Initially, I had been nearly thrilled to wake up as Twilight, but the realization was starting to sink in. About the only saving grace was that today was a Saturday, so at least I didn't have to go to work and neither did Brenda. After about an hour had passed since I had woken up in Twilight's body, I was just starting to get used to walking around. Brenda just stood and watched silently as I continued to practice my walking technique and then started to speed up the pace a little. Eventually, I looked down the staircase that leads to the main level of our house. Eight steps led down to the main level. Do I dare?
I turned, and with my back to the stairs, gingerly tested my right rear leg, lowering it ever so gently to the first step down. I backed a little, placing my front legs at the edge of the steps. I lowered my left rear leg to the next step down. So far so good, I thought.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to go downstairs?" she asked. Her questions caused me to lose my concentration and I slipped, sliding on my belly and landing on my rump at the base of the stairs.
"Thanks, Brenda," I said sarcastically in an attempt to alleviate my indignation. She laughed, as she couldn't help herself. "That hurt," I said, wiping a tear from my eye. I got on all fours again, and climbed the stairs quite easily, surprising myself at that feat. The noise had woken the grand-kids, and the door to their room opened.
"Doggie!" the two-year-old shouted, quite gleefully. I smiled at her.
"I am not a doggie," I said. She screamed, then ran back into the room, crying. She woke up her mother, who promptly closed the door. I guess she was still too tired to see what was going on.
"Mike, why did you do that?" asked Brenda in exasperation, her frustration becoming quite evident. The door to the kids' room opened again and the three-year-old looked at me quizzically.
"What are you?" she asked, an innocent expression on her face.
"A unicorn," I replied.
"What's that?"
"A pony with a horn on its head," I smiled.
"Don't hurt me!"
"I won't," I offered softly, my smile widening as her curiosity got the better of her. She slowly approached me and gently touched my mane. She petted me like a dog, which I found rather annoying. "I am not a doggie, so please don't treat me like one."
"Who is this, and where's Mike?" asked Xaviera, Brenda's daughter, and mother to the grand-kids.
"I was Mike, but now am Twilight Sparkle," I said, just a small smile on my face.
"How did that happen?"
"Must have been wish fulfillment or something, I'm not sure. I'm still trying to get accustomed to this new body, and this voice still has me a little worried."
"I think it's kinda cute," she said.
"I do too, but I hope I can turn back soon -- I don't want to lose my job. I would hate to see the house go into foreclosure."
"Maybe you could go into show business," Brenda said, grinning.
"Well...the thought had crossed my mind, but people would be expecting the real Twilight Sparkle, and I don't know enough about her to be able to pull that off. I need to figure out a plan."
"You did show me some magic use, so maybe you could be a stage magician?" Brenda mused.
"Wait a minute, did you say he used magic?" Xaviera asked.
"He made the TV in our room lift up a little, and he teleported from the bed to the floor, I saw it myself!" Brenda said, with some incredulity in her voice.
"Show me, Mike," said Xaviera.
"Being a stage magician is the purview of 'The Great and Powerful Trixie,' not Twilight Sparkle. And please stop referring to me in the male tense, I'm in a female body. It just doesn't feel right to hear you call me by my human name."
"You're still Mike to me," Brenda said, getting more annoyed by the impression that I was trying to leave my human persona behind.
"You cannot call me Mike until I turn back into a human, Brenda. That goes for you too, Xaviera!"
"Doggie!" called out Samantha, the two-year-old. She ran up to me, and started petting me like a dog.
"I am NOT a DOG!" I shouted, forgetting my manners. Samantha ran to her mother's side, shielding herself behind her legs. I was only eye-level to the the three-year-old, Tanisha, who was still quite curious about my appearance. She tried to grab my horn. "Stop! Don't touch that!" and she ran crying to her mother's side as well.
"MIKE! Don't shout at the kids!"
"Brenda, didn't I tell you about the horn? I don't want them breaking it off! If that happens, I won't be able to use magic at all! Then I'll be screwed for REAL!" I was flabbergasted by their ignorance.
"Mike, they're just curious. They've never seen a talking unicorn before," she said, trying to calm me down.
I was going to respond with "Curiosity killed the cat," but thought better of it. Don't want to even give the impression of a threat. They're just little kids, they don't know any better. Their mother is still quite young, and she tried to touch my horn. I was starting to get mad. "Not you too, Xaviera! Don't even THINK of touching my horn!"
"Okay, I just wanted to see how hard it was," she said, sounding a little disappointed.
"My horn is very sensitive to touch, and quite fragile. I use it to focus magical power, and I don't want anyone touching it! Am I being clear enough here?"
"Okay, okay," Xaviera relented, and put her kids back in the bed, and laid down with them, closing the door behind her.
"So what are you going to do now?" Brenda asked.
"I want to see if I can use my magic to fix some of the things that need repairing around the house," I mused pensively.