The abrupt transition to morning light stirred the sleeping couple, but barely.

‘That’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages,’ Cirrus thought before opening her eyes and stretching. The unfamiliar sensations of a new body abruptly reminded her of the events of the previous day. She sighed. ‘So much for hoping it was all a dream. Still, this is soooo cozy.’ She snuggled deeper into her spouse’s embrace.

“Just five more minutes, Cy,” the unicorn stallion murmured sleepily.

Cirrus chuckled. “I’m not the one with his legs around me.”

Blaze opened his eyes blearily. “What are you talking… oh… right. Not a dream, was it?”

“That’s exactly what I thought too.”

“So, I suppose we’d better—”

“Hey, you two!” came another voice from outside the tent. “Time to stir your stumps! We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

“Give us a moment, Daring!” Cirrus called back before extricating herself from Blaze’s hug. She then picked up her shorts with her wings and put them on as the stallion watched.

“How do you do that?” he asked as she fastened the last button.

“What do you mean? I pull them on one leg at a time and button them up. What’s to know?”

“No, I mean how? You do that as if you’ve done it all your life with wings and hooves no less.”

Cirrus frowned and tilted her head. “I… I’m not sure. It just seems to come naturally to me.” She picked up her shirt and tucked it under her wing. “Hopefully, Trixie can modify this like she said she could. Then I’ll give you another demonstration.”

“I don’t know – I kind of like the looks of you in just shorts.” As Blaze got up and stretched, his forelegs pushed out in front of him and his backside rose. Then he blushed. “Hell, what am I thinking?! Oh, shit. No, this can’t be happening!”

Cirrus turned to look at the stallion, then saw what was causing him such consternation. She didn’t want to watch but couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“Stop staring!” Blaze demanded as his forelegs sought to cover himself up.

The pegasus burst out laughing. “How many times did you tease me about that? Word of advice – what you’re doing will only make it worse.”

“How do you stop it?”

“Just relax and ignore it,” she said as she turned and pushed the tent flap open. She paused halfway out and grinned. “But I gotta say that you have the old me beat!”

Blaze’s eyes widened and he gaped. “What?! How am I supposed to relax when you say things like that, Cy?”

The mare just chuckled and smugly thought, ‘Revenge at last!’ She spotted Daring Do working over at the fireplace and joined her there. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Sure! Stir the oatmeal and add a bit more water if it gets too thick. I’ll get some scrambled eggs started. Trixie’s making sandwiches for later.”

“No problem.” She took the ladle and began stirring before pausing. “What’s that in the oatmeal?”

“Raisins,” the pegasus replied. “Trix and I like it that way.”

Cirrus did not but figured her tastes might have changed. She shrugged and carried on.

Trixie climbed out of the wagon with a saddlebag floating in her magic. She placed it next to a pile of other equipment before greeting Cirrus. “Good morning. Trixie hopes you slept well. Where is your husband?”

The red mare grinned. “He has a little problem with morning wood.” She wasn’t sure if they would understand the euphemism, but their broad grins promptly dispelled her doubts.

“Perhaps Trixie should see if she can help Blaze,” the unicorn mare said, her eyes straying toward the tent.

Daring extended a wing to block her view. “Not in front of his wife, Trix.”

Cirrus was torn between being miffed at the mare’s obvious sexual interest in her spouse and encouraging Trixie to embarrass Blaze even more. She shook her head. Being a pony mare was confusing her thinking. A lot. She settled for holding out the shirt to the unicorn. “You said you might be able to tailor this for me.”

Trixie went straight into boastful mode. “The Great and Talented Trixie has had to repair Daring’s outfits on many occasions, so adjusting this to suit you will be foal’s play. Hold still while Trixie measures you.”

The red pegasus was startled by the glow that surrounded her torso and prodded her gently. Then it swapped to the shirt and Cirrus gaped as she watched it partially unravel and reshape.

Trixie reached into her saddlebags while saying, “Thread: White.” She pulled out a spool that spun in her magic until two lengths of white thread separated and drifted toward the shirt.

Slits appeared on the back and the edges folded over and were hemmed by a thread without a needle. As far as Cirrus could see, the end was stiffened into a rigid point that penetrated the cloth with ease. She was so mesmerized by the process that she forgot to stir the oatmeal. Daring nudged her to get her attention back on the job while Trixie was working.

“Trixie is finished!” the unicorn declared.

Cirrus reached out a hoof and took the offered garment. “Thank you, Trixie. Thank you very much. That was a … uh … truly great and powerful display of your skill.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “Now you’ve done it.”

The blue mare’s smile grew larger. “Please ignore my sidekick’s impertinence.”

“SIDEKICK!?”

“Trixie would be glad to answer any questions you might have.”

After placing the shirt on her back, Cirrus found she could fold her wings and push the joints up through the wing slits without the feathers catching. From there, a simple twist and spreading of her wings secured the garment into place. While doing so, several questions came to mind, but only one that seemed appropriate to ask without her spouse also hearing the answer. “Are those bottomless saddlebags?”

The unicorn’s ears perked up. “Indeed, they are!” After Daring loudly cleared her throat, Trixie amended her statement. “As I was saying, indeed they are practically bottomless. While they do have an item capacity limit in the hundreds and likewise a corresponding volume capacity, there is no greater set of pan-dimensional saddlebags in all of Equestria.”

Daring gave her partner a knowing look. “Except for Twilight Sparkle’s personal—”

“… that … you … can … buy!” concluded Trixie with a pointed stare at the tan pegasus.

Cirrus giggled as she fastened the last button. As promised, the shirt fit great. “Being around you two is going to be a blast, I can tell right now.”

Several minutes later, Blaze emerged from the forest from the direction of the camp toilet. The stallion had managed to slip out of the tent unnoticed and he appeared to be completely nonchalant about his earlier troubles.

“Morning, ladies!” he said cheerfully. “That smell is making me hungry.”

The blue unicorn mare raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. Trixie understands the scent of three healthy mares can have that effect on a virile stallion.”

Blaze gaped, his eyes bugging out.

Daring said, “I heard you had a hard time getting started this morning.”

Trixie held up the coffee pot. “You could probably use a stiff drink. Strong and irresistible.”

Blaze gave Cirrus a flat look. “You blabbed, didn’t you?”

A moment later, all three mares collapsed in a fit of giggles. The former human female sighed and shook her head. “After all the times I did that to Cirrus, I suppose that’s fair. The shoe is … the horseshoe really is on the other hoof now, isn’t it?”

As a man, Cirrus might have been embarrassed, but as the mare she was now, she was beginning to understand how females thought. She walked over to her spouse and kissed him on the cheek. “Get used to it, love,” she murmured. “I think these ladies have the hots for this big, handsome stallion, especially Trixie.”

“Sky!” he hissed. “Are you trying to get me aroused again?!”

“Nope. Just telling you how it is for guys.”

Blaze groaned. “I really hope I can get some pants.”

The pegasus nodded in agreement but wondered if she truly wanted that. Seeing him standing there in the morning light had aroused feelings that had shocked her. Cyrus the man had never been into males, but Cirrus the mare apparently had other ideas. She changed the subject to get her mind off them. “As you can see, Trixie has modified your shirt for me,” she said as they walked over to join the others. “You could ask her to have a go at getting my trousers to fit you.”

“Trixie heard that,” the unicorn said as she passed over a mug of steaming coffee to Blaze. “She has not had much experience fitting out stallions, but she has no doubt her skills are up to the challenge.”

“Food first!” Daring declared as she served up the scrambled eggs onto plates.

“I’ll dish out the oatmeal,” Cirrus said and began ladling it into nearby bowls.

Blaze fumbled the bowl that Daring passed to him, nearly spilling the contents. The pink glow of magic rescued it and placed it firmly back into his hooves. Trixie’s horn stopped shining and she frowned. “Trixie sees your problem. You are trying to use hoof magic and horn magic at the same time and doing neither properly.”

“I am?” the stallion said with a frown.

“Trixie will have to rectify your lack of training with your horn, but that must wait until later. You must focus your magic into your hooves for now. Trixie realizes that it is instinctual to use your horn but, without understanding what you are doing, your efforts may be counterproductive.”

“Okay. How do I do that?”

Cirrus said, “Take it from someone without a horn – just treat the bowl as if it’s a slippery object and concentrate on holding it firmly in your hooves. You’ll get the feel of it that way and then your magic focus will shift entirely to your hooves. Forget about the lack of fingers and act as if they’re still there.”

Trixie nodded. “Your wife has described the process reasonably well for a beginner.”

Blaze looked at his spouse. “How do you know that?”

Cirrus shrugged. “Figured it out while putting on the shirt.”

“Trixie thinks it’s a shame that Cirrus Sky did not become a unicorn. She shows some potential talent with magic theory.”

The red mare shrugged. “I’ll get to fly instead. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.”

Daring said, “That’s what I’ve said to Trixie many times. Anyway, magic and flying lessons later – food now. We need to get started on our jobs.”

The four got stuck into their meal. While Daring and Cirrus cleaned up afterward, Trixie measured Blaze for his pants. The stallion swore she deliberately groped his crotch while doing so but decided not to say anything in case he was wrong.

Blaze found the remodeling process as fascinating as Cirrus had. It was not long before Trixie passed him the completed trousers. After stepping into the legs, he took Cirrus’ advice to fasten the flap over his tail first as Trixie directed, finding it fairly easy despite it being behind his back. Then he fastened the fly. At least he had a simple zipper, unlike Cirrus who had to contend with more buttons. He briefly wondered if ponies even had zippers. He twisted his torso and flexed his hind legs to check for fit.

“This feels great, Trixie. Thanks heaps! But isn’t it a bit too loose in the crotch?”

The mare smiled knowingly. “Trixie believes you will need the extra room.”

Blaze’s eyes widened when he realized what she was talking about and he blushed. That morning had been quite an education in stallion endowment.

The four packed for the job ahead of them. Trixie lent her skills once more to make adjustments to the Peregrines’ backpacks to better suit their equine bodies. Then they headed out.

Because Blaze had been unconscious for most of the trip to the campsite, he had not seen much of the route to the pyramid. However, he quickly forgot about that novelty when they arrived.

“It looks just like a Mayan pyramid here too. With the exception of that passageway, of course.”

Daring said, “While there are other ancient temples and such with some resemblance to this one, there were several unique differences that made this one an exciting find.”

“Perhaps too exciting. Trixie will take point and scan for traps.”

The husband-and-wife couple were quite happy to let her do so. They did not want anything else to happen to them.

Trixie lit her horn with a detection spell and stepped inside with Daring Do close behind. Cirrus and Blaze followed but soon were brought to a halt. Trixie had stopped short of the pillar with the bowl and had her eyes closed, frowning in concentration. Then her horn ceased glowing and she turned to face the others.

“Trixie senses an ancient enchantment upon this bowl. We will proceed no further until Trixie identifies its nature. Go look at your wall pictures while she’s busy.” The mare then turned back to the bowl and lit up her horn.

Daring rolled her eyes. “You heard the G and P T – let’s go look at ‘wall pictures’.” The former humans grinned at how adept hooves could be at expressing the sarcastic ‘air quotes’ gesture. The tan pegasus leaned closer and lowered her voice to a mutter. “Sometimes I think she forgets that those are the kind of reasons why we’re out here and she has a job.”

Cirrus nodded. “Blaze and I have dealt with people like that many times. But she’s right – we’re archaeologists, so let’s get to work. Blaze and I didn’t get a chance to do much in here before we were transformed.”

Daring smirked. “I suppose we should. I’ve always been the adventurous type though rather than the patient scholar. I discover things for others to do the tedious stuff.”

“I think you’ll find these carvings different enough to be interesting,” the red pegasus replied before noticing that her spouse had not shifted. “Are you joining us, Blaze?”

“What are those glowing symbols in the air?” he replied.

“What glowing symbols?” Cirrus replied.

Daring frowned before pulling a large clear gem from her pocket. She closed one eye and peered through it with the other before nodding. “I thought so. Trixie is attempting to deconstruct the enchantment. Blaze can see it because he’s a unicorn with an apparent affinity for such things.”

“I see. Is that a diamond?”

“Yep. Enchanted gem. It’s what I used to look for magic traps before partnering with Trixie. Anyway, she might take some time working on that, so let’s do our thing.”

“I think I’ll study what Trixie is doing,” Blaze replied.

“But—” Cirrus started to say before Daring interrupted.

“Take my advice, Sky – go where Harmony guides you. This may be important to both of you later. Let’s check out those interesting carvings of yours.”

After replacing the gem and pulling out a lamp, the two began studying the walls. While the carvings in the stone were of the Mayan style, the subjects varied considerably from the typical. Ponies featured heavily in them, but almost always with humans with them.

“So, those are your kind,” Daring said. “I sense a theme here if I’m interpreting them correctly. It seems to me that there was quite a lot of cooperation between our species. I’m guessing that they built this temple to formalize the gateway between our worlds.”

“Gateway?”

“A worldgate. A stable connection between universes. They’re very rare. I’ve only ever read about them.”

“And these worldgates can change people into ponies?”

“Heck, no! They’re basically tunnels through realities, that’s all.”

“That’s all? That’s amazing! They’ve been postulated but nobody on Earth has ever proven them to exist.”

“When you get back home, you can show them this one. You’ll be almost as famous as me,” Daring said with a grin.

Cirrus gave her a flat look. “Now who’s the boastful one?”

Daring chuckled before facing the carvings once more. “What puzzles me is why it all came to an end. If their cooperation was so successful, what caused it to fail?”

Cirrus thought of the Spanish conquistadors that had invaded Central America. “I’ve got my suspicions and they aren’t pretty.”

Daring was about to ask for details when Trixie spoke up.

“Trixie has finished analyzing the enchantment. It poses no threat to us, but has given Trixie many answers.”

“It’s what transformed us, wasn’t it?” Blaze asked.

“Indeed. It was designed to change … humans, was it? … Change humans into ponies. Trixie is impressed by its sophistication.”

“Then, you know how to change us back?” Cirrus asked eagerly.

“No.”

Both Peregrines blinked at the blunt denial. “But you said you’ve analyzed it! Doesn’t that mean that you know how to undo it?” Cirrus demanded.

Trixie sighed. “You both saw the dried blood in the bowl?” When they nodded, she continued. “This is a category of magic known as Blood Magic. Blood activates it, powers it, controls it. By its nature, it is very powerful but also very literal. A Blood Magic enchantment will do one thing and do it very well, but it is not constructed to be reversed or neutralized. Think of it like using a mallet to hammer a stake into the ground. No amount of wishful thinking will enable that mallet to un-hammer the stake back out of the ground.”

Blaze frowned. “But if humans and ponies interacted a lot, couldn’t there be another of these bowls set up to change ponies into humans?”

“That is quite possible. Trixie does not know why they would want to change back to humans, but it would make sense that they would provide for that. Did you see another of these pillars at the other end of the passageway?”

Blaze looked at Cirrus. “That plinth we stepped over, and the broken column next to it!”

Cirrus’ eyes widened. “Yes, that must be it! Let’s check it out.”

Both of the Peregrines began moving down the corridor but were brought to a halt by Trixie’s magic.

“The Great and Cautious Trixie has yet to scan for other dangers. Let Trixie go first.” She lit up her horn once more, squeezed past the pillar, and slowly walked down the passageway. She very quickly came to a halt again as the air in front of her shimmered, brightening as it drew closer to the walls so that it looked like a ring of light. Trixie looked left and right, up and down, then declared, “Trixie shall illuminate in every meaning of the word. This is the worldgate. The very fabric of space and time has been stretched to open into another universe. Note the recesses in the walls, ceiling, and floor. The builders of the temple ensured that the edges of the portal were out of the way and the passage would pass through the middle of the worldgate.”

Cirrus asked, “What would happen if we were able to walk into an edge? Would it slice us as one part continued in this world while the second part tried to go into the other?”

Trixie chuckled. “Nothing so drastic. The warping of space grows exponentially as it nears the edge. You would encounter ever-increasing resistance before you reached it. It’s safe to proceed.” The shimmering ceased and Trixie stepped through the portal.

The others followed the unicorn mare’s lead until she paused at the plinth on the floor. Daring brought her lamp closer to illuminate the column lying to one side.

“This looks just like the other pillar, but the bowl is missing,” the mustard-yellow pegasus declared.

“Trixie can sense barely any magic residue. If this once held the spell to transform ponies to humans, then the enchantment is broken.”

Blaze said, “Perhaps the bowl can be found somewhere nearby? There has to be a way of changing us back!”

Cirrus shook her head. “If what Daring and I saw in the carvings is what we believe to be true, there was a thriving relationship between our species which ended very abruptly. What would cause that? I’m guessing that it was the Conquistadors. To protect themselves, ponies shut off contact from the human world. They probably took that bowl away and hid it. Why? Because any invading human who passed through here who got blood on the pony bowl would be transformed into a nearly helpless pony with no way to return! That would be terrifying to their comrades.”

“What would be the chances of that happening though?”

“We both did. I’m thinking that the ridiculous number of thorn bushes in front of the entrance that we had to clear away were no coincidence.”

Blaze frowned. “Good point. But why not just block the passage? It’s not as if the invaders could go around the worldgate.”

“Possibly because there were ponies in human form or otherwise still on the Earth side that needed the chance to return when it was safe to do so. Or maybe there were human friends whom the ponies wanted to give the opportunity to escape the invaders and join them as ponies. Otherwise, that would have been simpler. As it is, even if none fell victim to the change, the invaders would be bottlenecked by this narrow passage which would allow the ponies to easily defend the exit.”

The stallion thought for a long moment before replying. “If communication between our worlds was that important to them, there’s a real possibility that the ponies would have kept the missing bowl stashed away until it was safe to travel again. Only that doesn’t seem to have happened.”

Cirrus nodded. “That makes sense. So, there’s still a possibility that we can be changed back to our old selves.”

Trixie cleared her throat. When the Peregrines’ attention returned to her, she said, “No, even with the other bowl, you will never return to your previous forms.”

“WHAT?! Why not?” Cirrus demanded.

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “Do you think magic is as simple as waving your horn and saying ‘change into a pony’? Of course not! It requires structure, power, and parameters, but most of all, it needs a pattern! By itself, a spell does not know what a pony is. And the amount of data it would take to transform one creature into another would be overwhelming. Instead, the spell is directed toward stored patterns.” Trixie pointed back down the passageway. “You saw the amount of dried blood in that bowl? Trixie estimates that it would have required a donation from every member of a pony village to produce that much. But there are your patterns – hundreds of them! The humans would have done the same for theirs. Trixie found broken linking spells that would have connected the two. Anypony who wished to travel to your world as a human would have put a drop of blood into your bowl to activate the spell and be transformed into a human from one of their patterns. But because the bowls were linked, upon the human’s return, putting a drop into the pony bowl would have matched that human to the pony and returned them to their former selves. However, you did not put blood into the human bowl, so even if we do find and use it, the spell will not know who you used to be.”

“So, it would select at random, wouldn’t it?” Cirrus guessed. “That’s why we ended up like we are. The pony bowl’s spell chose a pattern at random, but why did it change our sexes?”

Trixie replied, “There was no need to specify sex in the spell because that was part of the patterns. And as there are about four mares to every stallion, the odds were four to one that you would become a mare.”

“And with the same odds, I got ‘lucky’ and became a stallion,” Blaze said with a groan.

“Exactly. Trixie is glad you comprehend now.”

“But I didn’t put a drop of blood into the pony bowl!” Blaze protested.

“Are you forgetting your bloody handkerchief offering, honey?” Cirrus said.

Blaze’s eyes opened wide and then he face-hoofed, wincing as the hard object connected. “I did this to myself. What an idiot!”

“You couldn’t have known. I certainly hadn’t intended to bleed on the damn thing.”

“So, you were both bleeding from those thorn bushes you mentioned?” Daring asked after being silent for all this time.

“Yeah, they choked the entry,” Blaze replied. “It was impossible to clear it without incurring at least a few scratches.”

The pegasus nodded. “Sounds like the work of earth ponies. They could have added a rapid-growth enchantment.”

“They can do that?” the stallion replied. “I’m beginning to think nothing is impossible, which is why I won’t give up completely yet on changing back. And we still have the handkerchief with our human blood on it. Anyway, standing around isn’t getting us anywhere, so let’s carry on.”

“Agreed,” Daring said. “If Trixie confirms that the rest of the way through is clear, I want to see for myself what lies outside this temple on the human side!”

“Trixie detects no other enchantments in the tunnel…” She paused. “… nor any traps, although our friends should have triggered them already if there were any.”

The pegasus adventurer broke into a trot but quickly was brought to a halt at the entrance.

“I thought you said that you cleared it of thorns? This looks untouched.”

The Peregrines came up to have a good look for themselves.

“These look as if they’ve regrown in less than a day. Trixie, does that mean that earth pony enchantment is still working?”

“Trixie doesn’t care – she hates thorns. Stand aside.” The unicorn mare lit up her horn and let out a blast of magic that ripped away all the offending plants.

The Peregrines gaped at that show of power. As Daring trotted out the now-clear doorway she grinned.

“Unsubtle but effective, as always, dear.”

“Trixie aims to please,” she replied smugly as she followed.

Cirrus and Blaze looked at each other. The stallion said, “Never annoy Trixie, right?”

“Good advice,” the mare agreed.

Daring had taken to the air by the time the Peregrines emerged. She surveyed the forest briefly before setting down again. “Yep, this is very different from where we just came from. I also spotted smoke a long distance to the west.”

“Umm… I think that would be the village we visited before coming here, but that’s a very long way from here. How could you see that?” Cirrus asked.

“Pegasus distance vision,” Daring replied. “You’ll find out for yourself once we get you flying.” She looked back at the temple. “Other than being more badly overgrown, it looks just the same from this side, but that’s no surprise if ponies and humans cooperated in building it.”

Meanwhile, Blaze dug out a satellite phone from his backpack. After starting it up, he attempted to make a call.

“What’s that, and what’s he doing?” Trixie asked.

Cirrus replied, “That’s… a way of communicating all over the world. He’s going to check in with friends who might be able to help us. Since he’s male, he’s going to imitate my human voice… hopefully.”

“Trixie thought you said you don’t have magic?”

“It’s based on science, not magic.” She frowned as she noticed that the stallion was looking concerned. “What’s wrong, Blaze?”

“I can’t connect. I’m getting an ‘account deactivated’ message.”

“What the hell? It should be good for a couple of months! I made sure we were paid up.”

“What can I say? It’s not working!”

Cirrus sighed in frustration. “What are we going to do now?”

Daring said, “Well, I want to meet some humans one way or the other, so why don’t we head to that village?”

Neither of the Peregrines thought that was a particularly good idea but could not think of a better one right then. Cirrus took out their GPS unit and said, “Since most of us can’t fly, including me yet, we’re going to have to hike there. This device will guide us to where we left our car and we can drive the rest of the way.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Daring said with a grin. “I don’t know what kind of contraption a ‘car’ might be, but I call dibs on the first round of ‘driving’.” Before the Peregrines could protest, the pegasus had already shot into the air, spiraling towards the west and waving her hoof. “Let’s go! We’re burning daylight!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Thanks go out to Airy Words for his feedback and suggestions.