This can't be real!

by Somebodycallmylawyer

Prologue - A tale of the unexpected

Prologue - A tale of the unexpected

Hello there! How are you? What are you doing today? How is life going for you? Are you enjoying it? Have you had the chance to see anyone this morning? Are you glad to be living in the real world?

My name is Charles, and I have been unable to put that last question to rest. I would like to think that I am experiencing reality. However, I have doubted this assumption recently. Ever since this one fateful Sunday in October, I have witnessed the impossible unfold in the world around me. You wouldn’t believe what has happened this month. Firstly, ordinary people are victims of a series of transformations. Their own bodies have been replaced by ones from a cartoon. They have effectively turned into animals. In particular, the vast majority of them became ponies. Some of which became equines that were previously mythical.

The strange events don’t stop there.
Society has been divided into two main groups. One group consists of individuals who are sympathetic towards the changed people. The other group are heavily discriminatory organisations, which are prejudiced towards the former humans and the new-found creatures. In a few countries, there have been short clashes and conflicts between these two groups. Much of the conflict has been between the former humans and the hate groups. Many equine-creatures have been targeted by anti-pony organisations.

Just a few days ago, an extremist from one of these groups; P.A.P.A, tried to shoot an innocent yellow pegasus. This mare was one of the main characters in the cartoon that she was from. I felt like punching a wall when I found out about the shooting. However, despite my strong feelings at the time, I knew that my reaction couldn’t solve any injustice, especially if it occurred on another part of the world. Sadly, people are always going to disagree on something. Violence can erupt as a result. I've accepted the fact that things like this always happen, because everyone has their own opinions and morals. It’s just human nature, I suppose. Although groups like P.A.P.A exist and are operating worldwide, my area has been fortunate enough to avoid any speciesist incidents.

This doesn’t mean that this ongoing crisis has not affected us. If you’ve had the chance to look at the calendar lately, you would have observed that it has changed beyond recognition. I don’t even know what day today will be known as. This, however, is the least of my worries right now. I can’t imagine what might happen today.

This morning so far has been quite unusual for me, and I haven’t even started my day! Simply getting up was a battle. I haven’t been awake for very long, yet I have struggled to get to my mother’s room. Her bedroom is connected to the bathroom, which both me and mum use to get ready for the day. I should be ready to go downstairs and face the day right now, but there is one thing that’s stopping me from doing so.
I am looking into one of the mirrors (which act as cupboard doors) at this very moment. I have been here for at least 15 minutes. I can’t help myself from taking my gaze off from the object in this mirror. The object is still making me shiver. I am slowly calming down, but whimpers are escaping my mouth as I look into the mirror. After a moment of hesitation, I slowly turn away from the mirror.

What I am currently facing, along with what I have had to come to terms with in recent days, shouldn’t be happening in the real world. I have no idea if anything could logically explain the transformations and the calendar change. I have occasionally thought that this crisis is just an object of my imagination. I couldn’t escape the possibility that I, personally, was no longer living in reality. When these thoughts have appeared, however, I have told myself that all of this probably is real. I don’t see how I could have lost my grip on reality so easily. If I were comatose, I would probably know by now.

I still don’t know for sure. There are many reasons why I am unsure about my condition and my experiences. Firstly, I have never been in a coma before, so I don’t know what a comatose patient would actually experience, nor do I know how they would react and what they would think. Secondly, I can only assume that this crisis is a series of entirely unprecedented events in the history of the world. Impossible events have occurred without any rational reason. Surely, they couldn’t happen in the real world. My personal debate has shattered and frightened me. I can't go to sleep anymore, without having these thoughts at least once every night.

To summarise my experiences thus far in a nutshell: I have lost my confidence and composure in a short space of time.

This isn’t the only thing that I have lost.

As the ‘Great Pony Crisis’ has unfolded, I have lost the sense of control and security in my own life. I have lost my sense of belief and much of my ability to make rational judgements. These have been replaced in favour of cluelessness, fear, and more prominent scepticism. In fact, I might now have an unhealthy level of scepticism. I have almost lost my mind, whilst trying to comprehend the events as they unfolded. This might not seem like much, but now, I have lost something more valuable than any of the above.

I have literally lost my very humanity. My sense of individuality has gone with it.

All of this has gone, in the space of about 14 days, which used to be the length of a fortnight. It’s amazing how everything can change, just like that. I would have clicked my fingers to emphasise my point, however, I don’t know how to do that, for a start. There is a bigger issue, which prevents me from doing such an action. I don’t even have fingers anymore.

I am just as confused as you are, if not more so than you. The only way that I could begin to explain this to you is if I told you what happened in the last handful of days. From that fateful Sunday to the subsequent crisis that has unfolded recently. Let’s go right back to the beginning...