Chapter 2
“What exactly do you mean ‘first part’?” Rick growled.
“Why, just that, my boy. Celestia, Luna and I have discussed and arranged everything.” Five robes appeared out of thin air, literally at the snap of Discord’s fingers. Each of the robes matched the fur color of their respected owner as identified by the monograms on the left breast. “Now get dressed, everypony is waiting on you.”
After Discord vanished, Rick helped each of his brides to put on their robes as they were obviously not used to their new forms. Next came the big hurdle, how to get them all down to the dining hall. A short discussion about crutches and walkers was had and then quickly dismissed. Soon, a compromise was reached.
The doors to the hall opened, revealing two floating women and two more being easily carried in the arms of one man. Luckily, the girls weren’t very tall, basically the same height they would be if the stood upright in their pony forms. Nor were they heavy, Rarity always watched what she ate in order to keep her filly-ish figure, and Applejack worked hard all day, thus burning all the calories she could possibly ingest. Fluttershy and Twilight had maintained their flight. Rick’s strength had once again been transferred from on body to the other. In fact, he had tried to carry all four of the girls at first, but four bodies, sexy and light as they may be, was still a little too cumbersome. He also could have carried them in his magic, but Rarity and Applejack had insisted otherwise, Fluttershy opted to fly on her own and Twilight admitted she needed the practice.
As Rick gently placed each of his new wives in their seats around the table, he was aware of whispering coming from around the table. Those whispers didn’t bother him, everyone around the table was family and friends after all. The whispers that bothered him were the ones from the corners of the room, the servants.
What were they saying?
Was it about him and his wives? Almost certainly it was.
Was it positive, or did he need to say something? Or do something?
Rick could take anything these ponies could dish out, but Rarity and Fluttershy were a little more sensitive. Though, he doubted highly that Celestia would allow judgmental ponies to remain in her employ for very long. Instead of worrying about it, he decided his time was better spent focusing on enjoying breakfast and finding out exactly what the princesses and Discord have in mind for him and his beautiful brides.
Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight and Rarity were doing their best to sit normally. The problem was, their normal was pony normal, not human normal. Their legs were straight out in front of them instead of curled in close and they were leaning forward almost to the point of falling into the table. Rick got back up from his chair and, one by one, showed them how to tuck their legs and sit up straight. After that, he helped them to hold utensils with their fists like you would a child. They may have been full grown, but they never had fingers before.
“I can hear you all whispering,” Rick started, “we’re all friends and family here, go ahead and ask your questions. I’ll answer what I can. Are you ladies alright with that?”
After the four nods came, the first of the questions came from the newest humans.
“Um, what’re these?” Applejack asked, “they feel like udders ‘r somethin’.”
“*Ahem* those are breasts, and as a comparison, yeah, you could call them human udders. Their primary function is for nursing,” Rick leaned in and whispered in AJ’s ear, “there are other uses that we can explore later.” This caused AJ to blush while his breath tickled her ear and made her giggle.
“How is it having fingers?” Rainbow, forgetting her manners, floated over the table and took Fluttershy’s hand in her hoof.
“It’s… a little overwhelming. Everything I touch is a wave of textures.”
“That’s not surprising. Hooves are similar to fingernails, no nerve endings and no flexibility. Human hands are about the polar opposite. The hands, feet, head and… we’ll just call it the halfway point, are the highest concentration of nerves in the body. The human hand can detect fluctuations in temperature and texture that even some measuring devices can’t pick up. You also have to be careful, hooves are a lot better at dealing with hot or sharp objects than hands and feet.”
“Ooh, that’s a good point!” Pinkie bounced in place with her usual excited look that failed to betray any extra or missing excitement, “are you colder without your fur?!”
Rarity chose to answer this one, “well, as it’s not too cold this morning, but I will admit that these robes, I might not be as comfortable.”
“As a human, you will find temperature changes will affect you far more than as a pony. For most, there is a very narrow range of comfort, usually between seventy-five and eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. People with higher fat content, just like animals, will prefer cooler temperatures and do better in them than someone as thin as, say you girls.” This comment was almost directly into Rarity’s ear and was awarded with another giggle and blush.
“How does our flight and magic still work without wings and horns?” Twilight asked Princess Celestia.
“That is should be obvious, my faithful student.” Twilight looked a little lost and almost hurt. “Your appearances have changed, nothing more. You are still Princess Twilight Sparkle, just as they are still Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rick Rhinestone.” Celestia seemed to think for a couple seconds, “though, I suppose, since you are a princess and Rick has married you, then that would make him a prince, much like your brother.” Celestia looked sideways at the five humans seated at her table.
“Wait,” Rarity seemed to barely be able to hold back her anticipation, “if Rick married Twilight and became a prince, and we married him… does that mean…?”
“May I be the first to welcome you to the royal family, Princess Rarity.”
Rick only just managed to catch her as she swooned, “if it’s all the same to you, Celestia, I’m quite happy with the title I already had.”
“Are you saying you wish to denounce your crown?”
“I’m too afraid of what Rarity would do to me if I did that. No, I just don’t want to be addressed as such is all. Where I lived, we fought tooth and nail to free ourselves from royalty and the unstoppable power that came with it. While you and Luna are far and away better than the oppressive kings and queens of old, there is still a bad taste that was left behind. I have no problem with my wives calling themselves princesses, I’ve always seem them as such anyway, but I am and will always be their Protector.”
“I understand, you shall continue to be known as the Royal Protector of the Elements of Harmony. However, you will retain your crown shall you ever wish to make it public knowledge.” Celestia then addressed the still conscious women, namely Fluttershy and Applejack, “do you ladies feel the same?”
“No offense, Princess, but Ah do. Ah’m happiest just seeing a field of freshly bucked apple trees. Ah don’t need some fancy title.” Celestia slowly nodded, then turned to Fluttershy.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable with all this attention. I just want to be helpful to everypo… everybody?” Fluttershy tried the word for the first time. It felt strange on her tongue. Rick couldn’t help but smile at her. As adorable as she was as a pony, now that he was seeing her with human eyes in a human body… sweet Celestia she was cute.
“As you wish, your titles will remain private unless you wish it otherwise. Now, if there are no further questions, we will proceed to the reason for your transformations.” All eyes, human and otherwise were on the sun princess, too bad it wasn’t her turn to speak.
“Rick, do you remember a dream, or to be more precise, a memory you shared with me not too long ago?” Luna asked the new prince, he nodded to show he did. “You told me that place held nothing but happy memories for you and that you wished you could show that place to the mares you love.”
Light was starting to dawn on him, “wait, are you saying…?”
“Correct, with the assistance of Discord, you and your lovely brides will be sent to your home world, Earth.” Excited gasps came from around the table.
“Are you saying, the four of us are going to be able to see just where Rick came from?” Twilight asked, only just managing to keep her excitement at a reasonable level. Unfortunately, the affirming nod from Celestia was enough to push her over the edge. “Oh my gosh!! I’ll have a whole new world to study! New sciences and places, Oh, and there’s no magic there, I’ll be able to learn about a whole other way to do things!! I can’t wait! When do we go!?”
Discord answered her after a short chuckle, “you will be leaving in one week, two weeks after, you will return to Equestria. Can’t have so many Elements of Harmony out of commission for too long. Who knows what kind of fun I might have otherwise.”
“Why’re we waitin’ uh week ‘fore we leave?” Applejack asked the question everypony and everybody was wanting to know the answer to.
“Do you really think it would be a good idea to travel to a whole new place and try to blend in with another species with only a few hours prep time?” Discord answered, “while I have every confidence in your ability to master your new form, you will still need some time to do so.”
“Oh, I’m not sure I want to go to another world. It sounds so… scary.” Fluttershy’s cuteness refused to be overpowered by her concern.
Rick stood up and scooped her out of her chair then proceeded to twirl around with her in his thick arms. “There’s nothing to worry about, Fluttershy. For one thing, I’ll be there and so will Twilight, Rarity and AJ. Do you think any of us would let you get hurt even the tiniest bit?” Fluttershy smiled as she nuzzled against Rick’s chest. “Second, there are tons of animals there that-” Rick didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before Fluttershy’s outburst and sudden gravity allergy.
“Really!? Oh, oh, I can’t wait! I’m going to make new animal friends!”
Rick reached up and gently pulled Fluttershy back down so she was sitting on his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re excited about the animals, but remember, they are wild and different from Equestrian animals. They may not understand you because they aren’t as intelligent. But there are no animals that would pose a threat either,” Rick added the last bit quickly before she had a chance to get nervous again. “Even if there were, I would never let anything hurt you.”
Applejack was watching the show with a grin but not really adding anything to the conversation. “A little tidbit you might find interesting, AJ, apples are pretty much the main crop there.” She looked into his eyes as her smile broadened, “we’ll make sure to get a couple recipe books while we’re there. You could have a whole market of new apple products only found at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Well, Ah doubt there’re too many apple recipes not known ta the Apple family, but Ah can’t wait ta find out.” Rick plucked her out of her seat and hefted AJ up onto his other shoulder. Both women started to giggle from their perch.
“There may even be new fashions too,” he didn’t even need to say this loudly.
“Really!?”
“Sounds like Rarity’s in,” it seemed even more obvious since she was hanging form his neck like a pendant, “what about you, Twilight?” His response was a gentle kiss from the hovering princess. “I guess that’s everybody, so what’s next?”
*****
The Rhinestone clan arrived at Ponyville mid-way through the afternoon along with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Shining Armor and Cadence had returned to the Crystal Empire shortly after the Rhinestones left Canterlot. To say the ponies that met them upon their return were surprised to see that not only had Rick become a human again, but that there were four new humans would be putting it very mildly.
Just as that morning, Rick carried AJ and Rarity while Twilight and Fluttershy flew. It wasn’t difficult for Rarity and Applejack to comfort their young sisters and convince them that they were still themselves. Rick scooped up the three Crusaders soon after they had finished greeting their big sisters. He couldn’t help himself, they were even cuter when they seemed so much smaller than normal. There was one more thing he couldn’t resist.
“Hey, Rainbow!” As soon as she looked at him, he grinned and moved Sweetie and Apple Bloom to one arm, therefore leaving just Scootaloo in his dominate hand. “Think fast!” He launched her straight up into the air causing Scootaloo to scream until Rainbow Dash had snagged her out of thin the air and flew off with her laughing her purple-maned head off.
The rest marched off toward Rick’s home. Applejack had opted to ride on Big Mac, thus allowing her little sister to continue having her fun with her new sister and big brother. Although, Rarity had been a little more reluctant to give up her seat. This was only going to be temporary after all. They were all going to have to learn to walk on their own two hoo… feet.