"You don't trust me?" Gel was looking up at the dragoness as she flexed her gooplicated wing.

Ember shook her head. "You are asking me to put my life in your claws." She kept flexing the wing, noting the pain was still there but now there was an excitement in her. "Damn this…" She stepped forward off the balcony.

The snap of leathery wings spreading met Gel's ears and he smiled. She flew even in the hefty armor she wore, she soared and spun, doing moves that would certainly be pushing his goo's strength. But it held and when she swooped back in and her claws dug small furrows in the stone she was smiling widely. "Told you." Gel lifted a hoof up and the dragon stared at it.

"What do I… oh." Ember balled her hand up and punched against the hoof. She felt odd inside and it worried her. It wasn't a dragon feeling. "Okay, I trust you that far, let's get your princess and her warriors."

"They're her friends. Mine too. And we are having to leave a lot of them behind to fight this battle for you." Gel was normally easy going, but something about the dragon's tone just irked him right then.

Ember stopped, her eyes narrowing. "So why go?"

"Because we need to, friends protect friends, friends trust friends." Gel gave Ember a sideways look and walked off.

The dragoness looked after him, frozen in place, all her concentration stolen by the strange thoughts circling in her head.

"But Twilight!" Spike was down to whining, he had used all the other tools he had to work at logic and reason but he was down to this.

The alicorn turned and shook her head. "No Spike. You know why it would be a bad idea for you to come and besides, I want you on the train to Canterlot by tonight." Twilight reached out her forelegs and caught the unicorn up in a tight hug. "And Cloud Chaser needs to know his special somepony is safe."

Spike's eyes widened. "How did you know about that?" He jerked back from the mare he thought of as his mother. "We only just… I just told you, didn't I?" Twilight nodded. "Well, okay, but you be careful, dragons are no laughing matter."

"Of course I will be careful, Spike. I will have the two best fliers in Equestria there, I will have the singularly most amazing changeling, and I will have a dragon princess, what could go wro-" Twilight had a hoof stuck in her mouth.

"Don't. Ever. Say that." Spike pulled his forehoof free. "But they are my friends too, so take care of them."

"Of course I will. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight ended with her hoof pressed to her eye. Gel stepped into the room and froze, just as he wondered if he should leave the two. Twilight's magic reached out and tugged him over to her with gentle insistence. "Now, before we leave, you need to tell me what is wrong?"

Spike raised his eyebrows at this and Gel took a deep sigh. "It's just too much now, I can't reach much beyond my personal area. Any gooplicates I focus on I can sort of give a command to but I think I am just stretched too thin to keep up what was happening. The last report from the queen in the nest was there are a few thousand of me." The changeling shuffled a little.

Two sets of forelegs were suddenly wrapped around Gel and hugged him. Twilight nuzzled his cheek. "You are protecting both a whole city and an amazing species. Even if you can't be everywhere at once, you are still amazing." He got a kiss from the alicorn.

"Yeah Gel, you are pretty cool, but don't expect me to kiss you." Spike gave the other stallion's shoulder a light prod with his hoof as he pulled back. He wasn't prepared for the hug to be reversed and be suddenly caught up in black changeling limbs.

"You take care of Cloud, he is going to be in charge of the weather here until we get back." Gel didn't stop the tears that stung his eyes, he was proud that he cared so much for his friends and family.

Twilight was stunned anew at just how well Gel fit into her life. She snorted and giggled, both the stallions stopping their moment and looking at her. "What?" She leaned in and gave each of them a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Let's get this expedition moving. Spike, you are in charge of the castle until I am back, if we take too long, let Vinyl have her parties here."

Flanked by the two stallions most important to her, Twilight stepped out of her sitting room and into the main hall. Rainbow Dash was inspecting the big pack on Muffins, adjusting straps and asking her if it pinched. Ember looked a little lost, standing to the side and alone.

"Everypony, and everydragon." Twilight spared a grin to Ember. "Let's get moving!" Trotting down the stairs into the big room, she stepped straight up to Applejack who looked a little lost, not making preparations to leave herself.

AJ steeled herself. "Twilight, you make sure you be coming back. I just found out the mare I love loves me back and I sure as all heck ain't gonna want to swim all the way to the dragon lands to find her again." With the true words spoken, a blush on her cheeks growing, Applejack leaned in and kiss Twilight. "Fer luck."

It was a surprise to the earth pony, then, when a black figure came up to her side and gave her a kiss too. She was a little surprised by Gel's forwardness, then her mind trailed back to earlier in the day.

"Alright, I guess you get one too." Applejack couldn't stop smiling, even when her lips pressed against the black cheek. "But you only get one because yer a nice stallion."

"You are okay to look after our four guests?" Gel sampled the love in the room, using the excess of emotions to gain a little more mass.

Twilight looked shocked. "I forgot all about them!" An orange foreleg wrapped around her shoulder.

"Twi, you forgot to make a list?" Applejack was more amused than shocked. "That makes a mare proud to be such a distraction." AJ blushed a little, did she really just flirt? It felt good though, fun.

"From what I heard you distracted her a lot." Gel grinned and waggled his eyebrows a little.

"We going to go or what?" Rainbow Dash had apparently seen to Muffins' straps enough and she was restless. "I want to kick this Dragon Lord or whatever's butt so we can get back here quick."

Twilight laughed at the limitless exuberance of the mare and disengaged from Applejack. "You are right, let's go." The little group of five headed out and got cheers and waves from a few gathered ponies. Wings spread and the expedition was off!

Celestia had started to notice something. A lot of her pristine and perfect guards were looking much more uniform and perfectly matched than usual. She squinted at one set of two, guarding her door. Gold light flared from her horn and both were suddenly in the air and flailing. "Who are you two?"

The guards tumbled around each other but, a moment later, a flash of green fire surrounded one and Celestia realized why they matched so well. "Sorry Your Highness, would you prefer it if we didn't use our disguise?"

"I didn't realize there were changelings in my guard." Celestia was slightly surprised. Shining Armor was technically still the captain of the Equestrian Guard, but it was mostly a title now. "But no, you look good as a matched pair, but I would suggest a small difference."

The alicorn set the pair down, the unicorn who was actually a unicorn nudged the drone. "Told you, you should have spiraled your horn the other way."

"I just wanted to fit in better. I thought it looked good to have matched pairs." The drone groused and scuffed at the floor with a hoof. "Oh, begging your pardon, Your Highness." He sat back up straight and looked the picture of what a guard should be.

Celestia couldn't help but admire the drone. When the changelings had first come to her city, every one of them had been a weak little foal and now, to see a barrel-chested stallion looking so healthy. A hoof strayed to her slightly plump belly. "I would ask you to stay in your changeling form when guarding, my own preference of course, I love my ponies as they are."

"Your Highness, for guarding, but for ceremony?" The drone smiled around his fangs.

"Then you can blend in and be the picture-perfect guard that I know you can be." Celestia beamed at the changeling. It had gotten to the point where she didn't think of them as anything other than her ponies.

A shadow cast over the doorway and both guards scrambled back into place. Two thestral ponies strode in, taking their place beside Celestia's own guard. Wearing oddly dark glasses and carrying a parasol at her side, Luna stepped into the room. "Tia, I am planning to take a little time in Los Pegasus, see the sights, check up on Bold's work."

"Lulu, you don't need an excuse for a holiday. But I greatly approve. Canterlot, and I, will be waiting on your return." Celestia beamed in delight and the sun, streaming in through the glass-paned ceiling, seemed a little brighter, warmer.

Luna stopped and took a deep breath. She turned and looked to the two bat ponies. One flashed in green fire, becoming a perfect duplicate of Luna herself, while the other did so and became a copy of Celestia. "You are wrong, my sister," Luna's horn flared, dark magic swirling and coiling around both the royal mares, twisting and reshaping them, "we will both be waiting, but we are both going, too."

Celestia knew better than to fight her sister's magic. If it was a real fight, if the dark power reached you it was already over. The white alicorn breathed deep and let it permeate her being, shrink her down and hide her wings. When the darkness left, both she and Luna were graceful, long-legged unicorns. Celestia's belly was still a little puffy but that was certainly an 'in thing' and wouldn't be remarked upon.

"Lulu, this might be too much." Celestia was grinning, however, even as her doppelganger stepped past and took her place on the large pile of soft cushions. Green magic flared from the fake Celestia's long horn and a plate of cake levitated up. "On second thoughts, nopony will notice in the slightest."

Luna nodded. "Come on Tia, let's go to the station."

Fluttershy was trapped. Horribly trapped. She couldn't move a muscle without awakening either of the mares that had her sandwiched between them. Her wing was tucked around Tree Hugger, one of her forelegs holding it so very softly, like a blanket. Her plot, however, was firmly planted, along with her whole back, against Zecora's belly.

"Awake you be, now all of us three." Zecora whispered the words but both of her companions heard her. She couldn't help but feel good, the herb had relaxed her and let her just enjoy a fun day with two friends.

"The forest sang, did you hear it?" Tree Hugger snuggled a little but let go of Shy's wing and slid off the oversized couch. "Oh it was amazing! Now I know how Vinyl and Octavia sing their radical tunes!" The mare was on two legs, spinning slowly in the middle of the room, her forelegs stretched out, eyes closed.

Her inside voice wanted to just yell 'yay', but Fluttershy kept that extroverted side of herself quelled for now. "Yay!" Or not. She smiled and turned, snout to snout with Zecora. Her blush started to rise, but she knew what this mare sounded like when in mid-orgasm. She knew what she tasted like. She knew what it felt like to have her know all those things too. "That was a lot of fun."

Zecora tilted her head down to the smaller pony, pressing her lips to Fluttershy's own. She couldn't be any more relaxed if she were in a coma and so they stayed there, lips touching, tongues occasionally darting out to challenge the sanctity of the others mouth.

A sound broke their moment and their kiss. "Breakfast's totally served." Tree had laid out a loaf of nutty bread, some almond butter, and a thick blackberry conserve. "The forest was gracious, she gave me everything I need to fill my friends' bellies and gave me those friends for a day."

Fluttershy and Zecora disengaged themselves and stepped over to the table, finding seats. "The day was a delight of relaxation, making it a regular event would bring much satisfaction." She applied the almond butter onto a slice of bread and began to add the sticky, berry spread.

Tree nodded, taking up her own slice of bread. "That would be a most bodacious plan, stripey sister."

Both looked to Fluttershy. The pegasus ruffled her wings a little, took her time to spread first butter and then jam. She lifted the slice up and bit into the bread, tasting the wonderful flavors that the forest provided. She looked between Tree and Zecora, her mind spinning with ideas. She nodded, swallowing. "That would be very nice."

Author's Note

Preparations are made, ponies prepare to take to the air. And Fluttershy is totally stoked to have a few friends become a little closer.

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