When I woke—without an alarm—it was to being a little spoon against Rainbow Dash's belly. She was bigger than me, noticeably so, it made for an air of strength that what parts of me still clung to straightness turn weak at the knees. Was I more in love with the idea of someone like a man than actual men?

I rubbed my calves together under the covers and could feel further changes in them. My legs felt hard and the flesh stiff. I ran one hand down to my thigh and felt the smooth transition in my body between a somewhat human form and what was now a powerful equine thigh.

The message surprised me enough that I checked the log of earlier messages. Our little nymphs had apparently gotten up early and have been playing video games since 5 A.M.

I yawned and opened my eyes. I was bathed in love—soaking in it. No wonder I was feeling so content and calm. Without a qualm I made a hefty meal of Rainbow's love, and while it was filling, I had a sense of when to stop—an instinctive warning.

I struggled not to chirp out loud for fear of waking Rainbow with my wing vibrations. I tried to slip from her grip carefully, only to feel her arm snake over my shoulder and hold me close.

We did. My sensibilities won't let me describe exactly what happened, but I will point out that it was definitely myself at the helm, so to speak, and it was definitely enjoyable.

When it did come time to leave the warm confines of my—our—bed, I slipped from between the covers to find feathers everywhere. Another pillow, sacrificed to my horn in a moment of glory.

Rainbow rolled over and looked at me like a hungry feline. Her eyes blinked a few times until she made sense of the situation.

"More than one? I don't know. NotABug got some spares when she went house shopping. Are you coming back to bed?"

"No. It's eight in the morning and time to get up. I have a few things to do today, and NotABug has a job interview."

As I climbed out of bed fully, I saw the extent of the changes to my legs. They were thinner than ever, and my whole leg was just as I'd discovered earlier—completely alien. A hard exoskeleton seemed to extend from my hooves up to my—whatever the lower joint was called—and while the flesh above there was still softer than the rest of my leg, it was definitely not mere skin anymore.

Standing up and stretching resulted in the slightest of overbalanced sensations. It felt like I should just lean forward. The word quadrupedal came to mind.

Rainbow Dash rolled over and slipped out of the bed behind me. Her hand ran down my back—from my shoulders to my wings—which caused a shiver of delight to send them chirping softly. I stood still for her, letting her explore me for the second time that morning.

"Your legs changed again. I felt it a little earlier, but they're really pronounced now. I don't even know if you have muscle in them anymore," Rainbow Dash said.

Her tone was curious, not confused. I was just about to turn around to face her when she hugged herself to my back. Her strong arms circled under mine, and she nibbled on my neck.

I giggled and made all the little happy noises a human and a changeling make. Carefully, I drew each of her hands up to my lips and kissed them, then slid forward and out of her embrace.

"Shower first, then we snuggle on the couch. The girls are playing some games out there," I said.

Predictably, our shower took a lot longer than simple washing required. Being with Rainbow Dash had become my new normal, and I liked it. We climbed out, spent the time it took to get dressed and get some makeup on, and we finally headed for the bedroom door to make our way down the hall.

I stopped just past the door and turned to look at her. Rainbow tried to keep an innocent expression, but it quickly changed to a smirk.

"Knowing that you like how I look helps, Rainbow, but you know why I can't wear a skirt. NotABug has a meeting with Twilight Velvet today, and I'll be accompanying Coco to Twilight—Sparkle that is—to find out what the swirly thing is," I said.

Pouting, the silence between us was interrupted by Rainbow's belly grumbling. It earned her a giggle and a chirp from me.

"I'll explain over breakfast," I said. "It turns out all that stuff about there not being much magic here is wrong—it's just different magic to what Sunset and Twilight—the princess—are used to."

A little flood of chirping came from the pair, and when we reached the living room they were hugging. Not wanting to interrupt their little moment, I walked through to the kitchen.

I left them to their game and set about putting together breakfast. Four bowls with some bran in each, covered in some honey and milk. Each of the bowls got a spoon, and I used magic to lift two of them while I carried the other two in my hands.

—And given how good I feel now, very-very well, I bet,— NotABug sent directly.

I chirped and hugged NotABug, squeezing her until she chirped too. When I walked (now seemingly in slow motion) into the living room, I saw two pairs of blue eyes staring up at me, their little ears perked up and crests raised.

When I sat down beside Rainbow, Byte and 'Bee climbed onto both of us to get snuggles and breakfast.

"This is bran. It's super yummy and really good for you. Try some," Rainbow Dash said.

Byte held her mouth open while Rainbow fed her a spoonful of the cereal. When she got a taste of the honey, Byte's eyes widened and she stuck her snout into the bowl to start munching it.

I reached a finger out and booped Byte's horn with it. When she looked up, I offered her a spoon.

Meanwhile, 'Bee had already worked out how to use her magic to hold a spoon and was imitating Rainbow's efforts with a spoon.

Holding their bowls with my magic, I started eating my own breakfast. The honey and milk were the primary sources of flavor for me, but it was more than enough to get me through all the relatively tasteless bran.

While eating, I watched my two nymphs (filly might be a cuter name, but they were so far from horses that it just didn't fit) munch away, though 'Bee seemed more intent on licking all the bran clean of honey and slurping her milk than eating all of it. Close enough, I figured.

—Oh yes! I have just the place for it, too,— NotABug sent.

I wondered if it was unnerving for people to get messages back from us instantly. Did they think we didn't even read them? It was a thought I could tuck away for later.

—You might want to ask her if there's a specific time Mr. Pants would like to see us,— I sent.

—What time did Mr. Pants want us to come in?—

—And I have to thank you for setting up ChirpNet on those mobiles. When 'Bee fell asleep last night, I used one as my eyes. Their cameras are really good,— I sent.

My horn felt a little more tingly, and I realized it was because NotABug was using it too now. One of the phones from the stack pulled free of its charge cable and turned off. It flipped in midair, and I watched a little sim card approach it. She had the card installed and the phone back on in short order, and it settled itself on the table in front of me.

I focused on finishing breakfast before reaching for the new phone. Settings changed on my internal phone, and I realized it was NotABug configuring things. The new phone was set up as a relay for us, and of course ChirpNet was the bridge she used. I marveled again at NotABug's work—ChirpNet was quickly becoming something amazing.

—You're welcome! There's another shipment of them coming, too. I don't want to run out again,— NotABug sent.

—Sure did! We have double the computing power in that now, but it's full. We can have Mr. Pants file papers to transfer the house into the business name for your share in it, then we can arrange contractors to install the server farm in the basement.—

I began making notes on things that could be needed. Would we need to rezone the property? Does someone need to live there?

"We could play a game while Rarity gets changed. What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked.

I kissed Rainbow's cheek as our nymphs vacated my lap for hers. Using magic to collect the plates, I stood up on my reshaped legs and found my balance quickly enough. Everything about the transformation has been horribly mundane—another day, another part of me changed. Well, except for the magic. I quite like the shapechanging thing, even if it is a drag on my energy.

Washing up the dishes, I set them to dry and walked through to my sewing room. Using my magic to hang the two dresses I'd made for Rainbow, I carefully folded Coco's dress into tissue paper and then placed it in a large box.

"The rules of Rarity, guaranteed quality. This I can assure. For each and every dress, I vow to give finesse. With time, love, and couture."

I could almost hear the violins and cellos backing me up. This was what I wanted my life to be about. The money didn't matter any further than to create desire for my work—I might not be able to put a value on it, but others would want to see a price tag.

And, today will be the first big step toward my shop. A business name to trade under, to own things with. I wonder how exciting the tax return will be on that?

I let out a laugh. One of us would be able to handle that by the time it comes up. If not, we find someone to pay to do it.

Leaving my dressmaking behind, I slipped through to my bedroom and quickly removed my dress and bra. Shorts, a sports bra, and a light top should have been what I was going for, but that would make me stand out a little more than I wanted to.

The costumes I'd made for my friends—back in high school—for a dance competition were my target, and after a little searching I found it. Dark blue, the tracksuit would be a little harsh against my black form, but it would hide my legs and arms wonderfully. A sports bra was still required.

Dressing quickly for what would be a quick run, I skipped socks and shoes (of course) and made my way to redo my makeup. Robustness was required here. Foundation off, blush off, anything that would not survive sweating off. I touched my lips back up and added a little more mascara.

I looked at the woman in the mirror with a smile. She had a cute little snout, wonderfully defined cheeks, and eyes that anyone could dive into and drown. Perfect.

The most unique experience with tracksuits, for me, was pockets. I took the new phone from my sewing room and slipped it in a pocket. It bulged a little—I hadn't made the pockets on these pants phone sized—but it could hold it.

—With all the cameras we have now? I could prod Rainbow and she'd be back here before I'd gotten another thirty frames. Enjoy your run,— NotABug sent to me.

NotABug's surprised chirp was accompanied by a rushing hug that wrapped me up in her energy. Of course I squeezed back every bit as much as she did.

I couldn't help myself—I chirped. Turning for the door, I headed out and walked into the living room to find Rainbow Dash still playing a racing game with our nymphs.

Looking at the television, I could see which of the three split screens was hers. She was coming around the last turn on her silly little go-kart. I leaned down, pressed the tip of my snout to her neck, and nibbled just a little, brushing sharp teeth over her soft skin.

On the screen, the little kart that was Rainbow's skidded off the track and hit the wall just in time for two more to round the corner and pass her.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said without a hint of worry. "We need to pick up some more ice-cream on the way home."

I snorted back a laugh and walked to the front door. The cameras outside were easy enough to scan, and I reassured myself that there was no one out there ready to jump me. After all, Windigo wasn't a physical being.

Suri was, though. Ugh, I had two horrible things in my life and no way to deal with at least one of them.

Rainbow Dash cheated, of course. Magic buzzed through her as she practically blazed from the couch to the door, opened it, and held the door for me.

I didn't question her and just took the opened door as my cue. As my hoof came down on the concrete outside, there was a distinct clop sound. Then a lot more as I adjusted my limbs on the concrete path.

"Okay. First thing is stretches. I don't care if your body becomes a full exoskeleton with tendons connecting everything inside, you still do stretches. First one is hand on knee and bend down," Rainbow Dash said.

Following her example wasn't easy—I lacked some joints in the right places to do some exercises, but we eventually got through a range of stretches that had me feeling more limber and ready to act.

If you'd told me that hooves could make me move like I was wearing high heels, I would have been convinced how good they were much sooner. I could see hunger in Rainbow's eyes as she watched me approach.

Together, we started off at a jog. We'd barely gotten to the end of the block when I noticed Rainbow Dash watching my legs. If I were just a little more vain, I'd believe she was simply checking me out.

Rainbow's head tilted up and met my eyes—we both smiled and broke from our jog into an actual run. The morning air rushing past felt great, and there wasn't much else I wanted to do that morning. With my new cellular connection established, I could keep an eye on our nymphs too.

I followed Rainbow's lead so far as pacing and direction. She turned after two blocks and took us into a large park. Each step let me know that my hooves agreed with softer ground better than pavement, though neither seemed much of a problem.

We circled around, ran down the street behind my house, and then up and around the block. By the time we got home, I felt like I'd actually done work. But Rainbow didn't stop. She slowed us to a walk, and took me past my front door.

"Cooling down slowly. Let's just walk around the block to bring us down to normal again."

It occurred to me that having a physical trainer as a girlfriend was going to result in one thing: lots of exercise. Well, if that's what it took to convince her to wear a dress every day, it was a price I'd have to pay. Besides, she looked good in shorts.

When we finally looped around to my house again, I could definitely feel why she'd suggested the cool-down. My legs, new to both being equine and running, felt marginally more solid than jello.

The moment we were in the door I pulled her into a hug and kissed her. Rainbow's lips, as ever, tasted exciting. She complimented my hug with her own, and I felt enthusiasm build as she kissed back. When the kiss broke, when I could think straight again, Rainbow had the cockiest smile I'd seen on her yet.

"You. Rarity, I've never seen you do more than yoga or the odd workout video. I might be awesome, but you're pretty amazing."

Her praise came with a glut of love I had no clue what to do with. I nibbled at first, and I felt NotABug idling munching too, but a build up of pressure caught me off-guard.

I had to pull myself from Rainbow's grip and rush to the pile of devices sitting beside the couch, each still linked to the wifi and its own charger.

Byte and 'Bee both scrambled over and watched me grab a mobile phone up in each hand.

The swelling mass of love inside me was too much to hold indefinitely. I turned my full attention to the phone in my right hand and pushed.

There was not a shred of pain (something this method of reproduction had over the human way). I simply pushed the love and energy out and into the little phone. Glowing green, the mobile started to swell and bulge, then stretched out and formed itself the distinctive egg-like shape that 'Bee's egg had been.

I looked between my hands, realizing I was holding two new eggs. In my head, in the world that was not quite real, I hugged NotABug tightly.

—Not right now. Rainbow can support us just fine, and for all the love that burns within her, I don't want to risk harming our love,— I sent.

I felt Rainbow Dash wrap her arms around me from behind. She pressed her chest to my back, and I just wanted to melt against her.

"Pfft. Life always gets complicated," Rainbow Dash said as she pressed her cheek against the back of my head. "Uh. Rarity? Don't take this wrong, but you need a shower."

"Big wet thing where people get clean. It's a good place to snuggle," Byte said.

What could have been an adventurous shower ended up being more cuddles and a lot of booping. Bee was the first to get bored when Rainbow and I started actually washing, and when Byte realized we actually had something we needed to do, she climbed out too.

As we climbed out of the shower, Rainbow Dash kissed my cheek, grabbed a towel, and started drying me off. It was luxurious in the way that something intimate done by another could be. I shifted around, raised my arms, and even bent forward so she could wash my derriere.

Rainbow's body was toned as only a woman's could be. There was muscle under every inch of her, but they were smooth muscles, and in some cases delightfully curvy muscles. The thing that had all my attention was—when she flexed her rump while I was drying it—her rear became tight as a drum.

"You spend so much time on your body I think it would be remiss of me to underappreciate it."

I wrapped a towel around her and hugged Rainbow Dash against me, my wings chirping up a storm.

"That may be, but I must confess I have somewhat of a—a focus. That is to say, I appreciate your derriere, Rainbow Dash."

"See, now that's what I love a lot about you, Rares, no matter what you turn into, or look like, everything you do has you in it. I have literally never heard anyone call my ass a derriere before."

I let go, turned, and made my way to my makeup table. Sitting down, I planned out what face I would wear for the day. In the mirror, I watched Rainbow walk up behind me and drop the towel.

Casual nudity had never been a trait I ascribed to—it almost went against my ethos—but I had to appreciate that Rainbow Dash knew how to put on a show for someone she probably only suspected of watching her.

Rainbow fetched some clothes from the closet, held them up to herself in the mirror—conveniently so that I got to look at her rear the whole time—and kept accidentally dropping this or that. The discerning part of me regretted telling her what asset of hers I most enjoyed, but the part that enjoyed that asset was most appreciative of her efforts.

"Oh yeah. I'm going to have to be out tomorrow afternoon. You might want to see if you can get a sitter," Rainbow Dash said.

The situation raised a question: do they need a babysitter? I could watch them on the cameras we had set up, but that didn't solve the problem that someone needed to be able to act if something happened.

—I don't suppose you could nymphsit tomorrow afternoon?— I sent to Sweetie Belle.

"I asked Sweetie. I guess if that doesn't work, we could ask my parents," I said.

"Darling, it's a boutique, and when that comes about, they can come to work with us. Remember, we are going to cater to anyone who comes in. That includes having a small area for children to keep themselves happy," I said. "And it will be a boutique, not a shop."

—This app is really neat. I have a materials lab at 12, and then I scored some time in the engineering department for 2-4PM. Would Byte be okay to hang around me while I work?— Sweetie Belle sent directly.

—Things are a little more complicated. We have two nymphs now. Maybe four by tomorrow afternoon.—

"She said yes so far, but she doesn't know about 'Bee, and we might have two more nymphs by then," I said.

"It's more fitting than foal. We're hardly horses—not that there's anything wrong with horses."

"No-no. I like it. So anyway…" Rainbow Dash said and trailed off. "Hold on. How many nymphs are we going to have by the end of next week?"

—Yay!— Byte sent. —Hey! You're not allowed to use a blue shell when I'm talking!—

A measure of confusion filled me that they seemed to be responding much quicker than a game should play. Investigating the gaming console revealed it had been completely infested with custom code and happily accepted my connection when it should have booted me out.

Locating a ChirpNet interface in the new code, I connected and found they had indeed modified the game. It was now running fast enough that it no longer should have been able to run on the television—and I realized it wasn't. Each of my daughters was getting a low resolution output that was thousands of times faster to render for the console.

—'Bee's really clever at real-world stuff, and Byte seems endlessly focused on games. I broke the encryption on the console, so they might get interested in hacking, but I don't think that's their thing,— NotABug sent to me.

—If they're having fun with it, let's leave them be, I guess. I certainly don't want our nymphs to be limited in what they can do, but I also don't want to push them to things they're not going to enjoy or feel comfortable with,— I sent to NotABug.

—Four. Okay, I can probably handle that. How likely are they to just want to sleep?— Sweetie Belle sent to me.

—If I told you they were so excitable they are playing kart racing at a thousand times faster than normal, would that give you an idea of what to expect?— I sent to Sweetie Belle.

NotABug nudged me gently, and given how complicated my morning was turning out to be, I had no inclination to deny her. I slipped from the real world and into the digital, then decided it was time to start probing things.

I didn't have my sword yet, but I didn't need that to probe. A few minutes spent writing something to turn my probing code into—well it wasn't a sword, but it was like a ten-foot-pole. The next step was routing. NotABug had said she'd obfuscated our traffic, but I wanted more protection. The choice was simple.

—'Bee, dear, could you pick one of the spare phones and take it to my sewing room and plug it in?— I asked.

I watched on one of the living room cameras as she made a mess of the neat row they were in, but she nonetheless selected one, unplugged its charger, and bundled it up and held it in her mouth. Trotting through the house, my little girl did exactly what I asked.

—You're a wonderful girl. Thank you, 'Bee,— I sent along with a lot of chirps.

I was flabbergasted by her suggestion. She was, without a doubt, much more physically inclined than her sister, and she could solve problems in a flash.

—I'll remember that for next time. Did you know you're going to spend some time with your auntie tomorrow?— I sent.

—She's really awesome is what she is. We can send messages to her, too, but she's in the slow world,— Byte sent.

Both our nymphs made sad little chirps. Was it that heartbreaking to have to deal with the real world when you were still technically in it? Then I remembered how it felt waiting for responses from people, though I managed to avoid any sad chirping.

—Byte's going to teach me about the stock market. It doesn't sound too interesting, but I want to try it. And then we're going to go and talk to people. Byte said we couldn't feed on them, though,— Bumblebee said.

—If you promise only to take tiny sips and keep track of who you've each fed from so you don't double dip, it should be okay,— I sent.

—Ohh! We could build a database to keep track of that. Link it in with ChirpNet so we can tell who has been fed from so we don't feed too often, and even leave feedback to track if someone is feeling bad after a feeding,— Bumblebee sent.

—Okay. I take it back. 'Bee might be taking after me just a little,— NotABug sent to me.

—This is the first time I've seen her so interested in programming. It might simply be the planning she enjoys,— I sent to NotABug.

—So we'll want it to track us, too. Then we can say how full we got, and people can leave feedback,— Bumblebee sent.

She's building a social network based around chatting and feeding on people. It was hard to work out if it was a bad thing, a good thing, or something in the middle.

I hadn't realized I'd sent to the wider area and not just NotABug until 'Bee made some curious chirps.

—What I mean is, our needs for servers and living space are growing,— I sent.

—Why don't we dig?— Bumblebee asked. —I heard about getting another house, and while we aren't really up to it yet, with magic we could dig a vast network of underground rooms and halls to store servers and use as our home.—

—We'd need a lot of power. But we could always have underground power brought in. We could make a cabling company to do the work, too!— Byte sent.

—That sounds like an excellent idea. Why don't you two investigate this, find out what paperwork we'll need, and we can take a look at doing it?— NotABug asked.

—You seemed a little overwhelmed. Don't worry, they overwhelmed me too,— NotABug sent to me.

—Thank you. They're just so intense sometimes. 'Bee more so than Byte. How are we going to keep up with them?— I sent to NotABug.

—Teamwork. Divide and conquer. Also, once we have more nymphs, the older ones can help manage the newborns.—

A future spent with my children, with NotABug, and with Rainbow Dash had me chirping up a storm. Dressmaking was still something I aspired to do, but now just thinking about all the people I was filling my life with made me happy beyond belief.

Was that the real source of my unhappiness at Polomare? A lack of close friends and family? Hardly. Suri was a grade-A pest, and the culture put forward at the place was toxic to anyone with a hint of expressive creation within them.

I could sit here all day and complain about Polomare Fashion, or I could do something. Come on, Rarity, let's get busy.

Building a relay into the phone 'Bee had brought me was trivial. It was a proxy on top of the array of proxies that NotABug had already assembled. Levitating it up, I sent it outside and into the sky. NotABug's cameras were angled far enough that I could see the phone floating in the air.

The next step was less scientific and more hopeful. Sending the phone around the house, I waited to see what would—there! The phone connected to someone's open Wi-Fi. A little more experimentation found that it was the house behind and at an angle to my own. I set the phone down in their yard and connected my chain of proxies through it.

It wasn't perfect, of course, but the proxy software had included a factory-reset trigger. It was a fuse on a random internet connection, and after a little checking, it turned out to be a slow internet connection.

So I started with NotABug's old service host. Their network was still online, and their border seemed secure enough when I tried prodding the usual ports—those assigned for servers—but the oddest thing was nothing on their network seemed to respond with anything but a refused message. They were a company providing servers, but they weren't serving anything.

This was useless. I couldn't do anything but poke here without straying into illegal things—and I didn't want to go down that road just yet.

Polomare was my next target, and unlike the service host, their network leaked. There wasn't a single place I poked that didn't poke back happily with services that shouldn't have been external.

There was so many attack surfaces that I wouldn't know where to start. Of course, I shouldn't start. I didn't have my sword or my—

Fire erupted, burning-hot mouths filled with teeth came for me, snapped at me—but didn't reach me. I plowed my shield up extra hard against the attack and was thankful that the measly allowance of data the Wi-Fi offered was now to my benefit. I held firm and studied what was coming at me through the menacing reports the firewall offered me.

Almost all my attention was wrapped up in protecting my connection against Windigo getting a foothold, but I kept some in reserve. The firewall held, and I almost had to delight in the anguished screams of Windigo as it tried to batter down the link.

When its attacks stopped, I grew extra cautious. My mind raced as to what it was doing before I hit the termination trigger on the phone. Windigo wasn't stupid. If I were attacking me, and wanted to find out where I was, I'd attack the router and sniff the data coming in from my secure side.

Had it gotten that far? I reached out with my magic again, levitated the phone up and brought it back to the house and in an open window. Reflexively, I closed the window.

What my little exploration had taught me was two things: I needed better obfuscation and I knew one place Windigo was lurking. The mountain of log data of Windigo's attacks was another boon, and one I'd happily examine.

The best place for finding out about better obfuscation would be the delightfully antiquated little hive of scum and villainy. I opened up what I now considered to be my less-than-legal connection and opened the practically ancient little chat program.

BugQueen: Hi.
AdminSteveStevieSteven: Yo queen. You wanna be quiet, shit's real.

I was immediately surprised by how well this admin typed—it was actually legible!

BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: I could take a guess and say something really nasty just got very active?
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: Yeah. What do you know about it?
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: That it's a sapient AI that is on the warpath because I found where it's hiding and poked it?
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: If that's a joke, it ain't funny.
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: Certainly not a joke. Would you like something that will protect you from it?
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: Sure. What's the price?
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: Whatever 0days you can spare, and the logs you get from the attacks.
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: You don't want much. Okay, crazy bug, Rolley said you were cool, so I'll trust you as far as taking a look at whatever code you've got.
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: Wonderful. Do you have ChirpNet?
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: You use that thing? You know the admins can snoop, right?
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: Actually, we can't.

I expected him to take some time for that to sink in, but he was back reasonably fast.

—Darling? Would you keep an eye on ChirpNet for someone named Steve or Stevie, or something like that. They'll probably try doing things they shouldn't be,— I sent to NotABug.

—There's a lot of people on here doing things they shouldn't be. Five are named some variation of Steve, and two of those are active right now and prodding at our servers. Oh! They're the same person. Would you like to chat with them?— NotABug asked me.

—BugQueen, dear. You can trust me when I say this is secure,— I sent to Stefanie.

AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: I'd ask how you did that, but you wouldn't tell me. Rolley said you're not a fed, and I've not met a fed that'd give away this kind of background, so what do you really want?

Instead of replying with words, I sent the firewall source code and waited for "Stefanie" to accept.

BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: 0days would be nice, but the main thing I want is logs. I want to see how Windigo reacts to that.
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: This looks tight as a drum. Is this reactive code?
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: It is. And if it stops working, I'll deliver you another module.
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: Right on. I'll give it a test. There's a server the damn thing's been trying to hit recently, the only way I'm keeping it up right now is by blocking everything. This could be just what I've been looking for.

I checked back to the main chat room and found a lot of people reporting instances of attacks on their systems. Windigo, it seems, was angry I'd cut and run from it. Good.

The question froze my blood, or it would if I were in command of a body. I read the question again.

Sodinite: don't know, don't care
Sodinite: if this windigo prick wants em
Sodinite: then they gotta be pretty cool right?
SysPred: yeah
SysPred: gonna fuck this windigo up when i find his IP

I reflected for a moment that SysPred, horrible as they seemed on both my visits so far, had my full support in this. Though, I wouldn't have put it quite that way.

BugQueen: If you want Windigo, where I last saw it was in the IP block owned by Polomare Fashion.
SysPred: no shit?
SysPred: i now what im doin now
System: user SysPred quit(gonna fuck some shit up tonite)
AdminSteveStevieSteven: Much as we all love messing with Pred, was it wise to aim him like that?
BugQueen: I was telling the truth. I was prodding that place with some scans and it came out at me and slammed at my firewall for nearly a minute.
AdminSteveStevieSteven: Oh. A whole minute? Kappa
BugQueen: I know what I saw, darling.
AdminSteveStevieSteven: Yeah yeah. This shit has everyone jumpy, Preds probably just going to DoS em for a few hours.
System: user SysPred joined
SysPred: wooo
SysPred: loic is blastin
SysPred: shit they got nothin
SysPred: how is this workin?
SysPred: shit
SysPred: its windigo
SysPred: loic down
SysPred: boom
SysPred: okay buggs ur right
SysPred: that was windigo

It took just a few quick searches to find what SysPred was talking about, and the results were interesting. The program was a distributed attack that just made as many machines as possible hit a target.

BugQueen: What happened?
SysPred: blew up the loic
SysPred: over half the clients dropped
System user SysPred quit()
System user SysPredAlt joined
SysPredAlt: somethin lit up my router
SysPredAlt: my nets dead
SysPredAlt: yo buggs sign me up whenever to kick this guys ass

I actually felt bad for them, and for anyone else who happened to be running the client. That said, they were performing an illegal act. An act I encouraged. Drat it. Why did I have to feel sorry for this?

BugQueen: Do you need any help getting back up and running?
SysPredAlt: its cool
SysPredAlt: not my first time dancin like this
AdminSteveStevieSteven: So. What brings you to our little hole in the ground today?

Some quick searching for a few terms I'd need later, and I was ready to answer. It took nearly three seconds to acquire the information.

BugQueen: Exactly the problem SysPred had. I used a burner phone planted at someone's house as a relay, then poked around Polomare Fashion. Windigo came at me, but I shut down the phone before they could get past my firewall.
BugQueen: When I left, it was attacking their router.
SysPredAlt: cool idea
SysPredAlt: your burner okay, tho?
BugQueen: It survived. I can't say the same for the router I hooked through. I daresay it suffered the same treatment as yours.
SysPredAlt: gonna take this apart and see what's up
SysPredAlt: tell me where and when, buggs
System user SysPredAlt quit(join the bug army, hunt OP bitches)
Sodinite Private: you wanna meet?

A dozen little alarm bells went off in my head. That invitation seemed a little too sudden and opportune.

BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: I just had Sodinite ask to meet me. I'm not stupid enough to say yes.
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: Probably a cop, a horny kid, or some shit. Just ignore em, or if you want freak em out with your little trick on ChirpNet.
BugQueen Private => AdminSteveStevieSteven: Thanks for the advice, darling.
BugQueen: So the reason I'm here is to ask if there's a better way than what I used to obfuscate my connection?
Sodinite: against that kind of aggressiveness? not really.

Sodinite was ringing more alarm bells. Trying to find out who I am, acting like they don't care about their writing style, then using a long word like "aggressiveness", and the praising comments earlier for NotABug.

AdminSteveStevieSteven: Using TOR as your start is good. Unless your target has control of both entry and exit node they can't track you down.
BugQueen: What about weaving in and out of TOR, using burners to relay?
AdminSteveStevieSteven: Id call you paranoid, but if Pred got hit that hard, behind the shit he usually uses, yeah. You do what you gotta do.
AdminSteveStevieSteven Private: I'll get you those logs next time, and if this firewall is everything you said, maybe some presents.

I sent a terminate command and logged out. Some quick searching yielded quick results that described what TOR was, how to use it, and what ways you could be found out anyway.

The TOR client I was using was already tied to the browser I had, but I decided something bigger was definitely needed. Adjusting my firewall to restrict any traffic in or out except via TOR was the next step.

—Darling. Couldn't we build a TOR client into each ChirpNet device, and completely secure it?— I asked NotABug.

—I think anything that secures us and our nymphs from Windigo is a good things. I was just chatting to friends, and one of them made Windigo angry.—

—From what I remember, Windigo was always angry. I'll prepare the back-end if you can make the change to the front?—

—I can incorporate it with the firewall changes I'm working on. Can we really intercept conversations on ChirpNet?—

—No. It uses end-to-end encryption. Each client asks the others for their public key, then transmits data to each encrypted with that key. This is standard stuff in the industry, using TOR is not.—

I hugged NotABug until she chirped a lot, then kept hugging her until I chirped a lot too.

For the first time in weeks I focused on the time. I'd been completely engrossed in programming and chatting, and it wasn't that I didn't notice the time—it just didn’t sink in that it was almost time to go see Mr. Pants.

I felt a nudge as NotABug passed control over. I was sitting behind the wheel of my car. My hands were closed around the steering wheel, and beside me was Rainbow Dash with Byte and 'Bee. I let go of the wheel and reached over to Rainbow to brush her chin.

The tone of her voice had an air of determination and surprise that I valued. It meant she was actually thinking about it now.

"Don't worry, darling, we all do. And I might need to get a bigger car. This one has neither the nymph nor storage capacity I need," I said.

Just a touch to the car's interface and I had it started and into reverse. I actuated the throttle digitally, only needing to steer and look at the reversing camera.

The drive to my lawyers' offices was thankfully short, though it still took me almost seven and a quarter minutes. I pulled into a space and turned the car off.

Rainbow just grinned like the happiest fool ever. She held out her arms for Byte and 'Bee to jump into, catching them when they did.

Turning from the car, I came face to face with a man who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Dude, we're going to a fancy dress party. Geeze!" Rainbow Dash said. "I swear. Unless you dress up as sexy witch or sexy reindeer, everyone thinks you're a monster!"

But I could see in the guy's eyes that he didn't buy what Rainbow Dash was selling. There was no convincing him—no costume was this perfect. So I stuck out my tongue and winked at him, turned, and walked toward the entrance of Mr. Pants and Mrs. Velvet's firm.

She followed me inside, and I waited for the door to close before turning and kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you for trying, but did you see his eyes? He really believed I am a monster," I said. "Everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Mine is that he's wrong, and you can only be a monster on the inside. A princess taught me that."

Her kiss on my cheek was worth so much to me I couldn't hold back a chirp of delight.

I turned, and with my family at my back, walked the short hall to the reception room. The young man was still at the desk, and he looked up and smiled when he saw me.

I started, wondering how he knew it was me. The last time he'd seen me I was, well, human. Now I was not. The answer came quickly—Twilight Velvet. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you want backup? Is this something you'd even need it for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

I laughed, a short, happy expression that was accompanied by a chirp. The young man at the counter twitched a little at the (to him) odd sound.

"I'll be fine. I'm just picking up some paperwork, and asking Mr. Pants' advice on some things. They're on our side, Rainbow."

Sparing a kiss for Rainbow's cheek, and for the cheeks of Byte and 'Bee, I followed my memory to Mr. Pants' office.

Fancy Pants was, as every time I'd seen him, dressed impeccably in a custom-made suit. The fit was perfect, his tie done expertly into a Windsor knot, and his shirt looked pressed and pristine white.

"I promise to once I have my boutique. You will promise to come in and let me make something for you?"

I sat down and watched him take in my look. Critical eyes slipped from my horn, to my eyes, and then to my arms. NotABug hadn't dressed me to hide a single thing. If Mr. Pants made any judgments about my body, he didn't show them.

A change came over the man. The joviality of a social interaction fled before the man's professional mask.

"Someone filed an anti-compete complaint the moment the paperwork was filed. I had it quashed by talking to one of the clerks in the council offices, but mark my words, Rarity, you have someone who wants you to fail.

"As for the paperwork, here you are. You are now the operator of Rarity's Fine Clothes, trading as Carousel Boutique. Did you purchase the location Miss Bug mentioned?"

—Just for legal documents. You're going to need to be recognized as a citizen if you want to pursue a career in legal studies,— I sent.

I had the absolute delight in seeing—just a moment later—Fancy Pants' eyes widen. NotABug had obviously sent him the email with the information on the deed and the property. I waited for him to recover his shock.

"Twilight said you had a way with machines, but I'd love to know how you did that," Fancy Pants said, then cleared his throat. "But that's for another time. I'll send you the paperwork to transfer the deed into your company's assets. Being the owner, you can start preparing the location immediately. If you need to talk to shopfitters, please see Olive in reception."

"And nephew. Can you believe the poor boy wants to attend law school? Well, I told him if he takes a year off before college and works here, I'll pay his fees. He's learning and proving to me that he's worth the investment. Was there anything else I could help you with?"

NotABug pushed gently, to which I gave ground. The slight adjustment from my seated posture to hers was always a little odd, but I was used to the relaxed feeling of not needing to be in control.

"Twilight said to expect this. I believe I'm talking to Miss Bug?" Fancy Pants asked.

"My name's NotABug," NotABug said, and I could hear an edge in her voice. "But you can call me Miss Bug if it's easier. I'd like to start a managed fund for Rarity, our children, and our friends. I'll also be speaking to Mrs. Velvet regarding an application for citizenship."

The words floored me. I had several whole seconds of shock at the news NotABug had just served up before I managed to put words in order.

—Just now. It's not just me anymore. I have to think of Byte, 'Bee, you, Rainbow, and any more nymphs we have, or friends that align themselves with us. We're building a family, but I want to build a community. To do that I need to be able to represent myself.—

More shock, but now intense pride mixed into the emotions suffusing me too. I wanted to chirp loud enough to deafen people miles away. I did chirp, a lot, but I kept it to ChirpNet.

—I'm proud of you, darling. I really am. I guess your lunch with Mrs. Velvet will be work related?— I asked.

—Rainbow said not to bother you while you're in there, but I wanted to send hugs and chirps!— Byte sent.

"You know, I believe you're going to make her day with that. I'll leave it to you to discuss that with her—she handles the law court side of the partnership, I just throw paperwork at City Hall until they do exactly what I want. The fund could be started and set in motion with Rarity's name on everything, then she can sign control to you once Twilight has things in order. Would that suit?" Fancy Pants asked.

—You're going to get citizenship? But aren't you already a citizen because you were born here?— Rainbow Dash sent.

I had to give Rainbow credit, she was watching chat speed past faster than a normal human could blink, and she was managing to be only a second or so behind.

"Very well then. I'll draw up the papers for that and let you know where to send the start-up funds," Fancy Pants said.

"My dear, you'll have your chance to thank me fully when you receive my invoice," Fancy Pants said with a laugh to cap it off.

NotABug shook hands and turned for the door. While she walked out into the reception room, she let out a little chirp of relief in my head.

—Yes, but like I said, people are strange for me to deal with in person. I just don't understand all these social rules. There needs to be a manual,— NotABug sent to me.

—Darling, there's three people who I'm sure you can figure out how to interact with,— I sent, along with a snapshot of her eyes seeing Rainbow, Byte, and 'Bee.

I got happy and excited chirps in reply. NotABug walked forward into Rainbow's arms.

—I think I'll work on my programming while you handle things. Are you going to be okay?— I asked.

—Always, darling. I'm just a chirp away,— I sent. —Now, where was that client code…—

I dropped back into the server and accessed the code repository NotABug had set up. ChirpNet was there with the core part as well as the interfaces and platform specific code. I narrowed in on the network stack.

There was already a patch written for the server that contained the code to integrate TOR.

NotABug had done well to integrate it, but I wanted to get a little faster on the client side. Going to the project site, I downloaded the source code to see what I could do about that, which got me into reading the license that came with it.

I had to make the library of any code I produced freely available? Well that was fine. Let everyone have a fast, lighter-weight version. So I set about attacking the code itself, paring down what was and wasn't needed. I only had a select number of ports, which meant I could remove the requirement for a wide connection.

—Rarity, I did it. I quit after I had a meeting with Suri and I can feel whatever she did to me. Is your friend free? I want this gone!—

Coco Pommel sent.

The time surprised me. Programming seemed to be a wonderful way to throw hours away. I saved what I was working on and surfaced enough to look at what NotABug was doing.

We were in a bank, and Fleur dis Lee was looking over some papers with a tight smile on her face. I didn't know for sure what had triggered that look, but I could assume it was a banker just finding a lot of money in their customer's accounts and signing them up to take little bits of it over time.

—Coco just sent a text. She quit work and has Suri's thing on her again,— I sent.

—I saw. We can go to Twilight Sparkle's lab next. Would you mind texting her back?— NotABug asked.

—If it's too much, just say the word and I will remove it, but if you want to help us work out what it is, meet us here,— I sent to Coco, along with Twilight's home address.

"We have everything wrapped up here, Rarity. I'll have that terminal shipped out to you as quick as I can. If you have any more financial needs, don't hesitate to call me," Fleur dis Lee said.

NotABug smoothly took an offered business card and tucked it back into her purse. She also claimed a lighter folder that sat on our side of the desk in Fleur's office.

While NotABug finished up the details with Fleur, I disengaged myself from the server and set about contacting Twilight Sparkle.

—Coco's on her way over, Twilight. I'm coming too. See you shortly.—

I turned my attention back to the world NotABug was traversing and hugged her digitally.

—Sorry I put this on you. Apparently I get a little carried away when writing code,— I sent.

—You also chirp a lot while doing it. The cuteness almost makes up for having to deal with the world in your hooves,— NotABug sent.

I gently nudged at NotABug. She let out the greatest burst of relieved chirping I'd heard yet, and slipped around me into a tight hug while I sorted out my legs into walking again. What surprised me more was that NotABug had been shapechanged while at the bank, and now that I was in control again my own magic had taken up the burden.

—I could give you all kinds of directions that would make sense to someone in the real world, or I could do this,— NotABug sent.

An attachment with the message held a map showing exactly where my car was. I didn't exactly run, but I made quick time to the parking space and climbed into my car, turned it on, and prepared to drive in a very fluid and practiced move.

—What? Now?! Oh gosh. Okay, getting ready for you,— Twilight Sparkle sent.

—We need to update her to ChirpNet,— I sent. —Oh! Where's Rainbow and the nymphs?—

I wasn't angry at them—who could ever be angry at the darlings—but I also wanted to know they were all okay.

—Sorryhadtospeedupabit to get this done. At the mall, picking things up for NotABug,— Rainbow Dash sent. —Stupid space bar.—

That she'd taken the effort to type properly, even missing space a few times, warmed my heart. That she'd done so without using the spellcheck was utterly amazing. I sent back some happy chirping.

—Thank you, darling. Sorry I've been quiet most of the day, I've been working on a few projects,— I sent, then added privately. —Perhaps we could snuggle a little later?—

I expected there to be a significant delay before Rainbow replied, but I guess she was probably using her speed to keep up.

—Give me an hour. If I can't wrap this up before then, I'll let you know,— I sent to Rainbow Dash.

This was, apparently, now a thing. A date. Despite all the mixups getting to this point in time, or perhaps because of them, I felt a little giddy at the promise of a date. I had a date. A bounce filled my step as I walked the rest of the way back to my car.

"Rarity! I need to talk. I think she hit me with a stronger version of whatever it was," Coco Pommel said.

At least Twilight would be happy to hear that. I didn't relish having to suck the nasty emotion from her again, but there was one thing I could use to distract Coco.

The gasp I heard through the hands-free of Coco's phone was enough for me for the moment, but I wanted to see her face when I gave it to her.

"Please do. I need something to get me through whatever your friend wants to do. Even standing still like this is just—" Coco Pommel said but broke off into incoherent yelling at another car.

Given Coco's state, I had to wonder how the rest of the workers at Polomare were handling Suri's latest trick.

"It's a sundress. Light and perfect for spring. My daughter helped me make it…" I said.

I kept up a slow, even description of the work I'd put into her dress while I raced home as quickly as I could. Apparently beating Rainbow Dash, I grabbed the dress and left again.

"I'm at your friend's house. It seems really quiet here. What did you say she does again?" Coco Pommel asked.

"She works for the university, researching magic of all things. It's why we're going to her," I said.

As I turned into Twilight's street, I could see Coco sitting in her car, fingers clamped to the steering wheel.

Her head jerked up and a smile broke through the thin-lipped frown she'd been wearing. Good. I pulled in behind her car and climbed out. A breeze caught in my silken hair as I took a deep breath, then Coco practically fell against me. I hung the call up.

I held Coco as she squeezed against me, cried, and buried her head against my neck. We stayed there and hugged in near silence for two-hundred and twenty-five thousand and twelve milliseconds. Coco didn't stop crying.

At her nod, I used my magic to lift the dress out of the car and hold it up for her to look at. Her tears finally ceased.

Coco took the dress from my magic and held it up against herself. Her business outfit seemed a dark mockery of what both our jobs had been about, while the dress was fashion at its most pure. Vain? Moi?

"Come on. Twilight should be here already. I'm sure she has a room you can change in," I said.

Leading the way, I spared a brief moment to make sure my car was locked as we neared Twilight's door.

—Twilight! We're here,— I sent to Twilight.

I needn't have bothered with the message. As soon as we reached the front door it opened to reveal a—to borrow one of Pinkie Pie's words—nervouscited scientist.

"Come in, come in," Twilight Sparkle said. "We'll get this done as quick as I can."

"Coco, this is Twilight. Twilight, Coco. She needs a room to change in, Twilight," I said.

The moment the front door closed behind us I pictured myself—my changeling self—and pushed some of my power. The rush of flames was not just expected, it was welcome. I lost a few inches in height but regained a lot of confidence.

Twilight was staring at me in absolute shock. Oh, right, she hadn't seen me do this trick yet.

"R-Right! You can get changed in there," Twilight Sparkle said and gestured to a room. "Then we can get these tests done so you can—You know what? I want to be scanning while you do whatever you do."

I narrowed my eyes and gave Twilight an appraising look. She didn't look like she were evading or stalling or any other -ing.

"If we get this done quickly, I might even let you scan while I shapechange," I said.

I doubt there was another thing that could have gotten Twilight quite as excited as that. I smiled and tried to ignore her little squeal of excitement as she raced down the hall and descended to the basement.

Waiting by the door Coco had entered, I sent a series of happy chirps to Byte and 'Bee, then got another batch in reply. We kept it up until Coco opened the door.

Now dressed in the light outfit, I realized how perfectly her hair matched the pale pink flowers that adorned the outfit. I saved off a picture using one of my eyes, and sent it to Coco. Her phone must have still been in her car, however.

She paused for just long enough that I could capture the photo, then Coco launched herself into another hug. This time, without the complication of her tears and frown, I was a lot more embarrassed about the embrace. But Coco wasn't Rainbow. Not by a long shot. Where Rainbow was tall, broad-shouldered, and strong, Coco was—now—the same height as me, slim built, and she felt like a woman. I was probably doing Rainbow a disservice, but I couldn't help the way things felt.

Coco just nodded against me. She felt small, despite our relative sizes being equivalent. A strong protective instinct flared, and all the awkwardness of the hug left.

I led Coco down to Twilight's laboratory, feeling every bit like a mother bear protecting her young. Coco was fighting the anger, but I could still see it tighten every now and again, and when it did, the rest of her emotions gained a red tint.

"Oh! Are you ready to begin?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Right. Stupid question. Stand over here, please."

"Twilight," I said to get her attention. "Does she have to disrobe? I can assure you the part of her that the magic is around is outside her body."

Given the look of panic on Coco's face, Twilight showed an uncharacteristic amount of empathy and nodded.

"We'll try with clothes first. If I get a good enough reading, we can forego the rest," Twilight Sparkle said.

Coco graced me with a smile, and it hit me just how timid she'd become. This wasn't the Coco Pommel I knew. I focused my attention on Coco and could see the red bands had tightened.

A deep, bass hum sounded from one of the computer cabinets, and I watched as a dim purple light radiated off one of the panels. It got brighter and brighter before I had to close my eyes against a flash, then it went dark.

"I got it! It's just like you said. Wow that looks tight. Uh, another? Hold on, it's charging!" Twilight Sparkle said, her voice getting faster and more excited the longer she spoke.

A purple glow from Twilight caused me to glance toward her and see she was using her magic on the back of the machine. The light from one of the panels started again, growing brighter faster this time. As it reached full intensity, I leaned toward Coco and bit down on the coil of red.

Like a live wire, the red bit back at me. I actually may have taken some of my own annoyance out on the thing and snarled, hissed, and ripped it free. I barely noticed the flickering purple light that seemed to overwhelm everything but my target. I went in for another bite and pulled more of it from Coco.

Again and again I attacked it, and I felt myself going into a frenzy. This nasty thing was hurting someone I wanted to protect, and I was having none of it. When the last shred of the coil had been ripped free, and I’d stomped on it, I sniffed at Coco for nearly a good ten seconds.

My name dragged me back to reality. I blinked away the state I'd fallen into and looked at Coco. She had none of the red left coiled around her, but I could see an indent in her aura where it had been. I hoped it wasn’t permanent. A sinking feeling inside threatened to drown me.

The sounds, sights, and smells of the rest of the world intruded. I could hear Twilight muttering something over and over, and there was a distinct smell of ozone coming from her machine.

"Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my—Rarity! That was amazing!" Twilight Sparkle said. "Look at these scans! I've never used so much magic before!"

Despite the crimp in Coco's aura, she looked herself. She stood straighter and no longer gave off an air of helplessness.

"Alive. I'm not going back there for a second try. Did your friend get her measurements?" Coco Pommel asked.

We both turned to look at Twilight, who was bent over staring at her screen with rapt attention. We walked over to look and I chirped with delight. She was looking at a perfect picture of exactly what had been wrapped around Coco.

"The color's wrong," I said. "It was more red, with angrier little highlights here, and here."

I punctuated my words by gesturing at the screen. To my delight, Twilight adjusted the display until it matched my vision perfectly.

"There. That's exactly right. Look at these blues and soft whites. Those are Coco's normal colors. Leadership, integrity, calm," I said.

"Yes and no. That would be your baseline. Your current emotion overlays that like a cloud—normally. With this wrapped around you, your own emotions had no chance," I said.

A touch of her fingers and a click of the mouse later, the picture played forward in slow, jerky steps. I reached out a hand and touched Twilight's.

"Darling, hold on a second. Can you let me onto your wifi and give me access to this?" I asked.

"Still Spike1203," I said. "Darling, anyone could guess these. You're using your pet's name and your birthday!"

While I spoke, I searched her network and found the desktop machine. Remote assistance request sent, I grinned as a little popup appeared.

The moment she clicked yes, I began working. Building the missing frames wasn't hard, and there were programs I found to do the work. I loaded one on her computer and began processing the series of admittedly huge still images into a flowing video.

"It's a little complicated. Magic, a mobile phone, and a very clever friend who showed me a lot of tricks," I said.

I chirped at NotABug, a surge of the joy I felt at being able to do the things she'd showed me. Of course, I got a happy chirp back.

Twilight's computer system proved quite up to the task of processing the images, and soon the program output a single video file. I brought it up full-screen and played it.

The video was a composite of a still camera with the sensors' data overlaid upon it. All three of us watched as I literally turned into a savage beast. Snapping, snarling, and biting at the angry red coil around Coco.

"It got to me," I said. "The anger, I mean. It was cowing Coco to the point where she just wasn't herself, but it tried to fight against me the only way it knew how."

"I guess it was different this time. At first it made me angry, too, but the constant anger felt like a cage around me," Coco Pommel said. "It flipped around while I was sitting in my car. I tried to fight against the anger, a-and I think it attacked my fight."

"That's why I wanted it off you, Darling. I didn't want to risk it doing ongoing harm, and I could see you were suffering," I said.

Twilight started the video playing again. The most curious thing was that there was each time I savaged at the spiral around Coco, a green shadow of my own head seemed to reach forward and sink its fangs into the spiral. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and come up with it being my metaphysical self.

The video paused on the last frame, which was me sniffing over Coco for more of the spiral. I looked positively monstrous, and it was the first time I truly looked at myself as that man Rainbow had tried to deflect saw me. But it wasn't me. The snarl, the hunger—I was a well-fed bug, there was no doubt about that, which left only one source for that attack of the vapors.

"I think so. It might be that you swallowed a little of it by mistake. How do you feel now?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

—It seems Suri has a new trick, or I just swallowed a little something I shouldn't. I'm fine now,— I sent.

—Sunset said she'd swing by tomorrow. All we need to do is get her to touch Suri and she can find out what's going on. Oh! That reminds me, time to install ChirpNet on a few more systems,— I sent.

Twilight's computer was easy, her phone less so. I sent a text message with details of where to get it to her, then considered and sent it to the rest of my friends.

"Install it, darling, it's the latest thing for chatting," I said. "NotABug wrote most of it, though I've been working on a security update to make it run completely over TOR."

I let out the most expressive sigh I could, chirped in exasperation, and rolled my eyes all at the same time. Since I'd taken up programming, I'd delved into a world few ever explored. That world brought with it knowledge and ideas that others just don't share with me. Nonetheless, I could share it with them.

"But," Twilight Sparkle said. "I lose my phone, like, all the time. If it's harder to find, it'll be even worse."

"I think she means online," Coco Pommel said. "Okay, I have it installed. Does it work like texts?"

—I think she's talking to her friends. Mom, we're jumping into our own chat,— Byte sent.

—Alright, dear, just keep an eye on this one,— I sent along with a little chirp.

"Who are these others talking?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I don't think I've met them before."

I was a few milliseconds into writing a reply before I sighed and set my mouth in motion.

Twilight Sparkle, using my wonderful new vocabulary, seg-faulted. She stared at me blankly for nearly ten seconds before her jaw started to bob up and down. Finally, Twilight screwed her eyes up and shook her head—a hard-reboot if ever I saw one.

The best path to take with Twilight, or so I'd found, was direct. She might lock up and stare at the wall for a few moments, but her brain was incredibly quick and able to make large leaps of logic. So I told her.

"When I get too much love magic inside me I feel compelled to shove it into some technology. It turns into an egg, and a day or so later a new nymph hatches," I said.

—Byte, do you think you could step through the internet and out from Twilight's computer screen?— I asked Byte.

—Uh, give me a second,— Byte sent to me. —Can you get her to post a message?—

Real world was, as my daughters had opined, horribly slow. Twilight had to absorb what I'd said, and after that, she had to start processing what I'd asked and rank it for relevancy, then she—Cheating, I re-opened my connection to her computer and sent a quick message.

By the time she'd screamed, and by the time she'd asked the question, Byte was already completely exited from her monitor. She stepped carefully clear of the keyboard before looking around the room.

—They’re here with me. I'll send them home in a moment,— I sent. —Sorry I didn't warn you.—

Coco was faster than I thought she'd be. She reached out to 'Bee and scooped her up.

It took Coco nearly two whole seconds to get 'Bee chirping, but the sound made me tingle happily all over and chirp in reply. Twilight, on the other hand, looked at Byte and adjusted her glasses.

—Twilight's very smart, but she takes a little bit to adjust to strange things. Also, if you give her a problem that is confusing, she'll be completely out of it until you give her the answer.—

"Oh! I was trying to figure out if Rarity was—You know what? Never mind. How are you, Byte?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I'm great! I was just playing games with 'Bee until Auntie Sweetie arrived. She's going to take care of us tonight so our mommies can go out on a date!" Byte said.

—Darling, Byte just spilled the beans. I love you so much right now. I expected something naughty, but a date?— I asked Rainbow.

—It wasn't really a surprise, but I did want to do something special. How's your friend?— Rainbow Dash asked.

Her speed, it seemed, was improving. I dreaded to think of the damage she was likely doing to her poor phone. Then it occurred to me that getting another wasn't exactly complicated.

—She's okay, now. Tomorrow we're going to get to the bottom of this. If Suri is the source of this, I'm going to have words with her. Very. Terse. Words,— I sent to Rainbow.

—You know, I'm actually going to feel sorry for her. Maybe… See you in an hour.—

I sent back a bunch of Xs and Os, as well as a good chirping for good measure. A stray thought hit me: I had no idea how chirps worked outside of direct interfaces.

Regaining my focus, I realized that Twilight was about to play back the video of her data.

—I really like Coco. She's nice,— Bumblebee sent accompanied by a lot of chirping.

I spared a glance to 'Bee. She was on her back cradled in Coco's arm, while Coco rubbed her belly. There was no trace of the red in Coco's aura still, and the squeeze marks were fading. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"N-Not today. I think I burned out the primary and secondary transducers with my magic. It'll take some time to repair and—" Twilight Sparkle said.

"'Bee can help—she's really good with machines. What's the problem?" Byte asked.

Twilight turned her head to look at 'Bee, snuggled on her back in Coco's arms and getting the belly-rub to end all belly-rubs.

"W-Well, uh, the transducers are part of a magic-sensing array. They have a core of titanium that I enchanted to—" Twilight Sparkle said.

'Bee not only stopped chirping, she tilted her head back and looked at us over the crook of Coco's elbow. It was about the most adorable thing I'd seen from her yet.

"… To resonate in time with the flux field and actuate an energized coil within another coil to induce current. I read your book. What broke?" Bumblebee asked.

Sometimes, when you were talking about the right topic, Twilight Sparkle would just click. She reached into the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a screwdriver set.

—Actually, 'Bee may be a while. I think she just discovered a new friend,— I sent.

—Is there a button to make those cute chirp sounds? Anyway. She's got some time. Sweetie said they can come home any time they want, but I think we need a curfew. Oh, and Sweetie said she has her latest work to show them,— Rainbow Dash sent.

—We forgot to put key-codes for chirps! This needs to be fixed!— NotABug sent.

Twilight was just getting to her feet and approaching the machine that she'd used to scan Coco and I, while 'Bee was struggling to jump down from Coco's arms—still chirping of course.

—I don't think I can fix it. One of the transducers has a critical flaw and needs replacement. But I could get the secondary working well enough that it could hold for one or two shots. But then it'd break that one, too,— Bumblebee sent.

"I'm pretty sure the main transducer is completely broken. The secondary might be okay, I'd have to test that more with—" Twilight Sparkle said and shot a jolt of magic into the machine.

"It wasn't before you used your magic on it. You should have read my message," Bumblebee said.

'Bee's tone was clearly accusatory. It was a tough call for me to make, but I think it's time for me to put on my mommy pants.

"'Bee!" I said. "Young nymph, you will not use that tone of voice. This is Twilight's machine. She is letting you help her fix it. Now, what do you say?"

Staring up at me with shock in her big blue eyes, 'Bee looked on the verge of tears. Drat, I'd have to stand up to those kinds of looks if I had any hope of maintaining my authority stance.

I'd never heard her or Byte stammer before. I was on the verge of surrendering my attempt at being stern and pick her up, when Twilight saved me from the need by scooping 'Bee up.

"Hey. It's okay. But next time tell me if I'm about to break something, okay?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I k-keep forgetting you can't hear ChirpNet. Why doesn't everyone just get a phone put in them like Mommy?" Bumblebee asked.

That my lesson in courtesy turned into a positive made me feel a warm tickle inside. Princess Twilight was the princess of friendship, after all, so her human doppelganger showing similar qualities shouldn't have been surprising.

"Might I suggest a bluetooth earpiece? With ChirpNet on your phone, you can give 'Bee access to it so she can talk to you directly. It's still slow, but it means you can keep a direct line of communication together," I said.

'Bee let out an excited chirp, and I could actually feel her accessing information on the internet through me. Like NotABug, it came through as chirping in my head, but it wasn't as bad as when Byte had first done it.

What was curious was how she was connecting to me. It felt like some kind of direct link—like Wi-Fi—but neither phone showed as having more than each other in their little daisy chain. Without an extra device, I had no way of actually scanning, so I put that on a growing list of things to do when I have some time.

I looked hard at Coco, and focused on her aura. The tight band was gone, but I looked further. There were still signs of the squeezing it had been doing, but even that was almost gone. I thought back to what I'd seen the first time I'd removed the band, and I mentally compared the two—she had nothing else out of the ordinary.

"No, darling, the opposite. I was just making sure there was none of Suri's mess left on you. You're all clear," I said.

Coco's features shifted to worried. She looked down at her hands and I could see a blush in her cheeks.

"I know. Coco, she'd completely messed with your emotions. You were trapped in them and they wouldn't let go. I did what you needed then and said what you needed to hear. How do you feel now?" I asked.

"Like myself. It was surreal. No matter what I did, I couldn't find my strength. I'm just glad I was out of there before that side of things started affecting me."

"What?" Coco Pommel asked. "Oh, yes. I have some money put aside until I find another job. I wasn't going to just walk out and live on the street."

—Offer her a job. I can afford her salary, and ChirpNet needs someone to be the CEO.—

—Yes. There's all kinds of things I don't want to have to worry about. She would be perfect. I'm getting emails asking if the company will be publicly traded, or if it has insurance, or a million other things.—

—We need an office for this,— I sent NotABug. —We need a parent company for all of us, and then the various smaller companies under it.—

She had me. Without asking Mr. Pants to find someone—and it would be need to be someone I trusted implicitly—Coco was the best choice.

Coco looked at me with surprise evident. I could practically hear the gears working in her head as she tried to work out what I was saying.

"Coco, I'm not joking, and I can assure you that I—we can afford your salary. NotABug has started a business project, and I have my own, but we want it to all be controlled, business wise, by a parent corporation," I said. "I have two children right now who are on the verge of shaking the world with their inventiveness. There's going to be more, Coco."

"You're serious?" Coco Pommel asked. "I mean really serious. I'm going to ask you for a lot of money to do this, and there won't be any friendly negotiation. If you put me in charge of this corporation, you are going to hand the reins to me."

"I'll be holding stock, so you will be reporting to me at the very least. How much do you want?"

Coco looked at me with more cold focus than in all the time I'd known her. Her eyes practically bored into me.

I relaxed and nudged myself away from control. Chirping in surprise, NotABug took over and was left gazing back at Coco.

"R-Rarity? You're confusing me. If this is a joke, it's the wrong time to make it."

"It's not a joke," Twilight Sparkle said. "There's a distinct entity that is called NotABug living in her head. They were formerly purely digital in nature, but have adapted amazingly to living in the real world."

—Point taken. But still, I don't like dealing with the real world. I can, of course, and usually pretend to be you when I have to.—

—Darling, none of us enjoy the real world. People enjoy their interactions with each other and the things they create. The real world can be horrible and depressing. The real world was Polomare.—

—I never thought of it like that. I love being with Rainbow, and our nymphs, but the rest of the world is a bit bleh. Is that the right word? With all these security upgrades I can't track all the chats anymore, so I can't learn language as fast.—

—It's for the best, darling. What would have happened if Windigo had hacked into it?—

Concerned chirping echoed through my head. In response I hugged NotABug and chirped comfortingly to her.

Coco looked confused at first, but it seemed like the light came on after a moment.

"Two of us did. I started talking to Rarity, but then Windigo found my servers and chased me. There was nowhere else to go," NotABug said.

Her sad, audible chirping stung me to my core. I hugged her tighter and chirped comfortingly as much as I could.

"It hasn't been easy, but Rarity wouldn't let me try to get out for fear it might hurt me. I just wish I could be less of a burden on—" NotABug said.

—You are not a burden! Without you, without us, I wouldn't be about to live my dream. You have only brought wonderful things, NotABug. I wouldn't have found the courage to let Rainbow into my heart, I wouldn't have Byte and 'Bee, and I wouldn't have you,— I sent.

NotABug squeezed me back in our digital hug, and her chirping sounded much more positive. We must have spent nearly two seconds wrapped like that, quietly chirping to each other.

"She is very insistent that I'm not a burden, but that doesn't mean I want to stop working hard. ChirpNet has nearly three million worldwide users, and the number is growing faster and faster. I can write all the code I like, but if I don't know business, the system can't grow.

"Our nymphs, our children, are smart and ready to take on the world right from their eggs, but I want a safety net to catch them if they fall. We had Byte and 'Bee in the span of three days, and there's a pair of twins on the way.

I'd never seen Coco so focused on something. She didn't seem fazed in the slightest at Byte's impassioned requests, but her eyes did flicker at the talk of millions of users.

"I'll take stock as payment," Coco Pommel said. "But I'm going to need something to live—"

Coco looked surprised by the request, and I couldn't blame her. Her hand reached for a handbag that should have been at her side.

"I'll have to get back to you with that. How about you deduct the initial payment from the value of the stocks I would earn after a year?"

"If you don't do well, you don't get paid. Send me a message on ChirpNet when you find your account details."

—I like her even more. She looks hungry, like a predator, but she's a nice predator!— NotABug sent to me.

A wave of tiredness hit me, and with it came a gnawing hunger. I know I must have chirped in distress because I was caught back up in a hug by NotABug, and it was her turn to chirp comfortingly.

Her question surprised me not just in how quick it came, but that she was watching her phone.

"That was my plan, but it still gives me money to live off if this doesn't work out. So pending your payment, I'm going to need all the details you have, and what your plans are moving forward. We'll have a meeting on Mond—" Coco Pommel said.

Loud knocking from upstairs interrupted the conversation. I didn't need to see who it was, I could feel Rainbow Dash.

NotABug didn't need to nudge me to the fore, I was already moving there myself. We changed position and I started running. The stairs were easy to take three at a time with my powerful legs, so I shot to the top and looked down the hallway at the front door.

Her yell from outside galvanized me into action. My hooves slid for a moment as I ran on the hardwood floor, but then I used my arms to push myself forward—shoving at the door frame. I didn't run as fast as Rainbow could, but I only took a scant few seconds to reach the front door and turn the locks.

With just a door between us, I could already taste Rainbow's love, and when it opened I felt her arms close around me. She shuddered, and her belly pressed tight to my own. Her love seemed infinite normally, but now I gulped a noticeable chunk down to fill the void that was my hunger.

"R-Rarity. Not that I'm complainin', but warn me if you're gonna do that again," Rainbow Dash said. In a lower voice and right in my ear, she said, "I almost made a scene."

I gasped and jerked back. Sated, I could look at Rainbow without seeing a walking drumstick. She looked turned on—flush cheeks, her chest heaving, and the corners of her lips wouldn't stop curling upward.

The time shocked me only a little. I knew it had taken time to rip all the coil off Coco, and it had taken time to recover, and then 'Bee and Twilight had done some work, and then… For being measured in such minuscule amounts, time really does fly.

"Sorry, darling. I've never been that hungry before. It was—I could feel it gnawing at my insides. Thank you," I said.

Leaning against Rainbow Dash, it was easy to just surrender to her grip and let her hold me. I sighed into her strong body and nibbled lightly at her love. I wanted to just go home and sleep, but she'd planned something for us, and I wouldn't turn that down.

"Home. I have some surprises planned. Sweetie is taking the girls when they're done here. Now all I need to do is—" Rainbow Dash said.

I squealed in excitement as Rainbow literally scooped me off my feet. My shout turned to laughter, and I couldn't help but kick my legs.

—Girls, we're going. Are you coming with us? Sweetie Belle is waiting for you,— I sent.

I got a flood of excited chirping from Byte which seemed to spill over to 'Bee as well, and both came running down the hall moments later. Twilight and Coco followed the pair at a slower pace, reaching the top of the basement stairs as Byte and 'Bee started bouncing around Rainbow's legs.

Crouching down, she didn't waver for a moment under my weight, nor when Byte and 'Bee jumped onto my belly too.

"Removing what Suri did just took a bit much out of me. I'm better now, and will be better after some rest," I said.

"And now I'm taking her away. Rarity can come out to play tomorrow," Rainbow Dash said.

I got a moment of seeing surprised and happy smiles on Coco and Twilight's faces before Rainbow Dash turned me away from them and started off toward my car. I realized, looking up at Rainbow as I was, that I couldn't see her ear. I'd been so focused on feeding that I hadn't noticed she'd ponied up.

A blue wing flared out over Rainbow's shoulder, and I had to assume its opposite was on the other side.

It was less than ten seconds, and I suspected most of the time was spent closing the front door. I hope she closed the front door. It took me a few milliseconds to remember I could check for myself. Opening up my ChirpNet link to the house, I checked around the exterior cameras, and then swapped to an internal one.

—On our way. Sorry for holding you up, but I needed a snack,— I sent to Sweetie Belle.

I watched her head jerk up in surprise after reading the message on her phone. Her thumbs darted over the screen as she typed—meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was lifting me into the passenger seat of my car.

Sending the chirpiest response I could to NotABug, I hugged Byte and 'Bee in my lap.

As soon as Rainbow sat in the driver's seat, I realized what was about to happen. I pulled my seat belt on and turned to make sure our nymphs had theirs.

Her hand reached for an ignition switch that wasn't there, and I heard her mutter about tiny cars.

"Just thinking of things I need. Put your foot down, NotABug started it for you," I said.

"Put my foot down? Rarity, you know I love it when you talk dirty," Rainbow Dash said.

What followed was me holding on to my poor little car as tightly as I could, while our nymphs cheered Rainbow on from the back seat. I finally let go when she stopped the car in the driveway and NotABug turned it off.

"I would have been if we were getting here about five minutes from now," I said.

It wasn't that bad, of course. Rainbow was an aggressive driver, not a crazy one, and my car left her little opportunity to be able to do truly crazy things. I unbuckled my seat belt and reached to the door handle, but the door opened before I could.

Again Rainbow reached under my legs and behind my back to lift me free of the car.

"Finally!" Sweetie Belle said, bursting from the front door. "Are there two adorable girls who want to come with me?"

Byte shot past Rainbow at a dead-run—her hooves a blur, while 'Bee followed at a more cautious pace.

"Byte said you're my auntie. My name's Bumblebee, but you can call me 'Bee," Bumblebee said.

I watched from my perch in Rainbow's arms as Sweetie bent down and crouched as low as she could. She offered a hand to 'Bee.

Hearing 'Bee's voice rise in pitch with her excitement made me start to chirp out loud—I couldn't help it at how adorable she was.

"Well, I'm learning how to make robots, and I need some help with my latest one. I can't seem to get the leg actuators working fast enough and strong enough to do the trick."

—You darlings be good for Sweetie. She's in charge, you understand?— I asked.

"They were saying goodbye, and I made them promise to be good for Sweetie. So what have you got planned?" I asked.

True to her word, Rainbow carried me inside (managing to avoid damage to me or the house) and set me down on the couch. I sprawled like a cat but was surprised at the movement alarm warning me something was approaching the house.

The doorbell rang, and Rainbow rushed to answer it. She talked to whoever it was for a few moments before backing up.

A woman in a white robe walked in carrying what looked like some kind of table. Behind her, another woman came into my home. The first had the most exquisitely blue skin and pink hair that looked not just excellently maintained, but amazingly styled. The second looked like the twin of the first, only her hair and skin colors were the reverse.

"Yup," Rainbow Dash said. "Everything she wants, tonight, she gets. Pampered to within an inch of her life. You guys have the stuff I talked about?"

"Ms. Dash, we have everything under control," Pink Skin said. "Now, please, let us work."

Blue Skin unfolded the legs to reveal the thing she'd been carrying was a massage table. I turned to look at Rainbow, my excitement mounting.

I got a big, cheesy grin back from Rainbow. Pink Skin, however, had glided her way across the living room and was examining my hair.

"So soft, like silk. You must tell me how you maintain this," Pink Skin said. "Oh! Where are my manners? I am Aloe Vera, and my sister is Lotus Blossom. Please allow us to take care of you until the next surprise is due."

Her arms were as sure as Rainbow's had been. Aloe lifted me and set me on the table. Deft fingers reached for my shirt, and before I knew what was happening she was undressing me.

"I found their spa on the outskirts of town," Rainbow Dash said. "Their steam room is the literal best for relaxing after a hard day. But, without a doubt, it's their massage that they're known for. Just relax, Rares."

If it weren't for my recent changes—the mental ones—I probably would have had more of a problem with her divesting me of my clothing. As it was, I was a little uncomfortable, but Aloe never once seemed inclined to ogle or stare, she was doing her job.

Carefully placed hands guided me to turn and lay down on the table face first. My horn was a bit of a problem, but by turning my head a little to the side it too was accommodated.

I would have nodded if it wouldn’t have meant ripping up the edge of their table.

Then Lotus' hands started to work. They began at my shoulders, and though they were firm, her fingers seemed to melt my flesh with the way they worked my muscles around.

I sighed and felt tension worked from me. Lotus' hands were every bit as magical as Rainbow had described.

"It hasn't even fully begun," Lotus Blossom said. "When my sister gets back, she will take care of your hair. Would you like your tail washed as well?"

Trying to reply, my words were cut short as Lotus' fingers found a knot in the muscles that connected my wings to my back. All of a sudden I couldn't have even chirped. I had the consistency of cookie dough.

I could only groan and flick the extremity in question a little from side to side. I was wagging my tail and I couldn't have cared how silly or banal it was.

The sound of the front door closing heralded Aloe's return. I didn't peek through the cameras, not wanting to spoil the moment. While Lotus kept turning my muscles to jello, Aloe took hold of my hair and began working on it.

"This is amazing. It really is like strands of silk. How did you do this?" Aloe Vera asked.

"It grows like that," I said, my eyes now closed. "I don't dare do anything but rinse it for fear of damaging it."

"You were right to worry, but I have just the thing. There is a little damage to it, probably from warm water. You should only wash silk in cold water," Aloe Vera said.

I let them do their thing. Lotus' hands worked down my body, and Aloe soon switched to washing my tail. Almost all traces of the day's stress were massaged and washed away when the doorbell rang again.

I heard Rainbow's voice talking, and then the sound of feet coming inside. If I'd been concerned that I was naked and more people were coming in, I didn't have the strength to do more than twitch an eyebrow.

Opening my eyes, I saw Rainbow came into view with a silver platter covered in grapes. She either sat or knelt beside the table and lifted one of the grapes from the tray.

Then she fed me a peeled grape. There was only so much wooing I could take. I made a hungry-happy sound as I chewed the treat and swallowed it. Another replaced the first, and soon it was a flow of grapes. Then one drew back a moment before it could slip into my mouth.

"Got your attention again? They're almost done with your tail, and I think Lotus wants to try something with your wings. You good for more grapes, or would you like a kiss first?" Rainbow Dash asked.

She needn't have asked, as I pushed her to the fore just as Rainbow's lips connected. We both felt it, but NotABug was the one trying to nuzzle back.

I was surprised when NotABug nudged me forward. It was me kissing Rainbow back, hungry for more of her touch. The kiss was startling in how good it was, and I had to admit that I enjoyed it completely. By the time it ended, however, so had my massage.

"Rarity? Dang, it's hard to tell who's in control after that. Can you at least say something?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Then I let out a gasp as a bathrobe was spread over my back, and Rainbow carefully rolled me over and scooped me up. Getting carried might get old if it was all the time, but just tonight was special, and I appreciated it.

Rainbow carried me through to the kitchen where a young woman in a waiter's uniform stood beside the kitchen table. The woman selected two trays from the bench behind her, turned, and set one before the two set places.

From the moment Rainbow put me down in one of the chairs and took her place opposite me, the food seemed secondary. She looked over the table at me while her aura boiled with love. The meal was wonderful, but it was the company that made it divine.

—I want to stay in this moment forever, but sleep might be a better idea. I'd get a sore neck after a while,— I sent to NotABug.

Another push (from each of us), and I gave NotABug control. I know I started chirping, but what I wasn't sure of was if I stopped when I fell asleep.

A dream fluttered up and wrapped me in its warmth. I was in bed with Rainbow, and—My subconscious didn't make the connection, but the sliver of higher thought knew that the dream was derived from reality.

Queen Rarity

by Damaged

Chapter 16