Far From Home

        We stared at the tiny village. It had a rustic feel to it and looked friendly enough, but we dared not enter until we knew what lived there, especially not in the dead of night on a new moon. Doing that in the Lycana was a bad idea, and I would bet my first born pup that it was here to. Especially when the species of the inhabitants was yet unknown.

        I looked over at my best friend and travelling companion, Moonlight Runner. Her coat was a shimmering grey, like the colour of the full moon above a thin layer of clouds, her tail thumped nervously against the ground, stormy eyes glaring into the sky.

        "Three weeks,” I groaned, “how the hell were we three weeks from any civilization on this planet!"

        "We need food," she muttered.

        My jaw hit the ground,"You ate an entire freaking manticore yesterday, for Lupus’ sake!"

        She just turned, sniffing snobbishly. "A coyote's gotta eat."

        I just shook my head and started loping after her.

The next morning we were looking into the village from the edge of the forest. The town was now alive with activity, and all Moonlight could do was gape. "Ponies," she muttered before exclaiming at an unfortunate volume, "IN THE NAME OF LUNA'S BRIGHT PINK COTTON BLOOMERS THEY'RE PONIES!'

        A bright pink pony with a mane that cannot be described as anything other than cotton candy made hair looked over, we instantly ducked hoping to Lupus, Luna, and any other listening deity that we weren't seen.

        Thankfully a rainbow maned pony with wings, seemed to distract the pink one, though we didn't catch the words. 'Wait a second wings?!' I thought doing a double take, but missing both ponies, as they seemed to have simply disappeared.

"They're supposed to be a myth," I muttered awestruck, then noticed Moonlight was no longer next to me, but behind me ready to go back to our clearing.

        We ducked back into the forest, going to our clearing, a small one off any paths, with a midsize pond about five minutes walk in.

        "We need disguises," Moonlight muttered.

        I rolled my eyes. " I got you covered."

        I began the delicate process of a Higher Harmonized Chaos enchantment. First drawing the spell circle in runes, taking great care not to mess up. After the first circle was complete, the change, I added another ring of runes around the outside, the hold, so the illusion would last outside the circle. The hold binding the illusion to us,not the circle, as without the hold, the transformation would die at about a kilometre outside the circle.

        Moonlight stayed silent, knowing how volatile chaos magic, especially harmonized, or effect holding chaos magic, could be.

        I drew the symbols in the circle with great care, wanting the transformation to keep our gender the same, as the first time I did this, my master refused to change me back until I learned how to do it myself. I ended up walking around  for a weak as a she. Worst week of my life. As a bitch. In heat. In the middle of an alpha wolf meet. I WAS ONLY THERE TO STUDY UNDER MY MASTER AND I HAD TO BEAT SUITORS OFF WITH A LUPUS DAMNED STICK! I mean, I know mages are rare, but that was bad.

        I finished the last rune and turned to Moonlight. "You're going first," she deadpanned. I sighed and stepped into the circle, saying,

"To waters change I commend my physical being

Another native, may others be seeing

And with this morph their abilities too

while I remain me, magic and true"

        I again took care with the chant, as messing up a spell that requires one is a recipe for disaster. Very possibly lethal disaster if the spell affects a living being.

        I felt the rush of magic and stepped out of the circle, walking over to the pond to look in. In place of my wolfish face, a pony head stared back. My fur was still jet black, but atop my head sat a midnight blue mane, I turned around and saw my tail was now also midnight blue and... "What in the name of Lupus' purple pantaloons is on my butt," I said looking at Moonlight.

        She giggled. "You're the correct gender then?"

        "Yes," I deadpanned at her.

        She stepped into the circle, and I repeated the rhyme and the circle went white. The light made me nervous. I was suddenly glad we were in the forest and doing this during the day. The light was BRIGHT. I had forgotten how bright these spell circles could be, a first year apprentice mistake that would have had my master tear me a new one.

After the light died, it wasn't Moonlight Runner the coyote standing there, it was Moonlight Runner the winged pony.

        WAIT A MINUTE. I checked my back then looked back at Moonlight, "One, we need to learn to fly. Two, we need to figure out what we're called. And three, WHAT IN THE NAME OF LUNA AND LUPUS' ILLEGITIMATE LOVE CHILD IS THE CHAOS SYMBOL FOR CHAOS DOING ON MY ASS?"

(Pulled off google images. If this is someones work, let me know so I can credit them.)

        "I kinda like having a Lunar eclipse on my rump," Moonlight stated primly.

        I deadpanned at her and said, "Maturity, Mooner." Then, before she could respond or bite my head off, figuratively or literally, over the hated nickname, "We ran for three weeks to get here, we should probably check out what here is."

        Moonlight turned and walked away. "Coming?" she called over her shoulder. I simply gaped at her dark, storm cloud grey tail, which was swayingway more than necessary. Quickly snapping out of it I hurried to catch up, and we walked towards the little town.

        We walked into town quietly and tried to remain inconspicuous. Moonlight had fallen slightly behind me as we made our way a massive tree at the edge of town, sign above the door stating it was the library. I glanced towards Moonlight, grinning as I knew she hated the archives back home, "Best place for info Moony."

        "Call me that again and I'll start calling you Stormy."

        "Okay, okay." I said, scared she'd actually follow through on the threat. I nudged open the door and stepped inside, Moonlight following close behind. Just inside was a tiny dragon. Moonlight instantly tensed and pressed close to me ready to bolt. He looked like he was about to say something, but was confused by Moonlights reaction. It was in that moment of tangible tension that the door burst open and we were bowled over by what I could only describe as a cyan train.

        Moonlight, the little dragon, and I were all thrown into the wall and I was buried beneath Moonlight and the entire reference section of the library.

        "I won!" Yelled a tomcoltish voice, muffled by the Ea-Ec encyclopedia on my face.

        "Ya used yer wings!" shouted a southern accent.

        "Spike, whats an entire section of the library doing on the floor, and why does the pile look bigger than it should?" I swear I would see one of the archive tenders if this encylcopedia, and the others in my line of sight, weren't in the way. I mean, that sounded really bookish.

        "Its obviously because Rainbow ran into new ponies and knocked them into the wall, knocking down all the book on them and...," There was 10 seconds of silence before an absolutely impossibly long gasp then, "NEW PONIES!" followed by a swoosh and an indignant "humph" that I could swear belonged in an alpha's court.

        The door then shut and there was silence, before the bookish voice spoke. "Spike are there really ponies under that pile?"

        "Yes," said a really young sounding voice. There was a collective intake of breath and my field of vision lit up in a magenta aura as the entire pile was lifted, revealing Moonlight and I, as well as showing that her snout was trapped between two volumes until they were lifted, explaining the curious lack of snark under the pile.

        As it was lifted, I saw five mares and a dragon looking at me and Moonlight. The dragon looked curious, a purple pony with a horn atop her head (I really needed to get species names) was studying us intensely, another horned pony, this one a lovely white with a purple mane, was looking shocked at us being under there, a pony without wings or a horn was glaring at the cyan freight train, that turned out to be an extremely guilty looking winged pony, and finally a butter yellow winged pony who looked like she wanted to approach, but seemed to be hiding behind the plain pony the same way Moonlight was hidden behind me from the dragon.

        Finally the dragon, Spike I would assume, broke the silence, "Are you two-" that's as far as he got before he took a step and Moonlight bolted, almost runnning over the pony with the hat, and getting the hat caught on a slightly extended wing, before the bbrush with the hat causes her wings to tense closed and catch the brim, holding the hat against her.

        "MOONLIGHT!" I yelled as I ran full speed after her.

        "Hey, git back here  with that!" I heard the southern voice yell, not looking back to put a face it. I continued to run, trying to catch Moonlight, but damn was she fast, and I couldn't cast on the fly. As we approached the forest I began to wonder why the rainbow winged one hadn't caught up yet, I mean, isn't flying faster than running? I didn't have the time to look behind me though, as it took all my concentration just to keep up with Moonlight. It was about five minutes of sprinting after her that I figured out where the cyan pony went to when she literally dropped out of nowhere in front of Moonlight, I saw the collision about half a second before my headlong sprint was arrested by a rope that seemed to just appear around my barrel.

        Apparently Moonlight's abrupt exit didn't go over too well.

"A stop I put to the sand

The Hurricane and Moonlight on a separate land

With the power to stay time's hand."

        Time stopped around us as I removed myself and Moonlight from its flow, the spell a rather simple panic spell that allowed conversation, but disallowed any spatial movement. So I was stopped suspended from a rope with all four legs pointing forward, while moonlight was upside down in the middle of a tumble with the cyan freight train.

        Spell complete I looked at Moonlight. "Still haven't kicked your draconiphobia?"

       The next voice startled us both. "Amazing, you’re a pegasus who can do magic?... or a…." With the voice trailing off, I was hit by a blast of magenta light that felt disturbingly like unfocused chaos magic. "So not a changeling."

        Moonlight and I just stared, flabbergasted at how someone had made it through my spell. I said, "How in the name of Luna's loopy locomotive did you not stop with the rest?!"

        "A general magic ward. They're quite useful when dealing with unknown magic. Especially when chaotic outcomes are likely. Now will you please release my friends?"

        The now obviously very powerful mage smiled at us, but I could also tell she was scared of the power I held myself. "Alright, but while we explain our... situation, can you please keep the... Dragon? Drakon? Whichever the kid is, away from Moonlight here. Names Hurricane Eye by the way," I stated.

        "Twilight Sparkle," she said, still looking nervously around. It wasn't until after I freed us that I realized she was tapping her foot and not locked spatially in one place below the neck like every other mage, coyote or wolf, that has done, or been within, this particular spell.

        I then started the spell release,

"I let my hold release

on the sands forced to cease

so the waters may flow again."

        In the time talking to the mage, I'd forgotten about the rope, which I was reminded about very quickly as it went taught and I was whipped backward. "STOP!" The voice of the mage seemed to freeze everyone. "Let's all just go somewhere so we can talk. Please?"

        Rainbow mane and the plain pony both nodded, the plain one grabbing her hat from the ground where it fell, miraculously intact after the tumble, and we all began trotting back towards town. About halfway there, we ran into the other two ponies from the library. Quickly explaining that explanations would come when we reached some place called Sugarcube Corner, they fell into step with us. When we reached the building, which turned out to be a pastry shop that looked for all the world like a gingerbread house, we all went in and chose a booth. After we all sat down, the mares all looked at me and Moonlight expectantly. I sighed, thinking, 'This is going to be a very hard conversation.'