Gift followed close behind as Princess Luna guided her and her sisters through Canterlot’s cobbled streets. The night was dark, the only illumination being provided by the moon and Luna’s glowing horn. Her sisters were all bouncing about excitedly in front of her, pestering the princess with questions and giggling at each other’s snarky remarks. It seemed as if Gift was the only pony who felt apprehensive about the spell, and nopony would listen to her.
Swift turned around and bounded over to walk alongside her. “Perk up a little, sis. Princess Luna’s about to turn us into the most powerful unicorns in Equestria! Isn’t that exciting!?”
“I guess— ow!” she exclaimed as Swift playfully tugged her ear with her magic, trying to beckon her forwards, but Gift was perfectly happy walking behind, alone with her thoughts.
They rounded a corner and were immediately looking up at a tall white building with a thatched roof and colourful flowers in the windows. The light from two ornate sconces illuminated the front door with a spooky orange glow. Luna trotted inside, followed by the three eager fillies, but Gift froze just outside and sat on the cobbled path. She glanced down at her flank, still without its cutie mark. Was she really ready to become one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria?
Luna spoke softly inside – probably instructing the three fillies to be seated – and then trotted back out to find Gift. “Come now, my little pony. Your sisters are already waiting inside.”
“I’m scared, princess. What if something goes wrong?”
Luna moved over and tenderly stroked her sparkling emerald mane. “Don’t you worry, little one. This spell has been tested.”
“Tested? Tested how?”
“We have our finest unicorn scientists working on it. If I had even the slightest doubt that this would work, we wouldn’t be here today.”
Gift couldn’t help but feel like Luna had dodged her question. She frowned, but slowly trotted through the door. Inside the building, there were several unicorns wearing lab coats at different stations around the room. As soon as Luna entered, a stallion levitated over a roll of parchment with many small glyphs and symbols etched onto its surface.
The stallion quickly trotted over to Gift and ushered her over to sit in the centre of the room with her sisters. Shakily, she sat down next to Rift who was fidgeting with her bright blue mane and tapping her hoof excitedly on the floor.
Luna stepped forwards, close enough that Gift had to crane her neck in order to look at her. The scientists around the room each made their way out of the room, leaving just the Princess and the four sisters.
Luna spoke softly to them as if this was no more than just a normal class at magic school. “Alright, little fillies. I shall read this incantation and you should feel a surge of magical power enter your bodies. Do not resist it otherwise the spell will fail and we will have to start again. Are you all ready?”
Shift, Rift and Swift nodded their heads, a mix of emotions spread across their faces, but Gift shook hers. “Do we have to do this? It sounds… dangerous.”
Luna raised a hoof as if she was about to answer, but before she could, Rift wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and squeezed her in for a hug. “It’ll be fine, sis. We’ll all be extra magic at the end of it!”
Rift was squeezing her tighter and tighter and all she could do was splutter a quick, “mhm.” Rift released her grip as Luna scanned the parchment.
Gift tensed as Luna started reading. None of the words she spoke were ones that Gift recognised. After a while, she felt a very odd tingling sensation in her horn. She looked towards her sisters and saw them all stealing glances at each other’s horns which were emitting a soft glow. After a while longer, her body was tingling all over; it felt like her horn when she was using magic, but all over her body.
Luna finally finished reading, and Gift felt like she was going to explode. And she did. The entire room exploded into a dark mist. Gift could hear things falling over and glass shattering as it collided with the floor. A burst of heat erupted from somewhere in the room and Gift could hear the crackling of fire.
“Quick! Everypony out the door!” Luna’s voice was panicked and Gift heard as her hoofsteps exited the room, leaving four fillies abandoned in a choking black haze. Gift slowly stood up, the mist so thick that she saw no difference when she closed her eyes. She yelped in pain as another hoof came out of the darkness and trampled her own, but nopony seemed to hear her. Tears escaped her eyes as she fought through the smoke towards the door, and eventually she made it, joining her sisters in a pile of coughing and spluttering, lying on the cobbles.
Luna’s face was creased in concern, as she stared at the fillies lying on the floor.
She wasn’t staring at the fillies themselves, but at their manes.
Their manes which were jet black.