Learning roles was easy. When I got hungry, we would head into a town and feed. Each time I learned something new and used the skills I had learned. My brothers—Stereo Mix, Glamour Trot, and Smooth Vibes—were always obliging with both advice and affection.

After that little orgy with Glamour and his pony friends we had moved on. Never feed in one place too long, Feather Bangs told me. They were wise words. Feeding off a pony left them drained, but not exactly weakened. Some ponies seemed addicted to the feeding, like Hunt's-Mistress (Gentle Steps) and Trainer (Firm Stride). They followed us for nearly a day until Glamour Trot turned to deal with them.

One town turned into another. From Our Town to Neighagra Falls to a little way-station town with no name near Galloping Gorge. Each stop we made at towns revealed ponies with new desires, new needs that they paid us to fulfill for them. That none of them knew it was a transaction didn't seem to matter anymore.

Each feeding and subsequent work by Feather Bangs changed me a little more. The first few feedings had him focusing on my size and by the time we reached Vanhoover I was barely larger than any of the others. It was amazing.

I couldn't keep track of time. Traveling like this was akin to working on the farm: days came and went, but there was never an overall schedule to things beyond the seasons and the weather. Since we had left Neighagra, however, there had been a distinct lack of any large waterways, but when we reached a hill overlooking Vanhoover I saw more water than I had ever before in my life.

"The North Luna Ocean, according to ponies." Stereo Mix walked up to my side and pressed his flank against mine. He was warm on an otherwise cool morning, but what I loved about the touch was that it reminded me that I wasn't a hulking monster of a stallion. "We call it The Big Warm."

My hooves felt stiff suddenly, and I rolled my eyes. "Warm? This is the coldest part of Equestria."

Stereo laughed at that, something I couldn't find annoying after the inventive ways he had shown me to stay warm. "Ponies think there is an underwater volcano, or magic, but it's really simple. Though the surface of The Big Warm is still most of the time, there is a strong current deep under the surface. It pulled hot water in from a southern ocean. But there's a reason ponies don't investigate."

"Sirens?" I asked. When Stereo nodded, I took a deep breath. "Are they kin?"

"To us? Sirens are always like we are now. Traveling in small groups, our kind hunt like pack predators. Feather had different ideas, obviously. Ponies need us as much as we need them. There is no reason to lure a pony to their death in the hot currents when you could listen to their happy sounds as they squirm in your grip.

"Ponies are food for us, but they are also our patrons. Out there," Stereo Mix said while gesturing to The Big Warm, "are monsters wearing similar forms to us. But they don't travel too close to Vanhoover, so we can swim safely."

"And find some mares who want you sooo bad." Smooth Vibes seemed to come out of nowhere on my opposite side. "You're a young, hot stallion; new in town, and ready to make the rest of their year pale in comparison to what you'll do."

"Are you talking to Stereo or me?" I asked Smooth. I couldn't deny his words, though. He sounded hungry, and the hunger of my brothers was my hunger too.

Smooth barked out a laugh. "Yes. Absolutely yes."

High spirits filled me. The conversation rolled on and on, promising cute stallions and mares as far as the eye could see once we reached Vanhoover proper. The small towns we had passed on the way here barely had enough for us to get a quick snack and leave each time, and the prospect of a big meal was enticing beyond belief.

Feather Bangs himself joined our little conversation. Stereo Mix and Smooth Vibes became a little subdued at first, but when Feather took up a bouncing, prancing step they seemed to relax. "And I think it might be time to stop pushing your change so much. Let other things happen." Feather cocked an odd look toward my two brothers.

I looked between three smiling, knowing faces; there was more to his words than I understood. Clearing my throat to speak, I was interrupted by Feather kissing me. I stopped in place, trapped by his lips and frozen. All I could do and think was to kiss him back and appreciate the moment.

He was hungry for me. His lips pressed and moved over mine, his tongue flicking out from moment to moment, eventually catching one of my new, pointed teeth. Feather Bangs broke the kiss with a big smile. "I think it's time my little fish got a start on his gem. That means your next few feedings have no transformations done to you after them." He finished up his pronouncement by kissing me (a light peck) on the nose.

Excited anticipation was an amazing emotion. It made days brighter and warmer, and it made evenings a gateway to the future. As we talked back and forth about less important things, I watched as Vanhoover got closer and closer. The city wasn't as big as Canterlot, or Manehatten, but it was still a city.

I liked to think I was getting used to being an emotivore. My brothers and Feather Bangs didn't sustain me but I could still sense their emotions, and they were excited. Something started to feel odd, however. As we got closer to the outer buildings of Vanhoover, a sourness started to fill me.

We were slowing down. The oppressive feeling made my hooves try to curl up, and even Glamour Trot (who had been pulling the wagon) caught up to me.

"Little brother, close yourself down. There's something wrong here." I shuddered at the tone in Glamour's voice, he sounded worried.

I did as Glamour said. As open and free as I had learned to make myself, I squeezed down on my sense of emotion. The world grew dimmer, darker, and lost some of its definition. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to feeling with that new sense.

Being one of the less-traveled roads into the city, there wasn't much in the way of fanfare going on to welcome us, but there was two Royal Guard standing at a post. I opened my senses just a tiny bit and felt underlying fear in them as well as a sense of dejection.

"Greetings!" Feather Bangs put his best hoof forward, literally. He held the limb up for the guards to meet with their own, although the two professional soldiers seemed to not be in the mood for it. "Just a traveling bunch of—"

One of the Guardsponies (one that had a shock of white through his mane) shook his head. "Unless you're monster hunters, or secretly the Element Bearers, I don't see what good you can do here. You're better off turning around and leaving."

Feather struck a pose, spending his charisma freely on the two ponies. "Where else would we go? Besides, you said you needed some monster hunters?" There was so much warmth in Feather's tone that it affected me as much as the Royal Guards.

"You're monster hunters?" The second Guardspony (who looked to have a mark on one shoulder) entered the conversation with mild incredulity on his face. But there was more: there was hope.

Feather tossed his bangs from one side to the other, flashing his amazing eyes on the two Guards. "Well, it depends on the monster. What've you got here?"

"Nopony's seen it. All that happens is an eerie music starts up at dusk, and you make sure you tie yourself down to something or else you walk away—never to be seen again," White Slash said. The look in his eyes spoke volumes for what he thought might be happening.

It was at least a little obvious, particularly since I had literally read the book on the monster in question (I had read-the-book for a lot of monsters, Princess Twilight had a whole section devoted to bestiaries).

Glamour heaved a sigh at my side. I turned to face him, and he just gave me a weary smile. "This is something we have to take care, but mostly Feather." His words sounded a little tired, maybe even sad. "A school of sirens cannot allow another to encroach on their waters."

"Th-That's what's going on? Sirens are taking ponies?" I asked.

"No. They're taking Feather's ponies. They're taking what belongs to him." Glamour Trot gestured to the city. "There'll be blood in the water."

"Well!" Feather Bangs' voice cut over our soft conversation. "Looks like you're in luck. Feather Bangs and his fearless band of monster hunters are here. We'll take care of this little problem." The power of Feather's voice cut through the shielding I had over my empathy. I shivered as fear, hopelessness, and an uplifting surge of confidence rushed into me. There was no place for the fear and loss with the power Feather Bangs' inspired.

I watched the two Royal Guard respond to the force of Feather's magic. They stood straighter, their eyes brightened, and I caught the telltale snap of attention as each took on a rigid pose. White Slash and Shoulder Mark looked like Royal Guard again.

Ponies were cheering. There was a celebration that had just spontaneously started the moment we entered Vanhoover. Feather Bangs had gotten me to pull the wagon while Glamour Trot walked at his side.

Glamour was bespelling every pony that that I could see. He was pouring out waves of happy energy that the ponies soaked up

Stereo Mix and Smooth Vibes trotted along in Feather and Glamour's wake. Everypony saw the handsome stallions, the four mighty monster hunters. It hit me: Glamour was doing this so that Feather Bangs didn't have to. He was saving himself for a fight.

Our little parade reached the Royal Guard outpost in the city and stopped. Feather entered, while Glamour Trot turned to face my brothers and I. Pride, anticipation, hope, and safety welled up inside me until I cut it off by clamping down on my empathy again.

"Come on, brothers, we need a feast before tonight," Glamour's words, backed by the rush of the emotional high he was projecting, was practically a force of nature. "Pull the wagon up beside the outpost here, and let us find some morsels."

The load I was pulling was nothing. I didn't just pull the wagon to where Glamour said, I pranced. I barely got myself unhitched and lifted my head, before I noticed the three mares that were gazing at me. They looked hungry, happy, and probably horny too—the siren side of me practically purred.

I tossed my head as I looked over at them. Our eyes made contact and I could taste them. They were perfect, a feast laid out for me. Taking a single step out of the harness I was vaguely aware of one of my brothers at my side.

"Eat up, little fish, you will be the only one that keeps his meal today. Feather needs everything we can give him." Smooth Vibes' lips touched my cheek, and I watched one of the mare's swoon.

I was all action. I rushed forward and caught the fainting mare. Feather Bangs might have reduced my size, but I was a siren now, I was more than I looked. "Careful, ma'am." I held her in my forelegs, having dropped to my haunches to balance her weight.

"Y-You're one of the monster hunters, right?" The voice of one of the comatose mare's friend was breathy, soft. When I looked up into her eyes, I saw so much desire it almost overwhelmed me. "You are!" she said, and I nodded to her. "Protect us. Please. You don't know what it's like when we hear the music. It's calling us next, I just know it."

For a moment I hesitated. There was still a part of me that looked at feeding on ponies as bad. That part judged every "transaction" and found it unfair. It was a vanishingly small part of me now. "We'll have to be close. I can't protect you if you scatter. You tie yourselves up?"

The mare cradled in my legs jerked awake and gazed up at me—I could have fed off her right there and then. She let out a soft whimper and snuggled against my barrel. Miss Snuggles was so passive that I couldn't stop myself from opening my power to her.

Snuggles didn't smell right to my siren senses. There was something wrong with her and I could tell how. "They've fed on you. You got free and came back?" When she nodded sheepishly, I smiled and kissed the bridge of her snout. "You know where they were?" Another nod. "Come on. First you need to tell Feather Bangs, then I will protect you—all of you."

One of Snuggles' friends, not Breathy, started talking. "She hasn't spoken for—for two days. She—"

"Come on. Put her on my back." I half passed Snuggles to her friends (now coined Breathy and Fast Talk), and offered them my back. Practically the same height as them, Breathy and Fast Talk seemed unsure, but as soon as Snuggles wrapped her forelegs around my neck I started walking back where I had seen Feather go: into the outpost.

The Royal Guards were not at the door, nor were they just inside. "Keep close." I didn't need to say it to the mares, they probably would have followed me anywhere. As the cheering outside died away, my ears started to hear arguing from a little further down the hall. I walked until I reached the door and looked inside.

Nearly a dozen big, brave stallions in Royal Guard armor were arguing with each other, while off to the side was Feather Bangs. If a genuine fight started, however, I knew where my bits would be. "Feather?"

He walked like he swam, graceful motion that told me he was a predator. He stopped just before me, peered over my shoulder, and lifted just one eyebrow.

"She has been fed from. Two nights back. She doesn't want to talk, but I think she could lead you—" I didn't get another word out, not with Feather Bangs kissing me. Almost melting on the spot, I sighed happily when he pulled back. I noticed then just how the light seemed to be swirling around Feather—swirling into him. My brothers were feeding, and were feeding him.

"Here I thought my little fish would find himself some damsels and splash around for the rest of the day," Feather said, his voice rising. "I leave you alone for five minutes and you find somepony who can lead us right to their lair." His tone commanded the room by the time he finished, and silence reigned.

"How could you have found out so fast? We haven't even worked out what manner of beast they are!" A Royal Guard stallion who had a touch of gray in his mane, seemed practically pig headed in the face of support.

"Tell them what we face, my delicious Apple, while I talk to your friend." Feather ignored me, murmuring to the mare on my back. I could feel his magic reaching out to her as soft and gentle as a dragonfly's feet touching the water; Feather Bangs was a master artist.

I cleared my throat. "They're sirens. Monsters that roam the seas around Equestria. Their magic involves song, emotion, and mental manipulations. Not to be dismissed as purely mental opponents, a siren can also deliver powerful blasts with their voice, as well as being fierce close-quarters fighters." The words practically tumbled from the book in Twilight's castle.

"Under the docks. There's a cave where they took me. But there was another way out." Snuggles' voice was so soft, but absolutely beautiful. I almost cried at the fear I could hear in her words, a fear that Feather's magic should have washed away. She murmured something else but though my ears were turned back I didn't hear it.

"That is all I need. Four sirens are a challenge, but I won't let them harm this city again." Feather turned back to the Guardsponies assembled, but leaned closer to me first. "Don't feed from her. Keep her safe for me, little fish."

I knew a dismissal when I heard it and turned to leave. I heard, behind me, Feather Bangs start to reveal his plan. "I'll protect you while Feather Bangs does his thing." As I spoke, Snuggles squeezed my neck tighter.

Breathy and Fast Talk led the way back to their home. Each mare would look back at me, her eyes showing worry at first, then relief when I was still there. On my back, Snuggles nuzzled the end of her snout under my mane which let me feel her breath on my fur.

I knew what Snuggles was doing. Each breath she took would fill her senses with my smell. "You're safe," I said. The words earned me a little more of a squeeze from her.

"This is it." Breathy pushed a door open. Fast Talk walked past Breathy and I followed into the home.

Feather was going to deal with the sirens, which meant my job here was mainly to feed and make the mares feel good—a linked task in most instances. I carried Snuggles a little deeper into the home until I found their living room.

Snuggles squirmed on my back and managed to make her way off me and onto the couch. "You won't let me go to the music, will you?" There was hunger in her eyes that ran counter to her words. I don't know how I knew, but there was something about her that seemed ready to run off into the city the moment she heard the siren song.

For almost the first time in my life I wished I was a little larger. There was something about Snuggles that made me want to curl around her and hold her. Of course I could still do that, and I did. Climbing up on the couch I pulled Snuggles closer until her back was against my barrel. "You aren't getting away from me."

Snuggles' aura was so strong and potent that I knew I could happily feed from her, but even if Feather hadn't warned me I wouldn't have fed. Something seemed wrong with her. She squirmed a little to match more of her body against mine and it had the predictable response from me. "If you keep doing that I might just have to take advantage of you."

Giggling, Snuggles kept on squirming until my shaft was rock hard. "You smell so good. You can have me."

Something was wrong. Every alarm bell in my head was ringing. Snuggles might be accommodating, and she might seem willing, but the sense that Feather's changes instilled in me insisted she wasn't right.

"All it took to catch one of them was to dangle our supper in the street." Breathy's voice was no longer breathy at all but had the unmistakable hint of sadism to it. She was very happy something bad had happened, and wasn't afraid to show it.

Fast Talk walked over to where I lay on the couch and smiled down at me. "The young fish are always so gullible. What do you think he will do to get this one back?"

Gears spun in my head. Snuggles was a mare, but the reason she seemed wrong was because she was mind controlled by the sirens. Breathy and Fast Talk were the sirens. "Breathy and Fast Talk are sirens…" I spoke so softly only Snuggles could hear, but when she did she nodded. "Y-You sent Feather to the other side of town."

"Our pet does what we tell her to. She says what words we put in her mouth." Breathy walked into view, her eyes dancing as she drew closer. "And she can only think what thoughts we allow."

My heart started to beat faster. I was, in all likelihood, alone in the lair of the two sirens that held the city in their grip. I tried to move, slowly, but as soon as I did Snuggles pressed back firmer—she pinned me in place.

"Would you like to join her?" Fast Talk walked up and bent to kiss Snuggles. I watched the cloud of emotions around Snuggles seem to swell, but it wasn't devotion they drank from her.

"Are you curious, little fish? You haven't even gotten your gem yet. We could show you a different way to feed, if you let us." As she spoke, Breathy leaned in and murmured her final words against my lips. "Three sirens together. Two mares and a stallion. You would grow strong with us to guide you."

I struggled to find my voice. The two mares were terrifying, and I still hadn't identified what they had even consumed from the mare. "Err, uh. W-What would it do to me?"

Fast Talk let out a little chuckle. "He's thinking about it, Grunge."

"I think he is, Rock," Grunge said to Rock. I had their actual names now. Yay…

"It wouldn't take too long. Maybe a day. It would cost us all of the helplessness in this little thrall, but we can get others." Grunge pressed her lips to mine in a kiss. It was more than just a kiss, though, it was a test.

Training kicked in. I slipped into the role of submissive partner and kissed back. Curling my legs tightly around Snuggles (I still didn't have a proper name for her, and I don't know if the sirens cared enough to remember hers), I reached one leg up and behind Grunge's neck to pull her closer.

"He's so eager! But he can't feed on her yet. We need our little thrall to take a message to the big-bad siren stallion. Can you bide your time with us, little fish? We'll teach you all sorts of things." Still talking quicker than normal, Rock kissed my cheek.

Somepony—somefish—who was onboard with them would push—would push and claim their place at the mares' sides. I switched targets, twisting my head just enough to force my lips to Rock's, then back to Grunge. Pleasing ponies who wanted a particular thing from me was what Feather had been training me for, doing it for a pair of sirens was not too different.

Rock pulled back first, but when Grunge tried to I growled into the kiss. Shoving Snuggles, I pushed my way to my hooves with one foreleg hooked around Grunge's neck. I opened my eyes to stare at her, trying to exert some measure of dominance into my gaze before I finally let go.

"Let me feast on her. We could own this city." I almost couldn't believe what I had said but as the words met the two siren's ears I watched their grins grow. "Come on. Forget the others. If we lie low they will give up and leave. I know what they're like."

"No. We do this as we planned. You might get to be our stallion but we will make sure this is an equal partnership." Rock looked askance at Grunge.

For a few heartbeats I thought I might be able to get them to fight. Grunge looked hungry, horny, and ready to do whatever I said. Rock thumped her fellow siren in the shoulder and that trance over Grunge stopped.

Ignoring their sudden revival of harmony, I turned to Snuggles. She was still seething with exaggerated emotions. I couldn't feel for any but her adoration, and most of it was aimed at the other sirens. Nonetheless, I started to feed.

A hoof connected with my cheek before I even managed a bite. I was so glad.

"Don't you dare feed from her without our permission!" Her hoof held up, Rock looked ready to strike again. "You are just a little fish, still, and until you have been remade anew you will not feed!"

There was power in the last few words. I trembled a little and looked up. Rock was about as angry as I thought she would be, but Grunge had that look again. Grunge kept looking toward Snuggles then back to me; a different hunger burning in her eyes for each target.

I snarled up at Rock. "You don't want a simpering colt. Don't try to make me into one!"

"Or what?" Stepping forward, Rock had a mix of desire and challenge in her eyes.

As fast as I could, I jumped forward. Rock was actually caught by surprise when I grabbed her and wrestled her to the floor. She was stronger than me, and the moment her mind caught up with reality I knew I wouldn't have a hope against her. Standing over Rock I was aware that she was female, I was male, and there was a strong dynamic of dominance rocking. It also didn't help that I was a little hard from Snuggles' attention still.

Rock shoved her lips up against mine. Caught up in the moment I shoved downward. She lost her grip on her transformation. A huge tail spread out behind me and Rock grew scaly and huge. I didn't hesitate—I couldn't—and pressed into her. I barely had a few fins that didn't stretch past my fur, but the acting Feather (and others) had taught me was enough to fake the differences.

A soft sound started, a sweet, delicious sound. But it was promising things I didn't want. Rock had started to sing a wordless song of power and domination. I tried to fight it, but the music was insidious, and she was singing it practically in my ear.

Grunting, I started bucking my hips, driving myself into her body. I'd never seen a female siren before, and certainly hadn't had sex with any of my brothers in their full form, but she certainly didn't seem to be complaining about my efforts.

The music seeped into me more and more. She wasn't singing it to control me—far from it. I had to fight not to let go. If I tried to prove dominance over a pure-blood siren I would lose. But though the game I played terrified me, I managed to ride both the role and Rock.

I was nearing my end and knew what was coming. She might be excited enough to let me dominate for some of the game, but she wouldn't have that. I felt when she decided to take control back and had no chance to stop her.

Just as quickly as I had first pushed her to her back, she pushed me sideways. I tried to keep my balance but there was a predator three times my weight shoving me.

"It has been too long." Rock undulated her body above me, rolling her coiled tail and capturing my shaft.

Despite all the terror, the sex wasn't bad. Despite her need to play games, Rock seemed intent on getting us both to release. Her insides were hot but it was a fire that matched my own heat. It didn't take much more for me to loose myself within her.

Rock's eyes flashed with fire. "Y-You didn't have per—" Mid sentence, mid word, I delivered a hardest buck I could and had the pleasure of watching Rock's eyes roll. Her tail curled around one of my legs and squeezed, while her forelegs held around my spine.

With my body intent on breeding successfully with Rock, I had the key to her magic at the end of my snout. Her gem shone a sickly yellow and seemed to throb slightly with her heartbeat. I was still mid orgasm, my shaft delivering my seed deep within her.

The rush of pleasure started to fade. I could feel a touch of lethargy settling in. One ear twitched, and I found myself hearing a whispered, one-sided conversation.

"… to him. Tell him that we have his little fish. If he agrees to leave the city we will release this little minnow." Grunge's voice was low.

"Yes, Master." Snuggles sounded deliriously happy to be spoken to, and a moment later I heard the door open and close.

Part of me was relieved: they would not have me feast on Snuggles just yet. But there was more going on here. I looked up at Rock and at her satisfied grin. They wanted a tiger, not a kitten. Shoving again, I felt her coils tighten for a moment before she relaxed. "You think we're done?"

Her eyes widened, then focused on me again. With a laugh, Rock began to sing again.

"You can have my sister once more, then I am going to claim you." Grunge sounded like she wanted to prove she was in charge. I had to let her keep believing that until Feather Bangs could find me.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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