One With the Pack

Ember had woken up after the sun’s rays graced the landscape, now walking alongside the raging river, head lowered as he let the sounds of rocks grinding against each other under his hooves and water splashing against said rocks fill his ears. He looked up and glanced around as he heard a sudden low hum radiate throughout the area. He soon found its source: a diamond, clear as the water it was in, so much so that if it wasn't humming, than he would have most likely missed it. He picked it up, examining it more closely. As the sun’s light hit the crystal, it appeared to glow, shooting off beams of color. It was beautiful, much like a certain someone he knew. He decided to bring it back for her.

Said unicorn had been waiting for the stallion outside of the cave, although her eyes were half lidded due to her falling asleep. He chuckled and shook his head, going over to her quietly as to not startle her. “Speckle, dear. You didn't have to wait for me.” Her ears perked at the sound of his voice, and she smiled at him wearily.

“Of course I did. What else was I to do?”

“You could have been sleeping.”

“Sleep is for the night owls. I...wanted to spend some time with you. Without all of these distractions.”

He snorted. “Are you calling training sessions ‘'distractions’?”

“No, no...it's just… oh, you know what I mean.”

“I don't think I do. What’s bothering you, love?”

She sighed, leaning against him. “What's the use? It’s not like you are going to understand me anyways.”

“I beg your pardon? Understand what?” She stayed quiet for a few moments, clearly intent on not answering. Ember continued to press her. “Speckle..”

“It's nothing, okay? It’s none of your concern.”

“Clearly it is, otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up. Tell me what’s wrong. Now, Alpha.” She cowered at his sharp tone, gulping nervously.

“I-I’m scared..”

This made the Lead realize the gravity of the situation. He tried again, making his voice more gentle. “Scared of what?” She straightened and gestured around her.

“All of this. Astral, Grassblade…” She paused once she saw him flinch. “All that's been happening makes me scared for what’s going to happen next… Not to mention our daughter’s out there. What if she gets hurt? Of worse?” She stopped speaking when she noticed that her mate's eyes had changed to blue, and she lowered her gaze to the ground. He placed a hoof under her chin and forced her to look at him.

“I know all these things, Speckle, believe me. Don’t you think I’m worried about her too? Yet I entrusted Quetzal and Firefly to watch over her and the boys. I know that they would lay down their lives for those three, just as they would with any of us. You should cut them a little slack.”

The mare nodded slowly. “I should, I’m sorry. I guess I got ahead of myself.”

He smiled slightly. “No harm done. I think it's the hormones that are getting to you.”

“Hey! You try carrying a foal inside of you for eleven months and see how emotional you become.”

“Joking, dear.” He then retrieved the diamond and held it out to her. Her eyes brightened and she gasped. “Oh, Ember...it’s gorgeous…”

“Just like you.”, he purred, wrapping his tail around her’s.

She blushed brightly, trying her best to ignore the heat that was flaring up at the tips of her ears. Glancing around, she located some dried vines and brought them over to herself. Casting a quick spell, the vines wrapped around the diamond and tied a knot behind her neck, now serving as a necklace. She beamed as he tilted her head towards him, kissing her softly. Since they both had their eyes closed, neither of them noticed the gem starting to glow once it settled on her chest. After a few minutes, they broke away, taking a moment to breathe. The mare then yawned, her eyes beginning to close. Ember gave her a look. “You really should go back to sleep, you’re not used to getting up this early.” She obliged, following him inside to rest.

Speckle woke later in the evening with a throbbing headache. She groaned as her body pulled at her to go back to sleep, yet she rose to a standing position, albeit her steps were on the shaky side. Suddenly freezing in place, she realized that something wasn't quite right. Looking down at her legs, she noticed that they were much wider than before, and the bottom of her hooves had changed to a dark blue. “W-wh-”, she started to say, then slapped a hoof over her mouth in shock. Her voice was now a good three octaves lower than it normally was, which could only mean one of two things: either she was still dreaming, or she had been turned into a...stallion? Panicked, she let out a distress call, sending Ember, Lovelace, and Collin rushing in.

The trio all stopped in their tracks the moment they laid their eyes on the new stallion in the chamber. Ember blinked, surprised more than anything. If it weren't for those wavering sapphire eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. “Speckle? Is that you?” The light blue unicorn nodded, still confused out of his mind. The Lead turned to the other two. “Alphas, leave us.” They did so, and the chamber was quiet once again. Ember was cautious, walking towards his freaked out mate slowly. When he reached him, he gently cupped his face with his hooves. The newly changed stallion’s breathing had been rapid and shallow, but slowed as the other nuzzled him gently. The Lead sighed. “I'm so sorry, Speckle. Go ahead, scold me. I deserve it.” He gave him a confused stare, shaking his head.

“I ain't going to do that. You didn't know, so why should I blame you for that?”

“Well, thank you. Now all we have to do is figure out how to change you back.”

The other stallion snorted. “You say that like it's going to be an easy task.”

Ember rolled his eyes. “When you put it that way, sure.” He then took a moment to look at the necklace. “Well, if you got transformed with the necklace on, then shouldn't it reverse it if you took it off?” The unicorn attempted to, but quickly realized that the gem had somehow fused to his chest, deeming it non removable. “There goes that idea.” They both hummed in thought before his eyes flashed.

“Why don’t we ask Valentine about it? She’s a Beta, after all.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

It was now morning again, and the mare turned stallion was distraught, head down as he sobbed. Ember sat alongside him, rubbing his back as he looked on tiredly. Speckle was known to have some nasal discharge whenever she was truly upset, so to see the male with clear mucus flowing out of his nostrils, mixing with his tears to form a sticky mess in his beard would be enough to disgust anyone else around. “I-I'm not getting out of this, a-am I? I...I’m g-gonna be stuck like this… for the rest of m-my life!”, he cried out in between gasps and hiccups. Eventually, he was reduced to a quivering lump on the ground, only loud sniffles could be heard from him.

His ears perked up as he noticed that Ember was softly humming a little song, one that the other recognized. He grew quiet, looking up at the red earth pony who was sitting at his side. It was rare that the Lead hummed, much less sang, but whenever he did, it always drawed everyone's attention to him. He stopped after a moment and looked down, giving the other a soft smile. “I knew that would calm you down. There’s no need to cry, sugar plum. We’ll get through this together.” A slow nod was what he received as an answer, then a gasp as something was dawned upon.

“That's it! In order to reverse the effects of the diamond, we have to reverse the one it's worn on!”

Ember blinked. “I don't follow.”

The unicorn huffed, cleaned his face, and scrambled up to a sitting position. “I’ll put it this way. I put on the necklace as a mare, right? And I turn into a stallion. So put it on you-”

“And I turn into a mare.”

“Correct!”

“That's great and all, but again, how are you going to get it off?”

This was when a sly smirk crossed his face. “Oh, I’m not, but you are.” A beat of silence passed, making the earth pony feel slightly uncomfortable with the way the other was staring at him.

“Um, Speckle? What are you-”

He was abruptly cut off when the unicorn suddenly tackled him, bringing him to the floor. Ember's eyes narrowed. He wasn't too surprised with the action, it was common whenever the mare was in Heat. Something about this was different, however. Just the low purr that was emitting from the one on top of him and the overly content smile he had was more than enough to send some mixed signals through him, a couple that his body instantly reacted to. He tucked his legs close to his torso and instinctively draped his tail against his stomach. The unicorn chuckled throatily. “Don't worry. I ain't going to go do anything rash...unless you want me to.” A sharp glare was given, and he grinned even wider. “No? Alright. It's a shame though, that you didn't find another diamond. It would make things much more interesting.”

Ember continued to stare, although now his body was starting to betray him, reaching up to stroke his cheek. The purring only intensified, sending the earth pony’s twitching tail into overdrive, and it shot up, none too gently brushing against the insides of the other’s thighs. “Getting a bit touchy, are we?” The tail stopped its movements and Ember blushed a little. His heart skipped a beat when he felt something warm drip onto his chest, then his stomach. He watched on with growing panic as the stallion’s body began to melt, his form dissipating at a rapid pace.

“S-Speckle? Your melting!”

A deformed hoof was pressed against his mouth, silencing him. “IT’s AlrIght. JUsT leT it haPpen.”, the unicorn’s now distorted voice assured him, not that it was helping much. Before Ember could utter another word, he was gone, the last sliver of him getting absorbed into the Lead’s coat. Things went still for a few seconds, then the utter shock and worry set in. It was short lived though, as a voice could now be heard. “E-Ember? Can you hear me?” He furrowed his brow.

“Speckle, what did you do?”

“Not important. Did the diamond come out yet?”

“What are you- ah!” A sharp pain radiated in his chest, and he watched in brief horror as his skin split open, the gem roughly pushing through his flesh so it could be visible, then stopped as the skin tightened around it to hold it place. “Ah, there it is. Now all for you to do is push it out.”

“Push it out? It hurt like crazy just for it to get put in! Now you want to take it out?”

“Do you want to help me or not?” He sighed, but nodded.

“Ok, fine. But, how?”

His ear twitched as another voice piped up. “Perhaps I could be of some assistance?”

“Whaddya got, Crimson?”

“Oh, well. It’s going to hurt, but if I push right here…” Ember then felt a light tap at the crystal. “Oh, good! Speckle, give me a hoof, would you?”

“I'm on it!”

The earth pony's chest started to glow, then throb and pulse. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. The dull pain he was feeling got stronger as Crimson began to push, the tip of the gem now sticking out. He pushed harder, now half of it released from its encasement. Ember grunted in pain as one final push was given, and the gem flew out, shattering once it hit the stone floor. He sighed in relief, then gasped as an odd sensation overtook him: something thick was gushing out of the hole in his chest, said hole closing up once it was completely out. He stared at the large blue puddle that was spreading out on the floor, backing up as a hoof suddenly sprang from it.

The hoof felt around, searching for something secure to gain a sure footing on. Once it found a spot, a head formed out of the goo, followed by another leg and a torso, the hooves scraping at the stone as a figure pulled itself out. Features were becoming more distinct, and a mane and tail sprouted from their appropriate places. Finally the head lifted and turned, giving Ember a tired look. He smiled. “Welcome back, love.”

Speckle attempted to speak, but couldn't due to exhaustion. Her shoulders dropped, and she whined lowly. Stiffening as she felt his nose graze the back of her ear, she sighed, leaning back as warmth enveloped her. Her eyes closed as he tenderly rubbed her belly, her tail flicking around contently. It stopped once she fell asleep, hooves occasionally twitching as she dreamed peacefully. Ember continued to hold her, humming softly before succumbing to sleep himself.