Chapter 4

"Are you a girl now?" asks Jim.

"No. Not yet, anyway," I answer, pulling my waistband out and glancing down to make sure.

"But...what if you become a girl?" he asks.

"You'll have a sister?" I reply, trying to make light of the situation. I really don't want to think about that right now.

"I'm serious man, what will we do?" he pushes.

"It doesn't matter! We'll still be in this together, no matter what happens to her," interjects Sherry, immediately clamping a hand over her mouth. "I mean him!"

"It's okay...I mean, I already have purple hair, and if it happens I'll deal with it," I say, trying to get past this conversation. Truthfully though, I'm freaking out a little bit, mostly because I'm pretty sure it's true. I'm not only turning into a pony, but a female one at that. Oh god, what am I going to do?

"Sooo...how was your lunch date?" I say, trying to take our minds off this unpleasant topic of conversation.

Both Jim and Sherry blush and look down at their feet. Oho...this is going to be good, isn't it? I think to myself, chuckling.

"Did you guys have more than lunch?" I say, watching them closely. It's a good thing I am, because they both blush a deeper shade of red, and that spot on the carpet must be really interesting because they can't seem to take their eyes off it.

"Oh wow...you did, didn't you? You two are so bad!" I rib them, chortling.

"I...I..." Jim tries to say something, but can only stammer. Then it dawns on me, "You two spent the night together, didn't you?!"

Sherry nods her head slowly, now so dark red she's almost purple. I walk up to them and pull them into a group hug and say, "Well it's about time! You two have been into each other for a long while now. I can't believe how long it has taken for you guys to get together!"

"I...I'm so embarrassed," Sherry finally squeaks out. I smile at her and pat her on the back.

"It's okay! Don't be embarrassed! I think you two were meant for each other, or I wouldn't have tried to get you together," I tell her.

Jim turns to Sherry and pulls her close to him, saying, "I've had a major thing for you for a long time. I was always too scared to actually ask you out. If it weren't for Henry, I probably never would have gotten up the courage. I think you're amazingly beautiful, and I hope you want this to be more than a one-time thing."

"Well, like Henry just said, I've liked you for a long time too. I kept hoping you would ask me out, but you never did. I started thinking maybe you weren't interested. I can't tell you how happy I was when your brother invited me to watch ponies with you yesterday! I guess I should be really glad I finally told you guys about liking the show," Sherry shares with Jim.

"Well, my work here is done!" I say, laughing. "Success!"

I leave them standing there and walk into the kitchen, realizing that I'm pretty hungry, having skipped lunch to do research. I open the fridge and look inside, finally pulling out a bag of prepackaged salad, some shredded cheese, bleu cheese crumbles, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber and the ranch dressing. I set them on the counter and go to the pantry to get out a can of black olives, sunflower seeds, and garlic croutons. I get a plate and proceed to make myself the tastiest salad ever, slicing up the cucumber and olives to go on top.

About the time I finish making my salad, Jim and Sherry walk into the kitchen holding hands and smiling at each other. I sit down at the small table I have just off the kitchen and gesture toward the salad makings I have left on the counter and say, "If you're hungry at all, please feel free. Sorry, but I'm not waiting, I'm starving!"

"Maybe you're not turning into a pony...maybe you're turning into a pig," Jim joked, pointing at my salad piled high on my plate.

"Oink, oink," I responded.

Neither Jim nor Sherry are hungry so they just sit down at the table with me while I eat. Nobody says anything for a few minutes. Jim and Sherry seem to not know what to say, and I am too busy eating. Finally it seems that the silence is getting to Jim so he asks, "Did you get to work in your shop this morning like you wanted to yesterday?"

I nod and reply, "Yeah. You know, speaking of that, I should show you what I've been making recently. It's..." I trail off, not really knowing how to explain it.

"It's what?" Jim says.

I just shrug and say, "You'll have to see for yourself, I guess."

Sherry looks at us, a confused look on her face before she asks, "What do you make in your shop?"

"He has a whole forge setup and makes all kinds of stuff out of steel," Jim answers for me, as my mouth is full.

"That's pretty cool! What did you make this morning?" she asks.

"Today, just a mace." I reply.

"How can you make MACE out of steel? Doesn't that involve chemicals?" she says, perplexed.

"Not MACE, as in pepper spray, I'll bet he means like a medieval mace. Kind of like a big club made out of steel," Jim says to her.

Sherry facepalms and says, "I am sooo dumb sometimes."

"Nah, you just don't think about ancient weapons like I do," I smile as I reply.

"What's so big about you making a mace this morning?" my brother asks, getting us back on track.

"It's not the mace so much, though I think it's important. It's more what I made last week that might mean something," I say.

"What--"

"You'll have to wait and see," I cut Jim off with a wave of my hand and a shake of my head, as he starts to speak.

"You and your secrets, sheesh!" he gripes at me.

I just wiggle my eyebrows at him and go back to eating, soon finishing my huge salad. I have to stop myself from licking the plate when I'm done, it was so good. I get up and put away all the salad makings, not really hurrying because I can see it's bugging Jim. Once I finish putting it all away I rinse my dishes and put them in the dishwasher, washing my hands afterwards. Now that Jim seems about to burst I walk towards the door and say, "Aren't you coming?"

Jim quietly grumbles to himself as he gets up, but Sherry is grinning ear to ear, having picked up on what I was doing. It just goes to show that no matter the situation siblings will tweak each other to get a response.

I lead them out to the shop and open the door, ushering them inside and turning on the light. Sherry looks around my shop in awe, slowly walking along and gently touching a few things.

"This is wonderful Henry. Did you make all of these?" she asks, pointing to my storage shelf quite literally packed with items I created.

I simply nod, surprised at how genuinely impressed she is.

"May I?" she asks, pointing to some of the work. I nod my approval and she hefts a piece of art that I made quite a while back. "Wow that's heavy! But it's so beautiful! You made this from scratch?"

"Yeah, I usually start with bar steel and work from there. Most of the time I kind of trance out and make whatever comes to my hands. Sometimes it is more artsy and sometimes it's useful," I respond.

I walk over and pick up one of the helms I made last week. It is a barbute design, but has a much wider nose area than any helm I've ever seen before. I hand it to Jim without saying anything. He takes it and looks it over, then shrugs and puts it on his head.

"This doesn't really fit dude," he says to me, removing the helm. "It also doesn't cover as much of my face as I would have expected. I nod to him and then hand him the smaller of the two breastplates I made, the one with the holes in the back. Again, I make no comment as he turns it over in his hands.

"What the hell is this?" he asks me.

"I'm pretty sure it's a breastplate," I reply.

"Okay...but for who, or maybe I should say, what?" he says, understandably confused.

"I think it's for a pony," I say quietly.

"When did you make this again?" he asks.

"Last week. I made both helms and these two breastplates last week," I say, gesturing to the other helm and breastplate on the shelf.

"Oookay, that's freaky. So you somehow knew, subconsciously at least, last week that you were going to turn into a pony?" he seems flabbergasted.

My face goes slack and my jaw drops as my mind connects the dots. I've known much longer than that, haven't I? I thought to myself, remembering the dream I'd been having all my life.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jim asks me, worry clear in his voice. Sherry comes over and stands next to him, a worried look appearing on her face as well.

"I...I...oh my god!" is all I can get out for a few minutes as it all hits me and my brain reboots.

"Henry! Are you okay?" Jim grabs my shoulder and shakes me, finally snapping me out of my stupor.

"Wow. I, um, have something rather unbelievable to tell you." I say, looking around for a stool to sit on.

"I need you to listen to me with an open mind. A very open mind," I say as I pull over the stool I found and sit down. "And I suggest you both sit down for this."

They each grab a stool and sit down near each other and Sherry takes Jim's hand as they listen to me begin my story.

"Okay, to begin with, ever since I can remember I have been having this weird dream. I've never told anyone about it, not even you Jim, because it scared me so badly when I was little. As I got older it scared me less, but I still didn't want to share it with anyone. It just seems too personal for that, but now I think it's time for you to hear it." I start, still kind of scared to be talking about this. I then describe my dream for them:

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"Hello Discord," I say as I sense the Draconequus, not bothering to get up or even look up from the book I'm reading.

"Hello Irony," he responds, seeming ever so slightly put out that he hasn't surprised me with his presence.

"So the time has finally come, then?" I ask, sounding almost bored though I am feeling anything but. I knew this confrontation would come. I had warned each of the Princesses on numerous occasions that he could not be trusted. I was certain of his betrayal. Too bad I couldn't be wrong.

"Indeed it has. You should feel honored that I see you as enough of a threat that I shall remove you before putting the rest of my plan into action," is his response.

He then begins to chant:

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your Memories Removed! Your Body Confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

Irony's removal, to meet my approval!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Forgetting everything and living like a fool,

You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

By the time he finishes the first line I have already leapt to my four hooves. My motions seem sluggish, almost like I am moving through molasses in January. I push on, knowing I only have one chance before I am dust. By the end of the third line I have managed to grab my flanged mace. During lines four and five I begin closing the gap. At line six I am raising my mace over my head to strike. Line seven sees me bringing the mace down in an arc at my foe. I can see it in my hand, preparing to crush the Lord of Chaos' skull. He finishes his incantation and snaps his claws just as I feel the mace make contact. Then everything goes blinding white and then darkest black.

And then the screaming begins...

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"Dude, that sounds ripped straight from the final episode of MLP, you know that right?" Jim says in disbelief.

"I know! I know! But it isn't, I swear. I have literally been having this dream since I was too young to understand what it was. And I have most certainly been having it since long before the last generation of My Little Pony came out!"

I grab hold of my mane and tail and hold them out for Jim and Sherry to see, "I had another dream just last night, before my hair changed and I grew a tail, and my hair in that dream was these exact colors and this pattern! And my fur was the same color as that around my new ears."

I then stood and walked over to the shelves again and picked up the mace, and walking back to them I say, "And I had this exact mace, this mace is the same as the mace in all my dreams."

"It's the same as the one on your cutie mark too!" stated Sherry excitedly.

I blink a couple of times and pulling my waistband down enough to study the marks on my hips say, "You're right; I hadn't made that connection yet."

"Not only that, but now I'm positive that I will be a female pony when this is done. At least, I was in my dreams, and this is too much coincidence for me to discount them," I stop for a moment and look at the armor again. I pick up the smaller one and examine it. "And I don't think this is for me."

"What do you mean it's not for you? You said yourself you think it's for a pony. Who else could it be for?" says Jim, eyes wide in astonishment.

"I'm...not sure who it's for," I say. Though I have my suspicions, I think looking at Jim curiously. "But I know it's not for me, because I didn't have wings in my dreams." I point at the holes in the back of the armor, "Those holes are almost surely to fit the wings of a pegasus pony, and I'm now sure I won't be one."

"Whoa, dude...this is all too heavy for me right now," says Jim, rubbing his hand down his face. He has paled visibly.

"I wonder who it's for, since it's not for you," says Sherry, a somewhat wistful look on her face, reminding me of her confession earlier about kind of wanting to be a pony.

I hand her the helmet and indicate she should put it on, which she does. "Maybe it's for you," I say, teasing her a little bit.

"If only...but somehow I don't think so," she says, removing the helm and looking it over. Suddenly her eyebrows shoot up so high I think they're going to come right off her head, and she holds the helm out to me, pointing to the inside.

I look inside and see something I hadn't noticed before: evidently when I made it I put a nameplate inside, and on the nameplate it read simply 'Flash'. I suck on my lip for a moment and then grab the other helmet and look inside. On the inside of this one I see another nameplate. This one reads 'Irony'. I say the name out loud, already knowing that it means me. I take the helm in both hands and raise it over my head, then lower it down onto my head. I can't believe it, but it fits perfectly over my mane. I can feel how well it fits everywhere but the front of my face, and I realize it must be because I don't have my muzzle yet.

I look up and realize that Sherry and Jim are staring at me. I shrug and hand the other helmet to Jim, pointing to the nameplate inside. Jim looks at it and says the name out loud. I think I see a spark of recognition in his eyes, but it is gone so quickly I may have imagined it.

Sherry picks up the other armor, as Jim is looking at the helmet, and holds it up, barely. "Okay, who is this for? If you're going to be a pony, then who did you make this for? It looks like it's meant for a human woman."

"Maybe that's for you," I joke, taking it and holding it up to put it on her. She obliges me and I slide it onto her. It is a very poor fit, being way too large for her small frame. I laugh at how it is almost falling off of her as she strikes a muscleman pose. Even Jim is laughing now at her antics.

I help her out of it and put it back on the shelf, "I have no idea about that either. The only question I've answered about all of these pieces is that this," and I point to the helmet I'm still wearing, "and the mace, are for me personally. Not that I have any real idea how a pony uses a mace. If I was going to be a unicorn, then maybe...but I'm not, I'm an earth pony." I finish with certainty.

I stop for a moment as I realize that I'm starting to accept all of this as the truth, and that I am no longer so afraid of what is happening. Maybe it's because I finally have a clue as to what is missing. I also realize that if my dream is accurate, then I was a pony before.

"I was never supposed to be human," I suddenly blurt out, seemingly completely out of left field to Jim and Sherry, I'm sure.

"Do you mean because of your dream?" asks Sherry, immediately picking up on where my mind had wandered. I just nod.

"But that's...just a dream," Jim finishes lamely, realizing what Sherry and I had already realized, that there are entirely too many coincidences in all this.

I shrug at Jim and say, "I don't think it's 'just' a dream anymore. With every passing moment I become more certain that it isn't a dream at all, but a memory. A memory from before I was born, or reborn, or whatever."

"Well, what else happened, then?" Jim asks me skeptically.

"I don't know. I don't have any other memories of before. I don't know how to explain it, I'm just sure that this is a memory though," I answer, though I see that Jim is still not fully accepting what I know.

I look at my watch and realize we have been out here for a long time. I remove my helmet and put it back on the shelf with the armor and other helmet. Jim and Sherry stand as well and we prepare to leave. Before we leave though, Sherry walks over to my project shelf and takes one more look at what's on it. She picks up something and brings it over to me and says, "I think this might be for you too."

I look at what she has and give a start, realizing it's a shield I made months ago. On the front of the shield I engraved a design, a six pointed star.

"That's Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark, isn't it?" Sherry says and I not in confirmation. "It also matches the mace half of your cutie mark.

"What?" I ask, dumbly.

She grabs the waist of my pants and pulls them down to show my hip and points, saying, "There, around the mace, it's the purple six pointed star that Twilight has." She looks at the mark a little more closely and her hand shoots up to cover her mouth as she gasps, "A hand..."

I try to look at it more closely, but Sherry's other hand is in the way, so I move her hand and look at my hip. All I see is the shield, with the purple star, with the mace on it. And holding the mace is a...hand...oh, I get it. I shrug, having no clue what it could mean. I mean, I saw myself in my dream, and I was a pony.

"Maybe it's a reference to having been human now?" I say, but Sherry is already shaking her head.

"If that's you're cutie mark, then it would have been that way before you were ever made to be human. Not that I have any more idea than you do," she says to me.

I shrug again, not any closer to understanding, and put the shield on the shelf next to the helmets and armor. I think she must be right about the shield, though like the mace I am not sure how a pony could wield it. I usher them out of the shop and turn off the lights before closing and locking the door.

"Hey, Henry, do your feet hurt or something?" asks Jim as we walk back to the house, looking down at my feet.

"No, why?" I ask in response.

"Well, you're walking kind of funny..."

I look down and realize that I'm walking on the balls of my feet, like a tip-toe walker would. I force myself to flatten out my feet, which is more difficult than I would have thought.

"I haven't walked like that since I was a kid," I say.

"I remember. You walked like that all the time when we were little," says Jim.

"Do you remember when I had to have that tendon lengthening surgery because of it?" I ask him.

Jim nods and says, "I remember you had to have casts on your ankles for weeks after that, and walked with a walker too."

"Do you think maybe it's because you were supposed to be a pony?" Sherry puts out there.

I scratch my head, "Dunno...maybe?" I look down and realize that, without realizing it, I have gone back to walking up on my toes. I shrug my shoulders and decide not to worry about it, for now it's more comfortable to walk this way.

"I bet there are a lot of things from your past that you didn't have an explanation for that could be explained by the fact that you weren't supposed to be human!" exclaims Sherry excitedly.

"You're probably right..." I say, trailing off as I briefly think about my life growing up. "But I can't think of anything in particular that sticks out. I mean, Jim and I grew up together and the only thing I can think of is the toe walking thing. What about you, Jim? Can you think of anything?"

Jim just shakes his head, evidently drawing a blank as well.

Sherry, looking a little crestfallen, says, "Darn, I thought I might be onto something. Okay, so what do we do now?"

"Maybe we should check the internet to see if there is anything circulating about other people becoming ponies? If my dream is actually a memory, then I shouldn't be the only one that got banished. Unless Discord's plan failed..." I say, thinking out loud.

"That's a great idea! And if we find evidence of other people becoming ponies, then maybe we can meet up with them. Maybe we can gather together and come up with a plan for what to do next," says Sherry.

I lead the way back into the house and turn on my computer. After it boots up I start searching the web for news about strange occurrences first, thinking that someone else might not understand what is happening to them right away. There really isn't much on that front, mostly just talk about tensions heating up in the Middle East, but tension is always high there anyway. I then do a search for blogs with posts about transformations, filtering out anything werewolf or vampire related. I also realize I need to filter out the RPs, or role-players, who are pretending to live the life of a transformed pony.

"Arghh..." I push back from the computer in disgust, having come up completely blank. I turn to Jim and Sherry and ask, "Do either of you have any ideas?"

Jim shakes his head no, and Sherry shrugs but says, "Not really, but could I take a crack at it? We really shouldn't give up after only an hour or so."

"You're right, but sometimes searching the web is so frustrating! I hope you have better luck than I did," I tell her as I rub my eyes, only too happy to relinquish the computer to her care. "I know it's not productive, but I'm going to go watch a little TV and try to take my mind off this for a little bit, let me know if you find anything."

"No problem, it doesn't take all three of us to watch one screen anyway," answers Sherry.

"You want to come, Jim?" I ask him.

"Nah, I'm going to stay here and see if I can't be of any help," he replies, smiling.

It's good to see him so happy, even if my life has gone to shit, I think to myself, really glad they have finally been brought together.

I wave a goodbye and mosey out of the room and head to the living room and turn on the TV. I flip some random channels, not really finding much interesting to watch. I finally stop searching and just leave it on the history channel, which has some World War II documentary playing. I'm usually not really big into war documentaries, but this one doesn't seem too bad. As I'm watching the show I start to analyze the tactics on both sides, and soon am thinking about how I would fight that war with ponies instead of modern military equipment. Somewhere in my musings I fall asleep.

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I realize I must be dreaming when I see that I am in full pony form. I try to look around at my surroundings. I quickly realize that, unlike my last dream, I have no control of this one. I can only see what my body looks at, which leads me to believe this is another memory rather than a true dream.

I am standing at attention in front of four ponies. Wait, those aren't just any ponies, those are the Princesses! I realize in shock.

"Irony Smith, also known as Irony Shieldbreaker, do you know why you are here?" Princess Celestia asks me in her regal voice.

"I do not, dear Princess. I only hope that if it is for a failure, that I may rectify that failure," I hear myself reply stiffly, evidently assuming that I was about to be called on the carpet for a misconduct or failure of some sort.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle has informed us of your recent actions, and we have decided that they have merited a royal response," the Princess continues.

I kneeled before the Princesses, bowing my head to the floor, "I bow to your wishes and accept full responsibility for my actions, including any punishment you wish to mete out."

Princess Luna steps forward and says, "We have decided that your actions are deserving of recognition."

Before I can process what Princess Luna just said, Princess Cadance steps forward and says, "You shall be presented with our highest award."

Twilight steps forward as my eyes widen in shock, and places a medal on a ribbon around my neck, saying, "The Diamond Equestrian Sunburst."

"You shall also be elevated to the rank of 'General of Equestrian Armed Forces' and given the task of forming a Royal Guard for Princess Twilight Sparkle. A guard which you shall head until such time as you can no longer fulfill your duties or are dismissed," stated Princess Celestia, smiling down upon me.

I see that Twilight is beaming at me as she claps her hooves in approval. I am in utter shock at the turn of events. I...I was head of Princess Twilight's personal Royal Guard? Holy Shit!

I feel my body rise to its hooves at the Princesses gesture. I also feel tears sliding silently down my cheeks at the incredible honor I have just been given. Twilight comes over and wraps her hooves around my neck in an intimate embrace. She whispers into my ear, "Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for always being there when I need you."

Then the dream fades...

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I wake up from my dream to see that the World War II documentary is over and some history of the old west is on. I look at my watch and see that it's after 2000, and realize that I've been asleep for quite a while. I use the remote to turn off the TV and stand up. Only to fall face first onto the floor. What the fuck just happened? I try to stand up again and fall back against the couch. Something seems wrong with my feet, I can't keep my balance.

I look at my feet and reach down to check my shoes. I find the shoes are extremely loose and come right off my feet when I tug at them. Hooves...Not feet anymore. Can't say I didn't see this coming, I think to myself, sighing. I throw the shoes in the corner, realizing that I don't really need them anymore, and make another attempt at standing.

This time things seem to go a lot more smoothly, either because the shoes are off, or because now I know what I'm trying to do. I stand still for a minute, just trying to learn my new balance point, before taking a step. Walking actually doesn't seem all that difficult now that I've got standing figured out. It's a little odd walking on hooves, but isn't any weirder than the rest of what I've been going through.

I walk down the hall, lightly touching the wall every few steps just to make sure I keep my balance. As I walk down the hall I am glad that I don't have hardwood floors, so I don't have to hear myself clip-clopping around the house.

I walk by the computer room and stick my head in to see how progress is going on the computer search only to find Jim and Sherry making out on the couch in there. I pull my head back without saying anything so I don't disturb them. I continue down the hall to the master suite and, realizing I need to use the facilities, head into the bathroom.

I stand in front of the toilet and drop my pants and briefs then reach for my member so I can do my business, but nothing is there. I drop my gaze to my crotch in shock. Taking in the missing genitalia, I begin screaming, "OH FUCK, OH FUCK, OH FUCK!"