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// Chapter 4 
// Story: Beyond My Years 
// by Pinktuxcat 
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	I studied as hard as I could, and by the time I’d run my course of physical modification spells, I could do many of them, but on a lesser scale than most high level unicorns. I could transform a rock into any object, even food, I attempted once, but though the appearance was of whatever other thing I changed it to it would always have a bit more weight than the actual object I was imitating. 
I had once transformed a rock into an apple, and, out of curiosity, eaten the apple, recording in my notebook that the apple was a bit dryer and less flavorful than real apples. The true distinguishing point was when I was finished, my stomach felt like I had eaten a handful of rocks, rather than an apple. And indeed I had, as I learned, when the object was broken apart with a weaker spell such as mine, the rock would revert back to its original state. I had, essentially, eaten a handful of rocks.
However, as weak as my spells were, I was undaunted. I could still use age spells on plants easily, and on smaller animals, though it took some time. I hadn’t tried it on myself yet, because I knew it would take a lot of time and effort, and I didn’t want to get stuck in the body of a filly or of an old mare and not be able to cast the aging down spell.
I could change my mane and coat color with ease. It was far easier than any of the other physical modification spells. Light spells are some of the first any unicorn learns, next to levitation, and since all color is just a trick of light, the spell was effortless. All I had to do was bend the refraction of light on my mane to a different angle and there it was: a new color. 
I experimented on how long the physical modification spells would last by changing my mane and coat color both, and letting it stay that way as long as it would last. Since it wasn’t a permanently cast spell, I figured as soon as I fell asleep at the end of the day it would wear off through the night. But the next morning, my mane was as red as it had been when I bent the light rays. And my coat was still orange. It was a strange combination, for sure, but it was easier for me to tell when it wore off. It lasted over 3 days before I decided to uncast the spell.
Once my studies in physical modification had been exhausted, I moved on to the next: psychological alteration. This was a tricky one. I couldn’t just cast the spells I learned onto myself because if they worked properly, I wouldn’t have the sense of mind to undo the spell. And I couldn’t cast it on any small critters because I couldn’t understand them, and wouldn’t be able to gauge their responses to the spells. 
I had to find willing test subjects. Even just one would do. With Celestia’s  permission, I put an ad in both the morning newspaper, The Sun Sentinel, and the evening newspaper, The Moon Monitor. After a few days I received a deluge of applicants, all young mares and stallions my age, hoping to earn a few bits and possibly get their name in the books for some big scientific discovery. 
I weeded out the ones I knew weren’t fit for the experiment through short interviews. Some of the ponies seemed like they were already suffering some sort of mental illness and I was not the mare they needed to see. It took me two weeks to interview and assess each mare and stallion, but I finally decided on one of each: a soft-spoken earth stallion by the name of Foamy Shores, and a Pegasus mare named Dewdrop Prism. 
Foamy Shores was a light green-blue color, with an even lighter silvery-green mane. His cutie mark was a blue ocean wave, the same color of his eyes. He was quiet and a seemed a bit shy, but all I saw in his eyes was kindness and determination. He would make a great test subject. I was curious to see if I could unlock some of his shyness, and perhaps bring out his wild side through mental changes. 
Dewdrop prism was a light blue mare with a mane of three dark colors: Red, green, and orange. Her eyes were as yellow as mine, and her cutie mark was a drop of water, same color as her coat, but lighter, and a rainbow curved above it. She was a mirror opposite to Foamy Shores, loud to the point of being almost obnoxious, and extremely outgoing.
When the two met for the first time, she introduced herself, then immediately slung a foreleg over his neck and practically shouted in his ear that she knew they were going to be fast friends. Foamy Shores, however, looked as though if he could curl up into a ball and disappear, he would in an instant.
I studied my test subjects for a few minutes, evaluating their reactions to each other, and knew that they were the perfect pair for my experiments. I grinned at the thought that my experiments were about to begin. I couldn’t wait. The scientist in me had been brought to the surface, and cutie mark or no cutie mark, I was bound and determined to see my studies through to the end.