My Little Pony: Ponification is Magic [Puck, Wisp, Sturs]

OoC: I'll be posting a discussion thread for us to use in the Dome so I don't have to relay PMs all the time we can sort things out a bit easier.

BiC: The land of Equestria is ruled and protected by the unicorn-pegasi, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who raise the sun and the moon every day and night. Their subjects, the earth ponies and unicorns and pegasi, control the weather and make the plants grow and keep their world moving. It is all they know, all they desire. Notwithstanding the odd dragon or juvenile spectral demon bear, it is a peaceful land.

However, throughout the great multiverse, it is known that little bores spectators quite as much as peace, and the one responsible for creating this idyllic land was no exception. But She loved Her creation, and had no desire to see it spoiled for a whim.

And so She turned her attention to other people of other realms, that She might see something besides peace in Her creation without endangering it...

~ ~ ~

I think it was the sun on my back that woke me up. I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about, but whatever it was, it had been weird. I yawned and struggled to my feet, trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind.

Of course, my first thought after that was 'wait, since when do I sleep?' Which woke me up much, much faster. If I was asleep, who was responsible and why had they done it?

Stamping one of my four feet in irritation, I turned to look around- wait, what? Four feet?

So I looked down. And saw hooves. Not feet, not claws - hooves.

I had never had hooves before. Starting to panic slightly, I stalked over to a nearby river so I could get a good look at my reflection. It was...enlightening. Or, to be more specific, it answered one question and posed a dozen more.

I, an ancient and powerful dragon, had somehow been turned into a small red unicorn.

"What."

There was nothing quite like a forest in spring. After an early morning rainfall when the sun peaks through the clouds, and everything comes alive with smells and sounds. There was scampering of squirrels and rodents through rows of newly blossomed flowered, at bees and insists buzzed along top. There was mud and rain, and flowers, animals to hunt puddles to drink from, trees to mark. There was so much to do Allorne couldn’t decide what to do.

She ran too and fro, the scents and sounds overpowering her mind. It had been nearly a month since she last turned, and that just made the senses that much more powerful. Flowers smelled much better, the leaves rattled in the wind much louder, animals moved much faster away from her. She was chasing…something, she couldn’t even tell to be honest but she heard it so she gave chase. The scents were over powering though, and she got distracted as she ran by a particularly loud stream.

And she ran right into a tree and passed out.


- - - -


“Urgh,” Allorne moaned, “Some get the name of that knight what ran me down,” It pleased her to know that even half passed out she still had some semblance of wit. Wait. She stood to four feet, and looked around. There was something wrong. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.

The trees they seemed far to green, almost fakely so. The ground was such a bright shade of brown she didn’t think it actually existed. The flowers were more colourful, the sounds more simple. It wasn’t the forest she left. “What the-“ And she could talk, but wasn’t she a wolf? Wolves don’t talk. She took a step forward, trying to understand what was going on.

Her hoof went clop.

“Wolves don’t clop…” Her head snapped down to take a better look at her pa- hoof?

She started running. Her heart was somewhere in her throat, and her mind she left behind. SO she ran, and ran until her legs were tired. She though that maybe if she kept running she’d be back in her woods. Not these woods. That maybe she’d be a wolf again.

Hours later, and so very exhausted she collapsed by a river. The only sound was to be heard was the slow moving river, and her heavy breath. She crawled over to the river. It was imperative that she saw herself that she knew what she had turned into.

She looked into the river, and a pony was reflected back at her. That was about the time she passed out a second time.

(OoC: This is going to be set a while after Cavern Siege. Hope this is good enough... ^.^')

Amberstone was still hungry, even after eating through a moose. The sun felt warm on her scales, probably accented by some still clinging water. The cub readied a pounce as a deer came into range...

...she sprung at unawared creature, but the claws she knew weren't there. They were replaced by hooves. Amberstone managed to pin the deer, but was thrown off from it's struggle, more shocked at herself to care about food.

The gargoy- no, pony spun around to look at herself, somewhat unable to put her new form together. The actual pegasus trotted over to a river, looking more at herself than ever. "...What am I?"

Phantasmo was waggling his eyebrows.

He wasn’t good at many things, but waggling his eyebrows was one of the few things he was good at. The thick hairs above his eyes moved across his forehead with grace and elegance few could match.

They were soon at the receiving end of the contents of a glass (a decent chianti with an ice cube and an indeterminate bit of fruit in it). The liquid drenched the wizard’s eyebrows, and indeed the rest of his face.

That was the eighty-fourth rejection that night. He was usually rejected quite a few times a night, but this was definitely a bit above average. Phantasmo decided to call it a night; maybe the next night the ladies would properly appreciate his undeniable charms.

The wizard left the bar, and outside, he put up a valiant fight against his drunkenness. He heroically managed to almost walk a full two metres before succumbing to his inebriation. Perhaps it was for the best that he hadn’t made it further; at least this way he avoided collapsing in Organ Harvester Lane.

~ ~ ~

The wizard woke up again, and slowly got up on his four legs. He didn’t remember having quite this many legs, but then after a long night at a bar the number of legs Phantasmo had usually didn’t match the number of legs Phantasmo figured he ought to have.

Phantasmo looked around. He was in a brightly coloured world. There were a suspicious amount of rainbows. Well, he figured, as far as hallucinations went, this one was kind of underwhelming, as well as slightly embarrassing. What kind of man hallucinated about being in what looked like a children’s fantasy?

The wizard calmly staggered over towards a river. He spotted a blood-red pony-like creature, who was distracted by his own reflection. It may not have been the most impressive mount, but it would certainly do, Phantasmo thought, and prepared to jump on its back.

This...this really wasn't good. I frequently masqueraded as a human, and sometimes as other species if a human would be poorly received, but those were just illusions. Humans were weak, humans were vulnerable, humans were mortal - to truly change myself into such a creature would be sheer folly. Most other physical beings were the same. And yet here I was, standing on four hooves, covered in red fur, with a single horn sticking out of my head...and it wasn't an illusion. I was some kind of unicorn.

Weak.

Vulnerable.

Mortal.

I needed to find out what had been done to me, who was responsible, how to change it back. I needed information, and fast, because I had no idea long I'd live like- wait, what was-

- and that was when a blur in the corner of my too-large eye leapt at me.

The sudden weight on my back almost knocked me over before I even realised it was there. Startled, annoyed at whichever idiot had just jumped me, and growing steadily more angry at what had been done to me, I bucked hard in an effort to dislodge the fool. Not that it really helped much - the object of my enmity merely slid off instead of flying into the river as I'd hoped. I was too used to the strength of a grown dragon.

To compensate for that disappointment, I opted to face my attacker - another small unicorn like myself, only light blue and wearing a rather ridiculous wizard's outfit - and simply blasted him in the face with fire.

At least my magic was still working properly.

There was something subtly off about everything. The red pony-like creature had kicked Phantasmo off – not terribly surprising, given his hangover – and set fire to him. He wasn’t entirely sure if ponies were supposed to be able to do that, but then his knowledge of equines was fairly limited.

He’d been set on fire before, of course – usually by the less patient kind of woman – so he knew what to do: rolling around on the ground while screaming in agony. Ideally towards water. But as the wizard was rolling around, it was as if he was in a body not his own. One that made rolling around rather difficult (though fortunately, he was still quite capable of screaming in agony).

The flames were scorching his fur – was he supposed to have fur? Phantasmo was pretty sure he didn’t usually have fur. The mane and tail were new too. Come to think of it, was his head supposed to be that close to the ground? He could swear it wasn’t. Anyway, the rolling around wasn’t really working out, so maybe the river might be the better solution?

With a loud splash, the wizard sunk to the bottom of the river. The downside of jumping into a large body of water to stop yourself from burning was that it opened up the possibility of drowning, especially if you couldn’t swim. Phantasmo, of course, couldn’t swim. He found that his more-equine-than-usual new features didn’t help.

Miraculously, he managed to get back on dry land, and planted his blue hooves (since when were his hooves blue, anyway?) firmly into the ground. He didn’t get it. Why was he feeling so strange? Maybe some sleep would help him see things more clearly. He found himself a nice spot of relatively soft grass, lied down, and closed his eyes.

Wolves don’t dream. Not of running through forests and catching prey; they do that when their awake. Not of a happy life, a warm meal, nothing. Dreams to a wolf are unknown, and I doubt you would ever be able to explain to them what one is. So when I tell you Allorne very first dream ever scared the living hell out of her you know I am being very serious.

Allorne snapped awake and nearly jumped out of her skin. Her brow was soaked with sweat, and a cold shiver ran down her spine as she realized the extent of her predicament: Shapeshifting was nothing new to her, but this was different. She wasn’t herself anymore, she was this…this pony. Thing.

“I have to find way home,” She said stamping her hoof for effect. There. She said it,. That gave her a task to accomplish, a goal, and as long as she had a goal nothing could stop her. Yeah it was kind weird, and dreams were scary (though she didn’t remember what the dream was…) but she couldn’t spend another second worrying. Maybe this transformation had some sort of time limit until she was stuck; she remember a song where that was the case so she wouldn’t risk it.

“Firsts things first,” She had to figure out where she was. A glint of silver caught the corner of her eye. Careening her head to the side she saw something: Another pony a little ways down river. It was the best thing to happen since she landed in this strange universe, so she took off in full gallop.

“Hey! Hey!” The pony was a copper-orange not to unsimilar to Allorne coat when she was a wolf, a mess of a mane and tail, and was that a picture on her butt? Talk about your strange Tattoos. Allorne decided not to bring it up, as she skidded to a halt beside the strange pony that seemed to be staring at herself in the river, “Excuse me. Umm. Do you know where we are?”

(OoC: I'm sorry that this is a bit late. End of college is approaching, so everything's hectic here. @.@)

Amberstone continued to look at her reflection, but was unable to think of any creature similar to herself, until a voice made her ears twitch. “Excuse me. Umm. Do you know where we are?” The cub looked up, and saw a similar creature to herself... but she had a scent of the forest like herself.

“All I know is that this is a forest.” The pegasus shuffled a hoof in the dirt for a moment, “Are.... you a gargoyle too, or something like a normal forest creature, say a bear...?”

“What…what am I?” Allorne looked down at her hooves, and flicked her tail back and forth, “Ima…well I guess I’mma pony now. So are you.” Stomping her hoof into the ground Allorne looked away for a second, more then just a little confused. The, er, thing in front of her was clearly a Pony, but it thought it was a gargoyle, “I was a wolf before, and a human…”

“This is…its insane.” Something was rotten in the state of equestria.

Brann sighed as the blue unicorn sank like a rock in the river and fought down another surge of anger. As therapeutic as burning things often was, this ill-mannered and possibly drunk creature was currently his only source of information, especially if it was a native of wherever this land was. The dragon-turned-unicorn really couldn't afford to let it - okay, probably him - burn to death or drown.

Not before Brann had learned everything he could from the blue faux-wizard, anyway.

Looking over the edge of the bank, Brann saw the unicorn floundering away on the riverbed, rapidly expending what little air remained in his lungs after all that screaming. Fire magic wouldn't help here - not unless he flash-boiled the river dry, and that would probably kill the fool down below - and the sky was more use if you were already in it. Levitation would be ideal, but that had never been one of Brann's strong points...

A glow of magic surrounded the flailing unicorn and started hauling it up out of the river. Startled, Brann backed up a step and the glow vanished, but that had apparently been enough for the blue one to haul himself onto dry land again, where he promptly passed out.

That...was unusual. Brann was fairly sure that the robe-wearing unicorn thing was not responsible for the magic - it barely had enough power to burn down a cottage, let alone perform self-levitation with no air left in its lungs - but that left...well, just Brann. Who lacked the skill to subconsciously use levitation magic when in disguise, and never needed to when he wasn't.

Frowning, the dragon turned to the soggy wizard's hat - which had something survived the fire unscathed - and thought about lifting it up into the air. Like its owner, it glowed briefly and twitched upwards before dropping back to the ground - and this time, Brann noticed a similar glow coming from...his horn? That suggested the levitation was a natural trait of the body Brann found himself stuck in, but he had never heard of a unicorn with that particular trait before.

Then again, he'd never heard of unicorns that came in blood red or pale blue before, either. Or unicorns that wore stage magician outfits.

Grunting, Brann dried the blue unicorn with his magic and then kicked him in the side a few times. "Wake up, you. We need to talk. Now."

Phantasmo the Magnificent, greatest wizard in the multiverse, was vaguely aware of a pain in his side. He mumbled something indecipherable but undoubtedly very impolite, then rolled over. Curiously, the pain now moved to his other side.

“Wake up, you,” someone was saying. “We need to talk. Now.”

“B’gger off, ya bl’rdy b’gger,” Phantasmo said. “Imma wizzud. Don’t make me ‘blitrate you.”

((OoC: Sorry about the huge delay, but I'm a bit brain-dead right now, so nothing great. Tiroth asked me to post.))

“I was a wolf before, and a human…”

Amberstone just tilted her head, “Never heard that before...” She stretched slightly, which made her spot the other two ponies, one looking like it may kill the fallen other. The cub, now pegasus, walked over, not knowing how to run like this still.

“Are you going to kill it, or something?” towards the horned, red pony.

OoC: Sorry for the wait, guys. :/

BiC: Brann looked up at the question and blinked. How had he managed to miss two more of the creatures so close by? He was usually far more alert than this. If there were more unicorns here- wait, no, the didn't have horns. And the one further away had...wings?

Yes. Wings.

Brann almost snarled at that. Wings meant flight, and here he was, stuck with four hooves planted firmly on the ground, denied the thrill and comfort of the air. Levitation skills were no substitute.

The dragon-turned-unicorn kicked the prone blue thing again as her replied. "No, I just want to talk to it." After all, there was no point in antagonising the locals by saying he might, in fact, kill the drunkard depending on how the conversation went. Brann was in a very foul mood.

Brann leaned down towards the blue unicorn and spoke, his voice harsh. "If you are a wizard, then I am a dragon. Now get up!"

“You’re not a dragon, you’re a horsey!” Phantasmo the Magnificent informed the red unicorn. “And besides, I am Phantasmo the Magnificent, greatest wizard to have ever lived, master of the arcane arts, supreme adventurer without fear or weakness, and a professional dragon slayer.”

He felt just a little bit perkier from his boasting, and decided to get up, if for no other reason than to stop the red unicorn from constantly kicking him.

“Anyway, you wanted to speak to me, didn’t you?” the great wizard said to the lowly equine. “I suppose that is understandable; after all, who doesn’t dream of one day being able hear the great words of Phantasmo the Magnificent, mightiest of mages, superb spellcaster and most epic enchanter ever? I’m feeling generous today, so I shall grant you an audience.”

'It can't be' Allorne thought quite inanely because it quite clearly was; She'd recognize that smell anywhere. Of all the useless people Allorne had met, of all the fools baggarts, morons, idiots, liars, and loudmouths there was not a single one quite as pathetic as Phantasmo The Magnificent. Nor was their any more humorous, so she was not at all upset. If she was doomed to spend her days as a marshmallow pony it was nice to have someone to share her misery with.

“Phantasmo,” The orange pony cantered up a little bounce in her step, “Last I saw you, you were cowering behind a rock. I'm surprised you survived to be honest, the plan was'ta use you as bait. Tis a shame you survived to gloat another day. Run from any muggers recently?” She gave the red pony a lopsided smile, “Pay no attention to this fool of fool, you'll get naught from him but tall tales.” Nudging Phantasmo away by kicking him in the foreleg she moved to face the one who called himself a 'Dragon' . “Don't waste your time questioning those who know nothing, and speak too much. I am Allorne, perhaps we can be of use to each other...

((OoC: Crappy post, but I couldn't come up with better. Sorry if I missed posting before you left, I was distracted for most of the day. @.@))

Amberstone was somewhat confused with all of the chatter, and slowly moved away, not knowing anyone, or what was really being said; even though she could hear every word. The pegasus moved more over to the river, but was unsure if she could even fly, with what she saw were stubby wings.

OoC: I have just enough time left, thanks. ^_^ And guys - I'll be away for about two weeks, give or take, so don't expect more from me before then.

BiC: "Well, I certainly appreciate having some independent confirmation of his...abilities. Braggarts have their uses, but they quickly grow tiresome." Although he tried to keep his tone pleasant - or at least relatively so, compared to how he had spoken to this Phantasmo - Brann couldn't help but feel that there was something off with the two newcomers. They just...felt different to the blue idiot. Of course, that could always be due to the lack of horns and the pair of wings, but still...and why would a pegasus think that he would kill a unicorn? "You may call me Wanderer, and I am looking for information right now..."

Allorne. Now there was a name Phantasmo the Magnificent was familiar with, though he didn’t remember her being quite as quadrupedal as the colourful (and, quite frankly, adorable) equine who had just appeared on the scene. For just a moment, Phantasmo wondered just why his subconscious would have him hallucinate about horses claiming to be people he’d met ages ago. He never imagined either a random girl or brightly-coloured ponies to feature prominently in his subconsciousness.

He also wondered just why anything in his subconsciousness would dare to call him a fool or a braggart. He decided to do something about it.

“Hey!” the brilliant wizard said. “Just why are you figments of my imagination insulting me?”

Allorne has been called many things, of the printable ones: ♥♥♥♥♥, witch, son of a whore, she devil, and of course spawn of the other. She had, however, never been called the figment of someone's imagination, and to such an accusation she had absolutely no rebuttal. So she did what she always did in such a situation, hit someone. Raising a hoof she lazily backhanded (back-hoofed?) the protesting colt. “I aint your imagination, now hush adults are talking.”

She turned her head to the one who called himself 'Wanderer' and gave a slight bow, “Do you have a real name, or must you use that cliche one? It makes no matter. Of information, I have...surprisingly little.” She stomped the ground a bit irritably. “I am not even sure where we are...”

((OoC: Sun-sleep is her term for dusk/sunset. Sorry that this is short, I'm brain-dead on ideas... x.x))

Amberstone fluttered her wings for a moment as she over heard the conversation, but not having a word to say; mainly due to her confusion. She glanced back at the other three, noticing the two had a horn, not linking it to anything she's seen before... even this changing she went through was still in front of her mind.

“… I.... really don't think we'd find out if we stayed here.... plus, sun-sleep is coming. In these.... selves, I don't think we can fend off predators, many at least...”