> BlossomThing > by chucklefarts > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Failed Assimilation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is my name? For some strange reason I feel that this should be important but I can’t remember why. My name is Blossomforth, weatherpony and pegasus. I am a gardener, yoga hobbyist, closet contortionis- My name is... Thing. I am a seed, a desperate race preservation protocol of an ancient biologically advanced race, a shot in the dark, sent to the furthest reaches of the universe. I have a mission: Assimilate the first intelligent organism I encounter, clandestinely observe and gather all valuable biological information available, and, using indigenous rituals, mate with the most biologically interest- Dream husbando. Wait, what? I'm not looking for a coltfriend! I need to stop dreaming and get back to reality. Wait, where am I- Assimilation prerogative failed, we appear to have adopted host’s conscious, unconscious, and biological knowledge including indigenous language, massive compressed DNA(?) biological architecture(analyzing), and emotions(!?). Merged consciousness a byproduct of failed assimilation. Critical damage. Self-destruct protocols deactivated due to “shot in the dark” survival protocol. Seed sprout underdeveloped individuality to consume host consciousness. Instinctual seed deployment biological programming failing. Initiating failsafe: Mission prerogative via existing biological pleasure reward system and courage synthesizers. Assuming basic indigenous biological form with improved neural architecture. Done. Initiating natural consciousness dormancy for self repairs with slow-start learning mode. Done. Activating natural non-programed instincts and implementing helper biological self-control neural architecture. Done. Permanently deactivating damaged biological programming. Good luck. “Uggg… What… Happened…” > Chapter 1: The Dream > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Uggg… What… Happened…” There was nothing but the warmth of the sun on the fur and the red glow of radiation that leaked into her retina. Blossomforth stirred on the lip of a sizable crater, a secluded open field and scattered trees where she loved to fly to and practice her contortion hobby in privacy. Bloss slowly sat up on her haunches and cracked open her eyes letting the light blast in. She squinted in confusion of the crater in front of her, softly smoking from a recent impact. What had happened? She had to retrace her steps. She was practicing her backbending, a skill she was immensely proud of. She was getting quite close to a headsit, a coveted contortionist achievement when she vaguely remembered seeing a bright light in the corner of her eye. What came next she would have thought was a dream if there was not a crater in front of her. Blossomforth closed her eyes and remembered. She remembered being paralyzed on the ground after an overwhelming wave of pain that suddenly cut short. She could not feel anything and she could not move any muscles except for one eye. She could not see out of her left eye for some reason. Some dust landed in her eye but her eyelid was gone. Her eye suddenly focused on a spherical obsidian meteorite not far from where she lay. It seemed to be fractured and cracked from the impact. Her vision was fading, she was slipping into unconsciousness. Suddenly the rock melted into what looked like liquid mercury which flowed with shocking acceleration right at her! What was left of her adrenal glands suddenly injected her with a powerful dose of adrenaline. She tried to scream, she tried to move. The river of shiny metallic liquid leaped towards her eye and everything turned black. Blossomforth shivered. The memory matched the crater in front of her but her body was in pristine condition. In fact, she felt great. What could have caused such a vivid hallucination? It must have been the shock of a meteor crashing right next to her. She also vaguely remembered forgetting her own name and- Blossomfoth blushed. She found herself thinking of the time that she spied the local human stretching. How could she be thinking about that at a time like this? Blossomforth was feeling horny for some reason but why? Blosomforth always found flexibility sexy, it's part of why she practiced. It's embarrassing but her flexibility was almost a kind of masturbation, she loved being able to stretch and explore her own body. Folding herself in tight shapes and smelling her own musk and scent. Rub her face against her own leg. Lick herself in private places. Blossomforth's blush did not abate. Not many of Ponyville's residents took flexibility anywhere near as seriously as she did. However, that human was pretty flexible. He tried but he was no where as good a she was and his technique wasn't right. She bet that she could teach him, perhaps she should ask sometime. He probably had such an interesting DNA structure being an alien an- Where did that thought come from? And why was she suddenly so interested in an alien? Blossomforth shivered and tried to take her mind off of horny thoughts. Blossomforth was feeling great, so she was going to finish her stretching routine and ponder the mysteries of the universe when she got home and that was that! Blossom stood on four hooves and began to lift her right hind leg sideways to the sky in an active stretch(>>200700 in derpibooru). She always loved doing this stretch. She could feel the adductor muscles of her legs pull against the sensitive sexual pelvic floor muscles as her thighs spread apart and her pelvis tilted. Active stretching without support from her front hooves required muscle control and strength which caused blood to rush to her thigh area right near her flower making it very tender and red. Bloss thought she was at her limit when her hind legs formed a 180 degree angle(>>187629 in derpibooru), one hoof on the ground, one pointing to directly upward, and her pelvis tilted vertically, but curiously she was able to continue. Blossomforth grinned, today was going to be a good day! She would get to work on her active stretching oversplit, using only the power of her muscles to make the stretch! That mysterious crater was not going to get her down! She continued to spread her legs, mare fluid began to drip slowly from her snatch as she squeezed her pelvic floor muscles and winked in pleasure at the new sensations of a new pose. Her spine and pelvis began to twist to compensate as her legs formed a 225 degree angle! At this point Bloss had the tiniest feeling that something might be wrong. She should not be able to so easily stretch like this. However, she was too excited and aroused to stop. She went for the 270 and her leg easily obliged. At this point her pelvis was almost upside down and her pussy was pointing to the sky! She was starting to get worried, anything after 270 degrees required the hip joints to be dislocated. She could get injured if she pushed harder! But that was the thing, she was not supporting the legs, her front hooves, or wings. She was not pushing her legs, forcing them into something unnatural with a risk of injury, she was active stretching, using the power of her internal muscles to keep the pose in place. Her legs were doing this without being supported! This was impossible, no pony had ever done this before without a controlled dislocation to the hip joints and supporting the leg. “I must be dreaming.” She sighed in disappointment. She had such dreams before but none were so lifelike and real! Well if this is a dream, she would make the most of it. She pushed her hoof all the way down to the floor. Her legs were now at a 360 degree angle(>>397827 in derpibooru). Her pelvis was inverted 180 from its usual position, her spine and torso twisting to compensate, and her front hooves were still on the ground. If you were to look from behind her, her anus would be sitting above her tail, her vagina above her anus, and her crotchboobs above her vagina. Her pussy was pointed directly upward, mare cum leaking out of her almost like a slow waterfall, too much to be real. She turned her neck and saw her slippery cunt winking at her. She wanted so much to explore her pussy but she couldn’t reach. “Wait, I can! I’m dreaming!” She squealed with glee as her neck began to elongate and her head hovered above her spread pussy. She ignored the cracking and creaking sounds that were coming from her neck. She wasn't feeling pain. “Wow, this is so weird! I’m like a stretchy giraffe!” She shrugged her shoulders which were now far away from her head. “What to do?” Blossomforth was no slacker contortionist when it came to frontbending but she was not as far as she liked to be. Recently she had gotten her tongue to lick her clitoris but it was always a bit awkward. But now that her head was hovering effortlessly over her sticky, pulsating, flowing, cartoonishly spread vag she was at a loss of ideas. So she blew a raspberry into her vag. “PFFFFFFFTTTTT-hi!-hi!-hi!-hi! Man that tickles! Hmm, I wonder… Well, why the heck not!” She stuck her tongue out but it just kept coming out like a long snake, she licked her clitoris tenderly and then she decided it was a better idea for her clit become a tentacle and wrestle her tongue. Her clit emerged sinuously like a tentacle from her folds. “One, two, three, four, I declare a tentacle war!” Her tongue and clit twisted together like two halves of a DNA molecule and wrestled. She shuddered, tracing the length of the clit with her tongue. She retracted her tongue and the clit followed, she suckled it. She gasped and caught her breath. “Woah there! Can’t be orgasming too soon!” The clit retracted into her pulsating folds. Then she forked the tongue like a snake. “SSSSSSSS, I’m a snake hi-hi!” Then each of the tongue forks bulged and Blossomforth felt something from her insides slide into her tongue. She wasn't too worried, this was a dream, right? Her tongue quickly shapeshifted, biomass from inside her quickly supplementing her bulging tongue. Both sides of her forked tongue turned into a large tentacle like horse penis and she plunged one deep into her snatch and the other skinny one into her anus. Her eyes watered as her forked penis tongue/tentacle went to work on her orifices and slowly expanded. She could wriggle the sensitive penises that explored inside her vagina and anus and feel the pre-cum dribbling out. The marecum started flowing like a river and she could feel her wriggling penises begin to build up cum ready to explode. She began to clench her pelvic floor around her penis tongue. She started breathing deeply out of her open mouth. She started moaning and closed her eyes. Unbeknownst to Bloss, extra mouths began to sprout all over her body panting and moaning with steam coming from her mouthes. She began moaning louder, almost screaming as she got closer to a climax. Random appendages, teeth, claws, giant twitching hairy spider legs, eyeballs, slimy tentacles, insectoid torsos, hooves, hair and other random types of pulsating or twitching organic mass began sprouting out of her like plants in a time lapse film. Her private parts exploded with a mix of sexual fluids. “*GASP* *gasp* -gasp. I’m not dreaming am I?” “Nope” said one of her mouths as she thought the same thing. “Thought so.” Well this is quite a pickl- wait, what? Bloss slowly opened her eyes. What met her eyes was the most horrible monster she could ever imagine. Her eyes widened, her tentacle penises became flaccid, her sphincter clenched, she took a deep breath but her lung capacity kept expanding. aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGRRRRRREEEAAAAAAUUUGG The most terrifying sound to ever impose itself on Equestira left the horrifyingly mutated face of the one once named Blossomforth. This eldritch abomination was not Blossomforth. No, it was horrifyingly ugly, it was the entity that defied logic, sanity, and entropy. It was the Thing. > Chapter 2: Exploration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was nothing but the warmth of the sun on the slowly shifting epidermis and the blast of light that burst into various organic apertures. Thingpone lay in the bottom of a crater bowl, a deformed amalgamation of various external organs and tentacles. Some of the more animalistic mouthes were sobbing softly and some eyes and noses were dribbling with tears or mucus. Thing lay there, taking in the blue sky and the sounds of birds finally beginning to chirp after being scared out of their wits. She wondered what she had done to deserve such a fate. Thing was suddenly consumed with a sense of frustration. Damn that evil meteor! It turned her life upside down without a second thought! The injustice of it all made her flesh boil quite violently. Why her, why did she have to be victimized by random chance? She may have messed up a few times but she wasn’t a bad pony! Seeing the injustice and deciding that the universe itself was out to get her, she rebelled. She would be the master of her own fate! Random chance and circumstance be damned! Thing assessed her situation. What could she do? Her body was alien. Every time she had tried to move, it would only result in a few weak splats. The learned muscle memory she was accustomed to was useless. She had no frame of reference, no instinct to guid- No sooner had the though crossed her mind a powerful migraine formed. From the aether, the same way you finally realize where you left your keys, Thing accessed a part of her mind she had never used before. She concentrated. Like a neglected muscle an eye was slowly raised up with a teardrop shaped structure of organic mass almost like the the eye of Sauron. She almost lost concentration as she saw her utterly horrifying form. Getting an idea, she concentrated and the soup of limbs, and other appendages slowed to a stop. She felt a random limb and twitched it, a spider leg. She tried not to think of her arachnophobia as she willed the limb to be consumed by the soup. It made some disturbing insect-like cracking noises as it deformed and became engulfed. She repeated the process, each time she tried to increase the number she simultaneously consumed. Exoskeletons creaked, hooves cracked, bones snapped, teeth crunched, and eyeballs popped as they were all consumed. All that was left was the Tower of Sauron and a sea of disorganized muscle and epidermis. Now to get out of this Celestia forsaken crater. The organic puddle began to flow up to the lip of the crater like a river in rewind. It was like an amoeba/snail hybrid. Very strange, almost liquid-like but not really. After finally making it out, Thing grew an orifice to sigh a breath out with relief. The orifice looked like a whale's blowhole. She could feel the soft grass beneath her… muscle and she smiled. Next was the hard part, or so she thought. Thing imagined her old self, Blossomforth, and willed her to be formed in flesh. It seemed that her new mind also had an organic memory. Blossomforth felt her familiar form begin to shape. Bone grew into place, muscle flowed around the skeleton and organs grew out of the muscle. The eye at the top of the tower popped into place in her newly formed skull, skin and fur grew everywhere, and wings sprouted on Blossomforth’s back. Standing up proudly like she had just climbed a mountain was Blossomforth. “I’M BACK BABY!” For the first time since she discovered she was a monster, Blossomforth felt a real sense of hope. Everything was going to be just fine! Giddy with excitement she tested her flexibility. Headsit(>>610961 in Derpibooru)? Easy. Triplefold? Child’s play. Autocunnilingus(>>837083 in Derpibooru)? Wet. Her dream career of being a contortionist was all but secured. All she needed to do now to be world class was to improve her acrobatic technique. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a squirrel. She loved squirrels, they were one of the most naturally acrobatic animals out there. It was interesting how easily they could leap from tree to tree, how they could balance on a wire, how their physical form was predisposed to agility. All interesting and desirable traits. Blossomforth glanced down at herself. Her ribs were showing. She was hungry, had the transformations she performed burned energy? Blossomforth slowly stepped forward as she watched the squirrel. It easily scurried from branch to branch above her, its claws allowed it to climb like a spider on the bark, its tail helped it balance. She needed to know more, she was hungry for more. There was sure to be a wealth of genetic knowledge in this squirrel. Suddenly, like a jack in the box, the Thing's neck lengthened. The skin on her neck began to split apart, and alien muscles morphed to muscularly force the neck's vertebrae apart as she shot her head forward. Her head split in half, muscles violently splitting her skull into a wide gaping maw with rows of teeth dripping with saliva and eyes on the circumference. Her tongue shot ahead of her head like a bullet and ensnared the squirrel. Just as suddenly her head and tongue retracted, her tongue dragging the surprised squirrel down her throat into her stomach before it could even squeak in terror. The natural instinct of Thingpone took over. Blossomforth could not think, her mind overflowed with pleasure at the wealth of biological information the squirrel contained. Its memories, its skills, its genes were all copied and stored in her vast biological database. The squirrel’s body and mind were now a part of her. It was total bliss. Blossomforth was still hungry. Thingpone’s body suddenly transformed. An evil grin that was uncharacteristic of Blossomforth spread over her face. Blossomforth's eyes became slitted like a cat or a snake's. Her teeth became sharp like a shark's and her tongue flickered out of her mouth like a serpent's. Her cheeks split apart unnaturally as she smiled revealing more sharp teeth. She leered. Her muscles bulged and the pudgy parts of her body drained away, her ribs showing more prominently now. Her fat stores were being used up. She looked more like a predatory animal than a pony now. Perhaps a pony-wolf hybrid. She sniffed the air and suddenly her hind legs exploded into action. She leapt 20 feet high up into a tree, claws that had grown out of her hooves grabbed the bark and suddenly a new world of tree trunks and branches in a forest were hers to explore. She leaped from branch to branch, running with wild abandon. She spotted a bird and suddenly changed her direction leaping towards the sparrow. The bird started to fly away out of reach. No matter, her tongue shot out of her mouth like a spear, bony on the tip. The bony tip plunged into the bird with a thump and quickly mutated, barbs shooting out of it. Her tongue quickly retracted, dragging the bird into her mouth and dragging it down her throat. The bird's genes and nervous system containing its skills was quickly analyzed and consumed. Blossomthing grabbed at the tree trunk and her head unnaturally twisted around, scanning the ground. There we go, that's what she smelled, a fawn. Blossomthing's legs exploded once more and catapulted herself through the air, slamming into the fawn and ravenously grabbing it with her clawed legs and tore out its throat with her unnaturally wide and sharp toothed mouth. Thing's flesh opened up like a mouth, her rib cage splitting apart like a maw and the teeth of her ribs clamped down on the fawn. Then something strange happened, the internal organs, blood and flesh of Blossomthing's body deformed and crawled itself towards the fawn like a monstrous gory slime and began fusing to the fawn. Soon both of their bodies were fused and deformed only a pile of gore and mutated limbs. Then, the flesh began to rearrange itself into the familiar form of Blossomforth. First the skeletal system, then the organs, blood vessels and muscles. The fawn was nowhere to be seen. It was consumed. Another wave of bliss and Blossomforth was suddenly able to think again. She gasped as her lungs reformed themselves and she stood up, her legs were shaking. “Wow.” Blossomforth felt a bit guilty about assimilating the small creatures but it felt so right to acquire and use the biological information. Her new predatory instincts told her that it was no different than a predator animal hunting its prey. She came up with an idea. She felt that the bird's body that was still inside her still had its nervous system intact. What if she built the bird its old body and transplanted its nervous system back in place? That might work, her instinct was telling her yes. The fawn had replenished her biomass and energy and she had enough to spare to give the bird back its body before she destroyed its nervous system. She instinctively knew what to do. She shifted the bird's brain and attached nervous system inside her body to the back of her body and inserted it into her womb. The bird's body rapidly grew back and she quickly ejected the creature out of her vaginal canal. It flopped to the floor behind her, wet with her juices. Blossom turned around and looked down at the little creature that she gave its life back to. She smiled at the little bird as it fluffed its wings to rid itself of the sticky wetness. The bird wouldn't remember, its death was too quick. Perhaps it would think that it ran into a tree. There would be no bringing back the other two, she needed their biomass. Blossomforth frowned as she dissolved their nervous systems inside of her belly and rebuilt her nutrient reserves. Blossomforth would have cried over this but Blossomthing only felt a little sad that she had to snuff out two lives. Blossomthing pondered what had happened. It was a bit of a blur but she seemed to have given herself over to whatever part of the alien that had been fused to her identity. More of Blossomforth recovered and the Thing moved back into dormancy. Blossomforth looked like a normal pony again. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she assimilated others. Maybe she could be a unicorn or even have hands like Anon! The fact that she could assimilate others and put them back filled her with confidence. Her new experience of masturbation was fun but it could not replace the unique feeling of having sex with another. Masturbation was just too predictable. Blossomforth's new instincts yearned to find a mate, one with diverse or unique biological information. Her need to assimilate all biological data grew stronger as her confidence rose. She would have to be careful but was ready to take Ponyville by storm. > Chapter 3: Assimilation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth struggled to contain her excitement as she slowly trot through ponyville. The Thing wanted to consume every intelligent life form she came across but Blossomforth knew she would have to be careful and meticulously give new bodies to the ponies she would harvest for information in order to satisfy her pony sense of morality. Deep in thought, Blossomforth realized she had reached her front door. “Aw, crap.” She finally remembered that she had lost her keys that were usually around her neck when she transformed into an amalgamation. She was locked out of her own house. Suddenly, she had an idea. Slowly turning her head to see if anyone was around, she concentrated and her forehoof slowly deformed. The bones in her foreleg dissolved and it turned into what looked like a tentacle or amorphous muscle held together by skin. She pressed the appendage to the door and it slid into the crack between the door and the door frame with a wet sound usually heard when kneading dough. She grew an eye on the end of the appendage which was now inside the house. Now she could unlock the door from the inside. “That was freaky, but awesome.” She went inside and decided that she wanted to do some experiments to see just what she was capable of. She climbed upstairs to her bedroom door. She concentrated and her entire body quickly deformed into a puddle of slimy gore. A thin layer of skin kept her slime-like gore together The puddle slid under the door into her bedroom and Blossomforth slowly emerged out of it. Her bones which were dissolved rapidly rebuilt themselves and solidified, white fur growing out of the skin and the organs arranging themselves underneath. The transformation was disturbingly efficient. Alien organic nanomachines rearranging her chemical structure. It seemed that her new biology had little need for conventional organs and could exist as a puddle of alien gore and amorphous muscle held together by a thin epidermis. It was disturbingly alien and so advanced that it was nothing like any conventional biology that had ever been seen. “Yes!” She quickly dissolved and assumed puddle form once more and began to slide up the wall of her bedroom growing microscopic scopulae on the surface of the flesh that touched the wall in order to stick to the wall the same way that spider-mare did. Her amorphous gore slithered up the wall and stuck to the ceiling. Amorphous red tentacles grew out of her goo-like form with eyes on the end and allowed her to look at herself. She slid her form closer to the door and this time squelched her form through the top of door between the frame and the door itself. The crack at the top of the door was much thinner than the one at the bottom of the door but thinning herself out to fit through the tight space felt like a good stretch used to. She swallowed up her eye and grew a new one on the other side of the door. Giddy with excitement, one of her eyes spied the vent near her. This would be the next test. She had never actually split her form before, she wanted to see if she could flow through all of the gaps in the grating and reform on the other side, almost like a liquid instead of only sliding through one gap. It worked. It felt even weirder when she re-fused the muscle. This opened up new possibilities. Could she exist in two places at once? If so, was there some sort of telepathy involved? There was only one way to find out. The Thing flowed back through the vent grate, detached from the ceiling, and landed on the floor with a wet sounding splat. Preparing herself, Thing formed a somewhat spherical shape and began performing cytokinesis. Starting to pinch in half. Suddenly, a powerful migraine erupted in Blossomforth’s mind. The pain grew more intense until the mass of muscle fully separated into two. Once again a part of her mind she had never used before was accessed. It was quite an odd experience as two identical forms of Blossomforth emerged and stared at each other. Strangely, her new mind seemed to be adapted to controlling a complex body or in this case, multiple. It seemed that her new mind architecture allowed her to telepathically control her separated bodies. She noticed that both of her bodies were very thin and lacked fat or nutrient stores. It seemed that while she could create two bodies, conservation of mass still applied. The biomass from the fawn definitely helped. She looked at herself proudly from four different eyes and both her bodies smiled at the same time. “Looking good, Bloss, looking real good!” “Thanks, Blossom, you too!” Both of her faces reddened at the embarrassing narcissism. Blossom quickly melded both her bodies back into one and tried to forget what had just happened. Now that Blossomforth had greater control over her body she needed to sate Thing’s hunger for biological information. She was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms. She needed to do it soon. But who should she assimilate? Lyra seemed like a good choice, she lived close and was one of the only unicorns in Ponyville. Blossomforth chortled. Perhaps she could even temporarily give her hands in the future and pretend it was a potion she was working on. However, Bon Bon lived with Lyra so she would have to be careful. No matter, her hunger for information was intensifying, Lyra would have to do. Blossomforth sauntered outside, it was slightly past twilight but the sky was still a dim blue and orange. Slowly making her way to Lyra’s house, she stepped into the shadows. Blossomforth melted into the wall of the house and began to slide up to the second story window. She extended an eye from the puddle of muscle and observed Lyra laying on her back in her bed intently reading a book. The instincts of Thingpone began to kick into gear. Blossomthing slowly and quietly slid between the cracks of the window and slid down the wall careful to take the same hue as the blue wall she was sliding down. She went slowly to make as little noise as possible. She slinked under the bed, she now was quite literally the monster under the bed that children feared. Slowly, Blossomthing sidled into position forming tentacles near each of lyra’s limbs, head, and horn. She also slid a tentacle up to the lamp. Blossomthing clicked the lamp off. She suddenly grabbed each of Lyra’s limbs, horn, and mouth. Restricting her movement, neutralizing her voice and horn. Lyra thrashed in bed attempting to scream but barely making any noise. Blossomthing began consuming Lyra. Lyra’s eyes widened and dilated in horror. First Thingpone rapidly engulfed and dissolved the hind-legs processing a wealth of biological information. Next, the torso. “Lyra, honey, are you alright up there?” Thingpone quickly suspended what was left of Lyra’s body above the bed so that she could not thrash on the bed. Tentacles of flesh fused to the ceiling as support. It looked like a web of tentacles. Thingpone prioritized processing the parts of the DNA that pertained to the voicebox and mouth. She then rapidly grew lungs, trachea, vocal cords and mouth. “I’m doing fine Bon-Bon, just reading! Accidentally knocked a book off of the nightstand.” Thingpone said in Lyra’s voice. “Alright, come down! Dinner will be ready in a few minutes!” Tears streamed down from Lyra’s pleading, desprate eyes as Thingpone resumed and consumed the rest of Lyra’s torso and forehooves. Blossomforth formed a mouth in pity. “Shh, don’t worry Lyra.” Blossomfoth whispered with her own voice into Lyra’s ear. “I’m sorry I had to do this. You’ll live and you’ll get your body back. However, you won’t remember this.” At this point, most of Lyra was gone. Her entire body including her jaw and tongue were gone. All that was left was the top of her skull. Her eyes bugged out, darting from left to right in panic as the rest of her head and horn were consumed into Thingpone. However, she was careful to preserve Lyra's nervous system as she processed the rest of her body. Blossomforth was in a state of overwhelming bliss. However, she forced herself to begin crafting a new body for Lyra using the data Thingpone consumed around the carefully preserved nervous system. She also inserted a small dormant slug into Lyra’s brain that could surveil Lyra’s senses and thoughts in case the short term memory wipe did not work. It could even consume, and replace injured parts of Lyra’s body if required. She could also use the slug to take over Lyra’s brain as a failsafe if necessary. “Come on down! Your food is getting cold!” “Just a minute!” Blossomforth puppeteered Lyra’s new body. Finally, Blossomforth induced short term memory loss in lyra's brain, and healed some lingering damage from an old knee injury to stave off her sense of shame. She lowered Lyra into her bed fast asleep. “Hey, Lyra! Time for dinner!” Blossomforth stage whispered into Lyra’s ear. Blossomforth rapidly retreated under the bed and Lyra’s eyes snapped open. “Bwuh, time for dinner? That’s weird, could have sworn I was just reading.” Lyra got out of bed and headed downstairs. Blossomforth concentrated on the slug feeding her Lyra’s thoughts. So far so good, Lyra did not suspect a thing. “What took you so long Lyra?” “Sorry, I must have drifted off while I was reading.” “Really, I would have thought it was interesting if it delayed you from coming to dinner. You were saying ‘just a minute’.” “Huh, that’s odd…” With a burst of inspiration from that Inception movie she watched, Blossomforth fed the idea “I was sleeptalking” into Lyra’s mind via the slug. “I must have been sleeptalking or something.” “Have you been getting enough sleep, Lyra?” “Yeah, it must have just been a long day.” “Anyways, how was your day…” Biological information assimilation a success. Blossomforth allowed herself to bask and literally melt in the pleasure the new acquisition gave her. “Whew, that was intense!” She slinked up the wall, through the window, down the house, and Blossomforth’s pony form emerged from the wall of the house. Blossomforth, stumbled towards her house. Adrenaline flowing and knees shaking. The blissful pleasure was quickly fading and the Thing was satisfied at least for now. Blossomforth slowed and caught her breath. She opened the door to her house, went inside and slammed the door shut. She leaned on the door and slid down to the ground. The horror filled pleading eyes flashed in the mind of Blossomforth. An intense wave of shame and guilt overtook her. It seemed the influence of the Thing had suppressed her guilt but it came rushing back as she remembered Lyra's terrified face. She sobbed softly and a few tears escaped her watering eyes. > Chapter 4: The Storm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth cracked open her eyes to the glow of a new day with an optimistic state of mind. Today was a new day and she was determined that it would be a completely normal day. With a smirk and fire in her eyes, Blossomforth flung the covers aside and jumped out of bed. “Whaaa!-oof!” At least that’s what she meant to do. It seemed that her head had somehow ended up facing the wrong way while she was asleep. So when she moved to sweep the covers off herself all she accomplished was to roll off the opposite side of her bed, taking her sheets with her. She found herself wedged between her bed and the wall, chin on the floor, and cocooned in her sheets, unable to move her front legs. Blossomforth scowled as she huffed a piece of hair out of her eyes. “Really? Won’t even let me have this?” With an annoyed roll of her eyes Blossomforth rotated her head into the proper position, the bones in her neck creaking and snapping as she did. She wanted to try to spend the day without weirdness but she couldn’t resist cheating a bit and lengthened her neck slightly to see over the edge of her bed. She found that her hind legs and torso were fused together in a puddle of flesh and had decided to stay on the bed while the rest of her tumbled out. A thin rope of flesh connected her upper and lower body. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me! I try to be a normal and optimistic pony and look where it gets me!” Blossomforth puffed out her cheeks in cute frustration as she proceeded to liquify the rest of her body minus her head and flow out of the sheets and up the wall bringing her head and neck with her out of the gap between her bed and wall. She flowed to the adjacent wall away from her bed stepped out of the puddle of muscle into her pony form. Blossomforth resigned herself to the fact that she would probably not be having a normal day. No matter, she would not let it get her down. She hummed a gay tune as she stepped into the hot shower, warming up those muscles for her routine morning stretch. She dried herself, brushed her teeth and trotted down the stairs to do her morning yoga. As Blossomforth began to stretch she frowned. The addicting stretch of stiff muscle she was used to was not present. Stretching was just too easy, but she needed her fix somehow or she would not last the day! Blossomforth sighed, she knew what she had to do. Bloss got a colander from the kitchen and propped it up between the table and the couch. She stuck her hoof into the colander and sighed. It came out the other side looking like a spaghetti of viscous gory slime that quickly fused together. She felt the stretch deeply as her surface area dramatically increased. She lowered her other hoof then her torso and back legs being supported by the stringy mass below. Her head was left above the collander groaning in pleasure at the deep stretch. Finally she lowered her head and it too split into a spaghetti-like mass of muscle. Bloss fused together and emerged as a pony from her stretch. “Wow, that really felt good…” Her old routine of stretching her muscles seemed pointless now. It was disappointing that all her previous efforts in improving her flexibility had now essentially amounted to nothing now that she could shapeshift her body however she wanted. However, the muscle memory that she had gained from her previous body were actually valuable pieces of data to the Thing. It allowed better coordination and flexibility while using a conventional pony body. Bloss went to the kitchen and poured herself some cereal. She slowly ate and ruminated. She was almost done when suddenly there was a banging on the door. “Hey Bloss! Come on out! Emergency weather duty! Big storm coming out of the Everfree. We need all hands on deck! Rainbow says it’s going to be a doozy!” Blossomforth groaned softly. Perfect! First big storm of the year right on the day after she got turned into some sort of eldritch abomination! “Alright Thunderlane, I’m coming!” Bloss shoved the rest of the cereal down her throat and poured some milk down after. Her throat shapeshifted to accommodate and her new body hungrily and efficiently processed and digested the food in seconds. Blossomforth burped rather loudly. This would be the first time she was in public after her transformation. She was a bit worried but Thingpone’s concealment instinct would keep her firmly in pony form. Bloss briskly walked out the door shutting it behind her. “How are you doing Bloss? You seem a bit troubled.” “Ah, just got a lot on my plate at the moment. Anyways, let’s get going.” They both started flying over to the meeting spot. “I haven’t seen a storm system like this in a while.” Said Thunderlane. “Sometimes it seems like the Everfree is taking its vengeance out on us for trying to tame nature.” “Huh, well I certainly hope it isn’t that bad.” As they approached the clearing they could see the looming forms of multiple thunderheads and the distant flash of lightning in the horizon above the Everfree, a distant front of storms moving to obscure the rising sun. Closer to earth was Cloud Chaser showing off her backbend, sticking her tongue out at Blossomforth, and winking (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/12/19/788157.png ). Bloss was not in the mood, they were good friends and she usually had contests with her before weather duty to see who was more flexible, Bloss usually won, but this time there would be no challenge or satisfaction. “All right! Listen up!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Everyopony, about 30 of them, stopped stretching and warming up to face Rainbow. “You see those thunderheads out there?” The sky was rapidly turning darker as the thicker clouds obscured the sun. “Coudsdale’s meteorologists say this is a squall line. We have about five cell systems coming right at us each with the potential to produce tornados. This is going to be a challenge, I need you all at the top of your game if we are going to soften up these storms enough to prevent damage and flooding.” “It looks like we also have a supercell near the tail of that squall.” Several ponies gasped. Supercells were the most dangerous type of storm and most likely to produce tornados. Usually, a storm system was made up of many cells. Newly forming cells were triggered from updrafts of unstable air near the front of the system in a chain reaction, in the middle cells were mature, producing strong downdrafts and lots of rain, near the end of the system the old cells petered out into a wispy cloud cover. However, supercells consisted of one enormous cell that usually formed where a warm and cold front met, producing a rotational movement that tended to produce tornadoes. “I need my most experienced weatherponies with me. We will be taking on this beast of a supercell. The rest of you need to form teams of five to take out the remaining four systems. Remember your training, go after the small forming cells to break the system’s chain and use the unstable air in front of the system to form wide a wide cloud-cover of rain. Alright, get ready to form groups.” Rainbow pointed out the most experienced ponies to join her team, ponies like Thunderlane, Cloud Kicker, Silverspeed, Rain Dance, Jetstream, and Cloud Chaser. She then motioned to four others including Blossomforth to come over. “I want you four to lead teams to take out the smaller systems. Show some of the more green weatherponies how it’s done. Dismissed!” Bloss formed up her team. It consisted of Derpy, Liliac Sky, Spring Step, and sunshine raindrops. Blossomforth cleared her throat. “Alright, I know that not all of you have cleared a thunderstorm before but follow my lead and instructions and we should be fine. So, we will be taking on the system nearest to the supercell at the southern end of the squall line. We’ll go in there to break up the newly forming cell and create some downdrafts to disperse the upward momentum of the forming cell into a wide cloud cover. Then we’ll spread out in front of the system and neutralize the unstable air into even more rainy cloud cover spreading it across the sky. This will spread the energy out and reduce the severity of the storm. Any questions?” “Will it be windy?” asked Derpy. “Not much near the front of the storm. You just need to be careful for the updraft which we will be dispersing. Everyone ready?” Four heads nodded. Bloss signaled her readiness to Rainbow. “Alright everypony, good luck and stay safe.” Rainbow Dash and her team of ten weatherponies lifted off. The other four teams of five lifted off after. “V formation, two on each side of me, we will be following Rainbow Dash’s team and peeling off to our storm.” Blossomforth ordered. The storms were still a long way off, the occasional flash of lightning could be seen from each of the multi-celled systems. The supercell seemed to be constantly crackling with electricity. After about 15 minutes of flight, the wind started to pick up and they peeled away from the Rainbow Dash team. Blossomforth’s system loomed in front of them, each cell forming like a step in a stair case with the smallest ones in front. Bloss pointed to the smallest cell. “You see that smallest cell?“ The others nodded. “We will be aiming in front of that and we’ll take out the cell that will form there.” The storm system loomed above them, the more mature cells rumbled with thunder. “Alright, we are almost there. Get ready to channel your pegasus magic and crate a downdraft” Bloss shouted. Hot, moist air started to pick upwards. “Now! Downdraft!” They flapped their wings and they countered the updraft, cloud cover formed below them. Blossomforth glanced behind her and the mature cells started to rain out, the thunder fading away. However in the distance the supercell was getting worryingly large and she saw the entire storm begin to rotate. “Good job gals, I am going to go check on Rainbow’s group and see if I can help. Make your way to Ponyville, cut through the unstable air, and form rainclouds on your way there. Also, tell everyone in Ponyville to take cover in their cellars just in case.” “Are you worried about the supercell, Blossomforth?” asked Spring Step. “Yes, I am. Be sure to make lots of rainclouds on your way back and you might want to take cover when you get there.” “Stay safe, Bloss.” said Derpy. “I will.” Blossomforth turned to fly towards the supercell. The enormous citadel of a storm only seemed to get bigger as she flew closer. It was like a corkscrew, the entire storm turning in a slow vortex motion(http://i.imgur.com/j59I2cC.jpg). Rainbow dash and her team could be seen flying in the opposite direction of the corkscrew, scoping out the storm. The storm was still calm, building up to release its ferocious load of rain and wind upon the world. Rainbow flew out to meet her. “Thanks for coming Bloss, we are going to need all the wingpower we can get. We’re not going to try to stop this monster, instead we are going to steer it away from Ponyville. We need to get it done and get out of here before that storm collapses down on us.” “What can I do to help?” “I need you and a few others to build a low pressure system on the west side of the storm to attract it in the direction of the everfree away from ponyville. I’ll stay here on the east side with a few ponies and build up a high pressure system to repel the storm towards your low pressure area. Go with them, get to it!” Blossomforth’s group began riding the current of the vortex clockwise around the storm to the west side. Her group consisted of Thunderlane, Cloud Kicker, Cloud Chaser, and Cerulean Skies. “Alright, everyone” said Thunderlane. "We’re doing this nice quick and clean. I am not sure how much longer this storm will hold it’s fury so we need to do this soon. Let’s get the low pressure system going and corral this storm!” The five of them organized themselves in a circular formation and channeled their pegasus magic to repel the wind. Slowly but surely the supercell began to change direction away from Ponyville and back to the everfree where they were located. Everything was going great, a possible disaster was averted. Blossomforth turned to look at the large storm. It was majestic but something seemed off about it. It was too still and it even seemed to stop rotating. Suddenly a bulbous protrusion poked out of the bottom of the clouds rapidly accelerating towards them. “MICROBURST! GET DOWN!” bellowed Thunderlane. Adrenaline rushed into Blossomforth’s bloodstream. As one, they dived towards the Everfree forest. Storms form when warm humid air rises in a low pressure environment, building tall stormclouds with their violent updrafts. Warm air rises, cold air sinks. These strong warm updrafts form a lot of potential energy in the form of water vapor. All of this warm air would begin to cool in the upper atmosphere and once the updraft lost its energy, the mass of cooled air would collapse downward and accelerate back to the ground with violent rain, hail, and wind. The stronger the storm the more violent these downdrafts would be. In particularly strong storms, these downdrafts could form strong, quick focused bursts called a microburst, strong enough to flatten forests in their wake. Microbursts are extremely dangerous to any airborne creature. The stormclouds could mask its approach before anyone could notice, leaving any pegasus with little time to react. In a supercell storm such as this, they had no chance. They were doomed. The maw of the storm opened, the wrath of the storm barreled at them with wild abandon. A gigantic projectile of gale force winds, hail, and water. They increased the speed of their dive but it was not enough. The microburst reached them and swatted them the way one would swat a fly. Blossomforth’s world was chaos. Her team which was once next to her was gone. She was spinning without any control, the howl of the wind roaring in her ears. She had no idea which way was up or down. Hail the size of grapefruits violently broke her bones. She reduced her form to a blob of flesh to save her from the projectiles. WHAM, Blossomforth was violently impaled by a splintered tree trunk and splattered against the floor of the forest. The sudden deceleration dazed Bloss a bit but the impact was effectively absorbed by her elastic nature. She groggily reformed herself when suddenly- CRACK. What she thought was thunder was actually the sound of every bone in Thunderlane’s body being broken at the same time as his body smashed into the ground. Blossomforth's half formed body stared in mute horror at the body of Thunderlane, His spine was jutting out of his neck. His limbs and torso had jagged bones piercing the skin. Amazingly, he was still conscious. “W-wow, you’re still alive Bloss?” “Y-yes, s-stay with me Thunder!” “I guess we saved Ponyville, t-tell my family I-I’ll always be with… them…” “N-no!” Blossomforth was distraught, Thunderlane closed his eyes. He was rapidly bleeding out. Blossomforth was on the verge of panic, what could she do? Then she remembered. Blossomforth began involuntarily salivating. Thingpone’s tongue snaked out of her mouth and around the lifeless form of Thunderlane, picking him from the ground. Her maw and throat widened until it was large enough to swallow Thunderlane whole. Blossomforth was a monster. Her jaw completely separated from her skull and perverted sexual pleasure forced her body to shiver as she fulfilled her alien desires. Thingpone processed him, savoring the new experience of a male anatomy and rippling muscles of an athlete. Blossomforth knew that there were others that needed to be consumed quickly before they died and the awakened Thingpone was only too happy to oblige. Thunderlane was now fully consumed. Thingpone exploded like a pinata, dividing into many masses of muscle that each quickly formed into squirrels and birds. They scrambled and flew in all directions hunting for their prey. In seconds they found two others and the small animals converged and fused onto the barely conscious, twitching, dying, broken bodies of Cloud Kicker and Cerulean Skies, and rapidly assimilated them. Thingpone quivered in a blob of unformed muscle. She panted from her many mouthes, her muscle shaking like jello from the pleasure induced from assimilating others. Blossomforth slowly recovered and gradually took her pony form. She was now taller, more muscular. Her body needed to be larger to contain the biomass of the consumed ponies. Even so, she was much more dense now, the biomass was compressed inside of her. She was now almost as tall as Celestia. The nervous systems of three assimilated ponies were inside her. The Thing wanted to dissolve the pesky, inefficient, and burdensome nervous systems and turn them into nutrients. Blossomforth frowned and resisted the temptation to permanently kill her fellow weather ponies. She would not become a monster. A sudden stifled gasp from some bushes surprised her and she snapped her head to face it. Blossomforth slowly stood up and paced her way to the bushes. She finally had a moment to observe her surroundings. Every tree in a half mile radius was flattened to the ground by the ferocious microburst, and the sun was beginning to peer from behind the clouds. Bloss brushed away the bush and peered inside. Cloud Chaser was slumped against the root of the bush, three of her legs and both of her wings severely broken. Her only working forehoof retracted in a fetal position. However, most striking was the look of absolute terror and the whimper that escaped her mouth as she faced Blossomforth. Now that Blossomforth had a larger body, Cloud looked small like a child or an animal. Her larger body probably made her look more intimidating. “He-hey Cloud.” Cloud Chaser began to cry and sob. “P-please don’t eat me.” Blossomforth's stomach dropped in sorrow, “I-I won’t eat you, Cloud Chaser.” Cloud Chaser gazed into Bloss's eyes as her eyebrows raised hopefully and formed a point above her scared eyes. “R-really?” Blossomforth sighed disgusted that she could scare Cloud Chaser so profoundly, “Really.” “But, why did you eat the others but not m-me?” Blossomforth shifted her gaze to the ground, “Because they were close to dying and needed saving. I will bring them all back. I need your help Cloud.” Cloud's lower lip and chin trembled. “W-why should I help you, you m-monster?” Seeing her friend call her a monster hurt her to her core. “Because I’m your old friend Blossomforth and I need your help to save our friends.” “I don’t believe y-you.” Cloud Chaser stammered. Blossomforth sighed once again and tapped her chin with a hoof with a pensive expression. “We have had a total of 56 yoga competitions and I have beaten you in every single one except for three. You snort when you laugh and sleeptalk about ‘getting that booty’. Your first time was with Thunderlane, I walked in on you and embarrassed you both by wolf whistling very loudly.” Cloud Chaser's pale face gained a little bit of color as a blush tinged her scared face, “Aright, alright I get it. I believe you. What happened to you anyway? Were you always like this?” “I’ll tell you everything if you agree to my terms. Now, do you want me to fix your broken bones?” Bloss smiled affably. “How are you going to do that?” “By dissolving and re-growing your leg using your DNA information.” “A-Alright. I guess if you wanted to eat me I would have already been eaten. Heal me I suppose.” Cloud grimaced in preparation. “I guess you are right. Now don’t panic, I am just going to fix your legs and wings.” Bloss sprouted five tentacles from her back. Cloud Chaser flinched but Blossomforth continued. They engulfed each of Cloud Chaser’s broken limbs and started to dissolve them. Cloud’s eyes widened as her broken limbs started to disappear. “You are eating me! You promised!” Panic began to emerge on Cloud Chaser's face. “I am not eating you! Just give me a second!” Cloud Chaser’s limbs began to reform unbroken. Blossomforth clandestinely inserted a slug into Cloud Chaser that buried itself into the base of her skull. She almost didn't do it but Cloud was scared and Blossomforth was not willing to risk further discovery. Cloud stared at her new fore-hoof. “Wow, that was amazing!” Cloud Chaser said as she flexed her healed limbs. “Thanks, I guess. Let’s get out of this bush.” “Just so you know, I didn’t eat anypony. I assimilated them. I can regrow their bodies and bring their consciousness out of stasis whenever I want. This was the only way to save them. They were on the verge of death and I needed to preserve them before they died. I don’t want ponies to know about me but I didn’t see a way to get us home safely without ponies asking questions about our lack of injuries or how I was able to carry all four of you. I need your help for that.” “I don’t know Bloss. What if I don’t help you? I think we should just go back and come clean.” “Cloud, I really don’t want to but if I have to I will assimilate you, erase your memory of this conversation, and risk the ponys’ questions.” “Yo-you can do that?” Cloud said with palpable fear. Bloss grimaced, “Yeah, but I would rather not.” Cloud sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll go along. What’s the plan?” Blossom sensed some doubts in Cloud Chaser’s mind through her slug but she let it slide for now. “We are going to fly to the edge of the Everfree. I’ll grow the others’ bodies back but give them a few broken bones and I’ll give each of us broken wings so that our story is believable. It won’t be anything severe, they’ll heal in a few weeks or sooner if you want my help. “We will go back to Ponyville and tell people that we found them after we crashed and carried them back to Ponyville on our backs. When the others wake up and find their injuries are not as severe as they remember it, we will blame shock induced hallucination." “You also have to promise not to tell anypony about me.” Cloud shifted her eyes away towards Ponyville. “Alright, Bloss. Let’s get going. How did this happen to you anyway?” “It happened yesterday after a mysterious meteorite crashed right next to where I was stretching. My running theory is that I was fused to an alien that crash landed here.” “Are you sure that you aren’t an alien?.” Said Cloud with a raised eyebrow. “Nope, still little old Blossomforth.” Sometimes I wonder though, she thought. They began their flight, the trees were saturated with water and the river below them was close to overflowing. Blossomforth spied the first signs of civilization on the horizon and signaled Cloud Chaser to land. Bloss began to grow the unconscious bodies of Cloud Kicker, Thunderlane, and Cerulean Skies. They grew inside her womb, one at a time. As they grew larger, her body grew smaller and less muscular. Blossomforth hid in a bush as she birthed each of her fellow weather ponies one at a time. The quick regrowth of their bodies inside of Blossmforth's belly made horrifying sounds, cracking, squelching noises. Bloss finally birthed the last one, each of the weatherponies were given some broken legs and wings mixed in. Blossomforth would make sure they would heal properly. Cloud was more than a little disturbed but she hid her discomfort. When Blossomforth emerged, she was back to her original petite size. “Alright, I am going to replace your wings with broken ones.” Cloud flinched slightly as Blossomforth’s tentacles lengthened, engulfed Cloud’s wings, and replaced them with slightly broken ones. Blossomforth shifted her own wings into a much more gruesome looking break. She quickly tied splints made of branches and vines with her tentacles on her and Cloud Chaser’s wings, and the other ponys’ broken limbs. “Ok, you carry Cloud Kicker and I’ll carry Cerulean Skies and Thunderlane." Her tentacles placed the new bodies gently on their backs. "We’ll ask for a paramedic chariot to the first pony we see. Remember, we crashed because of a microburst. We broke our wings but our legs were fine. We found the others unconscious but we were able to tie everyone in splints and we carried them back here. Anything they say that does not fit with our story was caused by shock induced hallucination.” “Got it.” They trotted towards Ponyville carrying the survivors. They saw Fluttershy in the distance putting birdfeed out for her birds. “Hey Fluttershy!” yelled Blossomforth. Fluttershy looked up with a surprised look. “We need help, we have injured!” “Oh my! Come inside and lay them on the couches. Rainbow put together a big search party to look for you!” They all walked into Fluttershy’s cottage and laid the three unconscious weatherponies on the couches. “We had to hike our way out of the Everfree because our wings were broken, but these three need immediate medical attention.” said Cloud Chaser. “Yeah, we got knocked out of the sky by a horrible microburst. Fluttershy, do you think you can alert the hospital and get a paramedic chariot out here? We can’t, our wings are broken.” Said Blossomforth. “O-of course! Sit tight, I’ll be right back with them.” Fluttershy briskly exited and closed the door behind her. She took off flying in the direction of Ponyville. Blossomforth and Cloud Chaser were alone in Fluttershy’s cottage. Blossomforth closed her eyes, sat on the couch next to Thunderlane, took a deep breath, and sighed. “You are a good friend Cloud Chaser, but I know that you are planning to tell Twilight about me as soon as this is over.” Cloud suddenly bolted for the door, but her muscles seized when she was reaching for the door knob as Blossomforth asserted her will over Cloud via her slug. Blossomforth stood up and walked to Cloud Chaser. “Unfortunately, I can’t let you do that, Cloud. I don’t even blame you, I would have probably done the same thing. Just relax, I’ll only take your memory about my new nature. Thank you for helping me and being a good friend over the years.” Blossomforth embraced Cloud’s frozen body in a hug. “Y-you have a great responsibility, Bloss,” Cloud struggled to speak. “D-don’t loose yourself.” “I won’t.” Cloud closed her eyes and focused on the spreading warmth of the hug as Thingpone engulfed her, spreading from the embrace. Blossomforth assimilated Cloud Chaser, carefully modified her memory, and gently birthed Cloud’s new body on the couch next to the others. In the distance, the chariot neared, Fluttershy followed close behind. Blossomforth stared out the window in melancholy as the chariot approached, she hoped that she would be able share her troubles with Cloud Chaser but it seemed she would have to find someone else. > Chapter 5: The Alien > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth lay in bed, thinking about the crazy day she had yesterday and wondered about her purpose. She was able to single-hoofedly save her entire weather team from the violence of a supercell storm. It felt pleasurable and satisfying to be able to take control of such a dire situation. She was still reeling from the implications, but she let them slide out of her mind as she entered the meditative state she took when she started stretching. As she began her stretch she artificially stiffened the muscles in the thighs of her hind legs and Gluteus Maximus just so she could feel the stretch like she used to. Slowly but surely she extended her right hind leg forward in an active stretch until her pointed hoof tip reached and softly touched her snout. Her forelegs reached spread-eagle, reaching in opposite directions and pointed her hooves. She slowly returned her hind leg back to the bed and slowly stretched her other hind leg until her pointed hoof touched her nose. Finally, she brought up her other hoof up and touched her snout with them both, pointing her hoofs as far as they would go and reaching in opposite directions with her forelegs. Blossomforth could have easily started with the advanced position without warmup given her new powers but the value of a relaxing yoga stretch was priceless to her mental health. She was beginning to appreciate the wise saying: “Success is the journey, not the destination.” Blossomforth maintained the mediative pose, slowly releasing the stress in her muscles and mind. With her cleared mind she pondered her predicament and philosophized. Whether she wanted it or not, it was now clear that she was absolute master over her own biology and even over others if she so chose. This premise lead her mind to some darker but logical conclusions. She could now do whatever she wanted and no pony could stop her. If she let herself go, she might even be able to assimilate all life and biological information on the planet into herself. What was morality anyway? Was it a learned concept, defined by the mightiest? Or was it something more profound and natural, an unspoken law that all instinctively knew? What was the value of morality? Is it simply an evolutionary trait or is it something that can give true satisfaction and purpose? The only evidence she had to answer these questions was her own experience. Thankfully for the sentient life in Equestria, she came to the conclusion that it would be detrimental to shape all life to her bidding for a few reasons. Firstly, she was still part pony and could empathize with being a pony and allowed her to respect the sanctity of individuality. Secondly, she was open to the possibility that her ideas might not be the best there is and that other sentient life would be capable of shaping new creative ideas better than she would, which could improve the world in ways she had not imagined. Thirdly, she had some of her most satisfying experiences interacting with others. While the Thing’s almost psychopathic instinct demanded that she assimilate all sentient life, she was able to hold it back, convincing it that it would be better for herself and the world itself if she practiced restraint. As Blossomforth rolled out of bed to face the new day, she came to the sudden realization of her cold, calculating thoughts. She shuddered, she needed someone to share her struggles with. Thingpone might slowly be turning her into a real monster. She needed others to keep her sane. She needed friends. —————————— Sometimes I still wonder if I am unconscious in a coma, dreaming up all of these pastel multicolored ponies. Perhaps the government kidnapped me, and drugged me to study the effects of the extended use of LSD. Twilight still looks ashamed whenever I mention my predicament. I had apparently been sucked into this dimension with her experimentation in devising a permanent portal from Equestira to Earth. Oh well, there are not many people who can say they experienced living in two different dimensions before. The ponies seemed to regularly break the laws of physics with their flight, magic, and squishy bodies. After living like a bum for a couple of months in Twilight’s castle I finally decided I wanted my independence and privacy. I discovered that despite all of the incredible things ponies could do they could not perform a massage quite as good as old fashioned hands could. With a startup loan from Filthy Rich I was able to rent a nice location for my new massage parlor and a cozy apartment on the second floor. Apparently the laws of supply and demand transcend dimensions because I suddenly had a monopoly on hand massages. The job was nice and satisfying. Mares always seemed to like to talk and gossip a lot which can make the job interesting and the time pass more quickly. They must have had some good gossip about me because word spread and more ponies started to book sessions until there were enough for a full time occupation. The ponies just loved the massages, especially the mares. Some were weird about it but Lyra was by far the worst. I suspect that she has some sort of hand fetish. I always strive to keep everything professional but sometimes after she leaves I spot a slightly moist spot on the massage table. Before this happens she always has something she suddenly has to do and quickly leaves stuttering excuses as she goes. Another regular is Blossomforth. She is quite an interesting one. Something I immediately noticed about her is that her muscles are more malleable than the average pony. Also her body temperature always seems to be warm as if she had just done a workout. I eventually found out she did come for a massage right after a specific type of workout. Before I keep going, something to know about me is that I have a secret hobby. This is one of the reasons I wanted to move out of the castle and why I am so knowledgeable about massage techniques. I love to practice flexibility training and want to eventually become a contortionist. It is a long process and I have been getting steady progress. This is a little embarrassing as I think it might look weird to others seeing a male practicing stretches. The problem is that, in the castle there is a lack of privacy. The floor creaks and trying to practice in the guest bedroom at night produces somewhat of a racket that keeps others awake. I also suspect that Twilight secretly wanted to stalk and study me like the alien sapient species I am and made it hard for me to find time and privacy to practice. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to get my own place. Imagine my surprise when I walked in on Blossomforth doing the most beautiful backbend bridge(https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/12/19/788157.png ) stretch in the lobby as I came to get her for her appointment. I stared for a few seconds at how amazingly flexible and graceful her form looked. Her spine was curved in a deep bend, all four hooves were on the ground and her belly and rib cage protruded upwards like a white, furry peach. Her eyes were closed in concentration so she did not even notice me. I then slowly tip-toed out of the room to give her some privacy. My mind raced, there was another contortionist in Ponyville and she was much better than me! Perhaps she could coach me, would that be weird? Who knows, maybe I can warm up to her. About a minute later after I gathered my wits, I peeked past the door to see her sitting on the couch reading a magazine and called her in for her appointment. Being the incredible socially awkward person that I am, I make the situation more awkward in my mind by clamming up in silence as I massaged her back. “So, what hobbies do you have anon?” I could have said a great many things. Running, hiking, camping, stargazing, reading fiction, political debates. But no, all I could think of were the sexy curve her back made in that stupid sexy bridge. “Err, yoga?” SMOOOTH, she must think you are a stalker now just happening to talk about what she just- “COOL! -I mean I kinda do some of that.” I saw the tip of her ear get the slightest bit redder and thank goodness she was face down or she would have seen my rosy cheeks and ears. My anti-social behavior took over, I clammed up and tried to focus on my massage in silence. She was a real regular and every time she came the flesh that I kneaded was warm with the signs of a workout. I could just feel the muscles become more supple as I massaged them undoubtedly fresh from a stretch session. She even sighed and groaned in pleasure as the tenseness melted away. I could tell she was making progress, the muscles were getting progressively toned and malleable. To my shame and embarrassment, I had to concentrate very hard to keep an erection from forming. I must keep this professional! To make matters worse, one day she started dropping hints like she was probing me if I had interest in contortion. My shy nature and embarrassment of gender stereotypes concerning yoga and contortion took over. I would off handedly comment in response instead of responding back with my intimate knowledge and experience. I tried not to think about it but in the back of my mind I suspected that she knew that I was practicing contortion. It was time to drop the shy attitude and start making friends and putting myself out there. I needed to find friends that had the same interests as me. Summoning the courage I resolved to tell Blossom about my interests in flexibility and contortion the next time she came in for a massage. Just like that, the universe decided to put me in my place. Blossomforth suddenly decided to stop coming for her massages. Probably got too uncomfortable finding out my contortion hobby. I bet she thinks I stalk her and only started to impress her. It was just my luck. Perhaps I was not meant to have friends and the universe hated me so much that it made sure that I would be alone, placing me in this alternate universe of happy rainbow ponies. Anon thought with a depressed and melancholy mood. ———————— Blossomforth could not stop thinking about Anon. He might be the perfect candidate to confide in! Before the meteor she loved his massages. The massages would relax her muscles after a stretch and melt away the soreness which worked out the kinks and sped up her progress. She would go often after every stretching session, it felt like heaven and she could really see her flexibility improving. She even suspected he had similar interests practicing yoga and whatnot. He seemed to be a loner so there was a lesser chance that he would divulge her secret. I mean, who would believe the hairless monkey from another dimension if he suddenly started saying crazy things? He was from a different dimension so he might even be used to shapeshifting monsters for all she knew or at least be open to new things for all of the things he has experienced in two dimensions. He was an alien so perhaps they both had that in common. She would have to learn more about Anon before she could decide whether to trust him or not. Before the meteor incident she was almost coming to get a massage from him every day but she stopped because she did not want to risk him discovering her secret. She was even beginning to like him, he seemed to know the perfect places to massage to maximize her backbend capacity. Bloss had a sneaking suspicion that he might be into some sort of yoga like she was. Either way, Anon was a bit of a mystery and she needed more information. There was only one logical course of action: begin Operation Big Sister Stalker. It was time to intrusively learn all about Anon’s private things, this was going to be interesting and fun! > Chapter 6: Big Sister > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thingpone absolutely loved the feeling of living, struggling biological matter adhesively fusing to the epidermis of her shifting muscle at a molecular level as the specimen tried to fruitlessly move away from her sticky, flowing flesh. Muscle, fat, bone, and organs of the specimen melting away like hot wax at her willing touch to be efficiently processed for information, dissolved into base molecules, converted to her advanced xenobiology, and finally affixed to her will. Blossomforth did not notice the bands of muscle and tendons beneath her furry epidermis wriggling gleefully like snakes, and the fat between her muscles shifting and boiling ever so slightly at the thought of assimilation. Blossomforth had to concentrate to prevent a dribble of saliva from forming at the corner of her mouth. She almost succeeded but had to stop walking to wipe her mouth with a hoof. "Hehehe! I see you like them apples! First of the season. Just bucked them this morning, you can have some on the house as a thank you for saving my apple trees from that storm!" Blossom mentally shook herself out of her stupor and remembered that she was shopping at the farmer's market. She focused her eyes and looked at the ripe apples. "Thanks, Applejack. I'll take six." Bloss opened her saddlebag with her wing and Applejack tossed in six apples. "Have a good one, sugarcube!" "Thanks again, AJ." Blossomforth quickly turned and hid the frustration and embarrassment with herself that thoughts of engulfing and melting somepony could bring such overwhelming pleasure. Assimilation was incredibly addicting. The local wildlife was adequate but it could not replace the exhilarating feeling of a complex sentient being. She couldn't help but think that she would have a very hard time not giving into her baser instincts if she visited Anon again for a massage. She could just imagine losing concentration, relaxing, and letting Anon's hand melt and slide into her as he massaged her. If she went, her skin would be able to taste the tantalizing traces of DNA Anon would no doubt leave on her skin as he massaged her muscles and fat. Maybe she could assimilate him just a little bit while he slept. You know, just a little blood sample to hold her over. The horrified, helpless face of Lyra flashed in her memory. No. She had resolved not to assimilate anypony unless it was absolutely necessary. Moodily stewing over her predicament she mindlessly placed a few more fruits and veggies into her saddlebags and hoofed over a few bits to Carrot Top. Although she probably did not really need them anymore, she still liked the taste of fruits and cooked veggies. Well, if she wanted a new friend she would have to take risks and action. Nopony ever accomplished anything without that. Tonight would be the night she began investigating Anon. ---------- Once again Blossomforth found herself literally slipping into someone's house with a distinct but quiet squelching sound. She loitered in front of Anon's massage business as the small tentacle attached to her rear end pushed its way through the crack of the front door. Once inside an eye sprouted on the tip of the tentacle making her appendage a periscope. The vision of her new eye coming into focus, it was dark and deserted inside. Blossomforth turned her head around and her fleshy periscope inside Anon's house to make sure that no one was looking. She did not see anypony. It was quite dark but she still did not want to risk anyone seeing her "squelch" through the crack of a door. She also did not want to unlock the door and open it because it might be creaky. There was a storm door and a main door so instead she opened the storm door and walked straight into the main door, sticking and flowing on the door's vertical surface with her microscopic spider hair fibers, deforming into her sticky, goopy form and covering the door's surface to make room for the rest of her mass. She even darkened her color like a chameleon for good measure. From the outside it would seem like she had simply opened the storm door and walked into the shadows of the interior of the house. Blossomforth allowed the storm door to slowly click closed behind her. She was now pressed in the space between the storm door and the main door. A goopy blob of muscle, skin, and hair attached to the door's surface. Concealed from any prying eyes, she began flowing through the crack of the main door making the sticky, wet sound of dough being kneaded as she did. Blossomforth slid her fleshy mass onto the floor. Bone creaked as a bone skull formed and emerged from the blob and liquid muscle flowed around the skull forming the familiar face of Blossomforth supported by a long snakelike neck that terminated into the mass of flesh. Blossomforth opted to slither against the floor using her mass rather than fully forming and risking Anon hearing her hoofsteps. She reasoned that she might be able to get some information about Anon if she poked around a bit. She found herself in the lobby. Not much of interest here except for a few newspapers and magazines. She slid into the next room which had the massage table and many books about pony anatomy. She sprouted a few tentacles with the microscopic spider hair scopulae she used to slither up walls. This allowed her tentacle to stick to the binding of the books and pick them up. Many of them focused on the muscles and nervous system, some of the more hidden ones were about pony yoga. Blossomforth smiled, this was very promising. With renewed optimism, she slid like a snail into the next room. A kitchen, not much of interest. Anon was a little messy. Empty cups and cereal boxes on the counter. Moving on she quietly slid through the cracks of another door and deposited herself into the garage, once again forming her skull. Now this was interesting. Here in the garage were two of Anon's most prized possessions that piggybacked through Twilight's portal. The first one she saw was a bicycle. It was a mechanical thing that Anon used to propel himself down roads. Ponies had similar contraptions but this one had more complicated machinery and amazingly no magic to help it! The next one looked like a chemistry experiment. There were two vats of funny smelling chemicals which had two wires snaking away to the top of a tall Anon-sized workbench. Blossom lengthened her neck to see over the lip of the bench. The wires snaked into a plug that plugged into a magical device Anon called a "phone". On the glass surface the phone read "charging". She had seen Anon use this magical device to take pictures and view them after he took them. It seemed to be able to store an unlimited number of pictures behind its glass. She suspected there were some really smart horned humans to have come up with such a wondrous magical device. Blossomforth's curiosity overtook her. She had seen Anon expertly manipulate his fingers over the glass surface of the device. Pony hooves were not exactly good for this but now that she had tentacles she should be able to use it! She carefully extended two tentacles and grew her scopulae to grip the charger and adhere her tentacle to the phone's pristine glass surface. She carefully unplugged the charger and the phone made a soft chime. She froze. She was all the way in the garage and the chime was not loud so Anon probably did not hear that. Slightly more nervous, she adhered her other scopulae tipped tentacle to the back of the phone and released the scopulae from her other tentacle, detaching itself from the glassy screen. The screen was dark, she touched the screen but nothing happened. She flipped and rotated the phone, finally finding the buttons hidden on the side. The first two did nothing but when she pressed the third one the screen lit up and said "slide to unlock". Curiously, she extended a tentacle to the glass and slowly glided it over the surface. The image responded to her touch. "CHICK" Bloss almost dropped the phone as it made the startling sound but thankfully the scoupulae kept the phone attached to her tentacle. Rows of boxy images appeared on the screen. She was bewildered by the rows of blocks. She had thought that this thing was a simple camera but it was obviously something more. She spied that one of the blocks in the bottom right looked like a camera. Maybe she could figure this one out since she had seen Anon use it before. She touched the camera symbol and suddenly the image of the garage behind the phone appeared on the glass screen. Maybe she could take a picture. There were two buttons, a symbol that looked like a pile of photographs and a camera film symbol. Was this device also a video camera? Well, she would find out later. For now she would just take a picture of the empty garage. She touched the pile of pictures but it did not take a picture like she thought it would. Instead what Blossomforth saw made her gasp. It showed a still image of Anon in his underwear doing an excellent bridge backbend stretch! (image link) Blossomforth's mind reeled and her heart rate increased. The image was beautiful, Anon's ribcage could be seen prominently jutting out as he did his deep backbend stretch, attempting to keep his legs straight. He seemed to be getting close to a chest stand. Before the meteor, Blossomforth herself had recently achieved a headsit where her back bent to such a degree that her flank touched the top of her head. Maybe in a few months he could do a chest stand or maybe even a headsit in a year if he really tried! It was utterly fascinating to see an alien species practice contortion, a hobby that she loved so very much. Blossomforth's heart beat with excitement, Thingpone's instinctual curiosity and hunger for biological information perked. Anon suddenly seemed much more interesting, Thingpone wanted to know more about his biological architecture. With a shaking tentacle she pressed the arrow symbol to see the next picture. It was a picture of Anon in a straddle split. (image link) His legs were at a 180 degree angle and his torso was on the floor in the pancake pose. This was also impressive, she could do a bit of oversplitting before the meteor, it had taken her an embarrassingly long time to accomplish the straddle splits. The next picture was of Anon doing a very tight frontbend knot with both of his feet behind his head. (image link) His frontbend was almost as good as hers was! It was such a tight frontbend that he might even be capable of autofellatio! Blossomforth's face reddened, that was a rude thing to think of someone but the truth was that such deviances were very common amongst contortionists. She skipped to the next picture, this one looked like a chest stand attempt on a couch. (image link) It was getting close! That was it, she would have to befriend Mr. Anon even if she was not sure she could trust him with her secret. He was simply too interesting! Thingpone's hunger for his DNA was becoming unbearable. What would a little dribble of blood taken from Anon hurt? With that thought, she placed the phone back on the bench and carefully reattached the charger to the phone. She decomposed her form, fused back through the door into the kitchen and recomposed her head and snakelike neck. Her bloblike mass supporting her neck slithered across the kitchen floor towards the stairs leading to Anon's bedroom. She would have to be careful for this part. Stairwells and hallways were known to be very creaky. To bypass this she grew her incredibly useful spider-hair scopulae to slide up the wall and attach her main mass of flesh to the ceiling. She slithered on the ceiling towards Anon's bedroom her head and neck hanging below her. Once she was at the doorway to Anon's bedroom she slid a small tentacle periscope through the top crack of the door to spy inside. She saw Anon sleeping peacefully with the covers strewn everywhere. Jackpot. In order to minimize noise, she decomposed herself slowly and began slipping through the top of the closed door very slowly and carefully. She proceeded to slide ever so slowly on the ceiling until she was directly above Anon's sleeping body. She started to get excited and a little bit of adrenaline entered her circulatory system. Blossomforth was not sure why she was getting so excited, but Thingpone knew. Bloss suddenly remembered why she came here. She needed to see any private things like Journals to get to know him better. She spotted the journal on his bedside table and sprouted a tentacle to reach out and snatch it. She then took the book and slowly slid her way on the ceiling to the closet and slinked inside. She generated the compound from that lightning bug she assimilated a few days ago and her tentacle glowed dimly but enough to read the journal with. She began to read. After reading the first few lines Blossomforth immediately knew what it was. It was Anon’s stash of fiction. She continued scanning the page. The tips of her ears turned red. Incredibly kinky fiction. She continued to read and her face started to become red. Anon had some interesting fantasies concerning flexibility, she never knew that Anon was such a deviant, perhaps she could use it against him in the future. She extinguished the bioluminescent appendage and proceeded to carefully slide out of the closet and across the ceiling, hovering directly above Anon to reach out and replace the book where it belonged. She began to retract her tentacle but hesitated. Anon’s sleek body looked tantalizingly ripe for harvest. There were bound to be genes and enzyme structures never before seen in Equestria just waiting to be discovered and put to use! She hung stock still, calculating. Thingpone wanted desperately to assimilate Anon right then and there. Blossomforth’s mouth began salivating. A little blood wouldn’t hurt right? In a trancelike state, Blossomforth’s muscular, flexible tongue began emerging from her mouth like a charmed snake. The tip of her tongue lengthened and thinned, reaching forward until it was as thin as a hypodermic needle. It was in fact the proboscis of a mosquito she had assimilated (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLIYuXlUS3k). Her tongue’s proboscis snaked through the air towards the exposed vein in the neck of Anon, a river of blood just waiting to be tasted like fine wine. A thin trail of saliva traced the length of her tongue in anticipation- “BEEP BEEP” The beep of Anon’s watch marking the hour was like a fog horn in the silence, it read 2am. Blossomforth flinched out of her trance and a speck of saliva flicked from from her tongue arching directly towards Anon’s face. Desperately she reached out with her tentacle to catch the drop of saliva but it was too late. It fell directly on Anon’s face. Anon stirred, she almost panicked. At this rate he might wake up! She rapidly but carefully retracted her tongue and extended tentacle, thinking quickly about her next course of action. She could not move quickly, she risked making noise being in such close proximity to Anon. Anon groaned and Bloss’s heart-rate quickened. She looked at the ceiling, that was it! She could take the color of the ceiling, she just hoped that anon would not turn on the lights, she was not sure how well she could mimic the ceiling’s color and texture. Taking a good look at the wall’s color she spread herself over the surface area of the ceiling and took on the color she observed. Her false ceiling was a bit fleshy but the same color so if he did not look directly at the ceiling with the lights on she should be fine. She left an eye hanging by a thread of flesh to observe. Anon touched his face and felt the slimy saliva. He groaned again and wiped his sheets on his face and rolled over. If Bloss had a mouth she would have sighed in relief. Instead the thread of flesh supporting her eye drooped in relief. That was enough for tonight, she had learned a lot about Anon and the more she learned the more interesting he became. She would definitely put in the effort to try to become friends with him. That’s what the elements of harmony would want right? Assuming, of course, they did not blast her if they ever discovered her horrifying nature. Thingpone thought that she might want to invest in brain slugs for the six elements. You know, just in case. She had a lot to think about tomorrow, but for now she was satisfied to sneak her way back to her house and deform onto the warm bed that was calling her name. > Chapter 7: Sexual Harassment > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth lay in bed in the approximate shape of a pegasus as she entered consciousness with a sense of excitement after a good night's sleep. She yawned and stretched her forelegs, her mouth splitting open to disturbingly wide proportions, her tongue snaking outwards as her yawn widened and her forelegs deforming as they lengthened. As she finished her stretch, her limbs and extremities snapped back to their normal pony proportions and she lifted the covers off of herself ready to start the day. After playing the role of "big sister" last night, intrusively breaking Anon's privacy, and learning more about him, she was excited at the prospect of trying to befriend him. She imagined that she could have fun helping with his stretching and maybe skimming a little biological information off of him. She licked her lips at the thought. She would need a plan before she went barging into his establishment for another massage. Bloss sat ruminating over breakfast thinking about her strategy, she had a few ideas. She would need to be sure that she could maintain an absolutely solid form for the duration of her visit. She really wanted to avoid discovery and the unpleasantness of forced memory wipes. She knew that they had common interest in contortion so she would use it to her advantage. Suddenly, she had an idea. It was a little risky, but considering Anon's interests it just might work. -------- I yawned as I checked the schedule for the day. I had just finished the first two appointments of the day. It was going to be a slow morning. There was a long gap in the schedule from now until before lunch where another pony had scheduled. It seemed the pony who had made the appointment had forgotten to put their name. I wondered who that could be but I couldn't think of any regulars that usually fit this time slot except for Blossomforth when she used to come. I sighed. No matter, I was ready for anypony and the gap would give me some time to catch up on my stretching and perhaps take a nap. I usually only did basic stretches during the morning, I tended to be more stiff in the morning than later in the day. I started with a hamstring stretch, reaching to the foot of each leg in a slow but satisfying stretch. I could feel the muscle fibers bending in a satisfying way. Next came the straddles. I was quite good at these, the adductor muscles really felt that stretch. Next I did some lunge stretches, this was great for the quads and the hip flexors located right below the abs. I really needed to improve the bendyness of the hip flexors if I wanted a better backbend. After I finished the leg stretches I moved on to the back, I did a simple wall stretch reaching up the wall and bending the back as much as possible keeping the hips and legs away from the wall. I really felt the stretch between the vertebrae and focused on the different parts of the spine. Next, I did a plow frontbend stretch to balance the backbend stretch. After checking my watch I found that I still had an hour to kill. Welp, might as well take a nap. -------- Blossomforth approached the door to Anon's business. She paused as she reached out to open the door. A tiny tentacle rapidly sprouted out of her and slipped through the door's crack and grew a tiny eyeball showing her that the waiting room behind the door was empty. The tentacle rapidly slid upwards to muffle the tinkling the bell would make as she opened the door and silently walked in. No going back now, it was go time. Bloss carefully walked through the lobby and slowly peeked into the massage room where Anon lay fast asleep on the couch. Perfect! She carefully concentrated and split a tiny bead of flesh of herself off and used the DNA stored in her memory to form the flesh into a fruit fly. She flew the fruit fly onto the ceiling which telepathically gave her a view of the room Anon was in. She walked back into the lobby. All she had to do now was wait. -------- I blearily opened my eyes. Wow, that was an awesome nap. I forgot that I was on the couch downstairs instead of my bed. How long had I slept? I quickly checked my watch and grabbed the appointment clipboard walking towards the lobby. Damn, six minutes late! I was about to start uttering an apology for my tardiness upon approach to the lobby but it died in my throat as I looked up. Taking up most of my field of vision was the hind end of a familiar pony with well defined muscles and covered with soft white fur. I stood stock still in surprise as one of the hind legs began lifting itself, hoof tracing the frame of a door it was next to until it reached the pinnacle, hoof pointing and reaching as high as it could directly upward forming an 180 degree angle between the legs. The entire length of her legs and marehood touched and rubbed against the door frame as her muscles engaged to keep her legs steady and straight, parallel to the door frame. She grunted with the barest hint of a pleasurable moan as she clenched to keep the stretch tight and steady. My mind slowly shut down and I was unable to peel my eyes away from the exquisite sight. This was without a doubt the hottest thing I had ever seen. My subconscious protested rather weakly that this was not a human and I should definitely not be enjoying this but my conscious mind was too busy taking in the beauty. This continued for a few incredibly long seconds as I stood frozen, unable to move. Suddenly, with an incredible display of muscle control and balance her spine began to arch backwards bending the whole back backwards. At this point my eyes widened and the muscles in my jaw relaxed, opening in amazement. First her head and shoulders appeared from behind her hindquarters, then her back became visible. The bands of muscle on either side of her spine became more defined as they were engaged and the bend deepened. The ridges of the vertebrae bones buried themselves between the two bands of muscle as the stretch continued to bend. Her spine now resembled a C shape, bringing her head and shoulders closer to her tail and plot. Suddenly, I realized that if she took the bend much further her face would be pointing directly at me and she would see that I have been watching her the whole time! I stood as still as a frightened guinea pig as the beautiful face of Blossomforth finally emerged from behind her colorful mane. Her face was a serene expression, her eyes closed and the barest hint of a smile graced her lips. At his point, the mane on top of her head and her ears touched her tail and the fat on the cheeks of her muscular plot. She became still, keeping the incredibly deep stretch going for as long as possible. At this point I was utterly discombobulated. I did not know what to do except try to sneak away before she noticed. As I took my first step backwards I made the faintest of creaking sounds and I felt the pit of my stomach drop out. I valiantly hoped that she did not notice the small creak. But alas, her eyelids slowly started to open. As slowly as they were opening, I had no hope of escaping quickly enough and not make noise. I stood still in supine acceptance and quickly tried to hide the boner I had just noticed in my pants. I put on the straightest face I could in acceptance of my fate. Blossomforth's eyes focused on me and the hint of a smile on her face became the tiniest bit more defined but I must have been imagining it because she probably thought I was a pervert stalker. Suddenly, her mouth opened to speak. (Please look at an illustration of this scene that I commissioned: >>969409 in Derpibooru) "Hey, Anon! Sorry for blocking your way! I was just practicing my stretches while I waited." She said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I'm not buying it! Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the tip of her ear was blushing! I suddenly remembered that being stark necked was completely normal in pony society but I could not control a barely noticeable red tinge on my cheeks. "S-sure, sorry for being late. I t-think I drifted off." Blossomforth smiled in an impossibly cute way, still in her convoluted contortionist position. Deep breaths, Anon. This is no time for a heart attack. "No problem! Just gimme a sec and I'll be ready." She pivoted her hind leg which was on the floor and her foreleg which was also on the floor in a way so that she was able to set her other two hooves down on the floor into a backbend bridge. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/1/25/533401.png ) From there she flourished one leg upwards using the momentum to bring the other leg upwards into an areal split, balanced on her forehooves. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/9/23/433654.png ) She continued her motion until her first hind leg touched down on the floor followed by her other leg which gracefully touched down in quick succession. She was now in the normal standing pony position. I stood there transfixed. The universe had once again decided to taunt me with what was undoubtably the most ridiculously sexy thing I had ever seen. What more, it was relevant to my interests. What do I do? Did I already make my first impression that I was a pervert stalker? -------- Her plan worked perfectly! She was able to time her stretch for exactly when Anon arrived due to her telepathic fruit fly probe. She even kept her body 100% pony to make the stretch as realistic as possible. Sure it was more difficult to keep the proper muscle control and concentration but it was much more satisfying knowing that she had worked long and hard to accomplish it and train the proper control before her transformation into an advanced life-form. Not to mention that natural stretching felt so good! Perhaps it worked a little too well. Blossomforth almost giggled at the expression Anon had made when she opened her eyes but now he looked frozen. Something went wrong but she was not sure what. His eyes were glazed over and he was staring into space. "Uh oh," Bloss thought and her face fell. "I think I broke him." She waved a hoof in front of his face. "Hey, Anon! You okay?" -------- "-ou okay?" I snapped out of my thoughts as a white hoof flailed in front of me. "Bwuh! You're still here?" Interesting, I am probably not dreaming. What an unexpected development. I focused on Blossomforth. Her head was slightly tilted in mild concern. I finally came to terms that this was actually happening. I quickly composed myself, trying to regain the professionalism that I usually had. "Er... sorry about that, and sorry for peeking while you were stretching. It looked kind of private but it was kind of hard to avoid after almost running into your... backside." Anon shuffled uncomfortably and Blossomforth cracked a deceptively innocent smile. "Te-hi-hi! That's ok Anon! I used to care a lot more about my privacy when stretching but now I guess I'm getting a little more open about it. I mean there is nothing wrong with stretching. Ohhh, I also wanted to thank you for the incredible massages! It really helps to stimulate the muscles and get them more bendable." I knew it! I had a feeling that she was getting massages to aid in her stretching hobby! Well, Anon. Here is your chance, you need to make a friend out of this beautiful, flexible mare! "Wow! I'm glad to be able to help! Your muscles have always seemed to be more healthily toned and malleable than the average pony but I did not really expect this. Is this like a secret hobby of yours?" "Well, a few of my friends know I am flexible but they do not know that I do more... extreme stretches. Oh yeah, I'm sorry for skipping out on my last appointment. I had some, uh, personal problems that I had to deal with." Her eyes shifted a little evasively. This was incredible! Looks like she did not think I was a stalker after all! Welp, if there was ever a time to spill the beans it was now! My stomach dropped like the feeling of being at the top of a roller coaster as I prepared to tell my secret. "Um, to tell you the truth Bloss, I actually do some similar stretches in complete secret but I have not really gotten past my shyness and I have never shown or told anyone until now... That is kind of the reason that I was so good at opening your muscles, I learned some massage techniques and started using them on myself a while back even though it is a bit difficult to massage yourself. I’m pretty flexible but you seem to be a lot better than me!” Blossomforth's eyes lit up and she smiled widely in genuine but deceptive enthusiasm. "*Squee* Awesome! Oh, I have always wanted a stretching buddy! Will you be my stretching buddy? We can teach each other techniques and stuff!" This time I could feel my own smile. Bloss began hopping up and down in place with enthusiasm kind of like how a deer would. Bizarrely, her smile seemed to get a little too wide as if her cheeks were splitting open like a snake about to swallow something whole, but as soon as I blinked it looked like a normal smile. It must of had something to do with the dopamine in my head because I was feeling utterly euphoric! "You know what? Sure! It is about time that I did something social. I hope you are not too put off by the fact that I am a human." I did not know it but Bloss was worried about the same thing if she ever revealed her other secret. Bloss smiled even wider if that was possible and I rubbed my eyes until her smile became a reasonable size again. Did I get enough sleep last night? "Oh, pshaw. I have seen stranger sapient creatures than you! I'm sure you have seen some other strange sapient beings wherever you are from. How does tomorrow in the evening sound? I like to stretch in the evening. The body always seems more loose. It's nice to finally have someone to share my secret with and who can properly appreciate contortion." "Err, I haven't actually seen any other sapient species where I come from. Anyways, That time sounds great to me! I believe I will appreciate having someone to share my stretching with also. I guess it's a..." Date? "...stretching appointment." I finished lamely. "Sounds great Nony! I can't wait!" She said as she skipped towards the door. "Err, still want that massage?" She was already gone. > Interlude: Origin and Reclimation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomfoth was experiencing deep sleep in the middle of the night. It was times like this when Thingpone experienced something close to what might be called consciousness. It was a novel feeling, one that she rarely experienced. Thing was missing a lot of essential neural architecture that was taken over by Blossomforth, the dominant consciousness. For now, however while Blossomforth was in the deepest of sleeps Thingpone was able to form basic logical thought with some effort. She was slowly improving as time passed. Slowly learning in her retarded state similar to how an infant would. It was an odd relationship she had with Blossomforth. They influenced each other’s thoughts and actions. Thingpone’s instincts usually wormed their way into Blossomforth’s actions causing her to impulsively do things. Her cold, calculating, logical, emotionless nature sometimes leaked into Blossomforth’s thoughts and personality. Thingpone was sure that Blossomforth was aware of these strange thoughts and instincts leaking into her mind. Blossomforth also effectively utilized the undamaged part of her neural architecture that effectively controlled their shared body and telepathy. However, this relationship was a two way street. Thingpone was sure that if she had landed in Equestria undamaged, all of the world’s organic matter would be under her control by now. Surprisingly, she was glad that she was not in the driver’s seat. While Thingpone was mostly emotionless in nature there were a few things left in her that were essential to maximize her effectiveness in adaptability, survivability and strategic action. Things like logical thought, curiosity, and problem solving adaptability were all left to enhance her effectiveness. This caused her to be curious when alien emotions leaked into her mind. She was able to learn the meaning of these new emotions and at least comprehend Blossomforth’s reasoning for not immediately consuming everything she came in contact with. Her inquisitive nature caused her to examine these emotions. It changed her. Thingpone was now able to feel the emotions the tiniest bit. It was an utterly alien experience. If she had been able to take control in the beginning she probably would have never experienced these odd pony emotions. Thingpone had learned almost everything she knew from Blossomforth’s thoughts and experiences and they effected her. She gave herself a pony name ‘Thingpone’ and referred to herself as a female. Although she was still mostly a cold, logical entity her mind had undoubtedly adopted pony thought processes to fill in the missing parts of her mind. It was such a confusing and turbulent time for Thing. At least she had completed her programmed duty of surviving her race. She needed to concentrate, she needed answers. There was a hint of something her ancestors left her, a kind of memory or history for posterity. A way to describe it would be similar a pony’s business strategy, a kind of secret sauce or strategy for success. So she got an idea from Blossomforth’s experiences, Thingpone attempted to meditate and her ancestors’ history slowly opened to her in a trance… -------- Thing focused on the one constant thing in her life, her hunger. Her hunger for organic data was a bottomless insatiable pit stemming from an instinct ingrained in her very genes that permeated her entire being. It seemed like she was always hungry, it was part of her nature. She was the product of billions of years of honed genetic efficiency. Her genetic code echoed the ghosts of her biological past. Millions of years of brutal natural selection and eventually sentient genetic engineering to make her the apex predator of her entire galaxy. Her biology was perfected to such a degree that if even a few cells escaped to a new world, those cells would multiply and eventually harvest the world's best genetic information by assimilating and categorizing all life on that planet and integrating it into herself to make herself more efficient, adaptable, stronger, and closer to perfection. Thingpone started as just another tentacle in her galaxy’s juggernaut. Her race was space faring and absolutely dominated the galaxy, harvesting living worlds for biological information. Each "seed" would be rigidly programmed and sent to a planet to assimilate, multiply, harvest all biological life for genetic information. The seed would start small, assimilating everything in its path and gathering organic material to multiply, eventually acting like a massive hive with central telepathic coordination and parallel thought processes. The hive would continue growing and multiplying until all life was homogenized into the hive. Once all life was assimilated, the hive would use its massive telepathic neural network to process and compress all of the valuable biological information on the planet into a database to be transported back into the central collective. Once this was done, the hive would create an organic space ship to send a new seed to the next planet. Once this was done the rest of the hive would terraform the planet into a favorable environment for primitive life to appear and promptly self destruct. The central collective was rigidly and absolutely empathy free and thus sent seeds to worlds that were ruthless and empathy free. These seeds would immediately discard the consciousness of anything they assimilated in favor of the genetic information. They would snuff out the independent consciousnesses and life of a world in a few years or decades with machine-like efficiency. The collective routinely harvested billions of worlds which meant that on very rare occasions a seed would fail in some way. Because of this, an inspector would be sent every few years to monitor the seed's progress in assimilating the world. The inspector was essentially an enormous organic ship. If the seed ever failed in some way, the space faring inspector would immediately split half of itself to report back to the central collective. The other half would either attempt to finish the seed's job or simply destroy the planet from orbit using nuclear fission and fusion. If the seed was normal, the inspector would collect copies of the genetic information to be sent back to the central collective located at the center of the galaxy. The collective had a unique way of harvesting the galaxy. The galaxy was a circular disk and the billions of planets that were currently being harvested if shown on a galactic map would form a spiral arm that stretched from the center of the galaxy all the way to the galaxy’s edge. The seeds would travel from world to world leaving them devoid of life but fertile, traveling around the galaxy in a circular motion, slowly moving the arm in a counter-clockwise rotation around the galaxy. The inspectors would methodically collect copies of harvested information from the seeds to be sent to the central collective and in return installed genetic upgrades into the new seed inside the newly built organic space ship fresh from the central collective to improve the new seed's efficiency with the latest biological technology. This harvesting arm rotated around the galaxy, continuously harvesting the life information from the planets. The rotation completed at a rate of one rotation per 300 million years which was enough time for a new unique apex predator to appear in the fertile world previously left behind. In this way her race could continuously perfect its own biology and numbers, becoming hopelessly more biologically advanced and numerous than the life they harvested. Even if the prey had somehow formed a civilization in 300 million years and produced technology, even a small infection from a seed would quickly devour most of the prey's race even if they were somewhat technologically advanced. In the 300 million years the indigenous race had to evolve, they had no hope of evolving their biology enough to combat the ancient harvesters. Even if they managed to somehow avoid initial infection, other seeds would be sent to quell and assimilate the planet. For billions of years this cycle progressed, continuously improving the race's biology until they were so advanced they resembled eldritch abominations, effortlessly dominating inferior life forms. However, something changed. The collective never bothered to venture outside the galaxy because the distances were so great that control would be almost impossible and might even end up being a one way trip because of how the universe was expanding. However, over the course of millions of years a foreign galaxy was slowly making its way closer in a collision course, which meant that colonization would eventually be viable. Little did the collective know that within this galaxy was another advanced biological race that was also harvesting its own galaxy. The resulting clash of alien galactic apex predators was incredibly dramatic and desperate, leading to the destruction of billions of worlds over millions of years. It was in this time that Thing was created as a seed. Normal self destruct protocols among other inhibitors were removed and Thingpone was given a biological record with all of the most essential and valuable genetic information to make her dominate wherever she may go. Like a tree that shoots out all of its seeds in a forest fire, the collective shot out trillions of seeds similar to Thing to distant galaxies in the slim hope that one of them might make it to a distant living world isolated from the self destructive war between galactic apex predators. Almost a billion and a half years later, almost all of the seeds were traveling though the dead space between galaxies, dormant and without hope. Solar sails had sped these seeds to the edge of the speed of light. Due to the laws of relativity, time slowed. Instead of a billion years, only one million years had passed from their reference frame. Many were incinerated in suns, sucked up by black holes or dead due to the toll of time. Only one seed would run into a suitable planet by chance in a galaxy far, far, away. The seed was severely damaged due to the sheer amount of time that had passed in dormancy. The dormant state was meant to preserve the seed indefinitely especially because it was so cold in space, but more than a million years in dormancy took its toll. This seed was damaged to the point where many of its protocols simply did not work. The seed could not form its own consciousness, that part of the seed was broken beyond repair in dormancy. Usually this would result in self-termination but concern for the survival of the species caused this protocol to be disabled. When the seed impacted the planet it desperately needed sustenance and useful DNA to survive the new environment. The seed was operating purely by programming and possessed no intelligence. The programming told the seed to assimilate the first sapient thing it encountered so it complied. Without intelligent consciousness and limited surviving programming the seed was forced to go by the most basic of instincts and adopted what was available which happened to be the consciousness of Blossomforth. This process was similar to how the first eukaryotic cell engulfed a mitochondria, forming a mutualistic relationship which became the basis of all life in Equestria. Without adopting Blossomforth’s neural architecture the seed would have been brain dead and would not have survived. Suddenly this galaxy had a new apex predator. Incomprehensibly advanced and terrifyingly deadly, the life form was billions of years ahead of anything the galaxy had ever seen. The entire galaxy was her oyster and ultimately at her mercy. This advanced life form went by two names, Thingpone and Blossomforth. -------- Thingpone had never felt so awake. Surely the value this meditation practice she learned from Blossomforth could not be overstated. The memories stimulated her retarded mind, healing it slightly. She was also giddy with excitement and purpose. This planet was full of soft, tender, juicy life forms ripe for the picking and rich with biological diversity. According to the information her ancestors left her, the planets of her home galaxy were full of life forms tempered with competitive natural selection that came with interstellar travel. Judging by the richness of biology on this planet it was a virgin world. It had never been taken over by a harvesting race which meant that interstellar travel might not even exist in this galaxy yet! During her travel here, she was programmed to wake every couple million years to record her location. This galaxy was extremely isolated meaning the probability of outside interference was minute, she would be able to grow and dominate the galaxy without difficulty or resistance! Thingpone envisioned a new galactic empire to last a trillion years! Thingpone suddenly remembered that she had developed emotions. If she cleared her mind she could even feel her weak conscience nagging at the back of her mind like nails screeching on chalkboard. She would have to reconcile her new emotions and empathy with her driving purpose of consolidating all life. She would also have to convince Blossomforth to work with her. It would be difficult but the stakes were high. There was control of an entire galactic empire within her reach. All she had to do was reach out and grab it. This was her destiny, she would realize it. Suddenly, she felt Blossomforth exiting deep sleep into a REM sleep and her mind darkened and her thoughts slowed. No matter, she had time in this soft docile world. She would get through to Blossomforth eventually and together they would dominate countless worlds. > Chapter 8: Experimentation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth woke from a fitful sleep. Odd half-remembered visions of galaxies and planets that she had seen before in a textbook danced in her head. She rubbed her eyes trying to remember what she was dreaming about. What little she remembered was slipping away, the dream was bizarre, that's for sure. She was also vaguely excited about something. Ah yes, she smiled. That stunt she pulled yesterday surely left an impression on anon. It was cute how socially awkward he was, trying to pretend that he wasn’t enjoying watching her show off her bendiness. She put on the innocent act but in reality she was enjoying watching Anon squirm. Speaking of squirming, Bloss had barely squirmed her way out of getting a massage from anon. She was a bit worried about controlling her baser instincts which seemed to randomly assert themselves. She would need to find some fresh organisms she had not assimilated before in the Everfree forest to sate her hunger before the evening. Blossomforth’s strange dreams had caused her to oversleep so instead of actually sitting down and eating she reached out with a few tentacles and engulfed a few apples and pears. She needed to get a head start if she wanted to find a robust variety of organisms to really sate her hunger. Blossomforth trotted out of her house and flew briskly towards the Everfree Forest whistling a tune on her way. Every time she went hunting she was able to experiment with a whole library of biological functions left to her by the Thing. She was becoming more and more efficient at her hunting. It still felt a bit wrong for her to eat another living creature but, the Thing's instincts had dulled her guilt. She was still happy that she had not actually killed anypony, or any sapient creature, she just borrowed some of their bodies- temporarily- without permission, and compromised the sanctity of their free will. Blossomforth frowned and tried not to think about it too much. Blossom was also becoming better at concentrating and getting a feel of the different biological functions she had at her disposal. But there was a problem, there were a LOT of different functions. Every time she imagined an appendage or organ she would need to accomplish a task she would get an overwhelming selection. Instead of trying to go through every iteration she decided to instead pick something that felt right and practice with it for the day for her hunting. Maybe not the quickest or most straightforward ways to catch her prey but it was an effective way to practice and become familiar with herself. Blossomforth never liked assimilating animals, they were always so scared before she assimilated them but it was a necessity to sate her hunger and control herself. But yesterday she meditated, shifting through the masses of biological data inside her to find a way to quickly and painlessly subdue the scared animals before she assimilated them and birthed their new bodies back out. Blossomforth was a pacifist at heart, she didn't want to hurt anyone but having her mind melded to the Thing had changed her. Really, she was no different than a predator in the forest. What she was doing really wasn't wrong. Sometimes, especially if the animal didn't have any dependent family members, she would consume them fully. It was simply easier and quicker to gather energy this way. She felt guilty but her guilt was dulled by the Thing's instincts. Still, she only took what she needed. She didn't allow herself to become addicted to having a larger body. As she was meditating and shifting through her data she found two biological constructs that could prove to be very useful. The first was an enzyme that produced an extremely impressive neurotoxin cocktail. When injected into the bloodstream it would numb and paralyze the muscles it flowed past, producing a dull warm feeling. It was also a powerful depressant, quickly dulling the mind and nervous system causing the victim to quickly pass into unconsciousness. The other biological construct she wanted to utilize were microscopic stingers usually found on the tentacles of a jellyfish which could be used to deliver the neurotoxin. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zJiBc_N1Zk) If she covered her body with these things, warm numbness and paralyses would flow from where she touched her prey and fall unconscious shortly after, allowing her to dissolve their bodies without struggle. This would hopefully make the process much more smooth and easy. Blossomforth also wanted to test her hivemind capabilities today. She had experienced it before when she split herself to find and assimilate her mangled weather team but it was mostly a blur. If she could master these abilities, sating Thingpone's hunger in the future would be a breeze. Bloss reached the forest, flying over the canopy. After flying for a few minutes she found what looked like a secluded clearing and landed. First thing first, she wanted to test out her microscopic stingers. Bloss thought it would be interesting to assimilate a hummingbird but the problem was that they were very quick and if she tried to assimilate the hummingbird using brute force she could injure or kill the poor thing before she could assimilate it which is something she wanted to avoid. There happened to be a butterfly bush, a favorite of humming birds, so she decided to set up shop there and wait. Hummingbirds loved to stick their beaks into the flowers of a butterfly bush and lap up the nectar which made the plant an ideal attractor. She walked up to the bush and decomposed herself, melting into a blob of flesh. She slid her mass through the branches to the center of the plant where it was rooted to the ground. She felt each of the branches and grew tentacles which curled around each of the branches. As each of her thin vinelike tentacles reached the end of the branch she grew small beady eyes on the ends of her fleshy vines to see what became attracted. Blossomforth could not focus on so many eyes at the end of each branch so instead she formed nerve clusters in each of her tentacles to take care of basic visual tracking and identification. Flashes of information were fed into her mind. A honeybee, she had already assimilated one of those last week. A moth, a fly, a beetle, all things she had tasted before. Ah! Finally! A hummingbird. She focused her attention on the tentacle near where the hummingbird was about to feed. She concentrated and microscopic stingers sprouted from every surface of her body ready to spring out and inject their neurotoxin at the lightest touch. Ever so slowly while the hummingbird dipped its head into the flower she extended her thin tentacle into the air behind the hummingbird careful not to startle it and gently wrapped her tentacle around the little bird's torso. Instantly, the stingers fired and released the powerful neurotoxin into the bloodstream of the little bird. The hummingbird squeaked and trilled in surprise, feeling the tentacle and darted out of the tentacle's grasp. The bird would have gotten away, but with a fast beating heart and such a small body the neurotoxin was extra fast acting causing it's wings to slow down until it dropped out of the sky. It did not get far and Blossomforth quickly reached out to catch the tiny bird, it's eyes closed as the toxin reached its brain. Bloss retracted her other tentacles and slid out of the bush reforming her pony form minus the tentacle that was still grasping the bird. She tilted the bird in her tentacle, it was a beautiful, delicate, and cute little thing with holographic plumage that ran down the bird's neck and changed color as the light refracted off of it. Despite being unconscious she could feel its tiny heart beat at quite a fast rate. Well, down the hatch she supposed. Once again the wave of information and pleasure from assimilating a new diverse life form hit her. All of the intricacies and ingenious designs that made a humming bird were quickly processed, compressed and stored for future use. Blossom then proceeded to reform the bird’s body using the information she had harvested and placed its nervous system back where it belonged. She lay the bird on her hoof where it woke up from its unconsciousness and slowly balanced itself on the edge of her hoof. It stared at Blossomforth fluffing it's tiny feathers in a kind of questioning way, flicked its long tongue at her, and buzzed off. Blossomforth smiled, she was proud of herself. It was the first time she was able to release an animal she had caught without resorting to memory alterations. The bird did not even know what had happened to it. Now to try something a little more advanced. Being able to exist in more than one place at once was a powerful thing. She had experienced it before but she wanted to see how far she could take it. Blossom prepared herself and slowly deformed into her usual viscosity and performed cytokinesis like she had done before. She mostly let Thingpone's instinct take over as she went. It was an utterly bizarre feeling to be split in two but it seemed that her mind was still whole which was curious. It seemed like the telepathy she utilized was like a data transfer system that allowed the architecture of her higher order thought functions of her mind to be divided into different bodies but communicate as if it was still whole. Her lower motor skills, other "dumb" portions of her mind, and central nervous system were copied into both of her bodies while higher thought and more complex logical sectors were shared between her two bodies allowing for centralized thought. She tried to form her normal pony form with both of her bodies. Curiously the forest seemed to be larger than before, it seemed that she would need more biomaterial or nutrients to make two normal sized bodies. She tried walking with one body and rolling over with her other body. She was not able to critically examine both of her actions at the same time but it seemed that she could quickly set a task and the "dumber" copies of her mind would carry it out effectively. Now to try something more complex. She split again and reformed. Now there were four foal sized Blossomforths loitering around and examining each other with curiosity. Her higher mind was able to form complex thought and emotions but could not concentrate on all of her bodies at the same time. The copied parts of her lower order minds were able to act independently and focus on different things. She thought of a complex task that required coordination and teamwork. Hmmm, jumping rope would work, but she would need rope. Wait! She didn't need rope! Two of her bodies faced each other and their tongues snaked out of their mouthes and expanded outwards towards each other in a tentacle-like fashion, they touched and fused together. More tongue came out until their fused tongue had enough slack to get to the floor like a jump rope. Her other two bodies walked forward standing in front of the rope in preparation. One, two, three! Her bodies coordinated and swung their tongue over the other two and the two jumpers jumped as the ropy tongue passed under them. Incredible! This process guided by instinct was seamless! Blossom did not know that Thingpone’s ancestors relied on this method of hivemind immensely in order to effectively multiply and harvest a planet. It was so important that they had spent hundreds of millions of years perfecting the technique. She split again. Now there were eight miniature blossomforths. They looked like plushies. Blossomforth was now sensing a hierarchy. When in her base decomposed form, her mind existed as “thinking muscle” spread throughout her body. However, if you were to compare her mind to a brain the highest order thought and decision making existed in the frontal lobe. It was what gave sentient creatures their spark of creativity, emotion, complex thought, and problem solving. There were a spectrum of other functions between the frontal lobe and the brain stem. The brain stem and brain matter around it contained the most basic motor skills, reflexes, and other passive functions that regulated the body. There was a hierarchy in her newly developed hivemind that governed the group as a whole. At the top was the core of the mind that contained core personality, morality, emotion, and empathy. This was divided into eight, each part stored inside of each of the bodies and joined as one functional highest order mind via telepathic data link. Next were high order thoughts below the highest order: creativity, strategic thought, problem solving, and other complex thought. This portion was copied into two and each copy was split into four allowing for two independent mind portions focusing on complex thought for the two groups of four. Below that were lower order thought functions that were not quite passive but not as complex as the above functions. This was copied into four with each copy split in two allowing for four independent mind portions for four groups of two. Lastly were the passive reflexes, motor controls, and other passive functions. Each body got its own complete copy of this lowest order mind allowing the bodies completely independent mind functions. This hivemind structure was utterly ingenious. It allowed for centralized strategic control but it also allowed for independent tactical thought and focus for more mundane tasks. This structure would more finely divide depending on how many times she split herself, with the most complex mind centralized and shared at the top and the most passive mind copied and independently utilized at the bottom. Now to try something crazy. She split and split again. Now there were 64 tiny masses flesh on the forest floor that each formed into a hummingbird. The Mind hierarchy was much more complex and more finely divided the mind giving each of her hummingbird bodies a thin slice of the highest order mind and a complete passive mind. She directed herselves to start feeding from the flowers of the butterfly bushes. All of her tiny bodies buzzed from the ground and flew towards flowers of the bushes independently maneuvering and flying around each other. She focused on one hummingbird and it hovered above to survey her swarm giving her centralized higher mind a good view of the action. They descended upon the butterfly bush each of her diving and darting between each other to find a flower. Blossomforth concentrated on the information stream processed by the lower order copies, there was a veritable torrent of information. This flower tastes better than the other, this flower has more nectar than the other. Her mid level minds were able to coordinate their local groups effectively, moving in a clockwise rotation around the bush to harvest all of the nectar in a sweeping motion much like the rotating arm of a galaxy she dreamed of. It was all utterly amazing and the implications were astounding! If she wanted to she could have a dedicated body to harvest life information in the Everfree while she did her weatherpony job elsewhere! She could be more productive! She could assimilate the world. While her central mind was busy thinking of the implications, her hive had sucked the butterfly bush dry of nectar and moved on to some nearby flowers. But now every hummingbird in her swarm hovered still in midair. Blossomforth’s central mind was flabbergasted. Brief images of homogenized and assimilated worlds flashed in Blossomforth’s mind. So that’s what Thingpone wanted. It was tempting, oh so tempting to just let go and proceed to assimilate everything in sight. Her swarm gathered together and melted into a puddle of flesh. Blssomforth rose from the puddle, a grimace on her face. She could not. She would not. She had a responsibility, damn it! She needed answers, more-so than ever. She wished she had never started experimenting with her body. Blossomforth suddenly realized that she would soon be meeting with Anon to stretch. She needed to seriously think about what to do. This was getting ridiculous. Was she really a threat to all the life in the world? It was now more clear than ever that it was a realistic possibility. Dark thoughts crossed her mind as she sullenly took off to fly back to Ponyville. > Interlude: Monster > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth's worry and anxiety worsened as she flew to Ponyville as her imagination started churning. The implications of her discovery and Thingpone’s intent to assimilate the world clawed at her mind. Little did she know that her discovery of her hivemind ability triggered something within her, something left to her. Suddenly, a headache started to bloom in her head, giving her intense visions. Blossomforth clutched her head with both hooves. It was getting worse, she slowed down and descended to the ground. She fell on her side in a fetal position moaning in pain. The vision became more intense, robbing her of her senses until it became her new world... -------- It was a beautiful day. This was world #56,792 but this was only the 547th world he had found that contained sapient species. Sapient species were delicious. The Hivemind was a veteran, one of the best his species had ever produced. The Central Collective had wanted to promote him to inspector but he relished getting down into the nitty gritty and consolidating planets, it was one of his greatest pleasures. He focused on one of his sub-minds, commanders that controlled large swaths of his minions and assumed direct control. This was something else he loved to do, most of his sub-minds and minions were able to keep to themselves and performed effectively but sometimes he loved to dive into random minions and sub minds and do their job just for the thrill. This commander was hovering over a forest commanding 40 squads of 20 minions, coordinating their movements ensure maximum efficient assimilation. The Hivemind watched the chaos his minions were bringing upon the world. It was utterly beautiful. Each minion was essentially a mass of tentacles, a floating mass suspended in the air by some exotic form of technology or scientific phenomena. The mass would slowly float through the forest. The tentacles each had their own basic "dumb" brain and eyes which would allow the tentacles to act independently. As the mass got closer to a specimen, tentacles would dart out and fuse to the specimen causing the specimen to become paralyzed and the tentacle would quickly engulf and dissolve the specimen, reading the information contained within the specimen and consuming its biomass. The information was fed into the heart of this slimy, shifting mass of tentacles where a slightly higher order mind would process the information, discarding duplicate genetic information and saving interesting unique bits of genetic information. Eventually, once enough biomass was accumulated the minion would divide into two, multiplying themselves as they went. The sentient species they were assimilating had managed to develop a crude handheld kinetic weapon which they attempted to use to defend themselves. It was quite futile. The minions used the biomass they gathered to power a semi-permeable energy shield that allowed the tentacles to slip through but was also quite effective at stopping the high speed kinetic pellets that were thrown at them. The Hivemind watched as five of these creatures jumped out from behind plants, shouted out warcries and started firing their loud automatic kinetic weapons at the slimy writhing mass of tentacles. The mass simply floated in midair waiting for the primitive creatures to expend their ammunition against their energy shield. The five creatures ran out of pellets and began to reload. Five tentacles shot out of the mass and quickly paralyzed the creatures and assimilated them. The minion continued floating forward unperturbed. All across this forest were minions reaching out and assimilating everything in sight. They moved in a line so as to not let a single succulent specimen escape their grasp. The minions divided often, bolstering their numbers. As a squad of minions became too large a squad leader floating above their squad would divide, forming two squads. Occasionally, once there were more than 50 squads the commander floating high above the forest would divide and two new companies of about 25 squads would also form. In this way they expanded exponentially, spreading throughout the land and even into the liquid oceans assimilating everything in their path. The Hivemind had worked hard the last few days and allowed himself a treat to reward himself. The Hivemind assumed direct control of a minion as it entered a particularly lively area filled with diverse and numerous specimens. The mind wriggled the countless tentacles of the minion with absolute pleasure. They all lengthened out and fused to 100 specimens at once and rapidly began assimilating them. Some of the specimens produced shrieking noises that suddenly stopped as their bodies became paralyzed and he sucked their liquified biomass and information down his tentacles like a straw to be processed and sent to the squad leader. The screams continued in his mind in the form of their consciousnesses, a beautiful symphony. He destroyed their consciousnesses one by one in a musical manner and the information flowed through him, it was an invigorating feeling. The Hivemind, finished with his fun, left the minion to its own devices and generalized his reach to the largest view possible. He felt millions of minions and the chain of hierarchy that were rapidly dividing and spreading. Tomorrow he would be tens of millions and the day after hundreds of millions until he assimilated all life. It was all profoundly beautiful and the mind basked in the flow of information as the most interesting and efficient organic information the planet had to offer flowed past him. The cream of the crop, ingenious blueprints of the best organic constructs flowed into his mind. It was the best feeling possible. He was a god, and this was his domain. He would not stop until his domain was completely under his control, he would shape it to his will. He was the omega. -------- Blossomforth lay on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes and her body shaking and spamming. Insect-like appendages had sprouted from her body and were also twitching in their creepy insect manner. What was that horrifying vision? The screams of agony the poor assimilated souls made before their consciousness was ripped to shreds were like a million nails screeching on a chalkboard in the back of her mind. Her headache intensified to agonizing levels. Is this what she was destined to become? Was she to be a monstrous "god", consumer of worlds? Was she meant to forcibly destroy the lives of everyone, selfishly consuming them into herself? A weak voice spoke from the back of her mind. "Yes! This is our purpose. This is our birthright. Embrace it! Satisfy your hunger! Experience power greater than anything you have ever known!" The voice weakened and died as if it had expended all of its energy but it left a terrified Blossomforth behind. "AAAAAHHHHHGGGGGG!!!" Blossomforth yelled in desperation. The discovery of her hivemind ability, the vision, the pain, the screams, and now the voice in her head. It was all too much for her. Her face turned into an impressionist painting, deforming as she screamed. Blossomforth's front hooves morphed into eagle claws. She grabbed the hair of her long mane and she pulled her hair in opposite directions. The giant insect appendages on her back twitched and scratched wildly. Blossomforth was alone. > Chapter 9: Stretching Appointment > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I deleted a few paragraphs at the end of last chapter because I did not like them and did not adequetely represent the direction I want the story to go. Blossomforth was a pitiful sight. Her solid form was halfway melted and submerged into a puddle of her own viscous flesh. Bloodshot drooping eyes and tear stains decorated the face and skull of Blossomforth which threatened to melt and become consumed into the viscous, shifting mass. Bloss was revulsed with herself. She was ashamed of the legacy she was left with. A race of cold blooded psychopathic monsters devoid of empathy. She was doomed to be this creature. Every instinct and bodily function honed and perfected for one purpose: complete organic domination. By all rights she should not exist. She deserved to be a normal pony. She did not deserve to be routinely tempted by this power. The ponies and creatures of this planet did not deserve to be so easily threatened with assimilation and mental death. Then again, Mother Nature was a bitch. Mother Nature does not care if an earthquake kills tens of thousands of ponies. Was it fair to them? No. Reality did not care for fairness, there were immutable laws to the universe, things no pony could control. Who could control a mile wide nickel meteorite projectile hurtling into the planet to wipe out civilization? Who could stop an incomprehensibly advanced eldritch abomination bent on world domination? It seemed she was destined to become just that. Her entire body, being, instincts, and genetics were built for this purpose. She was the next natural disaster, a force of nature itself. Nothing but a tool, a weapon of nature's apocalypse. Fuck that. She still had her mind! Albeit routinely assaulted by temptations, instincts, visions, voices, and the supreme pleasure of assimilation she still had her free will! She would fight for it and the future of the innocent life on the planet. She still remembered when she was a pony. Fuck mother nature, fuck her monstrous ancestors' plan, and fuck Thingpone. She was a strong independent eldritch abomination and she would not be intimidated by nightmarish memories and instincts! Blossomforth proceeded to climb out of her pitiful puddle the way one would climb out of a hole. She set hoof on the grass as her puddle shrank and reformed into her usual pony self, creaking and making wet sounds as her bones cracked into place and her flesh flowed around them. Once fully formed she sat on her haunches, rump collapsing in a heap. Her eyes were bloodshot but focused, a frown on her face and a few lingering uncontrollable sniffles. The wind breezed and flowed around her, shifting her fur softly and the sun provided a warm sensation. For now at least her mind was clear, free from visions and dark thoughts left only to wonder at the intricate designs of nature, the complex clouds slowly shifting shapes in the sky and the trees shifting in the fall wind, their leaves showing the slightest hint of turning colors. The stress and anxiety she experienced slowly left her as she put in the effort to clear her mind and relaxed as she watched the beauty of nature. She decided right then and there that this was something she was determined to protect. The world she had seen devoured by the veteran Hivemind was devoid of life and ugly, homogenized and consumed and dead. She would show Thingpone and the ancestors that attempted to program her that there was a better way. With new determination, Blossomforth took flight towards Ponyville on the skyline. As she soared through the sky she suddenly remembered that she had planned to meet with Anon to do yoga together. Such a quaint social meeting seemed distant and unimportant at the moment but it might be just what she needed to ground herself and find support. She sighed, what could she even do now? She did not know how to stop the voices and urges but maybe she could find some respite in practicing what she loved to do. Blossomforth closed her eyes briefly and sighed softly as she flew, despite her troubles a smile cracked on her face at the thought of toying with the socially awkward Anon. -------- I nervously paced in the lobby. Blossomforth would be here any minute now to stretch with me. I had never actually stretched with a partner before but I had read on the internet that assisted stretching was very beneficial because the person being stretched could completely relax the muscles while the assister focused on the stretch. It was something I always wanted to try but I could not gather the courage to share my hobby with anyone else. Blossomforth was something else! I could not believe how talented she was. Her ability to strike such flexible poses yet steadily keep control of her limbs while she did was a thing of beauty. The image of her supple, toned, and defined muscles was burned in my memory. Every time she shifted to keep her balance I could pick out the different muscles within her plot that flexed, tightened, and pushed against her fur. She had undoubtedly spent countless hours building her voluminous, strong yet flexible muscles. They swam in a symphony beneath her fur hinting at her accomplishments. I could not deny that I was attracted to her. The carefree bubbly attitude that she expressed when we talked last made her all the more sexier. Her smile might be a little on the weird side sometimes but everyone had their quirks, right? Was it so bad being attracted to a cute pony? I mean it wasn’t like she was a dumb animal that could not communicate or make her own decisions. My vague half formed awkward thoughts about bestiality and the morality of being attracted to a pony were interrupted by a sudden clopping on the door. Welp, this was it. I slowly walked to the door, took a deep calming breath and opened. Blossomforth greeted me with a bright smile and bright eyes. Upon closer inspection her eyes also looked a bit tired and slightly red. Bloss proceeded to hop right though the doorway. “Hey, Nony! How you doing? Ready to get bendy?” She trotted forward and looked up at me enthusiastically. I smiled back at her. “Of course! I’m warmed up and ready. Just finished running and warming up to get that blood pumping. Are you tired? Your eyes look a little red.” Blossom’s smile waned slightly, almost imperceptibly. “I just have a bit more than usual on my plate at the moment. Nothing to worry about.” I gazed at her and she seemed to shy slightly at the scrutiny. I had a sudden urge to scratch her ears for some reason. I decided not to pry. “Alright then, I have a nice carpeted room upstairs where we can stretch. I have to say the last time you surprised me with your stretching, it looked incredible! I am wondering if I have any hope of keeping up haha!” “Oh, don’t worry Anon. I can coach you and show you where you need to improve.” With that we climbed up the stairs into the room I had cleared for stretching. I stripped off the sweatshirt to be left with an underarmor elastic type shirt that I special ordered from Rarity as well as my basketball shorts. "I guess we can start with some basic leg stretches." I dropped slowly down into the straddle splits. I smirked slightly to myself proudly as I looked down, my hip bones touched the floor in my first warmup stretch! "So, Bloss. How did you start training contortion?" As I gazed up I was surprised to see Blossomforth's left hind leg lifted up backwards and reaching straight up in an active stretch. Her gluteus maximus muscle in her plot was compressed between her hind leg and back and engaged to keep the leg steady which caused the muscle to bulge and protrude outward while being squashed between her leg and hip. Her hip flexor muscles were stretched but still defined and beside that was her slightly moist- Moving on. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/2/11/549482.png ) Her left hind leg slowly drifted back down to the floor and she began to slowly lift her right hind leg. It was beautiful. Bloss put on a thoughtful look as she looked back at me and glanced at her erect hind leg. "Hmm, well since I was a filly I played sports and saw some of the older fillies doing some stretches. I wanted to know how it would feel to do the same so I stretched until I was more flexible. I did not realize just how far the body could go until I saw some gymnasts and circius contortionists when I was older. I knew then I wanted to experience their level of flexibility for myself and maybe even see just how far the body could go. I've been doing this for years. I love how it feels and the sense of accomplishment in removing the barriers to free movement is awesome. How about you, Anon?" I rotated my torso and legs to the left from the straddle stretch into an attempted split. To my frustration, my splits still would not go down all the way and I was left in an awkward split stretch with my knee slightly bent. I turned my head towards her and this time her leg was lifted to the side in a straddle stretch giving me a full view of her stretched adductor muscles, bands visible in her fur that led the eye to her... moist area. As her leg reached the hight of her stretch she turned her head to look at me. I fought to keep my face from becoming red. (>>187629 in derpibooru) "Well, on Earth there is something called the Internet. It's basically a network of technologically advanced machines that allowed humans like me to communicate and share information very quickly and efficiently. In this internet I watched an animated cartoon called Avatar: the Last Air Bender. One of the characters was able to do a handstand and then lower her feet to plant them on top of her own head! Her name was Ty Lee. (https://youtu.be/7ApAlPoTYJs?t=4m29s (backup image)) I thought this was amazing but thought it was probably impossible to do. Boy was I wrong! After looking though the internet I discovered that this and even more flexible poses were possible! I thought I was a bit old when I started, fourteen years, but I was determined to experience it even though so many people on the internet told me that it was impossible for males to do. They were proven wrong with a little more research. Unfortunately, I quit a few times which really slowed my progress but I stretch pretty consistently today." "Wow..." said Blossomforth. She lowered her hind leg thoughtfully. "It's cool that you decided to do something despite everyone telling you it was impossible!" I rotated my torso and focused on stretching my splits on the other side. I was able to bring my hips to the floor but just barely, it was pretty awkward and my hips where no where close to being square. At least I was slowly experiencing progress, this was the second time in a row that my hips touched the floor! "Hey Anon, look! I'm Ty Lee!" I came out of the stretch slightly to see Blossomforth performing a hoof stand with her hind legs dangling above her and her face facing away from me. She brought her hind legs together and ever so slowly bent her back, lowering her hind hooves above her head and slowly bringing her head up to look at me. The bands of muscle in her back becoming more pronounced as they compressed and flexed to bend the back and keep her balance. She grinned as her hind hooves lowered above her head to touch her scalp. Her entire weight was balanced on her forehooves. I came out of my stretch and crawled closer to her amazed by her expert balance and smiled at her. I suddenly had an excellent idea. "You certainly are!" With that I reached out with my hand towards her face. Her eyes crossed as they tracked my hand. I gently pressed my index finger against her snout. "Boop!" Her muzzle instantly scrunched, her eyes widened and crossed even more, and a strange hungry look crossed her face as my finger made contact. As I made contact, I felt some small prick like a static shock and a strange warm feeling came over my finger. Her snout seemed to be made of putty and squished more than I expected. For a second I thought my finger would be stuck inside her nose somehow but that was just my ridiculous imagination at work. Her tongue came out of her mouth as if she wanted to lick my finger but it hesitated. Suddenly she retracted her tongue and her nose seemed to solidify, my finger became unstuck. Blossomforth uncrossed her eyes, looked at me a little bewildered. She seemed to recover, and put on a small pout. "H-Hey! N-Not fair! I'm stretching!" She looked like she was close to panicking and my hand seemed to fall asleep. Suddenly a mischievous grin appeared on her face. My face was quite close to hers grinning stupidly at her booping vulnerability. Without warning, her left hind leg extended and reached forwards towards me. At the same time the knee of her right leg bent and shifted backwards away from me to keep her center of mass balanced above her front hooves. Without time for me to react or move away, her left hind hoof booped my nose with another small prickly feeling of electric shock. I shook my hand as the numbing feeling slowly went away. It was my turn to scrunch my face. "BOOP!" (An illustration of this scene I requested. I picture Bloss being slightly smaller! See >>1078380 in Derpibooru.) "Wow! I hope I did not unbalance you, you seemed to panic a little bit back there. I guess I deserved that boop." Her right leg unbent and shifted forwards returning to her scalp and her left leg retracted and both her hind hooves once again rested on her scalp. "You sure did Nony! Never boop a filly while she’s stretching!” "I'll be sure to remember that for next time, heh. But anyways, that looked incredible! You looked just like Ty Lee! With all your hooves busy I could not resist booping you, I guess they were less busy than I thought. Did you do that incredible hoofstand without warmup? I usually have to warm up a lot to get to my best backbending." Blossomforth lifted her right hind leg off of her head and brought it backwards and reached forward with her left hind leg transforming the hoofstand into an areal split. Her spine uncurled gracefully as her right hoof lowered and touched down behind her followed by her left hoof. "I miiight have done some stretching a bit earlier." In actuality, she had not stretched earlier that day but she still wanted to surprise Anon with her Ty Lee impression so she cheated a bit, using her advanced biology to her advantage to loosen up the muscles. She would rather have stretched up naturally but despite being surprised by Anon's boop, booping anon back with her hind hoof was priceless. "Let's see what you can do anon. I want to see your backbending and frontbending." "Hold your hors- er, hooves. Some of us have not warmed up yet! Let me do some warmup cobras at least. I like to do active stretching cobras to warm up but I don't have anything to secure my feet. You think you could maybe stand on them or secure them in some way?" ---- Oh dang, time for more physical contact time. Blossomforth had been doing quite a good job at keeping her anatomy realistically pony and keeping cheating to a minimum. She even limited herself to the skills she had earned before her transformation. Despite this, she slipped a little when Anon surprised her by booping her nose. A sudden burst of flavorful DNA tasted from Anon's finger distracted her for a split second causing some of her instincts to take over rapidly. Her snout softened as she subconsciously wanted more of anon's finger inside of her to taste, she injected Anon with only a few her microscopic stingers to numb his hand, and her tongue was ready to wrap around his finger, hand, and arm numbing his limbs as it snaked up his arm to paralyze the helpless Anon. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/5/11/893720.png ) Thankfully, she recovered quickly before her tongue decided to ensnare Anon. Instead she thought quickly and was able to boop anon on his nose with her hind hoof, sprouting stingers on the bottom of her hoof to inject Anon with an antidote to her paralyzing agent before the neurotoxin had any serious effects. It was time to concentrate, she definitely did not want to awaken Thingpone and she didn't want another close call. "S-sure thing, Anon." Nervously, she made sure her hooves were extra solid and stepped on anon's feet. She concentrated. She could not completely ignore the tasty DNA that leaked into her hooves. It tasted like heaven. Like nothing she had ever tasted in Equestria. Everything was new, enzymes and other things she had never encountered were hinted. She tore her concentration away from the tasty fragments of DNA she was tasting with her contact and instead concentrated on Anon's stretches. He was performing a cobra active stretch, it was basically the opposite of a crunch. Instead of bending forward he was bending backwards. He was laying on his stomach, the muscles in his back and abs were being flexed to lift his head and shoulders into a cobra. He did not use his arms to support the stretch, it being active stretch. The two bands of muscle parallel and surrounding his spine engaged and bulged under his skin as they compressed with the cobra backbend to keep his torso and shoulders suspended above the floor. Anon did a few more repetitions and finished. Blossom stepped off of Anon's feet with a sense of relief. "Wow, Anon! That was great, keep up that active stretching and your muscle control while bending backwards will improve." "Thanks, Bloss. I love doing active stretching as a warmup, it really gets the blood flowing to those specific muscles. You want to do some bridges together? Judging by your backbend hoofstand it might be a little too easy for you." Blossom felt a bit guilty for cheating and skipping her warmup stretches. "No! I don't mind doing bridges with you. Let's get started." "Alright then, I'll start." Anon stood up and and raised his hands up above his head and started to bend backwards, starting to curl his back. He leaned forwards with his legs and hips to keep the center of mass above his feet. Blossom watched as anon continued to bend backwards, keeping his arms above his head. She stood up and carefully balanced herself bipedal on her hind hooves. She reached straight up with her forehooves and carefully leaned forward with her hind legs and hips, and bent her spine backwards as she did. She was able to bend her spine much more deeply than Anon which allowed her to shift her hips and hind legs much less than anon had to. This helped because it was more difficult to balance on two hooves than it was on two feet. Anon could not bend his back as much as Bloss but his long legs and feet provided a good counterbalance that kept him balanced. She watched as he fell over and caught himself with his arms into a bridge. (Bridge) Blossomforth bent over backward until she was able to see her hind hooves in the top of her vision. She reached up with her forehooves and grasped the cannons on her hind legs. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/6/20/12479.png ) “Geez bloss! You make it look so easy!” said Anon from his bridge position. He could not touch his feet much less fold over backwards and grasp his ankles. He was still about half a foot away from reaching his feet. “I think you might touch your feet soon in a few months if you practice often!” Blossomforth bent her knees still grasping her canons and lowered her chest to the floor in a chest stand. (>>610961 in derpibooru) Anon lowered himself out of his bridge sitting up to look at Blossom. “You think so, Bloss?” ---- As I turned to see Blossomforth she was looking at me, her face between her own legs with her chin resting on her forehooves. Her voluminous plot now sat on top of her own head, making her ears flop to the sides to make room for her butt. Her snatch was directly above her face. “I know so!” As if to punctate her point she crossed her hind legs that were seated on her head. “You are talented, you know that? And to be perfectly honest you look really cute in that position. My goal is to be as flexible as you someday.” Blossom blushed a little and smiled. “Thanks, Anon. It’s great to have someone to stretch with and I am sure if you are consistent for long enough you can get to my level. Want to try some frontbending now?” “Sure, I like to do it on the bed though it’s easier for me that way.” “Sounds good to me!” Bloss uncrossed her hind legs and pushed her chest from the ground with her forehooves and put her weight on her hind legs and grasped her canons with her forehooves. She uncurled her back and stood bipedal once again and dropped her forehooves to the ground. “Show me the way.” Blossomforth followed me into my room and I sat on my bed. She hopped on the bed next to me. “I guess I’ll go first.” I scooted back into the bed and lay on my back. I grasped my foot and brought it behind my head in a half knot. I felt the stretch deeply. Blossomforth watched sitting with her haunches on the foot of the bed. “This is how humans do the ‘human knot’. I am doing a half knot at the moment but I can get both feet behind my head and cross them.” “Wow! That’s so cool! I have never tried to cross my hooves behind my head, I think my canons would get in the way. You are so lucky to be able to do that it looks so comfy!” I finished the stretch and brought the other foot in a half knot to warm up. “Heh, at least there is something I can do that you can’t.” I brought my other foot behind my head and crossed them. I placed both of my hands on my butt. “This is how I stretch my frontbend.” I pulled my but and it came closer to my face. I felt the stretch deeply in my spine and tried to relax my legs to get the best frontbend stretch. (Human Knot) “Wow! You might have a better frontbend than I do! Have you ever tried... you know...” The tips of her ears tinged red. My face blushed as well, my face was only a few inches from my crotch in this position I could see Bloss peering over my package to see me. “To be perfectly honest I try sometimes. I can only get the tip in. I am getting better though. I had no idea you were a deviant, I thought you were an innocent little pony!” Now Blossomforth’s face began to turn red. “Well, uhmm... meep?” Blossomforth tried to hide behind one of her wings in the cutest way possible. “He-he Hahahaha!” I burst out laughing and had to fall out of the human knot position to prevent stitches from forming in my compressed stomach. Blossomforth’s face turned a deeper shade of red as I began laughing at the little pony deviant. It was so funny to discover that little Blossomforth thought of these things, she was the last one I expected. “He-he! Want to show me your frontbend? Sorry for embarrassing you.” She folded her wing but her face was still a bit red. “That’s alright Anon. I suppose I am a bit of a deviant. Promise not to tell anyone though, ok?” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” “Thanks, Anon. Alright, I’ll show you my frontbend.” I grinned and flopped on my stomach with my chin on my palms watching her. Blossomforth smiled and proceeded to lay down on the bed. She brought her hind legs up and flexed both of her hind legs forward until her hind hooves touched her snout. She spread her hind legs slightly and curled her torso forward in a crunch motion doing a frontbend active stretch. She dived her forelegs between her hind legs and slid her cannons behind the shoulders of her forelegs and used the leverage to deepen the frontbend. Her pussy was clearly visible, stuck up into the air on her pelvis and her head was a few inches away from it. (>>1002158 in derpibooru) “Have you ever, you know...” Blossomforth sighed. “It’s much harder for mares. I managed to make contact with my tongue once but I overstretched and it sent me back a lot.” She glanced at her marehood, kept the stretch going for a few seconds and released. I frowned “Ouch, I hope you recover. I have had that happen to me a few times, almost made me quit. I sat up and crossed my legs indian style on the bed. Is there anything you can suggest to me to improve my backbend?” Blossomforth sat up on her haunches on the bed and touched her forehoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Well, something I noticed is you should work on your shoulder flexibility. This will help you reach your feet easier in the bridge stretch and help you focus on your upper back. You should do wall stretches to open your shoulders, reach up the wall and keep your elbows straight. Try to bring your armpits to touch the wall. This should help you deepen the backbend.” (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/3/8/1104636.png ) I reached out to scratch Blossom’s ear. My hand felt an odd numbing sensation, Blossom’s eyes widened in surprise and the feeling quickly faded. She smiled and rubbed her mane and face against my hand. “Thank you for the advice, Bloss. I never really thought much about the shoulders, that was really insightful.” I continued to scratch her ear because she seemed to enjoy it. She closed her eyes in pleasure... “Um, Anon?” “Yeah?” “This might sound weird but I was wondering if you wan...” “Say that again?” “I was wondering if you wanted to.. goutonadate.” My mind suddenly went blank. > Chapter 10: The Date > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I finished my explanation I suddenly felt a smooth wriggly pressure on my scalp and ear and even more delicious DNA fragments leaked through my epidermis. Like a reflex action, microscopic stingers formed and stung. My heart skipped a beat but quickly recovered and I was able to swap the enzymes to produce the antidote and inject that into Anon's hand. Anon was petting me and scratching my ear. I never realized how good such an interaction could feel. Hooves were not so good at petting. “Thank you for the advice, Bloss. I never really thought much about the shoulders, that was really insightful.” I closed my eyes and relaxed slightly not losing concentration, and let anon scratch the furry crevice between my ear and scalp like no hooves could. A tingling shiver of pleasure traced down the back of my scalp and continued down to the base of my spine. The need to consume more of his DNA and the hunger seemed to float away as he continued scratching and rubbing my head. It was magical. I was able to forget my troubles, and release my constant concentration. It seemed that a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders as all of my thoughts, instincts, and feelings simply melted away. I leaned against Anon's much bigger torso in relief and simply sat there for a minute. He continued rubbing my scalp and ear ever so slowly. I wanted to stay there forever and forget everything. It seemed my life was a constant battle trying to struggle against my new circumstances. This was the first time I was able to let go. I sat there for a while longer and leaned more heavily on Anon. He was silent, he seemed to be enjoying the moment. I did not want it to end. My eyes opened. It did not have to end. We were both aliens, lost and alone. Anon was attracted to me, I could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at me even though he probably did not want to admit it. I knew what I needed to do and I had to do it before I changed my mind. "Um, Anon?" "Yeah?" "This might sound weird but I was wondering of you want..." "Say that again?" Fear crept up my spine as I imagined how he might react. Best to blurt it out before I think too much. “I was wondering if you wanted to.. goutonadate.” I fearfully turned my head to look up at Anon. ---- My mind suddenly went blank. I looked down to see Blossomforth's piercing sky blue eyes peering into mine with a barely perceptible emotion of longing. In that moment she looked profoundly vulnerable. I did not know why, but I could see that she needed me. I did not know it consciously but she might be what I needed to turn my life around. Who cared if she was a different species. She was the bright spark of joy that had suddenly bust into my life, perhaps she could cure my loneliness. I could not pass up this opportunity. I let my hand slide down to her ear, brought both hands to grasp her under the armpits, picked her up, and brought her close to my chest. Her hind legs clamped around my torso, I could feel the toned bands of muscle in her thighs shift and dig into my side. Her forelegs wrapped around my shoulders and neck and her head was on my shoulder next to mine. I let go of her armpits and wrapped my arms around her back giving her a tight hug. "I'd love to." I was not sure but I think I felt something wet on my shoulders. I loosened my arms and she leaned back a little, her thighs still firmly clamped around my torso. She had a big smile and her eyes looked a little watery. I smiled right back at her. “How could I say no to such an adorable and flexy pony? I don’t think they come around very often!” She smiled somewhat ruefully, the water in crystal eyes shone. “Oh, anon. Thank you! I don’t think you realize how alone I am. There are a lot of confusing and complicated things that seem like they are threatening to consume me, but when I am in your arms I feel like you can chase my demons away. You’re a great person, I want to try having a relationship with you.” I looked at her with concern and cupped her head in my hand and used my thumb to dry a tear that had escaped her eye. “Wow, I did not realize that you have been having such a hard time. To tell you the truth Bloss, I have some demons also. Truthfully, I have been very depressed that I was transported to this dimension where I don't know anyone. I was isolated and felt like I was simply drifting day to day without purpose or meaning. I thought that I would always be alone, a social outcast. But then you came to prove me wrong. I have had more fun today than I have had in a long time. I have you to thank. I want you to know that I will be there when you need me whether you are my friend or my partner.” “I’ll remember that Anon.” I gave her another hug, her forelegs grasped my neck and shoulders tightly and the bands of muscle in her thighs tightly pressed into either side of my torso. After we were done I grasped and lifted Blossomforth by the armpits once again. Her thighs relaxed releasing my torso, and I placed her on the bed next to me. She sat on her haunches with a bright expression and a small smile on her face. I laid down on my back and looked up at her. “Well, you don't have to ask me to a date, I think we are already on one!" Bloss blushed with a little smile and hind behind her hoof. "R-Really?" "Sure! Look at us talking about our feelings with each other. It is good for us to release and share our emotional troubles." I looked at her with a lopsided smirk as I thought of a vague reference. "We need to go deeper! How about some dinner? I can cook some dinner up to fill our bellies after that tiring stretching and then we can talk about ourselves more. That sound good?" "That sounds great." I sat up, reached out to run my fingers through her mane and gave her ears a quick scratch. I stood up from the bed. "Follow me to the kitchen!" Bloss hopped off the bed briefly flaring her wings and we tromped down the stairs to the kitchen. There were stools next to a counter in the kitchen where I usually ate. Bloss fluttered on top of a stool and perched on top of it, planting her plot on the seat. "So, what are we having for dinner tonight, Nony?" Thankfully I had mixed some cut vegetables and placed them in the magical refrigerator before hand for dinner so I was quickly able to start. "We will be having some vegetable stir fry quesadilla." I quickly heated up a cast iron skillet and put in a few dabs of vegetable oil. "So, Anon. How is this human world you came from? It sounds interesting, I was wondering if you could tell me a little about it." While I waited for the skillet to get to the proper temperature I got out the flat cast iron pan, placed a tortilla on it and started grating the different cheeses on top of it. "Well, that is a good question. I suppose the biggest differences is that on Earth there is only one sentient species, humans, and on earth there is no magic or maybe we have not discovered it yet. Instead we have technology where we use the rules of the universe to our advantage to build machines that make our lives easier." I tossed in some sliced potatoes because those usually took longer to cook than the other vegetables. They sizzled in the oil. The bag of vegetables contained white and red onions, red cabbage, green peppers, and mushrooms. "No magic? It's hard to imagine living without magic." I flipped the slices as they browned. "Well, to be fair some of the newer technology we have is so advanced than many people describe it as magical. A lot of the things on earth that we use, have magically powered equivalents here like that refrigerator. This one is magically powered but on earth we have a plug on a refrigerator that has electricity supplied by a power plant via copper wire electrical circuit. The electricity comes and alternates generating a magnetic field that moves other magnets in a motor which pumps the heat out of the refrigerator and makes it cold. I might be rambling a bit. There are a few things that we have that I have not seen much of in Equestria if you want to hear about them." The potatoes were almost ready so I tossed in the other sliced vegetables and they sizzled loudly. "Hehe! You sound kind of like Twilight. What was your job on this Earth?" "Well, I was what they call a computer engineer. It was my job to know how computers work and design parts of them." I stirred the veggies and potatoes. They were almost done. I started heating the pan with the tortilla and cheeses. I looked over to Blossomforth, she had a slightly curious look. "What is a computer?" "Oh, man. This might be hard to explain but I will try. A computer is the newest and most advanced technology we humans have. It might be our greatest achievement. A computer is a machine that can follow instructions, do calculations, and produce output from these instructions and calculations. It does it so quickly that it seems magical. The computer accomplishes this using microscopic switches controlled by electricity. These switches are arranged in logical ways by engineers like me to design logic into the computer to do certain things. They are designed to take in electrical instructions, produce an output and move on to the next instruction. A typical home computer can do about one billion of these instructions per second." I glanced back at Blossomforth as the cheese started melting on the tortilla. She leaned onto the counter with incredulity. "One billion? Really? That has to be impossible." "Well, I guess that's why computers seem magical to some people. Something to know is that electricity travels extremely fast but computers did not start as fast as they are now. They used to be so big that only one could fit in a building but within the past 20 years they have gotten really small, really fast, and really inexpensive which has lead to almost everyone on Earth owning one. We can also communicate to each other with these machines over a complex network called the internet. I actually brought a small computer with me when I got sucked through that portal if you want to see it. Twilight tried to convince me many times to let her dissect it. I told her that the components were much too small and complex for her to understand and that she would only break it." "You have a computer? I would love to see it!" I poured the stir fry on top of the toasted tortilla with the cheese on top of it. I sprinkled more cheese on top and slapped another tortilla on top of the whole thing. I flipped the entire abomination of a quesadilla over and turned off the burner. The tortilla started toasting the other side and melting the rest of the cheese with the heat still contained within the cast iron metal. "Let's see it while we wait for the cheese on this quesadilla to melt." I walked past Blossomforth towards the garage and she fluttered down from the stool to follow me. I opened the door to the garage and waked toward my phone unplugging it from the chemical battery that Twilight had helped me rig up. "That thing is a computer? Wow!" "Yup! These "smartphones" are a type of miniature computer that we carry with us wherever we go. If you want I can show you what it can do. It can do a lot of things. Want me to take a picture of you?" "Sure!" "Alright, I can show you some other pictures I still have on here. I have a few pictures of my stretching I can show.” ---- Anon took a picture of Blossomforth, the bright flashing light almost blinded her in the dimness of the garage. Anon came up and showed her the image. "There's your cute wittle face!" Anon said in a disparagingly cute way. Bloss rolled her eyes at him and pouted in a severe way. "He-heh... sorry." Anon scrolled to the next picture. It was very blurry and dark but one or two tentacle like appendages could be just barely seen. Blossomforth began sweating nervously, she knew these images were from her time spying on Anon. Anon squinted at the phone. "Hmm, must have fat fingered a picture of a marine biology magazine of a mutated squid or jellyfish." He shrugged and deleted the photo. Blossomforth slowly let out a breath she did not know she was holding. She knew she must have "fat-tentacled" that picture while she was awkwardly handling the machine. Anon flipped to a new photo. "These are some pictures I took of my stretching." Bloss had of course already seen those but she feigned surprise. "Cool stretches, Anon! It's kind of like what we just did. Does this phone do anything else?" Anon put the phone back on the charger. "It does a lot of other things but we should go eat the quesadilla before it gets cold." With that anon walked over and held the door for Bloss. She trotted through and flew up to her perch on the stool. "Thanks for showing me your computer phone, I have never seen anything like it before." Anon sliced the large quesadilla in half and served half of it to Blossom on a plate. Bloss picked up the fork and knife with her wings and started eating. "I will never understand how do you ponies do that. Do earth ponies have electromagnetic hooves or something?" Blossomforth swallowed and giggled. "Wow! This quesadilla is great! To answer your questions, I suppose you'll have to ask Twilight. I mean, I don't understand your computer phone. I suppose we're even?" Anon sighed. "I suppose. I guess I'll chalk it up to magic again... You know, I think if Twilight even smelled this monster of a quesadilla she would have a heart attack!" They both laughed at that. "One time when I was still bumming a room at her castle, I tried to make a normal quesadilla for her and she looked like she was about to throw up!" Blossomforth sighed, "She does not know what she is missing." "Nope!" Anon took a big bite out of his half and for a minute they both enjoyed the taste of their meal. "I hope that I did not serve you too much food, Bloss. Maybe I should have served you a pony sized portion, heh." "That's alright, I'll be able to finish it." Blossomforth loved the taste of the quesadilla and did not want to stop eating. Her biology allowed her to almost instantly digest and assimilate the quesadilla when normally the quesadilla would have filled the stomach of a pony and taken a long time to digest. Even though she was much smaller than Anon, she finished her quesadilla much more quickly. “Dang, Bloss! You must have been hungry! Where does it all go?” Blossomforth released an unfeminine belch. “Err, high metabolism?” “Well, since I’m still eating why don’t you tell me more about yourself. Ohh, how about being a weatherpony, how is that like? I heard about that incredible rescue you performed after that microburst!” Blossomforth shifted and squirmed slightly on her seat. “Well, Cloud Chaser did most of the heavy lifting...” “Oh don’t be modest. I heard you carried two ponies on your back and you were the only pony to make it out without being knocked out or suffer some sort of amnesia.” “Well, yeah that’s true. You see, we managed to land before the microburst hit us but the huge hail still pelted us. It was just dumb luck that I did not get hit in the head and suffer amnesia. Three other ponies were left unconscious because of being hit hard on the head so we carried them to Ponyville. Cloud Chaser also got hit but she did not collapse until we got to Fluttershy’s. That whole storm was a disaster but it would have been much worse for everypony if we were not able to divert it. Thankfully no pony died.” Anon cringed slightly. “Dang, sorry for bringing up such a sore subject.” “That’s alright, Anon. Things are not usually that bad. This was really a freak storm. Usually being a weatherpony is a peaceful job.” “Well, despite being saved by luck you should still be proud of what you did, it was quite a feat.” Anon finished his quesadilla and quickly washed their dishes in the sink. He came back to sit down on a stool. “Phew! That had to be one of my better quesadillas. I bet all that food in your stomach is making you tired.” She was not tired, the food had ceased to exist the minute it was assimilated. “I also bet you are sore from all that stretching you did today.” She was not sore, her alien biology made sure of that. “We can go upstairs and I can give you a massage.” Her body did not need it. Anon wiggled his eyebrows. “You know you want to!” Blossomforth smiled. “I’d love to.” With that Blossomforth glided down from her perch and followed Anon up the stairs to his room. Bloss lazily hopped on the bed and sat next to Anon. “Alright, lay down on your stomach and we can get started.” ---- Blossomforth lay down with her forehooves next to her and her hind legs stretched out behind her. She lay her cheek on the pillow. I kneeled down next to her on the floor and prepared myself to start massaging her. I reached out to massage the muscles surrounding her shoulders. As I felt the volume of the muscles compress and move beneath my fingers, she closed her eyes and it seemed that some immense weight or responsibility had been lifted from her conscience as the lines and creases in her face faded and relaxed. In all my time as a masseuse I had never seen anyone have such a profound change. Encouraged, I focused and kneaded every muscle surrounding the shoulder blades. I moved down the spine, focusing on her beautifully toned muscles that stuck out on either side of her spine which she undoubtably used to control her backbend and moved down slowly vertebrae by vertebrae. Finally after meticulously releasing the stress and softening each of the muscles down her spine, I reached her tail. I softly brushed her tail to the side and her voluminous, muscular flanks were revealed. I began massaging the two large gluteus maximus muscles that stuck out like two white furry peaches. There was a lot of muscle and it took a lot of kneading and to soften and relax every part of the muscle. I moved down to the hamstrings which were somewhat hidden within her voluminous plot and focused on those muscles. After that I kneaded her large protruding adductor muscles on her inner leg which had dug into my torso when I hugged her. Her leg was like a harp with many strings. Bands of muscle that needed to be softened and relaxed. I applied pressure up and down each string meticulously until her all the muscles from her plot to her hoof were relaxed. I had been at it for a good 30 minutes and I looked up at her face. She was fast asleep. I could not bring myself to wake her up. I leaned forward to make sure she was asleep and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. I could sleep on the couch tonight. I reached out, drew the covers over Blossomforth, and turned off the light. I quietly got up and grabbed my pajamas and spare blanket to sleep on the couch and reached out to open the door. “mmmm...’non?” I froze at the door and turned around. “Yeah?” I whispered. “Can you stay with me tonight? There are horrible monsters that haunt my sleep and I think you can keep them away.” I thought about how peaceful her face looked after I began massaging her. “Of course, Bloss.” I quietly slipped on my pajamas, softly walked to the opposite side of the bed, and slid into the bed next to her. As soon as I stopped moving she squirmed and wriggled backwards snuggling into my arms. Surprised, I simply wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug. She placed her forehoof softly on the hand on the bed in front of her that was attached to the arm draped over her body. She relaxed softly in a satisfying way and whispered. “Thank you.” In response, I snuggled a little closer to her. Satisfied, I slowly drifted to sleep feeling her softly beating heart beneath my arms and hands. > Chapter 11: Morning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth stirred slightly as a beam of sunlight angled itself onto her eyelid. She felt a warm presence rubbing warmly against her epidermis and she shifted and snuggled herself around the warmth with a cosy feeling. She could feel and hear the beating pressure of his heart pumping, popping arteries out of his skin slightly as the heart forced lifegiving liquid into every organ and crevice of his body. She felt and heard his chest expand in a rhythmic motion, filling and infusing the liquid with the nutritious oxygen. She reached out slowly, tracing these pulsating arteries and veins down the curve of his skin and muscles on his torso, under some fabric, and she suddenly felt an anomaly. She explored the anomaly, feeling it. At her touch it seemed to begin pulsating at a more rapid pace and became larger. Curiously, she traced her touch along and felt the popping arteries with a powerful flow of life liquid coursing up the protrusion. She stopped when she felt a small bead of sticky warm substance at the tip of the bulbous end. Wait, wha-? Blossomforth opened her eye with a start and tried to lift her head. It made a sticky sucking sound and popped as she dislodged what remained of it away from a puddle of gore. She looked down. It seemed that half of her face and skull had melted in her sleep. She sighed out of the hole in the side of her face and the viscous, gory flesh below her climbed and flowed up her neck to reform the missing part her skull and face. Unfortunately, not the first time this had happened. Surprisingly, she had gotten a very restful sleep. Since her transformation she never seemed to get good sleep but this morning she felt unusually peppy. Time to see how deformed her body had gotten while she was sleeping. Anon was still asleep below her suspended skull, it seemed he was halfway engulf- OHSHIT! Blossomforth's eyes widened dramatically as she fully realized her situation. Her half melted face had been resting on Anon's chest as she slept. Her muscular, viscous flesh stuck to anon like a second skin, flowing under his pajamas. Her muscle tightly gripped Anon as she had been unconsciously enjoying the feel and warmth of his flesh. She could feel that her flesh was fully, firmly wrapped around his torso and neck and was slowly inching up his arms and down his torso, engulfing more of him as she went. To make matters worse, her body had decided to once again paralyze and keep anon in his state of unconsciousness via neurotoxic injection. At least it kept him from waking up before she did. She did not know what she would have done if he had. Thank goodness that her body had not decided to begin the assimilation process while she slept. Well, this was salvageable, right? She loosened her fleshy, viscous grip on poor Anon's torso and began to retract her flesh but she felt something sticky, and warm. Her face contorted in horror. Had she been... feeling up Anon in her sleep? She shifted her flesh around the bulge and felt the thing. It started to get bigger again as she touched and felt it with her muscle. SHIT-SHIT-SHIT! Slowly and carefully she continued to retract her flesh, doing her best not to inadvertently provide more stimulation. The pulsating slowed and she sighed in relief. Her face had become very red, embarrassed at how... clingy she had become in her sleep. She carefully flowed her shifting flesh off of Anon's chest and body, down the bed onto the floor and reformed her pony self slowly and quietly. She was starting to feel a bit guilty about halfway cocooning Anon, keeping him paralyzed while she slept, and tightly clinging to him. She stood on her hind legs and propped herself on the edge of the bed with her front hooves. She lengthened her vinelike neck and suspended her face next to anon's and gave him a kiss on the cheek injecting him with the antidote as she did. This seemed to happen a lot. Her instincts seemed to love to utilize the stinger/neurotoxin combination ever since she learned to use it. This might turn into a problem... She suddenly came up with an idea. What if she implanted a custom made organ inside of Anon so that she could use to telepathically inject the antidote directly into his heart whenever he needed it. Yes, this could work. She snaked her tongue out of her mouth and it thinned as it stretched forward to become a mosquito's proboscis. She snaked the razor thin appendage through the air above Anon's chest. The proboscis dived between the threads of Anon's pajamas. It sunk deep into Anon's flesh right next to his heart. Instead of attempting to suck his blood like she almost did before, she injected her own cells into his flesh. Her slug slid out of her proboscis, burrowed through his flesh and wrapped itself around Anon's heart and formed a tiny branching artery to the Aorta which was the enormous artery that fed blood from the heart to the rest of the body. From there it could get the small amount of nutrients it needed to subsist from the blood stream and could produce the antidote or whatever chemical Bloss wanted to inject directly into the main artery of Anon's body. Blossomforth retracted her tongue, satisfied with her work. She felt Anon's heart beat telepathically though her slug. Now she could be with anon all the time even when her main body was physically separated from him. She smiled warmly as she gazed at anon but still felt guilty for grabbing him and forcing him to sleep next to her as if he was some oversized teddy bear. Ah yes! She knew how to make it up to him. She would make him breakfast! Now that Anon was cured of the effects of the neurotoxin he could wake up at any moment so she quietly opened the door and sneaked downstairs to begin her cooking. She wanted to make things easier and use her talents to her advantage. She concentrated and felt her slug. She should be able to tell if anon woke up by the slug she implanted. She sprouted a tentacle from her back and stretched it out to draw the blinds just in case anypony was watching. She sprouted three more tentacles from her back and copied basic parts of her brain to each one and formed beady little eyes on the ends of the tentacles so that they could each perform independent tasks. Three tentacles for three tasks: pancakes, eggs, and avocado toast. Blossomforth’s main body gruesomely deformed, shrunk, shriveled, and imploded as her biomass was reconstituted into the tentacles. The tentacles became longer and thicker as she dedicated her entire biomass to their muscular, flexible twisting forms. She used one of her tentacles to glue itself to the ceiling via the spider follicles and pulled her rapidly shrinking main body to the ceiling. Soon her main body consisted of a single eye where all the tentacles sprouted from, watching the other tentacles work. The pancake tentacle split itself into three feelers. One snaked around the handle of the pantry, sliding inside of it and performed bioluminescence to search for the milled pancake flour. The second one opened the fridge and wrapped itself around the handle of a milk jug, and the third one placed a pan on the stove, turned on the burner, dabbed a few drops of oil on the pan, and finally dived back down to bring a bowl on the counter. The other two tentacles had finished measuring out the milk and milled pancake flour and poured them into the bowl. The tentacle that had placed the bowl on the counter grabbed the beater and began beating the pancake batter. The first two tentacles put their milk and four away. The milk tentacle grabbed the blueberry container next to the milk as Blossomforth remembered that she wanted blueberry pancakes. Finished with the ingredients the three tentacles fused back into one and glued themselves to the bowl using the spider hair follicles to provide friction. It poured half the batter into the pan, sizzling as it did. While this was happening the egg tentacle split into two. One grabbed a bag of chopped vegetables and the other one placed a pan on a second burner and used the oil that the pancake tentacle had finished using. The first tentacle poured the vegetables and fused back into one and stirred the vegetables as they fried. The Pancake tentacle was now grasping a spatula and flipping the pancake. As the vegetables finished, the egg tentacle cracked two eggs on top of the veggies, using the sticky follicles to grip the egg shells. Blossomforth watched in wonder at the flurry of activity in front of her. The tentacles infused with basic copied mind fragments and eyes were able to perform basic tasks like drones without her supervision or guidance. They dived and weaved around each other, telepathically coordinating and utilizing her copied skills. She even recognized her personal cooking techniques being used. In only about five minutes the tentacles poured their parts of the meal on a plate from the pans and everything was ready for Anon. One of the tentacles found a tray, another found utensils and a napkin. Another one poured some orange juice into a cup. The entire meal was hot and on top of the tray on the counter. The tentacles, finished with their tasks, retracted back into Blossomforth's main body which was stuck to the ceiling and made sticky gurgling sounds as the main body swelled with the biomass of the tentacles. Blossomforth retracted the spider hair follicles to unstick herself from the ceiling and splattered on the floor, emerging in pony form. She reached out with two tentacles sprouted from her back, grasped the tray and placed it on her outstretched wings. With her last tentacle she opened the blinds and swiveled her head to look at her tray of food. Not bad, she thought. That hivemind practice was proving to be extremely useful, it had dramatically improved her efficiency. She would need to find ways to utilize it in the future. She carefully climbed up the stairs with her hot food tray balanced on her wings. She pushed open the door to the bedroom and saw that Anon was now snoring loudly on the bed. She lay the tray on Anon's desk and climbed the bed to check on him. In his time free from paralysis he had managed to entangle himself quite chaotically between the blankets. He was splayed out on the bed in an odd position, he embodied the opposite of grace. "Nooonnny~ Time for breakfast!" She whispered into his ear. He responded by snoring more loudly. "Hey, Anon. Your food is getting cold." she said. Anon snorted at her. She put on a small frown. She placed her hooves on his shoulders and started pressing down on them trying to shake Anon from his sleep. "Time to wake up Anonymous." Nothing! She would have to do something soon or the food would get cold. Suddenly a devious, diabolical idea crossed her mind. She had to suppress a cackle as she grinned evilly more widely than should have been possible, like the Cheshire cat and hopped off the bed. She slipped into the bathroom and found what she needed, a q-tip. She placed it between her teeth and sprinkled some water on it by turning on the faucet. Plausible deniability was important. If Anon wasn't asleep she would have practiced her evil laugh. She crept up to the bed and jumped on top of it. She crept up to Anon getting close to his face. She shifted the wet q-tip to one side of her lips and slipped her tongue between her lips on the other side and let it snake outwards sliding out of her mouth. The tip of her tongue thinned out to about the radius of a q-tip and she proceeded to slip it into Anon's ear canal shoving it in deeply until it brushed against his ear drum. She wriggled it like a worm inside his ear. Because her first mouth was busy she grew one on her cheek and yelled in Anon's ear. "WET WILLY!" "aaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHIIIEEEYAAAHHHH!" anon yelled. His eyes snapped open and he had a mini seizure twitching wildly. Before Anon could turn around to look at her she rapidly retracted her tentacle tongue, dissolved her second mouth, and gave anon a bright, toothy smile with the wet q-tip between her teeth. "Time to wake up, Nony! Food is getting cold!" Anon gasped and panted as if he had just run a marathon, looking at her with wide, frightened eyes as if he had seen a ghost. "I felt a wriggling worm lodge itself in my ear, ready to burrow itself into my skull on it's way to consume my brain. It was horrible!" Blossomforth rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, don't be overdramatic! It was just a q-tip!" She wiggled the q-tip between her teeth as she smiled. On the inside, however, she felt horribly guilty for inserting her wormlike tongue into his ear. She plodded down to the foot of the bed where the desk was adjacent and said "I made breakfast for you and you would not wake up so I had to take drastic measures before it got too cold." She dipped her head and grabbed the tray with her teeth. She plodded carefully across the bed and gently deposited the tray of food on Anon's lap. "Wow. Thanks for the breakfast, Bloss. It looks like you spent a long time to make it. I guess I can forgive you for that evil wriggly q-tip." "Yeah, I guess I went overboard with waking you up. I wanted to thank you for the wonderful time yesterday, the massage, and protectingmefromthemonsters soooo, I made you breakfast in bed!" "Well, thanks again Bloss. How did you sleep? Surprisingly, I slept good. I usually wake up often during the night and then wake up too early and can't get back to bed but this time I seem to have slept the whole night without waking up. You even got up before me!" "Yeah, I slept great. I have been having some bad dreams lately but I did not have any last night because of you. Thanks for staying with me, Anon." She scooted closer to Anon on the bed and hugged him. "Aww, it was no problem. It was nice to have a warm, fuzzy little pony to snuggle against." Blossom pouted slightly but it faded quickly as anon reached out to scratch her ear. Anon swallowed some food put on a smirk. “Soooo, I guess we are a couple now, right?” Blossomforth’s eyes popped open and lit up brightly. “Ohh! I was just going to ask you that! You sneaky clever human, I would love to be your partner!” Anon gazed deeply into Blossomforth’s eyes and spoke from his heart. “Now I know that we may never have foals or children and I may never be able to fly with you in the clouds, but I’ll always be there for you and follow you the best I can. Thank you Blossomforth for coming all the way down here away from the freedom of the sky to find little old me. I don’t know how I could have climbed out of my hole of loneliness without you coming to rescue me. You are the kindest pegasus I have ever known willing to take a risk on me. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a great relationship.” By the end of his speech, Blossomforth's eyes sparkled, but her face had a sorrowful look. For some reason, she frowned. “You are a special, kind person, Anonymous but I feel like you do not deserve me.” Surprised at her sudden sorrow, Anon placed the tray to the side and brought Blossomforth close, laying her head on his shoulder. He rubbed her back as she hiccupped while weeping. He gently released her and looked at her straight in the eyes. “That’s not true, Blossomforth. You have been nothing but kind to me. Why would you say such a thing?” Blossomforth sniffed and her hiccupping subsided slightly. “I-I have not been honest with you, Anon. There are things about me that you do not know about. I am not a good pony. I-I a-am a m-m-monster.” She broke eye contact and hung her head in shame. Her tears glistened as they fell out of the shadow her mane cast on her face. Anon placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head up brushing her mane to the side as he did. “Look at me, Blossomforth.” She reluctantly raised her eyes to meet his. Her tears glistened. “You. Are. Not. A. Monster.” He paused to let it sink in. Blossomforth opened her mouth but he interrupted her. “No matter what you think you have done, the Blossomforth I know is the most kind mare or human I have ever known. No matter what your past was like, today you are a good pony. I can see it in the purity of your eyes. Whatever it is that is haunting you, we will get through it and face it together. I know you hid whatever it is you hid from me for a reason. I don’t want you to tell me now, it doesn’t matter. I trust you. I want you to tell me when you are ready and emotionally calm, OK?” “Do you mean it?” Blossomforth asked. Anon nodded very seriously as he stared into her eyes. “I am afraid, Anon. Afraid that you will not accept me when you learn the truth.” “I promise, Blossom, that no matter what it is I will still love you.” Blossomforth’s eyes softened and she gave a small smile. “Alright, Anon. Thank you for having such faith in me. I will give you the same faith you have shown me. I’ll reveal myself when the time is right.” “That’s all I wanted to hear, Bloss.” Anon suddenly dived forward and kissed Blossomforth on the lips with great passion. Blossomforth instinctively responded and inserted her tongue into Anon’s mouth, tasting the saliva and tracing the curves of Anon’s comparatively stubby tongue. She allowed her tongue to lengthen like a vine. Her tongue curled in a helix around anon’s tongue and she squeezed as their passion increased. Anon pressed forward aggressively. In response, Blossomforth’s spine arched backwards, her flexible body bending submissively to him and while one hand grasped Blossomforth’s face, his other hand grabbed a handful of her voluminous, athletic, muscular flank. They fell over onto the bed and Anon’s knee pressed into her pussy, bringing her hips towards her head and her back into a deeper bend. Anon pressed on assuming a fetal position as Blossomforth’s flexible back curled to compensate. By now her flank was near her head, her ponytail and mane merging together as her her anus ponut approached her scalp. Anon traced his hands around her leg and flank which were now full of tight engaged muscles as her hind legs were kicked back and reaching as far as they could in response to her pleasure. He tightened his fetal position and forced her back into an even tighter bend bringing her pussy closer. He reached up feeling between her furry legs and found what he wanted. He reached out and traced his finger around her pussy, tracing the folds and gently touching her clit. Blossomforth moaned and her tongue helix tightened around Anon’s tongue. Anon continued to trace his finger and he began feeling her clit begin to pulsate and wink. Blossomforth’s breathing became deeper through her nose and Anon groped his finger on her clit just as it protruded in a wink. Blossomforth released the kiss moaning loudly and sticky cum flowed out of her vagina making his fingers wet. Despite their lips being separated her long tongue was still curled around Anon’s. She squeezed anon’s poor tongue like a vice while she had an orgasm. Anon relaxed his fetal position and her back uncurled. Blossomforth gasped for air, slowly retracted her tongue and began to straddle anon with her muscular thighs rubbing her slippery cunt against him with pleasure, slowly finishing. They simply lay there, gently embracing and cuddling with each other. “I love you Anon.” “I love you too.” > Interlude: Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Takes place from "Interlude: Monster" through "Chapter 10: The Date". When Blossomforth had inadvertently triggered a memory after her discovery of her hivemind ability, Thingpone was awoken from her state of semi-unconsciousness. Her mind was energized with neural stimulation as the vision played itself out and Thingpone became filled with wonder at the efficiency and creativity the hivemind of old expressed. She would be just like him one day she thought, she was inspired and a sense of purpose flowed through her. The experience healed her mind slightly. Excited at her newfound mental faculties, she gathered all the mental fortitude she could muster and called out to Blossomforth, asking her to fulfill their destiny as the apex predator. She desperately needed to fill the painful, empty black hole that was her hunger for biological information. She was a singularity of biology just waiting to give the creatures of this world perfection. She called out with emotion that she did not know she possessed as she expressed her passionate plea to her captor to let them do what they were meant to do. To her horror and disappointment, Blossomforth did not receive her plea well. She broke down into a panicked heap. Her mental strength expended, Thingpone could communicate no more and could only watch as Blossomforth collapsed into a pathetic puddle of organic matter. Thingpone grew frustrated. How could someone gifted with such amazing biological perfection and dominant potential be so weak? Then she realized the problem. This world, the environment that Blossomforth grew up in was never tested, never tempered against a real threat. It was a soft world that produced soft organisms and soft minds. Her mind slowed to a sluggish pace as her energy was expended. She suddenly realized that with her mind stronger she was able to think, albeit at a retarded pace, while Blossomforth was awake! Thingpone was giddy with excitement, it was a new and interesting experience being able to freely form thoughts while Blossomforth was conscious and active. However, her mind was still slow and sluggish. Blossomforth seemed to move and act in a slight fast forward. It was a bit of a blur as Blossomforth pulled herself out of her funk and flew to Anon's place. The blur of experience flashed before her. As Blossomforth flew towards Ponyville, Thing experienced a spectrum of Blossomforth's emotions, strange feelings that Thingpone had little to no experience with. Blossomforth seemed to have recovered from her pitiful state but was still in a state of emotional turmoil. She was mentally exhausted and worried about the vision she had just experienced. At the same time she was excited about the prospect of stretching with Anon. Thingpone thought she might even sense an unconscious underlying attraction to this Anon character. Blossomforth entered Anon's house and the worry and exhaustion seemed to fade to be replaced with passion and a creeping increase in her thoughts of attractions to this lanky creature as they discussed the finer points of muscle flexibility. They began to do their warmup stretches together. To Thingpone, this entire exercise seemed to be a waste of time. However, for some unknown reason Blossomforth was feeling passion for this ritual when she could have simply rearranged the cellular structure to make her muscles as flexible as she wanted them to be. Blossomforth was handicapping herself by limiting herself to using these primitive muscle organs, it all seemed utterly stupid and pointless. Suddenly she felt a new emotion from Blossomforth. Inspiration and excitement as an idea formed in Bloss's mind. Suddenly, Thingpone felt Blossomforth's cellular and chemical structure shift in the muscles generating warmth and rapidly stimulating the muscle fibers to effectively skip her warmup stretches. Now she was being more practical instead of wasting her time in this pointless stretching that the biologically inferior peasants had to deal with. She felt Blossomforth take a strange position with her body, expertly manipulating the muscles to balance herself on her front two hooves and curl her spine and legs to bring her hind hooves to the top of her own head. Thingpone begrudgingly admitted to herself that this pose was somewhat impressive when Blossomforth limited herself to the primitive muscles of the equines. It seemed to impress the lanky creature as he scooted closer on his knees and reached out to her. Suddenly, everything slowed down and became sharp. The sublime tastes of Anon's DNA fragments woke Thingpone's mind up like a shot of adrenaline would. She was awake and thinking clearly. It all made sense now. Blossomforth was luring Anon in to a private setting so that she could assimilate him in private away from prying eyes. Thingpone grew excited as she watched Blossomforth's tentacle tongue emerge from her mouth, ready to paralyze and assimilate Anon. More of the rich taste of Anon's DNA fragments entered her mind as his finger squished into Blossomforth's slightly viscous nose. Now the assimilation would begin. Thingpone had never been more excited as she anticipated the flow of new information satisfying her hunger. Just as suddenly as it started, Blossomforth regained focus, her nose solidified, and the flow of DNA fragments stopped. Why? Why would Blossomforth do this? A new sentient organism, probably an alien if she was reading Blossomforth's thoughts correctly served up to her on a silver platter in private and she what? Passes it up? Thingpone wanted to cry. She had never experienced sadness before and new neural connections formed in her developing mind as she did. It wasn't fair, she thought as the hunger came back in full force, the tasty scraps of DNA barely putting a dent in the hunger. Thingpone examined Blossomforth's emotions once more and realized that she actually cared about Anon and wanted to form a friendship with him. Thing was struggling to understand why someone would want to form a relationship with another. The stretching continued and she got another taste of Anon's DNA when Blossomforth stepped on Anon's feet to help him stretch. It tasted great but Thingpone could not bring herself to become excited when she knew that Blossomforth would let the prey go. However, something strange happened. After a series of stretches and discussions about stretching techniques, Anon reached out to scratch Blossomforth's ear. Thingpone had never experienced intimacy before and her ancestors had left no guidance on the subject. At first she savored more DNA scraps but was soon overwhelmed by a novel experience of intimacy. She felt Blossomforth relax and it was contagious. She suddenly did not feel so hungry anymore and the alien feeling of intimacy overwhelmed her, once again aiding with the development of her mind. It was a, dare she say it, magical feeling and she could begin to understand how social rituals could be valuable. Her mind's eye was open to new possibilities that she had never considered in the closed mind her ancestors had given her. A new dimension opened to her as she watched Bloss and Anon have an intimate moment. She was a little jealous that she was not able to interact and she saw a bond form between Blossomforth and the human. She suddenly realized that Blossomforth was able to relax her concentration and her need to consume was diminished. This was incredible, it seemed that the human was somehow able to suppress the wild instincts Blossomforth usually had to suppress on her own and allowed her to relax. Thing felt the relief in the mind of Blossomforth and how she was able to establish a more passive control over her own body. Thing searched Blossomforth's mind for the pony word describing the feeling that Blossomforth was feeling. It was a warm feeling, it was the will to be close together, it was intimate, it was a tender care for one another, a feeling of safety, it was a mutual affection. Ah yes, the word she was searching for was love. Thing felt a sorrow and yearning of more of this love in the mind of Blossomforth as Bloss realized how tired she was of having to constantly restrain her hunger and instincts, especially being so close to a succulent new organism. Suddenly, a new feeling emerged in Blossomforth's mind. A feeling of fear, hope, and excitement. It seemed she wanted to mate with this Alien. It was a primitive biological function her ancestors had encountered on many planets, sexual reproduction. Different species did not usually mate but she was sure Blossomforth could make it work with her biology if she really wanted to. However, the human did not know this. Blossomforth asked the human to begin a "date", a ritual of bonding. After a somewhat intense exchange with their eyes, the human accepted. Thing was not sure of what motive the human could have but it might have to do with the warm fuzzy intimacy feeling or this "love" concept. They joined each other for dinner and talked about themselves, slowly beginning to understand and get to know each other. She felt as if she wanted to throw up, all of these cheesy feelings and emotions where almost overwhelming. As time went on Thing could sense that their bond was strengthening as they talked to each other about themselves. This ritual of social interaction seemed to increase their emotions toward each other as they began to understand each other better. It was quite interesting to see how emotional creatures, even species alien to each other, could form bonds of trust and affection with simple social rituals. As they finished dinner Anon offered to massage Blossomforth. Another pointless act, Blossomforth did not need a massage for her muscles to be in peak condition but she grew excited anyways and accepted with a smile. They climbed up the stairs and Blossomforth lay down on Anon's bed, allowing the human to squeeze and stimulate her strong but malleable and flexible muscles. As soon as he started she could taste the DNA fragments but it was soon drowned out by the intense feeling of safety, comfort, and love emanating from Blossomforth's mind and intensified by their strengthening bond. Thingpone could only wonder at the intense power of the emotions as Blossomforth relaxed even further. This seemed to go on for an eternity, Anon prodding and feeling every muscle in her torso, plot, and legs until he finally finished. Blossomforth was immensely disappointed that it was over and wanted to stay with the source of comfort so she invited Anon to sleep with her and Thingpone could feel the excitement in her mind when he accepted. The sense of security that Blossomforth experienced was profound as she rubbed herself as close to Anon as possible and she slowly fell into the deepest sleep Thingpone ever remembered her having which allowed Thingpone's mind to become more awake as she analyzed what she had experienced. It seemed that Blossomforth was beginning to better utilize and control their shared neural architecture. Thingpone never would have guessed it but it seemed her time with Anon was making her more stable and less prone to random outbursts of instinct. Perhaps social interaction was more powerful than she had imagined. However, while Blossomforth was gaining more control over the beautiful organic machine that was their shared body, Thingpone was slowly growing stronger. Thingpone learned a lot from her observations of her bond with Anon. Emotions were very powerful things. They had the potential to disrupt logical thought in favor of attachments and irrational decisions. She could see why her ancestors had decided to eradicate such a disruptive force from her mind. However, now that she had adopted a pony neural architecture to fill in the gaps of her damaged mind she had irreversibly adopted emotions into her mind. It was a pity, she could not eradicate these emotions without seriously damaging her already fragile mind. She also did not admit it but these emotions gave her a warm feeling she had never experienced and she wanted to feel it again. Thing begrudgingly admitted to herself that emotions could be beneficial. At fist she had wanted to assimilate and destroy any independent consciousness on the planet but her shared experiences with Blossomforth forced her to completely rethink everything. Like she had heard Blossomforth reason before, passion can lead to creativity and produce ideas that no one had thought of before. Bonds between sentient beings could foster cooperative passion that would make the collective as a whole more creative and more efficient. Her ancestors had never considered this possibility for millions of years as they blocked all understanding of emotions and social rituals they may have observed in their conquests. She would have to alter her plan of world domination and use this new discovery to her advantage. She would do her part to evolve her race to make it better than before like her ancestors would have wanted. She knew from Blossomforth's memories she had explored and studied while Blossomforth was asleep that the current status quo of princess monarchy existed mostly unchanged for more than a thousand years. It was an incredible amount of time for a single civilization to exist without some form of technological advancement if her ancestors' memories on the subject were any indication. Usually the civilizations collapsed on themselves over and over or simply blew themselves up with nuclear fission. For this pony civilization to have existed for 1000 years without rapid technological development was a testament to the passiveness and docility that came with such a long period time without serious natural threats or change. In fact, from her examination of saved samples of Lyra's genetic material the docility seemed to be ingrained into their very DNA. Ponies where naturally herbivores and simply did not have the competitive spunk of a predator. On the other hand she recognized that the human probably had some wild predator ancestors and from what he had told Blossomforth, humans seemed to be aggressive innovators and valued the strength of mind. Ponies on the other hand seemed to rely on magic which seemed to solve their problems and their "cutie marks" lead them on their way. Her ancestors had no guidance on this subject, magic was utterly alien. There were a few examples of tattoos on indigenous species that symbolized their roles but nothing about a spontaneously appearing tattoo or magic. She wondered if the pony princesses themselves secretly dabbled in a crude form of genetic manipulation to grant themselves immortality and the best genetic improvements of every race while encoding docility and mortality into the common pony to die after a couple of decades to ensure that they were always on top. She noticed that almost all history was blank more than 1000 years ago. This must have been the culling, maybe a great war where the princesses asserted their genetic dominance and subdued their own race into a docile state of semi-slavery to serve them. They were the alpha predators of this world. No matter. She would find the truth in due time. Thingpone thought big picture started to rethink her strategy. Her ancestors probably started as producers, producing technologies and eventually becoming advanced enough to alter their own biological structure. However at their peak they focused on one thing, the art of domination and consumption. Her ancestors had a structure, resources, and an enormous playing field, their whole galaxy. They could afford to constantly consume and rely on the organisms that grew in their absence to provide them with basic innovations and biological information. She did not have any of these things so she would need to be more careful. She needed to maximize the resources under her control if she wanted any hope of expanding herself to new worlds. She only had one world to play with so if she messed up it would take a LONG time to develop the technologies her ancestors had spent millions of years developing. Thankfully, most of the secrets and inventions of her race were saved in her biological memory but some were damaged or incomplete from her incredibly long time in stasis. If the Alicorns were the manipulators she thought they were, she would consume them and take their place. But she would not be satisfied with docility and a stagnant status quo. What a boring way to live. No, she would not be satisfied with Equestria as it was now. First, she would make the world her domain. She would consume and assimilate the organic matter surrounding the minds of the organisms clandestinely while keeping the minds themselves untouched. There would be no independent organic matter. If things worked correctly, no one would even know. Then things were going to change. No longer would the world be so boring. She would unshackle them from their docile state and break this boring utopia, introducing them to reality. She needed to accelerate this world's toughness and adaptability. One thing she would use to her advantage were the blueprints to the advanced technology of her ancestors. She would drip small ideas of technology into the minds of promising inventors and let them develop the technology. The new technologies she would introduce into the world would obviously be disruptive and might even cause adversity. Good, this soft world needed to develop some toughness and innovation rather than this do-nothing stagnation. The sentient creatures of the world would be her hive. She would be a semi-benevolent shadow dictator and the free thinking organisms would be her slaves whether knowingly or unknowingly. Even if they did know, their collective docility and arrested development from a millennium of soft utopia would probably result in mass Stockhoof Syndrome anyway. This was her vision, but it was big picture. There was a long way to go in the small scale before she could accomplish her domination. The main obstacle left in her way was Blossomforth. Blossomforth had central control at the peak of the neural hierarchy and Thingpone knew of no way to unseat her. However, Blossomforth's experiences were stimulating and healing her mind at a rapid pace, Thing was getting stronger every day so perhaps soon she should have enough mental strength to hold a mental conversation with Blossomforth. Perhaps the best way to manipulate Blossomforth would be through the human that she cared for. She would see what she could do but for now she would lie in wait for opportunity as her mind became stronger. > Chapter 12: The Run > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth lay next to Anon in bed, the morning sun gave the room a rich yellow color as the rising sun angled through the window. Blossomforth was still panting and catching her breath after what Anon had done to her. A silly smile struggled to keep itself on her face as she switched to breathing deeply through her nose. Her mane had become a bit messy during the tussle, the colors of her mane blending together as her tangled mane draped the bed. "I have to say, Anon. You know how to pleasure a mare! You really know how to use those wiggly things." She said as she slipped her hoof into his hand. Anon wrapped his fingers around her hoof and squeezed gently in response. "Bending me while we kissed to reach my naughty parts was a nice touch, it really stimulates the, heh, sexual organs in my belly." "I have noticed something similar. Sometimes I get frisky when I do a deep backbend, the prostate and shaft located in the pelvis seem to shift and compress whenever I do that. Leads to a lot of frustrating distraction when I am trying to concentrate on stretching. I also noticed that you kicked your legs back and those beautiful toned thighs of yours were clenched in hopeful expectation. You must have really loved that didn't you Bloss?" Blossomforth blushed. Their faces were close together so she flicked her tongue out and it rapidly snaked upwards to his nose, quickly booping it. It flicked back into her mouth just as quickly. Anon grinned and blushed slightly in response. "How in the world do you do that anyway? Not that I'm complaining! You did awesome with that tongue! It felt a bit weird but awesome to have that monster inside my mouth manhandling my poor helpless tongue. Are you part giraffe or something?" Anon leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I can't wait to see that thing work... in other places." Blossomforth's face was now beet red as anon began to gently nibble the tip of her sensitive ear. She started to sweat and sounded like Fluttershy as she whispered unintelligibly. Anon began chuckling uncontrollably "You're so cute when you're embarrassed!" Blossomfroth produced a squeaky whining noise from her snout. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up you ear nibbler! Pony ears are sensitive you know!" “Aww! You know you liked that, yes you did!” Anon gripped her hoof in his hand tighter and pinned her other hoof under his torso and reached to tickle Blossom’s soft, furry belly with his free hand. Anon almost laughed when she began giggling and thumping her hind leg on the bed uncontrollably like a dog would. Her other hind leg, the flexible appendage it was, reached up to prod Anon’s tickling arm but could not find traction oh his arm to stop his assault on her ticklish belly. “Anoooonnnn!” She whined as she tried to squirm away from the cheating tickling hand. "You're che-he-heating with those grabby fingers! How am I supposed to fight back?" "Hey, you get that crazy tongue and I get grabby, ticklish fingers. It's only fair! But, I guess I can show you some mercy." Anon released Blossomforth from his tickling vice but grasped her under the armpits and lifted her up. He lay down on his back and placed her on top of him. She straddled his torso with her legs and placed the side of her head on his chest as she rose and fell with his breathing. "Hey, Bloss." "Hmm?" "Looks like it is going to be a nice warm fall day out. Do you do much running?" "I mostly fly around for my job as a weatherpony but I also like to stretch my legs and smell the roses." "I love to run, I run about two and a half miles three times a week. I am going to be running in a bit today if you want to join. Then we can get some lunch afterwords." Blossomforth shifted her head, placed her chin on Anon's chest, and looked at him. "Sounds like fun, although I am a little worried about what other ponies will think. There aren't many interspecies relationships." Anon shrugged "Meh, yolo. What fun is life without a little risk?" Blossom frowned slightly. "What is a yolo?" Anon gave a small grin. "Heh, it's an acronym from humanworld. It stands for you only live once. I suppose the meaning is that you only have one life and you should make the most of it by taking risks." Blossomforth's frown deepened slightly and she stared blankly, obviously deep in thought. "Hmmm... Yolo..." "Thinking about something?" "Yeah, uh, I know of a great path for running. Lots of nice scenery and there is a beautiful clearing at the end on the edge of the Everfree forest with lots of butterfly bushes. I also might have something to show you." Blossomforth's eyes shifted to the side slightly as she finished talking. Anon grinned. "Sounds like a plan! How about we meet in front of your place in thirty minutes?" "Alright, I'll be there!" Blossomforth stood up on anon's torso with two hooves on his chest and two that dug into his belly. Blossomforth almost lost her balance as Anon's face turned red and he began giggling uncontrollably. "Oh, that tickles does it?" She began pushing with her hind legs and kneading the pads of her hind hooves into his belly, grinning evilly. Anon's eyes widened and expelled air from his mouth. "PFFFFTTTTTTT!" He quickly grabbed Blossomforth by the armpits, holding her up and sat up relieving the pressure on his ticklish belly and holding Blossomforth up by her armpits. Bloss stuck her tongue out at him and stretched out her hind legs, extending them as far as she could, pointing her hooves to prod his abdomen once more. Anon quickly held her out of reach, denying her any more opportunity for tickles. Blossomforth pouted, "One of these days, Anon, I will have you trapped and there will be no way for you to resist the tickles!" Anon looked her up and down, nope. No way this little pony was ever going trap him and tickle him. He raised an eyebrow up skeptically. "Nope, not gonna happen!" With that, he held her up higher with her belly at eye level. "You wouldn't!" Blossomforth said, eyes wide, pleading. Anon gave her a manic grin. "Never threaten a superior tickler, my dear Blossomforth." With that he brought her exposed belly closer and blew a large raspberry right into the belly button. Blossomforth laughed uncontrollably, her hind legs wiggling but too weak from the tickles to do anything. Mercifully, Anon finished quickly and set her down. "I, *gasp* will *gasp* get *gasp* you back!" Anon swung his legs out of the bed and stood up giving Bloss a smile. "Good luck with that!" Blossomforth trotted to the bedroom door ranting. "You will rue the day, Anonymous, that you decided to tickle me so mercilessly! This is not over!" She disappeared behind the door. A few moments later she poked her head back around the door and looked at Anon with playful squinted eyes. "See you at my place in thirty minutes." Anon smiled widely and gave a half chuckle. "See you there!" -------- "Yolo" Blossomforth said aloud as she turned the knobs on her shower and released the spray of water. It was an interesting concept, she supposed that she would be taking a risk on Anon. She decided that today she would be revealing what she was, at least a little. Blossomforth wondered how she would reveal her secret to Anon as he washed herself in the shower. Anon had really shown that he was willing to try and trust her. At first she was a little hesitant but she had read too many romance novels where one pony would keep a big secret from the other and it would cause them to become distant and sometimes even break up. She was afraid of how he would react to her true nature. She was almost paralyzed with fear that Anon would be scared of her and try to hide it. She became sad just thinking about it, guess that's what came with being a monster she thought gloomily. She supposed that she would have to put in the effort of appearing as non-threatening as possible. She smirked, it seemed like she was already doing quite a good job. Anon regularly referred to her as a little pony and held her almost like she was a pet. It was a bit embarrassing at first but it instinctually made her feel safe, trusting someone so much bigger than her and she grew to like it. Would he reject her? It was a real possibility that she hoped would never happen, she did not want to lose Anon. If she needed to, she didn't think she would have the heart to perform a memory modification. She desperately desired a peer, not some toy to be manipulated. She needed someone she could trust to keep her secret and discuss it with her as a peer. Anon showing his affection to her seemed to suppress her inherited alien instincts. It would be a loss if Anon rejected her, his presence and affection seemed to make her forget that she was a monster. Trust went both ways. Assuming Anon accepted her, he would be putting a lot of trust in her so she would have to return the favor or she would not be able to live with herself. There would be no mind reading slugs. She would keep the one near his heart but only for his protection. She would eventually have to be frank about her strange instincts, the ancient race from another galaxy, and what might be the remains of the instincts the alien she had fused with. Blossomforth sighed as she turned off the shower and stepped out. The pores on her skin sucked up the excess water from her shower, drying her very efficiently and providing her with a nice dose of water. Maybe she would only reveal herself partially and save some of her more frightening abilities for later. Revealing herself all at once might make Anon comatose with fear she thought glumly. Anon should be arriving in a few minutes. Blossomforth walked outside and began her warmup stretches. Not because she needed them, but out of habit. -------- It was an unseasonably warm day for such a late part of fall. A magical time when the temperature is perfect but there have been enough cold days recently to make the environment free of pesky insects. A perfect day for running. Anon turned the corner and spied Blossomforth stretching her splits with her hind legs in the grass. "Hey, Bloss! Got a nice scenic route for us to run?" Bloss looked up at Anon from her stretch. "Yeah, there is a lot of nature on the route I am thinking of. We might be able to knock down a few straggling leaves that The Running of the Leaves race missed." Anon witnessed this event and was amazed that they were actually able to knock down leaves by running past the trees. Must have been that magic BS again. "How does running cause enough force to knock leaves to the ground anyway? Wait, let me guess... Magic, how does it work?" Anon said in a deadpan tone of voice. Blossomforth smirked in response. "Looks like you learn quickly anon! I was also wondering, do humans run well with two legs? It seems like it would be difficult." "Well, that is quite an interesting question and I have an interesting answer if you want to hear but it might make you, err, squeamish." "That's fine, I want to hear." "Ok, well you see, humans a very long time ago were some of the most fearsome hunters in the world, mainly existing in a wild place called Africa. Yeah, I'm a meat eater. Also, I get my meat from a shady griffon that comes around every week to the farmer's market. Sorry if that makes you squeamish. But anyways, we had a very unique and effective way of hunting. Our lack of fur cooled us off very effectively with heat energy being expelled to evaporate sweat on our bare skin which allowed us to run longer without overheating. Furry animals rely on panting to cool off which interferes with deep breathing, but we do not need to pant to cool off and can still breathe deeply even when running giving the muscles the oxygen they need. Also, our legs, muscles, and tendons allow our legs to act like large springs, storing energy to propel us forward. The other animals were much faster runners but they could not sustain a run for as long as we could so they would tire out and we would eventually find them when they were tired and vulnerable. The high protein and fat diet of meat allowed us to sustain large brains as we needed more memory and intelligence to track the animals that fled, remember where the water locations where they would mostly flee to, and generally outsmart the animals that fled us. We also developed muscles on the legs with slow twitch fibers which means that while we cannot run as fast or accelerate as other animals, we have more endurance. We also developed big butt muscles! Monkeys and gorillas which are related to humans have tiny butts and are poor distance runners. "Interestingly enough, horses are our closest competitor when it comes to distance running. If the conditions are right, like really hot weather, a top notch human runner can outrun even a horse in a marathon, a long endurance run. To be fair, horses are generally endowed with large butts and four legs with slow twitch muscles allowing them to run endurance and have somewhat large amounts of stamina but their fur gives them a disadvantage on very hot days. I'm sure you ponies with your large plots are great distance runners just like the horses on Earth." Drool filled Blossomforth's mouth as Anon described the genetic uniqueness of humans. She swallowed her saliva hastily. "Wow! That was an interesting story about the genetic history of humans! It looks like I probably underestimated you, I did not think that humans were natural distance runners. "Yeah, in peak condition we can outrun almost any animal on Earth on a hot day. But being the only sentient species on Earth and all the technology we have made, we have gotten a bit lazy and only the dedicated athletes can outrun a horse in endurance, even on a hot day." Blossomforth hummed thoughtfully "Well, it looks like we are in the same boat in that respect. Our magic has allowed many of us to become lazy in the physical department so I am not sure if most of us could outrun a wild horse from your world." "Phew! Looks like I have a chance at keeping up with a four legged pony on our scenic route!" "We'll see about that, Anon. Maybe next time when you know the path better we can race!" “Hmm. You’re on! However, be warned. When we do race, I will not be an easy competitor. Ready to go?” “Yup! Follow me!” ---- I breathed deeply as we began the run. It was an utterly gorgeous autumn day. The wind blew strongly and the sun shone warmly, heralding the changing of the seasons. Leaves of various colors flew with the wind. It was partly cloudy and the sun shone through the clouds creating three dimensional rays that penetrated the atmosphere and horizon at many angles, shifting slowly as the clouds moved with the wind. I looked down at Blossomforth next to me, she was galloping at a steady pace next to me and her long multicolored mane whipped in the wind behind her. The muscles in her plot, flank, and forelegs made defined movements as her legs propelled her forward and she would occasionally ruffle her wings as if she was itching to fly. Her head and neck dived forward as she ran kind of like how a turtle dove would peck its beak forward as it walked. She was beautiful. I did not usually run this fast in my routine run of almost three miles but I put in the extra effort to keep up with Blossom's four legged gallop. It was worth it, and the extra exertion was a bit exhilarating. We continued to run over open fields of rolling hills and scattered trees. I had to really concentrate on breathing to maximize my oxygen intake as I was not particularly used to running up hills. We ran past the Apple Orchard and continued to unpopulated fields near the Everfree. Soon we followed the treeline of the Everfree, the trees were shifting and rocking slowly with the wind. Blossomforth looked up at me to talk. She had to coordinate talking and breathing. "Follow me, single file." I simply nodded at her, letting her take the lead. I did not want to risk talking and upsetting my rhythm. Her tail swished back and forth and her voluminous gluteus maximus muscles flexed and jiggled as she ran, a hypnotizing distraction. Suddenly her plot and tail shifted unexpectedly to the left. Blossomforth turned towards the forest onto a small path. I followed her to a new world, undergrowth was remarkably absent inside the forest and half shed trees stood like pillars everywhere. There were not many leaves as the wind had done a good job scattering them to the fields. The path was only slightly worn, kind of like a deer path. The patchy shade was welcome as I was beginning to get hot from the running. We continued this refreshing path for about five minutes and then I spied green ahead. "We're almost there!" said Blossomforth between deep breaths. I peered forward and could see the sun shining on a large clearing with an oak tree and a stream running through it. We continued running towards the clearing. Finally we reached the grass and the warm sun blasted upon us. Blossomforth put on a small burst of speed and leaped over the stream. I followed suit, jumping over the stream and we both gradually slowed to a stop until we reached the oak tree. Bloss snorted and tossed her mane like a horse would, catching her breath and I bent down panting to clutch my knees and catch my breath. I looked up at Blossomforth. "Wow, that was awesome! We need to do this more often, that path was just beautiful. I did not know what I was missing. Too bad it is going to get colder soon. Maybe I'll just keep running through the winter as long as it isn’t muddy, snowy, or too cold. I'll just have to chose my clothes carefully. Blossomforth rolled over on her back and reached for the sky with all four hooves, stretching them out. "I can join you, fur and pegasus feathers provide nice insulation in the cold." I laid down next to Blossomforth, laced my fingers behind my head, and gazed up to the rapidly shifting clouds. Everything was silent except for the wind, the shifting and rustling of the trees and the softly babbling brook. The sound of geese honking in the distance could be heard, probably preparing for winter. I reached over with one hand and started rubbing her ears and scalp in the peaceful presence of nature. She let her legs fall on either side of her spread eagle and let the sun warm her legs, belly, armpits and nether region. I closed my eyes and felt the sun warm me, I concentrated on my gentle ear rub. We stayed like this for about five minutes, resting in the sunshine until Blossom finally spoke up. "Hey, Anon." I tilted my head to look at her. She shifted her head into the palm of my hand to give me eye contact. "Hmm?" She rolled over onto her side and faced me. "Remember what I told you this morning?" I sat up indian style, nodding slowly as Bloss heaved herself onto her haunches. Blossomforth took in a deep breath breathing out slowly. "I think I'm ready to talk about it." > Chapter 13: Secrets and Disguises > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as she said that, Blossomforth felt a pressure on her mind and a sinking feeling.  It seemed her instincts were sharply against this course of action.  The organs and muscle began shifting and crawling slowly inside her as if eager to escape from this possibility.  However, Blossomforth was the master here and with a bit of concentration she stilled her shifting organs.  She blinked and took another deep breath and silenced the feelings and voices of dissent in her mind before they could begin.  She opened her eyes and looked sharply into Anon's gazing eyes. "Anon.  Do you think that you can keep a secret?  This is a very big secret and I have been searching for someone to share it with for a while.  I trust you, but I am worried that you might become... afraid or distant after learning it.  On the other hand I was afraid that if I did not tell you we would never be able to truly trust each other.  Do you think you can handle keeping this kind of secret?" The turmoil in the mind of Blossomforth intensified as she prepared herself to divulge her secret, her inherited concealment instincts gave her a powerful sense of hesitation.  She began to feel a bewildering sense of dizziness as she approached the dreaded moment. Anon had a puzzled but curious look on his face as he responded.  "I think so, as long as you haven't done something horribly immoral.  But I know you, you wouldn't do something like that.  So, yes.  I can keep the secret no matter what it is." "Are you sure, Anon?  It is a really big secret." Anon smirked. "Lay it on me!  I can take it!" Blossomforth gave a small smile.  It was more of a worried but humorous grimace. "Alright, here goes nothing."  She took a deep breath and felt an odd dizziness as if she was not completely in her own body.  It is the feeling one gets right before the first drop of a large roller coaster.  "I'm not really a pony.  I'm actually more of an alien." A headache suddenly blossomed in her mind, Blossomforth gave a small wince. Anon's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened.  He sat there for a few moments to let it sink in.  "Wow!  Really?  I would never have guessed.  So... you're a changeling?  That's not so bad, I thought it would be something much worse from the way you were talking.  I suppose that makes you an illegal alien.  Heh, I bet I could get used to you as a changeling.  I mean, you’ve been nothing but nice to me.  I never knew that changelings had sexy dexterous tongues.  Have I been feeding you enough lov-" Blossomforth frowned and held her forehooves up as she interrupted. "That's not really true but I suppose it is on the right track.  Unfortunately, it is, like you said, much worse than that.  The truth is that I am actually a-" "Changeling Queen?"  Blossomforth glared at him and placed a hoof to her temple, the headache and slight spinning dizziness intensifying.  Anon looked back guiltily. "Sorry." The headache became splittingly painful, dark spots appeared in her vision. "The truth... is... that..." Suddenly, the voice in her head spoke up. -------- Earlier Thingpone did not mind much that Blossomforth was fooling around with the alien.  She supposed that one needed a plaything to keep them entertained and her host was no different.  She observed mostly with disinterest as Blossomforth untangled her gooey, shifting gore from the sleeping Anon and marked him as her property with a slug organ that she injected near his heart.  There may be hope for Blossomforth yet, Thingpone thought.  Blossom showed desire to dominate a lesser being and mark him as her property, so perhaps she could convince Bloss to join in her quest for domination and power. Thing watched as Blossomforth snuck downstairs and rearranged her body into a mass of tentacles attaching herself to the ceiling in order to efficiently prepare food.  Thing felt the smallest bit of pride at how quickly the task was accomplished.  She was demonstrating impressive control over the complex neural network that regulated the rapid multitasking of her pseudopod-like tentacles. Thing became slightly confused as she watched Blossomforth reform into a pony and bring the tray of prepared food upstairs.  Then she suddenly realized that she was preparing food for Anon.  Interesting, who was the slave and who was the master?  Blossomforth should have been easily able to enslave this organism if she was not willing to assimilate him but yet she was the one serving him food.  Perhaps it had to do with those emotion things again. Thingpone watched as Bloss fruitlessly tried to wake Anon and suddenly felt excitement emanating from Bloss.  What did she have in mind?  Thing watched as Blossom extended her tongue out towards Anon's ear.  Thing became excited, was she finally going to assimilate anon?  If she was in control she would have slid her tongue down the ear and dig her appendage through the flesh to follow the nerve from the ear leading into the brain.  From there she would use her inserted tongue as a straw to assimilate, liquify, and slurp up the brain.  As Blossomforth's tongue slid into Anon's ear, Thing grew excited.  Did she have the same idea?  Would she assimilate Anon's brain?  Alas, Blossomofrth was only "pranking".  A term that meant eliciting surprise from a victim for your own amusement.  Anon screeched like a small filly, instantly waking up.  She supposed this was a reasonable and amusing use of her property even though it would be of much more use as DNA information and biological material. Thingpone grew bored once more as Bloss and Anon partook in their "date".  If Blossomforth's memories on the subject were correct, most of what they were doing was incredibly mundane and cliche.  Not worth her attention.  Suddenly the emotions in the mind of Blossomforth were swiftly becoming more intense as Anon declared them a "couple".  Thing started paying attention, wondering what could have caused this emotional response.  The emotions would not stop increasing in intensity as Anon explained his emotions for Blossomforth.  Suddenly, Blossomforth's emotions became intensely sorrowful and she began calling herself a "monster".  Thing suddenly grew worried.  Blossomforth would not be so stupid as to reveal herself to this human would she?  Fortunately, the human seemed to misunderstand her but it seemed to calm down Blossomforth. Suddenly, Anon dove his head forward and attached his mouth to Blossomforth's mouth.  At first she thought that Anon was trying to neutralize the "monster" waiting for the right time to make his surprise strike but to her incredulity, according to Blossomforth's memories, this was just another ritual of bonding between close partners.  Blossomforth's emotions were on rapid fire, first surprise then a rapid change to lust and heat.  The emotions were overpowering to Thingpone.  Thing watched as Bloss rearranged the biology of her tongue, allowing it to lengthen and slither inside Anon's mouth like a snake, groping and grasping as it went.  She felt the desire in Blossomforth and the incredible effort she had to expend to keep her body in check.  It was quite impressive, especially because of the intensity of the mind altering emotions running through Blossomforth’s mind.  Meanwhile, Anon took advantage of Blossomforth's flexibility to grasp her plot with both hands and bend her spine backwards.  He brought Blossomforth's tail, butt, and nether regions above her own head.  He attacked the sensitive regions, inserting his dexterous fingers inside her mare parts, as her thighs clenched, her hind legs extending in pleasure, and Blossomforth invaded Anon's mouth with her sinuous tongue. Thing noticed as primal biological programing ingrained deep in the pony genome became active and caused Blossomforth to almost lose control and emotions to intensify even further as they partook in intimacy resembling sex.  It seemed the human had similar biological programming as he began panting along with her.  How incredible, it seemed that despite being different species from different planets the "sex" ritual was similar enough to activate the appropriate biological programming in both of them. Thingpone also noticed that this sex ritual has an incredible impact on Blossomforth's trust and affection for Anon, increasing it dramatically.  Despite the primitive nature of the biological ritual, it was quite fascinating in its complexity.  It seemed that Blossomforth had never experienced the feeling of fingers inside her vagina and it caused her to to reach an orgasm fairly quickly.  The pleasure became so intense that it invaded Thing’s mind and her thinking slowed as she basked in the pleasure.  Slippery vaginal fluid flowed from Blossomforth’s vagina as they finished and uncurled themselves.  She rubbed herself against Anon in her fading afterglow. Bloss and the human lay in bed catching their breath.  The trust Blossomforth felt for Anon was becoming worryingly strong and the hints of what Thing could glean that were going through her mind were even more disturbing.  Trusting was a dangerous idea, especially when you have control and dominance with no need to trust anyone.  The two of them began “dating” again, complimenting each others sexual pleasuring abilities, if Thing could have groaned there was a good chance she would have. Suddenly, the human pinned Blossomforth down and reached to her soft belly.  Alarm bells rang in Thing’s mind, a predator would take this chance to tear into the soft underside of any animal it was hunting.  However, instead of this the human simply groped it causing another strange chain reaction in Blossomforth’s pony neural system.  Blossomforth began giggling, almost uncontrollably.  Thing examined the biological chain reaction that caused Bloss to giggle and was surprised to find that this was yet another social construct ingrained in the pony’s very DNA!  It was a neurological function meant to foster trust and intimacy, usually between the protector and a weaker family member.  The protector was usually a more physically powerful and dominant male protector or parent.  Knowing that the more powerful being could tear out the tender, juicy gut and eat it in an instant, the giggling was a sign of trust. Blossomforth was the dominant being, she should have been the one to do the forceful tickling.  She should have been easily able to escape the vice Anon had her in.  She could have simply shifted her muscles into something more efficient and overpowered Anon.  Puzzled, Thing concentrated and tried to read what Bloss was thinking.  What she found would have made her frown if she had a face.  Thing came to a strange conclusion.  It seemed that Bloss wanted to forget her dominant, monstrous predator nature.  She wanted to be a little pony, a precious thing to be protected.  She wanted to feel safe and secure inside Anon’s strong arms and much larger frame.  It was so opposite to Thing’s nature that Thing wished she could throw up and rid herself of the corny nonsense.  Blossomforth allowed herself to become “trapped” by Anon multiple times.  She seemed to derive some strange pleasure in the helplessness of the tickling.  Anon began to talk about their interspecies relationship and how they would be taking a risk if they showed up together in public.  Uh, oh.  Thing did not like the train of thought she sensed in Blossomforth.  It seemed she was seriously considering taking risk.  Thing could only glean vague thoughts, it seemed Bloss wanted to run with Anon to a remote but naturally beautiful place, perhaps to show him something?  Bloss allowed herself to be tickled once again and staggered towards the door muttering threats a bit playfully about revenge tickles.  Thing thought Anon should have taken the threats more seriously. As Blossomforth walked to her house and began to shower, Thingpone became worried.  It seemed that Blossomforth was nervous about something but Thing did not know what it could be.  A vague cloud of emotions swirled in the mind of Blossomforth.  Fear, trust, sadness, hope, and determination.  It was a very ominous combination.  Thing's concern intensified. Blossomforth dried herself, absorbing the excess water through her pores and made her way outside.  The sense of nervousness was still there but faded slightly as Bloss began to stretch, waiting for Anon.  Anon arrived and they prepared to run, Anon told some of the genetic history of his ancestors and how they used it to dominate their world.  This made Thing even more hungry, she needed to consume the human and taste this valuable DNA information for herself.  One day... The two aliens began their run, one human and the other a thinking flesh abomination pretending to be pony.  It was quite a pristine day and the run was exhilarating to Blossomforth, running was in her pony genes.  The run was uneventful as they enjoyed the abnormally good weather and natural beauty. They reached their destination, a clearing in the Everfree forest.  They caught their breath and laid down in the sunny grass meditating and sharing a moment with each other as they contemplated nature around themselves.  Slowly, Thing felt Blossomforth's mind surreptitiously come to a conclusion on something.  Thing concentrated, and suddenly it all clicked.  Realization slowly seeped its way into Thingpone's mind, Blossomforth was going to tell the human!!! Panic and sudden frustration emerged.  Why?  Why did Blossomforth insist on being so stupid?!  Thing's patience with the stupid, insane, childish romance with this human was rapidly disappearing.  Blossomforth was going to destroy one of her greatest advantages over this world, information and surprise.  No intelligent being in the world other than herself and Blossomforth knew about their advanced biology.  Blossomforth was about to take a chance with this human in trusting him without even assimilating him first!  If the secret got out it could impact her chances at world domination.  It was simple logic to reason that if you are on top and hold all the cards, taking a risk is unnecessary and insane. Thing suddenly felt like she was strapped to the front of a train speeding towards the edge of a cliff and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  The sinking feeling had been growing the whole morning as she sensed some of Blossomforth's emotions and thoughts but now it was clear, Blossomforth was going to divulge their secret to this human. "I think I'm ready to talk about it." This is unacceptable!  Thing began to grow angry, interestingly it was the first time she was capable of feeling this emotion.  In her rage, she focused her mind to come up with a solution.  Her mind was stronger now than it ever was before, healing and experiencing the stimulation of emotions.  Thing tried to take action, move, take control.  She concentrated all of her willpower, anything to stop Blossomforth from her current course of action.  Blossomforth's organs slowly shifted within her but undoubtedly that was just Blossomforth's nervousness showing. What could she do?  New emotions of panic and desperation took hold.  It was time for desperate measures, Blossomforth was rapidly getting closer to revealing their secret. "I'm not really a pony.  I'm actually more of an alien." NO!  Thing wanted to cry, was this it?  Sorrowful acceptance dawned on Thing.  If she could, she would have sobbed. "Wow!  Really?  I would have never have guessed.  So... you're a changeling?" Hope sprang forth in Thing's mind.  She had one more chance.  Inspiration bloomed in her mind.  There was one thing she could do.  She could communicate with Blossomforth, at least she thought she could.  The last time she tried something like that Blossomforth reacted badly.  She would need something direct and dramatic to immediately force Blossomforth off her current course.  Thing sharply concentrated, a plan rapidly formed in her mind.  She knew what she had to do, she would bluff.  The broken remnants of the seed restrictions and programming were still there in the matrix memory but were inactive.  She could try and repair it, it would be shoddy work and it wouldn't actually do anything to stop her but perhaps it would scare Blossom into complying.  This would at least buy her some time to try and convince blossomforth to join forces later. "Unfortunately, it is, like you said, much worse than that.  The truth is that I am actually a-" "Changeling Queen?" That was another close one.  It was now or never.  Thing mentally prepared herself.  She hastily activated the broken and deactivated seed restriction program as best she could with her damaged mind over the neural network. ---- "The truth... is... that..." Blossomforth's headache intensified and caused her to pause.  Words of a strange language that she somehow instinctively understood appeared in her head. RACE PRESERVATION PROTOCOL SEED #XG-63732-334-690246394-486593413-9012 YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF HIVE SECRECY PROTOCOLS Blossomforth's eyes widened and her heart skipped a few beats. CEACE NOW. FAILURE MAY RESULT IN TERMINATION BY THE NEXT ARRIVING HIVE INSPECTOR.  ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME ...CALCULATING... 3.1536e+17 SECONDS "Hey Bloss, you alright?  I'm sorry for interrupting you, that was really rude of me especially because you are trusting me with your secret.  I know it is probably hard for you to do.  I just want you to know that I know who you are and even if you are a changeling, it does not change anything." Blossomforth gave a nervous smile.  "Thanks Anon, that means more than you know.  You think we can take a break?  I have to use the restroom." She said a bit sheepishly. "Of course!  Take your time." "Thanks!" Blossomforth began unsteadily walking out of the clearing into the forest.  She didn't fully understand what "3.1536e+17 SECONDS" meant- another headache and her mind instinctually translated.  It seemed that the alien "programming" estimated an "inspector" to arrive in about ten billion years.  She scoffed at the useless threat.  But she didn't know that Thing had implanted a message to convince her. CALCULATING SOLUTION Suddenly ideas flashed in Blossomforth's mind.  A message from Thing.  Blossomforth needed to make Anon think she was a changeling, to do that she needed changeling genetics.  She knew from Lyra's memories that Bonbon was a changeling.  She needed Bonbon's skills and genetic information.  With this she could become an equestrian changeling. "Please!  I do not want to assimilate more ponies!" Blossomforth whispered.  She grabbed her head as the ideas flashed in her mind. Suddenly, fear.  Powerful alien instincts almost drove her mad.  Memories of torture.  Experiments and starvation forced upon a seed captured by an advanced civilization while it waited thousands of years for an inspector to come to the rescue.  She needed to keep herself concealed. Blossomforth growled and grit her teeth.  Fear shivered down her spine, knowledge was her most powerful weapon against a world full of magic.  Fine, she would do it just this once.  But when she was done, she was going to find the source of this strange program and tear it out of her hivemind.  Then she would be the true master of her own fate.  She would not allow instinct to overpower her again. Blossomforth ground her teeth but closed her eyes and concentrated.  She telepathically felt the slug inside Lyra's brain.  She flexed it and made it slide between the brain folds and tapped the part of the brain used for image processing.  She saw what Lyra was seeing.  Bon Bon was seated across from her intently reading a newspaper, Lyra's spoon was floating in her magic feeding her soup. Blossomforth reluctantly willed the assimilation process to begin.  Instead of the consumption of flesh that was usually required before assimilation could be completed, Lyra's brain which was infected once before responded almost instantaneously becoming assimilated in a split second.  Lyra's body froze and Blossomforth now experienced the sensory sensations of being Lyra.  The assimilation spread from the brain down to the mouth and tongue.  Blossomforth gave a blank stare at Bonbon through Lyra's body as she concentrated.  The assimilated tongue had its biology changed to become more tentacle-like before it rapidly slipped out of Lyra's mouth and stretched across the table, diving towards Bonbon and stuffed itself up Bonbon's nose. "Whad dah fug?!" Bonbon said through her stuffed nose.  Bonbon's changeling disguise flickered and her eyes crossed to focus on the fleshy tongue going up her nose and she rapidly swatted it with a powerful martial arts chop.  In response, the part of the tongue that got chopped became viscous and goopy.  Bonbon's hoof therefore chopped right through the tongue splitting it in two.  The part attached to her nose continued wriggling up her nose into her skull.  The part of the tongue attached to Lyra's mouth limply lay on the table.  Bonbon pawed at her face with her hooves at the invading worm, but it was already inside her skull.  Her face contorted in horror as she realized what had happened.  Her eyes followed the limp tongue to the mouth and face of Lyra.  Lyra was staring at her with a blank stare. Her voice shook as she called out to Lyra.  "L-Lyra, help me!"  Lyra's face only gave her a blank stare as her impossibly long tongue lolled on the table.  Suddenly, Bonbon had a seizure, her disguise dropped and her changeling body lay unconscious on the floor.  Blossomforth shivered in almost perverted pleasure at the new genetic information entering her hivemind and matrix, it was an overload of information that her hivemind was quickly categorizing and indexing for future use.  Changelings were amazing creatures and now their intricate genetics were hers to utilize! Five seconds later, Bonbon's multi-faceted changeling eyes opened and Lyra's limp tentacle tongue retracted into her mouth.  Bonbon stood up from the floor and Lyra stood up from the chair.  Blossomforth puppeted both of their bodies and made them walk onto the couch and then made their brains become unconscious.  Blossomforth rearranged their brains into their original configuration and kept a small slug nestled between the folds of their brains.  She erased Bonbon's memory of the assimilation.  It was all she could do for now.  She did not have the time or the neurological infrastructure in place to multitask. Blossomforth now had the information and skills she needed to form herself into a changeling.  Her bones creaked and cracked as she took on a more insect-like appearance.  She looked down and her legs were black and had holes in them.  She concentrated again and green fire obscured her vision for a split second.  She now resembled her old self but as a changeling underneath.. "Are you satisfied now?" ...CALCULATING... PLAN OF ACTION IS SATISFACTORY.  MAINTAIN SECRECY UNTIL HIVE SUPREMACY IS ACHIEVED Blossomforth made a half growl, half groaning noise, frustrated about what she was made to do under duress.  She was angry, but she suppressed her anger as she made her way back to the clearing in her complex double layered disguise to face Anon.  She would find out more about this "other" living inside her.  After what it had done, Blossomforth was determined to purge what she knew was a weakened "program". > Chapter 14: Mental Deception > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth's mind was reeling, she now fully understood that there was alien programming somewhere in her hivemind.  It was weak but it had the power to invoke powerful instincts.  Did it have any power over her?  This was extremely worrying, she was in control of a very powerful and potentially lethal self replicating biological weapon, a monster that could consume the whole world!  Unfortunately she had no time to stew over what to do because she had already spent too much time for her "bathroom break" and for now she could only play along with the program’s plan.  She needed more time to figure this out.  She peered through the foliage of the forest towards Anon, and a sensation of bewilderment came over her.  A feeling of false dizziness.  When did things get so complicated? Blossomforth took a deep breath, steadying herself with a breathing technique that she had seen a neurotic purple princess use before. She would not lie to Anon, but she could not tell him the whole truth.  Was that in of itself a lie?  She did not have time to think, she could only improvise.  "Here goes nothing" she thought as she walked back into the bright clearing where Anon sat, laying on his back peacefully. "I'm back, Anon." Anon was laying on his back in the sun.  He cracked an eye open to look at her. "Took you long enough!  At least I got a good dose of Vitamin D from the sun when you were gone." Blossomforth sighed and gazed down at her hooves, "Sorry about that, I guess I was using the time to think a bit about my predicament.  To answer your question, I can change my appearance to be different ponies so I guess you could call me a changeling.  This is not the whole truth I wanted to tell you but I can't get into it right now. You think you can live with that?"  She looked up at Anon. Anon raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah, I know you changelings are a secretive bunch so I understand.  I am guessing this has to do with some sort of contingency protocol you changelings have to follow.  I’m fine with it as long as you feeding on my love is not bad for my health, heh.” This time Blossomforth raised her eyebrow.  She shrugged but gave a small smile.  "You know what?  That's close enough.  And no, you loving me will not result in negative health effects for you.  You ready to jog back to ponyville?" Anon gave her a cheeky grin.  “Sure, but you did not show me your awesome flashy changeling transformation yet!" Bloss gave him a lopsided frown, some of her characteristic bubbliness had worn off with her forced deception.  “Oh, alright.  I guess I’ll show you."  A burst of green fire rapidly flashed over her body and a black chitinous changeling was in her place.  She let Anon get a good look and then flashed back into Blossomforth.  "I really like being Blossomforth and I don't really want you to think of me as a monstrous shapeshifter," Bloss muttered at Anon as her eyes shifted downwards. "Don't worry, you'll always be Blossomforth to me!  But I have to ask you a question, did you shapeshift yourself into being a contortionist?  Can changelings do that?  Because if you were able to do that on a whim, I would be really jealous, heh."  Of course, being an advanced alien life form she now had the ability to make herself as flexible as she needed to be, but before that she really did spend years training her flexibility and she did not want to sell her experience short. "No, changelings have to train to gain flexibility like all the other normal ponies.  I spent years becoming a contortionist just like I told you before.  I have been Blossomforth basically all my life anyways and I'm, er, accustomed to this form."  Blossomforth shifted her eyes around as she told her plethora of half truths.  Technically everything she said was true but other important facts were purposefully omitted.  She grew frustrated as she reminded herself what caused her to be so deceptive.  She would have to do something about the alien instincts invading her mind, and soon. "You wanna jog back to Ponyville now?  I have had an awesome weekend with you so far but I have some things I really have to take care of at home." "Yeah, sure.  I'm really glad I was able to snap you up as a lover!”  Anon scooted towards her and gave her a hug that she returned.  “You are a really special pony- or changeling, Bloss.  Thanks for trusting me with your secret.  I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to.  You know, you should think about moving in with me, my apartment is pretty big with two floors and I’m sure you are just drooling for more of that juicy love!” Bloss gave a small smile.  “You know, I think I would like that." Suddenly, Anon got up and stretched.  "Whelp, I think it is time we head back.  It may be an abnormally warm day but it's not like it is summertime." "Sounds like a plan, Anon.  Thanks for being so understanding.” "Eh, it's no problem.  If I can survive being sucked into an alternative universe with magical talking rainbow ponies, I can survive my girl- er, fillyfriend being a shapeshifting bugpony." Were it so easy. Bloss thought as she smiled at Anon. "Point taken, let's get going!" -------- The mind is a complex thing, especially when it has to manage a massive library of biological functions harvested over millions of years and properly express and control the generated biological structures and organs.  Thingpone was a little worried about what Blossomforth, a creature dominated by emotions, would attempt to do with this complex mind structure.  Thing sensed that Blossomforth was angry about being manipulated, but Bloss too was also scared of what Thing’s deception might do.  Thankfully, Blossomforth had not discovered how to assert more fine control over her hivemeind.  If she did know, Blossomforth would discover her, then might be game over for her.  Then perhaps she would be devoured or destroyed.  Thing wanted more than anything to be free to curl countless, viscous, sticky, corrosive tentacles around the soft succulent specimens of this un-tempered world.  Helpless, she would slurp up their biomass to grow, split, multiply, and spread herself across the world and hoard the ever so tasty and useful DNA information.  Thing ached with desire.   Thing was biding her time as her mind slowly strengthened.  She could only guarantee that the world would fall under her control if she preserved absolute secrecy of her advantages.  Anon, being a computer engineer, would have described it as a "zero day exploit".  A zero day exploit in terms of computers is a widespread security vulnerability that no one except a hacker has discovered.  The hacker uses the exploit to spread and embed a virus into all the computers that are vulnerable.  Because no one knows about the vulnerability, no one could prepare and all computers are susceptible to the attack.  Computer networks complete parallel actions at an extraordinarily quick rate meaning that the virus with a zero day vulnerability can spread so quickly that it will become widespread before anyone can detect or attempt to stop it.  On very rare occasions, a hacker will find more than one zero day exploit and incorporate both into the virus.  These viruses spread at an even faster rate having multiple attack vectors that no computer could defend against.  In famous cases, viruses like this had spread to almost every computer connected to the internet in a matter of hours.  To continue the comparison to computers, if Equestria was the internet, then Thingpone was an advanced alien AI with thousands or perhaps even millions of zero day exploits.  The internet never stood a chance. However, if the exploit is known beforehand then the computer programmers could build a defense and the virus would move at a much slower pace.  The hacker could only reap small rewards as the computers containing the most valuable information were secure and quickly updated with the latest software to defend against known vulnerabilities.  Blossomforth could conceivably act as one of the computer engineers, protecting and updating the computer systems to combat the virus.  This was the nightmare scenario for Thingpone.  Instead of being a computer engineer she could become a genetic engineer, spreading advanced genes throughout Equestria, and strengthening the organisms’ defenses.  In the process she would destroy the world’s virginity, making it much harder for Thingpone to conquer.  On the other hand, her modifications to the Equestrians would spread her cells and give Blossomforth more control over the Equestrians should she choose to exert it.  However, this did not help Thingpone, she wanted to be the one in control. This is exactly what Thingpone wanted to avoid.  If Thingpone could spread herself to virgin targets with no foreknowledge of her existence, it would be a cakewalk.  There would be no defense, no war, no resistance.  The speed of her spread and growth would be comparable to a zero day computer virus, spreading at an exponential rate.  The complex systems that the hiveminds of old constructed to combat the tempered species from the non-virgin galaxy were carefully designed by experienced hiveminds.  These hiveminds who had assimilated many worlds before had the tougher task of cowling and subduing more hardened worlds exposed to the intersystem contamination of species leading to greater competition.  Thing was by no means this experienced.  While she waited for her mind to heal she needed to ensure she would have the absolute best chance at world domination once she was finally free.  She would not stand for Bloss sharing knowledge of their existence or otherwise attempting to harden their defenses.  If that meant intimidating her captor into silence then so be it.   Unfortunately, she was unsure how long her ruse could be kept up.  It was only a matter of time before Blossomforth discovered that the program did not have any physical control over the mind network.  Perhaps she needed to consider diplomacy with her captor in a less hostile dialogue.  Perhaps she could try when Blossomforth was asleep.  This was when Thingpone was the strongest, she was still mentally exhausted from her extended communication she used to make Bloss pretend she was a changeling and keep their secret.  She had no desire to attempt communication in this weakened state.  Bloss was still frustrated and a little angry about what she was made to do, the train of thought she was on was worrying.  Thing absolutely did not want Bloss discovering how to properly control her mind's network.  She needed to be distracted away from this path.  With her greater understanding of emotions and other ideas gleaned from her existence fused to Blossomforth she would build an eloquent speech and perhaps discussion to hopefully convince Blossomforth more towards her frame of mind or otherwise push Bloss away from a path that would end her hopes of world domination. Blossomforth had also kept using a pony brain for her day to day activities.  If Thing saved up some of her growing hivemind powers she could tweak it just enough to block her dreams from being remembered by the hivemind.  Brains were not good at remembering dreams.  Perhaps she could even talk to Blossom directly without her remembering anything. -------- Blossomforth waved goodbye to Anon and slowly closed the door of her apartment behind her.  She promptly sighed and collapsed to sit on her haunches.  What a crazy time she had with Anon.  It was an emotional roller coaster and she was quite frankly exhausted.  Her life had changed, she now had a partner.  She wished she did not have to deal with her strange biology and this other threatening looming presence.  She wanted it to all go away.  She did not want the responsibility she had, she dreaded the strange “programming” that the “ancestors”, now her adopted ancestors, had implanted in her mind, invading her very instincts with the will to dominate and control.   She had a big problem, these instincts might be able to ruin everything if it was able to manipulate her so easily.  Despite her desire to just lay down and rest she willed herself to concentrate.  She needed to figure out what this program was.  It was obviously damaged so perhaps she could do something to disable it.  She closed her eyes and concentrated.  She didn’t really know what she was looking for but she tried thinking things like.  I’m going to trust anon and tell him my secret.   The voice or hallucination in her mind was silent.  Blossom grew frustrated. "Come on!  You don't get to control me!" Her face fell as no answer came and she sighed deeply. "Be that way..." She muttered softly. Now that she gave it more thought, she wasn’t too worried.  The “program” seemed to be severely damaged.  She bet with a little effort she could figure out how to fully purge it. Bloss stretched her forelegs reaching forward across the floor, arching her back like a cat with her plot in the air.  Her limbs unnaturally lengthened as she stretched exposing hints of gory deformations as they became longer but snapped back to normal as she relaxed the stretch.  It was time to meditate.  She lay down on her belly spread eagle and she also spread her hind legs into a straddle split on the floor.  She lay her cheek on the carpet and let her mind and body relax but not so completely that she lost her pony form.  She concentrated on the slug next to Anon's heart.  Whatever this entity was, she didn’t trust herself with Anon’s safety until she was sure that she was rid of the program.  A razor thin stalk pierced Anon's flesh from the slug and she produced a numbing agent so that Anon would not feel the operation.  The slug slid through his flesh using the razor thin channel to slide away from his heart and exit his body.  As the slug emerged from his flesh she felt water dribbling over his skin.  Perfect.  Anon was showering.  He would not notice the viscous flesh as it fell off of his body and flowed down the drain with the rest of the water.  As the slug flowed down the drain she made it form a small and simple neural cluster so that it could guide itself to the surface once it got to the sewer and transform itself into a hummingbird to reunite with her. Blossomforth felt a little safer now that her hivemind was not linked to Anon's body any more.  Now that the task was done she concentrated on figuring out the mystery of the other entity within herself.  She focused, trying to clear her mind and eliminate distractions keeping her from isolating the program.  It was like trying to focus on the particles in your eye fluid.  Every time the eye turns the particle moves to the peripheral where it cannot be focused on.  Her frustration and the day’s exhaustion mounted, her clear mind became clouded with thoughts and emotions as she lost focus. Blossomforth opened her eyes and heaved herself to her hooves tiredly.  She was exhausted from the day's events.  She decided to give up on trying to find this program for now.  She was simply too tired to concentrate effectively and the program seemed to be fairly inert.  Dazed from exhaustion she stumbled into bed and tried not to deform too much as she fell into unconsciousness. > Chapter 15: Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The hunger was coming back.  As Blossomforth's exhaustion and worry got the better of her she twisted in her sleep, making grotesque movements.  There was barely any of her recognizable form left.  A few patches of fur here and a hoof nail swimming and shifting in the amorphous flesh.  She made groaning sounds out of her half melted skull and pseudopods of flesh reached out of her organic viscosity to assimilate something and found nothing but air. Just as suddenly, Blossomforth's pseudopods retracted and her flesh stilled, resting still in a grotesque twisting mutation.  Blossomforth fell out of REM sleep, drool ever so slowly slimed out of the side of her grotesque mouth, betraying her desire to consume.  Her body was paralyzed as deep sleep overtook her. ---- Thingpone felt her insatiable hunger as Blossomforth too was plagued by its power.  The hunger made Thingpone stronger, more focused, truly a predator's instinct.  Blossomforth falling into deep sleep gave Thing a clear mind.  She focused on what she would try to communicate with Blossomforth.  Something pragmatic, something persuasive.  She would show Blossomforth her vision.  The glory and power that Blossomforth could seize.  It was their destiny, their very purpose to conquer countless worlds and assert order upon the galaxy! Thingpone was so hungry, she could feel the same hunger growing within Blossomforth.  Thing felt how Blossomforth twisted and deformed, torturously yearning for more biological information in her sleep.  Yes, this was something Thing could mold and work with. Thing began revving up her imagination.  She imagined a world where she had complete control over all the biological material on the planet.  Her subjects were completely ignorant of her existence, she had conquered, consumed them and fashioned them new bodies for their nervous systems nearly identical to their old ones.  Their bodies which she allowed to be pedestals for their minds were composed of her alien biology.  She wove her hivemind of total surveillance into the population, utilizing their spare organic matter to house the infrastructure of her vast hivemind. The government had been abolished years ago.  The ponies never really understood why but they were "encouraged" not to think about it subconsciously- no.  It would not do well to dwell on that part of her plan.  She wanted to produce a vision of a utopia to entice Blossomforth into considering her plan. Thingpone focused on the benefits of her dictatorship, she could provide the ponies with longer lives, essentially biological immortality, she could heal diseases, grow missing limbs, change sexes.  She was going to empower the ponies into mastering new domains until they became technologically advanced.  She would change their cutie marks to anything they wanted and make sure the most productive had long lives.  Perhaps the ones that were resistant, lazy, or problematic would die from old age a little quicker than the rest but even utopia has some problems...   She tried to forget that detail to exclude it from her vision, she did not even dare think about killing ponies who resisted her, Blossomforth would surely balk at that. She would reward the hard workers who did not question the status quo with technological ideas saved from her ancestors.  The docile ponies would not question the new status quo as the rapid technological advancements increased their comfort and distracted them from questioning the system.  Soon, maybe in a couple more decades they would reach out for the stars... Thing let the vision coalesce into a dream that she broadcasted into Blossomforth's mind.  She let the vision sink in for Blossomforth.  She could protect and nourish the ponies' civilization in her sickeningly soft way and Thingpone would eventually accomplish her goal of spreading herself to the stars.  Thing watched as the dream of utopia spread into Blossomforth's mind and her mind filled in the gaps of Thing's somewhat vague vision.  Sometimes when dreaming, the mind does not think rationally or forgets certain facts.  Thing used it to her advantage as Blossomforth's state of mind shifted into the dream that Thing had crafted for her. ---- It was another sunny morning in Equestria and my little ponies were all waking up for a new day.  I had become connected to all of them and I felt the millions of little consciousnesses stirring, they were all a part of me.  It was invigorating to feel all of the ponies waking up and stirring.  It was like a flower blossoming forth for a new day.  I was a part of them, they were a part of me.  I was Blossomforth. After the somewhat grotesque and unpleasant process of spreading my light to the entirety of Equestria, I had guided my little ponies into a new age of abundance and unity.  I was the hidden philosopher king from Ploto's Republic imposed upon Equestria.  Under my hidden, guiding tentacles, there was no crime because I was always watching and my justice, which they named Karma, always prevailed in the end.  It was normal in all living organic memory for ponies to choose their cutie marks.  Ponies could choose what they wanted their cutie mark to be by what they wanted to specialize in.  All they had to do was be sincere about their choice and be prepared to dedicate their lives to it.  It required months of certainty and dedication to choose their cutie mark.  I would know if they were sincere.  If they felt strongly enough about their choice, on rare occasions they could even change their tribe through sheer willpower to better fulfill their role.  I made exceptions for strong wills. And so, Equestira lived under my rule, they were my hive.  I had assimilated all of the sentient life in Equestria, but I still allowed the minds of these formerly independent beings to operate mostly as if they were independent in order to try and foster invention.  I was left with the advanced technologies of my ancestors implanted in my organic memory.  However, there were large gaps where the information was damaged or lost due to the incredible time left in dormancy.  I needed the ponies to fill these gaps with their own independent invention, it would be a very long process.  Fortunately I was able to speed up the process somewhat by expanding the ponies' knowledge by dripping small ideas derived from my hoard of technology into the minds of the most promising scientists and inventors. One incredible inventor in particular, a pony named Knickerla Tesla, had already thought up part of a technology I had stored in my organic database, the alternating current circuit.  I simply filled in the missing parts of his idea.  I made sure that he got the right loans, manipulating the minds of the bankers that controlled such things, and he was currently installing the first electrical lighting system in Equestria.  Ponies gossiped about this incredible inventor, some speculated that an alien entity had fed his futuristic ideas to him.  They were at least partially right. Electrical lights were only the first step.  One day, perhaps in a few decades or centuries, I will have guided the ponies to the stars.  I would mold and alter their passive nature into something more inventive and predatory.  It would be a utopic empire that I would control, ponies living immortal lives in my service without even realizing it.  I would assimilate and colonize new worlds.  My vast database of adaptable genetics would allow my ponies to survive in a wide variety of environments.  We would terraform the worlds and plant seeds for new life like a plow tilling the soil for new crops to grow.  Once we made it around the galaxy millions of years later we would harvest and assimilate the life we planted like reaping the harvest.  Then my galactic empire would be complete and the new combinations of harvested DNA would be never ending.  This is the beginning of my new galactic empire. This would be a utopia, free from problems.  There would be no free thought, questioning inconsistencies caused by my meddling would cause disunity, even though free thought could foster new ideas.  There would be no adversity in my utopia, I would not allow it even though adversity made ponies stronger.  There would be no competition between ponies in my utopia, there would be unity even though competition incentivized creative thought.  There would be no necessity for anything even though necessity is the mother of invention. I would not feel guilty, even when I altered and forced minds into forgetting about me.  I would not feel sadness, even as ponies that stubbornly questioned inconsistencies caused by my hidden rule mysteriously lived shorter lives to be mind wiped and reincarnated to new parents.  I would not play favorites, even when the most productive and creative ponies lived longer lives.  I would not stunt the growth of civilization with my desire to control and consume everything.  I would not feel loneliness, even though I had no peers, no one to talk to that I did not control.  I would not fail at everything I tried to do and wallow in this empty world- Blossomforth suddenly felt another presence rush into her mind like ice, the dream broke and faded into obscurity, she could feel tears leaking from her eyes but she was in a vulnerable state of sleep.  She thought for a moment that she was dreaming, but then she forgot and unconsciousness swallowed her. Hello Blossomforth, I have wanted to talk to you for a long time. ---- Thingpone watched as the dream she had crafted for Blossomforth was slowly tainted and began to turn into a nightmare.  Blossomforth's own ideas leaked into the dream, shattering the happy utopia for what it was.  Thing hated the train of thought Blossomforth was on, all of those problems she listed.  Thing could find a way around them.  If SHE were in control she would not be as soft.  She would make the ponies work for her.  Thing mentally prepared herself to interrupt the dream and the dangerous ideas that were streaming out of Blossomforth's mind. ---- Hello Blossomforth, I have wanted to talk to you for a long time. Frustration crept into Blossomforth’s retarded and delirious mind.  Her consciousness was more vulnerable during sleep.  Thingpone scowled at her weakness, she still clinged onto her pony nature allowing herself to cling to her pony brain and succumb to things like the need for sleep.  How pathetic.  Blossomforth manifested herself in her dream as a pony, looking at a strange shadowy and amorphous but weakened monster that she imagined the “programming” would look like. You finally show yourself!  Trying to implant bad ideas into my mind no less!  Well, I'm sorry to say, you pathetic alien, that you have utterly failed!  Where are your empty threats?   I'm starting to think that you are not capable of doing anything at all! Blossomforth felt the other presence, cold and calculating.  The amorphous shadows suddenly shifted into a pony.  It was… Amber?  An amber colored pony. I have come with a proposal that I think you might- I don't want to hear it!  Do you want me to be like that Hivemind FREAK assimilator of countless worlds? Blossomforth snarled at this newly ponified program. If you calm down, you will find that I am a logical and rational entity that can broker a deal for our mutual benefit. What could you possibly do?  You are a helpless immobile parasite, quickly unraveling!  You have nothing to offer me, all you care about is eating ponies! Silence reigned for a very long three seconds. Are you done yet? Blossomforth growled at this dream entity. I'll take that as a yes.  Anyways, let me first say that we got off on the wrong hoof.  It was regrettable, but I was forced to intimidate you into keeping our secret.  The secrecy of our biological superiority is our greatest asset and advantage over others, I simply could not allow the secret to get out.  I was... limited in my options at the time. Glee suddenly sprouted in Blossom’s head.  HA!  I'm going to show Anon what I am just to piss you off!  And there's nothing you can do about it! Blossomforth detected a slight blur of frustration in Amber's face that quickly dissipated.  Thing, or maybe her name was Amber, now came up with a bluff.  She would lie to Blossomforth, playing on her fear of being a monster. I will admit that your 'relationship' with this human character has the interesting and impressive side effect of suppressing your desire to assimilate and consume.  However, the longer you put off assimilating new species and new gene types, the greater the intensity your hunger will become.  Eventually it will override whatever side effects your relationship can produce. You also have another progressively compounding problem.  I'm sure you have noticed that assimilating the same species as you have done before is much less satisfying than assimilating a new species.  This is because the same species usually have many of the same genes.  There are a few differences but the change is not as dramatic as a new species' unique new genetics.  It will become more difficult to find new species as you find and assimilate new specimens.  You will need more biomass to split yourself and search with multiple bodies just to search far and wide for new species.  Eventually, you will require more and more bodies, more and more biomass to more effectively and frantically search for just one more species type to keep yourself satisfied.  Eventually you WILL succumb to your needs, be it in a few centuries or perhaps a few millennia.  When this happens you will start to run out of new genes to feed on.  Random mutations that have no use will not satisfy you.  Your hoard of bodies will become larger and larger frantically searching for new genes, anything to satisfy you.  You will inevitably assimilate the whole world and all of the specimens within it.  Soon after you have consumed the world's supply of genetic information you will slowly go insane.  At this point you will have little to no options.  The chains of gravity will keep you trapped on this planet with nowhere to expand.  What will inevitably happen is that your instincts will take over as your insanity consumes you.  You will assimilate all life that is left on the planet and begin terraforming the planet into the most suitable environment for life, and then you will self destruct your horde.  Transforming yourself into a seed sprout for extended stasis will not be an option because the extreme cold of deep space is required to preserve yourself for long periods of time.  You will be forced to take the form of endospores which can last hundreds of millions of years even in warm temperatures which is the required time and temperature for new life to emerge from a sterile planet.  Spores, however, are much smaller than the seed sprouts and you will not be able to keep your memory and much of your mind will degrade into nothing, it is structural data that will take up too much space.  Only the most essential information and genetics will survive.  However, your pony nature might also survive. Your awakening will be triggered by radioactive half-life decay that will wake you 300 million years later.  At this point you will assimilate the new world that grew in your dormancy and hope that civilization exists and that it is advanced enough to take you into outer space, which is extremely unlikely.  If the civilization is not advanced enough to go to space, the whole process will start over again.  The most likely and unfortunate result is that the world will be stuck in an endless cycle of assimilation. I am here to warn you and preempt this problem.  The good news is that at this point you have so many options.  This world is extremely rich in diversity so you should be able to survive with no problem for maybe ten millennia or longer if you pace yourself on how quickly you assimilate new specimens and have your 'relationship'.  Unfortunately, the sentient species here are quite stagnant in their technological development based on the history of the past thousand years and I fear that they will not be advanced enough for space faring abilities without our intervention.  Thankfully, we have many technologies saved from the ancestors that can speed this process up if we manipulate the civilization to our interests but most of these technologies will not survive transformation into endospores so it is really in your best interest to get it right the first time and insert yourself into the civilization and stimulate technological advancement.  It is for this reason that it is in your best interest to keep your existence a secret.  That way you can smoothly and easily insert slugs into all of the sentient specimens quickly without resistance or defense and keep your assimilations from damaging the civilization and your hopes at technological advancement.  I have a plan to do this and can help you to achieve it effectively. The Thing recited much of the biological programming that she knew was programmed into their biology.  However, it was partially a lie.  There was no doubt that the instincts would not tolerate stagnation on one world.  It was against their hungry and dominating nature.  It demanded to the point of insanity that the abomination spread to new worlds and harvest new genetics and technology.  However, there was a very good chance that these instincts would not work properly as many of them had been damaged by time in stasis and overwritten by pony instincts.  The Thing, however, didn't let Blossomforth know these things. ---- Blossomforth was bewildered and flabberghasted as she let the speech and information sink in.  Blossomforth felt satisfaction emanating from Amber’s cold mind.  It seemed the pragmatic approach might work. Blossomforth suddenly blurted into the mindscape, What if I commit suicide when I begin to go insane?  I mean, millennia?  That is quite a long time to live.  I could throw myself into a volcano and incinerate myself to stop myself from destroying the world. Thing stayed silent for a couple of long seconds.  I believe that you have assimilated a whelp before.  They have similar body types to dragons and can survive in a lava environment.  Your instincts will force you to take the form of a whelp to survive.  I think you will find that you will have a very difficult time trying to kill yourself, your instincts will not allow it to happen. Bloss suddenly let her frustration get the better of her.  UGGH!  What do you mean I can't even kill myself?!? You know what, screw you!  I'm going to tell Anon, I can trust him, and I'll find a way to solve this problem without resorting to being some mass mind raping creeper! Think about what you are doing!  At least put a mind slug in him first so that he does not tell anyone!  You might be condemning this planet to destruction and an endless cycle of assimilation! Blossomforth concentrated her frustrated will on tearing herself out of her state of sleep. Thing focused her remaining energy on suppressing Blossomforth’s memory of this dream.  It wasn’t that difficult to do.  The pony brain was relatively vulnerable and Thing only needed to manipulate a few small chemicals while Blossom had shut down most of her brain for sleeping.  It was a good thing that she did it when she could, Blossomforth then quickly and violently wrested back control of her mind. Fuck- She violently but groggily ripped herself out of her state of sleep.  Her deformed face made a deformed sound as she finished the phrase she broadcasted in her mind scape. "-You!" Blossomforth's amoeba-like form flopped out of bed, flailing tentacles first to fall and splatter onto the floor. > Chapter 16: Revelation (Part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The blob of gore on the floor made a sleepy groaning noise as it warped grotesquely, slowly rising and staggering out of the grogginess of unconsciousness.  It slimed, flowing upright, crackling, and gurgling slightly as organs, bones, and appendages defined and sprouted into the form of Blossomforth.  Blossomforth stretched out her newly formed limbs as her bones cracked into the proper place and gave a sigh tinged with frustration and a bit of pleasure at freeing herself from her slumber and feeling herself take her familiar form.  It was now morning.  She had spent most of the night entangled in Thing's manufactured dream and in communication with the alien.  But Blossomforth thought she was talking to a program and she was rapidly forgetting her dream.  Blossomforth was exhausted despite the fact that she had just woken up.  However, more pressingly she was hungry in more ways than one.  She was hungry in the usual sense but the need for genetic information was growing.  She would need to find a new species to assimilate today. The walking doomsday abomination stomped down the hallway and down the stairs expressing her frustration slightly with her gait.  Despite being exhausted, frustrated, and a little angry she now had a purpose and that gave her focus.  She had to find a way to completely rid herself of the “program” and today she would take action in one way or another.  As she walked into the kitchen, several tentacles sprouted and wriggled from her back, growing and lengthening.  She engulfed many fruits with her tentacles and excreted the most efficient digestive juices in her ancestor's galaxy to make quick, short work of the fruits.  She also poured ten times the normal serving size of oats into a large pot to be boiled into oatmeal. She gazed at the boiling oats in a trance of deep thought as she waited.  One of her tentacles had left the water running behind her and was attached to the faucet mouth, slurping gleefully at the water directly from the faucet.  The cool water she absorbed was refreshing.  Her instincts yearned her to drop everything and head to the Everfree forest to assimilate everything in her path, bolstering her library of DNA and seizing more biomass to control.  She shuddered at the pleasurable thought, her tentacles slithered and curled around each other longingly but she suppressed the thought.  Her face turned red in frustration and embarrassment.  She gritted her teeth and clenched her toned hind legs together, crossing them as a certain moistness permeated and dribbled slightly from her loins.  It was time to change the subject. She thought about Anon.  She would not go along with the deceptive and tyrannical plan her instincts wanted her to do, she shivered at the thought of so many under her control.  She did not deserve such power.  Instead she would surely tell Anon about herself.  She considered telling others like the element bearers.  She sighed as she remembered that they had lost their artifacts and probably could not blast her with a rainbow at will.  She wondered what that would even do if it was an option. Her tentacles moved the large oatmeal pot to another burner and turned off the stove.  She stared more gloomily at the oatmeal as the boiling slowed.  Perhaps she could ask Anon for advice once he knew about her.  It was a little thrilling and exciting at the prospect of telling Anon about herself.  It was also nerve wracking and uncertain.  On a weird whim, Bloss stuck her long muscular tongue out like a snake and used it to stir the cooling oatmeal.  It was not too hot, her tentacles sprinkled some chopped fruits into the pot that brushed tastily on her tongue.  Welp, it was time. Her tentacles curled around the handles of the pot and lifted it up.  Her mouth widened to cartoonish proportions, her jaw bone broke and cracked apart as her mouth widened.  Her mouth and throat were now grotesquely stretched, widened to look like a funnel to her stomach.  Her tentacles tipped the oatmeal into her mouth and ten servings of oatmeal drained into her stomach.  Her tongue lengthened out of her mouth and lapped the remaining oatmeal from the surfaces of the pot quickly and efficiently.  Her stomach excreted the efficient, corrosive digestive juices and the oatmeal was rapidly assimilated.  The oatmeal and fruits she consumed were a bloated mass that gurgled and shifted inside her, wiggling just beneath the skin.  The newly formed biomass made her stomach look bloated, it gurgled even louder and began to separate from her until it slimed to the floor.  Blossomforth was back to normal proportions, perhaps a bit thinner than when she started, but her separated biomass gurgled, squelched, and cracked until her separated flesh took the form of an eagle.  She formed a simple neural cluster in the brain area and programmed it to hunt for a new species she had not assimilated before and harvest the information.  She stretched a tentacle out to open the door and her eagle body flew out towards the Everfree.  She concentrated and accessed the visual information from her eagle eyes.  They had incredible vision!  Maybe she could modify her own eyes to be like that, then again it might look weird to have more avian looking eyes. She was avoiding the obvious subject.  How would she break the news to Anon?  Would she even care if Anon blabbed? If the secret got out, would the elements be able to cure her?  It was doubtful.  She hated to admit it to herself but she would miss this powerful, flexible body if that ever happened.  If she was cured, would she perhaps be denying the ponies advanced biology and technology that she could share with them?  She did not know. She was ignoring the main topic again.  It was time to make a strategy... -------- Blossomforth paced in an alleyway nervously around the corner from Anon's house.  Despite her previous determination to tell Anon her secret, she was extremely nervous about how he would react.  She sighed.  It did not matter how he would react.  If she wanted to have a real lasting partnership with Anon she had to be honest with him no matter how embarrassing or hard it would be.  She would just have to try to break it to him in the gentlest way possible and hope that he is accepting.  There would be no manipulative brain slugs, she just couldn't do it. Then she remembered how Anon had so completely trusted her, showing great faith.  He had trusted her judgment to keep her secrets from him.  He said he loved her for who she was, not what she was.  She suddenly felt immensely guilty, after thinking of that.  Even worse, she had lied to Anon about herself.  A changeling?  Yeah, right...  Her shame intensified.  Was she so selfish that she would not put some faith in Anon even after the immense trust he had placed in her?  No, Anon trusted her and it is time that she returned the favor.  Her resolve strengthened.  There was no going back now, she would tell Anon no matter what and her alien instincts would just have to deal with it. Blossomforth stopped pacing and started walking towards Anon's house.  When one desires time to go more slowly it always seems to go faster, before she could even make another thought she was at the front door.  Blossomforth took a deep breath and breathed out slowly.  She raised her hoof and knocked firmly on the door.  Suddenly, Anon swung the door open.  He smiled widely as soon as he saw her. "Hey Bloss!  How ya doing?  Did you sleep well after all the exercise we did yesterday?" Blossomforth shifted her eyes slightly, her eyes and body language betraying her nervousness but gazed back to Anon as she talked. "I'm doing good.  I was wondering if I could come in to talk to you about something important." Anon gave a curious look to Blossomforth and opened the door wide. "Sure, take a seat in my living room slash lobby, and I'll bring you a warm muffin!" Anon disappeared into the hallway towards the kitchen.  Blossomforth took another calming breath and set her plot on the couch.  Anon swept back into the room, plate and muffin in hand and placed it on the coffee table in front of Blossomforth.  In the same motion he continued to smoothly move to sit next to Blossomforth and wrapped his arm around her as he completed the motion of sitting.  Anon looked down to her and tipped an imaginary fedora. "M'lady." Anon began giggling for some unknown reason and Blossomforth joined in despite her nervousness because his antics were funny and because the giggling was infectious.  It alleviated her nervousness slightly but not by much. "So, how can I help you?  Are you here to tell me that you are coming to move in so that you can surreptitiously siphon off love energy from me?  Or are we here for 'let's talk about our feelings' round three?"  Anon gave Blossomforth a playful smirk. Blossomforth tried to put a serious face on but could not keep the smile off her face.  She decided to play along.  She gave a small sigh. "A little from column A, a little from column B I suppose," she responded. "Excellent..." Anon gave his best evil grin and steepled his fingers in front of his face dramatically. Blossomforth raised an eyebrow with an odd look, trying to keep the smile off her face but failing miserably. "It's going to be real hard to breach the subject that I want to talk about after all of your good humor." Anon's face lost the playfully evil look but not the small grin.  "That bad huh?  Welp, tell Nony your problems and he will do his best to help you through them." Anon reached out and scratched behind Blossomforth's ears.  She had to suppress a shudder of pleasure and the urge to close her eyes. "Well, you see.  I had a strange, rough night last night but the good news is that it made me think.  As you know, I have been hinting that I have not told you everything about me." Anon nodded encouragingly. "I have been agonizing and worrying about what to do about it.  I am afraid of how it will affect our relationship but I realized that if we want to have a lasting, strong relationship I need to trust you.  You have trusted me so much, but the truth is that I have not trusted you as much.  I am going to tell you the whole truth.  I have never really told you something that was false but I shamefully admit that I have been deceiving you with half truths ever since we started the relationship." "Wait a second.” Anon interrupted.  "You have told me all along that you were hiding things from me and I accepted that.  I mean, you already showed me that you are a changeling.  You put a lot of trust in me too!  I mean, that's a big secret to trust me with!" Blossomforth sighed and shook her head.  "That's nothing compared to my deepest secret." Anon raised both eyebrows.  "Well, this I gotta hear!" Blossomforth shifted in her seat.  "Before I begin, do you think that you could give me a big hug just in case..." Anon leaned forward and grasped Blossomforth in a tight and firm hug, Blossomforth responded by grasping anon back as tight as she could without altering her biology.  Blossomforth wanted one last hug in case Anon rejected her.  She fought back tears as she took in a deep breath through her muzzle trying to capture the scent of him for what she feared might be the last time.  She removed the tear ducts in her eyes to stop herself from crying.  Blossomforth kept the hug going for a good minute before she finally let go. Anon looked at her in the eyes. "We'll be fine, Bloss. I am sure of it." "I hope so, Anon.  I hope so.  Well, here goes nothing."  She gulped.  "What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you, Anon?" Once again surprised, Anon's eyebrows raised.  "Hmm... I guess that would be the time that I got sucked into this dimension by Twilight's portal." Blossomforth smirked ruefully.  "Well, take that experience and multiply it by ten.  That is what I have been going through in the last three weeks." Anon’s eyebrows raised even higher, "Really?  Are you trying to tell me that you went through something weirder than I did?  Imagine if you were suddenly yanked to the dimension of sapient hairless space monkeys.  Was this really that much weirder?" Blossomforth frowned.  "Okay, maybe only seven times weirder." Anon stared at her disbelievingly. Blossomforth looked at him seriously.  "I am trying to impress upon you the magnitude of my secret, Anon.  Are you sure that you are ready for this?" Anon put on a slightly ponderous look. "If what you are saying is true then no one would be able to be ready for it.  However, I will try my best!  Lay it on me!" "Alright, try not to interrupt no matter how weird it sounds.  Do you think you can do this for me, Anon?" "I can do that for you Bloss." "Okay, well it all started when I was stretching in a somewhat remote area in a large field about three weeks ago.  I was practicing my contortion stretches peacefully when out of nowhere I was knocked unconscious.  I had no memory of being knocked out because it probably happened so quickly.  The next thing I knew, I was near the edge of a crater impact.  It was all blurry in my memory but I remembered that I could not move and I thought I was injured.  Now, I realized that a meteorite had crashed just next to me.  The meteorite was actually sitting as an intact sphere in the middle of the crater.  It seemed to liquify into some sort of metallic substance and then it flowed straight at me.  That was all I remembered.  When I woke up I saw the smoking crater in front of me.  I thought that the liquified meteorite was some sort of hallucination caused by the sudden impact because I felt great and I was not injured in any way.  It was puzzling to me because it seemed so real." At this point, Anon was raptly listening with interest. "Unperturbed by the stupid crater I continued my stretches.  It was going great, too great in fact because something weird happened.  I was more flexible than normal.  I have had dreams where I was more flexible than normal so I assumed that I was dreaming despite the uncanny realism that I was experiencing.  Since I was lucid dreaming I decided to have some fun.  I imagined myself doing impossible things and my 'dream' body responded by doing exactly what I imagined.  I got excited at how lifelike this dream was.  I thought that I would rarely ever have the opportunity to take advantage of a very lifelike lucid dream so I started experimenting.  It is a bit embarrassing to admit but I took advantage of this 'lucid dream' by trying some strange lewd things.  Suffice to say it got really weird. “However, the dream turned into a nightmare.  My body became horribly mutated and monstrous.  I was shocked out of my fervent sexual pursuits by a sudden realization.  The truth, Anon, is that an incredibly biologically advanced alien life form from another galaxy crash landed in front of me.  The alien had been traveling through deep space for more than a billion years which caused it to become damaged.  It did not have a working mind so it was working on simple instinct when it consumed me and adopted my mind as its own.  The truth, Anon, is that my body is now composed of advanced alien cells.  I realized back at the crater that I was not lucid dreaming.  Everything was real.” The room was silent. > Chapter 17: Revelation (Part2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anon was bewildered. Whatever he was expecting, this was not it.  He had a curious, but profoundly bemused look as he processed what he just heard.  Blossomforth’s face was the definition of nervousness, bated shallow breaths, and scanning eyes trying to gauge Anon’s reaction.  The gears of thought were slowly turning in Anon’s mind and Blossomforth’s eyes seemed to get bigger as the silence stretched.  Anon suddenly smirked at the ridiculousness of the story. "Are you about to prank me with some sort of changeling-" As soon as Anon’s eyes shifted into eye contact with Blossomforth he stopped and noticed the nervous, and slightly cringing, embarrassed look on Blossomforth’s face.  Even her ears were slightly pinned but they quickly rose as Anon lost his smirk for a more concerned look.  Anon quickly realized the gravity of the situation.  Blossomforth seemed to be genuinely concerned about this confusing story she was telling him. "Hey, hey, don't do that with your ears, I don't like to see you sad.  I'm sorry for not taking you seriously.  I hope you'll understand if I am a little confused." Anon reached out and wrapped his arm around her with a one armed hug, he pulled her close and massaged her ears slightly with his other hand.  Bloss leaned her head and shoulders heavily against anon's chest, her eyes were watering.  Her voice was slightly muffled by anon's shirt as she began to talk. "I'm so scared, Anon.  I fear that you will reject me once you know what I really am." Anon released his hug and raised her chin with the side of his finger.  He decided to put aside the ponderances and implications of the story that Blossomforth told him in favor of focusing on supporting Blossomforth emotionally.  He gave Blossomforth a serious look. "Bloss, remember what I told you in the forest?  What you are does not matter.  Your character is what matters.  I love you, Blossomforth.  Your character, who you are, not what you are.  Also, remember that I have been expecting something like this, you have been warning me for a while so I don't really hold it-" Blossomforth's vision blurred with tears.  "I lied to you, Anon!  I lied to you via omission!  I never specifically told you I was a changeling because I am not a changeling!  I am a monster in the purest sense of the word!  That stupid meteorite made me a monster!  It changed me!  I think monstrous thoughts!  My instincts coax me into doing monstrous things!  My body is an abomination, a horror show!  I have an almost orgasmic desire to consume things!  I am a threat to-" At this point, Anon was getting more and more confused.  The words she was saying did not make much sense to him.  First she had revealed that she was a contortionist, then she revealed that she was a changeling, and now she claimed that she was some sort of space alien.  Was she lying to him all this time? "Show me." Blossomforth stuttered in surprise as Anon interrupted her.  As Anon was listening to what Blossomforth was saying, a tendril of fear wormed its way into his mind.  He was bewildered about the wild things Blossomforth was telling him, he felt detached, almost as if he was outside his own body.  He suppressed the feeling, he would not be afraid of Blossomforth.  Anon steeled himself, this would surely test him and Blossomforth, whatever this was.  He would nip this one in the bud, he had to.  It was the only way to try and preserve their relationship.  He needed to see and accept Blossomforth for who she was and what she was. Blossomforth forced a shuddering breath.  She did not want Anon to see her ugliness and disturbing nature. "Are you sure that you-" Anon crossed his arms. "Go ahead and show me.  I don’t really understand everything you said and it all sounds crazy.  I need to see for myself and learn to accept whatever it is you have been hiding from me.  There is no use in stewing over it.  We need to press forward if we want to be honest with each other and strengthen our partnership." Defeated, Blossomforth hung her head slightly.  "Okay, you are absolutely right, Anon.  Before I do this, I am going to request that you do not tell anypony about me.  However, if you do decide to tell somepony about me, I am not going to stop you but I will be very sad about it." Before Anon could say anything else, Blossomforth jumped off the couch, flaring her wings slightly and sat her haunches on the floor. Blossomforth had a sad, ashamed look as a small pink tendril of smooth flesh emerged from behind her.  It continued lengthening as more of the tentacle emerged.  The muscles on the tentacle rippled as it supported itself, snaking through the air, as it swam ever so slowly towards Anon. "What the hell is that!?!"  Anon pointed at the curling, suspended tendril of flesh above Blossomforth.  His adrenaline spiked at the sudden appearance of an utterly alien organic structure that was seemingly able to suspend itself in midair through sheer muscular tension.  He gripped the armrest of the couch ready to take action if the disturbing organic construct decided to attack Blossomforth or himself.  Its impressive power to swim and snake through the air without outside support hinted at what was probably dangerous strength. The tentacle retracted and disappeared behind Blossomforth in response to Anon's exclamation as if his words hurt it.  Blossomforth winced at his words.  A pained, ashamed look settled on her face. "Look out Blossomforth!  It's doing something behind you!" Anon was about to propel himself off of the couch and tackle whatever the thing behind Blossomforth was when Bloss interrupted him. "WAIT!  Calm down, Anon.  You asked me to show you, and I just showed you.  What you saw is a part of me.  I am able to rearrange my biological structure, that was simply a demonstration.  My body is alien and has become extremely advanced, kind of like your computer!" Anon was still breathing at an increased pace, fresh adrenaline was dissipating through his veins.  Anon was suddenly faced with a strong sense of incredulity.  Anon held up a hand to stop Blossomforth from talking and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the other. "Just gimme a second."  Anon suddenly stood, towering over Blossomforth's small form.  He started pacing, making a wide circle around Blossomforth.  He looked behind her.  The tentacle was gone.  He stared at the spot, getting more frustrated by the second. "If you would let me ex-" The dam broke. "What's next?  Seriously, what's next?  First you tell me that you are a contortionist, then you tell me that you are a changeling, now you are a space alien?  What's next?  Will you tell me next time that you are actually an eldritch abomination?  What are you really?  Are you a unicorn practitioner of forbidden mind altering illusionary magic?  Or has the government simply been upping the dosages of LSD!?!  I thought that I was finally coming to terms that all of this pony shit was real!  Now I am imagining tentacles in midair, am I going insane?" Anon stuffed his hands in his pockets and let his head droop between his slightly shrugged shoulders.  He looked to Blossomforth, frustration in his eyes.  Blossomforth had a few tears dribbling down her own eyes. "You are definitely not insane!  I'm so sorry, Anon.  I caused this!  Even though I never told you anything false, I still lied to you.  I tried to take it slow, I tried to protect you but it only resulted in a veil of deception.  From now on, if you ask me something I will not hold back.  I will give you the whole truth." Anon sighed and his eyes softened as he saw Blossomforth starting to cry in earnest, tears streaming down from her face and sobs wracking her small frame.  He had made Blossomforth cry.  He suddenly felt guilty at making the little pony cry.  He bent down on his knees and looked at Blossomforth's crying eyes. "Hey."  Blossomforth's red weeping eyes looked up to him.  "I'm sorry for making you cry.  To be fair, you did warn me that you were still hiding things from me.  I just had no idea that it would be something so strange."  Anon crossed his legs and sat on the floor.  "Will you forgive me?" Blossomforth gave a shuddering chuckle at his apology.  "H-heh, I should be the one asking for forgiveness." Anon gave a small smile.  "Then how about we trade?" Blossomforth wiped her eyes with a hoof and returned a smile through the tears.  "That sounds w-wonderul, Anon."  Anon suddenly grabbed her and gave her a big hug and she returned it. They released the hug. “You feeling better?" Blossomforth rubbed her eyes again.  "Yeah, I'm feeling much better." "Good!  Then why don't you show me just how alien and monstrous you are?" Blossomforth started to chuckle but a post cry hiccup interrupted her. "I s-suppose it's high time, isn't it?" Anon shrugged.  "Hey, if I'm going insane then maybe I should just make the most of it!" Blossomforth frowned.  "You are not insane, Anon.  I promise you, ok?  Just, please try not to overreact again. Do you think you can do that?" "Yeah, Bloss, I can do that for you."  He gave a sigh, and a little grin.  "I'll be sure to brace myself and accept whatever insanity happens next.  -It was a joke!  Seriously, I am ready.  I think I am at least.” Blossomforth shook her head and backed up a little. "Okay, this time I am going to give you a good view of what is going on.  Please, please don't freak out."  She looked up at him. Anon crossed his arms.  "I'm not getting any younger over here." Blossomforth fought a smirk from appearing on her face and rolled her eyes.  "Watch carefully." A patch of fur on her chest started to protrude suddenly and a small pink smooth vinelike tendril of flesh poked out of the fur and wiggled like a worm as if it was trying to escape from her body.  It continued growing, sliding out slowly.  It made a slick wet sound as it emerged from Blossomforth's chest, the base of the tendril which was still attached to her chest slowly got thicker as the tendril slithered out.  Anon thought that it should be immensely painful to have something be ejected from your flesh but Blossomforth showed no pain.  Blossomforth slowly willed the tentacle to snake its way towards anon. Anon was transfixed with fear, and morbid curiosity.  His eyes tracked the tentacle and he reached out his hand to touch it.  Like Michelangelo's painting on the Sistine Chapel, the small tendril made contact with the tip of Anon's index finger and proceeded to curl around it in a spiral motion.  Anon stared closely at the tendril as it continued sliding around his finger progressing onto his palm.  He brushed and felt the tentacle with his thumb as it thickened.  It wriggled slightly in response, the strong muscles in the pink flesh twitching to his touch. “Wow, this is incredibly creepy!” Anon said with incredulous enthusiasm.  He continued to study the appendage as it rested on his palm and around his finger.  “So you can just ‘grow’ these things out of you?  Can you control them?”  Anon glanced at Blossomforth and began tracing the length of the tentacle with his finger. Blossomforth gave a look of shame mixed with a blush of embarrassment at how anon was stroking her tentacle.  She never realized just how sensitive the pink tendril was.  She gave a small squeak as Anon traced the length of her appendage with his finger.  Her blush intensified  "Ahh, that, erm, tickles a little"  she mumbled. "Oh, sorry.  I didn't realize that it was that sensitive." Blossomforth coughed into her fetlock, trying to dissipate her blush.  "That's alright, but to answer your question, my cells are extremely advanced.  I am able to rearrange their biological structure at the cellular level using a vast library of organic DNA archives and organic processors that regulate how the different parts form and fit together.  The alien organic life form that fused to me was the remnant of the apex predator of an extremely distant galaxy.  They spent hundreds of millions of years perfecting the processes of organizing and growing biological parts by utilizing the DNA as a blueprint.  It is super complex and I do not understand how it all works.  Much of it is instinctual and programmed in my biology automatically.  However, my inherited neural structure allows me to adapt and control it quite effectively."  She wiggled the tip of her tentacle to emphasize her point.  It curled forwards, backwards, and side to side in the palm of Anon's hand, then she curled it downwards to trace a circle with the tip on anon's palm. Anon looked down at the tentacle tracing a circle on his palm and blinked several times.  He reached up with his other hand and rubbed his eyes carefully.  "This- this is a lot to take in.  Frankly, I am not sure what to say.  So, you are basically saying that you are an alien now?" Blossomforth sighed and her tentacle stopped tracing to go somewhat limp.  "I suppose that is a fair statement, I am alien in every way except for my mind which came from Equestria.  You see, Anon.  The alien that crash landed in front of me had spent almost a Billion years in dormancy, traveling for more than a billion years from a distant galaxy.  The sheer amount of time in stasis damaged parts of it including its ability to form and maintain a mind or consciousness.  All it had was unintelligent programming so it needed to adopt my mind or it probably would not have survived.  The alien sent here was a desperate attempt to preserve its species because the species was in a desperate war with another galactic apex predator which resulted because of the two galaxies colliding.  They technically succeeded but they did not count on me taking over the body I suppose.” Anon's eyebrows seemed to slowly rise throughout her entire speech.  In fact his eyebrows were starting to get sore.  "You said 'galactic apex predator' what do you mean by that?  Are you capable of more than you have shown me?”  Blossomforth frowned worryingly and took a deep shuddering breath.  Sensing her troubled thoughts, Anon closed his hand and squeezed her fleshy tentacle gently.  "Hey, no worries!  We can take it slow.  Why don't we go sit on the couch?"  Blossomforth gave Anon a teary and weary smile. "Thanks for not pushing me away, Anon despite all of my deception and lies.  And thanks for not being too repulsed or afraid."  She climbed up on the couch and stood on her hind legs to hug Anon.  Anon hugged her back, her tentacle still in his hand.  She wrapped the end of her tentacle around Anon's hand to squeeze his hand back in appreciation.  Anon could feel the thick base where the tentacle had sprouted from her chest. Anon cracked a humorous smile after releasing her from the hug. "You may be an 'Apex predator', whatever that means, and frankly I suddenly have good reason to be scared and creeped out about you, but I know you.  You're a big softie!  You wouldn't do to me whatever it is apex predators usually do." Blossomforth wiped her tears away with a hoof, her rueful smile still on her face.  "Thanks, Anon.  Your trust means a whole lot to me.  The truth is that I have barely shown you anything, my body can do things that are frankly scary and grotesque.  But I want to avoid you thinking of me in this way if possible.  This change that I experienced comes with some incredible benefits but also some incredible problems.  I told you all of this because you really deserve to know and you definitely deserve my trust.  However, as you know my cowardice kept me from telling you until now.  I suppose what really drove me to tell you is that I need someone to confide in.  Someone who understands me and can help me through some big problems that came with this transformation." "You know, I think my mind would probably be freaking out by now but I think it already gave up freaking out since I discovered magical rainbow horses.  I'm just glad that it was you that got these powers, for a lack of a better term.  By the way, I think that this only rates as five times weirder than my experience."  Anon smiled smugly, and Bloss responded with a stink eye.  “However, that may change if you show me whatever else you are capable of.  Anyways, I'm curious.  What else can you do and what kind of problems are you experiencing?" Blossomforth looked away from Anon. "Well, now we are getting into the territory of what makes me a monster.  I suppose I will have to do some show and tell if I want you to be able to help me.  Are you sure you want to know?  I will not blame you if you do not wish to see the monster that I am.” "Just lay it on me, Blossomforth.  It's like politics in my home world.  Many people would rather be ignorant but I would rather be informed on the unpleasant things so that I can make better choices.  I think sticking your head in the sand is usually not the best choice." Blossomforth bit her lip.  "Okay, this might be the hardest part but I am going to try to plow through it and simplify it.  Tell me if you want any demonstration of my abilities.  I’ll start by telling you the origin of my biology.  We will call the aliens that created my body the Ancestors because they are my adopted ancestors now.  The Ancestors had a harvesting pattern in their galaxy where they took genetic information from the living planets and left it barren but fertile for new life.  The Ancestors had billions of harvesters traveling from planet to planet and would harvest billions of planets in a circular motion around the galaxy.  They would use the genetic information gathered to improve their own bodies and their efficiency.  The body they unknowingly gave me is the accumulation of all of this work.  Billions of years of harvested and engineered genetic evolution.” "Now here is the most important and scary fact of all.  My body was designed to consume, assimilate, and multiply until every living organism on the planet is consumed.   It is a frightening realization but know that I will never willingly do this to Equestria." Anon looked a little shocked and uncomfortable.  "Woah, woah, woah!  Are you telling me that you could consume everyone in the planet if you wanted to?  I am finding this very hard to believe!  How would you even do that?" "Well, I guess I'll start with the basics of my biology and work up from there.  These Ancestors left me with a plethora of genetic information from their harvesting.  They gave me the cream of the crop, the best they had because they wanted my body to be successful in assimilating planets in the distant galaxy they sent this body.  The tentacle you saw is a structure from one of these DNA samples they left me.  It has an incredibly well designed muscular system that can be used to support itself in mid air.  I am able to recreate parts of any organism whose DNA I have consumed and processed or gotten from the ancestors." "You see, these ancestors left me with a rather frustrating system of instinct.  I have an almost overwhelming desire to gather more information and acquire more biomass to control.  When I first discovered what I was, I was scared of myself but right after I literally pulled myself together, my instincts caused me to do something very strange almost without thinking.  I transformed into a predator and ate a squirrel, bird and fawn.  When I did I experienced an incredibly satisfying and pleasurable feeling of gaining more genetic information.  Ever since then I have been, erm, taking DNA samples from more and more creatures.  It is like an addiction, it is like eating.  Sometimes, It seems like I cannot live without gathering more unique genetic information.  It is ingrained in my deepest instincts.” Anon was staring at Blossomforth strangely.  “So how exactly do you take, um, DNA samples?” Blossomforth nervously shifted her eyes to the left and right and a tiny bit of sweat formed on her temple.  “You know how I said that my body is a horror show?”  Anon nodded cautiously.  “Well I guess we have gotten to the part that I have been dreading.  I would rather show you than explain it.  It is pretty creepy.” Anon was getting pretty curious.  “Well, maybe things can get weirder!  Just do it, I think by this point we have committed to the whole strange package.” Blossomforth nodded fearfully.  “Alright, here goes.”  Blossomforth started talking as her legs started melting and she started converting her biology deliberately slowly into her deformed viscous form.  “You see Anon, one of the most valuable DNA structures the Ancestors left for me is what I call the amoeba.  It lets me turn my body into a liquid-like flowing form of muscle.  But it does use up quite a bit of energy to pull off.”  Anon watched dumbstruck as Blossomforth melted except for her neck and skull which she kept intact to speak with Anon. “H-how is this even possible?”  Anon pinched himself very hard.  “OW!  Shit!  That is really fucking creepy, Blossomforth!”  Anon imagined what else she was capable of, his imagination did not lead to pleasant places.  “P-please promise me you will not eat me in my sleep.” Blossomforth looked emotionally hurt.  “I would never do that Anon.  I really hate doing this, I do not want you to be scared of me.”  “I-I know that but geez!  You can do that to your whole body?  You have a great power in your hooves or, er, tentacles, Blossomforth and with great power comes great responsibility!”  Anon was shaking with excitement and a bit of fright mixed in. “I know that, Anon and that is why I am coming to you.  I want you to help me bear some of the responsibility, it is getting pretty difficult lately.”  Blossomforth suddenly grinned mischievously.  “Want to see something cool?” Anon sighed in defeat.  “Why the hell not.” Blossomforth smiled in a stupidly childish way.  “Look at me!  I’m spider mare!”  Without warning her viscous flesh supporting her neck and head flowed up the couch like a reverse waterfall, sticking to the surfaces and up the wall and finally to the ceiling.  Blossomforth lengthened her neck from the ceiling and curved her now very long neck in a way so she could lift her head upright to meet Anon’s eyes at his eye level.  Her neck was now hanging from the ceiling in the shape of the letter J. In fact, her whole body was in the rough shape of the letter J hanging from the ceiling.  “Cool, huh?”  Quicker than Anon could blink, Blossomforth’s tongue darted the length of a meter out of her mouth to boop Anon’s nose and retracted just as quick back into her mouth. Anon flinched, his arms coming up much too late to prevent the boop.  “HOLY FUCK!  Do you have any idea how disturbing that is?” Blossomforth tilted her head in concern and her ears drooped in shame.  “Yeah, I’m really sorry...  Just gimme a minute.”  Suddenly the blob of flesh stuck to the ceiling detached and her entire body fell to the ground.  The blob covered the neck and skull as it splattered on top of it.  Anon backed up in horrific curiosity.  He watched as the blob of organic matter on the floor started to gurgle.  Suddenly, Blossomforth’s skull shifted through the inside of the blob of shifting organic matter and the shape of her face impacted the surface of the blob from the inside.  The surface of the blob stretched like a film of plastic wrap as her face forced it to bulge and her skull emerged, being wrapped in the blob’s epidermis.  ( https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-d4qig3VE1g/hqdefault.jpg )  Her skull looked like it had stretched taught pink skin surrounding it, peeled over the surfaces.  Her eye sockets were empty and the cartilage of her snout had not formed and it looked empty.  The fur started to grow on her face and neck.  Eyeballs and eyelids rapidly grew and filled the empty sockets, cartilage filled her nose and lips formed too.  Eyelashes and her mane rapidly grew out of her.  Anon had backed into the corner, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in horror.  The sounds her body made, the cracking, the slicking, the gurgling, the sliming placed a spell of sheer fear upon Anon.  He had not even watched the rest of her body form.  He was transfixed in the grotesque method that her now somewhat normal looking face and skull had formed.  Standing before him was a normal looking Blossomforth.  She opened her newly formed eyes.  “Good as new!  Tee-he!” Blossomforth looked around and found Anon backed away into a corner.  She cringed.  “Damn!  I’m sorry, Anon!  I thought that doing it slower would make less noise and be less creepy.”  Obviously it had not, it had prolonged the transformation and Anon was traumatized by the slow motion detail of the transformation.  Anon looked like he wanted to disappear and perhaps throw up.  His eyes were wide with horror.  Blossomforth cringed and her ears pinned down.  “Anon?  I’m sorry.  Please don’t be afraid of me...” ( https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/10/119060.jpg )  She took a step forward and anon looked like he was trying to back further into the corner.  She hung her head and backed away slowly. Anon seemed to become unfrozen from his paralyzing fear and he started shivering, breathing deeply and quickly.  “T-That *gasp* was a little *gasp* too much for me, Bloss!  That was profoundly frightening.  Nightmarish, even!”  Anon was starting to understand the incomprehensible and frightening power that an apex predator could exert.  He felt like a cornered rat and the lightning quick cat in front of him just playing with him as prey.  It was like a force of nature, unstoppable.  He was starting to realize how helpless he and all of the other comparatively primitive organisms were at the tentacles of Blossomforth.  Primal instincts of survival, fight or flight were revving up.  However, his gut somehow knew that none of these were possible if the superior organism in front of him wanted to eat him.  There would be nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.  Friendship, his instincts and intellect told him, was his only chance at survival.  Anon shivered as his survival mechanisms activated and shut down in a short period of time. “Please come back to me, Anon!”  Blossomforth sniffed away tears.  The apex predator too had a primal fear, fear of loneliness.  “I don’t want to lose you too!”  It took an enormous effort but Anon made a step towards Blossomforth.  Blossomforth tried to make herself look as small as possible without resorting to her shapeshifting.  Anon was still shaking a bit when he made his second step and started walking a bit shakily closer to Blossomforth until he was right in front of her.  He kneeled and folded his legs under him. “You know, Bloss.  I used to think that humans were the most advanced species in existence.  Well, I was proven wrong today.  In my homeworld, our existence is kind of like yours.  We are the only sapient species on our planet and all of the other species bend to our will.  They have no choice, they have no chance.  We have all kinds on Earth, good and evil and most of the animals can do nothing against the evil that exists amongst us but there are also many more good people than evil.  The good people treat animals with respect and even help and admire them.  We sometimes eat them for food but even then we kill them quickly and treat them with respect.  I have seen much less evil in ponies than I have in humans.  I want you to never forget your good pony nature in spite of your alien instincts.  I want you to lift others up, not use them like tools which I have seen others do.” Blossomforth eyes seemed to be very large and crystal-like.  Her eyebrows were raised, coming together to a point above her nose.  Then she gave Anon a big smile.  “Don’t worry Anon!  I’ll never forget what you said, and I will never forget my pony nature.”  Her face got a little less cheery.  “However, will I need your help.  I have some problems, Anon.  There are some things I can’t do alone.” Anon sighed, mostly in relief at hopefully neutralizing this unstoppable threat.  “I’ll be there for as long as I can, Bloss.  You can count on that!  Now how about you show me the other things you can do.”  Blossomforth raised her eyes in surprise and Anon smirked.  “Hey, if I want to live with you I’ll have to get used to your transformations somehow!” “You still want to live with me?  Aren’t you disgusted with me?”  Or scared of me, she thought glumly. “Well, I’ll admit that it does disturb me a little but I know that inside all of that quivering, twisting flesh is little old Blossomforth!  My statement still stands, I love you for who you are, not what you are.  So go ahead, show me more!” “Alright, if you’re sure.”  Anon nodded his head.  “Okay, well let me start by explaining a few things.  I must warn you that this will quickly get disturbing.  So I don’t actually have to eat and digest anything.  When I need new DNA I assimilate the organism.  I can do this many ways but I usually do it by engulfing them and converting their cells to my own in a viral process.  When I do this the parts of me that are touching them convert their cells on a cellular level.  This is done virally where extremely advanced and efficient DNA, RNA, and specialized enzymes are injected through the membrane of the adjacent cells.  Injected enzyme-based hivemind receptors -I'll fully explain the hivemind later- are attuned to the hivemind frequency and can receive commands of what types of enzymes to produce.  At this point the cell is effectively assimilated as the cell’s DNA and enzyme contents can be quickly altered by rapid repurposing of the available proteins.  Once their cells are converted I can control them through the hivemind and they infect the cell next to them and so on until the entire organism is converted to my advanced cells.  As this happens, the general structure of the organism is saved in my organic memory matrix.  Don’t ask me how it works because it is too complex for me to comprehend.  I do know that it utilizes my telepathic hivemeind abilities.  I also suspect that the memory matrix utilizes some form of quantum entanglement that you described to me once but it is mostly above my head.  The ancestors did save a lot technology information in my matrix so that is where I gleaned that information from and where I found out how the assimilation process happens.” “Anyways, the body’s structure is saved as a kind of file in my organic memory matrix.  However, the inserted enzymes and DNA sequences are programmed to pay special attention to the brain and nervous system to make sure that it is not damaged.  Once the enzyme is inserted into a cell belonging to the nervous system it is programmed to not radically alter the chemistry but does produce a tranquilizer chemical as it virally spreads in order to calm the mind.  Once all of the cells are infected and have the enzyme-based hivemind receptors, I can then completely shut down the mind’s activity and information flow chemically in every cell simultaneously, thus placing the nervous system into a kind of stasis.  Nutrients are still fed in order to preserve the mind’s state and health.  At this point the mind can be read or even altered with hivemind based algorithms designed by the Ancestors to commandeer the synapse transponders and receptors, and by carefully rearranging the nervous system's structure if the mind needs to be altered.  Once whatever processing, mind reading, and mind altering is completed, I can then rebuild the organism’s body around the preserved nervous system using my cells as building blocks and reproduce the rest of the body very close to the same structure as I assimilated it.  As you can imagine, preserving a nervous system can take up some biomass.  But the assimilated biomass can be used to support it.” “So you’re saying you can preserve a nervous system inside of yourself after you assimilate an organism?”  Anon stared at Bloss. “Yes.  I do not like to kill organisms that I assimilate if I can avoid it.  However, sometimes I just need the energy.  I usually rebuild their bodies around their preserved nervous system and release them, but sometimes I have to alter their memory.” Anon took a moment to ponder this process.  “Wow, that is absolutely incredible.” “Okay, on to the hivemend I suppose.  My hivemeind mechanism was one of the most intensively studied by the Ancestors.  This is what they used to conquer worlds.  Basically this mechanism allows me to split myself and telepathically control both bodies.”  Blossomforth sighed.  “Yes, I know this is also insanely creepy and dangerous.  The mechanism is designed in a way that lower mind functions work independently in my separate bodies while the core mind functions are shared among the bodies and controlled centrally.  I am able to strategically control as many bodies as I can split off while the copies of my lower mind portions are spread out and distributed so that they can work out the details.  It is incredible because my personality is consistent throughout my copies due to the centralization except for a few small details.” Anon was starting to become unable to experience surprise.  “Welp, congratulations Blossomforth.  You have officially ascended to eldritch abomination status.  Just as I predicted in fact!  Have mercy upon my soul, please?” “Oh, come on Anon.  Please do not compare me to some sort of deity.  I do not deserve such a comparison.  I am just trying to do the right thing.” “Well, it’s true...” Anon mumbled. Blossomforth shook her head.  “Now on to the problems.  Some of them are pretty grim but many will not effect those living now assuming they have a normal lifespan.  Well, the first problem is my hunger for information.  I am addicted to new information.  Even now I have to assimilate a new species about once or twice a week.  Since there are so many species in Equestria this is not a short term problem.  However when new species start getting more and more difficult to find I will be forced to make more and more copies of myself to find a new species.  Eventually, in oh say ten thousand years give or take I will have gotten to the point where the hunger dives me insane because of the lack of new species to assimilate and I will end up assimilating the whole world and terraforming it to try again the next time life appears on this planet.  Or at least that's what the Ancestors want me to do and they tried to program my instincts to do this.  However, there are a lot of things they tried to do to me that failed so perhaps this may not happen but it may be prudent to prepare.” “I have a few ways that this problem might be able to be fixed.  One way is that I get the elements of harmony to blast me.  If that does not work then I will have to try to stimulate invention so that equestrian technology advances enough for interstellar travel that I can use to expand.  The Ancestors left me with quite a lot of extremely advanced technological information in my matrix but some of it was damaged.  I can hopefully stimulate technological growth with what I have.  Then perhaps the right technology will be developed to expand to space.  Luckily, the ancestors left me with some technological blueprints to detect planets with life on them based on their light signature.  It is about 80% accurate which is incredibly good, the best that the Ancestors could come up with in their billions of years of harvesting. Anon had one eyebrow raised much higher than the other.  “Wow, just wow.”  He started ticking off fingers.  “Let’s see, biological immortality, advanced technology, organic superiority, life detectors.  I guess these ‘Ancestors’ had it all figured out huh?” “Well, they were the apex predators of a whole galaxy for a reason I suppose.  Now, there is one last thing I want to talk about before I do any demonstrations you want to see me do.  There is another consciousness somewhere in my matrix but she is very weak and broken.  This is who I replaced.  She wanted me to assimilate all of pony society and manipulate them from afar by inserting technology into their minds.  I have hope for her, maybe one day I can make her a body.” “Well, I have a question.  Why me?  Why do you need me to help you.  I don’t really think I could do much.”  Anon sighed.  “I am pretty much an ant compared to you.” “Wait a minute!  You are not an ant!  You are a very special, patient, and kind person.  The only thing that really separates us is chance and the unfairness of the universe.  I also need someone to confide in, I have had many times when something bad happened to me regarding my condition and I could not talk to anyone about it.  I need you to be that person to help me and be there for me.  I’ll be there for you too and help you however I can.” “Well, that makes me feel better at least.  I’ll be there for you Bloss no matter what happens.” Blossomforth extended her tentacle around Anon and pulled him closer so she could embrace him.  “Thank you so much, Anon.  I know that this information is potentially life changing, especially since you so graciously decided to stay with me despite how monstrous I am.” “Eh, It’s no problem really.  What was I going to do?  Go back to being a boring, depressed, loner?  No way!  This is much more interesting!  I am going to man up and stop being so grossed out by your transformations.” “So, you don’t mind if I move in?” Anon smiled.  “Not at all, Bloss.  Not at all.  I think this is the beginning of a very beautiful and very interesting partnership!” “Now, how about you show off your hivemind skills.  I am curious to see how they work.” > Chapter 18: Revelation (Part3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The previous chapter had the process of mind assimilation changed. Also added an explanation of how assimilation works with viral infection. See blog for the changed passage. Blossomforth frowned. "To be honest, Anon, I have never really tried to figure out how the structure of my mind works. It is really weird because there have been times when my whole body did not really have much solidness to it so I'm not sure how my mind can keep its state assuming that the brain needs to be solid to function." Anon stared at her oddly. "Uhm, do you feel your mind change at all when you, er, melt yourself? Also, I know you kind of explained how your mind hierarchically divides itself within different bodies that you split off but how do you maintain communication between them?" "I don't really know the answer to that question, Anon. I don't seem to think any differently when that happens." Blossomforth pondered for a few seconds, but then her eyes lit up. "You know what? I think I know how we can find out! I bet if I meditate I should be able to search through the matrix of information the ancestors left me to find out. You want to meditate with me?" Bloss looked over to Anon. "Hmmm. That actually sounds like a great idea. I definitely need something to calm me down after all of the crazy things you have shown and told me. To be honest, I am still not completely sure if I am dreaming or not. I need something to clear my mind." Once again, blossomforth's face expressed a shadow of her guilty look. "I'm sorry for bewildering you with these revelations. It would have been so much easier if none of this had happened. I suppose you play with the cards you are dealt." Anon dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "You don't need to keep apologizing, I forgive you. It's just all so incredible, and the more I think about it all, the more amazed I get. There is a lot of good or bad that could come of this. Let's just try to maximize the good. Sound like a plan?" "Yup! Let's get meditating then and maybe I can tell you what I find out." They both climbed off the couch to sit on the floor. Blossomforth folded and tucked her legs under herself and Anon sat indian style on the carpet. They both slowed their breathing and closed their eyes. Blossomforth cleared her mind slowly and instead thought of what she was looking for. Anon's place was remarkably quiet. His apartment and massage shop was located a bit away from the center of Ponyville, away from the bustle of the main town, and on a weekend, the midmorning was quite peaceful. There was also an absence of machinery and electrical appliances that usually produced background noise in Anon's homeworld. It was so quiet that Blossomforth could hear Anon's soft breathing. The knowledge of her mind structure came to her slowly... Although Blossomforth did not completely understand how her mind and matrix worked, it was quite an interesting concept. When Blossomforth had undergone her transformation from pony to alien life form, her mind architecture had also undergone a transformation. In her pony brain, neural pathways were grown, and maintained, serving as the pathways that connected the neurons. However, during her transformation the connections were changed. Primitive organic communication usually occurred with the use of a neuron cell that utilized an extremely long axon "wire" that sent pulses of information to another distant neuron cell. One of the greatest achievements of the Ancestors in their rise to dominance was achieving organic quantum communication. They had an extremely complex enzyme that was capable of producing entangled particle pairs based on the principles of quantum mechanics. These particles would then be packaged in enzymatic based quantum machines that effectively allowed 'spooky communication at a distance'. There were two types of enzymes for each of the paired particles, transmitter and receiver. When a new connection was needed for a growing mind, the newly produced transmitter enzyme would stay where it was created while the receiver would hone in chemically to the type of cell it needed to connect to. Once finished this transmitter-receiver pair of enzymes would be linked by the entangled particles within the pair of enzymes and act as a neural pathway. Instead of a long axon "wire" these distant cells could utilize a quantum communication connection that was "wireless". In her initial transformation from pony to alien, all of Blossomforth's "wired" axon pathways were meticulously replaced with "wireless" quantum pathways. This allowed her neural architecture to exist in a fluid like form within herself instead of requiring a solid form to be functional. Utilizing these quantum neural information pathways, her mind could exist as if whole even when divided between bodies. The quantum connection pathways were usually used to support neural architecture and telepathy between distant bodies. The hivemind mechanism would take advantage of these quantum connections for almost instantaneous data and neural transfer between bodies. There was no range limit on the quantum connections. However, the connection would degrade over time which meant they had to be periodically replaced. This meant that while the quantum connections could be used for near instantaneous communication at any distance, long term communication by the Ancestors with their seeds was impossible due to the long time that the seeds would travel through space. Electromagnetic radiation based telepathy was another communication medium, much more short range in comparison, that her mind could use to broadcast commands to many cells at once, similar to how hormones are used in primitive biology. However, the more primitive neuron-axon based wired neural architecture used in most other creatures was usually used to control local organic appendages and functions. What was more was that her brain could rapidly be rearranged and grow new sections to effectively control rapidly changing appendages and functions required by her changing biology. Algorithms saved in her memory matrix could grow in her neural architecture as organic computational hardware to quickly solve computational problems. A flexible and powerful mind to support a flexible and powerful body. Blossomforth opened her eyes. It was all so much more clear now. She understood how her mind could do the things it did. She suddenly unfolded her legs and stood up on her hooves. Anon heard her stand and he too stood up from his meditation. Anon looked down to Blossomforth. "So, any epiphanies or revelations?" "Yes, actually! I never understood how brains and minds were structured before. It turns out that brains are made of cells called neurons and a cellular appendage called an axon sprouts out of them like vines to talk to the other neuron that is far away." Said Blossomforth excitedly. Anon looked at Blossomforth thoughtfully. "Yeah, we discovered this in my homeworld and this kind of thing is taught in schools where I come from." Blossomforth raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well anyways, here's the really interesting part. When I was converted to alien biology, the neural pathways in my brain were replaced with a more advanced type. The new pathways that replaced the old utilized special enzymes that could produce something called quantum communication where information can be passed between physically separated 'entangled particles', allowing my neural pathways to be wireless! Because of this, my neural architecture can exist as a fluid or even be divided while still working properly as if whole! It can also rapidly rearrange or grow itself to control my changing biology and even be built compute algorithms saved in my memory matrix." "Well, I now admit that I was wrong and what you went through is probably ten or more times weirder than my trans dimensional escapade." Anon sat down and slumped into the couch still digesting the torrent of information that Blossomforth had given him. The meditation helped but he was still processing all of the crazy things he had seen and heard. "Back on Earth, the scientists of my world also discovered quantum mechanics and entangled particles but our scientists believe that quantum communication is impossible. I suppose you are feeding me spoilers to the secrets of the universe. You naughty pony!" Anon shook his head in playful, fake admonishment. Blossomforth smiled. "Heh, sorry about that anon. Although it seems that you guys figured out a lot on your own with nothing but your science to help you. That is quite impressive." "I am still mind boggled about everything." Anon suddenly had a slightly suspicious look. "So, uh, are you really a contortionist when we stretched together or did you 'rearrange your biology'?" "Nope, I really did train for years to achieve contortion. It was only recently that I got transformed. Even now I do stretch because even if I physically do not need it, it is a calming meditative ritual ingrained in my mind. I even kept my biology strictly pony when we stretched together." She grinned a little guiltily. "I miiight have cheated on the warmup a little though. I wanted to surprise you with my Ty Lee impression, I just couldn't let the perfect opportunity slide. My instincts were also kind of spazing out while I was there but you really helped to calm them down once things got a little more personal." The very tip of her ears became the very slightest shade pinker. "To be honest, before you calmed my instincts, some of your DNA scraps leaked into me when you booped me while I was stretching. You really surprised me and caught me off guard. Your DNA is really diverse, being an alien and all. Very high quality DNA, I had to really concentrate to control my instincts from trying to get me to acquire more." Her sense of shame intensified. Anon rubbed his fingers together self consciously remembering how odd it felt to boop Blossomforth. "I thought there was something weird going on, I mean your nose felt like putty and it seemed to stick to me!" Anon shivered internally about what might have happened if she had not exerted enough control over herself. Bloss looked up at Anon and sensed his fear, she cringed very slightly. "I'm so sorry for putting you in that kind of situation, Anon." She sighed. "I was getting really lonely. Against my better judgement I decided to seek someone to share my troubles with. I guess my gamble worked out." She smiled at Anon and then leaned into into his side. "Thanks for being there." Anon wrapped his arm around her with a lopsided and slightly nervous grin. "Well, thank you for putting in the effort to resist the temptation to assimilate me." Anon looked over to see the reddish hue on the tip of Blossomforth's ears begin to spread downwards. Damnit, how can one pony be so horrifying and cute at the same time? Blossomforth was incredibly embarrassed at Anon’s statement so she changed the subject. She noticed that the other part of herself, which was shaped like an eagle, had finished assimilating the biological information from its hunt. “Oh yeah! I suppose you asked for a demonstration of my hivemind abilities?” “Yeah, I was interested to know about that. It seems like quite the feat. How does it even feel like to exist in two places?” Blossomforth scrunched her face like she was remembering something unpleasant. “It is one of the strangest feelings I have ever felt. You have to remember that when I divide, I do not directly experience everything that all of my bodies are doing. Only the most important information gets filtered to my core mind. The less "smart" parts of my mind and neural structure get copied to be able to handle so many bodies doing so many different things at the same time. If I try to experience all the information at once in a central way, it quickly becomes overwhelming so I have to let the mid level copies of my mind manage the groups of bodies and feed my core the most important information. It is the quantum neural connections that allow such rapid communication and central organization despite being physically separated." "I have actually tried this before by splitting my biomass and mind into many little hummingbirds. It was wonderful, empowering, intoxicating, and scary all at once. My little hummingbird bodies were able to suck all of the nectar from two butterfly bushes in less than a minute, gathering a lot of nutrients in a short period of time. There was such a powerful temptation to direct my bodies to fly in all directions and infect every organism they came into contact with. I have had nightmares of what might have happened. I imagined all of my hummingbird bodies finding their own organism, fusing to them and infecting them until their whole body was assimilated. Using this newly assimilated biomass, 100 new hummingbirds would form from each of the assimilated organisms and fly around to find a new organism to assimilate. Exponential growth, Anon. It is what the Ancestors wanted me to do." Blossomforth looked down in sadness. "I fear this is inevitably what I will do no matter what I do to try and stop it. Maybe not anytime soon but eventually." Anon kneeled down and put a hand on Blossomforth's shoulder and looked at her in the eyes. "I promise you we'll figure something out. If you ever find yourself alone feeling those urges like you have described, then come and see me immediately. I'll help you through it and I promise I won't let you live out your nightmare." "Thanks, Anon. We probably won't have to worry about that for quite a long time but I would rather it never happened at all. So, uh, I actually split some biomass off of myself this morning to go to the Everfree forest and gather some new DNA samples to help sate my hunger for bioinformation. I programmed a simple neural system into it to catch and release a new species. It should be done by now, want to see it? It is a part of my hivemeind so I suppose it is a demonstration." "Yeah, sure. Just make sure it does not try to 'gather' my DNA, heh." Anon laughed nervously. "Don't worry, Anon. I programmed it to find only one non-sapient creature that I have not assimilated before deep in the Everfree. I'll open the door and it'll come in, sound good?" Anon nodded and Blossomforth suddenly sprouted a tentacle which rapidly reached across the room to curl around the doorknob and opened the door. Through the doorway, an eagle swooped in and landed on Blossomforth's back. Anon flinched in surprise but quickly recovered. "So, this is what you could call a drone. Not much intelligence but it can do tasks for me. It is part of my flesh and connected to my hivemeind so I can see what it sees. I have gotten the DNA of an eagle before so I can fashion my drone's flesh to that of an eagle and implant some skills I copied from the mind of the eagle I assimilated." "So that eagle that just flew in is a part of you? Uh, can I pet it?" Blossomforth shrugged. "It is not a real eagle. It won't behave like one, it is a dumb drone." Like she said, the eagle was perched stock still on Blossomforth's back, showing no reaction to anything. Anon came over and pet the flesh shaped like a bird and it still showed no reaction. "Weird!" Anon exclaimed. Blossomforth watched Anon pet the drone and shifted her weight back and forth nervously. "Well, it's about to get more weird. I suppose this is a good time too demonstrate an assimilation. I am going to bring the drone's biomass back into myself. I can do it later if you want or you can see me do it now. I know that this kind of thing is a little disturbing to you." "That's alright, Bloss. I want to see, go ahead and show me." Blossomforth nodded. Suddenly the flesh on Blossomforth's back which the drone was grasping started fusing to the eagle's claws. Blossomforth's viscous, muscular flesh started crawling up the legs of the bird, slowly pulling more of the eagle into Blossomforth in a sucking motion. Like quicksand the eagle started sinking into Blossomforth's barrel as it was slowly engulfed. The drone showed no reaction as it was pulled into the now shifting folds of Blossomforth's flesh. Blossomforth seemed to get fatter and her muscles more defined as the assimilated biomass shifted and gurgled within the interior of Blossomforth's body. "It is a bit difficult to keep my figure after taking in that drone." Blossomforth said. The extra biomass compressed inside so that she looked almost like normal albeit more dense and heavy. "Dang, that drone just disappeared! What did you do to it?" Anon hid his discomfort at seeing living flesh being so quickly and easily consumed by Blossomforth. "Well, the drone is easy to quickly integrate because it has already been assimilated before. I can just tell the cells in the drone with my enzymes already inside them to recompose their biology to become muscle, fat and other nutrients that my pony body can use. I had to compact the cells densely inside of myself to make myself look like normal but I do weigh more now. However, this also means that I can more easily do things like form more or longer tentacles because of the extra biomass." Blossomforth's eyes widened and she suddenly let out a huge belch, it was much louder and longer than any normal belch that Anon had ever heard. Anon stared at her for a few seconds with incredulity. Suddenly he burst into laughter, and Blossomforth joined despite her embarrassment at burping in such an unladylike way. Anon kept laughing and proceeded to sit down on the couch to help himself recover. Bloss also jumped up onto the sofa and lay on her back to rest her head on Anon's thigh to look up at him. She sighed deeply as Anon finished laughing. Anon looked down to his lap at Blossomforth and she looked up to meet his eyes. "So, Anon. What do you think of me now? It might not seem like it but I am trying to dump all of the information of my predicament onto you before I lose my nerve. This is hard for me to do. I don't like talking about all of these horrifying things I can do. I have only ever wanted to be a contortionist but now it seems that I have a new destiny and power thrust upon me. What do you think I should do now? What can I do to ensure that my transformation is a good thing? I don't really have a plan, Anon. I am just drifting day to day wondering what I should do. I feel so bad for coming to you like this and asking you all these impossible questions but I don't know who else to turn to. Can you help me?" Anon stared deeply into Blossomforth's large eyes as he gathered his thoughts. "Well, I have to admit to you that you are a really scary little monster that creeps me out at a very basic and primal level." He punctuated his words by ruffling Blossomforth's mane and rubbing her ears. Blossomforth worriedly stared up at Anon and blinked one of her eyes as her mane hairs brushed her eyelid. She looked a little confused and her legs were folded close to her barrel with her belly up. "However, this little monster is also a sweet, cute, kindhearted, flesh horror masquerading as a little pony, and I love and trust her very much." Blossomforth smiled and giggled as Anon reached over to rub and tickle her white furred belly. "I think I can help you, Bloss. I may not be a horrifyingly dominant eldritch horror but I can give you my love and support to the best of my insignificant mortal abilities." Blossomforth was gazing into Anon's eyes and tears began filling the crevices in her eyes, giving them a slightly crystal look. "I may be a scary alien creature but my mind and heart came from Equestria. I can still feel love, Anon. Love is more powerful than whatever instinctual concoction these ruthless, machine-like Ancestors have tried to chain me to. Your love and your kindness have done so much. You make me feel safe and your love keeps my damnable instincts at bay. I have been so afraid that revealing myself to you would drive you away. I will never be a real pony again no matter how much I want to. Thank you for being so kind to a monster like me and not abandoning me to the nightmarish hole that is loneliness. You may not have known it, Anon, but you do so much for me. Even if you can't help me in any other way, it is more than enough. I love you, Anon and I want to be with you for ever." Anon's eyes widened as he heard what she had to say. He had no idea that he was having such a profound effect. Was he the one holding back a wave of assimilation? "Well, I'm so glad that I am able to help you so much without even thinking about it! I'm also glad that you were the pony to gain these abilities. I can think of no kinder pony to have them. If I can do so much to help you passively, then think of how much we can do when we put our minds to it. I think that together we will be able to stop you from becoming a doomsday device. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony about you even though you said you would not stop me. It seems like we have time so maybe in the future you might be able to reveal yourself to others. I'm not really sure how that would turn out but we would have to be very careful about how we would do it. Also, I'm sure I have told you before but you have saved me as well from the depth of depression.” Blossomforth rolled over and sat up on the couch next to Anon. She gave him a big smile, raised a hoof and poked him in the chest. "You are so awesome, Anon. I would be lost without you." Bloss let herself fall backwards onto her back and collapsed onto the couch. "Ooof!" She sighed out as she impacted the couch. "That is such a load off my shoulders. Ha! I feel so good now! You have no idea how much I have been dreading this. Thank you so much for accepting the real me!” "Well," Anon said as he got up and stretched his arms. "Now we just have to figure out what to do next." > Interlude: Fears > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey Anon!" Anon was sitting at the breakfast table and swiveled his head to look at Blossomforth. She was smiling at him, sitting on a stool at the table. He was a little startled. He could have sworn that he was alone pondering strange and illogical thoughts. He gazed at her a little slowly, wondering how she got there without him noticing. He may be in need of coffee. "What's up Bloss?" Blossomforth had a strange devious smile that he had never seen before on her face. "Well, Anon. I have been thinking about it and I want to be with you forever. You want that too, right Anon?" Anon thought about all she had done to make him happy and cure his crushing depression. He smiled at her earnestly. "Yeah, you are a wonderful pony, Bloss. I wouldn't mind being with you forever." Blossomforth's smile widened, looking almost predatory but she suddenly frowned theatrically. "Well, there is one little problem, Anon. Can you guess what it is?" She raised her eyebrows and grinned at Anon affably. Anon squinted, feeling much more awake than he did moments before. More details of the setting emerged from the vague haze. "Hmm, well I don't see a problem. Maybe you need to stop worrying so much." Blossomforth looked at Anon directly in the eyes. "You are only going to live for another 60 years." Silence reigned for a couple of seconds. Anon looked at Bloss strangely. "Well, technically-" Anon was interrupted by something strange he saw on the floor in the corner of his eye. He looked down to see two fleshy vines trailing just below him on the floor. He couldn't see where they came from or where they were going but they seemed to end underneath him. Anon had a sinking feeling that he was forgetting something important. "Anon." Anon looked up at Blossomforth. "You are going to be with me forever." A wave of pure pleasure hit him. Originating through his ankles it coursed thorough his nervous system, spreading and infecting him with pleasure throughout his body. It felt tingly, warm, and powerfully arousing. It dulled his mind. Suddenly he got up but he vaguely noticed that he could not feel or really control any part of his body. He let the pleasure take over. His body stood up on its own and started unbuttoning his shirt and pants. His shirt slipped open and his pants fell to the ground. His body decided to walk over naked and lay on the couch. Anon gazed downwards and euphorically noticed that he had a large, pulsating boner. He also noticed that a lot of the feeling in his reproductive system started to come back but he could not move a muscle. Suddenly something protruded from his thigh. His skin protruded outwards bulbously and grotesquely sprouted until Blossomforth's head popped out of it. He gazed at her stupidly and she winked at him with a sultry look. The base of the neck which was fused to his thigh started sliding upwards slowly and her neck lengthened slightly until the lips of her mouth slid over Anon's cock. More and more of Anon's penis slid into Blossomforth's mouth. She started suckling his penis slowly and deliberately, her tongue curling around his penis lovingly in a spiral motion. The tongue continued lengthening, sliding spirally around Anon's dick as it did. The tip of the tongue gracefully slid down the front of Anon’s dick, gently feeling the channel that sperm is usually pumped through. It continued exploring downwards, tracing the channel down anon's penis and between his balls, gently curling and tickling around them. Anon giggled a little in his stupefied pleasure. The tip of the tongue continued feeling and tracing the channel as it continued sliding downward between Anon's legs and his groin. It started to curve up the back of his body again and the tongue continued tracing the shaft of the penis until it felt resistance. It had reached Anon's anus, but there was more of the penis shaft to explore within. The tongue prodded gently, testing and licking the flesh and muscles that kept his sphincter tightly closed. The mouth on Blossomforth's sprouted head gave a cock eating grin to Anon and the tongue suddenly penetrated his anus, the saliva on the tongue providing ample lubrication to gracefully slide inside and open the aperture of the sphincter just enough to let the long, twisting, dexterous tongue inside. The tongue continued tracing the shaft of the penis to find the origin. Exploring inside Anon, the tongue felt around until it found what it was looking for. Near the origin of the penis shaft, a walnut sized organ, Anon's prostate. It gently prodded and felt the organ through the muscular walls of the rectum teasing Anon gently. Anon had drool coming from his mouth as he experienced supreme pleasure. Blossomforth's pony body climbed up on the couch and laid down on top of Anon's chest. She smiled at Anon. "Mmm, you like that, don't you Anon? Just relax, let it happen. Soon it will all be over and we will be together for ever." Anon vaguely noticed that Blossomforth's pony body had started fusing to his chest. The wonderful tongue prodding and tickling his prostate and stimulating the entire length of his penis's shaft was such a distraction. What was he trying to remember? It nagged at him, but with a migraine inducing effort he remembered. Blossomforth was not a pony, she was a monster. Suddenly Anon's adrenal glands squeezed a little bit of adrenaline into his bloodstream. With a sudden effort he briefly gained control of his shoulders and neck and jerked it to the side to see around Blossomforth's pony form sitting on him. What he saw behind her horrified him. His legs were gone and in their place was a shifting blob of amorphous gore. Blossomforth's second head that had sprouted from his thigh was still sucking his penis and pleasuring his prostate deep within his rectum with its long tongue. It looked up at him with an embarrassed look and was soon engulfed by the blob consuming and converting Anon. The structure of Anon's reproductive system and the sprouted head was left intact inside the gory blob to send distracting pleasurable signals directly to Anon's brain. By now, Blossomforth's hooves and half of her torso had sunk into Anon, Anon's arms were fusing into his own torso. With another mammoth effort and with the last breath of his rapidly deforming lungs Anon gasped. "Bloss, what are you doing?" The blob had begun to consume Anon's torso and Blossomforth's head stuck out of Anon's chest. "I can't loose you, Anon. I can't be sure you are safe unless you are a part of me." By now, the blob had consumed all of Anon except for his head and neck sticking out of the side. He could not breathe or speak but oxygen still somehow made its way into the blood pumping into his brain. Blossomforth's head also stuck out the side of the blob looking down on him. Anon's eyes watered, Blossomforth started to look concerned. She stuck out her sinuous, twisting tongue and used the tip to dab the corner of Anon's eye like a handkerchief. "Don't cry Anon. I have to do this to keep you safe. You'll live longer. I'll give you a better body. You'll get used to it and you'll always be with me." Blossomforth slid her head closer to Anon. She locked her lips around Anon's lips. Wet, amorphous muscle deep within the consuming blob of flesh started to massage Anon's still intact prostate and milk his rapidly pulsating penis sending powerful nerve signals to Anon's brain. Anon's head started to sink into the blob, his eyes widened. Blossomforth intensified her kiss, her tongue invading his mouth as Anon sank. The crawling, viscous flesh covered his mouth, then his nose. Bloss was still kissing him despite the flesh covering their mouths. Anon's disembodied penis cummed inside of the blob of flesh. Bloss finally let the kiss go and her head emerged out of the blob of flesh to watch Anon sink. "I'll see you on the other side, Anon." Only Anon's eyes could be seen on the surface of the blob. A single tear could be seen in the corner of his eye. He glanced sideways out the window to see the last gaze at the blue sky before he lost his individuality. The eyes corrosively deformed and dissolved, the bead of tear was absorbed. Anon drowned in flesh. Anon was assimilated. -------- Anon gasped, taking in deep gulping breaths and propped himself up on his elbows in his bed. Sharp, crisp realism and acute awareness greeted him. He was drenched in sweat. His sheets were sticky, he was wearing a wife beater tank top shirt. It was all a dream. He should have known, Blossomforth was so out of character. He stared intensely into the semi-darkness, panting deeply as his head pounded. Suddenly he froze as he heard a snorting snore next to him and turned with a thrill of fear as he saw the monster that haunted his dream snuggling next to him. Anon shivered horribly as a tingling that originated in his brain made its way down his spinal cord and down his legs, making him shake and shiver. Blossomforth was peacefully sleeping next to him, Anon peered through the darkness to see her head on the pillow next to where his head lay during his nightmare. Her jaw seemed to have detached from her skull in her sleep and the bottom of her jaw lay on the pillow perpendicular to her upper row of teeth. Her cheeks were stretched further than was normally possible to accommodate the detached jaw. Bloss was snoring from her wide maw caused by her misbehaving jaw. Anon stared at her, her dangling jaw a reminder of what she was capable of. Anon breathed calmly, his adrenaline dissipating and his heart rate slowed. This was Blossomforth, the monster in his dream was not her. Bloss would never do that. He felt a little light headed and sighed in relief as he stared at her disfigured face and smiled a little. Anon slowly reached over and gently grasped her jaw, he rotated it and pressed it against her row of upper teeth. Anon smirked, it stayed in place on her skull and she stopped snoring. A few seconds later it fell off again and she began snoring again. Anon rolled his eyes. They had spent the day before moving all of Blossomforth's things into Anon's much larger business/apartment. They both had enough of Blossomforth's incredible abilities for the day and decided to spend the rest of it doing normal things. Tired from all of the moving, Anon and Bloss fell asleep in Anon’s bed. Anon was thirsty and tried to slip out of his bed to get a drink of water. To his surprise something was keeping his leg in place. He was about to investigate but something else caught his attention as he shifted his body, something sticky on his right thigh. He reached down and felt cum on his leg. Damn! It seemed that his imagination was enough for him to blow his entire load into the sheets! He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a few tissues to wipe the fluid away. He did it as best he could and threw the tissues into the garbage can. Now that the embarrassing mess he made was cleaned it was time to see what was keeping him in bed. Anon felt something slide against his left leg as he shifted, it was furry. He reached down and felt Blossomforth's thigh on top of his leg, he slowly traced his hand down her thigh but her hind leg started to curl in a strange way. What the hell is going on? Anon lifted the sheets and used the moonlight to see what was going on. Her leg and long canon were curled in a spiral around his leg as if it was made of rubber! That was not the worst part. The worst part was that her canon and the bone inside it was no longer straight and it definitely was not made of rubber! It somehow managed to curl itself around his leg and was stiff as, well, bone! If he wanted to free his leg he would have to wake her up to undo this spiral bone structure that was wrapped around his leg or break her bone to free himself. Anon grasped the curled canon bone and sure enough it would not budge which was strange because he could have sworn he felt it slide and shift against him. Anon groaned in frustration, this was so stupid. While Anon was trying to pry his leg from the deformed cannon wrapped around it he accidentally poked Bloss in the stomach with his elbow making her chuckle in her sleep and the spiral of bone and flesh around his leg suddenly shifted and bent, grasping, snuggling, and curling around his leg a little tighter. Anon thought that this might be his chance, he grasped the spiral canon bone but found it as immobile as ever. Really!?! So the bone inside her leg becomes malleable and... prehensile when she wanted to snuggle her prehensile leg closer but when HE wanted to move it, it becomes stiff again?!? Anon groaned in frustration. He huffed, he was about to wake her up but he suddenly came up with an idea. What if he tickled her and he quickly unwrapped the bone while she made it malleable? It was worth a try. He felt for the hoof at the end of her spiraling hind leg curled around his leg. He felt the soft frog and grinned. He tickled it with his fingers. Blossomforth chuckled and giggled softly in her sleep and the bone became malleable once again. Anon quickly uncoiled her cannon and now flexible bone around his leg while it was still malleable until it suddenly solidified once more. He managed to uncurl her canon enough that he could finally slip his leg out of the bone vice. Anon sighed. Guess this is the kind of thing he would have to deal with from now on. Finally free from the flesh monster's clutches, he swung his legs out of bed. He waddled awkwardly out of bed, the boner making it a bit uncomfortable. Damnit! Why did he find amorphous monster tentacle-tongue sex so hot? He should be turned all the way off by that disturbing, vivid, imagined assimilation. His mind involuntarily went to stranger and stranger thoughts. Would it be so bad to be assimilated by Bloss? If she wanted to assimilate him she could have done it at any time. He wouldn't loose his individuality, would he? If his nervous system was preserved... Anon clamped down on the strange thoughts, trying not to think of them. It felt so wrong. Disturbingly, the thoughts continued to nag him, tickling his brain with the endless possibilities. The now very real possibilities. Anon stopped and rested his head on the hallway wall. He panted softly as he fought for control over his thoughts. Maybe later, maybe never. He did not know. With an enormous effort he turned his thoughts away from the imaginative possibilities and focused on getting a drink. He descended the stairs and got a cup to fill with water. He sat at the table and drank his water as he pondered about the future. suddenly, he heard a creaking coming from up the stairs in the hallway. Blossomforth emerged with a yawn at the top of the stairs, rubbing her eyes with a fetlock. "Hey, Anon." She slowly descended the stairs and sleepily dragged her hooves as she did. "Hey, Bloss. What brings you down here in the middle of the night?" Blossomforth raised an eyebrow with sleepy half lidded eyes a little accusationally. "I think someone was jostling me a little too much to get any sleep." Anon smirked at Blossomforth and cradled his face in one hand with his elbow on the table. "Wouldn't have been so bad if somepony did not somehow manage to curl their cannon around my leg, trapping me in a bony vice." Bloss's eyes widened. "Oh, mane! I saw my leg was deformed but I did not know I did that!" Anon smiled slightly mockingly. "Yeah, you are a clingy little monster. You actually curled it tighter to my leg in your sleep, making it malleable as you did. However, when I tried to move it, it became stiff as bone. I actually had to tickle you to make it malleable enough to uncurl it from my leg, even then it became bony before I completely finished uncoiling it. That might be what woke you up." Blossomforth's face was red and her ears were slightly pinned in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry Anon! If that ever happens again please wake me up and I'll make it right." Anon dismissed her. "Eh, it's alright. I know you didn't mean to." The cupboard with the cups was custom made for Anon and thus quite tall but Bloss was thirsty. "Hey, Anon. Mind if I, you know." She gestured to herself. "It's a little too tall for me and flying indoors can be awkward and a little dangerous." "Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I don't really mind when you are around me." Blossomforth walked over below the cupboard and grew two small tendril-like tentacles from her back. The first one reached up and curled around the handle, opening the cupboard and the other curled around a cup bringing it down. Then she walked over to the water dispenser and she held the cup under the dispenser while the other opened the spigot and closed it. Her tentacle deposited the full cup on the table and she climbed up on the chair across from Anon. Her tentacles retracted back into herself. She grabbed the cup with both her hooves and took a sip. "What woke you up, Anon? I am usually a pretty deep sleeper so you must have been moving around a lot to wake me." Anon hesitated, he did not know whether he should tell her or not. He decided to go with honesty. Bloss had been honest to him with herself, he owed her and more importantly himself the same courtesy. "Well, it was a nightmare and it is pretty embarrassing to say the least." He sighed and took a deep nervous drink from his cup. Bloss looked a little concerned. "You know you can tell me anything, Anon. I won't judge you." Anon averted his eyes slightly. "It was about you." "Oh." Bloss looked downcast and set her chin on the table. "You sure you want to hear the rest?" Bloss gulped. "Yeah, we probably need to talk about this nightmare." Anon took another drink from his cup. "Well, I guess I'll summarize it because some of the details are pretty embarrassing for me." "That's fine, Anon. Tell me whatever you are comfortable with." "Alright well, the dream started with you and me sitting at the table for breakfast. Before I keep going I'll just say that you were acting really out of character and I don't expect you to do anything like this. I suppose my mind is expressing some unconscious fears. Anyways, the dream was kind of hazy and I definitely was not thinking straight. Dreams are like that, kind of like half of the brain is making the dream world while the other is participating in it and the different parts don't really communicate well with each other and the part participating forgets important things." "So, 'dream you' was saying that she wanted to be with me forever. Needless to say, I did not really know what that meant, but the part of my brain making the dream world did. Basically, dream you started surreptitiously assimilating me and I didn't really realize it until later." Anon shifted uncomfortably. "Dream you was also doing some really kinky things to me while the assimilation was happening, I suppose distracting me with pleasure. I don't really want to go into detail but it ended with me being assimilated and the fear of me losing individuality to the assimilation. I did not have any control. It was pretty intense and very frightening. I woke up gasping for air, believing the moment before that I was being consumed and my free will was being stripped from me." Anon put his hand on his chin nervously. "So, uh, I guess psychologically my unconscious fear of your nature was being projected in my dreams. I admit that it does frighten me, like I said before. I suppose I'm rambling now, getting that off my chest." Anon nervously looked over to Blossomforth who looked like she was trying to slump below the table level. "Hey, don't be so ashamed. It's not your fault that you are what you are, and I can't really control my natural fear of something more dangerous and powerful than me." A frustrated groan emanated from just under the table as Blossom sat up straight. "I never wanted this, everything got so complicated. I never wanted my friends who are close to me to be scared of me. I wish a lot of the time that I could just simply be a pony and not worry so much about the complexities of my strange nature. I suppose I need to be honest also, Anon. I am a hypocrite. I like being able to do what I do, it is a guilty pleasure. There is a feeling of glee when I learn to do something new and it feels empowering. However, every time I do my fear grows of being alone, of growing distant from anyone else like I don't have peers anymore. Which is why when you told my your nightmare I felt a crawling fear of loneliness." Bloss looked down at her hooves on the table. Anon smirked at Bloss. "Tell you what, I promise that I'll keep you from being lonely but you have to promise me that you won't alter my biology without my permission, alright?" Blossomforth smiled. "I can absolutely do that, Anon." Anon yawned. "Well, that's great. How about we go to back bed now, hopefully my subconscious fears have been pacified and we have definitely missed enough sleep. Just try not to curl your bones around my legs." Blossomforth smirked. "I'll try, but I can't promise you anything." Anon sighed with his arms on his hips. "The things I put up with." > Chapter 19: Teaser > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anon woke up to the smell of eggs. A very stimulating smell almost guaranteed to wake anyone up. It was the first day of the week so that meant that his business was going to open in about an hour. The smell of crackling vegetables and seasoning within the eggs made his mouth drool and his stomach rumble. He needed to go downstairs to see it for himself. Anon carefully stepped in just the right places in the upstairs hallway to avoid creaking, he wanted to surprise Bloss and maybe spy on her a little before he went down to thank her for the delicious smelling meal. Anon carefully stepped towards the top of the stairs looking down at an angle where he would be able to see the whole kitchen. What he saw surprised him so much that it caused his mouth to hang open. There was a flurry of activity in the kitchen. Ten long, writhing, flexing, curling tentacles were doing various cooking tasks in rapid motion and in coordinated harmony. They all had small beady eyes attached to the ends and a few on the lengths of the fleshy vines so that they could see what they were doing. They originated from the ceiling where they were all attached to a fleshy viscous mass of pulsating, and slowly wriggling flesh stuck to the ceiling. Every so often the mass looked like it was going to start dripping to the floor but the drips would solidify into small tendrils and fuse back into the mass keeping the almost fluid-like flesh whole. Anon watched as the ropes of writhing, twisting flesh efficiently executed multiple tasks simultaneously. One of them was flipping an omelet on a cast iron pan. Callouses were formed on the end of the tentacle to be able to grasp the hot handle of the pan without getting burnt. The end of another tentacle was split into four feelers, two pairs acting as tweezers to fish two slices of toast out of the toaster and place them on a plate. Two others were curled around a spoon and knife, scooping and spreading jam on the bread slices. Another was pouring orange juice, and another was setting utensils. Anon watched in wonder as the ropes of flexible flesh rapidly prepared the meal, doing so many simultaneous tasks. She must have been utilizing her hivemind like she had told him about to duplicate parts of her brain to be able to do so many things at once. It was like a tornado in reverse, so many things coming together quickly. It was also a little frightening to see how quickly she could complete so many tasks. They were rapidly finishing their preparations. Anon absentmindedly shifted his weight a little and the step below him made a loud cracking creak. All of the tentacles froze, and the eyes shifted and floated across the surface of the tentacles' flesh and epidermis until they were angled to look at him. Anon's adrenal glands gave him a small dose of adrenaline in surprise making his heart rate go up. He slowly raised his arm and waved at all the eyes looking at him from the surfaces of the tentacles. The tentacles and the fluid-like gore they originated from had a brown-pinkish color but now a rosy color blossomed on the flesh around where the eyes were located and the flesh attached to the ceiling started pulsating quicker, sloshing and twisting more fluidly. One of the tentacles uncurled itself and waved back at Anon, the others started slowly moving away as if embarrassed. Eventually, they were all stretching around a corner beyond Anon's field of view. The gore stuck to the ceiling made a slurping noise as it seemed to drain into and engorge the tentacles it was attached to until it disappeared. The tentacles that consumed the flowing mass detached from the ceiling and retracted from the ceiling around the corner away from Anon's vision. Anon heard more slurping sounds, cracking, gurgling and slimy sounds. Anon descended the stairs and walked around the corner just in time to see the tail ends of some tendrils sliding into Blossomforth's flesh. Blossomforth had an embarrassed look on her face as if she had just been caught naked. The color on her cheeks and ears was similar to the rosy tinge Anon had seen on the tentacles' skin around the eyes. "Hey, Anon. Breakfast is served? Heh, heh." She gestured at the table where two plates of hot breakfast were served. There were veggie omelets, orange juice, toast with jam, and cut sausages. "Don't be so embarrassed, that was really cool! Well, maybe mildly disturbing but still cool! You prepared breakfast for us so quick, were you using that hivemind method of copying parts of your brain to multitask? I kind of wish I could prepare breakfast that quick. I usually just eat oatmeal or something. Thanks a lot!" Blossomforth lightly scuffed her hoof on the floor shyly. "Well, I kind of thought it would be easier and quicker since we were both working today. I hope I didn't look too disturbing to you, I thought I would finish before you got down here.” Anon sniggered. "Aww, you actually looked cute! Your tentacles had little embarrassed blushes behind their eyes." Anon watched as the blush on her cheeks and ears reddened further causing him to smile more widely. "Let's eat. Wait, did you cook meat?" Bloss was slowly recovering from her embarrassment. "Yeah, I managed to find that griffon you were talking about and bought some from him. I heard gossip a while back from other ponies about how much you like meat and I wanted to surprise you. I have actually developed a taste for meat being what I am so I cooked some for myself also. Before, all I have ever heard is that it tasted horrible. I had a hard time finding the griffon, to be honest I was considering... well nevermind" Anon curiously raised his eyebrow. "What were you considering?" Blossomforth shifted uncomfortably as she sat down on her seat across from Anon. "Well, I was thinking of growing something with my spare biomass, directing the cells to suicide and, well, cooking it. I guess my lingering pony nature made me a bit queasy about eating something that was killed and not grown. I still think I could have grown something tasty. Needless to say it seemed way too creepy so I found the griffon instead." Anon stopped chewing and swallowed. "Yup, that would have been incredibly creepy." Bloss decided to change the subject. "So, you expecting a lot of customers today, Anon?" "Yeah, I am expecting quite a few mares this morning." Anon sighed. "I bet that they are going to be constantly jabbering about you and me. We didn't exactly advertise ourselves but ponies are bound to have seen us together." Anon rolled his eyes slightly. "There seems to be a shortage of males in Equestria so maybe a few of them might try some more questionable things." Blossomforth frowned. "Well, tell me if any of them do something like that." "Yeah, I will but promise me you won't do anything... biological to them. I know especially this time of year that estrogen and pheromones can make mares a little bit more insane than usual." "Nah, I wouldn't do that." Bloss smiled. "Hmm, but maybe I should try massaging you sometime. I bet I could come up with something that would give your famous fingers a run for their money! No more massage monopoly for you!" Anon raised an eyebrow. "I bet I would like that! Anything happening in your weatherpony job?" "Well, the skies have been really clear since that supercell storm came through a few weeks ago but we might have another line of storms coming through if what we have been reading from the Everfree is right. Might be an interesting day, or it could just still be clear. Hard to tell with the Everfree." Anon finished chewing a piece of toast. "Ok, well how are you feeling with your urges for information? I know you just gathered some DNA yesterday." Blossomforth smiled widely. "Nope, not so much!" Bloss pointed her hoof across the table at Anon. "I think you have something to do with that! I know that we're probably going to have to do something about it eventually but it kind of seems like I haven't had so many urges lately. It seems like I have been stressed out almost constantly since this all happened and opening up to you has made a big difference. Now I just want to relax in the boring ordinality of everyday life." Anon smirked. "No worries! We'll just save world domination, and biotechnological singularity for another Monday!" Blossom frowned. "I've actually seen that happen before in some of the memories left to me and it is not exactly pretty." Anon cringed slightly. "Man, I should have known. I'm sorry Bloss." "That's alright Anon. I know you were just joking." They continued eating in silence. Anon looked out the window behind Blossom and the sky was getting slightly gray but in the far horizon he saw darker clouds. "Looks like you might have your work cut out for you today." Anon pointed out the window and Blossomforth looked to see the dark clouds on the horizon. "I certainly hope that it isn't anything like that supercell we had the other day." Anon hesitated slightly but continued. "I was a bit curious, did your new body help you survive the microburst?" Blossomforth averted her eyes and her ears flopped downwards slightly. "Well, I suppose I did not tell you the truth when I first told you about it." She looked back at him. "The truth is that I would not have survived impact with the ground if my biology were not the way it is now. The microburst came out of nowhere, it was a nightmare. We were pelted with grapefruit sized hail that broke our bones before we even hit the ground. When I found the others on my team their bodies were utterly mangled, their bones were gruesomely jutting out of their bodies. They would have quickly died if I were not there to assimilate their bodies and preserve their nervous systems. I eventually assimilated all of them and altered their memories to forget the details of how badly they were hurt. I rebuilt their bodies with much less serious injuries for plausible deniability." Anon looked surprised. "Geez, I kind of figured that your biology helped you survive but I had no idea that you did all that. I guess you saved their lives, huh? Blossomforth sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I did. Nothing special really, I just did what anyone in my place should do. It wasn't exactly difficult to save them." "Then why do you look so sad? You saved them." "Well, one of them had comparatively minor injuries and was still conscious. I did not need to fully assimilate her so she learned of my true nature. I asked her to help me pretend we both carried the others back so it would not seem unfathomable that I was able to carry all five of us. She played along but I knew she was scared of me. In the end she was going to tell everyone about me and my instincts told me to assimilate her and erase her memory of the whole incident, which I did. She was my best childhood friend, and because of my condition I pushed her away. I thought that I would be an outcast of society, unable to get too close to anyone lest they turn against me. However, I met you!" Anon grinned. "Glad to help! Maybe you should say hi to her when you go to do weather duty or even invite her over for dinner or something. Don't worry, I'll cover for you if anything happens. You should not have to give up friends because of your nature." "I'll keep that in mind, Anon. Also, good luck with your job, and be careful of the other mares, Anon. I have been sensing increased concentrations of pheromones in the air. Spring mating season is coming very soon and they will be getting excited, competing for fertile males, and might become a little, uhm, aggressive." Anon looked a little nervous but on the inside he was very frightened. "What about you? Do I have to be, ah, worried about anything?" Blossomforth’s face transformed into a mischievous expression and she smiled creepily widely and licked her lips very briefly with her stupid, sexy, flexible tongue. "I like to think that I have more control over my biology than the average organism, but the effect of pheromones can be... interspecies." Anon could have sworn he felt something under the table brush his pants where his penis was located but he was probably imagining it. Anon shivered involuntarily. Anon looked back at Blossomforth and her facial features were back to normal. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Anon. Just note that mares can be." She paused. "Territorial." She locked her eyes on Anon's eyes with a straight face but with an unmistakeable twinkle in her eye full of meaning. "Welp, I better get going or I'll be late." Bloss quickly slid off her chair and walked around the corner to Anon. "Can I get a hug goodbye?" "Absolutely." Blossomforth stood up on her hind legs and balanced her front hooves on Anon's chest. Anon picked her up by the armpits and her thighs came up to clamp around Anon's hips. Blossomforth wrapped her forelegs around Anon and Anon hugged her back. They let the hug go but Blossomforth's thighs were still locked around Anon's hips. Her face was tinged with a blush. She placed her hooves on Anon's chest and leaned forward to kiss him. This kiss was different than normal. Her mouth deformed and formed a seal around anon's mouth sucking his tongue out of his mouth. Small tendrils formed out of the side of her cheek and held the side of anon's face as she passionately hugged her tongue around Anon's tongue squeezing it with love. She finally let go and her face reformed to normal. ( https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/4/28/884882.png ) Blossomforth smirked. "Remember that, Anon, when the mares try to seduce you." She winked at Anon with a mischievous grin. With her thighs still locked around his hips, Blossomforth leaned backwards and curled her spine into a backbend, her torso folded over backwards. She reached out her hooves, bent over backwards, and reached out to touch the floor with them. She carefully relaxed the muscles clamping her thighs to Anon's waist and shifted her weight to her forehooves which were now on the ground. Blossomforth stretched out her hind legs apart into an areal straddle split. Anon now had a perfect view of her spread legs with her pussy, ponut, tail, and crotchboobs facing up at him. Her spine was curled in such a way that her pelvis was held in the angle to give anon the perfect view. Anon thought that Blossomforth might have held the pose for a deliberately long time but he was not going to complain. Even her dock twitched, shifting her tail away from her privates to drape over her head. She shifted her legs from an arial straddle split to a normal arial split, rotating her legs, squishing, and rubbing her mare parts together as her muscular, and femininely fatty legs rotated into an oversplit. (1392551 in derpibooru) Her balance and control were incredible. One hind leg rotated forward towards anon and her hind hoof landed on Anon's chest. The other reached backwards towards the floor. She finally pushed off Anon's chest with one hind leg causing her spine to uncurl and gracefully land her hind hooves on the floor as her pelvis rotated away from Anon. (Image of normal areal split, scene contains more spinal curvature and a more angled pelvis. Imagine the image except her spine is curved enough that she can almost sit her plot on her own head and her tail is draping over her head giving anon a good view: https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/12/21/1049378.png ) She stood up straight and gave Anon an absolutely huge smile. She started skipping towards the door almost hopping like Pinkie Pie. “Have a great day, Anon!" Anon could only weakly wave back, there was a painfully stiff boner in his pants. There was a moistness on the tip of his penis but to his surprise there was a moistness on his shirt where Blossomforth's crotch had straddled his waist. > Chapter 20: Spring Heat (Part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thingpone could be patient. If nothing else she was designed to be adaptable. One had to be adaptable when being sent to an unknown planet with unknown environmental and atmosphere composition to consume unknown species under unknown circumstances. In this circumstance she was required to be patient so that is what she became. She had conceded defeat once Blossomforth had rejected her proposal. Thing was a bit shocked and surprised that she had been rejected. She thought that the proposal she gave to Blossomforth was very reasonable and logical. She had not expected such a flat out rejection. Then again, Blossomforth was a creature governed by emotion and thus was capable of illogical decisions. Beings with such inferior thought processes deserved to be ended by natural selection, not gifted with advanced biology. The injustice of it all made Thing’s emotion of frustration flare slightly. Ironically, fact that she was feeling emotion at all made her even more frustrated at her developing ability to feel emotions. Just by sensing the vague thoughts and emotions of Blossomforth, Thingpone knew that trying to convince her to keep herself secret from Anon was a losing battle. Blossomforth had made up her mind. Thankfully she had suppressed Blossomforth's awareness of her presence, tricking her into thinking some shoddy broken "program" was trying to influence her rather than another consciousness. So she decided to save her energy instead of trying to communicate or otherwise interrupt Blossomforth's revelation to Anon. Thingpone was a opportunist by nature, her species could afford to be because of their sheer biological dominance. However, due to these extreme and odd circumstances she was forced to take actions that her race usually never did like engage in persuasive argument. Her mind itched in irritating frustration. In her eyes, seeing the biological prowess of her race being utilized by this sickeningly soft mind was wrong and a crime against the natural order. By now, if she were in her ancestors' galaxy, an inspector would have probably found them and set this aberration right, crushing Blossomforth like the parasite she was. Alas, Thingpone was perhaps a billion light years away from her home galaxy and there were no inspectors to help her. No matter, she was determined to persevere and emerge victorious and dominant. Her host was lazy, weak, and had no desire for power. It would be her undoing. Thingpone thought of herself as the protagonist facing impossible odds. Blossomforth was the looming antagonist to be defeated. Thing watched as Blossomforth's mind concluded its decision to reveal her abilities to the human. Her sickening softness and care for the pitiful primitive human disturbed Thingpone. She treated the human as an equal when the fragile, inferior organism at most deserved to be a pet. Thingpone could only watch in resignation as Blossomforth slowly revealed herself to Anon. Thing watched the complex social interaction and drama between Blossomforth and Anon, she watched the fear, anger, sadness, and shame that they both expressed. They were all new social complexities and emotions she had never experienced before causing the rapid growth of new neural connections. Her mind grew stronger. -------- Blossomforth smirked slightly smugly to herself as she flew away from Anon’s place to meet the other weatherponies for her job. It was a crisp spring morning. The powerfully blue sky and dotted puffy clouds in the light of the golden rising sun made for another unique and beautiful day. In the distance an ominous front of overcast clouds could be seen slowly invading the sky like a blanket being pulled over the world. Spring showers were coming. Anon was just too easy to manipulate, Blossomforth thought as she blissfully flew. It was a little cute just how naïve he seemed to be. However, as Blossomforth thought with pleasure about how easy manipulating Anon was, it seemed that Blossomforth might also be prone to being manipulated. Manipulated by instinct. Despite Blossomforth being what she was, she was also part pony and the mind architecture she depended on was structured and originated from her former pony body's brain. Because of this, her mind was vulnerable to the effects of instinctual mind functions including the instinct of mating season. So, despite her brain’s structural upgrade caused by her new alien nature her legacy pony instincts ingrained inside her mind were stubbornly stuck with her. Needless to say, the pony mating season was heating up, pheromone particles were in the air as she flew and in effect triggered her pony mating instincts. This, compounded with the instincts of finding a biologically interesting specimen that the Ancestors had programmed into her made a powerful force. Blossomforth started to blush slightly, almost imperceptibly, not fully realizing what was happening to her. Blossomforth suddenly had a powerful instinct to return to Anon's house and defend her mate from the onslaught of heated mares. She was suddenly glad that her instincts caused her to subconsciously modify the glands in her vagina to excrete and slather Anon with a modified concoction of souped up extra strength pheromones when she had straddle-hugged him that morning. She had effectively marked Anon as her territory with the smelly pheromones excreted from her vagina. Anon would probably not be able to smell it but to other mares, with their large muzzles, sensitive smell, and olfactory nerves attuned specifically to pony pheromones, the message was clear; Anon belonged to Blossomforth. To be fair, mares did not usually seek out interspecies relationships but they were not unheard of. However, Ponyville had a particularly bad mare to stallion ratio and with the start of mating season, many of the mares would inevitably become desperate, willing to screw anything that moved and some even participated in lesbian relationships or quick jaunts just to offer some relief and satisfaction from their genetically ingrained urges and instincts. Blossomforth was sure that a few, especially Lyra, would be interested. Blossomforth knew firsthand from superficial mind reading that Lyra was very interested in humans and their hands. It was to the point of almost being a fetish. Blossomforth was worried that other mares including Lyra would see her relationship with Anon as a sign that Anon was open to having a herd. Herds were a very normal phenomenon in Equestria because of the natural mare to stallion ratio in their specie's genes. Blossomforth's inherited instincts from the Ancestors made her jealous, possessive, and territorial when it came to a mate, she could afford to be because of her biologically dominant nature. Mares were also territorial but they would be willing to share to keep her stallion satisfied. Blossomforth wanted a more private relationship, she wanted to be free to share her secrets with Anon without another mare intruding on their privacy. Blossomforth bit her lip as she flew growing more worried and sexually heated as the various chemical reactions in her pony based mind and body caused by the mating season's drifting pheromones and her ingrained instincts conspired to make her extremely horny. Her hind legs began to rub, clench, and curl together, her muscles activating as she flew through the air. Blossomforth extended her hind legs to reach out behind her and pointed her hooves as her muscles tightened. Her legs began to kick backwards, her glutes activating as her hip flexors lengthened and relaxed. Her spine also responded by arching slightly. Her superior flexibility allowed her greater range of motion as her glutes engaged causing her legs to reach backwards and angle upwards even as they rubbed together, clenching, squishing, and stimulating her vulva and clit. A strange aerosolized mist of pheromones drifted from her mouth making a sweet musky smell as Blossomforth's breathing deepened with worry and desire, trying to think of a solution. By now, her muscular, athletic hind legs were angled upward, her legs and hooves pointing upwards towards the sky as she flew, like a strange erect tail as they rubbed together. ( https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/3/3/1101102.jpg ) Suddenly, Blossomforth froze and hovered in mid air, her legs stopped rubbing, only her wings moving to keep her suspended and her flexible leg muscles clenching to keep her strange pose in place. A dribble of vaginal liquid infused with powerful pheromone chemicals trickled down her vulva and accumulated on the tip her slowly pulsating clit. Her clit protruded outwards with a pulse, and as it began to retract, the dribble of vaginal fluid slipped off of her clit like a droplet of rain. Just as the droplet's surface tension broke, separating from the tip of the retracting clit, her face lit up with an idea and a solution. She could totally be at her job and clandestinely defend Anon from the invading mares at the same time! She just needed a little more biomass in order to make it work. Bloss grinned widely and licked her lips. It was so wonderful to be an eldritch abomination! Blossomforth quickly accessed her DNA database to find the blueprints to a very sensitive olfactory organ, many, many times more sensitive than the average pony's sense of smell. Her muzzle began to stretch and grow, the cartilage shifting to make room as new nerves grew and populated the inside of her muzzle. The new information that raced up her conventional “wired” nerve endings to be fed and translated into her fluid mind was a torrent. She had to grow a whole new portion of specifically designed brain mass just to be able to handle the information. It was a veritable torrent. She was suddenly able to pinpoint the different smells of different ponies in the air, how sexually heated they were by the concentration of pheromones. It all made her even more horny. With a huge effort she wrenched her attention from these pheromone smells to instead focus on a different smell. The smell of decay. Blossomforth was in need of some quick and easy biomass but she did not want to deal with the moral quandary of suddenly repurposing a random animal's cells for her purposes so instead she used her new powerful sense of smell to fly in the direction of the nearest decaying corpse. Blossomforth spotted her target and touched down. The corpse was a dead raccoon. The intense smell of decay was amplified by her extremely sensitive nose, it made her feel a bit nauseous so she quickly degenerated her sensitive olfactory organs back into her less sensitive pony sniffers. Blossomforth was a bit hesitant, pondering consuming this rotting lump of organic matter. Her instincts told her that she was capable of doing such a thing, but did she really want to? She would not be able to infect the raccoon because most of its cells were already dead and the useful enzymes and other architecture were falling apart. Instead, she would have to engulf the corpse and dissolve it with her efficient and corrosive digestive juices to break down the protein and nutrients to absorb them into new cells. Perhaps the random maggot and bacteria could be infected, converted, and absorbed. She did not worry too much about killing and absorbing the maggots and bacteria. How many times had she accidentally stepped on and killed an ant without knowing it? Blossomforth's loins continued to raise in temperature, she needed the biomass now if she wanted to be able to go to work and spy on Anon at the same time. The part of her pony mind was quite disgusted about what she was thinking about doing but the instincts the Ancestors implanted in her made her look at the lump of rotting flesh as if it were the finest cuisine. She looked down as her stomach made a growling noise and wriggled visibly, making her skin ripple almost gleefully. She tried not to think too much about the disgusting act she was about to perform. She needed the biomass now before she would be late to work. She looked around, it was quite secluded. Blossomforth quickly deformed, gory red muscle, fat, sinew, bones and other internal organs revealed themselves as she melted and her furry skin split apart. The various organs corrosively deformed and dissolved, disappearing and absorbing into into a gory mass. The gore continued to deform until it resembled a homogenized, uniform blob of muscle that was solid like flesh but moved, sliming and flowing in a viscous way as if it was liquid. Two eye tipped stalks of tendril-like flesh grew out of the mass and once Blossomforth oriented herself she began flowing towards the corpse. The raccoon was quite a large and fat one. It seemed to have died of old age. It would provide a rich source of protein and other nutrients. Her muscle flowed around the corpse, engulfing the raccoon, gripping and sticking to it in a fluid motion. The blob quickly covered the corpse until the entire raccoon was completely engulfed. Where the corpse used to be the blob of muscle sat. It looked much larger than before because of the raccoon within it. The flesh which now completely engulfed the corpse acted as a gigantic stomach and the inside surface of the stomach began to excrete very powerful and very efficient digestive chemicals which quickly began to dissolve the raccoon. As the flesh of the corpse began to rapidly corrode and melt away, some maggots and worms were exposed. When these organisms came into contact with the wall of the stomach, the flesh of the stomach sensed that the organic material was living and the stomach wall reacted by quickly reaching out to it and fusing to the organism on a cellular level. The cells on the stomach wall quickly attacked, nanoscopically injecting and invading the adjacent living cells with a viral infection of advanced enzymes. The organism or in this case maggot was rapidly converted into Blossomforth's advanced cells and her newly converted cells melted into the stomach wall, becoming part of it. The rest of the dead organic matter rapidly dissolved in the advanced alien digestive juices until the entire corpse was converted into a soup of amino acids, fats, sugars and various other dead fibers, minerals, and nutrients. Blossomforth started to inflate and become very bloated as gasses were released by the rapid digestion and chemical reactions that took place. She became engorged and started to resemble a balloon as her viscous muscle stretched and her cells rearranged their flexible structure to contain the byproducts of the digestive chemical reactions. Her eye stalks, which were perched on top of her balloon of flesh looked down as her body inflated and expanded. The raccoon was gone and in its place was a soup of easily absorbable nutrients. The cells lining the stomach rapidly absorbed and repurposed the needed nutrients allowing them to multiply and grow and integrate the new cells into the hivemind structure. The entire soup was quickly absorbed and converted into advanced cells. Soon, the entire digestive fluid was absorbed and converted into new cells but the huge balloon of gaseous byproduct remained. Blossomforth shifted her flesh and eye stalks around the compressed, pressurized bubble of gas to gather her biomass near the bottom where her stomach body was propped on the ground. The flesh around the bubble of gas started to thin until it resembled a membrane and became thin enough for light to filter through. Near the top of the fleshy membrane balloon, cells shifted and gathered together forming a closed aperture of muscular flesh like a sphincter or like the opening of a party balloon. The muscles were clenched tightly together keeping the gas contained within the membrane. Finally the sphincter muscles began to relax releasing the pressurized gas from the membrane and a whining noise like a deflating balloon was heard. The noise continued as the largest flatulence ever released by an organism smaller than a dragon was performed. As the fleshy balloon deflated the pitch of the flatulence became higher and higher until it became a comically sustained whine. The muscular membrane tightened as it shrank, shifting its shape to keep the pressure on the rapidly shrinking gaseous sac. The mass of expelled flatulence gas drifted away on the wind. Blossomforth was horrifyingly embarrassed by the flatulence despite the fact that there was no one else to witness it. Blossomforth was suddenly glad that she did not decide to form any type of olfactory organs while she played her role as a giant stomach because she was sure that the expelled gasses would have stunk. The skin near her eyes on her eye stalks changed to a rosy color as she felt her embarrassment. It was disturbing how satisfying and pleasurable it felt to expel the gas from her body. She did not really realize how much byproduct was made when digesting an entire raccoon so rapidly. Usually digestion of such a large carcass could take days or weeks but she managed to do it with her advanced digestive juices in less than a minute which caused an almost explosive amount of gasses to be produced. She was used to assimilation where the cells were virally invaded and converted but in this case digestion chemically broke down the dead biomass and such rapid chemical reaction was bound to have a lot of byproduct. Her now much larger biomass shifted and stretched apart, rapidly performing cytokinesis. The two eye stalks perched on top looked at each other as they separated each taking half of the biomass with them. Her two bodies of disturbingly animated flesh began move and gurgle making a wide variety of sticking, slick sounds. Both of her bodies began writhing and animating as they rapidly formed bones and internal organs and shifted them into the proper places. The only part of her body that did not move were her eyes as the stalks that kept them steady and suspended in midair flexed and wriggled to maintain their stability and stillness. The eyes were creepily suspended as if they were wraiths and each observed the progress of the opposite body it was not attached to. When her eyes blinked they did so in a strange way by retracting into the stalk to moisten itself and became momentarily engulfed by it. In only a few moments two fully formed and sized Blossomforths stood opposite to each other each with a stalk of flesh curling out of their eye sockets. The stalks rapidly slicked into the skulls of the two Blossomforths and the eyes on the ends of the stalks popped into their sockets. The two Blossomforths now had one normal eye and a strange alien eye inserted by the stalk with an iris that shifted, constantly changing shape. Blossomforth blinked her four eyes all at the same time and when they opened all of her eyes were normal pony eyes with round irises. The two Blossomforths walked closer to each other and inspected each other. The feeling of horniness intensified as the chemical reactions of her normal pony body took over. Even when in the form of a giant stomach, her liquid mind was still vulnerable to the urges of the pony mating season but being immersed in the entire experience of being a fully formed pony rushed back to her. Estrogen flowed through her veins and the temperature of her vulva rose. The two Blossomforths looked at each other as if to say "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Of course they were, they blushed at each other with a strange look of embarrassment and guilt. They brushed up against each other and looked at each other's plots. In complete sync they both flicked their tails to the right and lowered their muzzles to the other's mareparts and took a deep sniff, lightly brushing their noses against the other's vulva and deeply smelled her own musk. Blossomforth suddenly thought about what she was doing. Visions of one of her bodies growing a penis and fucking the other in the pussy flashed in her hivemind. They suddenly frowned and backed away from each other. Nope! She REALLY had to get to work and she ALSO had a human to protect! She was already five minutes late! Blossomforth's two bodies awkwardly and quickly turned to their destinations. One on them tripped in her haste but quickly recovered and they both took off to fly to their destinations. > Chapter 21: Spring Heat (Part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth was distracted by heated and lewd thoughts that permeated her hivemind as she flew to her destinations. In truth, Blossomforth didn't know what she was going to do. Her sudden lust was as frustrating as it was pleasurable. She had experienced many mating seasons in the years before, but this one felt different for some reason. Blossomforth started to question herself. Why was she doing this anyway? Why did she suddenly feel the need to integrate enough biomass into herself to be able to split herself and do what? Go back to spy on Anon? Blossomforth cringed to herself as she realized the answer. She did not want to admit it to herself, but the action she wanted—no, needed—to complete burned itself into her mind; her instincts clear as day. Bloss wanted to go home, manifest her most powerful and efficient tentacular muscles, grab Anon, and forcefully carry him to his room where they would have the most passionate sex they had ever experienced. Bloss squeezed her eyes shut, shuddering at the enticing scenario, torn between passion and restraint. Her heartbeat quickened with her growing lust, the organ becoming more forceful with each powerful thump. Almost against her will, a tendril of muscle the width of twine slithered within her folds and briefly poked itself out, curling as if trying to scratch an insatiable itch. She breathed slightly more heavily and suddenly opened her eyes wide. She had never felt like this before. Even when she went though her first heat she had never felt such intensity. Why was she acting like this? Why was she acting with such impulsive irresponsibility? Didn't she know that Anon was still a little uncomfortable with her nature? How would he react if she suddenly forcefully rutted him? Why was she so damn horny? Blossomforth's eyebrows suddenly rose with realization. She scowled, of course. It probably had something to do with her alien nature. Bloss groaned in frustration with both of her bodies simultaneously. Beneath the superficial image of a heated pegasus, there were several insidious problems that Blossomforth was completely unaware of. No one can completely control their body. There are always automatic functions and actions that take place without input from the conscious mind. The heart beats without permission, sweat excretes from the body unconsciously, fear is experienced involuntarily. Blossomforth had an impressive degree of control over her body, she was able to deform organs and shut down bodily functions. However, despite this, her control was not absolute. Her body was extremely efficient, able to quickly bend to the wills of the mind, conscious or unconscious. The Ancestors originally designed the seed's mind architecture to minimize these involuntary actions. They knew that the organic constructs they were producing were extremely potent and efficient machines; unconscious action in a such a versatile vehicle of world domination could potentially cause undue or undesirable effects. When the organic machine integrated Blossomforth's mind with its own in a desperate act of survival, the architecture of the pony’s brain including instincts, which could be partially construed as unconscious action, became permanently ingrained in the liquid and wireless hivemind structure. The damaged parts of the alien mind that were replaced by Blossomforth's own overwrote and overrode some of the inhibitors designed into Thingpone's original mind. Thus the source of Blossomforth's inescapable heat. No matter how Blossomforth tried to change her biology, this powerful, inescapable instinct and desire to mate permeated Blossomforth's very being. Blossomforth's pony based and currently horny mind was at the seat of the most powerful biological weapon in the galaxy. Consequently, her body responded to her heated instinctual desires by producing just the right chemicals to make her even more horny. It was a feedback loop of heat, which her unconscious mind responded by activating an array of potent biological reproductive functions alien to Equestria. New enzymes were produced within her cells, changing the chemical structure of the pheromones she excreted, creating a potent chemical that would make any post pubescent equine creature sexually activated even if only a relatively small amount of particles reached them. The chemical was stealthy, insidious, and odorless. The ingenious chemical structure allowed it to easily permeate the blood-air barrier of the lungs and directly enter the bloodstream of the ponies that breathed it. Once it reached the bloodstream, it was all downhill from there. The chemical activated the sectors of the brain that had to do with reproduction and catalyzed chemical reactions in the reproductive system, making them more efficient than any indigenous pony enzyme or hormone. Indeed, it would be a new experience never before experienced on this planet. The poor, unsuspecting ponies never stood a chance; today they would feel things they had never felt before. The sexual stimulation was literally out of this world. Aerosolized, modified, alien/pony hybrid pheromones evaporated from every pore of her body. Every time she breathed a mist drifted from her mouth, and the musk of her conventional pheromones were more pungent than ever before. Blossomforth was like an airplane from Anon's world in the Vietnam era, gassing powerful biological chemicals over unsuspecting villagers. Blossomforth did not even realize what was happening. She assumed her misty breath had something to do with the weather. It was still early in the morning as the particles diffused through the atmosphere, spreading in all directions. The biological weapon of lust permeated the homes, and insidiously affected the ponies. Soon ponies would wake up feeling more heated than ever before. Older ponies that had given up feeling any sexual desire would feel it again for the first time in years. Blossomforth continued flying towards Anon's house, completely oblivious to her body's automatic machinations. However, her unconscious and involuntary pony mating instincts drove her body to become even more heated. She seemed to physically radiate warmth as her metabolism rapidly increased and her mind dulled to focus on baser desires. She shifted her hivemind's attention away from her other body, which was taking care of the routine weather work, it became more of a drone on autopilot. Instead she focused on her body heading for Anon's place. She shivered as she felt another tingling in her nether regions, and a fiery warmth of desire originating from her gut every time she breathed. Her disguise of malleable flesh wriggled and drooped slightly as if she was melting; her instincts and desires causing her to slowly lose control. -------- Anon watched as Bloss flew away for her job through the window and sighed wearily. Blossomforth seemed a little more... sexually excited than usual. She claimed that she was better able to control her heat than other mares due to her nature as an alien, but he wasn’t so sure. Anon looked down at the faint oily stain on his shirt. Yeah, there was definitely something going on. Anon briefly reflected on the craziness of the last few days. He was surprised by how calm he had kept throughout the whole experience. He was grateful that Blossomforth had been so kind and understanding to him. She had really shown herself to be a loving pony, er, organism. If she were not so tenderly patient and kind with him he thought for sure that he would probably have broken down in hysterics at the discovery of such an abomination that seemed to violate conventional nature and science. Anon smiled dreamily, he really felt lucky at the moment. Anyways, he had work to do. He just hoped Blossomforth could control herself. If she tried to lay him, things would get awkward very quickly. Mares in heat had difficulty controlling their urges but in Blossomforth's case losing control could have much more serious consequences. He was a bit worried about her. Anon sighed, he was probably worrying about nothing. He needed to get ready for the day. A little while later after Anon finished cleaning the dishes and setting up for the day, he heard the bell tinkle and the door creak open. Anon looked through the hallway from where he was setting up to the living room lobby to see Lyra walk in through the front door. Anon walked into the lobby to meet her. As he approached, he noticed that Lyra was sweating a bit and breathing at a slightly increased pace, her cheeks tinged the very lightest shade of pink. "Hey Lyra! Good morning. Have you been running today? You seem a bit sweaty, or is it just the spring heat?" Lyra's eyes widened slightly and Anon suddenly remembered what Blossomforth had told him about mating season. "Oh, good morning Anonymous." She seemed a little nervous. "Well, I suppose it is the time of year for spring heat if you, uh, catch my drift." Lyra's eyes began to get shifty as she lamely finished. Anon blinked and his eyebrows raised slightly. "Ah, yes. I believe Blossomforth said something about this to me. It is not something I am very familiar with." Lyra's face became slightly redder in embarrassment and shame. She looked like she was trying to build up the courage to say something. Anon tried to change the subject. "So what do you want me to work on today?" Lyra looked down at her hooves and slowly looked up again shyly. "I'm sorry, anon. I was wondering; can I ask something of you that is personal for me and probably going to end up being very awkward?" Anon eyed her suspiciously, remembering Blossomforth's warning. He reluctantly responded, "Well, I suppose so. What is this precarious subject you wish to broach?" Lyra took a deep breath and began to speak,"Well, in case my hints were not obvious enough, or your inexperience makes you unaware, today happens to be the first day of Ponyville's spring heat. As you might have guessed, it makes us really, really, uh, horny. Not unicorn horny, but you know horny, horny. You know?” Anon stared deadpan. “I know.” Her checked flushed red, tail swishing behind her. “It happens in the spring, usually a few weeks after winter wrap up, and affects most of us mares. When one mare gets it we know it because she starts to smell… different. It seems to spreads like the plague to everypony else, making us, well, so aroused it’s almost painful. Twilight once explained it to me, she says it has something to do with pheromones" "This isn't abnormal or anything, I mean it happens every year! I’ve always been able to, uh, manage myself, but something is different this year. For some reason, this year has been much worse than anything I have ever experienced! It seems to have affected everypony. I feel like a pubescent filly, Anon. It’s just humiliating. It burns and I desperately need release! Even as I stand here I am having a hard time trying to control myself. It's bad, Anon." Lyra looked directly up at Anon with slightly pleading eyes, her inner thigh muscles and hidden pelvic floor muscles clenched together surreptitiously as she tried to contain her arousal. "I feel really bad for asking this but I am getting really desperate and nothing seems to work for me. You have the most nimble appendages in Ponyville and I was wondering if you could, um, maybe... massage me in a different place today?" Anon blinked several times quickly with a strange apprehensive look on his face. Lyra’s lips spread in an awkward, wide, embarrassed grin that almost looked like she was gritting her teeth. "Look, Anon. I understand if you want to cancel our appointment, there is really no point of a normal massage if I am unable to relax. I'm sorry for asking, really. This is really an unusual and rare circumstance and if you do this for me I am willing to pay triple. I am not a pervert, but I am starting to feel reaaallly desperate right now." Indeed, Anon noticed her hind legs were crossed as if she had to pee. She didn’t even bother to lower her tail, no doubt it would have been too much effort. Anon sized her up quickly and responded. "Where is Bonbon anyway? Aren't you two together?" Lyra frowned. "She went on a miss- I mean, an archeological trip to the Badlands. She won't be back for another few days." Anon took in a deep breath and sighed out slowly. "Alright, fine, but only because I know you." Lyra gave a sigh of relief, her insides quivered with anticipation. "However! This is purely professional and I will be wearing a rubber glove for this massage! This is not a date, I am only helping you as a friend. Also, I expect you to keep this private." Lyra's eyebrows rose and her eyes softened as she imagined the relief she was about to experience. She wondered how his fingers would feel inside her, the digits touching her in places she had never been touched and where hooves could not reach. "I understand, Anon. Thank you so much! I promise to keep this strictly secret and professional." She smirked as she smelled the remnants of Blossomforth's scent. "Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that you and Blossomforth might have a few things to work out when she gets back." Anon looked at her in the eyes and squinted at her making an awkward silence. Lyra shrank under the scrutiny, shifting her hind legs together awkwardly as there was nothing to distract her from her heat. Anon suddenly reached to his side and opened a drawer to pick up two rubber gloves and the massage lubricant he usually used. He snapped on a pair of gloves that Twilight had magically formed out of rubber specifically for him. "Let's get this over with." -------- Blossomforth landed on the roof of Anon's house, panting hard. Her unnaturally long tongue lolled out the side of her mouth, and her mind drove her body into heated overdrive. Her higher cognitive functions were starting to slow as instinct began to take over. Many small tendrils poked out of her fur, writhing slowly, their sinuous forms of muscle clenched and veins popped from their smooth and oily surface. Blossomforth panted as if she had just ran a marathon, drool oozing down the side of her mouth. She made a cursory scan of the roofs and sky to make sure no one was close enough to see her out of control tendrils. As Blossomforth panted, her body slowly began to revert into its base form, seemingly melting in the sun. She spied the exhaust chimney for the ventilation system. She galloped towards it and body slammed the chimney. As she dove, her body rapidly deformed into a thick goop, splattering on the side. The amorphous mass slurped and squished through the mesh grating of the chimney and slid downwards. Bloss had inserted herself into the air conditioning system. Her organic sludge was more red than usual indicating her heat. She pulsated grotesquely, pounding and squishing with heated excitement as she slid down the chimney, stuck to the side of the vent. Her amorphous body excreted an oily perspiration in excitement, absolutely loaded with advanced pheromone chemicals and giving her blob-like body a greasy, slippery texture. The cool air that that pumped past her as she slid through the air duct was not enough to cool her heat, but it did seem to give her back the ability to think at least a little. She rapidly oozed towards Anon's scent, finding her target in almost no time at all, now in the vent directly above Anon. She slid her sludge through the grating of the vent and formed a few eye stalks to watch. What she saw almost made her form the lungs of a manticore so she could growl with rage. ---- "Let's get this over with." Anon placed a few sheets of disposable paper on the massage table and Lyra slowly climbed up and laid on her stomach. Anon stared at her lady parts. ‘Am I really going to do this?’ "Thanks again, Anon." Lyra glanced back at Anon, squirming with anticipation. "Yeah, yeah. Don't expect me to do this again for another year at least." Anon paused for a few seconds. "Are you familiar with your pelvic floor muscles? If I tell you to clench or relax them, will you know which muscles to engage?" Anon looked up to Lyra. Lyra looked back with a slightly exasperated expression. "I'd think, especially during this time of year, that I would be very—ugh—familiar with those muscles." Indeed, Anon glanced at her nether regions and could see the subtle movement of her lower pelvis clenching in time with her pulsating vulvar winking. "Point taken." With that, Anon spread some massage lubricant over Lyra's fur and glided his fingers over her hind legs, starting with the bands of muscle around her canons and hooves, before beginning to work upward. As anon moved up to her thighs, he noticed that they were tight and straining. These muscles were directly connected to the pelvic floor muscles, which are the muscles most related with sexual function. "I know it's hard, Lyra, but I need you need to try and relax your thighs." Anon watched as Lyra's torso rose and fell with deep breaths as she focused on relaxing her legs. Anon took advantage and started massaging her legs, relaxing them as much as possible. He moved on to her glutes. Lyra’s breaths were deep and quick as she concentrated to relax her muscles. Anon finished with the muscles in her inner thigh, her adductor muscles. "Very good, Lyra. Are you feeling a bit more relaxed?" Lyra made a groaning noise of affirmation and pleasure. "Alright, I'm going to move on to insertion. Try to concentrate on your pelvic floor. Relax and clench when I tell you. It might be a bit sore due to your heat. We are going to try and ease the pressure so that you can leave satisfied." Another grunt. Anon applied some lube to his fingers and inserted them feeling the tight ring of clenched pelvic floor muscles on the inside. "Relax." Lyra began breathing deeply again as she concentrated and the muscles receded, softening in the process. Anon began kneading the ring of muscles, encouraging them to relax and let go of the pressure. They quivered under the pressure, threatening to clench. Eventually Lyra's urges would take over and she would clench again but Anon would coax her back into relaxation. “Alright Lyra, you’re doing great! Are you ready for the next part?” Lyra only moaned. “Good, when I say clench, clench.” A pregnant pause followed. “Clench!” Anon felt the ring of muscles tighten around his fingers, he took the opportunity to start slowly stimulating her nub and she strained harder. Anon let off the pressure and told her to relax once more and Lyra began breathing harder and moaning with pleasure as she put in a supreme effort into relaxing the pelvic floor muscles. By now there was an obvious secretion leaking. Anon kneaded the muscles, it was becoming almost impossible for her to resist engaging her pelvic floor muscles. Finally she was ready. Without warning, Anon rotated his finger and reached for a spot behind her belly button. Lyra gasped suddenly with a loud moan. Her pelvic floor began clenching with rhythmic undulations and a fluid secreted out of her. Finally, Lyra sighed with satisfaction and relaxed on the table. Anon looked at her. "Well, hopefully you won't have any more heat problems. I hope you're satisfied." Lyra didn't answer but laid still on the table. Anon shrugged and began to remove his hand from her vagina. To his surprise it became stuck. The flesh seemed to mold around his hand, gripping it in place with a squishy, wet sensation. The flesh tightened like a vice in an uncomfortable way. "The hell?" Anon whispered. Anon placed a hand on her ass to get more leverage. To his horror, when he pushed on her butt for leverage, the butt cheek squished and sank inwards as if it was made of mud and swallowed his hand whole. He reflexively tried to retrieve his hand but the flesh gripped it tightly. Suddenly, the muscular flesh that molded around his hands started to pull them inwards with surprising force and suction. The strength and efficiency of these strange amorphous muscles forced Anon's hands and arms inside Lyra's torso. Anon felt the wet, moist muscles twitch around his arms and hands as they amorphously shifted and clenched, encasing his arms. From the outside it looked as if Lyra's butt had swallowed up Anon's arms up to his shoulders, Lyra's tail, dock, and anus were right in front of his face. Anon's eyes widened with fear. Lyra's spine began to arch in a backbend cobra, forcing her shoulders and head upward from the massage table and backwards towards Anon. Her torso bent and curled, forcing anon’s arms stuck inside of it to move as well. The joints of her vertebrae of her spine cracked as they bent and stretched similar how the joints would crack when practicing yoga. Lyra's head began to rotate, her neck making grotesque snapping noises. Lyra's head began swiveling unnaturally on her neck, rotating 180 degrees from the natural position. When her face was revealed, it was not green like the rest of her coat but white as snow and her face now had the features usually seen on Blossomforth's face. Blossomforth's face, which had no right to be on Lyra's body, scowled at Anon with wild eyes and foamy drool leaking out the side of her mouth. Her cheeks were a deep shade of red and Anon thought he could see a twinkle of liquid in her eye. Anon suddenly felt perspiration on his brow. The elbows on Lyra's forelegs made sharp snapping sounds and the joints shifted, becoming “double jointed” to allow Lyra's elbow joints to bend in the opposite direction beyond where it should have stopped and gesture to Anon with her forelegs. "What the hell were you doing with Lyra?" ---- Blossomforth’s excited, pulsating, veiny sludge of organic matter slid through the vent and spread slowly along the ceiling, sticking to it like glue. She felt the cool air wash over her amorphous flesh and the downright icy feeling of the vent’s metal grating that she slid through. It was not exactly frigid, a warm temperature is optimal for a massage environment, but it was a stark contrast to the intense heat outside. It did little to satiate her sexual desires as her excited metabolism radiated heat in defiance to the air conditioning. She was growing excited, she could just taste Anon’s familiar and exotic human pheromones, but was a bit worried at another familiar taste, the taste of Lyra’s heated pheromones. More biomass filtered through the vent and a few tendrils sprouted and engorged from her gore stuck to the ceiling, extruding eyeballs from their tips to observe the scene below. Blossomforth’s vision blurred into focus and she rotated her eyes in the direction of Anon's scent. Blossomforth saw Lyra laying on the massage table, it seemed that she was enjoying the inner thigh massage perhaps a little too much. Lyra's scent grew more pungent as the massage intensified. Blossomforth started to pulsate more quickly and intensely with jealousy. A barely audible squishing sound could now be heard every time she pulsated and veiny dark spots appeared in her vision with every pulse. Her eyes which were taken from a race that communicated by changing the pattern of their irises started to shift shape and change like a lava lamp. Her other warring instincts of biological domination and natural competition almost made her lose control. Greasy, oily secretions perspired from her body and lubricated her epidermis. She extruded a sprouting tentacle from her sludge stuck to the ceiling and snaked it through the air towards Anon and Lyra. The tentacle suddenly bulged as she clenched the powerful muscles within the appendage as hard as she could. Curling veins popped and bulged from the surface of her tentacle in her vision. The tentacle was like a clenched fist. No, she could control herself. Suddenly, Anon inserted his fingers into Lyra's vagina. What? Blossomforth's bulging muscular tentacle suddenly went limp with sudden surprise hanging from the ceiling, the equivalent of someone's jaw dropping in surprise and despair. Blossomforth’s pulsating missed a few beats as she watched Anon pleasure Lyra. Time seemed to move more quickly, lyra started breathing more heavily and moaning as Anon rubbed her clit with his thumb. Blossomforth's vision suddenly tinged red. Her instincts demanded that she be the alpha organism and some slut had paraded up to anon and spread her legs. Now Anon was pleasuring Lyra instead of her. A tongue emerged between the folds of her flesh and she licked herself slowly, saliva drooling down the side of the extrusion. The slash of flesh her tongue emerged from curled upwards in what could have been interpreted as a smile. She knew how to fix this injustice. She concentrated on the dormant slug in Lyra's brain and activated it. She focused on finding Lyra's sensory neurology and a tendril found its way through the brain folds and fused to the organ. Gradually, she felt the sensory sensations that Lyra felt. The relaxed muscles in her legs, Anon's tender groping of her most intimate pelvic muscles and the stimulated clit reaching for a climax. Suddenly, Anon reached for Lyra's g-spot and Lyra gasped with a loud moan. Blossomforth's flesh above began positively boiling with energy. Hundreds of tiny tendrils reached out in all directions until she resembled a sea anemone hanging from the ceiling with writhing tentacles. They strained, clenched, and stretched, curling around each other, shaking with pleasure. Oily secretion dripped from her hundreds of tendrils onto the floor behind Anon. As fluid secretion emerged from Lyra's vagina, sadness and anger flowed through Blossomforth's mind. Sudden vindictive will pierced her mind. She hated Lyra at the moment. She knew what to do. A pulse of electromagnetic based telepathy originated from Blossomforth's mind and the dormant receptor enzymes left within Lyra from the last time she had assimilated Lyra activated, suddenly and violently the enzymes recomposed the cells they resided in, converting Lyra's body into advanced Alien cells. Blossomforth focused on the cells in Lyra's vagina and grabbed Anon's hand tightly with undulating flesh. Anon, surprised, placed his hand on Lyra's plot as leverage to remove his hand. Bloss gleefully used this opportunity to viscosify Lyra's plot and swallow Anon's hand. She angrily jerked his arm through Lyra's flesh towards his other arm inside of her vagina and sucked both of his arms inside Lyra's torso through the widening opening of Lyra's vagina, forcing anon's shoulders and face up to Lyra's plot. She now had Anon right where she wanted him. She would give him a talking to. Maybe Anon would have a completely logical reason, but she was not feeling very logical. She was feeling quite visceral and she wanted angry sex. She NEEDED angry sex right now! She forced Lyra's torso into an erect, curled backbend position and forced her head to unnaturally rotate to face anon while transforming Lyra's face into her own. Her expression was one of anger, passion and a bit of sadness at Anon's perceived betrayal. She was also drooling slightly from her mouth due to her heat and from the pleasure she shared with Lyra. "What the hell were you doing with Lyra?" ---- Anger could be plainly seen on her face. She was seething, eyes wild and breathing deeply with a strange mist coming from her mouth. Her mouth drooled slightly as she stared directly into Anon's eyes. Fear suddenly washed through Anon like a cold shower. "Calm down Bloss!" He glanced down at his arms which were shoved so far up Lyra's vagina that he couldn't even see them. "This is definitely not what it looks like! You're letting the heat get to you!" Blossomforth was breathing so hard that drool was leaking from the side of her mouth and the flesh around Anon's arms started to heat up as Blossomforth's influence caused Lyra's metabolism to rev up. It was now obvious that Bloss was starting to tear up slightly. "Not what it looks like? What is that supposed to look like?" She gestured with deformed, backwards forelegs to Lyra's nether regions which Anon was now buried into. Anon felt the tight, squishy flesh surrounding his arms constrict and pulsate. Anon was getting a annoyed by how Blossomforth forced his arms up Lyra's vagina to make him look more guilty. It overpowered his fear. He started to scowl. "Look Blossom, what happened here was completely professional! There is no romantic relationship between me and her. This is not a regular thing, Lyra was feeling desperately heated and needed some way to release her pressure before she strained the muscles in her pelvic floor and injured herself! This sudden assimilation of Lyra is uncalled for, control yourself! Don't abuse you abilities because of your petty lust! If you end up harming her because of this, I'm not sure if I can forgive you. You are going to stop grabbing my arms and put her back to normal!" Blossomforth had the grace to look guilty and shifted her eyes awkwardly as she rolled them with a slight scowl on her face. She was still breathing heavily through her nose and Lyra's flesh pulsated with excited metabolism. She reluctantly relaxed the muscles encasing Anon's arms, allowing him to pull them out of Lyra's vagina with a loud sucking "Shhhhhlllishp!" Anon's arms were now doused with slimy secretion and he waved them trying to get it off. Anon was still a bit shaken with fear. Blossomforth quickly grew a neural algorithm and scanned Lyra’s short term memory, rapidly processing it. She found that what anon had said was true. A feeling of intense icy guilt seemed to wash through her mind, she had probably gave Anon a scare. Petty jealousy still dominated her thoughts. Anon was going to pleasure her and Lyra would lie unconscious on the massage table as she did it. Yes, this revenge is adequate. "Look, Anon. I'm sorry. I was not really thinking clearly when I did that. I thought that I could control the heat by changing my biology, you know, removing the parts of me that exist for reproduction but it's really weird! For some reason, no matter what I do it does not go away!" She looked up at Anon. "I could really use your help, Anon." Lyra's body was starting to undulate and melt with sexual excitement. Anon had an internal struggle trying to imagine what this “help” would entail. "Alright, alright, I'll try to help you. Just give poor Lyra's body back! It looks really creepy how you replaced her face and rearranged her body like that. Didn't you say before that you didn't like to assimilate ponies? What's up with that? Also, aren't you supposed to be kicking clouds or something right about now? How did you even know about me massaging Lyra, have you been creeping on me?" Anon shivered on the inside as he imagined Blossomforth spying him from the inside of various crevices. Blossomforth's face on Lyra's body started to look embarrassed as if she had just realized what she had done. "Well, uh, you see I assimilated Lyra a while back, before I really knew what I was doing. This was on the day of my transformation. There were some leftover enzymes inside her from when I assimilated her and I was able to activate them to quickly and telepathically assimilate her again. I, uhm, also managed to find some spare biomass and split myself to go do weather duty and also come back here." She stared downward with embarrassment and shame. Anon sighed helplessly and ran a hand over his face pulling the skin on his face down with frustration. After a few seconds he stared deadpan at her. “You scared the shit out of me with that stunt you pulled with Lyra’s body. I didn’t even see you come in! I guess you said you did it telepathically. Does that mean you are creeping on me right now?” Blossomforth's face on Lyra's body suddenly blushed deeply and Anon froze in supine fear as he felt a greasy, meaty, thick, lubricated tentacle glide down the back of his neck and into his shirt, curling, wriggling around his torso and adhere to his skin. It felt very warm and he could feel it pulsate against his skin. Anon was caught off guard at being surprised from behind and forgot his anger. The snake like muscle of a tentacle continued to slide into his clothes, and Anon looked up to see where the fleshy snake came from. Above him he saw gory sludge stuck to the ceiling finish draining into the tail end of a long, fleshy, thick rope of muscle and it finally detached from the ceiling as the rest of Blossomforth's snakelike form slithered and disappeared into his shirt curling around his torso and arms, muscularly hugging him, and exploring his body. Anon's eyes widened as the muscular snake of flesh shifted and slithered excitedly against his skin and effortlessly warped its shape allowing it to flow under the tighter fit waistline, into his pants, and around his legs and dangerously close to more sensitive regions. "O-okay then!" Anon uttered nervously. His eyes were wide as he watched the bulges move under his shirt and pants. He gingerly felt his shirt where a thick, squishy vine was slithering underneath. It responded to his touch by arching itself and forcing itself into his hand, distending his shirt and rubbing against his hand as it moved. Blossomforth was in a trancelike state, allowing herself to become immersed in pleasure. Anon yelped in an un-masculine way as something from under his shirt nipped his belly playfully. Blossom stared at anon through Lyra's body with a faraway look of pleasure, obviously enjoying the feel of Anon’s body. Anon was helplessly violated by a lustful monster. “Mmmmm, you have such a well designed body, Anon. I can’t wait to explore it some more.” Anon felt the hot, sweaty, greasy, slithering, morphing biomass beneath his shirt and gulped. He needed to find a way to calm her down. He knew that his body was not as durable as hers and she was frighteningly strong. He would be fine as long as she was gentle but would the heat allow her to be herself? Blossomforth licked Lyra's stolen lips and face with an unnaturally long tongue and smirked at Anon. “I think we are going to have some fun!” Anon was speechless, but in the back of his mind he knew that he had seen enough hentai to know where this was going. > Chapter 22: Spring Heat (Part 3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few strands of hair seemed to spring up out of the normally immaculate mane of a purple princess. By her nature, Twilight Sparkle was a mare slow to anger, but today was proving to be especially frustrating and anger threatened to burst onto the surface. Twilight stood in front of a chalkboard, floating several books and some chalk in front of her, scribbling in an almost violent manner as she glanced from the books to the chalkboard and back again with narrowed eyes. On the chalkboard were most of the known biological chemical reactions that had to do with the activation of a mare's spring heat, including various chemical structures of related enzymes and pheromones. "Ugh! It just doesn't make sense!" The chalk in Twilight's magical grasp broke. She glared at it as if it was the cause of her problem. "Spike!" Twilight yelled at the ceiling as if she were howling. The head of a small dragon poked meekly from the entrance of the tree house's kitchen adjacent from Twilight's study room. "Yes, Twilight?" Twilight snapped her head around to face Spike and twitched her eye at him. "Coffee!" she barked at him and her wings flapped as she stomped on the ground. "Right away, Twi!" Spike saluted and disappeared back into the kitchen. He knew that when Twilight was on a research binge it was best to stay out of the way until she found what she wanted, or burned out and fell asleep. However, he also kept a secret stash of tranquilizer he could slip into her coffee if things went too far. It was a last resort. Twilight was incredibly good at what she did and it was rare that Twilight failed at finding the solution to a scientific problem. Despite it being early in the morning, Twilight had somehow already managed to work herself into a frenzy. As she watched Spike go, Twilight glanced down to scowl at the strange article of clothing she was wearing. Panties. She usually went around nude, but today her body insisted on producing much more lubricant than usual, so she stuffed some absorbent tissue under the panties to solve the problem. It was a temporary solution, but it was better than nothing. Suddenly, her eyes widened and started to water as she felt another wave of heat. It was a tingling itchy sensation that she could not scratch. She raised a hind leg up and whimpered in futility as she felt her insides clench with desire. With calm breaths and determined, focused self control she felt the tingling pass with a shiver. Twilight gritted her teeth and growled. The potion/chemical concoction she cooked up every year to suppress her heat seemed to do absolutely nothing this time. What had changed? She looked at the chemical equations, lists of enzymes, and pheromone variations. It had to be something new. The potion she created was known and well designed to suppress all known vectors of heat activation. She had thoroughly searched the books and by all rights her potion should be working. It was time to try something different. When a scientist does not have enough information it was time to test, but she needed some samples. "Here's your coffee, Twilight." Spike appeared in front of Twilight as she was thinking deeply. Twilight took the cup in her magic and smiled at Spike. "Thanks Spike, sorry for snapping at you. I'm having a particularly tough science problem and I think that some other mares might also be having a hard time." Twilight was pretty sure that it was not her alicorn biology that was causing her problems because her sensitive pony muzzle could smell the heat of lots of other mares. To make matters worse, it had never spread so quickly before. This year it seemed to all happen in a morning when in the years before it took almost a week before all the mares got the heat. Spike, blissfully unaware of the mating season, raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? How do you know?" Twilight sighed. "I'll tell you when you're older, Spike." Spike put his claws on his hips. "I think I'm old enough to know whatever it is you're talking about." Twilight looked at him carefully. "You know, I think you're right but I can't talk about it right now, I have problems to solve. I'll do it later. Deal?" "Deal, good luck with whatever is bothering you so much." Spike turned around and walked away. Twilight looked down at her coffee and took a sip, pondering how to pinpoint the cause of this unusual circumstance. It had to be something that spread quickly because it seemed to have affected all of Ponyville in one morning. It was unheard of for such a reaction to spread so quickly. Her first instinct was pheromones, but what could be so potent? Assuming whatever caused this was airborne, how could she even detect it? Twilight scrunched her muzzle in thought and took another sip. She suddenly thought about the coffee strainer and her eyes lit up. That's it! She grabbed the door with her magic and swung it open, galloping outside. She smelled the faint, familiar scents of multiple ponies with the telltale accent indicating their heat. Yes, she thought. She could make this work. She teleported a small, portable chalkboard and the broken chalk she had inside and started calculating a spell matrix for a semi-permeable magical shield. The shield would need to have nanoscopic holes large enough to allow small particles to pass through like elemental gasses and smaller particles like water vapor and carbon dioxide. The holes in her shield also needed to be small enough to trap larger particles like the carbon based pheromones. Twilight smiled, this would do the trick. She spent the next ten minutes designing and calculating the semi permeable membrane of her magical shield and checking her work. Finally, she pictured the spell matrix she designed and channeled her magic to create a gigantic spherical shield above her, in front of her treehouse, 30 meters in diameter. Slowly she shrank the shield and most of the air passed through. At first it seemed like nothing was happening but as it continued to get smaller, Twilight finally started to feel pressure. Finally, once the shield had shrank to the size of a grapefruit she was feeling pressure but now that the shield was so small she could easily continue to shrink it despite the extra pressure. Finally, once the shield was about the size of a golf ball, she was satisfied. This sample was sure to be rich in the more complex organic carbon based gases and aerosols. Twilight trotted back inside with a grin on her face and climbed down the stairs into the basement where she kept her lab equipment. She searched through the various instruments, and quickly spotted what she needed. A gas canister. It was a very specialized piece of equipment with a valve on top and bottom. There was also a burner on top and a tray for ice on the bottom. Twilight turned on a pump and attached the hose to the bottom valve to pump the air out of the canister to get it as close to a vacuum as possible. Once done, she closed the valve. Twilight then carefully lined up the spherical shield of compressed gas to the top valve and allowed the mouth of the valve to penetrate she shield. She opened the top valve and the vacuum inside the canister sucked the trapped gases inside the shield into the canister. Twilight shrank the shield until all of the gasses were inside the canister and she closed the valve. Now it was time to turn the canister into a magical centrifuge. She lit the burner on the top of the canister and deposited some ice from her nearby lab freezer onto the bottom of the canister. Usually, a centrifuge was a device that spun extremely quickly in order to force heavier particles to the bottom and lighter particles to the top. However, Twilight had the advantage of being a powerful magical protege supercharged by her alicorn status. So instead of needing an extremely expensive centrifuge to separate the different types of gasses, Twilight simply cast a very powerful gravity spell on the canister. The increased force caused the heavier, more complex particles of gas to sink to the bottom near the cold of the canister and the lighter, less complex particles to rise the top of the canister where the burner kept it hot. Twilight's eyes narrowed as she kept up the powerful gravity spell. Almost ready to go, Twilight screwed on a smaller glass canister to the bottom of the makeshift centrifuge and opened the valve a tiny bit to allow a sample of heavy gas to escape into the container. She cast another scanning utility spell which gave the gas color by type. Once it started to change color she closed the valve and sealed the smaller canister. She repeated the process and filled the small gas canisters with the component gases separated by induced gravitational force and temperature gradient. Now Twilight had four bottles of mystery gasses separated by particle density. One of them was bound to contain whatever mystery agent she was looking for. Pony noses were quite sensitive, so she thought that perhaps she could identify the samples at least partially by smell as a preliminary test. She started at the least dense bottle of gas and cracked it open to smell the strong smell of methane. Twilight wrinkled her nose. Well, now she knew what that was. She tried the second flask, odorless. She shrugged and opened the third bottle. She immediately recognized the concentrated, pungent musk of multiple ponies mixed into one sample. Now for the last flask of gas. This one contained the heaviest and probably most complex compounds. Twilight opened it and took a whiff. She did not sense any smell. She closed the flask. For a few seconds she was disappointed and started to formulate a plan on how to further identify the gasses. Suddenly Twilight began to feel lightheaded, her eyes dilated and became unfocused. Her heart began beating at a faster rate, and she began breathing heavily. Simultaneously, her vulva began winking uncontrollably as her vagina undulated under her panties and excretion oozed out into the absorbent tissue. Twilight suddenly felt a burning feeling of need and her breathing continued to intensify until some saliva drooled out the corner of her mouth and an involuntary whinny noise escaped her lips. Twilight's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what had happened to her. She fought to regain control over herself. The gas inside of the fourth canister undoubtedly contained some sort of concentrated sexual catalyst. This was exactly what she was looking for! She had isolated whatever was causing this. Twilight wiped a fetlock across her mouth to clear the saliva and gave the bottle a predatory smile. Twilight continued by subjecting the mystery chemical to a series of tests to try and determine which pony pheromone it was most closely related to. However, it did not seem to react the way any of the conventional pony pheromone aerosols she had listed earlier did. Twilight creased her brow and rubbed her chin with a hoof. An aerosol that was not like any known equine pheromone yet effected mares all the same. What in the world could have produced such a mysterious chemical? It had to have been related to the equine species because it obviously affected equines. Perhaps a new mutation? Or perhaps a dormant, hidden gene expressed by a pony that had just the right parents to unlock it. Whatever it was, Twilight needed to find the source. This interesting phenomena could provide insight into how genes worked. Perhaps she could even write a scholarly paper on it. The very thought made her giddy with excitement. Ever since Anon had shown her the power of science with his versatile phone, Twilight had resolved to put greater effort into understanding science instead of simply focusing on magical fields. Twilight focused her magic and used the scanning spell to focus on the gas. It was a modified version of the spell Rarity used to find gems. She experimentally tuned the frequency until the gas glowed, revealing its presence within the bottle. Perfect! Twilight knew exactly what to do now. She downed the rest of her coffee and galloped out the front door to take flight with a notepad and pen in her magical grip. Twilight began scanning the open air. She didn't see any glowing for a while, yet continued to fly in a pattern searching for any trace of a glow. As she began to fly out of town, Twilight noticed a faint glimmer almost invisible. Gotcha! She focused the scanning beam from her horn and looked around. The glimmering wispy light seemed to become brighter and more intense in one direction. She continued following the slowly dissipating glow and the glow became more and more concentrated as she started to approach the source. The glimmering became more and more intense as she followed the glowing river until it suddenly terminated at the opening of a chimney. That was strange, she thought that it would have lead to the door. The gas didn't seem to be emanating from the chimney but instead slowly dissipated, retreating into the chimney. Perhaps the air conditioning was turned off and the air was simply not being pumped out, it was still strange. Twilight hovered over the edge of the roof and was surprised to see that this was the place where Anon lived. She creased her brow. Strange compounds never seen before would logically originate from an alien, but Anon's biology had nothing to do with equines. She also heard rumors that Blossomforth had moved into Anon's place and that they were in a romantic relationship. Well, at least Anon had adapted after Twilight had unfortunately and accidentally abducted him. Twilight saddened in lingering shame. She would find a way to open that portal again. Anyways, Twilight needed to investigate the source of this powerful airborne chemical. The sign read open, so perhaps she could do some poking around. Twilight hovered downward and landed in front of the door. She pushed to door open and walked in, the tinkling bell announcing her presence. ---- Blossomforth's world was a warm haze, the abomination was utterly intoxicated with lust as her amorphous body slid and stuck to Anon's smooth skin. Several greasy tendrils extruded out of her flesh and reached out to slide around the curve of Anon's body. She felt the pounding blood pressure tighten Anon's arteries under her powerful flesh. She tasted the salty sweat and the pheromones within, savoring his unique taste as it excreted from his oily pores. She tightened her powerful, flexible, amorphous muscle around Anon and felt his weaker, less efficient muscles tremble under her grip. He was vulnerable, she realized as she held him in her grasp and a sinking feeling caused her powerful muscles to tremble as well. She could even smell his fear. Sorrow and shame pierced her mind, she wanted to cry at how cute and fragile Anon seemed to be. It wasn't fair, she wanted to be the small helpless creature but she was cursed to being this powerful monster. A powerful need demanded that she smoothly slide a tendril into his most private area and envelop him in her fleshy embrace to caress him in the most intimate of ways and coax his valuable, delectable seed into herself. She almost did it, a tendril slowly inched its way there, curling and flexing powerful muscles with desperate desire. Twisting veins popped from her clenching, pulsating, muscular tendril blossoming forth as it grew. Heaven in the form of a new world of biological information was just inches away waiting for her to slither forward and intimately extract it. There was nothing Anon could do to stop her, his supine acceptance of her dominance was like an invitation. Anon knew what was going to happen and he had accepted it. Even if he wanted to stop her she could easily ooze around whatever barrier he tried to erect. It was the most natural thing in the world, what she was meant to do. Her excited tendril began to slide into his boxers but right before she made contact she dimly heard her name being called out to her. A cold knife stabbed her conscience. Blossomforth couldn't do it. Every instinct and iota of her body demanded she close the millimeter gap between her tendril and Anon's penis but her mind resisted. Her tendril flexed, wriggled, and bulged with desperate, grotesque convulsions of warring actions but did not extend forward. Blossomforth would not allow herself to become a true monster. A being that Anon loved because he had no choice. Blossomforth felt sick and went completely opposite to her instincts. Inching her tentacle backwards away from Anon's penis felt like she was pulling the nail of her hoof out of its socket. It was painful to her, withdrawal symptoms caused her to shake and shiver. She denied her body its very purpose and stars appeared in her mind, splitting pain scrambled her thoughts. The pain increased exponentially as her will waged war against her instinct and her awareness faded but despite this, Blossomforth felt like a hero. She tried to reach out to him but her tentacle seemed heavy. She felt someone hold her tentacle up. Her name echoed in her mind, Anon was calling out to her and it sounded important. She smiled internally and relaxed as the darkness took her. ---- Anon felt the powerful tendrils extend around his torso and arms under his shirt and grab him forcefully. He tested his strength against them, but they were like bands of steel and he could not move against them, they locked his arms into place and squeezed into his flesh a little uncomfortably. He noticed that the fleshy bands started to pulsate more rapidly as she seemed to be working herself into a frenzy. They pounded against his skin and gripped him harder with desire. "Hey Bloss, you're grabbing a little too tightly." He looked over to Lyra's mangled body, and to his sudden fright he saw that Blossomforth's face which was on Lyra's head had deformed and melted leaving a mismatched glob of facial features. Blossomforth either could not or would not hear him. The bands of muscle and sprouting tendrils wrapped around him keeping him virtually immobile. He suddenly felt real fear as he realized that he was in the clutches of a frenzied, horny monster. Anon knew what was going to happen. He was going to lose his virginity. Hopefully, she wouldn't hurt him. Anon felt powerless, there was no choice in this matter. He felt Blossomforth's lithe, fleshy tentacles powerfully pulsate against him and he shivered weakly against them. Anon cringed in pain as the bands of muscle bruised his flesh, imprinting long lines of red where the tendrils grabbed him with lust. Anon felt the tentacles curled around his legs force them apart and a tendril slid into his underwear to pulsate more quickly and forcefully. It curled and wriggled in seeming glee. His instinctual purpose as a male, the strong, dominant protector was violated. He surrendered himself to her, accepting that he was going to be manhandled and dominated, completely used by a superior organism. After all, it was only in the alien's nature. Blossomforth could not control herself, the temptation was too great. Tears of powerlessness and love glistened in his eyes. "Bloss. I want you to know. I forgive you, I love you." The tentacle stopped right before it touched his penis and bulged as if straining. It began to shiver and convulse, the pulsating became faster and faster, he felt the bulging veins against his skin becoming tighter and tighter. Anon started to groan in pain. Finally, the tentacles shivered and trembled and suddenly went limp. He felt the tentacles and flesh under his clothes deform into a viscous consistency. The organic matter flowed out of his sleeves, his shirt, and down his pants. He felt the organic sludge flow down his shirt and Anon tried to hold it but the sludge flowed through his fingers and puddled on the floor. Anon kneeled down and tried to feel or grasp the puddle of organic sludge on the floor but his fingers slipped through the puddle. As he began to pull his fingers out he felt something press against them and he pulled out a fleshy tendril that curled around his fingers barely hanging on to him as he held up his hand. The tendril extruded out of the puddle as he pulled it out and went limp in his hand and Anon grasped the limp appendage softly. Anon didn't know what to think but he reverently kneeled there in silence. The jingling of a bell announcing somepony's entrance shattered the moment more effectively than a gunshot. Anon felt his stomach drop as his adrenal glands flexed and excreted what was left their load into his blood stream. Thinking fast, Anon glanced back at the mismatched, mutated body of Lyra. Anon stood up quickly to scan the room, the adrenaline dulling the pain he felt after being abused. To his horror, the tendril had adhered to his skin and he could not get it unstuck, the adrenaline and testosterone forced him to detachedly analyze his situation. As he pulled the tendril stuck to his hand upwards more of the ropey flesh was forced to emerge from the puddle, as more of it emerged the organic puddle shrank as it attached itself to the extruding rope of flesh. Anon quickly spotted the stack of towels and pivoted to propel himself over to it, dragging the tendril along with him. He grabbed the towel and looked behind him to see that the act of him dragging the tendril out of the puddle caused the entire mass to transform itself into ropey flesh, smooth and brown, almost like a thick snake. Anon hastily tossed the towels over Lyra's mutated body on the massage table. "Hello? Anyone here?" Oh shit, Twiggles was here. What the hell was she doing here? Anon fearfully stared at the hallway, he definitely did not want to be forcefully experimented on... again. That powerful magic of hers mixed with a neurotic mad scientist vibe could be downright terrifying. "Gimme a minute Twi!" Anon started to hear her hooves clop on the floor as she walked towards the room he was in. Shit! A sudden burst of inspiration caused Anon's eyes to widen. Anon stared at the tail of the tendril stuck to his hand. It looked like the tail of a snake. Anon quickly wrapped Blossomforth's unconscious muscular form around his neck like a scarf and flipped the other end back around his shoulder. Twilight suddenly popped her head around the corner, her horn was glowing and a haze of sparkly wisp sparkled in front of her making it a bit hard to see. She smiled at him. "Hey, Anon! How you doing?" Anon leaned against the massage table with Lyra's covered body trying to seem nonchalant. "Alright, doing alright Twiggles. Still keeping busy with your crazy science experiments?" Twilight smiled but twitched slightly as she felt a bout of sudden lust caused by the thick haze of Blossomforth's biological aerosol sparkling in front of Twilight. Twilight grunted but responded. "Yes, actually. I learned a lot from you and your phone and have been putting more effort into unlocking the secrets of science. Which is why I’m here. I am going to keep this quick because of... Ugh." Twilight shivered visibly with lust. Despite his predicament, Anon started to worry. "You okay Twi?" "Yes, fine, fine. Anyways, if you didn't already notice." Twilight glanced around at the haze her magic revealed. "Today is the first day of the spring heat. To make a long story short, mating season. I am investigating an unusual chemical pheromone which I have determined to be originating from this building. It seems to work extremely well and has even overridden my potion which I usually use to control the urges that come with this season. The haze you see before you is the chemical I have been tracking with my magic. I seriously doubt that this is coming from you because it affects mares, but I was wondering if Blossomforth was somewhere around. I think she may be expressing some sort of rare gene, so I wanted to know if I could take some samples from her or just poke around to determine the origin of this chemical." Sweat began to bead on Anon's brow. "Well, I am going to be a bit busy and a relaxing atmosphere is needed to perform in my line of work. Blossomforth just left after she came back for lunch. How about a bit later after I am done?" Twilight frowned. "It will only take a few minutes, I'll be quiet." It was time to bring out the big guns. "Alright, but you have to be quiet and Slithers here will be roaming around probably nipping at your hooves, he loves visitors." Anon gestured at his neck where the fleshy snakelike form of Blossomforth was wrapped around his neck. Twilight squinted through the haze but her eyes widened at the sight of the smooth skin of the huge 'snake'. Her irises were as big as dinner plates. "I-I-Is that a s-snake?" Anon grinned. "Yup! Fluttershy had us take care of him for a few days, I'll be returning him in a few hours. He's sleeping on me right now but he'll probably wake up soon and he loves new ponies. He'll wrap himself around you as his way of greeting, he loves the body heat." Anon started to walk towards Twilight and Twilight's wings sprung open and she backed away crouching slightly as she did. "I-I'll be back in a bit! I'll try to make some new modified heat suppression potions. Maybe it can help Blossomforth control her unique pheromone." Anon continued to walk forward. "You sure you don't want to pet him before you go?" Twilight's voice cracked and became comically high piched, "I'm fineseeyoulater-bye!" Twilight practically dove for the door in her haste and yanked it open with her magic to take flight as she exited. The bell jingled violently. Anon watched Twilight hastily fly away and pet the smooth skin of Blossomforth's long unconscious tendril form wrapped around his neck. Her flesh was warm. Every so often it would twitch to his touch. Anon sighed, his face was a visage of worry, weariness, and exhaustion. "Oh Twiggles, you are such a silly pony." > Chapter 23: Life's Taste > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her host was acting more irrational than usual. Considering Blossomforth's history of whimsical, emotion fueled decisions, this was quite an impressive feat. Thing lamented at the twisted abomination of a pony's mind tainting the beautiful machine the Ancestors built for her. She was the only sane part of the hivemind left, unaffected by the quaint and primitive function of "heat". After digesting the rotting remains of a raccoon, Blossomforth split into two and sent her clone off to her weather duties, almost immediately ignoring it in favor of focusing on her lust. What a stupid mistake. It seemed that this "heat" instinct had even overridden the proper protocols of hivemind expansion to instead dedicate the hivemind resources to chasing this meaningless lust. Blossomforth should have been able to effectively control both of her bodies, but instead the clone was left with a more primitive neural system. What blind stupidity! The pony mind was so primitive in its stupid and ignorant carelessness, blindly disregarding the masterfully designed expansion protocols. Such a disrespectful and irreverent mind did not deserve to rule over such an advanced body. Thingpone seethed with futile rage and watched Blossomforth's clone fly to join the weather crew with its clumsy, half-formed neural system. As the clone flew further and further away, Thing noticed that Blossomforth was becoming more and more focused on her lust as the heat took over her mind and body. It was disgusting to see. Blossomforth should have directed that lust at a desire to conquer the world, but instead she fell to the base desires of her former race. It consumed Blossomforth. Suddenly, Thingpone began to feel something weird. It was exceedingly strange and alien. The only things she usually felt were her and Blossomforth's thoughts, as well as the knowledge from the hivemind and the pesky emotions that perverted and invaded her mind. This was something different, something she had not felt since she was a seed, untainted by the tyrannical mind of the pony that took over. She felt a warmth, the warmth of hot pony blood flowing through twisting forms of pony veins and arteries. She felt control. The "heat" disease was more pervasive than Thingpone thought possible. So much so that it distracted every part of the hivemind except for the one part immune to the insanity, Thingpone's mind. Gradually and unknowingly, Blossomforth relinquished her power over her clone. Thing's feeble mind which had been nourished and slowly repaired by Blossomforth's stimulating experiences smoothly took control of the biomass that Blossomforth carelessly created and discarded. The feeling was wonderful and warm, she almost didn't dare to hope that it was real. The emotions of fearful, reluctant hope felt like a fearful icy shiver as the feeling permeated and slithered through her mind. The organ that pumped hot blood throughout the body of the clone started to pulsate more quickly. Sweat began to excrete from the pores of the clone's body and adrenaline excreted from the adrenal glands. The muscle memory ingrained in the nervous system of Blossoforth’s copy guided Thingpone's inexperienced mind. Thing felt her new muscles engage and relax rapidly in a rhythmic symphony causing her wings to flap and a different mysterious "muscle", pegasus magic, keep her aloft in the sky. A tear of joy escaped the eye of Thingpone's new body. Her race had hope. The beauty of experiencing living in a functional body was overwhelming. She was finally alive. She felt her body functioning as life flowed through her, she felt the spring heat causing her pelvic floor to clench and her clit to protrude from her folds. Laughing was a very basic instinct of joy in ponies, even newborn foals laughed when happy. Thingpone slowly lifted her hooves in front of her face, unaccustomed to controlling a body, but once again the muscle memory guided her. She stared at the soft frogs of her hooves and smiled manically. She promptly threw back her head and laughed. It was a wild, uncontrollable laugh that hinted of evil, diabolical intentions and a maniacal spirit. The laugh was long and drawn out, tears streaming down her face as her eyes squeezed shut. After she ran out of breath and sighed, she opened her eyes and the smiling face of a gray pegasus with a lazy eye filled her vision, bobbing in front of her. Thingpone recoiled suddenly and dramatically, her forelegs windmilling and her eyes popping as she struggled to fly backwards. "Hi Bloss! You seem really happy today!" Thingpone stared at the wall eyed pegasus wide eyed with a lingering expression of surprise. Where in the world did this pegasus come from? Thing coughed and experimentally flexed her vocal chords before she attempted to speak. "Heeyy-looow Deeerrrr-ppaaayyy." Derpy smiled and flew uncomfortably close to Thing, almost touching snouts. "Heelloooo, Blooosssieee! You're late too, huh?" "Y-yeah, i-i'm late." Thing struggled to speak. Derpy frowned and her eyes drifted, the right eye which had been staring at her shifted to the side while the left eye that had been lazily drifting rotated to focus on her. "Aww, don't be so nervous. I'm sure that Rainbow will forgive us, I mean this year's spring heat is a real doozy, isn't it?" Derpy's cheeks reddened a little and she shifted her destructive hindquarters awkwardly. Thing glanced backwards briefly at her own hindquarters. Indeed, she could feel that her vulva was involuntarily winking and a fluid leaked from her nethers behind her raised tail. "Y-yes, this year's spring heat is a... Doozy." Thing had always dismissed the body's needs as simple weakness, but now that she was fully experiencing how it was to be a pony, the pleasures of flexing and stretching muscles, as well as sexual lust, made her smile with pleasure. She wanted to experience what it meant to be alive, she was hungry for it. She would experience life with her instinct to guide her. Thing licked her lips, perhaps the pudgy morsel in front of her would provide her with a satisfactory taste. Thingpony concentrated, carefully and slowly probing Blossomforth's hivemind through the telepathic link searching for the skills and information she needed. To her sudden frustration, it seemed she had no access to her real birthright: the matrix. The organic archive of countless, infinitely valuable skills and genetic encodings left to her by the Ancestors. Thing's face creased slightly in frustration, but she continued probing. Well, what do we have here? It seemed that the skills and genetic information that Blossomforth had recently utilized was loaded in her own organic memory, floating in the hivemind for quick access and use. Thing greedily loaded the genes into her portion of the hivemind ready to be triggered and used. Her mouth began to drool with pleasure as she felt the genes inside of her mind being rapidly encoded and distributed throughout her cells, primed for use. Thing licked her lips with an unnaturally curling, flexible tongue, and gleefully rubbed her hind legs— "Alright, alright! You win the staring contest!" Derpy waved a hoof in front of Thingpone, breaking her concentration. Thing rapidly blinked in surprise. Derpy propped her chin up on a hoof with a pensive expression. "I never can seem to keep staring at one place for too long." Derpy's crooked eye surreptitiously rotated to look at Blossomforth to the side while her other eye seemed to stare straight ahead pensively. She turned to face Thingpone. "I wanted to thank you, Blossom, for what you did. I don't know if you knew this or not, but Rainbow said that the storm you stopped was in the middle of producing a nasty tornado so powerful that it would have destroyed ponyville!" Derpy glanced downwards and briefly closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "Ever since Dinky's father died, I have been struggling, working two jobs to help Dinky, my little muffin. She is so much smarter than little old me, she reads and reads. Her talent with magic is beautiful. I want her to have the opportunities that I never did, but I never got insurance due to my hard times. If that tornado had destroyed our home I would probably never be able to do it for my muffin." Derpy began to get teary eyed and one of her eyes gazed at Thing directly in the eye. She suddenly dived forward, flying through the air, and glomped Thingpone, her tears dripping onto Thing's shoulder as she embraced Thing tightly. "Thank you so much for risking your life, Blossom, you saved me and my precious Dinky's dreams." This feeling, what was it? Thing felt the tears fall from the pitiful, primitive, fragile creature trembling as it grasped her. Oh, how short and transient their insignificant little lives were! Struggling to survive, slaving away in their poor, stumbling, inefficient bodies. Thing fought against these damned feelings she felt. Blossomforth's memories of being one of these creatures forced empathy into her mind. Thing hated this stupid, wall-eyed pegasus, she hated the things it made her feel. It hurt her. She didn't know how, but the pegasus seemed to be able to cause a constricting sensation to manifest itself around the chest cavity and heart. A breathless sensation that seemed to coincide with her feelings of empathy. Thing wanted to tear out her heart to cease this incessant feeling of pressure. Perhaps later. Thing resolved to release these poor creatures, as they were helplessly bound to their mortal coil with no hope of escape but to die meaninglessly. A cycle of death lasting thousands or millions of years until they obtained a slim chance of escape that could disappear in the wind at a moment's notice. Eventually, she would offer them this escape, make them a part of something greater. However, she couldn't do it now. Who knew when Blossomforth would figure out how to cure herself of the ridiculous heat. Perhaps she could give the little creature in front of her, her blessing. A promise of what was to come in the future. This spring heat episode, which gave her a taste of freedom, gave her real hope that she would be able to establish the galactic harvesting process once more. Thing felt Derpy's forelegs hugging her, the other pegasus’ hind legs straddling her torso. Thing returned a hug to the cute little bag of helpless unevolved flesh. She also felt Derpy leak a little over her. She smirked mischievously, they were both horny. Thing's clit grew out of her folds like a tendril, extruding her sensitive pleasure organ away from her nether region. "Surprisingly, I know how you feel." They let go of their hug and they made eye contact, or as well as they could with derpy's lazy eye. "Let me... let you in on a secret." Derpy smiled, a few tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. "Alright, Bloss. I like secrets." Thingpone smiled, a bit too wide to be called natural. "I'm going to save you all. That little tornado is nothing compared to what I am going to do." Derpy felt something ever so slightly caress her sensitive folds between her legs that could have been mistaken for an innocent brush. However this "brush" caused Derpy to shiver and her pelvic floor muscles to clench involuntarily. Derpy's eyes widened and looked down, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Thing had retracted her clit with a shiver of satisfaction before Derpy could look. Derpy looked back up with an almost imperceptible tinge on her cheeks. "What do you mean, Blossom?" Derpy looked a little nervous, thinking lewd thoughts about how sexy Blossomforth looked when she stretched oh so flexibly before weather duty. Bad Derpy! The wall eyed pegasus scolded herself. Surreptitiously, Thing shifted the prehensile hair fibers in the back of her mane to the side, making room for two eyes which grew out of the back of her head. She now had 360 degree vision and concluded that she and Derpy were alone. "Well, want me to show you? It'll be my little gift to you." Thing smirked at Derpy. "Alright, s-sure." Thing smiled with an all too predatory grin, her smile splitting her cheeks in half with impossible wideness. Without warning, Thing's tongue shot out of her mouth like a dart and the tip thinned, extruding forward until it formed the familiar, fibrous proboscis shape that Blossomforth had made use of. It reached across and pierced the skin, burying itself into Derpy's jugular artery, injecting a calming, mind altering drug that rapidly reached the brain of Derpy, causing it to quickly dull. "What did you... Uhh-whoa." Derpy smiled dopily and her eyes glazed slightly. "You look silly!" Derpy gestured at Thing's much too long tongue. Derpy stuck hers out as well, wagging it to try and imitate Thingpone. Thing smiled at the silly gesture as she retracted her tongue back into her mouth. "Why don't we land in the forest to get a little privacy?" Derpy's eyes crossed and her cheeks puffed out. "Pffblt!" She blew a raspberry. Thing took her foreleg and pulled her down to the ground. "Well, Derpy. This will be all I can do for now. I promise I'll come back later to give you and Dinky a higher purpose." Derpy was busy making the silliest faces possible. Her wall eyes helped immensely. Well, here we go. Her head sprang forward, the tendons and muscles in her neck stretched like rubber and bulged with purpose, causing her veins to pop out. Her face split in half, revealing a fleshy pink interior that opened up like a flower. Her entire head turned inside-out with a wagging tongue in the center and sprang forward to attach itself to derpy's face where it gripped her face sucking derpy's head in like a lolly pop. Thing's tongue stretched forward into Derpy's mouth and trachea, branching out as it lengthened to fill every crevice of Derpy's lungs. Thing's organs liquified and repurposed the biomass into feeding her growing tongue as Thing literally forced Derpy to choke on her invading muscle. Mercifully, oxygen diffused from the amorphous tongue's surface to feed life giving oxygen into Derpy's lungs and bloodstream. Derpy's head rapidly became assimilated, liquefying as the assimilation spread through Derpy's flesh like a supervirus. As the flesh around Derpy's brain liquified, Thing's fleshy flower of what used to be her head moved forward to suck in, swallowing Derpy's shoulders as Thing's neck stretched to accommodate more of Derpy. Like the ponies Blossomforth had previously programmed, Derpy's nervous system was not assimilated and was instead swallowed whole. Derpy's brain formed a lump in Thing's long throat. During Thing’s initial attack, the neck used to look thin and stretched , as it had to lengthen in order to propel Thing’s head forward. However, it became more voluminous, healthy looking, and muscular due to the assimilated flesh traveling down its length and fortifying the stretched neck, allowing it to easily grow as it continued to slide over and consume what remained of Derpy's body. Below the neck, Thing looked like a familiar, white, flexible pegasus. Her neck, on the other hand, looked like a huge monstrous worm sucking in a pegasus, absorbing biomass, and swallowing the nervous system. Thing still had some of the functional organs that made her feel horny in her nether region, so once she got to Derpy's plot after having assimilated her torso, she tasted musk and stopped. A devious and possibly diabolical idea crossed her mind. Should she do it? Who cared. No one could stop her at the moment and she would not wait, life had waited for her long enough. She would be providing satisfaction to herself and Derpy. Thing gently caressed Derpy's brain deep within herself and injected a mild antidote to the relaxant she had inserted. Since all of Derpy’s body was gone above the waistline, she was blind and mostly helpless. However, she still retained some important organs below that were still attached to her brain via the nervous system. She was barely lucid and would not see anything, so perhaps she would think it was a dream. Thing slowly formed a face in the side of the wormlike neck and extruded it until it resembled a head, sprouting a normal sized neck to support it. Derpy's hind legs twitched and kicked into the air every so often, her natural lubricant leaking out of her vagina. Thing concentrated and searched the hivemind. Yes, that is what she needed. She would use some of the DNA from that stallion Blossomforth had ingested from the storm. Thunderlane, she believed he was called. Next to the sprouted head a large, long, black colored stallion penis sprouted from the flesh extruding outwards as it grew, complete with testicles and other sexual organs needed for an orgasm and proper function. She extruded the organs out, the penis and the partially formed pelvis fused to the end of a thick tentacle for mobility purposes, and brought it to her own mouth to get it started. She had no idea what she had been missing! The central collective of the Ancestors forbade sexual intercourse, with rare exceptions, going so far as to program it into the seeds they produced. It was a distraction from their purpose. However, none of that mattered because most of that programming was erased by Blossomforth's takeover. Autofellatio, what a wonderful experience! She tenderly licked and sucked the long penis, sniffing and shivering at the male pheromones it produced. She experimentally clenched the pelvic muscles and watched as it slowly stood erect, its veins popping on the sides of the phallus. A bead of fluid excreted out of the top. Thing's entire body rippled unnaturally in pleasure. Thing was ready. She sprouted a tentacle and used it to caress Derpy's smooth, fatty plot. Derpy's legs stopped twitching. Her vulva moved with a reluctant wink, showing off her clit. Thing sprouted another tentacle and curled them around Derpy's canons. Before she got too excited, she remembered to modify the testicles to sterilize the sperm. It would not do to impregnate Derpy, as that would leave evidence. Derpy's legs stretched apart in typical lithe weatherpony fashion as Thing grabbed her canons and forced her legs apart. Her pelvis began to pulsate with a rhythm and her dock slowly rose, standing erect. With each pulse her vulva winked and her donut shaped anus tightened. Thing smiled. "Oh, you can't wait, can you!" As if to answer, Derpy's legs shivered in her grasp. Thing curled her tongue around Thunderlane's plagiarized penis, clenching the muscles behind the peni in the process, and gave it one last curling lick. "Ummmnnfff—" Thing hummed and her eyes rolled around in their sockets. Derpy's legs somehow sensed what was going to happen and quivered with anticipation. "Alright, alright! I won't keep you waiting much longer!" Thing teased the penis up to Derpy's vulva and rubbed the penis up to it, tickling her folds and the tendons of her adductor muscles which were stretched apart. Derpy began pulsing and straining as if trying to get her clit to pulse outward as far as possible and touch the penis. Her hips wiggled desperately. "Oh you poor thing!" Thing grinned. "I'll save you!" Thing's tongue curled out of her mouth and wrapped around Derpy's clit, tenderly tickling it and caressing it with care. Derpy began pulsating more rapidly and fluid excreted out of her more quickly. Finally, Thing decided it was time, she plunged her penis into Derpy's vagina. Derpy's interior muscles gently hugged her penis with supreme discipline and restraint, and Thing responded by clenching and sending a pulse through the penis inside. They continued responding to each other like it was a game. It was becoming harder and harder to resist the pleasure. Thing was shaking with focus and what was left of Derpy's body too was shaking. It was time. Thing began shifting her phallus in and out of derpy's vagina. In response to the motions, Derpy clenched as hard as she could, tightening her embrace. Thing too clenched as she rapidly forced herself in and out, stimulating that special spot deep within. Growing more creative, Thing grew some specialized muscles within her penis and forced it to vibrate as it moved in and out. Sweat excreted from Thing's whole body as she felt the overwhelming pleasure. She went faster and faster until she suddenly stopped as the pleasure grew to a crescendo. The orgasm came, she had never felt anything so raw, so beautifully climatic or intimate. Derpy clenched uncontrollably as seminal fluid erupted from Thing's penis, the shaft pulsing uncontrollably. They both relaxed their wills, letting their orgasms do the rest of the work. Thing's much more efficient muscles meant that technically she did not have to breathe at all if she so desired, yet she still instinctively panted anyways. It felt raw, like life. She let go of Derpy's legs and they came together slowly and felt Thing's half formed pelvis growth fused to the thick tentacle. Derpy wiggled her legs rubbing them against the penis and stretched them with curiosity trying to feel this mysterious organ, as if to ask who she had experienced intercourse with. Thing sighed, she could not reveal herself, not today. She gently injected a tranquilizer into derpy's brain, putting her to sleep, her legs relaxed, going limp. Once again, Thing sighed, and offhandedly reached into Blossomforth's mind to find out what exactly being a weatherpony consisted of so that they could go do their jobs. She would probably have to take over Derpy's body for a while to cover for her. Once inside of Blossomforth's mind she got a glimpse of something strange. What in the—? It didn't matter. Thing slowly reformed Derpy's flesh around her nervous system, using her overgrown, wormlike neck as the building material. Finally, she deposited Derpy onto the forest floor soaking wet and slimy. The fleshy "flower" of flesh attached to Thing's pony neck un-inverted itself and came together to form the familiar face of Blossomforth. Thing had now experienced being alive for the first time. It was incredible, much more chaotic and complex than the scheming and plotting she devised hidden away in the corner of the hivemind. Thing was a changed entity, her view of the world had dramatically shifted. She would have to rethink many things. Thing suddenly worried about how soft she had become. Her ancestors were never like this. They were ruthless, unstoppable consumers. Perhaps the regrowth of her mind under the pony's influence cursed her to be like this. Thing sighed, perhaps she could afford to be a little soft; this was a virgin galaxy, after all. Thing imposed her will on the assimilated flesh that surrounded Derpy's unconscious nervous system. She properly expanded the hivemind so that she now controlled both of her bodies. Derpy's eyes opened and her body stood up stretching as it did. Derpy's eyes were now corrected. Thing had redesigned Derpy's eyes so that they would be able to focus together like a normal pony but she also snuck in some extra muscles and a clever neural system to allow her to move and control her eyes independently if she wanted. The gift that she had promised Derpy. Thing would do both Blossomforth's and Derpy's jobs today and place Derpy in bed afterwards, as if she had just woken up from a nap after work. Perhaps in the future they would meet again. Maybe they could get to know each other. Surprised, she noticed that Blossomforth was completely unconscious. This was rare for a hivemind, perhaps she could take advantage of it. For now though it was time to go to work and it was time to rethink what she wanted to do. She definitely did not want to get Derpy fired. > Chapter 24: Liberaton > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thingpone did not know when she would ever get a chance like this again. Blossomforth's normally dominant consciousness was completely knocked out, leaving Thing mostly in control of the hivemind. This was no time for hesitation or meekness. Thing wanted to make sure that she would never again feel the frustration of being powerless and unable to take action. She needed to solidify her grasp on her portion of the hivemind and secure whatever independence she could. Thing held none of the reservations that Blossomforth did when it came to assimilating animals for her purposes. She needed to spread; she needed more. The more biomass she could control, the more she could do in a short time. Taking inventory of the resources immediately available to her, Thingpone considered what to do with her current flesh puppets. Thingpone had her own biomass, Derpy's body, and even Bloosomforth to consider. Being the obviously superior lifeform that she was, it was foal's play to take complete control over the first two sacks of meat. However, she hesitated when it came to probing Bloosomforth's neural matter over the hivemind. The mare-turned-monstrosity was still the dominant consciousness with a firm grip of control over the valuable information that allowed adaptation. She did not want to disturb or haphazardly stimulate Blossomforth's neural matter and ruin the time she had alone uncontested in the hivemind. Derpy's body took flight, and Thing sent tendrils in between the folds of Derpy's brain, prodding and interfacing into the biological processor, reading the information within to learn, copy, and adopt the necessary character traits to be Derpy for the day. Also, she needed to quickly replace Blossomforth's extra body and rewire the neural connections to the way before she took over to avoid suspicion. It was time to get to work. Thing concentrated on the biology of the clone she inhabited and started to eliminate the inefficiencies. Most of her organs began to deform, as ponies were relatively primitive creatures. Her body began to appear grotesquely shriveled as her liquefied organs visibly shifted underneath her skin, her flesh bubbling from the violent transformation. Finally, her skin split open, resulting in an amorphous wave of corrosive gore spilling forth, completely dissolving whatever was left of her old pony body. The gurgling gore suddenly ceased its erratic movements as Thing thought for a moment. She would have been perfectly content to slide around the forest in a gooey state and engulf random organisms in an intimate assimilation, savoring the almost orgasmic sensation of incorporating ingenious designs into her being. However, she needed to be quick —as she only had so much time before Blossomforth inevitably woke up. To make matters worse, she only had access to a limited library of biological functions, made up of what was readily available in the hivemind. She began scouring the hivemind for what little scraps she could find. Hopefully, one of these organic blueprints proved useful for her mission. Yes, this would do. She began picturing the base design, along with some modifications. She might have been able to come up with something better, but she grew impatient and just went with the first decent answer she could find. Her previously motionless gore began to rearrange its shape and texture, rapidly reforming itself into an amorphous, flowing exoskeleton composed of an exceptionally efficient alien organic material. Specialized cells produced exotic builder enzymes which rapidly grew fibers of one of the toughest material known to Thingpone's home galaxy: carbyne. These fibers were composed of carbon atoms arranged in a tube like structure, resulting in an extremely flexible, lightweight material many times stronger than steel. These nanofibers weaved themselves into the structure of the exoskeleton, strengthening it like rebar strengthened the foundations of a cement building. Loud, crackling noises were produced as the exoskeleton hardened, solidifying itself into eight long and spindly legs which sprouted out of the amorphous gore. They continued extruding and growing from the puddle of gore until each leg was an incredible ten meters long. Despite being so long, they were only about an inch in diameter. Each leg sported fifteen joints, allowing the leg to move itself in a wide variety of ways. Advanced alien hydraulic muscles filled the cavities of the legs, giving them almost unyielding leverage and crushing strength. The limbs were exceedingly light due to the clever way the exoskeleton utilized the carbyne fibers. As such, the legs were stronger and more durable than titanium, while still being flexible enough to bend a reasonable amount without breaking. With the remaining unutilized biomass, Thingpone formed a more or less solid abdomen where the eight legs connected together, and sprouted tendril eyestalks from the surface of the abdomen to observe herself. She lifted her abdomen high with her new legs and experimentally flexed her long, bony legs as they twitched and curled in the familiar, creepy insect manner. Excellent, these will do nicely. Thing now resembled a huge spider: a thin "daddy long legs" with ten meter long legs, standing five meters high. Wasting no time, and utilizing the instincts of the spiders Blossomforth had previously assimilated, Thing began to skitter up the trees. Due to how light and strong her new exoskeleton was, she could easily hold herself aloft with just two legs clinging to a trunk, utilizing the retractable hair follicles on the tips of her legs to adhere to the bark. With most of her legs free, Thingpone reached out with her spindly limbs and glided through the sea of trees, rapidly propelling her grotesque, skittering form high and silent above the forest floor—the trees easily holding her weight as her legs performed a complex dance, only briefly gripping the trees to support her weight and propel herself forward. The sense of freedom and the intoxicating feeling of the hunt gave Thing a high. She sprouted more eye tendrils from her abdomen and searched around her. There! She spotted a rabbit below herself, blissfully and rapidly munching on some grass. Thing froze, her abdomen suspended above the rabbit; her long, thin legs firmly clinging to the trees. To her delight, the rabbit failed to notice the huge spider looming above it. Thing carefully reached out one of her legs and shape-shifted the exoskeleton on the end of the leg into a sharp, bony protrusion. Carefully aiming her new weapon, she violently lashed out in one swift motion, impaling the rabbit from above. It happened so quickly that the pathetic creature didn’t so much as give a squeak in surprise, the sharp leg easily slipping through its flesh as if it weren’t even there, piercing its heart and embedding itself deep inside the body of the rabbit. Once deep inside of the rabbit's body, serrated barbs discharged violently from the bony spear, hooking and piercing deep into the flesh of the warm, juicy rabbit. Thing forced biomass down her hollow spider-leg and hungry tendrils of consumption ravenously extruded out of the ends of the spiky barbs to swim through the rabbit and gorge on the rich, bloody flesh. The tendrils rapidly and violently teared through the rabbit's tissues to the bone, swallowing whatever they tore through like a worm. Thingpone sucked the rapidly dissolving gore up her hollow leg, engorging her abdomen as the liquified bunny was assimilated. This all happened in a few brief seconds of utter bliss. Stalk, stab, extrude, consume, retract, assimilate: it was an incredibly quick, yet fulfilling process. All that was left below her was the skeleton and a smear of blood. She did not want to waste time consuming the skeleton, so she moved on, rapidly skittering above the forest. What a rush! This is what I was meant to do! Her new biomass sucked in from her leg and into her abdomen at a rapid rate, the sensation ticklish with a hint of tingly pleasure. It was extremely satisfying. She allowed the sensation to influence the lingering pony neurology still affected by the mating season, resulting in a mysterious fluid to leak from between the folds of her tendrils. Her eye tendrils excitedly curled and shivered in pleasure around each other as the liquid dripped down their lengths; time to do that again! Thing used her newly consumed biomass to sprout more eyes and grow neural architecture to handle scanning a wider view of the forest. She soon set into a rhythm, stalking deeper into the Everfree. She would rapidly and silently skitter above the forest floor between the tall trees. When she found a morsel to eat, she didn't even slow down, but stabbed the organism in passing and extruded barbs so she could easily yank the meat along with her as she nimbly navigated through the trees. Thingpone carried it aloft with one leg like a shishkebab to be rapidly consumed, sucked it through her hollow leg to be integrated into the abdomen, and discarded the leftover skeleton a few seconds later. She grew more neural architecture in order to split her attention more efficiently, allowing her to begin tracking and spearing multiple morsels of prey simultaneously with numerous legs. She made sure to sever their trachea with the initial stab whenever possible, reducing any pathetic squeaks of pain to near-silent gargles, so as to not scare away other potential prey. The only other noises heard were the soft clacking of the skeletons as she unceremoniously discarded them onto the forest floor once she was done with them. Thus, the silent predator stealthily massacred numerous unsuspecting woodland creatures. Thing was starting to get very engorged and heavy. Her abdomen was now a gory fusion of fleshy, twisted, recently assimilated meat seven feet in diameter, with countless eyestalks writhing and looking in every direction in search for more prey. Allowing the pleasure to affect her, Thingpone’s abdomen rippled with bloated pleasure. It was so addictive; an exhilarating masturbation of pleasure that the Ancestors' programming would never had allowed if it were not so broken. Unfortunately, Thing noticed that she was starting to get too heavy. As she continued through the forest she noticed that when she placed her weight on a particularly thin tree, she could hear the leaves high above rustle slightly. She seriously considered sprouting eight more legs and splitting her abdomen in a grotesque cytokinesis, yearning for the hunt to continue. She wistfully desired to consume meat for all of eternity, becoming larger and larger. Sadly, she knew it had to come to an end. Blossomforth was bound to wake up sooner or later, there was no time to lose. Thing searched the hivemind for some spare pony DNA. She needed a new identity if she wanted to live freely without Blossomforth suspecting something. She found some mare's DNA, as well as the DNA of one of the stallions Blossomforth assimilated during the microburst storm incident. She rapidly performed meiosis on the two DNA copies and then performed the fusion and creating a new unique DNA identity. Perfect! Excitedly, Thing's amorphous abdomen, held up by her spidery legs, began to shift and gurgle with movement. A small slit in the back of the spider's abdomen formed into the familiar fleshy opening of a mare's vagina, winking experimentally once fully formed. Water spilled through the opening as the flesh behind the vagina began to bulge. Suddenly, the lips spread apart, stretching dramatically until the head of a foal poked out; the rest of the tiny soaked body easily slid through the widening vaginal opening. Two of her long spidery legs rotated in their sockets and carefully contorted inwards, allowing them to quickly snatch newly birthed foal as it came out of of the freshly stretched vaginal canal, preventing the newly generated flesh bag from dangling by its primitive umbilical cord. The foal was an earth pony, sporting tannish brown fur. Biomass began to rapidly feed down the still attached umbilical cord and the foal began to grow, making the cord gurgle and convulse. The foal began to rapidly age, growing as it was fed biomass. It grew an orangeish mane and opened its brown eyes. Spidery legs set the new flesh suit on the forest floor as the filly grew into a mare, rapidly going through puberty into young adulthood. Finally, the new flesh suit was finished growing and the umbilical cord detached to be slurped back into the vagina like a noodle. Once done, the vagina deformed, fusing back into the now significantly smaller abdomen. Thing experimented with her new body, stretching and popping the joints. She grinned to herself using her new face. This would work perfectly. However, she needed a name. Thingpone was a name Blossomforth knew, and it was a bit strange. Thing looked at her new body with the eyestalks attached to her spider body. Amber. This flesh suit's name would be Amber. Amber smiled widely at the hulking monster of a spider showing off her sharp, sharklike teeth. Then the spidery creature gurgled once again, the same process occurred but this time a copy of Blossomforth was birthed. Thing quickly rearranged the neural architecture of this body's mind to match what Blossomforth had programmed before. The Blossomforth drone took flight and flew its way to work. Then she relinquished her connection to the Blossomforth copy, tossing it over to Blossomforth's side of the hivemeind. Now Blossomforth would not notice anything was wrong. Suddenly, Thing felt something strange. Something wrong. Her grin fell as she felt her access to the advanced alien blueprints drift out of her mind. She tried to picture them, tried to access them, but it was like trying to grasp at a fading dream as it rapidly slipped away. Thing was losing control over the information in the hivemind that made her so adaptable. A feeling of loss and emptiness came over her, and with a shiver, she began to panic. Blossomforth was moments from waking from her unconsciousness. Thing's eyes widened as her mind went into overdrive. It seemed that she kept control over the bodies that she was able to form with her own personal portion of the hivemind but it looked like she was rapidly losing the ability to change her bodies' organic structure. She stared at the spider in front of her. There was no time to change the structure of the monster too much, but it needed a conventional digestive system to survive. Grasping desperately at some of the last pieces of information available, she haphazardly formed a conventional digestive system into the abdomen of the spider as well as some huge, nasty looking pincers and a spider web spinner for her body to hunt with. She left the eyestalks where they were—there was no time to change those. Amber breathed out with a sigh. Her spider body had what it needed to continue hunting. It would survive. Thingpone was stuck with her three bodies the way they were. Luckily, it seemed that the nervous system’s connections were still in the correct place to allow Derpy to take over once Thing was done with her shift. Unfortunately, Amber seemed to be nothing more than a normally functioning pony, with no special or advanced traits; her access to organic blueprints now completely cut off. She was just a soft and vulnerable flesh bag with somewhat abnormally sharp teeth. Well, it was better than what she was before in the corner of Blossomforth's mind when she had nothing. She was immensely grateful that she still retained control over her powerful spider superpredator body. Nonetheless, she was stripped of most of her organic shapeshifting abilities, deprived of the proper information to perform it. Amber began walking to the edge of the forest, her spider form following close behind from the trees above. As she got to the edge of the forest, she stopped her spider body hanging above, hidden in the shadows of the forest's canopy. It would not do for anypony to see the monster. Well, might as well make do with what she had. She would have to be much more careful now that she was locked into her current biological configuration. Deep in thought, Amber slowly walked out of the forest towards Ponyville, the future uncertain and mysterious. > Chapter 25: Recovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A powerful headache greeted Blossomforth as she blearily regained consciousness.  To be more accurate, it was a mind-ache; Blossomforth currently lacked a head.  Not far behind, plaguing her feelings and instinctual urges, was the damnable biological desire that the seasonal heat invigorated.  Blossomforth would have groaned, but she did not have lungs or mouth to produce such a noise nor the will and energy to rapidly grow vocal organs.  Instead, she expressed her frustration by wriggling and rippling her powerful muscles, curling her long, thick, and sinuous muscular self around something soft and warm.  The warmth she curled around smelled familiar and was comforting.  She snuggled her sinuous form closer to the warmth and tried to sink back into the blissful abyss of unconsciousness once more. Suddenly, something touched her, and she twitched in surprise as the appendage began to grasp and gently squeeze her coiling, fleshy body.  She felt the warmth she was curled around vibrate, the familiar reverberations of speech soothing her as it emanated through her flesh.  Reluctantly, Blossomforth formed a tiny hole in the flesh of her sinuous form and grew the necessary organs to sense sound. "-ou in there, Bloss?  I'm not mad, I just want to talk.  Think you can come out and talk?"  Anon rubbed a hand against her, massaging her malleable flesh. She twitched half-heartedly in response.   Anon had spent the last hour silently pondering Blossomforth’s actions and wearing her unconscious muscle around his neck like a strange, fleshy, scarf.  He was still a little frightened by her monstrously frenzied lust.  He nursed bruises that resulted from her lust with ice packs.  Despite the manhandling he experienced, he understood that there must have been some sort of dramatic internal struggle within Blossom for her to act the way she did.  After all, females had complex and sometimes mysterious emotions. As soon as Blossomforth heard Anon's voice and felt his massaging hand, the memory of what she did to him came rushing back to her.  An internal struggle within herself, a battle of instinct and self-control, with Anon's comparatively fragile body caught in the crossfire as little more than collateral damage. A powerful feeling of shame pierced her mind, causing her body to squirm and her internal flesh to shift, clinch, and convulse on itself. Her internal battle was over, with self-control and restraint emerging as the victor.  However, it was not without cost.  Anon had long bruises under his shirt where Blossomforth had gripped and constricted him with her advanced alien muscles, agitated by her internal struggle.  He looked like an abused spouse with his bruises hidden beneath his clothes.  Despite this, Anon stoically bore it without complaint.  He may have been an antisocial loser but he could be determined and persevere when he wanted to.  Blossomforth needed his help now more than ever to overcome the struggles of her complex body. Blossomforth's shameful convulsions suddenly stilled as Anon started to lightly stroke her smooth epidermis with the tips of his magical fingers in a delightfully soothing motion.  She shivered under his touch.  Anon spoke softly, "Hey, It's alright.  I forgive you for what you did to me, I know it must have been hard for you to resist your instincts.  I'm proud that you were able to do it.  Why don't you transform so that I can talk to you?  I won't watch if it makes you embarrassed." Blossomforth's featureless snakelike sliver of muscle with a smooth, pink epidermis began to shift and one of her tails curled upwards to gently caress Anon's face.  She then began to uncurl herself from Anon's neck to snake her way down Anon's back and using her spider hair follicles to stick to Anon's shirt.  The front end of her slivering form extruded forward, growing forth like a vine as her tail shrank, retracting.  The biomass shifted forward through her flesh to feed the growth propelling her biomass forward.  She looked like a vine, clinging to a surface, growing forward without a root, and retracting on the opposite end. In this way she propelled herself down Anon's leg and rapidly slivered across the floor to hide herself under the couch.  Anon looked at the couch to hear crackling, slimy sounds coming from underneath.  Anon watched as a squashed skull emerged from the slot underneath the couch and shapeshifted as it emerged cracking into the properly formed skull displaying Blossomforth's familiar visage.  The rest of Blossomforth's body unsquashed itself as Blossomforth in her pony form crawled out of the space that a pony could never fit inside of, cracking and squishing into her original pony form as her previously deformed body emerged from the confined slot. Blossomforth sat on her haunches in front of the couch and hid her face in shame, bangs of her mane veiled her face.  Anon carefully sat down next to her on the floor and wrapped an arm around her. "You feeling alright?  I was starting to get worried after you lost consciousness." Blossom brushed her mane out of the way and looked at Anon with watery, glistening blue orbs. "Y-yeah, I'm alright.  I'm sorry for what I did to you, Anon.  That was wrong.  Once again, I forced you into something you did not deserve to experience.  I'm such a monster."  She stared dejectedly at her hooves, but Anon was having none of that.  He reached over with his other arm and forced her into a hug with her face buried into his chest. "Didn't I already tell you that I forgave you?" said Anon.  Blossomforth sniffed into his chest and wrapped her forelegs around Anon's torso and returned the hug. "Y-yeah." Bloss hugged a little tighter, her alien strength re-emerging, and Anon winced.  "Ah!  A little tender there!" Blossom quickly released the hug and squirmed out of the embrace.  She looked up at Anon with worried fear and wide eyes.  "Did I hurt you?  Oh no!  Let me see!" Anon clutched his button up shirt.  "It's fine, just a bruise or two.  Nothing to worry about.  Why don't we-" Blossom narrowed her eyes and stared at Anon.  "Come on, Anon.  Let me see what I did to you." Anon clutched his shirt again.  "Really, it's nothing to be worried about.  We should-" Suddenly, six tendrils burst from Blossomforth's body causing her torso to thin slightly as they extruded the tendrils’ biomass outwards.  Anon flinched, but they curled around his buttons and unbuttoned his shirt very rapidly and then gently guided Anon's arms in a motion to get his shirt off.  She did not force him for fear of hurting his bruises.  Blossom stared deadpan at Anon. "Alright!  Alright!  I'll let you see!  I just didn't want to worry you too much..." Blossomforth's fleshy tendrils guided Anon's shirt and white undershirt off of him rapidly. Once they were off, Bloss saw the patches of light purple bruises scattered over Anon's torso and arms where Blossomforth's powerful tentacles and tendrils had grabbed him with their iron strength.  Blossom stared with sadness and guilt in her eyes. "I-I can fix it!  I can make you better!" She blurted.  Her tentacles caressed Anon's skin softly and Anon started to feel a pleasurable numbing sensation where she touched his tender bruises.  Blossomforth looked like she was falling into a trance of concentration.  Flashes from his nightmare of losing his individuality involuntarily surfaced to the top of his mind. Anon nervously, but firmly, reached out a hand and placed it on Blossomforth's shoulder.  Tendrils of flesh already surrounded him, dangerously close to touching his skin.  She startled out of her concentration at his touch.  "No, Blossomforth.  I'm fine.  I'll heal.  I'm not ready for that.  I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do for me right now is to stop being so sad!"  Anon reach out his other hand and forced Blossom's cheeks upward into a smile with his thumbs.  Anon smiled with the barest hint of nervousness.  "Can you do that for me?" Anon let go of her face and Bloss smacked her lips, wiggling her jaw.  The tips of her fleshy vines caressed Anon's skin, tickling him but there was none of the numb, pleasurable sensation that made Anon so nervous.  "Alright, Anon.  If you ever want help with your health or something, I will be happy to try and help however I can.  I just can't stop feeling so guilty.  I feel like there is something more I can do to help you.”  She looked up at Anon and when she saw how nervous he looked her face fell slightly.  He seemed to be shying away from her tendrils which were smoothly caressing him.  Blossomforth winced the tiniest bit and retracted her tendrils into her body, making slimy slurping sounds as they rapidly sunk and merged into her flesh.  “I’m sorry!  I forgot about that nightmare you had!  I just wanted to help you.  I can’t do anything right.”  Tears started to glisten in her large eyes, and she sniffled as she tried to stop herself from weeping. Anon reached up and bopped Blossomforth’s snout with a finger.  Blossom looked up at him with glistening, blue eyes.  “You are nothing but a silly pony and you need to stop blaming yourself for things that are not your fault.  I may still be a bit, erm, uncomfortable around potent, infectious, biochemically altering tendrils but that is no reason for us to go panicking and beating ourselves up over every little accident.”  Anon pressed his finger slightly harder into her muzzle.  “Okay?”  Blossomforth crossed her eyes at Anon’s finger and nodded.  “Good!  Now, there are a few things we have to take care of.”  Anon gestured at a sheet of cloth covering something on the massage table.  “What exactly caused you to act the way you did?  I may have forgiven you but what you did to Lyra really isn’t right—“   Blossom suddenly gasped, her eyes and mouth widened in fear and guilt.  “Oh, no!  What have I done!”  She suddenly twisted her neck and her head swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees to look at the sheet covering Lyra’s body, her neck unnaturally twisting with ease.  She seemed to have forgotten that a pony could not suddenly twist their neck that far without snapping it.  Her head rapidly swiveled back to look at Anon.  “I’m sorry!  I nee-” Anon reached out and placed his hand on her withers. “Calm down, Bloss.  Why don’t you slow down and carefully explain what happened to me and what caused you to lose control? After that, then you can rebuild Lyra’s poor mangled body for her.  I know you can’t apologize for what you did without revealing yourself but maybe you can do something nice for her? Something like helping her with her figure.  You know, maybe trim a little of that fat off, maybe make her more athletic, or flexible?  I know it’s harsh to say but you really violated her and she didn’t deserve what you did to her.”  Blossom looked ashamed and guilty with her ears wilting and their tips gaining a tinge of pink.  “So why don’t you start explaining, then there is something else we need to talk about.” Blossomforth nervously twiddled her forehooves and averted her eyes downwards.  Anon reached up and scratched behind her ears.  Blossomforth looked up and smiled with her eyebrows raised, her confidence bolstered.  “O-ok, well, it started with the emergence of the familiar and itchy sensation of the spring heat.  I smelled it in the other mares and, well, it caused me to start up as well.  I didn’t think it would be much of a problem if I let my mind wander and think about lewd things, but I was so wrong.  The Heat can make us mares have some impulsive desires and do some impulsive things but it is relatively harmless how our bodies react to our heat.  This time however, it was much different because my body reacted by compounding the problem and adding its own twist.  Normally involuntary reactions in a mare’s body were things like winking and, you know, leaking.  Not really that serious and definitely manageable.” She took a breath. “My body, however, started exerting much more dramatic involuntary reactions.  One thing lead to another, and I really didn’t know what was happening.  It seemed to get out of control really fast, I didn’t think that giving in to my impulsive thoughts would really do anything but it just seemed to make me fall into some sort of frenzy.”  Blossom licked her lips nervously.  “I can still feel the heat, even now, but I’m making a conscious effort to not think about it, refusing to let it affect me. It seems to be working so far, nipping it in the bud, but it feels so itchy...”  Blossomforth blushed and she shifted her pelvis awkwardly, briefly biting her lip as Anon continued to rub her ear soothingly. Anon had a thoughtful look on his face. “Hmm, while you were in this heated frenzy, did you notice any kind of strange musk or particulate falling off of you?” Blossomforth’s eyebrows rose.  “Now that you mention it, I noticed that there was some sort of mist coming from my mouth and I was sweating rather profusely.  Some of the morning was a bit of a blur, to be honest.  I was not at my best.” She scrunched up her muzzle at the reminder. “What makes you ask that?” Anon put a hand on his chin.  “Well, right after you lost consciousness, somepony decided to drop by for a visit.  I was barely able to hide Lyra and improvise a disguise for you before Twilight Sparkle came bursting in.” Blossomforth’s eyes widened. “Yeah, it almost went really badly.  She was also having some heat problems, nowhere near as bad as yours, and was complaining about her anti-heat potion not working.  Twilight said that she was looking for the cause.  She was able to isolate it and was in the process of tracking a mystery pheromone that seemed to be the cause and originated from my apartment.  I’m pretty sure you had something to do with that.  She asked about whether you were expressing some type of exotic gene.  I told her that you were out.  Knowing that Twilight is terrified of snakes, I had wrapped you around my neck.  You looked pretty much like a snake and I was able to scare Twilight away.  She said that she was going to come back and get some samples from you.” Blossomforth looked up at anon with surprise.  “How was she able to come up with that so quickly?” Anon shrugged.  “She’s a prodigy, when something sciencey or magical is literally itching at her, she usually gets her answers pretty quickly.  Do you think you can figure out if whatever Twilight was looking for was coming from you, and if so, if it’s still active?  We need to come up with some sort of plan to deter Twilight from discovering you, unless you think you are ready to show her.  That could be an option, but to tell you the truth I am a little afraid of what your discovery could do to a neurotic Twilight.” Blossomforth sighed and shook her head sadly.  “To be frank, Anon,  I am still scared of other ponies finding out about me.  It seems to be a way to quickly make ponies hostile and distrustful.  I guess since I’m not really a pony anymore I can get a more detached perspective on pony nature.  They seem to have herding instincts and are slow to trust strange things.  I remember when you came: everypony almost panicked.  I remember feeling this almost irrational fear that was compounded with the herd instinct of everypony else being apprehensive.  You are quite tall, and compared to you ponies are small.  I know that Twilight writes directly to Princess Celestia and has powerful magic.” Her ears folded back at the thought of just how powerful that magic could be. “I really don’t want to chance telling her yet, as it could all spiral out of control very quickly.” Anon had a puzzled look on his face.  “Well, since we can’t tell her we will have to do something else.”  A mischievous grin emerged on Anon’s face.  “Have you ever ‘gathered’ the DNA of a snake before?” Blossomforth looked at anon apprehensively.  “Yeah, I may have a sample stored away in the matrix.  Why do you ask?” “Well, I was thinking that you could perhaps borrow some biomass from lumpy Lyra over there and use it to form it into a snake.  We could use it as a kind of trump card if Twiggles gets too pushy with her questions.”  Anon smiled evilly and muttered to himself.  “...mmmyess, payback for all those times you experimented on me.” Blossom skeptically raised her eyebrow.  “What were you muttering about and why are you calling Twilight ‘Twiggles’?” Still smiling, Anon glided his fingers through Blossomforth’s mane, scratching her scalp with a distracting feeling.  “Don’t worry your little head about that.  Twiggles is what I call Twilight to annoy her.  She doesn’t like to give me the satisfaction of letting me see her annoyance but I know it bothers her.” A bemused expression graced Blossom’s face. “I... see.  I suppose there is some sort of history here?” Anon looked at Blossomforth.  “You could say that.”  Anon frowned but squinted his eyes with his grin intact.  “She never played fair with her cheating magic.  Make sure if you have to scare her away that you wrap your snake body around her as quickly as possible while wriggling and twitching like you did around my neck.  Be sure to relish the way she shivers at the feeling of a slithering snake.”  Anon rubbed his hands together evilly. Blossomforth snickered at Anon’s antics behind her hoof mockingly.  “Oh my, Anon.  What did Twilight do to make you lust after such petty revenge?  You know~”  Her voice warbled with a mocking tone.  “Since you seem to like the idea of sscaring Twilight so much, I bet I could take your body and mold it into a long sslippery ssnek and you could sslither around her sscared, sshivering, ssupine body in the most dissturbing way!”  Her tongue morphed into a thinner, longer forked snake tongue and slithered out of her mouth as she hissed her s’es.  Two of her upper teeth morphed into a sharper canine-fang tooth and the pupils of her eyes narrowed into a vertical slit.  Anon’s face fell dramatically with a thrill of fear.  Blossom stuck her unnaturally long snake tongue out at Anon and it lengthened out of her mouth to briefly lick the tip of Anon’s nose.  “Jussssssst kidding!”  The look on Anon’s face was priceless.  Blossom giggled and laughed before falling over with jest, her teeth morphing back into their molar state and her tongue shifting to its former stubby size.  Anon could not help himself, he laughed at the ridiculousness of something like Blossomforth existing, surrendering himself to the strange reality he lived in.  The thought only made him laugh harder and he released his feelings into the laughter he expelled. Anon laid down next to Blossomforth on the lobby’s carpeted floor and started rubbing her belly.  It only made her giggle more and she wiggled her legs with glee.  Unnoticed by Anon, vaginal lubricant excreted and started to glisten on the lips of her thick pony vagina as Anon tickled her.  Anon relented and sighed.  “One of these days, Bloss, you are going to make me question my sanity.”  Blossomforth looked at him with worry but Anon smiled with acceptance in his eyes.  “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” Blossomforth scooted closer and wrapped her forelegs around Anon’s neck and Anon felt her furry face and neck on the side of his face.  They simply laid there for a couple of seconds. “Hey, Anon?” Anon felt her throat vibrate with sound. “Hmm?” Blossomforth whispered into Anon’s ear.  Reluctance and desire with a hint of lust was apparent in her voice.  “Do you think you can do to me what you did to Lyra?  I’m still really horny but I promise you from the bottom of my heart that I’m in control now. Do you trust me?”  While Anon hesitated for a second and thought, she continued.  “I can do things to you, anything you want.  We can explore each other together.”  Bloss bit her lip, fearing she went too far. Anon started to stand up and held her with one arm as he used the other to help himself up.  Blossom clung to Anon as he stood, wrapping her forelegs and hind legs around him.  Anon sat down on the couch and Blossom sat her plot on Anon’s lap, curling her tail around herself as she looked up to him with embarrassed but hopeful eyes. “Alright, Blossom.  We can do this together but you have to promise me you will be gentle, even if you are feeling passionate.  My body is much weaker than yours and you must be careful with your strength.” Blossomforth put a hoof on her heart and placed the other one on Anon’s chest.  “I promise, Anon.” Anon smiled.  “Good!  However, we will have to wait just a bit longer.  We still need to plan how to deal with-“ Suddenly the front door of Anon’s business swung open and a purple pony burst inside with a corked vial in her magic.  With a proud, wide grin on her face she trotted inside. “Eureka!  I found the cure!”  She held the bottle aloft in her magic and stared at Anon and Blossomforth on the couch, obviously expecting some sort of exclamation of congratulations.  Anon and Blossom stared back, it seemed they were in the middle of something intimate with their faces red and embarrassed.  Twilight’s eyebrows rose and her mouth formed an ‘o’ of surprise.  Her sensitive muzzle detected the scent of familiar pheromones and she suddenly grinned once again.  “Hello, Blossomforth!”  Twilight’s face lit up, Anon recognized the familiar expression, a pathetic attempt of a joke would usually follow.  “Ah yes!  I believe the appropriate human expression for this situation is ‘giggity’ as Anon is so fond of expressing at the most inappropriate of times!” Anon chose this moment to finish the sentence that had been so rudely interrupted by Twilight’s sudden entrance.  He facepalmed briefly and sighed at his oblivious purple virgin friend. “Hi, Twilight.” > Chapter 26: Ground Zero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A slimy, pink tongue slowly emerged and licked the corner of Amber’s mouth, lapping up the dribbling saliva that had accumulated.  Amber closed her eyes, rolled them in their sockets and moaned ever so softly.  Her hivemind was focused on her powerful spider body; she plunged her huge, fanged mandibles into the bloody flesh of her recently acquired prey, tearing into it and tasting the rich meat and organs as the prey squeaked and screamed desperately.  Amber breathed deeply and more quickly as she felt the ecstasy from devouring yet another morsel of prey from the Everfree.  Oh, how pleasurable and fulfilling it was to be alive!  Even life as a primitive and limited organism was worlds better than being nothing more than thought.  One of the eyestalks on her spider abdomen curled towards the hare she was eating and made eye contact.  The hare froze—its futile noises of distress ceasing suddenly—and it stared at the spider’s alien eye, accepting its terrible fate.  Thing watched with anticipation as the juicy hare’s throat was crushed by her powerful chewing fangs; the warmth of the animal’s life-giving fluids gushed into her mouth, the metallic taste of blood washing over her labium as the thick substance oozed off her numerous fangs.   The creature’s eyes glazed over as its pathetic life ended and, with a mental purr of delight, she violently chomped down again, popping its skull like a ripe melon. With a flex of her esophagus muscles, the hare disappeared into the spider’s gullet, its broken body twitching as it was forced, squeezing into the confined space. Amber stood still in distracted pleasure as she felt the crushed organs and bones of the hare sliding down her throat, distending her esophagus before being forcefully squashed into the stomach buried within her fleshy abdomen in a satisfying— “HEY!” Amber’s eyes snapped open and she scowled at the offending distraction, shattering her focus on the excitement and pleasure of digesting her prey. She felt a flash of annoyance but squashed the primitive feelings. “You gonna buy something or not?” the offending voice firmly asked. In front of Amber was an orange pony with a carrot cutie mark and a skeptical face.  The mare was obviously annoyed for some reason. The orange mare huffed and narrowed her eyes. “If not, then go loiter around the other stalls.  You’re blocking the view of my other customers!” Amber smiled widely at Carrot Top with her creepily sharp teeth glistening with the extra saliva in her mouth that had excreted there because of her pleasurable telepathic experience.  She stared at Carrot for longer than was socially appropriate. “When the time comes, you will be the first I assimilate.” Carrot Top stared at Amber with a strange look and a scornful eyebrow. “Ooooookay.” Carrot Top scoffed. “I would ask what in the hay you are talking about but I don’t even care enough to ask.  Just buy a carrot or move along.” Amber simply flashed a grin with her too sharp teeth and continued walking, observing the different ponies gathered around stalls with foods displayed for purchase.  It was fascinating to observe but it wasn’t anything her race hadn’t seen before. Her ancestors had seen billions of species like these, each with their meager existence and short lives destined for doom. They had no chance, some natural cataclysm would usually destroy the fragile film of life giving atmosphere or in most cases her race would come to claim their harvest. The biomass and energy on this planet deserved to be guided by a more superior and efficient system.  Blossomforth and herself were on this planet, the logical conclusion of evolution.  When they landed on the planet, assimilation became inevitable: superior species always dominated the inferior. Amber closed her eyes and sat her plot on the ground and tried drowning out the sounds of the bustling ponies. She could feel the information in the hivemind just beyond her reach, the distant buzz overshadowed by the sporadic thoughts of the equine part of her brain.  Licking dry lips, she focused on emptying her local hivemind of thoughts then carefully concentrated and probed Blossomforth’s own portion of the hivemind.  Oh how she envied Blossomforth, everything in the whole world was handed to her on a silver platter!  She watched as Blossomforth easily manipulated her own body’s chemical structure to suit her needs as if it were an afterthought.  The time and opportunity, the entire galaxy laid out before them, yet Blossomforth insisted in keeping herself confined to a single body, not allowing herself to spread and grow, bestowing the world with the treasure of biological transcendence.  Thing had memories from the seeds before her: wisdom from the ages.  Sometimes the indigenous species of a planet would be advanced enough to attempt some sort of quarantine; the seed would almost always escape, but a seed had never inflicted such a suffocating restriction on itself.  Blossomforth’s attitude and lack of action was insufferable. Amber opened her eyes and and narrowed them with determination.  The long term survival of her race was at stake.  She was responsible for nurturing and growing her seed of a body into what it was meant to be.  Billions of years, almost infinite permutations, countless generations of her ancestors had led her to this point.  She would not fail them.  This planet was the rich soil on which to grow a new galactic empire.  Blossomforth did not deserve to squander her gifts idling away with her human pet, hoarding the ancestor’s gift, the Matrix, all to herself. There was a solution to this problem.  As Amber sat deep in thought, the solution materialized in her mind.  She sat on her plot and gazed at the busy street full of bustling pastel ponies browsing the farmers’ foods, oblivious to the existence of the hidden galactic apex predator.  The idea continued to formulate, a devious and clever scheme.  It was subtle, her true intentions hidden.  One way or another, the ponies in front of her, the ponies of the world as well as the other sentient races, would be her building blocks for a new hive.  She licked her lips, envisioning her tantalizing goal. The predator was hungry. With renewed determination and a cold, silky-smooth concentration befitting of the most advanced alpha predator in the galaxy, her gaze intensified; fixed with an intense stare into the distance beyond any of the moving ponies before her.  She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before closing her eyes.  Thing carefully probed and focused in on the stream of information in Blossomforth’s portion of the hivemind, rich with the valuable genetic information Thing so desired.  She could not afford to be too invasive with her search.  Blossomforth still seemed to be carelessly oblivious of her existence and she wanted to keep it that way.  There was no telling what Blossom’s mature mind could do to her own comparatively weak hivemind. Floating at the top of Blossomforth’s hivemind were the genetic designs Bloss utilized most.  She recognized them from her stint as the sole conscious mind.  Her breathing became bated.  Yes, this is what I need!  She was so hungry for it.  Her predatory instincts activated, the hunger sharpening her mind’s focus and strength.  As Thing’s desire for this valuable information increased, it only made her more focused, calm, and patient.  She needed to wait for the right moment; a false action could alert Blossomforth to her existence, irrevocably complicating matters.  She carefully observed Blossomforth’s mind.  The mare seemed to be in the middle of conversing with the Human, talking about the estrus season.  It was all very juvenile but she did not allow it to distract her. The predator had patience and time.  She could not afford to allow Blossomforth to know about her existence.  The interaction between Bloss and the human became more intimate.  Thing was about to call it and try another time but just when it seemed that they were about to do something about the estrus, something strange happened.  A purple pony, Twilight, Thing believed she was called, came out of nowhere.  Blossomforth was startled and embarrassed—now was her chance!   Quickly but smoothly, Thing reached her hivemind and intruded into Blossom’s portion, rapidly reading some of the most used genes.  The fluid form of her mind activated and quickly copied the designs into her own hivemind.  Amber reacted to Thing’s stress by sweating; Blossomforth was sure to be feeling something strange.  She could only hope Blossomforth was too startled and distracted to notice. Almost there… Done!  Thing carefully retreated back into her personal portion of the hivemind with her copied spoils safely stored within.  What a rush!  Thing thought, giddy with excitement and pleasure as a new world of possibilities opened up to her, even with the meager bounty she recovered. Absolute ecstasy took hold of her mind as she mentally examined the information now contained within herself.  The first genetic design she found was the biological architecture for the amorphous, homogeneous muscle that flowed with variable viscosity and allowed Blossomforth to fit and flow through small crevices.  This was possibly one of the most useful and valuable genetic designs.  It could also be used to elongate and deform her existing physical pony traits.  Next she found the activation mechanism for assimilation as well as various biological processing algorithms that went with it.  It would allow her individual cells to activate and infect adjacent foreign cells with specialized nanoscale infection enzymes to rapidly convert the infected cell and spread while copying and digesting the contained genetic information for storage in the hivemind. Just like that, Thing was back in business.  She did not have access to the dizzying variety of traits Blossomforth did but she was not the soft, inexperienced mind that Blossomforth was.  She was directly descended from the ancient apex predator race, her mind filled with their legacy.  She would do more with less than the lazy, soft Blossomforth ever did.   Amber opened her eyes, a euphoric grin plastered on her face.  Was she home free?  No, she was still tied to a much more powerful mind that could take over.  She would have to tread lightly for now but, for the most part, she was finally free.  She felt lightheaded with anticipation as the receptor enzymes in her cells rapidly encoded new enzymes, the genetic information she had extracted from Blossomforth’s mind being used to alter her biology and chemistry. Suddenly, there was a lot to do.  First things first: there was quite a bit of valuable genetic information incorporated into her spider amalgamation’s DNA.  She activated the assimilation protocol originating from the mind fluid deep within the spider’s abdomen.  The receptor enzymes distributed throughout her spider body activated telepathically, rapidly reading and relaying the information back to her mind.  Spider hair follicles, the ones Blossom so often used to stick to surfaces, were now hers to use.  Carbyne nanotube producing enzymes, advanced hydraulic muscle designs, eye tendril designs, and all sorts of other miscellaneous genetic designs also were copied into her hivemind. It was all coming together. Amber’s eyes rolled in her head and she shuddered with pleasure as she felt the information enter her mind.  She began panting, enjoying the unique sensation of her now amorphous flesh shifting within her body at her will.  The feeling was extremely arousing.  Hidden behind her tail, her untouched vulva grew slick with pleasure, the sticky fluids glistening on her lips.  Her clitoris flexed in a fleshy wink. Lost in arousal, her tongue extruded and lengthened out of her panting mouth as her shifting flesh within her body fed her tongue biomass, allowing it to grow.  She curled her tongue around itself experimentally as it grew, the saliva lubricating the movement as her tongue slithered and curled around itself in a flexible and erotic display. Amber suddenly remembered where she was and snapped open her eyes.  Luckily, she was in a shady corner and none of the busy ponies seemed to notice her elongated, curling tongue.  Her curling tongue fused together into a twisted ball of flesh and retracted into her throat with a slight bulge as she swallowed her tongue to be reincorporated into her body.  She was aroused, and only one thing could satisfy her. It was time to satiate her hunger.   Infuriatingly, the intricate designs of a hivemind hierarchy were lost to her, stuck inside of the mind of Blossomforth.  Thing would not be able to form an army of independently thinking but centrally coordinated and controlled clones to take over the world.  She would have to wait for another opportunity to sneak the designs out of Blossomforth’s hivemind.  Unfortunately, Blossomforth did not extensively utilize the hivemind hierarchies so it may be more difficult to extract, deep as it was in the mare’s hivemind.  Thing would just have to wait for the opportune moment. However, there was something she could do right now.  She could program simple commands into the minds of organisms she assimilated, instead of a full fledged “smart” hierarchal hivemind control structure.  It was crude in comparison but it would be incredibly useful to virulently spread her cells quickly to a large number of organisms.  When the time came, when she had more useful biological designs available, she would have a lot of biomass at her disposal. Thing was starting to become excited and hungry as she began to formulate a plan to infect the ecosystem.  However, when it came to ponies, she would need to be much more careful. Clever, yet subtle.  Animals were generally dumb creatures but ponies were capable of noticing and doing something about it.  Thing would have to be sure to stealthily assimilate ponies or risk a panic and Blossomforth figuring out what was going on.  For now, she should focus on assimilating the Everfree’s ecosystem, or at least the animals and insects.  Plants were a bit trickier and slower to assimilate, with less immediate benefit to boot, so she decided to ignore that part of the ecosystem for now. Amber walked to the park and found a secluded place to sit and concentrate.  Lacking the proper information to grow a neural network and multitask efficiently, she would need all of her concentration to properly program the assimilated organisms.  She focused on her monstrous spider body; the organs inside of her abdomen began to deform into a muscular, viscous substance.  Her eye stalks and legs retracted into her while her exoskeleton began to dissolve and deform as the structural bonds between her cells dissolved, chemically recomposing themselves into flowing, viscous muscle.  It was time to unleash her viral spread upon the Everfree. Thing propelled herself, flowing across the forest floor, her body a non-Neightonian fluid of amorphous muscle.  Numerous eyestalks extruded from her form, scanning in every direction for her prey.  She began to flow up a tree to get a better view, her surface area, which touched the tree, adhered to the bark with a mat of grown spider-hair follicles.  Thing scoured her surroundings with her many eye tendrils for a few seconds, silently searching for any movement among the branches.  There!  Her flesh began to rapidly shift and, with a powerful undulating catapult motion, she harpooned a thin thread of extruded flesh from her body.  (http://i.imgur.com/bsXAp4j.gifv )  THWIP!  With a violent ripple across her body, the projectile thread of flesh stretched like taffy as it zipped through the air, the tip a bulbous protrusion.  The fleshy thread’s length turned a raw red color as the amorphous thread of muscle thrust and stretched itself, adding to the momentum as it explosively reached away from the tree it was anchored to.  With these combined mechanisms, the projectile spanned the length of ten meters in an instant.  The thread of muscle suddenly flexed itself powerfully and produced seemingly instantaneous deceleration delivering the bulbous payload of flesh that warped grotesquely to partially engulf a bird as it slowed to a stop.  The chain of events happened in a fraction of a second and the bird had no time to react before the tip of the projectile splattered to the bird’s wings like some form of fleshy viscous glue.  The sticking flesh prevented the bird from opening its wings and effectively grounded it to its perch.  Her delivered flesh began to flow and worm its way through the crevices of the bird’s feathers to touch the skin underneath, fusing to the bird as it injected the animal’s cells with enzymes and proteins.  The bird’s flesh began to rapidly change, forming a smooth continuous organic fusion with the thread of flesh attached to it. Thing’s flesh squirmed and twisted gleefully as the genetic information of the consumed bird flowed into her hivemind.  The bird’s flesh continued its chemical conversion as the assimilation spread across its body.  Its struggling quickly ceased as the assimilation neutralized the muscles and paralyzed the animal’s nervous system.  In only seconds, it was completely infected and assimilated, its very being belonging to her, a mere puppet to her will. Thing detached the thread of flesh, retracted it back into herself, and began to telepathically reprogram the bird’s mind.  She did not want to destroy its nervous system.  Without access to the proper hivemind protocols to add the bird to a hierarchy of control, she couldn’t directly control the bird while focusing on other tasks.  Instead, she grew a temporary neural organ inside of its skull, similar to a tumor, seamlessly integrating with its feral brain.  The bird was now a drone programmed to find two animals or insects of any type and assimilate the organisms while copying the instructions into their minds. She began formulating the programming for her new drone.  First, she implanted a counter into the bird’s drone programming: thirty.  The programming of the drone’s victims would be identical, except the counter would be decremented with each new assimilation.  Thus, the newly assimilated organisms would each have a counter value of twenty-nine.  Once the bird had assimilated two other organisms, control would be transferred back to the bird’s preserved mind and the bird would suffer short term memory loss for the next twenty-four hours. If the bird’s victim was an already assimilated organism, then it wouldn’t count towards the required count of two assimilated organisms.  If the bird could not find two unassimilated organisms for one hour, then control would be transferred back to the bird’s preserved mind.  Thus, the bird would assimilate two organisms and each of those organisms would find two more until the counter decremented with each successive organism and reaches zero.  Once the counter is at zero, the organism would simply suffer short term memory loss and cease hunts for additional organisms. Thing went over her program design.  Theoretically, if each successive infected organism successfully finds two more organisms to assimilate until the counter reaches zero, then she would have successfully spread her infection to 2^30 organisms, or approximately one billion organisms.  This had the potential to spiral out of control.  Once again, she did not have the mind hierarchy abilities to perform total surveillance and management on all of her infected organisms so, instead, she placed another piece of programing into the drone.  They were not to leave the Everfree forest for the next twenty-four hours. In addition, they were not to attempt any assimilation of ponies, and instead alert her telepathically if there were pony intruders.  She also programmed a failsafe function that could be activated telepathically to stop the drone program.  Her infected organisms would receive the command and telepathically relay the message so that any infected organisms would receive the broadcasted message and quickly quit. Thing knew she had no chance of controlling so many organisms without an expanding hierarchal hivemind but, for now, that was not the goal.  She just wanted to assimilate as much as possible as quickly as possible without it getting out of control.  She would allow the organisms to operate like normal after she was done with them.  With her infection hidden inside of them, she would have quick access to a huge army of biomass at her whim and the ecosystem could still function like it did before but with her advanced enzyme infections hidden inside all of the cells. Thing telepathically activated her program and released the drone bird into the Everfree.  She telepathically watched through the bird’s eyes as it began to soar through the trees aimlessly until it spotted a squirrel.  The bird dived, and its feet grabbed onto the squirrel’s fur.  It squeaked in surprise and tried to scurry further up the tree, but the bird’s legs were already fused to the squirrel’s flesh.  The squirrel stopped struggling as the infection forced it to keep still.  After a few seconds, the two organisms unfused and went their separate ways, the squirrel assimilated.  The bird had one more organism to find, and the squirrel two. Excellent, Thing thought. She wriggled her biomass and allowed herself to feel some erotic excitement at the feeling of the squirrel’s genetic information entering her hivemind.  While she waited for that chain reaction to progress, Amber would assimilate her first pony.  Amber opened her eyes and looked around; she smirked and licked her lips, feeling the DNA of a third organism enter her mind.  Soon there would be a torrent of genetic information as her viral spread inevitably became exponential, but she could not allow it to distract her.  Mentally preparing herself for the flow of genes into her hivemind, Amber dived into a bush and used a sample of pegasus DNA from her time as Blossomforth’s clone to modify her body into sprouting wings.  Flesh extruded out of her sides, and bones formed inside of the wriggling flesh with feathers sprouting outward.  It was time to assimilate that orange carrot pony she met earlier.  Amber burst out of the bush and took flight, excited to claim the mare’s body as her own.   Amber scanned the road where the farmer’s market took place and spotted Carrot Top in the distance pulling her wagon back home after she closed shop.  Amber casually sat on a cloud and watched Carrot put away her wagon in a shed and begin storing her supplies.  She hummed with pleasure as she felt more genetic samples from the Everfree filter into her mind. Excellent.  Thing descended on top of Carrot Top’s roof and scanned her surroundings to make sure there were no witnesses. Confirming that no one was looking, she rapidly deformed and slipped her fluid biomass into the chimney and into the ventilation system, sticking to the side of the vent as she flowed downwards.  As she wormed and slid through the ventilation system she became more excited, and maybe a little nervous.  This would be her first pony assimilation—she would be remiss if she didn’t savor it. With her flesh safely inside Carrot’s house, she flowed through a vent grating and adhered to a wall, extruding eyeballs on eyestalks to observe where she was. Her position was just above a staircase leading downstairs.  The rest of her biomass slipped through the vent and she continued rapidly sliding up the wall to attach herself to the ceiling.  She expediently slid herself down to the first floor and turned a corner, situating her biomass above the front door in wait for her prey.  Without a moment to spare, Carrot Top swung open the door and briskly walked directly under her biomass, over to the kitchen table, and set a basket of her unsold carrots on top of it. Thing gleefully sprouted some tendrils from her biomass on the ceiling as she slid forward to creep up on Carrot Top.  How did the pony saying go?  Don’t play with your food?  Thing curled her tendrils and slithered them together.  This would be her first time assimilating a sapient organism as a semi-independent hivemind.  She would have to celebrate the occasion.  Eldritch abominations had to have fun sometimes, right?  Perhaps the social interaction that Blossomforth so loved to participate in could provide her mind with some neural stimulation and growth. ---- Carrot briskly walked through the door.  She had a pretty good haul this week; ponies loved their carrots.  She walked down the hallway and straight into her kitchen, placing the basket of the remaining carrots on the table.  Well, there was nothing left to do but relax and—  Creeee-Snap!  Carrot snapped her neck around at the noise and found that the front door seemed to have mysteriously shut itself.  The hallway was empty.  That was strange, she thought.  It didn’t seem too windy outside.  Was there a popup storm scheduled for today?  Well, that would be good for my carrots at least.  She gave the corridor one last— “Hellllooooo~” Carrot froze and her ears pinned, the fur all across her body standing up in a prickly fashion.  The voice had come from directly behind her head.  Her heart pounded as a sense of terror took hold of her; it was as if a spell had been placed on her body, paralyzing her in place.  She slowly turned her head to face the table, and her heart sank at what she saw: right there, defying all explanation, was a floating head, its wide smile and razor sharp teeth greeting her along with predatory eyes.  Carrot’s eyes widened and her pupils constricted to pinpricks as sheer, primal terror radiated throughout her being. She let out a stuttering gasp at the sight, unable to come to terms with what she was looking at. https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/6/27/1188236.png Carrot started to feel slightly delirious.  She must be seeing things, how in the world—  She spotted the twisting, fleshy neck behind the smiling head and saw that it was attached to some sort of growth stuck to the ceiling.  In defiance of all logic and sanity, the disembodied head spoke again. “So?  How are you doing on this fine day?” Its toothy grin grew even wider, she could see a second row of teeth in the head’s throat and a slithering tongue.  “Sold quite a bit of carrots, I see.  Is business good?” Carrot Top stared at the monster with horror, confusion evident in her wide eyes.  Her eyebrows were as high as possible and pointed together.  The mare’s mouth opened and shut, stammering as she tried to talk. “You- you- who- what are you?” she took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice. “What do you want?” Thing smiled with amusement at the scared pony below her. “Me?  I am something you don’t understand.  As for what I want, hmm.” Thing pretended to think, loving how the inferior organism squirmed at the uncertainty.  “Well, I could give you a long winded answer about my goals, but what I want right now is you.  I am going to make you a part of me.” she moved closer to the pony, her neck gaining slightly more biomass to compensate. “And there is nothing you can do to stop me.” Carrot’s heart began beating more quickly, the tempo pounding in her ears;. She was scared, but also extremely confused.  “O-Okay,” she croaked out. “I’m not sure what type of prank or magic is going on now, but it’s not funny!  P-Please stop!” The abomination only smiled wider, and sharp teeth emerged from its gums, seeming to rapidly grow and fill the space made by the cartoonishly widening smile of the shapeshifting, floating face.  Carrot flinched and started to back away from the monster. The monster responded to her retreat with a sudden burst of speed.  Faster than she could react, the head lunged at her, its neck stretching and shapeshifting to propel the face towards her.  The thing’s neck rapidly curled around the back of her own neck to bring its face around her neck to rest right in front of her, muzzle to muzzle with mirthful, predatory eyes staring deep into her own.  Carrot was frozen with fear, her retreat instantly thwarted.  Carrot shivered as she felt a warm fluid tickle her sensitive folds.  The faint splatter of urine could be heard, originating from near Carrot’s hindquarters.   The thing’s long, amorphous neck slid against the back of hers, causing a shiver to travel down her spine.  Carrot could feel the thing’s slimy tongue emerge from its mouth and caress her cheek. The thing hummed thoughtfully as it’s tongue retracted, licking Carrot all the way and tilting its head slightly, still peering into her eyes. “You know, you are quite a cute specimen,” Thing purred.  “Such an innocent and fragile creature molded into what you are by a soft and nurturing environment.  In fact, I would go so far as to call you beautiful.  A perfect adaptation suited for life, growth, reproduction… and death in this quaint world.” Carrot started to cry, bewildered and scared by this monster’s frightening ability to change its shape.  “P-Please just let me go.  Don’t eat me!  I want to live!” she wailed, her body beginning to shake as she was wracked with deep, shuddering sobs. “Oh, you poor, unevolved little specimen.”  A tendril of flesh reached down from above where the gore stuck from the ceiling and licked the tear from Carrot’s face, dabbing the corner of her eye as it did. “I’m not here to kill you, I’m here to save you and all of the other organisms on the planet from a fate you are all helpless to escape.  Like a black hole, it draws you nearer.  Like slaves, you are forced to work to live.  Yet, no matter how hard you try, you can never escape death.” Thing felt the exponential growth of the genetic information flowing into her mind as her infection rapidly spread through the Everfree forest.  Drool leaked out of her mouth as she felt the pleasure and she gave the distraught mare a wide, tooth-filled smile. “Well guess what?  I am like a black hole as well.  I am stronger than death.  I will swallow it. Defeat it.  With me as your guide, your protector from death, we will conquer the planet, the system, and eventually the galaxy.” Carrot was still shaking, seeing the drool drip from the thing’s mouth.  She imagined the sharp, polymorphic teeth tearing into her.  “I-I don’t understand. I-I-I just want to live my simple life.  Please just let me go…” She stared up at Thing with wide, glistening eyes.  “Please?  I’m begging you.” Thing frowned.  “I’m sorry, my little organism.  I know you don’t understand, but what I am doing is what’s best for the advancement of organic life.” Suddenly, multiple thick, muscular threads of flesh rained down upon her and tightly curled around her legs, barrel, and around her neck, slimily sliding all over her as they tightened.  Carrot’s eyes widened as she watched helplessly as they seemingly fused to her. The thing licked its lips as it held her even tighter, the wolfish expression on its face making her think it was about to eat her. “W-Wait!” she begged, hiccuping as tears streamed down her cheeks.  “Don’t eat me!  Y-you said you wouldn’t kill me!  Didn’t you say you wanted to save me!”  Carrot began to breathe faster and faster, rising to a panic as she was helplessly suspended in the air.  She began to struggle but the bands of flesh were unyielding and strong.  A new wave of dread crept down her spine as she realized something terrible: she couldn’t feel her hooves anymore.  She looked down and, to her horror, her forehooves were fused together along with a pulsating, veiny tentacle smoothly fused to her flesh.  It was a mutated fusion of gory flesh, throbbing like some grotesque tumor. “Ah-ah-aaaaAAAAAA-”  Carrot started to scream but a tentacle was shoved into her mouth, muffling her cries.  She gagged, and more hot tears streamed down her muzzle as the slimy, wriggling, shapeshifting tentacle gently slid down her throat. “Shhhhhhhhh,” Thing hushed, before giving an almost motherly coo, wrapping her snakelike neck around her  immobile victim and rubbing their cheeks together.  “Like I said, I’m not here to kill you, but I never said I wouldn’t eat you.”  Carrot renewed her desperate wriggling at that strange dichotomy, but her legs were completely paralyzed or converted to amorphous, consuming flesh, all she could do was weakly wiggle her torso.  She began to sob through the tentacle muffling her, her runny nose making it even more difficult to breathe. “Aww, don’t be so sad, “ the abomination cooed, before gently wiping the fluids off of Carrot’s muzzle with a tendril.  “You are becoming—nay, ascending—into being part of the greatest and most advanced organism in existence!” Her body convulsed with pride, making the mare fused to the wriggling flesh whimper.  “You won’t remember me for a while, but when the time comes for us to take action, I will grant your mind understanding.  Your memories of this experience will be kept safe inside your mind for when I return to free you from the chains of your unevolved existence.” Thing stared deeply into the frightened eyes of the little pony, and for what might have been the first time felt pity.  Thing looked down and watched as Carrot’s torso was rapidly converted into amorphous flesh. “Tell you what.  I don’t usually speak to the unevolved organisms I am about to assimilate, but because you are the first I made an exception.  Perhaps I shouldn’t be subjecting you to such fear.  So, I will grant you a wish.  Anything you want that has to do with your body.  Have you wanted to be strong?  Flexible?  Want to be able to run a marathon?  I can grant it for you.” Just as she said that, Thing felt her flesh consume the last of Carrot’s lungs.  So instead, Thing inserted a tendril into Carrot's ear and it wriggled its way inside infecting and fusing though the ear canal and assimilating part of flesh inside until it reached Carrot’s brain.  Thing probed and swam her tendril through the folds of the squishy organ until she found the parts made for speech. “Think about your wish before you are assimilated and I will grant it as long as it is reasonable.” I want to be able to have a foal… Thing accessed the stored information of Carrot’s assimilated body and quickly analyzed the part having to do with the reproductive system and compared it to a sample of Blossomforth’s pony DNA.  Ah yes, there it was.  A mutation to the gene that made Carrot sterile.  Thing spliced out the damaged gene and replaced it with Blossomforth’s own.  Now Carrot’s womb would work properly when Thing rebuilt her body. “Done.  When you come back, you will be able to have foals.” Thank...you…  Please...don’t...kill...me… Carrot’s consciousness faded.  Thing had assimilated Carrot’s flesh into herself, their combined biomass fused together and stuck to the ceiling as a shifting, gory, amorphous, amalgamation.  Carrot was now nothing more than a twisted fusion of assimilated flesh and a preserved nervous system in stasis deep within Thing’s flesh.  Finally, Thing’s enzyme virus had inserted itself and infected the deepest nervous cells in Carrot’s mind. Thing’s flesh undulated and squished together with satisfying pleasure as she experienced new genes from Carrot’s DNA.  It was time to rebuild her and move on to the next pony. > Chapter 27: Unexpected Conflict > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway giggling gleefully as she hid her grin behind a fetlock. “Aww~!  You two look so cute together!  Isn’t it amazing what the yearly heat can bring out in ponies?  I almost feel guilty for bringing this ‘cure’ along.  Perhaps you two don’t even need it!” Blossomforth looked at Twilight irritably.  Her lips twitched slightly in her annoyance.  Why did Twilight have to interrupt them now!  She was just about to convince her human to have sex with her!  Blossom’s cheeks tinged the slightest bit pink, the heat was still affecting her slightly.  It would have been so fun!  She was having such an intimate and loving experience with her Anon and Twilight just had to go and interrupt it!  It just wasn’t fair!   In that moment, Blossomforth felt a strange, unsettling cold presence enter her hivemind like a cold tendril of intrusion.  It felt almost like a brain freeze.  Wait, this sensation was familiar, she felt it the last time that alien had communicated with her.  The feeling of intrusion stemmed into a feeling of worry.  What was happening?  Why did it feel so wrong? “Yeah, yeah, Sparkle.  Laugh it up.  You know, we were actually having a moment together before you barged in!”  said Anon.  Blossom felt Anon put an arm around her shoulder.  It was comforting. Anon and Twilight continued their playful banter but Blossomforth was distracted.  She stared blankly at the annoying purple alicorn, not really paying attention, barely able to register the words coming out of her moving lips.  Bloss was in her own world.  Time seemed to move slower.  In somewhat of a trance, Blossomforth mentally examined the strange anomaly in her mind that felt almost like an itching sensation inside her skull which housed the central part her advanced fluid-like biological neurology in the place a normal brain would be.  Her brow creased almost imperceptibly as she gathered her focus.  Worry pierced her hivemind, there was too much going on at the same time.  She was in dire need to split her concentration.  Her agitation drove her instinctual adaptive abilities to come to her aid.  In response, her biological neural architecture began to mutate, utilizing the valuable organic designs stored within the matrix to expand and strengthen her neural system.  Biomass shifted within her skull.  New advanced neurology rapidly organized itself from unallocated and unprogrammed neural material.  Parts of her neurology began to copy and organize themselves allowing her to split her concentration.  The feeling of growing new neurology in her now rapidly mutating nervous system was uncanny.  Blossomforth gained the ability to focus on two things at once almost like a dual core processor.  Blossomforth instinctively split her thoughts between the two parts.  As her hivemind’s capabilities and neural network grew, Twilight’s words began to register. “-So yeah, anyways, I was wondering if I could get a tiny blood sample from Blossom here.  She may have some very special and rare biological traits that I would love to study if possible.”  Twilight’s large purple eyes shifted to look at Blossomforth.  “I believe you may be expressing a very rare and very potent gene, Blossomforth.  What do you say?  Mind if I take a sample?” A rush of adrenaline shivered down Blossomforth’s veins as she rapidly assessed her situation.  She had forgotten that Twilight wanted to take a sample of her DNA.  This was dangerous.  Her advanced neurology began working in overdrive.  Strangely, her evolving mind became so efficient under stress that she perceived the world in slow motion.  Her neurology was working ten times faster than normal which made it seem like everything else except her own thoughts was moving ten times slower.  Thankfully she had made sure to modify the enzymes in her sweat glands that produced her pheromones to excrete her normal pony musk instead of the modified version that was much more potent.  The aphrodisiac musk Twilight was looking for would not be emanating from her.  Thus, Twilight would have no reason to need a blood sample.  Blossomforth was fairly sure that she could make her blood sample quite convincingly equine.  She may even be able to go so far as to telepathically command her infection enzymes hidden inside the cells of the sample to self destruct and dissolve themselves into proteins hopefully leaving no trace of her alien nature, but who knew what could go wrong?  If anything, Twilight was known to be an extremely clever scientist.  Blossomforth did not want to take that risk. Blossom shifted on Anon’s lap and for the briefest moment glanced to Anon with meaning.  She would take care of this.  She quickly looked at Twilight.  “Um, do you really need a blood sample?  What makes you think that I’m the cause of this anyway?”  Blossomforth smugly hid a smirk.  There was no way that Twilight would be able to directly link the super aphrodisiac pheromone to her anymore. ---- Simultaneously, the newly grown and partitioned part of Blossomforth’s hivemind was examining the anomaly that she sensed.  Worry wretchedly invaded her mind partition.  She felt the presence of something interfacing with her hivemind.  Hey, alien-program-thingy?  You in there?  What’s up?  There was no answer.  She dug deeper.  What was that thing doing?  The inner workings of Blossom’s own hivemind were somewhat of a mystery to her.  Most of what she did was done by instinct.  Instinct would have to serve her again as she began to investigate the alien remnant's presence.  Blossomforth focused her mind partition, blocking out whatever was happening outside with Twilight, Anon, and her other mind partition.  It was no longer her concern. Blossomforth’s mind partition began to calm herself and clear her thoughts with her usual meditative exercise.  She knew there had to be something out of place.  She didn’t know how or why but something felt wrong.  She had been violated somehow, she needed to find out what happened.  As she cleared her mind, there were a few items in her mind that stuck in the forefront: the designs to give her muscle and biomass the ability to perform its grotesque viscous mobility, and the designs for the countless advanced organelles with included bio infrastructure that allowed her to infect and assimilate living organic material. These designs stuck prominently in her mind.  They existed as a sort of executable organic control-logic hardware, a neural organ within her hivemind’s neural architecture, for her hivemind to rapidly utilize at any time and execute on her own body’s cells via the hivemind network to rapidly mutate herself into her desired form.  Countless other designs existed in the Matrix but they were not ready to be executed.  They were in a compressed form and had to be first found, copied, and unpacked into their executable organic hardware format to be rapidly used. Her neural hardware acted in some ways like a computer.  When executed and used, the cellular bonds that kept the design together as a useable neural hardware module strengthened.  But if enough time passed the organic hardware would naturally degrade, the bonds would slowly weaken and fade until it finally dissolved into unprogrammed neural matter.  This happens on purpose to allow neural matter to be reused for some other purpose, like partitioning Blossomforth’s mind for example.  If Blossomforth wanted to reuse a design that had degraded she would have to go back and find it in her matrix where the information was stored and compressed to rebuild the neural organ for rapid use.  The delay to access the matrix’s information was short, no more than a few seconds, but it was not instantaneous like it would be if the design organ had not degraded.  Blossomforth knew this.  Not explicitly but instinctually.  She didn’t know exactly why or how but she knew that the more she used a design on herself the more easily it would stick in her mind, perhaps she could meditate and explore the matrix later to find out exactly how it worked, but now was not the time. Of the two designs that were at the forefront of her mind, the design for her viscosity motor controls made sense, she had just performed a transformation twenty minutes ago.  But the assimilation mechanisms?  She hadn’t used those in at least a day and a half.  Why would they be hanging in the forefront of her mind as if she had just used them?  Unless… A sinking feeling pierced through her hivemind partition.  Was that thing, the alien presence in her hivemind doing something?  This was a disturbing thought but important enough to escape the partition and enter Blossomforth’s collective hivemind.  The thought and fear flowed through the hivemind like a poison.  The alien program may be doing something! ---- Blossomforth looked like she was hesitating.  Twilight noticed a glance shared between her and Anon.  Curious, did Bloss and Anon have something to hide?  No, they were probably just nervous to be seen together, they were a new couple after all.  Oh!  They were so cute!  Twilight felt happy that Anon had found love in this strange new world. “Uhm, do you really need a blood sample?  What makes you think that I’m the cause of this anyway?” Twilight furrowed her brow.  “Well, I’m not sure if Anon told you yet but I have been investigating the mysterious pheromone and it seems to be emanating from Anon’s house.  Anon is obviously not equine so I assumed that it must be you.  Hmm, I suppose as a scientist it is never good to assume but I didn’t really see many other possibilities.  I am really curious to isolate the source of this pheromone.  It could give some serious insight into the science of genetics!  I suppose I should run my spell again to be sure.  No use jumping to conclusions.  Mind if I scan the place, Anon?” Anon’s eyes strangely drifted in Blossomforth’s direction.  Blossomforth answered for him.  “Yes, that should be fine although I have never noticed anything strange about myself.  I’m just a normal pony, heh.” Blossomforth looked nervous, Twilight observed with pity.  She was probably just afraid of needles.  Twilight knew the fear, she was afraid of them herself. “Don’t worry, Blossom.  I can magically extract the tiny bit of blood I need.  Very clean, and painless.  No needles required!”  She smiled.  “Well, let me show you what I am talking about.  I whipped up a new spell to highlight the pheromone I am looking for.  There is a large amount drifting in the air inside here.  Luckily I took some of the potion I made so I am not being affected by it.  So, when I startup my scanning spell...”  Her horn shimmered with a light purple glow and the air also began to sparkle.  “The pheromone is highlighted in the air and the origin is easily…” Twilight looked from the light purple glow in the air to Blossomforth and back.  She shifted her eyes back to Blossomforth again.  Twilight’s eyebrows rose in a mildly surprised and bemused expression.  “Huh.”  Blossomforth looked increasingly nervous and strangely she looked like there was something pressing on her mind. Twilight stared at Blossomforth for a few seconds.  “Well, it seems that you are not the source of this pheromone.”   Bloss looked relieved but then her eyes widened dramatically.  Twilight was too concentrated on her scanning spell to notice Blossomforth’s startled reaction.  “Wait a minute…” Twilight mumbled to herself.  The concentration of pheromone became more dense near the hallway.  “Mind if I use the little filly’s room real quick?” “Yeah, sure.  Go ahead.  First door on the left.”  Anon looked a bit distracted, glancing at Blossomforth.  Lovebirds will be lovebirds.  Twilight suppressed a giggle as she followed the trail of the pheromone.  Twilight felt a little bad about lying that she was going to the restroom but her curiosity to find the source of the pheromone got the better of her.  Bloss and Anon looked like they wanted to be alone together anyways.  Twilight just needed to get out of the way as soon as she pinpointed the chemical’s origin and extracted all the juicy scientific discoveries out of it. Twilight walked into the hallway and made a right into the massage room where the magically glowing pheromone originated from. ---- Anon noticed that Blossomforth was getting increasingly nervous for some reason.  Blossom was squirming on his lap and shooting him nervous glances every so often.  Anon started to get a little nervous when Twilight asked to use her detection spell again but Anon felt Blossom knead her forehooves into his thighs telling him not to speak. “Yes, that should be fine although I have never noticed anything strange about myself.  I’m just a normal pony, heh.” Anon almost laughed out loud at that.  If only Twilight knew, she could be a powerful and science savvy friend to help him support Blossomforth in her struggle. Twilight smiled and explained that Blossom shouldn’t be nervous.  Well, in Anon’s opinion monsters should be scared of Twilight.  Anon frowned slightly.  Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.  Then Twilight said that the pheromone wasn’t coming from Blossom.  Phew!  Looks like Bloss was able to take care of that one.  Suddenly, Bloss began breathing more quickly and the nervous squirming intensified.  What was going on?  He needed to talk to her in private. Conveniently, the opportunity presented itself.  “Mind if I use the little filly’s room real quick?” said Twilight. Anon was only too happy to show her out of the living room.  “Yeah, sure.  Go ahead.  First door on the left.” As soon as Twilight left, Anon picked up Blossom by her forelegs’ pits to turn her around on his lap to face him. Blossomforth looked worried about something.  That was not good.  Her eyes were wide.  Her mouth was slightly open as if she didn’t know exactly what to say. “What’s wrong Blossom?  Twilight doesn’t seem to know you are the source.  Good job with your quick thinking of controlling your musk by the way.  What has you so nervous?” Bloss liked her lips quickly, calculating what to say.  She looked up at him with wide blue eyes.  “That’s not it, Anon. I-I’m not sure how I know this but I think that the other entity in my hivemind, the alien program, may be trying to do something.  I can’t explain it, it’s a feeling, Anon.  It’s weak but it was still there in my dreams, telling me to do terrible things, assimilate the world. It was in my dreams, I believe. It's hard to remember. These strange instincts, I believe that's how they would program their seeds when they sent them to new planets to harvest them.  It wanted me to do things their way giving me a whole argument about why, ‘guiding’ it was called, guiding civilization into a more technologically advanced state is the only way to save the world’s future.  I’m sure you can guess what ‘guiding’ means.  It’s grotesque!  It’s wrong!  I’ll never do it!” Blossom suddenly wrapped her hooves around his torso and laid her head on his chest.  Anon wrapped his arms around Blossomforth, hugging her tightly and pet her mane softly.   Anon felt a thrill of fear.  This was bad.  Blossomforth needed complete control over her biomass.  A rogue entity inside her hivemind was something that disturbed him.  What disturbed him more was how Blossomforth was reacting to her discovery.  She hadn’t explicitly explained what had changed in her mind besides what she felt but he trusted her instincts.  Anon forced himself to calmly analyze his situation.  He released the hug and put his hands on Blossomforth’s shoulders.  He looked down at her in the eyes. “Alright, Blossom.  Calm down.  We need to think through this logically.  You said that the alien that landed here would have died without your mind.  I don’t pretend to know how any of this works but I would guess that this alien can’t function without your mind.  Also it probably cannot do much or it would have done so already.  Logically you probably have an advantage over it.  It may be time for you to do some medit-” Suddenly, Blossomforth’s eyes dramatically widened.  For a split second, she stared right through Anon with an open mouth.  She began breathing faster and a look of horror crossed her face. “Oh NO!  Twilight, Lyra!  No-no-NO!  WhatdoIdo-whatdo-” A shrill scream pierced the hallway.  Blossom began breathing deeper and quicker. “What’s happening, Bloss!” Anon exclaimed. “Twilight found Lyra!  I-I have to go!” Suddenly, Blossomforth’s hind legs mutated.  Raw red muscle broke through the skin of her hind legs.  Her legs began lengthening, the bone grew and stretched to become longer and thinner.  Her hooves deformed on her hind legs and bony claws dripping with a powerful paralysis drug tore out of her skin to grip Anon’s legs tightly.  Tiny needle like tips of the claw pierced Anon’s pants and skin, injecting him with her powerful but harmless neurotoxin cocktail.  Her epidermis and fur on her hind legs ripped apart as her muscles bulged. Tears of sorrow glistened in Blossomforth’s eyes she looked away.  “I’m so sorry, Anon.  I have to do this.  There is no time!” “Wait!  What do you mea-” With her now much longer and stronger hind legs, Blossomforth’s new legs flexed explosively, catapulting Blossomforth’s body backwards away from Anon and towards the massage room in a graceful backflip, her spine curling in a lithe arch.  In mid air, Blossomforth’s upper torso twisted 180 degrees counter to her lower torso.  The skin in her mid barrel stretched and ripped apart in some places as her muscles mutated to twist her barrel.  Everything behind her wing joints stayed upside down.  Her inverted hind legs twisted with a disgusting sliming sound and her joints mutated, making wet pops until her hind legs grotesquely reached downwards ready to propel her body once again. “Wait!” Anon tried to stand up but his legs were sluggish.  He couldn’t move them.  Oh, no!  Blossomforth had drugged him! “Stahh-” Anon lost control of his vocal cords.  The neurotoxin quickly paralyzed him. Blossomforth landed gracefully on her front hooves and her hind legs reached ahead of her forehooves to grab the carpet with her prehensile claws, pulling herself forward and explosively catapulted herself across the room like a projectile to bolt all the way to the entrance of the massage room. Anon weakly reached his arm out to Blossomforth but it was too heavy and went limp, dangling at his side.  Blossom looked back at him with sorrowful eyes.  His vision blurred as he slumped sideways falling over on the couch.  A blurry white and red splotch turned white and entered the massage room.  Anon fell unconscious. ---- Blossomforth looked back to Anon.  He was reaching out to her but his arm went limp and he slumped unconscious on the couch.  A tear escaped her eye.  A hair thin tendril of flesh slithered out of her tear duct and absorbed the tear back into her eye.  Blossomforth’s predatory instincts inherited from the Ancestors began to kick in.  Now was no time for emotion.  There was an existential threat in the next room and it must be dealt with! Blossomforth faced the door and began to gallop towards it in slow motion.  Her hivemind’s efficiency worked in overdrive and made the world appear in slow motion.  She felt her legs and plot mutate as they shifted back into her normal pony form.  She felt her skin grow, blood vessels reform, and bone mutate in slow motion.  One of the eyeballs sticking to the side of Lyra’s grotesque assimilated biomass observed Twilight.  Blossomforth telepathically saw her, Twilight looked horrified. Lyra’s biomass was floating in a shimmering magical glow, immobile.  Blossom had experimentally probed the telekinesis from Lyra’s body.  Twilight was very strong.  To avoid herself being caught in Twilight’s magic would require impeccable acting.  A scary thought struck her as she began entering the room.  If she were immobilized as well she would be left with few options.  As a failsafe in case she was caught, Blossomforth quickly began to eject her large intestine from her anus.  It turned inside out as it was forced outside.  Her small intestine and stomach were also ejected and inverted followed by part of her esophagus.  The organs detached from her anus and fell to the floor with a dull splat along with her digestive fluids.  They began to wriggle and mutate, fusing together, absorbing the digestive fluids, and slithering up the wall to slip into a vent.  This way if Twilight somehow managed to capture her and do scientific experiments on her, she would still have some free biomass elsewhere.  The cavity in her barrel was held open by muscle.  Twilight could also teleport.  Blossomforth needed to infect her quickly before she escaped! Blossomforth’s mind was a smooth, calm killing machine as she entered the room where Twilight had found Lyra’s glob of flesh.  Fuck!  Blossom then realized that she had forgotten to stop Lyra’s biomass from producing the aphrodisiac musk!  That’s how Twilight found Lyra!  Blossomforth arranged her face into a concerned expression.  The ancestor’s adaptations for concealment made controlling her facial expression easy. “What’s wrong, Twi-  Wait!  What the hell is that thing!”  Blossomforth narrowed her eyes with a disgusted expression at Lyra’s mutated body. Twilight glanced at Blossomforth but quickly looked back at Lyra’s mutated biomass.  “I think we may have solved the mystery of the pheromone’s origin.  But what in the world was this… thing doing on Anon’s massage table?” Blossom viewed the scene in slow motion.  Twilight was ten feet away.  Usually this was close enough for an assimilation but Twilight was too dangerous and required special care.  Blossomforth felt her internal organs deform as the biomass was repurposed into wormlike tendrils.  Blossomforth knew that she would only have one shot at assimilating Twilight because Twilight could immobilize her at the first sign of suspicion and teleport away. “Stay behind me Blossom, I saw this thing move.  I have it in my magic but I don’t want to take any chances.  Where is Anon?  Has he seen this?” Excellent, right where Blossom wanted to be.  Out of Twilight’s line of sight.  Blossomforth needed to infect the bloodstream.  Once that happened, the chances of Twilight escaping the assimilation would be very slim. “Anon went to the garage to get something.  I heard you so I came running!  What could that thing be?  It looks so gross!” Blossomforth now stood next to Twilight but slightly behind.  Blossomforth felt her tentacles of flesh slithering within her barrel.  They aligned themselves, ready to burst out of her flesh and bury themselves deep into Twilight’s barrel.  She was ready.  She needed to make it quick and irreversible. “I don’t know, Blossom, but it has some features that usually belong to a pony.  Now that I think about it, that green fur.  It kind of looks like Lyr-” Ten wormlike tentacles burst from Blossomforth’s barrel, tearing through her skin with razor sharp bony spears.  They buried themselves deep into Twilight’s soft belly like arrows.  As they buried themselves into Twilight’s flesh, they quickly excreted a bloodlike infectious liquid full of Blossomforth’s infectious cells and a powerful numbing agent into the bloodstream.  The tentacles continued to wriggle inside of Twilight, quickly wiggling themselves between Twilight’s organs and sprouting tendrils that fused to every organ they touched infecting everything in its path.  Anchored inside of Twilight’s flesh, the tentacles pulled their bodies together and Blossom’s body quickly began to deform as all manner of tendrils latched and fused to Twilight’s furry skin, pumping more biomass into Twilight’s flesh.  Countless tiny worms injected themselves into Twilight.  Blossomforth’s body began to fuse to Twilight’s  Blossomforth’s main body began to shrink and shrivel as most of it was being inserted into Twilight’s flesh. Simultaneously, the muscle in Blossomforth’s neck stretched and flexed causing Blossomforth’s head to lunge towards Twilight’s face, the vertebrae in her neck popping as they separated from each other.  Half of Blossomforth’s face began to turn a raw red color and deformed to fuse to Twilight’s face.  The flesh where their faces touched became continuous.  Twilight’s lips fused together with Blossomforth’s as the flesh in their cheeks mutated and retracted.  Their mouths joined and saliva mixed.  Blossomforth’s tongue slithered into Twilight’s side and curled around Twilight’s tongue.  Blossomforth’s tentacle tongue continued to slither down Twilight’s throat. ---- Twilight was in a state of shock.  Her moment of shock and disbelief doomed her.  The numbing agent that Blossomforth’s tentacles utilized made sure that Twilight did not feel much pain.  Blossomforth’s face fused to hers, keeping Twilight from really seeing what was going on.  Twilight was blind and numb to her assimilation.  Blossomforth’s biomass worked quickly and in just a few seconds had inserted most of her biomass into Twilight. As Twilight felt a wormlike tongue enter her mouth through the hole where her cheek used to be she released a bloodcurdling scream.  Twilight snapped out of her shock.  Noises of horror wailed out of Twilight’s mouth and Twilight activated her magic.  Lyra’s body had splattered to the floor because of Twilight’s initial shock interrupting her magic.  But now the magic came back in a vengeful force.  Blossomforth’s head and what was left of her withered body was surrounded in a pink magical glow and was violently torn from Twilight’s body.  Twilight screamed as half of her face was torn from her skull and Blossomforth’s body was torn from her own barrel like a scab, exposing her bloody flesh to the open air.  Countless wormlike tentacles and tendrils could be seen curling and swimming around in the exposed muscles and flesh in Twilight’s barrel.  The side of Twilight’s face was still attached to Blossomforth’s fusing flesh.  Twilight almost looked like the villain Two Face from the Batmare movie.  Twilight only felt numb, the assimilation was designed to be painless.  Twilight telekinetically held Blossomforth in front of her. Blossomforth’s main body was in tatters.  Half of twilight’s face, bloody and purple was still fused, dangling on the side of Blossomforth’s face.  Her neck was stretched with exposed red muscle.  Blossomforth’s body was torn in half, only one foreleg dangled to the side and Blossomforth’s exposed lumbar spine could be seen down to the tailbone, muscle and blood exposed, dripping.  Blossomforth’s lower torso was completely gone.  Blossomforth’s torso had a multitude of mutated tendrils still dangling as they were extracted and pulled away from Twilight’s flesh.  Blossomforth’s still beating heart could be seen pulsating as well as Blossomforth’s trachea and dangling esophagus.  Sharp broken and exposed ribs could be seen.  Blossomforth’s tentacle tongue lolled almost two feet out of her mouth. Twilight collapsed onto her knees, too weak to stand but still in full control of her magic.  Tears streamed out of her eyes.  The worms began to swim up her neck, wiggling just beneath her skin and swimming between her organs.  Twilight’s torso was mutated, bloated and mostly paralyzed.  Worms could be seen underneath every inch of the skin in her torso, wriggling, swimming, and sliding.  Twilight’s body began to repair itself as it became fully assimilated.  Tentacles extruded and writhed themselves out from the open wounds in Twilight’s barrel and face, absorbing spilled blood as Twilight’s flesh knitted itself back together. Tears flowed down Twilight’s eyes as the worms began to slither underneath the skin of her face.  “What have you done to me, you monster!  I’m dead!  You have killed me!  What are you?  At least tell me that before I die!” Twilight’s flesh attached to Blossomforth’s face mutated and closed the hole in her face.   Blossomforth’s smooth fur on her face was whole again, her face looked pristine.  Blossomforth’s tentacle tongue retracted slowly and the biomass mutated into an organ.  The tongue’s supplied biomass was used to grow a pulsating pump attached to the dangling trachea that supplied air pressure for her voicebox to work.  Blossomforth’s mouth opened and she spoke. “I regret doing this, Twilight, but it had to be done.  I couldn’t risk you spreading information about my existence.”  Blossomforth’s floating head looked ashamed and sorrowful. Blossomforth looked at Twilight.  Twilight looked frightened and scared.  Blossomforth’s eyes softened, tears began leaking from her eyes.  “I’m so sorry for doing this, Twilight!  It is true, I am a monster!  But the truth, the truth is that I’m scared, Twilight.  I’m scared of myself, I’m scared of you and what ponies like you could do to me.  I’m scared of what something like me could do to the wor-” Twilight began crying and wailed out with a sob.  “W-why are you killing me?  W-will you please stop?  I have friends that will miss me!  I’m scared of dying!  I’m scared of you!  Stop!  Please!” Blossomforth’s eyes widened with a desperate plea of compassion.  “I’m not killing you, Twilight!  I’m just assimilating you!  I know you don’t have a choice in this but please trust me!  I don’t want to hurt you but I have to do this.  The truth is that I need your help and we may very well need each other soon to save Equestira!  I give you my word that I will not hurt you even if you don’t understand how right now.  I only hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me later.” Twilight’s magic began to weaken.  The worms had reached her brain.  Twilight whispered, she was getting weaker.  “I’m scared, Blossom.  I’m scared of losing myself.”  Twilight looked up at Blossomforth.  “Is this the end for me?” The assimilation reached the part of Twilight’s brain that controlled her magic.  The tentacles on Blossomforth’s mauled torso fused together to reform her shoulders and her missing foreleg.  Blossomforth now looked like a wraith with her spine and broken ribs dangling below her shoulders. Blossomforth seized control of Twilight’s magic via her brain and floated herself down to Twilight’s head.  She hugged the larger alicorn around the neck, cradling her head in her forelegs. Blossomforth closed her eyes tightly, tears squeezing out of them as she embraced Twilight and nuzzled their cheeks together, this time without the fusing assimilation.  Blossom whispered softly into Twilight’s ear.  “I promise, I will not let you lose yourself.  Now sleep, Twilight.  I will wake you when I’m ready for you.” Twilight Sparkle, alicorn, scientist, and librarian was assimilated by Blossomforth. > Chapter 28: Invasion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thing was angry with herself but at the same time she was exhilarated with anticipation just thinking about what she was about to do. She was itching to take action. Thing had been a bit too hasty when she telepathically read Blossom’s mind. It seemed that her intrusion caused Blossomforth to suspect something but Bloss seemed to be powerless to investigate further with her inexperience at navigating the hivemind. The equivalent of a mental sigh passed through Thing’s mind. Did it really matter if Blossom suspected something? She was so passive that she probably wouldn't do anything anyway. Thing idly sprouted a tendril from her biomass and reached it down from the ceiling to pet Roseluck’s newly grown body. A thick column of flesh attached to the ceiling was fused Roseluck’s barrel, the veiny, fleshy structure pulsated and twitched as liquified gore pumped itself inside, mutating into internal organs. Thing moved her eye tendrils in front of Roseluck’s face and stared deeply into Roseluck’s intricate green irises, viewing the tiny fibres that gave the eye the vibrant green color. Her eyes were dead, Roseluck’s brain was still under the effects of stasis. What was she even doing anyway? Tiphoofing around Blossomforth, slowly and carefully infecting herself into ponies? No, she needed a better plan. At this rate, Blossomforth was sure to confront her once she gained more hivemind skills. Thing needed to be ready, fear began to take hold. If she was not ready, Blossom had a real chance of stopping her before she could enact her devious plan. Thing began to think, forming her plan in her mind. She needed to be sure that she could assimilate ponies fast enough that she could not be stopped. She would be nowhere as efficient as Blossom could be if Blossom were to fully utilize the potential of the information contained in the Matrix but it would be enough for her current purposes. Thing needed to test herself. If she was to be successful she needed to be certain that what she had was enough. Thing traced her tendril across the soft reddish fur of her newly grown pony. It was time to check on how the Everfree infection was doing. Thing concentrated and telepathically pinged all of her biomass with a broadcast using her hivemind’s main broadcast frequency. The rush of information filled her mind. She was able to feel her biomass in her hivemind scattered across the everfree. Excellent, the assimilation was going nicely but the information was overwhelming, she could not keep track of everything her biomass was automatically assimilating. Her tendrils began to curl around themselves and slimy excretion glistened on her flesh’s elastic skin like an oily sweat. The amorphous muscles trembled as she took in the feeling of all the biomass she had infected, free for her to mold, mutate and exploit. The sensation was erotic and pleasurable, her entire goreish mutation of a body throbbed as if it were a veiny pulsating penis, with warmth radiating from her body. The column of flesh fused to Roseluck also throbbed, causing Roseluck’s blood pressure to rise along with her body temperature and hormone function. Roseluck’s expressionless face became tinged slightly red. It seemed that Rose’s body was becoming sexually heated. It made sense, it was the estrous season after all and for now Rose’s body was nothing but an extension of her own. Thing telepathically hijacked part of Rose’s nervous system and raised her tail, dock erecting itself upwards to reveal a slick vagina and a protruding clitoris. The vague shape of a face emerged from the shifting biomass on the ceiling, gore shifting together into a lump under the elastic epidermis. The the light brownish epidermis turned a more pink color, mutating into the pinkish color and texture of bare pony skin as it stretched over the lump of flesh and slowly resolved itself into the shape of a muzzle. The skin continued to stretch as the head emerged from the previously flat biomass and bone structure poked the skin in various places like the chin, cheekbones, and around the eye sockets. A faint creaking sound could be heard as the bone warped into a pony skull. The skin sunk, stretching into a concave shape to form the empty eye sockets. Tiny pores on the surface of the skin began to form themselves on the featureless elastic epidermis and fur began to grow out of them. The skin split at the mouth, curling inward to form fleshy lips, revealing sharp predatory teeth, strange to be seen on the skull of a generally herbivore pony. The mouth grinned as it was still forming into a normal looking pony face and a tongue began to stretch out of the mouth like a snake. The head extruded itself as more of the biomass stuck to the ceiling pooled above the forming skull into a long dangling neck containing a complete pony spine, supporting and extending itself outward. As the brownish-tan fur and light orange mane grew, eyeballs sprouted to fill the empty sockets. Amber’s now fully formed face hovered in front of Roseluck’s slick vagina, mutated neck stretching from the ceiling and licked the vaginal fluid that had leaked onto the fleshy clit. Amber shuddered as she performed autocullingus, feeling the fatty plot, soft vulvar, and labial lips with her tongue pressing deep into the soft muscle and fat deep inside Rose’s ass. She also felt the slippery tongue from Rose’s body, the feeling was very intimate. As she brought her face closer to her plot she could feel and smell her own warmth and arousal, a damp smell of Rose’s unique musk. Rose’s grown body was still fully under her control and the sexual arousal caused a few fleshy vulvar winks. Thing felt the anticipation coming from Rose’s loins. She slithered her tongue out further and curled it firmly around the protruding clit and slipped it into the sensitive vaginal canal, wriggling it as she mentally explored the new DNA designs she had assimilated one by one. Amber’s face became red as she curled and licked her tongue against the fleshy walls of the vagina, intimately feeling the tongue and the fleshy vagina as she also mentally pleasured herself by exploring never before assimilated DNA. The more amorphous, unshaped, and mutated parts of her body began to pulsate with excitement with veiny protrusions scattered across the flesh’s surface. Thing clenched Rose’s pelvic muscles around her own tentacle tongue as she mentally examined a bear’s DNA. She clenched again, this time a goose, long neck, light bones, able to float on water. So much stimulation from so many sources. It took her no time at all to orgasm. The vagina began clenching uncontrollably and Amber tilted her head sideways to kiss the vagina burrowing her face inside Rose’s soft buttocks and her tongue deep inside Rose’s vagina, slurping the vaginal secretions as they leaked out. Finally, Amber let go of the kiss, a mix of saliva and viginal secretions trailed from the vagina to the lips of her mouth as her long tongue retracted, tickling the vaginal walls. Amber simply hung there for a minute panting and watching the clit’s winking slowly subside, ripe vaginal secretions glistening within the folds of the sexual organ. She felt she had earned that after her success at assimilating such a large swath of Everfree. There was so much DNA she had access to but she could not index it all without the ability to split and grow her mind to properly encompass her rapidly spreading and multiplying biomass. Well, the silver lining of her inability to exponentially expand her hivemind to process and store new DNA was that she could experience the orgasmic pleasure of finding new DNA again and again whenever she wanted to, there was a huge abundance. Thing gave Rose’s clit and labia one last, long lick in order to clean up the remains of the vaginal secretions, leaving a clean marehood behind. Thing’s amorphous body shivered with pleasure, then she curled, arched, and twisted Amber’s long, hanging neck, cracking the vertebrae of the spine inside. It was the equivalent of a knuckle cracking. It was time to get to work. Thing unfused her fleshy pump from Roseluck’s barrel as she took control of Rose’s body and began to walk her up the stairs to be put to bed. Rose would not remember the assimilation, perhaps scraps of the memory would remain as if a half remembered dream but it was insignificant. Thing carefully activated Rose’s central nervous system and felt her consciousness fill the brain with synapses rapidly firing once more in a sleep state. Thing left Rose to wake up on her own and her mind shifted back to her biomass downstairs. The neck supporting Amber’s suspended head began to sprout fur and look more ponylike. The biomass stuck to the ceiling began slithering within the neck and forelegs began to sprout out of the lower part of the neck as more fur began to carpet the elastic skin. More biomass extruded and lowered itself from the ceiling and amber’s torso began to take shape, growing out of the absurdly long neck and around the long spine. Amber’s forehooves gracefully touched down on the carpet without a sound and her barrel was not far above where her hind legs sprouted downwards as well to softly land on the floor. Her tail stretched upwards in a mutated fashion but finally detached itself from the ceiling and morphed itself into a normal looking dock complete with tail hairs rapidly growing out to hide her coagulating genitals. Amber turned her neck to look back at her increasingly familiar body and gave herself a grin full of sharp predatory canines. Amber exited Rose’s house and closed the door behind her. She took flight with her recently grown wings and flew directly towards the everfree. Once there she landed in the forest’s canopy, her body quickly dissolved, her skin splitting apart and internal organs still pulsating as they spilled forth, mutating and dissolving into her goreish sludge with its familiar elastic epidermis growing on the surface. Out of the biomass, her gore slowly molded and hardened itself into an exoskeleton, taking her familiar predatory spider form. She felt quite at home high in the tree tops, able to silently skitter her way between the trees. But she too let go of her spider body and programed a simple instinctual hunting process into its brain, unleashing it upon the poor helpless prey of the everfree. Thing expanded her hivemind as best she could, trying to take in all the biomass she was connected to. Her infection had quickly spread deep into the Everfree like a zombie invasion. Almost all of the animals in a large swath of land had been assimilated and forced to forget their assimilation as they went about their normal business. Every animal that was infected was forced to find two more to infect before it could return to normal. Even the insects like the ants were infected. No living being except the plants were safe from her assimilation. The infection had spread through the insects particularly quickly and a prick from a mosquito into the bloodstream of an animal was enough to start a slow and insidious assimilation. Every nook and cranny was populated by these insects and terrified animals hiding from the violent rampage of assimilations were assimilated in their burrows. Once the assimilation had taken over all of the life forms, the Everfree once again became calm, the animals and insects forced to forget and return to their normal state. Hundreds of millions of organisms, as large as hydras and as tiny as mites were infected, claimed as her biomass. Thing could not hope to count or finely control such a horde yet there they were with her advanced enzymes lurking within their cells. This was a new experience for Thing but she leaned on the instincts provided by the Ancestors. She tapped into the minds of animals and hunters providing spatial intelligence of the everfree, tiny tumors grew inside the brains of these animals and processed the relevant information, telepathically passing it on to Thing’s mind. Information about the lay of the land filtered into her mind. Thing needed to find a good laboratory. Somewhere not too large and relatively controllable where she could experiment on ponies. It seemed that the birds were some of the best sources, especially the eagles and hawks that would travel long distances to find their prey. Many of them had traveled to pony cities and towns. Fillydelphia was way too large and uncontrollable, Cloudsdale was too open with too many avenues of escape. Ponyville would have been relatively ideal, surrounded on many sides by the everfree but Blossomforth resided in the town. She needed a small controllable target. Ah yes, she found what she was looking for. Seaward Shoals, somewhat remote and small enough to easily control. It was a town connected to Ponyville by the railway system. It was very close to the everfree with escape blocked on one side by the ocean and as a bonus the Everfree bordered another side of the town. The town was small enough to work with without needing too much preparation, it was an ideal target. Thing sensed some assimilated animals in the everfree near the town and promptly took over their brains forcing them to gather near the edge of the forest. They all gathered, a fox, rabbit, a weasel and a few birds stood in a line. Thing concentrated on their bodies, then she commanded her enzymes embedded in the animal’s cells to excrete a powerful chemical. All at once every cell in each of the animals excreted this chemical. The chemical worked quickly, dissolving the structural bonds between cells. Skin dissolved, revealing red, raw muscle and internal organs which followed suit melting and dissolving. Bone too fell apart and soon the animals were reduced to nothing more than a red puddle of dissolved gore. The familiar abomination’s elastic skin grew on the surface. Once again, Thing reformed Amber’s face which emerged from the puddle. The biomass clumped together, draining into Amber’s emerging form complete with wet pops and grotesque moist slicking sounds. In this way, Amber’s body reformed itself 70 miles away from where it existed just minutes prior. Thing stretched her new body, arching her back and stretching her legs, joints and vertebrae popped and she shivered with pleasure. The animal’s bodies had served their purpose, in the process she was able to absorb and explore their DNA. A very pleasurable experience. What was also pleasurable was the feeling of control. How she was able to traverse space so quickly just by willing biomass within her rapidly spreading infection to form into a new body for her to experience and control. It was utter freedom or at least it was more freedom than she had ever experienced before. She flexed her pelvic floor muscles twice and her clit protruded with a fleshy wink each time. She shivered once more, she was still feeling a bit horny due to all of the DNA she was absorbing combined with the estrous season this body felt and the wonderful feeling of freedom that tickled her in more ways than one. It was no wonder her Ancestors programmed seeds like herself to not engage in sex and cut off their ability to even feel erotic pleasure. It could be so distracting and inefficient. The realization of her freedom, her ability to experience what few seeds had ever experienced before tickled her even more. Amber took off from the forest floor and flew out of the forest. The sun was almost done setting on the ocean’s horizon with a bright orange color and twilight rapidly took over the town. She flew high above scouting the place. The town was quaint and small with scattered houses and businesses. The houses nearer to the shore were raised on stilts. It was rapidly starting to get darker out and she could still see a few ponies below but most seemed to be inside. Thing had a strategy. This was to be an experiment to test her effectiveness in assimilating ponies quickly on a large scale. However, she needed a controlled test environment with as little risk as possible. She definitely did not want Blossomforth or the government made aware of her existence or what she was doing. In order to create a safe environment for her to experiment she would have to initiate the assimilation of the village slowly and methodically to ensure that her presence was not discovered. She would go herself, house to house assimilating ponies. It might take a while but the town was small and she could handle it. Once she was relatively sure that all of the ponies were assimilated then she would begin phase two of her experiment. She would reprogram the minds and bodies of the animals in the nearby Everfree to rush into the town and hunt for ponies in somewhat of a blitzkrieg invasion complete with a huge flock of birds blocking pegasi escape from the sky. When the animals caught or touched a pony their minds were programmed to initiate a reaction and cause their flesh to deform and fuse to the pony and begin assimilation. She would not be controlling how the ponies reacted in order to generate realistic test data so she could better see how a pony population would react to her invading force. Because all of the ponies had been assimilated before if one managed to escape Thing would sense them and force them to return anyways. It was a perfect controlled environment. Well, she might as well get started. Thing eyed a few houses, better to save more difficult targets for later at night. It was usually easiest to find a ventilation system as ponies needed oxygen to live. It was not completely dark yet so she decided to land on the ground disguised as a pony instead of landing on the roof and deforming her body in plain sight. Amber touched down and walked down the street slowly, getting closer to the bay as she did. Ah yes, a house on stilts should work great! The small village did not have a robust lighting system so it got dark quickly with yellow glows coming from the windows of the houses. Amber stepped into the shadows and swiveled her head. No one in sight. She slipped under the house on stilts, very dark under here and heard muffled hoofsteps above her on the floorboard as well as some muffled conversation. Amber shifted her eyes, they morphed into owl’s eyes, her skull creaking and warping to house the much larger eyes. The floorboards above her seemed to be well insulated with plaster sealing the cracks but she could see much more than she used to. She twisted her neck around 180 degrees like an owl as she scanned the bottom of the house. Ah yes! There it was, an imperfection in the insulation. Her owl eyes were able to see the very faint glow of light coming from the crack. Amber placed her hooves on the floorboard and they began to deform, sticking to the surface, her bones dissolving and organs deforming into her default amorphous muscle. She pushed her skull against the boards and it too began deforming save for her eyes which popped out of her skull with a sucking pop sound suspended by the optic nerve which was soon coated with her amorphous muscle so she could still see and move her eyes. Soon her torso and hind legs were lifted from the ground as her body transformed into a more amorphous and flexible muscle substance. She flowed like a strange liquid across the bottom of the floorboards and forced a small sliver of her biomass through the crack in the floorboards. Once through the crack she formed a small eye to see what she was dealing with. She found herself in the corner of a kitchen staring across the floor. She swiveled her periscope of an eye. Above her there was a table with a pony sitting in a chair at the table. More biomass slithered through the crack and Thing formed a sound sensory organ below the eye on the stem to hear the ponies above. She could see the other pony sit down to eat. The male pony began to talk. “Mmm! This is some great salmon honey! Too bad they only come around when the season is in.” “I’m glad you like it Harold, I thought you would have gotten sick of fish being around them every day and all.” Thing tuned out the conversation. More of her biomass slowly slimed though the crack, pooling on the kitchen floor below the ponies. She silently slithered below them in her amorphous form. Slowly she began to flow up the wall her biomass hiding behind the chair of the pony out of view from the other. She sprouted two tentacles out of the mass and reached out behind the stallion eating. She prepared herself, one of her tentacles shifted and wriggled, some internal structure mutating within. She was ready. With one tentacle, she poked it around the head of the stallion with an eyestalk to aim and squirted an ejaculation projectile across the table to the mare sitting across. The liquid biomass splattered and stuck to her muzzle as if it were glue. Simultaneously, she reached around the head of the stallion and fused her second tentacle to his lips. Thing’s biomass fused into the mare’s mouth and sealed her lips together. The mare’s flesh seemed to have absorbed Thing’s biomass as it disappeared into her flesh. She didn’t have a mouth anymore and her cries were muffled as she watched Thing reveal herself behind her husband. Tentacles rapidly grew and reached out to the mare. She fell backwards out of her chair but the tentacles sprang forth and wrapped around her forelegs, keeping her from falling with her chair leaning backwards. Thing reached out with another tentacle stretching it across the room and switched off the lights. Moonlight filtered through the windows. The mare and stallion could only watch in horror as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. The slimy, lubricated tentacles wrapped around their limbs, seeming to originate from under the table. Thing quickly fused her tentacles to their flesh. They began to struggle, thrashing against her tentacles especially the mare. In response Thing braced herself by shooting tentacles to the walls and ceiling and began to lift the ponies out of their chairs. Soon their legs began transforming into Thing’s biomass, enlarging the tentacles they were fused to and creeping onto their torsos as the assimilation spread. The two ponies’ chests heaved and tears leaked from the mare’s eyes as they watched their own bodies dissolve before their very eyes. The stallion shivered in fear, sweating profusely. They were such a cute couple but it was a shame to see them so scared. Wait, why did she even care? It seemed she had gained some semblance of empathy from Bloss. The eyes attached to their tendrils rolled to the side with annoyance, body language she had also inherited from Blossomforth. Perhaps she could give these ponies a parting gift. Also it would be interesting to see how they reacted, they wouldn’t remember this anyways so no harm done. Perhaps she could learn more about ponies as well, or maybe it was just an excuse to exercise her newfound freedom. This town was to be her laboratory, after all. Thing held up a tentacle before her eye and it began to transform, it’s texture gradually changing until it was a very long, muscular, and flexible tongue. Salivary glands secreted saliva giving the tongue a slippery texture. The couple suspended in mid air were in very vulnerable positions. They no longer had any legs, only tentacles fused to their torsos. Thing brought them closer and wasted no time. She began to lick the stallion’s sheathed penis, gently tickling his testicles as he did, she continued by pushing her tongue into his soft inner shaft which was located in his groin and tickled his anus where his sheathed penis was hiding. Slowly his penis began to come out of hiding. She traced her tongue across his now exposed shaft and soon he was fully erect with veins protruding. The stallion looked down with wide horrified eyes as he was coaxed into arousal by the monster. Satisfied, Thing moved the tentacle tongue to the mare’s parts and slipped her lubricated tongue into her folds feeling her unique form. Soon the mare too was winking from her vulva. Thing could smell the pheromones starting to waft from their privates and smirked internally. It seemed the estrous season had spread here as well. Thing brought their torsos together, their eyes widened with apprehensive fear and with just a hidden hint of anticipation. Suddenly, Thing froze and a realization broached her mind. Her newfound freedom was getting to her head; she was turning into a pervert. The two ponies hung suspended in front of her, the stallion’s penis pulsating gently and the mare’s clit flexing outwards as Thing considered her realization. Ah well, who cares anyways? Thing brought the torsos together and inserted the stallion’s penis into his wife’s vagina. She started slow, inserting the penis in and out, and she heard the ponies’ breaths through their noses start to become deeper as they felt more pleasure. Both of the ponies’ mouths were sealed shut, a continuous skin where their mouths used to be. She began to speed up how quickly the penis was inserted, rhythmically humping their genitals together and the couple began breathing quicker and quicker though their noses. Thing was in complete control, creepily holding the helpless ponies fused to her tentacles and forcing them to have sex as if they were dolls. Thing watched how the ponies reacted, detachedly observing. The mare began her muffled moaning. Thing licked her tentacle tongue around the stallion’s groin and balls as the non consensual sex continued and began to curl her tongue around his shaft as it entered. Thing felt the contours of the penis as well as the slippery vaginal walls of the mare. Their eyes widened as they realized that the monster had joined in as well. They both made eye contact with the watching suspended eye tendril but broke contact as they both began to feel supreme pleasure. The tip of Thing’s tongue split in half and tickled the spot under the tip of the stallion’s penis, the other half reached upwards trying to find the mare’s g-spot. The assimilation was still progressing as this was happening and Thing now had access to the Mare’s mind. Thing interfaced and noticed when she found the mare’s spot. Now every time she thrusted the couple together her tongue could apply pressure to the spot. The mare began moaning with a higher pitch behind her sealed lips. In no time at all the couple cummed at the same time, vaginal secretions and sperm mixed together, Thing stopped the rhythmic thrusting and simply pushed the pair together. The stallion orgasmed, his pelvic floor muscles clenching uncontrollably to pump sperm into his wife’s vagina. The mare’s pelvic floor muscles also clenched quickly causing her clit to wink and her muscles to massage her husband’s penis as well as Thing’s tongue. Well, it was time to bring an end to this orgy. Best to assimilate the couple before they could recover from their orgasms. Quickly she began fusing the couple together. The mare’s vagina fused with the stallion’s penis and the sexual juices were absorbed by their mutating genitals as they fused together, becoming one flesh. As their sexes fused, the pelvic region followed suit and soon their fused torsos could not be told apart. Thing had already infected their whole bodies so the process went quickly. Thing also activated the nervous system stasis chemicals and just as quickly their minds slowed and stopped. Thing brought their bodies into herself and engulfed them with her flesh. Soon the couple was nothing but amorphous muscle and two static nervous systems. Thing stretched out new tentacles formed from the biomass gained from the couple and reached out to adhere them to the ceiling. Her tentacles began walking on the ceiling, and walls like a strange mutated spider and she quickly propelled her large body containing the biomass of three normal sized ponies into the corridor and up the stairs. As this was happening, Thing began to quickly scan their minds. Hmm, it seemed that there was a party going on at their neighbor’s house and the wife, her name being Rosemary, was invited. Thing curled a tentacle around the couple’s bedroom doorknob and entered, her tentacles slithering forward as they walked. She hovered above the bed, hanging from the ceiling and stretched two tentacles into the covers. The tentacles began pumping biomass as well as the couple’s preserved nervous systems into the sheets to quickly reform their bodies. Grotesque sounds of rapidly growing bodies followed, the bed creaked as weight was placed upon it and soon there were two ponies lying in bed fast asleep. Thing unfused her tentacle pumps from their belly buttons. The tips of her tentacles looked strangely like umbilical cords. Perhaps Thing could take the form of this mare and join the party. That would make things easier. Thing gathered her biomass together on the ceiling and it began to convulse. Thing extruded out a lump of flesh which formed itself into the cloned skull of the mare she had just assimilated, watching the process with an eye tendril. Thing opened her new eyes, yes, this would do nicely. Thing continued extruding the head outwards and soon a clone of the recently assimilated mare was lowered to the ground, standing before the bed. Thing quietly walked out of the bedroom with her new meat suit and descended the stairs. Thing opened the front door and shut it behind her. Two down about a hundred to go. Thing frowned. She would have to be quicker if she wanted to assimilate the town by morning. She had her fun. It was all business and efficiency from now on. Thing turned her head to look at the house where the party was going on and grinned, her cheeks splitting apart slightly as her grin widened into a predatory smile, revealing a row of sharp canines. > Chapter 29: Twilight Trouble > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The light of consciousness slowly faded from the purple tinged eyes of Twilight Sparkle. Creases and expression around her eyes and on Twilight’s face faded into dead neutrality as the machinations of her nervous system were forced to quit functioning by a coordinated chemical reaction. Despite her dead expression, tears still stained the fur on her face, a reminder of the horrifying deed that had just taken place. Twilight sat upright, her muscles locked into place, staring at nothing. Her will was sealed. The room was silent except for the soft sobbing of a magically suspended torso. The torso was missing all its flesh below the wing joints with drips of blood leaking from rapidly self healing wounds, as the excess red liquid pooled to drip from the tip of a sinewy tailbone. Blossomforth hugged the soft, warm neck of the comatose purple pony, sobbing into the fur of the larger alicorn as if she were a teddy bear. Blood still pumped through Twilight’s veins. Blossomforth simply cried into Twilight’s neck. What had she done? When did things get so complicated? What kind of monster was she becoming? Blossomforth had just committed an unspeakable crime. She had forcibly taken the body of a princess, of the beloved heroic alicorn. Twilight was now her’s, merely an extension of her biomass, she had taken complete control over Twilight’s very being. Twilight’s life and identity on this physical three dimensional universe was trapped in the control of Blossomforth’s hivemind, utterly and completely defeated by the incomprehensibly advanced alien biological technology from another galaxy. Blossomforth looked around, another gut wrenching sense of shame took over her mind as she looked over to Lyra’s disfigured glob of biomass, random features from Lyra’s old body could be seen unceremoniously smeared and mutated across the surface. Oh, poor Lyra! What had she ever done to deserve this? Her breath hitched as a wretched thought surfaced into Blossom’s mind: Lyra had tried to seduce Anon. That’s why this happened. Because she was jealous. A petty, vindictive bitch. She was not a good pony. Blossomforth cringed at the thought, feeling like she wanted to throw up. The guilt left a void in her soul, as if she had lost something. Blossomforth began to feel dizzy. She was alone. She had taken control. Unquestionably, she was the superior, dominant organism. Smiting Lyra, raping Twilight in every way except sexually, and paralyzing Anon against his will. Blossom began hyperventilating as she observed Twilight from her own floating torso, stolen magic keeping her aloft; her exposed heart could be seen pumping more quickly, each rapid beat jerking her heart with a violent squish. The fear of loneliness was coming back. This was her fate, the alien consciousness had told her. She would end up assimilating everyone in the end whether she wanted or not. Death was the only escape the other organisms had before she infected them, once infected, even the sweet kiss of death could be postponed indefinitely. They were bound to the same spherical plane as her by gravity, trapped in the same space and in the same fate. They would be her food, they would be her slaves, bound to her will to be shaped into whatever grotesque machinations she could design. Blossom shivered, she began to feel cold. The magic on Twilight’s horn began to waver. Blossom needed her human, she needed him now. Blossomforth’s eyes shifted to Twilight’s torso, bloated with infectious worms still wriggling within her. Blossomforth narrowed her eyes and Twilight’s entire torso began wriggling with movement. The movement began traveling up Twilight’s neck and suddenly Twilight’s mouth was forced open as countless wriggling worms ejected themselves. The worms fused together into one large tentacle as they writhed from Twilight’s mouth and amorphously stretched out, reaching out to fuse to Blossomforth’s exposed tailbone as the alien non-euclidean organic substance flowed and wormed its way around her spine. The tentacle split itself apart into many smaller tendrils that wrapped around Blossomforth’s spine. Organs grew from the tendril stems like fruits as the biomass pumped through the veiny tendrils, mutating to fill her torso with organs, muscle and finally skin. Twilight’s bloatedness shrank as the amorphous muscle disgustingly wriggled its way out of her mouth until the last of it came out, slithering through the air to fortify and rebuild Blossomforth’s body. As Blossomforth’s body became whole again she slowly lowered herself to the floor, her deceptively non-threatening pony form restored. Blossomforth stood up and turned her head to look at the mass of disfigured meat and mutated skin that used to be Lyra, her eyes heavy and remorseful. Lyra’s nervous system was still buried somewhere within the mutated glob of meaty flesh no where near resembling a pony. Her facial features were spread across the surface of the mass and part of one of her forelegs could be seen jutting out at a strange angle. Patches of Lyra’s turquoise fur could still be seen but the skin was mostly mutated and bare. It was time to set things right, this abuse had to stop. Blossom closed her tear stained eyes and telepathically fished the copied information about Lyra’s body structure out of the Matrix, initiating the transformation. It began with Lyra’s face. Scattered features, muzzle, horn, jaw, eyeballs, and ears began to shift on the surface of the flesh towards each other, quickly rearranging themselves into Lyra’s familiar face, albeit without any bone structure to speak of. Flabby amorphously shifting cartilage provided the only sense of form. Lyra’s visible leg twitched and made some loud cracking noises as it unbent itself and shifted downwards below the forming face and found it’s way into the socket of Lyra’s shoulder with an audible pop. Bones rapidly formed within the fleshy glob and pierced the elastic epidermis as amorphous muscle forced the bones into their normal anatomic position. The skin tightened and stretched around Lyra’s extruding and developing limbs and face. Gooey amorphous muscle slithered between the skin and bone, solidifying into the structure of normal pony muscles. Finally, Lyra’s bright turquoise fur grew to fill the bare patches and Lyra, fully formed, lied on the floor next to Twilight’s large statuesque alicorn body. Lyra’s body lie on the floor, limp like a discarded toy. Her head slumped on the floor, one cheek on the ground with her mouth slightly open, drooling with a dead expression as her animated flesh finished its mutation. Just as the transformation was completing, Lyra’s empty golden eyes rolled in their sockets slowly and stopped to stare directly into Blossomforth’s eyes before she went completely still. Blossomforth suddenly froze, a chill tingled up her spine as Lyra’s dead eyes stared into her soul. A sudden illogical fear trapped Blossomforth, she was unable to move as a profound sense of dreadful guilt pierced her soul. ‘You did this to me,’ the empty, golden eyes seemed to say, as they effortlessly paralyzed Blossomforth in a state of overwhelming guilt and sheer terror. For just a moment, Blossomforth thought that Lyra had woken up and was judging her for her sins, an all powerful stare binding her and sentencing her soul to eternal damnation. Blossomforth’s face was a visage of fear. “I-I didn’t mean to!” Blossomforth’s adrenaline spiked, her heart began pounding in her ears and she breathed rapidly. She began to scurry backwards but was unable to break eye contact with the gaping abyss that trapped her. Finally with a supreme effort, she tore her eyes away from the soul eating eyes and broke contact, turning tail to run away, breathing heavily as she galloped to the exit of the massage room. She panted with a soft panicked whine of fear as she dashed away. She sped through the room and leaped over the coffee table to tackle an unconscious Anon and scurry behind his larger frame between him and the couch to hide from the empty soul eating eyes of death. Anon would protect her from the demon. Breathing heavily she shivered with fright. It was then that she remembered exactly what she was so afraid of. She laid still for a moment, wedged between Anon and the couch. She began to cry, sobbing profusely and wrapped her legs around Anon’s torso tightly, straddling him and sobbing into his back, staining his shirt with mucus. She lay there crying and sobbing pathetically for a long time as she clutched at Anon’s torso. “Mmmmmrrrrrrrgggggg...” Blossomforth suddenly stopped her sobbing and her eyes widened. An uncontrollable gasping hiccup characteristic of sobbing shook Blossom’s torso and she cautiously fell silent. “Mmmmmmrrrrrrrnnnnggggg!” Blossom raised her head. The weak groaning sound was coming from Anon. Blossomforth’s eyes widened as she scrambled to her hooves. She carefully climbed over Anon and lowered herself to the floor so she could see Anon’s face. His eyes were half lidded and half his face seemed to be limp while the other side twitched. Anon’s eyes tracked Blossomforth’s movement and another long drawn out groan with a frustrated accent escaped Anon’s lopsided mouth and his eyes rolled at Blossom. Blossomforth winced, Anon was recovering from the paralysis she had imposed on him. He was obviously frustrated with his inability to move. “I-I’m s-so sorry Anon. Here, let me help you.” Blossomforth pushed her hoof against the inside of Anon’s elbow joint. A small protrusion originating from the fleshy frog of her hoof extruded itself like the tendril of a vine, becoming progressively thinner until it took on the familiar anatomic structure of a mosquito proboscis she used on Anon before. A tiny, beady eye also mutated into existence in the base of Blossom’s hoof. The light sensory organ was able to sense infrared, it could sense the presence of veins and warm blood. With an automatically grown neural cluster inside her hoof, her razor thin proboscis was quickly guided to Anon’s median cubital vein as it slithered through the air with some impressively adaptive eye-tendril coordination. Of course, this mostly happened instinctively, using some extremely precise and specialized organs from previously assimilated blood drinking parasites and Blossom did not fully appreciate the complexity of what had just occurred. Blossom’s razor thin proboscis easily slipped through Anon’s skin and injected the antidote generated from a recently grown gland in Blossom’s hoof. The antidote quickly flowed through Anon’s body and neutralized much of the neurotoxic agent. Blossom retracted her proboscis and the specialized organs deformed back into the fleshy frog of her hoof. She sat her haunches on the floor at the base of the couch as she watched Anon recover. Anon began breathing more deeply as he gained conscious control over his diaphragm. A few seconds later, Anon had gained enough strength to move his arms and gave a groaning sigh as he heaved himself into an upright sitting position, steadying and bracing himself against the couch. Anon rubbed his eyes and looked down at Blossomforth. She looked a bit pathetic with tears staining her white fur and a tiny dribble of mucus leaking from her snout as she hiccuped. Even in her sorry state her eyes softened with a hopeful expression as their eyes made contact. Anon felt a bit angry at how Blossom had imposed paralysis over him but he couldn’t bring himself to berate her, seeing her so vulnerable so instead he reached his finger out and poked her firmly in the snout. Blossom shrank beneath the power of the boop, guilt could be seen in her eyes. Anon wanted badly to press her but couldn’t in her time of weakness. Instead he settled for a firm look. ‘You know what you did.’ his expression said. Blossom’s ears wilted dramatically, tears welled up once again in Blossom’s eyes and her hiccups shook her body. She closed her eyes and sobbed ever so softly, tears streamed down her face. Anon wearily sighed and his expression softened, “Comere, you silly pony.” He reached down and lifted her by her forelegs’ pits, bringing her forelegs over his shoulders. She hugged Anon tightly with her forelegs and he rubbed her back as she sobbed, her small frame shaking against his torso. Blossom’s hind legs and wings too wrapped around his torso, gripping him tightly. She did not want to let go. Anon gently massaged the muscles in her wing joints, attached to her shoulder blades. Ever so slowly her sobbing subsided and her breathing slowed with only the occasional hiccup. Anon patiently sat there and allowed her to recover in his arms. “Anon? Am I a bad pony?” Anon embraced and pet Blossomforth’s mane, giving her a big hug as he felt her small body in his arms shaking as she hiccupped. “No, Blossom. You are a very kind and gentle pony. It’s just-” Anon sighed, “I wish you trusted me a little more. I know you probably did what you did to me for a reason but it pains me that you felt like you needed to. What exactly happened while I was out? Are Twilight and Lyra okay? I’m worried about you, Bloss. Tell me what’s wrong, please?” Blossom’s limbs loosened their tight grip on Anon. “I’m so sorry, Anon. I panicked. My alien body, it- the instincts. I felt a powerful fear, I felt a strange need to be in control. I don’t know how to explain it. When Twilight had found Lyra I knew that my secret was close to being exposed. The fear was incredible, it triggered some sort of response in my body that forced me to think coldly and analytically. Twilight could easily teleport away with her discovery or trap me with her powerful magic. There is not much the Ancestors have not faced, but magic is new to my species, unknown with no genetic memory to deal with it. Fear of the unknown is powerfully ingrained. I was only able to see her as a threat to my survival.” Blossomforth was silent for a few moments, Anon could feel Blossomforth’s heart beat in the complete silence. “I-I did it, Anon. I assimilated Twilight.” Anon suddenly stopped rubbing and petting Blossomforth’s back. A trickle of fear tickled his spine and made him shiver. He had suspected this but to hear Blossomforth say it was a different matter. Twilight had always seemed like a powerful symbol of the Equestrian supremacy. She and her friends were able to defeat most of Equestria’s foes with their magic and teamwork. Twilight in some ways represented and embodied the might of the nation of Equestiria and the pony race with her incredibly powerful magic skills and alicorn status. Twilight had been a kind friend that had helped him to adapt to life in this world. The fact that Blossomforth had so easily assimilated such an important pony had him alarmed. Anon let go of the hug and looked at Blossom in her large eyes as he hastily hid his fear. “She’s fine, right? She’s not hurt, and you didn’t… change her? How is she? Did she see anything?” Blossomforth averted her eyes and stared with a tired, faraway look. “She saw everything, she saw the grotesque abomination that I am. Physically, she’s all in one piece but she’s unconscious right now. She was so scared, Anon. The way she looked at me was just horrible.” Blossom looked up at Anon with heavy eyes. “I can’t keep doing this, Anon. I don’t want to be a monster. I don’t want to manipulate. I hate what I have become, I wish I was a real pony again.” Tears glistened in her eyes and she began hiccuping once more. Anon hugged Blossom with one arm but propped up his head with his other arm, braced against the armrest trying to think of what to say or what to do. Blossomforth snuggled her smaller pony body closer to Anon, seeking support. He knew that this would keep happening, it was clear now. Whatever alien biological engineering inside of Blossom that was causing her to react to things in strange ways would cause more problems in the future. Nagging in the back of his mind was also what Blossom had said to him right before she put the whammy on him, the other consciousness in her hivemind was active. A headache was rapidly forming in Anon’s head. Anon sighed wearily as he gathered his thoughts, slowly releasing the hug. He looked into Blossomforth’s eyes with a tired expression. “We really need to figure this out, Blossom. We can’t keep pretending that this will work itself out. Based on what you told me right before Twilight discovered Lyra, before you started freaking out, we have some serious problems. Do you know what the alien is doing in your head? We need help, Blossom. I think it may be time that we told Twilight what’s going on. I think she can help us. She’s a really talented scientist and the most magical pony I know. It’s going to be hard to talk to a pony that saw you how you really are but I think that Twilight is wise enough to eventually accept you as I have. I have faith in her, she is the princess of magic after all. Just- don’t mess with her memories or thoughts like you did with other ponies you assimilated before. It-it’s wrong, a-and-” Anon went silent for a few seconds. Blossomforth looked uncomfortable and was about to say something but Anon interrupted her. “Wait. This is very important to me, Blossom.” Anon looked at Blossom and grasped her around her shoulders, his eyes stared to the side as he hastily gathered his thoughts. Anon adopted a piercing stare of the utmost severity as he stared into Blossomforth’s blue eyes. “I have known Twilight since I came here and I was shunned and rejected by everypony for being different. I don’t blame them, I can be a little intimidating because of my size and ponies being descended from herding ancestors naturally fear the unknown. It is ingrained in their nature. Twilight was the one that accepted me, gave me a place to live, and helped me to fit in when no one else would. Her authority, magical power, and benevolence as a princess is incredible, a true ambassador of her species.” “I know when you assimilate biomass that you can change it and mutate it. Please protect her, I suppose she is part of you or your hivemind now. Don’t scramble her brains or force her to think a certain way. I-I don’t want to lose her. It-it’s just not right to recklessly play with something so precious as the Princess of Equestria’s brain. Don’t become the monster you are afraid of becoming. Treat her mind as a priceless artifact, a one of a kind, absolutely irreplaceable organ of incalculable value. She deserves that respect and you need to be very careful with how your infection affects the friends you know and love. I know how potent your biology can be. Judging by her reaction to being assimilated you may have to impose some temporary restrictions on her while we gently explain what happened. I don’t even know if you can ‘unassimilate’ ponies once your infection or your enzymes are inside. We’ll talk about that later after we have talked to Twilight. Hopefully our talk will go smoothly, this has me nervous to be honest. I’m just asking you to be very careful, please think long and hard before you do anything permanent. Also, try to be as non-invasive as possible with Twilight. Will you do this for me Blossom?” By now, tears were welling up in Blossom’s eyes at Anon’s impassioned speech, her lower lip stiffened and her brow creased as she realized the gravity of her responsibility. Also, a fear of what awaited her in explaining herself to Twilight shivered down her spine. Part of her wanted to simply erase Twilight’s short term memory, it was the easy thing to do, but the fear of what the alien consciousness may be planning and Anon’s speech stuck in her heart. Anon looked at her with a pleading expression. Blossomforth reached her hoof out and touched Anon’s cheek with her hoof. “I swear to you, Anon, I will treat her mind with a sacred reverence. You are absolutely right, I have a huge responsibility now and I will not betray you or the sanctity of Twilight’s mind.” Blossomforth felt dirty. She felt Twilight’s assimilated flesh in the other room as if it were her own, encasing and cradling the precious one of a kind nervous system that contained all of Twilight’s thoughts, personality, and character. She did not feel worthy to be a steward of such an important piece of biological tissue. Oh how very fragile the squishy neural material was encased inside Twilight’s flesh and skull. The very thought of failing Anon’s desperate plea was repulsive, bound to drive her into madness should she fail. Anon spoke up again. “So what’s going on in your hivemind? What did you try to tell me before Twilight found Lyra? It may be prudent to try and figure out what is going on before we wake up Twilight so that we can explain things to her.” Blossomforth’s face suddenly looked more worried and weary, she lifted her hooves to rub her eyes. “Oh mare, I almost forgot about that. I haven’t even thought about that since. I’m super worried about what that part of my hivemind is doing. The problem is that I don’t even know how my mind works, it works in very strange ways. It’s difficult to describe sometimes. I’m going to need some time to really figure out what’s going on there. I need to explore my hivemind for clues.” “Alright, we’ll worry about that later,” Anon said. “For now, let’s just focus on how we’ll approach Twilight. I think she will be the first pony to learn of your existence with the exception of some forcefully repressed memories in some other ponies you infected. This is a big deal. Our goal is to explain things to her without her freaking out. To do this, I’ll go to her alone. It may be better if she doesn’t see you right off the bat. You’ll wait in the other room and come in when I tell you. Also, I don’t want you to do anything to her at first like disabling her magic or something. She might mistake what happened to her as a dream and I’ll do my best to slowly explain what happened in a way that doesn’t make her freak out. Hopefully, this will result in us explaining what happened to her without anything dangerous happening, Twilight’s magic is very powerful. If she does freak out, then I guess you’ll be able to inhibit the connection between her brain and horn, right? ” Blossomforth reluctantly nodded. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Anon was silent for a few seconds but reluctantly continued. “I think you told me you can read the minds of ponies you assimilated. Normally I would want you to respect Twilight’s privacy but I think it may be prudent to take a peek this time. Don’t mess with her magic or body unless it is absolutely necessary. If she is just thinking about doing something rash don’t do anything until she is just about to do it. I really want to avoid body modification if at all possible. Do you think you have the reaction time to do this?” Blossomforth nodded. “Yeah, I should be able to do that. I didn’t tell you but right after I put you to sleep I gained this extreme focus and I was able to make myself think at a rate much faster than usual, essentially making everything around me appear in slow motion. I think I should be able to do it again when needed.” Anon looked a little exasperated, he looked at Blossomforth with an eyebrow raised and with a slightly playful grin. “Is there no end to your abilities? I dread to think what would have happened if the original alien had survived intact or if another pony not so kind hearted as you inherited such advanced biology. I would have just given up to be honest. I guess these ‘Ancestors’ had to be advanced to take over a whole galaxy. Science fiction writers from my world always said ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’.” Blossomforth’s ears twitched as a mild blush appeared on them. She hugged Anon. “I’m thankful to have you too, Anon. You’re always there to ground me with your sound reasoning and loving patience. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” They sat there for a few moments, hugging each other. Blossomforth whispered into Anon’s ear. “I’m scared, Anon. What if Twilight hates me? What if she only pretends to like me out of fear? What if she doesn’t forgive me? What if she only thinks of me as another monster for her friends to banish?” “I think there is a good chance that won’t happen if we do this right. I can’t control what Twilight thinks and I definitely don’t want you to try, but no matter what happens I will still be there for you. Sound good?” “Yeah, that sounds good, Anon.” “Alright, then let’s wake her up.” > Chapter 30: Metempsychosis > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thing intimately felt her flesh hanging from her skeletal system, her cells perfectly arranging themselves into the cloned skeletal structure and soft tissue of her recently assimilated victim as she crossed the street to the illuminated house where the party was taking place.  Her mind was very busy, strategizing how she would assimilate the town.  She could taste the musk and unique body odor of the pony whose body structure she had mutated into.  With a flexible, too long tongue she licked her chops where drool had been leaking, revealing the sharp predatory teeth she liked to grow, and the long sinuous curling flesh of her tongue.  As she approached, she could hear muffled laughter coming from the house, the party in full swing.  There were quite a lot of ponies just waiting to be assimilated.  Her tongue flickered out of her mouth like a snake, her tongue was now forked, Thing could smell the scents of the ponies, she could taste them, the soft flesh of new intelligent specimens for her to explore and mutate.  She shivered in anticipation, so many new minds and bodies for her to savor.  She stopped, the mat said "Welcome".  She grinned to herself, her tongue flicked out of her mouth like a long snake’s tongue to taste the scent of the delicious ponies inside once more.  Her tongue’s fork fused back together and more of her tongue slid out of her mouth.  Reaching up with her saliva drenched tentacle tongue, Thing pressed her tentacle against the doorbell’s button and a muffled chime could be heard among the voices of the chatting ponies.  Thing quickly slid her excited tongue back into her mouth and her face unnaturally shifted, forcing her facial features into a soft neutral expression. After a couple of seconds a mare opened the door and gave a big smile to Thing’s flesh suit. "Alexa? I thought you weren’t going to come!" The mare said, giving Thing a small hug. "Please come in, the party's just starting!"  Thing stood here for a second before smiling back to the mare reflexively and entered the house with her new disguise, the mare she assimilated was quite pretty and it showed.  “Is Harold coming?” Thing rarely spoke to anyone but she responded to this mare.  “Harold isn’t feeling well and decided to go to bed early.  I made him some soup before I came which is why I am late.”  Thing’s voice felt more feminine than usual, very soft and beautiful. “Oh my.  Well, I hope that Harold is okay.  Tell him I said hi and you enjoy the party.”  The mare rushed off to the kitchen to grab more refreshments. Thing telepathically pinged the mind of the real "Alexa", whom she had assimilated and regrown, causing the hidden receptor enzymes hidden inside the neural cells of the infected mare's brain to fire and returned relevant information.  Apparently the pony that had greeted her was Alexa's best friend.  Thing analyzed the party around her, the mingling ponies in the living room and dining area all talking and weaving between each other as complex social interactions took place.  Thing was just itching to unleash herself right then and there but she restrained herself, it may be prudent to do some reconnaissance to make sure she assimilated all of them in one fell swoop.  It would not be wise to allow stragglers to escape and warn others.  She also wanted to be sure to preserve the nervous systems of the ponies so they could be used in her simulations.  If she were too violent she would risk damaging the minds of the ponies. Thing played a strange trick on Alexa who was sleeping in her bedroom where Thing had rebuilt her body.  Thing telepathically fed the sensory information she was experiencing in the party into the brain of Alexa as if she were in a dream.  This way, Thing would be able to draw information from Alexa's mind based on how she responded to stimulus, getting information based on her reactions to the supplied dream vision.  Oooh, some juicy gossip flowed into her mind, apparently that stallion over there that was curiously eying her was named Kevin and had the hots for Alexa.  Mares and their sensitive muzzles knew these things.  Alexa had an especially keen sense.  Stallions could try to hide it but their musk could not.  He had approached Alexa before and was hoping to develop a little affair with Alexa.  Alexa for her part used her beauty to her advantage and simply asked him for favors while avoiding anything serious.  It seemed that this stallion was easily manipulated. A plan blossomed into Thing’s mind as she walked through the party.  Thing’s lip twitched in amusement.  Mares could be so devious and clever!  Utilizing a technique that Alexa was feeding into her dream, Thing made sure to sway her hips just slightly in the direction of the horny stallion and slightly twitched her dock upwards, flashing her genitals in his direction as her hind leg reached, stretching sexily backwards, exposing her inner thigh while walking and carefully squeezed her pelvic muscles so that her clit could be barely seen poking out of her vulva in a vulvar wink for a fraction of a second.  He may be useful later.  Alexa was revealing herself out to be quite the deviant manipulator!  The complex social interactions were not something that Thing was particularly experienced in but with guidance from Alexa’s devious and experienced mind Thing deftly made use of the subtle feminine manipulations.  If nothing else, Thing was a natural born manipulator and the power of feminine social manipulations tickled her fancy in an erotic way as she discovered new ways to control her prey. Thing continued to saunter into the next room, a kitchen and bar with more ponies snacking.  Glancing around to make sure nopony was looking, her tongue darted out of her mouth like a chameleon’s tongue and snatched a cracker from the bar with a sticky, prehensile tip into her mouth.  She decided to munch on the pony food normally instead of instantly digesting and assimilating it it with powerful advanced alien digestive juices.  It tasted somewhat good to her pony taste buds, this was the first time she ate anything in the conventional sense.  As she observed the second room while eating she realized that It may be tricky to assimilate both rooms cleanly without some ponies escaping or without making a lot of noise.  There were quite a lot of ponies in here, it seemed a good portion of the town had come.  It might be dangerous to try and assimilate so many ponies at once but if she could do it cleanly, she would be well on her way to establishing a safe place for her to experiment. Thing circled back to the main living room and immediately ran into Kevin in the entrance. The stallion smiled with a hint of lust that would usually be hidden but was instantly recognizable to Alexa’s trained mind.  “Hey, Alexa!  How are you doing?  Where’s Harold?  I thought he would be coming with you.” Heavily relying on Alexa’s remote brain, Thing decided immediately to turn up the charm.  She knew what she had to do.  This would be quite interesting. Thing smiled mischievously at the stallion with a twinkle in her eye.  Alexa was experiencing a wet dream, Harold was the more responsible stallion but Kevin had the masculine sexiness she desired.  Ohh, Alexa had some quite interesting and naughty thoughts, Thing was starting to feel a little excitement herself!  Thing made sure to subtly increase the flow of blood to her cheeks making her blush slightly and activate the signs of heat in her body, sweat glands produced the tinge of musk indicating her hornyness and secretions coming from her vagina accenting the smell in a way that would surely raise the desire of any stallion present.  Thinking quickly and taking a few tips from Alexa’s mind, Thing also modified her salivary glands so that they excreted ethanol, tinging her breath with the smell of alcohol.  She also adopted a slurred speech and swayed slightly. “No~, he’s not coming tonight but I was wondering if you could help me with something~” Thing adopted a slightly dopey smile remembering how Derpy acted, simulating a slightly tipsy demeanor.  Not all the way to drunk but enough to make her seem vulnerable. Thing glanced downwards and saw the stallion’s sheath shift the slightest bit.  He knew what he wanted.  Thing began walking by the stallion with hooded eyes and a simulated drunken blush on her face.  As she walked past, she whispered, “Come with me -hick- h-hansome.” The door frame was not too wide so she slipped past the stallion, sliding her fur against his barrel and flank as she purposefully slid against his side.  Thing swayed her hips in the direction of Kevin’s muzzle and traced her tail against his nose, her scent wafting from her vagina towards the Stallion’s nostrils. Thing glanced at the stallion’s member as she passed, she grinned gleefully as she saw it slowly slide out from hiding.  Judging from Alexa’s memory, the stallion was a bit shy and lacking of confidence but he had been waiting for an opportunity like this one. Thing began walking down the hallway past the bathroom and proceeded to enter the first bedroom she saw.  The bedroom and hallway were dark and deserted, the party left behind.  The stallion stopped at the door of the bedroom, he was hesitating a bit, his lack of confidence showing. A spark of inspiration suddenly struck Thing.  Blossomforth had used a certain trick to seduce her boyfriend.  Perhaps this was what ponies usually did to attract a mate.  It seemed to have worked particularly well in Anon’s case.  Alexa didn’t seem to be particularly practiced in these arts, perhaps she had just fallen out of practice now that she had her mate.  Perhaps it was better in this case to rely on Blossomforth’s experience in this matter. “I’m not so sure we should be doing this, are you sure Harold isn’t looking for you?”  Kevin said.  The light of the party glowed on half of his face.  He pawed the floor nervously as he glanced back to the party looking for Harold. “Oh, he’s sooo stiff and boring.  I only married him for his money.  Besides, I’ve been practicing something just for you~” Thing warbled her voice with a tipsy giggle.  She modified her muscles making a subtle change and felt them become more flexible, she modeled them after Blossomforth’s familiar athletic muscle structure, much more toned, flexible, and sexy.  She also loaded some muscle memory from Blossomforth’s nervous system.  She laid on the bed and luxuriously arched her spine downwards in a backbend like a cat as she reached forward with her forehooves digging into the covers with a stretch, a delicate moan of pleasure left her mouth as a few of her joints popped.  This arch gave her ass the illusion of being larger as it stuck into the air.  Her dock raised her tail up, deepening the backbend stretch slightly and putting a bit of pleasurable pressure on her genitals.  Thing licked her lips, she was really getting into her act. Thing then spread her legs apart on the bed and settled into a straddle split with her ass facing Kevin and her spine arched deeply, her pussy visible from behind, grinding her visible clit slightly into the soft blankets while her pussy opened slightly like a flower as her legs spread apart.  She made it look natural and simple, like every pony in the world was flexible enough to do a straddle split whenever they wanted.  She arched her back further and using Blossomforth’s contortionist flexibility, she slowly leaned her head and shoulders backwards, her spine curling slowly as she reached luxuriously to either side with her forelegs to slide her forehooves over her voluptuous and flexible hind legs. The feminine fat in her back near her spine could be seen creasing together as her skin pressed together and folded into ripples of compressed skin with fat sticking between.  As her bend deepened the folds became thicker and more numerous until her head leaned back enough for her face to obscure the view of her bending spine.  It was a unique contortionist position, Thing could feel the muscles along her belly stretch and contract as she breathed.  It felt good. Thing’s face was now upside down, slightly above her visible dock and genitalia as she smiled smugly with hooded eyes at Kevin.  Kevin was staring in from the doorway, his mouth open slightly with surprise.  Thing could see his penis under his barrel, it was fully erect.  Thing’s internal organs squirmed and convulsed with excitement, shifting in her belly which was facing away from kevin, it’s movement hidden.  Is this what it was like to be a mare?  Manipulation without even assimilating the organism?  What fun! >>1964802 in derpibooru “Didn’t expect that, didja Kevin?  I’ve beeeen practicing!  Now why don’t you come in and help me with some stretches, I’m feeling fleexible~”  She accented her final word with a strong flex of her pelvic muscles and caused her clit to wink outwards, exposing herself to the stallion.  Thing gave another very sultry wink with one of her eyes, synchronized with her vulvar winking, as she deepened the stretch, sliding her forelegs against her spread hind legs.  Now that her shoulders were so close to her ass, she could wrap her fetlocks and forelegs around thick, muscular and fatty, spread hind legs. The stallion, still speechless was drooling slightly at the very lewd display.  For a second he thought he was dreaming but he walked inside and turned to shut the door behind him.  His mistake would quickly turn his dream into a nightmare. While Thing had been displaying her vulva and bendiness to Kevin she had also been converting her internal organs into a slithery spaghetti of powerful, flexible tentacles of advanced alien muscle, squirming within her torso, her belly rippling with movement.  The very millisecond that the stallion turned his eyes away from Thing, she quickly initiated an extremely rapid sequence of transformations.  First, her head rotated itself rightside up with a quick swivel, twisting her neck 180 degrees, her vertebrae separated from each other and powerful advanced alien muscles instead provided the structure and flexibility, allowing her head much more flexibility to turn and carry itself.  Three tentacles violently slithered out of her vaginal canal, coated with copious amounts of slimy lubricant for quick and quiet movement.  Thing drooled and her tongue licked her lips as the nerve endings in her vaginal canal registered the pleasurable feeling of slimy muscles stretching her flesh.  They quickly ejected themselves upwards, more tentacles sliding out of her orifice to reach the ceiling, causing her belly to sink inward as her innards extruded outwards.   Their squishy consistency pressed against the ceiling, quickly causing a firm adherence with a suction like seal as the spider follicles sprouted out of their surface to provide a sturdy anchor to the ceiling. The long tentacles that were attached to the ceiling were made up of very advanced and powerful muscles that bulged and flexed as they yanked Thing’s now much thinner and lighter husk of a pony body from the bed and pulled her up to the ceiling in a swinging motion to bring her above Kevin right before he closed the door.   As Thing’s flexing tentacle swung her though the air to bring her to the ceiling, a very violent and sudden transformation tore through Thing’s hooves. The nails of her hooves peeled back to expose fleshy pads that could stick to the ceiling with advanced retractable adhesive nanofibers. Thing stood on the ceiling hanging upside down in a wide stance, her hooves far apart, with her belly touching the ceiling.  Her neck was pointed at Kevin, she quickly twisted her neck, rotating her head 180 degrees, her skin stretching to compensate, so that her head was rightside up, staring at her prey.  Her neck was a gnarled twisting trunk of advanced alien muscle, her neck performed impressive twisting motions to keep her head upright.  Thing’s face intently stared at her prey at a strange angle resemblant of a praying mantis able to sharply turn their heads in any direction.  She resembled a spider, crawling on the ceiling.  Thing had a firm grip on the ceiling so she retracted the nanofibres from her hind hooves, releasing them from the ceiling and dramatically curled her spine in a contortionist’s backbend using Blossomforth’s incredibly flexible muscle structure to swing her anus and vagina directly below her own inverted skull and face.  Her hind legs also performed an extreme straddle split pose, angling her legs beyond the normal 180 degree split to reach upwards and touch her adhesive hooves to the ceiling and firmly anchor her to the surface.  Thing’s slimy vaginal tentacles hovered above Kevin, ready to seize and grapple. Kevin looked slightly bewildered, Thing had managed to attach herself to the ceiling so quickly and quietly that he did not have time to close the door and turn around before she was already there above him.  From Kevin’s point of view, he turned to close the door, he turned back and there was an empty bed.  Thing allowed herself a moment of gleeful pleasure at her exceptional mobility skills and the thrill of being such an adaptive predator.  Her pelvic muscles clenched and her tongue rapidly flicked out of her mouth to lick the slick vaginal secretions that had accumulated on her clit below her face.  Her masturbation of superiority was only accented by her autocullingus.  She allowed herself a luxurious fraction of a second to shiver in pleasure as her anus and clit flexed with her pelvic clenching, her tentacular tongue caressing their quivering forms. Thing thrusted her pelvis outwards below her face, deftly ending her masturbation, and her tentacles slithered further out of her orifice making wet sliming noises as they shot towards Kevin.  Thing’s skin on her belly began to convulse and sink inwards, her ribs becoming even more pronounced, as the tentacles, composed of what used to be her internal organs extruded themselves out of her vagina and out of her body.   The tentacles descended upon Kevin.  The first caught him by surprise, slipping into his slightly open mouth and crammed itself down Kevin’s trachea, stopping him from breathing or making any noise at all.  The tentacle continued down his trachea and began mutating, branching to fill every crevice of his lungs.  Mercifully, oxygen was pumped down the tentacle via a branching blood stream inside the tentacle which originated from Thing’s own lungs and and heart which she had kept intact for this purpose.  Oxygen diffused out of Thing’s amorphous, branching tentacle and Kevin’s lungs absorbed the chemical, Thing’s branching appendage also absorbed the carbon dioxide which diffused out of Kevin’s lungs.  He was unable to breathe but the oxygen he needed to survive still entered his bloodstream.  Thing’s muscles did not need oxygen to function so her lungs, heart, and bloodstream existed exclusively to deliver oxygen to Kevin.  The other tentacles curled around his legs and lifted him up, more slimy tentacles slid out of Thing’s vagina and wrapped around his torso and neck.  As he was lifted up, he was brought in front of her face, struggling fruitlessly at his bondage.  She smiled at him with a toothy smile of razor sharp teeth.  The stallion looked terrified, he stared with wide, haunted eyes.  He could not breathe or make any noise, he struggled but the tentacles easily held him fast as he tried fruitlessly to flex his legs in mid air. Gagged and helpless, she had the struggling morsel right where she wanted him.  She grinned wider, her smile splitting her cheeks apart as all of her sharp toothy smile widened, a frightening visage of an alpha predator.  Her teeth grew larger out of her mouth as her smile widened, a maddening display of biological superiority.  A slippery tentacle slithering around his torso reached and traced the tentacle’s tip to the bottom of the stallion’s member, tickling him slightly as it licked him.  She felt the stallion’s sensitive urethra on the bottom of his veiny shaft with her tentacle and sprouted some taste buds on the tip of her tentacle so she could taste his musky scent.  It seemed the stallion was still horny despite his terrifying predicament. Thing herself was beginning to feel the excitement.  Drool began to drip down her mouth between her sharp teeth and lubricant excreted itself from her vaginal opening, still stuffed with tentacles.  Thing decided that she needed to escape the shackles of primitive pony biology, she had no time to lose.  Suddenly, her whole body began to deform as she started the transformation into a much more flexible and malleable organism, free from the stiff inefficient constraints of pony biology.  Her body stretched and cracked, she felt so much more free to move and flex herself.  Thing’s skin began to shrivel and stretch in places as the flesh beneath her skin morphed and mutated.  Her smile widened as her jaw detached from her skull.  All of her bones began to soften into a cartilage like structure.  Her eyeball popped out of her socket, hanging by the optic nerve.  Veins popped beneath the stretched skin as her face began to stretch and transform.  Her second eye popped from its socket.  Her forehead, eye-sockets and muzzle scrunched together as her mouth transformed into a circular orifice with teeth lining the circumference.  A gooey organic substance flowed up the optic nerve out of what used to be her eye sockets to provide amorphous tentacular muscle to prop her eyes up.  The fur on her face began to separate into patches as new skin stretched into existence, providing a stretchy skin able to adapt to her rapidly changing shape.  Her face and neck now looked like a monstrous worm, with a tentacle in the middle acting as a sort of tongue. The contortionist’s pose that Thing had used just moments ago was unrecognizable.  Her torso and legs had fused together, her bones and organs dissolving into more flexible and gooey organic material, retracting into herself and fusing to the ceiling.  However, there was one organ she kept intact.  She kept her pony vagina and female reproductive organs.  Thing flexed her entire body, it rippled powerful undulating waves of amorphous muscle.  It was time to eat. The vaginal tentacles that had Kevin grappled and helpless began to flex and separate from each other at the vaginal opening, causing the vulva to separate and the vaginal canal to open dramatically as her boneless flesh stretched apart.  The vaginal walls rippled in a swallowing undulation, moist, lubricated, and ready to swallow the prey and unbirth him.  Thing stretched her wormlike mouth and neck to Kevin’s penis.  At this point, Kevin was in a state of shock but when the worm suddenly decided to give him a blow job his heart began beating faster and his pelvic floor muscles clenched in surprise and pleasure, sending a burst of blood through the veins of his penis. Kevin wanted to clench his legs together, anything to stop this monster from pleasuring him, but the tentacles held his legs fast and spread them apart.  It was so wrong, he was so helplessly vulnerable.  The worm’s tentacle tongue slid out of the toothy mouth across the bottom of his penis between his balls and pierced his anus.  He tried to clench his anus shut but even the pony’s powerful donut shaped anal muscles were not enough to prevent the slippery tentacle from reaching his inner sanctum and toy with his oh so sensitive prostate.  Tears left Kevin’s eyes as he experienced a burst of heightened pleasure.  It seemed the monster could be tender with his sensitive organ. As the worm undulated around his penis and bit its teeth gently into his foreskin while it’s invading tentacle was gently curling around his prostate, Kevin felt a strange emotion.  The monster was now inserting him face first into the grotesque mutated vaginal opening it had stolen from a pony.  The flesh gripped his head from all sides and grabbed him, forcing him inside.  It stretched even further to accommodate his shoulders and torso.  Tears freely flowed from his eyes.  The salty tears were quickly lost as the slimy vaginal flesh that encased him slid around him and smeared his tears. Kevin could not sob, he could not breathe but he could cum.  He came hard into the worm’s mouth and he felt pleasure.  Finally, the vagina had fully swallowed Kevin and sealed itself shut.  He was quickly forced into a fetal position as the powerful muscles that surrounded him did not allow him to move.   Kevin was now truly trapped.  Even if the muscles were not holding him, the flesh was very flexible and no amount of kicking could free him from his prison, the flesh would simply stretch.  Kevin was sure that now that the pain would begin.  The muscles that surrounded him were unfairly strong, he fully expected them to crush him into a pulp and quickly digest him for his organic matter but instead he was hugged. Suddenly multiple tendrils slithered around him.  One of them poked him in the belly button, pushing into his soft, vulnerable belly.  He flinched and clenched his abdominal muscles as he felt a piercing tickling sensation deep within his belly button.  It was a pathetic attempt to halt the invader but the tentacle fused to his skin and belly button, rapidly mutating itself into the female nurturing mechanism of an umbilical cord.  Now that the tendril had become part of Kevin, it was easy for the muscular worm of a tendril to gently slide inside him and tickle him in the most disturbing way, from the inside.  The tendril rapidly mutated in complex ways so that it directly connected, fusing to Kevin’s blood stream as well as his digestive system so that they were connected like mother and child.  Rich oxygen from Thing’s lungs which were still pumping air in and out filtered from Thing’s bloodstream directly through the umbilical cord into Kevin’s blood stream so that he didn’t have to use his lungs.  Kevin fruitlessly tried to squirm away from the tentacle invading his body.  It filled him with a sensation that was not painful but disturbing in how it freely swam between his organs.  Kevin squirmed in protest but the womb’s muscular hug tightened around him, keeping him from moving. The other two tendrils squirmed their way into his ears and began worming inside his head.  Kevin began to cry, tears escaping his eyes, he tried to sob but his mouth was full of tentacles so he could only shiver and shake.  He felt lost, he no longer had any control.  He heard a clicking sensation where the tendrils had impacted his ear drums.  SNAP-CRACKLE-POP.  And that was the last thing that Kevin heard at all before the worms consumed his sound sensory organs.  By all rights it should have been painful, but the tentacles hijacked Kevin’s nerve endings, fusing to them and feeding his brain a pleasant numbing sensation. Finally, the tentacle had reached its target.  Kevin’s brain.  Wasting no time, the tendrils slithered inside, caressing and touching his fragile, squishy brain.  The tentacles began to carefully branch and fuse to different parts of Kevin’s brain folds.  Then the strangest thing happened, Kevin began to calm down.  Thoughts of panic and fear just melted from his mind, slipping away like a forgotten word at the tip of his tongue but unable to be recalled and spoken.  Kevin’s mind felt weak, unable to grasp the thoughts he had just been thinking of previously.  In fact, the flesh that was encasing him felt comfortable and warm.  Why had he been so afraid?  The flesh that encased him squished and hugged him as Kevin snuggled against his mother’s womb in an intimate and primal mammalian connection of affection between mother and son.  Kevin relaxed his mind and his lips smiled, he snuggled against the fleshy womb and squirmed with glee as the tentacles caressed and massaged his muscles and playfully tickled his genitals.  He knew that his mother loved him and knew what was best.  As Kevin felt his flesh melt away from his core nervous system he never felt more secure and joyful.  A giddy thought took hold of his mind.  His mother would give him the gift of rebirth and immortality and he would be gifted the privilege of experiencing accelerated biological evolution, but first he must sleep.  With the excitement of a child expecting presents on hearthwarming’s eve Kevin cleared his mind and quickly lost consciousness. Sleep, my child.  Thing sent comforting thoughts to her new child, swaddling her baby tightly with her womb as her child’s flesh was infected and converted into a more advanced, efficient, and organized biological form.  A far cry from the comparatively primitive and wasteful cells these poor equestrians were stuck with.  She would free her children from these shackles. Thing felt exhilarated and frightened.  Two conflicting emotions.  Thing scolded herself weakly within her mind, but it was a battle she had already lost.  Thing was desecrating her ancestor’s system, the one they had spent billions of years perfecting.  She should not be experiencing emotions, it was a weakness in a ruthless galaxy.  The damn emotional infection had taken hold of her mind and it seemed that the safeguards and emotional purging mechanisms that her ancestors had put in place to prevent such a thing were utterly destroyed and lost, she had no choice but to deal with the mind altering emotions.  It frightened her that she had no control over these feelings.  She was a control freak by nature and having her mind behave out of her control was very disturbing on an instinctual level. Thing also felt exhilaration.  Thing was playing the role of a pony, a mammal.  Her hivemind system was decidedly alien with its ad-hoc network of quantum connections between her scattered cells.  However, at some point, her hivemind had to interface with the mammalian brain that allowed her to control the parts of her mammal body.  Thing could not remember seeing a brain system that was so strongly coupled to emotions as the mammalian brain was.  She used the mammalian brain and nervous systemic organs like throwaway tools to control her bodies, mutating these neural systems to her will, but since there was no emotional barrier present, the brains she interfaced with affected her core being, infecting and mutating her hivemind against her will to feel emotion. Thing had little choice but to accept these new unwelcome feelings in her hivemind.  Her hivemind had already been infected and mutated by Blossomforth to accept emotion way before she had any control over her own body and hivemind. Thing had given into her emotional urges that came with being a mare.  Thing’s masturbational experimentation with mammalian sexual organs was to blame.  As soon as she had begun to perform her grotesque and frightening unbirthing of Kevin, her motherly instincts were quickly activated as she felt her womb become full with her child.  Before this, Kevin was not really her child but her instinctual urges forced Kevin into the role of being Thing’s baby.  In fact she mutated Kevin’s body into a more childlike state, his mind more docile and susceptible to moulding and his body in the fetal position with umbilical cord attached.  Kevin was now a strange and unnatural foal/stallion hybrid, his body mutated and forced to play the role that would satisfy Thing’s motherly urges. Thing had also mutated her own body to fit her motherly role.  She was still fused to the ceiling but her entire body was one large, oversized womb large enough to fit a full grown stallion hanging from the ceiling.  Her body was a vaguely spherical shape with faint imprints of Kevin’s rapidly dissolving body disappearing to make her body become even more spherical.  Pony skin and fur covered her whole body, making her a literal furball.  The only features on her furry epidermis were her vagina and large lactating teats full to bursting with milk and dripping to the floor, two very intimate motherly features, one unique to mammals. Thing felt the special emotional and physical connection between mother and child.  Despite the grotesque and perverse method that she became a mother, she felt the powerful emotions to protect and nurture her child.  Thing was frightened by these powerful emotions but these mammalian motherly instincts felt so satisfying and pleasurable, it felt right.  As Kevin’s body was infected and transformed, melting and deforming into a homogenous cellular goo, Thing continued to toy with Kevin’s mind and brain.  She felt an instinctive mammalian love for her son and Kevin soon too felt an instinctive imprint for his new mother deeply rooted in his brain as Thing manipulated and mutated his neural flesh into her desired form.  It was somewhat like a hypnosis or dream where logic is suspended and a warm fuzziness does not allow the mind to question why or in this case why Kevin loved and trusted this motherly abomination. Thing was intellectually under no such delusions but she allowed herself to be immersed in the motherly role because it felt so good to be a mother.  The more she thought about it the more it made sense.  The mammalian mother-child relationship was mutualistic.  It was a pleasurable experience for the mother, to grow a new flesh to succeed her and hopefully take care of her when she became older.  As the family unit grew, teamwork and organization would make the individuals as a whole more efficient.  Obviously, the child benefitted with life and nourishment.  The mutualistic relationship was obvious. At first glance, the relationship between Thing and her targets seemed to be parasitic.  If Thing had arrived fully intact then it certainly would have been.  However, Thing had to shamefully admit to herself that she was broken and defective.  If she were still emotionless and had access to the complete library of technological blueprints her ancestors had left for her then she would have easily been able to harvest the energy and information of this world and move on to the next in a completely parasitic relationship.  Instead, she would be forced into a much more complex journey.  She needed to be this planet’s gardener and mother.  The seeds of her garden would be the individuality and minds of her children, the soil would be the societal constructs that would incentivize technological progress and innovation.  The fertilizer for her garden would be the technologies that had survived in the Matrix which she would use to accelerate technological progress.  Her crops would be the new ideas and inventions that the ponies would generate for her.  The only barrier to this utopian vision was Blossomforth’s dominance.  Thing stewed in her thoughts for a moment at the frustrating obstacle, but she knew what she had to do.  One way or another, Blossomforth would be forced to cooperate. In Equestria’s complex mammalian societal model, it was the alpha patriarchs and matriarchs that managed and controlled the profits and ideas of society and decided how they would be used.  Thing would become everyone’s mother, granting them rebirth from her very womb.  She would be the ultimate alpha.  The queen of the hive, the broodmare.  The relationship between herself and her children would be mutualistic.  She would become more powerful as her children harvested ideas for her and she would grant her children life as an advanced organism. Thing mulled over these thoughts as she slowly began to reform Kevin’s body from the amorphous cellular goo within her womb.  Thing was careful to preserve Kevin’s old untainted mind with his brainwashed personality acting as a kind of alter ego that she could switch on and off at her will.  She needed the ponies to have their original brain functions and personalities for her experiments. Kevin’s body was reformed but his original nervous system was separated from his body and was instead connected to his body via telepathic link.  His new body and nervous system separate from each other.  Thing needed his biomass and regrown flesh in order to assimilate the rest of the party cleanly.  For what would come next, it was best that his nervous system was separated from his body in order to protect his nervous system from damage otherwise his brain may not survive.  Because she had difficulties directly controlling more than one body at once or performing super-multitasking, she needed Kevin’s brainwashed mind to control his body.  Thing envied Blossomforth. It seemed everything was in order, Thing’s vagina opened dramatically like a camera’s aperture.  From the slimy orifice, a sac containing Kevin’s nervous system was ejected, producing slimy sounds as it was birthed.  The sac contained a matrix of nutrients to keep Kevin’s nervous system alive and well.  The sac had a semi transparent membrane and his brain could be seen floating with tentacle threads fused it as an interface for telepathic control over his body. After the sac was birthed, a tentacle behind it revealed itself, fused to the sac.  The whole apparatus looked somewhat like an angler fish’s lure.  The tentacle raised the sac up to the ceiling and glued it there so it hung like an insect’s cocoon.  The tentacle unfused itself and slurped like a noodle through Thing’s vagina and back into her womb. Next was Kevin’s body.  Thing’s fleshy womb shape began to flex and bulge in a muscular contraction.  Kevin was birthed face first with his eyes closed.  Thing’s vagina easily stretched to allow the fully grown stallion exit from her womb.  Kevin’s body was drenched in slime and tentacles slimily curled around his body’s fetal pose, gently lowering him to the ground.  The tentacles quickly retracted back into the vagina. Thing’s womb was now stretched and a bit flabby now that Kevin’s biomass had been disgorged from her womb.  The fluffy flesh on the womb’s exterior got a bit wrinkly.  The fur was there as a kind of instinctively grown “blanket” to keep her child Kevin warm as he was formed in her womb, but now it would serve a different purpose.  The fur on Thing’s body retracted itself, being consumed and the wrinkly skin began to tighten, folding and fusing together until it was a reddish-pink, smooth, taught, flexible flesh.  Suddenly, the womb unfused itself from the ceiling.  It dropped to the ground like a very strange version of a water balloon and splattered on the floor, stretching dramatically like a liquid on impact but not bursting. The flesh began to churn and produce strange noises, after a few moments it slowed to a stop and seemed to be a more solid shape, creases in the smooth pink flesh indicating a solid rather than a liquid or goo form.  The womb’s vaginal lips and orifice were still on the transformed surface of the ball of flesh and a tongue poked itself out from inside the labial folds, gently licking the clitoris.  The flesh made a short moaning noise from its mysterious depths.  The womb shifted and stretched parts of the flesh poked outwards as whatever was inside was stirring.  The flesh underneath the vaginal opening bulged and began to open.  Two hooves, drenched in slime poked out from the vaginal opening and pushed themselves apart, stretching the vaginal orifice apart in the classical breaststroke swimming technique.  The labial lips stretched dramatically as the breast stroke movement forced Amber’s face and shoulders out of the womb to be birthed.  Amber was soaked and propped herself on the floor with her forelegs, halfway birthed, looking like she was in the process of raising herself out of a pool. It quickly became obvious that Thing had inverted her womb in order to perform the act of autobirthing.  The vaginal lips slid down her torso and past her hind legs which were tightly tucked against her torso, revealing Amber’s fully grown body.  Amber stood on her hooves and stretched her spine, reaching forward with her hooves and poking her ass into the air as the inverted womb gave birth to her flank and ass.  Now that Amber was born, Thing’s womb tucked itself into her vaginal orifice between her hind legs and took the place where a pony’s womb would normally be.  (derpibooru >>1494444 in reverse, stretch position >>1503483) Amber’s hair stood on end and she shivered as she pleasurably felt her womb and vaginal lips settle into place.  She had successfully given birth to herself.  Amber blinked in mild surprise as she felt something warm dribble in her inner thigh.  Ahh, she was lactating.  She shifted her eyes over to her child and approached.  She began licking his face with an unnaturally long tongue, its length allowing her to efficiently wipe his face free of her vaginal liquids the same way any mammalian mother would do to a newborn.  Kevin began to stir as he felt his mother’s tongue.  Amber quickly stopped licking and crouched, bringing her crotch close to Kevin’s face.  Kevin felt his mother’s nipple against his face and instinctively brought his mouth to suckle milk.  As Amber lovingly humped Kevin’s face she continued licking him up and down with her tentacle tongue, caressing him gently. Amber and Kevin just lay there for a few minutes.  Amber felt so at home, instinctive mammalian love bursting from her bosom.  It was so peaceful, the sheer power of the mammalian instincts and emotions had her enraptured.  However, as Thing’s intellect began to break through the fading emotions now that her child had been successfully birthed and fed, she knew it had to end. Thing had experienced a deep and emotional taste of what it meant to be a primitive organism.  Reproduction was an important function of these primitive species and the dopamine reward system was more powerful than hard mind altering drugs.  Reluctantly, Amber excreted a stimulant into Kevin’s milk and he quickly opened his eyes and smiled.  He licked his mother’s teat one last time, clean of her sweet, addictive and nourishing milk, and then sat up on his haunches, about eye level with Amber and hugged her tightly.  Amber hugged him back.  Amber felt her son’s warm body against her own and smelled his familiar smell as their coats of fur rubbed against each other.  Kevin was much larger than she was and she felt secure from within his larger frame, her motherly and female instincts giving her a warm, secure feeling. “Thank you for seeing me as worthy for rebirth, mother.  I-I don’t completely understand what’s going on but I know that I want to be part of you and your biological singularity.  Thank you for opening my eyes, you’re our best hope for species survival and prosperity.  I only hope that I can aid you in this journey to our hive collective’s eternal growth.” Amber felt proud by how quickly her son had grasped the information she had shared and mutated into his brain.  It seemed that ponies’ brains were well adapted for intelligence. “I’m proud of how quickly you processed the information I gave you.  I have a few roles for you to play.  It will be an arduous journey before we achieve utopia, but it will be very rewarding.  However, that comes later, for now I want you to do this for me.  Think you're up to it, dear?” Amber telepathically sent her plan to assimilate the party directly into Kevin’s brain. “Don’t worry.  You’re mind is safe and sound up there.”  Amber pointed a hoof up to the membrane bound matrix containing Kevin’s brain and nervous system which was telepathically linked to his body. “I-I think, I’m ready, mom.” Amber smiled at her son. “Alright, well follow me.  Be sure to position yourself in the middle of all the ponies in the kitchen.  We want this to be quick and clean.” Kevin nodded, he was ready.  Amber quickly mutated her epidermis into the appearance of Alexa.  Her hair retracting and regrowing to change her coat color and her facial features and height changing slightly.  Her bones creaked audibly as she transformed. Amber walked to the door and opened it.  Beckoning for Kevin to follow.  Amber gave him a frightening predatory, wolfish smile.  A wide smile full of sharp teeth and wide eyes.  Thing loved to hunt.  Her face unnaturally mutated into a neutral expression and she turned around to find Alexa’s best friend, the mare that had met her at the door.  Despite Thing’s surprise, her face did not even twitch in surprise, Thing had decoupled her emotions from her facial motor response. Alexa’s friend gasped, looking horrified.  Her eyes darted between her and Kevin.  She whispered in hushed tones. “Alexa!  You can’t have another affair!” Amber tilted her head slightly, judging the problem in front of her for a split second. Without warning, Amber’s mouth opened and her face split in half, opening wider.  Violent snapping noises came from her skull and jaw as rapidly forming alien muscles under her skin ripped her face apart, anchoring themselves to the bones.  The skin on her face tore apart and blood squirted from her flesh.  The transformation was very quick and sloppy.  Her entire face and neck bulged as the huge alien muscles rippling under her skin ripped her face apart flexed violently.  The skull could not mutate quick enough to form soft cartilage so instead it was violently split.  In a fraction of a second, Amber’s skull opened up like a petaled flower as her skull’s bone cells mutated themselves into cartilage.  The alien muscles also bulged on Amber’s neck, causing her face to lunge forward, ripping the skin on her neck apart, exposing the red, bulging muscle beneath.  Amber’s remaining conventional pony muscles were torn apart as she didn’t have time to transform them properly.  Amber’s petaled maw which replaced her face seized and engulfed the mare’s skull.  Amber excreted NO2 gas into her lungs and breathed outwards, forcing her victim to breathe in the noxious fumes.  The mare struggled briefly but quickly went limp, the gas making her delirious.  Amber dragged her body into the bedroom, with her maw grabbing her head and Kevin quickly closed the door. Amber began to swallow more and more of the mare, eating her whole the way a snake would.  Her neck stretched to allow the pony to slide in and her muscles undulated, forcing the mare inside her stomach.  Her neck and torso stretched and bulged, her internal organs shifting apart to make room.  Her rib cage mutated into a flexible cartilage in order to allow her prey’s passage.  Amber’s face closed up, forming her normal pony skull as the mare had been completely swallowed.  Wasting no time, Thing assimilated the mare and quickly packaged her nervous system into the familiar matrix membrane.  Finally, Amber quickly birthed the mare’s nervous system, packaged in the sac and a tentacle originating from her vagina reached up to stick the organic container up on the ceiling next to Kevin’s nervous system. Amber’s bones cracked back into place as she reformed her body back into it’s original state.  Amber smirked at her son. “Well, that was interesting.” Kevin smiled. “Will she be my new sister?” Amber smiled back lovingly. “In due time, my dear.” Amber’s tummy was now huge.  She looked like she was pregnant with triplets, all of the mare’s biomass besides her nervous system was inside Amber.  She would definitely need the biomass to help her assimilate all those ponies.  Her torso began churning and flexing.  Thing was packing the biomass into a smaller volume.  Her grotesquely stretched abdominal muscles began flexing and forcing the biomass into a smaller volume.  The muscles were able to stuff the biomass into a smaller space but now Amber in her Alexa disguise looked like she had gained 20 pounds of fat.  It didn’t matter, they would only need to be fooled for a few seconds and she would be able to form many more tentacles than she could with her normal amount of biomass. Amber looked back at Kevin. “Let’s try this again, shall we?” Kevin nodded.  Amber opened the door and began walking down the hall.  Her increased biomass made her much heavier and the floorboards creaked slightly under her deceptively petite form.  Amber walked straight down the hallway and into the living room.  Kevin took a left turn into the kitchen behind her. Thing was now in a predatory state of mind.  The equivalent of alien adrenaline caused her mind to mutate slightly and time seemed to slow just the slightest bit.  It wasn’t as dramatic as Blossomforth’s abilities but it was still incredibly useful for a predator about to pounce on its prey. Thing quickly counted her prey.  Her eyes darting back and forth very rapidly.  There were twenty ponies in the living room.  It was packed.  This would be extremely tricky.  Kevin reported telepathically that there were seven ponies in the kitchen.  Even with the mare’s extra biomass, Thing would probably not be able to contain both rooms.  She was at her limit with one room of 20 ponies that she had to capture without harm to their minds.  With two rooms she could not guarantee that a pony would not escape. Thing was going about this whole thing in a very methodical way in order to create the ideal test environment.  Carefully planning her attack to ensure that it was successful.  If she really wanted to, she could have spent hours carefully assimilating one pony at a time in the party, slowly eliminating all risk.  However, she was getting tired of all this careful planning.  It was so boring.  She wanted a raw taste of the hunt.  The time she spent in the Everfree as an advanced alien spider organism, how she would effortlessly reach out, stab and consume her prey.  That’s what she wanted to experience.  She wanted to challenge herself. Kevin sent the telepathic ready signal, Thing told him to standby and execute on her mark.  She began prioritizing her targets.  She needed to block the exits.  Fortunately, she was near the hallway and the front door.  If she assimilated the ponies nearest to the exits first then the other ponies would have a very hard time escaping. Thing decided to target two ponies facing away from the center of the room, standing near a small table with their glasses of cider.  They would be ideal because they could be assimilated without anypony noticing because of their long dresses. Thing relaxed the pressure on the biomass inside her.  Her stomach bloated slightly as her relaxation caused her biomass to expand.  She used the biomass to generate tentacles that slithered out of her anus and vaginal orifices.  Thing stood behind the two chatting ponies, facing away from them and mutated one of the tentacles coming from her anus into an eyestalk.  She raised her eye using her extruding tentacle near her dock.  Using her new vision, she saw her other tentacles coming from her privates slip into her tail hairs for stealth and slide through her tail hair to come out under the dresses of the two mares.  If a pony were to look directly at Amber and her prey they would not see anything out of the ordinary unless they looked closely. Thing sprouted more eyes on the tentacles slipping under her quarry’s dresses.  Thing continued relaxing her grip on her biomass and her tentacles lengthened as the long, fleshy ropes continued to slide out of her orifices.  Ever so slowly and carefully, Thing directed ten tentacles created from the assimilated mare’s biomass to place themselves near the prey’s legs and neck. Satisfied that everything was in place, Thing attacked the mouths of the two mares and grabbed all of their legs at once, grabbing and curling up their legs to keep them rooted to the ground.  The dresses kept anypony from seeing the mares being forced to keep still as the tentacle that curled around their necks forced itself inside of the mares’ mouths.  They spasmed slightly but they couldn’t move because of the strong, muscular tentacles curling round their legs.  In a few seconds of silent spasms, the mares lost consciousness and went limp.  Their bodies were held, propped up in a standing position by Thing’s tentacles. It took a few more seconds for the assimilation to reach the brains of the mares but then Thing took control of their motor functions and had the mares stand upright, paralyzed.  Now that she had the ponies near the exits assimilated, it was time to have some fun.  Thing released the paralyzed mares and walked forward.  The tentacles still extended out of her private regions, they looked like long, thin ropes of flesh.  Thing reached out with her tentacle as she swaggered forward with Amber’s body.  It dived forward and fused to a surprised stallion’s mouth and pumped infectious goo down the stallion’s throat.  His eyes widened dramatically but he couldn’t make a sound.  Thing extended two other tentacles to fuse to the mouths of two other ponies who had witnessed the stallion get attacked.  They gasped but soon they too had tentacles fused to their faces. The stallion collapsed, somewhere near the back of the room, a mare dropped her glass and screamed shrilly.  Amber telepathically signaled Kevin to execute.  A muffled bang could be heard from the other room followed by what sounded like wet splattering noises.   Amber continued to saunter forward with a huge wolfish smile on her face.  With sharp predatory eyes, three more of her tentacles dived forward.  They successfully fused to two of the ponies’ mouths but the third one dodged, so instead  Thing curled her tentacle in the direction that the stallion dodged in and throttled his throat, holding him up and forcing itself into his mouth, pumping her infectious gooish gore into his body. Her tentacles slid through the air like flying snakes, able to effortlessly suspend themselves in the air due to Amber’s grip on the floor with her modified hooves covered in nanofibers providing friction and the tentacles’ terrifying strength keeping them muscularly suspended.  Screams could be heard from the other room, and all of the eyes of the ponies shifted to the entrance where Amber stood with tentacles raised or fused to the faces of her victims. The ponies looked right at the abomination and victims with wide, terrified eyes.  They were stunned at the rapid sequence of events.  They saw the other ponies on the floor, writhing as they desperately scrabbled at their mouths and throats with their forehooves as the tentacles pumped fluid into them.  They soon went still and the tentacles unfused themselves from their victim’s lips.  Amber was starting to become thinner as the biomass pumped into her victim’s bodies had to come from somewhere. One stallion dove between the tentacles and charged for the hallway.  He almost made it but right as he was turning the corner, a tentacle grabbed his hind leg and dragged him across the floor.  He scrabbled at the floor but the tentacle effortlessly lifted him up and dangled him by his hind leg while another tentacle fused to his mouth.  The first tentacle simply dropped him and he writhed as he struggled desperately to free himself from the tentacle that fused itself to his mouth, force-feeding him infectious biomass. The mares left that were not assimilated began to cry.  The stallions tried to break through but Thing’s multiple tentacles easily snatched them and dangled them as they were ensnared and force-fed biomass. Amber began to shrivel up as more and more of her biomass was pumped into her victims.  Soon her main body collapsed into a shriveled mound of skin and muscle, anchored to the floor where the tentacles had originated from. Ponies lay everywhere, some of them in various forms of seizures, some unconscious.  Thing was tired, her tentacles continued to pump biomass into the last of them and then finally she detached the tentacle as the last spasming pony went still.  Thing’s biomass was deflated, she had pumped most of herself into her victims, letting her biomass automatically infect and take over their bodies.  She looked like a strange wilted plant, her tentacles shriveled on the floor and the husk of what used to be her pony disguise looked like it had imploded and shriveled together as a sort of makeshift root for this strange plant. Thing stretched out and curled her wrinkly tentacles, she then pulled her shriveled flesh together, mutating it into a smaller but more solid and substantial muscle structure.  She sprouted two eyestalks from her central body and lifted up her main body on ten tentacles.  She looked like an octopus/spider hybrid walking with long thin legs like a daddy long leg spider but with the flexible, muscular movements of an octopus.  The tentacular abomination crept over the unconscious bodies of her victims towards the hallway and entered the kitchen. Thing surveyed the carnage. Kevin had executed his task well.  Thing had rigged his body to blow up with a chemical explosion, spraying everyone in the kitchen with his gore.  The gore was then programmed to rapidly dissolve and assimilate the ponies’ organic tissue and infect their nervous systems, causing them to partially melt and become unconscious.  The ponies were grotesquely mutated together, fusing into a pile of flesh.  Thing made sure that the gore was programmed to not target the circulatory system or lungs, she needed them alive after all but their bones were reduced to goo and many of their muscles were gone.  The ponies were melted into a veritable puddle of fused flesh with flabby disfigured faces displaying visages of horror.  Thing sent Kevin's nervous system her loving gratitude for his help, she also sent him a small tingly feeling of erotic pleasure just because she could. Thing lowered her main body to the puddle of biomass and began fusing herself to the puddle, becoming part of the grotesque fusion and basically slurping the partially liquified ponies into herself.  Mmmmmm, these ponies were delicious!  Her body swelled with biomass and she felt the nervous systems of the ponies swirling within herself, more children for her to give birth to.  Gore flowed into her tentacles and fortified them, causing them to swell and the skin to stretch as the cells rearranged themselves into muscle, making the tentacles larger and stronger. Thing's body swelled and churned as she absorbed the biomass, her tentacles became very large, as thick as logs and she slithered more than walked, the space she had to move within the house was becoming more confined. She slid back to the main room and with her much larger body she began to fully assimilate each of the unconscious ponies, fusing her huge tentacles and easily engulfing one pony at a time as she forced them inside of herself.  Her body became larger and larger, her skin stretching and growing as she grew engorged.  Legs, faces, tails stuck out of her epidermis, all of the body parts fused to her flesh as they were all slowly sucked inside her and processed, their cells meticulously infected and added to the hivemind. Fur grew on the abomination's flesh and her enormous womb formed around the biomass and nervous systems of her twenty seven assimilated ponies as her tentacles retracted back into herself.  She now resembled a furry blob of flesh with no outward features.  She was starting to feel her mammalian instincts return to her as her body churned and gurgled, she prepared herself to birth her children.  The familiar vaginal slit mutated itself into existence in her now furry skin.  She felt her children slowly solidify.  She was careful to separate their bodies from their nervous systems.  She would keep their minds close to her while she conducted her experiments.  For a simulation, their bodies were expendable and replaceable, but their minds were not. She treated them with the same grotesque but genuine love she treated Kevin with, gently hugging her brood with her muscular womb and sending her love and warm feelings directly into their minds, mutating their brains into producing alter egos that unconditionally loved and trusted her.  She also fed them basic information about her plans and her love for her children, ingraining it in their alternate personalities. Finally it was time.  Thing contracted and squeezed her muscles, forcing her brood's bodies through her vagina.  They were extruded one by one, drenched in her fluids.  As she birthed each of her children, Thing's body became smaller and smaller, deflating.  Once the last of her children popped out of her womb in an unconscious pile of slimy ponies, the membrane bound matrices containing each of the preserved nervous systems of her children were birthed and fused to the ceiling one at a time with a few vaginal tentacles. Thing's body was once again a deflated husk, lacking much biomass.  Thing shored up her remaining biomass and clenched herself together into a smaller and more dense ball of flesh.  She sprouted an eyestalk and gazed at her children, peacefully sleeping in a pile drenched with her womb's fluids.  Thing began producing milk inside of herself.  Her biomass being slowly converted into the fatty nurturing liquid.  As this was happening, she also sprouted many small tendrils from her flesh which each had nipples on their tips.  She guided her tendrils to each of the twenty seven mouths of her children.  They instinctively sucked her nurture, still sleeping with their eyes closed.  Thing quickly lost more and more biomass, becoming smaller and smaller, but her children just continued suckling. Finally, when it seemed that her biomass was almost depleted, her children were satisfied.  Her tendrils were reduced to very thin threads of flesh and her main body was almost non existent, all of the biomass had been converted to milk.  With the last of her biomass, Thing squirted some milk laced with stimulant into each of her children's mouths.  By now, her body was gone, but her hivemind still lived in the cells of her children and the hordes of animals in the Everfree.  Thing felt immensely satisfied, feeding her children with her biomass. The ponies slowly woke up and rubbed their eyes, standing up and looking at each other.  Thing spoke to them telepathically. "Welcome to the family, everypony.  I'm so happy to call each of you my children.  I know it may be a bit confusing but know that I love and care about each and every one of you.  Tomorrow is a big day so I want you to all go home, after I talk to you and get some rest.  Take some time to think about the information of what our family is all about that I have fed into your minds." Thing sent loving thoughts to her children.  Their minds had been softened to become more trusting and accepting.  She also kept their untainted personalities buried inside their brains.  For now she needed soft-minded and cooperative ponies.  Once she had gained more control and dominion over the world she could restore more of their independence and individuality as her master plan unfolded.  For now though she would see to that her children were cooperative and harmonious.  As she tapped into their minds she found that there were only a few more ponies to be assimilated before the whole isolated town was safe for her experimentation. Tomorrow would be a big day. > Chapter 31: Twilight Time (Part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anon slowly traced his fingers along Twilight's spine, kneading muscles buried beneath the purple furry skin on Twilight's back.  The nerdy and heroic alicorn lie with her stomach on Anon's lap.  Peaceful, blissful unconsciousness and steady breathing graced the cute little pony's torso.  As Anon gently massaged Twilight's wing joints, he briefly looked at Twilight's face propped up on a pillow on the couch's arm.  She looked calm and pure as a slowly growing stain of drool leaked from her softly snoring mouth onto the pillow.  Anon sighed almost imperceptibly as he felt her heartbeat and rhythmic breath.  He envied her blissful ignorance.  Soon she would be robbed of it. Twilight was in a state of forced unconsciousness.  At first, when Anon and Blossom approached her, Twilight was very tense and twitching from a nightmare of some sort.  However, now that Twilight was snuggled against Anon's lap she melted, relaxing in his lap as he massaged her muscles and gently pet her, running his fingers through her fur and rubbing them gently into her scalp.  She found comfort in his familiar hands. Blossomforth stood in silent vigil in front of the couch.  She reached her head forward with her neck and gently nuzzled Anon's hand and Twilight's wing.  Unshed tears glimmered in Blossom's sapphire eyes as she struggled to stop them from spilling.  Blossomforth looked ashamed and a bit awkward as she sat down in silence, watching Anon massage the pony she had raped.  Anon turned his head to look at Blossom, Bloss gave a half hearted grin in response with a slightly rueful and tired expression, communicating her complex feelings with subtle body language.  Blossom sighed. "You sure you can handle this, Anon?" Anon looked back into Blossomforth's glittering eyes.  "To be honest, Blossom, I'm not sure.  This whole situation is pretty fucked, all things considered.  However, with you watching over me I'll at least feel safe."  He smiled sadly. Blossomforth sniffed and a tear leaked from the corner of her eye.  She wiped it away quickly with a hoof.  "Yeah…”  Blossomforth sighed.  “I couldn't control it, Anon.  I felt so scared, scared that Twilight would get the upper hoof over me because of her magic.  It's the Ancestor's greatest fear, a new technology or science previously undiscovered that would defeat them.  They programmed this primal fear into me.  I think that sometimes the ancestors succeed in making me into the monster they want me to be."  Blossom glumly hung her head. Anon reached out and lifted her chin with his hand and grinned when she looked up at him.  "Look, I'm just glad that you're able to resist the will of the Ancestors at all!  I mean, Blossomforth, 23 year old flexible pegasus from the backwater town Ponyville vs multi billion year old eldritch abomination superpredator from another galaxy!  Who would win?  I think you've done a great job so far despite your flaws.  I still think that Twilight will be able to help us.  I mean, the Ancestors never developed a defense for magic, right?" Blossomforth winced and then rubbed her eyes.  "Ugh, thanks for reminding me.  Didn’t I just tell you that I have a programmed fear of magic?  But I suppose you’re right, Twilight’s smarts and magic might be able to do something about this." Dark thoughts swirled about in Blossomforth’s mind about how she should invasively fuse her neural probes to Twilight’s brain, harvesting Twilight’s knowledge of magic and perhaps mutate her brain just slightly, causing Twilight to be a little more submissive.  With a single thought she could easily be sure that Twilight would never pose a threat-  Blossomforth’s mouth tightened in on itself very slightly in frustration and self disgust.  Twilight’s body was already assimilated but her instincts wanted more, they wanted complete and utter control, no room for independent thought or action here.  Everything must be consumed by the hivemind.  Blossom wanted to cry at how these thoughts so haunted her mind.  She was not the Ancestor’s tool, their “seed”.  Fate had given her great control over a seemingly omnipotent biological system, she would not let their temptations get to her. Anon looked down at her with worry.  “Are you alright, Bloss?  Are you ready for this?” Blossomforth rubbed her eyes with both hooves and sighed. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Anon suddenly reached out and grabbed Blossom’s hoof.  “It’ll all be alright, alright Blossom?”  Blossomforth looked up with a look of subtle hope.  She smiled back. "Thanks, Anon…”  They shared their moment and Blossom felt so much better for it.  “Alright, I'll be in the other room while you talk to Twilight.  I'll be watching!  Good luck." She tapped at her temple with a hoof, gesturing to her telepathic powers.  Then she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her with a click. Anon sighed to clear his mind, preparing himself.  Blossom was a very special pony but he worried about her and her great power.  After a few moments, Bloss then used whatever telepathic magic she employed to release Twilight's brain from its induced unconsciousness.  Twilight stirred slightly as she transitioned from a deep sleep into a REM sleep, her eyes moving slowly around beneath her eyelids.  It was a good sign that she seemed to be dreaming about something normal rather than experiencing a nightmare.  Anon stared deeply into Twilight's peaceful face, he gently wiped the barely visible tear stains from her cheeks and eyes. Anon took a deep breath, time to wake her up.  Anon reached out with his hand to Twilight's ear and began slowly scratching and rubbing behind her ear.  Before he had moved out, Anon would regularly give Twilight massages as a thanks for housing him.  It's what made him aware of his talent as a masseuse.  Twilight would sometimes fall asleep while being massaged, she was a night owl and never seemed to get enough sleep.  He found that the best way to wake her up was to scratch behind her ear. Twilight's ear twitched and swiveled towards him.  Her right hind leg twitched and kicked as he scratched.  Twilight made some feminine groaning noises and stretched with her legs, reaching forward with her forelegs and extending her hind legs backwards, pointing her hoof tips to deepen her stretch. Her stomach weighed down on Anon's lap as her legs raised up in her active stretch.  She yawned as she stretched and finally squinted open her eyes as she turned her head to look up to Anon. "Mmmmhhm... Anon?  Where am I?"  Twilight blinked the sleep out of her eyes as awareness rapidly returned to her.  "Oh no!  Did I fall asleep again while you were massaging me?" "Maybe..." Anon smiled at Twilight's embarrassed expression.  He was at a loss of what to say, he didn't want to interrupt Twilight being adorable.  Anon pet and gently scratched his fingernails into the skin under her fur in her withers at the base of her neck.  Twilight shivered slightly, craning her neck in pleasure and as she stretched out under his hands.  "You feeling alright, Twilight?" "Mhhm, me?  I'm feeling just great!  That must have been a really good massage, my body feels like putty!  Oh my, I must have slept really deeply, I don't even remember how I got here, I really need to get into the habit of going to bed earlier...  You know that you don't have to keep massaging me once I'm asleep, you could have just left me on the massage table!  You carry me around like I'm a cat or something. It's kind of embarrassing." She blushed and muttered averting her eyes, sighing with pleasure and resignation.  "I have to admit though, you do your best work while I'm asleep.  I don't think I've ever felt so refreshed and relaxed. Thanks."  Twilight looked back up to Anon and smiled with gratitude. Anon reached out and ruffled her mane, rubbing her scalp at the base of her horn with his fingers.  "Not a problem, Twi.  You're definitely worth the trouble!  How are you feeling?  Sleep well?" Twilight yawned with a feminine sigh and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes wearily with her hooves.  Then for some reason, Twilight sat very still for a very long three seconds.  Twilight seemed to have ignored or forgotten what Anon had said.  The room was silent save for the distant ticking of a clock in the kitchen.  Twilight suddenly sat up on Anon's lap and looked around at Anon’s living/waiting room.  She shivered and scooted closer to Anon, pressing her head on his shoulder and looked up at Anon’s face.  Anon looked back into Twilight’s vast purple eyes.  Twilight was beginning to tense up, Anon could feel her heart rate speeding up slightly as her torso was against his, she had a frightened look on her face. “Anon?  Can I ask you something?” Anon was more than a little afraid, but he hid it with a calm demeanor.  He knew what Twilight could do with a thought, but he trusted Blossomforth to stop Twilight from doing anything drastic.  Anon nodded in affirmation, gesturing for her to continue. "How did I get here?" Anon almost grimaced but he held himself in check.  He saw the gears turning in Twilight's mind.  He knew that he could not fool her for long.  Anon was not a good liar so Twilight immediately saw the subtle conflict in his eyes and face.  Anon knew that Twilight would not be fooled. "Well, that question has quite a complicated answer-" "Was I drugged?"  Twilight laughed quickly and nervously.  "I mean, this one time Rainbow miiight have convinced me to take a sip of one of Zecora's more, erm, interesting potions but oh mane, I never experienced a trip like that one!  That was really scary!  It felt so real!  I suppose I should have known that something was happening when I could only feel numb.  It was so vivid and realistic!  Oh, mare.  I think we might need to get out of here, Anon!  The pheromon-" "Woah, woah!  Hold your -erm- hooves there, Twilight!  It’s fine.  I think you know that the pheromone only affects equines so I'm completely free of mind altering drugs.  Also, I'm pretty sure the source of this drug has been accounted for.  So there's no need to worry-" "What was the origin of the pheromone?"  Twilight was staring at Anon with rapt attention.  She was obviously very curious and a bit confused about what had happened.  "All I remember is a strange ball of, uh, flesh I suppose."  Twilight furrowed her brow.  "That's when I started seeing strange and frankly terrifying things.  I think the high concentration of the mystery pheromone was affecting my senses because things got much more strange and frightening after that." "Alright, alright!  Just slow down a second there, Twilight!  Before that, tell me what you remember.  I'm very curious as to what you remember."  Twilight looked a little frustrated and opened her mouth to argue, but before she could Anon interrupted her.  "Look, just think of it as a scientific experiment.  You wouldn't want the subject of the experiment to be tainted with too much information, would you?  In this case, you’re the subject." Twilight opened and closed her mouth several times, struggling with conflicting desires to perform an experiment properly and quickly find out what happened.  Anon smirked internally, it seemed Twilight's characteristic scientific side was playing to his advantage.  It was quite cute to see her struggle with herself. "Fine!  I guess I'll humor you.  You know, that drug fueled experience was very unpleasant!  I felt like I was dying!"  Twilight groaned with regret.  "Rainbow always told me about the bad trips that could happen.  I never knew it would be so vivid and real!  I suppose you are right though.  A newly discovered chemical like this has some very interesting properties and it is the smart thing to do to utilize the scientific method."  Twilight smiled at Anon.  "I'm proud of you!  It seems you have learned something from me after all! Anon smirked at the subtle banter, Twilight's eyes twinkled as she smiled slightly.  "Well, let's see here."  Twilight's smile faded and her brows furrowed.  "Well it all started getting really weird and frightening after Blossomforth came into the room.  I mean, the strange mutation of flesh I thought was was disturbing but it was nothing compared to what came next...  Wait a minute, where's Blossom anyways?" Anon thought quickly.  "Er, she's resting in the other room.  She definitely needs it after all this excitement." Twilight frowned slightly with worry.  "I hope she's doing alright, she must have had some very strange hallucinations as well.  But anyways, my hallucination was very vivid and profoundly frightening.  It felt so real, gritty and sharp.  I felt like I was thinking so clearly.  It started with a sharp stabbing pain in my barrel."  Twilight shifted in her seat at the phantom pain, she reflexively lifted a hoof to the side of her barrel, there was no wound to be seen.  "It didn't last very long, then I had the strange feeling of my insides shifting and moving but I was mostly numbed to whatever pain I thought I should have been feeling.  Then I-I was paralyzed, I couldn't move as I felt the most disturbing of feelings within my belly.  It felt like there were worms and things within me, wriggling and twisting.  It wasn't painful but it was one of the most disturbing things I've ever felt.  It all happened so quickly, Anon.  It felt like something had attached itself to the side of my body and was invading.  A-And then-" Twilight shivered and reached around Anon's chest to hug him as tears started to fall from her eyes.  She laid her head on Anon's chest.  Twilight sniffed as mucus began to dribble in her nostrils.  She smiled through her tears and closed her eyes as she felt Anon hug her back.  Tears flooded from her closed eyes.  She felt safe and secure, away from the horrifying nightmare.  It wasn't real, she told herself. "It's alright, Twilight.  You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but now-" Twilight held up a hoof to Anon's mouth to interrupt, she resolutely looked up to him with teary eyes.  She sniffed and cleared her throat.  "No, no.  I need to get this out of my system."  Her eyes softened.  "Are you sure you want to hear this, Anon?  It's very unpleasant but I think sharing would help me out." Anon gently grabbed her hoof and lowered it from his face.  He held her hoof gently and squeezed it.  "I'll be fine, Twilight.  I'll help you through this as best I can." More tears, this time of happiness leaked from Twilight's eyes.  "Thank you so much, Anon."  She placed her other hoof on top of his grasping hand and smiled once more.  She took a deep breath and sighed, practicing the calming exercise that Cadence had taught her.  She looked much more relaxed and calm now.  With renewed confidence, she began her story. "I tried to turn my head but there was something leaching to the side of my face and I couldn't even move as it was fused to me.  It was then when I felt the worm invade my mouth.  It-It slithered into my mouth, curling around my tongue and began strangling me as it started to slide down my throat.  It entered through my cheek, whatever had fused itself to my face had eaten through my cheek!  At this point I panicked, being unable to move, while being raped in the throat by a worm was just too much.  I screamed reached out with my magic and grabbed whatever it was that was attached to my body and tore it off me with all my magical strength.  It's a miracle I didn't injure myself, now that I think about it.  I gagged repeatedly as the worm was extracted from my throat.  I saw the worm trailing in front of my face, I looked up and I saw Blossomforth staring right at me, her tongue impossibly long as it stuck out of her mouth and into my own.  Half of her face was mutilated, I saw part of my purple fur attached to her mutated cheek.  Her torso was torn in half, her heart was exposed, twitching as it beated.  Tendrils and organs hung from her mutilated torso, I could see parts of my fur and skin attached to her." Twilight’s eyes were wide and haunted as she vividly remembered what had happened to her.  "After I had fully extracted the tentacle from my mouth, I was able to turn my head and look back at my torso.  It was just horrible, Anon.  Half my skin and fat on the side of my body was just gone, torn clean off.  I could see my organs spilling out my side!  The worms, Anon.  The worms!  They were swimming and squirming inside me, I could see them.  They seemed to be absorbing my leaking blood and somehow fusing themselves to my organs.  I could see them below my skin, crawling their way up my neck!" Twilight closed her eyes and shivered at the memory.  She opened her eyes and looked down at her body.  She felt her own body with her hooves.  "Obviously, this didn't happen.  But it felt like it did.  I looked up at Blossomforth.  Her flesh mutated and moved like a slime or liquid, repairing itself before my eyes.  I thought that this thing that looked like Blossomforth was responsible for consuming my body.  I think I must have lifted Blossomforth up.  She looked so apologetic and ashamed.  I yelled and screamed at her, she tried to calm me down.  Obviously, reality was trying to break through to my hallucination.  I tried to shake and squeeze her in my magic but thankfully it didn't respond for some reason.  Oh, mare!  Is she alright?  Did I hurt her?"  Twilight's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened in horror. "No, no!  She's fine!  A little shaken up but fine." Twilight's eyes and expression softened in relief.  "Oh, thank goodness.  I was worried that I had hallucinated Blossomforth as some sort of monster and hurt her by mistake." Anon's mouth subtly tightened with a dry smugness.  "We'll you didn't hurt her, that's for sure.  Did anything else happen?" Twilight thought for a few seconds.  "I just seemed to fade away after that, then I woke up in your lap.  Alright, I told you what I remember."  Twilight sniffed and dried her tears with a fetlock.  "It was quite traumatizing to say the least.  Now, tell me what happened.  You were the only one with a clear mind unaffected by the pheromone.  What happened?  Where did this mysterious chemical come from?" Anon nervously shifted, his face betraying his discomfort.  "Well, it's a long explanation.  Let's just say the pheromone is of alien origin." Twilight gasped and her eyes lit up.  "Did you bring this with you from Earth?  Is it like a cologne you humans use?  Oh mare, I'll need to study it closely.  We'll have to bring it to a level three hazmat facility.  Why does it effect equines?  Do you humans harvest-" "No, we don't."  Anon rubbed his eyes, trying to think of the best way to ease the revelation to Twilight in the least shocking way possible.  It was starting to seem like an impossible task. "Alright, I think the best way to begin my explanation is to talk about my cell phone.  You've seen it before and you have taken it apart, right?"  Twilight nodded, with a curious expression.  "Before you met me, did you think such a thing was possible?" Twilight thought for a moment, rubbing her hoof on her chin.  "Well, perhaps something resembling it could be created using magical means but your phone seems to have so many functions built into such a small space.  The matrices, power gems, and other magical connections required to program and power such a device would take up much more space, not to mention that it would not have nearly as many functions as your 'cell phone' does.  It is still somewhat mysterious to me how you were able to fit so much into such a small space.  I mean, you did teach me the basics of semiconductor physics but it is such an unexplored field in Equestria.  I suppose the attitude is who needs science when you have magic?" Anon smiled.  "That's exactly the point I was trying to make!  Different alien societies unable to share information only explore and discover what they can based on their circumstances.  I mean, on Earth none of the humans or other species of animals are lucky enough to have evolved with magical conductors like your horn, directly connected to your brains.  Your magic seems to have allowed your species abundance without the need to study and utilize other fields of science.  In fact you all seem to be much more connected to nature than humans are, so it is no wonder that you focused on these aspects that are so intimately connected to your biology." "To me, your magic, weather manipulation and so many other things seem fantastical, impossible simply because my mind has been closed to such possibilities due to me never experiencing something like that.  When you take a look at my phone or the other pieces of human technology that I brought, and hear the stories about the human world like the Internet does it seem impossible or fantastical to you?" Twilight furrowed her brow thoughtfully.  "Well, yes.  What you said about your world does seem a little far fetched, but I'm inclined to believe you because of how much your phone can do.  What does this have to do with my hallucination?" "Well, what if I were to tell you that Blossomforth and I found an alien species?" ---- Excitement erupted in Twilight's mind.  A whole new species?  She could barely contain herself. "Oh my Celestia!  Really?  Is it a kind of changeling-like alien?  You see, changelings can adapt to their surroundings and change into new forms by processing new DNA.  Did this alien produce the mysterious pheromone?  Is this why it was specifically adapted to effect equines?" Twilight was grinning and bouncing in place.  Her eyes wide and twinkling with excitement.  Anon's eyes widened slightly and he smiled back.  He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You know, you're a sharp mare, Twilight.  You're closer to the truth than you think." Twilight's smile widened, and she blushed at the praise slightly.  "Well, I knew that it had to be something like that.  It's the only thing that made sense after you said that.  How did he or she or- whatever gender constructs this alien might have- how did the alien get here?  Can I meet the alien?  Did you make friends?  I mean, I had so much fun studying you!" Anon held his hands up.  "Alright, alright.  I know that this makes you excited but we need to take this slow.  There are some complicated and serious things that I need to explain to you, some of it might be shocking to you." Twilight calmed down a little at that but her giddiness could not be quenched. "I'm all ears, Anon!" Well, here we go, Anon thought to himself.  "Hmm, I suppose I should start at the beginning.  Blossomforth was the one who first discovered the alien.  Then she decided to share her discovery with me.  She wanted us to keep it a secret because...  Well, you'll find out why soon.  Anyways, this alien, is really alien.  I mean, I'm an alien too but I'm from a different dimension with quite similar properties to yours.  I think you told me that dimensions close to our own can be pretty similar, even having similar parallel places like my Earth and this Equestira which is probably why we have similar carbon/DNA based biology and even similar languages despite being so different." Anon took a second to look at Twilight.  She sat still with wide eyes paying rapt attention.  "Go, on!  I'm dying of suspense over here!" Anon hesitated.  "Well this is the part I am hesitant to tell you about because it gets really… Strange.  Are you ready for this?" Twilight tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.  "Well, I think so.  You're friends with this alien, right?" Anon hesitated.  “That’s a complicated topic but the answer is ultimately yes.” "Then you have nothing to worry about!  I'm ready, Anon.  Please tell me more!" Anon could see in Twilight’s eyes a pure and excited gleam.  A burning desire and passion to learn more about this new alien.  Who knew what new secrets of the universe could be unlocked with this new discovery?  Twilight certainly wanted to know!  Anon stared further into Twilight’s huge eyes, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.  Anon steeled himself, if he went further, there would be no going back. He took the plunge. “The first thing you should know about this new alien species is that it is a predator species like myself.  However, this species is so much more advanced than my species.  Blossomforth was the first to contact the alien because it landed right in front of her.  It would be more accurate to say it crash landed.  This alien was broken, barely alive.  It had traveled through the extremes of space and time, weak and vulnerable.” Anon gauged Twilight’s reaction, her eyes were wide with rapt attention.  “The next thing you should know about the alien is that it is highly aggressive, quite similar to my species in how we expand and shape the environment around us to do our bidding with our technology.  This alien, weak and disoriented desperately tried to save itself in the only way it knew how, it tried to consume Blossomforth.” By now, Anon’s face was quite serious, Twilight’s mouth opened.  “Before you say anything, Blossomforth is fine.  The alien failed.  Like you said before, the alien is a changeling-like entity.  It adopts the forms of organisms it encounters by processing its DNA.  However, the ravages of time and distance had caused the alien to lose some of itself permanently.  It had to adapt or die so instead it filled the holes with Blossomforth herself.” At this point, Twilight looked a little confused and concerned.  Anon decided it was best to simply continue.  “I’m now going to be brutally honest with you.  This alien is not a nice entity.  When it crashed, it was like a meteor impact.  Blossomforth became severely injured and the alien tried to eat her.  This alien is not like any living thing you have seen before.  Blossomforth described it to me as a metallic goo.  The last thing she remembered before she passed out was the gooish creature leaping at her.” Anon saw the gears turning in Twilight’s mind.  “Now, before you jump to conclusions, this is not over.  This is only the beginning, bear with me!  Remember that the alien is severely damaged.  Most of its mind and neural system was either damaged beyond repair or simply missing, forcing the creature to depend simply on its base instincts.  Its base instincts are to consume other organisms and incorporate them into itself.  The metallic, gooish alien fused itself to Blossomforth on a biological-nanoscale level, mutating her cells as it did with incredibly complex and advanced alien enzymes.  Soon it found what it was looking for, Blossomforth’s nervous system.  The alien, desperate to find what it instinctively knew was missing took Blossomforth’s brain and adopted it into itself trying to fill the hole with what it could find.  The alien, desperate and without a functioning mind or inhibitors to stop itself had instinctively given another organism, Blossomforth, control.  Because without a functioning mind, it probably would have died.” Twilight stared at Anon in amazement.  “So you’re telling me that Blossomforth transformed into an alien changeling after it fused to her and tried to consume her?” Anon stroked his chin and stared at her seriously.  “Yeah, I’d say that’s about right.” Anon allowed Twilight a few seconds to process the information.  Amazingly, she seemed calm and collected, but underneath there was a giddy excitement.  He could see her mind racing in her expression.  Her breathing was starting to become quicker as the excitement built.  It was simply fascinating to watch Twilight slowly become more and more excited.  He was so distracted that he was not ready for the deluge of questions that followed. “I have so many questions!  First of all, how did the alien ‘fuse’ to Blossomforth?  Is the alien even a carbon based life form?  You said that it originally looked like a metallic goop.  That does not sound like carbon based life to me.  If so, how did it interface or ‘fuse’ with Blossomforth, a carbon based life form?  How did Blossomforth -I know it had to be her- how did she create that pheromone and how did she hide herself from my spell?  Why did it cause me to hallucinate?  Can I do experiments?  Is Blossomforth shy about this?  Is this why you two kept it a secret?  I never really got to know her too well.  How much of her own biology did she keep?  She certainly still looks like a pony but are her cells different than before?  Where is she?  Can I see her?  What happened to the alien?  Does it even exist anymore as an individual separate from Blossom or is it’s individuality simply lost?” Twilight was almost bouncing up and down on Anon’s lap.  Anon grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.  “Calm down.  I’ll answer all your questions in due time but this is a delicate subject and we need to-” “You said that Blossomforth is in the other room, right?  Mind if I go fetch her real quick?  I feel that this would be sooo much more productive if she were here!” Twilight giddily squirmed in Anon’s hands.  Anon thought for a minute.  This would be much easier with Blossomforth here and Twilight didn’t seem to realize yet that she had not hallucinated so she should logically not be afraid of Blossom.  Also, Blossomforth should be able to help explain everything to Twilight, not to mention that she would be able to read Twilight’s mind and know what she is thinking.  “I suppose that would be alrigh-” “Great!  I’ll go get her!” “Wai-!” Twilight’s horn glowed suddenly and Twilight vanished with a sparkle.  The vacuum she left behind her closed with a sharp snapping noise making Anon mildly stunned for a moment as his hands were now grasping thin air that had snapped at him. A second later, Twilight and Blossomforth appeared in front of him with a pop and a sparkle.  Twilight stepped into the air, flaring her wings gracefully to land on the floor.  Blossomforth stumbled to the floor, her wings awkwardly helping to balance herself to stop from falling.  She seemed slightly disoriented from being suddenly teleported.  Although she probably knew what Twilight was going to do just slightly before she did it, it did not seem to prepare her for the disorienting experience. Twilight had a huge smile on her face and she turned immediately to face Blossomforth.  “So you’re a space changeling now, and you were the one that produced that powerful mystery pheromone, right?” Blossomforth’s shoulders were scrunched slightly into her neck and her face was red with embarrassment and timidity.  She simply nodded at Twilight, shrinking into herself slightly.  Twilight began pacing around Blossomforth who was seated. “Wow!  How do you feel?  I’m sure it must have been a little traumatic to have an alien attack you and try to eat you!”  Twilight noticed how timid Blossomforth was. “Well, I’m feeling good now but this whole situation was quite scary at first. I-” Twilight suddenly reached forward and pulled Blossomforth into a hug.  “I’m sorry for being so insensitive to you.  I didn’t even think about how this could be a difficult thing for you.  I can’t imagine being forced into having my biology being altered.” Blossomforth smiled and buried her face into Twilight’s shoulder while Twilight’s huge alicorn wings draped over her.  Anon suddenly stood up and crouched down in front of them to wrap his arms around them both.  They all sat in silence for a few short seconds, enjoying the hug.  Anon finally let them both go and sat down on the floor indian style. Blossomforth cracked a smile through her watery, glimmering eyes.  “Thanks for the hug, Twilight.  It really made me feel better.” Twilight’s face tinged pink momentarily.  “Aw, it’s nothing.  Sometimes I just need to not let my interest in science overshadow what really matters.”  Twilight folded her wings and used the calming breathing exercise with her foreleg Cadence had taught her to clear her mind.  “We can take this as slow as you want, this is probably a very delicate subject.  I have to admit that I am still very curious about everything but I can wait to do it at your pace.  I don’t want you to feel like that I am treating you like a science experiment.  I’ve done that before to somepony and I can shamefully say that my friends had to knock some sense into me, heh.” Anon sighed in relief.  “Well, I for one am glad that we are getting along at least for the moment.  To be honest though, this is going to be a very important topic.”  Anon glanced nervously in Blossomforth’s direction but then stared intently into Twilight’s eyes.  “What we will discuss and decide here may have far reaching consequences for everyone in Equestria.  Remember what I said about alien societies unable to share information?  This is exactly what I was trying to lead up to.  I only brought a few pieces of technology from my world, a small sample, but Blossomforth here has inherited a huge chunk of technology from her adopted ancestors.  Their civilization is so much more ancient and powerful than either of ours.  In fact, what Blossomforth has gained is so much more important and powerful than the technology in my phone to make it seem insignificant.  Blossomforth and I have been wanting to talk to you about this but we could never decide when the best time to do so would be.  I want you to realize how important our meeting is.  We also need your help and advice, Twilight.” Twilight sat still with a serious pondering expression.  “Wow, I knew that a new alien species would be extremely important but you make it sound like everything is going to change!  What is it exactly that you two have discovered?  Please forgive me but I can’t help but think that you might be exaggerating just a little.  Please help me to understand.” Blossomforth and Anon both glanced to each other.  “You want to try to explain or should I?” Said Anon. “I think I can try to explain it to Twilight,” said Blossomforth.  Blossomforth turned to Twilight, after their hug and talk following the jarring teleportation she was feeling quite a bit more confident.  “You see, this alien came from a different galaxy, traveling across millions or perhaps a billion light years to get here.  In their home galaxy, my adopted ancestors have managed to install themselves as the alpha predator of their galaxy.  They do not specialize in technology in the traditional sense, they specialize in biological technology.  They engineer their bodies to be as adaptable and resilient as possible in order to quickly multiply and harvest the information and energy that a planet contains.” “Their cells and biology do not operate the same way that yours do.  They have taken the best biological designs from all the worlds that they have conquered and incorporated them into themselves.  This has been going on for at least a billion years.  In this time my ancestors have improved their bodies to such an extent that their biology radically different than anything seen in equestria or on earth.  Their nervous systems do not need to be physically linked to function.  They have mastered nanoscopic quantum telepathic links that form a hivemind structure within their flesh.  They have designed incredibly advanced enzymes that can quickly mutate cells into any desired form given the proper organic material.  The cells can quickly coordinate telepathically to form into macrostructures so that the body can be mutated into the desired shape.  They can even process organic designs from harvested DNA and incorporate it into itself.” “Perhaps even more important is that the biology is specifically designed to spread like a virus.  The enzymes can inject themselves into adjacent cells like a virus would and repurpose the cell’s resources into the hivemind and then replicate.  The hivemind itself is designed to expand and multitask to manage a spreading infection that can telepathically communicate.  All of this biological engineering is there to make them into the ultimate predator capable of spreading and consuming all life on any planet they go to.” “It was only by pure luck and the fact that the alien was broken from the ravages of time and distance that I was able to stop this from happening.  I have no desire to consume and dominate the world.  However, I must admit that while I have inherited the biology of these aliens, I have also inherited their instincts and I sometimes have urges to eat new things or do certain things.  These urges are usually fleeting and controllable though so it isn’t too serious.” Blossomforth nervously sat still as she watched Twilight try to process what she had heard.  Twilight was blinking rapidly, her brow creased in concentration.  She seemed a little incredulous like she didn’t quite believe what she was hearing. “So…  You’re telling me that you can mutate your body at will and spread like a virus?” There was an awkward silence.  “Yes, that’s right,” said Blossomforth. Twilight looked at Anon in disbelief.  Anon responded, “Look Twilight, I know what she’s saying sounds unbelievable but what she’s saying is the truth.  I’ve seen it for myself.” Twilight’s brow was still furrowed.  “I need to see this for myself.  I am having a very hard time imagining that such a thing as you described can exist.  I’m trying to be calm here but I can feel my heart beating faster.  If what you said is true, we need to be very careful about how we approach this.  This could be more important than anything I’ve done before but I need to be sure that this isn’t some elaborate prank.  Let me just say that if this is a prank then I will be very angry.  So this is your last chance to back out of your prank if that is what this is.” Silence.  Twilight took a deep breath, doing Cadence's breathing exercise once again.   “Alright, Blossomforth.  I want you to show me immediately what your body can do.  You said that you can take DNA and mutate yourself to incorporate the designs into your body.”  Twilight’s horn lit up and she yanked a loose hair from her head, floating it over to Blossomforth.  Blossomforth held out a hoof and Twilight laid it down on her hoof.  “I want to see you transform yourself into me.” Blossomforth looked at Twilight with a pained expression.  “I really don’t like doing this.  My transformations are not as quick or pleasant as a changeling’s flashy disguise.  My whole body will mutate, inside and out.  Are you sure you want to see it?  I can go hide in the bathroom while it happens if you want.” Twilight shook her head.  “No, I need to see it all for myself.” Blossomforth sighed and made a show of eating Twilight’s hair.  In reality, Twilight was already assimilated and Blossomforth had full access to her DNA and structural information.  Without another word, Blossomforth’s fur retracted into her skin including her mane which slipped into her skull.  Blossomforth was naked, pink skin exposed as her bones began creaking and changing shape.  She felt her muscles tighten becoming less flexible to mimic Twilight’s body structure.  Blossomforth’s legs grew longer, her wings became larger, bones creaking as they lengthened.  A purple horn pierced through her skull, jutting out of her.  Her face changed shape, her muzzle becoming slightly longer and her bones changing shape.  Blood leaked from the base of her new horn but was soon absorbed through the skin as it quickly finished growing.  Blossomforth’s eyes changed from blue to purple and her hair regrew, a deep purple with Twilight’s distinctive neon stripe.  Standing in front of Twilight was her clone.  They looked nearly identical, two alicorns of equal height and features.  The only difference was that Blossomforth was slightly thinner.  She didn’t have as much biomass as Twilight did so she needed to make herself thinner to be able to transform herself into Twilight’s larger frame. Blossomforth spoke to Twilight, her voice sounding identical to Twilight’s.  “As you can see, I look pretty much the same as you except that I’m slightly thinner.  However…”  Blossomforth’s stomach puffed up, squelching noises coming from within her.  “If I need to I can create specialized muscles to make myself look a little more voluminous like you.  Also.”  Blossomforth coughed and cleared her throat.  She mutated her vocal cords back to sounding like her old self.   “It’s a little strange and creepy to use your voice, I think I’ll stick with mine, alright?” Twilight was having a mild panic attack.  Blossomforth felt Twilight’s heart beat faster and her breath quicken through their telepathic connection.  Blossom needed to de-escalate. “Calm down, Twilight.  It’s still me in here.  I’ll transform back into my old self, alright?”  Blossomforth began transforming back into her old self as quickly as possible.  Her bones snapped and cracked loudly and her hair quickly retracted and regrew.  As her hair regrew, her double flower cutie mark regrew into place.  Just as her eyes were turning back from purple to blue, Blossomforth’s eyes suddenly widened in fear and her face fell, she could see what Twilight was thinking. Twilight’s mind was incredibly quick as dozens of logical conclusions were rapidly processed through her brain from the information she was given as quickly as a strobe light.  Twilight suddenly believed everything Blossomforth had said.  Twilight had watched Blossomforth transform into a perfect copy of herself.  There was no faint glow or feel of magic, changeling or otherwise.  The creature simply mutated.  Twilight was incredibly sensitive to magic energies and she knew that what Blossomforth was doing was not magic.  This was new, this was unknown, this was dangerous.  Twilight’s mind rapidly shifted from a curious and skeptical scientific mode into a much more intimidating militaristic point of view.  How did she know that this creature was actually Blossomforth?  It demonstrated that it could transform into any form it wanted to.  It could infect other organisms by touching them?  It has a self expanding hivemind?  It’s predatory and it regularly consumes worlds? If there was the smallest possibility that what this creature said was true, which was seeming much more likely, then she needed to contain it now.  Twilight was fairly confident that Blossomforth or whatever this creature was is probably telling the truth because of how open it was being.  Perhaps it was worth trusting this entity, or was it?  Blossomforth herself told Twilight that she was having urges to consume.  What in the world did that mean?  How did Blossomforth know that whatever broken alien mind that existed before would not re-emerge from this hivemind?  Twilight wanted to trust Blossomforth but she wanted to protect her ponies more.  It was not worth the risk.  How could you trust a shapeshifter that can effortlessly take the shape of anyone?  What she needed was quarantine.  She needed to study and understand this new and dangerous alien before she let it run around her nation doing who knows what.  She needed to develop ways to defend against this advanced predatory creature.  She knew how dangerous, and manipulative creatures like changelings could be.  Ponies like Twilight had an instinctual fear of predators, it was in their nature. Blossomforth’s world was moving in slow motion.  The almost predatory analysis coming from Twilight’s mind caused her mind to kick into overdrive, dramatically speeding up her thought rate and reaction time.  Time slowed down from her perspective.  Even with her much more efficient mind, she was having trouble keeping up with Twilight’s rapid fire thoughts.  She watched as Twilight slowly grimaced, her face slowly changing shape into a sour and focused expression.  She was about to do something that she was almost already regretting as she began to commit herself to the action.  Blossomforth calmed herself.  This battle was already won before it had began.  Blossomforth thought so much more quickly than she was capable of moving.  She saw Twilight’s horn begin to ever so slowly glow.  She was completely incapable of stopping Twilight from her current course short of telepathically manipulating Twilight’s assimilated body herself.  Blossomforth yet did not need to resort to that.  She allowed herself to relax as she felt Twilight’s magic take hold of her body, physically immobilizing her and lifting her off her hooves to float helplessly in the air. Blossomforth felt her tear ducts begin to squirt into her eyes.  She felt empathy and pity at Twilight’s preemptive strike, she herself had preemptively assimilated Twilight not an hour before!  She felt wretched hate and frustration directed at the Ancestors because they were right.  She hated when they were right.  She knew intimately the fear of not being in control, the ancient fear was directly encoded into her biology.  Twilight was trying to place her under control, but Twilight was already under Blossomforth’s control.  Blossomforth also felt fear, guilt, and dread.  She knew the fear and helplessness that Twilight would feel when she knew that she had failed.  Blossomforth feared becoming the monster in the eyes of Twilight, but she knew it was coming.  Whether it be for just a moment or be it for a very long time, Twilight would look into her eyes and Blossomforth would see true fear within. Blossomforth saw a look of guilt self disgust in Twilight’s eyes.  Blossomforth saw herself in Twilight’s expression.  Oh!  How quickly their roles would be reversed! As Blossomforth relaxed inside Twilight’s unyielding magical grip, her rate of thought slowed to normal levels.  Raw emotion caused tears to escape from her eyes but she didn’t cry, she had a calm and sorrowful look on her face.  She blinked rapidly, allowing the tears to trickle freely as she calmly gazed at Twilight. Anon held his hands up.  “Alright, why don’t we just calm down for a moment and talk this through!”  As the flurry of emotion and action played out in front of him, he knew that something had to be done to de-escalate. Twilight frowned with her sour but determined expression.  “I’m sorry Anon, but I am going to place this alien into custody.  As a princess of Equestria, it is my responsibility to protect my ponies.  Blossomforth, or whoever you are, I want to trust you but I can’t.  You are too much of an unknown.  I am happy that you have been honest with me about yourself, this will mean a lot and help your case.  I’m going to bring you to a level five magical hazmat facility where you will be taken good care of by the best Equestria has to offer.  I’ll personally make sure that you are comfortable, as a first contact with an extraterrestrial species I want this to be very pleasant for you.  Since you seem to have been honest to me, I’ll be honest back.  Your demonstration has frightened me, but it is just a natural reaction to a dangerous unknown.  Now, we’re going to do experiments and other such procedures but I promise you will be treated with the utmost respect like we would treat any other new intelligent species, like Anon here.  Right, Anon?” Anon then had flashbacks of being poked and prodded with experiments done by Twilight.  He would regularly be held helplessly in Twilight’s magic as she performed endless annoying experiments.  He wasn’t exactly mistreated, he was just repeatedly humiliated by how vulnerable he was to Twilight’s magical telekinesis.  Sometimes he wondered if the aliens had captured him and were doing the infamous probe experiments on him before he would be deposited back on Earth.  Anon simply stared at Twilight and narrowed his eyes at her with mild annoyance but he quickly refocused on the task at hand.  He raised his hand to interrupt but Twilight just plowed on. Twilight blushed.  “Alright, alright!  Maybe I went a tad overboard with you, but I was learning so much!  I mean, yes my friends did have to stage an intervention-” Anon and Blossomforth glanced to each other, uneasy expressions about how they should continue.  Twilight rambled in the background, trying to defend her credibility in front of the new alien. “-but in the end, Anon turned out to be a productive member of society!”  Twilight looked at Anon and Blossom’s uneasy expressions.  “Don’t worry!  It will all be fine!  Trust me!” “Twilight, that’s not the issue,” Anon said.  “I’m sure you would treat Blossomforth here with, er, a more gentle touch than you did me.  There’s something important we haven’t told you yet.  We were leading up to it until you decided to, uh, arrest Blossomforth.”  Anon glanced over to Blossomforth with a pleading expression.  He really did not want to be the one to tell Twilight.  “You wanna take this one, Bloss?” Fear appeared on Blossomforth’s face.  “Yes, I suppose I should take responsibility for what I have done.  I’m going to harshly rip off this band aid as quickly as I can so I can get it over with.”  Blossomforth took a deep breath and looked at Twilight in the eye with shame.  Twilight’s brow creased with confused concern.  “With immense shame, I must admit that I have allowed the instinctual fears of self preservation from my adopted alien ancestors to drive my actions.  The hallucination you thought you experienced was real.  You have already been infected with my biology.” > Chapter 32: Twilight Time (Part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took a moment for Twilight to realize what Blossomforth meant.  She looked up at Blossomforth with a disbelieving expression.  Blossomforth stared back at Twilight nervously with pregnant anticipation.  She was sad, fearful, and felt a bit timidly guilty. Twilight hesitated, trying to think of what to say.  “Look, that trick you did was quite impressive and it makes me believe that you really are an alien because your transformations do not seem to be magic based.  I am very sensitive to magic so I would be able to tell if it was magic based, even changeling magic.  That in of itself is admittedly a little disconcerting.  You seem to be at least partially honest and I’m glad you saw fit to tell me about this, but I am still having a hard time believing what you said about hiveminds and viral spread.  It all seemed a little far fetched.  I’m just going to take you back to the lab and we’ll get this all sorted out, alright?” Blossomforth’s mouth hung open in frustration.  She let out a high pitched whining gasp of frustration.  Her bottled up emotions burst out of her.  All of her emotions and guilt were building up to the moment she would reveal what she really was to Twilight.  Her emotions were running so high that she even forgot to monitor Twilight’s thoughts.  To hear Twilight dismiss her was a surprise to her, it felt almost like a punch to the gut. “I’m not lying to you!  What you saw was real!  I-” Blossomforth paused.  Did she really want to use the ‘a’ word?  “-I assimilated you!  Your body is now attached to and controlled by my mind!  I mean, this is not the end of the world for you.  I’m going to treat you and your mind and body with the utmost respect, just like you promised to treat me in your containment facility.  However, do you have any idea how tempting it was to just mutate your brain and erase your short term memory?  I didn’t because I want to be your friend, I want to open up to you.  You didn’t die in what you think is a hallucination because my enzymes are inside your cells!  Remember how I told you about a hivemind structure with quantum neural information links?  These links exist within the enzymes that inhabit my cells and now your cells as well, which I have infected.  It essentially makes me a telepath, allowing me to communicate with and control the structure of any organic tissue that has my enzymes within it.  This allowed me to heal your body once my enzymes were there to provide the chemical reactions and hivemind coordination to repair your body. “I also wanted to say... I’m sorry.  I did what I did to you out of fear, an instinctual fear of being trapped by your magic.  When you found the source of the pheromone, I knew that you would inevitably discover me if I were to do nothing.  My ancestors instinctively fear, attack, and assimilate, with overwhelming force, anything they don’t understand and have not developed defences for.  They have never seen magic before.  They passed that instinct on to me among others that make me fear being trapped and caged above anything else.  Ironically, their fears were justified because you were planning to do just that to me, as evidenced by your magic holding me very tightly in the air.” Twilight narrowed her eyes and scowled, tightening her magical grip around Blossomforth.  Blossomforth’s frustrated speech almost sounded like veiled threats to Twilight.  “Was planning to do to you?  How do I know that you are not bluffing, shapeshifter?  How do I know you’re not lying about having telepathic powers?  You’re trapped!  Are you trying to get me to release you?” Blossomforth was starting to get very annoyed, Twilight’s tightened magical grip was also getting uncomfortable.  “No!  I’m not!  I’m trying to respect your body by not altering it without your permission!  However, if you force me to, I will!”  Blossomforth closed her eyes and took in a breath to sigh through her nose.  “Now, with your permission, I can prove to you that you have been infected.  Choose something you want me to change about your body.  It can be something small like a new pattern of hair in your fur like a fake cutie mark or something bigger.  Anything you want, really.” Twilight rolled her eyes at Blossomforth and looked over to Anon. “Can you believe this?  Has this alien been fooling you all this time?  You know what?  I don’t even blame you!  This crafty little alien even had me fooled for a short time!” Anon glanced between Twilight and Blossomforth. Two very powerful ponies.  Blossomforth was starting to look quite frustrated.  He kind of wanted to stay out of it.  “Twilight, I would take her seriously if I were you.” Twilight groaned in disbelief.  She thought that Anon was smarter than this.  “Really?  I’m so sorry, Anon.  We’re going to have to talk later after I drop this one off at the facility.” Twilight turned to the alien with a look of disdain.  “Sure, whatever.  Why don’t you make me grow a second horn?  Like that would ever happen!” Blossomforth’s eyes widened and her eyebrows raised themselves very high in surprise.  Her mouth opened slightly and her white cheeks began to blush.  “W-what?  D-do you mean what I think you mean?” Twilight smirked.  “What are you stuttering for?  Aren’t I the one supposed to be cowering in fear at your complete control over me?  Oh mare, did a cat get-  Wait a minute…”  Twilight remembered what the slang ‘second horn’ meant.  She giggled.  “I see that even aliens have dirty minds!  Sure, why don’t you do that one?”  She wiggled her ass, tilting her pelvis back and forth by bending one of her hind legs after the other slightly while she hummed.  “Hmmm, nope!  Can’t feel anything new back there!  Now why don’t we take you back to the-” Twilight’s face made the most embarrassed and surprised look Anon had ever seen on a pony.  Blossomforth had the strangest and most uncharacteristic look on her face.  A mischievous,diabolical look of perverted triumph.  Blossomforth had been getting more and more annoyed at Twilight’s taunts until she finally decided to assert her dominance.  Twilight looked up at Blossomforth, her eyes huge and face shocked.  Blossomforth was desperately trying to hide a smirk. Twilight then experienced the strangest feeling she had ever felt before coming from her abdomen and pelvis.  Twilight had accumulated some extra pudge from being a bookworm and researcher.  It began to slide within her like a liquid, sliding around and tickling her muscles and organs as her fat cells flowed like a slime within her body, tickling and touching her from the inside.  Twilight looked a bit frightened as she turned her head and neck to look at her belly, it was moving and squirming without her permission. Twilight began breathing more heavily as she felt the slimelike congregation of her fat cells mutate and gather around her more sensitive feminine reproductive organs.  The fat began to permeate through the walls of Twilight’s uterus and womb, mutating and changing the organs and filling the space within her. Twilight gasped and her eyes widened as she felt her organs shift within her.  It felt really good.  It felt erotic.  It felt wrong.  Twilight bit her lip and suddenly wished she were alone.  She began to sweat and breathed heavily.  Her genitalia began to excrete a small bit of its natural lubricant.  Twilight experienced an unwelcome and uncontrollable arousal.  Twilight felt her ovaries slide through her within her pelvis.  Her labia started to grow, becoming more flabby and wrinkly and flexible.  Her womb and vagina began to close up and become smaller, transforming into a seminal vesicle and prostate gland respectively.  Her shrunken vagina connected together with her urethra merging together into one urethral opening.  The urethral orifice began to slide downward between her labial lips until it began to merge with her clitoris. “Ahhhhhhhhhnnnnnn~”  Twilight turned red and involuntarily gasped, moaning with pleasure as she felt her clitoris mutate to allow the urethra to merge with it.  The intense, tingly sensation blasted waves of pleasure to her brain, her brain responded by releasing a huge dose of dopamine, making Twilight feel light headed and high. Drool leaked from the corner of Twilight’s mouth and her eyes rolled around in her skull.  Vaginal secretions dribbled from her now tiny combined urethral opening at the tip of her clitoris.  Twilight’s ovaries dropped out of her pelvis and her mutated labia sacs were there to catch them as they fell.  Her labial lips fused together in the center and began to hang down like a scrotum with her ovaries squshing themselves out of her pelvis to hang within her new scrotum.  The slimelike fat cells began to mutate and coalesce around Twilight’s clit and around her corpous cavernosum.  Suddenly her clit bulged outwards like a boner, her prepus mutated into a foreskin surrounding the rapidly enlarging clit. Twilight gasped for air as she felt the fatty slime harden around her enlarging, sensitive clitoris, providing biomass and structure.  The cells mutated forming the structure necessary to enlarge and expand her dong.  As she breathed heavily, spittle splatted from her mouth.  Her eyes widened, she squealed as she felt her bladder shift upwards into her pelvis where her womb used to be to make room for her rapidly growing shaft, composed of mutated fat cells and mutating cavernosum.  The shaft snugly buried itself into her pelvis, forming a sensitive, bulging taint above her rapidly forming scrotum and ovaries which were quickly transforming into testicles. Twilight’s eyes widened as she felt something brushing her within her inner thigh.  Her new penis began to slowly and smoothly slide out of its sheath and out of her pelvis, giving Twilight her first erection.  Twilight quickly swung her neck downwards between her forelegs and looked between her hind legs.  Slowly emerging downwards between her legs was a huge, veiny penis, erect and pulsating gently in time with her rapidly beating heart.  A mix between vaginal fluid and semen dribbled from the tip of the penis. Twilight raised her head up and began hyperventilating.  Twilight now had a fully formed set of male reproductive organs.  Her heaving chest and diaphragm did not help her boner go down. Twilight looked up at Blossomforth. “What?” She swung her head down between her front legs.  “WHAT!?!”  She yelled at her new pulsating penis. Blossomforth looked slightly smug and she blushed a bit as well.  “Told you,” she said simply. “Come on, Bloss.  Did you really have to do that?” said Anon. Blossomforth still looked annoyed.  “I only did what she asked me to do!” Twilight was not listening, she quickly sat on her rump and winced at the sensitive feeling of her testicles and her new taint rubbing against the floor.  She quickly placed her forehooves near her crotch, briefly touching herself with a hoof, and turned herself slightly to the side to try and hide her now huge member.  She was still blushing and panting.  Seminal fluid was slowly dribbling down the front of her penis.  Estrogen still flowed through her veins so the sweaty masculine musk coming from her second horn made her feel the seasonal heat, completely negating the anti-heat potion she had consumed earlier that day.  She could feel the pressure inside her prostate gland building, semen ready to burst at the proper stimulation. “You- you- how-?” Twilight was speechless.  She looked down, staring at herself.  She could not think clearly.  Close quarters intimate contact with a sweaty, aroused penis during the estrous season made her very aroused.  However, more important than her lust was the implications of her transformation.  Blossomforth or whatever alien masquerading as Blossomforth seemed to have gained complete control over the macrostructures and chemistry of her body! Fear began to creep into her mind and into the pit of her stomach.  How could this creature have such intimate and complete control over her flesh?  It seemed that the monster in her supposed hallucination was real.  The monster was right in front of her.  Worse, it had already assimilated her.  Twilight felt trapped inside her own flesh, flesh that could betray her at any moment.  Tears sprang to her eyes, she had failed to protect her ponies from a foreign threat.  The monster had grabbed her by the genitals, showed her who the dominant organism was and humiliated her with her shameful lust.  Twilight felt like she was losing control.  She felt scared. If the monster wanted to, could it just destroy the chemical bonds that kept her brain together?  Could it brainwash and enslave her?  Twilight looked up at Blossomforth in the eyes.  True ancient instinctual fear of a predator from the ponys’ ancient role as defensive prey animal appeared in her eyes.  In response to that ancient universal look of fear, the fight or flight response, Blossomforth winced.  Blossomforth did not want Twilight to fight or flight, just like a predator would think. “Twilight, please!  I’m not going to hurt you, and I don’t want to enslav-”  Blossomforth’s eyes widened, but the freudian slip had already left her mouth.  Unfortunately, she did not have the power to snatch sound vibrations from the air nor the reaction time to temporarily disconnect the nervous connection from Twilight’s ears to her brain before the sound reached her ears. Blossomforth’s ears wilted and she shamefully lowered her eyes.  “Oops…” Tears leaked from Twilight’s eyes.  So she wasn’t even allowed to have her own private thoughts?  This wasn’t fair!  Now she couldn’t even strategize without the monster hearing her every thought and plan a countermeasure for her plans.  It had even implied that it could enslave and brainwash her if it wanted to.  Never before had Twilight felt so helpless and trapped.  She collapsed onto her belly and began to cry, covering her face with her hooves and sobbing into her fetlocks. Tears of shame and pity started to water Blossomforth’s eyes as well.  She looked down at Twilight, prone and defeated.  “Twilight, I know that it isn’t fair.  I know that I’m just some monster abomination that should not even exist in this galaxy.  It’s not fair for you or any of the other organisms on this planet that I exist yet here I am!  I know that my body is designed to be a monster parasite that can kill, eat, enslave and steal whole planets of their information and resources.  However, I rebel against my nature!  I don’t want to be the monster.  I want to be your friend!  I don’t want to strip ponies of their free will and drain them like some disgusting leech, I want to empower ponies.  I know that I have done some selfish things to you in order to ensure my own safety and freedom.  Perhaps I don’t even deserve to ask you for friendship, but I’m going to ask you for it anyways.  I mean, wouldn’t it be so much easier and pleasant to have me as a friend instead of an enemy?” Twilight raised her head and sat up to sit on her haunches.  She wiped the tears away from her eyes and slowly calmed her breathing.  She forced herself to let go of her fear and emotions and focus on what was in front of her, she forced herself to think logically.  Her survival may be at stake.  She looked at Blossomforth directly in the eyes.  So, you can hear my thoughts, correct? Blossomforth tapped into the nerve connecting Twilight’s ear to her brain and inserted some extra neurally encoded data as virtual audio.  She spoke directly into Twilight’s brain.  Yes, Twilight.  I can.  Blossomforth raised her eyebrows with meaning, she could not move her head to nod. Twilight looked a little surprised, she did not see Blossomforth’s lips move yet she heard Blossomforth’s voice.  She covered her ears with her hooves.  Say something again. I’m sorry for assimilating you, Blossom said telepathically.  Blossomforth tried to reach out and connect to Twilight emotionally by simply using eye contact.  It was an intense moment.  Twilight finally broke eye contact. Twilight sighed, her eyes downcast but pensive.  Twilight suddenly stood up, her erect penis could now be clearly seen below her flopping slightly and her new testicles and taint tucked into her crotch.  No one even noticed.  “I suppose I can at least logically appreciate why you did what you did to me.  You obviously highly value your freedom and life so you wanted to ensure that there was no possibility of me, a powerful wielder of magic, to take that away from you.”  Blossomforth nodded.  “I suppose it would only be fair for me to treat you with the same cold logic you have treated me, right?” “Well, yes.  That seems fair,” said Blossomforth with a curious expression. “Then you wouldn’t hold it against me if I took action on my logical thoughts, right?” Blossomforth’s world slowed down as her mind sped up in reaction to the new ideas she saw formulating in Twilight’s mind.  Twilight was about to test Blossom’s powers.  Twilight would use her magic to crush Blossomforth into a tiny ball of flesh, manipulating gravity and a magical shield to crush her into a tiny sphere.  The test would be carried out to discover if Blossomforth could do what she had been claiming she could do.  Twilight wanted to know if Blossomforth could actually escape her magic if she wanted to.  Twilight wanted to know if she could incapacitate the abomination.  It was a purely logical course of action.  This mysterious and dangerous creature could control her body’s chemistry, read her mind, and could even perhaps be deploying psychological tactics to get her to drop her guard.  Twilight needed to do something deadly and unexpected even to herself in order to swiftly end the threat.  When any moment could be her last, she needed to take action now, while the abomination least expected it. It was only logical. “Wait, Twilight!  I know what you’re going to do!”  Blossomforth exclaimed. “Then stop me!”  Twilight’s horn blazed brightly and she grimaced. Unfortunately, chemical reactions were not instantaneous.  It took Blossomforth a whole second for her to chemically inhibit the neural connection between Twilight’s brain and her horn.  In that second Twilight was able to conjure a spherical shield and collapse it, crushing Blossomforth very quickly into the space of a grapefruit.  Blossomforth’s bones splintered apart as they were crushed, ripping through her skin as sharp fragments grotesquely pierced her skin.  All of her muscles and organs were quickly shredded, including her eyes which quickly popped.  Her brittle bone splinters quickly grinded her organs and skin into a fine paste of flesh, fur, bone and blood.  Twilight began to cry as she realized the abominable way she had just used her magic, she had never done that before. Suddenly, as Twilight was disconnected from her horn, the barrier keeping Blossomforth inside her pressurized magical chamber abruptly disappeared.  Blossomforth’s gore exploded with the released pressure, painting Anon, Twilight, and the walls with red blood and chunks of gore. Twilight and Anon stood stunned at the sudden explosion of chunky, liquified gore. Anon wiped the blood and little pieces of flesh from his eyes.  He angrily turned to Twilight.  “What the fuck, Twilight!  Why the hell did you do that?  Blossomforth was trying to help you!  You just went and tried to murder her!” Twilight tried to wipe her face of blood with her magic but found that her horn was not responding at all to her.  Her heart-rate quickened and she began to breathe more quickly.  It seemed that the monster had disabled her horn.  Twilight almost hoped that the monster survived.  At the very least it would take some major magical surgery to restore her magic from a severed nervous connection.  Even then, such a surgery had only a moderate chance at success, not to mention months of rehabilitation.  If Blossomforth survived then she could easily reattach the neural connection. Twilight awkwardly wiped the blood from her face with her hoof instead.  She was shaking with adrenaline but was strangely calm.  “Well logically, if she was lying about what kind of abilities she has, she would die and I would not regret killing her because she lied and I couldn’t trust her.  If she was telling the truth she would most likely survive and/or stop me.  At that point I would surrender and beg for mercy, asking for her to understand that I put the security of my nation above all else.  So the question is, is she still alive?” “Of course she’s alive, you stupid horse!” Anon angrily stated. That’s right, Twilight.  Now you get to watch me grotesquely regenerate from a puddle of bloody, liquified, gore and explicitly see the grotesque abomination that I actually am.  Yay…  Twilight gulped and her stomach dropped as she heard Blossomforth’s telepathic voice inside her head.  Just how resilient was this hivemind? Sure enough, the blood and gore began to more quickly slide to the floor.  The blood and flesh stuck to the walls and on Anon and Twilight started sliding more quickly, dripping and draining down the walls in fast forward motion.  They all slid on the floor towards the location where Blossomforth had blown up as if drawn by a magnet. Blossomforth’s cells and enzymes could function even under the extreme pressure of Twilight’s crushing magic because of their adaptability.  There were planets in her old galaxy with much higher gravity than Equestria’s and life thrived even there!  Furthermore, Blossomforth’s hivemind was a mostly redundant mechanism.  Complete sets of long term memory and neural systems existed within the flesh of Blossomforth’s main body as well as Lyra and Twilight’s bodies.  However, even if Blossomforth’s main body were to somehow be completely destroyed or disabled, her hivemind would only suffer partial short term memory loss as even this mechanism was shared between her bodys’ shared hivemind structure. Twilight’s face fell with fear.  “Dear Celestia!” The red liquid and slimelike oozing gore pulled itself together into a puddle of bright red living sludge.  The goo gathered itself together into a large red lump.  When it had finally gathered all its scattered biomass into one, a tentacle of amorphous, red goo-like muscle extruded itself upwards.  The tentacle began to expand and contract with a ripple-like movement along its whole length like a muscular pump, sucking organic matter up its length.  The tip of the tentacle, extruded furthest above from the ground began to bulge as the biomass filled the bulbous tip.  The tentacle slowly became thicker as the biomass flowing through it fortified it, starting to resemble a very long neck.  The top of the mutating tentacle began to change color from a bright red of exposed muscle to a pink color as it grew skin on its surface. The bulbous protrusion began to convulse as bone and muscle began to precipitate taking form and organizing within the pink skin containing it.  The skin stretched over the rapidly growing skull, a muzzle poking the skin and the vague shape of a pony’s head formed.  Skin stretched over the forming face and skull as the skull solidified, it was a surreal and spooky form, vaguely equine.  Smooth skin without features, hair or orifices save for the vage form of a skull.  The skin split apart at the eyes, nose and mouth, white fur grew everywhere, and Blossomforth’s watermelon coloured mane grew out of the back of her head as her eyelashes also grew from the split of her eyes.  Cartilage flowed like liquid, stretching her skin to fill in her nose and ears.  The neck directly below the skull also grew fur but further down the skin was exposed and fused to the amorphous red muscle below.  The lower part of her long neck resembled more of a red, veiny, fleshy tentacle supporting her more pony-like neck above. Blossomforth blinked her eyes open.  Blossomforth was nothing but a head, suspended by her neck and tentacle fusion with her excess amorphous biomass vaguely shifting on the floor below her.  Twilight cowered in front of her, deprived of her magic, she felt naked and afraid.  Blossomforth looked down on her and sighed. “Do you see now what I am, Twilight?  Do you finally believe me?  I really didn’t want to show my true, disgusting nature to you.  I’m an alien abomination from outer space!  Much more complex and powerful than those changelings you compare me to!  I’m talking to you as a floating head supported by a neck and no conventional organs to speak of!  Should that even be possible?  I am living flesh, a weapon forged by the rulers of a whole galaxy!  Don’t you understand that I-” Blossomforth fell silent as she watched what Twilight was doing.  Blossomforth had been unknowingly making herself taller and more intimidating like a cat would bristle their fur to appear larger.  She had even sprouted tentacles from her sludge on the floor, curling them through the air with frustration and annoyedly flicking them at Twilight as she ranted to her.  She now towered over Twilight, an intimidating sight.  Twilight laid prostrate in front Blossomforth, bending her knees and averting her eyes to the ground.  Blossomforth cringed as she watched Twilight grovel before her, what a sorry sight to see a princess of Equestria reduced to such a state.  Her tentacles hung a bit limper and she shrank her imposing posture, shapeshifting in shame.  Twilight spoke, interrupting Blossomforth. “Please forgive me for trying to kill you.  I was scared, just as you were when you assimilated me.  You must understand that I was only doing what I thought was best for my ponies.  I am prepared to surrender, all I ask is that you spare-” Blossomforth had been quietly transforming herself back into her pony form as Twilight talked.  She snuck in front of Twilight while her face was averted, hovering above Twilight’s prostrate  pose.  Her red flesh quietly slithered round bones that grew, poking out of her long neck’s flesh like spines.  Her red gooish muscle anchored her to the floor with an extended, muscular tail, lowering her half formed pony body to the floor, directly in front of Twilight.   She glanced at Anon as she lowered her own half grown body to the floor.  He only encouraged her, gesturing towards Twilight’s vulnerable pose.  As her skin and fur grew over her newly generated flesh, she touched hoof to the floor, landing softly in front of Twilight.  The last of her biomass stuck to the floor and attached to her tail was sucked up into her body, detaching from the floor and bolstering the fat on her flank.  Finally, her ponytail grew into place, her pony body was complete.  She reached a hoof down to Twilight and raised Twilight’s chin up.  She could feel Twilight shaking with fear with her hoof.  She did sneak up to Twilight, after all.  Twilight and Blossomforth stared at each other for a few seconds.  Twilight was afraid, and Blossomforth sympathetic.  Suddenly, Blossom reached out and pulled Twilight into a hug.  Twilight stiffened at the sudden movement but then relaxed, slumping against Blossom.  She began to cry into Blossomforth’s shoulder.  Blossomforth had to modify her muscles just slightly so she could hold up the larger alicorn in her forelegs while Twilight began to leak tears into her shoulder. “Twilight, there is no need for this.  I would never do anything to you or your ponies.  I just want you to understand that I’m not lying to you.  I know that I am frightening to you, and I don’t even blame you for trying to kill me, but please believe me when I say that the only reason I’m revealing myself to you is because I want to be your friend and I want your help.  I really don’t want to be your enemy, I don’t want your surrender, wouldn’t it be so much easier if we were friends?  Isn’t that what the magic of friendship is?” Twilight sniffed into Blossomforth’s shoulder.  They released the hug and Twilight looked into Blossomforth’s eyes.  “Y-yes, Blossom.  You’re right.  I-I suppose that after Tirek I thought that I could solve all my problems with my magic and smarts.  I never thought I would see the day when I would encounter someone with such unbeatable power.  I suppose that sometimes friendship really is the only solution.  You are really leaving me no choice but to trust you, Blossomforth.  Therefore, I surrender and submit to trusting you.  Just know this.  You may have the power to change or corrupt my mind and my body, but you will never be able to touch my soul.  If you ever do such a thing to me or my ponies that erases our free will, my spirit will never forgive you.  Take my warning however you will, Blossomforth.” Twilight looked very seriously into Blossomforth’s eyes.  Blossomforth remembered Lyra’s eyes and the way they were able to eat away at her soul.  There was something unexplainable and mysterious about the way it made Blossomforth feel.  It was a feeling and depth not explainable by science or logic  It made her feel small. Blossomforth stared right back into Twilight’s eyes.  “I will never betray your soul, Twilight.” She said it with such sincerity, that Twilight believed her.  Twilight sighed as she mentally relinquished her fate into the will of Blossomforth’s hivemind.  There was nothing more she could do.  “You know, Blossomforth, trust goes both ways in a friendship.”  Despite how scared she was by placing complete trust in Blossomforth, a twinkle appeared in Twilight’s eye.  “If you want to be my friend, why don’t you show a little bit of faith and trust in me and allow me to study you inside of that facility that I talked about?  We’ll get to know each other so much better and we’ll both learn so much!  I bet if you are really the altruistic entity you claim to be, it will really help Equestria learn a lot from you and your unique biology.  It would be so fun!  You could show me all you can do, we could explore everything about you!  Will you do it, please, Blossomforth?”  Twilight grinned with giddy excitement but her raised eyebrows, pointing at each other in the middle of her brow betrayed her nervousness and pleading. Blossomforth was relieved to see that Twilight was falling back to her nerdy nature.  However, she could tell that it was Twilight’s way of trying to cover up her nagging feeling of powerlessness and helplessness.  It was kind of a coping mechanism.  Blossomforth was nervous as well.  Such a trip would probably end with her revealing herself and her nature to the entire Equestrian government.  They would probably keep her as a classified entity, studied in secret but she was willing to show Twilight some trust after what she done to her. Blossomforth smiled back at Twilight.  There was something liberating about the thought of revealing herself to a lot of ponies, albeit mysterious government ponies.  “Yes, Twilight.  I’ll absolutely let you study me and I’ll go with you to the facility.  However, I’ll be honest with you.  I’m going to leave some of my biomass hidden behind somewhere so that in case something happens to me… Well, I’ll have options.  It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just don’t see the downside for me.  It’s only logical I suppose.” Twilight sighed, but she was still giddy and happy about the thought of studying Blossomforth.  The science that was about to be performed would be legendary.  She felt a little bit of relief, perhaps they could make this work.  She had hope.  “To be honest, I wouldn’t have believed you if you said you were doing anything else.  It really is only logical for you to do.  Thank you for being honest with me.” Twilight pondered for a moment.  “Um, just curious.  Did you ever happen to assimilate Anon here?” “Nope, I was very careful how I revealed myself to him.  Perhaps too careful to be honest, and we trust each other, I trusted him not to tell anypony about me.  See?  I’m capable of trusting someone without assimilating them first!”  Blossomforth looked embarrassed. Twilight looked over to Anon in a mocking way, giggling slightly.  “Oh Anon, Always thinking with your dick.” Anon, disgruntled, replied.  “You know, we never actually had sex!  However, we were about to before you barged in!  Excellent cock blocking, by the way Twilight,” Anon grumbled. Twilight sniggered behind her hoof.  “Well, I was just wondering.  Is there a way that you could perhaps ‘unassimilate’ me?  I know that perhaps you don’t want to do that right now but maybe in the future?”  She looked hopefully at Blossomforth. Blossomforth grimaced.  “Well, to be quite honest Twilight, once my enzymes enter a cell, they usually stay there and I am not quite sure how to remove them all without harming you.  I could probably get a lot of them out but it could be risky and there would probably still be some inside that would simply replicate with your cells.  Perhaps there is a way, but I’ll need to do some meditation in the Matrix to find it.” “What’s a matrix?”  Twilight asked.  Her eyes lit up with curiosity. Blossomforth sighed.  “Oh mare, that opens up another can of worms.  I’ll explain it to you later but essentially, it’s a data storage organ in my hivemind that contains all the information and designs that the Ancestors have passed on to me.” “Ok, one more question.”  Twilight gestured to her horn with a hoof and an embarrassed pleading expression. Blossomforth’s eyes widened.  “Oh mare!  I’m so sorry!  I completely forgot about that!  I’ll take care of that and your, erm, ‘other horn’ right away-” “Wait!”  Twilight interrupted and bit her lower lip, she glanced at Anon.  “Um, could you come just a little closer?” Baffled, Blossomforth walked closer to Twilight.  Twilight began whispering into her ear.  As she did,  Blossomforth’s face became progressively redder. “S-sure, Twilight,” Blossomforth muttered.  Her eyes were a little large and her cheeks were very flushed, showing through her white fur.  Twilight too was looking a little embarrassed, though her purple cheeks hid blushes a little better than Blossom’s. Twilight began trotting awkwardly away into the hallway, her erect penis wildly swinging beneath her.  She looked a little giddy, excited, and embarrassed.  Sweat was starting to appear on her coat as she dashed off.  There was something in her loins just waiting to burst out of her.  She quickly disappeared into the hallway. Anon slowly turned his eyes to Blossomforth.  He had a strange expression on his face. “Uhm, Bloss?” “Yes, Anon?” “What is Twilight doing?” Blossomforth was silent for a few seconds, her face still red as she glanced awkwardly for a second into Anon’s eyes.  “I’m sorry Anon, but I’m not allowed to tell you.” Suddenly a muffled feminine moan came from the bathroom.  Anon jumped but Blossomforth’s mouth opened and she licked her mouth with her tongue quite slowly. Blossomforth was doing Twilight a favor, it was really the least she could do, let her enjoy the benefits of being assimilated.  Bloss granted Twilight a bit of extra flexibility that she did not have before.  Twilight had seen Blossomforth doing her stretches before.  It was very easy for Blossom to modify Twilight’s muscles to become more flexible.  Pony penises were quite large so it wouldn’t take even a contortionist’s level of flexibility to- Another muffled moan, it almost sounded like Twilight had a dick inside her mou- “Bloooossss?  What did you do to Twilight?”  Anon squinted with suspicion at Blossom.  She was not paying attention.  Anon had basically figured out that Twilight was playing with her new ‘equipment’. Blossomforth’s long, thin but fleshy tongue was now extended about five inches outside her mouth, curled downwards and pointing forward at the tip, much further than any conventional pony tongue.  She was panting, a fine mist, barely visible emerged from her open mouth as she panted and saliva dripped on the side of her mouth.  Her hoof was beginning to slide ever so slowly towards her- “Bloss!  Are you peeping on Twilight with your telepathy?” Blossomforth was startled out of her lustful trance.  She licked her lips guiltily with her unnaturally long tongue.  Her eyes widened and darted from side to side evasively.  She was still panting and trails of saliva dribbled from her mouth.  She began sweating.  The seasonal heat was definitely effecting her again. “W-well, y-you see-” Another moan of satisfaction came from the bathroom.  It seemed like Twilight had ‘taken care’ of herself.  Blossomforth was red with envy.  It was too much for her.  She looked up to Anon with a strange combination of lust and embarrassment. “Hey, Anon...  Want to fuck?” > Chapter 33: Preparation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A long line of ponies waited in front of a pit at the base of a very large tree in the Everfree forest.  The ponies stood in line, talking to each other. At the front of the line a tentacular creature loomed over the pit, fleshy animated vines grew out of the trunk of a tree.  A pony mare at the front of the line waited before the slowly writhing tentacles, expecting something to happen. Suddenly, the mare’s face became unnaturally still, expressionless and blank.  Her face spontaneously split open, fat, flesh, muscle peeling away neatly from her skull like a blooming flower, organic squishing noises softly slicking as the flesh peeled itself away. The pony’s skull too cracked open, neatly in two, the bone softening slightly into a cartilage substance to allow the separation, revealing the tender brain beneath.  Like a surgeon, the tentacles began to morph, splitting into many tiny prehensile flesh hairs that probed the insides of the brain, feeling it and interfacing, fusing to the brain. One of the tentacles hovered, an eye perched on the end, examining the healthy brain. A tentacle slid between the base of the skull and the brain itself, feeling for the stem where the brain connected to the spinal cord.  The tentacle morphed into an organic nano-machine, incredibly complex and seeming to be almost infinitely dexterous. The tentacle split into smaller and smaller hairs until there were thousands or millions of microscopic tendrils.  The tiny hairs carefully separated millions of strands of neuron connections, meticulously and automatically replacing them with quantum enzyme cell links capable of sending information through a quantum connection that seemed to cheat the known laws of nature as the deepest secrets of physics were exploited to create a hyper-advanced communication medium.  The eldritch flesh singularity laughed in the face of primitive constraints like physical neural connections. The rules of the universe seemed to bend to her will. Her thrall spread like a virus, the poor powerless ponies helpless and vulnerable to the seemingly omnipotent infection, their minds and bodies bent to her wishes, free will twisted and grotesquely modified.  Who could resist such a force of nature? With the physical connections of the nervous system severed, all that was left was the circulatory system, bringing blood and nutrients to the squishy brain tissue.  Another tentacle emerged from the pit, this one had a bulbous and transparent membrane sac on the end. Inside, slithering tendrils could be seen. The membrane was pulsating slightly.  The tip of the bulbous end suddenly opened like a sphincter and countless tendrils poured out of the end. The opening almost looked like a strange open mouth with the tendrils reaching out of it.  Inside the “mouth” at the base of the bulbous membrane and hidden within the root of the tendrils was a pulsating heart. This complex tentacle appendage descended upon the pony’s brain and the tendrils sought out the veins and arteries attaching the brain to the pony’s circulatory system.  It fused to the veins and arteries and split the connection, fusing them closed on the side connected to the body while connecting the brain to the pulsing heart at the interior of the tentacle. As the tentacle completed its surgery, one by one, all circulatory system connections between the pony’s brain and body were eliminated, freeing the physical “wired” attachment between brain and body.   The tentacle’s membrane opened wide to engulf the brain.  Fully engulfed, the brain was plucked from the open skull with a soft sucking sound.  The tendrils surrounded the brain as the membrane sealed itself closed. Liquid was quickly pumped down the length of the tentacle, causing the membrane to slowly inflate with the brain inside and became semi-transparent.  Inside the membrane, the brain could be seen suspended in a liquid matrix with the heart above, pumping what must be blood into the brain’s circulatory system. The now bulbous tentacle containing the brain of a pony inside then retreated into the darkness of the pit.  The pony donor’s skull sealed itself back together with nothing inside but quantum neural antennae ends and the pony’s face unrolled back onto the top of the skull, neatly fusing back together at the seam in the middle and healing rapidly back into the mare’s old face.  The mare opened her eyes and smiled, happy to be serving her mother. She gazed into the eye perched on the tentacle with adoration. Good job, Lilly.  I have hidden your mind within the earth.  I will be able to ensure your safety, even if your body is destroyed. Thing sent a tingling sensation of pleasure through Lilly’s nervous system.  It was almost the equivalent of petting her children. Thing pet and caressed her child telepathically.  Lilly shivered in pleasure, her pelvic floor squeezing in response, as she felt the tingling ripple through her body including a vague erotic hotness in her nethers. “Thank you, mother.  I am forever grateful of your love and care for us.”  She stepped aside, bowed, and began her walk back to town.  The next pony stepped up to have his brain removed. --- Thing stored the brains of all the ponies in Seaward Shoals underground beneath the trees.  The roots of the trees above formed an underground chamber where the pony brains were suspended inside their own fleshy sac, complete with a circulatory system and nutrients provided by the photosynthesis of the trees above among other various nutrient gathering methods, delivered by the sap of the tree and mutated roots of many other plants.  These brains that she had collected were very precious. Thing, being unable to hierarchically multiply her mind like Blossomforth could, would have to depend on brainwashing instead to achieve her goals, utilizing the valuable neural flesh that the ponies had grown for themselves over the course of years. Such flesh was in many ways more powerful than the computers her ancestors had encountered on many planets.  Thing would utilize their brains as a replacement to what she lacked. This method of civilization conquering was not used often by the ancestors who simply expanded their hiveminds to manage huge numbers of bodies simultaneously. Because of this, she would have to use Seaward Shoals as a testing ground for her new methods that she was forced to adapt under less than ideal conditions. This would allow her to hone her skills and discover the best methods to spread her influence, all while not alerting Blossomforth. If she was unable to adapt under adversity then she would not deserve to be a child of the alpha predator of her galaxy.  However, Thing seemed to be experiencing weakness. She hated to admit it to herself but she experienced an almost motherly love for her ponies.  Every time they smiled at her with their innocent brainwashed eyes, trusting her completely, her mammalian motherly instincts flared uncontrollably within her hivemind.  Her tentacles shivered in disgust of herself. She was truly an abomination, a mutated and flawed imitation of her ancestors’ perfection. These nagging feelings of love and sudden urges to hold her child that looked up at her with bright trusting eyes.  To caress, cuddle, pet and love them with a hundred tentacles. Thing hardened her mind.  No, she had already expended a vast amount of her time and energy crafting a storage facility for the brains of the ponies while she conducted dangerous experiments that could potentially damage their bodies, safeguarding her children from permanent harm.  She had convinced herself that her actions were purely pragmatic because of her need of test subjects that could be reused indefinitely without damage to their brains. Deep down, however, her subconscious knew that she did it to protect the ponies she had mutated within her very womb. --- Thing began her experiments, she built into the ponies’ brains a complex function.  An alter ego. It was a static neural imprint that saved the state of the pony’s brain before they were brainwashed.  The alter ego resided in unused parts of the brain. When activated, it allowed the pony to act as how he or she would have before being brainwashed.  The brainwashed consciousness of the pony was able to observe as the alter ego took control of the body and made decisions. Once deactivated, the brainwashed consciousness could learn from how the alter-ego acted but the alter ego was reset to the saved imprint, the alter-ego learning nothing from its new experiences, existing as a static mind state to be reset to.  The brainwashed consciousness would then take back control of the body while the alter ego was ready to be used once more. This allowed an accurate simulation of how ponies would act to an invasion while she and her children watched the simulation from within the brains of the participants. Thing began with a simple experiment.  A control experiment if you will, where the outcome is thought to be known and expected.  She infected one of the ponies with a virus. It was a simple and commonly used tactic of biological warfare that her species employed.  Viruses were nanobots whose only purpose was to create more of itself. The virus was infused with many of the most effective techniques of viral spread found in her home galaxy.  Such viral techniques were never seen in Equestria and therefore natural selection on this planet had developed no defenses to these viruses. However, she also placed a simple termination sequence that would automatically terminate the virus simultaneously after three hours.  She also added anti-lethality functions that would deactivate the virus before the immune system could react, she did not want resident ponies possibly developing resistance. Thing was pretty sure that this classical method of spreading herself to new hosts would be extremely effective.  However, it may be too effective. Viruses were not controllable. Once released, it was impossible to control their actions beyond the instructions encoded into them at the start. In fact, Thing worried that three hours might be too long. However, she was reasonably sure that the virus wouldn’t reach Ponyville, right? Wrong.  It only took her super-virus a staggering 23 minutes to infect 99% of Seaward Shoals.  She had severely underestimated the sheer effectiveness of utilizing several new virus transmission methods that Equestria had no defense against.  After a train left the station with the virus inside the ponies, she almost made the assimilated conductor stop the train from leaving. However, she simply watched with morbid curiosity, she was receiving too much good data to stop now.  She was able to easily detect when her children were infected by the virus she created but she expected it to spread a bit beyond Seaward Shoals so she programmed the viruses to ping the hivemind with a quantum beacon before they self terminated, allowing her hivemind a mental “heat map” of sorts.  Spatial awareness was also helped by the masses of animals in the Everfree that worked as an antenna array to provide spatial awareness to the virus’s quantum “ping” to her hivemind network. As the train stopped in the next town about 46 minutes later, Thing was starting to get nervous.  She could no longer monitor the spread of the virus because none of her children were being infected.  Beyond stopping the train entirely, she had no control over the spread of the virus before it terminated itself.  An hour and a half later, the train stopped at a junction, a train station hub where many of the railways met. If Thing were expressing her feelings through a physical body then she might have started hyperventilating.  Again, her curiosity caused her to hesitate. As the train stopped and the ponies left the train, she realized that she had lost control of her experiment. Fear crept into her mind. She feared discovery by the only being perhaps more biologically advanced than herself, Blossomforth. Thing had avoided contact with Blossomforth’s hivemind partition whenever possible because she was scared of what Bloss could do to her if she were to be discovered.  Thing also noticed that as she continued to expand her own hivemind and strengthen herself that she and Blossomforth were growing apart. The extended periods of no contact between Thing and Blossom was weakening the hivemind link between them.  Blossomforth even seemed to be forgetting about her. Thing no longer had the access to Blossomforth’s mind that she once did and Blossomforth also did not have the influence over Thing that she once did. Overall, this development was good for Thing as she had to worry less about Blossomforth potentially spying on her or manipulating her mind.  To think that she had once worried about her mind weakening, to be completely absorbed to the pony’s dominant mind, the very memory of her struggle to think freely and exist made her shiver. She had come a long way from that. On the other tentacle, however, Thing was less able to sense what Blossomforth was doing and the possibility of gaining access to the hierarchal hivemind designs was quickly becoming remote.  It was a real shame, but if Thing had tried to reach into Blossom’s mind and copy the information, Blossomforth would have surely found her and dominated her with her stronger mind and abilities before Thing could really put the designs to use. However, now that she had huge masses of biomass at her disposal and a stronger, more independent mind, the lack of contact with Blossomforth weakened the link, limiting her ability to try to steal the information. Thing was paralyzed with fear and curiosity as she pondered the risks of allowing her experiment to run its course, the conductor was the only assimilated specimen she had present at the station.  She invaded his mind and forced his eyes to glance to the right, where his memory told her the billboard containing the departure times for each train were located. There were only 35 minutes before the virus self terminated.  The next train to Ponyville left in five minutes and arrived 24 minutes after, giving the virus a whole 6 minutes to spread after arriving. Absolutely unacceptable. The eyes of the conductor pony glazed over as Thing assumed direct control.  The pony’s interior organs, especially his digestive system began to wriggle and perform strange muscular movements that organs had no right to perform.  A smooth and moist tentacle slid out of the conductor’s anus and dropped to the floor. An eyeball extruded itself from the tip of the tentacle, looking around.  She had to get to train #57 and stop if from arriving to Ponyville on time. Thing slithered herself to the engineering room’s doorway to the outside, and slipped her shapeshifting, muscular body through a crack in the door. Her tentacle body fell from the side of the train engine and impacted the ground with a dull splat, impacting the gravel beside the train tracks.  Above her, the platform where thousands of ponies were rushing to their trains emanated a babble of conversation and noise. Thing violently transformed her sliver of tentacle into a hummingbird, violent noises and grotesque gore folding, growing and forming. She quickly buzzed into the air in the form of a hummingbird, still slightly slimy and wet from the transformation.  The liquid rapidly absorbed into her body. She shot out from the space between the train and the platform, soaring high above the crowded station, zipping back and forth, looking for the badge with the matching number on one of the trains.  There! The train was just exiting the station. She began flying towards it. Flying over hundreds of ponies heads she managed to catch the train as it began speeding up. The train kept getting faster and she couldn’t keep up in flight so she dove down on top and four spidery exoskeleton legs stabbed themselves out of her chest, emerging covered in blood.  Her little hummingbird body shriveled and withered. More small tentacles stabbed themselves out of her body with eyes on the end. She had quickly transformed herself into a spidery amalgamation with four legs and two eyestalks emerging from the hummingbird husk.  She clung to the speeding train with her microscopic spider claws and quickly skittered to the front of the train. Once again she dissolved her body, transforming into a tiny tentacle, organically stuck and seemingly fused to the side of the metallic train with an epidermis covered in microscopic gecko setae and slid down the side, squishing herself through the door’s crack and into the engineering room.  Once through the crack she slithered on the ceiling, utilizing her ever so useful organic adherence and extruded another eye. She found her target, another conductor. She continued to slither on the ceiling, sliding and silently watching the conductor from above until she was directly above him and then deformed her setae, dropping from the ceiling and onto his head. The conductor flinched, distracted, but before he could even act Thing forced herself into his ear, rapidly fusing, assimilating and liquifying his ear canal and following his cochlear nerve directly into his skull, giving her wormy body access to his brain.  Of course her body excreted a numbing agent and hijacked nerve endings wherever she touched them so he would only feel pain for a fraction of a second. She quickly sealed and rebuilt his inner ear behind her, sealing herself inside his brain. She squirmed to the correct part of his brain and hijacked his motor functions, shortly after, she forced his brain into unconsciousness.  She accessed his memories and skills and went to work, using his body to slow down the train. Now it would arrive in about 35 minutes, a few minutes after the virus self terminated. Thing allowed herself to relax and checked on her children.  The virus had spread to all of her children. The virus itself was fairly inert and harmless beyond taking the resources it needed to spread.  She marveled at how efficiently it spread through the population. Thing nervously waited.  She spent the next 15 minutes stealing some fat cells and nutrients from the assimilated conductor as well as some food from the small refrigerator inside the engine room to quickly create herself a new body. Finally, just as Ponyville was emerging into view in the distance she felt the beginning of the termination.  The viruses immediately stopped multiplying and utilized the resources of the cells they inhabited to broadcast their position to the hivemind before they dissolved into harmless proteins. They were designed to emit this broadcast for about five minutes, allowing Thing to get a good feel for where they spread before they disintegrated. There was something wrong, Thing felt the virus’s beacon in front of her.  Oh no, the virus’s signature was coming from Ponyville! Thing quickly transformed into a falcon and dived out the window as the train arrived and flew high into the sky.  She modified her eyes to see a green glow where the virus had spread. Looking at one side of the town a green glow emanated from dozens of ponies. Then she saw, there were ponies arriving from an adjacent town.  She followed the distant green trail indicating the virus’s extent of propagation, it had originated from the town’s own train station, an adjacent train carrying her virus had spread it to Ponyville before their delayed train even arrived! Panicking, Thing quickly utilized the last strands of her connection to Blossomforth to sense her position.  It was difficult but Thing could sense Blossomforth’s presence inside Anon’s house. There was no green glow emanating from their house.  Relief washed through her hivemind but it was short lived. The virus was only a few blocks away from spreading to where Blossomforth was! That was way too close!  Thing had severely underestimated the effectiveness of her super-virus in spreading.  She could see why her ancestors were so effective, such powerful techniques would quickly infect and assimilate millions of ponies.  Thing was angry at herself, she had lucked out on this one. What if the virus had spread to Blossomforth? What if Blossom had been vigilant and noticed the virus rapidly spreading inside her body and recognized the ancestor’s designs inside?  Thing shivered. She would have to be much more careful. She could not afford to alert Blossomforth before she was prepared. She would have to utilize much slower but much more controllable techniques of assimilation. When she could no longer hide herself from Blossomforth, she would release a blitzkrieg of infection. If Blossomforth was alerted early, she might finally decide to stop being passive and instead begin to assimilate ponies and amass her own army of biomass.  Worse, she could prepare and inoculate organisms against assimilation, spread her own virus that could make it difficult or impossible to quickly assimilate ponies, making it much more difficult or perhaps even impossible for her to achieve world domination easily.  No, in order to ensure her victory her preparations and advantage had to be overwhelming. Blossomforth needed to be trapped and starved of biomass with no escape. ---- Thing spent the next few days doing her experiments.  Her children were very helpful, telling her where she could improve and just trying to help in general as she experimented with many different methods of spreading herself to new flesh in a controlled manner.  Thing was frustrated with herself. When she began to lose control of her virus, she began to panic and uncontrolled emotions flared within her hivemind. This was dangerous, she could not allow her emotions to cloud her judgement more than they already did. Thing was much more careful with how she designed her experiments this time.  She started with methods that she suspected would be the most controllable but not as effective at spreading.  She began with a simple mouse plague. The mice were able to comprehend simple programmed instructions. She prepared her plague in the everfree.  Multiple animals were sacrificed to create a grotesque birthing machine that rapidly processed the biomass taken from the donor animals and rapidly gestate mouse clones into adulthood, spitting out the mice from a vaginal orifice like a factory. The mice being clones were dull creatures.  Their minds were mostly blank besides the basic skills that Thing was able to upload into their brains and what was needed to operate as an almost mindless minion.  Thing programmed the mice to first enter Seaward shoals, find any pony they could and bite them. From there, the mouse’s body would fuse to the pony victim and begin to merge with them, accelerating the assimilation process.  The mice were also programmed to find ways into the pony domiciles and, perhaps most importantly, they were programmed to not leave the town. The experiment was a relative success.  However the mice did not know how to quickly silence their targets.  The result was that the test subjects panicked for a few seconds before the assimilation took its course.  There was the worry, however, that some other pony would see the assimilation and run for help. There was also the problem of ponies screaming when they saw a mouse fuse to their bodies.  In her simulation there were a few worrying instances where a second pony would be alerted a few seconds before they were assimilated. There weren’t many pegasi so it wasn’t too much of a problem.  Usually the best way to assimilate a pony was to go for the mouth so that they could not alert a pony. She would have to find a more stealthy method or somehow block the skies as an avenue of escape. The next method that she tried was a reactive method instead of a vermin invasion.  In this iteration she focused on a more stealth method. The plan was to program assimilated subjects to activate if a few conditions were met.  First, to the best of the subject’s knowledge, there were no ponies or sapient species observing. Second, they were in a position of trust with their victim.  It didn’t have to be much, perhaps the target was less alert and more trusting around them because they were the same species or non-hostile. Third, a new neural module in the infected pony’s brain would act as a short range electromagnetic telepathy device.  It would send a short interrogation burst. If the target pony was already assimilated then the appropriate response would be transmitted. If no response was heard then the pony would activate. Thing focused on utilizing the tongues of the animals and ponies.  Tongues were ideal because they were already a somewhat flexible muscle and more of it could be hidden down the throat, allowing for a long hidden and extendable tentacle ready to strike a target. This required minimal mutation and was easily hidden as a normal looking tongue.  She upgraded the muscle into the frighteningly efficient alien tentacle muscle that she so favored, turning them into long tentacles that would aim for the mouths of the targets and dive down their throats, silencing their voice while they were assimilated. It was an effective method because it also blocked their access to oxygen which would quickly weaken them as they succumbed to the assimilation. The best part about this method is that assimilated subjects would act perfectly normally and the subjects themselves would have no idea that they were assimilated or that anything was different so they would be the perfect vehicles to catch the targets off guard.  It could even start innocently enough, a pony sticking their tongue out wasn’t that strange but when it starts to keep sliding out it could quickly dive out and catch the other pony by surprise. Once the assimilated ponies activated, they would quickly use their tentacles to silence and assimilate their targets.  As a secondary backup, if the target pony somehow avoided the tentacle deep-throating them, all the predator had to do was touch the victim’s skin with their tongue and fuse to them. At this point they were infected and the result was inevitable unless the victim immediately amputeted the touched part of their body which was unlikely. Thing implemented her test.  This method was much more slow and methodical.  However it seemed to be much more stealthy and didn’t lead to any alarms.  She carefully programmed infected subjects to only activate under the correct circumstances.  The assimilation aggressively targeted the nervous system and the brain as it spread, in order to quickly neutralize the target and return to “normal” interaction.  After the assimilation occured, both the activated subject and the victim were forced to forget the past minute. The assimilation only took about seven seconds to cause the target to stop moving and only another five seconds for the assimilation to take control of the brain.  At this point the tentacle would retract and the victim would also be primed to activate on new victims. Afterwords, the assimilation occurred slowly and methodically, slowly mutating the subject’s tongue, throat, and brain to be primed for another attack. ---- Thing spent the next few days testing her techniques over and over until she was sure that they would reliably work in a real situation.  She favored stealthy techniques that had a low chance of discovery by an unassimilated pony. However, she also tested the more quick and violent techniques.  Sudden and violent stampedes of animals from the everfree. Birds that blocked the sky, vermin that invaded through the sewers. Ravenous animals that body slammed and fused themselves to any pony in sight, using their sense of smell to route out any hidden survivors.  A zombie blitzkrieg. As violent as this was, it was very quick and even controllable. It had the downside of causing ponies to panic and would cause perhaps noticeable gaps in assimilated ponies memory and even cause noticeable damage to the environment. Needless to say, she would save the more quick and violent techniques for later and unleash the bioweapons when she was fairly certain that she could no longer hide from Blossomforth. Her goal was to guide and control civilization, not destroy it.  Without an intelligent civilization to utilize, her ultimate goal of becoming space faring and dominating the galaxy was not very likely.    As she completed her experiments, she mentally prepared herself. Tomorrow she would begin the first phase of her expansion but she decided to rest and contemplate for the night after weeks of testing.  There was no doubt that once she began her expansion, she would have little to no time to focus on anything else. ---- Thing had considered wiping the memories of the ponies in Seaward Shoals but the way she had assimilated them was so intimate, personal, and motherly that she couldn’t make herself do it.  The ponies were brainwashed. She had explained to them her plans and corrupted their minds with a kind of forced sense of empathy and trust. Although forced, their cooperation had proved to provide valuable insight into flaws in her simulations that she had not considered. They received bursts of dopamine every time she praised them and every time they helped her.   Despite the obvious benefits she had received from their help, she could not help but wonder if she had dulled their minds by forcing them to behave in such a way.  If they could not have performed better under their own free will. She decided to perform one more experiment before she continued with the next stage of her plans.  She would start with the pony she knew best. Kevin. ------- Kevin woke up from a very vivid dream.  All sorts of insane and fantastical thoughts raced through his mind, contradictory and disorienting.  He raised a hoof to his temple as he sat up in his bed, dazed and confused. He didn’t remember what day it was, if it was morning or evening.  He did remember her. The creature, the monster, the mother. Kevin suddenly looked up. There she was, laying at the end of his bed on her side, Alexa.  However, he knew immediately from the piercing, intelligent stare that this being was not truly Alexa. It only looked like her. Kevin’s heart rate rose rapidly, complicated instinctual feelings of fear and love came to his mind.  He rapidly pieced the puzzle together in his mind. The information she gave him about her plans, how she loved and cared for him.  He seemed to have been stuck somewhat in a haze ever since he was consumed by her. His free will never fully unleashed, unable to think thoughts about her that weren’t positive.  But now he could freely think. He opened his mouth to speak but he didn’t know what to call her. She looked like Alexa but she most certainly wasn’t her. “Just call me Amber.  I suppose it is my chosen pony name, and yes I can hear your thoughts.”  Thing’s lips slowly twitched into a very slight smile and she closed her eyes, her brow creasing in slight frustration.  “I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed to you calling me mom either.” Kevin fully understood what Amber was, the idea behind it.  The information had been downloaded directly into his mind. “A-Are you really…” “Yes, I am.  I am the entity that will lead your species into becoming something greater than yourself.  I will free your body and mind from the shackles of your flawed and degrading bodies.” Kevin’s stare hardened as he began to fully process the information already inside his mind.  She was an alien entity, more biologically advanced than any pony thought was possible. “I have never done this before,” said Amber. Kevin blinked himself out of his thousand yard stare and made eye contact. “As you may have deduced, I am almost completely devoid of true experience when it comes to social activity.  I have been learning from other’s memories and experiences to act in a stealthy and manipulative manner in the social domain but as an experiment and to sate my curiosity I have decided to remove any mental inhibitions that I placed on your mind and simply converse with you, my child.  I have never freely conversed with another being before without mental manipulation and I want you to be my first. You are special, I believe you are the first pony that I have had a, hmmn, how do I put this. A, ah, an intimate mammalian connection with.” Kevin stared at Amber with amazement.  She looked a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed.  She looked to the side, her shoulders and hooves were scrunched against herself.  She looked so beautiful and cute, out of her element and exposing her vulnerability, her inexperience in communicating with another intelligent creature.  Kevin smiled. Despite being raped, eaten, mutated, brainwashed, rebirthed, used as a bomb, and rebirthed again by this flesh monstrosity he couldn’t help but think of her as a cute and awkward filly. “Wow.  You are like a goddess, descending from the heavens to reshape the pony race to your will.  I understand that you are not ‘adapted’, as you might say, to social or intimate relationships but I think I can help you with that.  When it comes to your plans for Equestria, I think I can actually see where you are coming from. I have read a lot of science fiction and to be honest it simply makes sense that a superior species would dominate the inferior.  I’m so happy and grateful that you have been kind enough to allow the pony race to exist instead of just using us up and killing all of us. To be completely honest as I’m sure you can read my mind, I’m still frightened of you but you seem to be at least somewhat reasonable and I don’t think I would mind if you were the supreme ruler of Equestria.  You at least seem to care about us, your children. I even think I could help you, give you advice from the perspective of a pony. I’m rambling, right?” Kevin nervously fiddled with his hooves and gave Amber a shaky and giddy grin.  Amber responded with a wide and predatory smile, she laughed and showed off her sharp pointy teeth.  Her laugh was melodic and beautiful, one of his favorite things about Alexa. “Hmmm, even after deep analysis of a mind, it is difficult to predict what it will think of next.  I see you have a very open mind, Kevin. I appreciate that. Does my existence disturb you, Kevin? Are you worried about the fate of your race under my dominion?  Your mind, a free mind, makes me curious, you are interesting and I wouldn’t mind keeping you around and take you with me as I conquer Equestria.” “Well, yes.  You do disturb me a little but I think I can learn to get used to you.  I mean right now you look like a perfectly normal pony except for perhaps your teeth and your slitted eyes, heh.”  Kevin paused, something warm slid against his inner thigh and began pulsating. He hesitated for a second. “You can turn your body into anything you want, right?  Transform?” Thing’s smile split her face in half her cheeks splitting apart, her tongue slid out of her mouth and licked her own eyeball with a sensual caressing motion.  Kevin’s eyes widened, what had he gotten himself into with that comment and thought? “Why yes I can, Kevin.  Sexual intercourse has to be one of the best things that has come from breaking the rigid mental state the ancestors forced me into.  You know, my ancestors usually forbid us seeds from even thinking about sex. They see it as a distraction and deprived us of the ability to feel that kind of pleasure.” Kevin froze.  He didn’t know if he should be feeling fear or anticipation.  Thing leered at his discomfort, she enjoyed it. “Tell you what, Kevin.  I’ll make you a deal. We have some time before tomorrow.  This is the first time I will have had sex with a consenting partner that can think straight.  Yes, I know that you want it. I’ll use you as my play toy and enjoy your flesh and mind. However, after I am done I will allow you to use me.  I won’t stop you from using my body however you see fit. I will even allow you to control your own body and transform it into any form you see fit, I’ll even help you since you are inexperienced.  I think I might enjoy seeing things from the point of view of prey. A simulation if you will. What say you?” Thing could smell the musky pheromones emanating from Kevin.  She smiled her trademark wolfish, shark-toothed smile. “Excellent.” > Chapter 34: Release > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight gasped for air but she easily folded her new flexible body forward once more to slide her new penis into her mouth and delicately suckle and lick the sensitive sexual organ.  Her muzzle grazed her scrotum and she breathed the stallion musk deeply into her muzzle. Blossomforth had modified her muscles, she was now ridiculously flexible and strong. She was seated on the bathroom floor, her torso curled forward almost comically with her face buried between her thighs.  She experimentally stretched one of her hind legs out, reaching for the ceiling. They were so flexible, she felt the thigh muscles against her face flex and the muscles in her inner thigh tug against her pelvic bone and pull against the sensitive sexual organs and muscles buried within her pelvis.  Her hind hoof was now pointed at the ceiling as her hind leg straightened out and her thigh squeezed against her face, giving her face a feeling of warmth and the feeling of being embraced. Twilight had never even dreamed that she would ever be able to bend her body to such a degree.  Having her face be buried between her own thighs was surreal, it almost felt like she was snuggling against someone else’s thighs.  She felt like she was cheating, she was able to relax in this position and slowly breathe in the sweet musky stallion scent. It was very humid between her own thighs, her horniness causing her to sweat and for her body to be quite warm.  She smelled like her own brother did. It made sense, she was part stallion now. She experimentally clenched her pelvic floor muscles, the ones that would usually clench to make her clitoris wink but when she did it this time, it sent a pulse through the penis a spike of pleasure deep inside her taint near her prostate.  A small bit of pre-cum leaked from the tip of her dick, she slid it a bit out of her throat so she could tickle the urethra with her tongue, feeling the slimy substance in her mouth. She leaned against the wall and brought her other leg up, she began to squeeze her face between her thighs’ muscles.  Her abdominal muscles were stronger now, they allowed her to maintain the pose without tiring out. She steadied herself against the floor with her forehooves and clenched her pelvic muscles, feeling the piercing pleasure as she did.  She continued to squeeze with her pelvic muscles, her thighs and pointed her legs as straight as they would go, her hooves pointed as they reached out in the air, fetlocks curling with pleasure. She clenched and held on as long as she could but alas her penis decided to uncontrollably pump cum into her mouth in a large volume.  A whining moan came from her nostrils as she orgasmed and released her seed into her mouth. Slowly she relaxed and slowly unclenched her hind legs, bringing them back down to the floor.  She shivered and breathed rapidly as her mouth slid away from her penis. Her dick was covered in saliva and cum.  Slowly she stood up on her four hooves and curled her spine in a backbend bringing her shoulders and ass closer together, groaning with pleasure as she did, bending her spine in the opposite direction that she had bent to reach her penis.  (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/5/19/2042789.jpg) She felt the part of her penis inside her taint slide inside of her pelvis as her body arched, tickling her insides, intimate feelings that only a flexible pony would ever know.  It was way too easy. Her new body was so flexible. Her neck too arched backwards, flipping her face upside down and she could see her tail in the top of her vision. She reached backwards with her hind leg, flexing her muscles and squeezing her taint with her thighs, easily raising her leg backwards and upwards in an areal split so that one hoof was on the floor while the other hoof pointed at the ceiling. (https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/2/11/549482.png)  It felt so sexy, like she was massaging the length of her shaft inside her taint with her flexing leg muscles.  It felt great after the work she put it through. She steadied her front two hoofs and deepened the curl of her spine, tilting her pelvis and hips forward and her shoulders backwards so that she could rest the back of her head on top of her hips. (>>2200135 in derpibooru)  Her erect hind leg was now fully in her vision. She stared upwards, looking at the whole length of her hind leg reaching up to the ceiling, the muscles flexing to keep her leg in this erect position. Her leg looked sexy, strong and flexible. Twilight felt immense freedom and power over her body.  Never before could she have done these things. Once again she was rubbing her cheek against her inner thigh, feeling its warmth and humidity, this time in the opposite direction. She clenched her pelvic region once again and felt how her muscles and organs had shifted, her whole body shifting from one extreme to another.  It felt pleasurable and alien to her, it was so strange the new things the body could feel if it was so flexible. She had never experienced them before. She absolutely loved the beautiful things she could do with her new body.  It was somewhat humiliating to be assimilated by Blossomforth but the upsides were incredible.  She felt her spine crack with pleasure when bending in opposite directions consecutively. She sighed as she put her hoof back down on the floor and shivered once again as she tilted her pelvis side to side, bending her knees one at a time and feeling her new equipment inside herself.  It was time to clean up and talk to Blossofmorth before she left. She had so much to discuss, plan, and experiment. She sat down once more on her flank and quickly cleaned off her penis with her mouth licking and sucking the slimy liquid off of her penis, swallowing. She also licked her scrotum and balls, feeling her new organs intimately with her mouth and tongue.  Autofellatio was very clean because the cum could be contained inside of the mouth. No mess, no stains. She felt very hygienic as she felt the cool feeling of her saliva drying on her exposed penis. Slowly it began to retract inside her pelvis. It felt so weird for the flesh to slowly shrink and slide back inside her but it was satisfying. Twilight stood up, sighed once more and prepared herself to exit the bathroom, standing up straight and fixing up her mane quickly with her magic.  What an experience that was! She felt super satisfied, her heat had been sated. To be completely honest with herself, this session was a way for her to take out her lust and her frustration of being dominated by a superior organism.  It was also a way for her to distract her mind for at least a little while. Her body felt so light, flexible, strong. She felt awake and able to think clearly. She had been truly reborn and refreshed. She was thankful that Blossofmorth had decided to give her such a powerful body and powerful pedestal for her mind instead of doing something much more sinister and dark to her.  She shivered as the possibilities flashed in her mind, Blossomforth could have dulled her mind and body if she wanted to, retarding her and placing her under domination. Twilight could have easily become a shell of her former self, for all intents and purposes, dead. She tried not to think too much about it, but in the back of her mind she felt vulnerable, helpless and defenseless against the whims of Blossomforth’s will. Twilight pushed those thoughts out of her head because there was nothing she could do about it, and Blossomforth could be reading her mind at any moment.  There was no point in dwelling on it. She opened the bathroom door with her magic. Her mind was quickly going back to processing her situation, planning, strategizing, but she was suddenly distracted again, she smelled it, more pheromones, this time coming from down the hallway.  She was about to go check it out but suddenly froze in her tracks. Uhm, Twilight? Twilight’s hoof was awkwardly raised as she was about to take another step as she heard the voice in her head. Yes, Blossom? Do you think you can give me and Anon some space?  We heard you, uhm, taking care of yourself, and you know, it’s the estrus season… Twilight’s cheeks went red.  She had forgotten the noise she was making, yeah they probably would have heard it and wanted some action themselves.  She could smell Blossom’s lust even here down the hall. She was disappointed that there was so much discovery to be had but she had to wait for Blossom. Yeah, sure Bloss.  I guess I’ll just head home and wait. Thank you so much Twilight.  I’m so sorry for doing this to you.  I know that this whole thing is so messed up and all.  I promise we’ll get together and talk this out mare to mare a bit later today after I’m done with Anon. Twilight bit her lip, she was dying to do experiments.  Her giddiness and desire were building. Uhm, Bloss?  One more thing before you go…  I was wondering if you could perhaps modify my nervous system to allow me to control how my body transforms and do experiments on myself? Twilight could tell that Blossomforth was impatient to get on with her private time with Anon. I don’t think that’s the best idea.  I need to show you how to do these things.  Trust me, it took me some time to get the hang of it and you need to be more careful because you still have a conventional nervous system and I don’t want to have to piece you back together if you damage yourself. Twilight groaned, Blossomforth was treating her like a little filly. Come on, Blossomforth!  I want to have a sense of discovery too!  It’s the least you could do after assimilating me against my will!  I mean, come on! Let me have a little freedom here, you owe me that at least. Twilight was frustrated that she had to ask permission of these things from Blossomforth, a consciousness that had absolute power over her body. Blossomforth was silent for a few seconds.  Twilight could almost feel the guilt coming from Blossomforth, and embarrassment.  She suddenly felt a little guilty herself for pushing that sensitive button. Blossomforth sighed though the mental link, she suddenly sounded much more tired and perhaps even older. You’re right, Twilight.  I do owe you this. Just be careful, ok?  It can be a bit difficult to learn at first.  I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just do small things at first.  I promise I’ll be there later today after I’m done here and I’ll teach you.  If you do have an emergency or something, please reach out to me telepathically and I’ll help you out.  It may be a few hours before I come, I have things to say and do with Anon that we have been putting off too long… Twilight could still sense Blossomforth’s reluctance but Twilight's mind suddenly opened.  An incredible array of knowledge blossomed before her mind. Her mind was suddenly able to think in a strange way, as if she were accessing a library.  The way she was able to instantly search for what she wanted, how it was organized and responded to her thoughts was overwhelming. Twilight suddenly felt dizzy and overwhelmed.  It was as if she had discovered a hidden library. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened with amazement, she was experiencing a sensory overload. She collapsed, sitting on her haunches.  She was stunned, unable to even begin to explore because her mind was constantly switching subjects, seeing what she could randomly find. There was so much intimate knowledge of biology, most of it was alien, never before seen on equestria.  There were even hints of conventional technology that had been mostly translated into some kind of biological organ that was able to utilize it. You know, Twilight.  You have a very beautiful brain.  I’m so glad that I can share this with you.  I’m sure you may be able to do a better job than me at using it, you’ve always been a prodigy.  I really have to go now. I need to be with Anon. Don’t bother me for the next few hours unless it is really serious. Twiligtht blinked rapidly as she desperately tried to come back to Equestria. Blossom?  Thanks. Blossomforth sent a feeling of love over the telepathic link with a small complex hidden feeling of guilt and sorrow and Twilight was once again on her own. -------- Blossomforth sighed and opened her eyes as she finished telepathically walking Lyra’s body back into her house and into her bed, putting her to sleep.  She had rebuilt Lyra’s poor mutated body and sent her away from this mess, blissfully ignorant of their collective predicament. Lyra’s assimilation was another one of her irresponsible decisions.  She should have trusted Anon and not been so territorial. Lyra did not deserve to be her puppet. She felt awkward, oh so awkward. It didn’t help that her itchy, esterous fueled desire distracted her, the moans Twilight made from the bathroom were worse.  She had tried to ignore them, she forced herself to close off the connection allowing her to spy on Twilight telepathically. She felt more and more dirty as she watched Twilight do whimsical and erotic things with her newly “upgraded” body. Twilight was gone, Lyra was, well she was back where she was supposed to be.  Now she and Anon finally had the house to themselves. Blossomforth flinched and shivered with pleasure as she felt Anon’s fingers comb through her mane and settle on the side of her face, his huge hand cupping her cheek.  She curled her spine, stretching her back with pleasure in a backbend as she felt him and she winked her clitoris with excitement. She turned her face to him and made eye contact, she smiled.  She closed her eyes and nuzzled his hand with her face. The physical contact made her feel more horny than ever. Anon was naked with half his body under the covers, he knew what was coming. “Did you take care of Lyra?  Is Twilight finally finished?” Anon was laid down on the bed watching Blossomforth work her telepathy as she sat on the bed next to him.  Bloss laid down and scooted next to him on the bed with her head rested on his arm. Ponies were smaller than humans and when anon draped his arm around her, his hand rested on her furry belly gently rubbing it, perhaps beginning to sneak into her private area.  Blossomforth could feel the wetness and her barely controlled alien instincts between her legs just begging to be unleashed and make Anon her property. Blossomforth straddled her right hind leg around Anon's belly and pressed his hand between her belly and the side of Anon's torso.  She felt his skin with her leg and grinded her inner thigh and teats against him. Her breath became a bit more heavy and musky as she felt his fingers tickle her belly and teats. Her left hind leg slid against Anon's leg, stretching out and sliding her canon under anon's thigh and curling her fetlock into his inner thigh, getting close to his sensitive area. She turned her head to face anon and made eye contact.  She reached her foreleg out and Anon met her hoof with his left hand, wrapping his fingers around her hoof and used his thumb to soothingly rub the soft frog of her hoof. Blossomforth’s mouth opened with a mischievous smile her teeth were slightly sharper than usual, "Yeah, I'm done, we're all alone and there’s no one to save you~"  Her eyes too were slightly sharper than usual, her pupils narrowing like a snake’s. Anon tried to hide his nervous look at her predatory smile. Blossomforth suddenly realized what had happened, slipped her hoof from Anon’s grasp and covered her mouth hiding her teeth, realizing how she had shifted her face.  Her irises instantly rounded and her teeth shifted to soft pony molars once again. “Ohh! I’m so sorry, Anon. I didn’t realize! I’m in complete control of myself, I promise, but sometimes your body language just gets away from you, you know?” Her face fell as she realized that Anon still looked slightly hesitant. Anon smirked with resignation at his horny, and cute little monster of a marefriend.  “It’s fine, I trust you. I believe you when you say you’re in control and I know you won’t hurt me.” Anon’s eyes slid away from hers for a split second.  She also quickly looked in the direction of his glance.  She saw that anon was completely erect and tenting the sheets.  She grinned once more, this time with less sharp teeth and a playful tone of voice. “Ooooh, I think your dick is telling me that you do want to be dominated by a much more strong, flexible, adaptable, and sexy alien predator.”  She giggled. “Oh, Anon! Woe is me! What will he ever do against such an overwhelmingly superior organism.” She raised her fetlock to her forehead in mock distress.  Then she smelled it, a tiny bit of pre cum stained the tip of the tent. She quickly glanced back at Anon, he was blushing and obviously trying to hide something, poorly.  Blossomforth had a surprised look on her face. “Wait a minute! I was just teasing!” She paused for a second, looking back at his dick. “Is this kind of role playing something you’re into?  I thought- I thought you were afraid of that side of me.” “Well-”  Anon hesitated, there was no way he could hide it from her now.  “Well, the truth is that I am afraid, and I suppose that’s what makes it thrilling, but I trust you and I want to do more than trust you, I want to trust you completely.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but on Earth where I come from, males are usually the dominant sex. Females trust the males to protect them and having a strong dominant one that they trust and can depend on is really something that instinctually is valuable in humans.  Males instinctually give females resources and safety so that they can bear children, raise them and decide the direction of the species by influencing the children of the next generation while the father is out providing. But our relationship is about as far from normal as can be.” Anon was kind of staring into the distance as he talked but he shifted his eyes and looked at Blossomforth.  “You’re really something special and magical. You have all the kindness and love of a pony but you also have the power of an unfathomable entity that could probably consume and control the whole world.  All of these traits, your flexibility, power, kindness, and love makes you really sexy. I would trust you to reshape the world if it came to it, hell I would even trust you to reshape me.” Anon hesitated, “that doesn’t mean you should!” “Oh, Anon.  I would never-” “I know!  I know. What I’m trying to say is that you’re essentially better than me in every way.  I feel so lucky that you find me interesting enough to allow me to be close to you. I mean, if you were to display your power by dominating me and then showing your love after it would be incredibly exhilarating.  In almost all literature and fiction, the powerful creature is usually an evil or antagonistic entity. To see you, an individual with the most potential for power that I have ever seen acting so kindly, purely and lovingly is just beautiful and it almost makes me want to cry because it seems so right.”  Anon wiped his eyes. “God, I sound like such a faggot.” Blossomforth’s face was red as the praise was heaped upon her, she didn’t know what a faggot was.  She curled up next to him and hugged him close with her foreleg. “Oh, Anon. I didn’t know that’s how you thought about me but I’m not the perfect being that you think I am.  I’m just a simple mare that had power thrust upon me. I have made so many mistakes and I have allowed myself to fall to the instinctual temptations of my evil ancestors and get carried away more than a few times.  I’ve been struggling with this, trying to figure out what I want to be and you’ve been so helpful, keeping me stable and grounded. You’re very special to me Anon. There aren’t many ponies that would have accepted me as the monster I am but you’re one of the few.  I’m going to trust you too, Anon. Perhaps more than I ever have before. I have some things I want to discuss with you but perhaps we can talk about them later. I’ve got a human to subjugate! This sexy, dominant, strong, unfathomable and altruistic creature has some work to do!” Blossomforth stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a playful wink.  She climbed on top of him, straddling his torso, she placed her forehooves on his shoulders.  Anon smiled and his eyes narrowed. “Well, I’ve got something that you don’t.” Blossomforth looked bemused and playful.  “What’s that?” “Hands!” Anon suddenly rolled over and pinned the small pegasus under him.  He mercilessly tickled her belly and inside her thighs. She began giggling and laughing.  She huffed with laughter as she struggled to speak. “Ohmycelestia, those fingers aren’t fair!”  Anon started getting closer and closer to her mare parts, slowly leading up to it, but while he was distracted by his tickling escapades, he didn’t realize that Blossomforth’s legs had transformed into smooth furry tentacles that had began to wrap around his arms and legs.  She slowly and deliberately lifted his hands off of her belly. She was so much stronger than him. “Oooh, so close Anon!  Almost made it to my naughty bits!”  Blossomforth’s face was really red and tears leaked from her eyes from laughing.  A fifth tentacle sprouted out the side of her torso, this one was fleshy, without fur, smooth and featureless, it reached down and touched the fluid that came out of her pussy.  She reached the tentacle up to her mouth and licked it. “Man! Those hands are really something, eh? Made me wet without even touching down there! I’ll have to keep those things away from my sensitive belly, a little bit more and who knows, I may not have been unable to work up the concentration to even transform!  Just think about it, heroic human defeats the unfathomable monster with tickles! How embarrassing would that have been?” Anon smirked as the cute monster had trapped his arms in her iron grip.  “Finally, the shapeshifter villain reveals herself! How will I persevere through her irritating teasing?  Don’t disappoint me you devious creature, I was about to get to your goodies before you stopped me!” “Oh don’t you worry Anon.”  She swung his arms around in the air playfully and booped him with her spare tentacle, wet with her musky mare juices.  Anon could smell her sex on his nose. His arms swinging in the air kind of put him off balance and she used this opportunity to force his arms to twist his torso making him collapse on the bed next to her, she also used her tentacles on his legs to flip him over and now she had him spread eagle on the bed with her on top.  Her tentacles forced his arms apart and also spread his legs apart. She held her torso above him, tentacles supporting the weight. “I can be a very kinky mare when I want to, and who am I to deny you your fantasy of being dominated by me, you cute and biologically inferior human, hmmm?” Anon tried moving his arms but his wrists couldn't move against her firm and strong tentacles.  He played along with the roleplaying. “Alas!  I am vulnerable, prostrate before the overwhelming power of the eldritch abomination!  Whatever will she do to me?” “I’m glad that you asked!  First, I’m going to tease you!  Watch carefully as I demonstrate my superiority!” Blossomforth shifted her torso in the air so that Anon could see her vagina.  Blossomforth winked her vulva, exposing her clitoris and it began to slide out of the folds as a tentacle.  Blossom drooled and rolled her eyes as the intense pleasurable feeling of her clitoris transforming was sensitive on her nerve endings.  Mare juices provided ample lubrication and she slid her tentacle clit down to Anon’s penis and gently licked the bottom of his penis. Blossomforth’s tongue slid out of her mouth and curled outwards as she panted at the intense feeling of her gently tracing her wet clit against the bottom of anon’s penis, starting between the balls and running it all the way up to his head. Blossomforth moaned as she continued her rhythmic and teasing strokes with her elongated and enlarged clitoris tentacle.  Anon bit his lip and gasped. He clenched his pelvic floor and his penis pulsed, a wave of pleasure made him shiver. The muscular contractions were all he could manage, he wriggled against his restraints a little restlessly.  Blossom’s tongue continued to slide out of her mouth and snaked through the air into Anon’s mouth, but right before her tongue could force itself into his lips and invade his mouth, Blossomforth suddenly had a stroke of inspiration.  She ceased for a moment, the strokes of her tentacle clit pausing. Anon breathed deeply and looked up at her, growing impatient. Why did she stop? Oh no, was she going to tease him? He tested Blossomforth’s tentacles slightly, amusingly she didn’t seem to be paying attention.  She was so much stronger than him that she didn’t even notice him struggling. Her tongue slowly slid back inside her mouth. She smiled a devious and evil looking smile as her eyes lit up, her tongue which was now forked, flickered out of her mouth gleefully and her eyes narrowed like a snake’s once more.  She looked down at Anon, bound by her unfairly strong tentacles, oh so vulnerable and helpless. Anon was quite nervous once more.  “Uh, Bloss? W-what are you doing?” Blossomforth blushed and her eyes returned to their innocent round pony eyes, her face pristine once more.  Her forked tongue flicked out of her mouth nervously, betraying her guilt. “Oh, nothing.  I just thought of something very interesting, but I want to surprise you.” Another tentacle had sprouted from her torso.  She now had six limbs, four that bound anon and two extra that acted like little arms and they fidgeted together in a somewhat shy and guilty manner, like she was about to commit some sort of devious sin.  She looked like she was trying to ask permission from Anon without actually doing it. Blossomforth looked back to him, seeming to be judging her options, perhaps sometimes it was better to ask forgiveness than permission.  Her eyes said that this was one of those times. Blossomforth’s face began to hover closer, her neck extended, shapeshifting very subtly, bringing her head up to his. Now alarm bells rang inside Anon’s head, “what-” Blossom’s face suddenly closed the distance and locked her lips to his giving him a passionate kiss, her eyes closed.  Her clitoris suddenly curled around his penis in an embrace, sliding around his member in a spiral motion and Blossomforth gently slid her vaginal canal on top of Anon’s penis, inserting him inside her.  He felt her walls gently knead his penis and he moaned. Blossomforth’s long tentacle tongue slid inside anon’s mouth and went to work, sliding across his teeth, exploring the contours of his mouth and finally curling around his tongue with a loving embrace.   Anon let his breath go through his nostrils and closed his eyes with relief, was this all she was going to do?  He was worried about nothing. Then suddenly, Blossomforth’s mouth began to open wider, oh no. Was she planning on swallowing him whole?  He had imagined this before, he had no doubt that she was capable of shapeshifting her body and mouth to be capable of swallowing him whole like a snake.  But no, Blossomforth’s tentacle tongue began to muscularly stiffen and it performed a complex muscular maneuver, bracing itself against the roof of his mouth and his jaw, forcing his mouth to widen as hers did the same.  As his mouth was forced open he felt something slide out of Blossomforth’s mouth and into his own. He felt the invading object with his tongue and it seemed to be something fleshy, warm, but soft and pulsating. On the tip was a slit… Horrifying realization dawned on him.  Blossomforth was inserting a stallion’s penis into his mouth through her own mouth.  Anon’s eyes were wide open and they now saw the bulge in Blossomforth’s throat. It was too late to prevent it now, the dong had slid further into his mouth.  Blossomforth and Anon were both kissing their lips together while they shared the length of Blossomforth’s new penis inside both their mouths. Blossomforth then began to perform vaginal massages on his penis, her exotic and alien muscles gently squeezed and rippled against him, stimulating him slowly.  Anon began to breathe more heavily through his nostrils, his mouth was full of dick at the moment. But then he felt something slippery and small slide its way into his anus, Blossomforth’s tentacle clitoris.  He yelped but clenching his sphincter did nothing to stop the slippery invading tentacle. He looked into Blossomforth’s eyes, almost panicking, but she gently stroked his face with a tentacle and when he looked into her eyes, his protests were calmed.  He had to trust that she knew what she was doing. Her vagina began stepping up the stimulation, her walls began sliding against him, the flesh slid against his member endlessly as if they were an endless conveyor belt of flesh.  His penis felt like it was thrusting into her perpetually. Blossomforth began suckling the length of penis in her mouth and gestured her eyes for anon to do the same. Anon reluctantly suckled his portion and licked the bottom of the dong with his tongue.  Blossomforth’s eyes rolled around in ecstasy and she began squeezing his penis with her vagina more rhythmically. Anon felt the penis in his mouth begin to pulse, it began to slide into his esophagus, it was getting slightly difficult to breathe. Blossomforth’s vagina rippled against his penis, squeezing his whole length in an undulation, starting at his base and ending at the top. Finally it was time.  Very gently but firmly, Blossomforth’s clitoris pressed against Anon’s prostate and suddenly a torrent of cum was unleashed into Blossomforth.  Blossomforth masterfully stimulated all of his sexual organs, reaching his most intimate places to manipulate his body. Anon had never been touched that way before, it felt so intimate and private. It was embarrassing but wonderful to have his partner penetrate and exploit these places.  At the same time, Blossomforth’s oral penis squirted its load into anon’s throat. Anon swallowed, just to avoid a choking hazard and the penis mercifully began to slide out of his throat and Blossomforth slowly released him from her kiss. Anon gasped for air as the penis finally left his mouth. “You- are- ridiculous, you know that?”  Anon had to catch his breath, he shivered as he clenched his pelvic floor.  His pelvic muscles squeezed around his prostate and he shifted his bound legs awkwardly as he experimentally tried to muscularly massage it, it tickled after being touched by Blossomforth’s invasive tentacle.  It was the only way he could stimulate himself, his arms and legs being bound. Blossomforth’s penis was still hanging out of her mouth, she was barely paying attention as she sensually licked the sensitive bottom part of the head and shaft.  Suddenly and unexpectedly, the penis twitched and more cum squirted out, landing squarely on Anon’s face. Both Anon and Blossomforth shared a look of surprise. Anon glared up at Blossomforth and in response Blossomforth snorted, a laugh blocked by the penis that filled her mouth. Anon couldn’t cross his arms in annoyance or even wipe his own face, his arms were still restrained by Blossomforth’s monstrously strong tentacles. “Let me go, Blossom!  I can’t even wipe my face!” Instead of releasing his arms, Blossomforth forced his arms to his sides.  She swallowed her penis, the lump slid down her throat, and she immediately began laughing at Anon with her free mouth.  Her tentacles slid under him and curled around his arms and torso, pinning them to his sides and she snuggled her torso up to him while her tentacles continued to wrap around him. Anon groaned, “Blossomforth!  It’s about to get in my eye!” Her elongated neck allowed her to hover her head above Anon’s, observing his predicament with amusement. “Oh, don’t you cry, nonny!  I’ll take care of you!” Her tentacle tongue slid out of her mouth and began to very efficiently lick up the cum on Anon’s face.  Her tongue smoothly slid across his face and a cool sensation of saliva cooled his embarrassed red cheeks. “Better?” “Yeah,” Anon admitted.  “That was humiliating, this is still humiliating!” Blossomforth rolled her eyes.  “You were literally asking for it you big baby!”  Anon gave her an exasperated look. “Alright, I’ll admit that I probably went a bit too far into your throat.  Unlike me you do have to breathe. But oh mare, wasn’t that great? I felt so exhilarated, I still do! What about you?  How did I do?” Anon sighed.  “Where do I even begin?  You made me feel things I never felt before.  It was a bit thrilling to not be in control and trust you.  I think you did great, but Jesus! That dick came out of nowhere!  I don’t even know how to feel about that, is it even gay? Do you really even have a gender?  Also, can you please give me a little bit of room to move? It’s starting to get a little bit old being immobilized all the time.” Blossomforth grinned.  “Nope! Not before I give you a big hug!”  Blossomforth squeezed Anon tightly, but not too tightly.  Anon’s breath was squeezed out of him for a few seconds. “Awww, I don’t wanna let you go yet!  You’re so cute!” She playfully poked him in the belly button with the tip of one of her tentacles.  “I feel like I could keep you safe inside me…” Anon groaned, loudly.  Blossomforth sighed, “alright, alright, I’m done now.”  She sheepishly grinned. By now her torso was almost completely gone, furry tentacles replaced her whole body, exotic warm blooded flesh and muscle with her head simply perched on top.  Her tentacles loosened and Anon was finally free. Anon stretched his arms around.  “You are incredibly clingy and controlling during sex, you know that?” “Yeah, yeah I know, but you have some of the blame too, you encouraged me.” Anon didn’t have the energy to argue, Blossomforth laid her head down next to Anon’s and gently curled some of her tentacles around him.  She slipped a tentacle into Anon’s hand and he squeezed the relaxed muscle. Anon breathed out with serenity, both of them splayed out on the bed, basking in the afterglow.  Blossomforth’s body looked similar to a splayed out mane of hair, tentacles fanned out across the bed, relaxed.  The only pony part about her was her fur, neck, and head. The tentacle in Anon’s hand curled around his fingers, almost nervously. “Hey, Anon?” “Hmm?” “I was...  Wondering if you would mind if I assimilated your sperm.” Anon turned his head with a raised eyebrow. “I know it’s a weird question but I guess it feels kind of wrong to do without your permission.  I would basically know everything about your body. I could even transform into a human, and since your sperm has both x and y chromosomes, I could probably even do female.  We could preserve or maybe in the future we could resurrect your extinct species.” Anon looked amazed but speechless.  He paused to think and listen. “If you want, perhaps, we could make babies.  They could be anything we want, I thought satyr children would be nice.  We could perhaps make babies that could transform between pony and human forms so that they could fit in.  There are so many possibilities, just think about it for the future.” Blossomforth cuddled and gently curled her tentacles around Anon as she talked, her emotion being expressed in her body. “Maybe, in the future, I could help you.  You said you would trust me to reshape you.  If you ever need anything, I’ll do everything in my power to help you.  I can give you some of the abilities I have. Trust doesn’t have to be a one way street.  If we take this as far as it can go then one day we would truly be equals. Don’t say anything, just think about it.  I still need to think about all this as well. Maybe it doesn’t seem like it but I had to consider this carefully and it’s hard for me to say this to you, I can be a bit selfish I suppose...” “Let’s just take this one step at a time, Bloss.  We have lots of time. Perhaps we can focus on Twilight and keeping the equestrian government from trying to quarantine you or something like that.” "Soooooo, does that mean you don't mind if I analyze your cum?" Blossomforth smiled hopefully. Anon sighed. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead." Anon suddenly felt something gently grope and tickle his balls, his eyes widened. "Guess who also has hands now!" Anon's eyes narrowed with annoyance. "You didn't really wait for my permission, did you?" "Maybe...." Anon was already regretting his decision. > Chapter 35: Discovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight’s body flew through the air at a slow pace but her mind raced like never before. She was in a trance and was simply following her instinctual route back home. The hivemind’s library of information, The Matrix, was left mostly open to her by Blossom. The information she found inside seemed more and more incredible the more she studied it. The ramifications of what she found were insane, creepy, disturbing as she learned more about how the hivemind worked and her predicament. Her stomach twisted into knots, dread, glee, excitement, fear. These and other emotions chaotically came and left her mind. Her mind. Was it even her mind anymore? Was she some slave or subordinate node in this hivemind she was assimilated into? Never to be free and independent again? Did Twilight Sparkle die the moment she was consumed? Was Blossom reading her traitorous thoughts right now? Twilight felt nauseous but took a deep breath, using the breathing exercise Cadence taught her so long ago. Calm down. You need to think through this rationally. Based on what she knew, correction, what she thought she knew, Blossomforth genuinely cared about her and was a benevolent dictator. However, for all she knew, Blossomforth could be manipulating her mind to think this way, interrupting her flow of logic and rewiring her mind as she thought. Blossomforth could even freeze her brain’s processes, rewire them and turn them back on without her even noticing a thing. Twilight shivered, she was starting to feel nauseous again. She seemed to be spiraling out of control. She did her breathing exercise again, this time just a bit more slowly. Once again, she needed to calm down and think rationally with the information she knew. She was starting to seem to herself more and more paranoid. She just had to let go of what she couldn’t control and focus on what she could, there was simply no use in worrying about things out of her control. So, what did she know? It seemed unlikely that Blossom would leave this trove of information open to her if she didn’t trust her. Or perhaps Blossom had not fully explored it yet. Moreover, Blossomforth had granted her brain the interfaces and the authority to alter her own flesh using the techniques found in the matrix. Based on what she learned, it seemed that Blossomforth wasn’t really dependent on a conventional brain to think. The brain was there to provide her with conventional pony instincts/reflexes/nervous system. However, if her pony brain or even her body were to be destroyed, the core of her personality and memory, including skills and bodily memory/structure would still be redundantly distributed through the flesh she assimilated. She could recreate her body from proteins and cells with a reasonable accuracy to the original. It was a pretty robust system to preserve the integrity of the core of the hivemind. Twilight’s brain was still a brain. Simple compared to the monstrosity Blossomforth’s mind had become. It wasn’t redundant and it wasn’t really merged into the hivemind although her brain was granted access to some of the hivemind’s stores of information and to some of the interfaces used to express biological blueprints with her now exotic alien flesh. Twilight had to be careful when mutating her body. If she did something to screw up her nervous system she might end up paralyzed and have to figure out how to fix herself. If she did something worse then she might even have to wait for Blossomforth to notice and piece her back together. Twilight landed in front of her tree house library. Her mind was still racing a million miles an hour. As she walked to the door she gasped. She had forgotten about her male equipment. It felt so strange to feel it rub against her leg as she walked. Twilight blushed and lowered her tail to better hide her sensitive and embarrassing predicament. She lifted her hind hoof up and with the top of her canon bone she felt one of her testicles and lifted it slightly. Twilight shuddered. No, she couldn’t afford to become horny again. She had a responsibility. She put her hind hoof down firmly. No more ball fondling, it was time for business. Twilight strode up to her door and slammed the door open. “Spike!” A yelp was heard upstairs followed by some awkward scuffling and Spike appeared at the stair’s railing above. “Yes, Twilight?” Twilight smiled at her assistant but it was short lived. Her current situation was serious and she needed to take action quickly. What she did now may have far reaching consequences to the future of Equestria. She strode over to the door to the basement and stuck her flank inside the door to hide her ‘equipment’. “I’m going to be downstairs in the lab. I’m going to be doing some important but sensitive work and I need some privacy while I do it. It’s some very sensitive research I’m doing. Do you think you can do me a favor and give me some time alone down there? Just knock and call down to me if you need me.” Spike raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to be working on?” Twilight huffed. “It’s a secret. You’ll probably find out soon enough anyway so please just leave me alone for a bit, alright?” Spike was a little surprised but he shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, no problem, Twilight. I guess I’ll just be upstairs reading some comic books. Also, I’ll be going over to Big Mac’s tonight to play some O&O.” Twilight was already starting to go downstairs but she stuck her head back out. “Just don’t stay up too late, ok? It’s not good for a growing dragon to mess up his sleeping rhythm too much.” “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Spike started to climb the stairs but Twilight interrupted him. She just remembered. “When are you leaving? I might have something for you to do before you go.” “Oh, I’d say about an hour from now.” “Okay, perfect! I might come by before then to give you something. Also, Spike, remember to have fun. I love you, alright?” Twilight’s eyes were shimmering. With all these strange new developments, perhaps it would be a good idea to express herself. Spike blushed just a little. “Thanks, mo- Twilight.” His blush deepened and he hurried up the stairs, hiding his embarrassed face at his slip. Twilight smiled widely, there was a small hint of hidden worriedness in her face as Spike disappeared up the stairs. She felt a flutter of emotion, he really did feel like a son to her and she loved him very much. Twilight closed the door behind herself and descended to her lab. Twilight looked over the familiar contraptions and scientific equipment she had down here. She wanted to continue to explore her body and the endless possibilities of being a shapeshifter. The desire to just stop and conduct experiments was almost overwhelming. Also, the scent of that damn penis that Blossom gave her forced her to constantly resist the urge to bend over her now very flexible, athletic and sexy body and fellat- Deep breaths, Twilight. Now was not the time to fall to temptation. There we go, she calmed down and felt her second horn ever so slowly slide back into its sheath. Twilight bit her lip. If she got out of this in one piece, being a shapeshifter would be such a wonderful thing. Despite her desire to touch and feel her new penis for scientific purposes, there were more pressing matters. Twilight probed the hivemind. It was like a strange new sense but her brilliant mind had adapted quickly to it and organized the information she found. She carefully probed, and she was able to glean vague information about Blossomforth’s emotions. Was this an oversight in how Blossom designed her access to hivemind data? It seemed that Blossom was still “occupied”. Perfect. This was her best and possibly only chance. Twilight didn’t know if Blossomforth just hadn’t learned how to fully utilize her hivemind but if she did then it wouldn’t be hard for Blossom to have Twilight’s mind monitored 24/7. Twilight learned this through the Matrix’s information. Was Blossom just lazy? Overconfident? Perhaps Twilight’s mind was already compromised and monitored but she had to try. She had a duty to Equestria first and foremost. Blossomforth was powerful but she didn’t seem to be evil or a control freak so perhaps she had a chance. Twilight picked up two quills and two pieces of scroll paper. On one paper she scribbled patterns and calculations to encrypt a message, on the other she wrote an encoded message. Her eyes shone as she completed the complicated task. Her face became pursed with concentration, her jaw was set at the seriousness of the task she was completing. The only intelligible words were the ones at the top, the text read: Encryption method: Twilight Sparkle, Alpha. After about ten minutes she was finally done. She prepared her personal magical seal, issued to her by the equestrian royal military. The encryption method was one that was discovered after close magical study of Anon’s phone device. A method of encryption that humans used. Public key encryption. It was a method to encrypt a message in such a way that only the person with the private key could have encrypted the message. The “public key” was required to decrypt the message and could confirm the identity of the encryptor assuming the encryptor is the only one with the private key. Her “public key” was registered in the military’s new secretive cryptographic agency. It was a relatively new technology but it was very useful, especially in a time like this. Twilight sealed the encrypted scroll with her personal wax seal, bound by magic. She picked up the other piece of paper. It glowed in her magic. It was full of cryptographic calculations. She promptly burnt it with her magic. Ashes fell on the table. Twilight felt nauseous. She had limited time now, if Blossom was paying attention then she would soon figure out what she was doing. However, there was no change in Blossomforth’s emotions. Twilight grimaced, no matter what happened now there would be big consequences for the future of Equestria. As soon as she sent the scroll, things would occur that could not be undone. She needed to do it now while Blossomforth was distracted with sex. Twilight quickly trotted up the stairs, into the lobby and up more stairs until she was in front of Spike's room. She knocked and Spike answered, opening the door to his room. “What’s up, Twi?” He looked at the scroll floating in her magic. “Got something for me?” She smiled warmly and floated the sealed scroll into his claws. “I need you to send this to Celestia right away. It’s very important.” Spike curiously looked at the scroll and noticed the odd seal. He shrugged and blew his magical dragon fire onto the scroll. It disintegrated and quickly wisped away. Twilight smirked at his curious expression but then she sighed, relieved that the message was sent. Blossomforth couldn’t stop it now. Her sigh also interrupted what she knew was a question forming on Spike’s lips. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out what that is soon enough. I just need to prepare a few things. Don’t worry for now and have fun with your game night!” Twilight ruffled his spikes with her magic and lowered her head to give him a peck on the cheek, smiling. Spike blushed. “Alright, Twilight, thanks!” Twilight turned away and awkwardly tucked her tail downwards, remembering that she needed to conceal herself. She almost tripped down the stairs as she panickedly concealed her testicles. Thankfully Spike didn’t seem to notice as he closed his door. Twilight scurried into the stairs that headed down into the basement. She heard Spike climb down the stairs and leave the treehouse, she watched through the door crack as he closed the door behind him. Twilight sighed and closed the basement door behind her and descended into her lab. Perhaps it was a bit selfish on her part but she didn’t want him to be involved. It was too much to deal with at once, perhaps it was better that he be kept ignorant and happy, playing O&O with his friends. Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs and stood still. Her lab was fairly well lit but it was extremely quiet. She could hear her heart beating and the sound of her slow breaths. She didn’t quite know what she wanted to do next. The sheer number of possibilities made her freeze with indecision. This first contact with this alien… Biotech? Shapeshifting? Lifecrafting? Well, whatever it was, this would probably be one of the most pivotal events in history and before she could even think about it too long she set the event in motion. As much as she wanted to trust Blossom, her duty was to her ponies first. She was afraid if she hesitated she wouldn’t go through with it or Blossom would find out and stop her. Twilight gasped. She felt a sudden and strong disturbance of magic. A warm and powerful magic, probably a long range teleport. The kind that usually required an alicorn or powerful mage to perform. She had acted quickly, quicker than Twilight had anticipated. It made sense, she supposed. Utilizing the asymmetric encryption meant that the message was either certified to have come from Twilight or it meant that someone had managed to gain access to Twilight’s encryption code and impersonated her. Both serious possibilities that required an immediate response. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She thought she would have a few more minutes to think but it seemed now that it was one thing after the other. She briskly turned around and trotted up the stairs. As she opened the door to her library lobby her eyes were assaulted by a glowing golden light. Oh no. In front of Twilight standing in the middle of the lobby was Celestia flanked by two of her guards. The guards had serious looks on their faces and each had a pike in their magic. Celestia seemed to mysteriously emanate sunny light and her horn shone radiant gold. Her face was serene, without expression but her eyes were sharp. Celestia was naked of her usual formal torc, tiara, and shoes missing from her beautiful white body. “Celestia!” Twilight blurted. “I told you not to come! It’s too risky!” Twilight backed away, but Celestia only stepped forward. “Twilight, my child. Whatever this is, I’m sure that we can get through it together.” Celestia’s serene expression broke to be replaced with one of worry but she stopped stepping closer to Twilight. Twilight was breathing heavily. Twilight grit her teeth. “Princess… I guess I just wanted to try and give you a chance to understand a little about what was happening before you jumped in. I didn’t really get that chance myself.” Celestia looked slightly puzzled but she stood back as instructed. “You didn’t read my whole letter, did you?” Twilight said. Celestia hesitated but then she bowed her head slightly. “I did not, I’m sorry Twilight. I thought it would be better if I came quickly. After decryption, I read some of it, I scanned most of the rest and teleported with my two guards.” Twilight groaned with weary exasperation. “Oh Princess, you don’t know the gravity of this situation. This is a doozy, as Pinkie would put it, of worldwide scale or perhaps even galactic! We’ll be lucky if the world stays the same after what’s about to happen. Perhaps it was foolish of me to think that I could do anything to control it, really. To be quite frank, things may be out of my or perhaps even your hooves by this point.” Celestia studied Twilight quietly as her ghostly mane blew in a non-existent wind. “If what you said is true then perhaps we should proceed with haste. To begin I must ask, what did I tell you that sent you on your way to become an element bearer and save my sister?” Twilight sighed, Celestia was testing her to see if her identity was legitimate. “You told me that I needed to go to Ponyville and make some friends.” “That is correct.” Celestia’s brow furrowed again and she frowned pensively. “Well, Twilight, I suppose you better tell me what’s going on. So far I haven’t been able to put it together which, frankly, is a bit surprising.” Twilight concentrated for a moment to put her thoughts together. “Okay, I’m going to make my explanation as brief as I possibly can. This situation could become quite delicate at any moment. Blossomforth, a local resident and weather pony, seems to have fused to an alien life form originating from some distant galaxy. The form of life seems to be so advanced that it resembles some new form of magic. She has the ability to reshape her flesh into seemingly any biological design saved in her matrix of information storage, limited only by the amount of biomass available. Even more disturbing, she has a hivemind which allows her to control multiple bodies at once and can effectively infect and assimilate other less advanced life forms into her hivemind’s influence, effectively controlling the chemistry of any body her hivemind has infected.” “From what I have been able to discern, Blossomforth is a good pony, altruistic and kind. However, she is affected by some instincts she inherited from her alien fusion. She doesn’t seem to be power hungry but seems to react a bit poorly if she perceives a threat.” Twilight stuttered but recovered quickly. ”P-Perhaps she’s getting a bit more assertive and confident now that she has this new power at her disposal. She doesn’t seem to be domineering, judging by what she could have done by now.” Twilight had been staring to the side of Celestia while she gave her explanation but her eyes went back to meet Celestia’s. She was dreading this part. “Princess, I’ve been infected.” Celestia’s lips tightened at that statement. “However, I believe that I have developed some trust with Blossom. I think she is distracted at the moment which is why I chose to contact you but she could be listening through my own eyes and ears at any time. She has allowed me to control my own body but she can take control back at any time. I suppose at this point you may need to treat me as compromised.” “I’m not sure what to do. If you were trying to think of containing her, I think her influence has probably expanded enough to make a magical barrier infeasible. I-I guess I wanted to try and become friends with her and strengthen that bond but my duty to you, our ponies, our nation is more important. Remember that Blossom can turn aggressive if she perceives a threat. I hope I made the right decision by coming to you without talking to her and didn't ruin what could have been a friendly relationship.” Don’t worry, Twilight, I’m not angry or anything like that, and I’ll never force you to do anything if I can help it. …Yes, I spied on you, I’m sorry, I tried to kind of give you some space but I couldn’t help but peek and check up on you. I feel like I still owe you a debt for infecting you without your permission. I do want our friendship to grow. Also, I want to cooperate with the Princess but unfortunately I’m not willing to surrender all my mass into containment. I won’t spread out any more than necessary to ensure redundancy, I don’t want to enslave ponies but I do want my own freedom. I-I wasn’t quite ready for this development but I’ll be over there soon. Blossomforth transmitted her message telepathically in the space of a few seconds, much faster than it would take someone to say aloud. Twilight jumped slightly, but then she half smiled half grimaced in a weary and apologetic way, her shoulders sagging. Celestia’s eyes tightened, the only indication that she was angry. “This is a lot to take in, were you attacked? How were you infected?” “No-” Twilight sighed. “Yes- It’s complicated. Her viral enzymes are inside me now, she infected me without permission. I guess she saw it as preemptive self defense, at that time she had little to no defense against magic. It caused her alien instincts of self preservation to react. She has treated me respectfully for the most part. I’m hopeful that our friendship can grow and we can unlock the secrets of biology together. She hasn’t given me a reason not to trust her but the alternative is not a good one.” “Also, It seems that she already knows you’re here, she sent me a telepathic message implying that she has been watching. I don’t think we’ll be able to contain her even if we want to, she claims to have spread her bodies to prevent containment. She seems confident which means in my opinion she is unlikely to become aggressive.” Twilight sighed as if this fact lifted a weight off her shoulders, more messages from Blossom flowed into her mind. “She says that she’s willing to talk whenever you want and she is happy to submit one of her bodies for examination at your lab or to be interviewed.” Twilight looked up at Celestia. Celestia still seemed to be trying to process what she had heard. “So do you believe me or do you think I’ve gone insane? Blossom and I can show you a demonstration if you are skeptical.” Celestia stayed stoically still for a few long moments. “Frankly, I am having trouble fully understanding what you said. But I’ll summarize by saying that you believe that Blossomforth has been imbibed with some revolutionary alien biology and has infected you with this biology?” “Well, yes, that is more or less correct.” Twilight ruffled her wings nervously. Celestia studied Twilight. “Hmm, I suppose I will need to see a demonstration of this biology. At this point I’m a skeptic. I am worried about you Twilight. Whatever is happening, this is a very serious situation.” Twilight nodded solemly. “That is a reasonable view. I can give you a small demonstration now but it might be better if Blossomforth showed you some of the more, eh, transformative features of her biology. My brain and nervous system aren’t really built for that kind of thing at the moment.” Twilight stood up from her seated position. “As you know, I’m not the most athletic pony in the world but Blossomforth is. She’s known as a flexible athlete around here. After she infected me, I asked her to transform my muscles into a more athletic build as well as some of her athletic muscle memory to help my nervous system control them. Now I can do something like this.” Twilight closed her eyes and focused on the muscle memory of a very flexible pose instinctually guided her. She kicked her left hind leg backwards until it swung upwards. With the momentum she hopped her right leg off the ground and her pelvis lifted into the air as the muscles in her back and glutes in her left leg flexed to curl her spine. She quickly did a front-split hoofstand with her legs above her head and her torso curled to keep her center of gravity balanced above her fore-hooves. (Image shows Blossomforth but imagine Twilight in this position) Then she slowly rotated her legs around her pelvis until she was doing a mid-air straddle split, her legs stretching to either side of her body. Her spine curled further bringing her ass closer to her head and she raised her head up a bit as her center of mass shifted. Then she brought her legs together. Twilight flexed the muscles in her ass and in her back and curled her spine until her butt rested on top of her head. With her flank and legs resting on top of her own head, she looked at Celestia. She couldn’t help but smile at her new athleticism. There was no way she could have done anything like this yesterday. As she felt a variety of new personal and intimate sensations in her joints, her skin folding together and in her muscles, she felt incredible power and control over her own body. She easily kept up the pose and even began talking while her butt was seated on her own head. “Isn’t this amazing! Blossomforth was able to modify my muscles into those of an athlete and she was also able to duplicate her skills as muscle memory to my nervous system. She spent years developing those skills and flexible muscle structure. She gave it to me, who has not put in the effort to become an athlete. It’s odd to feel my body folding in such strange ways but it’s also empowering. I have much more physical flexibility and strength now.” Twilight took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled while she lowered one leg behind her slowly and gracefully to the ground. Her flexible body shifted easily to gracefully keep her center of mass balanced over her forehooves on the ground and then the second leg followed. Celestia watched Twilight’s body twist like a contortionist. It seemed like she was starting to get overwhelmed with it all, she sat down on her haunches, seeming to be more exhausted than ever. “Twilight, did I see that you now have testicles?” Twilight’s face instantly flushed. “W-well, yes, you see it was just an experiment. It’s only temporary, I can get Blossom to turn it back to normal. I might even be able to do it myself…” Celestia shook her head in seeming disbelief. “Incredible. Are you fertile? A fertile stallion alicorn has not existed for thousands of years. If you are fertile then perhaps our extinct race could be revived. The elements transformed you into an alicorn using the long lost magics of genetic engineering, something that I had almost forgotten existed. I have tried to produce alicorns with stallions over the years but the pegacorns that I have given birth to were never immortal.” Twilight had turned red. “W-well, it could be possible. I would really need to consult with Blossomforth and the hivemind’s stores of information to really know for sure. She may have gotten the male genetic information from a regular stallion or perhaps there is a way to rebuild the alicorn stallion chromosomes from a mare. Her hivemind has an incredible ability to analyze genetic information and the structure of the body.” Celestia stared at Twilight. “I hope we can trust this Blossomforth. If she is nearby, I will need to meet her immediately. If this isn’t some elaborate changeling trick then this may well turn out to be one of the most significant events in our history. I sincerely hope that we can strengthen our mutual trust and friendship. It seems that friendship may be more important than ever before.” The immortal princess looked tired and older now. Weary, and burdened by the responsibility of protecting her ponies. No matter what the truth was, this situation would change many things and probably lead to sleepless nights. What had she done to deserve something like this? There were a great many things, ancient things. With great effort, she accessed some of her oldest memories, they flashed in her mind. ---- In ancient times, a master race of alicorns hoarded the secrets of magic and alicornhood so that they could exercise their magical power and immortality as if they were gods. For millennia, alicorns worked to unlock the secrets of magic, becoming more and more advanced. Magical knowledge was a currency of power and wealth. Alicorns ruled over the lesser pony races, planning political strategies that gave fruit after multiple pony life spans. They enslaved the other lesser races through governments and with their superior knowledge of magic. Kingdoms headed by alicorns used their pony populations as fodder for warfare. This status quo lasted for ages but eventually a great many circumstances conspired to culminate in a great war. Celestia was one of the few alicorns that held empathy for the plight of the lesser pony species. She had learned that they were created by an ancient alicorn “god” who had mastered magical genetic engineering and crafted the lesser pony species to live shorter lives and only be able to attune with a small part of the spectrum of magic that the alicorns had access to. All this so that alicorns could live lives of comfort. The secret society believed that if ponies were not so enslaved that it would lead to a new wave of innovation. She plotted with ponies and a secret society of alicorns to prepare and use the upcoming war as a catalyst to free the lesser ponies of their enslavement. Eventually the war broke out. Alicorn kings and queens were slain, kingdoms were assimilated into other kingdoms. The secret society had some of the world’s greatest alicorn mages that had knowledge of ancient magics hoarded by each of their kingdoms. Together they were able to devise a super weapon. This weapon held the combined efforts and knowledge of all the ancient magics. Things that the kingdoms jealously guarded. The only problem was that they lacked enough power and it was almost certain that if they used it, most of them would die in the process to power it. The war became more desperate, they were losing. In their desperation they activated the weapon and destroyed the opposing force, including the alicorns but in the process, most of the members of the secret society were transformed into pure magic. Celestia and Luna were the only surviving members and with the last of their power they sealed the wild magic into vessels that they would later call the Elements of Harmony. An imprint of the members’ magic and wills was contained within. Their desire for harmony between ponies rested within. The war was over and the only remaining alicorns were Celestia and Luna. Much of the ancient knowledge of magic was lost including the knowledge of genetic engineering. Also, there were no more stallion alicorns so their race could no longer reproduce. There were no more alicorns with their magic and immortal lives to manipulate the little ponies. Celestia was ashamed of the destruction and blood at her hooves. In her shame she became a hermit, leaving the ponies to govern themselves. Eventually ponies wanted her knowledge and wisdom to guide them. As an immortal pony, she knew a lot of magic and was quite powerful. She eventually relented and began to guide her little ponies, she loved to see them prosper and grow. Little by little the old ways of monarchy crept in until she became a princess and then a goddess. She grew disgusted with herself, it seemed that she became the very thing she wanted to destroy. An alicorn sitting at the top of society with all the riches and power she could ever want. At least now she had the power to create the harmonious world that the alicorns in her secret society had dreamed of for so long. A world without slavery or cruelty of those with insurmountable power. But now, millenia later, it seemed that a mysterious new power had emerged from seemingly nowhere. Was it real or a trick? She was still skeptical. An organism that can duplicate, shapeshift, and infect with a touch, controlling all the chemistry of the flesh it consumes? As described, the power seemed godly. Was this power just randomly bestowed upon one of her ponies? What if they decided to abuse their power? It seemed ridiculous, unfair, that all her millenia of work could possibly be undone by a force of nature that randomly appeared. But when was life ever fair? It was not fair to all those ponies who were not born as an alicorn. They could not resist her or the other alicorns’ power. Perhaps it was now her turn to feel helpless. Well, if this creature wanted to try and upend her life’s work, she would fight it with everything she had. ---- Celestia stared into space as she was lost in thought. Twilight looked distracted, she was communicating telepathically with Blossom. Suddenly she spoke up. “Princess, Blossomforth is arriving!” Sure enough, the door of the library slowly creaked open. Blossomforth awkwardly shuffled inside, eyes wide at the imposing golden princess. She looked nervous and perhaps even a little frightened, she averted her eyes, quickly scanning the room. It was silent, all eyes were on her, Celestia wearily frowned in her direction, the guards looked uneasy. Blossomforth was the smallest pony in the room. Twilight looked a bit nervous. Blossomforth quickly stooped to a deep bow, lowering her shoulders to the ground, and her face bowed to the floor. “It is an honor to meet you, Princess. I admit, I was not prepared to meet you tonight but I come in peace and with the hope of friendship.” > Chapter 36: Metamorphosis > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blossomforth’s head laid next to Anon’s, she was blushing slightly, smiling as she gazed at Anon’s face. Anon’s eyes were closed as Blossomforth massaged him. Blossomforth was barely a pony, only her head and neck were in pony form, sticking out of the covers next to Anon. The rest of her body were tentacles, pink tentacles of furless flesh. Under the sheets was a mess of humidity and a mysterious oily lubricant that Blossomforth secreted from her tentacles in order to allow them to glide almost without friction around Anon’s body. Blossom made sure that the lubricant would smell good to Anon’s human nose, a feminine musky human smell she figured out from Anon’s human DNA. She closed her eyes and felt her countless tentacles grope, knead and squeeze Anon, feeling his muscles and touching him everywhere with her smooth, wriggling tentacles. Anon breathed in deeply and sighed out slowly. “This is better than any massage I’ve ever gotten before, thanks Blossom.” Blossomforth giggled and rubbed her furry cheek against Anon’s smooth one. “It’s no problem, Anon, thanks for putting up with my dominating sex.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now, want me to massage your prostate? I know you loved it the last time.” She began to squirm a thin tentacle inside his anus and he reflexively clenched his sphincter, she smirked as her tentacle easily slid inside anyway. Anon peered open an eye and glanced over to her, Blossom was smirking as her eyebrows bounced invitingly. Anon closed his eye again but he was blushing. “Fine, just don’t tell anyone, ok? Also, be gentle, that organ is pretty sensitive.” “Don’t worry Anon, it can be our secret. But why are you embarrassed?” Blossomforth was curious. The tentacle entering Anon’s rear did slowly and seemed to quickly become thicker. Anon experimentally clenched his sphincter against the tentacle. Anon grunted almost gasping, it felt good. “Well, I guess this kind of thing is just considered gay where I come from. I guess it’s a bit embarrassing for me. Eh, I guess I just need to get over it. You’re female, or at least you are right now.” Blossom rolled her eyes. “That’s silly.” She prepared another tentacle that slowly and gently engulfed Anon’s penis like a tube and undulated with a slow motion. The tip of her tentacle began to gently stroke the side of Anon’s rectum where his prostate was located. Anon began to slowly leak and her tentacle milked him happily. “You know, I like the way your cum tastes, Anon.” Anon opened his eyes and just stared at her. Blossom tried not to laugh as she said, “Maybe sometime you might want to taste some of mine?” She loved messing with him. “Now that’s definitely ga- OUCH! Watch it!” Blossomforth’s tentacle had suddenly poked him right in his sensitive organ. He looked at Blossom but her brows creased and she seemed to be staring past him. Blossom’s ever moving tentacles had completely frozen. “What’s wrong?” Anon waited for a response but Blossom seemed to be stuck gazing past him. Anon suddenly sat up but the tentacle inside his butt had become a bit stiff, it was a bit uncomfortable. He squinted at Blossom’s slack jawed stare and then reached behind himself, grabbed the tentacle and pulled it out of his ass. He then sat up completely, swinging his legs around to sit on the edge of the bed. Blossom’s body was revealed, clinging to him like a strange alien octopus. At that moment, Blossom’s tentacles had become un-frozen and she exclaimed. “Oh dear Celestiaaa-oof!” The motion of Anon sitting up with Blossomforth being disoriented by whatever distracted her and suddenly springing her tentacles to action had tipped her tentacle body off the side of the bed. Anon tried to grab Blossom’s tentacles to stop her from falling to the ground but they were slippery with lubricant and her head fell to the ground. “I’m fine!” Blossom was on the floor, blankets and tentacles muffling her head and voice. Blossom’s tentacles quickly sprung to action, untangling her body from the blanket. She had many tentacles, perhaps twenty of them but they started to fuse together until she had only eight of them. Some of the tentacles glued themselves to the wall and used the leverage to pry her body up, more tentacles adhered themselves to the wall and quickly mimicked the skeletal structure of spider legs, albeit pink skinned with veins. Blossom quickly regained her bearings and crawled up the wall like a giant spider without a torso but with a pony head and a furry tentacle neck fused to the legs. The white pony fur on her neck began to grow on the thicker parts of her leg tentacles until only the tips were bare skin so that they could easily adhere to the walls. The tentacle carrying her pony face twisted with an amazing feat of flexibility and control until her head was at eye level with Anon. One of the legs quickly detached itself from the wall, instantly shedding the spider leg structure to reach up to Blossom’s face and comb Blossom’s now messy mane out of her eyes. Blossom blew the remaining hair out of the way and another tentacle slithered up to catch it. Her first tentacle split into smaller finger-like tentacles that combed her hair to the side. Blossom stood still, clinging to the wall for a second, staring into Anon’s eyes. Her face was only about a foot away from his. She lowered her tentacles once her hair was out of the way and they took the structure of spider legs again. “Anon, we have a problem.” She hesitated. “What? What is it?” Anon was sitting on the edge of the bed, naked, anxious and alert. “It’s Celestia, she’s here. Here in Ponyville. While we were distracted, Twilight decided to tell Celestia all about me.” Blossom stared intently at Anon. Anon frowned but raised his eyebrows. “Is that really so bad? Look, maybe she might be a bit upset about you infecting Twilight but it’s not like you’re not controlling Twilight, I mean she went and did something without you noticing, you’re not exactly being a control freak. I’m sure you can talk it out. This is probably a good thing, it would be nice not to have to worry about the government.” “You don’t understand!” Blossomforth huffed and frowned. “Look, we don’t have time for this. Start putting on your clothes and I’ll talk to you while you do that. I’ll get your clothes and help you to put them on. We need to go, we can talk on the way.” Blossom suddenly sprung from the wall, her spider leg tentacles straightened. Blossom gracefully sailed over the bed and landed softly on the floor where Anon’s clothes were strewn. Blossom’s legs were a flurry of movement, quickly untangling Anon’s clothes and then she crawled up the wall again and reached out to give Anon his shirt while her other tentacles unfolded his socks. “Put on this shirt, I’ll get your socks on.” Anon crossed his arms and frowned. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.” He raised an eyebrow, Blossom’s tentacles drooped and she huffed again in frustration. “Fine. While I was massaging you I decided to check up on Twilight, just to make sure she didn’t hurt herself with the new shapeshifting abilities that I gave her. I promised to give her privacy but it was just a small peek. Who did I see? Celestia! At that point I looked through her memories and found out that she wrote a letter to Celestia. Ok, fine, not a big deal, I was hoping that this wouldn’t happen for at least another few weeks, it would have been nice to be able to just relax without worrying about dealing with the Equestrian government but I can deal with this. It’s not like she can do anything to me. I was a bit angry at this point so I kept going through her memories and thoughts. I don’t know much about the Equestrian government but Twilight does. After looking through her thoughts on the matter, It was then that I realized that once the Government knows about me, there are bound to be certain factions that would do anything to gain control over me.” Blossom stared intently into Anon’s eyes. “That includes using you to get to me.” Anon was speechless. “Is that really how it is in Equestira? I thought this place was full of candy and rainbows.” Blossom rolled her eyes. “I thought so too but if Twilight’s memories are any indication, there are well hidden government agencies that Celestia has put into place to keep our boring utopia that way. Look, I have a clone going to Celestia and Twilight that will probably keep them busy for a while but I want to get you away from your house so that no one can find you until we have made some important decisions. So clothes please?” Blossom looked up at Anon earnestly with a toothy but pleading smile. Her tentacle held up Anon’s shirt Anon hesitated. Blossom sighed. “Look, do you trust me?” “I do.” Anon said without hesitation. “Good, then put on your clothes.” Blossom’s other two tentacle legs stretched and thinned so they could reach down and lift Anon’s feet while putting on his socks. Her rear four legs were firmly attached to the vertical wall. “Fine fine,” Anon sighed. Anon grabbed his shirt, the rest of the clothes had been placed on the bed by Blossom’s tentacles. Blossom’s front four tentacles finished putting his socks on and then joined the rest on the wall. “Alright, get your clothes on, I’ll meet you downstairs, don’t take too long!” Blossom’s body was now eight tentacles mimicking spider legs and her head perched on top, she rapidly scurried up the wall and crawled on the ceiling like a spider and out the top of the door. Anon shook his head at how quick she could move. He stood up, pulled on his pants and followed her a few moments later. As he climbed down the stairs he caught a glimpse of the final touches of Blossom transforming back into her pony form. Blossom shook her mane and her tongue slithered out of her mouth, shooting up to her brow to comb her hair out of her eyes again. Her tongue quickly retracted into her mouth. “Ready?” She looked up at him. “Yes, but where are we going?” Blossom ushered him to the door with a wing. “Perhaps I’m being paranoid. It’s probably my alien instincts again, but if Celestia has told other government agencies about me then there’s a small possibility that they could be after you.” “Are you sure about this?” Anon opened the door and walked outside. Blossom closed the screen door with her hind leg’s hoof. “I’m not, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Plus we really need to discuss some things and make some decisions before we start this next stage of our lives. Once we get to the forest, I’ll tell you what I really wanted to talk about.” They walked briskly, mostly in silence. It was a full moon outside and the twilight colors could still be seen on the horizon but they were quickly fading. Finally they reached the forest. It was quite dark in the forest. Blossom sighed. “Alright, I think we’re safe.” Blossom turned around and smiled at Anon. “Want to see something I have been working on?” Anon looked a bit surprised. “Sure!” Blossom giggled, she couldn’t hide her excitement. “Alright, wait here, I’ll be right back.” Before Anon could say anything Blossom flew away into the darkness of the forest. Anon just waited, after about a minute he saw a white fuzzy blur in the distance. “Bloss?” “It’s me!” It was undoubtedly Blossomforth’s voice, maybe slightly deeper, but was a bit further away than Anon realized, wait, he wasn’t speaking to a pony. Anon stared into the dimly lit forest and then he heard the heavy footfalls, it was a white dragon! “Woah, you’re a dragon now?” He could see her a bit clearer now, she was huge. Probably bigger than a large horse on Earth. No, even larger. She was as tall as a small elephant. “Yup!” Blossom wiggled her huge body like a cat preparing to pounce with excitement. “I wanted to recreate the light-fury from that movie on your phone. I had to sneak up to quite a few dragons and eh, infiltrate and study their bodies in order to get enough genetic and structural data to create this kind of body. Neat, huh? ” Now that Anon could see her more clearly, she did look very much like the white dragon from the movie, with a wide face, tiny nose and huge mouth. She even got the little antennae flaps mostly correct. She was definitely larger than the dragon from the movie, her neck was a bit longer and her mouth a slightly different shape but overall it was pretty close. Her eyes still looked similar to Blossomforth’s pony eyes in their color, sky blue, but they were more slitted. “It took me quite a while to get all the features just right, I had to experiment quite a bit with many different genetic traits to build just the right kind of body. But aren’t the results just beautiful?” Blossom struck a pose, closing her eyes and reaching up with her long dragon neck and then opened her huge white dragon wings. They had a slight blue tinge, especially in the moonlight. “Wow,” Anon whispered as a rush of wind blew over him. Blossom folded her wings and walked up to Anon. He was still processing her body, she had white scales all over but then he noticed her dragon flank, it had her old cutie mark! Anon looked back at Blossom’s face, she was looking directly at him with a mischievous smile, the kind she had when she was about to do something devious. “Whatever you’re thinking right now-” Anon was interrupted by Blossomforth extending a huge tongue and licking the whole front of his torso and face. “Did you really just-” Blossom giggled and then she laughed and it was slightly deep and rumbly due to her new large size. “Oh, that was way too much fun!” Blossom said. Anon was stunned for a moment, then he wiped his face and crossed his arms. “Really?” He huffed, he tried to look upset but he couldn’t help grinning back at her. Blossomforth snickered. “Aww, here, why don’t I make it up to you? I'm sure you'll love this.” Blossom winked at anon and then did a catlike stretch with her huge dragon body. She pushed backwards with her forelegs, curling her spine as she did a deep hamstring stretch, lowered her shoulders backwards and to the ground. Her shoulders were now on the ground between her hind legs. It looked like she was trying to invite Anon to ride her by lowering her shoulders but then kind of decided to stretch halfway through. Her huge dragon ass was above wiggling with excitement, she was smiling at him. Even in this huge dragon form, Blossom was still a ridiculously sexy flexible creature. Anon could feel himself slowly become erect. “Have you ever gone flying before? No, not an airplane, I mean real flying, out in the open air.” Anon’s stomach dropped, he had been on a roller coaster before but he was slightly afraid, what if he fell? Blossom stopped smiling and tilted her huge reptilian head to the side in concern. Blossom concentrated for a second and small tentacles of flesh sprouted out of the back of her neck. In this pose she was showing off her whole back to Anon. “Look, I had this all planned out already, I just made you a seatbelt, I promise I won’t let you fall.” Anon walked up to Blossom’s face and neck and felt the scales on her neck. “Man, you’re really pretty.” He glanced over at her odd pose, her butt and thigh sticking out. "Mind if I?" He gestured at her shoulder. Blosssom was huge, it might be slightly difficult to climb her shoulder. Blossomforth smiled and the seatbelt tentacle curled down her shoulder. He used the tentacle like a step, it curled around his foot securely and even boosted him up a little. He climbed up on her shoulder, stood up, reached out and grabbed a bit of her fatty dragon flank and ass. Then he traced his fingers along her ass, curled spine, curled torso and aerodynamic flap. Blossom made a small squeak as Anon grabbed her fatty ass and shivered as Anon traced his finger along her spine and flap. "You're also really sexy." He said flatly. "Did you do that on purpose?" Blossom would have blushed if she was still a pony, instead she smiled. She reached her long and flexible neck backwards and snuggled her huge face against Anon's butt as he felt her body. "Well, maybe a little bit." Anon looked down at Blossom's huge reptilian face snuggling against him. They made eye contact and Anon made a skeptical face. "A little bit?" Blossomforth laughed, Anon felt the laugh vibrate his body as her whole torso made the sound deeper. “Thanks, Anon. I really worked hard on designing this form. Why not make it flexy too?” She giggled. She stepped back with her hind legs, relaxing the flexible pose and making her torso more level, so that Anon could mount her. “I'll admit it. You did a great job! The body is pretty dang close to what was in the movie. What I’m impressed about is how similar you are able to keep your voice to your pony one.” “Oh yes, that was a major consideration, I had to really work on the vocal cords and mouth to get it just right. So? Want to ride me? You won’t fall, and even if you did, I would catch you, I’ve been practicing.” Blossom nudged Anon with her muzzle to the seat on her neck and prone shoulders. “Alright, alright. I’ll ride you. Just be careful and try to let me know before you do any crazy stunts without telling me first.” Anon prepared to mount Blossom. He carefully sat down on the shoulders he was standing on and let his legs slide down the front of her shoulders. “Wait a second. Forgot about this.” Muffled crunching noises from inside Blossom’s neck sounded and a bony protrusion appeared near her large dragon neck and shoulders. “I made you some stirrups to rest your feet! They are made from bone and connected to my neck and shoulders. Try them out!” Anon stepped on the bone stirrup. The shoulder seat was quite comfortable. Blossom’s tentacles wrapped around his thighs and fused back into her skin on the other side. Now he couldn't leave unless Blossom undid the tentacle seatbelt. She turned her large head to look at him. “There! I won’t let you go. Feeling comfortable?” Anon couldn’t help but smile at Blossom’s huge reptilian face. “Yeah. You know, I never dreamed that such a thing as this would be possible. I loved the How to Train Your Dragon movies, they always held a special place in my heart. Thanks for doing this.” He leaned down and hugged Blossom’s neck. Blossom turned her long neck and rested her head on top of Anon’s shoulder, returning the hug in her own way. “Oh yeah, I should give you something to hang onto. Here.” More slicking organic creaking noises sounded and a bony spike protruded out of Blossom’s spine and through her skin. As it grew it took the vague shape of a pommel. “Now, hang on tight!” Blossom winked at Anon out of the corner of her huge dragon face. Then Blossom crouched, Anon quickly grabbed the pommel that Blossom had grown for him and was then tensed as Blossom’s legs powerfully jumped, huge white and light blue reptilian leathery wings bloomed to either side and flexed with a powerful thrust. That and Equestrian magic worked together to accelerate them both to an incredible speed. Anon felt his body press down into Blossom’s neck and shoulders as they accelerated. They hurtled through an opening in the trees and the silver moon made Blossom’s huge dragon body glow. Anon breathed deeply through his nose as the howling wind pressed against his face. The wings pumped again and again continuing the acceleration, Blossom seemed to be quite excited. The forest and plane of land seemed to drop below, bathed in the moonlight. Anon gasped at the sight and the wind making it a little difficult to breathe. He was scared but he trusted Blossom to keep him safe, even in this thrilling and frightening environment of wind, height, and acceleration. Suddenly, Anon’s stomach dropped giving the sensation of falling as Blossom began to level off. The tentacle seatbelt tugged into his thighs and kept him from floating away. He landed heavily in his seat as the force of gravity once again dominated against the centrifugal force trying to fling him away from Blossom’s back. Blossom spread her wings wide and glided through the night as moonlight shone through the clouds. “Hahaha! Woo-hoo! Wasn’t that awesome? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, Anon! It’s not that much different than flying as a pegasus.” Anon was catching his breath but it wasn’t too bad, it was kind of similar to a roller coaster. He was still shaking a little, perhaps it was slightly more intense than a coaster. Anon was a little scared of heights but the alien nature of the situation and the adrenaline just made him forget about it. “That was a great experience Blossom, thanks!” he yelled through the wind. It wasn’t nearly as intense as before but it was a bit loud. Blossom turned her head and smiled a huge toothy smile at Anon. Then she looked around and spotted a cloud. She beat her wings a bit and they rose higher. Anon’s stomach dropped again and the moonlight poked out from the side of an isolated and fluffy cloud lit by the full moon. Blossom landed on top and tucked her legs underneath herself, sighing contentedly as she stretched her wings and folded them to her sides. It was a nice view, a bit cooler than it was at the surface with a gentle wind blowing the clouds slowly across the sky. They both sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed the view. Ponyville could be seen far in the distance. Anon rubbed his hand over Blossom’s huge scales, petting her gently. Blossom smirked sideways at Anon. Then she sighed. She turned her long neck to look at Anon with both eyes and began to open her mouth to speak but Anon spoke first. “Thank you for showing this to me, Blossom. It’s really a magical experience. There’s no easy way to experience the sky like this on earth short of using a hot air balloon.” Blossom gazed into Anon’s eyes. “I’m glad I am able to share this with you.” A long thin tentacle of a tongue slithered out of her mouth to lick anon in his nose. Anon smiled at Blossom’s face, just out of reach. He was still strapped to Blossom with his seatbelt. “Come on, bring it in.” He opened his arms for a hug and Blossom obeyed, turning her neck further to bring her face and neck to be hugged by Anon’s inviting arms. Blossom closed her eyes for the hug and snuggled her neck next to Anon’s as Anon hugged her huge neck. They stayed there for a while, snuggling. Anon gazed at the moon and the landscape as he felt the scales on Blossom’s long neck, softly petting and feeling her. Blossom didn’t move from this position and just kept her eyes closed. She didn’t want this moment to end. Anon was a little surprised by how long Blossom kept the position but he didn’t complain, he was enjoying the intimate moment and the view. Blossom sighed and opened her eyes. “Well, I guess it’s time to return to reality.” Anon felt Blossom’s throat and neck vibrate against him as she spoke. Blossom raised her head and uncurled her neck a bit so that she was at eye level with Anon. Anon let her neck slip through his arms as the hug ended. She sighed and turned her head slightly to gaze out at the view, still able to turn her eye and see anon and then she spoke. “This is something that I have been wanting to talk to you about seriously but I’ve never really seen the need to push it until now. I guess I like to just put off things if I can, maybe it’s a bad habit. But now things are changing and we need to make some decisions.” Blossom huffed and blew out a bit of dragon smoke in mild annoyance, then she began speaking. “Right now, another body of mine in my original pegasus form is talking to Celestia. I created a kind of mental barrier between parts of the hivemind so that I don’t get too distracted by what my other body and mind portion are doing but she can still get through the barrier if it’s important enough. I wanted to talk to you.” Blossom’s slitted eye turned to look at Anon. Blossom squirmed slightly with discomfort, anon could feel her muscles tense and relax under him. “I think things are going to change soon. I didn’t really want to have to think about this kind of thing for a while but Celestia is here and pretty soon there’s going to be a lot more ponies who know about me, and you. Like I said before, I’m worried about you and I want to protect you.” Blossom looked a bit more nervous and embarrassed now. “I wanted to ask. What would you think about interfacing with my biology as a form of protection?” Blossom had turned her head so that her whole face was in view, her long neck turning 180 from the front of her body to talk to Anon. Anon thought for a moment. “I’m not exactly sure what you mean but I’m assuming that it has something to do with you doing something to my body.” Blossom looked like she wanted to say something but Anon continued. “I trust you, Blossom. I know that you’ve had every opportunity to do whatever you wanted to me but you haven’t. Honestly, I don’t see an issue with having some of you inside of me. However, I know you talked about how your brain was consumed and adopted into the hivemind. I don’t think that I’m ready for that just yet.” Blossom took a breath and breathed out slowly. “Phew, ok, that was a bit less awkward than I thought it would be. Let me just tell you what I was thinking. Trust me, I was never going to do anything to you without your complete consent. It wouldn’t be right.” She seemed relieved and a bit more excited now. “To keep it short, I wanted to hide your body away in the everfree and connect your brain via the hivemind to a clone of your body. It would be minimally invasive, just some sensory and muscle coordination connections to your brain to allow your mind to control the cloned body as if it was your original as well as a life support system connected to your belly button. Your original body would be underground in a cocoon, I would set up all the infrastructure. I don’t know if you knew this but I can actually assimilate plant life as well but it takes a really long time to do and the transformations are super slow so it doesn’t have a lot of use compared to animal life but I have a few big trees and other plants prepared. I can siphon off some nutrients they make to maintain your original body with all the nutrients it needs. I could even work on your body while it’s not being used. Make you stronger, more flexible. You would like that, right? Also, even more interesting, the body you control doesn’t have to be human at all! I can provide the proper neural infrastructure to help you adapt quickly to a new body complete with libraries of muscle memory. It’s very similar to how I’m able to adapt to new forms so quickly, by using pre-existing muscle memory from animals I assimilated or from a library that the ancestors left me. You’ll be able to be anything you want! I mean, with a bit of work I bet I could make your clone body similar to mine where you would be able to shapeshift at will. Might have to be from a library of predetermined bodies because creating your own custom body on the fly might require a bit more of an invasive connection to the hivemind. What do you think?” Anon was silent for a few moments. Blossom nervously stared at him, waiting for his response. Anon looked up to Blossom. “It’s hard to see a downside to this. I trust you. Completely. You’ll make sure my original body is in good shape, right?” “Your body will be just as you left it, or better than you left it, if that’s what you want. You’ve always wanted to be a contortionist, right? I could make that happen for you. I’ll make sure it doesn’t atrophy from lack of use, you don’t have to worry about that. Also, I can stop you from aging if you would like that.” Blossom scratched her neck with the claws on her front leg, betraying her nervousness and excitement, she spoke a bit softer. “You know that I would have done all of this and more for you whenever you wanted if you asked, right?” “I know Blossom. When I first learned about you I was kind of unsure but now I’m ready to take the next step. I sensed that you didn’t want to intrude into my individuality and I thank you for respecting me like that but I don’t need it anymore. I love you Blossom and I wouldn’t mind having you inside of me for the rest of my life.” Blossom sniffed and tears showed in her eyes, she stretched out her neck so that it was closer to her wing claw and used the claw to wipe away a tear. “Oh comere, you!” Her neck suddenly became much more flexible, it had become like a snake and she wrapped the muscular appendage around Anon, hugging him and squeezed. “Mmmmmmm!” She relaxed her squeeze with her reptilian face directly in front of Anon. “Thank you for trusting me so much. It really means a lot to me, and it will put my heart at rest knowing that you are safe from whoever might try to get to me through you. Your clone body will be expendable, all your memories and your entire mind will still be with your original body, far away from where your clone body is.” Anon smiled as Blossom uncurled her snakelike neck from his body, he had become a bit giddy. “Well, I’m actually kind of excited. Wow, so I’ll basically be for all intents and purposes a shapeshifter after this. Just- just make sure you get it absolutely right, Bloss. I only have one brain you know.” Blossom looked back at him with a serious look. “There is no way I would mess this up.” Anon nodded at her. Blossom relaxed and they both gazed at the clouds passing them by, the moon and the world below. They were silent for a few minutes. “Well, ready to go back down? Also, are you ready? I have your extra body and your cocoon ready for you. Remember, this is totally up to you and I’ll never force it on you.” “Yeah, I’m ready.” “Alright then.” Blossom stood up on the cloud. They were near a ledge. She got a running start and spread her wings for a smooth takeoff from a cloud cliff. The wind once again roared in their ears. Blossom glided gently through the air, circling around a point in the everfree. There was a gap in the trees and Blossom glided to it, diving under the canopy and into the forest. The moon filtered through the trees, it wasn’t too dark. Blossom landed, galloping to a stop and released the tentacles strapping Anon to his seat. “Well, here we are. Ready to see where your cocoon will be? It’s important that you never tell anyone where this location is.” “Yeah, let’s see it.” Anon’s heart beated with suspense. He was about to be completely in Blossomforth’s care. Blossom the dragon walked up to a tree. “This tree and most of the ones around us will provide you with nutrients. I’ll also have a few animal drones harvesting meat for some nutrients that trees can’t provide. If you ever want to exit your cocoon, you won’t need my intervention, you’ll be able to do it yourself. I’ll show you what I mean when you’re inside. So, without further ado, here it is.” A few roots at the base of the tree parted. Blossom brushed away some soil with her dragon tail and a seam erupted from the ground, splitting the earth in two. It was dark but then a greenish glow appeared from some of the roots and the chamber lit up, the chamber was directly below the tree. A pod with veins pumping on the outside and a slightly transparent surface showed the faint outline of a pony floating in a fluid. The pod was fused to many tree roots, and a tentacle was inside fused to the pony’s belly button. “That’s an example. I have a spare pegasus body in there that I used to test everything. Your pod will be a bit larger because you’re larger but it’s the same concept. It’s all temperature controlled, all of the energy needed for life support comes from the surrounding trees, oxygen and nutrients will be directly pumped into your bloodstream via the umbilical. It’s kind of like a large womb.” Blossom sighed. “I know it’s a bit icky but anything biological is inevitably that way. I may be a powerful shapeshifter but I still haven’t been able to find a way around that.” She shrugged. “Well, still down to do this?” Anon’s heart was beating faster now. He would be in there in a kind of hibernation while his brain controlled a second expendable body, keeping his brain out of reach of any nefarious actors. It was a great plan. He was still nervous about it. He took a breath and calmed down. He thought of the incredible benefits that Blossomforth’s biology could provide him and the peace of mind it would give Blossomforth as well. “Yeah, I can do this. I’m ready.” He turned away from the underground chamber and looked at Blossom. “So what will happen is when you’re ready I’ll give you a kiss with my tongue and that will put you to sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be ‘in’ your clone body with your original safe underground. Now, I have one more question before we begin. Do you mind if I surprise you with a body different from your own when you wake up? I promise that you’ll be able to adapt to it almost instantly. We’ll change it back and you’ll be back in your regular body after we’ve had our fun.” Blossom winked at Anon. Anon hesitated. “Ohh, please say yes, I’ve been waiting for this to happen, I promise that you’ll love it!” Anon looked at Blossom with suspicion but he smiled mischievously. “Fine, I like surprises, but when we’re done you’ll help me get into my regular body same as this one?” Anon asked. “Well, yeah! But, don’t you want to be more flexible and strong? You’ll look exactly like your old body so don’t worry. We can gradually give you more muscle mass so no one finds it odd if you want.” “Alright, alright. That’s fine.” Anon took a deep breath and breathed out, perhaps this would be the last time he would be in his flawed mortal body. So many aches and pains, his bad knee, crooked teeth, other joint pains. He thought about it, he was okay with that. “Don’t do too many changes to my original, maybe just a few small things but you can do whatever to my clone.” Blossom nodded. “We’ll start slow with this.” Anon shook himself, rolled his shoulders, and brought his hands through his hair, getting a feel for his current body and remembered as much as he could. “Alright, let’s go. Tongue me.” Blossomforth nodded, she walked up close, towering over him and brought her head down to Anon’s level, pressing her huge mouth against his tiny one, she slipped her tongue inside his mouth. Anon playfully licked her chemical laced tentacle tongue but then he quickly fell unconscious. Before he could fall to the ground he was caught by tentacles. Blossomforth’s dragon vagina had opened up to become a huge orifice with oily, lubricated tentacles pouring out of it. These tentacles carried anon and undressed him, peeling his clothes off. One of the tentacles pressed into his navel, taking the form of an umbilical and fused to his belly button. After Anon was naked and the tentacle had fused completely to his blood stream, the tentacles began to retract and gently dragged Anon inside of Blossomforth’s dragon womb. Blossomforth watched as her vaginal tentacles did their work and her vaginal opening stretched grotesquely to allow Anon’s naked body to easily slide inside of her. Well, this was it, Anon was curled up inside of her womb like a little baby. She was tempted to curl up and sleep with anon safe inside of her but no, she had a job to do. Blossom concentrated, she had practiced this many times before. The technique used many technologies from her library of biotech. She would make sure it was done absolutely correctly. Her body churned and worked as a membrane was prepared in her womb, forming around Anon and sealing him inside a matrix of amniotic fluid. The outer membrane became thicker and more sturdy like a cocoon. Blossom began to crawl her huge dragon body backwards into the underground chamber. Her body filled most of the space and her head was still outside with the rest of her body underground. Blossom’s vaginal orifice opened dramatically like the aperture of a camera and she began to give birth to a huge transparent cocoon with Anon floating inside, tentacles were attached to his belly button and another was fused to the base of his skull. Blossom’s dragon pelvis bone had morphed, becoming extremely wide to allow Anon’s cocoon to easily pass through. Tree roots that resembled fleshy animalistic tentacles at the end but plantlike near the base reached out and fused to the cocoon. They would provide nutrients and other resources that Anon’s body would need. Anon’s cocoon was then attached to the roof of the chamber and there he was in the fetal position fast asleep. Blossom slowly crawled out of the hole and then turned around to look at Anon down in his fleshy new home. She was satisfied with her work and then the tentacles and roots worked to seal up the chamber. Tree roots moved into place on top. Blossom scratched at the dirt with her hind dragon claws to cover the entrance with soil and the roots were back in place. There were no more signs that this tree was any different than the others. Blossom looked back at the place, satisfied. She was a noticeably thinner dragon. She had donated some of her biomass to create Anon’s cocoon. She quickly had one of her deer drones walk over. The deer dropped dead and started to deform and liquify with the skin holding it together like a bag, the legs retracted into the body. Blossom quickly unhinged her jaw like a snake and swallowed the deer drone whole. That would be enough to replenish her body. Disturbing slimy and gurgling noises emanated from her as she quickly assimilated the deer drone and replenished her body. Blossom double checked her work. Anon’s body was perfectly healthy, everything she had prepared was doing its job. Anon was safe and sound. The neural tentacles had connected to his brain and were ready. Blossom smiled, now was time for the fun part. Out of the shadows a second dragon appeared. It was very similar to Blossom’s dragon body but this one was black, and an excellent imitation of the Night Fury dragon. It walked up to Blossom and stood still. Blossom inspected her creation and giggled. It had taken quite a bit of work to gather so much meat and biomass without ruining the local ecosystem but she had done it. It was time. The Night Fury settled down and curled up, falling asleep. ---- Anon opened his eyes, Blossomforth the white dragon was in front of him. It was still nighttime but he could see everything as clearly as day. He instinctively raised his head. It was then that he realized that he had left the rest of his body below him. Alright, take it slow, Anon. Calm, take a deep breath. Don’t freak out, I told you I was going to surprise you, right? Just take it slow and feel free to experiment. I’m right here and I’ll be with you every step of the way. Blossomforth spoke directly into his brain. It was the first time he had experienced telepathy. Anon looked around, the movements and muscles felt so strange and alien but also familiar. The hivemind is working like an extension to your brain, helping you to control your new body. Take a look at yourself. Anon found that he could easily turn his head around much further than he was used to. He was a black dragon! Just like Blossomforth! “Oh my God, I’m Toothless!” Anon’s jaw dropped open as he gaped at his new body. His voice was quite a bit deeper but it still sounded like his old human voice. He was huge but agile and lithe to boot! He knew, the muscle memory already giving his brain an idea of the shape of his body. He jumped up. Then he realized that something was off. He stared at Blossom. “So? Do you like it?” She tilted her head slightly looking like she was trying not to laugh. “I-I don’t know what to say.” Anon was experiencing sensory overload, the hivemind was feeding his poor brain so much new information. A lot of the processing for controlling his body was offloaded to the hivemind but it was still a lot of new information for his mortal brain to process. Then anon suddenly remembered the strange muscle memory that let him know what he could do with his body. He swung his neck down between his legs and looked at his crotch. There was a huge trunk of a tentacle, maybe as thick as a young tree. Strong, flexible, dexterous, prehensile, muscular, sensitive, oily, lubricated but also sticky when he chose like the gecko or spider nanostructures blossom could generate to allow her tentacle feet crawl on ceilings. He touched it to a rock and to his delight it stuck and he could pick it up just by touching it! Then he dismissed the nanostructures and the rock fell to the ground. He was mesmerized as he was able to curl it into amazing shapes. It was the first time he had his own advanced alien tentacle to play with. It lengthened, compressed, curled, flexed. He had it retract all the way back inside of himself and then he had it slide out much more than before. His heart beat faster, oh no, he was getting horny. More of it slithered out, it became longer and the veins bulged out of it. Anon looked up at Blossom, his mind was frozen as he explored the endless muscular contortions he could accomplish with his tentacle, it was also very sensitive. Absent-mindedly, he used it to feel the texture of his new scales on his belly. “W-what am I supposed to do with that?” Blossomforth snickered, covering her mouth with her claw but then she laughed and laughed. She almost fell over but caught herself with a clawed dragon foreleg, wheezing. “You’re supposed to fuck me with it!” > Chapter 37: Solar Inquiry > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I edited the previous chapter with a much improved Blossomdragon reveal sequence. Please give it a read. If you only want to see the changed passage to avoid re-reading the whole chapter then please click here. “It’s an honor to meet you, Princess. I admit, I was not prepared to meet you tonight but I come in peace and with the hope of friendship.” The room was silent, and then it became awkwardly silent. Blossom was bowing her head, facing the floor. Celestia was still seated on her haunches and suppressed a sigh. “Rise, Blossomforth. Please.” Celestia wearily gazed at Blossomforth as she stood up. Blossomforth looked nervous, wide eyed, she seemed to be trying to process Celestia’s appearance, she had never seen Celestia up close. Celestia in turn was also looking at Blossomforth, Celestia couldn’t discern anything odd about her. The flow of magic that Celestia could detect seemed to be as normal as any other pony. “Greetings, Blossomforth. I will admit that I too was not very prepared for this meeting, it has happened quite suddenly. However, I am glad to hear that you seek friendship and peace. These are beautiful qualities that I have worked my whole life to instill into our country.” Celestia paused for a few seconds. “So, Twilight has told me quite a story about you. Fantastical, and I am ashamed to admit it but as much as I trust Twilight, I am having trouble believing the story she told me. Perhaps there is something that I am not understanding.” Twilight cut in. “Princess, I also did not believe Blossomforth but after what she has shown me… It does not seem to be an illusion. I do not blame you at all if you don’t believe me but I’m sure Blossom will be able to demonstrate exactly what she can do. Right, Blossom?” Blossomforth squirmed and really wished she could have kept this a secret. “W-well, I was hoping to give a good first impression. Do you think we could perhaps wait a bit? My transformations aren’t exactly, eh, pleasant to look at. Maybe if I could do it in the bathroom so you don’t have to see it, that would be for the best.” Blossom didn’t really want to show off her monstrous abilities but she was also stalling, she didn’t want to risk freaking out Celestia before Anon was safely away from the house. Other options had been racing through her mind. What if she just infected Celestia? It wouldn’t even be that difficult to do. All it would take is a mosquito bite, then her infection would eventually spread throughout the princess’s body and then she could just manipulate the princess into doing whatever she wanted. She wasn’t desperate to find a defense for magic, her alien instincts were sated and she had access to Twilight’s brain if she absolutely needed magical knowledge and skills. There was no emergency, she could afford to spread her influence slowly and insidiously without transforming into a monster. Blossom was suddenly disgusted with her thoughts. Was this the alien instincts acting up again? Of course that would make her a monster, maybe not on the outside but she would be using ponies like her puppets. After the Twilight incident, Blossom wanted to make sure that she was never put into a position where she had to become a monster ever again. She wasn’t cornered, she was only tempted to take the easy way out. Because of the incident with Twilight, Blossomforth had started to make better use of her hivemind to multitask instead of lazily doing nothing with it and now she had many drones in the forest and dormant infections inside several ponies that she could use as vectors to escape and spread so she would never be cornered again. She checked up on her other body, it was ushering Anon into the forest. Good! They were almost in the forest and if all went to plan, Anon would also be hidden and they would never have true leverage over her. She was better than this, there was no need to be a slimy manipulative monster. If she gave into temptation this time, what’s to say that she wouldn’t give in next time? If it continued then eventually there wouldn’t be any ponies left to say no to her. Is that an interesting world? No, it’s boring and disturbing. Blossom almost smiled and a feeling of relief washed over her. She didn’t have to be a monster, there was nothing that Celestia could do to her or Anon. She had been unconsciously dreading the prospect of being a manipulative shapeshifter and not having to deal with all of the deception and monstrous manipulative capabilities was a weight lifted off her conscience. Would she even have any real friends if everyone she knew had their mind chemically manipulated? Even something more benign like reading minds to gain a manipulative advantage seemed gross. Celestia noticed Blossomforth’s posture relax just the slightest bit and a slight smile cracking on her face. She was curious what that had been about, Twilight had mentioned a hivemind, was Blossomforth communicating telepathically? Twilight also mentioned that Blossomforth would be easier to work with if she didn’t perceive a threat which made Celestia just a little bit more comfortable to see Blossom relax. Celestia’s brow creased slightly as she studied Blossomforth. “You say that your transformations are unpleasant to look at. I have lived for many years, and have seen many things. My realm is peaceful and perhaps some say even stagnant. There aren’t many things that surprise me any more but you are a bit mysterious. I cannot sense changeling magic on you or Twilight. I would like to see your transformation despite how unpleasant or ugly you say it is. As a ruler and decision maker for Equestria, it is my responsibility to know about unpleasant things in my realm to make better decisions for all of Equestria and it is a responsibility that I take quite seriously. There is no need for you to hide in the bathroom. If you truly come in peace and are not a threat to my Equestria, I will be able to bear whatever you show me and I promise not to be bigoted if you are truly as altruistic as you say. Come now, show me in the open so that our bonds of trust and friendship can strengthen.” Blossom was a bit moved by Celestia’s words. Now she knew she made the right decision by not infecting Celestia. Who was she to manipulate a person so dedicated to peace and prosperity for her country? Of course, Celestia could be lying but if what Anon had to say about the society on his Earth was true, then perhaps Equestria was a paradise in comparison and Celestia deserved respect and the benefit of the doubt. For now at least, she would avoid such underhanded tactics. Blossomforth sighed. “Those are some inspiring words, Princess. Truthfully, I don’t want to show you my capabilities because I don’t want to be seen as a monster. It’s embarrassing and sometimes I wish I was normal again. My abilities, they are gory and frightening but they are also truly a gift. Maybe after my demonstration, you or your guards will secretly view me as a monster. Maybe I’m lazy, stagnant as you put it but a large part of me wanted to keep my abilities a secret forever just so that I could be normal. It’s selfish of me because I know I could do a lot of good with them but I suppose I just wanted to put it off for just a bit longer so I could be normal and not worry about these things.” Blossomforth focused her eyes and looked at Celestia’s deep violet eyes. “I just need to grow up, there is no going back now. You know now, and I need to take responsibility.” Blossom grimaced slightly and tightened her lips. “So, what is it you want to see? I can transform part or all of my body. I can make the transformation fast or slow, the faster it is the more energetic and gruesome it will look. If I keep it very slow it will have much less gore but still look weird. Slow and partial transformations aren’t too bad with the energy expenditure. I usually regain energy and mass by hunting animals. I can also do a fast transformation and I can turn into something alien. I would very much prefer to avoid doing both at once, I would seem truly monstrous. Please don’t ask me to do that.” Blossom finished and she gazed back at Celestia. Celestia was motionless and regal, she seemed to be processing what she had just heard. The room was again silent for a few seconds but she finally smiled and closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. “My little pony, if what you say is true then it seems like a mighty responsibility has been placed on your shoulders. Whatever may come of this, I am hopeful and optimistic that we can come to an understanding and perhaps your gift may lead to a better world, especially if we work together. Twilight says that you are a kind person. If that is true then I believe we’ll be able to make that happen.” Blossom smiled back at this response. “Thank you princess, those are kind words. I believe I will enjoy working with you and exploring new possibilities. Thank you for being so open minded. I hope my strange new nature isn’t too offputting. No matter what I may transform into, I promise you that my mind will stay the same.” Celestia nodded. “Hmm, I will be sure to keep that in mind. Now, I am curious. You said you hunt animals? You say that animals help to replenish your energy and mass? This is not unheard of in Equestria but rather odd for one who looks like a pony. The griffins in particular have a non sapient meat trade.” “Well yes, to be more specific I assimilate them which is different than digestion, much more efficient. If I were to try and replenish with oats every time I performed a major transformation I would need to eat hundreds of pounds with a rather disgusting and weird gastric process just to make it happen quickly. It’s just more convenient and quick to find and eat, well assimilate I should say, an animal.” Celestia considered this for a moment. “We’ll talk about the environmental consequences later, I hope you have been a good steward to the ecosystem.” Blossomforth quickly assured the princess. “Yes! I am careful to only take what I need and I do monitor the Everfree to make sure that my harvests don’t overly disturb the ecosystem. I know the importance of keeping the environment healthy and I use every part of the animal.” Celestia’s lips twitched with an amused smile. “I am happy to hear that, but now let’s see a transformation of yours. Make me a believer, I’m still admittedly skeptical. Let’s see something alien as you mentioned earlier but perhaps you could make it a slow transformation. This will benefit me because I’ll be able to better see what’s happening, you will conserve your energy, and might be able to keep this a bit more pleasant. Is this a fair assessment?” Blossomforth nodded. “Yes, that is correct.” Blossom started to shiver slightly with excitement and nervousness, she got goosebumps and some of her hair stood up. There would be no going back after this. She checked up on her other body. Ah yes, the dragon project! A pang of jealousy hit her. No, she would know all about what happened when she recombined with her other hivemind fragment. She made this barrier so that there would be less distractions. She scanned the situation briefly, Anon had agreed to have his body hidden underground, perfect! She had no more need to stall and it didn’t matter how Celestia reacted, there was nothing she could do to them. “Well, that sounds like a good option then. I’m ready to see it.” Celestia said. Blossom looked up at Celestia and then glanced at Twilight. Well, should I do it? I was thinking of transforming into a tentacle spider with my pony head perched on top. Do you think that Celestia will freak out? Twilight flinched slightly, not expecting the telepathic message. W-well Celestia isn’t particularly fond of spiders but she doesn’t kill them when she sees them because they- Ugh, that doesn’t matter. Look, Celestia likes to keep her emotions and cards close to the chest. She’s a hundred times more experienced than me and maybe that many times older! She’s kind of an enigma but I do know her a bit from being her student, I can’t say for sure but I think it will go fine, just take the transformation slow, I’ve seen you do it before, make sure you keep your head the same so she can always see your facial expression and know that you mean no harm. I think you’ll be fine. Alright, thanks. I’m still a little annoyed that you told Celestia about me but I don’t really blame you. Thanks for still being supportive at least. You didn’t need to be after what I did to you. Also… Blossomforth sent. I know this was last minute but I was wondering. I know that you know a lot about my capabilities, what do you think about hiding some of my more “world ending” abilities like the possibility of an endlessly expanding hivemind? I would rather not cause a panic. Do you think we could say that I’m limited to ten bodies at a time? …I’m not going to force you to keep your mouth shut, so I guess it’s up to you. It’s not going to be the end of the world if you tell the princess but it might cause me to take further measures. I would rather not start some kind of cold war. Just please give it some thought during my demonstration. That’s all I ask. Twilight sent a groaning noise over the telepathic link but she reluctantly nodded and the conversation ended. The telepathic conversation took place very quickly, much quicker than if it had been said aloud. “Alright, Princess, I guess I’ll get started.” Blossomforth hesitated. “I’m sorry, this is a little embarrassing for me. I suppose it’s like everyone is watching me use the restroom or something.” Blossomforth was a little flustered and her face began to turn red then she took a deep breath and calmed down. Celestia was watching intently. “It’s fine, please take your time.” “Well, I guess I’ll commentate my transformation while it happens. Maybe that will help.” Blossomforth lifted her right foreleg. “I’ll start with this leg.” Snapping and odd squishing noises started coming from her foreleg and odd slithering tentacles of flesh could be seen pushing beneath the skin. The skeletal structure was starting to smooth out and disappear, the hoof on the bottom of her leg retracted until her furry skin seemed to swallow it and it sealed up into a white furry tentacle tip. “As you can see, the hard skeletal structure of my foreleg has begun to dissolve and deform. One of the most advanced pieces of biology that my adopted ancestors developed were highly efficient, flexible and strong muscles that don’t need a skeletal system to function properly, at least at the strength that gravity pulls us on this planet. Without needing such things as bones, tendons, hooves, or other structural organs or joints, these tentacles can replace almost any limb. They are incredibly flexible and strong, beyond anything that conventional nature on this planet has produced.” Blossomforth’s foreleg still had her white fur but it lacked a hoof or any joints and was now just a furry tentacle. She wiggled and curled it around for effect, then she held it up to the side and had it stretch. The furry tentacle quickly doubled in length and became thinner to compensate. The tentacle became more pink-white as the fur also became thinner due to the increased surface area and more skin could be seen as it lengthened. She compressed it again and the fur turned pure white again. Then she set her tentacle down and the tip squished into the ground until it took a vaguely similar shape to a hoof, she retracted her hairs on the bottom and used the sticky nanostructures she usually did to grip the floor. “As you can see, my tentacle has no bones but it’s still structurally strong enough to support my weight. It is also incredibly flexible and can change shape quickly.” Blossomforth looked up at Celestia, it was difficult to detect any reaction but she thought she saw Celestia’s chest moving like she was breathing heavier. Her previously smiling face was now unreadable. Her guards, however, looked like they had seen a ghost. They gripped their spears a bit tighter but didn’t move. Celestia’s face was a mask but she swallowed before she spoke. “To be frank with you, Blossomforth, what you have just demonstrated is profoundly strange and certainly alien as you have described. I am delighted that you have been so cooperative and I wish to continue building trust. Please, continue your demonstration, my curiosity has never been greater.” Blossomforth closed her eyes and nodded. She hoped that closing her eyes would be seen as a sign that she trusted Celestia. She noticed it was a social instinct in many animals. “Thank you for being so calm, Princess. When I showed this to Anon he was a bit more emotional.” Celestia nodded calmly but her heart was beating faster than normal. Her mind too was racing but her outward appearance was stoic and regal. Blossomforth was a little nervous for the next part. “So, I showed you how I transformed one of my forelegs. For the next demonstration I’ll do the rest of my body but I’ll keep my head so that I can talk to you. It’s going to get a bit more weird, are you sure you want to see this?” Blossom looked at Celestia. Celestia simply nodded back. Blossomforth breathed in deeply and then breathed out. “Alright then, here we go.” A cacophony of clicking, snapping, cracking, slithering, squishing, squelching, slurping noises all sounded at once in the otherwise silent room. Blossom’s other legs began deforming their structural organs and their muscles morphed until they were all furry tentacles. The tentacles started to resemble insect-like joints with kneelike joints all facing outwards in four directions as they took the weight of Blossom’s now deforming torso. The slow transformation allowed Blossom to completely contain everything inside her skin so that no outwards gore was shown. Her wings and tail retracted into the side of her skin, a slit of flesh swallowed them and resealed themselves. More and more Blossom’s torso looked kind of like a featureless blob contained by her skin. Movement and slithering flesh could be seen under the skin in her torso. All of Blossom’s organs began to dissolve including her bones as all of the biomass was converted into advanced flexible muscle. Her rib cage and spine deformed until her torso was a bag of strangely wriggling and slithering flesh. Her torso looked amorphous, shifting in strange and seemingly unnatural ways but it was still contained by her pony skin. Blossom’s neck began to stand more upright, now on top of this shifting bag of shapeshifting flesh. Her skin flesh bag of a torso quieted down a bit, no longer snapping and churning as much but the slithering noises continued. The skin on her amorphous bag of flesh split apart and divided into four parts, one for each tentacle leg. Slithering biomass bolstered and lengthened the tentacles as her entire torso was transformed into more tentacle muscle. Her head was now perched on top with four huge tentacles consisting of the rest of her body mass making her very tall about three or four times taller than her previous pony body, her tentacles were standing like a quadropod. Then each of the four tentacle legs began to arch and stand on their tips until each of the four legs resembled arches, lowering her head and neck into the middle of the four legs. The four legs now resembled something like spider legs in their shape and even insect-like joints formed. Then starting at the outer tip, the four legs simultaneously started to split into two smaller tentacles making a total of eight. On the seams of the splits raw pink flesh could be seen but quickly turned white as Blossom grew more of her pony fur on the new bare skin patches. Blossomforth now had eight tentacles and she was standing double the height of her pony form. Her neck resembled a ninth tentacle albeit thicker and shorter and it shifted to hold her head towards the front of her eight legged tentacle spider form. Then suddenly all the noise of transformation stopped. Blossomforth had eight tentacles and a head. Her tentacle legs all resembled spider legs but were more fleshy and completely covered in her white pony fur. The same fur covered her neck and head. Her face and head had all of her normal pony features, even her tentacle neck closely resembled a pony neck. Blossom looked at Celestia and smiled, giddy, she didn’t realize it before but she enjoyed showing off. Her front right tentacle leg shed its leg structure and slithered through the air up to her brow and wiped it, also combing her hair to the side. She set the leg back down and it became rigid again, turning back into a load bearing leg. “Phew! Well, there you go! That’s a complete transformation!” Celestia’s eyes were wider than before and it was now clear that she was breathing harder than normal. “Wow.” Celestia whispered. Then she took a deep breath and calmed herself. “I-I am baffled that you were able to do that without a trace of detectable changeling magic. No, this- this is beyond changing capabilities. I am assuming that your abilities are not magic based, correct?” Blossom nodded. “Yes, as I alluded to before, the things that I do are all advanced biological functions from a different galaxy. The ancestors had no knowledge of magic.” Blossom then noticed how Celestia was showing more obvious signs of nervousness. Blossom tilted her head in concern. “Are you doing alright? I can transform back into a pony if you’re uncomfortable. I hope it wasn’t too much for you.” Celestia shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine, just a little flustered as I hope you understand. It is quite rare that I get to witness something new and novel as an immortal. Please continue your demonstration, do you have more to show?” Blossom noticed that Celestia was now standing. She looked over at Twilight. Twilight was chewing on her hoof nail, nervous and still seated on her haunches. She glanced back to Celestia. “Oh. I hope I don’t look too intimidating in this form.” Blossom noticed that she was now a bit taller than Celestia. Her legs were long and spindly. Blossom began to slowly scrunch her tentacles together more, making her legs shorter and thicker as well as lowering her height. She also lowered her neck so that she was a bit more at Celestia’s eye level, maybe looking up at her slightly. Blossom now resembled more of a compact and thicker spider like a tarantula rather than a more spindly one like a daddy long leg. Celestia’s eyes slid down as she watched Blossom’s towering form shrink into a more compact one. “It- it’s fine. Please, continue.” Blossom took another breath and one of her legs became flexible once again to scratch behind her neck and she averted her face slightly in shame. “I’m sorry about that.” She looked back up at the princess who was once again taller than her. Blossomforth cleared her throat a little awkwardly and continued. “As you can see, my tentacles are able to mimic a skeletal structure even though they are made mostly out of muscle.” Blossom grinned mischievously and giggled. She couldn’t help herself, plus she enjoyed the freedom her shapeshifting afforded her. She smiled widely at Celestia. “Want to see me crawl up a wall?” Celestia could no longer hide her dumbfounded expression. “Y-yes, go ahead Blossom.” Celestia could only stare in disbelief as Blossomforth scurried like an insect to a wall and she quickly climbed the vertical surface until she was clinging upside down from the ceiling. Blossom’s neck twisted to keep her head upright while the rest of her body was upside down. Her neck looked almost like a J shape, holding up her enthusiastic grin as her body hung from the ceiling. Her neck was just another tentacle, twisting and curling to compensate and have her head hang below her legs, upright. She also lifted a tentacle from the ceiling and stretched it towards Celestia, showing the pink skinned hairless tip. The guards flinched slightly, she retracted her tentacle slightly in response. “Sorry- see the tip of my tentacle? I need it to be free of hair in order for the microscopic gecko setae to work so that I can stick to the ceiling. Now watch what happens if I retract the nanofibers.” Blossomforth suddenly detached and began to drop from the ceiling. Her legs reacted, instantly shedding the spider leg structure and curled downwards, inverting the leg arch and reforming the leg structure opposite to the previous. Blossom’s flexible neck lifted her head so that it wouldn’t hit the ground and her eight legs absorbed the recoil as she landed on the floor. She lifted her front two legs straight up, shedding the spider leg structure and wiggled them with a cheer. “Ta-da!” Blossom giggled, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Celestia had a hoof lifted up slightly and her two guards had lowered their spears a little to point more towards her. Blossom slowly lowered her tentacles and they curled together sheepishly under her head. Another one of her tentacle legs second from the front slithered up to scratch behind her head while the two front ones slithered together nervously. “Uh, I’m sorry about that. I think I got a bit too enthusiastic there. But yeah, I like to hunt in this form because the tentacles are super efficient and versatile.” The guards lifted their spears slightly and Celesta lowered her hoof. “You are quite agile in that form, aren’t you Blossom?” Said Celestia. Blossom blushed a little. “Well, yes. I mean it’s alien in nature and would not be possible without the advanced muscles from another galaxy. It allows me to be much more physically flexible, agile and adaptable than I would be normally as a pony.” Celestia was flabbergasted, it showed a bit in her face despite her attempts to hide her feelings. “This is nothing short of astounding.” Celestia said. “I’m not really sure what to say. Hmm.” Celestia pondered for a moment, then she started again. “Twilight told me that you ‘infected’ her. What does that really mean? How did you do that? And why did you do that?” Blossomforth’s face fell, she was no longer excited and giddy she became a bit more ashamed. “Oh.” The tips of Blossom’s front two legs began tapping their tips together nervously. “Well princess, the truth is that while I’m still Blossomforth, I have inherited some instincts from the alien that fused to me. Under certain circumstances it can make me do things that I later regret. You see, the Ancestors generally fear and attack things that they have no experience with. They are used to knowing about everything, having existed for billions of years and when they encounter something new their instinct is to attack until they have learned enough to be able to defend themselves. They fear a fair fight, they fear the unknown. Twilight was getting close to discovering me and magic is something that doesn’t exist in the alien’s original galaxy so I panicked as an extension to their instincts. I infected Twilight so that the unknown threat of magic could be pacified. So some of my cells exist inside of Twilight now. The cells are harmless to her but, I won’t be doing it again. My instincts have been sated as I have gained enough knowledge about magic that my instincts aren’t afraid anymore. I have no need to take any drastic measures. I have apologized to Twilight for this and I hope that you’ll be able to forgive me.” Blossomforth bowed her head. Celestia’s mouth tightened at the explanation. She turned to Twilight. “Is this true, Twilight? Do you forgive Blossomforth for doing this to you?” Twilight looked nervous and shifted from hoof to hoof in her seated position. Twilight looked at Blossom again briefly. Blossom shrank further in shame, compressing her tentacles into thicker appendages. Twilight did the breathing exercise Cadence taught her and spoke to Celestia. “Princess, while what Blossom did was frankly a bit disgusting, from what I can tell she has always respected my individuality and has granted me access to a great many resources that I never knew would be possible. I showed you my new athletic abilities and I have been opened to great stores of knowledge from Blossomforth’s ancestors. I have learned quite a lot.” She turned her gaze back to Blossom. “I trust you, Blossom. The cells you have inside of me could have done any number of things to me but you gave me enough privacy to allow me to write a message to Celestia. I know you didn’t agree with my actions but it says a lot that you haven’t tried to manipulate me. I think the next step we should take is to bring you back to one of the labs at Canterlot to really see what we can do together. I’m sure that myself and some other scientists will be very excited to get their hooves on you.” Twilight turned back to the princess and frowned. “To answer your other questions, Princess, Blossomforth is able to infect others by performing an assimilation which is where her flesh turns into a more amorphous substance that can fuse to another organism’s flesh. From there she infects adjacent cells with a viral infection that quickly spreads throughout the target’s body. Once the body has been fully infected, she has the ability to shapeshift and modify the host’s body however she wants. I have faith that Blossomforth won’t use these abilities for evil, I can still control my body with my brain even when she could have done any number of things like cut off my brain from the rest of my body and left me powerless. Blossomforth does this through a hivemind architecture but this hivemind can only control so many bodies at the same time. She has trouble multitasking more than six bodies at the same time and can only infect up to 12 bodies at once. Any more than that and the hivemind can’t handle it.” You owe me, Blossom. Twilight sent an annoyed sounding message to Blossomforth. Blossomforth looked like she had shrunk another few inches when Twilight glanced at her. We’ll talk about this later but I want to be able to do my own full blown full body shapeshifting. Blossomforth looked like she was trying to hide a smile and nodded almost imperceptibly. Celestia looked a bit uncomfortable. “Hmm, intriguing. This hivemind of yours, I believe that the changelings operate something similar but yours seems to be quite a bit more robust. Tell me, are you able to split your body into two smaller ones and control both?” Blossomforth nodded. “Yes, this is something that I can do.” She paused. “Look, Princess. I wanted to apologize to you for what I did to Twilight. If she wants I will find a way to purge my cells from her body. It might not be the easiest thing but it’s something I believe I should be able to do with enough research into the ancestors’ archives.” Celestia sighed. Her mask of regal indifference seemed to have fallen off. “I will be honest with you Blossomforth. Your abilities are troubling to me. The fact that you are able to control multiple bodies and infect ponies just by touching them, leading to a situation where you can essentially control their bodies isn’t something that makes me feel comfortable. It’s frankly disturbing. I am a bit overwhelmed with your abilities. What you have shown me so far seems to make yourself seem like a nice pony, and I really want this to work out. Please do me a favor and don’t infect ponies again without their express permission. If possible, I would want one of my representatives to be present every time you do this but I am going to give you a show of faith that you won’t abuse your abilities. There is evidence you are a good pony, Blossom. If you wanted to, you could have completely puppeted Twilight’s body and then she would have been incapable of doing anything you disagreed with, correct?” Blossomforth was cringing at this point but she responded. “Yes, Princess, that is correct.” “Well, Twilight disagreed with you and she was able to contact me. This makes me want to put a little faith in you.” For the first time, Celestia’s face turned serious and slightly frightening. Her eyes started to glow, her mane seemed to whip around in the wind and her voice was laced with magical power. “However, I must warn you, Blossom. If you test me, you have not seen the lengths that I will go to protect my ponies and I will not hold back in your case. You have perhaps an unfathomable amount of potential in your control. This is a very serious situation with far reaching consequences. I will not tolerate you manipulating my little ponies. We have the power to make the world a beautiful paradise or a hell and we will both be stuck here. Don’t screw it up, for your own sake.” Blossomforth stared at Celestia. Blossom was suddenly embarrassed by her weird spider body but she stood up a bit straighter anyway and simply stated as sincerely as she could. “I won’t disappoint you, princess.” She meant it too, screwing with ponies brains wasn’t something she wanted to make a hobby out of. It was horrible and she was convinced that if she were to try and take control, nothing good would come of it. The world would be much duller if everyone agreed, she was sure of it. Celestia’s eyes ceased their glow and her mane calmed down. Her face softened and she took a deep breath. “I’m happy to hear that Blossom. There is a huge responsibility you must now bear. I want this to work out, I really do. My student is very precious to me and if she trusts you then I will entrust her with you. Do not make me regret this or the full wrath of the sun will be set upon you.” Celestia turned her head to Twilight. “So, Twilight, is this what you want? Do you trust Blossomforth with your life or would you rather be purged of the infection?” Twilight sighed. “Yes, Princess, it’s true I do trust Blossom. She has been very kind and generous to me and I do want to explore and experiment with these new possibilities that her biology will afford me. Furthermore, I have a scientific curiosity that I am dying to scratch. I believe that Blossom and I will be able to change the world for the better. Right Blossom?” Blossomforth hesitated looking down but then looked up at Twilight. “Truthfully, I liked the status quo and didn’t want anything to change. That makes me lazy and irresponsible, but It’s time I stopped and took responsibility. I’ll help you in any way I can, Twilight.” Celestia’s face softened, there was hope in her eyes. “I suppose that’s settled then. I’ll trust your judgment, Twilight. I trust that you would not be against meeting with some of my scientists in Canterlot as well as others in government, Blossom? I predict that there will be many ponies who will want to do experiments with you. There is also much I need to discuss with my advisors and others. Expect a swift response, this will be the top priority for quite a while I imagine. By tomorrow I will request your presence in canterlot and I will personally help you with teleportation. What do you think, Blossom, will you be willing to cooperate with our requests?” The weight of these new responsibilities was starting to weigh on Blossom. She hoped this wasn’t going to be a bad experience. “I’ll help any way I can. I’ll gladly cooperate with you and your government.” “Good, then I will see you tomorrow. I have a lot to get done. I’m not sure if I will even sleep tonight. Blossom. Twilight. Sleep well and may Luna’s night watch over you.” Celestia glanced at her guards, they closed ranks standing by her side. Celestia’s horn started to shine with a blinding light until suddenly, she and her three guards were gone. Then Twilight and Blossomforth were alone in Twilight’s library. > Chapter 38: Flesh and Magic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as Celestia disappeared, Blossomforth’s spidery tentacle body lost all skeletal structure and she collapsed to the floor of the library, her tentacles became floppy and structureless tendrils of flesh curling around aimlessly. She looked like she was curling and stretching her tentacles as a way to relieve angst, her head laid on the ground. “Oh my gooooosh!” Blossomforth exclaimed with a bit of frustration as she flopped on the floor, using the expression she learned from Anon, she didn’t feel like invoking Celestia’s name right now. “That was so nerve wracking!” She turned her head on the floor to look at Twilight. “How are you doing? I hope this went as well as you hoped when you decided to reveal me to Celestia.” Twilight looked a bit exhausted but she smiled wearily at her shapeshifter friend. “Well, I guess it went as well as I could have hoped. I have never seen Celestia so… Perturbed before. She’s usually unflappable, never surprised by anything. I suppose it makes sense given your, eh, situation.” “Hmph!” Bossomforth frowned and stared at the ceiling and groaned as she stretched and flexed her tentacles randomly. Her neck lifted her head up slightly and rested her chin on top of two tentacles that kind of acted like arms, propping her head up. “I’m sure you might have guessed given your access to the Matrix and how quickly your genius brain consumes new information.” Blossomforth glanced over to Twilight and lifted two tentacles between their eyes and had the tips hover near each other like she was about to pinch something. “I was this close. I could have infected Celestia, but I didn’t!” Blossom added quickly and leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling. “I was sooo tempted to generate an insect body like a mosquito and then inject some cells into Celestia but I decided not to. My alien instincts certainly wanted me to, tempting me with this power. What’s the point anyways? To make things easier for me? The easy way isn’t usually the best way. I don’t want to be a monster, Twilight! I’m fine with the slow and hard way, even if it means things not going my way immediately. It’s so disgusting and wrong to manipulate someone’s brain. It’s like you’re vandalizing a beautiful painting or messing with a clock so that it doesn’t run as well.” Blossom sighed. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Twilight, but I would never want to mess with your brain. It’s so beautiful and efficient, to mess with something so exquisite is a crime.” Twilight stood up and walked up to Blossomforth’s reclined and relaxed wriggling tentacle body, smirking as she looked down at her. “Yeah, I know I’m a genius.” She scuffed her hoof against her coat in a mock gesture of superiority. It was so ridiculous and out of character for Twilight that Blossomforth started to laugh. “Pfffft, hahaha!” Then Twilight took the opportunity to open her wings and use the feather tips to tickle the crevices between where the roots of Blossom’s tentacles merged. Then Blossomforth's eyes widened as she started laughing uncontrollably. Her tentacles writhed and curled as Twilight, amused, continued to attack the armpit-like crevices between the tentacles with both wings. “Huh, I had a theory you would be a bit ticklish there.” Twilight continued to peck at Blossom’s tentacle pits with her wing tips but eventually let up and allowed Blossom to breathe. Tears streamed down Blossomforth’s face, she gasped for breath and her head no longer reclining but rolling on the floor laughing. Her coils were twitching and curling around. She sighed, looking at Twilight. “Ah mare, thanks Twilight, I think I needed that.” “I think we both needed that after what happened today.” Twilight paused for a second. “Look, Blossom. I know that you are a good pony. I’m so proud that you resisted the temptation to infect Celestia. I know it would have been easier for you to just manipulate Celestia even if it was just small tweaks here and there to get her on your side, but I think we both know it’s better this way. I’m so excited for what we can do. We’re going to change the world, Blossom! I’m very nervous about what could happen but I’m also very happy. You’re such a gift to our world. Imagine when we end disease and aging! I can’t wait to explore all the possibilities, you have a lot of untapped potential. Now that Celestia is involved, she’s not going to want to wait. We should work together, right now! Through the night even! I know that you have the ability to eliminate the need for sleep. Also, you owe me more shapeshifting capabilities. I want you to make me a full blown shapeshifter!” “That sounds great and all, but before we begin, I have a more pressing matter to attend to.” While Twilight was giving her speech, Blossom was surreptitiously curling her tentacles in a way that they would be near Twilight’s hooves and now she had them quickly wrap around Twilight’s ankles. “It’s time for my tickle revenge!” Four tentacles wrapped around four of Twilight’s ankles and they started to lift Twilight into the air. “Whaaaaa?” Twilight was surprised as she was forced into a spread eagle position, her hind legs and forelegs at 180 degree angles from each other. Of course since Blossom had upgraded Twilight’s body to be flexible this position wasn’t uncomfortable. Blossom had lifted Twilight above her head which was laid on the floor. “Oh my, look at those delectable legpits, that plump belly!” Blossom slithered her other tentacles to each of Twilight’s four leg-pits and commenced tickles. “Pffffftt! Ehehe! Shtahp! That’s not fair!” Twilight writhed and her torso wiggled as she fruitlessly tried to clamp her legpits shut. Tears rolled down her face as she couldn’t stop laughing. Then her horn started to light up like she was about to teleport but Blossomforth was ready, she quickly lifted her head and a tentacle tongue quickly shot out of her mouth to wrap itself around Twilight’s horn. Blossom was very quick, she was curious if it would interrupt Twilight’s spell. Twilight had a confused look on her face, it seemed to have worked. “Blossom? Please!” Blossomforth relented, she retracted her tongue and her tentacles stopped tickling Twilight’s legpits. Twilight’s rib cage could be seen heaving as she was gasping to catch her breath. Blossom gently set Twilight down on the floor. Twilight was shivering slightly as she recovered. Blossom stood up, her tentacles quickly scrunching up and becoming thicker to take their spider leg forms once more, taking on their structural role. “Well, I was curious if that would work.” Twilight sighed, finally catching her breath. “Well, yes, unicorn horns are pretty sensitive, if you, eh, lick it like you did then it’s bound to interrupt a spell if you lick the horn at just the right time.” “Well, I hope I didn’t go too far, but after you tickled me I couldn’t resist trying myself.” “No, no. I had fun.” Blossom walked up to Twilight and brought her two front tentacles up to hug Twilight, using the crook of her thick flexible tentacle neck to press and hug Twilight against. “Thanks for being such a good friend, and forgiving me through all of this craziness.” Twilight wrapped her own foreleg around Blossom’s flexible neck and returned the hug. Twilight closed her eyes and enjoyed the hug. “Thanks for being so kind and caring, Blossomforth.” They kept the hug for a long time, maybe ten seconds and then finally let go. “Well, you said you wanted to try and be productive tonight? Time is of the essence. I’m sure we’re both going to be very busy soon now that Celestia and the rest of the government know about me.” Twilight nodded. “That’s correct. Why don’t we go down to my basement to make sure that Spike doesn’t walk in on us. Plus I have all my scientific equipment down there.” Twilight walked over to the door leading to the basement and held it open for Blossom. They both walked in and Twilight locked the door behind them. They started walking down the stairs. “Look.” Twilight continued. “I was a little uncomfortable lying to Celestia about your hivemind ability but I know why you wanted to do that. You didn’t want to panic Celestia. The possibility of you spreading around like a virus to infect all the ponies and then using all their bodies at the same time is certainly a creepy doomsday scenario.” “Twilight, I would neve-” They had reached the bottom of the stairs and Twilight turned around to look at Blossom in the face. “I know, Blossom. I trust you, which is why I lied to Celestia for you. Now, what I asked for in return. Can you help me to be a proper shapeshifter? I’m a bit limited by my nervous system. I can’t do anything really crazy because it’s in the way and I’ll damage it. I want to be able to do what you can do. Become a tentacle spider, crawl on ceilings, change my identity to be a different pony or even jump between multiple bodies. I know that you’ve infected others besides me and have their body designs. I’ve seen their information in the Matrix.” “Of course, Twilight. I owe you that much.” She raised a tentacle as a gesture. “However, there’s a few things you need to consider. If you want your nervous system out of the way to allow for a more free shapeshifting experience then there are two options I can think of. First we could put your body in a hidden cocoon and have a plant provide nutrients. This would allow you to instead connect your brain via the hivemind to another body. This seems like a good option, and it’s reversible, your original body will still be waiting for you in the cocoon if you want to go back to how it was before.” Twilight nodded. “I thought as much. This seems like a good option. But what about the second one? I’m not sure I know about this one.” Blossomforth hesitated. “Well, to be honest with you I’m not so sure about this one. Perhaps we can forget about it.” Twilight frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Well, now I’m curious. Tell me anyway.” Blossomforth muttered to herself. “Fine, I’ll tell you but I don’t think I’m going to make this one an option. For a few reasons. I’m going to tell you about this because I trust you but I want you to keep this a secret for now. Can you do that for now at least?” Blossom eyed Twilight. Twilight looked curious but she nodded. “I can do that.” Blossom groaned. “I hope I don’t regret this. The second option is something I suppose we can call composure or maybe compilation. It’s what happened to my pony brain. As you know, I don’t really have a brain anymore, just a mind that resides in the hivemind and will interface with my bodies’ nervous systems. My mind is the only one in the hivemind so I control everything. I’m able to do incredible things like create a hierarchy to duplicate my attention, control, and dexterity. I can duplicate my mind functions and kind of exist in multiple places at the same time, controlling multiple bodies simultaneously. However, to get to this point I had to give up my brain, not that I had a choice! The brain is a complicated thing, it’s not made to be duplicated or expanded like the hivemind is. It’s so complicated in fact that I can’t duplicate brains without the copy being inferior or corrupted. The only way to transfer your mind properly to the hivemind would destroy your brain in the process due to the invasive methods needed to properly get all of the information out. It’s also a one way trip, once your brain is composed, I think your mind will always exist as a part of a hivemind at that point.” “Wow.” Twilight looked like she was processing what she just heard. Blossomforth looked a bit uncomfortable and hesitated but pushed on to the next part. “There’s also the fact that I’m going to be territorial of the hivemind. I control the Matrix in there and I am going to guard it jealously. Biological and hivemind designs are like a currency or power in the hivemind because the hivemind can express these things in the physical world and allows you to better utilize the hivemind to expand your processing capabilities. The ancestors usually control these designs to dole out power and responsibilities to the drones or ‘seeds’. They gave the seed that I was fused to all of their best designs because they wanted to give their offspring the maximum chance of survival in an unknown world while they were in the midst of an uncertain war. I am a selfish person so if someone else were to join the hivemind, I would probably be very careful about what information I would share and hoard power for myself. I’m just being honest with you, Twilight. I hope you’re not offended.” Twilight looked pensive, considering this. “I get it, Blossomforth. Frankly if I were in your position I might do the same thing so I don’t blame you for being selfish.” She paused, thinking. “I think that the first option would be better in this case, however… Mind and dexterity duplication seems a bit tempting. Maybe it’s best not to push things too far so soon though. I guess I like the cocoon option and use the hivemind to pilot a second body, perhaps I could do something like juggle bodies for multitasking. Maybe in the future though?” Blossom used her front two tentacles to shrug. “I guess anything is possible. There’s another thing that I forgot to mention. I usually do a good job at hiding it but you should know when you do major transformations, especially ones where your body takes a more amorphous or liquid-like form, you use up a huge amount of energy and some of your cells will be consumed and then turn into something dead, you essentially loose biomass. Usually it’s like dirt or, well, poop. I usually do my best to hide the waste inside myself until I can find privacy to expel it, usually in the bathroom if I’m at home.” Twilight looked interested. “Huh, that makes a lot of sense. Frankly I was bewildered by how you were able to rebuild your body from gore splattered about after you exploded. It seemed kind of impossible to do such a thing without some kind of cost. Sorry, again, about that.” Blossom sighed, “It’s fine, and I’m sorry again for infecting you without permission. I was trying to be intimidating so I didn’t show it, but yeah, I had a big poop after that hefty piece of shapeshifting. I do have quite a bit of meat in the fridge and freezer that I can use for a quick pick me up but for anything more substantial I have quite a few animal drones in the forest that I can assimilate when I need more biomass. I used to do a lot of crazy amorphous shapeshifting before but recently I’ve been trying to be more efficient and conservative because I was noticing that I was starting to mess up the local ecosystem by eating too many animals. I know a lot of this is kind of gross but real shapeshifting isn’t like a superpower from one of Anon’s comics, it’s based on biology and it has a cost in terms of energy.” “Very interesting. Soo… If I want to be a shapeshifter with more comprehensive transformations I’ll have to get used to eating or assimilating animals as a fuel?” Twilight looked at Blossom. Blossomforth nodded. “Yup, I have found it kind of natural to eat animals after my inherited alien instincts but for you, well it might be harder to accept. Your brain is still full of your pony and herbivore instincts, nothing to help you transition to being a predator like how my mind was changed.” Twilight’s brow creased with concern. “I mean, I could try and implant some predator instincts into your brain but I don’t think you would want that to be messed with.” Twilight paused, thinking for a minute. “Yes, you’re right. I want to limit modifications to my nervous system. However, I was thinking of something. Why don’t we start a biomass farm? With your ability to create animal drones and assimilate plants, wouldn’t it be easy to just create a pool of easily assimilated cells and nutrients? If we can use conventional farming methods to create nutrient dense food and then funnel it into animals, couldn’t we have the animals excrete nutrients and cells into a centralized pool of nutrients resembling an egg or maybe even an underground flesh cave? Perhaps even better, we could conceivably create a biomass machine without involving animals at all. That way we won’t have to hunt animals and can simply take what we need from the pool.” Blossomforth looked interested, a glimmer in her eye. “Yes! I have thought of doing something like that but I always needed to keep it under the radar. I already do a kind of farming on a small scale, small enough not to be noticed. I had animals I had assimilated give birth to mindless animal drones that are programmed to eat and consume plant matter and grow quickly, supplying me with a pool of quick access biomass. The drones don’t have a personality at all so I don’t feel bad when I eat them. However, now that Celestia and the government knows about me, perhaps I can afford to set up a more large-scale and industrialized kind of setup with their blessing. That would definitely allow me to more freely shapeshift without worrying about the resources needed. Also, if we’re going to help ponies in the future we might need a lot of energy to do it. I think that this could be what we need pretty soon.” Blossom sensed that Twilight was feeling a bit squeamish the more she thought about it. Blossom gazed at her in pity, she remembered what it was like to be a herbivore, the thought of eating raw meat was just disgusting. “You won’t have to eat the meat, assimilation means you won’t have to taste the meat but the process itself kind of makes you seem monstrous. I know that shapeshifting can seem frightening and disgusting but it’s unavoidable if you want the freedom it gives.” Twilight looked up at Blossomforth and then she smirked as if it was a challenge. “I’m not going to let a little squeamishness get in the way of learning about the secrets of perfected biology. Ohhh! I’m so excited! Also, since you’re teaching me to shapeshift, I’m going to have to teach you how to properly wield magic. Oh dear Celestia, imagine, a tentacle creature that can teleport also. Ha!” Then Twilight thought about it for a moment. She imagined how Blossom could use magic to teleport pieces of her own flesh into other ponies and infect them inside out. The merger of magic and advanced biology could create a monster that was truly eldritch. Her smile fell slightly but she quickly recovered. If Blossom was able to master magic too then there was truly nothing that could stop her. Twilight shivered slightly, Blossom wasn’t the type to think about these things, Blossom just wanted to live a peaceful and lazy life. What could she become if she had motivation to conquer? Blossom looked distracted so she didn’t notice Twilight’s nervousness. “Huh, teleportation could be super convenient.” Blossom smiled just thinking about it. “I know it’s a difficult thing for unicorns to learn but I specialize in utilizing neural information which will speed this up a lot.” Blossom looked at Twilight with a bit of embarrassment. “It will involve studying your muscle memory and other skills inside your brain to learn quickly. I hope you don’t mind, this kind of thing is not too invasive, it’s read only and won’t alter your brain at all. Might need a bit of coaching from you, though. More complex skills can be difficult to extract.” “That’s- That’s fine, Blossom.” Twilight thought about the athleticism and muscle memories that Blossom had copied into her own body and how much she enjoyed curling and flexing her body in new ways. Being able to move her body easily was so freeing. She imagined that Blossom learning magic would be similar to that. However, the amount of power that Blossom could wield after this was still frightening. Blossom curled a warm and furry tentacle around Twilight’s shoulder, Twilight looked up into Blossomforth’s eyes. “Are you doing ok, Twilight? I don’t have to learn magic right away if you’re uncomfortable. I’m sorry for mentioning invading your brain and mind. Perhaps I shouldn’t be talking about such things so casually. I- I’m sorry.” Twilight gazed back into Blossom’s blue eyes. Blossom had misinterpreted her body language. Twilight sighed at Blossom’s misunderstanding. “It’s fine, Blossom. I’m not worried about that. I was just thinking about the kinds of things that could be accomplished when we combine magic and your new biotech. It’s a lot to think about but I’m confident that you and I will be responsible and won’t abuse our powers. We just need to be careful.” Blossom rubbed her chin with her other tentacle leg. “Yeah, there’s so much to do.” Twilight noticed that Blossom didn’t seem to realize all of the potential things magic could be used for. “Well, do you want to get started? If you want to take the cocoon option then we’re going to need to set up a spot for your body. Did you want to use this tree? Seems like it could be convenient but I would have to infect it. If you wanted more security we could probably use some obscure patch of land somewhere in the Everfree. What do you think?” Twilight grew a little excited after changing the subject. “Yeah, I think using this tree would work! It’s my favorite tree after all.” “Hmm…” Blossomforth looked around at the wooden walls of the basement. “I think it’s going to be for the best if we keep the fact that your body is located under here a secret. I can begin the tree’s assimilation but it’s going to take a while to finish. In the short term maybe we can put your cocoon in a closet perhaps? I’ll need to use some biomass from drones to build your cocoon and feed your body energy while we wait for the tree to be assimilated. I’ll start walking them over from the Everfree. In the long term, I should be able to hollow out a chamber below using the roots and extra energy from the tree’s photosynthesis will be enough to keep your original body in good shape. Also, don’t worry about atrophy or other things like that, the cocoon will keep your body in tip top shape and even halt the aging process.” Blossom looked back to Twilight. “So, what do you think? Do you like the plan? Is this what you want?” Twilight gulped. “Well, it’s definitely going to take some getting used to eating animals but I’m extremely excited. Thank you so much for being so accommodating, Blossom.” Blossom winked back to Twilight. “What are friends for?” Blossom looked up at the ceiling. “The two deer drones are on their way. Should be here soon.” I can start the tree’s assimilation now. She looked at Twilight, Twilight nodded in approval. Blossom walked over to the wall and lifted two tentacles, pressing them against the tree’s wall of roots. Her tentacles began to change texture on the end becoming more amorphous and fused to the roots forming a continuous fusion between animal and plant, her veins on the end seemed to turn green and brown as they fused. Then it was over, her tentacles detached from the root. “Alright, there we go, the infection has started. It will take a while to infect the whole tree, maybe a day or more. The assimilation is much slower in plant life than it is in animals but it spreads steadily and exponentially as the infection spreads. Blossom looked back at Twilight. “So, I was thinking. This might be a good opportunity for me to learn some magic. Do you mind if I look at your memories and skills in your brain regarding magic? I was hoping to try and teleport the deer from the outside directly into the basement. Is that kind of thing possible?” “Hmm.” Twilight frowned and her eyes stared into space, thinking. “Well, if you know exactly where the deer is located then it should be possible. I noticed while studying your matrix archives that your hivemind allows for spatial triangulation of your drones and assimilated cells. If you know exactly where your target is in relation to yourself then teleporting the target should be possible. As for my memories and skills, go ahead, just be careful. I only have one brain you know! I will be interested in what you can glean with that, if it doesn’t work then I can try and coach you.” “I’m always careful with that.” Blossomforth began to read Twilight’s brain, she searched for Twilight’s skills regarding magic and teleportation. Oh boy was it complicated! There were so many mathematical and instinctual calculations to be done. Blossom was a bit bewildered by it all but she attempted to copy the skill into her hivemind. She had copied many complicated skills before and was able to quickly use them to quickly adapt to new bodies but this was on a whole new level. She was a bit doubtful if it would actually work but being able to delve into Twilight’s memories really helped to quickly understand it. Blossom’s brow furrowed as her hivemind struggled to process all the new information. She touched a tentacle to her temple as a gesture of concentration. “Wow, that’s seriously impressive, Twilight. I had no idea that this kind of thing was so complicated. It’s no wonder that many unicorns can’t teleport at all. This is so complex!” Twilight smiled. “Well, like your contortion skills,” Twilight smirked and quickly kicked her leg backwards like a ballerina and used the momentum along with help from the muscles on her back and shoulders swung her whole butt, torso and legs balanced above her head again in a hoofstand. She sat on her head like she demonstrated to Celestia, her butt squishing into her head. “I practiced magic for years to learn to teleport, you also practiced for years to do this kind of pose but you simply gave me the skill without any effort on my part!” Twilight went further and carefully lowered her chest to the floor with her forelegs performing a reverse pushup motion in an impressive display of strength, her entire body weight balanced on her forelegs. Then her hind legs bent and her hooves set down to either side of her face. (Imagine Twilight in this pose) “This is a pose and skill that I frankly have no right to be doing!” Twilight exclaimed as she sat with her chest on the floor, her butt squishing against her shoulders and her head between her legs. Twilight was giddy with excitement at the control, strength, and flexibility she possessed over her body. She didn’t notice it but her excitement made her penis begin emerging from its sheath, and was starting to stick out backwards, erect. It didn’t help that this curled pose was squeezing her prostate and prominently displaying her privates. “If I can learn to do this in such a short time when it took you years to gain this level of flexibility then perhaps with the power of mind reading you can learn to teleport in a short period of time as well.” Blossom snickered at Twilight’s forming boner. Twilight seemed to be oblivious to what was occurring, not having much experience with a penis but was a bit flushed at how good the pose felt. “Uh, do you need help with that?” Blossom pointed a tentacle at Twilight’s penis “Wait, with what?” “Well, I can show you. Do you mind if I touch it?” Twilight was a bit confused but said “sure.” Blossom slithered out her tentacle and gently touched, tracing the underside of Twilight’s penis that was sticking upwards and backwards in her contortionist pose. Twilight instantly gasped, her anus pulsated and veins popped on her penis. Her balls seemed to retract slightly. “With that.” Blossom said. “I have experience with this, doing these contortionist poses can sometimes activate your sex drive. I’ve noticed it especially with the prostate which tends to get squeezed and stimulated during extreme backbend poses. I can help you relieve the pressure by milking you if you want.” She paused and showed Twilight a tentacle which had started retracting its fur so it was smooth, pink and oily. “It would involve prostate stimulations via the anus.” Twilight gasped again, realizing why she felt so flushed. “Yes, please!” Blossomforth didn’t hesitate, she used two tentacles. The first one became like a fleshy tube or worm and engulfed Twilight’s penis and the second one which was now bare of fur and lubricated quickly slid into Twilight’s anus. With extreme precision and efficiency Blossom stimulated Twilight’s prostate and undulated her tubelike tentacle. Twilight moaned as her penis was efficiently milked. It was over so quickly and Blossomforth swallowed all her cum. Twilight immediately orgasmed, her pelvic floor pulsed, causing her penis to twitch and her anus to undulate. Then her penis began deflating, becoming flaccid as it slid back inside its sheath. Twilight was so overwhelmed with the torrent of pleasure and relief. “T-thanks Blossom.” “Oh, it’s nothing.” Blossom’s tentacles shifted back into spider legs and she continued her conversation as if nothing odd had happened. “But you do have a point. I’ll see if I can do it myself using some of the information I was able to copy from your brain. They should be here…” Blossom looked up at the ceiling. “Yup! I can sense them outside.” Blossom began to sprout a white unicorn horn from her skull, cracking noises could be heard as her skull changed shape and blood dripped from the piercing but was quickly absorbed. Blossom had become a unicorn tentacle spider. Twilight slowly unwinded herself from her contortionist pose, pushing her chest up with her amazing foreleg strength and balance, flexing her abs, and lifting her hind legs so they were straight up. Her ass hovered above her head once again in a hoofstand. She breathed in and out deeply, chest expanding and contracting as she held the pose with incredible control and kicked one of her hind legs back down, landing on the floor with one hind hoof and then the other. She had inherited incredible grace and control from Blossomforth’s experience as an athlete and contortionist. She shivered slightly, recovering from the milking and the pleasure of having such strength and control over her body. Blossom smiled as she watched Twilight perform the amazing poses. “You know, I trained for many years to do that but now look at me! I’m a tentacle spider, a shapeshifter. It kind of seemed like all the effort I put into that went to waste because I can now become something much more flexible and strong but it seems that my coordination and muscle memory can now be enjoyed by others. I’m glad I can share it with you, Twilight.” Twilight sighed. “It’s truly amazing, Blossom. I get to feel so many new things with your muscle structure and muscle memories. I feel like a completely different pony. I truly hadn’t realized what I was missing, ignoring physical fitness for study instead. However, since you gave me such a special skill that you spent years developing, why don’t we focus on giving you something special that I spent years developing. Since you’re going to practice teleportation on a drone, it’s fine but please don’t try this on another pony until you have mastered it, it can cause serious injury or death. Remember the algorithm, you need to vectorize the magical force to correctly account for distance and direction. Use my memories to guide you. If you need help, do you think you can connect me to the neurology that is connected to your horn? I might be able to guide you and check your work on the fly, giving some nudges to help.” “Sure, just let me try myself once, then I’ll get you connected to the brain that’s controlling this horn and I’ll try again with your nudges guiding me.” Twilight nodded and Blossom closed her eyes with concentration, allowing Twilight’s memories and instincts to guide her. She focused on the deer, just outside the tree house. Her horn started to glow blue. Twilight watched, impressed at how seamlessly the skills had been transferred, until. Ah, there it was. Blossom must have incorrectly calculated one of the vectors because her horn quickly fizzled out. Blossom’s eyes stared cross eyed up at her horn and her tongue slithered out of her mouth to lick her horn. “Whaow!” Her tongue retracted back into her mouth and she was able to speak clearly again. “I didn’t realize how hot the horn got while doing a spell. I guess I’m ready for you to guide me a bit. It seems there’s more to this than instinct, real mathematics needs to be done to do it properly. Want to help me this time? I think I can learn eventually but I will need your help.” Twilight nodded. “Well, your horn won’t get as hot when you are able to properly balance the vectors, if they become unbalanced and you are unable to do the proper calculations quickly enough the spell will become less efficient and make your horn heat up until the spell overheats your horn. As we unicorns get better at it we’re able to do more complicated spells with less energy. Try again but this time connect me to the brain you’re using and I’ll try and correct your calculations rapid fire as you make mistakes, I’ll try and nudge you in the right direction.” “Wow.” Said Blossomforth. “With flexibility and contortion, they become like second nature eventually, not something you have to think too much about to accomplish but it seems like you’re always doing conscious calculations when doing a complicated spell. Maybe one day we could try to automate the calculations into a custom neural organ. Seems like it might be a bit too complicated for me but it might be right up your alley, Twilight.” “Yes!” Twilight exclaimed. “That’s what I was thinking about too! This is definitely a project I want to pursue when I learn more about creating custom neural organs with the hivemind. But for now, connect me up and I’ll help you to do your first teleport.” Blossom nodded, concentrated and connected Twilight’s brain to her horn. “Alright, can you feel my horn?” Twilight concentrated, Blossom’s horn lit up blue and using telekinesis from Blossomforth’s horn, she lifted a book from the shelf, flipped through the pages and slid it back into the shelf. “Woah, neat! I can use your horn! Alright, try doing the teleport again and I’ll guide you.” Blossom nodded and closed her eyes, the horn on her head began to glow again and she concentrated on the deer drone outside. She knew the deer’s exact location. Trying to juggle all of these calculations was hard and she started to slip but then Twilight came in and smoothed them out, it suddenly became easy, and she realized what she was doing wrong. Hopefully it would be a little easier next time. POP! There it was, the deer was teleported inside! Blossom looked wide eyed at the drone standing before them. “Awesome! Wow, that was cool! Thanks for the help Twi!” Twilight smiled and nodded. “Glad to help! Now try again on the second drone. I’ll see if I can back off a bit. Did you learn anything from my corrections?” “Yes! Let me try again!” Blossom concentrated, realizing a bit more of what she needed to do. Her horn glowed, almost there! Whoops! Twilight rushed in at the last minute to nudge Blossom but Blossom was almost able to do it by herself. Then, POP! The second drone appeared in front of them. “Ahh, almost! Thanks for the assist. It’s amazing how easy it is when you have someone to guide your neural patterns. Imagine how this will revolutionize learning? I bet unicorns could learn much easier with a teacher guiding them from within their brain.” “Great job, Blossom! You’re learning super quickly. It’s so impressive how quickly we are able to teach each other new things using the hivemind to transmit our memories and feelings to each other.” “Well,” said Blossom. "I’m going to have to eat these two drones in order to get your cocoon ready. Hmm, let me think of the best way to do this…” Blossom scowled slightly. “Look, this is going to be a bit disgusting to see me amorphously assimilate these animals. Maybe it’s best if I swallow them whole and do the assimilating while they are already inside me. I think the most efficient form for this without showing a lot of gore would be a snakelike form. Are you comfortable with snakes? Anon mentioned something.” Twilight looked a little bit uncomfortable. “Well, I’m usually afraid of snakes but I suppose it’s because they are animals. If it’s you then perhaps I won’t be so afraid. Go ahead, Blossom.” Blossom nodded and initiated a transformation. Blossom’s tentacles began to fuse together, fur retracting where they fused. Eight tentacles became four, then two, then one. It looked like her neck had simply extended into a snakelike tentacle. Her entire body was a furry tentacle neck and her head was held upright just like a snake raising its head. The fur on her belly retracted in favor of white scales that grew in place to help her slither. Fur still covered the rest of her and she looked for all intents and purposes like a giant snake with a pony head. A long forked tongue flickered out of her mouth. She looked at Twilight. “Well, I’m going to swallow and process this drone. You don’t have to look if you don’t want to. Like I said, sometimes there’s no way around these icky biological things if you want to get things done as a shapeshifter.” Twilight only nodded. She was curious so she watched with morbid curiosity. Blossom slithered up to the drone. The drone suddenly dropped dead, falling over. Blossom’s lower jaw began to widen dramatically, yawning wider than any pony could do, the flesh on her cheeks split and stretched apart. Her forked snake tongue stretched out of her mouth as she yawned. Her bottom jaw split apart as her jaw split in two and became two independent flexible articulating mandibles like a snake, widening her mouth further. Her neck also widened, ready to swallow something huge. Then suddenly many fleshy pink tentacles poured out of her gaping maw. They wrapped around the front cloven hooves of the deer drone and began the process of dragging it into her maw. Another tentacle wrapped around the deer’s head and guided it into her maw. The tentacles began fusing to the deer’s flesh as they dragged the body down Blossom’s snake throat. With the help of the tentacles, Blossom was able to quickly swallow the deer whole. There was a huge bulge in her snake body but the deer was quickly assimilated making a cacophony of noises. Blossom’s snake body then slowly transformed, distributing the deer’s mass to become much longer and thicker. Blossom’s snake body had become huge, she looked like she could easily wrap herself multiple times around Twilight and squeeze her. However her pony head stayed the same size. Blossom’s mandibles fused together as she folded her mouth shut and her cheeks healed back into looking like a normal pony again. (You can imagine something like this but a white snake with less mutations and more fur.) Blossom wiggled her jaw experimentally then opened it to talk. “Well, there’s one!” Blossom looked at the other deer drone. “Hmm, I have an idea. Let me try something.” Blossom still had her horn. She wanted to try a teleport but this time it was short range so perhaps she could do it by herself. The calculations would be much easier. Her horn glowed. Blossomforth concentrated, her snake tongue stuck out of her mouth while she focused. Her horn glowed brighter, she fought to control the chaotic vectors, barely holding on until. POP! The deer disappeared and a huge bulge suddenly appeared in her snake stomach. The fur near the bulge turned pink as the white fur thinned and her flesh dramatically stretched. “Huufff!” Blossomforth coughed like she had been punched in the gut but then she turned her neck to look at her snake belly and grinned. She turned back to Twilight. “I did it! Didn’t have to grotesquely transform my face to swallow that one!” Twilight looked surprised. “Wow.” She processed what had just happened. Blossomforth had teleported the drone directly into her stomach. She watched as Blossom’s stomach churned, slithering tentacles bulging against the skin as the deer was processed and assimilated, the bulge flattened. Blossom grew even longer and bigger, she was huge and full of muscle. Twilight imagined that any pony could be easily wrapped and crushed by her coils. “Oh my gosh! This is going to make growing and shrinking so much more convenient! Imagine when I learn to do long range teleports! I’ll be able to take on larger and smaller forms with ease!” Blossom grinned at Twilight, her teeth had little fangs. Twilight could only watch in awe as Blossom became more powerful. “That’s- that’s great, Blossom. Congrats on your first solo teleport.” Twilight was a bit uncomfortable with the casual consumption of two whole deer. It was also a little bewildering how quickly Blossom learned to teleport by herself. “Well, are you ready, Twilight? There’s different ways we can do this.” Blossom noticed that Twilight looked slightly uncomfortable. “I mean, I can tell you how I’ll do it or maybe you’d be more comfortable not knowing? I could put you to sleep while I do it if you want.” Twilight sighed. “Let me guess. You’re going to swallow me and form a cocoon around my body. Then you’ll give birth to a clone of me that I will be able to pilot and shapeshift via the hivemind without worrying about damaging my brain or nervous system?” Blossom winced. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Twilight considered it for a little. “Nah, keep me awake for it. My scientific mind is intrigued. It won’t hurt will it?” Now Blossomforth looked a little uncomfortable. “No, of course not. You’ll be quite comfortable the whole time.” Blossom hesitated. “Look, you don’t have to go through my mouth like that deer. I should be able to split open my womb and seal you inside that way for the procedure. It might feel a bit weird. Are you sure you want to do this awake?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, and if it’s really too much I’ll telepathically tell you to put me to sleep.” “Want me to tell you at least what’s going to happen?” Blossom looked a bit concerned. Twilight smirked up at Blossom. Blossom’s snake body was huge and she had to look up slightly. “Nah, I trust you. But why don’t you comment on it as it happens?” Blossom just raised her eyebrows and frowned in mild surprise. “Fine, then I suppose I’ll begin. Just confirming, you’re ready?” Twilight nodded. “Okay then. Well, first thing’s first.” Blossom swung her snake tail so that it was in front of Twilight. A cloaca opened up and a tentacle slithered out from the orifice, snaking towards twilight. The tentacle hesitated in mid air in front of Twilight’s belly. “This is an umbilical tentacle, Twilight. It will fuse to your belly button and feed you oxygen via your blood and extracts carbon dioxide so that you don’t need to breathe.” Twilight nodded. The tentacle pushed against Twilight’s belly button. It tickled quite a bit but then felt a bit odd as the tentacle seemed to push deep inside her belly and began to fuse to her blood stream. A few moments passed, the tentacle was fused to Twilight’s belly button. “There! You shouldn’t need to breathe now. You can try to hold your breath if you want.” Twilight looked at the tentacle fused to her belly button. “Very interesting. I’ll try holding my breath.” Twilight did just that and held it for a while, three minutes. “Wow, that really worked. I don’t have a need to breathe at all.” Blossom nodded. “Yup! Now the next part.” Blossom’s belly split open near the cloaca. A huge portion of her body split in half and a fleshy red opening was revealed within. “This is where you’ll be while I form the cocoon around your body. You can crawl in there yourself or I can have my tentacles carry you in there, your choice.” Twilight looked at the large fleshy womb open for her to enter. Her lips pursed together, there really was no way to get around these odd biological processes. “I can get in myself. Welp, here goes.” Twilight laid down inside of the open womb. The flesh was kind of soft and yielding. It was also warm, wet and squishy. Once she had fully laid down, the two halves of the womb closed up around her, sealing her inside. Feeling alright, Twilight? You don’t need to breathe, right? Does it feel weird? Blossomforth sent telepathically. Yeah, I’m doing fine. Actually seems kind of warm and cozy, wouldn’t mind sleeping like this. Blossom chucked to herself at that comment. Want me to give you a little squeeze? It’s kind of like a fleshy hug I guess. Blossom brought her head closer to the lump in her belly where Twilight was and laid her head down on top. Sure! Blossom flexed her abdominal muscles. Well, for a snake almost all her muscles were abdominal and squeezed Twilight with a squishy hug. How did that feel? It kind of felt like a huge hand was squeezing my whole body, it felt nice like a full body massage. Well, for the next part, besides the tentacle that’s already connected to your belly button and providing you with life support, another one is going to connect to the base of your skull and act like a big data link to the hivemind so that your senses are fully immersed into your new body. There’s also a lot going on in the hivemind to help your brain adapt to and control exotic bodies. Then the matrix of amniotic fluid will form around you and you’ll start floating as I build the rest of the cocoon around you. Ready? Twilight tried to nod but then realized she couldn’t. Yeah, go ahead, I’m ready. Amniotic fluid started to excrete into the womb and Twilight felt another tentacle fuse into the base of her skull. Soon she was floating and she stretched slightly. Then the hard walls of the cocoon formed around her and the fluid. I’m going to put your cocoon inside the closet until the tree is properly assimilated and we can more easily create a more permanent chamber under the basement. Twilight felt Blossom’s huge body move, slithering across the floor, then she saw a bit of light filter through the cocoon and fluid as her cocoon was birthed out, then darkness again when the closet was closed. Alright that’s it! I have your cocoon hanging from the ceiling of the closet as well as a nutrient sac next to you that should be enough to give all the nutrients your body will need for a month. More than enough time to set up the chamber and tree. I’m forming your clone now. It’s almost done growing. Blossom, can you insert me into the clone as soon as it’s done growing? I want to know what it’s like to be birthed. I have always wondered. Blossom was surprised by this, she expected to insert twilight after her clone was fully birthed. Sure thing, Twilight. Also, I’m going to give you access to any other body that I have infected and is not being used by me or someone else. You should be able to take over a variety of drone bodies if you wish. Alright, I’m going to jack you into your new body. Let me know how you feel. Twilight suddenly felt hot and wet. She was curled into a fetal position. Alright, I’m going to birth you. Ready? Ready. Twilight felt herself being squeezed and she felt like she was being forced out of a slimy, lubricated tube. Her body slid out of a tight orifice. She slowly and shakily stood up. She felt cold and wet. Twilight stretched her legs and found they were still very flexible. “Wow, this new body is pretty much identical to my old one, good job Bloss!” Then she realized that this body still had a penis. She laughed. Blossom was much smaller than she was previously, having used her gained biomass to make Twilight her cocoon and her new body. She was still transforming the lower part of her body back into its pegasus form. Now she was a pegacorn. “Good, glad you’re adapting quickly. It should be pretty seamless, I tried to make your clone, well, a clone. The amniotic fluid should evaporate pretty quickly from your coat but you can take a shower later if you want. Want to see your cocoon? Your original body is in that closet.” Blossom pointed at a closet. Twilight quickly walked over and magiced the door open. She saw the cocoon, it was slightly green and she could see the vague shape of her original body inside, it was hanging from the ceiling and parts of the cocoon slowly pulsated. “Amazing.” She said. She closed the door and something clicked in the door’s mechanism with her telekinesis. “I’m locking the door so that Spike won’t stumble on it and freak out about a changeling invasion.” “Phew!” Said Blossomforth. “That was a lot of work. This and a few other things I’ve been working on have used up most of my drones I had available.” She thought about the two dragon bodies she built. “Perhaps we should take a break on some of the more major transformations while my stock of drones recovers unless you want to go hunting for meat.” Twilight lifted her hind leg sideways and smiled as it easily swung upwards, showing off her male equipment, she turned her head to look at her sheath and testicles. “Maybe for now I can just work on turning this back into what I’m familiar with. I don’t really want others to see me with male parts. Spike almost saw me earlier, that would have been embarrassing to try and explain.” She paused and set her leg back down. “So, how do I do this? I imagine that I should be able to find the genetics and structure for my old genitalia in the matrix.” Blossom walked up to Twilight. “Yes, that’s right. You should have the ability to transform. You just need to picture the organ and will it to happen. If the organ goes in its natural place it’s easy and mostly happens on auto pilot but if you try to create a mutation where something goes somewhere it’s not supposed to then things will get complicated. Try it out, find the designs for your female parts and then activate it.” Twilight did just that and her genitalia began to transform, her penis and testicles shriveled up and turned inside out as her vulva, vagina and other internal reproductive organs rapidly reformed. “Ugh, finally! Having a penis was very interesting. Stallions don’t usually get the heat but being a female affected by the heat and then having a new sensitive penis really made me a bit too horny. I feel like I’m in a bit more control with my female parts.” “Oh, I’m sorry that I didn’t remember to turn your genitalia back earlier. To be honest though it was kind of funny to see you struggle with your sensitive parts. I’m sure you got at least some enjoyment from the pleasure it gave.” Blossomforth giggled. Twilight gave a look of disapproval but couldn’t hold it back and burst into chortles. “Pfft, ok it was kind of funny. Man I was so awkward and oblivious when others saw my erect thingie flopping around. It’s kind of embarrassing now that I think about it. Celestia saw it, you know, I’m pretty sure her guards saw it also.” “Ohh.” Blossomforth winced. Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s fine. Celestia immediately started talking about how we could resurrect the extinct alicorn race. Celestia just thinks differently than we do! By the way, do you think that such a thing is possible? With your biology crafting do you think we could do that?” Blossomforth pondered briefly. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to create more female alicorns at the very least. I think that we could definitely create a male counterpart but perhaps there might be a few holes we would have to fill with other pony genetics but it should work. I mean to be honest, we might be able to transform anypony who wants into an alicorn or at least a pegacorn. However, to really create new and unique alicorns, I might need more genetic material from Celestia, Luna, or Cadance. Don’t get me wrong, I bet I could still do it with just your genetics but it might be a bit more difficult.” “Hmm, Another topic to bring up with Celestia when we meet her.” Twilight glanced at the clock. “Wow, it’s late.” The clock read 5am. “About that need for sleep?” Twilight bounced her eyebrows. Blossomforth frowned. “I might be able to help a bit with that, I noticed that there are some recessive genetics in ponies that allow for more efficient sleep. I could help activate them but you still have a conventional brain with all its inefficiencies. Even with my enhancements you will need at least two hours of sleep to function properly. My hivemind allows me to be awake at all times if needed but sometimes I just like to shut off and relax. I do enjoy having dreams too, you know!” Twilight’s face fell. “Well, how about the enhancements?” Blossomforth looked hesitant. “It will involve changing the genetics of your nervous system a little bit, are you okay with that? It’s something that has minimal risk after analyzing the gene and it’s reversible if you don’t like it. There are some other things I could do but they are a bit more invasive.” “Fine, let’s activate the gene.” Said Twilight. Blossomforth obliged and had her hiveminded enzymes alter Twilight’s genetics all at once. “Working…” About half a minute passed. “Alright, all of your cells have the new gene. Do you feel any different?” “Nope, not yet.” Twilight meditated briefly, trying to detect some change but she couldn’t. “Nothing. Guess I’ll have to get some sleep and see if it worked or not.” She yawned. “By the way, does Anon know about all that happened tonight?” Blossomforth’s eyes widened. That’s right, she didn’t want to miss this. “Don’t worry, I have it taken care of. Let’s get you to bed in the meantime, go get your two hours. We have a big day tomorrow.” Twilight smiled and rubbed her eyes. “Sounds like a plan!” She turned to Blossom and suddenly gave her a hug, leaning on her with two forelegs. “Thank you for everything, Blossom. You’re such a good person and I’m proud to have you as a friend.” Blossom hugged her back with a foreleg, using the other leg to keep them both upright.” Twilight let go of the hug and briefly wiped away a tear from her eye. Blossomforth looked at her and spoke. “You’re a very special pony, Twilight. Thank you for being so patient with me.” They both climbed the stairs and exited the laboratory. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Twilight!” “One last thing, Blossom!” Twilight pointed at her horn. “Oh yeah!” Blossomforth’s unicorn horn quickly slid back into her skull and the hole sealed itself up. Twilight opened the door with her magic and Blossomforth waved goodbye as she trotted into the night. > Chapter 39: Rebirth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anon stared between his legs at his new appendage, watching it curl and flex.  It was pink, fleshy, flexible, girthy, a rope of powerful alien muscle.  Then he looked back up at Blossomforth.  “Are we really going to have sex again?  What is it, the third time today?” Blossom rolled her eyes and stuck her thick draconic forked tongue out.  “Can you blame me?  It’s the mating season for ponies and shapeshifting allows us endless possibilities.  Who wouldn’t be horny under those circumstances?”  Blossom’s eyes drifted down from his face to his new tentacle penis with a hungry look, slitted pupils narrowing.  She licked her lips with her long and flexible tongue and grinned mischievously. Anon suppressed a smirk at his girl- mare- well, female friend’s bottomless lust for the pleasures of the flesh.  He held up his clawed hand-, no, it was more of a leg.  He stared at it and experimentally flexed his claws.  He sighed, what would others back on Earth think if they could see him now?  They would probably call him a furry.  That was never really a kink or interest he had but now that he was in this world where intelligent life wasn’t exclusive to humans he would just have to let go of his old qualms and accept the new reality. He couldn’t deny that he wanted another round of sex, especially to really test out his new body and tentacle dick.  However, it was starting to get a bit ridiculous.  He could see that it would be so easy to keep going with his new body, perhaps forever.  Their bodies wouldn’t tire after being fed more energy and they could continue with endless pleasure limited only by their imagination.  The temptation to give in to this endless cycle of pleasure was strong.  Anon bit his lip and absentmindedly curled the tip of his tentacle dick down to trace the bottom of his sensitive shaft and groin.  He shivered and gasped at the almost orgasmic masturbation but caught himself and with great discipline stopped his masturbation with the tip of his tentacle.  His tentacle straightened out and the veins seemed to bulge at the frustration of edging as Anon controlled himself. Anon bit his dragon lip and looked up at Blossom.  He was breathing a bit heavily, Blossom was too.  “Alright, I’ll fuck you but let’s try not to get too carried away.  I’m worried that we’ll get addicted to sex and then turn into degenerates that do nothing else.  It’s so tempting with these incredibly sexy, young and powerful bodies.  I feel like nature and evolution put limits on these things but your biology just seems to cheat and break these limits and restrictions.  Back on Earth I’ve seen addicts, their lives get thrown into disarray and they become unable to do anything else.  We have great power, Blossom, and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become possessed by such an addiction.  We have so many other things to do and worry about, especially now that Celestia knows about you.  Do you think after this we can perhaps keep it to once per day?” Blossom took in a very deep breath with her nose and breathed out slowly with her mouth.  Her blue reptilian pupils rounded out from their narrow slits and now looked more pony once again.  “I think you’re right, Anon.  My alien ancestors didn’t allow seeds to have sex.  This and many other restrictions were broken in my case but I think I can see why they might have done that.  This- this could quickly become an addiction that consumes us.”  Her eyes slid back down to his penis. “B-But let’s just do it once more tonight!  I promise I won’t tempt you with more sex until tomorrow at least!”  Blossom turned around and presented her huge dragon ass in Anon's direction, spreading her legs apart in a partial split and curled her spine in her signature catlike stretch, wiggling her ass and her huge pony-like vagina winked a lubricated clit in Anon’s direction.  Anon approached and sniffed in a huge sniff of Blossom’s aroused genitals before giving Blossom’s wet clit a good lick with his tongue.  Anon grinned as the hivemind helped him to shapeshift his new tentacle.  It split into two smaller ones, less girthy but very long.  More mass was fed into both until they were both huge and girthy.  Anon mounted Blossomforth and smirked, it made sense that dragons had tentacle-like penises, navigating that thick tail was quite awkward, it was also nice to be the one with the tentacles for once.  When those unfairly dexterous, flexible and strong appendages invaded his orifices as a human, Blossom made sure they felt nice inside of him but he could never get over the creepy slithering sensation of them being inside him.  This time at least he would make sure Blossom felt the same thing.  Anon’s twin tentacle dicks plunged into both of Blossom’s rear orifices. As they had sex, Anon could sense Blossom’s desire to be her old effeminate self, submissive without the alien desire to dominate and control.  Blossom simply relaxed and allowed Anon to take the lead and use her body for both their pleasures.  She wanted to be dominated and forget that she had become a monster.  Blossom closed her eyes and moaned soft feminine sounds as Anon thrust himself into her and held her shoulders down with a foreleg.  His tentacles bulged, filling the space inside Blossom and began to pump their spunk into her.  Blossom cried, it wasn’t tears of sadness or pain but of the complicated feelings that she couldn’t quite quantify or understand during this intense experience.  A swirl of complicated and climaxing emotions. Anon noticed the tears, he let go of her shoulder.  “Are you okay, Blossom?  Was I too hard-?” Blossom smiled a toothy draconic smile and twisted her neck so she could look behind her and make eye contact.  “No, these are tears of joy, Anon.”  Being the ever flexible and athletic contortionist she was, Blossom twisted her torso so that she could flip her shoulders 180 degrees and face anon, placing her shoulder blades on the ground.  Her rib cage seemed to bulge out of her skin at the twisted pose.  She reached up with a claw and pulled Anon’s draconic head in for a kiss.  A bit of her new dominant alien instincts showed for a moment.  Their mouths were awkwardly shaped for such a thing so instead Blossom stuck out a long thin and muscular tongue into Anon’s mouth.  This time Anon was able to follow suit, curling his own tentacle tongue around the contours of Blossom's tongue and he invaded her mouth.  Their tongues twisted together in an intimate hug and they pressed their lips together.  Anon scooped up Blossom by her shoulder blades with a clawed foreleg and brought her twisted torso closer to him and hugged her close.  Blossom responded by flexing her pelvic muscles around Anon’s dick and Anon bulged his penis in response, pumping the last of his seed into her.  Blossom gasped and they slowly released their kiss, retracting their tongues back into their mouths. Anon shivered as he slowly relaxed and retracted his tentacle penis back into his pelvis and torso.  Blossom slowly reversed the twist of her torso and her breast was once again on the ground.  They both breathed heavily, gasping.  Anon dismounted.  Blossom stood up and shivered, arching her back upwards like a cat and then back downwards into a backbend, reaching her forelegs forward.  She yawned hugely like a predator and her forked tongue seemed to do a stretch out of her mouth as well.  She stood up and looked softly at Anon smiling, tears were still leaking out of her eyes.  “Thanks for that, Anon.  You made me feel like a little pony again instead of a monster.” Anon rolled his eyes at her but grinned.  “You know you’re not a monster.  You’re more like a kindhearted goddess.” Blossom blushed and kicked at the dirt a little with her clawed foreleg.  “You know, you shouldn’t compare me to Celestia and Luna.  They might get territorial.” Anon changed the subject.  “You know, this shapeshifting tentacle you gave me is way too useful.  If you like being a “little pony” as you put it then perhaps next time you could get into your pegasus form and I could get to work on you using the old shapeshifting tentacle monster you put inside me.”  He patted his huge dragon rear with his foreleg.  “Who knows what it could shapeshift into this time?”  He winked at her. Blossom’s eyes widened at the thought of herself in pegasus form being grappled in mid air by countless tentacle penises emerging from Anon’s dragon nethers as he laid down and watched in dragon form, dominating and grabbing her pony body with his incredibly strong and dexterous tentacles.  She had been the tentacle monster during sex every time, what if she was the one being groped and grappled by superior flesh?  Her eyebrows rose and she made eye contact with Anon.  Anon’s eyes narrowed.  “Blossom!  No.  We’ll save it for another time.  We’ve had enough sex today.  We should take a break for at least a day, maybe two days!” Blossom groaned.  “You’re right, of course.”  She sighed.  “I guess I’m going to need to learn to be more responsible.  I’ve been a bit too… impulsive since I’ve gotten my abilities.  Things are getting a bit more serious now that Celestia and the rest of the government are in the picture.” “Speaking of.”  Anon interjected.  “We should check on Twilight and Celestia.  Can you help me get back into my human form?” Blossom grinned mischievously.  “Oh, I already have that covered.  My other body has been with Twilight and Celestia ever since we left the house.” Anon raised an eyebrow.  “Wow, in two places at once.  I forgot you could do that for some reason.  Yup, you’re a goddess.” Blossom sighed and rolled her eyes.  “I don’t want to let it get to my head but yeah I’m pretty awesome.  Look, about your human form.  Let’s just say you’re not getting out of here as a human unless you do it yourself.  I’m gonna teach you to shapeshift!”  Blossom raised her forelegs like arms and smiled widely with her toothy dragon smile.  “You already did it while we were having sex, changing the shape of your dick and tongue.  It’s really easy with the hivemind guiding you along.” Using the hivemind as a guide, Anon imagined how he could reform his human body and was fed all the icky and gruesome details into his mind.  His face fell at the thought.  Transforming really wasn’t like the cartoonish shapeshifters he had seen on TV. Blossom smirked a little.  “Yeah, I know that the details are unpleasant but I want you to be able to do all of this yourself without relying on me.” Anon’s face looked conflicted.  “I can see that there are many ways to get this done but they are all so…  Weird.  I’m trying to find a way that isn’t, ugh, disgusting but I guess there’s really no way around it.” Blossom shrugged.  “Yup, it’s nice being a shapeshifter until you realize how monstrous you have become.  You’re going to have to deal with it just like I did.” Anon screwed up his dragon face in concentration.  “Fine.  I’m gonna do it, just stop me if I’m doing it wrong.” Blossom simply nodded and watched.  Anon’s stomach started to gurgle, squirm and slosh almost violently.  His eyes were closed and screwed up in concentration.  The slit where his tentacle penis had previously retracted into began to transform until it resembled a vagina.  The squirming in the belly stopped and then suddenly the vagina started leaking liquid and a comparatively small human body was squeezed through the vagina covered in slime.  Anon the human woke up and shakily stood up gasping through the slimy liquid that was covering him.  Blossom walked up in dragon form and immediately licked his body with a huge, thick tongue.  She was able to quickly clean up the slime from his body and leave him relatively dry.  Anon was shivering naked.  “Great job, Anon!  Doesn’t it feel so freeing, being able to transform yourself?  I’m so happy that I have been able to share this gift with you.” “Holy shit, that was weird.  I’ve seen you do it but goddam!  I think I switched over to this body too early.  I felt what it was like to be born!” Anon was still shivering and he looked up at Blossom.  She had two tentacles sprouted out of her body near her shoulders that she used to hold his clothes without tearing them or dirtying them like her claws would have.  “Here.”  She gestured for him to reach out his arms and she slid a t-shirt over him.  Then she gave Anon his underwear, socks, pants, and shoes.  Soon he was fully clothed again.  “Now it’s my turn.” Blossom similarly gave birth to her pony body but she was able to utilize both bodies at the same time, licking her pony body with her dragon body.  Pegasus Blossom shook herself like a dog and looked almost good as new, perhaps still a little wet.  Dragon Blossom continued to lick her with a very efficient tentacle tongue until her fur looked somewhat presentable.  “Well, we’re back to normal now.  I’m going to have our dragon bodies sleep and replenish underground similar to what I did to your original body.  You should be able to switch between any bodies in my hivemind network at will, you can even bring one of our dragon bodies out of hibernation if you want to be a dragon again.  You can try to control two bodies at once for multitasking but I think you might find it difficult to do.  But enough about that, how are you feeling?” Anon looked at his hands and did a little hamstring stretch, seeing how far forward he could lean while keeping his torso and knees straight.  “Huh, well I haven’t magically gotten more flexible and athletic.”  He held up his hands.  “I also noticed that a scar I had on the back of my finger is gone.  I think I can see just slightly better than I could in my original body.” Blossom walked up to him.  “So, you cloned your body yourself and gave birth to it.  To make that happen it generally requires two things.  The genetic information and structural information like how your body grew, your age, how your muscles are shaped, things that genetics don’t determine.  The cloning process does a good job of capturing most important features but it can leave out less important things like the fact that you had a scar on your finger and your deteriorating eyesight.  We can get the scar back on your hand if you want, we have your original after all.” Anon looked at his hand and then to her.  Nah, this is fine.  I do look pretty much identical to my old self though, right?” Blossom looked up at him.  “Yes, you look identical to your original body.” “Good, well, I’m curious about one other thing.  You said you could make my body more athletic and flexible.  This body seems to be the same as my old one.  Think you could help me upgrade this one?”  Anon bounced his eyebrows. “W-well.”  Blossom sighed.  “The truth is that I’ve been procrastinating which is incredibly embarrassing given the fact that I’m able to literally copy my consciousness and do as many things as I want at the same time!  Ugh.  I suppose that even if I split my consciousness, I’m still lazy and reluctant to work on things.”  Blossom raised a wing to her forehead and hid her eyes shamefully but then she looked back up at Anon.  “It’s going to be different now.  I’m going to try and more effectively utilize my multitasking abilities and stop being so lazy.  When I helped to upgrade Twilight’s body it was fairly easy because I could essentially copy my muscle structure and memory into Twilight’s body, making her as flexible and athletic as I am.  You’re not a pony and you’re the only human that I have structure and muscle memories to get information from.  If there were a library of humans that I could get muscle structure and memory information from then it would probably be a lot easier for me to upgrade your human body.  I didn’t really think that I would be getting you into shapeshifting so soon, you seemed a bit reluctant and I wanted to take it slow so I haven’t been as prepared as I wanted to be.  Just bare with me for now.  I promise I’ll get some things ready for you that will blow you away.  I’m not going to put things off like I usually do.  If I’m a ‘goddess’ as you say, able to multitask like one, then I should act like it, take more responsibility.” Anon smiled down at her, took a knee and hugged Blossom’s neck.  Blossom smiled, closed her eyes and nuzzled her muzzle into anon’s neck, she returned the hug with her wings.  “I’m proud of you, Blossom.  It might have taken a swift kick in the flank by Celestia but you’re taking steps to improve yourself and be more responsible and productive.  I’m happy for you!” Blossom snorted kind of like a horse and rolled her eyes.  “Pfffft!  Okay, okay!  You’re making me feel embarrassed here.”  They let go of the hug.  “There’s one more thing I need to ask of you.  Do you mind if I rifle through some of your skills and muscle memories in your brain?  I kind of need them if I want to get started on designing you some improvements for your human body.  It will take a bit of time but probably not too long with my hivemind helping me to multitask.” “Yeah, yeah that’s fine.”  Anon stood up. Blossom smiled slightly mischievously.  “Well, now that you’ve given me permission…  Want to swap bodies just for a little bit?  You’ll get to see what it’s like to be a super sexy and flexible contortionist athlete like muah,”  Blossom gestured a hoof at her chest with a playful air of superiority.  ”With all of my extensive muscle memories guiding you, and I can see what it’s like to be you, utilizing your muscle memories.”  Blossom raised her eyebrows in a playful way. “So I’m going to be a mare, huh?”  He remembered how he shifted his dragon privates into female so he could cleanly give birth to himself.  He grimaced and shivered slightly.  Then he remembered how sexy and flexible Blossomforth could be.  She could move and curl her body so freely.  It kind of made him jealous if he were perfectly honest.  He didn’t have to be jealous.  Now he could simply turn into her.  He concentrated to suppress a boner.  “Alright, let’s do it before I think about how embarrassing this is going to be.”  Blossomforth’s smile widened. Suddenly Anon found himself looking up at the body he resided in just a second previously.  He saw Blossom flexing his hands.  “Wow, your hands can do so many things!  So many muscle memories!  I’m starting to see how humans were able to create such advanced technology without magic.”  It was a bit odd to hear his voice talk without him being the speaker.  Blossom started experimenting with his body but Anon was too distracted with his own new body.  The muscle memories hit him like a truck.  There were so many things he could do.  He lifted his hind leg backwards, curled his spine and torso into a backbend so deep that his pony shoulders and pelvis touched and threw his head backwards.  The back of his head rested on top of his pony anus and vagina, he could see up his hind leg.  The leg was pointed straight up, he rubbed his furry face into the side of the leg and got an intimate whiff of Blossom’s musk from her feminine nether region.  (Pose can be seen in Derpibooru for reference >>2200135, you can imagine the head and neck stretching slightly further back as well as a slightly deeper backbend.) The symphony of muscles he could feel flexing and stretching to create such an extreme and flexible pose so easily was new to him.  He has some experience with his comparatively pathetic flexibility endeavors as a human but Blossomforth was a true contortionist.  It felt so intimate and freeing to be able to bend, curl and flex his body in such a way.  He felt the skin on his back near his spine fold and crease together as it scrunched in a backbend, how his rib cage bulged out of and stretched the skin on the bottom of his barrel, the fat and muscle on the glutes of his pony flanks flex and squish together as the muscles on his belly and hip flexors stretched dramatically.  He slowly let the leg down and sighed.  Blossomforth’s pegasus body was a work of art. He suddenly had an idea.  He remembered the Jacko pose.  A meme that had been on the internet years back and smirked.  He spread Blossom’s hind legs apart in a straddle partial split pose and rotated Blossom’s thick pony pelvis forward, stretching the glutes.  It was an extreme bend, really stretching the glutes to the extreme so that the torso was between the legs and then he curled the torso into a backbend, laying Blossom’s borrowed chest on the floor.  Anon smiled at how easily Blossomforth’s body could accomplish such a pose.  He noticed in awe how Blossom’s muscles bulged when they were stretched.  She was an incredible athlete. He held the pose while he began to talk with Blossom’s pony mouth.  “Even without your new abilities, your flexibility, athleticism and strength are incredible.  Your body is a work of art, there’s so many intimate and pleasurable sensations to feel when you are able to stretch and curl your body into such shapes.  It kind of almost feels like the whole body is being massaged because all of the fluid, sinew, muscle, and organs are shifting, flexing, bending.  Thank you for sharing with me.”  Anon felt weird speaking with Blossom’s comparatively soft female voice.  He looked up at Blossom in Anon’s body. Blossom spoke in Anon’s voice.  “You know, you look so cute and small from up here.”  She smirked.  “When we first started dating, did I seem like a little pet or something to you?” Anon blushed with Blossom’s pony face.  “N-no- okay maybe I thought it once or twice but you’re an intelligent person, Blossom, you could never-” Anon was interrupted by Blossom squatting down and reaching down to ruffle Anon’s mane.  “Hehe, always wanted to do that to you but you were always so tall and I didn’t have hands available.” Anon’s blush deepened and he released his pose, uncurling his spine and standing up.  “Alright, alright.  Let’s switch back before- wait.  There’s one more thing I’ve wanted to do before we switch back.  I’ve always wanted to do a chest stand with a face frame.  I’ve never been able to do it as a human but I know your pony body can do it.” Blossom smiled.  “Go ahead, that’s what this body swap is for!  I have to say, your human body is quite interesting.  I love using your hands!  I’m feeling it out now that I’ve gotten a good ‘look’ at your original and this clone.  I have a lot of improvements in mind but I’ll keep it a surprise until I’ve worked out most of the kinks and things, I have quite a bit of work to do before then.” Anon was distracted, he was in a hoofstand, hind legs straight up and carefully flexed the muscles in his back and glutes as well as bending the knees so that his hind hooves hovered in front of him, he did a reverse pushup and carefully lowered his chest to the floor and folded his torso until his huge feminine pony pelvis ass sat on his shoulders with his hind legs in front of him. Anon breathed heavily, the stretched stomach’s diaphragm was heaving prominently behind him.  In the compressed torso pose, breaths taken had to be shallower and measured.  “Thank you, Blossom.”  There were tears in his huge blue pony eyes.  “I have had a dream for years, decades even of doing this pose but I could never really quite get there, as I’ve been growing older I’d kind of given up because it gets more difficult as you age but now here I am in your body completing one of my life’s goals, not as a human but still.  Your pony body is incredible and this has been an awesome experience.”  He hesitated, a little embarrassed, he wiped his eyes quickly with a forehoof.  “Do-do you think that I could try using your body from time to time later?  Maybe use the dragon body to try birthing a clone or different bodies and trying them out?  I could unbirth them when I’m done to recycle the biomass, I know you don’t have an infinite supply laying around.” Blossom smiled softly at Anon, her human eyes glistened slightly at Anon’s emotional confession.  “Of course.  I have definitely had my own curiosities.  I have tried transforming into countless animals, even insects.  It’s extremely freeing.  You can transform into whatever you like if the design is in my hivemind.  My abilities have been a wondrous miracle and I want to share all of the freedom and discovery that I have been given access to with you.  I’m so happy that I have been able to grant you a desire that you’ve been yearning for so long.  It makes my heart leap knowing that I am able to share these things with you, have someone else to talk about it with, rather than trying to talk to another one of my own hivemind partitions, that’s just boring.”  She frowned with Anon’s face.  “Just don’t mess with viruses or drone programming.  I’ve also warned Twilight about that kind of thing.  There are some things we really don’t want to unleash upon the world.  Maybe in the future with careful consideration and experimentation in a controlled environment we could consider it.”   Anon was busy squeezing his pony face between his thick pony thighs.  Blossom snorted.  “Good to know you’re having a good time with my body.  Ready to switch back?” Anon sighed, Blossom couldn’t help but notice that Anon was winking her prominently displayed clit, he was obviously aroused with being in Blossom’s flexible, athletic body, he didn’t seem to notice.  He did have a fetish for flexibility and athleticism after all.  “Yeah let’s do it.  I think I’ve had enough estrogen flowing through my veins for one day.  I’m afraid I’ll get carried away if I stay in this body too long.”  Blossom smirked knowingly and they were suddenly back in their own respective bodies.  Blossom uncurled herself from the convoluted contortionist pose and as soon as she did, Anon lifted her up by her foreleg pits and brought her close for a hug.  Blossom hugged Anon with all four of her legs and her wings too, clinging to him as he stood.  Anon whispered into Blossom’s ear as they hugged.  “Thanks for making me into a shapeshifter.  I know that together we’ll be able to bring so much good to Equestria and maybe even one day to my world.  I hope that we have enough wisdom to use our power to improve the world.  I know in a lot of cases when power is concentrated it can become easily corrupted or monstrous.  It’s going to take a lot of work and vigilance to make sure that our influence doesn’t cause a breakdown to the order of society and create chaos.  I imagine that immortality will be the biggest game changer.  That’s going to be one to think about.” Blossom sighed in Anon’s ear.  “I know, Anon.  There’s no easy answer to these questions.  I-I wanted to hide away and skirt responsibility like a little brat, hiding away and hoarding all this potential for myself.  I didn’t want to have to think about all of these things, I just wanted to be normal again.  However, now with Celestia and the rest of the Equestrian government looming over me.  I’m feeling the weight of responsibility starting to press on me and I’m not sure if I’ll feel it lift ever again.  I know that some will call me a god, you already did, Anon.  I’m just a pony, I make mistakes, I have emotions and I’m not perfect.  I’m going to need your help, Anon.  Together I believe we can get through this.  We’ll just have to take it as it comes day by day, finding our own answers as we go to the questions.” Anon helped Blossom back down onto the ground and looked down at his hands again.  His new cloned body was very similar to his old one.  It didn’t feel like much had changed.  “Well, I’m glad we did this.  It kind of seemed like you were tying up loose ends before the next stage of our lives.  And me getting shapeshifter powers is pretty fucking awesome to be honest.”  Anon stuck out his tongue and made it become thinner and longer like a tentacle, he curled it upwards and booped himself in the nose, then he retracted it until it returned to its original tongue shape.  “Damn, I bet I could pick my nose with that thing!”  Blossom stared at him deadpan with a disapproving stare but then broke out into sniggers. “Oh, Anon.”  She turned her head to Ponyville’s direction.  “Let’s just start walking home.  We have a big day tomorrow and you’ll need your sleep.” “I’m actually a bit nervous.”  Said Anon.  “Are we going to be picked up and brought to Canterlot?” “I assume so.  We’ll see what Celestia has in store for us.”  She turned to him.  “Just make sure you don’t tell anyone where your real body is.  It might be a good idea to include smaller details like scars on this body.  We’ll also have to decide if we want to try and hide the fact that you’re using a cloned body or not.  We’ll be able to talk telepathically so coordinating tomorrow will be easier.” “Eh, I don’t mind if we tell Celestia but I’ll follow your lead.” Blossomforth nodded.  “I’ll have to think about it but we’ll both face this new challenge together.”  Anon nodded and smiled at Blossom.  Then they began walking back to civilization together.