"It's for your safety." You paw at Nick gently. "We'll hang out, no big deal."

Nick laughs tensely. "Everyone says that, then we have to put up with each other. I don't want to drive you crazy with my bullshit. I've watched enough comedies to know how that goes."

"Good." He starts at your response. "We're both reasonable adults that know how this works, so advantage, us. We will both do annoying things, but we won't do what people do in movies do. If something annoys either of us, we'll talk, not seethe about it. The other will listen, and we can adjust and not drive each other nuts. Plan?"

"Plan..." Nick allows with uncertainty. "Damn... What I get being worried about making a kindness angry."

Two can play that game. "What a loyal thing to be worried about."

Other ponies are gabbing about it, poking fun for playing up your roles and all.

Big Shot nods at the resolution. "Alright, with that settled, we can let Moon do her magic on the phone. I say we put that aside." Hooves go up in agreement, enough that they do just that, talking about something else that didn't involve vampires. You have no idea what they're talking about, actually.

"You look lost." And there's Moon Streak, Little Arrow next to her. "Don't be surprised. Every single pony that walks through the doors into a meeting is pretty bewildered their first time." She sets a hoof on Little's head. "At least you made a friend."

"Going for two." You smile at Moon. "So... Just checking, am I the only one that became something else, besides this." You lift a hoof for demonstration. That part seems like the bare minimum.

"Only one I know of, but not the only one I heard of. I mean, you're the only one I got to shake hands with." She clops her hoof against yours. "Welcome to the lady's side of things."

"Glad that didn't happen to me," piped Little Arrow. "I don't wanna be that."

"I didn't either, but it's not so bad." Turns out, ladies are still people. Not that you doubted that before, but, in the end, you hadn't changed that much, and most of it you blamed on the pony part, not the lady part. "Sorry to just get to the point, at least one of the points, but want to talk about magic?"

Her eyes lit with a fire. "Gladly. Squirt, shoo." She banishes her cousin back to the meeting. "They'll keep an eye on him." She starts away at a light walk. "Now, to be clear, learning magic takes time. We can touch bases, sure, but there's no way we're cramming a whole spell into this meeting. And the gifts you get from your purpose don't count."

"The healing?" you ask, following after her through the house.

"If you do it without the magic, yes." She curls her neck back at you. "A unicorn could learn to do that without being a kindness. But, you're a kindness, so you picked up the kindness way. Don't bother trying to teach kindness healing to me. It's not unicorn magic, it's pony magic, and that kinda magic isn't something you can pass on, unless I was a kindness too."

Alright... "So, technically... all ponies do magic?"

"Technically!" She whirls to face you in a bedroom. "Look, we're small talking horses. I think that's pretty magic already."

That's a hard line to argue. "That isn't what I meant."

"Yeah yeah, I'm playing." She smiles wryly. "You're making me look bad, so I have to Laughter it up a little. Still, yes. All ponies can learn the magic of their purpose." She points at herself. "I have laughter magic. Watch out." She reaches towards you, but doesn't touch, but it feels like she's touching. It feels like a thousand fingers are tickling you at the same time all over and for an intense moment, you can do nothing but laugh.

Thankfully, she cuts that out pretty quickly. "Laughter magic. That one's made for tricky situations. You got a werewolf on your ass? Amazing how quickly they pause when they're laughing up a storm instead of tearing you apart."

That makes you blink. "Werewolves are a thing?"

She gazes at you flatly a moment. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. I was not just asked by the transgender unicorn that asked to swap spells if werewolves have a chance of being real or not."

Laughter, right through the ribs. "Point... Um... Still, new. So, werewolves are a thing, and they're not just furries then?"

Moon bursts into a short laughter fit. "Woah, hey, leave the laughter to me. Also, if you call a werewolf a 'furry' to their face, even my magic won't save you. Now, since the topic came up, free lesson. Just about every kind of strange thing in the world would prefer to not broadcast their deets around, so don't expect me to give you any detailed information about the werewolves. I have a friend, and I want to keep that friend. Blabbing his secrets? Then I don't have a friend, and maybe get torn apart for being a lousy friend."

Well... You shrug with a little chuckle. "And I made friends with the changelings. If we all make friends like that, maybe we can get something going."

Moon stares at you a moment before an 'eh' escapes her. "They say friendship is magic. Which is a problem for friendship unicorns. Glad you're not one of those. Still... Making friends is a magic all ponies share. We like making friends. Probably half the reason you were friends with Nick before this happened to you. I mean... No offense, but he's younger than you. Didn't you ever wonder why some little kid, relatively, wanted to hang out with you?"

You hadn't wondered that, but now you were... "Huh. Huh..." You sink to your haunches. "So the pony in him brought us together, then he ponies all over me."

"Not the wording I'd use!" She was giggling though. "But yeah, sounds like it. Thankfully, you both seem to be enjoying the trip." She glances left and back at you. "So... Can I ask a super personal question?"

"Sure?" Was it going to be about your past self?

"What's it like, being with a stallion?" She began to color through her face. "I never did that before... Not a virgin or nothing, but I was with humans, thanks. Never tried a pony before."

Well, it is a fine time for you to color warmly too. "Um, how detailed are you hoping I'll be?"

"As detailed as you're comfortable being," she prompts with a rolling hoof. "Get porny, or just slap me and tell me to shut up."

"Is this a normal lady conversation?!" Did women chat about that behind your back all those years?!

"Eh... No, American puritanism means most ladies don't make it a daily habit of talking about this kinda thing. At least, not without a thousand little keywords." She looks you over. "I forgot a moment you're a new lady, but even better. That means you know the difference, so you can describe what it was exactly, if you're up for it."

You put up your hooves. "Well, I am an American. I'm a little used to this being behind closed doors."

"Fair, fair... I'm not forcing you. Sorry, probably shouldn't have asked..." Her horn glows as a book materializes over her head. "Let's talk magic, if I haven't grossed you out."

"I'm not mad, just... Not used to that." Well, since she's bringing things up. "Say, do people ever go the other way around? Girl to guy, I mean."

"Never heard of one." She shrugs as the book floats down, opening to reveal a dizzying volume of words and doodles. "It'd be tricky to get that to happen. You're only a lady because you let Nick hop up and baby in there, so you're stuck until it stops being in there, abortion or birth. If a lady became a stallion, what could he do that'd get him stuck?"

Oh, right. It was possible a lady human could become a stallion pony, but how would they get stuck...? "Got me..."

"Magic time," she sang out. "So what sorts of magic do you know?"

"I can see primal patterns, living patterns, spirit... patterns? And mental ones." You tap your hooves with each thing counted. "For doing, I have the clothes trick." You poke at your clothes that shifted with you.

Moon hikes a brow. "Broad, I'm impressed, but so shallow. Like you just wanted to do everything, so you didn't do anything. Me? I'm a mind lady." She waves her hooves at you in a pantomime of a spooky psychic. "I may already be in your head, learning things!"

"You're not."

She blinks. "How do you know?!"

You point at her horn. "It stopped glowing when you put the book down."

"Dang it!" She stomps her hooves in a little pouting fit, but she looks like she's joking about it. "Caught me. Still, yeah, that's my specialty. Ponies love specialties. A specialty makes you damn good at something." She waves over you. "You're a little of a lot of things, but you can't do much."

"I only just started learning... and then got real busy..."

"I hear that." She waves it away. "Good thing you got a new magic buddy, huh? So, what do you want to do? Not Kindness focused, and that's fine."

Huh? "What makes you say that?"

"The stereotypical kindness unicorn? Life. All life, all day. Natural doctors, nurses, vets. Mind's an option, if you lean more towards therapy or psychology. Fixing people, that's the bottom line, so hurts stop hurting. You're living up your calling, you haven't made that subtle, so you like doing that, right?"

Well... "Yeah, but I can do that with 'kindness magic', as you put it. One good hug and people are put back together."

She snickers softly. "You hug people? Sorry! Sorry... The other kindnesses I met don't do that."

Wait... "How do they do it then?" You lean in, curiosity burning.

Moon crosses her arms. "One of them carries a tin full of the cutest bandages ever. If he puts one on you, you're getting better. He's such a cutie. Not that way." She points upwards. "He's one state up from us though. I heard another blows kisses, and that works somehow." Moon Streak shrugs widely. "I don't get it. I make people laugh, my thing. But here's something to not laugh at." She taps at her book. "Magic! So what's calling you? Make up your mind and commit, or keep generalizing, I guess. I'm not your mom, that's your job."

Wait, you weren't her mom. Oh... "Ha ha." You were becoming a mother. "Mind feels icky. I don't want to pry into people's heads." You tap at your own. "No offense to you. You seem nice."

"I try to be." She shrugs. "But it does more than just let you spy on people's thoughts. That's barely the start. Still, not mind, fine. What is it?"

"Moon!" Little Arrow comes rushing in. "Moon!"

Moon puts a hoof to his forehead, stopping his charge. "What's up, green bean?"

Little Arrow swats at her hooves. "They're talking about you." He points out towards the meeting room. "I couldn't make them stop."

Moon gently ruffles the top of her cousin. "Don't sweat it. They're curious about her." She tosses her head at you. "Which means they're curious about me talking to her. Just a bunch of ponies making funny whickery noises at each other, being scared of a fluttering shopping bag."

Little Arrow giggles at that. "Silly horsies..."

"Very silly horsies. Now, we're talking magic. You want to watch two boring unicorns talk magic?"

"Yes!" No hesitation. He spins on you. "Can I? I wanna see!"

What could a little earth pony even get out of that?

Author's Note

More votes, yay! I am legit pleased. Looks like everyone's alright with Nick, and we want to know more about the fellow unicorn. Let's see what we can learn about and maybe from her.

New poll! https://forms.gle/kG5ymgvuEaaA52vd8

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