Cosmos smiled as she looked around at the rest of the group. She could just make out Twilight looking at her in even more awe than she normally did, and if her eyes weren't deceiving her, blushing brightly at something. It took her a moment to realize what exactly what it was Twilight was looking at like that. It was not this form, though that was a part of her look. But that wasn't the main reason, as Cosmos began to blush herself, and shifted sheepishly.
Twilight had a rather grand view of Dazzle's and by extension hers, rather private parts. It was enough to make her hide her whole head behind her wings in embarrassment, even as the others chuckled.
Amber rolled her eyes. "That might be the first time she's ever done that."
"Not helping Amber," came Cosmos' muffled voice, one that made the others laugh even more.
Twilight was able to get her blush under control, as Dazzle moved into a less compromising position, one that took a part of her that Twilight would have rather never seen out of sight. As much as she was curious about dragon biology. But that could wait for later. She did however have several things to go on, just from her observation of everypony around her.
Aside from Blaze being the only male so far, all of the dragons shared much in common in their body structure. And even Blaze shared much in common with the others, only a few differences marking him out as male. The two that were the most different, were Onyx and Shimmer. While the obvious age difference between the two was apparent, and aside from the fact that they both shared the same body, split evenly between black and copper, something more made them stand out.
While the others were in a four-legged stance, Onyx and Shimmer were walking more like a human might. Or even as teenage dragons did, as Spike had told her. Twilight could see it might make sense for Onyx, but not for Shimmer. Maybe it had to do with the fact they were together like they were.
Twilight made a mental note to ask them about it later. And as she looked at the two more closely, she noticed something else, something that surprised her even more.
Shimmer and Onyx had breasts. Not very pronounced, but as she adjusted her position to get a better look, Twilight could see them clear as day. Almost human in a way, but at the same time, distinctly not human.
And of course, each dragon was a different color and having grown up hearing about them from her brother and his Dungeons & Dragons group, they were all leaning toward the Chromatic and Metallic dragon families. That none of them seemed set on destruction was a saving grace.
Not that she would ever say that out loud of course. One of them could just step on her by accident, and that would be that. Not a good way to die if she said so herself.
And from what she could see, and best guess at worst, the girls could not see where their feet were going unless they turned their entire set of heads downwards and looked at the ground.
Cosmos finally lowered her wings and cleared her throat, even as Dazzle giggled at her expense. "Now that we are on the right track, there is something that I have been wanting to share with you girls." She gave Amber an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Amber. But you and the others will have to wait just a little while longer."
Amber got the message as she steered Blister out of the way. The girls at her feet got the message as well and climbed up onto her back to watch what was to come. Ivy was kind enough to grab Twilight and pull her up with them. Twilight was unsteady as she tried to hang onto what little purchase she could find on the scales at her feet. It felt so weird being up like this, and especially on top of a dragon to boot. "What am I missing? What is going on?" She finally asked.
Ocean giggled. "This is something you have to see to believe. We could not explain it in a way that would do it justice. And we have the best view of it from up here."
Twilight looked up at Blister's head. She could just see part of Amber's mane from this angle. "Can Amber feel us up here like this?"
Diamond shrugged as she tapped the scales beneath their hooves. "I doubt it. Dragon scales are super tough. There is not much we could do to get through them. So, I doubt she is feeling anything from us."
Twilight nodded as she looked again at Cosmos, who was eyeing the rest of the girls with a knowing look, while they only looked confused.
Emerald finally asked what they were all thinking. "Share what with us?"
Cosmos giggled as she spread her wings. "Just come as close as you can to my body, and it will do the rest. I will explain it once Step 1 is complete."
Emerald and the girls all shared a confused look, but something told them that whatever this was, it was something worth looking into. With a little wiggling, Emerald slipped underneath one gold wing, while Crystal slipped in under the other. Celestial, Orchid, and Lilly brought their bodies as close as they could to Cosmos' and leaned their necks against hers.
That seemed to do the trick. As Crystal and Emerald did the same, all of their bodies began to glow brightly, so much so that no one could see what was going on around them, but they could feel the changes happening to their bodies. Not even the rest of the group could see what was going on, but all but Twilight knew what was happening inside that light. For Twilight, all she could see was that the light grew brighter and brighter with each passing second before it began to contract, but something had changed.
Where there had once been six bodies, there now seemed to be only one. One with six heads. But that could not be right. Could it? As the light finally faded away, Twilight felt her mouth drop in shock at what was revealed.
Where there once stood six dragons, now only one remained. But it was nothing like the ones before it. Six heads, one each for Crystal, Emerald, Celestial, Orchid, Lilly, and Cosmos, now sat all together on one body. In their chest, the Element of Magic remained.
The girls' heads still came from their previous dragon forms, but now, the only parts that remained that were still their own, were their own head, their dragon's head, all of who's neck connected to the same body.
The girls slowly opened their eyes, and their jaws promptly dropped in shock at what had happened to all of them. Only Cosmos and Dazzle seemed to be unsurprised at what had happened, though Dazzle herself was still surprised at what this form felt like.
Crystal was the first to ask what the girls were thinking. "What the hay happened to us? Why can't I feel anything below my neck?"
Cosmos chuckled. "This is what is called our Empress Dragon Form. It is something we can all share together, or we can do it in any number of combinations with just two of us." She smiled at Orchid and Water Lilly. "Or three if any of us wanted to do it with either of you."
That only explained so much to the girls, who shared confused looks. "So why can't I feel anything?" Celestial asked. "I can't feel a thing below Nimbus's neck. Is that normal?"
Cosmos nodded. "It is. Because we all share the same body now, we do not feel the same as we normally would. I am no different in that regard. I do not feel anything below Dazzle's neck."
That was some comfort for the others. But they still had a million questions, but one stuck out above the others for the moment. "How do we even move like this? If we can't feel anything?" Orchid asked.
Cosmos giggled. "That, my dear Orchid, is half the fun of being in this form. On top of being closer than we could ever be otherwise. It is not as simple as walking now. No. It is more than that."
Lilly gave her a flat look, one Onyx was happy to share with Dazzle. "So how do we make this work then?" Lilly asked.
Cosmos smiled at that. "Let us just worry about walking for now. Flying is a whole different story. As for how we do it." She closed her eyes, as did Dazzle. "Let your minds float freely. Let them join with each other. In this, we are one. We will never move if we cannot align ourselves."
The girls all shared a very confused look. What the hay did that mean? But something told them that Cosmos knew what she meant by this, so they did as she had, and closed their eyes, their dragons following suit, letting their minds float freely. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and then they felt it. Their minds began to connect with one another, still separate, still each their own, but now they could all feel what each other was feeling, was thinking. It was strange. Yet it felt right all at the same time.
At the center of it, was Cosmos. Her mind was something else altogether compared to the girls. Like their own yet alien and far beyond their own at the same time. Yet this was merely the smallest pinprick, the smallest light, of a far greater consciousness. Vast and unfathomable, something their minds could not even begin to wrap themselves around.
Putting all that aside for the moment, the girls and Cosmos concentrated on a simple notion: Walking. All of their minds bent to that one thing. Slowly, ever so slowly, first one leg, then another, took a step forward. Then came their back legs. It seemed to be as easy as walking normally was for them individually, but different at the same time.
Eventually, though, the group began to come to grips with what it meant to be walking as a group, and their gait began to steady and even out. Crystal felt like a newborn foal all over again. A feeling the others shared as well. It got a giggle out of all of them at the thought.
From Blister's back, the rest of the group watched with an amused look, only Twilight watching with a sense of awe. She could see now why ponies would base their idea of Tiamat on this form. While the girls had six heads instead of five, the basics beyond that were the same. "How long can they stay like this?" She asked as the combined form did a lap of the clearing.
Moon Petal giggled. "As long as they want too. There is no time limit on this form thankfully. It saved our flanks a few times back in the day."
Ocean nodded. "If they want to separate back into their own forms, they all have to be willing to do so. It will not work otherwise. We did that a few times."
Blister nodded, as Amber turned around and brought her head down to their level. "I remember we sometimes even just stayed in that form for a while. Just for the hay of it. Ponies just got used to seeing us like that after a while."
Twilight nodded, as she watched them do another lap. But she also noticed something else, something that made her ears wilt. "Do they not see-"
Thud!
Before she could finish the thought though, Cosmos and the girls steered right into a down tree, not seeing it until it was too late. Flailing wildly, but with nothing to grab onto to stop themselves, the girls tripped over their own four feet and were sent crashing to the ground, the loud boom sending birds and animals for miles around running for cover.
"... Never mind," Twilight squeaked, trying not to flinch at the flailing limbs that were the girls, trying to get themselves in order, but not having much success. She looked at the girls around her. "How are we going to explain all of this to Ponyville? They have had to have heard that. Canterlot probably heard it."
That brought everypony up short, as their eyes shrank, having not even thought about that it seemed. Blister looked up at Amber, seemingly asking her the same question. The filly could only shrug her head.