Twilight cleared her throat softly. We had all gathered around in her 'war' room, with that map of Equestria between us all. We weren't allowed to sit in the chairs clearly marked for her deputies. "You've all been very patient, and I'm glad to say I have a few answers for you." A short pointing wand in her magic's grip directed to a chalkboard, but she didn't use chalk to draw on it, instead forming pictures with her mind. "The contact of an infected individual and a non-infected individual creates a temporary exposure to the 'void' as it has been coined. The mass dense body creates a powerful gravity that otherwise is largely absent in a universe that is mostly empty, and quickly draws some of the native energy to the new host."
She conjured a chibi image of herself. "Some individuals exert a more powerful attraction due to levels of polarizing ma--"
Fast rolled a hoof. "Not all of us read every book we could find."
Sandra shook her head. "I want to hear. Please, continue."
Twilight smiled at Sandra. "Thank you, as I was saying, magic can exert a pull, like a magnet, which is cumulative with the body's gravitational pull. The thing that confused me at first was why an individual that is 'cleansed' can no longer attract this energy. It defied expectations. After all, I still have magic. I still have mass. Why wouldn't I draw more energy if exposed to the void? The answer is that the energy is still there."
She tapped the board with her pointer as the image changed to show a cut out of herself. "My body is now infused with this 'void' but it's burnt. It's like a fine layer of ash that seems to isolate me from the void, and here's the key. It wouldn't be hard to fashion such a layer on purpose for our still infectious members, and what may be the greatest discovery, this shell could be scraped away with the proper spell, if someone did want contact again." She looked so proud, beaming. "So, in conclusion, I still have mass, and magic, but since I'm prevented from coming into contact with the void itself, I don't attract anything and cannot interact."
Cindy tapped her chin softly. "We really shouldn't do that, allowing people to absorb another energy. Each one is a... They're people, as close as people get in my world. I know we're not..." She trailed and looked down. "We're not very advanced in thought. Even that's overstating it. We're barely the hint of life, barely the suggestion of thought... But you were once that way too. We could evolve, over time, and maybe become something just as grand. It's not right to enslave them and weaken them for our gain."
Twilight tilted her head with curiosity. "I'm afraid I don't follow."
I wrapped an arm around Cindy. "Two of us were those energies. Cindy here, and Karen."
Karen sat up and nodded. "Different forms of energy, but yes, we are both native to that void, given a body to experience life, love, and concrete thought." He glanced towards Neon, who looked away with a grunt.
Twilight looked between Cindy and Karen. "I see." She paled then. "Wait! From what Luna told me, you were both... Did we severely injure some innocent life just to free me?"
Karen held up a hoof. "Weakened, but not killed. It didn't experience you long enough to combine, or to learn more than what it started with outside of a tantalizing little peek that was likely more confusing than enlightening."
Twilight sagged. "I didn't mean to... Well, that scraps that idea then."
Night snorted. "You do not need to get another, even if it didn't hurt anypony, Twilight."
Twilight spread her wings quickly in a defensive gesture. "I just wanted to confirm it'd work. But if it's hurting things, we shouldn't..."
Fast giggled softly. "You don't need that excuse to play, if that's the part you miss." Twilight flushed brightly. "Aw, you're so adorable when we talk about that."
I leaned towards Twilight a little. "So, you can make us not infectious?"
Twilight wobbled a hoof. "To a degree. I could 'scorch' it on your tongue and other fluid generating organs, so they would become harmless. If you were cut, your blood would still be hazardous. There's no practical way to avoid that, without burning it all out, but that's the least likely to happen on accident, compared to the others, and would let you live in close contact with others in far greater safety."
Neon, apparently just catching up with things, perked up. "Does this mean I could be a princess again?"
Cindy scowled. "Not that way."
Karen extended a hoof towards Neon. "I would gladly make you a princess." He suddenly flared his wings and charged her. Neon squeaked and lashed out her tongues, but Karen nimbly ducked aside and swatted a few aside with his own tongues. They crashed together and he drove her to her back and slid over her. "Enough games. I said I would claim you. You are my mare, and my princess."
Twilight gawked at the scene with shock before turning to me. "Is this... normal?"
I wasn't sure exactly what I should do. The herd rules say no means no, but it felt like something they needed to work out, and Cindy settled beside me, apparently in agreement.
Neon thudded a hoof against Karen's chest. "Then why did you become a stallion? You could have been a mare. Why do you hate me? I thought we were together, and you betrayed me."
Karen pressed nose-to-nose for a moment before Neon twisted and looked away. "I never stopped loving you, Neon. I didn't choose what this body would be. It is exactly as it should have been." He spread his wings wide. "Is it not majestic, even if it is a stallion?" He ground against her softly, letting her feel the arousal that we could all see. "This is yours. This is all yours. I only want one person in the world, the one who holds the other half of my heart."
Something began to flow between them as Karen and Neon swelled together, growing larger as energy grew. "Be my princess, and I will always be your prince."
The flow excited and thrilled the rapidly brilliant Neon and she began to squirm under him, panting with alien delight. She seemed to become determined, gritting her teeth and rolling powerfully, she ended up on top of him and she sat up. "You just want to emasculate me, fill me with foals and keep me fat and smiling."
Karen thrust upwards, brushing the flattened end of his member against her petals. "I doubt I could ever tame you, my wild princess, but would it be so bad, if one day we became parents? Perhaps a little filly to take after you, her eyes wide with wonder, her body to grow up and become strong."
Neon growled with a sudden fury. "I'm not ready for that! I don't want kids. I don't want any of that."
Karen hugged Neon with his hooves as his tongues slipped out to caress over her face. "We can go at whatever speed you like. You are my princess."
Neon suddenly drew back and thumped his chest roughly. "Damn right! Damn..." She slumped against him and gave a little nuzzle. "Why couldn't you be a mare..."
Karen rolled to his side with her and the two began to groom and nip at one another as their tongues explored one another's faces gently. The heated passion had simmered down to an affectionate exchange, but they seemed a little closer to happiness, and I was glad for that.
Twilight softly coughed. "Yes, well... Whenever you're ready, we can begin." They didn't register her. The rest of us did.
Sandra shook her head a little. "Since my other half clearly has, you know, other plans? I'd probably be just as well being entirely sealed off, but you'd better leave Will and Cindy's hands free."
Twilight tilted her head. "Oh, that shouldn't be a problem? Though we should test if sweat is a viable vector for transfer. It'd be quite a thing to have a handshake result in a mess if you had sweaty hands."
Twilight used her new magic to make us far less infectious, and had enough research material to make a new book, which was exactly what she did. She was jubilant with pride as she sent it off to Canterlot, their capital city, to have it added to a library there. "That makes two kinds of magic I've innovated."
Spike gently poked her. "Don't let it get to your head, Twi."
Twilight nodded at him. "I'm not gloating, just taking note. Now, I imagine you all want to get home."
Crystal approached with an unsure smile. "Before we do that, I hoped someone here knew what I was, exactly?"
Twilight peered at Crystal. "You're a crystal pony," she said as if it were obvious.
Crystal blinked. "Well, yes... There's more to it than that, I hope?"
Spike bobbed his head. "Most crystal ponies live in the Crystal Empire, up north."
Crystal gave a slow nod. "But what am I? What does it mean to be a crystal pony?"
Twilight looked over her books a moment before she snatched a slender volume in her magic and brought it down. "That's an excellent question. Crystal ponies were gone entirely for about a thousand years, ending recently, so research about that is a little sparse. Near as I can tell, they became crystalline due to repeated exposure to the Crystal Heart, which banishes darkness and helps spread goodwill and cheer across Equestria. Their mood helps bolster, or worsen, the mood of all the land."
Crystal took a soft breath before letting it escape. "And I... alright." She accepted the book in her mouth and walked off with it, a little unsure but eager to read up on her people.
"Darling, are you at home?" A white unicorn with deep-purple mane and tail came trotting in with a little sun hat bouncing on her head. "Oh my, I didn't realize you had company dear. My apologies." Her eyes darted between us with curiosity and wonder. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting your new friends?"
Spike hopped up and gestured to Rarity. "This magnificent pony is Rarity, the #1 fashionista and seamstress of Ponyville, no, anywhere!"
Rarity waved off the compliments. "Oh, Spike, you're so flattering." She didn't argue the validity of the claims, I noticed. "And who are these lovely, um, ponies?"
Twilight pointed to each of us in kind. "Crystal, William, Cindy, Sandra, Neon, Karen. They're from another world and--"
"Another world?!" Rarity put a hoof to her head. "Oh my. They do look a bit exotic, but I hadn't figured that exotic, darling. Well, welcome, one and all. I trust you've been having an enjoyable stay?"