Spike shivered against the stallion. He was tucked in tight against Cloud, wrapped in a wing. It felt terrible to him. All the feelings within were running at two hundred percent. Was it all just the changeling magic? It had felt really good but at the same time was it only feeling good because it had been made to feel good. "Cloud I… I need some space." His words shook and his cheek suddenly was graced with the most chaste of kisses.

"Glitter, I don't normally fall so hard for another pony, but you take care and I hope I see you around again." Cloud made Spikes insides twist. How much of what he felt for the stallion was him and how much was those horrible changelings?

He wandered away from the town center, leaving the ponies alone. When he was sufficiently out of sight he took the amulet off and it suddenly dropped to the ground, his magic failing. "What am I meant to believe?" He spoke the words with a weight he had never felt before. Leaning down and picking up the amulet the dragon began his slow walk back to the castle.

"I really can't believe it is you, Muffins." Thunderlane was practically gushing at his friend. "What happened? How did you… become… what are you now?"

"Hungry!" Muffins smiled and offered another clop of her hoof to her friend, who returned it without thinking. It was a little strange, though, she was both hungry and not. "Think the hayburger will still be open?"

Gel watched the two friends wander off. There was a part of him that wanted to go and give the mare a hug but she had taken a big step into the light today, she would need a friend more than a lover. Another small Gel walked up beside him and he flowed the parts together, looking more like a stallion and less like a foal.

"I never intended her to keep her cover this long, I thought for sure she would slip up and reveal herself." Celestia, along with Luna and Twilight, stepped up beside Gel.

"She only did it because her friends needed her to." Twilight leaned in and nuzzled Gel. "A bit larger please, unless you plan to wear me again."

Luna walked up with the other princesses and jerked her head upwards. "Tia, it is time to end the day, I feel the land pulling at me, begging me to rest." Celestia stepped toward her sister and gave her a kiss on the nose that had both of them blushing.

"Of course Lulu." The white alicorn's horn lit, every pony with even a jot of sense for magic could feel the tremble in the world as things were set right, the sun lowering and leaving the sky. The moment it was dark, however, bright lights flared out and shot into the sky.

"Lets get this party start-ed!" The mood shifted so quickly, Vinyl's artificially distorted voice stirring the survivors and heroes to embrace her music and dance. Gel was not immune, he turned and pulled another little gooplicate into himself, rising in stature to be a match for Twilight. His smile was impossible to suppress, for one night he just wanted to have fun.

Spike could hear the music, he was huddled up on his bed. "This is stupid, I wish I knew what I was meant to feel!"

The little dragon did give in to sleep, but it was a hard fight, his emotions the weapons and tears the casualties.

He startled awake in the morning, one clawed fist clenched around the amulet. "Fat lot of good you did me. I didn't get to play with magic at all, I just got caught in a stupid changeling spell." He threw the amulet at a cabinet to one side where it landed with a thump.

Getting up, he stepped up to the big bath of sand he had in the little en-suite grabbing handfuls and rubbing it over his scales. There was a twinge inside him, a memory of how good it had felt to be in Cloud, of having Cloud in him. "No, no no no! That was the stupid changelings!" He stormed from his room and marched down to the kitchen, getting breakfast underway.

Twilight was the first down, the alicorn stretching and looking quite out of it still. "Coffee first?" Spike had decided if nothing else, he would sink himself in being her number one assistant.

The groan and nod was enough for him to know coffee was absolutely required. He began brewing a whole pot of the stuff.

"I never saw Celestia dance like that…" Twilight was musing but leaned up for a kiss when a new pony entered. Her eyes went wide when she realized it wasn't Gel, it wasn't Rarity and, somehow, it wasn't Pinkie.

"Wow, that was a trip!" Vinyl had her glasses on, her mane mussed up and she felt really good for a morning. "Hey Twilight."

The alicorn's offer of a kiss was taken, to her shock, and she even felt a magical slap on her plot. "V… Vinyl? What happened?"

Gel came in next, legs wobbling a little. Then he came in fourth too, the pair of gooplicates hoof-bumping when he saw the two mares already in the room. "Good morning, the Gel train is in the station." One of his clones sat beside each mare and both, at the same time, whispered in their ears. "How was the ride?"

Spike set the two mare's their breakfast, set down their coffee and stripped his apron off, rolling it into a ball and throwing it into the kitchen. With not a word he stormed from the room.

"Whoa, okay, breakfast is canceled…" One of the Gel's got up and trotted off, leaving Twilight and Vinyl flanking the remaining one.

Twilight was looking after her best friend, but something told her Gel might be the best pony here. Normally, when any hanky-panky went on, the little dragon would just leave. This was a whole new attitude.

"I got it Twi, I think stallion talk is in order." Gel leaned over and kissed the worried alicorn on the cheek. "If he is still upset when I am done, I will tell you."

"Spike! Wait!" Gel called, trotting after the dragon with his copy. His trip was cut short when Spike's bedroom door slammed closed in his face. "You know this won't stop me? I can come in under the door…"

"Go away." Spike's voice had a whole mess of emotion wrapped around it, Gel could pick out anger and hate in it somewhere, the most obvious of them.

"Nope, not an option. What happened? Weren't you in the castle when the changelings came?" It was a stab in the dark, Gel figuring something sexual-related had happened. Those drones really had been up to quite the tricks.

There was silence for a while, Gel strained his hearing and then he heard it. Crying. "Coming in buddy." He did as he threatened, it wasn't the easiest thing but he slipped more and more of himself under the door and soon stood back up inside. "Nope, not going." He said it over the top of the dragon's demand to for him to go. "I'm not Twilight, although I think you will find she is a lot more open now. What happened?"

"It's stupid." Spike didn't want to look at Gel, he didn't want to look at anypony. "Really stupid, changelings suck." The moment he said it Spike's head shot up. "I mean-"

"No, on the whole, they do. I agree. But lets say 'a lot of changelings suck' and remember that changelings are ponies, ponies can be good or bad." Gel spied something on the dragon's dresser. Something he recognized. "So, what happened, tell me or I will have to call Twilight. She made me promise that if I can't get you to chill she would come and ask you. I don't think either of us want that."

Spike nodded and then gestured up to his walls. "You know my thing, I got it bad. Wings are just so awesome." The memories of Cloud's appendages filled his head and Spike couldn't stop a small smile. "But I wanted to try some magic."

Gel's mind clicked, connecting a few things. "Sure, it's pretty cool, not that good with doing stuff with it, apart from making more of me, but I worked out how to give it to others pretty good."

The dragon looked up at the changeling, tilting his head. On one hand Spike really wanted to ask what had happened, on the other he wanted to get this… this story, out. "So I stole the amulet."

"You borrowed it, you mean. Muffins doesn't really need it now, so nopony else was having any fun with it. Might as well be you." Gel got up from the bed and reached a hoof out to pick the thing up.

"Okay, I borrowed it." Spike had tried for honesty, but he was talking to a changeling, about the best liars in Equestria, of course he would make it seem like it was fine. "It… it was awesome… when I could stand up. Four legs is hard."

"Tried six?" Gel's question had Spike looking up and snorting. The changeling had added an extra set of legs halfway down his body. "I wonder if eight would be better?"

Spike had to hold back a giggle at this, the story he was telling hadn't any room for giggles, but he appreciated Gel's attempt. "So I put it on-" Spike was shocked when Gel did just that, holding the amulet out above Spike's head and dropping it down. The rush of sensations as Spike turned into 'Glitter Horn' was not completely welcome but he was still him. Still confused as all Tartarus. "Oh, I remember you! You were cuddling that… okay, shutting up. This is your story."

The look Spike gave Gel was a thankful one and the changeling sighed. He remembered the affection Cloud Chaser had when looking down at the pony cuddled under his wing. That kind of love isn't gained by playing tag.

"Okay, so I got out of the castle, I wanted to play with my magic but before I could there was a surprise. Cloud Chaser was flying past and saw me. We started talking, he invited me to have lunch and… he has the most glorious wings…"

Gel smiled. "They are big, he must work hard to keep them in shape, his work would help I gather." Spike nodded to his assessment and the changeling stopped talking, letting Spike continue.

"I... I might have lied a little, I didn't want to, but I didn't want to have him think of me as… well as just Twilight's dragon." Spike looked shocked, Gel saw his eyes widen as the pony in front of him discovered something about himself. "I mean, I don't… I like being her friend, her number one assistant, but sometimes I just want to… to be me."

"Or in this case, not you?" Gel could feel where Spike was coming from, it was a fairly changeling sort of problem.

"That's it, I felt more ME when I was Glitter Horn than when I was just Spike the dragon." Spike slumped to his back on the bed, wriggling his hooves in the air. "I got to relax and just not worry about what happened, what ponies would think of Twilight, of what it would mean if I did something."

"You did something?" Gel smiled.

"I did… Gel, when did the changelings attack?" Spike was being cagey, but he needed to be, he needed to know.

"When we got word they were coming, Princess Celestia brought Princess Luna, Muffins and me here. Muffins put a shield around the castle… I guess it was a few hours until they actually arrived though…" Gel was trying to work out how to reference the time easily, considering he hadn't exactly been looking at a clock.

Spike's world started to tumble and twist. If that was right he and Cloud had been together, having fun, before the changelings even got to Ponyville. His cheeks colored and he blushed hotly.

"Cloud is a good stallion. Spike, what happened?" The dragon could only hear concern in his friend's voice. It suddenly occurred to him that Gel might think whatever had happened had been against his will.

The dragon in a pony body stopped squirming his hooves. "We had sex. It was really fun and I don't know why but I would like to do it again… he is a stallion and so am… well so was I. Is that wrong?" Spike looked to the changeling, tilting his head.

"Spike, you have seen my… abandon. I love anypony who loves me, I think… I know, ponies should be allowed to do anything they want, so long as it is fun for everypony. If being with Cloud made you happy, and made him happy, it isn't a bad thing." Gel laid back on the bed too. "Did the changelings-"

"Yeah, they messed with us. Our fun turned from a little bit of snuggling and… well, we rode each other a few times. But then it became an ache, a need. We couldn't stop and it wasn't so fun-" Spike had cut in on Gel, but in the end his own words were halted by the changeling wrapping him in a hug. "Gel?"

"They did a bad thing to you, to you both." Gel's legs were tight and, suddenly, Spike found himself crying into the pony's neck. Tears came easily and without being invited. Sobs, great big ones, wrecked his unicorn form as all the emotion about what had happened poured out. Spike didn't know why, but it felt so good to let it happen. He had been angry, furious.

"Question is, little unicorn, what you plan to do now." Gel made no attempt at anything but a hug, he felt the tears of his friend leak down over him and down into the bed. "Cloud seemed to like you a lot and, you know, he was affected by the same twisted magic. Maybe he needs somepony to hug too?"

Spike pulled back, eyes wide as he blinked. "I need to tell him who I am, lying was wrong." Gel nodded. "I hope he wont freak out…"

"It is a guess, but if you met him yesterday, just out front of the castle, I will bet you five bits he is there today, and will be there all day unless you go out." Gel let the dragon-pony settle back, hoof lifting to dry his eyes.

"Really?"

Gel's memories brought back the look of concern in the pegasus' eyes when he had been snuggling Spike. "Really."

Author's Note

Some feelz are had, a dragon learns that even if your first time has a bump, you need to... get back on the horse...

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.