@Background Pony #019B
aww <3 this one was very wholesome

Content: TG/TF, mind control, love spell, rated T for Teen.

Texas Collingsworth wasn’t a place on a map, and he hated being called “Tex,” so he went by T instead. Today, T was headed to the house of Josh, brother to his best bud Brian, to hang out and play retro games. Josh had some hand-me-down authentic hardware and had agreed to let Brian and T use it, provided they babysat Brian’s niece while Josh and the missus were taking their second ever cruise trip. T was an only child, but how hard could it be? Just lock the brat in her room and chill out on the couch putting their emulator experience to good use. Besides, Brian would be the one with the most responsibility. It was his niece, after all.

T’s GPS told him this was the right place, and he saw Brian’s car in the driveway to confirm it. After pulling beside the old Charger, he texted his friend to let him know he was here and wait for the okay to come inside. It was a warm spring day, the property’s bushes and trees were starting to bud with red and white flowers, and birds were chirping. But a minute went by without the invite, and the car was getting a little too warm in the sun to wait outside.

Nobody answered the knock, either, though he thought he heard some voices and someone going up some stairs. He waited until he felt awkward, then decided to throw caution to the wind and let himself in.

“Hello? Brian?” he asked in a loud voice to announce his presence.

“In here!” answered a voice that definitely wasn’t his bud’s. Certainly a girl’s. Was that his niece? It sounded too old to T, like a young woman instead of an 8-year old. T walked out of the foyer towards the direction it came from, finding a living room with a modern 80-inch flatscreen TV and media center on one side, surrounded by the usual living room furniture, and across from it in the far corner a retro gaming setup in its own hutch. A “big” 32-inch Trinitron, a cabinet full of game consoles, some of them older than T himself, and… a woman on the floor.

No, not a woman exactly. She had gray skin, dark blue hair punctuated with big animal ears that twitched convincingly, blue eyes, a kind of snout for a nose and mouth, and… hooves for hands? And she was wearing one of Brian’s favorite shirts, the one T always teased him about looking like a rent-a-cop whenever he wore it. She was laying flat on her stomach, propped upon elbows, and hooves holding open a book about game design, the kind Brian used to buy.

“H-hey T! Um, it’s a long story,” she said nervously. “Sorry I couldn’t answer your texts,” she looked down meaningfully at her misshapen forelimbs.

“What’s going on?” T asked, trying to figure out all the weird things he didn’t have the context to put together, not in a way that made sense at least. “I thought Brian was looking after his niece today?”

“I am,” the hoofed woman replied, cheeks turning bright pink. “But things took a turn, and then another, and, well, uh, this,” she said, looking back over her shoulder towards her high-heeled feet that kicked girlishly over her mostly bare legs. And a really nice butt, T couldn’t help but notice. The whole effect was kind of adorable, but surreal.

“Okay… start from the top,” T said, crossing his arms skeptically. “Where’s Brian?”

“Right here,” she replied. “Um, it turns out my niece somehow got hold of a magic wand, and the first I knew about it I was growing hooves and crawling around on all fours giving horseback rides. I didn’t want to, honest! But she can make you do things. With the wand. Like, also I have to call myself Brianna now. I literally can’t say my old name.”

“She turned you into a horse girl and made you give her rides?” T said incredulously.

“Well just the horse part first,” the girl claiming to be his best bud said. “I told her I had to stop because you’d be here soon and we were going to hang out, and she said ‘well if you like him so much, why don’t you marry him?’ you know? And I told her I wasn’t going to marry some guy, and I guess that’s what did it. She jumped off my back but then she got this look, and she wiggled the wand at me and… well, uh, here I am! Eheheh…” she trailed off.

“Riiiiight. So let’s see if I follow. You’re Brian, but you’re Brianna now, and you’re half horse, and your niece has a for-real magic wand that did all this?” T asked.

“Yeah, that’s about the size of it,” Brianna replied, biting her lip and blushing deeper.

“Why do you think I would believe any of that?” T asked.

“Well, I didn’t think you would, honestly. It sounds crazy, right? I was hoping you’d help me turn back,” she said, casting her eyes down to the books spread out around her.

“And how would that even work?” T asked.

“TRUE LOVE’S KISS!” shouted a little girl with no indoor voice behind T. He spun around and saw a kid with chocolate crumbs and pink frosting smeared over her mouth, one hand holding a piece of chocolate cake with the same frosting and sprinkles, and the other holding a metal baton or something. “Ya gotta kiss her to break the spell!”

“Trisha, where did you get that cake?” Brianna asked scoldingly.

“MAGIC!” the girl replied, “Duh? And is that any way to talk to your princess?” She pointed the baton at the woman on the floor and waved it in a circular motion. “Horses don’t tell princesses what to do!”

“You’re not a princess you spoiled little brat! Change me ba- I- I mean, forgive me Your Highness. I only meant that you shouldn’t spoil your appetite.”

T was a little creeped out when the woman’s voice suddenly switched gears from righteous fury to calm, servile tones. He didn’t know what kind of game the two were playing or why they were trying to convince him any of this was real, but it was getting old fast. He pulled out his phone and shot Brian another text to ask where he was. Approximately three seconds after he hit Send, Brian’s phone started buzzing from the notification. It was on the love seat behind the weird horse-woman.

“See, Your Highness?” Brianna said glumly as she watched T try to decipher the meaning of the phone. “I told you he wouldn’t believe it.”

“Well it’s no fun unless he plays along too!” the cake-faced girl said. “I guess a little luuuuuuuuuuuuv spell is in order!” she announced, waving the wand in circles as big as her short little arm could trace before flinging it in T’s direction.

T rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. But his rolling eyes settled on Brianna, and suddenly he really didn’t care what kind of weird game they were playing. He just knew she was beautiful. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. His breath caught in his throat, his heart started hammering, and all he could think about was how glorious it would be if he could hold her… hug her tightly… maybe even kiss her. Snoot or no snoot. No, actually the snoot was really endearing somehow! And those big ears were so cute, the way they flopped and flicked with her mood. Powerful emotions hit him like a freight train, railroading him into a headspace where he wanted to scoop her up and keep her safe and secure and do whatever it took to hear her laughter and see her smile forever.

“Uhm, h-hey, Brianna?” he said, scratching the back of his neck anxiously. “You know what she said about breaking the spell?”

“TRUE LOVE’S KIIIIII-IIIIIISS!” the little girl shouted tauntingly, pirouetting in place and almost dropping her piece of cake.

“Yeah, well… maybe we should give it a try? Y’know, to see if it works?” he stammered, blushing hard.

“YAY!” the brat shouted with genuine elation. “Brian and Texas, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” she chanted, doing a little shake and spinning around again, flinging chocolate crumbs onto the floor.

Brianna bit her lip and looked up at T pleadingly. He knelt down and put out his hand, she hesitated before putting one of her hooves into it. He gently lifted her up and guided her over to the love seat, putting his other hand on top of the hoof he was still holding. He was pleased to see her blush almost as hard as he was, giving him coy glances. It was clear she wanted this too, he realized. He didn’t really believe this ‘magic wand’ stuff, and wondered if her lips would be stiff and smear makeup over him… but that didn’t dissuade him. He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek, must to the elated gasp of their adolescent audience. It felt warm and soft to him, and he didn’t see any-

“ON THE LIPS! YOU GOTS TA KISS ON THE LIPS, DUMMY!” Trisha shouted, ruining the moment and causing both of them to wince awkwardly. Brianna was about to say something when T interrupted by taking the initiative and planting a kiss full on her lips. They lingered there for a second, then pulled apart, expecting something to happen. Nothing did, other than the realization that they were both surprised by how easy and gratifying it had felt. T looked into Brianna’s eyes, and thought he saw something… sadness? At not turning back, or at having tricked him into the kiss?

“Why didn’t it work! No fair!” Trisha whined, just as disappointed as the two of them.

“You said you cast a love spell, right?” T asked, voicing an idea. “Maybe that means it’s not ‘true love’s kiss’ after all.”

“Awww, that stinks!” the little girl groaned.

“Hey, I have an idea. Can I see the wand? I want to try something to fix it,” T asked, reaching his hand out.

Trisha eyed him suspiciously. “You promise you’re gonna fix it and then give the wand back?” she asked.

“I promise, cross my heart and hope to cry,” T assured her.

“Well, okay. But no funny stuff, mister!” the child relented, thrusting the baton into his outstretched grasp.

As soon as his fingers closed around the thin metal rod, T pointed the wand at Trisha and hoped he was doing this right. “Stand still and listen to me. You are very sleepy, you’re going to throw that cake away and clean up, then go to bed and not wake up until tomorrow morning. You will think everything that happened today was just a dream, and you will never try to get a magic wand again, or mess with anything magical, or … whatever. Now do as you’re told, young lady, and follow your family’s directions from now on,” he said, waggling the wand at the stunned girl.

She stood there, dumbfounded, staring at T. Three seconds passed, and he was starting to feel stupid for buying into this magic nonsense. Then, without any preamble, Trisha yawned. She looked at the lump of cake in her hand, wrinkled her nose, and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. T and Brianna sat quietly as they listened to her little feet march across the tiled floor, open a cabinet, dump something into a bag-lined bin, then close the cabinet. They heard the tiny terror walking through the hall and make for the stairs in the foyer, then trundle up them rapidly. A door closed, and T heard water running through plumbing.

“Hey, good job,” Brianna said, patting T on the thigh with one of her tough, fingerless white hooves. “I think you won.”

“Is this all for real?” T asked, looking at the wand in his hand.

“Yeah,” she sighed, slumping slightly and withdrawing into herself on the love seat beside him. “Sorry to say it, but I’m really… Brianna, minus the -na. Um, thanks for saving me,” she said anxiously.

“Heh, no problem bro,” T said, finally beginning to accept all the impossible things that just happened. “Um, so… you wanna go back, right?” He waited for a response, but all he got was another heavy sigh from the horse-girl. “That is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asked, taking one of her hooves in his hand and stroking the back of it with his thumb.

“Well… I definitely want my hands back, but… I mean…” She took a final, bracing breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not under a love spell. In fact, I’ve had a crush on you since we were in school together,” she confessed.

“Wait, back when you were a guy?” T asked. Of all the things he’d heard today, this was the hardest to process.

“Yeah, heh, funny huh? I wanted to say something for years, but I didn’t want to… scare you off,” she said, hugging her arms to her body and rocking forward slightly. “She turned me into a ‘horsey’ and then she made me tell her who I had a crush on!” Brianna said, unable to stop her confession now that it’d started. “And I didn’t say I wouldn’t marry some guy, I said you wouldn’t marry me because I’m a guy! And that’s when she turned me into a girl, and …. I’m sorry about the kiss, I didn’t thing I’d ever get another chance and I just… the way you were looking at me is something I always wanted, and… I just took advantage of you!” she said, on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry, T! I’m sorry!”

“Hey, hey,” T said softly, putting his free hand on her shoulder. “Don’t apologize, okay? I never knew, and… none of this is your fault anyway. Besides, um…” he fumbled for the right thing to say for a moment, until she glanced at him curiously. “Maybe it’s the love spell, but maybe it’s not, I mean… I really enjoyed it. The kiss, um, I mean,” T said at last. “And… I’m willing to give this a chance, if you want to.”

“Yeah, that’s the love spell talking,” Brianna grumbled dismissively. “Hurry up and break the curses that little monster put on us, okay?”

“Well hold up, hear me out,” T said, rubbing her shoulder lightly. “Spell or not, does it matter now? I really want to be with you, and I lo- I like the way you are, honest! Um, how about this?” T waved the wand in the air and Brianna’s hooves shrank down, creased, and separated, softening into slender fingers. Slender, gray fingers with delicate nails, on hands that were so small and feminine she didn’t recognize them. She turned her palms up and flexed her knuckles, testing to see if they still worked the way she remembered.

“It’s a start, what about the rest of me?” she asked, giving T a probing look.

“Like I said, I like you just the way you are, Brianna.” He slid off the couch and knelt down, looking up at her from beside her knees, setting the wand on the table and taking both of her now human-shaped hands in his. “Can we try this out and see where it goes? Please?”

She fidgeted in place, she looked away, she looked back, she started to say something, stopped, and this time it was her who took T’s hands in her grasp. “Texas Collingsworth, I don’t want to be with you just because some kid put a fairy-tale spell on you that makes you feel things for me. I’d rather just be friends. Really,” she said. “And besides, what am I going to do about being livestock?” she added with a weak chuckle.

“Well, I guess you have a point there,” T said. He freed one hand and picked up the wand. “Okay, let me know if this feels weird,” he said.

“Everything about this is weird, T,” she pointed out.

“Touché,” he said. He raised the wand, circled it above them a couple of times, then brought it down and gently tapped her on the forehead.

Brianna blinked. She waited. Nothing seemed to happen. She held up impossibly light-gray, feminine hands and reached up to feel her fuzzy gray ears. “It didn’t work?” she asked, a note of concern in her voice.

“I think it worked,” T said. “All I did was cast a spell so that only you and me notice anything different about you. Everyone else will just believe you’re supposed to be this way. That way nobody will even raise an eyebrow, or say anything about how you look. Except me, when I tell you how beautiful you are,” he said with a corny grin.

“Teeeeeeee,” Brianna whimpered. “I’m serious! What are you even doing?”

“I’m serious too, Bri,” he insisted. “However we got here, I don’t want you to have to deny your feelings about me again. It must have been awful, wasn’t it? Well now you don’t have to! We can be together like this! For the first time we both want the same thing, each other…” he trailed off, his courage faltering in a moment of doubt. “Right?”

“Dammit, T, stop giving me that look,” she fussed. “Alright, alright. We’ll try it for a little bit. But you’ve got to promise me: if either one of us has a change of mind by next week, you’ll let me use the wand.”

“Sounds good,” T smiled apprehensively. “But what, uh, what would you do with it?”

“Undo absolutely everything you and Trisha just did today, and set us back to where we were before. Those are my terms, and if you love me, or even care for me as a friend, you’ll respect them. Deal?”

“Deal!” T beamed, leaping up and pulling Briana to her high-heeled feet before sweeping her into a crushing hug. “Best deal ever! Oh thank you, Bri! I’ll make you so happy, I swear! You and me against the world, better than ever! You won’t regret it!” he was nearly weeping into her shoulder as he rocked them both back and forth.

“Okay, big guy!” Brianna said, patting him on the back. “Need to breathe!”

“Right, right,” T said and relaxed his grip, letting his arms slide down her shoulders and pulling back enough to gaze into her sapphire-blue eyes. “At least I can take your breath away, though.”

“Just for that,” she groaned while rolling her eyes, “You’re responsible for buying me some girl clothes. And no wand-ing up wads of cash or anything!”

“It would be an honor,” T said cheerily. He leaned in closer again and bent his head down to touch foreheads. “For you, anything.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked wryly. “How about we make you a horse-boy?”

“Technically, I think you’re a pony,” he teased.

“Fine, Pony Boy! Make us both a couple of cute stallions and see how you like me then,” she giggled.

“I… think I’ll pass for now.”

“Uh-huh, that’s what I thought. Where’s that wand?”

“Whoops, tripping!” T laughed as he leaned back and pulled Brianna down with him onto the long couch.

“Hey, cut it out!” Briana said, chuckling as she landed on top of him. “My little niece is upstairs, remember?”

“Yeah,” T said as he gave her a smooch on the cheek, in the same spot as the first time. “But she won’t wake up until tomorrow morning, remember?”