//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Wing Worries // Story: That Time I Became a Friendship Bomb // by Carmine Craft //------------------------------// "These are not comfortable." I noted, opening and closing the crystal fans attached to my sides. "How would these even work?" I asked Twilight. Fluttershy had not succeeded in flagging down the mare, but after she passed the task onto Rainbow, it took no time at all to get her back to town. "Could you repeat that motion?" Twilight ignored me. Her face was glued to the screen of yet another scanning device, measuring something about my new appendages. "Is-is this normal?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight had asked the shy pegasus to come with us, since then she hadn't been allowed five feet away from me. "Eh, probably not, but I'm used to the whole 'lab rat' routine." I answered her. Twilight was doing the whole mad science bit. Comparing papers and dropping crystal fragments or dust into beakers. "Entirely new muscle structure developed in less than a day, wing sockets made almost exclusively from crystal. Fully developed magic circulation throughout the entirety of the limbs... How. Did. This. Happen!? And what is this mysterious component in her physiology?" Twilight demanded answers from her equipment. "She will calm down, eventually." I assured Fluttershy. I walked out of the scanner over to what was becoming my post testing relaxation cushion. I looked over my shoulder. Attached to either of my sides were four consecutive crystal "feathers," each a little smaller than the last. I could open and close them, but they seemed far to small and rigid for actual flight. Then again... I looked over to Fluttershy. The wings of pegasi in this world aren't exactly aerodynamic. Does that mean I could actually learn to fly? I smiled at the possibility. What guy hasn't dreamed of flying under their own power before? Spike came down the stairs with a serving tray he made for Twilight. I absent mindedly flared my magic to take a snack from the tray. There was a flash, as a new light source appeared behind me, and then I shot off my cushion. I could see the room spinning and flipping around me. "WHAT THE HELL!?" I screamed. I felt sick. Then I found myself glued to a wall, some force on my back willing me to go through it. After everything stopped spinning and I was sure I wasn't going to throw up, I opened my eyes. First off I was upside down, and the basements contents were scattered, apparently I made quite a mess while I was tossed about like a ragdoll with a jet pack. Three faces were looking up at me with worry. A light blue glow was coming from the wall behind me. I turned slowly to see new additions to my wings. Six glowing magic triangles had more than doubled my wing span. Two sprouting from the space between each crystal pair. "Uhh... guess that answers my question?" "Oh dear, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked me, drawing closer. "Fascinating..." Twilight muttered, a quill writing furiously beside her. "I'm just gonna..." Spike began, wrapping his claws around one of my forehooves. "... try and getcha down." He pulled, I didn't budge. He pulled a bit harder, I slid toward the ceiling. "Uh, Spike? Maybe you should..." Twilight was cut off, as Spike pulled with all his might. I was yanked away from the wall, but my wings were still pulling me, so we both wound up being pulled up to the ceiling. "...be careful." "How do I make it stop?" I shouted down to the mares. Spike was holding onto me for dear life, and his claws can be sharp in such situations. "Just think about slowly dropping back down." Fluttershy said, inaudible. "Try closing your wings?" Twilight guessed. I folded the wings closed. I rolled off the ceiling. It wasn't as strong but I was still being dragged around. I flared my wings and re-afixed myself to the ceiling. "Nope! Try again!" Fluttershy flew up to my level. "Calm down, you just have to think about slowly dropping back down." Fluttershy tried, but I could still only barely hear her. "... Wait, are you using magic?" Twilight asked. I checked, sure enough, the spell I had tried to use earlier was still active, and taking way more than it should. ... Oh, no horn, wings. I realized. "Uhh, yep." I called back down. "Try turning it off." She suggested. I did so before anyone could argue. Immediately I felt the drain stop, the glow from the magic extensions vanish, and myself falling, Spike in tow. I flailed the crystal fans, though now they provided no lift. Our rapid decent suddenly slowed down, at the same time I felt something I hadn't paid much attention to suddenly pull taut. I looked back to see Fluttershy, my tail in her mouth. "Th-thank you." I told her as we touched back down. She spat out my tail. "It's no trouble." the mare assured me. I looked at Spike, whom was still gripping my hoof. He laughed nervously and let go. "So, can I go back to being a unicorn? As tempting as the power of flight is, it's just not worth doing that again, anytime soon." I asked Twilight. Surely she has figured out the trigger to me changing, what did they call it, tribes? "Well..." Twilight began, "While I have figured out the trigger for your odd tribe swapping behaviour, I do still have to head to Canterlot for a few days." "But, what if that happens every time I try to do magic? For the past few weeks I've been a unicorn! I got really used to using magic to pick things up in lieu of hands." I countered, not realizing my slip up. "Hands?" Spike asked. "I realize that this might be a challenge for you, but if you can overcome it, you'll be better off in the long run." Twilight said, picking Spike up in her magic and setting him on her back. "Now I'm sorry, but I've got a train to be on. Lock up for me, would you please?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead popping away in a teleport spell. "Ugh... I guess I'm stuck like this for a while then..." I bemoaned. Fluttershy rubbed a wing over my withers. "Hey, it's not so bad. Being a pegasus is fun! And flying is amazing." "Yeah, I know. It's not like I'm in a completely alien body." I quipped sarcastically. I flexed the crystal appendages. "Why is it always crystal?" I wondered aloud. I collapsed the fans and folded them to my sides. "The new muscles just feel like a cramp. I'm not wired for six limbs." I complained, apparently not stopping. "Argent, calm down, you'll get used to it. And if you don't, Twilight will be back soon." Fluttershy tried to calm me down. "I-! I... yeah, sure." I felt my mood rapidly improve, for some reason. Oh well, welcome change. "I'm still not using these things till I have a basic understanding of them." I clicked the crystals shut tightly for emphasis. "Alright, well, let's head back to my home, most of the animals haven't had their breakfast." The walk back over to Fluttershy's was surprisingly uneventful, no head on collisions, or inquisitive kids. Just a nice walk through town. It was refreshing. Helping feed all the animals was also a pleasant experience, I only launched into a sickening spiral once, and it wasn't a long lived one this time. It turns out that every single animal at Fluttershy's possesed human – Should I be saying pony now? – or nigh human intelligence. Thus, the morning had passed, and I found I hadn't eaten anything yet. After a quick brunch, I went back upstairs to the room I was staying in while Twilight was away. "Okay then, time for a quick check up." I said to the empty room. I closed my eyes and turned my focus to my magic. Where once there was just a blob of magic sloshing around my form, relatively defined pathways now were, or rather three sets of them were. The veins that flowed from my source to just shy of my horn, even if it wasn't present. There was a second set of veins that wound up from my source and into my second shoulder base, as well as thinner lines that ran into my hooves. "Oh, that's why those pathways were there, odd. At least I know why they exist now." The third set was larger trails leading into an area just shy of where my hooves were. Is that where the gaean duct is supposed to be? Weird, are these always here? Even if I'm not the tribe they belong to? I rolled over and blew out a breath. "I'm taking all of this extraordinarily well. I mean, I'm not the kind of guy to freak out over things, but this seems like an appropriate time to do so. Then again, the alternative is freaking out, and possible insanity. Yeah... I'm good with being calm then." I made to stand up, but ended laying back down on my stomach. I layed motionless on the floor for a few minutes, unsure how I should pass the time. I looked over my shoulder and gingerly willed my wings open, then clicked them shut. "Not that way, that's for sure." I rolled over onto my back. "Reading about magic has lost all appeal at the moment, as it would just taunt me... and I don't want to go outside." I sat up and sighed. "Boooooored... stupid child body, and or brain. Not being able to apreciate doing nothing... that or I actually am bored." I honestly couldn't tell what were my normal reactions, or my new body's anymore. Is that a bad thing? "Maybe... I should take a nap? Hang out with Night Light in the dream realm? No, I don't like the idea of needing a nap, even if I am a child. Secondly, we might not even have a shared dream anymore since I'm not a unicorn anymore." The possibility saddened me. Its fun to have someone to play games with... my games, not these children's games those fillies want me to play. I got up off the floor. "Maybe I'll go geek out over bunnies, I could use the time to not be thinking." Deciding that this would be the best course of action, I went back down stairs and outside. Shortly after, I found a group of bunnies and turned my brain off for a few hours. "...and she truly just grew wings you say?" "Yes Princess Clelestia, I've never seen anything like it, and I've never read about any ponies changing tribes before," Twilight explained to her mentor. "Is it possible?" "Perhaps, although there has not been a case like this as long as I've been ruling this country," Celestia said. "But if it is the case, we shall ease her into the role, rushing things would only scare her." "I don't know if she would be ready for that. From what I've seen, despite how polite she acts, she doesn't seem to enjoy socializing too much, especially with fillies and colts her own age." "Yes, that may be a problem. You said that she lost her parents? And had been wandering the Everfree since then, fending for herself?" Twilight nodded. "Yes, I can see how she could have developed some trust issues, the poor dear. Well, I can think of one solution, but she is not going to like it." "And that would be, Princess?" Twilight asked. "Um, excuse me, Argent?" Fluttershy attempted. I giggled like a madman, hearing nothing. The group of rabbits I had found were extremely okay with me playing with them, and I was having an absolute blast! They're just so cute! And fluffy! And huggable! And... I was currently under the small pile of rabbits, grinning like an idiot and wings buzzing with happiness. Literally, they were vibrating. It sounded like a dragonfly buzzing but deeper, and louder. Argent? Could you- hey, are you listening?" A bunny hopped off my barrel and landed infont of me, it's nose twitching in that absolutely adorable way only a bunny can. I squeed. Wrapping my forelimbs around the white and brown patched bunny and giggling as the other rabbits were tickling me with there noses. "Argent!" Fluttershy 'shouted', still got my attention though. I froze, slowly rolling onto my stomach,y face burning from embarrassment."Y-yes?" One of my bunny companions hopped onto my head, the other two snuggled into my forearms, that helped a great deal. "Are you having fun?" she asked, back at her regular volume. "I uh... yeah." I admitted, though I'm sure she had gathered as much. Looking down only gave me a facefull of adorable cuteness, forcing a smile onto my face. "Well, it's all well and good that you are enjoying time with the animals, it's nearly sundown." Flutterhsy warned. "Oka-wait what?" I looked to the orange sky. "But, it only felt like an hour..." I thought aloud. Fluttershy smiled at me knowingly, and looked like she was going to say something. "I know, I know. 'Time flies when you are having fun' and all that, but still, how did I not notice the colour of the sky change?" The bunny on my head put it's face into my line of sight. Oh, that makes sense. "Come on inside, we'll have dinner." On cue, my stomach growled. Why does my digestive system have a sense of comedic timing? "Sounds good." I bid my bunny acquaintances goodbye, and followed the butter yellow pegasus into her home. The white bunny from the prior day actually helped Fluttershy prepare the meal. I gained a new respect for the bunny named Angel that evening. The meal itself was a tossed salad with flower sandwiches. As was becoming pattern, The meal was greatly enjoyed by my vegetarian tastebuds, and I stuffed myself with as much of the food as I could. I excused myself and headed to the stairs. Partway up, I realized I would have to, well, relieve myself. Always am unpleasant experience, as it served to remind me of the absence of a certain part of my anatomy. After that minor thing, I went up to my lent room and layed down on the bed. "Mmeh. Maybe Night Strider can provide a decent distraction, or flying lessons?" I reached out with my magic to turn out the lights. I immediately cut off the magic, the burst of lift thankfully only enough to move me off the bed a few feet. "Those are needed." I stated, clicking the crystal opendages closed once more. I turned out the light manually, and layed down to go to sleep.