//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Transformative Troubles // Story: Hearts of Harmony // by Legrio //------------------------------// Twilight blinked away tears as she opened her eyes. Maybe she put a little too much magic into that spell? She looked down at her new arms and hands. They were covered in soft pale skin, with little nails at the end of each delicate finger. Waving them around a little, she marveled at how dextrous her new limbs were! Looking down, she noticed her corrupted element hanging between two moderately sized blobs of fat on her chest. “What’s the point of these?” she thought, poking one of them. It jiggled slightly before stilling. Further down, beyond her flat abdomen, two long legs stretched to the floor. She wobbled unsteadily for a moment before regaining her balance. The keyblade wielder finally finished her inspection of her new body and looked around. Everyone except for Applejack was covering their eyes! “Oh no, I messed up, didn’t I? I bet I look hideous!” “Erm, my dear, that is to say, your only mistake seems to be forgetting to transfigure clothes for your new form,” Merlin carefully explained. “Humans and humanoids usually have a taboo of sorts about going around naked.” He waved his wand as some clothing appeared in a pile at Twilight’s feet, along with a curtain separating her from the rest. “Do put these on please.” “Stupid humans and their stupid taboos! Us ponies go around all the time without any clothes, and we don’t have any problems,” Applejack grumbled, trotting over as the transformed woman poked through the clothes. “Lemme help ya with those, Twi’.” “Why do I need this?” “I think it stops those things on yer chest from floppin’ around.” “I guess that makes sense, that would probably hurt after a while.” There was the sound of something being zipped up, then a rustle of clothes being put on. “And what’re these things supposed to be? Fake hooves?” “I’m pretty sure they’re just shoes, Applejack. And why are there so many belts?!” “Er, sorry, I thought that was the fashion with young people these days,” Merlin coughed. A moment later, Twilight finally pulled the curtain back. She looked a little unsteady on her new legs, and was leaning on the earth pony beside her. “So, how do I look? “Great, Twilight!” Spike gave her a big thumb’s up. “Um, y-you look very nice!” a blushing Sora stammered. With a flourish, Merlin conjured a large mirror in front of the transformed Equestrian. “My dear, why don’t you see for yourself?” A young woman stared back at Twilight out of the mirror. Her hair was the same as before, at least, sapphire blue with a stripe of red and violet. A unicorn’s horn poked out of the hair hanging down over her forehead. “Hm, I guess some things stay even through the transformation.” The chain of her necklace was visible as it disappeared under a light violet shirt that left her arms free. Several belts encircled her waist at various angles, holding up a short pink skirt that bore a small imprint of her cutie mark on the side. Long purple and pink striped socks covered her legs, leading down to her surprisingly comfortable black shoes. After a moment’s inspection, Twilight finally announced, “Hey, this is pretty good! Thanks, Merlin!” “It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. Now, all you have to do to return to your original form is cast the same spell once more, but instead think on how you were before. The next time you wish to blend in while exploring a new world, simply concentrate on both a human form and the world you’re visiting. You should turn into a form appropriate for that world, though I do implore you to remember clothes next time! Wait a moment, I wasn’t finished!” Merlin admonished as Twilight’s horn began to glow. She flushed with embarrassment before the wizard continued. “Now, as you will be most likely using this form quite thoroughly, you should take this opportunity to get used to it. I would recommend walking around and attempting to ‘fight’ with those bits of enchanted furniture while I work with Sora here.” Twilight nodded and began walking around, at first leaning on Applejack beside her. “You know, I think I should cast this spell on you too.” The earth pony shook her head violently, nearly throwing the unsteady human to the ground. “Oh no, you ain’t gettin’ me into one of them human bodies! Ah was born a pony and Ah’ll stay a pony, thank you very much!” “Fine, fine, just don’t blame me when people start panicking at the ‘magic talking pony’,” Twilight made quotation marks with her fingers. “...I don’t know how I’m going to manage with just hooves after this. These fingers are wonderfully dextrous!” “Your what now?” “Look, my fingers! I can bend them back and forth, pinch things,” she elaborated, flexing her new appendages. “I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me!” She suddenly tripped on an uneven floorboard and fell flat on her face. “Oww!” “Enjoying that new world down there?” Applejack asked with a smirk. “Oh, just help me up!” Twilight growled. A short while later the transformed woman was walking around the room, making laps as she practiced. Soon, she broke into a sprint, tripping a few times, but not falling again. In the center of the room, Sora, Donald, and Merlin were discussing magic and showing the younger keyblade wielder some new spells. Finally, after making several laps without stumbling at all, she said to herself, “Alright, I think I’m ready to start practicing with my keyblade.” With a thought, she summoned her weapon, gripping it in her new hands. “Well, this is different than I expected.” “What do ya mean, sugercube?” Applejack asked as she sat down nearby. Twilight swung the weapon experimentally. “Well, I don’t know, I thought it would feel a little heavier since a human arm is much thinner and less muscled than a pony’s neck and jaw. It still feels like it weighs about the same, though.” “Isn’t that good, though?” Spike settled down beside the mare. “Well, yes, it’s just surprising, that’s all.” The keyblade wielder tossed her weapon up into the air, catching it with her magic. “Alright, time to practice!” A slight grin crossed her face as she began casting, dodging back and forth between imagined counter-attacks. "Hm, it seems a bit easier to move and cast at the same time now. Am I just getting better at this or is it something to do with this human form?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Alright, that’s enough for now,” Merlin called. Wiping sweat from her brow, Twilight nodded and dismissed her keyblade. As she walked back over to the others, the old sorcerer continued. “Sora, you have the makings of a powerful mage! Keep up your practice and you will master it in time!” “Thanks, Merlin!” he replied with a big grin. The sorcerer nodded and turned to his other student. “Now, Twilight, I have one more thing to ask. Where exactly did you get that necklace?” Twilight pulled out the corrupted element. “Nightmare Moon cursed me with it. It’s part of a set of powerful magical artifacts she called the Elements of Harmony. And I can’t take the stupid thing off!” She shouted the last bit, fruitlessly tugging at the black chain. “Yes, I suspected as such. With dark artifacts such as these, one must be extremely cautious, especially ones that bond to their bearers. You never know what could happen when you tamper with them!” Merlin hummed thoughtfully. “I do wish I had an uncorrupted sample to compare.” “Hey, Ah’ve got one! So does all of mah friends!” Applejack interjected, pointing at her golden necklace. “So I see. Might I take a look at that?” The old man asked. After a moment’s hesitation, the mare reluctantly took off her Element and handed it over. “Hm. Yes, I see...” He trailed off, turning the necklace over and examining it from every angle before giving it back. “I think I might be able to use the magic of the others in the set to purify yours, Twilight.” “Well, that’s a relief, I was afraid I’d be wearing this thing forever!” She exclaimed. “Oh, I was wondering if you could teach me any other combat spells?” Merlin simply laughed. “My dear, I think you already possess an impressive collection of battle magic. Why, I cannot imagine Celestia would let an apprentice go unprepared! “Well, no, but,” Twilight tried to say, but the elder wizard simply continued over her. “Besides which, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m not a battle mage! While I can definitely hold my own in combat, I’m more of a, hm, technician, would you say? I mostly depend on my transformation spells to fight with. Why, you’d be surprised how effective it can be!” He seemed to realize he was getting off course and coughed embarrassedly. “But as I was saying, I don’t really go for the big, showy spells you use. You’d be better served experimenting on your own. Though again, I must caution you, be careful when using dark magic. I have seen more than one young mage think they can control the darkness only to fall to it.” The woman nodded reluctantly. “Alright.” She sighed. “I was really looking forward to learning some more new spells, though.” “Well, if you’re truly interested,” he conceded. “Alright, I think I have a spell the both of you could use. It’s rather simple, actually. This spell, Scan, tells you the name of the target along with an approximation of how healthy they are.” Merlin said, showing them how to cast the spell. A few testing casts later, they had more or less mastered the simple spell. “Now, I think we’ve practiced enough here. Come along!” Soon, they were on the ground floor once more. “Now, I wish you luck in your journeys, Sora, Twilight. Should either of you need any more help or have any questions, the Fairy Godmother and myself shall remain here. Good-bye!” The two keyblade wielders thanked the old wizard and turned to leave, before Merlin shouted for them to stop. “Oh, I forgot, one last thing! Twilight, I would recommend that you stay in that form for now, at least until you make it back to the First District. While practicing against furniture is one thing, it’s never a replacement for real combat against the Heartless.” She nodded. “And do thank Cid for me!” he called as the group began hopping over the stones leading the way out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Thunder!” Sora called, as lightning bolts rained down around him, zapping some Shadows. Twilight was rather impressed. He’d improved a lot with only a little instruction. She suddenly jumped back as one of Soldiers took a swipe at her, before countering with her own swing of her keyblade. Soon, all of the relatively minor pests were gone and they were in the First District once more. The bustling crowds from before were a lot thinner now. Across the way, Marie was closing up her cafe. “We’d better hurry if we want to catch Cid!” Twilight exclaimed, dashing ahead as the others followed. Catching sight of the man, she called, “Cid!” “Twilight, is that you?!” The former mare nodded happily. “Well, I guess you delivered that book after all. Well, a deal’s a deal. You still want that ship, right?” Applejack snorted. “‘Course we do! Ah ain’t leavin’ mah friends alone on some strange world!” “Right, follow me,” Cid said. He lead them down a small side street and opened a door. “This is our garage.” The man flipped a few switches near the door. Floodlights above flickered on, illuminating a cavernous space packed with various ships and vehicles. Most of them looked strange to Twilight’s eyes, almost as if they were made of a plastic-like substance. “Gadget, bring up that ship we were fixing up earlier!” “On it!” A feminine voice chirped from a nearby speaker. “Who’s that?” Spike sleepily asked. “Huh? Oh, that’s my assistant, Gadget Hackwrench. She might be small, but she’s one of the best engineers I’ve ever seen!” There was a grinding of gears as a hatch in the middle of the room opened up and a colorful little ship came into view. Like several of the others, it looked strange to Twilight’s eyes, like it was made of plastic. She yawned. “Um, Cid, do you know where we could find an inn or something?” “Eh, there is one out there in town, but ever since we lost the Second District it’s been overcrowded. Heck, I’ve got some spare bunks in here for travelers, all of you can just stay here and leave in the morning.” “Thanks, Cid,” Sora said, his eyelids drooping. The engineer lead them to a few small side rooms. Twilight, Applejack, and Spike bid their friends goodnight before heading into one of the little rooms. Inside they found a couple of surprisingly comfortable beds. Spike scrambled onto one and promptly dozed off with a mumbled goodnight. Twilight quietly chanted the spell Merlin had taught her, returning to pony form. “Quite a day, right Applejack?” she whispered so as not to wake her little assistant. “That’s for sure,” the earth pony replied, setting her hat on one of her bedposts. “Do ya really think we’ll be able to find all of our friends and the princess?” Twilight sighed. “I don’t know. I just have to believe in my heart that we’ll see them all again.” The unicorn slipped into bed beside Spike. “There is one thing that’s worrying me, though.” “What’s that?” “If we were thrown out amongst the worlds, then where did Nightmare Moon end up and what’s she doing?” “Ah don’t know, but she ain’t the type to just sit back on her haunches. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” The keyblade wielder shuddered. She definitely wasn’t looking forward to their next encounter with that wicked pony. With a pulse of magic, she flipped the light switch. “We’ll deal with it in the morning. Good night, Applejack.” “‘night, Twi’.” Soon, Applejack’s snores filled the room. Twilight laid there for a while, thoughts and worries racing through her head, until eventually, sleep claimed her...