The apartment we found was nice, lovely compared to almost any other arrangement we'd had since disaster struck. Someone had gone all out in providing us with comforts, if the air conditioning wasn't just for show. It wasn't warm enough yet to put it to the test, but it looked newly installed like much of the building had been.

The beds were designed with us in mind. Two of them were quite oversized to seat our large form, and Sandra's as well. The fridges were stocked with a heap of veggies waiting to be devoured, the faucets all worked, something I had learned wasn't assured in the city. If this was our reward for our work, at least it was a well-engineered one.

There was even a television, but all it produced was snow when we turned it on. Nothing was broadcasting just yet, and it didn't seem to be connected to any cable or other device. A nice thought, though not planned all the way through there, faceless interior designer. I ran a furry hand over it anyway. It was nice... It was a little touch of normalcy, even if it didn't work.

My inspection of the room was quite abruptly interrupted by several wet tongues exploring what lay between my hindlegs. I jumped away from Sandra only to spin around on her. "Karen?"

Sandra pulled in her tongues as she shook her head. "No, that one was just me being naughty and silly. I can do that too, you know. You looked so far away just then."

I smiled gently, having no anger for Sandra. "It's alright. We're as close to married as we're getting, once in a while crotch grabs just means we still have that fire."

Cindy took that as a prompt and used her magic to pick Sandra up and pull her over to our side before she leaned in for kissing time. They met muzzles and I could feel their tongues caressing one another in it, swapping tiny bits of energy back and forth. When Cindy drew back, she was flushed. "I never thought I'd willingly get so close to a parasite before."

Karen's voice spoke from Sandra, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Cindy took control of one of our hands to point at Karen. "It means I'm getting used to you."

Karen, now in full control of Sandra, tilted her head a bit. "Oh... that's good, I think." She stepped in and nuzzled into Cindy gently. "We're all fleshy meatbags now."

Cindy laughed as she nuzzled back. Feeling a bit left out, I joined in the nuzzling action, though a question pinged on me. "Is it really that different from how you used to be?"

Karen stepped back. "Are you kidding me? Energy life is not fleshy life, that's for sure, but I'm enjoying it for now. One day you should die, and then I'll move on, having learned something from the experience."

Sandra suddenly took control of her body. "Don't say it that way! That sounds so indifferent."

Cindy shook her head. "I think that came out wrong. Karen isn't wrong, but I think we both love our host very much. That day... It would be the saddest I ever experienced, that it's strange to think about. Before, sadness was a distant concept, but now... Please don't die, either of you. I want you to be around for as long as you can be."

Neon nudged the door open with a hoof, stepping in from the hallway. "That partially depends on you two, doesn't it?"

Karen spoke through Sandra. "Little Neon! Were you listening to us?"

Cindy nodded at Neon. "She's right. I fix little problems every day. I plan to keep William healthy and alive for a long time. If I had more knowledge about how your fleshy form worked, I'm sure I could do even more to keep you around."

Sandra's ears went up. "Wait! You're literally extending her life? Like that?"

Karen spoke through her, "Of course she is. You think I'm not? I like this home."

Neon grunted. "Which means I'm out even more..."

Karen grinned with Sandra's face. I knew it was her in control. "Oh no, little Neon. You know when we do that thing that has you black out with delight?" Neon nodded while glancing at us nervously. "I don't do it just for fun, though it is fun. I check you over when you're out and fix things. My little Neon is not going before me!"

Neon squirmed in place. "That is touching, and a little disturbing, and a little attractive, all mixed together. I miss you so much, Karen. I'm sorry I was too weak to hold onto you."

Sandra took over and snorted. "Neon, no! You're plenty strong, you were just going down a bad path, and we pulled you away from it."

Neon raised a hoof at Sandra. "Well I learned my lesson... can I have her back? Please?"

Sandra looked to us, but I wasn't sure how to tackle that. "Look, we can't just pretend the presence in Neon is a thoughtless 'thing'. Karen has that choice now. She can be in either one, and we owe it to her to help her be where she wants to be."

Karen bobbed Sandra's head. "Neon. Neon look at me." Neon looked up at Sandra/Karen with folded ears. "Neon... I know you love me, and you want me inside of you, but from here, we can love, really love. There's a difference. I love holding you down and doing things to you. I love it when you surprise me and do things to me. I love talking to you, being with you, but not being part of you. Together we were two halves of a thing, separate we are two lovely things working in harmony. It's different!" She suddenly turned on us. "Unlike others! I have learned the pleasure of being together, without consuming."

I felt Cindy's embarrassment and hot rage. "You take that back! I'm not hurting William! I've protected her from so many things. I didn't let her mind get touched when it began, guided her body down the gentlest paths until she made decisions. I've kept her from harm and loved her as a dear friend."

I nodded in agreement. "It's hard to imagine how things would have worked out without Cindy there, even long before she could speak her mind."

Karen stomped a hoof. "That was good before, but now... Did you notice you have each other's eyes?"

Did we? I steered us towards the bathroom but Cindy didn't want to go, and we went wildly out of sync. Our body flopped without coordination to the ground. "Cindy, do we?"

Cindy looked away, and full control returned. I rose back up to our hooves and strode into the bathroom. My eyes were a vibrant orange-red color, like a fire. They even seemed to glimmer with the power of a smoldering flame. It was pretty, but it wasn't what I had. What did I have? I couldn't remember what they used to be. "Cindy? Are yours like this?"

Cindy looked away resolutely and was silent.

Sandra/Karen and Neon stepped into the room behind us. Neon snorted softly. "She's guilty. I wonder if she's even doing it on purpose?"

Cindy shook her head. "No! No no no!" She finally looked towards me with those orange-red eyes, blazing with her emotions. "I'd never do anything to hurt you, William. We're a team, together. I have your back, and you have mine."

Karen let out a chuckle through Sandra's throat, but Sandra quickly took over. "Don't laugh through me, that's extra creepy. Will, Karen isn't entirely wrong. Something is obviously going on. Now I'm not pointing fingers, or hooves, but Cindy, what's happening?"

Cindy looked increasingly miserable for a moment before an idea came to her. I could feel it burst into her mind. "Luna! We'll talk to Luna and ask her opinion. She's smart and wise, she'll know how we can both be happy."

Neon furrowed her brows. "Luna isn't the wisest thing ever. She's just a noble of her world." She waved a hoof. "Still, can't hurt much I suppose, but I doubt she's had a lot of experience with you, Cindy, or Karen. You're both new to her."

Sandra nodded at Neon, speaking with Karen's voice. "Luna didn't even know I was there until recently. She's a nice enough princess, but she doesn't know much about energy forms, but I. Do." She frowned at Cindy. "Look, I'm willing to say that you're honestly doing your best, but it's in your nature. The more you love William, the more you want your pattern and his pattern to be one pattern, and they will be. Think about it, how often have you ever seen two of your kind together for any length of time?"

Cindy's ears folded against her head, "We just don't have much to say to each other, so we avoid each other."

Karen laughed, to Sandra's displeasure. "Wrong! Remember how you were born? A nice radiant bit of light scattered off so many others? When one of you decides they've had enough, that they've reached as close to perfect as they can get, that's what happens. Bang, new ones of you, and some energy escapes, just gone, destroyed."

I frowned at that. "You can't destroy energy. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a basic rule of the universe?"

Cindy flinched. "No... No, I've heard something about that. She's not wrong... One other pattern mentioned it to me in passing. That burst, that escaped energy... That's supposed to be our true selves, finding the next level. It's not destroyed, just moved. It's... It's supposed to be amazing."

Neon waved a hoof between the two larger ponies. "Like a world full of fleshy creatures?"

Cindy blinked at Neon. "That... Oh my."

I could feel Cindy's world being turned upside down with new thoughts and she mused over them furiously. I could only think of a small thing. "Are you saying this is their 'paradise'? Their heaven is living?"

Karen jerked Sandra's body fully upright. "This is it? We're in spectrum nirvana? And they said a parasite would never make it... I like it."

Cindy stomped one of our hooves with a sudden irritation. "But I didn't split apart! I didn't make smaller patterns. I'm whole and intact."

Neon pointed at our eyes, "And consuming another pattern."

Cindy recoiled from Neon. "I'm not trying to!" She turned to me. "You believe me, right? William, I love you."

I knew that she did. I knew her feelings were deep and true and terrifying to her all at once. "Cindy, you've grown on me over time." Neon groaned. "We'll talk to Luna. We'll figure this out."

Author's Notes:

This chapter got completely out of my control. This isn't what I planned when I first started, at all. I blame the typos.