The following week was pretty routine. We would wake up, have breakfast, meet up with Twilight, and then just spend the day exploring Ponyville until it got dark out. Then we would send off Swaddle-Dee for some privacy (more for my sake than Carina's I suspected), and we would spend the night making each other happy. That's not to say there weren't hiccups however. That second day we went to the hospital, Twilight was absent. We ended up going to her library to check up on her, and it led to a peculiar conversation with Spike.

"Hey Spike, is Twilight here? She was supposed to meet us at Ponyville General but she hasn't shown up so..."

"Hey Elfilis. Yeah, Twilights here. She ended staying up late doing research on all kinds of things." I felt bad, thinking that she stayed up helping Carina, but Spike must have noticed because he went to assuage me of my guilt. "Nothing about you having sex with Carina, she ended up sharing that with me by accident when I was writing a letter for her. She kind of freaked when she realized, but then she freaked out more because I wasn't freaking out? It was weird. She ended up reading books on parenting and sex education all night."

"...oh. Well. That's not what I was expecting." Carina was snickering at my side and Spike was beginning to look concerned.

"Not you too Elfilis... Yes, I'm a baby dragon. Yes, I'm a little young. But like I tried telling Twilight, when mom noticed that I was going to have penises and vaginas in my face, she made sure we had a big conversation on what was what. Okay? It's not a big deal."

"Okay, but aren't most kids around your height? Why did you get the talk so early?"

"Most pony kids my age are only a few years away from being adults. I'm stuck looking at pony penis for at least another ten years, if I'm lucky." That, made a lot of sense actually. Plus, this was the same mom who taught her daughter a Chastity Spell after all. It was only a little while later that Twilight came down and we finally started all the scans. Carina wasn't a fan of the scans, she was understandably uncomfortable under all the sensors and diodes and tape. It got better over the course of the week though. As Twilight got more data she was able to mark off some of the machines and spells as unnecessary, which meant the visits got faster each time. And Twilight stopped being so awkward with the probe too, much to our relief. Projectile insertion was not the correct method, calm down Swaddle-Dee.

The next complication actually happened in bed one night. I had been bouncing Carina on my lap when the chitin on her flanks gave way halfway through. This meant I was staring dumbly at a pair of buttcheeks in my hands as my partner got thrown into the air before coming back down and beaming me in the face with her head. I was fine, but Carina's face had a crack across it that clearly wasn't the result of shedding. I rushed her the hospital, arousal be damned. The doctors were thankfully very professional, they seemed nonplussed by our messy state.

The injury seemed to slow down her transformation somewhat, like it was pulling resources away from development to healing. Made me wish Toby had stuck around, one hug from him and Carina would probably be right as rain in no time. He never showed back up that week either. It worried me, but I didn't know if it was worry for Toby or for others. I had faith he would be okay, for the most part. And Luna got back to me about the chocolate one night as well.

"While the news that what changelings consider Love can be grown naturally is good, great even, the fact that it acts as a drug to them in amounts that aren't even enough to serve as a meal is worrying. We will have to see if we can't breed some special cocoa trees that have more Love and less Lust before we can consider it a viable permanent solution. Until then, we request that you keep sending the Hive these, 'Friend Hearts.' Tia was angry that you didn't consult us before talking to the Queen by the way. Just so you know what to expect next time you meet her."

"Yeah, that wasn't my best moment." What I would argue was a really great moment though, was I was finally able to make a working bathroom in the cave. I, don't think what I created should actually function, but it did. And I wasn't going to complain about magical hot water and plumbing. No more bathing in lakes when it's too cold. Carina actually liked the lake on most days, so at this point the bathroom was just for cold days and for when nature called.

And then, Friday. The final day of daily tests.

Twilight had invited us all to the library after she unhooked all the wires from Carina, and now all of us were sitting around her table with an early lunch in front of us. Even Spike was there, even though I could tell Twilight wasn't particularly comfortable with it. She gave him one last look before turning to speak to us.

"Okay, so! Here's what I learned." She floated a wall of chalkboards' and graphs into a wall of information. "To start things off, changelings are so far away from every species on Equis biologically. Including creatures like insects and other bugs. Let me explain." One particular set of drawings floated off the wall. "This, is a pony vagina. Entrance, canal, fallopian tubes, etc. And this, is what Carina's was like a week ago." She gave this one to me to hold onto as we looked at it. "Entrance, canal, done. That was it. No eggs, no anything. Just, and forgive me for this, a pocket." Carina huffed. "I don't know what else to call it, okay! Regardless, that was a week ago."

She gave me another set of pictures to look at as she tried to hold in her blush.

"This, is her this morning." I had kind of tuned her out after seeing it. Six fallopian tubes. What the hell? "And, on top of all that, it's probably not anything like her mothers. At all." I looked up at that, but Carina beat me to the punch.

"Okay? Why do you think my 'pocket' is different from my mom's?"

"I said sorry! A-and it's probably different because, from what you told me, your mom lays eggs. Your sexual organs aren't built for that. It looks like, ludicrous fertility aside, a regular mammalian sex organ. If you ever have kids, your going to be carrying them to term, not laying them in a nest to watch for a month." That was different.

"I have a pony pussy?! How long do you think my pregnancies will last!?" Swaddle-Dee made himself known at this point, jumping up and down trying to take the scans out of my hand.

"I-I don't fu- I don't know. Sorry. Long week. I don't know, that's not something you can learn with scans." Fair enough. "That isn't everything though. Elfilis's theory that your body would be getting stronger, physically and magically? It is 100% correct." Yay, more graphs. "Your magic capacity, if not your output, has quadrupled. It leaves you with a little more potential than your average unicorn, but while the growth has slowed down, it hasn't stopped. You still have some ways to go in that department. As for physicality? Your chitin has been shedding so often because your skeleton and your muscles have been growing. They are still rather lean, but it was a big enough change that your body needed a new shell every time." That part I kind of knew. She was just a little taller, had filled out some, and had to start watching how much force she used in bed. I was fine, the bed was broken.

"... Thank you Twilight. For helping me and Rina with this. Is there anything else?" She shook her head no for me as Swaddle-Dee finally got the papers from me.

"Nothing major. She has more nerve endings, mostly in the uh, rear (cough). And her blood tests say she has very slightly higher hormone levels. Both are likely a consequence of of growing an entirely new organ." She looked at her notes one last time. "If you want to know more, you would have to be willing to give chastity a shot for a week of more tests, to see if the changes really do revert."

"You're funny Twilight, a week without sex? Ha! Could you imagine?" I just looked at her.

"You should be able to remember, unless you had guests over while I was knocked out for that first week in Forgo Cave." She blushed and turned her head bashedly.

"I need to remember you have a sharp wit most days. Anyways, Twilight, thank you for all this, but I'm going to go break another bed with my boyfriend. Byyyye!" I didn't actually get up to follow as her and Swaddle-Dee ran out the door. I kind of wanted to see how far she would get before she realized. Spike ended up laughing at her.

"Another bed? Wow."

"Spike! Just because Carina acts that way doesn't mean-"

"Twilight, I love you, but the reason I found out about sex before you was because mom was uncomfortable with how much you sat on me to keep me still." ... Awkward... "Plus, you wave your butt at our babysitter every time you meet. Why are you so embarrassed about this stuff now?"

"... I'm working on it." That was when Carina came back.

"Elfilis! Come on! Joking aside, we have to see Rarity about my dress. The gala is in a few months right?" Was it? I thought we had more time.

"I'm coming, hold your... horses?"

The two of us were maybe halfway to the boutique, Swaddle-Dee having gone ahead to alert Rarity I guess, when I finally opened my mouth.

"Boyfriend huh?" She looked at me weird.

"Yeeees? Unless you prefer 'stud' or-"

"You just hadn't called me that before. It's pretty obvious that's what we are, a couple, but hearing it out loud still felt pretty big to me."

"Hmph. And yet I don't hear a 'girlfriend' come out of your mouth..."

"Well, you are a girl, and you are my friend-"

"Asshole-"

"-But neither of those is as important as the fact that I love you." She gave me a smirk.

"Okay, so you're a sappy asshole. Ooh! That gives me an idea! You wanna try-"

"Oh look! A boutique! Lets go!" I flew forward as she shouted at me from behind.

"You can't run forever! Your ass will be mine!"

"Delta, what is wrong?" The Meta Knights had begun to take shifts on watching the Hive. Things had been calm, if tense, and the brothers felt that having all three of them was beginning to become overkill. Apparently, they had gotten complacent.

"Alpha, the changeling princess has disappeared. Between one room and the next, she was gone. I'm sorry." Beta shook his head.

"Do not be sorry. This is not something we could have foreseen. That level of illusion is not something even her mother seems capable of. This 'teleport' is clearly unique to Chrysalis, and she surely kept this skill secret from all her siblings." Alpha hummed in agreement.

"Beta is correct. Regardless, this news must reach Elfilis and the Princesses, and it is not late enough to wait for Luna to visit our dreams. Delta?" Delta Knight nodded.

"It shall be done." And with a swirl of his cape, he was gone.

"What do we do now Alpha?" Said brother gave it some thought before deciding.

"Now, we inform the Queen."

Queen Culicidae was having a hard time. In truth, the hearts were a blessing. They gave very little nutrition, but it was enough to keep the hive going. Provided that creature kept its promise and delivered every month. The problem was convincing her children of this. They, understandably in her opinion, were wary of accepting charity. Especially from an anonymous donor. She did not tell them of her encounter of Elfilis, though she had no excuse to give the changelings who he had vanished from her courtroom. She had to settle for telling them to just, shut up, that's an order. And, if the two diminutive creatures waiting for her in her private chambers were anything to go by, things were about to get worse.

"Am I to assume you are the ones who have been slinking around this past while?" The forwardmost one, with a stylized 'A' on its shoulder, bowed to her.

"You would be correct your majesty. I am Alpha. This is Beta. We have news for you, if you would allow it." She cocked an eyebrow at the masked knight.

"My, my, so polite for one who had previously made an attempt on my life. What could your master possibly want now?"

"Sir Elfilis does not know we are speaking to you, yet. No, this is a message for the sake of your Hive. Be grateful." She hissed at him, but he didn't so much as flinch.

"Then speak!"

"Princess Chrysalis has disappeared from the Hive, presumably running away from home." Culicidae wanted to accuse him of lying, of trying to wipe his hands clean of her abduction. And she nearly did. But Chrysalis, of all her children, had been the most angry and spiteful since the hearts began to come in. So instead she let her head and shoulders sag.

"My foalish child, what are you up to now?"

Chrysalis looked down at the stallion beneath her, in triumph, in ecstasy. She could feel her magic grow, her muscles tighten, she had begun her evolution. Soon, she thought while riding the witless pony to exhaustion, soon I will be Queen, and I will have my day! And it will be Perfect!

"Ah- You're perfect. Perfect-" She slammed down on him as she grinned.

"I know~! Say it again... my love."

Author's Note

SuccuChrys.