It had been several months since Starlight Glimmer had derailed Queen Chrysalis’s most recent plot to subjugate the ponies of Equestria. Having uncovered the changeling Queen’s plan on replacing key members of pony society with her agents, the Starlight, along with her friends and Discord, sneaked into Chrysalis’s palace and foiled her plot, freed the captive ponies, and reformed a great number of changelings. Cadance, as well as the other ponies who’d been held hostage, were overjoyed with their regained freedom. Along with her husband and child, Cadance returned to the Crystal Empire although, unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the princess started to take note that something was amiss.
She’d found herself increasingly lethargic over the last few weeks after returning home; at times collapsing in bed, exhausted, after a seemingly relaxed day. Her magic was also suffering from this unknown malady, requiring increased focus to utilize and often leaving her with a headache or, on a hoofull of instances, a bout of vertigo. Strangely enough, her appetite had been quite robust although she’d rarely felt sated as of late; a state of perpetual hunger having consumed her which rarely, if ever, dulled.
So, having decided enough was enough, and to ease Shining Armor’s growing concern, Cadance went off to visit Sunburst. She didn’t want to bother Twilight, and certainly not the Celestia or Luna, with what she was sure was no more than some minor ailment. With any luck, the skilled sorcerer would have her right as rain in no time.
Cadance sent word that she’d like to speak with him about her malady and the unicorn had asked her to come see him as soon as she were able. While it’s true that he frequently haunted the halls of their castle, Cadance preferred to visit him away from the prying eyes of guards and attendants. Trotting up to Sunburst’s house, Cadance rapped the door with a gold clad hoof. The orange stallion opened the door somewhat apathetically, too preoccupied with a book he was holding to notice the pink alicorn standing just in front of him.
“Good to see you too Sunburst,” Cadance chuckled, watching in amusement as the unicorn looked up and immediately began fumbling with his literature.
“Cadance!” Sunburst blurted, tossing his book aside and wrapping one hoof around her neck in a friendly hug. “Come on in, I’ve got tea some brewing,” he continued, motioning for the princess to enter and closing the door shut behind her as she came inside. “It’s orange blossom and camomile,” he said, trotting into his book laden living room and easing a seat from a table for his guest.
“Thanks Sunburst,” Cadance sighed, wearily smiling at the stallion, “I appreciate you inviting me over to talk about whatever it is that’s got me feeling off. I’m sure it’s nothing but, you know what they say, it never hurts to get a second opinion.”
“So,” Sunburst said, levitating the teapot and pouring a cup for each of them, “what’s got you troubled.”
Cadance started explaining everything to the unicorn, from the strange malaise to the persistent lethargy and difficulty with her magic. Sunburst listed, knitting his brow and stroking his beard as Cadance poured over the details. While he wasn’t a physician he was exceptionally versed with pony magic and, due to Cadance’s difficulty with her’s recently, was a prime candidate to speak with on the matter.
“Well, I can’t be entirely certain but lets conduct a little test,” he said, taking a sip of tea, “Hang on a second.” The unicorn got up, trotting off to an adjacent room and out of sight but Cadance could hear him grumbling and rummaging around for something. “Ah ha,” he shouted, coming back into view with a milky white gemstone in his mouth.
“What’s that?” Cadance asked, watching as he set the small crystalline formation on the table.
“This,” Sunburst said, tapping the stone with his hoof, “is a reagent crystal. In the olden days ponies would use these to diagnose unicorns and alicorns with diseases but most of that has been disproven as quack medicine. What it is good for is measuring a pony’s magical level.” Looking up at Cadance, he continued, “It should be able to indicate if whatever is wrong with you is sorcerous in nature. Simply levitate the stone and we’ll look for a reaction. Any magical interference or taint should show up along with your magical signature.”
Cadance nodded, it sounded simple enough. She began to concentrate on the stone, surrounding it with her aquamarine energy and lifting it into the air above the table. It should have been a simple task, given how small it was, but she was finding it significantly more taxing than it ought to be. Gradually, the crystal took on the same color as her magic, shifting from the milky white to an energetic blue color, but there was something odd happening as well; interlaced with the cyan of her alicorn magic were small threads and tendrils of deep emerald. She watched as they steadily infiltrated the stone as she held it aloft. Looking over to Sunburst, Cadance lost all focus as she noted the shocked expression on the unicorn’s face. With a crash, the gem fell to the table; its color fading back to its natural white state as the alicorn’s magic left it.
“What was that?” Cadance asked, her anxiety spiking as Sunburst adjusted his glasses with a shaky hoof.
“I’m...not entirely sure but we need to get in touch with Thorax,” the unicorn gulped.
“Why Thorax? Wouldn’t Twilight or maybe…” Cadance’s words trailed off as a sudden realization began to sink in. That green color she’d noticed in the stone, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen magic like that. “Sunburst,” she whispered, looking to the unicorn with a fearful look in her eyes, “that was changeling magic wasn’t it.”
“I...I think it was but I can’t say for certain,” he stammered. “I’m not taking any chances. Thorax should be able to tell us if it’s some sort of enchantment or lingering corruption caused by Chrysalis.”
“Wouldn’t something have shown up before now?” Cadance pressed, standing and starting to pace nervously.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Sunburst stated, trying to calm the princess a bit. “Even if that is the case, we should be able to address it without too much trouble. I’ll send word to Thorax about the situation, in the meantime I think the best thing you can do is just rest and try not to stress yourself out over this,” he continued, trotting over and giving her a hug.
“Thanks Sunburst,” Cadance whispered, gently pulling away and giving him a faint smile. “Just let me know as soon as you hear from him. I’m going to go spend the rest of the day with Flurry and Shining,” she said, turning and heading towards the door.
“Will do,” the unicorn replied as he started to pen down a letter to the current changeling ruler. He didn’t hear the door close behind Cadance as she left, too engrossed in the task at hoof to notice. Sunburst felt confident that Thorax would be willing to help, given the time he’d spent in the Crystal empire before ascending. What had him more concerned than anything wasn’t the fact that there was some other type of magic at work but how it had shown itself in the stone. Typically if there were some enchantment or curse on somepony, the stone would show a stark division of the two types of energy; one clearly attached to another in some way but distinctly different. Whatever was going on with Cadance was altogether different; almost like whatever was affecting her had infected her in some way, like a pathogen. The stallion shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he continued writing the letter.
Cadance felt utterly drained as she flew back to the castle. Not only had simply levitating the stone been unfathomably tiring but the thought of having some malign changeling magic afflicting her filled the alicorn with dread. Hopefully, between Thorax and Sunburst, they’d be able to figure out and reverse whatever was causing the problem.
“Shiny,” Cadance called out, landing on the terrace and walking into their bedchamber. Taking a few steps inside, she caught sight of her husband as he poked his head into the room and, upon spying her, held a hoof to his lips.
“Shhhhh,” he hissed, creeping into the room and closing the door softly behind him. His horn illuminated as he cast a noise dampening spell over the wall and doorway. “Sorry, just got Flurry to sleep,” he said, trotting over to embrace his wife and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She couldn’t put her hoof on it but Shining Armor always made her feel better. The way the stallion held her, how comfortable and safe he made her feel, and how adorably affectionate he was with her. Cadance simply hugged him, rubbing her neck against his as they held each other.
“So,” Shining began, pulling away slightly, “what did Sunburst say?”
“He’s not sure but we think it may be some lingering changeling magic. He’s sending a letter to get Thorax’s input on the matter,” Cadance replied, trotting over to the bed and easing herself down on its pillowy mattress.
“Well, if they can’t help I bet Twi can. Shoot, I’m sure she’d come in a heartbeat if we asked her,” Shining commented, seating himself beside Cadance and rubbing her neck.
“Thanks Shiny,” Cadance murmured, placing her hoof on his and looking up at him lovingly.
“Anything for you my love,” Shining whispered, leaning down and kissing her softly.
Cadance slipped one hoof behind his head as their lips met. Shining’s words brought her comfort but his love was more valuable to her than anything in the world. She closed her eyes, deepening their kiss, as her tongue met his. Shining eased himself onto the bed beside her, his hooves wrapping around her back as he pulled her close. His broad chest pressed against her as his breath, hot and ardent, mixed with her own; it was almost too much to bear. Cadance could feel Shining growing hard against her abdomen, causing her body to respond in kind. Her heart began to race as the warm reunion gradually escalated into an inferno of desire. She could sense her marehood moisten and swell with arousal, eager to embrace her husband’s stallionhood.
They looked into each other’s eyes, wordlessly knowing what was to come, as they began to adjust and reposition themselves. Cadance slid her rump to the edge of the bed, raising her hind legs in the air, while Shining hopped down from the mattress and circled to face his wife. Truthfully, missionary was one of their favorite positions due to allowing them to kiss and admire one another as they made love.
Rearing up, Shining hitched his forelegs over Cadance’s hips as he stepped forward. Playfully, he ran his shaft over her sex as he leaned his face over hers. They closed their eyes, making out as Shining tenderly drove himself into his wife. She moaned in his mouth as his length filled her. Slowly, the stallion began to pick up speed as the intensity of their passion soared. Cadance’s wings unfurled from beneath her, flexing around to caress Shining’s neck and face as they continued. Contracting her carnal tunnel, she milked his cock as she wrapped her hind legs around him.
In the heat of this moment, nothing else mattered. Two ponies, madly in love, expressing their affection in the most intimate way imaginable. As they continued, each grew closer to climax. So in tune were one another that their bodies had, over the years, become accustomed to sharing intimacy in such a way as to maximize pleasuring their partner. Shining could feel himself beginning to flare in his wife, his hips trembling as they began buck feverishly. Cadance’s marehood began to wink and her thighs quivered in anticipation for sweet orgasmic release. Tilting her head ever so slightly, the tip of her horn touched her husband’s, her magic unleashing itself and heightening their ecstasy as they came in unison. The air filled with the fervid sounds of rapture, Shining erupting deep within his wife while Cadance constricted around his stallionhood. Together they stay locked, panting and wheezing as they fought to recover.
“I love you,” Cadance cooed, looking up to her sweat slickened husband.
“I love you too darling,” Shining responded, leaning down and giving the mare a little kiss. “You wanna get cleaned up and get something to eat? Maybe go for a stroll with Flurry after?” he continued, easing himself out of her and offering a hoof to help her up.
“That sounds lovely dear,” Cadance replied, rolling to the edge of the bed before clasping his hoof in her own as she stepped to the floor. She felt positively energized and would be more than happy to wile away the afternoon with her husband and child.
After showering up, the two did just that. Taking Flurry for a stroll through town before going out for a nice, yet quaint, meal. Tucking their child in for the night, Cadance and Shining retired for the evening. As the two lay down, comfortable and warm beside one another in their bed, a profound comfort overtook them. All the stress and anxiety Cadance had felt melted away as she drifted off to sleep in her husband’s embrace.
~
Cadance awoke as the first rays of sun crept into their chamber. Opening her eyes, she was met with the still dozing face of Shining Armor. She smiled, gently stroking his cheek as she began to carefully get up while taking extra care as to not disturb him. As she reached the edge of the bed, she looked back at her husband and noticed his semi flaccid equipment peeking out from between his thighs. Eying his package, Cadance licked her lips as a perplexing compulsion overtook her. She’d heard from some of her mare friends that waking a stallion up with a bit of oral servicing was an extremely pleasant way for them to start the morning.
Circling in place, Cadance crept up to her husband’s groin. Booping the tip of his prick with her snout, she drew in his heady and masculine odor. The scent caused her to shiver as her tongue slithered from between her lips to caress his exquisite member. Shining groaned a bit, seemingly still asleep, and rolling to his back. His legs parted, allowing her full access to his stallionhood. Opening her maw, Cadance slipped his cock inside; the delicious and slightly salty flesh of his shaft danced across her taste buds. Running her tongue over the delicate underside of his rod she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of him steadily growing hard while she fellated him. Withdrawing the majority of his length, she fixated on the rim and lower portion of his cock head, knowing full well it was exceptionally sensitive to her ministrations.
Interestingly, Shining still hadn’t woken to her efforts although Cadance was far too enwrapped to take notice. Eyes still closed, she focussed her magic on his plump and ripe nuts. Her sorcery allowing her to feel their heft as she fondled and massaged them with her power. Judging from the way his balls were starting to contract, and how his shaft was beginning to throb while generously leaking pre-cum, she knew he was close. Taking a deep breath and easing her head forward, Cadance slipped his length deeper into her gullet; feeling his broad and bloated head slip into her throat. The added pressure upon Shining’s shaft pushed him over the edge, causing the stallion to grunt and wince as he began to unload a seething tide of spunk down Cadance’s esophagus. The alicorn’s heart fluttered as the viscous fluid coated her insides and filled her belly; her marehood winking and dribbling juices to the bedsheets as she nearly had an orgasm herself from the raw excitement of the moment.
After a moment, she disgorged his softening rod from her airway to allow herself to breath. She coughed weakly before lapping the cocktail of saliva and cum from her husband’s dick. Looking up, Cadance noticed that he was still soundly sleeping and chuckled to herself, sure that he must have had quite a pleasant dream while she’d serviced him. Licking her lips clean of his essence, Cadance noticed something a bit odd. It may have been her imagination but it almost felt like there was something wrong with her teeth. Inching off the bed, she made her way to the restroom to investigate before her morning shower.
Upon entering the bathroom, Cadance set the faucet in the tub to run before trotting over to the standing mirror inset in one wall. Looking at her reflection something seemed...off. Cadance squinted, noticing an odd amber trim surrounding her light fuchsia eyes. Rubbing them for a moment, assuming it was some illusion from having woken up only a short time ago, she looked again but something else caught her attention. Her horn seemed to have a slight crack in it, its perfectly conical shape seemed somewhat distorted with hairline fractures along its length. Reaching up and tapping it with a hoof dislodged a chip of pink keratin from her horn, revealing a dark and chitinous material underneath. Cadance gasped but quickly covered her mouth; what she’d just seen being possibly the most disconcerting thing of all. Fearfully, the alicorn opened her maw. Surely she’d been mistaken, there’s no possible way that there had been a pair of glimmering pearly fangs inset in her jaw; yet there they were. Amid her upper set of teeth sat two glistening fangs, each easily double the length of any normal canine.
Cadance screamed, recoiling in horror from the mirror and backpedaling into the wall behind her. This had to be a dream. No, a nightmare. This couldn’t possibly be happening. Burying her face in her hooves, she sobbed, begging for this hellish experience to end. She scarcely noticed as Shining Armor burst into the room, his horn ablaze in energy as he looked about frantically.
“Cadance!” he shouted, rushing to her side with a look of concern. “Cadance, what’s wrong? I heard you scream!”
“Shining!” Cadance looked up at him, panic and fear in her eyes as she reached for her husband. “I...I don’t know what’s wrong!” she pleaded, pawing at him pitifully as her panic deepened.
Darting forward, he wrapped her in his hooves, holding her tightly as she quietly cried. “I don’t know either,” he muttered, stroking her mane in an attempt to calm her nerves.
“I’m just so scared,” she bleated. “Just tell me this is a bad dream.”
Shining Armor shook his head, withdrawing a bit and looking her sternly in the eyes. “Cadance,” he whispered, “the only way this would be a bad dream is if you weren’t here.” Hugging her tightly, he kissed her cheek. “I love you Cadance, I always have and I always will,” he continued, “and I swear to you that we’ll figure this out no matter what.”
Cadance and Shining Armor held each other, husband and wife in a maelstrom of confusion and fear. While neither one could explain what was happening they knew that as long as they had one another, that’s all that really mattered.
~
Two Days Later
~
It had been two days since Cadance’s screams had awoken Shining Armor, causing him to rush into the bathroom to find her in a rather shocking state. At first he could have sworn she was simply ill, her eyes and horn seemingly afflicted with some unknown malady, but he was beginning to think there was something far more sinister at play. He’d received word that morning that Thorax would be coming in three days in an attempt to assist with the situation. Cadance refused to seek assistance from Celestia or Luna, even going so far as to make Shining Armor swear that he wouldn’t contact them or his sister. So, having few other options, they waited.
The first day was full of panic and anxiety as the true nature of Cadance’s condition began to make themselves apparent. Her rosey pink horn had started to twist into a gnarled parody of its former self, the pink keratin splintering and cracking over some dark boney substance which had formed beneath. Cadance’s normally dazzling fuchsia eyes had become tainted with a sickly orange color on border of her iris’s which had become increasingly more pronounced as the day had drawn on. Somehow, she’d sprouted a pair of fang-like canines, although neither Cadance nor Shining Armor knew how this was possible because there had been no indication that her teeth had been loose before the new set appeared.
While extremely distraught, and rightfully so, Cadance was comforted by her husband and child. Shining sat with her the entire day, telling her stories from earlier in their relationship, cherry picking some of the funniest or most embarrassing ones to make her laugh and warm her heart. Despite Cadance’s appearance, Flurry didn’t seem to take notice or, if she did, wasn’t bothered in the slightest. The foal easily recognized her mother and reached out to her for affection. As the princess cradled her child, so the child consoled her mother. The fact that Flurry wasn’t bothered by whatever was happening was a source of supreme reassurance for Cadance, giving her strength and reminding her that everything would be ok.
Cadance and Shining stayed up well into the night on that first day, keeping each other up with idle conversation and reminiscing over the past until they were too exhausted to continue. Hoof in hoof, they drifted off to a fitful sleep while Flurry’s crib, brought into their room by Shining from the attached nursery, sat close by with the baby snoozing within. Their peace was relatively brief, as everything changed on the second morning.
Shining Armor rolled over on the mattress, his arm extending and blindly pawing for his wife as he slowly regained consciousness. After feeling around for a moment he eventually opened his eyes. The bed was vacant. Easing himself up, Shining looked around the room; Flurry lay in her bed, snoring softly, but his wife was nowhere to be found. As he went to hop out of bed, his hoof landed on something which seemed rather odd. It appeared to be a torn strip of some sort of furry cloth. Levitating it with his horn, Shining spun it gently in the air as he inspected the object. It clearly wasn’t from the bed linens as the color and was completely different. One side of the strip was a soft fuzzy pink, while the other was a slick and leathery red color. Shining squinted as a bead of crimson fluid rolled down the fabric, dripping to the floor below and drawing his attention downward. Where the object had laid was a dark red imprint on the floor, almost as if it had been stained. A sinking feeling overtook the stallion as he noticed several scattered crimson droplets on the floor which left a faint trail towards the bathroom. He gulped hard, trotting to the closed door.
“Cadance?” Shining called, softly knocking on the door. Leaning in, he could make out the sound of quiet sobbing; trying the handle, Shining found it locked. “Cadance,” he repeated, knocking markedly harder this time, “this isn’t funny.” He could hear the sounds of movement and running water but little else. Running out of options, Shining swung around and cocked one kind led. “I’m coming in Cadance!” he warned, bucking backward and knocking the door open.
Turning around, and looking into the room, Shining armor gasped. Shards of broken glass and more scraps of that odd pink fabric littered the floor along with a few smudges of what looked like blood. He still couldn’t see his wife so, steeling his resolve, he took a step inside. Spying the bathtub, Shining Armor froze. There, slumped in the corner of the basin under the flowing shower head, was what he could only presume was his wife.
Her horn had lost all sense of its original shape; its once elegant and slim form replaced by a jaggid black crag. The alicorn’s delicate pink pelt seemed baggy and loose with lacerations covering her from head to hoof. Shining Armor recoiled as he suddenly realized that the ‘cloth’ which he’d found was actually a piece of her hide. Below the once sleek rosey fur lay a dark and slick chitinous material. Though he couldn’t see her face, he noted that her multicolored mane seemed to be thin and sickly, strands of its beautiful pastel length lay scattered about the tub and floor.
Cadance was dimly aware that someone was in the room but her mind was filled with alien thoughts. She knew something was wrong and that her body felt funny, her legs numb and vision blurry. Something touched her shoulder and she turned, spotting a stallion standing over her. No, not just any stallion, her husband. Cadance smiled, drawing comfort from finding him there although her happiness quickly turned to panic as she saw him recoil in horror.
Shining took a step backward as Cadance looked up at him. Gone were the deep and caring fuschia eyes of his wife, replaced by amber cat-like pupils. A large portion of flesh from her face has sloughed off to reveal the dark shell which she seemed to be growing. It was almost like she’d been replaced by a changeling.
Noticing the revulsion on Shining’s eyes, Cadance screamed, causing her lover to take another step back and awakening her child in the next room as well. She could hear Flurry start to cry and the noise only deepened her dread. With a shriek, the princess shot to her hooves and rushed towards the nearby window. Confused and terrified, she fled, leaping through the glass and taking flight. Her wings unfurled as Cadance took to the air. She didn’t know where she was going, her mind a maddening storm of thoughts and emotions as she soared through the air. For whatever reason, her wings were in terrible pain so she knew she wouldn’t be able to fly that far.
Gliding over the final few buildings at the edge of town, Cadance was stricken by a terrible updraft. Her right wing faltered, seemingly dislocating before being torn from her body, sending her into a downward spiral to the snow below. Fortunately, she impacted a particularly deep drift of powdery snow. Shakily getting to her hooves, the primitive and survival oriented portions of her mind screamed at her to seek shelter. Stumbling through the tundra, Cadance came across a small opening behind a boulder just large enough for a pony to squeeze through. Easing herself inside, she found it was an exterior chamber of what appeared to be a large glacial cavern.
Crawling to a corner, Cadance curled up upon herself; cold, confused, in pain, and utterly alone. The look on Shining’s face had been he fatal blow for her. He and their daughter had been her pillars throughout this ordeal and now they were gone. Shining had looked at her like she was some abomination, not a trace of love or compassion had filled his gaze as he saw her face. She couldn’t even call herself a princess anymore. Her horn was some twisted mockery of its former glory and one of her wings was simply gone while the other felt numb, limply hanging against her side.
Cadance had no idea what to do or where to go. For all intents and purposes, she was a monster and no longer knew her place in the world. What little flesh she had only loosely adhered to the glistening carapace which now covered her body. Even her tongue seemed to have elongated, more than doubling in length and having taken on an orange hue. To make matters worse she felt absolutely famished. Surrounded by ice and snow, wallowing in despair and misery, the former alicorn consigned herself to wait. Cadance was terribly exhausted and, regardless of the inhospitable temperature, she felt like she could pass out at any moment. Rolled up in a fetal position; the mare gradually lost consciousness.
~
Several Hours Later
~
Rolling over, Cadance’s eyes fluttered open as her face brushed against something that felt like feathers. She gasped, suddenly realizing that it was her other wing; at some point it must have fallen off much like the first. The mare quickly grasped the sides of her skull, wishing for nothing more than for this nightmare to end. Her head throbbed and she felt starved. Strangely this wasn’t like a typical hunger. Some primal part of her screamed to be filled with the last thing that had made her feel normal, to feel like she had in the loving embrace of her husband.
Scrambling up the cold and icy slope, Cadance worked her way back outside. It appeared as though she’d spent the entire day in the cavern, the sun having set some time ago, as the moon and stars twinkled above. Looking about, she spotted the Crystal Empire a short distance away. The warm glow of streetlights and the reflective nature of the crystalline buildings causing the city to sparkle mystically in the night.
Her body, glistening and slick in the moonlight, acted instinctively as the shell-like carapace on her back split to reveal two gossamer bronze colored wings. Taking off at a gallop, the mare leapt to into the sky and took flight, her newly formed wings buzzing furiously as she rocketed into the night sky. She needed to get back to Shining Armor, she needed to feel his warm embrace and love, she needed to feed.
Flying through the darkness, and making a beeline towards the castle, Cadance began to salivate. She was compelled to have that same feeling of security and comfort back and, as her mind teetered on the brink of madness, she realized that the only pony capable of making her feel that way was her husband.
With unimaginable speed, the former alicorn sailed towards a window of her bed chamber. Shattering the glass, she landed and looked about feverishly. Shining Armor was gone, as was Flurry and her crib. Bursting through the door leading into the hallway, Cadance went galloping through the castle in search of her husband. She could sense he was close by, his concern for her a bittersweet aroma on the air to her newfound senses. A pegasus guard suddenly appeared in front of her from an adjacent hallway but he didn’t have time to react, only catching a glimpse of her before being sent flying by a blast of emerald energy from her horn.
“Shining!” Cadance bellowed, stopping at an intersection and sniffing the air. Her call prompted a trio of guards, unicorns this time, to come storming out of a nearby doorway. Upon seeing her, they readied themselves.
“Delta formation,” one ordered, causing the three to form a spearhead while their horns ignited. “Execute hammer and anvil!” the stallion continued. “Remember the Prince’s orders, contain and secure.”
The guard’s words caused Cadance’s ears to flick. “Where’s my prince?” she hissed, lowering herself in an aggressive stance as the eldritch power around her horn re-lit. Out of nowhere, she was pinned by two magical fields, one blue and one pink, as the unicorns followed their orders. The third winced, focusing his power, before unleashing a crushing magical attack from above. Rage and pain pain coursed through Cadance, fueling her madness and hunger, as she struggled against them. “WHERE’S MY HUSBAND!” the mare roared, her power surging to unimaginable heights and sending the three unicorns scattering like leaves in the wind.
Standing there, Cadance surveyed the damage; two of the guards were knocked unconscious and the third, while wounded, was attempting to crawl away. She panted, slowly trotting up to him as he started to panic. “Where is my Shining?” she growled, her horn illuminating as she bared her fangs.
“Cadance!” an all too familiar voice called, causing the mare to turn. There, some distance down the hallway, was her husband.
“Lover,” the former alicorn purred, edging closer to him with a predatory glint in her eye.
“Cadance,” Shining’s voice dropped as he looked at her, “please, stop this.” Taking a few steps forward, he smiled at her. “Think about your kingdom, think about me, think about Flurry.”
His words caused Cadance to halt dead in her tracts. Memories of them, of her family, fracturing the corrupted and newly formed impulses which had manifested upon her transformation. Pressing one hoof to her temple she screamed, slamming her head against a nearby wall. She didn’t know what she was anymore, who she was anymore. “Stop!” the mare lamented, hammering her head against the polished stone of the hallway as she fought to regain a sense of self until pair of hooves wrapped themselves around her, causing her to stop. Looking up, Cadance was greeted by Shining’s tear streaked face.
“Please,” he whispered, “I’ll love you no matter what you are. You’re my princess.” Leaning in, he kissed her snout before continuing, “I’ll never stop loving you.”
Cadance blinked, the alien thoughts and compulsions which had filled her shattering as her former self rose to the fore. “S...Shining?” she bleated, looking up to him as she started to cry. “What have I done,” she sobbed, burying her face in his neck.
“Sssssssssh,” Shining armor sighed, gently rubbing her back as he consoled her. “It’s alright, I’m here and everything will be fine.”
“But it’s not fine,” Cadance blurted, pushing him away, “I’m a monster! I...I’m some sort of changeling abomination!”
“You’re my wife!” Shining admonished, stamping a hoof to the floor defiantly. “I don’t care what’s happened to you and I’m sorry I was startled the other morning. I’m never going to leave you and, by Celestia, even if we can’t somehow reverse this I swear to you,” his tone softened, “I will always be here for you.”
“Shining!” Cadance cried, tackling her lover to the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so, sorry,” she bawled, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just so hungry and confused.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Shining asked. “I can send for some food or…” his words were cut short as Cadance started necking him. He jumped, feeling her fangs sink into his flesh. “Cadance wha…” the stallion slurred, his vision blurring as the hallway began to spin. He was vaguely aware of slumping to the floor before he felt himself being dragged along the carpet.
Cadance’s moment of self control had slipped as her husband held her. The changeling urges, barely held at bay, resurfaced as she bit and envenomed her husband. She dragged him off to their bedchamber, her body on the brink of starvation after its completed transformation. A part of her knew that what she was doing was wrong but she couldn’t help herself. The need to feed was too strong.
Sorcerously heaving Shining onto the bed, Cadance practically threw herself upon him. Her tongue, now bifurcated and a similar orange color to her eyes, crept out of her mouth as she licked her way up his hind leg. The stallion groaned incoherently as she reached his hardening shaft, the venom’s cocktail of aphrodisiac and mind numbing effects taking hold of him. Nibbling the base of Shining’s rod, Cadance wrapped her tongue around its length. Repositioning herself, the mare eased its head into her maw, eager to taste the cloyingly salty pre that began to bead at its tip. She hummed, drawing more of the vascular meat into her mouth while milking it with her tongue.
Shining Armor was vaguely aware of what was happening but his body refused to respond. His legs felt weighted down and the world seemed fuzzy and distorted. The stallion knew he felt good but there was some lingering sense of foreboding nagging at him, like something was terribly wrong. He grumbled, pawing at Cadance as she fellated him.
“Mmmm,” Cadance hummed, withdrawing his stallionhood from her gullet and uncoiling her tongue, “someone’s eager.” Turning around, she wiggled her hindquarters before his turgid cock. Gone was the fleshy pink marehood she had, in its place was a slick and pulsating apricot colored orifice which drooled fluids to the bed.
The stallion mewled helplessly as Cadance buried his length into herself. It may have been the toxin coursing through his veins but the feeling was absolutely astounding. The texture of Cadance’s interior was warm and supremely moist, even more so than before. Shining Armor weakly bucked his hips, yearning for more, as his wife rode him like a wanton beast.
“More,” Cadance groaned, gyrating her hips as her canal rippled with muscular contractions. The slightly ridged head of Shining’s shaft and every vein along its length felt exquisite to the former alicorn. Her motions hastened, feeling herself imbued with power as she fucked her husband. The wings on her back slipped free, buzzing angrily as they assisted Cadance’s increasingly brutal pounding.
“C...Cadance,” Shining Armor stuttered, causing the voracious mare to turn. “P...please,” he begged, his hips continuing to thrust upward involuntarily as he met her motions.
Hovering in place, with the tip of Shining Armor’s dick still in her snatch, Cadance turned to face her husband before easing herself down to straddle him. “Is somepony close,” she purred, lowering her face to his as she felt him throbbing within her. Steadily, the mare began pistoning her ass, continuing to fuck the hapless stallion beneath her. Cadance could feel him starting to flare as his cock began to violently throb. His orgasm was close, as was her own.
“I love you,” Shining Armor screamed, his stallionhood erupting into her as he looked up at her tearfully. He could feel himself starting to black out, his body robbed of its energy as he confessed his undying love for his wife. His legs went slack, slumping to the mattress, and his head lolled to the side as his eyes fluttered closed.
Cadance roared in triumphant bliss as she was filled with the stallion’s seed. Gouts of the thick fluid, along with her own nectar, lewdly squirted and squelched out of her orifice as she climaxed. The onslaught of pleasure sent her crashing down atop her lover. She drooled, overcome with pleasure and energy as her sanity slowly returned.
“Shining…” Cadance sighed, her lucidity restored with the massive influx of love she’d just obtained. “Shining!” she wailed, jolting forward and shaking her husband. He was still breathing although completely comatose. She didn’t even notice as a phalanx of guards as they came charging into the room.
“Get away from the prince you monster!” a soldier, one with an ornate helmet, demanded. His fellow guards, a mix of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, arrayed themselves in a tight formation as they closed upon her.
“S...stop,” Shining wheezed, feebly reaching out towards the encroaching cadre of ponies, “it’s Cadance.” All of the guards instantly stopped, looking at each other in confusion.
“Go fetch Sunburst!” Cadance commanded, “Bring him here at once and do not allow me to leave under any circumstances.”
“There’s my mare,” Shining said weakly, shakily reaching up to caress her face.
The guards did as instructed, securing the room to the best of their abilities while giving the couple a healthy distance given the rather compromising state in which they’d been discovered. Fortunately, Cadance had returned to herself, mentally speaking anyway, and spent her quietly with Shining Armor while awaiting Sunburst to come. In short order the orange stallion came groggily galloping to their room, having been awakened from his slumber by the guard sent to fetch him.
Sunburst confirmed that Cadance had, quite thoroughly, been transmogrified into a changeling although he still couldn’t fully explain why or how. The three anxiously waited until dawn, expectant of Thorax’s arrival and, with it, some desperately needed answers to the situation.
