for me and had put everything on it; just how I liked it. The second thing was that Zecora was now standing in front of the bathroom door with a very confused look on her face.

Deciding that it would be nice to give everyone an extra picture I called over to her, “Hey Zecora! Come over here and take a picture or two with me!”

“I… a-alright.” she stuttered a bit, but agreed to it.

She was really taking her time getting to the group, so I walked over and pushed her forward, “Come on, it’s just a few pictures.”

Zecora mumbled something, but I didn’t hear her as I draped my foreleg over her, “Smile!”.

Zecora flinched slightly, but still had a grin on her face, “Has this happened everywhere you’ve gone?” she asked me as the crowd started to disperse. “You seem rather content about it.”

I gave her a playful noogie and said, “Actually, no. This is the first time that’s happened since my little change. But it feels just like the times when I was at anime conventions, and people stopped me for pictures of my cosplay.”

“Cos...play conventions?” she repeated back. Soon, all of the crowd was now gone and we headed our way back to Luis. She gave me a confused look and said, “Sometimes you say the strangest things.”

We soon made our way back to Luis, who had a bunch of snacks for the road. He looked over to Zecora and said, “Anything you want to get before we head out?”

“If there are any zeb-” She stopped herself mid sentence, “Umm, I think I’ll be fine, perhaps just a drink for the road?”

She tried to make sure no one heard her begin to say “zebra cakes,” but I heard it. Remembering the little picture I saw on Facebook yesterday, I said from behind her, “Hey! How’s about some zebra cakes for Zecora?” The look she gave me was priceless. It was hard for me not to laugh, “I saw that picture on Facebook by the way.”

I tossed Zecora a box and heard her say followed by a weak chuckle, “Oh, right. How could I forget those.”

__________________________________________________________________

Shortly Luis and the rest of us made our way hastily out of the convenience store and back towards the van, juggling a few bags of road snacks between us.

For the most part it fell to the only two that either still had hands or capable of magic to carry the drinks, but the rest weren’t completely useless.Redheart and Zecora each carried a bag in their mouths, much to the amusement of the store clerk and a few other customers.

Trixie quickly put down her laptop to help the moment we began piling the supplies into the van.

After that, Luis drove us out of Tennessee and down single lane road. Just past a bridge, we pulled out to a rest area, a simple gravel lot with a building for washrooms. A short path off to led to the shore of the river, burbling over the smooth stones. After everything that has happened these past two days, it was nice to finally have a short reprieve away from it all.

“Well, this is as good a place as any on the road, I suppose,” said Trixie.

Zecora nodded in agreement as she took a look around the area, “That, I do agree, it is quite homely.”

While munching on my frozen yogurt, I raised an eyebrow in Trixie’s direction, “Something on your mind?”

She nodded. “Indeed, the brothers and I were looking on the web while at the gas station, trying to find out if anything new has occurred, what people’s opinions are…”

Redheart also eyed Trixie curiously, “What people’s opinions are?”

“Well, there are still a lot of people asking that we wear clothes, and somebody has been photoshopping pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin fist-fighting Princess Celestia… That’s about it besides the lurid comments and insults.” Trixie removed her hat and cleared her throat. “But that’s all less significant. I went on Facebook as well, and some stranger commented on the group picture of us in the motel, saying, ‘Take care of my son.’” Reaching to her neck, Trixie rubbed it as she looked between Snips and Snails. “Now these two tell me it wasn’t their mother, the username didn’t match up, and I know it isn’t mine. So I’m wondering, which of you has a mother named Karen Banner?”

Although I was laughing internally about the mental image of Vladimir Putin and Celestia, the more important issue was who this mysterious woman was, “Nah. It couldn’t be mine. I could bring up my Facebook to prove it.”

Redheart, who grabbed a tube of Pringles out from a bag, turned to Trixie and said, “It said, ‘Take care of my son.’ I believe that should be enough to clear me. Besides, I’m twenty-five. The last thing my mother thinks about is my well-being.”

Snips recoiled slightly. “What kind of mother doesn’t care about their child?”

Redheart waved a hoof in response, “Mine, for starters. But that’s beside the point. Anyway, could it be the Wonderbolt’s mother? Or the only bipedal person among us?”

“Luis and Merille weren’t in the picture, so it’s doubtful it was one of theirs,” said Trixie Vinyl, care to confirm?”

I took another spoonful of ice cream and said, “Definitely not Merille or Luis’ mother. For one, Merille’s mother is named Kim. And another thing is that Luis here was born in Mexico, so I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t find anyone really named ‘Karen’ down there.”

Trixie’s horn glowed with a click-clacking of her laptop, along with a few tones from her phone. She turned each one over and showed the contact information labeled ‘mom’ and a picture of one on the computer, a portly mid-western woman. “My mother, Brigette Krimm. So it isn’t mine either.”

Turning to the two colt brothers, Trixie asked, “I’m guessing it isn’t the case for you either?”

Both colts shook their head. “Our mother is Clarisa,” said Snips.

Trixie floated over her laptop, along with a pen. “Mind finding a picture of her or something else to go on? Just to be certain?”

Taking the pen in his mouth, Snips said, “Alright, would you like a birth certificate, passport, and social security number as well?” He then started typing into the computer with the pen, grumbling all the while.

I quickly grabbed my laptop from its case, and began typing in the password to unlock it. As soon as it did, I opened up my Facebook profile and picked out a photo, turning it around to show the others. It was a picture of a short, thin woman with black hair.

I pointed my hoof to the screen and said, “Well. Here’s a picture of my mother, Leanna Richman.”

Snails leaned forward to look at my laptop as Snips showed their own picture of a woman of slight build, but dark complexion.

“W-wow! Nice picture!” exclaimed Snails. The collective thud of Trixie and Snips’ smacking their hooves to their faces let me know what disappointment sounded like in stereo.

Shutting down her laptop’s browser as she floated it to Soarin’, Trixie said, “Here, mind showing us so we can be sure?” She looked over to Redheart. “You too?”

I floated my laptop over to Redheart for her to use. She had grabbed a pen from her bag and opened up Twitter. Looking through old tweets, she found the photo she was looking for. It was a picture of two people, the one on the left being a young redhead woman and the other being an older brunette with brown hair.

She turned the laptop to show everyone, “That’s me on the left, and my mother, Rose Valentine, on the right.”

There was a momentary silence after Snails had given a cat call whistle at the name ‘Rose Valentine’.

Now this time, it was me who smacked my hoof to my face, as I gave a groan, “You might not want to do that again.”

Merille, who was having some difficulty typing, eventually found the picture he was looking for, a picture of a southern portly woman with blonde hair, “Alright! Found it! Here’s a pic of my mom, Kim Robichaux.”

“Well…” Trixie floated her laptop from Soarin’ and towards Zecora. “That just leaves you, Zecora.”

Trixie turned around to look at the zebra before putting her laptop to the side. Unfortunately, Zecora seemed to have completely zoned out the rest of the world, “Zecora? Hello? … ZECORA!” yelled Trixie, waving a hoof in front of her face. “We’re waiting for an answer, you, Karen Banner, connection?”

“Huh?”Zecora was quickly brought back to reality as she scrambled a bit, accidentally knocking over her drink. “What a waste of a fine treat… I’m sorry, could you please repeat?”

Trixie, obviously frustrated now looked at her dead-center in the eyes, “Zecora, I just asked the group if any of them knew a Karen Banner, and if they were her son. Vinyl said no, Redheart said no, even Soarin’ said no, and he wasn’t even in the picture. That just leaves you. Is your mom Karen Banner? The others had pictures and phone contacts showing who their mothers were.”

Zecora shook her head quickly, “I, well, of course not.” She was obviously trying to avoid the question, and she was doing a horrible job of it.

She was looking between all of us, her head constantly switching back and forth. She took a deep breath and tried to come up with an excuse.

“Well, before any questions have begun, they told you to take care of their son.” she said as calmly as she could, “As you can see, that can’t be me.”

“Both Vinyl and myself switched genders when we transformed, and there are stories all over the place of that happening to others,” Trixie retorted.

Shaking her head as she got up, she began to speak up once again in her defense, “I, never have transformed, this has always been my norm.”

There was a quick moment of shock amongst everyone. Everything suddenly went quiet after her declaration. Things were so silent, you could hear a pin drop or, in our case, my spoon falling from my mouth and into the cup of ice cream. This was a huge revelation, and I don’t think the severity of the situation never really sunk in until that point.

“Well… shit,” said Trixie.

“Well, at least now we know who’s mother it is that commented on the picture,” I said in the most somber tone I’ve ever spoken in.

“Woah woah woah, uno momento,” said Snails, holding his hooves outwards. “That’s not right, you don’t remember being human? Nothing? Nada? Las luces están encendidas pero no hay nadie en casa?” Snails clutched his head, bending it at a sharp angle, Zecora’s statement obviously scaring him to his wit’s end. “What if I forget being human? Days at the beach, grandma’s stories... Todas las chicas hermosas que quería besar!”

I seriously felt bad for the kid. He was only in middle school after all. Honestly, I was able to relate to him. It scared me too.

I was about to get up to comfort him, but Redheart beat me to the punch, going over and giving him a big hug “Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to you!”

Snails’ forelegs wrapped around Redheart’s neck, taking in a shuddering breath. “Ah, la chica hermosa.”

Zecora arched her eyebrow at Snail’s panicking, as if she said nothing out of the ordinary, “I, don't understand, I’m still me. Why is it such a big deal?”

“How do you know that if you don’t even remember what you were like before? Or without anyone who knew what you were like before?” asked Trixie. “Aren’t you even able to pluck through your brain to figure out what’s old and what’s new?”

“Yeah! You’re forgetting who you even are!” I shouted in a panicky tone. “This just provides more reason for us to get to New York ASAP!”

“Yes! We should go to New York now, come on!” Snails walked over to the front, poking his head beside Luis. “Let’s go!”

Luis yawned a bit and said, “Yeah, I know, but I’ve been at the wheel all day. We need to make a pit stop somewhere.”

Snails sagged a bit and turned as I opened the van door. Luis, Redheart, Merille, and the two young ones followed me out, leaving Zecora alone.

We headed towards the small building that wasn’t too far from the van. Nearby was a small park bench which I had sat down on.

Looking towards the others, I asked, “So, do you think the same could happen to us? You know, forgetting our human selves completely?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t noticed any signs. I mean, I’m not getting dreams or flashbacks or particularly vivid thoughts,” said Snips. “Don’t think mi hermano here has either. Just an old waifu crush on Trixie, but that was even before all of this.”

Snails nodded emphatically. “Uh-huh!”

Redheart shrugged and said, “I’m not too sure either. I mean, I have been getting some vivid thoughts, but it doesn’t seem like anything bad is going to happen to me.”

When I leaned back on the park bench, a thought came to my head, “Hey, what are we going to do if Luis transforms along the way? Like, what if he’s driving and BAM! He becomes a pony.”

“Hope a rubber duck materializes when we crash?” offered Snails.

“It was a Gummy Bear, brother.” Snips glanced at the orange colt and shook his head.

“Oh, right.”

Soarin had a look of confusion on his face, “A Gummy Bear?”

“Yep! And then Discord came and started taunting Trixie and the rest of us, then she had to use her magic to get us out of the swamp.” Snails nodded, his mane flailing wildly with the motions of his head. His eyes were shut tight the entire time. It was probably for the best, as it spared in the confused looks from everyone but his brother.

I stared blankly as he explained the Gummy Bear thing, “Well then, that was… Interesting, but the point still stands. What if Luis becomes a pony before we reach New York? Last I checked, ponies can’t look over the steering wheel while pressing a hoof down on the gas pedal.”

Luis shrugged and said, “Well, if that were to happen, we’d probably walk a bit, then call for a cab or a bus. There, problem solved, since money isn’t really an issue now.”

I heard a couple of giggles from Luis’ blunt answer. Even though it was very simple, it was a solid enough plan for it to be a backup. Though, when New York was mentioned, I remembered the friend I made back in Mississippi. I remembered getting him as a friend on Skype, and then add to the fact that he lived in New York, we would have an advantage over most people headed to the Big Apple. We could be better prepared over others.

After telling the others that I’d be right back, I headed for the van to grab my laptop. When I opened the van door, I noticed both Zecora and Trixie were absent. Figuring that they would be fine, I opened up my case and immediately signed in to Skype. A couple of seconds passed as I found my friend’s Skype name. Hooking up my mouse, I used my magic to move it to the “Call” selection.

I heard the monotone beeps as the call tried to connect, and it wasn’t long before I heard a voice on the other end, “Hey Vinyl!”

I sighed in relief, being thankful that the internet was surprisingly good here, “Hey Tom. How’s it going?”

I heard a small groan before he said, “Not too good actually. Well, where I’m at is fine, but closer towards the city is pretty bad.”

Wondering just how bad it could be, I asked, “How bad is it? I mean, it can’t be too bad.”

“I really hope you didn’t just jinx the situation,” he said in a worried tone.

I arched an eyebrow at the screen, “How could I jinx it?”

“Remember your tropes. What you had just said is a classic example of Murphy’s Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” After that, he quickly went back on topic, “Anyway, things in New York City have gotten pretty bad. Protests have been on the rise, lately. It’s almost always between the supporters of ponies versus the anti-ponies. If you were to hear their arguments, it’s pretty cringeworthy on both sides.”

I began to think a bit, wondering what would be the best course of action when we actually get there, “So, I guess when we get there, we’re going to have to stick to the back roads and alleys.”

Tom seemed to have agreed with me to an extent, “Yeah, but New York is pretty much a time bomb waiting to go off now. Oh, and before you head in the city, my parents agreed to let your group use our place as a bit of a safe house.”

I pumped a hoof in the air to cheer a bit, “Thanks, man. Now, we’ll have at least some form of shelter over there. Anyway, I have to go now. Talk to ya later.”

I ended the call right after and closed my laptop. Putting it back in the case, I left it in the van as I hopped back out, closing the doors behind me. I quickly returned to my friends back at the rest stop.

“Hey, I just news on how the situation is over in New York City!” I exclaimed in an excited tone.

“Really?” Snips inquired. “How is it? Are they plastering pictures of Barack Obama fighting Luna all over Times Square?”

“As funny as that would be,” I said, “It turns out that there’s massive protesting all over the city, almost all of it being Pro-Ponies versus those Anti-Ponies. From what I heard, both sides are acting pretty stupid.”

Redheart, who was visibly bothered by the level of tension in the city, asked, “By the sound of that, it seems like things are just deteriorating.”

I shrugged and said, “Yeah, it’s pretty much a time bomb just waiting to explode.”

Luis put his hand to his chin and began to wonder aloud, “So driving on the main roads in New York City would pretty much mean suicide if things get bad enough.”

Merille, who stole my spot on the bench, said, “So we’re probably going to have to keep to the back roads, right?”

I let my eyes wander from here and there, “Pretty much. Oh, and my friend said that we can use his place to prepare should we need it.”

After I said that, I heard the sound of hooves walking across the gravel. I quickly turned and saw the signature blue unicorn approaching us, “Oh. Hey Trixie. Where were you?”

The mare finished walking towards me. She lifted up her chin as her haunches hit the ground. Her eyes passed over the rest of us, her brow arched. Then she sagged. “I was talking to Zecora, and I need to explain some things about her… and me.”

Author's Note:

Look at that! I'm not dead! Anyway, life stuff happened, which delayed the chapter for WAY longer than I hoped for.

Comments

[The Son of 2Chainz]

y u writin bout hoses?

[LuftRaptor]

3819929 he's writen cruz reasons

[Byrag]

Good to see you're still writing this bro

[Divine Path]

The lie consumes the self...

It seems the darkness remain unchanged. Can the magic of friendship really light the way back?
Forward, perhaps?

Awaiting further releases.

[Valshe]

3821373
I'm actually thankful that I'm still writing it... For a while, I just lost my spark in writing this fic. It started to feel more like a chore than anything. And for a moment, I even considered cancelling the fic altogether. Well, recently that spark reignited and now I'm enjoying writing this fic once more. So yeah, don't expect another long hiatus like that. I plan on continuing and seeing this through to the end.

[Valshe]

3821379

I'm just gonna say this... that sub-plot will soon reach the boiling point.

[Divine Path]

3821392
Right.

[Firebirdbtops]

Dropping the big bombs finally, I see.

[theFlancy Mernin]

Hmm...

ME GUSTA

[ShadeJak]

An update! Great chapter and it's super-super awesome to see this story back in action again! I'm curious now of what's going to happen with this memory affliction tho...

Reminds me, I gotta go and update mine it's been a while as well, and now it made canon which means I probably gotta ante up!

But where're they now if they left Tennessee? If they pass Virginia they might hear about MDW's antics in the papers... and I'll definitely be having my protagonist fangasm after (likely on FB) hearing Vinyl had at one point not been that far away.

[Ocean Breeze]

or give yourself a minor case of serious brain damage.”

You sly fucker.

[Valshe]

3827685
myfacewhen.net/uploads/6317-top-lel.png

[theFlancy Mernin]

Whatever happened to this story? ;n;

[Twilight_Shimmer]

why the hell is it, that so many damn stories with awesome sounding descriptions wind up canceled?! I saw this story and thought "DAMN this looks like it could be a fun read!" .... but then i saw the damn canceled status..

[The 72nd Huntress]

So, is this story up for grabs? While I don't mean to be rude, but it just breaks my heart to see a story with a cancellation tag.

[Valshe]

6608658

Sadly, no. That's because this story was a collab effort, and it'd be nearly impossible to continue without them.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

6609585 no offense intended, but just because it was a collab, why couldn't someone pick the story up since its dead? I too think it is a shame this story is dead. I may not have read it yet, but I have been keeping it on my to read later list in hopes someone DID pick it up and continue it, and I shall still yet keep it there until it is either piked up or removed from site. The Stories description (and the fact its about Vinyl Scratch ) are what caught my attention in the first place.

[Cerulean Rush]

or give yourself a minor case of serious brain damage.

Nice Portal 2 reference!

[sinewystatue382]

continue it

[sinewystatue382]

update it there are not enough story's like this