It wasn't a long walk from the school, but Sunset wouldn't let them talk until they were somewhere a little more private. Opening the door of an apartment, she led Gel and Twilight inside and up to the place where she lived. "Sweetie, Lyra, I got some company."

On the couch, watching television, a human version of Lyra sat. One hand was playing with the blue and fuchsia hair of another girl while the other lifted and waved. "Oh, hi Twilight, who's your friend?"

"This is the, uh, pony world Twilight." Sunset gestured to the girl at her side. "And her… friend, Gel." She blushed a little, Twilight had told her she had been seeing the guy… stallion, fairly steadily.

The second girl on the couch sat up and gave a wave. "Hi Gel, I'm Sweetie Drops, this is Lyra." Her eyes bored into Gel's own, giving the changeling a sense of her challenging him to say something. When he didn't, she smiled in a very genuine way that told the stallion he had passed whatever test he had been given.

"You two an item?" Lyra, seeing no reaction from the pair to her affection to her girlfriend, put an arm around Sweetie and hugged her.

"Just got engaged!" Gel's face lit up with happiness as he said it and he turned to face Twilight. "The luckiest stallion in all Equestria."

Sunset Shimmer was stunned. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, had gotten engaged to… then it hit her, she had never seen a pony quite his shade of black. "So, about my problem…"

"Oh here she goes, there are doppelgangers taking over the school!" Lyra couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice but she stopped dead when she saw how serious Gel and Twilight looked. "Uh… it was just a joke, right? There… oh crud."

Waiting for the mare to finish, Sunset turned back to Twilight. "Basically, what she said. It started about a month ago, Fluttershy had a day off school and, when she came back, she acted really strange. The oddest bit was, when we were practicing as the Rainbooms, she didn't pony-out."

Gel had a sudden sinking suspicion, but didn't interrupt.

"Then Rarity, Applejack-" as soon as Sunset said the name she saw Gel react with a little shock that she knew, from her limited experience with guys, meant he had feelings for someone named Applejack, "Pinkie and then Dash. Now, whenever we practice, they all just play really flat and look at me as if they were-"

"Hungry." Twilight said it, cutting Sunset off and, with the word said, the flame-haired girl nodded.

"Exactly, you know what is going on?" There was more than a little relief in the girl, knowing that one of her best friends actually had an idea was better than having none.

"Changelings." Gel sighed. "It sounds like somepony… someone, is foalnapping… why does everything sound a little odd?"

"Because we aren't ponies at the moment. Give it some time and you will be talking their way." Twilight reached out and hugged Gel to lend him support.

"Okay, so if they are working like we… like we did, they would kidnap someone, stuff them in a pod to feed others, then take their place and look for new targets to kidnap."

Sweetie and Lyra were following the conversation with wide eyes, it was Lyra who spoke first. "K-k-kidnap? What is going on?"

Gel reached for his magic and found it just not there. "Is there a way to get magic here?"

Sunset grinned at that. "Sure is, you need to focus on and do something you really love doing." When her words prompted the guy to look at Twilight, Sunset blushed hotly, realizing what her words implied. When Gel seemed to melt down and become a four-legged black-as-night pony, it shocked her more. "What… how… who…"

Twilight clapped her hands and crouched down a little. She had felt the slight drain on herself just before he changed. "So if your magic works, then mine could too?"

"Sure." Gel was squirming, getting the hang of using his pony body again. "It actually feels a little odd to be a changeling here, I think…" his body flowed up and became human again, "yeah, much better like this." Then he quickly blushed and pulled his pants back up.

Lyra got up off the couch, her eyes wide and focused on Gel, but all above the waist. "That was amazing… what… ponies are so awesome!" The geeking out girl's girlfriend lifted her hand and slapped herself on the forehead. "What? Come on Bonny, ponies are awesome!"

"If you say so, Lyra." Sweetie lifted the remote and turned off the TV, what was going on in her living room was much more interesting, anyway.

"You said kidnap, so where would they have taken my friends?" Sunset was a little confused, Twilight had mentioned Gel was a changeling in her letters, but she had no idea what that meant.

"They will have a hive, or a big building somewhere. Easiest way to find it is… well, to let someone get kidnapped and follow them. A little dangerous, but I think if we can get some magic working we should be able to handle it." Twilight looked to Gel. "So what about it, up for playing kidnap victim again?"

Gel leaned against Twilight. It wasn't strange being bigger than her, but humans seemed bigger in different ways. "You know I hate having you in danger, of course I will be with you. But one condition?" Gel leaned down and kissed Twilight and the moment lingered a little longer than he intended. Kissing was very different as a human, noses were more of a hindrance but the touch of soft flesh on soft flesh, with no fur in the way.

"And you thought they would be all uppity about affection." Lyra elbowed Sweetie in the ribs. "Look at them, cute couple too."

"I thought they would have a problem with two girls being together, you adorable fool." Sweetie tempered her insult with a kiss on Lyra's cheek.

Not even knowing why she was blushing so much, Twilight broke the kiss. "Well, what condition?"

"You have to have some control of magic. I know last time it was the reflection that did the trick, but here I think a changeling would be more surprised at magic being openly used." Gel ignored the peanut gallery on the couch.

"Well of course, and besides, I won't be the one being captured." Twilight looked to Sunset Shimmer. "Because you would have this world's me here right now if I weren't already taken." Sunset's eyes widened, it had been something she had meant to say but she respected Twilight's mental deduction a whole lot more now. She nodded. "Right, so you are going to have to go with Sunset."

"What do you mean 'go with'?" Sunset looked between the pair, noticing Gel was just raising an eyebrow.

"Something like this." Gel stepped up to Twilight, getting well within the girl's personal bubble, then he flowed out. It was more tricky than usual, she was wearing clothing, as was he, but Gel's pants and shirt fell to the floor as he worked over Twilight's body, finally giving up and undressing her under him and just making copies of her clothing from his own body.

"What the…" Sunset, Lyra, and Sweetie were all staring as now only a slightly larger Twilight stood there, smiling back.

Twilight, of course, was experiencing all kinds of new sensations. The lumps on her chest were quite sensitive and the special attention Gel seemed to be paying to them showed that he recognized this. He built pressure between her legs and Twilight wanted to flop to the ground and squirm as he shoved up into her. Her body might be different but the alicorn's kinks were still very much the same.

"My own special magic trick. Normally, I can keep my body like this all the time. I can flow, reshape and even cover things. Things like Twilight." Gel lifted one slender hand up and touched his chest lightly. The gestures felt right.

"You look bigger…" Sunset reached a hand out to poke one arm and when it felt like normal flesh she did it again. "That is amazing…"

"Now, the problem is, I can't do hair properly." Gel sighed at his one failing. "So that means I need to cover someone who has all the hair that they should normally have, like Twilight's." Three pairs of eyes watched as Twilight's hand reached up and ran through her hair.

"When… when you have this all sorted, can you wear me… or me you… and you make me look like a pony?" Lyra was spellbound, ideas racing through her head.

"What's it like… inside?" Sunset gulped, she had a whole mess of questions about this and not the least of which was going to be… "And why is Twilight's underwear on the floor?"

Cherry was at her desk and yawning. Mornings were not the easiest things to survive, but a pony in business had to make sacrifices. Sipping from the big mug of coffee, she heard hoof-steps coming from the hall deeper in the building.

"And then we are going to go and have ice cream and cupcakes for breakfast!" Pinkie Pie trotted out, her mane quite fuzzy and puffy. "Oh, hiya Cherry!"

"Pinkie Pie, you look a lot more relaxed and happy today. Did my friends get you all sorted out?" Cherry called her workers friends, it was a lot easier to explain than any of the myriad of other words ponies had created for them.

"Oh yes, we were just going to go out for breakfast! Would you like to come too?" Pinkie was bouncing from hoof to hoof, clearly quite full of energy.

"Well somepony has to look after-" Cherry started making an excuse but Slip cut her short.

"No, you go. I have already eaten plenty and besides, you look like you could do with some cheering up." Slip trotted over and, as he stepped behind Cherry's desk, became a duplicate of her with a green flash. On his flank, however, was a giggling changeling cutie mark.

Cherry was defeated. "Okay… have the coffee though, it is good stuff and would be a waste to let it go cold." Rising to her hooves, she left Slip at the desk and joined the three ponies heading out. "Where are we going?"

"Pinkie says there is this great place, just up near the library." Velvet was back to her natural mare-self. She leaned in and pecked the pink party pony on the cheek. "Never been there, but then, don't have much call for normal food."

"Oh you are going to love it, they have milk shakes and cupcakes and…" Pinkie looked at the mare suddenly in shock. "Velvet, have you ever had cake?" When the changeling shook her head Pinkie seemed to vanish and reappear at the door. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!"

Cherry couldn't stop herself grinning, it was a travesty to never have tried cake, but Pinkie clearly saw it as a major unbalance in the world. "I think we best go before she explodes."

"You got that right, and you really don't want to see Pinkie explode." Gravel was about as happy as a stallion could be, he had three cute mares accompanying him out and the day was only just starting. "Coming!" He trotted along, first to be out in the open air and facing the day.

It was a short trot to the shop, along the way Pinkie saw fit to list all the flavors of cake she knew of. Panting as she opened the door, she finally halted. "And that is only the ones I have eaten this month!"

"What will it be?" Joe recognized a fellow baker, in fact he remembered the mare from a particular contest.

"Four double chocolate extra fudge super sized mega malt thick-shakes and the biggest, most chocolate cupcakes you have and twice as many sprinkles as you think they need." Pinkie Pie panted a little with how fast she said it but Joe picked up on her needs easily enough.

"You fillies just take a table and I will bring it all over to you." The unicorn stallion didn't need to count the bits, he could tell by weight that Pinkie had somehow gotten exact change.

Cherry flushed at being called a filly but it was a common trick and an easy compliment to give a customer. Trotting to a table with the three other ponies, she realized she needed to have a morning off and smiled all the wider because of it.

"So, Cherry, what party do you want me to organize?" Pinkie Pie settled at the table and grinned over at the pegasus. "I don't need a lot of notice, but the more I get the more amazing I can plan!"

"It's a birthday and anniversary, all wrapped into one." Cherry smiled, looking past her three companions. "For the greatest mare in Equestria..."

Author's Note

And yes, I assume there is a time difference between Equestria and EQG world.

Damn it Cherry, you got me grinning like a happy fool with that last line...

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