Red Fang felt a sharp pain in his right leg, and he shot up from his bed, looking around. He then sighed, looking down.
“Ugh… Bluey…” Red leaned down, picking up the nymph. Or well, he tried to. Attempting to move the nymph shot a bit of a sting down his leg. He winced, sighing. Blue had been teething for a few days—Not that Red knew that—and he seemed very content with using his brother as his chosen teething object.
Red examined his brother’s fangs. Sure enough, dabs of green blood were on his little blue fangs. Looking down at the source of his pain, he noticed two small holes in his leg. Blue had somehow managed to break through his chitin. Red carefully set Blue down, before heading towards his desk. No bandages, or really anything to put on the bite mark.
Blue watched his brother, before attempting to follow him. Unfortunately, he came across his biggest obstacle yet. Getting off the bed.
Changeling larvae weren’t particularly stupid. Unlike their Equestrian counterparts, they at least knew basic self-preservation skills. In other words, maybe throwing themselves off an elevated position isn’t exactly an efficient way to get attention. So, in their infinite, baby wisdom, they’d do the one thing that can signal their caretaker.
“…WAHHHHHHH!”
Red jumped slightly, turning to look at Blue. The larvae cried, reaching its small foreleg out. Red shook his head, stepping over. “I’m here, I’m here! Calm down!” he whispered, scooping the baby up. “Shh… shh…” he nuzzled the little nymph, who soothed. “There you go… you oka—”
Red suddenly found Blue’s fangs buried in his muzzle. He recoiled, shaking his head. “Owowowowowowow!” He scrunched his muzzle, before looking back at Blue, who simply stared, seemingly confused. Red rubbed his muzzle, before sighing. “Let’s uh… let’s just go get breakfast…”
~~~
Red carried Blue into the cafeteria. It was still early in the morning, and most bugs weren’t up. Well, minus the military. Red soon found himself watching as the Devil Horns went marching by, with their armor and large bolt-throwers on their sides. They had just finished eating by the looks of it and were being marched out to training
As they marched, their voices echoed off the walls of the cafeteria. Red watched, almost mesmerized. His head bobbed side to side as their in-sync marching created an almost drumming-like effect. Their booming voices and click-clacking equipment only made them seem bigger than they were.
Blue Fang began to fuss. The loud “singing” wasn’t exactly calming to the larvae as they were to Red. The older changeling looked down. “Oh, sorry Bluey!” He stroked his brother’s head gently, shushing gently. “We’re getting breakfast now.”
Red walked over to the counter, looking over. One of the cookbugs looked over, smiling at the two brothers. “Hey Red, hold on.” She started making a plate. “Hey Grubber! Your friend’s here!” she called out.
A small nymph peeked over the counter. “Reddy Bear, hey!” he said, smiling. “Hold on, I’ll get your usual and meet you at table uh…” he checked a list, carefully reading down. “Ah, four!” He then disappeared behind the counter.
Red giggled, before heading towards table four. It wasn’t much a singular table, but a line of tables, much like a school cafeteria. Table four wasn’t too crowded, but it sat right in the middle of the cafeteria, thus it was still quite loud. Blue began fussing again.
Red smiled, nuzzling him. “Shh… it’s okay. We’re getting food.”
Blue looked up, before wiggling free of Red’s grasp and climbing on his shoulder. Red squeaked, looking over. “Hey!” he giggled, trying to grab his brother, who then crawled onto his back, and then onto his head. “Hmph…”
Soon, the small nymph walked over to the table, smiling at the two. On his back set a plate of food, one Red had ordered several times before. Squirrel with rock salt. Setting the plate on the table, Grubber sighed. “Consider yourself lucky, Reddy Bear. Meat itself is already hard to come by. But squirrels?”
“I know, I know.” Red smiled. “But it’s really good!” he argued.
“I hope so…” Grubber rolled his eyes, taking Blue Fang off Red’s head. “How’s this little one doing?”
“He’s biting stuff again…” Red returned dejectedly. “And not just his toys. He’s biting me!” Red stated, pointing to his new leg bite mark.
Grubbed rubbed Blue’s chin carefully, though immediately retracted his hoof when Blue attempted to put even more holes into the young bug’s foreleg. Grubber merely stared, a bit surprised. “Goddess above, is he hungry?”
“I uh… I don’t know…” Red shrugged, taking Blue off his head, and placing him on the stone table, where he immediately tried nibbling at the table, though failed due to basic table geometry, also known as it was a flat surface that couldn’t be easily bit into. “Even after I gave him his bottle, he still likes to bite me.”
“He must be fanging,” Grubber stated. “I think momma has something for him to nibble on.” Grubber stood, gently lifting and placing Blue on his back.
Blue, for the most part, was more confused if anything. He had seen Grubber nearly every day, so he knew he could trust him. But at the same time, he didn’t want to leave his brother. Thus, he began to whimper.
Red nuzzled his brother gently, careful to avoid his maw. “Shh… it’s okay.”
Blue quieted, looking at the back of Grubber’s head. Grubber chuckled. “Come on, let’s go see momma.”
With that, the two left, Blue Fang surprisingly not crying. Red smiled, before sighing. As much as he loved his brother, little Blue was a hoof-full. He continued to eat the cooked squirrel, looking around. He soon noticed something. He was alone.
Well, not alone. There were other bugs happily… moderately eating their food. However, they were all sitting in groups, conversing. Red, as far as he could tell, was the only one sitting alone. And he was saddened by it. He was never one for conversing. The only friends he had were Grubber, Nightbite, Pharynx, and Hivehunter, and even then, those were more or less friends Chrysalis pushed him to make, with Pharynx and Hivehunter themselves being Elites. Thus, he was only able to make friends due to Chrysalis.
Speaking of Chrysalis, Red looked up to be greeted by the mighty changeling Queen herself. She gave him a small smile as she sat in front of him, peering down at his plate. “Squirrel meat. That’s a rare dish you’ve got.”
Red nodded. “Yeah… I still feel strangely… empty.” He looked up. “Like… I’m still hungry, even though I ate.”
“You haven’t had any love. That’s why.” She sighed, a rare hint of remorse gleaming in her eyes. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do right now. Our scouts can’t find any good towns to raid.”
Red huffed again. “Why can’t we just… feed off of each other? Like… can’t we love each other and have a constant supply?”
Chrysalis opened her mouth to respond but paused. She’d considered the idea many times before, and it sure seemed like a hell of an idea. But, she always brushed it off as a stupid one. They were changelings, born and bred for war and conquering. If they needed love, by the Goddess, her sister above, they’d take it by force. She was often a stickler for the old ways and hated when either times had changed, or her way of thinking was challenged.
With a remorseful shake of her head, she answered. “It just won’t work that way, little one. I’ve tried many times.”
She lied.
Red finished the squirrel, sighing. “I guess… I still feel a bit hungry… and kinda lonely…”
Chrysalis nodded and began to think. She’d remembered that members of the lower caste occasionally held a sort of gathering every so often, usually used to let changelings mingle amongst each other. Thus, she had an idea. “Hm… there’s a little meetup planned near the nursery. A lotta hatchlings are gonna be there. Maybe you can bring little Blue there?”
Red’s face almost lit up like the first light of June. Chrysalis would’ve probably been blinded if his face was made of light. “Okay!”
Chrysalis chuckled. “Speaking of which. Where is Blue Fang?”
“Oh uh… Grubber’s ma is getting something for Blue to chew on because he keeps biting me,” Red replied.
“Ah. Well, alright.” Chrysalis was all too familiar with fanging. Not unnatural, but was mildly annoying. And painful. But alas, with that conversation done, Chrysalis stood up, having to leave due to work. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to supervise a training exercise. The Devil Horns are shooting each other with paint-slingers later.”
Red’s eyes suddenly glowed with excitement. “Can I come watch?”
Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile in amusement. “Sorry Red, but you’ll have to stay with Blue at the meetup. Besides, I don’t want you or Blue to get struck by a stray bolt.”
Red Fang sighed. “Alright…”
Chrysalis nodded, stepping out of the cafeteria, leaving Red to his thoughts.
~~~
Red carried Blue down the hallway, toward where the meetup was said to be. On his head, sat Blue, who was nibbling on a bit of sugarcane. Grubber’s mom has thankfully given Red a few sticks of sugarcane because Blue was probably going to go through them unnecessarily fast.
The two rounded a corner, noticing a large crowd of changelings. Red pulled Blue close, walking into the crowd. There were two areas, one for the nymphs and one for adults. Red smiled, setting Blue down with the grubs.
Blue looked around, seemingly confused by all the new activity. He crawled around, sniffing at the other nymphs. The other nymphs watched him with mild confusion and annoyance. Some of them even snapped at him, growling at him. Blue, however, was persistent, continuing to sniff around the nymphs.
Red watched his brother wander around. Blue was always curious about the other changeling. From behind, Pharynx, Hive, and Nightbite approached, Pharynx holding Thorax and Hive holding Kydra.
“Hey Red,” Hive greeted, setting Kydra down.
“Hi guys, what’s up?” Red returned, smiling at his friends.
“Well, they’re letting the nymphs go play with the others,” Nightbite bit back. “This is dumb, why can’t we go play war games with the other nymphs?”
Pharynx rolled his eyes, setting down Thorax. “Night, can you pull your tail outta your mouth for a bit?”
“Why should I be forced to hang out with a buncha babies?” he whined, letting out an annoyingly long sigh.
“Well you’re not… you’re hanging out with us,” Hive retorted. “And last I check, we’re not babies.”
Nightbite simply pouted again, clearly not enjoying the fact that he was essentially forced to be here.
Meanwhile, Blue was still on his little adventure. He was looking for… something. He wasn’t exactly sure, but he continued looking. He soon crawled towards a smaller larvae, one with larger fangs. Must have been an early bloomer. Blue moved over, nuzzling against him. The smaller changeling looked over, sniffing at Blue.
Blue Fang. Dagger.
Blue chittered happily, nuzzling against Dagger, to which Dagger chittered back happily. Thus, they began to crawl around together. Whereas Blue was a bit more naturally cautious, Dagger seemed a bit more hot-headed, ready to take risks wherever possible.
As they crawled around, they soon found another changeling, one that appeared to be a little blind, as he was squinting. The two larvae crawled over, nuzzling against him. The other larvae were surprised by their sudden appearance, squinting at them, before chittering happily.
Blue Fang, Dagger. Mantis.
Mantis nuzzled against the two larvae, before attempting to lead them on. Though, considering his lack of eyesight, Blue Fang decided to lead, with Mantis behind him, and Dagger behind Mantis to keep the bug from accidentally wandering off.
The three bugs continued crawling around, before finding themselves at a group of doctors. The doctors were talking about something. However, on the table beside them was another larva, one with a non-curved horn that resembled a bee stinger, and his wings seemed to be blooming earlier than the others.
The three larvae crawled over, chittering up at him. He chittered back, before attempting to get down.
“Woah woah, hey buddy!” one of the adults yelped, quickly picking up the larvae. “You wanna play with the others?” they asked, to which the larvae chittered. The adult smiled, placing him down, before turning back to the conversation.
The three larvae again, nuzzled against the new larvae.
Blue Fang, Dagger, Mantis. Stinger.
Stinger chittered happily, before crawling with them. Their little group happily crawled around, simply exploring. They soon rounded back to the older changelings. There, the group met two new changelings. One with pink accents, Kydra; and one who looked ready to jump out of his silk wrappings, Thorax. They nuzzled against each other, introducing each other. However, Blue nuzzled against Kydra a bit gentler than he usually did. Actually, he nuzzled her a bit longer.
The larvae themselves were rarely exposed to the opposite gender of the same age. Blue especially, as he and Red never really took time to play with others. To Blue, Kydra was sort of a half-mystery. Up until now, the only females he’d seen were older, like Chrysalis or Grubber’s mother.
The older group watched Blue’s little display of affection, with Night chuckling a tad bit. “Aww, he’s in looooove~” he teased, leaning towards Hive and Pharynx.
Hive and Pharynx huffed, not exactly amused by Blue’s gesture to their younger sister. In fact, they seemed to take offense to it, murmuring something under their breaths. Red seemingly noticed, picking up his little brother, who whined as he was taken from his new friends. Red rubbed his head gently.
“You can play with them later…” Red soothed, silently insulting Hive and Pharynx under his breath. Best not to let the little ones hear it, he thought. “I’ll uh… I’m gonna take Blue back to our den really quick.”
“You sure?” Nightbite asked caringly, which was strangely out of character for the annoyingly whiny nymph. “Blue seems to be enjoying the company.”
“I just have to run home. I’ll be back.”
“Errrr… right.”
Red sighed, carrying Blue ahead. “Come on Blue…” he murmured, placing Blue back on his head. He then carried his brother back to his room.
~~~
“Those annoying… No good… Sons of…” Red murmured, pacing his room.
On the bed, little Blue watched his elder brother pace the room. Of course, the little larvae hadn’t a clue as to what his brother was upset about. Then again, he hadn’t a clue about most things. Except food. And maybe nibbling on things that shouldn’t be nibbled on. Like rocks.
Red looked over at Blue, who was silently staring in confusion. The older changeling sighed, stepping over to his younger brother, who babbled excitedly. Sitting down beside him, he picked him up and placed him atop his head carefully. Blue let out a few squeaks, before grasping onto his brother’s horn with his tiny forelegs. Red chuckled a bit, before standing. He then started prancing around carefully, causing Blue Fang to babble excitedly.
“Heh… you like that?” Red asked, smiling happily.
Blue gave an excited babble that turned to a raspberry in response. Red chuckled, continuing for a few rounds.
To little Blue, it seemed like he was atop the world, and nothing could take him down. He continued his tiny babbles, simply happy to be alive.
As the two played, there was a knock on the door. Red halted carefully to not fling Blue off his head. Red stepped over to the door, lazily sweeping toys out of the path. As he opened the door, he found himself greeted by Chrysalis and Kydra.
Red smiled, staring at the two. “Hi, Mother Chrysalis!”
“Hello there Red Fang. I came to check up on you.” She stepped in, looking around the room. “And I will say… maybe it’s a good idea to clean up this den.” Her horn illuminated the room, her magic lifting the toys off the ground and placing them along the shelves and in boxes.
Red and Blue watched in awe as the objects lifted off the ground and magically placed back in their proper places. Red sat on the bed, letting Blue crawl off his head and land on the bed.
Chrysalis chuckled, also sitting down on the bed, and placing Kydra down beside Blue. As Red Fang and Chrysalis talked, Blue Fang crawled over to the royal larvae.
Kydra herself gave off a… Well, Blue wasn’t entirely sure. She gave off a feeling akin to Chrysalis, someone who was meant to be respected, holding great power. Despite this, Kydra didn’t seem to act high and mighty.
Blue had seen Elites before. They lived at the very tippy top of the hive, and thus were at the top of the caste, barring Chrysalis herself. And most Elites were simply that, bugs at the top, most of whom had little to no care for the regular bugs. They were mostly high-ranked officers, highly trained doctors, heads of Research and Development, political figures, descendants of changeling heroes, families of the aforementioned, and most just got spots because they had extra space.
Being top of the chart more or less bred a “holier than thou” mentality amongst the Elites, most of whom had no real compassion for the lower members of the hive. In fact, most were often offended if the lower caste tried to interact with them. Even the larvae were often rude to lower caste members.
Despite this, Blue didn’t sense any of that about Kydra, who sniffed at him curiously.
Kydra herself hadn’t rightfully seen a lower caste changeling. Today was her first true exposure to a bug lower on the chain, both in status and floor. Being dubbed the Princess of the Changelings, many changelings, including the Elites, held great respect and even fear for the baby bug, especially since she was being raised by Chrysalis herself, and everybug feared Chrysalis. This was because Chrysalis was pretty ruthless, even to the changelings. Behind that grace and beauty, Chrysalis was essentially a tyrant. Even the Elites weren’t safe, as Chrysalis, despite how vain she was, didn’t discriminate.
In the face of this, however, Kydra found herself not really wanting special treatment. Most changelings would’ve killed to get her position, and yet she didn’t find herself liking her royal title. She cared more for the few friends she had than she did attempting to boss others around.
Of course, her friends were all Elites, so interacting with this blue-fanged bug was more than just foreign, it was completely alien to her. She raised her forelegs up, babbling while making movements of slipping a ring on her hoof with her tiny legs. “Riches?” She then brushed her hoof backward against her head. “Vanity?”
Blue shook his head, crawling to the edge of the bed, pointing down at the toy chest. Kydra crawled over, examining the box. It wasn’t too large, nor was it fancy. It was just a simple box that held the changelings’ toys, which included blocks, wooden soldiers, models of weapons, amongst other things. Kydra was a bit confused. Her toys were made of more expensive materials, metals, plastic, fabrics, those sorts of things. She’d never seen wooden or stone toys like these. However, she found herself intrigued by the artifacts.
Blue sensed her curiosity and wanted to show the regal larva the toys. He looked around, before noticing the nearby soft feather pillow. Suddenly, his brain had some kind of thought, as if a candle was suddenly lit. He crawled over to the pillow, biting down into it. He then began dragging the pillow back to the edge of the bed, though with some visible effort. After some time, Blue managed to push the pillow off the bed, the pillow landing on the floor with a “pomph!”
Blue looked down at the pillow, then looked up at Kydra, then down at the pillow, then right back at Kydra.
Then he threw himself off the bed.
~~~
Red looked up at Chrysalis, who stared merely down with a curious gaze. She was, to most changelings, a goddess alive. She’d been around for thousands of years, she’d seen kingdoms come and go, seen wars tear through the lands.
If anyone wanted to learn anything about everything, Chrysalis surely had the answer.
In this case, however, the Queen herself had a question for the young Red Fang. With a soft, curious voice, she asked, “why do you want to fly?”
Red’s mind went a bit blank. He hadn’t actually thought about why he wanted to fly, he just knew he really wanted to touch the skies. He reached deep into his brain, trying to figure out why he wanted to fly. Eventually, he found a sort of valid reason. “I suppose… I just want to see the world from above… y’know, touch the clouds and such.”
“But do you think that would bring you joy?” she asked, looking down at Red. “What if you could fly? What then?” she straightened out her posture. “I mean… there’s got to be more to life than just a short-term goal.”
Red looked around, a bit saddened. Despite his age, he sensed a sort of… truthfulness in her voice. But of course, he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. He had to think a bit.
Before he could think up his answer, there was a thud, causing the two changelings to jump a bit. They turned to see Kydra on the edge of the bed, but no Blue Fang. Kydra stared at them, a bit confused. After a bit, she pointed a forehoof down to the floor. The two older changelings’ gazes slowly slid over to the floor, noticing a pillow that had been squished inward. They then noticed Blue attempting to climb up the toy box, his tiny hooves scritching and scratching at the stone box.
Chrysalis stared in mild amusement, whilst Red stared in shock. He immediately got up, running over and picking up the little larvae, who whined as he was taken away from his toys. “Bluey, you can’t throw yourself off the bed like that! You could’a hurt yourself!”
“And yet he didn’t…” Chrysalis chuckled a bit, rubbing the little ling’s head. “Bravery can carry one far… But he’ll still need guidance, Red. That’s why you’re here,” she stated, her face baying a sense of seriousness.
Red looked down at Blue, who chittered in annoyance as he tried to wriggle free. He could see it as well as Chrysalis could. Blue had the spirit, but was more of a raging torrent with little control “Yeah… I know, but how can I help him when I can’t fly?”
Chrysalis shook her head, placing a hoof on his shoulder. Though mildly annoyed at Red’s constant nagging want of wings, she managed to calm herself just enough. As vain as she was, she still had a little love in her heart, though strained it may be. Alas, she managed to utter, “You can still guide someone, regardless of if you have a shattered horn or a pair of broken wings, Red.”
Red thought for a bit, his little brother still wriggling around, getting ever so annoyed at his “genius” plan failing. Then, it hit Red, much like an oncoming train. He looked up at Chrysalis, a bit of gleam in his eyes. Without missing a beat, he asked, “Mother Chrysalis? Can I change my name?”
Chrysalis tilted her head, a small smile forming on her face. This was a surprise, not many bugs had ever asked to change their names. The process was difficult, with lots of hoops to jump through, and most times it would be with a rope tied around your legs. But alas, she nodded. “I can try to, but why?”
“I think… I think I wanna change it to something that helps me remember why I’m watching Bluey…” he smiled down at the now very angry bug, who was hissing like a snake, though Red hadn’t noticed. After a while, Red came up with his new, very creative name. “How about Brokenwing? Y’know, because I only have one wing?”
Chrysalis’ smile simply grew, and she merely stared at him in amusement. Rarely had someone changed their name, let alone to match their injury. “Well, I could probably work something out. But uh… are you sure you want to change your name?” she asked. “It’s hard enough as is, and if I do, I probably won’t be able to change it back.”
He nodded happily. “Yeah!” he smiled, holding his brother. “You hear that? I’m gonna get a new na—” Blue suddenly bit down on the newly named Brokenwing’s hoof, causing him to yelp out in pain, as the now angry Blue sank his fangs into his hoof.
Chrysalis stifled a chuckle, watching the very one-sided fight. Heh… These two are gonna be just fine…