//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Lasting Impressions // Story: Making A Switch // by Its a Birdy //------------------------------// I recoiled as the door slammed in my face. It was true. Rarity didn’t want anything to do with me. Ever. I sighed in defeat and opened my wings. I lifted off and headed back to Twilight’s library. The sun was up now. Apparently we only had a few hours remaining before the spell broke. Twilight had said somewhere along the lines of four hours. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. I landed in front of the Golden Oaks Library and pushed my way through the front door. I lowered my head and ran past Twilight, heading straight up the stairs. I dove onto Twilight’s bed and pressed her pillow against my face before rolling over onto my back. I kept the pillow against my face. I screamed once, before letting my hooves fall to my sides as I relaxed. “Trix? Are you alright?” Great. Why don’t you just go away!? I sighed pushing the thought away. I lifted the pillow and looked at her. My eyes stinging as light filtered through the window. “I’ll be alright… but can I just… can I be alone until the spell breaks?” “If you want,” she sighed and started towards the stairs. “I’m sorry Rarity isn’t willing to help, but I didn’t expect her answer to change overnight. Just give her time.” I could hear Twilight’s hooves as she left the bedroom. What now, Trixie? What now… You have no future, no past, no family. What are you living for? “Hey,” a familiar voice echoed. I lifted the corner of the pillow and looked down to see Rainbow Dash hovering in the air. I pressed the pillow hard against my face. “Uhmmmm, Trixie? I… I was wondering… would you like to, you know, go for a fly?” Rainbow asked sheepishly. Well, cool air would help clear my head. “Sure… I’d like that.” I stood up, tossing the pillow aside. I followed her down the stairs, where Twilight was waiting on a teapot. Spike had gone missing, probably running his own errands. After we passed through the door, Rainbow glanced over her shoulder and gave me a small smile before taking off into the sky. I followed her. She was waiting above the clouds for me, but as I reached the cloud she sat on, she flew to another cloud just a little further away. After four or five clouds, I could hear her laughing. Eventually, she stopped and sat on a cloud, and as I came to land next to her, she darted off to yet another cloud. “You’re too slow!” she shouted. I dove at the cloud she sat on, and to my relief, she didn’t dart away again. “Thank you, Rainbow.” “No problem! Just relax and enjoy the sky.” Rainbow’s eyes were full of joy. “You really love flying, don’t you?” “Well, duhhh! Nothing’s better than feeling the wind blowing through your mane and the morning sun on your back,” said Rainbow as she started stretching her wings and back before dropping onto her stomach. I laid down next to her. “Such a view! I didn’t realize Ponyville was that big, even if you’re not counting the apple orchard.” “Yeah.” Rainbow Dash was scrapping clouds into a big pile, then she rested her chin on it and just smiled up at me. “What? It’s a pillow.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little. It was cute. “Hey Trixie, can I ask you somethin’?” “Sure, what’s up?” My ear twitched on its own and I just saw her smirk. “What did you do after you left Ponyville last time? I mean, I remember you mentioned a rock farm and a bad reputation, but where’d you go?” “Well, to be honest, that ursa minor destroyed my cart so I didn’t really have anything left to my name. I’ve pretty much been walking from town to town ever since then... I’m tired of that life, though. I just want to get back into Celestia’s school and continue my life on a different path.” “I never pegged Rarity as one to hold a grudge, but she has good reasons for not helping you.” Rainbow closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, leading into a yawn. “I’m getting tired.” “Rainbow, can you show me any tricks?” I sat up with a smile on my face. “Sure, what trick? Ooo! How about a simply barrel roll?” She levitated off the cloud and stretched her legs out under her. “That sounds like it’s easy. Do it!” I said as I moved forward and pushed her off the cloud. Peeking over the edge of the cloud I could see Rainbow spiraling towards the ground. While still rotating, she pulled up and came flying back up towards me. “Why’d you push me!” She asked with an amusement glowing in her eyes. “Because I can.” “Well, you shouldn’t go around pushing ponies off clouds. Someone’s gonna get hurt.” She flew towards me, pushed me through the cloud, and dove down after me. As she came even with me as I fell, she smiled, “Open your wings and angle yourself! Just go down and out to catch yourself, like I did.” Fear gripping my whole body, I couldn’t do anything but watch as the ground came rushing towards me. My wings stayed where they were even after I tried to open them. They just refused to work! I looked at Rainbow and her face grew solid and serious again. She gripped me in her hooves and beat her wings as hard as she could to help slow us down. I quivered and squeezed my eyes shut, expecting to hit the ground. Some place safe, someplace safe, someplace safe! Twilight’s bedroom came into clear focus in my mind. We landed on something soft and all the wind had disappeared, I could feel Rainbow laying on top of me. Her heartbeat was fast and her body was hot and sweaty. “Woah! That felt so weird!” I opened my eyes a little to find that we were in Twilight’s bedroom. The dim light from a candle filled the room and the shutters were closed. “What are you two doing here!?” asked Twilight, her voice dripping with irritation. We both looked down to find that we’d landed on top of Twilight, who had been sleeping. Rainbow Dash rose into the air, softly landing beside the bed. Her laughter filled the room while I stepped off the bed. “Sorry Twilight. We didn’t mean to land on you.” “Well, now that I’m awake, why don’t you tell me why you’re jumping on me,” Twilight asked, sitting up in the bed. “Well… You see, I kicked a cloud out from under her so I could teach her how to catch herself if she ever falls. Well, it didn’t work out, and I tried slowing her fall, but before we hit the ground, we just kinda landed on your bed.” Rainbow’s stomach growled and she glanced from Twilight to me. “You girls wanna go get some food? I’ll buy!” “Nah, I have a paper to finish writing. Besides, I can’t be seen outside. I don’t want ponies to panic,” she paused and gave Rainbow a wink. “You two go have fun.” “Sounds good!” Rainbow Dash flew down the stairs and out the front door. I followed Rainbow out and could hear Twilight yelling, “Wait! She’s got my body!” Lucky for me, Rainbow didn’t seem to hear her. I caught up to Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Rainbow. Where are we going?” “I was thinking the HayBurger. They have the best hay in town!” Rainbow angled her wings and glided down, towards the city below them. Following her down, I landed next to her in front of the restaurant, letting her lead the way. We entered and claimed a table that was near a window and away from other ponies. A waitress came to our table, she wore a weary smile. “Here are your menus. Do you know what you would like to drink?” “Hmm, I’ll just have some cider,” said Rainbow as she opened her menu and started browsing her options. “And for you, Princess Twilight?” The waitress stood awkwardly for a moment, “Oh uh… water, please. No ice.” How could I have forgotten that other ponies see Twilight! Rainbow chuckled as the waitress walked away, “Really? Princess Twilight, drinking water? Obviously, you don’t know Twilight that well. She refuses to eat in public because she loves her food too much. Like if she and food could be married, we’d have a Prince HayBurger.” “So she’s a sloppy eater? Well, I’m not going to be. My mother taught me proper eating etiquette when I was just a filly.” I smiled but could feel old pains pricking at my heart. “So what happened to her?” I just stared at her, surprised by the sudden question. I wasn’t sure if I should answer it or not. No pony had ever bothered to get to know me, even those mares and stallions I had had relationships with. They were never too curious about my past. They only ever loved my persona, The Great and Powerful Trixie. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Rainbow faced the window and watched the clouds slowly drift across the sky over the Everfree forest. I watched the clouds too. “No pony ever cared enough to ask, so it’s just a bit of a surprise that anypony, much less you, would show interest.” “Well, Trixie, last I checked, you don’t have many friends. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from a certain orange filly, it’s that you shouldn’t bottle your thoughts and emotions.” Her eyes seemed to be shaking a little, but they didn’t seem to be watery. After a moment of silence passed between us, the waiter came by and sat the drinks down. Neither of us spoke to her, so she simply walked away with a nod, giving us time to ready our orders. “My mother died shortly after I became one of Celestia’s students and my father died a few years later from a disease. I don’t remember what it was… but after he died, I left Celestia’s school. My grades were falling and I couldn’t stand being in Canterlot anymore. I left and began to travel.” Tears started to roll down my cheeks but I held a stern face and gave Rainbow a small smile. “I became the Great and Powerful Trixie in order to boost my own self-esteem, but you saw what that turned me into; a power-hungry show pony with nothing to live for.” “Trixie… how are you still so strong after all that? Both my parents still happily live together up in Cloudsdale, and I’m the lead weather manager of Ponyville. I’m the fastest flier in all of Equestria and have tons of friends… I guarantee that if I lost all that… I don’t think I’d even want to be alive anymore. You’re a lot stronger than I thought you were. Even if your magic just tickles ponies.” I don’t know why, but I could feel my face warm up. I glanced around and spotted the waitress, I waved her over and she nodded in return. After she finished helping another table, she came over. “Are you ready to order, your highness?” she asked, bowing slightly. “Yes, we are. I’d like two hay burgers and some oat rounds please.” I waved my tail towards Rainbow. “I’d like a salad with extra dressing and a hay burger, thanks.” The waitress finished writing down the order before storing the pad and quill in its pouch. “Is that everything? Is there anything else I can get you?” “That’s fine, thank you,” I said, dismissing the waitress. “Rainbow, thank you too, I’ve never had the chance to talk to some pony about this stuff… It’s easier than I thought it would be but then again, by this point, it doesn’t really hurt. I’ve always picked myself up and moved on, or, at least, tried to.” “Hey, don’t worry about it. Twilight said you can stay with her at the library for awhile and I’m sure Rarity will come around. When she does then all of us can go talk to Celestia and we’ll get you back into that magic school.” Rainbow took a sip of her cider and went back to looking out the window. “Rainbow, I was thinking. After we’re done eating, can we go try and talk to Rarity again? I have an idea, but I want to make sure Rarity won’t help me.” How hard could it be? To fly again. Our food was delivered and the waitress said something, but I didn’t catch it. “Rarity probably won’t help you, but I will if I can.” “Then I want you to be my teacher.” “Doesn’t the spell break in like two hours?” Rainbow tilted her head and flicked her ear. “Don’t worry about it. Anyways, this meal smells amazing!” I leaned over my plate and sniffed it. It smelled like all sorts of different seasonings went into this meal. The best part was that the plate underneath it was filled with sauces just dripping from the burgers and fried oats. I picked up one of the burgers and took a small bite, savoring the flavors. “I can’t remember the last time I had a hay burger this good!” “Yeah, this place has some of the best food in all of Equestria!” She dug into her salad, leaving the burger for later. A silence fell over the table as we both ate our meals. Eventually, I leaned back and held my stomach. “That… was… amazing,” I groaned pleasurably. “Agreed.” Rainbow Dash said, standing up and dropping forty-five bits on the table. “Let’s go, we don’t have too much time to waste if you’re wanting to talk to Rarity one more time.” “Alright, let’s go.” I stood up and followed her out the door. We took off and headed across town to the Carousel Boutique. We landed in front of the door and Rainbow knocked. A young white filly opened the door. “Hey, Rainbow, Twilight, how ar-” Rarity burst into view and slammed the door shut. Rarity cracked the door open, enough to look out at us. “Twilight or Trixie?” she asked. I shied away while Rainbow stuck her hoof into the door. “Does it matter? Trixie has changed. I’d bet that if you just listen to her, you would see just how much this stupid grudge is worth!” Rarity let the door swing open, inside was Spike and the small white filly. “Spike’s already explained the situation to me, but my answer is still no.” “But why won’t you help?” “She humiliated me, drove my business and reputation into the ground, and she turned my mane green! No pony messes with my mane like that.” Rarity’s eyes were focused, but they were filled with hatred. “I may be generous and willing to forgive most any pony, but every pony has a line that just shouldn’t be crossed. When my business and reputation are put on the line, at the very least, I would like to have my beautiful mane spared the humiliation of the situation.” “Well, I am sorry for what I did to you, Rarity. I just wish you would have given me a chance to prove myself.” I bowed my head and took to the sky. Rainbow Dash followed me, leaving Spike to walk home by himself. I could barely see through my tears, so I landed on the first cloud I came to and laid down. Rainbow laid down next to me, her side pressing against mine comfortingly. I felt her wing lay gently across my shoulders. “When did you get so empathetic?” I asked quietly. “Dunno, but don’t tell any pony. ‘Kuz I’ll deny it,” she said with a faint chuckle. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moisture seeping through my fur. The cold water from the cloud felt good against my belly and hooves. I felt as though I could sleep on it. A white light filtered through my eyelids and a warm feeling burst outwards from my chest. The light grew as the warm feeling filled my body, from the tips of my ears to the end of my tail. I smiled as the light blinded me. A moment later I was gazing down at a half-written paper. A quill was laying on the table on top of it. I shook my head. “Rainbow?” “Spike,” Spike answered bluntly. “Twilight, are you okay? You’ve been standing there for like two minutes now and you haven’t moved.” I glanced around to find that I was standing in at a desk in Twilight’s basement. The room was dimly lit by a candle and two oil lamps. “It’s Trixie. We must have switched back.” I looked back to the papers and skimmed through a few of them. They are namely from her own perception of the body switch. They described how I had reacted along with her own experiences with my body. Though she was trapped indoors for the whole twenty-four hour period, she apparently put her time to good use. Using my magic, I dipped the quill into the inkwell and found a blank scroll. I remember a strange tunnel of light and my body heating up really fast. Then a calmness took hold of my body and only a second or two after that, I had a massive headache and I was really hungry. The first time I tried to use a simple spell with Twilight’s body, I used the same amount of magic I would have used with my own body. Her magic was so much stronger than mine would ever have been. For me to use a simple levitation spell was enough magic for her to transform a brush into a living squirrel! With fur and teeth! The stupid rodent just nibbled on its fingers for a moment before scurrying out an open window. Anyways. Enough about the squirrel. On to the main event! When Rainbow Dash offered to teach me how to fly. I was scared. I’ve never been off the ground, given the one or two time I’ve ridden in pegasus carriages. I’ve always wanted to fly, but I’ve been afraid of heights. Well, it turns out that I was just afraid of the idea of heights. I’m glad Rainbow had decided to do me this glorious favor! From the start of this body switch experience, I knew that I wanted to change. Though, I hadn’t expected to want change so badly. I’ve found what it means to have ponies to rely on and trust. I haven’t had that luxury in so long. I forgot what it was like to call someone a friend. So I suppose I learned my lesson and a few more. Even though Rarity refuses to help me, she holds valid reasons and I can’t hate her for her choice. All I can say is thanks to Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash for all that they’ve done for me. I glanced up from the paper to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway. “Trixie, I think it’s time we’ve returned to Canterlot. I’ll send for a carriage to come get us.” She picked up a blank scroll and jotted a few notes on it before she gave it to Spike. The dragon simply blew fire across the letter and it vanished into a green cloud of ash. “There, now can we eat?” asked Spike. “Sure, why not. Though, I’m not feeling all too hungry,” Twilight said with a grim look across her face. Rainbow laughed, “Yeah, I’m not very hungry either.” I laughed along with her and followed Spike up to the kitchen. “I’m starved, again. Twilight, what is it with you and not eating!? You have food always available to you. Why do you let yourself starve like that?” “I don’t starve myself! I get too busy to worry about eating, that’s all.” Twilight’s tail flicked and she seemed to blush a little. Rainbow yawned, “Well, I’m going to head home for awhile. Catch some sleep or somethin’. Bye, Twilight. Talk to ya later, Trixie.” “Bye!” Twilight and I echoed each other. I looked at Twilight, “We’ve switched bodies twice now and both times it’s happened, I’ve ended up with a hollow pit in my stomach! I don’t see why you wouldn’t take the time to enjoy something that you need to survive… I mean… I’ve been hungry plenty of times, sometimes for days on end, but I always try to feed myself whenever I can.” “I guess you have a point but-” her ears twitched as we heard the carriage land outside. “Guess you’ll have to wait to eat. Let’s go.” She disappeared back downstairs and shortly after, reemerged, shoving her papers into her saddlebag before running outside. I jumped into the carriage alongside Twilight and Spike. “So how long should it take for us to get there?” I couldn’t help but ask before letting the silence of the wind deafen us. “Well, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Not long,” answered Twilight with a matter-of-fact sort of tone to her voice. I nodded as the pegasi lifted from the ground and turned towards Canterlot. The wind wasn’t as strong as I had expected, but it served its purpose in keeping a shroud of silence over the three of us. I simply wanted to enjoy the scenery from this height one more time. I hope this works… As we neared the castle, we could see Celestia and Luna waiting for us on a large balcony that looked out over Equestria. The pegasi landed and we jumped from the cart, allowing them to leave us to our business. “Celestia! I finished all the reports and documents for the body switch spell.” Twilight’s excitement was obvious as she pulled the pile of papers out and gave them to Celestia. She then looked at Luna and gave a small bow. “Hello, Princess Luna. How are you feeling today?” “Well, Celestia wouldn’t let me sleep all day… She’s lucky I am in a good mood.” Luna smiled and looked at me. “Trixie, it’s nice to meet you again.” “Thank you, princess. I hope we aren’t interrupting anything.” “Not yet,” Luna glanced at Celestia and Twilight who were going through the paperwork Twilight had. “Have you learned anything through this experience?” asked Luna “Actually, yes, I have. I’ve learned what it is like to have friends.” “Trixie, come here a moment please,” Twilight interrupted. I gave a bow for Luna before trotting over to stand next to Twilight. Celestia was reading through a paper. “Is this your own experiences?” Celestia asked, turning the paper around. “Yes, I wrote that. Though. I didn’t think it had gotten mixed in with the rest of Twilight’s research. I’m sorry.” “It’s fine. I’m glad to see that you’ve learned your lesson. It’s a pity that Rarity hadn’t been able to call you her friend. However, you did learn a lesson from her.” “Yes, but I thought I had to learn a lesson from each of them and had to have them vouch for me before the twenty-four hour period ended.” “You learned one of the hardest lessons a pony can learn. That is acceptance. To accept the faults of a pony and to be able to see the reasons behind their decisions.” Celestia smiled, “I had instructed Rarity to turn your requests down. The only other pony to know about this was Spike.” “Wait, so does that mean I passed your test?!” I could feel my heart begin to race. I waited in anticipation, ready to spring into the air with happiness. Then I remembered flying with Rainbow Dash and the decision I had made. “Yes,” answered Celestia. “No…” I said, looking out over Equestria. “What?” asked Twilight. I looked up to see Celestia’s face form a nice, little smirk while Twilight’s jaw smacked the floor. Luna simply laughed. “Trixie! The whole point of the body switch was to get you back into the school! How can you just say no?” asked a very surprised Twilight. “Celestia,” I stood tall and strong, “I don’t want to be a unicorn. I want to be a pegasus. Is it possible for you to change who I am?” “By myself no.” “Oh…” “But,” Celestia channeled her magic and out of a blue flash of smoke appeared Discord. “And that’s why bunnies are my favorite creatures.” Discord was floating on a bright yellow and pink pillow holding a small tea cup and plate. His eyes were closed, smiling as he took a drink of his tea. “Another cup, please.” “Discord.” Celestia’s voice rang out over the balcony. “We need a moment of your time. Young Trixie here has requested a very difficult transformation spell. That being from a unicorn to a pegasus.” “Oh, so my time isn’t precious and you can just summon me away from whatever I was doing? What if I were fighting off Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest, defending a weak lost little pony of yours? What then, Celestia?” “Don’t be so dramatic, Discord. You were drinking tea with Fluttershy. You act as if I don’t keep track of you.” Discord landed on the ground as Celestia began to speak again. “Discord, we need your help with this. Luna and I can’t remove her horn, and we’ll need your help to create her wings. We will also need to change her magic, from the magic of a unicorn to the magic of a pegasus.” “You gave Twilight Sparkle wings and turned her into an alicorn princess. How would changing a unicorn into a pegasus be difficult for a mighty ruler like you?” “When I transformed Twilight into an alicorn, I did so by infusing a part of my magic into her, which produced her wings. It also unlocked the potential within her to use and control alicorn magic. This is far more difficult than that.” “Will it hurt?” I asked calmly. Either way, this was going to happen and I would enjoy every minute of it. “I’m sorry, but this has never been done before. I can’t say if it will hurt or not,” Celestia said, speaking with an angelic voice. “Alright, I guess I’m ready then.” I stood straight as Celestia, Discord, and Luna stood around me. Celestia and Luna both began pooling their magic, creating a circle of light under my hooves. I could hear Celestia speaking to Discord and then saw his magic pour into the circle. When it did, it began creeping up my legs, the magic felt warm against my fur as it covered my body. I could feel it creep up to the tip of my horn. Pain pulsed through my head as my horn receded into my head, I squeezed my eyes closed and bit my lip; hard enough to draw blood. I could feel Discord’s magic lift me up off the ground and hold me in the air, allowing the sisters to pull my magic from me, taking all the warmth my body had to offer with it. An icy chill carved its way through my body and then another shock of pain exploded outwards from my back. The pain quickly dulled and was replaced with foreign feeling. I could feel them. I had wings now. They felt numb, but I could tell that they were there. I willed my head to move, but it wouldn’t budge. Discord’s magic gripped me harder as the royal sisters filled my body with a new magic. I welcomed the warmth that flowed in with it. “Done,” said Celestia as all the magic surrounding me disappeared and I was left standing on the floor once more. Pain rushed through my wings and up my back colliding with my headache. The room began to spin around as my vision blurred into an endless array of colors. It didn't take long for everything to go black for a moment as my head hit the floor. “Get a medic in here!” I could hear Twilight shout. It sounded as though she were at the end of a very long tunnel echoing off smooth stone surfaces. Blinking slowly, everything was a blur, I could barely make out Twilight as she ran towards me. Even though her hooves made no noise, I could hear her voice through the high pitch ringing that blared in my ear. She was bent over me now. Asking questions it seemed. I couldn't tell what she was saying so I closed my eyes again for what felt to me like only a minute or two. Sudden warmth gripped my body and numbed it slightly though I could tell that I'd been moved. There was no light when I opened my eyes again. I looked down at myself to find that I'd been wrapped in the folds of a beautiful black satin blanket along with multiple pillows under my head and against my sides. Probably to keep me from rolling off my stomach. Though I feel fine, why do they have me laid out like an injured pegasus? I try to use my magic to remove the blanket but nothing moved. I've got no idea where I am, and my magic isn't working... I wiggled and could feel the top of the pillows at my sides. I shook my head and pushed my way out of the tangled pillows and blankets. I stood up on the bed and felt pain shoot through my back and shoulders. I looked at my back. Wings? Oh yeah... I'm a Pegasus now! Giving a high pitch scream, I ran to a tall mirror on the far side of the room. "It worked! It worked, it worked, it worked!" I shouted, ignoring the pain. Twilight opens the door, I stopped looking at myself and just stared at her. "I'm a pegasus now!" I shouted and ran across the room to hug her. "Trixie, Calm down, I'm glad to see that you're excited, but you really need your rest. those wings are fragile and will be until they heal. You might have already damaged your nerves with all that jumping around! Nerves are-" I let her go and calmly returned to the bed, climbing in and getting comfortable, Twilight began to fix the pillows and blanket. "How long am I stuck like this?" I questioned. "Three days. You've already been out for four days, so your wings are mostly healed, and your forehead's healed too. It was pretty bruised and swollen where your horn used to be." "Three days huh? Can I get some sleep medicine? I'd rather be out cold for the next three days straight, please." I smiled at her, "Oops, I mean. The Great and Powerful Trixie requires her Beauty Sleep!" That made Twilight giggled, "Sorry, but Celestia said no more medication for you, the rest of the healing has to be natural... and I think she wants you to learn another lesson, like, writing letters to her about your experiences as a pegasus pony." My ears shot up and I grimaced at that thought, writing... without magic? I turned to look at the door and Twilight was closing it behind her, I sighed and laid my head back on the pillows.