You come back from your strange vision, image bright in your mind. "That wasn't a spirit."

Eager lifts a fuzzy ear. "Not to counter you, but how would you know? What'd you see?"

You do your best to encompass the dragon with motions of your hooves. "A dragon, kinda blue-purple? It seems friendly... Oh! It said it was a 'chimera' and you'd know what that was."

Eager jumped as if shocked. Nick scowled at him. "Is this a bad thing?" Clearly, Nick didn't know what it was.

But Eager did. "Chimera are sorta spirits, sorta. Fragments of dreams, sometimes given thought." He wobbled a hoof and brought it down. "A thing for changelings, which is a thing I didn't even start going over. But like a spirit and 'is a spirit' is not the same thing... Usually you need a little mind magic tossed in there to look in that direction." He joined Nick in his frowning. "Which has... implications. It was friendly?"

"Very. Seemed super happy I could see it, like it had been waiting forever." You rub at your cheek softly. "A dream? It was a little whimsical." You could still remember its silly dance as it had rejoiced in front of you. "I was actually kind of happy, thinking back on it, to run into something new that wasn't all doom and gloom."

Nick squeezed you from behind. "It's nice running into something that doesn't want to do terrible things." He looked to Eager, one ear raised. "Now what's the catch?"

"Complicated..." He worked his hooves in slow circles. "Alright, changelings, fae creatures. Normally you can't see them or anything related to them. Could walk right past them and not notice, just like when you're in your human form, except, to them, they're still crazy fae, all the time. They're dreams, sorta, like those chimera. With me?"

Sorta but not entirely? "So does that make chimera a good or bad thing?"

"It's 'a' thing." He shrugged grandly. "They can be either or. Sounded friendly. Now some tricks. If a fae lets you in on the trick, normally you forget about it afterwards. When you use magic, that doesn't always happen, which is what you just did. Since you still remember them, that means things. It means you have a hoof already in their world. It means... you might always have. That dragon may have been following you around forever, waiting for you to notice it."

Nick swats at his friend. "If you forget this stuff, why do you know any of it?"

"Books," he smartly replies, sitting up proud. "Half of it is rambling nonsense, but that's magic books in general. Learning to pick through it is part of the job.

And it was a good time for a headache. "Does that mean I'm a 'fae' on top of being a magic horse on top of being preggers?"

"Oh, no! No no. Pretty sure?" That last part doesn't sound as confident as you'd like. "If you were one of those, you wouldn't be a pony, I think?" He glanced to Nick/Steady. "You ever hear of a fae pony?"

"I never heard of a fae anything until today." He nudges you up to your feet. "And you're overwhelming her. I call break time. Get up back to twos. How about we do a little, you know, therapy shopping."

That didn't sound awful as ideas went. "Alright... But am I being followed by an invisible dragon?" You sprang up to human feet, naked. "Wait. You promised." You level a finger at Eager. "Show me how to not do that."

"Alright alright! Keep your pants on... Sorry." You were wearing no pants to keep on. "Let's make it so you can keep your pants on." He grabs the prime book in his magic and slaps it down in front of you. "Then you can go shopping and stuff."

A detour later, you learn your first actually-does-stuff spell. "Now, you could do Steady Step a solid."

"Hm?"

"Your clothes are now attached, the same trick works on him, if he wants it. Whattaya say, Steady. Want your girlfriend to get her hooves all up in your primal energy?"

Steady blushed faintly. "You made that sound way dirtier than it needed to." But he also isn't running away. "Go ahead. I trust you."

"You shouldn't," you laugh out. "I just learned this spell." Still, he gave permission. Your horn glows as you tune into the energy lines of the world, his included. Reaching out with your magic and your hooves, you get a feel for where his vibrant lines end and the more sedate lines of his clothes begin. It was like... sewing? You stitch them together, much as you had already done for yourself. He's not exactly one with his clothes, but close enough that one could tug on the other. Looped around each other? Sure, that works.

You stop glowing, and Nick takes that as a hint. "All done? Should I try it now?"

"Go ahead." You go back to twos yourself and you're still dressed!

Nick stretches up to twos, then falls back to fours. "Hey... nice. They fit better too." He points an accusing hoof at Eager. "Why didn't you do this, ages ago?"

"Prime wasn't my thing." Nick shrugs softly with a chuckle to go with it. "But it's her thing, so there we go. Now you two are heading out?"

Nick springs back up to his feet, offering a hand towards you. You take it with a hoof and rise up with his pull, ending it with a hand in his. "How do I get a checkup like this?"

"The way you always did?" Nick proposes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." You wave at your new self. "Even if I accept that I'm actually a new person in here, to any doctor, I'm a way-too-old lady. So who am I bothering about... all of this?"

Eager goes to twos like the rest of his guests. A fourty-something year old guy with a scraggly beard. Nerd. "Welcome to the other side! We have to look out for our own needs on that front usually... Doctors don't 'get' ponies, and we aren't rushing to give them a chance to learn about it. Lucky you, you're a kindness."

Nick brightens at that. "Right! Just like you took care of me, take care of yourself. Assuming nothing drastic happens, you can stay nice and healthy."

You can hug yourself to healthiness? That's a perk, right? "Great. Let's at least get some clothes that fit. I'm not a super fashion magnet, but at least something that remotely matches." There you are, wearing old guy clothes, when you needed old lady clothes. Ugh.

"See you later." Nick waves as he draws you outside back into the Florida heat. "That coulda gone worse. I never saw a unicorn learn magic before."

"Looking forward to the next time?" You slide into the car on the passenger side and pull the door closed. "Or hoping that's also the last time?"

"That's harder than it should be to answer." He got the car humming and pulled off into the street. "Right now, I'm really happy you're happy. You know a bit more than you did before, and I hope you feel a little better?"

Funny thing, you do. Knowing helps. "I may be a magic horse, but now I'm a magic horse. That's a plus." Speaking of that... They said you could still do magic as a human. The urge to test that is too powerful. Even as Nick drives you along, you try to change the 'channel'.

"Hi!" comes the eager cry of something in the back seat.

"Holy shit!" That startles you right out of things. By the time you look back there, there's nothing.

"You alright?" Nick didn't see any of that, or hear it.

"I am reminded that I never learned how to do the spirit vision the right way. Just the wrong way, and I heard the dragon. Says hi."

Nick laughs at that. "So say hi back?"

Right... And don't flip out. You send your vision back. As promised, magic isn't as easy in human form, but it also isn't impossible. Sight is still the simplest spell. Turns out, even wearing mitts, you can open a door!

"Hey, didn't mean to surprise you." The dragon was poking his head on its long neck through the middle of the two seats, watching you. "I'm just excited. You remembered me! I was worried you wouldn't."

"Well, hello." You give a wave of three fingers. "Do you have a name?"

"Yes! Um." It was like the dragon had forgotten it. "Bright Spark, yes. And you! I know you. I've known you for a long time, but you never saw me." He crossed his arms. "I thought maybe you don't like me."

"I have to know you to like you, or not like you. Bright Spark, nice."

"Isn't it?!" He was a bit energetic. "Your friend knows a lot, but also doesn't know anything... Since we're riding, wanna hear more?"

Nick glances over, eyes mostly on the road. "I can't hear your friend, but it sounds like things are going well. Bright Spark? Hey Bright."

"Hello! He can't hear me. He'll never hear me, without some help. Still, tell him I said hi."

"He says hi." You gesture at the blue-purple dragon only you could see. "Do you know him?"

"Nick? Yes. He's a friend of yours, and now a super special friend. I saw that special hug."

Well, that gets your cheeks lighting up. "Don't watch people give 'special hugs'."

Nick snorts into laughter. "What?" Poor guy, only hearing half the conversation.

"Why not? It looked very fun. And you were so happy... Anyway, here's an important thing. I'm not 'a' chimera. I'm yours." Bright leaned in, head snaking around the corner of the seat on his long neck. "Our dreams are connected. That's why I've been waiting for so long for you to notice me. People who have chimera usually notice them, eventually." He starts counting on his fingers. "Now, if they aren't super special, maybe they'll just have an 'imaginary friend' or something. I was hoping it wouldn't be that, but even that's better than just not seeing me, so yay!"

The antics of the dragon are at least kinda adorable, if strange and new. "Nice to meet you."

"I can't say the same." He tapped at his chin and a look of thought. "I met you ages ago. Oh! But it's like we met all over again. Yes, this is nice."

Bright is silly, but not awful... "So can you just... not... Can you be... What... real?"

Bright gasps with scandal. "I am real!"

Okay, not the best phrasing perhaps. "Can you be visible to anyone besides me?"

"To other special people." He nods, head drawing back behind you. "Like the changelings your friend mentioned. They'd see me right away."

Wait. Wait wait... "So... us... We're a walking billboard to any 'changeling' that notices us, especially if they see me talking with you."

"Hmm, yes. You've walked past a few. They didn't pay me much mind. I'm not the only chimera out there. No no no. Just one of many. I guess a chimera chatting with someone would be more special. Ooo, does that mean we'll get to meet one? I'd like that! Would you like that?"

"We're here." Nick was pulling into a parking space. "Say goodbye to Bright. See you later, Bright." That was a lie, seeing as Nick never saw him to begin with.

"Bye!" Bright suddenly snaked around the seat, whispering in your ear, "I'll still be following, shh, don't have to tell him."

You stop pressing your senses in that direction and Bright vanishes with a pop. You're in a car, with your friend. He's already opening the door on his side. You shove open the door on your side and climb out. You're in front of a little shopping plaza.

Author's Note

Now we're back on track, with one option just flat out rejected, like the old days!

But new poll! https://forms.gle/D7bAP4LskZUdk1bJ6

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