Magic of the Earth

        No. That can’t be. This is impossible. There was no way this could be right. All of these were thoughts that held the highest priority in my mind moments after looking into the mirror. I was beginning to freak out, and this time I had no way to console myself. I was an observant person, often rather quick to pair visual prompts with their corresponding mental knowledge. Unfortunately for my peace of mind, this skill, which would normally be of great assistance with my desires, had come back directly in reverse with malicious intent.

        When I opened my eyes and examined ‘my’ head, I originally saw nothing unusual about it, aside from the fact that it was obviously pony, and not human. The first thing my eyes were drawn to were my eyes. Instead of the green eyes I had had as a human, I now had gigantic pupils, and irises that looked like they could have been fabricated from pure gold. The face was green furred, a sort of bright plastic green that one would expect to find on a lego baseplate. The sloppy mane above it was long, but the bangs were barely kept out of my vision. If I looked up far enough, I could see them in my vision directly. The mane’s color was that of a forest green, similar to that of the coat but and darker.

After about a second of staring at my face, taking in the image, I noticed several anomalies. The face overall looked soft, and not just because of the fur. This confused me for a moment, and I stared at it even harder to try to figure the puzzle out. It was then, less than a second after I began to squint, that it hit me. There was a reason that the face looked so soft, one that was obvious to the point that it should be slapped sharply for not being more subtle.

There was one and only possibility that it could bring, one that shoved splinters of boiling iron into and through my mental defenses, shredding them and sending me spiralling into the terrible cycle of yet another mental breakdown. I could feel my peace of mind liquefying and collapsing beneath me, like a catwalk suspended above a vat of acid suddenly losing all connections to the edge. I fell then, into the turbulent whirlpool that led only to madness. There was no ladder, no rule that I could cling to in the maelstrom, all I could do was try my best to keep my head above the water until by some chance someone could rescue me.

On no you don’t, you’re not spiralling into madness on my watch. The voice ran through my head, sending a titanium wall directly into the path of my orbit. I was instantly able to pull myself out of the water, reasserting control over my own mind far faster than I would have been able to by myself. The second I fixed myself, however, my mind instantaneously leaped to the cause of my freakout in the first place. This time, however, I managed to hold myself together. There could certainly be worse things than this, right?

Stop being such a wimp about this, you’re avoiding directly thinking about this change and you know it.

What did this voice want from me, to go outside and scream about this for all the world to hear?

No, but I do want for you to admit it to yourself.

Admit it to myself? What good would that do? The change was obviously there, and-

Do it, now you’re just indirectly denying it.

As much as I wanted to continue to argue with the voice, I knew in my heart what she said was true. I was denying it to myself, not letting myself believe it below the surface of my thoughts. The obvious reason for the softened features was that they were those that were not found on male ponies. As far as the face, -and voice, as my mind connected instantaneously,- told, I now held the body of a mare.

This change was... disturbing, but it had lost the icy bite of shocking. Overall, it really just made my mind uneasy, but I could live with this. Really, that freakout but a few seconds ago was rather dramatic, being trapped as the opposite gender for a day or two at most wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. I mean, this wasn’t half as bad as it could be if I was stuck like this permanently. Once I had gotten Master’s help, the detransformation back to human would be a breeze; he could correct magical mishaps like these with barely a thought. Sure, I had never seen any that were this complete or violating, but that wouldn’t be a problem.

Until I was able to fix my form, I might as well explore what this body had to offer. I hadn’t finished looking at myself in the mirror before I went careening into the boar’s eye, I hadn’t even been able to tell what race of pony I was. I hoped I was a pegasus, being able to fly would be amazing. I mean, sure, I was afraid of heights, but I could get past that if I knew that I would be able to catch myself if I fell.

My thoughts faded away as I focused my vision back in. I was glad nopony had seen that little episode, I must have looked so embarrassing when I fell into my own thoughts. My gaze flicked back to my face. Now that the analytical side of me was satisfied, I actually took in the face as a whole. I probably should have expected it from the combination of pony and female, but when you put the entire thing together, my face looked, to put it bluntly, adorable. I wasn’t going to be blasting people with diabetes, but I did feel a smile creep onto my face just from looking at it. Maybe I was being a bit full of myself, but if I were to be stuck as a female pony for a few days, then this is what I would want to look like.

Of course, me being cute didn’t answer the question of my race. My eyes shot up to my forehead, looking for a difference in the color there. From what I remember, unicorn’s horns matched the color of their coats. I wasn’t sure if that was because they were covered in fur too, or if the horn was just colored that way, but if I was one, I was about to find out.

Well, I was either a unicorn or an alicorn, for adorning my crown was a spiral centerpiece, matching my coat but having no discernible texture. To check it via touch, I lifted my right hoof to feel it. It didn’t feel like it had anything fuzzy on it, but it was surprisingly sensitive for being so hard. It may have felt like a bone, but it held just as many nerves as my face did.

Unlikely though it may have been, I hastily spun my head around to check my back for anything there either. There was no such luck, I wouldn’t be raising the sun anytime soon. I did, however, see my tail. It wasn’t too long, from what I could see, but it would take quite a bit of brushing to get the thing cleaned, if I actually wanted to indulge in such behavior. I probably wouldn’t, but you never know, right?

From my current position, I wasn’t able to see most of my flanks, meaning that I didn’t know whether I had a cutie mark or not. I doubted that I would anyway, I’ve never actually found any sort of calling as a human, I just did what I loved to do; helping Master shape the world to the ways he desired. Maybe I would find it, maybe not. A few days isn’t very long for one to find their destiny.

I pulled my head back to the mirror, to look for any other changes. There were a few, like the ears perched atop my head, quivering at attention in whatever direction noise came from. My teeth were also changed greatly; I didn’t have any canines anymore, among other things. There were probably some more, but I wasn’t paying very much attention to that. This was due to a thought that had occurred to me, and that was to, er, check my underside to confirm my shifted gender.

I’ll spare you the details of what was down there, but it was definitely not human, and definitely female.

So, what do you think? The voice rang through my head. I spoke out in reply “Wha-” Before hastily clamping my hooves over my mouth again. Unfortunately, due to my posture, this unexpected lack of support led to me falling forward. Picking myself up was quick business, I didn’t want to lie on the bathroom floor that I hadn’t cleaned for a while.

Might I suggest we go back to your bedroom? It’s cleaner in there, and you’ll have more space, She said, a reasonable suggestion. I nodded in response, not even realizing how useless the gesture was to a being that lived in my own head.

Once I was back in my room, I sat down in the best way I could, trying several positions before settling into one similar to one you’d see a dog in. It felt a little degrading, but it was still comfortable and there wasn’t anyone here to see it but myself and the voice. Come to think of it, I would probably need to come up with a name for her. Just calling her The Voice gets grating after a while.

I knew we’d come to this eventually, but I did not expect it this soon. I have a few names that sound good, would you like to hear them? She said, as if reading my mind. I am reading your mind. She replied to that thought, her words heavy with the air of humor. Back to the subject at hoof, I have four names I have thought up. The first is Alyssa, which is obviously human. The second is that of the Greek god Eris, which sounds like a good one regardless of meaning. The third is Arcana, an obvious play on words of my composition and origin. I still like it, though. The fourth is a pony name, the one that belongs to the showmare that played the antagonist in one or two episodes: Trixie.

That was a lot of names to choose from, but I immediately ruled out Trixie. I didn’t like either of the episodes she starred in, for reasons I won’t go into now.

Eris, while a good name, was much too similar to Discord. I didn’t like Discord. He was funny as a cartoon antagonist, but now that there was a chance he was real, then he was a terrifyingly powerful selfish jerk.

Alyssa was a good name, I had had a friend that bore that name before. Still, it didn’t hold enough of an air of mysticality for it to fit a mysterious voice in my head that was somehow related to my transformation into a unicorn.

Arcana was the logical choice, be it by elimination or just by it being superior to the others.

        I fought past the voice that still held the frozen bite of shock in it, managing to say “I think Arcana is the best choice.”

Very well, then I shall bear the chosen title. The newly named Arcana said, before continuing with Now, as I was trying to ask you earlier... What do you think of the new body?

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I obviously still wanted my humanity returned to me, but I was satisfied for now with what had been given to me.

I hope so, all of the details were based off of your own preferences, Arcana said, sending me into confusion.

“D-Did you... Did you change me into this?” I stuttered slightly, trying to get some clarity. Indeed I did. I chose the greatest compromise based on your greatest desires. What was she talking about? I didn’t want to be a pony, did I? I liked the show and all, but the thing I had always enjoyed most was watching and fantasizing about the magic Master performed. I had never said that I wanted to give up my chance at magic for this.

You haven’t given up magic. I just added something extra to satisfy you even more. Really, the ponies, as well as your master’s magic, are really all you were interested in. I did not have nearly the power to actually send you there, that would take more energy than even what the beasts of the underworld can hold.

Well, this was embarrassing. I felt my face heat up as I said, holding back a flinch, “You mean that those are all I’ve been interested in? I like other things, too!”

Yes, but most, if not all of those are things I wouldn’t be able to act on. Really, what else was I to do with that much extra power? I wouldn’t trust you with that much, not yet. She replied instantly, not even pausing to think about what she would say.

I really didn't have anything to reply to that with, her argument was so sound. That didn’t stop my mind from trying, though. In my search for a good comeback, I realized something. She had said that the level of power to reach... whatever planet the ponies were on would take a massive level of power, but she didn’t say it was impossible. What did he mean by that? “Wait, you said that it would take a lot of magic to reach Equestria, not that you couldn’t. Could you explain what you meant?”

Where else would I have obtained the schematic for your body? I couldn't have come up with this all on my own, you’re not smart enough for that, especially when you’re using up a good portion of brainpower for your own little adventures to dreamland. It took a bit of searching, but I found it in the archives of the underworld, where it was probably collected from telepathic communications between their land and ours.

So there was probably a real Equestria then. It must have been far off, though. Probably several galaxies away or something, I wasn’t one to study the heavens. Wait, if there was a schematic for a pony’s body, then surely there was one for a human one, too?

There is, or... Was. When I searched for it, all I was able to find was this monstrosity. Arcana brought up a image of what looked like a troll from mythology, though with obvious human features. It looked as if someone had deliberately tampered with it, though. Instead of looking natural at all, it had the air of a doll of clay that someone had hastily put back together due to accidentally breaking it, with only a rough idea of what it looked like in the first place.

I can change you into this instead, if you like it more. Arcana said, with the obvious tone of sarcasm. How can an aspect of your own mind be sarcastic to you? I didn’t know, I was new to everything about it. It was a mystery for another time, though. It was the middle of the night, or was it? I checked the clock. 6:23. That meant that the sun would be coming up soon, so soon that I could probably see the sky lightening outside if I wished to see it rise. Well, I suppose that meant that there wouldn’t be any going back to sleep for me. I had woken up and functioned on less sleep than this, a day of waking up earlier than usual wouldn’t kill me. Take it easy, will you? You wouldn’t want to be causing any harm to the brand new body I made for you.

Yet again, Arcana left me with no response. How was she so good at that? I dismissed the thought.

Instead, it was time to experiment. The voice I had was still giving me issues, so I might as well start with that, right? The first test to test was test. As such, I said “Test.” My voice was a bit more rounded than that, though, I expected. So I moved on to the next test, which was “This is a test, with unicorn magical ponies.” I got a better feel of it now, it sounded sort of like a soft, slightly rough voice. I couldn’t really describe it any other way, other than to compare it to the six ponies everypony knows. It wasn’t as soft as Fluttershy’s voice, but certainly wasn’t as high as Pinkie Pie’s, it was somewhere in the middle. If anything, it sounded most like a softer Applejack, minus the accent.

Well, I now knew what my voice sounded like. One thing I noticed, though, is that the ice that came with using the vocal cords receded every time they were brought into action. Maybe I was just getting used to them? I really didn’t know. My voice was the first thing I thought of, now it was time to explore the other parts of my body. But which part?

After a minute of careful eenie-meenie-miney-moe, I decided to examine my ears next. I had noticed that they moved around seemingly of their own accord, perhaps to get the best audio on whatever they focused on? They were sort of easy to control, and I had them facing every which way in moments.

The tail was the next change selected for inspection. It acted like an arm of sorts, swinging while I walked and being able to react to nervous commands. I wasn’t sure of how I felt about it, but I suppose it was a good cover for any indecency spawned from not having any clothing.

That brought me to the next thought; How would I react if a male pony showed any attraction to me? I mean, the chances of finding another of my type of pony on Earth were astronomically small, and I seriously doubted there would be any humans that liked ponies in that way. I suppose horses were the greatest threat in that respect. Staying away from any ranches to keep any potentially embarrassing situations became a priority.

Wait, why do I even need to worry about that? With the amount of food I have built up in my house, I’ll be able to stay safe at home for days if need be. Even the toughest of magic to undo wouldn’t take that long for Master to dispel. So why was I bothering thinking about it?

It’s entirely possible that the transformation isn’t rever-

“Yes, it is.”

You didn’t even let me-

“If it is magical in nature, then Master can fix it.  You’re a part of my own head, Arcana! Why don’t you understand this?”

I just think you shouldn’t disregard the possi-

“If you keep trying to convince me otherwise like this, I’m just going to stop listening. What right do you have to question Master’s power?”

I know what is and what isn’t about magic, fool! There are rules and restrictions, just like any force of nature. The chances of him being able to fix this are very-

“Nope, he can do it.”

Will you stop being so childish about this!? You’re setting yourself up for massive dis-

“Not listening.”

Arcana wisely shut up after that, any statements she could have tried to make would be a waste of her intangible breath. Who was she to question Master’s supreme power and generosity? He would do anything to secure the happiness of his most faithful servant!

Well, that argument had just left me in a bad mood. I wouldn’t be able to think about the rest of the transformation in a good way until I got out of said mood, so I turned my thoughts to the one thing that always left me in a good one; Food! Actually, this was probably a good place for me to test my new species’ diet. Judging by the new teeth, I was an herbivore, but I didn’t let that get my hopes down. If there was a possibility that I could still eat meat after this, then I would be very pleased.

Then I realized that I wouldn’t be able to find out about this at all, for I didn’t have any meat products in my kitchen’s stock anyway. I would have to find out later... But for now, I would have to make do with fruits, vegetables, and bready things. Unless ponies were secretly carnivores, and all of the supposed vegetarian food from the show was actually made directly from animal products. That would be a bit creepy, but I seriously doubted that that was the case. Fluttershy would not be able to stand that, unless everypony but her was in on the secret...

I disregarded that particular train of thought, that was going nowhere. My mind didn’t usually ramble on like that, I was probably just tired. Food would help with that too, especially sugary food!

I went outside of my room, pausing to flick the light switch for the other side of the hall on. The walk down to the kitchen was uneventful, though not much can happen in just a few feet.

Now, as for the food, I think I had stored something sweet to celebrate this day...

Aha! There was a bag of cinnamon cookies up near the top shelf of the refrigerator. I probably shouldn’t eat that first though, they surely wouldn’t be very filling. I turned my gaze to search for other options. There were a few more bananas on the counter, and some of that celery certainly looked tasty right about now...

About a minute later, twelve stalks of celery had been consumed. They were delicious. Now, onto the fruit...

How on earth was I supposed to open this accursed skin!? I couldn’t just peel it like I normally would, knives were useless in my hooves, and my front teeth were not sharp enough to even scratch it! What, did I have to learn the ancient secrets of the banana peeling spell? Surely there must be some way to cut it.

I sighed. There wasn’t any use continuing this, I would just have to wait for Master to fix my body. A thought struck me as I stared at the kitchen, and my mind instantly brightened. Sure, I couldn’t eat that particular fruit. But would that stop me from eating a certain other sweet, tasty treat? The cookies at the top of the refrigerator would be easy to open! The bag was just a simple paper bag, the kind that the bakery I visited used. It wouldn’t be impossibly to open, like a certain fruit. I glared at the banana, as if attempting to force it open via sheer will. That, unfortunately, failed.

I opened the refrigerator door. There it was, at the peak of the cliff. I grinned and reached for it. Wait, why couldn’t I pick it up? It was right there, and I was certainly tall enough to...

Curse this accursed pony body and curse the accursed magic that put me in it! Even when I stood on two legs instead of four, I was just as short as a twelve year old. Why couldn’t anything go my way today? Did the universe decide that this was the day to screw up my life for no reason?

Wait a minute; I was a unicorn, wasn’t I? Surely I could use my new magic to grab things out of reach. Even the youngest unicorn ever shown on the show was able to do just that from an early age. It couldn’t be that hard. All of the fiction I’ve read that had the main character use magic usually described it as forcing your will on an object, and the magic kicked in there. Of course, I doubt that was how it actually worked. Unfortunately, since I was supposed to be learning it from Master later today, I had absolutely no clue as to just how to start it up.

Wait, hadn’t Arcana said she was the mental embodiment of my magic? Surely she would know how to do this. Of course, since we had both been pretty rude to each other a few minutes ago, I doubted she would actually want to speak to me, much less help me.

Quite contrary to what you seem to think, I am perfectly okay with that.

“Huh? Why?”

I’ve realized that while your happiness is essentially my happiness, you can’t always get what you want, nor completely stop things from coming. I’ll still catch you if you fall, but I’m not going to try to make you do as I see fit.

Her happiness my happiness? That sort of made sense, being the same brain and body and all. Then I narrowed my eyes, “You just want those cookies too, don’t you?” I asked.

...Yes

Aha! I knew it.

“In that case, why don’t we form an alliance against the things that we normally cannot do alone? You help me do... Magic, I guess, and I help you do things that a being that is inside of another’s head can’t do. What do you say?”

Sounds like a good deal to me.

“Good. Now, how are we going to get that bag down here?”

I propose that we begin by attempting to find a working form a levitation.

“Hmm... Maybe we can try using magical force to move the object?”

Okay, what do you want to test it on first?

I looked over the room. There was just about one thing that stood out among the rest, and that was the Banana I had had so much trouble with earlier. I grinned, then said “How about that banana over there?”

An excellent target. Alright, let’s test this out.

Arcana somehow activated a sense I had never felt before, and describing it to someone who has never felt it before is quite impossible. The closest I can relate to it that it is like having another appendage sprouting from your forehead, except that that appendage goes everywhere, nowhere, and is invisible. My head hurt just from trying to think about what it would have looked like.

She did something akin to kicking with the magic, and the banana reacted instantly. Instead of moving, though, it instantly started glowing bright red. It wasn’t some magic red glow, it was the red glow that you get when metal gets hot enough. That couldn’t be good.

“Um, Arcana? Is my magic supposed to look like a burning ember?”

No, it isn’t. You should probably move.

I promptly ran to the hallway, but was stopped when a strange noise resonated through the room. It was a dull sound, and the only thing I can compare it to is the sound that comes from trying to move a spread out blanket through a lot of air quickly. I paused, then turned around see what made it. A magic doorway had inexplicably opened in my wall, with glowing red sparks coming off of the edges. What was this? Was this Master’s grand entry?

“My loyal servant, I have arri-” Master managed to get out after entering through the door, before promptly being cut off by the banana exploding. It went off in all directions, and I can assure you right now that hot banana does not feel very good when it is covering your face.

“Well, I expected for you to try using your magic before I arrived, but I didn’t expect a faceful of whatever this is.” Master said, before casting a spell and condensing all of the hot goop in the room back into a semi solid form in the sink. This included the banana on my face, for which I was quite thankful for. My face was still hot though, but I suspect for a different reason. That was really embarrassing, I managed to mess up that badly as my first spell, in front of Master! I dove behind the kitchen’s tiled island. There was no way I was letting Master see me like this, especially after humiliating myself like that.

“What was that?” Master said.

 Oh no, he saw me? I must have not been fast enough to catch him distracted. I pressed myself even tighter against the wooden surface. With any luck, he would miss my small green form, and go upstairs instead. I silently prayed that he would find something else to look at.

“Are those what I think they are?”

 His voice came from the direction of the refrigerator. Was he getting into my cookies? I peeked my head out from around the island, and looked directly into his legs. Then I turned my head up. He was looking down at my head. We stared at each other for a while.

The silence was finally broken when he said “Well this is a surprise. Did he manage to summon a unicorn with his first magic?”

My eyes widened. I didn’t expect for him to think of that. As it was, though, I shook my head.

“Um, actually this is me, your servant. I somehow did magic last night, and it got out of control, and for some reason it turned me into a girl unicorn, so I woke up and freaked out and went downstairs to eat something but then I tried to use magic on the banana and it exploded and-”

“I understand. Do you need my help fixing it?”

He surprised me with how rapidly he caught on. That sentence was really incoherent, and I was just making more and more of a fool of myself.

Suddenly, Master chuckled. “I probably shouldn’t be laughing at your predicament, but I must ask, are all unicorns this adorable when they blush?”

I was blushing? I didn’t even realize that. Okay, have to find a way to fix this. Thinking of something other than what was embarrassing me was one way. I quickly changed the subject of my thoughts back to what they should be, the problem at hand. Or was that hoof? I mentally shook those thoughts off. That could wait.

“Y-yes, I do need your help. I have no idea how to fix this myself...”

Master looked thoughtful for a moment. Then, he grinned back at me. “I do have an idea. I’ll have to go back home, but perhaps it will work.”

“Okay, should I go with you?”

“Actually, I have a better idea.”

What was he talking about? Could he fix my body right here?

“It’s much too early for you to say goodbye to that body, I think.”

What was he talking about?

“You,” He paused, massive tension filling the air, “Are coming with me!”

With that, he grabbed me behind my neck, and my confused struggling was unable to free myself. He pointed at the wall, and a hole opened there, the inside looking exactly like outer space. He threw me into the mysterious portal, and in the second before I left his sight I let out a scream of confusion and anger. I hadn’t thought I had it in me to do so, screaming is not something I have ever done since I was a small child.

Of course, I wasn’t thinking of that at the time. I was rapidly contemplating my predicament, my panicking mind jumping from conclusion to conclusion. What in the world had caused for this sort of thing to happen? I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I? Maybe he was punishing me for the banana explosion earlier. Or maybe he heard somewhere that Unicorns tasted really good, and wanted to-

That is enough! He wouldn’t eat his most faithful servant, and you know it. Not even the worst humans in history would do that. He probably just wants to bring you back to his home to examine you. I doubt he’s ever seen a unicorn in the flesh before.

I tried to reply, but no sound came out of my mouth when I spoke. I didn’t have any time to think about this, as a light suddenly approached in the void. Was it another doorway? Yes, maybe I could get some answers!

As I shot out of the space-place, I realized that I was going at the same speed as I was when Master threw me. Unfortunately, this means that I took quite the tumble when I hit the floor of wherever I ended up. When I stopped moving, I groaned and slowly started to pick myself up.

That didn’t last long, though. The instant I was on all fours and started to open my eyes, I felt a slight stinging sensation on my neck, and something cold started to flow rapidly from there. It felt like my body was going to sleep, except that I wasn’t lying in my nice, warm bed, and was instead lying on a cold stone floor. Wait, when did I fall to the floor? I didn’t remember that. Oh hey, was I moving? My head felt really funny, like it was covered in cotton, except that that was the fur so maybe I had suddenly grown super fuzz fur and...

Huh? Was I falling asleep? I did feel really tired all of the sudden, and if you feel tired then you should go to sleep, right?

Wait, you’ve been drugged! Don’t fall asleep, I’ll try to get this stuff out of you!

Oh, Arcana was in here too? I forgot about that. Arcana should probably go to sleep too, if she was in my head then she must be tired. I tried to say “Hey Arcana, go to sleep,” but it came out something like “Hay anca, golep feep...” before I succumbed to the dark clutches of sleep.

        “...Find me a book on mythical creatures, unicorns especially. This one could be instrumental for many magical rituals. Jacob, I want you to take her to a holding cell, reinforced class one. Keep her away from the other creatures, I don’t want to lose my rarest find yet.”

Master’s distinct voice faded into hearing. Oh, had I woken up? When did I fall asleep? I remembered going downstairs, then a banana exploded, and... Oh no, where was I? I heard Master’s voice, but that could be anywhere.

Wait, don’t open your eyes yet.

Huh? Why wouldn’t I do that?

If they still think you are sleeping, then they probably won’t use that sedative on you again. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that out of your head?

I shook my head in response, then realized what I had just done.

Idiot! Now we won’t hear any of their plans!

“I think she just moved, she might be waking up. Quick, do you have any more tranquilizer?”

“No, sir. What should we do?”

        “A spell should work. Hold her still for me.”

        My eyes shot open, just in time to see Master charging a light in his palm. I immediately started to struggle, I didn’t want to go to sleep again!

This was futile, though. Immediately a pair of powerful arms grabbed me tight, and I could only move my head. Master walked forward, and all I could do before he touched me was scream. That scream didn’t last long, and a soft blue light covered my eyes, instantly causing for me to fall into dreamland once more.

The world faded into view once more. This time, I held perfectly still, not even breathing, as I woke. I heard nothing, and felt nothing but a cold floor beneath me, so I opened my eyes. I was in some sort of dungeon, complete with black steel bars, brick walls, brick floors, and brick ceilings. There wasn’t even a doorway! I picked myself off of the floor. My entire body was cold, which was probably a testament to how long I had been lying there. Once I was standing, I looked around the room. There was, in stark contrast to the rest of the room, a gleaming white toilet in one corner, with a sink as well. That was probably what was expected to be my source of hand washing and drinking water, actually. A low-lying cot was stationed in the other corner.

Master always had been a bit of a clean freak, but putting things like this in a dungeon was just weird. Speaking of him, why on earth was I in a dungeon in the first place?

He probably wants to perform tests on you, Arcana stated calmly, as if she were merely talking about the weather.

Why would Master perform tests on me? Did he need to check something out before he changed me back?

He probably isn’t going to change you back, you know.

Not this again...

“Arcana, I told you! Master will fix this. He probably just needs to get some components of a spell or something.”

“Actually, I’m afraid your imaginary friend is correct,” Master said, suddenly appearing on the other side of the bars. I jumped back in fright.

“W-what do you mean, Master?”

“I mean that I’m not turning you back into a human. Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t let such a glorious opportunity go to waste.”

“Opportunity? What are you talking about? This is a curse, not a blessing!”

“Ah, but you see, You happen to have been inexplicably transformed into a magical creature that has not been alive for several thousand years. And that certain magical creature has a certain magical appendage that is very useful.”

I did not like where this was going.

Master pulled a book out of nowhere, then flipped to a page, then turned it around to face me. I could barely see in the dim light, but the picture on said page seemed to be a fancy chalice of some sort.

“What is that supposed to be, some sort of magical wine glass?”

“Not quite, but close. When a specific liquid is poured into the glass, it undergoes a unique change. Do you know what that change is?”

Master was looking almost gleeful at whatever it was he was thinking.

“Er, no?”

“The change is that it gains the property to make any human of a certain level of magic completely immortal. Not even Mosquitos will be able to harm me.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with me being trapped in a dungeon?” I asked, curiosity overwhelming any negative feelings towards Master.

“Have a closer look at the picture.”

He brought the book lower to the ground, allowing for me to see the image with more clarity. The design on the cup was really quite pretty, It had lots of magical runes and strange designs. That is, I thought it was beautiful until I looked at the handle. It was short, it tapered slightly, and it had a very distinct swirl to the design. All of those properties were shared by a certain magical appendage that adorned my skull.

A look of horror appeared on my face, and I scrambled backwards a few feet before falling on my rear. Master watched me for a moment, then launched into dark, obviously insane laughing. I sat there as he walked away, I couldn’t even move. Why would Master do this to me? I hadn’t done anything wrong to him, had I? What was I supposed to do? What could I do?

We will do the only thing we can do.

Escape.