Having called out, it took not long for Nightmare to show up.
But with so many things, there was a catch.
Since we swapped bodies, ‘she’ was now male, and as I already observed, I in turn female.
“Seems like you have absorbed enough magic to move again,” she found.
“You should have told me about this before,” I retorted, gesturing to ‘my’ body.
For a moment, she looked confused, but then sighed.
“Well… I thought that should have been obvious. I told you that it is harder to create things than to change them. It should not affect you… much,” she responded, grabbing a glass of water and handing it over to me.
“‘Much’?” I echoed, taking a sip from the water afterward and spilling some due to not being used to the new form of my face.
“Weeeelll… you’re a pony.”
“What’s your point? That’s true for you as well, and ponies can digest meat, they usually just don’t eat it.”
She (he?) blushed, looking to the side and grumbling something. Even with my new ears, I did not understand what he said.
“Care to repeat that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“…annual heat…”
Ah. Riiiight…
Many species only are fertile during a specific time, usually the spring if I remember correctly… ponies, it seems, are no exception.
“That… could be a problem. During which time period?” I asked, causing Nightmare to shrug.
“I’m not sure. Could you tell me when the summer solstice and winter solstice are and which date we have?”
Neither of those I knew without looking them up, so I quickly checked on my computer.
Nightmare quickly made some calculations and then groaned.
“Within the next week. Could have started already, too.”
I blinked. At least it would be over quick… right?
“How long is it, anyway?”
“I believe between three days and two weeks… I only watched it happen once. I’m not sure if you’ll be affected at all.”
Once… oh, right.
“Unfortunately, since it never affected me directly, I haven’t really researched how to suppress it. I think there is a spell, but I do not know it.”
That was when something in me… snapped.
“You should have me told of this! You had to know about this!”
“Yeah, I realized tha- whoa!” Nightmare exclaimed, barely dodging me when I tried to punch her in the face.
Her silver horn lit up, and a grey aura formed around me, pushing me to the ground.
“Mood swings much?”
My anger surged, and I could tell that I was stronger than the magic holding me in place. So, I forced my body to move, pushing a hand to the ground, pushing myself up to my knees, and then standing up.
Nightmare actually took a step back, her eyes wide.
“How? You should not have been that strong already!”
“Is it not in your nature to make mistakes?” I growled, finding enough strength to take a step toward her without collapsing to the ground, ignoring the magic weight on my back.
The magic fizzled out, and I found myself flying forwards, having pressed against an enormous force just a moment ago. I barely got to blink before I crashed into the wall next to Nightmare, feeling my consciousness leaving me again.
When I woke up again, I found that I was not feeling anything. No anger at Nightmare anymore, nor any annoyance at her actions, nor satisfaction to know that I was able to overpower her magic.
“I haven’t expected this to be so bad,” I then heard …his voice say, causing me to whip my head around to face …him.
“What do you mean?” I asked, not curious, but feeling like I was supposed to ask the question.
She sighed.
“Mood swings. For Luna, apparently me, and by extension, you, the one to two days before heat sets in are accompanied by mood swings… and I just pushed you over the edge, just after you woke up and your brain got turned into mush thanks to your new body.”
“I placed a spell on you to suppress your emotions… it’ll vanish in a day. Because at that point, the only thing you’ll be feeling is lust.”
“So, what will you do?” I asked, now a bit curious.
A sigh was the response.
“I’ll stay and see what I can do. While not part of our agreement, I also have not yet found a way to return to my world.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“How did you get here, then?”
Nightmare levelled a look at me.
“The Elements,” she responded, using a tone that made it clear she would not tell me about her defeat.