Tori Scarlen

Transmutation. The most powerful of all the alchemical magics. If I could succeed in this venture, I could easily be the most powerful unicorn on Equestria. I prepared the toad eyes (Sorry, Fluttershy) and powdered phoenix feathers (Courtesy of Philomena) and placed them in their respective beakers. I am attempting to turn lead to gold. The highly volatile mixture was almost ready. The set bubbled, and my bunsen burner was fully powered. As the transmogrification serum boiled, I realized I made a mistake. I had no lead! But I remembered something that I learned recently. This was the best possible time to try my locate/teleport spell! I was still working out the kinks, but I was fairly sure I could do it this time. Fairly sure. I searched for a sizable chunk of lead, and found the largest in Ponyville. All I needed was to teleport it here...

SHOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!

“Tori Scarlen, you wake up right now! You’re going to be late for school!”

I woke up in a bed. I rubbed my face with my hoof, but there was no hoof there. A strange appendage greeted me instead, and strangely enough, it was a lot more comfortable rubbing my face with it than a hoof.

“Tori! Wake up and get down here this instant! I don’t care if you were practicing witchcraft up there or what, but you, young lady, are about to be late!”

I stared at the body I now understood to be mine, sorting through a mental checklist. The strange, hairless appendages, the lack of a tail, and the oversized, but still comfortingly similar, mane that flowed down my back. I guess that made me Tori Scarlen. I climbed out of the bed and tried to stand. It hurt. A lot. And, against my better judgment, I went downstairs.

“Tori, get out of that ridiculous position and stand up straight like a normal human being! And what in God’s name did you do to your hair? I told you, no dying your hair or getting highlights until you get into college. And last I checked, your junior year averages aren’t even going to get you into a carnival!”

“Huh?” I stared at the source of the commanding voice. She looked similar to me, and I only knew she was female by her dialect. I slowly straightened up, trying to copy her stance, and found that it was a lot easier on my back.

“Well?” the mare asked. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

I was still confused. “Wait...what?”

“Oh, come on, big sis, you can’t be that stupid.” The voice came from the table next to what I assumed to be a kitchen. It was a male, young looking, and his face reminded me of someone I knew...

“S-Spike?”

“Oh, that’s a new one. No ‘brat’ or ‘twerp’ today? And, once again, if you weren’t paying attention the first hundred times, my name is Stephen.”

“I have no clue what’s going on.”

The woman looked like she was about to explode. “But I do. We are going to dye your hair back to blonde before anyone sees you like this.”

She dragged me to what looked like a bathroom, and forced my head down into a sink.

“Young lady, I’m feeling generous, so I have a proposition for you. If you can get your grades up, I won’t ground you, and you can go to one party a week. But that is only if you can keep a B average. Minimum, in every class. I swear, all this stress is going to put me in an early grave. And what possessed you to walk on all fours like that? You know what, I don’t even want to know. At least you for once aren’t talking back to me.” All this was being said as the putrid smell of chemicals filled the air, and when she was finished, my hair was an ugly shade of yellow, like it was dirty. I looked up, and her eyes had visibly softened.

“You were such a good kid. What happened to you? The new semester starts today, and I want you to do your best. And if you ever need anything, come talk to me.” She kissed me on the head, at least, I was pretty sure it was my head, right where my horn used to be. “Now, let’s get you to school. Brandon will be waiting. Oh, by the way, you're still totally grounded. Get those grades up!” She arched her eyebrows. And amidst all this new information, the hope in her eyes kept me from saying a word.

Now, who in the world was Brandon?

Brandon was my boyfriend. That much was apparent when he full up kissed me as soon as I left the old mare’s motorized carriage. (I really would have to look into how that worked.)  I still don’t know what “boy” meant, but it only applied to colts. And still I was speechless, still absorbing everything. We walked into a room filled with desks, and a tall “human being”, as the old mare said, was handing out sheets. I looked at the one he (I assumed it was a he) gave me, and I visibly perked up as a smile sprang onto my face. A schedule! Finally, something organized! Let’s see. Geometry 10, English, World History, Home Economics, Creative Writing, Chemistry. Easy enough, if this was a school. I wonder if there is magic here, but I doubt it. Besides, these new front hooves were as good as any telekinesis spell I’ve ever used.

“Hey, Tori? You all right, babe? You’ve been acting kinda spacey.”

Oh, Brandon. I started listen to him, then spaced into my own devices after like five minutes. He was shallow, bulky, and nothing like my type. He was brash, and probably the most annoying creature on this planet. If I had to stereotype him, it would be idiotic jock, and I guess I need to tell him that.

“Look, Brandon, I don’t think I really like you, like, at all. I find you... brash. And I don’t like brash.”

He stared, stunned at my statement of fact, until the bell rang. At the Academy for Gifted Unicorns, that meant get to first period or get turned into a toaster strudel. So I got to Geometry Ten.

“Okay, class, welcome to the new semester. My name is Mrs. O’Neal, and this is Geometry Ten. Now, please write down the warm-up problem, and give the answer completely condensed.”

I stared at my desk, and the pencil and paper sitting on it, numbly. Now, only one problem left to solve.

How in Equestria do I pick up a pencil?!

A/N: Hello, audience. Please enjoy my new story, Tori Scarlen. I’ve had this idea for a while, and I needed a break from “I Miss You” and the sequel for “The Strangest Things”, called “Contained Worlds”. I hope you enjoy it, and if it is well received, I think I will continue with this. KTHXBAI!