Between the combination of going through her molt and the relaxing warmth of a nice long soak in the bath, Pupa was feeling extra tired by the time she and her mother returned to the royal living chambers.
As soon as Chrysalis passed over the threshold she strode directly over to her second favorite piece of furniture in the hive, a plush chaise lounge upholstered in a shimmering emerald fabric. After lowering herself down upon it she motioned for her daughter to join her by tapping on a free section of cushion in front of herself with a hoof. Obediently Pupa trotted over and clambered up onto the indicated spot.
“Lets brush your mane before you go to bed,” said Chrysalis, the tall crooked horn on her head already glowing as she channeled a spell through it.
Carried aloft by a glowing field of green magic, a silver brush with soft white bristles levitated across the room, and began running through Pupa’s lengthy dark cerulean hair one section at a time. Once her mother felt satisfied that the job was properly completed, she tied up the nymph’s mane into a ponytail with a small length of black ribbon.
“Why did you do that?” Pupa asked, never having her hair any other way than down.
“Even before your molt your mane had been getting so long that I was worried you’d start treading on it,” explained Chrysalis, “so I asked Mosquito to fetch me something to tie it up with. And even though you’re a little taller now, it’s still very long; and since I already had the ribbon, I wanted to see how it would look anyway. You don’t like it?”
“I like it,” said the nymph, reaching back with hoof to touch the ribbon, “but I like having it like yours too.”
“Well, if you want to keep it down we’ll have to shorten it a bit,” said her mother, “so for now let’s keep it tied back.”
“Okay,” nodded Pupa.
A smile grew over Chrysalis’s lips and she leaned her head down to nuzzle her daughter’s cheek.
“We have a big day tomorrow and we’ll need to leave early, so how about you retire for tonight,” her mother suggested, but it was intoned as more of an instruction.
Almost like an involuntary reaction to being told to go to sleep early, the nymph pouted by sticking out her lower lip.
“None of that,” said Chrysalis, using her snout to nudge the nymph.
“Alright,” Pupa sighed as she hopped off the cushion and glided halfway to her personal chamber.
The first thing Pupa spotted when she entered her room was the hoof sized black spider standing on the edge of her bed and facing her. Though the nymph’s eyes widened when she saw it, it was out of concern and not fear.
“Oh!” Pupa gasped out, closing her door behind her. “Lady Lolth, I completely forgot to feed you today!”
In response the arachnid twiddled her pedipalps and tapped her pointy front legs against the stone it stood on, making a minuscule ‘tak tak tak’ sound.
“Calm down, I didn’t do it on purpose,” said the nymph defensively, “I was distracted because I was molting and it freaked me out.”
Eight unblinking eyes stared back at Pupa.
“What do you think?” asked the nymph, turning herself around in a full circle for Lady Lolth. “How do I look now with my new carapace?”
The arachnid insistently tapped its legs again.
“Ugh! Fine, fine!” Pupa sighed, trotting past her bed and the spider. “Come on then.”
Pupa made her way to the back of the room where two small pillars of resin stood. Only slightly taller than herself, both had been crafted by the nymph for the head size web of white silk that hung in-between them. The spider followed quickly behind, skittering down the side of the bed, traveling across the floor and up one of the pillars.
“Cricket or Mealworm?” Pupa asked the arachnid.
The spider answered by rubbing her front legs together.
“Cricket it is,” said the nymph, turning to a wooden table and the pair of small glass terrariums that it held.
Sitting back on her haunches, Pupa used her front hooves to lift the lid off of one of the containers. Using her magic, she snatched up a tan cricket and swiftly returned the covering before any of the other insects could hop out.
“Where would you like it?” the nymph asked.
Positioned just off-center on the web, Lady Lolth taped at a few strands below her and the insect’s fate was instantly sealed when Pupa pressed the cricket against the designated spot. Overpowering the little creature easily, the larger predator embraced it in her slender black legs and proceed to entomb it in a blanket of sticky silk.
Though she had seen it happen many times now, the nymph watched with interest; but out of curiosity to acquire knowledge and not some voyeuristic pleasure to see the crickets last moments. In a similar manner, but through different means, changelings also wrapped up their prey and sometime in the not too distant future Pupa would be learning this talent herself.
“Pupa,” her mother called out from the other side of the door, causing the nymph to jump as she was startled out of her train of thought, “what are you doing in there?”
“I was just feeding Lady Lolth,” the young changeling said loudly. “I’m getting into bed now.”
The next morning Pupa woke her peacefully slumbering mother by utilizing the same method that most young creatures have done to their parents throughout the ages; by climbing on top of her and being annoying.
“Mooooom,” the nymph whispered, “are you awake?”
A long groan came from her mother as she rolled over, causing Pupa to stumble off of her blanketed form and tumbled back onto the bed. Undeterred, the nymph rose to her hooves and braced her front legs atop the larger changeling so she could pull herself back up again.
“Mom,” Pupa said, buzzing her little wings quickly and making even more of a racket. “Mom?”
“Pupa,” mumbled Chrysalis. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to wake you up,” said the nymph, “so we can head to the city.”
“It’s too early,” her mother said.
“You said we have to leave early,” reminded Pupa.
“Not this early…” Chrysalis hissed, cracking an eye open to look up at the beaming nymph.
“Come-on,” whined Pupa as she lifted into the air on her little translucent wings and dragging her mother’s blanket away in her hooves.
“Pupa,” her mother grumbled before releasing a defeated chuckle at the nymph’s antics, “I’ll get up in a few minutes, go get something to eat and I’ll catch up with you shortly...”
Victorious, Pupa released the blanket from her grasp, proceeded to fly in figure eights around the chambers stalactites and then zoomed out into the hallway; but halfway there, when she zipped past Odonate, a field of magic surrounded her and she was stopped immediately.
“My apologies princess Pupa,” said the gravelly voiced guard, turning around to face her and bowing respectfully, “I know you’re excited about today’s excursion but you aren’t thinking about leaving the hive without an escort, are you?”
“I’m not,” the nymph said, fidgeting and using her own magic to try and break free of his hold. “I’m getting something to eat before we leave.”
“The last time you went alone into the pantry you knocked over a container of grasshoppers and we had to spend an entire day collecting them,” Odonate pointed out.
“That was a long time ago and I was just a nymph when I did that,” Pupa defended herself.
“It was twelve days ago,” the guard said, keeping his expression neutral, “and you’re still considered a nymph, despite your molt. Shall I accompany you?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” Pupa huffed, crossing her front legs over her chest.
After a moment of studying Pupa’s sour countenance, Odonate slowly lowered the nymph down to the floor and terminated his spell, releasing her.
“Very well,” the guard bowed again and continued along in the direction he came from. “Please excuse me.”
Once Odonate had rounded the corner, and was thus out of eyesight, Pupa turned her head and tail up, resuming her journey to the pantry with an imperious poise. After a minute however she dropped her conceded façade and impishly pranced the remainder of the way.
Got to love this little trouble maker.
Reminds me of a kitten going over the furniture to find herself some entertainment.
Looking forward to reading more of it 👍
funny
I wonder what will Chrysalis teach Pupa as life goals?
You might laugh but i got 1/3 of my life goals from the Metal Gear Solid game series...
For example:
Would love to have a heart to heart from Chrysalis to Pupa like this happening more or less.
I love how she has a pet spider and she made a terrarium feeder for her Lady Lolth I bet her insect collection will grow maybe she get a few reptiles once she can properly inhabit and keep live prey for them!
when pupa learns to cacoon prey I wonder if Lady Lolth and her will swap ideas and banter with bug snacks and tea? chrysalis and others would find it adorable or join in!
also zoo day I wonder if she sees many fascinating animals or gets upset for some of them at the zoo?
sometimes ponies aren't experts on animals and their care where lucky animals are smart enough to be independent to help themselves!
also, the terrarium is impressive work I bet over time she can do something really fancy terrariums are an art form I hope she builds something amazing!
🎶 part of your world! 🎶
11500878
I think Mosquitoes lack the ability to feel empathy, thier brains lack the complexity too feel complex emotions. As to Chrysalis one of the reasons she got Overthrown is he inability to be empathetic toward her drones, while I am sure she felt empathy , she let her ego, anger and hunger for power overwhelm her empathy and treated her Changelings poorly. Trying to kill Thorax and getting her ass handed to where when he fought back was the last straw that made the hive reject her.
11501054
Ratio doesn't matter. Reread my post carefully. Let me help;
"It’s not just me who seems to think that way."
Just one green thumb on my post proves me right. Two red tumbs on his posts prove me right. On "the main page" I see 22 posts all from the same guy and ALL are saturday. If that isn't spam I don't know what is. Most have 2-3 red thumbs.
11498146
11501223
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Weaver here. You do have a tendency to post a lot of superficial reactions over multiple comments on the same chapter. I get enthusiasm and wanting to give 'positive feedback' to the author, but that doesn't mean 'obsessive, spur-of-the-moment reactions'. Put a bit more thought into how you structure your comments and don't bloat the comment section when you can edit your previous comment to include the words you would have otherwise written right after you made a comment. Replying to comments is fine, making a dozen one-liners muddles the overall view of the comment section. There's nothing wrong with being really into a story, but you have to admit it's a bit much, don't you?
11498146
I do write stories... my biggest annoyance has been random banal comments that do nothing to improve me as a writer. I don't do perfect, I understand others can't do it too. I removed my pony stories awhile ago but I do not remember any joy at reading dozens of posts in a row that could be summed up in "awesome story!". Well... maybe I would... if they came from different people?
I do know I would be annoyed by this off topic discussion (which is why i 'ignored' you earlier) and leave this post as that.
11501367
Now i have a horrible image in my head...
Yes!
Or maybe Banana Muffin ?
11501223
Actually you will see in many comments one downvote. Happening under million of users i guess i just had one troll going around downvoting even Profil comments from years ago to give it a thumb down.
O well... One can always voice to choice his opinion
11501237
Fair, is fair... I think i will try remember to for for that for the third comment on the same chapter.
All good things are three as the saying is going
Guess is can be a lot hyperactiv, yet is bring many years long stories back. Maybe its hopefully wishing, but i like to belive my excessive commenting had a effect to it
11500868
Starting to bing read? You are in for a treat ♡
camo.fimfiction.net/HGKOVNTrPh_dQIegq-4XQTTfq37sBPSPcGN3_7ZAMFg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fderpicdn.net%2Fimg%2Fview%2F2014%2F7%2F10%2F671941.gif
11500878
Or do we have it for the meat we eat? Indeed a good point 👍
11500881
Suddenly i am reminded of Dead Space and their Cult stuff
11500887
To be fair, Chrysalis is their leader for centuries+
So... Ponys would be Celestias Cult followers.
Hipogriffon would be Novos and so on...
11500894
I can recommend a lot of awesome storys with really deep villain if you want.
Blood hell are some simply mindblowing
Especially if the Villains have solid ground to stand on
11500898
Normal also is a very undefined word that needs context. Also Fimfiction really shows how normal Griffon behavior is absolutely alien to Ponies.
Don't even start with Changelings ... ... ...
O wait
11500903
As horrific as this ponies end is, it was 'for the greater good'...
By Lunas blue flanks... I can list a few Fimfiction stories that really pervert the sentance
'for the greater good'...
11500916
Isn't Chrysalis Hive color green officaly?
In my storys i go with pink
For a non Chrysalis Hive i mean...
11500924
I can recommend storys on that as well...
Can be rather twisted, in other storys they rescue others from a twisted foundation to see how their worldview can change EVERYTHING!
Literally making a good and honest Princess Celestia the biggest villain ever.
MLP Villains? Bloody novice to Celestia if you know where to look...
11500930
To be fair... If you read certain stories... You take her view of point very seriously...
11501734
You're like, a month and a half late on that response bud.
I could give you a detailed list about my problems with this story, but I'd be typing for a long time. The glaring problems go far beyond the absolute lack of character development of the mc for 30+ chapters, which is something even slice of life stories don't fail to take into consideration.
11501920
I thought the pacing has been pretty good, personally. It's not like something needs to happen every chapter, and especially not with ones this short.
I cannot believe I'm caught up already. I've been loving this story so far.
11502163
We'll just have to agree to disagree there. Things happened over 30 chapters, yeah, but the mc drove almost none of it. Like I said, I could list all my issues with this story but it would take forever and suffice to say that the pacing is only about 20% of my overall issues with the story.
11502211
stories can go at different paces... you are free to unfollow it if it annoys you
11502548
Again, agree to disagree. Also I did stop reading this story. I only keep coming back here because people like you keep replying to my comments lmao
11502707
so you think all stories should have the same pace. that is what you just agreed to disagree about.
11502893
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, slow-paced feels different to every person. Slice of life does have a pace more on the slow end of the spectrum, in general. If CrimsonWolf thinks the pace is too slow for their taste, that's okay. I don't get why you have to fight over this, just 'agree to disagree' and everything is good.
11502893
I never said that. Once again, the pacing isn't my main issue. I dont even have a main issue with this story. I have like, 8. The lack of development of the mc is a huge one, along with the story actively trying to get you to root for the objectively bad guys with little to no redeeming qualities, are probably my biggest issues. You can have a story progress at a slow pace and that's fine, but your characters have to develop at a somewhat decent pace, otherwise people lose interest in them. Like, when Pupa finally did something to move the plot 32 chapters in she did so after so long of being irrelevant that I didn't care about her anymore. She was just a plot device at that point.
11502901
because agreeing to disagree means you go away, not keep responding to everyone.
11502908
so why exactly are you replying so much? all you are doing is opening yourself up to more people. theres only so many possibilities before it comes down to you liking being "right" about bad stories to people in comments, and everyone likes everything in different paces, and the mcs development is kind of included in pace. if you try to come out and say its a bad story its entirely opinion and pretty much shouldnt be stated like its fact.
11502920
Lol then stop replying to me. I even said we should agree to disagree and move on already lol. Youre the one prolonging this conversation. I'm allowed to give my opinion and I never said it was a fact. This story has objective flaws, as does every story on here. Nothing's perfect. Besides, the reception this story has is overwhelmingly positive, despite is glaring issues. The author can live with one person having a negative opinion of it lmfao.
11502956
fair enough, i guess its annoying to see someone who leaves lets just go our seperate ways comments, then comes back to respond to every single person with the same opinion as the one before.
11502988
Bro you keep replying to me, then act surprised when I respond. Like... what? That's like knocking on my door and going "why are you answering your door?" When I open it. I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what that phrase means anyway. It means you and I accept we have differnt opinions and likely wont agree, not that I just stop replying when people respond to my comments on here. Am I supposed to just ignore replies to my comments on this story from now on? For all I know, someone could be actually proving me wrong and showing that the story isn't as bad as I thought. Hell, the reason this story upset me so much was because I LOVED the premise, but the execution just got frustrating.
11502991
now you are making it about me, i was talking about how you like to reply to every single person who replied
11502991
the chapters are already posted, someones words wont change your opinion about what you read if you have 8 major problems with it.
11502995
You're either completely ignoring what I said or just can't comprehend what I'm telling you. I am open to my mind being changed if I'm wrong, and I was referring to the story getting better after the point I stopped reading anyway. I'm not making it about you, YOU are literally the one replying to me over and over. No one else keeps replying to me lmao.
If you want me to not come back to this story, then stop replying to me. How is this hard for you to grasp?
11503056
i dont really believe your mind is truly open, because its literally down to your personal pacing preference.
11503321
can you guys take this to discord or message please?
11503321
Ok dude. Believe what you want, I guess. I really don't care either way. I've told you repeatedly how I feel and you literally cannot understand it so I guess we'll just have to accept that we have different opinions then.
11503321
You know, antagonising him isn't really helping anything.
I like the pacing. It's perfect for slice of life.
I love the pacing and character development.
Oh!” Pupa gasped out, closing her door behind her. “Lady Lolth, I completely forgot to feed you today!”
To the author you are a butthead
I was eating a bowl of cereal and as soon as I read that I started laughing and Spilled cereal all over me.
PS don't judge me I love D&D snd a certain dark elf.
But 12 days was a forever ago!
How old I Chrysalis i wonder?
11571667
I know right?
I wonder what Pupa is doing usually in her spare time.
Also how do they keep track of time without watches?