> Another One Bites the Dust
>  by ThatMrSomeGuy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Intro: Now with Less Freak Outs! (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“-with more and more people turning into ponies. Since nine days ago, bronies, fans of the progressively popular show ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’, have now been turning into ponies taken right out of the television program.”

*tzzzzz*

“-nothing but a bunch of queers. Now, they got those things messing in their heads. You hear that you little ponies? PAPA’s coming for you, and there ain’t nothing you can do but run and hide. So-“

*tzzzzz*

“-for one, think that they’re nothing more than victims. It’s about time we stopped pointing our fingers at the people turned ponies, and look for a real probable problem at hand.”
“Are you saying that the ponies are not responsible for anything that’s going on?"
“Nononononono. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying that we should look at the big picture. Obviously, there’s more going on here that meets the eye. People, specifically members of PAPA, are making unjustifiable and presumptuous judgment on the whole situation.”
“I’m certain that no one here supports the anti-pony extremists’ actions Bill. Are you suggesting you’re following what Lauren Faust says about this ‘Discord’?”
“Well, I’m saying maybe. Simply put, we should look into it. These ponies still have human personalities. They hold the same beliefs of the preservation of humanity. Keep in mind; they were human not even a week ago. I even talked to one.”
“You did?”
“Yeah and you know what she said. She said, ‘I hate it’. There, plain and simple. This is coming from a fan. Those who changed don’t necessarily like it either.”

Date: Marsday (9 days following the first ponified)
Time: ?:?? PM (Night)
Location: Pacific Ocean (from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to The Port of Los Angeles, USA)


“Can you turn off that crap? All I hear is pony this and pony that.” My older brother Greg got out of the cruise ship's bathroom shower. “Change it to Adult Swim. I think ‘The Boondocks’ is on now.”

I pulled out the cruise ship’s channel guide for Cartoon Network. I looked around to see that Greg had the remote in his hand. “35.”

*tzzzzz*
“-like a nice propane tank I tell yah what.”

“King of the Hill?” Greg said in disgust. He looked at the clock. “Blegh, 7:30. I hate adjusting time zones.”

Greg threw the remote at his bed in protest. Regardless, he sat down and watched the show. He didn’t hate ‘King of the Hill’. He probably wanted to see something better.

A worldwide phenomenon and a bunch of people going crazy, not a single care here. Despite the world going through the weird changes with the introduction to a cartoon species and magic, no matter how crazy the world gets, there are always people who won’t give a damn about what’s going on. Though it would be lying to say that the pony transformations happening across the globe did not affect the cruise ship I was currently sailing on, it was much less of a mess here than in the real world. This was vacation world. Here, everyone was trying to have a good time. Why shouldn’t they? Everyone here paid top dollar just to have a few nice weeks off. Certainly no one wanted to waste that precious time worrying about people turning into ponies. Of course, as I say this, my brother and me happen to be watching TV and pissing our time away in our cabin. (Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.) Still, I’d pick laziness over panicking about the world outside of vacation.

“Since when have you been an anti-brony Greg?” I asked.

“I’m not," Greg replied. "I like watching stuff that doesn’t show up all the time in the news. I like the news, but all this pony has bored me to death.” He let his back fall onto the bed, hands behind his head as he stargazed at the ceiling. “$10 says you turn into one of them before we get back home.”

“You wish.” I extended my arm to his, prepared to make it an official deal. My family vacation had only two days left. Greg gladly accepted the offer and firmly shook my hand. His eyes locked onto mine. Greg made a ‘you’re going to regret it’ face. I knew it was a crappy scare tactic. In truth, it was working. It also didn’t help that he was the older brother. I was 16. He was 18. That kind of stare could only work with the more intimidating brother. I shamefully admit that that was not me. This was one of those times having a separate room with my older sibling was a further disadvantage. My mom, dad, and little sister were all staying in the room next to it. My family booked one of those optional conjoined room plans.

As we let go, Greg turned off all the lights, including the TV. “Well, good night Michael!” We both knew the sooner we went to bed, the sooner I’d think and panic about the idea of turning into a pony. Normally, he would have pinned me here. I would have no choice but to go to bed thinking about the whole bronies turned pony situation. Thankfully, Greg forgot one very important thing.

“It’s my turn to take a shower.” Too bad it was dark. I really wanted to see the look on Greg’s face forgetting such a major detail. It wasn’t common for him to flop like that. Still, he won the fight. All that changed was the battlefield. Even though I’d much rather think through it all in the shower rather than in bed and Greg wouldn’t be there to see me terrified with thoughts of losing my humanity the very next second, it didn’t change the fact that I would still be thinking about changing into a pony.

To anyone that’s been living under a rock for the past week, bronies have been turning into characters of their favorite little show. Ever since Lauren Faust and Tara Strong magically embodied the biracial princesses of Equestria, that’s all the news has been about. That was the last week the mankind had sanity (if they had any in the first place). Soon following were even more ponies, starting with the mane 6. Also just today emerged a specific anti-pony group called PAPA. It’s an acronym for People Against Ponies and something else that starts with an “A”. Sorry, I don’t pay attention to details. Nor do I need to. All you need to know about those people is that they are the first anti-pony activist group. They actually have the intentions of killing/torturing the people who became ponies. What made these people grow so quickly? I blame the Internet.



	As much as I try not to let these recent events affect my daily life, it shows up everywhere, even on a cruise ship. Thankfully, my family booked a two-week trip prior to all this madness. We are on a cruise ship vacation from San Francisco to San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Then, spend one night at The Port of Los Angeles for resupplies back to San Francisco. While I was having the time of my life, the news of bronies becoming ponies kept crawling back into my mind. It also doesn't ease my tensions knowing that I just watched both seasons for the first time, becoming a brony a week prior to the madness. My brother knew it was getting to me. That explains the little scene he did there to ruin my sleep. Thankfully, he is mature. He is just a prankster most of the time. When he saw me on YouTube watching every episode, he slowly stepped back and acted like nothing happened instead of going straight to the questioning of my sexual preference like most brothers would probably do.

I was relieved to see that since everything started, I have not encountered one pony in person. My vacation started 3 days before the world’s first transformations, so most of the people I ran into were other fellow tourists you see again and again. Still, I certainly prefer that than ponified humans. All in all, the lack of ponies in my life helped my school break experience quite a lot. Only now have I visualized the scenario of actually becoming one overnight.

After finishing my shower, I stretched my arms and clasped my fingers together, staring at them as my imagination turned them into hooves. I move around my left hoof, feeling the alien limb. No fingers must feel weird. With a blink, they're gone. The thought of being a pony sends a shiver down my spine. I quickly got dressed. The less I think about it, the better.

"That's it. I'm gonna kick your ass!"

I knew my brother didn’t have the patience to stay awake while I took a shower. Knowing Greg, he still wanted to see me having some kind of nightmare, or maybe he had a prank awaiting me next morning. Either way, he needed the TV back on for time to pass by.

*tzzzzz*

Now that I walked back in, there was no need for him to watch TV. He knew I heard him turn it off. None of that stopped him from suddenly turning on his side and fake some snoring. As much as I didn’t want to sleep, I did need it. As I placed on the bed sheets, I couldn’t help but look at my hands, thinking I’d never see them again. Every time I got comfortable, I had to look back at my hands. Had…to…look…

…

…

“*gasp*” I knew it. Goodbye human parts. Better get used to being a…a… my hands were still there. Yup, I peed my pants for nothing. I kind of deserved this. I instantly wake up, sweat dripping from my forehead, panting from anxiety, all for the rare possibility of waking up one day as a colorful cartoon equine. I must be a mess. I looked at my wristwatch.

Date: Marsday
Time: 11:52 PM
Location: San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles)

I went out to the veranda to get some fresh air. The ship docked for my cabin to get a nice glimpse of some blue-glowy bridge. Well, blue lights were placed all around this bridge to get a nice tone fitting for the night. I kept glaring at it. It helped aid the serenity of a quiet evening. A few minutes of calm deep breathing later, I find myself rejuvenated and soothed with all of my troubles washed away. Then I remembered an unusually cold feeling. I looked down at the source, my pants. Oh yeah. I wetted myself like a 4-year-old. Looks like I'm going to need to change my pants. When I leaned in for the door handle, my eyes no longer felt like functioning. My brain was spinning around inside my head as I quickly faded into unconsciousness.


*     *     *


You know those moments where you wake up while your brain is rebooting? Often the common questions asked is 'Where am I?'. Well, my brain had completely shut down. I was asking myself even more basic questions such as 'Who am I?'. Given nearly 5 minutes after awakening, I remembered everything that just happened. I was still in the veranda. Judging by the lack of sunlight, it was safe to say that it was still nighttime. I groaned in early waking protest, lifting my neck up a few inches. Wait. And that was when the real terror stuck. I have definitely been awake long enough to remember my own voice.  It was painstakingly clear that it did not belong to me. Silently, I brought my arm up to me, my blunt, short, stubby arm. Either I somehow got my forearms painlessly sawed off or I became a pony. Though I never thought I'd say it, I really wished the former were true.

Just take deep breaths Michael, I told myself while taking deep breaths. Whatever you do. Don't scream. Not matter what, for the love of god, don't start-

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE"...Wait...My screams are supposed to have more 'A's in it. I am a freaking guy for...oh no. I look at the dim reflection in the screen door. The proof was all there, the rounded snout, the long curly eyelashes; just the overall appearance was feminine. Then came the stage of denial in the form of repeatedly slamming my head on the floor and glass door. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Following that, the crying. I probably shed enough tears to lift the boat up an inch.

At this point, I was crying for the sake of crying. Yes, my mind was all flooded with thoughts about everything in my life that would never be the same. Yes, I was probably being a drama queen. Thinking back at what happened, I was being an idiot, nothing less. There are the people who could handle situations fairly well and keep it together and then there are people who just fall apart after the situation. While I’m fairly sure 99% of heroes in the movies wouldn’t break after something as simple as this, I was no hero and this was no movie. So, I did what any wimp would do at the moment and cry my heart out.

"Why are you crying pony?"

I turned my head to spot my five-year-old sister. Now she isn't actually familiar to the show, or at least not that I know of. Also, she is too young to understand the situation that has been going on this past week (not like anyone really knows what's been going on). She still had the innocence of youth.

A first sighting of a mythological creature didn't phase her the slightest. I ceased crying very quickly. After all, despite her not knowing my identity, I was still somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I was crying in front of a family member. All we did was stare at each other. I felt I was a mute Disneyworld character, trying to entertain a little kid. And those eyes bulging eyes. She just stared, expecting me to do something. It was, by far, the most awkward moment of my life. All I can do is let out a sheepish smile.

"*Squee*"

Oh...my...God. I just squeed. I wasn't sure whether I should feel happy or panic even more.

"Hahaha." Apparently, this amused her, clapping her hands in joy as if I was some kind of clown. I take that back. Clowns are just plain creepy.

I needed some way to get her off my back. As if on cue, I was saved from someone I least expected.

"Well, would you look at the time," Greg came out of the room. The timing was too impeccable. He had to have known and was waiting for me. Still, I was, at the moment, very grateful. He swept me up with ease and wrapped me on his waist with one arm. "Wave goodbye to Jessica, Ms. Pony."

There's Greg for you. He found a way to save my butt and yet managed to make the situation even more humiliating. I could tell he took in my embarrassed expression, savoring it for the rest of his life. Greg didn't want to wait for my petrified body to wave back. Instead, he grabbed my hoof to do the waving for me. Oddly enough, this satisfied Jessica. There were no questions, no shouts of protests, nothing.

"Goodbye Ms. Pony," she said as I was carried back to my cabin.

Date: Whatever the Calendar-Changing A-hole says it is day (Day 10)
Time: 12:26 AM
Location: San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles)

A thing you need to know about Greg is that he has two distinct personalities. One is his usual immature prankster. The other was a mature and caring elder sibling. Right now, he transitioned from prankster to caring brother. Greg, despite feeding on my discomfort mere seconds ago, calmly placed me back on my bed. "You still need time to take it all in."

He was right. I was still in the acceptance stage where I would think about my new identity. Now that I wasn’t crying like a moron, I was able to speak out the many thoughts in my head. "I have to likely spend the rest of my life as a mare, where not only am I a different species but sex as well. Do I still want to have kids? I'm a horse now for Christ sake. How will I grow up? Can I even graduate? How will I even use the bath-"

*slap*

Greg gave a nice quick swipe to the face to calm me down. "Thanks. I needed that." Greg simply nodded and went to the restroom. I continued to lie there. I'm not sure how, but that slap helped a lot, as if the hand took out all of the troubles I had at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I was still scared, but at least now I was thinking like a decent human being again. I finally got a good glance at myself through the screen door reflection again. My fur was a light green. My mane was wavy with a gold with a little bit of dark gold color scheme with it. Despite my knowledge of the many characters of the show, I cannot remember any pony resembling this one at all. The last thing I wanted to be was someone’s OC. I needed a better look through a mirror. That required me getting out of bed and trying to walk to the front door closet as a quadruped.

Despite the recent rumors that turning into a pony really screws up your walking, for me at least, it wasn't half bad. My new body already had the muscles to walk. It was getting the muscle memory down that was the only challenge. I occasionally tripped, but not bad enough for me to fall face flat on the floor. It was usually me just picking the wrong hoof to lift next and flailing my legs to regain my balance.

The complete unhindered view of me was just plain weird; looking like somebody that was and was not until only a few moments ago, you. The pony mimicked the very bedazzled expression I made. The cartoon proportions were unusual as well. Yes, I am specifically referring to my large eyeballs. Then, I noticed something I have not noticed before. Placed around my neck was a pair of goggles. They reminded me of the kind the Wonderbolts had. That would explain it. I was embodying a Wonderbolt, doing some amazing tricks with my wings and...

Wings. I let the word ring again and again, making sure it burned into my thick skull. I actually have wings. People have dreamed to have them for at least once in their lives. The very thought of flying made my wings expand. No, not like that. I didn't get a wingboner. I just wanted to stretch out the new limbs hanging on my sides. Like the hooves, I practically did it without thinking. I just moved my wings around everywhere, trying to get a look and feel to every angle of my new body. I could have spent hours adjusting taking in the new gestures I could make.

Though I am now female, that didn't really bother me. At least, it didn't bother me at the moment. What do you think matters more, changing your sex organs you don't use often (even though you act like you use them all the time when talking on Xbox Live) or having hooves instead of feet and hands? You don’t think or respect the hands much, but let me tell you something, becoming pretty much any other species really brings to light how much I walked and picked up things for simple day-to-day tasks. Compared to sex change, species change was much more to worry about. I'll get back to you on my troubles of my new sex after I deal with my new equine body.

"Your stuff." Greg held in front of me my carry-on backpack. The zipper was open, revealing that my vacation homework supplies were completely gone to make way for real traveling supplies for New York. Everyone has heard about turned ponies making their way to New York. Lauren Faust herself planned on gathering the Elements of Harmony (along with any other pony) to stand united against Discord.  Or maybe there was another reason. I digress. The point is, a bunch of ponies are there, including Faust. So going to NYC was my best option. Greg took his time to prepare me some stuff for my journey across the country: Pop Tarts, Red Bull, my laptop, mom's wallet, toothpaste- wait a second.

"What's mom's wallet doing in here?" I clasped my mouth. This was the first time I spoke without freaking out. I forgot my voice was completely different along with everything else. That was the first thing I said in this form since...ever. Groaning awake from sleep, screaming, and panicking out loud don't count in my book.

Greg didn't pay attention to the new voice. Overall, I was quite surprised Greg had already adjusted to having a new sister. Perhaps it was because he was pleased about kicking me out of the family. He bashfully took that wallet out as a mistake. (So that's why he was so willing to order pizza the night before.) "You never saw that. Got it?" Greg placed something else in but could not see. Curse these stubby short pony legs. He kneeled down to me. I wasn’t sure whether that gesture was an insult or meant to be a serious parting moment. Greg handed me my supplies and hugged me goodbye. Okay, it was serious. I exited through the front door to go to the balcony. It was the best place to start flying away.

On the elevator ride up, I scavenged through my backpack looking for whatever else it was Greg placed in there. I was grabbing everything with my teeth. I might as well get started now, right? It didn't take long to find two folded $5 bills with a note on it: "I never said who pays $10 when it happens". So much feels at once. The nice parting gift made me shed a few (manly) tears. I was ready to take my journey all the way to New York.

Oh, what was I kidding? It’s true that this is probably some kind of dream to finally leave and go on his or her big adventure. I certainly felt that way myself, but only right up until this moment. I had to wait and really think it through to notice how genuinely sad I was going to be now that I was all by myself in the world. Sure, I could probably make the journey jumping from cloud to cloud, but not only does that sound boring, it sounds lonely. I had essentials and got tossed out into beginning anew. It was going to say that going to college was a good analogy, but really, college students had a plan. My plan was to arrive in New York. Even if I made it, then what; somehow everything would be better again? It really felt like I was honorably kicked out of the house.

At this point, I didn’t want to go back either. I was a bit paranoid about what would happen if the cruise ship found a pony there. The pandemic happened too soon for everyone to prove/disprove the idea that it was contagious. My very presence would ruin the entire vibe of the ship, anyways. Everyone would start thinking about the issue at hand instead of vacation. In the end, I’d cause, at the very least, commotion that would make the entire ship’s atmosphere stale.

Though this was likely an exaggeration that I’d cause any major stir on the ship, part of me actually felt like I was in denial, that I wasn’t letting what should happen occur. I was a big believer in fate lending an open hand. Going back would just be denying the events that should be transpired, whether I liked it or not.

Also, very worryingly, part of me wanted to go. As normal as that sounds, I was never an independent person. I was always the one who likes company, even when I certainly didn’t need it. But somehow, now I just didn’t want people around me. I wanted to be alone. My whole being seemed to have a boost of confidence about what’s going on. The more I thought about it, the more I started to believe it was the pony whose body I was borrowing. It started to make sense that she was making me feel this way.

To sum everything up, I had mixed feelings about all this. In the end, I choose the side everything and everyone seemed to be nudging me in. Though I was certain both sides would have a period of regret for not picking the other choice, I cleared my mind to seal my decision.

Once I reached the top, a REALLY drunk couple was hanging out, wine glasses at hand, enjoying the balcony view. As I walked past them, the man leaned his hand in to pet my mane.

"Don't even think about it," I barked with a cold-hearted stare. Getting petted was something I really didn't want to deal with. I shuddered at the thought of being cute to humans. After I walked past them, I snickered as I saw the two pour their wine out of the ship.

There, I was, at the front of the ship. My journey was just a leap away. I placed on the new goggles. No more thinking it through. The adventure starts here and now. Slowly, I opened my wings to the welcoming cool rushing wind. It was so inviting, so wonderful, I had to jump. In retrospect, it was probably a good idea that I did think things through a little. Unfortunately, practicing flight BEFORE I plummet 50 feet into the ocean was not one of them.
> 1. Death with a Hint of Cherry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Why did free fall feel so familiar?


*     *     *


(What I say in bold for the following is both the memory and real time.)

"18 seconds, not bad at all for a filly's first spin on a dizzitron."

"I know I can do better than that. Tell me mommy, how can you fly so good when you're spinning so fast?"

"The trick to it is very simple kid. You don't fight the spinning, you use the spinning to your advantage. Take that momentum to get control. Fighting it only hurts your flying. This goes with everything. You suddenly find yourself loosing control, go with the flow."

"I want another shot. I need to prove I've got what it takes to be a Wonderbolt!"

"That's my girl. Now get back up there and make me proud."

The multi-rotational dizzitron served one purpose, distortion. It spins ponies before launching them into the air. This time, I will conquer it.

Round and round the dizzitron spun. Then, the fling. I saw my world spinning around and around out of control.

I closed my eyes.

The world stopped spinning. I could feel my body being catapulted. I felt the momentum. Now, I needed to go with it.

I spread my wings in the direction I was falling.

Now that I'm in the rhythmic flow, I need some way to fly back to the runway cloud.

I tilt my wings back up to get a view of my runway.


*     *     *


Wait, what just happened? The scene was really obvious, I was just in disbelief. Without any prior experience, I had opened my wings and pulled up from my dive. I was flying. I was actually flying. I barely even had to think about. I just did it.

"YEEEEEEEAAAH! THIS IS AWESOME!"

Yes, I did get carried away a bit. I acted a little immature, true. But I believe this is justified. Flying was a definite major perk to my new body. I looked at the world behind me as the port started to distance from me. I looked at the lightning zigzag trailing my flank. It's kinda like Rainbow Dash's rainbow trail when she flies fast enough only the visuals were different. I could just insert more descriptions like 'my feathers rustled through the wind' or 'my brain got shoved back to my feet from the speed', but I'll spare the monotony and say I enjoyed flying.

Higher and higher, I went. I could touch the sky, but I there was no reason to rush. I needed to find a cloud. I was tired. 

As I placed myself on a cloud, I vaguely remembered what just happened when I fell. My old memory of Wonderbolt training had come back to me. I would never forget my mom's advice that day. Except my mom isn't a pegasus who gives tips on how I, her daughter, should fly. I began to freak out. It's fine that I got new memories of the pony I embody, but getting them mixed up with what I do know was something I didn't want to happen. I sure didn't want to loose myself. Wait a second. Just because I got new memories doesn't mean they're going to replace the ones I already have. Even in my head, my tone didn't seem so reassuring. Still, it was enough to prevent me from staying awake. While drifting to much needed rest, I kept repeating in my head, I'm the only me. No one can take that away from me.


Date: Thorsday
Time: 8:13 AM
Location: Above Santa Monica

I didn't exactly notice before because I was too drowsy, but the cloud I slept on was very very fluffy. Thank Celestia for pegasus magic. I spent a few minutes messing around with the moldable floating pillow, including bouncing on it reforming its shape. I can get easily amused. But I spent enough time messing around. I just wanted to use some time to try pegasus magic out.

Yes, though I did seem more carefree than before without all the second thinking about staying on the ship or leaving, but now the isolation was actually really nice. I did just depart from my family, but for some reason, that didn't really worry me that much. I do, in fact, love my family. At this moment however, it was almost as if I didn't care about them, that I didn't care about anyone anymore except me. It was very uncharacteristically egotistical of me, but that's just how I felt.

Refreshed, rejuvinated, and ready to take on whatever the world had for me...*growl*...starting with an empty stomach. As I recalled, I had a delicious box of Poptarts waiting for m-

"Cherry?"

I had to make sure. Those were, without a doubt, cherry flavored Poptarts.

"Cherry!?"

I got so mad, I could have sworn I saw steam come out of my ears. I can't emphasize this enough. I...HATE...cherry Poptarts. I don't care what anyone tells me, it is a Poptarts flavor straight from Hell. Greg knew I hated them as well. That's what really pissed me off. I would rather eat the crap that was on Fear Factor (I miss that show) before eating cherry Poptarts. It was food only for the direst of rations. I needed some real food. Now stood my first challenge of the day...finding food. (Cherry Poptarts don't count! They need to be edible to count!)

I was left but no choice but to eat at a restaurant, and I knew just the place.

Date: Thorsday
Time: 8:27 AM
Location: The Best Restaurant in the Whole Freaking World, Santa Monica

The Steak-n-Bacon, the best meat-related restaurant you'll ever find in LA, maybe even on planet Earth. The name says it all, bacon. The Steak-n-Bacon is known for it's tasty assorted fresh deli, meat on top of meat on top of meat. It wasn't only bacon there either. Any delectable meat you can think of, they have. I remember coming to the place once 2 years ago. It was a match made in heaven. So why, when I walked into the door to get a whiff of that meaty goodness, did it smell so TERRIBLE?

Oh yeah, new body. I looked down at my green fur. I know it seems odd I had this body for less than a day, but even the most bizarre things tend to slip my mind once I've been doing it for quite some time nonstop. I had a feeling every now and then I'd have to remind myself I'm still a pony.

I was about to walk away heartbroken for the fact that I could no longer enjoy one of my best things of my humanhood, but then I saw someone approach me. His shirt had the outline of a popular rainbow-maned pegasus.

"You're one of them!" The brony said it almost too excitedly. I understand that this is not very common, but there was no need to call me one of them. It just seemed unusual the way he said it. He was probably just overreacting and not thinking straight now that he noticed a pony. I'd better get used to the unusual reactions of people seeing a living technicolored pony for the first time.

"Want a free breakfast?"

"How generous of you. I'd like that, thank you." I blushed. It's nice to know that I could count on the brony community during these tough times. As strong as my will was to leave and take a breath of clean air not clogged with the smell of meat, my determination to eat free food and make some new friends already on my first morning kept me walking alongside the brony.

The guy didn't come alone. We walked to a table with his two friends, also with brony shirts. They all looked like they were in their early 20s. One had his hair like Zexion from Kingdom Hearts, only his was partially dyed red with a lot of his original black still showing. His hair was smaller too, it just had the same shape. At least his hair didn't defy the laws of physics unlike most Final Fantasy-related game characters. The other guy had some huge ass headphones around his neck. It almost looked like it was choking him because of how fat his neck was. He was polishing the lens of a fancy camera with a huge boom mic on it. He looked like one of those cliche fat tech people with all of that film equipment on him. All of them were staring at me like I was some kind of mythical creature...Oh yeah, I was. I sat down like a person (also known as "Lyra style" in pony form). The positioning had a weird feeling to it, almost completely new. My uncomfortable shifting had no avail. I stuck with the uneasy sitting stance so I wouldn't have to make a scene.

Everyone (except me) already had their food right in front of them. I tried my best to not to smell them in fear of throwing up a little. A moment of silence for the passing of my love for meat products.

As I read every meal, my heart sank. I was down to the vegetarian menu, made specifically for that one misplaced meat hater in a meat-centric restaurant. Never thought that I would be that one misplaced vegetarian. I felt so embarrassed when I placed the order.

"I'll have the omelette combo, vegetarian." It took all my might to mumble out that last bit. A part of me died inside by chanting that word.

As I waited for my food, the others were nearly finished with theirs. The silence made the place even more uncomfortable.

"Wow," Headphones guy finally said with his mouth full of food, "It's nice to actually meet one of the characters of the show."

I gazed right at him in awe. I didn't pay enough attention to everypony from the show when I first watched it. "You know what character I am?"

That must have startled him because he clasped his hands over his mouth as if he said something he shouldn't have. Perhaps I was too eager when I said that, but he was certainly a jumpy fellow.

"He means," the guy in the RD shirt jumped in the conversation, nudging his friend, "That he thinks he reminds you of one of the main characters. He only just got into the show and all."

It was something about how the RD guy jumped in to cover his friend's error that made me wonder why it mattered. Even for a group of bronies, they were acting so tense. Hopefully it would be the only time I got this peculiar treatment. While I was thinking, I noticed that they were continually exchanging glances at each other. It resolved with them nodding heads. Something was definitely not right here.

"What are you-"

My mouth was covered by some kind of cloth. What the hell do these guys want with me? My body slowly turned to off mode, barely able to catch the last words I heard.

"Nighty night." 



*     *     *


Date: ??????????
Time: ??:?? ??
Location: ?????????????

“Your kind has brought great shame upon us. Now, we are left with no choice. You have not heeded our warnings. It is time we showed you what we’ll do to one of your own.”

I couldn't really think straight. I had this real massive headache every time I tried thinking so much. I had to take it slow. First thing's first, where was I?

"PAPA will rise!"

I shifted my head only to realize there was some sort of bag placed over it. The tone and content of the person's monologue sounded like some terrorist speech. I won't lie. By then, I was scared shitless. All the while I was shivering and whimpering at the thought of being tortured for the public, likely on camera. I began beating myself up in my head.

Stupid humans. I knew I shouldn't have trusted them. My else bulged a little after realizing what I just said. Humans. I never said that word that way before. I even knew I said it with such hateful passion, too. I knew that being a pony could slightly adjust behavior even to the point where I'd no longer consider myself one of them, but this...this was pure racism and I meant every word of it.

“You see this?” The man with the ski mask removed the bag on my head. It was definitely the voice of the guy who had that Rainbow Dash shirt from before. “This is what will happen to the rest of you. We will set an example; we are the purifiers of the next generation. We are the kings of our futures. These, things, are nothing but a nuisance. Soon, just nothing.”

I needed to squint because of the sudden let in of light. Not to mention that brightness went swell with my headache. When I was able to see, the guy who formerly wore the RD shirt was talking into Headphones's camera, now planted on a tripod and recording.

“Let this be a lesson to all of…I can’t do it Bill.”

Wait...what?

“What?" Bill (Headphones) poked his head up from behind the camera. "You joined PAPA, Terry. You saying you ain’t willing to harm a pony?”

“No it’s not that. It’s this…fucking…mask.”

“Don’t take it off now. You’re on a roll.”

Terry removed the mask and revealed his sweaty face. I had been tricked. These people weren't a bunch of terrorists. They were a bunch of actors. That minute of rebooting my brain made me think that I was in the presence of scary badasses. I noticed the movie scene zoom out and now found myself in a set on cut.

“How ‘bout you wear this damn mask then? I can barely do anything with this on.  It’s scorching hot with it on and I just can’t do it.”

“You gonna put that mask back on right now. My mom took her time to knit those by hand.”

“Fuck your mom. I ain’t putting it on.”

As if on queue, the basement door opened to reveal the mask maker herself. Boy, did she look pissed. “You ungrateful lousy excuse for a son. ‘Mom, can you make me masks?’ ‘Don’t worry mom. My friends are going to put them to good use.’ I haven’t heard one going thing from your mouths.”

“I didn't insult your work, mom."

Despite my predicament, I couldn’t help but intervene. “You know,” I said. “I think what you made is lovely.”

Yes, that was very poor and stupid of me to do something at a time like this, but I was probably going to get tortured/die anyways. It really couldn't get any worse than that.

Bill's mom blatantly threw her arms at me trying to make a point. “Thank you. At least someone here appreciates my work.”

“Mom,” Bill was practically whining now. “That’s our enemy.”

“I know. But at least she is certainly more respectful than all of you bozos combined.”

"Mom, we're trying to make a statement for an entire species! Footage of our mothers yelling from upstairs won't help our voice to the people!" If there is a real life Eric Cartman in this world, he would take the cake.

Forget actors, these guys were a bunch of losers.

"Okay then, son. Be more respectful next time."

"You're letting him go, just like that!?!?" Ladies and gentlemen, the world's worst mother award goes to....

Too late. Bill's mother abandoned the basement so that her insane loser son could torture an innocent being. I had my share of LOLs for the moment, but now the fun was over. I kind of wish that I was killed by a bunch of badasses rather than these idiots. Instead, my death would be so dull and stupid. Beggars can't be choosers. If this is how I meet my maker, so be it.

"Now, if there aren't any further interruptions, we'll just cut that last part out. Terry, from where we left off."

"Right." Terry put his mask back on while mumbling about its uncomfortableness. "*ahem*. Now, we teach them all a lesson. We aren't full of jokers. PAPA means serious business. Greg..." Greg? The silent masked man in the back corner of the room stood up. Oh boy, another Greg. He was the guy with the weird hair. What a small world. "...the crowbar."

Greg walked up to Terry, crowbar in hand. How could he see? His hair had to practically be over the mask's eye holes. Now, I prepared for the inevitable death. In the face of death, only one thing was on my mind: None of this would have happened if my brother got me different flavored Poptarts.

*THWACK*

I could not feel the pain. It might have been because the swing wasn't aimed at me. Greg had an interesting way of handing a crowbar, flinging the thing into Terry's ribs. That easily made Terry collapse on the floor.

"Greg," Bill's jaw dropped. "What...the...hell. What the hell are you doing!?"

Greg turned and pointed his crowbar at the fellow PAPA member. "What I should have done a long time ago." With a slug of the crowbar to the stomach, Bill got knocked out.

Now, regardless that this is the real world and you often don't stand a chance against an unexpected crowbar smack to any part of the body, I still saw this as a action filled moment. Really, it was just a double-crosser with a weapon and a jump on two unarmed people.

I remained tied to my chair with a confused expression on my face. I asked as calmly as I could what had just happened.

"Who the-? What the-? How the-?"

Okay, maybe it didn't form so well when it escaped my tongue. Still, Greg got the memo.

"I'll explain it all later." He took off his ski mask (How does that hair remain perfectly fine?) and untied my hooves from the back of the chair. "First, we need to get a car."

I turned around at the set behind me. Bill sure had a taste of improv. It looked all realistic cave-looking screen, and Terry's act really bought me until his whining revealed their true selves.

"You coming or not?"

Greg was waiting at the door. I followed him out of Bill's basement and to the front yard. It was surprising to me that there was nothing unordinary about the house. I thought housing psychos would ruin the place a little bit. But no, it looked like any other house at the block. With the sun directly over my head, it was safe to assume it was around noon.

Greg unlocked a car parked at in the driveway. "Get in."

I don't know what part of my mind made me think I should go in the stranger's car in the first place, but I stepped back after second thoughts. My luck didn't fare so well today, anyways.

"Why should I trust you?"

"One," Greg used his fingers to count. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already. And two, your stuff is in the backseat. I'm leaving with it no matter what you do."

Those seemed to be good enough reasons for me. This Greg did just save my life back there. I didn't know how to make heads or tails of this guy. Hair straight out of a Final Fantasy game. Check. Mysteriously hanging out with bad guys before turning against them. Check. Overused cliche catch phrase before kicking people's asses in one hit. Check. OH GOD, I'VE BEEN PLACED IN A B-RATED ACTION MOVIE!
> 2. The Tic-tac Flashbacks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thorsday
Time: 1:02 PM
Location: Eastbound on an LA freeway

        I had so many questions to ask Greg, but I was too shy to ask him any. I was afraid it was best I didn’t know why and where he was taking me. The first few minutes on the road was full of uncomfortable silence, time that was filled with me eating a leftover omelette taken from a to go box from the Steak-n-Bacon. It turns out I’m one of those stereotypical cartoon eaters. I must have finished the thing in 5 seconds flat with hardly any chewing. Another 3 minutes were spent rubbing my tummy. Now, I’m not one to take mini bites, but a minimal number of gulps really isn’t my nature. I’m not sure what got into me. Normally, I would take time to savor every bite. Perhaps I was just really hungry.

To buy some more time, I turned the radio on. Nothing like a little air guitaring to Back in Black by AC/DC to help make the time fly by. However, there is one time consuming thing that is completely unavoidable...traffic. LA is infamous for terrible traffic. And it is rightfully so. Simply put, it really does suck.

Going a maximum of 10 miles per hour with every (good) radio statio on commercial break would result with someone breaking the quietness. It was only a matter of time before a conversation started.

“So,” Greg began, “You’re probably wondering what’s been going on since we first met.”

“...Yeah.”

Both of us kept our heads facing forward. Neither of us wanted to make eye contact.

“Well, let me start off by saying I’m not part of PAPA and I’m not here to hurt you.”

Yeah right. “Then explain to me why you were with them.”

“They’re my friends.”

“Friends?” I really didn’t want to hear the crap coming from this guy’s mouth. I rose my voice. “Well, I guess now I can forgive you from letting them kidnap me and almost dice me up for a message of genocide. Not to mention, what kind of friend breaks his other friends’ ribs with a crowbar and abandoning them?  Unless it's a stupid new handshake in town, that’s not how friends treat one another.”

“Hey!” Greg really got on the defensive. “They may be idiots, but they’re still my friends!”

“You’re defending them!? After what they did, you would defend them...Unbelievable!”

        “I’ll have you know that my friends, no matter how stupid their actions are, are trying to do what’s best! They did all this out of fear! And I’m always the one to watch their backs, to make sure they don’t mix up their rights from wrongs! So you’re welcome for chaperoning my dumb friends through all this PAPA nonsense so I would be there to prevent them from doing something as stupid as whooping your ass!”

        As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he had a point. I would have been mince meat back there. Greg was fuming and I was at a loss of words. For the longest minutes of my life, neither of us spoke. Greg was huffing, letting all his anger simmer down until he could talk again.

        “Look. I know they’re morons. I know they would go as far as what they could have done back there, but nevertheless, they’re still people too.”

        I really let that thought hang for a bit. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I’ve never really seen PAPA as an organization of people. Not admitting an intense rage to a certain organization is just lying to themselves. Many of them hate it to a point where they no longer see the opposing party as a group of humans who share the same things they both strive for. Sorry to go all hippie there, but sometimes people in general lose their basic thought functions when it comes to groups they hate. Mine was to PAPA. 

 “It’s just their sights that are screwed up," Greg said. "I feel like I could have done more to make sure this didn’t happen. That’s why it’s my fault I let things go this far.


*     *     *


Date: Wednesday (4 days after first ponified, 6 days ago)
Time: 1:20 PM
Location: Bill’s House, Santa Monica

        Bill called me about a week ago. He told me it was something important, something that needed to be taken care of or else would otherwise alter the course of the human race. I highly doubted the issue was that significant. Regardless of my day-to-day drama, I had nothing on my schedule. I was just going to be chillin’ with my drums. Besides, I haven’t seen the dude for almost four months. I wanted to catch up with what’s been happening since. So, I went over to see what all the fuss was about.

        As I knocked on the door, Terry answered, looked around the block to make sure the FBI didn’t follow me, and hauled me inside.

        Now, the three of us go way back. It wasn’t until after high school we started to distance from each other. Bill never made it to college, but that didn’t stop his skills in film equipment and setup. Terry went to some kind of college that specialized in the theater arts. He became a good actor. As for me, I majored in engineering, specifically electrical engineering. Basically, I know where wires go and what the tech hardware does. I used those skills to be the head mechanic for a local computer repair shop. Business is somewhat poor, but it pays the bills. That’s good enough for me. It also might be worth mentioning I’m the only one of them currently not living with my parents. But I digress.

        It might seem usual to you that the two were being this paranoid, but it doesn’t happen that often. In truth, I was kind of worried. Despite ponies being a big news when it first emerged, I have no TV or internet. In other words, the world could be on the brink of a zombie apocalypse and I would be none the wiser.

        ‘Look at this.’ Bill showed us footage of what looked like a two winged unicorns holding some kind of press conference. ‘More are turning into ponies everyday.’

        That’s what made me start howling in laughter. This was the best prank I have been a part of.

        ‘Wow,’ I was able to say between laughs. ‘How did you guys do this? Huh? There’s no way you’re capable of graphics that detailed, Bill. Did you get this from Youtube!? You guys got this from Youtube, huh? You almost fooled me there...thinking...that...’ Then I realized something was wrong. If it was a prank, they’d be laughing along with me, or maybe at least reply with a ‘you got me’ smile. Instead, both of them gave me a deadpan ‘you really didn’t know this was going on!?’ look.

        ‘Those are real-life ponies?’

        Terry and Bill nodded.

        ‘This has been going on for a few days?’

        ‘Four to be exact,' Bill said. "This conference occurred three days ago.’

        ‘-is one other out there who is like us. I don't know who, or where, but somewhere there is a person just like us. Changed. Into a pony.’

My eyes widened. There’s more of them?

‘But this will not be the case for very long. Everyday, someone else is affected, and this will continue until...’

The white unicorn stopped talking for obvious reasons.

        ‘Aaaaand there,’ Bill paused the video. ‘The rest is just saying all ponies get to New York to gather and stuff. Do you believe me now? Those stupid living versions of play toys for girls is soon going to be every single brony. Then, all of us.’

        Now I buried my face in my hands. I kept repeating ‘oh my god’ while the news settled down in my noggin. I kept thinking there must be a way to stop this, to prevent the world from becoming pastel equines. That’s the first step to becoming a member of PAPA, fear. Fear of losing humanity.

        ‘And what should we do?’ I had to ask them. ‘Such a thing cannot be prevented by three people.’

        ‘We wait,’ Terry said. ‘We wait until we get a chance. It’ll come boys. It’s best we’re ready. Did you get that Adrian? We have to stick together at times like these.’

        Adrian is kind of like the fourth wheel to our trio. (That sounds weird. Maybe third wheel? No, we were a group of three. Doesn’t matter.) He became friends with us some time two years ago. He was Terry’s former college roommate. He was the quiet type. I often forgot he was even there. That day, he sat in the couch behind me, flipping his butterfly knife around to occupy his time.

        ‘Yeah, I get it.’ His eyes were so set on that knife. ‘Stick together.’ Little did I know, he stayed focused on that knife not because he was bored, but because of something else, something that I could have done to help when he most needed it most.

Date: Friday (4 days ago)
Time: 11:10 PM
Location: Adrian’s Apartment, Santa Monica

We all got facebook messages from Adrian to get to his house ASAP. He said he wouldn’t buzz us in until we were all at the front. Fortunately, being the last one ready, I didn’t have to wait to get in.

        As we opened Adrian’s surprisingly unlocked door, the rooms lights were off. When I turned on the lights, we all gasped in horror what stood in front of us.

I’m fairly sure you figured it out right now, he was a pony. A pegasus to be exact.

‘Well,’ Adrian managed to say first. ‘Looks like the truth is out. I like My Little Pony. It was only a matter of time before-’

‘You turned into one of them.’ Terry’s tone had an icy sting to it. He was swelling up. ‘You’re a traitor!’

‘No! It’s not like that at all. You think I want to be like this just because I’m a pony? We’re on the same side. I don’t want this as much as you-.’

‘Lies!’ Bill jumped in. ‘Once a pony, there’s no going back! Leave before something bad happens to you. Head over to your little sanctuary in New York. You are dead to us! You hear me? Dead! Now fly out of here. We’ll be coming for all of you folk. Mark my words, we’ll find a way to stop all of you from taking over Earth.’

That’s when Adrian turned to me, mostly because I was the only one who didn't turn on him yet. I hardly knew the guy and now he was asking for my help. He was getting kicked out of his house by his own friends. And it was then I realized that there would always be people like my friends. Ponies like Adrian were misunderstood and mistreated out of fear. He NEEDED to get to New York. Until then, he would be bullied by the humans afraid of what they think he could do. I was placed on the hot seat. I was left with two options. I’d either side with Adrian and help him get to New York, or I’d watch over Bill and Terry. I knew if I left those two alone, they would have followed through something stupid, something like torturing a pony. I felt that Adrian was better prepared without me than my other two friends. I’m sure you can figure out what I decided on doing. As much as it pains me, I know I made the right decision.


*     *     *


Present

“Even now, I’m heartbroken to know I left him all alone. Sometimes the right decision can still be a saddening one. And then you came along. As soon as I saw you, I saw Adrian. I’m sure Bill and Terry saw him too. Their actions back there were channeled by their feelings, channeled by fear. What you saw was their feelings for what they lost, and what they feel they will lose if nothing is done. That’s what this pony-filled Earth has taken from us, trust.”

I saw tears drop from Greg’s face. No sniffling, just tears. I didn’t realize how much depth there was to my capturers. I felt not to intrude, but there was one thing that didn’t make sense.

“Why are you here with me now? You didn’t need to come with me.”

“And stay with the people who I just knocked to the ground? They may be my friends, but that needs time to heal what I did back there. Besides, when I was sent to hand over that crowbar, I felt the same pressure I did the day Adrian left. When I saved you, I felt responsible to bring you to New York, something I failed to do nearly a week ago.”

“You’re taking me to New York right now?”

“Yeah. Figured having someone to tag along with me is worth losing your flight advantage, seeing you didn't come with any money. But you did have some Pop Tarts in your carry-on.”

"They were cherry."

Greg nodded. "Ah..."

“And what of your friends? Who’s to say they won’t do something like that again without you?”

“They’re my friends. I know them more than you think. I left them a little something that'll surely change their minds.


*     *     *


Date: Thorsday
Time: 11:59 PM (1 hour prior to torture)
Location: Bill’s House, Santa Monica

        ‘I knew chloroform would do them the trick,’ Bill said as I carried you down to the basement. ‘Now just tie her to that chair.’

        As I fastened the ropes to your hooves, I imagined Adrian in the same scenario. I should have stopped it there, take you away before I resorted to hitting my friends with a crowbar. But I needed to do something before i departed, something that might change their minds on what they were doing.

        I went inside the bathroom to change to all black with a ski mask. I had the time to get out a few memoirs, and even write a farewell letter to sway them in the right direction. I began writing:

        Hey,

I just want to let you know that by the time you read this, I'm already going to be gone with the pony...and the leftover chinese food from yesterday. (God that place is delicious.)  She didn't deserve this. She is concerned of what will happen to the future of Earth as well, like you, like me, like everyone. We're all looking for a resolve to this mystery. Hate isn't the answer. Torture isn't the answer. PAPA isn't the answer. We all know deep inside those are not words we use. Now stop it with PAPA. You and I don't like what's happening as much as the next guy. But I'm looking for a resolution that I'm certain doesn't have to end in violence. We choose to let that violence happen. I'm sorry to leave you, but I know what must be done. See you when this is over.

 - Tic-tac (Greg)

Along with that, I paper clipped that message to our high school graduation group photo with the three of us and Terry’s college graduation photo with him and Adrian. I gave them to Bill's mother. She is the most understand person I've ever met. Too understanding if you ask me.


*     *     *


Present

        “Tic-tac?”

        “It was a nickname I got in 7th grade for saving their asses from bullies. I never understood how I got the name. It never really stuck, so it was nice for a lighthearted mention.

"So," Greg changed topics, "What was it like before you became a pony? You go to the mall, listen to Justin Bieber? Is that what girls do nowadays?"

        “You do realize I was a male before I became a pony?”

        Greg’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank. That got me laughing for a good half minute. I love making situations awkward for people...kind of like my brother. I guess it runs in the family. I stopped laughing just to think of them again.

Silence. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I was out of questions. Greg basically told me everything I wanted to know about him. I turned the volume of the radio up now that music is playing again. Traffic started clearing up as well. I was too busy to notice before, but my head was still aching ever since I woke up. It was probably just the chloroform. Regardless, I reclined my chair to get a better sleeping position. I might as well wait out the pain in sleep. I had to establish something first before I sleep in the car.

“I'm calling you Tic-tac from now on.”

"Why?"

"Because I can and will. After all, it's your nickname, albeit an old unused one."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Tic-tac?"

“...Yeah?”

I fist pumped in my head. Somehow I got a feeling he wasn't going to object to it. He seems like the kind of guy who's okay with being called unusual nicknames. After all, I really needed to give him a new name because using his real name would have been confusing if I mentioned my brother.

“Do you think that Terry would have attacked me?”

“...Now that I really think about it, no. I don’t think any one of us have gone that far. I only hit my friends first because it was not worth wagering your life over it.

“By the way,” Tic-tac added. “I never got your name.”

My name? Well that’s easy it’s Michael Perch. No. I heard another name in my head. I could hear it buried deep inside the back of my mind, sort of like that random flight memory of my pony. Wait. That’s not my name it’s hers.

“Hello? Earth to pony. Did you forget your name?” Tic-tac hushed thinking he might have gone too far. For all he knew, I could have had amnesia.

“Lightning Dust. My name is Lightning Dust.”
> 3. Does Anypony want to Switch Mindmates with me?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thorsday
Time: ?:?? AM (Morning)
Location: Cruise Ship

Man, I just had one hellish dream. It was a nightmare that I was a pony. I would be saying that it was weird instead of hellish if it wasn’t for the fact that people were in fact, turning into ponies. It sounds fun, but there are certainly more physical downsides. Even worse were the mental ones. None of that mattered now. I was back on the ship. The boat was idly rocking without the engine roaring. The cozy sheets were the only things stopping me from having a good day. I could move my fingers. Man, I never thought I would miss those things so much. I pulled out the sheets just to dance on my two legs. Thankfully, my brother, Greg wasn’t there. Odd, but I guess he had better things to do on the ship besides sleep in. He’d be wondering what kind of drugs I was taking that made me thankful for being a biped with hands. I think a good morning jog will start the day fresh. I opened the door.

Well, last time I checked, my cabin wasn’t a dressing room of Cloudsdale Stadium. I could easily remember the last time I saw this, ‘Sonic Rainboom’. It was the episode of MLP where Rainbow Dash did a Sonic Rainboom to win the best young flier competition. My brain has a funny way to remind me I’m still dreaming. Most dreams would have something to do with things I was more familiar about, not something that would make me think I'm dreaming. Isn't that against one of those rules from ‘Inception’ or something?

“And let’s hear a round of applause for Equestria’s best flier!”

Great. Now there’s echoing sounds coming from everywhere. The announcer voice rang like how movies depict flashbacks. What’s worse is that it’s a dream of Rainbow Dash. Everyone knows Fluttershy is best pony...well, everyone except for my brain. Wait...is that...cheering? Yeah, it was. I opened the curtains to see that I was in the middle of a performance viewing. Well, I might as well get this over with.

I took the nearest seat. Lively crowd for a bunch of non-existent fans. The stadium was empty, yet, the cheering continued. Best if I went along with whatever the hell my brain was trying to show me. Trumpet noises began to blare and fireworks took to the sky. Through all of the dazzling explosions, a pony valiantly presented herself to stun the audience. It wasn’t Rainbow Dash, it was...it was me. No, not me, the pony I’ve been embodying. I took a quick glance at myself just to make sure I was still human.

“Jeez, even in your brain, you’re slow.” The pony flew right in front of me. “No. Rainbow Dash isn’t the fastest flier in all of Equestria. That would be me.”

"What is going on?” I was already getting irritated with her smug attitude. “Who are you?”

“Hello?” The pony knocked on my skull. “Anypony home? Does the name Lightning Dust ring a bell?”

Aren’t I dreaming? She shouldn’t be in my dream...unless-

Lightning Dust sighed and grabbed my hand with a hoof. "Yes, the same mind of the pony you're borrowing Lightning Dust. Just follow me. All your questions will be answered."

As we walked aimlessly, I was starting to wonder how much control over I had over my dream. Thoughts of how dream space and dream creation worked began to cloud my mind. I was curious as to how Lightning and I were able to share a dream for a second, but it seemed Lightning spent enough time in this place to know what this was all about. After all, in the time it took for me to think it through in my head, a door appeared out of thin air right in front of us. Lightning Dust nudged her head towards it. She wanted me to have a peek at what was inside. I opened the door and was blinded by sudden flash of light it emitted.

I open my eyes again. Of course, just to mock my lack of vacation, I'm back in my cabin. This time, just to complicate things even more, there are three of us now. Me (as a human) and two Lightning Dusts. One was standing right beside me while the other was crying out on the veranda. I knew this. "It's a memory."

"Bingo," Lightning Dust replied. "This is created from your memories, not from what actually happened."

I looked around. My brother wasn't in the room. I started to understand what she meant. I didn't see Greg while I was crying, so naturally, he wasn't in the memory of the scene. The dream space was limited to what I knew. 

"Why did you choose this?"

Lightning Dust sighs again. "I didn't choose this, your subconscious did. I just showed you the door...literally. Also, I think you're subconscious likes using a lot of redundant symbolisms."

Suddenly, another flash of light later and the scene changes to another memory...back to when I was 'tortured' earlier today. "That's why I brought you here," Lightning Dust said. She pointed a hoof at Tic-tac, the other Greg. "To talk about him."

"I thought you said my subconscious brought me here. How did you control the setting change just now?"

Lightning puts a hoof on the back of her neck. "Yeah...about that...It's kind of both of our subconsciouses controlling this. This is actually our dream."

She had access to everything that happened today...that means..."You've been watching me...ever since I woke up as you. You've been watching everything that happened."

"We're kind of..." Lightning Dust then mumbles something inaudible. "Ever since you jumped out of the boat. The whole thing reminded me about flying on the dizzitron and-"

"-I had the memory too." It seemed I was becoming Lightning Dust in more ways than one. "You're continually getting more involved with what's going on in my head."

Lightning nods. "How did you know?"

Though I didn't want to show it, my subconscious started to play a memory from just moments ago. The scene didn't change, it was an auditory memory from right before I went to sleep.

"Physically, most certainly, they are different from us. But inside those changed bodies are human minds."

Lightning Dust looks around. "What is this?"

"It was on the radio right before I fell asleep. Just listen."

My mind went on fast-forward and hit play in the later part of the interview. I don't think I really payed attention to the stuff in-between to replay it again, anyways. “Could you play back that last part, zooming in on Pinkie Pie’s eyes," the guy viewing the vlog asks. "I want to catch her thinking about the question.”

"I wasn't paying too much attention, but then I heard the name Pinkie Pie." I had to fill in what was missing from the visuals since the program was televised and on the radio. "The show was broadcasting a vlog from Pinkie Pie. Listen to what the guy says."

"What do you think of Gilda," the Q&A voice from the vlog asked.

"At this point, the video was paused where the first voice evaluating the footage says,-"

“It is true, there’s a foreign mind in that body! They were just talking to each other at that moment.”

I am already sitting down head buried in my hands. "You haven't been in my head long enough for you to talk to me while I'm awake. I'm sure that's going to change shortly."

"So..." Lightning Dust says. "That's going to be us soon?"

I nod.

"No known way to stop it?"

I shake my head.

"...I had a feeling this was going on."

I looked up. What did she mean she had a feeling?

"Just some clues like reading your mind..." "

Oh great. There goes any kind of privacy I still had.

Look, Mikey-"

"-Don't call me that." I always hated being called that.

"...We've should get to New York. Something big's going down. We'll find our answers there."

Lightning Dust didn't have a really good poker face. She was merely keeping her hopes up thinking that it'll all be over once we're in NYC. I was doing the same thing as well. We wanted to go our separate ways as quickly as possible. She was probably the lone wolf type, the kind that don't care much about anybody except for themselves. I just wanted to be human again, not having to deal with hooves and being tossed out to go on an adventure. It wasn't the life for me. Though it wasn't my fault, I was holding her back.

"That reminds me," Lightning Dust said. The scene transitions yet again to the beginning of the car ride. I chuckled a little considering I was in the car ride both physically and in my dream. Dust and I were in the backseats. There was still LA traffic and neither Tic-tac nor memory me were talking. Lightning Dust pointed a hoof at Tic-tac. "He's holding you back. You better leave him by next morning."

"What!? Tic-tac? He saved my life!"

"I don't care what he did. The car driving is holding you back. You could make it across country in less time with ease. And getting caught in the first place and putting our life in danger was your fault. You trust the humans. This is what you get."

"Hey! It just so happens you're talking to-"

"Am I?" Dust shifts into a replica of human me. "What is a human? Huh? I certainly wouldn't consider myself one if I was thinking like you were back when you were tortured."

Damn. That's right. She was there when that happened.

"Now, if I recall, I detected a little hatred there. And to your former species, nonetheless."

I found myself shrinking...literally. As she went on and on, I couldn't even tell if I still had the mind of a human. My sudden enthusiasm that gave me the boost to leave the ship, my recent loathing of all meat products, all signs of mental change. I reflected on my reflection and saw the inner me start to show, a pony. Besides his teal coat, I looked like my human...my former human self. I had the same hairstyle as I used to the only difference being it went further down my longer neck. My face looked very much the same but with a few changes to go with being a horse now. I wanted to speak out and say "No" and deliver some oscar-worthy speech about how my inner self wouldn't suddenly change no matter what, but even I couldn't deny I was coaxing a big lie for myself to hide that I am no longer human.

"It's not just any race, the human race. Now I might not have been in your noggin your entire life, but I really doubt you said something like that when you were a human." She reverts back into her pony form. "So I ask you Michael, am I talking to a human?"

By the time that speech was delivered, I had completely believed her. What remained was the Earth pony version of myself, my true self, the one I had hid since this adventure started. I had no choice. I had to abandon Tic-tac.

"That's what I thought. Don't act like the recusant hero. You're not one of them anymore. Have it done by tomorrow morning. Else, we'll see how long you last with him on your side. Both you and I know he's just slowing down the trip to The Big City."

Everything began to fade. The dream was ending. The moment before I opened my real eyes again, I had one last glimpse at the sad pony on the other side of the window.


*     *     *


Date: Thorsday
Time: 5:51 PM 
Location: Unknown (Inside Tic-tac's car) 

When my eyes opened, I was in the same stance as I was in the dream. The reflection, however, was Lightning Dust's. The dream may be over, but she was still in my head. Her control of her body again was regaining. She would probably even have enough power to temporarily take control of her body again sometime in the near future. Then I turned to Tic-tac, his eyes still fixated on that road. I didn't know whether not I should tell him, the only real difference was the choice of either seeing the heartbreak or imagining the heartbreak. I decided to put it on hold if I were to tell him later.

Luckily, I woke up fairly calm, not attracting Tic-tac's attention. The last thing I needed was to explain to him I'm actually sharing minds with the crazy mare whose body I’m stuck with. While the sun nearly set over the horizon, it was still very bright outside. I didn’t even have to get a look at the city to know where my first night was going to be spent.

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada