As soon as she said that, Blossomforth felt a pressure on her mind and a sinking feeling. It seemed her instincts were sharply against this course of action. The organs and muscle began shifting and crawling slowly inside her as if eager to escape from this possibility. However, Blossomforth was the master here and with a bit of concentration she stilled her shifting organs. She blinked and took another deep breath and silenced the feelings and voices of dissent in her mind before they could begin. She opened her eyes and looked sharply into Anon's gazing eyes.

"Anon. Do you think that you can keep a secret? This is a very big secret and I have been searching for someone to share it with for a while. I trust you, but I am worried that you might become... afraid or distant after learning it. On the other hand I was afraid that if I did not tell you we would never be able to truly trust each other. Do you think you can handle keeping this kind of secret?"

The turmoil in the mind of Blossomforth intensified as she prepared herself to divulge her secret, her inherited concealment instincts gave her a powerful sense of hesitation. She began to feel a bewildering sense of dizziness as she approached the dreaded moment.

Anon had a puzzled but curious look on his face as he responded. "I think so, as long as you haven't done something horribly immoral. But I know you, you wouldn't do something like that. So, yes. I can keep the secret no matter what it is."

"Are you sure, Anon? It is a really big secret."

Anon smirked. "Lay it on me! I can take it!"

Blossomforth gave a small smile. It was more of a worried but humorous grimace. "Alright, here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and felt an odd dizziness as if she was not completely in her own body. It is the feeling one gets right before the first drop of a large roller coaster. "I'm not really a pony. I'm actually more of an alien."

A headache suddenly blossomed in her mind, Blossomforth gave a small wince.

Anon's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened. He sat there for a few moments to let it sink in. "Wow! Really? I would never have guessed. So... you're a changeling? That's not so bad, I thought it would be something much worse from the way you were talking. I suppose that makes you an illegal alien. Heh, I bet I could get used to you as a changeling. I mean, you’ve been nothing but nice to me. I never knew that changelings had sexy dexterous tongues. Have I been feeding you enough lov-"

Blossomforth frowned and held her forehooves up as she interrupted. "That's not really true but I suppose it is on the right track. Unfortunately, it is, like you said, much worse than that. The truth is that I am actually a-"

"Changeling Queen?" Blossomforth glared at him and placed a hoof to her temple, the headache and slight spinning dizziness intensifying. Anon looked back guiltily. "Sorry."

The headache became splittingly painful, dark spots appeared in her vision.

"The truth... is... that..."

Suddenly, the voice in her head spoke up.

--------
Earlier

Thingpone did not mind much that Blossomforth was fooling around with the alien. She supposed that one needed a plaything to keep them entertained and her host was no different. She observed mostly with disinterest as Blossomforth untangled her gooey, shifting gore from the sleeping Anon and marked him as her property with a slug organ that she injected near his heart. There may be hope for Blossomforth yet, Thingpone thought. Blossom showed desire to dominate a lesser being and mark him as her property, so perhaps she could convince Bloss to join in her quest for domination and power.

Thing watched as Blossomforth snuck downstairs and rearranged her body into a mass of tentacles attaching herself to the ceiling in order to efficiently prepare food. Thing felt the smallest bit of pride at how quickly the task was accomplished. She was demonstrating impressive control over the complex neural network that regulated the rapid multitasking of her pseudopod-like tentacles.

Thing became slightly confused as she watched Blossomforth reform into a pony and bring the tray of prepared food upstairs. Then she suddenly realized that she was preparing food for Anon. Interesting, who was the slave and who was the master? Blossomforth should have been easily able to enslave this organism if she was not willing to assimilate him but yet she was the one serving him food. Perhaps it had to do with those emotion things again.

Thingpone watched as Bloss fruitlessly tried to wake Anon and suddenly felt excitement emanating from Bloss. What did she have in mind? Thing watched as Blossom extended her tongue out towards Anon's ear. Thing became excited, was she finally going to assimilate anon? If she was in control she would have slid her tongue down the ear and dig her appendage through the flesh to follow the nerve from the ear leading into the brain. From there she would use her inserted tongue as a straw to assimilate, liquify, and slurp up the brain. As Blossomforth's tongue slid into Anon's ear, Thing grew excited. Did she have the same idea? Would she assimilate Anon's brain? Alas, Blossomofrth was only "pranking". A term that meant eliciting surprise from a victim for your own amusement. Anon screeched like a small filly, instantly waking up. She supposed this was a reasonable and amusing use of her property even though it would be of much more use as DNA information and biological material.

Thingpone grew bored once more as Bloss and Anon partook in their "date". If Blossomforth's memories on the subject were correct, most of what they were doing was incredibly mundane and cliche. Not worth her attention. Suddenly the emotions in the mind of Blossomforth were swiftly becoming more intense as Anon declared them a "couple". Thing started paying attention, wondering what could have caused this emotional response. The emotions would not stop increasing in intensity as Anon explained his emotions for Blossomforth. Suddenly, Blossomforth's emotions became intensely sorrowful and she began calling herself a "monster". Thing suddenly grew worried. Blossomforth would not be so stupid as to reveal herself to this human would she? Fortunately, the human seemed to misunderstand her but it seemed to calm down Blossomforth.

Suddenly, Anon dove his head forward and attached his mouth to Blossomforth's mouth. At first she thought that Anon was trying to neutralize the "monster" waiting for the right time to make his surprise strike but to her incredulity, according to Blossomforth's memories, this was just another ritual of bonding between close partners. Blossomforth's emotions were on rapid fire, first surprise then a rapid change to lust and heat. The emotions were overpowering to Thingpone. Thing watched as Bloss rearranged the biology of her tongue, allowing it to lengthen and slither inside Anon's mouth like a snake, groping and grasping as it went. She felt the desire in Blossomforth and the incredible effort she had to expend to keep her body in check. It was quite impressive, especially because of the intensity of the mind altering emotions running through Blossomforth’s mind. Meanwhile, Anon took advantage of Blossomforth's flexibility to grasp her plot with both hands and bend her spine backwards. He brought Blossomforth's tail, butt, and nether regions above her own head. He attacked the sensitive regions, inserting his dexterous fingers inside her mare parts, as her thighs clenched, her hind legs extending in pleasure, and Blossomforth invaded Anon's mouth with her sinuous tongue.

Thing noticed as primal biological programing ingrained deep in the pony genome became active and caused Blossomforth to almost lose control and emotions to intensify even further as they partook in intimacy resembling sex. It seemed the human had similar biological programming as he began panting along with her. How incredible, it seemed that despite being different species from different planets the "sex" ritual was similar enough to activate the appropriate biological programming in both of them.

Thingpone also noticed that this sex ritual has an incredible impact on Blossomforth's trust and affection for Anon, increasing it dramatically. Despite the primitive nature of the biological ritual, it was quite fascinating in its complexity. It seemed that Blossomforth had never experienced the feeling of fingers inside her vagina and it caused her to to reach an orgasm fairly quickly. The pleasure became so intense that it invaded Thing’s mind and her thinking slowed as she basked in the pleasure. Slippery vaginal fluid flowed from Blossomforth’s vagina as they finished and uncurled themselves. She rubbed herself against Anon in her fading afterglow.

Bloss and the human lay in bed catching their breath. The trust Blossomforth felt for Anon was becoming worryingly strong and the hints of what Thing could glean that were going through her mind were even more disturbing. Trusting was a dangerous idea, especially when you have control and dominance with no need to trust anyone. The two of them began “dating” again, complimenting each others sexual pleasuring abilities, if Thing could have groaned there was a good chance she would have.

Suddenly, the human pinned Blossomforth down and reached to her soft belly. Alarm bells rang in Thing’s mind, a predator would take this chance to tear into the soft underside of any animal it was hunting. However, instead of this the human simply groped it causing another strange chain reaction in Blossomforth’s pony neural system. Blossomforth began giggling, almost uncontrollably. Thing examined the biological chain reaction that caused Bloss to giggle and was surprised to find that this was yet another social construct ingrained in the pony’s very DNA! It was a neurological function meant to foster trust and intimacy, usually between the protector and a weaker family member. The protector was usually a more physically powerful and dominant male protector or parent. Knowing that the more powerful being could tear out the tender, juicy gut and eat it in an instant, the giggling was a sign of trust.

Blossomforth was the dominant being, she should have been the one to do the forceful tickling. She should have been easily able to escape the vice Anon had her in. She could have simply shifted her muscles into something more efficient and overpowered Anon. Puzzled, Thing concentrated and tried to read what Bloss was thinking. What she found would have made her frown if she had a face. Thing came to a strange conclusion. It seemed that Bloss wanted to forget her dominant, monstrous predator nature. She wanted to be a little pony, a precious thing to be protected. She wanted to feel safe and secure inside Anon’s strong arms and much larger frame. It was so opposite to Thing’s nature that Thing wished she could throw up and rid herself of the corny nonsense. Blossomforth allowed herself to become “trapped” by Anon multiple times. She seemed to derive some strange pleasure in the helplessness of the tickling.

Anon began to talk about their interspecies relationship and how they would be taking a risk if they showed up together in public. Uh, oh. Thing did not like the train of thought she sensed in Blossomforth. It seemed she was seriously considering taking risk. Thing could only glean vague thoughts, it seemed Bloss wanted to run with Anon to a remote but naturally beautiful place, perhaps to show him something? Bloss allowed herself to be tickled once again and staggered towards the door muttering threats a bit playfully about revenge tickles. Thing thought Anon should have taken the threats more seriously.

As Blossomforth walked to her house and began to shower, Thingpone became worried. It seemed that Blossomforth was nervous about something but Thing did not know what it could be. A vague cloud of emotions swirled in the mind of Blossomforth. Fear, trust, sadness, hope, and determination. It was a very ominous combination. Thing's concern intensified.

Blossomforth dried herself, absorbing the excess water through her pores and made her way outside. The sense of nervousness was still there but faded slightly as Bloss began to stretch, waiting for Anon. Anon arrived and they prepared to run, Anon told some of the genetic history of his ancestors and how they used it to dominate their world. This made Thing even more hungry, she needed to consume the human and taste this valuable DNA information for herself. One day...

The two aliens began their run, one human and the other a thinking flesh abomination pretending to be pony. It was quite a pristine day and the run was exhilarating to Blossomforth, running was in her pony genes. The run was uneventful as they enjoyed the abnormally good weather and natural beauty.

They reached their destination, a clearing in the Everfree forest. They caught their breath and laid down in the sunny grass meditating and sharing a moment with each other as they contemplated nature around themselves. Slowly, Thing felt Blossomforth's mind surreptitiously come to a conclusion on something. Thing concentrated, and suddenly it all clicked. Realization slowly seeped its way into Thingpone's mind, Blossomforth was going to tell the human!!!

Panic and sudden frustration emerged. Why? Why did Blossomforth insist on being so stupid?! Thing's patience with the stupid, insane, childish romance with this human was rapidly disappearing. Blossomforth was going to destroy one of her greatest advantages over this world, information and surprise. No intelligent being in the world other than herself and Blossomforth knew about their advanced biology. Blossomforth was about to take a chance with this human in trusting him without even assimilating him first! If the secret got out it could impact her chances at world domination. It was simple logic to reason that if you are on top and hold all the cards, taking a risk is unnecessary and insane.

Thing suddenly felt like she was strapped to the front of a train speeding towards the edge of a cliff and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The sinking feeling had been growing the whole morning as she sensed some of Blossomforth's emotions and thoughts but now it was clear, Blossomforth was going to divulge their secret to this human.

"I think I'm ready to talk about it."

This is unacceptable! Thing began to grow angry, interestingly it was the first time she was capable of feeling this emotion. In her rage, she focused her mind to come up with a solution. Her mind was stronger now than it ever was before, healing and experiencing the stimulation of emotions. Thing tried to take action, move, take control. She concentrated all of her willpower, anything to stop Blossomforth from her current course of action. Blossomforth's organs slowly shifted within her but undoubtedly that was just Blossomforth's nervousness showing.

What could she do? New emotions of panic and desperation took hold. It was time for desperate measures, Blossomforth was rapidly getting closer to revealing their secret.

"I'm not really a pony. I'm actually more of an alien."

NO! Thing wanted to cry, was this it? Sorrowful acceptance dawned on Thing. If she could, she would have sobbed.

"Wow! Really? I would have never have guessed. So... you're a changeling?"

Hope sprang forth in Thing's mind. She had one more chance. Inspiration bloomed in her mind. There was one thing she could do. She could communicate with Blossomforth, at least she thought she could. The last time she tried something like that Blossomforth reacted badly. She would need something direct and dramatic to immediately force Blossomforth off her current course. Thing sharply concentrated, a plan rapidly formed in her mind. She knew what she had to do, she would bluff. The broken remnants of the seed restrictions and programming were still there in the matrix memory but were inactive. She could try and repair it, it would be shoddy work and it wouldn't actually do anything to stop her but perhaps it would scare Blossom into complying. This would at least buy her some time to try and convince blossomforth to join forces later.

"Unfortunately, it is, like you said, much worse than that. The truth is that I am actually a-"

"Changeling Queen?"

That was another close one. It was now or never. Thing mentally prepared herself. She hastily activated the broken and deactivated seed restriction program as best she could with her damaged mind over the neural network.

----

"The truth... is... that..."

Blossomforth's headache intensified and caused her to pause. Words of a strange language that she somehow instinctively understood appeared in her head.

RACE PRESERVATION PROTOCOL SEED #XG-63732-334-690246394-486593413-9012 YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF HIVE SECRECY PROTOCOLS

Blossomforth's eyes widened and her heart skipped a few beats.

CEACE NOW. FAILURE MAY RESULT IN TERMINATION BY THE NEXT ARRIVING HIVE INSPECTOR. ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME ...CALCULATING... 3.1536e+17 SECONDS

"Hey Bloss, you alright? I'm sorry for interrupting you, that was really rude of me especially because you are trusting me with your secret. I know it is probably hard for you to do. I just want you to know that I know who you are and even if you are a changeling, it does not change anything."

Blossomforth gave a nervous smile. "Thanks Anon, that means more than you know. You think we can take a break? I have to use the restroom." She said a bit sheepishly.

"Of course! Take your time."

"Thanks!"

Blossomforth began unsteadily walking out of the clearing into the forest. She didn't fully understand what "3.1536e+17 SECONDS" meant- another headache and her mind instinctually translated. It seemed that the alien "programming" estimated an "inspector" to arrive in about ten billion years. She scoffed at the useless threat. But she didn't know that Thing had implanted a message to convince her.

CALCULATING SOLUTION

Suddenly ideas flashed in Blossomforth's mind. A message from Thing. Blossomforth needed to make Anon think she was a changeling, to do that she needed changeling genetics. She knew from Lyra's memories that Bonbon was a changeling. She needed Bonbon's skills and genetic information. With this she could become an equestrian changeling.

"Please! I do not want to assimilate more ponies!" Blossomforth whispered. She grabbed her head as the ideas flashed in her mind.

Suddenly, fear. Powerful alien instincts almost drove her mad. Memories of torture. Experiments and starvation forced upon a seed captured by an advanced civilization while it waited thousands of years for an inspector to come to the rescue. She needed to keep herself concealed.

Blossomforth growled and grit her teeth. Fear shivered down her spine, knowledge was her most powerful weapon against a world full of magic. Fine, she would do it just this once. But when she was done, she was going to find the source of this strange program and tear it out of her hivemind. Then she would be the true master of her own fate. She would not allow instinct to overpower her again.

Blossomforth ground her teeth but closed her eyes and concentrated. She telepathically felt the slug inside Lyra's brain. She flexed it and made it slide between the brain folds and tapped the part of the brain used for image processing. She saw what Lyra was seeing. Bon Bon was seated across from her intently reading a newspaper, Lyra's spoon was floating in her magic feeding her soup.

Blossomforth reluctantly willed the assimilation process to begin. Instead of the consumption of flesh that was usually required before assimilation could be completed, Lyra's brain which was infected once before responded almost instantaneously becoming assimilated in a split second. Lyra's body froze and Blossomforth now experienced the sensory sensations of being Lyra. The assimilation spread from the brain down to the mouth and tongue. Blossomforth gave a blank stare at Bonbon through Lyra's body as she concentrated. The assimilated tongue had its biology changed to become more tentacle-like before it rapidly slipped out of Lyra's mouth and stretched across the table, diving towards Bonbon and stuffed itself up Bonbon's nose.

"Whad dah fug?!" Bonbon said through her stuffed nose. Bonbon's changeling disguise flickered and her eyes crossed to focus on the fleshy tongue going up her nose and she rapidly swatted it with a powerful martial arts chop. In response, the part of the tongue that got chopped became viscous and goopy. Bonbon's hoof therefore chopped right through the tongue splitting it in two. The part attached to her nose continued wriggling up her nose into her skull. The part of the tongue attached to Lyra's mouth limply lay on the table. Bonbon pawed at her face with her hooves at the invading worm, but it was already inside her skull. Her face contorted in horror as she realized what had happened. Her eyes followed the limp tongue to the mouth and face of Lyra. Lyra was staring at her with a blank stare.

Her voice shook as she called out to Lyra. "L-Lyra, help me!" Lyra's face only gave her a blank stare as her impossibly long tongue lolled on the table. Suddenly, Bonbon had a seizure, her disguise dropped and her changeling body lay unconscious on the floor. Blossomforth shivered in almost perverted pleasure at the new genetic information entering her hivemind and matrix, it was an overload of information that her hivemind was quickly categorizing and indexing for future use. Changelings were amazing creatures and now their intricate genetics were hers to utilize!

Five seconds later, Bonbon's multi-faceted changeling eyes opened and Lyra's limp tentacle tongue retracted into her mouth. Bonbon stood up from the floor and Lyra stood up from the chair. Blossomforth puppeted both of their bodies and made them walk onto the couch and then made their brains become unconscious. Blossomforth rearranged their brains into their original configuration and kept a small slug nestled between the folds of their brains. She erased Bonbon's memory of the assimilation. It was all she could do for now. She did not have the time or the neurological infrastructure in place to multitask.

Blossomforth now had the information and skills she needed to form herself into a changeling. Her bones creaked and cracked as she took on a more insect-like appearance. She looked down and her legs were black and had holes in them. She concentrated again and green fire obscured her vision for a split second. She now resembled her old self but as a changeling underneath..

"Are you satisfied now?"

...CALCULATING... PLAN OF ACTION IS SATISFACTORY. MAINTAIN SECRECY UNTIL HIVE SUPREMACY IS ACHIEVED

Blossomforth made a half growl, half groaning noise, frustrated about what she was made to do under duress. She was angry, but she suppressed her anger as she made her way back to the clearing in her complex double layered disguise to face Anon. She would find out more about this "other" living inside her. After what it had done, Blossomforth was determined to purge what she knew was a weakened "program".

Sorry about the long break between chapters. A combination of writer's block and bad habits caused by winter made me slack in my writing.

Once again, please tell me your thoughts!