I kissed William and Cindy on the cheek before the two walked off to a day's work on the field. It was strange seeing them separate, as two completely unique and independent beings, but still so strongly tied together. They rarely had their hands apart, and they were so affectionate, It... well, alright, so I was a bit jealous. They didn't just want each other, they needed one another. That's not to say I was being neglected, mind you.

Being with the two together was... Well, I couldn't complain. They double teamed as if they had one mind. They barely needed to talk, they'd just pin you between them and get to work, and it worked for so many things. They'd make dinner for you, snuggle with you while watching a performance, or make love from more angles than you thought you had at once and leave you panting and delirious. They were good and wonderful people, and tried their best to be great mates, and they were.

So why did I feel jealous? Well, for one, Karen was stuck inside me. When she talked, I was shoved aside. When she wanted to move, I was shoved aside. I was tired of my partner shoving so often, especially while watching William and Cindy become life partners in the most literal meanings. I mean, I'm wasn't... angry at Karen. She wasn't trying to hurt me, or to be rude. She didn't have a lot of other options. I bet she was just as annoyed that she had to push out from underneath me before she could do anything. It wasn't an ideal situation for either of us.

She loved Neon fiercely, and it bled all over me. Watching Neon, I would begin to grow more and more aroused. The strength of her legs, the width of her hips, the wag of her tongues. Everything about her right down to the bright colors she would display after feeding and the aggressive way she came on to people, and myself. I found myself wanting to have a true child with her. Sure, I had given her an egg, but the egg was mine. Mine and Dusk's, to be honest. It didn't belong to Neon at all. Neon felt no tie to Cindy, even as Cindy looked to me and Hope as her biological parents.

Did I mention how strange it is being worked over by someone who calls you mom with the next breath? She never actually breeds, with me that is, but it doesn't seem to slow her down from putting every other part of her body to work when she's in the mood or she detects I am. She does the same thing for Hope. She'll call him daddy even as she strokes him off. It's more than a little weird, but nobody's hurt by it. Now that I thought about it, maybe I should just tell her. She's not a child, even if she is new to a lot of things. She could learn.

I was getting distracted. I focused on the image in the mirror and regarded myself. I was a well-built earth pony, with the influence of the 'parasite' on full display. My tail was thick and long, not at all like a horse's, instead more like a great reptile, though it was furry and soft. I had the bright colors that Neon once had exclusive rights to. My tongues were long and skilled with practice, and my jaw opened to reveal three sets of sharp teeth, even though I didn't feel any particularly strong need for meat.

"What are you looking at?" I seemingly asked myself. Karen was awake.

"I was thinking you, and I, deserved our own bodies."

"Am I being that annoying?"

I sighed and turned away from the mirror. "You've been very polite, all things considered, but we're still two brains with one body. That's a lot of sharing."

Karen didn't seem to default to mental speech nearly as often as Cindy did. She talked through me. Her voice was a little different than mine, but it was still mine. "I'm sorry if I've been bothering you, but it was you that stole me from Neon. What do you want to do about it?"

That was the big question. "Well... You could do what Cindy did?"

"What, exactly, did Cindy do? Besides suddenly become a foal and grow up faster than bamboo?"

How did she know about bamboo? I put the question aside. "She moved herself into one of our children, then grew up."

Karen seemed to shudder inside of me. "Ugh. She absorbed a pattern. It's what her 'kind' does. Look, I don't want to destroy someone that way. Doesn't the baby deserve to have its own life?"

I hadn't thought about it. "Is that why she calls me and Hope her mom and dad? Still, don't you want a body of your own, to pounce Neon in?"

The idea seemed to appeal to her. I could feel her interest build. "Well, yes... but I would want my own body, not to steal someone else's. We should make our own."

I raised a brow as I looked back in that mirror so she could see my expression. "You can't just 'make' a body."

"Why not?"

Why not? I wasn't sure how to approach that at first. "The only way I have to make bodies is sex, and that makes bodies with minds and souls, not empty bodies. You can't just put the parts together like a machine." I frowned a little. "Unless you want a machine?"

"Define machine."

Ugh. I stepped from hoof to hoof. "Mechanical? Not alive. With hinges and oil instead of joints and blood."

"That wouldn't do at all." I could feel her frowning inside of me.

I pointed at myself in the mirror with a hoof. "I have a question, Karen. How do your people breed? How do you make more of yourself?"

"It's not that different from the spectrums," she said as she looked down with my eyes at ourselves. "If we have enough energy, rather than explode with it, we kind of pop, and then there's two or three where there was one. One..." She trailed off, then went silent.

"Karen?"

"Just thinking. I... I just realized I wasn't really thinking much back then. I was just there. I was just a thing. It's very disconcerting to ponder. Fuck! Why is this so complicated? I just want to be with Neon! Er, and you. You're nice too, but we can't ever be together, because we're already together."

I sighed at myself, and Karen. "And that's why you don't want to go back to Neon."

"Exactly. I don't want to be inside of her like that."

Neon approached us from behind. "Is that how you really feel?"

Karen took control, swinging us around to face Neon. "Hello!"

Neon smiled at me/Karen. "Hello, goddess that once lived inside me. If it meant having you free... If that's what you really wanted... I would do it, for you."

Karen frowned through me. "I don't understand. What do you mean exactly?"

Neon pointed at us. "I mean I'll lift my tail and get knocked up, specifically for you, then I want you inside of me, inside the foal, then I'll pop you out."

I wrestled control back from Karen. "That's a bad idea. Karen would be your daughter."

Neon shrugged softly. "And? We're not breeding, who cares."

Karen knew that was a dirty idea, and grinned through me at Neon. "You dirty mare, but I'd still be taking someone's body."

Neon sat on her haunches. "Freely given. I'd give you a thousand babies if you asked for it nicely. Stop being a prude and just say yes."

I could feel Karen growing aroused in me, and through me. I felt warm and tingly and increasingly roused, but I managed to hold control. "Karen, if this sounds good, we should do it, but not with Neon. I'm sure there are other mares that would play surrogate for this, and let you be your own person, not related by blood to us."

Neon clopped the ground. "What if I want her to be related to me? What if I want, for a little while, to have my goddess back, here." She ran her forehooves over her body as she gazed at me before she flopped over onto her back, her hind legs spread to expose her petals to us. "I'm waiting for you, Karen. Take me. Take me in a way that will leave me claimed forever."

I became painfully stiff, though it was an ovipositor, not a true member. I couldn't quicken her eggs with it.

~Do you want to?~ Karen asked internally.

~Karen? N-no! We really should get another mare, no matter how willing Neon is to make this as incestual as possible.~

~But you said it yourself. She is willing. She is more than willing. She wants it. I want her!~

~If you take her this once, then you shouldn't ever do it again, but if you go with another mare, you can do it with Neon as many times as you both want, forever.~

I could feel Karen struggling with the choice of immediate satisfaction and long term fulfillment.

~This isn't fair... look at her!~

I couldn't help but to look at her. Neon was breathing softly as she gazed at us, awaiting our decision. The smell coming off of her seemed to be tripping over some primal bit of me. I wanted her almost as bad as Karen did. The last child I created had turned into a wonderful person, could I go two for two? Would I be mother to two godlings? Well, I supposed mother to one, father to another.

We were living in a strange new world, and it demanded a decision from Karen and me.

Author's Notes:

What should Sandra and Karen do? Neon's sudden offer has their brains firing typos wildly. They could use any advice you can offer them.