One Pony's Curse, Is Another Man's Blessing...

Chapter Eight - A Farmer And Her Blasted Plot, Part One

Wednesday May 13, 2020. 06:46

Kansas, northwest of Salina.

“Vroom! Vroom!”

A soft, pattering spring rain fell in the early morning, but it was warm so I paid it no mind as I ‘drove’ the tractor up and down my family’s fields.

Now this was technically not that impressive, nor anything I had not done before…

“Vroom! Vroooooom!”

Except this tractor had been broken for years and was currently glowing like the center of a fire-pit.

“Enjoying yourself, sweetie?” I asked my darling boy, as he ‘drove’ and ‘helped’ with the plowing.

He poked his head out the window, his grey and white striped hair quickly getting flattened by the rain and his pretty purple eyes glowing with pride at getting to help daddy. I thought about telling him to keep his eyes on where he was ‘going,’ but he was smiling so wide I simply did not have the heart. “Yes, daddy!”

I gave a nod and smiled at him, even as I shifted my plot on the roof. I’d bolted an old mattress in place so that I would have a ‘crow’s-nest’ of a sort to steer from, but it was hardly the most comfortable thing in the world. “Glad to hear it! But get inside again. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

His adorable little face scrunched up in concentration. “…What about you?”

I thumped my chest with a hoof hard enough to make most off the rain my pelt had soaked splash off like a mist. “Your ol’ man could’ve handled this little drizzle even before this change, so don’t you worry. It will take far more too even face me now.”

I ‘stopped’ the tractor, as I leaned over the edge and gave him a wet nuzzling, making him give off an adorable little yelp. “You on the other hand don’t have a pelt to keep you warm. You get in and close that window, OK?”

He flashed me another adorable little smile, before doing as I had said. I started ‘driving’ again, he made the engine noises. The Alicorn and her little boy, enjoying themselves as ‘they’ worked…

Truly, it was a match made in a very silly heaven.

My new eyes spotted something by the old irrigation pond. Something grey, pretty and very, very wet.

“Look, dad! It’s mommy!”

With another smile I lifted the plough off the ground and altered our course. Now, normally this would have ruined a couple of hours of work…

“Vroooooooom! Beep, beep!”

But I haven’t seen much reason for the flat wheels touching the soil, so we just floated over the ready furrows. The only sounds the patter of rain, the tinkling of my magic and the odd “Vrooom!” from my son.

I chuckled, as I wondered how many years before Mark figured out I could have just sat on a cloud and raked only the plough across the field like an oversized window scraper. Far too few for my tastes, I was sure…

Monica/Zecora was just shaking her head at the sight as I landed the tractor at the edge off the pond and the field, making her pretty new mane whip around. I’d probably spend a year on the couch if I ever said so out loud, but the new her? Oh yes, daddy likes!

The rain had plastered her mane to her head, but it was still the near shining mix of grey and white I’d gotten so fond off. Her pelt was just as drenched, leaving nothing off her gorgeous curves to the imagination.

I thought about if I should teleport with Mark back to the farm before he saw more than was wise, but eh. It’s not like I intended to ravish her, then and there.

A wicked grin came to me. Even if the thought was more than a little tempting, minus Mark being there, of course…

Still, this is the age of internet capable cell-phones. I’m fairly certain he’ll know what a vigina looks like the moment they become interesting to him…

I looked down at my own just as naked form. Funny, you don’t miss pants until you're suddenly unable to wear them...

But I grinned a bit wider and teasingly spread my wings as I looked back up from my pretty purple plump plot.

Who was I to throw the nude mare stone?

“Mommy!” he shouted, as he threw open the door and bounced towards her with the type of favor only tiny kids seems to be capable off. Zecora blushed a little at her state of undress, but it quickly switched to a warm smile as she scooped Mark He yelped again, as he got another wet nuzzling in almost as many minutes.

She hoisted him over to her back and got down on all fours in one fluid motion, making him shout “Wee!”

I jumped off, easily getting traction in the air thanks to all the moisture. With only a few flaps I was beside them. We traded smiles, and a nozzle each, before trotting back to the farm.

“Helping daddy, I see?” she said, looking over her back for a moment with a twinkle in her eye.

Mark nodded enthusiastically. “I did the engine noises!”

Zecora blinked, before looking back at me with a raised eyebrow. I just smiled in response, making her shake her head again.

I spluttered as I got a face full of water. She and Mark shared a giggle at this. I countered by using a shield spell as a makeshift umbrella.

This made Zecora pause mid-step for a moment. “Very impressive, Twilight. How long have you had that?”

She blinked and shook her head, as if dislodging something. “Sorry, Twilight. I didn’t mean to call you Twilight, I of course meant Twilight, Twilight.”

I just barked out a laugh, even as she face palmed. This got me a giggle from Mark, and a glare from her. “This is no laughing matter, Tw- “She closed her eyes for a moment, brow furrowed in concentration. “I meant George. This is no laughing matter, George.”

I leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her blush. “Love, I’m taking this seriously... but its been over two weeks now.” I leaned forward again and gave her another nozzle, making her coo in delight despite herself. She let out a soft little sigh, as I leaned back. “Isn’t it about time we try to see things from the bright side?”

Zecora looked back at Mark, who had curled together into a ball and fallen asleep on her back, despite how wet she was. She frowned slightly at the sight, before lifting a hoof and pointing it towards Mark in an awkward angle. The she swept her hoof to her side, making the water in her pelt jump towards the ground in a miniature waterfall.

Mark gave off a soft, content sound in his sleep, as he was suddenly as dry as when he had gone out to help me.

Ah, so that was why she was so wet. Practice! I gave her a quiet clap by stomping the ground a few times. She quickly turned her head and shushed me, but did so with a smile. She raised her hoof. “Want me to do you?”

I gave her my best lecherous grin. “Shouldn’t we put Mark to bed first, love?”

Her cheeks turned crimson at my words. I helped the adorable blush along by giving her cheek another peck. “My, my… aren’t you the romantic today…” She murmured happily in response.

I resisted the urge to nibble her ear. I started walking again instead. “Well, what can I say? This beautiful mare has been driving me crazy lately by barely even letting me kiss her…”

A frown swept her face, but I pretended not to notice. I just walked, swinging my tail a bit wider than strictly necessary. I grinned wide as my magical awareness of the area around me showed as clear as if I had looked at her, how her eyes were drawn towards my nether region. I resisted the urge to give her a ‘wink,’ instead focusing on getting home.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, and before long we had reached the farm.

It wasn’t that big a house at two stories, and blue walls and white trimming was hardly the most original.... Nor was a barn, the house itself and just a few acres that big either, but the lot of it has been in my family for generations…

I glanced down on my purple hooves, but kept walking.

And right now, I was really glad for my family owning this remote little corner of Kansas.

A shudder that had nothing to do with my wet pelt swept over me, at the thought off what would have happened had my parents lived less remote. I’m fairly certain we would have made it, one way or the other…

I glanced back at Mark.

Me and Zecora was one thing… if the worst came to the worst we could just gallop off, find a place with grass of all things and be set… But with Mark in the picture? The thought of having to leave him behind somewhere just because of these changes made my heart ache and skin crawl.

Zecora stopped me at the door, doing the water moving thing again. It felt darn peculiar having water just slide out of my pelt like that, but I couldn’t argue with the result. It felt as if I had never been wet to begin with. I flashed her a smile as thanks, before stomping my hooves on the doormat, letting go of my own spell and walking in.

I paused, as I sensed how she stopped. I looked back… She was looking between her muddy hooves, Mark on her back and then back again, worry on her indecisive face. I stifled a giggle at the adorable scene, before floating him off her back and onto mine. He stirred a little, and mumbled something but didn’t wake.

Zecora shot me a thankful smile, before stomping off her hooves and trotting over. She just stood and looked at Mark for a while, her eyes tender. “…To think, all those years…” She began after a while, her voice soft and low. “…we thought he had some manner of pigmentation problem…”

She put a muddy hoof to a lock of her mane, the grey and white mixed by the water into a striking silver color. “And instead, he had his mom's’ real hair colors all along. Isn’t that a bit funny?”

I gave a soft chuckle, as I pointed a purple hoof at my face. “Yeah, and daddies’ eyes…”

Zecora hesitated for a moment… then she leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. She was blushing, had a sheepish grin… but she was smiling, as she pulled back from the first kiss she had ´given me since we had transformed.

I blinked away a few tears, as my smile widened. “…Does this mean…?”

She coughed in embarrassment, as her eyes drifted everywhere except me and Mark. “…This is just so wrong…” She mumbled, as her cheeks looked near on fire.

I giggled, as I started to take Mark to his room. “You mean the tiny horses thing?”

She sank down on her haunches, covering her face with her hoofs. I swept my eyes over the glorious sight of her undercarriage, exposed by the act.

She let her hooves drop, giving me a sad look. “…Yes.”

She looked away, but not before I saw the mistiness of her eyes.

“Hey,” I said, as I pointed towards the bathroom. “Why don’t you take the shower, I’ll put Mark in bed and…”

She shuddered, the simple movement making her mane and tail twitch all over. “I’m sorry, I just…” She pattered off, lost for words.

My heart sank, because from how crestfallen she looked, she really did not need any. “…Why don’t have to… You know, do anything.” I looked at the floor. It was a bit cowardly of me, but I just… didn’t want to see her reaction. “…I’d just like to hold my wife again.”

Quickly, the clopping of hooves filled the air, and I found my shin being lifted be a gentle hoof to eye level. Her turquoise eyes were so, so gentle as she locked eyes with mine. So much had changed, even their color, but seeing that part of her unchanged made my heart soar.

She leaned in and gave me a peck on the nose, only hesitating for a moment this time. I simply could not stop myself, and gave a soft little whiny of pleasure in response.

She jerked her head back, eyes a bit wide.

Just as I thought I’d ruined thing… she gave me a smile. It was a tiny thing, and more sad then happy, but it was a smile nonetheless. “…I’m sorry, Twilight. I haven’t been much off a wi-“

I shoved a hoof to her lips, making her splutter from the mud. “Sorry! I forgot.” I quickly said, as she shot me a glare.

I lowered my hoof. “But I just want you to know… I get it. This is hard for you. Take your time. I just want you to know I find this new you very pretty…“

She looked at me for several moments, before her mud stained lips parted in a hesitant smile. “…How about you go put Mark to bed? We can continue this after that, right?”

With a grin, I teleported to Mark’s room. A surprised yelp came from the down the stairs and through the door, even as I levitated him over to his bed and quickly tucked him in.

Then I teleported back, straight in front of a certain suddenly irritated zebra. “Done! What did you have in mind?”

She gave me a slight glare, but it only lasted moments before being replaced with a giggle. “Seriously? Teleportation to win an argument?”

I trotted forward, sitting down plot to plot, mark against mark. She tensed slightly, but it was just as clear she was trying not to. I leaned my neck against hers. To my delight, this time she gave off a tiny whiny… even if she fought it down quickly.

“…Is this really so horrible?” I asked, as I gently rubbed my neck against hers. I got a few pleased coos but she fought them down as well. “Would it be so bad if I levitated you to bed, and made you mine once more?”

I wrapped my hoofs around her, hugging her. To my surprise and delight, she hugged back. “I know it will be different... but am I such a horrible mare for wanting you to talk dirty to me in rhyme?”

She laughed at that one, hugging me tighter as she did. “…Seriously?”

As my response, I grabbed her, twisted slightly… and planted my lips to hers. Her eyes widened in surprise, before fluttering closed in pleasure. I was so very tempted to add tongue into the mix, but I didn’t dare, so I just kept planting my lips against hers’, her face, her cheeks, even one or two against her neck.

She was still for one horrible moment, making we worry I had moved too fast… but then she started kissing me back with only a whimper to mark the passing of her hesitation.

I did however unfurl my wings, and added them to the hug. She gave another little coo at the sudden warmth, but other than that we just kept kissing.

The taste of mud almost made me sputter at the start, but I fought it down. It was my fault and I wasn’t about to have mud off all things stop me from this. Not after two weeks of her needing some distance. I’m honestly not certain how long we sat there, just lost in each other’s presence.

…Granted, are not such moment always too short? But I digress.

Before long anyway, a tiny “Dawwwww…” from behind us broke the spell.

I kept the hug around my blushing and grinning darling, but I turned my head around. “Seriously, dad. Can’t you see we’re having a moment?”

Dad smiled as he held up two towels in his work scarred hands. “Heard the two of you come in, and I know you don’t exactly have boots at the moment, sooooo…”

He nodded at us, smile still in place. “Didn’t expect to be walking in on the two of you patching things up…” His grin grew positively lecherous. “Should I come back later or is that mud not unintentional?”

I looked back on Zecora. My cheeks started burning as I realized we both were smeared with the stuff. I had to swallow as it dawned on me that our kissing and hugging had spread it around enough it almost looked as if we had… wrestled in the stuff.

And then she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at me. “Why the look of sudden fear, my sweetest dear? Did you not want me to rhyme, during our time most sublime? How would you react if I told you that the sight of you clothed only in mud…” She leaned closer, making my breath catch in my throat at the sight of her half wailed eyes. But instead of kissing, she leaned even further ahead and whispered in my ear. “Oh, how it boils my blood!”

My mind went blank, as she nibbled hard on my ear. I vaguely heard dad give off a quiet laugh, as I felt my wings and tail dart upwards without my conscious input.

I quickly let go and started fighting my rouge appendages down. Dad and Zecora just lost it, but I don’t think they would have been as amused if they know just how tempted I’d been to just take her, then and there.

I could feel them strain to go *fumph* again, but I managed to fold my wings again. My tail was just being stubborn, though.

I guess it made sense, in a way. Biologically speaking. Secondary traits signaling your readiness is one thing, but one that disables a creatures primary way of flight, if the pun may be pardoned? Go, go, gadget evolutionary pressure! They felt stiff and strained against my will, but it was more like fighting down a smile then ignoring an erection.

My tail thought? Now that was more like the later. I could still move it, but it was more or less side to side only. I opted to sit down, as to not offer dad a view of his former son’s winking twat.

I waited for the laughs to die down. I took the towels from my dad’s hands telekinetically without any resistance and started wiping off in the meantime. Zecora didn’t even stop when I dropped the other towel on her head. She just kept laughing, looking like the worlds cheapest and least thematically correct ghost.

The pictures of smiling teddy bears on the baby-blue fabric did not improve the look.

I focused on my mental picture of the laundry room, and with only a flash my own race car and mud covered towel was in the laundry bin.

Dad had seen enough ‘impossibilities’ these last weeks to not even flinch but it did make him stop laughing and look a bit stern. “And just what did you do to that poor towel, young girl?”

“I just sent it to the laundry bin, dad. No need to get snappy,” I stated plainly. “Thank for bringing them, by the way.”

Dad shook his head, but the furrows on his weather bit face grew a bit gentler. “No problem.”

I flashed a smile and got one in turn, before turning to Zecora that was just finishing her own clean up. “So, you’re getting mystical rhyming powers, then?” I asked tongue in cheek and with a sly little grin.

She stuck her tongue out at me, before switching to a thoughtful look. “It is somewhat weird, I must admit. As long as I do not think about it my tongue now seems to simply dance with newfound wit…”

The thought of where I wouldn’t mind her tongue dance around made my wings dart open again. I fought them down with a groan, as Zecora and dad did the same to their giggles at the sight.

Zecora got serious. “But seriously, nothing is forcing me to do it. It’s just… strangely easy, you know? Like I’ve gotten a knack for it.”

I noticed she wasn’t focusing on me when she said it, but I pretended not to notice. “Well, anyway…” I pointed towards the shower, biting back a grin. “Rock, paper, scissors for who gets the shower first?”

Just as I had hopped, Zecora raised a tired hoof, not thinking. Dad quickly darted out of the room, barely keeping his laughter under control. “One, two, three!” We said in unison.

She stared at her hoof, then my wing with two primaries spread into a V, then back again. “…Dear Lord, I’m really out of it today, aren’t I?”

I blew her a kiss with the same wing, no longer bothering to hide my smile. “You’re just not used to the schedule here on the farm. You’ll feel better with some breakfast inside you, and some warmth from the shower. Now get going.”

She reared up to crack her back. In the background my wings went *fumph* again. I just grinned, as she got back down with an amused expression. “Seriously, you’re worse than on our honeymoon…”

I gave her a seductive growl, making her ears and tail stand to attention. “And what tease of a grayscale seductress is to blame for that, I wonder?”

Her eyes got mist again, as she tilted her head and gave me an odd, but hopeful look. “…You really think I’m… sexy, like this?”

I gave her my best ‘come hither’ look, as I spread my wings as wide as they would go. A part of me got amused when that movement proved much easier to do then the opposite. “Love, you say the word and I’ll have us in the bedroom spreading my hips for you faster than you can say ‘I want you so badly I’m starting to ache…’”

Her jaw dropped, and she turned crimson once more. “…You spread yourself for me?”

I turned my body while keeping my head still, giving her the premium view without actually breaking eye contact. “Do I look male or uneager for your touch, to you?”

She stiffened a bit… but I still smiled at how she had to suck back some drool. She gave me a hard but practically smoldering look after that. “Fine, you naughty girl. You win. How about we share that shower before we both ruin the carpet out here?”

I tapped the tiles past the welcome mat, giving her my best lecherous grin in the process.

She just shook her head at it. “You utter pervert…”

The squeak from my cheeks echoed in the tiny hall, making her giggle. She nodded her head at my horn. “You know you light up like a christmas-tree when you get excited?”

I blinked at her, before looking up. I honestly hadn’t noticed, but she was right. A purple glow so strong it danced on the walls was flickering up and down my horn.

And Zecora took advantage of my distraction by creeping up, and planting a kiss right on it.

White dots danced in my vision and my mind went blank, as I vaguely felt the floor claim me and something that made the air smell like the taste of blueberries and taste like the smell of ink sparked out of my horn.

When I came to several bliss filled moments later, Zecora was rolling on the floor laughing so hard she could hardly breathe…

There were tiny embers of something sticking to the ceiling, glowing bright but fading even as I watched.

And I had made a wet mess right where I was sitting.

“…You tease.” Was all I could think of as a witty comeback. Still, my happy panting didn’t exactly scream displeasure at the act.

And then, with perfect timing as usual, dad burst into the room. He tried blurting something out, but his nose just wrinkled at the smell instead. “…What just happened? What’s that strange smell?”

I quickly scooted over the wet stain on the floor. “…Could you pass me the towel? I’ve… made a mess.”

Dad stared at me, one eyebrow raised. “…You can’t levitate it yourself suddenly, because…?”

Zecora just kept rolling around, but her laughter grew a bit higher pitched at my dad’s words.

My horn throbbed, at the mere thought of a spell so soon after… that. I gave him a sheepish grin. “…Zec- I mean Monica kissed me on the horn and…” I let out an embarrassed cough. “…Well, I can’t right now and… I’ve made a mess. Please?”

Dad stared at me.

Then he looked up and stared at the slowly fading embers of raw magic.

Then he gave the near hysterically laughing zebra still rolling on the floor a stare for good measure.

Then he took a deep breath and covered his head with both his hands.

“…Is this… horn ejaculation of yours…” I felt half my blood rush to my cheeks at his question. “…likely to burn down the house or turn it radioactive?”

I squeaked out a “No.” even as Zecora’s laughs grew even more frantic. She wasn’t even rolling around anymore, just kicking weakly in the air with her hooves as she lay there shaking with laughter.

Dad just let out a sigh at the sight. “Tell you what? I’ll go get a clean towel and… clean up. You two lovebirds get into bed before you cause stains on something less easy to clean then this floor or sheets…”

I had to cover my head with my hooves at the thought of dad doing… that. Zecora started up again at his words. “…Please, dad. Just get me the towel and I’ll do the rest, OK?”

“Fine, fine…” He mumbled, but with a note of relief in his voice, before striding off.

Only then did Zecora’s laugh die down into something even approaching sane sounding. “Oh, my sides!” She blurted out between giggle fits. “The look on your face was priceless!”

I weakly lifted myself on unsteady hooves. Truth be told, I would have rather scooted, but that would have left a something of a trail, so I opted not to. I walked over, my hooves a bit shaky before unceremoniously falling next to Zecora and pulling her into a hug.

The huge grin on my face actually snapped her out of it. “That was the best damn orgasm I’ve ever had,” I said. Making her turn crimson again and try to splutter something out, but I interrupted her by giving her a kiss.

I broke it quickly, not wanting something to start again in the hall. I gave her a happy nozzle though. “It felt as if my mind was on fire, but in a good way.”

The way her breath was coming in short little pants was making shivers dance down my spine. “You do realize that that means you’ve pleased a girl for the first time, right?” I murmured, tightening my hug a bit. “And she wants more.”

She gulped at the fire in my words, but her eyes were wide and her breath was still coming quick and shallow. I leaned in and took a greedy pull of her exotic scent. Almost like a horse, but not quite. I didn’t have words for most of it, but it made me think of hot summers and the smell of rain.

It was one of the most wonderful scents I’ve ever felt.

Her breath went less shallow, and she followed my example with a smile on her face.

She reached her head upwards, giving me another nuzzle and making me coo at the soft, luxurious feel of fur against fur. “You know I love you, right? I just… had some problem with these new shapes of ours…”

I let out a tiny laugh. “I get it. I love you too, hun. Now, le-“

I blinked at the sound of something almost like a teleport that had interrupted my words, but instead of the crack of displaced air, there had been a wet organic sound.

I noticed in the corner of my eye that dad was back, the fresh towel falling from his hands. He and Zecora were staring at a spot on my chest.

Both looking pale and horrified.

I followed their gazes, just as piece of blackened flesh the size of one of my new eyes fell away, down onto Zecora’s own chest with a squishy wet splat.

I barely had time to see the purple gleam of a gem, before the thing flared as it turned into a miniature star and white-hot pain hit me.

And then I started screaming.

I’m not certain how I did it, but both Zecora and dad curled up and covered their ears as I slipped into the royal voice, still screaming.

I tried to fight it down, to teleport away, to do something… but the best I could do was to roll away from Zecora and bang my head against the floor, still screaming loud enough that my new ears heard glass shatter in the other end of the house.

I felt the tiles under my head crack, even as some far-off part of me wondered how my ears were picking up the sound of mom’s footsteps scrambling towards us and Mark screaming something about “Dad!” over the sound of my own voice.

I tried to stop my own screaming, even if it was just long enough for dad and Zecora to get away. I bit down on a foreleg hard enough I felt my teeth hit bone, but even that was only a slight distraction to the searing pain already present.

Dad scrambled over, ears bleeding, and pulled the stunned Zecora to safety. I heard him shout something I couldn’t focus on and slammed the inner door to the house shut.

I pulled my teeth out, the iron taste of my own blood thick in my mouth as I just started screaming again.

The walls shook as I screamed once more, as I failed to hold back even a little now that my loved ones were out of the immediate danger zone.

I felt something start to tear in my throat, even as I pounded at the floor, reducing the tiles to powder and cracking the stone they rested on with each swing.

I have no idea what source of strength I drew from, but somehow I managed to focus long enough for me to teleport to the empty field I and Mark had been working on just an hour ago.

I landed in a sprawled heap next to the pond.

I was over a kilometer from the house.

That was the only one for miles.

No one but me would be hurt from this.

I let go of my restraints.

All of them.

And I screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

At some point I had even stopped breathing, somehow my magic was just creating fresh air in my lungs.

This just meant that the wall of sound coming from me, now even making my ears bleed, did not even pause for me taking breath.

The rain stopped falling, instead turning to tiny puffs of steam in midair as they hit the pressure-wave from my torment.

The old tractor collapsed, some of the smaller pieces of rusty metal shattering like crystal at the mercy of an opera singer.

And then my magic tried to fix things, by flowing towards my battered throat and other wounds. I felt steam rise from my ears, the bite, the horrible wound where the six pointed star now rested and even from within my throat.

I saw my flesh repair itself before my streaming eyes, as terrible power I barely knew I had flooded my system.

What was left of the tractor started tumbling away and the earth shook, as my now overcharged vocal cords jumped into overdrive.

A poor bird that had hidden in a now flattened bush next to the rippling pond, tried to fly away. It got a few feet, before falling down dead in a splash of crimson.

The cold logical place within me that was the only thing allowing me to think about any of this, noted how it was bleeding from every orifice, even the blood-filled eyes. Its internal organs must have been liquefied by my screams of agony.

And how glad even that part of me was, that I didn’t have to see that happen to any of my family.

I started pounding at the soft earth, hitting it so hard again and again, that some manner of brown stone started forming. My nostrils filled with the smell of smoke and burned soil for a moment, before the scent got blown away by my scream.

And then a tingling warmth spread in my chest, as what I now recognized as the Element of Magic…

Tried to help its mistress.

By adding its strength to my own.

Not realizing it was the very thing it was trying to protect me from.

My whole body started glowing, as every ounce of magic in the vicinity, my own internal reserves and those of magic made manifest, flooded my system in a tide of power that made my blood boil and bones ache.

I felt smoke rise from my horn, wings and even hooves, as my body desperately tried to vent the energy… but it just kept building.

But it found some release, however small, in my magically enhanced voice.

What was left of the bird turned to a red mist, soon lost among the loose soil that was being blown away from me.

The pond started boiling, no longer able to just passively absorb the amount of kinetic energy getting thrown at it.

I tumbled down through the topsoil that was being blown away so fast now that it was like sinking in quicksand.

I hit bedrock still burning with power. Still in agony. Still screaming.

A nearby edge of the quickly expanding crater broke, flooding where I was sprawled with the boiling water.

I barely felt it. It was just a mild annoyance compared to the white hot star in my chest. Not even a drop reached my throat, and soon, only a boiling mist quickly being thrown away remained.

The limestone cracked under me, as I continued pounding it. Both with my hooves and power.

I felt myself lift. I had not willed it. The magic simply flowed into that simple spell in a desperate attempt to do anything to ground itself.

Then the rocks started glowing, heated by both my screams and the torrent of magic flowing out of me.

The last thing I saw before unconsciousness claimed me, was the clouds high above starting to be pushed away, as the pillar of purple light and heated air reached them.

Then the world turned purple, just before the sweet release of oblivion started to claim me.

But the last thing I felt was my still shaking throat. Trembling in a scream even a banshee would not perform... or perhaps even dare listen to.

Then… only darkness and blessed silence.

I did not fight it. I did not resist it. I welcomed it.

I simply hopped, deep in my heart of hearts, before the rushing dark claimed even that spark…

That I would not wake to a broken world.

Or worse. Far, far, far worse.

An for me, empty one.