Crystal Collar Chronicles

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Discovery
Chapter 2 - Spike
Chapter 3 - Applejack
Chapter 4 - Rarity

Chapter 1 - Discovery

Twilight Sparkle’s hooves echoed through the dark cavern. Her notes indicated that the artifact was here somewhere, but it didn’t specify its exact location. Finding the cavern complex was difficult enough, nestled as it was in the mountain range north of the castle. The entrance to the complex was even worse, and required a complex spell from Star Swirl the Bearded’s wing of the Canterlot library, a type of magic that…

Spike interrupted her mental musings. “Is it much further? It’s not cold down here, but honestly, I’m bored.” He kicked a rock down the rough stone path, and it clattered into the darkness. “I know this is important and everything, but I don’t understand why I’m here.”

“You know you’re my #1 assistant, Spike. Just like in the castle, I may need your help. This is King Sombra’s magic after all, and who knows what might happen. It’s one of my duties as Princess to try to clean up any magical residue around the castle.”

Twilight’s horn glowed and pushed back the darkness once more. Something twinkled at the edge of the light.

“That must be it!” Twilight yelled, and started galloping towards the glint in the shadows.

She levitated Spike onto her back almost as an afterthought, and within moments she reached a set of broad stone stairs leading up to a dais. In the center of the stone circle laid a plain rectangular golden box.

Twilight paused for a moment, and looked around. It felt… too easy. “Spike, do you see anything here that would prevent me from opening the box? Am I missing anything?”

Spike clambered down from her back, and looked around carefully. “I don’t see anything, Twilight. No tripwires, weight triggers, or anything else. Maybe you’re being paranoid?”

Twilight just glared at Spike, and said nothing. Instead, she tried to levitate the case off of its stone resting place. There was a black and green spark, and her magic was cancelled, the same way it was when she tried to teleport out of the trap in Sombra’s castle. She looked around again, and then reached forward with her hooves. There was another black and green spark, but nothing happened that she could tell… and then she had the case.

As she started to open it, whispers in the back of her mind stopped her. They seemed to urge her to wait until she reached her home at the library, that it would be better to analyze it there. Twilight nodded to herself, considering it reasonable, and levitated Spike back onto her back. “It’s time to go, Spike.”

Spike looked surprised. “It’s time to go? Already? But we haven’t verified...” He was interrupted by a loud *POP* as Twilight teleported them both out. And not just out of the mountain, either. Somehow, she had teleported them to Ponyville, to the Golden Oaks Library. Spike felt a little strange, as if the teleport was different somehow.

“Twilight! That was the furthest teleport you’ve ever succeeded on! That’s amazing!” Spike climbed down and shook his head, trying to clear the fuzzy feeling from his mind. “How did you do it?”

Twilight trotted over to her writing desk, and placed the golden case upon it. She didn’t respond to Spike’s question at all, and even knocked a few quills off of the desk in her hurry to put it down.

Spike gave her a strange look. “Are you alright, Twilight? You’re acting a little weird.” He thought that she normally wouldn’t be so careless with those quills. “You know, Quills and Sofas won’t have another shipment for days, and we’re already running low.”

Again, she didn’t answer. Instead, she opened the case. There was another flash of green and black magic. Twilight shook her head, and looked inside.

Inside the case was an exquisite crystal collar, lying on a black velvet insert. The collar was transparent with a pale green cast to it, and had no visible clasp or hinge. It was made of one piece, and looked as if it was carved from a single gemstone. It sparkled, and those sparkles were reflected in Twilight’s eyes.

She turned to Spike, acknowledging him for the first time. “You know what, Spike? You’re right. I’m sorry. Can you clean this up for me? That teleport really took a lot out of me. I’m exhausted, and I should go rest up. After all, tomorrow’s another day!”

Spike looked out the window. “It’s… only afternoon. Are you sure you’re okay, Twilight?”

The alicorn just nodded. “Yep! Totally fine. Just really tired. And hey, maybe you could go get me some more of those quills? After all, they’re about to run out.”

Spike just nodded uneasily. “Sure, Twilight. I’ll take care of it.” He gathered his pack, and walked out the door, casting one final uneasy glace behind him.

True to her word, though, she did go upstairs to her bedroom. Sleep was the furthest from her mind, however, as she levitated the collar along with her. When she reached her bed, she lay down on it, and started focusing her magic on it, trying to find out what exactly it was for, and what it could do. Deep inside, something told her that this was wrong, that she should destroy it as she agreed to do, council with the Princesses, but something else seemed to whisper inside her head that power was there for the taking. Power that could help her and her friends.

She rotated the ring around and around with her magic. She could sense there was power inside it, power that could at the very least act as an amplifier on her own powers. Thoughts of Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet went through her mind, but this magic felt completely different. It didn’t even feel like Sombra’s shadow magic. This must be something completely separate from both of them.

As she studied the collar, she could feel as if it were studying her in return. When she completed her observations, she felt that the collar seemed to approve of her, and she suddenly received the impulse to put it against her neck.

She stopped herself, and put the collar back in the box and closed it. “No,” she thought. “This is wrong. I’m going to take this to Canterlot tomorrow and destroy it.” She slipped the box under her pillow. She felt tired, both from her long-distance teleport and the activities of the day. She stretched her wings out and rested on her bed, closing her eyes. Moments later, she was fast asleep.

That night, she had some wild dreams. It started off fairly simply, as she dreamt she was walking through town, talking to all of her friends. After a while, though, some of them started to complain of problems. Roseluck was complaining that her belly stuck out just a bit too far. She focused on her, and it retracted, making her trim and fit. Twilight was shocked, because she knew that normally this was temporary, but here, right now, it felt permanent.

She kept walking through town, and she bumped into Cheerilee, who lamented on how being a unicorn would make it so much easier to control her class. The Princess focused, and suddenly the school teacher had horn growing out of her head! Cheerilee was thrilled, and started making things levitate. Twilight knew this sort of magic was far beyond anypony, but she continued along, feeling excited with her new-found power.

Lyra approached her, and talked about something called ‘hands’. She knew what the mare was talking about from her time through the mirror, and she focused on her. Moments later, the pony was reshaped into a human, who squealed in pleasure, just as all the other ponies around her screamed in fear. Lyra ran away, causing a commotion as she did so.

Twilight didn’t know what was going on, and reached up to rub her neck, where something felt like it was hanging there, and found the crystal collar. It was around her neck as if it belonged there. As she began to panic, she woke up.

Twilight Sparkle woke up suddenly, shaking. She’d had a nightmare of some kind, but couldn’t remember it. She had a headache, and she looked at the window. The sun was already up, and Spike hadn’t arrived to wake her up, which she was grateful for. She quickly got up and stretched, trying to remember what those dreams were.

She levitated the box out from under her pillow, and studied it for a moment before opening it. There was another greenish-black spark, and it startled her slightly. Looking at the collar, it appeared unchanged from last night. She decided that before she took the collar to Canterlot, she’d study it for a while. After all, she might be able to discover something useful from this.

A few hours later, Spike came in. “Oh, you’re up!” he said, surprised. “I mean, I guess you did get an early night… anyway, Quills and Sofas will have a new shipment this evening, and I should be able to get some more then, for tomorrow. So, what’s your plan for today?”

The dragon then saw what the alicorn was working on. Twilight had the collar out of the box again, on what appeared to be a tripod with a velvet covered plate on it. She had five or six different magical devices floating around it, and four different books open on her desk. One eye was squinted closed as she peered through a golden hexagram worked with runes of some kind.

Twilight glanced up at Spike after a long moment, giving her assistant a smile. “Oh! Hi, Spike. Sorry, just really focused here. I think I’ll be here most of the afternoon, and probably the evening. Can you just either make some food for lunch and dinner or run out and get something? I’m just not going to have time to do much else but investigate this.”

Spike looked a little concerned. “Uhh, Twilight, aren’t you supposed to tell the other Princesses about this? I mean, that’s what you told me, right? Shouldn’t we just go to Canterlot?”

The purple alicorn shook her head. “No, no. I need to gather information before we go, so that I’ll be informed when we have a council about this. I don’t want to go in empty hooved.”

Spike nodded. “Alright, Twilight, if you say so. I’ll go clean up and work on brunch.” He left the room, but Twilight never even noticed, as she returned to her studies.

Those studies yielded amazing results. Her first tests tried to detect a link between the artifact and Sombra, but there was no direct link. This item was older, before Sombra, and linked to something else. It seemed to be a device that specialized in change, although she wasn’t sure what type. As she thought about it, a memory was almost jogged involving her dreams last night, but it slipped out of her mind before she could focus on it.

As she continued her studies, the whispering in her mind grew more insistent. Her resistance slowly broke down even further, and by evening she had decided that it needed more study before taking it to Canterlot. After all, this could be a device of incredible importance. She barely noticed when Spike brought in a plate.

“Oh! Great, I’m hungry. I was hoping brunch would be ready soon,” said Twilight.

Spike gave her another worried look as he set it down next to another plate on her bed. “Uh, no, Twilight, this is dinner. It’s already evening.”

Twilight looked up at the window, finding it already dark, and she gasped. “Wow! Well, you know what they say about time flying when you’re having fun! If you could just take the first plate, Spike, I’ll eat dinner. Sorry I missed brunch.”

Spike nodded, smiled, and took away the brunch plate. “That’s fine, Twilight. Just please get some sleep, okay? We’re heading to Canterlot tomorrow after all.” He paused and looked at her intently. “We are going to Canterlot tomorrow, aren’t we?”

The princess shook her head as she moved over to her bed, shoveling hayfries into her muzzle. “Probably not. I have some more research to do before we go. Another day or two at most, though.”

Spike sighed. “Alright. But no more, okay? I’m worried about you, and we need to wrap this up. After all, we need to go back out there and search some more.” The dragon turned and left after receiving a nod of agreement from his friend.

After Spike left and she finished eating, she got back up and studied the collar some more. She’d gone through almost every test she could think of, but she felt there was something missing. Some last thing she needed to test out. A fleeting impulse went through her mind to put the collar on.

Twilight blinked. No, putting the collar on would be foolhardy. It didn’t appear to be inherently dangerous, but she hadn’t traced its origin yet, so who knew what could happen? But picking it up and rotating it around, she saw that there was no catch. There was no way to open it, no way to put it on. This made the mare more relaxed about it, and decided to bring it closer to her neck. After all, there was no harm in that, right?

She looked in her mirror, with the collar extended in front of her neck. Something in her mind suggested that she bring it closer, against her neck, to see best how it would look there. She hesitated for just a moment, but the whispers in the back of her mind were rather insistent, and she ended up doing as they asked.

There was a flash as the collar touched her fur, and then suddenly it was around her neck. Twilight immediately panicked, and tried to teleport away from the collar, across the room. The collar went along with her, staying around her neck, even as she popped from place to place. Further teleports didn’t get rid of it either, and she ended up in her room on her bed, yet again. She noticed she wasn’t as drained from these rapid teleports as she normally was, but the necklace really bothered her. Pushing on it with her hooves made no difference either. Then the whispers in the back of her throat became full, understandable voices.

“Relax, Twilight. We are here to help you,” they said. The voice in her mind was quiet and raspy, the sound of scales against silk.

“Who are you? What do you want? Could you please leave?” Twilight mentally asked, in even more of a panic.

“We are the Crystal Collar. We are here to help the bearer, which is you, Twilight. We could leave if you truly wished, but then who would possess our power? We have judged you and found you worthy. Perhaps… give us a chance?” As the voice spoke, she could feel herself relax. Whether that was the words or the influence of the collar, she couldn’t say, but at least she wasn’t panicking.

“Hmm,” Twilight thought, “the collar has a point. If I give it up, who will find it? Trixie? Discord? Someone even worse? No, I think I should probably guard this. I mean, who else could be trusted?” After considering this for a few minutes, she addressed the Collar mentally again. “Alright. But I am keeping a mental eye on you. And if I tell you to go, you must go immediately. Alright?”

“Agreed,” the Collar whispered inside her. “It will all be as you wish. All we ask is that you keep us to yourself. You do not wish us to be stolen, do you?”

Twilight agreed with the Collar. “No, not at all.” She was beginning to feel much better about the situation, completely missing the fact that if she hadn’t been able to get the collar off, how would anyone else?

By this point, it was getting rather late. She’d spent all day studying the collar, and was exhausted and cramped up. She stretched her limbs and wings, hearing the crick-crack of the cartilage, and felt better. Still tired, but relaxed. She decided she’d call it for the night and continue studying the collar tomorrow. She climbed into bed, the collar still around her neck, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Chapter 2 - Spike

That night, her dreams were even more intense than the night before. Twilight dreamed strange, intricate dreams, drenched with sexual innuendo. Over and over, she would see ponies warped into strange abominations, changing gender, species, and much more. Sometimes, the creatures weren’t even recognizable things afterwards, their bodies twisted into such a layered monstrosity from repeated transformations that not only was their former shape lost, but their current shape was completely unrecognizable.

It felt like she drifted through this landscape for a long time, seeing these creatures in these various states. After a while, however, she started seeing more normal creatures – but these creatures didn’t stay normal for long. Now, she could see the transformations occur before her eyes, ponies, gryphons, animals, and more shifting their shapes, and screaming or moaning in turns as their forms were lost. She realized that the Collar was doing this, and… it felt good. Very good, in fact. Each pony shifted made her feel that much better, that much more excited. And that excitement grew into sexual excitement.

Near the end of the dream, she was voluntarily changing ponies into the most bizarre things she could think of, her sex dripping more and more with each transformation. The Collar was merely assisting her now, as each act was performed by her own free will. The line of random ponies changed, and now she was transforming ponies she knew around town. Finally, she saw her best friends at the end of the line, but before she reached it, she woke up.

Twilight Sparkle woke up covered in sweat, her sheets stained with her arousal. She rubbed her head, which ached. Looking at the window, the sun was already up, and Spike hadn’t arrived to wake her up, which she was grateful for. She quickly got up, and cleaned everything up with her magic, erasing any hint of her nocturnal emissions. That headache was harder to deal with, though. She couldn’t really remember what happened last night.

“Good morning, Twilight,” the voices said in her head. It sounded like more voices now, stronger and clearer. “There is much to do this morning. We must prevent us from being stolen, and we need your help.”

Twilight was shocked. She’d had the Collar only a short time, and it was already in trouble! “Of course! What do you need me to do?”

“The problem is Spike. He is a dragon. Dragons eat gems and crystals. We are afraid that he would want to eat us. He must be taken care of.”

She was taken aback at the wording. “Taken care of? I can’t kill my friend! That’s horrible!” She reached up to try to take the Collar off, disgusted by its request.

“No, you misunderstand. We do not wish you to kill Spike. We just ask that he be put out of the way. In the process, you can help him.”

Twilight cocked her head to the side as she listened to what the Collar had to say, her hoof dropping back to the ground. The Collar whispered in her mind, and after a while, a smile spread on her lips. She liked the idea.

Twilight walked down the stairs, meeting Spike in the main hall of the library. “Oh, hello, Spike! Good morning! Did you take care of everything yesterday?”

Spike looked at Twilight, and saw the collar on her neck. He immediately became worried, remembering the discussion yesterday. He was beginning to be reminded of Trixie’s actions with the Alicorn Amulet. “Uhh, Twilight, shouldn’t you give that collar to the Princesses to be analyzed? I mean, you agreed to do that when we went on the expedition.”

Twilight just smiled. “Oh, of course! But I’m not finished with my own analysis yet. I did a lot of work yesterday, and verified that it’s not linked with Sombra. There’s no shadow magic in this whatsoever. It’s perfectly safe!”

Spike just watched his mentor uneasily, afraid of what might happen.

“Anyway, Spike, do you want to help me with a little experiment? I promise it won’t hurt at all, and may help your chances with Rarity.”

Spike’s eyes widened, the mention of Rarity driving out all concern and worry in his head. “Of course, Twilight! What do you want me to do? Anything for you and Rarity.” He was smiling with a somewhat dreamy expression on his face, thinking about all of the ways he could please her.

The voices whispered through Twilight’s mind once again, reinforcing their earlier discussion. “No witnesses.” She smiled brightly at Spike. “Remember on the other side of the mirror portal? Rarity really liked you when you were a dog. Do you want to see if that would work over here?”

Spike looked confused, and frowned. “A… a dog? Twilight, how would that help me? I would think I’d be more interesting to her on two legs, not four.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, she definitely loved you over there. Buuuuut… if you’re not interested in Rarity, that’s completely fine. Perhaps you’ll find somepony else!”

The dragon made a small strangled noise. “No! No! Of course, I’ll try anything to be with Rarity and have her notice me!”

Twilight nodded, as that’s all she wanted to hear. She walked over to the small dragon. “Now, dogs have collars. This will help you act the part.” Before he could protest, she touched his neck with her forehoof. The Collar around Twilight’s neck glowed slightly, and her hoof was covered with silvery green light. The light flowed around the dragon’s neck and solidified into a new Collar, albeit smaller. It was solid, with no obvious catch or latch on it to remove it. It simply appeared to have always been there.

Spike’s eyes widened at the mirror copy around his neck. “Twilight! What… what have you done?” He reached up and started tugging on the Collar, to no effect. He couldn’t even get his chin underneath it to chew on it.

“Oh, Spike, you worry too much. Just stop struggling and stand there,” Twilight ordered.

The Collar glowed, and Spike immediately obeyed. His mind was racing a million miles a minute, though. “TWILIGHT! STOP! HELP!” he yelled, hoping to get someone’s attention. But here in the library, no one could hear him scream.

“Silly Spike, everyone knows that dogs can’t talk. They just bark and whine, so you should just do that for now.”

Spike’s yelling morphed into the barks of a dog, as his eyes widened in terror. He started to whimper, knowing that his fate was now entirely in the alicorn’s hooves.

“Alright, so, the scales just have to go. You should grow fur all over your body. Let’s go with a deep brown color, with a white belly. I think that would look cute on you,” Twilight said.

The dragon’s scales faded into his skin. His headruff also sank into his skull. All over his body, little hairs started sprouting out through his new skin. It was patchy at first, especially until the scales all disappeared, but then it started growing in with more and more depth. After a few moments, he was covered with a thick coat of fur that wouldn’t look out of place on any canine.

“A dog needs a doggy tail, so that should go next. You should have a nice, waggy doggy tail.”

His thick dragon tail began to shrink down, and he started to feel unbalanced, tipping forward a bit before he caught himself. His tail diminished until there was just a nice, long dog’s tail, complete with fur. It wasn’t wagging, though. Not with what he was going through and feeling.

Every step of this process was increasing Twilight’s arousal. She was already about to drip down the back of her legs, and she wasn’t even done yet. “Hmmm, well, two legs simply don’t work for a dog. You need to get down on all fours, and you should just take the body structure of a dog. While you’re at it, grow some cute little paws, too. Hands are useless to dogs.”

Spike felt himself forced to the ground, humiliated by taking a quadruped’s stance. His hips and shoulders rearranged themselves to lock him into that position, and his arms and legs thinned out to match his new shape. His chest changed as well, barreling out as his stomach pulled in. The stomach he gained from eating all those gems was gone, replaced with a lean canine stomach. The final indignity was losing his hands. His thumbs were the first to go, as they drifted up his arms and became vestigial. His fingers became furry nubs, and his claws became the blunted claws of a dog. His neck cracked as his head tilted forward, pointing straight ahead. It didn’t hurt, as Twilight had promised it wouldn’t, but it felt strange… and very wrong. Much worse than it had been through the mirror. He barked and whined to let Twilight know about his terror, anger, and sense of betrayal.

“Oh, come on, Spike! Rarity will love this new you! Just a few more steps.” The mare was visibly growing more aroused. “Your head is all wrong; you need a dog’s head. Big floppy ears. But keep your mind intact, we wouldn’t want to lose that.”

The former dragon winced as he felt the bones in his head slide around, reshaping his head into a canine’s. His ear fins moved up and shifted into big floppy dog ears, rolling down his head in simultaneous motions. His muzzle lengthened, his teeth staying somewhat sharp, but not as sharp as they were as a dragon. His tongue grew long as well, and he started smelling a lot more smells with his new nose. The worst part then hit him – he felt himself lose something now that he was almost entirely a dog. There was a sense of his dragon magic, the inner magic that he always had since he was born, just… dissipating. It flowed out of his body, unseen to everyone. Everyone but the Collar, which pulled the energy into itself and glowed ever so slightly brighter. The feeling made Spike whimper once again.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s alright, Spike. You’re excited and happy about these changes!” She looked at him with a critical eye. “Oh, almost forgot… your equipment. You need a dog’s equipment down there. Just finish that off, and then we’ll go walkies. You should really have the form of a fully adult dog. After all, Rarity isn’t going to want to date a puppy.”

Spike suddenly felt happier, as alien feelings flooded throughout him. He didn’t have any reason to be happy, but he felt that way. And excited, too! What sort of adventures were in store? His tail started wagging, even as he felt the last dragon bit of him change, his malehood. It shifted underneath him, changing and molding into a dog’s normal sheath, with balls hanging behind. He felt himself get bigger and stronger as his muscles filled in and he reached adulthood. Something in his brain nagged him that all of this was bad, but he didn’t have time for that. He was going walkies!

The duo walked through Ponyville. A few ponies remarked on her new dog, and Twilight thanked them. For some reason, no one seemed to notice or at least comment on the collars on the pair, and that was just fine as far as the mare was concerned. It meant that she didn’t have anyone else to get out of the way. Part of her was feeling squeamish about the next part she was going to do, but it was important. The voices were quite insistent on that, and they were right. After all, they’d been so reasonable.

After a while, the two reached Apple Acres, and Twilight searched the fields, looking for something. After a few minutes, she found that she didn’t need to find the object of her search at all – it came to them.

Winona had streaked across the field when she saw the Princess pony, and was jumping up on her, excited to see her. After all, the pony always brought her pettings, and sometimes treats. But the male dog next to her was even more interesting. She hadn’t met this one before! Her doggy thoughts led her to sniff at him, including the standard sniffing at the rear.

Spike had lost some of the enthusiasm he had before, and now that he was part of this ritual with the smaller dog, he started to grow uncomfortable. This was just driving into his mind that he was really a dog now, not just temporarily one in another world. Twilight was giving him the eye, though, so he half-heartedly sniffed back at the bitch. She smelled interesting, at least. Some deeper, primal part of his mind started to activate in his mind, and he felt his cock start to loosen in his sheath. This was extremely weird for him, as he had never even gone through puberty as a dragon, but he was a full grown adult dog now, and had a dog’s needs. He pushed back against those thoughts, whimpered again, and backed away from Winona.

Twilight shook her head. “No, no. This won’t do at all. You just need more encouragement. After all, she’s going to be your best new friend.” As Winona looked to Twilight, confused, the alicorn reached down and touched her neck. Again, the silvery green light glowed around her hoof, and once again a collar flowed around the pup’s neck, solidifying in the same collar that she and Spike wore. Twilight leaned down and whispered to Winona, “You are going into heat now.”

Immediately, a warmth spread throughout Winona’s body, one she was familiar with. After all, she’d been through this sort of thing before. And hey, there was a male dog right here to help her! She ran around a bit, nipping at Spike, then rubbing against him, before finally just turning around and presenting herself to him.

The former dragon was panting in terror now. He could smell those incredibly enticing smells coming from the bitch in front of him, and tried hard to resist. It was difficult, though, but even though his doggy shaft was fully erect, he was able to prevent himself from jumping on her, no matter how much she wanted it.

Twilight frowned. This was not going the way she intended at all. They were supposed to run off and have puppies and be happy. Suddenly, she tilted her head, and that slow smile began to spread once again on her mouth. “Both of you,” she ordered, “Switch minds with each other.”

Spike’s mind was almost shattered as it found itself now in a completely alien body, flooded with hormones. Not only was he in a dog’s body, but he was in a smaller, different one that was also female! The emotions, instincts, and smells were completely overwhelming, and all he could do was just stand there, still presenting.

Winona, once transferred, was able to compensate much more easily. After all, she was merely an animal, and one who’s instincts were mostly the same as the body she just inhabited. She blinked a few times in confusion as her instincts to be rutted were replaced by instincts to rut instead, and then she took advantage of that to jump on the waiting bitch in front of her.

Spike yelped sharply as she felt the dog behind her thrust inside her wet, dripping sex. The waves of pleasure she felt drowned any thoughts of resistance, and when Winona bit down on her neck, it just made her feel that much more submissive.

Twilight nodded, pleased at the outcome. She stepped forward, and touched the collar of first Winona in Spike’s changed body, and then Spike in Winona’s body as the two continued their business. With each touch, the collar glowed and flowed back into her hoof, locking each of the two into their forms.

“Just what in tarnation is goin’ on here?” a voice asked behind her.

Twilight twirled around, and saw Applejack standing there, staring at her and the two dogs. “I… I… I can explain, Applejack…” she stuttered out.

Inside Twilight’s head, two words echoed: “No witnesses.”

Chapter 3 - Applejack

Applejack stood there, watching the two dogs go at each other. From her perspective, Twilight’s dog was trying his best to impregnate her pet.

“Twi, when did you git a dog? And don’t you know better than to let him have a go at a female dog in heat? Although, I didn’t remember her being in heat.”

Twilight seemed to be at a loss for words, even as the male dog gave a final push and filled Spike with his puppy cream. “Oh!” she said, trying to salvage the situation. “Sorry about that! Yes, I got a new dog. But hey, it’s too late now, right? Let’s just leave these two at it. I came to talk to you!”

The farm pony nodded, and looked back at the two dogs, now knotted together. “What’s yer dog’s name, anyway?”

The alicorn blinked again, before finding her voice. “Spi… Spark! His name is Spark!”

With her body sated for the moment, Spike turned and shot a hurt look at Twilight. Applejack caught it, but didn’t really understand. After all, that was Winona, who was her pet.

Applejack just nodded to Twilight, and started walking over to the barn. “Sure, we can talk. I reckon there’s nothin’ to be done here. Winona havin’ puppies’ll be good for the farm. I’ll just have Fluttershy look at her later to make sure she’s okay.”

Twilight nodded, relieved, as she followed Applejack to the barn, leaving the two dogs alone. Spike could do nothing but watch them leave, as she was still knotted to Winona in her old, transformed body.

The two mares strolled into Applejack’s expansive barn. Since the last time it was destroyed, she had improved the design. There was a large bottom portion that was open for general storage of both feed and animals, as well as a series of individual stables in case they were needed. She had been getting the barn stocked up for her animals, so there was plenty of feed organized into different types.

The farm pony strode into the barn, asking her friend some questions. “So, you got new pet? Is your owl okay?”

Twilight tried to smile that looked convincing, even as the voices in her mind grew stronger. “Oh! Owlowiscious is just fine. I just thought a dog might be…”

Applejack cut the other pony off. “What’s wrong, sugarcube? You look different. And you’re nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. What’ve you been up to?”

The alicorn’s brittle smile widened into almost a manic grin. “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, Applejack. Why would you think anything’s wrong? Nope! Nothing wrong here! Nothing at all!”

AJ shook her head, and gestured with her hoof. “One, you show up with a new pet out of the blue. Two, Spike’s not with you. Three, you have some weird collar around your neck. Four, your horn is all… weird. Five, you’re doing that thing where you panic when you’re lying. Something’s just not right. We should talk to Princess Celestia.”

The voices threatened to overwhelm Twilight now. They screamed inside her mind that she was discovered, and that she needed to do something NOW. She shivered. This was different than just putting Spike out of the way. This was one of her real, true friends; a bearer of the Element of Harmony, and someone she had fought many dangers with. But…

“Just put her out of the way,” the voices said in her head, trying to convince, rather than force. “You can explain later. But you can’t be discovered now. Put her out of the way.”

Twilight sighed once again, still unsure, but feeling she had no other way. “Applejack,” she said, as she approached the orange pony, “I have discovered something that can help your farm.”

Before Applejack could react, Twilight reached forward, and her glowing hoof brushed against her. The farm pony felt something wrap around her neck, and she looked down to see a mirror of the collar that the purple pony wore around her own neck.

“Twilight!” she yelled, as she reached up to try to get it off. “You can’t just collar me! What in tarnation are you trying to do?” She tried and tried, but even with her strength, she couldn’t budge it.

“Just… just relax. The Collar can help you, and help the farm. Just listen to what I have to say.”

Applejack stopped trying to force the collar, and became relaxed, just as instructed. “How is some sort of strange magical thing going to help my farm? And what is going on with you? Your horn is looking pretty weird.”

That was the second time she’d called attention to her horn, Twilight thought. She took a step over to a bucket of water and looked in, catching her reflection, now that Applejack was at least quiescent. As she did, she tried to explain.

“The Collar is good,” the alicorn said. “It makes whatever you want come true, as long as you’re focusing it on others.”

Her words cut off as she saw herself in the water. The reflection showed that Twilight’s horn had grown into a thin spire, closer in appearance to Princess Celestia’s or Princess Luna’s horn. But it looked off, as well, as the horn appeared to have strange bubbles in the keratin. Bulbous growths grew out of her horn at random intervals. There were only a few, and they weren’t large, but they were definitely there.

“What have you done to me?” she screamed into her mind, trying to talk to the Collar. “You’ve ruined my horn! I don’t like where this is going. I demand that you leave me, right now.”

The voices inside her mind grew louder. “But Twilight, think of the power you could have. You can help your friends. You can do anything you want.”

Twilight disagreed with the voices. “No. You said you would go when I told you, so I am telling you now. Leave. Begone,” she said to them.

The voices simply said, “As you wish,” and then went silent. She was surprised at how easy it was to get rid of them. She wondered if she had made a mistake.

Meanwhile, as Twilight was telling the voices to go away, no one noticed energy flowing between hers and Applejack’s Collar. But the farm pony definitely recognized that something was going on when voices spoke in her head.

“Applejack,” they said quietly, “I am the voice of the Collar, the one that Twilight said was good. You now have the power to help your friend and your farm. Merely say what you desire.” It explained the plan, and Applejack, having been told that the Collar was good, listened, understood, and agreed.

Twilight looked up from her reverie to see Applejack’s head cocked to the side, as if she was listening to something. As she was no idiot, she immediately understood what was going on. “Applejack! You…”

Applejack quickly cut her off. “No, no. I don’t want to listen to you yakking on anymore. Why don’t you just stay quiet?”

Suddenly, Twilight realized she couldn’t talk. She went into an instant panic, realizing that the power of the Collar had been turned on her. No matter what she did, she couldn’t say a thing. She started to ready a spell to get her out of here, to go to Princess Celestia, or someone else who could help.

“Nope,” Applejack said calmly, and quickly. “Give me that.” She reached up, and with a sharp yank, she pulled Twilight’s horn from her forehead. “Can’t have none of that. Just stand there and let me think.”

Just like that, the alicorn’s magic was gone. Her horn was gone. Sure, it was painless, but now - now she couldn’t talk, couldn’t do magic, and could only stand! She fidgeted nervously as she watched her friend pace back and forth.

Inside the orange mare’s head, there was a discussion going on. Everything the Collar said seemed perfectly reasonable. “You just sit tight there, Twilight. Just like you said, this is gonna help the farm, and you’re gonna help me too.”

Twilight, now only a pegasus, watched Applejack leave the barn with mounting worry.

Applejack looked around the farm for a while before finding Big Macintosh pulling in the last of the apples from the field. He had filled a large wagon full of them, but didn’t seem to mind the weight at all. He reached the middle of the yard where the barrels were kept, and stopped. He looked over and watched his sister approach.

She wasted no time on small talk, and immediately started talking after she got close enough. “Hey, Big Mac, I need you for a project. Might take a week or so, but I reckon it’ll help the farm. You up for it?” she asked.

Big Macintosh eyed his sister, and the collar she wore. He didn’t trust it much, but didn’t see any reason to disagree. “Eeeyup,” he replied.

“Great,” the mare said, and reached forward, her hoof glowing. Although Big Mac pulled back a bit, he was too slow. The glow touched him, and a large collar flowed around his neck.

“Alright, so you remember how Fergus and Millie left us a while back? Said they wanted to move out west, because they thought that grazing would be better? Well, you’re gonna be Fergus for a while, and I have a Millie waiting for you. So, let’s get you turned into a bull. We’ll start with your head. Just change your head to a bull’s head, and you should think you’re a bull too. A big, dumb, gentle bull.” She spoke plainly to the big stallion, following the voices in her head’s directions.

Big Mac looked panicked for a moment, but that passed quickly as his skull started to thicken, and his brain grew simpler. His memories of being a pony and an Apple were submerged, pushed deep inside his mind as new instincts and memories were created. New memories of being a bull his whole life, and that his name was Fergus bloomed within his mind. He knew he wasn’t smart, but his job wasn’t to be intelligent; it was to help around the farm with any tasks that he could help with.

His head widened, adding to its size. That size continued to expand as horns sprouted from the sides of his head, growing thick and pointed. As the horns grew, they pushed his ears down so that they pointed straight out of the sides of his head. The stallion looked at Applejack with dull eyes, as if wondering what he should do next.

Applejack nodded, pleased with the change. “Now, you’re sure I can change him back after we’re done?” she asked the voices of the Collar.

They responded, “Yes, absolutely. They are only as permanent as the holder of the Collar wishes them to be. As long as they wear a Collar, they can be changed. One the Collar is removed, they are locked in their form, but a Collar can always be re-administered.”

She was pleased. Twilight had told the truth. She could use her brother to get a foal or two, and then change him back. The farm would be saved.

Applejack examined his brother, who was having issues holding his heavy head up. “Oh, right,” she said. “Sorry ‘bout that. Anyway, you’re strong now, but you should be even stronger, and much larger. Your body should change to a big bull’s body. A lot longer, thicker, and stronger than your pony body.”

Big Mac’s body responded to the instruction as it first grew longer, then broader. He bulked up even larger than he had been before, and larger still than most bovines. There were a few pops and cracks as his chest broadened, and grew closer to the ground. At the same time, his hide grew thicker, and his fur became coarser. Muscles bulged under his skin, making him a sleek paragon of his new species. His tail grew longer, the dock extending into a longer, fleshy tail, while the hair grew rough, long, and tangled. The bull let out a moo of appreciation, looking back at his large, masculine frame. He flexed his muscles, and they rippled along his body.

As the big stallion grew larger, he felt more complete, more right with the image in his head. The twisting of his organs and muscles felt strange, but also felt like how he should have always been. It made the newly made bull eager, energetic, and horny.

The farm pony smiled, feeling pleased by her brother’s new body. “Almost there, sugarcube. Time for your danglies. You’re gonna need a bull cock with that bull body. Make your penis and balls a bull’s, and make ‘em extra fertile. You’re gonna need a lot of seed.”

Big Mac let out another moo, this time of surprise, as his shaft changed to fit his new species. There wasn’t a lot of change there, just a rearrangement of parts. The main modification was the larger balls, churning full of cum, just waiting to be used. As this last change completed, a spark moved from the bull’s Collar and touched Applejack’s. It glowed briefly with a green light, which faded quickly.

Applejack nodded in approval, and led the newly docile bull towards the barn.

Twilight, meanwhile, was scratching things into the dirt. She was trying to work out some methodology of getting out of here without any of her unicorn magic. She had already tried to take flight, but her wings refused to work due to the wording of the command. She couldn’t scream for help. She had spent a few minutes trying to reach for a rope with her mouth, in order to pull her out of her position, but to no avail; it was simply too far away. She looked up as she heard the barn door open, and she went white as she saw that Applejack was leading in a massive bull with a collar. She tried to say something, but of course, that didn’t work.

“Oh hey, Twilight,” Applejack said. “Big Mac here volunteered to help the farm out a bit. I know it’s not his normal job, but he seems real eager to get started.”

Indeed, the bull saw Twilight and seemed fairly eager. At this point, though, he was eager to fuck almost anything - Twilight, the hole in the wall, the bales of hay, the pail of water, the fence post - anything. The only thing he didn’t consider was Applejack. Twilight wondered why that was, but her thoughts were cut short when she released Big Mac in the direction of the purple pony. “She’s all yours,” she told him, but he was past listening at that point, running towards the terrified mare.

The bull ran past Applejack, as she took a few steps forward. As the horny cow moved around to reach a position behind the now-pegasus, AJ leaned forward, and whispered, “As Big Mac fucks you, become whatever he wants with each thrust. That way, he has a good mate, and we get a good calf or two.”

As Applejack stepped back, Twilight’s eyes widened at the statement. She kept mouthing ‘no’ over and over again, but it was no good at all. She couldn’t say anything, and even if she could, she couldn’t stop what was about to happen. She felt the weight on her back, and immediately collapsed under the weight. She was pressed underneath the bull, as there was no way she could handle that much muscled cow on top of her. She felt Big Mac’s cock start to probe under her tail, searching for the opening, and she tried very hard to move right and left to avoid it, but in the end, it found its mark.

Twilight let out a voiceless cry as the bull’s penis went in just an inch, and then, as if sensing that it had found its quarry, thrust deeper within. The angle was all wrong, however, as she was still pressed into the ground, unable to move.

That’s when Twilight started to feel the tingling.

It started first in her sex, where she could feel her inner walls growing thicker, her womb shifting her organs around to grow deeper within her body, becoming more accommodating that shaft that was seeking her depths. As she felt him thrust inside, she then felt the tingling spread to her legs. She tried to ignore the invader pushing its way inside her, but the sensations were growing more difficult to ignore.

Her body became stronger and larger due to the efforts and desires of the huffing bull, and she started to stand, at least a little. The weight was still enormous, but she no longer had the thin elegant legs of an alicorn; instead, they were the thicker legs and flanks of a bovine. Her whole skeleton had started to thicken up, and the flesh around it crawled and expanded.

That tingling became more intense, moving from her now complete cow sex and legs to her udder and body. She could feel her organs start to rearrange themselves within her, causing no pain, but plenty of discomfort. Her flesh crawled on her thickening bones, made to hold much more weight than before. Her teats expanded and duplicated, and Twilight could feel them lengthen almost to the ground, as her udder expanded at the same time. The flesh actually creaked at the rapid expansion, and the new cow felt dizzy from all of the changes in such a short time.

The dizziness kept going as her body reached its final configuration, though, as she realized the tingling had reached her neck and head. Already panicked, she really started to freak out, as the tendrils of change reached into her mind. The ongoing continual pounding started feeling good, then really good. She fought against the feelings that were pushing through her brain, trying to ignore them, but then a picture of Big Mac’s bovine cock pounding into her pussy started to superimpose itself over everything. She couldn’t concentrate, or figure anything out – it was just that picture, and the desire, and the feeling. It was getting harder and harder to think as her skull started to thicken up, and her muzzle widened. Every thrust into her, every lewd schurp as he drove himself into the horny cow, every sound as his heavy, fertile balls slapped against her enormous udder only served to drive her on, to push everything she was deeper and deeper, until only a cock-addicted, stupid cow remained. The last thing that happened was Twilight’s cutie mark finally fading into a black smudge on the cow’s flank, followed by a bright spark travelling from her Collar to Applejack’s. Her horn, now forgotten, lay in the hay in the corner of the barn.

As her Collar glowed with the addition of the spark, it grew in power, and started instructing Applejack what to do next. “Leave them to it,” the voices said. “You must find more subjects.” This time, the voices were not querulous, or plaintive – they were demanding. And they were obeyed. The Collar was done working for people, it now craved only one thing: more power. The farm pony’s mind was broken with the power of the Collar, now infused with magic from an alicorn.

There was a deep moo from the cow that used to be Twilight, as Big Mac finally released his seed into her womb. She shuddered with a long, hard orgasm, fulfilled in her purpose as a breeding cow. Big Macintosh filled her to overflowing, and his spunk ran down her legs and dripped onto the floor. The enormous bull, satisfied, stayed on the impregnated cow’s back for a while, before dropping off with a wet plop as his cock withdrew from her sopping sex.

Applejack trotted out of the barn, giving little thought to her friend now that she was completely in thrall to the voices in the Collar, in search of their next victim.

Chapter 4 - Rarity

Rarity was getting ready for her next show, scheduled to start in Canterlot in three weeks. She had already put at least two weeks of work into it, and it felt good not to procrastinate for once. Finally, she had things under control, and she would be done in another week - leaving two full weeks for any unforeseen events.

She hummed to herself as she worked, levitating fabrics around the Carousel Boutique, pinning them to the poniquins in different ways, testing the fit this way and that. She was proud of the dresses she’d already completed, but the current one she was working on was special. She just couldn’t quite get the lines right, but she was sure that she’d get it soon.

“This time, I’m ready for anything,” Rarity thought, just as there was a knock on the door of the Boutique.

“Who is-” is as far as Rarity got, before the door opened and Applejack walked in. Rarity immediately detected something was wrong with her, just by how she walked, let alone by the collar that was around her neck. She always did have an eye for jewelry, after all.

“Why Applejack, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? You almost never come here unless you need something. And that necklace! It’s magnificent! What material is it made of? Some sort of gemstone?”

Applejack didn’t say anything, but just approached Rarity with a sort of transfixed stare. She reached up and touched her Collar, and an identical one appeared in her hoof. “Uhh... yeah, Rarity,” using stilting words, “It’s some kinda gem. Here, you need one yerself. Let me help you.”

Rarity took a step back, sensing how wrong everything was. Her eyes darted to either side to see what her options were. “Oh! Yes, of course, Applejack. Let me have that.”

The unicorn’s magic levitated the Collar from Applejack, who froze in surprise. Inside the earth pony’s head, her Collar was talking to her.

“Tackle her to the ground,” it said. “Put the Collar on her and make her another cow.”

Applejack resisted. “No, she’s... she’s my friend! I already have a breeding cow in Twilight! I don’t need another one!”

The voice grew more annoyed and forceful. “Tell her to put the collar on. Now. No witnesses.”

As Applejack fought with the voices in her head, she stood there, motionless, her head tilted to the side as if she was listening to a distant voice. Rarity took the opportunity to look more closely at the Collar she had levitated over. It was quite exquisite, and her talent told her that it was a crystal gemstone she was unfamiliar with. It glowed slightly green, but the crystal was white.

Rarity held it up close to her fur, to see how it matched. She felt this was probably safe, as there was no catch on the ring of crystal, and no way for it to go on. She was shocked, then, when brushing it against her fur made the Collar move. It popped out of her magical levitation and appeared around her neck.

Rarity emitted a shriek in surprise, and the voices in Applejack’s head immediately went silent.

Applejack said, “Rarity! Watch out, that thing is dangerous!” The transfixed look had vanished, as had the overriding feeling of being pushed into a direction she didn’t want to go.

Rarity now had that look on her face, as if she was listening to a distant voice. It was speaking to her, now. “You can appreciate my gifts more than the earth pony,” it said. “I will make you famous. I will give you the ability to create anything you want. Just do as I say.”

Applejack grew worried, and turned to run. “Don’t worry, Rares, I’m gonna go get help! I know where Twilight is, and..,” she stopped. “Oh no, Twilight! We gotta fix this! I’m gonna go get Princess Celestia!”

Rarity just smiled. “Hold on, Applejack. Just stay here with me a moment, would you?” She was surprised when the orange mare stopped where she stood, unable to move another step.

“I did that?” she thought at the Collar.

“Yes,” it said. “And you can do so much more. Keep Applejack here, and go find others. You must bestow your gifts on all of Equestria. If Applejack leaves, they will take me away.”

“Sorry, Applejack, but I must insist you stay here for now,” the unicorn said. “This Collar you brought me is wonderful! It’s telling me all sorts of things, and showing me what it can do! I can use this to spread my dresses all over Equestria!”

Applejack shook her head. “No, ya don’t understand, Rares. It tells ya to do stuff, but it lies to ya. It’s not yer friend, it’s just tryin’ ta take everything over! It made me turn Twilight into a cow!”

Rarity shook her head. “No, no, it’s a tool. I can handle it, darling.” She paused a moment, and then looked surprised. “A cow? That’s awful! Why would you do such a thing to poor Twilight? I’ll have to go over there and fix that, after I finish this dress, at least. Be a dear and come over to help, would you, Applejack?”

Applejack had no choice but to walk up onto the dais where the poniquin stood. “Stand still, dear,” Rarity said, as she levitated the cloth and moved it from the stuffed dummy over to Applejack. “Oh, this is so much better than the poniquin! You have just the proportions I need, darling.”

“She could be even more useful,” said the voice in the white mare’s head. “You can change her to make her better to style the dress with.”

Rarity giggled, “Of course, darling! Now, Applejack, I know you’re a flesh and blood pony, but it would be ever so much more useful if your body was padded cloth, so that I could stick you with needles and you wouldn’t mind it. These dress pieces keep falling off of you!”

Applejack felt her body start to shift under the power of the Collar. “No, Rarity! This is what it does to ponies! You can’t!”

As both mares watched, Applejack’s fur and flesh started changing. Starting at her legs and creeping up, it underwent a startling metamorphosis. The orange faded a bit as cloth covered the fur, moving up one leg, then another, and another, until all of them were covered. It didn’t stop there, and it soon engulfed her body, moving across her belly. It left nothing flesh in its path.

Applejack yelled, “No! This is just wrong!” as the cloth started to cover her back. Inside, the earth pony could feel other changes. It wasn’t just covering her with cloth - it was making her artificial inside. She couldn’t move her legs, but she could feel the metal poles that now held her up. Most startling was when she started to feel as if she didn’t need to breathe anymore as her organs faded and turned first to stuffing, and then to empty space as she hollowed out.

The cloth and padding moved to her rear end, and erased her teats as if they were never there. They then moved up her backside, smoothing everything there to a null, blank padded back. Her tail turned into something that was just sewn into the fabric, almost an afterthought by the designer.

She struggled, but she couldn’t move anything but her head, and that was now stiffening. As the numbness moved up her neck and onto her head, she cried out once more, “Don’t let it do this, Rarity! Save me!” These were her last words as the cloth enveloped her muzzle and face, closing her mouth and erasing her eyes. Even her ears disappeared, as those were unnecessary. As the change finished, Applejack couldn’t see or hear, but she could definitely still feel. Even with a hollow head, she could think and still felt the dress bits on her.

Rarity wasted no time. “Don’t worry, Applejack, this is just temporary,” she said, even though the poniquin could no longer hear her. “We’ll get you changed back soon.”

Twilight stared into space as she chewed her cud. Thoughts flowed through her mind and back out again, few of them sticking around for long. Now that her heat was satisfied for the moment, however, a few thoughts started to linger. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings.

On the other side of the barn was her mate, Big Macintosh the bull. He slowly ate from the oat trough, paying no attention to the cow for the moment. He too was satiated, and she looked on to other things in the barn, thinking of nothing in particular.

Spike slunk into the barn, looking for Twilight. She had gotten away from Winona for the time being, but her own heat seemed to be a constant thing, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she was discovered.

It was pretty obvious who Twilight was now, as while her horn, wings, and cutie mark were missing, her coloring hadn’t changed. Purple cows weren’t exactly very common.

“There she is!” thought Spike. “But why is she a cow? She still has the collar on!” She started to bark at Twilight to get her attention.

Twilight looked down at the dog, and then dipped into her food trough and took a mouthful of oats. “Oats taste a lot better than they did before. Before... before what?” she thought. The newly formed cow felt like she was missing something, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. She looked down again at the bitch and chewed thoughtfully.

Spike stopped barking, and then started sniffing around. If she was going to be stuck in this form, she was going to at least make it work. “I wonder if there’s anything here that would be useful,” she thought. There was a smell of something over in the haystack in the corner. She walked over to it and started digging into it, only to find Twilight’s horn.

Spike was momentarily shocked. It didn’t look like it had been broken off; it looked intact, as if someone had simply plucked it from the alicorn’s head. She bent down and picked it up in her jaws. Just as she turned around to take it back to Twilight, a very familiar smell hit her. A few moments later, Winona trotted into the barn. Spike wasted no time, and ran out of the barn as if her ass was on fire - which, in a way, it was. Winona chased after her, as Twilight watched the two dogs run out of the barn, her horn being carried by one of them.

“That seems very familiar,” she thought. “I think that’s important. Maybe..,” but the thought was cut off by a weight on her back, as Big Mac was back for another round. The thoughts were driven out of her mind once again as he hit the mark, and filled her.

Twilight’s eyes rolled back in her head and the horn was forgotten again as all she could think about was the cock thrusting deep into her over and over. Her enormous udder swayed with each push, sloshing with their milky contents. The collars glowed again as Twilight grew a little smaller, becoming even more tailored to the bull’s tastes. A few tendrils move through her mind, and she felt more submissive towards him as well, desiring little more thabn to have his calves. She was simply lost in the moment again, nothing but putty in Big Macintosh’s hooves.

Rarity whistled as she worked, pinning this here, and that there, working on the dress in progress. She paused in the middle, considering. “Well, this won’t do at all! I thought you had the right measurements, but it’s not quite right. You need to be a bit more broad in the rear, and narrow in the chest. It just isn’t as versatile as I need it to be! More changes are in order.”

“A proper poniquin has knobs and levers, and is adjustable to whatever size I need for a client,” Rarity declared. As simple as that, Applejack changed again. This time, the changes were more invasive, as the panels that made up the earth pony started to separate from each other. Gearwork appeared inside her hollow form, and her back and sides split apart to allow for more modularity. In addition, seams appeared on each limb and around the neck in order to facilitate removal and modular changes for different lengths of leg or types of head.

Applejack felt seams form on her strange body. It felt like someone was tracing with a pencil across her skin, moving from place to place as her form all but fell to pieces. It was still kept together with gears, springs, levers, and catches, but she felt more scattered after this change than before. She could think, but it seemed like every time a knob was adjusted or a lever was turned, she felt more distant from the pony she used to be, and more familiar with the thing she was now.

“So much better!” Rarity declared, as she went to work, adjusting Applejack here and there. Her waist was pulled in, and her flanks were expanded. Her head was lowered, and her legs shortened. Every turn of a dial or spin of a knob made the poniquin feel less pony, and more equipment. Her mind was starting to freeze as well, as if it was starting and stopping in odd ways.

The unicorn was considering additional changes to make Applejack even more useful, but an alarm went off behind her. “Oh!” she declared, “It’s time to meet up with Fluttershy for our afternoon tea! I can’t very well keep her waiting, now can I? Applejack, you just stick around here, and we’ll make some beautiful dresses together, darling!”

Applejack couldn’t do much other than comply. A completely artificial pony now, she couldn’t move even if she wanted to, and something was telling her she didn’t even want to do that. A complacency settled over her at the mare’s words, and she became increasingly satisfied with her situation.

“I wanna help Rarity..,” she thought. “We can... make pretty dresses...”

Rarity took one last look at her creation before leaving, frowned, and used her magic one last time. “I want to get one last look from just the torso,” she mumbled to herself, almost forgetting that the poniquin was once a flesh and blood pony and a friend. There were a few clicks, and Applejack’s head came free from the rest of her body. There was no blood, of course, as she was just a hollow form, but Applejack’s mind seized up, unable to handle being disconnected in such a way. The head was levitated down to the floor, all quiet within it.

“Yes, I think that will look quite nice indeed, once I add more to the back. It needs to drape a bit more in the flank. But that will be for later, I must head off to Fluttershy’s cottage! She puts on the most wonderful tea services.” As she spoke, a spark travelled from Applejack’s head unseen and was absorbed into Rarity’s collar.

“Yes,” said the voice in her head. “You should meet more of your friends. Introduce us. More would be useful.” Rarity simply nodded along, as she grabbed her shawl and walked out the door.

Spike had lost Winona again, but was hiding under a barn. The urges of her new form were starting to get the best of her, but she still held on. It was easy to just stop thinking, to just concentrate on the puppies that would soon be squirming inside her, to think of that dog climbing on top of her and rutting her again...

She shook her head, clearing the memories away. She couldn’t stop now, not with Twilight relying on her. After all, she was the only one who knew what happened to Spike, and she was the only one who could help. The dog jumped up, and ran out the door, looking for help once again.