A Change in Scale

Chapter 3: Feeding the Flames

A Few Weeks Later-

A high-speed train roared across the snow-flecked tracks towards the Crystal Empire. It was a typical frigid day on the Truthfire Tundra, the slicing wind blowing the powdery snow about like ocean waves. This area had always been a nightmare to traverse, but even with such danger so great, the Truthfire Tundra was heavily trafficked by those seeking the fabled truthfire gems—a magical stone capable of negating even the most powerful illusions.

A cramped Pharynx sat in his true form in one of the luxury passenger cars. He and Thorax had made arrangements to make this trip undisguised, and thankfully, the journey had been uneventful thus far. But if nothing else, Pharynx now understood why his kin referred to the irksome stone as kth’raxxi: ‘morph-bane’.

Pharynx sneered at the carpeted floor. He’d forgotten to bring anything to read, and the only thing he’d managed to find was a short (but admittedly fascinating) history of the Crystal Empire. The great Crystal Mountains took up much of the northern horizon, the east and west nothing but flat land and blue sky. The emotions of the ponies in nearby compartments were all jovial, unperturbed that the only thing keeping them from a violent, high-speed death was some enchanted metal and glass.

“I suppose ignorance really is bliss.” A short laugh escaped Pharynx. “I’ll never understand ponies...”

He scratched his right knee, a few bits of chitin flaking off his long muscular legs. He’d had an unexpected molt yesterday, one that’d shot him up an entire foot. He now stood at a dizzying nine feet flat, and the fresh memory of the experience was enough to make him shiver, his body still remembering the pleasant tingle of becoming bigger... stronger… greater—

BONK!

“GAH!” The ceiling cubby proved a headache yet again. Largest compartment on the train his royal ass! He couldn’t stand up, he couldn’t stretch out, he couldn’t even move without banging into something! Even the flimsy seat felt like it was going to collapse under his weight, and with his greatly increased magic and physical strength, he was half afraid he was going to break it just by shifting positions!

Cursing, Pharynx tried to distract himself by feeling out the emotions of the nearby ponies. He’d seen that many of them were crystalline in nature, which was an oddity also reflected in their mindscapes. Their emotions had a unique feel to them—fruity and light, yet carrying a sour note like a long-forgotten memory…

Pharynx’s stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten ever since the train had left Canterlot, and a small, traitorous voice couldn’t resist the opportunity to whisper how easy it’d be to—

Pharynx grit his teeth. He forced himself to recall the last day of the Griffonstone summit, when Thorax had confessed his feelings to his dragoness lover. Pharynx still recalled Ember’s overflowing giddiness, spicy and fierce like a delicious mulled wine, so emphatic and intense that it literally forced him to swallow it. He about went deaf when Ember’s roar echoed out over the whole valley, and about had a heart attack when she’d snatched up Thorax for a hug. But he preferred both those things over Thorax shapeshifting into a larger form, pushing Ember onto her back, and—

“ERGH!” Pharynx flung open the door and squeezed out of his clown car of a compartment. The ceiling wasn’t any higher out here, but he didn’t care. He shimmied his way down the meager path to the back of the car, ignoring the murmurs trailing from the compartments he passed.

“Yes, little ponies, the big, strange changeling is about.” Pharynx knew any of them would have quite a time getting past him if need be, but they’d just have to wait. “Stare at me all you like if that’s what keeps you calm. Clearly I’m more interesting than traversing through a deadly climate in a shoddy metal tube—”

Suddenly, a pair of young colts emerged from the bathroom before Pharynx. They stopped upon realizing he took up the entirety of the aisle, but in the blink of an eye, the bigger of the two smiled and waved. “Hiya, mister!”

Pharynx blinked several times. “Uh… hello, little f—erm, little one.”

“We’re gonna go under you, ‘kay?” the colt said.

Pharynx nodded. “Understood.”

The bigger colt poked the smaller one’s shoulder. “Little brother’s it!” He then scampered under Pharynx and down the hall.

The younger colt gasped. “Onyx! Wait!”

“Nyah-nyah~!” Onyx called. “Ollie can’t catch me!”

But Ollie still hesitated. He looked up into Pharynx’s face with bright blue eyes. “E-Erm…”

Pharynx chuckled. “I think he just dared you.”

Ollie gasped. He grinned wide, crouched down like a cat, and zipped forward to chase after his brother, their laughter trailing in their wake.

Pharynx’s eyes lingered where the colts had been. “Once upon a time…”

There was a coat closet at the end of the aisle. It was easy to tell which coat was Pharynx’s—it was three times the size of the others. He took care not to rip it with his stronger magic, but he’d figure out the amounts eventually. Typical molt adjustments and all that.

“Gonna break ten feet before year’s end at this rate.” Pharynx reached for a padded helmet the size of a sledding saucer. “I really need to learn that Endure Elements spell…”

He turned to the door leading outside. He took a deep breath, counted to three, then whipped it open and leapt into the blinding sun.

The first breath was like a knife down Pharynx’s throat. The cold hit him like a battering ram, his sensitive bits shrinking as he was pelted with a spray of stinging snow. He took wing with a hiss and flew low over the cars with the aid of magic and brute strength, the howling wind ripping away all warmth away for his audacity. But Pharynx pressed on and made a beeline for the GIANT boxcar that towered over all the others, the racket of its oversized clacking wheels drowning everything else out.

Pharynx opened the rear door and zipped into the pitch blackness. He closed it fast as he could and rubbed his chest like mad, his darkvision adjusting to reveal that his muzzle was inches from a living wall of lime green and orange. Said wall rising and falling at a steady pace, each fall hitting Pharynx’s head with hot, moist air.

“S-Sorry, b-brother,” Pharynx said between shivers. He looked up at Thorax’s crammed form, smooshed into the enormous boxcar like a sardine. “I c-c-couldn’t—ACK!”

“Woohoo! Phary’s here!” Thorax pulled Pharynx into a tight hug. Now twenty-seven feet tall and immensely stronger in all respects, there was little Pharynx could do to resist Thorax’s affection. “Now neither of us will be bored!”

Pharynx probably would’ve been squawking if Thorax wasn’t so warm. “What I’d give to have your cold resistance...”

Thorax snorted. “You wouldn’t need it if you knew—”

“Shall I point out all the things you’ve been pig-headed about over the years?”

“...Sorry,” Thorax said.

Pharynx shifted to be more comfortable in his brother’s embrace. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We’ll arrive at the Crystal Empire soon, and at last be through this kth’raxxi-ridden wasteland.”

Thorax nodded. “Why’d you come out here? Was the passenger car too much?”

Pharynx grunted. “Cooped up, the kth’raxxi, the speed, the hunger, the nerves...”

Thorax was tempted to point out Pharynx hadn’t even needed to come along in the first place, but kept that to himself. “The trip back south isn’t going to be any better, you know.”

Art by RossmaniteAnzu - Colored by nonsequitur

Pharynx pursed his lips. “I’m more worried about you. I know you’ve traversed this tundra alone once before, and—well, if this idea works, few things will pose a threat to you, but still. I don’t care if this climate doesn’t bother you, promise me you won’t linger here, alright?”

Thorax gave him a gentle squeeze. “I promise. I’ll get through, meet Ember’s envoy, then fly on with them to the Dragonlands.”

Pharynx sighed. “And don’t worry, next time we get invited north, I’ll make sure to have learned the Endure Elements spell.”

Thorax rolled his eyes. “Surrrrrre you will.”

“I mean it!” Pharynx looked up… wayyyyy up to his brother’s laughing eyes. “I always meant to learn it, I just never had the time! And it’s not like it’s all that big a deal—I was still one of Mother’s top assassins without it.”

Thorax booped his elder brother’s muzzle. “Oh no, look out for Prince Pharynx, the big, scary changeling assassin. He’ll take you out before you even see him coming… unless you hear his teeth chattering.”

Pharynx narrowed his eyes. “Did you just make fun of me, Little Fang?”

Thorax’s laugh shook the car. He bent down his great head, opened his wide mouth, and revealed that his ‘little fangs’ were longer than daggers.

A smirk tugged at Pharynx’s lips. “As if that’s supposed to matter. Even if you outgrow the behemoths of old, you’ll always be Little Fang to me.”

Thorax hummed. Even when his horns could scrape the boxcar’s roof while laying down, his four legs were all bent against the walls, and his shoulders were pressed snug against the sides... “And you’ll always be Phary, my awesome, badass cuddlebug of a big brother.”

Pharynx got a sly look. “Cuddlebug, am I?” His horn glowed, a touch of telekinesis sliding right between Thorax’s rib plates.

Thorax flinched. “Y-You wouldn’t...”

Pharynx examined one of his hooves. “They say the most brutal attacks come from those you love.”

Thorax meeped as Pharynx had just given his ticklish belly a poke. “This… This is treason!”

“THEN CONSIDER THIS A COUP!” Pharynx tumbled out of Thorax’s hug, flew up in a flash, and booped his little brother’s nose right back. “Now is the time of PHARYNX!”

Thorax found himself enshrouded in magic and spun onto his back with a thrumming, metallic CLANG! He could only yelp as his world spun, now at the mercy of a pair of giant, telekinetic hands that began tickling him without mercy.

“PHARYYYYYYYY!” Thorax’s voice cracked. He tucked in his legs on reflex, but that did nothing to stop the magical assault. “Nohohohoho! STAHP!”

“I was biding my time all along!” Pharynx cackled, fluttering over him. “You’ve fallen right into my trap! I know all your weak points! There’s nothing you can do!”

Thorax’s voice gave way to high-pitched fits. He wheezed for air in between mighty guffaws, the shifting and squirming of his multi-ton weight rocking the entire car. “No… fair! I’m—eeeeeee! Three times your—AHHHHHAHAHAHAHA!”

“FOOL!” Pharynx grinned wide. “The larger you get, the easier a target you are! You could grow to the size of a mountain and I could still bring you to your knees!”

Thorax was sent into full-blown laughter. He gulped down massive lungfuls to convert into belly laughs, his booming shouts even drowning out the train. The car rattled and shook every time he kicked the magically reinforced walls, the colossal hits putting deep dents in the metal.

“You never stood a chance!” Pharynx said, now working his magic along Thorax’s sides and leg joints. “I was always poised to—”

The boxcar’s front door SLAMMED open.

“Are you INSANE?!” a muscular mare screamed, stomping in with a coal-stained shovel. “You’re gonna derail the whole train!”

The brothers froze. They looked up to see an irate crystal pony glaring at them, her seething, boiling emotions like a volcano to their senses.

“I don’t give a damn what you love bugs eat!” She brandished her shovel at them like a battleaxe. “You’re too big to rut while we’re on the rails! CUT IT OUT!”

Pharynx’s eyes shrank to pinpricks. “WHAT?!”

Thorax laughed harder than ever.

“Keep it in your sheaths!” The mare whipped a few pieces of gum at them. “Chew on those if you need something in your mouths! No hanky-panky until we get to the Empire, or I’ll shove truthfire gems so far up your asses, you’ll never shapeshift again!”

And with that, she slammed the door.

“WAIT!” Pharynx dashed after her. “It’s not—”

“Don’t… bother,” Thorax said between gasps of breath. “Too... angry.”

Pharynx bit his lip. He looked at the door one last time, but the biting cold was like the chill of death. “DEFINITELY need that Endure Elements spell…”

Thorax put a hoof on his chest. “I can’t even remember the last time I laughed that hard… you’re a tickling master, Phary.”

Pharynx snorted. “Don’t tell me none of your ‘friends’ have ever gotten playful. I’m sure you’re just as good at it.”

“You know that’s not the same. The bedroom—”

“The motive and target, no, but the action itself, yes.” Pharynx flew up to lay upon Thorax’s chest. “A translatable skill, if you will.”

Thorax rolled his eyes. “You could be just as good at pleasing lovers as I am. You’ve a real talent for it, even more so than other changelings! You could be one of the best!”

“I could say much the same about you and battle.”

Thorax gave him a sour look. “...Touche.”

Pharynx’s look softened as he looked towards the ceiling. “...I’ll make you a deal. If a time comes I feel confident knowing there are others who can build on the foundation of what we’ve built, when the hive doesn’t need everyling playing to their strengths to win the trust of this world...”

Thorax exhaled out his nose. “When our survival doesn’t depend on me staying the lover, and you the fighter.”

“Aye.” Pharynx met his eyes. “Our fate now lies with the dragons, Little Fang. We could bring peace and prosperity to both our nations, but that future hangs upon our every action. Now’s not the time to experiment.”

Thorax wrapped his warm arms around Pharynx. “You’ll find love one day, Phary. Trust me, there’s a rough-and-tough creature out there you’ll fall head over hooves for! We just gotta find ‘em.”

“Be still, my beating heart,” Pharynx droned. “But right now, let’s focus on getting you set with your own rough-and-tough, shall we? Dragon Lord Ember may have accepted your courtship, but if you wish to match her advancing size, you’ll need Princess Cadance’s aid.”

Thorax hugged Pharynx like a living teddy bear. “Thank you for helping me with this, Phary. I swear, I won’t forget this.”

Pharynx was quiet. He rested his head against Thorax’s huge chest. He wished he could burn everything about this moment into his memory—the sound of Thorax’s breathing, the smell of burning coal and powdery snow, the black and white outline of the boxcar, the constant bumps of the railroad... the comfort of being enveloped by his brother’s warmth and love.

With any luck, he wouldn’t forget this, either.

***

The Crystal Empire was as awe-inspiring as ever. Thorax and Pharynx had been given a merry welcome at the train station, and after taking smaller shapeshifts of themselves (about the size of your average stallion), they’d been escorted to the castle while fanfares played. The roads were clear and polished, the sun was warm, the grass was fresh, and the clean northern air was a joy to breathe as ponies cheered around them.

“Impressive.” Pharynx tilted his head back to behold the mighty spires of the Crystal Palace. It was shaped like a gigantic spearhead, and the bulk of the castle was propped up on four square ‘legs’ that also served as stairways. He also noted said stairways appeared to lead down, as well. “And here I thought the stories of this place were exaggerated.”

Thorax followed his gaze. “Right? Blew me away first time I saw it. I bet it’d make even Ember feel small.”

Pharynx squinted. He could only spot two aerial patrols, but the magic around the building was palpable. “Prince Shining Armor has remained vigilant since Mother’s rule, I see.”

Thorax shot him a look. "Please don't.”

“I meant it as a compliment,” said Pharynx.

Thorax gestured to a pair of passing guards. “Didnt you give me an earful about this back at Griffinstone?”

Pharynx glanced at them. They were clad in light blue plate armor studded with various gems, each carrying a silvery-blue spear with a head of barbed crystal.

“Soulguard armor,” Pharynx murmured. “Truesight spellstones, immunity runes… Even I’d have trouble eluding troops like these.”

Thorax fought back a groan. “Phary...”

“Look at their spears.” Pharynx pointed at the weapons. “See that ripple around the tip? The metal is inlaid with kth’raxxi. Combined with the armor and everything else, these soldiers are an assassin's worst—”

“He’s just tense from the train ride,” Thorax said to the soldiers, who’d stopped to listen. “Truthfire gems have him on edge.”

The soldiers bit back a laugh. They nodded to the two royals, then went on their way without a second glance.

“Phary,” Thorax said in a low voice. “This isn't some place looking to clap us in irons. Shining Armor and Cadance have been friends for years.”

“Friends capable of singlehoofedly flinging an entire army across the country in a single blast,” said Pharynx.

Thorax stared at him. “You’ve had every opportunity to voice misgivings about this. Why are you—”

“Because you're too complacent, Little Fang.” Pharynx gestured to their surroundings. “Never turn a blind eye to the potential dangers around you. What if some ne'er do well got their hooves on that equipment? Are you friends with every creature in this city? Do you think everyone here is happy we’re here?”

Thorax noted their esclet's were looking back at them. “But like I keep telling YOU, taking that idea too far is a recipe for disaster. You can’t live your whole life being paranoid.”

“So you should live your whole life being naive?” Pharynx said. “Regardless of how Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have treated you, they’re still frighteningly powerful. Shall I remind you of the casualties their repelling blast caused?”

A long silence fell.

“...It’s been a long time since then,” Thorax said.

“Tell that to our dead.”

“Is this going to be a problem?” Thorax snapped. “Because you’re more than welcome to wait at the station.”

And just like that, Pharynx’s ire fell off his face like a mask. “Thorax, Thorax, Thorax. If you want to win the respect of the Dragon Lord’s subjects, you can’t keep walking around wearing blinders. Strength is everything to their kind, but ‘strength’ can manifest in different ways. I’m trying to make you see what those ways are.”

Thorax blinked several times. “You’re trying to—” But that’s when he sensed the bubbly amusement beneath Pharynx’s facade. “Oh, hive alive. Why do you always make these lessons so dramatic?”

A lopsided grin formed on Pharynx’s face. “You need to take better note of what’s happening around you. Stop forgetting the past, and start recognizing the bigger picture. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor may be our allies, but no mindset is static, nor unanimous. Dismissing their power is as foolish as it is insulting.”

Thorax opened his mouth to reply… but then closed it again.

“A good leader acknowledges strength regardless of the situation,” Pharynx went on. “Ally, enemy, friend, stranger, subordinate, superior... power is power. Respect is a two-way street, Little Fang, and I guarantee the dragons will study you to see if you’re strong enough for their leader. You need to study them right back if you want to win them over. It's just like infiltrating a town in the old days!”

Thorax facehooved. “You just had to make that analogy.”

Pharynx patted his brother’s side. “Practice your assimilation with every chance you get.” He started trotting again towards the castle, studying and analyzing with a careful eye. “It’ll serve you well in the long run!”

***

“Cadance! Shining!” Thorax waved at the waiting duo. “Hey-hey!”

The Crystal Heart wasn’t always on display beneath the castle. More often than not, it was kept in a secure indoor viewing area centrally located within the castle itself. This viewing area was a high-ceilinged dome with crystalline patterns of all colors and shapes, the pale violet walls etched with pictures of northern vistas, grassy hills, and the Empire’s symbol. Long tapestries with emblems of the Equestrian coat of arms hung from the ceilings, and ornate light fixtures set with glowing minerals lit the room.

Visitors could typically come by during viewing hours and see the relic that kept their city safe, but right now, the Heart was nowhere to be seen. The only ponies present were Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and a smattering of standard guards, each standing at attention by intricate flower sculptures.

Cadance waved back. “Hey! Glad to see you made it!”

Shining was about to wave as well, but then paused upon seeing Thorax and Pharynx’s sizes. “Didn’t you say they were—”

“Oh, good,” Thorax said, looking around. “I was afraid we were gonna be cooped up for hours!”

Green flame swirled about the brothers. Everyone in the room tensed as they started to grow before their very eyes, their bodies swelling and expanding foot by foot, their heads climbing higher and higher. When they were done, Pharynx stood twice the size of the tallest of them… and they didn’t even come up to Thorax’s knees.

Shining clicked his teeth. Even at his above-average height, Pharynx alone stood head and shoulders above him. Thorax was another matter entirely, his horns almost scraping the ceiling.

Cadance giggled. “Any questions?”

“Eeeee! It’s been too long since we all met up!” The floor shook as Thorax ran up and scooped Shining and Cadance up in a massive hug. “Just like old times!”

Pharynx noticed the guards fidget. “Uh, Your Highness…”

“It’s okay!” Cadance called. “Thorax has always been a hugger.”

“Wow, look at you!” said Shining with a laugh. “Cady said you’d had a growth spurt, but I wasn’t expecting this! You’re larger than a house, buddy!”

Thorax straightened to his full, dizzying height. “Isn’t it great?! I’ve never felt this amazing in my life!”

Cadance nuzzled Thorax’s warm chest. “It really has been forever since the three us were together. We’ll have to pay you a visit next time, hmm?”

Thorax laughed. He started to say how great that would be, but then caught note of a certain something about his old friends. He studied his old friends a moment, and that’s when he realized he wasn’t detecting anything at all. It was like they were emotionless copies of themselves, or...

Shining sniggered and elbowed Cadance. “Told you he’d notice.”

Cadance giggled as well. “You may have given us an idea, Thorax.”

Thorax’s lips parted. “That’s how you’re gonna—” He meeped and widened his eyes. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don’t have to—”

“It’s fine,” Cadance whispered back. “We’ve been talking about this a long time. This is just an excuse to take the plunge, that’s all.”

Shining smiled and kissed her cheek.

Thorax sucked on his teeth. Part of him wanted to cheer, another was screaming caution. His mouth twisted a moment as the tug-of-war went back and forth, but finally, he gave he nodded to his friends and gently set them down.

“Uh... y-yeah! You’ll definitely have to come visit next time you’re down south!” Thorax looked around for something, anything... “Hey, Pharynx! What’re you doing still by the door, shyster? Cadance, you remember my big brother from the summit, right? I don’t think he and Shining have met...”

Shining regarded the newcomer. Pharynx was a large, dark-colored changeling, quiet as a shadow and lithe as a cat. His scarred, teal legs were bristling with pink muscle, as was his sculpted chest and toned barrel. His violet eyes were sharp and alert, but strangely, his nose was wrinkled like he’d smelled something foul. He had antlers similar to Thorax (along with your typical front horn) and while he made no effort to conceal himself, Shining’s gaze kept wanting to slide over him.

“Welcome to the Crystal Empire, Prince Pharynx.” Shining noted the resemblance between the two brothers—same horn shape, same muzzle shape, same patterns in their chitin. They even had the same habit of swivelling their deer-like ears towards every sound. “I hope crossing the Truthfire wasn’t too stressful.”

Pharynx didn’t answer right away. The soldiers around him reeked of sour caution, and every bit of it directed at him. Shining and Cadance were odorless and bland, their magic auras suppressed to almost nothing. He took a deep breath and approached at a calm trot, the tension building until you could cut it with a knife.

Pharynx cleared his throat and stopped beside Thorax. “Princess Cadance?”

Cadance fought back a smile. “Yes?”

“Before we do anything else, please allow me to say to the prince what I said to you when we met in Griffinstone,” Pharynx said.

Thorax flinched. “Phary—”

But Cadance held up a wing. “Let him have this, Thorax.”

Thorax wondered if he could shift into a mouse and slip into the wall. “I-I… ergh. Alright.”

“Thank you.” Pharynx met Shining’s eyes. “Prince Shining Armor. Several years ago, when Thorax fled our mother’s tyranny and sought refuge here, you and Princess Cadance admitted him despite having every reason not to. It’s because of that we’re all standing here today."

Shining said nothing. He merely watched and waited as Pharynx collected his thoughts.

“That decision changed the lives of countless changelings and more,” Pharynx went on. “But when I speak of it now, I’m not speaking as a prince. I’m not speaking as a changeling, an ambassador, or even a freed citizen. I’m just an older brother, no more, no less.”

Pharynx bowed low before Shining. “Thank you.”

Silence. The emotions in the room shifted and swirled, the guards fidgeting and looking away. Thorax’s face was scrunched up with pink cheeks, but everyone else’s remained the same...

Cadance snickered and whispered in Shining’s ear. “Can you see the resemblance now?”

Shining worked his jaw. His eyes never left the back of Pharynx’s head, but whatever was on his mind—

“Okaaaaaay!” Thorax’s booming voice made them all jump. “You’re acquainted! Good! I was hoping I could introduce you both at the Summit, but—say, that’s a good thing to talk about! The Summit! Yeah!” Thorax yoinked Pharynx to his feet with magic. “How come you haven’t been at the last few, Shining?”

Shining dropped the statue act. “Hmm? Oh! It’s... hard to set aside time for both me and Cady to go, see. Not to mention the darn things always seem to fall when I’m going the hardest training the troops...”

Cadance shrugged. “The Summit’s not really a military thing, anyways. I usually handle the trade deals and international relations most of the time, so it’s not a big deal if Shining stays back and holds down the fort.”

Thorax’s laugh was a deep, rumbling hum. “It seems like it’s been paying off. Maybe you can show us some of the drills you’ve been running? Pharynx is always saying I’m too lenient with ours.”

Shining tapped his chin. “I suppose we could exchange strategies and analyze each other’s tactics. Maybe identify what each of our forces can improve, create joint maneuvers together, or even do some changeling-pony drills together… Now that would be interesting.”

You may as well have told Pharynx that Hearth’s Warming was coming early.

“Maybe once Flurry’s finished with school, she can keep an eye on things so you can take more trips?” Thorax asked. “Say… where is she, anyways? I haven’t seen her around yet.”

Cadance and Shining’s faces fell.

“She’s… not here,” said Cadance. “She’s in Canterlot apprenticing under Starswirl the Bearded.”

Thorax blinked. “...What?”

“THE Starswirl?!” Pharynx said.

Shining shrugged. “He wasn’t exactly hard to convince. He’s already taught two alicorns, after all.”

“But even that aside,” Cadance said, seeing the look on Thorax’s face. “Flurry needs someone brilliant to teach her. She's as gifted with magic as Twily, learning concepts and mastering spells so fast that Sunburst ran out of things to teach her. We could tell she wanted to go all-in with magic, so we talked it over as a family, and…”

Thorax clicked his wing coverings. “I’m… u-uh, wow. I guess I’m not sure what to say, to be honest. I suppose that’s good for her and all, and I’m happy for her, but…”

Cadance’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We know. We feel the same, and we usually have to come to her these days to see her. We’ve been getting pretty lonely without her...”

Shining put a hoof around Cadance. “And with Flurry’s studies taking up so much of her time…”

Thorax winced. “I’ll have to keep all that in mind. I might be able to get a hold of her so we can catch up next time I’m in Canterlot, but we’ll just have to see. I know she’d love to meet Ember.”

Cadance laughed. “That she would. But speaking of Ember, let’s get on to why you came here in the first place, shall we? You didn’t come here to hear about our problems, you came to get help with yours.”

Pharynx’s gaze lingered on the empty pedestal in the center of the room. “Is Prince Shining Armor up to speed on what we discussed in Griffinstone?”

“Just Shining is fine,” he said, straightening his shoulders. “And yes, I am. I was against it at first, but considering, e-erm… the timing of things, it might very well be fate. Exploiting some weird quirk of your biology, though...”

Thorax put a hoof behind his head. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. We’ve known changelings grow bigger and stronger the more love they receive, we just didn’t know the royal caste, uh…”

“Can fast track it,” Pharynx said.

Thorax gestured. “Sure.”

Shining leaned back on his haunches. “Even still, I’ve never heard of anything like this. We’ve made all the arrangements and precautions we can, but ultimately, these unknowns mean we can’t guarantee your safety. Are you still sure?”

Thorax didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I’d like you to empower me with the Crystal Heart, please.”

Shining watched him for almost a full minute. He said nothing, but the silence was like a ton of bricks.

“...Guards,” said Cadance. “You’re dismissed.”

The soldiers paused. They looked at her, then Shining… then Pharynx...

“That was an order, ponies,” Shining said.

The soldiers spun on their heels marched out with the sound of jostling metal. A few seconds later, the four royals were alone in the echoing room.

Pharynx chuckled in the silence. “Greater spellstones, empowered runes, and fast-acting venom wards on all of them. Should I be flattered, or impressed?”

Shining slowed. “May I call you Pharynx?”

Pharynx nodded.

“I noticed there was one role you left out in that list of yours.” Shining approached Pharynx, never once looking away. “Not that I blame you, of course... I’m not looking to start a fight, but I’m not going to ignore what I’ve heard about you, either.”

Pharynx smirked. “Likewise.”

Shining noticed Thorax fidget in place. “Your brother taught us years back that even bitter enemies can become stalwart friends. I haven’t forgotten that lesson, but even if I had, your words earlier would’ve reminded me. I think we can learn a lot from each other… if you’re willing, of course.”

Pharynx chuckled. “The battlemage and the assassin.” He held out his hoof, and the two shook with a soft clack. “Our military’s stealth tactics, your military’s versatility with magic… sounds like a fearsome team.”

Shining’s eyes lit up. “Let’s talk more about that joint training later.”

Thorax and Cadance let out the collective breath they’d been holding.

“For now, though we’re going to need your help empowering your brother,” Shining signalled to Cadance. “We can’t have him feeding off the Crystal Heart directly, so Cady and I are going to sync up with it and share the energy with him that way. We need you to stay in the room and make sure he isn’t overwhelmed, okay?”

Pharynx furrowed his brow. “You’re sounding like we’re going to do this right now. As in, this instant, in this very room.”

“That’s right.” Shining glanced up to give Thorax. “I know you just got here, but we only have a limited time to do this. Clock’s ticking, and all that.”

Thorax got the hint. “I suppose it is. We should probably get started, then.”

Pharynx looked back and forth between them. “Did I miss something?”

“I think we’re good to pull back the curtain, Shiny!” Cadance called.

“Right.” Shining stepped back and cracked his neck. “Brace yourselves, you two.”

Pharynx squinted. “What—”

It slammed into him like a brick wall. His only warning was a sound like a fizzy drink before he and Thorax were struck by a tidal wave of divine magic and sweet, airy love. The viewing room sparkled with a crystalline sheen as the holy light revealed patterns of snowflakes and glowing symbols everywhere, the whole space forming into one humongous array. Pharynx swore he heard chimes as a carved stone of purest crystal materialized upon the pedestal, it’s scintillating power making it hover and spin in place.

“Hive alive...” Pharynx stepped back as another pulse filled him with energy. “How...”

Shining smirked. “Let’s just say the Heart’s got a few secrets of its own. It saw a better outcome if it stayed hidden to begin with.”

Thorax crooned at the familiar light. “Didn’t I tell you the Crystal Heart can see the future, Phary?”

“It can do WHAT?!” Pharynx whirled on him. “You think I’d forget something like that?!”

Thorax scrunched up his face. “...Okay, maybe I meant to tell you.”

Cadance put her hoof on the Crystal Heart. The artifact brightened, thrumming like a tuning fork and coming to a standstill. “The Heart’s already agreed to help you, Thorax. However, it’s asked we not tap into its full power right away so you can have time to adjust. But Shiny and I can only do that up to a certain point, so you’ll have to acclimate quick as you can. We can’t hold back forever.”

Thorax’s stomach was rumbling. He could already taste the first eddies of warm love being shared, more succulent than he even recalled. “S-Sure… sure...”

Shining went over to Cadance. He approached her from behind, savoring the sight of her heart-shaped rump, her thick, shapely flanks, the sway of her tail and motherly hips. He sidled alongside and began planting feathery kisses along her shoulders and withers, his velvety muzzle and soft breaths sending tingles down her spine.

“Shiny…” Cadance’s tail lifted up high. “Oh, stars...”

Pharynx wings snapped open. “Is that how they’re going to—oh, no.” He waved at Thorax. “Little Fang! Something’s wrong! I can’t sense anything about them—their emotions! Their magic!”

Thorax was tempted to give Pharynx flak considering the impromptu ‘lesson’ on the way here, but that could wait for now. “Pharynx... what does my lust inhibitor do?”

Pharynx frowned. “That doesn’t explain why—”

“There are inhibitors for things besides emotions, too.” Thorax took another sip of shared love, so hearty and sweet. “Some for magic, some for impulses, and some can temporarily ease physical conditions like estrus, and rut.”

Shining hummed and kept nuzzling Cadance. Swirls of colorful magic coiled around them like a vortex of will o’ wisps. Cadance cradled Shining’s head and pulled him into a kiss, their eyes rolling back as their horns crossed and heads buzzed.

The sudden love spike made Pharynx’s head buzz, as well. “The H-Heart will overpower whatever they’re using! That’s what she meant by—” He froze. “‘Lonely’… ‘timing’… ‘clock’s ticking’...“

Thorax snickered. “To be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t tried for another foal sooner.”

Pharynx felt a chill. “L-Little Fang, we both know conception generates more love than anything else! I know this is what you want, but the energy of these two… boosted by THAT relic?!”

But Thorax wasn’t listening anymore. He was pawing at the ground, eyes greedy and wide, his moose-like horns dangerously close to the ceiling. He was already tasting hints of something more in the love—a spicy, powerful kick just beneath the surface.

Pharynx cursed. The energy was getting stronger, and he didn’t share his brother’s desires of gigantism. There was only one way could think of to stay in the room, so he drew upon the ambient energy to make himself as small as possible, then hid beneath Thorax’s wing coverings.

“The things I do for you,” Pharynx grumbled. “Why couldn’t you have fallen in love with a breezie?”

Cadance and Shining broke their kiss. Cadance nuzzled his long blue mane, tracing his neck and pawing at his fuzzy chest. The clean, fresh smell of his coat was enough to make her heart race, and he was just as drawn to her, smooching the crook of her neck and inhaling deep. He stroked her mane in turn while echoing her whimpers and whines, their fervor rising at a snail’s pace.

The Crystal Heart began to whir. A cool, crackly vapor filled the room that tinged everything with soft pinks, bright yellows, and deep blues. It was a feast greater than any changeling had ever dreamed of, yet it was only a sliver of what the Crystal Heart could do. Thorax hummed and scooched against the wall to enjoy dinner and a show, his thick sheath twitching and swelling.

“Mmhhh…” Thorax rubbed his emerging cock in slow strokes. He tried to pace himself with the love, but when he didn’t feel any hint of his limit, he sucked it down in long, greedy gulps. The crackly colors funneled into him in an effervescent stream, but he could tell there was more… so, SO much more...

Cadance wrapped her wings around Shining. Every breath she took was fuel to the fire, but she remained steadfast. Shining followed her lead, slow and sure, his impulses clawing and straining like a grizzly in a cage. Just about everything felt dull and far-off to them, Shining’s rut roaring like an enraged dragon across his mindscape, and Cadance’s estrus was the same, shuddering and yearning to be filled with Shining’s every touch. Their dampened sense of smell was already catching wind of each other’s emerging excitement, but it was only a vague hint of Shining’s dry, thick musk, a touch of Cadance wet, cloying heat.

Their rising desire grew more insistent by the second. They hardly felt any of it, though, Cadance’s dripping, winking nethers and Shining’s raging boner the only visible signs. They kept things slow and steady, obeying the Crystal Heart’s words to bring about the best future.

Which was indeed what the Heart intended… but the thing about ancient and sentient magical relics is, they tend to be manipulative little shits.

Bzrrrrrrrrrrt!

The Heart’s energy spiked out of nowhere. It manifested in a multicolored ribbon that spread out through the room fast an arrow, hitting everyone in the room. Cadance was first, her wards and spells shorting out with a dreadful sizzle… and all her suppressed sensations immediately crashed into her at once—a pooling, bubbling lake of lava in her core, a clawing feeling in her chest, a twisting, clenching hunger in her loins, and the world so foggy she could barely see. Her tail lifted high as her nethers winked, hard, and her eyes fell on Shining to—

Shining grabbed Cadance in his magic. She caught a glimpse of his manic eyes before he spun her around, brute-forced her into position, and mounted her so fast she had to flare her wings. Her back legs locked as his heavy, solid weight settled atop her as her, and before she could do more, he grabbed a mouthful of her mane and pulled.

The sound she made caused half the castle to blush.

The Crystal Heart crackled like a power grid. It spun faster, pure bolts of energy to flowing through the duo and into Thorax. He consumed them all with a hum, his erect member throbbing as the colorful fog snaked towards him. He could smell his own pheromones mixing with the scents of his friends—the perfect seasoning to such rich, ample love. It was so powerful and potent he swore that already—

“Nggggh!” Thorax writhed and twisted. Little cracks appeared all over his shuddering form, a tingling, stretching spreading through him that was half-pleasure, half-ache. His muscles pulled taut before swelling longer and thicker, his bones lengthening and creaking with dull groans, his magic swelling and beating like a second heart. Higher and higher his head rose as thin fragments of chitin shattered off him, his horns soon scraping the ceiling… then piercing… then breaking to the next floor...

Thorax was panting by the time it was done. He barely even registered the debris he’d knocked free. He barely registered that his virile package had grown more than the rest of him, his dense, heavy nuts taking up even more of his lap. He was a cat rolling in catnip, eyes wide and dilated, and all he could think about was the lithe, fertile shape of his smiling blue dragoness.

“Yes…” A thick drop of pre oozed down Thorax’s shaft. “Ohhhhh, YES.”

Shining’s hot, hard stallionhood slid against Cadance’s outer lips. His attempts left a slick, sticky trail on her barrel, her stiff, splayed wings spasming every time he missed. She squirmed and whined until he eventually found the angle and pushed inside her soft, tight flesh, and she bore down on him with a scream she’d never made before, nor since.

Shining’s eyes glowed in response. His mane and tail morphed into blue flames of searing mana, and for a moment, blazing wings of pure fire ignited from his shoulders before vanishing like a mirage. He snarled and plunged into Cadance with merciless thrusts, the Heart’s power racing through him to empower him even more. Yet no matter how rough or savage he was, Cadance always wanted rougher… faster… deeper...

Their hips collided with a sharp, slippery SMACK. The sound soon set the rhythm of their frenzied lovemaking, Shining’s jet-black cock claiming Cadance’s pink marehood over and over. Another bolt of magic arced from the Heart into them, and Shining’s sizeable nuts swelled even larger, more potent! He could feel his stretchy skin of his sack tingling and sinking lower, the heavy orbs tripling in every way! His pre became so slick Cadance couldn’t trap him no matter how hard she tried, and so Shining kept about his sacred task without pause, gliding in and out of her like a well-oiled machine.

The Crystal Heart sparked and spun even more. The ceiling chunks Thorax had knocked free slid forward to orbit around it a whirling ring, adding to the gathering energy and pouring growing bolts into Thorax in an arcing beam. It was more love than he’d ever had in his life, but the more he had, but all he had to do was imagine Ember bathing in a lake of lava with a come-hither stare, the bubbling molten rock giving her scales a reddish tint. He wanted to do things like that with her, dragon-exclusive things so foreign and unique…

But even with shapeshifting, bathing in boiling rock—

A fiery ray exploded from the Heart, separate from the flow of love. It bypassed Cadance and Shining to strike Thorax in the chest with a ZORCH. A hot, tingling burn swept through him, and his vision flickered as his skin felt tight again...

“NGGGH!” Thorax thrust his hips and slid further against the wall. He could already hear his chitin cracking, a strange itching just beneath. His legs bulged, his frame spreading upward and outward, his thunderous groans peppered with mad laughs. A delicious inferno was pulsing in his head, swirling within his lungs, coursing through his legs and veins.

Thorax swore he was transforming into fire. but when his old layer of skin fell away, he found something else—his skin tissue had changed, evolving into a cross between glossy chitin and a scaley, dragon-like hide. At first he thought it was a dream, but he could still feel the inner flame burning bright in his chest, wisps of tangy, sky-blue flame escaping his mouth with his every exhale. He touched the pebbly surface of his leg, its fine, bumpy texture soothing to the touch.

Thorax’s mind spun like a carousel. He meant to say something, knew he should say something, but before he could open his mouth, the Crystal Heart powered up even further and added three more ribbons of love to his feast.

“Snnnkkkkt…” Thorax eyes grew unfocused again. It felt like he was sinking into a soupy, syrupy mire, and all he could see was Ember—her smiling face, her husky voice, her strong heart. He started wolfing down energy even faster than before his rear legs stretching across the room, each one as big across as Cadance and Shining were tall. Thorax’s swelling nuts were creeping closer and closer to his friends, and if he kept devouring love and growing larger at this rate, they’d probably be overwhelmed!

But Cadance and Shining were beyond such concerns. Cadance was in a trance, her tongue lolled and drooling, her cheek sliding back and forth on the floor. She only existed where she and Shining were joined, her inner muscles in fervent pursuit of motherhood. Nothing else mattered in that moment—not the magic tearing great chunks off the room walls, not the Crystal Heart emitting continual ribbons of prismatic light, not even the ravenous, forty-foot changeling sucking down said ribbons while stroking his throbbing cock. All that mattered were the ticklish white lights flowing out from her deepest, most sacred place, twinkling like stars as they fell into place, waiting...

Then the Crystal Heart rang like a church bell. The sound did nothing for Thorax, but Shining flinched like he’d been struck. The enchanted sound echoed in his head as it searched for that final missing piece, the one tiny part to finish a certain puzzle. It was a single itty-bitty switch inside him, and all it needed was a little flip, to begin setting things in motion—

There.

Shining ROARED. His innate magic swelled greater… greater… greater, until it was great as it was always meant to be! His eyes turned pure white, his voice gained a faint echo, and the wings of flame appeared again to last longer this time. He widened his stance and fucked Cadance even harder, never stopping, never thinking, purely devoted to his sacred task.

Cadance’s eyes turned white as well. Her mane and tail flowed in an unfelt breeze, her cutie marks glowing bright as the magic around them. Her aura changed into a spiralling beam that coiled around Shining’s to form a shimmering double helix of magenta and blue. The Crystal Heart took this helix like it was some kind of interwoven tether, then without warning, used it to connect them to Thorax.

“!!!”

And just like that, Thorax FELT Shining fucking Cadance like his life depended on it. His supercharged rut was howling at him like a berserker, that coiled spring in his core pushing him like the world was about to end. Thorax also felt Cadance’s tight marehood gripping and clenching Shining’s cock like a vice, her terrible heat raging like a pounding storm. He felt all this in addition to the sensations from his body, still voracious and tingling, revelling in the buffet of love being offered to him...

...just as Shining and Cadance did, too.

It was hard to tell who yelled louder. All three of them renewed their efforts as the Crystal Heart gained a corona of holy light, it’s magic rising faster and flowing through them all the more. The corona enshrouded Shining and Cadance to lift them onto Thorax’s abdomen, and Thorax could only groan at the sight of his friends rutting in the shadow of his towering shaft—

CRUNCH!

Thorax snapped to long enough to see a shower of debris fall before being sucked towards the Crystal Heart. He realized his whole body felt hot and pliable, like a plastic you could mold. His head was rising steadily, his body pulsing and expanding with slow growth, and not only was the delightful internal heat still inside him, it was making all this happen without needing to molt!

Thorax bit his lip. Forty feet had been a memory for a while now, as had fifty. He was even creeping up to sixty feet at a steady rate, the floor cracking and splintering under his massive weight. His chest had filled out, his muscles inflating and gaining definition with every breath. His legs were like sculpted stone, as big around as fallen logs and inching ever-closer to the far wall. His gargantuan frame was taking up over half the room, and Shining and Cadance looked absolutely puny now, likely not even coming up to his ankles!

The delightful heat was travelling to Thorax’s groin now. He watched as his package swelled to twice its size... then triple… then quadruple, his sackspreading his legs wide while his dick grazed the ceiling. He could feel how dense each burgeoning orb was, filling more and more with increasingly-virile seed. His thickening cock was dripping and oozing like a lava flow, and the mere thought of Ember’s reaction made his balls swell even further to quintuple their old size!

Cadance and Shining noticed Thorax’s musky scent getting stronger. It was the only warning they got before his heightened hormones slammed into them like a seventy-foot linebacker, their combined lust and need merging into something… primal. The Crystal Heart surged to full power then, it's clear, ringing magic playing like chimes in the wind, the colorful beams now shifting to pure white. More and more debris funnelled towards the Heart to be compressed into whirling rings, spinning so fast a breeze kicked up to ruffle Shining’s and Cadance’s coats.

Thorax roared a jet of flame. He devoured the untold power in a frenzy, his hulking body claiming more and more of the meager room. Cadance pushed Shining for everything he was worth, and he raced her to the finish with a yell, that familiar finish just on the horizon. The room rumbled and shook, tapestries ripping from their hooks and paintings falling loose. Distant evacuation alarms sounded throughout the chaos, but they were deaf to it all. All that mattered was the Crystal Heart shining like the Sun above them, its awesome magic chaining through them and into Thorax—

But then several things happened at once. Thorax’s mighty stallionhood punched through the ceiling and smashed a water pipe, a deluge of warm water to cascading down to shower Shining and Cadance. The warmth proved enough to push Shining over the edge, and he went stiff to pump a deluge of his own into her depths, his psyche exploding in fireworks that spread to the rest of them. Cadance yelled and clamped down, his essence converging with the first of the little lights…

Which Thorax sensed it the instant it happened. An explosion of pure, intimate love resounded in Cadance, like a thousand heartfelt confessions of love all at once. The Crystal Heart FLASHED, the immense excess energy barreling into Thorax in a great bulge. At first it looked like he wouldn’t be able to handle it, his body straining and contorting, but then his whole form ballooned several feet larger, and he absorbed it all with a lewd sucking sound.

“MORE!” Thorax’s feast became a feeding frenzy. He was filled anew with amazing, tingling pressure, and his groin the first to grow, his nuts bulging to the size of houses and pressing against the far wall. His shaft surged with new length and width to punch through a second floor, flooding it with pre on its way to a third floor—

A second explosion of love went off in Cadance. The Crystal Heart pumped the immense love into Thorax, but this time, he devoured it without fail. His one hundred foot-body was now so hot it was steaming, his thrashing, growing form straining against the room’s constraints—

A third explosion occurred, followed shortly by a fourth.

Then a fifth came right on its heels, then a sixth…

A seventh…

An eighth, ninth, and a tenth...

Thorax roared like the behemoths of old. He exploded out of the viewing room with a CRUNCH, growing bigger and bigger with each fresh swell of power that funneled into him. He ripped through rooms, hallways, and ceilings of the Crystal Palace like they were paper, his body converting the offered energy to mass like a futuristic reactor. The palace workers were evacuating, emergency portals opening and teleport runes activating all over, the clamor of Thorax’s destruction echoing throughout the building.

Thorax smashed through libraries, guest quarters, studies, and meeting rooms alike. Nothing could contain his building-sized muscles, his flagpole-sized tail, his sail-like wings, his tree-like horns… NOTHING! The whole castle quaked as countless crystal chunks flew towards the Crystal Heart to create more thin, orbiting rings—

SMASH!

Thorax grew his way into the throne room. The long carpet draped around his rising shoulder like a sash, his right horn crushing Cadance and Shining’s thrones to pieces. His monstrous cock was already penetrating the upper floors, the glistening flesh throbbing with every pump of his godly heart. His barn-sized nuts were having yet another growth spurt, soon filling the majority of the throne room as their production increasing another fourfold. He was a sexual titan, his intoxicating pheromones permeating the whole castle, his slick pre coating—no, marking everything it touched.

Thorax had a moment of clarity to gawk at the spire of flesh before him. He couldn’t help but trace a hoof along one of the pulsing veins, and when he did, the sensation was so great it raced through the three of in a circuit. More tiny white lights slipped into Cadance womb, all of which were claimed by Shining’s seed and became embedded in her nutrient-rich walls. The newfound life caused even more surges of energy to flow into Thorax like water, which in turn made his shaft rumble and surge larger, which made more white lights fall in Cadance—

FLASH!

Suddenly, everything stopped. Near all sensation fled Thorax, his vision going white to leave him floating in a void. He felt himself being steered towards a strange font of power, beckoning to him like a lighthouse in a storm. Dizziness swept over him as he drew close…

Life in love, for life in fire.

Thorax staggered. He was before a... presence of some kind, it’s immense power weighing down on him like a cement mixer. He couldn’t look directly at the thing, but the way it spoke in his mind with a voice like chimes...

A trade in full for heart’s desire.

The featureless plane flickered. Thorax’s vision returned to show he was in a field stretching out as far as the eye could see. The field itself wasn’t very interesting... but the precious ovoid shapes populating said field, innumerable in number and bristling with life...

Thorax’s jaw dropped. “Those are...”

But will you prove a worthy sire?

Suddenly, all Thorax could see was blue scales. Ember’s long, cat-like, mountainous body occupied the whole skyline, her city-sized eyes soft and warm as she stroked her immense pregnant belly. Her womb was so large and full, it had to be three to four times her size!

Thorax fell to his knees. “Oh, p-please… Yes, m-more than anything...”

The Crystal Heart’s laugh was like falling water. Thorax watched as dragons large and small worked to massage their fertile Dragon Lord. She hummed and stretched her wings to fill the whole sky, yet her smoldering, smoky eyes were always on Thorax.

“I’m thinking we try some fertility spells next time,” she said.

Thorax returned to reality with a bellow. He gripped his length and pleasured himself with all he had, the delicious heat building up faster than ever! The palace crumbled as the Crystal Heart gathered its orbiting rings and fused them together, transmuting it all into a ball of pure empathic energy.

Your courtship pushes her higher and higher

My blessing shall help, but more you’ll require

Know this—her kind cares not for a Purifier

You must show them your strength… MAKE them admire.

The Crystal Heart streaked towards Thorax like a shooting star. It phased into him and infused the crackling energy into his very soul before exiting him and flying out of the castle. Thorax’s moan boomed over the whole city, his great form quivering and shaking as the power swirled inside him.

It was agony. It was bliss. It was some mixture of the two he wanted more of, even if it drove him mad. Thorax suddenly felt so very cramped—the familiar pressure buzzing like enough electricity to power Equestria for weeks. Walls and ceilings were threatening to collapse around him, but he was far too concerned with the coiled tightness that just kept building, building, BUILDING—

It was like a bomb going off. The first surge saw Thorax grow twenty feet larger in the span of a second, hislegs bursting through the outer walls with loud BOOMS. Palace floors gave beneath his impossible weight until he hit the ground with a great dust plume, only for the basement levels to follow and plummet him into a freshly-made hole. But then Thorax grew out of this hole to rise back up into the crumbling palace, his head returning to the ruined throne room and rising!

Shining and Cadance were still in the Crystal Heart’s holy aura at the base of Thorax’s crotch. They felt everything Thorax did, their extended peak enduring with each wave of shared pleasure. The glowing, twinkling lights in Cadance were still coming to be, and their hearts and minds soared with the promise of young colts and fillies—unicorns, pegasi, crystal ponies, possibly even others.

Thorax rose up out of the Crystal Palace like a living skyscraper. Cart-sized drops of sweat dripped off him as he pumped his godly shaft, his titanic sack churning with life and power. The Crystal Heart glowed high above him like a shining beacon of love, still pouring the energy of Shining and Cadance’s efforts into him to make him that much bigger. Thorax’s core muscles were seizing up now, his hooves pumping without rhythm, his tower-sized cock flaring as the pressure rocketed hundreds of feet up his shaft. He spasmed and thrust one last time, and with a roar heard throughout the Empire...

Ponies later said it was like a volcano erupting. Impossible gallons of sticky seed rained onto the city in a thick downpour that coated over a fourth of the city in Thorax’s pent-up need. Immense standing pools formed around all his palace-sized body to eventually converge into a swamp of sex. Lights flashed behind his ursa minor-sized eyes with every spurt, his limbs trembling and tight, grunting and gasping as he fired jet after jet with earth-quaking jerks. His aching nuts clenched over and over to flood city streets, then whole city blocks, then entire districts...

Minutes passed, and Thorax was still going. His hypercharged pheromones had spread throughout the whole city now, sparking passionate romps and sexual awakenings in everyone past puberty. His royal seed even flowed beyond the city to cover a portion of the grassy plains. Those unaffected feared he might never stop, but his peak finally did wind down, clocking at around fifteen minutes.

Thorax felt like he’d just run a marathon. His mind was still floaty, but lucid enough to realize what he’d done. He summoned Shining and Cadance to him with magic, not surprised to find them still joined but spent. Their rut and heat would likely rear their heads again soon, though, and if their minds were still linked to Thorax...

“U-Um…” Thorax wet his ship-sized lips. His friends looked less than an inch tall to him, but their magical auras were like white dwarves. “I—”

Cadance laughed in his mind. Don’t worry about it, Thorax. This is why we have magic.

This isn’t even the worst damage we’ve done! Shining said, laughing as well. You should’ve seen when we invited the yaks down for Hearth’s Warming. Now THAT was some damage!

Thorax blinked. “Snilldar Fest? Isn’t that where—oh, my sweet stars...”