We gathered around Crystal before she whisked us away. The journey felt smoother than before, and I guessed she was getting better with practice. We appeared in a warehouse. The bright green glow of strange pods caught my attention first, but the guns being raised in our direction yanked that attention away swiftly.
Several humans with patches of carapace were looking directly at us, while four-legged insectoid ponies buzzed their wings in agitation, also staring at us. A familiar figure emerged from the crowd, Liz. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, and you brought Crystal with you." Her knowledge of us seemed to ease a lot of the tension in the room, though those guns were still up and ready. "I'm not sure how I recognize you, but that is you, right?"
I pointed at myself. "William, yep. I've grown a bit since last time."
Her eyes wandered down, likely eyeing my fat sheath and hanging balls between my rear legs. "I'll say... Well, welcome to the hive. I trust you have a good reason for being here besides saying hello?"
Crystal stepped forward. "We would like to speak to your leader, about plans going forward."
Liz raised a brow. "Do you want to talk to her or fuck her, because you look like you're more ready for the latter." The crowd gave soft laughter at the jab. "When did you get that, anyway?"
Crystal pointed a hoof at me. "William is very special. He can control the gift to a degree, and he gave it to me."
Liz snorted. "You're fucking joking! Did you want that?" Crystal nodded. "Well then good job, William. I think she'll want to talk to you..." Liz turned to face me. "So what do you want?"
I froze as it became clear, but Cindy just spoke, "Oh you're the leader! Nice to meet you again, Liz."
Liz gave a thumbs up. "Yo. So what's up?"
Sandra suddenly spoke up, "We want you to stop harassing the humans."
Liz frowned. "Why should we? They're killing us, in case you forgot."
I rolled a hand. "A few of them. Most of them just want this whole terrible thing to stop. We have to be the bigger people in this. We should use our talents to help people, and show them it doesn't have to end in a war that'll hurt both sides."
Liz rolled her eyes. "I'm humoring you here, but what can we offer that'd be helpful?"
Crystal had that answer, standing proudly. "The earth ponies are very good at growing crops, even in extremely subpar conditions. The pegasi can manipulate the weather to a small degree and are becoming more adept at it with practice. With just those two alone we could be a huge help to population centers that have been cut off from infrastructure. People must be starving all over the world right now."
Liz waved a hand across her herd of changelings. "And what about me? Where do I fit into this new grand scheme of yours? We're not built to be 'useful'."
I felt those pods were relevant and pointed at one. "What are those?"
"People." Liz frowned. "We can eat what everyone else eats, but to actually feel full, we need a little more. Those pods get it from the humans we put inside. As a side benefit, they eventually become drones for the hive. Not the smartest sorts, usually, but loyal."
Crystal shuddered with obvious distaste. "We can't keep doing that! What is it you need from humans?"
"Love," came the voice of one of the four-legged changelings. Liz glared at him, and he shrank, but the word was already said.
I shrugged. "Can't you get that willingly, without the pod? Especially with being able to shapeshift into anything."
Liz approached me, reaching out and placing a hand on one of my breasts. Her fingers curled and softly caressed the furry flesh. "We could do that, but you already know what happens when a pony and a human get intimate. We'd just end up with more drones faster, and less filling meals."
Her fingers were distractingly good at that exploring, and I tried to swat her away gently. "Does it have to involve kissing or fucking?"
Liz shrugged. "I never tried just being friends, but that's risky at best."
I suddenly had a thought, remembering Crystal's gift had faded away entirely. "Do you have a completely untouched human?"
Liz raised a brow. "As a matter of fact, yes, three. It's not their turn for the pods yet."
I gestured towards Crystal. "Give us one, and let Crystal be with them. I have a theory."
Liz rolled a hand. "Spill it. What theory? Each human is a precious commodity. I'm not giving one up without knowing every detail."
Sandra suddenly perked her ears, looking at me curiously, but saying nothing. I went ahead. "When I did the change on Crystal, I felt the gift fade from her entirely. It was used up. I'm thinking she may not be infectious anymore. If that's true, it means we could make your hive not infect by contact, and that opens up a lot of options, right?"
Liz chuckled softly. "Fine, I'll allow that, if only because I'd like to have a shiny crystal pony in my hive. If the human changes, or doesn't, they are still mine, understand?"
Crystal tilted her head a little. "Will it be a man or a woman?"
"Neither," replied Liz. "You get the kid we caught, so don't do anything too disgusting, not that you should have to. The kid's less valuable than the adults, less to give, and changes faster."
Crystal made quite the face. "Ugh, no, I won't do anything untowards to a minor. That's disgusting."
We followed after Liz to a corner of the warehouse where three humans were penned up like livestock. One of them was a young boy, maybe ten years old. All three looked up with fear as strange new ponies approached, but the gags in their mouths prevented any words. A drone quickly advanced on the child, unshackling them from the floor and bringing him forward to the group. "Here we are. You have ten minutes to do... whatever you have in mind."
Crystal's first act was to finish liberating the child, though her lack of fingers got the better of her and she looked to me for help, which I gladly gave. We got his gag out and freed his arms and legs to move. "Are... you here to save me?"
Crystal shook her head. "I wish I was, little one. They won't let you go just yet. I'm Crystal, what's your name?"
"Ian..." He glanced around nervously. "Are you gonna make me a horse too?"
"I hope not." Crystal leaned in and sniffed at him. "May I lick you? We think I'm not catchy anymore. If it works, you'll be helping a lot of people, but you don't have to. I won't force you to do anything."
I offered. "If you do end up as a pony, at least you'd be a super cool crystal pony, and they'd let you out of there."
Ian quirked a smile. "I can't believe that sounds like a good idea. You're nice people, can't you just let me go?"
Liz snarled. "Stop asking them to help you. You're mine either way, boy."
Ian shrank a little, but nodded. "Well... fine. Go ahead."
Crystal leaned in and gave Ian a lick right across the lips, then sat back. "Do you think that's enough?"
I considered it. "I imagine we want direct fluid contact, but that might be good enough?"
Crystal frowned a bit. "I'm not french kissing a boy." She leaned back in and got to licking his face, making it wet with her saliva. "There. How do you feel?"
Ian shook his head. "Wet? Should I feel anything?"
Liz shrugged. "Let's wait and find out."
So wait they did, but no change came.