The Book of Friendship

Withania sat rather stiffly in the supply cupboard of Twilight’s laboratory. She’d been waiting for nearly two hours now, initially for an opportunity, but now just simply for a chance to escape undetected.

“Test 36, azimuth of 62 degrees, begin recording…” came Twilight’s voice from through the door, “No signal detected once so far… once again… I’m beginning to suspect that the noise floor is too high, possibly as a result of my own magic interfering. I wonder if I can trust Spike to run these tests instead… but then I’d have to be out of the room entirely and miss everything.”

Withania was wondering if anyone she knew found plants as boring as the tests Twilight seemed to be conducting. She shifted slightly, dislodging the length of rope she was holding. The original plan was to catch Twilight by surprise and tie her up, but she realised after entering the cupboard what a terrible idea that was given how powerful Twilight would be. And then Twilight had walked in and trapped her.

“Test 37, 62 degrees, maximum amplitude, I am now looking for perceivable changes in signal. This will be a control test before using my portable singularity to absorb all other magic from the room, including my own…”

Including her own? thought Withania, ears pricking up

“Aha! Faint signals detected, looks like I won’t need to go to any extremes after all.”

Withania peered through the gap in the closet doors and spotted a distinctive bracelet on a bench in the centre of the room that wasn’t there before. If that can absorb magic… I might be able to disarm Twilight!

There was never going to be a better opportunity than this - Withania slowly nudged the door open and stole out into the room on hoof-tips. The princess was still focused on her experiment as the intruder reached the workbench and put on the silver bracelet. It was simple in design, obviously made for function, but featured a distinctive ruby in the centre that gently pulsed.

“H’mm?” Twilight suddenly looked around and saw Withania, who froze like a rabbit in torchlight. “Withania? What are you-”

Withania didn’t wait and with zero knowledge on what she was doing, pointed her braceleted foreleg at Twilight while tapping the gemstone with her other hoof. The gemstone suddenly darkened, as if it were absorbing the light around it, and an arc of energy jumped from Twilight’s horn into its centre. As the arc connected it blazed into a bridge of energy storming into the gem, locking both ponies alike in place. Withania looked away while instinctively trying to pull back, and then a moment later it was all over. Twilight collapsed onto her front, eyes spinning as if she had just been through a tornado.

Withania looked back at the bracelet, its gem now glowing with a purple hue, and waved her hoof around experimentally. It felt warm, and somehow connected to her, as if she could feel the gemstone as an extension of her body as well as the energy contained within.

“Unnnnnnggh,” moaned Twilight, rubbing her dulled horn with her hoof, now nothing more than a conical bone on her forehead. “Witha-”

“No monologging!” yelled Withania, not intending to give her quarry any chance to turn the tables. She jutted her hoof in Twilight’s direction, emitting a zap of magical energy across the room. Twilight’s body lept a foot off the floor with the charge, her legs pointing out in all directions. As the magical blast rippled over her, her limbs thickened, becoming plush and soft. Her expression fixed as her facial features were replaced with intricate stitching and her mane and tail alike turned into firm and bushy doll hair. She landed again with a soft fwomp as a life size soft toy, marvellously detailed and ready for attention. Withania cautiously approached and checked the result. Twilight was warm, emanating heat as if she were still a real pony, and felt posable, retaining whatever position Withania arranged her into.

This was very alluring, but it wasn’t what Withania had intended. She furrowed her brow and pointed the bracelet at the Twilight plush again, throwing her foreleg as if she were trying to throw magic at her target. Another zap haphazardly struck the poor unicorn, and this time the fluffy plush body smoothed out into shiny latex. The hiss of air could be heard as plush filling was vaporised and Twilight’s body was filled with air. Light enough to float, she began to rise up off the ground. Her features were now a silkscreen printed over her inflated body, but her mouth was this time formed enough to make sounds. Twilight attempted to communicate, wheezing a squeak.

“Withania!” she yelped, her body creaking as it bounced off of the furniture on its ascent to the ceiling. An inflatable pony was closer to what Withania was trying to achieve, but still not right. She grabbed Twilight’s leg and pulled her down, leaning on her and feeling her air-filled body bend and squish. She could deflate her, and that would result in a flat-Twilight, however this wouldn’t really match the rest of her collection. Steadying Twilight in place and backing up for a clear shot, she tried again. This time Twilight dropped to the floor like a sandbag, her body suddenly weighed down with a dense bean bag filling that struck the floor with a muffled thump.

“Give me a moment,” said Withania, scratching her head with her other hoof, “I’ll figure this out!”

Twilight tried to get up, but was either too weakened or too heavy, and merely wiggled her splayed limbs while her belly was smushed out. So far none of these transformations had been uncomfortable at all, if anything the contrast of transitioning from being soft, then light, then heavy was fascinating - but right now she was more worried that Withania had absolutely no idea how to wield magic, let alone alicorn magic.

“Withania stop! You’re going to disintegrate me!” she said, her voice slightly muffled under the weight of her own bean-stuffed head.

“I’ve caught you! You won’t escape!” said Withania, raising the bracelet menacingly.

“Sweet Celestia, I will help you, just stop randomly firing magic bursts at me!”

Withania paused, gauging if this was a trick or if Twilight was being genuine. The bean-bag pony frowned up at her. Even if Twilight was trying to trick her, Withania could still just zap her again if she needed to.

“Alright, I’m listening,” she said, sitting down at a safe distance. “Don’t try anything though, I’m ready and I have a big imagination, if you know what I mean.”

“I’m not- urgh, just clear your mind for a moment. Take a breath and stop trying to do anything, then point your hoof and release. That should clear the magic effects you cast and put me back to normal.”

Withania took a deep breath. Considering how much time she spent with incredibly kinky ideas on her brain, this was easier said than done. All the same, she closed her eyes and imagined being outside in a field on a breezy day, and exhaled. The bracelet released a stream of pink magic, this time slower and more calm. It surrounded Twilight before evaporating again, leaving her looking quite normal.

“Phew,” sighed Twilight, getting back onto her hooves and inspecting her body for any signs of transformation, “Okay, you have no idea how magic works, correct?”

“Hey, I can breed any plant into an ideal strain, that’s a lot more complicated than pointing a unicorn horn around,” said Withania, waving her hoof dismissively.

“This isn’t gardening, Withania. Magic isn’t a hosepipe you just point at someone and expect things to happen. The power that you’re trying to use isn’t in the bracelet, it’s all around us in the world - our magic channels that power and directs it.”

“Huh? What makes you so powerful then?”

“A unicorn’s magic is like electricity. If you can create a bigger potential difference, you can move more magic. You draw on magic all the time as an earth pony, but dissipate it in all directions instead of focusing it with a magical horn as a unicorn does. So first of all, just try focusing your magic on me without doing anything. Place your magical aura over me.”

“Is this a trick? Are you going to suck up all your magic again?” asked Withania.

Twilight sighed witheringly in response. “Withania I am helping you in the sincerest interest of self-preservation right now because your next wild magic burst might turn me into a melon that smashes on impact with the floor. Whatever you’re trying to achieve I’m assuming is better than getting disintegrated.”

“I mean… I could probably fix that…” said Withania thoughtfully, but seeing Twilight’s increasing exasperation she assumed an attentive pose and held out her braceleted hoof. Still, Twilight’s advice resonated with her. Rather than attempting to hurl magical bolts, Withania thought about her own will power when tending a garden. No force, no impatience, be a wellspring - a pink aura formed around Twilight, humming and shimmering.

“I can feel it!” said Withania excitedly, “It’s like I’m touching you all over!”

“Phrasing, Withania, phrasing,” said Twilight, “now you can start manipulating things in the field, visualise and let the magic do the work, not you.”

Now that she had Twilight enveloped in a magical aura, Withania had a clearer idea of what she could do with this opportunity. Imagining the aura like a sheet, Withania pinched the corners, pulling it taut so Twilight was pressed upright and slowly pushed onto her back. Withania could feel Twilight pressing back, but no amount of strength would have overcome the magic Withania was now commanding. She approached Twilight, beginning to press down on the two sheets she had created on either side of the alicorn.

The aura wasn’t quite flat, however, and Twilight’s body formed a bulge that Withania couldn’t quite control. She changed tactics, and instead of trying to press Twilight flat, she imagined sucking all the air out from the envelope of magic. This had an immediate effect, and Twilight’s muzzle wrinkled as she was smushed up like a dress in a vacuum bag. She didn’t appear to be in distress, but was clearly confused by what was happening. This was exactly what Withania wanted. She placed her forehooves on Twilight’s quickly thinning body and pushed outwards as if she was spreading a bed sheet, chasing lumps and creases to the edges. Twilight stretched outwards, getting flatter and wider and more bemused.

“So what exactly is your plannmmmf - mmmpph!” Twilight’s voice was muffled as Withania diligently ironed out her face to a flat disc.

“This is my plan. You and your friends are now all deliciously flat sheets of pony - and you’re especially smooth. Just saying, but if you want to hit me up in the future and do this to me I wouldn’t complain, standing offer… But for now, I have a collection to add you to.”

Withania released the magical aura and carefully took off the bracelet. It was tempting to keep it, but definitely safer to leave it here. She retrieved the folder from the closet she’d hidden in and laid it out on one of the tables, opening it to reveal a stack of flattened ponies from pink through blue. Rainbow Dash scowled up at her, but the blush on her face and the way she was slightly biting her lip betrayed her enjoyment of her own predicament.

Holding Twilight aloft, Withania gave her a full view of where she was heading - face to face with Rainbow. She aligned Twilight’s hind hooves with Rainbow’s, and painstakingly lay her down, careful to let her body bend and flop like fabric.

There was a group of murmurs from the stack as the other ponies sensed a new comer, and could likely guess who it was, before Withania muffled the sounds further by closing the folder up, bending everyone in half again.

“That’s… that’s everypony,” said Withania. “Now I’ll be carrying you all to Canterlot, in plain sight, and no one will know it’s you…”