My Little Bug Pony

by Liarra Sniffles

Chapter Three: A 'Proper' Introduction

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, now pass me a sword and lets get it out.

~ Liarra Sniffles

---

Tourmaline walked slowly beside little Wisp, deep in thought, her larger strides forcing her to slow her gait else she leave the changeling in the dust. So far the bug in question had been silent other than giving the occasional directions. The two walked through several narrow tunnels and winding paths, some of which had dangerous drops into much deeper caverns. Tourmaline could clearly see that this place was built with wings and wall-crawling abilities in mind, the paths they took seemingly an after thought in many areas.

Looking to another group of changelings up ahead, the bipedal changeling was having mixed thoughts. So far most of the changelings the duo had passed had either feinted once she got close or stayed at a safer distance. Of course, she knew it wasn't her fault that the pure love radiating from her was higher than what the literal god of love could generate, but it would be nice if she could tone it down enough to safely interact with these creatures.

That was something for the future though, as Wisp coughed to get her attention.

"Well, here we are. This is where you will be staying for now." She gestured with her hoof at a previously unnoticed small door in the side of the wall. Tourmaline had seen several doors like this, built from many bits of wood giving them a somewhat ramshackle look. Giving it a gentle push, the changeling led her inside and moved to the side, letting her investigate the room.

The first thing that struck her was the lack of a bed, the changeling queen had a bed, so she had just assumed that all the changelings slept in beds despite what the queen had told her about pods and their many uses. Instead of a bed, the room was dominated by one such large green pod hanging from the ceiling to about her waist, reminding her of the one she woke up in. A small mat sat on the stone ground in front of what looked like a writing desk carved from the wall itself, she could see a few drawers of stone and what looked to be a cupboard, also made of stone.

Several of the green orbs she had seen before were scattered throughout the room, giving the whole thing a soothing green glow. While she could not yet see the appeal of sleeping in a pod (at least that what she assumed it was there for) the soft lighting was making her feel more relaxed already.

The two eventually found themselves seated on the mat. Wisp placed a hoof to her chest.

"My name is Wisp as you know, but you can call me Wispy." The changeling winked and continued. "In return, I think I shall call you 'Maline' as Tourmaline is a bit of a mouth-full, and sweet is a bit too generic for a nice nickname. The newly nicknamed Maline raised an eyebrow at this but didn't interrupt.

"You may ask me whatever you want whenever you wish, is there anything you want to know right now?" Wispy cocked her head to the side, these bugs are always so adorable without even knowing it.

Maline thought about it for a moment, the session with the queen had given her the basics on changelings and their history, she knew that they could change shape, fly and do magic. The thought of one day doing magic excited her, but the queen had warned that her large amounts of love could affect how her magic worked.

"Hmm, what of my magic. Will I be able to shapeshift and cast spells like you can." Maline was terribly excited to learn about magic, as she hoped her large love output would translate to her having incredibly strong magic.

Wispy gave her an apologetic smile. "I am not an expert on magical training, nor can I tell how much magic you have. I can take you to someone tomorrow that can help you, but their working hours area already over for today." Maline deflated a little at this.

"Well what about you, tell me about yourself Wispy." Maline inched ever closer to the dangerously snugly changeling.

"Me?" Wispy blinked a few times before properly processing the question. "Well I was a gatherer before the great even that the queen mentioned. I would go out into the world and look for ponies who were down on their luck romantically and show them a good time. After harvesting the love they gave me I would return to give it to the hive." Maline frowned a little at that, it seemed a bit manipulative to use ponies in this way.

"Has any changeling every gotten into a proper relationship with a pony? Surely it would be better in the long term to have undisguised, open relations with the ponies." Wispy just looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"The ponies would never accept us, we are seen as love eating monsters and, unlike you, ponies do not generate enough love to feed an entire hive without dying in the attempt." She shook her head. "While I am sure it has probably happened in the past, draining the emotions of a target makes them unable to function as ponies until they recover."

"Even if we did have undisguised relations, the love fed to us from the ponies themselves is barely enough to sustain a single drone in disguise, even if there are multiple sources of love. No, we need to actively drain a pony to get what we need to survive in the long term, although perhaps your arrival can change that." Wispy shook her head and gave Maline a smile. "Now lets talk about something else."

"Do you mind if I ask you some more personal questions?" Wispy gave a tentative nod, prompting Maline to prod her nose with a finger. "How old are you?"

"In pony years I am 8, but in changeling terms I am a fully matured adult." Maline laughed at this.

"That means I am probably several thousand times your senior you know." Wispy didn't respond to that. "Right, well, do you have any parents." Maline regretted asking immediately at the pained look that came across Wispy's face.

"While I did have both a mother, a father and at least twenty siblings, they were all killed at canter- I mean during the great event."

Maline frowned at this. "I'm sorry for your loss. Why do you keep referring to it as 'the great event' instead of a more descriptive name?" Wispy nodded her thanks before responding.

"I do not know if the queen wanted me to tell you about it, you will have to ask her yourself tomorrow." While that seemed fair, it still irked Maline.

Deciding to change the topic before it got too depressing she pushed her finger against the changelings nose again. "Why do you smell slightly minty." The shocked stare of the changeling was soon overtaken by a poorly hidden blush as she averted her eyes, focusing her vision on anything but the hybrid.

"W-well you see, ahem, yes well.." Wispy took a deep breath. "It's not actually mint obviously, but when you meet a changeling you will notice they have a particular scent. Each scent is actually an important part of a changeling's name and is unique to them, when talking about another without using common verbal names, it is normally the scent that gets across the meaning without the confusion that pony names bring. It's kinda like using your exact genetic makeup as your name." Taking another deep breath she continued. "While the scent is usually similar, each changeling having their own unique but somewhat uninteresting one, it can differ depending on who is doing the smelling. If the changeling smelling the scent of a desirable mate is currently in a breeding cycle, the scent will be quite different, for example I usually smell earthy forest smells during my cycle." The changeling looked away. "However if a changeling is interested in an individual, they may change their scent when they are in person to try and make themselves more appealing. F-for instance, my preference is wild mint."

Maline was silent at that for a moment, before realising the implications. "While I can't deny it smells nice.. Does this mean you like me? We only met a few hours ago. And how come I can't smell my own scent." Maline watched the changelings wings start buzzing at her questions.

Wispy blushed furiously at the compliment. "For that last one, I do not know why you cannot smell your own scent if you can smell mine. As to the former, W-well maybe?" Wisp is such a cutie when flustered. "You've been bombarding me with your, ahem, sexy pheromones for the past three or four hours now, as well as with your love. Any changeling who can generate their own love is already a rarity that usually gets put on a pedestal as a perfect breeding partner, even ignoring the fact that you are outputting more love than a good sized city of ponies could." Maline felt the urge to snuggle Wispy rising to dangerous levels.

"Breeding partner? How do changelings breed if it is not the queen who is responsible for that." Wispy seemed to get more nervous with the topic as she went on.

"Well, uh, changelings are quite similar to insects in some regards, but another way the bee colony analogy falls apart is when it comes to breeding as we mate just like any other ponies." Maline started to worry that Wispy was going to pass out due to the sheer amount of blood currently blushing her cheeks. "As we are shapeshifters, changelings can swap gender at will, we are born as technically both or neither depending on your point of view. Usually it is the changeling with the higher social status that takes the female role, however there are no rules about who lays the eggs."

Maline cocked her head to the side. "What's the difference between a male and a female changeling, other than that pheromone knowledge saying they are who they are?"

"Um, well, yes ah..." Wispy looked incredibly odd now that basically her entire head is red, but she soldiered on. "P-perhaps... I could... Show you?" Wispy immediately hid under her hooves after saying this, although the holes in said hooves somewhat hindered the tactic.

While it took a few moments for Maline to understand what was being offered, a predatory grin slowly spread across her face. Instead of answering her question, she grabbed the changeling who yelped at the touch and brought her up to eye level.

"Why Wispy, I'm flattered but, aren't you a little small for me?" The changeling could only give her a pleading look, her legs crossing and re-crossing in Maline's grasp.

"We are shape changers, remember? N-now put me in the pod and let m-me show you how to b-buck like a changeling." Her stammering ruined her attempt at being sexy, but it was adorable.

---

Still in her quarters Chrysalis let out a laugh as she tasted the emotions still permeating throughout the hive from her newest subject. "Not even half an hour, I think that's a new record."

Author's Note:

A slightly shorter chapter today as I've got other things to do, Wispy may have need of a two by four yet, a mare can dream!

Comments

[Frost492]

Heh some one got lucky and I hope you will have some backstory for her(not even going to try to spell the name) and the changelings also some more would be nice but I'm just a reader any way great story can't wait for another update

[Liarra Sniffles]

7846387 This story is and will stay firmly a slice of life meaning I will do plenty (read: far too much) background and character development.
I hope to use what I write here in my future changeling stories so I'll eventually need to write out basically every little detail there is to my changelings within this story. I expect it to ruin several people's head-cannon.

[BronyofMeddlers]

so...is the main character actually a girl...or is it a guy who thinks hes a girl...or both?

[Poducken2]

7846829 Remember when she was in the pod and first noticed her green torso band? She said she used to have "a modest chest." I'm pretty sure that means boobs, thus female.

[Morphy]

7846829

Considering the nature of changelings, the question of current gender is irrelevant. But it sounds like changelings got their hooves on a woman, found out she wasn't generating much love and stuck her in a prototype pod... and like a typical jar of homemade preserve, was promptly lost and forgotten in the depths of the pantry.

I do wonder what makes Chrysalis the queen and how that will keep her in power when this gangly giant of an upstart becomes the hive's Goddess of Food? She's far nicer and those boops are to die for.

[Razzy]

Welp, that was quick. *plays 70s porn music*

[draco the flamewing]

7855682

god damnit, please end me for i have made a stupid mistake, a horribly stupid mistake.

[Yubella]

I want to ask when does Celestia get beaten again but like Chrysalis would say, 'Patients my drone. She is the fun part. We must not forget our main goal like last time'.