"So, hypothetically speaking, if your daughter was to become a queen, what would you do?" you asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible as you strolled through the library. It felt weird being there without Ap, but seeing as you had Proto-Ap with you, it worked out a bit... sorta.
"If she became a queen, I would allow the proper course of action to continue and allow her to fight Queen Chrysalis for the right to rule over the hive, just as our queen had done with her predecessor and so on and so forth," Vespa replied, not even casting a glance at the books. Clearly Ap did not get her love of literature from her mother. Sure, she said she got it from her time pretending to be a librarian, but she had to get the love of the arts from somewhere. You were curious as to who her dad was... but that was a question for another time.
"And what if you knew that she was going to become a queen, but was still inside one of those silk ball thingies?" you inquired, intentionally dumbing it down to in hope that it would keep sounding hypothetical.
"If I were to discover her in a cocoon, I would rip it open and drag her still metamorphizing body out to drag to Queen Chrysalis herself. After all, if she cannot properly hide her vulnerable state from me or any other Changeling, then she has failed to properly show herself as a deceptive being capable of ruling over our kind," Vespa replied without hesitation. Now though, she did twitch her head, focusing her good eye on you. "Why are you asking such peculiar questions of my offspring's potential to be a queen?"
Having prepared yourself for at least this, you said "Because I'm going to be the king here at some point soon, I need to consider the hard questions. What if someone tries to usurp my wife's throne? What if someone tries to assassinate my wife? What if Changelings are more like praying mantises than I thought and the only reason Chrysalis hasn't bitten my head off yet is because we need to be married first?"
Vespa stared at you for a moment, perhaps considering whether you were serious or just stupid, then answered "Cannibalism is not an unheard of practice, and does often happen more so when the queen wishes it than any other Changeling, but there is nothing about eating heads because you are her mate. Given that her having a dedicated mate is perhaps the most peculiar thing."
"That's one thing I can check off my list of worries. That one was right behind the idea that Chrysalis would lay eggs in my ass, but clearly that didn't happen, so I'm good," you sighed in relief, running an arm over your forehead to wipe away some sweat that had accumulated there.
"Actually, while it's not always necessary, egg laying in intestines is-" Vespa started, triggering your worries all over again, when she suddenly went rigid.
You stared at her for a moment, wondering what just happened, when it struck you that you'd seen this before with Chitin. It was some crazy hivemind talk thing where the Changelings all got orders from Chrysalis. It was supposed to only be for emergencies. You were ready to bolt, run off wherever you needed to hide or... were you? The last time it was the Pony-vengers or something like that coming to rescue you, to which you politely declined and returned. Who else would be so daring to try and attack the hive?
You were also considering the vulnerable position Vespa was in right now. Even though the two of you were trying not to do anything that would end up with Chrysalis needing to kill one of you, which would really only be Vespa, you still weren't exactly best friends. The first ideas that came though involved areas that Ap would be furious at you for playing with, be they parts of Vespa's body or your own.
Before you could decide on anything, Vespa snapped out of the mental announcement and focused on you. You couldn't even open your mouth before she lunged forward, forelegs spreading out so she could embrace you, the little serrations on the back of her legs once more serving to cling tight to your clothing. Her wings buzzed with activity as she spun around and flew out of the library.
"Hey, slow down a second, what the hell is going on!? A-League: Age of Ponytron!?" you shouted, squirming a bit in Vespa's grasp, only for her to squeeze a bit tighter to silence you.
"Shut up for a minute. Queen Chrysalis just issued orders to bring you to the nursery immediately. She sensed that your brood was ready to hatch soon," Vespa answered, her face grim as the very thought of your brood was troubling to her.
You gasped in surprised, not expecting this to happen so soon, a feeling of nausea starting to spread from the pit of your stomach. And yet... you felt your hands grip at Vespa's sides, squeezing until the exoskeleton began to dip inward from the pressure. "Vespa... from one parent to another soon to be one, what am I supposed to be feeling right now?" you asked, gulping as you tried to swallow the feeling of apprehension. Weren't you supposed to be happy about this?
"Simply hope that your offspring will grow to maturity and provide properly to the hive so that the time and energy you expended in their production was not a waste," Vespa answered seriously, not a hint of emotion or humor in her voice.
"... right, Changeling of the Year right here, forgot about that," you groaned, releasing her sides, almost going limp in her hold.
You noticed her eye flick down to you for a second before refocusing on the path ahead, her body tilting to take the turns quickly, yet without going too sharp as to risk harming either of you with minor impacts or excessive g-force. "However, if you believe that any of them are going to go on to do great things, then focus on them. A strong larva grows into a strong Changeling not only on the genetic potential they have, but the effort you put into them," she added, her tone not changing, but you could somehow tell it was supposed to put you at ease. Perhaps there was a heart in that cold, hard exoskeleton after all.
"He approaches! Open the doors!" you heard ahead of you, drawing your attention forward. You saw two Changelings stationed at the doors to the nursery, quickly pulling them open so that Vespa could fly in with you. With astonishing skill that made you whoop in excitement, albeit at the cause of making your existing nausea intensify so that you felt a little barfy, she did a sharp back flip done so tightly, you could have sworn it was a zero-point turn, and when she was back in an upright flying position, she released you so that you launched up. You swore as you lifted, ready to curse her out, when you were enveloped in the familiar green aura of Chrysalis' magic.
Being turned around, you found Chrysalis flying near your egg cluster, smiling with excitement as she saw you. "It's time Anon, I feel it. Our lovely little larvae are going to hatch," Chrysalis almost squealed, bringing you closer, making sure you were facing the eggs even more so than her.
Indeed, the eggs were now shifting around, the silhouettes of the creatures inside the green ovoids clearly pushing against their organic prison, trying to break free. Some you could even see starting to crack under the pressure of their occupants, the embryonic fluid inside leaking out.
"Are we... are we supposed to do anything to help them get out?" you asked, unsure of just what you were supposed to be doing, if anything at this time.
"No, we simply let them come out on their own. A few may not hatch due to lack of nutrition, but considering how well you stuffed me full of your lust, I'm doubtful that will be the case," Chrysalis assured you, reaching out with a hoof to stroke your arm. You surprised yourself and her when you grabbed the hoof, holding it tightly.
Christ, you were acting so fucking weird. Is this what having children did to people? Make them anxious about stupid shit? You always made fun of some of your friends for putting rubber on the corners of their tables and shit, but now you wanted to wring some of the guards of all their slimier mucus to cover every pointy and rough spot in the hive.
"This was a bad idea. This was a really fucking bad idea. Chrysalis, put them back, now!" you panicked, squeezing to the point even she winced.
"Anon, we... there is no putting them back," Chrysalis told you, her eyes darting from the eggs to you and back again.
"Of course you can, shove them back up your vagina or something. Animals eat their young all the time, just stop them, I can't handle this pressure!" you almost shrieked, cursing your irrational fears of commitment and parenthood. Your parents already taught you that children bring regret and disappointment, they told you so all the time!
"Sssshh, relax. While I respect your willingness to devour the young, you must remember these are your offspring. You helped bring these into existence, so just... watch them," Chrysalis consoled, offering a small smile before focusing solely on the eggs.
You stared as seconds turned to minutes, the process taking longer than you expected for them to hatch. Eventually though, one of them succeeding in breaking through the shell. The goo inside the egg was sticky, clinging to the newborn Changeling, but seemed to be pulled down by gravity, threatening to drop it to the ground below.
Panicking, you reached out to try and catch it, only to find you'd still be about a foot short. Chrysalis smirked at your attempt and moved you over, even as she said "The embryonic fluids will provide them with some cushion, and they are durable enough to survive such a fall, but I won't stop you from holding your child."
The words hardly registered though as that first one fell into your hands with a wet splat. The texture due to the fluids made it... gross, combined with the generally abominable appearance of the larva, you weren't sure if you wanted to throw it to the ground in revulsion. However, as the newborn uncurled its body to look up at you, the same angry, hissing erupting from its mouth as all the others you saw, the dark green eyes that set it apart from all the other infants below met with your own.
Those eyes told you that this was definitely Chrysalis' child, that was something you couldn't deny, even if all the other children of hers lacked her eye color. You searched them, trying to see something that would connect you to this miserable little maggot, to prove that this, and all the others ready to hatch, were actually yours, and not just some ploy concocted by Chrysalis to keep you bound to her. You felt... something, but weren't certain of it. You couldn't see where you were in this child, and with it, your heart sank a little.
"Hsssss, fuck!" the little larva hissed out, surprising you, and clearly Chrysalis.
"That is... unheard of," Chrysalis stated, flying closer to inspect her own exceptional, albeit vulgar, child.
"This. Is. Perfect," you stated, now freely crying tears of joy as you pulled the larva toward you, nuzzling it against your cheek. The affection apparently nourished the larva, which stopped hissing and seemed to coo in response. "I name you Pupa," you declared proudly, holding up the proud creation of your loins and Chrysalis' ovaries. In doing so, you noticed more of the eggs were starting to let loose their occupants.
"Chrysalis, maneuver me!" you commanded as you tucked Pupa into your shirt, letting her head emerged from the collar, the goo keeping her stuck to you pretty well. Amused by the order, Chrysalis moved you around so you could catch the falling larvae, and was reward with the even more humorous name declarations. "This one is Hopper! And this one is Molt! This here is Bugsy! Oooh, here's Flea! Just grabbed El Presidente!"
"I thought he was just joking about those names..." you heard Vespa comment from down below, but could not spare her even the time to flip her off for doubting your mad naming skills.
"Neoptera! Mandible! Weevil! Aphid! Pinchy!" you continued crying out, each new larva being held against your body so the goo could help keep them in place, although part of you was sure Chrysalis was using her magic to help keep the growing collection of larvae on your body.
At this point, there was only one more egg that had yet to hatch, but you could clearly see it was ready to do so. Chrysalis, knowing what you wanted, levitated you over to the egg, your hands outstretched as though begging for the unhatched to emerge, and your desire was answered as the last one fell out into your hands. While you had noticed that every one of your offspring had different colored eyes, a testament to the power of your loins you were sure, you noticed in particular how this last one had yellow eyes. Glancing down at Vespa, you smirked and said "Vespidae." Vespa had taken noticed and stiffened at the name of her own mother, but didn't speak.
Pleased with the hatching, Chrysalis brought you all back down to the ground, looking pleased as she stared at the collection of larvae you had stuck to your body. While they all hissed, they did so far less than the other maggots in the room, seemingly pleased to be against your body, soaking in the unconditional love and affection you felt for them, despite how hideous they may be. They were yours, and that made them beautiful, fuck anyone who would say otherwise.
"I'm ashamed to admit it, but he appears to have been right about his ability to feed them all. I've never seen such a thoroughly content and well nourished brood. The fact they're all clearly well developed is a first in the history of the hive, and without eating each other," Vespa stated, her yellow eye wide as she stared, unable to look away from Vespidae for more than a few seconds, clearly enthralled by your choice in name for it.
Chrysalis lifted her head, giving a shuddering sigh as she reveled in more than just the scene. "Ooooh, can you feel it? The paternal love he's giving them, it's so sweet, so warm. It's not even directed at us and I can positively taste it," she stated, almost sounding like she was about to climax.
As you were too enraptured with your newborns to even pay attention to the conversation, Vespa was left to look over, and seemed startled by what she saw. "They're... they're not the only ones being fed," she muttered, shocked as she watched her queen in awe. You were blind to everything that wasn't the brood, trying to cycle your attention between them to give each of them, giving gentle head pats and even giving a kiss to the tops of their heads, even if they were still gross bug babies, so you didn't notice what Vespa was taking in until a glimmer caught the attention of the larvae, the brood cooing and making you look up.
Chrysalis' seemed to be taking in a pinkish aura that made her emanate a glow all her own. The holes in her legs sealed themselves with surprising speed, until not one was left, dashing your hope of another leg holejob thing. If that wasn't enough, her wings seemed to mend themselves completely and take a step further as a smaller, secondary set of wings grew out behind the first set, all of which seemed to look like a prism. Her hair lost hole patches at the end, as well as the duller complexion to have a bright, vibrant sheen. Her horn was now a full, intimidating blade that let any who would dare to challenge her know they would be skewered upon it, glinting with the same black luster as the rest of her exoskeleton, which seemed to have grown out in a few places to protect her joints better, making her look even more badass than she had before.
"It's so delicious. The love one has for their partner, the one that has brought forth their children. Never have I ever had something so truly satisfying, even with the lustful love I'd had before," Chrysalis exhaled, her voice carrying a pleasure that you hadn't even heard after marathon fucking her.
Part of you wanted to worry about what this development meant, of just how much stronger Chrysalis was. Part of you wanted you to feel guilty to Ap for letting another part of yourself truly love Chrysalis, for all she had said and done for you, even thought she had also said and done much against you. However, you could only allow part of yourself to feel sorry to Ap, because the rest of you was focused on loving these little worms, and you hoped... no, you knew Ap would understand.