It was an introspective changeling stallion that was walking with the convoy on their way back home. Max knew something had happened back at the Keep, but he hadn't known what. What he did know was that it was most likely sexual in nature and that it included Seven and Celestia. Worried the queen had done something stupid, he'd perused her most recent activities. In a way it was a lot like going through someone's browsing history. Sometimes what you saw surprised you in a good way, like the queen's ruthless defense of the alicorns' power. Sometimes you find exactly what you'd expect in someone's browsing history.

Porn.

He'd skipped over most of it but the fact was that Seven and Celestia had done that. And while doing that, the alicorn had been apparently been thinking about him.
It was what had tipped him off to something happening in the first place. A wave of lust had reached him while they were traveling and while the drones sometimes would partake of brave or horny ponies, the fact that it was so focused but unfiltered had tipped them off to Seven being involved. After a bit of discussion with his other half(third?), Max had agreed to look into the matter but keep Luna out of the loop. If there was an issue, she'd be alerted. If not, well, as Luna had her own secrets( granted, there weren't many she held from them) so did Tia. Being able to learn things that weren't meant for his eyes meant that a whole lot of discretion would be practiced both now and in the future.

He'd paused the memory as Seven was drowned by the larger mare, focusing on the emotions and what Seven had picked up. It was about there the spike that had alerted them had occurred, and judging by the position he had a pretty good idea why he'd been blasted with a lot of lust at that point. Still, that was one for the bucket list, right? Have a female think of you while achieving orgasm during intercourse with another?

He'd left Crystal to review it at her own leisure, though cautioning her to do so in such a way as to not cause their alpha to become suspicious. Crystal was quiet now, but the implications were clear to them. The fix would likely cause another bout of nymphomania in the young proto queen. Not a bad thing, but it certainly helped justify holding off a bit. There was also the fact that they had no idea how to properly care for the eggs.

That was something he'd discussed in detail with the queen. The eggs...the eggs he had laid (God that was weird to think about) were still being soaked in honey but only one seemed to be using it, the others not needing to have their supply replenished. The latest batch from the queen seemed to be doing better though, all three of the eggs looking well-formed and accepting a constant stream of honey. The method seemed to be working and hopefully they would hatch soon. At that point they would know what it would take to continue the species.
As much as Seven hated being bound to them, she spoke freely and listened intently where the eggs were concerned. It wasn't just her after all. All of the changelings were depending on the discovery of how to produce and maintain a hive. Without this information the only living changelings would soon be the proto queens, and there was no information about how long they lived. If he was wrong in his estimate and queens didn't live for much longer than the average pony/human, the entire race was in extreme danger, as since Discord's visit to the hive, no new drones or queens had been hatched to their knowledge.

'For all we know these will be the first changelings hatched in almost...what? Four years? Longer?'
'Crystal, do you have any idea how long ago the Hive was shattered?'

'No, why?'

'Because Seven's hatchlings may be both the first born free of Mother, and the first born in the last few years.'

Crystal brightened for a bit before pouting.
'I wanted to be the first one.'

'Well, you do like being first in other things...'

Her eyes narrowed.
'Excuse me? Is that a challenge, Maximus?'

'Of course,' he chuckled. 'To be initiated once we return home and make certain we have enough honey to supply two egg-producing queens.'

'And if we don't have enough love intake?' She asked quietly.

Max moved closer, rubbing his cheek against her own in a comforting manner.
'Would you rather start laying and have your children starve, or wait just a little longer? I know it's hard, Crystal. You're so close, but be patient. I'll make it up to you in either case. I promise.'

"What does my Crystal need comforting for?" Luna asked, moving closer to the pair.

"I said we may need to hold off on the eggs until we know we can supply two laying queen's. I don't want to have to choose between everyone going hungry and losing eggs if I don't have to."

"You two are always welcome to draw from me," Luna offered, only to have Crystal shake her head.

"We are not speaking of two large changelings, which is a lot of drain as it is. A queen is constantly laying more eggs and the hive's population will grow. If the drain becomes too much, there will be no way to reverse the decision," the queen replied sorrowfully. "I do not want to hurry this and end up harming you, Luna. You are too important to not only us, but this world right now. I will not put either at risk."

Max used a bit of magic to clamp Luna's mouth shut when she opened it, getting a grin from the queen.

"This is not up for debate," he said firmly. "It won't be a long time and I already promised to make it up to her. We'll treat her extra special for a bit, at least until we can safely move to that stage. This is big Luna, and I want this to go smoothly. As I told Crystal a moment ago, Seven's clutches may be the first new changelings in years. This could be make or break for the changelings as a species if no other queen has made progress."

In the shows he remembered, there was only ever one changeling queen mentioned, and while it was possible there were others still lurking about, the fact she called herself The Changeling Queen was worrying. What if only one survived till that point? What if something changed that caused that mare to not last to that point? They still hadn't even seen the Crystal Empire or Tirek as far as Max knew, so they were well before the Nightmare incident if it still occurred(however unlikely that would be). That meant a queen would need to survive over a thousand years, likely closer to fifteen hundred years.

'And fifteen hundred years of solitude and starvation would drive anyone insane.'

A powerful yawn cracked Celestia's muzzle. She vaguely remembered raising the sun that morning and then drinking the honey, but after that things got a bit hazy. Odd, because she was certain she was the producer of most of the emotion the queen had been exposed to over the last night.

Opening an eye and looking around her bedchambers, she frowned. Speaking of which, where did Seven end up?

She shifted in bed, hearing an odd crackling below her. She looked down, seeing what at first registered as a dead changeling crushed under her weight. A closer look identified it as a shell. Seven had apparently molted recently.
'But where did she go? And when did she-'

Celestia blushed scarlet as she slowly felt the trickle of memories reaching her. After drinking honey that was a good portion of lust, she'd felt much better, but it had left her incredibly needy. Seeing as there was an otherwise willing mare nearby, Celestia had once more grabbed the queen and began vigorously tongue-fucking the shape shifter for a good five minutes before giving the queen time to recover. After that, she'd for some reason rolled on her back and demanded the queen...bind her hooves and muzzle her with resin.
'Oh dear, and I thought Luna's ideas were bad. I think I'm going to be avoiding that stuff for a while. At least until I find better solution.'

There was a slight humming purr under her and Celestia nearly rolled her eyes. Of course the queen would duck under the bed when she molted. It was a time of vulnerability.
Remembering her last run in with a freshly molted changeling, Celestia moved off of the bed and looked under it.

Seven hissed as soon as then Solar alicorn's eyes landed on the soft chitin, trying to drive away the presence. Instead of forcing her hoof, Celestia followed Luna's advice. She thought positive, warm thoughts. She trusted Seven and wanted the queen to do the same.
"Come on, Seven. Come here. I am a friend, remember? Safe."

The hissing slowed but the queen backed up, shifting deeper into her makeshift burrow.

"Come on. I'm nice and warm, remember?" Celestia giggled, moving a blanket from her bed to the queen.

Seven bit the blanket, hissing anew at the sudden movements before slowing again, pressing her face into the warm blanket.

"That's right. It's nice isn't it? Come here, Seven. Come on."

Speaking softly and soothingly seemed to help and with her mind set at calm and happy, Celestia was able to draw the stark-white changeling from under her bed.
"Good, good. Now, come here, up on the bed. I'm not going to hurt you, Seven."

After a bit more prodding and coaxing, the queen was finally in the warm bed, right under Celestia's wing. Watching the queen stare off into the distance while keeping tight to the alicorn's side, Celestia felt odd. It just felt...nice to have someone beside her again. Someone who was currently needing a reassuring presence.

Leaving a feathery wing over her charge, Celestia rested her head on her pillow and once more dozed off.

Returning home was always a wonderful feeling. The familiar sights and sounds, the promise of ones own bed and most importantly to Max, a bath that wasn't a wooden tub filled with cold water.

'That was the most unpleasant washing experiences I've ever had,' Crystal sent, shuddering.

"You had baths at the Hive?"

"Not so much baths as cleanings. Drones were assigned to clean the queens and other drones to prevent illness and parasites. They were far from gentle, but the few who were too rough usually ended up in several bits after causing a proto queen too much discomfort. They usually used water and rags, much like we do, but the water was always cool."

"Not that they wanted you to relax," Max added. "That's why this type of bath is best taken towards the end of the day. Speaking of baths, I'll ask if they can have one ready after dinner. We'll get something to eat, bathe, then turn in. Do you think we could get the knights a slot?"

"With so many unicorns there should be no issue powering the heating array for the other bath. We will use mine, Tia can join us as well. The knights will be free to use the other bath."

"Same rules as before though, ladies and gents," Max said to the knights, some of whom were listening rather intently. "Don't get too rowdy and clean up after yourselves. You haven't let us down in keeping it clean, so we'll keep offering this benefit."

With the Keep coming into view in he distance, the group began to buzz with energy.
'Everyone enjoys a warm soak. Especially those who's work is physically demanding.'

A sudden squeal over the link caused him to wince and look to Crystal in surprise. The mare was looking at him with just as much confusion in her eyes and the two quickly realized the source of the cry.

"Seven," they said simultaneously.

Max dove into the other queen's senses, trying to pull the reasoning for her shout. He felt Crystal following him into the connection, felt her taking in the information he was. Crystal was in he hatchery, looking at-

Max blinked as Crystal's physically emitted squeal of excitement nearly matched Seven's mental one. Unable to wait any longer the proto queen took off for the Keep, and it took all of Max's willpower not to follow her.

"Max? Has something occurred?"

"T-the first egg", he mumbled, almost shaking with conflicting emotions. "It just hatched."

Luna stepped closer, using a hoof to pull her his muzzle in line with hers.
"What's the matter?"

"I- am I a mom now, Luna?"

It took a moment for Luna to comprehend the issue. The male was once more bothered by the fluidity of changeling forms, as well as the fact that, by a mammal's standpoint, he'd given birth to the hatchling. The thing was, it was Seven's body that had done he laying, so...
"I think you'd be considered the father in this case."

"But I was-"

"You were, but they were Seven's eggs. I know this may be odd to try to work out, but while you were involved, they originated from Seven."
Luna pulled him into a comforting hug.
"It is fine to feel attached to this hatchling. You have done much to see this event occur. Now go, see to your hatchling. I shall be there as soon as I am able. After all, somebody needs to stay with the knights."

Max nodded thankfully, leaning towards her as Luna pulled away to give her a kiss.
"I'll see you later Luna. Thanks."

He took to the air and was off like a shot, following after the excited proto queen. Curiosity and excitement flooded his mind. What would it look like?

Luna found the changelings all gathered in the hatchery once she was finally able to tear herself away from the return proceedings. Even the other drones were there, but the mood was...tense. There wasn't the excitement she'd seen earlier. There was only a quiet energy as Max inspected the tiny hatchling on the floor before him. To Luna's concern, it wasn't crying, or even moving beyond staying upright. It seemed...absent.
"Maximus? Is something wrong?"

The stallion flinched at her voice, the breaking of the silence having caused her own ears to fold back.
"It's...the hatchling isn't sapient. It's not 'there'. Like a shell used to do simple jobs. I think...I think it has to do with the lack of a father for the drone. After all, Seven said Mother kept breeders separate, along with the queen's she allowed to lay eggs. Maybe we need both?"
he looked over to the queen who was now hovering over the second clutch, pacing nervously.
"Seven? Seven, it's fine. We're learning, right? We'll figure it out."

"But what if it isn't? What if they're like that?" The queen yelled, gesturing between a second batch of eggs and the lone drone.

"Seven, that drone is the only survivor of a first clutch! With how little we know and how unprepared we were, and still are by the way, we should count ourselves lucky a single egg hatched! After this group hatches we'll see if they're the same. If they are..."

"If they are, Max may need to mate with you," Crystal said, drawing all eyes to her. "We know Mother kept breeders, correct? Why else would she keep the breeders and the egg layers together? Hell, why would she have breeders?"

Max looked worried at the thought, his eyes flashing to Luna, but he nodded.
"We need to know how to do this. We need to know what the energy cost is before we push Crystal through these changes. Otherwise we could be facing a food shortage even with our current production. Tin, how are our stores doing?"

"Well enough, master. No drones are hungry and we have a surplus that grows every day. The eggs are sipping from that but otherwise we are fine. In fact, I'd say the queen could continue at this rate and we'll still have a surplus."

"And of our numbers steadily rise over the next few moths like this?" Max asked, the drone cocking his head as Max shared what Luna assumed was an image over their link. "Are we seeing a steady increase in energy? Because this is not going to be something that will stop. And while as far as I can tell that drone type only needs very little energy, I don't know how long they live. If they last a long while, the number we'll be seeing could get too high, especially if we can't find a way to control the number of eggs and this is a constant thing."

"I don't want them to be like that," Seven said after a moment.

"At this point it's too late if it's due to fertilization. Shells don't accept sperm, and even if they did the changelings apparently develop without it anyway. They're already growing."
Max sighed, looking back to the drone. It raised one leg, then the other, leaving Luna to wonder what he was doing. It spun around, walked a full circle of the room, and stopped where the circuit finished.

Luna felt a shiver run up her spine at the sight. It was a golem more than a child, and was likely why the tone had quickly gone from jubilant to horrified. None of them liked this outcome.
"Maximus, are you three- do you need anything?"

Max looked to her, his face mostly dead of emotion.
"We're going to need a bath as I asked earlier. Seven, will you join us?"

The blue alicorn mare watched the queen quietly as she stood over her second clutch, as though attempting to protect them from the future. After looking from the second clutch to the drone a few times she nodded, silently gritting her teeth.

The bath was relaxing even after the stress of the last half an hour or so. Crystal was burbling in her own corner, still casting worried glances to Seven every now and again. Celestia and Luna were washing each other, speaking quietly about what happened while they were separated. And Seven...
Max frowned as he watched Seven buzz her wings, stirring the water for the seventh time in five minutes. She was agitated by the outcome and she was in agreement with Crystal and himself as to what the outcome would be with her drones. She was also looking rather uncomfortably at him, likely trying to figure out how to broach the subject he knew would be brought up. The race needed to continue after all.
'Queens have several holding tanks as well. She could probably last several weeks if not months on a single ejaculation. Actually, she could likely choose to create drones like that at a later time if there turns out to be a use for them.'

Max shifted, lowering his head into the water and leaving his nostrils just above the waterline. He'd done his cleaning earlier. Most of them had actually, and they'd already changed out the water once. The alicorns were pretty much clean at this point as well, just some comfort-scrubbing and hair brushing happening between them.

After soaking as long as was comfortable they went to bed, the entire group of five heading to Luna's room. The lunar alicorn brought the bed from his old room in and used a spell to fuse them together, and everyone pulled in, claiming positions near those who left them most comfortable. Luna was on an edge, Crystal wrapped in her hooves. Max was against Luna's back, with Celestia on his other side. To his surprise, Seven was under Celestia's wing, sitting closer to the alicorn than he'd ever seen before.
Ribbing her in the dream-hive occurred to him but he decided against it. Antagonizing her would only agitate her, and at this point nobody needed the extra stress.

Nearly five days later, the eggs of the second clutch hatched. This time Seven didn't watch with jubilation but trepidation. Depending on the results, she may need to be seeded by the male. In reality she should have been thankful that she'd run across the breeder, but while her sisters would be happy to have all of this information, she found herself in a bit of a...a funk?
Seven rolled her eyes. She'd allowed the male to return to his task of purging her memories of the bits and pieces of his own but her mind had began to heal as well. While she would no longer fall to madness or be left catatonic after being disconnected, it was still uncomfortable finding ideas and terms that weren't her own. It was another reminder that she continued to exist because of a breeder's benevolence.

Seven growled at the word. It was another leftover from his purge. She may not have the connected memories anymore but some terms and knowledge stayed. Benevolence wasn't a word she'd ever even heard before, but she knew it now, even having not heard a single pony say it.

Watching the eggs crack, she decided to ping the other two. If nothing else, the result would concern the male. If these were the 'true drones' as Max was calling them that would mean the two of them would be working together on the next batch.
That was another mess. While she was thankful the male had fixed several things Mother had apparently deactivated, she wasn't sure about some of the fixes. She could have done without the new sensitivity for one. Though if she would still feel that odd burn in her gut after laying if she wasn't sensitive was up for debate. To that point she was extremely grateful that Celestia had taught her a few tricks to keep herself sane. She merely needed to be cautious, lest she end up a slave to the pleasure she was now able to inflict on herself.
'Not that it would be a bad way to go.'

She shook the thought away, looking to the door as Max and Crystal filed in. Both were looking rather somber. The same way she felt actually. There was no helping it though. The eggs were laid and were ready to hatch.

One cracked then another, the drones struggling out of the shells and looking about. The moment they made eye contact with her they reached for a connection to the hive, causing her shoulders to sag. She allowed the connection and the drones just sat there, waiting for orders. Just like Bot.

Sending them to the servant quarters with the same 'obey these ponies' order Max had given the other drone, Seven moved to the door, pushing Max out with her.

'Don't even question this, you know exactly what I need from you,' she sent, receiving only a nod as Max began leading the way. Unsurprisingly he led her to the flock's bedroom, Crystal following along quietly.

'We already discussed this with Luna. This is important to us all, so we are free to use her room,' Crystal explained, closing the door behind them.

Seven nodded, looking to the male.
'You're the breeder, where do you need me to stand? Or sit, or whatever I'm doing.'

Max came around to her front, pulling her a bit closer and pressing his lips against hers in what Seven recognized as a kiss. She pushed away, growling in irritation.
'I want you to seed me, not make love to me.'

'Do you want to do this again later? Because there's a reason a good rut ends with all parties achieving orgasm. When you finish, you muscles pull, bringing the seed deeper into your body. With your anatomy it's almost necessary to orgasm because you need the seed to be deep inside so you can store it. For me, the stronger the finish, the more I produce.'

'You already acknowledged that he knows more about this than you, Seven. Let him do his part and do as he asks you to. Or if it's too much for you, I can do it...'

Seven could almost hear the hope under the challenge. Crystal's obsession with mating was ridiculous, leaving her at the male and the alicorn's mercy more often than not. The fact that they had that kind of power over her but used it for mutual pleasure was something she just wasn't capable of understanding.
'I do not want this to be, I am not part of your flock. Once I find my sisters-'

Max pulled her into another kiss, this time invading her muzzle with his tongue. She flinched at the odd sensations, her mind going back to her experience with the white mare.

'Even if you leave, I'd like you to know what a good rut is,' he chuckled confidently. 'The difference between someone who just wants to get off and someone who wants their other to have just as much fun as they do.'

Seven felt herself shivering as the male slid his teeth harmlessly over the chitin covering her throat before he slid his tongue into the grooves of her shell, slipping along her leathery under-shell in a way that left her feeling confused. Why had that felt nice?
He continued to wander her body, his muzzle drifting over her and his tongue striking odd sections that made her muscles twitch with his passing. He slipped around to her flank and-

Seven gasped in surprise as the thin muscle slipped inside her egg canal with no warning. She hadn't even noticed her plates were open.
The stallion positioned himself fully behind her and began gliding all around her tunnel, even feathering against some deep barrier inside her. She felt hat barrier flex and shift, opening slightly as the male worked on her and he pulled back.

"And now you'll accept the seed better. If that was closed, nothing would have gotten in. Of course, sex could have caused it to shift, but where's the fun in that?"

Seven turned to watch as he approached her, his own body preparing for the coming actions. He was already showing a little, the plates having shifted enough to allow him to hang freely.

'What are you-'

"Oh come on, Sev- oh yea, she hasn't done this before. Oh! Let me teach her. Please?"

The male rolled his eyes before jumping on the bed and reclining on his back. Crystal quickly mounted him in a reverse of his facing, leaving her looking down on his seeding stick and...promptly took the entire thing in her mouth.

Frowning, Seven moved to watch his reaction as he was currently buried between her flanks. It seemed he was repeating his earlier performance with Crystal, both of them moaning and purring into the other.

After a few moments of stimulating each other Crystal pulled back from his shaft, the fully erect organ leaving her throat with a sucking pop.

It wasn't something she'd seen before but she was already noting the biological advantages of the rod. The rings would both help her hold or pull him deeper while simultaneously sealing her during an orgasm.
'And if it's mutual, my increased grip would form an even stronger seal, meaning it would all be collected.'

'See, I do know what I'm talking about,' Max sent even as Crystal continued to mewl in pleasure.
Since she wouldn't be party to this rut, the male had decided to finish her off another way. He was viciously eating her out, leaving the queen to moan and grind him deeper into her body. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth and hung limply, nearly touching her barrel before her entire body seized up. She ejected some fluids from her body onto his muzzle but he just chuckled, easily avoiding drowning in them. Perhaps she'd ask him for the trick to that?

Watching the male role Crystal onto the bed beside him, the proto queen giggling in delight as her orgasm ran it's course, Seven jumped onto the bed as well.

"How do you want to do this? Me on your back or you riding on top?'
Max sent her two images after that, one with Luna pressing her hips into Max's own as Luna leaned down to kiss him. The other was Max looking into a mirror as he drove himself deep into Crystal's egg canal.

Seven grit her teeth as her opening winked at the pleasures each position promised. In one she would have control over the male, and control was always nice. But the mounted position...he was the expert. Surely he'd know exactly what was needed. She wouldn't have to worry about, about disappointing someone with her lack of comprehension again.

'Don't worry. If you ever want to try that with Tia again I'd be happy to coach you. You'd have her screaming into the pillows and flooding your emotion-reserves in no time.'

'How-?!'

The male pulled her to the edge of the bed and set her in a simple mounting pose, spreading her legs slightly to pull her open a bit.
'We felt a burst of lust when she almost drowned you. So you know, while mares really likes pushing onto you when they get like that, you don't want your muzzle in there when she peaks. The ejaculate has nowhere else to go but your face. If you need to, watch for the mare's peak and swallow. It's not a perfect solution especially against Luna, but it can help.'

Seven grunted as the male mounted her and began rubbing himself against her. She could feel him sliding against her well-lubricated entrance and ended up bucking back against him, drawing a chuckle from him.

"Feels good, right?" He whispered, his warm breath blowing over her ear. "It's all uphill from here, Sev."

"S-sev?" She asked, her legs shaking a little as he continued to tease her.

"Well you seem to want to keep Seven as a name, so I'll use that until either I think of a better one or you pick a different name."

Seven was about to tell him how ridiculous the name was when he slowed, shifting to push the tip of his seeder into her body. Her entire being tensed in anxiety, only for the pressure to slow as the male began once more rubbing himself against her. This time it was his shaft's tip slowly moving up and down, parting her in the slightest increment. He twitched against her and she squealed, an electric sensation running down her spine.

"What the hell was that?"

Instead of answering he pushed in even more. Seven went cross eyed as she was filled, the pole that was being driven into her setting off nerves that the alicorn hadn't even been capable of reaching. He kept pushing too, and soon she felt him pressing against the end of her canal, against the seal that he'd opened earlier.
'T-that's it. Just finish and we'll be done.'

'Silly bug,' he chuckled, slipping his teeth along her neck once more. 'I have no intention of finishing when we just started.'

She felt him slip out, her muscular walls trembling and trying to pull him back in to no avail. Then, just as the last ring slipped out he drove himself back into her, sending more fireworks off in her body.

'B-besides. A quick rut isn't what you need. We're doing this so you can start laying proper drones. And that means I'm going to make sure as much of my seed gets as deep as possible. That means deep thrusts, and powerful orgasms.'

Seven's eyes bulged as he began in earnest, keeping true to his promise. Each and every thrust both split her wide open with his mass and drove her into the soft bed below, she felt her canal quiver and twist as the muscles tried to milk him, utterly failing to even slow the slicked up rod and only causing her to feel the rings moving in and out of her with more detail.
She gave off a gurgling moan as he began thrusting even faster, pounding her into the bed and growling in her ear.
And then he stopped.
Seven almost screamed at him. He drove into her and began gnawing on her neck, breathing deeply as he calmed them both down from the edge.

"Why!?" She screamed in fury. "Why did you stop?!?"

"Because I need to," he grunted, beginning slowly once again. Seven tried to throw him off, wanting to take control but her legs were shaking so badly she couldn't manage it. A quick hack from Crystal had her magic cut off, the proto queen merely looking at her with a smile.

"You're going to love this."

"I don't want to love it, I want this to be over. I want, I need him to finish!"
Feeling the mail picking up the pace again, she began pressing back against his thrusts as much as she could, eventually timing to drive him even deeper. She felt something, felt the tip pressing against the barrier deep inside her and hitting the opening in the center. He slowed, shifting and taking note of its location before beginning again, each thrust driving his tip almost directly against the hole.
He stopped against that barrier again, breathing hard and his dick twitching inside her body. She opened her mouth to scream at him but merely gasped, her body flashing with energy as he twitched inside of her. Something, there was a burst of energy. What-

'His seed is absolutely saturated with emotions,' Crystal answered. 'He's getting close. Once he starts doing that, he can't hold off much longer. Your entire body is going to light up in about a minute or two.'

The queen's body tensed as Max began again, the thrusts much more ragged than before. She could feel the sparks of energy causing her nerves to burn, could swear she could feel the pressure building up just behind her. Just a little more, a little more and she'd-

She felt the peak coming well before it reached her but wasn't expecting him to push her over it. Seven locked up, her egg canal twisting tightly and pulling him deeply just as he gave another powerful stroke. She felt him fully pierce that barrier, the head of his shaft and the first ring now forming a seal against the outside world. Then with another grunt and pulling her tightly against his barrel, he finished. And then Seven's ability to comprehend things ceased to function.

Something was different. As Max pumped his love right into the deepest parts of the queen, he felt his entire lower body locking up. He pulled tighter, feeling their shells creak at the strain. He felt his body churning, felt more and more seed being pumped into the queen as his orgasm continued on. Seven spurts, eight spurts. It wasn't stopping. He felt his balls clenching in their homes, driving every last bit of semen in them out into the mare, felt his body desperately trying to force more into her. Seven's body swelled with the sudden additional fluids, bits of her shell cracking and even breaking from the strain. Her belly swelled out, glowing pink with the focused emotions he was forcing into her. It was the strongest and most powerful climax he'd ever felt.

Then the orgasm ended.

He shivered as he felt one last twitch from his dick set the queen into orgasmic convulsions again, the poor mare completely lost to the world. She held him inside still and his own body refused to relax, holding the seed inside her until her body was completely stocked on both the energy and the sperm he'd delivered. Then, after nearly five minutes, he slipped out of her and slumped to the floor.

'H-holy shit.'

He felt Crystal moving them both onto the bed. He also felt her roll him over, straddling him and pressing against him in a kiss- no, that was honey.
He accepted the offering greedily, chugging down as much as she offered. When she separated he followed as far as he could before falling weakly to the bed.

"We are not doing this again without a few jars of love nearby, or better yet without Luna," Crystal told him.

Max nodded, his head still swimming. For the first time he felt empty. Like he had nothing left to give. Judging by the boated, round body next to him, Seven was experiencing the opposite issue.

"I think," he rasped, coughing a bit. "I think that I could have gotten away with just a regular rut. Pressure would have, carried it deep enough. That was, actually kind of unpleasant afterwards."

"Oh?"

"I...don't think I had the energy left to get some food. It was all used. All pushed out. felt amazing but..."

He saw Crystal sitting at his side, running a hoof gently over his cheek.
"Well as you said, this was experimental. We don't know how these things work. So we do what we think is right and hope we survive the consequences."
He saw her look over to Seven and she turned back to him with a smile.
"Though I think I'd like to experience that at least once. The look on her face and the pleasure that she leaked into the hive was another level. I may need to see if there's a way to alter my shell though."

"Why?"

"Because her shell cracked in several locations. I was going to have crack immediately come over to check you two, but it looks like she's already healing. Now get some sleep. You sound like you need it. I'll have Luna visit you later to top you off."

The changeling stallion nodded. Sleep sounded like a good idea about now. He just wanted to lay on the bed now. To forget about the world.

He opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. Max frowned as he found himself still in Luna's room. He hadn't fell to the dream-hive as he usually did, and he was currently wrapped around Seven, who was still unresponsive.

He lifted his head, wincing at the slight pound in his head from the deep hunger gnawing at him.
'God, I don't remember being this hungry as a human at any point.'

Lifting a hoof and staring at the holes now scattered throughout it, as well as the holes scattered over his form, he began to worry. Some were fairly large, one even being large enough for a foal to stick their hoof through.

The door opened behind him and he realized what had woken him up. He could smell Luna's emotions from a good distance if he focused, even following their echo if he had to. Now though, he'd felt her getting close enough to feed on while he was in this state.
He carefully stepped off the bed as Luna entered the room, her steady joy turning to concern as she saw him.

"Max? Are you-"

"Honey," he rasped, cutting her off. "Honey and water."

"I'm more than happy to provide-"

Max almost took her up on the offer. She was willing, absolutely full of emotion, all directed at him. He'd pull, and pull and-
"No! No, honey for now. I don't, I've never been this bad before and I don't, I can't accidentally hurt you."

Feeling the concern shift to actual fear for him, he shook his head.
"It, the breeder-queen rut was powerful. I'm exhausted, Luna, and feel as though I'm completely spent. Please, just do as I ask. If there's leftover love we'll give it back to the hive, but for now..."

She nodded.
"Very well. I shall send someone to fetch those items. Would you like me to leave in the meantime?"

"No," he sighed. "I want you to stay. In fact I want you here with me, but if you stay I'm going to start drawing from you in earnest."
It hurt, but he didn't think she had a way to understand just how bad he was right now. With gritted teeth, he pushed on.
"I need you to leave."

When several drones came running in with the honey, including two full jars of bright pink love, carefully separated from the rest of the emotions by one of the new infiltrators, Max's mouth was watering. He drank a grand total of six jars of emotion, chugging at them desperately before moving to the pitcher of water, which he also chugged. He stood there for a few seconds while his body processed the feast, feeling the tingle of emotion running through his body again. Now that he had a moment to think about his state, he realized his mind had been sluggish. He'd completely forgotten about his hive connection, completely forgotten to contact Crystal when he woke up. She would have had him taken care of in half the time, too, since she didn't have to find a drone.

He shook off the last bit of sluggishness and looked to the queen still passed out on the bed. She was slightly bloated, with several stretch-marks and cracks showing on her shell around her abdomen.

Crack chose that moment to walk in, spending only a few seconds looking over the dazed stallion, including an uncomfortable lower-body inspection(it turned out it could bruise from a queen's vaginal contractions) before moving on the queen.

'Geeze, if this is what mating does to queens I suggest we start working on that artificial insemination thing. It may be less painful for all involved parties.'

Max chuckled, wincing as his body protested even that movement.
'I agree. Though I don't think that's completely necessary. This was an empty queen milking a full viceroy. It was...let's just say I plan on keeping honey with me if I do this with Crystal.'

'Which you likely will need to,' the drone sent from behind the queen. 'Her chitin split in several places and has started to heal in a different pattern. She's... her plates are much more flexible in this pattern. It was mostly a solid shield before, but now it's a bit or armor. It will give and flex.'

Max stumbled around the bed to get a look, lifting Seven's tail with a bit of magic while the drone continued his inspection along the mare's sides. Sure enough he was able to see the new form of the shell, the queen's body burning a bit of love to round the chitin and heal the skin that was now exposed to the air.
He reached out with a hoof, gently tugging at what was once a solid plate and finding it shifting much more easily. In fact if he pushed like this-

Seven stirred, turning to look at him in confusion.
"Why are you touching me?"

"Your shell has cracked and re-formed, Queen Seven," Crack cut in, saving Max an awkward explanation. "Seeing as he was the reason for the shift and his proto queen will be going through a similar change as soon as it's safe to do so, I did not think there was anything to object to."

She nodded, frowning as she attempted to look herself over. Max pulled at her through the link.
'Here, use my eyes. Just say what you want me to focus on.'

He felt her accept the offer and he began inspecting her form, slowly moving around her before stepping onto the bed for a closer look.

'It's...it looks like it should have hurt,' Seven sent softly.

'I think that between the mind-breaking orgasm and the overload of love, you were desensitized enough to not feel it. I know if it wasn't for Crystal I might not have survived this, since I wasn't prepared and hadn't been well supplied with love. Maybe if I was better supplied...'

'...you almost-?'
'Well let's just say I woke up suffering dehydration and a minor bout of starvation this morning. Had a mouth as dry as the Gobi desert and holes all over my legs,' Max recounted, moving Seven's tail with a hoof so she could see the altered features for herself. 'I vaguely remember Crystal giving me a boost, and considering my condition I would have been worse off.'

He let his eyes wander over the sectional plates, watching Seven shift them a bit.

'It's strange. It wasn't something I thought about before but now I can feel them. Could you push that section?'

He complied and was rewarded with a view of her clit at rest. Chuckling, he released the section of chitin.

'What are you doing? I said hold it. I need to see something.'

Max blinked at the odd request but again pulled the chitinous segment back, this time noticing the muscles of her vagina shifting and moving as she tested her control.

'Is there any way you can open it a bit wider??'

He cocked his head in thought before Shaking his head.
'Ponies can form solid objects out of magic and could likely make them see-through, but I don't know how to do it. Can you shift?'

Seven quickly tested her ability to alter her shape with several flashes of fire and found herself unable to achieve a smaller size.

'Likely because of the eggs. Don't worry about it too much. Now, can you do this?' he asked, sending an image o her with a see-through shell.

The queen flashed again, her chitin seemingly made of glass a moment later. Then he had her remove her hide from sight, then most of her muscle and flesh.

'Perfect. Now let's- ah, see? These here.'
Max pointed to the queen's lower body, specifically one of the bits he'd identified as a seed-storage. Every sac was currently bloated, as were three of the egg-sacs.

'These hold semen. That's what fertilizes your eggs. These produce the eggs, and when you push them out they'll likely mix here before getting moved out and being laid.'

Seven nodded, watching the anatomy lesson with extreme interest. She grunted, shifting a bit and suddenly Max was witness to the egg sacs contracting as they pushed out the ready eggs. One slipped into the mixing segment and passed through without any response. Max realized it was because she didn't know how to use the pipes.

'Whoa, pinch here and push there, and over there,' he instructed, pointing to the various muscle groups and sphincters even as he sent for several drones.

The queen looked at him oddly but did as he said, shifting her body and trying to find the proper muscles to follow his instructions. When she did it was like watching a brand new line cook trying to watch four dishes at once. Semen poured out and flooded the fertilization chambers, causing her to panic. This caused her to lose concentration, which also cause the eggs to slip out of the holding chambers and into her vagina along with a good amount of semen.

Max caught the soaked eggs, carefully setting them down in the sheets before the drones he'd called only a moment ago nearly knocked the door down, grabbing the eggs and taking them to the incubation chamber.

Max chuckled as the queen tried flexing and pulling at the muscles, trying to learn all of her new controls. It was fascinating, but every now and again she'd do something wrong and some of his seed would end up pouring out on the bed.
'Ya'know, I worked hard to get that into ya.'

'Shut up, these muscles are all over the place and I'm trying to figure out how to, to move everything.'

He nodded, but instead of continuing to watch he settled down next to her.

'What are you doing? I need you to watch-'

'Nope.'

He chuckled at her but otherwise pulled her into a hug.
'You did awesome. And then we'll find out if that worked. Max and Seven, Saviors of the Changeling Race. And all it took was a really good fuck.'

Curling up comfortably against the queen, he rested his head on her neck. It was amazing how many problems could be solved that way.