Complications With Love
The reply from the humans was taking quite a bit of time, which left me to assume that my hive was still too heated for them to enter. They made no direct attempt at communicating with me, so I decided I would care for my hive in the mean time.
Walking steadily back to the hive was cut short, however, when I noticed a very odd pattern on the granite flooring. There were thin lines in a regular pattern imprinted in the char alongside several sets of footprints. They lead from the main blast door all the way to the edge of my spawning pool, with the lines ending behind the footprints. One set was at the front, with the other three pairs waiting behind them. If these prints were from Jack and his team, as I had suspected, then whatever they were planning to do must have been cut short. I was thankful that they had only reached the outer edge of the hive itself, as small as it was, but with the help of my drones it would be a much more difficult task to walk into my hive; invited or not.
My mood was soured by the thought of intruders of any kind so easily making their way to my precious drones, though that was quickly interrupted by the tiny noises of complaining coming from the pool. Taking steps to loom over the edge of the pit, I noticed that my cocoon had completely deflated and covered the bottom of the pit along with the rapidly melting eggs of the drones themselves. With a quick buzzing of my wings I descended into the pit, my hooves causing small splashes of goop as I landed. Looking around, I soon spotted the groups of grubs wriggling about. Something about this caused alarms in my mind to go off, however...
They were all separate. They were sticking close to those they had hatched with. My eyes narrowed and I became upset at this. "What are all of you doing?" I asked in a harsh tone, moving nearer to the grubs. My voice was so sudden that a few grubs flipped onto their backs in surprise. They didn't have the size to actually reply to me in their current state, but I did notice that they had grown during my short absence. They would be the size of a human's thumb now, where before they might have been closer to a pinkie. "Is there some sickness that your hive-mates have been struck by?" I again asked in a warning tone. I put my face closer to the individual groups of drones as they inched away from me. "I had thought you'd learned a valuable lesson when you hatched from your eggs about cooperation, but it seems I was mistaken.' I explained, moving closer to them. "Why do you shun the other grubs of your hive? Are they not similar to you? Are they not your brothers and sisters?"
The Caretakers seemed the most upset by my words, looking amongst each other with worry. The Tunnelers were cowering in fear, huddled together in a sizable blob for protection. The Infiltrators were scattering, all of them fleeing for their own safety with complete disregard for another. The Warriors... assembled in a formation. I blinked a few times at them, their reaction being unexpected to me for some reason. I sighed at my grubs and myself most of all. It would do no good for the hive if I scolded them this early. They didn't know any better, and their entire world was likely those they had hatched with at this point.
I lowered my tone to one more soothing and used a hoof to scoop all of the grubs together in a large pile where they intermixed. They tried to find grubs like themselves almost immediately once again. "All of you, listen to your Queen." I softly demanded, my face lowering to be level with theirs once more. They lay frozen in my view, attentive as if their lives depended on it. "You must work together, as a single hive. You may have different roles, and you may work with other grubs from different eggs entirely, but it is the safety of the Hive and your Queen that you should keep at the front of your minds, always. I will provide for all of you, so long as you provide for each other. Understood?"
The grubs took a few moments to absorb what I had told them before looking to each other in a different light. I was their Queen, and I would provide for them. I would keep them safe. Their only requirement in life was to provide for each other and to ensure the continued safety of all, regardless of caste or hatch-mates. A few nodded, others smiled, and I noticed the Caretakers immediately going to hug other grubs once again. The Warriors seemed the most reluctant to receive them, and the Infiltrators begrudgingly accepted the Tunneler's attempts at getting along with another.
With that matter hopefully resolved, my mind drifted to my complete lack of love. I had been able to ignore the pain of starvation with the help of my cocoon, but If I didn't get love soon and feed my grubs, there wouldn't be a hive to worry about for long. I lowered my head to speak to my grubs once more in order to inform them of my plan. "Listen, my little grubs." I whispered to them, "Your Queen must leave for a while in search of love for you all. Keep another safe, and if anything comes into this room aside from myself, you must hide."
The Warriors were the first to nod, and the Infiltrators had already begun searching for tiny nooks and holes that they could squeeze into, pointing them out to the confused Tunnelers. I smiled at their efforts as they began preparing already, proving that they were able to work together so quickly. I readied myself for flight, and a burst of wing power sent me more gracefully from the pit this time and allowed me to land softly on my hooves. My own hoof prints were settled in the charred flooring alongside the strange lines and the footprints of the humans that had entered my hive as I became a Queen. I would have to confront them later on that subject, but for now it was Love at the forefront of my needs.
Walking again to the observation window, I tapped with force against the glass. "Colonel Bunker?" I called loudly. "It is urgent."
Suddenly to my left, I heard the latches of the blast door unsealing themselves with hissing air and the metallic grinding of metal. Apparently the room had cooled down enough. I moved away from the observation window to stand in the center view of the doorway for when it opened. There was a small rectangular window in the blast door that had been coated in char, along with everything else in the room, but I saw faint blurs of figures moving within the airlock behind metal door. At that point I finally noticed that I had indeed become smaller since becoming a full Queen; My horn came just below the top lip of the blast door's frame now, where before I was forced to duck my head down. The human researchers had noted my height earlier to be above eight feet, but with my new size I assumed that it would be closer to seven at this point, including the horn. I assumed I would still be able to rest my head easily atop a human's and looking into their eyes would be no trouble as far as height was concerned. It just meant that although I lacked the chitinous armoring of before, I would be able maneuver more easily in their facilities.
The door began to slide backwards, the loud noise of screeching metal hurting my ears until it stopped. It soon rolled sideways to reveal a few familiar faces that made me smile.
"Blue? Is that you?" Rough asked, Timid and Soft in tow behind him. There were no human warriors with them this time, which struck me as something out of place. Normally when I had been a Proto-Queen they would always keep two warriors with them at all times...
"What has happened to your escorts?" I asked in a neutral tone, standing my ground as they cautiously approached.
"They're... more than a little on edge at the moment." Timid explained. "You got really pretty! I mean, not that you weren't pretty before- you were- its just that... eh... you're even more pretty now?" Timid fumbled with their wording. I remembered that my smiles before usually upset humans, but now that my mouth was entirely different I chose to risk the action anyway. Thankfully, they didn't react with spikes of 'Eugh' this time.
"We heard that you cocooned again, but they didn't tell us much else beyond that. How're you doing?" Soft asked, the three of them now standing closely in front of me. Rough was the tallest of the three, and my own head was above his easily. The other two came midway up to my neck now, where before they came to my chest. "You're smaller now, at least..."
"I'm happy to see all of you." I said officially, before my smile grew very wide and my face leaned in towards them almost conspiratorially. "You should be the first to see them!" I quietly cheered.
"See who?" Rough asked, intrigued but concerned.
"My Grubs!" I squeed happily, already turning and quickly walking towards my hive. I turned my head so that I could see them over my backside to continue talking. "They all hatched after I came from my cocoon! They're very small now, So I ask that you not touch any of them, but they're just... perfect!"
Soft and Timid shared a glance of concern before Rough spoke up. "You laid eggs?"
"Four of them, right before I cocooned." I explained, and my body reminded itself of the need for love once more. "By the way..." I asked, turning to face the three of them. "I have a problem that you three could help me with."
"Did you need to 'eat'?" Soft asked, already anticipating my question.
"Yes! But, more importantly, so do all of my grubs. I can use the love you offer me to feed them, but it would be a good idea to stand clear of the grubs until they're more fully matured as well. I don't think they're going to be able to control themselves if you get too close." I explained in a cheery tone.
The three were worried at this, but they refrained from voicing it. "How much do you think you'll need?" Rough asked.
I bit my lower lip, my mind filling with the logistics of how much love I might need on a daily basis. "I think the best answer would be 'more'." I replied with an uncertain smile. My eyes already searching in hunger for the flames of love, I instead noticed something else...
The multi-colored flames had vanished.
I took a closer look at Rough, with him being the closest, and confirmed that there was still the bright pink flame of love at least. The other flame had eluded me however.
"Something wrong, Blue?" Rough asked with concern.
I placed a hoof carefully on his chest. "The flame is gone." I stated. "The flame of different hues is missing!"
"What do you mean?" Soft asked, "What flame?"
Was this a fluke? Was it from not being in contact with the three of them for so long, or the fact that I had become a full Queen? I was no longer able to so easily sense what emotions they were having now, though from my starved state or my new form I wasn't certain. The only things to have changed since my last encounter with these three had been my cocooning and my grubs... though the loss of that ever present flame was going to complicate things considerably. During my time as a Proto-Queen, it had kept me constantly fed without having to worry about love at all, and now it was gone!
"Blue?" Rough asked, placing a hand on my head. "Are you alright?"
I looked into Rough's eyes, searching for anything out of the ordinary or wrong, yet I could find nothing. The flames had gone for some reason, and it would be my highest priority to figure out what had caused them to disappear.
Rough suddenly embraced me in a tight hug, his arms wrapping around my chest and neck. Soft and Timid were caught off guard, but they too soon joined. My mind soon became distracted from thoughts of disaster and doom as I felt trickles of love flow freely into me from them, soothing my thoughts and steadying my heart. I lowered my neck to return a hug to Rough as well as I could, though his body tensed up when my smaller fangs accidentally poked him roughly in the back.
"It'll be okay, Blue. It just takes some getting used to you looking so different all the time." Soft explained, petting my mane.
I looked towards Soft, and noticed that the multi-colored flame had returned once again. It was small, but it was still there. Perhaps it was something to do with humans than my own body? I suppose they operated like ponies in that way; They become accustomed to certain others and their appearance, so when you suddenly change your looks they don't know how to respond.
Hopefully for the sake of my hive, I wouldn't be changing how I looked any time soon. Queen Chrysalis hadn't changed her form in however long I had lived in her hive, so it would make sense that my own form wouldn't change for quite some time either.
"Nice crown, by the way." Timid noted with a smirk. "I like the glowing bits."
"Oh!" I blurted suddenly, backing away from them. "I have to show you my hive!"
The three of them recovered quickly, soon taking up positions behind me as I lead them to the lip of my spawning pool in the center of the room. They peered over the edge expectantly, and soon became worried.
"Um, Blue?" Rough asked.
I waved a hoof at him with a shooshing noise. "My grubs, you can come out now. It is safe." I calmly stated, and soon a great many tiny holes opened up within the Dirsime and the slime in the walls. Tunnelers opened the sides of the spawning pool to allow the others to squirm their way free, with Warriors taking up the front.
"Eugh." Timid blurted before quickly covering her mouth. "I mean, uh-"
"Too late, Karol." Rough interjected. "Now you gotta adopt one to make up for that little outburst." he chuckled.
Timid looked down into the pit as more grubs revealed themselves, and then sheepishly towards myself. I raised an eyebrow at her in response, and she quickly looked away. "Y-yeah, sure! I'd love to!"
I leaned my head closer to Timid's ear and whispered, "You'll have to wait until they're grown, Timid. They have work to do first. Besides, It's up to me if I give away my drones, isn't it?"
"I think they're cute." Soft said, laying on her belly on the charred ground and extending a hand towards the nearest grub, which happened to be a Tunneler. "They look like little Blues in pajamas!"
I placed a hoof in front of Soft's face, causing her to back away. "For the safety of both my hive and yourself, please stay away from my grubs. I have no way of knowing how they'll react to you yet, and I'm still... learning." I explained, before offering my hoof in assistance for Soft to stand up.
I looked towards the observation room over my side once again, attracting the attention of Rough and Timid. "Have you heard anything from Colonel Bunker?" I asked.
"She just told us that you needed us here as fast as possible. We haven't heard much else for the past day or so." Rough explained. Soft was crouching next to the edge of the pit, smiling at the small grubs that waved back at her.
"I need to speak with her." I replied in a serious tone.
"Wait, did you just say 'her'?" Timid asked.
I looked to Timid with a curious glance. "Yes?"
Timid smiled, "You've never said 'her' before! This could be huge!"
My eyebrow raised. "How is that?"
Timid waved a hand at me dismissively. "It's more of a human thing, but I can write a paper on it if you want. I'm just excited!"
Rough rolled his eyes and went back to watching my grubs, and Soft wasn't paying attention in the first place. "If you really want to, Timid." I sighed. "For now, I have to feed my grubs. Please find Colonel Bunker when you're able and tell her that I need to speak with her as soon as possible."
Timid gave me a salute that I had seen the human warriors give to Colonel Bunker. "On it, Queeny Blue!"
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7716466
Believe me, when they introduced grubs as being canon my first reaction was
I guess it just depends on how you look at them, because at their core they're still changebugs. And changebugs are adorable
derpicdn.net/img/2016/8/20/1229707/medium.png
*gasp* grubs are always cute! how could timid say that!?
Would be hilarious if it turned out that a Naquadas reactors waste product when fed with something like alcohol, was changeling compatible. Then it could make both sides happy when more information is known. The Armor button you could say.
They are cute if they're in a good mood and not hissing
7716486 You HAVE to sneak in a Kowaii Kawaii joke now!
Blue's grubs require all the snuggles.
All the snuggles?
ALL OF THEM!
On a different note, it occurs to me that Blue's hive will have feeding issues if they can't make more friends. As demonstrated with Blue's first (and so far only) direct feeding, actively removing Love from a human is detrimental to their health and wellbeing.
I may have missed a comment or authors note explaining it... but why the change from the big armored form of a proto-queen to a smaller and less 'defended' looking full queen? I get that in nature proto-queens tend to lose things like their wings when they grow and in the case of ants they basically become a big egg factory, but Blue doesn't seem to really be the latter and the former doesn't make much sense in Blues case. Is it a greatly increased function with magic (kinda like how in most MMOs dealing with such thing, the less actual armor you wear, the better you are with magic)?
Only other reason I can think of is she was starved of love due to birthing her eggs so soon before changing (in which case it feels like that bit of poor timing just gave her a permanent bad-deal). That is unless she can 'grow' one more time or something....
7716704 I figured maybe they need to be powerful and well-armored to establish a hive, but once they do they revert to something more flexible or energy-efficient?..
Early imprinting can be very important...
Tragic Past by Maddie8972
this story is looking super good and the grubs are just so cute.
7716704 The answer to this is also something I am looking forward to being explained.
Like I said last chapter:
Imagine Changelings using human tech lol
7716486
Can't wait for when will the lil' grub change-bugs learn how to talk.
"Mama!"
"Bacon!"
"[(CENSORED)]!"
Everyone turns to glare at Jack O'Neil.
7716594
Well, we've learned several things about that process so far, and I think Blue's hive will actually be in pretty good shape, even with only those three, until Blue lays eggs again.
Taking love forcefully is harmful, but only temporarily. He was fully recovered in a day or so, with seemingly no lasting side effects. But even more than that, in this chapter we see that love freely given seems to have no negative side effects on the human at all. And then there's the multi-colored flame thing. Whatever it is, it seems to be ridiculously efficient as an energy source. As long as Blue doesn't go overboard using her magic, she should be able to keep her current hive alive with just the three humans she already has on her side. Maybe not comfortably so, but I don't think they'll starve.
I think they'll do alright for food as long as Blue can get access to the general population again fairly soon. I don't know that they'll make too many friends inside that bunker, but humans are a strange enough bunch that she shouldn't have too much trouble finding more outside.
Adorable grub-yness. Must have more of the babies!
Game of Drones begin !
Don't know why I remember of the game of thrones today.
Shit storm is coming.
Who would hold all the love on Earth ?
Blue's house, Greed's hive or Shadow's stalkers?
Who will die in next season (uh... chapter )?
Sorry.
Multi‐coloured flames → rainbow flames → orbital friendship cannon is a rainbow → rainbow flames are the fires of friendship? Is Blue able to feed upon friendship?
You know.... all those grubs are technically now american citizens.
Any person born on US soil is granted automatic US citizenship.
7717276
Anchorlings, lol
Good shit as allways but you probly allready know that huh?
Keep up the good work and dont worry ill complain if i think something wrong and try not to get too carried away. I like a good story as much as the next guy but a burned-out writer is a bad writer ....not that you have to worry about that right now
7717276 Though the Great Cheeto-Faced One may try to change that law. :)
7717194 I've been having that same thought a bunch.
Cutesy wootsy gwabs!
7717194 I'm pretty sure that's what Sanguine is going for, yeah.
I'm glad you've slowed down a bit again in these last 2 chapters. I think it flows better at this pace. I really enjoyed the interactions in this chapter and the thing with the rainbow flames disappearing. You really had me going there for a minute. I thought they had been brainwashed by Jack or something crazy like that. I'm really glad you didn't go that route though. Keep up the good work, just don't burn yourself out!
7718217 It looks more like "Are you still you or were your brains replaced with someone else?"
I have now, a strange feeling that she will changed once again.Her final form will be anthro.Why? Because it fits more into the world of bipedal human.
Something like this (pretty good....in my opinion):
img12.deviantart.net/205a/i/2015/308/c/0/the_queens_by_dextroscity-d9fjcwy.png
or that
66.media.tumblr.com/bdb042431db67f1b4b8f0eb02c5a0bb6/tumblr_o04udcYcH11tk3c1mo1_1280.png
or Anime style
orig05.deviantart.net/9239/f/2014/223/a/f/anthro_chrysalis_by_kingcadmium-d7ure8n.jpg
There's a lot of images on the web, look closer to people or more....distant.
It would be interesting developments, some would accept it while others fell into state of psychoses (alien impersonating humans).
So......what do you think?
This story continues to fill me with love and ideas for my game! :3
Good chapter! ^^
7718303 Yeah, I know that now, but when I was reading it at first I thought differently. Thanks anyway though.
This chappy was wonderful. Blue panicking and then getting calm when she felt the flame again... and those grubs. Those grubs! I'd be probably doing manly cooing at them. Seriously, some people find insects and insectoids creepy, but I love them. So yeah. Cute!
Mmm 6/10
7718797 No thank you, buggies are fine as is. Maybe the infiltrators try it, but not as a permanent thing, please.
7721958
(seriously,the picture is nice but where she looks like a Queen of Changlings
).
.This also could be the beginning of some new (many) conspiracy theories,probably accordance idea: they want replace true humans....
.
I bring this because to me it seems logical.
Look at it this way:
Changelings feed on ponies love,so they evolved similar looks to ponies (some type of mimicry), but now they are in the world of bipedal humans, so.......let's say.....they slightly stand out from the crowd.
That's why I think that at some point adaptation/survival instinct will kick up again and turn her into some bipedal/human like form.
This form/s will probably be similar to the second image, although I personally would preferred form from the first image (at the same time, more and less human like),as for third picture, it was just a joke
Normal drone can looks like that (with/after access to human technology)
img10.deviantart.net/467e/i/2014/226/d/5/changeling_warrior_by_fruitbloodmilkshake-d7v5o0t.png
That form has another advantage, in the human world changelings can't use levitation (because magic is burning most of the things from Earth and additionally, even if they get around this problem (somehow) magic can still be dangerous to people nearby, like with Colonel Bunker).
When this change occurred, personally I bet that in time of some interview (watched by the whole world), after Q / A session.
Ahhh, people reaction on change from bug-pony into bug-human, just priceless
We need more chapters. I need my Blue fix.
Yeah, better be careful, a hungry grub Zerg rush could be quite dangerous.
7717020 XD
If I was Soft, I'd be begging Blue to let one crawl on my finger EVERY TIME I VISITED!
7726908 Good for you.
I expect Blue would be very impressed by these Precision Marching Japanese Salarymen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0DsVPkyZg
OK, now that I've caught up, here's my verdict:
It's a great story and I love it... but the title doesn't really fit. Blue outgrew being a pet far too early in the story arc.
I absolutely love this story
This, so far is my first changeling fic so I'm pretty hyped for more of this story!! Pls don't be away for too long
"I Am a Pet Changeling"
When I first got into the story, I was expecting it to be the everyday life of a changeling living with humans. Then Timid showed up. With the internet.