//------------------------------// // 38: Together as one // Story: An Exercise In Management // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// Yawning, I quickly return from my dreamscape to reality, only to realize I’m curled up on the definitely insufficient throne, all my legs dangling from it in various angles. I needed a real rest. I wasn’t tired physically, or even drained of love. My head just hurt so bad from all the decisions and thinking that I could barely keep my eyes open after everything finally got sorted. Drones aren’t made for all this mental work. So, time to find out what woke me up, because it wasn’t any mental contact or anything, just my real senses. Nine is standing stock still under the dias with the throne, silently staring at the main entrance, so it likely wasn’t him. Hmmm… I hear two sets of hoofsteps. A quick mental check reveals Eight returning from whatever she was doing today. Who is the second creature, though? Did she capture someone? It sounds like a pony. It IS a pony, and it’s not Tree Hugger. Behind Eight entering the throne room and striding towards me in full confidence shuffles a stallion wearing something tight and black, moonlight coming from the crumbled ceiling reflecting off of his strange clothing. I mean, ponies in clothes are unusual as it stands, but I haven’t seen anything like this before, although I feel as I could identify it if I dug through Ten’s memories enough. I really should find a way to make them mine, but I’m kinda worried that if I simply absorbed those I wouldn’t be just me anymore. On the other hole, Four seems to have coped with Ten’s just fine. “Intruder?” I nod towards the pony shuffling behind Eight. ”Umm, not exactly,” Eight chuckles innocently, ”Remember Tree Hugger talking about getting a pet?” “Please tell me you didn’t get a pony as a pet.” ”I got a pony… as a pet.” I facehoof. ”I hate to point out that dogs can’t talk, specifically about our current whereabouts, and supposedly can love a lot as well.” ”Oh don’t worry, I’ll take care of him. Some mental triggers here, a whipping there, and he’ll be good.” “Putting the ‘why’ aside for now, where did you even get him?” ”Why? Because I don’t want to rely solely on others to feed me, my King. As to where...” “I’m all ears.” ”There’s this club in Ponyville called the Black Horseshoe. Earthpony names, right? It was evening when I arrived at the town for a snack and some scouting, and saw some pretty nifty clothes I wanted to try on in the window. A shapeshift or two and some… persuading the bouncer later, I got inside. You wouldn’t believe the lust and even love there… everything ripe for the taking. I saw this guy,” she slaps the stallion’s flank, making him moan, ”tied to this weird table with holes. Others in his position were being whipped and stuff, so I grabbed a wooden paddle lying around, and went to work. An hour or...” she looks uncertainly at the ceiling, ”two… three tops later, I was completely full, and he wanted to be my pet forever, so I decided why not? When One inevitably betrays us, I think a reserve juicebox would come in handy,” she shrugs. My headache is coming back. This time it’s really difficult to persuade myself that Eight knows what she’s doing. “Well, good for you. When the infiltrators come back, tell someone to dig through this guy’s head in case there’s someone who will miss him. Now,” I point at Nine whom Eight is sizing up already, “you might remember this guy as a lifeless pile of chitin, but now he’s Nine, and he’s ours. Seemingly without complaints.” ”Triple or even a quadruple digit warrior,” she circles around him, ”However, the fact that he has his own mane AND additional belly plating is super off. On top of that, he survived those kind of wounds while nearly starved to death. Tenacious, if nothing else.” “Big, too.” ”It’s not about size, my King, it’s about how we use him.” “Which brings us directly to you. Can you make something out of him?” She pokes Nine, who remains standing still. ”A good flower pot,” she answers dismissively. I roll my eyes. “The more self-sufficient you make him, the more time he’ll spend on patrols and leave you with spare time.” ”Hmmm… so he’ll be the watchdog, and I’ll be your bodyguard. Personal bodyguard… one for you to do with as you please,” she suddenly beams, drooling a little, ”Alright, my King. Two pets in one day? Lucky me, but you do know what I really want, don’t you?” Yeah, I do. To be honest, you deserve it for being by my side throughout everything. Pushing myself into Eight’s head, I look out of her eyes at myself advancing towards her and saying: “Kneel before your King.” She hesitates, not believing what’s happening, so I force her. Her disbelief completely melts in comfort and warmth. Wrapping her mane around my foreleg, I tug upwards, and kiss her. Well... put our lips together, and mash them a bit. The illusion breaks, and so does my horrible attempt at kissing. “Sorry, that’s about as much as I know how to do,” I lean away as Eight stands back up, smile on her muzzle and her eyes wet a little. I don’t sense anything negative from her, though, “All my short life I thought you high ranks were complete assholes… and most of you were, to be honest, but I’m starting to think it was because Chrysalis made you fend for yourselves, made you fight each other just to barely scrape by. You and everyone else around me are… unique, but not bad at all. It makes me want to support you and see where it leads, even if it bites me in the ass eventually.” Eight takes a forceful step forward, making me back off. Another one. Another one. I stumble, and fall backwards on the throne where she leans so close to me that I feel her hot and heavy breath on my nose. ”I’ll be more than happy if I end up as a hole for you, ass or any other.” Our mental link shifts again. In response, I reflexively try to move her hoof, and in surprise I realize it’s as easy as if I was moving mine. I can control her without any effort despite her power. She climbs atop my on the throne, plopping her wide behind into my lap. ”If you’re afraid your stup- kindness will bite you in the ass, then I’ll just have to kick the teeth out of anyone who wants to abuse it. You’re my king, my owner, and now a part of me. I am your body, you are my mind.” She kisses me this time. She knows how to do it properly. I feel my love well up, building along with hers. It’s as all that energy resonating between us could break me apart, but it never does. The kiss ends with both of us brimming with love. Eight looks at Nine. ”Leave, both of you. Nine, keep an eye on him.” With a nod, Nine tugs on the leash around the pony’s neck. When they’re gone, Eight runs her foreleg from my neck down to my underbelly. My body knows what she wants, I know what she wants, and this time I’m not too scared to do anything… ...I hope. She licks my nose. ”Finally alone,” she whispers. We, two broken changelings and the broken throne, finally form something complete. *** ”King, we’ve got a… curious situation.” Without bothering to use my own body, I link up with Eight immediately. She’s currently crouched down in a bush somewhere in the forest outside, her chitin dark green with brown streaks, and watching what looks like a group of armed ponies in weird clothes. There are five of them. A brown, green-maned earthpony wearing a leather vest, heavy iron horseshoes, a wood and leather helmet, and with a round wooden shield fastened to his foreleg. A blue pegasus with light grey mane wearing nothing other than a belt with three knives on it which look like some from Truncheon’s kitchen. A second earthpony, this one brown too, but with chocolate mane, and looking more muscular than the one in the front, as well as carrying a genuinely dangerous axe. Not one like the paladins had, though. This one is simple, with only one of the choppy bits. The last two members are unicorns. The grey, blue-maned stallion is clearly a wizard, judging by his white beard, a long stick with symbols carved into it, and a blue cape with stars sewn on it. Hmm… when do ponies grow beards? They all look pretty young. Wait, do beards come with wires holding them in place? Nevermind, a wizard is a wizard. I shouldn’t underestimate them. The final pony, a unicorn mare, is the only mare of the group. She’s wearing a gold coronet, and a see-through white corset with thin ribbons hanging from it, and getting stuck in the bushes with her every nervous step.   Damn it, did we get discovered already, Eight? ”Seems so. It looks like the rumor about an artefact in the old castle worked well enough.” Too well... ”Hmm? What do you mean, King?” They have TWO wizards, a big guy with a big axe- ”That’s a woodcutter’s axe, not a battleaxe. Horrible balance. He swings that thing once before I take it from him and shove it up his plot.” Well, if he hits you- ”He won’t.” Alright, I’m not going to argue about specifics of a one-on-one combat with a warrior wearing a necklace of rogue changeling horns. Alright, I guess you can deal with the earthponies just fine, but what about the others? There’s a pegasus with knives. He can fly! That sounded way smarter before I said it. ”Uhh, so can I? Plus, those are kitchen knives. Unless he hits me in the eye, those won’t even scratch me, and even then I wouldn’t sure… although… maybe he was cutting onions before...” Alright, fine, okay… but two unicorns? Magic isn’t your strong side as far as I know. That guy’s staff has SIGILS on it! It could curse you so that your chitin rots, or that you go blind, or- ”Or those are griffon characters meaning ‘Fried chicken of three flavours’.” Wait, what? ”That’s why I said this was a curious situation instead telling you to pack your lovely butt, grab Three by his ears, get out, and leave Nine as bait. These guys are YOUNG, barely twenty, which is very little in pony years, and unless I’m missing something crucial which I doubt, they aren’t exactly a threat. To Three, Four, or Ten, maybe. Nine and you, there’s always a chance since there are five of them. One and me? Not in a million years. If you want, I can just shapeshift into some brigand and knock them out, but I think they could be a good assessment of our trap. ” If you’re so sure they’re harmless... ”I’m more than open to physical punishment if I’m wrong, my King. Spanking, preferrably. Choking’s good too, specifically on your royal scepter.” I swear I can feel my unconscious body facehoof on its own. Fine, let’s see where this goes.