noitatnacni | 001 | Action/Accidental Video

[So, being rained on in the woods makes it pretty clear she's not on the Watchtower anymore. There's a few possibilities: she remembers flying back with the force of Fate rejecting her spell, so maybe she hit her head. Or maybe it's some illusion caused by the rebound. A very real illusion, as she can feel her whole body ache as she sits up. But there's no way she's not hallucinating this.]

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in outer space anymore. [She mumbles the words to herself, unaware that anyone might be listening. The journal has gone beyond notice, though it's been silently broadcasting the scene since a minute or so before Zatana woke. Thankfully she's close enough to a tree that the rain falling on her is light enough to not be too much of a concern. Instead her eyes have wandered downward, taking in her change of clothing with a frown.]

Oh you've got to be kidding me. [Zatanna tugs at the collar of the dress she wears, clearly displeased by the slip.] Yeah, this has to go. Emit ot egnahc sehtolc!

[She lifts her hands over her head as she speaks the words, and seconds later a cloud of smoke flows up the same path to cover Zatanna completely. It doesn't last long, vanishing within moments to reveal the girl now wearing an outfit better suited for a magician. For some reason though, it makes the pain in her back worse, and her jacket feels far too tight. She shifts where she sits for a moment before shrugging off the outermost layer to reveal a pair of grey wings.]

What in the--?! [Zatanna gasps, eyes wide as she takes in the sight of the appendages now attached to her. Actually attached; they move when she thinks of moving them, and she feels it when she touches them.] Great. A fake world with bad taste in clothing and accessories. Just what I needed.

[She takes another look at the jacket, slowly shaking her head.] At least I've still got my magic. Dda seloh rof sgniw! [After another cloud puff, this only only around the jacket, she slides the coat back on--gingerly, since the wings still hurt.

She makes her way to her feet then, determined to find out what's going on. Hopefully exploring will give her the answers she needs to get back. If she's lucky, maybe she'd wake up and find out there could still be a chance to thwart Fate.

The only place she ends up, however, is in Luceti proper. With the advice of a few good samaritans in mind, Zatanna changes into something a little less battling-bad-guys ready using the same method as before. Not that the rain makes exploring easy, but there's not really much avoiding it. Luckily summoning an umbrella is easy enough to do, and gives her adequate cover as she wanders pretty much everywhere public, just trying to get some idea for where she is.]

{ooc: open action or voice to any; Zatanna will be looking around randomly, so feel free to catch her anywhere.}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, there is, but we haven't figured out how to control it, yet. People come and go without much warning, and some have been here for four or five years. [ She shudders. ] Try not to think about it and just remember that hopefully, you'll be home soon. And there are things to do here in the meantime.

…You know that never works, right? Telling people not to think about something? [Being stuck here for years is definitely on Zatanna’s mind now. But despite the guaranteed-to-fail advice, Twilight at least offers a bit of distraction. Maybe not as good as actual hope, but right now Zatanna’s willing to take what she can get.]

Things to do—like what?

Yeah, I know. It's not working for me, that's for sure. There are things to do here, but... I miss home, honestly. In the meantime, though, there's plenty worth studying in the library, there's people to meet, there are clubs... and then the Malnosso have missions to do, and the occasional mandatory draft or experiment. You won't lack for activity here, trust me.

Guess not. [Under normal circumstances, Zatanna might be glad for it; she hates being bored. But considering the trade-off, she probably would opt for going crazy doing nothing, if she could do it at home.]

Thanks for all the help, book person. My name's Zatanna, by the way. What's yours?

[ That's a more apt nickname than Zatanna might expect, since Twilight's a librarian. ] My name's Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you, Zatanna! I wouldn't recommend calling me "book person", though, because everypony in Luceti can contact you this way. As nicknames go, that one doesn't really narrow it down!

That's a...pretty unique name. [Zatanna might be under the impression that Twilight has been raised by hippies now.]

I'll keep it in mind. I don't usually go for nicknames, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

Pony names tend to be a little different from human names. Although I haven't heard anypony else with a "z" in their name, so yours is kind of unique, too!

Wait a second. [Because yeah, Zatanna's noticed the way Twilight throws "pony" around, and she did mention talking ponies, but...]

Are you saying you're a pony? Because the picture's kind of small, but you definitely look human to me.

Well, that depends on how technical you're talking. I still think of myself as a pony, but technically I'm in a human body right now thanks to the Malnosso. I can't say I haven't been assimilating into the culture, but I still don't feel like this is my native body. It's really a fairly complicated issue.

[ Completely missing the point that that wasn't exactly Zatanna's question. ]

[Please hold. Zatanna will be with you once she’s managed to figure out what the heck Twilight just said.]

So they turned you from a pony—a talking pony—into a human being. That’s crazy. I mean, I’ve done some minor transformations before, but nothing like that. How long have you been like this?

A couple of weeks. I've been told it's supposed to wear off after a certain period of time, but it's a little frustrating. I miss my old body, and my wings. As interesting as it is to become a human for a brief period of time. The Malnosso's techniques are... fairly advanced. Even I haven't figured out how they work.

Wow. [It's hard to know what to say. As wild as the idea is that Twilight's really a talking horse, it's got to suck being stuck in a form that's unnatural to her.]

Have you tried anything to make yourself change back faster? I mean, I don't know if you practice magic or anything, but there has to be some way to influence it.

That's the thing - I can't use my magic while I'm human. On the one hand, it helps immerse me into the experience of being human. [ Twilight Sparkle: everything is an experiment. ] But even so, I've tried affecting people kidnapped by the Malnosso before, and nothing's worked. I guess I just have to wait it ou.

Wait...why wouldn't you be able to use magic while you're human? I mean, even if they changed your physical form, you should still have everything you need to cast a spell.

[The words, the focus, the concentration. Maybe there'd be a little more difficulty channeling the energy, but so much that she couldn't do it at all?]

Not exactly. Most humans can't use magic, and I don't have my horn. ... Maybe it's different where you come from? Can anypony they want use magic there?

No, not anyone. It's pretty rare to see people using actual magic like I can. [As opposed to stage tricks, which have their place but aren't anywhere close to the same thing.] So are you a unicorn or something?

I used to be! And then I was an alicorn, when I gained my wings. And now I'm a human! Maybe next they'll turn me into a squirrel, like Emil was before. Not that I want to be one.

[ She stops herself mid-rant. ] I'm probably not making much sense. But there are a few magic users like you and me in Luceti, and we have a group. We might be able to figure out if our magic types are compatible.

They’ve turned someone into a squirrel? [Yes, clearly that’s the important part of all of that.] I think I’ll be good if they decide to stop with sticking a pair of wings on my back.

Actually, you’re making more sense than you think—you’re talking about a series of body transformations. But it helps that I’ve got a pretty open mind when it comes to the mystical. [And even then, unicorns and alicorns are pushing it.] That would be cool though, if it turns out we could work together like that. Maybe with enough magic in play, we could manage to do something about this place.

I wouldn't count on staying yourself forever. Unless you're not here for very long - but there's no real way to know how long you'll be here, either.

That's probably a long term goal of the group. Nothing's worked yet, and we have someone who can warp reality itself. But maybe you're the missing link? [ She tries to be hopeful, but really she's not so sure. ]

001 | Action/Accidental Video

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