private A shifty deal..

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

@ZomBrony

"I don't think a counterspell would work anyway." She said, "You're me now, which means you don't have a horn." She pointed out, "And I don't think I could do it either. I don't know how to use magic."

She shrugged, "And..." She said, a smile on 'his' face, "I don't leave anypony. They usually leave me." She chuckled, "What luck I have, huh?" She wondered out loud, "I never leave anypony. You don't need to worry about that."

"Anyhow, maybe we could dig something up at the library? That's the best thing I can think of."

 

 

[ZomBrony 346]

Clippy smiled at Conch Shell as she explained her feelings. "You don't have to worry about me leaving either. I obviously won't leave you behind as somepony who has a deathly fear of abandonment." He shivered as he mentioned it again. Even just imagining it chilled him to the bone.

When the stallion-mare responded, he nodded. "That's also a good point.. But if I wanted to, I'm not sure if having a horn would actually matter," he explained. "The horn is only really needed for mind-casting. Since we have the words of power right here, I think just having the scroll would work. But again - it's dangerous magic, so I wouldn't want to risk it. The library might be a good idea though."

He looked around. "Do you know where it is? I haven't been to the library since the old one was destroyed."

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

@ZomBrony

Conch Shell smiled and nodded. She was a very smart pony, even though she didn't care to admit it.

"Yeah." She said, "I actually go there all the time. It's fascinating." She motioned for Clippy to follow her and walked on, "It should be around the area where you found me." She announced, "So not that far away."

[ZomBrony 346]

"Wow, really? Does it stand out a lot?" He asked as he followed her. By now, he was pretty well used to the smaller frame of Conch Shell's body. But she in his body looked a little unsteady still. He sped up to reach her side and walk next to her in case she needed help balancing, but he didn't do anything more than that. He knew that she still didn't know him very well and didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

He looked around as they walked, waiting for a building that stood out to him.

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

"It's kind of small compared to the other buildings." She admitted, "Kind of set way back, so not a lot of ponies really notice it." She explained, smiling in thanks as her new friend helped her stay balanced.

"I never realized how heavier stallions' body were than mares. It's so hard to maneuver around." Her eyes went wide, "Not that I'm.... I would never call you... ugh!"

(Think of that restaurant in Manehatten, which was much smaller than the others).

 

[ZomBrony 346]

Eclipcia laughed, in some weird, unfamiliar way with that female voice. "Don't worry, I wasn't offended, ME. It's true that stallions are a bit heavier because of evolution. I know times are changing, but we're still naturally built tougher and sturdier than most mares. I've seen some pretty tough fillies in my time too, but things haven't changed enough yet to go against the way of nature."

He bit his lip as he finished trying to make that controversial comment. He hoped she wouldn't be offended. Now he felt really awkward as he continued following her. He wanted to ask about the distance, but was too nervous in that moment.

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

@ZomBrony

"Okay," 'he' announced, pointing to the small library in the corner, "Here it is. Let's go check it out, the librarian should be able to tell us where to go." She said, finally gaining her balance and entering the library with,,, herself. She was about to wave hello to the friendly librarian when her name was suddenly called.

"Conch Shell!" She whisper-shouted, trotting over to the stallion trapped in her body. She wrapped the 'mare' in a hug, "It's so good to see you again! How are you doing?"

(Oh, and thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it)!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Emerald<3

[ZomBrony 346]

"Oh boy.." Eclipcia awkwardly hugged the librarian back. "Um.. H-hi there.. Librarian lady." He grinned nervously, stepping out of the hug. "Um.. This is gonna be really weird.. But I'm not actually Conch Shell right now." He nodded towards his own body. "Th-that one.. is Conch Shell." He just kept nervously grinning at the friendly stranger, relying on Conch to save him right now, because he was super nervous in this weird situation. Like regular social instances weren't scary enough..

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

@ZomBrony

"He's right Ms. Booksmart." She explained, "There's been a mishap, and we've switched bodies. Is there any way you could point us towards your black magic collection?" She asked hopefully.

The librarian blinked her eyes, "Oh..." She cleared her throat, "Yes, yes of course. Just do be careful, some of those books are cursed themselves, alright? It's over there, right at the end."

Conch Shell nodded and trotted along, stifling a laugh at the awkward interaction between Clippy and the librarian. It wasn't that far away, and they managed to reach the section in no time at all, "Okay, you look over there and I'll look over here. Just tell me if you find anything, okay?"

Edited July 30, 2019 by Emerald<3

[ZomBrony 346]

Black magic... He thought. Sounds creepy.. Talking to himself in such a way was one of Clippy's coping mechanisms for his social anxiety. Social interactions were one of many things he'd continually beat himself up over for hours after it happened. But he could usually help himself calm down by speaking to himself soothingly, out loud or in his head. But it was usually better to do it silently to himself.

Using that mechanism, he was able to get back to his sense and follow Conch Shell to the black magic section. He looked over his shoulder at the poor librarian, who seemed to be almost as confused as they were when it happen. When Conch Shell spoke to him again (he was getting used to the voices by this point,) he snapped out of it again and responded. "O-oh yeah.. Alright. Hopefully Ms. Booksmart has something on this spell." He started looking through his section of the shelves.

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

@ZomBrony

"Yeah." The ma... stallion agreed, flapping 'his' wings to explore each shelf, "If she doesn't have a book on this I don't think anypony will." The mare-in-a stallion's body sighed sadly as she grazed her hoof along each cover while her new friend stayed on his side, "How are you doing?" She asked, "Anything?"

[ZomBrony 346]

Clippy had a sudden moment of realization and let out a soft chuckle. "Well.. I would, on the left side of the shelf. It's in alphabetical order, silly! There's several books on "body swapping" here, now we just need to figure out which ones we want to read..." He said, the air of comedy leaving him. "Why are there so many?" He rhetorically asked in exasperation.

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

A@ZomBrony

"Well, I guess they want to have as many available resources as they can." She answered, removing a stack of books off the shelf and placing them on the ground next to her, flipping through each page as quickly as she could.

"No." She mumbled, placing the book down and looking through the others, "No, no, no!" She slammed it shut and growled, "There's nothing in here! All it is are theories and myths about it. Apparently, body swapping is supposed to be fake." 

"Myth..." She mumbled, reaching for a old Fairy Tail book that had grabbed her interest. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"Hey, look at this!" She said, motioning for Clippy to come over to where she was. She held the book up with her hooves and pointed to a painted drawing... one that looked awfully like the thunder creatures they had seen in the sky after the spell was casted.

"Do these things look familiar to you?"

[ZomBrony 346]

After alerting Conch Shell to the body swapping books, Clippy waited patiently while she looked through them. He slid a bit closer while she was skimming through them, following with her.
He sighed and was about to move over again when she got into the book of fairy tales. "This seems like a bit of a weird place for a book of myths.." He said, frowning,

But then he saw them. And he recognized them alright. But something was a bit off. "I mean.. They look kind of familiar.." He said. "Pretty similar to the ones that scared us earlier.. It's not a perfect recreation, but it is just a drawing. And who knows how old the tale is?" He got close to Conch Shell again and started reading the section about, supposedly, the Overseers.

@Emerald<3

//Just a ping to remind you about this. ^^`

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by ZomBrony

[Emerald Heart 24,559]

On 8/1/2019 at 7:25 PM, ZomBrony said:

After alerting Conch Shell to the body swapping books, Clippy waited patiently while she looked through them. He slid a bit closer while she was skimming through them, following with her.
He sighed and was about to move over again when she got into the book of fairy tales. "This seems like a bit of a weird place for a book of myths.." He said, frowning,

But then he saw them. And he recognized them alright. But something was a bit off. "I mean.. They look kind of familiar.." He said. "Pretty similar to the ones that scared us earlier.. It's not a perfect recreation, but it is just a drawing. And who knows how old the tale is?" He got close to Conch Shell again and started reading the section about, supposedly, the Overseers.

@Emerald<3

//Just a ping to remind you about this. ^^`

 

(Oh, shit sorry).

"Well, it's all we've got." She tucked the book under her wing, and went over to the front desk and checked the book out. Even if 'he' was an alicorn now, she had zero idea how to use magic. She motioned for... well... herself to follow 'him' out the door.

 

[ZomBrony 346]

"I suppose it is.." He sighed and followed her out, looking around as they got outside. He hadn't really realized yet just how different the world could be from a few feet shorter.

He had also already encountered the same problem as Conch Shell with his magic. While he was used to having it and used it frequently, he had to keep reminding himself that he couldn't now.

He also felt a little awkward about saying so little in response to the mare in his body, so he asked a little more. "Um.. How are you doing, @Emerald<3? I've gotten kind of used to moving at least.. But I just realized how different my perspective of the world is now, which is kind of freaking me out."

It wasn't even because he was that much taller than her before the switch, it was the simple fact of being used to your own body your whole life. Everything just looked slightly different now and it was maddening.