Sweetie Belle worked her hooves in slow circles as she looked over her intricate magical circle. It had taken most of the afternoon, but at last it was complete. Her nose tingled with the strange smell of fresh ink. She grinned to herself as she took a few steps back to admire her work. "Finally." She nodded at it with satisfaction. "Time to make myself a true wizard!"

She trotted over to a nearby table and leafed through the thick book, glancing over the large words and intricate diagrams. "Now, to turn myself into a real wizard! Let's see..." She stopped on a page and scanned over it with rapid flicks of her eyes. "All true wizards have a familiar, and to call one, you need one of those." She pointed to her recently completed inkwork.

"A real wizard has to create her own; there's no borrowing from your friends." She hummed softly to herself as she mixed various ingredients in a cup, following the recipe precisely. When the ingredients were properly combined, she walked back over to the circle and dipped a hoof into the mixture.

She started writing a new part onto the circle, moving carefully so as not to make any mistakes. Soon, it was complete.

"There! I'm all set now." She put the bowl aside. "Everything's right!" Her voice squeaked as she checked the sky, giggling with excitement. "All I have to do is conjure a passing magical spirit to be my familiar!"

Sweetie Belle looked down at the circle and took a deep breath, clearing her thoughts. Her horn began to glow with magical power, which rippled around her in a delicate manner. "Familiar, I call on you! By the power of a wizard, you cannot ignore my plea. Come forth! Be bound by my hoof and my horn!"

Her beacon went out in a powerful wave that penetrated the folds of what was there and not, reaching even beyond the reach of Equestria, to worlds far removed from her own. In that moment, she sealed her fate.

There was a brief sparkle in the air, like silver stars tumbling in an inky night sky. It grew in size, widening and expanding until it reached twice the height of a grown mare. Sweetie Belle gaped at it with her hooves shivering, wanting to clap but not quite getting her arms to react properly.

With a dramatic whoosh, the light flickered out and Sweetie was left staring at a green-colored, blue-haired creature standing in the circle. It was female with four legs, a pair of long, furry ears, and two long tails covered in fur.

"Uhm, hello." She smiled awkwardly. "I'm Sweetie Belle. Do you have a name?"

The fox-like creature stared at her for a moment, blinked twice, and then fainted.

It had been in the process of dying, its soul wrenched free of its mortal body. Unfortunately for it, that meant its soul wasn't tied down, and it went where the beacon drew it. What should have been the end of its life was the start of something new.

Sweetie Belle gathered the limp form of her new familiar. "I'm not certain that's the way that's supposed to work. I should check the book again." She considered her options and decided she would find somewhere for her new familiar to rest until it woke up. "Maybe she'll tell me what's wrong when she wakes up," Sweetie said as she left the circle, carrying her familiar out of sight.

She set her new familiar down on a soft cushion. "You're kinda cute." She smiled at the fox-like creature, reaching to brush one of its two tails. "Also a little odd, but still cute. Maybe we can be friends, once you wake up. Or maybe you can teach me about magic. Either way, I'm sure we can get along." She continued stroking the furry appendage, smiling softly.

"Mmm." The fox cracked one eye open, just the jump back. "A horse!" The statement came out in a squeak from the fox, both tails lashing in fright.

Sweetie smiled gently. "I'm a pony, actually. A unicorn, to be more specific. And you're a..." She tilted her head. "I'm not certain what species you are."

"Oh... okay." The creature blinked slowly. "My name is Cindy. Of all my problems, I guess it doesn't matter if you know it." She sat up, then tried to stand up, just to fall back to all fours with a soft paff. That was when she began to examine her paws. "I didn't have these before? Did I really die?"

"Dead? Oh no, you're very much alive." Sweetie waved a hoof in the air. "But yes, I did summon you from somewhere else."

"Really?" She looked around. "I think you're my afterlife, and I'm really not sure how to think about that." She turned back to Sweetie. "Hello, um. Nice to meet you?"

Sweetie's face brightened. "So you aren't mad at me for dragging you into a different world? I've heard some of the other students at school complain about spirits getting upset when they're summoned by ponies."

Cindy wrinkled her snout. "If you knew that, why did you do it anyway? That's a bit rude. But, no. I was about—" She took a shuddering gasp. "I was dead, very dead. I could see it coming. Now I'm not dead. I can't get it in me to be mad at the thing that made me not dead, even if I have paws now?" She lifted one of those paws. "I used to have hands."

"Oh, um." Sweetie averted her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't think about that part. The book I was following just said I had to summon a magical spirit to act as my familiar. It didn't say I had to bring them over from another world."

Cindy inclined her head at Sweetie. "Oddest thing. I feel like I should be really mad at you, but I'm not." She pressed a paw against Sweetie's nose. "I think being your familiar is warping my judgment a little. You better not take advantage of that, little wizard."

Sweetie made a face and swatted Cindy's paw away. "Stop it. I'm not a little wizard. I'm just... well, a little unicorn."

"As you say." Cindy stood and began to pace the room, taking in its features. "But I feel certain. You are a wizard. A little one. An untrained wizard that poked her nose into things she shouldn't have, and got lucky." She sniffed at the air. "By the way, I smell bacon."

Sweetie grinned. "That's great! That means we can be friends."

Cindy scratched an ear with a hind leg. "Friends, sure, but bacon. I seriously smell it. Do ponies eat bacon? I'm legit surprised right now. Take me to your bacon. Appease your familiar!"

Sweetie pointed to the ground firmly. "Sit!" Cindy sat with a loud thump from how quickly she did so. "I don't want to be mean, but you're my familiar, not the other way around. You have to do what I ask. And stop demanding bacon. You're making me hungry, too."

Cindy covered her face with her paws. "I cannot. I have a bacon problem. Bacon is delicious. Help."

Sweetie giggled at the problem. "Are summoned familiars made hungry?" She gathered up her summoned fox familiar gently. "Let's go see what's ready for us. I smell it too now that I'm thinking about it."

They entered the kitchen, where the scent of frying meat filled the air.

"Breakfast." Cindy was nearly drooling at this point, panting softly. "Lunch. Dinner. What time is it?" She saw a window. "Evening. Dinner, yes." She seemed to calm with being sure of that. "But why do I smell bacon? Are you just normally cooking it?"

Sweetie giggled, carrying her familiar over to a pot of tea. "We'll start with tea and see how that goes."

Cindy blinked as Sweetie poured tea with her magic. "I'm hungry, not thirsty. Why aren't we enjoying that bacon? Also, seriously, ponies eat bacon? Please explain this miracle."

"That." Sweetie pushed a cup towards Cindy. "Is Hay Bacon. I bet Rarity made some."

Cindy whined softly. "Hay? As in the stuff horses eat? What?" She sniffed at the aroma coming off the cup. She took a sip of it and sighed. "Mmm, not bad. Still hungry though, oh powerful little wizard."

"Hey, you don't need to call me that." Sweetie huffed softly. "You're making it sound like I'm a powerful magic user or something. That's just silly."

Cindy did not even glance at her as she continued to drink. "I'm not the one that just summoned life from a whole other world. That sounds like powerful wizardry to me, little wizard." She slapped a tail against the ground with a growing smile. "Little Wizard!"

"Oh, you just think you're so cute right now." Sweetie lifted her snout. "I had to look in the book for that spell."

"Cute?" Cindy raised a paw to her snout. "If you have a mirror, I can find out how cute I am. Am I?"

Sweetie reached to pet her familiar's head. "You're adorable. Now quit distracting me. Let's get you fed." She levitated a plate over to them, and onto it went a few pieces of Hay Bacon. Cindy was salivating as it hovered closer and closer. When it landed, she grabbed one with a paw and began chewing on it voraciously.

"Mmm!" Cindy let out a muffled moan. "It's so good! This is magic food!"

Sweetie giggles. "Only cooked with love, not magic. Rarity doesn't use fancy spells to cook food."

Cindy inhaled another strip of bacon. "It's the first I've had, so it's magic to me. What's a Rarity?"

"She's my sister." Sweetie pointed at where she imagined Rarity to be. "She's probably working on some clothes. That's what she does. She's a designer and a seamstress and she's great at her job. But she can get a little bossy sometimes."

"Bossy is bad?" Cindy took a sip of tea as she munched on the last strip of Hay Bacon.

"I wouldn't say it's bad." Sweetie patted her new familiar on the head. "Annoying, sometimes, but I love her. And now you can help me learn more magic. There's so much to see, and I want to learn all of it!"

Cindy watched with confusion. "I can try? But I'm at least as new to familiaring as you are to wizarding, sounds like. We're both going to have to learn together. Your fault for not summoning a better familiar. You got me instead." She pressed her paws together and closed her eyes. "And I am in the house of delicious bacon. This is an amazing afterlife."

"Are you still worried about that?" Sweetie floated the empty plate back to the sink.

"Not even a little." Cindy groomed herself with swipes of her paws. "This is a whole new life, and it's already looking interesting. Little wizard, I want to help you grow and master your craft."

Sweetie straightened up. "Yes, familiar! I accept you as my first magical ally, and promise to treat you well."

"Aww, that was cute. Thanks." Cindy gave Sweetie a smile. "And I am bound by magic to aid you as best I can, with all my heart and soul." She frowned and began to pace back and forth, eventually sitting on her haunches. "This body will take some getting used to. Seriously, got a mirror? I want to have a look at me."

Sweetie considered the request for a moment. "I suppose we can. I'll go get one. Wait here."

Cindy gave an exaggerated shrug. "Not like I have anywhere else to go right now." She sank into a seat, tails swaying eagerly. "Go swift, little wizard."

Author's Note

I did this on a whim. A patron could request it continue, or we can just enjoy this little slice as it is.

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