As Kiera's situation declined, so to did her journeys into space. When she no longer had enough working interfaces to safely control her ship, she voluntarily grounded herself.

Dustin wasn't coping well with the news that not only wasn't he likely to learn the surgery in time but that now it wouldn't help. He sat in a coffee shop in town, sipping a soothing tea across from Princess Twilight and Belay.

Sipping at his tea, Dustin let out a sigh. Twilight Sparkle and Belay seemed so good together, not that his own relationship with Twilight Velvet and Night Light wasn't going well, but since reality had crushed his dream of saving Kiera, Dustin had felt detached.

"We may have come up with a process that will help give more human-time." Twilight was almost bouncing in place. "The issue really was the cavitation bubble. The rate of return to a new pony shape is proportional directly to the rate of initial purging of the pony pseudo-matrix."

The jargon caught Dustin's attention for one fact. "I could spend longer as human?"

"That's what she's saying. Dust, this would give you a shot at a hail-Mary. If we can judge things just right, you could unplug Kiera from her systems and carry her out of the shielding of the ship." Belay's horn was just slightly lit with magic, though the only other evidence she had a spell active was a slight glow over the curve of her eyes.

"Then I'll be your guinea pig. Test it on me and I can get more used to the changes too. I'll need to be able to work even as bits of me are changing." Cutting a little short, Dustin looked at Twilight's confused expression. "What's wrong with it?"

"Why would you call yourself a guinea pig? Aren't they the cute little animals that just…" Twilight trailed off, looking between Belay and Dustin—both were restraining giggles. "This is another culture-shock thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, dear." Leaning sideways, Belay planted a kiss on Twilight's cheek. "Dustin wants to let us test this on him."

"You know that will only mix you up again?" Twilight tried to ignore her excitement for both experimentation and Belay for just a moment. "Each time you change to human and back you're going to get—get shuffled."

"I can keep shuffling after, right? Once everything is sorted out?" The idea of changing a lot of times didn't appeal to Dustin, but his mind was already made up on the matter. Anything he could sacrifice for Kiera would be a justified price for him to pay.

"There might be a limit, but our testing will show that pretty quickly." Leaving Twilight with a clear head (by way of not nuzzling her further), Belay flicked her magic gently and brought up displays of their notes in her vision. She double-checked that fact, and gave a little nod when she did.

"So when can we get started?" Dustin tried to ignore the magical light dancing in Belay's eyes, but his curiosity got the better of him. "How's the HUD going?"

With the topic turning to her favorite topic, Belay practically dove on the opportunity to show off. "It's going really well. I can record and playback, as well as scan patterns into it."

"We could start this afternoon, if you feel up to it." Twilight barely got the words in. Despite Belay's ability to get completely distracted in a topic (or perhaps because of it) Twilight had to sometimes be quite careful about cutting in.

Belay turned to Twilight and nodded enthusiastically. She knew full well she sometimes got carried away, but so did Twilight—knowing when to stop the other was something they were both learning. "Right. So. Today then?"

"Kiera, I'm going to help you." Dustin sat at the bottom of the column of titanium. "Princess Twilight and Belay are going to work out a way I can stay mostly human for about five minutes. If I can last that long I can disconnect you in here and carry you out."

"That could kill me, Dusty." Kiera's voice wasn't sharp and full of its usual lilt; she was dedicating as little effort on non-essential items as she could. The more she used her neural interfaces the faster they failed. "But I want you to try. As long as it doesn't hurt you."

Dustin looked down at his hooves and tried to do some math. "How long have we been together, Ki?"

"Fifty six years, Dust." She didn't need any logs to know that number, Kiera held her fondest memories from those years.

"That's longer than the Gal-standard marriage contract." Focusing on his breathing, Dustin stretched his wings out and wrapped them around himself. "You're not just a friend, Ki."

"I know, Dust. Which is why I don't want to hear you hurt yourself trying to help me. What did Belay say about the tests?" With her synapse links fading, soon Kiera knew she would be locked off and all alone in her own head. Even if her fluids weren't failing too, she would be driven insane in complete sensory deprivation.

"She thinks I shouldn't push it. She and the princess think they can reach the duration needed, but even if they can't…?" Dust trailed off, unable to finish the question.

Kiera made a soft sigh through the speakers. She didn't dare interface with her ship more than absolutely necessary, but right now seeing Dustin's face was just that. She looked on the huddled pony at the base of her column. "If they tell you that you should only do one more, you come here and do one more. For me."

Dustin let the tears fall down his cheeks. "I love you, Ki." He pushed his legs under him and stood up slowly.

"I love you too, Dusty." Kiera was glad that her voice wasn't carrying her emotion; she feared that if Dustin heard her fear he would not leave.

Making his way from the bridge, Dustin y Neil was resolute. He stepped into the lift and poked the controls with a wing. "Scratches, can you take me down?"

"Of course."

The similarities between Scratches' voice and Kiera's struck an extra blow for Dustin. The moment the lift cleared the bottom of Kiera's hull, Dustin stepped off it and spread his wings. Flying was just about worth everything that had happened, just about.

Through a series of updrafts Dustin gained altitude. He didn't need to flap his wings more than a handful of times to reach the city of Canterlot that reached out over the mountain it was attached to. Gliding on a warm current of air, Dustin spiraled slowly down to the lab Princess Twilight and Belay were working (and living) out of.

Each feather on his wings had a job to do. Some feathers were just to sense the slightest change in air movement, while others were for lift, and yet others gained Dustin control. A pegasus was truly a creature of the sky as much as any bird, and Dustin reveled in that freedom.

Four clopping sounds announced Dustin's arrival at the front door of his destination. Tucking his left wing to his side, Dustin opened the front door with the right and made his way inside. "Twilight! Belay! I'm rea—" Dustin froze. The two mares in question wore goggles; long, heavy aprons; and had special face shields over the top of their goggles.

"How's Kiera?" Belay used her magic to flip her mask up and step toward Dustin. She didn't hesitate for a moment to hug him, and was relieved that he hugged her back.

"She's struggling, Bel. You know what shutting down all her synapse connections will do to her." Dustin squeezed Belay and then stepped back. "So let's not waste time. The sooner you get this working, the sooner I save Kiera."

Twilight stepped up beside Belay and gestured to the test chamber she had prepared. Ringed on three sides in clear glass, the room only had a single large crystal inside. "Come on. The first attempt will be to try for a minute of transformation time on each end, with a variable being the amount of time you will be perceptibly human. Are you ready?"

Dustin just nodded and walked into the test room. On the floor was four large dots, and it wasn't too hard for him to work out where to stand. "I guess I stand on the circles?"

"Yes please, Dustin. We should be able to charge the crystal twice every day, so it means we get a shot morning and afternoon. Are you ready?" Twilight's horn was glowing, her magical grip adjusting controls in response to the readouts before her.

"Yes." Nodding too, Dustin felt magic touch him again. That is to say, powerful magic. Twilight Velvet and Night Light had proved to him that magic was definitely useful in the bedroom, so he was used to casual (and intimate) touches, but this was something different.

Magic flooded the room, and all of it seemed to focus on Dustin. His body trembled as ropes of power coiled around his limbs and even within them. He wanted to scream, or at least yell, but instead he clamped his jaw shut and started to count in his head.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four. Dustin felt a tingle start at his extremities (of which he had seven). His wings began to shake a little at some unseen pressure rubbing them, and despite his best efforts his legs gave out.

Dropping to the floor, Dustin watched his forehooves as they twisted and, amazing him, his fingers started to push out the bottom of his hooves.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight. Pink and soft fingers split apart from each other, and Dustin could feel with them again. The change, however, hadn't spread any further than his knees (or what would be elbows and knees soon).

Nine.

Ten. Fire errupted in his tail. Bones simply dissolved into magical potential and joined the swirling mass.

Eleven.

Twelve. Dustin's wings started to literally dissolve. Human bodies had four limbs and none of them were configured as wings. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to keep counting.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Sixteen. A sharp tug on Dustin's back legs made him open his eyes again and look back at them. Bones seemed to twist and reshape, pushing his legs out into straight, human-lines.

Seventeen.

Eighteen.

Nineteen. Just before Dust counted twenty in his head a gurgling started in his belly. He bent around himself in pain as it felt like his insides were becoming outsides. He lost count, time seemed meaningless when everything hurt this much.

"Forty seconds, Dustin. Can you stand up yet?" Belay asked.

Just as he tried to reply Dustin felt his face start to twist. Knowing he didn't want to feel this part, let alone see it, he closed his eyes to save him at least one problem. It felt like a great big hand closed over his snout and just push.

"Fifty. The changes are nearing completion, Dust."

It was Belay's voice again. Although with his ears shrinking, Dustin felt the world's volume dial down to about half what it had been as a pony.

The twisting in Dustin's belly seemed to ease, and all pain but a few muscle cramps left him. He coughed and spluttered, and held up one hand. One human hand. Dustin's eyes widened as he beheld what his ancestors had believed set his kind apart from everything else they knew.

"I'fff—" Dustin jerked his head back as he bit his tongue sharply. Everything moved wrong, everything wanted to act as a human body should, but Dustin was too used to being a pony.

It took him six tries to stand up, and even then he was holding to the wall tightly.

"How're you doing in there, Dust?" Belay left the monitoring booth and stepped close to the glass that let her see into the test chamber. "Dust?"

"Gimma a thanth. Not woothed thoo oofmam mowf." The words, silly as they sounded, made Dustin smile a little. He tried to stand a bit straighter, even bare naked, but still needed the glass for support. "Think ith nawth—"

Pain lanced through Dustin's belly. He fell to the floor and onto his side.

Belay tapped the glass to make sure Dust looked at her. "Okay, so you had a full minute as human there. Hold on Dust."

His face pushed forward again. The process seemed to reverse itself perfectly. Sharp prickles in his mouth made him pull his tongue back from the edges of his growing snout.

The feeling of his legs and arms starting to reshape, however, was completely overwhelmed by the feel of wings growing back in. The pain seemed to be nothing, and Dustin smiled in spite of the changes to his face. He would be able to fly again.

His fingers and toes started pulling back into his hands and feet. His legs shifted the most, bones adjusting back into a pony-design, while his fingers were lost to their hoofy prisons once more. Only the feel of his tail sprouting distracted Dustin from the feeling of his wings growing out.

But something was really wrong. As a pegasus, Dustin had good-sized, feathery wings. The appendages he stretched from his back lacked a single feather.

"Dustin, are those bat wings?!" Belay's face was glued to the glass. She longed to enter the chamber, but even if she didn't use her magic she would put the delicate sensors out of alignment. She watched as Dustin's wings grew almost twice as large as they previously were, and his new coat colors seemed to be dark gray fur and black/blue mane and tail.

Dustin shook himself and looked down at what had happened. Four legs: check. Snout: slightly rounded and slim (she knew what that meant). Wings: like someone had glued bat wings in place of her pegasus ones. It didn't take the glance under her belly to realize she was a mare again, but it still had to happen.

Then Dustin pricked her tongue on one of the new, pointy teeth she had grown. "Okay. What's up with this?"

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened. Despite all her requests, Luna's bat ponies had all refused to be examined. Dustin, however, was right here. A giggle escaped Twilight Sparkle's lips—she had work to do!

Author's Note

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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