Fate is ever-changing; ever-fluid. The winds of change live in a state of constant flux, and at any time, what is constant, may one day change. The results of these changes can range from simple trivialities, to effects that could change an entire nation...

"Hear me, Anankos! Grant me your divine power, so that I may lay waste to my foes!" A familiar cry rang through the halls of Nohr, though its speaker was of an entirely different form. Zola, mage and master of illusion, spread his arms wide with a grin, here having taken the role of the king, Garon.

In another realm, Nohr's ruler would have been the one to commune with the dark force. But now... Now that gift was given to a different player.

The jester cackled as he felt raw energy seeping into his bones, his eyelids fluttering as his magical force exponentially increased. Yes, this was true strength; was raw power! He chuckled darkly and grinned from ear to ear, reveling in his newfound strength.

They had laughed at him; called him a coward; called him weak! Now he would show them all the might of a real mage of Nohr; of the consequences of their words.

"HeeHEEhee! You all will pay for your insolence! Leo, Camilla, even Xander! You three royal whelps have taunted me long enough, and now your worlds will BURN! HEEHEEHEEHEE!" He cackled loudly, his voice echoing around the training chambers.

"Huh. Neat. What's all that about my lord?"

A chipper voice derailed his convoy of thought, and the mage whirled to find a blue-and-pink haired woman looking at him curiously. He recognized her after a second's pause: Peri, one of Xander's retainers.

She sat astride her horse, which nickered softly with apprehension. No doubt she'd planned on using these training facilities to hone her own prowess in battle; she was known for being one of the kingdom's most deadly fighters.

Had she been listening in this whole time? There was only one way to tell.

"Oh, nothing. Don't mind me; I was simply practicing for... For my next role, yes. Heehee!" Zola smiled, waving indifferently towards the woman. "Nothing to concern yourself over."

"Oh, okay then." The woman smiled and patted her horse's neck, chuckling. "I like you Zola, you're funny; but in a good way."

Much to his own surprise, Zola smiled at that. It wasn't every day he received a compliment, and he enjoyed the praise. "Well, thank you. I appreciate your words-"

Zola paused as he noticed a pain in his gut, and he looked down to find the haft of a javelin embedded securely in his gut. He slowly looked up to find Peri still smiling at him; though this time there was something twisted to the look.

"A really, really funny guy. Which is such a shame that I'm gonna have to kill you now, okay? Sorry, but I know bloodlust when I see it! Gonna be weird killing someone from Nohr, but it's time for you to die!" She beamed, unsheathing her sword and driving her horse to charge at the illusionist.

He choked on his own blood, yanking the lance from his body and shuddering as the wound began to close over. Another gift from Anankos, no doubt. Still, it suited him nicely, and he speared both of his hands forward, gathering magical energy.

Nearly upon him, Peri grinned even wider. "Oh, you're a tough one! I'm gonna have fun with you!" She bared her teeth with a savage smile, only to yelp as her horse vanished from beneath her, sending her spilling to the ground in a tangled heap. "Wha-?"

Zola clenched his left hand, bringing a ball of golden energy out from beneath the girl and examining it with a small smirk. "So, this is the gift Anankos has given me... Interesting." He cackled, looking up to Peri in time to see her bringing her sword down at him in a double-handed slash.

"What did you do with my horse!?" She screamed loudly, snarling.

Zola sidestepped the blow with ease, bringing his left arm forward into a body blow. He slammed the orb into her chest with a wicked grin, twirling away from the cavalier with a chuckle. "You'll find out soon enough, HEEHEE! You'll grow very close, I'd imagine..."

Peri scowled at his words, but true to her nature she didn't so much as hesitate to attack him again, this time attempting a broad lunge for his throat.

However, her attack devolved into a stumble as pain swept across her body; and she crinkled her nose with discomfort.

"W-what?" The woman asked, her hands clenching, forcing her to drop her sword. She looked to her palms with confusion only to yelp with shock as her skin started to blacken. Her fingers cramped as they began to fuse together, and she whined loudly.

"Much closer indeed." Zola quipped with a mad grin of his own, watching the woman with interest as she began to writhe upon the ground with discomfort.

"AAH!!! W-what are you doing to MEEE?" Peri screamed, her insides clenching as her body began to bloat.

Her trim belly was the first to expand, barreling out against the tight confines of her armor; snatching away her very breath. Leather creaked and cloth strained in protest as the woman grew, her hourglass figure disappearing to something entirely inhuman.

"I'm not entirely sure of that myself, in all honesty." Zola chuckled, watching as Peri's armor finally had enough. The plates on her chest buckled and popped as she grew too large for them to contain; then split altogether.

It exposed the smooth flesh of her belly, skin which was already beginning to transform just like her hands had. It was growing dark and thick, with coarse hairs sprouting from her pores to cover what her split armor had bared. Much to Zola's interest, the hairs seemed to be the same chestnut brown as the woman's horse had been.

"Oho! Well, if that isn't interesting! Heehee!" Zola beamed, carefully cataloguing what he was seeing. He'd long had the power to make the impossible seem possible with his illusions, but now... Now he held the power to change form itself.

Peri looked up to Zola with wide eyes as he began to cackle again, looking down to her belly and screaming as it expanded further, her breasts sinking back into her body. "What's happening to me?" She screamed, beginning to lose her calm.

"You're becoming a mare, my dear." The mage explained simply to her, giggling as her pants split as well, revealing that she now sported a pair of much larger thighs. "I hope you don't mind."

"A-a horse? I don't wanna be a horse, I can't kill people as a horse!" Peri hiccupped, the emotional girl beginning to cry. She sniffled loudly as her mascara began to blot, shuddering as the same thing that had happened to her chest began to happen to her legs as well.

Supple human skin was giving way to tough equine hide; hide that soon grew fur of its own. The woman whimpered loudly as she could feel herself changing, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it.

She rolled herself to all fours with a loud hiccup, groaning as her frame began to grow ever-larger. "Nuhhuhhuh, no!" She sobbed, hearing a definitive nicker to her voice. "I don't-phhhbt-want to be a hoEEEIGHrrss!"

Her neck stretched from her body, twisting her vocal chords with it as the change swept up from her shoulders. The posture of her arms and legs changed, and she stumbled to all fours, hating how natural it felt to stand on feet and hooves. Then they lengthened, growing in time with her body to grant her an impressive equine size.

"NuhuhUHOO! NEEEIGH!" Peri wailed, her makeup trailing down her face as her feet cramped beneath her. She couldn't see them change, but the clopping of hoof on tile let her know that they were suffering a similar fate to her hands.

A tail extended from her spine with almost deliberate slowness. Pink-tipped blue hair extended from it, their long and coarse strands matching her hair. At the same time, she sprouted a mane along her neck that maintained the blue-and-pink color of her old human hair.

"Marvelous, simply marvelous." Zola chirped, clapping his hands together with a wry grin. He watched as Peri's face painfully extended into a horse’s snout, her teeth growing large and blocky and her lips becoming the thick ones of her new form.

Peri flicked her ears with fear as they grew longer, drawing to the top of her head, and she shook her head with muted denial. Her eyes grew large and brown, becoming the eyes of a prey-animal. Stunned by her new vision, she reared up in a blind panic, a thunderous crack filling the air as her hooves met the tile once more.

The idea brought a devilish idea to her head, and she glared at Zola, planning to charge at him and crush him beneath her hooves. Just as soon as the idea had been formed, it died as Zola began to speak once more.

"Try anything and you'll watch as I kill your master. As it is, you might just end up his new mate; after all, he does ride such an impressive stallion." Zola sniggered, pulling a dark tome from his robes.

Peri nickered and paced anxiously, shuddering at the sound of her hooves against the floor. Much as she hated to admit it, Zola did have a point... At least maybe as a horse she would be able to get some killing in from a new rider...

The mage watched the resistance die from her eyes and turned with a loud cackle. "Good, good. Now, head to the stables while I decide what to do with you... Unless you want to die as an animal, that is."

Peri’s eyes widened, and though they were still filled with hatred, the changed woman acquiesced. Her head hung low with defeat as she literally turned tail, trotting away from the illusionist.

A smile spread across Zola’s face at the sound of her retreating hoofbeats, and he gazed into the distance. So, his victims still kept their minds... That was useful. That said, there was still some dignity about becoming an entire animal. He'd need to work on that for his next victim.

And he had just the woman in mind...