Symbiosis

assimilation | əˌsɪ.məˈleɪ̯.ʃn̩ | noun
The act of absorbing a person or people into a community or culture.

“Nrrrgh. . . .”

With a great deal of effort, I cracked open my eyes, but all I could see was darkness. What time is it? I shifted my limbs around, very slightly, very gently, just to wake up the nerves and get a better idea of my surroundings. Was last night just a dream?

Evidently not – I could still feel untold amounts of warm, cushy bulk surrounding me on all sides. I looked down and, in the near-darkness, I could make out Roseluck – still in my arms, but now with a faint, if steady, green glow in front of her throat. They never left me, I realized. Are they now just picking up latent love from me? Or is it that I have some special touch? Either way, it explains why they haven’t outgrown the house – which is good news for me. Would be embarrassing. And expensive.

I started to lift my head up, but my vision was still blocked by an enormous amount of gray boobflesh. By this time, Roseluck had also woken up, flipping herself around to face me, her engorged stomach now pressed up hard against mine. “Good morning, sleepyhead!” she greeted, before kissing me square on the lips. “Mwah! Sleep well last night? Hm?”

I blinked. “Honestly,” I answered, “I’m not sure. It all went by in. . . what felt like about two minutes. I don’t know how. . . .”

“Oh my, silly, you must’ve been really tuckered out!” She wrapped her arms around me. “Can’t blame you, after what we did last night.” She looked down and finally saw the glow. “Wow. We’ve put these things through a lot of work.”

Right. Dying hive. Need to gather love. Apparently I have a lot of it? “How much did you get from me?”

She shrugged. “I’d have to find out back at the Hive. Not like I can see the larders from here.” She looked up, a cross look starting to creep upon her face. Then she slapped Vinyl’s rump. “Rise and shine, girls! Big guy’s finally awake!”

I could hear a muffled “Fine, fine” from deep within Octavia’s chest, and finally a massive weight being lifted off of me. Right away, I could see that the morning sunlight was streaming through the windows. Or, rather, just the one window – Lyra’s sheer size was blocking the other.

No way this was early morning. “What time is it?” I had to ask.

“Oh, just past ten in the morning,” Lyra reckoned. “Why?”

Ten!? But I usually got up at four! That meant I was already late for work – I had to get up, I had to get ready, I had to rush down to the print shop, Lorem, Minion, Foolscap, they were all depending on me to –

But Roseluck pushed me back against Lyra. “I see the panic in your eyes,” she told me. “You’re not going anywhere, mister. You’re going to take the day off, and you’re going to spend it with us.”

“But – the dictionary – the others – !” I was sputtering, almost frothing at the mouth.

But she silenced me with just a finger on my mouth. “Nope. You’re still not completely over your fatigue.” She got back up. “It’s good to sleep in sometimes. Everypony needs their rest.”

“Even so – ” I stretched myself out, listening to the click-click-click of my neck and back – “it’s not like I have much time to do that these days. Surely you’ve heard about Princess Twilight Sparkle’s commission. We’ve got less than a month left, and we’re only halfway done with the bloody thing.”

But before I could complain further, I heard and felt a growl from my stomach.

“I heard that,” she teased. “You stay here and play with the girls – I’ll go get you something to eat.”

⁂

Pancakes. Stacked as tall as my hand, drenched with maple syrup, topped with butter, decorated with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Oatmeal, piping hot, sweetened with honey, off to the side of the tray Roseluck brought in for me.

They didn’t even let me get up from the bed.

“C’mon, I’m bound to make a mess in this room,” I complained. “And who do you think would be cleaning that up, yeah?”

“Uh, duh?” Lyra piped up. “We will! We can be, like, live-in maids if you want, Master!”

“Maids, cooks, gardeners, bodyguards, you name it,” Vinyl added. “Just as long as the love keeps coming in, we’ll be whoëver and whatever you want from us, dude.”

“And besides,” I added, “where did you get some of this stuff? I don’t even keep syrup in my cabinet – never had a need for it.” Although if this keeps recurring. . . .

“We have our ways,” Roseluck answered, “don’t you worry your pretty little head.”

It didn’t really satisfy me, but I kept eating. I suppose that’s as good an answer as I can tease out of her. Besides, I was much too hungry to think about such things. Another bit of pancake and strawberry went into my mouth – something about the way Vardi cooked this simply made it divine. Clearly cooking was her special talent; I had to ask her for her secret at some point, especially since she wouldn’t be sticking around forever.

I felt my throat become parched – and that’s when I noticed she didn’t bring in a glass. “Uh, did you forget something?” I asked her.

“Not at all – I had a better idea.” Roseluck winked. “Octavia?”

Octavia sat down on the bed right next to me. I could hear the springs of the mattress whine and complain under her weight, more than half of which was concentrated in her – oh. I see where she’s going with this. “Go ahead, have as much as you like.” She hefted one boob up to me – something that took a lot of strength – and I could see a white creamy substance trickle from her swollen nipple. “I have way too much of it as it is.”

I blinked – and shrugged. I’ve already done way worse things with them at this point. I leaned forward and put my lips around her nipple, then sucked on it very slightly, as little as I could, just to see how much she had built up.

Quite a lot, it seemed – that slight tug was still enough to flood my entire mouth with her milk. Had I not closed my throat quickly enough, I likely would have drowned. But the taste – sweet, creamy, with a suggestion of vanilla – was heavenly for me. I couldn’t get enough – with a newfound greed, I started gulping down mouthful after mouthful, eliciting quick squeaks and whelps from Octavia, my other breakfast all but forgotten.

To rehash the metaphor, I was in love.

But all too soon, Roseluck pulled her breast away from me. “Now now,” she chastised, “you can’t just fill your tummy up with her milk. You’re a big colt now; you need more than just milk.” She tapped the half-eaten bowl of oatmeal. “Finish your breakfast, then you can have some more, okay sweetie?”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” I grabbed the spoon and continued as before, but now I found myself missing her milk. Each time I closed my lips around the spoon, I pictured myself closing them around her nipple instead. Being breastfed during a meal was not something I had ever heard of or even imagined, but now I could definitely see the appeal.

“There you go,” Octavia purred. “You’re almost finished eating, by the way – and you know what’s for dessert, don’t you?”

The rest of the pancakes disappeared into my stomach in about a minute. Wordlessly, Marble took the tray off my lap and out of the room – leaving me free to lie back and let Octavia’s breast smother me. I took her nipple in my mouth again, and sucked just as gently as before. She exploded in my mouth, the creamy sweetness dancing upon my tongue and swirling down into my belly – washing down the rest of my meal, a perfect ending.

After several minutes of drinking, eventually I had to stop. I found it hard to get back up – my stomach was bloated with milk. “Skies above, I’m gonna get so fat from that. . . .”

“With how much work you’re putting in for us?” Vinyl objected. “Fat chance of that!” After a moment, she snorted. “Heh-heh. . . ‘fat’ chance.”

Vardi rolled her eyes. “If we’re done with that,” she said, “why don’t you girls introduce yourselves – ” she strode up to my side, hands on my chest and back, almost like she was leading me further inside – “to the stallion of the house?” She snapped her fingers.

At that signal, ‘Lyra,’ ‘Octavia,’ and ‘Vinyl’ all disappeared in flashes of green, to be replaced by more changelings. I see. . . a proper introduction to the changelings themselves. But I had already met Knari – perhaps it’s for formality’s sake?

The one once under Octavia’s appearance spoke first. “My name is Rdze. So lovely for you to see me as I really am. I take it my milk was the best you’ve ever had?”

“Uh. . . yeah, yeah it was.” Even though I almost took it as fact that she was a changeling, I couldn’t help but still reel from the revelation. Perhaps there was still some lingering shock factor?

She extended her arm. “The really big one here is Knari – ”

“Right. We’ve already met.” I nodded. “Showed herself last night during my bath.”

“She did what?” The one once disguised as Vinyl then turned to Knari – before swatting her up the snout. “Damc’q’ebo!” she berated. “You could have been caught! We could have been compromised!”

Knari shrank back in fear – though not literally; her broad back still threatened to break the window. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Hey, easy on her!” I pushed her back from Knari. “The bathroom window was covered. There was no way anypony could’ve seen her.”

“Even so, we can’t take any chances here.” She then turned back to me, clearing her throat. “But where are my manners? I’m Balishi. I’m what you might call a ‘Honeypot’ changeling – we store our love wherever we can. Me? Back here.” She took a moment to slap her impossibly-engorged rear end, followed with a shake. “In your case though, I’d settle with being a glorified pillow if you’d like.”

“We may all be broodsisters,” Vardi clarified, “born from the same clutch, but from hatching we are assigned to different castes in the Hive. Balishi, as she said, is a Honeypot, meant to distribute love-nectar from the larders to the rest of the hive.” She laid her hand on Knari’s belly. “Knari and I are Infiltrators. Even there, we are somewhat specialized – I typically work cooking roles, while Knari works musical ones.” She pointed to my side. “Rdze is a Nurse, assigned to raise the younger broods – mainly by converting love into milk for them.”

And quite well at that!

“As you might tell, she and Balishi work together quite often.” Vardi then looked behind me, just as I heard hoofsteps coming into the room. Oh right, ‘Marble’ – what caste is she? She cleared her throat.

‘Marble’ sighed, and dropped her disguise last of all. The changeling standing in her stead was black like her broodsisters, but her build was still a dense wall of muscle like her disguise.

“This is K’edeli,” Vardi introduced for her. “Savor her sight and appearance – for you may never again. K’edeli is a Queensguard, normally assigned to protecting our Queen’s chamber; they are not meant to be seen outside the Hive at all.”

“My broodsister Vardi really had our Queen’s ear yesterday,” K’edeli continued. “She put together this specific team of changelings to service you, even pulling a few strings to reässign me here.” She paused to flex her bicep – equal parts impressive and imposing. “You may not be my Queen,” she intoned, “but I will still protect you with my life. You can count on that.”

Vardi got me a Queensguard? The most élite of their élite? And Chrysalis signed off on it? She shouldn’t have! “Good to know I have protection,” I commented – then stopped. “Wait. Protection.” Shit! “Don’t tell me – !”

“Relax, dude,” Balishi stopped me. She couldn’t move, obviously since she was pinned under so much weight, but she rested her hand on my knee. “Only our Queen can actually get knocked up. We workers and soldiers are sterile.”

“But if it makes you feel better,” Rdze added, “we can certainly look the part for you.” She winked.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “That’s a relief. Well – ” I got up, stretching my back again – “if we don’t have any more crises, I suppose it’s time we started the day. What do you have in mind, when work’s out of the question?”

“Funny you should ask.” Green flames flared up around K’edeli, and when they receded, I was shocked to see her replaced by – me!? “One of your coworkers showed up knocking early this morning,” ‘I’ answered in ‘my’ voice. Do I really sound like that? “Didn’t get a name – short, petite mare, thought you’d know her.” Minion? She went out looking for me? But then, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. “I put on a show of having caught a cold the day before, and she seemed to buy it. Couldn’t help but taste an air of suspicion around it.”

Yeah, because Minion knows me better than that. Takes a lot for me to stay home from work, especially on a deadline like this. “Did she ask anything technical?” I asked.

“Yeah, she asked where the something-or-other was. I just told her to figure it out, because I can’t think straight when I’m sick.”

“Were you, K’edeli?”

‘I’ chuckled. “Good question.” She then dropped my disguise. “In any case, that problem has been solved. Back to your question?”

I sighed, pondering what I had meant to do. I had a laundry list of items I wanted to get done – one of which was laundry – but I intended to save those for after the printing of the dictionary. But thinking back to what Balishi said. . . . “You might’ve seen how I kinda let the place go for a while,” I told them. “Massive project down at the shop, but I’m sure you know that already. In any case, maybe you’d like to. . . I dunno, stick around and help me out around the house?”

“Can do, dude!” Balishi adopted Vinyl’s voice. “Five housestaff, at your beck and call! We’ll cook, we’ll clean, we’ll keep watch, and maybe if we do good enough you can pull us aside and plunge that – ”

“Perfect,” I cut her off, “that’ll do nicely, thank you very much.” I drew my breath. “Just one problem,” I added. “At your current sizes – ”

“Right. Girls?” Vardi tapped her telephile amulet. “I think we have a delivery to make.”

Without another word, all five amulets lit up brightly, brighter than I had ever seen them shine, so bright I had to shield my eyes. But then I heard the floor creaking to my right – but instead of Knari growing even bigger, she was getting smaller, and the bedroom floor was merely being relieved of so much weight.

For that matter, so were the other four. Rdze’s breasts, once reaching the floor and overflowing with milk, shrank back down to a more reasonable size, the flow slowing to a trickle before disappearing altogether. Balishi’s butt had already receded, from the size of a couch to the size of a large chair, not quite stopping yet. K’edeli’s build also went back down, from a wall to something I could likely find in a gym. Vardi slimmed back down to a more normal figure – not nearly as dramatically as her broodsisters, but no doubt she contributed something to their hive.

At the end of it, at some unseen signal, all five of them redonned their former disguises. Roseluck, Lyra, Octavia, Vinyl, and Marble again stood around me in appropriate daywear: Roseluck was in a tank top with tight-fitting jeans; Lyra a lightweight white T-shirt with Braymuda shorts, a lyre charm hanging off of her neck; Octavia a well-fitted black suit, with a light-blue blouse; Vinyl a belly shirt, thong-like booty shorts, and fishnets along her arms and legs, by far the skimpiest of the lot; and Marble a lilac sundress.

Knari let out a sigh of relief. “Finally!” She stretched herself out to her full height, arms over her head, back arched back, hands brushing against the ceiling. “It was getting really cramped for me in here, Master. But I’m sooo glad I could be of use to you again!” She bent over, planting a kiss on my forehead.

“Right,” interrupted Vardi, “that should do it.” Then she turned back to me. “Why don’t you hop into the shower really quick? We’ll get things cleaned up in here and get started with the rest of the house. You’d be surprised how quickly we can work.”

One by one they filed out of the room, and as they passed I could tell they still retained some exaggeration of their figures – specifically what Vardi knew I liked most: Octavia’s breasts were still showing very prominently through her shirt; Vinyl’s hips bumped both sides of the doorway, forcing her to turn sideways; and Lyra had to stoop over to get out.

Today was going to be an interesting day.

⁂

I shut the bathroom door behind me, and was about to start undressing by reflex when I remembered I was still naked. Heh, that was easy. But I don’t typically lock that door, given that I live alone, so I was surprised to hear it open back up behind me anyway. “Don’t mind me,” Lyra said, “just grabbing your clothes to wash them!” She at least shut the door behind her.

Not taking any more chances, this time I locked it. Out of curiosity, however, I gave myself a once-over before the mirror. There I was: my onyx-gray fur, paired with a black mane, both now matted with sweat from the night before; golden irises surrounded by faint whisps of bloodshot, better from the day before, but still not completely white; and when I stepped back, my cutie mark, a type slug spelling my own name.

With that unspoken question answered, I grabbed a spare towel from a cabinet and left it on the rack, ready for when I stepped out. When I opened the stall and put a hand on the knob, for some reason I looked back at the door – just in time to see a large spider crawl under the doorway.

I was started, too frightened even to scream, wondering how I was going to dispatch a potential threat – then green flames shot up from the spider. I let out a sigh of great relief – it was just K’edeli, in the flesh, not disguised as Marble nor anypony else. But still – “What are you doing here?” I asked her. “This is my alone time!”

“‘Alone time’ is when one is the most vulnerable to danger.” She crossed the room, squeezing behind me and getting into the shower stall. “I won’t let it happen, not on my watch. You will wash with me instead, and I will keep you safe.” She wasn’t shifting to her Marble Pie visage for this either – she must be bad at imitating ponies. But then, I didn’t expect a Queensguard like her to hold a candle to the likes of Vardi or Knari, who were both seasoned Infiltrators.

“Alright, alright.” I threw up my arms. “You win. Let’s just get this over with.” I stepped in after her and closed the door. Turning the knob over to C, I let the water start to splash over me – er, us.

I saw a flash of green reflect around the glass, then a gray hand reach over and turn the knob closer to H. “I think you’ll like it better,” she said in a hushed voice. “Want to start with washing me first?”

I blinked. Wasn’t this supposed to be my shower?

“You heard me.” She smiled, blushing. “I. . . want your hands to touch me everywhere,” she said. Is she really hesitant? Or just in character? “I want them to feel my brea – my boobs, up and down my abdomen, between my legs – everywhere. Get to know my body. It’s all yours.”

That’s gonna be a lot of soap, I thought.

But, seeing as I had the same temptations myself, I did it anyway. Of course I’d start with her back – mostly since it’d be more comfortable with someone as shy as ‘Marble’ – moving my soapy hands across her back, covering the broad expanse as best as I could manage, tracing out each of her broad muscles there. I hesitated, just for a moment, then moved my hands lower to her rear end. No doubt just as strong as the rest of her, but I did notice a good amount of jiggle as I felt her up.

“You. . . like that, don’t you?” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear her over the water. “I saw you with Balishi last night. You like how large it is? How wide? How much heft?”

“. . . y-yeah,” I eventually answered. To be sure, it was impressive – I just couldn’t find the words to talk about it further. I knew I had crossed that line, and several more, just the night before, but. . . old habits really do die hard, don’t they?

I needed to reëxamine my priorities.

Then she giggled. “And I thought I was meant to be the shy one,” she said. “Nopony’s going to catch us in here, don’t worry.”

But then I remembered why I was in here to begin with. I grabbed the shampoo off the shelf and, squirting a bit more than I usually use, lathered it up in my hands and ran it through my hair. I was getting it deep in there, massaging my scalp as I scrubbed out whatever it was that had built up over who knows how long.

“Here, let me.” When I handed the shampoo bottle back to her, she squired out more into her hand, then started washing out my tail. “Put your head in the water.”

Turning around, I tipped my head forward, washing the shampoo out of my hair. Meanwhile, she continued lathering my tail, almost focusing on each individual strand of hair. Once that was done, I turned around to rinse out my tail. But as I turned, I was met with her bulk – namely, how much more of her there was than when I turned away. “Have you been growing?” I asked.

“Mmm-hm!” She ran her soapy hands across my chest. “I know you have trouble saying so, but I can still tell.” She leaned down, presumably to wash my legs, but then she whispered into my ear, “You love it when somepony bigger than you keeps you safe.” She flexed the muscles on her arm, but they didn’t relax all the way. “The more you love it, the bigger I get, the safer you feel – ”

“‘Creating a feedback loop,’” I finished for her. “I know. I’m just afraid you might outgrow the shower stall. Tell me, can you keep me safe from all the broken glass? Because at this rate, you just might break it.”

But she just kissed me on the head. “Mwah! That won’t happen.” Then she grabbed the bottle again. “Now it’s your turn. I’ll wash my mane, you wash my tail.”

I shrugged. “Might as well.” I expected her to turn around, but she made no motion to do that. Instead, she gestured to squeeze between her and the glass panel, which I eventually did. Once I was in position, I started running my soaped-up hands through her tail, getting each lock covered in product. But it seemed she wasn’t done flirting with me just yet – she moved her tail aside, and I found myself staring at her rear end. It came up to my chest, stretching almost as wide as my arms could, packed with more muscle than fat – though the heft would suggest otherwise.

“There’ll be time for that, sweetie.” Could she really tell I was staring? Her gently thrusting her butt at me confirmed my suspicions. After handing me the detachable nozzle, which I used to rinse out her tail, she bent down and rinsed the shampoo out of her own hair, treating me to the sight of soapy water running down her sculpted body.

Once I rinsed that off and slipped back to her front, I worked on her lower half, reaching up as far as the bottom swell of her formidable chest. Her bending down made it much easier to wash the rest of her body. As I worked, I felt her muscles, packed hard and tight against herself – I tried pushing against her abs, and found they had absolutely no give. If anything, I felt a strong beat pulsating through them, gentle yet persistent, as if she were still somehow swelling even bigger. But if she were, I thought, she would burst through the shower stall – which would prove messy and costly.

But it was done at last. “My turn now.” Soap in hand, she went and scrubbed the rest of my body. She was quicker, of course – larger hands against a smaller body, after all – and all the while I could feel her powerful strength in even the smallest parts of herself.

But at some point, I realized she had been paying an awful lot of attention to my cock, which, being rubbed through a well-lubricated hole like her hand, had started to harden again. “Uh, Marble? I’m pretty sure it’s clean now.”

“Maybe.” Then she tightened her grip on my shaft. “It’s still pretty hard, though. Wouldn’t you like me to fix that?”

She didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t need to. I thrust my hips forward, savoring the sensation of being jerked off by somepony else. Usually it was something I did myself, so trusting another pony to grip my cock without straining anything took a good measure of trust.

And right now, I trusted her, with all my heart.

The more I thrust, I found, the bigger she grew. At first I didn’t notice, but as time went by I saw her forearm become wider and wider, the cords of her muscles bulging bigger and bigger; my eyes traveled up her arm, and saw the same thing happening to her biceps, her pectorals, her abs, and everywhere else. Once she got big enough, she picked me up and continued stroking me off. There she held me, one hand still rubbing my dick, the other perfectly cupping my butt, keeping me firmly in place against her breast.

I never thought about doing something like this, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t open to the idea.

“You feel that?” she murmured. “Feel how big I’m growing? Feel how strong my arms are, how thick my muscles? You want me to carry you around, just like this – ” she squeezed my bottom – “maybe with another mare to satisfy you?”

“Y-yeah, I d-do.” Her words were hypnotic, and I could barely talk straight.

“I never thought how much I’d like to take love for myself,” she continued. “and grow from it. I know you were too tired last night, so I knew better than to wear you out even more. Besides, you owe me after I covered for you at the door – I’m just cashing it in.”

She leaned right into my face. “Now cum for me. Don’t hold back – I want it all.”

A single word, a simple command, and I promptly obeyed it. My seed hit the glass panel and started sliding down, inch by inch, leaving milky-white streaks as it ran.

Once I was spent, she leaned over and kissed me tenderly. “Good boy.” Then she noticed the mess I made. “Oh dear. Let me clean that for you.”

“Set me down first,” I told her, “I’ll do it.” When she did, I took stock of how much she had grown. When she had first stepped in, she was my height, and not one pica more or less. Now? My head only came up to her six-pack abs. “I’d rather you didn’t bend over and blow out one of the panels with your rear.”

Marble rolled her eyes, but washed off the upper part of the glass, leaving the lower half to me. I looked up, and noticed she had grown so tall her head was just shy of brushing against the ceiling. Good thing we stopped when we did. I wonder just how big Queensguards get. In my head, I pictured K’edeli, a wall of muscle clad in armor, over twice my height, probably taller than my house –

“You look curious,” she spoke up. “Wondering something about me?”

No need to be shy, I reminded myself, we’ve blown way past that line now.“Just how big can Queensguards get?”

She giggled. “As big as we need,” she said simply. “Climb up; I’ll show you.” She lowered her hand, extending the digits toward me. No sooner than I had set hoof on her finger – yes, just one was strong enough to hold me – did she lift me up to her shoulders. My hands set out exploring everywhere they could reach her, sensing her meaty biceps flexing larger and larger, her soft, matronly breasts framed by ever-more-powerful muscle, her shoulders arguably more solid than the ground below.

“Don’t look down,” she taunted. Then she winked, and let me slip off her shoulders, flexing her chest muscles to trap me in her cleavage. She bent down, with her knees instead of her waist, and rinsed herself under the flow of the shower. I couldn’t see it, but I could hear her hand twist the water knob off.

This is going to be my most expensive water bill yet.

Finally, she unflexed her muscles. I dropped back down onto the floor. I took a deep breath – did I mention it was too tight for me to breathe? – and got back onto my hooves. “Well,” I said. “Can’t say I’ve ever had a shower like that before.” I opened the stall door and went to grab the towel; I could feel Marble’s hoofsteps behind me, each thud an earthquake in its own right.

It was a good thing the stall didn’t have a top frame.

While it was still on my mind, I grabbed another towel for her – but she used it to dry me off first. “It’s fine, I can do it myself,” I told her.

“You sure?” she said, moving to my arms. “I know how much you like my hands all over you.”

I sighed, knowing she was right again, and let her do all the work. Again.

⁂

The other changelings had been busy while we were showering.

After K’edeli finished drying me off, I stepped out of the bathroom – still naked – and went to my bedroom. K’edeli, meanwhile, was shrinking herself back down to sort out the bathroom, promising that she would not be far behind me.

One of them (Knari, if I had to guess) had laid my clothes out for me on my freshly-made bed. Laundry must still be going, I thought. I pulled my boxers on – the first time in about half a day that I had actually put something on me – followed by my shirt, tucking it into my pants as I finished dressing.

Just in time to see K’edeli appear in the doorway, back in her ‘Marble’ disguise and sundress, as if nothing had happened.

“Finished in the bathroom?” I asked.

“Mmm-hm!” She nodded.

I stepped out into the hallway, looking to see how they divided up labor. K’edeli stuck by my side, putting a burly arm around my shoulder, and giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I snaked my arm around the small of her back (for a given value of ‘small’), bringing her in closer to me.

We rounded the corner into the living room, where I found Balishi, still disguised as Vinyl, on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, going over even the finest scuffs and scrubbing them out. She looked up, saw me, winked, then bent even further over, giving me a good view of her engorged rump – even shaking it side to side for me.

“See something you like?” K’edeli whispered in my ear. But before I could answer, she let go of my shoulder and smacked Balishi’s rear as hard as she could. When the latter snapped herself back up with a “Yowza!”, a red hand-shaped mark already welling up on her left cheek, of course K’edeli would blame me for that.

But instead of getting angry at me, Balishi just returned a smug grin. “I like your style, dude,” she said. “Knowing what you like, and showing a mare some appreciation.”

I was going to object, but something told me she wouldn’t listen or care at any rate.

Knari, still as Lyra, was dusting my bookshelves in my library while waiting for the laundry. Those shelves easily held hundreds of books, collected over the years – many of those I had typeset myself; many others I kept around for their exceptional typography (handy for when Minion or I were starved for inspiration); but by and large most of them I had read for the simple joy of reading.

Her height made it perfect to clean off even the uppermost shelves.

As she was working, she was humming a tune to herself, very dynamic, very lively, almost as if it were the very thing driving her to work. I found myself nodding along.

Eventually she turned around and saw me. “Oh! Hiya, Master!” she greeted. “Just wanted to make sure your collection’s squeaky-clean!” She extended her arm to indicate the whole room. “Strange I couldn’t find anything on music.”

“I do have one, actually,” I clarified. I briefly broke away from K’edeli and went over to the standalone shelf mounted on the wall, the one containing every book I’ve put in print myself. Music, music, music, where was it. . . aha!

“Oh. Must’ve forgotten about that shelf. Whoopsie!” She struck a pose as if she had been caught doing something naughty.

I rolled my eyes. “Just don’t forget about the laundry. I believe I heard the machines stop just now.”

She paused. “Skies above, you’re right!” Knari dropped the duster and ran out of the room, squeezing her tall frame past K’edeli’s broad one. Somehow she didn’t knock over anything on her way out.

I looked to K’edeli. “I could use some fresh air,” I told her. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

She nodded. “Mmm-hm! It’s safe outside at the moment.”

As we stepped outside, I saw Vardi, still in her Roseluck disguise, tending to a flowerbed on the side of the house. “There you are!” She looked up to see me, trawl in hand. “This garden’s a real mess; you’ve really let this place go.” I’m ashamed to admit she was right – I had seriously neglected that part of the yard. Normally this is where I’d offer the defense of having a busy schedule, but this time it didn’t seem right.

I sighed. “Sorry.” Pause. “Wait, I thought you were better at cooking.”

“What, can’t a mare have more than one interest?” She giggled. “Why, Etaoin, you wound me!” Not to mention I just ate. Standing up, she cleared her throat. “Still, at least you didn’t tell me I ‘belonged in the kitchen.’”

I felt myself turning red for what seemed like the umpteenth time since I met Vardi. “Bad infiltration?”

“Heh! This isn’t my first trip to Ponyville,” she explained. “Once I took the place of a new cook for Filthy Rich and his wife what’s-her-face.” She groaned. “What a patch of old chitin she was. Once she demanded lemon meringue cake for her daughter’s birthday, then chewed me out because clearly she said ‘red velvet’ and not ‘lemon meringue.’” She scoffed, shaking her head. “Her daughter wasn’t much better, but at least I can tell she wanted to improve herself.”

As she was talking, Octav – no, Rdze made her appearance in the window, wiping down each of the panes, moving evenly from side to side, making sure not to leave any chance for streaking. When she saw us, she smiled with half-lidded eyes, winked, then proceeded to wash the pane.

Using her breasts.

Which may or may not have been leaking milk again.

“Ugh.” Vardi pinched her snout. “Girl’s just making more work for herself,” she said. “I just hope she hasn’t been doing that all over the house.” Then she jolted twice. Huh? “Excuse me a sec. My Queen is trying to call me.” She cleared her throat. “Go ahead, Your Majesty.”

There was a pause lasting several moments. I looked to K’edeli; she just shrugged. I guess only Vardi can actually hear her talk. Is it telekinesis? Or something attached to that amulet?

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re kidding! Should I tell the others, or. . . ?”

Another pause.

“Then. . . ?”

A longer pause. I could tell she was hearing instructions, whatever they may be.

“Him, too?”

Me, too?

“This should be interesting. No guarantee he’ll like it, though.”

I swallowed hard, again looking to K’edeli. She just held me tightly, this time moving behind me, as if to assure me that everything’s going to be fine.

“Well, that’ll put a slight damper in today’s plans,” Vardi continued. “We’ve volunteered to do housework for him. But from the looks of it – ”

A pause.

“You’re not the only one. Alright, I’ll break the news to him. He’s right next to me, anyway. End.” She stood back up, motioning for me to come inside, through the back door.

No, not like that.

“Just how far away is it?” I asked her when we were inside.

“That’s classified,” she said, “but luckily for you, you don’t have to walk there.” She snapped her fingers. “Knaro!” she called out. “Modi akši!”

Knari showed up promptly. Rdze and Balishi were already in the room; K’edeli had entered with me.

“Our Queen has recalled us to the Hive,” she explained. Pointing at me, she added, “Him included.”

They all nodded solemnly. “We are prepared,” Balishi said, in a calm tone uncharacteristic of her otherwise-boisterous attitude. Perhaps that was just a character, meant to please me?

Vardi’s hidden horn flared green, before it cast a beam of light upon the floor. A fiery green circle lit up, and one by one we stepped into the center of it, sinking into the ground.

Owing to my cowardice, I was the last to go. The feeling was –

⁂

– indescribable. Wait, what?

This place I found myself in, the Hive I presumed, was dimly-lit and smelled like nothing I had ever known before. Not unpleasant by any measure – but it would be quite unusual in Equestria. Around me, the other Changelings were kneeling down, prompting me to do the same. Flanking me were several Queensguards, mighty in size and strength, each carrying a heavy polearm – a visual warning if I had not kneeled, because I was kneeling before Queen Chrysalis.

“So glad you could join us, Etaoin Shrdlu,” she purred. “Just the stallion I wanted to see.”

At least she didn’t seem hostile. But there still remained the question – “With all due respect,” I cautiously asked, “why exactly have you brought me here?”

“I wanted to share the good news with both you and your. . . impromptu harem,” she responded. “Rise.”

All of us rose at her seemingly-hypnotic command.

“Etaoin Shrdlu,” she slowly intoned, “you. . . have my magnanimous gratitude. It may be hard to believe, but your efforts have save brought this hive back from the brink of extinction.”

Somehow I felt like I had just betrayed Equestria. Had I?

“Do you know how much love you gave us? Through my own subjects?”

How was I supposed to know? “. . . no?”

She clasped her fingers before her. “My Hive has six enormous larders, each capable of supplying us – all of us – for five years in isolation,” she explained. “A combined thirty years – longer if we ration, or shorter with a larger swarm. You can imagine how much each can hold.

“Inside a single night, your generosity and our telephile amulets filled four to capacity.”

As the other changelings cheered, my jaw dropped. A one-night stand with a changeling harem somehow gave them hope!? “How was that possible!?” I asked above their voices.

She silenced them with a wave of her hand. “As it turns out,” she answered, “my chief mage found a quirk in those amulets. When deployed in groups instead of singly, the streams of love become multiplied rather than divided.”

Really? That was it? “Well, I’m. . . glad to help,” I said, “but I would like to go home now.”

“Not so fast,” she said. “I have a proposition to you. With how quickly you can supply us, even compared to other ponies, we are not so keen to give you up.”

“I’m not about to betray Equestria, if that’s what you’re asking me!” I snapped. Oops. Bad move.

But she laughed. “Perish the thought! With this much love, we can leave them be.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “In exchange for continuing to feed us, we’ll see to it that you become a Consort to my Hive, never working another day in your life, just being pampered by a massive harem of hungry changelings to feed and grow, waiting on you hand and hoof.” She leaned forward, almost into my face. “Does that sound good to you?”

I was well and truly speechless. They had gotten enough from just one night from me, and they still want more? Just how desperate were these changelings?

She smiled. “You ever wanted to bed one of the Princesses?” she asked. “I can make them all loyal members of your harem.” She snapped her fingers, and three changeling workers promptly threw on disguises of both Royal Sisters, and Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire.

“Or perhaps you want ponies closer to home. How about the Elements of Harmony?” Again a snap of her fingers, again several more workers disguised themselves accordingly. “Any combination, any size, any shape, doing anything you want.

“Would a roomful of Roselucks satisfy you?” This time she didn’t even snap her fingers – all nine workers quickly redisguised themselves as her. “Just the one special somepony your heart desires, multiplied by whatever number the rest of you desires.”

She put a hand to her chin. “Or maybe you don’t really care who they are, just so much as what they are: big, tall, thick, and lusting for ever-larger sizes.” I felt a powerful grip on my shoulder – I didn’t turn around; I knew it was K’edeli, having bulked back up, seemingly to entice me. Before me, I watched Rdze and Balishi respectively plump up their breasts and rear. Balishi backed herself into my crotch, while Rdze let out a trickle of milk from both her nipples. Meanwhile, my hands absentmindedly found themselves around Vardi and Knari – although the latter was kneeling down to be closer to my height.

None of them had their usual disguises on.

Then Vardi leaned into my ear. “She’s desperate to hold onto you, but she doesn’t want to show it,” she whispered. “Far as you’re concerned, you name your price and she’ll pay it.”

Hmm. . . . If what Vardi was saying was true, then I had a few things in mind. And as much as I’d like to stay here and live out the rest of my life in endless pleasure, I do still have a job and life back in Ponyville.

“How much mana does teleportation cost?” I whispered back to Vardi.

“Quite a bit,” she answered, “but it’s a lot more affordable when factoring you in.”

Then that settled it. “Subject to my ability to enter and leave your Hive freely,” I told the changeling queen, “I accept your proposal.”

She smiled – serenely, genuinely, without a hint of malice. An acceptable cost, then. “Most excellent,” she said. “You have chosen well, Etaoin Shrdlu.” With a sweep of her arm, she indicated the workers once again. “These are now part of your harem. I expect them to please you however you like.” Her hands returned to her lap. “Should you ever need or want anything else, you need only ask.” With a snap of her fingers, she barked some commands in rapid-fire Cvalebadi.

K’edeli unceremoniously scooped me up in her arms, and I was whisked away to another part of the hive. Judging by the number of tunnels I saw on the way, we must be somewhere underground, which made figuring out where I even was that much harder. Complicating matters further is that the tunnels kept opening and closing seemingly at random, but of course a changeling can predict when that would happen.

After several minutes of what seemed to me aimless wandering, we finally happened upon a chamber. It was empty, save for us and some sort of green chemical lighting lining the ceiling, and very, very large – large enough that I wondered just how it hadn’t caved in before.

Even as K’edeli finally lowered me to the ground, I was reluctant to take a step, in fear of even the lightest vibrations setting off a deadly cave-in. But then I remembered, as I looked behind me, K’edeli and the others were all enormous, and consequently far heavier than I – so it stood to reason it could withstand some vibration.

Hold on a second. I did a quick head count. Vardi and her crew, that’s five, plus the nine from the throne room – but what I saw was a lot more than fourteen. “There shouldn’t be this many,” I said when I lost count at thirty-three. “Where did the rest of you come from?” Is Chrysalis really this generous?

“We have heard of Vardi’s great success for the Hive,” one of them said. “As such, even without our Queen to command it so, we offer ourselves to you.” A flash of green, and there stood Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. “All of us,” ‘Spitfire’ continued, in flawless mimicry of her raspy voice. “You shall not be left wanting in our care.”

One by one, I saw more flashes of green go up, and each time they were replaced with a pony – usually ones I knew from Ponyville, but there were a few surprises here and there; celebrities, royalty, even reformed nemeses – nopony was off the table.

“Anypony you want. . . ,” ‘Twilight’ told me.

The mass of changelings started surrounding me.

“. . . any time you want. . . ,” ‘Princess Celestia’ continued.

They started closing in on me.

“. . . any place you want. . . ,” ‘Rainbow Dash’ added.

The ones closest to me started putting their hands on me. K’edeli did nothing to stop them.

“. . . any way you want. . . ,” ‘Derpy Hooves’ chimed in.

Now I was completely surrounded by naked flesh. ‘Spitfire’ was still in front of me, clutching my shoulders and pressing her chest into mine.

“. . . any shape. . . .” ‘Spitfire’ started expanding her assets. I felt a familiar tingling in my hands and crotch – the former from telekinesis, as some changeling forced my hands upon her engorging hips and tush; the latter from more obvious causes.

“. . . any size. . . .” ‘Applejack’ promptly shot up taller than me, until I came face-to-nethers with her. She seemed to flex her muscular thighs for me, almost as if roaring to grow even more.

“. . . from now until forever,” Vardi finished. By now I was completely engulfed in warm, swollen flesh, pressing in hard from all sides, yet cushioning me at the same time.

Between two patches of flesh, I saw a head poke through – one belonging to ‘Pinkie Pie.’ “Isn’t this great!?” she asked excitedly. “Before you couldn’t find any mare even half the size of the smallest one here. Now look around you!” She squeezed the rest of her meatified form through. “Tiddies! Tummies! Tushies! Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted?”

. . . well.

I could certainly have some fun with this.