Jason stared at Twilight. “You can’t be serious. You could actually turn me into a pony?”
“Yes,” Twilight said slowly. "It's not too complicated, but it would require a significant amount of energy."
“But what about my job? I can’t fix things for ponies if I’m a pony, right? How would I support myself and Nightshine if I can’t make any money?”
“Those are all good points, though I’m sure we could find you something around town. On the other hoof, I can just as easily turn you back into a human after a few days, a week, a month; however long you want."
Nightshine’s ears perked up at that. As a smile formed on her face, she licked her lips, then bit her bottom lip as she poked him with a hoof. Jason looked down at her with a lifted eyebrow, staying silent. “Um... I can think of one,” Nightshine squeaked out with a light blush, her ears laying flat on her head. She glanced away as her rump wiggled in excitement.
He smiled down at her and scratched her between her wings. “Oh? And what might that be, little one?”
Nightshine glanced at Twilight for a second, then looked back up into Jason’s eyes. “Winghugs!” she said, pushing herself up off of his chest. Her tail swished back and forth behind her. “Back at the orphanage, I always had dreams of sleeping under the wings of my future parents. Every time I woke up, though... there was nobody there,” she said, her smile faltering a little bit. “But then you adopted me! I never thought someone like you would adopt me, so...” she trailed off as her smile returned in full force.
“So you’d like for me to become a thestral so that we could snuggle some more? But we already snuggle a ton, sweetie,” Jason said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, but I just know winghugs would be so much better! ” Nightshine hopped from side to side, her wings spread wide. “Snuggling with you is still awesome, though. Doesn’t it feel great when I wrap my wings around you? And... Oh! I just thought of another reason!”
“Do tell,” Twilight said with a small smile and a fluff of her wings.
“You and I can learn how to fly together!” Nightshine said, her voice filled with utter glee. “Just imagine us flying! Wouldn’t that be really awesome?”
“Huh... yeah, that would be pretty cool,” Jason said. He scratched his chin, then closed his eyes for a few seconds as he imagined soaring through the clouds with Nightshine right beside him. “Say, Twilight?” he asked, looking at her. “Can thestrals stand on clouds?”
“Yeah, they can.”
“Can I... have some time to think it over? This isn’t a decision I can make on the spot,” Jason said as he leaned against the door, pushing his hands into his pockets.
“Of course.” Twilight nodded once and used her magic to place Spike on her back. “I’ll be at my castle, okay? I’m going to do some research on how to actually do this; it's going to take me some time to figure it all out, after all.” She walked a few steps away, then looked over her shoulder and asked, “Can you come by when you make up your mind? I’m sure I’ll have something figured out by then; I just need to reread my books about transformation spells.”
“Yeah, sure...” Jason said, standing back up. “See you then.” Once the door was closed, he groaned and shook his head. “I... need some time to think about this.” He collapsed upon the couch and spread his arms wide on the tops of the cushions.
“Um... okay,” Nightshine said, her ears once again falling flat on her head. “Do you need some more convincing?” she gently asked.
“Heh, thanks, but I think I’m okay. I just want a few minutes to think. That's all.”
Well, he didn’t say no... yet. All was dead silent. The sounds of the market faded away as Nightshine felt her heart sink a bit into her stomach. With a sigh, she slowly clambered back up on the couch and curled up into a ball right beside him, holding her tail between her forelegs. What if he says no? She clenched her eyes shut as she wiggled against him, pushing herself against his leg for warmth.
She felt Jason wrap his arm around her, holding her tight against his leg for a brief moment before pulling her onto his chest. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and wrapped her wings around him, right under his armpits. He held her close as she nuzzled his neck.
Nightshine only held on to him tighter as she felt his grip loosen on her. She wrapped her forelegs around his lower arm and held onto it tightly. “So...”
“Yeah?”
“Did you make up your mind?” Nightshine asked softly. “I know it’s only been a couple of minutes since Twilight left, but...”
“Nightshine, when I adopted you, I made a commitment to better your life, and I am not going to give up on you because of an unexpected twist. While this wasn’t something that I expected, I guess I’m sorta looking forward to seeing what it’d be like being a pony. It can’t be that hard walking on four legs, right?”
“Nope! It’s super easy!” Nightshine said with a small giggle. “I’ve done it all my life, after all, so if I can do it, you can do it!”
“Yeah, I guess. I think it’d be fun to see how it’d work out for me,” Jason said softly. He took in a deep breath to finally speak the words that he knew Nightshine would love to hear, but before he could say it, Nightshine leapt from his arms.
“You mean it?” Nightshine stared at Jason with wide eyes, her rear end wiggling back and forth as she let her forelegs bend. She opened her wings and threw on a huge smile that made her fangs become exposed.
“So yeah, let’s give it a shot for a week I guess. I—oomph!” Nightshine tackled him, wrapping her legs around him as she nuzzled him over and over. “Heh, so I guess you’re pretty happy about this, huh?”
Standing before Twilight in her castle’s library, Jason looked down at Nightshine and saw her beaming up at him. He tousled her mane, making her hum happily in content as she nuzzled his leg. Looking up at Twilight, he asked, “So, uh... this isn’t going to hurt, is it?”
“I don’t think so; my books never said anything about this being painful,” Twilight said as she reread the spell one more time. “Are you ready? I’m actually curious to see what you’d look like as a pony.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m ready.” Jason stretched, then wiggled his fingers and toes. “See you later, my little wiggly appendages,” he said, followed with a brief chuckle. “Okay yeah, let’s do this. I’m good to go.” He felt his heart rate increase as Twilight’s horn started to glow, then a stark realization hit him. “Woah, hold up. What about my clothes? Am I going to be naked?”
“Uh... if you define naked by not wearing any clothes, then yes, you’ll be naked. You’ll have a nice coat like the rest of us ponies, though, and we don’t typically wear clothes all the time.” Twilight let her horn’s light fade away. “If you’re having second thoughts or want to spend more time thinking about this, I am perfectly happy to have you come by another time.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Jason said, looking down at Nightshine with a small smile. No clothes? That’s gonna take some getting used to!
“Nightshine, you need to step away for this to work,” Twilight said, waving her over with a hoof. “We wouldn’t want you to get caught up in the spell, right?”
“I guess not.” Nightshine nuzzled Jason’s leg, then whispered, “Good luck, Daddy.”
“Thanks, sweetie.” Jason stretched his arms, then wiggled his fingers again. “Heh, gonna miss these.”
“Okay, here we go!” Twilight lit her horn and lowered her head, pointing her horn directly at Jason’s chest.
A bright purple light surrounded Jason as he rose into the air. His entire body went numb, then all went black. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Nightshine’s worried face as he fell to the floor in a heap.