Well here we go, chapter…four, sort of. I don't count the last three chappy's as singular ones, but one whole one divided into three.

Anyway, this chapter took some thought to get the basic knowhow on what exactly it would tell. But I think you'll like it, it's equal parts comedy and dark…which is why it'll be split, sorry.

Begin!

Feral

(Part one of two)

It'd been a little under a week since I'd socked Celestia in the face, barrel, neck and just about everywhere on her body. Six days since I'd given my Richie the cum of a lifetime, one that I made sure to subtly remind him of every time I sensed him trying to sort himself out…alone, as if I wasn't in the same building as him at all.

Ah, his face when I interrupted him in the middle of it. Hilarious!

Of course whatever spluttering and grumbling he had tried to do was swiftly silenced when I began to help him.

But enough about that, there are many more important details to think about. Like the fact that Richard offered to take me on a date, an actual date! I mean we'd been out together before, the local cinema, the occasional outing for lunch, but never had he taken me out for a good wine and dine.

As his girlfriend, I of course had to make sure that he was suitably dressed for such an occasion. I mean yes he looks just about fuckable in everything, but I figured if I was going to chuck on a nice looking emerald green dress, then my lover could make the same sacrifice and wear a nice suit.

And oh by my fucking gods did he look fuckable, drool worthy in fact.

Seeing him come out of his bedroom in his getup actually caused me to hiss in excitement, my tongue licking my lips quickly to wet them up a bit before I swayed my sexy tush over there and kissed him deeply, enjoying my power of him as he growled, my feelers picking up his arousal with ease. And then of course I lost that sense of power when I let loose a moan and shuddered, actively fighting my tail mentally as it tried to wrap around his leg, the sound of his pulse becoming very clear as I broke off the kiss and looked at his neck wantonly.

All it would take is a quick lick and nibble…and he would be truly mine forever.

Fighting against my instincts, I pulled back from my lover and leaned against him for a brief moment, allowing myself to rub my head against his thigh before I quickly withdrew and smiled up at him, my instinct appeased for now.

Why fight it though, you know he loves you. Why resist it, why not do it now, or better still after dinner where he's drank some wine and is more susceptible to you…wishes.

Mentally shaking my head against the thought, I took a quick breath and relaxed as the traitorous questions left my mind. "I don't suppose you'll tell me where it is exactly that you're taking me too, Richie?" I asked curiously, already knowing by his emotions that he wouldn't.

"Nope, I'd prefer to leave it as a surprise," he replied, grinning slyly as I blew my cheeks out and pouted, mock annoyed. "Now lose the pout, otherwise we'll never make it out of the room, let alone the house."

Smirking up at him and pouting still, I leaned forward and licked his lips quickly, surprise etched on his face as I giggled and used my tail to gently tug him into walking with me, the two of us leaving his house and making our way down the gradually darkening street.

"You know, I should spank you for that," he growled lightly, his hand caressing my backside ever so slightly before it returned to his side. "But then again, I know you'd enjoy it so maybe not."

"If you spanked me, love," I purred, bumping my flank against him as my tail gently swept across the front of his trousers. "Then not only would I greatly enjoy it, I would also be inclined to…return the favor, perhaps with my tongue…or muzzle as a whole. But maybe I should stop talking, you seem to pitching a tent lover."

He looked down at his trousers and cursed quietly, his eyes closing and tent deflating with a surprising amount of controlled effort. "You're a tease, Chrissy," he said, sighing as he looked at me in irritated amusement.

"You know you love it," I countered, grinning slyly and winking up at him. "Just like you know you love me."

"Hmm, maybe," he mock pondered, tapping his chin as he looked up at the sky. "Maybe."

Maybe Richie? Maybe? Oh no, that won't do at all.

Our banter was just a bit of fun, I knew that. But deep down somewhere inside me there was something that didn't like his 'maybe's' at all. It wanted to hold him down and ravish him until he couldn't say anything but his for love for me. It wanted me to drag him back to our hive…home, and punish him for teasing me with his uncertainty.

It wanted him, it wanted him badly. But like with all I fought day after day to suppress, so too did I suppress this, turning all my instinctual frustration into the loving kiss I laid upon the back of his left hand.

"You really should know better than to tease me with maybe's Richie," I sighed, flicking my tongue at him…for some reason I couldn't quite understand at that moment.

"Did I upset you, I didn't mean to Chrissy," he said, apologetic emotion tinged within his tone.

"Silly male, you didn't upset me," I replied, nuzzling the hand I'd kissed affectionately. "I know you love me, as I love you. Just…don't maybe me, okay?"

An eyebrow cocked up in confusion, he nodded and caressed my cheek softly, his love feeding me in large chunks. "Okay."

Words were unneeded as we made our way to the mystery restaurant, said restaurant becoming very clear to me as Richard directed us right to the biggest, most expensive one in the city.

"Richard, we can't go here," I whispered, stopping him with a light tug of my magic. "It costs sixty bits for a single meal, you can't afford it!"

"Actually," he drawled, smirking at my expression. "I can. I got my bit delivery yesterday and found it about four hundred bits heavier than usual. Guess Celestia is trying to do some backwards apology for provoking you, huh."

I could feel my hair beginning to stand on end as I realized the truth of it, unlike my beloved who seemed to remain completely oblivious to the slutty Princess and her affection for him.

She isn't apologizing, she's trying to win his trust by bribing him with more bits. Stupid, pathetic creature, thinking that my Richie is so easily swayed by coin. I should tear her throat out and show my dominance by rutting my mate over her bloody corpse!

I blinked at the overly violent thought. Where did that come from?

I admit that I'm a tad more violent than the average individual, but rutting my mate over Celestia's corpse was…a bit more than I'd be willing to do, no matter how attractive the concept of it sounded, felt to my instincts.

"So let's go in, shall we," Richard's voice said, snapping me out of my trance and onto his handsome face as he opened the door for me. "After you."

Touched by his gesture, I smiled and kissed his cheek before trotting inside the restaurant and looking around the expensive place with a surprising amount of excitement.

The restaurant was huge and very full, packed with Ponies, Griffons and even a Minotaur or two. Every table was made of some sort of marble, the chairs plush and different depending on the species sitting on them. The ceiling was filled with chandeliers, one above every five tables and shining with an obviously expensive glass…and were there diamonds on them too?

Richard walked past me and indicated for me to follow, which I did…after a couple more moments of gawking. We walked over to a smartly dressed stallion, a Unicorn. Said Unicorn noticed Richard and narrowed his eyes for a brief moment before a fake smile was plastered on his face.

"Welcome to Le Gavroche sir, madam. How may I help you today?" he said, the words obviously recited many times for them to be spoken as smoothly as they were.

"Yeah, I have a table for two. Under the name Tyler," Richard said, genuinely smiling at the host.

"One second sir…yes, right this way Mr Tyler."

Smiling at me, Richard put his hand on my back and walked the both of us over to a comfortable looking table in a far corner, away from prying eyes. The two of us sat down and thanked the host, who faked smiled and turned away, disgust flowing from him as he sneered at my boyfriend.

Rip his throat out…

I closed my eyes and shook the thought away, before looking back at Richard who was perusing the menu. I followed suit and looked at my own menu, my eyes widening as the prices only seemed to increase the further down I went.

"Richard this is very expensive, surely we could have ordered in instead," I said, looking up at my smiling lover.

"True," he said. "But I wanted to go out and treat the woman I love, is that so wrong?"

Woman? Hmm, he sometimes refers to himself as a man, so a woman must be a word for a female human. Aww, how sweet!

Sighing happily at the love he gave off, I shook my head and lidded my eyes. "No it isn't, I'm just concerned about how you're going to manage after today."

He waved my concern off. "Don't be, I've had little use to spend the bits I've been given so I've kind of amassed a bit of a small fortune. Tonight won't even put a dent in it, trust me sugar."

"I do trust you, with everything I am." He smiled at my words and picked up my right hoof, bringing his lips to it and kissing it lovingly.

"As I do you," he replied, his voice low. I simply nodded and found myself slightly flush at the tender emotion he gave off, all of it for me and me alone.

A waitress came to our table a few minutes later. She was a Unicorn with lilac fur and bright blue eyes, with a wide, almost unnaturally wide smile on her muzzle. "Good evening sir, ma'am. My name is Twinkle Star; may I get you something to drink?"

"Yes, I'd like some of the red please," I said, silently asking Richard with my eyes if he was okay with it. He smiled and nodded, stroking my right hoof softly.

"Ah, an excellent pick ma'am. We've recently had the majority of our wine delivered from the Palace itself, grown from the Princesses own vineyard," Twinkle chirped happily, surprisingly genuine as she looked between myself and Richard. "I'll be back shortly, please don't hesitate to call one of us over if you need something."

"Will do, thank you."

The waitress beamed and walked away to get our wine. I turned back to face Richard and smiled as he looked at the place Twinkle had been with curiosity.

"They're not all dicks after all then," he muttered, smiling and shaking his head in amusement…or amazement, it was a mix between the two.

"No, not all of them," I agreed, grinning. "Just most of them."

He chuckled and smiled, to which I returned my own. We didn't speak that much really, the both of us enjoying the simplicity of holding each other's appendage. His love just flowed into me, nourishing and sustaining me well beyond what I needed, so I stored it within me, feeding my power.

"And here's your wine, I hope you enjoy it," Twinkle said happily, a bright smile as she gave the both of us our glasses, the bottle being placed in the middle of the table. "Again if you need anything, just call one of us over."

"Thank you Twinkle," Richard said, his thanks and pleasant demeanor as real with the Unicorn as I'd ever felt it outside of me. "I'm sure it'll be brilliant."

She smiled at my boyfriend and blushed prettily, but to my surprise it incited no jealousy or irritation.

I think I genuinely like this mare, I thought, amused at the little Unicorn's cheerful personality. I picked up my glass and clinked it against Richards, smiling as I took a long sip and mulled it over in my muzzle, enjoying the slightly bitter aftertaste.

"I hate to admit that anything from that wretched palace is good, but this is quite something," I confessed guiltily, Richard only humming as he pulled a face and put his down. "Do you not like it?"

"I've never really been big on wine," he admitted, shrugging. "But I've heard you mention how much you like drinking it from time to time, so I figured I'd give it another go…eh, but it's not for me."

"It's a shame they don't do cider," I mused, taking another long sip from my glass. "You seem to practically live on that stuff."

"Cider is love, cider is life," he chuckled, some sort of hidden joke I didn't understand within his words. But he found it funny, so I grinned and giggled along with him. "It's a shame they don't do coke here; I would kill for a cold glass right about now."

"What's coke?"

"It's a drink from my world, pretty popular one too," he explained, smiling nostalgically. "I used to buy them for Emily, she could drink more bottles a day then I would cider a week. I always used to warn her that her teeth would fall out from all that sugar, but she never listened…"

I squeezed his hand gently and gave him a warm smile, which he returned as he sighed quietly.

"Never mind," he said, smiling sadly. "Tonight is about us, so let's focus on that, eh?"

"Okay," I agreed, softly. I took another sip from my glass and refilled it soon after, feeling a tiny bit buzzed from the surprisingly strong vintage. "What do you want to order?"

Richard looked at the menu and clicked his tongue, pondering the choices on the menu. "I was thinking I'd go for a nice steak. It's been a while since our little stint at Cloppers and I feel like a steak's a good pick."

"I hope for our poor, bigoted population that we don't do what we did last time," I said, giggling quietly. "I don't think the snobs here could take it."

He smirked at me as I let my tongue loll out of my muzzle, a repeat of our playing the last time we went out to eat. Except…he wasn't smirking anymore, but rather looking at my tongue in surprise, almost shock in fact.

"Chrissy, your tongue…" he whispered, looking at the table for something as he grabbed a large spoon and showed it to me, my reflection quite clear on the metal surface. My tongue should have been normal and pink, sticking out of my muzzle playfully. Instead it was long, forked and flicking out of my muzzle in a rather intimidating way.

Quickly, I put my tongue back in my muzzle and forced myself to breathe calmly, internally checking my mirage with magic and…spotting no flaws.

There's nothing wrong with me, but my tongue is my own. What's going on?

Tentatively, I opened my muzzle slightly and looked at my tongue again, grimacing when I saw it hadn't changed back. Forcing my eyes closed, I willed it to comply with my power and change to that of the Unicorn I looked like…but it remained unchanged.

"Chrissy, what's wrong?" Richard asked, his voice causing me to open my eyes and look at his own, which in turn widened as they stared right back at mine. "Your eyes…they're yours."

I looked back at the spoon once more and nearly yelped in shock as my real eyes stared back at me. Suddenly, I felt something rough grasp my feelers and flood them with emotion. Anger, hate, bitterness, sadness, lust, happiness, amusement. Almost every emotion I'd felt since meeting Richard seemed to flood inside me, all but one. One that I couldn't feel at that moment, one that had gone, had vanished, had been TAKEN AWAY FROM ME!

Stumbling out of my chair with but a frantic mumble of something to Richard, I rushed towards the nearest bathroom only to stop and let out a hiss of frustration as my head throbbed with pain. It was almost like a hangover, but worse, much worse. The sense of loss I felt as my constant source of love was nowhere to be sensed was overwhelming me with a primal fear.

What's happening to me, this feels like poison. What was in that wine? I thought frantically, my breathing becoming swiftly shallow. It has to be the wine, something was in it…but then why isn't Richard affected like me? Is it something else, something in my glass? WHO DID THIS TO ME, I'LL RIP THEIR THROATS OUT!

I felt my anger grow as I rushed into the mercifully empty restaurant bathroom, swallowing my senses almost entirely before it forced its way out of my muzzle in a loud hiss. Stumbling over to the sink, I clutched at the rim and looked up at the mirror, my reflection snarling back at me.

My true reflection, hiding behind the mirage...within it.

Startled, I looked at my hooves and gaped in horror as they turned from white to black, holes slowly opening as my mirage rapidly began to fade. But it wasn't like normal, there was no green aura around the transformation. They were turning back of their own accord, and I couldn't stop it.

I'm going to kill, I'm going to tear, to rip. I'm going to…TO…

Hate seemed to pool within my feelers, all-encompassing my every thought and action as I looked back at the mirror and saw the terrifying transformation. The pretty Unicorn was being forcibly changed back into the hideous insect, hair twisting into a silky teal mane…with no holes, fangs forcing their way out of my muzzle in a fearsome grin.

Richard, where's my love. Where's my lo…my l…my…mate…mate…MATE!

"Mateeee..." the word came out as a hiss, another snarl following as I let loose a scream of rage and smashed the mirror with my right hoof, glass flying everywhere. "Need...mateeee..."

Sniffing the air and using my feelers, I instantly sensed my mate nearby, the love that had previously vanished, hitting me with the force of a manticore...but there was something wrong, something off about his scent.

We hadn't mated yet...and that...that wouldn't do at all.

I made to walk out of the bathroom, only to stop and grasp my head, emotion throbbing within as I fought to control myself. But I couldn't, even as I tried I could feel common sense being overwritten by sheer primal, feral instinct. Instinct to find my almost-mate and become truly mated, nothing else mattered but finding him, protecting him and killing rival females before they could capture his attention and take his love from me.

I was quite willing to kill the entire female populous in the restaurant if I had to.

Thankfully at the time, the source of love I could sense so clearly was suddenly stopping in front of me, looking at me with an expression of shock.

"Chrissy, what are you doing?" he whispered, the sound of hoofsteps behind him forcing him to rush over to me and force the two of us into a stall, locking it behind him. "Change back, you need to change back...Chrissy can you hear me?"

I smiled up at my almost-mate, baring my fangs and hissing a high note as a show of affection.

"Are you okay?" he asked, tentatively grasping my face and stroking it, his eyes and emotions filled with worry.

"Mate…" I purred, hissing happily as I licked his lips and got a lashing of love in return. "Mhmm…love…"

"Chrissy are you drunk?" he whispered, his voice harsh enough to make my ears fold down in sadness. I had made my mate unhappy. "No, no I'm not mad at you. It's just…you can't be drunk; you barely drank more than two glasses of that stuff. So was it something else, something…in the wine?"

My ears perked back up at his words and I hissed approvingly, his words making my eyes shine in recognition.

"It was the wine then," he concluded, baring his teeth in frustration and rage. "Fucking hell, one of these fucks put something in it. And now you're acting all…Chrissy?"

I was barely paying attention to his words, choosing instead to nuzzle his neck and lick it happily, a sense of utter happiness and contentment filling me as I breathed in his scent. My almost-mate was found, and now I could bite, now I could inject the venom into him and then mate for life, we would finally become one.

Licking my lips, I let loose a purr and hissed lowly, soothing my almost-mate as I opened my muzzle and made to gently bite down...

NO!

I stopped, something deep inside me snapping as I blinked, vision swimming back into focus as I looked up at Richard and saw the fearful concern in his eyes. "Richard…I can't…stop myself…wine was poisoned…you need to get…me back…to our hive…home…and lock me…UP! Don't…touch me until…I'm me again."

I closed my eyes and shuddered as that feral instinct fought to regain control, whatever was in the wine feeding this drive to bite, to mate, to show my Richie that he belonged to me and me alone, THAT NO OTHER COULD TAKE HIM FROM-

"Now Richard!" I hissed desperately, using all the strength I had to change the majority of my upper body into the Unicorn mirage, the last words and act I could think of leaving me as I felt myself be pulled under a veil of natural instinct.

My lover wasted no time in taking off his jacket and covering me with it as best he could. Just as quickly he was picking me up and carrying me out of the bathroom, rushing past everyone quicker with his long legs than I'd ever seen anyone run, even an Earth Pony.

"My girlfriend's sick, don't drink the fucking wine!" he yelled, his voice wrought with anger as he barged past the startled host who greeted us and all but kicked down the door. Angry voices all yelling at each other following, allowing us to make a quick get-away relatively unnoticed.

Richard POV

I grasped the keys out of my jacket and unlocked the door as quickly as I could, Chrissy's hissing and garbled form of speech almost causing me to panic as I shut the door behind me.

Remembering her words and plea to lock her up, I ran into the kitchen and opened the door to the basement, my right arm aching from carrying Chrissy for so long. Rushing down the stairs as quickly as I could, I put her down and looked around as quickly as I could for some sort of rope or-

"There!" I said aloud, running over to my toolbox and grabbing some a semi long metal chain. I'd only planned to use it in the case that I needed something extra to lock my front door if Twilight refused to take no for an answer. I never once thought I'd use it for something like…what I was about to do.

Running back over to the slowly rising Changeling, I apologized silently and wrapped the chain around her plating, before attaching both ends to a metal pipe and locking them together with a padlock. I moved away from her and winced as she looked up at me adoringly, mirage having worn off during my rushing around.

"Mate…come…me…" she purred, her words spoken almost as a melodious hiss. Chrissy opened her forelegs wide and buzzed her wings, blowing a lovely scent in my direction. I remained where I was however, unsure of what to do while she remained like this. She frowned at my lack of reaction and hissed as if confused, before getting up on all fours and beginning to walk over to me.

The chain proved effective in stopping her however, the apparent surprise of it all causing her to drop onto her flank. She looked at the chain and tugged at it with her forehooves, hissing in frustration as it refused to budge before looking at me and smiling, her smile the exact same one she used every time she wanted me to help her with something.

Washing in the shower, making her a cup of tea, helping her remove a chain...

Her expression became confused and worried at my silent refusal to help, her eyes wide and at any other time adorable…but all they did now was tug at my heart. "Mate help?" she asked, her words strung a little better together as her tone became soft and tender.

"I can't," I said, shaking my head to clarify my denial as I felt my eyes begin to sting. "I'm sorry."

Chrissy's eyes sudden began to shine with tears as she reached for me, her hissing becoming steadily agitated and sorrowful as she trilled in distress when I refused to move. "Mate, why not help me?" he asked, her voice filled with hurt. "Want to hold. Mate love me, help me!"

Unable to take the lump in my throat any more, I snarled in anger and ran back up the stairs, slamming the door behind me and smashing my fist on the floor as a true sense of helplessness overwhelmed me.

What if she doesn't turn back to normal? What am I supposed to do?!

I grit my teeth and fought back tears as Chrissy's pleas for me became steadily louder and more frantic, more frightened.

When I find out who did this to her, I'm going to kill them. I'm going to FUCKING KILL THEM!

Forgetting that she could sense my emotions, Chrissy's hissing became intensely loud and hysterical, her pleading twisting into anger and despair as she screamed for me to come to her.

"WHO HARM MATE?! Mate come me, I protect you!" she cried, her sniffling and tightness in her voice causing me to let a few tears go. It hurt me to hear her like this, it hurt me not to go and hold her.

But she told me not to touch her until she was back to normal. Whatever it was that was happening to her, she seemed very adamant that I not let her touch me.

But still, I owe it to her to be there until she's back to normal.

Rubbing my face and gritting my teeth, I opened the door once more and shut it behind me as I walked back down the stairs. Chrissy's face was matted with tears, her ears were splayed back in destress and her eyes were wide with fear and anger.

"Mate!" Upon seeing me, her expression morphed back into one of love and happiness, her hissing showing as much as she tried and failed to touch me, her forelegs put an arms distance away as they flailed uselessly. "Please let touch, I hold you, protect you. Keep warm!" She beckoned with her hooves and smiled lovingly, buzzing her wings and filling the room with that scent once more.

Sighing sadly, I sat down on the last step and looked at my girlfriend, closing my eyes and covering my ears as her hissing became confused and frantic once again.

I couldn't touch her, and she couldn't understand me properly. All I could do was wait for whatever was wrong with her to wear off.

All I had to do was ignore her pleading and everything would be fine...

Fuck...

I was in for a long night.