Mithril

This is a gift to the wonderful girls who, among others, accepted me with open arms into their midst. Who call me a friend and accept me the way I am.

This story contains the transgender theme and has implied girls love, so if any of this makes you uncomfortable read something else.

I left the ending open, I originally planned to write more, but decided to leave it at this point, as I could already feel a writer's block setting on for this story. I am happy with it, the way it is. If you're still willing to read, I hope you enjoy it.

In a dimly lit room stood a big, white pod shaped like an egg. Whit a low hum, it started to glow softly pink. Slowly an oval arc appeared on the pristine surface, like a crack. Then the now disconnected latch swung open, and a young girl became visible.

Princess slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times before slowly standing up. Looking dazed, it took her a bit to collect herself, but once she had, she got very excited. This was her third exit, her last. The T-Pod had done its job. She was, finally, who she should always have been.

She had been over the moon when her father had finally given the okay.
And now she was finally transformed, was now a girl inside out, everything she ever wanted.

Born as the second prince, she was supposed to be the spare option to her big brother. But she had known from young that she wasn't a boy, that she was wrong.
She had fought with her parents a lot over this. Cried and screamed every time she had been denied.

She took a deep breath feeling herself being what she should be.
She still had no idea why, a few days prior, her father, the king, had suddenly decided to give in to her demand, but she couldn't be happier.
With quick steps, she ran to the one mirror in the room. Hidden by a cloth, it was nearly double her height. Even though she was smaller now, as a girl, she was still 170 cm big. So that mirror was probably 3 meters high and at least two wide.
The cloth was something she had asked to be placed on it before her first session had begun. She hadn't wanted to see the steps, only her final form.

Her slender fingers grasped the cloth, slowly starting to pull it down. It came loose slowly, flowing along with the intricate carvings on the frame.
Revealing the reflective surface until a naked and beautiful girl was visible to her. Amazed, she started to scrutinize herself from all angles, even spun a little. She wasn't perfect, could see some slight imperfections, the sharp Nose from her father, slightly smaller boobs and hips than was preferred, just like her mother. But all this didn't matter, because she was a girl now. And that meant she was more than perfect.

Her hands went to cover her mouth as the tears started flowing. She had everything she had ever wanted now, the most amazing present for her eighteenth birthday.
She wondered if this had been the reason her father had finally accepted it. For her transformation, to be her birthday gift. She was a woman now. Eighteen, her greatest wish, given the day she became an adult.

Suddenly the doors burst open, and maids swarmed into the rooms, bearing tools and an intricate dress.
Princess didn't think much about it. It was usual for the maids to dress her, and today was her eighteenth birthday, a special dress would make sense.
Though she had to admire it, this dress was so much more than she'd ever hoped for. Pure white, with lots of lace and a bit of glitter. Stitched with vines crawling up from the lacy dress, blooming lilies all over. The arms were lacey and see-through, embroidered with small flowers as well.
This was the most wonderful gown she had ever seen. It captivated her so much she didn't even remember what underwear the maids put on her.

She only came out of her trance when it was finally put on her.
And then she appreciated it some more up close, seeing it glitter in the light when she moved her arms, having it go spinny when she whirled once.

Then her father and mother entered. Both showing smiles she couldn't remember seeing directed at all since a very long time ago.
"You look beautiful." Her mother complimented, and Princess glowed under the praise. Her cheeks turned red from a happy blush. She couldn't believe that suddenly her whole world had turned this happy.
"Perfect." Her father said, and she took it for a compliment until his next words shattered everything. "Now you have a ship to board, the emperor of the Hunara empire is eagerly awaiting his new bride."

Princess was lying on the bed in her cabin. She hadn't moved since the guards had escorted her into it. And the space ship was already on its way.
Now she knew why her father had given her what she had wanted. He had needed a sacrificial princess, and she had been handy.
Her mind had already started into a circle of self-blame. This had only happened because she had not managed to be a son for her parents. This had been her own fault. It proved that she didn't deserve this. That she didn't deserve happiness. She knew about the emperor, had heard enough to know he was callous and vicious. Ruled his empire with oppression and regularly tortured his wives to death.
Now she would be the next victim, a path of her own making.

Suddenly the whole ship shook from some impact. The bed was huge, but she fell from it anyway, hitting her head on the carpet.
She winced, and the shaking came again. This time she held onto the foot of the bed beside her. Then the lights turned off for a second and on again. No shaking after it, and Princess was relieved that is was over. Only to reconsider, it might have been better if whoever attacked had destroyed this ship. At least this way, she wouldn't have suffered.

She stood back up and lay back onto the bed. For long minutes, nothing happened, until suddenly the door opened. When Princess looked over, it wasn't a guard or a maid like she had expected. In the doorframe stood a group of three women, all with strange clothing that gave of a rugged appearance.

The one in the middle was pretty small, smaller than Princess actually, but she held herself with the poise of a leader. Princess started squirming under the intense appraising glare the woman was giving her.
"So this is the rumored sacrificial princess, cute." She commented and turned to the biggest woman that stood right beside her. "Has the team finished gathering all the valuables?"
The giant woman nodded, "Yes, Captain, everything is ready."
The Captain grinned, satisfied. "It's time to go, girls. Don't forget to strip this ship of the life support system as well before you go. I'll be taking this little damsel here myself."

The Captain walked up to the still confused Princess, who had a little flutter in her stomach after being called cute. The smaller woman grabbed her waist and, to the Princess's shock, just threw her over her shoulder, as if she was just some light sack or something.
Finally, Princess seemed to find her wit again and started to squirm. "Let me dooooooouuu--" she squealed mid-sentence when Captain had ruthlessly smacked her ass, and it hurt, mostly. Whatever else she might feel from that, Princess didn't know.
Although she certainly didn't enjoy being carried around this way, she didn't want to risk another slap, so she stayed silent.

The three women moved silently. Having no entertainment and a weak body, Princess gave in to the indignity and stopped trying to keep her upper body up, just letting all her muscles relax.
This gave her an interesting view of Captain's rear and let her smell the other woman's scent. It was a strange mix, some metal, a type of wood she had scented in the palace, though she couldn't place it, and lilies.
Distracted by the smell she was surprised when the movement changed from walking to climbing a ladder. "Wha--"

"Don't worry sweetheart, I won't drop you." Captain cut in. Princess didn't believe her and got anxious, she didn't want to get hit again though, so she stayed silent. That Captain only used one hand though, because she held her with the other, didn't increase her confidence in the pirate woman at all.
To Princess surprise, Captain neither dropped her nor dropped with her, reaching the top of the ladder safely.

And this was when Princess realized she had just changed ships. This one was much rougher, less elegant. Instead of the smooth grayish walls with black displays inset every few meters, this ship had reddish bare metal walls, with a small device at the intersection they were at, no devices she could see on the walls of the hallways themselves.
While still awed by the unexpected beauty of this strange ship, suddenly her world whirled, and she stood on her to feet again, her head spinning a little, but Captain held her so she was barely swaying.

"Welcome on the black Valkyrie Princess, you have now officially been kidnapped," Captain told her with a brilliant smile, that made Princess blush and had her stomach fluttering for unknown reasons.