Author's Note

Oh my. This chapter gets more steamy at parts. You give me a story with that tag and I fill it with typos and tawdry acts.

5 - Vulnerability

Rose sank to her belly in front of her book with a scowl. She'd messed that up! She'd completely missed the mark. It was a small miracle that Noah hadn't hurled her out of his house and written her off forever and ever.

But he hadn't.

She flicked her tail with agitated thoughts. He was... He was lonely. He wanted it, but she had done so terrible of a job that she had failed to keep even a male that wanted company still.

Rose's head settled on her holed hooves with a sigh before her horn glowed and she flipped open her book. He probably didn't even like the book she got for him. Blast it all!

It was like a poor disguise. If she got close, but not there, she would just be scary, not more fascinating. Human females had different shapes than a unicorn standing on two legs and fluttering her lashes.

Rose sat up a little as she looked at the large udders on those females. She had to do it. She'd never done it before, but either she gave up, or got it right.

She took a slow breath as she tried to will that change on herself. There was a rush of heat and she knew she had changed. She could feel a new weight and it felt... odd. She slowly stood up and looked down at her teats. They were big and round, but also in the wrong place. Well, right place, really. For a pony, they were exactly in the right place, but was Noah a pony?

"Of course not," she muttered to herself as she reached down for them. They were comically oversized, in her eyes. No foal would need udders so large.

She cradled them and let out a little hissing gasp. They were more sensitive than she ever would have given credit for. Interesting, but not useful. She pulled upwards and the flesh seemed to roll upwards under her chitinous plates in a sensation that left her nauseous for a moment. She collapsed against the nearest wall and panted for breath, but they were in the right place. They thrust free of her upper chest instead of around her lower belly.

Rose cracked a little smile, fangs displayed, as she turned left and right. She was closer! She had the curves upstairs, and she was sure that would set his fire, but there was more. She reached out with a hoof and stopped, holed hoof hovering before her eyes.

Hooves.

He wanted fingers. Delicate, touching fingers that could wrap with his.

Fingers were less of an oddity. There were many species with fingers. She drew a hoof back and thrust it forward, bright green flames licking along the arm as the hoof stretched out and became fingers. She repeated the trick for the other hoof, then gently brought the two 'hands' together, rubbing them against one another.

She didn't have a lot of practice with fingers, so she made a quiet promise to herself to try working with them and leave her horn magic out of it. Rose carefully turned the page with those new extremities. She could feel the texture of the page, and the feel of one page beside the next. Fingers really were sensitive! No wonder Noah was so good with his hands, at least once one wasn't so overwhelmed with every touch.

Rose started examining the shapes of the naked females in the book intimately. She had to get every bit right. They had wide hips. She wasn't exactly sure... why? But they did. They had wide hips and many had visibly rounded rumps. Not that mares didn't have rounded rumps, but they were different roundednesses.

She was taking a risk. Noah had fed her just a little. She was using that energy to perfect her next trial, but if she fouled up again, she could end up even worse than she started. She wrinkled her nose even as her hips and bottom swelled into the form she hoped would appeal. Why hadn't the hive sent some supplies with her? Why was she alone in this?

This was hard. With Twilight right there, ready to crush her the moment she fouled up, it was nerve-wracking. It was almost as if the queen had wanted her to fail.

Rose smiled a little. "Or!" Or, perhaps the queen simply was that confident in her skills. She wouldn't let her queen down. No. She would achieve the impossible mission, secure a steady supply of love and affection, and monitor the area.

She ran her new fingers down equally new curves as she looked in a mirror, turning left and right. Just one more thing...

A rush of green flames and she brought back the soft fur and straightened horn of Blood Rose. The mare had all the human parts though. She had wide hips, plump buttocks... Fingers! She had proper arms, not just forelegs. Legs, not hind legs. She was a human in so many ways, and yet, still a pony.

Her eyes dipped to the human female's nethers. It was... silly, perhaps. She actually felt embarrassed looking, which was itself silly! Why should she have any shame about doing her job well? Human genitals were... She couldn't even really see them. They were so subtle compared to equine genitals. Her own were thick and protruded a bit. You couldn't miss them if you were looking. In comparison, human ones almost wanted to vanish into the general curves of their body. Why were they being so coy?

Would she scare him if she didn't imitate that subtle display?

She shook her head. It had taken quite enough effort to change as much as she had done already. She would sneak over and present her gift to him, and he would thank her. She nodded with confidence. They would hug and maybe kiss, and his love would fill her right up.

Her cheeks began to color as she remembered what she had seen the day before.

Humans were about the right size, but they were shaped very differently. They had no pouch, no sheaths! Was that one of many reasons they wore clothes all the time? They were all... round, no flat end. It was very clear she was dealing with another species. But it was a... compatible species. At least, if those delicious little tastes she'd sampled were truthful. That human could be quite compatible.

She just had to convince him of the fact.

It was, perhaps, a bit too quick to try again, but she could feel the rumble of hunger aching in her. She needed some sustenance. She licked over her lips and crept to the exit. She would try one more time, even if it was fast. She'd claim Noah and have his love!

As she snuck through the night, darting from cover to cover, she glanced up at the heavy moon above.

"Nice, ain't it?"

Rose jumped in place, spinning to face the mint green pony that was smiling at her a bit too widely. "Hey there."

Rose blinked. Lyra? "Hello?" Was she busted?

Lyra stepped closer to the anthro pony, nose twitching a little. "I don't think I've seen you before. Aren't you an interesting slice of cake..."

Rose felt something delightful dance across her tongue. Love? Lyra was? Already?! They'd barely even met...

Her thoughts were interrupted when Lyra nuzzled into one of Rose's hands and her tongue flicked out across the fingers. "What's your name? I'm Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings."

That was not in the plans at all, but... Was it bad? Rose could feel the love rising from the green pony in palpable little waves. The mare had love to give, and seemed ready to just hand it over. Rose smiled as she curled those new fingers and ran them over Lyra's face and ears. The act of affection made the love grow more intense. Before Rose's eyes, she could see the energy rising and pouring into her ready mouth.

It wasn't as thick as it could potentially become, but Rose was giddy with satisfaction and excitement. She wanted more. In fact, the thickness filled her with boldness. She could probably get away with a lot. She trailed her fingers back along Lyra's body, her own tail swaying with excitement. "Hello, Lyra. I'm Rose." She only realized a moment later that she perhaps should have made up a new name. Too late. "Would you like to... get acquainted?"

Lyra's ears perked at that and she bobbed fiercely. "Y-yes! I mean, sure, yeah, if ya want." She tried to play cool, badly. "Um, I know a private spot."

"Not your house?" She was fairly sure Lyra had a home.

"N-nah! We'd just bother Bonnie. This way." She turned away and flicked her tail as she looked back at the anthro pony that was with her. "This way." She walked with a saunter in her hips that Rose couldn't be sure Lyra even knew she was doing.

Rose reached out and brushed along Lyra's dock, teasing the sensitive base of her swaying tail. The pulse was powerful and Rose grinned.

Lyra wobbled a step and laughed nervously. "O-oh! Wait until we get out of sight, huh? Polite in the streets, extra neighing in the sheets, they say." She winked and burst into an outright gallop, eager to proceed.

Rose got to try out bipedal running. It was... a mixed bag. She would have to practice more at it to get it down, but she managed to not throw herself at the ground, so that was a positive.

They arrived at a small set of thick bushes and Lyra vanished inside. Rose followed her in carefully, onto to be interrupted by a pair of horse lips. Lyra was kissing her hot and fiercely. She was the right, or wrong, kind of pony. She must have been getting turned on by being fed from. She'd be bled dry if a proper hive got their hooves on her.

Lucky for her, she only had to deal with Rose. Rose pressed back into that kiss and leaned Lyra back, knocking the poor pony onto the ground, belly-up. Her hands teased and stroked along Lyra's sides and belly as she gorged on that love.

Now, easy love was not the same as 'true' love. She was eating what would be better described as lust. It was closer to junk food than a satisfying meal. Still, to a starving changeling, it was heady and exhilarating and Rose never wanted it to end. She bit Lyra on the throat, gently nipping and tugging at the sensitive flesh there with fangs just a bit too long for a unicorn. "You've found me, Lyra. Now what?"

Lyra trembled and grabbed at her new lover with her hooves. "Please! Keep... Mmm, do that more. Let me feel those hands all over me. Stroke my warm fur. Feel me..." Every stroke, every brush of those hands along her form made Lyra tense with building pleasure. "Inside and out. Go on..." Lyra disrupted the plan by grabbing at one of those hands with a glowing horn. She pulled it to her snout and began suckling on each finger one by one. "You're so... What are you?"

That was a question Rose didn't want to answer. "Your lover." That much was true, and it made Lyra quiver and pull her closer even as Rose trailed lower with her free hand, winding towards those winking folds. She felt along those powerful nethers, watching Lyra's face as she moaned and cried. She ran the tips of her fingers around the plump ring of Lyra's anus, making the mint green pony squirm with the sensations. "You're a dirty little mare, aren't you? Here you are, in the bushes, being ravaged by a mythological creature, and here you are, hoping. You want this to go farther."

"Yes!" she cried, red with lust and shame. "By Celestia, yes! P-please, more..."

Their mutual cries were the songs that woke up some ponies that morning.

Rose would have to remember that source of snacks, but Lyra would not be her true source of food. She needed real food, which meant real love. She would win Noah.