I wasn’t sure where all the tears came from, but the flood began when I saw her again. This was her: My reason for living and dying. My regret and shame and pride. I was so stupid. I didn’t deserve to be loved by someone so smart and beautiful; someone so pure yet so wise.

I didn’t have a specific reason why I cried and I think that made it worse. I was so happy to see her and so sorry for the circumstances. I felt self-pity and sorrow for what’s happening to her as well as all of my friends. I cried for the loss of my masculinity and my humanity being on its deathbed. I cried for the end of my life as I knew it. I cried out of shame for my suicide attempt and never telling her how I really felt all the time. I cried at the idea of losing her forever. I didn’t want to die if it meant I would never see her again but I didn’t have it in me to become the version of me she deserved. But I also cried because we were together again.

Ruby was crying as well, but her cries were different. Instead of the choking sobs hers sounded like sad, pained cries of sympathy. She knew I was hurt and we were scared so she cried with me about ourselves and about the world.

My friends and Mom didn’t make us stop. I didn’t realize they had left the room until the emotional vomit coming out of me finally turned into a steady, manageable leak. I apologized to Ruby and she understood it was for more than just for the waterworks.

“Don’t leave me, okay?” she spoke softly into my pony ears flattened against my head. I nodded quickly in between sniffs.

“I know. I won’t. I promise,” I responded.

“Whatever is happening, please don’t hide it from me any more,” the pink-haired filly whispered at me. I knew she wasn’t talking about the transformation. I nodded. It was foolish to try to hide my shame from someone so sharp.

When we finally parted and began wiping our faces I saw the others had quietly moved towards the kitchen. The smell of warm coffee was a blessing after that rainfall. Feeling better we headed to the kitchen.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when we rejoined them that there was a mug of black coffee waiting for me and something that looked more like milk than coffee for Ruby.

“Do you want any coffee with that cream?” I teased her out of tradition.

“Nope! It’s perfect,” she sassed back and took a sip out of her decorative coffee mug.

“So, we were explaining to your mom about what’s been going on and what we think is going to be the end state of this,” Comet began filling me in.

“I still don’t understand why you would do this,” Mom said, shaking her head. “Or why you would get Brianna involved in this.”

Comet practically leaped to intercept the look of disgust that I threw at my mother.

“Ms. Peters, No one here wants this to happen. None of us are behind this. Even if one of us was, Berry hasn’t seen Ruby for months. There’s no way he could have infected her.”

“Why do you keep calling each other those names?” my mom asked without acknowledging the answer she got to the last question she asked.

“It just happens,” Minuette spoke up. “It’s part of this whole transformation thing. I know everyone’s real name here but the pony name just… ‘slips out’ instead.”

I just knew that they had already explained all of this to her. She just wanted to throw these accusations at me; she ‘knew’ somehow it was my fault.

“I think it’s time to open presents!” Ruby interrupted. She picked up the book-shaped package and set it on the table in front of me then set the flatter package on the table towards Comet. The manila envelope handed to Comet had the name ‘Comet’ crossed out, the name Connor written below that crossed out as well and Comet written again below that.

“You two had your birthdays first so you’ve waited longer. That means you get to open yours first!”

“Aw, Ruby, I didn’t even get you anything! You didn’t have to get me anything…” Comet said while still picking up the manila envelope with care and interest.

“Nonsense, you brought me my mother!” Ruby said. There was a lingering awkwardness in the air. Mom was looking at us, including Chad and Comet’s horn. “I mean… my brother,” she corrected. “I… didn’t know you were coming so it was kind of last minute, but I hope you like it,” Ruby reassured.

Minuette nodded enthusiastically and added, "That's your gift to me and Berry as well! You said you took today off to give us all a ride here! You reunited us!"

Comet looked over us unsure. He looked at the package in front of me. I gestured for him to open his first and took a sip of coffee to stall for time. He gently smiled at me then at Minuette and back at Ruby. Finally he undid his envelope. He gently pulled out the drawing and sat it down on the table in front of him. From my vantage point I could tell it was a unicorn stallion drawn professionally in colored pencils. It was in the same style as the Twilight Sparkle I knew Ruby drew for Minuette.

“You drew me as a pony?” Comet said in awe. “But you only knew I was turning into Comet Tail thirty minutes ago. You just drew this? It looks great!”

Ruby shook her pretty pink head. “I’ve been dreaming about ponies a lot lately. You were…Well, Comet Tail was in a lot of them.”

Without prompting I opened my present. A book on the history and science of moonshine and distilleries. I could see our mom frowned over the book topic and that was a nice bonus. Maybe it was bad the only inspiration for presents she had for me was alcohol, but I was probably hard to buy for.

“I could use something interesting to read. Something to take my mind off this pony thing,” I admitted to Ruby as I hugged her.

“Pinchy, I…” Minuette looked at the wrapped canvas then at Connor’s gift and over at Ruby. I made a mental note of how much I liked that nickname. Minuette seemed uncertain about something until a grin spread across her face. “Before I open my present, I actually have something… a little unorthodox for you!”

Minuette’s hand slyly unhooked a gold chain from her belt loop. “It came into the antique store a few weeks ago,” Minuette said as she lifted the chain up and a small lady’s gold watch came out of her pocket with it. “I know it looks valuable but it’s not, not financially, I mean; without the original band it’s just worth what it is as scrap! But I thought it was pretty so I shined it up and bought it! It was made in 1946.”

Minuette set the watch on the table and gently slid it closer to Ruby who picked it up in surprise. “Oh, wow. Are you sure? Wow, the face is really pretty.”

“Of course! Watches never get thrown out so they’re not as valuable as people think they are. Besides, I have a ton of watches! They come in all the time,” Minuette said with a hand wave.

“She really does,” Chad spoke up from his quiet spot next to her. “Please take it. If we don’t start giving away the things she collects we’re going to run out of living space.”

Minuette laughed and jokingly elbowed Chad in mock anger for that remark. “Yeah... honestly because of how much stuff I hoard maybe it’d be more appropriate for me to turn into a dragon than a pony!”

She laughed a bit at her own joke before finally opening her own present.
The pastel drawing of Twilight Sparkle greeted Minuette. Minuette gasped and showed Chad and the rest of us. The Twilight I saw prior was complete with her soft mane and tail filled in. “Princess Twilight Sparkle! She’s never looked prettier! This is going over the fireplace!” We all smiled and laughed because we knew she was being serious.

Finally, Ruby had no more way to delay her own. She saw all of us looking at her in anticipation and looked down at the plain cardboard box to avoid our staring. She undid the flaps and when she lifted them up I saw those beautiful green eyes shimmer when she saw the contents.

“Mom… how?” She said in shock as she pulled out the Fluttershy plushie. She looked it over, unable to believe what she was holding. She felt the wings and brushed her hand across the mane. The look on her face shifted between awe and shock. “She’s beautiful! You got this for me??”

I nodded and smiled. “You always got me the better gift, when I remembered to get you a gift. I wanted to top you this year.”

She turned her chair to face me and wheeled closer for a hug. I met her outstretched arms and hugged her back.

“You really shouldn’t have. This is… the most precious thing I own now,” Ruby said as she hugged Fluttershy to her chest. “I bet you paid too much for this.”

“And yet you deserve so much more, Pinchy,” I told her as I reached out and mock-pinched her shoulder.

Mom bent over and asked Comet sitting next to her a little loudly, “Are those really rare or something?”

“Not rare exactly,” Comet said as he shook his head. “But to get a plushie like that you have to get it custom made by someone. They can run several hundred dollars.”
Mom looked over the stuffed pegasus and eyed me suspiciously. Here we bucking go.

“Are you getting better at saving up money?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said as I glared her down. She matched my intensity.

“Just curious about the sudden jump in income. Brianna was telling me you were fired last month. What kind of job did you get?”

“What are you accusing me of?” I asked her rhetorically. I knew what she was accusing me of: selling drugs. “I’ve been saving up money for almost a year for Fluttershy. You know, back when I did have a job. Something you haven’t had in over a decade.”

“Mom,” Ruby grabbed my arm and I looked at her. The tension eased. She looked from me to over at our mom across the table. “...Mom, this is a special occasion. Let’s behave like adults.”

Mom nodded in agreement.

“Ms. Peters,” Comet broke the silence. “Do you mind if I make more coffee?”

“That would be fine, Connor,” Mom acknowledged. “Are you all getting hungry? I could order us a pizza.”

“Oh! Actually, can we order?” Chad piped up from checking his phone. “You’re being such a gracious host to let us all into your home.”

Minuette nodded readily. “Please! We kind of just invited ourselves into your home!”

Mom was happy to take advantage of her guests’ offer. She hosted us for a few hours as we ate pizza and talked over our strategy: yearbooks, Facebook, local and nationwide news. We couldn’t find any more information about the show bible being stolen in Seattle and there weren’t any other relevant-looking news stories. Minuette was searching through a decade of forum posts trying to find relevant posts about turning into ponies that weren’t roleplaying. She couldn’t find one that looked genuine.

“They stole the show bible,” Comet thought out loud. “They were looking for something; something in the official media. Some kind of clarification; some hint. Why? What do they know that we don’t? What tipped them off?”

Somewhere around my fourth cup of coffee and second slice of mushroom pizza we were starting to debate sitting down and watching the entire series. The math broke down to days and days worth of pony. There was absolutely not enough time for that.

I checked the dexterity in my hand for not the first time that day. My fingers were stiff and all but my middle fingers were starting to look shorter. The whole thing shook but I don’t think Comet’s was doing that. I sighed.

“Comet, I need a cigarette,” I stood up carefully from my seat and gestured towards the door. Comet looked up from the episode script he was reading on his laptop and quietly nodded and stood.

“Please don’t flick your cigarettes into my yard like you used to,” Mom called out after us. I vaguely acknowledged her with a hand wave. When we got outside Comet lit a cigarette up and handed the pack to me to do the same. I took a long drag off of it. While standing was awkward at this point, neither of us wanted to try sitting down because we knew it would be hard to get back up.

“If I stay here with that nag I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I complained.

“Try to get along with her,” Comet insisted. “For Ruby and yours sake.”

“I’ll… I’ll try,” I muttered around my cigarette. “For Ruby.”

“I’m gonna have to get going soon to see my parents; I won’t be able by sunset. Minuette and Chad said they wanted to tag along. It’d help seeing as my family situation is… you know, a little rocky too.”

“Right,” I acknowledged.

“If things don’t work out at your house you can come stay at mine, okay?”

I smiled at the offer. I made him a similar one over ten years ago. I agreed.

“Thanks, Comet. You’re a good friend,” I said.

“You too, Berry Punch.”

Comet left me the rest of the cigarettes and promised we’d stay in touch. He told me to find something to use as a stylus and to rely on voice-to-text. We could even video chat if we were up to seeing what we all looked like as ponies. I shivered a bit at that thought and took another valium.

I promised him I’d be okay. I promised him I’d tell them when I had more problems and I tried to mean it when I said it. My friends were going to be there for me, at least in text. I had to believe that.

When they left we all exchanged hugs; naturally Minuette started it.

And just like that, I was left here with Ruby and Mom.

My old room had been turned into storage, so I laid on Ruby’s floor half-awake while she was at her desk. She had a yearbook in her lap and online profiles pulled up on her computer in front of her. My phone was charging, so I was just laying there being useless and doing my best to just try and recollect people I knew from high school. Which lasted about five minutes until I just started looking around the room and thinking about other things instead.

There were so many drawings, crafts and rewards on Ruby’s walls. I was glad she hung them all up with pride. I recognized all of them but couldn’t recall when most of them were done.

The ones I could date were sketches and older drawings once given to me in middle school or high school. Even some that I gave back to her for her portfolio. I remembered showing some of them to friends once, bragging what my shy little sister could do. She was upset at first but when Lyra approached her to draw his band’s one and only album cover she loved doing it. She made Sweet Death look cooler than they sounded.

I got up to hug her again and kiss her on her pink-haired head. Her pony ears had come in and undoubtedly a tail by now. But sitting on it didn’t seem to bother her. I thought she also seemed a bit shorter but all I could go off was her head height to the back of her chair or how far I bent over.

By the time my phone was reasonably charged again, I went to go inspect myself for changes in the storage room. Taking my shirt off revealed the fur on my body finished taking over my chest and starting down my arms. I also found standing straight to be harder than it had any right to be; my spine wanted me to stoop. I sent a group text with my stubborn thumbs to report my situation. Comet verified the same state and pointed out to me that our teeth were flattened out like a herbivore. So bone was definitely changing all over now. We were probably finishing this tonight.

“Mom! Minuette found somepony!” Ruby called me back to her room. I pulled my shirt back on and went to hear the news. I saw at the same time Mom approach the hallway towards Ruby’s door from the other way.

“She means me,” I unintentionally scowled at her while standing in Ruby’s door frame, blocking her.

“That’s not funny, Brian. I’m not playing this weird mind game,” she pressed to be let in.

“Sorry, Mom. it’s just slipping out. I meant Brian,” Ruby cleared up the ambiguity. I felt a strange sense of smugness as I closed the door on our mother and turned back to Ruby.

“So who did she find?”

Ruby, with her Fluttershy back in her lap, held up her yearbook and pointed at someone who I could recognize from across the room.

“Derpy? Really? She’s turning into a pony too? Who?”

“Read her name in the yearbook,” Ruby guided my sight with her finger over to her name. I walked with a stoop over to her to read it.

“Yeah? Maggie Smills.” I read aloud and thought of what I just said. “Wait, ‘Derpy’? That’s the gray one with the cross eyes!” I was proud to get that one. “Huh. Maggie had a lazy eye in elementary.”

Ruby nodded. “And she’s… kind of clumsy.” Ruby cringed a little, probably recalling the time Derpy sat on Lyra’s guitar. “Whatever is doing this seems to make each pony match us on some level. And more importantly, we can recognize others turning into ponies subconsciously like you just did.”

“So where’s Derpy now? Didn’t she work at like, a bakery or something? How far along is she? I didn’t even know her birthday was in May.”

“I didn’t either. She never brought it up. And Minuette hasn’t gotten a hold of her yet, her phone keeps going to voicemail. There’s no telling if she’s started turning into a pony yet.”

“Shit, so she’s a dead end?” I asked.

“For now, but we might have just figured out a method to find other ponies,” Ruby flipped through the yearbook and stopped on a page at seeming random. When she flipped it my way it was pictures from the computer club. She covered one photo’s caption with her hand. “Who do you recognize?”

“Uh… Caleb, don’t know, Kevin, Michael, I think, and... I don’t know anyone else,” I gave it my best shot. Ruby looked at the photo too then flipped to the next page and repeated the procedure. It was the Gardening Club. “And whose names do you know in this one?”

“Uh. Well that’s Carrot Top. And Michelle, Rose, Amber, Kayla, Lily, Daisy and… that’s all I got.”

“Aha!” Ruby turned the book back to verify something. “Carrot Top’s a pony name! Her human name’s Claudia Hayes!”

“Minnie’s old roommate?” I frowned then remembered. “Right, she called her Carrot Top yesterday… but you’d think Minuette would have remembered if her birthday was close to hers? She gave her a ride home yesterday from the hospital.”

“Maybe… she didn’t ever bring up her birthday either?” Ruby guessed.

“Or maybe it doesn’t have to be around May 1st?”

“Maybe,” Ruby gave up with a sigh. “But that’s two ponies we didn’t know about before.”

“Maybe. Unless it’s just the names in our heads getting replaced with pony names?”

Ruby thought about the grave implications of that then shook her head. “No. I’ll ask Minnie and Comet to do the same thing. If we all blindly guess the right names then they must be turning into ponies. If we’re just assigning names what are the odds we all assign the same people the same names?”

Ruby’s phone and mine both buzzed at the same time. I went to go unplug mine and check it. It was a message in the group chat we set up:

Monica: "Claudia is Carrot Top! She’s not answering her phone either though."

“Well, so much for asking Comet,” I said aloud. As we spoke there was another buzz. We both looked back down at our phones to see the reply:

Connor: She might not be able to. Maybe Derpy and Carrot are full pony now? No hands.

“Well, shine,” I cursed.

“How are we going to find them anyway if we’re fully pony?” Ruby asked. “We can’t go out looking like ponies. Someone will call the cops thinking we’re aliens,” Ruby pointed out.

To that I had no answer. The best idea the group chat had was for Chad to drive Minuette around. That was fast becoming a default idea.

We had to keep in touch and if we couldn’t do that we would need to stick together. But who was going to host four, six, or however many ponies we’ll find after we’re done transforming? And for how long? Comet was just being optimistic saying it could just reverse itself as easily as it happened. Who was to say this curse will undo itself at all?

I hugged Ruby one more time and kissed her on the forehead before I laid back down on her floor. I got almost no sleep last night and I could feel a nap coming on. I didn’t want to deal with anything right now. I just wanted to sleep. And maybe drink.

I dug the bag of valium out of my pocket and counted them. Five left. I popped one and rolled over to sleep.

---

“Mom!” she screamed. “ Wake up! It hurts!”

I jolted awake immediately and clambered towards the voice before I even knew what was going on. Ruby lay there on the floor, having apparently thrown herself out of her chair. She was clutching her leg and shaking in agony.

“What is it?” I felt around her leg for the cause of her pain, I couldn’t find any sign of pain. I looked over her face for some explanation. Her green eyes were tearing up. Her lips were shaking. Her ears were flat to her pink hair. My own eyes were watering at the sight of her in pain.

“It all hurts! My legs!” she screamed at me exasperated. There were tears streaking her face now. I could hear Mom stomping through the house towards the room before she threw the door open.

“What’s going on?! What did you do?!” Mom called at me as she tried to smack me away from my daughter. I huffed at Mom and only pushed closer to Ruby. I held Ruby around the shoulders while she made sounds of sobbing agony into mine. My daughter felt so small wrapped in my arms. Every ounce of me wanted to help but I didn’t know how. She screamed in pain more. I was worried any minute she was going to crumble to pieces in my hooves and I had to be there to hold her together.

“What did you do?! What did you do?!” our Mom shouted at us, she tried to tear me from my daughter again. I resisted my urge to bite that crazy woman.

“I didn’t do jack or jenny!” I snarled at Mom. “Ruby’s legs just started hurting!”

I tried to move Ruby a little to straighten her body out and she called out in renewed pain.

“Don’t move her!” Mom yelled at me. “That’s it! I’m calling 911!”

“Don’t you bucking dare!” I shouted at Mom as she stomped away. “If you do that they’ll take her away! They’ll take us both away!”

I heard no reply. I knew that wasn’t a good sign. I turned back to Ruby’s tear-streaked face. She was scared and in pain and our yelling wasn’t helping.

“I’ll be right back, Pinchy. I promise. I have to stop her,” I told her. She bit her lip and trying to calm her breathing.

“Don’t. Hurt. Her,” Ruby said between deep breaths. I nodded as I quickly laid her back down and bounded after that overweight nag.

My half-and-half anatomical structure didn't know how to run. It threw me against the wall across from Ruby’s door. My elbow left a hole in the drywall. I used my deformed hands on the wall to help me stand again and half-limped half-ran after her.

She could only waddle but my flight or fight response was pushing me so hard I tripped again. I reached out. The back of the couch caught me. I fumbled to rise again. My heart was beating in my ears.

Mom’s flat, boisterous stomps entered the kitchen. I chased after her. If the police were involved that would be it. With an odd arc in my back I chased her. When I rounded the corner she already had the phone in her hand. I did the only thing I could do with the time I had: I dive tackled her to the ground.

There was a house-shaking crash as we fell together onto the floor. Her cell phone went flying wide. I didn’t care about that now. I held this excuse-of-a-mother down and brayed in her face.

“You will not risk my daughter! You will not turn her over to the police!” I yelled into her face. I was so mad I snorted and I could have sworn I could see the hot air escape my nostrils.

The silver-haired lady pinned under me started crying in wide-eye fear.

She wouldn’t answer me so I held her chin as best as I could with my deformed palm and got so close my spit and snot was dripping onto her face. My hot, laborious breathing stung her eyes.

“Do you understand me, you fat sow!? You’re not calling the cops!” I repeated to her. She blubbered louder. Underneath the quivering chins I felt her nod quickly. “If they take away Ruby you’re bucking dead! Do you understand?? Should I speak slower for you?! She is my everything! If they take her, they’ll hurt her! If they hurt her, you’re bucking dead!”

She blubbered and cried. Satisfied I put the fear of me into her, I clambered off of her and crawled to where I saw her phone go. When I found it I saw the screen had a few cracks to it now. I tried to throw it but my hand wouldn’t hold and it just fell to the floor.
“Dock!” I shouted at my fumbling, failing hands. They would be useless hooves soon. But maybe hooves had a use…

I clawed at the cabinets to get up onto my hind hooves again. I held onto the countertop for dear life. I could tell from how high it came up to me I was almost a foot shorter than I was this morning, but I was far more angry now.

I held onto the countertop to stable myself while I stomped down hard onto the phone with my hoof. The screen splintered into a million pieces but it still lit up. I stomped again and the screen went black. It was dead. Mom couldn’t call the cops. They wouldn’t take Ruby away.

I sighed in relief. My limbs were shaking so hard I could barely hold onto the counter top while I tried to calm my racing heart. I was almost sure my heart was going to explode. I thought I was going to pass out. Instead it eventually started to slow and I could hear the world again.

Mom was sat up but still crying on the kitchen floor. I used the countertop to steady my uneasy steps while I stepped out of the kitchen. As I passed Mom I threw one more angry glare at her. She looked away and kept crying.

Good.

I dragged my deformed body along the walls of the hallway back to Ruby’s door frame and leaned against it. Ruby still sat on the floor. She wasn’t crying any longer but her paradise-colored eyes still looked pained and there was a new emotion in her eyes I had never seen before: fear. Not scared, but fear. Despite the eye and hair color change Ruby still loosely looked like a younger version of Mom… and I saw the same expression of fear in her eyes that I put into the woman on the kitchen floor.

“Is Mom okay?” Ruby asked me. The words sounded wrong. I was Mom, but I knew who she meant.

“I didn’t hurt her,” I started. Ruby visibly flinched at my calm words. It was true. I didn’t hit her! “She’s fine,” I insisted.

I took a few steps towards Ruby and collapsed onto my stomach. I couldn't catch myself. My legs were willing to support me but my spine wasn’t.

“Brian! Are you okay?” Ruby called out to me from across the room. Who the fuck was Brian? It sounded wrong. Why was Ruby calling me that?

What had I done?

“I’m fine,” I lied where I lay. “Are you okay?”

She looked down at her limp legs out in front of her. Her leggings hung past her feet, confirming my suspicion she was shrinking. She looked like she was trying to say something but first she swallowed.

“They were... asleep. I felt them! It was like when your arm falls asleep but it was from... my pelvis down. It was the worst pins and needles I've ever felt in my life.”

I crawled closer to her on my paddle-like 'hands' and back hooves, something akin to a lazy bear crawl. I collapsed just next to her. She nearly jumped from my clumsy crash. I ignored it.

“Your legs… were asleep? And they don’t hurt anymore?” I clarified her statement. She nodded slowly.

I reached out to her leg and ran the remains of my fingers up her shin to her knee. She gasped in shock at my touch.

Next Chapter: 10. Dreams and Nightmares Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 4 Minutes