//------------------------------//
// Chapter 55 
// Story: Don't Bug Me 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Just like that, Amie was back in Agate. 

Despite the risks of their journey, the trip was far faster by pony train—there was no need to stop at secret stations, to hide their train at random or travel much slower to avoid meeting a legitimate pony craft along the route.

The insistence on avoiding too much contact with ponies seemed like a strange one—particularly when Amie was fully confident in her ability to hide.

She even stopped for a brief conversation with Sweetie Drops as they disembarked, wishing her luck with her mission.

"I feel safer knowing there's a pony like you looking out for us," she said "Thanks for everything you do."

The mare nodded politely back. "Just my duty, ma'am. Unfortunately I won't be in town long, or I would ask to see your foal after you deliver. I hope the world you bring them into is a safe one."

Amie watched her go, leading her “family” through the streets of Agate. They'd arrived at lunchtime, which meant large crowds to cover their passage through the city. Even so, she made sure to split them up, with Pachu’a and Wes in one group while she took the other two orange bugs somewhere to hide, change, and travel separately to the Rent-a-Friend.

When it finally came into view, Amie's fear returned in force, imagining a burned out husk with Royal Guards around to watch for their return. Instead, there was nothing out of the ordinary—just the usual flow of pony traffic into the building. The lobby was packed with hopeful new clients as ever. 

"Go up those stairs," she whispered, pointing around to the back of the building. “I have to talk to someone first."

"I am... not happy with this," Natane muttered. "I'm meant to be in court, not undercover."

"Court is under construction," Amie answered, waving them off with a pegasus wing. She was back in that first form she'd used, when she copied Tailslide by accident. It happened to be one of the few that her boss would recognize.

She slipped into the lobby, and had to wait her turn to get to the front and speak to the bored secretary.

"Bud wanted to talk to me," was all she said, before the secretary could pass her the forms.

The secretary looked up, then nudged her shoulder towards the door. "Hope you're being straight with me. Can't skip the line by cheating."

"I'm not a client," Amie answered. She didn't want to say more—so far as she knew, no one else at Rent-a-Friend even suspected there were changelings on the team. That was how she wanted it to stay.

Once she was into the hall, Amie decided to change again, into the unicorn nurse she had hoped to use when she still thought her Earth qualifications would help her. The pegasai's hollow bones and a heavy saddlebag of gear just did not work well together.

The unicorn wasn't much bigger, but the weight was a little friendlier with her shoulders. She relaxed, and hurried up the steps.

Bud was there, pacing back and forth in front of several large whiteboards. One was the staff assignment for Agate, and another was labeled "Manehattan Branch." Most of its spots were empty.

He looked up as she came in. "I'm not ready to interview clients right now, you shouldn't be..." He trailed off, then stopped. "Amie Blythe." He levitated several magnets onto the desk in front of him, each one with a little name written on it. 

"Did something go wrong with your client? You should be on duty right now. I saw you leave an hour ago."

Shit. Amie shook her head. "Nothing wrong with the client, sir. I—" She couldn't suggest that her brother was doing it, not without knowing if Rick had taken a job of his own. Then there was no other choice. "It is why I'm here. Do you have a few minutes? I can come back if you're busy."

Bud's face soured, a frown spreading slowly across it. "I was in the flow state, Amie. You disrupted me. I hope this was worth it."

Good thing she could still read his emotions. She still had a lot of emotional capital with him, and he was inclined to be forgiving. He was secretly glad she wasn't asking for more after getting them the Manehattan branch. And there was still that small part in the back of his mind that thought she was a dangerous predator who might break and attack him at any time.

Very small now, but not quite silent.

Amie glanced at the mostly blank board he'd been looking at. "When I finished with the Ivy Path job, your letter asked if I knew others who could do this kind of work. Remember that?"

He nodded slowly. "And you referred your brother. You were right about your reservations—not as outgoing and adaptable as you. But for the right client, that's fine. There are a good number of clients who feel intellectually stunted here in Agate. Bits are too good to leave, but we barely even have a library..." 

He trailed off. "Did you leave your client early today? I presume you have a good reason."

"I... didn't leave him. I'm still with him, it's just—" She tried to come up with another explanation, but nothing came to mind. It was time for a little honesty. "Well, the truth was that I did have more talent for the Rent-a-Friend. Someone so talented that she's been playing me for the last week and a half. And... technically, she's been a hippogriff more than a pony, so she's probably better at playing one than I would ever be. She has barely been anything else."

Bud settled down on his haunches, staring at the floor. His emotions became a blur to her—suspicion, betrayal, and greed all mixed together into one. "I'm guessing you're not really friends with a hippogriff. So she's—"

"One of my kind, yeah," Amie said. She didn't hesitate this time—now that she was started, she would have to finish. No backing out. "That's why I'm here. You said you needed talent, and I have some talent that you can use." She walked past him, to the Manehattan board. "How many ponies do you need to open a new branch?"

The sour mix of negative emotions resolved into just two—greed, and suspicion. Now if she could only get one of those to dominate over the other...

"I can't use just anyone. Your talents are—remarkable, I'll give you that. Having access to any species or age or tribe from just one talent, that's incredible stuff. But we only have so many exotic clients. For every pony who wants to talk to a griffon, there are ten more who just want somepony like them. I'm not sure your kind could fill that need, no matter how well-meaning."

"I think..." Her instincts told her to keep her mouth shut, that any information she shared would only weaken the hive. But Amie didn't have to listen to those instincts if she didn't want to. Her human sense of right and wrong told her there was another way to make this work. The same one she'd used on Ivy.

"I think we're not as different as you think, boss. I think they could make friends with ponies just the same as pony talent. We have more in common than you realize."

He rolled his eyes. "Amie, sweetheart. Your kind invaded Canterlot. Hundreds of ponies died. You ask me to accept that you and your brother are different than the rest, I can grant you that. I have a whole crew of miscreants and outcasts at Rent-a-Friend. But if you ask me to believe history didn't happen, I can't. I know what your kind are capable of."

She stepped closer to him. It took great focus to keep from shouting. The words “your kind” lingered in her head like a curse. "Changelings have tribes, Mr. Bonzer. The ones who attacked you are the Erovores—blue bugs, led by Queen Chrysalis. I can tell you my bugs are different, because we're not part of her tribe. We're green—our powers are different, and our history is different." 

She rushed ahead, moving closer to him now. "We weren't born as changelings, boss. My brother and me and all the others I know—we're not like other changelings because we're from another world, where we weren't bugs. A world where we had families and homes and lives of our own. Some kinda magical disaster brought us here, changed us into monsters. But just because we look like it on the outside doesn't mean we're monsters inside." 

She tapped her chest with one hoof, now within reach of him. At least Bud hadn't backed away in fear. "In the place I came from, I was much closer to a pony than to a bug. If I could, I'd go back to being what I was, and never look back. But we can't—so we have to survive in other ways."

"I... feel you, Amie," he said. "I feel like you mean what you say. But I'm not trying to run a... charity, here. This is a business. If it's true and this is all some magical mistake, I'm not the one to go to for help. Why are you even here? You need the bits that badly?"

Not anymore. That was why she had first taken the job, when it was the only one that would take them. She just needed to keep Wes safe. But now...

"Because it's a perfect fit," she said. "The evil blue changelings—they need love, it's what keeps them alive. I'm a green changeling, and what we need is... friendship. That's how I did such a good job with Ivy—and why I'm sure the other bugs that have been working for the last week did great too. We don't hurt anyone, we haven't here and we won't anywhere else. All we need is a chance to make friends. That's why I came to your office—I'd like you to consider taking on more bugs, either here or in your Manehattan branch. We'll be the best workers you ever had."

Bud didn't answer. He walked slowly back to his desk, flipped through the ledger there, made a few notes. She followed him over to the other side, but remained silent, waiting on his answer. One way or another, the future of her changelings was in his hooves.

"If all that's true—I want to renegotiate your rate. If the friendship is how you're really getting paid..." The last of his suspicion finally faded, leaving only his greed behind. 

"How about eighty percent?" Amie suggested. "We still need some bits to support ourselves. We live in Equestria the same as you."

"Thirty," he said. "You have to live in the compound anyway. You need somewhere you won't be discovered. That's value I didn't weight properly before."

"Sixty five."

"Half," he shot back. "Final offer. Don't push me, Amie. You're good, but I'm sticking my neck out for you. Most other ponies wouldn't give you the time of day, they'd run without hearing you out."

"Deal." She stuck out her hoof, reaching across the table. "Half of what you've been paying me. And we still get room and board to hide in when we're not on duty."

He took her hoof, shaking vigorously. "Pleasure doing business with you, Amie Blythe. Of course there's one more thing—as far as my records are concerned, you're all ponies. I never knew you were bugs. No one outside this room knows. If you ever get caught—I don't have to protect you. You infiltrated my shop, and I was none the wiser. I want you to promise, that's your story."

He trusts me enough to try a promise? Amie nodded. "We won't get caught. Like I said, we—we'd rather be ponies than bugs, anyway. But you might want to think of some... silent alarm you could switch, to warn all of us to be in costume if someone might be coming in. Would save you losing good talent, and my friends getting executed. Win-win."

He suppressed a laugh. "Thought of it already, actually. Sulfur in the ventilation system—smells like eggs, you hide. Not set up yet, but it's coming together..." He stood up. "How many... talented new friends... can you find for me? I'll remind you that we're an exclusive bunch at Rent-a-Friend. Not everypony is cut out for it, even most real ponies can't manage this job. I want to interview all of them personally."

"Would we be relocating to Manehattan?" Amie asked. "I see a lot of blank slots on your board."

He shook his head once. "Not at first. I was hoping to use you to cover our existing clients here in Agate. Most of my staff would relocate. That goes well, I can bring in a few to cover the exotic requests. If it goes well. I'll get you a list of the personalities I'm looking for, and you can bring me candidates to interview. Sound fair?"

Amie nodded. “You won’t regret this, boss. I think you’ll be as impressed with the talent as I am.”