They move through the dark tunnels with ease, their eyes almost glowing as sharp claws dig into the hard rock and dirt. Their tunnels now extend for miles, as their powerful forelimbs cleared the way. They are not silent in their movements but little could hear them underground, and few could get to them in the safety of the earth.

With a loud *tink* and scraping sound, the dirt gives way to crystal. Hard and strong, buried deep into the ground. A firm foundation for a spire. White fangs glint in an almost demonic smiles as they begin to work their way through the crystal.

***

He’s gotten pretty good at walking with three limbs rather than four as a pony. For the last day and a half, Flurry Heart has been in his hooves. When free, Cadance has been at his side, helping with daily care for the foal, as well as increasing his abilities when it comes to magic. Though feeding has been a different thing for him to experience. His herd, even Silver, has been amazingly helpful. Citrus has milked him like clockwork, and between his production and what Cadance has been making, supply is no concern. Citrus Blush has been at his side almost constantly as well.

They are walking through the cavernous chambers inside the crystal castle. Cadance is next to Tim, with Citrus on his other side. At his insistence, the others of the herd are spending time outside the castle, spending money, having a good time, one of the main reasons the entire herd went to the Crystal Empire was to be tourists. They turn the corner, and the nature of the crystal of the walls changes, getting Tim to narrow his eyes almost in pain.

Cadance notices. “Shining and I have both had to bolster the wards here. She’s just so damned powerful.” She ducks her head. “She puts me on my best day to shame, and I’ve been an alicorn longer than her.”

Citrus nods. “Weren’t you a pegasus before you ascended?”

Cadance nods. “I was. And a damn good one. I don’t mean to brag, but turning alicorn only increased my physical talents.’

“How much?”

“I fight Shiny and his best guards for fun. Keeps them sharp so they’ll be ready if anything truly tough ever comes back their way again. They get magic and practice weapons, but I get my wings. With my agility and reach advantages, it hardly seems fair. Still, it’s a shame I’m a magical lightweight. I’m a match for any of you, but any more than just one wizard and I’m outdone. Sunburst even has gotten the better of me a few times… Believe me, it took a lot of training to learn to use this horn.” She crosses her eyes, looking up at her horn. “But alicorns are supposed to be the embodiment of their aspect. Mine is love, hers is magic. I have a lot of strength, more than nearly any unicorn by a fair margin, but she’s on a wholly different level. Shining’s special talent is shields, and without his expertise, she’d have blown holes in the castle no matter what I did.” She frowns and looks at Tim. “As much as I love my sister-in-law, she’s dangerous to Flurry. So, I’ll stay out here with her while you go in.” Her horn lights and the foal is enveloped in magic. Flurry’s eyes go wide when she notices she’s being picked up from Tim’s foreleg hold, but he nuzzles her quickly and she seems to be somewhat willing when Cadance gets a hold on her. She does squirm a little bit, reaching out for the shorter mare, but Cadance offers a quick smile. “Quickly, I’ll keep her distracted.”

Citrus brings her horn close to an outgrowth of crystal, which glows in response, allowing the large door to slide into its pocket, the crystal of the room glowing brightly in response. As they get through the door, it slides quickly closed behind the two unicorns.

“H’lo.” Comes the familiar voice followed by a sniffle.

“Twilight, you need a bath,” Citrus says softly. Tim’s nose wants to recoil from the smells of sweat from the miserable alicorn.

“I took one before we got here,” Twilight says defensively.

Citrus moves closer, putting a fetlock on Twilight’s brow. “I thought this was just allergies, you are burning up!”

That gets a wan smile, she ignores the sweat streaming down her face. “I don’t know what this is.” She sniffles. “I felt fine during our trip, then once I get in the castle, something here is just making me feel absolutely miserable. Ahhh… ahhh…” The others flinch away but the sneeze never completes. She sniffles loudly, using her hooves to pull a tissue from a box and blows her nose. “I’m so sorry, Tim.”

He grabs her, hugging her tightly. “It’s weird, but I’ll be back to myself as soon as you are feeling better, right?”

Twilight holds him tightly, her augmented strength making his ribs crack. “I was just stressing so much, I can’t be around Flurry as much as I should. And Cadance has enough responsibilities that too often Flurry is with guards or with some others, I wanted to help my sister in law. I was going to pay for a full time nanny, hopefully have another filly for Flurry to play with as well as somepony to take care of her.” She sniffles again. Then she pushes Tim away as another explosive sneeze overtakes her. Her horn blows out a beam of energy, which splashes into the wall and is absorbed. Though to Tim’s surprise, the crystal that was impacted shows small cracks.

“How long will the room last?” Citrus asks, looking at the smoking impact point.

Twilight brings Tim closer again, “I don’t know. I don’t have any control about how much energy I’m putting into it, but I’m trying to keep from doing organized spells. I think maybe…a few days?” She lights her horn then huffs and lets it extinguish. “I can’t trust my magic right now even for simple levitation.”

Citrus nods and her magic brings up another tissue, which Twilight honks loudly into, blowing her nose. “Cadance has been trying to think of anything new about the castle since the last time I visited. They’ve done some renovations.” She sniffles again. “But nothing that should affect me like that, whenever the crystal is cut, they use water to keep down the dust. And the cleaning staff is as efficient as ever, so I’m pretty sure not that. And the work they did to make Flurry’s room, and the repairs after she blew holes through the castle walls, none of that work bothered me.” She shakes her head. “I don’t want to be barred from the castle, but I don’t see any way around it.”

“No.” Tim mutters. “We’ll just have to find what is bothering you so much.”

“Can you tell somepony where your samples are? So maybe Cadance can turn Tim back?” Citrus asks.

Twilight snorts, “The spell is rather complex, more than Cadance knows. I can teach her, but it will take time.” She looks up at her horn. “Add in the fact that I really can’t use my magic, so teaching her will have to be with the book and instruction. I’ve had a message sent to Spike. He knows the filing system, he will find the book, and the sample, and he’ll get it here in the next couple of days.” She looks at Tim, her face crumpling. “I’m so sorry, Tim.”

Tim smiles. “Well, if you have to be miserable. At least I can hold up without too much complaining. You need to get better.” He looks at Citrus. “Why don’t we simply get her out of the castle? It only started when she got in here.”

Twilight shakes her head. “I wish it were that simple. But right now, I’m a danger to everypony. If I sneeze, I could really damage other ponies. You saw how I cracked the rock. Whatever effects of whatever is doing this to me could linger for hours, or even days even if I were removed from the castle, I will not risk other ponies like that.”

“What about a suppressor?” Citrus asks, only to get a vigorous head shake from the princess.

“The first one lasted maybe an hour. The second one, supposedly bolstered, didn’t even last that long. No, I’d have to teleport to someplace completely away from ponies, or anything I could affect, and then I’d have to wait out whatever it is.” She sniffles. “Add in I think I’ve got some real sickness going on here. I just don’t think it would be safe, for anypony. I can’t teleport, and I’m too disoriented to sfly.”

“Or for you,” Tim murmurs. Getting a look from Twilight, who eventually nods.

Citrus backs away. “Well, maybe in here, you are far enough away from whatever it is, maybe you’ll recover.”

“That’s the hope, Citrus.” She shudders and turns away, another explosive sneeze along with its attendant magical beam splashing the wall. The affected wall seems to shrink under the onslaught. Getting Twilight to shudder. “Please, hurry!”

***

It’s pretty close to the evening when Cayenne, North, and Silver all make it back to the castle. Cadance and Citrus are in the reception hall as the others enter the castle. Citrus moves forward, joining with greeting the other members of her herd. After a few moments, they go to the stairs heading into the Crystal Palace proper.

“Silver. May I speak with you?”

The pegasus stops, looking at his herd as they ascend the stairs. Then he turns back, folding his wings firmly at his sides. “I’d be happy to, Duchess.”

She darts her head forward, nuzzling his cheek, getting a blush and an extension of his wings, which causes her to smile brightly. “I’m glad, would you please walk with me?” She leads him to the same stairs, staying carefully back from the rest as they get into the main corridor leading to the throne room. The herd turns off to another set of stairs, heading up to their quarters. Cadance leads him into the throne room, then her horn lights to open another door, leading to another set of stairs.

“Are you enjoying your visit to the empire?”

He ruffles his feathers a bit. “Well, except for Twi deciding to turn Tim into a really hot mare, yeah.”

“And my hospitality?”

He frowns. “Duchess, you have gone above and beyond when it comes to accommodating my herd.”

She nudges her shoulder into his. “No need to be so formal, you are mounting my sister-in-law and have crossed swords with my husband. Both of them seem to like you well enough.” She looks over at him. “You know, I’m talking about you, personally, not just the herd.”

He finds himself blushing. “And do you like me?”

She extends her wings and takes to the air. Getting up high in the corridor. He takes to the air himself, following her. “You know, the corridors here were designed high, so the pegasi could move through easier no matter the ground traffic.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, this area, before there was a true Crystal Empire, before Sombra, before me, was where Pegasopolis was. It didn’t move like Cloudsdale does. This is one of many secrets of this place.”

He smirks, “You showing me all the secrets here?”

She looks back at him coyly. “Not all of them, yet.” She leans forward, speeding up. He follows and they streak through the hall. As they land, she laughs happily as she folds her wings.

Silver lands and her laugh is infectious enough to get him laughing too. Sometimes pegasi simply need to fly, to remind themselves that they are the winged ponies that they are. But a thought occurs to him. “Duchess, I’m feeling that you are trying to seduce me.”

She ducks her head a bit. “What if I am?”

He clears his throat. “Well, at least I’m not that stupid, no matter what Cayenne jokes.” He chuckles. “Citrus?”

“I’ve already spoken with her, and with Tim. Both have approved.”

His eyebrows rise. “Duchess…” He clears his throat. “I’m honored. But…”

Any additional words are muffled as the alicorn leans forward and kisses him on the lips. For a long time they stand there. Their lips writhing with each other, their tongues battling for dominance before he pulls away. “Cadance, I want to, I really do.” He looks back.

“Twilight? Tim?” She says softly.

He nods. “I’m flattered by the offer, Duchess. It would have been nice, though.” Any more musings are interrupted by a passionate kiss from Cadance. They bring their wings into the embrace, both holding the other tightly. Finally they come up for air. “This isn’t some spur of the moment thing? You really like me?”

She licks his cheek before nosing his nose with hers. “Once we get Tim back to himself, and we get Twilight on her hooves and feeling better, I’m going to drag you into by bedchamber and show you how much I appreciate you.”

“And Shining?”

That gets a throaty giggle. “Oh, he knows how much I appreciate him, and he can play too. But for this, I’m going to ravage that body of yours.”

“Duchess, there’s nothing I would like more.”

“What part of me is best?"

Silver pauses, taking a gander all over the princess. "Your legs?"

She stretches out, showing their toned length, sensuous cords that can wrap around a stallion. "Not these things, these poor little stubs, ugly things."

"But they're lovely and so trim." Silver differs, his pupils dilating.

"No, no. Can't be. Tell me, what is so lovely about me?" Cadance flies a slow loop, showcasing herself to him.

"Your butt is toned, not like those doughy earth mare plots."

"Are you calling me threadbare? Do I not look like I can nourish a foal?"

Silver begs, "No, no, no, don’t insult yourself, you're very lovely. The curve of your back leads to your lovely wings, so large and plush with plumage."

"My wings? Those horrible things that get in the way and molt everywhere? Shaggy!"

"But they're lovely, Duchess!"

She floats closer and extends them. "Show me then." Silver kisses her wings, starting at the tip and working towards the join. He catches Cadance's devilish grin and shows a blush. She sighs at his touch, offering herself to him more. Silver makes a happy noise.

“Wings! Wings, wings, wings, wings, wings, wings!” His own pomf out. He kisses Cadance’s great wings greedily. “Wings! Wings! Wings! Real pegasus wings! Sorry to my herdmate, but ascended unicorns just don’t have the right texture, softness, taste, or smell! Wings!” Silver crows, drawing back to kiss Cadance’s wings from tip along the bones, getting heavier and sloppier as he nears the pinion joint and then nears where they meet the body. Upon reaching the body, Silver trails kisses up the smiling Alicorn’s body, neck, face, and ultimately plants a deep one square on her lips, his wings now thrown around her, rubbing feathers together with hers in a soothing rustle.

Cadance sways and giggles, “Okay, my little pegasus, how about we fly to the nest?”

He smiles, then he frowns. “I’d love to, but it doesn’t feel right with Tim transformed and Twilight sneezing gales.”

She nuzzles his cheek. “I’d expect nothing else from you.” She sighs, running her wing deliberately under his chin. “I’m fine with a rain check, Silver. But once your herd is back the way it should. You are going to have that check presented to you post haste, got it?”

He grins. “Deal!”

***

Flurry Heart has actually been a pleasure to take care of. She is demanding, but she knows what she wants, and appreciates getting it. Her whammy is her favorite toy, and losing it is a source of panic for the filly. Fortunately it was only lost once, and found within a matter of minutes. She also likes Tim, and so long as he’s nearby, she’s content. Cadance, over the last couple of days, has mentioned that it’s a good thing she doesn’t get jealous, though she has admitted that Flurry has been focused on Tim a lot more than she would have believed possible.

Cadance is walking with him as they head towards Flurry’s nursery. “Are you sure that you wouldn’t prefer to sleep with your herd?”

Tim smiles tiredly. “Nah, Duchess. They are planning on some amorous time tonight, and as much as I’d like to join in, I don’t have the equipment necessary.”

That gets a laugh from the taller alicorn. “You do know, Tim, sex as a mare is fun too.”

Tim shudders. “I’ve seen, but I have enough on my plate just walking on four legs and going to the bathroom as a mare. I know all kinds of guys would probably become total sexpots if they got turned female.” He sighs. “I’m not one of them. I just want to ignore that part of this anatomy.” He brings Flurry up and nuzzles the tired filly quickly. “And I like taking care of Flurry. She’s super sweet.” The alicorn’s horn lights to open the door to Flurry’s nursery.

That’s something a mother always likes to hear. “Maybe after you are back to yourself, I could still hire you to take care of her.”

He places the small form in her crib, lighting his horn to pull her covers over her. Her whammy is placed in her forehooves, where she snuggles into the stuffed snail and sighs happily. “Duchess…”

“Tim, you can call me by my name, Cadance is just fine. Considering what’s happened with our families.”

He looks at her. “Okay, Cadance… I don’t think she’ll be as happy with me as a human. Twilight said she’s looking for a mare to be a full time nanny for Flurry. Another pony would likely be the best for her. Given that I can’t feed her as easily.” He looks between his forelegs. “I think I’d better have Citrus take care of that before bed.”

“I could do that, if it would be okay with you. I’m experienced with taking care of it myself.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose, Citrus is good at it.”

“It’s not an imposition. I’ve got to do it for myself anyway. I promise…” She grins. “No funny business.”

Tim looks at her for a long moment, before nodding. “Okay, it does get rather uncomfortable when that area gets full. And Citrus and the rest are probably already busy anyway.”

That gets a beaming smile. “See, it works out. Then we can get some sleep.”

As they head from the room, Cadance puts a wing over the human turned pony. “Don’t worry, Tim. You’ll be back to yourself in a few days.”

***

Their claws are really good for digging through the ground, however, through the crystal of the Palace it’s a bit harder for them to make headway. Diamond hard claws can make it through the structure of the building, if slowly. The unusual shape means they have taken a few days to make their way through the internal structure without being detected.

“Is right room?”

That gets the speaker cuffed hard and shushed. The three invaders look at each other in the wan light that filters through the crystalline structure of the Crystal Palace. Days of work all culminating in this. As they’ve been tunneling slowly through the structure of the building. They’ve listened to the patterns of the guards, of those that live and work in this enormous castle. It’s late at night now, the perfect time to take their target and get away. They can demand many gems, much gold, for the alicorn filly. Enough to make the time involved in getting through the castle be worth it and then some.

“Hurry, get the little pony.” The leader says to the one digging.

“I know!” They are close. In moments the digging has produced the desired results, they’ve made it through the wall and turned to make a hole to exit the thick crystal of the wall. The creatures wiggle through the hole they’ve made. The three of them dash towards the crib. Only to discover it’s empty.

“Where is pony?” The leader whispers.

A soft snore gets their attention, on a spare bed a pink unicorn is sleeping, with the filly curled up in her forelegs, sucking on her hoof. The creatures dash over to her, in their haste the click of their claws on the floor jolt Flurry out of her sleep. Opening her eyes, she cries out in fear at the shapes moving up.

Tim opens his eyes to look at the foal before the shadow draws his attention. Looking up he sees the large form, dark, with glowing eyes reaching for flurry, its teeth bared as its scent fills Tim’s nose, leading to a very feminine screech of fear. With an almost primal whinny, he stands up on the bed, rearing around and planting his forehooves on each side of Flurry Heart. A massive double rear hoof buck that even Applejack would be impressed by knocks the largest creature back.

He turns his head, eyes narrowed and ears flat against his head. His horn flashes to light and the second one is picked up in his magical field. A quick snap of his head and the form is thrown at the wall, slamming into it with a sickening crack, weather the sound came from the creature of the wall itself doesn’t seem to matter. The third, seeing how easily the other two have been dispatched, runs for the hole in the wall. Tim snorts, lowering himself protectively over the foal as the sounds of the creature retreating reach his ears.

In a matter of moments, dirt comes up and fills in the hole. He closes his eyes and flinches as the light snaps on. One of the royal guards is standing there, a look of shock on her face. Another guard crashes into the room as the first turns and vanishes. Tim stands, body low over the foal blinking, as he tries to get his sight back. The guard backpedals to safety at the edge of the door. “Miss, its ok, I’m a guard.”

Only a few minutes pass by before Cadance and Shining Armor teleport into the nursery. “Tim, what happened?” Shining Armor asks as he advances on Tim, only to throw up a barrier shield as he sees Tim’s horn glow bright.

Cadance lowers herself a bit, sitting on the floor, “Tim, its okay, you and Flurry are safe now. Relax.”

“Cadance?” Tim ask’s almost timidly as his ears slowly come up, looking down at Flurry, he sits back down on the bed starting to shiver. “It’s okay Tim, I’m coming over.” Slowly, Cadance moves up to Tim and sits on the floor at the edge of the bed. “What… What happened?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I woke up to something in the nursery with me. Something big and dark, it smelt… bad.” He looks down. “I don’t know, just did what felt right.”

Moving up onto the bed beside him, she wraps a wing around him to hug him tightly, “Oh, you brave and wonderful human.” Her physical strength is pretty close to Twilights as she squeezes him hard in her hug.

Shining Armor drops his shield as he tilts his head, almost meekly asking, “is it safe?”

A nod from Cadence is all the assurance he needs before he joins in the hug, holding the human turned mare tightly as well.

“Sir!” One of the guardsmares comes up. “It looks like Diamond Dogs.” She gestures to the wall, shards of crystal along with soil are plugging the hole in the wall. “The rest made their escape.” Moving her wing to block Tim’s line of sight, Cadance hugs both Tim and Flurry protectively in her wings. She looks at her husband, giving him a single nod. Shining Armor moves away, and points to the guardsmare before he lights his horn, lifting a lifeless body.

Nodding, the guardsmare follows suit and they both exit the room. A few moments has the rest of Tim’s herd with the exception of Twilight coming in. Quite quickly he’s mobbed with a mass of mares, all hugging him tightly as Cadance picks up her filly, who merely yawns and giggles before snuggling in to fall asleep again.

“Oh, my brave stallion.” Citrus coos in his ear.

“Oh, Tim. You are going to be a great dad when Cayenne drops her foal.” North says, nuzzling him with her forelegs around him in a tight hug.

“Okay, I’m okay.” Tim says, though the mares don’t really move. He looks over at Cadance, who stands there with a soft smile on her face.

More guards pour into the nursery as Citrus guides the herd from the room. Cadance and Shining Armor follow, with Flurry in their grasp. The filly is going to complete the night between her parents.

***

North Point is walking slowly from the observatory at the very top of the Crystal Castle. Originally, it was where Sombra had hidden the Crystal Heart during his reign. It’s absurdly early in the morning, everypony is sleeping, Tim is with his herd at the moment, since that attack by Diamond Dogs the night before, Flurry has been sleeping with her mom and dad. Twilight, on the other hoof, is still in her isolation. Cayenne has spent a night with her, so has North. Just to make sure the purple alicorn has somepony to be near in her sleep.

She turns a corner, and watches as a buttery cream colored mare working a broom. She picks up the dust pan and dumps it into a small cart.

“Good morning,” North says softly.

The mare whirls around, her forelegs spread wide, her eyes flicking around. After a moment she relaxes. “Oh, didn’t see ya there. For a moment I thought those horrible Diamond Dogs were back.” She tosses the broom into the cart and shrugs into the harness.

“Mind if I walk with you? Staying with another pony sounds good to me after last night.”

The mare nods. Pulling the cart through the hall. “I’m Fleur de Verre.”

North’s eyes flick back and forth. “I know some Prench. The Glass Flower, right?”

“Exactly!”

She glances at the cart, then at the pony pulling. “I’m North Point. You aren’t a royal guard, right?”

She nods. “No, I actually am here at Princess Luna’s request. I don’t know if you know, Princess Luna decorates the halls of Canterlot Castle with lavender to help the ponies sleep. She suggested I do that. But getting lavender flowers up here in the Empire is actually quite hard. So, I found a local flower that I can get a consistent supply of, which also helps ponies sleep.” She gestures into the cart, which is divided in two sections, withered crystalline roses in one side, fresh ones in the other.

“Oh, they’re pretty!” North exclaims.

“Yeah, they aren’t just beautiful flowers, their scent is calming and restful for ponies. I’ve been doing this for the last three months or so.”

“Well, I hope the ponies here appreciate your hard work.”

That gets a smile from the cream colored mare. “Thanks, North. I hope they do too. Princess…no…Duchess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor both seem to like my contribution to their castle. I’m always happy to help.”

They get to one of the many doors along the interior of the castle. “Was nice to meet you, Fleur.”

As North lights her horn to open the door, the other mare smiles brightly. “It was my pleasure to meet you, North.”

North walks inside the room, then after a few moments, she stops, her eyes going wide. She turns and gallops out the door, catching quickly up with the crystal pony mare. She skids to a stop. “May I have one of those flowers?”

Fleur nods, confusion on her face. North thanks her quickly before darting off, a flower suspended in her magic. North dashes through the castle, ending up at the reinforced door for the warded room. Hurriedly she touches her lit horn to the outcropping of crystal, inducing the door to slide back. She stops for a moment, Twilight Sparkler is huddled in multiple sets of blankets on the soft bed.

“Twilight,” North whispers. The alicorn doesn’t even twitch, North reaches out a hoof and nudges her herd mate. “Twilight, wake up.”

“Huh, wha?”

She nudges Twilight again, a bit harder. “Please, wake up, love.”

Twilight’s purple eyes slowly open, she blinks a few times before focusing on North standing before her. “What? What’s going on? Another Diamond Dog attack?”

“Oh no, not that. I need to know something.”

“Okay, what?”

“Before this trip, when was the last time you were here?”

Twilight narrows her eyes trying to fight of lingering sleep. “Umm, I think it was…five months ago? I’d have to check my calendar, but I know it was before our heat, I think it was just before I came to the herd.”

North smiles. “I think I’ve found the problem.” Her magic brings the flower forward, quickly explaining who she met and what she discovered. Twilight leans forward and sniffs the flower, getting an immediate reaction. North snatches the flower back as Twilight sneezes once, twice, then a third time, blasting the wall each time. North frowns at the wall, which is certainly showing damage from her unintentional onslaughts. “Yeah. I’ll get the herd and the Duchess.” She turns and vanishes from the room.

Twilight throws off the covers, then notices she’s more than a little cold. She brings the covers back and covers herself tightly, only her muzzle exposed as her herd bursts into her little cell, along with Cadance and Shining Armor. North takes a moment to run through everything she’s discovered, Shining Armor has to make a shield once again as Twilight is exposed to the ice rose in front of them.

Cadance steps forward. “Ice roses, I’ll have to do some research, but this is primarily an allergic reaction for you, Twilight.” She blushes. “I know a way to fix it, but it would take weeks, and…” She clears her throat. “Would be kind of embarrassing.”

Citrus looks at Cadance. “What are you talking about?”

“We all have been exposed to this, but Twilight is the only one who’s shown an actual allergy to it. But the rest of us are immune. We have to get that immunity into her.” She shifts her hind legs a bit uncomfortably.

Citrus frowns. “We have antigens, right?” Cadance nods. “Okay, I doubt we can do a transfusion, we’d have to be the same blood type. So, we test for that?”

Cadance nods. “Blood is possible, but blood chemistry between ponies is rather different. We’d have to match for type, for quite a few factors. And her being an alicorn would mean that either Celestia, Luna, or myself would have to be tested to match for her. And it’s quite possible that we wouldn’t be close enough. But, luckily, there’s another way.”

Citrus looks between Cadance and Twilight, then she frowns. “If it’s not blood, then it’s…” She looks at Tim, so does Cadance.

“What?” He takes a couple of steps back, lifting a hoof in surprise at their scrutiny.

“Mother’s milk. It’s how we help our foals build up their immune system.”

“Oh no, no, no, no, no.” Tim backs into the wall, looking everywhere.

Cadance gestures to the walls of the room. “Look around you, Tim. There’s not much more time before Twilight breaks this room. We will work to make one stronger, but this is about the limit of what’s possible.”

Tim’s eyes are wild. “Wait a moment, don’t we have saved milk, it’s kept cold, wouldn’t that work?”

Twilight shakes her head. “The cold would lessen the effectiveness of the antigens. It will work, but be a lot slower. The best source is…” She blushes brightly. “Directly from the source.”

Tim gulps. “Oh fuck!”

Next Chapter: Chapter 42. Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 50 Minutes