Brad was gently rubbing along Bella's neck and side when his phone jingled. He dug it out. "Hello?"

"Brad?" The voice sounded quite formal. "I have some news."

Brad recognized the voice with a smile. "You got a price on things?"

"More than that. These are valuable enough that there are more steps involved. Except one. It's worthless. The statue. Want me to dispose of it?" There was a moment of quiet. "No charge."

"N-no. I'll swing by and pick it up." Bella nudged him with a little snort. "I'll come by on my horse." He laughed gently. "Won't bring her inside, promise."

The voice on the other end seemed relieved. "Thank you. That makes this much easier. You have a good day."

Brad clicked his phone off and went to call Twilight and RC, getting them together for another little outing.

Bella trotted along nicely as they headed down the road to the appraiser's office. They passed under the shade of a few trees, spotting the place in the distance.

He had to tie her up just in front. "Not that I imagine you'd wander off." Bella gently thumped him with her massive head. "Rules are rules." He patted her with a laugh. "Let's get the statue back. Still, not worth anything?"

She snorted at that, almost sounding disappointed.

"I agree. We'll get them all sorted out. It's more than worth the time." He pet her as he walked up to the door and opened it, RC and Twilight trailing behind.

The same appraiser was there, waiting for them. "That was quick." The statue was on the desk, clean, shining, and waiting. "Here it is. The coins need to be registered. They're historic relics. I could be held liable if I helped you sell them before we did that step. The registry will have thoughts about what to do with them."

Brad looked over the statue and gently picked it up. "And the statue?"

"If you want to keep it, you can. Otherwise, I'd say throw it out." The appraiser shook his head. "Not nearly as valuable as it first appeared. That happens. It's only worth its mineral contents, and those aren't anything worth getting excited about."

"Bummer." Brad chuckled softly. "So, uh, can we look at the paperwork? Get things rolling?"

The appraiser holds up his hands. "I'm getting a cut. That includes paying for those papers. I'm already on the case. I'll let you know the instant they get back to me. Maybe, I can find some sort of deal that will include selling them as a set. A lower price, but they go together."

Brad shrugged lightly. "Whatever works. Just be honest with us, okay? We don't want to get taken for a ride."

He smiled and offered a hand. "I don't get business by treating my clients poorly. Word of mouth is half of how I get around."

Brad nodded and shook his hand firmly. "Then we'll keep spreading the word about your amazing services."

The man laughed heartily. "That would be splendid."

"Thanks!" Brad waved for the others to follow as he left. "Looks like we'll have to wait to find out what the coins could get us."

RC grabbed the statue out of Brad's hands. "But what about this? I didn't get drawn to no duds! It was in the treasure pile. It has to be something. What if it's special?"

Brad walked on for a moment, stroking his chin slowly. "Yeah, I agree. We'll keep looking into it."

Twilight got to Bella first, undoing the lead that kept her tied there. "I vote we head back to Equestria. The statue looks like it belongs there anyway."

Brad considered it and nodded. "Sure. Let's take it with us." With everything gathered, he hopped up on Bella. "Let's make a rainbow, but not right here."

They moved away from such public sight. Bella took the lead, wandering off until they found a good place. She stopped, pawed the ground a bit, then nodded. Brad pointed ahead. "One little hop." That was all the permission she needed. Accelerating into a trot, then a gallop, she made one good leap, coming down on the rainbow that hadn't been there just a moment before.

RC and Twilight jogged to catch up with them, rising up onto the rainbow. The group of them ascended up into the sky, to come down on a whole different world.

Twilight slid down the other side on four hooves, back to being a pony. "Ah, that fresh air." She shook herself out and turned around to the others. "Your world is fascinating, but Equestria is just, hm, cleaner."

RC landed behind her, grinning wide. "Not much I want to do as a human that I can't do as a pony."

Brad stayed behind a moment longer, taking a good look at the view from his elevated position. "RC?" He nudged Bella down the last few steps. "You still have the statue?"

"Sure do, right—Hey!" Bella snatched the statue away much as RC had done to Brad.

Bella cantered, looking quite proud with her find as she turned away from RC despite her complaints.

"Very funny." Brad rubbed over her neck from above. "Give that back."

With a great puff of smoke, Brad was suddenly standing on his own legs. Next to him was a pony mare, with the same coloration as Bella. Her eyes widened, the statue in her mouth. "Woah! Wait. I can talk? I can talk!" She rushed right up to RC. "Hi!" She hurried to Twilight. "Hello." And back to Brad. "And you!" She pounced him with a great hug. "I love you so much!"

Brad caught her and got himself balanced. "Uh, hi? Glad to meet you too, but, um, what's going on?"

The mare nuzzled him gently. "You love me, so I wanted to be closer to you." She batted her eyes at him. "It's me, Bella." She smooched him on either cheek. "Now I'm Bella the pony instead of Bella the horse. Check me out!" She fell back to all fours to do a little joyful dance in place. "This is great! You're already a pony kisser, and I'm a pony, so I get kisses too, right?"

Twilight burst into laughter. "Whoa there. Slow down, Bella. We should take this a step at a time."

"Steps!" Bella skidded up to Twilight, pressing in close. "Hello, Twilight. Thank you for translating for me. This is better though." She hugged Twilight close. "This is so great!" Her tail whipped around with her boundless happiness. "Now I'm part of the herd properly." She pointed a hoof at Brad. "He's our stallion, right? We are his mares."

Twilight giggled lightly. "Yes, we are his mares, but you weren't part of that." She rubbed behind her head lightly. "Before, at least. Hm. The statue made you a pony?"

Brad took the statue back from the excited Bella, completing the circle of theft. "Can it go the other way?" He offered it towards Twilight. "See if you can be a horse."

"Fine by me," Twilight said as she took it in her mouth. She shook herself out, wiggling her entire body as she did so. Her form shifted and blurred, becoming something entirely different. She was a perfectly normal-looking horse, though she still had her mane cut. She whickered softly, stepping in place with her massive hooves. She was much larger as a horse than a pony, and didn't seem able to speak.

Bella nodded with the unsaid words. "She's alright, but surprised."

With a new puff of smoke, Twilight returned to being a pony. "Huh! Worthless indeed. That statue is quite valuable. It can turn ponies into horses and back."

Brad tipped his hat up to think. "But why? How?"

"I don't know yet." Twilight got close to Bella. "You do seem happy though." The two met in a mutual embrace as she considered the options. "Brad, why don't you try it? It does seem to be bi-directional, so there's no harm in at least trying."

Brad was quite wary about this development, but he saw no harm in doing what Twilight suggested. He took the statue and carefully bit into it. The gold was nice and cold against his teeth. Nothing happened for a moment. He was about to spit it out when it grew in his mouth. He got out a squeak as he fell forward onto new hooves, body reconfiguring with painless jolts and snaps as he became a pony like the rest of them. New wings unfolded from his back, flapping confusedly.

He took a moment to take in the sensations. His body felt very different, and yet also the same. The world around him looked larger, or at least taller. He twitched his nose and blinked. The mares he'd already known and cared for were smelling different, and he liked it. They smelled better, especially Bella. She smelled almost edible, and he wanted to nuzzle in close to her, touch his nose to hers, share that scent with her. "Is it strange to be thinking that?" He shook his head, statue falling from his numb grip. "This is so wild!"

Twilight snagged it up and tucked it away. "How do you feel? You make for a fine pony."

Bella wrapped an arm around Brad, pressing her body against his. "My stallion!"

Brad turned around in Bella's grip. "I'm the same. Just... different." He nodded slowly, not quite believing it. Bella pressed to him was surprisingly pleasant, and he returned the hug. "Bella." She hummed questioningly. "Why do you smell good?"

Bella laughed awkwardly, cheeks coloring. "Because I'm in estrus, silly. I was that way before being a pony, I bet I still am. Stallion, you can do something about that, right?"

Twilight gasped softly, putting a hoof to her lips. "Oh dear." She lifted another hoof and nudged them gently. "Brad, I hate to interrupt, but this is hardly the place to be talking about that." With her own colored cheeks, she turned for the library. "Let's head inside."

Brad and Bella fell into step beside Twilight, who was going quite quickly. The two were quick to notice something off about their motions. Brad blinked slowly. "Huh. I thought my balance was going to be off, or that I'd feel lighter."

Bella hopped on her new smaller hooves. "I feel great! It's like I was born this way." She scurried inside the moment Twilight opened the door. "C'mon!"

RC dashed in just after her, tackling the new pony suddenly to the ground. "You need to hold your horses." She leaned in on the transformed Bella. "Pun entirely intended. 'Your' stallion is a pegasus. Check him out." She leered at Brad, licking her lips. "And he's hot."

Brad put his hat down over his eyes. "Thanks." He glanced back at his new rear end. There was a cutie mark there, showing a rainbow with a pony atop it. "That fits." He fidgeted his wings, then his legs one by one. "This feels so strange, but not as strange as I keep thinking it should feel."

Twilight bumped the door shut. "Magic. The magic of the statue is allowing you to operate in your new body. If your mind was simply placed in a new body, you'd be reduced to a foal in ability and have to relearn how to move everything. All transforming spells I'm aware of include a bridge to skip over that, for obvious reasons."

Bella pointed a hoof at herself. "And now we're all ponies together." She sidled up close to Brad. "Including my stallion. Thank you for making me a pony."

Brad touched noses with her, discovering that pony noses were sensitive, and it just felt so nice to touch them to other ponies, especially ones he liked. It was a moment of calm togetherness, or it would have been calm if not for her spicy smell suggesting they do a lot more than just touch noses. "You're welcome, but you did that to yourself, if we're being honest."

Bella pawed the ground with one hoof. "Well, yes. But I wouldn't have known to try it without you, so..." She grinned at him. "Thank you!"

Twilight finally had the nerve to get in between them. "Bella, Brad is new to being a pony, and it's showing, a lot. A proper colt would have learned ages ago when it's appropriate to show themselves and not."

"Show myself?" He looked back over himself, and what he was showing was quite clear. He had been turned on, and was just displaying that for the whole world to see. "Oh! Um, that really isn't something you control."

Twilight inclined her head. "Humans can't control that? Colts and stallions can. We'll have to train you in that. It's considered extremely rude to ever show yourself in public. Fortunately, we're not in public currently. Bella, no attacking him like that, at least until he's figured out how to behave properly."

RC took that as her cue to pounce on Brad. She pressed into him from behind. "That doesn't mean we can't play though." She ponyhandled him quite shamelessly. "My favorite human is now a colorful stallion and I'm loving it. Check out his colors! Check out those wings!" Her hooves closed. "Check out this pony spear waiting to make a mare happy."

Bella scrambled away, feeling more than a little conflicted about being denied. "My stallion!"

Brad closed his eyes and panted softly as he forced himself to calm. He drew slow breaths, willing himself to be calm, and, perhaps thanks to that magic, it was slowly working. He was soon back to being a cute pony with nothing to show. "There." He shivered and stomped in place. "Both of you, cut it out!"

Twilight tapped her hooves on the ground in irritation. "RC! Stop this! You're no better than she is." She sat down. "Both of you, come here." She looked around the room. "Brad had clearly made his choice. I say we respect that. Also." She clapped gently. "Congratulations! You mastered that quite swiftly. Very impressive."

"Thanks," Brad said with a bit of pride. "The calm breathing is actually a good way to help control stress." He paused and blinked. "Am I going to have to eat grass now?"

RC broke into renewed laughter. "Hay no! We ponies, like humans, prefer our food cooked. Why eat hay when that hay isn't prepared properly? So many ways to do that too, mmm." She licked over her lips, imagining the breadth of pony culinarian options. "You're going to love it with that pony tongue of yours."

Twilight stepped in close, bumping into Brad. "It is nice." She leaned in, getting closer. "And your sense of smell is enhanced too. The pony mind will find that attractive. The same goes for ponies too. But I think you already discovered that. Ponies smell nice to ponies. Humans smelled nice to humans, so you shouldn't be too surprised."

Brad blinked. "What? I don't usually smell other people."

Twilight hiked a brow. "You must be used to it. I could smell other people, and they were nice scents generally."

Bella burst in close, filling Brad's nose with her spicy scent. "Oh, your mane and tail! You are wonderful!" She quickly nibbled his neck, pulling away with a laugh.

Author's Note

Now they're all ponies, gosh dang it. Brad calmed himself, remembering the rating of the story. Thank you, Brad.

Bonus chapter:

[Adult story embed hidden]

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