Twilight Sparkle, mad genius and regular genius (at the same time), looked around the concentric circles on the floor of the basement. Her fingers were still covered with chalk dust from when she'd drawn the patterns.

Magic is wild and free, but it does have patterns it likes to fill. Twilight Sparkle had drawn those patterns, built up the overall design such that there should be perfect containment.

"What do you think, Spike?" Twilight asked.

Spike didn't need to look down to give his answer. "You're asking my opinion of all this after you started making demon-summoning circles?"

"I already told you, Spike, these aren't for summoning demons. I don't even know how to do that. These will drain magic away from a target. So it would mean, for example, I could stand in the middle and turn completely human again." As Twilight spoke, she examined the circles again, this time with her spell-glasses on.

A touch up here, a slight scuff there, and Twilight was happy with her pattern.

Spike let out a whine. He knew nothing he could say would change Twilight's mind, but she'd asked for his opinion. "I think you're crazy. What has meddling with magic done for you so far?"

"That was a long time ago, Spike. I know what I'm doing now. Magic isn't some kind of mag— Bad analogy. Although maybe it wasn't an analogy? The point is I got this, Spike." So far, Twilight had been standing anywhere but the inner circle—that was the activating part of the pattern. Now she lifted her hoof—working with magic resulted in a pony up every time now—and started to step into the circle. "Now, if something does go wrong, get Sunset for me, okay?"

"Knowing how this usually goes, I'll be the first one sucked into whatever—" Spike cut off as Twilight dropped her glasses spell and stepped into the middle of the circle.

Nothing happened, or nothing appeared to happen. Twilight looked down on her body and noted her legs, wings, and tail were all still part of her. "I don't think it's—" While Twilight spoke, she cast the spell for her magic glasses again.

Her magic was sluggish, and when she tried to form it into the pattern for the spell, it just drained and pulled away. A throbbing, draining feeling spread through Twilight, and she couldn't help but realize that now her magic was draining—slurped away by the circles. "It—It's working, Spike!"

Twilight's legs were first to change, thanks to being closer to the actual circles. As power drained from her flesh, her legs twisted and shifted, becoming human again.

Spike stared. "It actually looks like it is, Twilight!"

The drain moved up Twilight's body, and she felt the tail behind her pull inward and fade as the power to make it happen left her body. Squirming in place, Twilight felt the circles suck away the magic in her wings next, then her mane, then all the fur all over her body. Finally, her horn, snout, and ears faded. Twilight Sparkle was human again.

The sound of feet on the stairs of the basement jerked Twilight Sparkle and Spike's attention toward Twilight Velvet. "Sweetie, what are you up to? Never mind, I wouldn't understand—I'm sure. Just letting you know we're going out for dinner. Did you want to come?"

Distracted from the magic she was working, Twilight turned to face her mother. "Uh, sure! Will my BBBFF be there?"

Twilight Sparkle didn't realize she'd shuffled her feet and scuffed the inner circle until Spike yelled a warning—but it was too late. The wall of magic trapped in the circle started to collapse. Spike, thinking only of saving Twilight, jumped toward her to knock her free of the circles.

The magic hit Twilight just as Spike did, and hitting her meant it hit Spike, too.

Power slammed into Twilight and Spike. She'd been building in power since the concert three days ago, and had let the circle drain all that power out of her. Now, rushing back in, the magic had more than one target.

Spike felt his whole body stretch and grow. Legs lengthening—both sets—and his torso stretching to match. He fell from Twilight's arms and crashed to the floor, but putting a hand down saved him from a bad fall.

Staring at the hand, Spike trailed the arm upward from it to his own shaggy body. He was still his old purple and green self, but there was so much more of him. He jerked upward, teetering on two legs, just in time to watch Twilight change.

Having worked with so much magic in her basement, Twilight had done a good job of investing the place with her power. Forming the circles—standing in the middle and activating them—had formed a bubble of nothing. When the circle was broken, the cavitation of magic ended and there was nothing holding not just her own magic, but the magic of the world around her out. It rushed inward, slamming against dog and girl.

Spike had been remade into a more magical canine, a diamond dog.

Twilight had become something different from even her old, ponyish self.

"What the hay?" Twilight examined her forehooves while trying to ignore the muzzle between her eyes. She stared at the dusty fur and hoof that seemed—well—translucent. "Oh no. No, no, no! I can't have turned into a pony! What happened?!"

Twilight Velvet had watched the whole thing. She hadn't seen the raw magic, of course, but she had watched her little girl remade into a little crystalline unicorn. "Twilight!"

Spinning her head, Twilight Sparkle looked at her mom. Thankfully Twilight Velvet had been clear of the bubbles of magic, but she now seemed completely ignorant of danger. Twilight Sparkle was wrapped up in her mother's arms and carried away from the circles. "Mom?"

"Spike! Get out of the circle." Twilight Velvet wasn't a big woman, but she carried her daughter—her filly—with the will and determination of a mother removing her child from danger. "Twilight Sparkle, how could you—" Twilight Velvet got no further when she saw her daughter in tears.

"I didn't mean to. I just wanted to go back to normal." Twilight Sparkle huddled in her mother's arms. "I— Spike?"

Spike towered above Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Velvet, thanks to the latter cradling the former while sitting on the steps of the basement. His body felt strange, new, but it also felt familiar. Limbs still bent, some in slightly different ways, but he had a job to do. "Twilight, how do I fix this?"

The words galvanized Twilight. Squeezing her mother, she rubbed one cheek against Twilight Velvet's. "You're going to help me fix it, Spike, but first we need to get someone's help—we need to ask Princess Twilight Sparkle to visit."

A few days later...

The world twisted and poured away like a drainpipe. Colors spun, and Princess Twilight Sparkle spun too. She was used to these sensations, had experienced them many times when visiting her friends from Canterlot High School, but something was different this time.

As she stepped out of the portal, Princess Twilight knew at least part of the problem: she was a pony. Not just ponied up human. Twilight looked down at her hooves, followed her forelegs to her pony chest and barrel, then looked over her shoulder at her wings—which shot up in surprise. "Well, this is different. Uh, I mean the same—but different."

Looking around, Princess Twilight Sparkle tried to assess her situation. Her last message to Sunset said she was on her way, so she figured Sunset Shimmer should be here any second.

"A pony!" a shrill voice cried.

Something rushed at Princess Twilight. Her first instinct, just like she'd always trained, was to teleport. A loud Pomf sounded as she appeared two pony-lengths directly behind her previous location.

Sweetie Belle was confused. She looked around for the object of her affection, and spotted Princess Twilight a short distance away. "Oh my gosh. You're so beautiful!" This time she moved with purpose, reaching into her bag as she approached her target and pulled out a hair brush.

"Sweetie Belle?!" At the sight of the familiar girl coming at her, and realizing she wasn't being accosted by an actual threat, Princess Twilight didn't teleport away. "What are you—?"

But it was too late. Sweetie Belle had reached Princess Twilight Sparkle and, amid excited squeaking sounds, began brushing Twilight's mane. "You are so pretty! Can I take you home?"

Already prepared for the rest of the CMC iceberg, Princess Twilight looked in the direction Sweetie Belle had come from originally, and spotted Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. "Can you girls help?"

"A talking horse? That's awesome! Sweetie, how are you doing that?" Scootaloo ran up to the side of Twilight opposite Sweetie Belle. She looked down at the purple winged and horned pony that only came up to her belly and reached a hand out to hesitantly pet Princess Twilight. "Cool…"

"Girls," Apple Bloom said. "Ya know that's a pony from Equestria, right?" Her two friends turned and looked at her blankly. "And guessing that her fur and hair are the same colors as Twilight's, Ah can guess that she's Princess Twilight."

Scootaloo jumped back from Princess Twilight and stared for a moment. "I-I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty!"

By now Twilight was immune to all effects of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but their human versions were something completely new. Turning her head to Scootaloo and looking up, she almost wrenched the brush from Sweetie Belle's hand. "It's 'highness', but please don't call me that. Is there anywhere we can go where I'm not going to be so conspicuous? Sunset should be here soon, but I think I might cause some crazy reactions in people." She winced as Sweetie worked the brush through her mane over and over.

"Isn't this kinda wrong? You normally come through looking normal," Scootaloo said.

"You've seen what's been happening with Rarity and her friends," Sweetie Belle said. "Everyone's turning pony! I can't wait to get my own ears and a cute little snout!"

As soon as Sweetie's brush left her mane for a second, Princess Twilight teleported to behind Scootaloo—using the girl as cover. "That's part of what I'm here to fix, I hope. Sunset Shimmer asked for some help, but then she said it was okay, and now she said she really needs help because Twilight—your Twilight—is in trouble with magic."

"Covert Moving Crusaders!" Apple Bloom said. "Prepare for operation…" She lifted a finger to her bottom lip and tapped it. "Where are we taking you?"

"To Sunset Shimmer," Princess Twilight said.

"We have three problems, girls," Apple Bloom said as she cast her eyes about. "We need to keep Twilight hidden, we need to move her without raising suspicion, and we need to actually move."

"I could carry her!" Sweetie Belle said bouncing in place.

Princess Twilight, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all looked at Sweetie Belle in surprise.

"I could…" Even to herself Sweetie Belle sounded uncertain. "Well, if we all carried—"

"We can't carry her. Ah'm not sure about ponies, but if she's anything like a horse on our farm, she weighs a lot more than she looks," Apple Bloom said.

"Hey! I—" Princess Twilight snapped her mouth closed. She knew arguing with the CMC, when they were united, was impossible.

"What about if we disguise her as a dog?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah!" the other two Crusaders said together.

Princess Twilight had to keep trying. It wasn't in her nature to give up. "Now hold on. I'm—"

Apple Bloom had a blanket in her backpack, in preparation for their sleepover that night, and took the initiative in tossing it over Princess Twilight's back. "This should do the trick!"

"But nobody lets their dogs just walk around free," Sweetie Belle said.

"That's right." Scootaloo looked around, then pointed at a shop. "Come on, the pet store's this way!"

Tirek had been a less implacable foe, Princess Twilight thought, Even Discord—when he was evil—didn't claim this many liberties. Despite her mental protests, she marched along beside Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo ran ahead of the group when they got close to the pet store, and in mere moments reappeared with a dog collar and leash.

There was a fair amount of indignity, Princess Twilight realized, with having a dog collar clipped around your neck. Still, she knew how humans tended to overreact to things they didn't know about, and everyone knew about dogs. "This is so humiliating."

"Shh," Sweetie Belle said. "Dogs don't talk."

"This one does. I'm glad Spike stayed at home, he would have taken photos of me and—" A sinking feeling hit the pit of Princess Twilight's stomach as she spoke. "N-No!" It was far too late; the tell-tale clickity sound of a phone taking a photo met her ears and caused them to tuck back in horror.

"Rainbow Dash… And…" Scootaloo said as she set the recipient of the picture, "sent!"

"I'm never going to live this down. Okay, can we go to Sunset's h—" Princess Twilight Sparkle, when the leash was tugged on, gasped and coughed, but she walked forward after Apple Bloom.

"Her place is this way!" Apple Bloom said, and headed off at a fast walk.

Author's Notes:

Limestone: After seeing Pinkie ponied up, do you also want to pony up too? Their legs and muscle sure are stronger than human.

"Ugh! Why are so many of you asking me about this horse crap? I don't know. I guess if I had to have a choice between turnin' into a horse girl or a monster, I'd chose a horse girl. Rainbow Crash looks like she's going to shape up pretty well, and Sunset ain't too much of a dweeb." Limestone rolled her eyes and drew a knife and a sharpening stone. The first sound of steel on stone was only about three times worse than fingernails on a blackboard. "Not that it matters. I'm only here for another month and then I'm shippin' out again."

---

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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