Fluttershy hurried through the streets of Ponyville, looking for any sign of Faith. It had been two hours since he'd been chased through Ponyville after Discord's magic had caused all the males of Ponyville to fall in love with Faith, a stallion who had been recently transformed into a mare by the magics of Discord. Fluttershy was very angry with Discord, but right now her fury was eclipsed by her worry.
She had no idea how far Discord would allow this charade to go, the very thought of it sickened her but she was confident that if any of the stallions of town had caught Faith, that Discord surely would have intervened. The wriggling worry in the back of her mind that she may be wrong about that plagued her and this more than anything spurred her to find him.
She turned a corner and saw Rarity, sitting in a chair in front of her shop, sipping idly at a cup of tea she had floating in front of her. Having exhausted all other possibilities, having already asked the other four of her friends if they had seen the enormous mob of ponies that had been chasing after one mare, she might as well ask Rarity.
She strode up to her and said, "Hey there Rarity, can I ask you something?"
Rarity smiled and set the tea cup down on a small table to her right and said, "Of course dear, what is it?"
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves a little as she asked, "Rarity, did you by any chance notice a large mob of stallions run through here earlier? They were chasing a single mare, by the name of Faith."
Rarity raised an eyebrow and nodded before saying, "I did indeed dear, poor thing was scarred to death when I pulled her away from them."
Fluttershy perked up and relieve washed over her as she let out a long sigh. She smiled at Rarity and said,
"Oh thank you! I'm so glad he's safe."
Rarity looked at Fluttershy confused and belatedly Fluttershy explained that Faith was actually the same stallion that had saved her life a couple weeks earlier She explained of how Discord had changed him into a mare and then put a spell over him to make him irresistible to the other stallions of the town.
When she finished Rarity's face hardened as she exclaimed, "Now that's just evil! That he would do this to the very stallion who saved his friend and then cursing him like that. Faith's inside resting from the ordeal. You should get him to Twilight right away."
That was indeed what Fluttershy intended to do. She followed Rarity into the house and froze upon walking over the threshold. On a couch in the main area of the house, where Rarity sometime napped, lay Faith. His coat was sleek and shiny and his mane had been braided into fashionable style.
His face bore the unmistakable signs of makeup and eye liner, that enhanced his new feminine features and currently, Sweetie Belle was busy applying a ruby red hoof polish to his hooves. Rarity frowned slightly and shooed Sweetie Belle away from Faith, which she obliged without argument, picking up her hooficure kit and trotting off to put it away.
Fluttershy walked over to stand next to Faith and cleared her throat softly. He opened his eyes and looked over at Fluttershy who was smiling at him, he smiled back and sat up, looking over at Rarity he said,
"Thanks again for your hospitality, I really appreciate it."
Rarity nodded and moved over to her makeup stand and pulled out a tin of polish remover and gave it to Faith, saying as she did so, "Well Faith, as Fluttershy has told me of your REAL self, I should think you'd like to get this makeup off, it wouldn't do to have a stallion walking around wearing makeup and hoof polish."
Faith looked at the tin he held and nodded gratefully. After setting the tin down and removing the lid he stuck his hooves in one at a time, waiting until all traces of the polish was removed before heading over to the bathroom to scrub his face clean. He left his hair up, but of the makeover that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had given him, it alone was all that remained. He came back into the living room a moment later and smiled, glad to be rid of the make up. After thanking Rarity again for her help and kindness he made to leave out the front door, stopping when Fluttershy moved in front of him.
She smiled a little and said, "Faith, after what happened earlier today, do you really think its a good idea to just walk out into the town again, we'll have to get Twilight to come here."
Faith frowned and nodded, feeling a little silly from his lapse in thought. He moved to sit back onto the couch but Rarity stopped him and said, "That may not be necessary. I've been practicing the teleport spell under Twilight for a few months now, I figured when I become super famous, it would help me get to all my fashion show's instantly. I could try to teleport the two of you to Twilight's."
Fluttershy perked up and said, "That would be wonderfully helpful Rarity, thank you."
Rarity nodded and stood between Fluttershy and Faith, her horn glowing with the light of magic, the mystical energies of the spell emanating outward from her and enveloping Fluttershy and Faith. Moments later Faith experienced the unsettling feeling of time and space moving around him, the whole world felt like it was flowing around him, like the currents of a river. Just as an extreme feeling of vertigo gripped him, the spell ended and he found himself standing in a warmly lit library, shelves of books running around the walls, covering nearly every square inch of the room.
In the middle of the room sat two ponies, one was a unicorn with a vibrant purple coat that sat on a cozy armchair. She was talking animatedly to a light pink pony who possessed the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. She had a bright blue crystal heart shaped cutie mark and wore a crown on her head as well as a golden band around the base of her horn. They both looked over at the newcomers as they got their bearings, both Rarity and Fluttershy looking like they were about to be sick, while Faith merely shook his head, steadying his hooves and feeling the floor beneath him, dispelling the nausea inducing vertigo quickly.
Twilight grinned a bit more broadly and got up from her arm chair, crossing over to the group and saying,
"Oh, hi guys, if your going to be sick, please do so in the bathroom or outside, I'd rather not have that in here."
Fluttershy seemed to turn green and sprinted for the door the moment Twilight finished her sentence, the sound of her hooves thundering up the stairs was soon followed by the bathroom door slamming shut. Rarity took a few deep breaths before putting on a weak smile and shaking her head as Faith had done, trying to dispel the vertigo she was feeling. It seemed to have a marginal effect but she did not try to run for the door like Fluttershy had done. Twilight just smiled at Rarity and turned her attention to Faith who stood there, looking over at the alicorn who had been seated in the chair across from Twilight.
Twilight followed his gaze and saw who he was looking at, she motioned over to the pony, who sighed lightly and slid from the chair to the floor, allowing everyone in the room the chance to see her rounded belly. Rarity covered her mouth in delight and her eyes moistened as she stared at the pony. When she was level with Twilight, she reached out a hoof to Faith and said, "Hi, I'm Cadence, queen of the Crystal empire. Its nice to meet you."
Faith stared at her for a long moment, looking from her hoof to her face and back again. After doing this several times, Cadence shifted uncomfortably and let her hoof drop to the floor. Twilight began to apologize for Faith's rudeness, explaining that he had lived in the Everfree forest his whole life and didn't have very many manners. However she stopped mid sentence when Faith descended t his knees and bowed his head deeply. He remained in this posture for a moment before saying, "Your highness."
Everyone in the room stared at Faith for a few moments, during which time the only movement he gave was his steady breathing. Cadence looked at Twilight with a look of confusion and when Twilight shrugged in equal confusion Cadence looked back at Faith and said, "Um...Rise to your hooves if you please."
Faith immediately obliged, straightening to his hooves and staring at her for a moment more before turning to Twilight and asking, "So, Twilight, do you think that you could undo the spell that Discord put on me?"
The abrupt change in his mannerism unsettled everyone, the ponies starring from one another for a moment before Twilight cleared her throat and adopted a professional manner. She walked around Faith, examining him from various angles while muttering to herself, occasionally reaching out and poking him, as if to test that his body really was shaped like a mares.
Eventually she stopped and said, "I think I may be able to reverse it. It doesn't appear as if Discord put up barriers to prevent another pony from working magic on you. If he had, this would be a lot harder."
Twilight turned back to a bookshelf and began looking down the long line of books, muttering out various bits of the titles as she went. While she did this, Fluttershy reentered the room, looking pale and unsteady but otherwise normal. She moved to stand next to Faith and muttered, "If I never experience teleportation again it'll be too soon." under her breath before forcing a smile and looking over at Twilight who was now pulling down books and skimming through them.
When she noticed Cadence and her rounded belly she gasped and her smile broadened. Cadence nodded and shuffled her hoofs a little, a bashful smile appearing on her face at the happiness of her friends. Faith looked her over and eventually said,
"Your highness, I would suggest that you sit down for a while, it wouldn't do to weaken yourself through exertion."
Cadence raised and eyebrow and she stared at Faith. There was something about him that just felt off to her. It wasn't the fact that the mare before her was actually a stallion, she had already known that due to Fluttershy's earlier visit. It was the way he acted more than anything else, she had been told, by Twilight and Fluttershy both that he seemed to lack manners and was blunt, extremely honest, and generally lacking in tact. She had expected a recluse hermit, who rarely took care of his coat and mane, who was uncouth and rude. On the contrary however, he had an air around him that radiated nobility, he stood with his head held high and gave respect to royalty.
He was from what she had heard, selfless, modest, honorable, and kind. She had no idea why he seemed to live so withdrawn from the world when he clearly had experience with it. She cocked her head to the side and continued to examine Faith while Twilight let out a triumphant exclamation and returned to the group with a massive book in front of her. She dropped it on the floor with a deep thud and opened it up to a page about halfway through before looking back up at Faith.
She smiled and said, "I found it, the solution to our problems, the magic reversal spell. When cast it reverses the effects of magics so they do the opposite of what they were supposed to do. If I cast it right, you should revert back to being a stallion."
Faith smiled and nodded his approval to the idea, he was more than ready to be his normal self once more. Twilight grinned motioned for the others to stand back. They obliged and stood away from Faith, who closed his eyes as Twilight's horn became enshrouded with magic, the purple pony carefully reading the spell on the page as she focused her magic. As she uttered the last word the magic blasted from her horn and engulfed Faith in a blinding vortex of energy. When it ceased and the others were able to look at him again, there he stood, strong and proud, clearly a stallion once more.
Twilight smiled and said, "There you go Faith, good as new."
Faith looked himself over and let out a sigh of relieve, grateful to be back to normal. He smiled at Twilight but stopped as he saw that a strange look had come over her face. He almost jumped out of his skin when yellow furred hooves slid around his neck and he felt Fluttershy nuzzling his neck.
It was only then that he belatedly remembered the second spell that Discord had put on him.
He heard Fluttershy breathing in his ear as she whispered, "You know, I forgot how absolutely gorgeous you are. Oh, I could just hold you forever."
Faith's heart stopped and his mind froze. He looked around and saw that Rarity also had a dreamy, distant look in her eyes as she slowly sauntered over towards him. He tried to back up but only succeeded in bumping against the bookshelf behind him. This would be fix to his problems had turned into a nightmare, but he had a bastion of hope. Cadence was the only one who seemed immune to the spells effect, she stood there gazing in bewilderment at the other three ponies who were advancing on Faith.
When she realized what had happened, she gasped and her horn glowed with magic, promising to bring help as quickly as she could shortly before teleporting out of the house. Rarity managed to catch a hold of his neck with her forelegs, rubbing her head against him while Fluttershy offered to give him a full body massage, her hooves running down his neck and across his back. In an act of desperation he twisted around on the spot and dislodged the ponies that were clinging to him,
Fluttershy dropping to the floor with a thud and Rarity falling backward to the floor as well.
Faith jumped over Rarity and made for the open door but the wood door slammed shut before he had moved three feet. He turned in time to see a moving comet of purple fur collide with him, nearly knocking him over as Twilight gripped him in a tight hug.
Things only proceeded to get worse when Fluttershy landed on his back followed by Rarity teleporting directly beside him. The three ponies cuddled and snuggled with Faith until he felt like he was about to be smothered when with a bright flash of light. A tall white alicorn appeared in the room with cadence beside her. Faith let out an audible cry of relieve that immediately turned into a yelp of protest when one of the three ponies playfully nipped at his ear.
Celestia eyed the situation before her, roving between the three mare's who were lost in their own little world snuggled up to this new stallion and the stallion who was giving her a pleading look. She sighed and her horn was enveloped by magic which she directed at Faith. There was another flash of light and after it had faded all three of the ponies that were clinging to Faith froze. Three sets of eyes flew open with looks of horror as the spell that influenced them faded.
Fluttershy eeped loudly and rolled off of Faith's back onto Rairty who released Faith as though the pony was about to combust. Twilight likewise let go of Faiths mane, which she'd been playing with and backed up so fast that she tripped over her hooves and landed flat on her back. Faith let out a sigh of relieve and moved towards the white alicorn who had saved him from who knew what. He knelt down before Celestia and thanked her profusely to which she smiled and said, "Its quite alright, was this a mishaps of Twilight's?"
Faith looked over to Twilight, who was gazing up at the ceiling with a disbelieving look on her face. After a moment he looked back to the Princess and said, "No milady, this was the work of Discord, He placed a spell on me that changed my gender and made the Stallions of the town fall for me. Twilight tried to undo the spell by reversing the spells effect, but we both forgot about the love spell."
Celestia's eye's narrowed and she turned her head towards Fluttershy, who was hiding her head under her wing in shame and embarrassment, and then to Rarity who was in a similar state to Twilight, disbelieve etched all over her face. Her gaze eventually drifted back to Faith and she said, "Discord had better hope for his sake that I don't get my hooves on him. He'll do time in the palace courtyard for a few weeks for pulling something like this."
Fluttershy stuck her head out from under her wing and exclaimed loudly, "No! Princess please don't do that! I don't know why he's been acting up lately, but I'm sure it'll pass."
Celestia eyed Fluttershy for a long moment before sighing and nodding to her saying as she did so, "I'll leave it to you Fluttershy, but if something of this nature happens again, I'll have no choice but to punish him. If he is to be treated as a citizen of Equestria, he must abide by the same rules that you do."
Fluttershy brightened and thanked the princess before her eyes drifted to Faith again, a deep blush coloring her cheeks as she looked determinedly away. Faith blushed as well and moved over towards her. He stopped in front of her and said, "Fluttershy, I don't blame you for the way you acted. Why don't we pretend this never happened?"
Fluttershy smiled a little slyly and said, "Well, I suppose we could do that...although you are handsome."
Faith gave a goofy smile and said, "Well, your very pretty too Fluttershy"
Fluttershy blushed a little deeper and said nothing in reply, but her smile widened a bit more. Faith turned back to the princess, who was likewise smiling and once again thanked her for her help. Celestia nodded and said, "It was no trouble. Why don't the two of you run along back home for now."
Faith nodded and moved towards the door, Fluttershy following after him. After they left Celestia turned to Cadence and said, "I have a good feeling about him."
Cadence smiled and said, "As do I Celestia, something about him just feels right to me."
Cadence looked out to the door that Faith and Fluttershy had left through, something about did feel right, but more than that...she felt as though she knew him...like something out of a dream. She shook her head. Whatever it was she was sure it was nothing, it was so faint a feeling it was hardly worth mentioning. Whatever she was feeling, only time would tell if it meant anything