I'm a Changeling?!

by Orkus


Love Lessons

As the minutes rolled by, Chauffeur could see that Lacewing had taken them past the barren lands surrounding the changeling castle, and to a forest that laid beyond it. It was a dense forest, with leafy trees bearing dull green foliage on their branches of varying thickness as far as the eye could see. Some were healthy and tall, others bore a more twisted and gnarled visage, but it was not unlike the woodland surrounding Canterlot Chauffeur remembered witnessing before ending up in this royal mess.

As Lacewing lowered from the sky to the ground, he went down to join her. She landed with grace, while her charge had to once again use great caution as he drifted to the earth. Being a small patch of dirt where they landed, the ground was made up of moist soil, but surrounding it was short grass that was covered in sparkling dew.

Lacewing looked at Chauffeur. Her visage was entirely serious, devoid of the light sarcasm that he had come to associate her with.

"Stay close," she said to him. "You'll never know what one can find out here. Big or small."

"I will," he said back, shifting his helmet into a more comfortable position.

Lacewing gave her companion a half-smile and turned her head forward again. They proceeded to walk through the grass and ventured into the woods with only a host of twigs from low-hanging trees and shrubs to get in their way. Traveling through the unkempt wilderness, Chauffeur could hear the songs of birds flying in the canopy above them, and the distinct chirping chorus of peeper frogs somewhere nearby.

When what felt like the fifteenth minute rolled by, Lacewing halted in her stride and stopped her new partner as well by placing a hoof to his chest.

"Don't move," she whispered to him. Slowly taking her hoof off of Chauffeur's chest, she started to sneak up to a nearby bush with as much silence in her approach to match a prowling fox. She arched her shoulders, and one still moment later, she suddenly pounced at it.

She tackled the bush and vanished from sight behind the foliage. It rustled quite violently, and Chauffeur only stood there, waiting for her to reappear (or not, if she was right now wrestling with a large, terrible beast). Seconds later she did, emerging from the brush with a furry, brown, and clearly alive mass in her jaws.

"Miff iff af furrel," she tried to speak while the creature wriggled around in her jaws and chattered away in a panicked fashion.

"What?" asked Chauffeur.

Lacewing, rolling her eyes, spat the small creature to the ground. Before it could scramble away, she pressed her hoof down on its fuzzy tail, rooting its squeaking, gray shape in place.

"This is a squirrel," she restated. "I heard it rummaging around in that bush. I assume you know what they are, yes?"

"Of course I do," he replied, his brows slanting when he looked down at the rodent. "What are you going to do with it?"

"It's not what I'm going to do with it," she smiled. "It's what you're going to do with it."

Chauffeur was silent for almost ten long seconds. "What?" finally came his flat response. Lacewing sighed and rolled her eyes once more.

"What I'm saying is that you're going to drain the love from it, okay?" she went on. "I know you must be famished. We changelings are always hungry, and you should be no different right now."

Now that she mentioned it, Chauffeur had been ignoring the drilling pangs in his stomach for most of the morning. It was not unlike the feeling one had when skipping the day's first two meals. "You're right, I do feel a little hungry, I guess. How, exactly, do I do it then?"

"A changeling always knows how to extract love from others with their magic. You've just got to feel it and let it come to you," she instructed. "Try it now. Just look at the squirrel and try it."

Chauffeur did as she said with a deep breath. Thinking with all of his might, he put his horn forward. "Hergh... Hragh!" he growled, next, attempting in vain to activate his magic.

Afraid that he was going to pull a muscle with the way his neck started to stretch out, Lacewing spoke up again as the hapless squirrel could only look on with fear shining in its black eyes. "It's nothing to do with willing it to come forth with your mind," she told him. "You need to feel it in your body. Feel and allow the magic to flow on its own. And when it does comes to you, don't fight it. Let your instincts take over."

Chauffeur took Lacewing's words to heart, and this was shown in full clarity as he stopped straining himself, and his horn almost immediately began to glow a sickly green color not long after hearing them. Doing as she told him, he let his new hungering instincts, in spite of how alien they felt, take over. Without even willing it, he opened his fanged mouth up wide and a long, ethereal stream of pinkish energy began flowing from the squirrel's body, into it.

"Yes, good, good," Lacewing grinned in triumph. "Now feed off of this squirrel's love, but not all of it. Savor some, save the rest. And don't try to gather all of the love from this squirrel either. We try to periodically collect from the animals living here, as to not waste our resources, sort of like... collecting milk from cows, or whatever you ponies do with them."

His eyes still closed, Chauffeur devoured the essence hungrily, and couldn't help but admire the taste and feeling it gave him. It was so unbearably sweet and delicious, yet slightly bitter. Were he able to compare it to anything, Chauffeur thought it was like eating a wonderful cupcake, but covered in frosting of a flavor he was not particularly fond of. Whether it was from the love itself, or the rotten thoughts and realization of having to eat this innocent being's very essence, he couldn't tell.

His hunger was still strong, but remembering what Lacewing had told him not several seconds before, he closed his mouth. The stream focused to the horn on his forehead now that there was no other part available to absorb it, and when he sucked as much as he felt was necessary, the energy ceased.

Lacewing, after releasing the squirrel's tail, walked over to him and tapped on his horn with a hoof.

"This is being stored away within you. And it's going to the hive," she said, giving him a warm smile. "When we get back to it, we'll give it over to the workers. They know what to do with it."

Chauffeur turned from her to the recovering squirrel with a worried face. It appeared dizzy from the transaction. Sluggishly, it began to crawl away until it had stumbled into a bush and away from sight. He continued to look at where the unfortunate rodent departed when he heard the sound of Lacewing purposefully coughing to get his attention, right behind him. He turned and looked to her.

"Well? C'mon!" she said, waving her hoof. "The hive isn't going to feed itself."


Lacewing and Chauffeur found more animals to siphon the food the changelings coveted as the day dragged on. Some were more squirrels, some were birds they caught unawares, and the rest was just a small assortment of random woodland creatures, ranging from badgers, to groundhogs, to rabbits.

Their individual horns glowing vibrantly, the pair finally returned to the changeling castle as the sun was just starting to set. While Lacewing's face was stern with pride at their accomplishment, Chauffeur still didn't look sure about everything, but he followed her still; mustering a more confident look.

Upon returning and reporting directly to the waiting shape of Captain Tarsus, they showed him just how much love they had accrued. With a hearty "Well done, soldiers," and a rugged pat on the shelled back that almost felt like to Chauffeur like a violent blow, the two were directed to enter the hive and take what love they collected to some workers. With a content smirk on her face, Lacewing flew off to do just that, and Chauffeur was not far behind her when they went into the hive.

Chauffeur followed her through the long, winding, and ever-shifting passageways until they happened upon a pair of changelings who weren't wearing armor. Apparently, they were working on some of the odd, glowing sacks of the gooey substance that littered the roof and walls of the hive like stalactites.

Lacewing slowed and let Chauffeur catch up with her. She instructed Chauffeur to follow her to them, and he did.

The workers quickly took notice of the drones and buzzed over to them without hesitation. In swift and honed actions they used their horns to siphon and take the love from them with no need for prompting. When all of it was gone and their own horns were the ones set aglow they turned and flew away, not a single word uttered by either of them.

Chauffeur had no idea what was going to happen next, and he looked at Lacewing curiously. "What do they do with this?" he asked after the two workers buzzed off a short ways with the love energy.

"They process it and store it," she responded. "Watch."

Still hovering beside her with a droning from his wings, Chauffeur did so, and from what he could see that's what they started to do. The workers began to spit out some sort of green goo onto the ceiling they had flown up to, and then placed their glowing horns onto their individual strands of the stuff. The love then left their horns and entered the goop, and the sticky strands began to form into a larger shape at their bases.

As soon as the workers had finished, the little sacks of goo they had created began to illuminate a green light, just like their horns had. Visibly content with their work, the workers then flew off, evidently to pursue other parts of their agendas while their onlookers simply continued to stare at what they had made.

"That's so... weird," Chauffeur remarked with a curling lip.

"Well, it's normal to us. These help feed the other members of the hive," shrugged Lacewing. She nudged his shoulder gently and motioned for him to follow her. "We did our job and there's still an hour left in the day. Want to relax and maybe socialize with some other drones in the soldiers' lounge before hitting the sack, pony-boy?"

Chauffeur slowly nodded, almost reluctantly in the motion. "Um... sure, I... guess."

Smiling, Lacewing began to fly in what Chauffeur assumed was the direction of the place she had spoken. Wings buzzing, he flew after her in pursuit after she beckoned him to do so. After a few minutes, they reached an area on the ground level of the hive-castle, where nearly two dozen other changelings could be seen wandering or sitting about. They all sported armor not unlike the kind Lacewing and himself were wearing, but most of them had their helmets off and propped somewhere to the side, or else tucked under their forehooves.

It wasn't long before Lacewing encountered who Chauffeur quickly figured to be some of her friends. Their names, which he overheard within the conversation from where he stood, were Elytra and Chaeta.

Elytra, the female of the duo, was sleek, thin, clearly more feminine in appearance, and had features that were sharp like knives. By offhoof conversation alone she sounded like and had the mannerisms of a flirty young mare, and for reasons Chauffeur chose not to think about, she would sneak the occasional itinerant peek in his direction.

Chaeta, on the other hoof, was a large male changeling, but he didn't look as intimidating as his companion; if anything, he seemed more unfocused. His left ear looked tattered and smaller than what most other changelings had, and despite his kind lacking pupils, his left eye looked a bit lazy as well.

They continued to speak, mostly about their failed invasion of the Canterlot wedding. Chauffeur just sat behind Lacewing the whole time, sitting on one of many rocks that had forms resembling chairs. With nothing to really entertain him but his thoughts, he spent it trying to further process his predicament, again reaching no firm conclusion to this nightmarish misfortune.

What was left of the hour was soon spent, and Lacewing had visibly grown tired of it. As Chauffeur could only assume, it was nearly around the time of night she usually headed off for her cell. Thusly, it looked to the disguised pony that she was readying herself to depart.

"...Yeah, that does sound quite interesting, but you should really tell me if we get the chance tomorrow," Lacewing yawned as Elytra was about to start on the events that went on while she and Chaeta were out foraging. "If you'll excuse my companion and I, we're just about to go back to our chamber and get some sleep."

"Before you leave Lacy, can I get the name of your new partner?" Elytra lightly spoke to her friend, smirking at Chauffeur through heavy eyelids. Lacewing looked at him, as if expecting him to answer for her, which he sadly obliged to.

"Chafer," Chauffeur said with some uncertainty, still just growing accustomed to his new fake name. "My name is... Chafer."

"Well, you don't have to sound so nervous about it," giggled Elytra. "Or shy, for that matter. We're all just friendly drones here."

"My name is Chaeta," Chaeta suddenly spoke up in a dull and bland way, though not particularly aiming his attention onto Chauffeur, or anything for that matter when he said it.

Grinning and chuckling at Chauffeur's reaction, Elytra patted her partner on the shoulder. "Don't mind him, dear. This big bug hit his head pretty hard against a rock when we got thrown back from the invasion. His brain's a little bit scrambled from the impact right now, but the medics in the infirmary told me that he'll recover in about a month or two. Won't you, Chaeta?"

"My name is Chaeta," Chaeta monotonously repeated, head now lolling about slightly. His cross-eyed brow curled downward a small ways when he caught sight of Chauffeur, and he gave a crooked, interested glance toward the pony he unwittingly saw as just another changeling.

"So who're you, exactly?" he asked, rubbing his chin with a hole-filled hoof. "I don't remember seeing you before, and I know everyone in the hive. I think."

Chaeta continued by letting out a loud snort and inhaling a gust of air, causing all three changelings before him to give him an odd look. His action finishing, he next hummed, "You certainly smell new. I think. And... you look a little like a grub, but with a shell and... wings."

Elytra shook off the look she was sharing with the others and let a large grin come over her snout. Hopping from her rock, she flirtatiously sauntered closer to Chauffeur as well, brushing past her partner in her eagerness to use this chance to tease the fellow drone.

"He's no grub for sure Chaeta, but I think he looks as fresh as a nymph. Are you one, rookie?"

"I, uh... I..." was all that came out of Chauffeur's stuttering mouth. Lacewing saw what was happening, and with a silent sigh, acted for him.

"Ah, stop making fun of him," she butted in, coming between the pair just as a distressed visage started to appear on her charge's face. "We both had a long day foraging, and he probably had a longer one than me with all the coaching I did. Nothing special for him, and not a single thing different than what you two or I went through when we came of age."

"So he is a newbie? Hrmph," huffed Elytra, lifting her snout. She took one more, final look at Chauffeur, gave him a wink, and then turned away from him. "Whatever. You said you both were about to hit the hay? Well, Chaeta and I are tired too. Think we'll go get ourselves some shuteye."

"The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell," Chaeta commented when Elytra approached him, causing Elytra to shoot her companion an amused chuckle.

"It sure is, buddy," she concurred, as she gently grabbed Chaeta's hoof into her own. "It sure is. Now, come on, big guy. Let's get you some rest." The two turned to one of the currently-open exits on the chamber's ground level, and walked into it before the hole sealed itself.

Now with two changelings less in the lounge, Chauffeur exhaled a deep breath he had been holding.

"Th-thanks, for... saving me from that," he said to Lacewing in a low voice.

"Don't mention it. It wasn't anything major I could contend with," she smiled. Her head titled, concern flickering in her eyes. "You feeling okay?"

"A little, yeah."

"Good," she replied, picking her helmet up from the ground nearby and putting it over her cranium. "But like I said beforehoof, we should go to my cell now. It's around the time that you need to remove the necklace anyway. Let's get to it, before you-"

"-Turn into a changeling forever?" he finished for her in a small voice.

She nodded. "Yeah, that."


Through the ever-changing folds of the hive, the two eventually returned to the cell where they had previously emerged from that morning. The moment he landed, Chauffeur removed the armor around his body and concealing his necklace. He looked at the wyrdstone with a cautious eye, and while he did, Lacewing spoke.

"Okay, you can take the necklace off now," she whispered to him. "And you should do it quickly, before somechangeling gets the chance to pass by and peek in here. Just take it off, and put it back on after a minute-or-two."

Without a moment to spare, Chauffeur pulled it off from around his neck. The second the thing was off of him and he had handed it to Lacewing, Chauffeur suddenly keeled over with a loud groan. A bright glow overtook him as he gasped out in what sounded like breathless agony, and he muffled whatever shriek he felt wanted to escape from the back of his throat. Lacewing could only watch what happened, and the glow slowly, slowly faded. When it vanished completely, what now stood before the changeling was an ordinary earth pony.

Coated in sweat, Chauffeur weakly looked to Lacewing. Now without the wyrdstone, Lacewing once more saw what he really was.

He was normal-looking an earth pony covered in brown-and-white fur, and was of a medium build. Not particularly sturdy, and a bit thin in most areas, but normal either way. On his flank was a cutie mark all adult ponies seemed to possess, this one depicting a light-brown wagon wheel, visibly broken. He choked in several more deep breaths before calming down and dropping to the floor.

Chauffeur turned to Lacewing with a strained face. "That thing... If that's what I have to feel every time I put it on, then I never want to put that thing back on... ever again," he sighed, looking at it where it was in her grasp.

"Ugh. I can see why," she chuckled sympathetically, before her face dropped to an expression devoid of any humor whatsoever. Letting a minute pass and lifting her hoof back up with the necklace hanging from it when it was done, she put it forward until it was touching the pony's chest.

"Now, put it back on."