The spa ponies came around to gently brush the blood out of my wings after they were done with Rhonda, and my, now satyr, girlfriend came to sit on the floor in front of me, awkwardly folding her hoofed legs underneath herself.
We held hands and we looked at one another in silence for a long while.
I barely registered Celestia excusing herself, Zecora and the blue Pegasus lingering for a little while longer. The Pegasus left before Zecora did, but to me it was almost like everything was a dream I was trying to wake up from. I barely heard them talk, I barely saw them go, I only stared in my girlfriend's large orchid eyes.
The soft strokes and dabs of cloth and soft brush that hit my wings helped me to relax however, and I pulled Rhonda a little closer to carefully press a kiss on her forehead. "How are your legs feeling?", I asked, scraping my throat a bit as my voice still sounded raw.
Rhonda looked down at her hoofed limbs with a blush. The fur had almost completely covered them now and it only enhanced the cute marshmallow-hoof look they had going for them. "Tingly. I'm going to be a bad excuse for a pinkie pie replica, aren't I?", Rhonda sighed, and I had to giggle a little at that.
"Nonono," I started, smiling at her. "You're entirely your own pony, my love. Just because you share a similar color scheme doesn't mean you have to start pulling confetti cannons out of thin air, ok? Although it would be awesome if you could."
Rhonda smiled weakly at that and pulled her hands away from mine, turning sideways a moment and making grabby motions with them at the air in front of her. "Nope.. not yet."
I laughed at her antics and felt my wings move with the shuddering of my form. "Soon!", I exclaimed, and Rhonda giggled back up at me.
"Your wings are clean, miss," Cherry Blossom's voice came from behind me, and I turned my head to look over my right shoulder at the large collection of yellow feathers protruding from my back. They looked as pristine as a canary's freshly preened plumage, and I found myself tilting my wing a little to see the damp feathers glisten in the light.
"They look beautiful, Jo," Rhonda breathed out in admiration, and I found myself smiling back down at her with a small feeling of pride.
These were my wings. No matter who caused them to grow on me, no matter the magic used, no matter the painful way in which they appeared. In that short moment I felt my mind connect to my wings and I spread them out behind me, feeling the shiver run down my back as I imagined myself as majestic-looking as an eagle depicted on ancient Roman standards.
The moment didn't last, and I came crashing down from it as I realized in horror that my wings had effectively robbed me of the ability to wear a shirt. I looked down at my naked chest and the way I had pushed myself up in a standing position in the bathtub, and felt my cheeks start to burn.
"Rho-Rho?" I started, and my girlfriend peered up from a point lower on my body to stare up at my face with her big eyes.
"Yes, Josey?"
"I'm naked, aren't I?" I asked, swallowing some saliva down my throat.
"Yes, Josey," came the truthful answer. "But everypone here is right now."
I sighed and slowly sank down in the tub again, my wings folding on my back as I did. "But you three at least have fur," I muttered, looking away in shame.
"I still have a bare chest, Jo," Rhonda retorted, and I looked back at her, trying very hard to not look at that particular part of her body. She had her arms folded in front of it anyway.
"We're the same in that regard then," I chuckled softly, then closed my eyes and rubbed at my forehead, my fingers sort of automatically moving underneath my horn while my thumb moved to stick up, the soft skin between my thumb and index finger bumping into my horn's base as I rubbed around it.
"Ok, let me get up out of this bath before I get all wrinkly and end up looking like Granny Smith," I finally decided, pushing away from the bath's edge and standing up in the middle of it. My legs were still fully human and I wriggled my toes in the water a bit before moving to step out via the long side of the rectangular bath.
Cherry approached with a towel, and I thankfully accepted it to dry myself off. My mane and horn were surprisingly easy to handle, even if my hairs felt like they were thicker than my human hairs had ever been, and I soon got to the point where I would usually just wrap the towel around my back and sort of zig-zag it down to get the water from it.
"Rhonda, can you help me with my back please?" I asked instead, and she pushed up on her hooves to walk on over with an unsteady gait. I handed her the towel and leaned in to give her another kiss on her forehead, then turned my back toward her and sighed as I felt her soft hands gently dab around my wing bases.
"How do Pegasi do this?" I asked of Cherry, who smiled up enigmatically.
"They just turn their heads, miss. Like so," she explained, turning her head around and nuzzling herself in the side. My jaw dropped and I moved my hand up to slap my forehead, but stopped myself in time before I would have hit my horn again.
"I should have realized," I smirked, using my hand to rub at the side of my head instead. "So how come you're taking us being humans transforming into ponies so easily while everypony else has been gawking at us since we came here?"
Cherry shrugged at the question. "You're ponies inside, miss. It is only what's inside that matters to me. While it is true your forms right now are strange and exotic, the Princess told us you will look the same as any pony in Equestria when your transformations are complete. Why would we treat you any different than any other Equestrian if that's the case?"
Rhonda's face moved in to nuzzle at my wings and she sighed out warmly as her arms wrapped around my waist. "I like that."
I looked back over my shoulder, but my wing was in the way of seeing Rhonda properly. "The sentiment, you mean?"
She nodded into my wing and I shivered from the feeling.
"I agree it is a good thought to have. Thank you, Cherry Blossom," I smiled, turning my attention back to the pony before me.
"It is only natural for me, miss," Cherry smiled up with a light blush on her cheeks.
"Not everypone would agree," I offered, and the pony nodded slowly.
"Yes, that is a shame," she sighed. "I would think we'd have a lot more Nightguards here if they were more accepted."
"Hmm? Nightguards?" I wondered, dabbing at my upper legs with the towel Rhonda was still holding onto.
"Yes Miss," Cherry offered with an eager smile. "I must admit I love their leathery wings. It is a rare treat when one of Princess Luna's private guards comes in and allows me to rub oils in their wings. It's such a pretty sight to see them shine in the moonlight."
I chuckled a bit at the pony's obvious admiration for something that few ponies would have a second thought about. "So what you're saying is that feathery wings are not half as interesting to you, hmm? I see how it is." I winked, and Cherry's blush deepened immediately.
"Oh, no miss! I mean.. they're lovely and I enjoy working on them but.. I.. erm..."
"I'm just teasing you, Cherry," I offered, slowly sinking through my knees with Rhonda still clinging to my back. "You've been a great help to me while we've been here. You and your sister both." I added the last bit, looking over in Magnolia's direction and motioning for the two to come closer.
"Rhonda and I appreciate what you've done for us, don't we Rho?" I offered as the two spa ponies drew near, reaching my hands toward them and gently placing it to the sides of their muzzles. Magnolia inched away from my hand at first, but then carefully placed her muzzle against it as she found I didn't do anything scary to Cherry.
"Hmm-mm," Rhonda replied, still having her face buried into my feathers, her weight leaning into me.
I gently stroked my hands over the sides of the spa ponies' muzzles, and Cherry quickly closed her eyes while she leaned into the stroking. Magnolia tried to fight it, keeping her eyes on me, but soon succumbed to the stroking as well and closed her eyes with a soft whimper escaping her.
"I hope you accept this small gift a simple human can give you as a thank you for your caring attentions," I continued, leading my stroking hands up to softly scritch behind both ponies' ears. "I won't be able to do this once my hands turn to hooves."
The spa ponies sank through their forehooves at my continued scratching, and I leaned in a bit more to trail my hands down their mane line while gently scritching through their soft fur.
Soon I, too, would wear such fur on my form. Like Rhonda, it would most likely start at my legs and then.. go from there. I idly wondered how much longer it would take, and smiled at the blissful look on the faces of the ponies before me.
This Spritelight pony the Princess had told us about was changing humans into ponies. Hands would be turning into hooves. There would be so many pets to go without pettings.
I sighed and pulled my hands back, and Magnolia almost immediately jumped up with a blush, moving back and hiding behind her sister. Cherry was slower to come out of her reverie, and had to blink her eyes a few times before she could push up on her hooves properly, her ears turning on her head as if she was feeling confused at what just happened.
"I'm sorry if that was too forward of me," I started, "but this is how humans back home reward other creatures for having done a good job."
Cherry shivered in place, her cheeks reddening. "You mean pets."
I shrugged at that.
"It felt nice. Thank you, Princess Josey," Cherry smiled up weakly, idly scraping her right forehoof over the floor.
I heard Rhonda giggle at that and looked away with a blush. "I'm not sure I'm a princess yet, but it was the only thing I could think of to show our appreciation."
Magnolia mumbled something I couldn't quite catch, and I peered over Cherry's form to look at her sister. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?"
"She said thank you, Princess," Cherry responded in place of Magnolia, and I smirked at the title being used again.
"I'm not sure I can get used to that title," I muttered, and Rhonda gave me a squeeze. "Or to having a Rhonda backpack. Are you going to let go at some point in time, love? We have to meet Celestia for lunch soon."
"But your wings are so soft!" Came the reply from my back.
"You can nuzzle into them at any time, Rho-Rho," I sighed, moving my hands down to try and pull myself out of Rhonda's pincer-like grasp.
If it wasn't for her also trying to hold onto the towel, I would not have succeeded, as she hid some surprising strength in her arms, but fortunately for me having knelt before, I was able to slide her arms further down and sort of step out of the circle she was making with them.
"Aww," Rhonda pouted, and pushed up on her hooves, clinging the towel to her chest instead.
"Cherry, do you have anything that could cover us up a bit before we go meet with Celestia?" I wondered of the spa pony, and she tilted her head at me. "Maybe something ponies wear that could be a few sizes too big so any further changes won't damage them?"
"We could probably find a coat for miss Rhonda, Princess Josey, but your wings come out at the wrong angle for any Pegasus outfit to work on you," Cherry replied in all honesty.
"What about some pants?" I pressed, but Cherry raised an eyebrow at that. "Ok, so a skirt?"
"Skirts should be no problem at all," the pony nodded. "We have a wide variety of those."
"Can you find us a couple that works with our colors?" I asked, "I would think my coat will look yellow as well, considering my wings?"
"Most likely, yes Princess Josey," she agreed. "Shall I send a guard out to find the court tailor for your top?"
I looked back at Rhonda, still hiding her chest from sight with the wet towel, and then stretched my wings out behind me to look at their size. "That might be wise, yes. Maybe something with an open back would work, until we change more."
"Like a chest guard, Princess?" Magnolia piped up, and I looked in her direction with some surprise.
"Er... yeah, like a chest guard, I guess," I replied, reaching up to scratch an itch behind my right ear.
"Just make sure it's made of cloth and hangs down to about waist level," I continued, marking the location by placing my left hand at my lowermost ribs.
Magnolia nodded and turned to her sister. "I'll go get their clothes then, Cherry?"
Cherry nodded slowly, the movement of her ears and tail indicating she was as surprised as I was at the other pony's sudden initiative, and Magnolia all-but galloped out of the bathrooms.
"Perhaps she was a bit more overwhelmed by us than she let on?" I mused, and Cherry smiled up weakly.
"It looks to be that way, Princess. I do hope she remembers to bring the skirts as well."
I moved to pull Rhonda into a hug, her naked form pressing into mine, and I smiled back at Cherry while Rhonda rested her head atop my chest. "It's not like it will matter in a few hours. At the rate we're changing, we'll be fully transformed before the end of the day."
Cherry nodded slowly at that, flicking one of her ears, and I felt a twitch to the side of my head. So the ears would be next, then. I leaned down to press a kiss on top of Rhonda's head and looked past her mane at her right ear, letting out a soft chuckle as it started to look a bit elven in appearance...