> Follow the Wind
>  by FrostTheWolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1- Every Journey starts somewhere
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Every Journey Starts Somewhere.




        My typical morning for me feels like the beginning of the Gym Class Heroes song saying how they wake up in the morning and didn’t really sleep well. I was inside my room upstairs in the two story house that I call home. Normally, you would think that someone around my age would be in school and having to learn AP Calculus or getting copies as a student aide for some teacher that really doesn’t give a crap if you’re busy or not. However, that’s not exactly the case for me. Right now, I’m at my house because I already graduated High School two years ago and my younger brother Alex just graduated a few months ago. 

        Today was Tuesday and it was the day where Alex and quite a few of his friends decided to meet up and be thankful that the school year was done for (given that he already graduated before my parents went to New York City from San Diego for their Anniversary two days ago). He walked out the door around 8:30am, addressing me not by my name, but by the name he used to playfully tease me with. “See you later Ponyboy. I’ll make sure to tell everyone you said hi.”

        Yeah. Given the choice of words, being called Ponyboy was basically for two reasons. It was either the fact that he was trying to make you look like the main character of “The Outsiders” or the fact that I’m a Brony. My answer would be the second one. My name is Raven Soresu. I’m a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and also an artist. I draw and even write about characters I come up with in my spare time, sometimes scanning my drawings to trace them out later in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. My brother on the other hand, looks at me with an expression of ‘Why?’ on his face. At least he’s alright with it (most of the time).

        Anyways, I went through the morning just like how I would normally do things on a weekday. I ate breakfast, changed clothes, the normal morning routine. However, I had a weird feeling that something was off when I entered my room again after breakfast. Like I felt something that made me uncomfortable or that I thought that something was out of place. Maybe it was because I didn’t get the chance to get some fresh air by walking to Starbucks down by Telegraph Canyon road. It’s the closest place in Chula Vista from my home that has coffee and there’s a donut place not far from it that makes good glazed twists.

        Now though, I refocused my attention to what I was drawing. It was my Original Character that I came up with after getting into the fanbase. However, it wasn’t a Pegasus, Earth Pony or Unicorn. Especially since none of those three species have paws where the hooves would be. 

        My OC was a Wolfpony. Yeah, call me Crazy, but I’m not talking about Werewolf ponies. My character, Rufus, has a Wolf Father named Azzuen and A Unicorn Mother named Snowheart. Because of his mother being a Unicorn, Rufus was special in the fact that he had markings along his body that allowed him to control magic. However, unlike Unicorn Magic, his was strictly spiritual and Growing up in the Cold mountains of the North led to him learning a powerful source of magic called “Aura” like what Lucario uses in the Pokemon games. 

        I personally thought it would be a good new idea, but the fact is that I had a gut feeling that my ideas would get negative responses. I’m not the best when it comes to explanations and when I try to explain things, I find it easier to show things rather than tell it. At times, it even drives me crazy with how much stress that causes for me. Anyways, at the moment, I was drawing Rufus by a campfire that he tried to make on his own using a pile of twigs and some flint. It was during a cold night in the Crystal Empire and he was going to rest there and move on to the rest of Equestria when he woke up. 

        After finishing the details and taking over half an hour to try and trace everything though, I found the results ending up less than satisfactory with the amount of times I kept on screwing up with following the lines. Dammit!! I should’ve thought about scanning it to my USB before I went to work on this. 

        “Okay, just calm yourself. You just need a small break.” I told myself as I went into the den back downstairs. Inside was a HDTV, PS3, my computer with two monitors so I read and work at the same time, and one of my pets sitting in my Dad’s office chair. I have two cats, a brother and a sister who get along from time to time (even though the sister looks like she ate her brother and begs like a Princess for food 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week.) 

        Acting comical, I approached the cat that was on the chair, which turned out to be the sister. The one that my Brother named “Charger” after the San Diego Chargers like he named the other cat “Capital” off of the Washington Capitals Hockey team. (Don’t ask, my brother really is into sports like he got possessed by ESPN ever since our family first got cable.) Picking her up, I cradled her and acted like BAYMAX from Big Hero 6. “Hhhairy Baby!!”

        After petting her a little, I sat down on the floor like a Samurai with the second half of his legs holding my weight and my hands around my lap. Before I wanted to do anything like play Destiny or one of the Kingdom Hearts collections, I thought that I would use the chance to clear my mind and meditate. I was only up for about an hour and a half and I already had a lot on my mind that was distracting me. Maybe it would be best to try and clear my mind a bit.

        Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in… Breathe out… Now close the eyes and concentrate. Focus…… Don’t become distracted by anything on the outside. Not even Charger pleading for food and sounding like when Rarity whines. 

        Clear your mind… This won’t take long. Everything’s going to be just fine.



        Turns out, what I was thinking and trying to tell myself was completely inaccurate.

        After five minutes, I began to have the feeling that I wasn’t exactly inside the den anymore. For one thing, I could feel a cold breeze go past my face and a source of warmth right in front of me. For a minute, I thought it was a beam of sunlight against my face. But then again, I felt my feet walk across something cold. Like it was snow or something.

        Wait a minute… Snow?

        On the thought of that, I opened my eyes. I was greeted by the sight of a campfire in front of me and a huge valley of snow and cold that drifted for miles. Like the scene I was drawing earlier today. Holy Crap!! This place feels like Big Bear Mountain! But in the distance, I thought I could see something that looked like a castle or an Empire out of crystals as I partially shiver in my jacket, t-shirt, socks and jeans. 

        Wait… Empire… Crystals………… Crystal… Empire?

        “Oh sh-!” 

        My mind felt like it was a computer about to crash from the shock of everything that was happening by the time I heard another voice. I didn’t even hear them move up and sit across from me nearby the fire. And normally, I can hear things from a few rooms away. 

        “Welcome… I’ve been expecting you.”

        I turned around and faced the flickering campfire. Only to be greeted by the one thing I never expected.

        Rufus.

        My character. Right in front of me. Sitting with his back legs on the ground. He was sitting calmly like he was waiting for my arrival in the middle of god knows where. Matter of fact; in the middle of the Crystal Empire with snow falling around the two of us. Before I could even speak, the Lupine creature cuts my off and answers a question I was just beginning to form inside my head. 

        “Don’t be afraid, Raven. I’m not going to hurt you.”

        “H-how do you know my name?” I asked with a shocked tone to my voice. I was surprised that he actually knew who I was.

        ‘Well, he did say he was expecting you.’ 

        *Sigh* You’re not helping me right now, brain. 

        “I know about you because I am you. You created me based off of yourself,” the Wolf told me. “Still though, that’s not the reason why I brought you here. Something is happening back in your world and it’s going to happen to you as well.”

        I raised an eyebrow, confused by what he meant. “What exactly is going to happen?”

        Rufus gave a heavy sigh as he looked at me. Something in my head made me think that what he was going to say was something involving my “Destiny” (Which has nothing to do with a rock in the middle of nowhere) or something like that. Turns out, it was nothing like that. Instead, it was something that made me think twice about what I know.

        “You’re going to be turning into me.”

        Now that didn’t make any sense. Me? Turning into him? Unless someone used one of those weapons in Ratchet and Clank where it turns the bad guys into sheep or another crazy animal, how exactly would that be possible. Looking at him, I saw the markings across his body slightly glow a little as he tossed some dust into the fire. Like it was a Native American ritual, the smoke that rose from the fire began to form… images. I saw people like me, but changed. A college student with holes in his arm and a little girl with stripes. Another one that had talons alongside his friend that had pony ears and a pair of hidden wings. It kept showing different people with different changes happening to each one of them.

        “Right now, a lot of people in your world have already experienced changes like this, but based on their own creations,” Rufus explained to me as I tried to stay warm by the fire. “I don’t know much, but I only know what I’ve seen in recent visions that I’ve had.”

        Wait a minute; visions?

        ‘Well, duh. You had him be able to communicate with the spiritual plane that you came up with, idiot.’

        Damn it, Brain… now isn’t the time to rub this in my face.

        “Rufus? Can I ask you something?”

        “Yes, Raven. What is it?” the wolf replied.

        “What changes are going to happen to me? Would you happen to know?” I asked him in hopes that he would know since he knew more about what was going on than me. 

        “I don’t know about what will happen to you. All I know is that the changes start slow, but gradually increase over time. My guess is that one happens when the sun rises and another change happens when the sun fall.”

        “Dawn and Dusk.”

        “Exactly,” he told me. “Those you consider as family and friends might also be affected by this as well. But there is hope though.” 

        Hope? Hope of what? Not making this happen in the first place?! God, I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. “What do you mean, Rufus?”

        “One of the visions I’ve seen has a number of the people you’ve seen on a journey that you need to take as well. One that takes you out of your home in the state you call California and to a city where the four winds meet and cross through a city by a great lake. I believe you are to go to that place as well. It’ll be a long journey, but no wolf said that you would be going alone.” 

        ‘No wolf? Must be what he means by Nopony,’ I thought to myself. I saw the Lupine Figure move his paw as a gesture for me to come closer. I did so. When close enough, he dropped two items in my lap. One looked like a crystal pendant. The other looked like one of those sticks you would find in Tron Legacy that if you cracked it open, it would turn into a light cycle.

        “Keep these on you for your journey. The necklace will allow me to reach you if trouble arises. The second item is to protect yourself in case you run into trouble.” 

        Rufus now looked at me and put his right paw on my shoulder in a gesture of goodbye as I put the stick in my pocket and the Pendant around my neck. “Stay safe, my friend.”

        “You two, Rufus.”

        With that, the marks on Rufus began to glow again, shining brightly and blinding my vision with a flash of white light. It felt like I was falling… Falling into the abyss………



        I woke up again with a shock like I reacted from a jump scare in a horror movie. I was back in the den again. Was what I saw a dream? It looked too real to be one in the first place. But that’s when I felt the weight in my pockets and the string around my neck. I looked downward to see the sapphire crystal from earlier… and then stared shocked at what was on my hands. 

        Oh god… The first change.

        They looked like the markings you got if you accidently got marker in on your hands. But I had a theory that this was more than it seemed. Getting off the floor immediately, I rushed to the downstairs bathroom and closed the door so I could have some privacy while taking off my top layer of clothes. That’s when I was greeted to the change that I could recognize immediately. It didn’t look like much, but it covered the entire top half of my body.

        Tribal markings. The same ones that I saw on Rufus that glowed before I returned to my home. The Navy Markings that allow him to channel his powers… were now on me like I just went to a tattoo artist. They even pulsed and sometimes glowed when I flexed out the muscles in my hand. Most of it could be covered with my clothes, but two markings that look like scars on the bottom of my cheeks stood noticeable. Like I had whiskers despite the fact that I’m turning into a wolf instead of a cat. 

        With my mind going on Autopilot, I do the first thing that came to mind. To the internet!! Maybe he could figure out what “city” that Rufus was referring to. Fifteen minutes and a few internet searches later, I find a link to a website where some guy was saying about how this phenomenon was happening to him and how he was calling everyone to meet in Chicago.

        Chicago… The Windy city… a city that was by Michigan’s great lakes. So that’s what Rufus was trying to tell me. Just how the buck was I going to get to Chicago-.

        Wait a minute… Did I just say buck? This transformation affects my speech too!? God, why isn’t there like a list of side effects that I should’ve known about?!! Grabbing my keys, wallet, Iphone 5s, pen & pencil, and some cash; I put my jacket and shirt back on and head towards the garage to get my shoes. What I did not expect though, was getting a phone call right as I was standing on my left leg, putting my other shoe on.

        The surprise of hearing of hearing the Knife Pony remix of “Jealousy” by Feather almost made me fall backwards and hit my head against the concrete floor. Looking down, I saw the caller ID on my phone.

        It was Chloe Wilson. A former classmate of mine that graduated with me two years ago. She was also a pegasister and her little brother, Shay, was a brony. 

        Groaning a little, I unlocked my phone and answered the call. “Hello?”

        “Raven! Oh, thank god you picked up!!”

        I raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. “Chloe… Please don’t speak so loud. I have a major headache after something weird happened.”

        “Did it involve a strange dream and a bright flash of light? Because that happened to me last night and Shay about two hours ago.”

        That took my breath away. Then again, Rufus’s words echoed in my mind from our conversation earlier.

        ‘Those you consider as family and friends might also be affected by this as well.’ 

        Oh crap, he was right. “Yeah, it did.”

        “Well, looks like we're stuck in the same situation.” She told me. “Would you mind letting us in?”

        I was confused right now beyond belief. What exactly did she mean by that? It felt like Deja vu based off a scene in Moneyball, because a few moments later, Chloe told me that they were at my front door and waiting for me to let them in. Telling them yes, I shut off my phone and walked to the door to unlock it and let them in. When I saw the two of them, I was just as shocked as I was surprised. 

        The two of them have already undergone changes as well. Chloe’s brown eyes from the last time I had seen her, now turned magenta and her 12 year old brother’s hair had changed color from black to a navy blue similar to Soarin’s. “Sorry about that, I didn’t know you were at the door. Come on in.”

        Being a respectful gentleman, I held the door open for them as they walked on inside. They took a seat at the dining room table nearby from where I sat down at the table. Now, the conversation begins. 

        ‘Just don’t try to screw this up, buddy.’

        Shut up, brain.

        “Thanks for letting us in. My mother would flip if she saw us like this when she comes home,” Chloe told me. Her mom was a biologist who worked at the University of California: San Diego or UCSD for short. With Chloe’s father on tour for the U.S. army, it was hard for her manage her time between work and family for taking care of her kids. 

        “You’re welcome. I noticed that both of you look… different.”

        “So you noticed? My eyes and Shay’s hair.”

        I nodded, rolling up the sleeves of my jacket to show them my marks. Both of them gasped upon seeing it for the first time, especially when it pulsed a little when I stretched my hands. But then, they got confused. “Are those supposed to be stripes or something?”

        “No. They’re tribal markings,” I told them, getting out my phone to show them a older picture of Rufus that I completed and posted on my DeviantArt page. “Chloe, Remember when I told you about this guy?”

        Her response was a nod of the head and a brief yes, followed by a raised eyebrow. “So what exactly do you think is going on?”

        Sighing again, I accessed the same link I found out earlier about what was going on in Chicago and showed it to them. Both of them were quite surprised about the whole ‘changing into ponies’ bit of it and were surprised when I told them that I saw Rufus in a dream before I received the marks. Additionally, I told them how I was able to see other people undergo similar changes. Now, I wondered about one other thing.

        “Hey… Since I’m turning into a Wolf… Do you guys have any idea what you might be possibly turning into?”

        Chloe sighed. “I’m not sure… I might need to wait until a few more of these changes happen before-.”

        My phone went off again. This time, it’s a text. Checking it, I’m surprised to see who sent the message to me. 

        It was from Alex.

        “Who texted you?” I heard Shay ask me.

        “My brother.”

        “Well, what did he say-?”

        “Shay! What did I tell you about snooping into other people’s business?”

        I sighed. “It’s alright. Besides, we might need to help him out. It looks like he’s in the same boat as us.”

        That’s when I showed him the photo he sent me. A selfie of himself… and the two curved horns on the back of his head.




End Chapter 1

> 2- Shock to the System
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Shock to the system




        Right now, the thought of Alex getting all caught up in this mess was racing through my mind like speeding racecars on a NASCAR track. I could hear him in the back of my mind yelling ‘See, I told you that being a Brony is Contagious!’ like he was trying to prove a point. 

        “So lets recap,” Chloe spoke, breaking the silence that drifted around the room. “You have Rufus’s Tribal markings after seeing a dream of him, My eyes changed color, Shay’s hair is now like Soarin’s and Alex has a pair of horns.”

        “Yeah, but something doesn’t make sense,” I told them. “My brother isn’t part of the fanbase, but this is happening to him. Just how did he get himself caught up in all of this mess?”

        “Maybe someone made a character for him?” Shay suggested. I could tell that he was trying his best to contribute to the conversation. The thought of what he said made me think of a new possibility, though. Excusing myself for a moment, I walked into my room and pulled out one of my Sketchbooks that I had on my desk. Flipping through the pages in my sketchbook and all the loose and scattered drawings I did on blank sheets of paper, I came across an old sketch of a character I drew. It had the same horns as Alex had on his head.

        “Holy crap…” I cursed to myself as I looked at the drawing. Taking it with me, I hurried downstairs back to the table in the dining room. “I figured out what the horns mean.”

        “What is it? A centaur? Minotaur? Bull?” Shay asked me. Sometimes, he reminded me of Pinkie Pie when he was curious or excited. 

        “No… not by a long shot.” I told them, shaking my head as I set the paper down on the table. The sketch I held looked like a pony, but it wasn’t by a long shot. Ponies didn't have claws instead of hooves. 





        “He’s becoming a dragon-pony named Shockwave. I drew this character for him earlier in the year for his birthday and I know it’s this guy because the horns on his head are exactly the same ones on Alex’s head.”

        “Oh my…” Chloe gasped as she and Shay looked at the image. I couldn’t tell if she said that in awe of the drawing or in shock of what was happening. What I knew, though, was that Alex now had horns and was turning into a character I drew for him. But where the hell was he? All I remember that he left around 8:30 this morning…

        Wait… What time was it anyway?

        I looked at my watch that was on my wrist, only to see that it was an hour past noon. Holy crap!! How did that much time pass by so quickly!? Still though; the time right now was the least of my concerns. Right now, I need to find out where he is. Of course, that in itself is not easy. 

        “Did your brother happen to send you a message to go along with the picture?” Chloe asked me. I checked my messages to see if Alex did send me anything. 

        “Raven, where the hell are you!?” 

        I began to type my reply back, telling him that I was back at the house with both Chloe and Shay. I want to give him an explanation in another text, but I was cut off by the urgent reply he sent back to me. The message was about how he needed to get picked up immediately from the Otay Ranch mall and that the horns on his head were attracting all the wrong kinds of attention. 

        “Chloe, can you drive us to the Otay Ranch Mall? I have a bad feeling about what's happening to Alex right around now…”



        The drive over in the Wilson family’s Chrysler Town & Country was not like a normal drive to the mall with my father when he needed to go by Best Buy. Instead of hearing music on the radio, we heard a news broadcast on the Local AM news channel. 

        ‘Good afternoon everyone. Today is Tuesday, October 8th and we have a strange and interesting top story for you this hour. According to several reports over the last twenty four hours, there have been numerous cases of “Transformations” happening across the US and the world. People starting to grow animal parts ever since yesterday. It has been causing uproars, puzzling politicians and scientists and even has the international committee in an uproar with several countries demanding for an explanation-.’

        Chloe tried to change the radio station, only to hear the same exact story broadcasted differently. After a few minutes, she decided to shut off the radio because of all the craziness that the people calling in were saying. Some people even tried to call in to portray their own religious views and that what was going on was us turning into spawns of Satan. That thought just made me worry about Alex a bit more due to the horns on his head. 

        “Okay, so where do you exactly think Alex is?” Chloe asked me as we stopped at a four way intersection with a red light.

        “The photo looks like it was taken inside the Barnes and Noble that’s there, so I guess I’ll start there.” 

        Chloe was about to comment, until my phone went off again because somewolf was calling my phone. 

        ‘You’re doing the speech thing again.’

        Take a hike, Brain. I’m busy.

        Answering the phone call, the words I heard were from the one person I did not anticipate to receive a call from.

        My mom.

        “Hey Raven. Are you there?” I heard her voice as I mentally cursed her timing. 

        I replied with a casual tone to not sound like I’m trying to hide anything from her. “Yeah, I’m going to go pick up Alex. His friends already left.”

        “Ah, I see… Wait, how are you going to pick him up? You don’t have the car.”

        ‘Think of something quick or else you’re eternally screwed!!’

        SHUT UP, BRAIN!!!

        “Chloe stopped by earlier, so she’s helping me pick him up.” Came my reply. 

        “Oh, that’s nice of her,” She said back to me. “Hey Raven?”

        “Yes mom?”

        “Did you happen to hear about the news story on the whole “Transformation” thing that’s going on?”

        Strike one. “Y-yeah, I did. What about it?”

        “Well, I was just a little bit worried. Is something wrong? ……… Raven? Talk to me… Is something wrong?”

        Strike Two. “Uhh…”

        “Because I received a photo of your brother and he had horns on the back of his head.”

        Strike Three. I struck out in the conversation game. “Can we talk about this later? What time will you be home by?”

        “Five o’clock.”

        “Alright, when you get home, I’ll bring you up to speed on what’s going on. Because one thing’s for sure; those horns aren’t fake.” 

        I ended the call and locked my phone, putting it back in my pocket for good measure. We were getting close to the mall and from the looks of it; many people were there for it being a Tuesday. Chloe drove the car around the side of the mall that was closest to The Cheesecake Factory restaurant that was there and pulled up to drop me off. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

        “I’m going on ahead. Head back around to where PF changs is so that way we have a pick up location that doesn’t attract attention.”

        “Can’t it be just easier to drive near the food court and wait for you there?”

        “Too much foot traffic goes in and out of there,” I told her. “And I rather not have my brother become the talk of the town if he gets blasted on Social Media.” Walking around the corner, I see the door to the entrance of the bookstore and went inside. I looked around for possible signs of where my brother could be.

        Magazines… No.

        Popular reads… Definitely not.

        Comics and graphic novels? … Worth a shot to check out.

        Striding to the left from the main entrance, I entered the fourth row on my right and saw a collection of comic books on my left and manga novels on my left. I was tempted to see if they had any new updates on Attack on Titan or Fairy Tail, but ignored that for the sake of the task at hand. It wasn’t until I realized that when I was looking past that direction that I found him.

        He was sitting in a small comfy chair with his jacket hood partially up and his legs crossed. Reading a strategy guide on Destiny and looked like he was a quarter of the way through the book when I saw him. When Alex noticed me, he got up and walked over to the shelf I was by and put the book away. “Dude, what the hell happened to your face? Did Charger scratch you?”

        Like a cat would leave behind Navy scars. “No and how did you get a pair of horns?”

        “Basically, I was here catching up on the Injustice: Gods among us comics in the library, fell asleep, had a weird dream involving the character you drew for me and him saying how two will become one like it’s a riddle for me to figure out, then woke up and found these horns on my head. Thank god my beanie cap’s not torn yet.”

        Dear god, that’s almost like my dream with Rufus. “Well, I think I have the answer for that riddle of yours. Because the same damn thing is happening to me.” I took some time to give him a simplified version of what was going on and how we were turning into our characters. Deja vu hit me again when he told me that this proved that being a brony was contagious. I told him that we needed to get home so we can explain to mom everything that was going on and also about the same thing happening to Chloe and Shay.

        Now Alex was convinced. “Okay, I believe you. But right now, one thing prevents us from getting out of here cleanly.” He nodded his head in the direction of the CD’s by the exit. Taking a look, my eyes saw the last person I wanted to see in this kind of situation. 

        Ramone Barrow. Former student at the school when Alex and I attended. He had been in Juvenile hall once and had gotten suspended multiple times due to Reckless behavior. The piercings on his ears, sagging pants, a very disturbing shirt and his attitude were exact traits of that. But now, I noticed a wound on his cheek. 

        Looking back at Alex, my tone changed. “What did you do to get on his bad side?!”

        “He was getting in my face, I pushed him and when I lifted my head back up, my horn clipped him and now he’s after me because I’m one of those freaks with the changing body parts he heard about yesterday or some crap. It was an accident, but now he’s after me like its bloody murder. Now, I’m trying to keep a low profile since he saw me walk in here.” 

        Oh horse apples, getting out of here is going to take a miracle… Unless… 

        “I have an Idea, but it’s going to sound crazy.”

        “And that is……… Oh no… Are you suicidal or something?” 

        He was starting to see what I was referring to when I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist, showing the markings on my arms since I still had my t-shirt on from earlier. “He’s looking for one of us right? Well, I am one.”

        “You’re using yourself as F***king bait! Where am I suppose to go!?”

        “Chloe is around back by PF Changs. Go there and wait for fifteen minutes. If I’m not back by then, go back home. I’ll get home one way or another.”

        I didn’t even hear Alex’s protest as I walked through the door. The marks on my arms and them pulsing when I opened the door made Ramon turn and notice me. Soon, I could hear the chains along his baggy pants as I walked a considerable distance away. Right into an open alley between a department store and a party city. Trying to play it cool and mind my own business like nothing is wrong or-.

        “Hey you!” I heard him call out. Turning around, I looked at him. He definite looked like someone who had spent time in jail and his appearance reflected that for someone who looked like he was 18. “You happened to see a black haired punk with a Billabong jacket and possible horns on his head?”

        “Horns? What do I look like? A biologist?” I shot back at him. 

        “No. You look more like a fellow member of the Circus freakshow if you ask me.” Ramon said back. I had my right hand in my pocket, holding the tool that Rufus gave me. “Your marks give it away.”

        “Hey, just because I look like one doesn’t mean that I am one or that I would know where your little horny friend is.” I told him, trying imply a little humor. Clearly, it didn’t work when he reached into his pockets and I heard a FLICK!! sound go off. Oh Dear Luna, he’s got a knife!

        ‘Matter of fact, why didn’t you think Dear God?’

        THAT’S NOT MY BIGGEST CONCERN, BRAIN!!

        “Look, funny guy. I don’t know what kind of Sh*t you’re trying to pull, but I’m not tolerant when it comes to liars,” He told me, getting closer to where he held the blade to where it was too close for comfort. “Now, why don’t you quit playing comedian and answer the damn question.”

        “I did! I don’t know who the hell you are talking about-?”

        “Oh I believe I do. You’re his brother.”

        ‘Cover’s blown!! 007, Get to Extraction!!!’

        Brain, that isn’t helping me right now. 

        I waited for a moment where he took his eyes off of me and lowered his weapon. Doing so, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it using some of the martial arts self defense I learned from when dad taught me. He tried fighting back, using his open hand to grab a backup knife that he kept in his other pocket. Damn it all to Tartarus! My arm was halfway through the motions and I brought a fist to a Knife Fight.

        Then I tried focusing like I did earlier with my meditation back home. Almost like a last ditch effort to save my skin. However, something… new happened. My marks pulsed wildly and when my palm hit his chest, it flew him backwards to where he hit his head against a wall and was knocked out cold. I heard the sound of bones cracking when he made contact with the wall. Possibly a few broken ribs or worse. 

        But now, I had a new problem. Somehow, that… moment just now unlocked some kind of… power? What the hell was that? It felt like magic, but I wasn’t exactly sure. Still, that’s not the highest of priorities that were on my mind right now. I needed to catch up with Chloe and the others before this guy wakes up and turns the mall into a shooting gallery.



        “Okay, just what the hell happened when Ramone cornered you?”

        “Don’t look at me, Alex! I’m just as confused as you are,” I told him a few minutes after pulling out of the parking lot and getting back on the road again. We had twenty minutes until the four of us were back home and now, the entire focus of the conversation was on what happened in the alleyway when I used myself as a distraction. “The only guess that I have is that it involves my character and his powers. He channels his magic through the marks on his body.”

        “So you think you have Rufus’ powers?”

        “It’s the only theory I have. I do have his Tribal Marks.”

        “Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. You said that you had a dream with your wolf character earlier. Did he say anything that we should keep in mind?”

        I took a moment to explain about some of the things Rufus told me. Like how he thought that these changes to our bodies would happen at Sunrise and Sunset along with the fact that everyone that has the same issue as us is going to Chicago to figure out what was going on. In addition, Chloe told Alex how her eyes had changed in color and how Shay’s hair changed as well. So in our group of four, we have a wolf (myself) and a dragon-pony. I wonder what Chloe and Shay would possibly turn into. She had told me before that she used a variety of characters when she does some roleplays with her brother or just drawing in general, but I didn’t remember there being any specific one that I saw based off of her. 

        “Hey Chloe.”

        “Yes Raven?”

        “I was thinking a little about who or what exactly we might be turning into. I know that I’m turning into Rufus and Alex is turning into Shockwave, but I was wondering if you had any idea of what you or Shay might be possibly turning into?” I finished my sentence by taking a drink from a bottle of water I purchased at a vending machine before setting it back in the cupholder by the door. It was a valid question, but also one that couldn’t exactly be answered off the bat. After going under the bridge that was a part of the Interstate 125, my friend answered my question.

        “To be honest, I’m not sure. But I might have an idea of what exactly Shay might be turning into.”

        That, on its own, caught my attention as well as everyone else in the car. I looked at the young twelve year old and I could tell in his eyes that he knew it too. He looked at me and was just as shocked and surprised as I was when her sister said that. Then, I was hearing him speaking to himself like he was trying to get the thought inside his head. Out of this though, I heard something that sounded like a name.

        Tailwind.

        I tried to juggle the name around inside my head to see if it would likely bring up any characters that I could possibly remember. It wasn’t really helping me out, but it’s the least I could do right now. I couldn’t exactly have Chloe pull over so Shay could explain what he meant. The name sounded like a Pegasus’s name. Like somepony that had control over high pressure winds and storms. Either that or they were just plain fast. 

        It was too early to tell though because it was only close to Two o’clock. Sunset wouldn’t be coming for another three hours or so, which meant that we wouldn’t be expecting any changes for quite some time. So, the best guess right now was to just probably ask him. We were at a red light and we still had another ten minutes before getting home. 

        “Shay, would you happen to know what Chloe meant just now?” I asked him calmly so that way I wouldn’t startle him. He was probably still a little nervous given what had transpired over the last few minutes so I would understand if he didn’t want to say anything. To my surprise though, he actually did answer my question. 

        “When Chloe got me into the fandom about a couple of months ago, she made me a character that I named Tailwind.” He stopped talking afterwards. Probably because he was still a bit nervous on talking about the subject.

        ‘Well, that didn’t work. You have a plan B?’

        Brain, is that suppose to be a rhetorical question?

        ‘… Good point. Do you think Chloe would possibly know more about this? She did say that she had an idea of what the little guy might be turning into.’

        That’s an idea, brain. She doesn’t know for sure. However, I was wondering more about what Chloe might possibly be turning into. Despite the fact that she has created enough characters to make her own universe, I only remember one that has magenta eyes. Got any possibilities? 

        ‘Hmm……… Only two come to mind. But I’m more certain about one of them than another.’

        Before I could even ask, I heard the screeching of brakes as Chloe had to slam on hers. Some jackass tried to gun a red light and almost clipped us at the front of the car when we were making a left turn. We were all okay, but we honestly did not know why the hell someone would try something that reckless or stupid. 

        That was when I heard my brother speak shortly after we got moving again moments after having to screech to a halt. “Hey, is it just me or does Chloe now have ears coming out of the top of her head?”

        I now looked at Chloe and lo and behold, my brother was right. She has a pair of light grey ears sticking out of the top of her head. Something made me think about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution during this moment. The theory in which different species evolves at different rates. For us, Chloe now had two changes. Eyes and Ears. 

        But the one thing I noticed though was that those ears weren’t pony ears. They were too pointy and didn’t resemble Batpony ears either. When I saw Chloe look in the rear view mirror, her eyes widened. She was just as surprised as all of us. But for me, I was a little confused. The awkward silence continued on for another few minutes until we finally got off the main roads were back in our neighborhood.

        “Guys…” She tells us as we finally pull back up into our driveway. “I’m a Fox-pony.”




End Chapter 2

> 3- Explanations and Expectations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Expectations and Explanations




        “A fox-pony?” I asked. That was honestly the first time that I’ve heard of anything like that before. I’d heard of Seaponies, Bat-ponies, and even Vamp-ponies because of the Adapting to Night Comic series by Drawponies on DeviantArt. But Fox pony was a new one.

        “Yes.” Chloe told us. “My OC is a fox-pony named Dreamcatcher. She was abandoned at birth because she was born prematurely, but the Fox Spirit named Sakura soon took her in and had her energy fuse with her so she was able to survive. She has fox like ears and a tail, but can also call upon and use a series of powers that were given to her because of Sakura.”

I opened the front door of the house using my keys and had everyone come inside before I closed the door behind us. “The Concept sort of reminds me of Ahri.”

        “Who?” I heard Alex ask as we enter the living room and he took a seat on the couch next to Shay.

        “Ahri is a champion in League of Legends. A game I play in my spare time.” I answered his question as I pulled up an image of Ahri on my phone to show him. 





        “Damn… She looks hot.”

        “Alex!! That’s not our main concern here!” I snapped at him. “Mom is supposed to be coming home in a few hours and we need to try and explain to her what the hell has been happening. She’s already worried since you sent her the photo that you sent me.” It was then that I noticed that Alex looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. Something didn’t feel right about what he was going to say next.

        “What do you mean the photo I sent her? I only sent it to you.” That’s when he checked his phone, just to make sure he was right. Turns out, Alex was wrong. He had accidentally sent the photo in a group message that was for me and mom. 

        ‘At least that clears up the mystery behind how she received it. Good job, Watson.’ 

        I sighed to myself, ignoring that thought. We needed to focus on what to do next. “Alright, so what do we already know about the current situation?”

        “Well, to put it bluntly; I’m turning into a freaking dragon. You’re turning into a wolf. Chloe is turning into a Fox and we have no idea what Shay is going to turn into. Plus, everyone who is stuck in the same boat as us is heading towards Chicago in order to figure out how to fix this problem. Because there’s no way in hell that our health insurance is going to cover this.”

        Alex was right about that. But then, a new question came from Chloe. “Well, one thing that confuses me is this. Raven said that Rufus told him that these changes occur in the morning and at night. If that’s true, then why did I get these ears a few minutes ago?”

        “Maybe he was only referring to me.” I replied back. “In Biology class, I learned about Evolution and one of the things I remember is that different species evolve at different rates. Maybe your changes happen faster than mine.”

        “Makes sense.” My brother commented. “Seems like the only way out of this is if we just tell mom the truth. After all, honesty is the best policy.”

        Something about him saying honesty made me think about Applejack, which was odd because sometimes my brother reminds me of Discord since he lives by the phrase ‘What’s fun is there in making sense?’

        Anyways, after everyone agreed with what my brother said, we all decided to pass the time by hanging out in the den. Chloe was on her 3DS along with me since I had Pokemon Y and she had Pokemon X. Alex was on the PS3; shooting Fallen and Hive in the face on Destiny. Shay was watching him as he played through with his Titan on the moon. He really liked it though when my brother slammed into a pack of enemies with his “Fists of Havoc” ability since it reminded him of when The Hulk went on a smashing spree in The Avengers. Especially when he treated Loki like a ragdoll.

        As for me, going up against Chloe in Pokemon was easy, but trying to beat her was an entirely different story. We went against each other with only four Pokemon each and out of five rounds, I only won once. Plus, that victory by itself was by luck. Seems like Lucario, Blaziken, Absol, and Lapras weren’t able to hold on their own despite the fact that Lapras had “Sheer Cold” and three out of those four Pokemon had Mega Stones. 

        The thing that surprised all of us though was when we heard the garage door opening. It was only 4:30pm; which was over an hour early from when mom said she would originally be home. Plus, my dad was in Brazil on a Business Trip. Who would be opening it right around now?

        “I’ll be right back.” 

        Walking into the garage, I was surprised to see that mom had pulled up in the driveway. She was quite early and normally, she wasn’t one for going back on her word when she tells you something. 

        “Raven. Oh thank god; you’re okay!”

        “Mom? You’re home awfully early.” 

        “I came home as soon as I could. Your father was fine with me leaving early when I told him what was going on.”

        Great. Now more people know that we’re part of the transformation brigade. So much for not trying to attract a lot of attention. As mom pressed the garage door opener, she then noticed the markings on my arms. 

        “Raven… What are those?”

        “Mom, the same thing that’s going on with Alex is happening to me to. I woke up to find these across my body.” I flexed the muscles in my wrists to show what I meant exactly when the marks glowed softly before dying back down. She almost looked like she was going to faint. But I did my best to help make sure that she didn’t have a panic attack as I helped her inside. 

        Bringing her into the living room, Alex and the others soon came on out once they heard her. They were just as surprised as I am, but she told them the same thing she told me about coming home early. Now though, it was our turn to do some explaining. We took our time in helping her process everything because my mother can get easily confused and lost in a conversation if you say too much or don’t explain it right. 

        It took about twenty minutes to about half an hour, but we were soon able to tell her everything. About how Alex was turning into Shockwave, how I was turning into Rufus, Chloe turning into Dreamcatcher, how these changes were affecting more people than just us and also how everyone who was affected was going to Chicago because two teens were holding some sort of meetup in order to figure out what was going on and hopefully figure out a way to change us back. 

        “So… you need to go to Chicago?”

        I nodded my head as I looked to my right. Shay sat right behind me on the sofa; getting comfortable as his sister was standing next to mom and Alex was behind her on the chair she was by. For some reason though, it felt like Shay was either hugging me or tickling me around my waist. 

        “Shay, can you please not do that? It just feels awkward.”

        He looks at me, almost like a little kid with puppy dog eyes and just whined a little. “But your tail’s so soft…”

        Wait a minute… Tail?

        I turned around to realize what he was exactly doing. But more importantly, what just happened. I just grew a wolf tail and now he’s cuddling it like a teddy bear. Despite how “Cute” this might be to some people, I honestly did not expect myself to grow a fluffy wolf tail. In front of my mother no less.

        “Okay… that’s new.” My brother commented. “I’m going to look up flights to Chicago on my Kindle and get back to you guys in a second.” He went off into the den like the cats when they were chasing a laser when we used the laser pointer on them. Speaking of the cats, both Charger and Capital saw my tail as a new cat toy as they whacked at it whenever I had my back turned to them. Both Mom and Chloe saw it as a bit comical while Shay thought it would’ve been better if I tried moving my tail to give them more of a challenge. I honestly did not know how the hell I was supposed to move a freaking tail! 

        Then Alex came out of the den with a long expression on his face. “Guys, I got some bad news.”

        “Define Bad news.” Chloe stated.

        “Bad as in all flights to Chicago are either booked or cancelled due to the amount of air traffic going on and the rush making it near impossible to get there.”

        Now that was bad. We needed to go to Chicago, but couldn’t do it by air. A train ride would take too damn long and driving a car would be even longer. We needed a new plan and fast. That’s when I got a thought inside my head when I looked at the Sports page Alex was reading and seeing an NFL player on the front cover; Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts. 

        “Hmm… What about Indianapolis?”

        “What?”

        “Indiana is next door to Illinois and if Chicago is full with traffic, then why don’t we fly to Indianapolis and then just drive over after that? Chloe, you and me have a driver’s license so we can drive a rental car to Chicago and stop for gas every once in a while and split the cost when we get hungry. How does that sound?”

        Shay himself was immediately onboard with the idea. Chloe was hesitant at first, but soon followed suite. Alex himself, after spending some time thinking, thought it would work. But he then reminded everyone that mom had the final say in all of this.

        ‘Well, of course she does. She’s the parent. Therefore, we must RESPECT HER AUTHORITY!”

        *Sigh* …… You’re killing me, Brain.

        “I’m okay with it…”

        Okay, that was quick. Possibly too quick for someone like my mother. She usually took her time in thinking her answers before saying them. 

        “However, I’m letting you guys go there because I’m trusting you in the fact that you would be able to take care of yourselves on your own. Just make sure to call me though. I don’t want you to make your father and I worry about you.”

        “Okay, mom.”

        “Additionally, all of you guys should take some time to pack your things and get ready. We’re going to make sure you guys go out on the first flight to Indianapolis tonight.”



        I spent quite some time packing a week’s worth of clothes, toiletries, and other things that I would need as we prepared for the trip. Some of these things included my wallet with some cash, the tool that Rufus gave me, my laptop bag, 3DS, and my phone’s charging cable. I added some reading material in the form of books and magazines in my bag as well for if I wanted to rest my eyes. 

        We had gotten the tickets for a 7:00pm flight out of San Diego to Indianapolis and all of us around now were ready to go. Alex had gotten everything he needed as well as Chloe and Shay when they stopped by their house. They also left a note for their mother since she was working late tonight, so now we were able to get on the road.

        After having to stop at an In-n-out drive thru for dinner first. Why we almost forgot about dinner? I honestly have no idea.

        Anyways, after driving on the highway for about twenty minutes, we soon pulled up to the airport and that’s when everyone got out. I hugged mom and kissed her goodbye as she drove off. For some reason, it felt like that would be the last time I was going to see her for a while. 

        ‘Dude, you really need to lighten up. It’s not like the end of the world.’

        Brain… For the love of all things holy, can you please think BEFORE YOU FREAKING SAY ANYTHING!?!

        ‘Sorry. No can do.’

        Well, at least I tried.

         Going inside, we got ourselves checked in and our bags checked out. A few TSA screenings later, we soon were on our way in the same direction along with a few other people who had these changes affecting them too. Some with horns. Some with ears. Some with wings. Others with things that I personally had no clue what they were supposed to be. But at least we managed for right now. 

        Getting onboard the Southwest Airlines flight we needed, the four of us got split up to where I was stuck with Shay and Chloe was stuck with my brother. To make things even weirder, Chloe and Alex had to sit next to a couple with a young child who was freaking out over Alex’s horns and playing with Chloe’s ears. Shay and I, though were in a more comfortable position as I sat nearby the window and he sat next to me.

        “Hey Raven?”

        “Yes Shay?”

        “Do you think Alex and Sis will be okay back there?”

        “I hope so,” I told him, sighing a little as he snuggled up a little and fell asleep. He was hugging my tail again… and looked so DAMN CUTE! After mentally punching myself in the throat, I took a picture with my phone and decided to send it to Chloe. She would probably get a kick out of her little brother still acting like a child again. A waitress came by my seat a few minutes later, offering us drinks. I asked for a Sprite and a bottle of Water for Shay when he eventually up. He was tired. 

        We all were tired. It had been one long, stressful day.



        When I woke up again, I found myself in a similar dream to the one I had this morning. But this time, in a different setting. I look around to try and get myself familiar with where I was. It was a forest and in a clearing aboveground, I could see the moon’s light shine through. It took me a couple of minutes, but I soon recognized the area.

        Everfree Forest.

        Rufus himself step into the open clearing from behind a bush as I walked on over. He smirked a little when he saw my tail and the marks on my body. Almost like he was laughing or just plain amused. I personally thought that he was enjoying the fact that I was going to turn into him. But it didn’t seem like the case. “So, how do you feel with the tail and everything?”

        “A bit weird at first, but for the most part alright.” I answered honestly. “Can I ask you something though?”

        “Sure. Anything.”

        “It’s about these marks actually… I believe I’m starting to get your powers.”

        “Ah yes.” The Wolf answered back. “I saw a glimpse of when your Aura was awakened when you ran into that thug earlier in the day.”

        “Yes I know, but how exactly do I control it?” I then asked him. “I know that I came up with the power, but I still want to know how I can control it so that way I don’t hurt anyone I’m with.” The wolf smiled. Not a creepy like smile, but a smile of satisfaction. This was followed by him howling with laughter.

        “My friend, controlling it reflects on you. Since you concentrated earlier, you were able to channel your aura into your palm when you were struggling against that criminal. Aura is like a blank canvas and your mind is the paintbrush. All you need to do is picture something inside your head and you can create it. The same goes for the tool I gave you as well.”

        At that moment, I took out what he gave me before the last time we met. Deciding to follow his instructions, I began to focus. I could feel the flow of my power flowing around me like wind as it took root. Then, I thought about a blade. Like a Katana’s edge. The Aura took form around the hand that held the tool and soon created the weapon I pictured. It even functioned like one when I cut a small twig in half.

        “That tool is Latros.” Rufus told me as he came closer. “It means Hunter. You picture any weapon and channel your Aura into it and it will take form. As for yourself, picturing different forms or shapes will allow you to conjure those forms of energy. However, you must remember that the more you use this, the more stamina you use. So you must rest sometimes after you use these gifts.”

        I thank him kindly, but then heard something move in the background. It caused a murder of crows to fly away out of the trees and Rufus himself got tense. He turned around, snarling a little at what was behind him. Before even I can do anything, I heard him say one last thing before he blasted me with a flash of light.

        “Go! Run-!!”



Wednesday, October 9th 4:55am

        I woke up rapidly like I had been sleeping through a nightmare. God, my body felt very sore after falling asleep in a chair with my tail getting gripped by Shay the “King of Snuggling”. Speaking of which, I wonder how he was this morning. I turned around to see him, rubbing my eyes so I can see clearly.

        But he wasn’t there. All that was there was an empty seat.

        ‘Hit the panic button!!! We got a twelve year old on the loose!!!!’

        I was now nervous. But for some reason, I felt something moving around in the pockets of my jacket. Reaching in, I felt something grab hold of my finger like it was a hamster. But when I pulled my hand out, what I found was something completely different.

        Shay. Still dressed. Now the size of the palm of my hand.

        ‘Honey!! I shrunk the kids!!!’

        SHUT THE F*** UP, BRAIN!! 

        “Oh… Hey Raven.”

        “Shay, what the hell happened?” I asked him in a whisper, trying to not wake anyone else up that was onboard the plane.

        “I… shrunk.”

        “I know that. But why did you shrink?”

        “Well, my character is a breezie and-.”

        That was when a pair of dragonfly like wings came out of his back. Good lord, I felt like I had a small miniature version of Navi. Just less annoying.

        ‘More like he’s Issun and You’re Amaterasu if you get a sex change.’

        DAMMIT BRAIN!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO RUIN OKAMI FOR ME!!?!

        Well, this is just great. We’re in midair, my best friends little brother just shrunk on me and now he has wings. How can this get any worse?

        “Attention passengers. We are now arriving in Indianapolis, Indiana. Please stay in your seats and do not get up until we have fully landed. Thank you and we hope you have had a nice flight.”

        Oh Luna, why does life always have to throw curveballs at me?




End Chapter 3

> 4- Hitting the Highway
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Hitting the Highway




        If you were me right now, this was not the situation you would want to be in. Shay was right now in the palm of my hand as our plane was beginning to land. I held onto Shay. Not too tightly, but just enough so he wouldn’t fall out onto the floor. My major concern right now was that he wouldn’t know how to use his wings. So, with that in mind, I needed to find a place to keep him safe.

        “Shay, how good are you when it comes to balance?”

        “Very good. Why do you ask?”

        I didn’t reply to the question. Instead, I placed him on top of my head. “Would you be okay if you stayed up here for a while?”

        “Sure thing. Besides, your ears here look cozy.”

        “Ears?”

        “Did you not notice that you have wolf ears?” Shay asked me as he pulled something that felt like it was attached to my skull. I touched the top of my head and then I realized it. I had freaking wolf ears. Great… Marks, tail, ears. What’s next on the random transformation list? Me growing fur and having wolf legs?!

        Before I could even think of any possibilities, I felt the plane touch down and then come to a halt. It took five minutes for the plane to pull into the shuttle before anyone could disembark. But once we were allowed out, the two of us were surprised to see that Chloe and Alex weren’t waiting for us when we came out. That’s when my phone vibrated and saw the new text message that I received from my brother.

        “Chloe is going to baggage claim. I’m picking up the rental car. Any new changes happen recently?”

        Instead of replying, I just locked my phone and began to walk. I put my hood up to hide my ears, apologizing to Shay if I accidently bumped him with my hood. I told him where we were going as we entered an elevator. We were on the third floor and needed to go down to the first floor. But only one thing was on my mind right now as we slowly went down.

        “Hey Shay?”

        “Yes Raven?”

        “Do you have any ideas on how we are going to explain this to your sister?”

        “Uhh… Honestly?”

        I sighed a little, admiring his enthusiasm. Though, in my head, I knew that this wasn’t going to be that easy. Especially with the fact of me having to tell her that her little brother had now shrunk to the size of my newly formed wolf ears. 

        The elevator doors opened up and we were greeted by a flood of people going in every direction. I only had a few seconds of free space before I had to bob and weave through people almost every couple of feet. I didn’t want anyone to knock off my hood or bump into me because I feared that Shay might lose his grip and fall on the floor. I soon spotted Chloe by the baggage terminal as I walked my way over. I noticed though that one other girl was by her too before she began skipping over to a nearby starbucks joyfully. She looked like she was around twenty, had a long and curly orange mane & tail and looked very cheerful. She also had hazelnut brown pony ears and blue eyes as well. Strangely though, I thought I saw her from somewhere.

        Anyways, I now approached Chloe and she now noticed me despite my hood being up. “Hey there. I guess you got Alex’s text?”

        “Yeah, you can say that.”

        ‘Good job, dumb***. Now she know’s something is wrong based on how depressed that sounds.’

        Brain, shut your mouth before I shut it for you!!

        “Hey, where’s Shay? I thought he was with you.”

        Moment of truth. Now I needed to show her. Taking off my hood, she gasped a little at the sight of my ears. 

        “Uhh… Are you trying to change the subject? Because showing your ears off like that is not helping.”

        I shook my head. “It’s not that. Shay had some changes happen too. Look at my ears again and you’ll see what I mean.” I saw Chloe look a little closer as I felt two small feet crawl around my right ear. Seeing her eyes widen was my visual cue to let me know that she had seen Shay’s new “look”.

        “H-hi sis.” I heard him squeak. 

        “Oh my god… Shay, what happened?!”

        “He forgot to mention that his OC was a Breezie. I found him snuggling up inside my jacket earlier as we were touching down.” I told her as I felt Shay sit down on top of my head. 

        Chloe didn’t get a chance to reply yet because she spotted our suitcases and pulled them off the baggage claim. It seemed like she and Shay had to share one while my brother and I had a separate bag each. It was simple, yet it now posed some other questions. I offered to help Chloe with the bags, but she kindly refused my help. She told me that I was already carrying precious cargo, which must be code for Shay being on my head.

        “So, besides my ears and Shay shrinking down to size, did anything else happen?”

        “Yeah, but it’s with Alex.” Chloe told me as we crossed the hallway and to the open Starbucks cafe. “He’s starting to gain those electricity powers that Shockwave would have.”

        “What? How?!”

        “It’s because he’s now starting to have scales grow on his arms.”

        Well that explained everything. Shockwave was able to control electricity since the Neuroelectric energy ran through his scales. If my brother was starting to get scales, then that could spell out major problems if left unchecked. 

        As we sat down at a table, the same girl from before with the orange curly mane decided to come over and take up an open seat that was across from Chloe and I. She reminded me of Pinkie Pie because of how cheerful she was. Seriously, it made me think that she was going to explode on us.

        “Hi!” Shay greeted the new arrival from the top of my head.

        “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!! He looks so cute!!” She squeaked. 

        ‘Yep, definitely reminds me of Pinkie Pie.’

        I second that, Brain. “Excuse me, Miss. But who are you?”

        “You don’t remember me Raven?” Oh boy, she knew me from somewhere. Come on brain, think!!

        “You might not recognize me, but it’s me. Tao.”

        Now things began to click. “Holy sh*t. Tao!? Is that you?”

        “Yeah it is.” I heard Chloe respond as she looked back at her. “She sat by Alex and I on the plane and wanted to come along. Her father chased her out of his apartment when she began to change into her OC and her mother gave her enough money to hop on a flight out of San Diego. When she saw you and the rest of up go through security and check in for our flight, that’s when she caught up with Alex and I.” 

        We knew Tao as an exchange student from China that came to the US with her parents and worked at the same place my father did. I never thought though that she would be ushered out of her own home by her dad. It just sounded too cruel to be true.

        As for who she was turning into, I now started to recognize who it was. Her OC was an Earth Pony mare named Pudding Cup. A very cheerful soul that had similar qualities to Pinkie Pie. But instead of focusing a lot on parties, she focused a lot on being there for other ponies no matter what they’ve been through. Even though her way of having fun has “accidently” led to some ponies getting knocked out. Trust me, role playing with her had taught me that the hard way.

        Soon, Alex came back as he sat down. “Alright. Got our rental for when you guys are… Wait, where’s Shay?”

        “Check my head.”

        He did. “Okay, how the fu-!?”

        “Hi Alex!”



Parking Lot,

        The four of us (and Shay if you count him snuggling up inside my Jacket Pocket again) soon made it out to the Rental Car that Alex acquired. It was a 2014 Chevrolet Trailblazer in a navy color. Surprising enough, it had a huge amount of legroom and enough space to fit all of us. Chloe volunteered to be driving first since she was worried that Alex’s static electricity would kill the car battery, so he sat in the middle with me while Tao sat in the front. 

        The first few miles out on the open road and we were seeing grassy fields for miles on end. Alex decided to kill his boredom by putting on his earbuds and began humming to Eminem’s “The Monster” from his recent album; The Marshall Mathers LP 2. As for me, I just paid attention to the open road.

        “So, Raven.” I heard Tao speak from the shotgun seat as she looked at both Shay and I. “I never got the chance to ask you. What OC are you turning into?”

        “My Wolfpony OC, Rufus.”

        “Oh so THAT explains the tail!! I honestly thought you would be turning into a Husky or something when I first saw you.”

        ‘Is she always like this?’

        More than you would think.

        “What do you guys think is going to be in Chicago once we get there?” Tao now asked as we passed a road sign that was telling us that we got about around a hundred miles or so before we reach our destination.

        “Honestly, I don’t know.” Chloe answered. “Maybe some other ponies… A few dragons… Would be interesting to see some Changelings and Batponies once we get there.”

        “What about Sea-ponies?”

        ‘The hell is a sea-pony?’

        I’m not sure if even I would want to know the answer to that question, brain.

        “How would you carry a seapony?”

        “Easy! You carry them in a fish tank!!” I heard Tao answer cheerfully again. Something tells me that we would probably be seeing a few fish tanks once we make it there. I began to yawn a little as I stretched out my arms.

        “I’m going to take a nap guys. Wake me up if we reach a gas station okay?”

        “Sure thing.” I heard Chloe told me before I slowly closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Which was hard to do given all the road noise. After a few moment though, I decided to give up. It was a bit pointless because of all the chaos that was going on and how Tao wanted to play some games like “I spy” while out in the middle of nowhere. Me? I just got out my phone and checked my messages. Only to find out I have a new one from mom.

        “How’s the trip coming along?”

        With a simple smile and looking at everyone else in the car, I began to text back. 

        “Quite well. I had a pair of wolf ears grow on top of my head, Shay shrunk down to the size of my hand since his character is like a fairy and we ran into Tao while picking up our bags.”

        I sent the text to them as Chloe now began to turn on the radio. Ironically, Rascal Flatts Me and My Gang was playing on the radio and made me think about all of us. We were technically a little gang of changing misfits. So the song fit well with the mood, and also made me think of everyone else out there in the world that was affected by this same problem. 

        That’s when I recieved a text from my mom. What I got though was quite… Shocking.

        “Tao is with you? Small world! I ran into her mom shortly after dropping you guys off. Speaking of which, tell Chloe to call her mother. She’s been freaking out ever since finding the note they left for her back at her house. It’s gotten to the point where she thinks they ran away from home or that someone kidnapped them and what she left was actually a ransom note.”

        Okay, that was bad. Something tells me though that there's going to be some major bumps in the road on this trip. “Chloe…”

        “Yes Raven? I thought you were suppose to be asleep.”

        “Couldn’t sleep. My mother texted me. She wanted me to make sure and tell you to call your mom when you’re free. She thinks you guys ran away from home and has been flipping out since she saw your note.”

        “See sis, I told you the note was a bad idea.” I heard Shay on top of my head as he adjusted himself again. 

        “Shay, now isn’t the time for that.” 

        I sighed a little as the song on the radio finished and it transitioned to the next one. ACDC’s Highway to Hell. For some reason, I thought that the radio was playing roadtrip based songs to rub in the fact about us having to travel all the way to chicago. At this rate, the trip could last hours. 

        At least we all had some time to kill and friends to keep all of us company. Because I just saw us pass a road sign and we still have about 100 miles or so to go before we even reach Illinois. Let’s just hope I don’t jinx anything.

        ‘You probably did.’ 

        Oh shut up, brain.




End Chapter 4

> 5- Dine in at Denny's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Dine in at Dennys





        It was only a few minutes before 5 o’clock when we first touched down and around now, two long hours have passed. All five of us (including Shay on top of my head), were getting really hungry around now. None of us have had anything to eat besides the snack at the airport at Starbucks and the sounds of stomachs grumbling echoed through the car. The only problem though was that we had not seen a restaurant or anywhere to stop for miles. The car’s tank was about half full from all the driving that we had done so far and now, some of us were growing restless. 



        “Ugh… Can we pull over for a minute?” Alex asked Chloe. “I feel something irritating my back?”



        “What’s wrong? Are you sore or something?”



        “No, it’s just… Something feels off.”



        That last statement was one that caught my attention. Could it be another change? 



        ‘My guess is that your brother just got his wings.’



        Why do you think that, brain?



        ‘Remember in Sword Art Online when Leafa explained to Kirito how to fly? She said it was through the back shoulder muscles. If your brother’s back is hurting, then it might be because he hasn’t had the chance to stretch out those wings.’



        That was a very good point. One point that I kept in mind when we pulled to the side of the road. My brother got out and stretched out his arms. But he was still aching. A few moments later, he took off his shirt and all of us in the car were in for a “Shocking” surprise.



        ‘Terrible pun, by the way.’



        Shut it, brain. At least you were right!



        “OOOOOH!!! Alex has wings!”



        “I have what!?”



        I facepalmed mentally from Alex’s over reaction. Over the past few hours, he had three changes. Same thing goes for me. He got horns, scales, and now a pair of dragon wings. I had grown a pair of wolf ears, a tail, and tribal markings that let me control certain kinds of powers. What’s next? Fur and Claws?



        After ten minutes, Alex figured out how to fold his wings and get himself comfortable when he sat back down in the car. A road sign that we passed on our trip to Chicago told us that at the next exit that there was a Denny’s. So, we all made the collective decision to stop there and get some breakfast.



        Chloe let us out of the car and told us to go reserve a booth while she go park the car. Upon entering though, we saw just how empty the place was. Despite Denny’s being open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; there weren’t any customers at any of the booths or tables. My newfound hearing could hear a handheld radio playing the news nearby the kitchen. What was playing on the radio had the pony ears on top of Tao poke up in attention.



        “As these cases of transformations grow rapid everyday, some of the arrivals that we have been seeing in Chicago just keeps getting bizarre. Just Yesterday, we saw one person carrying what some describe as a “Seapony” inside a fish tank. Other surprises include-.”



        “Sounds like a load of BS if you-… Oh…” The clerk said as he noticed me walk up to the counter. “Guess there is some truth to this after all.”



        “You can say that.” I sighed a little.



        “Okay, how many people would be eating with you today, sir?”



        “We have a party of five.” I told him as Chloe walked through the front of the door. The clerk, whose nametag read De’ Andre, had a look at everyone and then raised an eyebrow. 



        “Don’t you mean four by any chance?” He asked me. I pointed towards the top of my head, where Shay was as I felt his feet across the top of my hair. I could see him waving a little because of the reflection off of the waiter’s glasses. 



        “O……kay… I’ll get you seated right away.” He said, dumbfounded and surprised by the little shrunken boy that was playing with my hair. We all sat in at the dine in bar that was nearby despite Alex wanting to have a booth. We were soon greeted by a waitress, who surprised us all when she recognized Chloe.



        When Chloe looked back up, her eyes widened. “Aunt Jen!? Is that you?! I-i didn’t know that you worked here.”



        “Been working here for a long time, honey. Never expected you to be here out of all places though,” She started by asking us what drinks we would like. I asked for two waters (one for Shay and one for me), Alex asked for a Sprite, Chloe asked for a Coke, and Tao asked for Pink Lemonade. While she went to get them, Chloe began to tell us that she had family out here in Indiana, but never exactly knew where they lived. So running into her aunt here was actually a big surprise for her.



        It didn’t take long for Jen to come back with the drinks we ordered. “So, Chloe. How’s your little brother doing these days.”



        This… almost caused Chloe to choke on her drink. She then looked directly at me. “Well…”



        “CANNONBALL!!” 



        A loud SPLASH! went off in one of the glasses of water that I had. It didn’t take long for me to notice that Shay was actually swimming inside his drink. 



        ‘Well, just when I thought we’ve seen everything…’



        “Was that… Shay?”



        “Hi Aunt Jenny! When did you get here?”



        “Uh… I work here.”



        “Oh… I did not know that.” The little twelve year old said while resting on a straw like it was a tree trunk. 



        “Just what exactly happened to you though?” Jen asked as she tried to use her index finger to tickle Shay. Doing so though caused his breezie wings to spring forth as Shay couldn’t control his laughter. The waitress was mixed with surprise and shock on her face as I tried to make sure no one knocked over Shay’s small swimming pool. 



        “Are those… wings?”



        “He’s not the only one though, Aunt Jen.” Chloe told her, taking off the hood she had on her head to cover her fox ears. I honestly didn’t even noticed that she had a hood on until I saw her take it off. 



        “Does this somehow involve the reports on the radio about the transformations going on across the country?”



        I nod my head, answering her question. To my surprise, Tao decided to move next to me so she could play a bit with Shay by stirring around the contents inside the glass and poking him with her straw. The two of them seemed to be having fun while we were talking to Jen. A few moments later, she took our orders and made a special case for Shay, allowing him to have small pancake droplets due to his change in size. Tao herself ordered a chocolate chip and peanut butter stack of pancakes while I personally ordered a build-your-own grand slam with Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Alex himself ordered an ultimate skillet and Chloe rounded out the order with an ultimate omelet without any cheese. Jen herself handed the small order sheet to the cooks in the kitchen and then poured herself a strong cup of coffee. Possibly a way for her to stay awake and focused since she didn’t get the chance to purchase a five hour energy or something like that.



        “So. What exactly are you transforming into?” She then asked us. 



        “Earth Pony.”



        “Breezie.”



        “Wolf.”



        “Fox-pony.”



        “Dragon.”



        Something told me that we should’ve explained a little bit more about it after seeing the facial expression of the Waitress and her just looking at us like “What the hell are you guys talking about?” Sighing, I began the explanation; telling her that our transformations are based on characters we made that were based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Alex himself abruptly commented, making sure to say that he wasn’t a fan like up and he did not know how exactly he got himself involved in this wacky experiment gone wrong.



        ‘Who even uses the work wacky?’



        You tell me, brain. I honestly don’t know.



        ‘Probably people who don’t know how to use proper vocabulary.’



        Hold on, are you saying that my brother doesn’t know how to speak proper english?



        ‘No… Ugh… Just redirect your focus back to Jen. She’s talking again.’



        Ah right. Thanks.



        “So, you’re going to Chicago so that way you can find out what’s going on and possibly find a way to return to normal?”



        “Yeah. That’s pretty much it.” 



        “Aww… but I don’t want Shay to go back to normal. He’s too darn cute in this form!!” Tao groaned a little as she tried cheering herself up by using her finger to cuddle Shay’s little body. The small Breezie boy was pretty ticklish, bursting into laughter the moment she started rubbing his small belly. Tao didn’t stop there though. Next, she helped him dry off using a paper towel she got from the restroom and also gave Shay a small straw that you would find at a coffee shop so he could drink his beverage without making an unnecessary splash inside the swimming pool again. I chuckled a little, seeing that this was a little bit silly to watch. Like I mentioned earlier on the flight to Indianapolis, Shay was the “King of snuggling” and seeing him get along with Tao like this made me think that she was the “Queen of Cuddling”. Like how Pinkie Pie would go to extreme lengths to make her friends happy, Tao went to extreme lengths to make Shay feel happy.



        Our conversation was interrupted when we heard the cook tell Jen that our order was done. The Waitress turned around, grabbing each of the plates that were set out for us and handed each one of our orders to us. My grand slam, Chloe’s omelette, Alex’s skillet, Tao’s pancakes and Shay’s pancake droplets (Free of charge!!).



        “Woohoo!! Thanks! Let’s dig in!!”



        That’s what my brother said before using his utensils to tear into his food. It made me think that the changes of him becoming a dragon were affecting his tastes and eating habits. He tore into the steak and hash browns like how a predator in the Sahara eats their prey after catching it.



        ‘Well, that thought will just disturb me every time I think of the Lion King now.’



        Calm yourself, Brain. My brother isn’t going to turn into a predator. Besides, I’m not worried.



        ‘How are you’re not worried?’



        Uhh… Hakuna Matata? 



        ‘ …… Ah hell, whatever works.’



        We all began to eat our food and also enjoy each others company as this served as a small break away from all the madness that was going on in the world with people turning into ponies. The thought of it made me think about some stories on FIMfiction based on the theme of the ‘Conversion Bureau’, but I knew for a fact that this was not on purpose. The Radio said that a pair of teenagers were claiming responsibility for all of this, but I was a little skeptical. Whatever the case, I hope those two have some kind of plan in order to fix this. Because right now, with everything happening on our trip so far, right now is the only chance we had to catch a break and take a much needed breather. 



        Because something tells me that the rest of this trip is going to teach me the very definition of insanity better than Vaas from Farcry 3.





End Chapter 5

> 6- Welcome to the City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Welcome to the City




        The Moment we took off from Denny’s after saying our goodbyes, I felt really tired. Like crashed from drinking a few cups of coffee tired. I was thankful for Tao to be taking the wheel this time because with the way I was, I was in no real shape to drive. Shay cuddled with my newfound ears as I tried to lean backwards. After laying back for a while, I soon was able to drift into my dreams.

        Waking up, I found myself in my dreams once again. This time, a wide open field was the location of this dream. Like the ones that was not far from Ponyville. Soon, I laid eyes on Rufus. But this time, he looked beaten and bruised.

        “Holy Sh*t!! Are you okay, Rufus?”

        “W-what the hell did I tell you? I told you to run.”

        “Run from wha-?”

        My question was soon answered when a oversized monster just showed up out of nowhere. It looked like a ghost, but also demonic due to the dark purple aura that glowed around itself. It tried to strike us, until Rufus pushed us out of the way and got ourselves a considerable distance away from it before telling me what the hell I was seeing.

        “That. It’s a Wraith.”

        “And you can’t kill it?”

        “Not without a weapon……” I saw the wolf simply grin as he looked at me menacingly. Oh, don’t tell me he’s thinking about what I think he’s going to do.

        “Time for me to train you. Use your powers and Latros to kill it.”

        “You expect me to fight!?! I don’t even know how the hell to use my powers or this weapon!!!!” I hollered at him, dodging another close call as the Wraith’s attacks were more persistent. 

        “What did I tell you before?” The Wolf instructed me like he was Tenzin on Avatar: Legend of Korra. “Aura is like a blank canvas and you're the brush.” Things now began to click. I now remembered the instructions Rufus had said before. Him telling me that Aura focused on what I thought of inside my mind and that the same concept worked with Latros. My markings began to lit up as I let my power flow through me and gripped the tool tightly as it took the form of a Katana in my right hand. In my left, I aimed my hand at the Wraith and felt myself fire a beam of light as it struck the Wraith in the Eyes. It’s scream coughed up a backlash that almost had me lose my footing as it nearly tore me apart with it’s claws. I knew that right now, I was far from safe at this rate… And that all I did was just piss him off.

        Clenching Latros with my teeth now, I clapped my hands together like I was Edward Elric and channeled my energy to below my feet as I caused the ground from beneath the Wraith to explode. This though, wasn’t an effort to annihilate the Wraith. But more of an effort for me to catch him where they least expected it. 

        Especially since the moment that I got as close as possible, I put all my power into Latros to slice it’s head off.

        When I landed on the ground again. I fell to my knees due to how exhausted I was. But, as if life had given me enough curveballs already, Rufus began shouting at me.

        “What the hell are you waiting for!?! A wraith isn’t truly dead until you destroy it’s core, you idiot!!!!”

        I looked back and saw the core on the ground, simmering with shadow energy as it tried to return to life. Oh yeah, that’s right. Having Latros take form into a compound bow, I used my Aura to shoot an arrow at the ball of darkness as it blew up.

        “Now, you truly killed it.”

        “Seriously?! You really had to have me face off against that for the first lesson? What the hell was that for?” I asked him.

        “The game has changed.” The Wolf tells me as he sat down across from me. “Tell me, have you heard of the Avatars?”

        I shook my head as I took in another deep breath. “Are they suppose to be gods or something like that?”

        “Almost, but they’re different. Ever heard of Discord?”

        “Who hasn’t?” I shrugged.

        “Well, there’s more than one of him. Avatars are different beings that have supreme control over a certain power or trait. These include the Traits of the Seven deadly sins and elements that you would find in nature. However, not all of them can be reformed like he was and a lot of them have gotten on the bad side of the Princesses. By Luna, it was the reason why Tartarus was created in the first place. To keep them sealed and to encase all other criminals that would cause harm to Equestria. Most of them were encased in stone, but shipped there after Discord was originally released. But then, there was one other problem. One that came from within the walls of Tartarus itself. He’s known as the Crystal Tyrant, King Sombra.”

        Oh I remember him alright. How did he relate to these Avatars that Rufus mentioned? 

        “Due to his defeat, the magic in the prison that holds these Avatars in their states is beginning to weaken. This accident that occurred in Chicago did more then just change you. It also weakened the seal even more. They want a way out and are using the panic caused on your world as a chance to be free. They want to be free after two thousands years of being in stone. In fact, that Wraith just now was from the Avatar of Darkness; Midnight.”

        “Yeah, but why did it attack you?” I asked him, hoping that he would have an answer for me. 

        “My tribe preaches one of a few Avatars that weren’t sealed away because of the good that they brought to Equestria. In fact, that avatar is the reason why we can communicate through your dreams. Nox, Avatar of the Night.” The Wolf now stood partially up as he looked at me. “She has made a lot of enemies against the Avatars that want Equestria for itself, including the Prime Avatar sealed away in Tartarus.”

        “Hold up? Prime Avatar?”

        “There’s a rumor in which that there's an entity that the Avatars served inside Tartarus. It may be just a rumor, but right now, anything is possible at this rate.” The Wolf looked around, seeing that right now, the sun was beginning to rise. He placed his paw on my forehead and looked at me again. “I’m sending you back. Right now, until I find out more about the situation, let’s keep this between us.”



Back to Reality…

        My head felt like I hit a brick wall as I was beginning to wake up again. I wasn’t fully awake until I heard Alex in the front seat shout like he was at a Padres game. So loud that he startled me seconds after I first opened my eyes

        “WE MADE IT!!!”

        “What the buck, Alex!? You gave me a heart attack!!”

        “Oh hey, looks who’s awake!! It’s Mr. Wolfy.” My brother replied. As I looked back at everyone, I noticed that both Alex and Chloe were looking at me like something happened while I was asleep. “Enjoy your nap?”

        “Y-yeah I guess… What’s wrong? Do I look funny?”

        Chloe shook her head. “Raven, your eyes…… are white.”

        Well Sh*t. I now have Rufus’s Iris colors that make me look like Hopsin. Lovely… “Well, that’s new. Anything else that I’m not aware of?”

        “Your hairs also now black.”

        Okay, that was a little sudden. I have markings, Ears, a tail, and now my eyes and hair are different. Damn you, Charles Darwin!! Why does Evolution always throw me off guard. 

        “Anything else happen to you guys?”

        “Alex grew a dragon tail that has a spearhead… But there’s something else.”

        I raise my eyebrow in confusion. “Else?”

        Alex tilted his head to the right as a signal for me to move my head. Turning, I was now looking at Tao… Or what I should say as Pudding Cup. She had completely turned into her OC and was curled up in the carseat like if Rainbow Dash was sleeping on a cloud. Not to mention that Shay was sleeping on top of her mane.

        ‘Oh god, the feels!!! The Cuteness!!! I CAN’T TAKE IT!!!’

        Can it, brain!! I already am having a headache, I don’t need it to get worse

        I now looked out the window as we began to enter the city of Chicago. I was surprised about just how many people were stuck in the same situation that we were. People had Wings, Horns, hooves, fur, claws, scales, and other numerous parts. Some people had even completely changed like Tao.

        “How long was I asleep for?” I asked, now realizing that I didn’t know what time it was.

        “Since we left the Diner, it’s after 1pm right now.”

        ‘Well, that made sense.’ I thought to myself. We took a few minutes to drop off the rental car and walk on over to where the convention hall was. After acquiring some information from the ladies at the front desk, we found out that the convention was still in progress for setting everything up. Alex offered to pitch in, seeing that he had time to kill and Chloe went with him. Why did it feel like I was left behind to babysit an earth pony and breezie like Cadence babysat a filly Twilight.

        ‘Actually, the proper term is Foalsat.’

        Brain, just shut up. I don’t have time to deal with this Bullsh*t.

        “Hey, Raven…” I heard Tao-. I mean, Pudding talk to me. I ignored her. I couldn’t deal with her and what I was thinking of right now-. “Raven… Raven… Hello, are you in there? Raven!!!”

        “What is it?”

        “Correct me if I’m wrong, but does that guy over there look like your dad?”

        I look up. My jaw drops… It is him. What the hell is he doing here? Is he on Business travel or something? Did his flight just get cancelled. Just play it cool, it’s not like he’ll notice-.

        “Hey, Mr. Soresu! Over here!”

        “What the-!? Dammit Pudding!!!” I cursed under my breath as I had to restrain the earth pony that was my friend from waving her hoof and catching his attention. “What exactly trying to do?”

        “I just wanted to say Hi.” The Earth pony told me, giving me one of those Pinkie Pie pouts as she looked back at me.“Why do you have to be such a party pooper?”

        “One, I didn’t know that my dad was on travel until just now. Two, if he wasn’t told about what’s going on by my mother, he’ll flip once he see’s me and Alex.” I told her. Soon though, I realized something. My head felt… lighter.

        “Pudding… Where’s Shay?”

        She looked behind me. I turned around and looked up. There stood my father, with Shay on his shoulder.

        “Hello Raven. Never thought I would find you here.”

        Dear Luna, I am screwed all the way to Tartarus am I?

        ‘You probably are.’

        …… Brain, that was suppose to be a rhetorical question.

        ‘And I gave you a rhetorical answer.’

        …… How do you function?




End Chapter 6

> 7- Release the Panic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Release the Panic





Perspective- Alex





        Honestly, besides the fact that this whole place was crowded with people that were caught in the crosshairs of whatever the hell was going on, I was taking everything well. Raven was currently babysitting the likes of both Shay and whatever Tao called herself now. Was it… Pudding? I can’t remember the name for crap, so I wouldn’t know.



        As for me, I was with Chloe and helping pitch in on setting up everything. Turns out, turning into a dragon does have it’s benefits. Especially when you got abnormal strength and metabolism along with the possibility of Lightning powers as well. Chloe herself was taking things well too. Especially since her newly grown Fox tails had been attracting unwanted attention from all the children that mistook it for a blanket. 



        By the time we got things done though, we heard a massive amount of people panicking at the nearby conference room. Len Teles, one of the guys setting this up, was planning on explaining it to everyone in small groups since the room had a maximum occupancy of only three hundred people. Now, we were hearing screams of bloody murder and people freaking out over some being named “Discord” taking Len. I had only met the guy thirty minutes ago and now he’s gone like that…? I smell some sort of plot device.



        “Chloe, I need a breather. I’ll be right back.”



        She nodded her head as I made my way towards the restroom, closing the restroom door and locking it behind me. I used the water running from the sink to splash my face, clearing my vision for a moment. But as I washed my hands, I heard another voice.



        “You holding up there, Kiddo?”



        I look up in the mirror and I stared. I was seeing the character my brother drew for me in the Mirror's reflection. When I looked behind me though, no one was behind me.



        “Hey, eyes over here my friend.”



        I looked back at the mirror and low and behold, I now only saw him. Dear god, I must be hallucinating. But, as it turns out, I wasn’t. Even after blinking a few times, the character my brother did off of me was still there.



        “What… the hell?”



        “Well Geez. And I personally thought you would be relieved to get an explanation on why I’m here.” The Dragon Pony said back to me as it stretched it’s wings. “Talk about appreciation no less.” Now I’m starting to realize that I’m basically talking to myself here as I try to think about what I have to say next. There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask, but I was unsure about how to start speaking.



        “Well, a lot of crap has been happening today and I’m not in the mood for any surprises. An explanation though would be nice.”



        “Ah, theres the appreciation I was looking for.” He tells me. “I came to check on you. For the past few days, I let you do your own thing with your brother and companions… But now, I thought it would be best if I finally get the chance to talk to you.”



        “And you choose now of all times?”



        “No time like the present? Why, did something happen?”



        I face… clawed myself as I looked back at him. “Yeah. Over the past two days, two people have gone missing and one of them has believed to been taken by… ‘Discord’ or whatever his name is. Ever since then, someone’s opened the floodgates and released the panic of what happened all over the damn place.”



        Shockwave looked quite surprised. “Oh dear… That is quite serious… In more than one way actually.”



        “More than one?”



        “Yes. It means that the selection process is beginning.”



        “Wait… Selection Process? What the hell is that!?”



        “It means that the amount of incidents involving disappearances are going to increase. This will include you as well as your companions.”



        That… caught me off guard. “Wait… me? Where the hell would we be going?”



        “Where my home is. My world. But it only happens to those whose transformations are complete. Additionally, there’s one other thing you should know.”



        “What’s that?”



        “Your brother and your little breezie friend will be the first two to arrive. Despite your Earth Pony friend already being completely transformed, her time to come over will be when you and your fox friend are fully changed.”



        I flinched. Now I needed answers. “The hell are you talking about? Why is Raven going first?”



        “Because out of all five of you, those two are completing their transformations soon and any transformations that is complete within this week is immediately brought over by the selection process. I’m sorry, Alex. But it’s something that’s out of my control. For now, tell your brother of what is coming and make sure he is ready. His time to go will happen sooner than you think.” Seconds after saying that, the image of the Dragon Pony had faded away, leaving me alone again. If what he said was true, then all of us are going to get pulled into this, one way or another. I had to get back to Raven as quickly as I can. He needs to be informed of what I was just told. 





Perspective: Raven





        My internal panic button had just went off. My father was now looking at me, saying hello casually. Something about this… did NOT feel right.



        “Are you okay, son?”



        “Y-yeah. I just… didn’t expect to see you.”



        “Well, I originally was here for business. But when your mother told me this morning that you and your brother were all caught up in this mess, I cancelled my flight back home so I could be with you and help you two.” He now turned his head to Shay. “Your little friend found me while he was looking for his sister.”



        “Shay, you know you could’ve asked me to help you if you wanted to find Chloe.”



        “Well, you were busy with Tao so I thought I shouldn’t bother you.”



        ‘He is kind of right on that one after all.’



        Good lord, I traded my humanity for this.



        “Anyways… Wait… what’s going on?”



        My father’s question had now gotten my attention as I looked behind myself. It was pure chaos across the hall. “Holy Sh*t. What the hell is going on?”



        It didn’t take long for us to hear the news. The news about one of the head composers getting taken out of nowhere by Discord. Everyone was freaking out and all the noise was stressing me out. I couldn’t deal with this sh*t right now and the next thing that occurred was my face hitting the floor as I passed out.





Some time later



        My head felt like it was spinning all over the damn place as I was beginning to wake up. Judging from the fact that I was feeling fabric now instead of the tiled floor of the lobby, I assumed that I was moved somewhere. Possibly either my dad or my brother. In fact, I can hear some people talking amongst themselves right now. One of the voices happened to be my father so that should be a good sign right?



        Unless he’s talking to Paramedics. Then you’re screwed.



        I was trying to boost my morale here!! 



        Try telling that to your new body, jackass.



        Wait… New body? My eyes sprang open as I looked at myself. Oh dear god, I feel like I have no mouth and I need to scream. The transformations were now complete. I was now Rufus. I’m a freaking wolf and the only thing that remained of my human self was my Jacket and Latros, which was in my Jacket pocket.



        “Good Morning Raven, Did you sleep well?”



        I lifted my new head upward and saw something land on my nose. To my surprise, It was Shay. But now, he was turned into a full on Breezie. Wings, body and everything. Seems like Tao and me weren’t the only ones with their completed Transformations. 



        “H-how long was I out?”



        “Hmm… well, I would say a day? You gave your brother and father a panic attack when you collapsed on the floor. If it weren’t for a few of the other attendees that were nearby at the time, we don’t know how much longer you would’ve been asleep for.”



        This was… quite surprising. Even with most of the people here being freaked out, I honestly did not know that someone would go out of their way to help me. “Well, I’m truly grateful for that. If I can only tell them so.”



        “Actually, one of them was waiting for you to wake up. Here, let me get her.” Before I could say anything, Shay used his breezie like stamina to zip around the corner of the nearby door. I was quite surprised that for something that small, he could be so energetic. 



        Me too.



        Well, that’s something we can both agree on then. 



        Shay soon returns with someone. In comes a young lady with red blood red, messy, spiky hair. A black and white horn and sunglasses covering her eyes. She was also wearing jeans and a longsleeved shirt that was completely gray in color.



        “Ah, so the little wolf finally woke up? Good. Glimmer Thorn wished to speak to you a little.” She said as she raised a mirror I hadn’t noticed earlier.



        The mirror itself was in the shape of a hexagon. The frame was of some kind of metal and was so simple that it looked like a very early school project. But the mirror itself was the most stunning reflective surface in this universe.



        It took me a while to realize it was expected of me to respond as I had been addressed, even if it was as “little wolf”.



        “So…… Thanks, I guess? What’s the mirror for exactly?”



        “Ah, now that is the question, isn’t it? Why don’t I show you?”



        “Hey, Glimmer. You still there? Our friend is back in the right realm. Come out and say hi.”



        Suddenly the surface of the mirror shifts and shows the face of a white colored unicorn with the same mane style and horn as the woman. “Oh, really? Thank Celestia. Who knows what could have happened when the magics fly around the place like this and start fusing into random spells, hitting people. It’s a miracle that it was a sleep spell and not a stun spell. Those are not meant to be aimed at the neck, ever.” The mare in the mirror said with the exact same voice as the woman.



        I guess that explains my prolonged sleep.



        “What the fluff-?”



        “Raven, may I introduce to you. Glimmer Thorn. She’s my OC. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a complete human version of her.  Plus the horn.”



        “Well, that’s something.” I mutter. I look back at the mirror to see Glimmer again. “And I thought turning into a Wolfpony was the start of this mess.”



        “No, this whole mess was started by some big evil. The creation of artificial magic jump started a connection and we were all caught in the crossfire. Or at least that’s how I understood it. You know, with magic flying around everywhere now, it’s a wonder there haven’t been more accidents like yours. Getting hit by a sleep spell was lucky. I dread to think what would happen if it was a fireball.”



        Well, that would put a literal definition to “Liar, Liar, pants on fire.”



        “Well, does this somehow involve the Avatars. Because when I saw my OC Rufus in my dreams, we were attacked by servants of the Avatar of Darkness; Midnight.”



        “Huh, Glimmer you heard anything about that?” The woman asked Glimmer.



        “Can’t say I have. I’ll have to take another look in the library to be sure. However I think there is a big possibility that there are beings responsible in every single connected world. In yours it was the ones who made that machine. In mine it was Discord-.”



        I was ignoring Glimmer’s sentence as it went on. Hearing the Avatar of Chaos’s name made me remember what happened before I hit the deck. “Discord… He was here.”



        “What?”



        “Earlier today when they were gathering everyone, many people saw that Len guy or whatever his name was get pulled out of there-.”



        “Len Teles.”



        The new voice caught me by surprise as my younger brother walked into the room. “Well, this is a surprise. How do you know that?”



        “I just had an unexpected chat a little while ago in the bathroom with Shockwave. He was in the mirror on the-. What the F-?!”



        Alex’s reaction was to seeing Glimmer Thorn. Oh boy, this was not going to end well.



        “What? Do I have something on my face?” Glimmer asked and went cross eyed as she tried to spy something on her snout and felt around with her hooves.



        “Raven… Explain what’s going on because with everything going on right now, this is beginning to turn into an episode of Grimm.”



        “Well, I guess I’ll explain. But first of all, Introductions. Hello, my name is George, yes I am now female, I noticed. And this-” he/she gestured towards the mirror. “is Glimmer Thorn. My OC. We managed to make a pair of mirrors that allow us to communicate outside of dreams and hopes of random spatial distortions.”



        The only thing that caught my attention at that part was the mirrors. Alex had just said that he saw Shockwave in the bathroom mirror and with Glimmer now… could this be a coincidence?”



        “Alex Soresu. Raven’s younger brother by two years and apparently, I’m turning into a Dragon Pony because of him. The little guy on my brothers muzzle is Shay. He’s a friend of ours.”



        “Ah yes, I spoke with Shay earlier on. Now to business. As you might imagine, being able to talk to your own OC at any time is quite an advantage. So far, it has allowed me and Glimmer to set up a few facts. We’ve also made it our goal to find certain individuals who are transforming at a slightly faster rate. Why? Because they're the ones most likely to complete the transfer. And we wish to warn them. Our search brought us to you.” George explained while Glimmer nodded along. Turning towards Alex though, I saw a look in his eye that told me that this might not possibly end well.



        “It’s more than that.” He says, catching everyone’s attention. “Shockwave told me about something else besides the transformations and also warned me on something.”



        “The fact that we’re all being transferred to Equestria, right?”



        “Not exactly. Not everyone might get transferred, but I know that my brother and Shay are going first. He told me that it was a Selection Process and the ones that go to Equestria are the ones who completed their transformations this week or possibly a specific case. Case in point, Len Teles.”



        “That complicates things. I think I’ll have to get the mass production for the antidote running then…”



        Wait… Antidote?



        “Whoa back up, what Antidote?”



        Sighing, George takes a seat on a stool and looks at everypony present. “I have, together with Glimmer Thorn, developed an antidote. Unfortunately it’s untested and needs to be used after the transformation is complete, otherwise it will most likely result in death.”



        Oh boy. That’s some bad medicine…



        'Are you trying to reference Bon Jovi?'



        Brain, no. Don’t focus on that, I rather not get poisoned!



        I slowly began to get up, but in a defensive manner. I knew that George was wanting to help, but I rather not be a lab rat and try something that was untested. Turning around, I grabbed Latros with my mouth.



        “What the hoof are you doing?” George almost screams in panic as he jumps up and now stands plastered against the wall on top of his/her stool.



        “Brother, please. I wanted them to help you-.”



        “F*** that. I make my own decisions, Asshole!” Now, I unsheathed Latros as Shay was in the fur on my head. Alex was surprised by my Blade and so was both George and Glimmer Thorn.



        “Now, there’s no need for aggression here.” Glimmer said.



        “Look, I don’t want to fight here either. But I rather not be the first one to die if that cure fails. Plus, I prefer to be in this form until I could find a way to fix myself. Let me solve my own problems.”



        Alex was quite surprised by what I had to say. He turned towards George and Glimmer. “I understand. I’m sorry for getting ahead of myself. You think it’ll be alright if we be with you guys for a bit while the transformations are still happening. I mean, my father is talking up a storm with your parents.”



        “Yeah sure.” George says with a huge grin, seemingly on the verge of laughing. “I just can’t believe how fast you became so aggressive. All I did was mention my plans for an antidote and you’re already holding me under a weapon threat. Relax. I’m not going to feed anypony anything. The antidote is only theoretical. I’m working on getting a patent on it so I can let the public take care of it.”



        “I understand you. But Alex has a tendency to jump the gun on things if he thinks it’s going to somehow help him. And since you said that it might kill us because it was untested, I rather not have him try to slip it in my food without looking.”



        “Wow, I’m not envious of your relationship… Anyways. About this selection, have any clues how to know if you’re selected Alex?”



        “My guess is that if your transformation completes within the next week, you become a candidate. Raven and Shay are already one and so is Tao-.”



        At the mention of her name, Pudding cup bursts through the door and tackles me in a death hug, bragging about how cute I was as a wolf and yadi yadi yada. 



        Mare Wars: The Cuteness Strikes Back!!



        Damn it, Brain!!!



        Something told me that our first night with some new friends was going to be a long one. I barely think I’m getting any sleep tonight.





End Chapter 7

> 8- Judgement Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Judgement Day





Perspective- Raven




        When the morning sun came up, I became quite hungry and my stomach was grumbling. Not to mention the fact that I was completely exhausted. I have been here with my friends and my dad for the past few days and now, the longer we wait, the more I feel restless. It had been only five, maybe six days since I met George and Glimmer told me when exactly that Shay and I would be going and supposedly, today was that day. Over the past few days though, Alex had fully become a Dragon Pony now and Chloe had turned into a Fox-pony. Now all of us have completely transformed and with it, each one of us got some kind of perk. For me, it was my Aura powers. For Alex, he had electrical abilities and was now a living battery like Cole McGrath from InFamous and Chloe herself had some special abilities herself; but wasn’t quite sure what they were.

        Anyways, I was up and walking towards Chloe, trying to see if anyone else was awake. Seems like the only one up at this hour was Shay. Who was tossing and turning under the fur by my ears. Moaning a little. I sighed a bit. 

        ‘Maybe we should get some room service so we don’t leave the room and disturb anyone?’

        Not a good idea. Loud knocks on the door would wake up the rest of the gang. Any other ideas, brain?

        ‘Is your dad up? Maybe he can take you and Shay to breakfast. It’ll also give you the chance to say good-bye before you two end up disappearing.’

        Good point. Today is Judgement day after all. Shrugging a little, I walk into the nearby room where my dad would be sleeping, only to find him in the bathroom with his pants on and shaving his face. As he washed up and put on his shirt, dad turned around and soon saw me and Shay outside the bathroom door. “Why hello there, you two. Am I in the way of something?”

        “N-no.” I reply. “I’m just hungry. Wanna go get breakfast?”

        “Sure. Just give me a minute to get my shoes.” He said as he found them by the door and opened it up quietly so we wouldn’t disturb the others who were sleeping. I quietly walked out of the room as the two of began to move towards the elevator. My fur twitched a little on top of my head as I felt Shay rise from his slumber and wondering why we were moving. I told him that he and I were going to breakfast alongside my dad so that way, our bellies would be full for if we were truly leaving and ending up in Equestria like what Glimmer Thorn had told us. The sounds of leaving had him be a little upset, but the thought of food quickly distracted him from that. I kind of understand what he might be going through. If he and I were being separated from the others, then he would be separated from his sister. I had that feeling before when I was little and I had to go somewhere for a few days while my brother was with my mother at the hospital. Stuff like that is hard to deal with, but you needed to persevere nonetheless. You couldn’t let these things drag you down.

        As we reached the elevator, dad held the door open so we could come in while he pushed the button for the ground floor. Our room was on the eighth floor, which was near the top of the building. So, in other words, we had a LONG way down. But on that elevator trip down, I heard dad ask me something I honestly didn’t expect. 

        “So… Are you nervous?”

        I look at him with a puzzled expression on my face. “Wha-?”

        “Your front paw is shaking. When you were a human, you would be fidgeting with your hands. This time, it’s your paws. Is something on your mind son?”

        Damn it. He got me on that one. “Yeah, a little. It’s more of the feeling that I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone for if I do go to Equestria. I know that going there would be fun, but I feel a bit anxious with leaving you and mom. Leaving my home for that matter. I mean… what if I don’t come back?”

        “Son… Don’t worry about it. You will come back home one way or another. You just need to think positively… Remember when you were little and your mother and I showed you and your brother Aladdin?”

        I nodded my head, wondering where exactly he was going with this.

        “Well, where you going is ‘A whole new world’, so you and everyone else should just be able to enjoy the experience instead of being dreadful about it.” He replied, the elevator passing level four as we were soon approaching the ground floor. “Plus, I’m actually kind of Jealous because of everything going on. It’s not everyday you get the chance to be your own creation and get powers from it.”

        He was… actually right. I just needed to be optimistic. Given the fact that I was now a wolf with a freaking energy blade and aura like powers, I now get to see what it’s like in my own characters shoes… Or paws because Rufus doesn’t have shoes. Thank Nox I still had my jacket.

        ‘Did you just say Thank Nox instead of Thank God?’

        Technically, the civilians of Equestria wouldn’t know what god is, brain. I’m just getting into character.

        ‘Good point.’

        Anyways, once we reached the ground floor, we made our way to the breakfast buffet. However, unlike how I would normally get food there, a few changes had to be made this time around in order to accompany my new size. For one thing, I had to stay at the table we were sitting at while my dad had to go get the food for us. Second, when he did bring the food, I had to eat it like how normal canines and equines would since they never used silverware (to my understanding at least, not sure about the filly named Silver Spoon though). 

        Now I feel like Charger and Capital when they want to try and get table scraps.

        Breakfast consisted of Eggs, Pancakes, cereal, and bacon with a glass of water and the straw I needed on order for me not to lick out of the cup. I had to have some sort of manners in this place! The food was just as good as when we stopped at Denny’s on the way here last week. But now, seeing that this seems to be my last meal in this world, it felt like the only chance for me to reflect on my memories from over the last few days. From when the changes first began to when our trip began. Even the times where I saw Rufus and Glimmer Thorn. Now, I need to prepare for the trip ahead.

        When Shay and I finished my food, I told Dad that I was going to get some air and also ‘Prepare for the inevitable’. Before we left, he gave me a warm hug and told me that he would be praying for my safety and for everyone else too. Shay and I then went back outside to the small park like area that the center had set up for kids and fillies that were affected by the changes that were taking place. During this though, I heard a voice behind me.

        “Why hello there, Wolfy.”

        I looked around me to see that no one… or nopony for that matter was outside right now. But when I looked behind me, I saw myself looking at the Spirit of Chaos himself. Discord. In all of his chaotic glory.

        “Surprised to see me?” He asked. 

        “I would, but then I would be lying,” I told him. “After your appearance last time, I sort of expected you to use a little more caution. Especially when you and your ten seconds of fame put this place in a state of emergency for the past week.”

        “Right… I am using caution now. Only you and your Breezie friend can see me and… normally, you would appear in a flash of light… But for you two, it’s different.”

        “How Different?” I heard Shay ask.

        “Well, do you know of Nox?”

        I nodded. “Avatar of the Night. The one that Rufus preaches.”

        “Exactly. That’s the thing… You see, there was a time where I lost in a game of cards against her because we did it without magic and the winner of the game would ask the other for a favor. Nox won that night and now, I’m here doing the favor for her. She wanted me to make sure that the two of you arrive in Equestria safely and that I don’t do any “Funny Business” with the two of you.” The Chaos Avatar snapped his talon, summoning a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off of his face. “Well, now I’m here. Ready to go?”

        I looked at Shay, who was looking at me from atop of my head. We both had the same answer. “Yes. Yes we are.”

        All I remembered after that was a bright flash of light and the Draconequus smiling. “Have a safe trip.”




Few Hours Later




        I woke up with my face in the snow and a pounding headache. My body felt like it was being peltered with snowflakes as I tried to readjust my eyes. I had a feeling that I would end up here, especially after meeting Rufus here during the first dream. 

        The Crystal Empire. In all of it’s glory… The only problem though was that I was in a freaking blizzard. But it wasn’t me that I was worried about, it was Shay. I was hearing him moan in pain and when I saw him, he was trying to curl up and stay in my jacket. Things began to click and now I figured out the reason why. Breezies live in a warm forest like environment, so their bodies can’t handle sheer cold like the conditions right now.

        I needed to find Shelter and fast. Before Shay could freeze to death. Looking around, I see a wooden cabin in the distance and began to sprint. When I get there, I’ve used my Aura to unlock the door and look around the cabin to look not see anypony inside. I whipped out Latros and use the heat from the blade and some logs I found scattered around to start a fire. Hopefully, that will be able to help us get some much needed rest for a few moments.

        KNOCK!! KNOCK!!!

        “Hello? Anypony home?”

        Sh*t.




End Chapter 8

> 9- The captain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- The captain





Perspective- Raven




        “Hello? Anypony home?”

        Just my luck… Moments after I set Shay down to warm him up and I tried to get some rest, a loud bang wakes me up and now, I’m hearing somepony at the door. I couldn’t see a damn thing because the blizzard outside was getting worse. A LOT WORSE. Hopefully, the door would be locked and whoever was outside could-.

        “Hmm… If no one is inside, then I guess they won’t mind if I stay until the storm dies down rind.”

        No no no no no NO NO NO! I DO MIND!!!

        ‘Maybe you should think this through before you try to tear the door down and see who's out there? They’re probably freezing to death and saw the smoke from the fireplace.’

        No sh*t, captain obvious! Who do you think is even out there right now?

        ‘Think about it… We’re in the Crystal Empire…… and I think you only heard that voice once before.’

        Oh really? Where?

        ‘Two words…… Canterlot Wedding.’

        Wait…… are you saying that-?

        ‘I’m not saying anything. I’m saying just give them the benefit of the doubt. Plus, they know more about Equestria than you do. I’m sure they can help us.’

        Yeah, but I highly doubt that they would believe me.

        ‘Incidents like this are just a typical Tuesday for Equestrians. Think about it… Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Crystal empire…...’

        …… You make a good point. A few moments passed and I decided to move the stone block I used to hold the door up using my powers and slowly backed away from the door. A minute or so passed before the figure from outside began to trot through the door. It wasn’t until  after a couple of minutes that the figure turned around and saw me near the ground like I was a cold pup. When I saw him though, my eyes widened. Holy crap, am I seeing things? This can’t be right…

        “A…… wolf?”

        It was Shining Armor. The captain of the guard and husband of Princess Cadence! He was partially covered in snowflakes with a navy scarf around his neck. He didn’t have any weapons or anything on him from what I could tell, but there’s no such thing as being too careful.

        It was only then that I could muster one word because of either the cold or the fact that I was partially afraid. “H…… h-hello?”

        “Hunh? You can talk?”

        I nodded softly, but was partially scared when his horn glowed a brief bit. “I don’t mean any harm. I was just trying to find shelter for my friend and I until the blizzard cleared up. I’ve already had a LOT of crazy things happen today and getting hurt would be the last thing I want to happen.”

        “I see.” He said, the magic from his horn now gone. “It seems like we’re both in the same situation. What’s your name?”

        “Raven. But you can call me Rufus if you want. I’m only called Raven by friends and family members,” I told him. “What is your name, mister?” I already knew what his name was, but to play along a little bit, I asked anyway.

        “I’m Shining Armor. Captain of the Crystal Guard.”

        “Crystal Guard?”

        “The Guards that are stationed in the Crystal Empire. Why? Have you not been here before?” 

        Now seemed like the right time to cue him in on what was going on. “It’s a lot to explain.” From then on, I began to talk to him about what Shay and I have been through over the last few days. I thought that Shining would call me crazy after telling him about turning into a wolf and other people turning into ponies, but he surprisingly was taking it very well.

        “That’s…… quite a story.”

        “Yeah… It’s your choice rather to believe me or not-.”

        “I believe you.”

        Well that was rather quick… and for that matter, strange. “Y-you do?”

        “Yeah. There’s already a bunch of weird things going on recently and also, Cadence has been acting strangely as well. Almost secretive. You should come with me back to the empire so we can send a letter to my sister. She’s an expert with magic and might know a thing or two about what exactly is going on.”

        “I’m fine with that…… I just hope that my brother is safe.”

        “You have a brother?” Shining Armor asked, raising a concerned look. “I thought Tailwind here was your brother.”

        “No, it’s not like that. Tailwind has a sister named Dreamcatcher and I have a brother named Shockwave. Back home, they were just simply Chloe and Alex. But right now, I’m a little worried for him for more than one reason.”

        “I’m sure he can handle himself on his own-.”

        “It’s not like that. Dreamcatcher is a Foxpony and Shockwave is a Dragon-pony. They never asked to be turned into this and neither did we. I just hope that they don’t cause any trouble.”




Perspective: Alex




        “Well, that hurt like a B*tch!”

        That was the only thing I could say after my newfound body hit the rough ground. Of course, that was after the jackass named Discord decided to throw us in here because of some “Selection process”. Oh and I’m also separated from my older brother and Chloe's younger brother. What a freaking day!

        “Alex, you alright?” Slowly getting up, I see Chloe, or as I call her personally “Foxy Boxes” walk towards me alongside Tao. 

        “Never better,” I grunted sarcastically. “Well, at least plummeting to death is no longer on my bucket list. Where the hell are we though?”

        “That… I have no idea…” She replied, looking around profusely and to be honest, with a bit of paranoia. Tao soon came walk- I mean, trotting, up to us and Chloe soon turned to ask her. “Hey Tao? Have any idea where we are?”

        “Mmm… I got one idea… but it’s not a good one.”

        “Well, it might be the only guess we have at this rate, so let’s hear it.” I tell her.

        “The Badlands.”

        Okay, I’ve only heard of the Badlands once and that was when I was watching my dad play World of Warcraft. “Care to explain?” However, something was telling me that this wasn’t the best neighborhood… or canyon… to be in given the look on Chloe’s face. Next thing I know, I hear multiple loud roars in the distance that caught all three of us by surprise and now started to make Tao tremble in fear.

        “What’s wrong, Tao?” Her only reply was a hoof pointed at the ledge of the canyon wall and a group of figures that seemed to be coming towards us.

        “D-dragons…”

        You have got to be F***ing kidding me. Dragons? Right now!? Damn it, my day just keeps getting worse. “Run!!”

        “Come on, Alex!!” Chloe shouted as me as the three of us began to run for our lives. “Use those bat wings of yours and fly!!”

        “That’s Racist!!”

        I look at Tao with a raised eyebrow. “How the hell is that racist!?”

        “Who cares?! RUN!!!”

        Screw it! She’s right!! Who really does care when you have dragons the size of Smaug chasing you!!? We needed to either run right now or end up as these guys’ lunch. And I would prefer for us to live rather than die right now.

        Oh brother. When I find you, I’m going to give you a beatdown that you freaking deserve for dragging me into this. 




End Chapter 9

> 10- Into the Wild
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Follow the Wind- Into the Wild





Point of View: Alex




        It had been only ten minutes since we started running for our lives and by now… barely anything has changed. I couldn’t even fly because I did not know how to use my wings for anything and right now, we were screwed six ways from sunday given our current situation. Chloe and Tao didn’t even had anything to contribute to trying to help us escape as they were still arguing over what to actually do. Honestly, if I actually had any good ideas, I would actually try to say something to them in order to get them to stop fighting each other.

        Have you tried hitting it really really hard?

        Brain, that would sound like something my brother would say when we’re facing each other in Super Smash Bro’s.

        Right… And remember the time where you’ve never beaten him. 

        I stopped running at that point and planted myself into the ground as I began to channel lightning into my claws. Making a fist as I threw it forward and struck the dragon that was chasing us in the muzzle. The impact launched him far enough to collide into the other side of the ravine as I stared at the results.

        “... Holy sh*t, that actually worked.” I said to myself as I looked back at Chloe and Tao. Who were just as equally surprised as I was. But it seemed like the Dragon on the other end just shook it off, roared… and then decided to fly away.

        “You think that it decided to leave us alone?” I asked them as I turned around and began to walk over to where they are. Tao’s response was just a slight shake of her head while Chloe had a bit of a more… in depth response

        “Either that, it went back to get some friends or cry to it’s mother.” Chloe replied to me as I saw her fox like tails shift a little. “I rather not stick around to find out which one is right.”

        “Amen to that.” I said to them. “It would be easier if I actually figured out how to use my wings. Then I could actually fly and see if any problems are coming from a mile away.” They nodded in agreement, only followed up by asking me about how I was able to control my electricity. All I needed was a lot of concentration, focus and picture what I was going to do inside my head. Even though what I actually pictured in that moment was me punching Raven next time I see him, this was a suitable alternative for right now.

        “Okay, maybe we should focus less on figuring out our abilities and find someplace to use for shelter…” I was no boy scout, but given our situation, we needed to survive. There were three things that we needed right now since there was no nearby towns for miles. Food, water, and shelter. Simple as that. I would go on and think that we would need to forge some tools in order to survive, but two of us didn’t exactly have claws or hands to hold onto them… Speaking of which. “Where did Tao go?”

        “I think she went off into the forest at the edge of the Badlands to hide from the dragon we were running from.” Chloe told me. No wonder Tao would try to skedaddle off to somewhere without trying to tell us. That was kind of a habit of hers back home when it came to hanging out with us or looking around in a store or at the mall. Well, at least it was good to see that some things never change… for the most part. “But I’m actually a little bit worried about where she ran into though.”

        “Oh?” I asked her. “Why’s that?” That response just got a raised eyebrow from Chloe followed by a paw to her face shortly afterwards.

        “Great… I almost forgot that you have no idea what the Everfree Forest is,” She groaned as we began to walk. “The Everfree Forest is a dangerous forest where many vicious creatures that hunt ponies and other species like us call home. Some include Manticores, Chimera’s, Timberwolves and other creatures that… aren’t really so friendly.” All I could do in that moment was just raise an eyebrow in confusion. Some clarification on what she was talking about would be nice right around now.

        ‘What is there to clarify about? She’s talking about creatures that could possibly kill you or eat you alive.’

        And how exactly do you know that, brain?

        ‘Think of this… In the Everfree Forest, it’s kill or be killed.’

        Gee… thanks for the grim reminder. I just hope that Tao didn’t get herself hurt in there-.

        “Hey guys, over here!!” Both of us soon looked at one another to turn towards where we heard Tao’s voice come from. Only to see her with… wait, is that a wooden puppy?

        ‘No, it’s a timberwolf pup.’

        So let me get this straight, brain… When you mean Timberwolf… It’s an actual wolf made of Timber? That’s the weirdest thing… ever… of all time.

        ‘Not my fault… There’s a tree in your way.’

        Wait wha-. SMACK! “Oww!! MOTHER OF GOD-!” I screamed, falling backwards onto the ground as I heard Tao laugh her head off at my stupidity. Only to have the small pup that she was carrying actually come over to me and lick my forehead. 

        “Aww… I think he likes you…” Tao said to me as she wiped the dirt off my forehead, “Hey Alex. Maybe you should give him a name?”

        “Wait… We’re actually keeping it?” I asked her, the only thing that I saw as a response was a nod of her head. “Well, if that’s the case… I’m going to call him Kevin.”

        Both Chloe and Tao looked at me with a confused expression on their faces once I said that. “Kevin? Seriously?”

        “What? When Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory got some cats, he named them off of the scientists of the Manhattan Project. For me, I’m naming him Kevin because Kevin Garnett used to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA.” I explained to them, only for Tao to facehoof herself.

        “No wonder your brother thinks sports is your addiction. He told me you named both of your cats off of Sports Teams.” Chloe sighed, reminding me of Charger and Capital back home.

        “Hey, when we had a coin flip, he picked heads and I picked tails. It landed on tails, so I got to call the shots.”

        “...... Your family is weird.” Tao sighed as she looked at us. “Come on, we still got a ways to go before the sun goes down.”

        “Do you even have a plan of where to stay? Because I don’t think any of us want to be here with the possibility of getting eaten.” I told them, trying to convince them to use their heads a little. But what I heard next from them just made me question what we were doing… again.

        “Oh we’ll just try to find the hut that Zecora lives in.”

        “Who or what the hell is a Zecora?” I asked. It sounds like something you would hear when on a Safari trip in Africa. 

        “She’s a Zebra that lives in her hut in the Everfree.” Chloe told me. Okay, really now? Zebra’s? How much more weirder can this place even get.

        ‘More than you would think.’

        Oh shut the hell up, brain. You’re not helping our situation here. I followed both Chloe and Tao to wherever we were suppose to be going, only thinking in the back of my mind that something seemed to be watching us as we walked toward a clearing in this godforsaken-.

        “Alex, stop!!!”

        I immediately halted, noticing a patch of flowers that’s in front of me and both Chloe and Tao on a nearby ledge. “Oh come on, please don’t tell me that you are scared of a patch of flowers. Seriously?” I told them, groaning a bit as I let out some of the electricity building up in my scales.

        “Alex, those aren’t flowers. That’s Poison Joke.” Chloe snapped in an insistent tone as she growled a little. “Bad things happen if you try going through that stuff.”

        “How bad are we talking about here?” I asked. “I get the fact that there’s Poison in the title, but come on. They’re just flowers-.”

        “Listen Asshole, if you don’t want yourself getting screwed over more than how you are right now then listen… Think of it like this… If you fall into that… You’re going to either not be able to fly, your powers will short circuit… or you will have a sex change. If you DON’T want any of those, back up and get your scaly ass over here NOW!!”

        Good lord, who knew Chloe could get so vicious? Well, I rather not get screwed over more than once, so I better take her advice. Backing up and listening to them, I retraced my steps and joined them along the edge as we carefully scaled it… However… Everything was going fine until I felt myself loosing my footing and falling over, blacking out as soon as I hit the ground with the last thing I saw being blue flower petals.



Some time later…

        Oh god, my entire body felt strange as I finally started to come around to my senses. I could just barely see Kevin looking at me as he was barking a little and trying to lick my face. It was during that time though that I could hear a bubble sound… Like a Cauldron or-.

        “I see you are finally awake, quite a fall you had to take.”

        Okay, who said that? I tried looking left and right to see where the voice could be coming from, but all my senses were blurry… Matter of fact, what the hell is wrong with my voice? Anyhow, when my vision was fixed, I turned to the left to see someone different-.

        Oh god, it’s that Zebra shaman lady that Chloe was talking about… Please don’t tell me that she drugged me while I was asleep. “You have been through quite an ordeal… Tell me, how do you feel?” The only thing I can let out was a painful groan in that instance, since I was hurting all over and my body felt like sh*t. “I see, well your friends are helping me get some things to arrange… So you can accommodate to your sudden change.”

        Wait what? Looking around, I finally turned to look at myself in the mirror…… Oh my god this can’t be happening. That was when I remembered something that Chloe told me earlier during her rant.





“If you fall into that… You’re going to either not be able to fly, your powers will short circuit… or you will have a sex change.”




        Once I realized exactly what happened… There was only one thing I could do… Scream.




Point of View: Raven




        After having to tell Shining Armor our story, all three of us began to wait for the storms to die down. Of course, how long that would be may be a different story. We had spent most of the time waiting out the storm and trying to make sure that we didn’t freeze to death out here in the cold. Sure we might’ve had the logs in the fireplace, but who knows how long that would last for until they burned out. It was like an invisible timer… that kept ticking. Tick… Tick… Tick… 

        “Hey Raven?” I heard Shay ask as I looked at him. “Why does the wind outside sound like screaming?”

        “I… don’t really know what to say, Shay. I’m not sure why myself.” I said. “Maybe you’re just tired. We probably all need some sleep right now.”

        “That’s a good idea. Things might clear up once the sun rises.” Shining Armor added to that as he trotted over and grabbed an old pillow from a sofa before laying on it. I myself found a spare stocking hanging above the fireplace and let Shay get all cozy in that as I walked towards the door of the cabin. Listening to the wind… Listening to the screams in the wind.

        Because by morning… there was one thing they need to do to find the Crystal Empire… Follow the Wind.




End Chapter 10