Celestia stepped out of the portal, once again in her normal form. Hovering next to her in her golden magic were three defeated looking fillies, each equipped with a set of sattle bags on their sides. They barely reacted as The Princess of the Sun moved them through the room. A sigh slipped past her lips as she took a step to the side to make way for the others making their way through the portal. The first to step out was Sunset, and while it took her a moment to get reacquainted with her old body, it was only for a second. For a moment, she just stood there, taking in the feeling of the magically charged air that surrounded her. A familiar tingle passed through her horn as parts of herself she had long forgotten came to life for the first time in years.
I'm home.
The moment was ruined as a mass of ponies not quite as familiar with their new bodies tumbled through the portal on top of her.
"Who's idea was it," Lightning groaned as she tried to move someone's hoof out of her face. "To go through as a group again?"
"That would be Lyra, love," Octavia sighed from the bottom of the pony-pile. "Now could someone get their foot off of my leg!?"
"Magic world!" Lyra cried, desperate to pull herself out of the pile of ponies.
"I think I broke something," Bonbon moaned.
"Did everything stop spinning yet?" Derpy said, sounding slightly delirious. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Everyone paused for a second at hearing that, then desperately tried to pull themselves out of the pile.
"Oh hell no!" Lightning cried as she managed to wiggle herself free. "I like ya Derpy, but I am not wearing your lunch!"
"Ditto!" Octavia and Bonbon chorused as they managed to free themselves.
Now that the number of tangled limbs had slimmed, Lyra and Vinyl managed to side-roll out of danger with little trouble. Derpy laid with a hoof pressed to her face, just barely holding back her lunch as she started to get her bearings. After a moment, she was able to get a grip of herself and let her nausea pass.
"Are you okay?" Sunset asked, putting a hoof on Derpy's back.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said, turning her head towards Sunset. "That was cra-"
her voice trailed off as she got a good look at Sunset, shock dominating her features.
"Sunset?"
"Y-Yeah?" she asked, slightly nervous.
"You are absolutely adorable!"
Before she could react, Derpy threw her arms around the stunned Unicorn and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Th-Thanks," Sunset stuttered, face turning as red as her mane. "You too."
"Huh?" she asked pulling herself back from her possible girlfriend.
Sunset gestured towards the now gray Pegasus that was holding her. It was then that Derpy took note of her new body.
"No way," she smiled. "What am I? Am I a Unicorn too?"
"No," she laughed. "Looks like your counterpart's a Pegasus."
"Really?!"
With a wide smile, she tried to look behind herself and was greeted by a pair of slowly opening wings.
"Awesome!"
"What about me?!" Lyra cried, her whole body almost vibrating a hole in the ground.
"A horse with a brain tumor," Lightning said flatly.
"What?! the light green Unicorn exclaimed, excitement replaced with panic.
"Or a Unicorn," she shrugged.
Lyra leveled a glare at her Pegasus friend then said. "Hey Sunset, that means I can use magic, right?"
"Yeah," Sunset responded, not sure she liked where this was headed.
"How do I shoot lasers?"
"Lyra," Sunset and Bonbon both sighed.
Lightning glanced over her shoulder and a slight smile graced her lips.
Pegasus huh? Sweet! Take that Mom and Dad!
"So I guess I'm a Unicorn here," Vinyl smirked, tapping at her new appendage. "God that feels weird."
"Since I lack wings, does that make me a Unicorn as well?" Octavia asked.
"Not quite," Sunset sighed. "You and Bonbon are Earth Ponies. You can't use magic the same way Unicorns can, but you are physically stronger than one and have tougher bodies than Pegesi."
"How tough?" Bonbon asked.
"An Earth Pony can survive a bolt of wild lightning and break a bolder down to pebbles."
The two Earths in the group stared at her in shock, before a cocky smile spread across Bonbon's face.
"Now that's more like it!"
"Let's hope I never need to test that claim, love," Octavia shivered.
A simple question from Derpy led to the next topic the fiery Unicorn saw coming.
"Hey Sunset, when did you get the tattoo?"
"She's not the only one," Vinyl said, staring at her friend's flank. "Looks like we've all got them."
Sure enough, when everyone looked, they saw that they did indeed have a mark on their hindquarters. Bonbon had a piece of wrapped candy in a beaker on her flank while Lyra had a silver harp covering what looked like a blank playing card. Octavia had a treble clef with a theater mask hanging from the top most point. On Vinyl's flank was a record with an inverted bass note plastered on top of it. Lightning had a tornado with two lightning bolts crossing over it while Derpy's mark was what looked like a collection of chat bubbles.
"Those are your Cutie Marks. They show a pony's special talent and a part of their true selves."
"Cutie Mark?" Lightning asked, not impressed. "That's what their called?"
"Yep," Sunset smiled.
"That is so lame."
Sunset shrugged, then turned towards her mother, who had remained silent through out the whole chain of events. She was greeted by a Solar Princess that was just a step away from falling over laughing.
"Mom," she groaned.
"I'm sorry my little sun, it's just so cute watching you interact with your friends," she chuckled.
"Mom!" she growled. "Not now!"
"Fine, fine," she sighed. "We need to get these three sorted out anyways."
As she said that, she lowered the three fillies gently onto the floor. None of them made any attempt to run or really do more than look up at their warden.
"That reminds me," Sunset said, glaring at them. "What are you going to do to them?"
"Well," Celestia frowned. "First we're going to help them get used to their new bodies, then they are going to be helping the staff around the castle."
"How so?"
"Nothing too strenuous," the Solar Diarch shrugged. "Cleaning floors mostly. Once they have cleaned all the guest rooms and the throne room's floors, they can return home. Honestly, their parents could be quite gladiatorial when it comes to corporal punishment."
"You talked to their parents?"
"Of course," Celestia said, taken aback slightly. "It was over tea in my private chambers. Very lovely mares and stallions, though they did seem rather easily startled."
"You brought them here?!"
"Sunset dear," she smiled. "Do you honestly think that a race without magic is going to take a Princess' word at face value?"
"Good point," she muttered. "And they were okay with it?"
"Yes. In fact it was their idea to have them help the staff. I believe it was Ms. Smith who said that it would help build character. She also has a very vibrant vocabulary when angered."
A shiver ran through Applebloom at the mention of her Grandmother's temper and a slight pang of sympathy entered Sunset's heart at the sight.
"By the way," Celestia continued. "It seems you are one friend short. Is Fluttershy not going to be joining us?"
"She should be coming through soon," Sunset said, turning towards the portal.
As if on cue, the mirror rippled like it was made of water as another figure fell through. What they saw fall to the floor was a little shocking to everyone present, Royal family included. Laying dazed on the floor was a light yellow Thestral with a pale pink mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was a pink bat with a red moon half hidden behind its left wing. When she opened her eyes, everyone could see that they were bright red with slitted pupils before they slammed shut and she put her hooves over them.
"C-Could someone turn down the lights?" she whined. "They're too bright."
It was while she was talking that everyone became aware of her fangs poking out of her muzzle. A moment of silence passed as everyone took in what they were seeing. Then, with the grace of a meteor, Lightning broke the silence.
"Huh. So I'm friends with a vampire. You know what? I'm cool with that."