A Most WONDROUS Welcome Gift...

A Most WONDROUS Welcome Gift…

Again, the exhilarating feeling of being instantly ripped apart into tiny molecules (if that doesn’t sound painful) consumed me as we were on our way the magical land of Twilight Sparkle’s kind. This trip lasted a bit longer than I expected, but I assume it was because we were going much further than just a few towns away in the same universe. Just like last time, everything around me was black and silent, save for a vague image of what looked like a giant tree with a door, windows, and a balcony on it. This trip lasted for what felt like an hour before we finally arrived.

“At last! Home sweet… Um, what are you doing?” Twilight asked with contempt as she looked at me and saw me hunched over on the ground, ducking for cover.

“I ain’t tryna run into no more doors again!” I cautiously responded.

“Well, you can relax now, because we’re here. As you can see, this trip didn’t need you to do any running.” She had me there. I lifted my head to see a most colorful landscape. Everything was so… vibrant and incredibly flamboyant. I looked around and spotted a town in the distance that looked like a typical medieval village, but as it seemed, everyone I could see was some sort of Horse, Pegasus, or Unicorn with a coat color unnatural to a horse in my world. In addition, their eyes were so big and shiny, with irises of colors I’d never thought to have been possible. I also saw that each of them had some sort of tattoo adorned on their rears, every one of them unique in that they were pictures of seemingly random things. I thought back to what Twilight said about “super special talents,” and was quickly able to figure out what they meant.

“Well, are you going to keep gawking into space, or are you going to come in?” Twilight asked impatiently from her door, snapping me out of my trance.

“Oh! Uh… coming!” I replied as I got up to follow the unicorn into what I assumed was her home. Of course, seeing as Twilight was much smaller than I am, so was everything else here. I barely fit through the door, being forced to crawl in. I was relieved to see that the inside of this tree-house thing was at least a little bit roomier than the doorway, but what I saw shocked me; the place looked like a sort of library, but if the library was also a home for the owner. Given that we were inside of a large tree, all of the furniture was made of wood.

“Sooo… This is my home,” Twilight began.

“I figured that,” I said. “You sure wasn’t lyin’ when you said you was a studious mare… This is a LOTTA books to keep in your house…”

“That’s partly because my house also serves as the town library.”

“Ohh… so I assume you’re the librarian here?”

“Yes, technically. But my real job is to research and study the magic known as friendship. This place serves as sort of a base of operations.”

“Twilight? You’re back! Finally!” I heard a voice call from the top of a staircase. What I saw running down those stairs confused the hell out of me. A big purple-and-green lizard with green eyes and a green Mohawk-styled set of scales trailing over the center of his head that led down to the end of his tail, as well as some green scales of a similar design on the sides of his head. He walked upright on two legs, and had the voice of a 10-year-old human boy. “Uhh… I see you brought company…” He said, giving me an unsure look, obviously not knowing what I was.

“Hi, Spike!” Twilight greeted the lizard happily. “I’ve brought a visitor from another land far beyond the reaches of Equestria. He showed me around his world while I was gone, and now it’s my turn to show him around ours! Go ahead and introduce yourself!”

“Okay… uh… Hi. I’m Spike. I’m a dragon. I’m also Twilight’s #1 Assistant,” Spike timidly said, approaching me with extreme caution.

“Wassup? I’m Tyshawn,” I replied nonchalantly with a nod as I kneeled down to offer him a handshake. His… claw, I guess I should call it, was hardly bigger than a kitten’s paw, so I just used my thumb and index finger to shake his claw with.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, seemingly over his nerves.

“Likewise.” He turned to Twilight with a look of confusion on his face.

“What… is he??” he asked.

“He’s what is known as a ‘human’ in his world. Where he comes from, his species is the ruling kind, just like ponies are here. His world is wildly different from ours, but strikingly similar at the same time.” Twilight answered as if she were teaching a class. "Oh, and I wound up going to a different universe instead of a different city when I used that spell the other day..."

“I see…” the purple dragon murmured as he took a good look at me. “You’re huge! How do you expect to go walking around Ponyville without anypony panicking and thinking that you’re some sort of monster?”

“…y’know, tha’ss a good point…” I answered. “Hey Twilight, how am I supposed to blend in here?”

“Hmm… You’re much too big to fit into any saddlebag…” She began. I chuckled a little at her saddlebag thought. The unicorn went silent as she thought for a minute. “If hiding you isn’t an option, then… OOH! Spike!" She said, pointing towards one of the many bookshelves with her hoof. "Hand me that copy of—!”

“Anthology of Anatomy, coming right up,” Spike finished excitedly, already on his way to retrieve the oh-so-convenient book Twilight was about to ask for. He quickly found it and handed it to Twilight. She levitated the book towards her with her magic as she opened it to a seemingly random page.

“Now let’s see here… Ponies... Stallions. Here we go,” Twilight mumbled as she read.

“What…? Why would…?” I mumbled. A sudden idea had hit me as for why Twilight needed that book. I was skeptical, so I brushed the thought away with a “No way…”

“Mm-hmm… Mm-hmm… Okay! Spike, please get me the copy of ‘Magic Guidelines and Guiles Volume Two, Sixth Edition',” Twilight requested.

“…wait, WHAT???” I asked in total disbelief as the idea I’d ignored was now the only thought in my head. “You don’t SERIOUSLY PLAN ON—!?”

“…Turning you into a pony, yes,” Spike finished matter-of-factly as he fetched another book from a shelf and handed it to the unicorn. Again, she magically flipped to a seemingly random page and carefully read the contents. I was so scared out of my mind of what could possibly happen with something as outlandish as being magically transformed into an animal from a completely different universe that I was trembling.

“…Hold on! Is this safe?? I-is it gonna hurt?? W-w-will I be stuck that way??” I asked in rapid succession, overcome with terror.

“Yes, it’s safe… I think. No, it won’t hurt… well, maybe a little. And no. It says here that this spell is temporary and that you’ll be a pony for a maximum of one week, or until any point during that time you’d want me to change you back.”

“You are DEFINITELY convincin’ me…” I quipped, trying to build a shield of sarcasm.

“Well… to be perfectly honest with you, Ty… this is the first time I’m trying this… You should consider yourself lucky! The first thing you get to do here is become a test subject for an experiment of mine!” Twilight said with excitement, trying to cheer me up, seeming to ignore my obvious fear of such a procedure.

“You and your experiments,” I shot back. “Remember the first experiment you tried on me? Y’know, the one that made me get into that losin’ fight with my door?”

“Relax! At the very least, you know it worked!” She yelled. “Besides, the second experimental spell, the one I used to heal your injuries from said ‘fight’, worked like a charm! Now stop being such a foal and let me try this!”

“…I don’t suppose there’s any changin’ your mind on this, then, huh?”

“To be blunt, Ty… nope! This is an opportunity I just CAN'T afford to pass up! Now let’s get this started,” the unicorn commanded as she set the book down and charged up her horn.

“Whoa, wait! Ain’t there some kinda prec—!” I tried to spit out, but I was interrupted by an impact from a magenta-colored beam of energy. I levitated into the air as my arms and legs were forced to be straightened out…

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Now, to say that this spell hurt would be a SEVERE understatement. You ever have one of those times where every bone, organ, and muscle in your body was slowly contorted, separated, and reformed into the shape of another animal? No? Good for you, because what I am about to say here will likely sound pretty graphic…

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“AAAAAAAAAGH!” I shouted intense agony as my limbs were the first to undergo the transformation. I felt my hands and feet curl up and seemingly disappear into my wrists and ankles, respectively. Next, the nubs where my hands and feet used to be were stretched out to form large, flat circles that hardened on the surfaces. Next, my arms and legs stretched out in separate directions on their own and with a series of eardrum-shattering *SNAPS* and *POPS*, were detached and twisted in the opposite direction at each connection point. This was by far, the worst of it. Thankfully, this horrible pain subsided as quickly as it started, as my limbs felt like they’d healed completely in just a few seconds after they were reset. I'm guessing that was because they went numb...

“Uhh, Twilight… he seems to be in a LOT of pain… You sure this will work?” I heard Spike ask with concern.

“I’m positive that this will work,” Twilight replied. “I just never thought that the spell would cause this much pain…” she finished with a guilty tone.

The next thing I’d felt was my insides shifting around in my body. Every muscle, every organ, and every bone was being detached, reshaped, and/or shifted in one way or another to change my form into that of a horse (or “pony,” in this regard). I felt like I was being subjected to some kind of cruel medieval torture. I let out another wail of despair as the spell worked its seemingly-sadistic magic. I just wanted to pass out and let the spell finish without me feeling it. That’s exactly what I was going to do, too, until I heard Twilight's voice.

“It’s almost over, Ty! Hang in there!” Twilight shouted, jolting me awake for no reason I could explain. The next step was the changing of the formation of my head. This part, while thankfully taking the least amount of time, came with an added effect I wasn’t expecting; my clothes were stretching and fusing onto my body. Every part of my head began to reform itself into a different shape, which caused a migraine like I’d never had before. That was done in a few seconds, but the throbbing pain stayed. My ears shifted to the top of my head and took on a pointed shape, my hair grew longer, my eyes got larger, and my mouth and nose were pulled outwards and reformed into a muzzle. The last thing that happened was that my shorts and shirt seemed to begin covering and wrapping tightly around my entire body, save for my eyes, mouth, nostrils and hair. In addition, once my clothes fused into me, I felt a large plethora of tingles and stings all over me, which I’d assumed was the fabric turning into a fur coat. I especially felt the tingling sensation from just above my rear. Lastly, I felt my now pony-fied body shrink considerably, and with a sudden *CRASH*, the transformation was finally complete. The magic suspending me in the air subsided, and I landed on my back with a thud, panting heavily as the migraine took its toll on me.

“Quick! Help me get him to my…” was all I’d heard before I blacked out...