Destiny Sparkle

by Spirit Guide

Standing Up Straight

Ever since Steven had introduced me to his computer, it had become one of my most trusty companions (after Steven, my plushies, the TV and the couch, of course). Since the Equinomicon offered so little information on its and all other magic I'd encountered, I decided to start compiling what I knew and drawing up assumptions and theories. Hopefully, with this collection of knowledge, we'd be better prepared for any anomalies that could very well strike out at us.

As it turned out, however, it didn't go over so well. Not that the information didn't make sense or add up; it did, all except for Steven's actually having magic, and that was the problem. Nothing in all that I'd encountered during my time in this world pointed to a logical explanation of Steven's magic. It could be like Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkie Sense', her sudden unexplainable body movements that could predict future occurrences. Maybe Steven simply had magic.

No, there has to be something else to it, I decided, tapping the desktop impatiently as I struggled to think of an answer. Do human wizards exist? I've read historical records of witches and soothsayers, but could they have basis in fact that point to modern-day events?

Trying with no success frustrates me. It tosses every effort made into the trash and mocks you for wasting time. I had lines of meaningless strung words on the computer document and pages of scribbles, and I still wasn't any closer to solving the magic mystery.

Oh well, enough of that. Let's have some fun.

Putting aside all my research, I opened up a separate window and started watching Inuyasha. Steven had introduced me to multiple cartoons and anime to help get through the lonely hours and I was already picking favorites. Inuyasha appealed to me in particular, as the lead characters often end up in each other's worlds and often had trouble reacting properly; scenarios I could easily relate to.

I had gotten through barely half of an episode when I heard a knock at the door. Steven was always telling me never to answer the door and ignore the bell, to keep my presence secret from the rest of the world. Besides, only Steven had any business being in the house and he had a key.

I ignored the beckon call and turned down the volume, to make it appear like no one was home, but a second later someone knocked again, thrice and louder. Normally, I'd have turned a deaf ear, but whoever it was followed up with an irritating rhythm buzzed out on the doorbell. What the buck? I thought violently. Whoever the heck that is, are you TRYING to tick me off?

I tapped the mouse repeatedly, ready to drown out any oncoming noises, but the seeker drummed a solo on the door that simply begged for trouble, and I had grown an attitude. That's it. Lifting an umbrella from the coat rack, I clomped to the door, ready to teach a good old fashioned lesson to the moron who'd gotten into his head that hammering on people's doors was a good idea. I turned the key with my magic, forgetting Steven's warnings in my rage, and wrenched the door open.

The doorstep was clear. Nobody around.

I held back, the emptiness clearing up my anger. What the hay? I tried to peer around the corner of the door without leaning out too much. to avoid being seen. Then I remembered that I had a large protruding horn.

Oop- SLAM!

"Aaaaaaaaha hahahahahaaha!"

My heart beat like a speeding steam engine. Just beyond the fence around the front of the house, some kids were peeking out at the door, laughing uproariously. It was then that I realized what they were trying to do and the thought that they had almost lured me into the open frightened me as much as any fatal disease.

Steven could not have come home any faster.

*

"You think they saw you?"

"I don't know, I don't!"

On top of not leaving the house, I spent the rest of the day wrapped up in a thick sheet and with a hefty pair of safety goggles on my face, to assure my identity remain hidden. It was certainly paranoia on my part, but after the shocking experience of that day, I was not willing to take any more chances, and no amount of anime was able to put my mind at ease.

"I shouldn't have lost my anger. I'm sorry."

"Knock, Knock, Ginger. In England, anyway," Steven explained. ""The prank goes by several names, probably depending on where you live. But that's all it is: a prank."

"A prank that can get you shot," I commented. Shortly after the failed healing of anime, I looked up reference to see if I was the only victim of this immature joke. The more I researched, however, the more distressed I became. Victims occasionally harmed the children pulling the prank, using firearms to take shots at the retreating hooligans. As I read, images of humans with oranges for heads sprung to mind, either making me grin evilly or shake my head to dismiss the thought.

"You have more self-control than that," Steven said, brushing my mane with his hands. "Even when you're angry."

"I should have done something," I insisted, panic building. "Maybe a mind spell? They could have seen me."

"And they probably would have dismissed it as a hat or accessory." Steven stroked me until I stopped shaking. "Let's proceed on the assumption that they don't know a real purple unicorn is living in this house."

I gave a nod and though I was no longer shaking, I was still very much shook up from the whole ordeal. Months of living together in secret had gotten me used to being a secret, and the possibility of being discovered became chilling, not thrilling, and that feeling in itself became heightened as time went on. All in all, my mental state was getting to a questionable point over being found out.

"This can't go on, Steven," I said with a sigh, my ears flopping down. "I don't want to be found, but I feel hiding won't work for much longer. I've been lucky these past few months, but luck runs out eventually."

"Your luck never ran out in Equestria," Steven remarked, patting my back in a final sort of way. "Probably because you didn't rely on luck."

"True friends make their own luck." I levitated a glass of juice off the table and took a long drink. "But back home I had a lot more friends. Here, I only have you. Not that there's anything wrong with that," I added quickly. "And you have your own magic; that really is saying something."

"Thank you." Steven pointed at another glass and, with a snap of his fingers, brought it up in his blue magic aura. "You're right though. This can't go on. You can't hide forever in this world; it never works in the movies and it certainly won't work in real life."

"But what can I do?" I complained. "No amount of clothes or makeup will fool any human into thinking I'm one of them, and I don't know any transformation spells that will work for that."

"Guess it's time to break out our old friend, Deus Ex Machina," Steven announced, grinning in spite of it all. A point of his finger brought the Equinomicon out of its hiding place, between Baby Beluga and Winnie the Pooh. My paranoia of being caught had even led me to hiding the magical tome, should someone break in.

"We're coming to it this time," I reminded him, calming at the sight of the book. "Will it even have something for us?"

"I don't think the Equinomicon works like that. It may have a personality of its own, but I think it is ready to give us the knowledge when we ask for it. In the past, it must have sensed your illness, loneliness and the windigos, and so it responded with an answer."

I nodded approvingly. "It makes sense when you put it that way, and I guess we won't know for sure until we try."

We settled back onto the couch and Steven set the book down on his lap. Reverently he turned the pages, showing first the Ultimate Recovery Spell, then the alternate Fire of Friendship, followed by the newest addition: the Little Pony Spell. Beyond that, the pages were still blank, but just looking at the three existing enchantments made me feel proud.

"Do you really think we'll ever find out where the Equinomicon came from?" I asked.

"I never managed to get an answer from my family, but the magic's started in my time so I feel there's a good chance I'll be the one to learn the truth." Steven's fingers drummed the first blank page. "I'm going to ask it now."

"Alright. Go for it."

Steven held the book up and stared at the pages. "Equinomicon, you who holds the secrets of magic, your aid and guidance is required again. The unicorn under my care can no longer be hidden from the world. Rather, she needs a way to hide within the world, and to be accepted among the people who inhabit it. So please, show us the way to accomplish our goals."

He sounded very impressive, respectful with a hint of commanding, even though the phrasing felt just slightly cheesy. I looked at the book, imagining what kind of faces it would be making if it had a face to begin with, waiting for a response. Mere seconds later, much to our surprise, the book gave off its familiar green glow and lifted itself out of Steven's hands to hover before us.

"You did it, Steven!" I whispered excitedly.

He put an arm around my shoulders. "The doing's not done, Twi. Let's watch."

The book turned vertically as though it were picking itself up and standing straight. It tilted down, making it appear like it was looking at us with those blank pages. Then the Equinomicon straightened again and the words began to appear:

A summons for me? What a pleasant surprise
To invite me on your own initiative, guys
Just remember: no matter what is called for
It'll be my pleasure to reply with an answer

You say a pony's in need of disguise
More in plain sight than when miniaturized?
My friends, I have here just what you need
But upon you will depend the spell's speed

To hide a pony among humans in view
Can be a lot simpler than the last few
Just keep it in mind what you're wanting to get
And channel your magic together a bit

As before, friendship is the key in a spell
Working together, and all will go well
So get right on to it, don't make it more strange
And here's hoping to a delightful new change

Ours eyes scanned the verses quickly, heads moving in sync as we read the lines together. "So I just need to think of what I want, we get the magic rolling and that's it?" I wondered aloud.

"It certainly looks to be that simple." Steven ran his finger under the third line of the third verse. "This one has the wording we need to focus on the most."

"Hm?" I reread the indicated line. "'Just keep it in mind what you're wanting to get'. Sounds straightforward enough. It looks to be transformation."

"More like transmogrification," Steven disputed. "I don't know, Twi. This seems like a biggie."

"I'm already facing a biggie, Steven. If I get caught, who knows what'll happen? Worst case scenario, a wormhole gets opened on both worlds and sucks everything we know and don't know into oblivion."

My human friend gave me a long studious look. I could practically hear his thoughts, working to come up with a retort to my moment of pessimism. Finally, he sighed and almost literally closed the book, which would likely have not befitted us with what we were about to do. "You're right, of course. It's the best option we have."

"Yes, yes it is." I looked at the line that was giving Steven trouble. "It seems clear enough. We just have to think of what we want to turn, sorry, what we want me to turn into."

"Do you know what you want us to turn you into?" Steven asked, though I was sure he knew the answer even as I said it.

"A human."

The Internet had given me countless examples for what ponies from Equestria would look like as humans or partially-transformed "anthros". "The spell will need a design choice in order to properly work," I declared. I teleported from the couch to the swivel chair before the computer, a lazy seven feet for something like teleportation, and flashed my hooves across the keyboard, bringing up numerous image databases as I searched for source material.

"Twilight?" Steven called over, getting up from the couch and starting toward the computer desk.

"Just a little longer, the ideas are rolling in!"

"Twilight."

I felt Steven's hands on my shoulders and his gaze on my head. The screen was covered in partly-maximized windows, each one displaying artwork from the Internet. Every image was of me, an artist's rendition of what I would look like as a human. But something about Steven's touch made me hesitate and halt my search. I turned my head up and looked him in the eye.

"What is it?"

His smile warmed my heart, as always, though what he had to say was of concern. "You shouldn't use someone else's ideas for this spell. It doesn't feel right, you know? Like downloading pirated movies and TV shows; you're using something for free for your own gain."

"But Steven, this is really important," I argued. "This can become life or death. Also, it's not like I'm gaining anything major from this."

"I know that when you say 'gaining', you mean monetarily. But I think there's more at stake than just gain, or lack-thereof; if you use someone else's idea for something that could become central to you, and at the same time not you at all. Whatever you use to fuel the artistic aspect of this spell, it needs to be yours."

After several seconds of nothing but silence and staring, my hoof found its way to the monitor's power button and the screen winked off, vanishing all my reference pieces and leaving me with a void. Some rational part of me agreed with Steven's uncommon explanation, but the rest of me was convinced of my lack of imagination to complete this task ahead. "Will you help me?"

Steven blinked unsurely, then narrowed his gaze to the computer. "Are you sure?"

"I don't think I've been surer of anything else in my life."

"I dunno, Twi. I'm almost as hesitant about this as I was with the computer. I mean, I guess I have an idea for what you'd look like, and—"

I didn't let him finish, knocking him to the floor with my exuberant jump to his chest. "Yes, I AM sure! And yes, you WILL help me and everything will go perfectly!" At that point, I was practically shaking him.

"Okay okay, I'll do it!" Steven's hands shot up and restrained me bodily, holding me close against him while he began to stroke my mane. "Just keep your cool, please. Getting nervous or overexcited can only spell trouble, so let's just proceed calm and collected-like, alright?"

"Yes. Of course. Can we please start?"

We took up positions. I stood in the center of the den carpet auspiciously, Steven standing just outside it, the Equinomicon propped up on the table for literary reference. Looking into his eyes, I could already see him concentrate and focus, though I could only imagine what was going through his mind. Something promising, my rational side ushered. It's all trust and friendship between the two of you.

Who KNOWS what's going on inside that pale brown head?! a rather loud and uncouth voice screamed out. For all we know, he's going to try and turn us into a—

"Twilight, are you ready?"

As always, Steven's voice pulled me back to reality. "Yes. Are you?"

"I've got a form in mind; I can practically see it on you now, you as it. I don't think I've ever seen anything so clearly in my mind either. I'm ready as well"

I nodded. "Then let's do this."

Steven knelt down in front of me. "Twilight, I'm no expert but I like to think I'm insightful on this. Transmogrification, as depicted, is not a simple thing. Bone growths, muscles, organs, your entire body is going to undergo the kind of changes that takes months, years, possibly even millions of years to happen. Something like that could be very, very painful."

"I know, Steven. I've thought it through and researched it as well. And yes, I know it could hurt a lot. But we've already agreed on this and we have to try, if only to know that we can. Trust me."

Hoof and hand met together, the two of us gripping tightly as we looked into each other's eyes. "I do."

"Then no more delays. Let's do this."

Resuming our positions, I activated my magic into a field of energy. The plan was for Steven to tap into my power with his, and use our combined magic to shape my body as he imagined. It followed in line with the Equinomicon's words as much as we understood, so there was no reason to think it wouldn't work.

Steven called upon his own magic, blue light filling his hands and slowly extending a long, snaky line that suckered onto my energy field. I could feel Steven's presence through it, his magic and feelings helping calm my slightly jumpy nerves.

Things were looking good so far.

"I can feel your magic," Steven called out, his voice sounding strange through the field. "It's trying to draw on my vision."

"Then let it flow. Let it happen."

My own voice seemed to echo within my magic field. A thread of my magic crept up Steven's blue tendril, while it spider-webbed its own color over my purple dome. Steven twisted his hands, weaving his magic through mine, shaping it to suit his master plan. The dual colored dome shimmered with a dozen shades of violet, indigo, cyan and mulberry.

"It's beautiful."

Steven smiled, then tugged. All at once, the dome began to collapse inwards. For a second, I panicked, but one look at Steven's determined face, as well as the constant reassuring feeling surging through our joint magic, calmed me right down as the magic field shrank even closer.

"Now."

The spell draped over me, tightening around my body like a latex glove. I could still see, but every part of me felt tightly bound by warm magic bandages. Steven's concentrated expression never wavered as I rose into the air, the tightness increasing with every passing second until it was almost suffocating.

Then came the change.

I imagine it was the change, because it was almost as Steven had described. My legs felt as though they were being pulled on a rack, slowly teasing them outwards beyond their limits. My body seemed to snap this way and that like an ever-bouncing rubber band. I had to screw up my face as I felt it shift like a shiver down my spine, in front. It wasn't as painful as expected, but it didn't tickle either.

On and on, the cycle went. Flashes of pain, blinding light, struggling to keep my cool with Steven's collected face in my subconscious. My hooves felt as though they were each being pulled in five separate directions. My ears were literally sliding down my head.

"It's working, it's working!"

Again came Steven's voice through the magic, further enforcing my confidence in the procedure despite all the aches coming from it. My legs started to throb like never before and my balance suddenly left me, causing my inevitable fall to the floor. I put my hooves down to break my fall, but felt a sudden weakness that made me collapse from there to the bottom. I barely felt the floor beneath me, though, possibly on account of the magic already tampering with my systems.

"TWILIGHT!"

My ears rang from the now-clear calling and I soon felt Steven's hands on me, and soon I was sitting upright. My head felt like it was spinning in six different directions, and the throbbing was still plentiful all over me. It took a moment focusing on Steven's face before I could see it clearly. It was full of concern.

"Twilight?"

"Um... yes, Steven?"

"First off, do you feel okay?"

I took a moment to take note of the various aches and pains still happening. "Just about a dozen various spots experiencing a dull throbbing, but other than that I'm fine."

"Good." Steven pulled back a bit and looked at me carefully, his gaze becoming steadily disapproving by the second. "This won't work. This isn't right!" He grabbed the Equinomicon and shouted at it. "This is no good!"

"Steven, calm down!" Getting up, I grabbed the book away from him. "Whatever went wrong, you can't blame the Equinomicon. It's just the messenger, after all, not the maker."

My only friend in this world stared at me, more specifically staring at the Equinomicon in my hands. Or hooves, really.

No, wait. Yes, hands.

I looked down at myself, down my pale purple forelimbs, at the magic book that I held. At the end of my familiar-colored appendages were body parts I was not acquainted with personally: hands. Gone were my flat-ended hooves, instead my forelimbs ended in the five-digit appendages that humans showed their dexterity off with in their everyday life, that primates and several other creatures had to grab, hold, point and an infinite number of other things.

And now I had hands.

"Steven.... what happened to my hooves?"

The setting sun cast a dark shadow over Steven's face, his eyes aimed at the floor. "Whatever happened... to the rest of you, Twilight."

At this, I gave in to the temptation. I got up from the floor and hurried to the mirror in the other room, instantly realizing many, many things: for one, I was tall enough now to see my entire body without craning my neck, as I'd had to previously.

Another, was how my body had transformed.

My new height was thanks to my new back legs, which were much longer now. My hands came at the end of arms taking the place of my forelegs, also longer, though not feeling as strong as my old legs were, possibly from not being used to support my weight. My entire torso was now that of a human female, though my skin color remained my own familiar purple pigmentation. Even my face, which had the small nose and mouth typical of humans, was a healthy shade of mulberry.

Unfortunately, none of that went well with the rest. My new legs ended in massive six-inch hooves, which would certainly not fit in any of Steven's boots. My pony ears stuck out at the top of my head, along with my horn. Even my tail was still around, swishing behind my new body as though nothing had happened.

"This won't help," Steven raged, gesticulating wildly between myself and the Equinomicon. "You're even more noticeable than ever. There's going to be almost no way to hide you now. No offence, but THIS IS USELESS!"

His despairing shouts drew me away from my reflection and I quickly made my way back to my friend. "Steven, please, calm down," I insisted, putting my new hands on his shoulders. "Panicking and shouting isn't going to help."

Steven's eyes bulged with the words I asked him not to speak, also coming out his mouth as deep raggedy breaths. Slowly, I managed to ease him onto the couch where he sat still, cupping his head in his hands. "It's just too much, Twi. After all that effort, and we're not even close."

"Don't say that. Look!" I lifted my leg in an attempt to show our progress, but misjudged and lost my balance, bringing me to the floor. I realize that I'm not as plush as I normally was, and the fall stung a bit on my new flank.

"Ooo..."

At least I got a grin out of Steven, though it didn't last. "Twilight, this won't serve as a disguise to hide you among us in this world," he said, lowering his hands and unveiling his sad smile. "You know that, right?"

He was right. My new appearance was certainly not close to human, better matched under the term "anthropomorphic". While it was truly a fascinating experience that would leave me much to consider, It would not serve the purpose we sought in this new spell, and left us essentially right where we had started.

"It's too bad, too," I admitted, sitting down next to Steven. My head was now almost level with his, and I could look him straight in the eye while seated beside him. "This feels incredible, being built upright, being taller, having hands." I couldn't help but wiggle my fingers experimentally.

"Heh." Steven grinned, then looked scornfully at the Equinomicon. "But why didn't it work all the way?" He picked up the open book and shouted at it. "What do I need to do to make it work?!"

I looked away, thinking it would be best for Steven to vent out all his anger before trying to talk more, but the silence that followed was so profound I had to look back. Steven was now looking at the open Equinomicon, staring wide-eyed at the pages of the spell we had just cast on my person.

"Steven? What is it?"

He looked up from the magical tome, staring off into the distance. "All I had to do was ask, huh...." he mumbled.

"What happened, Steven? What's it saying?"

He slowly turned to look at me, a small sympathetic smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He brought the Equinomicon towards me, lifted it up and turned it about so that the pages were open to me, and I looked in. There, near the bottom of the page upon which the transformation spell ended, in a shiny hand-written scrawl, were two words:

Help her

I lifted my gaze from the Equinomicon, looking straight into the eyes of the only person who knew of me in this world, my only friend here. I thought about everything we'd been through together, all the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the hidden and the revealed, of us and between us. I thought about how we were connected through my home of Equestria, through its fictitious depiction in this world and my very being. Introspection brought a lot to mind, and it began to dawn on me just how close Steven and I had become. One look at his face told me very similar thoughts were going through his head.

"So," I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper, not quite sure of an appropriate volume to use at such a time, "what are you going to do?"

Steven's expression became quizzical, but he glanced at the way I was, my anthropomorphic body that would stick out even at a fantasy convention. He slipped the Equinomicon onto the table, face-up with the new spell and the even newer words on display, and then his eyes drew even closer.

"Help you."

I didn't realize how close we were sitting until the distance had completely vanished, our lips coming together. At once, I recalled our previous kisses and how similar they all were, yet this one was different somehow. Was it because my lips were now human so they 'fit' better? I was certainly enjoying the contact they shared with Steven's, so maybe it was that.

But now was certainly different. Steven's arms came up behind my back, pulling me into a hug, bringing us closer. I slipped my new arms over his shoulders, linking them behind his neck. Being this close with our arms all interlocked, made me feel good, even better with the kissing. I could feel the warmth of Steven's body against my skin, the pleasant feeling of our kiss shared through our contact. My lips tingled with every passing second as he kept his glued to them.

I hope they didn't feel too fuzzy.

I closed my eyes, preferring to feel my way through this experience, and so much feeling there was to do. But even through my closed eyelids, I could make out a dull shine coming from somewhere. My curiosity urged powerfully, tempting me to open my eyes and see, but my mind was made up and my feelings prevailed, forcing my eyes shut even tighter. Steven and I held on to our passionate embrace a moment longer, before finally letting it fade.

"Mmmmm...." I allowed myself a moment to review what had just happened, the immediate memory only raking in the good feelings further. "That was the best."

"Yeah, it w—"

"Steven?"

Whatever my human friend was about to say suddenly petered off, and I finally allowed my eyes to open. His face gave things away again, as he looked me up and down in a state of awe, clearly not believing whatever it was he was seeing. "What is it now?"

My friend let his look of awe melt into a content smile. Steven pushed a hand mirror into my palm. "See for yourself."

I held up the small mirror and looked into it. The limited view I got of my face showed the skin as a light brown, a bit darker than Steven's own. Tilting up and to the sides revealed my horn and pony ears had vanished, and a pair of small round ears on the sides of my head instead. Holding the mirror at arm's length gave me a complete look at the changes I'd gotten to my body.

"Wow," was all I managed to get out. "It's all.... I've.... I',...."

"I'm of the opinion you better get a full look," Steven commented, looking away and pointing to the next room, and the mirror within.

Wordlessly, I leapt up and hurried over there, standing before the full-length mirror. What I saw in it blew my mind. Gone was the familiar shade of mulberry I associated so much with my body. Everything I saw was an orangish tan, from my hornless forehead and down to my five newly-formed round toes, on the end of my feet on the bottom of both legs. My hair had kept the old-mane look, which was about the only semblance to my old body I had left on me. Taking it all in, it looked as though someone had indeed taken my body, and humanized it, like so many people had with their pencils, styluses and mouse pointers.

"Oh."

Even that word barely escaped my lips. The entire situation was so new, so prodigious, I couldn't form the words to properly express my feelings. My new body was perfect, just what we'd set out to achieve; I was now the proud owner of a form that would be perfectly hidden among the rest of the people of this world. A human form.

"Twilight."

Steven appeared beside me in the mirror, and I could feel his careful breathing on my bare shoulders. He was just an inch or so taller than I was now, and our eyes met in the reflection. Feeling something against my new hand, I looked down in the mirror and saw Steven grasp mine in his, the warm feeling as good as with a hoof.

"You did it."

I brought my eyes back up to see something glinting in the mirror, and I saw there were tears in his eyes, tears that looked none too out of place when coupled with his happy smile. I felt myself smile too, watching it in the mirror and finding it quite pleasing to see.

"We did it."

Turning away from the mirror, I faced Steven, finding it kind of cool to be standing up straight in front of him, looking him in the eyes, on the same level. His smile grew wider and wider as we looked at each other, his grin becoming so contagious I couldn't help but beam back at him, and from there we dissolved into a fit of laughter, holding onto each other's shoulders as we laughed. We laughed at us, laughed at the world, laughed at our success. It was a victorious kind of laughter, different but surprisingly comforting.

"Aah, look at us," Steven gasped, stopping for a breath. He wiped the tears from his eyes, grinning uncontrollably at me. "Giggling like a couple of lunatics. Mad lunatics."

"Perhaps we are," I said, panting heavily. My lungs felt normal, though right now they were languished from laughing too hard. "Mad on affection."

"Is that what it is, Twilight? Do you really think it's... affection."

I hardened my gaze a little. "Steven, how many times have you kissed me?"

He looked at me awkwardly, the question a bit sudden and out of nowhere. "Three?"

"Good." I gave a short nod. "Now come kiss me once more."

Not even waiting for him, I took the initiative and went on the offensive, pushing myself up on my toes to reach my goal and planting my lips against his. He quickly cottoned on, and I felt his arms wrap around me once again, our bodies as close as they could be. The warmth of his embrace coupled with the incredible sensation of our oral contact left me feeling as though I were floating on the air, a feeling I was pretty well-acquainted with. I could sense Steven's happiness almost like an enchanted glow around us, mixed in with my own contentment at how well off we were together.

All in all, the experience felt magical.

Breaking apart, we looked into each other's eyes even as the rest of the world came back into view. Steven reached up with his hand and moved a lock of my mane—I'll probably start thinking of it just as "hair" eventually—and hooked it behind my ear. I couldn't help but giggle.

"It worked."

"Yes," Steven agreed, smiling as though all were right with the world. "It certainly did. Now we don't have to worry about you being found out. You don't need to fear being seen. You could answer the door, walk outside, see the city and the whole world even."

Just the ideas of everything I was free to do unmolested now seemed to fill Steven with joy, a joy that I could certainly share in. All the time since I've appeared in this world, since Steven took me in, I had to deal with the fact that ponies, at least of my type, were non-existent, and would likely be regarded as an anomaly or a danger. But now it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders: the weight of knowing I'd have to hide myself from the world I was currently in.

But no longer. Now, I am free.

"Steven," I began, "since we're all done with that whole 'fear of discovery' trouble, thanks to you and the Equinomicon, I was wondering if I could ask you a little something that I feel should have been asked by now."

My human companion nodded, smiling gently. "Sure. What was the question?"

I lifted my new hands, draping my fingers over the round twin protrusions on my upper body.

"What are these?"

. . . . .

Steven' smile stretched wider, up to his pink-tinged cheeks. He offered his hand to me, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous sort of way. "C'mon, Twi. I'll tell you everything you need to know about your new body, and anything else you may want to know."

"Great!"

I took Steven's hand, following him upstairs, though I couldn't help but wonder why he was acting so weird all of a sudden.

Author's Note:

Aaaand we're back
Way later than expected, but back all the same

Comments

[Texus]

It's a nice new chapter, but to the honest after all the time the early excitement is gone.
I hope that it might feel more interessting now that Twilight can run around, I think for a reason that I don't remember I wasn't the biggest fan of their circle of human friends.

Maybe the human world part was to restricted so far. I was reading a bit fast trough this chapter, but I understood what it was about and it might be the right decision.

[Spirit Guide]

9419718
I can hardly disagree. I really left my fics to stew
Hopefully, I can still write something worthy of my old following's attention

[Texus]

9419992
I give you the chance. The only thing is I hope when they ever get to Equestria, that you don't right Celestia in her control freak, tyrann version.

You know where some people she acts like a princess but for others she just acts like a huge #####
Celestia is a character that in my eyes is written more often bad than Luna.
Some of it may be how se often uses her power in the stories.

[Spirit Guide]

9420431
I've never really seen Celestia as a tyrant. Yes, she be powerful. Yes, she be the strongest thing for miles around for a thousand years. Yes, any normal mortal would be driven insane and power-hungry after all that. Yes, she's in a kids' cartoon and probably won't be featured that way, sans Daybreaker

So no, fear not. Should Celestia appear, and I do plan for that to happen, she will be the kind mentoring-type many acknowledge her as, not that naughty banana-loving troll-seeking sun-searing nudnik many love to depict her as

[Rainbow Dash fan 117]

NEW CHAPTER AT LAST!!!