"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that if I eat those magic mushrooms, I'll grow a second dick?" you asked, looking at Chitin, still disguised as Vespa, with excitement.

"I... no. I didn't say that at all. Where did you get that idea from?" Chitin asked, totally confused as to where you came to such an assumption. "We were talking about the use of mushrooms in potions, sure, but your phallus has nothing to do with this. Why, with your body and lack of the typical magical system, even if we were to use such a potion on you, the effects aren't guaranteed or certain."

"... so what you're saying is... there's a potion I can drink to grow a second dick? And with my body, I could grow more than one extra dick?... I like where you're going with this," you stated, stroking your chin in thought.

Chitin shook his head, wondering why he was stuck in another nonsensical conversation as you walked through the halls of the hive. At this point, you weren't even going anywhere. You found it relaxing to just walk around at times and shoot the breeze. Sure, you had your brood to care about, but after Molt threw up into your open mouth while tossing him into the air, you needed some distance.

"Anon, sometimes I question if you-" Chitin started to say, only to freeze up.

Groaning, you slapped your hands to your head. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! This shit again!? What is it this time? Dragons flying in from overhead? Pony army appearing on the horizon?... did one of my kids undergo metamorphosis already? FUCK! I wanted to be there for that!" you shouted, so tired of the hivemind telepathy thing. Seriously, it was feeling like an overused trope of some sort, and since you weren't privy to what was being said, it just added unnecessary suspense to you... still, you waited for Chitin to answer.

When he snapped out of it, Chitin turned his head to you, eyes wide in surprise. "They... they say a usurper is being escorted to the throne room. One who would challenge Q-Queen Chrysalis for the right to rule," Chitin announced, the words making your heart pound while dropping at the same time.

A usurper? Challenging for the right to rule? Ap... Ap was out of her cocoon? Dammit, why didn't she come find you before going after Chrysalis! Even if not to reconvene and discuss the plan of action with you, then to just say hello before confronting the head bitch in charge! You were going to give her such an earful when you saw her!... and probably a mouthful... and a few other things full.

You didn't even bother ordering Chitin to follow you as you charged toward the throne room, and he didn't need it, quickly following on your heel. You wanted to tell him to just grab onto you and fly you over to the throne room as Vespa had done when your brood was hatching, but you remembered him saying that just because he could shapeshift a proper wing in place of his missing one didn't mean he was capable of flying properly.

Thankfully, you weren't too terribly far away from the throne room, and with a short run that paled in comparison to the life-or-death sprint you had to catch up to Vespa, you were soon before it, a horde of Changelings already crowding around the outside of it, prepared to witness whosoever would dare to challenge the current queen for the right to rule. Upon seeing you though, they parted to allow you through. You'd have spent some time soaking in the beauty of their respect and admiration for you, but you had your priorities.

Stepping through the open double doors, you found there were far more guards lining the throne room than usual, but none moving in to stop anyone from entering. Quickly walking forward, you felt Chrysalis' magic lift you before you'd even laid eyes upon her, pulling you up to your separate throne. You'd gotten used to her seating you beside her, but when you saw the basket of larvae sitting on your throne, you figured she wanted you to keep an eye on them.

"I can't believe this. The shame, the sheer audacity, to be trying something like this right now. Right before I lay siege to Canterlot. Do they not know how important this is? Not just for me, but for us all!?" Chrysalis muttered, her words seething into a hiss as she considered what was about to happen.

Chewing the inside of your cheeks, not sure what to say, you reached into the basket and just started to pet the brood. "I'm... I'm sure it'll all end up exactly how it's supposed to. Hell, I'm sure that what's best for everyone will happen," you stated, not wanting to admit you knew Ap was coming to whoop her ass, especially since she still had time to beat you if she really wanted, but not wanting to flat out lie. So you took the middle ground and spoke half-truths.

Sighing, Chrysalis looked over to you, smiling softly despite the tension in the air. "Oh Anon, it puts me at ease to know you have such confidence in me. You're right of course. I shouldn't be upset at all. If anything, this gives me a chance to show just how powerful I am with your support," Chrysalis cooed, her eyes glowing with a mild delight as she stared at you. Oh man, if guilt was a knife, then it was digging into your gut right now.

Before you could reply, a Changeling stepped forth in front of the thrones, announcing "My lady, Queen Chrysalis, and her consort, Lord Anon! It is my... duty to introduce you to he who would challenge our lady for the right to rule!"

Wait... he?... did Ap have a sex change? Oh fuck! Did this mean you were gay now? You didn't have anything against homosexuals, and sure, you could admire a man's body, even approve of the dicks you'd seen in porn, but you never thought of yourself as gay! It just wasn't your thing.

Before the Changeling could continue, another pushed him aside... at least, you think it was a Changeling. It looked like a slightly larger, more complete Changeling without any holes or ragged bits, with an almost invitingly smooth dark cyan exoskeleton, although you took notice to the back armor to look like some kind of purple, and with weird pale pearl looking things around his throat. They even hard a short pair of deer looking antlers to go with its horn that were some sort of... red? Pink? It matched their sparkly, curved wings is all you were certain of. But those eyes... they seemed familiar, yet different.

"I'll take it from here," the weird Changeling stated, their oddly gruff voice clicking with you on who it was.

"Pharynx, is that you?" you asked, earning a curious look from Chrysalis as she seemed to now recognize who it was.

Looking up to you, Pharynx smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah Anon, it's me. As you can see, I've changed for the better," he stated, puffing out his chest a bit.

"So... you came back to fight Chrysalis?" you asked, frowning a bit. This wasn't what you thought it was going to be. On one hand, you were happy that it wasn't Ap, because you weren't quite ready for that fight. On the other hand... the fuck was this?

Shaking his head quickly, Pharynx answered "No, I'm here to introduce my brother, Thorax."

Sweeping his wing outward, Pharynx stepped aside as another Changeling stepped forward. Much larger, with a lime green exoskeleton, pale pearl things at the throat, purple looking back armor and eyes, with a blue violet version of the wings that Pharynx was now sporting. Most noticeable of all was the large set of orange antler things on his head.

"... your brother is a moose?" you asked, earning a snort of amusement from Chrysalis, who had to hold a hoof to her mouth to stifle herself. As serious as this was, she found your statements humorous. Curse her for giving you reasons to love her! This was going to make the fight with Ap all the more difficult... probably literally.

Thorax frowned as Pharynx replied "No, he's a Changeling. A new kind of Changeling, as you can see that I now am."

"Indeed," Thorax agreed, stepping forward so he could loudly proclaim what he had to, although he quickly turned his back on you and Chrysalis so he could address the Changelings filing into the throne room to watch. "I've discovered that if we give love, our own love, willingly to one another, we produce more love than we give! I shared my love with my brother and he did the same with me, and as you can see, we've undergone a metamorphosis that has made us greater than ever before! We won't ever have to go hungry again, for we can share and unite, joining hooves with the ponies as allies and not enemies!"

You stared at them for a moment, then turned to Chrysalis and said "Hey, I'm sorry about this. I didn't realize that when I sent Pharynx to find his brother, they were going to start a revolution to turn the hive into technicolored mooses... meeses? Whatever the plural for moose is."

Turning back to you, Thorax frowned and muttered to his brother "You're right, he is kind of a jerk."

"That's not the word I used to describe him, but I'll stick with that since there are larvae present... wait, why are there larvae present?" Pharynx asked, suddenly taking notice to the basket of your brood.

Smiling, you held them up in display. "Say hi to my kids! I knocked Chrysalis up and now we got babies! Say hi kids!"

"Fuck off!" Pupa hissed to the colorful Changelings, earning a laugh from you and Chrysalis.

"Well said Pupa, such a smart girl you are, yes you are," Chrysalis complimented the infantile Changeling, making mommy kissy faces at her.

With a deadpan look that contrasted his brother's disgusted one, Pharynx said "Yeah, that's definitely Anon's kid right there."

"He's worse than you said!" Thorax exclaimed, shocked that anyone could produce such a vulgar child.

"Hey, I'm right fucking here, you cocksucking bastard!" you shouted, trying to look hurt at his statement, but probably making it worse. Looking to Pharynx, you added "I didn't send you to find your brother just so you could come back here to insult me and start an insurrection!"

Rolling his eyes, Pharynx took a few steps forward and explained "No, but after I had to track him down through the Frozen North, stalking through the Crystal Empire to find that he was now living among the ponies, we ended up going on an unusual adventure where we helped the royal family there fight off an army of undead ponies raised by the remnants of King Sombra's dark essence, discovering in the process that we loved and cared for each other, transforming into what you see before you in time to put down the army and be praised as heroes. We came back to share this so that all Changelings could live a better life."

"Wow. That sounds like an incredible story I would love more details on... but you became a moose. A bug-moose, but a moose none the less," you said with a frown. Why were you arguing with him on this so much? Wouldn't this have potentially answered your problem with Chrysalis and Ap?... at least, to some degree. Yet you couldn't help fighting it. Maybe it's because this was the path that would keep you from still being a king. Maybe it's because an excess of colors hurt your eyes. Maybe it's because this felt so incredibly forced, you had to flip the universe off and say "Fuck this!"

"I agree Anon," Chrysalis stated, bringing the attention to her, reminding everyone she was the queen and one in charge, not you. "Besides, I discovered Anon, who is a source of unlimited love that will fuel the hive for all time, as well as having championed the rights of Changelings to take what belongs to us! I mean, just look at me," Chrysalis stated with a smug smile, waving a foreleg in front of herself to show how she had grown more powerful.

As if only now seeing Chrysalis for the first time since they came back, Pharynx and Thorax both seemed to stiffen. "She's... she's different than before. So much more complete. Healthier than I thought without our metamorphosis," Thorax admitted, gulping. You remembered he was the weaker of the brothers from what Pharynx had said, yet ended up the larger of the two. That probably was a bad sign for them.

"A lot deadlier looking too," Pharynx added, eyeing her blade-like horn and extra armor in certain spots.

"R-regardless, we're not here for a fight. We're here to offer the hive something new. A chance to not take power for ourselves, but to make it!" Thorax declared, clearly nervous still, but finding his nerve as he turned back to the rest of the Changelings.

There was a wave of murmurs that ran through the gathering crowd, considering what Thorax was offering them, but clearly apprehensive to accept it. Perhaps if they'd seen it for themselves, they'd be more willing to believe him, but at this time they just had reason to believe he was trying to trick everyone with his words. He could have changed into that form before arriving here, although from what you'd learned, creating something they had never seen was a difficult task for most Changelings.

Tired of the talk, Chrysalis flew down from the throne, landing only feet away from Thorax and Pharynx, drawing the attention of the brothers back to her. "Then why don't you prove it as any upstart would? Defeat me in combat," she offered, actually being nice enough to give them a chance instead of just murdering them then and there.

"I just said we're not here to fight. We want to offer everypony the chance to grow, not force it upon them," Thorax insisted, holding his head high.

"And I just gave you the chance to fight back, but if you don't want to take it, then fine," Chrysalis stated, shrugging as if she'd just been told her guests didn't want to drink. Only Pharynx really seemed to take the actual words to heart as he saw Chrysalis' horn begin to glow, jumping before Thorax and throwing up a violet shield of magic, barely defending against a beam of pure magic that still sent him and Thorax skidding across the throne room.

"Holy shit!... Chrysalis can shoot lasers!" you shouted, taking amazement in the wrong thing apparently, Chitin giving you an irritated look.

"Holy fuck!" Pupa squeaked back at you.

"You're right, 'fuck' would have been better than 'shit'," you agreed with your daughter, stroking her head as you watched Pharynx look back to see if his brother was okay.

"You dishonor yourself and your brother for interfering in what is supposed to be a one-on-one fight... but I'm feeling generous. I'll take you both on at the same time," Chrysalis offered, a smile on her face that allowed a sinister gleam reflect off her fangs, almost hungry for blood.

"What the fuck!? You're arranging a threesome in front of me!? Not cool Chrysalis! I demand my own threesome if we're doing this!" you shouted, knowing she meant a fight, but not willing to give up on the idea you might be able to manipulate more sex out of this.

"Wh-what? No, honey I didn't mean it that way!" Chrysalis replied, flustered out of focus of the upcoming fight, more concerned about you. It warmed your heart a little.

"I just said we didn't come here to fight!" Thorax protested, stepping forward boldly, if somewhat foolishly.

"No, we didn't... but that doesn't mean we won't!" Pharynx growled, charging forward as he produced several bolts of magical energy at Chrysalis. The bolts struck right as she turned back to face him... and seemed to do nothing, practically dissipating into the lustrous black exoskeleton, which brought a malicious smile to Chrysalis' face.

"Oh my, I knew I'd grown more powerful from Anon's love, but this is a lovely surprise!" she laughed, holding a hoof up to observe it. Looking back to Pharynx, she licked a fang and added "Let's see how your carapace does in comparison, shall we?"

Pharynx didn't get a chance to refute the offer as Chrysalis' horn once more flashed green, now enveloping the rebelling Changeling in her aura, slamming him against the ground. The moment his head bounced off the floor, Chrysalis nodded her head up quickly, sending him flying up into the ceiling of the room, forcing numerous onlookers that had been hovering overhead for a chance to watch to fly out of the way. Even after he collided with the ceiling, Chrysalis threw her head down, sending him plummeting to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" Thorax cried out, apparently unwilling to defend himself, but more than willing to step up for his brother. He flew forward with all the grace of... well, a lumbering technicolored moose. Perhaps thankfully for him, Chrysalis was too invested in tossing Pharynx around to dodge him, taking the orange antlers to the chest, his momentum carrying her back into the throne with a nasty crack that made you wince. The attack freed Pharynx from Chrysalis' hold, but he'd been knocked around enough that he still dropped to the ground with a thud, weakly trying to rise back to his hooves.

Despite having been slammed into her own throne, Chrysalis laughed it off. "So glad to see those antlers aren't just for show! But you know, this reminds me how I haven't had the chance to try out my horn," she announced, narrowing her eyes as she planted her back legs and pushed forward, shoving Thorax away from her. The moment he was far enough away from her that she could move, Chrysalis swung her head down, bringing the blade-like horn atop her head to slash down, aiming to sever her opponent's jugular. Thorax was only saved as another violet barrier appeared between him and Chrysalis, although it shattered soon after as Chrysalis' horn struck it, the impact sending the green moose-bug down on his side.

"You know, this is pretty awesome to watch... yet part of me isn't happy with it," you grumbled, watching as Chrysalis kicked a foreleg forward, sending Thorax sliding over to his brother.

"Probably because it was your command to send Pharynx after his brother that led to this confrontation right now," Chitin pointed out, wincing as Chrysalis now took to enveloping Thorax's antlers in her magic and using them to bludgeon Pharynx. "That, and the fact she's beating them both with relative ease because of your love fueling her."

"Ooooh yeah, that's right... shit, now I feel bad. Thanks a lot," you grunted, not even able to take pleasure in the fight. You'd usually love this, especially as Pharynx lunged to stop Chrysalis, only to be parried by the queen's blade horn, knocking Pharynx head to the side, then catching him behind one of his smaller antler things, the queen spinning around to send him flying back into Thorax, just as he was getting back up.

"You could stop it, give them a chance to survive. They might even end up being... you know... useful later," Chitin suggested, trying not to say it out loud in case Chrysalis was overhearing, but you got the point. While you'd rather not insult Ap with the idea that she'd need assistance from magic moose-bugs, the fact that Chrysalis was practically playing with the two because of your love told you it would be a good idea to have that in your back pocket. If nothing else, as Chitin said, you owed Pharynx for putting him in this position in the first place.

"Yeah, I might as well," you sighed, placing the basket of your children aside so you could hop down from the throne. You fast approached Chrysalis as she had her hooves planted on the throats of the brothers, pressing down on them, the two trying and failing to remove her. "Hey Chrysalis, lets call it a day and send them to the dungeons or something," you implied like you were suggesting you get Mexican instead of Chinese... fuck, now you wanted a burrito. You missed good food that wasn't just grubs and sex spit.

Without removing her hooves, Chrysalis looked back at you with a raised brow. "Anon, honey, I can't do that. They're usurpers trying to take my throne, our right to rule. I have to execute them as is tradition," she said as sweetly as she could to you.

"Yeah, but traditionally speaking, your challenger would only ever be a female, right? The idea of a male Changeling ruling being laughable after all, even if it is totally sexist," you grunted, a chorus of murmurs coming from the crowd, the females agreeing at the idea of a male Changeling ruling being preposterous, while the males thought it was offensive to them. "Besides, they're so... colorful. It's kinda hilarious. You can put them in the dungeon, then bring them out to be the court jesters or something. The humiliation of having been beaten so soundly and reduced to such a position being far more punishing than death."

Chrysalis stared at you for a moment, then removed her hooves, granting the brothers air. They greedily sucked in breaths, until Chrysalis used her magic to knock their heads together, rendering them unconscious. "Oh Anon, as always, the creativity in your devious mindset has me in awe," she cooed, approaching you so that she could nuzzle her face into your form.

Chuckling a bit, if somewhat awkwardly, you looked down at the two brothers, thinking about just how easily she kicked their asses. It was concerning how utterly dominating she was, yet equally arousing. You were a bit worried for Ap, but she should have the same level of love fueling her... although, she wasn't a queen before this. Chrysalis was already a queen feeding off of this love, so at this point, the inevitable fight between the two felt like it could go either way.

"Well... what can I say? I've got a knack for putting people in some bad shit... myself included."

Author's Notes:

"You thought it was Ap, but it was really me, THORAX!"

Brotherly Love: Fight For The North, the story of how two brothers learn what they mean to one another while fighting off a horde of zombie ponies, now available... never.

That said, Chrysalis was kicking ass and chewing gum, now she's all out of ass. What I'm saying is... send more gum.