The Support Group

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't accept that Shiny knew her. I can't believe he'd been seeing her after the invasion, after we'd moved here to the Crystal Empire. I couldn't believe that he'd betrayed me.

He'd explained it all, saying how it had been a need, a deep call in his mind to seek out the queen. That she'd claimed to have heard the same thing, that she'd infiltrated the castle and yet did nothing to harm either of us because she needed him. He told me that he tried seeing an addiction specialist, that he'd found treatments to cure himself of the need, fighting it alone so that I would never know of his failing. I wanted to call him out, to say that a pony can't become addicted to sex, but the condition of the mare in his hooves stopped me. This wasn't the mare who'd attacked me. This wasn't a leader of a species, a mare who knew where she stood and where she wanted to be. This wasn't the mare who tried to take over Canterlot on my wedding day, who'd nearly succeeded.

This was an empty husk.

Her body was a mess, another piece of her cracked shell falling off even as Shining Armor stroked her mane. Blood was visible from several large gashes, though what she'd been through to get those injuries I couldn't fathom. Even after her attack on my home though, I'd wanted to help her. She was just so...broken. Now, to hear that Shining had been like this at one point, that he'd gone through withdrawal and all the things involved to rid himself of that entail to make sure that we could be happy. To hear that he'd done that alone, because I likely wouldn't have believed him, I- I wasn't certain what to think. He was right in a way though. I'd have dismissed it, seeing only the betrayal. Now, I couldn't dismiss that it was a real addiction. Was Chrysalis even coherent?

An old spell, taught to me by my aunt for emergencies entered my mind. It was a clarity spell, one that would help an individual power through the most potent drugs and the worst pain. It had allowed Aunt Tia to keep going after her fight with Nightmare Moon all those years ago in spite of her injuries. It may be dangerous, but I needed to know.

With a focusing breath I cast the spell. I cast the clarity spell on the queen, and she wept.

"Gone," she rasped in her strange buzzing voice as her grip on him tightened slightly. We both winced as another few sections of her shell fell off at the pressure, the segments clattering on the floor. "Gone, for this. I can't do this, Shining. I can't live like this."

The mare choked on her words, my spell likely being the first time in weeks she'd been capable of thinking clearly, if not longer.

"I don't know what she did, but while I'm still me I want, no. I need you to end this farce of an existence."

Shining Armor looked at me in a panic. He was scared, we both were. She'd just asked for mercy, begged him for it. It confirmed his story, though I wasn't sure why I'd done this. Maybe I was hoping she'd reveal this whole disaster as a fraud, that this was all just some big trick and that she'd taken the real Shining Armor while I wasn't looking. Maybe some part of me still hoped it was all an elaborate scheme to trick my Shining into her hooves again. Maybe...

Steeling myself as best I could, I stepped around her to look her in the eyes. Those fogged eyes that seemed unable to actually focus on anything around her. I needed to know. I had to ask her.

"Where is your hive, Chrysalis? Why are you here? What is your goal?"

The question had no where near the amount of steel I was hoping for.

The queen just sobbed all the harder before finally managing a response.

"This, this is it. I don't, I can't...this is no life for a changeling queen. Please, just..."

The white stallion before me carefully stroked her mane, being cautious of her injuries. He held her with the same gentleness he'd held me so many nights, only in this case it was out of fear of breaking her further. It was Impossible. I didn't want to hear her, even as the spell faded, the weeping mare's face returning to the empty stare as she held on tightly to my stallion. What was I to do? She was hurt by love.

Love was all she wanted right now. The only thing that made me cautious of giving her what she needed was the mode. She wanted my husband, she wanted what I had already laid claim to. It tore me apart, it ate at me. It was a problem I had no clean solution for. I was the princess of love, I was supposed to help ponies find love. I was supposed to make sure it was available to those who needed it. Part of me wanted her to receive the love she so desperately needed, while another part saw her as an aggressor. Saw her as somepony who was trying to take what was mine.

Choking back my anger and sorrow, I headed to the door. I needed to think, I needed to get away from this for a moment. I-

"T-take care of her. Help her, Shiny. I- I'll be back. I need to think."

"Cadance, I-" he tried to say to stop me. But I'd already left, closing the door behind me I needed to be away from that sight. I needed to think about this. I didn't want to be responsible for her death, but neither did I want her to take him from me.

<-(0)->

I walked through the castle and finally into the gardens, running through the breathing exercises I'd taught Auntie Luna and Twilight. I won't be called a hypocrite, I won't fall for-

Once more I winced, memories of the families I'd helped over the years coming into my mind. Before the Empire, I'd made myself available in my spare time as a counselor, and had run into almost all the reasons families would come to me for help. Addiction was one of the top reasons. The addicts, they often needed so much help, so much love and support to beat their dependence. Yet Shining Armor had kicked his habit on his own, without even allowing it to slip that something was wrong. He did it for me as well, not wanting to betray my trust. The amount of pain an individual experiences when dealing with an addiction alone...most would have ended up looking like Chrysalis had appeared just now. It was nothing to scoff at.

Another idea reared it's ugly head. How many times had I worked out love triangles, or worse? How many times had I met the individuals, finding a workable solution? How many times had I suggested multiple ponies staying together to make things work, to make sure love was never unrequited, to make sure that everything worked out and nopony was left alone?

'What's the difference? Why does she bother me so much? I've no problem with herds, Tartarus I've suggested some couples use them to make everypony happy. Why does this bother me so much?'

The addiction being a real thing weakened my reasoning for being angry at Shining Armor, in fact it proved his love. He fought and beat it by himself for me, for us. The queen though, Chrysalis likely had no idea what to do with her addiction. The fact that her body was so...decayed proved that this wasn't something that was recent, nor was it something she knew how to fix. She'd risked life and limb to come here.

We'd captured a two or three changelings that had made their way to the empire, hoping to feed on the bountiful emotions in the air. All of them were terrified when they were caught, expecting to be executed. She had to be no different, in fact we had more reason to hate her than any of the other changelings. Was she so lost to sanity that she'd walked into the empire prepared to die?

Even as I suppressed a shudder at the possibility, I schooled my expression. Somepony was approaching.

"Your majesty, a most wonderful night to you. How are you this evening?" the stallion said. The mare by his side smiled benevolently, though I knew what they were here for. The nobles had been constant in their pestering.

"It is, Noble Azure Night. Good evening to you as well, Lady Night. What brings you here tonight?" As if I truly need to ask.

"We, that is my wife and I, were wondering if you'd made your decision yet. There are so many who would be more than happy to accept the position, of course, but we believe-"

"I believe Shining Armor and I made our position quite clear. We are not interested in accepting either of you into our herd, nor are we interested in taking in any of the other nobles," I told the stallion and his wife for what felt like the hundredth time. They were relentless in their pursuit of entry into our family, though I doubted any were in it because of actual love. No, these ponies were looking for entry for the power it would bring them.

A stray thought entered my mind as the stallion and mare pleaded their case, trying to make me understand why they were suitable candidates for our herd. The crystal ponies were by no means tribalist, but their customs and knowledge of other races had left them xenophobic. Would they be so willing to pursue a herd with a changeling? The idea of them fleeing in terror as Shining and I announced such a thing brought a ghost of a smile to my muzzle. A shame too, as it seemed to give noble hope that I was actually listening to the same speech he'd given me three times at least.

"My answer remains the same, Azure," I told the stallion once more. "We are uninterested. I must go and speak to my husband about something of importance. Enjoy your night."

It would be strange, would be so weird but was I really one to deny that? I was the Alicorn of Love, I was supposed to make sure it was available and strong to any who needed it. I was denying love to an entire species because of the actions of one mare. A mare who had suffered her penance already by the looks of it.

My hooves brought me to my own room once more, the room I shared with my prince. Was I a bad pony for having hoped bad things would happen to Chrysalis after what she did? Aunt Tia told me not to hate, that alicorns lived too long for such emotions. I don't think I even knew the meaning of it until after the wedding invasion. I wished her to lose her kingdom, I wished her suffer, I wished...I wished she'd never existed.

Right now it seemed that it had all happened. It seemed that it had all come to pass. Right now, it seemed that Chrysalis wished she'd never existed either. It was unsettling to think about. Had it been my wish that she meet this fate that brought it to pass?

I opened the door to our room, closing it behind me and venturing into through the foyer of the royal sweet and into the bedroom. As I walked in, my jaw dropped.

Chrysalis was...there was no mistaking it, she had pinned my Shiny beneath her and was currently deep-throating his penis. My first reaction was to rush over and stop her, but a moan of pleasure from Shiny caused me to slow. Wasn't this something he'd asked me to do before? I'd...I'd never really imagined it to be a good thing, it just seemed so dirty. It wasn't something that a princess was supposed to do.

I stared in fascination as the changeling worked him over, her eyes slowly igniting with a burning fire that had been missing before. She was cleaner now, the discarded towels and packing of the bandages that were currently wrapped around her barrel showing that Shining Armor had finished caring for her injuries. Whether it was the queen or the stallion who had started this, I was unsure. One thought kept running through my mind.

She was feeding on his semen.

She was swallowing almost constantly, her appearance improving even as I watched. She pulled off of him for a moment, taking his large testicles into her maw gently and running her fangs over his fuzzy sack, causing him to buck at the strange sensations. Quick as a flash she was back to his flare, licking up the pre that had begun to drip in her absence. Having made certain there was none that was missed, the queen once more took the girth that was my husband into her mouth, working it impossibly deep into her throat and humming in contentment. Shining grunted in those cute little gasping grunts that told me he was climaxing. She'd-what was the term? A blowjob I think it was called. Chrysalis had given him a blowjob until he climaxed. To my shame, I think he finished faster and stronger than the last time we'd been together. Shining Armor gave a few bucks before I swear I saw the queen's neck grow wider as his flare expanded inside her throat. She swallowed a few more times as my husband came down from his orgasm before slowly removing him from her body, giving the flare a gentle kiss in parting.

Chrysalis slumped afterwards, her burst of energy leaving her. Her shell was now glowing in areas, the wounds slowly closing here and there while the cracks in the chitin were slowly erased by glowing streaks. That was that. She really did feed on his seed. I shuddered at the thought. How could a pony live like that? Was it the only way they could absorb love? Was the changeling race nothing more than a race of whorses?

Shining armor pushed the queen off of himself, sliding her to his right and wearing his post-climax goofy grin. It made me feel strange, seeing that look on his face and knowing I hadn't been the cause. His eyes met mine and he froze. He began stuttering, trying to explain what had happened. He didn't need to.

"I'm not mad, Shiny. I promise. She, she was dying, right? That's how she fed on you. I can see that she's already looking healthier. Just, can you answer me something, Shiny? If you had to choose..."

I let the question trail off, watching as his face took on a pained focus as he mulled the question over. He didn't want to, he couldn't. Not after seeing Chrysalis like that. It was actually what I wanted to see. I knew most stallions in this situation couldn't. It meant that he cared. It meant that he didn't want either of us to be hurt.

I placed a hoof on his muzzle, silencing him and causing him to look at me in worried curiosity.

"I'm not angry. She, Chrysalis needs you right now. We both do. Would I really be the Alicorn of Love if I denied somepony what I'm supposed to help others find?"

He stared for a moment, closing his eyes and nodding. Then he stopped, a curious expression as he took a deep breath through his nose. He blinked in shock, pushing my hoof away form his muzzle.

"How long were you watching, Cady?"

I felt a blush break out across my face. How did he find out? What could have given me away?

"Long enough to see what happened, and long enough to assume you enjoyed it. That was one of the things you asked me to do, isn't it? That's...I don't know if I could do that."

"You don't have to, Cady. You know I wouldn't make you do something you didn't want to," he soothed, getting up from the bed and kissing me. He smiled mischievously though, moving around me and poking his nose into my marehood. I gasped, feeling his hot breath on my damp need. Why was it reacting? It usually only did that when I was looking forward to him mounting me!

"Ah, I thought so. Tell me, dear. Did you like what you saw?"

"N-no, of course not. It wouldn't be proper," I responded immediately. He didn't seem convinced though, just smiling at me as he ran a hoof over my flank.

Before I could say anything else, he licked me. He licked me there! Oh no no no, that's not how sex works at all! I mean, you're supposed to kiss them, and then he puts his thing in your thing and he moves around and it feels really good and this feels really good and oh my stars what am I doing?!?

I open my mouth to tell him to stop, that it isn't right. Ponies shouldn't do that, it's not sanitary! All that I manage though is a few strangled squeaks, then a mewl. It feels so good, but I can't let him keep going, I have to stop him. What if somepony finds out? What if someone thinks I'm, I'm loose?!? Oh stars it will be like when I first found my talent all over again! Stallions offering me bits for, for 'favors' or mare's looking at me with disdain, with disgust! I can't do that again, not after working so hard to be a good role model.

I turned to Shiny, trying to ask him to stop but that's when I saw him begin to press his muzzle into me. I couldn't even see his face at this point. It was firmly pressed between my flanks, the same flanks his hooves were holding apart as he worked on me, driving his tongue deep inside me. It was horrible, but it was so wonderful at the same time. His tongue was writhing inside of me, touching places in ways his penis never could. It wiggled and rubbed against my everything, making me clench tightly around his muscle as it explored me. I whined and mewled, I gasped his name, trying to form a coherent sentence. He didn't let me though, as he began to lick and suckle on something back there, something infinitely sensitive.

I whimpered as my legs gave out, my butt only remaining in the air because he was holding me up. It was too much. I couldn't even ask him to stop. I didn't want him to. My wings began fluttering wildly, I felt my canal begin to clench sporadically, I felt myself reaching that forbidden place. I was about to come.

I screamed his name...and it happened. My body clenched up as my vagina began spurting fluids, coating my husband in the slick liquid. It was horrible. I was a slut. I was a whorse. Worse of all though, I enjoyed it. I wanted him to do it again. I wanted my Shiny to keep licking my privates until I couldn't think straight, until I couldn't walk straight. I was a horrible pony.

I curled up as he softly rubbed my flank and I began to cry. What would Auntie Tia say if she knew what I'd done?