Crystal Collar Chronicles

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.