Twilight silently paced back and forth across her study. She counted the steps from her wall to her desk, as she had done dozens of times in the past hour. She was so pent up with nervous energy it was impossible to sit still until Axion arrived. It had been a painful three days until the arranged time, when Axion was due to give Twilight her favor in return for Twilight agreeing to work on the project. Twilight was still nervous about some of the terms to their agreement, but try as she might, she couldn't justify her suspicions. Axion had been very thorough in soothing the violet librarians every objection. She seemingly had an answer for everything, but maybe that's what worried Twilight.
Twelve steps, now turn, twelve more. Now turn, twelve more....
At the appointed time of eight o'clock, a small knock reverberated from the library door, and Twilight almost tripped over her own hooves moving to open it. Twilight managed to avoid falling, however her weight fell against the door a bit harder than she meant to. Pulling open the door revealed Axion, a look of mild humor on her face.
"Excited to see me?"
"No, I just.. I meant yes, but it wasn't..."
"It's alright, dear, I can understand your excitement. You asked me something you thought nigh impossible, yet I promised, and here I am to make good on it."
"Yes, well...."
Twilight's mind was still racing, and a bit jumbled from her near fall.
Come on, brain! Cooperate!
"It is something I have long wondered about. I meant it as a test and for scientific interest, but at the same time, I quite desire it from a personal standpoint as well."
"I see. Well I can fully understand that. It is something a lot of ponies wish for. I for one have never felt the desire for it."
"I can see how it is not for everypony. But I have had some experience with it, although the alternatives just aren't the same."
"Agreed. Have you prepared the space I asked you for?"
"Yes, I have. This way, please."
Axion followed Twilight across the library, then through the small door that led down to the basement. The stairs were narrow, and there were a few cobwebs hanging about, despite Twilight's best efforts to remove them. The two mares went down the small passageway until they came out to the basement. It was one room, rectangular and empty. There had been no reason for any to come down there in years, and so the dust and cobwebs had been thick. After Axion had responded to Twilight's letter and accepted her request and detailed what she needed, Twilight had come down and cleaned it to a tolerable degree. Now off to the side sat a small table, bearing a few candles and a few pots of ink. Twilight had a few guesses as to what the ink was for, but they were long shots and she was waiting for Axion to reveal her intentions before making any guesses. Twilight walked to the table, and turned to face Axion, who was a few steps behind her.
"Well, here you go. Ten square feet of flat, empty floor space, and organic ink in three colors."
Axion walked to the table, and inspected the ink. A small dollop of red ink was lifted from its jar, encased in an orb of midnight blue magic. Axion eyed it closely for several seconds, then split the ball of ink into two smaller blobs. She eyed them closely for a few more seconds, then let them fall back into the jar. She repeated the process for the blue and black jars as well.
"You have done a fine job, Twilight. These inks are of the highest quality."
"Thank you. I followed your instructions perfectly. Is there enough?"
"Oh, more than enough. Truth be told, I needed less than half this amount. It's too bad organic ink goes bad so quickly. This might come in handy again some day, but I digress. Shall we start?"
Twilight felt her ears perk up, and her tail gave an involuntary swish of excitement.
"Yes!"
Axion let a small giggle escape her lips and looked at Twilight, one slim eyebrow lifted.
"One quick question first; I confess, I'm curious. How did you know this was possible?"
"My foalsitter when I was a filly was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I never thought much of it, but when I got older and learned more about the Royal Princesses and Princess Cadence's family, I got curious. After a few years of researching on my own time, I found an old book that spoke of it. There were few details, but more than enough for me to understand the basic process."
"Then you know how difficult it is."
"Yes. I never even thought of trying it on my own."
"A wise move. It can be very dangerous if not done properly."
"Yes. In the same book were several accounts of those that attempted to replicate it."
"I'm sure that made for gruesome reading."
Axion turned back to the table and lifted a measured amount of ink into the air with her magic.
"Well, I guess that's my curiosity quenched. If you have no other questions, we may proceed."
"Only one: Will this process change me fully, on the biological level like the original, or will it be simply a permanent physical manifestation?"
"A complete transformation. It will be in your genes, and the genes of any foals you might have. It will be painful, of course. I will bear no ill thought to you if you do not choose to go through with it. Are you sure you want to continue?"
Twilight nodded, not trusting her tongue to form words, as it suddenly had become glued to the roof of her mouth. For the second time in only a few minutes, she found herself at a loss for words.
I am not nervous. I knew this would be the case. I knew what I was getting into. Didn't I?
Axion nodded solemnly and turned back to her ink.
"Okay then. Let's begin."
The blob of red ink currently held in Axion's magic drifted over to the blank space of floor, and began to spread itself. At first, it seemed like a random collection of lines scribbled on the floor, as if by a foal, but soon a figure began to take shape. Twilight's eyes widened as she realized one of her most far-fetched hypothesis was coming true. She glanced at Axion, who was focusing completely on making sure each line was perfectly straight, with no excess ink anywhere.
Around the perimeter of the area was a square, perfectly symmetrical. On the inside of the square, archaic runes were written in an old language few knew even existed, and none spoke. Twilight knew a few of these from research into ancient rituals, but didn't know the meanings of any of them. After all the runes were laid around the square, a second square was formed beneath them, giving them their own separate layer.
Next, Axion took hold of the green ink, and went to work on the inside of the inside square. A third square was formed, the corners touching the midpoints of the sides of the square around it. More symbols began to write themselves around the inside edge of this square as well.
Finally, Axion lifted a small amount of the black ink and drew a circle in the center of the pentacle, the outer perimeter barely meeting the bottom of the runes in four places. Small triangles were formed around the inside of the circle, the bases on the circle, pointing inwards. Twilight knew this was where she was to stand during the process. The entire thing was designed to better focus magical power into a single point or object placed in the middle. Twilight had read very little about these ancient formations, and had come to believe they had been rendered pointless by modern advances in crystal focal lenses, but here was Axion, making one, and dead serious about it.
Axion finished and took a step back to admire her work and let the ink dry before beginning. The red had began to dry already, and to Twilight looked nothing less than blood, a morbid thought she hurriedly pushed from her head lest it make her even more nervous than she already was.
"There. I am finished with this step. Now we just let it dry before we can truly begin."
"Could we not dry it with magic and begin immediately?"
"No. No magic must touch this until the main spell. As these circles are used, their power is diminished rapidly with each consecutive use, and they are very sensitive. Even the smallest spell will drain it a perceptible amount, and we will need all the help we can get. As well, we cannot risk smudging it in the slightest, or it will fail."
"I see.... I've never seen any complete description in any book, much less a picture. How do you know how to make one, and all the details? Do you know what the runes mean?"
"There are other places to learn than the Royal Library. Luna might know of this, as things like this were still within knowledge when she was banished, even though it was ancient even then. However, sometime during the next thousand years, or maybe even before that, Celestia deemed it sensitive material and had it removed, along with many other subjects."
"But... Why? Isn't that what the restricted section is for?"
"Celestia decided some topics were too dangerous for even the restricted section. She has grown shrewd in her many years, and has learned from olden times. If knowledge such as this is available, eventually there are those that will use it for less than noble purposes. Even though the Princesses would be there almost immediately to put an end to any madness that could come from it, much harm could be done before then."
"So she did it to protect us?"
Axion was silent, and turned to give Twilight an odd look, one somewhere between bemused and grim.
"It was to protect, yes..."
Twilight met Axion's gaze, and considered asking if there was any further explanation. Before she could say anything though, Axion turned back to the circle and closely examined the ink.
"It seems quite dry. If you are ready...?"
Twilight felt the familiar apprehension again, but crushed it back down with force of will, and nodded. Axion noticed her nervousness, and smiled.
"Do not worry, Twilight. I understand how risky this would be ordinarily, but I urge you to remember, I am not ordinary, and neither are you. Between the both of us, I am completely confident of success."
Twilight returned Axion's smile.
"Thank you. What would you like me to do?"
"Go stand in the middle of the circle, and make sure to be as centered as you can. Do your best not to step on the lines, please."
Twilight gingerly stepped into the middle of the innermost circle, taking care to avoid all the lines and writing. As soon as she was centered, she felt a small chill run down her back and through her coat, similar to the static she feels when pulling on a thick sweater. She looked around quizzically, then turned to Axion who had walked to one side of the outer square and now had her eyes closed, concentrating. Her horn was glowing just slightly, and after a moment the runes on the outer ring began to glow a very faint red. The glow very slowly began to creep over the rest of the red ink until the outer layers were all glowing. At this point, Axion opened her eyes halfway and looked at Twilight.
"I assure you this is completely safe and under my control, but I feel obligated to tell you this is your last chance to change your mind. Once I power up the inner circle and runes, you must not leave the circle or we will experience extremely violent magical backlash."
Twilight swallowed a knot in her throat and managed to croak her answer.
"I'm fine."
A miniscule smile appeared on Axion's face and she closed her eyes again. The glow on her horn intensified, and the red glow from the outer layers behaved similarly. The feeling of static got more intense on Twilight's coat, making her hair stand on end, and a deep roar filled her ears, like a waterfall from a distance. The red glow got brighter, creating the illusion that the floor surrounding Twilight was molten. The green ink then slowly began to glow as well, starting very faintly at first, then getting more intense. Twilight was expecting the red and green to create a purple glow where they met, but there was no blending. Instead, there seemed to be some sort of barrier where they collided, neither glow encroaching on the other. The green glow kept getting brighter, until it was as bright as the red.
Twilight looked up from the mesmerizing spectacle around her to Axion. The black unicorn had her brow furrowed, and her horn was covered in a wavering blue mist, flickering and waving as if it was on fire. The magic wasn't flowing straight from the horn to the circle, however, instead trailing down the horn and the sleek black body, then to the hooves, where it flowed gracefully to the floor, making it seem as if the unicorn was connected to the stone, a living statue. The red glow directly in front of her was shining on her face, casting shadows that played around her eyes in an odd way, making her seem almost demonic to Twilight.
The violet unicorn turned her eyes back down the the circle around her. She was expecting the black ink to start glowing like the other layers were. However, the black circle and triangles were as cold and black as they were when they were drawn. The glow didn't seem to extend into the circle either, creating a dark circle in the middle of the shining spectrum around Twilight. She kept looking at the black lines, expecting them to do something. Before anything happened with them, though, the outer layers caught her attention again. The inscribed runes had began to seemingly float, creating an apparition of the runes still written on the floor. The squares were still stationary, but the floating runes lifted to about four feet off the ground, then began to waver, as if seen from under a layer of water. The static running through Twilight's coat had intensified as the runes had lifted, but soon the feeling was washed away, replaced with a sort of flowing, like she was under a downward blowing wind.
Then the black circle finally began to react. The black wasn't glowing with light, but seemed to get even darker instead, as if it was absorbing the light around it. It began to lift off the floor like the runes, but the difference was there was no circle left on the floor. The ink itself was floating, raising to eye level. Then it started to constrict around Twilight, until it seemed as if it was only inches away from her. But then she blinked, and she could see that it was still the same distance from her, and the strong magic was just playing tricks on her eyes.
Suddenly, Axion threw her head back and her eyes opened wide, but instead of being the calm grey the eyes had been, instead they were solid black, blacker than black, almost blending in with the black coat, but with the same light-absorbing properties as the circle around Twilight. Axion's mouth opened as if yelling with strain, but no sound reached Twilight, whose ears were only filled with the quiet roaring of acting magic. The static feeling returned, but it was even stronger than before, the intense shock running through her muscles making it nearly impossible to move. Her eyelids began to flicker with the shock, blinking rapidly and uncontrollably. Then the current began to siphon away from the majority of Twilight's body and began to focus on Twilight's back.
It's happening...
The feeling in Twilight's back had began to feel like a burning, as if there was a hot iron inches away from her skin. The iron slowly moved closer, until Twilight felt like her skin was blistering with the heat, her coat on fire. She screamed, but couldn't even hear herself over the roar of magic. The runes around her glowed even brighter, until they were almost impossible to look at. Soon, the roar had gotten so loud it was deafening, and the light got so bright Twilight had to close her eyes. She lowered her head, and screamed again as the pain in her back intensified. The light and the noise and the pain all reached a crescendo. Suddenly, they all pulsed in unison, making Twilight's legs nearly buckle. They pulsed again, and Twilight felt her back legs give out as her back seemed to lose all sensation and her rump hit the floor. Another pulse, and Twilight was faintly aware of her front legs giving away, and she collapsed. She gritted her teeth and bit back another scream. A fourth pulse coursed through her, and Twilight fought to stay conscious. She felt a cold blackness creeping on her mind, and the pain in her back was faded behind it, but she was still aware of it. Another pulse racked her body, and Twilight was sure she was about to pass out. She felt smothered, as if under a thick blanket.
Then, like water draining out of a tub, all the feeling began to leak away, The pain, the noise, the claustrophobia, everything began to feel very faint. Twilight knew she should have been terrified, but instead all she felt was sleepy, as if after a long day of physical exertion. She couldn't open her eyes, and her limbs felt like they were made of lead and too heavy to budge. Twilight could barely summon the energy to run a last thought through her head.
Is this .... What it feels like..... To die.....?
Through the blackness, Twilight could barely feel the pain, and all she could hear was deafening silence. She barely felt an odd feeling in her back, as if she had extra limbs sprouted out, even though they were as heavy and immobile as the rest of them. A tiny ribbon of thought flew through her mind, barely enough to register as an emotion. She felt a miniscule hint of the feeling of success, but before she could fully explore it, a last jolt of power ran through her body. Twilight felt like she should open her eyes, move a leg, or anything to enforce her mind on her body, but the blackness on her mind was too far in, too completely covering. Slowly, she felt herself slip into the sweet serenity of unconsciousness.
Twilight opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a few times, but each time it took great effort. She kept blinking, fighting the lethargy running through her body. All other emotions were jaded, and it took all her effort to keep blinking. She clung to the thoughts that kept her eyes blinking, and used all mental ability at her disposal to make them keep going. She couldn't even process the light coming through her optic nerves to form a picture, but she kept blinking, focusing on it, on the one thing that proved she was alive. As time slowly went on, after what seemed like hours, the blinking became easier and faster, and Twilight was able to put some mental processing power to other things. The first thing she did was make sense of what she was seeing. She was laying flat on her stomach, and she was still in the middle of the circle. The lines about her were no longer black, but instead a dull grey. After a minute of assessing the grey lines in front of her, Twilight was able to move her pupils and look at the other lines. The red and green had all faded away to the same dull grey, as if all the color had been stolen by the magic. The lines looked as if they had been burned into the floor rather than drawn with ink.
Twilight closed her eyes, and repurposed the energy from seeing into moving. She was barely able to shift her front left leg, maybe an inch. But it was progress, and Twilight kept at it. Soon, she was able to move both of her front legs, and she decided to try and lift them. It was difficult, but she managed to push her legs underneath her and began to push herself up. It felt as if she was lifting the weight of the world, but she persisted. Inch by inch, her body raised into a sitting position. Her head hung low, her neck bent, but with great effort Twilight was able to lift her head. She opened her eyes, and immediately closed them as she looked right into one of the lanterns still burning on the table. She turned her head a little and tried again. This time, her eyes opened on Axion, who was sitting where she had been standing, just outside the square. Her head was hanging a little, but her eyes were open and she was smiling at Twilight. Neither of them could summon the energy to speak, so they sat looking at each other for a span of minutes. During this time, Twilight tried to move her back legs. She could feel them, but they were stubbornly paralyzed. She looked back at Axion, who had finally risen to her feet. Not to be outdone, Twilight persisted trying to stand.
After more of the greatest effort she could manage, Twilight shakily stood. She closed her eyes and rejoiced in her small victory for a moment, then opened her eyes again and looked back to Axion, who was still focused on Twilight.
"Twilight, how do you feel?"
".....Tired."
That small word came out as not much more than a whisper, and Twilight was left with too little energy to even close her mouth afterward. Twilight lifted one leg with the intention of taking a step, but sat it back down in the spot it had been. She gritted her teeth and summoned all the energy in her body into her muscles, then was able to take a step. Then she took another, and another, moving forward without a destination, happy to just be able to walk. After half a dozen exhausting steps, she reached the wall in front of her. With more great effort, she turned to her left and continued walking. Before long, she had completed a few laps of the room, and enough vitality had returned to her to have the majority of her body back under her control. She turned to look at Axion, who was standing in place, watching Twilight with a look of unabashed pride.
"You are up and moving very well. I would have guessed you would be lying on the floor for another half hour, but again I have underestimated you."
"Another half hour? I was out for half an hour?"
"A little more. You lost consciousness just after the spell was finished."
Twilight returned Axion's proud grin with one of her own.
"It was successful?"
"See for yourself."
Twilight hesitated a second before turning her head to regard her back. Where had once been a blank expanse of violet, now was interrupted by two majestic wings sprouting out of her back, just behind her shoulders and a few inches to the side of her spine. They hung limply by her sides, but as the looked at them, she became more aware of them and was able to wiggle them. She continued to wiggle them around, and was soon able to lift them. She managed to lift them straight up, then brought them down with a small woosh. She lifted them and flapped again. It was barely coordinated, but it was flapping. She felt them generate a small amount of upward force, not nearly enough to lift her, but she was confident they would soon enough. She folded them, awkwardly at first, but shifted them until they were comfortable. They still felt odd to her, but she was still getting used to the idea that they had actually succeeded.
"Axion, they're.... Beautiful."
"Indeed. They seem so natural to you, as if you were born with them. You look simply fabulous."
Twilight blushed a little bit, and felt her wings shuffle a bit involuntarily.
I'm going to have to make sure to get these under control. I can't have them giving away all my emotions like a mood ring.
"Thank you, Axion, thank you so very much. I never dreamed I would one day have wings of my own. Thank you. I owe you so much."
"It is quite amazing, isn't it? And do not worry, you can repay me by working on my project with me. But for now, you can begin by leading me to the kitchen. I am famished."
Twilight smiled widely and nodded, and walked towards the stairs leading to the rest of the library. Her mind had recovered close to completely, and was now a hive of activity. But one excited thought kept pushing out all the others and remained the most prominent as she walked up the stairs with Axion behind her.
I have wings.... I have wings! I will fly! I will fly, all by myself! I have WINGS!!!