Chroma levitated his fedora onto his head over his copper colored mane and walked out his front door. Closing it with his magic, he stopped to take in the view. The summer sun shone warmly on his light tan coat. He continued on through Ponyville towards his destination. Everypony was trotting about, either conversing or going about their daily business.
He was heading to a field on the outskirts of town to meet a friend. He would possibly need some help with what he was about to attempt. In his bags over his back Chroma had everything he might need; a book of spells covering many magical theories, an enchanted ruby in which he had stored much of his physical energy into over time, and some food in case he was hungry afterwards.
This is going to be awesome! he thought to himself. Chroma was now crossing the bridge on the outskirts of town, the field not far off. The closer he got the more ecstatic he became. He started bouncing rather than trotting, unable to contain his excitement.
"What are we hopping for?" asked a hyper voice from behind.
Turning around he saw Pinkie Pie following him, also bouncing. He stopped. "Oh hey Pinkie! I'm just happy is all."
"I can tell!" she said with a large smile, "Whatcha happy about?"
"It's a spell I have been working on for a few months, I think it's ready now!" She suddenly tackled him into a hug, knocking him to the ground and his hat off of his head. "Gah!"
"Oh my gosh that sounds so awesome! You'll have to tell me all about it afterwards! Ooh! Or better yet..."
"Pinkie..." Chroma was gasping for breath.
"...I should go with you to see it myself! It will be great! I'll bring some celebration cupcakes and we can have a party to celebrate afterwards! What color streamers should I bring?"
"Pinkie, I can barely breathe!" She still had him in a bear hug.
"Oh, sorry!" She said with a snicker.
Once Pinkie let him go, Chroma breathed in heavily, finally getting some air. "So you wanna come with me to see?"
"Ooooh yeah about that, I forgot I had already promised I'd help Fluttershy cheer on Rainbow Dash as she performs some stunts." Pinkie sounded disappointed.
"Don't worry," Chroma said while he patted Pinkie on her shoulder. "Next time I have a spell I wanna try out, I'll tell ya."
She gasped loudly. "Great!" She hugged him once more then let him go. "Kaygottagobye!" She zoomed off, leaving a small cloud of dust behind in her place.
"Very sudden..." he said to himself. He stood back up, levitated his fedora back onto his head and went on his way once more.
Chroma was just about there. He expected his friend to already be there since his friend prefers to arrive ahead of time. He was quite a punctual stallion. He hated to disappoint others or anger them by arriving late. In fact, he seemed to try his hardest to keep on everypony's good side, as if he was terrified of having anypony angry at him. The more Chroma thought about it the stranger it seemed.
Chroma soon forgot about that, since he arrived at his destination. He looked around for the familiar colors of his friend. In a green meadow, he would stick out like a sore hoof. Seconds passed before Chroma spotted a patch of gray in the grass. He meandered over to his friend.
"Hey Shayden! How's it goin'?" Shayden didn't move or make a sound. "You alright?" He looked over Shayden's shoulder. He was reading a book.
"Your shadow is covering the words. Can you please move?"
"Oh sorry!" He stepped to the side so the sun once again shone on the paper. "So what are you reading?"
"Nebulous Properties and Theories, a compilation work put together by many authors. And I had just finished this section when you arrived." Shayden closed it and used his magic to levitate it into his own bags.
The stallion stood up. At full height, he was quite tall for a unicorn, his horn making him appear slightly taller. Mixed with a dark gray coat, he had a menacing look about him that did not match his calm demeanor whatsoever. His long black mane reached his upper leg joints, probably because he kept it straight instead of styling it in any way. The only feature in his mane were the two vertical white stripes, one slightly thicker than the other. His tail on the other hoof was a different story. It matched his mane in color except there was no white; it was unkempt and looked as if the wind had done the styling for him. It too nearly touched the ground. His entire color scheme of grays, black, and white contrasted very well with his eyes which were a bright red. His cutie-mark was a gray swirl of smoke that was a lighter shade of gray than his coat. The only thing out of place on him was his front left fore-hoof which was gone below the lower joint, and in it's place was a wooden prosthesis, which was strapped on.
As for the way Shayden acted, it also did not correspond with his appearance. He was polite in as many ways as possible and spoke like a gentle-colt, almost always referring to mares as "Miss." He held doors open for others, barely responded to hate or negativity directed at him, and spoke with a rather large vocabulary. He claims to have learned his manners from a mare named Rose Blossom, who had raised him.
"Alright," Chroma said, bursting at the seams with excitement, "You are probably wondering why I told you to meet me out here."
"I must admit, I am quite curious as to why we are outdoors. Could not whatever this is be done indoors?" He looked at Chroma quizzically.
"Actually," he enveloped his saddlebag in a field of magic and lifted it off his back, lowering it to the ground, "no it can't be. I need a wide open space!" he bellowed, motioning towards the sky. "If the spell is successful anyway." Chroma removed the spell book from the bag, levitated it in front of him and began flipping through the pages.
"Really now?" Shayden seemed very interested. "Alright, so what sort of arcane trick do you have in store? Is it of a large scale variety?"
"Well, in the scope of the focus and energy needed, yeah large scale. As for what it actually does, not really." He sat down and pointed a hoof towards the sky, "That up there has always interested me. The open skies!" Chroma tilted and fell onto his back. "I have always dreamt of gliding through the skies! The wind whipping thorough my mane!" He had a large smile on his face by now as he imagined soaring through the skies.
Shayden suddenly realized his plan. "Wait, you are going to attempt transformation magic? Do you have ANY idea how dangerous this is?" He was breathing faster now with a worried expression on his face. "Besides, the energy required for such a spell is by no means an infinitesimal amount at all! Even for the princesses it is hard to perform!" He was pacing back and forth, concern evident in his facial features and movements.
Sighing, Chroma sat up, straightened his fedora, and looked at Shayden. "I know, but that is why I have poured months of my time into studying the subject. Also, while studying," he pulled out the ruby from his bag, "I would transfer some of my physical energy into this enchanted gem I created. As far as I know, it can hold quite a lot of energy. Or maybe it disperses it once the limit is reached, I don't know."
This in no way reassured Shayden. He showed this by giving Chroma a stern look.
"And that is also why you are here," Chroma said in response to Shayden's stare, "to help in case something goes wrong. If some unintentional side effect occurs and I'm in trouble, I will need you to be here for me." Chroma was now afraid that Shayden would deny to help him so that he wouldn't try to transform himself into a pegasus.
Shayden's expression softened, "Alright fine, but...just be careful okay? I do not agree with this at all. You were born a unicorn for a reason, you shouldn't change to a pegasus without reasonable amounts of thinking."
Waving a hoof in dismissal, Chroma said "Oh don't worry, this won't be permanent! This is more of a trial, so it will last about an hour. After this, the longest I'll try for is a day."
Shayden's expression changed to a small smile, "Well that is different then. You have my full support, and my magic at your disposal!"
"Awesome!" Chroma looked around, and upon finding a stick, he grabbed it with his magic and broke it into two. He then gave one to Shayden, who wrapped it in his own field of magic. "Okey doke, now we need to draw two circles, a small one just big enough for me to sit inside of, and a slightly larger one surrounding the small one."
They began to draw the circles on the ground with the sticks. "Also," Chroma stopped. He lifted the book he brought off of the ground and put it in the middle of the half drawn circles. He opened it to a page near the middle. "We will need to draw the arcane symbols that are on this page in between the two circles. There are twelve and we need to equally space them." He resumed his portion of the circle.
"May I ask, what is the point of this?" Despite the question, Chroma finished the larger circle and went on to draw the shapes in the spaces between the circles. "From my current knowledge, I can say with certainty that shapes and symbols are not required in magic."
Chroma looked over at him, continuing to make the shapes, "No they aren't, but they are just a precaution. Imagine a class full of fillies and colts without a teacher. It's chaotic, and they are off topic. But WITH a teacher, they stay on task and get their jobs done."
Shayden put down his stick, having finished his portion. "Ah I see! It's a form of focus for those untrained enough. By surrounding yourself with these," he motioned towards the symbols, "you can keep your mind on topic to keep adverse effects at bay." He chuckled. "Quite intelligent."
"Why thank you, I try to be smart as much as possible! But see? I am taking every precaution I can think of. I will even make these symbols glow so they will keep my attention better. Aaaaaand done!" He backed up and sat down, admiring their work. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.
For about a minute, they both just sat on their haunches. Not a single sound was made save for the breeze rustling the grass and the buzz of bees as they searched for flowers. Both were only looking at the pattern, Shayden waiting for Chroma to make a move and Chroma getting ever more nervous.
Clearing his throat, Shayden inquired, "Well? What is it you are waiting for?"
Nervously, Chroma stuttered, "I...I guess i'm just nervous." Looking at him, Shayden could see fear clearly written on his face.
Standing, Shayden turned to him. "What happened to the excited stallion that stood before me moments before? Are you not prepared as you had previously stated? You had said you only dreamed of flying through the sky." He motioned upwards with his prosthetic fore-hoof. "Well this is your chance! Go forth!"
Swallowing his tension, Chroma flatly said "You're right. Thanks for that." He began to take small steps forward. First his right hoof entered the circles, then the left. Soon his midsection was in, and finally his flank passed over. Sitting down, he sighed. "Okey doke. Here we go...I guess." He looked over to his friend. "Can you pass me the crystal, please?"
"Gladly," Shayden smiled. He lifted the ruby from where Chroma had dropped it earlier and sent it to him. Momentarily, both of their magic auras were mingling on the ruby, khaki mixing with white, until Shayden released his spell and only Chroma's field held it aloft. "Do not be so fearful, if something goes wrong, it is as you said, I will be here for you."
Nodding, Chroma slowly lifted the empowered gemstone to his horn. He would first have to re-absorb all of the energy needed for the spell to work. When the ruby touched his horn, activating one of the spells he previously put onto it, he felt a sudden surge of energy, which started in his head and rushed throughout his entire body. This felt great! He was sure he could run five marathons and still have enough energy left for a full gallop back home.
Next, Chroma turned his attention to the drawings in the dirt. Quickly, he increased the energy of the photons of light surrounding the shapes and symbols, giving them a magenta glow to better keep his mind focused. He looked at the first symbol: three horizontal rectangles cut through the middle and connected by a single line...the arcane rune for bone structure. Concentrating, he released some of the pent up energy through his horn and imagined the bones forming.
Shayden stared in wonder as Chroma's sides began glowing. He quickly cantered to his saddle bags and brought out a notepad, quill, and inkwell to record what would happen.
Next, Chroma looked at the second symbol, which appeared to be a series of chicken scratches but was representative of the connective tissues that hold muscles to bone. Using the same process as with the bones, he released more energy into the spell.
Next was the symbol for muscles: three curved lines running parallel to one another. With each symbol Chroma concentrated on, the glowing on his sides began to intensify. Shayden soon had to drop the notebook and shade his eyes with a hoof.
By now, Chroma was concentrating on a pill shape with a small line coming out of one end...a picture of a feather. He focused his mind and magic into creating the feathers. Now all that was left was to synchronize the newly formed nerves to his brain and temporarily remove his horn so that there wouldn't be any issues with the mixing of a pegusi and unicorn's anatomy. Only a natural born alicorn, or one created through even more powerful magic, can survive that.
Chroma was so excited! He was just about done! Oh if only Pinkie could see this! Along with releasing the finished spell, he also released the rest of the energy he had taken from the ruby, which now lay on the ground just outside the circle. The glowing in his sides suddenly brightened even more, then flashed once very brightly.
Both stallions closed their eyes to avoid the blinding flash. After they were sure the light was gone, they opened their eyes. Shayden gasped deeply. "Chroma?"
Chroma looked at his friend, wondering what he was staring at. He looked to his sides. From them hung two perfect looking wings. Chroma gasped, though it sounded higher pitched to him than normal. Jumping up, Chroma screamed, "OHMYCELESTIA IT WORKED!" He stopped, eyes wide open in astonishment. Something seemed off about his voice. He looked at Shayden, who was staring at him, wide eyed and blushing slightly. "You're hearing this too, right? Why do I sound like a mare?"
Shayden just nodded, his face remaining the same. His horn began glowing as he removed a small mirror from his bag. Flustered, he said, "Y-you may wish to look upon yourself a bit more closely..." He held the mirror in front of Chroma, who then screamed rather loudly.
"What happened to me?" In the mirror, he saw a more slender frame than his own, a more rounded and smaller head, a hat that was sitting loosely over a long curly copper-colored mane, a matching curly tail, and eyes with long eyelashes. "I've turned into a mare pegasus?" she exclaimed.
"It seems that way, yes." Shayden put the mirror back, then he retrieved his notepad and put it up as well.
"Okay, first things first," said the now female Chroma. "Why, in the name of Celestia, do you carry a mirror with you?"
Shayden's eyes narrowed, "Of all the subjects for you to question at his moment, you inquire about my mirror? Fine, I use it to better brush my mane, I can't see the entire length of it else wise. But," he raised a hoof and pointed it at the she-Chroma, "what you should be asking is 'what happened?'"
She fell back on her now smaller haunches, "I don't know! Everything was going great! I was excited, and right before releasing the spell, I though that Pinkie would be happy to see thi....Oh..." She face-hoofed, "I am SUCH an idiot! I let my mind wonder!"
"Any extra magic you may have released afterward may have been influenced by your thoughts. It is possible the magical energy picked up on your memory of Miss Pie being a mare, thus translating your transformation further than you would have liked. As a result, it changed your physical form into that of a mare." Shayden chuckled. "This is quite comical, I must admit."
Chroma gave him an angry look. "This isn't funny! ...Okay maybe a little. I'm just relieved everything else went correctly." She felt her now rounded forehead. "Horn's gone, thats good." She extended her wings and looked them over. "A little small, but near perfect nonetheless. What do you think?"
Shayden gave a small but sly grin. "Hmm, I think you make quite a beautiful mare."
She gave him a half confused, half angry look while blushing, "Dude...wh...Why would you say that?"
Chuckling, Shayden said matter-of-factly, "For my own amusement. You can put your wings down now." He laughed louder now. "If you can." Now he was hunched over with laughter.
"Umm...I can't get them to go down!" She was trying to fold them back to her side, but every time she took her hoof off of the wings, they flapped back out with a fwap!
By now, Shayden had fallen over, laughing harder. He stood back up, slowly regaining his composure. After several deep breaths, but still with a hint of a smile on his face, he said, "Well you will not be able to for a short time. The pegasi call it a pomf. Apparently their wings convey their emotions quite well." Visibly, Shayden was trying not to snicker.
"Don't do it again please," she retorted, still blushing, "It's kinda uncomfortable." Her wings suddenly folded back in.
"Now that that has passed," Shayden stated, "why not try some wing exercises? I am sure that you have already assumed you will not be able to fly outright."
"Yeah I kinda figured." She stood back up, slowly extending and folding her wings to get a feel for how they work. "I guess it's like being a young pegasus, gotta start from scratch and learn the basics first." She looked up at the sky and sighed. "Soon..."
"Or better yet," Shayden wondered aloud, "Why not get an experienced flier to train you? We should go see Miss Dash immediately."
She gave him an intense stare. "There is NO way I'm letting Rainbow see me like this! She will NEVER let me forget it!"
"Fine, the best you can do then is to practice flapping them to gain some muscular endurance and strength." He cantered over to his bag and pulled out his book again, opening back to the page he left off at.
Chroma opened her wings once more, flapping them up and down. "This doesn't feel right."
Glancing over, Shayden noticed her error, "Wings do not flap in a vertical pattern. Rather, they make a circular motion, like an oar through a river to propel a canoe." He looked back to his book.
"Is there something else I can do?" She said, looking at her wings in confusion, "Working these things is harder than you'd think."
Sighing in frustration, Shayden looked over at her again, "Try some wing-ups then! Now will you allow me to get back to my book?"
"Yes, sorry." She lowered herself slightly, opening her wings and placing her primaries on the ground. Lifting her fore-hooves up, she was surprised that the wings could support her weight. Then again, her bones were now hollow to accommodate for flight, just like birds. She tried to lower herself using only her wings, only to have them give out and for her to fall onto her chest. "Oof! These are hard..."
Without looking up Shayden replied, "Just keep trying, you will master it eventually." With a sudden thought, he chuckled to himself. Out loud to Chroma, he playfully said, "Hmm, I wonder what Miss Vinyl would think of you like this..."
Chroma was supporting herself with her wings once more when he said that. As a result, her wings shot out in another pomf, leaving her to land face first on the ground. "Ow! Will you stop that?" Flustered and blushing heavily, she got up again, brushing dirt off of her face and mane.
"Oh this shall be so much fun for me!" Shayden was having a hard time not laughing out loud again.
Glaring at him, she mumbled loudly enough for him to hear, "If that's how you're going to be then that's enough practice until this wears off."
"You had best hope that the 'other' change reverses itself as well." He had his muzzle buried in his book once more.
Chroma was scared now. Wide eyed, she squeaked, "I didn't think about that." Her wings had now lowered themselves back to her sides. "I don't want to have to go through town like this, facing the stares of other stallions..." She buried her head in her hooves in embarrassment, her wings opening up in yet another pomf. "Dear sweet Celestia why won't they stop that?" She groaned into her hooves.
Three hours later
Chroma was back at home in Ponyville. The spell did as it was supposed to and reversed its effects after the hour was up, making Chroma a unicorn again. However, she was still a mare. She was resting her head on the table, an angry look stuck on her face. This sucks! Not only am I still a mare, but Rainbow and Vinyl both saw me on my way home! She recalled both incidents quit well.
Rainbow was flying overhead towards her cloud home, most likely after her stunts, when she noticed Chroma trying to get home unnoticed. She had flown down to say hello, and after seeing what happened to Chroma, Rainbow fell the last five feet, laughing uncontrollably. That was how Chroma had left her. Ears laid back in timidity and blushing redder than a ripened apple, she grumbled under her breath, "This is why I didn't wanna be noticed."
When Vinyl had seen her, it was worse. She didn't laugh as hard, but she also collapsed to the ground. When done laughing, the DJ had stood back up, clutching her sides and asking what happened to Chroma. Explaining the situation had lessened Chroma's newfound insecurities somewhat, but she still wished that she had never seen her like that. The fact that Chroma had a crush on Vinyl that she didn't even know about had made it no better.
Luckily, Shayden had offered to go fetch Twilight for him so Chroma wouldn't have to go through Ponyville looking for her. With Chroma's, Shayden's, and Twilight's magic combined they should be able to make Chroma a stallion once more. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Getting off of the stool she was sitting on, she went to the door, opening it with magic as she neared it. She was happy to see Shayden and Twilight standing there.
Twilight stared at Chroma for a second before saying, "Oh my... Shayden had told me about your... uh... 'predicament,' so I came over as soon as I could."
"Why did it take so long?" Chroma complained, "He went off to find you about two hours ago!"
"I was reading." she replied nonchalantly, which caused Chroma to face-hoof.
"Alright whatever! Can we just hurry up? This body feels too breezy and uncomfortable." She motioned for them to come in. As Twilight passed her, Chroma could have sworn she heard her mumble "I didn't need to hear that..."
"Alright!" Twilight said with a clap of her hooves. "This should be fairly simple. All you two will have to do is just transfer energy to me using an energy link and I will cast the spell to change him... err... her, back into a stallion." They were now in Chroma's living room, sitting in the middle on the oval shaped rug. Twilight was sitting in front of the larger couch that had a window above it with Shayden sitting to her right in front of a smaller one-pony couch; both of them were facing the center of the rug. Chroma sat down near them, creating a triangle of ponies and having her back face the doorway into the kitchen.
Twilight looked at Chroma. "I have already told Shayden what he needs to do and you will be doing the same. Just start transferring energy, and be sure to focus your spell on my horn or I may not be able to use it on the spell."
Nodding, Chroma closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing on Twilights horn. Shayden did the same and soon both of them shot beams of light at Twilight's horn, which was already glowing. When the beams connected, the light intensified and soon her horn was covered in three layers of magical aura. Twilight was concentrating on her part of the spell, which would change Chroma back into a stallion. She then released the energy in Chroma's direction.
The beam of purple knocked Chroma backwards into the kitchen. Her fedora fell onto the floor right where she was sitting moments before. Twilight and Shayden heard a crashing sound as Chroma impacted something. They both rushed through the doorway to see if she was alright. She had smacked into a wall and the cabinet above had opened, causing cups to rain down onto her.
"Owwwwww....." Chroma's voice was noticeably deeper, and he was slightly larger again. Standing up, they saw that Chroma was once again male.
"Welcome back!" Shayden walked up and handed him his fedora. Chroma took it and sat it onto his now shorter mane.
"Thanks, you two. This feels MUCH better!"
Twilight giggled, "Anytime! Just be sure to be more careful next time you try that spell." Beads of sweat had built up on her forehead. "It's very exhausting to change you back, even with both of you helping." She walked towards the front door. "I need to get back to my studying. I'll see you guys later!" She closed the door behind her.
"Will do." he mumbled to himself. He levitated a broom over to himself. "Now I gotta sweep up this glass...And she's telling me to be careful...Ha!"
Shayden cleared his throat to get Chroma's attention. "I can see that I am no longer needed, so I shall take my leave." He opened the door. As he walked out, he called back, "If you ever need help with any other spells, do not be afraid to come get me." He closed the door behind him.
Chroma looked at the door and grumbled, "If all you are going to do is make my wings pomf over and over again then I think I'll pass on that..."
Author's Note
Thanks for taking your time to read this. The name is "The Test" for more than one reason. The story in itself is more or less a test, to see how well I could make a short story. That being said, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Even if it's only about a small grammatical error (revised this thing so many times I will be amazed at myself if I missed one!), go ahead and comment about it if you want. Also, the current cover art is temporary, I will be hand drawing one and putting it up once I finish the drawing.
Update: had my good friend KingNyroc15. Many more mistakes were corrected! That should do for corrections now. Unless someone finds more, which I would like to hear about.
