"Walking On All Fours is Hard" by Negi
The brown colt stood unsteadily on his hooves. Brow knit in concentration, he slowly lifted one fore-hoof and carefully placed it in front of him. Wobbling from side to side he made his way across the room, only to fall down halfway. "Walking on all fours is hard," Negi muttered as he got back on his feet.
Chamo popped up beside him, wearing a pair of underwear on his head. The ermine had calmed down considerably since Negi had managed to talk Rarity into making it for him. "Dude, it's not that hard, you're just psyching yourself out. Calm down and take it slow."
"I don't have time to take it slow," Negi responded, "I already spent two days in bed. We need to find the darkness so we can defeat it and get back home."
The ermine frowned and shook his head. "Defeat it with what exactly? Your tiny store of magic that you can't access at all? If you keep this up you'll just get yourself killed."
Negi looked down at the floor, trying to hold back the tears. His magic was taking a lot longer to recover than usual. It was still way below normal levels, and seemingly inaccessible. He'd been doing his best to ignore the hopelessness of his situation.
A soft paw touched his snout. Chamo was looking up at him with a concerned expression. "You know I didn't mean it like that, bro. I'm just worried about you. I want to get home as much as you do, but we can't rush this until you get your magic back."
The unicorn colt smiled at his concern, though tears still glistened at the corners of his eyes. "I know, Chamo. It's just really frustrating not to be able to do anything. My spells aren't working correctly and I don't know what else we can do."
Chamo's eyes glinted mischievously. "I have an idea, why don't you try contracting with one of the ponies? Pactio works differently from other spells and doesn't take much energy to activate, so it may work now."
Negi's eyes widened, and he took a involuntary step backwards. "You want me to kiss a horse?" he asked shrilly.
Chamo waved a dismissive paw at him. "Pony, and they're not that bad. I've been talking to Sparkles the past few days, and she's willing to help us out."
"Why would she do that?" he asked, frowning.
"She studies magic for a living, why wouldn't she be interested? You've done it plenty of times already, so what's the problem?" Chamo crossed his arms and stared pointedly at the nervous colt.
Negi squirmed under the ermine's gaze. "... Nothing I guess," he said after a few awkward moments.
"Sweet, let me go get her." Chamo dashed out of the room with a wide grin on his face.
"I wonder what exactly he said to her," Negi muttered to himself.
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"It's good to see you up and about, I was really worried," Twilight said. The purple unicorn smiled at Negi.
He swallowed hard, trying to hide his discomfort. "So, Chamo told you about the contract?" he asked.
Twilight nodded. "Yes, he mentioned a magic circle, energy flows, and ritualistic osculation."
Negi blinked. "What was that last part?"
Chamo hopped up on his back and whispered, "She's uncomfortable with calling it a 'kiss', so she's using scientific terms for it."
For some reason, knowing that Twilight was nervous as well helped him to calm down. He got into position in front of her and nodded to Chamo.
"Alright then, Pactio!" the ermine raised a paw in the air and activated the magic circle.
Negi closed his eyes and leaned forward. When Twilight's lips met his, he found them unnervingly similar to those of the girls back home. He broke away as soon as he could and opened his eyes. He looked into the eyes of the purple pony in front of him and found himself wondering how she managed to blush through her fur. He turned to Chamo, who was grinning smugly. "Did it work?" he asked.
"It seemed to," the ermine replied, giving him a thumbs up. "Why don't you test it out?"
Negi shrugged and began the spell. Unlike his previous attempts, he could feel the power flowing around him as he spoke the incantation. "Maybe this will work after all," he thought. His hope did not last long. The magic surged, he heard Twilight cry out, and his consciousness fled.