//------------------------------//
// Loop 44 
// Story: The Time Thief 
// by Reading4HalfMyLife 
//------------------------------//

"Alright Astral, ready to transform?" Starlight asked from below the baseball cap she had borrowed from Rainbow Dash. Astral had given her mother the looping note and asked her how to transfigure.

Because Astral was in the forest when the loop ended, she had to track all the way back to the castle before her mother's woke up, which meant that she was already pretty tired. But she thought she had something there while running away from the Princesses.

So she gave a sharp and snappy salute, ready to whatever it took to drain her already growing magic.

"Now, I know you read the basic spell of Transfiguration, but it's actually a bit different than that. While most ponies can just read the spell and choose whatever changes they want, others may find it a bit harder. It's a bit like studying, everypony has a different method, you just have to find the one that's right for you."

Astral's brow furrowed in frustration. That didn't help her at all! "How do you learn spells?" She asked, and Starlight smiled, pleased.

"Most of the time I can just look at a spell and understand what to do" she boasted, wilting under Astral's scorching glare and hurrying to add "but Transfiguration was different. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to get it." Even now, after all these years, frustration was clear in the mares voice.

"So, how did you do it?"

Starlight laughed a little awkwardly. "It's kind of embarrassing" she admitted, scuffing the ground like a schoolfilly. 

Astral's interest was peaked. "Ah, go on" she encouraged "it might help me."

"It really won't."

"You can't say that for sure."

Starlight's jaw worked uselessly before she let out a little muffled scream. Yeah, me too, Astral thought. Her mother muttered something under her breathe, but Astral couldn't properly hear it.

"What?"

"I was startled by a dog and turned into a cat, okay?!" She yelled suddenly, causing Astral to leap backwards, startled, only to burst out laughing.

"Yeah,yeah, laugh it up" her mom murmured, turning her eyes heaven wards,"I only did it because the first thing my mind jumped to was that I understood why cats hated dogs so much." She looked down sharply when Astral abruptly cut herself off. 

"Wait a minute" she said slowly, deep in thought. "You turned into a cat when your imagined being like a cat, and I almost turned into a bird when I imagined what flying was like" she slapped her head, suddenly so annoyed at herself. "Oh, I'm an idiot! I can only do the spell if I imagine being the change I want!"

Starlight's smile grew as she took a couple of steps backwards, gesturing towards Astral to give it a try.

Settling into a ready stance, her horn charged as the air became charged with her magic. She shut her eyes as she tried to imagine having wings, of flying into the sky without a problem. She cast the spell opened her eyes, twisting around to stare at her wings. Nothing.

Seeing her daughter's disappointment, Starlight spoke up. "Try again, and this time try to imagine more details" she encouraged. "And remember, you don't have Pegasi Magic, so you're going to have to have pretty large wings if you want to fly."

Taking a deep breath, Astral did just that.

More details, more details, more details . . .. 

She wondered what it must be like, having soft feathers brushing her sides as her wings folded against her barrel, what the wings might look like and how big they would have to be . . . .

She imagined running a hoof through silky feathers and opened her eyes.

Nestled against her back were a pair of wings.