Short Shorts

by Coranth

134. Aiur

When Twilight and the Elements entered the Hive Throne Room, they beheld the sight of a human man covered by Changelings – specifically, Queen Chrysalis and her six Daughters – and that was all Shining Armor needed to shout, "What… What in Tartarus is this?! What in Equestria is going on here?" Set behind him, Queen Chrysalis purred and nuzzled the human gently, whilst two of her Daughters cuddled against his sides, two more covered his lap and the final two rested at his feet, nuzzling and licking even as Drones gently tended to them.

"This," David stated as he cuddled, rubbed, and petted the company he kept, "is obvious: I have become Queen Chrysalis' King, and I am helping the Changelings to 'come out of the shadows' as it were and grow as a race. Did you not see the great City outside, or did you just teleport yourselves directly here, into our hive?" An embarrassed shuffling of hooves followed his question and so – with a rolling of the eyes and a long suffering sigh directed to his beau in back – David moved to stand, gently coaxing his beloved's daughters to move.

Much grumbling and adorable pouting followed but at last, David stood—and then all the ponies in the room blushed as they realized the odd human was completely naked… but not for long; no sooner had he stood than out of the shadowy darkness a swarm of Changeling Nymphs flew, landing upon him and covering him completely such that the human looked like he was clad in living armor. If one thought about it, he was. Now clad in his living clothing, the so-called King of the Changeling Hive bade the ponies follow. All complied.

Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence emerged from the Great Hive into the very heart of an enormous city. Everywhere, buildings of golden-bronze metal or towering crystal mixed and matched and joined and separated with changeling hive-buildings scattered everywhere in between. High above, Desert Pegasi and Sandclad Gryphons talked and gossiped or went hither and thither to wherever they were going, whilst still others assisted with moving clouds about, directing them to wherever they were needed.

Twilight gasped as she espied still more working on maintaining what appeared to be a titanic railway in the sky which interconnected all of the buildings. On the ground were even more wonders. Neatly groomed and uniformed Diamond Dog Guardians along with their airborne Gryphon Compatriots kept careful watch throughout the City, assisting the Mind of the Great Pyramid at its heart.

They walked, and David showed the Ponies his Kingdom. Pony Foals, Changeling Nymphs, Gryphon Chicks and Diamond Dog Pups ran, played and swam in parks; merchants sold wondrous food and other wares in shops and on street corners; elders and parents rested in the auras of the towering Pylons that powered it all… and the machines were everywhere. Twilight espied Probes and Observers racing about from place to place, zipping this way and that as they went about their business. Outside the City, mighty Reavers assisted the City Guard to defend against threats from the Uncivilized Desert; the Badlands.

Shining Armor was, of course, suspicious – waiting for the other hoof to drop – but Cadence and Twilight were enthralled by the City and its wonders; the pink alicorn having purchased various items of jewellery and other sundries from various vendors whilst the youngest alicorn Princess was dictating notes into her brand new Weyrtech Tablet as fast as she could move her stylus. Suddenly, Princess Cadence whooped with joy as she espied an Earth Pony nuzzling a Changeling Mare, said mare blushing green as the pony pecked her gently on the cheek, his companions letting out a cheer.

"Welcome," David softly intoned, "to Aiur, the Changeling City, the shining Jewel of the Desert. Welcome… to our Home."

Comments

[Black knight]

yaaaayyy