//------------------------------// // 13. Face the Circumstances // Story: Face the Unexpected // by Hakuno //------------------------------// “Please remind me why I’m doing this” Daniel stood in the middle of the bedroom with both hands pressing against his body. Just a week after he started dating Twilight, they decided to sleep in the same room. So they gave Spike Daniel’s former bedroom. Twilight placed the book she was holding with her magic on a table and smiled at Daniel. “Because you asked in the first place” “You know I was joking” “It doesn’t matter” Twilight said waving a hoof in front of her. “You made me think about it. And I just have to test it. I need to do it, or it will drive me crazy” She lit her horn and started to accumulate her magic. Daniel looked at her with pleading eyes. “Have you ever done this before?” He asked putting a hand on his chest. “Not that I don’t trust you, but…” She giggled a little. “I must admit that the first time it didn’t come quite well. But don’t worry, I’ve been practicing a lot. I know I can do it without problems this time.” This, of course, didn’t help Daniel at all. He knew that Twilight was able to handle any spell she wanted, but the sole idea of being him the test subject unsettled him. He let out a nervous and forced giggle and gulped. He had to endure the consequences of his actions. What has been an innocent ask turned into a real and frightening situation. Twilight was about to turn him into a pony. “How exactly does this spell work?” He asked trying to buy time to delay the inevitable. Twilight smiled and put a hoof on her chest with pride. “It’s a metamorphosis spell. It will alter your anatomy to transform it into another biological structure.” The sparks of her horn were dancing wildly through the magical glow. Daniel was able to hear the faint humming of her magic vibrations. “But don’t worry, the spell wears off itself in six hours” He blinked. “Wait, you can’t undo it?” Twilight shook her head. “I suddenly have the urge to run away” He said, but didn’t move. Part of his mind was yelling in fear, but the other half was really curious of how it would feel like to be a pony. He sighed and tried to relax his muscles. Twilight really wanted to see how he would look like as a pony. And he didn’t want to disappoint her. “Alright, just do it already and let’s finish with this” Twilight smiled in relief for finally getting his consent. Her magic swirling around her horn at full charge. The spell was ready, her mind was focused. And with a simple but extremely planned small movement of her body, she cast the spell. Daniel felt a warm surrounding his body. It was the same feeling as the time when Twilight levitated him three months ago. But the warmth passed through his skin and wrapped his muscles, veins, bones, organs, blood, and basically every single cell within his body. For a moment he feared that he was set in fire, but it didn’t hurt. A sudden flash made him instinctively close his eyes, and then he couldn’t open them. He could feel how his body moved in odd ways. He felt how his bones changed shape, some of them disappearing and some appearing. His entrails moved and accommodated themselves in weird angles, some widened, some shrank, and as the bones, some faded and some formed. Something popped from the end of his back, his spine decided to grow some new vertebrae, and even if the fur came unnoticed, the sudden growth of hair from the new appendage just above his butt felt especially weird. All the while, he could feel how his hands, feet, fingers and toes shrank, twisted, tightened and cracked. But even so, his head was what felt the weirdest. His head enlarged itself, as if someone was pulling from his nose. He felt his cheeks fall and become more flat as his eyes felt as if they were being pulled from the edges. And finally, it was over. He didn’t notice when he was forced to stand on four legs. He could hear an incessant whistle inside his ears. He realized that he finally was a pony. He slowly opened his eyes and patiently waited for the world to come in sight. In front of him was Twilight looking upon him with both concern and curiosity. He had expected that his new pony eyes would make him see her more beautiful or something, but she was exactly the same purple alicorn, only bigger. No, he was the one who lost height. “How do you feel?” Twilight’s harmonic voice caught the attention of his ears, which only moments ago were moving restless at different directions trying to catch every source of the sounds that seemed clearer. He blinked. “Fine… I think so…” His mouth felt really odd when he spoke. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and walked closer to him. “That’s good to hear. I was afraid I’d mess up the spell again” Daniel was about to giggle, but something caught completely his attention. As the alicorn got closer, a smell invaded his olfactory receptors. It was something he didn’t even know existed. It was a sweet and intoxicant scent that made his heart beat faster and faster. He was unable to describe it, but he sure liked it, no, he loved it. “Y-Yeah…” He felt his cheeks blush for some reason and his breath was hot and heavy. “How I look like?” Twilight put a hoof on her chin. “Well, you still have your clothes on, so you look ridiculous” She said with a giggle. “Your fur is black, I didn’t expect that” “Well, my body hair is black, so it’s not that weird, I guess” He said, and realization came to his mind. He suddenly looked to his back, almost falling for the change of balance. “Great…” He deadpanned. “My new tail ripped my clothes. Now I have to buy more” Twilight suppressed a giggle and gave a step backwards. “You should take it off” Daniel felt his stomach throb really hard. In his world that statement had a totally different goal, and he just couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous about it. But then again, he was a pony for the next six hours, and ponies were always naked. He sighed and tried to take his shirt off, but the lack of thumbs, or fingers whatsoever, was something that he knew he wasn’t going to get used to. He looked at Twilight who was just smiling at his rather pathetic show. “Uh… I normally wouldn’t ask this to anyone, but would you kindly help me take off my clothes?” Twilight gave him a warm smile. “Of course” She then used her magic to levitate him and in a matter of seconds he was already naked. “I feel really weird” Daniel said right when she made him land in the floor. His brown tail twirled instinctively at the touch of a soft breeze. He started to walk a little. It took him just a few steps to get used to his new balance. “Well, it’s not that bad” Twilight giggled a little, but it was enough to catch his attention again. He walked to her with a smile. As he got closer, her scent started to flood his senses again. It was such a gorgeous smell that he unconsciously slowed his pace and closed his eyes. “Are you ok?” Twilight asked. Daniel opened his eyes just to see that he came to a halt just mere inches from the alicorn. He breathed heavily, and for the longest time he only stared at her mouth. He saw her lips move, but he couldn’t hear her voice. Daniel felt his heart beat hard against his chest as just one thought crossed his mind. But more than a thought, it was a demand. His body was demanding him to kiss her, it was the only thing he wanted to do, so he did it. Her lips felt a little different, her fur didn’t tickle anymore, maybe it was because of his own. And somehow, their mouths now fit the other’s perfectly. It didn’t take long for them to make their tongues dance with each other. Everything was a better experience for Daniel. He stopped the kiss, his mind demanding him other things that he was willing to comply. He didn’t let Twilight say anything, he just moved to her neck, giving her passionate kisses and burying his face in her mane. And the smell was even better than his human nose was able to notice. Her scent mixed with the smell of flowers and vanilla was just so intoxicating that made him kiss her with more and more passion. And then he heard it. Twilight was moaning in pleasure. It was low, really low, but just enough to make him feel a warm sensation in his chest that extended through all his body. He opened his eyes a little, her mane covered his sight. The hairs hanging gracefully from her head and neck and dancing with the breezes his breath made was hypnotizing. He stopped kissing and decided to take a deep breath, trying to catch all the scent of her mane. Daniel was in paradise. He wondered how he could leave all this time not knowing what he was missing. He opened again his eyes, he didn’t even cared that he kept closing them all the time, since every time he opened them, he would get another gorgeous visual gift. And this last time was the best one. He had leaned his head a little, and Twilight’s mane was no longer in his sight field. His heart stopped for just a second and then started to beat really fast. This time the first thing he saw was Twilight’s flank. He had seen her flank lots of times before, for she was always naked. But this time, however, her back rear looked marvelous. It didn’t take him too long to know what he had to do. So he started to kiss her again, slowly moving down through her neck. He got to her wings that were unfolded and twitched at the touch of his mouth. He gave himself a smile, slowly putting a hoof in front of the other. Every single inch he moved, Twilight’s scent grew stronger and died in his throat, just to be replaced by another big breath of her smell. And then, he finally got to his objective, and gave a strong and passionate kiss right in her cutie mark. “Da… Daniel…” Twilight moaned. Daniel turned his head and his eyes met hers. Those big amethysts shimmered as the stars in the night sky. For a moment he couldn’t read her expression, but as the situation was finally processed by his brain, he finally knew what he was doing. He let out a small, heavy and slow pant. His mind was a swirl of thoughts, every single of them was pure instinct trying to claim his actions. For a few seconds they didn’t say anything, only staring at the other’s eyes. Daniel moved hesitant his mouth, and after the longest time, he closed it and gave Twilight an inquisitive gaze. Twilight panted a few times and slowly but decidedly nodded. That was all he needed. He walked behind her making a big circle, as if he tried to watch her from a better perspective. Twilight lifted her tail. It wasn’t a quick, hesitant movement, but a firm and obvious sign of what she wanted. And if it wasn’t enough, it started to wave from side to side, spreading her scent through the room. Daniel didn’t need more than mere seconds to understand. He walked a little more and soon he found himself right behind her. Her tail still waving in a very, very provocative way. He smiled and put a hoof on her flank. It was really soft. For a moment he wondered how he was able to feel with his new hooves, but he dismissed the thought. His instincts had already taken all control of his body and his mind. Daniel was about to make the little jump that would mean the point of no return, when Spike’s voice came as an echo from downstairs. “Twilight! I’m home!” He yelled, and the sound of the front door closing was enough to make Daniel jump backwards and almost fall. At the same time, Twilight snapped her wings against her body and walked nervously and erratic through the room. Her face suddenly turned a bright red as realization slapped her. “C-Coming!” She yelled a little too loud. She watched at Daniel who was desperately trying to hide his boner with his shirt. Twilight blinked a few times before turning around and walked to the door. Fortunately for her, it was easier for mares to hide their arousal, even more if they had magic to suppress the obvious smell that got stronger in those situations. She slowly walked downstairs, trying her best to calm herself with deep breathes. Her heart was beating so hard that she could feel it in her chest. She couldn’t understand how that happened. One moment she was having fun with the strange combination of Daniel’s black fur and brown mane and tail, and the other she was about to mate with him! She sighed. For now she needed to talk with Spike and relax. She would have time to think about it later. “Hey Spike, can you help me with-” She interrupted herself as she saw a familiar unicorn standing right in the middle of the library. “BBBFF?” The white stallion looked at her and gave her a big smile. “Twily!” He said and ran to his sister, giving her a welcoming hug, which she responded a little hesitant. “How’s my favorite little sister?” “Fine but… What are you doing here?” She asked. In other circumstances she would have been bouncing from side to side. But right now it wasn’t just unexpected, but being honest, it was also a little unwanted. Shining Armor looked at her with a sad smile. “What? A brother can’t visit his sister once in a while?” Twilight was about to answer, but Spike interrupted her. “Yeah, you only want to meet Daniel” “Thank you, Spike. You’re always so subtle” Shining answered rolling his eyes. Twilight didn’t know what to think. She had told him and Cadence about the human with a letter, only that she kind of purposely forgot to tell them that he was a human. The unicorn looked at Twilight with a smile. “So, where is he?” She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” Shining gave a step backwards. “You came here just to meet Daniel?!” Shining shrugged. “Yeah, as your brother I have to judge your coltfriend with extreme jealousy and unfounded prejudice” He said and looked at Spike, who only stared at him with an eyebrow raised, and then turned back at Twilight. “I’d have came earlier, but being the prince of the Crystal Empire is a bit more time consuming than I expected” Twilight was about to give him an excuse so he wouldn’t see Daniel at least until the spell wore off, but the sound of hooves coming from the stairs froze her in place. “Hey Twilight, we really need to talk about what happ-” Daniel said with concern in his voice before he finally came to her side and saw the white stallion in front of her. Shining and Daniel looked at each other for a moment that seemed as an eternity. “Let me guess, you are Daniel” Shining finally said. There were so many things in that pony that unsettled him that he didn’t know where to start. His color scheme was odd, to say something. Black fur and dark brown mane and tail and equally black eyes were the first things he could think of. Then his name, if he thought it was weird when he read the letter, now it was even weirder. And then the fact that this earth pony didn’t have a cutie mark. “Yeah… And you are…?” Daniel asked with an eyebrow raised. For some reason the unicorn seemed familiar to him, but he wasn’t able to tell why. Shining blinked and then cleared his throat. “Prince Shining Armor. Pleased to meet you” Daniel felt his stomach shrink. Of all the days her brother could pay an unexpected visit, it had to be this one. “Well… I suppose you came here to visit Twilight, so I’m just going to be… somewhere else” He said, but before he could start walking upstairs, the sound of Shining clearing his throat stopped him. “Actually I’m here to meet my sister’s coltfriend” Shining said. His voice was serene and his face unreadable. Daniel had a bad feeling about him. “Well, today is not exactly a good day…” He said trying to get as far from Twilight as possible without them noticing. Shining raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I’d love to get to know you and all that, but I’d like to do it in my human form” Twilight tensed her muscles, but Daniel didn’t notice. Shining looked at her and then at the black pony. “What do you mean with ‘human’?” Daniel looked at Twilight, who was desperately trying to make herself invisible without magic. He was about to ask the obvious, but she looked at him with pleading eyes. Daniel knew what to do, so he smiled and turned to Shining. “Yeah, I’m a human. I can’t explain to you how I look like, you’d need to see me in my original form” He said and casually walked to drag the unicorn’s attention away from Twilight. “But it happens that today I asked Twilight to turn me into a pony. But the spell will wear off in yet 5 more hours, so…” Shining nodded. “I understand” He sighed. “If I knew I’d have made space in my schedule. I’m supposed to return to the Crystal Empire in two hours” He looked up and stared at Daniel for several seconds. “I suppose we have to arrange a meeting so all the family can get to know you” Daniel nodded. Shining smiled and got closer to him. “But I still will do this” The unicorn leaned his head really close to Daniel’s and looked directly at his black eyes. “If my sister chose you, I suppose that you are a great guy. But know this: I used to be a captain of the royal guard, and do you know what royal guards do?” Daniel gulped. His new form as pony made him a little smaller than Shining, and it was truly intimidating. “That’s right, guard royalty” Shining said almost immediately. “Shining! That’s enough!” Shining only smiled at Daniel and turned to face Twilight. “Well Twily, it was really nice to see you. But I think I’m heading back to the Empire” He hugged his sister and then looked at Daniel. “I’m looking forward to meet your, uh, human form” He said with a smile and then walked to front door. For several seconds there was just silence. “Your brother is weird” Daniel said. Twilight sighed forcefully and let herself a smile. “I mean, it was a totally loss of time to come here just for a few minutes. I’d understand if he lived here in Ponyville, but…” “Yes, I know” Twilight said and looked at Daniel, who was at the other side of the room. “I’m sorry” Daniel smiled at her. “You don’t need to apologize. I’ve met people weirder in my world” Twilight shook her head. “Not for that… For, you know, not telling them that you’re a human” She looked down. For a moment Daniel wanted to run to her and hug her, but he decided not to do so. “Hey, I’m not going to question why you decided to hide my nature” She looked up to him. “I know that you have your reasons, though right now you can’t do it anymore” She smiled and walked to the former human to kiss him, but he stepped backwards. “D-Don’t come closer, please” He said and she complied. Daniel looked through the room while his mouth moved hesitant. Spike had gone to his bedroom at some moment, which was good, for now. “Twilight… I’m going to ask you something… And I need you to answer honestly” Twilight blinked, she wanted to ask why he was acting like that, but she decided to only nod. Daniel sighed. “Are… Are you in heat?” Twilight blushed as her eyes widened. “Wh-What kind of question is that?” She asked while her mouth moved hesitant. Daniel only looked at her with a serious gaze. And then she realized why he asked that, or at least, she thought on a few reasons. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed, trying to relax her body, and then she opened them again. “No, I’m not” “Damn…” He sighed and rubbed the point of his nose with a hoof. He then looked back at Twilight. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me in the bedroom… I… I couldn’t control myself” Twilight nodded in understanding. “I thought that maybe it was because you were in heat, but if that’s not the case…” He gulped. “I don’t want to know what would happen then…” She rubbed a foreleg with another, looking at the floor. “I don’t know what happened to me either… It’s the first time I feel like that…” She let out a forced sigh as the memories of just moments ago came to her mind. And for some reason, just that was making her feel the same way again. Daniel noticed her scent increasing. “Twilight… I think we… We should be in different rooms until I turn back into a human…” He finally said. His mind was starting to blur again and his breath was heavy and hot. “We can’t deny the… tension between us… So…” Twilight nodded once. “I agree… I… I’m going to the boutique, see you in 6 hours” And with that, she disappeared in a pink flash of light. Daniel trotted upstairs and to the bedroom. He was going to wait there until the spell wore off, but the alicorn’s scent was everywhere, and he just couldn’t think straight. He argued with his own thoughts for several minutes, maybe an hour or two. It was a fierce battle between instinct and logic, a battle that seemed it would last forever, but at the end, they decided to sign a peace treaty. And with that, Daniel knew what he needed to do. He decided to take a shower, and not even caring about the annoying feeling of wet fur against his skin, he started to alleviate the tensions generated through hours of arguments in his mind. He soon discovered that hooves were almost useless for that kind of action. Almost.