//------------------------------//
// The Hive 
// Story: I am Everypony 
// by Diamond Sparkle 
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Under the blazing heat of Celestia's sun, a small purple earth pony plodded on through the sands of the Badlands close to collapse. The water bottle around her neck was nearly empty, and the weather here was very different from what she was used to, but she forced herself on. Up there, ahead of her, was what she had gone through so much to reach, something that most ponies would try their hardest to avoid ever going near. A Changeling Hive. 

Easily the size of the city of Canterlot, it looked from the outside like a vastly oversized termite mound. Although relations had very slightly improved between Equestria and the different Hives, to the point where they exchanged ambassadors, said Hives were still no-go zones for almost everypony. Other then those few who maintained somewhat frosty diplomatic relations with the Changeling Queens, anypony who entered a Hive was very unlikely to leave it again. A few specks in the sky grew larger and turned out to be a squadron of Changelings who had come to see the new arrival. With a whirr of insectoid wings they landed, each set of wings folding in and being covered by the hard carapace upon their backs. "If you are one of us you know the basic procedure; change back into yourself. You have no need to hide anymore, no need to fear, everyling is a Changeling here." The Changeling who said this spoke in a friendly tone.

"I...I'm not a Changeling. I'm a pony...Diamond Tiara is my name. I came here because...because I want to join you. I don't know if it's even possible for such a thing but...but I want to try. I have my reasons."

"Well, as things turned out we lost many Changelings during the attack on Canterlot so you have a bigger chance with this Hive then probably anywhere else, but you'll most likely end up as our food. We'll help you." And rather then attacking her on the spot as she had feared they might do, four Changelings gently picked her up between them, supporting her tired body so it didn't hurt, and flew her to the Hive, passing the guards without being challenged. 

Inside it was pleasantly warm unlike the baking heat of the near-desert outside, and was surprisingly well lit with a soft green light from a glowing green webbing upon the walls. And changeling after changeling stopped whatever they were doing and flocked to see the rare sight of a pony who was not in a cocoon. It was not long before the Changeling Queen herself was alerted of the newcomer in her domain. She strode out of her Royal Chamber and Diamond Tiara bowed low at the site of the alicorn-sized Changeling Queen.

"So, we have a pony that wants to become a Changeling. It's not the first time that has happened, you know. A few tried to back out once they understood what they were getting into, and they hang from the ceiling in cocoons to this very day. Another found his body could not take it and died from the effects. I feel I should tell you what being a Changeling is and is not."

"It's not a license to be lazy, if you want that, we can very easily make another cocoon out of you. Changelings in this Hive work as hard as ponies or even more so, be it repairing or enlarging the Hive, doing your turn at guard duty, watching over the grubs and plenty of other duties. We are flexible; if you are a night owl we  can put you on night duty, but for much of the time you will be expected like everyling to work your passage. There are certain holidays where noling has to do anything but feast and enjoy themselves, but there are only a few of those a year."

"If you think you're going to be able to feast on nourishing love, well, normally the rations in this Hive are quite small. Those Changelings on detached duties and minor love raids do their very best but can never quite bring in enough love so the rations are small. The grubs in their maggot stage get the biggest share-otherwise they would cry all day and starve to death not long after, and they are the future of the Hive. Just like newborn foals, they cannot yet care for themselves. Next come the children, then the adults, and lastly me. I may not be starving, but it is hard always being slightly hungry except on feast days."

"As for getting it outside the Hive, first you would have to stay here for three months and work for me, to repay me for making you into a Changeling. The key way to get the love you need is to replace a pony and then feed on the love given to him or her by his or her family and preferably, coltfriend or marefriend as well, but that too is quite hard. It's not easy pretending to be someone else, yet without that you can only feed yourself by raiding and we are at peace at the moment. All replacements of ponies have to be covert and strictly hush-hush. Having said all that, why do you want to be a Changeling anyway?"

"Because my parents were murdered in front of my eyes, and I would have died too if I was not hiding at the time..." She shuddered, remembering.

*****
The sight of her father, Filthy Rich, with a crossbow bolt fired by a Unicorn through his neck. Pearl Necklace, her mother, being shot down by the same Unicorn. The sight of his cutie mark as he tried to hunt her, a bow.

*****
She pushed the memory away. "I went to the Ponyville Police of course, but it took an hour to reach them and to get them to come, by which time the looky-loos had arrived and partly trampled the crime scene with their hooves. Crime is normally very low, at least in Ponyville, murders almost unheard of. As a Changeling I can be anypony; I can view the evidence for myself, hunt down those who did it and wreak vengeance. My parents had not made a will, not thinking they would die for a long while yet, so the money went to the Equestrian treasury. Silver Spoon took me in for a while, but then her parents threw me out on the street, so I spent the bits I had left to come and see you."

*****
"I will make you a Changeling, your parents deserve to be avenged. But it won't be pleasant. First it means that I will drain so much of your love that you are almost on the point of death, then you must drink Changeling blood, and if all goes well you will turn into one of us. If you do successfully become a Changeling, you will be one and dependent on the love of other species for the rest of your life, feared and hated by most ponies. Do you really want to be one?"

Diamond Tiara nodded. "I do."