//------------------------------// // 10 The Call // Story: Aria // by SprocketProductions //------------------------------// It was the final day of the spell and I was waiting around in the living room on the couch for my father to call. Flare sat next to me with a leg wrapped reassuringly around me. He kissed my cheek, comforting me as the anticipation built up. The room was silent until the low pitched sound of my phone's vibration sounded. I picked it up, seeing the call from my parental figure. I sighed, answering the call and putting it on speaker. "Aria? Are you there?" Asked my dad. I responded, "Yeah, I'm here, dad." "Thank Celestia you're okay." He sighed. I coldly asked, "Why wouldn't I be?" "Well, you kinda just left and didn't respond to calls and we were just worried. Are you staying with somepony?" He inquired. I replied, "My special somepony. Would you like to talk to him?" "I would most certainly like to talk to him." Said my father. Flare chimed in, "Aria is in caring hooves, sir." "That's good. You'd better take good care of her, you hear me?" Ordered my dad. He smiled, "Don't worry, I will." "And how about that voice, Aria? You're getting good at it." My father said. I replied, "There's a magic spell. It made me physically female for three days, and this is the third day. We'll be trying to find somepony to permanently change me now." "Well, I was worried about the having kids thing. Guess you'll have that covered?" He asked. I responded, "That's what it looks like." "Well, good luck. Hey, visit us sometime, okay? Doesn't even have to be soon. Maybe on Shining's next birthday?" Suggested my dad. I proposed, "Or maybe my birthday. That's sooner, so there is that." "We don't have to plan right now, have a good day, Aria, and make sure that stallion treats you well." He hung up. Flare and I smiled at each other for a moment and I tackled him into a hug on the couch. He giggled as I kissed him on the cheek. We soon partook in a private ceremony often kept secret, something I had never felt before, but it felt natural to me. Like we had always been destined for it. Afterward, we sat up on the couch as I laid my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his leg around me again. With Flare, I always felt safe. He kept me protected from everything and I felt warm up against him as a plus. I loved to take care of him too. I made coffee in the mornings, made sure he ate, as he seemed to have a problem being distracted, and I would do anything for him. I got up and went to our bedroom to search for any magic users who would be willing to make a spell permanent, soon finding one based only 5 miles from our home, in the magic district of town. I was unsure at first, as the magic district here unlike other towns was rather shady. There were black magic dealers in the alleys and if a pony were to not make payments in time, they would be abducted and unspeakable things would happen to them. I opened a new tab in the browser and found a controlled pulse spell and read how to use it. I then went out into the backyard and set up a board like a target. I repeated the steps and fired magic, seeing the board be pushed, but not powerful enough. I took a deep breath and straightened my stance. Feeling the magic flow through me and channel out my horn, sending a visible shockwave toward the board, quickly breaking it in half and even cracking a brick on the house behind where I set it up. "Whoa!" Marveled Flare, "I'm glad I'm not on your bad side..." I replied, "It's only for self defense. The unicorn I found is located in the magic district. His business looks fine, it's the others I'm worried about." "Do we need to take the book for his reference?" Flare asked. I responded, "I think that's a good idea." "Okay, first, teach me that pulse thing. Just so both of us can defend ourselves." He said. Within ten minutes, we were in the car, driving to the location. Since the magic district had no roads intended for cars, we parked in an empty lot outside of it. As we walked down the pavement, many greedy dealers shot us looks, obviously hoping we would buy one of their forbidden spells. I looked across the way and saw a more well kept shop, standing out from all the others. The sign read "Starswirl's Shoppe of Wonders" "That's the place." I pointed. He looked at me, "Starswirl? I thought he was an important wizard, and I thought he was dead." "That's a different Starswirl. This one was named after that one, and he was actually kicked out of the Canterlot University of Magic because of body augmentation spells. It was controversial at the time." I informed. We proceeded into the shop, greeted by an unassuming unicorn with an unusual cadence to his speech. He looked at us, "Welcome to my establishment. Are you two looking for recreational spells, augmentations, or something else entirely?" "Well, Mr. Starswirl, I saw your website and saw you can make spells permanent?" I inquired. "Ah, yes. You must be Aria, the pony who emailed me, I read it not one minute ago and I have to say, your special somepony appears to be very skilled. Not all sexual reassignment spells look so natural." He remarked. I levitated the book out of my saddlebag and flipped to the page showing the spell and he levitated it to himself. "This is one spell I've not seen in a long time. It was covered up by most sources. How did you get this book?" Asked Starswirl. Flare awkwardly responded, "PonEBay..." "Is that even legal?" He asked. Flare shrugged his shoulders. "No matter, at least it's not black magic." He stated. I looked at the passage of the spell he was currently reading, "The specifications didn't seem to have any instructions on how to make it permanent." "Quite true, but counting the lines tells me which book to look in and the number of characters in the first line tell me which chapter. The number at the end shows which page of said chapter. I studied Starswirl The Bearded's writings long enough to discover his loopholes. He often passed his augmentation spells for recreational ones, but he always had a secret complimentary spell to make it permanent. You simply have to find it." He explained. I watched him pull another book from his shelf and use the process to find the exact page he was looking for. He began reading, soon to make a confused expression. He asked, "which day of the spell did you say you were on?" "Day three." I stated. He looked at me, "Are you impregnated?" "I don't-" He interrupted. "It has to happen on the first day. Because it usually takes two days to work. Did you two..." He implied our actions which had happened this morning. My expression darkened, "We did this morning, but not on the first day..." A tear streamed down my face before Starswirl quickly set the books down and put a hoof on my shoulder, "Do not cry. The time seems to vary between quality of transition. I've seen one case where it happened on the second day, and that pony's transition wasn't nearly as high quality as yours. Your attempt may very well be successful." "Is that guaranteed?" Asked Flare. Starswirl looked down, "It isn't." Flare began tapping his hoof frustratedly. He glared and primed the spell I had taught him earlier. Starswirl gasped, running for cover, "No! Please! It wasn't my fault! Give me some time to find a working spell for her!" Flare pulled his head to the side and ended up knocking a bookshelf over, sending recreational spell books flying. He angrily stormed out and sat down on the steps out front. "I'm sorry." I began. Star interjected, "I cannot say I wouldn't react in a similar way. You seem very important to him. I shall do my best. But I cannot make a guarantee." "Is there any way I can help?" I asked. He replied, "There was one book Starswirl wrote without a name. The cover is completely blank. The pages are golden. If the spell is anywhere, it's there. If you wish to make a contribution, you might be able to track that book down. But, it is a one of a kind. I am not sure where you might find the book, but I do have theories." "Tell me." I said. "On the black market." He answered. My eyes widened, "W-what?" "I understand if you don't want to do it-" I interrupted him. "No, I'll look. Only for today though." I said. He sighed, "Know that I would also provide a better home for it than any illegal market buyer would." I exited the shop and sat next to Flare. "I'm sorry." He said. I reassured him, "You're fine." "I'll help clean up the books..." He said. I looked at him, "How many bits do you have on you right now?" "Five thousand, why?" He asked. I looked around and whispered, "Seriously? Who carries around five thousand bits?" He looked in his wallet at the coins, "Oh, ten thousand, I mean." "How much are you paid a day?" I questioned. He thought, "Now that is five thousand." "That's as much as I make, and I run an online store on Steamtrain." I marveled. He paused, "Okay, why are you asking how many bits I have?" "Well, Star mentioned a book he thinks is probably on the black market." I replied. His eyes widened, "So he wants a black magic book?" "It was written by Starswirl the Bearded." I stated. He looked confused, "I didn't know he practiced black magic." "Look, it's not black magic. Just not a lot of ponies know about it." I explained. He sighed and gave me his wallet as he walked into the shop to help clean up. I began to look in the alleys at the items in the makeshift stands. "Hey, pretty lady, see anything you like?" Asked one of the dealers. I looked at him, "No." I glanced at the table, seeing a black book with golden pages, "Wait, un-freaking-believable. You have it?!" "Hmmm? Well, I've got a lot of stuff, but do you have something I want?" He looked greedily at my saddlebags and his gaze shifted from that to the chest area of my dress. I glared at him, "Body's off limits. I've got money, you've got that book. I want it, how much?" "Well, that's a pretty expensive one. But if you didn't pay me in money-" He looked at me. I pulled out Flare's wallet, "How about ten thousand bits?" "WHAT?!?! Who carries around ten thousand bits?!?!" The dealer looked shocked. I dumped the bits on his table, "Do we have a deal?" He nodded as I picked up the book and put it in my saddlebag. I was glad it didn't take any longer. I walked back to the shop and gave Flare his wallet back. The two looked at me expectantly. I pulled out the book and Starswirl nearly had a heart attack. "How in the world did you manage to find that?" He asked. I looked at him, "The black market apparently. Those dealers are obnoxious." "H-how much?" He asked me. I responded, "Ten thousand." "Who carries around ten thousand bits?" He questioned. Flare facehoofed, "I do." "Well, lucky for you two, I'm running the most profitable official shop in the district. I will pay you back fifteen thousand, so you make some on it." He said. My jaw dropped as Flare responded, "Just pay us back the ten thousand, we don't need profit on it." "Suit yourself." He said as he returned the money to Flare. I cleared my throat, "So, uhh... Are we going to do this?" "Come back in a day, just to make sure whether or not this stays." Star said. We walked out of the store and to our car. Driving away, the two of us began laughing hysterically. "I am never buying from the black market again!" I said between laughing fits. Flare wheezed, "I can't even believe you found the book!" "Today is really weird!" I remarked. He replied, "There's the understatement of the year!" We both stopped laughing to breathe. The two of us stayed quiet for the whole ride home. We got out, I put my saddlebags away and walked into the living room. "I love you." Said Flare as he walked in. I smiled at him, "I love you too."