“Berry? Berry, what happened in the bathroom?” I heard Comet talk to me. My neck hurt. My head hurt even more. When I tried to move I found I was slumped in a chair with a blanket over me. I was naked and sore under it. I was confused why I wasn’t in my room. Then I remembered.

“Buck,” I growled. Right, I was awake but this was a nightmare. I opened my eyes.

There was a Comet Tail wrapped in a bed sheet standing over me. There was something jutting out of his forehead that spiraled out to a soft point.

“Do you... have a horn?” I said as I looked him over for more changes. His still-human hands held a bed sheet around him. I could make out that his bare chest underneath the sheet didn’t have fur on it. I took in what was wrapped around me. It was the comforter from his bed.

I tried to figure out what was wrong, why Comet looked so concerned, but my sleepy head told me to just sleep it off so I closed my eyes again. Did I sleep at all last night?

“Yeah, I have a horn now; imma unicorn,” he brushed aside my worry. “Berry, stay awake,” Comet said as he shook my shoulder. I growled a little at him for bothering me in my sleep. “How much did you drink?”

“All of it,” I groaned, thinking about that bottle of green fairy. Hearing rustling, I forced one eye open through the pounding headache. Comet Tail was rooting through my belongings. He unwrapped a few of the remaining bottles to check their contents. Eventually he put my bottles away and stood back up. He seemed to struggle staying balanced on his legs as he walked towards the bathroom. Eventually he dropped the blanket. A short, blue tail and a yellow pony ass with yellow horse legs disappeared around the corner. As fascinating as that was, it was gone now. So I did exactly what I wanted to do and went back to sleep again.

I was shaken again from the sleep I desperately needed. I opened my eyes to see a cup of water taking up most of my vision; an oasis in my desert. I took it and drank the entire thing without question.

“What happened in the bathroom?” Comet tried his question again on me.
The bathroom? Right… the demon in the mirror, the girl in the mirror, my facial hair, vomit, my penis.

I sat up at that last thought and tried to cover my already covered body. Comet frowned worriedly at my concern but waited for me to answer.

“I saw a monster... in the mirror,” I gave it to him straight. “He said he was responsible for this. Then I got drunk to try and forget about seeing him.”

“So you saw the monster then got drunk?” Comet clarified the order as he sat down at the foot of his bed across from me. Comet was wearing underwear now over his horse crotch but they weren’t helping. I was staring quietly at the odd bulge enough that Comet tried to cross his horse legs to hide it.

“Hey!” Comet protested as he got up and went towards his suitcase, presumably for pants. He gave me a good shot of his back side as he walked away. I could make out all the more horse-like muscles working underneath the soft yellow coat of his lower back side and it was strangely hypnotic. Especially the way the tail swished back and forth along with it.

I laid like a sore sack of potatoes in the chair and just lamely watched him fumble with his jeans. Seeing him getting dressed reminded me of my own nudity under the blanket and a slow rising shame started to raise me to action.

Wait, this was Comet’s comforter on me, right? He put this on me? That means...

“Hey, uh, Comet?” I asked without sitting up.

“Yeah, buddy?” Comet could just get the jeans stretched over his horse thighs but with him turned my way I could tell he was trying to get too much down the front.

My god, brain, stop.

“Did you see it? Me?” I asked. Comet delayed his answer as he tried to shove more of himself into his pants. They weren’t going to fit. Evidently horse genitalia didn’t quite sit the way human genitalia did.

“Yeah. I saw. It’s fine. I’ll still consider you a man,” Comet promised.

“Even though I have a weird horse vagina now?” I asked with a defeated, distant tone.

“It isn’t that weird,” my friend tried to reassure me.

“It kind of is though; it’s not human,” I pressed as I contemplated getting up and dressed. My head needed to be held together though. Otherwise the headache would split my head in half.

“No, no… that doesn’t make it weird,” Comet said distractedly. He sat down and took his jeans off. He huffed hard in frustration at his pants predicament.

“It kind of does,” I protested.

“I mean, we’re turnin’ into equines so it makes sense we’d have equine genitalia. It’s no weirder lookin’ than mine,” said my ‘unicorn’ friend as he sat on the edge of his bed turned to me.

“...can I see yours?” I asked in my half-groggy curiosity.

“You want to see my dick?” he asked as his ears swiveled towards me in more surprise than shock. He studied my face for a moment then chuckled a bit and shook his head. “Maybe later. We need to get dressed. Can I borrow your sweatpants?” He tried to ignore my request.

“If you let me see yours,” I bargained. “You saw mine, right? What does a horse dick even look like?”

“I think you’re still drunk,” he said as he went over to my suitcase and got my sweatpants out. “I think your jeans’ll still fit you. But mine won’t. Can I borrow these?”

“Yeah but come on, show me,” I said as I sat up more to show him I totally wasn’t drunk at all, nope. “Make me feel less weird about mine.”

He hesitated then rolled his eyes before his hands went to his waistband. He pulled down his underwear to show me what the outline was hiding.

“That’s what I thought! How the fuck is that fair!” I pointed in protest.

My exposed friend covered himself back up and started putting the gray sweatpants on to further cover what was pointed out.

“If it makes you feel any better, typical horse anatomy means not all of it can penetrate; horses don’t bottom out.”

“Oh? Where the hell did you learn that? College?” I asked him with a grin taking hold on my sleep-dulled face. In response he tossed a pair of boxers from my suitcase and my jeans at me. I dropped it; a man’s search history was his own business.

Honestly, seeing Comet’s junk looked kind of alien made me feel a little better about mine. They just weren’t ours. I couldn’t identify with it or any of the body replacing mine.

“Are we still human?” I asked him while I studied the clothes in my blanketed lap.

“It’s a little early for philosophical questions,” my roommate grumbled. “But yeah, we are.”

“How though? I look like something Frankenstein’s girly daughter made,” I complained.

“Do you still remember growing up human? Did those events not cause the person you are today? What is a man?” the astronomy professor waxed philosophy at me. Ship of Theseus, right?

I did remember my childhood, as much as I thought I could the day before anyway. No odd pony ‘memories’ came to me. Despite evidence to the contrary, I was still me. I just couldn’t prove it.

“I guess so. But… physically? What if we can’t change back?” I complained.

“Then we’ll be humans in pony bodies and life goes on. You’ll still have your friends and your sister,” he said as he finished putting his shirt on. “Get dressed. We’re going to go see her, remember?”

I studied the boxers in my hand. They were kind of impractical now, just like shoes were going to be. There was no tail hole and a useless hole in the front. Should I even wear these under my jeans? All these layers were getting awkward with a tail.

A weird idea crossed my mind. I put them on backwards underneath the comforter and pulled my tail out of the hole. As I stood up I let the cover slide off my body.

I looked down at my pink-purple legs coming out of my boxers and the hooves they ended in. I looked back at the mulberry-colored tail now pulled out through the back. It was certainly more functional.

“That looks cute,” I heard my friend say. I thought my face was going to turn the shade of my coat; I didn’t know how to take that compliment.

“Yeah, buck you,” I told him half-heartedly as I put my jeans on. They still fit me despite my hips seeming wider. If anything they were baggier.

“Do you want my belt? I’m not using it,” he said as he offered it to me. As he passed it to me I could assess our height difference again. I came up to the top of his chest; combined with how my pants fit I could definitely say I was smaller now. I turned away from him when I took the belt and put it on to keep my pants up.

Lengthwise, the jeans fit but the way the legs of the jeans bent didn’t line up with my knees, which I found were even further up my legs now. I could still walk in my pants but they felt poorly designed. As long as no one asked me to run though, they should work fine.

We finished getting dressed in silence. We put our hoodies back on with the hoods up to hide the ears. Comet didn’t seem to do anything about his horn. Probably because he couldn’t think of anything. Put a sock on it? Socks and shoes on our hooves were attempted but we agreed they were a lost cause. We didn’t plan on being out in public much today anyway.

Packing up, I remembered the shirt and underwear I left in the bathroom. I headed back into there to retrieve them. To my surprise, there were no black tendrils of hair on the countertop or vomit that missed the sink. On the ground there was no puddle that smelled like pee. The shower curtain and rod were hanging back up. My shirt and underwear, covered in beard and piss were in the trash. Comet had cleaned up my mess before he woke me without a word of complaint.

“Ready to go?” he asked from the motel door. He was wearing blue polarized sunglasses. He had his suitcase in one hand and his telescope under the other.

“Sorry about the bathroom,” I apologized as I walked back to the bed and grabbed my suitcase and Ruby’s present.

“I just didn’t want to wake you or leave it," he dismissed. "Remember that time I had the flu and we were downing Fireball? Don’t worry about it, it happens,” Comet reassured me with a smile. I laughed at the memory.

“I swear I could still smell cinnamon in that bathroom like a year later,” I reminded him.

“It was that or the diarrhea,” he shook his head. “I still can’t drink that stuff without remembering,” he made an unpleasant look at the thought of it.

I sighed fondly at the recollection and came back to the present. “But seriously, sorry. You’re a good friend. I’ll do better,” I promised.

“I know you will,” my ‘unicorn’ friend agreed simply. “Got the valium still?”

“In my pocket.”

“Alrighty then, let’s mosey.”

It was a horrible day for a hangover. A nice, bright clear sky. The parking lot was mostly empty. The roads were not. Especially not the highway. Sitting didn’t feel as awkward anymore; our tails were higher up compared to our rumps. After Comet noticed how much squinting I was doing he gave me his sunglasses. I made no complaints about the offer as it was saving my eyes.

“Comet, can I smoke in here?” I asked him with one cigarette ready to light in my mouth. I found myself pouting a little in a plea. He frowned a bit but didn’t take his eyes off the road.

“Normally no, but all things considered… crack the window and light me one too,” he submitted. I did so and he took his lit cigarette from me.

“Anyway," he started again. "We should get some food. And you should take a valium before you start feeling worse,” the driver explained his detour. My stomach hurt and it didn’t feel like hunger but I didn’t have the energy to argue against food. So we went through the drive-thru again. Even with our hoods up and most of our colorful hair tucked away Comet’s horn still drew the fast food workers’ eyes. Comet did his best ‘I am normal. What horn?’ act and ignored their dumb-founded expressions. I suppose that’s all he could do.

“So, I had a really vivid dream last night,” Comet spoke as he drove. We ate greasy hash browns and croissant sandwiches. Once again the meat tasted off. You would think it would taste fresher during breakfast hours. Regardless, the salt and grease felt like they were helping as much as the coffee and the valium. “We were full-pony and we were on guard in this underground cave system. Then…” Comet stopped to take a bite and chewed. Then swallowed. “We got distracted... and then these creatures dug up from outta the ground. They were like these jagged gorilla-looking things with weird rib cages and tapered heads. I saved you but then we had to get back to the others to warn them. There were a whole bunch of ponies underground. I think we were all hiding. But then Discord found us with those things.”

“Who?” I interrupted his story. That name sounded familiar. He took the next exit off the highway towards Minnie’s.

“He was the spirit of disharmony on My Little Pony. A draconequus; half-dragon half-horse. But he had a buncha different parts from other creatures. Like wings and horns from different creatures.”

That was familiar. That was my mirror demon. “And red eyes with yellowed whites? And a single fang?”

“That’s the one. He was a bad guy until he was reformed but apparently he faked it. In the finale he took over Tartarus and started making the ponies disappear. I think that’s where my dream picked up. I guess I was thinking about the show a lot yesterday, cause, you know. I was tryin’ to think if there were any clues in it.”

“That’s what my mirror demon looked like,” I admitted. “I mean, he looked like me because it was a mirror but he always had red and yellow eyes. And sometimes those horns or wings.”

My friend began looking at me for so long he suddenly had to swerve to stay on the road.

After assuring to himself we were fine he resumed the conversation, with his eyes staying firmly on the road this time. “Did he… he say anything?”

“He said he was responsible for this but that it was wearing off. But he also said he was just a hallucination brought about from alcohol withdrawal,” I told him about as well as I could reiterate.

Comet seemed to work the words over in his head before he spoke. “That doesn’t make any sense. If it’s wearing off why is it still progressing? And if he’s just a hallucination then he’s not real and can’t be responsible.”

“It kind of is gibberish,” I admitted. “Maybe it’s part of the curse? Seeing hallucinations? Have you seen him?”

“No hallucinations. I only saw him in that dream last night. He showed up at the end and cast this spell on us that tore us apart. I woke up from that. Have you been dreaming about ponies and cave demons?”

“I can’t remember the last time I dreamed,” I said as I shook my head. “Is that why I see him in hallucinations?”

Comet thought about my hypothesis as he turned into Minuette’s neighborhood. “Maybe. I hope this isn’t part of the curse.”

We pulled into the driveway of a little, old house with a blue door and blue shutters. The yard was well landscaped with bushes, a single tree and an immaculate lawn. This was Minuette’s place. She was quite proud of this house. It was a fixer-upper and Carrot Top put in just as much work if I recall, especially the landscaping. But at some point apparently Carrot Top moved out and her fiance moved in. It looked about the same from what I could remember on Facebook.
Comet turned the engine off and we glanced at each other in the car knowing how awkward this was going to go. We put out our cigarettes in an empty plastic cup from breakfast. Then without a word we got out and headed for the door. I rang the bell and we heard movement inside.

A man a whole head taller than Comet answered. He was tan and had a spiked crew cut and was wearing a black v-neck. He looked at us. He looked at Comet’s horn. He looked down at our bare ‘feet’. He seemed confused, but after assessing us, it seemed like he was going to take this strangeness in stride.

“Are you... Monica’s friends?” He clarified with us. We nodded. “She was in an accident yesterday and isn’t feeling very well,” he informed us.

“Yeah, she told us. But last night she said she was still up to goin' with us to see a friend. Is she doing any better today?” Comet asked the giant looking down at me. If Comet made me feel small, this guy made me feel like a child. He seemed more confused.

“She’s doing a little worse actually. Sorry, but we’re heading back to the hospital right now,” he said as he showed us the car keys in his hand as evidence.

“Chad? I feel fine! Let me talk to them for a sec,” a familiar voice from further inside spoke. Chad obediently pushed the door further open and stepped aside for her.

Monica stepped into the gap created for her and she looked at the two weirdos standing on her front porch.

Monica’s once brown hair now matched the blue tank top she was wearing, all except for the silver lock that crossed her forehead. Her hair was a brighter shade than Comet’s. Not unlike her brilliant blue eyes that were brown the day before since she was born. As she looked us over the confusion in her eyes was overpowered by a building relief and excitement in her eyes.

“Berry Punch! Comet Tail!” She exclaimed our names as she stepped towards us and wrapped her arms around our necks, pulling us toward her. “Oh thank goodness it’s not just me! What’s going on? Do you have cutie marks too? Does the horn work? We look like ponies!”

“We don’t know, but you haven’t even seen the half of it,” I warned her as I removed my hood to reveal the pony ears. Comet took my cue and put his hood down as well. “We have tails and fur too.”

“This... this is pretty serious! You guys want to come to the hospital with us?” she offered.

“I dunno what they can do for us. We’ve exhausted all the leads we had,” Comet filled her in. “We were gonna just lay low and try to keep figuring this out and see if it wears off.”

“Plus I don’t want to get tested on,” I added. I could see Comet’s horn bob in agreement in my peripheral vision.

“Do you think it’s contagious? How are Ian and Markus?” she asked before gasping again at another thought. “Do you think it happened at the party??”

“Well we thought it was just the two of us. But if this only happened to you today I’m not so sure now. There might be a dormant period and Berry and I were exposed early. I think we need to recheck on everyone at the party last night now,” Comet said as he took out his phone as if to begin right away. There was a glimmer of hope now that there was still an explanation. Somehow Comet and I were just apparently the first?

“So you guys don’t want to go to the hospital with us? How far do you think this is going to go?”

“We woke up with hooves and horse... junk today, ” I started vaguely. “I think this is going all the way.”

“Honey, we should still go. The doctors might be able to figure something out,” Chad put an arm around her. She looked up at him, her expression torn.

“Minnie, there’s never been nothing like this ever reported publicly; people don’t just turn into cartoon horses,” Comet warned. “The first thing the CDC is gonna do is quarantine us from everyone while they try to hunt down the source so they can find a cure. Meanwhile we’re going to get poked and prodded from ear to tail. But I don’t think a virus can change a whole person into something else. I think this is witchcraft or something.”

“Maybe even nanomachines!” I butted in. Comet made a face but didn’t argue with the possibility so I continued. “The CDC aren’t gonna do any better at reversing this than we are because it’s not a disease. We know who most of the people at the party were. We’ll be able to track down where this came from faster than they will. And once we figure out how it happened we’ll know who to ask for help. Whether it’s the CDC, the Ghostbusters or the pope.”

“I suppose a little longer won’t hurt,” Minnie began nodding in agreement. “Let’s figure out if anyone else is going through this too, then we can get help for everyone! You guys want to come in? I can make some tea.”

This was all a good idea, but the goal today was to see my sister. How long would these calls take? Last time it was half a day. When I went to check the time on my phone I saw I had missed a message from Brianna earlier. When I read it I realized our messed up situation just got messier.

“Berry? You coming in? What’s on your phone?” Minuette asked when she saw I wasn’t budging. The words on my screen left me stuck. This was even more impossible.

“It’s... Brianna. She’s going through this too,” I fessed up to the crowd in the doorway. I offered my phone to Minuette so she could read the message:

Brianna: “Something is going on. I woke up with tattoos and pink hair.”

The new information put us all into an overwhelmed silence. Chad awkwardly fiddled with his car keys as we all tried to figure out how this could have happened. There was no immediate connection; it had been months since I had seen her. What was turning us into ponies? How many were there like us?

“This could be really big. She couldn’t of gotten it from us,” Comet voiced our concerns.

“Right. We need to go see her. Figure out what we all... have in common...” I trailed off. As I spoke, the answer came to me. From the sparkle in Minuette’s eyes she seemed to catch on to what I was thinking. “...our birthdays? We all just turned 25.”

“And you two seem to be further along because your birthdays happened first!” Minuette added.

“Okay, but I’m 28?” Chad chimed in. “How does turning 25 make you turn into a pony?” There was still no ‘how’ but this had to be part of it.

“Let’s try to figure this out on the way. I want to get to her as soon as possible so she doesn’t go through this alone,” I told them. They agreed. Chad understandably wanted to come with us.

After some discussion we decided since we needed to talk on the way and Comet had the only car that fit four, Comet would drive. Minuette used Comet’s phone and tried reaching out to other party-goers in the back seat with Chad, even though the party was beginning to seem like less of a connection than our birthdays. From the front seat I was quick to get my sister in on the loop:

Me: “We’re going through the same thing. Me and Comet started changing yesterday. We were trying to figure out what was going on but now Minuette started today. We’re on our way. We’ll figure this out.”

Brianna: “Changes? What changes?”

Me: “We’re turning into ponies.”

Brianna: “What? What does that mean?
Can I call?”

Eager to hear her voice, I called her. When the ringing turned to breathing I said the only thing I could think of. “Hey.”

“Hey?” she answered in equal awkwardness. “What do you mean we’re turning into ponies?”

“Comet and I have pony ears and tails now. And fur on our legs. Minuette is about where you are right now,” I laid it all out.

“And hooves. And genitals. And I have a horn,” Comet added from the driver seat. “And it’s not technically fur, it’s a coat of hair.”

“Thank you, Professor Horse,” I sarcastically thanked him. “Yeah, did you hear him? Basically, we’re ponies from the waist down and the ears up right now. And it looks like it’s not stopping.”

“...and you don’t know what’s causing it,” she finished. “So you realize you’re calling Connor ‘Comet’? And Minnie ‘Minuette’? Is that because that’s who they’re turning into?”

“...Minuette?” I repeated, confused that this was suddenly pointed out to me.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Minuette piped up from the back seat. I could only imagine the look on Chad’s face as he was sitting directly behind me.

“Nothing, Minnie,” I reassured her before turning back to my sister on the phone. “I… wasn’t aware of the Minuette one. Me and Comet have been calling each other pony names since yesterday though. It just kind of slips out,” I admitted.

“So… we’re turning into ponies?” she asked again.

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like,” I said.

“So if Monica is turning into Minuette and Connor is turning into a pony named Comet, ...then who are you turning into?”

“Berry Punch,” I admitted.

“But Berry Punch is a mare…” she unhelpfully reminded me.

“Yeah, I know that very well now,” I said, unable to hide the frown in my voice. “And I think I know who you’re turning into.”

“Ruby Pinch,” she answered confidently. I was awestruck.

“How did you know that?” I asked.

“Because I’ve been dreaming about her. She’s the pink unicorn in my drawing. And I have her cutie mark,” she said.

“What’s your cutie mark?” I had to ask. I had to know.

“Three pink rubies,” she told me. “It has something to do with gem cutting.”

“How do you know that?”

“In my dream she was casting a spell for cutting stones. So I assume that’s what it means,” she explained her deduction.

“What was your pony dream like? Minuette and Comet have been dreaming about ponies too,” I said. I felt like I had all the eyes in the car on me.

“It was just the end of the show. But more detailed,” she elaborated dismissively.

“What was her dream like? Was she dreaming about the ending too??” I heard a voice closer to my other ear and slowly turned to see Minuette’s sparkling visage inches from my face.

“I… yeah, she was,” I told my ex who was getting very close to me in front of her boyfriend -scratch that- fiance. I turned back towards my other side. “Ruby, I’m going to put you on speaker phone."

“‘Kay,” she agreed.

“Hi, Ruby!” Minuette greeted my phone as soon as I hit the button.

“Hi, Minuette!” my sister replied from the other end. “It’s been a while! What was your dream like?”

“It was just the end of the show too!” Minuette shrugged. “You know, a bunch of ponies protecting some children from Discord before he sent them all away to wherever he sends ponies.”

“That’s what I’ve been dreaming about too. Okay, so we’re all dreaming about the ending,” Ruby said deep in thought.

“We have? Was the cave stuff in the ending?” Comet asked our distant telecommuter.

“A cave? Oh Yeah! It was just a short part but it was part of it. You don’t remember that?”

“I never saw the ending. I stopped watching after Twilight became an alicorn,” Comet admitted.

“Oooh, you stopped pulling the wagon, huh?” Minuette giggled. “That was totally in the finale though! Maybe you saw a clip somewhere?”

“Maybe? That was like five years ago. Someone might of showed me something since then,” our driver shrugged.

“Okay, but then that leaves Berry Punch,” Ruby said on the line. “Mom? Have you been having any pony dreams at all?"

‘Mom’.

I repeated the word in my head a few times. I remembered how last time she called me that it sounded like a silly mistake. This time it didn’t sound silly, it sounded eerily normal.

“Hello?” Ruby snapped me out of my daze.

“Buck! Sorry,” I said startled. “You-you called me Mom.”

“Oh,” she sounded taken back. “Sorry. That… was weird. Did you have any pony dreams?”

“No, but I’ve been having hallucinations of me in the mirror with Discord features. Last time he talked to me and jumped out at me in the mirror.”

“That sounds horrible! Are you alright?” Minuette asked me from the back of the car.

“I’m fine now,” I said, not sounding fine. “Really, I’m fine.” I tried again slightly more convincingly. “I’m more bothered by the changes than the hallucinations.”

“Yeah, I thought blue hair was trippy; you guys woke up half a pony today!” Minuette said bewildered. “Speaking of… now that I think about it... does that mean you’re… a mare now?” she asked. I sunk into my seat not wanting to deal with this conversation. I didn’t want to be reminded of what was currently in my pants, or what wasn’t. Before I could answer Comet answered for me.

“Berry identifies as a male human. Just like me,” he answered succinctly.

“Oh!” Minuette physically slapped her forehead. “Right, of course you do! -I mean, you are! Sorry, Berry! I phrased that really badly! I guess that’s none of my business anyway.”

“Wait, what, that’s Barry?” Chad spoke up from the back seat. “The guy whose sister we’re going to go see? I thought it was the guy with the horn.” Chad spoke up. “Shit! Sorry dude, I thought you were a girl.”

“It’s cool. After the beard fell out I kind of got androgynous,” I accepted his apology. “But... you couldn’t tell from my voice?”

“Not really. I thought you were a dyke.”

“What?? But I still sound the same, don’t I?” I asked as I turned to Comet Tail concerned. Why wouldn’t he tell me?

“You do sound the same? You just sound like you. I don’t think you sound female?” Comet defended, equally as confused as I was.

“Yeah, your voice hasn’t really changed,” Minuette agreed further. “Chad? Could you really not tell?”

“You really think so? Damn. I’m not trying to be an asshole or anything. I genuinely couldn’t tell. Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention. Sorry.”

“Okay, so, if we’re done defending my brother’s masculinity…” Ruby piped up from the speaker. “Do we have any ideas what’s causing this? Or how widespread this is?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “The current theory is it has something to do with our birthdays. Because it started around our 25th birthdays and you two seem a day behind us, just like the order of our birthdays.”

“And,” Comet chimed in as he passed a car. “It’s some kind of supernatural or conspiratorial act because nothing biological is this specific and particular about its targets. It’s targeting us specifically and location didn’t matter.”

“Minuette? Did you find anyone at the party who is starting to go through with this?” I asked the backseat hopefully.

“Nope! Not yet. But some of them haven’t replied back yet,” Minuette replied back.

I sighed and tried to slump more in my seat but my tail bunched up in my pants. We were still stuck where we were yesterday, going over the same leads. If it was a curse or whatever then we still had no way to undo it. Or figure out who ‘cast’ it.

“Hey, do you guys know there was an explosion at a comic shop in Seattle?” Chad spoke up. “When they investigated, the only thing apparently missing was the show bible to My Little Pony.”

“What?? When was this??” Minuette replied for us. I lifted up in my seat with my hopes. “Was it used as some kind of voodoo item? Was it secretly a spell book? ‘Necroponicon’?” Minuette spit-balled theories out-loud.

“Last night apparently? I searched for ‘My Little Pony’ because I was trying to look up the finale and a news article came up,” Chad explained. “It says they didn’t catch anybody. But sure enough the owner took inventory and the only thing taken in the one case broken into was that bible thing,” Chad said.

“That has to be related somehow,” Ruby said what we were all thinking. “Even if it was after Berry Punch and Comet Tail started changing.”

“Maybe if it wasn’t the person who did this, it was someone else turning into a pony?” Minuette asked the car. “Maybe someone in Seattle who thought there might be something in the book to undo this?”

“That makes sense but… all the way in Seattle?” I questioned her. “Do you think this is nationwide? Like everyone turning twenty-five this month is going to turn into a pony?”

“There has to be some rhyme or reason to it,” Minuette insisted. “Maybe someone from our school moved to Seattle? Who was born May 1st or 2nd? Was there anyone like that?”

“You’re asking me to remember the birthdays of people who I used to go to school with like seven years ago,” I countered. I sighed and thought for a second. “I think Tyler’s birthday was near mine? Didn’t he move away?”

“He went out east on a music scholarship I think?” Minuette thought.

“I probably have a yearbook or two at my parent’s house,” Comet offered. “Maybe use social media to try and find people born early May at our school. That might help us find more people going through this?”

“It’s something,” I agreed. There might be more of us. Maybe we had our school in common? Did we ever get a weird shot? Or something? I couldn’t think of anything, but most of my high school years were a blur anyway. I only remembered Tyler because he played guitar and had a garage band. I brought beer to his “concerts” sometimes.

I felt more hopeful about our predicament. Maybe if we can find enough people-turned-ponies one of them will have some idea or memory that leads us to the solution.

Chad couldn’t find any more news stories about My Little Pony, Minuette was fruitlessly harassing the party guests with Comet’s phone and eventually Ruby got off the phone to ‘get ready for us’. And so the car was reduced to idle chatter.

The road to Lawson felt longer than I remembered. The town didn’t come into existence like a city but gradually the little houses and shops littering the plains became more and more concentrated. The only way to know you were in a town was the city limits sign. In my absence the town still hadn’t yet hit a population of three thousand. The town was just as slow and dull as in my memories. Driving through the main streets the only differences seemed to be the trees had grown in and a few small shops being swapped out for others.

And then there was my mom’s house. Exactly as I remember except the changes to the bushes and trees. A three bedroom house on a quiet street. The shed still stood in the backyard in disrepair, presumably filled with Mom’s stuff and none of Dad’s old stuff anymore. The lawn looked freshly mowed. We pulled in behind Mom’s old van. I sent Ruby a text saying we were here.

“This should be interesting,” I said looking from Comet Tail to Chad to Minuette.

“Is your mom going to be surprised to see you?” Minuette asked.

“That’s one way to put it,” I agreed. “If you guys want to stay in the car for a bit I’d understand.”

“No. We’re here for you,” Comet reminded me. “You two will stay more level-headed if you have an audience.”

I smiled at those words, popped a valium and motioned for us to get out. My unicorn friend carried my suitcase behind me, followed by Minuette and Chad for emotional support. I awkwardly carried Ruby’s birthday present up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

My mom answered. She looked grayer and older than I remembered but seven years is a long time when you’re an overweight diabetic. I didn’t speak, instead I took off the sunglasses I forgot I was wearing and looked her in the eye.

“Brian?” My mom recognized me. There was a flash of anger then of surprise. She looked at the people behind me then back to me. “What are you doing here? What have you done to yourself?”

“I didn’t do it,” I said as I put my free hand up in submission. “I don’t know why, but we’re turning into ponies. I came to bring Ruby her present.”

“What? ...who?” My mom questioned me. In the moment it took me to catch my mistake I heard her voice.

“Mom, let him in,” Ruby/Brianna protested from behind her. Mom turned to behind her then back at me. She looked hesitant, maybe even overprotective, but she relented and stepped away from the door.

I pushed the front door open and spotted, just behind where Mom was, was my favorite person sitting there in her chair. Her long brown hair was now two tones of pink. In her lap she had three presents. One I recognized to be the size of a canvas, for Minuette. The other was smaller and flatter. The last was book-sized.

Without any faltering she wheeled her chair closer with the presents in her lap. She offered the book-shaped one to me with a smile, “Happy Birthday, Mom!”

“Happy birthday, Ruby,” I exchanged with her.

I went to set the large pony-containing box on her lap as trade but stopped. What stole my attention and left me speechless was her large formerly blue eyes.

Her eyes were the most beautiful, perfect shade of yellow-green I had ever seen.

Next Chapter: 9. Call Your Mother (Part 2: Where You're Wanted) Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 24 Minutes