The stretches were a pleasant experience overall, actually helping Max learn the full rotation of his four primary limbs. Luna and Celestia were likewise interested in some of the stretches, both claiming to enjoy the sensations that came from proper stretching. Then there was the fact that Celestia was a tad less comfortable with her wings than her sister. Whereas Luna knew most of the flexing and stretching, or at least was faster when learning it, the white mare was constantly running into issues. She'd cramp up from flexing incorrectly or even put too much force into a stretch, nearly dislocating her left wing by accident. Clearly this this kind of training was needed. Max improvised his own wing exercises by testing the control he had over the transluscent wings on his back. It actually drew a few pegasi to him, the ponies curious about the dragonfly-like wings that were being displayed.

Luna's time to shine soon came to an end though. A few of the more intricate magic warm-ups left Luna disoriented, pouring a bit too much power or not enough to do as needed. As Luna teased Celestia during the wing stretches, so now was Celestia teasing Luna about her lack of magical finesse.

While the two continued to snipe at each other, Max focused on the explanation he'd heard on the horn-lighting exercise. It was supposedly the basis of most magic spells, so even achieving that would be fantastic.

'Focus on the buzzing you feel inside of you, will it to the horn an-'

Max found himself staring blankly ahead a moment later, his mind scrambling to figure out what the hell had happened. Wisps of smoke were rising from his muzzle and Luna was mouthing something with a look of concern as she circled him. Oh, and he was on his back for some reason.

"-ear us? Max? Max, are you well?"

Wait, she wasn't mouthing words, he just couldn't hear them. Aaand now he could make out the ringing in his ears. So whatever it was that he'd done, he must have done it wrong.

"Love hurts," he muttered as the world slowed in its spinning. "So that was a bust."

"You attempted to use magic?" Celestia asked. "Tis no wonder it reacted like that, magic must be contained. One cannot just push it to one's horn and stop there. A caster must maintain their grip on the energy to prevent it's dispersal. As you experienced."

"Fret not, Max," Luna commiserated. "We did the same thing whilst attempting to cast for the first time. T'was most unpleasant. Most unicorns learn this lesson early in their lives when their magic is still weak. We were not so lucky. When an alicorn experiences the pops, they are better described as the bangs."

Shaking the last of the cobwebs from his head, max grunted in acknowledgement before rolling over and rising. The pops, a time when unicorn foals were constantly exploding their magic. That was a new one. Pegasi likely had something similar, and he'd hear of it while hitting the ground during his first attempts to fly. If not, he was trademarking the wrecks as the Pegasus version of the pops.

"Well, at the least we know he is capable of magic," the white mare said with a shake of her head.

"So I get a sticker for trying, right? Cuz' that would be awesome," Max muttered. "I really want my magic fingers. Guess I'll have to work on those later."

"Levitation? That is your goal?" Celestia asked. "Most unicorns are capable of learning it within a few weeks of passing through their pops phase. It should not be too difficult. Most set much higher goals though."

"Look, princess. I've never had the option of magic before. The fact that I exploded my face is more than anyone on Earth's done as far as I know, so now I'm headed for the next mile-stone," the stallion explained. "Maybe someday I can heat up my soup with my mind. After I manage that we can get into the fun stuff like fireballs and lightning bolts and rail-guns."

"You are not making me look forward to your advancement with magic," the solar diarch deadpanned.

"Oh you worry too much," he waved her off with a flick of a hoof.

"If I may interject?" a unicorn said, catching the attention of the trio. "I find myself better able to cast if I center myself."

"I'm all ears, dude," Max said as he turned his focus to the speaker. "Explain it a bit more though."

The unicorn, a flimsy looking fellow with dark red coat and purple mane, flinched slightly at the changelings focus but stood his ground.

"When focusing my magic, I attempt to center it first. I draw the energy to my center, then draw it up to my horn."

Max nodded in understanding, closing his eyes and focusing once more.

'Center the energy, pull it all to the middle.'

A belch left his lips, but he kept going, ignoring it for the moment.

'Once you have it centered, you bring it up to-'

The stallion choked, vomiting a spray of pink, red and white onto the ground before him.

"Max, what- are you alright? What happened?"

Licking his lips clean, the taste surprisingly not revolting, Max stared at the puddle on the ground before him.

"I uh, I think the energy I was pulling on was emotion, not magic. When I centered I belched but I ignored it, then I brought it up and uh," the changeling trailed off, gesturing to the mess lamely.

"Don't get me wrong, it was unexpected. But I've actually been wondering if I could do that emotion gel thing on command. I guess we have our answer."

"You believe you can do this on command? What does that mean?" Celestia asked, looking at the mess in disgust.

"It means I can save energy for when Luna's not around for one," he answered. "It also means we may be able to use it for other purposes."

"Oh! Like a magic recovery elixir!" Luna said, clapping her hooves in excitement. "Those are horrifically expensive. No more exhaustion headaches from practicing too much magic!"

"You intend to drink it?" Celestia nearly shouted before her eyes went wide This time she did shout.

"We tasted changeling vomit?!?"

"What did you think it was when we told you it came from Max? Besides, the other option is a great deal worse," Luna said dismissively.

"Other option?" the solar alicorn asked with fear in her eyes.

Luna leaned towards Celestia's ear, whispering the answer, likely semen if he remembered her words. She'd said something about sensing magic in it, or something. The possibility that he was correct was supported by Celestia's reaction. The larger mare's eyes widened and she turned beet red while sputtering and tasting of shock and disgust. Eventually she managed to form a single coherent word.

"Luna!"

"To be fair, Celestia, I don't think changelings throw up in the normal sense. I mean I turn food, and likely most other biological material, into that paste when I eat it, and I think this is kind of a 'save it for later' ability," the stallion explained, attempting to calm her. "Actually, I wonder if..."

Rising and trotting over to an archery target, the changeling breathed deeply as he focused on a bale marked with several dyed circles. He sensed a burst of excitement from Luna, the smaller alicorn likely understanding just what he was about to try. Celestia and most of the other ponies just tasted confused. Max grinned at that. Whether it worked or not, the concept was awesome.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to recall the sensations from the first time he'd gotten 'sick'. The pseudo-nausea, the fullness, the feeling of it travelling up his throat. Fighting the urge to stop himself from vomiting and try to keep it down, he pushed it forward, crouching slightly as he aligned his spine with the target. With a quick hacking bark, he let it loose.

"Huzzah! Your aim is only slightly worse than Tia's!" Luna said from behind him before bursting into laughter.

"Luna, he just expelled slime via projectile-vomiting with enough force to give a mare a concussion, much less the effect of that gel striking a pony and adhering them to any nearby surface!" the white mare shouted, her face tinted a lovely shade of green.

"Well, I need to practice on the aim, but I think the question I have now is..."

Max set himself, preparing for his second test. Breathing deeply once more and once again allowing the sensations to take him, he lined himself up and pushed.

Two more impacts, slightly farther from the target. Five more in quick succession. When attempting to speed up even more, Max choked as he launched the third with his mouth still closed. Green goop sprayed from his mouth and the changeling began sputtering and choking, earning another round of laughter from the dark alicorn.

"T'was an impressive display Max, even with the mistake at the end. We are certain your aim shall only improve in time," Luna said while clapping a hoof on his shoulder. Turning to one of their instructors, she smiled. "Now, what was the next thing on our agenda?"

"Hoof to hoof, your majesty," Pike answered, levitating a few training weapons onto their circle's weapon rack. "We shall walk you through the basic forms and then you shall practice them. Will the changeling be joining you? Some of the styles may not work well with his form."

"It's fine. Better to know the styles ahead of time than to be guessing what they'll do when I'm under attack," Max said dismissively.

The mare nodded.

"Then if the three of you will return to the ring, we shall begin demonstrations."

The unicorn mare was correct in assuming Max would be unable to use most of the forms they would be teaching due to his being so different from the ponies. What they didn't seem to grasp, however, was the fact that the forms were for creatures of their own size. Celestia and Luna were unable to learn some of the forms either while others were useless to them. Even the forms that could be used as practice were only usable on beings of similar size, leaving the three large beings as the only viable sparring partners.

Max sat next to the two alicorns as Pike explained the rules of the next exercise. The sun was already down, the area lit by torches and most of the knights and guards in the barracks for the night. Due to the ones requesting the training though, Pike and Twister were still present.

"The next is just strength and endurance building," Pike said as she paced in front of her audience. While she kept her cool, Max could taste the anxiety she was experiencing.

"We call it rolling, and you can use whatever you have learned if you get the chance. The rules are simple. No strikes meant to injure, only unbalance. No biting hard enough to mark. No pulling out feathers. No strikes against the horn or inner wings, and no strikes against genitals. Who's first?"

"I wish to challenge the changeling," Celestia immediately answered, moving to the circle before any could object.

"Tia, that is not fair!" Luna called after the older mare. "We wish to spar with him!"

"Not the kind of popularity I want," Max muttered. None the less, he took his place in the circle opposite from Celestia. Pike raised a hoof to signal them to prepare, then dropped it.

Max was fairly certain the alicorn was moving before the hoof fell, but that really didn't matter at this point. Celestia bowled into him at surprising force considering how little distance she had to pick up speed. He rolled with her, already having set himself to take the hit, but she used his defensive roll to right herself, flapping her wings to lift herself before dropping on his back as he recovered. Wrapping her forelegs around his neck, she pulled while throwing her weight to the left, causing him fall back over with the mare remained underneath while attached to his back. Having him on his back and in her grip, she tightened her hold on his neck.

"Yield!"

"That's no fun!" he retorted, thrashing about desperately while keeping his neck flexed. Seeing an opportunity, he drove a hoof into her side right below the ribs, causing the alicorn to squawk in pain and release him.

Rolling out of her grip, he rose and took a few steps away. He knew she'd likely try another charge, so he dug himself in. The roll didn't work before, so maybe...

"Rargh!"

Celestia came at him once more with a war cry, her irritation blazing up into a hot anger. Bracing himself for the move, Max jumped to the right slightly before rearing up and falling toward her. She gave off a squeak of surprise, her hooves scrabbling at the ground in a desperate attempt to stop and leaving her leaned back as he fell on her. He wrapped his forelegs around her neck and his rear legs around her barrel, locking them just above her own legs and leaving him clinging to her side before he began pulling upwards and towards himself, crushing the alicorn's neck between his forelegs and barrel. The pressure was enough to cause the alicorn to choke.

"You yield!" he yelled into her face with a smirk.

He felt a similar jab to his belly as she mimicked his own strike but his chitin gave him the advantage of taking the hit. Confidant in his victory, he settled in to wait for her to give up while slowly increasing the pressure on her throat. Thus it was a complete shock to him when she twisted into him in such a way that she could have bit her own tail and grabbed his rear leg in her jaws. The stallion gave a yelp of surprise as she twisted the other way, pulling his rear leg fast enough to toss him a few paces and leaving the changeling rolling on the packed dirt.

Before the world stopped spinning, Max felt a weight on his belly as well as on his throat, Celestia placing both of her forward hooves on his neck and daring him to continue.

He could have continued. He could have given it a bit more effort, could have shoved her forelegs aside and put his fangs to her throat, demanding her surrender. That wasn't why he'd dragged them here though.

"Uncle," Max wheezed, earning a beaming smile from Celestia as she stepped off of him.

"We challenge Tia, we are next!" Luna shouted angrily, storming to the ready position with her wings flared.

The blue mare looked ready to tear into her sister after that last round. Standing slowly, Max tapped his hooves in a T formation a few times while catching his breath.

"Give Celestia a few seconds to recover, Luna. It's not very sporting to take someone on who's a bit tired when you're fresh. Or would you rather have any victories tainted by the fact that Celestia had to take on two opponents in a row?"

"Very well, we shall allow her a reprieve," Luna growled, relaxing her posture. "How long do you suggest, Pike?"

"Three minutes is the usual for knights, your highness," the mare answered nervously. "If you wish to add more or shorten the time, it is up to you though."

Luna shook her head.

"Nay, the time shall work. Is that enough for you, sister?"

Celestia nodded, ruffling her wings and running a charge through her horn to blast off the dirt. She was absolutely radiating satisfaction now. Unsurprising really, as Max knew he wasn't her favorite person on the planet. Likely not next to Discord, but up there.

After the unicorn called an end to the break, the alicorns faced off in the ring. Max actually stepped in between them for a moment before the start, sensing the burning anger from Luna and the smoldering irritation that Celestia was giving off. He didn't want this to turn into an actual altercation.

"Calm down, both of you. If I see blood, I'm stepping in and both of you are getting bitten, understand? Same with wings and mane. If I see some come loose and I saw a jaw near a wing or mane, I'm ending it."

They grumbled a little but cooled a bit, settling in to ready stances as Pike cautiously raised a hoof. The second it dropped, Max grabbed the unicorn's tail in his jaws and yanked her out of the way.

Both alicorns charged, their anger spiking as they impacted in the center of the ring. They both reared up, seemingly hugging each other and trying to twist their opponent into a fall that would leave them with an advantage. After several twists that failed to serve any purpose, Celestia managed to rise a bit higher and pull Luna forward slightly, unbalancing the smaller mare. After that, the two were a rolling pile of fur, mane, tails, wings and anger.

"They are quite upset," Pike said quietly from beside Max. "I had no idea their highnesses were angry at each other."

"They've both been under a lot of stress and each has things they blame the other for. The anger isn't focused on the other mare, not by a long shot, but right now they have a target for all their frustrations. Luna's also a bit sore that Celestia went after me like that, I think. Celestia's irritated that Luna isn't taking her position seriously enough, Luna's mad that Celestia expects her to do things she doesn't like to do. Then there's the fact that they're in charge of a small kingdom after fighting off a Chaos God, or whatever the heck Discord called himself. They're strong, very strong, and willing to do anything to keep you guys safe, but this is new to everyone," Max explained to the knights. "It's not ideal, but hopefully they'll feel a bit better after they burn some of this anger off. Speaking of energy, you sure you two should still be up? We could have called it at any time."

"Our duty is to our princesses. If we lose a bit of sleep for their benefit, so be it," Pike answered, a nod of agreement being Twister's answer.

The three of them went silent as the mares tousled in the ring, neither able to overpower the other. Each time one would appear to gain the advantage, they'd make a mistake the other would capitalize on, leaving both at square one. Luna swung her horn into Celestia's knowing the impact would stun the older mare but not taking into account that hers was just as sensitive. Celestia struck Luna in the jaw with a wing, instantly recoiling as the limb lanced with pain. A few more probing strikes were exchanged before the two alicorns once more tackled each other, devolving into a rolling ball of anger.

Max stared at the mares as they rolled around, feeling his cheeks heating up. No this certainly wasn't why he had suggested this, but it was a nice bonus. Yes, very nice indeed.

Flailing white wings.

Full moons.

Angry Luna with her sister's rear leg in her jaw.

Celestia's tail, and he was fairly certain her tail wasn't the only pink thing he caught a glimpse of.

The alicorns were beginning to sweat now, their glistening bodies rolling over the dirt and smearing with the beginnings of mud as the dirt was dampened by their passage. White wings started changing color, dark blue wings became brighter. The pristine white coat became dusted with brown and the shimmering blue coat became a lighter shade of blue with darker spots around her wings, legs and tail.

'Now is when I need shape shifting. I really don't want to start sporting an erection right now,' Max thought to himself, shifting his legs to keep his plates together.

After about five minutes of neither mare getting the upper hoof, Max gave the ponies beside him a shove.

"I'll watch them. If they get out of hand, there's not much you can do anyway. Go to bed. I'll take care of them."

Twister yawned deeply, nodding but turning to Pike for approval. The unicorn looked at him with suspicion before nodding.

Turning to leave, the unicorn poked his side with a hoof.

"If I hear you did anything untoward, there shall not be a hole deep enough for you to hide in."

"I literally survive on their good will, Pike," Max replied with a sad smile. "Harming them is the last thing on my mind."

"I want you to explain that to the guard later," Pike said with a scowl. "Some of those living in the castle are starting to speak of you and there are many wild stories beginning to circulate. While meeting you has settled some of my worries, I would like to understand the creature the Princess of the Night has placed so much trust in better."

He guessed that it was nearly an hour later when the mares finally collapsed on each other. Celestia was on her back gasping while Luna was lying crosswise on her sister's belly, her wings fluttering weakly. Both were staring off into the dark courtyard as they were finally reaching the point of exhaustion.

Max approached the mares with a grin, hopping up onto Luna's back and holding his nose into the air.

"I declare myself the winner. Is anyone going to challenge my claim?"

The mares both groaned and Celestia's horn lit for a moment before fizzling out. The white alicorn slumped back down, weakly attempting to shove her sister off of her stomach.

Luna actually growled at him, attempting to nip at him before her head slumped and hung limply off of her sisters barrel. With a burst of irritation the blue mare sagged, no fight left in her.

"Awesome! I suggest a bath after that little exercise. That dirt turned to mud with how much you two were sweating."

Carefully stepping off the pile and pulling Luna off of Celestia, Max gave the lunar alicorn a warm nuzzle while holding her between his forelegs.

"Do you feel better now? Both of you?"

"We do," Luna admitted with a pout. "Perhaps we should pull our sister's mane more often. 'Tis most satisfying."

"And we shall continue to strangle our sister with our own two hooves," Celestia added, her back still against the dirt. "It was deeply gratifying. Nearly as much as charging into her changeling pet."

Max chuckled at Celestia's jab, nodding along.

"I'm glad you two liked this. I'd suggest resting tomorrow though, you'll likely be kind of sore."

Rubbing her head on the underside of his chin, Luna giggled.

"A bath, ha! Is our scent no longer pleasing to you?"

"Oh, I don't mind it, but your subjects may not be as appreciative of it as I am," he responded. "Another issue would be the amount of mud you're going to be tracking into your beds though. I don't think you're going to enjoy laying down with that caked to your bodies."

Both of the alicorns took stock of themselves, Celestia actually balking slightly at just how muddied she was with her coat nearly approaching a shade of brown.

Giving them a few moments to catch their breath, he watched as the two mares began to slowly stand up on their own. Celestia was about halfway up when her legs buckled, and she nearly hit her face on the ring's floor before Max caught her with his forelegs. Setting the white alicorn back down, he quickly moved over to Luna who was having just as much difficulty.

"Guess it's up to me," the changeling said with a rueful smile.

"We cannot believe we're going to bed so late," Celestia whined.

"Indeed, though a bath is still in the running, Tia," Luna commiserated. "That and some stretching...once we reclaim sense of our legs."

"It's not so bad. You two were pretty amazing. I don't think I've ever seen opponents keep going so long, in fact I bet most ponies wouldn't last a quarter of the time you two rolled," Max said cheerfully to the two mares.

The two alicorn mares that were currently stacked on his back.

A duo of guards led the way to the bathing room, the water already being prepared by a serving mare who was sent ahead along with a unicorn knight. The guards were a more than a bit agitated by the current level of defilement their god-rulers were in, several actually aiming accusing glares at him and some actually making him queasy at the amount of hostility being directed at him. A few irritated orders from the rulers on his back mollified most of the protests, leaving him to make the journey relatively unmolested.

"So how did it feel to finally cut loose, ladies?" he asked as he turned down another seemingly random corridor.

"Wonderful," Luna said, giving her sibling a nuzzle. "Tia makes such a wondrous target for our frustrations."

"And Luna does make the most pleasing noises when impacting the ground," Celestia returned, both of them giggling as the changeling shook his head.

The guards stopped outside a door and one opened it but didn't let Max enter.

"Tis improper to enter with-"

"Oh let him pass," Luna said in exasperation. "Unless you believe yourself to be capable of carrying us both? Perhaps you would prefer to leave the serving mare to attempt to drag the two of us into the bath? T'would be much more proper, wouldn't it?"

Max chuckled as he passed into Luna's bathing room once more, Celestia's being on the other side of the castle. Not that he minded helping them, but none of them cared for making that kind of journey right now, nor were they upset by using the same bath.

"Alright Max, step in and we'll slide off. Once we are in the water, we should be a bit more capable of movement," Luna instructed.

Doing as he was asked, he looked back and watched as Luna slid off her sister before Celestia slipped off of his own back, both mares sighing with delight as they sank into the warm water. They'd recovered a bit on the trip over and both had been supplied with glasses of water, but even now the stallion could still see the wobbliness that still plagued them. That and there was some bruising showing through their coats. It didn't stop them both from radiating satisfaction though.

While the alicorns began washing themselves, Max hopped out of the water and began to head for the door before his tail was snagged in an aura.

"Where are you hoping to wander off to?" Luna asked with a grin. "Did you not end up in the dirt as well?"

"I uh, kinda figured that with Celestia bathing as well I'd wait my tu-"

A yank on his tail caused him to yelp in pain. His hooves were soon in the air and Luna kept pulling, leaving him to splash into the water. He flailed in the water for a bit before popping up, the room having a bluish tint once more. Cocking his head in thought, he ducked under the water and held his breath, blowing through his nose to keep water out and looked around. He could see surprisingly well underwater. Including the blue legs that were approaching.

A hoof jabbed into his side and he surfaced, willing back his built-in goggles and turning to the blue mare.

"Why are you abusing me?"

"Because it makes us feel better," she quipped. "Now hold still, you are still hopeless when bathing is involved. Mayhap someday you will be able to bathe yourself like a foal, but until then we shall help."

With an exaggerated whine, Max allowed himself to be scrubbed down with a rag and have his stubble of a mane rinsed out. It didn't take that long, most of the dirt coming off easily. The issues were the points at which plates joined or where plates and his hide trapped dirt. Those Luna approached with a strange looking brush and gently scrubbed the grime out.

Looking across the way, he saw Celestia with a similar brush in her hooves as she ran it over her horn, cleaning out the grooves in her horn before sparking her horn with power to check her work. The mare fluttered her wings in the water, splashing about before wading over to Luna with her brush.

"Luna, we have told you to wash the grooves of your horn many a time. Why is it that you always have dirt caked in there?" the white princess complained as she splashed the brush in the water before taking it to her sister's horn.

"Tia, we care casting!" Luna squeaked as the larger mare wrapped her hooves around the blue alicorn's neck. "Wait until-ah!"

The brush currently running through the grooves of his chitin fell limply into the water as Luna's concentration was broken by the contact. Celestia paid no mind, her focus on the dirt she was currently extracting from her target.

Deciding to not be completely useless, Max grabbed the brush and cleaned the brush before settling in opposite from Celestia. Very carefully, he began running the brush along the grooves as he'd seen Celestia doing. It wasn't as good a job he was certain, but it made him feel slightly less of a burden on the alicorns.

"Use a bit more pressure. It is only sensitive when magic is present," Celestia instructed him, reaching around Luna and using a hoof to push his own hoof down harder.

Nodding his acknowledgement, he allowed the solar alicorn to explain the finer details of horn care, including the fact that filing them was a thing. It was usually done by another unicorn though, as hooves were not conducive to the finer movements needed. After she was finished with her sister, Celestia turned her attention to him.

"Come here, we wish to see your horn in detail."

Grabbing his face between her wet hooves, she turned his face this way and that even tapping along the face-pike at several points and nodding to herself. Then she leaned forward, lighting her own horn and touching it to his own.

Max's senses exploded as Celestia's inspection brought forth a bit of information that should have been fairly obvious, leaving her humming curiously while the changeling stared blankly ahead.

"Well, we suppose it should have been obvious that our magic is not quite compatible, but the mana lines are present as they would be in a unicorn, if not slightly displaced due to the horns shape."

"Tia, what did you do? He looks...Max, are you well?" he heard Luna ask as a hoof began rubbing at his shoulder.

"I think I saw lavender soap smell and tasted yellow for a second but yea, it's clearing," he answered, blinking rapidly. "So someone else putting magic to my horn is trippy. I'll keep that in mind."

"It mostly could be due to your lack of proper training in magic. Once you are versed in using your magic you will easily be able to contain magic, be it your own or another's. We do apologize though. We did not expect our magic to disperse into your system so quickly. Usually there is some resistance."

"I believe that is enough for now," Luna added, guiding the dazed stallion towards the entrance of the tub. "We would like to lie down. Come Max, we require some support."

The females toweled everyone off and laid wings over his back, using him to keep themselves upright. With his vision finally clearing, Max made his way to the door and walked the mares to Luna's bed.

"Alright, I'll see you ladies tomorrow," Max said as they moved into the bed.

"Oh no you don't," Luna said with a giggle as she once again latched onto his tail with her magic. "We are going to teach you proper preening. How shall you pamper us if you do not know how to care for our wings?"

"Luna, your sister's here. I don't know about how ponies are, but for me it's not really proper to sleep with-" the changelings response was cut off as a golden aura clamped his muzzle shut, the two auras combining as the mares levitated him to Luna's left side. Celestia, on the right, began preening Luna's right wing as she held out her left wing before the stallion.

"Now, before you begin we shall demonstrate a bit. Pay attention," Luna admonished him.

Max watched carefully as the blue alicorn began running her muzzle along the wing, following the layers of the wing from the deepest and lowest parts out to the wing's curve. Reaching the curve, she began again near her barrel, moving once more along the wing, raising her head enough to spit out a few disconnected feathers before returning to her work.

As she finished her second run, Max already had an idea of where to start. The level of manipulation the mare was capable of with her lips and teeth was daunting, though. It would likely be a while before he could move that quickly through feathers, much less be able to properly set them and not cause any discomfort to the one he was working on.

"Just be cautious, we will be watching. We have been doing this for much longer, so we do not expect you to-Ah! Tia, that one was still attached!" Luna barked at her now blushing sister, a blue feather in Celestia's mouth.

Sighing in irritation, she looked back to Max.

"Tia still makes mistakes when preening. Merely contain the force you utilize, and you shall not pull any incorrect feathers. We will alert you if you may tug with more force."

Taking a breath to steel himself, he leaned into the next row of feathers, gently lipping each feather and giving them a quick tug before moving on to the next. The process was painfully slow and what took Luna less then a minute nearly took him five. She was patient though, giving him tips and advice while watching him carefully.

"Slow for a moment. See the feather in your current line? Yes that one there. I want you to pull it out. The vane is broken, it will only cause us discomfort in the future."

"Couldn't you just, you know, snap the broken part off then wait for it to molt naturally?" Max asked, looking up from the wing.

"We-" Luna's face went blank for a moment as she processed the idea.

"We, suppose we could. T'would likely be less uncomfortable as well..."

"But Luna, what about your rule of no magic during preening?" Celestia said teasingly.

"Oh be silent," the blue mare shot back. "You were speaking of running magic through the entire wing to repel dirt. The first time you did that, your feathers all fuzzed up with static. It took us an hour to fix your wings and our lips were numb from so many sparks striking us."

Max watched as Luna carefully took the feather in her magic, beginning to tug at it while wincing.

"No, can you hold two spots at once? Hold here and here, then pull them apart."

Once more Luna tried to follow his instructions, but the feather was being stubborn. With a growl of irritation, the changeling leaned in and grabbed the feather in his jaws before biting down just after the break. He felt a spike of pain from Luna, but other than a quick squeak she was quiet. He turned and spat the feather out, looking at the remains with a scowl. It was by no means a good way to deal with such a thing, but it wasn't like they had scissors. At least, he hadn't seen a pair since he'd been here. Maybe that was something he could give- oh yea, hooves. Well, maybe unicorns could use them. Finding the next feather in his current line, he settled in to finish his work.

"Excellent job, Max. After this we shall take care of Tia's wings," Luna said with a contented smile.

Celestia spiked with a bit of fear at the proclamation.

"Luna, we don't want-uh, what we mean is-"

"Nonsense. Your wings look horrific, when was the last time you actually preened them?" the lunar alicorn asked before running her lips through a line of her sisters feathers and spitting out a wad of molted feathers. "What would your pegasus subjects say if they saw your wings in such a state? Unicorns and earth ponies may not be able to tell, but your wings are a mess."

Finishing his current line and beginning on what would be the last line, Max grinned. Luna was radiating a steady warmth at this point even next to her sister. For now, they were not only willing to speak to each other, they were actually taking care of each other. He'd suggest combat training in the future as a way to vent frustration. It seemed to work well for the mares.

Luna sighed as she leaned into her sister's side.

"We missed this, Tia. Why did we stop spending time together? Is it all truly worth it if we lose everything we loved in the process?"

Celestia's wing lifted over the smaller mare, barely brushing against Max's side as the white alicorn nuzzling into Luna's mane.

"We apologize, Luna. We allowed ourself to be distracted. Forgive us?"

"Of course," Luna said with a smile as rubbed against the larger mare. "After all, if we do not care for your wings, who will?"

Celestia gave a soft giggle before laying down on the bed.

"We must still guide our ponies, Luna. We will attempt to make time for the two of us, but we cannot abandon them either. They need us."

"Yes, we understand," Luna said with a sad smile. She perked a moment later, gesturing for Celestia to spread her wings.

"For now though, we must repair the results of your neglect. And no, Max will not be sitting this out. We shall require his aid if we are to finish this endeavor sometime before the morning comes."

The white alicorn shifted nervously as two pairs of lips began the arduous task of preening her unkempt wings, one with an uncomfortably large set of fangs housed within. Fangs that she knew could render her incapable of motion with a single bite.

Author's Notes:

This chapter just kept going and going and going, my god. I'm glad it's finally over. There was just no good place to stop. In fact I'm still not happy with where I stopped it, but almost 7k with no smut in a mature story like this? I'm going to have to make that up next chapter. Maybe, I'm not going to force that kinda thing.

Oh, also: Guys with shape shifting = no more awkward boners in public.