There was a flash of light. When the light cleared, the black Arabian had become a chestnut Witch’s Pony. Unlike Anya, Sassy was of the larger size variety that the Copperstones bred. Despite her change in breed, Sassy was still of a uniquely high caliber. Her light brown fur shone and her brown mane and tail looked soft as silk. Dmitri smiled in relief. Despite his feigned confidence, he had been worried the amulet would impede his attempt to transform the former Prince. Perhaps the amulet could sense that Dmitri aimed to transform Sassy to protect her, not harm her.
Sassy craned her neck to look at herself. She whinnied in surprise. Anya cocked her head, looking at Sassy with some interest.
“Dmitri, Witch’s Ponies have magic,” she whickered softly. “Did you accidentally grant her some?”
“I can check,” Dmitri said. He cast a quick magical scan on the chestnut mare. He paled. The scan revealed Sassy now had low levels of magic like the average Witch’s Pony, but more importantly, he now knew the former Prince to be pregnant.
“Dmitri?” Anya prompted. Dmitri looked at her. “Well?” Dmitri pondered his options for revealing the scan results.
The mares were already exhausted and stressed. If he dumped this information onto them, it wouldn’t help anything. Sassy was barely pregnant, after all. The news could wait for another day. Dmitri smiled at Anya.
“She has some magic, but no more than the average Witch’s Pony. Not enough to cast spells, but enough to move faster when guided by a witch,” Dmitri replied. Anya bobbed her head.
“That will suit us well when we eventually head for Wind’s Grove.”
“…Yes, it will.” Dmitri cleared his throat. “For the time being, however, you are here. And as such, I think the two of you should go by different names.”
“I agree.”
“Anya, you will now go by Clover, while Sassy will go by Jenny,” Dmitri declared. The two mares, now renamed to Clover and Jenny, nodded. “Rest. I will return after I have written our family, informing them of the situation.” Dmitri left the private stable and headed for the guest house.
Clover and Jenny watched Dmitri leave.
“I just want to be human again,” Jenny sighed. “Why couldn’t he have turned me human?”
“The amulet would not have allowed it,” Clover said. “As it is, I am surprised it allowed for your breed to be changed.” She reached across the stall border to nuzzle Jenny. “We should do as he said and rest. We’ve been pushing ourselves too much for too long.” Jenny nodded.
While Jenny fell asleep quickly, Clover was too caught up in her thoughts to do so. Dmitri had been visibly unnerved by some part of Jenny’s scan. If only she could scan Jenny herself, she would know what worried Dmitri so. But all she could do was ask for her brother to give her more information when he returned.