Chapter 53
Outside of secluding herself in her room, something her mother promptly shot down as silly, Pupa felt the nursery was the next best place to hide out while undergoing her molt. So, while looking like a little wraith draped in a green funeral shroud, and getting many curious glances from the changelings she passed along the way, the nymph headed there straight away.
Compared to the temporary hive back in Rambling Rock Ridge, the one being built into the Foal Mountains was absolutely massive. And, while she had been told that the hive lost to the reformed changelings was majestic and couldn’t be compared to anything else, this one felt like home. To her anyway.
Various types of bioluminescent mushrooms, mosses and lichen illuminated different sections of the hive in soft tones of purples, blues and greens; and even though changelings have excellent darkvision, the plants had been carefully cultivated and encouraged to grow along the walls or in small underground gardens. It gave the passageways a beautiful otherworldly grandeur.
Networks of sprawling chambers carved by centuries of erosion had been painstakingly inspected and reinforced with changeling resin. Workers had expertly excavated new tunnels, linking together alternate routes so traveling from one portion of the hive to another was much faster.
The discovery and reutilization of a hidden complex of thestral crypts helped add to the size of the hive too. It also provided living quarters for the majority of its inhabitants.
Her mother had wanted the previous tenants remains disposed of, but, in a moment of inspiration, Pupa had convinced her to repurpose the bones instead. The hallway she now traveled down had some of those articulated skeletons. Standing on their hind legs with their backs against columns of stone and resin; they had been posed to appear as if they were helping to brace the pillars with their outstretched wings. She thought it looked cool.
Leaving the catacombs behind, Pupa entered a changeling made tunnel leading deep into the hive proper. From there she took the quickest path to her destination, the nursery.
For a few months now the nursery had become one of the quietest places in the hive. No longer was the chamber busy with crawling larvae nor was there the familiar sounds of their hissing calls for food or attention. Instead there was a multitude of pale green cocoons, silently arrayed across the ceiling. If it wasn’t for the two changeling caretakers who went around to periodically check on the slumbering larva, the cavern could pass for an area frozen in time.
Attempting to go unnoticed, Pupa slipped into the room by creeping as noiselessly as possible under the curtain covering the entryway and started looking around for an out of sight alcove to conceal herself. Despite her efforts at stealth, the caretaker sisters, Katydid and Lacewing, looked up almost immediately from the magazine they had been sharing to stare at the nymph.
“Princess Pupa?” Katydid said, ears standing straight up and head tilted left in confusion.
“Are you sneaking around under a blanket?” asked Lacewing, finishing her sibling’s sentence and mirroring her baffled posture.
“Um, yes…” confirmed Pupa.
“Any particular reason?” questioned Katydid while trotting over to the nymph.
“Is this part of some game you’ve come up with?” continued Lacewing, following alongside her sister.
With a sigh, and just wanting to get it over with, Pupa shrugged off the blanket and waited to see their mortified expressions. For a long moment neither of the caretakers made any response at her appearance and just scanned her from hoof to horn with their eyes. Then they both suddenly grinned and together began buzzing their wings enthusiastically.
“Oh you’re going through your first molt!” exclaimed Katydid, leaning her head down to get a better look at the princess.
“I’m so excited!” said Lacewing, trotting quickly in place.
“What? You are?” asked the baffled nymph, “why?”
“Because I can’t wait to see how beautiful you’ll be!” answered Lacewing with a giggle.
“Really?” balked Pupa.
“Oh yes,” said Katydid, nodding in unison with her sister. “There is nothing like a nice shiny new carapace.”
“Just wait, you’ll see,” Lacewing tittered.
“Waiting is all I really can do…” muttered the nymph. “Mom said I can’t run around.”
“I’m sure with how stiff your body is probably getting, you wouldn’t want to run around much anyway,” said Katydid.
Frowning, Pupa lifted one of her hind legs and tested it. It was getting noticeably stiffer.
“Come sit with us,” Katydid said, flying just above the nymph so she could carefully scoop her up in her front legs.
Hanging limply in the changeling’s grasp and too morose to put up any act of defiance, Pupa allowed the caretaker to transport her over to a nook in the wall that the sisters often used for resting.
“We’ll keep you company, time will go by faster and you’ll be molting before you know it,” finished Lacewing, following her sibling.
“And you can help us too,” said Katydid while placing the nymph down onto a soft bed of moss.
“Help with what?” asked Pupa, looking from one sister to the other.
“We’re coming up with new disguises,” answered Lacewing, holding up the magazine they had been looking at earlier with her magic.
“Something fresh and new,” Katydid smirked while adjusting the nymph’s mane so it didn’t cover her eyes. “Our old ones are growing stale.”
After lowering to her belly and laying out the magazine in front of her, Pupa began to flip through a few pages. When she spotted something that caught her interest she tapped her hoof against the picture.
“I like this one,” grinned the nymph, looking back up at the sisters.
Katydid and Lacewing leaned over to get a better look at a picture of a pegasus mare who looked bored while standing in front of a large white moon. She had a coat of pale bluish fur and a spider hair clip adorned her braided mane of powdery purple and pink. For makeup she had black eyeliner with an eyeshadow that matched the purple in her hair. She wore a simple short dark grey dress with black lace accents that were reminiscent of spider webs; and on all four of her legs she modeled stockings made from that same black lace.
“Pupa,” Lacewing said, “We’ve noticed you seem to have developed a…”
“Captivation toward the gothic,” finished Katydid with a smirk.
“Is that bad?” blinked the nymph.
“Well, no, not necessarily,” said Katydid, her horn glowing a soft green as she used her magic to turn a few pages of the publication.
“It's fine if you enjoy that look,” Lacewing said, “but it’s not something a majority of ponies are into.”
“And it could make you stand out,” explained Katydid, “which you don’t really want to do if you’re infiltrating a pony community to harvest love.”
“But you also don’t want to look unattractive to your prey,” interjected Lacewing.
“Right,” agreed Katydid, “you need to find a balance.”
“Oh,” frowned Pupa, slightly confused by the impromptu lesson.
“Here, let me show you,” said Katydid. “Visual explanations are always easier to understand.”
A ring of heatless green flames encircled the changeling, reflecting softly off her smooth chitin as it flared from her hooves up. It burned away into nothing once it reached her horn and left behind a unicorn standing in Katydid’s place.
“See, now this is too much,” Lacewing motioned to her disguised sister.
With a shimmering white coat, taller than the average pony, the transformed changeling smirked, stuck out her tongue and started to strut around the room on her slender legs. After crossing about half the room she tossed her voluptuous mane back over her lengthy neck, batted her eyelashes at the other two and then pouted her lips.
“You’re sure to get a lot of attention, and love, going around looking like a supermodel,” lectured Lacewing, “but drawing too much notice is just asking for trouble.”
“She knows zat from experience, ma petite reine,” said Katydid, now speaking with an accent.
“One little fight…” Lacewing said with a roll of her eyes.
“Twenty stallions ez not so little mon amie,” resounded Katydid, trotting back over to her frowning sister.
“It was more around sixteen,” Lacewing deadpanned. “It was hard to get a good count…”
“You caused a fight?” chirped Pupa. “What happened?”
“Mademoiselle Lacewing caught ze eye of un à plusieurs in a crowded club; and like ze true gentle-stallions, they all offered up zair own seats for er to rest er rump,” recounted Katydid.
“And that caused a fight?” blinked the nymph.
“Oui!” Katydid nodded, “Zay all started to bicker over who had ze best, most comfortable seat and ze next thing you know, hooves, zay are flying. We had to flee before ze guard showed up.”
“That’s why we prefer finding that middle ground,” said Lacewing. “Something like this.”
Green fire covered her form, transforming her into a unicorn with the same coat, mane and eye color as Katydid; however she wasn’t as slim and stood at the height of an average adult pony mare.
“I’ll still look attractive to prey like this,” Lacewing said, mimicking Katydids strut across the room complete with mane toss, “but I won’t cause a stampede.”
“I think I understand,” said Pupa, looking from one false unicorn to the other. “But what do you do after you attract your prey?”
“It all depends on ze situation and ze changeling,” said Katydid, her disguise burning away in magical green fire. “Lacewing and I enjoy teasing the love from ponies.”
“How?” asked the nymph.
“A little bit of flirting,” said Lacewing, also dispelling her disguise.
“Followed by the simple touch of a hoof,” continued Katydid, gently laying one of her front hooves on her sisters withers as an example.
“A sweet little smile and a wink,” Lacewing tilted her head up and a little to the side before winking while showing off a knowing smirk.
“Posture is important too,” added Katydid, strolling away with a delicate sway of her hips.
“Okay,” Pupa said as she digested the information. “But why does that attract ponies?”
Lacewing, with her mouth open and about to answer, abruptly froze up. She sheepishly looked at her sister, who had her ears folded back and a blush on her cheeks. Both appeared to be embarrassed about the question.
“I think we’ve been a little forward in this discussion,” Katydid murmured.
“Sometimes I forget she’s still just a nymph,” Lacewing whispered to her sibling who nodded in agreement.
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Good question Pupa!
I hope that pupa keeps her appreciation for things of a gothic nature! I wonder how the thestrals will react to their dead being desecrated?
Makes me wonder what her colour scheme and patterns will be when she's an adult.
Thank you for the chapter!
Oh dear. Little Pupa is going to be a teenage gothic girl. This will be adorable.
I can only imagine Chrysalis's reaction to that. 
And it seems that they're getting ahead of themselves on Pupa's education. Oh yes, "the talk". I wonder who will get to do that? Will Chrysalis do it herself, or will she make the caretakers do it?
11485941
Considering chrysalis has taught her pretty much everything else she probably do that.
wait
Great chapter! Gothic? Love the taste in style Pupa has.
Making decorations out the Thestral bones was genius!
Well to bad, they cocooned already and can't play with Pupas first mold.
👍
I totally expect one to wiggle inside and play Queen, with diabolical giggles and all.
Queen Chrysalis & Pupa would have been so proud
camo.fimfiction.net/eMqsPDSgEPBj6w6G4-RGyq4SyiM7XNuL5JG__YQDbAg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.discordapp.com%2Fattachments%2F710628688722395220%2F713938038161408060%2F36c97434865a857567df3cbb75f4a28b.gif
I wonder if pupa will try and create a statue out of her old carapace? Maybe she could use the same method people use to fix pottery? So a black carapace with golden cracks running throughout it? Would be an interesting hobby at least.
Once again, lichens and mushrooms are not plants!
Uh… she’s desecrating corpses. Even as a former human, that is Not Cool.
11486228
Have you ever seen a bone church? really neat!
https://www.roadunraveled.com/destinationguides/bone-church-sedlec-ossuary-kutna-hora/
two pics for an example~!
roadunraveled.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/bone-church-coat-of-arms.jpg
3.bp.blogspot.com/_7oobmYWQ_KM/SdT-CEHEtwI/AAAAAAAAETI/lz-r-vVjrGg/s400/10.jpg
pfft, the two sisters nearly had the talk with pupa ah her genius maturity is too amazing sometimes it sets traps and pitfalls!!!
o man if pupa pulled a Morticia act with a darling Gomez goth would evolve goth just so over the top it works you can't disrespect the Addams style and love it generate~!
11485978
I actually really like that idea! Imagine if she did that for every carapace she molts and had them set up in a line as a means of showing her growth, and perhaps showing important moments in her life if there are any noticeable markings or damage to specific carapaces, such as a crack that came from a fight she had against a stronger opponent and won.
Why indeed. We may never know, but one can't argue the results...
11486228
it will be a great defense against potential invaders.
11486270
Or she ends up doing a ponified Abby Sciuto persona. And having human memories to fall back on, she'd have so much fun being the only one in Equestia "getting the joke".
11485978
11486364
I agree that's a great idea, but I have to wonder about how often they molt for her to develop such a collection? Given that all unreformed changelings are now back on Equestria's Most Wanted List due to a rogue queen waiting in the wings, how long before the new Hive gets compromised?
11487687
Maybe once she's finished molting she could collect other changlings moltings? And as it's a hobby she could take her time doing it, maybe spend a week to a month rebuilding one section before going into another, and when she's finished with her moltings she could do it with other changelings moltings so long as she asks first.
11487953
That's a possibility for consideration.
Of course, that might get her even more weird looks from Chrysalis and the other changelings than what she's already getting.
I wonder if Changeling Chitin discarded by the body can be used for something.
Fill it with cotton and we have a realistic Pupa plushy.
Or perhaps one can make a blade out of the chitin? Reinforce armor or make other stuff out of it.
11485915
One question to rock the world...
11485922
At least the Thestrals can see how Changelings care to make there fallen look cool!♡
11485941
Imagen Pupa in something like that:
Would be a awesome combat theme for her as well!
11485978
I could see it become a museum piece that way one day ♡
11486259
Art that makes you remember the fallen. I would donate my body for something like this
11486364
The Chitin hall of honor and glory
11486543
Pupa made them look cool and unlike the ponies, she values the dead enough to give them the occasional view.
11486698
Good point. "step forward and die in the knowledge that your death will strengthen the Hive"
11487953
I wonder if weapons and necklace etc can be made out if it. Some storys use the pieces of Changeling bodys etc as something else. I made spaceships out of Changeling bodys of the dead. (The idea was Hiveships from Stargate Atlantis) in my Marksaline story.
11487987
Or admiration for her artistic views on the world.
The solution should Pupa ever ask where Eggs come from...
Approved by Twilight Sparkle.
I like this chapter
D'awwww, the little horror fan.
Damn... Loving the lore and character development
