Gel methodically walked around the room, closing and locking the windows and then bracing some nice heavy things in front of the door.

"What are you doing?" Mayor looked more than a little confused by the strange stallion, of course he was not one to talk, feeling both strange and stallion as well right now.

The changeling, finished with his task, grinned widely. "My lovely mate would tan my hide if I didn't ensure that her… sacrifice, wasn't in vain. Whatever has Twilight, it is invisible, but it is trapped. The worst it can do now is either change you back or get upset."

Dawning comprehension made the former mare smile. "And even if it doesn't try any of those, the princess can help us when she gets… oh."

"Yeah, prince will be a better title, but there is one thing I am sure of, and that is that Twilight Sparkle the alicorn can get to the bottom of this." Gel trotted over to the couch and sat down beside the Mayor. "I hate to impose, but you don't mind having to wait? Do you have any idea how long it takes to… well, be changed?"

"Well, when I last remembered it was… oh, I did those papers at four pm, so a little after that was when I stopped being able to remember." Mayor sipped some more of his tea to relax. "Then I came to, spent some time panicking… oh, then the train came in, the six pm from Canterlot."

"So giving time for the panicking… about an hour to an hour and a half from time of grabbing to changing and waking up." Gel picked up the scroll Twilight had been making notes, holding the quill in his hoof and making notations. "Now, with the science down, and how long we need to wait established, how are you feeling?"

The earth-pony took a deep breath and let it out. "Honestly? It isn't too terrible, except when… well there are new urges." Gel lifted an eyebrow and began scribing again. "Not that I can't keep them under control, but… it is like when I first became a mare and I wanted to play with all the stallions…"

"Oh, Twilight has a book on that… in the library." Gel's sudden excitement cut short at the realization that he was stuck with what he had for now. A knock on the door came then and then it rattled. "Hold on!" Gel trotted over to the door. "We have a bit of an issue in here, I can't afford to open the door right now."

Starry's voice, muffled, called through the door. "Huh? Oh, okay. I was just coming to make sure the Princess got all her things okay, why are her bags so heavy?"

Gel blushed, realizing that in both their rush to study what had happened to the mayor that they had left their bags behind. "We owe you big, Starry, thank you… don't suppose you have heard what is going on?"

Starry slumped against the door, realizing this was about as close as she could get to her friend right now. "Not really? Not many ponies out on the streets and those that are… well, they looked scared." It was then she felt a little twitch, deep inside. She smiled and tried to clench her muscles down a little, to hug back. She sometimes forgot that she had Gel a lot closer than normal. I can hug him for you.

Being so close to his tiny gooplicate, Gel felt the warm, big hug from Starry and the smaller, oddly comforting one from Twinkle. "Something is changing ponies. It takes about an hour and a half to do it, and is invisible, but it is swapping their genders."

This shocked the mare and Gel could taste her slight fear. "Twinkle…"

He didn't hear the word, either of him, but Gel could tell something was making the mare afraid. Then it hit him. "I am coming, Starry." And he was, he had another of himself, he had forgotten almost completely about. He pushed more of his awareness out, finding his gooplicate had found its way to Rarity's house. "Sorry Rarity, I need to go… two friends might be in trouble and… oh you need to keep yourself and Sweetie Belle locked inside, don't let anypony who isn't me or Twilight in."

Rarity looked up in shock, already stripping the cute dress off the changeling. "Very well darling, but I still need to finish this dress and you are just the perfect model."

Gel couldn't say he was a touch conflicted, he didn't want to leave Rarity alone either, but then she didn't have a friend that could die if they were gender changed. Slipping out the door once he was suitably disrobed, he bolted at full tilt toward the castle.

"Something smells funny… nice…" The voice that called through the door wasn't Starry's, Gel knew, it was Twinkle's.

"Twinkle, run, head for Spike's room!" Gel shouted it through the door and he heard trampling hooves. "Please be okay…"

The hind was perplexed by this mare, she had run away even when she could smell the wonderful scent that would bring a fresh meal to the doe. Regardless, she trotted after them, nopony could hold out against her forever.

Twinkle felt her friend's mind, it was numb with some kind of odd drug. Or even something magical. Starry! Wake up please! She pounded their hooves, using magic to throw doors open ahead of her and close them behind. The worst thing was she heard the doors open and close again somewhere behind her. It was coming.

"Twinkle!" Gel's voice brought so much relief to the parasite that she almost flopped in place. "Come here and I will protect you." She didn't hesitate, the creature that had promised her destruction if she turned to the typical ways of her species was her only hope and she was shocked when he kept running, splatting into her form.

Gel flowed over the mare, aiming more for protection than mimicry, he thickened his coating until he was evenly distributed. "You okay in here Twinkle? How is Starry?"

Twinkle felt safe indeed. But even though Gel was all over her, filling her ears, she still heard as the door right behind her opened up. "It's here!" She tried to say, but her voice didn't work. Her throat adjusted, her tongue flicked at the right places but no sound came from her lips.

"Don't worry, whatever it… oh! OH!" Gel felt the touch on his nose, the scent was very much something that would worm into a pony's mind and leave them distracted. He was less so. When a magic shove came, sinking his nose into something he gave a little growl.

"It's going to get us, it's going to…" Twinkle was terrified but felt as Gel started to fight the force pulling on them, pushing their snout deeper into the..."It's a mare… or a female of some kind!"

Gel couldn't hear the words, but he had learned a good trick by being in so many ponies so much. He followed the mare's throat muscles, felt her tongue and lips flick. "That explains a lot, it is pushing us with magic, I can't fight that and keep you safe. But this should slow it down." The goo-changeling spread a straight beam of himself out to each side, nearly a foot long and a few inches thick. It had the desired result, bracing against the invisible plot and keeping them from going in.

Twinkle had no clue what the stallion had done but her panic subsided when they stopped going deeper. "You did it?"

Gel tried to nod but that wasn't going to work. "For now, wonder how stubborn they are." He could have flowed up and over the invisible shape, but the danger was that it might expose Starry and Twinkle.

"I don't know how you are understanding me, but thank you, Gel." Twinkle hugged the tiny pony beside her in her host's body, giggling when she got the gentlest of hugs back.

Unable to get a read on the emotion that would normally be in a voice, Gel could tell from the hug that Twinkle was happy and, at least partially, safe.

The doe was quite confused. She had been chasing a mare, then it became a stallion and now, now something very odd was going on. She was pulling, she could feel the stallion's nose in her vulva, but there was something pushing out from it that was making it impossible to pull them in. It gave a snort of frustration. It could sense one of its sisters nearby, who was incubating a very interesting pony.

Gel felt when the magic let go but he didn't stop the little bars that would protect Starry and Twinkle. "I think it gave up." Gel stepped them a little away from where the encounter had happened, moving down the hall a little bit. "How is Starry?"

"She is completely out of it, asleep, or so it seems. You really are the best, Gel. Thank you." Twinkle kept hugging that shape beside her, never wanting to let go. There was quite a step from 'tolerated' to 'protected' and the parasite felt giddy at having made it.

"Not going to let some stupid thing get rid of one of my friends. I do wonder what it might have done. Would it have integrated you even more with Starry?" Gel felt the tight, clinging tentacles still hugging him. It would have been strange, but Gel himself was strange, so he accepted the odd little hugs and hugged back, both Twinkle and Starry. "I think Twilight will be coming out in about an hour… oh… OH! I just realized where she is and what is… we need to make her some food. She will come out and want to find and examine this creature and won't think to eat."

Twinkle couldn't see any reason to fault the logic and turned, started to walk for the kitchen when she felt something start to push into her host's body, spreading her vulva and delving deep into her, claiming her tail-hole too. "Gel?"

"Sorry, need to get comfortable, can't move easily with that much of me around you, trust me, these are the best places to store me." The changeling continued to pour into the mare's body, giving her belly quite the plump swelling and being very careful not to intrude on the space Twinkle needed. "There, we should be good now."

Twinkle tried to move their body again and found it was a lot easier, barely noticing the tightness at all. But she couldn't for the life of her seem to get their tail to go down. Gel had pushed in it had raised up and now it seemed the muscles didn't want to let up. It felt both naughty and… good.

Gel left the cooking to the mare, flicking his attention back to her every now and again to make sure she wasn't being attacked again, but he slid full focus to his gooplicate in Canterlot. "A closet? They stuffed me in a closet?" He banged around a bit, knocking brooms and mops around until he finally got free and got the door open. "Ugh, better quarters are needed…"

A wandering guard spotted him and trotted up. "Prince Gel, did you need to see your queen or the princesses?"

Gel sighed, he guessed Twisty was his queen, but he didn't feel that same subservient bond to her like he had to Chrysalis. He liked Twisty better. "Yes, please. As quickly as possible." The guard saluted and turned, trotting off. Gel started to follow.

He found Celestia reclining, a book floating before her. "Your Highness, Prince Gel of Ponyville!" The guard's voice was loud and clearly got Celestia's attention.

"So soon? What would have one of my most interesting and… troublesome, peers needing my attention so soon again?" Celestia was smiling as she said even the descriptions of him, making them seem more of a joke than anything else. The guard departed swiftly, seeing Gel delivered.

"Your Highness, Princess Celestia," Gel bowed, disproving her assessment of him as a 'peer', "there is a strange thing happening in Ponyville and I thought it prudent to let you know as quickly as possible. Something… or some things, are turning ponies… well, it makes a stallion into a mare and a mare into a stallion. From what I understand, the things are invisible… female," he tried not to blush, he really did, "and use some kind of drug and magic to capture the ponies and… change them."

Celestia's eyebrow, the one that Gel could see, rose more and more as he explained. When he finished she sighed and set her book down, neatly folding a nice little griffon-inlaid white bookmark into it. "So an unknown number of invaders. Is Twilight already work-" Celestia cut off at the look on Gel's face, it was a cross between amusement and worry. "They have changed her?" Gel nodded and cut in.

"Changing, while they are invisible, they aren't very good at getting around, I blocked the doors and windows and even though I know my mate is going to be a little odd when she comes out, I have already captured her first test subject." Gel couldn't help but grin at that.

"Good work, I see now why so many mares seem to want a piece of your time." There was humor in Celestia's words and Gel tried to detect if the vibe he got was real or not, was that desire? "How is the rest of the town faring?"

"Mayor Mare was the first, or so we think. She is in here with Twilight, the entity and myself. One tried to assault Starry and Twinkle-" Gel stopped when he saw confusion on Celestia's face, "Twinkle is the creature inhabiting Starry, she named her." Recognition dawned and the alicorn nodded. "So I am caught keeping them both safe and waiting for Twilight, I don't dare leave either." Gel felt a little helpless and felt as one of the big white wings settled over his shoulder.

"You have done well, I shudder to think what would happen to poor Twinkle, should Starry suffer that kind of change. Any idea what the things are doing it for?" Celestia had moved a little closer, all thoughts of what the, by all words very talented, stallion could do to her gone in light of his feelings. It was all too easy to slip from friend to mother for Celestia, she had been doing that for a very very long time.

"None, I hope Twilight comes out soon, from what I have worked out it takes between one to two hours to change a pony… she has been in there for," Gel glanced around the room, seeing no clock, he flickered between his gooplicates, a nest, another broom closet in the Crystal Empire, Twilight's sitting room, ah, the kitchen, "nearly an hour."

"In there?" Celestia settled down where she was, deciding closer and caring was more important than soft cushions for her plot.

"Uh, from what I can work out the… things, change ponies by… well, pulling them inside themselves, sort of… well… opposite of birthing…" Gel had blushed again, surely after all the things he had been through, not to mention what he was going through right now in the nest, he was past blushing?

"I see." Celestia had a sudden urge, a naughty one, to send her sister to Ponyville. She thought about it and realized she would likely have to send herself to the moon if Luna ever found out she knew in advance, but still… "Very well, the trains will not be stopping at Ponyville until you have given us the all clear, all we need is one of these things slipping on and coming to Canterlot, or worse, heading to another nation. Diplomatic troubles are all I need right now." She pulled at Gel, her wing tugging the stallion over to her side and guided him to the soft pile of pillows and cushions. "Lets both wait, shall we, for your wife?" Gel nodded, finding the motherly attention quite welcoming.

Author's Note

Aww, cute little tentacle hugs are the best hugs, imho.

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