The New Normal

When Shine found himself transforming into an alicorn colt, he was ecstatic, but also terrified--all of his dreams were coming true, but where was he supposed to go from here? It's time to get used to the new normal...

Issue Two: Contagion - Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - 8:37 PM

Sometimes, the awakenings are rude! Sometimes, you need to deal with whether the best thing that ever happened to you is contagious or not!

Two beats of a drum struck my heart, and I jolted awake with a hoarse squeal. I twisted to lay on my chest, forelegs splayed long and delicate in front of me, as my phone sang They Might Be Giants' Purple Toupee. I blinked at the device, the dregs of sleep and some vivid dream dripping off me. I reached out my neck, lipping the battered smartphone towards me across the padded floor of my little nest, and saw Liz listed as the caller. I bumped the green "answer" dot on the screen with my muzzle and whickered questioningly into it. Phones were an interesting prospect when you couldn't make human noises anymore. And lived in the woods.

"I need you to get your butt down here right now!" Liz's voice demanded without preamble.

A short squawking sound jerked out of me in surprise. That was unusually insistent of her.

"Sweetie, I know you can't talk. Just get here, Shine. I'll explain once you are."

I trilled a questioning sound into the microphone, hoping for some further explanation.

"Just get here. Now!"

I snorted gently as the call terminated. Well...that was odd. I stretched, rising to my hooves and shaking the blanket off of me. I hopped off the padded nest of pillows and blankets that served as my bed, ambling to the egress of the tarp I'd painstakingly hung to keep my sleeping place dry. I hopped down to the forest floor and trotted to the nearby creek to drink my fill and give myself a chance to wake up and think.

Muzzle dripping, I still had no idea why Liz had been so insistent about me coming over. I sighed and shook my body. Nothing for it, I guessed. When your vet summoned, you came. It was just a good idea.

Flying was still a beautiful novelty. Truthfully, everything about my alicorn shape was, but flying was extra special. I gloried in the wind streaking past, outlining my form, churning wings propelling me faster, higher. I flitted through the sky, and couldn't resist playing, carving intricate patterns through the wind's currents and eddies, rolling and dancing in freedom.

But I had someplace I had to be. And besides, I was hungry, my belly grumbling and aching with disapproval. I broke off my play, and flew a more direct path towards Liz and Steel's farm. Sure, I was still rolling gently in the wind to experience the tickling joy of gravity grabbing and releasing my body, but I wasn't wasting that much time in the process.

I touched down neatly, warm pride bubbling in my chest at the grace I'd managed to achieve in the relatively short time I'd been myself like this. I chuffed gently to myself as I cantered up to the barn, joyfully executing flying lead changes just because I could.

Liz's face was grim when I finally caught sight of her in the shade of the barn. A concerned nicker burst out of me before I remembered I needed to phrase the question in actual words, and not just what felt natural to me, 'Liz? What's wrong?'

Liz's gaze hardened, her eyes narrowing with pain or suspicion, "Shine...sweetie. I need you to think hard. What do you know about what changed you?"

I cocked my head in confusion, 'What? Nothing, you know that. I just started changing one day, and now I'm myself for real...why?'

Liz suppressed a wince, "Are you sure, sweetie? No encounters with radioactive waste or dubious experiments?"

I laughed at the absurdity, 'Like a superhero? That'd be great, but no. I think I'd have realized if it was something obvious!' She didn't look like that made her any happier. 'Look, my working theory is just that I became what I'd always been inside! I'm not really inclined to, heh, "look the gift horse in the mouth" on this!'

Liz's eyes skittered off me. She pursed her lips and swallowed, her rich brown skin grayed. "I need to show you something." She turned her head to look deeper into the barn, "Janey?"

My ears pricked as I heard Steel shuffling out of the tack room. I really liked Liz's acerbic mate wife, even though she obviously didn't like me. At the very least, I made her deeply uncomfortable, what with the whole "spontaneously transforming into an alicorn" thing. I thought her discomfort was a bit overblown, and it was nice when she forgot herself enough to just treat me like a person, but whatever. Sure, we'd gotten into some pretty tense arguments about whether I should let her and Liz quarantine me, but...even though I thought we had no evidence that whatever had changed me was contagious, I wouldn't wish the way I'd felt living as a human in a body that didn't fit on anyone. I could understand the thought process behind taking some precautions. If it were necessary. Which it definitely wasn't.

Ice flowed through my chest, and my legs stiffly churned, horror both seeking to drive me away and freeze me to the spot. Steel's usually easy walk staggered uncomfortably, her ever-present jeans fit her oddly. Half-unfurled pin feathers grew awkwardly off her still mostly human arms and face. My eyes dropped, and I realized her legs were shorter, her knees and heels proportionately higher, and she'd forgone her usual boots, nascent claws that clearly would have made fitting them onto her feet impossible.

"Not. Contagious." she growled, voice clipped.

I wheeled and bolted away.