Thunderlane had just flown in to Rainbow Fall's for a day of relaxed trading. Powerful pectorals and sleek shoulders pumped his impressive wingspan till he hovered gently to the ground. Wearing a tight mesh shirt and some of his work out shorts, he hefted his duffle bag of tradable goods more securely onto his shoulder and began to explore the various stalls. What exactly was a stallion such as Thunder doing at as place like this? Quite simply; he had a week off from the weather team and decided to travel a bit. What better place than a relatively relaxed town that also happened to be having a fun event. Upon being informed of his impending vacation (being the hard worker that he is, he had accrued too much vacation time and was made to spend at least one week off by the weather team), he looked up places to travel and it just seemed right.

He had brought some old paraphernalia from his youth, comic books and the like, some old weights that were now too light but were in good shape, and some old workout clothes that he had washed and folded in preparation for the meet. Hoping his cut and toned physique could sway the traders in his favor, he chose the black mesh shirt that hugged so tightly against his charcoal coat that he looked almost to have it painted on. Now walking through the stalls, he tried to see if anything caught his eye.

Knick Knacks, doo dads, and tchotchkes galore, nothing here really interested the simple stallion. That is, at least, until he saw a single vendor's tent towards the edge of the meet. The sign simply had what appeared to be a cutie mark of a rose above it. It stands out at least, right?

Walking within the small pavilion, various pieces of jewelry and old books were on display. Looks more like a fancy antique store than what someone would bring to a swap meet. A pinkish unicorn stallion looked up from a book he was browsing and smiled greatly.

He said ecstatically, "Why hello there. Welcome to my humble stall. What exactly do you desire today?"

Thunderlane politely replied, "Oh, your tent just caught my eye. A lot of this stuff looks super expensive; are you sure that you want to trade it when you could be, you know, selling it for a pretty bit?"

He chuckled and said, "I'm not interested in bits. Those are quite common and easy to come by. I'm interested in stories. And the swap meet is the best place to find interesting stories, held within the items ponies bring. So, lets see what you've got; I'll find you an item fitting of your story and your wish."

Thunderlane tilted his head quizzically and replied, "My wish? Ooooh...I get it. Old books, expensive jewelry, unnecessarily vague and poetic unicorn. You're a pony with a magic related talent; a wizard, right?"

He chuckled again in a way that made me slightly uneasy, "Oh, you are a clever one. Yes, I am a wizard. Specifically my talent is in caring for the desires of others. Undoubtedly whatever you have brought to trade has value to you, which in turn gives it its own special kind of magic. Every book and necklace here is empty of magic until I fill it with what is stored in the items you've brought. I take a little off the top for my own research, but most of it will be given back. Where else would I find so many potential sources of desire to research than a place like this!"

Thunderlane beamed at this and set his dufflebag on the counter. The wizard levitated objects out one by one with a sea blue field of magic. As he examined each piece his eyes flashed with the same magic aura and he gave a diagnosis of the desire within.

He muttered, "A colt's comic books...all of only the strongest stallions. Work out equipment that looks obviously too small... and clothes you have by now outgrown. Please place your hand on the pile of items good sir."

Thunderlane did as he was asked and the wizard levitated up a blank but sturdy book. He continued,

"Now, please imagine clearly what these items mean to you. What desires fueled you as you used each of these."

Thunderlane did so. He had always been a fit guy, but since he was a colt he had wanted more. More strength, more size, just more of himself. Sadly he had perfect Pegasus genes. Years of work outs and he had only just achieved a swimmer's build, a hard feat when his aerodynamic body tried to shed any excess bulk he could attain. He wished he could be like the other guys at the gym. Big Mac chief amongst them. Now that was a stallion with presence, seven feet tall and with the build of a perfect powerlifter. Sure he had a bit of a gut, but it only made him seem bigger and more imposing. He wanted that presence, that power, that size.

He was woken from his daydream by the pink unicorn saying "All done. Here you go good sir."

He looked down and saw that all color had been sucked out of his items and that the book had a new picture on the front. It was a stylized drawing of himself drawn like the Vitruvian Stallion, except that it contained several extra circles that seemed to originate from his navel and went out concentrically, probably signaling growth.

He looked up at the wizard and said, "Will this do what I think it will?"

He just shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure, its your wish after all. What I do know is that you will enjoy the results of reading that book, no matter what they be. So have fun with it! Though I did sense a lot of transmutation, so maybe keep to granting your wish till you have somewhere private to do so."

Thunderlane replied, "Will do, thank you!", and bolted out of the tent.

Without delay he decided to just fly back home. He was a fast flier so he could make it by nightfall if he was expedient. He had a whole week to try out whatever this book had in store and he was going to have fun with it.

Author's Note

This is the first chapter of my first story. Sorry if there is not much sexiness here but I had to set up Thunderlane's personality a bit as well as a reasonable premise. I promise there is more to cum as he tries out that most interesting book.