Swapped

Swapped
Ch.2 - Changes

The warm light enveloped her, wrapping around her body entirely. It felt almost like she was nestled in a cocoon. This light that frightened her when she first saw it, now calmed her; it was almost relaxing in a way. Her heart felt a peace as she basked in the warmth and security. All the anger, and discomfort she felt just moments ago melted away into a beautiful sense of serenity. The bickering with her companions no longer bothered the pony, she felt so at one with everything. The heat from the burning summer day was gone, leaving only a comfortableness in its wake. She was no longer hot, or cold, just perfect, nothing bothered her anymore. All there was now, was her floating in the endless light.

It started with a feeling, or maybe more accurately, a sense of awareness that she was about feel something; she knew it was coming even before it happened. Her body began to tingle. This light that had enveloped her and her friends was massaging her, loosening her, making her malleable like clay. Slowly the tingle intensified into a tickle, and then a grinding. Pain flooded her as she struggled to understand why the light was turning on her. The pain focused itself into her body, becoming internal. Slowly it snaked through her, until it reached her head. A burning sensation flared at her forehead, her back felt like it was on fire, her hooves felt like they were melting. She could feel part of her old self burn away with the heat, and something new rise from the ashes. Whatever this light was, it was changing her. In an instant everything was dark. The light had faded, the burning stopped, and her body no longer ached. She was alone in the darkness.

Twilight opened her eyes, but everything was a blurry mess. All she could see was a glinting yellow blob in front of her—which she assumed was the treasure. Her eyes drifted back closed, as she let out a groan. Her head was pounding with a massive ache right under her horn. She shook her head, letting the wave move down her neck, and through her back. As her body twisted back and forth, shaking out the stiffness, she felt something brush against her sides. Her eyes shot open with confusion filling her aching head. She looked back to investigate whatever had just brushed against her, expecting her saddlebag, or something, but it wasn’t. Sitting on Twilight’s back was a fluffy purple mass that she couldn‘t quite make out from her blurred vision.

Whatever this fluffy thing sticking to her was, she could feel it; when she tried to move it, it responded. Twilight blinked a few times, forcing her eyes to focus her vision. Finally she rubbed her eyes with her hoof, clearing the fuzzy veil. She couldn’t have prepared herself for what was resting at her side when her vision cleared. Twilight saw a lavender wing staring back at her, twitching slightly as she tried moving it.

“W-What? I-I have wings?” she asked herself, darting over to her other side. Sure enough, she found a mirror match sitting on there as well.

“What’s going on? What was that light?” The familiar voice of Pinkie asked. Twilight saw her bubbly earth pony friend was a little different as well. In fact, looking at her, she wasn’t an earth pony anymore. She too had a pair of wings attached to her back too.

“P-Pinkie!” Twilight pointed a hoof at the cheerful mare in shock. She looked up at Twilight, confused for a moment by the shocked librarian. Then a certain feathery appendage on Twilight caught the party pony’s attention. Her eyes popped wide open when she realized Twilight had a pair of pegasus wings.

“Twilight! You got wings! Oh, take me for a ride, please!” She asked bouncing over to her purple friend. Her new wings fluttered sporadically as she jumped for joy. Halfway to Twilight she stopped dead in her tracks. “Wait, where did your horn go?” she asked.

Twilight froze when Pinkie asked that. Pieces of the puzzle started to form in her buzzing brain that were almost too much for Twilight to handle. Seeing the wings on her back, and a throbbing headache where her horn is did leave her with a terrifying theory. Cautiously, she raised a shaky hoof to her forehead to hopefully disprove her hypothesis. She touched to where the tip of her horn should be, only to feel air. Her eyes widened, as she lowered her hoof all the way down to her mane. When she felt her hoof touch her skin, her heart stopped for a moment. Twilight Sparkle, student to the princess, Element of Magic, and a gifted unicorn no longer had a horn.

“I-I’m a pegasus?” Twilight asked too shocked to say anything else.

“Oh my head.” Applejack’s southern drawl suddenly drew Twilight and Pinkie’s attention. Slowly, Applejack pulled her hat back, rubbing her sore temples. The slight reveal allowed Twilight and Pinkie a get a glimpse of a orange spiky structure poking up from the cowpony’s mane. She shook her head, trying to get her vision back in focus much like Twilight had done.

“Applejack! You have a horn!” Pinkie bounced over to the farmer, wrapping her in a big hug.

“What in the hay’re you talkin’ about, Pinkie?” Applejack went to rub her forehead, but her hoof bumped into something hard along the way, causing her to wince in pain. Her eyes grew wide for a second. “What’s that?” she asked with a bit of fear in her voice.

“You’re a unicorn, Applejack! Is that what you’ve been hiding under your hat this whole time?” Pinkie gave her earth-pony-turned-unicorn friend a very suspicious eye. Applejack pushed Pinkie back, giving herself a bit of space. After she was sure her eager friend would stay put, she brushed her mane out of the way. When she looked up, she could see the very tip sticking out, just barely in her field of view. The cowpony gave her horn a cautious poke, checking to see if it was the real thing.

Her eyes grew wide again when she felt it was attached. “Y-Ya gotta be kiddin’ me...” she muttered in disbelief.

“Where is my horn!” Rarity yelled, grabbing everyone’s attention next. Her eyes were wider than any of her friends had ever seen. The dress maker frantically felt around her head, trying to locate her missing magic-enabling appendage.

“I think Applejack has it!” Pinkie said with a giggle, poking Applejack’s horn. The slight teasing caused Applejack to glare at the new pegasus.

“Back off, Pinkie, I ain’t in the mood!” Her horn lit up with a pale orange glow, much to her own surprise. “What the?” her eyes looked up at the glowing appendage on her forehead. Her eyes strained a bit from the feeling of magic flowing for the first time through her horn. The same orange aura appeared around Pinkie’s hooves, glowing ominously for a moment. Suddenly the Pinkie was sent toppling over backwards. “What the hay? Did I do that?”

“Why does Applejack have a horn? And why don’t I have my horn?” Rarity whined covering the spot where her horn used to be, almost like she was covering her shame.

“Umm...I don’t mean to be a bother but...I seem to be missing my wings...” Fluttershy muttered walking next to Twilight. The shy pony examined Twilight’s pair, checking for similarities to her own.

Suddenly the librarian gasped. “They’re not missing, you two are earth ponies!” She tucked the mirror away in her saddlebag before grabbing Fluttershy’s hoof. She examined it thoroughly, seeing if there were differences from when she was a pegasus. The shy pony blushed a bit as Twilight fondled her hoof.

“Umm, please don’t...grab my hoof...” she mumbled, timidly taking back her foreleg. Twilight’s face flashed red once she realized what she had done. She felt a little embarrassed about her inquisitive side getting the best of her for a moment.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked shaking her head. Twilight looked over at the pega—she froze again when she saw the fastest flier in Equestra standing before her without wings. Instead she had a cyan unicorn horn poking out from her rainbow mane.

“R-Rainbow?” Twilight asked tentatively, making sure she had the right rainbow-maned pony.

“What now, Twi?” she asked in an irritated tone. She was busy rubbing her hoof against the side of her head, trying to relax away a throbbing headache. The unsuspecting pony still hadn’t noticed she was wingless, nor her new horn sticking out from her forehead. Everyone watched her with a careful eye as she blinked to get her vision back, much like they all had done. Finally, she stretched her body out, trying to remedy the stiffness that came from whatever that light was.

Once she was all stretched out she jumped up a bit, expecting her wings to kick in, much like she had always done. Instead of the brisk embrace of the sky, she fell flat on her face. A confused look spread across the former pegasus’s face as she climbed back up onto her hooves. Rainbow Dash looked so utterly confused and shocked that she wasn’t flying, falling had been the last thing she had expected. When she turned her head to where her wings should be, her eyes almost popped out of her skull in disbelief. Where her once proud wings should have sat, she only saw a blank side. Slowly her head turned back to face her friends.

“W-W-What?” she muttered weakly. Twilight and Rarity looked at one another with troubled eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, we need you to calm down,” Twilight said carefully, taking a step towards her friend. Fluttershy saw the building fear in Rainbow’s eyes, and followed Twilight’s lead.

“What!?” She yelled. As her emotions surged her horn lit with a pale magenta glow, causing her to almost fall back from the surging power..

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity yelled, taking a step towards the scared unicorn. Applejack yelped in pain suddenly, grabbing Rarity’s attention. The cowpony’s horn was glowing a pale orange in unison with Rainbow Dash’s. In a brief moment, she too was sent tumbling over from the raw power surging through her horn. “Twilight!” Rarity yelled while looking at Applejack.

“We have to calm them down!” she called back to Rarity.

“No! This isn’t happening!” Rainbow screamed as her new horn burned with a new sensation. She had never felt anything like this before, it was so hot, so bright, and so powerful. This was unicorn magic. Why was she doing unicorn magic? As her horn crackled with power, she felt completely terrified. Her body was trembling from this new sensation; in that instant she knew she couldn’t control this kind of power. She was a pegasus, she didn’t know the first thing about unicorns or their magic. All she wanted was to go home. This had to be a dream.

“I just want to go home!” Rainbow yelled, grabbing a hold of her head. In that instant an immense amount of magic poured into her horn, intensifying the power, making it glow brighter. The magic shifted from magenta to a pale pink. Across the room Applejack’s horn surged with magic too. Her orange glow, turned almost yellow from the intensity of the power flowing through her. Her eyes strained from the raw magic energy surging in her new horn. Seeing their friends’ struggle dredged memories in Rarity and Twilight from when they were younger. They knew they had to help their friends, or this would end badly.

The air felt almost electrified from the magic coursing through it. Twilight knew this sensation well, the spell the two inexperienced unicorns were forming was about to release. She looked at Fluttershy, giving the yellow mare a reaffirming nod. The two jumped at Rainbow Dash, grabbing onto her right as her spell cast in an explosive, bright flash. In that instant Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy vanished.

“P-Pinkie, grab onto Applejack...Now!” Rarity ordered, placing a hoof on newly-horned friend.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” The bubbly mare replied, as she squeezed Applejack tightly in a hug. In another bright flash the remaining ponies vanished.

When Rarity opened their eyes, she quickly realized they had teleported farther away than she anticipated. They were out of the dark cave, they were actually off of the mountain they were on. Trees surrounded the ponies, which didn‘t see any of those on the way to the mountain, especially in these numbers. Further inspection told her they were apple trees, a familiar sight around Ponyville. Each tree was aligned in a row, far too perfect for nature to do. Ponies had planted these trees. The ashen tone of the sun-beaten mountain rocks were replaced by grass and soft brown dirt. As a small breeze blew, the familiar smells of a farm drew her attention behind her. When she turned around, she saw a tall red barn standing behind them, and the familiar sign that read “Sweet Apple Acres”. They were back in Ponyville.

“I don’ feel so good...” the cowpony muttered as she wobbled in place. After a few unsteady sways she finally lost her balance, falling flat onto the ground. Rarity rushed over to her, checking to see if she was okay.

“What happened?” Pinkie asked.

“She just used too much magic, She’ll be fine.” Rarity let out a deep sigh, trying to wrap her head around what happened.

“Where are we?” Applejack asked weakly.

“Ponyville...you and Rainbow Dash teleported us here,” she said regaining some of the high-classed air about her. “What you did was reckless, and down right foalish, Applejack!” she scolded the dazed unicorn.

“I don’t even know how I did it...”

“You and Rainbow Dash did a spell resonance, something foals usually do by accident, or very talented unicorns do purposefully. I told you even a foal can teleport, but it takes years of practice to perfect it.” She helped her fallen friend get back on her feet. The orange unicorn’s eyes weighed heavy with fatigue. “Rainbow Dash’s emotions got the best of her, causing her magic to activate. That in turn activated your magic because you two happened to be thinking the same thought.” She glanced around for a moment. “I’m guessing that was “I want to go home” because that’s where we are.” Once she got Applejack onto her feet, she realized she didn’t have a plan for what to do with her.

“Well, that’s no good for Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy.” Pinkie snorted a bit. Rarity only returned a puzzled look to the bubbly mare. “Rainbow Dash’s house is in the clouds, and Fluttershy and Dashie can’t fly!”

“...That’s not good...” Rarity muttered.

With a bright flash, the three ponies tumbled out from the tear in space Rainbow Dash opened. For a brief second they floated in the sky with a sense of weightlessness. Twilight shook her head, finally looking down. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the ground below them. The road looked like a piece of straw they were so high up. Trees seemed like dots, on the featureless blanket that was the grass below. Before any of them could even speak, gravity gently took its rightful hold, pulling them to the ground.

Twilight looked over at the pony who got them in this mess. The new unicorn’s eyes slowly drifted closed as she tumbled backwards, limp, too exhausted from the spell she cast to even stay awake. Fluttershy, still using the momentum from her dive in the cave, grabbed onto Dash squeezing her tightly in her forelegs. Just as the ponies fell, Fluttershy’s eyes shot opened when she realized she couldn’t fly.

Immediately she and Twilight began to scream as they plummeted. “Fluttershy!” Twilight yelled trying to get the shy pony’s attention. She was far too terrified to hear Twilight calling her name. “Fluttershy!” Twilight called again, but the speeding torrent of air around them drowned out her voice with ease. “Fluttershy!” Twilight yelled one more time, finally snapping her from her frozen state.

“I need you to walk me through flying or we’re going to die!” Twilight’s eyes stung from the winds blowing past her, forcing her to squeeze her eyes closed.

“W-What?” Fluttershy questioned. Twilight barely heard the terrified pony speak.

“I need you to walk me through flying or we’re going to die!” she repeated, feeling her voice crack from the yelling.

“I can’t! I-I don’t know how!” She averted her gaze from her struggling friend.

“You have to try!” Twilight screamed. Fluttershy looked down at the passed out unicorn in her arms, feeling tears well-up in her eyes. The three of them were going to die like this. Dash, Twilight and her were going to plummet to their deaths and there was nothing she could do about it. She squeezed Rainbow Dash as tight as she could, not willing to let that happen. Suddenly her eyes narrowed. She was wrong, there was something she could do. She just had to tell Twilight how to fly, and she could save them.

“J-Just flap your wings!” she cried out. Her eye’s were squeezed closed as tight as she could. Even a baby pegasus could flap their wings, surely Twilight knew how to do that she thought. She pressed her face into Dash’s chest too scared to watch.

“It’s not working!” Twilight’s voice was so full of panic. Cautiously, Fluttershy opened her eyes. Flying was so simple to her, to every pegasus; why didn’t Twilight understand it, she was smart. When she looked over at the struggling pegasus desperately flapping her wings, she easily saw what Twilight was doing wrong. She had no rhythm, no purpose in her strokes. Her wings didn’t bend on her up-swing meaning she was exerting as much force up as down. Her form was horrible, even Fluttershy knew that.

“This is hopeless,” she thought to herself. Her eyes fell down to her friend in her forelegs again. She couldn’t let Dash down, or Twilight, she had to try. Giving up wasn’t an option for her, not here. She had to explain it in a way Twilight would understand. Not just for her sake, but for Twilight’s and Dash’s as well. She wouldn’t let her friends die here, she had to think even more basic than basic. She had to tell Twilight things pegasi didn’t even register they were so simple. She closed her eyes, as a mental picture appeared in her head on how wings worked. She thought about how it felt to fly. What did she do exactly to fly? The image came into focus, and her eyes shot back to her struggling friend. Twilight had her eyes closed as she flapped with all her might, trying to do something other than flail uselessly.

“At the same time, Twilight! And bring your wings in close as you lift them up!” she coached to the best of her ability under the conditions. Twilight looked confused, but tried as best she could. She extended her wings into the raging torrent of wind, leaving her feeling like it was going to rip off every feather she had. She thrust her virgin wings down, and then back up, trying to match the rhythm. They moved roughly at the same time, which pushed Twilight a bit. She opened her eyes seeing the ground growing fast in front of her.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. The shy earth pony held onto Twilight as tight as her hoof would let her, which was a little too strong to Twilight. She winced in pain trying to push it from her mind; she had to concentrate on slowing them down enough to not die. With a few messy flaps, she tried to follow Fluttershy’s vague advice the best she could. Twilight pushed hard, letting her gain slight control of their fall.

She and her passengers wobbled as the sped towards the ground. Twilight turned up, trying to slow down but it wasn’t working. She had just barely managed to pull out of their death-plunge, she didn’t know how to land. Frantically she flapped her wings at the ground, chanting a mantra of “Stop-stop-stop!” to herself. Right before they hit, she knew she wouldn’t make it. At the last second, she rolled on her back, pulling her wings in tightly. They crashed to the ground, leaving a huge streak of upturned dirt.

Twilight groaned as she let go of the two ponies that landed on top of her, wishing they had been lighter. Fluttershy still clung to Twilight, squeezing the pegasus’s bruised leg as tightly as she could.

“Fluttershy...please let go...” Twilight squeezed out a pained whimper. Suddenly the blood rushed back into her numb hoof, sending a pulsing ache up her leg.

“S-Sorry, I was...just a little scared...” she replied weakly.

“So was I...” Twilight laughed a bit, feeling a rippling soreness roll through her body as she chuckled. She just let herself breathe for a moment as Fluttershy crawled off of her, still too in shock to try getting up. “How are you doing, Fluttershy?” she asked, her voice still straining a bit.

“I’m fine actually...” she muttered as she climbed to her hooves.

Twilight flexed her new wings a bit, feeling they were sore, but not broken. Her legs all worked without too much trouble, and her ribs, spine, skull, all made it through the crash. Miraculously, she wasn’t too much worse for wear save for a few bruises and sore spots. “Thank Celestia I was turned into a pegasus, or else we would’ve been pancakes.”

Fluttershy nodded weakly. “What happened?”

“Rainbow Dash lost control of her magic...She...teleported when she got worked up...” Slowly, she pulled herself out of the crater she made. Her body was still intact, but that didn’t mean she was in the best shape. Every inch of her back ached, and her wings were sore. Sore wings—she dwelled on that for a moment realizing how strange it felt for her. Once she climbed out of her hole, her eyes glanced over the still unconscious Rainbow Dash, checking her for injuries. Twilight, and Fluttershy only survived because pegasi and earth ponies are more durable than unicorns. If Twilight didn’t roll at the last second, Rainbow might’ve been seriously hurt.

“Fluttershy, can you get Rainbow Dash? We need to get to the library and find out what happened to us,” Twilight said shaking the dirt off her coat. The tickle of her feathers caused her to giggle slightly as they brushed across her sides. As she giggled her muscles screamed at her, quickly making her realize that wasn’t a good idea.

“I don’t know if I can carry her alone...”

“Trust me, you can. You almost squeezed my hoof off when we were crashing. Don’t underestimate an earth pony’s strength.” Twilight gave her a smile, trying to cheer the former pegasus up. Fluttershy gave a small nod, before pulling her unicorn friend to her hooves.

“I hope the others are okay...”

“I am most certainly not okay, Pinkie!” Rarity’s scream echoed through the orchard. “Our friends could be hurt, or worse!”

“Calm down, Rarity, I’m sure they’re fine! They have Twilight with them!” Pinkie’s lax attitude was driving the designer up a wall.

“Yes, Twilight, a pony who has never flown a day before in her life!” Rarity fell back on her hind legs, taking a seat in the dirt. Usually she wouldn’t have even dreamed of sitting somewhere so filthy, but her mind was elsewhere.

“Trust me, Rarity, they’re fine! My legs aren’t a shakin’, and my nose ain’t a twitchin’, and my hooves aren’t a itchin’ so they’re fine!” Pinkie’s eyes shone with a hundred percent certainty; there truly were no doubts in the mare‘s mind that her friends were okay. Rarity relented to her friend’s freakish sixth sense when it came to these sort of things. If Pinkie believed they were alright, then they had to be.

“Well, if they’re fine, then we should go to the library. That will be the first place Twilight goes,” she concluded.

“Yup!” Pinkie bounced slightly. Her wings fluttered with excitement as she did so, causing her to hover for a brief moment before dropping to the ground. The extra air-time she got from her fluttering wings didn’t escape her notice. Her face furled as she pondered a reason why for a moment, before she snapped her head back to her sides. A pair of pink feathery wings stared back at her, shaking in excitement. “Oh my GOSH! I HAVE WINGS!” The mare leapt into the air, and danced around in a circle.

“You just now noticed this?” Rarity gave her spastic friend a worried look.

“H-Hey y’all, I’m feelin’ a might bit sleepy...” Applejack murmured, barely able to support herself against a tree.

“Well, perhaps that will teach you not to go teleporting ponies on a whim,” Rarity said coldly.

“I bet I can fly if I try hard enough!” Pinkie giggled, still absorbed in her new wings.

“Pinkie, concentrate, we need to get to the library.” Rarity rubbed her hoof on her forehead, trying to relax away a building headache.

“So let’s go then!” she said, landing in front of Rarity.

“Like this? Are you kidding me? I would be a laughing stock if anypony saw me without my horn!” she gasped covering her blank forehead.

“I’m not laughing about it,” Pinkie giggled. “Sorry, I’m laughing because these feathers really tickle!”

“Well, if’n yer lookin fer a hat’re somethin’...I think there might be one in the barn ya can borrow...” Applejack looked over towards the house with heavy eyes. After a small pause she tried to push herself off the tree to stand up, but her legs quickly gave out.

“That would be wonderful Applejack, I thank you. But I do believe that you shan’t be joining us at the library, you’re in need of rest.” She looked down at the exhausted cowpony. After getting a nod from Applejack, Rarity lifted her onto her back, and carried her into the house.

Twilight tried to open the door to the library as she always had, with magic. A wave of irritation came over her when she realized she couldn’t use magic, since she wasn’t a unicorn anymore. She instead had to turn the handle with her hoof, something she hadn’t had to do since she was a filly. Once she heard the lock click, she swung the door open with all her might. A loud crash spooked a certain purple dragon carrying a stack of books.

“You‘re back pretty quickly? Hot enough for you guys out...there...?” Spike asked, trailing off as he stared at Twilight. “T-Twilight, what happened? You’re covered in scratches and bruises!” He rushed over to her, squeezing her foreleg in a hug. Twilight winced as he squeezed right where Fluttershy had held her death grip only a bit ago.

“I’m fine, Spike.” She forced a smile down to her little assistant, as she pulled her battered foreleg away from him.

When he looked up onto Twilight’s eyes, he realized something was off. There was something Twilight should have that she didn’t; something was clearly different about her, but he couldn’t quite put his claw on it. “Did you get a haircut, Twilight?” he asked after a momentary pause.

“No,” she muttered angrily.

“Hello, Spike.” Fluttershy came in next, with Rainbow Dash draped over her back.

“Hey Fluttershy, how’s it going.” He gave her a small wave as he went back to inspecting Twilight. “There’s something different about you, Twi...” he mused as he glanced to her side. When he saw that she had a pair of wings, he fell on his backside in shock. His eyes quickly shot up to her head, realizing her horn was gone. “W-What? Why do you have wings? A-And your horn’s gone!”

Twilight awkwardly heft her saddlebag from her back, dropping it on the floor. “Whatever that mirror was that Princess Celestia had us get, did this to us.” She sounded very unamused.

“T-Twilight what are you going to do without magic?” his eyes were wide as he waited for a response.

“I don’t know, Spike. We need to fix this.”

“So...you probably want books...don’t you?” he asked cautiously, climbing to his feet as he did so.

Twilight gave him a stern nod. “Please, if you would, Spike. I need anything referencing magical artifacts, or enchanted items, specifically mirrors.” With a nod, he scampered off to find any book Twilight could use. Within an instant her was up the ladder scouring the upper shelves. As Twilight watched him work, Fluttershy had snuck past her, looking for a place to drop the unconscious pony off.

When she caught Twilight‘s attention, she pointed a hoof to the couch. “Set her on over there. I would offer my bed, but I need to be around for when she wakes up. We can’t have her freaking out again...” Twilight fished around in her saddlebag, pulling the mirror from its confines.

Spike slid down the ladder as fast as he could. When he turned around, he finally saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash clearly, and the sight made his jaw drop. “F-Fluttershy, what happened to your wings? D-Did Twilight take them or something? A-And Rainbow Dash has Twilight’s horn?”

“We don’t know that yet, Spike,” Twilight said, examining the polished surface of the mirror. As far as she could tell, it was mostly normal. The back was an engraved silver, with a depiction of a unicorn on it. The horn of the engraving was utterly gigantic, and twisted looking. The image seemed reminiscent of some unicorn she had seen before, but she couldn’t quite recall.

“What is this mirror?” she asked herself in a low tone. There were no words engraved, just the ominous unicorn on the back. She flipped it over looking into the polished surface, trying to see if the reflected image was any different from reality. When Twilight looked all she saw staring back at her was herself, no horn, and a pair pegasus wings, her new reality. She let out a groan, setting the mirror on the ground in frustration.

“I take it...you didn’t find anything...did you, Twilight?” a soft-spoken voice asked. Twilight nodded to Fluttershy.

“There’s no words, or incantations, or anything on this mirror. Just this depiction of a unicorn.” Twilight sat down on the ground, just staring at the mirror. She closed her eyes, mulling through her vast, almost encyclopedic knowledge for anything about this artifact, but nothing came to mind.

“Spike, do we have any books on Heavenly Shimmer?” she asked the small dragon, still darting around the library. Her question caused him to come to a stop brief moment as he thought. He scooped up a few books from a pile he had been gathering, passing them off to Twilight.

“I don’t think we do. I‘ve never even heard of him.”

“That makes two of us...” Twilight’s annoyance grew. She didn’t like that they were under this artifact’s spell. And it only made her more frustrated that she didn’t know anything about its origin or the pony it belonged to. Surely a pony who could make such a powerful spell would leave their mark on history. The more she stared the more she wondered why the princess would send them after such a dangerous item. The whole thing was driving her crazy the more she thought about it.

Twilight looked over at one of the books Spike brought, expectantly. When the object didn’t move she let out a sigh. “I keep forgetting I can’t use magic...” she muttered, taking the book with her hoof.

“T-Twilight? How long till Rainbow wakes up?” Fluttershy asked, fearful of disturbing the librarian’s train of thought.

“I don’t know, Fluttershy. Maybe a few hours, maybe a few days.” She was buried in the pages, flipping through with reckless abandon. After a few moments she picked up the book and tossed it behind her in frustration. “Is this how everypony has to read books? No wonder no pony else likes to read as much as I do! Flipping pages by hoof takes so much time!”

“Well, you could always let one of the unicorns do it?” A sudden cheery voice from behind startled her, causing her to jump into the air a bit.

“Pinkie! That was rather rude of you.” Twilight turned around to see Rarity and Pinkie standing behind her. The perky pegasus’s wings flapped spastically as she swayed back and forth on her hooves. She wore a silly grin that her friends had come to realize was Pinkie’s default expression. Rarity on the other hoof, looked completely frustrated, while trying to keep her lady-like demeanor. What caught Twilight’s eye the most though was she was wearing a familiar stetson hat.

“W-What’re you wearing?” Twilight chuckled at Rarity’s hat.

“I had to borrow Applejack’s hat. I wasn’t going to be seen without my horn, that would be just too embarrassing. And sadly this was the most stylish hat she had available.” She tried to hide herself under the hat as best as possible, her cheeks flaring red as she did so. As the hat tipped, Twilight noticed a small attempt as spicing up the plain covering with a pink feather, which she assumed came from Pinkie. After a second, she cleared her throat. “Besides, I think it makes me look a little...robust,” she said cracking a small smile.

"Twilight, I couldn't find any..." Spike wandered back into the room. His eyes locked onto Rarity wearing Applejack's hat. "Rarity, what's with the hat?" He asked.

"O-Oh nothing, I'm just borrowing this from Applejack for a bit," she said forcing a smile.

“Wait, speaking of Applejack...” Twilight looked around the library, finding a distinct lack of the farmer.

Rarity motioned over to Rainbow Dash, still passed out on the couch. “Much like her, completely exhausted after that little stunt they pulled.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

"Wait, Applejack's a unicorn now?" Spike asked scratching his head. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide. "R-Rarity are you an earth pony now?" The designer only slid her hat down over her face, her cheeks turning a visible red.

“You three didn’t end up about a few thousand hooves in the air too, did you?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, we landed in Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Lucky you. We ended up above Rainbow’s house. And to top it all off, she passed out as soon as she teleported.”

"W-Wait so that's what happened to you guys?" Spike asked Twilight with worry.

Twilight smiled only weakly. "Yeah, but we're fine, Spike."

"Still! Why didn't you tell me! I could've gotten some bandages or something for you!"

“Twilight! Can you believe it, I have wings!” Pinkie jumped in front of the purple pegasus, fluttering her wings. Twilight nodded to her, having noticed back at the cave.

“I saw, Pinkie,” she said laughing slightly at her friend‘s whimsical nature.

“Fluttershy, dear, I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Rarity said, giving the shy pony a hug.

“Thanks to Twilight...” she said softly.

“I couldn’t have done it without you there,” Twilight replied.

“I take it you haven’t found anything about fixing this mess yet, have you, Twilight?” Twilight shook her head to her friend’s question. Her eyes weighed heavy with worry as she shirked her friend’s gaze.

“That was the first book I opened.” Her eyes fell to the ground from her feeling too ashamed that she let this happen. Her friends counted on her, and now they weren’t themselves anymore—well, in a sense they weren’t. “The problem is I’ve never even heard of Heavenly Shimmer, so I don’t know where to begin.”

“Well, you said Princess Celestia owned the mirror a while back, why don’t you just ask her?” Pinkie offered while she jumped into the air. Her wings flapped rapidly as she tried to nail down flying.

“She’s busy Pinkie, and besides...I...kind of feel like I failed her...”

“Why would you feel like that, you got the mirror back!” She gave her friend her trademark Pinkie smile; a grin that would brighten any pony’s day. Pinkie wrapped a leg around Twilight, hoping to cheer her up a bit.

“Yeah, and now we’re all stuck as different kinds of ponies, sounds like a real victory to me...” she muttered angrily as she slid out from Pinkie’s embrace. Before Pinkie could grab Twilight again, she snatched up another book, and plopped down on the ground. Without another word, she started flipping through the pages.

“Don’t take it so personally, dear. I’m sure it’s not your fault.” Rarity tried her hoof at brightening the librarian’s mood, but she was only met with a cold shoulder. Twilight didn’t want anything to do with it. There was a long awkward silence that fell over the room, only disrupted by Twilight flipping through the pages of her book.

“I have some research to do, why don’t you girls go home and get some sleep. I should have some answers by morning.” Twilight added coldly, finally breaking the silence in the room. The other three looked at one another, realizing Twilight was in no mood to be comforted. As they stared at her, Rarity realized she was taking on all the blame for their predicament, even though her friends weren‘t blaming her.

Pinkie approached the studying pony, but Rarity stopped her, simply shaking her head. Essentially she was telling Pinkie to drop this one, and let Twilight work. Pinkie was never the type of pony to let another sit there and lament, but this is the kind of mood Twilight wanted right now. Reluctantly, the Pinkie nodded her head, conceding to Rarity.

“I’ll take Rainbow home with me...” Fluttershy said, approaching the unconscious unicorn.

“No, leave her here. If she freaks out again, I’ll have to talk her down or try and save her. We can‘t have her teleporting up to her house again without somepony there to save her.”

“I...guess that makes sense...” Fluttershy muttered, holding her head low. Suddenly she was feeling rather useless. Rarity gave Fluttershy a warm smile, and a comforting hoof over her shoulder. The shy pony smiled slightly, though her eyes betrayed that she was still worried about Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s go, dear. I’m sure Twilight can take care of things here.” Rarity pulled Fluttershy towards the door, forcing her to leave Twilight in peace to study, and Rainbow in peace to rest.

“Ohh...my head...” A groggy voice muttered just before the three visitors were about to leave. All attention turned to the couch, where a waking Rainbow Dash was trying to sit up. She rubbed the side of her head, still holding her eyes firmly shut. After a bit of a struggle, she managed to flip over, so her legs were under her.

“Dashie, you’re awake!” Pinkie jumped over her friends, landing right in front of Rainbow Dash.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of a curly mess of a pink mane, and a giant smile in her face. The sight caused her to jump back from her overly excited friend. “Why’re you guys here? Wait, where am I?” she asked, seeing she was at the library.

“H-How are you feeling, Rainbow?” Fluttershy rushed to Rainbow Dash’s side.

“Fine, I guess. Oh man, I had the weirdest dream!” She chuckled. “I dreamt I was a unicorn and Twilight was...a...pega...” She trailed off when she noticed what was attached to the purple pony’s back. She looked over at her other friends finding Pinkie with wings, Fluttershy without wings, and Rarity without her horn. Slowly, the unicorn turned her gaze to her own back, finding it empty. Her mouth hung agape, too in shock to even realize it was open. Cautiously she reached for her forehead, finding a horn at the tip. “I-I-It...” she muttered.

“Rainbow, it wasn’t a dream.” Twilight climbed up to the couch, and sat down next to her friend.

“B-B-But...I’m a...”

“We’re going to fix this, darling, so just stay calm.” Rarity’s voice carried a gentle tone. Fluttershy and Pinkie both nodded in agreement to their stunned friend.

“We’ll have your wings back in no time, okay?” Twilight smiled weakly, only to see Rainbow Dash wasn’t responding; her eyes, her mouth, her face, all frozen.

“I-I’m...a...” she muttered again. Her horn started to glow a soft magenta color. Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, causing her to look at Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash, unicorn magic is very responsive to emotion. You need to calm down.”

“C-Calm down? Calm down!?” She jumped off the couch. “I can’t fly Twilight! I’m a unicorn! How the hay am I going to work, or go home, or...or...or anything!” She fell back on her hind legs, holding her hooves to her head in disbelief.

“And so is Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity are earth ponies, Pinkie and I are pegasi! We’re not happy with it either, Rainbow, but we’re going to fix it!” Twilight stomped her hoof on the ground after she climbed off the couch. Her voice was shaking with anger. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one who lost something when that mirror activated, her friends all had to deal with their changes too.

"It'll work out Rainbow Dash," Spike said trying to cheer her up.

She stared down at the little dragon for a minute. “Where am I going to sleep?” Rainbow asked weakly.

Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself. The sight of Rainbow Dash looking so vulnerable calmed her anger. “You can stay here at the library.” Twilight sat down, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. The anger in her voice from earlier had been replaced with a comforting tone once more. Her hoof gently stroked her friend’s back, causing Rainbow to relax a bit at her touch.

Finally, the unicorn gave a small sigh, expelling the last of her shock, and leaving only a sadness in her eyes. The realization she was a unicorn now was settling in, whether she liked it or not. She pushed her mane out of the way so she could look up. At the edge of her line of sight was the small cyan tip of her horn. She felt so unsure when she looked at it, like she simply didn’t know what to do with it. The pointed tip confused her so much, she didn‘t even want to look at it.

Her eyes drifted down to her friends. The look in their faces surprised her, she didn’t see the same sadness she felt, instead she saw optimism. They had hope that they would find a way to fix their predicament.

“I guess I’ll have to just not fly for a day or so...” she muttered. “It’ll be like that time I was at the hospital, right?” she added with a small laugh.

“Well, you did almost go crazy in the hospital, and also you’re going to have to learn how to control your magic, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity gave her an almost cocky smirk. “I’m curious if you’ll be pony enough for it.”

“Please! I’m the coolest pony ever, I can handle anything!” In an instant, that turmoil she was feeling was forgotten, replaced with her usual confident attitude. She placed a proud hoof to her chest, boasting her awesomeness.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked with a warm smile slowly growing on her face.

“Of course, I’m the fastest flier in Equestria! I can handle a little magic. No problem!”

“Oh! And I bet Twilight is an amazing magic teacher!” Pinkie wrapped a foreleg around Twilight. Her friend’s praise made her smile a bit.

“Besides I have to prove I’m better at this than Applejack!” Rainbow smiled, looking around the library for the farmer. “Speaking of which, where’s she at?”

“Asleep, like you were.” Rarity laughed a bit. “But she didn’t pass out right away, and she’s not the one who lost control, and started charging up magic recklessly like a foal.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow said taking a bit of offense.

“Well, you and Applejack did a magic resonance. It’s when two unicorns, usually foals, bounce magic off each other amplifying their power. It‘s really hard to do consciously because the two unicorns have to be thinking the exact same thing, and their magic wavelengths must match up. Even among foals it‘s a rare occurrence, but they just happen to do it on accident every so often. Apparently unicorns of old used to—” Rainbow Dash let out a long drawn out groan as Twilight explained.

“Enough with the egghead stuff! I get it, I’ll just keep cool, alright?” Rainbow rolled her eyes at Twilight.

“Alright,” Twilight said with a small giggle.

“Well, then I suppose we should get going. I could use a nice long shower after the day I’ve had,” Rarity said, brushing her hoof through her mane.

“Oh, be sure to meet back here tomorrow morning. I should have something for you girls by then, alright?” The three nodded to Twilight in their own way. Pinkie with a bright smile. Rarity a little reluctant, and Fluttershy barely at all.

As their smiles died down from the small distraction with Rainbow Dash, Twilight saw her friends were still shaken up over the whole ordeal. It wasn’t that unexpected, coping with a complete change in lifestyle doesn’t happen in a few hours. Fluttershy was just starting to grasp what it meant to not have wings. Twilight could see that in her eyes as soon as they crash landed earlier. She looked like she had lost a sense of purpose in her life. Rarity’s high-class attitude couldn’t hide the ache she felt. Deep in her eyes, Twilight could see that the designer felt like she was missing a piece of her soul. Twilight knew this well, because she felt the same way.

“What am I without magic?” That question burned at Twilight after she first realized she became a pegasus. Rainbow Dash was putting on a tough show, but it was easy to see she was still shaken up by the whole mess. Flying was as important to Rainbow Dash as breathing, or eating. Pinkie on the other hand seemed to be the exception. She was so full of energy and excitement, but Twilight wondered just how long that would last. Certainly Pinkie would find something about being an earth pony that she would miss.

One thing was for certain, tomorrow would be the biggest challenge for them. They would have to face themselves, their loved ones, their own lifestyles. Everything would feel so different, yet so similar. That familiarity would only make things sting as they realize they can’t do their jobs, chores, or anything the same again. Optimism was good to have, but saying nothing would change was down right foolish, and Twilight knew that. Things were different, and things would change.