“Fluttershy?” Chrysalis said, her voice little more than a strained whisper. The notion that the pegasus might have abandoned her seemed to be causing her panic. “Fluttershy, are you still there?”

        “I'm still here, Chrysalis,” Fluttershy replied quietly, pressing a bandage to the Changeling's sweat-covered forehead. Though the fever would occasionally break, moments of lucidity like this were becoming increasingly rare. “I'm not going anywhere until you're better.”

        “I must feed,” she said simply, tears slowly forming in her juniper eyes. “You were the one who started this, little pony, not I. You brought me here, promised to care for me, and now … the one thing that will allow me to heal is the one thing that you deny me.”

        “It's not so simple as that. We ponies don't just give our love away to anybeing.”

        “Love isn't everything,” replied Chrysalis. “There are other methods.”

        “Other … what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, hope growing in her voice. Her research into Changelings hadn't been going well; there were only a few books about them, and most of those were coloured by rumour and innuendo. Golden Oaks, or the Royal Library in Canterlot, might've had a more substantive range, but there was no way she could get to either of them without arousing the suspicions of Twilight Sparkle or Princess Celestia.

        Chrysalis uttered a single word.

        “Excuse me?” said Fluttershy, her eyes widening in shock as she felt a blush breaking out across her muzzle.

        “You're excused,” the Changeling said, her fangs peeking out from behind her lips in a cheeky smile. “If it helps, I'm not any happier about it than you are, but it's the only option available to us. I'll be dead in a day or two otherwise, so I pray that you don't take too long in coming to a decision.”

        “But I can't,” said Fluttershy. “I mean, I've never ...”

        “I'm not exactly in a position to be choosy,” said Chrysalis. “Look, if it helps, I can use what little power I have left to me to shift myself into a more amenable form for you. Judging from the surface impressions I've been picking up, you're closest to that prismatic floozy, right?”

        “Please don't,” Fluttershy replied, blanching. “Rainbow Dash is my dearest friend, and she is not a floozy.”

        “I'm just going by what's in your head,” said Chrysalis with a shrug of her shoulders. “Rarity? Twilight Sparkle?”

        “No.”

        “The red stallion with the giant-”

        “-No!” Fluttershy grit her teeth to avoid saying anything worse.

        Chrysalis stayed silent.

        Would it really be so bad? Over the past couple of weeks, she had gotten to know Chrysalis' anatomy extensively; true, that was from the point of view of a healer caring for a patient and there was nothing sexual involved in that, but she was possessed of the exact same parts in the exact same places as found on ordinary ponies, so … no. She couldn't, could she? Could she really have her first time with a Changeling? A sick and injured Changeling? A sick and injured Changeling that would most probably die if she didn't act soon? Fluttershy took a deep breath, asking herself, as she normally did in these situations, what Twilight Sparkle would do?

        She would probably ask Princess Celestia for advice, she thought with a rueful grin. I need to stop trying to act like her and think, instead, about what Fluttershy would do in these situations. She would do anything to help, right? That was the most important thing after all: no matter the cost, always put the patient first.

        “Chrysalis?”

        “Hm?”

        “I'll do it, but on one condition,” said Fluttershy, loosing her pent-up breath.

        “What's that?” she asked.

        “Please don't turn into anypony else, okay? My friends are very precious to me and I won't have their images tarnished, no matter what impressions you may pick up,” Fluttershy said. Raising an eyebrow, she added, “Deal?”

        With a wave of her foreleg, Chrysalis replied, “Sure. Like I said, I'm not in a position to be choosy.”

        Whether it was because of Chrysalis entering her mind in order to feed or because of the act itself, Fluttershy quickly lost track of time as their bodies became one; sweat dripped off of her, mingling with that of the Changeling's. The room was soon filled with the combined scents of their rutting. Fluttershy identified her own aroma, knowing it only too well from her solo ventures, so she took the spicy, pungent tang lacing the air to be Chrysalis'. It was not, she was surprised to find, entirely unpleasant either. She'd expected it to be toxic and harsh, like those of other insect-based creatures, but it was not. It was … stimulating. Perhaps it was how Changelings adapted themselves so well? Create an intoxicating pheromone to lure the unsuspecting in and drain them of their love?

        Their gentle dance was brief, but they still lay enmeshed, a tangle of black and yellow limbs, panting and spent. Instinctively, Fluttershy knew that it had not been very good, though she was certain that the fault did not entirely lie at her hooves; she felt an overwhelming sense of tiredness grip her, and she had to fight off sleep. She guessed that Chrysalis had gotten far more out of the experience than she had.

        “Yum,” Chrysalis said, licking her lips slowly. “First-timers always taste so good. Their essence has a charge to it that you just can't beat.”

        “I'm glad you enjoyed it,” said Fluttershy, unsure as to what she was feeling. It was categorically not how she'd pictured losing her virginity, but it hadn't been all that bad either. At least Chrysalis seemed grateful for her efforts rather than being her typical supercilious self, so that was something. “How are you feeling?”

        “Better,” the Changeling said, stifling a yawn. “Tired, too, but that's always to be expected after your first good meal in ages.”

        Fluttershy cast a scrutinising eye over Chrysalis' body; her carapace looked healthy and shiny, like it had done during the invasion, and she seemed to be a bit more alert and attentive than before. She still needed time, however, as demonstrated by the fact that she quickly fell asleep, still grasping Fluttershy's body to her.

        This is going to be a long night.