"Mm, you smell positively delicious after your shower, Princess." Chrysalis crooned, circling around Princess Cadance, recently emerged from the bathroom, steam rising from her sodden coat. The predatory affectation was rather ruined by her waddling gait, however - the Queen's belly had swelled further over the two weeks she had kept The Princess of Love prisoner within herself, as her daughters grew rapidly, nourished by Cadance's unlimited reserves of motherly love energy.

Cadance snorted, and trotted right past the hungry Changeling Queen, flicking Chrysalis on the nose with her tail as she went. "You said that yesterday. And the day before, and the one before that." She heaved herself up onto the plush bed, rolling over onto her side. She idly rubbed at her large belly as her foals kicked. Perhaps they didn't approve of being jostled around as their mother was swallowed and regurgitated, over and over again.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, waddling right up to the edge of the bed to regard her erstwhile meal. "There are only so many ways one can compliment a meal, Princess. I don't exactly have a huge amount of material to work with here."

"Oh, so cruel!" Cadance lamented, a dramatic hoof flung over her forehead. "I am naught but food for my cruel captor! Nothing but a delectable morsel, to be bullied and swallowed again and again! Won't somepony come to my rescue?"

Chrysalis arched an unimpressed eyebrow. "Keep working that acting talent, Princess, you'll land yourself a Trotscar in the inevitable movie they make about this. Your Aunt could play me - she's got the appetite and figure for it, what with all the cake she eats."

Cadance tried to sputter indignantly, but soon dissolved into laughter, belly shaking with her guffaws.

Chrysalis grinned at her toothily, before wincing and looking down at her bulging sides. Four pairs of glowing eyes could be seen through her transparent belly, all fixed upon Cadance, still laughing on the bed. As she calmed herself and breathed again, she looked up at Chrysalis's distracted expression and followed the Queen's gaze, meeting the four pairs of unborn Changeling eyes with her own. As she did, the little nymphs reached forward, pushing and licking at the wall of the womb that contained them, straining to reach the delicious food source Cadance represented.

"Well, Princess," Chrysalis noted, "It seems your roommates are quite famished."

Cadance sighed, stretching one last time, arching her back with the pop of vertebrae and flapping her wings. "Duty calls, I suppose. Though it's getting pretty cramped in there, Chryssi. How much longer until you give birth?"

The expectant Queen touched a forehoof to her chin, thoughtful. "Most likely around a week, give or take a day. It's easier for us to predict than it is for you ponies - by the time my daughters are fully gestated, they'll have enough of a connection to the Hive that I can feel the moment coming with absolute certainty. So hang in there, Princess - we do what we can with the roles we are given."

Chrysalis sat down on the floor and leaned forward, opening her mouth wide, as Princess Cadance obligingly scooted across the bed to place her head and forehooves within Chrysalis's maw, taking care to point her horn in at an easily ingested angle. Chrysalis grasped her gently at the shoulders, and slowly eased her in, murmuring with appreciation as the marvelous taste of Cadance's love energy once again filled her senses.

Cadance squirmed, feeling the soft flesh of Chrysalis's throat stretch around herself yet again. No matter how many times she was subjected to this process, she never could get over how much the gentle touches of Chrysalis's tongue and teeth tickled her coat.

The Princess of Love had gained an intimate understanding of Changeling anatomy during her "imprisonment", such as it was. The Queen's teeth were closer to those of a snake than that of a pony. Thin, pointed backwards, they folded flat to admit her passage, and rose to hook onto her coat and keep her from sliding backward, yet never breaking her skin. Clearly purpose-made for eating live prey without actually harming it.

As for Chrysalis's questing tongue, Cadance had come to guiltily enjoy the Queen's advances. Chrysalis had, when questioned, confirmed that she took great pleasure in feasting on Cadance's sense of lust - not anywhere near as nourishing as love, but very tasty indeed. Changeling snack food.

Cadance felt the Queen's lips pass over her shoulders, and folded her wings in tight, so they would not get pinched uncomfortably as the Queen swallowed her down further -

Then she yelped, as she was picked up rather violently and Chrysalis started swallowing wish frantic haste, the sedate, comfortable pace replaced by rushed gulping.

'My Queen, the pony Prince is on his way to your chambers!'

Chrysalis's eyes snapped wide with panic.

'Not now! Slow him down, keep him occupied for as long as possible! I can't disguise myself like this!'

Keeping Shining Armor fooled for the past week had been a lot easier than Chrysalis had suspected it would be. Despite the added difficulty of not being able to use the brute-force magic approach and still remain at nominally good terms with her Pretty Pink Princess Prey, Shining Armor suspected nothing. It helped that Cadance had actually stepped up to the plate with some pointers - apparently wanting to spare her husband any needless distress until her current situation was passed.

Now, though, it was all in danger of crashing down. Good luck disguising with Cadance halfway down your throat!

Chrysalis struggled to a sitting position, lifting Cadance's large belly and rear legs straight into the air half with magic and swallowing as fast as she could. Cadance yelped and kicked, no doubt startled by the sudden movement, but Chrysalis had no time to spare for reassurances - she had to eat fast!

She was just beginning to stretch her lips over Cadance's gravid swell when the doors to the bedroom opened.

Shining Armor was in a good mood.

Peace reigned in the Empire, no major disasters had been reported, no new world-ending monster had reared its ugly head, and best of all, none of that fiendish paperwork was clogging up his inbox.

Now, all he needed to make the day perfect was a visit to his Pretty Pink Pregnant Princess Wife, and he was planning on doing just that. A bouquet of fresh, delicious roses(one petal stealthily nibbled for quality control) and a bottle of alcohol-free cider floated next him, held in his magic, and he trotted along the corridor whistling a merry tune -

Until the two Crystal Guards guarding the Royal Bedroom stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"My apologies, Prince Consort," the Sergeant said, hoof raised in gentle rebuke. "The Princess is sleeping and ordered she would not be disturbed under any circumstances short of Empire-ending."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, peering at his Sergeant. "Sergeant Brilliant Quartz, that is the biggest load of hogwash I've heard since Princess Celestia said she only eats sugar-free cakes. I'm going in to see my wife, and you will let me. Are we clear?"

Sergeant Brilliant Quartz, or more precisely Infiltrator Mantis, felt very small indeed. He had no doubts that Shining Armor could squash him like the bug he nominally resembled, and his slightly-panicked ping to the Hive for support yielded nothing but uncertain sympathy.

"I - yes, Prince Consort. Sorry, Prince Consort." he stepped aside and saluted with such haste that his shod hoof rang against the metal of his helmet like a bell.

"At ease, Sergeant, didn't mean to scare you," Shining chuckled, taking pity on the dazed sergeant as he moved to push the door open. "I'm sure Princess Cadance merely failed to mention me and Flurry Heart in the list of exceptions to her-"

The rest of what Shining Armor had planned to say died in his throat, as he looked into the bedroom and stopped, still as a statue and staring. For seated on the floor was none other than the one who almost took his wife from him without him even knowing it - Queen Chrysalis, fat, bloated. And with his wife in her mouth, legs kicking wildly in the air and face stretching the hideous hide of the Changeling's throat.

The horrible creature turned her head, meeting Shining Armor's eyes. She gave him a look filled with panic, face flushed poisonous green. Then she shrugged, and swallowed, Cadance sinking further into her throat.

Shining Armor uttered what could only be described as a silent scream, escaping only as a high-pitched croak. Then he fell flat on the floor and fainted dead away.

'Huh. That went as well as it could, I suppose,' Chrysalis thought, gently lowering Cadance down to rest on the bed again, now that the need to rush had abated.

'Mantis, bring him in and then resume your post,' she commanded over the Hive, settling once again in to her slow, gentle rhythm of swallowing.

'At once, my Queen,' Mantis sent back, as he and his partner dragged the insensate Prince into the room and gently, but unceremoniously dumped him on the floor next to Chrysalis, before retreating and shutting the door.

"What's going on out there, Chryssi?" Cadance demanded, wriggling within Chrysalis's throat. "What's the big idea of flinging me around like that?"

"Mmf," Chrysalis grunted, rolling her eyes.

She passed the widest point of her prey's girth, and sped her swallows up just a little bit, wasting no time but not jostling Cadance needlessly either. She had to be ready to manage Shining Armor when he came to his senses - already he twitched and groaned softly, wakefulness mere moments way.

No time to indulge in snack food this time around. Chrysalis swallowed all of Cadance's bulging belly, and proceeded to hastily chomp her legs down, tilting her head up again and lunging forward inches at a time. A final slurp, and both rear hooves and colourful tail disappeared within the Queen's jaws.

"Whew," Chrysalis gasped, rubbing at her stomach as it once again started to glow with the radiant pink light of Cadance's love, and her daughters brushed at her mind with elation at hunger sated. "That could have been bad."

"What happened, Chryssi?" Cadance asked, annoyed. "You tossed me around like a sack of potatoes!"

"Your dear husband interrupted dinner-time, Princess," Chrysalis replied, with a huff. "He saw us."

"Oh boy. This will be a fun conversation."

"Won't it just."

Shining Armor blearily rubbed at his eyes, feeling the soft covers of his and Cadance's bed beneath him. Then he jerked awake, heart pounding with panic. Cadance! Cadance was being eaten! By Chrysalis! He had to -

"Shiny, calm down. Look, this is going to be weird, but trust me, it's okay."

"Cadance?" Shiny asked, ears perked up and swiveling around his head. "You sound weird, like you're behind a screen or something..."

"I kind of am. Turn around."

He did so, and what he saw nearly knocked him cold again. His wife was looking back at him - but separating them was the transparent, bulging tissue of Queen Chrysalis's belly, glowing pink and pulsing with magic. Right next to his wife were four other silhouettes, seeming to press themselves so close to Cadance as they possibly could, all the while four pairs of glowing eyes regarded him curiously.

And, looking up, he met the eyes of the Queen himself.

"Hello, Shiny," she said, smiling at him. "It's been a while."

"You!" he scrambled backwards, getting to his feet and standing with legs wide, ready to lunge at her. "You spit my wife out right now, or I'll slice you open and dig her out!"

"Shiny! Calm down, really, it's okay!" Cadance called, pressing her hooves against the walls of the transparent flesh around her. "I'm fine, honest! Chrysalis hasn't hurt me!"

"She- You- wait, what? She ate you!" Shining Armor stated, confusion writ large over his words.

"Well, yes, but she's only feeding on my love, and I have more than enough," Cadance stated calmly. "She just needs to keep me for a little while so her babies can be fed."

"Babies?" Shiny looked again at the four small figures next to Cadance, nonplussed. Even as he watched, one of them curiously swam closer and waved at him.

"Yes," Chrysalis cut in, tenderly. "My daughters need a massive amount of motherly love to grow healthy towards the end of their gestation, but they can't harvest it on their own, unborn as they are. So I needed to consume Cadance and keep her in my stomach, so I could absorb the limitless love she has for your children."

Shining Armor's face went blank, as the cogs in his head turned. He blinked once, twice, before he turned entirely around and walked towards the door.

"Shiny!" Cadance called out. "Where are you going?"

"Out. Getting Princesses. Getting Elements. Blasty Rainbow-Friendship-Beamy-Thing."

"Oh no you don't, you silly male!" Chrysalis exclaimed, horn glowing.

Shining Armor yelped, as his body was enveloped with green magic and he found himself floating back to float in front of Chrysalis's face. He twisted and flailed, but couldn't fight the magical hold the Queen had on him. Belatedly he reached for his magic - only to feel it slip from his grasp like a greased eel.

"Naughty colts get put in the Love Corner, where they learn some empathy for those younger than themselves." Chrysalis licked her lips.

"Oh no," Cadance said, despairingly. "Not him too, it's already cramped in here as it is!"

"He's your husband!" Chrysalis stated, exasperated. "You like cuddling with him!"

Then, before Shining Armor could even so much as scream, she shoved him into her mouth.

"Mmmm!" Chrysalis moaned with delight. She'd nearly forgotten just how wonderful Shining Armor's emotions tasted like - and having them play all over her taste buds was a lot better than tricking them out of him with brute magic.

The unicorn squirmed and kicked, giving quite a lot of colourful examples of his vocabulary as he did, but Chrysalis paid him no mind. Held in her magic as he was, magic disabled by her ichor just as Cadance's had been, he was a delightful bit of dessert for her, and she swallowed him down with relish. His sweat and the faint hints of dirt Chrysalis licked up from his coat, combined with his distinct emotions served up a wonderful sensation of Male that delighted the Queen's senses.

'Should've eaten him the first night I spent in bed with him,' Chrysalis lamented to herself, munching softly on Shining Armor's form. 'I've been so focused on Cadance and her value for my daughters I forgot to indulge myself a little bit. Oh well, better late than never!'

Chrysalis murmured appreciatively yet again, stretching her mouth over Shining Armor's shoulders and forelegs.

Teased by the prospect of more nourishment, her daughters squirmed excitedly inside her womb, and her stomach growled with anticipation. As her lips inched over the smooth white coat of Shining Armour's belly, Chrysalis briefly considered sating her sweet tooth with his lust - but decided against it. Cadance would probably be rather jealous, not to mention sticky.

So Chrysalis sighed, and settled for a single, teasing taste. She flicked her tongue over Shining Armour's sheathe, delighting in the brief sensation of musky maleness, as Shining Armour shouted his most vile curse yet and redoubled his efforts, kicking like a rodeo performer who'd sat in a wasp's nest.

Cadance listened to Chrysalis's moans of delight, watching her husband being devoured through the transparent flesh surrounding her. It was quite something, having a window to the proceedings from within.

Shining Armor's waist disappeared within Chrysalis's jaws, leaving only his still-kicking legs and flanks in the open air - and Cadance winced as the fleshy opening of Chrysalis's stomach opened to admit him, Shiny's curses announcing his presence rather loudly. Chrysalis's daughters flocked to the far corner of the womb, away from the noise, and Cadance couldn't help but wrinkle her nose disapprovingly.

"Shiny!" she rebuked, smacking him lightly on the nose. "Stop yelling, you're scaring the children!"

"Ow!" Shining Armor rubbed at his muzzle, giving Cadance a baleful look. "What children?"

Cadance rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the chin, pointing his head in the right direction. "Those children!"

Four fearful sets of glowing eyes looked back at him, peering through the transparent membrane that separated them.

"Cadance, listen, you can't seriously-" A pink hoof on his muzzle interrupted him.

"No, Shiny, you listen," Cadance sighed. "Yes, I admit this is kind of... Weird. But Chrysalis needs my help. Her daughters need my help. And as a mother, I can't let Chrysalis watch as her babies starve."

"Wait, what? Starve?"

"Yes. Chryssi explained everything to me." Cadance lay on her side, rubbing at her own bulging stomach. "Her daughters are Changeling Princesses - they're going to become new Queens, when they grow up. But they need massive amounts of pure love to survive at this point, love that has to come from a pony who is a mother herself. And I, as the Princess of Love, have unlimited amounts that she can absorb without hurting me or anypony else. The only reason she has to swallow me is so her stomach can absorb the love energy I have, so her daughters can feed on it."

Shining Armour scrunched his muzzle up in thought. He felt Chrysalis close her jaws around his rear hooves and swallow one last time, muscular action pushing his rear half down through her throat. She seemed to have paused in the midst of devouring him to listen in on their conversation, and now he slid into the fleshy sack to lie pressed against Cadance's side.

Looking once again at the four little nymphs in the adjacent womb, Shiny couldn't help but think that they were kind of cute. Now that the commotion was over, they'd all dared to close in on the feast in the stomach, and all four of them clustered on top of each other, pressed against the transparent membrane. Hesitantly, Shining Armour reached out to press a hoof against the wall of the stomach - and a tiny, black hoof met his on the other side.

"So..." Shining Armor mused. "Does this mean we've buried the hatchet with the Changelings, dear?"

Cadance rubbed thoughtfully at her chin, one eyebrow arched. "Well, I'd say we'd be due a little bit of friendship after saving the heirs apparent of the Changeling Queen, at the very least."

The stomach rumbled around them as Chrysalis growled and looked in on them, indignant. "You ponies are infuriating, even after you've been eaten!"

Cadance laughed, and pointed an accusing hoof at Chrysalis's face. "Submit to our friendship, Queen, or we will annoy you for the rest of your pregnancy!"

A little while later, and Chrysalis lay dozing on the plush bed. She'd been forced to admit that devouring Shining Armor might have been just a bit much - as evident by the fact she couldn't actually move from her spot. She barely managed to settle onto her side - her glowing pink belly rose like a round shiny beacon above her.

What she hadn't taken into account was the fact that when she added Shining Armor to her menu, she'd more or less put herself in the Changeling version of a food coma. The combined love of the couple within her was much greater than the sum of its two parts - and the resulting feast as Chrysalis's stomach worked overtime to digest the immense bounty took all her available energy.

So lost to the world was she that when one of her guards once again pinged a warning, she didn't even acknowledge it until the bedroom door opened and a small, pink Alicorn filly trotted into the room, over the floor, and hopped onto the bed to regard the gorged Changeling Queen lying on it with foalish curiosity.

Chrysalis blinked. The little filly didn't seem frightened in the least, merely curious, tilting her head first one way, then the other.

"Hello," Chrysalis said.

"Hi," Flurry Heart replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Queen Chrysalis. And you're Flurry Heart. Nice to meet you."

"'kay. Nice t' meet you too. Where's mama and papa?"

Chrysalis gulped, and chose her words very carefully, noting that both Cadance and Shining Armor had gone very quiet indeed, listening to every word. "Well, err... They're helping me with something."

"Like what?" came the instant question, Flurry still peering at Chrysalis, the picture of perfect innocence.

"Um. Well..." Chrysalis coughed awkwardly into her hoof, frantically considering how to dig herself out of this one without scaring the little filly half to death - something that would surely turn the mood sour for the rest of her stay here.

'Oh to hay with it. Worst comes to worst I'll hit her with a gentle sleep spell and let the silly ponies deal with her when I let them out later. I'll just wing it.'

"Well, you see, I needed to... Borrow some love from your parents," Chrysalis finally replied, voice dripping with the half-truth all adults seemed to use when talking to small children. "So I gobbled them up for a little while, and when I have enough love I'll let them out again!"

Chrysalis could swear she heard something that sounded suspiciously like two ponies simultaneously smacking themselves in the forehead.

Flurry seemed to think this over, scrunching her little face up with deep thought. "Why'd you gobble them to get some love? Can't you just get a hug?"

'Sweet Celestia, her thinky-face is so precious I'm going to develop diabetes - and I don't even have a pancreas!' Chrysalis shook her head violently to compose herself. "Um. I'm not the only one that needs the love. I'm going to be a mom soon, just like your mom -"

Flurry gasped, and bounced forward to press her forehooves against Chrysalis's chest, wings buzzing. "You mean you have babies in your tummy, just like mommy? Can I feel? Can I?"

"Err, of course?" Chrysalis replied, shocked at this sudden turn in the line of questioning.

With a squeal, Flurry Heart ran clear past Chrysalis's head to press herself against the round dome that was Chrysalis's stomach, rubbing her forehooves over the transparent skin and looking in on the four nymphs floating in there. She barely even spared her trapped parents a glance.

"So cool! Hi babies! Oh, and hi mama, papa!"

Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other, before simultaneously answering with a befuddled "Oh, hi sweetie."

Chrysalis, nonplussed, looked back at the young Princess interacting with her unborn nymphs, the four little Changelings waving back at the curious filly with excitement. She silently met the eyes of the royal couple occupying her stomach, before all three, as one, shrugged their shoulders.

"Well, I guess our daughters are friends now," Chrysalis stated. "That sort of settles it."

Cadance looked first to Flurry Heart, then to the happy, unborn nymphs, and finally to her husband. At his nod, she looked back at Chrysalis, and nodded in turn. "Yep."

Author's Note

Just a short, short epilogue to go after this! I hope I didn't go too saccharine with the cuteness towards the end there