//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: To Be a Changeling // by PlagueRat //------------------------------// Pupa watched as the hairs from his—from her tail floated over the surface of the warm bath water. It was going to take a bit of getting used to, thinking of himself as a female. It’s not that being female was really upsetting for the nymph, it was that her thought process had automatically established itself as masculine when thinking of herself. “Is something wrong?” Chrysalis suddenly asked her. After blinking her eyes a few times and pushing the quandary aside for the moment, she looked up at her mother. “No…” she said looking back down at her front hooves and at how they were distorted by the water’s surface. “Nothing at all? Something seems to be on your mind,” her mother prodded. “Nothing,” she mumbled, unable to even understand how to put the question about her internal identity into words. The sound of the brush going over her mother’s carapace had stopped and she peeked over at the other two changelings. Chrysalis was looking back at Mosquito from out of the corner of her eye and when Mosquito noticed this she returned to groom the larger changeling. “Maybe you have a question about something?” pressed her mother. “No, I’m still just a little tired,” Pupa lied, feeling a little knot of guilt tie up in her chest. “Well, if later you want to ask me anything,” Chrysalis said, seeming to let the matter go for the moment, “you’re more than welcome to.” Once again left to her thoughts, Pupa peered down at her reflection on the surface of the bath water. While staring into the vertical pupils of her green eyes, she realized this was the first time she really got to see her face since her metamorphosis. She studied her features, slightly tilting her head from side to side, and had to note just how similar she appeared to her mother, even down to her natural dark green eye lids. Of course there were differences, such as her height, her smaller horn and the shorter length of her hair. The shadow of Mosquito passed over Pupa, causing the little nymph to glance up as the changeling landed on the edge of the makeshift tub. The attendant placed down the empty pitcher she carried in her front hooves but continued to hold the scrub brush in her magical grip, letting it float in the air next to her. “Are you ready for your bath now your highness?” asked Mosquito. Pupa looked over at her mother, who again had lowered herself back onto her belly and now had her eyes closed. From the easy going attitude the queen had about her own cleaning, she figured it was fine and so she nodded her consent to the attendant. “Princess, please tilt your head back and close your eyes,” Mosquito instructed as she filled up the pitcher with water, “and I’ll rinse your mane first.” The nymph complied, then the comfortable feeling of warm water ran through her hair and down her neck. Mosquito repeated the step one more time before lifting a section of Pupa’s wet mane, gripping it between two hooves and running the brush through it to remove any tangles. The remainder of the bath continued uneventfully. Clean and dry, the two royal changelings trotted back down the hallway leading to their chamber. Just before going inside they were stopped when Odonate called out to them from back down the tunnel. Pupa quietly listened to her mother and the guard discussing ponies, how many of what kind were where and something about a creature named Celestia who had a big butt. She purposely interrupted them once to ask what a thestral was because her mother said it was interesting. After that she attentively followed their discussion about which changelings would be assigned what jobs until her stomach growled, interrupting them a second time. “Speaking of collecting love,” her mother said while gently smiling down at her, “why don’t we visit your green pony friend and get a little something to eat.” The first thing Pupa noticed when entering the new chamber that her mother had led her to was the large pale green cocoonish object that hung down from the cavern’s ceiling. Unlike the cocoon she herself had created from silk, this one had an almost polished looking surface that reminded her of an oversized green gem stone. Other than that the room appeared to be empty and unremarkable. “You said the pony from the school was here?” she asked, looking up at Chrysalis. “He’s is, he’s just up there,” her mother clarified, motioning with her head to the cocoon. “I can’t see him,” Pupa said, squinting her eyes. “I’ll show you,” responded Chrysalis before scooping up the little nymph. Her mother’s wings began to buzz, and the changeling queen lifted from the stone floor to hover before the cocoon. Now that she was up close, Pupa could see the still form of the pony named Sandbar within. “He’s not moving…” she whispered. “Is he… dead?” “No, he’s quite alive,” Chrysalis reassured her, giving the pod a slight nudge. Inside Sandbar opened his eyes just a crack. The earth pony didn’t give off any indication that he was aware of the two changelings watching him and just shifted his legs a little before closing his eyes again. “He’s sleeping?” Pupa asked in a soft voice while moving her face closer to the cocoon. “In a sense he is,” her mother explained. “The hibernation pods that we hold ponies in cause them to enter a trance like state. For them it will feel like they are in a pleasant dream and they will produce love for us to eat.” A ribbon of pink mist flowed out of Sandbar’s body and into her mother’s open mouth. The earth pony squirmed just a bit until she stopped, then went still again. Chrysalis then let out a pleased sigh. “Just like that,” the queen said. “Now you try.” Chrysalis placed Pupa’s hooves against the pod and the little nymph clung to the transparent exterior of the cocoon just as easily as she had to the wall back at the school. “What if I take too much?” she inquired, looking back at her mother from over her withers. “I’ll stop you before you do,” Chrysalis answered. “You can’t be afraid to eat, so go ahead now, you need to keep up your energy.” Pupa had a weird little urge when she looked at the sleeping pony; so on a whim she stuck out her tongue between her lips and then blew air out through her mouth to create a rather rude noise. This only caused Sandbar to twitch one of his rear hooves. “Pupa, don’t play with your food,” her mother halfheartedly scolded, “at least not right now. We still have a lot to do today.” After a nod of her head and a slight adjustment of her legs, Pupa opened her mouth and began to draw out the incredible savory taste of Sandbar’s love. She also got the answer to the question she had asked herself the day before. Each pony’s love does seem to have its own unique splash of flavor.