//------------------------------// // 103 - Together // Story: A Penny for your thought // by Damaged //------------------------------// Fast Change lifted her head. She had been in talks with a unicorn industrialist mare about expanding her hive when she felt the wave of love. It slammed into her like a solid force. The most astounding thing was, it was aimed at least in part, at her. "Excuse me, Princess Fast, are you okay?" Amethyst Moon looked a little confused at the changeling, their meeting had been going well up until now. "I am… I am sorry Amethyst, I must… I will need to reschedule. Is tomorrow okay?" Fast had to struggle against the urge to just zone out and drink at that flow of love. The unicorn smiled and gathered her papers. "Oh that is perfectly fine. Royal duties and all that." She turned and saw an odd little group of ponies walking into the throne room unannounced. Two unicorns and a changeling drone, the latter supporting a little foal at her side, walked in. "Oops, sorry to, uh, distract the princess." Penny apologized to the mare. "I just… I wanted to introduce her to her granddaughter." Any hope of Amethyst feeling any annoyance was shattered by that announcement and she trotted over and looked down at the little filly. "Oh, is this her? She is just adorable!" Fast was still having trouble swimming through the wave of love that just didn't seem to stop. She fought her way to her hooves and made her way forward, giving up any attempt at royal aloofness, between the barrage and what Penny had just said she had no wish to be 'princess' and every desire to be 'friend'. "Penny, please stop, you will have all my hive drunk for a week if you keep that up." The flood of love subsided to a whisper, a faint trickle that, after the constant blasting, was quite welcome. "Is that better? I guess I really have gotten stronger. I couldn't help it, I wanted to thank you and every changeling in your hive." Penny beamed up at the much bigger mare. Fast had lost the fight before she even started. Her body still was glutted on the love this mare had offered her, now she was being told it was all a gift to the hive. "You are impossible, my daughter." She put a leg over Penny's shoulder and pulled the lunar unicorn into a hug. "I am sure when my hive recovers every drone, leader and breeder will thank you for your delicious meal." Amethyst, still partially distracted by the adorably exotic foal, only barely picked up on this but her ears did twitch in the direction of Fast and Penny. "Her daughter? Wait, she fed the whole hive?" Stick was beside the confused unicorn but explained things, a little. "She kinda can, it takes a lot out of her though and much as it is great having her as an emergency resource for the hive, normal love is better for them. And yes, Penny is my wife, I am the princess' daughter." This made a certain amount of sense to Amethyst and she nodded along to it. "I best be going, you take good care of her." She kissed the little filly on the nose and trotted out. "Nice mare." Hay stepped up with Stick, approaching Fast and Penny. "We came to introduce your grandfilly to her aunts and uncles." Hay grinned, not outright saying Fast was a grandmother now, but it was an implied and well-meant jab. "Let's have a look at her, oh!" Fast looked surprised and delighted as Stick unbundled the filly from her wrappings. "She has a changeling horn… and streaks…" The princess reached a gentle hoof out to stroke the foal's mane. "Did you pick a name?" "Ensorcellee." Penny beamed at the big changeling cooing down at her foal… her foal. A wave of motherly love flooded Penny and she grinned. "And she has a little more changeling in her than that. She has been drinking from me… I think for a while." "Clever little one, and the name will surely suit a changeling." Fast was cooing down and waving one of her huge hooves for the foal to grab and bite on. That is when the changeling queen discovered all those fangs, changeling and lunar, that graced the filly's mouth. "Such a set of teeth, she is quite the fierce little heart-stealer." But rather than actually bite, Sorlie began to suck on a corner of the hoof and it was clear Fast Change, who defeated Chrysalis, who led a hive full of changelings to freedom, was completely ensnared by the filly. "Hungry again?" Penny smiled, it was an accusation that carried not a jot of malice and she wrapped the filly in her magic and lifted her gently from Fast Change's own grip. "Uh, you don't mind…" She looked up at Fast who looked a little confused. Stick leaned up to the princess and whispered something that had the big changeling's expression switch to surprise. "Oh, uh, sure, there are some cushions over here." She trotted quickly to show where Penny could feed the foal. The moment Penny lay down she had to unwrap her little bundle and let her wobble in on trembling hooves. Fast quickly turned away when Penny lifted her back leg to give the filly access to her. "Uh… um…" Fast lifted a hoof and bopped herself on the head. "I am being silly, aren't I?" Hay and Stick looked at each other then back at the princess, nodding. "Sure." Hay agreed. "A little." Stick shrugged up at Fast. "Well, lets get my little ones. I was amazed that there were drones not only willing but who claimed looking after larvae was their job in Chrysalis' hive. It was like I didn't even need to ask them." Fast led the way out and to a nearby room where a few drones were looking a little groggy while a whole mess of little changelings were bouncing around excitedly. "Here's my darlings." Hay watched the change come over Fast. She had gone from 'aloof changeling queen' to 'mother' at the sight of the little ones. "Wow, they are growing fast." Stick snorted. "Are you kidding? Between Penny and wonderful ponies of Canterlot these little ones are fed to bursting." She trotted up and leaned in to nuzzle some of the little swarm. "I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't start pupating soon." "I know, I know. Then there will be a whole lot more drones to feed." Fast lifted her head, two of the little half-pony half-bug offspring clinging to her mane with their little forehooves. "Well, come my swarm, you need to meet your delicious big sister and your niece." It was like the legend of the Pie Piper, leading the parasprites out of Ponyville, but this was nearly twenty tiny adorable changelings. Stick and Hay giggled and followed along, the former dropping to her belly and squirming along just like the larvae, getting mobbed by them as she went. Penny just lay back, closing her eyes. This was a very different sensation to her mates doing this. This was a special connection between a mother and her foal. She was amazed, however, that little Sorlie managed to not nip her once. It showed that despite all the cutlery she had, she already knew how to use it. Fast was first to return, coming in just as Ensorcellee pulled back and burped, her eyes crossing adorably. "Oh, I think you have visitors." She reached a hoof down and rubbed Sorlie's cheek. Sure enough, behind the changeling queen came her own brood, including one that was far too big to be squirming around with a bunch of larvae. Sorlie gave the most adorable squeal and bounded on her wobbly legs, over to the swarm. The sounds of giggles and delight came from all the changelings as they instantly broke into doing that thing that all foals knew how, by instinct, to do. Play. Penny stayed on her side but was joined by Hay and Fast. Stick, it seemed, was quite content to be a foal and play with the little ones. "Every time I think of what would have happened with my life if I hadn't come here, I felt sad." Penny looked to the queen and half-changeling. "I haven't had that fear since she was born, I just don't have much human left to care." Teacups floated over, held aloft in Fast's magic. "We have, all four of us, been through some big changes in our life." Fast watched the foals playing. "I gave up a family, a herd. Penny gave up her humanness. Hay gave up her fears, embraced what she was brought up believing was a monster, and Stick… Stick gave up being alone." The words felt right to Penny, she looked to Fast and then to Hay. "Wait, what do you mean?" Stick had clearly heard and flopped over on her belly, only using her front-hooves to move. "I… okay, yeah I was lonely before. I thought it was the best way to live, if I was alone Chrysalis couldn't take anypony away from me." "I guess we are all part of this hive." Penny looked between the three mares around her, all of them carrying changeling blood but her. "I know I am not a cha-" Fast's hoof lifted up and stopped Penny from talking. "You are my daughter. You have given to my hive, you helped make us strong and you keep my other daughters happy. That makes you part of my hive." She pulled the hoof back and was quickly embraced by Penny, the unicorn sobbing tears that wouldn't take a changeling's talent to tell were of joy. The four relaxed and settled down, watching as the foals wore themselves out with play. "So, why didn't you hide your belly when pregnant, I never did get to ask that." Fast had turned to Penny. "You too? It seems everypony expected me to know that spell. Well, it's all over now and I didn't need it. Truth be told, I think I would be happier not using it. It was good to feel her grow every day, feel as it impacted my life and made her a part of it before she was even born." Penny beamed as the larvae made their way over, she almost frowned when her daughter was doing the same belly-flow thing Stick was doing earlier. "Don't frown like that, the wind will change and it will stick." Hay booped Penny on the nose and got a laugh from her as the foals all got in close and started to curl up with them. "You are always welcome here, Penny, forget that you aren't a changeling, as far as I am concerned you are, the best kind in fact." Fast was oddly at ease and wondered why. Then it hit her. Here was a family, a family she was part of, that she had no attraction to at all. It was strange for her, but it was truth. She couldn't stop from giggling, remembering when she had made a pass at Penny, when the mare had first visited her hive. "What's funny?" Penny looked at Fast. "Just remembering when you were first here. Oh! Don't worry, I am not feeling that way anymore, it was just… well, you let me taste you…" Fast actually blushed and got a snuggle from the mare in question. "What?" "Nothing, mum." Penny kissed Fast's jaw and leaned into her, accepting her friend as close family in a way she wouldn't have believed when she had first arrived. Genevieve looked at the thing. She tilted her head to the side. "It looks like a keyboard, this is your big project?" Sablee nodded and gestured more. "Oh no, I can't play!" The stallion wilted a touch but rather than let it show he leaned in and kissed the woman. His project was complete, it was a masterpiece of magical circuits. He had built it not just to Vinyl's specs, but beyond it. "After the big speaker stack I built, I just had to get something to drive it for her." "You like her?" Jen grinned mischievously. "Because you know I could totally get some glasses and some blue dye." Sablee gawked at the human. "What… I… wait… uh now I am confused." He petted the machine, at least it wouldn't confuse him with strange ideas. "Okay, lets try this again. What are you talking about?" "Well duh, if you like how a mare looks, I am not going to hold that against you. Damn even I had a phase where I would have hit on Vinyl. That look is pretty cool. I will get some things tomorrow, we can see how well it goes." She leaned in and kissed the stallion, their lips playing together with practiced perfection. "So… uh, is there a pony that you have fantasized that I could look like?" Sablee blushed hotly, looking down at the floor until Jen's fingers captured his chin and tilted his snout up so he had to look at her. "You just asked the right question. And yes, I think with some blue and black dye…" Jenny's mind raced and she suddenly pictured some fake wings. "Wait, Penny?" Sablee tried to pull back and Jen let him. But he froze again at her laughter. "What?" "Silly stallion, c'mere." Jen reached a hand out, a hand that the unicorn lifted his hoof to take and be pulled back close to her. "I will give you one hint, it is nopony you saw today." This was a bit of a tip, Sablee and Jen had seen Penny and her family in the morning. "Uh, stallion or mare?" His mind raced, trying to connect things up. "Definitely mare. And I can bet you have had thoughts about her too." Jenny grinned, leaning in and resting herself against his back. "Heck, I am thinking a lot of p-" "Princess Luna?" Sablee's mouth was hanging open, eyes wide with surprise. "So you have had dreams about her, excellent." Jen was already planning how to make the best cosplay for them.