Chapter 5: prerequisites

Twilight awoke in a bed that was a little too big for her. and upon impulse she spotted the bucket and made a mad dash for it hurling her guts out.

"Right on queue... let me get you some hangover juice..." Twilight looked up weakly to see Ra'shala with a wry smile sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Do not worry Twilight, the first hangover is a bit of a right of passage..."

Twilight hurled again looking up in utter despair. "Ra'shala...I feel like...like...." She let loose again and looked up.

"Dont worry it goes away after a few hours...well..with the help of the potions..." She rummaged through a small sack at her side and plopped the bottle down. "Wait until you are done vomiting or you will just spew up the medicine..."

"Does this happen every time you drink?"

"Well...yes kinda until you get used to it"

Twilight puked again shuttering and groaning. "Why does anypony ever drink?"

Rashala just laughed and shrugged as she left the room. To Twilight's surprise there was a small package on the desk just a few feet from her. Waiting until she did not need to vomit she downed the potion and picked up the package. As if it were her birthday she eagerly opened it to find specially tailored mage robes and the same crown refitted. All of it fitted her perfectly, then at the bottom of the small paper wrapped package was something that surprised her. A masterfully crafted schedule. All of it was divided into study of Tamriel's history, study of its magic, rest, spare time, and most importantly researching a way to get her home.

"Oh wow...arch mage Taara...she really is a good person..." Whipping out the cloak she noticed there was a small pin that held a great deal of magical energy. Looking over it she decided to try it out afterwards. Putting on the cloak she almost squee'ed with joy. It was everything she loved about clothin, simple, straight forward, plain, and strangely it seemed to make her just in general feel better. Lastly she lifted the pin and settled it into place.

"This is a curious little thing...oh well Im sure that arch mage Taara will let  me know what it is." She levitated the schedule to inspect it not at all noticing that spike was not in the room. He wasnt even there when she woke up. Noticing the time she quickly took off back towards the library very surprised the moment she opened the door. In the middle of the snow covered courtyard there was Spike and Taara both sitting and talking to a dragon. A full sized dragon, bright red hues. The thing looked terrifying. But it did not seem to mind her presence.

"ful daar los gein? ..." The dragon gestured in Twilight's direction while looking down at spike who seemed perfectly fine standing in front of such a fierce dragon.

"yeah, that's Twilight so far she has raised me...Hey!...Twilight come on over...this is Odahviing...hes really cool."

Twilight slowly and carefully came closer nervously looking up at Odahviing. "ah..heh...h...hello..."

"Twilight you would not believe it... in this world dragons are immortal... and their language gives them powers... Its awesome...look at this." Spike looked up and shot a massive flame out of his mouth. Far more than the usual green burst but strangely she could hear a voice within his fire breathing as if he were shouting something while he breathed fire.

Taara chuckled and gestured to Twilight. "Come on closer he wont eat you...at least I hope not. We have been having fun all morning. I am very surprised how different dragons are in your world..."

"Vrah.. as am I joore" The big dragon's voice was thick and deep. It made Twilight shiver just hearing it.

"Still its amazing that the little guy still by default knows how to read and speak in dragon."

"Yes...it is zurun....strange to see an infant of a people who cannot Verkiir....ah..procreate....It has been quite entertaining....but you should really choose a new name... Zeik.."

The great dragon's wings spread and with a blast of wind he took off circling the college once and took off.

"Whats wrong with my name?...." Spike sat where he was a little upset that the big dragon did not approve of his name.

"A proper dragon name has three words in it...Odahviing means Winged snow hunter .... just having the name...Spike is an insult to a very proud race...you should probably get a name ready for the next time you see a dragon... dont want to hurt any feelings..."

"How about Zeikjendova?..."

"...Spike the purple dragon?....well if you want to be burned to cinders and eaten ...then sure." Taara laughed and Spike grumbled a bit before Twilight cleared her throat.

"Um..Arch mage?"

"What is it princess?" Again she emphasized the princess  to let her know how she felt about the title.

"Ah...s..sorry um...I saw the schedule you left me I wanted to thank you..you know fo.."

"Then you had better hurry...Onmund is starting the class... you dont want to be late on your first day...dont worry about the rest just make it to where you need to be on time and oh yes...if you want to avoid the odd looks..." Taara chuckled and reached over touching the small magical pin and almost instantly, Twilight AND her clothes shifted. Her muzzle shrank her front legs shifted into arms even if her hind legs remained hooves. Her tail remained as did her horns and wings but she looked far more like the bipedal individuals of this land.

"..w..wow..this...this is amazing...I mean..I have seen transformation magic before but this is very cool..."

"Its called alteration....and dont get your hopes up too far it was supposed to turn you into a human....oh well I will tinker with it later I guess that will do though. You can relax it and amplify it at will just focus your magic on the pin its easy..."

Twilight smiled touching the pin with her new fingertips and instantly shrank back into her usual form. "Thank you but...Im not a human... I am an alicorn of Equestria...I have some pride in this form...that and standing on two legs is kinda...weird."

Taara chuckled. "Very well...go ahead and keep the pin it will come in handy while you are here...go on to your class. We have a LOT of work ahead of us."

Twilight smiled happily. If she had to be stranded anywhere away from her friends this was the best place for it to be. Between herself and the mages of Winterhold she felt like she was practically home already.