I awake, irritated, like I had just dealt with horrendous traffic, and been blocked from my exit on the highway. I roll out of bed gross with sweat, onto the balls of my feet. I bounce a little, before attempting to go full foot on the floor. I wince a little, I’d find this odd, but wearing heels for a concert that lasts hours has done almost similar things. So I brush it off, with a flick of my tail. Wait...

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

I jump about a foot into the air, before falling to the floor in front of the couch I had been asleep on.

"Olivia?! What is it?!" I say scrambling to my feet to see what the problem is.

Olivia is standing in the bathroom, in just an under shirt and underwear, Octavia's cutiemark clearly visible. Did her hair always be that lon- HOLY CHEESE BISCUITS IT MOVED!

"What the hell?"

"I have a tail! I have a little horse's tail."

"What in the seven layers of hell...?" I stand there in disbelief. Olivia, my would-be wife is standing here with... A rather adorable ponies' tail. It matches her hair perfectly in color... Or did her hair color change slightly? Hard to tell, its always been black, but it seems lighter somehow.

"Stop standing there staring!"

"What do you WANT me to do?!"

"Fix this."

"Olivia, trust me, if I knew how I would."

"Why me? I was where I wanted to be... Meanwhile you're sitting perfectly fine at your job, I'm going insane!" She slumps against a wall. I feel another nail driven into my soul, as I perpetuate the lie of my termination.

I crouch down beside her and lean against the wall.

"Whatever happens, just know I'll be there for you." I tell her

"Oh Vinyl..."

"Vinyl?"

"What?"

"You called me Vinyl."

"No I didn't?"

"Yes, you did"

"I said 'Oh Vin', like I always call you."

"Honey... You said Vinyl."

"Don't talk to me like that! I know what I said, Vinyl-" She stopped.

"Wh.. What is going on with me...? My mind is a mess, my body is weird... Its like im going through some horrific puberty but instead of discovering PMS I start calling people different names, and not realize it? I'm afraid, I don't know what to do..." She says. I roll over her and weasle my arms around her for a hug.

"Thats alright, you can call me whatever. Octy." I threw in the last bit as a joke, only to receive a slap on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"It is not polite to make fun of ponies in a poor situation!" She says in the posh accent of Octavia. I feel she did it jokingly, however it felt scarily accurate.

"Is this really happening though? Am I going to wake up and be a horse?" She muses aloud

"And why is it just me? Its clear who or whatever doesn't care about YOU."

"I don't know."

"I had that dream again last night... I was Octavia and I was performing... I was irritated because Vinyl had blown my concert off for the lost number of times... Then Discord shows up out of the blue and I wake up in a cold sweat, and angry..."

"Heh, sounds like the crap series finale... Five score-" I start saying the line discord used on Twilight when Olivia looked like she was about to tear someone to shreds

"He did that! He did that to Octavia because he wanted the stage for some silly reason in the damn middle of the concert!"

"Calm down, Olivia, it was just a dream" i say trying to bring her down some.

"I don't even understand why I'm getting angry over this!"

"I'm kind of curious about why he wanted the stage... He's the ruler of chaos, couldn't he just... Magic one up?"

"I don't know but this is getting frustrating..."

"Well lets get things straight first... It seems whatever is happening is taking it's sweet time. We should set stuff up just in case if you do go full equine." I say, trying to plan things out

"Oh god... Hooves... I'll be completely useless!" She says starting to delve into the erosion of her humanity.

"Come on now, we gotta focus. The more we prepare now the easier it will be for you to be independant"
"You're right..." She sighs, dropping her hands and standing up.

"For the doors... We can attach something to the knobs to make them more lever-y... Maybe just replace them entirely... Maybe ropes and stuff on other things like drawers..."

"Food... I don't think I'll be able to handle meat at any time in the future... And if you don't make pancakes like those again it will be too soon."

"Probably explains why you were nearly gagging on the smell of the bacon. So Fruits and veggies, maybe some nuts or something..."

"Do you recall if the lease allowed pets?"

"Uh, no, why?"

"Well I'll be a-"

"An intelligent equine who knows right from wrong and knows the operation of a toilet. You are NOT a pet and fuck me if the manager gets pissy over an uncontrollable change in humanity"

"I'm sure he'll understand" Olivia says, fetching a pad of paper and a pencil, she begins writing down a grocery list, and hardware list. This was the similar tactic we started with when we set up the sound room. She tears off the sheet and hands me it.

"Go fetch. I'm going to poke around online to see if theres anyone else out there. Or if theres information on what happened to cause this." She holds out the paper, and i frown.

"What? You expect me to go out in public like this?"

I grumble, snatch the paper up, stick my tongue out at her with a "Pfbbth". I look over the list

"... Cello strings?"

"Yes, one snapped on me when I was playing it"

"Priorities?" I say with an eyebrow raised

"I'm going to be house bound, I want to be able to do whatever while I can."

"Mmokay Octavia~" I say playfully.

I logged into my side of the computer. Opened up google and typed in "woke up with a cutiemark". It comes back with several thousand results... None of which cared about the context of the search. I knew this wasn't going to be as easy as asking the internet for a cure. I decide to check my usual internet stops... Facebook, youtube, etc.

I read several posts... The mundane lives of these people blown out of proportion because they think they're all a one of a kind special snowflake. Facebook always serves to make me bitter and hateful.

Browsing youtube consisted mostly of jumping from music video to video. Leaning heavy on the orchestral string based music. I'd never taken to the dirty grunge dubstep Vincent likes. I tolerate it on the principle that the work behind those songs is quite a skill. Nothing like mastering the care of various antique instruments featured when the choir is in concert.

I hit a specific song... It started off like a phone conversation... Between Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. Things get a little heated when Octavia hangs up and it transitions into the actual song...

I sit in the computer chair, frozen. The song came and went, ending with what sounded like an incoming cell phone call being rejected. I did not select a new video. The sum of my dreams and emotions was pretty much explained before me in a song that parodied another from a few years ago.

Vinyl was a terrible pony... She could never pull herself out of her little world once she's set into inspiration. She'd explain... But it always felt like she was avoiding me... Avoiding Octavia.

I stood up and moved to the bed, promptly falling face first into it. I begin to wonder if I am really alone in this... Vincent seems to not be changing or anything... So if this is some disease or something, atleast i wont be quarantined and pinpricked like a pincushion. Who am I kidding... Of course I will be. A charcoal grey cartoon pony roaming open air? You've got to be really dull to not think that strange.

I roll over and look at my hands. They've been feeling stiff since i woke up. Thats not a happy feeling, definitely not for my humanity.

A few hours and Vin returns and begins prepping doors and other things for fingerless usage. I feel like I should be breaking down more than I am over the thought of becoming a four legged fingerless tiny horse. However I feel something telling me that its okay. Its almost like when Vincent was hugging me earlier. Telling me we'll be alright.

"Alright. All done. Doors are lever action, anything that can't be modified has a length of rope that when it comes to it you can just pull it open." He finishes, plopping down onto the bed with a grunt and a sigh.

"I'm sorry I'm becoming a pain to deal with, especially on our mid-day" I say. The midday referred to the day between his and my birthdays... I wonder if I should give him his gift early.

"Oh stop, theres no way in hell you'd been able to tell you'd turn into a pony." He retorts.

"Mhm... Anyways, I was thinking... Why don't I give you your present early?"

"You..? But i completely forgot to get you anything..."

"All the better for my enjoyment then!"

"... YOUR enjoyment?" I pull out a small box.

"I got them late the other night."

He opens up the box and inspects it's contents.

"Pfft. Really?" He laughs. It was a pair of violet lensed sunglasses i picked up somewhere while blazing a path of alcoholic misery.

"What, don't like them?"

"You just are dead set on making me your Vinyl Scratch aren't you?"

"Oh My Gosh I didn't even realize how alike they were, giving them to you was just a joke!"

"You're terrible at lies"

"I'm not lying! I swear!"

"Sure..."

I groan and roll my eyes at him. I lay in the bed a while longer before I begin to doze off...

"Octavia!!" I heard a familiar voice yell, she was running toward me as Discord wove whatever devious act. As I turn to face her I'm enveloped in a bright light

"Vinyl!" I say... Just before everything fades to white, the last thing I feel is the embrace of my dearest friend Vinyl Scratch.

Author's Notes:

When I write these i usually give them a placeholder chapter name. It helps Me stay inspired on some silly level. This one was titled "Grand Symphony", Mainly for the ongoing musical theme I want in the chapters. But considering the feelings of helplessness Olivia keeps feeling, i figured White Noise would be a better fit.