"Ap? What about Ap? She's recovering," you quickly answered, lifting your brow at Vespa for asking such a question so suddenly.
"Yes, but recovering where?" Vespa asked, brushing past you to look around inside the infirmary. "Clearly she is not here and I have not seen her in her quarters. Furthermore, Anon, I have noticed that in my time with you here, we have not made any attempts to visit my offspring. I would have figured that as your best friend, you'd have liked to invite her to see your brood."
Oh shit. You hadn't thought about that. Of course, Chitin was the one that had been fucking up with this, but now you couldn't really go blaming him when Vespa was in the room. The only excuse you could come up with was also the only reason you hadn't actually made an attempt to cover for Ap's absence that way.
"Well, we've been really busy, you know. I mean... the first couple of days I was just letting her recover, then the focus on the brood and all that was becoming my primary focus. And you paralyzing me wasn't exactly helping with that," you pointed out, jabbing an accusatory finger at the elite.
"... true, but that brings me back to my initial question," Vespa stated, focusing on Chitin once more. "Where is Apocrita? As the medic, you should know where your patients are."
"And as her mother, you should realize that keeping Apocrita contained to one spot is essentially impossible. The moment she said she wanted to get out of my care, she left, even against my instructions," Chitin retorted. The balls on him to talk back to Vespa, you were proud of him. They had to be second only to your own.
Vespa's upper lip twitched in agitation, but she stopped herself. "Yes, I suppose that's true. I just don't understand why she wouldn't have come back to Queen Chrysalis to pursue active duty as King Anon's personal guard," Vespa acknowledged, surprising you with the King drop in with your name, but didn't bother pushing it at the moment.
"I'm sure she's overheard how you've taken over as his guard and either believes you are a superior choice overall, or at the very least accepts that she may still be falling short of her full capability and will stand down for the time being," Chitin casually explained, doing a pretty damn good job of covering his ass, especially since you could have blamed him for this in the first place.
Vespa narrowed her eye at Chitin, her forked tongue flicking out of her mouth to curl around one of her fangs. "Fine then... Anon, if you're done getting patched up, might I suggest we return to the queen and your brood?" Vespa offered, turning away from the medic to face you once more.
"Agreed! I'm sure you're looking forward to hanging out with Vespidae again," you stated, trying to wrap an arm around her neck to lead her away, but the mention of Vespidae had her wings shooting up, blocking your arm.
"Which reminded me... where did you hear that name?" Vespa asked, turning her head, not so she could see you with her good eye, but almost to block you off by showing only her blind eye to you.
Blinking, you looked over to Chitin, then back to Vespa. "Chitin told me about it. Your mom's name, right? He told me she died for the hive, I only figured it'd be a fine name to give to one of my kids," you stated with all honesty. Sure, part of you was doing it to surprise Vespa, but you figured it was supposed to be a good thing.
"Seems Chitin has a lot to say about my family as of late," Vespa stated, starting forward without waiting for you to follow with her. You followed her out the room, only to quickly find she wasn't walking back to the throne room where Chrysalis and your babies should now be.
"Wrong direction, we want to go right, not left," you pointed out, part of you disappointed you knew the directions in the hive so well at this point, but then, you'd be rather stupid not to know them at this point.
Declining you the courtesy of stopping, or even looking back at you, Vespa said "You'll have to excuse me, but... this exposure to your brood and the reminder of my own family, I need to talk to Apocrita. I'm going to see if she's returned to her quarters yet. Surely as one parent to another, you understand my need to confirm her health."
Something about the way Vespa spoke about it felt off... but you also couldn't get over the fact that she was actually focused on being a caring parent. Something you had tried to get her to be, or at least consider acknowledging, was now happening, and especially with your exposure to your own babies, you felt almost guilty trying to deny her this one small request.
Sighing, you followed after her. "Yeah, sure. Lets see if we can find her anywhere nearby," you accepted.
The walk over to the elite quarters went by rather quickly and without pretty much any conversation, with you mostly just trying to say something to draw a response out of Vespa, only for her to give a short answer that denied you the more personal output from the horse-bug than you desired. And if that wasn't bad enough, the actual search through the quarters was clearly fruitless, as there were no other elites even in there, all clearly out and about, trying to do their own jobs.
"I figured this was going to go nowhere, but points to you for being a concerned parent," you congratulated her, giving a meager clap of your hands to applaud her.
Emerging from one of the crevasses that seemed impossibly tight for anything as large as a regular Changeling, and even more so for her, Vespa flittered her wings about in agitation. "I'm not a concerned parent, just a frustrated superior wondering why my subordinate hasn't reported back to me yet," Vespa muttered as she strode past you to leave the quarters.
Rolling your eyes, you followed after her once more. "Man, can you just chill it with the tough girl act for a bit? You've already expressed interest in her due to the fact that she's your daughter, why not be honest about it and save me the runaround?"
Vespa twitched her head in your direction, but remained focused on her path. "The two roles are one in the same for us. I brought her into this world, I taught her how she must live, how she must serve, and in turn she looks to me as the proper symbol for what an elite is supposed to be," Vespa retorted, increasing the gait of her stride so she may move faster.
"You know, Chrysalis has proven herself a surprisingly sweet mother. Queen of a hive of love eaters, yet she cares for her babies, all the babies really," you state as you catch up to Vespa, trying to catch her eye.
"We are all her children, even if we are not laid by her. My offspring is hers. Any affection she would feel for me is owed to Queen Chrysalis, just as any I should feel for her would be better spent in love and loyalty to the queen," Vespa declared, her wings buzzing lightly to propel her forward. Why was she intent on moving so quickly? Chrysalis would have her hide, er, carapace if she abandoned you.
"Then why do you care so much about Ap? Why her specifically over all others? You certainly had more in your brood, hell, I know all about Bee-" you stated, only to soon regret it.
At the mention of Bee, Vespa spun around, her fangs bared as her forelegs shot forward, the hooves going over your shoulders, but the serrations on the back of her legs catching on you. When she brought her legs back toward her, she pulled you with them, bringing your face dangerously close to her snarling maw. "Where did you hear that name?! WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT BEE!?" Vespa hissed in your face.
"W-we already established that Chitin told me about your family, he and Ap talk a lot and-"
"Apocrita would have never told him Bee's name!" Vespa nearly roared, tugging tighter so that the serrations dug into your flesh.
"Why wouldn-"
"His name brings her great sorrow and me great shame! She never speaks it! Never speaks of him!" Vespa interrupted once more, irritating you with how she wouldn't let you even try to explain things. Irritated enough that you planted your hands on her midsection and pushed her off of you slowly, as not to dig the serrations in further.
"Fine, she told me about it personally, so what? We're best friends, best friends tell each other things. Things that make us happy, things that make us sad," you replied, getting her far enough away that you felt you could give the extra oomph to your push and shove her off of you, to which Vespa didn't even try to resist.
"Yes... and so she's been feeding off your love. Friendly love, perhaps almost familial love, but she's been taking what she has no right to," Vespa growled, her anger still there, but starting to deflect away from you. Usually you'd be fine with that, but clearly the only other person she had in mind was Ap.
You chuckled, if only to keep Vespa's attention, and said "Hey, I just got done getting a check up by our local unlicensed medical practitioner, who just confirmed I'm basically a source of infinite love... which sounds like something I would have scoffed at back in my world, but for you guys, I'm the ultimate, unlimited food source."
Vespa's anger returned to you as she spat "Which you only just learned! This means that Apocrita did not know that and was risking precious food for our queen! She has betrayed our queen, betrayed our hive, and betrayed my teachings! The list of offenses she is proving herself capable of keeps growing, to the point that... that..." Vespa's tirade cut off as her good eye went wide, some form of realization striking her, and the air went cold as you got an inkling of what she was thinking. "She... her betrayal know no bounds... including that one."
You only had a moment to realize what she had considered before Vespa turned around and darted off, her wings buzzing louder than you'd ever heard them before. "Vespa, wait!" you cried out, taking off after her.
You were quickly thankful for that disgusting diet helping take some pounds off you and increasing your stamina, because you were moving faster than ever and not feeling the pain in your sides you'd usually feel from exerting yourself. As Vespa took corners, only slowed down by the fact her excess speed made it difficult to make sharp turns without colliding with something, perhaps one of the only things that kept her from totally outpacing you. There were more than a few times where multiple turns would have left you confused as to which direction she took, but you knew where she was going, unfortunately.
As you closed in on her intended destination, the burning in your legs, the dryness in your throat, the strain of pushing your body to move as quickly as possible to pursue Vespa made itself apparent all at once, and yet none of it mattered. The adrenaline pumping through your veins, the sheer panic that you felt, those were what propelled you as you intended to stop Vespa to the best of your ability.
At the last turn, you saw the door flying open, Vespa's back legs trailing inside, and your heart sank, like a lead weight that was threatening to tear through your organs and drop out your asshole. But you didn't stop there, knowing what every wasted second meant. Bolting to the door, you almost ran into Vespa, standing just on the other side of it, frozen at what she saw.
Still hidden, in the rather shitty manner, behind the sheets from your bed, the silhouette of the cocoon was visible. Ap's cocoon, vulnerable as it had been since the first day, now separated only by a thin piece of fabric that had failed to make that miserable mattress comfortable in the slightest.
"I... thought she was here. I knew she was here... but I didn't want to believe it," Vespa muttered, moving one of her forelegs forward, her hoof tapping against the floor a few times as the shaking hoof trembled. "I've failed my queen twice now. First Bee fails a mission so vital, we might not have been in this mess now... and now Apocrita betrays the hive, gorging off your love until she undergoes metamorphosis..."
You felt like you should have tackled Vespa to the ground right then and there, but the fact she hadn't already tried to murder Ap in her vulnerable state kept you from doing so. "Vespa... you didn't fail anyone. Ap didn't fail anyone. She did what came naturally. Hell, you should be proud of her right now. She's going to become a queen. You'll be the mother of a queen, won't that be awesome?" you asked, trying to encourage better thoughts of the whole situation.
Vespa tensed up once more, slowly turning her head in a jerky motion toward you. "Proud? She's failed me and herself. She couldn't even hide her own cocoon well enough to prove a properly deceptive queen. She would bring ruin to the hive," Vespa spat, a mixture of anger, shame, and sorrow all coating her words.
"She doesn't have to. You're Changelings, right? Emphasis on the Change? You can be different now. Again, I'm a source of unlimited love, you can change your ways. Hell, she and Chrysalis don't even have to fight. There's enough of me to go around after all," you said, trying to laugh a little so that you could break the tension, but the cold look in Vespa's eye said it wasn't working.
"And what about when you die? You're not immortal, there's no guarantee you ever will be. Ponies have searched throughout history for ways to extend their livelihood and failed miserably," Vespa declared, her hoof twisting into the floor as she said so. "So you might be right, you may be able to feed the entire hive and we can all be happy... until the day you die. It will be the saddest day for all you had meant to this hive, but also the bloodiest day, for our hive, especially if you were to live with two queens, would be split. Changelings used to living under two rulers wouldn't know who to follow, whether tradition was right or not. We'd break out into a civil war and our hive would be the weakest it'd ever been afterwards. Our enemies would move in to finish us all off."
"... you know, you seem to be a really big doomsday conspiracy theorist right now," you stated, even though part of you could see where she was coming from with this. She still sounded like a complete and utter asshole, justifying the death of her daughter, her own flesh and blood, because it meant the survival of her people as a whole. You'd be damned if you didn't want to watch Infinity War again right now.
"To you, I guess I do... but for my people, I know what has to be done. The fact that she'd gone this far without considering the consequences, and to hide herself in your room of all places, she has this coming," Vespa announced, regret the only thing in her voice at this point. Her wings buzzed, lifting her off the ground as she flew forward, quickly swiping the cloth away to expose the reflective cocoon, its unique appearance giving Vespa pause.
"It's not even her fault! I'm the one to blame for this!" you shouted, knowing you were probably risking things by making noise, but you had to stop her.
"I'm sure Queen Chrysalis will forgive you for the unintentional feeding of my daughter your love, it is Apocrita that must pay for her sins," Vespa hissed, lifting her foreleg, preparing to rip through the cocoon with the serrations on the back. She was going to kill Ap. She was going to kill her daughter. She was going to kill your friend. SHE WAS GOING TO KILL YOUR LOVE!
"I FUCKED AP!" you bellowed, feeling the veins in your neck stick out as you emptied your lungs for those three words, and you were damn glad you did. Vespa froze up once more, her wings actually stopping to drop her down to the floor in a mess that she had to shakily lift herself up from.
Twisting around, looking almost like a newborn foal the way her legs struggled to support her, her good eye stared at you in complete and utter shock. "You... did... what?"
Inhaling deeply, you repeated yourself. "I fucked your daughter. That's how she got this way. I stuck my fat monkey dick inside of your girl. I made her cum several times, not stopping until I pumped her full of hot Anon jizz, and I loved every moment of it. So nice and tight around my-"
"YOU BASTARD!" Vespa howled, the yellow eye flashing with murderous rage as she charged you, unable to stand listening to you one word more.
You barely had time to react, but were lucky you were still by the door. Taking a few back steps into the hall, you grabbed the door and swung it forward as hard as you could, bringing it to collide with Vespa's head hard enough that it splintered, although her momentum sent it flying back at you, knocking you to the ground. You groaned on impact, but didn't have the luxury of time as you scrambled to get back up. The collision had definitely affected Vespa, the Changeling sprawled on the floor, head hanging as she tried to shake off the blow. This was your shot as you did your best to dive at her from your position, extending an arm to deliver a solid punch to her jaw, shaking her head once more. You felt proud of yourself, until you realized the strike had apparently sobered her some, her eye now trained on you angrily.
"This wasn't a good idea," you groaned, rolling to the side to get back in the room, right as Vespa shoved herself forward, snapping her fangs at where your fist had been a moment ago. You ended up with one foot planted and your knee on the ground, only to look up as Vespa had already lifted herself to all four hooves and was lunging for you once more, forelegs spread so those serrations were bearing down on you. You would have been in trouble, fighting off against an elite bug-horse that had fangs and jagged leg blade things, but you weren't empty handed. Grabbing the crown from your head, still there do to the weird adhesive that kept it in place, you swung it down, once more landing a blow on Vespa's head. She till carried through, slamming you against the bed with enough force to knock all the air out of your lungs, but without any of her sharp bits digging into you.
Pushing against the bed, you tried to get Vespa off of you and back to your feet in full, but despite the second blow to her head, she was still in fighting form, her legs pulling in so that she could now trap your arms to your sides, any attempt to struggle out of them risking to shred your arms. Her head lifted up, the compounded yellow eye hard to read, but some parts of it seemed duller than they usually were. When the eye seemed to focus on you once more, the snarling began anew, her mouth opening to take a bite out of you, and considering the proximity, she was likely going to take a chunk out of your throat if at all possible. So, you did the only thing you could do... you headbutted her.
It was a short blow, just to keep her from biting you, but the head blows she'd already taken seemed to help halt her. Unfortunately, exoskeleton was hard and better protected than your skin. Sure, blow for blow, you were pretty sure your skull could handle the same punishment, probably even outmatch any of these Changelings. However, you still had blood and flesh and nerves on the outside that made the headbutt more painful for you. Even more so, she had a fucking horn. You didn't hit it, but you had to be careful, especially after you reared your head back and repeated the motion, now with more momentum, slamming as best you could just over her right eye. The impact jarred her as her head bounced back, but you could still hear her hissing, so you did it again. And again. And again.
Eventually, Vespa's grip on you slackened, allowing you to push her off of you at last. She hit the floor with a thud, but flailed her legs about, trying to push herself back up, not down just yet. Acting as quickly as you could, you moved over to grab the torn sheet from the ceiling, yanking them hard as you can to pull it free. It ripped, but you got enough of it that you could fulfill your needs.
When Vespa finally rolled over onto her hooves, you lunged for her this time, pushing her to the floor as you wrapped the sheets around her face, covering her mouth, nostrils, and eye with it. Keeping firm hold, you pushed her head down into the ground while keeping the sheets as tight as possible. "Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep," you chanted. Thankfully for you, the successive head blows, plus the attempt to asphyxiate her, brought Vespa's strength down, until eventually she stopped struggling.
You scrambled to remove the sheets after that, because as much as you were pissed off at her, you had to check her breathing. Fortunately, she was still alive, her breathing labored, but not dead. Giving a sigh of relief, you felt the adrenaline and anxiety that had been fueling you through it drain out of you, your legs giving out as you collapsed on top of Vespa. Turning your body to look at Ap's cocoon, you groaned "Your mom's a bitch, you know that?"