//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Do a little dance, make a little love // Story: Itinerant Kingdom // by Istaran //------------------------------// "You are a most interesting one, Mister Dirty Cheater Gimpy Sexslave Stud Muffin," the bizarre little 'alicorn' began. "It's just Stud Muffin now, thank you. Or Mr. Muffin. And I'm really surprised to be called interesting by one such as yourself," Stud countered. "Do you mind if I call you Stud?" it said in its feminine voice. "Yes. Yes, I really do," he answered. "A young foal like yourself should definitely stick to calling me Mr. Muffin." "Alright, Mr. Muffin. You can call me Alex," it said, switching to its more masculine voice. This was getting really weird. "Have you been listening to your diagnostic reports yet? Quite fascinating. I am curious what you plan to do about it." "Do about what?" he asked before focusing on what the kingsblood was trying to tell him. Mirage had named his subnet 'Viagra', which he hadn't found objectionable until it had integrated enough to let him know what the reference was. He wanted to change it, but couldn't think of anything suitable and ultimately decided to let her have her fun. Besides, in one sense it was kind of freeing that his marefriend was always making all these references to his sexuality. It really hit home that he was free to enjoy whatever pleasurable opportunities came his way. Except for creepy hermaphrodite alicorn hatchlings. He was willing to try out the bug-pony thing with Mirage later, but there was still a line he would definitely never cross. What Alex was trying to bring his attention to was the fact that Viagra had located a misshapen growth in his forehead, which it was able to identify as an improperly formed unicorn horn. Apparently the bone of his skull had hardened prematurely, and the bone of his horn hadn't formed properly, resulting in the fleshy bits of the organ being squished up inside his head instead of extending out like an antenna. Viagra reported that it could either repair the organ normally, restoring him to being a perfectly normal unicorn, albeit one that had to learn the very basics of horn magic at an advanced age.. or it could make some complex adjustments to get the horn working internally. In theory, this would allow him to use spells like any other unicorn, except that they would be unable to target anything outside himself. However, those spells would be much more efficient than they would for a regular unicorn, making them faster, easier, and in some cases more impactful. Neither option was strictly permanent, but with hours of painful reconstruction needed to switch, it was unlikely he would change his mind without dire reason. And with a little training he could probably learn some simple enhancements to look more like the earth pony he had always identified himself as. And being an 'earth pony' with a bit of surprise magic in reserve felt more.. in place with his new extended family than being just another unicorn.. especially one so painfully aware of how poorly he compared to Midnight Oil's talents. "Good choice!" Alex said, the moment Stud had decided on a path. Was the little hatchling reading his mind somehow? "Yes, well, actually Viagra is reading your mind and I am chatting with him. Oh, don't forget if you want a stockier build you don't need to wait to learn the magic for it, just have your kingsblood modify your body. It will take a few days and plenty of food to gain that much mass, but I think you will enjoy it. And I know your marefriends will." The last sentence was in that feminine voice again. "Are those.. your two voices, are they different personalities? Or what?" Stud finally asked outright. "We're two different ponies!" the voices answered in unison before slipping into out of sync giggling. They then proceeded to fill Stud's mind with information as a distraction, while climbing into the picnic basket. Alexander and Gabriella were technically separate creatures, but they had grown into one another in the cramped space of the egg and become intertwined, even very early in their development. The kingsblood had noted this fact and chose to roll with it rather than force them apart when it would have been reasonable to attempt. Sharing a single circulatory system and subnet, their minds were about as interconnected as that of a normal subnet and its host, leading to a sort of trinity-mind. Three distinct minds interwoven with one another, as much so as their bodies were. Their natural form was.. unfortunately, not a viable form. They relied on changeling shapeshifting magic to be, as they put it, 'presentable'. Currently Gabriella was a pink pegasus half and alexander was a white unicorn half, though they could easily change coloration to match one another, or chose a form that wasn't so obviously attention grabbing as what appeared to be an alicorn. And no, they weren't willing to share details about their natural form with anyone, ever, don't ask. Only Wind Chaser could override their decision and force Stormbringer to comply, but she respected her children's desire for privacy. While the kingsblood had rapidly matured their minds beyond what any newborn foal could be expected to match, they were still, ultimately, children. Or a child, depending on your point of view. And thus very emotionally immature. They still had some things to learn about boundaries, and as null swooped in as a pegasus and walked off with the picnic basket at their behest, Stud Muffin realized that super powered, hyper intelligent infants with no sense of property nor propriety could be a real source of trouble for someone. Especially the babysitters. "So.. I have a few bits on me.." Stud told Mirage. "Want to go to a restaurant for that date? They'll be fine with null watching them, right?" "Are you two headed for the Orange A-Peel?" a randomly talkative earth pony asked Stud and Mirage as they passed on the street, "their new cook is, wow, just amazing!" With a quick confirmation, they knew it was Dill, already working his culinary magic. "Really? We were just heading over there. Sounds like we're in for a real treat, right honey?" Stud said, playing it as cool as he could. It helped that he wasn't being asked to fake anything particularly far off from the truth. "Mmm, I'm looking forward to it. Though I'm looking forward to the company even more," she said seductively. They made their way through the town of Citrus Hills, stopping briefly to buy a nice shirt and tie for Stud Muffin to wear. Mirage had shifted to a unicorn form, nearly matching Stud's coloration, and morphed a flowing evening gown that kept her cutie mark covered. Creating illusory clothing was an advanced changeling trick, but one Mirage had long since mastered. Covering the cutie mark could help avoid the creative effort of coming up with cutie mark after cutie mark for their fake personas. Stud, on the other hand, proudly displayed his newly dyed pair of blueberry muffins, one on each flank. As much as he knew it was cheating, it was nice to finally not be seen as a notably worthless blank flank. The Orange A-Peel was a nice restaurant, the nicest in the area, though far from the level of some that could be found in the larger cities. It sported a wide open dance floor and music to suit it, and dimmer lighting that made it a favorite stop for amorous couples. The dining and dancing area was submerged a floor underground to help contain the noise, and Stud swept Mirage into his forehooves to carry her down the steps to the front door, testing his newfound strength with a romantic flourish. She kissed him briefly with a smile when they reached the bottom before slipping free to walk on her own hooves. The orange theme of the place was a bit overwhelming. Dried orange peels hung about the room gave it a distinct scent, orange lights lit up the dance floor, and every dish included oranges in some fashion, at the very least as a side item. Fortunately, they were both reasonably fond of oranges and they hadn't had time to get sick of them just yet. [Check this out,] Mirage suggested mentally as they headed toward their table before sending over a fairly complex thought to his subnet. When he went to check it out, he found that it modified his perceptions, making everything seem apple themed instead. The lights were red now to his eyes, and the orange slices were instead juice apple slices. He new it was nothing but self deception, but he had fun with it anyways. [That's a neat trick!] he told Mirage before coming up with one of his own. He didn't know what Mirage's true form looked like, but he tried to get Viagra to show her in it anyways. There was a brief delay before Mirage permitted her own subnet to give him the info he needed. After a moment his vision of the unicorn mare before him was replaced with a similarly dressed changeling. He expected an instinctive bit of revulsion, but instead found himself quite attracted to her. Viagra had take the liberties of twisting his instincts a bit to better fill his role, and he was grateful for it. Nevertheless, he was still unhappy with how emaciated she looked, and the number of holes. Rather than disgust, he was filled with a strong desire to fix the problem. [Couldn't wait, huh? Naughty boy..] she teased. [At least the dress leaves something for the big reveal tonight.] Half jokingly, he tried to envision her without the dress, but Viagra not only refused to comply but even erased the thoughts out of his imagination as he tried to fill in the blanks himself. [Just one of many things I'm looking forward to,] he replied as they were seated. He blinked a few times, having to think back to realize their subnets had walked them through the process of talking with the maître d' while his thoughts were elsewhere. Sharing his mind was such a huge change for him. Scary, but fun at the same time. Like, well.. everything since the mare before him had interrupted his fall. And perhaps even the few seconds before then. It seemed like a great analogy. The wind whipping past him had been thrilling in more ways than one, making him feel more alive than he ever had, as what he thought would be one final irony. "Tell the chef Mr and Mrs Muffin will have whatever he recommends," Mirage told the waiter, declining a menu. "With some orange juice to start, of course." [We're married now, are we?] Stud asked while gazing into her eyes. [I don’t want any hopeful fillies trying to butt in.. this time. Maybe another time we can share an interested mare between us if you like.] She answered. [But tonight you are all mine, Stud.] Stud was unused to having a marefriend, much less one so sexually aggressive, but he certainly didn't mind. [I'll keep that in mind for later, but first why don't you tell me more about yourself? ] When she hesitated he added [I know your people have some kind of shady history, but I am way past the point where I can reject you for that. Please, tell me. The point of this is building trust, right?] [Alright. I know you don't really know much about changelings yet, but you know we eat love, right? Well, until recently I served Queen Chrysalis, not our new King. We all did, really. Even Wind Chaser was with the Queen as recently as a few months ago. Under Queen Chrysalis, for almost my entire life we did things a certain way. The changeling way, I guess you could call it. We needed love to survive, so we stole it, usually by impersonating ponies. We would abduct somepony and trap them in a dream, feeding off the love generated by their fond memories, while one of us would take their place and enjoy the love of the special ponies in their life. Then we would return them, and no one would know what had happened. A few confusing loose ends might come into question, but since we were at most viewed as legends, ponies naturally shrugged things off,] she began. With Stud's rapt attention on her, she continued. [Personally, I was.. well, I always had a strong libido. My earliest assignments were as a prostitute. A stallion more often than a mare, as they usually get more business. But eventually I got promoted to one of our most intimate operations. With a team of other 'lings to help me, I would lure a married mare away from her bedroom, then take her place. I would wake up her stallion for a quickie, draining him of enough love that he would pass out, and then hide him in a closet or something while I take his place. Then when the mare returned, I would try to seduce her. Sometimes she would shut me down, other times I would get lucky. I can tell you.. married couples have a lot more loving sex than prostitutes get from their clients. But, still it's nothing like being with you.] She grabbed a hoof in hers and nibbled on it playfully. Stud blushed a bit. [You're just saying that. Still, I appreciate the flattery.] [I'm serious. It's because you actually care about me. Eating love that's meant for someone else.. it's. Well, it's kind of like eating a sandwich that's still wrapped in paper. It tastes.. foggy? It's still filling, but it isn't as good as it could be. But you've never viewed me as anyone but me, and for some time now you've even known what I am. I've never had someone like that. And.. I apologize, I'm still not used to having a real.. special somepony. I've had a lifetime of looking at lovers like food, and I know it's unfair to think of you that way.] Stud took his hoof back and smiled, idly noticing his lips moving as his subnet made idle conversation to distract anyone paying attention to them. Clever. [When you saved me.. at first I was actually kind of mad at you. But now I realize that you've given me what I was missing in life.. a sense of purpose, maybe a bit of adventure, and most importantly somepony to share it with. I've never had anypony think I was important to them, or want to spend any time with me. Not even my own parents. So.. I'm actually glad I jumped off that cliff. I don't think I would have found you any other way.] Looking into each others eyes, they began to get swept up into the moment. It was like there was a song beating in their hearts and soon it was on their lips, and in the air, and the band was playing the notes to go with their lyrics that sprang unbidden from their lips. Soon they were on the dance floor, with all eyes and lights upon them, but no one really seeing them. It was like a scene from a musical, and like all such scenes the extras went back to their lives when it was over as if nothing had even happened. But for Stud and Mirage, something had. A deep and powerful connection ran through them, and Mirage was almost overwhelmed by the amount of love she felt. The vast majority of it was from Stud himself, but she could feel echoes of love from all of the ponies who had been caught up in the little musical number, adding on. I leeched away only a trickle of it, enough to keep the others on their feet, but let her enjoy the benefits of being well fed for once in her life. In the course of one song she had gone from a tight stretched carapace over visible ribs, full of holes to a well rounded mare without a hole on her body. It was like a Disney film transformation sequence, lost to the rest of the audience because it was hidden by her magical disguise. But our kingsblood showed through what had happened beneath the magic. I knew first hand how much love it took to bring a changeling from starving to well fed. I'd gone through it with Wind Chaser. One little lap around the dance floor shouldn't have been nearly enough, especially without him collapsing from the drain. The music.. the music had something to do with it. But it just didn't make sense to me. It wasn't the first time I had seen Equestria turn into a musical number, but I just couldn't really groc it. It always seemed to come out of nowhere, and sweep away just as mysteriously, and in its wake.. stuff happened. Life would turn into a montage, and everything would go much smoother and more efficient than possible. As I thought about all of this I felt a bit of probing in my mind, and soon realized it was Alex and Gabriella, asking Deus for my memories about other songs. I gave them free reign, happy to share all I knew with my curiously little progeny. When the song ended, so did Mirage's patience. Filled with strength and energy, she picked Stud Muffin up into her forelegs before he could object, and sprinted for the inn. The inn keeper barely had time to open her mouth as the couple passed by, horn magic dropping a few coins on the desk and whisking away a key from the hook. She wasn't hungry any more, but she still wanted him badly.. wanted what every newlywed mare wants from her stallion. And he was more than happy to give it to her. As soon as the door was closed, her disguise came off. The projections fed to his mind were close, but seeing her like this was more detailed, more real, and more alluring. Stud tossed his own clothing aside and began making love to her. A few hours later, Dill let himself in, casting aside his own disguise once the door was closed, and offering Stud a to-go box of food from the restaurant. He snuggled up against Stud's side, enjoying the warm reception, as the stallion devoured the food, desperate for the sustenance to recover from the night's activities. They sat in silence, resting but not sleeping as Stud recovered, before once again filling Mirage with as much love as he could muster. I quietly syphoned off the excess, getting the rest of my forces back on their feet.