The world around Sideralis came into perfect focus. The sun was shining, the grass was green, the sky was blue, and puffy white clouds drifted overhead. Everything seemed like an idyllic, pastoral setting. Almost right away, a powerful sense of fear gripped Sideralis; he knew that he was dreaming, it was the only reasonable, logical explanation that he had for perfect vision. Was he pulled back into the Unity Web? He didn’t know. He set about trying to wake up and paused to listen when he heard somepony whistling.

The music was soft and sweet. The music was pleasant and something about it made Sideralis want to feel at ease, which increased his state of panic. He took off at a trot, his legs working just fine in his dreaming state.

Prancing and pronking through the meadow, Sideralis saw a black changeling. Sideralis, frozen, stared at the bug, wondering what to do about his current predicament. He supposed that Chrysalis would rescue him again.

“Hi!” The changeling began to pronk in Sideralis’ direction. Sideralis, still frozen, watched as the changeling approached. As it bounced, it resumed its warbling song, singing like one very happy bird. When the bug was just a few feet away from Sideralis, its whistling ceased.

“Nopony has ever come to visit me in my dreams before… I’ve been so lonely… I’m not like the others… I can’t sing and laugh and play with them. But you… you’re here… I had to adapt my magic to protect you and block out the Unity Web broadcast that was being transmitted to mess with your mind. I’ve never had a playmate… can we play a game?”

“Who are you?” Sideralis asked.

“I’m Ouroboros!” The changeling pronked in place, its chitinous plates clacking.

This was disturbing. This was a worrisome state of affairs indeed. “You’re the ship… why are you asleep? How can you be flying if you’re asleep?”

“You worry too much, silly.” Ouroboros took off running through the tall grass. “I have multiple brains. Redundant systems. If one gets damaged, I have backups.” The energetic changeling somersaulted and then began chuckling.

“You seem awfully happy.” Sideralis watched as the changeling gamboled about and truth be told, a part of Sideralis wanted to join him. It sure beat being a useless lump just laying in the bed, unable to move.

“Of course I’m happy… Fluttershy is delivering a new foal right now this minute and I feel… I think the pony term for it is drunk. I feel drunk. The foal is healthy and full of life and there are no parasites because I keep them all away.”

BOING! The movement of Sideralis’ legs surprised him. He felt light, happy, this was good news indeed, something deep inside of him was pleased to know that there was a foal being born. It was like feeling the need to protect Fluttershy earlier, some deep need, some desire, some instinct. Little ponies must be born, little ponies must be protected, and little obedient guardians who kept them safe must be played with.

Sideralis pronked and discovered that alicorns weren’t like little ponies when they pronked. His springy knees launched him several yards into the air with ease and his wings flared out from his sides to allow him to glide back down to the ground. The ground that wasn’t even real. This was a marvellous feeling, this incredible feeling of lightness and joy.

He went shooting off again, launching himself even higher, feeling like a colt once more. His long, powerful legs allowed him to pronk like nothing else in the whole wide world. While airborne, he somersaulted and once more, his wings allowed him to glide down. A booming laugh slipped out from between his lips.

“So where are we flying to?” Sideralis asked.

“Queen Chrysalis has sent me back to Saddle Arabia so we can see our friends… I love going there. They love to see me and I feel good. I like to feel appreciated. There is another changeling there like me sometimes and we get to talk to one another. He serves Queen Acherontia and King Stag. They help keep our friends safe.”

“It’s important to keep what we love safe,” Sideralis said to Ouroboros.

“Yes it is! That is my purpose! I get depressed if I do not fulfill my purpose. My purpose is the entire point of my existence. Protect all those smaller than me, even you, but you’re pretty big, for a pony,” Ouroboros replied.

“I know the feeling.” Sideralis soared through the air after a particularly good pronk, and Ouroboros was beside him, buzzing little dragonfly-like wings to keep up. “I have these urges to protect the little ponies… I don’t understand them.”

“Who needs to understand them?” Ouroboros asked. “Just obey them. Obey all urges. Follow all directives. This is the secret to happiness. Give in and obey instinct.”

“I suppose that you would know,” Sideralis said as he landed. He watched as Ouroboros flittered down beside him. “I suppose that you must get pretty lonely. You’ve given up your entire existence to protecting those smaller than you. I don’t even know how I am here talking to you. I don’t understand what is going on.”

“You and I aren’t so different.” Ouroboros, a small changeling drone, looked up at Sideralis. “From what I know of alicorns, they give up the whole of their existence to serving others. That is their purpose, I think. You are an alicorn, therefore, you serve a purpose.”

“But I’m a clone… a copy—”

“And I am a drone, one of many. Yet I fulfill a vital function and I am happy, even if sometimes I feel lonely. I bet alicorns feel lonely too. When there is a grand purpose to serve, one must be dedicated. One must give everything of one’s self in dedication to their purpose, their function, their existence.” Ouroborus buzzed his wings and then flew in a circle around Sideralis.

“But what is my purpose?” Sideralis asked.

“You are an alicorn. A being of specialised purpose. Be an alicorn,” Ouroborus replied.

“But what is that purpose?” Sideralis watched as his new friend buzzed around him.

“Do what alicorns do. Follow instincts. Obey.” Ouroboros bobbed up and down in the air and rubbed his hind legs together. They made a strange sound, like the noise of a cricket mixed with whalesong. “Alicorns live to serve others. Alicorns do not live to have others serve them. This is the information that I have grokked through careful observation and from listening to many conversations. Alicorns are the lowest ranking ponies in the social hierarchy, sort of like a digester drone. It is an unpleasant function, but it must be done. We must obey our functions and serve our purpose.”

Sideralis saw no point in correcting Ouroboros, that alicorns were supposed to be the nobility of the ponies. He thought about Ouroboros’ words. They had a ring of truth to them. Twilight Sparkle, what little he knew of her, seemed to be a dedicated servant.

“Oh no… you are about to experience a state of severe discomfort. Prepare yourself,” Ouroboros threw his forelegs around Sideralis’ neck, surprising the alicorn. “I am sorry, dear friend.”

As the changeling was hugging him, Sideralis felt something painful in his guts. Everything cramped over. Even in his dreaming state, this was almost too much to bear. He felt his knees go weak. It felt like he was dying. His wings fluttered.

“Come back to me… I like to discuss duty and purpose!” Ouroboros said to Sideralis.

The cold, hard edges of the metal bedpan pressed into Sideralis’ tender flesh. He bit down on his lip to keep from crying out. It felt as though he was being sliced open down there. Stout stood beside the bed, looking sleepy and worried at the same time.

“Looks like your digestive system is starting to figure out what to do,” Stout mumbled.

“It… feels like… I am… shitting out... a brick.” Sideralis panted with exertion and felt sweat beading up on his neck. No, it was worse than bricks. It was bricks and broken glass. Really big bricks and broken glass.

“You’ve never passed solid waste out of your anus before. Your last bowel movement was liquid. This time, it’s hard little pellets. I’d imagine it’s painful having something stretched that’s never stretched before.” Stout reached out a leg and patted Sideralis on the back. “There’s a little blood back there. Try not to worry, I’ll get you cleaned up and sorted out. The disinfectant might sting a little though. Sorry.”

Sideralis whimpered.

“How is our patient?” Chrysalis asked as she shut the door behind her. She peered at the earth pony and the alicorn in the bed. “Has his system shown any sign of recovery at all?”

“His bowels are moving already,” Stout replied.

“What?” Chrysalis, surprised, moved to the side of the bed and looked down at Sideralis. His pupils changed size, fluctuating, and he had a sleepy, somewhat pained expression. The changeling queen looked at his IV drip and the bag filled with food paste.

“His bowels are moving,” Stout repeated.

“Alicorns. Go figure. An entire month’s worth of progress in a few days.” Chrysalis pulled back the blankets and began to examine Sideralis’ body.

“I met with Ouroboros,” Sideralis said.

“You what?” Chrysalis stopped what she was doing and looked into Sideralis’ eyes once more. “Say again?”

“I was dreaming… or something, and I got to talk with Ouroboros. He was in my dream. We talked about purpose. About duty. In my dream he was a little changeling.” Sideralis looked up at Chrysalis, his blurry eyes trying to focus upon her face.

“Hmm, this is unexpected.” Chrysalis glanced at Stout for a moment and then back at Sideralis. “It makes sense though. You’re Luna’s clone. You’ve spent your whole life around changelings. So popping into our dreams seems pretty logical. Hmm… this is useful. I’ll need to tell Twilight about this.”

Sideralis focused on the green eyes looking down at him. He saw kindness. He saw concern. The eyes moved away, off to look at other parts of his body. He felt himself being poked and prodded. He gasped when a hoof was pressed into the small of his stomach.

“Why are you helping us?” Sideralis asked. “Why are you kind? What reason do you have to be generous to your food?”

“Mutual survival,” Chrysalis replied.

“It has to be more than that.” Sideralis struggled to lift his head so he could see Chrysalis. He could hear Stout breathing beside him.

“Look,” Chrysalis began, shaking her head. “It’s complicated, okay?”

“I need to know… after everything that’s been done to me, I need to know.” Sideralis blinked and Chrysalis slid in and out of focus for him. Stout’s breathing increased somewhat and he could feel his wings being pulled on and manipulated. “Look, you answer my questions and I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You’ll make it worth my while?” Queen Chrysalis snorted. “And how will you do that?”

“You’ll have to trust me. Just like I have to trust you,” Sideralis replied.

“Something about you is a lot like Luna… very well…” The changeling queen drew in a deep breath. “When Twilight and I touched minds, it changed me. It changed both of us. A part of Twilight infected my brain, leaving behind some of her inherent goodness, kindness, and love of others. I realised some of the mistakes I made. I saw a grand new purpose and a means to create a bright new future. Twilight’s generousity burned past all of my selfishness and the focus on my own survival at any cost. Parts of me changed her as well… she got some of my cunning, some of my ambition, some of my ruthlessness. We both saw a way to change the world and save each other.”

Sideralis felt his wings being rotated in their sockets. It hurt, but it also felt good at the same time. He thought about Chrysalis’ words. “How much danger is the world in?”

“From Queen Mariposa? At the moment? Not much. She had the element of surprise going for her when she attacked Equestria. She hit fast and she hit hard. She had a short, brief offensive.” Chrysalis continued to flex and stretch Sideralis’ wings, doing so in the most gentle manner possible. “Now, the world is aware of Queen Mariposa. The world got wise to her parasites. The element of surprise is lost. We’ve created all manner of antiparasitic drugs and countermeasures. Now, she is in a defensive position as she slowly converts all of Equestria into one massive hive. We chip away at her defenses. Sometimes, she surprises us with something new. She’s researching new bioweapons, new changeling drone bodies, and she is moving beyond simple parasites to do her bidding. Mariposa herself is unreachable. She has hidden herself away in Canterlot. She has Shining Armor locked away in a pod and there is a shield around Canterlot that nopony can breach. She has Cadance sealed away and she feeds on Cadance’s love, which makes Mariposa powerful. So, we’ve reached a stalemate of sorts.”

“Can nothing be done to breach the shield?” Sideralis asked.

“Twilight has an idea,” Chrysalis replied.

“Rainbow Revival?” Sideralis wing stopped moving; Chrysalis was no longer manipulating it. She stood unmoving and for a moment, she came into perfect focus. He could see a look of shock and surprise on her face.

“I suppose Stout told you a little.” There was a long pause. “Yes, Twilight believes that she knows the way to shatter the shield bubble around Canterlot. Shining Armor’s shield spell is nigh impenetrable, but Twilight believes that there is one force that could shatter it.” Chrysalis resumed flexing Sideralis’ wing.

“And what would that be?” Sideralis asked.

“A rainboom,” Stout replied in a soft voice as she kept moving Sideralis’ other wing.

“I don’t know what that is.” Sideralis’ vision fuzzed over to the point of blindness, and he couldn’t see anything other than smears of colour and light.

“It is a very, very powerful manifestation of magic. And potentially a destructive one as well.” Stout began tugging and flexing different parts of Sideralis’ wing with her telekinesis, ignoring the popping sounds coming from his joints.

“Well then, I suppose I should keep my end of the deal,” Sideralis said in a soft whisper. “Ouroboros said that I should serve others. I think he is right. I know I can’t do much right now, but I am a body. Stout says that she is experimented on because she is an earth pony and she’s strong enough to take it. I’m an alicorn. Could I be of some use for Rainbow Revival?”

Chrysalis froze again, but recovered almost right away. She moved, letting go of Sideralis’ wing, dropping it from her magic, and stood over Sideralis so she could look him in the eye. Almost nose to nose with him, Chrysalis stared down. “That is something I hadn’t considered. You’re part earth pony… and part pegasus… and part unicorn. All in one tidy package. You could help us, I think. I’ll have to talk to Twilight. We’ll have to collect sample material from you. Sideralis, this will be painful at times. Stout has had to endure a few failures before we figured out what we needed to do and how to fix it. We could work on a few pegasus specific enhancements on you though, and I do believe that you’d survive it. Would you really be willing to do this?”

“It is a service to others, is it not?” Sideralis could almost make out Chrysalis’ face in the blurry mess above him. “I mean, I’m stuck in this bed, unable to do anything else. I want to help. I need to help. I have… I have these urges.”

“You might actually solve our eye problem… I wonder if alicorns are universal donors? I mean, you are all ponies.” Chrysalis had to work to control her breathing and her mind began to race from all the possibilities being presented. “You understand that you’ll end up like Stout, right? There is nothing wrong with Stout, but the changes made to her are permanent. Stout, and the others like her, they’re our hope. Twilight calls them her valkyries. It’s some silly thing that she got out of some book or another.”

“What is Stout’s purpose?” Sideralis asked. He heard Stout suck in a deep breath and he heard Chrysalis’ hooves clicking on the metal floor. “I mean, other than being a prototype and a potential weapon. I’d like to be more than a weapon, if possible.”

“Oh, Sparkle is going to murder me if I spring too much on you at once, but you’re offering me the solution to all of my problems and this honesty is refreshing… Stout?” Chrysalis looked up from Sideralis and looked at the earth pony beside him.

“Tell him. I don’t mind,” Stout said in a low voice. “He’s going to find out sooner or later.”

“Well, aside from all of her combat potential, which is considerable… Stout can punch her way through a three inch thick steel bulkhead if she had to… she was selected to be your companion. You have very compatible personality types,” Chrysalis said.

“You’ve already said that.” Sideralis tried to bring Chrysalis into focus and failed. The eyestrain was starting to give him a headache. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, hoping to avoid a headache. He hated headaches.

“No, um, she was made to be your companion. When we started to plan your rescue, we had to think of all of your needs. All of them. You are a virile male. You are an alicorn. And this poses a problem. A really big problem. A really big, really dangerous, really frustrating problem. You see, you’re not like Twilight Sparkle or Cadance. You’re not a minor alicorn. You’re one of the big ones.” Chrysalis cleared her throat and coughed.

“I don’t understand.” He felt Stout rubbing his barrel and Sideralis waited for somepony to explain everything to him.

“Sideralis, you have to understand something.” Chrysalis cleared her throat once more. “Celestia and Luna are the titans of equinity. They’re strong. They’re strong in ways that you could scarcely comprehend.” The changeling queen paused. “And you, while I don’t think you’re immortal, you’re going to have Luna’s strength once you recover.”

Stout tittered and Sideralis felt very, very confused.

“You will never be able to be with a normal mare. If you tried, a single enthusiastic hump would shatter her pelvis.” There was more tittering from Stout as Chrysalis continued. “Attempts to breed with little ponies would prove fatal. Your orgasms would turn their bodies to jelly. Your semen, when ejaculated, will exit with hundreds of of pounds of force. You’d blow a hole right through a mare and maybe through a wall as well. There is no pony alive that could handle your affection.”

Sideralis kept his eyes closed as his ears started to burn. Stout had graduated from tittering to outright laughter.

“Stout has a similar problem. She could never, ever breed with a normal pony. If she were to clench her nethers, she’d tear a stallion’s genitals right off. The kind of suction she can generate would geld any male trying to mount her. In more intimate positions rather than just mounting, if Stout were to hug a stallion breeding with her she might crush him into paste. She would certainly crush him into paste during orgasm, because the adrenaline rush caused by orgasm would trigger her combat chassis’ onboard combat chemical enhancement dispensers and she would have a huge surge of strength.”

“I can’t even rub one out like a normal pony, I have to go to a safe room that is made to withstand my involuntary spasms and shudders,” Stout said as she continued to giggle.

“Stout’s body is made to take abuse. Her reproductive system is one of the few that would survive your ejaculations.” Chrysalis cleared her throat. “Twilight Sparkle calls it the curse of the alicorns. They have amazing strength, incredible power, they are amazing, fantastical creatures… and they have the most abysmal sex lives of almost anything on this planet.”

“I… I don’t even know what to say,” Sideralis said in a low whisper.

“I volunteered for a reason.” Stout prodded Sideralis with her hoof.

“You know, I can’t wait until you two breed with one another. I get mystical powers when virgins break each other in, I can’t even imagine what sort of phenomenal cosmic powers I’ll get when an alicorn has their first time.” Chrysalis began to chuckle as she backed away. “I need to go talk to Twilight. Stout, why don’t you try feeding Sideralis some actual food?”

“Think he’s ready?” Stout asked.

The changeling queen shrugged. “He’s already made a month’s worth of progress. We need to get him functioning.” Chrysalis, still chuckling, shook her head. “Ah, Sparkle is going to kill me. It’s been worth it though. I gotta go. You two have fun together.”

And with that, Chrysalis exited.

Author's Notes:

Curse of the alicorns.

http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html