Cindy returned with a gentle smile. I somehow knew she would say yes. They were going to do it, and accept me. I pawed at the ground as she walked back in no hurry at all. I'd been the 'top dog' of my caves, telling all the others what to do and where to go, but in front of these two, I felt like a little kid all over again, in mostly good ways. I wanted to be swept off my feet, er, hooves, whatever.
"Crystal." William looked down at me. "Are you sure you want this? It isn't the heat talking, is it?"
My cheeks flushed and I felt a little angry she'd even ask that. "I've been through plenty of them, many shoulder-to-shoulder with ponies with their stuff dangling down, offering themselves up to scratch that itch, and I said no to all of them. This isn't a sudden whimsy." I flicked an ear away from her, then looked up at him directly. He wasn't as tall as he'd been at his prime, but he was still taller than most, with that human torso on hi..her body. Pronouns, who needs them?
"Besides, there's someone else waiting on this."
Cindy stepped in beside Will and they clasped a hand with one another. "Someone else?"
I nodded towards Cindy. "Sandra wants to get her, uh, passenger out, like you did. She wants me to have Karen."
Stopping to think about it, that was a very strange and personal thing to ask me, and it must have shown on my face. They both reached for me and began to pet. Cindy had the left side and William had the right and their fingers worked through my crystal fur, slowly petting me to the floor with the soft pleasure of it. "That's very kind of you, but if you're doing it just to be in the herd, please, don't. That's not something you should do just to 'prove' yourself. You have nothing to prove."
I hadn't heard which of them said that, and it basically didn't matter. "Does that mean I'm in?"
They rolled me over, hooves up in the air, then magic wrapped around me and plucked me up into the air. Cindy nuzzled into my sides. "Of course you are. Was there any real doubt? We should go somewhere private to consummate this." A loud irritated groan came from down the hallway, but I was too distracted the look for the source. William and Cindy heard it too and just smirked as they carried me into a room and locked the door behind us.
They didn't rut or breed me, they claimed me. They claimed me from every angle. They claimed me with words and petting and even stories of their adventures. They took me together, and in shifts. When one was watching, they'd take the time to pet one or both of us, and talk. They'd share their thoughts and probe for mine, but there was only one of me, and the noises I was making wasn't always fit for polite conversation.
One part that stood out was when one of them, I had long ago lost track of which was which, was rolled over onto their back and I was impaled on them and straddling their belly. The other was stroking over my slender pole in time with the first's powerful thrusts while our snouts mashed together in graceless but impassioned kissing that didn't let up until I was brought to trembling heights.
If it was always that good, maybe I shouldn't have been so shy about being a mare. At least for these two, I would gladly play the role again. The angry, no, bitter part of me that was sore about losing being a human male seemed subdued, defeated and replaced with a joy. I was happy with myself, all of it.
At the end of the day, I was nuzzling slowly into the swollen belly of William, where my first foal rested and grew, awaiting the chance to be born. A hoof rubbed over my own belly, swollen with a mixture of both of their seeds and trickling a bit free, where I felt certain my second would start soon. The heat within me was already dying away. It was still there, but no longer a painful itch, just a soft warmth.
I fell asleep between them, and I woke up between them. I knew I had made the right choice, and never wanted to leave their herd. We all retired to the shower and they didn't stop pampering me. Their hands wandered over my entire form as they lathered me up with shampoo and rinsed me down. Cleansed, I returned the favor as well as I could. Hooves weren't as good at it as hands were, but the effort meant more than the end result, and soon we were all ready to face the day.
When they opened the door to the hallway, Sandra was there. She perked up and trotted to the door. "Karen's been waiting, very impatiently I'll add."
She twitched softly before a new voice came out of her. "I've been very patient! How'd it go?"
Cindy gestured back at me. "Welcome the newest member of our herd, Crystal."
Sandra, or was it Karen? They approached me quickly and nuzzled into my side quietly before she sat down in front of me. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course she does!"
"You don't get to say that. It's her choice."
I tilted my head a bit as Sandra argued with herself.
Cindy and Will settled on either side of Sandra and snuggled in on her. William shook her head. "It's her choice. Crystal, you're in either way. You don't have to say yes."
I pointed at Sandra. "Is that who would... be there? My daughter?"
Sandra switched to that 'other' voice. "Hello, my name is Karen. We'll become very good friends. Will I be as pretty as you are? I think I'd like that very much. A pretty crystal mare."
Cindy tilted her head a bit. "A crystal parasite mare?"
Karen snorted. "I am what I am."
I didn't know what that meant, and said as much.
William reached for Karen/Sandra's snout and pointed out where it bisected along the bottom. They opened their snout wide to show off their wriggling tongues and odd teeth a moment before closing back up. "I'll still be, you know, like that. You can do a lot of good with these tongues. They can heal people."
I perked my ears curiously. "I didn't know that. That is..." I glanced between the three of them, even if there were four minds involved. Watching Sandra switch back and forth between her rider like that, it made me think. If I could fix that, it's what... "Alright. I'll be your mother. What do I have to do for that?"
William caressed over me with magic a moment. "You did the first part. You've taken, just barely."
Karen looked around. "Then we should move quickly, while there's still basically nothing there."
They brought Sandra/Karen close. Cindy and Will held hands. Will wrapped a long tongue around me, wet, warm, and kind of creepy. Cindy did the same with Sandra. A bright flow of color rushed from Sandra into Cindy, and Sandra immediately began to shrink, becoming about as massive as Will or Cindy alone. That color flushed through Cindy but passed right along into Will, who seemed to send it down his tongue into me. When it hit, I swelled outwards a moment, crystalline pelt glowing with colors.
Deep inside me, I could feel Karen find that new life, and I began to deflate quickly. The colors faded. They weren't for me. They were for my child. ~You're just as wonderful inside,~ came Karen's voice.
I wasn't sure how to take that compliment. ~Is everything alright in there?~
~Your child is a son. I didn't expect that. I'm not sure I should change that. It feels wrong. Please ask Neon if she's alright with me being a stallion.~
A son? I smiled brightly. The idea of a son felt... really good. I might be becoming a mother, but I could have a son, a real son...
William nodded. "I'll bring her." Could she hear her too? Without even moving, her horn glowed, and Neon appeared with a squeak. "Neon, it's done, but Karen found out the foal we conceived is a boy, a stallion. Are you alright with that?"
Neon flushed dark. "B-but... No! Can't she turn it into a mare?"
Cindy cocked her head a moment. I could hear Karen speaking dimly, but not make out the words. "Karen says that it's not your choice. When he gets out, he's going to... Find you, pin you, and do everything you were afraid to have done to you, then make you ask for it again."
Neon recoiled with a harsh flush. "She wouldn't?!" She took a slow step back, then fled into the hallway.
William shared a look with Cindy. Both nodded. They seemed so relaxed about it. Sandra, on the other hoof, was baffled. "What the hell was that about?"
Will shook a hoof. "We could feel it. Neon will complain, loudly. Neon will struggle, viciously, but she will yield if Karen is firm and takes control of the situation, and Neon will enjoy it, eventually. She will be a very acidic little submissive. She wants to be controlled, but will never accept it." He wobbled a hand. "It's complicated, but Karen is willing to do it."
Cindy nodded. "I think Karen is actually growing excited about the idea. He wants this, and to grow your child." She looked at me directly. "Karen will make you swell far faster than you otherwise would, but is leaving the pattern of your foal be, for the most part. They seem to value that very highly. Besides being a parasite, your foal will be exactly as they were meant to be, and would have been, without Karen." She paused a moment. "Oh, do you have a new name?"
Did I? "It's too early. I haven't even seen him yet." I rose up onto my haunches and put a hoof to my belly. I was becoming a mother...
Sandra took a slow breath before letting it out in a happy sounding sigh. "Karen, if you can hear me, I hope it all works out. We'll still be friends, I hope, but I'm kind of glad to have my head back."
Will raised a brow at Sandra. "You don't miss Karen's presence? I felt massively alone when Cindy left." The two snuggled into each other's sides with fond little murmurs.
Sandra looked a little guilty. "We didn't really... work like that? I hope Karen comes out happily, and I want to be their friend, but no, I'm not sad to have my body to myself again."
Cindy nudged Will. "Don't be so shocked. Sandra and Karen weren't together nearly as long, and I... Well, you basically raised me without knowing it, we were meant to be together. Karen was raised by Neon." She grinned then. "And Neon will learn to enjoy his presence, eventually."