Part 1 – Out of Place

Samuel opened his eyes. He didn’t like light…at least, not in the morning. Pure white light was pouring in through his bedroom window. Sam decided against trying to go to sleep now that the light had awoken him; he got out of bed and began getting dressed for school.

Sam was a junior in high school. His grades weren’t stellar, and he wasn’t the most motivated person ever; still, he wasn’t failing, and he had friends he could count on. Recently there had been pressure in his group of friends, caused by some sort of show that his friends were always going on about. As far as he knew, Sam was the only one who hadn’t even given it a shot. He wasn’t interested in colorful cartoon horses and he had too much to do anyway.

He thought his friends were joking at first; that they must’ve been pulling his leg to see if he’d actually boot up his computer and take a look on the internet. But when they started wearing shirts and stuff, and actually talking about the show, Sam was startled. He wasn’t disgusted, he had weird friends to begin with, but he certainly hadn’t seen it coming.

After tying the final lace on his shoe, Sam paused and looked hurriedly at his calendar on the wall. It was a Wednesday, that he knew, but it was his school’s “Spirit Week.” This special week entailed a pep-rally at the end of it, with special days of dressing up in themed costumes chosen by the ASB members. It was “Wild West Wednesday,” and Sam actually had something to wear. His Halloween costume from the month prior was still hanging in his closet. He took it down and began getting undressed to change.

It was cold out, and he needed some sort of jacket. Sam was planning on wearing a fancy sport coat, but the cowboy duster fit the theme of the day much better. He put on the boot-cut jeans, the boots themselves, and a loose-fitting t-shirt. The duster and the old cowboy hat were the last things on before he ran out the door. The door opened almost as soon as it had closed and Sam ran back inside. He had forgotten the holster. He grabbed it, minus the prop-revolver, and remembered to get his backpack too before he was out the door again in a flash.

Sam felt a bit out of place waiting at the bus stop, but once he boarded the bus, he was pleased to see a couple of his friends dressed up as well. He sat down wordlessly beside them as they sized him up.

“Same costume you wore a few weeks ago?” A girl by the name of Kachira asked him.

Sam looked at her and replied teasingly, “At least I have a holster for my phone, Kashy.”

She rolled her eyes at the mention of her nickname and softly shoved him. It was true, his cell-phone fit perfectly in the holster, and he put it there in place of a gun so he actually had some weight. Kachira was wearing a tight flannel shirt and a vest as well as shorts, and boots similar to Sam’s. She had a hat on, resting slightly askew behind fake orange horse-ears on her head. Her shorts had three apples embroidered on either pocket, and it was Sam’s turn to roll his eyes.

Sam’s friend Ramon tapped him on the shoulder, prompting Sam to wheel around enthusiastically to face him. He scrutinized Sam carefully for a moment before reaching into his backpack.

“You didn’t eat today,” Ramon said in his characteristic deep voice.

Sam shrugged, “So?”

“So, have an apple,” Ramon tossed Sam a healthy green apple, which he tore into like a ravenous wolf.

Sam stopped eating abruptly and looked from the half-eaten apple to Ramon. Ramon had a brown handkerchief tied loosely around his neck that was a few shades lighter than his skin. He also had a vest on similar to Kachira’s. Sam took a deliberately slow bite out of the apple and gestured for Ramon to present his back to him. He sighed and complied, showing that he also had something embroidered on his clothes. The words “Big Macintosh” spelled out like a name on a sports jersey, with a “01” below them. The zero was actually a green apple-half and Sam sighed as well.

“You too?” He said with his eyes half-closed.

“Eeyup,” Ramon beamed as he leaned back again.

Sam looked past Ramon to his remaining friend sitting against the window. Jose was leaning against the window, looking up at the sky. He was dressed similarly to Ramon, except he had a Stetson on his head.

“Don’t tell me…” Sam sighed again, extra loud.

“It might rain, it’s getting darker,” Jose replied.

Sam rolled his eyes and pushed Ramon into Jose, “That’s not what I meant.”

Jose comically pressed himself against the window, showing that he had the same sports-jersey/cowboy vest combo going on. The name “Braeburn” and a “02” were on the back. Like Ramon’s vest, the zero was replaced by an apple; only, Jose’s apple was a bright red one, and was whole.

Jose was the source of the “brony-infection” among Sam’s friends. He had been the first to admit to liking the show, and Ramon and Kachira had soon followed. Sam didn’t have the heart to tell them that he thought it was really weird, and he settled with just, “You guys can do whatever you want, I’m too busy for such shenanigans.”

Kachira’s reply to that had been a pouting face that lasted weeks. Sam had to admit, it was hard to not give in to her sad face; but he had told himself he was too busy so much that he started to believe it to be the truth.

They stopped bugging him about it after about a week (with the exception of Kachira who pouted for a good couple of weeks after that), and they would even politely turn off the TV when he was in the room. Despite how weird he thought their love for the show was, Sam DID feel a tad bit left out. He felt as if he had turned down a one-time chance to be admitted to a very exclusive club.

Sam knew that he could watch it whenever he wanted to, and that he could even end up liking it and joining said-club. But the mere fact that he ‘might’ end up liking it startled him more than an approaching freight-train.

Sam made it through his first few classes okay. He had gotten assigned no homework, and he had finished what little class work had been assigned early, allowing him a few more minutes of sleep.

He met up with his friends again at lunch in their usual meeting place. One of the teachers had let them use his room whenever they wanted so long as they cleaned it up afterwards. On the rare occasion Sam was absent or busy during lunch, he was told that his friends would hook up a laptop to the TV and watch an episode.

Sam wondered what the deal behind his friends’ costumes was, and he almost made the mistake of asking them to show him. It had apparently become an inside-joke amongst his friends that he actually loved the show, but was afraid to admit it; but Sam just shrugged their hopefulness off and changed the subject whenever it was brought up.

For the rest of the day, even after lunch, Sam’s mind lingered on his friends and their biggest common-interest. He felt more and more as if he was being excluded from an elite group…or at least a group people wanted him to be a part of…and he wanted in. He wanted in without having to give in to such an enormous demand.

Sam stayed after to finish the homework from his last class, effectively missing the bus. Kachira and Ramon had stayed with him, missing the bus too in order to finish their respective workloads. They all walked home together as the rain began to come down. It wasn’t too hard at first, but the sky got steadily darker, and the rain got steadily heavier.

The rain wasn’t the only thing that got heavier. Sam’s duster wasn’t meant to get as wet as it did, and it felt as if it weighed a ton. Kachira looked a little cold, so Sam dug around in his backpack for a large bath-towel he always carried around. He wasn’t a fool, he knew just how many uses a towel could have.

A streak of lightning got the trio’s attention. It illuminated the sky with a brilliant white, and startled Sam half to death. That was when the sky decided to drop hail on them. They sprinted for Sam’s house to get out of the maelstrom that had picked up.

Kachira convinced her parents to allow her to stay the night because it was raining too hard. Ramon phoned his parents as well to let them know where he was going to be, and they gave him permission. Sam was home alone because his parents were on a business trip, but he called them anyway and made sure they were okay with the idea.

They had done things like this before; Sam’s parents were always away on some sort of business thing or exotic vacation. All of their parents trusted them with staying home alone at a friend’s house as long as they didn’t get into trouble; one slip-up though, and their fun would be killed.

A couple of their parents, just to abate any concerns they might have had, did surprise drug-tests a couple of times after they got back home. They understood their parents’ concerns, and those concerns were put to rest when all of the tests came back negative each and every time. Besides, what kind of idiots did their parents take them for?
The power went out around four o’clock, effectively cutting Ramon and Kachira off from their favorite pony blog, leaving them with nothing to do.

Sam wasn’t used to no power either, and his TV didn’t run on magic like he was convinced it did in preschool. Ramon seemed to be prepared for any situation, and he took out a large sheet of paper. He and Kachira were in an art class together, and he figured they could all just draw. He didn’t think that Sam might feel excluded again.

Kachira refused to join in on something Sam wouldn’t do, much to Ramon’s dismay. Sam said he’d draw as long as they didn't criticize Mr. and Mrs. Stick. This drew a good laugh from them all, but Kachira stopped laughing sooner than the men, and her eyes lit up enthusiastically.

“What are we doing out here anyway?” Sam asked her.

“She said something about lights and then sprinted into your garage, remember?” Ramon pointed out.

Sam shivered, “Yeah, but it’s bloody cold in here.”

Kachira was digging through a heap of junk in the corner. Sam didn’t know what to make of her goal.

“We have a bunch of lanterns from that time we slept in Sam’s backyard,” Kachira said suddenly, “But I can’t find them.”

“They’re over here,” Sam face-palmed, “You’re digging through car parts.”

“Oh,” she said, dismounting the pile of stuff, “I knew that.”

They retreated back inside and set up the lanterns for when it got dark out. Sam insisted they start without him, and he went to look out of the window. It was still somewhat light out, but what illumination they had was dying quickly. There was another flash of lightning and an instantaneous boom of thunder. The lightning illuminated a strange phenomenon in the sky that seemed rather out of place to Sam.

“Hey guys,” Sam said calmly, “Do rainbows form in a lightning storm?”

“I don’t think so,” Ramon replied, “Why?”

“Because there was a flash of lightning just now…” Sam said, letting his voice trail off.

“We know,” Kachira pointed out, semi-annoyed.

“And now there’s a rainbow in the sky,” Sam said, transfixed.

Ramon and Kachira scrambled to get over to Sam, and they saw the rainbow just as it faded away. There was another flash of lightning, but the rainbow didn’t come back.

“Weird,” Ramon muttered, “Well…let’s all go draw some stuff.”

“Right…right…” Sam was still glued to the window, waiting for something strange to happen again.

“Sam,” Ramon said sternly, snapping him out of his trance, “Kachira won’t tell me what her ‘great idea’ is until you get over here.”

Sam quietly walked over to them and spread himself out on the carpet. He pressed his stomach to the floor and put his head down comically on the paper.

“Mm rrdee tuh druh,” Sam said with his mouth pressed up against the paper.

“How did you guess it?” Kachira snapped at him.

Sam lifted his head up, “Huh?”

Ramon had an equally quizzical look on his face.

“We’re going to draw with our mouths like the ponies do!” Kachira said, rubbing her hands together and cackling evilly.

Sam paused as Ramon rolled his eyes and put the pencil in his mouth.

“What,” Sam said more as a statement than a question.

“You know…oh…you don’t…ugh,” Kachira seemed to remember only then that Sam had no idea what she was talking about.

Sam just stared at her blankly, trying to decide whether he would partake in her game or not.

“Never mind,” she said, drawing an annoyed groan from Ramon who had just gotten himself set up to draw with his mouth, “We’ll do something else.”

“No,” Sam said, confused as to why he said it, “We can do it, I don’t mind.”

Her eyes lit up again.

“Besides,” Sam continued, justifying his previous statement, “It’ll put us all at the same skill-level.”

They all awkwardly drew pictures with their mouths for a short while before they had to get up and turn on the plethora of lanterns they had brought inside. Sam wasn’t great at drawing anything more than a face, and he could never get any good ideas for what he was going to draw. He found the process of making art monotonous and boring.
The stress of having nobody around most of the time and the stress from his grades and other things made him more than a little depressed. Having his friends around made him feel a bit better, but he still felt rather empty. He was drawing absentmindedly for a moment, and Kachira gasped.

Sam looked at her lazily and followed her gaze. She was staring in disbelief at what he had just drawn. He had started poorly drawing circles and stuff for heads and such when he got sidetracked. He was thinking of making a comic. What he had drawn instead was a perfect grey-scale sketch of some sort of Pegasus-pony-thing that he could’ve swore he had seen as a desktop wallpaper before. It was drawn as if by hand…by someone who was very talented at drawing no less. How or why Sam had drawn a pony was beyond him, and Kachira and Ramon were shocked as well.

“How…?” Ramon started.

“How did you do that?” Kachira asked in genuine disbelief.

Sam stared with more shock than both of his friends combined, which was saying something. He didn’t know why he would’ve drawn that. Did it have something to do with him feeling left out of the brony-club? What about his friends? His thoughts kept getting interrupted by the rainbow from earlier; he kept seeing it vividly in his head.

“-with his mouth too!” Ramon said.

Sam realized he had just rejoined the conversation after a small absence from reality. He shook his head and glanced at his phone; it was almost eight o’clock. He got up, leaving a distracted pair of friends to marvel at the strange thing he had drawn while he went to make get something out of the pantry for dinner.

They had finished their dinner, and seeing nothing better to do at nine o’clock in the evening on a school-night with no electricity, decided to get to sleep. Sam had a large bedroom, and he let Kachira take the futon in the corner. Ramon was content to lean against his backpack with a blanket over him.

The worst part of the storm had passed and it was just raining outside. The pitter-patter of raindrops lulled Sam to sleep once he was sure his friends had fallen asleep as well.

Sam’s dog, a golden retriever named Maxwell who had been sleeping in his own room for the majority of the day prior came over to wake Sam up. It was just getting light out, and Sam was already beginning to stir. The big sloppy dog-kiss that Max gave Sam was enough to make Sam recoil and cover himself with his blankets. Once he was safely hidden under his sheets, Sam reached out a hand to pet Max.

When Sam realized his hand was missing, his eyes shot open and he fell out of bed. All he had was a stump! Both his hands were gone! Sam’s terrified shriek was enough to rouse the other two teens from their sleep. They moved over to where Sam had fallen and their jaws hit the floor. Sam…or what used to be Sam…was writhing around on the ground in panic, not really taking time to calm down and look himself over.

Ramon recovered from shock first and tried his hardest to calm Sam down. When he realized Sam couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hear him, he resorted to pinning him down. Kachira slowly recovered and sat down on the bed, still completely baffled by what was happening in front of her.

“DAMNIT SAM! STOP MOVING!!” Ramon shouted.

Sam froze and turned his head slowly toward Ramon. He looked up at Ramon with unbelievably huge eyes.

“What’s going on?” Sam croaked weakly.

Ramon didn’t release his grip, “I don’t know,” he sounded panicky.

“Mirror…” Sam managed to say, “And water…”

Kachira stood up like a zombie and grabbed a hand-mirror from the bathroom, as well as a small cup of water. Ramon slowly poured the water down Sam’s throat and then held up the mirror to his face.

“That’s not…” Sam said, his expression changing to disbelief as well, “That’s not me…”

“I don’t know how, or why, or what,” Ramon said sternly, “But that IS you.”

Sam refused to believe his friend. It couldn’t be true…it couldn’t. Kachira was staring at him with a blank expression…a tinge of worry and…what? Intrigue? Fascination? An unreadable expression was written upon her face. Ramon released his hold on Sam, who rolled over and pushed himself up onto all fours. He had hooves, HOOVES; FOUR HOOVES.

Sam barely managed to form the words in his head. The words that his subconscious didn’t expect would ever happen, but words that it just didn’t want to think. Words that he never saw coming, and words he didn’t want to admit to himself.

Samuel was a pony.

End Part 1

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