13 -- Hot Wheels

[soulofblue]

[The scroll seems totally dark at first, with nothing more than a few whirring noises. Light appears as a small robotic race-car-like contraption rolls off of the scroll - unrolling those without limbs is rather difficult.]

Hello? No, that isn't it. Hell-o? Hello. [It starts as Echo's natural voice, for anyone who's heard it, but shifts into Pollo's as he works it out.] Ah...it's Pollo. I seem to have ended up in Echo's body - or, rather, the temporary one we've been housing her in until we get something a little more substantial built. Naturally, this happened before we got that done.

Well, I suppose it's better me than someone else. I've been robotic before.

[But he does not sound happy about it.]

Anyway, it seems as though her systems pick up people as amorphous forms of color, rather than with a traditional visual setup. I'm not seeing a clear correlation between that color and their actual physical color either, so...I'm having some trouble recognizing people even without all the switching. My apologies in advance for that.

...I really hope this ends when the holiday does.

Comments

[Visual]

[foolish_seal]

Speaking from experience, it probably will. One day after, at most. Nothin' to do but take it easy for a couple days.

...Easy as you can, at least.

[ponymeisters]

Huh? [Have a rather distressed-looking 'Pollo' on the screen.] Echo, why are you impersonating me? That's kind of weird.

[soulofblue]

.....that isn't funny.

[ponymeisters]

I know it's not. So, stop it.

[soulofblue]

You stop it. Everyone knows about the body switching anyway, you can't just pretend to be me.

[soulofblue]

Thank you.

... I guess it could be worse. I didn't have plans anyway. [Except for hiding from Nightmare Night with Twilight, but he can still technically do that.]

[ponymeisters]

Echo, the fact that some ponies have changed doesn't mean every pony has. We've already seen that. You really need to stop this or you're going to confuse us even more. I know you want attention, but this isn't the way to do it.

[soulofblue]

Echo, I'm sorry about what happened to you, but that bally well doesn't give you the right to try to steal my body. You do know this is going to wear off eventually, right? I don't mind you enjoying it for the time being, but this isn't permanent.

Why don't you just go down to Sugarcube Corner and get something to eat? I have a running tab. [Because he knows he spent a very long time fascinated with food when he first got an organic body. His own, not one he took from someone who was using it.]

[ponymeisters]

You're, like, sooooo not fun. [Echo returns in a nasally falsetto as she tries to imitate Pinkie Pie. Her eyes widen for a moment, and she places a hoof to her throat.] Soooo fun. Fun. Your voice isn't right! [Her horn begins to glow.] I want my voice back!

[soulofblue]

[Oh dear]

Ah, Echo? Please calm down, my magic can be a little touchy...

[And, you know, more than one unicorn really ought to have. Especially a unicorn who was a pegasus and then a formless entity and basically probably doesn't know how to use magic.]

[toosmarttodie]

[Ponyville really makes it too easy to give Brainstorm the chinhands.]

Really? Do you mind if I take a look inside?

[soulofblue]

Yes.

...anyway, it's not my permission to give. This is Echo's.

[toosmarttodie]

Oh I see, a bit of the mind switcheroo.

Shame, I might have fixed your--or Echo's problem.

[soulofblue]

Take it up with her, then.

[He has some issues regarding people messing around in his head.]

[ponymeisters]

Touchy? [As she says this, Pollo's bed levitates into view before zipping past Echo's head and going half through a wall out of the viewer. Her eyes widen again.]

Hah.

[A small, manic smile begins to curl up Pollo's face.]

Ha ha ha...

[Magic. Magic is a thing she's never had and there's so much of it flowing through Pollo. Her horn flares brightly, shifting through a rainbow of colors that she does not recognize, but can feel a difference to. Things begin flying about the room in earnest.]

Hahahahahahaha! I have magic. Magic like a unicorn!

[With that, Echo abruptly rolls up her scroll. Sorry, Pollo. Someone is going to enjoy this new-found ability.]

[soulofblue]

NonononoNONONOECHO!

[foolish_seal]

All the better. I got lucky and managed to avoid it, but as it is there's a lot of confusion out there. Sight's not going to help you much even if you could see things clearly.

[magicalrealist]

(Little did either of them know (or maybe they both knew and just forgot) that there's another pony witnessing the madness take place in Pollo's cottage...sort of. She wakes up to the eerie sounds of Pollo's overly delighted laughter. It's not impossible, but it's a little odd. And it's only made worse when the madness around her forces her eyes wide open. There's a hole in his home, randomly floating objects and they're on a flying bed. Meanwhile, he's...really enjoying himself?)

Pollo...?

(At least it's not psychotic laughter, but...)

You could've told me you wanted more intense magic practice.

[ponymeisters]

[Echo glances to the side when Twilight wakes, her eyes lit with glee. She had woken with the mare in her bed, cuddling with her. It has been a very long time since she could cuddle. She'll pretend while the other unicorn still believes.]

Sorry, Twilight. You know how, ah... touchy my magic can be, but I thought it was about time to try it out more! I mean, I'm never going to get the hang of it otherwise, right. We should go flying over Ponyville. I love flying, don't you?

[She nuzzles under Twilight's chin and wraps a foreleg around her shoulders in a very bold move. Pollo won't mind sharing. Probably.]

[magicalrealist]

(Oh, well okay. Someone's certainly taking bold steps today. Not that she minds, really; she likes seeing Pollo so enthusiastic, so she returns those cuddles.)

Flying's a lot of fun, yes, but...

(Well, they probably had a few dreams of flying up in the skies...)

...but you might want to take it easy. You could tire yourself out, if you put too much of yourself into a spell. Remember what I told you about control.

[ponymeisters]

[Control is boring, though she is beginning to feel a touch of strain, and it's difficult to be juggling so many things in the air. Echo lets a few things fall from her magical grip while she continues to levitate the bed around the room.]

You make me lose control.

[Would Pollo ever be that sappy? Maybe. Echo isn't sure.]

But in a good way, Twilight.

[Her nuzzles move to a brief kiss on Twilight's cheek. A thrill runs through Echo. She hasn't kissed anypony in millenia. She can't even remember the faces of her colt and marefriends. But it strikes her very suddenly as she begins to nibble at Twilight's ear that maybe this is wrong. Twilight doesn't realize that she isn't Pollo. Not yet, anyway.

Echo breaks off and disengages from Twilight. What is she doing? This is supposed to be nice. Her chance to live with a body again! To take Pollo's life for her own. But he's been kind to her, even if he is a little boring.]

Sorry.

[Echo lowers the bed.]

[ponymeisters]

[Control is boring, though she is beginning to feel a touch of strain, and it's difficult to be juggling so many things in the air. Echo lets a few things fall from her magical grip while she continues to levitate the bed around the room.]

You make me lose control.

[Would Pollo ever be that sappy? Maybe. Echo isn't sure.]

But in a good way, Twilight.

[Her nuzzles move to a brief kiss on Twilight's cheek. A thrill runs through Echo. She hasn't kissed anypony in millenia. She can't even remember the faces of her colt and marefriends. But it strikes her very suddenly as she begins to nibble at Twilight's ear that maybe this is wrong. Twilight doesn't realize that she isn't Pollo. Not yet, anyway.

Echo breaks off and disengages from Twilight. What is she doing? This is supposed to be nice. Her chance to live with a body again! To take Pollo's life for her own. But he's been kind to her, even if he is a little boring.]

Sorry.

[Echo lowers the bed.]

[magicalrealist]

(...Okay. This is definitely not right. She can believe the extra excitement in using magic. Hell, she can even forgive the added cuddling (though it felt odd coming from Pollo), but the pickup line? That's pushing it.

Though there's a certain pull that seems to be missing here, now that she thinks about it...)

...What's going on here?

[ponymeisters]

[To tell or to not tell, that is the question. Given that Twilight's probably going to find out sooner or later, though, probably better to tell. She sighs.]

Do you promise you won't hate me if I tell you?

[magicalrealist]

(Funny how that question is usually followed by something that would incite hate.)

Sure. Just...tell me what's going on.

(Twi didn't usually hate people, save for Chrysalis, but that was a particularly exceptional relationship they had.)

[ponymeisters]

[Another heavy sigh.]

I'm not Pollo. I'm Echo.

[magicalrealist]

(The name is unfamiliar to Twilight, but the situation, once she realizes what it is, isn't. She doesn't seem angered in the slightest. In fact, she's...actually taking the news really well.)

Let me guess: you swapped bodies?

(A sincere question rather than a sarcastic remark.)

[ponymeisters]

[Echo blinks several times. That... was not quite the response she was expecting.]

Um... yes! I think Pollo's probably driving over right now in my wheelie mobile. He's a nervous guy, isn't he? Odd for somepony who's got all this power.

[Her horn sparks a golden color as she levitates a chest across the room... and then through a wall for the force. Echo's lips quirk up in a small grin at the sight.]

[magicalrealist]

(Wheelie mobile? Okay, she definitely has some questions to ask this "Echo," but there are more important matters than that. With her own magic, Twilight retrieves the chest and repairs the damage done to the wall, gathering the pieces and putting them back together exactly as they were.)

It's because he's still learning to control all of that power. He's trying to be cautious.

(Twilight leaps off the bed.)

We need to find him. Where were you last?

[soulofblue]

[Nearby, there's a small thud. It sounds exactly like someone crashing a small wheelie mobile into a fencepost.]

[magicalrealist]

(Her wheelie mobile senses are tingling

No not really, but the sound gets her attention and prompts an appropriate investigation from the mare. It doesn't take her long to spot the lone wheelie mobile and she levitates it onto her hoof.)

Pollo...?

[ponymeisters]

Don't wreck me! [Echo pouts when she sees the racecar.] I'm not wrecking you... yet. [Could she wreck Pollo? It's a thought. What do broken bones feel like? She can't remember. Probably not very nice, but she wants a full experience while she has a real body again.]

[soulofblue]

I didn't mean to...

[Says the wheelie mobile sulkily, and still in Echo's voice. He hasn't got the hang of the voice thing yet.]

Twilight! Twilight, it's Pollo! I'm in Echo's robot body, and...oh, you look very pink. And some other colors that I'm not sure are meant to be in the visible spectrum. [The camera on the mobile twists around a little.] I...am assuming this is you holding me? I don't know how her visual systems work but I'm having some trouble.

[magicalrealist]

...Yeah. It's me.

(If nothing else, the slight tug towards this tiny car definitely confirms who's possessing it. Twilight can't help but cast a concerned glance Echo's way.)

...You were in a toy car?

[ponymeisters]

I was a pegasus. And then Doctor Andrew put me in his wheelie mobile after Master Star Swirl banished my body.

[Perfectly understandable, right Twilight?]

[soulofblue]

Andrew took a crystal matrix to get her out from the Canterlot archives before they were destroyed. We've been working on improvements to this body, but it's been a slow process.

[For a number of reasons Pollo doesn't really want to get into right now. He'd kinda like to ask what damage Echo just did, but it seems unwise to ask right in front of her.]

[magicalrealist]

I see...

(Well, this just became complicated. There's suddenly a lot of questions Twilight has for Echo, but that will sadly have to wait until another time.)

That explains why you were so excited. And why you probably don't want to go back to the car. Still, we need to something about this. Identifying a cause would help, then working a solution out of that. Simple enough, right?

[ponymeisters]

Do we have to figure something out so quickly? Isn't it fun trying out a new body, Pollo? [Echo's having fun in a new body.]

[soulofblue]

[Pollo sits in silence for a moment or two, trying to figure out a way to put this delicately.]

I'm half-blind and I'm a car.

[THAT WAS NOT IT]

[magicalrealist]

Echo, it's...pretty clear that Pollo's not interested in being a toy car. I think for his sake, something has to be done.

(She glances off to the side.)

...But maybe you can...borrow mine instead.

[ponymeisters]

[Echo ignores Pollo's whining in favor of staring wide-eyed at Twilight.]

You'd let me have your body? Borrow it? [She doesn't know what to say.] Why?

[soulofblue]

Twilight, I don't know if that's a good idea...I'm fine, really.

[magicalrealist]

(Pollo's totally right. It's a terrible idea. Still...)

Because it'll give give you and Pollo both what you want. I can't begin to imagine being a car for so long, so even if it's for a little while, you deserve a break from that.

(She laughs a little.)

Sure, I'm no pegasus, but at least you'll be back to four legs. Maybe I can show you a few magic tricks, along the way. (She liked using Pollo's magic, right? Maybe she'll like Twilight's, too. If she's gonna give the pegasus a break, she might as well go all out.)

[ponymeisters]

[Hush, Pollo. This is a conversation between the big ponies.] Could you really do it if somepony switches us back to our other bodies? [Even Echo can tell that whatever had put them into other places is a powerful piece of magic.]

[soulofblue]

And could you switch back after you'd done it?

[It's not that he doesn't trust you to cast the counterspell once you were IN Twilight's body, Echo...

...actually no that's kinda it.]

[magicalrealist]

Of course. I've never done this before, so I'll need time for research. If you're willing to wait, I'll get to work on it when I can.

(Meaning it probably can't be done now since this was likely done by The Powers That Be, but during a little down time? Maybe something can happen.)