> The Fish and Chippery > by Blossomfalll > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Why the odd colours? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a beautiful day in the sunny town of Spring Hills. I walked down the old cobble-stone seeing the usual billboards trying to convince of things that would likely never happen, except one thing did catch my eye, it was an ad for an old fish and chippery that I had used to go to, back when I was younger, before I had moved. Perhaps I could come visit this old place, one last time before it would shut down. I slowly walked down the road smiling at happy memories. ~~~ I look at the cute little chippery and walk inside making a small bell hung above the door ring. "Hello?" I say as I walk into a seemingly empty store. A shadow comes out from a dark corner, revealing himself to me. "Um.. Hello? Are you closed yet or are you still open?" '"Oh yes, of course" he said in a raspy sort of whisper. Sliding behind the cash register with a sly smile that made me nervous. This was not at all how I remembered this place. I backed up a little smiling nervously back. "How may I help you?" He asked me quickly. "Oh yes, I would just like whatever the special is sir." I said, glancing away every once in a while. "Then I shall get you that, and our special today, shall I say, will change your life. Forever." He said with a warning glance. "Um.. Okay then?" I said thinking I'd be lucky if it didn't have poison in it. He slowly slipped behind a curtain, coming out a few minutes later with a plate. From what I saw it was normal looking cod, but the chips were quite odd, coloured, with what I guess was likely food colouring, I had never seen chips coloured, crisps maybe, but never chips. I thought I saw them sparkle, but I dismissed it, brushing it off as my imagination. Hesitantly, I took a small bite out of one after sitting down at a checkered table, my hesitance leaving once I saw that they were actually good. I finished off the chips and the cod, about to pay the shadowy figure, but he was strangely gone, so I left the money near the cash register. I walk out looking back at the register. That place was strangely eerie. The next morning, I woke up and thought my skin looked a bit, well paler. My ears also a bit... Long..... I slowly brushed my hair, then getting dressed, forgetting all about it soon after. I walked to my office once I got to work. I worked in an office, you heard me right. A email popped up on the screen, not from any email I've ever known. I slowly bring my mouse up to it and click the read button. "Has anything changed yet?" It read, giving me the shivers. I quickly pressed delete as somebody came up behind me. I swirled around and smiled. "Jane? Are you wearing colour contacts?" "Me? No! Why would you ask such a silly question?" "Well, um... Your eyes are quite, shall I say purple?" "Purple?" I said choking a cough. "You almost got me there!" I said, smiling. "I'm being serious. Are you sure you didn't catch something? You are quite pale..." "I'm sure, now what do you mean by purple?" I said, opening a drawer to take out a small mirror from inside. "Oh my gosh. They really are purple!" I said with a gasp. "Told you." This must be a dream. It's gotta. I said with a gasp and fainted right then and there. I woke up in a hospital bed with a doctor above me. He said he just didn't know what was wrong with me. My eyes couldn't just change colour overnight, could they? When I looked in the mirror my hair was getting a purplish tint, while my skin was quite pink. I hoped it was nothing serious. "Miss Jane?" Said a nurse "You are going to have to stay for a few days. For observation. Will that be okay?" "Yes, it's fine." I absent-mindedly said. What if I was going to die? About an hour later of staring in the mirror beside me, I noticed the odd colours were intensifying. I was turning into a-a freak! The doctor came once again. He said I was absolutely healthy, there was simply nothing wrong with me, other than I was changing colours. Oh thank you, Dr. Oh so very helpful. At least he was trying though. I reach over for my glass of water, but my fingers are numb. Slowly I look down at my hands. One of them didn't have fingers and was short, stubby, with a inward dent in the middle and hard at the top. The other one had fingers, but short. One of the nails was oddly big. I let out a loud scream, causing a nurse to come rushing in. "What's wrong honey?" She asks with a confused expression. Look-look at my hands! I shriek showing her my suddenly oddly shaped hands. After she looks at my hands her pupils get big. She rushes away, getting the doctor. This has to be serious, I think hoping its reversible. The doctor comes in. "It's literally cellular morphing! I've never seen anything like it!" He says with a boggled expression. "This could turn out to be a big discovery!" He says excited, totally ignoring my panicked expression. I was getting new thoughts about doctors. He then realizes something and looks down at my hands. " I'm awfully sorry, but I don't think its reversible, and if it is, it's likely nobody in the world knows how." He said with one of those I'm feeling sorry for you expressions, and walked out, shutting the lights off. "Get some sleep, I have a feeling this is going to leak out." My mind blank, I fell asleep, worrying about what was going to happen to me next." I woke up as a burst of people came rushing in. My eyes grew wide, I couldn't let anybody see me like this. Slowly a group of nurses herded them out. I let out a slow sigh of relief. "I'm very sorry about that" one said with an apologetic smile as she left. Slowly, I examined my body for new changes and found my feet had morphed too, along with my back, I had grown fur everywhere, and my hair and eyes were solid purple. My ears were sticking up past my head. I was turning into a freak! I took a deep breath. Slowly I hopped down and tipped over. I couldn't stand on two legs! I stood on four in place looking in the mirror across the room. I was sort of... Equine like, wasn't I? I had a feeling the changes were done, and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that bad was it? And hey at least I could still talk. I found that I was really tiny, about a foot tall probably. I tried to take a step and fell on my butt. A doctor came in. "Jane... Is that you?" He asked surprised. "Yeah.. It is.." "My goodness, you look like a foal, and I should know, I have horses and ponies of my own." He says with a chuckle. "Not that it's funny of course, the only difference though is the horn bulging out of your head. Like a unicorn!" "All good," I said with a yawn. " I think I'm going to take a nap." I said and collapsed backwards. I woke up in a field, with the softest grass I had ever felt in my life. Suddenly I felt a shooting pain up my leg. I had a broken leg. It seemed I must have fallen down here, but from where? I couldn't see the hospital anywhere. I let out a whimper of pain and figured out how to do this crawl sort of thing like a baby, without it hurting too much. "Help! Anybody help!" I tried to scream, but I couldn't talk anymore and it came out a blather. My mouth seemed to have changed. I tried to scream again and I heard footsteps behind me. Something suddenly picked my up, but it was also nothing. I was floating in mid air! Slowly I swivelled my head around, and saw another pony creature, but taller. From the features he looked quite like a male. He had a horn. I giggled, realising this probably was a dream. That must be how I was floating, i was dreaming of magic, that explained the floating. He cooed at me. "I'm not a baby!" I tried to scream, but my mouth was all weird, I couldn't talk anymore. I couldn't get my tongue around right. "Are you okay little one?" He asked me warmly and slowly put me down. I winced as my broken leg touched the ground and crossed my arms, if I could call them that anymore. I'm guessing they'd be legs now. Legs and hooves. I slowly decided as odd as this was, it couldn't be a dream, if it were I'd be lucid and able to wake myself. "Uh oh" he muttered. "It seems like your leg is hurt, is that why you're so grumpy?" He said. "Well, you'll be fine, well get you to the hospital and they'll fix it right up, and after that we can find your family! Doesn't that sound fun?" He said I'm a funny voice, like the one you would use to talk to your own babies, or pets. Only thing was, I was not a baby. I decided to try telling him that again, but to my dismay, it came out as gibberish again. I hope I was not stuck here permanently. I slowly thought back to what could have caused this, it couldn't have been anything recently, maybe the Fish and Chippery, but I doubt it, that guy was just odd, nothing else. Strangely, I was getting sleepy often now after the change. It must be all the energy used from it happening, I thought, sleepily, as the pony creature carried me with his magic. I fell asleep to the sound of his hoof beats. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pony had taken me to a small clinic, and gotten my leg patched up, then took me a police station. I was still trying to talk to him. It was very strange how I could understand him, yet he couldn't me, but then again my mouth had just gotten cooky and i still couldn't form the right sounds. I yawned realizing I was really tired again, and unwillingly fell asleep. I woke up the next day, nearly in the morning with the sun shining in my eyes. "Ah.. That was a odd dream." I said, or at least I thought I said. I sat up yawning and looked to the side. Why was I behind bars?!? I asked myself suddenly, and then it hit me. That was not a dream at all, if it were it wouldn't have been so vivid! Slowly I bring my gaze down to my hands. I yelp, when I see that they are still hooves. I didn't want hooves, I wanted my fingers back! To be able to pick things up. To go back.. Home.... I thought, sniffling. Would I ever get back home? I silently cried. What had I done to deserve this? To become a... PONY BABY! I thought letting out a whimper of frustration. Somebody came in, I realised to them I must have really sounded like a baby. "Aww poor baby. Are you hungry?" She said, in baby talk, and cooed. I think she was a nurse, that's where I must be, some type of orphanage or something in a hospital. I thought, looking around and seeing other cribs. She came closer to me and I looked at what she was carrying in her mouth. It was a baby bottle. Even though I was hungry, I silently prayed she wasn't coming to feed me with it. She was. She stuck it right in my mouth and to my protest, wouldn't take it out, I tried closing my mouth, but that jus got milk on me. Giving up, I started sucking on it, and found it wasn't half bad. It was sort of creamy, and rich. I still didn't like that it was out of a bottle, but I couldn't do anything about it, now could I? If I'm stuck here forever... At least I'll grow up eventually.. Right?.. I thought, hoping that I wouldn't be. The milk seemed to have an calming effect on me, I didn't feel so worked up anymore. Odd... She stopped feeding me and smiled. "There now see? You're safe here, I'm not going to hurt you, and neither will anybody else." Why should I believe that? After all I was stuck in a land of... Aliens... I gazed up at the pony and she smiled again and walked away. I waited for her to get out the door and looked around at the crib bars. If I'm right, this is one of those cribs you can just push down, I know escaping is useless, after all I am stuck in this helpless body, but I do want a chance to look around. For all I know, I'll be stuck like this for the rest of my life! I hesitantly get up on two legs, wobbling, and force the crib wall bars down, after some effort. I look around and climb down, wondering how I held on to the edge with hooves. No reason to question though, this whole thing is impossible. I land flat on my body and start crawling towards the door, which to my luck had been left open. I slowly come out the door. Time to observe this new world. When I got out of the hospital, I looked around. Perhaps I was hallucinating, but it felt too... Real. Scurrying across cobblestone I crawled as fast as I could, which amazed me, because how could a pony crawl? Watching other ponies walk towards me, I hurried into a bush. I was quite tired even though I only crawled for a few minutes, and didn't get very far. I sit down to rest and start thinking about home. Here I was in a strange world, one that I've never even heard about! What would my family think? My friends? I break out crying. I rarely cry. Why was I crying? Why was I getting tired so easily? To my horror I realise my mind was turning baby-like too, not just my body, of course my body though, was a white foal with purple hair. A foal as in a baby pony. If I was stuck here I'd have to grow up all over again. Go to kindergarten again. Do everything I've done, again! But this time without the people I loved.