Chapter 26
Pupa, full of energy after her meal, cantered quickly alongside her mother as she walked down a tunnel leading deeper into the cavern complex. Every now and again she would jump up and buzz her little wings to fly for a few seconds. She would then start to lag behind and so once she landed, had to gallop to catch up with Chrysalis’s longer strides.
“Mom?” she asked in the middle of one of her short flights. “Can I have a ferret?”
“Pupa, you just ate,” Chrysalis said, turning her head to look at the airborne nymph.
“NO!” the little changeling said, aghast. “Not to eat! As a pet.”
“Aren’t they just large smelly weasels?” her mother asked, crinkling her muzzle up as if an offensive odor dared to grace her nostrils.
The little nymph went into a long explanation about ferrets that her mother was patient enough to listen to without interrupting.
“Maybe when you’re older,” Chrysalis said once Pupa finished her lecture, “and we have a secure hive again.”
On the verge of arguing a rebuttal about her age, Pupa abruptly closed her mouth. She had a sudden notion that once an adult said ‘maybe when you’re older’ it meant no and no amount of debating would change their mind.
“My queen!” spoke a voice from up ahead.
At the end of the tunnel, in the center of a chamber, a pair of changelings stood next to a large dark hole in the floor. As they approached, both bowed down in greeting. Chrysalis nodded slightly in acknowledgement and Pupa shadowed her mother by doing the same.
“Do you know where it leads?” the changeling queen asked, motioning to the crevasse.
“Tsetse went down to see your highness,” said one of the changelings. “She should be back in a moment.”
Pupa crept closer to the edge of the pit and despite her keen darkvision, she could only see a few meters down. There was also a slight stench rising up from below that had her picturing a wet furry four legged creature with a pointed snout, wagging tail and floppy ears.
“It smells down there…” the little nymph said just before her mother’s hoof crossed in front of her and pulled her back.
“Diamond dogs, your highness,” said a raspy female voice from the pit.
A black hole ridden leg reached over the edge of the cavity and pulled up the changeling attached to it. Once she stood again on her four hooves she bowed to Chrysalis and Pupa.
“Are there a lot?” the queen asked.
“I’m not sure of the exact number,” said the changeling who Pupa assumed to be Tsetse. “But I did see a few of them sleeping in a pile together in an offshoot cavern below.”
“Diamond dogs are exceptional diggers,” said Chrysalis as she leaned over the hole and narrowed her eyes in thought. “They can also be adept at climbing too with their large claws. Their sense of smell is keen enough that they’ve been able to tell a disguised changeling from a real diamond dog in the past.”
“Should we just seal up the pit then?” asked the changeling that first greeted them.
“How big were the ones you saw?” the queen asked Tsetse.
“Larger than me,” Tsetse said as a flicker of green fire circled around her and replaced her appearance with that of a reddish brown furred creature that was two heads shorter then Chrysalis.
At first she just stood on her hind legs but then she hunched over and used her long front legs for support. Instead of hooves she had three toed paws at the end of her rear limbs and massive four digit claws on the front ones. Her eyes were a pale yellow with beady black slit pupils and one of her ears pointed up while the other flopped forward over her head. It also appeared as if her jaw had a big under-bite.
Pupa wrinkled her snout, the diamond dog reminded her of a squished down hairy version of the freaky creatures in her dreams. Her mother didn’t appear to be very thrilled too with a frown creasing the corners of her mouth downward.
“Is this is the only way into the lower caverns?” asked Chrysalis, looking over to the first changeling.
“That we’ve discovered my queen,” he answered.
“Do another search of the complex and make sure there are no more ways up,” her mother instructed. “Then seal the hole; start down about two meters deep with a thick layer of resin, fill it to the top with gravel, rocks and dirt and put another layer of resin over that. If they try to dig into it we’ll hear it fall in on their heads.”
Tsetse shifted back into her natural form and bowed along with the other two changelings.
“Yes your highness,” they said.
“Are diamond dogs dangerous?” Pupa asked her mother as the two of them headed back into the upper tunnels.
“They are physically strong but the majority of them are as dumb as the rocks they dig,” Chrysalis answered. “I find them to be more annoying, but they can be trouble for a lone changeling.”
“Why they are called diamond dogs?” the nymph asked.
“Because they like to collect precious stones,” said Chrysalis, “but I don’t know what they do with them other than hoard them.”
The scent of fresh air wafted through the tunnel now and Pupa could see little beams of light up ahead. A few changelings were pointing at different features along the passageway, nodding or shaking their heads at each other. When they spotted the two royal changelings approach they stopped to bow and give the usual greetings.
“Is something wrong?” Chrysalis asked.
“Well my queen, there are several ways into the cave system,” began one of the changelings.
“And we’re unsure how many of them we should close off,” finished another.
“How many ways in are there exactly,” the queen asked.
“Nine large entrances and thirteen small ones,” said the third changeling.
“Fifteen small ones,” the first drone corrected.
“How big are the large ones?” questioned Chrysalis. “Pony sized? Dragon sized?”
“One is big enough to let about a dozen changelings through at the same time,” the first changeling answered. “The rest can let one to three pass side by side.”
“And the small ones?” she queried.
“Mouse to pony foal sized,” the third changeling said.
While Chrysalis went quiet, looking back along the tunnel as she thought to herself, a tiny breeze brushed past Pupa. It caused her mane to sway gently and she turned her head left, looking at a fissure in the stone that appeared to be the source. The little nymph strayed closer to the spot and knelt down to peer inside.
A fuzzy brown spider had constructed a web within and appeared to benefit greatly from the location, if the discarded empty husks of its previous meals were of any indication. When it noticed the nymph, the spider held up its front legs and swayed from side to side on its rear ones.
Pupa smirked, and looked over to another crack in the stone where light shined in. She climbed up the wall a little to reach it and spied another spider inside; though this one was currently in the middle of constructing its web and didn’t appear to mind her voyeurism.
“If we fill these holes you’ll lose your homes...” she frowned to herself.
“Princess?” one of the changelings behind her said.
“The spiders,” she said, looking back over her withers. “They’ll lose their homes if we fill the holes in.”
The changelings all looked from one another in confusion and then to Chrysalis who only quietly observed the interactions at the moment. When the changelings realized the queen wasn’t going to step in, one of them took the initiative to explain.
“We’ll yes, but we fill the cracks in the tunnel in for our own protection,” said the changeling.
“Could you move the spiders somewhere else before you do?” Pupa asked.
“I... suppose we could,” the changeling said, “if that’s what you want?”
“Yes,” the nymph firmly said.
“As you wish princess,” the changeling said.
“Pupa,” spoke up her mother, who had a slight smirk across her muzzle, “what would you do to stop a creature from entering the hive through the larger openings?”
Perplexed at first, Pupa just blinked at Chrysalis. Her ears twitched at the sound of a small buzzing and she looked away, back at the spider as it continued its web building. A small light blue insect flew in from outsize and immediately became ensnared on a few of the sticky strands. Her eyes widened as the spider quickly set upon the stuck prey, wrapping it up for later.
“We can trap the entrances?” she asked, looking back at her mother.
Chrysalis beamed at the answer.
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Trap and set sensory triggers, yes. Entrench an over watch guard. More than sufficient for the small hive.
Interesting that Pupa is expressing wild empathy.
Keep going! ;)
Take notes Chryssi. Bigger spiders might deter ponies
Tsetse. Man I haven't read or heard the word in years
A Chekhov's gun has just been put on display.
She knows what’s up.
I like the way this little one thinks.
Another awesome chapter
Smart little cookie
Nice work!
Proudest momma.
Secure entrances and a potential food source. Pupa is a smart little bug indeed.
pupa pets are gonna be insects and maybe insect eaters at least they're easier to provide for and they look cool sure there no ferret but im sure they will inspire pupa and she appreciates them just as much
can a changeling make spider silk when there in a spider form?
While I doubt she will be able to speak to animals like Fluttershy can, I bet pupa might be able to convince the spiders to web up the big entrance. Provide them bugs and it makes it look like no one has gone into the cave system. Although I do wonder... can changelings spin webs when they shapeshift into a spider?
Thank you for the chapter and keep up the awesome work!
i.imgur.com/v50x51R.png
I got towards the end of this chapter when i fell asleep, i had to finish reading it when i woke up.
And caught up!
Chrysalis's heart seems to have thawed from having a smaller hive she could feel closer to. Perhaps pupa will help her heart thaw further...
(Spiders are adorable, especially when they're not poisonous. They are not, however, generally allowed to crawl on me.)
One thing I'm wondering about is how Sandbar is going to be rescued.
There is one thing I know though; Sandbar's friends would not be idol, they would find and rescue him no matter how impossible anyone said it was.
Reminds me of a joke:
"Mum, can I have a puppy for my birthday?"
"Well, yes sweetie, but to keep from freaking out all the other kids, why don't you just have some cake for now?"
Chrysalis is one proud mother
Who would not be overjoyed with a so gifted heir 
Warms my heart pretty to read about asking for some spiders to be moved so they don't lose their homes.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
*Dies from cuteness*
Like mother, like daughter.
This chapter reminds me of the story
'Reincarnated as a Spider'/
'So im a spider so what?' .
Fits Changelings perfect in many ways.
Natures is a amazing teacher. Learn about it and you learn a lot about others and yourself.
Got to love the clever Nymph
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Nai waa~
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I hate fucking nazi space elves and their metalgears.
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You know the Manga I see...
Pupa the Spider ♡
The Queen of Changelings and our hearts ♡
Obesrvent little bugger ain`t she?
Home alone time.
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Time to plan for ponies and others