• Published 25th Mar 2020
  • 7,265 Views, 135 Comments

A Changeling Life - SleepyBear

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Squads.

“Well, are you?” Chrysalis hissed, her face only a few centimeters away from his now.

Commander Heart remained silent as he glared at Bob.

Bob was scared, and unconsciously he flattened his ears and crouched even more under the Queen, and Commander stares, his body was shaking uncomfortably.

“I am no threat to the hive,” Bob said, looking down at his trembling hooves.

“You threaten the hive when you hunt like an idiot, alerting our food of our presence,” Chrysalis hissed. “You probably destroyed a food supply with your inexperience, the food is scarce as it is.”

The truth of the Queen’s words pierced Bob like a spear, and suddenly he understood her anger.

She was responsible for the hive and their food, she was deep down scared on what would happen if they lost their food income.

He stopped trembling, sat up straightened his ears, and raised his eyes to meet hers, they might have been villains in that kid's show he saw once with his niece, but the truth here could be something entirely different, she was just a ruler looking to provide for her people, thats more than many politicians on earth would do.

“I’m sorry I didn't think of the consequences of my actions,” Bob said solemnly. “I let my hunger get the best of me, and in the process, I probably hurt your hive, so to answer your question, yes my actions made me a threat to your hive.”

Chrysalis let out a small chuckle and signaled her commander to step back. “You are quite different from other hiveless I've seen,” she said.

Lorax's sigh of relief made Bob realize he was on the right track. At least this time, Chrysalis tone of voice was more approachable.

Happy with having avoided his certain doom Bob noticed as the Queen swapped a meaningful glance with her commander.

Bob was curious as to why they were exchanging glances, but decided just to ignore it.

Chrysalis looked again at her commander. The big scarred changeling stared back at her with devotion.

After a long minute of uncomfortable silence and shared looks, she returned her gaze to Bob and said, “Perhaps it is not a bad idea for you to join the hive, that way, you would ensure to fix your rookie mistakes with hard work.”

Bob was so surprised, he couldn’t speak, everything so far had been a roller coaster of emotions for him, he almost died then he was safe, and the process repeated itself over and over again in the span of forty-eight hours.

“Awesome!” Lorax blurted out happy that Bob was part of the hive.

The commander glared at Lorax, making him flinch.

”So, what do you say?” Chrysalis asked, staring into Bob's eyes.

”I’m in.” Bob didn't have to think much about his answer, he wanted to survive and learn how to adapt to his new reality, and this was the best path for it.

”Welcome to the hive,” Chrysalis said, approaching Bob, biting him on the neck.


Bob woke up the next morning, blinking in the bright sunlight that was streaming across the many holes the hive had.

The place he had been assigned to sleep was a bunker of sorts, hundreds of beds and changelings in the same room, but he couldn't really complain, at least he had a bed.

”Morning!” Lorax was part of the same complex, sleeping in the same bunker, meaning they were roommates.

”Morning,” Bob smiled at him, wondering what would he do now that he had a home, what would the Queen expect of him.

“Let’s go! we are going to be late!” Lorax grabbed Bob and dragged him across the hive to wherever they had to be; nobody told him where he had to go.

All he knew is that Chrysalis marked him as one of their own and that he would know what to do soon enough.

As they approached the spot where he had to go with Lorax, he sat down and started to sniff around, tasting the air.

He was amazed at how hive walls protected the hive from the sun, making it comfortably cool inside; it almost seemed as they had air conditioning.

Here and there a patch of sunlight shone through the holes in walls, maybe to keep the temperature in check.

After a few seconds, Bob noticed he could smell something or to be precise someone, and that someone was the scary changeling that was with the Queen last night.

He lifted his head and sniffed uncertainly, trying to see if he could get the general direction where he was.

“What are you doing?” Lorax said, sniffing his bug armpits, “I don’t smell bad... do I?”

“Impressive, but you still have a lot to learn, it took you a while to track me,” The Commander said in a deep voice, Bob was surprised he couldn’t tell where he was, but he was sure the Commander was in the room. “Lorax, I expected more of you, you told us he couldn’t fly, and yet he has better tracking skills.”

“Sorry, sir!” Lorax said saluting in all directions, not really knowing where the commander was.

Bob started to concentrate on the unique smell the commander had, and how it felt, closing his eyes, he allowed his nose to guide him, slowly turning south he saw a pair of green eyes glinting in the shadows of a corner.

“Impressive, you are going beyond my expectations, now can you tell if I am alone?” The commander asked, stepping into the light; Lorax was staring in awe at Bob for being able to find the commander.

Hastily and eager to see how good his sense of smell was now, Bob sniffed again, focusing once again as he did with the commander, Bob ignored the other smells around him finding a new scent, from someone he hasn’t met yet, but the scent was evenly spread on the room, Bob couldn’t quite pinpoint the location.

“I can smell someone else... but I don’t know where it’s hiding,” Bob said, still trying to find the other changeling hiding in the room.

“Good, after all, she’s even better and camouflaging that me, and she should be, she's the captain of the espionage team” The Commander smiled at Bob for a second before saying, “Come out Lena,”

“Hi handsome,” Someone whispered close to Bob's ear, giving it a thorough lick.

Bob looked at the changeling that managed to get behind him with no effort and felt his spine tingle with cold fear.

How deadly these guys were, she could’ve killed him without giving him a chance of fighting back.

“Relax, before she gets a crush on you,” Another changeling said, entering the room, smiling brightly. “We are here only to tell you about the three paths in the hive.”

“Three paths?” Bob asked, tilting his head.

“Yes, there is the royal army, fighters that can fight multiple opponents with ease, and die with glory, led by the son of the commander, Moru,” The new changeling said, pointing at the commander.

“Hm,” The commander smiled, puffing his chest with pride.

“The undercover team, they deal with assassinations, espionage, and infiltrations, led by Lena” The changeling pointed at the creepy changeling girl.

“In short, I can rock your world down in seconds, baby,” Lena said, licking her lips.

’ I don’t swing that way bug... or any way in this weird-ass world,’ Bob thought as he avoided making eye contact with Lena.

“And last but not least, the medic department, we make sure these idiots don’t die too soon,” The changeling smiled, “led by dear old me, Orux.”

“So, do I have to choose now?” Bob asked.

“By the end of the day, after that, it will be up to the leader of your squad to prepare you for the future,” Orux answered.

“After you choose your squad, you’re given a new name, and that name represents your connection with the hive,” The Commander added.

”So I lose my old name?” Bob asked.

”Yeah! names in the hive represent your status, your first name is usually your nymph name,” Lorax was the one to answer, with a big smile, ”Mine name as a nymph was Liro,”

”By the way, it's your real name, Bob?” The commander asked with curiosity, ”Bob the nymph was a cruel joke.”

”Is sorta like a nickname,” Bob smiled, scratching the back of his head, ”Not that it matters anymore anyway.”

Orux approached Bob and, with a soft smile, asked, ”So what path do you choose young one.”

Each squad had its benefits, but he already knew what path he wanted to pursue.

“Alright, I’ll choose...the army.”

”Ha! I knew you would choose the best squad,” The commander smiled.

”Aww,” Lena said with a pout.

”Well, in that case, I'll see you soon,” Orux said as he started to make his way out of the room not before adding a last bit, ”I hope not that soon,”

”Awesome! We are in the same squad!” Lorax said, hugging Bob.

“Come, we can speak more about your duties and training once we are in the camp,” The commander ordered, and, without pausing, he and Lorax sprinted away deeper into the hive. Bob jumped after them and followed as quickly as he could.

The two changelings made no allowances for Bob as they sped through the hive, and before long, Bob was struggling to keep up with them.

’ These bastards... I need to catch a breath..’ Bob thought as he struggled, giving chase to the duo.

Their pace barely slowed as they led him over a cliff that they cleared in a single leap, Bob hesitated for a second, but he was determined not to show any signs of weakness, so with fear tingling on his spine, he leaped the cliff barely making it to the other side.

’ I just broke like forty Olympic records with that jump,’ Bob thought.


After thirty minutes of chasing behind the two changelings, at last, the Commander and Lorax paused.

’Fucking... Finally,’ Bob came to a halt behind them and stood panting while the two changelings stepped onto a rock that rested on the edge of a door.

“We are very close to our the training camp now, ” Commander heart said.

Bob strained to see any signs of life, but his eyes saw nothing except the walls constantly moving.

“Use your nose! Commander Heart said you have an awesome sense of smell,” Lorax said with a smile.

“I did not,” The Commander grunted.

Lorax was right, so with that in mind, Bob closed his eyes and sniffed.

He could smell the scents of many changelings close by, the air smelled stronger, like someone had been sweating a lot. He focused even harder, trying to locate them; the scent came from the east; it was stronger in that direction.

After a few seconds, Bob nodded thoughtfully and announced, “I can smell the sweat coming from that direction,” he pointed with his hoof to the east.

The commander and Lorax exchanged amused looks.

“That sounds about right,” The Commander chuckled, “soon you will be smelling like that too.”

Author's Note:

This is what I meant by I can write fast.


A chapter a day, or every other day

Editing it's on its way, so for yeih!