“Ughhhh…….” A groan echoes throughout the mineshaft. The changeling slowly opens its eyes and blinks a couple times.
“Gzzh…. My head…” it tries to rub its head only to find itself unable to move any of its limbs. It looks down and finds all its limbs bound together with rope, its eyes widen as it realizes that it's been captured and looks around immediately to see that it was back in the mineshaft. It closes its eyes trying to recall what happened when a small `Click` is heard nearby making it snap its eyes open. In front of it a lit lantern rest, making its eyes sparkle slightly as it chirrs with interest until a hand waves in front of its eyes snapping it out of the strange trance and looking slightly upwards. Behind the lantern sitting on a placed down wooden box was Pestilence.
He grins, making the changeling start shaking, its eyes widen and focus on the man. It had seen him earlier that day but when it blinked it was gone, leading it to assume it was just a hallucination from being in the darkness for too long.
“Y-you’re real!?” The changeling yells out which makes Pestilence snicker.
“I could say the same thing to you! To think you were the thing i saw in the cave earlier today.” Pestilence chuckles for a bit before silencing himself and glaring at the changeling.
“Enough Laughter! Its time to get to business!” Pestilence stands up making the changeling strain it’s neck to look up at him.
“And by It… my…. mmmmmmmmmm... insectoid! Yes! Its time for a good ol’ interrogation~” Pestilence claps and smiles down at the changeling who makes an audible gulp. Putting his arms behind his back he slowly starts circling the captured insectoid.
“Now first things first. Introductions! I am Pestilence, yes one of the words or titles for a disease." Pestilence rolls his eyes.
" But that's too formal for this and I hate it. So! Just call me Pestie or hmmm.... Pestenceil for short. I am the newest temporary resident & worker of the Pie family’s rock farm.”
`Pestenceil!? That... actually sounds pretty good! Damnit i wish i could rewind time and tell the Pie’s that was my actual name… FUCK!`
“What’s your name?”
“...................” The insectoid glares at him with tight lips. Pestilence walks around it for another minute before the awkward silence grew unbearable.
“Ok I guess I'll just get straight to the point you rude asshole…” Pestilence frowns as he stops behind the insectoid and leans over it.
“First, What are you? Second, why did you decide to waltz into their home in the middle of the night?” The insectoid opens its mouth but pauses in thought before speaking.
“You.. Don’t know what I am…?” The changeling looks at him bewildered.
Pestilence deadpanned. “Jeez if I knew what you were then why would I ask you what you are?” The changeling paused for a moment to think. Pestilence squinted as he watched the changeling start to think about this.
`Famine always said I was the 2nd dumbest one of the group but this… this makes me feel better.`
“I am.." The insectoid hesitates. "a changeling..."
“Changeling?” Pestilence scratched his head. The name was familiar... he could’ve sworn he read something about them back in hell or maybe on earth.
“Okay… part two please.”
“....Hungry…” The changeling looks off to the side and starts opening its mouth.
“Ah… a fridge raider. The most vile of thieves, if you were hungry why didn’t you ju—”
“For love..” Pestilence closed his mouth at that statement and stared at the changeling with narrowed eyes and a raised brow. His brain gears running a full throttle.
`L-love… what… What does that mean!? What the hell does that mean? Hungry for love? Sneaking in the middle of the night = Hungry for love?!`
Pestilence expression starts to turn into confused nervousness as he keeps staring at the changeling.
`Was this thing a rapist? No it doesn't look strong enough to hold down someone like Limestone easily… Maybe a weirdo that sneaks in your homes to cuddle you in your sleep to feel not alone… Oh god how long has it been doing that to the pies then. Oh god was it going to cuddle him at one point? OH GOD!`
Pestilence runs his hand over his face as he realizes he had stopped a night time bug pony from performing non consensual sleep cuddling. “You are a fiend more vile than that of a fridge raider.” The changeling glared and hissed at him in response. “You couldn’t possibly know the pain of our endless need, beast!”
`It's worse than I thought…`
“You’re right I don’t but I know that what your endless need for cuddles is like! But i do know that it is nothing more than an excuse you made for yourself to waltz in and force yourself onto others in their sleep!” The changeling opened its mouth to speak but then freezes as it realized what he just said and gave him a look of confusion.
“Wha—”
“Tell me, were you going to cuddle me in MY precious rest tonight!?” Pestilence stepped forward and pointed at the changeling.
"No—"
“Were you trying to make me your newest victim!” He wrapped his arms around himself and glared.
“I’m willing to cuddle but have the at least DECENCY to ask me first and think about it rather than forcing yourself onto my precious body!” The changeling couldn’t help but stare at him with disbelief, what was the beast talking about!? Cuddles? His precious body?
“What in our queen's name are you speaking of!?”
“You and your hunger for love!”
“Consuming love doesn’t require cuddle! I don't even want Cuddles! I just came here to kidnap one of you!” The changeling yells out at the man. Pestilence took a step back as if the revelation was a physical punch to his gut, letting it sink in as he stared at the changeling before it finally sunk deep enough into his brain.
“OH! You are just a kidnapper!” He says with a smile on his face as he smacks both of his hands together. Then it dawns on him on what he said to changeling and he blushes. “Oh.. then what.. Uh.. what do you mean by love then if you’re kidnapping?”
“We eat love. The feeling of it in all forms.”
“......................” For a while the two shared a moment of silence. Occasionally looking at each other before looking away. Pestilence pinching the bridge of his nose while changeling pretends the wall is interesting.
`Oooooo… this is awkward…. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo this is too awkward……`
The changeling couldn’t agree more inside. Why did it tell him about what it was going to do and not only that why did it tell him anything at all!? It wanted to smash its head into one of those crystals.
Pestilence wanted to untie it and run away, maybe drink something strong to forget this interaction, anything to forget this major misunderstanding but he couldn’t help but be even more curious about this creature.
`Love? The actual feeling and can it eat it? That's actually kinda cool and convenient. Why did it need kidnapping though… Actually how do you even eat love?`
“Okay… let’s ignore that bit. Why did you need to kidnap one of us?”
“To bring back to the hi—” The changeling smacks its head against the floor quickly, making Pestilence jump back at the action. A small crack in the ground but the changeling didn't have so much as a crack in its chitin or scratches. It raises its head and gives a defiant glare to him.
“No. Comment.”
Pestilence blinks as he lets those words process in his brain before straightening up and frowning. “You don’t want to do this. I understand loyalty and all that but not with me.”
“No comment, beast.” Pestilence gasps and looks offended. Getting closer to the changeling, his frown turns into a scowl. The changeling tenses up as fear starts to fill in but its loyalty to the hive strengthens… and the bonus that if they told any information about the hive its queen would drain all the love from it. Pestilence wordlessly picks up and places the lantern on the ground inches away the insect causing it to close its eyes at the light and hiss.
It suddenly feels a sharp pain in it’s mouth causing it to open it’s eyes and let out another hiss only for it to sound garbled as Pestilence holds it’s thin tongue between his fingers with his left hand. Looking at him he kept his scowl but his eyes looked… cold and focused. He squats down and uses his right hand to open up the lantern and then hold the lantern once again to slowly bring it towards the Changeling’s tongue. It’s eyes widened and began to struggle and panic, attempting to get away from Pestilence and his hold but he was stronger than he looked and it only served to strain it’s tongue as the lanterns flame inched closer to it’s tip.
“Wanna talk now?” Pestilence squints at the changeling who looks up at him in panic and fear. Thoughts ran through its head as it tried to find a solution to this predicament. If it told this creature about it’s goals and the hive then it would have betrayed the hive.. But it would at least have its tongue and speak. It knew just sacrificing its tongue would be nothing to the rest of the hive in fact the queen would probably take it as a sign of true loyalty and give it a reward of just a little bit more love consumption. A tongue was sacrificial object for the hive but as the flame ever reached closer and closer that belief started to fade.
Would it only end with this…? No, going by the stories some of the older changelings told them this was merely the beginning. This creature wasn’t a pony, it wasn’t even using the methods that pony guards were said to use. This was more drastic! If this didn’t work would this creature use even more drastic measures…!? The changeling felt it’s heart sink as the thought penetrated and festered in its mind. Would it leave this cave alive? Its heart beat faster as it’s eyes looked down at the flame before it.
Death. Potential death was what the flame represented. As it inched closer as it looked back up to see if there might be a change and the creature might back out of this all it saw was cold concentration. Was it going to be tortured to death for information…? Was it going to be a sacrifice for the hive's safety? The queen would love and respect that and it has heard tales of other changelings doing such things. A brave heroic act for the hive and… it clearly wasn’t a brave heroic changeling like those of the past.
“I’LL TULK I’LL TULK! PWESE NO!” The changeling managed to garble out of its throat as it looked up to the biped with utter fear. Much to its shock the biped quickly let go of it’s tongue and smiled.
“Good choice!” Pestilence puts the lantern back down onto the ground and stands. He crosses his arms and looks down at changeling expectantly. The changeling look up at him with shocked that he so quickly stopped the torture but it also made it realize on how quick he would be to use torture if it didn’t give him the answers he wanted. The changeling ears lowered and it bit its lip. What it was about to do was treason of the highest form to the hive but… it didn’t want to die.
“T-to bring back to the h-hive…” The changeling looks down in shame as speaks.
“The hive?” Pestilence tilts his head. The changeling looks to the side, a desire to avoid this beast's gaze.
“We...changelings work for our hive… f-for the queen.”
Pestilence nods and leans forward. “What do you do with them… Harvest organs? Slavery?”
“N-no! we just feed off their l-love...” Pestilence freezes at sentence and leans back to give a mix of confusion and concern on his face.
“...................Love?”
“The e-emotion..". The changelign closes its eyes and shakes as it mutters that out. Pestilence slowly crosses his arms. His mind attempts to decipher what the insectoid means.
Hungry Changeling + Love = Hunger solved?
Hungry Succubus + Lust = Hunger solved!
Succubus + Changeling = ???
Pestilence smacks his hands together as he comes to his conclusions. “Ah so you’re this world’s version of a succubus… Lewd but not that bad.” The changeling blinks in confusion but seeing the man pleased it just nods in agreement.
“Now. Where is this Hive?” The changeling tenses up like that and starts glancing around the area to think of a way to avoid this question but stops when it sees Pestilence going for the lantern again.
“I-i-in the badlands! We live in the b-badlands!” The changeling screams out. Pestilence freezes his movements and glances at the changeling.
“The what?” He asks with a single raised brow.
“The land s-southeast of here! Y-you can’t miss the hive! I-it sticks out like grass in a d-desert!” The changeling looked up at Pestilence with fear clear on his face. Pestilence stares at the changeling with an unchanged expression before he nods.
“Acceptable Answer.” The changeling looks up at Pestilence smiles. The changeling hesitates but smiles back in turn as it hopes that freedom is coming.
“See ya, Bug pony!” Pestilence waves from the bottom of the quarry as the changeling flies up and out of the quarry quickly. He stops when the changeling is out of sight and heads up silently. Opening and closing the front door. Slowly walking up the stairs. Crawling into his small bed and staring at the ceiling. Then breaking into a grin and shaking with excitement.
`A Hive of succubus bug ponies that sneak in and kidnap other ponies!? Ooooo so EVIL! So classically EVIL! Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I have to- No! I MUST see these guys!`
‘Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What am i going to do now!? I really missed it big time!` The changeling bashes its head repeatedly against a boulder with its eyes closed somewhere in the badlands.
‘Please! Somecreature! End me quick before the Queen does! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaase!` The Changelings reels its head back and slams its head with all the power at the rock making the rock crack and break down but not a crack in the changelings chitin. It rubs its head and hisses in small pain. It sighs seeing its life hasn’t been blessed with death and slowly starts its wings and heads to the hive.
Reaching the hive within the next hour it sees the two posted guards out front and sighs. Landing in front of the guards they glance over the drone before scowling.
“Where’s the food?” The guard to its right speaks up while the left glares at the drone.
“Couldn’t get any… Sorry…” The drone dips its head down and avoids their disappointed gaze.
“Hmph…. Go inside already, failure.” The guard hisses out before returning its gaze back to the dry land before it. The drone nods and enters the ever shifting hive. It stops briefly for a moment and thinks about telling the guard what happened and the fact that a strange biped now knows the hive's location and could probably lay a siege on the place! While it would save the hive and give it time to prepare for the siege but… there was no doubt that it would be labelled as a traitor and either exiled or executed.
The drone frowns more and gets back to walk into the hive. It walks aimlessly for a while as it struggles with its decision to either tell the hive or not. As it walks its eyes catch a group of changelings entering his path. It stops and looks up to see the Elite passing by in front of him.
Six changelings pass by it all of them only slightly bigger than normal changelings but compared to the rest they had differently colored carapaces, wings, eyes, fin and tails. They were the Queens naturally born guard for her though they functioned as generals and leaders for sections of the hive. The drone didn’t know much about what made them different other than their looks and the fact that they were the only ones given names by the queen. Pharynx, Tegula, Cubitus Trochanter, Cercus, and finally Maxilla.
The group doesn’t even pay the changeling a glance as they pass giving it some strange relief as if they looked at it they would immediately know that it betrayed the hive and execute it. It shivers at the thought of being killed by the Elite. It heard that out of all of them Pharynx was by far the cruelest. Before it could think of the ways Pharnyx would kill it the chirring of its stomach would grab its attention.
`Ah that's right… that creature didn’t give me a chance to eat…`
The drone sighs and heads to the depths of the hive to feast on the collected livestock.
`Maybe some time down there will calm me down….`
The Drone hums a tune as it sweeps webbing and accidently spat out changeling mucus from the hallway walls. Who knew a long rest and a somewhat full stomach would clear its head so nice! It smiled as it reached the decision to run away the moment a sign of a pony siege would come and live itself as a beggar in Manehattan or some other big city place like some drone collectors.
`Sorry my Queen but i just don’t wann-`
It twitches and freezes and looks around quickly only to see no changeling in sight. Even checking to see if none of the rocks were them in disguise only for the ear twitch to happen again. It freezes as it focuses its hearing.
‘Crunch……………. Crunch………………...Crunch…………..’
The changeling slowly turns to the wall right next to it as the strange sound came from. Focusing again it noticed the sound was getting… Closer? Oh shud, it was getting closer. The changeling immediately lost its clear head and screamed while running in circles.
`Maulwurf!? It has to be a Maulwurf!? What do I do! What do i do!?`
Before it came to a decision a sickly green glowing square outline forms on the wall and fills itself with smaller squares and just… breaks into a pile of dust. The drone stops its movements to look at the perfectly square hole in the wall. Its jaw drops as it sees the beast that broke into the hive. A familiar biped… With a smile on his face and a look of determination in his eye. Behind him was miles of dugged out perfect squared dark tunnel.
Pestilence waves with one hand and smiles wider showing his teeth. “Yo! I have come to aid you and your people!.”